Voigt/465: Slights Still Unspoken (Selected Recordings 1978-1979) (Mental Experience, 2017)

August 6, 2017 at 2:16 pm | Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment

Voigt/465: Slights Still Unspoken (Selected Recordings 1978-1979)

Voigt/465 were a short-lived Australian post-punk group who only recorded one album, one single, and a smattering of additional songs. This CD gathers all of the released tracks plus some unreleased ones (and the digital download adds a few more, including a Faust cover). It opens with “State”, the A-side of their single, which was a pretty solid, driving post-punk tune which got some attention from John Peel. After that, nothing about this band is remotely conventional or predictable. Rae Byrom sounds like Siouxsie but weirder, and does all sorts of strange vocal acrobatics. Songs like “Voices A Drama” start out as giddy, arty post-punk and get stranger and stranger, throwing in noise sections and getting caught in quasi-operatic minimalist cycles. The keyboards are cold and primitive-sounding, far away from the chipper organ sounds usually employed by rock bands up to that point. There’s also a heavy element of improvisation, especially during the discordant 7-minute epic “F1”. The liner notes discuss how nobody understood the band and they were completely out of sync with what was going on at the time, which is why they didn’t last too long, and the music is certainly difficult, but obviously it’s a bit easier to appreciate and admire several decades after the fact. Also, I can’t help but notice that the keyboard part during the middle of “And the Following Page”, a previously unreleased track recorded in 1978, bears a resemblance to the bridge of Soft Cell’s version of “Tainted Love”, which was recorded a few years after.

Show #406 – 8/5/17

August 5, 2017 at 2:28 pm | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

Hour 1
2:01 am Ichinen ~ “Strangely Comforting” ~ Dual Craters (new) ~ Last Drop ~ 2017
2:08 am M:I:5 ~ “track 8” ~ Maßstab 1:5 ~ Profan ~ 1997
2:14 am Zorn ~ “Multiple Choices” ~ All We Can Do Is Enjoy The Ride ~ Lux Nigra ~ 2004
2:18 am Freeform ~ “Ect” ~ Elastic Speakers ~ Worm Interface ~ 1995
2:25 am Ovuca ~ “Teddy” ~ Lactavent ~ Rephlex ~ 1999
2:27 am Paddington Breaks ~ “We Are Detatched” ~ No Snare Too Loud ~ iLL ~ 1998
2:33 am Kenny Larkin (local) ~ “Loop 2 (Luke Slater Remix)” ~ Loop 2 ~ R&S ~ 1995
2:40 am Duran Duran Duran ~ “Ralez” ~ Blow Job Breaks ~ Mutant Sniper ~ 2006
2:44 am Duran Duran Duran ~ “Marathon Man” ~ Duran (new) ~ Power Vacuum ~ 2017
2:50 am Pessimist ~ “Through the Fog” ~ Pessimist (new) ~ Blackest Ever Black ~ 2017
2:57 am Camo & Krooked ~ “Ember” ~ Mosaik (new) ~ RAM ~ 2017
Hour 2
3:02 am Venetian Snares ~ “Simple Tasks Became Unthinkable He Just Stared Into Coiled Ernie Balls Until He Ended” ~ Adult Swim Singles Program 2017 (new) ~ Adult Swim ~ 2017
3:06 am Golden Retriever ~ “Thirty-Six Stratagems” ~ Rotations (new) ~ Thrill Jockey ~ 2017
3:11 am Edgar Froese ~ “Panorphelia” ~ Aqua ~ Virgin ~ 1974
3:20 am X.Y.R. ~ “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” ~ Labyrinth (new) ~ Not Not Fun ~ 2017
3:26 am Iguana Moonlight ~ “II” ~ Wild Palms (new) ~ Not Not Fun ~ 2017
3:32 am Ben Frost ~ “Threshold of Faith” ~ Threshold of Faith (new) ~ Mute ~ 2017
3:39 am Xordox ~ “Corridor” ~ Neospection (new) ~ Editions Mego ~ 2017
3:44 am Benni ~ “Night Theme Reprise” ~ I & II (new) ~ Goner ~ 2017
3:49 am Palmbomen II ~ “Carina Sayles” ~ BIS 001-020 ~ Beats In Space ~ 2015
3:54 am Kyle Hall (local) ~ “Teacher Plant” ~ 7″ (new) ~ Wild Oats ~ 2017
3:58 am Robin Lohrey ~ “Oriole” ~ 12″ ~ Vanity Press ~ 2016
Hour 3
4:04 am Actress & London Contemporary Orchestra ~ “Audio Track 5” ~ 12″ (new) ~ Ninja Tune ~ 2017
4:10 am Ali King (local) ~ “Return” ~ 12″ (new) ~ Vanity Press ~ 2017
4:17 am Black Noi$e (local) ~ “Freaknik” ~ 12″ (new) ~ Vanity Press ~ 2017
4:22 am Spiral Tribe Sound System ~ “Sirius 23 (Edit)” ~ Sirius 23 ~ Big Life ~ 1993
4:25 am Jlin ~ “Hatshepsut” ~ Black Origami (new) ~ Planet Mu ~ 2017
4:31 am Personal FX ~ “Objects in Mirrors” ~ Young Marco: Selectors 002 ~ Dekmantel ~ 1996
4:41 am The Revolutionaries ~ “Ready To Dub” ~ Dub Out Her Blouse & Skirt Volume 1 ~ Revolutionary Sounds ~ 1979
4:44 am The Revolutionaries ~ “Murderous Dub” ~ Dub Off Her Blouse & Skirt Volume 3 ~ Revolutionary Sounds ~ 1981
4:47 am Barrington Levy ~ “Poorman Style” ~ Poorman Style ~ Clocktower ~ 1982
4:51 am Sudan Archives ~ “Goldencity” ~ Sudan Archives (new) ~ Stones Throw ~ 2017
4:54 am Avey Tare ~ “Jackson 5” ~ Eucalyptus (new) ~ Domino ~ 2017
4:58 am Raymond Scott ~ “Toy Funk” ~ Three Willow Park: Electronic Music from Inner Space, 1961-1971 ~ Basta ~ 1961-1971
Hour 4
5:01 am Andy Haas ~ “Repeating Sin” ~ Taballah II (new) ~ Resonantmusic ~ 2017
5:05 am Louis Smith ~ “Ande” ~ Here Comes Louis Smith ~ Blue Note ~ 1957
5:12 am Derek Bailey/Jamaaladeen Tacuma/Calvin Weston ~ “Nebeula” ~ Mirakle ~ Tzadik ~ 2000
5:21 am The Great Harry Hillman ~ “How to Dice An Onion” ~ Tilt (new) ~ Cuneiform ~ 2017
5:25 am PC Worship ~ “Torched” ~ Buried Wish (new) ~ Northern Spy ~ 2017
5:31 am Steve Coleman’s Natal Eclipse ~ “Dancing and Jabbing” ~ Morphogenesis (new) ~ Pi Recordings ~ 2017
5:38 am Secret Pyramid ~ “Memory Within Memory” ~ Two Shadows Collide (new) ~ Ba Da Bing ~ 2017
5:42 am Grouper ~ “Children” ~ mp3 (new) ~ Bandcamp ~ 2017
5:45 am Larkin Grimm ~ “A Perfect World” ~ Chasing An Illusion (new) ~ Northern Spy ~ 2017
5:48 am Parlor Walls ~ “Birthday” ~ Opposites (new) ~ Northern Spy ~ 2017
5:53 am Downtown Boys ~ “Because You” ~ Cost of Living (new) ~ Sub Pop ~ 2017
5:57 am John Zorn/Brian Marsella Trio ~ “Kadmiel” ~ Masada Book 2: The Book of Angels Volume 31: Buer (new) ~ Tzadik

Ichinen: Dual Craters (Last Drop Records, 2017)

August 4, 2017 at 10:44 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Ichinen: Dual Craters

Italian techno producers Roberto Bosco and Kiny teamed up to form this mysterious duo, debuting with a 12″ last year and now letting this full-length disperse into the world. This is kind of a world unto its own — it’s very atmospheric and echoey, but it’s not dub(-techno) or ambient, and it’s rarely steady enough to be techno proper. The beats are sporadic and slippery; and they feel like walking the surface of a planet that isn’t quite solid, but somehow it doesn’t need to be, because there isn’t nearly as much gravity as on earth, so you’re propelled with minimal steps. Some of the sounds seem to loop in concentric circles with others, but the tempos still make it hard to seem what direction everything’s going in. But it’s definitely going somewhere, and you feel transported. It’s soothing, eerie, and incredibly alien at the same time. “Strangely Comforting”, as one of the track titles puts it. Vladislav Delay is the only point of comparison I can really come up with. It’s just really immersive and unique and beautiful and you should listen to it.

X.Y.R.: Labyrinth LP (Not Not Fun, 2017)

August 2, 2017 at 10:51 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

X.Y.R.: Labyrinth LP

Russia’s X.Y.R. has released several tapes on labels like Singapore Sling, Constellation Tatsu, and Not Not Fun, and now the latter is the home of the project’s debut LP. The album contains six tracks of gentle, unhurried drifting, sometimes with soft vocals, and sometimes with rushing waves (or fuzzy static). It’s relaxing, but it’s also a bit lonely, and it’s not afraid to let some rough edges show. If it’s somehow possible to do yoga underwater while listening to music, this might be a good soundtrack for that.

Tobias.: Eyes In the Center (Ostgut Ton, 2017)

August 2, 2017 at 9:23 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Tobias.: Eyes In the Center

3rd solo album from Tobias Freund, who has been making techno in one form or another since the early ’90s and is now associated with the mighty Berghain club and its Ostgut Ton label. This is an album of explorations rather than straightforward club tracks. “Cr 24” is a rough, homemade electro track which takes a few seconds to boot up. “Autopoiesis” opens with scattered voices, which soon form waves and then give way to an almost footwork-sounding rhythm. “Blind Mass” is a moody piece with some breakbeats shuffling away underneath, but “Syndrome” is where we finally get to solid 4/4 beats. But even then, the claps play a sort of half-time game, making things seem to move slower than they are. “Single Minded” is another weird half-time dub-sludge creeper. “In Between” is an ambient piece which sounds like spending a night in a slightly eerie, possibly haunted, but generally safe forest. After that, we get various shades of rough electro beats surrounded by lush, spacey sounds. “Geometric” has a very tiny trace of rave synths under its crunchy beat and shadowy drifting. The clapping, sputtering “Eyes In the Center” is another highlight.

Iguana Moonlight: Wild Palms tape (Not Not Fun, 2017)

July 30, 2017 at 7:02 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Iguana Moonlight: Wild Palms tape

This enchanting tape features synth tones surrounding by lots of rushing waves and squawking seagulls. The synths sound lonely but also a tiny bit playful, especially in how some of the notes swoop a bit, and they bring to mind Fumio Miyashita’s early ’80s material. There’s nothing harsh or even really dark about this album, but somehow it doesn’t seem very new age. It doesn’t seem like meditation or healing music. It sounds like, well, being stuck on an island, and feeling both free and trapped. It’s celebratory but also a little scared. It’s fun overall, though.

The Spookfish: Black Hole (Fire Talk, 2017)

July 29, 2017 at 12:55 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The Spookfish: Black Hole

The mysterious Spookfish has been haunting the tape underground for years now, and this is his debut CD release. Detached, fragmentary electro-acoustic lo-fi pop which drifts in an out of lyrics and song structures. Three of the songs are included in two versions each; the acoustic verison of “Black Hole”, all lonesome Microphones-y strumming, chirping crickets, and bummed out Lou Barlow vocals, opens the album before segueing into the proper version of the song. Here, it ends up being a frazzled collage of woozy beats, bitcrunched explosions, and wayward drifting. The contrast provides a startling, fascinating look into the artist’s creative process. “Moon Viewing Road” is also preceded by an acoustic version, which takes the form of a dusty drone, before crunchy beats and gelatinous synths are added for the main version. Following the short acoustic ballad “Everything is Moving So Fast”, “Car Horn (Extended)” is a John Fahey-like solo acoustic journey which shows that this guy isn’t just about weird lo-fi indie pop. “Black Ghost with Red Eyes” is forest-dwelling indie folk with a hint of tape corrosion and minimal keyboards.

Show #405 – 7/29/17

July 29, 2017 at 11:51 am | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

Hour 1
2:01 am Golden Retriever ~ “A Kind of Leaving” ~ Rotations (new) ~ Thrill Jockey ~ 2017
2:08 am Ryuichi Sakamoto ~ “Andata (Oneohtrix Point Never Rework)” ~ Async Remodels (new) ~ Milan ~2017
2:13 am Ben Lukas Boysen ~ “Nocturne 4 (Tim Hecker Remix)” ~ Golden Times 1 (new) ~ Erased Tapes ~ 2017
2:17 am Cathode Ray Tube ~ “Trudge Lightly (Nick Forte Remix)” ~ Rust Remodeled (new) ~ Component ~ 2017
2:23 am Claude Speeed ~ “Fifth Fortress” ~ Infinity Ultra (new) ~ Planet Mu ~ 2017
2:30 am Ethan Sherman ~ “Keltner” ~ Building Blocks (new) ~ pfMentum ~ 2017
2:38 am His Name Is Alive (local) ~ “Happy Blues (Recloose Remix)” ~ 12″ ~ 4AD ~ 2001
2:44 am His Name Is Alive (local) ~ “Nothing Special (Hermann & Kleine Remake)” ~ 12″ ~ 4AD ~ 2001
2:48 am Avey Tare ~ “Sports in July” ~ Eucalyptus (new) ~ Domino ~ 2017
2:52 am Ichinen ~ “Be Silent and Safe” ~ Dual Craters (new) ~ Last Drop ~ 2017
Hour 2
2:59 am Orphanage (local) ~ “The Language of Missiles” ~ How Night Ends (new) ~ self-released ~ 2017
3:09 am Clarinette ~ “There’s Not a World Where I Can Talk to You” ~ The Now of Then (new) ~ Feeding Tube ~ 2017
3:30 am Eye Measure ~ “True Aloe” ~ New Atlantis Volume 1 (new) ~ New Atlantis ~ 2017
3:35 am Canada Effervescent ~ “L’Atoll Inexploré” ~ Crystalline (new) ~ Not Not Fun ~ 2017
3:37 am Rick Weaver ~ “Roy the Rodent” ~ The Secular Arm (new) ~ Hausu Mountain ~ 2017
3:39 am MimiCof ~ “Burning Lights” ~ Moon Synch (new) ~ Alien Transistor ~ 2017
3:45 am Jameszoo ~ “Flake (Frans Petter Remix)” ~ Flake EP (new) ~ Brainfeeder ~ 2017
3:49 am WWWINGS ~ “Neverland” ~ mp3 (new) ~ Bandcamp ~ 2017
3:52 am WWWINGS ft. C.Z. ~ “Misbehave” ~ mp3 (new) ~ Bandcamp ~ 2017
3:57 am Mumdance & Logos ~ “FFS” ~ 12″ (new) ~ Different Circles ~ 2017
Hour 3
4:02 am Christoph De Babalon ~ “Luxury of Sadness” ~ Grim Zenith (new) ~ V I S ~ 2017
4:08 am Fiend ~ “Bleed” ~ 16 Year Anniversary Compilation (new) ~ Darkmatter Soundsystem ~ 2017
4:13 am Metria (local) ~ “Excession 4” ~ Excession (new) ~ Void Tactical Media ~ 2017
4:21 am Mescalinum United ~ “We Have Arrived” ~ Selected Classics (Remastered 2017) ~ Planet Phuture ~ 1989
4:25 am Duran Duran Duran ~ “Pearls and Strawberries” ~ Duran (new) ~ Power Vacuum ~ 2017
4:30 am Lauer ~ “Macsat Ring Down (Lee Douglas Remix)” ~ BIS001-020 ~ Beats In Space ~ 2012
4:40 am FFF ~ “Opposing Quadrant” ~ split 12″ w/ Coco Bryce (new) ~ Myor Massiv ~ 2017
4:45 am Matheus ~ “Headshot” ~ Welcome to Camp Blood Vol. 1 (new) ~ Mobcore Chicago Records ~ 2017
4:53 am Jlin & Zora Jones ~ “Dark Matter” ~ Fractal Fantasy (new) ~ Visceral Minds 2 ~ 2017
4:56 am DJ Lag ~ “Trip to New York” ~ Trip to New York (new) ~ Soundcloud ~ 2017
Hour 4
5:02 am S. English ~ “Land Lock” ~ 12″ (new) ~ L.I.E.S. ~ 2017
5:08 am Machine Woman ~ “Camile From OHM Makes Me Feel Loved” ~ When Lobster Comes Home (new) ~ Technicolour ~ 2017
5:12 am Karen Gwyer ~ “He’s Been Teaching Me To Drive” ~ Rembo (new) ~ Don’t Be Afraid ~ 2017
5:20 am Lena Platonos ~ “Lego (Lena Willikens Remix)” ~ Sun Masks Remixes (new) ~ Dark Entries ~ 2017
5:25 am Umfang ~ “Weight” ~ Symbolic Use of Light (new) ~ Technicolour ~ 2017
5:31 am Deepchord presents Echospace (local) ~ “Ghost In the Sound [Live 10]” ~ Live in Detroit ~ Echospace [Detroit] ~ 2013
5:39 am Daniel Avery + Alessandro Cortini ~ “Sun” ~ 7″ (new) ~ self-released ~ 2017
5:44 am Landing ~ “Tape” ~ Taeppe (new) ~ Vast Harc Hues ~ 2017
5:48 am Jefre Cantu-Ledesma ~ “A Song of Summer” ~ On the Echoing Green (new) ~ Mexican Summer ~ 2017

Show #404 – 7/26/17

July 26, 2017 at 10:17 pm | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

Fill-in for Saramin. The Answer Is In The Birthday Bezoar!
Hour 1
7:00 pm The Sugarcubes ~ “Birthday” ~ 12″ ~ Elektra ~ 1988
7:04 pm Deepchord presents Echospace (local) ~ “Ghost In the Sound [Live 7]” ~ Live in Detroit ~ Echospace [Detroit] ~ 2013 (recorded live at Movement)
7:12 pm Ichinen ~ “Lander” ~ Dual Craters (new) ~ Last Drop ~ 2017
7:19 pm Umfang ~ “Wingless Victory” ~ Symbolic Use of Light (new) ~ Technicolour ~ 2017
7:24 pm Laurel Halo (local) ~ “Moontalk” ~ Dust (new) ~ Hyperdub ~ 2017
7:29 pm Raymond Scott ~ “1st Class Electronium Pt. 1” ~ Three Willow Park: Electronic Music from Inner Space, 1961-1971 ~ Basta ~ 1961-1971
7:35 pm Golden Retriever ~ “Tessellation” ~ Rotations (new) ~ Thrill Jockey ~ 2017
7:42 pm Avey Tare ~ “PJ” ~ Eucalyptus (new) ~ Domino ~ 2017
7:46 pm Andy Haas ~ “At the Desert’s Edge” ~ Taballah II (new) ~ Resonantmusic ~ 2017
7:50 pm Kelly Moran ~ “Hyacinth” ~ Bloodroot (new) ~ Telegraph Harp Records ~ 2017
7:54 pm Hauschka ~ “My Kids Live On Mars” ~ What If (new) ~ City Slang ~ 2017
Hour 2
8:00 pm Ian Hawgood ~ “Sugamo” ~ Love Retained ~ Home Normal ~ 2016
8:05 pm Jefre Cantu-Ledesma ~ “The Faun” ~ On the Echoing Green (new) ~ Mexican Summer ~ 2017
8:12 pm Ex Eye (local) ~ “Opposition/Perihelion (The Coil)” ~ Ex Eye (new) ~ Relapse ~ 2017
8:24 pm Forest Swords ~ “Arms Out” ~ Compassion (new) ~ Ninja Tune ~ 2017
8:32 pm Caracoa ~ “The Darkness is Real” ~ Darkness is Real (new) ~ Inam Records ~ 2017
8:37 pm AJ Kluth’s Aldric ~ “Bluebeard Believes” ~ Anvils & Broken Bells ~ OA2 ~ 2011
8:45 pm John Zorn/Brian Marsella Trio ~ “Parymel” ~ Masada Book 2: The Book of Angels Volume 31: Buer (new) ~ Tzadik ~ 2017
8:50 pm John Coltrane ~ “Cousin Mary” ~ Giant Steps ~ Atlantic ~ 1959
8:55 pm Steve Coleman’s Natal Eclipse ~ “Roll Under and Angles” ~ Morphogenesis (new) ~ Pi Recordings ~ 2017

Andy Haas: Taballah II (Resonantmusic, 2017)

July 23, 2017 at 9:04 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Andy Haas: Taballah II

I honestly don’t know much about Andy Haas other than that he was in Martha and the Muffins and he’s worked with several prominent downtown NYC folk. And that he also plays the didgeridoo, but not on this album. This one has saxophone and taal tarang (an electronic tabla) as well as lots of hissy, fuzzy electronic processing. The pulsating electronics remind me of Muslimgauze a bit, but the saxophone drifts off into a different space. There’s some intense sputtering and transforming with the electronic effects here, yet it doesn’t disrupt the saxophone journeying. Sort of space-age, sort of fourth-world, even a tiny bit industrial, but definitely not like anything else.

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