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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Anita Lane first came to music circa the late '70s via the Nick Cave-led posse The Birthday Party and later as a founding member of his solo band The Bad Seeds. Since the mid-'80s she has recorded some singles and the solo album Dirty Pearl and has collaborated with Die Haut, Bad Seed Mick Harvey, Barry Adamson, Einstüzende Neubauten and Gudrun Gut. In particular, Harvey is her longtime musical guru and is once again responsible for production and much of the instrumentation for this 10 song album.
Everything about Lane oozes sexuality, from the packaging photos to the girlish yet 'been there, done that' voice and words. Unsurprisingly, a Bad Seeds and Serge Gainesbourg shadow is cast over much of the album (even going as far as to borrow tape loops of mid '90s Bad Seeds jams for a few songs) plus string arrangements are provided by Bertrand Burgalat. A handful of songs - "Do That Thing", "Like Caesar Needs a Brutus" and "Do the Kamasutra" - are a bit too much, a bit too goofy or garish lyrically, approaching porn movie soundtrack musically. The rest find a better balance between sex appeal and song writing. Three impressive covers include Gil Scott-Heron's tell it like it is tale "Home is Where the Hatred Is" and the traditional "Bella Ciao". "The Next Man That I See" is the single and rightfully so, Anita invitingly cooing "and I think that I'll just make love to the next man that I see". In "A Light Possession" horns, keys and strings copulate under the sheets of a sweaty bass groove. I could go on but, well, you get the idea. This is Lane's most fully realized solo work to date, about half of which is really good.
Part of the Elephant 6 collective (Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia TremorControl, etc.), Beulah craft clever pop with intelligent lyrics thatbite and chew at the witty edges, all with less spacey dreamscapes thantheir brethren. After releasing two albums on as many labels, Beulahwere set to make their "major label debut" with this, their thirdrecord. Then the label, Capricorn, went away in the Unigram merger. AndBeulah were left out of the deal. Some former employees of Capricornformed Velocette Records — also the current home to Jack Logan, VicChesnutt, and Jucifer — and now they are releasing "The Coast Is NeverClear." And it's worth the wait. The album is different enough fromBeulah of "When Your Heartstrings Break" to be considered artisticgrowth, but enough of the same to please any Beulah fan. The productionseems a little smoother and clearer, and the mix more well-rounded, butthe songs contain that great full-fledged pop sound and the ironiclyrics you've always loved. On "A Good Man Is Easy To Kill," MilesKurosky's lyrics reach their finest hour, as he sings about the fearsof love and the beatification of the desired: "Give up give up yourlove/I promise it's not gonna kill ya" and "And when they cut out yourlung you said we could all breathe easy." The imagery is what'simportant, as anyone can sing songs about the trials and tribulationsof love. It takes the special ability to paint the picture for you soyou can see it for yourself to make the grade. There are a few minordisappointments. "Hello Resolven," though short, has all of the charmof a Beck b-side, which, given some of his a-sides, can't ever bepretty. And in some places it seems almost as though these songs wereintended for a major label debut by an indie artist: water down theirtrademark sound so that the average listener can stomach it. Overall,though, a strong release from these architects of fine pop music.
No matter how much they kick and scream, sometimes you just have to ripthat acoustic guitar out of the hands of the sissies. Maybe that's whatAstralwerks and Source were thinking when piecing together the 'remix'album of Norway's answer to black metal. I have to admit I'm a littlejaded about the concept of remix albums, and while it's rare I evenlike an entire remix disc, I can safely say I enjoy this one far morethan the originals. Nine songs (three of them twice) have been pluckedfrom the group's 'Quiet is the New Loud' album and have beentransformed by collaborations, remakes, rearrangements and remixes.Most of the time, the songs actually sound more 'complete', withadditional instruments added in cases like David Whittaker's stringarrangement enhanced version of "Toxic Girl", Riton's remix of "TheGirl Back Then" or Andy Votel's remix of "Winning a Battle, Losing theWar". Evil Tordievel does a punchy brass-heavy cover of "LeaningAgainst the Wall" while Alfie goes bass, percussion and distortedguitar overboard with their cover of "Failure." Ladytron skillfullyleave their muddy analogue synth sounds and chunky beats all over theirremix of "Little Kids". The most impressive contribution, hands down,would have to be the virtuoso sampling and playground antics of FourTet's "The Weight of My Words" (so good that an instrumental versionwas included). Fans shouldn't worry, however, as through all of thesealterations, however, the overall sense of sensitive new-age whiteguy-ness prevails. Thankfully this time around, the coupling musicisn't nearly as sappy.
Upon experiencing them live and then hearing "Gravitational Pull vs. the Desire for an Aquatic Life" a few years ago, SotL redefined for me the aesthetic of 'ambient' music and just how beautiful it can be. Now Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride (and others, including previous collaborator painter Jon McCafferty and film artist Luke Savisky) return with 124 more minutes of sleepy soliloquy.
Perhaps more so than ever they have shaped their signature sound clouds into orchestrated song structures, many being multi-part suites with readily identifiable movements. Loops and swathes of pure auditory warmth, often ingrained with or gradually overcome by the sweet strains of cello, wax and wane slow (e)motion melodies. Atmospheric location recordings, found sounds and a few obscured piano passages are also scattered throughout, not to disrupt or detract, but to help occasionally bring the heavenliness back down to Earth. This music engages, engulfs and expands the conscious and unconscious alike. This music is for rapid eye movement dreams, waking dreams and walking dreams alike. This music is ... simply gorgeous, nearly perfect. Stars of the Lid are set to tour Europe with Loscil next January.
They say timing is everything. Sometimes the timing is too eerie forwords. This is the debut album from explosions in the sky, if you don'tcount their self-released CD put out a few years ago (judging fromtheir comments about it on their website, they'd prefer not to countit, either). The album's full title is "those who tell the truth shalldie, those who tell the truth shall live forever," and the artwork isjust plain frightening. The cover has an angel emitting rays out of itshands towards a plane in the sky, while the heads and rifles ofsoldiers march underneath. Inside, a drawing of the plane isaccompanied by the caption "this plane will crash tomorrow." Another ofthe angel alone says "help us stay alive." It's funny how some eventswill make you question/believe in clairvoyance, or just examinesimilarities in a whole new light. Does any of this apply to the musicinside? A lot, apparently. explosions in the sky create epic guitarrock instrumentals much in the vein of Mogwai or the harder moments ofgybe!, and this release is like the soundtrack of foreboding doom. It'san amazing record, capable of destroying the will of even the strongestbeing. I am personally dumbfounded at how stirring it all is. Thismusic moves from moments of extreme quiet to moments of pureannihilating walls of guitar without warning. My pulse races justwriting about it now. The opening track, "greet death," breaks you withits crushing noise until the harmonic guitar line turns it intosomething much more beautiful and frightening. And there's a bit ofclairvoyance in the songs, too: on "have you passed through thisnight?" a man delivers a monologue where he says "Who's doing this?Who's killing us? Robbing us of life and light. Mocking us with thesight of what we might have known." It's horribly affecting. All inall, and eerie (now) qualities aside, this release is greatinstrumental rock music from four guys from Austin, TX. Music mattersagain. Buy this CD.
Like the last one this arrives as a double-CD and picks up where the last one left off. Once again, there's no rhyme nor reason to the order, as tracks are scattered rather randomly. While it's a good slice of what the group has been up to for the last ten years, and provides lots of pictures and bits and pieces on each song, I somehow feel this has way too much material readily available.
For instance, it includes a bunch of songs straight off the last three proper albums, like the popular favorites "Die Interimsliebenden," and "12305 Te Nacht" plus versions from CD singles that can still be found tossing around. Highlights include unreleased songs like 1998's "Scampi Alla Carlina" which almost made it to the Berlin Babylon soundtrack, the 1992 precursor to "Salamandrina" called "Snake," and the playfully amusing one-take collection closer, "Drachen" from 1993. Listening to modern EN, there's an undeniable feeling of an expressionless, cold-calculated effort, but outtakes are always good to proudly show a more personable side. The slightly stretched out version of "Architektur Ist Geiselnahme" opens the second disc and makes me yearn more for the 'Berlin Babylon' release. Its inclusion is a clear indication that what you're getting here is something incomplete, something that's not the entire picture. Live tracks are jumbled around with studio tracks, dates are completely out of order, styles don't flow comfortably, songs you know and can almost sing are followed by songs you've never heard before. Strategies Against Architecture is a conscious effort to contradict the rigid concept of an established structure (and a more eloquent way of saying "collapsing of new buildings"). In this case, it's the concept of an album. It works. However, you're at the mercy of the artist when it comes to listening to the record. The CD is designed not to be playable on computers (so you can't easily make your own CD comp and wipe out stuff you don't want to listen to) but you can always program songs out on your home deck.
There's a coda to the last track on the first Eardrum disc 'Last Light'where the drums pick up speed and the sound shifts to a denser butrougher texture and although I enjoyed the album I was left wishingthey'd gone more in that direction. Now it seems they have. If you wantdeeply hypnotic heavy rhythm then the second Eardrum album is what youneed. Lou Ciccotelli might be best known as Laika's drummer, but hasalso played in God and Mass amongst others. In Eardrum he teams up withRichard Olatunde Baker to play African influenced drum patterns whichare then manipulated in the studio to make a finely wrought entrancingmusic that pushes beyond the limits of genre. Although they've beeninfluenced by such luminaries as Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Lee Perry andFela Kuti, I'm reminded more of Can's last great track 'Smoke', one ofHolger Czukay's 'ethnic forgeries'. This would have been a greatjumping off point for Can to head into the heart of darkness, butinstead they lightened up and got slicker and poppier as Czukay tookmore of a back seat. Eardrum play dark heartbeats all the way. Titleslike 'Sandblasted', 'Bone Room' and 'Darker Still' sum up these eerietwilight talking drum rumblings perfectly. Although 'Side Effects' iscertainly a multi-layered drum led album, Ciccotelli and Baker and theseven other musicians have employed a huge range of percussion anddrone instruments, and some atmospheric sax and whistles. It allcoalesces perfectly on the ominous 'Lightfell' as deep drones underpinthe shifting movement of the shadow flicker drums and snake charmingwhistles. 'Side Effects' would make a great soundtrack for a journey upa great river in a dense overgrown jungle to an unknown destination.This album is released by the Leaf label and if you go towww.posteverything.com where it's available by mail order, you canlisten to real audio excerpts.
Okay, first things first: I know there are going to be some folks sitting at home reading this and rolling their eyes at the idea of a 'Feminist band' and sighing, "Yeah, I'm all for womens' rights and everything but you know, their music is all the same... and well, it ain't always that great. And like, how many times do I have to listen to yet another bitchy band simulating Hole or Babes in Toyland?" so, for those people, I've got three words for you: fuck that shit.
Now, I'm not suggesting you stop listening to these types of bands (if you haven't already), but what I am saying is that feminist music is much more than that and Le Tigre is certainly living proof of this. The songs on "Feminist Sweepstakes" are engaging, informative and in many ways, a lot of fun.
Much like Bob Dylan, Public Enemy or Billy Bragg, Le Tigre have successfully pulled of the feat of transplanting political activism into the pleasurable device of music without compromising or jeopardising their message. The album itself invites an exchange of ideas which challenge preconceptions of Feminism and female identity. But rather than adopt an antagonistic sneer of "I told you so. You suck," which doesn't help anybody by a long shot, Le Tigre have instead fostered a recognition that everyone (including themselves) have a lot to learn, as suggested by the lyrics of "Tres Bien." What this promotes is a healthy debate, if not understanding, between the artist and the listener/critic. That?s not to say that Le Tigre's approach is less confronting, because amidst the singable and danceable tunes of "Shred A?" "F.Y.R." and "On Guard?" they're still tackling some tough issues such as the continuation of female oppression, even in an era of so-called "liberation", which no doubt, some will find difficult to believe or accept. Make no mistake, these are not hollow complaints.
Musically speaking, "Feminist Sweepstakes" takes the retro themes canvassed on Le Tigre's eponymous debut as well as Kathleen Hanna?s earlier solo project, Julie Ruin, and develops them beyond the simple looped sample and drumbeat song structure. Generally, the songs on this album are more accomplished than their previous releases, and in this sense, it's encouraging to hear Le Tigre making a concerted effort to build their vocabulary not only as Feminists, but also as musicians. Besides the obvious new wave punk rock influence, Le Tigre borrow elements from other genres (similar to Chicks On Speed) which range from catchy mainstream bubblegum pop, to electronic dance, to cheerleading rally chants, to the use of skits and lyrical stylings of rap music. As such, Le Tigre's schizophrenic employment of various influences enables the band to dodge the "angry female rock" stereotype whilst at the same time, reinforcing the point that there is indeed more than one way to approach Feminism.
Explosive, dynamic, emotive, witty, profound and inspirational, Le Tigre possess a unique, raw energy coupled with ferocious intelligence which will make you go berserk on the dancefloor and maybe, just maybe, even make you a better person. How cool is that?
Five films by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson have music featured on this compact collection. While over the last few weeks I have been listening to more soundtracks than ever, I've been finding that listening to them straight through (for many) can be quite repetitious. Themes frequently get repeated ad nauseam with jumbled up arrangements between instruments, scatterings of 1-minute tracks seem rather incomplete, and there's always a sense of something 'missing' — but that's just the nature of the beast. A collection like this, however provides a ton of well-developed music, carefully collected and organized, and sparks an interest in the works of both HÖH and Fridriksson.
Three tracks from 1991's award-winning "Children of Nature", seven from 1994's "Movie Days", six from 1994's "Cold Fever", two from 1996's "Devil's Island" and two proverbial selections from "Angels of the Universe" make up the tracklist. Hilmarsson's scores are heavy with emotions, subtly crafted in various ways, either with conventional instrumental foundation like bass guitar, electronic reeds, or deep and decadent echoes, topped occasionally electronic samples, choral voices and weeping strings. I still have yet to see any Fridriksson film but the sounds here are enough to suggest I'm in for some very heavy stuff. Play this one extra loud.
Touch seems to be seeking out guitarists who manage to make the guitarsound like it hasn't sounded before. It seems odd that the red appled'Suspension' digipack cover wasn't one of large Mego style large cardenvelopes, like the recent Touch releases from Fennesz and RafaelToral, because Oren Ambarchi approaches the guitar with as unique anear as either of them. Like Toral and Fennesz, there is almost alwaysan underlying melodic base to what at first appears abstract, althoughAmbarchi's music probably requires more attentive listening to discernthis. About halfway through the intermittent speaker shaking drones andpulses of the title track, it sounds like his guitar morphs into anunderwater merry go round music box before it fades out in a shimmeringglow of glitch-like sparkles. A former drummer who switched to guitarbecause no one else in Sydney, Australia was willing to make music withthe kind of experimental edge he sought, Oren Ambarchi has made abeautiful record that moves onwards and upwards from nis previous Touchrelease 'Insulation'. The odd thing about 'Insulation' was thatalthough it was an improvised work, it reminded me of KarlheinzStockhausen's meticulously composed 'Kontakte' more than any of thenumerous comparisons that have been chucked Ambarchi's way. Theseinclude Keith Rowe, Tod Dokstader, Main, Dean Roberts, James Plotkin,Pimmon, Pan Sonic, Kevin Drumm, Jim O'Rourke, Pierre Schaefer and evenBrian Eno. That's not to say that these comparisons are unwarranted, asif you like many of the artists in that list, you may well also likeAmbarchi's deeply submerged six string soundscapes. He's moved on from'Insulation' in that he allows a little more repetition into thepicture, and this and the ultra low bass tones he coaxes from hisguitar give a warm glow to his spacious improvised pulses and rhythms.I'm not quite as amazed as many reviewers that Ambarchi creates suchunusual thrumming textures from just one little old guitar with nolaptop processing or other such trickery, as I've seen just what KeithRowe can do with an untuned guitar lying flat in a sea of springs andscrap. However that does nothing to detract from the fact that Ambarchihas made astonishing progress in relatively short time. From the widesonic range of feedback tones on 'This Evening So Soon' to the distantmemory loop simulations that open 'Wednesday' to the electron magnifieddeep bass textures and pulses of 'Gene', 'Suspension' is yet more proofthat Touch is putting out some of the best recordings around these days.
I don't think I've ever had my finger truly on the Pulse of ElectronicMusic. Sure, I've picked up some classic releases over the years and Istill get a small, guilty charge out of being "in touch" with theElectronic Literati. With this in mind, I've never been compelled to state labels like Warpare past their prime or certainly eclipsed by other outfits that dowhat they did, circa 1995, better. (Though sadly, evidence issupporting that more and more these days.) I'm still just as eager togive a new Warp signing a try, as I would a new Morr Music or 12K disc. So, I didn't feel guilty picking up the Brothomstates CD "Claro." Myfirst impression? "Will we ever be free of the Autechre StylisticStigma?" Admittedly, Brothomstates pepper "Claro" with a lot of niceAutechreisms that I enjoyed wholeheartedly, in spite of myself. Takenin light with Autechre's last album, the disappointing "Confield" (inmy player for a grand total of 3 listens), "Claro" is the best Autechrealbum this year. The beats are funky in a stilted way, and run farcloser to 80s electro and quasi-Detroit Techno than recent Autechreworks. And Brothomstates know how to craft a melody; I'll be damned ifsome of this doesn't remind me of my favorite Kraftwerk album "Ralf& Florian." I found myself grooving along on the train, and that'snot a bad thing at all. I know that without the hype and critical acclaim of the poppyexperimentalism of Autechre, there would be no Warp records issue of"Claro." It's a good album; which probably won't be reviewed in apositive light by The Wire or well received by music snobbies. But,like Chris Clark's recent "Clarence Park," it is a strong effort by anartist who clearly wears his influences on his sleeve. And I see littlewrong with that. When I'm looking for pleasant sonic trailblazing, I'd turn to Fennesz's"Endless Summer" or the myriad excellent 12K releases. But when I'mhankering for the days when Warp was putting out "Electronic ListeningMusic," Brothomstates's "Claro" makes a nice late-night snack.