WE ARE WINTER’S BLUE AND RADIANT CHILDREN: “NO MORE APOCALYPSE FATHER” (Constellation, 2024)

October 28, 2024 at 8:29 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

WE ARE WINTER’S BLUE AND RADIANT CHILDREN: “NO MORE APOCALYPSE FATHER”

The debut release by a new project featuring Efrim Manuel Menuck from Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mat Ball of BIG|BRAVE, this is somewhat similar to various incarnations of A Silver Mount Zion, but much noisier and dronier. Menuck’s trembling vocals and apocalyptic poetry are set to throbbing vibrations and glimmering synths. The effect feels similar to witnessing a divine heavenly light in a cathedral, while being sheltered from a violent thunderstorm. The title track sounds particularly bleak and ravishing, while the uncommonly beautiful “Uncloudy Days” is a much-needed glimmer of peace, driven by the message that “there’s no good but the good we make ourselves”. The longest track begins by referencing the time Michael Jackson dangled a baby over a hotel balcony, singling out one specific weird moment in popular culture which was amplified by the sensationalist media system that’s only gotten more unbearable since then. The verse is relatively short, then the music swells up into a great cacophony, and all you can do is just sit in the middle of it and FEEL, there’s no way to fight yourself out of it. It’s magnificent.

Rich Pellegrin: Topography (Slow & Steady Records, 2024)

October 27, 2024 at 3:06 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Rich Pellegrin: Topography

Pianist Rich Pellegrin recorded this album in a church over the course of a few sessions, along with saxophonist Neil Welch. All of the songs are titled after different natural locations, with some specifying whether they’re taking place during day or night, so they’re all like snapshots or scenes. They’re also conceptualized by Pellegrin, sometimes written, sometimes internally, but still improvised by the players. It’s all very intimate sounding, especially Welch’s playing, in which you can hear every breath stroke and movement, though there are also times where he seems a bit distant, or on the periphery. The gentle piano notes during “Stream” are what my brain keeps coming back to after putting this album on late at night so many times, there’s just something so calming and assuring yet still mysterious about that part. “Field (day)” is both one of the more rhythmic and melodic pieces, it creates more of a sense of traveling than the others. Both “Canyon” pieces fittingly have a vastness to them, but the “night” one does so in a particularly haunting way. Final track “Marsh” somehow meshes the parts of the album that feel comforting and eerie.

Show #728 – 10/27/24

October 27, 2024 at 10:58 am | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

12:00 AM Shigeto, Kesswa & Ahya Simone ~ Let’s Talk ~ Cherry Blossom Baby ~ Ghostly International ~ 2024
12:05 AM His Name Is Alive ~ Underground River / For Ocean ~ Underground River of Black Electricity ~ self-released ~2024
12:16 AM BADBADNOTGOOD ~ First Love ~ Mid Spiral ~ XL ~ 2024
12:21 AM Darius Jones ~ Another Kind of Forever ~ Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) ~ AUM Fidelity ~ 2024
12:30 AM Matt Robidoux ~ m e s h s o n g ~ m e s h s o n g s EP ~ air tone ~ 2024
12:33 AM Gerald Cleaver ~ The Process [excerpt] ~ The Process ~ Positive Elevation / 577 Records ~ 2024
12:46 AM Body Meπa ~ Deborah ~ Prayer in Dub ~ Hausu Mountain ~ 2024
12:51 AM Dean Spunt ~ Confusion Is SysEx ~ Basic Editions ~ Drag City ~ 2024
12:53 AM Shuttle358 ~ Swarm ~ optimal.lp (2024 Edition) ~ Keplar ~ 1999
12:59 AM Lawrence English ~ Cyphilla ~ ShellType ~ Room40 ~ 2024
1:02 AM Sir Tad ~ Path to the Dutchie ~ Two Walkers ~ Tynan Tapes Temporal ~ 2024
1:05 AM Fievel Is Glauque ~ Dark Dancing ~ Rong Weicknes ~ Fat Possum ~ 2024
1:08 AM Love Child ~ Cigarette Ash ~ Okay? ~ 12XU ~ 1991
1:10 AM Love Child ~ Stumbling Block ~ Witchcraft ~ 12XU ~ 1992
1:15 AM Love Child ~ All Is Loneliness ~ Peel Session EP ~ 12XU ~ 1992
1:21 AM Swansea Sound ~ Toxic Energy ~ single ~ Skep Wax ~ 2024
1:24 AM Future Islands ~ Glimpse ~ single ~ 4AD ~ 2024
1:27 AM Yaeji ~ booboo ~ single ~ XL ~ 2024
1:31 AM Kelly Lee Owens ~ Time To ~ Dreamstate ~ dh2 ~ 2024
1:34 AM Machine Girl ~ Psychic Attack ~ MG Ultra ~ Future Classic ~ 2024
1:40 AM FIVE STAR DEATH ~ SOUND HEAVEN ~ DANCE! DANCE! DANCE! ~ DEATHBYSHEEP RECORDS ~ 2024
1:43 AM OneDa ~ Leader ~ Formula OneDa ~ Heavenly Recordings ~ 2024
1:47 AM Dead Man’s Chest x King Kutlass ~ Ride the Storm ~ Trip II Insanity ~ Sneaker Social Club ~ 2024
1:53 AM Submerse ~ Fifteen Blocks ~ Fifteen Blocks EP ~ Breaker Breaker ~ 2024

Crush Collision 10/24/24

October 26, 2024 at 11:43 am | Posted in Crush Collision | Leave a comment

10:01 PM Jon Fay ~ DS Track ~ Planet NYNEX ~ Mörk ~ 2018
10:05 PM Luar Domatrix ~ Take ~ Baía Stamina EP ~ Luar Domatrix ~ 2020
10:10 PM Violence Gratuite ~ Une Ouf ~ Baleine à Boss ~ Hakuna Kulala ~ 2024
10:12 PM Kelly Lee Owens ~ Dreamstate ~ Dreamstate ~ dh2 ~ 2024
10:17 PM Tudor Acid ~ Contemplation ~ Discarded Shadows ~ Tudor Beats ~ 2024
10:25 PM dBridge ~ Violence of Positivity ~ Violence of Positivity EP ~ Candy Mountain ~ 2024
10:27 PM LP Giobbi ~ Succession ~ Dotr ~ Counter Records ~ 2024
10:33 PM DJ VESUVIUS ~ LOST INSIDE YOUR MIND ~ Red Window EP ~ Jolt Music ~ 2024
10:35 PM OSC 101 ~ Like This (OG BC Edit) ~ single ~ self-released ~ 2024
10:41 PM Arthur Hnatek & Fabrizio Rat ~ Coire ~ single ~ Mouthwatering Records ~ 2024
10:43 PM John Tejada & Plaid ~ Bittersweet ~ single ~ Palette Recordings ~ 2024
10:48 PM Jasper Tygner ~ All I Need ~ Things to Come EP ~ Technicolour ~ 2024
10:49 PM A52079 ~ Glimmer of Light ~ Sciolist Culture ~ Don’t Make Me Think ~ 2020
10:52 PM Anunaku & DJ Plead ~ Clap Clap ~ 032 ~ AD 93 ~ 2020
10:59 PM Nondi_ ~ killaz ~ single ~ HRR ~ 2024
11:02 PM KOKOKO! ~ Motoki ~ Butu ~ Transgressive ~ 2024
11:06 PM Hyperloop ~ Aceek ~ Sound of the Bassline EP ~ HYLP ~ 2020
11:11 PM BFTT ~ Ofusc ~ Versioning ~ Gobstopper Records ~ 2019
11:16 PM Koreless ~ Deceltica ~ Deceltica EP ~ Young ~ 2024
11:21 PM Strange Bound ~ Content 1 ~ Overly Content EP ~ self-released ~ 2024
11:25 PM Liza Aikin ~ Hospital Bed ~ Infirm Past EP ~ OBSCUUR Records ~ 2020
11:30 PM Kusp ~ Twisted ~ Gettin’ Deep EP ~ Korpus 9 ~ 2020
11:35 PM Sam Goku ~ Radiants ~ Radiants EP ~ Dekmantel ~ 2024
11:40 PM Walton ~ Rolla ~ Depth Charge ~ Ilian Tape ~ 2019
11:45 PM Hodge ~ Right There ~ single ~ fabric Records ~ 2024
11:49 PM Kerrie ~ Native Intelligence ~ Raw Regimen EP ~ Blueprint Records ~ 2022
11:54 PM Justin Jay ~ Zion ~ VOYAGER001 ~ Fantastic Voyage ~ 2022
11:57 PM Marie Davidson ~ Contrarian ~ single ~ DEEWEE ~ 2024

Matt Robidoux: m e s h s o n g s ep cassette (Air Tone, 2024)

October 21, 2024 at 9:18 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Matt Robidoux: m e s h s o n g s ep cassette

After releasing an album showcasing a touch-controlled aluminum synthesizer shaped like two corn cobs, Matt Robidoux presents a short cassette of compositions featuring MIDI accordion, pedal steel guitar, baritone horn, and e-drums. Maybe other instruments or sound sources are involved too, because there’s lots of other sounds and textures to be heard. Opener “Dream Window” is filled with sharp pinging tones, footsteps, knocking, and objects rolling on the floor, ending up as a flurry of glitches, pops, and waves. “Gum Loop” has a warm, rolling guitar loop, processed horns, shimmering patterns, and sporadic drum bursts. “Snail Shell of Rust” starts out with harsh refractions and zaps, surprisingly ending with sparse, intimate piano notes. “M e s h s o n g” is a sort of glitchy, unstable piece that ends up being the most playful, even funny track here (the backwards drum hits at the end seem comedic somehow). “Two Shapes” starts with more reversed sounds and light fluttering, along with glitch-delayed guitars, then turns into eerie melodies drifting into the sunset.

Meadow Argus: Zoom tape (Tynan Tapes Temporal, 2024)

October 19, 2024 at 12:34 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Meadow Argus: Zoom tape

The newest Meadow Argus tape focuses on one thing and one thing only: organ-based drones. No field recordings, no childhood memories, just cheap organs recorded to cassette tape and looped to infinity, occasionally revealing imperfections or subtle manipulations. The second part feels more expansive and horizontal than the first, though there’s some very distinct warbles and deliberate-sounding shifts and curves. The third part stretches out towards its own form of zen, and then the final part feels a bit more corrupted and burnt out, but somehow in a comforting way.

Crush Collision 9/26/24

October 16, 2024 at 2:04 pm | Posted in Crush Collision | Leave a comment

Forgot to post this before!
10:00 PM Dayspired ~ Rover ~ Rover EP ~ Arlia Recordings ~ 2020
10:04 PM Garrett David ~ Down Around ~ Ebb Vibe EP ~ Distant Hawaii ~ 2017
10:09 PM Hidden People ~ I remember it was so cold ~ Aureum ~ Intellitronic Bubble ~ 2022
10:13 PM Broke One ~ Disintegration ~ No Man Is an Island EP ~ Safe Mode ~ 2020
10:18 PM Caribou ~ Volume ~ Honey ~ Merge ~ 2024
10:21 PM Imre Kiss ~ Non ~ Raw Energy EP ~ Lobster Theremin ~ 2014
10:25 PM D&G ~ Cherry Rover ~ Dubs & Grooves, Vol. 1 EP ~ Vitamin D Records ~ 2020
10:30 PM Dario Zenker ~ Healin ~ Installment 4809N ~ Ilian Tape ~ 2012
10:36 PM Dearly Departure ~ Embrace ~ Genesis ~ 100% Silk ~ 2018
10:39 PM Daze ~ Neuromance ~ Neuromance ~ Lobster Theremin ~ 2015
10:47 PM Dream Cycle ~ Long Time ~ Part Three EP ~ Sneaker Social Club ~ 2019
10:51 PM Maria Fresca ~ Karuocheto ~ Womasushi EP ~ Ilian Tape ~ 2007
11:00 PM Breaka ~ Icy Grills ~ Breaka 001 EP ~ Breaka Recordings ~ 2019
11:05 PM Braille ~ Sour Patch Kiss ~ Triple Transit ~ Hotflush ~ 2024
11:09 PM Lyric ~ That Bass ~ single ~ M-Plant ~ 2024
11:13 PM Speedy J ~ Flashback ~ Ginger ~ Warp ~ 1993
11:18 PM HLLW ~ Plante ~ Bølge EP ~ Mörk ~ 2019
11:26 PM Nídia & Valentina ~ Rapido ~ Estradas ~ Latency ~ 2024
11:29 PM Bambounou ~ Seize – Sept ~ Whities 021 ~ AD 93 ~ 2019
11:34 PM Flower Storm ~ Fortune favours him ~ Do ~ Flower Storm ~ 2024
11:40 PM Orphus ~ Out Of Time ~ This Is What Forever Feels Like EP ~ Hypercolour ~ 2020
11:44 PM Carlota ~ perceptual models ~ The Bow EP ~ trip recordings ~ 2020
11:48 PM Detroit’s Filthiest ~ The Evil Within ~ Hell Hath No Fury EP ~ Motor City Electro Company ~ 2024
11:51 PM Worldwide Epidemic ~ Anthropomorphic ~ Demonic Epidemic ~ Myor ~ 2017
11:56 PM Tommy Holohan ~ Nurseryriddimz ~ Dance Trax, Vol. 29 ~ Dance Trax ~ 2020

Sir Tad: Two Walkers tape (Tynan Tapes Temporal, 2024)

October 13, 2024 at 4:27 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Sir Tad: Two Walkers tape

This tape mixes samples from self-help tapes and home recordings with drowsy keyboards set to quasi-dub rhythms. With songs like “Path to the Dutchie”, we get something that sounds close to a homespun Mad Professor. “Homestake Pass” starts with some goofy kid noises but ends up being a serene, floating-down-the-river melodica drone dub. “Mondo” is a pleasant psych guitar loop thing, the melody reminded me of Galaxie 500’s “Fourth of July”. “What a Jerk” is some playful tomfoolery with kids’ voices. “Year of the Dragon” is just a bright, gleeful keyboard melody, then “Off the Boo Hoff Trail” is just so slow and gloriously out of wack that it feels healing. “Tynan’s Theme Song” is a simple, engrossing melodica melody which ends the album as a proper sendoff, even with snippets of a kid saying “bye bye now”.

Show #727 – 10/13/24

October 13, 2024 at 10:54 am | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

12:00 AM Godspeed You! Black Emperor ~ RAINDROPS CAST IN LEAD ~ “NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD” ~ Constellation ~ 2024
12:13 AM Yasmin Williams ~ Cliffwalk (feat. Dom Flemons) ~ Acadia ~ Nonesuch ~ 2024
12:18 AM Broadcast ~ Please Call to Book ~ Distant Call – Collected Demos 2000-2006 ~ Warp Records ~ 2000-2006
12:22 AM Dummy ~ Unshaped Road ~ Free Energy ~ Trouble in Mind ~ 2024
12:24 AM Peel Dream Magazine ~ Wish You Well ~ Rose Main Reading Room ~ Topshelf Records ~ 2024
12:27 AM Jamie xx ~ Dafodil (feat. Kelsey Lu, John Glacier & Panda Bear) ~ In Waves ~ Young ~ 2024
12:31 AM Ed Schrader’s Music Beat ~ Into the Knotted Trees ~ Orchestra Hits ~ Upset The Rhythm ~ 2024
12:35 AM Galen Tipton & Holly Waxwing ~ Tiny Wings ~ keepsakeFM ~ Orange Milk ~ 2024
12:40 AM Estle ~ Image of an Arid Valley ~ It’s Always Been You ~ Orange Milk ~ 2024
12:43 AM Google Earth ~ GESTURES ~ Street View ~ Tiny Telephone ~ 2024
12:48 AM Xiu Xiu ~ Bobby Bland ~ 13″ Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips ~ Polyvinyl ~ 2024
12:52 AM Pharmakon ~ Splendid Isolation ~ Maggot Mass ~ Sacred Bones ~ 2024
12:59 AM Julia Holter ~ Bus To New York ~ Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) ~ Back Lot Music ~ 2020
1:01 AM Kim Gordon & model home ~ razzamatazz ~ single ~ Matador ~ 2024
1:03 AM Fax Gang & Parannoul ~ Soliloquy ~ Scattersun ~ Topshelf Records ~ 2024
1:09 AM People Like Us ~ I Only Have I’s With PLU ~ COPIA ~ Cutting Hedge ~ 2024
1:13 AM Zack Clarke ~ BossHause ~ Plunge ~ Orenda Records ~ 2024
1:17 AM Martha Skye Murphy ~ Need (ft. Roy Montgomery) ~ Um ~ AD 93 ~ 2024
1:21 AM Photay ~ Derecho ~ Windswept ~ Mexican Summer ~ 2024
1:26 AM Rontronik ~ Zero Eight Eight ~ Zero Eight ~ Tygr Rawwk ~ 2024
1:30 AM Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn ~ To Remove ~ Quiet in a World Full of Noise ~ Merge ~ 2024
1:34 AM Enrique Pinilla ~ Prisma ~ Tránsitos Sónicos – Música electrónica y para cinta de compositores peruanos (1964-1984) ~ Buh Records ~ 1967
1:39 AM Joel Chadabe ~ Rhythms for Computer & Percussion ~ Emergence ~ ARS-Subtilior ~ 1981
1:42 AM Abul Mogard & Rafael Anton Irisarri ~ Place of Forever ~ Impossibly Distant, Impossibly Close ~ Black Knoll Editions ~ 2024

His Name Is Alive: Underground River Of Black Electricity 7″ EP (self-released, 2024)

October 8, 2024 at 9:14 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

His Name Is Alive: Underground River Of Black Electricity 7″ EP

His Name Is Alive rarely play live these days, as Warren Defever is busy working as a mastering engineer at Third Man Records in Detroit, and he’s also been playing as part of the group Infinite River, making new age and meditative music, and making art. But 4AD released a tremendous box set of the first 3 HNIA albums with bonus material, so the band played some live gigs. I caught the Detroit show at El Club, and it was mindblowing to see the current version of the band play early songs like “How Ghosts Affect Relationships” and “There’s Something Between Us And He’s Changing My Words”. And then they played songs from the more recent albums (the ones the current band members played on) and of course ended with “This World Is Not My Home”, into “Can’t Go Wrong Without You” and then back into a for-real singalong of “This World Is Not My Home”. This record was for sale at the merch table, along with Cloud Clocks, which were basically repurposed clocks bought at Target which they painted, signed, and charged $100 for. But this record is a mix of Warren’s new age stuff, thanks to the harmonium and tanpura droning, as well as some of HNIA’s newer psych stuff, with the Mellotron, though it’s not proggy or heavy. There’s gentle guitar waves and a current of dreaminess. The second side has drumming by Steve Nistor, who regularly plays with Infinite River, and it’s closer to the more drifting side of Krautrock, eventually gaining some percolating synths and a choppier, increasingly more complex rhythm. Not quite Warren solo, not quite Infinite River, not any previous version of HNIA, but it’s still HNIA all the same, and like any HNIA record, it takes me somewhere I can’t identify and never expected to go.

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