We have finally cleared out the backlog of great music and present some new episodes.
Episode 711 features music from The Jesus and Mary Chain, Zola Jesus, Duster, Sangre Nueva, Dialect, The Bug, Cleared, Mount Eerie, Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra, Hayden Pedigo, Bistro Boy, and Ibukun Sunday.
Episode 712 has tunes by Mazza Vision, Waveskania, Black Pus, Sam Gendel, Benny Bock, and Hans Kjorstad, Katharina Grosse, Carina Khorkhordina, Tintin Patrone, Billy Roisz, and Stefan Schneider, His Name Is Alive, artificial memory trace, mclusky, Justin Walter, mastroKristo, Başak Günak, and William Basinski.
Episode 713 brings you sounds from Mouse On Mars, Leavs, Lawrence English, Mo Dotti, Wendy Eisenberg, Envy, Ben Lukas Boysen, Cindytalk, Mercury Rev, White Poppy, Anadol & Marie Klock, and Galaxie 500.
Skolavordustigur Street in Reykjavík photo by Jon (your Podcast DJ).
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artist: Jessica Bailiff title: Feels Like Home catalog #: krank097 formats available: CD CD UPC Code: 7 96441 80972 1 Release Date: July 10,2006
Content: Feels Like Home balances the more accoustic approach to Jessica’s songwriting on her most recent (untitled) album with the blissed electricity found on her earlier material. Gossamer vocals hover over delicate melodies, accented by tasteful bits of percussion, piano filigrees, and sundry guitar sounds. Feels Like Home is the most refined example of Jessica Bailiff’s musical vision to date.
Context: It’s the first full length of solo material from Jessica in 4 years but she’s been doing anything but taking a break. Check her fruitful collaborations with Dave Pearce (as Clear Horizon), Rachel Goldstar (as Eau Claire), and Jesse Edwards (as Northern Song Dynasty), as well as a featured appearance on Odd Nosdam’s latest album where she made vocal and instrumental contributions.
Press for some Jessica’s past work:
“Jessica combines folk accoustic guitar, droning guitars, and overarching vocals to create a lush, mysterious world reminiscent of a place between the songwriting of Nick Drake and the spirit of so-called sonic experimentalists like Kevin Shields and Sonic Boom”-Dusted
“Finally, a female singer that can be sweet and pretty without being sugary and grotesquely sincere. Jessica Bailiff sings floaty trip-out songs so slow that you’ll have to check your pulse. But after you discover that, yes, you are alive, you’ll be really happy to be listening’ – Portland Mercury
“This is pure mood music...but whatever that mood is, it’s impossible to nail down in one adjective.” -Independent Journal
“Bailiff’s records are syrup-thick with dizzying fx collisions. Tracks bob and float on tides of ever-receding tonal howl, while the sweet precision of her vocals hangs deep and latern-like” – The Wire
Track Listing: 1. What’s Inside Your Mind? 2. We Were Once 3. Lakeside Blues 4. Brother La 5. Persuasion 6. Cinq 7. Spiral Dream 8. Evidence 9. Pressing 10. If We Could 11. With You
Available now: Limited edition of 1000 in a deluxe 12 panel fold out jacket designed by Andrew McKenzie of The Hafler Trio. Beautiful collaborative release from these three artists. Was intended to be a tour only item though the tour was, unfortunatetly, cancelled. Read More
As many of you know, all of Japan loved Minazo the male Elephant seal who died in captivity in Japan this year. Masami Akita (Merzbow) was very close with this seal and this is the first volume in his two part tribute. The 2nd volume will be a vinyl only limited edition of 1000 available in a couple months. Minazo shirts are available on the apparel page of our site. Read More
Two non-profits, 17 artists, 350 species of underwater animals and one record label brings you The Belly Of The Whale. This collection of tracks features a diverse group of artists like Merzbow, David Rothenberg, Kim Cascone, Scanner, Jayne Fenton Keane and many more using sound samples of underwater creatures to create new digital music. We've got lots of MP3 for you to check out on our site. Belly Of The Whale shirts are available on the apparel page of our site. Read More
Mute are pleased to announce the release of the long-awaited Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey project on 11th September 2006.
The 2 DVD and 2 CD package features a specially made documentary covering Tovey's life and career up to his untimely death in 2002.
It will also include rare and unreleased tracks and live footage of legendary performances, as well as classic songs recorded under both his own name and his alter ego Fad Gadget.
This release has been put together by Frank's family in conjunction with Mute, utilising the Mute and family archives.
Full details of the tracklistings for this package along with sound and visual clips will be available in the coming months.
This is the best musical recording Rjyan Kidwell has ever taken part in. Collaborating with seven other players including both members of Nice Nice, Actual Fucking is an achievement. Unfortunately the lyrics and singing get so bad sometimes they're painful to my ears.
So many bands are incestuous that using a term like "supergroup" seems meaningless more and more. Nick Castro's third album utilizes the likes of Joolie Wood, Jon Contreras, Brian Dyson, and B'eirth. All in all, representatives from Current 93, In Gowan Ring, Damo Suzuki's Network, and Cul de Sac make an appearance, but the recorded outcome of this gathering is less than super.
Continuing the annoying trend of "free-folk" hipsterism is Castro and his medieval band of merry marauders. The Young Elders come from a wide array of musical backgrounds and one would expect this fact to influence the sound and continuity of the record. Instead, Castro sticks to using unconventional instruments in familiar ways. There's a reason that knights in shining armor and damsels in distress come to mind when this album fires up and it's not because the record is imaginative. In many cases it mimics stereotypes about some period music that everyone should be familiar with. Hollywood has made it easy to recognize what some sounds are supposed to emulate. It is impossible to create genuinely medieval music because we aren't living in medieval times and, as a very smart man once said, all music is folk music because all music is made by people. As a result, these songs can be nothing more than new voices looking back at stereotypical examples of music most people never got to hear anyhow. These two facts situate this album somewhere between fanciful adoration for a series of instruments that belong most strongly to a certain period and poor reproduction meant to express the ideas of a musician who lives in the 21st century.
I'm quite familiar with the fact that Current 93, Six Organs of Admittance, and many other bands I enjoy use "folk" music and "medieval" conventions to mold their sometimes unique sound, but there is a difference between someone like David Tibet and Nick Castro. While Tibet joyfully exudes his love for histrionics and period instruments, he also leaves an impression of himself on the music that gives it character, a shine that is impossible to find elsewhere. Castro, on the other hand, merely reproduces what everyone is already familiar with. The music is absolutely gorgeous, the musicians involved have all had their hand in performing lovely ballads, intricate instrumentals, and shimmering bits of harp and recorder driven melancholy. Aside from that beauty, however, is nothing new with which to become enamored. A song like "Altar" sounds festive, bringing to mind all manner of fairs, competitions, and heavy drinking, but it also reminds me of Robin Hood in a bad way. This brings me back to the whole "free-folk" association: Castro is neither free nor folk. His music is emulative, an attempt to incorporate the past with the present and a stab at tackling some very well arranged music that positively shines with beautiful melodies and unusual instruments. There are no free form jams nor drones of guitar work that claim to have their heritage in jazz music. There's plenty of unusual instruments that feature elegant performances and soothing bits involving cello, oud, harmonium, and harp, but there's nothing particularly experimental or unusual about any of it. It all sounds very, very familiar most of the time.
If any of the names on this record float your boat, then chances are this record will be of interest. The songs aren't bad, they aren't poorly written, and with all the talent in the band it goes without saying that everyone plays quite well together. I can't help but feel that this is just another album in a long line of "folk" records, though. "Folk" records that have absolutely nothing to do with folk music (as in Nick Drake) and even less to do with free form music (as in John Coltrane and Derek Bailey). It's pretty, but there's plenty of it to be found everywhere.
This is the best musical recording Rjyan Kidwell has ever taken part in. Collaborating with seven other players including both members of Nice Nice, Actual Fucking is an achievement. Unfortunately the lyrics and singing get so bad sometimes they're painful to my ears.
The albm consists of eight songs, all of which named for cities where either Rjyan Kidwell or each of the eight players have most likely lived at some point. The title, Actual Fucking seems to be a reverse euphamism: explicit sexual words used to describe something non sexual. The musicians engage in playing with each other, moving together in rhythm, making sounds they wouldn't be making alone. Live drumming, live guitar playing and digital manipulation jam on tunes which are both far from cliché and fun to listen to. The music grooves from the first minute and during the instrumental breaks the musicians break into some hot action.
For me, the route chosen on Being Ridden would have been great, as I would love to hear an instrumental version. I don't like the spoken/singing that Kidwell is doing on nearly all the songs and whoever the girl is singing on "Denton" is bordering on unbearable. The string sounds and acoustic guitar interplay on "Chapel Hill" is gorgeous while the lone instrumentation of a multitracked guitar on "Ybor City" after the phone message is endearing. "Covington" opens the second half of the record and grooves like a top notch Nice Nice track and Rjyan's vocals and lyrics are enjoyable, but not sing alongable nor memorable. While he's both rapped and sung in the past, he's proven himself capable of words both amusing and catchy. When the lyrics are simplified, like on "Chicago," with repeated refrains and direct melodies and muliple singers, the execution is a bit too show-offy. It's like everybody involved wanted to make an LCD Soundsystem record but didn't quite achieve effective results. A stunning instrumental, "Tucumcari," closes the album on a beat-less Moon and the Melodies-ish (Cocteau Twins clearly -with- Harold Budd) feel, and if this is purely the work of Cex, then I'm eagerly waiting the forthcoming release on Temporary Residence. If it's the work of the rest of the lineup then I'm gonna start a letter campaign to get all the players together again.
While it may sound like an entire Balkan gypsy orchestra playing modern songs as mournful ballads and upbeat marches, Beirut's first album, Gulag Orkestar, is largely the work of one 19-year-old Albuquerque native, Zach Condon, with assistance by Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel, A Hawk and a Hacksaw) and Heather Trost (A Hawk and a Hacksaw). Horns, violins, cellos, ukuleles, mandolins, glockenspiels, drums, tambourines, congas, organs, pianos, clarinets and accordions (no guitars on this album!) all build and break the melodies under Condon's deep-voiced crooner vocals, swaying to the Eastern European beats like a drunken 12-member ensemble that has fallen in love with The Magnetic Fields, Talking Heads and Neutral Milk Hotel.
You may have already heard Roots Tonic. In fact, you may love Roots Tonic and not even know it. Roots Tonic is Hasidic reggae superstar Matisyahu's band. Matisyahu's star has risen dramatically in this past year, culminating in the recent release of Youth on Sony/Epic (currently #4 on Billboard's Top 200) and the certification of Live at Stubbs as a Gold Record. One cannot underestimate the importance of Roots Tonic to Matisyahu's success. Roots Tonic bassist Josh Werner co-writes many of Matisyahu's songs, and Roots Tonic brings those songs to stage, to record and to life, making them pop with the drama and dynamics you'll hear on this album.
It is no coincidence that world class bassist and producer Bill Laswell is involved in this project. For one, it is Laswell who produced Matisyahu's Youth. Laswell, the world music genre-fusing genius, has worked with so many notable artists: Mick Jagger, Afrika Bambaataa, Yoko Ono, Brian Eno, Fela Kuti, John Zorn, Peter Gabriel, George Clinton, Herbie Hancock, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Motorhead, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sly & Robbie, Swans, Last Poets, and has remixed the work of Santana, Bob Marley & Miles Davis. As one writer puts it, "Bill Laswell is god. Can you prove he's not?" He is a true maverick and a perfect match for Roots Tonic and Matisyahu's blend of reggae, hip hop, soul and traditional Jewish music. Their chemistry was so perfect, in fact, that after the Youth sessions were completed, Laswell invited Roots Tonic back to his Orange Studios to record this album, Roots Tonic Meets Bill Laswell, which is NOT to be confused with the dub version of Matisyahu's Youth.
With no Matisyahu, Roots Tonic was forced to stand and deliver on an album without vocals or lyrics on which to rely. Deliver they did. With Laswell serving as studio lion Lee "Scratch" Perry to Roots Tonic's Aggravators, Josh, Jonah and Aaron have created a living, breathing disc of instrumental reggae, as funky as, say, the classic "Macka Dub" by the Barrett Brothers (Aston "Family Man" Barrett & Carlton Barrett, The Wailers' rhythm section). The grooves are so loose and lively you can tell they were having a blast recording. At the mixing board, Laswell economically weaves in everything from synth stabs to phone touch tones to unrecognizable sound splatters. He stays out of the way of the bass, and heaps echo on the drums and guitar, allowing the high end to spiral out from the music.
Dub as a genre always seems to be making a comeback. Its influence is consistently heard in other forms of music from Radiohead to Missy Elliot. But, judging by the surge of interest in and activity by bands like Heavyweight Dub Champion, Goathead, Dub Nomads, LA's Future Pigeon, to the reunited Systemwide, to Roots Tonic labelmates Dub Trio, Dr Israel and 10 Ft Ganja Plant, American Dub is currently very fertile musical ground. This spring, expect Roots Tonic's popularity to bloom with the release of this album, plus live Matisyahu and solo dates. There is even talk of Roots Tonic opening for Matisyahu.
Roots Tonic: Josh Werner - Bass & Keyboards, Aaron Dugan - Guitar & Sounds, Jonah David - Drums & Percussion
Produced by Bill Laswell at Orange Music Sound Studios, West Orange, NJ
Dub Trio is one of the few bands that can open for Mike Patton (featured on this record), reggae legends The Wailers, hip-hop MC Beans, electro-pioneers Meat Beat Manifesto, firebrand Capleton, jazz-funkers Soulive, and electronica maestro Prefuse 73 (all of which they did in 2005). And to flame that fire Dub Trio will be embarking on a 10 date tour w/ Polish punk rockers Gogol Bordello starting April 1st. It speaks volumes about their music's versatility; one minute it's gummy dub, the next it's chest-beating, chug-a-lug metal, shredding punk, and bleeped-out electronic psychedelia. At its best, Dub Trio's music is simultaneously all these and more. Their sophomore album, aptly-titled NEW HEAVY, is undoubtedly a rock record that retains enough dubby elements to save the boys a name-change:
Dub is the foundation. It's in everything we do, whether it's the structure, the effects, or the bass line. It's what all other elements are based on. You hear that even on the heaviest parts of the new record. - Joe Tomino, drummer
New Heavy is indeed heavy, and hard. It references Metallica more than Marley, and features the one and only MIKE PATTON (Faith No More, Mr Bungle, Tomahawk, Fantomas) on "Not Alone," which Billboard Magazine describes as "an old school Faith No More-style rocker." A re-mix of this track by Mike Patton as "Peeping Tom" will soon be released on Mike's own Ipecac Recordings later this year.
How did this collaboration come about? Simple. Mike Patton heard Dub Trio's music. Yep, that's all it took. No mutual friends, no money, no label pressure, just a few rough mixes from the New Heavy sessions and Patton knew they were on to something:
Dub Trio are very talented musicians that cover many different genres in each piece they play. They are doing something that very few artists are doing today, and doing it their own way. - Mike Patton
Their versatility and singularity have as much to do with musical acumen as with the communication between each member's unique personality:
We have our own musical language. We communicate with each other through our instruments, eye contact, energy. That's why no two live shows are the same, no two performances of a song. That's also why it's as important to see us as it is to hear us, because you can see that interaction on stage. - Stu Brooks, bassist
THE PLAYERS: Joe, Stu and Dave not only bring individual talents and personalities to Dub Trio but also a unique set of professional experience, having worked with 18 Cent, Common, Mary J. Blige, Mos Def and Mobb Deep. Joe currently drums with the recently reunited Fugees. Stu continues to work with G-Unit & 18 Cent (he dropped the massive bass line on this summer's hit "So Seductive (feat. 18 Cent)" by Tony Yayo). And Dave, along with his brother, started the punk/emo band Like Yesterday with Matt Rubano, the bassist for Taking Back Sunday (who Like Yesterday tours with frequently). And perhaps all this crept into Dub Trio's sound, which is undoubtedly more aggressive and bigger than before. They are poised for a large impact, and this album will put them there.
In Joe Tomino's hands, the drums function as an entire section, rather than as one instrument. You will hear this section transform over the course of a song; the pulse never wavering but morphing from drum machine-esque sounds, to a big rock assault, to spaced out dub rhythms, echoes spiraling from his kit. In other words, Joe is a madman on drums--the Muppet's Animal in human flesh--guiding much of the band's energy and intensity.