27 April 2003

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Albums and Singles

On her last album, Caitlin Cary displayed a more folk/rock/country hybrid sound than her fans were used to. True, mostly that was due to the differences in her sound from her former band Whistkeytown: the absence of Ryan Adams' trademark wail and the switch of Cary from background to lead vocals. She also seemed to want a more roots sound than Adams did, as he went more rock and she went more folk after Whiskeytown's demise. She wasn't without Adams on While You Weren't Looking, though, as he appeared on the bonus disc. This time, Cary went it alone, sort of, as she and her band came off the road with some bold new songs and went right in to the studio with Chris Stamey.Yep Roc

The results shown on I'm Staying Out are a return to form for Cary, as she rocks out more, but the whole album is stronger than anything she's done yet, period. Cary seems more comfortable in the leading role, and the appearance of Mary Chapin Carpenter gives her a bit more credibility. It's the songs, though, that are the real strength, as Cary has found a key group of musicians and songwriters that are guaranteed to create sparks. Bittersweet is still the primary flavor, with songs like "Sleepin' in on Sunday," and "I Want to Learn to Waltz With You," mixed with "Please Break My Heart," and the title track, which is about knowing when it's time to move on even though your partner is expecting you to walk through the door. It's not a perfect record for Cary yet, though, as most of the songs, while pleasant to listen to at first, are utterly forgettable on repeat listens. A few, though, hit the mark and stay there, like "You Don't Have to Hide," "Cello Girl," and "Please Break My Heart." It's on these where Cary gets in touch with classic country through a modern lens, and that's what makes it so stunning. She's improving, and there's no doubt she'll blow us away sooner or later, unlike Adams, who seems to get more and more discombobulated. Hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer for Cary to amaze us once and for all.

samples:

• Sleepin' in on Sunday
• Please Break My Heart
• Cello Girl

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27 April 2003

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Albums and Singles

This new mini-album by Asa-Chang & Junray doesn't point to a new direction for the group, but rather brilliantly confirms that the audaciously original musical experimentation heard on last year's Song Chang was far from a fluke. Percussionist Asa-Chang, tabla master U-Zhaan and programmer Hidehiko Urayama have produced another masterful album in the spirit of kidoairaku, loosely translated as "anything is possible."

The Leaf Label

Kidoairaku is a peculiarly Japanese approach to composition, where disparate elements are put together in an exciting, dramatic way that is as vital and immediate as pop music. Tsu Gi Ne Pu contains five tracks that encompass some of the myriad of possiblities offered by this approach. The first track 'Toremoro" utilizes sampled sound effects from the original Star Trek series - the chirp of the transporter, the whoosh of the automatic doors, the birdsong of the communication devices. Soon, a lulling shakahuchi melody is joined by the ever-present tabla. Five minutes in, the trademark tabla singing begins, this time edited to hyperrhythmic precision by Urayama's laptop expertise. This song is an exciting auditory experience, best experienced on an expensive set of headphones. 'Tsuginepu to Ittemita' is made up of high-pitched electronic drones, with more of the phonetic, staccato singing from Yoshimi P-We of The Boredoms. 'Xylophone' is the rare instance of an Asa-Chang and Junray song that you can actually sing along to. For its three-minute running time, Asa-Chang and Junray manage to reign in all of their random, abstract tendencies to produce an supremely catchy pop song. 'Kaikyo' matches a plaintive trumpet melody with field recordings of the ocean, and builds to a shattering climax reminiscent of Ennio Morricone on several tabs of Japanese acid. The disc closes with the short 'Kutsu No. 3', a slight piece featuring a sad trumpet, hypnotic harmonium and a playful chorus of digital blips and birdcalls. Fast forward ten minutes to an eight-minute hidden track with Yoshimi and Asa-Chang counting in Japanese against a background of shrill digital arpeggios.

Tsu Gi Ne Pu is a worthy follow up to Song Chang, and it makes me wish that there were more artists on the scene today that made high-concept experimentation this exciting and listenable.

samples:

• Toremoro
• Tsuginepu to Ittemita
• Xylophone

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27 April 2003

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Albums and Singles

Southern Lord
Ever wonder what Black Sabbath would sound like if Ozzy and Bill Wardwere shot and killed, leaving a bereaved Tony Iommi and Geezer Butlerto play a slow dirge at their funeral while under the influence ofhorse tranquilizers? What if that sound were then passed through thedepths of hell and slowed down to last the entire day? The sound mightbegin to approximate the slow, doom-laden heaviness of Sunn O))), apair of doped-up metalheads from the Deep South. Sunn O)))'s musick isevil, neolithic metal sludge that was born out of Satan's ass. GregAnderson and Stephen O'Malley's strategy is simple: reduce heavy metalto its primal elements—guitar and bass, played slow and thick, like abarrel of syrupy magma being poured into a hole full of preschoolers.Nobody can actually play guitar this painfully slow, so Anderson andO'Malley make use of a variety of tape effects to achieve the properslow burn. Their two performances at the recent Autechre-curated AllTomorrow's Parties festival in England were certainly some of thehighlights of the event. Sunn O))) performed in Grimm robes, in frontof a huge stack of ultraloud speakers, flanked on the left and right bylive tape editors, and augmented by guest vocalists. For their firstperformance, the legendary Julian Cope joined Anderson and O'Malley toperform spoken-word poetry over the loud drones. For Sunn O)))'s secondshow, Odinist Runhild Gammelsaeter joined the proceedings, sportingsome bizarre Kiss-meets-Wotan face make-up. Runhild performed a seriesof vocal growls and ululations that focused the magickal energy of thebass and guitar rumbles and shot it out into the crowd. Sunn O)))'s newalbum title, White1, appears to be a nod to their last album Flight ofthe Behemoth, which had a completely black cover, and featured novocals and no guest appearances other than a remix collaboration withMerzbow. For this outing, Sunn O))) attempt to approximate their liveshows, with three long tracks featuring the same guest stars thatfrequently join them live. The first track, "My Wall," features SunnO)))'s trademark slow motion feedback riffs in the background, while inthe foreground Julian Cope does a terrific spoken-word bit that is bothingenius and hilarious—a long-form Odinist verse that mythologizes andcelebrates Anderson and O'Malley's transcendent wall of guitar drones.The painted up magician Runhild Gammelsaeter guests on the second track"The Gates of Ballard," a 15-minute fuzzy invocation of the sun thatgoes straight for your cerebral cortex with its mindbending drones.Amazingly, this song actually features drums, a true rarity in the SunnO))) canon. The third track, ominously entitled "A Shaving of the HornThat Speared You" is the most ambient track on the album, featuringmenacing distorted bass rumbles and randomly strummed electric guitar,together with ritualistic vocal intonations that seem to impregnateyour mind with dark thoughts. White1is Sunn O)))'s breakthrough record, effortlessly merging the minimaldroning of their early work with a host of like-minded collaborators,who push and expand their sound into their most tantalizinglyapocalyptic album yet. - 

samples:

• My Wall
• The Gates of Ballard
• A Shaving of the Horn That Speared You

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27 April 2003

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Albums and Singles

Streamline
Heavyand fluctuating drones, ponderous organic sounds, and subtle thematicshifts all add up to an album that is about as hard to describe as itis captivating. The swells of organ-like mumurs and the gentle hints of bird sounds and lilting winds on Over the Edgeshad a number of effects on me as I listened to it again and again. Atfirst the drones were too imposing—they seemed like a veil of shadowsthat hid the face of some insidious creature that might either drive meto the edges of insanity or attack me unsuspectingly. A second listenprojected images of impossibly high mountains choked at their peaks byunending snowfall and a third transported me into the nether reigons ofspace illuminated by the death and birth of stars. I've probablylistened to this album over ten times in the last seven days and itnever fails at lighting up my imagination and directing it to composeimages of vast, fantastic landscapes inhabited by perplexing andenigmatic creatures. Though much of the music is repetitous, the variedemotions and reponses it kindled in my mind never became old orunwelcome. The minimal number of sounds used gives me the oppurtunityto fill in the blanks and participate in the music as it wandersthrough the room. I could say this album is ghostly or creepy, but thatwould be oversimplifying its beauty. Andrew Chalk has composed anexcellent piece of meditative music capable of both relaxing andstimulating the mind and igniting the imagination in a flame ofunspeakable power.

samples:

• Track 1
• Track 2
• Track 3

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27 April 2003

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Albums and Singles

Drag City
The first time I heard Continental OP, the collaborative projectbetween Dave Pajo and Will Oldham, was on the label Temporary ResidenceLimited's compilation called "Sounds For The GeographicallyChallenged." I bought that record largely because of Continental OP'sappearance on it (I had been tipped off who the band members were) and,after listening to the playful but underwhelming song, regarded theproject mostly as a lark, never expecting to see the collaborativeeffort turn up again. But five years later, team Pajoldham havesurprised me by offering a collection of songs which serve as thescore/soundtrack for an independent short film called "Slitch." Onceagain, the project seems like a lark, as if the two were doing thefilmmaker Dianne Bellino a nice favor, producing a little chestnut:nothing as fancy or remarkable as the Dashiell Hammett character theband's name references. There are springy melodic tracks ("Faster"),Misfits punk rock approximations ("James Tired"), and simplistic songswith second-grade-music-class-instrument accoutrements ("Glock"). Themost resonant song is "La La La," an infectious Free Design inspiredharmony line which I found myself humming throughout the day. All ofthese sort of limp ahead clumsily with no signature sound contributedby either Pajo or Oldham and without any real direction, which bringsus to the film itself. On the flip side of the DVD is Dianne Bellino'sshort film "Slitch." The word "slitch" is an amalgam of "slut" and"bitch," and it is the appellation which the protagonist's bitter oldersisters assign to her because she is distracted in her behavior, aloofin her interactions, and (according to the sisters) often carefreeabout her sexual encounters. At our first glimpse of Slitch, she islying in the grass of some wooded parkland, having ostensibly justslept with the man next to her. She arises with a noticeable glint inher eyes, retrieves her underwear from the shrubbery, and is off. Thefocal point of the film is Slitch's interactions with the local surferdude, played fondly by Will Oldham. Oldham's surfer is as oblivious toSlitch's sexual advancements as she is heavy-handed in their delivery.He just wants to watch surfing videos and surf, while she just wants tohave sex. At one point they compromise and have ice cream. Besidesobserving Oldham, which is always fun, I was delightfully distractedfrom the film by trying to determine if the beach where Bellino filmedwas the same Rhode Island beach where I had spent a Fourth of July onceand a pal of mine had lost his car keys in the sand (they were latermiraculously found in a last ditch effort, but not before I had lenthim $40 to have a new key made. We are both still uncertain if that $40was ever recouped by me). Formally, the film is carefully shot andconsidered. It even has moments of looking delicate, such as Slitch'ssunsetted stroll on the beach or Slitch's silent mom grabbing a MillerHi-Life from the refrigerator, but nothing very engaging in terms ofstory or plot. The film's story is an innocuous Cinderella tale with nosense of danger or drama. Slitch's two evil sisters seem no moreoppressive than a gaggle of noisy geese, and her Prince Charming wouldrather jet off to Hawaii than bother deciphering Slitch's confusingmind state. We are asked to believe that Slitch has an alarming needfor sex, but we never really see this. She does not habituallymasturbate; there are no erotic posters of Corey Haim on her walls; andshe seems able to occupy herself with placid walks on the beach at duskwhile listening to her walkman. Sex seems almost as a healthy avocationto her, not a destructive obsession. The evil sisters ought to relaxtheir criticism of Slitch and take a moment between moustache waxes tograb a beer with mom. 

samples:

• Faster
• La La La
• James Tired

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20 April 2003

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Albums and Singles

Astralwerks
With the undeniable hit that the Kings of Convenience Remixesalbum became, it's unsurprising that the next move from singer ErlendØye was to continue on the electronic music path, employing theservices of many, leaving the acoustic guitar tunesmith days to liedormant. Unrest features ten songs, each with a differentelectronic music collaborator, each taking place in a different city.The concept is appealing for those who found some of thereconstructions and reworkings a spectacular accomplishment, as theinfluences of outside collaborators and remixers had a marvelouseffect. Without the tinkling guitars and folky vocals serving the basisfor the tunes, the truly unique identity is somewhat lost. While thesongs are somewhat catchy, like the fast-talking (almost rapping)"Prego Amore" with Jolly Music, the opener "Ghost Trains" with MorganGeist of New York and the discoey beats of "Sudden Rush" with Kompis,this album could honestly be another drop in the bucket in the trend ofnew techno pop, popularized by Morr related artists, The PostalService, and others. The most exciting direction unsurprisingly comesfrom Prefuse 73, who has integrated a number of horn, vibe, and guitarsounds into the mix, but only ever subtly and not tampering with theelectronic bass sound that drives the rest of the music. For the restof the record, it's a lot of tired drum machine sounds, sparseinstrumentation, and unchallenging vocals.

samples:

• Ghost Trains (with Morgan Geist)
• Like Gold (with Schneider TM)
• Prego Amore (with Jolly Music)

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20 April 2003

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Albums and Singles

Chocolate Industries
Via Tania is the project of ex-Spdfgh bassist/vocalist and Australian nativeTania Bowers in a very relaxed, groove-oriented setting as asinger/songwriter. Those familiar with the musical happenings in the Chicagoscene over the last few years may recognize her from adding guest vocals ondiscs by various artists. On her six-song debut solo EP, engineered by acesoundman Casey Rice (Designer), Dream Of... brings in some very coolinstrumental backing from Tortoise/Isotope 217 members John Herndon on drumsand Jeff Parker on guitar, and also enlists Scott Herren (Prefuse 73, Savath+ Savalas) and While to provide a couple of remixes. The three minute, verylaid back "Little China" showcases Bowers beautiful voice, which arrives attimes very delicately, over solid bass, soft drums, and full, jazzy guitarchords. "Fighter" opens with a series of distant guitar overdubs which statethe chord progressions and melody, only to gradually fade out and introduceupright bass and brushed drums and sultry vocals which carry the tune."Mosquito Lights" is a haunting ballad comprised of dark, thick and minorsounding piano chord progressions and multi-tracked vocals which appear tosing of loss. The breathy vocals and overall vibe of the track "UniverseCity" come through twice on the EP; the second time as a remix by While.This version, the longest track on the disc at just under six minutes, isanchored by a very low-end sliding synth bass line, mechanical percussionand sampled woodwinds which give it a real heavy chill-out vibe. Running atjust over twenty-five minutes, this EP makes for a great introduction forBowers' blend of laid back pop, her full-length disc Under A DifferentSky and also as an artist to watch for.

samples:

• Little China
• Fighter
• Drift Away remix

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20 April 2003

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Albums and Singles

Sonig
Like many current serious artists, Hajsch—who's work lies somewherebetween experimental electronic, electro-acoustic and musicconcrete—tries to break free from categorization. This remasteredreissue of two limited vinyl only albums originally released in 1992 (Nagual and PFN - Hajsch and collaborators)on his own Quiet Artworks label sound both contemporary andchallenging, thirteen years later. "Akasa" is a quiet but intenseopener: a 16 minute journey starting off with concrete sounds,synthesizers and field recordings which build up an electrifyingatmosphere slowly that finally reaches it's peak when an almostorchestral ensemble of viola, cello and clarinet appears. "Nagual (Part1)" takes use of sharp contrasts, with sparkling water morning birds,bound in a nearly dream-like atmosphere. Parts one and two consistmainly of sounds taken from a bicycle, melodica, and a hardlyrecognizable guitar. In "Nagual (Part 2)" the mood changes to a moreunsettling ambience. For those who've read Carlos Castaneda,this shouldn't be unexpected, as the concept of Nagual stands contraryto Tonal, that represents all our known territory, material andimmaterial. "Nagual (Part 3)" is an otherworldly, nearly harmonic shortappendix created only with synth and samples. "Für Cleo" is a pleasantcinema-like closer where a quiet guitar drone meets a melancholicsaxophone. Hajsch's music requests close attention and throws thelistener in an aural environmentof great clarity. His strength lies with the careful arrangement ofseldom heard sounds in the purposeful use of volume and timing. Thefact that these recordings are over 10 years old doesn't matter much,as 1992is stimulating, serious, and strong evidence that some music can betimeless no matter how styles and technical possibilities change. 

samples:

• Akasa
• Nagual (Part 1)
• Nagual (Part 2)

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20 April 2003

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Albums and Singles

Asphodel
Coming from the school of two guitars, bass and drums, I like to think thatmy interest over the years for certain areas of experimental,electronic-based music has not only lead to a slightly better understandingof the genre but to also recognize and appreciate its more salient artisticqualities. As Antimatter, San Francisco-based sound artist and audioengineer, Xopher Davidson, has recently released a solo disc that plays outlike an aural sojourn to the gallery exhibit of cutting edge abstraction.>From a Powerbook-based standpoint Antimatter vs Antimatter is acollection of experimental soundscapes, frequencies, instrument manipulationand rhythmic collages. Knowing that Davidson holds an MFA could provide someinsight as to his approach when constructing and composing with varioussound textures. Spanning just over an hour, the disc's seventeen tracks areemotionally varied from beautiful and seductive to angry and powerful.Tracks such as "Licht," "Phosphor" and "Gilded Pallor" creatively usetreated/processed guitar as the instrument of focus amidst the intricateweavings of controlled static, low frequencies and drones generated frommodified synthesizers. "Auxiliary" begins with what sounds like an orchestraperforming on an airport tarmac amid the screams of jet engines, all ofwhich abruptly cuts to the odd-timed rhythms of brush-whacked drums againstcycling Euro-styled violin lines that build in intensity over low-endkeyboard drones. "Rangefinder" uses the ultimate droning instrument, thebagpipes, to convey a drawn out melody which is based on layers of specifictones drifting in and out to give the impression of momentum while the lowerfrequencies are subtle and electronically enhanced. A number of the disc'stracks blend together seamlessly as not to interrupt the stream of soundand/or to allow for a musical continuum which results in gradualmodifications until a new composition is occuring. There are certain overallqualities and tones of Antimatter's sound design where, if the mood andsetting are just right, you could get lost in it the same way as when you'restaring at a great painting. 

samples:

• Licht
• Auxiliary
• Rangefinder

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20 April 2003

Albums and Singles

New World
Alga Marghen
The truth regarding the history of minimalism and American experimentalmusic from the 60s is, despite the best efforts of certainmusicologists and writers, becoming much more widely know. As it does,more and more labels get in on the game of releasing the archivalrecordings that document the history better that any text can. Thesetwo CDs are part of this revisionism. Maxfield was older than most ofthe 60s pioneers; he had his grounding in the academy, ambitions ofbeing a composer of serious music, and access to the space and musicianresources of the classical world. He was pretty much ready to roll whenCage hit the scene. But his music, as presented here in these fourworks from 1960 to 63, is immediate, effective and without the need oftheoretical crutches. Each of these pieces can be seen as inventiveAmerican responses to develoments in the European avant-garde: Pastoral Symphonyto 18's electronic music but with the major difference of having beencontinuously synthesized (on which synth I wonder?) rather than splicedtogether; Bacchanale to Schaeffer's and Henry's musique concrète here incorporating beat poetry, jazz and narrative; Piano Concert for David Tudor, combining tape music with live piano, to Stockhausen's Kontakte (1960 version) with similarly unexpected and dramatic results; and finally Amazing Grace,based as it is on repetitive tape loops, being the most intrinsicallyAmerican of all. Maxfield's valuable and underrated work was ended in1969 when he died, a casualty of 60s drug culture. Harold Budd's musicis much less to my taste. I never put much effort into exploring hismusic since none of it ever caught my fancy but Budd's place in theworld of ambient and spiritualized meditative music is obviously one ofintegrity. The Oak of the Golden Dreams catches Buddimprovising bagpipe music on the Buchla synth in 1970, a twiddley modalchanter line over a continuous E flat drone (but it's probably relevantthat I grew up in Scotland to hate bagpipes). Coeur D'Orr hasessentially the same structure: two organ chords, D flat major on theright channel and B major on the left, sit there shimmering andswelling while Charles Oreña noodles a highly expressionist and attimes decidedly jazzy (Coltrane rather than Paul Desmond) line on thesoprano sax. Initially (the sax only comes in in the third minute) theresemblance to Charlemagne Palestine's organ music is obvious. But herethe organ is static and not central, functioning as a bed for melodicimprovisation within the static harmonic sound shape. Thecorrespondence to, say, Frank Zappa's guitar noodling within staticstructures, e.g. 'Ship Ahoy', is more accurate. Such overtly happy(hippy?) music isn't my bag but if you dig Budd these are surely twoimportant documents. Andso to the Palestine CD which presents five slices of his electronicdrone music recorded between 1967 and 1970. Palestine's innatepredilection for evolving static sounds, transcendental drones andspiritual elevation was evident well before he first had access to thesynthesizers that allowed real-time manipulation of additive (combiningdifferent tones) and subtractive (filtering) synthesis. Thepossibilities for improvised drone music were obvious and he eventuallyhad a custom machine built for this purpose with 16 ultra-stableoscillators from Serge Tcherepnin and 4 band pass filters from DonaldBuchla. The five pieces here, all subtitled Late Night Electronic Sonority,are snapshots from his "spectral continuum searches for the goldensonority—day, week, month long journeys of harmonies and theirovertones in constant evolution in time and transformation in space."The music is heavy with tension, balanced somewhere between fear,existential question and the possibility of hope; glistening,shimmering and perfectly judged. It's a remarkable achievement thatPalestine originated this approach to music, the instrument design andits musical practice, performed these masterful improvisations,inspired a whole generation of musicians and wound up as a merefootnote, if that, in the history of minimalism. Take those PhillipGlass and John Adams disks down to the thrift store and get abordminimalism's revisionist revolution; apart from being more authentic,the real stuff is of infinitely superior taste and actually has a soul.

samples:

• Maxfield - Pastoral Symphony
• Maxfield - Bacchanale
• Budd - The Oak of the Golden Dreams
• Palestine - Open-Closing
• Palestine - Tymbral for Pran Nath