I'm going to write something falsely emotional and vaguely poetic (aka grandiose) to reinforce an online sense of community and belonging so that I can package you for advertisers. You'll be just the right demographic, historically marginal and young enough to feel the emotion, really-not-marginal enough to be ripe for new advertising.
good job
rarely does something make it through the gauntlet of appreciation, doubt and criticism so quickly, but I'm enjoying these two
two tracks of that haunted futuresound
three pieces of thoughtful, processor-engaged ensemble performance
not sure what else to say
that ra courtesy mix is great
seeking stingray kern
I'm not sure if Eater or its followers (including me) should be ashamed of how many of its headlines use the word "underground" or "secret." Somebody should be ashamed.
I was finally able to settle on a few favorites.
great music through a variety of moods, tempos, expression
Another 2-hour recording, again covering a wide range of tones on a much freer spectrum. From zoning drones to zoning freakouts to zoning interplay. Zoning.
Let me put on some sunglasses and fill my ears with stereo tremolo (or panning on an LFO, whatever).
Take master droney noise and make it pop-shoegazey, not the other way around. He should perform on episode 19.
Even with vocals, Mike Dehnert gets to that place. Some are down low. Some pump. It all works. Fachwerk.
improvised alchemy
There are 20 albums I'm listening to right now. Sometimes this habit and the processes I've set up around it are too demanding.
It was amazing. I'm going to post a couple of photos this week.
Really want to go next year.
this is great
It's hard to say what makes this better than the next noisy droney thing that's interesting to listen to it, but it's something.
raft.
I'm just now learning that this album is part of this whole multichannel thing...
[Goem's "Stud Stim" plays from the living room.]
"I don't think this is very good night time music."
"OK, I have something perfect."
what a joy this is
the following starts the great video album:
Fantastic electroacoustic violin work in 2 main parts. You can hear the processes churning. At time sounds like a daf could show up.
badass weirdo neck-tickling soundbath. don't miss
Maximalist but razor-sharp production on interesting songs and sounds. Favorite is Stolen.
The noisy, ambient, "experimental" tracks are great, and the pumping tracks are immense.
Here are two of those... don't cheat yourself:
Today’s left tends to avoid giving such definite philosophical answers, satisfied with “problematizing” and never coming to a conclusion. Generally, thinkers do this under the guise of false humility. They substitute theoretical pluralism for theoretical commitment, presenting the latter as sheer hubris.
I agree.
And I do this.
so many options for time and effort
Justin Walter - Unseen Forces (Kranky)
Wind controllers are awesome, like this music.
Roger Robinson - Dog Heart City (Jahtari)
Oh, that Jahtari sound, dubby delays and video game bleeps. Here it's met with a strong concept, observing and analyzing a dystopian world that's really not so different from our own.
Valgeir Sigurðsson - Dissonance (Bedroom Community)
Big droney string music. Think of 50 strings bowing at different speeds on the same lowish pitch. Then give it narrative drama. Then make it much better than I've just described. I'm not very good at this, so here's YouTube:
Second Woman - S/W (Spectrum Spools)
Eustis and Dietrich roll pads out in percussive glitches. Reminds me of some Mark Fell releases as well, which means this probably pummels live. A dense score of one of these tracks could make a great visual.
That Colin Stetson album was really good, but I could do without the moaning.
why does this thing generate so much amusement and pleasure?
I often read things (intangibles: values, ethics, beliefs, systems) described as "bourgeois" that could just as easily be described as "enlightenment." I suppose the easy explanation here is the historical context of one coming after another, but I also wonder if the B is too commonly used for E-based dispositions that aren't necessarily politically aligned the way B's pejorative implications might suggest.
I'm less and less able to settle on a direction.
My political affinities often get swept into declarations or political maneuvers that I can't honestly agree with, but then nothing's perfect.
I've read so many arguments and directions. Where do they meet?
Should the government manage, or should it all be decentralized?
And isn't focusing on the former really undermining the latter? meaning picking sides is really picking sides
Why waste my time trying to change things that I probably won't and that I'm not even completely sure I agree with?
Or is this spoken from a position of privilege and security? And is there anything wrong with that?
There are so many things I could be doing... and by doing I mostly mean thinking about.
"You've done it again."
Yes, it's another one.
It doesn't carry the in-the-moment political intensity of the previous, but it makes up for that with the personal.
where to go from here
There has just been so much stuff to go through, so it's taken awhile to circle around and decide on nominations, but here are some recent favorites:
“What are some of your favorite labels? What does their music sound like?” This is how one of my favorite labels sounds in 2016. I’m usually not crazy about compilations, but this one has been a pleasure. Raster-Noton delivers as usual with murky atmospheres, razor rhythms, machine funk, and floating ambiance, and the best packaging ever (really this CD is just an include on the new “source book 1.”) Looks like it has a weird little promo I can include.
New Ryuichi Sakamoto albums are always welcome. There’s probably some surrounding material I am yet to read, but the album stands firmly on its own. Sakamoto has a diverse toolbox. A simple melody on a piano transforms into a cathedral-organ overture. Electronic tones sit alongside traditional instruments. Dream-pop arpeggios follow crunching footsteps. Is that an owl, a howl, or just an electronic drone? The warm and cool circulate. This album could easily be called Neo Geo or Esperanto, but he's already used those titles.
There are a lot of droney electroacoustic could-be-soundtracks. Not all carry this much saturate-your-ear softbass. Not all combine sweet vignettes into an arching whole. Not all have this cello.
How different is one echochord release from the last? And shouldn’t we just call this subgenre Basic Channel? Different enough, and sure why not. There’s some music that gets me daydreaming about my ideal lineup for a summer desert weekend. It gets me thinking about the few vendors, the budget, the sound, and how I’m going to open the conversation with my friends to get things in motion. Echochord has the 9pm-11pm slot.
Stanko manages to be deeply emotive without threatening cringes. He's not mixed lightyears above the ensemble. The melodies are beautiful. The breakdowns are intriguing. The interplay sum is greater than its constituents. It's good.
not sure why I give myself more and more work
keep mouth shut
Visible Cloaks - Reassemblage (Rvng Intl.)
Publications have lost it for this thing. I share their infatuation. Reassemblage is a lullaby delivered through 98-degree goo, a haze of indistinct and comforting memories, accomplished with sonic precision rather than grainy reverb.
Tarkovsky Quartet - Nuit Blanche (ECM)
Couturier's group with Lechner amazes me again with a beautiful, contemplative exploration of melody and strained emotion. I would love to hear this group live.
Kassel Jaeger & Jim O'Rourke - Wakes on Cerulean (Editions Mego)
Another one of these Emego sleepers, Wakes on Cerulean quietly unfolds and drifts from a lazy river out into the ocean.
Kangding Ray - Hyper Opal Mantis (Stroboscopic Artefacts)
Kangding Ray goes off the rave deep end. Epsilon has the psytrance bass. Somebody get this man to the desert.
Sigha - Metabolism (Token)
Kangding Ray + Sigha = no more of this crunchy underproduced house for 2017. Ceramics is the bomb.
Is there any way to stop all this?
the increased military spending is really crazy
I was robbed.
how to rob
black rob
I've been working through so much that it's taken awhile to have nothing in the "maybe" queue.
Some recent highlights:
Parabolas of Neon - Lord of the Isles (Firecracker Recordings)
It's a well-executed genre excursion with some nice variety (dance-ambient-chill-etc) that I've enjoyed on repeat. The final/title track is great.
Oto Hiax (Editions Mego)
Really cool, noisy album with some nice harmonic gestures. Perhaps painstakingly constructed, but it sounds more to me like jams from some good-listener performers with some interesting material and patches lined up. Not always the most subtle ("there goes the bitcrusher"), but holds attention with its sawtooth, clattering, and sub-bass. I've been working on music with some friends lately, and I'd love to operate in the vein of this sound (we're not). Good stuff.
Sampha - Process (Young Turks)
On-point / contemporary voice-led pop production. "Like the Piano" is the sweetest. "Reverse Faults" drops the best. "Blood on Me" is my favorite.
Garth Knox & The Saltarello Trio - John Zorn: Leonard (The Book of Angels Vol. 30) (Tzadik)
This is beautifully performed and recorded music, with clear, bold melodic lines and progressions, melodies that are recognized, memorized, and hummed before the songs finish. Apparently this is the penultimate Book of Angels release. So for the expensive "here's everything package," let's hope for a nice book w/history, images, score elements, etc. and a slot for a USB stick with everything. Not a box of CDs or 8 million gram vinyl.
so I joined DSA today...
