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In my bedroom, behind my bed rests a small stereo which I've owned for approximately 9 years. One of my favorite moments of every day is falling back into a soft pillow with music playing while I fall asleep. Unfortunately the CD player portion of this stereo ceased to work over a month ago. I brought it into a trusted local shop and waited for nearly four weeks before it was returned to me. Unfortunately the CD portion couldn't be saved, but I could attach a portable and still get a good stereo sound behind my ears. Excited to have my player back behind my bed, 'EAR 2' was the first selection chosen to fall asleep to. Utterly blissful. Like 'EAR 1' released EARlier this year, this disc features (alleged) old sources of C&C material re-attacked with a focus on depth and space. 'EAR 2' is a revisitation of Cosey Fanni Tutti's "Time To Tell" release and while EAR1 featured about 15 medium-sized tracks, EAR2 features four long, stretched out drones with echoes and bleedings from "Time to Tell."
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Howard Devoto assembled Magazine within months of departing the Buzzcocksin 1977. More artsy and dynamic than the punk he abandoned, Magazine's 5piece line-up (the only constants being Devoto and a young Barry Adamsonon bass) augmented vocals/guitar/bass with liberal use of piano, keyboardsand saxophone and drew influence from punk, post-punk, funk, new wave androck, as well as the literature Devoto devoured. In less than 4 yearsthey released 5 albums and numerous singles. "Maybe It's Right.." boxesup previously unreleased goodies and the highlights of their influentiallegacy on 3 fifteen track cds. Disc 1 covers the Real Life/SecondhandDaylight era, including "Shot By Both Sides", "I Love You You Big Dummy","My Tulpa", "Definitive Gaze", "The Light Pours Out of Me" and theinfectiously catchy "Rhythm of Cruelty". Disc 2 is The Correct Use ofSoap/Magic, Murder and the Weather era, including "A Song From Under theFloorboards", "Thank You", "Because You're Frightened", "Model Worker" and"Come Alive". Both of these discs feature alternative mixes and recordings,live songs and single A and B sides. Disc 3 is the real treat though with4 previously unreleased, live in the studio Peel sessions dating between'78 and '80. These sessions, along with the live songs from discs 1 and 2,show just how diverse, tight, edgy, explosive and cool Magazine could bewith solid versions of the big 'hits'. There's a lot of really vital stuffhere some 20 years on down the road. Other than the simple slip cases forthe discs, the ugly turquoise and yellow fold-up box contains a 28 pageinsert full of archival photos but, disappointingly, no liner notes otherthan track credits and no mention of re-mastering. Fortunately everythingsounds great and the music more than makes up for it.samples:
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- Carl Thien
- Albums and Singles
Like a mixture of Sigue Sigue Sputnik & TheFast. Totally new wave, as if I didn't just tell you that comparing him tothose two. Sigue Sigue Sputnik was Tony James band after he playedbass for Generation X. Tony James was responsible for the atrocious mixof The Heartbreakers 'LAMF ReVisited' when he and Johnny took themix money and played Doctor instead of making that record "bigsounding" like they were supposed to. They just washed the masters inreverb and trashed a legendary album until the original mix was reissuedseveral years later. Despite this judgment glitch Tony James was anincredible showmen and creative force. Sigue Sigue Sputnik were reviledfor their "Love Missile F1-11", though it became a classic of its genre.The Fast were a way ahead of their time band from NYC that combineda love of Sparks into a punky power pop that predated 'new wave' by afew years. You'd do well to check out another NYC band The Speediesas well. Their "Let me take your Foto" 7" is still 10/10. The Fast and TheSpeedies were peaking around 1979. The Fast have songs on bothMax's Kansas City compilations, plus some great 7"s and an LP. Back toSylvester Boy. There are a bunch of songs on this disc that are just sofine. Sonovac and Sylvester Boy are doing almost exactly the same thing,and the two of them are my picks of the week from the Other Musicsection of this weeks gullbuy. This CD is the first non Chicks On Speedrelease on their label. It is the third release of the label.samples:
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- Carl Thien
- Albums and Singles
A verylistenable 7 song EP with a Hawaiian theme. Each side of the brightyellow 7" starts off with a luau-styled instrumental that almost sounds'easy'. The second song on the A-side is a version of the cliché Hawaiiansong "Hula Hula". The third song is a version of Elvis' "Blue Hawaii" thatis my fave of the EP along with the first songs on each of the sides.Elsewhere things are warped up a bit in the V/VM fashion, but never tothe point that listening to the track is an act of art appreciation. This is agreat EP to buy if you don't have anything from them and would like tocheck them out, though their 2 CD "Aural Offal Waffle" 52 track setremains my favorite and most recommended V/VM disc.Read More
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Bruce Kaphan is a multi-instrumentalist and producer who's work has gracedalbums by American Music Club, Mark Eitzel, REM, The Black Crowes, Love andRockets, Chris Isaak, David Byrne and John Lee Hooker, among many others."Slider" is his solo debut for Hearts of Space (www.hos.com), an albumproperly subtitled 'ambient excursions for pedal steel guitar'. Kaphansuccessfully removes the instrument from it's stereotypical Country &Western setting and uses it as sound source for a music more akin to"Bitches Brew" than Buck Owens. Each of the 11 tracks, a few minutes shyof an hour total, are primarily the mellow notes and washes of the steelset in reverberated ambiance. "Clouds" sets the tone with lovely steel andfretless bass interplay. "Country & Eastern" and "Back to the Light" mixin tabla rhythms for an unnaturally natural East meets West feel. "Outpost"is an outlying settlement in one of Brian Eno's ambient worlds. "Homage(Pour La Grande Fromage)" has light beats credited as 'purrcussion' toKaphan's cat Hana. Overall "Slider" is like an audio sedative, not too dulland not too exciting, but certainly relaxing and pretty. Another welcomeaddition to the 'music for sleepy time' pile .samples:
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- Carl Thien
- Albums and Singles
Described on the Bungalow website as "style:lofidubhousediskopunknoise, bigbeat, stomping house, absurd samples,looped dialogues, glamour pop. Framed by the beautiful intro and outroyou are drawn into a different world." The intro and outro they refer toare mock Holiday Inn style lounge act audience introductions that I preferto skip over. This is Bungalows last release of 2000. The website tells us"Bungalow will change its structures and start a new partnership fromnext year on". I wonder just what that means. Bungalow introduced whatthey called 'clubpop' in the mid-90's. The sound was perfected in Japanon labels like Escalator, Readymade, and Trattoria. The 'easy' side ofBungalow found a home in Spain's Siesta Records, and the offbeat popin Spain's Elefant Records. That has left Bungalow in some sort of middleground - a little bit of this, a little bit of that, which I do not believe wasthe labels intention. I remember their early manifesto stating thatBungalow was to be a style as well as a sound; it was to be a gatheringplace for a world community of people who love technology, are notafraid of dance music, think Combustible Edison were way ahead of theirtime innovators, and still thrill to the sound of a good pop song. I'll becurious to see what the 'new structure' they speak of entails... As for thisrecord, nothing on it is as good as their side of the split 7" Bungalowreleased with them and Ursula 1000. Stereo Deluxe's song from that split("Groovy Boy") is not on this debut full length. The second song is theircurrent single "Soul Sauce", a horn infested big beat dance instrumental.There is a second version of the song later in the disc as well. Both arecompetent, but neither offer anything you haven't heard many timesbefore. "Lincoln Continental (feat. Lato)" sounds a bit like Two-Tone skaby The Specials or Fun Boy Three, though not as magical as they are."Riddle Me This" is one of my faves with it's (Batman TV series) Riddlersamples, though they are not used as creatively as even I could imagine.In fact, much of this album to me does not take full advantage of thesource samples they've used. Where I really expected to love this album Ijust find myself thinking that it is O.K.Read More
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I think they're actuallya quartet this time around. This disc is without a doubt my favoriteoffering from Mazurek and Taylor as the Chicago Underground. With JeffParker and Noel Kupersmith, the quartet leaves us with 15 well-definedpaintings which are much more matured to the sort of sketchwork soundof the very first releases. Songs are developed, foundations are builtand Parker's guitarwork and Kupersmith's electronics complete thepicture. I'm afraid to think I'm more fond of this because it stepsfurther away from a more traditional jazz sound the other discs havehad. Doesn't change the fact that I can truly say I enjoy listening tothis not only at home, but riding the train to work and even in thecar.samples:
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- Jon Whitney
- Albums and Singles
This indeed is what it should all be about. Side one has three tracks,two different versions of the title track, "Sign" and another track,"COGWHEEL." As expected from the last release, "Sign" harborsTakemura's love for beauty and the voice, coupled with his ability tohack and chop away at sounds and beats electronically. The realexcitement happens when you flip the record over to side two. Now, Iset my timer to this one as it looked like it was pressed rather tight(the vinyl that is). Experts have claimed that only about 25 minuteswould fit comfortably on one side of a 12" record, played at 33 1/3RPM, right? The improvisational "jam" that takes place on side twofeatures Chicago friends Bundy K. Brown, John McEntire and Doug McCombs(all from Tortoise and related camps) clocks in just over 35 minutes.Right, that's not a typo! The piece is fantastic and might as well beanother one of those songs you always wished would appear on a Tortoiserecord. It starts off with a wonderful showcase of how all fourmusicians have a keen sense of improvisation and incredible talent tocreate cohesive noise with each other. It starts off like a jammingrockish jazzish tune, but then something goes awry, glitchiness ensuesin a dreamy audio bath of laptop fuckery with live instruments... I'mgetting flashbacks and almost begin dreaming that this could honestlybe "Djed 2!" Yes, I'm a fan and I love Tortoise music, but this tracksimply titled only as "Souvenir in Chicago" is a stunning performance,and it's something you knew these guys could do and hoped they woulddo, but never actually heard. This record only comes on vinyl and islimited to 2000 copies. Tortoise fans, Takemura fans shouldn't passthis one by, you'll regret it for years to come! And vinyl sure makesfor a great stocking stuffer!samples:
(in progress for 3/5/12)- Administrator
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For a band known for playing so damned slow, Earth have evolved quickly the past few years. Their visionary work takes yet another step into uncharted waters on this new release. Billed as a continuation of last year's album of the same name, Earth's music takes a turn toward sparse improvisation, with a suite of five songs openly influenced by English folk-rock and blues.
Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II was cut from the same sessions as its elder sibling, but doesn't share the same blueprint. Gone are fully composed, structured songs like "Old Black" and "Father Midnight," which opened the first album with plodding, desolate blues shot through with cello and low-end guitar/bass drone. Those two songs circled like vultures around their skeletal, stripped-down melodies for ten minutes at a clip, never veering beyond the guardrails imposed by the band's patient rhythm section. All told, those songs weren't a far cry from those on The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull; new instrumentation aside, Angels I sounded like a refinement of that album's luscious, drone-heavy Americana.
On Angels II, however, the closest reference point is the fully improvised title track of Angels I, on which Lori Goldston and Dylan Carlson's tonal and melodic interplay meandered for 20 minutes, the rhythm section keeping (very slow) time at arm's length. In contrast to its neatly composed neighbors on Angels I, the title track seemed at odds with the rest of the album; now, it makes perfect sense alongside Angels II, which brings the band's improvisational skills into the limelight. Everything on Angels II was reportedly improvised in the studio, bringing an incredibly loose, relaxed, and laid-back feel to the album. It is also very clearly a team effort, with no single player stealing the spotlight or outshining the rest; these are balanced, full-band compositions through and through.
What surprises and pleases me most about Angels II—and has kept the album on repeat in my home for over a month now—is the spaciousness of the music. For a band that cut its teeth pioneering the feedback-laden world of doom metal, there is nary a trace of that genre's density of sound. Instead, the album's first track, "Sigil of Brass," kicks off with a subtle drone and Carlson's clean guitar playing a bare-bones melody, its notes borderline assertive enough to pierce the surrounding air. "His Teeth Did Brightly Shine" is all slow-motion guitar and bass interplay, with Adrienne Davies adding a feather's touch on cymbals to remind of her existence. Toward the end, a hint of dissonance enters as Carlson gently bends his guitar strings out of tune—a subtle touch that breathes new interest into the song.
Goldston finally makes her presence known on "Waltz (A Multiplicity of Doors)," her cello screeching and sawing away while the band ambles onward in 3/4 time—a waltz as imagined by drone connoisseurs. Midway through the track, the cello gets more aggressive, increasing in volume and tonal intensity, if not tempo, building the album's tension to a peak, then letting off again. It's a patiently composed piece that proves the old adage about the journey being more important than the destination. "The Corascene Dog" spotlights Carlson's guitar more so than anything else on the album, cycling through minimal chord progressions with ever so subtle changes in tone and phrasing, his playing clean and confident.
More than ever, Earth sound eager to push forward into new territory, content to let the growing legions of drone and doom metal acolytes—Sunn O))), Nadja, Barn Owl, Corrupted, Grails—carry Carlson's ancient torch. This bold mindset is best exemplified by the closing track on Angels II, "The Rakehell," its bluesy grandeur a sharp distillation of Earth's talents. The rhythm section has a newfound, gentle sway in its playing; instead of just hulking along patiently for 12 minutes, it actually swings—like a jazz band on slow-motion playback. Over this foundation, Carlson's guitar and Goldston's cello wind through a lovely, blues-based melody that seems all too familiar and nostalgic. This is gorgeous stuff, relaxed and spacious, full of life.
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Masaki Batoh, guitarist and leader of the Japanese psych-rock collective Ghost, is a man of many pursuits: music, acupuncture, science and spirituality. His first solo recording since the mid '90s is a result of years of research into bioelectric functions of the human brain, and the national tragedy that struck his home country while working on the album in Tokyo, Japan.
Batoh initially conceived of Brain Pulse Music by commissioning a device called the Brain Pulse Music (BPM) machine. Essentially, Batoh's aim was to translate brain waves—activity from the frontal and parietal lobes—into electronic sound. Tragically, when the Great East Earthquake hit Japan in March 2011, Batoh's goals with the BPM project took a sharp left turn, and it's impossible not to feel moved by the story: Batoh used his BPM machine (and its "music") to help reconcile and treat the spiritual needs of his acupuncture patients, while the album is intended as a prayer and requiem for his disaster-stricken country. (Oh, and a consumer-friendly version of the BPM machine—purportedly not unlike a guitar effects pedal—is forthcoming.)
As for the music itself, Brain Pulse Music is a bit of a mixed bag—sometimes more interesting to read about than to listen to. It is composed of two recordings from Batoh's BPM machine, as well as five recordings based on melodies and rhythms heard in Japanese religious rituals, played on traditional instruments. Concept aside, the BPM recordings sound straight out of a science fiction novel—amelodic, atonal, inhuman—which is just fine, except they aren't a compelling listen. Perhaps if used in an acupuncture setting they function differently; as is, they don't bring about any of the "inner peace" that Batoh might have been striving for. Honestly, I'm not sure what else to expect from a recording made by tracking human eye movements with two separate BPM machines ("Eye Tracking Test"), in which Batoh's concept and creative process are far more interesting than the end result heard on tape.
Fortunately, Batoh has augmented much of this music, based on the BPM machine's wave forms, with traditional Japanese instrumentation, which injects these inorganic, mechanical forms with natural life. At its best, the BPM machine creates a warm harmonic drone, which is sufficiently more interesting when combined with ancient folk idioms than on its own. Batoh has assembled a variety of acoustic instruments—flutes, wind pipes, gongs, wood blocks, Buddhist bells, even Shinto chanting—to bring his compositions to life. The result is worlds away from the American and European music in which many of us are immersed from birth. The easiest parallel is to Ghost's fine excursions into subdued psychedelia; unlike Ghost, Brain Pulse Music is more sounds than songs, which lessens the impact. Still, Batoh does a fine job curating the sounds of his country's folk music—chimes and bells, ceremonial percussion, wooden drum hits, bright flute melodies—into pieces that soothe, calm, and lull one's mind into a sense of peaceful tranquility.
The final track, "Aiki No Okami," is a startling diversion from the album's template, an attempt by Batoh to replicate the earthquake's effect (and to purge the anguish it has caused his country) with pure sound. He combines harsh bursts of BPM machine dissonance with distorted percussion, while the track's title—which translates to "Great Spirit of Aiki"—is chanted. Eventually, the noise rises to a piercing crescendo. Played at high volume, this is impactful and moving sound, acknowledging the natural disaster that inspired it while straining to match its impact blow for blow. While "Aiki No Okami" sounds quite unlike the preceding album, it shares the same intentions: music as therapeutic device, intended for healing.
As a worthwhile side note, Batoh is offering a well-intentioned incentive to buy, not download, the album (putting his money where his mouth is): all proceeds from Brain Pulse Music go to earthquake disaster victims through Japan Red Cross.
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