July | 2018 | The Answer Is In The Beat

DAS: Feinted Haunts tape (Close/Far, 2017)

July 28, 2018 at 8:47 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

DAS: Feinted Haunts tape

Derrick A. Strain composes six imaginary movie themes/scenes on this tape, using sparse synth layers/notes and a crucial touch of live percussion. Eerie cymbal rolls and spine-tingling shakers contribute more to the sound design and suspense rather than the rhythm, although there is a rhythm guiding us through the thick, oddly colored smoke. Yes, there’s a dark, sinister Carpenter-esque pulse to it at some points, but absolutely none of the gaudy fake nostalgia of much of the synthwave scene. This is music that rewards patience and immersive attention. Free download at Bandcamp, where cassettes are still available.

CCFX: The Remixes 12″ EP (DFA, 2018)

July 28, 2018 at 8:15 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

CCFX: The Remixes 12″ EP

CCFX’s EP on DFA last year was a pleasant surprise, marrying jangly post-punk to bittersweet downtempo disco in the vein of St. Etienne. Even more surprising is the fact that the members also make country-rock as County Liners. This remix EP is yet another surprise, beginning with two atmospheric jungle remixes, removing the lyrics but keeping the feelings in, and accelerating the ecstasy with heavy, choppy breakbeats (and also an Elmer Fudd giggle on “The One to Wait”). The remaining two tracks are closer to the tempo of the originals, but add more effects and strange noises, like the warbly bells at the beginning of “Ode”, and the heavy, slamming dub echo on both tracks. The tracks gain more of a paranoid, claustrophobic edge, but there’s also a sense of comfort to them. It’s all pushed over the edge, and it elevates something which was already refreshing into something stranger and more exciting.

Two Rooms mega-post

July 28, 2018 at 5:28 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Quartet Now!: s/t LP

The first LP on Two Rooms Records, a new label launched by Detroit venue/cafe Trinosophes, is easily the most traditional-sounding of the label’s initial batch of releases. The quartet formed after drummer Dr. Prof. Leonard King and baritone saxophonist Alex Harding played together for the first time since 1995, and then invited Rocco Popielarski to play bass, soon followed by the addition of trombonist Vincent Chandler. Apart from Chandler’s “Closing Doors”, all the selections are covers of other people’s songs, and all four musicians fully understand each composition. There’s an unmistakable energy and chemistry to their playing, with shouts of joy appearing during certain high-spirited moments. Harding’s sax has a bit of a barbed edge to it, but it’s not overwhelmingly abrasive. While generally structured and composed, the quartet do let loose at the end of “Mandela’s Muse”, after a rallying cry of “Freedom!” Apart from a rendition of “You Don’t Know What Love Is”, it’s all pretty upbeat.

Viands: Seven Thousand Year Plan LP

Three years after Midwich Productions released the first Viands LP, which was recorded live at Trinosophes, Two Rooms is now issuing the duo’s second album, which was recorded as a rehearsal for a festival performance in 2016. Like their first album, this is two sidelong minimalist explorations, with some loose rhythmic underpinning at some points, as well as lots of moments where it just heads off and goes where the spirit leads them. The second side has some moments which start to sound like one of Raymond Scott’s synth inventions starting to lose control, and then some others that seem to be probing the sky for alien life forms, and preparing for their ascent to earth.

Thollem and Clem Fortuna: Your Letter Must Have Followed Me All Over The World LP

The third release on Two Rooms features four pieces improvised by Thollem on different pianos, each in a different tuning system, all of which were devised by Clem Fortuna. Some of these are forms of just intonation, so the pieces seem to explore the limitations imposed by the unconventional tunings. “Golden Meantone” is perhaps the most “prepared”-sounding one, with more of a visceral attack on the instrument. The most mind-bending piece is the lengthiest, “Ten Tone Equal Temperament”, in which Fortuna spontaneously alters the tuning while Thollem is playing.

Show #452 – 7/28/18

July 28, 2018 at 11:41 am | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

2:00 am Westerbur & Rowe (local) ~ “J” ~ 2018 (new) ~ Northern Ashram ~ 2018
2:21 am Viands (local) ~ “Set Adrift/Celestial Companions” ~ Seven Thousand Year Plan (new) ~ Two Rooms ~ 2018
2:43 am Thollem and Clem Fortuna (local) ~ “Twelve Primes” ~ Your Letter Must Have Followed Me All Over the World (new) ~ Two Rooms ~ 2018
2:46 am Quartet Now! (local) ~ “Number Four” ~ Quartet Now! (new) ~ Two Rooms ~ 2018
2:52 am Matchess ~ “The Misty Realm” ~ Sacracorpa (new) ~ Trouble In Mind ~ 2018
2:58 am C C C V L T S S S ~ “Xiphos” ~ clear lathe cut 7″ (new) ~ Possible Motive ~ 2018
3:08 am Outer Heaven ~ “Untitled Jungle” ~ Blunted Breaks Volume 1 (LP Sampler) (new) ~ Western Lore ~ 2018
3:13 am Special Request ~ “Looking Glass” ~ Through the Looking Glass (new) ~ Houndstooth ~ 2018
3:20 am Fred Thomas (local) ~ “Good Times Are Gone Again” ~ Aftering (new) ~ Polyvinyl ~ 2018
3:23 am Fred Thomas ~ “After All These Accidents” ~ I Heard the Angels Sing (new) ~ Ypsilanti ~ 2003
3:27 am Stupid/Human (local) ~ “Behind the Toolbox” ~ We’re Twins Sampler 2003 ~ We’re Twins ~ 2003
3:29 am The Space Lady ~ “Street of Dreams” ~ On the Street of Dreams (new) ~ Bongo Joe ~ 2018
3:33 am Ross From Friends ~ “Pale Blue Dot” ~ Family Portrait (new) ~ Brainfeeder ~ 2018
3:37 am Flora FM (local) ~ “Artificial Limb Company” ~ EP (new) ~ Vanity Press Records ~ 2018
3:43 am Flora FM (local) ~ “Eternal Huron Shadows” ~ Atomic Garden (new) ~ Argot ~ 2018
3:49 am Omar-S (local) ~ “Tap Dat Ass” ~ 12″ ~ FXHE ~ 2017
3:56 am Perceptrons ~ “Cricks Prick” ~ Perceptrons ~ Switch A/V ~ 1992
4:00 am Perceptrons ~ “Remnants (The Ballet Suite)” ~ Remnants ~ Switch A/V ~ 1995
4:21 am Vintage Future (local) ~ “The Charmer” ~ Venomous ~ Underground Resistance ~ 2002
4:26 am Underground Resistance (local) ~ “Cyclone” ~ 12″ ~ Underground Resistance ~ 1992
4:33 am Robert Rich ~ “Galvanic Response” ~ The Biode (new) ~ Soundscape ~ 2018
4:37 am Underground Resistance (local) ~ “Punisher” ~ 12″ ~ Underground Resistance ~ 1991
4:42 am Nick Speed (local) ~ “Copy Cat (Inst)” ~ Speed of Sound ~ Underground Resistance ~ 2010
4:46 am Markant ~ “untitled” ~ Cat M-13 ~ Markant ~ 1998
4:54 am Tim Walters ~ “Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today” ~ Austerity Measures (new) ~ VauxFlores Industrial ~ 2018
4:57 am Medeski Martin & Wood ~ “Nocturne (Automator Remix)” ~ Combustication Remix EP ~ Blue Note ~ 1999
5:04 am Larval (local) ~ “Surrounded by Light” ~ Larval ~ Avant ~ 1996
5:07 am Henry Kaiser & Wadada Leo Smith ~ “Black Satin” ~ Yo Miles! ~ Shanachie ~ 1998
5:15 am Henry Kaiser & Wadada Leo Smith ~ “Willie Dixon” ~ Yo Miles! Sky Garden ~ Cuneiform ~ 2004
5:22 am Scott Amendola Trio ~ “Death By Flower” ~ Lift ~ Sazi Records ~ 2010
5:26 am LFZ ~ “An Ambiguous Utopia” ~ Name Plus Focus (new) ~ Castle Face ~ 2018
5:32 am Bethany Curve ~ “Jalap” ~ Mee-eaux ~ Manufactured Recordings ~ 1995
5:37 am White Ring ~ “Do U Love Me 2?” ~ Gate of Grief (new) ~ Rocket Girl ~ 2018
5:43 am Container ~ “Leaker” ~ LP (new) ~ Spectrum Spools ~ 2018
5:47 am Andrew Tuttle ~ “Transmission Interruption” ~ Andrew Tuttle (new) ~ Someone Good ~ 2018
5:54 am K. Leimer ~ “Method, Language, and Silence” ~ Imposed Order ~ Palace of Lights Records ~ 1983

Westerbur & Rowe: 2018 LP (Northern Ashram, 2018)

July 27, 2018 at 10:45 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Westerbur & Rowe: 2018 LP

Detroit duo Westerbur & Rowe continue their series of long-form psychic explorations with their fifth full-length album (there was also a 10″ EP following the first LP). Rowe is currently a member of His Name Is Alive, and Westerbur has played with Electric Six, the Meatmen, King Tuff, and many others. Together, they play synth-heavy, side-long compositions somewhere in between Krautrock, prog, and minimalism. Some of it’s like Zombi but not quite as horror-obsessed, although there’s no reason why this wouldn’t work as a soundtrack to some sort of disturbing movie. The second side (J), is more vibrant, and has a sort of cinematic soul-funk bent to it, as well as organ solos which are heavy enough to fool you into thinking they’re being played on a guitar. Vinyl LPs are available at Detroit-area record stores, or at Bandcamp, and are well worth picking up.

Tim Walters: Austerity Measures (VauxFlores Industrial, 2018)

July 27, 2018 at 9:41 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Tim Walters: Austerity Measures

Tim Walters (Circular Firing Squad, Usufruct) created this album with two small analog synths and some old SuperCollider coding. The result is ten standard-length pieces which fizz, stammer, belch, crackle, and sometimes sound like they’re short circuiting so much that the studio’s about to burn down. There’s a strange, non-linear rhythm to some moments, but it’s more prone to sudden explosions and spasms. Super tense and abrasive, with a constant push-pull and seemingly no end game. It’s pretty fun and exciting. It’s sort of like a more electro-shocked version of an early electro-acoustic work, but it’s not quite anarchist enough to be a “noise” album. Regardless, it’ll definitely keep you up at night. Name-your-price download at Bandcamp.

Show #451 – 7/21/18

July 21, 2018 at 1:09 pm | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

2:01 am Matt Endahl’s Doomsday Philharmonic (local) ~ “Thyamine-Adenine” ~ Jacob’s Ladder (new) ~ Sound Mansion Recordings ~ 2018
2:40 am Jim Pepper ~ “Witchi Tia To” (by request) ~ Comin’ and Goin’ ~ Europa ~ 1983
2:48 am Nobuki Takamen ~ “The Circle Game” ~ The Nobuki Takamen Trio (new) ~ self-released ~ 2018
2:53 am LFZ ~ “Naturalistic” ~ Name Plus Focus (new) ~ Castle Face ~ 2018
3:00 am Mondo Lava ~ “Hippodrome” ~ Ogre Heights (new) ~ Hausu Mountain ~ 2018
3:09 am Forma ~ “New City” ~ Semblance (new) ~ Kranky ~ 2018
3:18 am Cool Maritime ~ “Climbing Up” ~ Sharing Waves (new) ~ Leaving Records ~ 2018
3:23 am Kemialliset Ystävät ~ “Kuriton Painovoima” ~ Siipi Empii (new) ~ Leaving Records ~ 2018
3:26 am Prairie ~ “Embuscado” ~ After the Flash Flood (new) ~ Denovali ~ 2018
3:33 am Oneohtrix Point Never ~ “Topline Demo 1 (Usher)” ~ mp3 (new) ~ self-released ~ 2018
3:36 am Datashock ~ “Hullu Gullu, Wir Liefern Shizz” ~ Krauter Der Provinz (new) ~ Bureau B ~ 2018
3:42 am Odeko ~ “Retrograde” ~ Rose Tinted Vision Implant (new) ~ Gobstopper ~ 2018
3:48 am The Black Dog ~ “Seroxat Smile” ~ Black Daisy Wheel (new) ~ Dust Science ~ 2018
3:51 am The Black Dog ~ “The Truth Is In The Post” ~ Post-Truth (new) ~ Dust Science ~ 2018
3:57 am Vromm ~ “Restart” ~ For the New Dawn (new) ~ Cosmic Bridge ~ 2018
4:02 am Perel ~ “Alles (Nadia Struiwigh Remix)” ~ Alles (Remixes) (new) ~ DFA ~ 2018
4:09 am Sangam ~ “Left Wing” ~ Doom Mix Vol. II (new) ~ Doom Trip ~ 2018
4:14 am DJ Pilldriver ~ “Pitch-Hiker” ~ Don’t Mess With Cupid Cause Cupid Ain’t Stupid (new) ~ трип ~ ‎ 2018
4:19 am Jlin ~ “The Abyss Of Doubt” ~ Autobiography (new) ~ Planet Mu ~ 2018
4:22 am Jana Rush & DJ Paypal ~ “Intergalactic Battle” ~ mp3 (new) ~ Soundcloud ~ 2018
4:25 am Foodman ~ “Mizu Youkan” ~ Aru Otoko No Densetsu (new) ~ Sun Ark ~ 2018
4:30 am Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia ~ “Kraak (Coil Remix)” ~ Rejammed – Kraak Remixes ~ Kraak ~ 1996
4:40 am Color Plus ~ “Shattuck” ~ Litesowt (new) ~ Paxico ~ 2018
4:43 am Zombieflesheater ~ “Voodookill” ~ Widerstand.org Compilation ~ Restroom Records ~ 2004
4:47 am Cardopusher ~ “I Believe I Can Jah” ~ Hippie Killers Don’t Mind Jah Conversations ~ Peace Off ~ 2006
4:51 am Hugh Hardie featuring Maverick Soul ~ “Camera Obscura” ~ Colourspace ~ Hospital Records ~ 2017
4:56 am DJ Seinfeld ~ “Typeless (DJ-Kicks)” ~ DJ-Kicks (new) ~ !K7 ~ 2018
5:00 am The Martian (local) ~ “Particle Shower” ~ 12″ ~ Red Planet ~ 1997
5:09 am Rhythim Is Rhythim (local) ~ “Kao-Tic Harmony (Remixed & Reconstructed by Vince Watson)” ~ 12″ ~ Transmat ~ 2017
5:18 am Rhythim Is Rhythim (local) ~ “Kaos (Juice Bar Mix)” ~ Strings of Life ~ Transmat ~ 1987
5:24 am Jus-Ed ~ “AM-Mix” ~ FXHE-Compulation-#1 ~ FXHE ~ 2005
5:33 am K. Leimer ~ “Three Forms of Decay” ~ Imposed Order ~ Palace of Lights Records ~ 1983
5:40 am Flora FM (local) ~ “Elm Bully” ~ EP (new) ~ Vanity Press Records ~ 2018
5:45 am Flora FM (local) ~ “Degenerative Wave” ~ Atomic Garden (new) ~ Argot ~ 2018
5:52 am Omar-S (local) ~ “Churchill” ~ 006 ~ FXHE ~ 2006

K. Leimer: Imposed Order/Imposed Absence (Palace of Lights, 2018)

July 20, 2018 at 11:14 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

K. Leimer: Imposed Order/Imposed Absence

This is a remastered reissue of a 1983 album by K. Leimer (also of Savant, who were recently anthologized by Rvng Intl), one of his last albums before he stopped releasing music for two decades. The second disc is recordings he made during the hiatus, and while he was transitioning from analog to digital instruments. Imposed Order can be broadly described as ambient, particularly on longer, spacier tracks like “Three Forms of Decay” and “Method, Language and Silence”, but a lot of it plays with African rhythms, even approximating water drumming at some points. Tracks like “Life of the Poet” fit in nicely with the type of Fourth World fusion which has become hip again. The tracks on Imposed Absence date from 1983 to 1987, and while they’re described in the liner notes as sketches or pieces set aside, there seems to be a bit more of an immediacy to some of them (but not others). “Rain Bed” gets slightly hazier, combining thin waves of digital static with what sounds like bowed strings. “The Uneven Ritual” is a brief art-rock piece which comes a lot closer to Leimer’s work with Savant. “The Surround” ends the album on a sort of dark, candlelit note.

Eve Fowler: Words Doing As They Want To Do LP (Radical Documents, 2018)

July 18, 2018 at 11:15 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Eve Fowler: Words Doing As They Want To Do LP

Photographer Eve Fowler is known for producing works which incorporate the words of Gertrude Stein, often blowing them up on to large, stark, colorful posters. This LP was created for Fowler’s first major European exhibition, and it contains unaccompanied readings of two Stein works, recited by several readers taking turns, speaking clearly but very occasionally fumbling. The first side, “Miss Furr and Miss Skeene”, is a 1925 poem which contains the first published usage of the word “gay” referring to sexual orientation, and is believed to have helped popularize the term. The piece is very repetitive, with the word “gay” being used well over 100 times, and it seems like a sort of word game, exploring every last approach to the ideas it’s conveying. But the words “regular” and “regularly” also crop up a lot, and the characters seem to be doing normal, everyday things (or not really doing things, just being, and being happy), so it drives home the point of the normality of being gay. It’s definitely something that should be heard, but its repetition could verge on being tedious. On the other side is “Q.E.D”, a short story written in 1903 but published after Stein’s death. It’s an autobiographical story about coming out, and it’s much more complex and affecting than the poem on the first side. In fact, while listening to it, it’s kind of mind-blowing that it was written over a century ago, as every sentiment spoken is entirely relevant and relatable today.

Show #450 – 7/14/18

July 18, 2018 at 10:36 pm | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

I’ve been having problems with WordPress and I basically had to remove a ton of audio files because all of a sudden I was apparently 10 gigabytes over capacity for storage. I’ve finally got it down below the amount of space I’m allotted. But I might just stop posting the audio portion of my radio show archives. I don’t think anyone actually listens to them anyway, the minuscule amount of traffic I get on this site seems to be for reviews and maybe photos rather than radio shows. So I’ll just keep deleting old radio shows whenever I need more room, maybe I’ll post some newer ones if I think they’re worth posting, or if anyone seems to be interested.

2:01 am Matt Endahl’s Doomsday Philharmonic (local) ~ “Adenine-Thymine” ~ Jacob’s Ladder (new) ~ Sound Mansion Recordings ~ 2018
2:31 am Ethernet ~ “Clock Faces” ~ Outside of Time (new) ~ Carpe Sonum ~ 2018
2:38 am Lunaria ~ “Ascension Now” ~ Ascension Now (new) ~ Constellation Tatsu ~ 2018
2:58 am Caterina Barbieri ~ “How To Decode An Illusion” ~ Born Again In The Voltage (new) ~ Important ~ 2018
3:06 am Roy Montgomery with Liz Harris ~ “Landfall” ~ Suffuse (new) ~ Grapefruit ~ 2018
3:12 am Station 17 with Ulrich Schnauss ~ “Sternenteleskop” ~ Blick (new) ~ Bureau B ~ 2018
3:17 am Saajtak (local) ~ “If You Ask” ~ Hectic EP (new) ~ Self-Released ~ 2018
3:25 am The Kandinsky Effect ~ “Left Over Shoes” ~ Synesthesia ~ Cuneiform ~ 2013
3:29 am Colin Stetson ~ “Judges” ~ New History Warfare Vol. 2 (Judges) ~ Constellation ~ 2011
3:34 am Ozmotic ~ “Insecting” ~ Elusive Balance (new) ~ Touch ~ 2018
3:39 am Svartsinn ~ “Doubt As Sin (Nietzsche’s Lament)” ~ Mørkets Variabler ~ Cyclic Law ~ 2017
3:45 am Sum Of R ~ “Cobalt Powder” ~ Orga ~ Cyclic Law ~ 2017
3:51 am Un Drame Musical Instantané ~ “Pourquoi La Nuit?” ~ À Travail Égal Salaire Égal ~ Klanggalerie ~ 1982
3:57 am HTRK ~ “More to Enjoy” ~ Drama (new) ~ Ghostly International ~ 2018
4:01 am Lotic ~ “Bulletproof” ~ Power (new) ~ Tri Angle ~ 2018
4:05 am Miss Red ~ “Money Machine” ~ K.O. (new) ~ Pressure ~ 2018
4:08 am Philip D Kick ~ “Drown” ~ Pathways (new) ~ Astrophonica ~ 2018
4:11 am Evil Robot Ted ~ “Pyramid Materialization (Live)” ~ Philly 05052018 (new) ~ Bandcamp ~ 2018
4:17 am Mr. Proxxxy ~ “We Have Eternity to Know Your Flesh” ~ A Green Basement in London (new) ~ Sonicterror ~ 2018
4:23 am Oblivion ~ “Lush” ~ Selectors 004: Joy Orbison ~ Dekmantel ~ 1995
4:30 am Robert Rich ~ “Elevate the Hive Mind” ~ The Biode (new) ~ Soundscape ~ 2018
4:34 am RP Boo ~ “Work the Flow!” ~ I’ll Tell You What! (new) ~ Planet Mu ~ 2018
4:37 am DJ Di’jital (local) ~ “ElectroScope II” ~ ElectroScope EP (new) ~ self-released ~ 2018
4:42 am Phil Kieran ~ “Dirt” ~ Shh ~ Cocoon ~ 2009
4:49 am Bauri ~ “Twinkle Stars” ~ DJ Tennis: DJ-Kicks ~ !K7 ~ 2002
4:56 am Don’t DJ ~ “Veles (Newworldaquarium 451 Dub)” ~ All Love Affairs Fail But They Never End (new) ~ Berceuse Heroique ~ 2018
5:05 am Krikor Kouchian ~ “Hermano Dub” ~ Pacific Alley In Dub (new) ~ L.I.E.S. ~ 2018
5:11 am Sigha ~ “Flare” ~ EP (new) ~ Token ~ 2018
5:17 am Tomás Urquieta ~ “Dueños De Nada” ~ Dueños De Nada (new) ~ Infinite Machine ~ 2018
5:23 am Container ~ “Chunked” ~ LP (new) ~ Spectrum Spools ~ 2018
5:30 am Yann Novak ~ “The Inertia of Time” ~ The Future Is a Forward Escape into the Past (new) ~ Touch ~ 2018
5:33 am White Ring ~ “Amerika (Lord of the Flies)” ~ Gate of Grief (new) ~ Rocket Girl ~ 2018
5:36 am Daniel B. Prothese ~ “DerSchri++” ~ CHZWaaR+ZMe+aaL (new) ~ Alfa Matrix ~ 2018
5:39 am Schlammpeitziger ~ “Damenbartblick” ~ Damenbartblick auf Pregnant Hill (new) ~ Bureau B ~ 2018
5:43 am Liminal Drifter ~ “Phone Home” ~ The Dreams (new) ~ Hidden Shoal ~ 2018
5:49 am Kiefer ~ “Socially Awkward” ~ Happysad (new) ~ Stones Throw ~ 2018
5:51 am Kadhja Bonet ~ “Thoughts Around Tea” ~ Childqueen (new) ~ Fat Possum ~ 2018
5:54 am John Coltrane ~ “Untitled Original 11383” ~ Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album ~ Impulse! ~ 1963

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The Answer Is In The Beat