The Answer Is In The Beat

Vallens: Consent (Hand Drawn Dracula, 2016)

June 22, 2016 at 11:42 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Vallens: Consent

Dark dreamy indie post-punk from Toronto which seems to fit naturally on a label called Hand Drawn Dracula. Not too far from recent Chelsea Wolfe, especially the vocals, but this one tips more towards dark new wave, shoegaze, and surf rock. After opening with a spooky ambient intro, the album gets brooding but bright. It’s dark, but not oppressively gloomy. “Rosemary” has a bit of a bluesy drag to it. “Devour” is a slow, sad dream-pop burner and the melody seems like a bit of an obvious nod to the Twin Peaks theme, but it sounds so good that it doesn’t matter. “Dark Tunnel” seems like a more sullen cousin of Best Coast’s “Boyfriend”, and it’s also a highlight. “Tennessee Haze” has the most bendy twisty shoegazey guitars of the album. “Sin Son Vain” alternates between Kim Gordon-esque speak-singing and a few crashing moments of release. “Still Need Dreams” is shorter and a bit more basic, but it stresses the importance of needing dreams, ending the album on a hopeful note. Definitely an impressive debut, wonder where this group is going to go next.

Snakepiss: Knives LP (Chambray Records, 2016)

June 22, 2016 at 10:46 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Snakepiss: Knives LP

First proper LP from a mysterious Detroit artist who’s already put out a few stellar EPs on Chambray Records. This is a proper album, not a collection of tracks, and they’re all sequenced in a way that seems to tell a story, with recurring elements drifting from track to track. BPMs are listed on the back, so you can keep track of which track is which by what tempo they are. There’s some electro, some dark instrumental hip-hop, some techno, etc. A few songs on side B have female vocals and are sort of like haunted pop songs. Actually some of these tracks kind of remind me of recent Andy Stott (maybe not quite as obtuse/diseased), and the last track has a slight bit of a Burial flavor (not quite as rain-soaked). Seriously awesome, as always. Although I do have to say that I’m kind of creeped out at how much the guy on the cover looks like me when I was in college.

MV Carbon: The Sun Will Turn On You LP (Discombobulate, 2016)

June 22, 2016 at 10:43 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

MV Carbon: The Sun Will Turn On You LP

MV Carbon was half of noise duo Metalux (not sure if they’re around anymore) and she’s been doing solo stuff for at least a decade or so. Her set at Trip Metal Fest was a highlight of the weekend, and this album is similar to the music she performed. Sort of broken abstract industrial synth-pop, with sinister electronics and handmade beats which don’t follow traditional patterns. Lyrics are about dreams, catching spells, and escaping, and they’re delivered in a voice which is equally cute and creepy. This is really good and worth checking out.

Dalot: Mutogibito (n5MD, 2016)

June 22, 2016 at 10:41 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Dalot: Mutogibito

Solo project of Greek musician Maria Papadomanolaki. Sort of halfway between downtempo IDM and post-rock, with glitchy beats and ambient synths along with atmospheric guitars and some Pro-Tools-y live drums. There’s 2 4 minute ambient “Interlude Nocturne”s (which are quite chilly), but most of the rest are 7 or 8 minutes, and epically sprawl out. “Inside Visible” is a little more sinister and has some wordless ooo-ing. “Her Lullaby” is a little different, it’s only 5 minutes and she sings actual lyrics, and it’s somewhat closer to a pop song (with kind of cute melodies and some strange noise bursts looped in with the rhythm). Very much for fans of Tycho or anything on n5MD or Sun Sea Sky.

Show #347– 6/18/16

June 19, 2016 at 8:00 pm | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

Hour 1
2:02 am MV Carbon ~ “Heavy Curtains” ~ The Sun Will Turn On You (new) ~ Discombobulate ~ 2016
2:05 am Matchess ~ “Mind in Self-Estrangement (at 33)” ~ Seraphastra ~ Trouble in Mind ~ 2013
2:11 am Matchess ~ “The Rafter” ~ The Rafter (new) ~ Monofonus Press ~ 2016
2:17 am Clawed ~ “Why Don’t You Understand” ~ Rob (new) ~ Lalena ~ 2016
2:24 am bhaavitaaH bhuutasthaH ~ “Rückkopplung” ~ The Wire Tapper 40 (new) ~ The Wire magazine ~ 2016
2:29 am Moby ~ “LA4” ~ Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep. (new) ~ Self-Released ~ 2016
2:35 am Snakepiss (local) ~ “/\” ~ Knives (new) ~ Chambray Records ~ 2016
2:39 am Drexciya (local) ~ “Unknown Journey VII” ~ Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller IV ~ Clone Classic Cuts ~ released 2013
2:44 am Drexciya (local) ~ “Flying Fish” ~ Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller III ~ Clone Classic Cuts ~ released 2013
2:46 am Drexciya (local) ~ “Unknown Journey II” ~ Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller II ~ Clone Classic Cuts ~ released 2012
2:49 am Underground Resistance (local) ~ “Jupiter Jazz” ~ World 2 World ~ Underground Resistance ~ 1992
2:53 am Galaxy 2 Galaxy (local) ~ “Star Sailing” ~ Galaxy 2 Galaxy ~ Underground Resistance ~ 1993
Hour 2
3:00 am Andrés (local) ~ “New For U” ~ New For U 12″ ~ La Vida ~ 2012
3:06 am Damian Schwartz ~ “Frau Odd” ~ The Dancing Behavior (new) ~ A Harmless Deed ~ 2016
3:11 am Fumiya Tanaka ~ “Cinematicorc” ~ You Find the Key (new) ~ Perlon ~ 2016
3:20 am Matt Karmil ~ “Be Gentle” ~ ++++ (new) ~ PNN ~ 2016
3:24 am Ryan Huber ~ “Cambridge in Flames” ~ Comoros (new) ~ Inam Records ~ 2016
3:29 am Silent Harbour ~ “Descending Radius Curve” ~ Silent Harbour ~ Echocord ~ 2012
3:35 am Pär Grindvik ~ “Shine” ~ Isle of Real (new) ~ Stockholm LTD ~ 2016
3:39 am Unicorn Hard-On ~ “Florida Water” ~ Dream Machine (new) ~ untergang-institut ~ 2016
3:44 am Xeno & Oaklander ~ “Chimera” ~ Topiary (new) ~ Ghostly International ~ 2016
3:46 am Function ~ “Low Lights and Trick Mirrors” ~ Facticity (new) ~ Infrastructure ~ 2016
3:52 am UNCLE 22 ~ “LOVE” ~ The Orb And Youth Present Impossible Oddities From Underground To Overground (The Story Of WAU! Mr Modo) ~ WAU! Mr Modo ~ 1989
3:56 am Foozool ~ “Lezginka Dance Scene” ~ mp3 (new) ~ Soundcloud ~ 2016
Hour 3
4:00 am Shanti ft. Oxhy ~ “Broke In” ~ mp3 (new) ~ Soundcloud ~ 2016
4:04 am EndgamE ~ “Savage Riddim (WWWINGS Remix)” ~ mp3 (new) ~ Purple Tape Pedigree ~ 2016
4:07 am SWAN MEAT x YOSHITAKA HIKAWA ~ “BX3 HEADSPACE” ~ mp3 (new) ~ Soundcloud ~ 2016
4:10 am Chambry ~ “De Temps En Temps” ~ video (new) ~ Vimeo ~ 2016
4:13 am R Gamble ~ “Mas Torque” ~ Teeth Like Foil (new) ~ Lost Soul Enterprises ~ 2016
4:19 am AceMo & Fugitive ~ “SHOOTEM’UP” ~ mp3 (new) ~ Soundcloud ~ 2016
4:23 am DJ Rashad X DJ Phil ~ “Come Close” ~ Afterlife (new) ~ Teklife ~ 2016
4:29 am Erik Wøllo & Byron Metcalf ~ “Valley Of Spheres” ~ Earth Luminous (new) ~ Projekt ~ 2016
4:35 am Ilk ~ “Yes, Ruff!” ~ split 12″ w/ Etch (new) ~ Bun the Grid ~ 2016
4:41 am Jake Slazenger ~ “Lolly Girl” ~ mp3 ~ Soundcloud ~ 1994
4:48 am P. Morris ~ “Low” ~ Low (new) ~ Bear Club Music Group ~ 2016
4:51 am P. Morris ~ “Fell” ~ Teeth (new) ~ Bear Club Music Group ~ 2016
4:54 am Asher Levitas ~ “Blessed Mother” ~ Lit Harness (new) ~ Planet Mu ~ 2016
4:58 am ZYX ~ “Away to Freedom” ~ Trust No Woman ~ Dark Entries ~ 1981
Hour 4
5:02 am Xaõ Seffcheque ~ “Du Und Ich” ~ 12″ ~ Kess Kill ~ 1981
5:06 am Product of Reason ~ “Five” ~ Household Shocks ~ Dark Entries ~ 1980
5:09 am Linda Guilala ~ “Fobia Social II” ~ Psiconáutica (new) ~ Elefant ~ 2016
5:12 am Parlour ~ “Kármán Line” ~ Parlour (new) ~ Temporary Residence ~ 2016
5:18 am Alto! ~ “Piece Twelve” ~ LP3 (new) ~ Trouble in Mind ~ 2016
5:35 am Swans ~ “People Like Us” ~ The Glowing Man (new) ~ Young God ~ 2016
5:40 am Jambinai ~ “Echo of Creation” ~ A Hermitage (new) ~ Bella Union ~ 2016
5:44 am Super Thing (local) ~ “Pandemonium” ~ Super Thing (new) ~ Self-Released ~ 2016
5:52 am SineRider ~ “Finch” ~ Seconds Minutes (new) ~ Sun Sea Sky Productions ~ 2016
5:55 am Julianna Barwick ~ “Someway” ~ Will (new) ~ Dead Oceans ~ 2016

SineRider: Seconds Minutes (Sun Sea Sky Productions, 2016)

June 17, 2016 at 8:43 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

SineRider: Seconds Minutes

Chilled out downtempo IDM/shoegaze/post-rock similar to most of the n5MD label, or Tycho. Nice and rich and relaxing and cool yet sunny. Expansive atmospheric washes, clicky beats, sweet nostalgic melodies. Nothing that hasn’t been done before but it sounds really good. “Finch” is one of the more uptempo tracks here. “Winter Months” is slower but it has one of the more flowing beats, and also a really pretty melody which brings to mind Ulrich Schnauss. “Birdcall” is the longest track (over 7 minutes) and seems to have more involved production, making for a mini-epic finale.

Matt Karmil: ++++ (PNN, 2016)

June 17, 2016 at 7:36 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Matt Karmil: ++++

The second of two albums so far this year from an up-and-coming abstract house dude. This is very stare-into-space house, usually just repeating one brief melodic phrase and sample over a thudding beat, maybe fading something in and out, and adding effects. It can be pretty monotonous, and the opening track (which repeats the phrase “it’s not a perfect world” ad infinitum) is irritating. But when this album is on, it’s on. Or rather, it’s off; it feels detached and disconnected but still bumping along. “AF” is the most developed track, and easily the most memorable. “Be Gentle” is really good too. “Crystals” starts very quiet and still, but after several minutes it builds up to a pretty good half-asleep groove. Other tracks don’t do as much. It’s best to just sit back and let this one do its thing and not think too much about it. When it works, it works really well.

Ryan Huber: Comoros CDr (Inam Records, 2016)

June 17, 2016 at 6:55 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Ryan Huber: Comoros CDr

Doomy drones and ticking loops from the prolific Massachusetts-based CDr-slinger. This one’s actually somewhat poppy in compared to some of his other albums, at least in terms of song lengths. There’s no 20 minute slowly evolving pieces here, most of these are around 2 or 3 minutes, with only two tracks reaching the 5 minute mark. There’s a slight bit more melody to some of these tracks (not too much though), and some tricky rhythmic patterns as well. The tracks don’t flow into each other as one work, so it feels like a collection of short sketches or snapshots. “Parapet” is a cool micro-groove. “Takfir” has a cool splittery effect near the end. “Cambridge in Flames” is the most straightforward 4/4 techno track. “Trinity” is the longest and most droney/ambient track, and it sneaks some shoegazey guitar in near the end. “Vrej” is also eerie and droney, then “Saladin” is more of a Stroboscopic Artefacts-type techno strack. Available from Bandcamp.

Crush Collision 6/16/16

June 17, 2016 at 12:42 am | Posted in Crush Collision | Leave a comment

Hour 1
10:01 pm Buz Ludzha ~ “The Third Mantra”
10:05 pm Suspended in Gaffa ~ “Your Body is My Body”
10:09 pm Matt Karmil ~ “AF”
10:13 pm Ryan Huber ~ “Parapet”
10:14 pm neinzer ~ “The Fear”
10:20 pm Damian Schwartz ~ “Trophic Cascade”
10:23 pm G-Prod ~ “Atomic Creation”
10:27 pm Black Loops ~ “Cassette 2”
10:32 pm Moniker ~ “Phaze Jam”
10:37 pm Blake Baxter ~ “Acid Warp Time Travel”
10:41 pm Dva Damas ~ “Clear Cut”
10:45 pm Ellen Allien ~ “Gates of Light”
10:47 pm Booka Shade ~ “Mandarine Girl [Fakesch Remix]”
10:51 pm Octavcat ~ “Recsxif”
10:54 pm Keita Sano ~ “Mixing Error”
Hour 2
11:02 pm John Osborn & Tallmen785 ~ “Mono Core”
11:05 pm Floorplan ~ “They Can Tell”
11:10 pm Daniel Jacques ~ “The Opposite”
11:13 pm Deadboy ~ “RU4ME”
11:15 pm Chaams ~ “Angstrom Angst”
11:18 pm Ossie ~ “In a House (Dub)”
11:21 pm Distro ~ “Nothing to Prove (Instrumental)”
11:25 pm Detroit’s Filthiest ~ “Watching You (Marshall Applewhite Remake Instrumental)”
11:27 pm Detroit Grand Pubahs ~ “My Own Black Horizons (Horsemans Dub)”
11:31 pm DJ Bone ~ “Black Patterns”
11:34 pm DJ 3000 ~ “Take Me Away (Truncate Remix)”
11:39 pm Planetary Assault Systems ~ “Gated (Ben Sims Edit)”
11:41 pm Paul Mac ~ “Drum Dirt”
11:43 pm Aubrey ~ “Aqua Warrior”
11:46 pm Najem Sworb ~ “K-177”
11:50 pm Drafted ~ “Frequency Graven”
11:53 pm Yen Towers ~ “BID II (Trnch)”
11:56 pm Oliver Ho ~ “Part 4”

Scientific Sunshine: Chaarmy (self-released, 2015)

June 13, 2016 at 12:21 am | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Scientific Sunshine: Chaarmy

Detroit-area songwriter Jordan Sunshine has been writing acoustic folk-pop songs for guitar and ukulele for years, but her debut album Chaarmy (which appeared late last year) is a full immersion into futuristic lo-fi electro-pop. It’s bright and effervescent, and the music and lyrics/vocals complement each other really nicely. The beats and electronic melodies are never heavy, and they let the vocals (especially backup vocals) swim around and underneath without obscuring them. The songs sound like they’re being sung by a cartoon hero traveling to a distant galaxy, but there’s still something very down-to-earth and human about them. An incredibly sweet album which doesn’t sound like much else out there. Free to download on Bandcamp, where physical CDs are available for purchase.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.