The Day Independent Radio Took a Step Back

The Impressions - Keep on Pushing - Keep on Pushing (Paramount 1964)

Yesterday morning I woke up to the worst possible news concerning the radio station that I Music Direct for and is near solely responsible for bringing Audiversity to life, WLUW-FM Chicago, Listener-Supported Community Radio:

from the Chicago Sun-Times:
July 13, 2007
BY ROBERT FEDER Sun-Times Columnist
When it comes to WLUW-FM (88.7), Loyola giveth and Loyola taketh away.

Five years after university officials gratefully turned over day-to-day
management control of their struggling campus radio station to Chicago
Public Radio, they're asking for it back.

At the time of its transfer in 2002, WLUW was operating at a deficit,
and Loyola sought help in managing and fund-raising from the nonprofit
parent company of WBEZ-FM (91.5).

Since then, under an operating agreement with the public radio
station's board, WLUW has been thriving as a listener-supported
community-based station.

Now Loyola reportedly plans to return the station to its roots as a
student-run operation and make it part of the curriculum.

Pending a deal between Loyola and Chicago Public Radio bosses, the
management change should be completed by next June.

So as you can see, come next June I'm out of a job and Audiversity's future will be in limbo, though I am going to spend the next year building as strong as contacts as possible to keep the website alive.

This is an excerpt of the email we received from our Station Manager shortly after:

"As some of you already know from this morning’s Feder column in the Sun Times, and per provisions of the operating agreement between WBEZ and Loyola University, the university has decided to exercise its option to take back WLUW. The details of this transition have not been communicated to us. We understand that the station is expected to continue its current programming until June 2008. All current staffers are welcome to stay until that date. At this point we do not know the status of those staffers after that date.

You should know that this decision is not based on anything that has gone on at WLUW. It is indeed ironic that this happens just at the moment WLUW has had its greatest successes as a community radio station. The decision is a function of the university wanting to establish a new School of Communication for which WLUW will be an academic component."

But really, I have only been with the station for a year-and-a-half, and there are DJs and volunteers who have been producing highly-regarded shows for the last decade. These are the people I feel the worst for, because once Loyola takes the station back over (which coincidentally comes after we've grown enough to reach our yearly financial budget for the first time thanks to the very kind souls of listeners who donated their hard-earned money to our cause), they may not have an outlet to keep on producing their excellent programs. And our Program Director, Shawn Campbell, has spent the last eight years of her life building the station from the ground up just to have it plucked away from her at it's highest state of popularity. It's an absolute shame Loyola has decided to take these actions and, in turn, demolishing one of the strongest radio outlets for independent music, progressive news and community programs, and denying listeners an option for independent, heart-felt radio here in Chicago. Do I regret spending so many under-paid hours helping develop the station's music library and musical image? Absolutely not. It's been a wonderful learning experience and introduced me to the most hard-working, immensely creative community I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I sincerely doubt that we will just pack it up and head in our own separate directions. Radio needs it's independent outlets more than ever before, and I guarantee that this is not the last you will hear from us. There is nothing like a little oppression and defeat to inspire bigger and better endeavors.

Thank you to everyone who has listened to Audiversity: The Radio Show and WLUW-FM. The show should run for a few more months uninhibited; from there we'll just play it by ear.

Sorry...

Like I mentioned earlier, we apologize for the lack of posts. This week is nuts for both of us, and Patrick is actually here with me in Chicago. I will be working WLUW's Record Fair within the Pitchfork Music Fest, so if you are going feel free to stop by the WLUW merch table, ask for Michael/Audiversity and say hello. I'm thinking Singleversity will still definitely happen this Saturday, but another album review is looking less and less likely. Don't worry though, we should be back in full swing next week.

And definitely stay tuned, because excellent new columns are in the near future further diversifying and expanding our content. Seven months in and the snowball is beginning to gather some girth. Thanks to everyone who is visiting on regular occasions, because the response has been incredibly encouraging. If you promise to keep caring, we promise to keep putting so much effort into it.

Radio Show Playlist: 7/11/07

6a:
1. Fugazi - Turnover - Repeater + 3 Songs (Dischord 1990)
2. The Icarus Line - FSHN FVR - Black Lives at the Gold Coast (Dim Mak 2007)
3. These Arms are Snakes - The Blue Rose - This is Meant to Hurt You EP (Jade Tree 2003)
4. Queens of the Stone Age - Sick, Sick, Sick - Era Vulgaris (Interscope 2007)
5. Tyondai Braxton - Stand There - Rise, Rise, Rise (split with Parts & Labor) (Narnack 2003)
6. Pterodactyl - Three Succeed - Pterodactyl (Brah 2007)
7. Plants - Roots - Photosynthesis (Strange Attractors 2007)
8. Alexander Tucker - You Are Many - Furrowed Brow (ATP Recordings 2006)
9. Ghost - Motherly Bluster - In Stormy Nights (Drag City 2007)

7a:
1. Everyoned - Friends of Mine - Everyoned (Brilliante 2006)
2. Paul Duncan - The Fire - Above the Trees (Hometapes 2007)
3. Jim Guthrie - Broken Chair - Now, More Than Ever (Three Gut 2003)
4. Helios - Signed I Wish You Well - Ayres (Type 2007)
5. Theodore & Hamblin - Balmpe - The Scientific Contrast (Moteer 2007)
6. Fonica - Twang - Ripple (Tomlab 2003)
7. Misha - Losing - Teardrop Sweetheart (Tomlab 2007)
8. Caribou - Melody Day (Four Tet Remix) - Melody Day EP (Merge 2007)
9. Masha Qrella - C.Bones - Unsolved Remains (Morr Music 2005)
10. Mirah & Spectratone International - Community - PDX Pop Now! 2007 (self-released 2007)
11. Catherine Howe - It's Not Likely - What a Beautiful Place (Numero Group 2007, recorded 1970)
12. Julie Sokolow - Alternations - Something About Violins (Western Vinyl 2006)

8a:
1. Life on Earth! - Life on Earth - Look!! There is Life on Earth! (Subliminal Sounds 2007)
2. Ananda Shankar - Streets of Calcutta - Ananda Shankar and His Music (Fallout 1975)
3. McNeal & Niles - Punk Funk - Thrust (Chocolate Industries 2004, recorded 1979)
4. The Budos Band - Budos Rising - The Budos Band II (Daptone 2007)
5. Bumps - Tryplmeade Gorsmatch - Bumps (Stones Throw 2007)
6. Antibalas - Broken Metal - Security (Anti- 2007)
7. Seun Kuti & the Egypt 80 - Think Africa - Think Africa/Na Oil 12" (Still Music 2007)
8. Vieux Farka Toure - Ana - Vieux Farka Toure (World Village 2007)
9. Beat Konducta - Raw Tranquility Pt 3 - In India (Stones Throw 2007)
10. The Jahari Massamba Unit - Umojo (Unity) - Prepare for a New Yesterday (Vol. 1) (Stones Throw 2007)

Caribou - "Andorra"

Caribou - Irene (Merge 2007)

Caribou - Andorra / Merge

With the Melody Day EP now appearing and Merge beginning their late-summer push for the fuller, conditions feel right for a Caribou review. Ah, Caribou. Dan Snaith, the incomparable one-man bliss-pop army out to avenge his defeat to Handsome Dick Manitoba three years ago. By equipping himself with some of the most infectious and joyfully oblivious poptronic products in the entire existence of said style, Snaith has become a reference point for plenty of people with laptops and a love for The Beach Boys. Not that there weren't already a few out there, but Snaith has somehow managed to elude mediocrity partly because he knows when to hit it and when to quit it; in keeping with that, Up in Flames might be acknowledged as the archetypal Caribou album, but the nine-song Andorra that he's been working on since early '06 makes a strong case for the best Caribou record yet.

In between 2005's The Milk of Human Kindness and the August release date for this album, Snaith has constructed a live show with the help of Delicious 9 and not a little musical handiwork from his backing band, all to good effect. It feels like that backing band had some effect the other way around on Andorra, because it feels more like a band is playing this album than in the past when Snaith could cleverly (and effectively) disguise his largely solitary efforts. "Melody Day" is the lead-off single and opening track; as a raison d'etre, it works effectively with dreamy vocals harmonizing perfectly in between the spaced-out psych-pop awash in summer cymbal sunshowers. "Melody day, where have you gone?" asks Snaith... But the answer is as straightforward as the flute fluttering about. It's as prominent here as it's been anywhere else. The melodies are simply irresistible as "Sandy" duly proves on the following track. Robert Palmer would be proud in a roundabout way.

Of course, Caribou may not have appealed to you in the past. Snaith's freeform palette-plastering psych-pop glittering with all things flower-child was at times mercurial and at its worst little more than white noise in disguise. My argument for that is, if you're willing to listen to something that seriously sounds straight out of 1967 but with just a lemon-twist of modernism, you're ready for Andorra. The additional touches of krautrock on a track like "After Hours" reveal just that little bit more about this guy. You keep wanting it to be boring, but Snaith never lets a good idea wear out its welcome. "Sundialing" is a good example, running its full rise n' fall at just over four-and-a-half minutes.

"She's the One" is a subtle nod to a less organic past as Junior Boys' Jeremy Greenspan lends his breathy vocal talents to a song that always feels like it's going to erupt into this ebullient acid trip but instead cleverly continues at a controlled pace, defying expectations and pleasing the ear all the same. The verve in the sparse vocals of "Irene" is another brilliant moment toward the end of the album, well-placed as a quiet breather and a set-up for the understated "Niobe," a whimper to end a banger of an album.

For a long time I wasn't really impressed with Caribou. I didn't think Snaith was anything special and that most of his tricks had been honed, what, 30 years ago? But Andorra has led me to rethink this position. Rather than viewing him as an ordinary electro-psych-pop player with a shrewd knack for melody, I've come to see Snaith as a guiding light for anything with a psych label on it. And that's kind of why he's here. While we don't review Merge records too often given their stature, Caribou stands as both a flattering example and a noticeable exception to their Institutionalized Indie paradigm: By bringing people to Andorra, it's possible we can take them beyond that if they haven't already gotten there. Jan Dukes de Gray, Kemialliset Ystävät, First Nation, there's no end to the possibilities, the world of opportunity and wealth of knowledge Dan Snaith can open up. Nestled deep in the Pyrenees, it's hard to imagine a nation less likely to sit in such a unique position.

An Open Letter to Billy Corgan

Dear Mr. Corgan,

The first draft of this letter was written in July of 2005, so if it sounds like something you've heard before, at least you'll be able to say that you can relate to me in more ways than just the Irish-American lapsed Catholic with blue eyes, [naturally] brown hair, crooked teeth and a wiseass attitude. I always felt like we had a lot in common, Billy. Me and about 40 million other people, obviously, but for a few fleeting years in the late 90s I really thought you were it. Those being my most vulnerable and impressionable times, you stuck with me despite a voice that was, in the words of a friend now forgotten, "akin to a drowning rat."

An impeccable knack for balancing the beautiful with the brutal was what drew me. Oh sure, you had the anthems. Ask most alternative radio stations in the US today what you amounted to and they'll reduce it to four words: Bullet with butterfly wings. Sound familiar? Of course it does, because they still play it three times a day where I come from. But you were more than a single, awful anthem for Gen Xers with mudpeople in your video. I mean, there was "Today" for first-comers to the Alternative Nation. Some people will never look at ice-cream trucks or "Zabriskie Point" the same way again.

Really though, if it wasn't for Smashing Pumpkins (with or without the "The") there would be no "alternative" in the first place. Without your distinct touches of psychedelia and new-wave and post-punk and all these things Seattle was afraid of, "grunge" would be the punchline for modern rockists. You broadened the horizons. You made people see that there was more to the 70s and 80s than just speed metal and hardcore-punk and the Pixies. There was shoegaze, there was Cheap Trick, there were The Cars. Kurt knew too, but he didn't let it show in his music, at least not until that Bowie cover. What greatness would've come we'll never know, because he took the easy out. He gave up the fight against his wife and his hopeless imitators and his greatest rival, you. There's a reason there are hundreds of Nirvana soundalikes, but only Our Lady Peace and The Secret Machines: You were the harder act to follow.

At some point after your folktronica experiment Adore (which we only now have a proper sub-sub-sub-genre for), you decided it wasn't worth "fighting the good fight against the Britneys of the world" anymore. I don't blame you. There's only so much battling you can do against not just Britney and Justin but people who don't see the joke in "Today." So you brought Jimmy back and kept D'arcy away from Mickey Rourke as long as you could before the heroin consumed her and went out on tour for one last fling against The Man, sorry, Machine, sorry, Machina. Then you told Virgin to fuck off and dealt with "the downloading question" by releasing Machina II for free online. You took the piss on plenty of people in the 90s, but that had to be my favorite punchline. Even more so because it was delivered with a wink to Virgin, who had no answer... And because it contained the song you felt was the crystallization of 12 years of playing. I don't have that citation, but I'm sure you'll remember:

The Smashing Pumpkins - "Cash Car Star (Version 1)" - Machina II: Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (Constantinople 2000)

When you went out on Leno with this and "comedy doesn't pay," I was confident the last chapter in my favorite book had closed. In between growing beyond alternative to discover The Get Up Kids and At the Drive-In and Mogwai, I found time to forgive you for Zwan almost entirely because of "Declarations of Faith." It could've been much worse than worn paisley shirts. I found that out with TheFutureEmbrace.

This is where the first draft leaves off. It's interesting to go back and read now because I was adamant I wouldn't pay attention to your "solo album with another on the way." Very coy, indeed! Turns out that second solo album was Zeitgeist after all... But I didn't remember that bit when I heard the Pumpkins were reuniting. That's the way (my love is). I hear the band is reuniting and for a split second I think of the good old days. Remember, with James and D'arcy and conquering the world? Ginger who? The motherfucking Lassie Foundation? Are you kidding me?

My question two years ago was, "What are you doing?" That was a stupid thing to ask, but we all know the answer now. I thought TheFutureEmbrace was your way of disgracing the legacy of the Pumpkins, but the joke was on me, wasn't it? The solo album(s), the "confessions," the full-page ads... Christ man, it was all an illusion. Why the hell would James want to get himself mixed up in a song like "Tarantula" anyway, especially considering you already wrote it with "Cash Car Star"? Or "Jellybelly"? Or "Hello Kitty Kat"? You had used every trick to ruin the legacy of the band, but with Zeitgeist you've finally done it: You've ruined the band itself. Well played. I hate this album.

As a Chicago-affiliated blog, I guess I should address the music of the album. The vocals are too high in the mix, the songs blend your solo production touches with blatantly obvious and therefore unrewarding hooks, the lyrics are horrendous. There. I don't work for WLUW, but even if I did and they allowed you to be played, I wouldn't. Not anymore.

There is one redeeming tune, "For God and Country." Maybe it's on the iTunes version, maybe it's on the HMV version, maybe it's on the Amazon Cambodia version, I don't fucking know. I downloaded it. There are a few lines in here that, like a million other people, I think are written for me. "It's too late for some / It's too late for everyone / I can't help what I destroy in you." That stuck out to me mostly because I don't agree. The sad part is that you could've helped all of this by just continuing to release solo albums and living out your days maintaining some semblance of artistic integrity.

But you got me with this: "It's time to wake up / It's time to wake up for good." You're right, Billy. I really don't want to look stupid when I'm sleeping.

...Said sadly,
PM

Various Artists - "PDX Pop Now! 2007"

Ethan Rose - Celing Songs 3 (excerpt) (PDX Pop Now! 2007)

Lips and Ribs - Battle in Nagoya (PDX Pop Now! 2007)

Ferocious Eagle - Bastards (PDX Pop Now! 2007)

Various Artists – PDX Pop Now! 2007 / self-released

Growing up on the east coast and now relocated to the Midwest, sometimes I fail to get on the same wavelength of west coast artists. It is just a different frame of mind out there, and one that I have just not spent enough time in to really be able to get down with a lot of their particular trends. Granted there are certainly exceptions to this and the internet’s ascension as a way of life is really breaking down regional differences anyways, but as for now, there is still a considerable disparity between my Midwesterian way of life and, say, the regular routine of a Pacific Northwesterner. Besides the obvious geographical and climate differences, I think it’s all of the smaller details, from grocery stores to local bands, which really make up the void between us. For me at least, immersing yourself in the local music scene is the best way to at least be introduced into the frame of mind of your contemporaries, which is typically spelled out in stylistic choices (for example: Midwest=pastoral post-rock=laid-back but innovative culture… I am so biased). Well if this is true, then Portland has been trying to lure music fans of all sorts of styles and mindsets over the last few years by not only putting on an all local, multi-genre, free-of-charge festival showcasing the cream of the cities musical crop, but also releasing an accompanied two-disc compilation of all Portland-bred acts. The 2007 installment of PDX Pop Now! is as strong and diverse as ever, which is an excellent reflection on Portland’s continuously expanding local scene and the wide variety of creative minds taking part.

“PDX Pop Now! is a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating, promoting, and enhancing Portland’s vital and diverse music community. We also strive to connect this community, in various ways, to the public.” The mission statement pretty much sums it up. Now in it’s fourth year, the festival itself is still a free three-day, all-ages event that let’s Portlanders experience fifty of the cities brightest groups in a live setting. It is certainly a respectable, worthwhile grassroots operation, and other cities really should take note and perhaps start one of their own.

While the 2007 festival line-up is still not completely unveiled (The Blow, The Shaky Hands and Blitzen Trapper are a few of the notable names already revealed), this years compilation has been released, and while a bit top-heavy, it’s a solid two discs of quality music. After jotting down loose, one-line descriptions of each of the forty artists included, four particular styles emerged: folksy singer/songwriter, art-pop, electro-whatever and rap. While you have got to love the diversity of genres, it very much reflects what is popular on a national scale of independent music. The real question is whether it’s a reflection of or an inspiration for what’s happening on a bigger scale.

Before we get to the oddballs of the 2007 PDX Pop Now! installment, let’s point out both the most notable and my personal favorites of the four main styles. Of the folksy singer/songwriters, The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy has got to be the most familiar as he has become the sort of poet laureate of Portland. “Culling of the Fold” is classic Meloy: somber, acoustic-guitar driven and eerily catchy. My personal choice comes from quirky folk popsters The Ocean Floor, whose “A Simple Adventure” could have just of easily fit into the art-pop group with its whimsical song structure. And speaking of art-pop, after their monumental 2007 release, Friend and Foe, Menomena has to be the biggest name, with an inclusion of a track from that album, “Wet and Rusting.” Energetic trio Ferocious Eagle with their anthemic rocker “Bastards” gets my personal vote in this category. I was glad to see such strong representation from the Portland hip-hop community as well with five different artists contributing tracks. “No Surprise,” one of the best songs from Lifesavas excellent 2007 release, Gutterfly, is the most notable and would also be my personal choice if it wasn’t for female emcee Syndel. Her contribution, “Lemme Hear It,” reminds me a lot of Psalm One and is a biting, empowering banger. And finally, the electro-whatever category. I guess either YACHT or Panther would be the most familiar, both have had surges of popularity as of late, but Lips and Ribs’ all too short “Battle in Nagoya” is my personal favorite. Like an 8-bit video game soundtrack hopped up on Red Bull, I’m sure it completely destroys basement parties on regular occasions.

And as far as everything else that does not fit into those four categories, I am happy to see inclusions from the art-metal, ambient, big band and punk side of things. Bands like Black Elk, The Better to See You With and The Hand That Bleeds add a welcomed dose of aggression, while on the complete other side of things, Ethan Rose contributes an excerpt of one of his gorgeous ambient pieces from his phenomenal 2006 release, Ceiling Songs. Both the Evolutionary Jass Band and Klezmocracy contribute excursions into big band, pulling from New Orleans jazz and klezmer music respectively to round out their sound. And finally, punk gets it’s due with bands like The Exploding Hearts and Nice Boys keeping with the pop side of the genre, while Swim Swam Swum and Junkface both stem from the post-punk sub-style.

As you can see, there is a lot to be discovered on PDX Pop Now! 2007. And it speaks significantly of the accepting and encouraging catalyst culture that Portland has become in the last decade. It would be tough for a city of New York or Los Angeles size to be able to sum up their counterculture in a two-disc set, but Portland appears to be at just the right magnitude to both cultivate artists and launch them onto the national stage. It is at a small enough level that the music scene is still accessible for anyone willing to put in the time and energy, yet big enough to reward them with a significant amount of attention. PDX Pop Now! is a great outlet for the scene to be heard, and it’s become a compilation I look forward to hearing every year.

So Busy

Be aware that through the rest of July, Audiversity posts may be a bit more infrequent than usual. This is due mostly to both Patrick and I being ridiculously busy and traveling some. If you are attending the Pitchfork festivities this weekend, stop by the WLUW Record Fair tent and say hello. I should be working early on all three days. Cheers and enjoy.

Interversity: Channel One

Don't touch that dial: Channel One have been good to us in returning our humble questions for them this week. Everything from the art to the words and back again is covered in relation to their latest EP, Permissions.










Channel One - "These Roads" / Permissions EP (Sound Foundation 2007)

In my review I mentioned a ton of Creation or Creation-influenced groups, but all of your releases so far have a very Factory Records feel to them. Is there a conscious disconnect from the music to the art, or is it just the band's preferred aesthetic?

Richie: we would be heavily influenced by some acts from both creation records and factory records, specifically joy division, my bloody valentine and vanishing point/xtrmntr era primal scream so invariably, all of these things may influence what we do.

A few of your song titles ("Rhythm&Purpose," "These Roads," "Accelerate;Brake") are as driven as the music. Bad pun there, but do you guys keep up with motorsports at all or is that just a coincidence?

Paul: The words and titles are always written after the instrumentation. We prefer the music to colour and inform the vocal as oppose to vice versa. So i suppose it follows some of the words and titles allude to things like movement.

While you opened for CSS on a few dates, you've just finished making some lengthy rounds yourselves. What are your most memorable tour experiences thus far in '07?

Richie: yeah, we've been touring a lot this year and the dates with css were great as it was nice to play to a crowd that we would not usually get to play to as we are very different to css. Our most memorable gigs would probably be our 2 hometown headline shows in dublin and also the carlow date of the css tour.

What's your favorite place to play in Ireland? Why so?

Richie: we wouldn't necessarily have a favourite place to play in ireland as it really depends on how that night’s gig goes but recently it would have to be belfast as we get looked after really well when we’re there and the crowds seem really responsive to what we do.

The lyrics seem personal as best I can tell, but how much do politics affect the band's writing or playing? What is the main source of inspiration?

Paul: The lyrics are kept as intuitive as possible. They often change a lot until we go to record. While we'd all have a big interest in politics there isn’t really a narrative or a message, personal or political, at least in any direct sense. The words just serve to evoke certain images and feelings in line with the music, sometimes to the extent that lyrics are built around particular vowel or consonant sounds suggested by the tone, melody or rhythm of the existing instrumentation. We've always viewed the vocals as just another musical element, and increasingly we're sampling my voice in order to layer or splice it which is a lot of fun – it’s been like adding a whole new instrument.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

What did you specifically remember listening to as children that triggered a notable response?

Richie: we all got heavily into music when we were in our teens and we would probably all remember different things from our childhood but i would think that the smiths were the first band that we all loved and were heavily influenced by. They may not seem like an apparent influence in our music now but they were and still are hugely influential.

You are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you all collectively listen to?

Richie: well on the last tour, we rekindled our love of the smiths by listening to all of their albums on rotation so any of them.

Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

Paul: We were kinda obsessed with all things Chris Morris for a while. Not sure if it’s an influence but we’re big fans. I’m reading a great book at the moment called ‘All that is solid melts into air’ by Marshall Berman

Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

Richie: we would pick up on a lot of new music on the internet-message boards, blogs etc and we would also stumble upon some stuff in some of the better record stores in Dublin such as city discs. the guys who run that place are always good for suggesting some new act to check out and have told us about Jackson and his Computer Band and Chris Clark recently.

What question do you get most often as a band that you hate answering?

Paul: We usually avoid ‘favourite colour? favourite food?’ type interviews like the plague. With that in mind thanks for the interesting questions.

You spoke too soon... Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

Richie: We are constantly trying to buy new keyboards,drum machines and equipment so the sound or piece of equipment we most like is whatever we have yet to buy/can’t afford.

The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you each head immediately towards?

Richie: Dvd section for some Brass Eye or Jam. Dance music section for a fabric compilation, some of the recent mixes by Ellen Allien and Diplo were great.

What is the last notable daydream you guys had and where did it take place?

Not sure.

What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

Paul: I suppose Loveless comes close. As does Mezzanine.
Richie:Not sure but think Bjork-Vespertine is close.

Do you keep up with blogs? Which if so?

Richie: Yeah i religiously check out an irish music blog which can be found at www.nialler9.com/blog

Singleversity #18

Audiversity’s weekly column, slightly modified, on random music in a predetermined number of words between 1 & 150. This week's randomly generated number: 64.

MA:



A few years back I was DJing a radio show dubbed For Love of the Beat spotlighting a lot of organic-sounding instrumental hip-hop, electronica and other hybrid beat-oriented styles. Though I’ve just discovered it lately, Josh Abrams’ wonderful side-project Reminder is the exact style and mood I was purveying with the show. "On Rooftops" especially taps into the chill MPC-hop vibe I was seeking.

PM:













Pantha du Prince’s This Bliss is my greatest regret in not reviewing for this site so far this year, so here’s as quick an opinion as I can make: You owe yourself a listen if Apparat or Trentmøller appeal to you. Hendrik Weber’s minimalist masterpiece still reveals layers months after its spring release on Dial. “Moonstruck” is just one tidy example of the genius.

A Perfect Friend - "A Perfect Friend"

A Perfect Friend - Welcome Aboard (Stilll 2007)

A Perfect Friend – A Perfect Friend / Stilll

After yesterday awarding Look!! There is Life on Earth! as the prime summertime road trip record of 07, I am having to adjust my exclamation just a bit after spending some time with today’s highlighted album. Now I am no less enthused by Life on Earth! or anything of that nature after just one day, but we are going to have to concentrate their award as the DAYTIME summer road trip record of 07. Why? Because once the sun goes down and the body and mind start to cramp after ten hours of sitting in the car, it’s time for music that is a little more soothing and akin to the ambient sounds of a mid-summer night. Music that both plucks a heart string, reflects the somber mood of day coming to an end and embraces all of the odd noises associated with the sun-downed half of a July date… the insect chirps, the fire crackles, the fluorescent light hums, the distant pops of firecrackers, etc. A Perfect Friend’s eponymous debut does just that: it marries somber, heat-fatigued folk with chirping, whirring, ambient-leaning electronica and field recordings. It is exactly the sort of sighing music you want as the headlights start burning and you just want to feel the serene calm of a cool summer night.

Aptly named, A Perfect Friend is the collaborative efforts of Sweden’s CJ Larsgården and Thomas Jonsson. Maybe an odd couple on paper, the combination of Larsgården’s experimental soundscapes (along with a good number of other collaborations, he also records drone-metal under the Ondo moniker) and Jonsson’s delicate indie-folk (he has recorded a number of albums under the Thomas Denver Jonsson alias and has collaborated with Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas and others) flows seamlessly together. With Larsgården piecing together an autumnal mosaic of synths, field recordings, loops, samples, and other various electronics, Jonsson weaves a comforting tapestry of melodic interjections including acoustic guitar, organ, harmonica, glockenspiel and other more folksy instrumentation. The results sound almost as if Akron/Family was signed to Mego Records.

The thirteen-minute “When the Temperature is Rising” is surprisingly the most engrossing for my ears. Extremely patient, the song builds off a simple loop of minutely chopped up drum machine and high-pitched tone gurgles. Synthesizer swells and flourishes of electronic noodling, glockenspiel and what sounds like a very slowly exhaling accordion all color just beneath the surface. Jonsson creakingly coos for only a few minutes in the middle of the song and for the most part, it is a pretty redundant thirteen-minutes, but the duo are tapping into just the right tonal mood to keep the listener hypnotized throughout. A more compacted approach, “Welcome Aboard” rides a similar wavelength but utilizes fire crackling-like static beneath Jonsson's folksy pleas, accordion swells and a distant, delicate electric guitar melody. It almost sounds like Pole remixing one of Deerhunter’s more ambient pieces. I also dig the brief “Apf,” if only because it leaves the electronic gurgles aside for a handclap and glockenspiel rhythm.

With A Perfect Friend, Larsgården and Jonsson do a great job of crafting a very organic album out of mostly sounds created from electronic knickknacks. It stutters and clicks and crackles, but is always counteracted with warm touches of acoustic guitar, accordion, organ or something else with a very autumnal tone. Hell, they even used samples of purring cats and quacking ducks amidst the sound collage that is the album. It is a very somber and serene album, and maybe not perfect for middle of the day listening. But I can guarantee that once the sun drifts beyond the horizon and your bones start to ache from the fatigue of the day, there is no better soundtrack than A Perfect Friend for lying back and letting all of the days’ worries drip off your body and fall to the floor.

The Tuss - "Rushup Edge" EP

The Tuss - Synthacon 9 (Rephlex 2007)

The Tuss - Rushup Edge EP / Rephlex

Having listened to this literally minutes before I read The Guardian's take two weeks ago, consternation and thorough analysis were pretty much ruined in the straightforward sense for me almost immediately after I first heard Rushup Edge. Stylus quickly followed, and Pitchfork were on it today. Instead of arguing over who this really is straight away and detracting from the point of why you're here in the first place, let us start with the music. It's brilliant. Like spectacularly intricate mind-blowingly tight home-electro-guru-gone-wild detailed. There are so many ideas in these six tracks brimming to get out that 32 minutes is both not enough at all and just enough to whet the appetite for something more. It's been a long time since I've heard something quite like this.

It starts with "Synthacon 9" rushing up to the edge of your headphones or speakers with a buoyant melody that would not sound out of place with all this other garbled electro-blogging you've heard so much about lately. Its beats are intricate, flittering and twisted like "Windowlicker" in a wind tunnel. Throw in a little Kavinsky, sorry, Tepr, sorry, Moroder and you've got a good idea of where this is going. "Last Rushup 10" is the same thing with glittering laptop handiwork for the big-time. Each of these songs neighbors four minutes, but its composition and structure is worth listening to for more reasons than just the mathematics of it all; the playing is wizard-like.

Case in point: The quickly worked piano is the highlight of "Rushup I Bank 12," a mid-song breakdown the rose between glitchy IDM synth-styled thorns. And then Mario is handcuffed to a ceiling fan and sent for a ride on "Death Fuck." Once again, the piano comes in near the 4m30s mark and it's hard to imagine anything less angelic for a fuck of this supposedly deathly caliber.

With the Confederation Trough EP already out, Rephlex now have two EPs from a Cornish electronic mastermind. The big question everyone's asking right now is, has Richard D. James unveiled yet another alias before our eyes? Brian Tregaskin isn't talking, and neither is publisher Chrysalis. All the evidence is there, but this certainly wouldn't be my favorite trick of his. That time he fell asleep on a couch in New York... That might be my favorite Aphex Twin story. But I'll tell you something, if Brian Tregaskin is real and this is some mass of confusion, it is clear we have on our hands the heir-apparent to Aphex Twin's electronic mantle. Credit where credit is due... Wherever it's due. Good luck keeping a secret out here on the Internet, Brian. It's safe with us.

Life on Earth! - "Look!! There is Life on Earth!"

Life on Earth! - Life on Earth (Subliminal Sounds 2007)

Life on Earth! – Look!! There is Life on Earth! / Subliminal Sounds

“The basic idea is to make music that celebrates the incredible and absolutely wonderful phenomenon of life on Earth, hoping to spread some joy to any possible listeners… Why not simply enjoy it, until the day we die? So lay all your worry aside now. Don’t hesitate; let your dreams sweep you away… Wonder at the beauty of nature; listen to how it invites you among beech trees and squirrels. Embrace it, because he and she and it and we are all connected to you and you are just like everything else, constantly changing into wondrous beings yet unseen. We can’t avoid this, it is the sensation of life. We should know by now, but it doesn’t really matter, what’s real is real, what ever we know. In the end, any little drop of water dripping down into your mouth comes from the surface of this planet, just like any little glimpse of knowledge popping up inside your head is born within your frameworks for believing, and just like any little sound you make or any single letter you draw, it is meaningless without context or connections, but then how to sing or how to write I can’t tell, instead, you might watch the life on Earth for inspiration.”

As uplifting and utopian as Mattias Gustavsson’s outlook on his solo project outside Dungen, Life on Earth!, might be, you can’t help but think he is lost in a late 60s flower-power state of mind. Not necessarily a bad thing by any means and human interaction indeed would be more pleasant if we were all stumbling around on the same unabashedly optimistic mind plateau, but most of us are lost in the valley of reality and cynical paranoia as a way of life. No worries though, Gustavsson has rounded up a few friends for a globetrotting trip in the 21st century’s version of the Yellow Submarine. So if you are amongst the valley dwellers seeking a deep breath of fresh air, hop aboard, strap yourself in, crank the headphones and get ready for a trip of swirling summertime folk-pop psychedelia that guarantees such spiritual uplifting.

Gustavsson’s day job of supporting Gustav Ejstes’s psyche-rock escapades in Dungen certainly ruins some of the surprise, because Life on Earth! definitely exists on a similar musical plane but with all the hard rock influences left at home. Where Dungen evokes such comparative hybrids as The Who-meets-Love or Blue Cheer-meets-Jefferson Airplane, Life on Earth! mostly scraps the harder-edged half for more proggish acts such as the softer sides of Can or King Crimson. Sure there are a few wailing guitar solos, most likely thanks to Ejstes and the rest of Dungen’s members contributing as well as the help of sister Scandinavian psyche-rock outfit The Works, but Gustavsson seems more interested in exploring the possibilities of a pop song. Along with the rampant psychedelia, pop and folk butterflies circling this sunny pasture of an album, rays of chamber-jazz and Latin music come shining down on frequent occasion. The chamber-jazz I get, immensely talented Town & Country members Josh Abrams and Ben Vida contribute bass and guitar respectively, but the Latin influence leaves me at a bit of a loss. Don’t get me wrong though, there is nothing I like better than a little shaker-conga rhythm to really bring the psyche-pop home, I am just curious where it comes from. Either way, Look!! There is Life on Earth! is a hell of an enjoyable album and the prime summertime listen.

The opening title track pretty much sums up the entire album in six minutes. A growling flute solo mixing the intensity of a Rahsaan Roland Kirk song with a Tito Puente melody introduces the track, which grooves on a multiple conga-rhythm, acoustic guitar strum, buoyant bass line and Gustavsson’s unhurried vocals that are very similar to Ejstes’s. At the half way mark though, where a Dungen song would up the ante with a few ripping electric guitar solos, the song deconstructs in a very prog-like manner with feedbacking sitar followed by more flute, more grooving… oh, and there is the electric guitar solo. Hells yeah. Most of the album skips along on a hazy, unhurried tempo though like the Donovan-meets-Ravi Shankar “Sell Your Soul to Me,” the Beatles-meets-King Crimson “You Are There,” or the very Gil Gilberto-influenced “After a Few Years We Settled Down, Got Kids and Bought Our First Car.” And just in case you felt there just wasn’t enough prog to go around, Gustavsson tagged on a nearly thirty minute jam of minimal tone experimentation.

I feel bad continuously referring to Dungen to describe the sound of Life on Earth!, because I am sure Gustavsson is trying to pull away from its shadow with his own project, but the similarities are just too apparent. This is not a bad thing by any means though; both bands are excellent and should certainly share a heavily overlapping fan base. And if you wanted to get into Dungen, but just couldn’t get down with the 70s hard rock aspect of it, look no further, your prayers have been answered. If there was ever a soundtrack for summertime cross-country driving, Look!! There is Life on Earth! is it. Because hey, Gustavsson’s right, life is completely fascinating and inspirational. I certainly wouldn’t be the same without it.

Slow Six - "Nor'easter"

Slow Six - The Pulse of This Skyline With Lightning Like Nerves (New Albion 2007)

Slow Six - Nor'easter / New Albion

When the fireworks end, you've passed all the police checks out on the backroads, and you're safely home in one piece to recover from a long day of revels, Brooklyn's Slow Six will be waiting. In fact, they've been waiting for quite some time: The group has been around in one form or another since 1998 and they've been performing together live since 2000. Their debut LP, 2004's Private Times in Public Places, was a hailed masterwork of sounds meshing post-rock with the classical and producing something delicately detailed in between. You can ask "Time Out New York" or Stylus or WFMU, but they'll all tell you the same thing: This is some deeply touching music well worth your time and effort.

As the magnificent opener "The Pulse of This Skyline With Lightning Like Nerves" immediately demonstrates, the group has not lost its way or gunned for a dramatic reinvention. The spokesperson for the group has turned out to be Greenpoint-based Christopher Tignor, who has built his own studio there and tweaks a variety of instruments from electric guitars to violas. However, it's the digital aspect that has most captured the eye of live attendees and critics alike: By taking his knowledge of SWARM (SoftWare and Algorithms for Running on Multicore), which is a programming framework to speed up the efficiency of processors (I think), Tignor has designed music software personalized for his own needs in Slow Six. So when a violin or a piano is played, Tignor cleverly weaves the sampled bits back into the song as a sort of efficient reprocessing of his own. The effect is nothing less than totally organic.

It's a generally downbeat air on Nor'easter, but these songs don't come without their optimistic moments. The quietly drawn-out "Contemplation and Dissolution of An Idea for Two Pairs" is full of hope and a keen sense of contemplation as its title would suggest, but the piano lines during the course of the dissolution are almost angelic, like what you'd expect to hear as you ascend to the pearly gates. Or, alternately, it's what The Rapture would've sounded like if they'd taken a bigger hint from The Bible. Tension on "Distant Light, Part 1: Chromatic Clouds Surround" is relieved during the course of its nine minutes. "Distant Light, Part 2: Now New Colors Fall Like Rain" ends on a positive note.

These pieces are another fantastic outing for the Brooklyn six-piece and though it's likely I won't have the opportunity to see them live anytime soon, you should go experience Slow Six for yourself. Their music can be haunting, it can be thoughtful, it can be soaring, it can be resigned... But it is always good. If you thought you couldn't listen to classical beyond the obvious choice cuts from Wagner or Beethoven, Slow Six is a great excuse to delve back into orchestral music. Brilliant stuff.

The Big Disappointments - "The Big Disappointments"

The Big Disappointments - An Absolute Farmer (Hot Cave 2007)

The Big Disappointments - The Big Disappointments / Hot Cave

This review comes to you from the not-too-distant past where the Stars n' Stripes are still adorned on every lawn of every neighborhood in the great United States and "everyone" is celebrating Independence Day with fireworks, hamburgers and not a little alcohol to make things more interesting.

Even more critical than that is the music. Beyond Francis Scott Key, what could be more American than Toby Keith, Phil Spector or, uh, jazz? Garage-rock. It almost seems silly to explain where the style originated given its name, but one of the earliest sub-genres in rock n' roll's history evolved in the early 60s with bands like The Wailers who were literally playing out of their suburban garages. DIY before DIY was DIY, these groups eventually made way for better production techniques in the late 60s and early 70s, but with everything old being new again all the time, garage-rock has had its resurgence.

Crossbreed a little of that with the spirit of psychobilly and punk and you've discovered the secret to the all-American formula Boston's The Big Disappointments employ on their self-titled sophomore album and first official live recording (Live at Studio Eight has preceded this). There's nothing more American than two guitarists, one a singer and lead and the other a rhythm player, a bassist, and a drummer. The perfect band formula, just don't tell ...Trail of Dead or I'm From Barcelona. These upstarts aren't actually upstarts at all; Eric Boomhower (possibly one of the most awesome names in rock) and Andy Abrahamson were members of The In Out and this whole Big Disappointments thing was supposed to be a joke back in 1999. Eight years on, they're serious: In a mere 39 minutes, the group rifles through 15 songs and leaves little doubt that they've joined this latest wave of new groups with a slightly destructive garage-rock style.

It's interesting to note that the aforementioned styles that are all over songs like the blazing opener "Only Here Only Now" and the stomping "An Absolute Farmer," post-punk also intrudes on tracks like the rhythm-driven "Dance Track Budokan" and "Chemicals." Lisa Mullen's drumming is sturdy on this release and one of the main reasons it succeeds so well so often, the backbone of virtually every song reeling in the metallic-sounding guitars and subtle bass that rarely dominates. Rather, it quietly leads the guitars down corridors and through back alleyways as on "The Hunted Whale" or "The Ugly Man."

You can hear a lot of Philly's Burning Brides in this release to cite a recent contemporary, but The Big Disappointments are more than just a comparison. They're more than just a thankfully ironic bandname. They are a reflection of America on its proudest day: Sloppy, reckless, guiltless and free with just a touch of gravitas saved for the fireworks. Pass those burgers this way. Yessir, I think I'll have another.

Radio Show Playlist: 7/4/07

6a:
1. Devo - Mongoloid - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (Warner Bros. 1978)
2. Watchers - Superbad (live feat. James Chance) - Rabble EP (Gern Blandsten 2006)
3. Mark Sultan - Spinning Ceiling - The Sultanic Verses (In the Red 2007)
4. McClusky - Without MSG I am Nothing - The Difference Between Me and You is That I'm on Fire (Too Pure 2004)
5. Shellac - Steady as She Goes - Excellent Italian Greyhound (Touch and Go 2007)
6. Make Believe - Pat Tillman, Emmitt Till - Of Course (Flameshovel 2006)
7. Q and Not U - X-Polynation - X-Polynation 2-song EP (Dischord 2003)
8. Love of Diagrams - Pace of the Patience - Mosaic (Matador 2007)
9. Githead - Fake Corpses - Headgit EP (Swim 2004)
10. Sonic Youth - Computer Age - Daydream Nation (Deluxe Edition) (Universal/Geffen 2007, recorded 1989)
11. Poster Children - Space Gun - Daisychain Reaction (Twin/Tone/Sire 1990)
12. Dinosaur Jr. - Crumble - Beyond (Fat Possum 2007)

7a:
1. Wooden Wand - Delia - James & the Quiet (Ecstatic Peace 2007)
2. MV & EE with the Bummer Road - Canned Happiness - Green Blues (Ecstatic Peace 2006)
3. Plants - Tumbleweed - Photosynthesis (Strange Attractors 2007)
4. Sandy Bull - Memphis, Tennesse - Inventions for Banjo & Guitar (Vanguard 1964)
5. Glenn Jones - David and the Phoenix - Against Which the Sea Continually Beats (Strange Attractors 2007)
6. Colleen - Blue Sands - Les Ondes Silencieuses (Leaf 2007)
7. Fridge - Lost Time - The Sun (Temporary Residence 2007)
8. Squarepusher - Iambic 9 Poetry - Ultravisitor (WARP 2003)

8a:
1. Artanker Convoy - Rabbit - Cozy Endings (The Social Registry 2007)
2. Isotope 217 - Harm-o-Lodge - Who Stole the I Walkman? (Thrill Jockey 2000)
3. Les McCann - The Harlem Buck Dance Strut - Layers (Rhino 1972)
4. The Budos Band - Budos Rising - The Budos Band II (Daptone 2007)
5. Lalo Schifrin - Theme from Enter the Dragon - Enter the Dragon OST (Warner Bros. 1973)
6. Otis Jackson Jr. Trio - Free Son - Prepare for a New Yesterday (Stones Throw 2007)
7. Scientist - Laser Attack - Scientist Meets the Space Invaders (Greensleeves 1981)
8. King Tubby - Dub Magnificent - The Roots of Dub (1974)
9. Burning Spear - I & I Survive - Garvey's Ghost (Mango 1976)
10. Chromeo - Momma's Boy - Fancy Footwork (Vice 2007)
11. Brothers Johnson - Land of Ladies - Look Out for #1 (A&M 1976)

The Budos Band - "The Budos Band II"

The Budos Band - Budos Rising (Daptone 2007)

The Budos Band – The Budos Band II / Daptone

Sometimes it blows my mind how one particular style of music can grab and hold your attention for so long despite the fact that it has been bubbling in the ears of listeners for an extended amount of time. While this phenomenon is apparent in any number of particular genres from opera to punk, for my ears in particular its quality funk music. Not that I have never heard funk done wrong, but it is a style that just always seems fresh and invigorating no matter how many different bands play a similar brand within its slim confines. Just check the rivers of lost funk reissues streaming from crated reservoirs on almost a weekly basis. I know we Audiversitarians eat it up, and by the increasing number of them being released (which is odd seeing as how you would think reissues would have to be finite in essence), I am pretty sure most of you are down too. But it is always good to keep at least three-fourths of your mind in the present and supporting still-bumping acts so that they won’t have to wait for proper respect until thirty years down the line. New York City’s Daptone Records has an excellent stable of such bands that do a wonderful job of drawing a direct line between the classic butter-funk of the early 70s to today, and though Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings get most of the attention, The Budos Band are making a go at the spotlight with their sophomore effort.

A relatively young eleven-piece band out of Staten Island, NY, The Budos Band erupted on to the scene in 2005 with their eponymous debut album sounding as if it was dropped much closer to 1971 than midway through the 21st century’s aughts. Born out of an after school jazz ensemble, the core of the group added members for the next few years until their final line-up of drums, bass, guitar, electric organ, two trumpets, baritone sax and a percussion section consisting of mostly Afro-Latin toys like bongos, congas, clave and shekere was solidified. With the members in place, the boys started to carve out a niche all their own within the crowded confines of funk music by heading specifically in the Afro-Soul direction. With a relatively subdued backdrop of deep funk, The Budos color their sound with Afro-Latin rhythms, psychedelic organ lines, lyrical Afrobeat-like horn soloing, and patient, well thought-out arrangements that remind me mostly of Blaxploitation soundtracks than anything.

With The Budos Band II, the group continues to separate themselves from similar-minded bands like Nomo and Antibalas by really taking that Afro-Soul soundtrack sound to the next level. Brilliantly recorded in that nostalgic analog-like warmness, The Budos’s funk is not so much get on the dancefloor and shake your ass off until you pass out, it’s a much more groovin’, get-up-on-your-girl and shimmy to the hypnotizing music. More Mayfield than Brown, the music does a great job of marrying rhythmic influences from American, Latin and African styles of funk without ever leaning too much in one direction. A song like “Budos Rising” could easily be laying the musical groundwork for a chill ride through the alleyways of NYC, a late-night club scene in the dense heat of Havana or an evening stroll through the bustling streets of Lagos.

Most of the songs are built the same way: kit drum and percussion laying down a steady, mid-tempo rhythm with accentuating electric guitar chops, the bass never really taking center-stage but opting for tighter supporting lines instead, the organ bouncing back and forth between choppy, rhythmic spouts and lyrical grooves, and the horns mostly leading the way for each song. Typically, the horns will all play together, but the baritone sax will occasionally take control for a deeper funk sound and the trumpets for a more Latin flare (a flute wisps in as well from time to time, but most of the attention is on the horns). Whether it’s the deep grind of “Scorpion,” the groovy remake of “My Girl” named “His Girl,” or the blazing Blaxploitation bump of “Ride or Die,” the music brings out the Afro in anyone who cares to listen.

Much like their debut, The Budos Band II is near chronologically indistinguishable when listened to without context. Soulful, groovy and captivating, the music pleasantly churns in calm psychedelic swirls while flaring with pure spirit. And the best part is though while it does certainly owe a lot to it’s influencing styles, the music really stands on its own two feet, especially in contemporary music. Flipping the tables, you almost want to make a movie inspired by this soundtrack because it will inevitably be one badasssss film.

Cyrus (Random Trio) - "From the Shadows"

Cyrus (Random Trio) - Rasta From (Tectonic 2007)

Cyrus (Random Trio) - From the Shadows / Tectonic

Or, Patrick Picks Up the Ball and Throws it, But He's Not Very Athletic Anymore, So it Doesn't Go Very Far

While Michael may be out and about prancing around with Tortoise pictures and a healthy amount of real-world work to sort out, here in cyberspace where there are no consequences but an email slap-of-the-wrist and I have an actual future in getting paid for music writing, the reviews go on as the planets swivel: Cyclical in-jokes, boring intros, obvious set-ups. Just like Pluto, natch.

Actually, Pluto has very little to do with Cyrus (Random Trio) come to think of it. Everything about this fuller From the Shadows is massive. I mean, big sounds, big bass, deep woofing, heavy brain-twists in the beats, a dubstepper's delight, on and on it goes. There's no end to the big ups that you can give the three guys behind this album, and proof is in the Dubstepforum, where praise goes on for page after page. It's clear that well before the June 4th release date there was some mammoth excitement brewing and not just for the plates that they were putting out. Now out long enough for plenty of people to appreciate but still not receiving the accolades or the attention it deserves on this side of the Atlantic (that I've seen), From the Shadows is a dash of dubstep for the ages.

Memories of the Future and Burial set the benchmark late last year, but by the time we'd gotten it here in the States it was old news. From the Shadows is another excellent step forward for dubstep, or maybe it's hyperdub these days, do they even know anymore... Given that the biggest achievement up to this point for the Croyden-bred Cyrus and his partner in crime Omni (both of whom are from Random Trio) was background soundtracking in "Children of Men," this is a well-deserved glimpse at what's going on in the London underground coming to the surface. A dangerously underrated talent? I'd put money on it given that he's grown up in the scene that's basically become a hotbed of dubstep talent. There's no better spot than ground zero.

The proof is in the pudding that these dozen tracks deliver straight to your spoon-fed mouth. When we talk about deep bass carnage with dubstep, we're talking about "Gutter" here. It doesn't get any subatomic than the gutters, and Cyrus is working some sick Mala kickdrum to prove the point. Bassline junkies, rejoice: It gets better with minimalist mind-bender "Paradise Dub." Arguably the best example of this reggae from the future is "Rasta From." Omen, the third member of Random Trio, DJs as the darkest side of dubstep emerges from the shadows. "Indian Stomp" a little later revisits the Indian influence with a futuristic Bollywood sound. Nah, it's not quite like that. But it is sparse, airy and excellent.

Three additional tracks on this CD will be of interest to those who only purchased Tectonic's "plates:" "Bounty," "Calm Before the Storm" and the aforementioned "Indian Stomp" didn't make it to vinyl, but their quality is right up there with the rest of this album. In fact, this release is so extraordinarily tight and consistent that it can only be something to look for come December. Maybe you'll forget about Cyrus, Omni and Omen when it comes time to make your lists and go on and on, but believe me, your speakers won't. From the Shadows is pure audio wreckage.

Michael Drops the Ball

Photo taken from Pitchfork

Capping off the whirlwind of my last five days, I finally got to experience Tortoise in a live setting as WLUW presented them and Make Believe (my personal favorite Kinsella project) at the Metro last night. Not that I needed many more reasons, but the live show further proved that in my eyes they are absolutely the most incredible contemporary band; so if they happened to be stopping in your city, I absolutely recommend you go (granted you have probably seen them by now since they’ve been touring for the last 15 years).

Anyways, since I have barely had time to pet my cat in the last five days, I have had absolutely no time to concentrate on music reviewing and have to actually take this usual Audiversity-honed time slot to catch up on radio work. I apologize and will do my best to supply at least three good reviews for the rest of the week (I’d rather not post anything than half-ass it). I’m sure Patrick is on the ball though, so all is not lost. As a bit of a consolation prize, here is one of my favorite Tortoise songs:

Tortoise - Ten-Day Interval - TNT (Thrill Jockey 1998)

Warmth - "Leave Your Wet Brain in the Hot Sun"

Warmth - Hot Sun (Digitalis 2007)

Warmth - Leave Your Wet Brain in the Hot Sun / Digitalis

Well, here we are. A new month, a new quarter, a new way forward. The dead of summer in South Carolina, temperatures regularly clocking in the mid-90s with plenty of humidity hanging about to ensure you feel that heat long after the sun has fallen away behind the trees. Closed pools incite riots. Girls never look more tan and trim. The warmth has officially arrived.

There are two kinds of summers: The ones with the carefree kids jumping and splashing with their friends devoid of car payments or school loans or intellectual gravitas, and the ones all those Zima "What if there was no beer?" commercials were inspired by in 1994. Steev Thompson has solidly soundtracked the latter, and I couldn't have found a better way of opening up this quarter than with some slow, hot, sticky, sweaty dronescapes. Escapes. Yes, there's no escaping the unrelenting heat of Helios this time. Hyperion and Theia would be proud of Leave Your Wet Brain in the Hot Sun.

And they'd be especially proud of Thompson for this particular version of a release that was initially put out on Belgium's Audiobot label nearly two years ago now as a CD-R. In those days, Thompson went under the moniker of Roxanne Jean Polise, which has a massive discography proving Thompson likes to keep busy. But that early version did not feature two bonus tracks that the patient or unknowing among us will not be gifted with under the Warmth alias. The immaculately titled "Thank You Cloud. Fuck You Deerfly." and "Watch the Animals Glisten as They Trust and Rejoice" join the tracks that comprise the title of this release for 58 minutes of scorching sun and blistering feet on the pavement of music.

Of course, like a lot of music, how you want to hear this is based on your frame of mind. Digitalis think it sounds like a dense electronic forest fog, and if I were on the other end of the calendar year reviewing this album (or partnering it with its forest-art friend House of Low Culture) I might be inclined to agree... But given where I'm at (which is nowhere near Thompson's current Holly, Michigan residence) and the fact that the name of the fucking band is Warmth, it seems only too appropriate to envision the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" face-melting in the sprawling repetition and white-out-wash of "Brain in the" and "Hot Sun," presented here. Every track on here has the same feeling to it: You start out in a sun-staring competition with sounds miles away it seems, before they gradually creep in to your conscious and by the end of the epic you're sitting there with your ears agog as the noise override grabs you by your auditory ossicles and then, just as soon as the torrent of sound and the flood of water and children and dizzy spells get to you... The sound is gone again, just a distant call in the middle of the desert. The horizon blurs and twirls and reforms itself as something else as you recover, and when you finally do, you know you've made it to the other side of Leave Your Wet Brain in the Hot Sun.

Given that fingers are starting to stick to the keys and my ability to type is being impeded, it's best that I wrap this up quickly with an awful pun: Thompson has crafted a hell of an album. But the joke isn't the best part; actually listening to this handful of noisy droners is. Get it while it's hot. Oh man, I'm on fire. But seriously folks...

Interversity: Chris Connelly

Multi-dimensional singer/songwriter Chris Connelly is the concentration of this week's Interversity. After gaining recognition as an integral member of the late 80s/early 90s industrial scene (Ministry, KMFDM, Pigface, Revolting Cocks, Murder, Inc.), the Chicago-based Scot turned to more intimate recordings culminating in the acoustically dense and hypnotically plodding The Episodes released in late May. He graciously took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for us.



Chris Connelly - "The Son of Empty Sam" - The Episodes (Durto Jnana 2007)

1. In the last twenty years, you have evolved artistically from being an elite player in the highly productive industrial scene of the late 80s/early 90s into a highly lyrical, avant-pop singer/songwriter; has this musical progression been a conscious stylistic shift through the years or was it more an unconscious maturing process as a musician? Do you ever look back and try to decipher how exactly the evolution took place? Any significant turning points?

It certainly has never been a premeditated or conscious shift, I have always been a lover of melody, and a lover of poetry, as well as a lover of extreme noise, before I was involved with bands like ministry, I had been friends a frequent correspondent with bands like Throbbing Gristle, Nurse With Wound and Current 93 (and still remain so) these were bands (or artists rather) who I thought managed to combine great beauty with really horrific imagery. It was actually through Genesis P Orridge that I discovered the music of Pearls Before Swine, Tiny Tim, Leonard Cohen.. and Muzak! I spent my teenage years listening to a lot of Throbbing Gristle and Barry Manilow!! often at the same time!

2. Personally, the most stunning characteristic of The Episodes is how such urgent, enigmatic and intense music can be created with solely acoustic instrumentation; was this a sound you were seeking from the get-go of production, or was it a welcomed by-product of a particular songwriting process?

This was all very spontaneous-we were (most of the time) all playing at the same time in the same room-or in the same forest, the urgency generated by being empathetic to what the other musicians were doing, and reacting to this, a lot of giddy heights can be obtained by playing with just the right people in the right situation, it does not happen often, in fact, I had not felt like that since the Shipwreck album of 1994, and before that, my first band THE FINI TRIBE in the very early '80's.

3. How much influence has working with musical innovators Tim Kinsella and Ben Vida had on your own songwriting? Was it more of a collaborative process or an elaboration on previously written songs?

Well, Tim and Ben helped me ditch my inhibitions, they also-especially Ben, helped me simplify what I had written -I came to them with the songs first- you know- "why is that chord change there? does it have to be?" and I found that yes, I have thrown in chord changes because I felt I should, with The Episodes, I think I discovered repetition as a way to perhaps enhance what I was singing, it meant I started paying a lot more attention to the lyrics, and they made me feel that I did not need to be restricted by time, traditional song structure, and editing of the words.

4. The loose, spooky “Soul Boys/Hard Legends” was field recorded deep in the woods of Wisconsin; what spurred on this exploratory recording technique? Was the song performed written particularly for that setting and session?

"Son of Empty Sam" was also recorded mostly out doors too- this was Tim's idea: we had decided to record a few versions of a couple of the songs, in different situations and with different people, the idea being that we would edit together definitive versions later-A trip out to the country for a weekend meant that we could really fly without a parachute, and also get away from any of the usual connections that we have at home, we could play as late and as loud as we wanted. "Soul Boys" was a mixture of recordings from the forest, and a studio improvisation, along with a poem read by a Scottish friend, it actually was the most radical piece of the album because we abandoned so much of the original concept-which was kind of a soul song! I walked into the whole recording with an attitude though of NOT being so attached to what I had written that I could not see the material ripped to shreds and reassembled, I am very happy about that.

5. For your next musical venture, do you plan on continuing to explore a similar tribal, collaborative sound heard on The Episodes, or are you planning on heading in a different direction? Is it that premeditated or more of an in-the-moment songwriting decision?

I enjoyed the process of making the episodes so much that I am sure to approach the next album with perhaps the same attitude, and probably an attitude of "well, how can we make this more extreme?" Everyone who worked on the album had a great time, and I want to see us all having the same enjoyment again, and, yes, I have written a lot of what will become the next record.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as a child that triggered a notable response?

Hymns.
2. Let’s say you are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you listen to?

E.S.P. by Miles Davis.

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

I draw most of my inspiration from crime fiction these days, the song "Mirror Lips" from the new album is inspired in part by "The Sculptress" by Minette Walters. I also really like Highsmith, Ian McEwan, Dorothy B. Hughes, Cornell Woolrich, Ruth Rendell, James Lasdun, Hugo Wilcken, Jim Thompson & Ian Rankin, to name but a few.

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

Listening to music is a pleasure for me, I enjoy it tremendously, but it is no longer a source of direct inspiration for me musically, I do a lot of my writing whilst riding the train or walking around, or as I am falling asleep at night, then later, in silence, I can piece together a composition. I tend to not discover new music or sounds, I certainly hear things I like, but I am too focused on trying to make sense of my own methods to take anything else in-However, this did not used to be the case, it was different when i was younger.

5. What question do you get most often that you hate answering?

Why I no longer play the music that I used to, and when am I going to start doing it again?

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

Bagpipes!

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close, what section do you head immediately towards?

Jazz.

8. What is the last notable daydream you had and where did it take place?

Walking by lake Michigan this morning at 7 a.m. with my son.

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

There are different kinds of perfect album, I think The Drift by Scott Walker is perfect as it is an incredible & visceral journey into the psyche of one man, and then way beyond. I think Rock Bottom by Robert Wyatt is perfectly beautiful, as do I think is In a Silent Way by Miles Davis and The Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars, but all for different reasons.

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which do you read if so?

I do not, I have not ever read one, I am very, very economical with my time so when I am not working or looking after my son, I am writing, cooking, or reading a crime novel!