the Ratiofarm

Ratiofarm 2011 Best Of

2011-12-31T03:50:00.000-08:00

We two have run about the slopes, and picked the daisies fine; But we’ve wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.

2011-11-18T07:47:00.001-08:00

11.11

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1. "Drift" by Broken Harbour from Gramophone Transmissions (2011). Crackling,looped orchestral pieces evocative of decomposing landscapes and abandoned cities. Lush depth.

2. "Ruins Of Stone" by Mark Fry & The A. Lords from I Lived In Trees (2011). The sounds of an old man ruminating on his long passed child hood never sounded so beautiful. Excellent, melancholy psych folk from this elusive master.

3. "Dry Ice" by Pure X from Pleasure (2011). Gorgeous, sleepy ballads in the vein of Dirty Beaches.

4. "Endless Summer" by Still Corners from Creatures Of An Hour (2011). Imagine Julee Cruise backed up by Broadcast. Oh, you don't have to.

5. "Object Of The Source" by Vinyl Williams from Lemniscate (2011). This guy combines some of the best contemporary psych ideas flawlessly and does it better than anyone else out there right now. An album of the year, for sure.

6. "Soft City" by Seely from Seconds (1997). This was one of my favorite albums of 1997. It still hold up pretty well, I'd say. Seely was one of the few decent bands in Atlanta in the late 90s.

7. "Kind" by Nils Frahm from Felt (2011). Excellent minimal piano pieces with found sounds and treatments.

8. "Sketch 9" by Tim Hecker from Dropped Pianos (2011). This is a sort of departure for Hecker, in which he uses piano scotches from his last album to make a bit more stripped down and minimal group of works. Really enthralling and one of his best.

9. "Ascension Phase" by Kuedo from Severant (2011). It's nice to see real artists emerging from the dubstep scene. Severant is a collection of excellent electronic pieces, one of the best and most original electronic albums I've heard in a while.

10. "Hideaway" by The Olivia Tremor Control from Black Foliage (Remaster) (2011). An amazing remastering that brings new depth to an already amazon-esque album of gold standard psyche rock. Included is a bonus disc of out takes and live jams, plus a download of loads of other extra pieces for the completist.

11. "Surf's Up" by The Beach Boys from The Smile Sessions (2011). I was never remotely a fan of the Beach Boys until Jeff Mangum introduced me to Smile back in 2000. My opinion of the Beach Boys was forever altered. Over the years he had cobbled together recordings of this lost masterpiece into their alleged album order. Like much contemporary bedroom folk, it had the warmth of lo-fi recording
as it stretched the bounds of psychedelic pop. As I listened, I came to understand that Brian Wilson understood more about the true power of music and songwriting than any of his contemporaries. I copied the bootleg CD Mangum had, but lost it in some file transfers. When Smile was officially released back in 2004, I was so disappointed at the atrocious Disnification of the phenomenal album I had originally heard that I wept. But now, we have the original recordings, released as they were originally envisioned, and it is a beautiful thing. A small part of the world is right again.

12. "Indulge Yourself" by E. Dresch from Short Stories (2011). Gentle acoustic guitar pieces perfect for wintery Sunday afternoons spent reading on the couch.

13. "Remember" by Oneohtrix Point Never from Reflections (2011). This record is probably going to irritate a lot of OPN fans. It's much more experimental, relying on Reichian loops more than sweet, vintage sine waves. Not all of the tracks are perfect, but when he hits the right combination, things get rally interesting. Kudos to Lopatin for jumping way far out and trying something new. Can't wait to see where this leads.

14. "Secrets For Sale" by Kent State from Walk Through Walls (2011). Great, dirty lo-fi garage rock. Really digging these guys.
Kinda has a 90s feel in some respects, but I can't quite pin down specifically how.

15. "Total Decay" by The Soft Moon from Total Decay 12" (2011). The Soft Moon explores more of the industrial side of their gothy cold wave aesthetic. More please!

16. "Nääksää Nää Mun Kyyneleet " by Tuusanuuskat from Nääksää Nää Mun Kyyneleet (2011). Collaboration of madness from Fonal and Es helmsman Sami Sänpäkkilä and Kemialliset Ystävät cult leader Jan Anderzen. This might make your brain turn inside out, but once you get "comfortable" with it, it's a pretty amazing feeling.

17. "As Each Tucked String Tells" by Jacaszek from Glimmer (2011). More delectable ambient sound worlds from this brilliant Polish composer. This piece specifically stands out, brimming with fantastic ideas.

18. "La Ouaeynayki" by Farid El Atrache from the El Ho El Kebir & El Khourouj Men El Gana OSTs (1970). Beautiful songs from films by Egyptian director Henry Barakat.

19. "And Instantly Take Effect" by Christina Vantzou from No. 1 (2011). Breathtaking ambient panoramas from Dead Texan member.

20. "The Art of Mirrors (after Derek Jarman)" by Harold Budd
from In The Mist (2011). This is, so far, the highlight of Mr. Budd's career. Crawling repetitions that truly make the listener feel immersed in some liminal mist. A masterpiece.

Through Glass

2011-09-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

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1. "Every Tomorrow" by Adderall Canyonly from Asuuna (2011).
A fascinating blend of electronic soundscapes and noise. Lots of bizarre and beautiful little worlds.

2. "See Thru Eyes" by Active Child from You Are All I See (2011).

I wasn't to keen on this album until I listened to it on headphones. Jaw-dropping production and a very unique stylistic approach. It's interesting that he's moved to a higher vocal register, really the only thing I found off-putting at first, but it grew on me pretty quickly. This is a stand out track.

3. "Mouves" by Tropics from Parodia Flare (2011).

This album is not as solid as one would hope, lots of instrumental interludes that sound pretty similar, but when they nail down a great pop song, they fucking nail it.

4. "In Dear Tiger's Claw" by Looks Realistic from Sans (2010).

I just discovered this strange label, Moss Archive, and its interesting, keyboard-based bands, including Looks Realistic and Bastian Void. In the realm of Hobocult Records, wonky keyboard-driven pieces. Charmingly disorienting.

5. "Isfahim Taxim" by Cemil Bey from To What Strange Place: The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora 1916-1929 (2011). This collection is a treasure trove of awesome 78 tracks.
If you enjoy Rembetika and dusty, old sounds, definitely pick up this 3 disc set.

6. "Dead End " by Reading Rainbow from the Dead End EP (2011).

A solid new garage-pop jam from this decent garage-pop duo.

7. "Wait" by M83 from Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (2011).
Oh my god! Who knew that back in the 80s, Peter Gabriel found a time machine and journeyed to the year 2011 to make a concept record about what his music would sound like in 20-odd years, as a band called M83?! Not that there aren't a couple of decent songs on HU,WD, but it mostly sounds exactly like a Peter Gabriel record. The awesome thing about Saturdays=Youth and Before The Dawn Heals Us is that Gonzalez was able to combine and distill several genres, making something that was nostalgic while still managing to sound new. This, unfortunately banal, double album is little more than a blatant rip-off of Gabriel's So-era sound. While "Wait" has some staying power and still manages to connect on an emotional, albeit hyper, level (songs by the likes of Arcade Fire and Sigur Ros come to mind), two entire discs of this kind of nonsense threaten to render even the bright moments trite. There's plenty of same-ey instrumental fat that could have been trimmed as well. Oh, there's also a decent Panda Bear song at the end of the first disc?

8. "Vaporware" by Bastian Void from Ported (2011).
Great keyboard work in the arpeggiating vein of Oneohtrix Point Never. Plus weird beats at strange times.

9. "J'attendrai" by Rina Ketty from Etoiles De La Chanson.
Another amazing French chanteuse of yesteryear.

10. "Guy De Maupassant" by Dave Cloud & The Gospel Of Power from Practice In Milky Way (2011). Ha ha, get it? Weirdo garage rocker from Nashville and his band of ruffians take it to the next level with this sick slab of wax. Listen to it.

11. "I Heart My Goldifox" by Pow Wows from Nightmare Soda (2011).
Garage-punk freakout.

12. "Roar Churngale" by Tirath Singh Nirmala from Slimp Tench Depth (2006).
Madness in the realm between Angus Maclise and Kemialliset Ystävät. Tread lightly.

13. "Untitled" by John Fernandes from his self titled LP (2011).

I believe that this is the first solo release from this Elephant 6 stalwart. String arrangements that range from the slightly traditional to the incredibly bizarre. 100% excellent, though it would be nice if there was more.

14. "Soft Disconnect" by Fabric from A Sort of Radiance (2011).

Excellent drone-scapes to drift away to. The gentleman behind Fabric, Matthew Mullane, also makes excellent acoustic guitar music that's sure to please fans of John Fahey and James Blackshaw.

15. "The Crystal Lake" by Grandaddy from The Sophtware Slump (Deluxe Edition) (Disc One) (2011). This often over-looked classic gets the reissue treatment with some interesting outtakes and b-sides. Mainly, this is a good moment to revisit an album that was kind of perfect for it's time. Dealing with the sadness of being over whelmed by technology and fear of becoming obsolete, there are plenty of breathtaking thoughts and observations on this disc. "The Crystal Lake" is a stand out pop masterpiece of existential crisis.

16. "Weir" by Deaf Center from Pale Ravine (2005).

Excellent, sweeping ambient drone duo from Norway. Minimalist orchestration thick with rich layers of synthy haze and unrecognizable collected sound-debris from here and there. So, so good!

17. "Ix" by Roly Porter from Aftertime (2011).

Industrial done-scapes for a frightening time. Horrific microcosms. Feels like little soundtracks for the automatons of The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes.

18. "Bilawal: Pyara Nazara Nahin by" Khansahib Abdul Karim Khan from the self-titled
reissue LP (2011). A great collection of 78s from this classical Indian vocalist, recently reissued by the fucking amazing Mississippi Records.

19. "Steep Hills Of Vicodin Tears" by A Winged Victory For The Sullen from the self titled LP (2011). Luscious drones and minimal orchestration drench your mind with this Stars Of the Lid related release. Pretty much like SOTL, but with more going on.

deer face

2011-08-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

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1. "The lights that we saw that evening were the passing of distant trains" by Sandcastles from the EP of the same title (2011).

I randomly discovered this young, Swedish ambient composer on his soundcloud page. The first time I listened to this track, I was staring out at Lake Michigan on a humid day, watching fog lift from the water. The way the horizon was blurring combined with this beautiful track made me feel as if I were passing on from this life into the rest of the universe. It was a quiet, surreal, intense, and beautiful experience, like the majority of the music Sandcastles makes.

2. "A Relationship With the Sublime" by The Caretaker from An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011).
I believe I've mentioned before that this incarnation of Leyland Kirby's compositions is inspired by the closing scene from Kubrick's The Shining. Most of The Caretaker's pieces seem to imply some liminal space of waiting and nostalgia that lies beyond our corporeal world. The repetition of phrases creates an unease that suggests atmospheres of tense unknowing, but it's still in a dreamlike haze that the listener floats through various waiting rooms of The Caretaker's estate.

3. "J'Ai Deux Amours" by Josephine Baker from the self-titled collection.
I've been obsessing over Baker's recordings all summer long. This is just another excellent example of her vocal range and the excellent compositions that accompanied her.

4. "Eu Sonhei Que Tu Estavas Tao Linda" by Telebossa from their self-titled LP (2011).
Imagine Nick Drake singing his songs in Portuguese, with Philip Glass having redone the arrangements. Minimal deconstruction of bossa nova and samba.

5. "Beyond The Wychelm" by The Advisory Circle from As the Crow Flies (2011).
It's always exciting when Mr. Brooks releases a new album of his library music-inspired, um, music. This album finds him experimenting more in very specific aural structures. Also known as "songs". Creepy and soothing at the same time. Check out his blog.

6. "Notre Silence" by Michel Cloup (duo) from Notre Silence (2011).
Excellent spoken word pieces with moody, Mogwai-esque music.

7. "Hypnotic Light" by Jon Brooks from Music For Thomas Carnacki (2011).
Brooks is indeed a busy fellow. Here's more creepy music, this time Brooks focuses on an Edwardian fictional detective who explored supernatural cases.

8. "Hoop Earrings in the Slush" by Trouble Books & Mark McGuire from their self-titled LP (2011).
Laid back acoustic jamming with Mr. McGuire providing some awesome layers.

9. "Beyond the Tide" by Jürgen Müller from Science of the Sea (2011).
In which Mr. Müller evokes the otherworldly realms of the ocean via swirling keyboard arpeggios and drones. Simply stunning on headphones.

10. "Bataille" by The Men from Leave Home (2011).
At this point, Sacred Bones Records has a pretty amazing track record. Here's another stellar entry, this time from aggressive punk-garage rockers The Men.

11. "Solid Space" by Tunnels from The Blackout (2011).
Nicholas Samuel Bindeman of Jackie-O Motherfucker and Eternal Tapestry presents another side of his musical rates with this excellent visitation of minimal cold-wave. One of the best albums of the year.

12. "Earth Radar" by Charlatan from Voyagers (2011).
Minimal IDM with chilly spaced-out synths.

13. "Memory Lost" by Snowman from Absence (2011).
A singular and final release from these Aussies. Hard to describe without sounding cheesy, which would be a shame because this is a really fantastic album. Too bad they've called it quits.

14. "Hounfour" by The Haxan Cloak from the Observatory EP (2011).

This is one of two spectacular releases by Bobby Krlic this year. This one focuses more on electronic, gothy atmospherics, while the other, a self-titled full length, utilizes traditional instruments to the same, if not more sparse, effect. Definitely get them both.

15. "Palm Tree Corpse" by Prurient from Burmuda Drain (2011).
Prurient is a well established noise artist, but here we find him taking a slightly more melodic approach to his explorations in sound. Round and ominous synthesizers replace grinding noise, for the most part, as he emulates Rodan and Slint in his angst filled vocal deliveries.

16. "Coto" by Kashiwa Daisuke from 88 (2011).
Daisuke steps away from his usual intense mashup of cinematic experimental chamber/electronic music with this collection of introspective piano pieces.

17. "Minnie the Moocher" by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra from Selected Favorites.
Here's the original "Minnie the Moocher" from the brilliant Cab Calloway. The entire collection is a must for any true music collector.

18. "La Banane" by Katerine from Philippe Katerine (2010).
Katerine is hands down my favorite contemporary French musician (that's him in the baseball t-shirt). Throughout his musical career he has challenged the conventions of art, music and society. He continues to do so on last year's Philippe Katerine, which is full of silly but infectious pop gems.

19. "Light Echoes" by Barn Owl from Lost In the Glare (2011).
Barn Owl's third release in less than a year finds them still out exploring the boarders of psychedelic dronescapes and reporting back with another mind-bending recording.

20. "Fooling No One" by Cut Off Your Hands from Hollow (2011).
Bright, jangly pop that brings to mind early R.E.M. and the shoegaze/britpop merger of the early 90s. Perfect end of the summer album.

21. "Nightscape" by EL Heath from Shropshire Hill County (2011).
Strangely nostalgic, eerie, experimental sound pieces from Mr. Heath. The music is evocative, timeless, gorgeous. He continues to delight and amaze.

22. "Kokyu" by Teruyuki Nobuchika from Sonorité (2011). This is an exquisite collection of minimal piano pieces, mostly optimistic, at times child-like. "Kokyu" in particular struck me with its overlapping, repetitive phrasing. As the field recording of waves gently washes in, the piano work seems to evoke sunlight sparking off of the water's ripples, as the tide ebbs and flows.

In Girum Imus Nocte Et Consumimur Igni

2011-06-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

Get It

1. "Endlessly" by Antonymes from The Licence To Interpret Dreams (2011). LTID is another introspective, "classical"/ambient album with electronics unobtrusively sprinkled in. And, it's another one that is jaw droppingly gorgeous. Then, there's "Endlessly", which pushes your boat from the shore into the unknown mists of death and softly weeps as you fade away.

2. "Fort Collins" by Julian Lynch from Terra (2011). Another solid record from bizarro Sufjan Stevens. Stevens wishes he was as creative as Lynch. Abstracted psychedelic pop, perfect for summer porches.

3. "Today, Same Day" by Matthewdavid from Outmind (2011).

Here's some near-danceable, glitch-hop mash-up nonsense that's sure to start your evening out sloopy. Güd tymez. Think Black Dice + Panda Bear. Maybe.

4. "Temporal Vessels" by Tropic of Cancer from The Sorrow Of Two Blooms EP (2011).

To call this goth or witch.haus or drag or any such name would be selling this band short. Elements of VU's more experimental side, vaporous aspects of grouper, even a little Low temper this depressive but immersive debut that is definitely worth owning.

5. "Secret Heart" by Belong from Common Era (2011).
God damn there have been some fantastic albums released this year. Belong's CE is one of my favorites by far. Slowed down shoegaze burners broadcasting towards you through the foggy aether, with some sweet 80s dance grooves bubbling up to keep it from getting too melancholy. This is the stand out pop-ish song on the disk.

6. "Alien Observer" by Grouper from the double records A I A:
Dream Loss and Alien Observer (2011).
Liz Harris melts my mind with her existential lyrics and goopy Wurlitzer organ. Another one of the best records 2011 has produced. This one is great for late nights when it's hard to see.

7. "Drugged" by Matt Christensen from A Cradle In The Bowery (2011).
A member of Zelienople steps away from his band to bring us a record focused on more traditional song structures, bathed in reverb and echo.

8. "Beliver" by John Maus from We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves (2011).
If Maus belives in anything, it's the power of a fantastic pop song. This, his third record, is another fantastically bizarre, 80s mutant child. Heavy on tinny synths, it's pretty fun over all, good road trip music, and it ends on this high note.

9. "Revolution Wavers" by Psychedelic Horseshit from Laced (2011).
Here we find Psychedelic Horseshit setting the attitude aside (for the most part) and proving that they fucking know their shit. This is the best thing I've heard so far this year. Layers and layers of nearly every musical style. Brilliant.

10. "Squeezit The Moocher" from the film The Forbidden Zone (1982). This is a Josephine Baker song, actually titled "La Petite Tonkinoise". I was recently re-watching The Forbidden Zone, an amazing film by Richard Elfman (Danny Elfman's brother), and was struck by the use of this song in one of the musical numbers. If you haven't seen The Forbidden Zone, I highly recommend watching it.

11. "Stop Time" by Animal Style from Reso-rubbish (2006).
I've been trying to track down this guy's work since first hearing his Nintendo Symphony back in 2005. I recently discovered that most of his back catalog is available for free
on his website. Joey Mariano is the best chiptune composer I've heard. Wish I could find Nintendo Symphony 'cause that shit is flat out amazing.

12. "By This River" by Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto from Summvs (2011).
These two electronic composers make piano-based minimal
music that lies somewhere between glitch, ambient and lowercase. Very sweet background music, but also quite rewarding on headphones. This is their 6th collaboration.

13. "Centaur In Autumn" by OV from Noctilucent Valleys (2011).
OV is Loren Chasse and Christine Boepple of various San Francisco psyche outfits, both members in the masterful Jeweled Antler Collective. In OV they offer minimal, repeating patterns based in guitar. Very absorbing stuff.

14. "You Girls Smoke Cigarettes" by No Joy from Ghost Blonde (2010). Exciting noise pop with references to Sonic Youth, Eric's Trip and the Breeders.

15. "Spiraling" by Zomes from Earth Grid (2011).

Zomes' music is similar to OV in concept, but the execution is based more on keyboards and drums, less on reverbed guitar jams and much more structured. Earth Grid finds Asa Osborne stepping away, just a foot or so, from the rigid structures of his previous album, letting his compositions breathe and grow in very organic and subtle ways.

16. "Access Point" by Sundrips from Just A Glimpse (2011). Layers of repeating chords and arpaggieos stretch our from the first light of dawn to the last ray of the setting sun.

17. "Touchstone" by Amor de Dias from Street of the Love of Days (2011). Alasdair Maclean presents this Clientele side project with collaborator Lupe Nunez-Fernandez. They switch off vocals on most every track, but I find the songs sound best when they're duets. Lupe's solos are a little too precious and Maclean's pretty much sound just like his Clientele work. After a few listens, though, the album really congeals as the perfect soundtrack for a quiet summer evening on the back porch with your closest friend.

18. "The Sketch" by Tomasz Bednarczyk from Let's Make Better Mistakes Tomorrow (2011).
Alright, I give up, unless the E6 gang or Jeweled Antler get together produce a ton of amazing albums in the next 7 months, 12k wins "Record Label of the Year" from the Ratiofarm. Another, another, stunning album of minimal electronic ambient compositions is released by Taylor Dupree's label. Just listen. As always, with headphones.

19. "Crystal Harvest" by Higuma from Pacific Fog Dreams (2011).

Excellent psyche/drone/noise/ from barn owl Evan Caminiti and Lisa McGee. The cover there is actually a perfect visual description of the contents of the record. What you would expect from a member of Barn Owl, but wonderful nonetheless.

20. "Bidad" by Parviz Meshkatian from Dawn (1996).

Haunting compositions by this Iranian musician close out this mont's mix. It's mind blowing what this guy can do with just one instrument.

thaw

2011-05-25T10:26:00.001-07:00

LISTEN

1. "Mantra 2" by Popol Vuh from The Werner Herzog Soundtracks (2010).
An epic collection of Popol Vuh's astounding soundtracks for Herzog's early films. Influenced by indigenous musics before that sort of thing was really popular and badly done. Really ground breaking stuff.
Also, do yourself a favor and go see Herzog's new film The Cave of Forgotten Dreams while you can still catch it in 3D.
This is the best use of 3D film I've seen so far. It is an amazing documentary.

2. "Odorless Boatman's Belt" by The Elephant Six Orchestra from the Welcome To Our Story 7" (2011).
Finally, the E6 Orchestra is releasing recordings!! This is from their recent tour. It's an awesome collage of all of their styles.
I demand more.

3. "Parade" by Heypenny from A Jillion Kicks (2011).
This Nashville band rocks the party with this Prince by-way-of Phoenix full length. Very fun, intricate stuff, good for getting the vacation kicked off right.

4. "Because Of The Blood" by Sin Fang from Summer Echoes (2011).
Bedroom folk pop that is much more grand than it initially seems. Sweet melodies and loads of layered ear candy.

5. "Sara" by Chad VanGaalen from Diaper Island (2011).
VanGaalen's new LP is a more garage oriented than his last effort. The chords are loud and strange, but work perfectly. A friend said this album sounds like the lines on the highway passing by at night when you're driving fast trying to get away from your home town. It definitely has a sense of urgency to it, with echoes of Beck's One Foot In the Grave. And then there's this track. Simple, lovesick, mystical. It taps in to imagery used by Neutral Milk Hotel on tracks like "Engine" or "Two-Headed Boy". Supernatural love-sickness. Phenomenal.

6. "Reefer Man" by Baron Lee & The Blue Rhythm Band from DrugSongs: High & Low 1917-1941 (2005).
A great collection of exactly what the title describes. It

7. "To The Abbey" by The High Llamas from Talahomi Way (2011).
Best High Llamas album yet! Full of dense, sweet strings and amazing melodies. There are all sorts of influences here, but they all meld together perfectly, without pretension. I'd love to be sitting under a tent on some Mediterranean beach, drinking
lemonade and listening to this album on a sunny day.

8. "Harmandali Zeybek" Santuri Recep & Kucuk Cemal from Brass Pins And Match Heads: International 78s (2011).
This is from a great collection of, as the title implies, old 78s.
Every track on this comp is a lost jewel.

9. "Ramble on Cortona" by Gavin Bryars from Piano Concerto (The Solway Canal) (2011).
The British avant garde composer who brought us the beautiful and epic The Sinking of the Titanic and Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet (1975) finally tries his hand at solo piano compositions on this record. This melancholy piece celebrates the beauty of Cortona, Italy (where Bryars studied) and the longing to return to halcyon days there.

10. "The Ballad Of The Space Babies" by Jim Guthrie from Sword & Sworcery LP - The Ballad of the Space Babies (2011).
This is the BEST soundtrack I've ever heard for a video game. It stands on its own while enhancing the gameplay. Hell, it's part of the gameplay. Both the game and the soundtrack reference two of my favorite pop culture high points, The Legend Of Zelda and Twin Peaks.
The game itself manages an original take on classic Zelda themes while completely standing on its own, and hopefully a precursor to a more extensive game. It's challenging, artistic,
sentimental and metaphysical. Jim Guthrie's soundtrack and sound effects echo this perfectly. S: S&S EP is an artistic achievement.
Check it out:

11. "Sky" by Great Rite from Demo (2011).
Ethereal witch.haus. Some of the best of the genre.

12. "Emergency Broadcast " by The Rosen Association from their self-titled 2010 LP.
A great Chicago band. Broadcast colliding with Interpol comes to mind. I'm excited to watch this band evolve.

13. "E.S. Des Grauens In Fifths" by Rene Hell from The Terminal Symphony (2011).
Krauty electro jams. Heady and complex.

14. "Inner Pole f" by Billiam Wutler Yea from Y Eso Que Muerte (2010).
Looped samples slowed down, sped up and reversed. Disorienting and exciting. Black Dice-esque, but more dense.

15. "Waco, Wasilla, Waikiki" by Crystal Swells from Goethe Head Soup (2011).
Sickgarage party time. Open the doors, let the debris flow in.

16. "Doesn't Matter What's Right" by Lee Noble from No Becoming (2011).
Wavy, distorted thoughts upon a hazy ocean of vapor. Good for that special time of night/early morning.

17. "Hold But Let Go" by Six Organs of Admittance from Asleep on the Floodplain (2011).
This song is gently intense. On an album of psyche-folk, back porch grooves, it stands out as a moment of sobriety. Great summer afternoon chillin' stuff.

18. "Eye Of A Needle" by Floating Action from Desert Etiquette (2011).
Haven't heard the whole album yet, but definitely looking forward to this summer-enhancing band. Washes you out in the tide with perfectly executed retro-production and R&B + Caribbean equation.

19. "All The Sun That Shines" by Peaking Lights from 936 (2011).
These guys are getting pretty far out into dubland, something I'm not usually a fan of. PL manage to keep it interesting by constantly evolving the songs and adding thick, smoky layers.

20. "Burn Out " by Widowspeak from Harsh Realm/Burnout 7" (2011).
More lazy afternoon jams. Everything else can wait.

21. "Unbearable Keepsake" by Kevin Greenspon from Corridor (2010).
Harsh shredding that melts into sonic honey. Fucking awesome.

22. "Want To Exist" by Times New Viking from Dancer Equired (2011).
TNV reinvent themselves on their latest effort. Well, kind of.
gone is the blown out noise of the past, here is the softer blown out side. It still rocks and Dancer Equired finds them focusing more on the melodies that are usually buried in their songs.
This song sums it up.

23. "Night" by Jannick Schou from Night (2010).

Another beautiful piece by master of subtlety, Jannick Schou, my favorite ambient artist of late. I recommend headphones (always), bed and night time for this, it will carry you off.

you are listening to Chicago

2011-03-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, this is a pretty amazing idea. Ambient music drifts in and out, accompanied by a live police scanner. Very effective and mesmerizing, at times unsettling. A few other major cities are available, as well.

listen: Chicago

heavy snow

2011-03-01T19:15:00.000-08:00

< < < < HEAR > > > >

1. "The Sprawling, Glorious Newness" by Geotic from Mend (2011). An album of beautiful guitar mantras by Will Wiesenfeld from Baths, this expression suits him better. Each piece exudes a gentle, nostalgic wistfulness.

2. "The Great Pan Is Dead" by Cold Cave from Cherish The Light Years (2011). Whoa. This is the best straight up pop song I've heard in a while. A new direction from Cold Cave's previous recordings, Cherish is a tribute to the goth and glam tinged dance pop of the 80's, mainly Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears and Duran Duran. However, the first track is more along the lines of Sisters Of Mercy, and it's amazing. In fact, it's almost too good, because the rest of the album, while still quite enjoyable, doesn't live up to the power of its opener.

3. "Do It Every Time" Ringo DeathStarr from Colour Trip (2011). In this corner, decent MBV love songs with more discernible vocals and some pretty good pop hooks.

4. "Artists' Valley" by Bibio from Mind Bokeh (2011).
While more lush and varied than its predecessor Ambivalence Avenue, Bibio's new collection of songs is not as straight forward. Mostly it melds 80's dance floor beats with strange psychedelic excursions. Worth patient exploration for some of the most original compositions I've heard in some time.

5. "The False Cross" by Boy Friend from Boy Friend (2011).
Two of the hazy geniuses who brought you Sleep Over Forever form a softer duo for these minimal shoe-gaze love songs. The vocals coming from the across the foggy lake effect is incredibly hypnotic.

6. "Lost at Sea" by Puro Instinct from Headbangers In Ecstacy (2011).
Formerly Pearl Harbor, these brilliant young ladies now have a full band backing their excellent songs.

7. "Sexless Auto" by Lifeguards from Waving At The Astronauts (2011). Yet another great project from Robert Pollard, this time collaborating with old GBV member Doug Gillard.

8. "Hatred Of Music 1" by Tim Hecker from Ravedeath, 1972 (2011). Hecker's latest exploration of processed soundscapes is mostly based on organ.

9. "Gentleman Amateur" by Zs from New Slaves (2010).
Experimental noise improv awesomeness!

10. "True Blue" by Dirty Beaches from Badlands (2011).
This fantastic collection of lo-fi songs harkens back to pop songs of the 50s and 60s garage rock.

11. "Where Damage Isn't Already Done" by The Radio Dept. from Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010 (2011). Passive Aggressive is a great introduction to this Swedish pop duo, cherry picking from their impressive body of work.

12. "N6" by The Psychic Paramount II (2011).
The Psychic Paramount specializes in heavy but thoughtful, often loud, psychedelic bliss-out jams. They can be pretty abrasive (in a face-melting-awesome kind of way), but this most recent album sees them stretching out their ideas and reaching in new directions. Highly recommended, as well as their debut Gamelan Into the Mink Supernatural.

13. "She's So High" by Blur from Leisure (1991).
I've been recently revisiting this, Blur's first album. It was sort of dismissed as a more saccharine version of the shoe-gaze Britpop that was popular at the time, but I think it stands up to most of it's contemporaries as a lasting and fantastic album.

14. "The White of Noon" by Starfucker from Reptilians (2011).
Portland, Oregon's Starfucker make pretty spacey, danceable electro pop gems.

15. "Styled by Dr. Roberts" by Frog Eyes from Paul's Tomb: A Triumph (2010). Last year's Frog Eyes release was something that was overlooked by many, including our little collective. Unfortunate, as it was one of the year's best. Frog Eyes is not a band for the faint of heart. Their music is a complicated puzzle that demands full attention. Definitely off-putting if you're not in the mood, but incredibly rewarding if you are patient. Carey Mercer's vocals are somewhere in between the passionate verbosity of Jeff Mangum and the drunken careening of Isaac Brock. The instrumentation is relentless and all parts vie for attention. If you enjoy this, definitely check out other related projects Swan Lake and Blackout Beach, as well as Sunset Rubdown byformer member and collaborator Spencer Krug.

16 . "My Awesome Drugs Propaganda" by Fabio Orsi from Stand Before Me, Oh My Soul (2011). Italian drone genius offers up a more traditional record of guitar work. Expansive and more along the lines of Sonic Youth's experimentation than his earlier more minimal work.

17. "Superstar" by Sonic Youth from If I Were A Carpenter (1994). Just revisiting this song, which is nothing short of a fucking brilliant cover. This is what covers should be, if you ever feel the need to make one. Total reinvention.

18. "Lazslo Lassú" by A Hawk and a Hacksaw from Cervantine (2011). More Baltic goodness from Jeremy Barnes and friends. Definitely see this band live if you ever have the opportunity and enjoy their rousing performance.

19. "Hussani Lal Qalander" by The Blue Birds from Pakistan: Folk and Pop Instrumentals 1966-1976 (2011). Amazing surf/psyche/garage gems from hippier times in Pakistan.

20. "My Four Reasons" by “Banjo” Ikey Robinson And His Bull Fiddle Band from Baby, How Can It Be? (Songs Of Love, Lust And Contempt From The 1920s And 1930s) (2010). This is a fantastic, 3 disk collection of music from a strange time in America's history. There are songs from all over the genre map that are sure to please the music history enthusiast.

21. "Mako Mady" by Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal from Chamber Music (2011). Fans of Ali Farka Touré will enjoy this mellow meeting of cello and kora.

2011-01-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

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1. Part II by Scott Cortez from Twin Radiant Flux (2010). This is a mellow album of movements in drone. As it progresses, layers are added and gently crescendo in rapturous slow motion.

2. Glorious Dawn (ft Carl Sagan & Stephen Hawking) by Colorpulse from Glorious Dawn. I know this is a litte old, but I just randomly found an mp3 of it and I'm totally in love with this glorious hymn to science. Check out more interesting songs by Colorpulse, all free downloads, at his Symphony of Science website.

Here's an old interview Ted Turner had with Sagan:

3. Super Duper Rescue Heads! by Deerhoof from Deerhoof vs. Evil (2011). The new Deerhoof is the fucking JAM. It's like they've concentrated their powers into one epic, technicolor rainbow blast.

4. Konami by Apparat Organ Quartet from Pólýfónía (2010). Icelandic krautrock videogame music, what else do you need to know? This song is about a videogame company. I guess they really enjoyed Contra and Castlevania.

5. Swingalong by Belbury Poly from Ghost Box Study Series 03: Welcome to Godalming (2010). This single finds the normally off kilter, kind of goofy-pants Belbury Poly venturing into the sonic realms of labelmates The Advisory Circle, and to nice effect.

6. Circles by The Soft Moon from The Soft Moon (2010). This is another favorite from the tail end of last year. For anyone into the angular stylings of cold/no-wave, post-punk and early Bauhaus, The Soft Moon is a godsend.

7. Unfamiliar Skies by Theologian from The Further I Get From Your Star, The Less Light I Feel On My Face (2010). Heavy, heavy ambient sludge-doom drones, based on Clive Barker's writing.

8. Quattro Stagioni by Cheveu from 1000 (2010). Fucking sick garage/no-wave jams by this vastly improved French group. There's a great cover of Ice Ice Baby on the album.

9. Not in Love (feat. Robert Smith) by Crystal Castles from the Not in Love single (2010).
The best thing Smith has done, easily, in 20 years.

10. Mer by Chelsea Wolfe from Ἀποκάλυψις (2010). Really creepy stuff. Mostly acoustic arrangements with underwater vocals. Like PJ Harvey doing witch.house.

11. Chemistry Lessons by Myelin Sheaths from Get On Your Nerves (2010). Well executed and exciting garage-noise. About science!

12. Rano Pano by Mogwai from Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (2011). This is the
best Mogwai album in some time. Loaded with balls to the wall rock.

13. Terrace of the Leper King by William Tyler from Behold The Spirit (2010). Yet another
album I hadn't listened to quite enough to tack onto my year end faves list, but definitely one of last year's best. Tyler is obviously heavily influenced by John Fahey, but takes the James Blackshaw approach to composition, producing works that end up sounding more ethereal and raga-like. It's pretty sick what he can do.

14. Tears In the Typing Pool by Broadcast from Tender Buttons (2005). One of my favorite Broadcast songs. It's still hard to believe she's gone.

15. Jai Rama Chandra by Alice Coltrane from Turiya Sings (1982). This album didn't strike me on the first listen, but when it came up on random when some friends were over and it seeped into my subconscious as we were talking, I found myself suddenly overwhelmed by it's beauty. Mrs. Coltrane is basically singing Hindu chants over watery drones and erie keyboards. The production is a little dated, but it adds to the mystical quality of the music.

16. River Like Spine by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma from Love Is A Stream (2010). An easy-going version of The Yellow Swans' approach to destroying your eardrums with blissful noise.

17. Wave Atlas by Marcus Fischer from Monocoastal (2010). Humble, lowercase glitch-ambient guitar tones. Another late favorite from 2010.

18. Filter Chaos Strategy by François D'Eybastens from the Index of Unrelated Events EP (2010). Bizarre experimental noise that shifts and explores interesting places throughout a single song. Looking forward to more by this artist.

19. The First White Man To Touch California Soil by Sic Alps from Napa Asylum (2011).
Oh, man, these guys just get better and better! A less-silly Pavement on quaaludes and
whiskey.

20. Sur La Planche by La Femme from Le Podium #1 : La Femme (2010). A compelling debut from this French garage band.

21. Last Night At The Jetty by Panda Bear from Last Night At The Jetty (2010). Alright, now I'm getting excited about Panda Bear's new album!

22. Real Life (Acoustic Version) by Tanlines from Volume On (2010). Most of Tanline's first full-length, a collection of their past singles and EPs for the most part, is all bouncy fun with mathy keys and guitars and Reggae and African-influenced beats. Fun up-beat party music.

This stripped down version of Real Life is the anomaly on the album, which I didn't really dig at first, mostly because of the vocal delivery. But it grew on me after a while and, as simple as the message is, I find it moving and sincere.

23. Falling by Julee Cruise from Floating Into The Night (1990). Recently, we at the ratiofarm revisited David Lynch's television masterpiece Twin Peaks and were reminded of how fucking mind blowing and ground breaking it was/is, especially for the time in which it aired. I was also struck by the music, which I remembered finding cloyingly irritating back in the 90s. I tracked down Julee Cruise's albums from this time period, both of which are fantastic (as well as a collection of all of Agent Cooper's micro-cassette dictations to Diane). It's amazing not only how well these albums have held up, but also how much this music seems to be influencing the witch.house genre currently. Also, certain contemporary clothing stores look like they are pulling their current fashions directly from the Twin Peaks wardrobe.

24. Storm by Gloga from In Loving, We Dissolve (2010). Gentle waves of white noise and distortion.

R.I.P. Trish Keenan, Broadcast

2011-01-14T07:16:00.000-08:00

Photo by Gail O'Hara from her flickr page

What a sad day for the music world. The singer of the british psychedelic band Broadcast has passed through the veil, allegedly from complications stemming from H1N1. The music of Broadcast has always been forward thinking and exciting, but Keenan's lyrics are what really made it for me. She was one of the most poetic songwriters I've ever heard, while managing to retain masterful control of tune and songcraft. Oh, heaviest of sighs.

2010 Essential Albums

2010-12-13T14:21:00.000-08:00

/////////////////////////////////////YEAR END MIX////////////////////////////////////

There were honestly just so many amazing albums that were released this year, really, where do you start? Here are the records that lodged themselves firmly in my subconscious during 2010. By all means, feel free to share your favorites as well.

1. Oneohtrix Point Never . Returnal (song - Stress Waves) This album is definitely not as great as Rifts, but it shows Lopatin's desire to move ever forward, exploring the outer realms and distant reaches of his sonic universe, and his willingness to cross into other dimensions.

2. The Walkmen . Lisbon (song - Juveniles) It's usually really hard for me to nail down one single album that I liked the most throughout a year, but The Walkmen have made a near perfect record with Lisbon. They experiment with the traditional boundaries of songwriting and come up with genre crossing pop songs that are teetering on the edge. Incorporating so many styles of music and making them sound utterly their own, what you have here is a band that has finally found its true voice and the deftness to pull off a classy piece of work. This album is phenomenal.

3. Midlake . The Courage Of Others (song - Acts Of Man) Highly underrated, The Courage Of Others is a lament for a fading world. Presented in the tradition of early British psych-folk, an album that might initially sound cheesy has roots firmly rooted in naturalistic elements without being remotely hippy or jam band-esque. This is a great collection of sad, moving songs.

4. Beach House . Teen Dream (song - Used To Be) A collection of psychedelic fever dreams that are the perfect blend of pop and surrealism. Almost every song on Teen Dream is insanely catchy after a few listens. This is what pop music should strive for.

5. Gorillaz . Plastic Beach (song - Rhinestone Eyes)
I'm not sure what to say about this album that you probably don't already know. I'm still surprised every time I listen to it.
To go from the Killer grooves of Stylo to the heartbreaking message of Empire Ants to the warm blanket of Melancholy Hill. To be joined by, among others, The National Orchestra for Arabic Music, Bobby Womack, De La Soul, Mark E. Smith and Lou Reed?! That the message of the album could so easily render the songs cheap and obnoxious, but manage to be eloquent and catchy. It's a thing of beauty spanning, twisting and mutating genres like nobody's freakin' business. A classic.

6. Grass Widow . Past Time (song - Strangers Come) These songs are a bunch of exciting post-punk brain teasers. Some of the most interesting song writing I've heard in years, there's new stuff to hear every time you go back to it.

7. White Fence . S/T (song - Destroy Everything) White Fence present a perfect album of not quite shit-gaze, fuzzy garage-psych pop gems. I've been listening to this over and over this year and I'm constantly amazed by the band's diverse yet cohesive sound. Fucking sick.

8. The Art Museums . Rough Frame (song - Oh Modern Girls) The Art Museums are a band that you can just tell is in love with what they do. Their effortless ease and devotion to sick pop tunes comes off like a beautiful hybrid of Belle & Sebastian and Pavement. Just imagine that!

9. Emeralds . Does It Look Like I'm Here? (song - Double Helix)
This is definitely one of the most intense albums I heard this year. It's been amazing to watch these guys grow from an interesting abstract instrumental band to the drone/psych/ambient/prog/stuff/things/wtf powerhouse they are today. This music is the sound of the universe expanding and contracting.

10. Lali Puna . Our Inventions (song - Our Inventions)
This album didn't really grab me at first, for, like, months. But after awhile it's subtle textures and gentle melodies had me coming back for more. Really really really good.

11. White Ring . (un-official compilation) (song - Faded) It took several very attentive listens for me to grasp what Salem was trying to do on their full length King Night this year. But by the time I wrapped my head around it I had already realized that White Ring was doing it a thousand times better, and without the shitty hiphop element. These guys, along with sleep∞over, are my picks for the reigning champions of this years buzz-genre "witch.house."

   12. sleep∞over . (collected singles) (song - Your World Is Night)
   I think if David Lynch were making Twin Peaks today and he
   heard sleep∞over, he would tap them to replace the music of
   Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise. Or maybe they're just
   the Black Lodge twin of Julee's outfit in the show. Whatever
   they are, it's eerie and mystical with a sense of nostalgia
   mixed with something fresh and new.

13. Marcus Fjellström . Schattenspieler (song - Bis Einer Weint)
An album of creepy, atmospheric compositions utilizing strings, keyboards, found sounds, static, lost souls, decaying buildings,
nightmares, etc. Mr. Fjellström manages to create the captivating and unnerving pieces without once sound hokey,
and making some of the most ominous and frightening music I've ever heard. If you like the music in the films of the Bros. Quay, I think this will blow you away.

14. Gultskra Artikler . Galaktika (song - Galaktika)
On Galaktika, Alexey Devyanin pays tribute to the great metaphysical outer space films of our time. Scenes from Solaris and 2001 will certainly be invoked in your mind, if not simply drifting in the cold, unknown reaches of space, with no one but your imagination for company.

15. Kemialliset Ystävät . Ullakkopalo (song - Mestari Ei Väsy)
As always, these fiendish Finish pranksters tricked me into following them into the depths of their psychedelic sonic forest. And, as usual, it looks completely different than it did the last time. I get lost in their disorienting wonderland of hallucinatory
sound-visions and it's hard for me to find my way back out into the world of calm drones and sweet pop hooks. All of this is fine by me of course, because I don't usually want to leave anyway.

   16. Connan Mockasin . Please Turn Me Into the Snat (song -
   Megumi the Milkyway Above) It's pretty hard to pin this album
   down. Obviously it's pretty acid influenced psych, but I think
   Connan has gone around the bend, at least as far as his
   approach to song writing goes. The structures of traditional pop-
   psych are there but he quickly warps the sounds and takes you
   to some bizarro world of his own design, full of zombies and
   strange creatures like Choad and this fellow who's trying to
   become something called the Snat.

17. Omar Khorshid . Guitar El Chark (song - Raqset El Fada (Dance of Space) This is the most exciting reissue I heard all year. First, the sound quality is fantastic. Second, the music is just fucking amazing. Not only did Mr. Khorshid seamlessly merge the worlds of traditional Arabic music and and the psychedelic jazz of his day, he could shred on the guitar as well. This album seduces you with it's sultry, taunting opening and almost immediately pulls you in to it's turbulent dance.

18. AUN . Black Pyramid (song - Black Pyramid)
Is this the sound of the gods' returning to destroy the earth?
Listening to Black Pyramid, you can almost see the obsidian monoliths descending slowly from darkened skies. The most evocative doom-drone album I've heard since Black One.

19. Jannick Schou . Against A Backdrop Of Blue Hills, They Were As Beautiful As A Lullaby (song - Drifting Into Daydreams) Jannick is one of my new favorite ambient/drone/lowercase artists. In the past year he's
released 3 albums (available for free down load on his bandcamp page), each of which explores vastly different ideas in his chosen mediums, and each of which is deliciously enticing. The quiet soundscapes of When Life Mirrors Itself demand headphones and deep listening, and slowly emerge from the depths of silence. The warm drones of Against A Backdrop are as comforting as they are diminishing.

20. Hot Chip . One Life Stand (song - I Feel Better)
One Life Stand was one of my guilty pleasures this year. The concept of a boy band, executed by people who actually have talent. Kind of ingenious. Not all of the lyrics are top notch, but you can usually at least dance to the songs, which are thoughtfully constructed. Plus, the two videos for this song are hilarious and awesome. Not so sure about that cover, though.

21. Blonde Redhead . Penny Sparkle (song - Love or Prison)
Blonde Redhead never cease to amaze me with the chances they're willing to take or the directions they'll head in. This album of sparse, claustrophobic songs of pining for forbidden
love may not strike you at first, but give it a few more listens and it's subtle textures and foreboding layers will suddenly pull you in.

22. Indignant Senility . Plays Wagner (song - untitled 7)
Yes. Slowed down and treated Wagner! Syrupy, malevolent waves of these stretched out orchestrations will smother you in the true face of their nationalistic pride. Indignant Senility is a genius. This album is beautiful on both sonic and intellectual levels.

23. Grasslung . Sincere Void (song - lay down in a ditch) one of the best things about this album from Grasslung is the contrast between tracks. My second favorite album of the year.

soft times

2010-11-30T15:23:00.000-08:00

Get it

1. "Pntps 3" by Bill Wells & Stefan Schneider from Pianotapes (2010).
Beautiful, delicate experimental piano work. Wells plays piano and Schneider "records them on two old reel-to-reel tape machines and plays the recordings back at altered speeds" in real time, which I find quite impressive. It sounds like music composed in dreams haunting and nostalgic.

2. "Riser" by Fieldhead from the Riser EP (2010).
This whole EP isn't solid, but there are some great ideas presented here, the title track being the best realized, in my opinion.

3. "Destroying Angel" by Bardo Pond from Ticket Crystals (2006). Bardo Pond, if you are not familiar, is a psychedelic doom drone behemoth that's been around since the early '90s. I missed this one somehow, back when it was originally released, and only picked it up recently. They sludge through the densest of psychological swamps to fight the demons we all fear to face. They journey through dreams, past the mountains of madness and on into the maw of the gaping void. Let them annihilate your mind.

4. "Another Language" Blank Dogs Land and Fixed (2010).

Yes. Been looking for an early Bauhaus/Cure inspired band? This is some tight shit.

5. "Cold Room" by Deathday Party from Ghost Pains (2010).
Coldwave influenced gothy, jams. Full of icy synths and bitter laments.

6. "Two Forms of Anger" by Brian Eno from Small Craft on a Milk Sea (2010).I read an absolutely scathing review of this album on Dusted, which I feel totally missed the point. While this isn't Eno's best work, it's a good representation of the majority of his styles through the years. It has a nice build and flow and gives the impression of being on a train, viewing sections of different landscapes. The only complaint I have is that the production is too clean which makes the experience feel a little two-dimensional.

7. "Catholic for Rent" by AIDS Wolf from March To The Sea (2010). When I think of the general genre of "noise" this is the sound I hear. Not to imply that AIDS Wolf is generic, by any means. If you can deal with the acerbic quality of this music, it's interesting to pick apart all of the different things that are going on and how the band puzzels them together. Definitely not for the faint of ear.
They also make some pretty amazing art and posters.

8. "Taleva Panzer Waltz" by Begnagrad from Jodlovska Urska (1979).
Weird experimental jazz from Slovenia. This was their only album, which was recorded in 1982. I love the Baltic influence.

9. "Cool Waves/Bad Days" by Dada Trash Collage from Cool Waves/Bad Days (2010). I wasn't too taken with the majority of this album, but this song makes me think that DTC might

be on to something. An interesting combo of the chillwave aesthetic and AnCo's approach.

10. "Shadows In Bloom" by Games from That We Can Play (2010).

This is Oneohtrix Point Never and one of his friends trying to make '80s dance jams. I wouldn't categorize this as chillwave (or glow-fi or whatever the fuck it's called). They definitely seem to be trying to recreate that Duran Duran, Tears For Fears, Japan sound. I think it works, you?

11. "Come To Berlin" by Barbara Morgenstern from Fan No. 2 (2010). Morgenstern has been doing her thing for quite a while now, playing in a lot of different bands and with many different musicians (including the two guys on the first track of this mix). I'm not really sure how to describe it, but it's infectious, so take a listen. Also, her website is weird.

12. "Cherry Chapstick" by Yo La Tengo from And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000). Just revisiting this amazing album from 10 years ago. It's just fucking amazing.

I was going to put the super-bummer "Tears Are In Your Eyes"

on the mix, but then this song popped up and made everything better.

13. "Right as Rain" by The Minders from Golden Street (2001). It's a shame these guys split up, such amazing songs they made. The Minders were one of the most ignored bands in the Elephant 6 roster. Folks say they sound like they're just copying The Apples (In Stereo), but I don't hear that. And I honestly think The Minders were a much better band.

14. "Deep Under" by Sawako from Bitter Sweet (2008).

Yet another compelling ambient artist! Sawako's warm drones topped with gentle burbling electronics make for very subtle but utterly fascinating deep listening. I recently came across Sawako's work along with several other excellent "lowercase" ambient projects on Taylor Deupree's 12k record label. Check them out if you like this minimal approach.

15. "Apres la guerre" by Areski & Brigitte Fontaine from L'Incendie (1974).
Wow. Amazing french psych-folk.

16. "Gbomei Adesai" by The Psychedelic Aliens from Psycho African Beat (2010). This reissue of psychedelic African funk from early '70s Ghana is pretty amazing if you're into jammy freak outs. Combines the best of several genres seamlessly.

17. "10 Reflections of Passion" by Beck's Record Club from Yanni: Live at the Acropolis (2010). I think this might be the most criminally overlooked album of the year. Seriously. Hands down the best thing Beck has done since One Foot In the Grave. Beck's experimental ventures with Thruston Moore and Tortoise on this disk prove to be some of the most listenable in the genre, currently. This is the only "song" on the disc with Thurston paying tribute to what sounds like VU's "The Black Angel's Death Song" while Beck sing-speaks some of his better stream of conscious lines. The whole album is phenomenal. Yes.

18. "Fjord" by Jannick Schou from Against a Backdrop Of Blue Hills, They Were As Beautiful As a Lullaby (2010). Waves upon waves of reverb drenched drones. One of my favorite new musicians this year. He has three albums available for free download on his site and they're each fairly different.

19. "From a Balcony Overlooking the Sea" by Arp from The Soft Wave (2010).
Arp is a more playful and not quite as inspired version of Oneohtrix Point Never. I'm not totally sold on his sound, but I like where he's heading. This is the only track from his new album that really spoke to me, and, still, it's a very obvious nod to Eno's "Everything Merges With the Night." The swells of keyboard or guitar in the middle are really sweet though.

20. "In a Landscape" by Brooklyn Rider from Dominant Curve (2010).
Now, this is a proper tribute. NYC string quartet Brooklyn Rider (really stupid name, btw) present an excellent cover of John Cage's In A Landscape, originally for solo piano. In their rendition, BR manage to add wonderful depth to what was a perfect minimal piece. The rest of the album is also excellent.

I happened to catch Barn Owl last minute at the Hideout. Scott Tuma also played and that was spectacular. Mike Weis played drums for Barn Owl (as well as Scott), who were so loud there was really no reason for a drummer. They rocked, it was a blistering performance. go see them if you can! Here's a photo of Mike. Barn Owl dudes are in the shadows.

Post Family

2010-10-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

Last night, Candyleggs and I spent an evening with the Post Family, last night. Last night. Last night. Local Chicago Sonnenzimmer screen printer Nick Butcher performed his lowercase sound collages in the Family's industrial warehouse-inspired Family Room.

It's always exciting to watch Nick craft his music. A chemist concocting sonic textures, he visualizes collaged landscapes out of the aural aether with his old tape machines, records and keyboards. I wish I had recorded the entire performance, but here's a snippet:

Nick Butcher from rob patterson on Vimeo.

Unfortunately we missed the majority of a seance by self-proclaimed "Elementary Princess of Evil" Ryan Ingebritsen and Erica Dicker, but what we heard was nice. Katherine Young was also there playing her bassoon filtered through some effects. It was a compelling set of the improv noise of her intensely visceral avant-garde compositions, with a great interpretation of an Arthur Russell piece (see video below). Check out her blog to find out more about her performances and various projects.

Katherine Young from rob patterson on Vimeo.

Check out a review of Ms Young's performance (featuring the above video) at NPR.

2010-10-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

Trick Or Treat

1. "Halloween Main Theme" by Zombie Zombie from Plays John Carpenter (2010).
Disco keys channeling Carpenter through Giorgio Morodor start your Samhain observances off right. Creepy, kitchy and groovy.

2. "Les Enfants Du Paradis" by World's End Girlfriend from Seven Idiots (2010).
WEG serves up more hyper active madness that builds and builds with this latest disc. Echos of Mr. Bungle, without the jibber jabber.

3. "ミラクルラッキーガールズ" by Afrirampo from WE ARE UCHU NO KO (2010).
These ladies are, sadly, calling it a day with this epic double disc album of metal-noise insanity.

4. "Ghost of John" by Elf Power from their self-titled 2010 LP.
Yet another gorgeous, challenging and introspective album from one of my all-time favorite bands. Metaphysical songs dealing with mortality and loss. Do yourself a favor and go see them if they come through your town, their live shows are always balls to the wall rock and they frequently update older tunes. Such and amazing band.

5. "I'm Dead" by the Limiñanas from the I'm Dead 7" (2010).
Interesting 60's inspired garage from a band I know little about but look forward to hearing more from.

6. "Fuck Downtown" by Zyklon Beach from the 2010 EP.
Heavy garage scuzz from these French dudes. Fucking their brains out.

7. "Vanity Affair" by Ghost Animals from Summertime in Heaven (2010). Raw rock ready to rip it to shreds with snarky snarls, garage riffs and a drum machine.

8. "Camouflage" by Small Black from New Chain (2010).

Small Black prove they're not a flash in the pan with this full-length follow up to last year's EP. Great, danceable tunes with some of the best melodies in the "chill wave" set.

9. "Above Your Head" by Anoraak from Wherever the Sun Sets (2010).
Man, the sounds this dude comes up with for his eighties-inspired dance floor songs are great, but someone needs to help him with in the lyric department. The vocals are usually way too up front and not delivered very well. Every now and then, however, he's able to get around those setbacks and deliver something great. This track is almost there.

10. "Metal" by Gary Numan from The Pleasure Principal (1979).
For some reason, I had never listened to Mr. Numan until this past month. These are some chilly jams!

11. "A Phantasy" by The Octopus Project from Hexadecagon (2010).
These folks always deliver on exciting, well composed instrumentals. The new album is no exception.

12. "D1" by Northampton Wools from their double cassette (2010).
Fucking awesome dueling guitar noise drones from Thurston Moore and Bill Nace. Shredding your mind.

13. "Dagger II" by White Ring from the self-titled 2010 album.
One of the better bands to emerge from the one-foot-in-the-grave genre known as witch.house, White Ring

serves up great atmospherics with enough savvy to get minimal at the right times. Very compelling, chill sounds.
What Salem might be if they cared enough to try.

14. "Mumbai" by oOoOO from a bandcamp EP (2010).
Another witch.house artist. oOoOO (pronounced "oh")
mixes some sweet tones into the ghetto beats and bizzare, post-human lyrics filtered to sound like a young girl is singing when it's actually a 50 year old man from Winnipeg.

15. "Serve In Silence" by Failing Lights from the self-titled 2010 LP.

Mike Connelly of Wolf Eyes and Hair Police gets sparse and erie with these sonic landscapes, perfect for creeping around and stealing candy from your neighbors to.

16. "Untitled 2" by Hertta Lussu Ässä from You Are Such An Pretty Sucker (2005).

These amazing witches, Lau Nau, Kuupuu and Islaja, are contributors to Kemialliset Ystävät, so naturally I love them. And this rare little CDR. They'll cast a creepy spell on you.

17."Rakkauden palvelija / 14. käsky" by Islaja from Keraaminen Pää (2010).
Imagine if Björk threw all convention out the window and really followed her natural instincts as a composer and demi-god.

18. "Leave" by Whirl from the Distressor EP (2010).
If you've got a jones for My Bloody Valentine but with a little something extra thrown in, this might do the trick. References to the guitar structures of Failure take the sound to a new, interesting level.

19. "Loveshines II" by Sunset from the Loveshines But The Moon Is Shining Too (2010).
Very mellow, groovy tunes to get baked and relax to. Heavy nods to Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper's and Black Foliage.

20. "Are We Gonna Work It Out" by Sweet Lights from the self-titled 2010 LP.
This is an excellent one man band, inspired by early 90s indie rock and taking that sound to a new, modern level. Really great stuff.

21. "Returnal" by Oneohtrix Point Never (Fennesz Remix) from the Returnal 7" (2010).
This is a complete overhaul of the original version of "Returnal,"
in which Antony sings and Fennesz remixes the affair into an ethereal, majestic piece. I'm not remotely a fan of Antony's flouncy head-voice, but it works pretty well (for me) in this group effort. Really gorgeous.

22. "Feeding Your Vanity" by Grasslung from Sincere Void (2010).
Another astounding ambient album. Fans of William Basinski, Philip Jeck, Fennesz, and Stars of the Lid will most likely enjoy these emotionally evocative textures.

If you haven't seen them yet, here are a couple of weird videos by Wolfgore Show:

And Paula Deen spoke unto thee:

Whipped cream pourin' like waterfalls:

Never Remember

2010-09-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

Holy shit. So many old standby bands released excellent albums this past month.

Some of these new releases have gotten the praise they deserve, but a few were totally panned in reviews that didn't really seem to grasp the essence of the music, but are, unfortunately, influential.

Download HERE

1. "Mark of the Unnamed" by The Budos Band from The Budos Band III (2010). First, there's the Budos Band's most recent addition to their amazing family of albums. III sees the band with more confidence and swagger than ever before, as they delve further into Ethiopian jazz stylings and old soul-funk.

2. "Hearts Of Love" by Crocodiles from Sleep Forever (2010). The Crocodiles' disappointingly short, but action-packed new lp, is full of more J&MC-esque rock anthems. Makes you almost forget that summer's headed out the back door.

3. "Impetus" by Gaijin Games from the Bit.Trip Runner OST (2010). I've been eagerly awaiting the release of the sountrack to Bit.Trip Runner, Gaijin Games retro-inspired game for the Wii, since I first played the game back in late spring. Runner is kind of a combination of Super Mario Bros. and Guitar Hero, with awesome 8-bit style graphics, harkening back to Pitfall, but with much more detail and 3D. If you have a Wii you can buy the game online for 8 bucks, the soundtrack is 6 or 7.

4. "Retro" by Surf City from Kudos (2010). Surf CIty finally release a full-length after several years of a couple of stellar ep's. There's nothing as epic as "Headin' Inside" but they definitely expand their sound and show their chops.

5. "A004" by Monroeville Music Center from Generic Product (2010). Monroeville Music Center makes off-kilter library music. Much like The Advisory Circle, The Focus Group and other such "hauntology" oriented bands. Sounds like MMC is getting some good use out of an Optigan, of which I am quite jealous.

6. "Barricade" by Interpol from Interpol (2010). Interpol have nailed it once again. On their forth album, they merge the tight pop structures of TOTBL and Antics with the beautifully crafted soundscapes of Our Love To Admire. "Tapped out and insecure" they are most certainly not. While this certainly isn't the Interpol of Bright Lights, all fresh faced and sparkeling new, these gents have matured and into a band with the confidence to step back and realize that quick pop songs aren't the end all be all of a music. If you're not hoping for another album like Bright Lights and enjoy listening to a band evolve, I think you'll find Interpol an exciting, rewarding listen.

7. "Torch Song" by The Walkmen from Lisbon (2010). The Walkmen have always been interesting to me as a rock band on the fringes, with a few stellar songs on each album and usually introspective and original lyrics, but something always kept me just outside of fully grasping what they were aiming for. Now I get it. Lisbon is thus far their masterpiece, combining all their previous efforts with magnificent effect. They can take a minimal structure, like nothing you've heard before, and some how sweep it up into a monumental epic of a song. Lisbon lead me back to their previous albums and they all make sense to me now. This is the best album I've heard in a long time, every track is a killer.

Here are some live cuts from La Blogotheque. the fourth track is another great one from Lisbon:

8. "It Don't Rain in Beverly Hills" by Dean and Britta from 13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol's Screen Tests (2010). This is an odd collection of quite a few songs by former Luna members Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips. This song in particular really grabbed me out of what is a diverse and fascinating collection of tunes.

9. "Inima, de ce nu vrei sa-mbatranesti?" by Ioana Radu from Muzica De Colectie (2007). I don't know much about Romanian singer Ioana Radu other than that she had a beautiful voice and that this album will transport you to another time.

10. "The Metallic Year Pt. 2" by Imbogodom from The Metallic Year (2010). This transcontinental duo explores the darker areas of experimental music, conjuring visions of wastelands, caverns and high cliffs that hold ancient secrets.

11. "Muuttujat/Saattajat" by Kemialliset Ystävät from Ullakkopalo (2010). Another surprise this month was a new release from one of my all time favorites, Finish freak-folkers Kemialliset Ystävät. With Ullakkopalo, they forge onwards into the depths of madness and find a bit more pacing and restraint, creating more tension in their otherworldly atmospheres.

12. "Light From the Mesa" is a pretty freakin' awesome teaser track from the upcoming Barn Owl release, Ancestral Star. Noise-drone soundscapes to astrally project to.

13. "The River Who Drinks All I've Had" by Makunouchi Bento from Swimé (2010). Makunouchi Bento are an experimental duo from Romania who specialize in bizarre sound worlds. They're in similar territory as earlier Gultskra Artikler (also making an appearance on this mix), that of Kafka-esque creepiness. Field recordings are intermingled with avant garde composition for a variety of fascinating yet disturbing soundscapes.

14. "Fantasia In G Minor, Op. 77" by Rudolf Serkin from Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #8 & 29, Fantasia In G Minor (1992)(not the cover art). I was listening to an album of Rudolph Serkin's interpretations of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas a few weeks back and this particular piece really stuck with me. I've been listening to a lot of classical music recently, so more will probably start showing up on the mixes.

15. "Saturna" by Gultskra Artikler from Galaktika (2010). I always thought that if I had to choose how I was going to die, I would be jettisoned into space with an oxygen tank and just float until the air ran out. This album makes me rethink that a little. These cold and menacing pieces evoke the vastness and desolation of outer space, and seem to be an homage to the space oriented work of Russian film maker Andrie Tarkovsky.

16. "Spain" by Blonde Redhead from Penny Sparkle (2010). The new Blonde Redhead blossoms slowly. They've always had a penchant for dark, brooding lyrics dealing with people on some Lynchian/Murakami-esque verge of collapse/shunting into a parallel reality. With Penny Sparkle they step over theevent horizon and plunge into the void. These are some seriously depressive songs about lust and despair in a loveless relationship. The sparseness of the music, which is mostly electronic, helps to take Kazu's lyricism to darkest, coldest place possible. I do miss the more exciting albums of their early years, but it's great to see a band push themselves.

17. "How the Gods Kill" by Danzig from Danzig III: How the Gods Kill (1992).Something in the past month inspired me to revisit Danzig's last two albums. For some reason this song, which I haven't heard since I was fifteen, popped into my head. His last two albums, Danzig III: How the Gods Kill and 4, are like some undead Elvis crooning away about demonic stuff, backed up by a pretty sick metal band. Pretty funny in their melodrama, but also fairly unique and entertaining.

18. "Vitium" by The Goslings from Occasion (2008). The Goslings (now defunct) made some heavy, evil noise. They (she?) come off like a pissed-off Grouper. Which I dig.

19. "Casting" by Hildur Guðnadóttir from Mount A (2020). I just discovered this album of lush, ambient cello music by Hildur Guðnadóttir. She's worked with múm and some other folks, but I think she stands well enough on her own, this is really beautiful solo work.

august again

2010-08-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

Man, I've had this mix ready to go since the beginning of August, sorry it took so long. . .

Download Here

1. "Cycles and Seasons" by The Advisory Circle from the Study Series 02 7" (2010).
Yes. A sweet new jam from one of my all-time favorites, The Advisory Circle. Hopefully this means there's a new long player on the way. . .

2. "Izlel e Deliu Hajdutin" by Valia Balkanska from Glas ot Vechnostta (1995).
With her haunting and powerful voice, Mrs. Balkanska is one of Bulgaria's national treasures. From the opening notes of the gaida (a kind of bagpipe), this song seems to emerge from the vast, unknown depths of space and time. To me, this music could easily encapsulate the entire life cycle of the planet. This song was included on the NASA Voyager's Gold Record music selection in '77, for all those ET's with turntables.

3. "Running" by Computer Magic from her soundcloud page (2010).
This lady is going to blow up pretty soon, I imagine. Incredibly solid tunes that are as infectious as they are well made.

4. "Around" by Teen Daze from Four More Years (2010).
Wrongly labeled as chillwave, this is just some good, retro-inspired dance music.

5. "Three" by Disasterpeace from Level (2008).
Still on my chiptune kick, I've been very taken with composer Disasterpeace. His respect for the roots of the genre combined with his comprehension of composition make for some subtly beautiful albums of music for imaginary videogames.

6. "Who Feels Right?" by White Fence from their self-titled, 2010 LP.
So far, this is my favorite album of the year. Dirty production plus A MAZING pop songs. Like the Kinks and Syd Barrett recording and album together for Siltbreeze.

7. "Sleep Forever" by Crocodiles from the Sleep Forever single (2010).
Another sweet track from these Jesus & Mary Chain worshipers.

8. "The Haunted Rider" by The Jameses from the Rat People & The Haunted Rider 7" (2010).
What is this?! Fucking beautiful genius, that's what. The Jameses, I demand more!

9. "The Fire Of Love (Fire Mix)" by Terminal Twilight from the Dark As Night cassette (2010).
Minimal-wave post-punk inspired evil tunes galore this witch.house compilation. MOstly pretty dope and this is the quality end of the genre. Definitely worth seeking out.

10. "Second Guessing" by Eddy Current Suppression Ring from Rush To Relax (2010).
Scuzzy punk garage rawk from Oz.

11. "The Floor" by Sex Church from 6 Songs by Sex Church (2010).
So, not only is "Sex Church" an amazing name for a band, it also happens to be a band that knows how to rock the fuck out. VU inspired garage freakout.

12. "Meatflower" by Geezer Lake from Hearts Won't Try This (1995).
Finally. I've been looking for this album for a while now, after having lost it in the fire back in '04. The band is hard to describe. To me, this song is their pinnacle. Weirdo rockers from the Chapel Hill scene back in the mid 90's, these guys were heavily inspired by Rodan and Slint, but much more psychedelic, and added horns. Pretty 90's sounding, but probably unlike anything else you've ever heard.

13. "Pretty Bird" by Jeans Wilder from the Relics cassette (2010).
This reminds me of Beck's One Foot in the Grave, so I automatically like it. Jeans is practically begging for a release on K.

14. "Heads On Red Lakes Return" by Eyvind Kang from Live Low To The Earth, In The Iron Age (2002).
Amazing drone landscapes with strings. Like a very mellow Tony Conrad.

15. "Sam Wong Hotel" by Sun Kil Moon from Admiral Fell Promises (2010).
I think this is my favorite record from Mr. Kozelek so far. He's tightened up his lyrics substantially and the guitar work he's capable of now is phenomenal. It's kind of a bummer of a record, but it's a really pretty bummer.

16. "Just Walkin' In The Rain" by The Prisonaires from Step Right Up! (1953, 2010).
This is from the July issue of Mojo Magazine, which was curated by Tom Waits. He compiled a disc of his influences for the issue, the music on which, for the most part, is probably obvious to most Waits fans. This song really stood out to me from the rest, the Prisonaires' first hit.

17. "Dream Sequence" by Umberto from From The Grave (2010).
Ooo, scary horror movie synths warning of impending, knifey doom. Don't listen to this if you are just chillin' alone in a big old house in the middle of the woods at night, okay?

18. "There Only Once" by The Soundcarriers from Celeste (2010).
I feel like this is what the United States of America was trying to sound like. I know a lot of people say Broadcast sounds like the USA, but I don't hear it really. Especially next to these guys.

19. "A Strange Land Discovered" by Candy Claws from Hidden Lands (2010).
Wow. The new Candy Claws record is pretty intense. It's not as forthcoming and pop-oriented as In the Dream of the Sea Life, but it rewards repeated listens with its layers and layers of gorgeous sounds, each track an immensely detailed microcosm.

20. "Part I" by Black Swan from Black Swan (in 8 Movements) (2010).
This is the sound of the vast empty blackness under your feet when you're floating in the ocean in the middle of the night.

Here's a pretty nice video for "Parallels" by The Soft Moon from the Parallels 7" (2010).

Also, what's going on here?

Summer Summary

2010-07-04T13:20:00.001-07:00

So, It's been a while since I posted a mix tape, mostly because I've pretty much just been listening to Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never, Steven R. Smith's entire catalogue and a series of tapes by The Monroe Institute. In all honesty, though, I guess I have let a few other things filter in here and there, so here's what's struck me over the past few months:

download HERE

1. "Stars Heaped Up Like Grain" by Steven R. Smith from The Anchorite (2006).
I love all of SRS's work (yes, I've even grown to appreciate his occasional vocals), but this album in particular by Mr. Smith is just phenomenal. His Zen-like use of empty space and the atmosphere of desolation is thick and palpable, evolving throughout the album. The constant building on the same theme never repeats or becomes boring, as Smith mines the idea of "The Anchorite" for all it's worth.

2. "Hicaz Taksim" by Eyyubi Mustafa Sunar Bey from To Scratch Your Heart: Early Recordings from Istanbul (2010).
I included this piece mainly to give an idea of Smith's inspiration, but also because it's a beautiful track from an amazing album of music recorded from the 1910s to the 1930s in Turkey.

2. "Guitar El Chark (Guitar of the Orient)" by Omar Khorshid from Guitar El Chark (2010).
Here is some stunning film music from the 70's by Omar Khorshid. Here's where the mix picks up some steam.

4. "I'm In Your Church At Night " by Active Child from an untitled 2009 EP. A beautiful mix of church-style choir singing, harps and electronic music. For folks who like Julianna Barwick, Antony, Final Fantasy, etc.

5. "The Story Of Hip-Hop" by The Books from The Way Out (2010).
I just saw The Books at the Prizker Pavilion here in Chicago. They played a lot of songs from their new album and it was fun. I think it may have been a better experience live and with videos than it is simply on CD, they seem to really embrace the visual aspect of their art. The Way Out is still a fun listen, though.

6. "Strawberry Girl" by The Cool Kids from the Tacklebox w/ YOUR Los Angeles Leakers mixtape (2010).
I like this mix tape much more than the Kids' Gone Fishin' effort from last year because the LA Leakers aren't as intrusive with their shout-outs as Don Cannon. I don't think they're actually on this track, which is more of a traditional song in the vein of a Kanye track. Whatever. Fun, summer jam.

7. "Memories" by Hard Mix from the Memories single (2010).
This kid is from Greenville, SC. He's making the rounds with all the big music blogs with this track right now.

8. "En Vill Hest" by Casiokids from Topp stemning på lokal bar (2010).
These Norwegians just put out an album collecting work from the last decade. Infectious electro-twee to rock you late into the night.

9. "Richoux" by Dat Politics from Nanoloop 1.0 (2002).
Recently, I became obsessed with the Wii game bit.trip runner which is kind of a cross between Super Mario Bros and Guitar Hero. The music, chiptune by Anamanaguchi, is as infectious asthe game itself. Not having a Wii of my own, I had to find some way to cope with life without this game, so I've been nerding out over this older collection of electronic experimental musicians taking on the 8bit processor. It's songs range from more traditional, video game tracks like this one, to ambient, to chopped up noise, a la Merzbow.

10. "Genetic" by Emeralds from Does It Look Like I'm Here? (2010).
Emeralds' most recent album has been somewhat blowing up, and with good reason. They just get tighter and more out there with each release.

11. "She's A Rainbow" by The Rolling Stones from Their Satanic Majesties Request (2006).
I dug this, my favorite Stones album, up after a friend said they were basically a worthless band. I think they've gotten a lot of undeserved attention over the years, but TSMR is a pretty solid slab of inspired psyche jams.

12. "It's Choade My Dear" by Connan Mockasin from Please Turn Me Into The Snat (2010). Yeah, it took me a few listens to get into his voice, too, but it's totally worth it. This London via NZ rocker is clearly going off his. These are some fucked up, psychedelic gems, I say. I don't know what a "Snat" is, but it sounds pretty mind bending.

13. "Headless Sky" by Autolux from Transit Transit (2010).
Band of former Failure member finally releases second album of noisy shoegaze! Transit Transit is a little more mellow than Future Perfect, but still as inspired and as captivating a listen.

14. "Hear" by Broken Water from Whet (2010).
Broken Water share members of Sisters, which is what initially attracted me to them. There's a similar Sonic Youth influence, though it's not as heavy. Druggy jams that don't get too far out there.

15. "Gone" by Nerve City from the self-titled 2010 LP.
If you like Times New Viking, Ty Segall, Sic Alps and that sort of garagey business, you'll probably enjoy this mess.

16. "Kim Derdi Ki" by Muserref Hanim from To Scratch Your Heart: Early Recordings from Istanbul (2010). Here's another track from To Scratch Your Heart, just because I like it.

17. "Sorrow" by The National from High Violet (2010).
I just don't understand the hype behind this band. I mean, the dude has a good voice, but his lyrics are so cheesy and pretentious, it makes me want to puke all over his designer shoes. Dude, stop whining about your tragic, dad-rock life in Park fucking Slope. You're getting old, you have a wife and kid and grown up responsibilities now, just accept it. That shit is boring, please don't write about it. Plus, though the drummer is great and the atmosphere is nice, all the songs sound exactly the fucking same! Except this one. It's good. I like it.

18. "Flight Simulator" by Skyramps from Days of Thunder (2009).
Ho Lee Shit. Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never. Together.

19. "Fun Dink Death" by Eric Copeland from the Doo Doo Run 7" (2010).
It's about time Black Dice member Copeland dropped another one, but, um . . .I'm hoping he's making fun of The Crystals' classic here.

What a card.

20. "Haru" by Fennesz + Sakamoto from Cendre (2007).
I was pretty excited to find this, as it's in a very similar realm as my current favorite, Fjordne.

Jan Anderzén of Kemialliset Ystävät

2010-06-30T03:44:00.000-07:00

Tomutonttu:

Latvian Cartoons

2010-06-10T07:35:00.001-07:00

(via BoingBoing)

Eluvium, Schubas, May 24, 2010

2010-05-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

Last night, I rushed to Schubas after work to see how the music of Julianna Barwick and Eluvium would be presented in a live setting. Unfortunately, I arrived too late for opener, Ms Barwick, whom I desperately wanted to see. Cooper took the stage 10 minutes after I arrived with my new concert companion, Jade.

I first heard Matthew Robert Cooper's project Eluvium two years ago. I was lying around the house for a few days, sick with the flu and readingKafka On the Shore. Kafka is a powerful and bizarre book and it was my introduction to the fiction of Murakami. Talk Amongst the Trees (2005), the third Eluvium album, became the unintentional soundtrack to the book. It's monumental mantras of layered sounds echoed the themes and atmospheres of Kafka perfectly.

Eluvium's set was brief but powerful. Cooper piled loops of effected keyboard, guitar and samples until they were all-encompassing, sometimes becoming a wall of noise. Two fellows helped him out on several pieces and they were a fairly tight crew, adding more keyboards and effects. One of the guys was using a Wii nunchuck as a remote for some pre-recorded sounds.
I was most interested to hear Cooper sing. This year's Similes is the first of his recordings on which he sings, and his voice took awhile to grow on me. On the album, he doesn't sound too confident, as if he realizes that his deeply personal lyrics might be bringing too much emotional heft to music that is already tugging at the heartstrings dangerously hard, and that fans might simply not appreciate the intrusion of vocals into what is generally considered an ambient project. However, he seems to have grown more confident in his singing, which was a relief. His newer material, rendered live was much more solid than on record, and surprisingly reminiscent of M83's Saturdays=Youth (2008). Cooper also played a few solo piano pieces from An Accidental Memory Incase of Death(2004), which made for a diverse and engaging set of pieces, showcasing his impressive craftsmanship and range as a musician and composer.

Daymare Town series

2010-05-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Check out this beautifully illustrated point-and-click puzzle game:

Daymare Town

subtle canyon

2010-04-20T19:29:00.001-07:00

DOWNLOAD

1. Sunrise At The Duck Pond by Kites Sail High from Alone (2010). Loop and keyboard based ambient pieces. The songs begin minimally and slowly build on loops and fucked up synths, like a slowed down Black Moth.

2. Hermeto's Hermits by Hands Off Cuba from From Arrival to Survival (2010). Scott and Ryan play in a lot of bands. HOC is where they work on their own ideas, influenced by the luminaries of of experimental electronic rock. This album is all over the place in moods and themes and is over much too quickly.

3. The Key by sleep∞over from ∞ (2010).
Sleep Over sounds exactly like Beach House playing with Belong. Very Lynchian.

4. Daydream by Beach Fossils from The Self Titled 2010 album. Up beat, summer time jams delivered by a singer holding his nose. Nothing ground breaking, but still pretty fun, chillwave tunes.

5. Lady Daydream by Twin Sister from Color Your Life (2010). Twin Sister are developing pretty quickly as a new, young band. Another band in a similar headspace as Beach House, but still doing their own thing.

6. Suffocation by Crystal Castles from Crystal Castles (II) (2010). Crystal Castles release the album that they should have released for their debut. It's full of fully realized, fantastic songs.

7. Crown On The Ground by Sleigh Bells from their 2009 Demo EP. Sleigh Bells are like indie cheerleaders at some really fun hipster event. It's kinda stupid, but you're still having a fucking awesome time.

8. Yukiko by Midori from The Aratamemashi, Hi, and Midori (2008). Screaming noise jazz prog rock spazzouts from land of the rising sun.

09. P-Queen by First Dog To Visit The Center Of The Earth from Every Machine On (2010). Kind of a cross between Black Dice, Aphex Twin and Animal Collective. Layers and layers of interesting sounds with a vaguely danceable rhythm.

10. Mind Eraser by Growing from Pumps (2010). It's hard to pin these guys down. Their sound expands and changes in every song as much as it does on every new album. Another group related to the Black Dice aesthetic, and they definitely like to mess with your equilibrium.

11. Always Something There to Remind Me by Jim O'Rourke from All Kinds of People - Love Burt Bacharach (2010). I have to be honest, most of this album is pretty boring and kind of a let down, coming from O'Rourke. Seems like a showcase for some of his favorite Japanese singers, who kind of all sound the same. But this song rocks.

12. I Am Very Sorry by Kamal Ahmed feat Noor Jehan from The Sound of Wonder! (2009). Oh my god! This collection of seventies Pakistani film songs is fucking amazing! The music is just killer. Imagine the cheesiest/coolest electronic sounds from the seventies mixed with psychedelic middle eastern traditional styles and disco beats.

13. Yellow Lights Rush Into My Dream by Vladimir Vysotsky from Self-Portrait (1980). A friend of mine turned me on to this guy several years ago, but didn't know his name. Hunting around on random blogs the other day, I stumbled upon an album with a description that sounded like it had to be this guy. I was pretty excited when I listened to the album and realized it was the same singer. Vladimir sings with the world weary voice of a Russian who's spent a lot of late nights in bars, playing cards and smoking fist-fulls of cigarettes, stumbling out into the blinding daylight of the morning only to be arrested by the KGB. Seriously, he was a fascinating guy, check out his bio.

14. Seems So Far by The Instruments from Cast A Half Shadow (2006). Revisiting this configuration of the Elephant 6 Collective recently, I was reminded of what an amazing musician Heather McIntosh is. Her plaintive, psychedelic folk will first break your heart, and then gently mend it.

15. The Author Of Spring by Power und Beauty from The Gnome EP (2010). My initial thoughts on these troop of ladies were The Roaches meets the The Decemberists with some Appalachian folk thrown in. The lyrics get a little cutesy at times, but the harmonies are fairly amazing. This is the creepier, more lilting of the songs on their debut EP.

16. Mollusk by Electric Sea Spider from The Thief (2010).
Blissed-out ambient soundscapes with elements of hip-hop and IDM occasionally thrown in.

17. Creepy Crawlin' by The Boo Jays from the Happy Halloween 7" (2010). Evil garage-surf rock. The video says it all:

18. I Want Your Damage by Nice Face from Immer Etwas (2010). This is some evil garage-coldwave noise?

19. Hector by Deep Sht from Weird You (2009).
Deep sht, indeed.

20. Dance Floor by Apples In Stereo from Travellers In Space And Time (2010). Kind of annoying at first, the new Apples album unfolds into a really great, 70s inspired, psychedelic dance-pop album.

21. All I Want by LCD Soundsystem from This Is Happening (2010). More jams for old dudes looking back all misty-eyed at the hard-partying days of their youth.

22. April 3 by Akira Kosemura from Polaroid Piano (2009).
An album of elegant, lo-fi piano pieces. Hazy, gentle nostalgia.

2010-04-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

This is last month's mix, a little bit late. Some pretty slow, heady jams in the middle, but that's the mind frame Chicago winters put me in evidently.

Download HERE

1. "Beside Me In The Dawn" by Infinite Body from Carve Out The Face Of My God (2010).
Spacey, textured ambient pieces to overwhelm your ears. RIYL Oneohtrix Point Never, Slow Listener, Aidan Baker

2. "So Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore" by The Art Museums from Rough Frame (2010).
Yes! these guys are like a lo-fi garage version of Belle & Sebastian. All sorts of genre references. So hot!

3. "Round And Round" by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti from the Round & Round Single (2010).
Ariel Pink is finally having to get serious and up the ante now that so many people are biting his style. It's good to hear him focus and make songs that are more than half-hearted attempts at R. Stevie Moore knock-offs.

4. "Sleep Paralysist" by Neon Indian (2010). A sweet new jam by one of chill-wave's main players. "Sleep Paralysist" takes NI's sound a little further and remains compelling. This seems more concentrated than the previous album and hopefully speaks of things to come.

5. "If Your Girl" by Forest Swords from Dagger Paths (2010).
Forest Swords expands on their down tempo sound with this new album of droning washes and slowed down dance beats.

6. "3" by Imaginary Softwoods from the self-titled 2008 LP.
Imaginary Softwoods is the project of John Elliot from Emeralds. Here he merges sampled tape loop soundscapes with the vintage keyboard drones of Emeralds and comes up with organic solar winds.

7. "Mountain Mary" by The Seven Fields Of Aphelion from Periphery (2010).
This Maux Boyle of Black Moth Super Rainbow. Imagine BMSR all mellow, waking up in the morning, making coffee, listening to the birds, and you have TSFOA.

8. "Eve" by Danny Paul Grody from Fountain (2010).
This a collection of beautiful meditations a la John Fahey and James Blackshaw from one of the members of post rock stalwarts, Tarentel.

9. "Shadows" by Monølith from their self titled, 2006 album.
Dreamy, slow-core psychedelia. Existential acid jams. Eat it up, hippies.

10. "6:25" by Counterspark from The Halpern Experiment (2010).
Mellow electronic experimentalism in the vein of Oval and Tim Hecker. Slow burning reflections on merging, morphing loops.

11. "Rehearsals For Extinct Anatomies" by Leszek Jankowski from the short film Rehearsals For Extinct Anatomies by the Bros. Quay (1987). The Quay Bros., while certainly genius, can be obnoxiously repetitive and ridiculously conceited in their film making. However, the one thing I always find amazing about their films is the soundtracking by Polish composer Leszek Jankowsk. His disjointed pieces manage to retain the overall theme of any piece he scores. Creepy, unnerving, disorienting, amazing.

Brothers Quay -1987- Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies
Uploaded by petitlolotechre. - Independent web videos.

12. "Orfeus Og Evridís" by Ólöf Arnalds from Við Og Við (2007).
I'm not usually to excited by the music that get spotlighted on NPR, but they recently did a piece on this Icelandic singer and I was mesmerized. At first, I found her aping of Joanna Newsom a little irritating, but as her songs continued, I found myself snared in the same web of dreamy lullabies that Ms Newsom originally caught me in. So, as contrary as that sounds, I really love the other-worldly sound Ms Arnalds has developed with her gentle instrumentation and warbley voice. Looking forward to her new album, due later this month.

13. "Kreintoj" by Robert A.A. Lowe from Eclipses (2010).
Mr. Lowe, of (White) Lichens and TV on the Radio fame (and North Coast Video, if you're a Chicago resident), delivers with this batch of creepy, retro synth meditations. Falls easily in with the recent synth-drone works by Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never, while definitely holding its own.

14. "Beastface" by Kontrolorgan from Sun Shape Mirror (2010).
This is some sweet free form experimental psychedelic stuff from Denmark. Swirling around, freaking you out, like a mellow Kemialliset Ystävät.

15. "Untitled 2" by Ulaan Khol from III (2010). Ulaan Khol, aka Hala Strana, aka Steven R. Smith just fucking rules. UK is Smith's psycheout rock jams. Mind blowing.

16. "Faster to Babylon" by Robert Pollard from We All Got Out Of The Army (2010).
Another great album by Mr. Pollard. What else can really be said?

17. "Wishing Whale" by Pill Wonder from Jungle/Surf (2010)>.
Fuck YES, It's spring time!

18. "Daisy" by Fang Island from their self titled 2010 LP.
Mindless. Fun. Rawk.

19. "EGYPTYNLVR" by oOoOO fromNo Summr4U CDR (2010).
The disturbing lovechild of SALEM and Memory Tapes? Sick, jamz.

20. "On Melancholy Hill" by Gorillaz from Plastic Beach (2010).
When I found this floating around the internet a few months back, my initial reaction was "Meh", but I figured, why not give it a try? Holy. Fucking. Shit. This album is SO good. Alburn has made his best record since Blur's 13. Forget for a moment that Gorillaz is a make-believe band. Plastic Beach is moralistic concept album about our throwaway culture, and, as obnoxious as that may sound, it's made up of unforgettable, solid pop gems. Lou Reed and Mark E. Smith?! Every track owns, but Alburn's are definitely the best.

The 3rd & the 7th

2010-03-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

(full screen for full effect)

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Brad Neely's Comedy Gold Reemerges!

2010-03-21T07:42:00.000-07:00

Brad Neely got his start with a hilarious book on tape-style "reading" of the film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
You start the film, on mute, and play Neely's reading over it, and split your sides laughing. Here's a link to the original, and free,
two disc reading, Wizard People, Dear Reader
which is much better than, though not as well synched as, his more recent reading, which begins here on youtube:

He then went on to cartoons, beginning with this historically accurate song about President George Washington:

Brad followed up that slab of irrefutable hilarity with the even more raucous and disturbing Professor Bros. series.
These "cartoons" are still frame masterpieces and Neely's writing is nothing short of brilliant. Professor Bros. was made for SuperDeluxe.com which Adult Swim later bought. Adult Swim only showed Neely's cartoons on their website and censored the shit out of them, which, strangely, made them not nearly as funny. They basically killed the Bros.

Neely then mad a couple of short, song-cartoons for [AS] called America Now, but they're pretty sub-par. Anyway, SUperDeluxe is gone and it now appears that [AS] no longer has the rights to Neely's cartoons as they are once again floating around Youtube, in all their uncensored glory! Here is a link to a page full of his timeless classics.

HAUSU (the house that eats people)

2010-03-06T07:25:00.000-08:00

I saw this film last week at the Gene Siskel Film Center and it pretty much destroyed my mind.
Watch the whole thing here, if you can't wait for the Criterion edition that's being released soon.

He Owns a PC Computer and Makes Like Next-Level Beats

2010-02-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

Fresh New Shapes in a digital format.
DOWNLOAD IT

1. "Orange Heat" by Eluder from the album Warm Warning (2010). Eluder makes some warm ambient dronescapes from keys and field recordings. These pieces are made up of dense layers that deserve repeated listens and close attention.

2. "Making Up Minds" by Eluvium from the album Similes (2010). Matthew Robert Cooper (aka Eluvium) has upped his game in his genre of choice by adding vocals to his pieces and making what is essentially an album of ambient pop songs. He keeps his nearly droning vocals level with the music, so they barely escape being more than just another instrument. The lyrics are heady enough to be interesting, but I ultimately find his work better with out singing. The nice thing about ambient music is that, with its usual lack of lyrics, and provided that it's not leaning too heavily on towards a specific emotional style, it follows where your mood leads it, much like an abstract painting. That's something I really enjoyed in Eluvium's previous works, specifically Talk Amongst the Trees, with its epic repetition. This is an interesting missive, I'm glad for Cooper that he tried this artistically and that it worked relatively decently, but I hope to see more growth in the instrumental realm.

3. "Everything Is Always" by Lali Puna from the album Our Inventions (2010). New music from this great German group! Carries on in the tradition of their previous work. Nothing groundbreaking, but really beautiful and thoughtfully composed.

4. "10 Mile Stereo" by Beach House from the album Teen Dream (2010). Beach House somehow remind me of Low. All of their albums are very similar, but they progressively expand on their sound in subtle but important directions. Teen Dream has some breathtaking moments, but they unfold ever so slowly, making them that much more impressive.

5. "Sleep Patterns" by Memoryhouse from The Years EP (2010). Sweet gleaming sounds inspired by Beach House and some 80s tunes. I guess it's more of the chill wave/glo-fi stuff, but it's still really nice.

6. "See Birds" single by Balam Acab (2010). In the vein of fuct dance beats and vocals like ///▲▲▲\\\ and Black Moth, maybe comparable to SALEM. Creates a nice hazy space.

7. "Beat Boy" by Die Antwoord from the album $O$ (2010). If you haven't seen the brief mockumentary and current internet meme "Zef Side" check it out now:

It's not hard to figure out it's not for real, but it's tempting to want it to be. These South Africans have been making interesting music and videos for a while now as Max Normal TV. As Die Antwoord, they've adopted an Ali G approach, but this shit is more than a satirical character. Beat Boy launches from the silly intro shown in the video into a Georges Bataille inspired, guided acid trip of sexual phantasmagoria. Hypnotic, catchy and totally bizzare.
Here's what they were doing before becoming Zef Rap-Rave megastars:

Lyrics on Wat Kyk Jy.

8. "Bld Drft" by RxRy from the Snw Mltr EP (2010). The mysterious RxRy (pronounced Rex Ray) makes minimal, blissed out, ambient dance music. Free to a good home.

9. "Don't Leave Me Blue" by Chris Rehm from the album Salivary Stones (2010). This guy plays lots of different kinds of music in lots of different bands. On this solo record he seems to be shooting for some lo-fi Panda Bear-esque vibes.

10. "Something In the Way" by Best Coast from the Something In the Way EP (2010). Whoa, someone from Pocahaunted (Bethany Cosentino) is actually talented. These are great 50s garage rock/girl band inspired songs. I want more now.

11. "In Weird Dreams I Walk With You" by Archer Vs. Gunman from the WSBF Live Sessions (2010). AVG is an old middle school friend's band. We both became really interested in music at the same time, and would sit around and talk about/listen to music all the time. It's been interesting to watch him develop as a musician over the years. He's always had an ear for great pop tunes, but it's his lyrical work that really gets me. This is my favorite incarnation of his thus far.

12. "Ginger" by Twin Sister from from the Vampires With Dreaming Kids EP (2008). Just some good mellow indie pop, inspired by shoe gaze. Thick jams.

13. "New Life" by Bird Names from the album Open Relationship (2008). Spaz rock from the Windy City.

14. "Lake Ippising Cabin" by ACTUAL WATER from the DOUBLE NEGATIVES album (2008). Beautiful, LOUD noise. Odd moments of Yo La Tengo-esque instrumentals at the end of the album. For fans of all things Silt Breeze (in fact, I was going to put some Harry Pussy on this mix, but AW beat them out. But check out Harry Pussy if you're into loud, aggressive noise-punk).

15. "Slime Country" by Fruit Sand from the Trashy UFO Dreambag album (2009). Weird noise rock. Half Black Dice, half Hospitals. All awesome.

16. "Seed" by The Knife from the album Tomorrow, In A Year (2010). The Knife, as you may have heard, recently wrote music and lyrics for an opera about Charles Darwin, thus (hopefully) ushering in a new era of avant garde opera. This is pretty amazing stuff, along the lines of Björk. I'm surprised she didn't do it first, actually. Ooo, imagine an opera by Grizzly Bear.

17. "Games & Performance" by Deux from The Minimal Wave Tapes: Vol. 1 (2010). Austere, menacing, streamlined: cold-wave. Forgotten/ignored classics from the 80s. This track in particular reminds me of Lali Puna.

18. Track 4 from Animal Collective's ODDSAC OST (2010). Here's a new Animal Collective track from their upcoming "visual album" ODDSAC which is evidently a psychedelic horror movie or something. The track is not the greatest quality (sounds like it was recorded live, pretty flat), but it will give you an idea of what to expect. It sounds like their older, less structured work with their new approach to sounds. Can't wait to hear/see the real thing! Here's the trailer if you haven't seen it already:

19. "Una Furtiva Lagrima (L'elisir D'amore)" by Enrico Caruso from the Match Point OST (2005). Match point is my favorite Woody Allen movie and I think the pieces he used by Italian tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) were what really made the movie for me.

20. "Improvisation for Erik" by Jacques de Villiers from the album Sleepsongs (2010). Finishing up with another South African, Villiers brings to mind the more haunting works of Philip Jeck and William Basinski. This is a nice rendition of Satie's Gymnopédie 1.

Xela with Zelienople

2010-02-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

Damn! I checked out Xela and Zelienople last night at the Empty Bottle with my good friend Jade. It was completely amazing. Mike Weis (drummer of Xelienople and co-collaborator with Scott Tuma on last year's beautiful Taradiddle album) played the skins for John Twells, aka Xela/owner of Type Records. For half an hour or so the built up a megalithic wall of sound from Mike's drumming and John's voice. I've been curious for a while to know how Twells would present his material live, and it was amazing. Overwhelming and perfect

Xela with Mike Weis on drums

Then Brian and Matt joined John and Mike to play the most recent Zelienople album, Give It Up. This was a record release party for that album, which I didn't really enjoy until hearing it here, live. It's more song oriented than previous Zelienople works. Imagine a grittier, drugged-out more experimental Low.
Anyway, really fantastic show, check them out if they stop through your town.

Zelienople with Xela on keys/sampling

WINTER MIX TWENTY TEN

2010-01-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

SO, my favorite part of the musical year is when it comes to a close and everyone posts their Best Of lists. This isn't because I really give a shit that every body and their bro thought the new Animal Collective was the best set of jamz ever, it's because you get to find all the interesting albums that you missed throughout the year. Then you get to rifle through all that crap and find the real gold. So here's some of that and some new stuff. And some old stuff. . .

PICK ME UP

1. "Teenage Royalty" by Girls in the Eighties from Teenage Royalty (2010). Holy shit sauce, Nashville peeps, why didn't you tell me about this guy? This is some sweet shoegaze/garage rawk with a little of that hazy chillwave stuff thrown in, and it's fucking great. Evidently Chase, the main component of GITE, has had a little trouble keeping his band together, as it's currently on hiatus, but this and two other albums are being released sometime this year. If you dig this song, you're sure to enjoy the whole album. There's a great, slowed down cover of Deerhunter's "Strange Lights" awaiting you at the end of the tunnel.

2. "Real Life" (Memory Tapes remix) by Tanlines from the Real Life EP (2010). Memory Tapes takes this relatively boring new Tanlines track and makes it dope. Much better than his remix of Phoenix's "1901". "1901" is interesting in that Memory Tapes replaced all of the music with his own, and it's good music, it just doesn't jibe with the Phoenix guy's vocals. That could be cool, but it just doesn't work the way he did it. I'm not generally a fan of remixes though, so you might like it.

3. "Deep Space Night" by Niño from Deep Space Night (2009). This reminds me of Madlib's project Yesterday's New Quintet. Jazzy, instrumental R&B, but on a futuristic deep space night, or something. It's interesting at first, but quickly all begins to sound the same. It would be good if you wanted to maybe get your robot in the mood?

4. "Let Me Take You Out" by Class Actress from Journal Of Ardency (2010?). Need your fix of breathy fem vocals over some vintage Cure tunes? Class Actress delivers dance pop
with a twist of melancholy.

5. "Despicable Dogs" by Small Black from the self-titled 2009 EP. National Headquarters turned me on to this great EP not too long ago. Danceable chilly waves of synth and lo-fi production. Really nice stuff.

6. "Green Screen" Grass Widow from the self-titled 2009 EP. I'm not sure how I lived without these ladies for so long. This is some great post-punk a la Electralane (miss you!) with great, skewed harmonies and melodies. So. Fucking. Perfect.

7. "Good Looks" by Night Controlfrom Death Control (2009). Death Control is chock full of muddy, Velvet Underground inspired ideas. Few of the (occasionally)songs and (mostly) instrumentals on the 19 track album feel fully formed, though. Much better is Night Control's newer Life Control, which I haven't absorbed enough to post from yet.

8. "California Shakedown" Pearl Harbor from Wish We Were Here (2009). I feel like a jerk now. I initially wrote these kids off when I read that they were teenagers. Why? Most young bands, no matter how much potential they have, come across as immature and naive, to me, in both attitude and craft. Some people seem to find this endearing, I just find it boring. But these two, young sisters (one is 14!) are so far beyond their years! And they're still unsigned?! Where's Thurston when you really need him? Pearl Harbor is what, yaaaaawn, the Vivian Girls (damn them for taking that name, they'd better eventually do something worth a shit) would be if they were worth a shit.

9. "Don't Catch Fire" by Peter Gutteridge from the compilation Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox (2010). This is a stirring rendition of a Chris Knox penned tune by one of the guys from The Clean. Purchase this album to help Chris out with his medical bills, you'll be introduced to a bunch of great New Zealand bands on one disk and get a lot of your favorite indie bands on the other, all doing Tall Dwarfs and Chris Knox covers. It's really really good!

"In June 2009, Chris Knox suffered a life-altering stroke at his home in Grey Lynn, New Zealand. Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox is a celebration of Chris and his music. Chris Knox was instrumental in bringing New Zealand punk and alternative music to international audiences with Tall Dwarfs, Toy Love and his solo work. Artists from the U.S. (Jeff Mangum, Yo La Tengo, Mountain Goats, Will Oldham, Stephin Merritt, Bill Callahan, Lou Barlow, Jay Reatard), New Zealand (The Bats, The Verlaines, The Chills) and the world over have donated their time & talents covering songs from Knox's extensive catalog so that all proceeds can go toward assisting Chris with his recovery."
- from the Merge website.

10. "Sunday Dirver" by True WIdow from the self-titled 2008 album. Imagine Failure, Autolux and Low getting together to make an album. If that sounds appealing to you, then you'll probably enjoy this languid, sludgy slab of minimal doom rock.

11. "Scarecrows On A Killer Slant " by Liars from Sisterworld (2010). More killer, fucked up rock from Liars. They just get better and better.

12. "Spilth (Spill Your Filth)" by Necro Deathmort from This Beat Is Necrotronic (2009). Chopped up glitch doom, you may ask? "Satan’s own crystallized jizzum(sic)" says their Last.fm page. It will be interesting to see where these guys go.

13. "Idle Hands Are the Devil's Playthings" Palace Brothers from There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You (1993). Ah, just revisiting this old favorite. I hadn't listened to it ten years or so, if you don't have this Will Oldham classic, which you probably already do, be sure to pick it up.

14. "Bathing Birds" Adam Green from Minor Love (2010). This is one of the more endearing and creative tracks on an album of ho-hum, Lou Reed and Jonathan Richman inspired ditties.

15. "Time Slips By" by The Feminine Complex from Livin' Love (1969). Hey, Nashville, what the fuck? Again, when were you gonna tell me about this band?!? Livin' Love is the only album by this 60s "girl band", which is unfortunate because they were fucking awesome. They take Spector's WoS, add a dash of R&B and a ton of psychedelics and come out with what The United States of America was trying to accomplish. Recommended if you like the above mentioned, Broadcast, and great music in general.

16. "C'Est Pas Facile D'Être Une Fille" by France Gall from Baby Pop (1966). Another musty old gem! Ms. Gall began her career singing songs by the immortal Serge Gainsbourg. She has a deceitfully innocent voice, but don't be fooled.

17. "Snow Girl" by Candy Claws from an X-mas card they sent to me this holiday season. While it's not really a holiday song, other than the jingle bells in the background, "Snow Girl" is another beautiful Candy Claws track. A warm blanket of winter-blues fighting pop.

18. "You Must Be Out Of Your Mind" by The Magnetic Fields from Realism (2010).
I found Realism to be quite disappointing. It's mostly boring, silly children's songs. However, this and the last song are both gorgeous.

19. "Enjoy the Silence" by Failure from For the Masses (1998). Possibly the last song recorded by the amazing and underrated 90s psyche/grunge band Failure. This is a great cover of the classic Depeche Mode tune. I hadn't heard it in a while and recently picked it up again, along with Failure's second album Magnified. Just wanted to throw it out there for those of you who are unfamiliar.

20. "Beneath the Oak" by Fjordne from The Last 3 Days of Time (2008).
I've been obsessing over Fjordne's most recent album, The Setting Sun, since I found it a couple of months ago, so I recently tracked down the rest of his work. It's all just as beautiful. I recommend listening to his music while reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. They manage to capture the same mood, and enhance each other quite nicely. Also, Fjordne's music is a whole other world on headphones.

Also, if you are unaware of this comedy gold, quit your effin' and jeffin' and check it out right now:

Laser To Laser

2010-01-25T07:27:00.000-08:00

Oneohtrix Point Never -Laser To Laser video

December 09 mixtape

2009-12-19T16:10:00.001-08:00

Happy holidays, folks! Here's some tunes to ring in the new year with. I thought about throwing a couple of these albums onto the year-end list, but I hadn't totally digested them yet.

OBTAIN

1. "What Up Man by the Cool Kids from The Bake Sale EP (2008). This EP is from Chicago boys The Cool Kids. They kick early 80's style rhymes and are more fun than most of the hip-hop junk out there.

2. "dsco" by Sweet Trip from velocity : design : comfort (2003). This is an earlier album from these style mash-up freaks. Dizzy and fun.

3. "Lost Words" by Ganglians from Monster Head Room (2009). This was a favorite this year of several of the blogs I read, but it never really struck a great chord with me. Lo-fi psychedelic garage rock with Beach Boys harmonies. Sounds like the poppier side of Olivia Tremor Control, but not as well thought out. Still, a fun and easy going listen.

4. "This Fall" by The Amazing from the self-titled 2009 album. Beautiful, languid psyche-folk from members of Dungen and some other Swede psychers. They live up to their name. From start to finish, a fantastic album.

5. "Time Of The Assassins" by Charlotte Gainsbourg from IRM (2009). Not only is this much better than Ms Gainsbourg's previous effort, 5:55, it's the best music Beck has put out since Sea Change. In fact, I'd say Beck is the real star on this record. Charlotte definitely shows a much more interesting vocal range and even gives us a couple of Francoise Hardy/Benjamin Biolay style chansons, but Beck's instrumentation and production show new found inspiration. With his trademark surrealist approach to lyrics, the musical styles careen all over the place from song to song, while still maintaining a refined elegance that suits Gainsbourg's voice. There are only a few dull moments on this otherwise brilliant album.

6. "Living In Space" by David Kilgour from Frozen Orange (2004). Here's an older release from kiwi The Clean frontman David Kilgour. Most of his solo music is similar to the laid back folk stylings of Neil Halstead, but he ventures into more gritty areas when the time is right. One song on this album surprised me by being directions from downtown Nashville to a little spot in one of its suburbs.

7. "Thanks Vision" by Toro Y Moi from Causers Of This (2010). Chaz Bundick (Toro Y Moi) is riding the chillwave, um. . . wave to great effect. His yet to be released album Causers Of This is one of the most finely crafted of the "genre".

8. "Russian Mind" by Oneohtrix Point Never from Russian Mind (2009). OPN is nu-age synth drone. This piece is perfect. Influenced by krautrock and minimal ambience, as well as a love of late 70s-early 80s keyboards. If you dig it, it's available on a double disc set entitled Rift, a collection of 3 EPs, which I am officially putting with the rest of my faves of 2009. Mind melting.

9. "Mother" by Former Ghosts from Fleurs (2009). If you enjoy the confessional noise pop of Xiu Xiu, you'll dig this album not only because it's similar but also because Jamie from Xiu Xiu is in the band. It's a little more lo-fi goth-synth (dubbed "crimsonwave" by some genius) than Xiu Xiu, fitting in nicely with the likes of Zola Jesus.

10. "Devil Take You" by Zola Jesus from The Spoils (2009). Dark, dirty darkness. Zola Jesus manages scary, goth atmospheres without being to cheesy. I suppose.

11. "With Love and Asleep" by Anoice from Ruined-Hotel Sessions (2008). Rickety, intimate post rock from a Japanese 6-piece. Nice music for keeping warm on a grey winter day. Evidently they dabble in electronic composition as well.

12. "Part 4" by Yatha Sidhra from A Meditation Mass (1973). This dusty, old gem is labeled krautrock, but has more in common with Alice Coltrane and Ravi Shankar, in my opinion. I guess I can see some Can influence, but it's a little more raga and much less noodly. I'm pretty sure Bardo Pond was influenced by this record. Trippy to say the least.

13. "Overboard (Off The Deep End)" by Emeralds from the self-titled 2009 EP. Emeralds seem to be moving out into a more atmospheric, acid-drenched landscape of synths and megaliths floating in outer space these days. A nice companion to the aforementioned Oneohtrix Point Never recordings.

14. "Why did you say that Summer was Dying?" by The Puritan from Lithium Gates (2008). These Fins lay on thick slabs of evil doom metal in a fashion similar to Sunn O))), but with their own unique approach.

16. "Dusk" by Mist from their self-titled (2009) EP. I think this might explain the direction Emeralds are headed in. Mist is John Elliot, of Emeralds, and Sam Goldberg. Pretty similar, but inspired enough to be interesting as well.

17. "Sula" by Kuupuu from Lumen Tädhen (2009). This is KuuPuu's first "proper" release, whatever that means.
She's a member of Finish free folk ensemble Avarus (<3) and has a few miscellaneous home recordings floating around out there. Her sounds are similar to Kemialliset Ystävät, though maybe not quite as menacing. I'm pretty sure she does a fair amount of mushrooms in the forests of Finland.

17. "unt4" by Julianna Barwick from Sanguine (2006). Well, what do you know? Ms Barwick has a previous, self released album, and it's just as beautiful as this year's Florine EP! These pieces are shorter and a little more focused on repetition, so they rarely build to the majestic heights of any of Florine's tracks, but they show her ideas and directions quite well.

18. "Only A Shrine, But Mine" by Josephine Foster from Graphic As A Star (2009). This is a beautiful, intimate collection of introspective songs. Sparse, soft instrumentation and subtle sounds recorded from her surroundings put you in the meditative state of mind Foster must have been in while creating this record. It sounds like the memories of a kind ghost.

19. "A Second Distance" by Epeus Reichenback from Etherized (2009).
Gentle ambient pieces for those who appreciate Library Tapes and Eluvium, this is a graceful record full of beautiful sounds.

20. "Make Another Picture" by Sleep Whale from Houseboat (2009). This is one of a few songs with vocals on Houseboat. Sleep Whale strike me as, possibly, an acoustic version of The Octopus Project. Uplifting, exuberant post rock, maybe a little too sugary at times, but done rather well for the most part. Who wouldn't want someone to tell them that they got them an owl?

21. "Rulers, Ruling All Things" by Midlake from The Courage of Others (2010). Imagine my excitement when I got home from work today and found the new Midlake waiting for me! Courage follows on the themes and stylings of its predecessor The Trials of Van Occupanther, and is yet another gorgeous record by these Texans. 70s psyche-folk that will melt your heart with themes of desperation and melancholic beauty. I must admit that I do sometimes miss the wobbly songs of Bamnan & Silvercork, but this stuff is still amazing.

22. "Butterfly Beach" by The Lickets from They Turned Our Desert Into Fire (2009). This reverb-heavy track is a little deceitful, as far as the rest of this album goes. The Lickets make instrumental dark-folk and they play it well. If you enjoy that sort of music, it's definitely worth looking into the rest of their catalog.

video time

2009-12-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Broadcast and The Focus Group - "I See, So I See So"

Birdy Nam Nam - The Parachute Ending

BIRDY NAM NAM - THE PARACHUTE ENDING from Steve Scott on Vimeo.

National Headquarters Presents:

Skinemax Part 1 - Women of the Future

SKINEMAX I: Women of The Future from NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS on Vimeo.

Wild Traits in Tame Species

WILD TRAITS IN TAME SPECIES from NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS on Vimeo.

Essential Albums of 2009

2009-12-08T12:57:00.001-08:00

(photo by Jade Werner)

These are in order only of mix. I can't pick a favorite and it was certainly hard to whittle the list down to merely 20.
If anybody wants to post their tops of the year here, by all means do!

GET MIX HERE

1. "Bode"by Julianna Barwick from Florine (2009). Ms Barwick's latest recording is epic and empyrean and made from nearly nothing but her voice.

2. "50 Lashes" by Floating Action from their self-titled 2009 album. This album was the soundtrack to this past Chicago summer for me. Laid back grooves that leave you with no other choice than to chill out and enjoy your surroundings.

3. "Control" by Kid Sister from Ultraviolet (2009). Guilty pleasure? Maybe. Fucking ridiculously fun party album? Definitely. This track, the last on the album, is actually a single from 2007, but it's still pretty sweet.

4. "Fences" by Phoenix from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009). The first time I heard my first track from WAP, I thought it was Of Montreal. The second time, I was annoyed at them for trying to sound like Of Montreal. The third time, I realized they were better than Of Montreal, but was still irritated at how incredibly catchy it was. Okay, I thought, this might become a guilty pleasure. After that, it was just pure pleasure. Possibly the best pop album of the year. But you probably already know that.

5. "Civilizing People" by Nero's Day At Disneyland from From Rotting Fantasylands (2009). This hyper classical/breakcore mash-up shit is so much fun. Great to drive through the city to!

6. "For Kate I Wait" by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti from Grandes Exitos Greatest Hits (2009). With the weird genre of chillwave/glo-fi/hypnogogic pop magically appearing in the past couple of years, then gaining substantial popularity, I thought it necessary to include this classic Ariel Pink song from his collection of "greatest hits" he released this year. He is, after all, the father of this scene. Not to push R. Stevie Moore aside, but who would know of him were it not for Mr. Pink? Washed Out, Memory Tapes, Toro Y Moi, Neon Indian et al definitely owe him thanks.

7. "Bicycle" by Memory Tapes from Seek Magic (2009). So here's my favorite of the Chillwave set. The only reason being the overall quality of Mr. Hawk's product. A close second would be Washed Out, for sure.

8. "So We Sing" by Cortney Tidwell from Boys (2009). Ms Tidwell's impressive vocal range and well-above-average lyricism are only made easier to appreciate on Boys with the amazing music her husband and friends helped her produce for this beautiful, genre-spanning album.

9. "You Do You" by Bear In Heaven from Beast Rest Forth Mouth (2009). I'd say that there are several entire genres that have attempted to make this album, and never come close to it, but I don't want to over-sell it.

10. "Cypherbets" by Andrew Douglas Rothbard from Exodusarabesque (2009). After half a year of listening, Exodusarabesque still has amazing things things to reveal. Like I've said before, psychedelic-glitch-rock.
Sooo good!

11. "Twin Of Myself" by Black Moth Super Rainbow from Eating Us (2009). I didn't think BSMR could really improve on their sound without changing, but here, with the help of Dave Fridmann, they have certainly done it. As you would expect with an album Mr Fridmann would touch, the stereophonic aspects have been manipulated to the extreme, spreading the sound out from your headphones into the vast beyond.

12. "Siyah Hashye" by Harappian Night Recordings from The Glorious Gongs Of Hainuwele (2009). Sayed Kamran Ali delivers a brilliant pseudo-ethnic recording that is up there with the best of Sun City Girls' pieces. You really just have to hear it.

13. "Conjuring" by TwinSisterMoon from The Hollow Mountain (2009). This is my favorite dark-folk album of the year, and there were many great ones. Somehow, the members of Natural Snow Buildings manage to create beautiful, creepy ballads and masterful psychedelic drones that are better with every recording. Hopefully next year will see a new release from Isengrind.

14. "A Woman, A Girl" by Fjordne from The Setting Sun (2009).
For fans of Rachel's, Kashiwa Daisuke, World's End Girlfriend, Max Richter, Library Tapes and the like. Pastoral ambient avant-classical that skitters like motes in the warmth of a morning sunrise. When I first read about this album, the reviewer compared it to the mood that is set in the writing of Haruki Murakami. I think this is an apt comparison.

15. "Bad Santanna" by Slow Listener from Only On My Own Am I Truly Loved (2007). Oops, I just discovered that this album is from '07, but whatever, it's still amazing. Own it. "Some times it's almost like music," says his myspace page.
I guess if I had to, I'd replace this with William Basinski's new album 92982, but the only track short enough to post in the mix happens to be the only weak one on the disk.

16. "Distance and Passing" by Steven R. Smith from Cities (2009). Another astounding release from Steven R. Smith. Possibly an alternate soundtrack for The Road, though maybe just the written version, or if there were a wordless version of the film. Bleak and mournful, but without the grandiloquence of God Speed, You Black Emperor!

17. "The Palm Of Your Wave" by Bibio from Ambivalence Avenue (2009). Making a move away from his earlier, Boards Of Canada-influenced recordings, Stephen Wilkinson offers up an introspective album of nostalgia-tinted electronic folk. Lush with sampled keyboards and guitars and laid back grooves, Ambivalence Avenue will be sure to influence many to calm down and listen for a while.

18. "Harvest Time" by The Clientele from Bonfires on the Heath (2009). How can The Clientele top this? Bonfires on the Heath is definitely their masterpiece, but hopefully not their swan song as they have alluded to in recent interviews.

19. "Boy In The Yard" by Odawas from The Blue Depths (2009). Though it's kind of a bummer, The Blue Depths is a wonderful listen, as spacious as it is introspective. Odawas turns from the more guitar oriented psychedelia of their earlier recordings to a vintage keyboard spaced-out sound, with great effect. The songs sound like cosmic advice broadcast from another star.

20. "Not Strange Winged Snail" by Candy Claws from In The Dream Of The Sealife (2009). This is such a warm, heartfelt creation, that manages to avoid the cheese factor, which is a rare find. These guys are going to do even greater things.

November mix

2009-11-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

GET IT

1. "Vashti" by Sundog Peacehouse from Brosound (2009). Blissed-out ambient looping vocals, guitars and keyboards swirl all around you on this recording.

2. "Starry Fighter Kite" by Candy Claws from In The Dream Of The Sea Life (2009). Candy Claws landed a label and remastered their amazing album that they self-released earlier this year. It's hard to pick a song from it for a mix because they're all so good!

3. "Get Fresh" by Kid Sister from Ultraviolet (2009). Finally, Kid Sis releases her 3-years-in-the-making album of hip hop-electro dance party songs. And it's pretty good, too. A collection of fun dance jams with help from Kanye West's Dj A-Trak and various guest spots, including Cee-Lo on "Daydreams". Kid Sis has some tight rhymes, considering their subject matter. They're just about partying and "girly" stuff, but she manages to deliver them in a saucy, tongue-in-cheek fashion, letting you know that she's just having a good time. On the occasion that she slides off with the lyrics, the music and production hold it together, for the most part. There's a few weak moments, but, over all, Ultraviolet is a fun party jam.

4. "Pear-Shaped" by Joe Goddard from Harvest Festival (2009). Hot Chip's front man makes a bunch of minimal, electronic dance tracks. Interesting.

5. "Lovesick Teenagers" by Bear In Heaven from Beast Rest Forth Mouth (2009). I can't get enough of this album! Skewed krautrock-pop, somewhere in between Phoenix and Grizzly Bear? Pretty fucking dope.

6. "Silver Dust In Moonlight" by Elm from Nemcatacoa (2009). Here's Elm again with more creepy psyche-drone pieces in the vein of Natural Snow Buildings. Eerie and spacious.

7. "Phantom Shapes" by Orphan Fairytale from Ladybird Labyrinth (2009). Creepy ambient sampled drones from Belgium.

8. "Wrong Mirror" by Hole Class from the self-titled 2009 LP. Lo-fi, garage folk from Rob of Eat Skull and Beth of Times New Viking. Pretty minimal and reminiscent of Beck's One Foot In the Grave album, with a nice blast of noise in the middle.

9. "Red Coats" by Golden Triangle from the self-titled 2009 EP. Garage party rock to rock the party in your garage.

10. "No Mongo" by Wizzard Sleeve from Make the World Go Away (2009). Sabbathy garage-metal downers.

11. "Floating Vibes" by Surfer Blood from Astrocoast (2009). This is the first track from Astrocoast and it pretty much rocks. The second song is kind of an 80s arena rock style anthem and it's okay. The rest of this album sounds like the Shins.

12. "Th'aria" by Zola Jesus from Tsar Bomba (2009). Lo-fi goth?

13. "Lord Of Light" by Bardo Pond from Sonic Attack, a series of Hawkwind tribute 7"s (2008). A great little collection of Hawkwind songs covered by the likes of Acid Mothers Temple, Kinski and Mudhoney.

14. SIde A, track 1 by Haunted Castle from the Haunted Castle/Dead White Split (2007). Psyche-noise along the lines of Yellow Swans. Layered feedback to drown in.

15. "Brooklyn" by Hauschka from Small Pieces (2009). A short collection of short piano pieces with tidbits of other sounds by this excellent German composer.

16. "Wrought Iron Door" by Terrors from Inequipoise (2009). Very minimal, reverbed keyboard drones with ghostly vocals.

Finland's Freak Folk Scene on Artsworld

2009-11-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

to ghosts, and other people who disappear

2009-11-09T11:29:00.001-08:00

DOWNLOAD coping mechanism