The Answer Is In The Beat

[PHYSICS]: Only Forever tape (Constellation Tatsu, 2015)

June 14, 2015 at 12:31 am | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

[PHYSICS]: Only Forever tape

It’s been two years since Spectramorphic Iridescence, [PHYSICS]’ debut LP on Digitalis. This new tape is less beat-driven, and closer to the cosmic/new age realm, but darker. If there’s dark ambient, why not dark new age? It’s not all dark-sounding, but there’s definitely some moments that feel like they’re summoning dark forces rather than just meditating or making pleasant background zone-out music. These tracks are all really busy, too, always swooping and transforming and ducking down one astral pathway or another. It’s like staring into a night sky and noticing that it’s alive and constantly moving, full of comets and asteroids. Up on Bandcamp.

BOAN: Mentiras LP (HoloDeck, 2015)

June 13, 2015 at 7:30 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

BOAN: Mentiras LP

BOAN (pronounced “bone”) is a new project of José Cota (SSLEEPERHOLD) and Mariana Saldaña (ex-//TENSE//), both of whom were also in Medio Mutante together. I’m only familiar with SSLEEPERHOLD solo out of all of those names, but this is definitely way brighter and poppier than the dark, lo-fi electro of his solo stuff. The vocals here seem to be spoken in a monotone rather than properly sung, but they’re still more structured as proper songs than the more poetic monologues of labelmate Marie Davidson. The songs here are pretty repetitive, and the vocals are pretty minimal and repeat the songs’ titles a lot, but the songs are just so inventive and energetic that you don’t mind endlessly repeating the words along with them. “BOAN Acid” is like their attempt at an EDM club anthem, but from a lo-fi analog perspective. Actually it sounds like late ’80s Belgian new beat more than anything else, especially with the S&M connotations to the lyrics (“I am your master”) and demands to “jack your body to the beat”. Tracks like “Freaksnake” and “Mentiras” almost resemble a less-polished minimal wave counterpart to Purity Ring, and that this group should be touring with them and winning over their audience.

German Army: In Transit (Dub Ditch Picnic, 2015)

June 13, 2015 at 6:59 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

German Army: In Transit

Mysterious lo-fi creepers German Army have released dozens of tapes since 2011, with a growing number of CD-R and LP releases popping up occasionally. This 72-minute CD is the first factory-pressed compact disc release from the group (whose members are now identified as Peter Kris and Norm Heston), and it consists of tracks from tapes on Hobo Cult, Chondritic, Balaten, & Dub Ditch Picnic, mostly from around 2012-2013. All of the tracks here explore murky Cabaret Voltaire/Residents/Suicide territory, with spooky vocals, haunted drum machines, and plenty of delay and echo whenever possible. There’s 27 tracks here and a lot of them are a minute or two long, some of them explore similar sounds. If you’re looking for something more melodic, “Alms For Arms” has a pretty nice tense atmosphere and drum machine rhythm. “Twisted Lichen” starts out with backwards vocals, then they turn into this slowed-down detached melody, along with some bizarre disconcerting sound elements which fit together loosely. “Clan Bride” is probably the noisiest track here, starting out with a subterranean drum machine rhythm and more slow vocals, and then getting drenched in layers of propane-ignited guitar. “Mirror Analyst” is basically just a different mix of “Twisted Lichen” (this one sounds a little tinnier). “Pivot” is a cool minute-long gamelan loop experiment. “Holocene Epoch” is a hypnotic, dubby techno-ish track. “Human Cow” is a short Container-like drum machine experiment. “Deep Wall” is a cool trippy track with some sort of slowed down guided meditation sample, over a loop that oddly reminds me of some of Fred Thomas’ more tape manipulative stuff. “Malaria” is another experiment placing festering noise on top of queasy, wavering tape loops and spoken vocals. “Evening Gold” has an oddly clear piano-like melody on top of weird gremlin-like vocals and smashed up sounds. “Colony” has a mutated exotica feel, sort of like that Mike Cooper album on Room40. “Journey Into Speech” stretches out to 6 1/2 minutes of distorted vocals and rumbling beats. “Transcript of Tongue” ends the disc with more slowed down speech and ominous synths. There’s way too many tracks on here to go through all of them, but this disc offers a generous sampling of German Army’s expansive repertoire of disconcerting post-industrial sludge.

Graham Repulski: Octopus Bribes cassingle (self-released, 2015)

June 13, 2015 at 3:27 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Graham Repulski: Octopus Bribes cassingle

First single from the prolific lo-fi songwriter’s upcoming album Success Racist. The A-side, as to be expected from Repulski, is mindlessly catchy lo-fi pop covered in layers of guitar fuzz, with vocals obscured just to the point beyond comprehension, but the melody is impossible to remove from your head. B-side “Zip Flag Erections” has vocals which seem to hide behind the big, slow drumbeats and guitars, but keeps coming back to the refrain “I don’t believe her.” There’s also a quieter snippet of another song tucked away at the end. Not out yet but you can hear it on Bandcamp now.

Show #293 – 6/13/15

June 13, 2015 at 2:32 pm | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

Hour 1
3:02 AM Blanck Mass ~ No Lite ~ Dumb Flesh ~ Sacred Bones
3:11 AM German Army ~ Twisted Lichen ~ In Transit ~ Dub Ditch Picnic
3:14 AM Container ~ Calibrate ~ LP [2015] ~ Spectrum Spools
3:17 AM Hudson Mohawke ~ Shadows ~ Lantern ~ Warp
3:22 AM Dead Hands On A Dead Piano ~ Jupiter ~ Walking Around ~ Placenta Recordings
3:27 AM Cathode Ray Tube ~ Autumnal Provinces (Zyxt Remix) ~ Urban Patterning ~ Component
3:34 AM AnD ~ Non Sky Signal Noise (JK Flesh Reshape) ~ AnD Rmx 02 ~ Electric Deluxe
3:41 AM Godflesh ~ Streetcleaner ~ In All Languages ~ Earache
3:47 AM µ-Ziq ~ Orange Crumble (Original) ~ mp3 ~ Soundcloud
3:55 AM BOAN ~ Freaksnake ~ Mentiras ~ Holodeck
Hour 2
4:00 AM Ken Camden ~ Asleep At The Wheel ~ Dream Memory ~ Kranky
4:07 AM Jonah Parzen-Johnson ~ I Wrote A Story About You, Without You ~ Remember ~ Primary Records
4:12 AM /f ~ osli wap ~ pq:c ~ Bandcamp
4:16 AM Infinity Frequencies ~ Together ~ Into the Light ~ Bandcamp
4:18 AM Ben Zimmerman ~ Crystal Lake ~ The Baltika Years ~ Software
4:20 AM Somec ~ MD Discount ~ Source of Uncertainty ~ Haunter Records
4:26 AM Cylob ~ Rosetta ~ Inflatable Hope ~ Power Vacuum
4:30 AM Henry Threadgill Zooid ~ Dosepic (For Cello) ~ In For A Penny, In For A Pound ~ Pi Recordings
4:46 AM Braids ~ Letting Go ~ Deep In The Iris ~ Arbutus
4:50 AM Crochetcatpause ~ Kamikaze Victory Dynamic Changes ~ Bravery Boys ~ LCM
4:54 AM Graham Repulski ~ Octopus Bribes ~ cassingle ~ self-released
4:57 AM Fred Thomas ~ Thesis (Lear) ~ All Are Saved ~ Polyvinyl
Hour 3
5:01 AM Ornette Coleman ~ The Disguise ~ Something Else! The Music of Ornette Coleman ~ Contemporary Records
5:04 AM Ornette Coleman ~ Rejoicing ~ Tomorrow is the Question! ~ Contemporary Records
5:08 AM Ornette Coleman ~ Midnight Sunrise ~ Dancing In Your Head ~ Horizon
5:12 AM Ornette Coleman Double Quartet ~ Free Jazz Part 1 ~ Free Jazz ~ Atlantic
5:34 AM Ornette Coleman ~ Home Grown ~ Body Meta ~ Artists House
5:41 AM Ornette Coleman ~ Chronology ~ The Shape of Jazz to Come ~ Atlantic
5:47 AM Ornette Coleman ~ Free ~ Change Of The Century ~ Atlantic
5:54 AM Ornette Coleman Quartet ~ Kaleidoscope ~ This Is Our Music ~ Atlantic

Brett Naucke, Quicksails & Body Morph @ Trinosophes, 6/7/15

June 8, 2015 at 12:45 am | Posted in Photos | Leave a comment

Body Morph

Quicksails

Brett Naucke

Minus9 CD release show @ Crossroads Bar & Grill, 6/6/15

June 7, 2015 at 5:15 pm | Posted in Photos | Leave a comment

flyer

Crossroads shot menu

wall art

arcade games

ceiling records

Congress

Watabou

Black Monuments

Minus9 (all the other photos I took of them were way too blurry)

Show #292 – 6/6/15

June 6, 2015 at 12:30 pm | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment

Hour 1
3:01 AM Vaadat Charigim ~ Imperia Achrona ~ Sinking As a Stone ~ Burger
3:08 AM No Joy ~ Everything New ~ More Faithful ~ Mexican Summer
3:12 AM Laetitia Sadier ~ Memories of War ~ Linear Labs: Los Angeles ~ Linear Labs
3:14 AM Sun Kil Moon ~ The Possum ~ Universal Themes ~ Caldo Verde
3:23 AM Zone Demersale ~ Navigazione Sommersa ~ Motore Primo ~ Boring Machines
3:28 AM Piper Spray ~ Krololand Again ~ Krolorog ~ Hausu Mountain
3:32 AM White Goblin ~ ico-tree cube e.g. Scythe of Light ~ PS 1-2 God Breath Cave ~ Psalmus Diuersae
3:41 AM Insecto ~ Gutam ~ Post Edit De Un Cromosoma ~ Home Assembly Music
3:47 AM Bitapart ~ Low Profile ~ Coastal Keys ~ Retro Promenade
3:51 AM Container ~ Eject ~ LP [2015] ~ Spectrum Spools
3:55 AM CDR ~ MMQL02 ~ Stay Scum ~ self-released
Hour 2
4:00 AM Wohlfeil/Pierce ~ Early Light Colors You ~ Locations No. 3: Oak Park ~ MDMCC
4:02 AM Enduser ~ M16 ~ Caustic Pulse ~ Damage
4:07 AM Larvae ~ What’s Left Of Starting Over ~ Unraveled Ears ~ Ad Noiseam
4:10 AM Slepcy ~ Flying Things ~ We Are The Newest Battle Models ~ Cock Rock Disco
4:14 AM Holly Herndon ~ Locker Leak ~ Platform ~ 4AD/RVNG Intl
4:18 AM Rone ~ Freaks ~ Creatures ~ InFine
4:23 AM Jaga Jazzist ~ Shinkansen ~ Starfire ~ Ninja Tune
4:32 AM Wohlfeil/Pierce ~ The Ohio ~ Locations No. 4: Lohioh ~ MDMCC
4:36 AM Bichkraft ~ Sweater ~ Mascot ~ Wharf Cat
4:42 AM R. Hundro ~ Wave At It ~ Invisible on Report ~ Wharf Cat
4:47 AM Circuit des Yeux ~ Do the Dishes ~ In Plain Speech ~ Thrill Jockey
4:50 AM Lydia Lunch Retrovirus ~ Tied and Twist ~ Urge To Kill ~ Widowspeak
4:54 AM Minus 9 ~ Get in the Hand Basket ~ Valley of the Sick & Stupid ~ Flying Blood
4:56 AM Downtown Boys ~ Future Police ~ Full Communism ~ Don Giovanni
Hour 3
5:00 AM Colleen ~ Soul Alphabet ~ Captain of None ~ Thrill Jockey
5:04 AM Nozinja ~ Baby Do U Feel Me ~ Nozinja Lodge ~ Warp
5:08 AM Mbongwana Star featuring Konono No. 1 ~ Malukayi ~ From Kinshasa ~ World Circuit
5:13 AM Colin Stetson/Sarah Neufeld ~ The Rest of Us ~ Never Were the Way She Was ~ Constellation
5:20 AM Huntsville ~ (ING) ~ Pond ~ Hubro
5:31 AM Triac ~ Day Two ~ Days ~ Line
5:39 AM Alessandro Bosetti & Chris Abrahams ~ Greenhouses ~ A Heart That Responds From Schooling ~ Unsounds
5:51 AM Silo Homes ~ Crippler ~ Silo Homes ~ self-released

Crush Collision 6/4/15

June 5, 2015 at 9:16 am | Posted in Crush Collision | Leave a comment

DJ Erich Automaton stopped by and we played a bunch of hardcore vinyl for 2 hours!
Hour 1
10:01 PM Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind ~ Rocky Mountains ~ The Shining soundtrack ~ Warner Bros.
10:04 PM Somatic Responses ~ Incoherent Sound Sources ~ Sinister Movements ~ Six Sixty Six Limited
10:10 PM No-Tek + Jdc ~ Notek Mafia ~ 1 ~ No-Tek Records
10:16 PM Zenith ~ Chaos Induction ~ A Journey Into My Hallucination ~ IST Records
10:21 PM Memetic ~ Femme Fatality ~ Memetic Vs. Netas ~ Bloody Fist
10:24 PM Earl Of Reformation ~ side B track 3 ~ Serial Killings Rule In The Valley Of Darkness ~ Killing Rate
10:28 PM Armaguet Nad & Angel Flo ~ Justine Your Face ~ S.O.D.O.M. 007 ~ Slaves Of Devil Our Master
10:32 PM Micropoint ~ Noise Gate ~ E-Man ~ Dead End Records
10:35 PM Stickhead ~ Slaughterhouse ~ Slaughterhouse ~ Kotzaak Unltd.
10:38 PM Traffik ~ Bloodbath ~ Full Mental Racket ~ Crapshoot
10:43 PM Folterknecht ~ untitled ~ Folterknecht ~ Seven Records
10:46 PM Overcast ~ The Only Way In ~ Skubba House ~ Statik Records
10:52 PM Heretik ~ Approach 2 Danger ~ Motherfuckin Sprayer EP ~ Genotype Recordings
10:55 PM The Kotzaak Klan ~ Powerstation Kotzaak ~ Powerstation Kotzaak ~ Kotzaak Unltd.
10:59 PM Brandon Spivey ~ Acid 1998 ~ Atomic Clock ~ Deadly Systems
Hour 2
11:04 PM DX-13 ~ Atomic Age Imagination ~ Power Surge ~ Industrial Strength
11:07 PM Lenny Dee Vs DJ Paul ~ Make It Fucking Louder ~ Round 2 ~ Rotterdam Records
11:11 PM Burned Mohoks ~ Ya Plisayu ~ split double 12″ w/ Zipperspy ~ K.Ktus Tribe Record
11:16 PM Shizuo ~ Emptiness ~ Shizuo Vs. Shizor ~ DHR
11:18 PM Shitmat ~ SHUT UP ~ Full English Breakfest ~ Planet Mu
11:21 PM Doormouse ~ side 1 track 1 ~ Distort 001 ~ Distort
11:26 PM Unibomber ~ Booty Something ~ Distort 4 ~ Distort
11:31 PM Titanium Steel ~ Paralyzed ~ Slapback ~ Mokum
11:36 PM Narcanosis ~ You Are Magnificent ~ You Are Magnificent ~ Fukem
11:39 PM DJ Chucky ~ Is Anybody Out There ~ Maddest Chik’ndom 1 ~ Cock Rock Disco
11:43 PM Minion ~ I Support Our Troops More, Because I Bought A 99 Cent Magnet. ~ Bored In The U.S.A. ~ Darkmatter Soundsystem
11:45 PM Kid Spatula ~ Hard Love ~ split 12″ w/ Jega ~ Planet Mu
11:51 PM Slepcy ~ Untitled Modular ~ We Are The Newest Battle Models ~ Cock Rock Disco
11:54 PM Bogdan Raczynski ~ side AAA track 1 ~ Alright! ~ Rephlex
11:56 PM The Tyrant ~ A Time Of Tribulation ~ Renegade Virus ~ Apocalypse Recordings