- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
The Darla Bliss Out series, designed to allow ambient pop stars to spread their message and love to the world on a monthly basis, continues with this, it's 19th entry, from Japancakes of Athens, GA. Japancakes have released two full-lengths and an EP on Kindercore, and have drawn comparisons to bands like Macha and Air with their instrumental-with-electronics music. It's cohesive, full-sounding, grooved-out, and, yes, ambient, but also very innocent.Darla
Eric Berg started Japancakes as a simple ensemble to create music out of very simple chord progressions, but allowing for moments of genuine improvisation in the studio by having the members never practice the melodies together until it was time to record. As a result, most tracks start off with one or two instruments and sounds, then build and add more as they progress. What's interesting about this music is its clarity. There are no sounds here that distract or muddle the art - everything feels "just so," like it was meant to be that way from the beginning. While it is repititious by design, it is not at all unchallenging or boring listening material. On "Belmondo", Japancakes is again the core group that recorded last year's "The Sleepy Strange", once more with Andy Baker at the console. And it really is a fantastic listen. The album's key track, the sixteen-minute-plus 'Handguns & Firearms', is one of the best compositions I've heard all year, and elsewhere the band evokes truly spine-tingling moments with an interesting mix of drone, strings, keyboards, and even lap steel. It's a brave combination of styles that wouldn't necessarily work with other bands, but Japancakes pull it off with no serious injuries. A great addition to Darla's series and to Japancakes discography.
samples:
 
 
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Let me be honest here. I grew up in Queens, so I like my rap to sound a certain way. While I can appreciate the insanity of groups like Outkast and southern production geniuses like Timbaland and the Neptunes, I'd rather be listening to Cam'Ron, Nas, Jay-Z, Cormega, or the Wu-Tang Clan.Warp
Now what I can't stand is that trendy niche cleverly branded as "rap for backpackers" (think El-P, Cannibal Ox, Talib Kweli). Give me tracks about cash, ho's, and guns— I'm a happy clam. Show me something with a Definitive Jux label on it or a rapper who sounds like he wrote with a thesaurus next to his notepad and I'm out. So then Antipop Consortium, even with the Warp endorsement, has always been a blip on that side of the screen I don't fuck with. Personally, I think this is one of those acts that brings the label down. Needless to say, the original version of "Ghostlawns," the latest single from their recent 'Arrhythmia' CD, didn't move me. I mean sure, their flow is pretty tight, but if you're rapping about granola and tofu... does it really matter? The flipside redeemed this 12" somewhat, with more coherant remixes of "Ghostlawns" done by Mike Ladd and the legendary LFO. Ladd's remix actually gives the music a good kick in the ass with a steady electro beat you can both follow and rock out to. What makes this mix even better is it extends the track for a few extra minutes with the sampled female vocals and computer voice from the original, making it far more DJ friendly than the original. LFO (now Mark Bell, sans co-founder Gez "G-Man" Varley) seems to have his ear closer to the sound of Dirty South on the cheekily titled "Rik Waller remix" (Rik Waller was a contestant on the UK version of FOX's "American Idol"). And yet, there are elements of dub and the traditional Warp experimentation to be found among the chicken and grits grooves. Backpackers already own this (shit, they probably copped the promo 12" the moment they saw it), but unless you're a fan of Antipop Consortium, I wouldn't bother with this record.
 
samples:
 
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../brain/images/calla-custom.jpg)
![](/../../../brain/images/calla-insound.jpg)
Now this is a great idea. Every month Insound release a limitededition CD by an artist/band while they're on tour, 500 availablethrough the site and 500 at their shows. For a mere $6.18 you get a lotfor your money: four home recordings, a dozen live songs and half adozen amusing audio postcards from around the world, nearly 72 minutesin all. If the homemade stuff is a precursor of the new album, it'sgoing to be fantastic. "Astral" especially ... how many times have Ilistened to that song this past week alone? So simple yet sobeautifully understated. Like everything they do, really. A woman in"Sassari, Italy" apologetically mistakes the Calla trio for SonicYouth. Not quite. Of the live songs, there's five apiece from the s/tdebut album and the follow-up 'Scavengers' plus two classic covers. Irecently saw Calla play for a rather indifferent Nick Cave crowd in anAustin open-air amphitheatre. It sounds like these tracks were recordedin small clubs (or a radio station) where the intimate atmosphere ismuch more suitable for Calla's quieter moments. All of their drama iscaptured nicely here. The last two are tender tributes to GeorgeHarrison with "Long, Long, Long" and Neil Young with "Harvest Moon".For the latter, the chatty Tel Aviv audience sweetly joins in on thechorus and is impressively silenced by the end, then erupts inappreciation. Of the two discs, this is the one to get.
samples:
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../brain/images/best_bootlegs.jpg)
samples:
- Freelance Hellraiser - Smells Like Booty
- DJ French Bloke - Destiny Kennedies
- Girls On Top - Being Scrubbed
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../brain/images/jasonloewensteinatsixesandsevens.jpg)
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../brain/images/desormaisclimatev.jpg)
samples:
Read More
- Rob Devlin
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../brain/images/silkwormitalianplatinum.jpg)
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../brain/images/kallabris-shanghai_dortmund.jpg)
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../brain/images/aroomfulloftuneful.jpg)
samples:
- Pedro - Seven Eight
- Empire State - The Elements of a Wish
- Minotaur Shock - Lady Came From Baltic Wharf
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](/../../../brain/images/pixies.jpg)
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
'Technoir', the first Hymen Records compilation was one of the best experimental compilations ever. Showcasing then-nobodies along with exclusive cuts from the popular Ant-Zen post-industrial roster, critics everywhere began to pay attention to the growing Hymen sub-label. 'Masonic' has a hard act to follow, but Hymen's evolution into "IDM for Rivetheads" and its ability to distance itself from the parent label paid off. With even the best of compilations, there are going to be at least some misses among the hits, so rather than humiliate those who do not shine as brightly (or are as dim as eclipses), I'll only focus on some of the very best of the bunch. If I had to choose the best track of the entire CD, then Beefcake would take the proverbial cake... errrr yeah.Hymen
Being completely fascinated by the consistently incredible output of these sleek plunderphonic masters, it was hard not to fall in love with their eclectic contribution to Disc One. Imagine an ADD-afflicted music prodigy composing a 4 minute track, and you'll get a sense of "ct2": DSP-effected drill n' bass, cinematic strings, and some jazzy horns. The king of sub-bass, Scorn (a.k.a. Mick Harris of Napalm Death and Painkiller), graces the same disc with more of his highly original dark dub on "The Distance Between". Picking up where his last Hymen gem ('Greetings From Birmingham') left off, this should hold over his fans temporarily until the 'Governor' EP and 'Plan B' CD, both due out shortly. Funkstorung's "Beinh" (from one of their Musik.Aus.Strom 12" releases) mixes machine clangs with overdriven bass pulses and clever lowpass filtering. Schizophrenic breakbeat wunderkind Aaron Funk drops another bizarre cut entitled "Parasitus" under his Venetian Snares moniker that is very much in line with his Planet Mu material. The disc ends with Sonic Draglogo's dirty 80's-esque pop song "Sister". Infested with distortion, banging drum loops, and quirky guitar hooks, this is quite possibly the weirdest thing Hymen has ever attached its name to... and I can't stop playing it. Gridlock open the second disc with the ambient "36:6:115." For the uninitiated, this track might almost be seen as uncharacteristic of the Hymen sound, but then the duo's rhythmic barrage bursts out of the speakers sometime around the 3 minute mark, and it all becomes clear. Somatic Responses offer "Whatever," a shattered breakbeat track with otherworldly strings and relentless noisy squelches. I never really got into their 'Augmented Lines' album, but now I understand what the fuss is all about. While the electroclash movement has embraced some of the crappiest retro new wave garbage possible, acts like Lilienthal, Red Sparrow, and Bochum Welt entertain with their respective oldschool sounds that are far more deserving of the attention wasted on the likes of Fischerspooner. In the midst of all this 8 bit glory, Xanopticon plops out a heaping pile of Squarepusher diarrhea on "Phase", exploding stuttering beat fragments and undigested corn kernals all over the place. This guy could be the next Venetian Snares. And you can fucking quote me on that. In that same vein, Fanny (formerly of punk heroes The Exploited) closes out this beefy compilation with an incoherant slab of cut-up, mashed-up electronic junk noise rhythms. So in conclusion: Hymen makes Warp seem gay as a cricket, and Alicia Keys is really hot. I mean, she's really really hot.
 
samples:
 
Read More