New Music: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Efterklang

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Forever Heavy (Graveface 2007)

Black Moth Super Rainbow – Dandelion Gum / Graveface

I love writing about albums of colorful psychedelic whatever. The wackier the music the more I get to play with words to try and describe the ridiculously infectious sounds blasting from my speakers. A beautiful example of this was my review of The House of Apples and Eyeballs back in early December of 06 (way back when Audiversity was still just a hobby instead of the full-fledged obsession it is these days). A sticky-sweet collaboration between Austin’s The Octopus Project and the Pittsburgh mystery quintet Black Moth Super Rainbow, The House caused me to drop such ill-advised phrases as “like power drills somehow making sweet love to colorful balloons” and “rebuilding it with new vibrant sounds in structures so ridiculous that they would make a Doozer blush a reddish-green.” Yes, Fraggle Rock Doozers. This is why I love to write about music, very few boundaries and most of those are easily worked around. Anyhow, I have been a fan of The Octopus Project for a number of years now so it was not that surprising, but early last week I was finally blessed with a proper full-length from Black Moth Super Rainbow and a chance to hear a good chunk of the source material from the collaboration album.

Let me put it this way: if I had heard this album before The House of Apples and Eyeballs and knew that The Octopus Project was going to get a chance to tweak this grab-bag of psychedelic pop candy, the ridiculous sugar-high of my anticipation would nearly have put me in a coma. The Black Moth Super Rainbow allegedly hail from some disconnected forest in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, and if so, I think Willy Wonka may be sharing some floor space in their cabin (I hear he is an underrated bass player).

Now I am not say that the anti-social quintet are purveying a tweeting brand of simple indie-pop by using a lot of candy-like descriptions, quite the contrary in fact. They actually have more in common with Battles than Belle & Sebastian. There is definitely a mathy undertone to Dandelion Gum, it’s just baked heartily in a pie of analog synth jam, sugary melodies, gummy vocoder, dabs of flute, a crust of nearly mechanical drums and sprinkled with a wide array effect pedals. Tracks like “Lollipopsichord” and “Lost, Picking Flowers in the Woods” utilizing grating, mechanical synth sounds and stringent drumming, but the layers upon layers of popsicle melodies win over your ears every time. And again, these aren’t melodramatic Shins or some other indie-pop band's melodies we are talking about; they are much more akin to the psychedelic pop of the late 60s--“Strawberry Fields” melodies. Bass lines typically bob and weave around the many Moogs and Rhodes and monosynths and whatever other keyboards they have lying around, acoustic guitar strums in some humanity to all the gadgetry and some guy named Tobacco makes use of the vocoder as well as Alan Parsons ever did. Yes, yes, yes saying that he uses his voice as an instrument is a cliché description that is used (mostly by me) way too much, but goddammit, just listen to “Sun Lips” or “The Afternoon Turns Pink” and tell me it’s not practically an additional keyboard itself. There are lyrics under all that distortion somewhere, but the enunciations are unnecessary to understand his position, his tone typically says it all.

I think a lot of the appeal of Dandelion Gum is nostalgic as well. The combination of the wonderfully analog synth sound, Beatles-like flute swirls and some of those fantastic cringing melodic climaxes (“Forever Heavy” and “Untitled Roadside Demo” being the absolute best) definitely sends you back to those rampant psyche-pop bands of the late 60s/early 70s playing melodic music but in the wake of serious political and social issues. Which brings me back full-circle to my colorful descriptions of Black Moth Super Rainbow. It is hard to see too far past the synthetic fun and infectious melodies of Dandelion Fun, but there is some excellent musicianship on here as well. Hell, the album was three years in the making. Even if they clock in only about three minutes, do you really think pop songs this layered and cleverly structured are perfected over night? So while I may use a lot of cute terms to describe it, know that this music runs much deeper than most shallow pop music. And if it’s going to take another three years for Black Moth Super Rainbow to concoct another album up to this degree of enjoyability and impressiveness, then I’ll happily wait.







Efterklang - Himmelbjerget (Leaf 2007)

Efterklang – Under Giant Trees / Leaf

I bitch and moan and do everything I can not to accept it, but melodrama makes the world go round. Nothing sucks in people better than a scene of sheer, jaw-dropping drama, whether it be a horrific car accident, a heart-wrenching story of fighting adversary or, with our subject at hand, epic, soul-tugging post-rock. Evolved out of film scores where the music was composed to further accentuate the drama on screen, when it became acceptable to craft albums of slow-developing landscapes where the idea was not to hook the audience with a forefront riff but rather a finely presented heartfelt melody, melodramatic post-rock was born. From the first album released with these ideals we were done for. How can you not get sucked into such epic tales of grandiose musical imagery? Overcoming the powerful nemesis, losing the love to inescapable consequences, being left completely and utterly alone, we eat it up in platefuls even if they seem like unsavory subjects. From the multimedia narratives of Godspeed You Black Emperor to the effects-heavy hypnosis of Labradford to the pounding brood of Slint to the icy terrains of Sigur Rós (and many, many more at this point), we crave this melodic, grandeur tension. I for one fight it daily. I do everything I can to live a stress-free life from keeping acquaintances at a minimum to staying in most nights to never falling fully for a lady-friend; it absolutely lacks the excitement of someone living balls to the wall, but since I don’t experience the adrenaline highs, neither do I succumb to the spine-crushing lows. Don’t get me wrong though, I love me some post-rock, but I try to keep the soap opera side of the genre to a minimum. Well Efterklang snagged me with my guard down and now I’m heavily sighing, moodily swaying and feeling the wrath of the mountainous emotions the Danish collective have recorded for this limited-edition, five-track mini-album. And dammit, I love every second of it.

I think Efterklang has been able to rope me in more than some of the other groups because their music is a dense forest of interlocking sounds. It is not just walls of guitars or tectonic shifts of electronic noise or long-decaying piano reverb, it’s a myriad of acoustics, electronics, voices, and post-production all working together for lush compositions of heartfelt, melodic longing. Like the gorgeously crafted artwork, Efterklang are creating music to droopy, silhouetted forests, but continually splotch the night sky with rich blobs of color; never overtly prismatic, but enough to transform the dim backdrop into comforting kaleidoscope of soothing color. Their music works in the same way: the compositions are melodramatic, poingnant and yearning, but they score it to a wide array of instrumentation including but not limited to strings, brass, pianos, choirs, percussion and electronics. Including the five core members of Efterklang and two violinists from similar Icelandic act Amiina, five additional instrumentalists are used, not including the Dubbelgänger Mens Choir. The instruments swell brightly and brilliantly, but the music is downtrodden and somber; it makes for a very intriguing and hypnotic tension.

For an example of what to expect from Under Giant Trees, take album closer “Jojo.” The song opens with two harps trading bright tones over crunchy, stuttering electronics. Male/female vocals coo overhead and a delicate xylophone tacks it together. After about a minute-and-a-half, it breaks down into yearning vibes, piano and a violin before erupting with the original ensemble accompanied by swells of brass, a small string section and mountainous percussion. It ebbs again and then returns bigger than ever before finally succumbing to small sea of static. A few more vibe tingles, a couple organs and finally some brass counterpoint to round out the song. Yes, it’s a damn lot for your ears to take in, but Efterklang does a good job of balancing the tones and never letting the music meander without purpose.

Efterklang is certainly not the first to release this type of orchestrated post-rock, but I have to say it is some of the finest I have come across as a whole. Under Giant Trees is able to grab your well-protected heartstrings and pluck them with force, but they rarely do it with too much pretension or just for the sake of being melodramatic. While the orchestration is ridiculously abundant, it does not really come off too far over-the-top, only enough to really milk the tension. I am really enjoying each successive listen, but I really don’t think my speakers are suited for so much dynamic tension, nor is my apartment big enough for such mountainous moods. If there ever was modern non-classical music suited for a symphony hall, Efterklang is composing it.

New Music: Battles, Boom Bip

Between "Atlas" hyping up the kids and a few guiding lights suggesting Mirrored is already on their year-end best-of lists, absorbing the influx of info for Battles can be difficult. While Brian Hollon flies quietly below the radar with a brand new EP, the four men of the former soldier on, date by date, hoping to win over the masses with their unique brand of futurist-pop. Is the hype justified? Would you be better off buying Boom Bip? Let's do this.













Battles - Tonto (Warp 2007)

Battles - Mirrored / Warp

Let me first start off by exorcising some demons of memory: Battles abruptly entered my life in December of 2004 with nothing more than a quick call from, of all people, Jordan Redmond:

"Dude, Battles is playing down here in an hour," he said to me.
"Well I'm eating up here. I'll think about it." I like being wishy-washy.
"You won't regret it," were his parting words.

By the grace of God, I didn't have much else happening that night beyond trying to entertain an ex-girlfriend. So we go down to New Brookland Tavern and sure enough, eight people were in attendance for what remains to this day one of my favorite live shows. It was a visceral experience, Tyondai Braxton's electronic trickery on a glowing iBook coupled with John Stanier's really-hi-hat percussion piercing my ears with a rendition of "SZ2" that I still recall even now.

That said, I did not listen to Battles passionately. I did not play them often on my radio show. History That Has No Effect did not suddenly get thrown in my CD player constantly. At that point, being completely satisfied by a live show and playing "SZ2" or "TRAS3" every now and again was enough. For two years, I lived this way: vaguely fascinated but not overly enthused.

Then came "Atlas." When Pitchfork broke that video, the race was on and every Battles fan that had been in the woodwork suddenly came out with an opinion: Was it a huge Focus piss-take, the math-rock album of the year or simply the album of the year? I liked "Atlas" alright but was not totally blown away and only mildly enamored with the pitch-shifted vocals. It wasn't much to make a fuss over, was it? Shortly before going to see them live again in March, I decided to find out for myself. While "It's fucking Battles" works on some of my more trusting friends, I recognize you may not take me at face-value. So first, the verdict. It's taken five paragraphs, but here's what you've come to see: Mirrored is one of the best albums of the year.

What about the structure of these eleven songs makes it so good? "Race: In" starts off about how you'd expect a typical Battles song to go (whatever that means)... Except, as already mentioned, the breakthrough is in the vocals: Avant-garde journeyman Braxton is putting vocoders and warped effects (No pun intended) to good use as the group coagulates under the repetition that signals the hallmark of lesser math-rock bands. A lot has been made of the vocals, but I think it's important to note that the tasteful application of words often totally incomprehensible renders anything human in this pastiche of carefully constructed notes and rhythms moot; sort of like a My Bloody Valentine Effect with a less ambiguous delivery, the vocals become just another instrument and yet another layer in the precision of the songs. The album version of "Atlas" is, though longer, more rewarding than the single precisely because it once again showcases the newly rediscovered magic of Braxton's vocal manipulations while still leaving in the make-ups and breakdowns that make every climax in a Battles song so awesome.

From most places that I've read, "Atlas" remains the clear standout for many people. "Leyendecker" is one candidate that begs to differ, sparse and hollow in its lack of guitar aggression but lush in a descending keyboard line and reverse orchestration. It's not very long and doesn't provide the drama of "Atlas" but it does highlight an example of why Battles are so good: With almost nothing to work with beyond the simple keys and (relatively) straightforward drumwork of Stanier, the band makes a song that is utterly fascinating if for no other reason than Braxton once again adding an unorthodox vocal melody that you'll find yourself struggling to hum.

But if "Leyendecker" is the minimalist masterpiece of the record and a highlight in a first-half full of highlights, "Tonto" is the futurist masterpiece XLR8R alluded to and Ferruccio Busoni never made. "Tonto" might actually be the band's best ever song; so sublime is its construction and execution that it essentially sums up the band in just under eight minutes. Futurists were concerned with music deconstructing its past influences to reveal something new and raw. Battles don't necessarily abhor the staid traditions of math-rock forefathers like Don Caballero or Lynx, but they aren't sticking to the plan. Stanier's astounding drum bits will have listeners naturally gyrating to the beats, but Ian Williams plays on his laptop as much as Braxton these days and his guitar loops and electronic tinges add the element that suggest technological advances and forward-thinking futurists were so obsessed with. The horns cloaked under the mighty guitar riffs that dominate the middle of "Tonto" are a perfect example of this, unnoticeably subtle in application and yet necessary to add that extra bit of fuzz in the headphones that make Dave Konopka's guitars sound just that much more menacing. And then, just as aggressively as it comes, the riff dies and the song begins its long, unraveling outro.

In only one listen I had decided which song was my favorite, but while all my yapping has been about the first half, the Brooklyn quartet know how to finish an album. More "difficult" pieces are tucked away on the dark side ("Prismism" is the prime example), but despite its less immediate songs, Mirrored does not feel unbalanced on repeated listens. In fact, it feels as balanced and propellant as a first official Battles full-length could. More intriguingly, Mirrored could the the musical paradigm of the futurist movement a century on from its birth. I know that sounds academic, but don't let the stuffy analysis dissuade you: Mirrored has the sensibility to appeal to the basest Helmet fan as much as the high-minded English academic. Everyone has a chance to let this record win them over.

Also, it's fucking Battles.













Boom Bip - The Pinks (Lex 2007)

Boom Bip - Sacchrilege EP / Lex

In stark contrast, Boom Bip has been down a considerably different path. From the crumbling metropolis of Cincinnati, young Brian Hollon made a name for himself on the decks at parties along McMililan Street and elsewhere around the University of Cincinnati's campus. Art history wasn't going to get him much beyond a teaching or curating gig, but Hollon was never concerned with that to begin with; even in the early days it was music that was clearly taking hold of him. Though he'd had a few releases prior to the turn of the millennium, it was 2000's DoseOne collaboration Circles that brought him to the forefront. Packed full of ideas, Hollon scored a John Peel session out of it and basically built himself a reputation enough for his first proper full-length, 2002's Seed to Sun. Something like eight releases since (including 2005's debated Blue Eyed in the Red Room) has proven he hasn't lost his pursuit of the perfect beats despite a relocation to LA.

What does the Sacchrilege EP say about where he stands now? The easy answer is that all that noise coming from the other side of the world in the City of Lights has had its effect on at least one resident in the City of Angels. Indeed, Sacchrilege is pure 80s kitsch with the beauty of big-Banger beats Ed would be proud of. "Snook Adis" is the first indication that this newest direction will fly along not with the momentum of a futurist locomotive but with the blood-red Maranello fury of a Testarossa on autodrive. Like the pulsing dynamism of a bad 80s teen flick's montage sequence, "Snook Adis" winks its way through four minutes of retro electro.

"Rat Tail" is similar but more succinct, the same big thumps that have gotten indie kids all over the world to dance working a similar magic here. It's also probably the weakest point of this quintet of songs, for "Coogi Sweater" featuring Ali Lee (whom I can find very little about, except that her monotone is perfect for the Moroder-induced synth lines this song rides its rails on) is pure Italodisco as straight as the faces of the people who propagated this kind of stuff in 1978.

But if "Coogi Sweater" is the Italodisco decadence of Baia Degli Angeli, "The Pinks" arrives with a punk-funk cowbell the DFA would be proud of to promptly declare that it's on, that there's no more playing around with mere Chinese Revenge leftovers. This one's a bright, sparkling piece of music that will electrify any listener willing to leave behind the blow for five minutes and just enjoy Boom Bip's wizardry. I don't know if the French have been importing the goods to Hollon to see what happens, but if Boom Bip is just experimenting with some deep Italodisco and frog-tech then maybe it's Boom Bip who's the experiment here and not just this EP.

"One of Eleven" tidily wraps up this EP with a nod in Berlin's direction as the airy synths and micro-sounds pop steadily throughout the song's duration before a dominant descending synth line takes the song out of its final two minutes and my whitened nose finally ends its Oreck impression. This song is still heavily indebted to the French and Italians, but the Germans manage to nudge their way in at the last moment for a curious bookend to Boom Bip's latest. His output is extraordinary, but that also sometimes means that his quality suffers; no such worries for Brian Hollon or his fans here. Like Mirrored, Sacchrilege is the distillation process of decades of fine-tuning from a variety of sources in music's past. Though one's clearly deconstructing more than the other, both offer something fresh in the face of high expectations and extensive histories. Conclusion: Get them. You won't regret it.

Radio Show Playlist 5/09

***Starting next week, Audiversity: The Radio Show will be extended by one hour (6-9a) to be immediately followed by Democracy Now!***

6a:
1. Jesus & the Mary Chain - Darklands - Darklands (Blanco y Negro/Warner 1987)
2. Dinosaur Jr. - Back to Your Heart - Beyond (Fat Possum 2007)
3. 90 Day Men - Dialed In - (it (is) it) Critical Band (Southern 2000)
4. The Sea & Cake - Exact to Me - Everybody (Thrill Jockey 2007)
5. Mice Parade - Sneaky Red - Mice Parade (FatCat 2007)
6. Q and Not U - Soft Pyramids - Different Damage (Dischord 2002)
7. Opsvik & Jennings - Port Authority - Commuter Anthems (Rune Grammofon 2007)
8. Black Moth Super Rainbow - The Afternoon Turns Pink - Dandelion Gum (Graveface 2007)
9. Karl Blau - Put Me Back - Dance POSITIVE (Marriage 2007)
10. Stevie Wonder - Maybe Your Baby - Talking Book (Motown 1972)
11. Aja West & Friends - Clouds Imitate Life - Total Recall 2012 (Mackrosoft 2007)

7a:
1. Wayne Carter - Wahoo Wahoo Wahoo - Wahoo Wahoo Wahoo/Mad Mouth Woman 7" (Aestuarium ????)
2. Mavis Staples - 99 & 1/2 - We'll Never Turn Back (Anti- 2007)
3. Eddy Senay - Message of Love - Hot Thang (Sussex 1972)
4. Lifesavas - Night Out ft. George Clinton and Mega*Nut - Gutterfly: The Original Soundtrack (Quannum 2007)
5. Melvin Van Peebles with Brer Soul & Earth, Wind and Fire - Sweetback's Theme - Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song: An Opera OST (Stax 1972)
6. Efterklang - Falling Horses - Under Giant Trees EP (Leaf 2007)
7. Slaraffenland - Polaroids - Private Cinema (Hometapes 2007)
8. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Radio, Radio - This Year's Model (Columbia 1978 -- Tonight at the House of Blues)
9. Pop Levi - Sugar Assault Me Now - The Return of the Black Magick Party (Counter 2007 -- Tonight at Double Door)

New Music: Colleen, Softwar

Colleen - Sun Against My Eyes (Leaf 2007)

Colleen - Les Ondes Silencieuses / Leaf

Ahhhh, Colleen, always coming round when I need her most. Everyone Alive Wants Answers came along on one of those starving post-graduation days where Taco Bell was a luxury; I was browsing Boomkat and applying online for a job at Mellow Mushroom (or something equally as dubious). The Golden Morning Breaks created a surreal French country village in my mind that was turning over space and time with too much ease. Les Ondes Silencieuses rides in quietly on spring winds carrying unseen misfortune. Colleen somehow always imposes her music at memorable times. Call it a mystery of the universe or simply coincidence but Les Ondes Silencieuses is here and I couldn't be more involved.

Why so interested? Yeah, I do hear alot of music on a daily basis, but what makes a particular record stick? In this case, Les Ondes Silencieuses is a distinct shift in sound from the previous two full-lengths; Colleen is all grown up, eschewing with the music boxes for serious instrumental archaeology. This album features only five promiment instruments, all decidedly retro: viola da gamba, spinet, guitar, clarinet, crystal glasses. A stripped down approach for an artist already dedicated to minimalism and space inbetween sounds. The result is a rich pallette of old-world sounds, the viola da gamba, the seven-string ancestor of the cello, deserving particular praise. It particularly works with Colleen's new affinity for chiarroscurro as opposed to Impressionism, less looping and now more akin to chamber music echoing out of a magical bottle, sound perfectly preserved from some medieval hillside convent also inhabited by the likes of Fursaxa, Kuupuu, and Josephine Foster.

"This Place In Times" sets the table with gentle, punctuated swells introducing the lush, regal sounds of the viola da gamba. "Le Labrinthe" is a chiming, meditative duet mostly between guitar and the spinet, a kind of small harpischord, which combine to paint the warm glow of a chalette on a cold, rainy evening. "Sun Against My Eyes" would fit right in on one of my very favorite records, Do Make Say Think's Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn. Its all snowflake delicacy, soothing sounds like a homecooked meal setting your tastebuds alight, unlocking so many good memories. Also, there's a definite nautical point to be made, songs like "Echoes & Coral" and "Sea Of Tranquillity" unfurl rickety old maritime culture, cured meats and sleeping in the hull and Captain's Logs. "Le Bateau", which means small ship in French, closes out the album viola da gamba proving itself as one of the most incredible instruments I've ever heard, like if the cello always gave soggy eyed monologues.

So have I mentioned the viola da gamba? If it were a person I'd pledge myself forever. Les Ondes Silencieuses is the most mature effort yet from Colleen. Not that the tiny orchestras of the previous two records weren't fully cooked, but this long gaze towards chamber music is certainly growth, Colleen stepping out fearlessly onto previously untouched lands, wielding the power to shape a world in her image.



Softwar - The Softwar (Digitalis 2007)

Softwar - S/T / Digitalis

I've gotta admit, I really like the new Kings Of Leon. Its spacious and clean and at times like what New Weird America would sound like gone arena-sized. Because Of The Times is just that, a product of its time, at a point where everything is so referential and only one degree apart. Thank you, Google. Thank you, Myspace. We are seriously getting too good at information grabbing and the ability to create instant culture just a blog site away. This Kings Of Leon could be Comets On Fire playing it straight or Wooden Wand if only knew his capability to take over the world. Just accept it, this is the world we live in, so lets all give thanks to the psych folk deities from the Jewelled Antler Collective for one of the records of the year.

Thats right. Softwar comes bearing the emblazoned mark of Jewelled Antler, the same folks associated with Skygreen Leopards, Thuja, Blithe Sons, etc.; in this particular case the line-up consists of major guru, Loren Chasse (Thuja, Blithe Sons, Kyrgyz), Christine Boeppel (Whysp, Skygreen Leopards), with Kerry McLaughlin and Geoff Koops of Franciscan Hobbies. Lots of star qualities here, and its ridiculous I even know who these people are but never underestimate the power of a good search. So travelling a billion miles an hour, this transcontinental root has burrowed miles and miles below the surface just to come tap my soul. Softwar's debut record is the brightest flower in a full-bloomed psych folk field already populated with copious beauty.

The album splits its ten tracks between coronating corporeal folliage and floating soft prayers into the night sky. "Psychic Shake" and "Hagoo (The Victory Over Moods)" are dense pieces with all the clangor and crash you'd expect from Thuja but this time with a more discernable form. Both of these tracks, as does most of the album, features the spellbinding vocal talents of Kerry McLaughlin. Its really amazing how the mood is so similiar to Finnish stuff like Islaja or Kuupuu, despite time and place somehow these artists connect to these California forest-dwellers. "The Softwar" is a faerie dance spell, McLaughlin's vocals hovering overhead, asking you the tough questions about life and then giving you the answers! There's healing power in this music, a waffing haze of mana leading you down the most golden of all roads. "Earthen Volley" and "Soft Love" show a dedication to tiny, delicate melody perfectly exemplified by artists on Japan's Noble label. "Immul: The Children's Crusade" and "Prui" are the longest tracks here with the latter clocking in at a modest nine minutes. As a result of the length these songs are given proper room to breathe, stretching out in a million directions like the thickest of canopies.

Its this seemless combination of all the good in the world that makes Softwar's debut such a fascinating album, stitching together so many things that make sense into an always rewarding listen. There's so much good sub-underground tape stuff out there right now and I'm barely keeping up. This Softwar record is a great example of the wealth of musical greatness being churned out on a daily basis. Thats right. I'm a critic and I've got a smile on my face, but that makes me more of a fan doesn't it? Its 2007, y'all, we've only got five years left until Quetzecoatl's return so lets get past the headnod and fully appreciate God-sent genius when it confronts us.

New Music: Chicago Underground Trio, Frog Eyes

Chicago Underground Trio - Transcendence (Delmark 2007)

Chicago Underground Trio – Chronicle / Delmark

I have always been fascinated by the recordings of the Chicago Underground, no matter the actual line-up they may be sporting for each particular album. In the last decade, cornetist, composer and sound explorer Rob Mazurek and percussionist and composer Chad Taylor have enlisted a number of acclaimed musicians to explore the sonic possibilities of Chicago-inspired free jazz. Like the Midwest metropolis, it is never gaudy, showy or hip, but brilliantly structured in timeless textures with heartfelt outbursts of sheer expression and unpredictable landscapes. Mazurek and Taylor first teamed up as the Chicago Underground Orchestra in 1998 which was actually a quintet featuring Jeff Parker, Chris Lopes and Sarah P. Smith. They then stripped down to a duo for the acclaimed Twelve Degrees of Freedom followed by Possible Cube and Synesthesia. 2000’s excellent Flamethrower was released under the Trio status though along with newly hired bassist Noel Kupersmith, Parker returned to the fold with his proficient electric guitar. 2002’s Axis and Alignment and 2006’s In Praise of Shadows, both released on Thrill Jockey, found Mazurek and Taylor in their stripped down duo form once again and exploring the seemingly improbable border between frantic free jazz and subtle ambiance. I know all of the different line-ups can be confusing, but just know that if you come across the Chicago Underground tag, be prepared for an array of unpredictable sonic textures and some of the most welcoming free jazz you will ever experience.

Mazurek and Taylor’s ethos for the Chicago Underground projects have seemingly always been about exploring new territory, and their latest release Chronicle is chock full of first times. This is their first release for Delmark, their first time playing with bassist Jason Ajemian (Dragons 1976, Triage, Cushicle, Josephine Foster, Azita), their first completely improvised outing, and the first live album of sorts. Why “of sorts”? Well if you are asking that question, than this is probably your first time experiencing the constantly changing musical world of Rob Mazurek. Whether playing with his projects Mandarin Movie, Exploding Star Orchestra and Sao Paulo Underground or contributing his instantly recognizable Don Cherry-inspired cornet to Tortoise, Isotope 217, Stereolab, Gastr del Sol, Sam Prekop and probably a dozen other outfits, Mazurek loves to tweak and manipulate and explore new territory at every possible juncture. With Chronicle he sets out to destroy the border between live and studio recordings. Yes, Chronicle was recorded live and completely improvised save a few loose foundations, but Mazurek teamed up with studio engineer and TV Pow member Todd Carter to tint the recordings with subtle studio manipulations. There is not necessarily any overdubs or gimmickry added to these live takes, but carefully considered creative mixing to achieve just the right dynamic and spatial attributes in the translation from live sound to binary code.

Chronicle was performed in July of 2006 in a wide-open space at Chicago’s German Cultural Center. The music was accompanied with an equally dynamic video projection performance, which was captured on DVD and is included with this CD. Surrounded by a wide array of instruments and dressed in all white to blend in with the massive white projection fabrics surrounding the stage, Mazurek, Taylor and Ajemian are lost in the visual landscapes, but their music proves dominant, leading and teasing with textural bliss. Like most Chicago Underground albums, the free jazz is subdued and tastefully laced with subtle electronics and warm melodic percussion. Songs rarely find a tangible groove, but rather shift fluidly from one free-flowing sonic idea to the next. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes grating, sometimes confusing, and sometimes inspirational, the trio creates an intangible music fabric of otherworldly patterns that somehow retain a human quality.

From the opening bass solo of “Initiation” to the vast (28m26s) electronic sea of “Power” to the South American ghost town of closer “Transcendance,” Mazurek, Taylor and Ajemian rarely retread any territory in this 80 minutes of music, but also never seem to leave their established thematic plateau. I am most impressed by Ajemian’s ability to step into the long established cerebral connection between Mazurek and Taylor and hold his own in this match of musical wits. Chronicle absolutely keeps with the cross-fertilization of styles that is automatically assumed when picking up a Chicago Underground album: musique concrete meets underwater funk, free jazz meets minimalist electronica, fringe-rock meets psychedelic ambience, and on and on. And to think this recording was improvised is impossible for my mind to completely wrap around. Once again, Mazurek and Taylor reinvent the Chicago Underground moniker and once again, they have graced us with a cerebral, spine-tingling array of sonic possibilities.






Frog Eyes - Bushels (Absolutely Kosher 2007)

Frog Eyes – Tears of the Valedictorian / Absolutely Kosher

The Northwest Canadian avant-rock movement is an interesting scene to consider as a popular, influencing entity. A small collection of bands (Frog Eyes, Destroyer, Sunset Rubdown, Wolf Parade, Swan Lake) with three main songwriters (Carey Mercer, Daniel Bejar, Spencer Krug) all are carving out their very own niche of indie rock far more exciting and experimental than half of what is being produced out of the underground today. Now saying that, if you like one album by a particular band, you are basically down for the discography and in turn, the collective of musicians since they all collaborate and share talents so often. It is not that each band sounds completely like each other, but they definitely share a particular songwriting influence and commitment to the eclectic and urgency within their post-punk roots. And you cannot really discuss their sound without referring back to the originators of the carnival-like eclecticism, most notably Tom Waits and Nick Cave. Of course though, each act has their nuances: the more personal ramblings of Destroyer, the more frantic nature of Frog Eyes, the more poppy Wolf Parade and the color-melting soul of Swan Lake. No matter the band though, enter the world of this particular collective and you can expect ambitious songwriting, peculiar, over-the-top lyricisms, jerky, angular guitars, manic keyboards, and basically all the elements of quirky pop and post-punk music thrown in the blender and served with carnival cotton-candy. They are certainly not the first to purvey such music (the bridging of experimental rock and early punk back in the mid-70s and more recently pre-popularity Modest Mouse), but it is hard not to be sucked into their manic hand-painted worlds, so let’s not try and dissect it too much and just enjoy the fun music they are creating.

For the fourth full-length of the Carey Mercer-helmed Frog Eyes, the frantic quartet continue to mature their musical songwriting into a sound that is not completely distinguishable from past albums, but a definite progression in consistency and melodicism. It sounds as if maybe working so closely with Bejar on the Swan Lake project has rubbed off on Mercer as his songwriting is more ambitious at the very least amount-wise, but also in some of the non-lyrical vocals (not that Bejar is the better songwriter; I’m sure some of Mercer’s frantic energy influenced Bejar). Lyrically, Mercer seems to continue down his already established path of colorfully obtuse pulpit pounding about who knows what, but definitely appears influenced by late 1800s literature. I have never been much of a lyric-obsessed listener anyways, but attempting to decipher Mercer’s lyrics would not only be futile, but slightly pretentious. It’s obvious that these words have personal meaning to Mercer if only for the conviction he sings them with, but for the rest of us, it should really just be observed as an intriguing instrument (which is to a degree how it should always be in my opinion).

Like Mercer’s vocals, the music is increasingly ambitious. Gone are the minute-and-a-half outbursts and in their place songs that range not only in their degree of musical nuttery, but also in length (from just over 2m to 9+m). Sharp stabs and simple riffs of keyboard sound much more abundant than in the past and a good deal of guitar manipulations are used, from wall-of-fuzz to acoustically picked. I am also increasingly impressed with the bass playing, if only because it keeps up and adds some interesting low end to the hysteria. Also, I am not sure whether it is an actual mandolin or just the aping of that quick strum typically associated with the instrument, but it is used often and in good taste throughout Tears of the Valedictiorian.

Two songs in particular seem to make up the foundation of the album, "Caravan Breakers, They Prey on the Weak and the Old” and “Bushels,” both are lengthy and located on opposite sides of the disc. “Caravan” sounds like classic Frog Eyes, but in an extended format. Instead of pounding through it in less than two minutes, they let the song bloom and climax and eventually settle. It is definitely a good direction for the band to take in my opinion. “Bushels” even ups the epic-level with nine-plus minutes of soul-ripping yearn. Mercer truly sounds at a loss as he yelps and pleads over a strong piano-lead and fuzzy bass grind. It sounds almost like The Birthday Party fronted by Bejar, and very effective. That quick mandolin-like strum is translated both to the piano and electric guitar during “Bushels” and it definitely adds a sense of urgency to the already in-your-face mess.

So, all in all, Tears of the Valedictorian appears to be a healthy progression for the group. They are pushing their frantic but predictably so sound into greater more mature directions. If you are a fan of past Frog Eyes, picking up this album is an absolute given, and that is pretty much the same if you have any interest in it’s adjoining collective as well. With this being the first release from Frog Eyes in particular after the success of Swan Lake last year, I foresee an increased amount of attention and appreciation for the sound Mercer and company are purveying, and rightfully so. Hopefully the band will continue to explore new directions and if this album has anything to say about it, the best is yet to come.

Used-Bin Bargains: Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers - Yaina

Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers - You Can't Always Get What You Want (Right On 1971, rereleased Cubop 1997)

Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers - San Juan 2000 (Right On 1971, rereleased Cubop 1997)

Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers – Yaina / Right On/Cubop

In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo weekend, I figured why not spotlight a little Latin music since most of North America is in the right frame of mind for it (even if most Americans use Mexico’s day of heritage celebration solely as an excuse to wear sombreros and drink margaritas). So continuing with that sort of pseudo-theme, I have decided to concentrate on a man who is actually not of Latin descent, but has embraced their style of music so whole-heartily that his ethnic heritage is often mistaken for his genre of choice. Henry “Pucho” Brown is an African-American Harlem native who immersed himself completely in Latin culture after being raised in the Nuyorkian Latin explosion of the 50s. With his walls covered by posters of Tito Puente, Machito, Tito Rodriguez and Pucho & the Alfarona X (a Puerto Rican band that led to his own nickname by childhood friends), Pucho mastered the timbales, rose through the ranks of Latin clubs in New York as a bandleader, and was instrumental in the blending of Latin, jazz, soul and funk throughout his 50-year career, but would never reach the level of recognition adorned to his contemporaries like Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo and Cal Tjader. After somewhat retiring from the record industry, Brown would spend two decades obscured in a hotel house band before returning to the scene in the late 90s as an unknowing godfather of acid jazz, which lead to a resurgence in his recording career.

Growing up in New York and frequenting the Apollo Theatre with his mother, Pucho’s band-leading ear was no doubt influenced by being exposed to big bands led by Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Buddy Johnson. The music bug bit early, and Brown dropped out of high school to concentrate on his musical craft, learning the nuances of the timbales and putting together and experimenting with a number of youthful acts. By 17, he was good enough to join the Joe Panama Sextet and later rival Joe Cuba’s Cha-Cha Boys. After a series of hirings and firings, and definitely a good amount of quality networking, Pucho pieced together his first substantial group: Pucho & the Cha-Cha Boys. While most acts traveling the Latin circuit at that time stuck solely to what particular style of the genre the chose, Brown’s outside influences persistently seeped into his mambo foundation. Elements of doo-wop, R&B, swing, jazz and blues mixed with the Latin-based music to lay the seeds of Latin-jazz and both the audience and other musicians took notice.

By 1962 (at age 24), Pucho & the Cha-Cha boys were headlining the Purple Banner in Harlem with his audiences growing every night. But Brown was still a young man and both his finances and experience was limited, so other bandleaders like Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo would cherry-pick Pucho’s hard found talent and bribe them into their own bands. Musicians like Chick Corea, Hubert Laws and Sonny Henry among others developed their chops with Brown before being snagged by the lures of more money and more exposure leaving Pucho’s band in a constant state of musician turnaround but nonetheless amazingly consistent over the years. Latin soul exploded into the mainstream a year later with Santamaria’s saucy take on Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” and concurrently the major labels were out for imitating that kind of success. Pucho had an innate knack for balancing just the right amount of Latin, soul, jazz and funk, and Epic took first notice releasing the group’s first ever single, “Darin’s Mambo,” though with little success (and a quick termination of their contract).

Pucho’s next, much more successful venture into the recording industry came when he renamed his group Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers and signed with Prestige in 1966. Musically, he upped the funk element considerably as James Brown was concurrently spreading his influence and definitely kept a keen ear on what Motown was producing. Mambo became his Latin influence of choice and the Soul Brothers talented line-up of heavily rhythmic and genre-jumping players meant a nearly unparalleled groove quotient that could switch from mambo to soul to funk at the snap of Pucho’s burly fingers. Their debut Prestige release, Tough!, is now actually regarded as the starting point of acid jazz with it’s percussion-heavy blend of soul-jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers released eight albums in just over three years for Prestige, but none really made a significant impact on the mainstream; his genre-jumping ideals are respectful no doubt, but make for an inconsistent discography with as many trials and errors as overlooked successes.

In 1970, Brown left Prestige for the smaller, more independent minded Right On where he would have more creative say, which further separated him from any mainstream success but did result in this fantastic psychedelic Latin-funk record from 1971, Yaina. Somewhat obscure until it was re-released by Cubop in 1997, Pucho and his crew of Latin soul-jazz misfits unleash nine wonderfully eclectic and fun songs. With a few originals sprinkled in, just look at Pucho’s source material for the erraticism of his music: The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” John Coltrane’s “Naima,” Kenny Burrell’s “Chitterlings con Carne,” and Grant Green by-way-of Neal Creque’s “Cease the Bombing.” The instrumental line-up blends beautifully with a Latin-oriented rhythm section, electric piano, vibes, wa-wa guitar, electric bass, flutes and occasional sax and brass. Like all of Pucho’s music, it is heavily influenced by the popular music of the time, in this case, mainly psychedelic rock and soul-jazz. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” kicks off the re-release (not included on the original) with a cheesy introduction, but quickly opens up with funk-heavy drumming, 70s soul sax wailing, which is later replaced by growling flute, and electric piano flourishes. It is surprisingly effective and fun and would makes for a great inclusion on your party playlist. “Cease the Bombing” follows with a much more mellow vibe and very Santana-like sound, and surprisingly moving with its vibraphone melody and wordless vocals. My personal favorites are “San Juan 2000,” “Naima” and “Chitterlings con Carne,” but for very different reasons. “San Juan 2000” has been a mixtape staple of mine for years now; it has this sort of timeless quality to it in that you could as easily assume it’s from the early 60s as it could be the mid-70s. Layered rhythms poignantly chatter beneath vibes and electric piano before vocal chants and increasingly loud rhythms take over; it is very easy to lose yourself in its many exotic flavors. Pucho has a very interesting take on Coltrane’s “Naima” transforming the sultry slow-burner with almost a Weather Report kind of psychedelic fusion. On the other side of things, “Chitterlings con Carne” is infectious because of it’s growling flute and ear-friendly melody. It just further proves Pucho’s talents for masterfully balancing genres, this time the raucous fun of Latin mambo and the deep groove of psychedelic rock. The rest of the album follows suit: never many surprises once you discover the formula, but it is a formula that is finely balanced and infectious as all hell.

With the Latin-soul-jazz falling out of mainstream favor by the mid-70s, Pucho in turn left the limelight setting up shop as a drummer in the Catskill Mountian resorts of New York State. He somehow remained there for 20 years until being fired for personal disputes. It turned out to be a blessing though with acid jazz taking increasing interest in the U.K. in the early 90s as well as the crate-digging, re-issuing bug here in the states. Cubop re-released a number of his albums from his independent label days (including Yaina), and he went back into the studio to continuing purveying his multi-genre fusions. In all honesty, Pucho’s sound on his more recent albums barely sounds aged at all. It is still the same great balance of mambo, soul, funk and jazz, even if the audience for such styles isn’t quite as large as they were in the past. So if this year’s Cinco de Mayo festivities inspired you to take an increased interest in Latin music, why not go check out some of Pucho’s wonderfully fun music. Prestige released a great collection of his best material during his tenure there in 2000 called Cold Shoulder, which is a great starting point for curious ears. As far as recent material is concerned, I’m a pretty big fan of How’m I Doin’? from the same year on Cannonball even if it is a bit nostalgic and suffers from dated funk on occasions. And of course, head over to Cubop for the great re-issues of his early 70s material like Yaina that really buttered on the psychedelia influence with his already flourishing stylistic fusions. You will not be disappointed, and besides, Latin music of all kinds is a treat no matter the date.

Continued Research:
All Music Guide Entry
Ubiquity Profile
All About Jazz Interview
Wax Poetics #9, "A Man and His Music, from Harlem, New York" by Matt Rogers
waxpoetics.com

Singleversity #9

Audiversity’s weekly column on random music in a predetermined number of words between 1 & 150. This week's randomly generated number: 40.

(Ed. - Originally this was called Threeversity, but in the spirit of simplicity we've decided to retroactively relabel all of these posts. The content remains unchanged.)

MA:
(#40 of a random playlist generated from my ever-changing database of 12,500+ songs)



Spaceways Incorporated - Alice in My Fantasies/Cosmic Slop (Atavistic 2000)

Ken Vandermark + Hamid Drake + Nate McBrite + Funkadelic + Sun Ra = Thirteen Cosmic Standards by Sun Ra & Funkadelic. The most full-sounding trio you will ever hear jumps aboard the Mothership for one funky-ass trip to Saturn.

JR:



Its crazy the persistance of Swamp Thing throughout my childhood, comics and cartoons and those father/son trips to boggy Carolina swamps. Alligator Crystal Moth's Kerosene Hat rises spectral from dead water, rife with dense atmosphere and wailing guitar seance.

PM:













"Chopin & Me"

1827: Chopin still at the Warsaw Conservatory
Yesterday: "The People Vs. Larry Flynt" on TV
Background music: "Mazurka Op. 68, No. 2 in A Minor"
Me: No Arthur Rubinstein
You: Either, probably
Arthur Rubinstein: Happy to oblige

New Music: Aa, Babils

Aa - Horse Streak (Deleted Art 2007)

Aa - gAame / Deleted Art

This spring has seen a mighty battle of sorts between those hellbent on brilliant percussion - groups like Konono No. 1 who are about to embark on a tour in support of Björk (or maybe it's the other way around? Or both?) or LCD Soundsystem or Adult. or OOIOO - and the groups who would rather let their good old-fashioned instruments do the talking - groups like Cyann & Ben, A Sunny Day in Glasgow or The Twilight Sad. There has been astonishing quality from both ends of the musical spectrum, but if you go far enough out there on one end of said spectrum, you're bound to find yourself winding up on the other end. So far out there you inhabit the infinity symbol off the charts. That's where Brooklyn quintet Aa find themselves... But please, call them "Big A little a" (or, as I prefer, simply "Big Little"; there don't appear to be any artists out there with this name at the moment).

The glorious thing about Aa is that, like what lies beyond the visible reaches of a spectrum, there's no definition to this band. Everybody's a percussionist. Everybody's flailing around drums or maracas or electronically manipulating chants and choruses and singalongs and I wouldn't be surprised if they threw in a kitchen sink à la Hurra Torpedo because a group like Aa wouldn't be afraid of it. These guys just don't give a damn.

And that's kind of why they inhabit the nether-reaches in the way they do: You go so far off the percussion end of the spectrum that eventually you come around to the analog sounds, the very basic key sequences of a track like the epic "Horse Streak" drawing you in with a mystical trance. Swerving backward through songs like "Best of Seven" is the vocals, never clear and almost totally unrecognizable as such in some cases. This haze makes you feel like you're totally disoriented, which is definitely something gAame can be.

Remember in the 80s when Burundi beats and Safari polyrhythms acted as the counterweight to synthpop and slick-rock drivel? Aa have learned from that and, like latter-day Boredoms or a less pop-thoughtful Animal Collective, astonishingly melted the scale that was balancing those weights in the first place. It still sounds like a jungle, of course: High-pitched yelps from the dense brush of the first song proper ("Best of Seven") and later in the album ("New Machine") still reveal that African influence in more than just the drums. But this paranoid backdrop is placated by tunes like "Walk Again" that stroll through the jungle mist with placid irreverence only to find that what lies at the other end is "Time In," a kind of built-in remix with 8-bit bullets firing as percussion and those eerie swells of what sound like something organic living beneath yet another fuzzed-out voice.

I feel like I've brought up Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" in passing quite often on here, but Aa have achieved another, different kind of soundtrack to the same book: Instead of being from the perspective of the Europeans as per the norm, gAame shows life in the Congo from the side of the natives. And what a wildly inventive, erratically vibrant life it is.












Babils - Preventorium (Stilll 2007)

Babils - The Joint Between / Stilll

Another quintet knows what being wildly inventive and erratically vibrant is all about, but with a totally different sensibility to them. Tongue-twisting Brussels band Babils build their monolithic debut The Joint Between out of leftover scraps from the Can discography and all those Japanese psych bands your mother told you about. Another Alex Delivery? Well, not quite: There's a difference here from Star Destroyer because it takes elements of free-jazz that prog performers often dabble in and runs it through the patented Les Rallizes Denudes windtunnel-of-fun for a truly mind-altering psychgazing extravaganza.

That's a mouthful, but if you've ever heard The Psychic Paramount's Gamelan Into the Mink Supernatural, you have a vague idea of what I'm talking about. It's just such a massive record, but the glory is that it can be as heavy or as quiet as you like. Though a lot of these songs run well over five minutes, the centerpiece is without a doubt the 11-minute "Dent de Sagesse," which flitters through an almost Arab-like flute-charming session as Etienne Vernaeve and Lukas Vangheluwe tamper with the cymbals in and out, like desert waves or the dancing of a cobra streetside. Eventually low-frequency guitars circle the flute and mighty waves of feedback and droning UFOs hover back, sweeping up the song to leave only the rustle of the grass behind. While Alex Delivery lays on the sauerkraut repetition thick, Babils revel more in the flighty whims of late-60s freak-outs and enveloping guitar squall. I say this not to demean the former but rather to distance these two groups because, having realized we just recently posted on them, I wouldn't want you confused.

I don't think that's going to be an issue after hearing "2=3," a take accurately described by Fluxblog as something akin to both Radiohead's "The National Anthem" and Primal Scream's "Blood Money." But the squonking horns aren't unique to this song; brass frequents the album in the form of Vangheluwe's trumpets and maybe even a sax here or there. One of Babils' assets is point-man Gabriel Severin who is noted in the Brussels scene for a variety of projects, and to be fair I'm not really sure how much percussion Vangheluwe contributed to this album, but I'd like to believe that his efforts were just as valuable as Michel Duyck's simmering six-string action.

But why split hairs? At the end of the day it's the collective effort that merits the notoriety and, regardless of what happens behind the scenes in the Babils compound, the output on their debut is worth not poring over the details for. There's a mass of psych-rock out there right now, but sometimes it's difficult to tell the good from the bad and what's worth listening to and what just isn't. Babils may not have much more than an LP to their credit, but the elephants on the cover and the roar of "Hommes Elephants" are too loud to ignore. Have you ever ignored an elephant when it was trying to get your attention? Here's some terse advice if you've never been caught in the predicament: Don't. That is all.

New Music: Lichens, Hausmeister

Lichens - Vevor of Agassou (Kranky 2007)

Lichens – Omns / Kranky

When listening to the opening tracks of Lichens’ (aka Rob Lowe’s) new album, Omns, I can’t help but reference Sigur Rós, mainly the ( ) album. I do realize that these days such a parallel is not the most complimentary comparison, but the shared interest in un-enunciated vocals and warm melodies is hard to ignore. The differences between the experimental Chicago artist and the melodramatic Icelandic post-rockers though are enough to separate the groups as much musically as they are geographically, so certainly do not think that I’m placing both groups on a similar musical plateau. Lowe and vocalist Jon Thor Birgisson just both have a love for exploring vocal possibilities, especially dispelling the need for any kind of lyrical accompaniment to express emotion. They also both share a similar vocal prowess, one of vowel-heavy eeriness that somehow surpasses any creepy tag and heads straight to an intriguing alien-like quality. But while Birgisson wraps himself in pretentious made-up languages, still not completely being able to shrug of the necessity of lyrical direction when vocals are involved, Lowe whole-heartily utilizes his voice simply as an instrument, mostly in a more subdued and atmospheric Tyondai Braxton sort of way. Still though, the similar vocal tones and even sonic directions between Omns and ( ) are worth pointing out, if anything to at least give you an idea of what kind of aural world you are entering into by picking up this album, but there is one absolutely defining difference between Lichens and Sigur Rós that I have to point out: Where Sigur Rós set out to soundtrack a post-apocalyptic world of heavy regret and mournful solitude, Lichens composes the music to a heavy sigh of relief when the chaos of the world finally apexes and we are left with the serene calmness of nature and nothing else.

Lowe’s first album under the Lichens moniker and away from The 90 Day Men, The Psychic Nature of Being, set the stage for such vocal improvisations as well as his love for sparse hints of melodies achieved usually through delicate guitar picking. Omns definitely continues in this direction, but with an expanding palette of sonic possibilities. The first two tracks, “Vevor of Agassou” and “Faeries” are definitely in this mold. “Vevor” combines multi-layered metallic-leaning vocal inflections with warm-toned electric guitar picking. Like all Lichens recordings to date, it meanders, but in the most respectful definition of the term. Lowe explores the melodic possibilities of his tools at hand, establishing a loose sort of melodic theme, but never submitting to any sort of hook. Even though “Vevor” clocks in at nearly five minutes, it seems to fall silent all too quickly and regrefully just as you feel immersed in the track. “Faeries” continues on with the eerie, almost insect-like vocal foundation, but replaces the guitar with careful splashes of resonating piano keys. As I mentioned earlier, it approaches that Sigur Rós-like territory of melodious atmosphere, but never in the melodramatic sense (and I'm sure much more akin to hundreds of other artists, like a large portion of the Kranky roster for example, but since I've established the comparison, let's just stick with it). Think more minimalist drone where the static wall is all but crumbled and the underlying melodies are left to flower now that they can finally feel the sunshine.

Ignoring “Sighns,” a gorgeous two-minute coda of sorts that rounds out the album, the other two tracks of Omns feature Lichens exploring other musical directions. “Bune” especially is a very intriguing song bridging the two halves of the album. A solo electric guitar piece with just the right amount of crackle and feedback to color the tone with character, Lowe actually approaches Hendrix territory… well Hendrix on benzodiazepines. Like his guitar playing on “Vevor of Agassou,” it neither completely meanders nor reveals any sort of consistent theme, but acts as if moving in a particular though obviously unpredictable direction. Clocking in at nearly nine minutes, it surprisingly never seems to lose my attention, which for a song made up solely of structure-less electric guitar is pretty much an accomplishment in itself. And finally we get to the album’s centerpiece, the 18m41s of “M St r ng W tchcr ft L v ng n Sp r t” (care to try and pronounce that?). Broken down into movements, Lowe reveals many of his influences throughout the lengthy composition, from Turkish, Indian and Mongolian reference points to genre specific titles like drone, ambience, pop, psychedelia and classical. At the basic level, we can break it down into three parts, first a minimally droning movement of guitar overdubs, which blends seamlessly into the second segment of slow-burning organ and keyboard chords. Finally, after the somewhat suffocating sounds of church organs, the clouds retract into a crystal clear day, the birds literally come out chirping and Lowe moves back in with subdued vocal improvisations. It is 18+ minutes of serene, unenveloping and caringly placed aural beauty that thankfully sidesteps any melodrama what so ever.

Maybe the most appealing nature of Omns is how it sounds so impossible to recreate. And to further this feeling, the album comes accompanied with a DVD of a 2006 performance at Chicago’s Empty Bottle. Like Lowe’s music, his performances are whole-heartily in the moment; while framework maybe set, I sincerely doubt the final product is ever predicted. If you are in need of warm, exotic, minimal and sincerely caring music or miss the heyday of atmospheric Kranky beauty, do yourself a favor and pick up Omns.






Hausmeister - Ursula (Plop 2007)

Hausmeister – Water-Wasser / Plop

I do my very best to sprinkle my reviews with as many intriguing factoids as possible. Not necessarily just regurgitating the press release, but utilizing it as a starting point for my research and dropping some curious biographical nuggets as well as fun descriptions of the music. The point is obviously to turn you on to interesting new music while stretching my creative muscles in the process, win-win. Well I have to be honest; I’m having a bit of trouble with Hausmeister’s latest album, Water-Wasser. Musician and painter Christian Przygodda is not new to the scene, this is apparently his sixth full-length, but I’m still having trouble digging up any substantial information about him. On top of that, the press release goes on how this poptronica instrumental album refers heavily to French comic artist Moebius or writer Lars Gustaffson. My knowledge of comic books is close to rock bottom, but being a world-renowned artist, Moebius aka Jean Giraud was easy to come by. But again, how this melodic, handcrafted music has anything to do with Giraud, and more specifically his famous comic book series, The Airtight Garage, is beyond me. And Gustaffson? Google-ing the book title accompanied in the blurb, The Third Rochade of Bernhard Foy, only brings up the exact same description of this album in various languages. So, to be absolutely honest, I have no idea how Water-Wasser relates to any of its apparent influences, but I can tell you it is an enjoyable, inventive album of electronic innovations and warm acoustic melodies.

As I mentioned, Przygodda has released a number of albums under the Hausmeister alias, which is German for “caretaker,” or if you ask freetranslation.com: “janitor” (hahaha). Most of these albums are available via German imprint Karaoke Kalk, also home to Takagi Masakatsu, Hauschka and other similar-minded artists. Masakatsu is a good musical reference point for Water-Wasser, especially if you additionally sprinkle in names like Collections of Colonies of Bees, Tortoise and Mouse on Mars. It rides the very well explored line between acoustic and electronic instrumentation, but Przygodda definitely has a trained ear and I’m guessing some formal education mixed in there somewhere because the classical influence is hard to ignore, most notably on album closer “Fynn Und Anton.” There are also healthy doses of pop, folk, jazz and maybe even a touch of prog.

Album opener “Ursula” pretty much sets the stage of what is to come: acoustic guitar and piano melody, light, breezy rhythms, electronic wisps and tinges, and occasional harmonic vocals in the vein of “baba-ba-baaaaaaa.” Just as you think it exists solely as a simple pop ditty though, it completely breaks down into calm acoustic guitar picking in a classical mode before picking up into a short reprise of the initial head-bopping groove. Every other track from here on out is noteworthy. “Raphael,” for example, hopscotches in a cool west coast groove of folksy guitar lines with acoustic and electronic percussion. For good measure, Przygodda accentuates the already very melodious track with pan flute and harpsichord. Between more meandering pieces, “Amsterdam” skitters on a much more accessible Mouse on Mars tip and “Transport” matches classical-leaning piano with bongos and sighing sine waves.

To call Water-Wasser pleasant sounds slightly undermining, but it is an adjective that is hard to ignore with such plaintive, melodic music. You just have to remember that there is some excellent musicianship throughout the album (absolutely no loops used) that mostly excels because of its deceptively simple demeanor. After listening through it completely a number of times, I still have no idea how it relates to epic comic strips or rare novels, but I really don’t think these themes are necessary to enjoying the music anyways. Water-Wasser is music for spring days in the park… with a pretty lady in a bonnet… a fly bonnet… because she’s bringing them back in vogue.

New Music: 65daysofstatic, Mikhail

65daysofstatic - These Things You Can't Unlearn (Monotreme 2007)

65daysofstatic - The Destruction of Small Ideas / Monotreme

It only feels like last year that 65daysofstatic burst onto the scene and lit up the post-rock landscape with their debut album One Time for All Time, doesn't it? Too bad that album actually came out two years ago and The Fall of Math was their actual debut... But hey, as long as Monotreme isn't telling, who in the US really needs to know?

As it turns out, The Destruction of Small Ideas is a good reason for illustrating a deeper background of this Sheffield-based band. They've been around for six years now, but like their music they are a constantly shifting group of people: It started out as a three-piece in 2001, but four line-up changes in the three albums since has continually contorted the focus and the direction of the group, albeit not so dramatically that they are totally unrecognizable from release to release. In fact, 65daysofstatic has now become one of the most reliable instrumental rock groups anywhere on the planet and that's no small feat considering the competition. So what's up about The Destruction of Small Ideas that makes it feel just that little bit circumspect?

After all, the artwork is all there and they certainly didn't slack on creating it: 16 pages of the kind of obtuse sketches and pamphleteering one would expect from a band fresh out of the blocks. But maybe it's this figure buried in the middle, "Fig. A: Fundamental Truths Versus the Path We Have Taken," that shows the kind of trajectory the group has taken. There's a progression on the x-axis of the graph that goes from "1 moment" to "the next" to "crossroads/again" to "fly/fall." In the visualization, a canyon shape, the labels follow this axis from "planteau of indecision" to "familiar peak of impending trouble" and so on. Maybe this can be read as the thought process of a single song, but I see it more as the progression of the group as a whole: For the third album (="crossroads/again"), the pairing is "sine ocean."

Maybe it's not so obtuse after all, then. Despite the fact that "When We Were Younger & Better" would fit in comfortably beside the tracks from One Time for All Time, and despite the fact that this album once again averages somewhere in the high four-minute bracket, the extra time they've spent in making this album has affected its presentation. Whereas once the glitchy backbeats and head-pummeling percussion were stuffed into a song almost for the sheer purpose of having them there, the emphasis is rather less on that now. In the same way that All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone's bonus disc had electronic elements bring out the percussive elements of their songs (except for that ruthlessly slow Jesu remix), 65daysofstatic will never need a remixer because it's already inherent in their music. The songs here are tinny in production, but the power is still there: When the guitars and drums are in full-on rock mode, they rock hard. "These Things You Can't Unlearn" is a depiction of the latest incarnation of the band at its very best, over six minutes of instrumental math thrown in a blender with Mono's melodrama and Autechre and filtered through backing strings for what ultimately turns out to be the apex of the album.

It's not that they descend in the next seven songs, but it does feel like they're going back through their notes of the first two albums and figuring out what to do with such a unique sound. This group is vital in the sense that they have opened up one more possibility for what a post-rock act is capable of. It sounds familiar and distinct all at once, and that's part of the continual balancing act they've had to face. The Destruction of Small Ideas might be the signal of intent that they've already competently conquered their own sound. Now comes the crossroads: What will it take to fly and not to fall? I like this album well enough, but I think it holds more questions than answers. For now, the holding pattern.












Mikhail - Dance (Quartermass 2007)

Mikhail - Orphica / Quartermass

Of course, being in a holding pattern is all relative isn't it? You have people writing blogs now who don't even remember when "art-damaged" was so ubiquitous, so utterly played-out it was only legitimate for about three weeks in early 2003... And then you get the critics who are still delving into the back catalogs for missing pieces in the life of Mendelssohn. Both of these critics are well represented come Sunday morning in The New York Times "Arts & Leisure" section, but elsewhere classical continues to remain sorely unrepresented. The perception is that it's just too stuffy, too highbrow to be dealt with. It's antique audio, no longer relevant and functional only from an academic standpoint.

Mikhail would bid to disagree with that. Like a lot of other amateurs, I'm not well versed in Grieg or Webern, but I can hear elements of the modern, the romantic and the classical all over Mikhail Karikis' solo debut. While Karikis throws in moments I know I've heard before from Tchaikovsky ("Untitled in CoF Minor") or even some generic piece from Copland ("Dance"), his background as a kid in Thessaoloniki, Greece means he's likely thinking more of the Balkan folk songs that dotted his youth than any "Pork: The Other White Meat" commercials. Indeed, some of the recordings here ("Asteris," "Archon" and "Incubus") take field recordings from Mount Olympus and the Ionian and twist them into beats Matmos would be proud of. The natural melodies of these songs over said beats have survived the centuries and Karikis shows why all over this album. It is beautiful and fascinating and I completely understand why Björk wanted him to remix "Army of Me" now: They're a perfect fit.

In that sense then, I suppose now is a good time to bring up that Mikhail has just as much in common with The One AM Radio as Handel or Liszt. Arguably the biggest selling point of this album is that he has remixed "Army of Me" and, with Volta right around the corner, Brussels-based Quartermass might have the perfect way in to really sell this one to kids who otherwise wouldn't have a clue about Mikhail. Frankly, I'd use any excuse I could to get this album out to the people; for me, that means a lowly college radio show and this mighty blog. There is just so much here to love, from the found sounds of scissors interspliced with harpsichords or tympani to Karikis doing that very Björkian vocal trick of almost sneering into the mic as a Wagnerian chorus backs him up on "Argonautica." And as a brief aside, "Argonautica." Pretty fucking cool if you ask anyone who hasn't played with Legos in the past decade. Argonauts? Anyone? No? Okay.

Though the inspiration for the soul of this music is the great Orpheus, Mikhail has managed to blend hundreds of years of music from all over Europe with the sounds of modern electronic and the avant-garde to create a fascinating LP that comes highly recommended. I'm not banking on Volta being a disappointment, but early indications are that it is significantly different from Vespertine or Medulla. If you still pine for the more cerebral elements of the Icelandic songstress or are looking for something more interesting from the "world" section of your local record store than yet another Putumayo compilation, pick up Mikhail's Orphica. I could put this in more elaborate terms, but that would be muddying the point: You'll be glad you did.

Radio Show Playlist 5/02

6a:
1. Tom Waits - Fumblin' with the Blues - The Heart of Saturday Night (Asylum 1974)
2. Low Skies - You Can't Help Those People - All the Love I Could Find (Flameshovel 2006)
3. Grails - Dead Vine Blues - Burning Off Impurities (Temporary Residence 2007)
4. Califone - Pink & Sour - Roots & Crowns (Thrill Jockey 2006)
5. Alex Delivery - Milan - Star Destroyer (Jagjaguwar 2007)
6. Amon Tobin - Stoney Street - Bricolage (Ninja Tune 1997 -- Playing Abstract Science 10th Anniversary Party!!!)
7. The Cinematic Orchestra - Child Song - To Bulid a Home 7" (Ninja Tune 2007)
8. Thilges - Hig - La Double Abscence (Staubgold 2007)
9. Tortoise - Gamera - Gamera/Cliff Dweller Society 12" (Duophonic 1995)

7a:
1. Lymbyc System - Astrology Days - Love Your Abuser (Mush 2007)
2. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake - From the River to the Ocean - From the River to the Ocean (Thrill Jockey 2007)
3. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme, Pt. 1: Acknowledgement - A Love Supreme (Impulse! 1964)
4. Tito Puente & his Orchestra - Mambo Beat - Mucho Puente (RCA International 1964, recorded 1955-57)
5. Ismael Quiniors - Control - New York Latin Hustle! (Soul Jazz 2007)
6. Monguito Santamaria - Monguito's Theme - Hey Sister (Fania 1968)
7. The Sea and Cake - Exact to Me - Everybody (Thrill Jockey 2007)
8. Junior Boys - In the Morning - So This is Goodbye (Domino 2006)

New Music: No Age, Raccoo-oo-oon

I've never been one to stoop to "the dog ate my homework" lows but in this case I'm prepared to take the incomplete, if you would be so generous. My Raccoo-oo-oon review disappeared earlier this evening in a freak power outage, such things happen in the ghetto. But with the best of intentions I share with you this exquisite diamond of a song, Black Branches, from Raccoo-oo-oon's upcoming full length, Behold Secret Kingdom. Its full of racket like the angry forest at night. Look for a proper LP release of this soon on Night People, and in the meantime buy buy buy everything you can from this wonderful DIY label run by Raccoo-oo-oon's Shawn Reed.




No Age - Everybody's Down (Fat Cat 2007)

No Age - Weirdo Rippers / Fat Cat

Being a child of the internet has its perks! Sure I waste alot of time on tentative relationships but all the constant scouring yields results. Lately, like once a week, I've found some bundle of joy delivered straight to my hard drive. Easily thrills? Yeah, maybe, but the timing has been spot on. Panda Bear and Times New Viking brought it at the first turn of spring, spraying sunshine all over the place; in the car, on the porch, situation by situation these timely interventions have been just right, just what I need. This week's speedy delivery is from LA dudes, No Age. No Age plays a big part in the whole Smell scene, by now a fairly well-known quantity in the underground for all the right reasons. Bands like No Age, Mika Miko, Silver Daggers, Abe Vigoda, and many others from the same locale are working hard to restore your faith in rock music. Weirdo Rippers is full-length collection of No Age's most golden tracks, wrapped tight like dynamite and ready to explode upon play.

If only you could see me smiling rainbows right now! No Age is definitely lo-fi, all the cracks and distortion sounding bad in all the right ways. This duo, featuring one dude from the sadly short-lived Wives, are a rarity these days, not even trying to make it seem like they're having fun; this is all full-blooded honesty and, I'll be damned, a genuinely fun rock record in an age where people are turning more and more to electro for their thrills. Much like Times New Viking's wonderfully naive Presents The Paisley Reich, the recording quality should perk the ears of old timers still lamenting the glory days of Husker Du and Guided By Voices. But mostly I think No Age would form a Rock-N-Roll Express fan favorite tagteam with Parts & Labor, as both groups are equally adept at mixing sugar-rush punk pop with bright electronics.

"Loosen This Job" is the best summation of No Age, maybe thats a little too concise but the song brims with distortion, feedback, noise, or whatever (!) providing a warm palette for campfire drums and wonderful lyrics about how "Night time is the right time" and "Its colder in your house than you think / Its colder in your bones" echoing exactly how I feel every day after an eight-hour work day. This song speaks directly to me, whether intentional or not, but I hear it loud and clear and the most important thing is that it lets me cast away all the unwelcomed shit that I deal with during the work day. "Everybody's Down" is on a similiar frown-destroying tip; it's a punk gem like the best Punk-O-Rama song ever, like this makes me hop around like I did when I was fourteen years old and first heard NOFX or Pulley or some shit. Its a simple, guiltless pop song, all anthemic with huge singalongs like "Every soul in every town's got me goin ooooo-ahhhh-ooooo". "My Life's Alright With You" may be one of the best mixtape songs ever written simply for the title alone. Things start off pensively among swathes of keyboard and faraway guitars, total fuzzed out beach-cruising pop hooks and a swinging guitar solo to get all the kids gyrating.

This is the top of the mountain. I hope my excitement about this band is translating because I am doing double dutch with my shadow totally beside myself. Expect to hear alot more from these guys closer to the release date of June 11th when Weirdo Rippers is released on the always respectable Fat Cat. Keep in mind No Age hadn't released a single recording until March of this year, simultaneously unleasing five very limited vinyl releases. We're all new to this then so get on it and enjoy all the vitality radiating from this amazing band.