Childhood, adolescence, adulthood. As humans, some of the most noticeable maturation into adulthood comes in the late teenage years into the early twenties. It's not so different when you observe the works of an artist - whether it be a musician, writer, painter, etc,... Most musicians aren't good enough to be picked up and noticed from a young age, but a person both as talented and fortunate as Baltimore's Rjyan Kidwell has achieved quite a bit of notoriety for somebody his age.
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Antony of the Johnsons served as a liaison between Baby Dee and DavidTibet of Current 93 and now Tibet has brought Dee (as well as Antony)to the world through his own World Serpent distributed Durto label."Little Window" is the debut and it focuses on dramatic voice andprecious piano much like Antony's work and c93's "Soft Black Stars".Dee's voice, possessed of a husky lisp and some operatic tendencies,was an acquired taste for me the first few listens but the lyrics(included in the insert) immediately struck me as wonderful poetry.Prior to some online research, I assumed Dee is an effeminate male likeAntony, but she is actually a post-op transsexual. Her life story isalso otherwise fascinating having been music director of a Catholicchurch, a member of the Coney Island Sideshow and a performer on thestreets of New York City and Europe in a bear costume on a gianttricycle with a harp mounted on the back! Somehow it all makes perfectsense. Dee's piano playing is simply elegant as she sings of beauty andhope with a gospel virtue. "Calvary" in particular takes me back to theSunday mornings of my own childhood. "The Robin's Tiny Throat" is aclever conversation with nature while "Waiting" personifies the verynature of nature. A favored line in the former - "that same hand thatflies a million dawns formed my tiny throat and wrote my songs. Howcould I not sing?" "The Price of a Sparrow" seems to shed light onDee's relationship with her father and is further reflected upon in theextended lullaby of "What About My Father?" The disc begins and endswith solo accordion pieces accompanied by bird song and gigglingchildren. Stunning. The more I listen to "Little Window" the deeper Ifall in love with it. A launch party for "Little Window" will takeplace September 29-30 at Joe's Pub in NYC with performances by Dee andCurrent 93. And oh how I wish I could be there,...
Early in 2000, Scott Herren delivered a fine serving of organicmulti-instrument post-Tortoise rock on his Hefty debut, "Folk Songs forTrains, Trees and Honey" as Savath + Savalas. Less than a year later,he surfaced with mayhem electronics as Delarosa and Asora for the"Blacksome" EP and "Agony" LP on Schematic. 'Vocal Studies' is theintroduction of his hip hop persona, Prefuse 73, something he's beentouring the country with and releasing limited runs of 12" singles.Here, Herren flexes his muscles as a one-man wrecking crew, pulling indeep grooves, broken beats, melodic samples and just enough electronicglitchery to make it listenable. It's a mishmosh of influences howeveras elements of smooth low-end grooves, sneak in between the bombasticbeats The disc opens with a bit of hip hop radio scanning and the cutup collage madness begins. Guest appearances are made from rappersMikah 9, Rec Center, MF Doom & Aesop Rock and even Sam Prekop. Ifyou were a fan of the Deltron 3030 Instrumentals but wanted a littlesomething more but not an all-out guest fest, this one's for you. Oncenotable producer/musician types like U.N.K.L.E., Bomb the Bass and Khanhave destroyed their street cred by flooding albums with a differentguest on every stinking track, and in turn minimalizing the quality andimportance of the music itself. Herren's not only got a proven talentas a musician and producer, but is smart enough to know at which pointis enough to make it great without overkill. The disc is just over 18minutes and is truly a fabulous trip, well-equipped for those summerdrives with the windows down and the music loud.
Gosh, it only seems like last year the 19 yr old kid from San Diego was peddling his compilation with his friends. Hey, it was the beginning of last year! _Almost_ two years later, Tigerbeat6 offices have moved to San Francisco, racked up about 20 releases (and a good amount of press) through various old friends and vicious young upstarts. Taking form of a double CD release, 'Tigerbea6 Inc.' celebrates the incorporation of his booming young enterprise with 44 fresh new hits from a couple old cronies like Lesser, Pisstank, Pimmon, Electric Company, Goodiepal, Twerk, Steward, DAT Politics and Blectum from Bledom along with some fresh new faces like Stars as Eyes, Geoff White, Joseph Nothing, Com.A, Gold Chains, and many others.
This is the final installment of the Hushush 'Threesome Series' involving Ambre (members of Snog and Imminent Starvation among others), Mark Spybey (Dead Voices on Air) and Mick Harris (Scorn). "Dys" pairs Ambre and Harris with Harris in the driver's seat weaving together the samples from Ambre into 5 tracks over 48 minutes. The sound is similar to the textured, ambient headphone mindfuck of Harris' Lull project and the more sinister surrealist moments of Nurse With Wound.
Do some noise makers seem to have everything but thekitchen sink? Manchester's noisiest CD-R labelwww.pigdogrecordings.com has spewed a disc over thegrubby tiles that has not only the sink but all theother utensils and fittings slamming and clatteringaway and mixed down to hard drives. Inspired by BananaYoshimitsu's book 'Kitchen', four noise-smiths eachdeliver lengthy constructions made from quite likelythe most ominous sounds to emanate from cookery everrecorded.Anaphalaxis chase a bee swarm stuck in the drainwhilst hot fat gets poured down the plughole. Then thepoor old bees get mashed in a liquidizer, and thingsget bubbly for a bit (warning: do not drink). Thisleads to a cleaner, more efficient kitchenette afterthe white noise whoosh repairman calls. Thehousewife's bleach isn't enough to shift Drozophyllfrom the drains, where they lurk rattling manholes andteapots and hammering on the metal piping, in whatmight be mistaken for homage to early Neubauten. Thismight be made on a computer, but the primitive rhythmssound as corrosive if comparatively clipped. Can theyreally be playing the spoons? Ominous stereo panningoccurs latterly.13th Hour make like Digital Hardcore beats stuck inwinter molasses, taking a slow morning to drip ontocold porridge. They do not like their porridge cold,hence the malicious atmosphere and the tortured shardsof breaking glass in slo mo that rumble over themassive doom beat.Something crawls across the kitchen tiles...With all the windows shattered and the wind howlingin, Phroq is left to flutter about in the breezetrying to make a nice cup of tea. But its no usebecause by the end of it the metal teapot's beenhammered to hell and all the cups are broken, so hejust leaves the taps running and floods the feedbackscream beast out of hiding and fries it on the stovewhich is thankfully still working even if it makes abit of a squeal.
Phroq has his own release on the same label, featuringanother three long looping post-industrial noisecollages, which are slightly more carefully composedthan his chaotic onslaught that closes the 'Kitchen'compilation. The most amusing is the closingsoundtrack to an experimental Japanese sex film'Pudding, Pudding' with much echoing orgasmic cooingand sing song speech samples set to slow murky beatswith occasional tastefully judged appearances from ourold friend white noise. The one in the middle mixes uppainful sine tones with monochrome clicks and deepdrones and isn't funny at all, especially when itspeeds up and drops a big old lump of raging noise onthe carpet. The epic opening shot is so deadly seriousthat it calls itself 'Music for Photoperformance'. Myracist moron neighbour downstairs could howl 'Dat'snot music' til his cow comes home but music is onlymusic to a receptive mind, and to have a receptivemind you need to have a mind in the first place.Anyway initially the photo performance music has somesimple piano motiffs underpinning the scissor bagrustle and incessant throb, and field recordings cutin and out before the one fingered piano of doom holdssway yet again. The repetitious sound of a camerashutter recurs and some French shouting echoes beforeit all gets mashed into a monotone chug that stopsabruptly to let little birdies sing in the distance.Then everything builds to a camera rewind piano slamfinale. I suppose it's quite likely Phroq has heardNurse With Wound and Ryoji Ikeda at some point.
This week I am spotlighting two bands that are currently in the studioworking on their new releases by looking back on their back catalogs. Ifinally rounded up dianogah's first proper album, "As Seen From Above,"recently, thus completing my dianogah CD collection (they have a few 7"singles I've yet to collect, but soon...). dianogah, named after thetrash compactor beast in Star Wars - but with an "h" added to avoidcopyright issues, I imagine - are a three-piece rock band comprised oftwo bass players Jason Harvey and Jay Ryan, and drummer Kip McCabe.This makes for an interestingly melodic sound for primarily low-endinstruments. Yes, kids, this is instrumental indie rock, but with a farmore impressive range then you might expect from such limitedinstrumentation. The name is certainly fitting, as the music pulls youin seductively, but has a punch to it that you'd never expect. My firstexposure to dianogah was their track on the fantastic "Reach The Rock"soundtrack, "Dreams Of Being King." Having also seen the film (worth itonly to see how the soundtrack is used, mind you), the song isperfectly placed, underscoring the sole "moment" in the whole piece. 
I immediately had to hear more from this band, so I purchased theirfirst CD release, actually a compilation of their first singles called"Old Material, New Format" on My Pal God. I slipped it into my CDplayer, and waited for that melodic glory to come out of my speakers.Sure, it was there -- for the first few seconds of the first track,"One Hundred Percent Tree." Then: vocals. Not very good ones, either.Drowned in the mix, and more spoken than sung, the vocals by Jay Ryanseemed awkward when paired with the music. Or they would, if the musicwas on the same level of "Dreams Of Being King." This was dianogah attheir early stages, and it showed. After repeated listens, though, nowthe songs have a certain charm to them. It's like enjoying Mogwai nowfor what they are and do, then listening to the awkward loud/softmissteps of "Ten Rapid." It's got its moments. Next in order of releaseis the proper album "As Seen From Above." This was certainly closer towhat I expected to hear. Driving, intertwining basslines, stable andfirm drumming, and little variations that build and strive to astunning climax. Yet another band that appreciates that the silence andbreaks in the song are just as important as the moments where allcylinders are firing. "What Is Your Landmass?" thumps right along,before settling into the cymbal-crashing tirade of a finale. Stillthere were vocals, but they seemed to have improved over the firstrelease (go figure). Jay becomes more confident with his voice,reaching a delivery half They Might Be Giants/half The Inbreds.
Then there is their second full-length, released after the "Reach TheRock" soundtrack, "Battle Champions." My god. The dream is fullyrealized on this release. dianogah occasionally record with othermusicians, releasing the results as "Team Dianogah" releases. Thistime, they add to their own sound, augmenting it with guitar and piano.From the second track, "At The Mercy Of The Mustang," I was hooked.Steve Albini just lets the boys rock out, and doesn't affect therelease at all, leaving us with the driving rhythms and gorgeousmelodies that make "Dreams Of Being King" pale as Willem Dafoe in"Shadow Of The Vampire." The album's centerpiece, "Indie Rock SpockEars," is playful and poignant, starting off slower than most dianogah,but building on right into an accomplished groove and great interplaybetween the bassists. Lovely. There are still vocals on a few songs,but they're no longer as jarring, and actually complement the musicwell. I would recommend "Battle Champions" to anyone who likes greatinstrumental indie rock. If you like that, move your way back. Alsolook for a new album next year. There's a lot to be discovered underthe surface...
Amazing what can be found from just surfing around on occasion. Afriend who is a huge Beulah fan once asked me to look at their labelSugar Free's website, and see what other bands recorded for the label."Any label that would sign Beulah has to have other good bands," hesaid. He couldn't have been more right. We listened to a few samplesfrom Wheat's second album, "Hope & Adams," and we were hooked. Itdoesn't hurt to have the involvement of Dave Fridmann, mind you. TheFrid-mann has the ability to bring out the best in every band. A greatfan of his work with The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev already, I knewthis would be a great release and ordered it immediately. What I gotblew me away. It's crafty pop with a primary message of loss, whetherof love or youth or what have you, with the standardbass/drums/guitar/vocal formula. Thanks to Fridmann, however, the bandplays nicely with electronics, bringing out a fuller sound with thebeeps and whistles. Well-placed piano lines on "Don't I Hold You" and"Body Talk (Part 1)" bring more strengths to the table. Wheat willnever have to worry about becoming tired: there's so much they can doto throw you a curveball. 
Being fond of this CD, I decided to give their first, "Medeiros," arun. Missing is the Fridmann influence, but the songs are still there,along with a healthy dose of nerves. Scott Levesque's vocals are moreechoey and subdued, bringing to mind the feeling that he's still notcomfortable with that role in the band. Songs like "Summer" and "GirlSinger" impress with their picturesque lyrics and directness (samplelyric from "Girl Singer": "I believe I'm touching you, 'specially whenI'm fuckin' you, but you're a little on the tenative side"). Somekeyboard appear now and then, but the album works best without them, asopposed to "Hope & Adams." Both good releases, and well worthtrying out. Look for their latest, "Per Second Per Second Per SecondEvery Second," also with the Fridmann influence, this fall.
As part of the burgeoning Fatale movement which is ""a force againstthe male-driven music industry and its great heroes" Nic Endo hasreleased an electronic work of great scope here. I'm not really certainhow political / feminist messages are contained in the bleeps,squiggles and beats of this instrumental work but I'll leave that tothe armchair pundits to squabble over. A far cry from the Massona/Haters scree of her first EP 'White Heat' and more a continuation ofthe spacey, removed feeling of the eponymous EP as She Satellites hereEndo takes off from that platform and adds 80's electro-styledkeyboards, casio drums and a variety of samplings from pop culturestaples. The disc's highlights are many ? from the Bauhaus beginningoff 'Man Eater' which quickly changes into a poppy, Kraftwerkian numberto the lost in the ether feeling that 'The Program and the Brides'gives off, this discs pleasures are many. The structures run the gamut- your usual music concrete, free jazz improvisations and tribalrhythms all processed through Endo's sensibilities and lo-fi equipment.Also included is a video for 'White Heat' which is the first time I'veseen pure noise feedback being marketed as pop music ? hot chick inleather bra and fishnets and everything. Easily worth the price ofadmission.
