They look like rock
musicians, they smell like rock musicians, they even show up to gigs
with a guitar, drums and organ - but they're not playing rock music.
Their creative and charming blend of improvisational noise and organic
soundcraft was what attracted Nurse With Wound's Steven Stapleton along
with indie rock label Misra and UK indie Pickled Egg. This evening, the
group was gathered in a basement in Allston, MA. The air was musty and
damp but the show was most certainly enjoyable. The band begun with
Nick bowing a guitar equipped with a wooden dowell, elevating a couple
strings way off the fret-board. Other members Daniel and Aaron would
make various sounds with their voices and switch off on drum duties.
Over at the tapes was Lawrence, who stayed put for the set. The three
soon began shifting around, with Nick going to the organ, Aaron playing
a pennywhistle, Daniel playing clarinet and miniature accordion, all of
them taking some duties with percussive sounds from various sources.
Since the space was small and quite tight, the band was literally
climbing over each other on various occasions. Perhaps it was a
rehearsed part of the show, but I'm guessing much of their choreography
is a combination of improvisation and order. The band's winding up
their US tour currently and look for them in the future playing bigger
venues next time.
So I was wondering what
the heck Daniel Miller of Mute saw in Tyro. Their original incarnate,
Atlanta-based Toenut released two albums on Mute before they lost their
bassist. The core team, a brother and sister regrouped as Tyro and
released "Audiocards" earlier this year. Tonight I saw exactly what I
had hoped to see - an energetic group with low-fi electronics and
blasting guitars charging an audience that's gathering for the
headliners. If Add N to (X) added some guitars and knew how to write
songs and kick ass, this would have been it I think. Everything was top
notch from the drumming, guitar work and even rock and roll
choreography. If Carl Sagan had a nightmare of The Muppets getting into
a car accident with Dick Dale, Man or Astro-Man would be the result.
You gotta have the uttmost respect for a group of alien surf-punks who
open their show with fire and an OMD sample! Right on! To make the show
even more electrifying, their set was accented by cosmic film
projections, a dot-matrix typewriter and a Van Der Graaf generator on
stage. I don't think they had fire permits for this kinda stuff.
While I like both bands,
my opinions of each shifted after seeing this performance. Broadcast
opened the show with a performance which sent shivers down my spine. I
like the group but honestly, their music has never done a whole lot for
me, but seeing them pull off slammin' live jams one after the other was
incredible. I'm dying to go back and listen closer to their recorded
sound, but at the end of their set, many friends present had agreed
that Broadcast can surely pull it off amazingly well live. The Sea and
Cake however lost a few points in my book tonight. I considered myself
more a fan of TSAC than Broadcast but their show tonight was rather
taskworthy to sit through. Sam Prekop's orchestrated guitarwork
alongside Archer Prewitt is pleasant and endearing, John McEntire's
drumming never falters, but I'm beginning to feel some times that all
Sea and Cake songs sound too similar. The chords are almost exactly
alike, the pace is almost identical, the vocals don't change much from
song to song and they're all nicely compacted into an easily digestible
3-5 minutes. Together as a group, they're heading down the path of
being written off as a one-trick pony. With so much talent gathered on
one stage I'm almost embarassed that so little is being done to harness
the power.
The ever-effervescent Japanese duo Pizzicato Five is back with yet anotheralbum chock full of kitschy goodness. Elements of lounge, cabaret, and retro60s TV-show theme songs abound once again, but what is so impressive about P5'slatest foray is the arrangements and orchestrations of real instruments asopposed to the band's usual heavy reliance on samples (although of these thereis no shortage!). Horns, strings, piano and woodwinds artfully accompany livedrums and guitar, producing a much more sophisticated all-over sound comparedto previous efforts. The tempo is upbeat and rousing for most of the songs,and either sexy, funky, trippy, or frenetically paced ("Tout, Tout Pour MaCherie" is borderline techno anthem); although the last handful of songs have amuch more laid-back vibe. Additionally, two of the songs, "Darlin' ofDiscotheque" and "A Perfect World (Album Version)" are actually remixes of twoother tracks on the album ("Wild Strawberries" and "A Perfect World,"respectively). As much as I've always loved Pizzicato Five, one issue withtheir music has often been the hit-or-miss quality of the albums: one half ofthe songs on a record will be impeccable, but the other somewhat weak. Fifth puts anend to this trend with consistently good production and songwriting.samples:
Two new offerings under two new pseudonyms for Finland's Vladislav Delay,the 3rd and 4th full length albums released this year alone (see alsoVladislav Delay "Multila" and "Entain"), both under the Force Inc. MusikWerks umbrella. "Vocalcity" collects together all of the tracks from the3 Force Tracks' 12"s onto one convenient digital platter. LUOMO sees Delaydive head first into house, surprisingly enough. The term 'house music'has always been a bit of an oxymoron to me since it usually conjures upthe stereotype of cheesy, unimaginative dance floor shite. Delay,unsurprisingly, does it with much style and skill. The 6 tracks, most ofwhich are in the 12-14 minute range, fuse minimal deep house rhythms withbits and pieces of Delay's trademark sound fragments, diva vocal loops andspacious atmospheres. It's a soulful, mildly deconstructed mix of funk,dub, ambiance and electronic groove in a creatively conventional package.As with everything Delay does, attention to detail is crucial as eachtrack slowly unfolds, changing colors like a chameleon and mesmerizing atgreat length. "Vocalcity" is primo house that should appeal equally tothe discerning IDM elitists and the masses that just want something coolto dance to.samples:
"Vapaa Muurari Live" picks up where "Entain" left off with 71 more minutesof Delay fashioned electronic explorations. The disc is titled and indexedas 14 tracks but is actually a continuous mix in four distinct, extendedmovements. Each of these sections draws a bit more of an influence from aparticular style, such as dance, dub and jazz. All of the usual Delayelements are here: a churning sea of sound granules, mostly indiscerniblehuman sighs and mutterings (as well as a relatively long dialogue passagefrom "Eyes Wide Shut"), deep dub and club informed rhythms, seeminglyrandom audio events, dense ambient environments and an overall gradual(d)evolution of sound and groove. This is chaos in expansion. This isthe birth, life, death and afterlife of beauty. This is electronic musicfrom the human soul. Can you tell yet that I love everything by this guy?His music is utterly gorgeous. I will continue to joyfully soak thesediscs in while awaiting the next round. You should too ...samples:
Remember when you'd rush out and buy all the new releases (even by unknownbands) on Factory, Mute, 4AD or some other ultra-cool indie label becauseyou felt they'd earned your trust? Well, may I recommend Dreamy Records?Dreamy is home to the brilliant bands Arco and Tuesday Weld, whoserecordings are fragile, understated and almost painfully intimate. Andlyrical is a way that seems utterly radical in the face of our current top40 plastic teen pin-ups and rap-metal cartoons. Like his labelmates,artist/author/musician Kirk Lake can spin an epic poem from the smallestgesture; with this disc, however, he's left his bedsit for a little strollout into a wider world. If you like your dreampop melancholic and largelyacoustic, you'll love the first half of the album—songs like "A BeautifulEnding" and "Nothing to No One" are Glider-perfect. The second half is moreadventurous: Fantastic cuts like "The Wedding Song" and "The Adventures ofan Abstract Detective" recall The Flying Lizards' brilliant aural hi-jinksand reveal Lake's inner dada; while "Morphology" and "Everyday Lingers"cruise boldly down David Lynch's lost highway.
Well-known for his work as Shinjuku Thief/Filth, Darrin Verhagen wascommissioned to create the soundtrack to a Chunky Move dance production, andhas released the resulting material as Hydra, a limited edition EP on theAustralian Dorobo label. A quiet snowfall of digital noise, Hydra is bestexperienced through headphones. Combining remixed elements from both hisprevious solo album, Soft Ash, and label-mate Alan Lamb's Night Passage,Verhagen's work on this EP is nearly subsonic: ultra-minimal blips andrumblings with delicate, scratchy ambient atmospherics, only occasionallybursting into barrages of full-on noise. A nice addition to the Dorobocatalogue - grab it while you can!samples:
I wish folks like Jason Molina would stop burdening their songs with rogueH's dropped into words that don't want or need them, such as "The badluh-huck tastes / of the darkS" from the new Songs: Ohia album. It'scondescending and annoying -- and we can blame ol' Will Oldham for making itfashionable again. Having typed this, I'm happy to tell you that GHOSTTROPIC is mostly engaging enough in its funereally paced way to overcomesuch a ridiculous vocal mannerism -- less of which is noticeable on GHOSTTROPIC than on previous ones. Gourgeous, langorous low-end guitar linesslither through Molina's ballads, here and there touched by shivery organ,leaden piano rumblings and rattling percussion. The horror mounts one lethalbeat at a time in songs like "The Body Burned Away," as ritual bells chimein the distance. And though there are too many goofy bird sound effects onthe gorgeous instrumental title track, its unexpectedly lush vibes-and-pianoduet chases away the gloom. At least for a second.
Remember bringing homeScorn's "Gyral," "Ellipsis," or "Evanescence" and being absolutely inlove with the sound? Following the medium-well release of "LogghiBarogghi" there wasn't much excitement with the Scorn name affixed tothe product. Mick Harris pursued other avenues of sound sculpture whichhave all been fairly decent while releases like "Zander" or "Whine"weren't anything you'd pull from the shelves to listen to all thatoften. But then, almost out of nowhere, Scorn is back through Ant-Zen'sever-growing Hymen imprint. The four-song "Imaginaria Award" EP wasreleased earlier this year giving me faith and hope for something goodbrewing. When "Greetings from Birmingham" arrived, I was as thrilled asthe kid who finally gets his Luke Skywalker action figure he alwayswanted. "Fuck, yeah!" Scorn indeed does rule again, with powerful harddub and metal influenced beats screaming from the speakers. "PLAY MELOUD" the music shouts in my ear. I follow the orders and am not letdown. Thanks Mick, we missed you.samples:
Intransitive Recordingshas given us a souvenir of a non-existant wrap-party for the firstseries of recordings from this discriminating label. "Variious" alsofunctions as the start of series two for the label. Featured recordingartists on the set include a Richard Chartier, *0, Pimmon, Mark Behrensand Brume. The music is for serious listeners only with a serenemesmerising headphonic contribution from Taylor Dupree to an auralrollercoaster by John Waterman, cut and processed field recordings byJustin Bennett to a sea of radio waves from Michael Prine. Chicago'sown Kevin Drumm's bit sounds like electronic mice scurrying through anunderground train station while an improvisational noise track fromlabel-owner Howie Stelzer and Boston-based electronician Brendan Murraywas pulled here from a live in-store recording at the local TwistedVillage, and that's only the beginning! Exploring various avenues ofimprovisational and calculated sound textures, Intransitive hasessentially been taking audio snapshots of movement. With this in mind,this 2xCD set is much like a photo album featuring some of thephotographer's most favorite pictures. With all Intransitive releases,this disc is limited and I'm predicting it will be a much sought afteritem before long.samples:
- Taylor Dupree - _doClip
- Jos Smolders - Frequenzen
- The Brutum Fulmen - Dusk
- Brume - Coltraine Colony
