Portugal’s Grid 707 debuts on Degenerate Trifecta with a 4-song EP of raw, analog-sounding techno, heavy on craftily-timed delay effects. “Grid 101” has some haunting, doldrum-like atmospherics but the beat drives through it all. “Wind Power” is more heavy effects-laced minimalism, with icy shattering sequences as well as a steady kick drum which sounds armed and ready. The triangle-like ringing pushes it over the top, and the acid fluctuation is just icing on the cake. “Power Grid” fittingly feels sharper and more electric, with a rippling current of acid pulsations and a few static disturbances. An “Underwater Mix” of “Grid 101” takes the same idea but appropriately adds some clattering, sweeping effects which add an aquatic feel, and cuts the juice at 4 minutes.
David Psutka, formerly known as Egyptrixx and Ceramic TL, recorded these pieces as a soundtrack for a series of Snapchat filters designed by artist Karen Vanderborght, created after she interviewed 10 senior citizens and intended to explore to potential of Augmented Reality. The compositions are all ordered by section, and they consist of 20 brief movements with full stops and starts. Yet it all plays like a continuous album rather than a series of ringtones strung together. There’s variations, with different note sequences, more sparkling effects, stranger pitches, and sometimes more lingering sensations. But they all feel like a brief plunge into a strange lavender-tinted pool, with every trip revealing different details.
New schedule starts tomorrow! This show will be heard Friday nights (Saturday mornings) at 1 AM! 1-24-21
Cleveland Eaton ~ Hamburg 302
Sivuca ~ Tunnel
Aesop Rock ~ Dog at the Door
Ecko Bazz feat. Bigga Yut ~ Tuli Banyo
Etch ~ Strange
Françoise Hardy ~ Et Même
Omara Portuondo ~ ¿Dónde Estabas Tú?
Os Mutantes ~ Bat Macumba
The B-52’s ~ Butterbean
Howlin’ Wolf ~ Riding in the Moonlight
Mamman Sani ~ Dangay Kootyo
Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin feat. Liv.e ~ Mind Right
Pursuit Grooves ~ This Concentrated
SUSS ~ Winter Light
Percussionist Jon Mueller (of Volcano Choir, Collections of Colonies of Bees, Mind Over Mirrors, and other projects) recorded this album at home using gongs and singing bowls, among other instruments. As he created these four pieces, he experimented with perception change, particularly by using different lighting conditions. He’s been doing these lighting and perception experiments since he was in college three decades ago, and doing this has had nearly hallucinatory effects, and helped him engage with his family’s past. The music itself is sparse, haunting drone that sounds like it’s emanating from a cave. It’s not unlike Thomas Köner’s gong experiments, or some of Lustmord’s more lo-fi dark ambient works. “Black Glass” is a particular highlight, establishing a drone that feels like shining, gleaming light and then striking it with sudden flares of darkness. “Ignited Hands” is shorter and more metallic, sounding like a bucket of chains being whirled around in an echo chamber, and resembling dronier Nurse With Wound, like a reduced excerpt from albums like Soliloquy for Lilith or Trippin’ Musik. “Welcome” is a more stretched out variation on the album’s techniques, and seems to be the one produced under deepest concentration, rewarding deeper listening.
Synth explorer Craig Padilla and guitarist Marvin Allen return for a sequel to their 2019 collaboration, presenting an album of lengthy pieces which reflect on the strangeness of our journey through life and the quest for friendship and compassion. Like their first album, this one mixes deep space synths (and Allen’s homemade theremin!) with spacious guitar melodies worthy of Steve Hillage or David Gilmour. There’s some longer suites here that head in a few different nebulas, particularly opener “Strange Gravity” and closer “All Around Us”, but there’s also the System 7-style techno of “The Revelation”, sort of a continuation of the more beat-driven side of their debut. “Friendship” starts off contemplative before a beatbox rhythm drifts in and it ends up turning into a sort of smoothed-out synth-funk groove for a minute. Then after some cosmic mist, an entirely different slow rhythm emerges before the track draws to a close. The duo keep things moving in different directions instead of just focusing on one idea and zoning out, and it keeps their work fresh and unpredictable.
Composed by pianist Christopher Parker and lyricist Kelley Hurt, No Tears Suite was written about the Little Rock Nine and the battle for desegregation in public schools during the 1950s. Musically, it’s gorgeous, flowing jazz with spoken narration telling the story on the opening overture. “To Be a Kid” is a truly joyous instrumental piece, meant to express the wonders of childhood. “Roll Call (Canon)” is a more somber piece with another monologue, but one with a positive outcome, as it details the successful lives of the Little Rock Nine. “Don’t Cry (Warrior’s Song)” is much more swinging, and Hurt sings a few bold, encouraging verses. “Crisis” is a brief free jazz interlude, and “Jubilate” is a triumphant conclusion. Even though this album is about a very serious subject and a particularly turbulent chapter of American history, it’s ultimately a story full of hope, and the music is appropriately strong and uplifting.
Part of the online collective No Agreements, Material Girl patches together genres and moods on this inventive, masterful debut album. Every unexpected segue, beat flip, and effect takes the narrative in another direction, and it all feels mysterious but inviting. “Flood” is the woozy centerpiece, slowly fading in strings and horns before a druggy sample (“I’m so fucked up”) precedes a bit lifted from an SWV slow jam. Then it switches to an absolutely haunting beat built around Linda Perhacs’ “Chimacum Rain”, laced with Dilla sirens, and the lyrics are delivered from the edge of panic. Just an overall chilling moment, and one that cements this album as something powerful and touching. “Funeral Parade of Roses” plays more with sounds and textures, from the abrasive sax squeals to the glitchy beat vibrations, before a brief, off-the-cuff verse reflects on life and death. Then looped sighs melt into ’90s ambient guitars and then the beat blasts back with a smooth sax solo and some half-dissolved words repeating in the back of your head. While there’s some recurring elements, most of the tracks flow through different sounds without returning to them, but nothing sounds random or out of place. It’s all very deliberate and meaningful, and it’s uplifting and resonant even if it sounds gloomy and lost. Seriously beautiful work.
1-17-21
AceMoMA ~ Sky Trax
Anz ~ Rave Casual
Y U QT ~ Fort Wibbler
Jasmine Infiniti ~ Downhill
Dogpatrol ~ Sepia Story
Heavenly ~ Trophy Girlfriend
Group Rhoda ~ Alibi
Loraine James ~ 31st Dec 2020 (1)
Ian William Craig & Daniel Lentz ~ Fragrance
MC Yallah ~ Ndi Mukazi (Jay Glass Dubs Version)
Nihiloxica ~ Ding Ding
Gerald Cleaver ~ Signs I
brin ~ Glidewear
Julia Holter ~ The Weather
Celeste Lehr’s live electronics project Argiflex has been amalgamating various styles and aesthetics for over a decade. There’s a bit of a DIY noise scene anarchy to what she does, but it’s clearly inspired by dance music culture more than anything else. ∆Orb is her latest album, and it’s a fantastic set of tightly controlled yet chaotic compositions filled with expansive, atmospheric synths and crowd-moving rhythms. A track like “PURE FLATLANDS” is an excellent example of how her tracks are so transporting. It starts out with 4/4 beats, then acid lines and trancey pads build and become sharper and more ecstatic. There’s a breakdown with a friendly, MIDI-sounding slap bassline, then the atmospheric synths creep in again. Some screeching noises seep in, and then some absolutely crushing Amen breaks take over, and it’s just incredibly raw and exciting. Just the entire way she builds up these dream worlds and then smashes these heavy breakbeats on them and switches back to something more precious and delicate, it’s such a perfect release, like just being pent up with stress and then just screaming your guts out. But also besides that, it sounds absolutely beautiful. Also, it ends with a Primus cover/remix which ends up working way better than the idea sounds on paper.
v/a: MARBLE BAR – PANDEMANIA RELIEF (AN EMPLOYEE BENEFIT COMPILATION)
Marble Bar quickly became one of Detroit’s best venues for dance music after it opened in 2015. I can’t even count how many amazing DJs and performers I’ve seen there: Jeff Mills, Tony Allen, Josey Rebelle, Lone, LTJ Bukem, Titonton Duvanté, AceMo, Color Plus… it’s just the place to be whenever something’s happening there. Of course the venue has been closed since the pandemic started, so they’ve started a label and released an employee benefit compilation featuring dozens of artists, from Detroit and abroad, who have played there. Much of it is techno or house, of course, but there’s a few tracks from other genres. Luke Vibert dons his Amen Andrews moniker for the Jetsons-sampling “riotously rhapsodic rhythms”, which is an absolute blockbuster, like most of his jungle material. I missed him the last time he played at the bar because my car was about to die and I had to drive home and get it repaired the next day. Tracks by hometown legends like Andrés, DJ Minx, Hotwaxx Hale, and Terrence Parker are Detroit house at its most sublime. Anja Schneider’s “Hometown” brings the dark tunnel rave vibes, and producers like DJ T-1000 and Norm Talley similarly get down to business. Ataxia and Mister Joshooa sample Q-Tip’s guest appearance on the Beastie Boys’ “Get It Together” for a cheeky breakbeat funk track. The Brian Kage track is a bit more hands-in-the-air. Chuck Daniels’ “Traffic” turns blaring car horns into techno sirens. Ellen Allien’s “Gender Fluid” is one of the hardest tracks she’s made since the ’90s. Juju & Jordash bring a taste of their live performances with the astoundingly gorgeous “de school”. Rebecca Goldberg’s track is rougher, tenser, and more on edge, and Terrence Dixon works in somewhat of an “Art of Stalking” mode but glances toward another galaxy. Oh, and the indispensable Todd Osborn closes out the track listing. This album isn’t quite a substitute for dancing under a revolving mirrorball skull in an extended boxcar tent, but it’s a great way to support Detroit’s own mini-Fabric, and it’s an excellent stash of fresh tracks for any stuck-at-home DJ.
The Answer Is In The Beat 