December | 2015 | The Answer Is In The Beat

Show #324 – 12/27/15 Best of 2015 Part 2

December 27, 2015 at 6:09 am | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

Hour 1
2:01 am Natural Snow Buildings ~ “King in Yellow” ~ Terror’s Horns ~ Ba Da Bing! ~ 2015
2:10 am Aidan Baker ~ “Lighttrap III” ~ Half Lives ~ Gizeh Records ~ 2015
2:14 am Chris Forsyth & Koen Holtkamp ~ “Sun Blind” ~ The Island ~ Trouble In Mind ~ 2015
2:19 am Ian William Craig ~ “Empty, Circle, Tremble” ~ Cradle for the Wanting (new) ~ Recital ~ 2015
2:25 am Simon Scott ~ “An Angel From the Sea Kissed Me” ~ Insomni ~ Ash International ~ 2015
2:33 am How to Cure Our Soul ~ “Aurea” ~ Saigon ~ Audiobulb ~ 2015
2:38 am Chihei Hatakeyama ~ “Journey to the Imaginary Paradise” ~ Moonlight Reflecting Over Mountains ~ Room40 ~ 2015
2:43 am Opaline ~ “Communication Systems” ~ Memory Drain ~ Constellation Tatsu ~ 2015
2:48 am Rafael Anton Irisarri ~ “Empire Systems” ~ A Fragile Geography (new) ~ Room40 ~ 2015
2:56 am The Host ~ “Sunset Induction” ~ Esalen Lectures ~ Touch Sensitive Records ~ 2015
2:58 am Flying Saucer Attack ~ “Instrumental 2” ~ Instrumentals 2015 ~ Domino ~ 2015
Hour 2
3:01 am Acre ~ “Ruby Tiers” ~ Better Strangers (new) ~ Tectonic ~ 2015
3:05 am Rabit ~ “Ox” ~ Communion (new) ~ Tri Angle ~ 2015
3:08 am Visionist ~ “Victim” ~ Safe (new) ~ Pan ~ 2015
3:11 am Matrixxman ~ “Packard Plant” ~ Homesick ~ Ghostly International ~ 2015
3:14 am Bloom ~ “Quartz VIP” ~ 12″ (new) ~ Gobstopper ~ 2015
3:18 am Shapednoise ~ “What is it Like?” ~ Different Selves (new) ~ Type ~ 2015
3:23 am d’Eon ~ “Datamatics Global Services II” ~ Foxconn / Trios (new) ~ Knives ~ 2015
3:27 am Five Star Hotel ~ “Cluster” ~ Outlands ~ Visual Disturbances ~ 2015
3:34 am Amnesia Scanner ~ “AS ANGELS RIG HOOK” ~ mp3 ~ Gum Artefacts ~ 2015
3:48 am redHat ~ “Ver” ~ F (new) ~ Rare Nnudes ~ 2015
3:52 am Venetian Snares ~ “Thousand Mile Stare” ~ Thank You For Your Consideration ~ Bandcamp ~ 2015
Hour 3
4:00 am Christina Vantzou ~ “Laurie Spiegel” ~ No. 3 ~ Kranky ~ 2015
4:04 am Mumdance & Logos ~ “Hall of Mirrors” ~ Proto ~ Tectonic ~ 2015
4:08 am Vainio & Vigroux ~ “Ravages” ~ Peau Froide, Léger Soleil (new) ~ Cosmo Rhythmatic ~ 2015
4:13 am Special Request ~ “Tractor Beam” ~ Modern Warfare EP 3 ~ XL ~ 2015
4:20 am Dax J ~ “In the Shadows” ~ Shades of Black (new) ~ Monnom Black ~ 2015
4:23 am Oven Toast Jam ~ “MG42” ~ YabaiKore! ~ Ragga Terror Front ~ 2015
4:26 am Dan Friel ~ “Lungs” ~ Life ~ Thrill Jockey ~ 2015
4:31 am Shibata & Asuna ~ “Grace Park” ~ Grace Park ~ White Paddy Mountain ~ 2015
4:36 am Panda Bear ~ “Boys Latin (Andy Stott Remix)” ~ PBVSGR Remixes ~ Domino ~ 2015
4:42 am Egyptrixx ~ “Transfer of Energy [Feelings of Power]” ~ Transfer of Energy [Feelings of Power] ~ Halocline Trance ~ 2015
4:45 am Kerridge ~ “MPH” ~ Always Offended Never Ashamed ~ Contort ~ 2015
4:49 am André Bratten ~ “Space Between Left & Right” ~ Gode (new) ~ Smalltown Supersound ~ 2015
4:54 am Laurel Halo ~ “Shake” ~ In Situ (new) ~ Honest Jon’s ~ 2015
4:58 am Heathered Pearls ~ “Holographic Lodge” ~ Body Complex ~ Ghostly International ~ 2015
Hour 4
5:00 am Kelela ~ “Rewind” ~ Hallucinogen ~ Warp ~ 2015
5:04 am Helena Hauff ~ “Funereal Morality” ~ Discreet Desires ~ Werkdiscs/Ninja Tune ~ 2015
5:09 am Abra ~ “Roses” ~ Rose ~ Awful Records ~ 2015
5:12 am Clay Rendering ~ “Sight From Up Here” ~ Snowthorn (new) ~ Hospital Productions ~ 2015
5:17 am Chelsea Wolfe ~ “Maw” ~ Abyss ~ Sargent House ~ 2015
5:23 am Sun Kil Moon ~ “The Possum” ~ Universal Themes ~ Caldo Verde ~ 2015
5:34 am Jens-Uwe Beyer ~ “St. Pop” ~ The Emissary ~ Kompakt Pop Ambient ~ 2015
5:42 am Anthony Child ~ “Mr Naturals” ~ Electronic Recordings from Maui Jungle Vol 1 (new) ~ Editions Mego ~ 2015
5:49 am Steve Hauschildt ~ “Anesthesia” ~ Where All Is Fled ~ Kranky ~ 2015
5:53 am Jerusalem In My Heart ~ “A Granular Buzuk” ~ If He Dies, If If If If If If ~ Constellation ~ 2015

d’Eon: Foxconn / Trios 12″ EP (Knives, 2015)

December 26, 2015 at 7:40 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

d’Eon: Foxconn / Trios 12″ EP

I haven’t been keeping up with the output of d’Eon too closely, but he’s put out some amazing stuff, especially the hardcore/jungle EP he did under the name Kallisti. This EP came out last month on Kuedo’s new label and I’m just getting around to listening now, but already on first listen it is completely decimating my mind. Very intense Mark Fell/DJ Clap hyper-MIDI-juke, with shreds of late-night ’80s digital future melodies and dirty South beats poking through. And titles like “Samsung India Software Operations” (in two parts) and “Satyam Integrated Engineering Solutions”. And then “Datamatics Global Services II” throws in jungle breaks. Holy hell. “Foxconn II” brings things back down to earth with a more straightforward atmospheric trap song, but it still sounds really good. Apparently these tracks were made in 2012. They were ahead of their time then and they’re still ahead of their time. I’m glad I actually got around to hearing them before the year ended, I wouldn’t have wanted to keep sleeping on this one into the new year.

v/a: Replicants 2LP (Inner Surface Music, 2015)

December 26, 2015 at 5:57 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

v/a: Replicants 2LP

AnD and Tom DiCicco’s Inner Surface Music presents a 2LP compilation with a quality lineup and lots of hard, battering techno. Some of the tracks are more straightforward and driving, but then some of it gets slower, more distorted, more grimy. O/H piles on a bunch of slurry, snarly punk-ish vocals, and Honzo slows it down to a blown-out industrial thud. Ontal’s “Spasm” strikes the best balance between a steady beat and waves of distortion, and then there’s Hoover synths to rinse everything out. The underrated Sturqen closes the set out with a slower, clanging industrial track which hammers out sparks and then powers down at the end.

Show #323 – 12/26/15 Best of 2015 Part 1

December 26, 2015 at 2:03 pm | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

Hour 1
3:03 am Matana Roberts ~ “All is Written” ~ Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee ~ Constellation ~ 2015
3:12 am Rob Mazurek/Exploding Star Orchestra ~ “Collections of Time” ~ Galactic Parables: Volume 1 (disc 1) ~ Cuneiform ~ 2015
3:23 am Evan Caminiti ~ “Excelsior” ~ Meridian ~ Thrill Jockey ~ 2015
3:29 am Kevin Greenspon ~ “Lexical Trap” ~ To Leave a Mark ~ Bridgetown ~ 2015
3:34 am Ekoplekz ~ “A Caustic Romance” ~ Reflekzionz ~ Planet Mu ~ 2015
3:38 am Fis ~ “Ebb” ~ The Blue Quicksand Is Going Now ~ Loopy ~ 2015
3:42 am Arca ~ “Mutant” ~ Mutant ~ Mute ~ 2015
3:49 am Lee Bannon ~ “Aga” ~ Pattern Of Excel ~ Ninja Tune ~ 2015
3:53 am Venetian Snares ~ “Your Face When I Finally” ~ Your Face ~ Planet Mu ~ 2015
Hour 2
4:00 am Thore Pfeiffer ~ “Nirgendwo” ~ Im Blickfeld ~ Kompakt Pop Ambient ~ 2015
4:05 am Colin Stetson/Sarah Neufeld ~ “In the Vespers” ~ Never Were the Way She Was ~ Constellation ~ 2015
4:11 am Johan Agebjörn ~ “The Right to Play” ~ Notes ~ Paper Bag ~ 2015
4:14 am Julia Kent ~ “Flag of No Country” ~ Asperities ~ Leaf ~ 2015
4:19 am Evenings ~ “Non-Traditional Love” ~ La Religion De La Souffrance Humaine ~ Life Like ~ 2015
4:25 am Kaoss Edge ~ “Apparitions” ~ mp3 ~ Konfrontation Records ~ 2015
4:30 am Ken Camden ~ “Asleep at the Wheel” ~ Dream Memory ~ Kranky ~ 2015
4:37 am Alexandria ~ “Bad” ~ Bad EP ~ Bandcamp ~ 2015
4:40 am Georgia ~ “Be Ache” ~ Georgia ~ Domino ~ 2015
4:45 am Black Wing ~ “Death Sentences” ~ Is Doomed ~ The Flenser/Enemies List Home Recordings ~ 2015
4:52 am King Midas Sound/Fennesz ~ “Waves” ~ Edition 1 ~ Ninja Tune ~ 2015
Hour 3
5:00 am Multicast Dynamics ~ “Nebulous” ~ Aquatic System ~ Denovali ~ 2015
5:06 am Lotic ~ “Carried” ~ Agitations ~ Janus Berlin ~ 2015
5:10 am Oneirogen ~ “Vessel” ~ Plenitude ~ Denovali ~ 2015
5:14 am Pearson Sound ~ “Swill” ~ Pearson Sound ~ Hessle Audio ~ 2015
5:17 am Prequel Tapes ~ “The Comfort of Feeling Numb” ~ Inner Systems ~ R’COUP’D ~ 2015
5:22 am M.E.S.H. ~ “Epithet” ~ Piteous Gate ~ PAN ~ 2015
5:28 am Smurphy ~ “Wicked” ~ A Shapeless Pool Of Lovely Pale Colours Suspended In The Darkness ~ Leaving Records ~ 2015
5:32 am Dave DK ~ “Veira (Leandro Fresco Mix)” ~ Pop Ambient 2016 ~ Kompakt ~ 2015
5:40 am CFCF ~ “Melting the Ice” ~ The Colours of Life ~ 1080p ~ 2015
5:44 am Prairie ~ “On Minoan Lines” ~ Like a Pack of Hounds ~ Shitkatapult ~ 2015
5:47 am F ingers ~ “Hide Before Dinner” ~ Hide Before Dinner ~ Blackest Ever Black ~ 2015
5:52 am Helen ~ “Allison” ~ The Original Faces ~ Kranky ~ 2015
5:56 am Express Rising ~ “Perishable Looks” ~ Fixed Rope ~ Numero Group ~ 2015

Majeure: Union of Worlds tape (Constellation Tatsu, 2015)

December 25, 2015 at 7:22 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Majeure: Union of Worlds tape

Anthony Paterra of Zombi continues his extracurricular project with his first release for CTatsu. This album seems a lot less prog-rock than much of his work, but only because there don’t seem to be any guitars. On one hand, I feel like there isn’t a whole lot more to say about cosmic synth type records. There’s arpeggios, there’s wooshing sounds, there’s sci-fi or horror score cues, it all sounds cool, what more do you want? But he still seems to be doing something a little bit above and beyond that. “Physis” is a pretty fantastic galaxy space war scene, it’s very busy and animated and has bashing electro-drums, and it’s over in 4 minutes. The album gets a bit frosty after that (just see “Appalachian Winter Blues”), and then there’s beats. “Posthuman” has a constant midtempo kick drum, but the sounds buzzing and swinging on top of it are in 3/4 time, making it some sort of space disco waltz. “Union of Worlds” starts off with a tense pulse, but then it derails into a long bout with space loneliness. On Bandcamp and cassette now, but I think there’s a vinyl pressing coming soon?

Andrew Weathers: I Am Happy When I Am Moving tape (Constellation Tatsu, 2015)

December 25, 2015 at 6:03 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Andrew Weathers: I Am Happy When I Am Moving tape

Like Andrew Tuttle, this Andrew plays instruments like guitars (acoustic and electric) and banjos, but also droning synths and electronic processing, making some sort of spacey 21st century instrumental folk. He gives equal precedence to melodies and ambience, but the melodies are upfront enough that it might not deter people who aren’t into space music. For the most part, anyway: “We Can Only Speak to the Future” only has shreds of acoustic guitar flickering, the rest of it is nature sounds and high, rolling drones. “Hi Jolly at Quartzsite” also has some blippy synths and more skygazing guitars rather than earthy folk melodies. For all the Real Life Rock & Rollers out there.

Paul R. Marcano & Andre Martin: Valley Flutes / As it IS split tape (Constellation Tatsu, 2015)

December 25, 2015 at 5:20 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Paul R. Marcano/Andre Martin: Valley Flutes / As it IS split tape

CTatsu reaches back in time for this one. Paul R. Marcano’s “Valley Flutes” was apparently recorded back in 1973, using several echo-covered flutes (recorders, actually) recorded at different speeds on a reel-to-reel deck. This is actually a 45-minute excerpt of a 4-hour session. Seems like a demanding listen, but of course, it’s meant to be played in the background while you sleep or do chores or study or whatever. Obviously there were other people doing this sort of thing before Eno popularized the concept of ambient music later in the ’70s, but it’s still fascinating to hear other early examples of this sort of thing. This piece is hissy, hypnotic, and does so much with just a few layers of the same instrument. There is a constant rhythm to it, and you can feel it flowing like a current. It is seriously stunning. Seems like kind of a landmark recording, actually. Andre Martin’s “As it IS” also takes up 45 minutes, and also seems to have a wavelike flow, but it’s more electronic and seems a lot darker and more nocturnal. If new age has a dark side, this seems like it. Eternal Bandcamp forever.

Shibata & Asuna: Grace Park (White Paddy Mountain, 2015)

December 25, 2015 at 4:20 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Shibata & Asuna: Grace Park

Looks like this came out back in April, but I just came across it now, and anyway it seems like more of a winter album than a spring one. It’s on Chihei Hatakeyama’s label, so expect warm yet wintry guitar drone and field recordings, and expect it to be incredibly lovely. About six minutes in it sounds like there’s sleigh bells and some sort of rhythmic wind-like sound, and it gets heavier and more psychedelic, and then later it’s calmer and there’s birds and children playing and acoustic guitars. It keeps bouncing between trippy effects and more contemplative moments. Whenever it actually starts getting snowy out, as well as when the snow melts away into spring, this is an album to keep on deck. Stream/purchase at Bandcamp.

redHat: F (Rare Nnudes, 2015)

December 25, 2015 at 4:04 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

redHat: F

Unbelievably happy to have a new release from Philly’s redHat, and it’s on yet another netlabel with dozens of free releases on Bandcamp that I have absolutely no time to listen to. This guy is easily one of the better current breakcore artists that I’m aware of, taking noisy breaks and glitch sound design and injecting it with trap, juke, ____ club, etc. More so than just hyped-up beats, there’s a structure to this release, all of the tracks flow into each other (minus the remix at the end) and there’s common themes and sounds, making it a sort of mini-symphony. Not to mention it starts with a Satie deconstruction, and then returns to (and reverses) it towards the end of the release. Super-harsh, with smashed jungle beats and gunshots, but there’s all sorts of atmospheres to it. Way more people need to be up on this guy.

Show #322 – 12/25/15

December 25, 2015 at 1:22 pm | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

Best of 2015 shows coming up: 12/26 3-6AM, 12/27 2-6AM, 12/31 10PM-midnight (Crush Collision), 1/2 3-6AM

I arrived a few minutes late this morning…
Hour 1
3:07 am Heather Noel ~ “Santa Came On a Nuclear Missile” ~ The American Song-Poem Christmas ~ Bar/None
3:10 am Captain Ahab ~ “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” ~ 7″ ~ Unschooled Records ~ 2004
3:13 am Chris Moss Acid ~ “Roasted Nut Acid” ~ Chrismarse ~ Goulburn Poultry Fanciers Society ‎ ~ 2005
3:15 am Drunk Paul McCartney & His Drunk Synthesizer ~ “Wonderful Christmastime” ~ 45 (at 33 and off center) ~ Columbia 1979
3:20 am Anthony Child ~ “Mr Naturals” ~ Electronic Recordings from Maui Jungle Vol 1 (new) ~ Editions Mego ~ 2015
3:27 am Vainio & Vigroux ~ “Souffles” ~ Peau Froide, Léger Soleil (new) ~ Cosmo Rhythmatic ~ 2015
3:35 am Ratkiller ~ “Mermaid Elegy” ~ split tape w/ Banana Pill, Morbid Rainbow, Sky Sacrifice ~ Shack in the Barley Productions ~ 2015
3:46 am Bernd Kistenmacher ~ “Joie de Vivre” ~ Wake Up in the Sun ~ Bureau B ~ 1987
3:56 am Levantis ~ “Yogurt” ~ Romantic Psychology 1 (new) ~ Technicolour ~ 2015
3:57 am Lucindo ~ “Act 139” ~ Alien Rebellion (new) ~ 3TH Records ~ 2015
Hour 2
4:00 am Andre Martin ~ “As it IS” ~ split tape w/ Paul R. Marcano (new) ~ Constellation Tatsu ~ 2015
4:04 am Longmont Potion Castle ~ “LPC 12 Medley 1” ~ 12 (new) ~ D.U. Records ~ 2015
4:09 am Gunter Schlienz ~ “Numb” ~ Contemplation ~ Preservation ~ 2014
4:14 am People Like Us ~ “Crazy” ~ Don’t Think Right, It’s All Twice ~ Cutting Hedge ~ 2013
4:16 am Haunted ~ “Doo-Wop for the Young Adult” ~ Minor Trials ~ Life Like ~ 2015
4:18 am Mono ~ “Death in Reverse” ~ Transcendental (split EP w/ The Ocean) (new) ~ Pelagic Records ~ 2015
4:30 am Paul R. Marcano ~ “Valley Flutes” ~ split tape w/ Andre Martin (new) ~ Constellation Tatsu ~ 1973
4:37 am Evenings ~ “Can You Feel?” ~ La Religion De La Souffrance Humaine (new) ~ Life Like ~ 2015
4:44 am Billowing ~ “Modifications D’Éclairage” ~ Modifications D’Éclairage (new) ~ Life Like ~ 2015
4:51 am Todd Tobias ~ “Vega” ~ Moorea ~ Tiny Room Records/Hidden Shoal ~ 2015
4:53 am V/Vm ~ “Last Christmas” ~ YouTube
4:57 am Sd Laika ~ “Don’t Know” ~ That’s Harakiri ~ Tri Angle ~ 2014
Hour 3
5:01 am Alight ~ “The Fog” ~ The Fog EP (new) ~ Bandcamp ~ 2015
5:04 am Iglooghost ~ “Peach Rift” ~ Chinese Nu Yr (new) ~ Brainfeeder ~ 2015
5:09 am A Sunny Day in Glasgow ~ “Dedicate Your Love to Silence, Talk About the Loss (Sentimental Ghosts)” ~ Planning Weed Like It’s Acid / Life Is Loss (new) ~ self-released ~ 2015
5:13 am Land of the Loops ~ “Growing Concern” ~ Bundle of Joy ~ Up Records ~ 1996
5:16 am Beat Happening ~ “Godsend” ~ Look Around ~ Domino ~ 1992
5:26 am Dan Friel ~ “7 Sisters” ~ Sunburn ~ Velocirecords ~ 2004
5:33 am Shibata & Asuna ~ “Grace Park” ~ Grace Park (new) ~ White Paddy Mountain ~ 2015
5:57 am Weird Al Yankovic ~ “Christmas At Ground Zero” ~ Greatest Hits Volume II ~ Scotti Bros. ~ 1986