The Answer Is In The Beat

Eat Lights Become Lights: Modular Living (Rocket Girl, 2013)

July 31, 2013 at 10:10 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Synth-heavy instrumental neo-Krautrock. In the ’90s this probably would’ve been filed alongside bands like Trans Am. Motorik drum machine rhythms and atmospheric guitars, and plenty of arpeggiated, blooping synths. “MOD-ULO-510” could almost pass for a karaoke version of Kraftwerk’s “Pocket Calculator”, if it weren’t for the guitar feedback. “Rowly Way Overlook” and “Los Feliz To Griffith” break from the motorik rhythms for some Cluster/Eno ambience, with the former being rhythmic and almost ballet-like, and the latter being more free-flowing and cloudlike. “Life In The Sprawl” is warm, bubbling ambience with a soft 4/4 beat in the background, and then a fuller drumbeat blossoms in the second half of the song. “Chiba Prefecture” is futuristic shopping mall music, for you to buy trendy designer spacesuits to. “Electromagnetika” is sort of similar to the last couple Dan Deacon albums, but with more of an overt Krautrock influence. “Habitat ’67” cools everything down with a sublime string-synth-heavy pulse. Totally retro-futurist music.

Lastboss: Neighbour 13 (Bad Sekta, 2012)

July 29, 2013 at 12:06 am | Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment

I haven’t reviewed any breakcore since I started posting reviews to this blog, and I wish there was more high profile breakcore stuff coming out nowadays that was worth mentioning. Pretty much any new breakcore stuff coming out, if there is any, seems to be amateur netlabel artists doing things I’ve heard people do better. This is one of Bad Sekta’s many free mp3 releases, and it’s been sitting in my “review” folder for a while, so I’m finally getting around to reviewing it. Turns out this is all material recorded from 2004-2007, so it certainly has that era’s sound to it; fast, random jungle breaks, gabber kicks and ragga samples. But there’s also a lot of beatless neo-classical pieces on here. The title track does the fast d’n’b-with-noise-bursts thing, but with a bit of space behind it, before it gets more intense and overloaded later on. “That Old Piano Tune From Years Ago” is, in fact, a downtempo piano tune, and quite sad and pretty at that. “Salmonella Pudding Semolina Poison” unexpectedly ends up being another sad piano tune, and “ASIO Trouble” is a mysterious guitar and chiming-synth piece. After a while, it seems like this is pretty far removed from anything breakcore-related, at least after the opening track on the release. “The Distinctly Pungent Return Of Xiao Fan Pei” marks a return to distorted beats, and somewhat random sounds, and it goes into what you think is just a breakdown before it gets crazy, but it doesn’t get more intense, only more forlorn and introspective. “The Undeniable Link Between 14 and 0.restored” has soft acoustic guitars and drums that fade in, and some sort of spoken sample that I can’t quite make out. So overall, while there’s some breakcore on this release, it’s clear that this artist has (had? is he still around?) a much wider scope and is capable of doing many different things.

Lafidki: Absynthax tape (Orange Milk, 2012)

July 28, 2013 at 11:41 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

It took me forever to finally get around to reviewing Lafidki’s split 12″ with Orphan | Oliver after receiving a download promo of it, so the same thing is happening with his tape from last year on Orange Milk. Why do I keep telling myself I’m going to get around to reviewing everything that crosses my radar, and then it just sits on my desk and hard drive until there’s no room and I never listen to anything? But this guy’s stuff is pretty great so I should mention it. Like a lot of Orange Milk releases, this is bright, sparkly, neon, distorted, confusing, and beautiful. “Astral O” is 6 minutes of thundering drums, cascading synths, and blinding distortion. It feels like dancing in a room full of huge, glowing sculpture, and it’s boiling hot, and you’re loving every second of it. “Vong Wong” (a collaboration with Dustin Wong) is a little lighter, with more thundering drums but also trippy, delay-heavy dub guitar. “Pygopagus” starts in a mysterious music-box mode, but switches to something entirely different after a minute, with more bright synths, rippling guitar and thundering distorted drums. “Les Siamois Ne Savent Pas Sur Quel Pied Danser” has a little bit of a darker vibe, with slightly worried (but still bright and sparkly) synths, and bashy, quasi-drum’n’bass beats which sound like they’re fighting their way out of a junkyard. “From Abyss To Constellation Pisces” has more frazzled, fractaled synths and a dubby beat, and changes tempo towards the end, getting brighter and more head-nodding. Lafidki’s sound can almost seem overwhelmingly ecstatic, but in a controlled way.

µ-Ziq: XTEP 12″ (Planet Mu, 2013)

July 28, 2013 at 11:14 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

So Mike Paradinas is suddenly releasing a flurry of new and old material under the µ-Ziq name this year, including 2 CDs worth of unreleased early ’90s material, plus this promo-only mix that I haven’t heard. But there’s also the Chewed Corners album and this 12″ EP. I still haven’t bought Chewed Corners yet, but I heard a stream of it and it didn’t particularly strike me as sounding like µ-Ziq, so I need to spend some time with it when I get around to buying it and appreciate it on its own accord. This EP, however, definitely sounds like µ-Ziq, so I instantly embrace it, although I wasn’t super crazy about the sound clips I heard when they were initially posted to the Planet Mu site. But “XT” has a really happy piano melody, ’80s R&B guitar licks, light dance beats, and the kind of goofy childlike wondrous feel a lot of Paradinas’ work has. “Ritm” is piano-and-string-heavy house, and “Pulsar” is arpeggio-heavy Italo-disco. “Monj2” is where we get closer to the type of distortion sounds µ-Ziq was using on his earlier recordings, but with a clear juke/footwork influence, and gorgeous cascading synths. “New Bimple” is also uptempo, with knocking beats, dreamy pianos and understated arpeggiating synths. It’s pretty short and feels kind of sketch-like, but it’s fitting as a closing track on an EP. Even if XTEP isn’t a return to the drill-n-bass days, it’s still an enjoyable sampling of what µ-Ziq circa 2013 sounds like.

Food Pyramid: Ecstasy & Refreshment (Intercoastal Artists, 2013)

July 28, 2013 at 10:44 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Newest album from neo-Krautrock group. “Dexedream” kicks everything off starting straight into Neu! territory, with a motorik rhythm and echo-chamber vocals. “Pacifier” starts with brief rhythmic sound bursts, then gains a 4/4 dance beat and multiple female voices speaking different self-help monologues. “Deep Fantasy” is like Sun Araw but crazier, busier and more distorted, and lots of flying, delay-crazy vocals. “The High Life” is dedicated to Francis Bebey, whose excellent electronic works were released in 2011, and there’s definitely a bit of an Afrobeat influence, with funky repetitive guitar licks, but also Suicide organs and squiggly delay. “Maya Control” has even more of a distorted Afrobeat sound, with crunchy beats and industrialized chopped-up vocals. “GmbH” has stacatto uptempo beats and motorik guitars, and echo-covered spoken vocal samples, and then vocoders and female vocals. “Third Wave” has a slow mysterious pulse and waves of synth effects. “Marsh Bar” is also Sun Araw-like, with tropical electronic percussion, a spare, dubby bassline, and snatches of muddled vocals.

Ken Camden: Space Mirror (Kranky, 2013)

July 28, 2013 at 5:03 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Cosmic spacey stuff from Implodes guitarist Ken Camden, drifting away from that band’s post-rock/shoegaze sound towards more ambient synth terrain. Arpeggiating synths, wooshing effects, interstellar guitars. Opener “Spectacle” has pretty guitar soloing. “Eta Carinae” is a little more subtle, sort of sounds like Cluster or Harmonia, but without drum machines. “Moon” almost has a sitar-like drone, but it definitely sounds electronic. Wide cosmic guitar trails swoop over it, and some snakelike synths slither over it towards the end. “Trapezium” is more glowing, dissolving synths, bright but with some darkness around the edges, and it turns into a flickering rhythmic pattern in the second half. “Antares” is more cosmic space-gaze, and “Dominic Sunset” reminds me more of Laurie Spiegel than anything Krautrock-related.

German Army: s/t LP (Skrot Up, 2013) + Endless Phonics LP (Monofonus Press, 2013)

July 24, 2013 at 11:57 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Finally bubbling up from the tape/CD-r underground, German Army (apparently based in Los Angeles, and a duo with members named Meatball Maker and Chin Genie) is releasing some vinyl LPs now. The self-titled one on Copenhagen-based Skrot Up, which has been releasing all sorts of dark, weird oddities for 5 years now. Some of the songs on this LP have appeared on GA releases before, but they’re cleaned up for vinyl. This album tends to focus on longer, dubbier songs. “Guinea Strong Arm” has dark, blustering synths and looped percussion, with monotone vocals and dry surf guitar in the background, everything covered in echo. “Folded Skin” is a near-8-minute doom-ride, with a constantly ticking drum machine, detached spoken vocals, and tons of dub effects. “Ox Cart” is a curiously light-hearted diversion, with something sounding like an old children’s record sampled along with battered echo-covered percussion, which often lapses into backwards looping. “Pulling Lashes” is another slow, creepy death-crawl, with dungeon-like slow beats and more shadowy spoken vocals. “Translate Person” has a slightly faster rhythm, but still minimal and eerie, and with some ghostly marching horn samples in the background, along with more spoken zombie vocals. “Saxon Skull” has a more rhythmic, almost funky percussion loop, and more of a foundation to its rhythm via its bassline, and just a real dark urgency to it that sounds pretty fantastic, plus lots of cool distortion effects covering everything. And it goes on for 9 minutes of utter darkness and despair. Total Suicide and Throbbing Gristle vibes, but still doing something way different. Nicely done.

Also being released is Endless Phonics on on Austin-based Monofonus Press, which has released records by Sun Araw, XYX, Led Er Est, and many others. This is easily German Army’s highest-profile release yet, not just in terms of distribution, but packaging, production, songwriting, everything. It’s not quite Wolf Eyes’ albums on Sub Pop (I mean really, “Stabbed In The Face” is peerless), but it’s some quality noisy industrial. “Cut Memory” has really awesome dark noisy 4/4 beats and distorted vocals. “Verbal Hemisphere” is a dark echo-percussion-heavy instrumental. “Literacy In Opium” has fast, punchy beats, and somewhat more sung (but still monotone) vocals than usual for GA. “Exploring Skepticism” has more crushed industrial beats, and spoken vocals talking about a “love mixture”, and then speaking backwards at the end of the song. “Self Interview” has surprisingly calm guitar over a sharp drum sample, with tremolo vocals. On side B, “Endless Phonics” has a bashed trashcan-like percussion loop, harsh delayed guitars, and Genesis P-Orridge-like vocals saying something about “disjointed worship”. “Human Limbs” has a submerged techno beat and more delay/distortion-crazy vocals. “Discrete Elements” has clear organ and drum machine sounds, but not-so-clear vocals. “Sensual Movement” has crushed, almost early-IDM beats, and a lone synth whistling under the foggy vocals. “Vienna State” ends the album, a pulsy, shifty, short instrumental.

Ikonika: Aerotropolis (Hyperdub, 2013)

July 24, 2013 at 10:24 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Second full length by British dubstep/house producer Ikonika (Sara Abdel-Hamid), returning to Hyperdub after a few singles on Planet Mu and Hum + Buzz. This album takes a lot of inspiration from ’80s dance music, particularly freestyle, but I also hear some Yello in there too. Of course, the production is of-the-moment (the bass definitely sounds current, it’s clearly filtered through the current UK post-dubstep/garage scene) but the melodies and some of the synth/drum sounds are pretty retro sounding. A little bit of an 8-bit sound in there too, as is typical of her sound. “Beach Mode (Keep It Simple)” is the first single and is the only track with vocals, and to be honest I prefer the instrumental. Opener “Mise En Place” is a beatless instrumental and “Practice Beats” is a short self-explanatory sketch. “Eternal Mode” is the clearest 4/4 dance workout, with bright synths and an Italo-ish bassline. “Completion V.3” is a dark, cosmic instrumental. “Manchego” totally has Yello drums, but modern bass synths. “Lights Are Forever” has a bit of a UK garage swing to it, bright starry-eyed synths, and works up to a straight 4/4 for a few moments at its climax. “Mega Church” is a collaboration with Optimum, and is more downtempo, with rattling hi-hats and somewhat trancey synths. “Cryo” is a dark stalker-y 4/4 stomper, and “Backhand Winners” has more dark bass synth and insistent, stuttering beats. “You Won’t Find It There” is a bit brighter, and has a tiny bit of a chopped-up vocal sample. “Zen Sizzle” ends everything with more heavy kicks and neon synths, but still kind of a lo-tech ’80s vibe to it.

The Woolen Men: Dog Years LP (Dog’s Table, 2013)

July 24, 2013 at 12:18 am | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

LP of previously cassette-only tracks from this Portland indie-pop group. LP jackets are hand-assembled and glued, with cut out construction paper. A bit of an ’80s college-rock/power-pop feel to some of the songs, particularly in how catchy they are, but filtered through ’90s lo-fi. “Land Of Laughs” has bashy drums and “whoa-oh-oh” chorus vocals. “Fig Leaf” sounds like it could be a synth-less lo-fi cover of a new wave song. “MRSA” almost strikes as sounding like a poppy Clash song, with a singalong chorus of “better not get to me”. OK, the song itself doesn’t really sound like The Clash, just the singer’s vocals in the verses. “Trap Door” has a pretty straightforward groove and a constant lyrical theme of trap doors opening, and a spoken bridge where the singer talks about falling and fracturing his wrists. “Girls On The Lake” is very lo-fi and GBV-esque, but more Tobin Sprout than Robert Pollard. “Dogs” starts with some ill-connected-cable electric guitar strumming, and has a slow, steady pace and chorus vocals saying “they are the dogs”. “Wick Is Sick” starts with electric piano and bass guitar, and has a really lo-fi interpretation of a Beatles type arrangement. “West Coast” starts with a noise keyboard freakout and is a furious, almost Fall-esque ranter which bashes on for 6 minutes, with plenty of messy keyboards and guitars covered in effects. “Today” is probably the most straightforward catchy pop number here, just 2 minutes of sugary sweet garage-pop, which couldn’t possibly come close to wearing out its welcome, even if you play it multiple times in a row. “Boomerang” is so muddy you can barely make any of it out; there’s a loud guitar in the right channel, some drums bashing in the right, some bass guitar, and vocals (and harmonies) that are not easy to discern. “Donkey Island” is another 2 minute catchy garage-pop number which sounds slightly wobbly and off-center. “Two Brothers” is a little cleaner, the vocals are a little more upfront and discernable, and the instruments seem separated a bit more and it’s not as noisy. Drums are slower and relaxed, chorus is “remember always be cruel”, and the song ends with a spoken vocal, “I’m getting on a plane, I’m coming to see you, keep the door open for me.” Available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp. Woodsist released their self-titled 2012 cassette on LP this year, and I have a download promo of it, but I still haven’t gotten around to listening to it yet.

Radiator Hospital: Can You Feel My Heart Beating? 7″ EP (PRTY NGG!, 2013)

July 23, 2013 at 11:35 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Classic heart-on-sleeve noise-pop. High, thin, naive-sounding vocals, a little like the guy from the Gerbils, if anyone remembers them. Love/relationship/heartache type songs that cut to the bone. Opener “…You Call That A Kiss?” is short and fast, “Shut Up & Deal” is slower and longer, and has top-of-lungs higher pitched vocals at the end saying “do you still love him now”?, which are harmonized by vocals singing the same words. On side B, “Incept Date” is more of the same, and “City Lights” is a little ’50s-ish via Hunx/Shannon & The Clams. “Jose Chung’s “From Outer Space”” is probably the best song of the bunch; fast, short, rockin’ and sweet. I think it’s a male/female vocal duet, but they both have a similar voice. Name-your-price download from their Bandcamp, as is their entire discography.