Kassel Jaeger - Aster (Editions Mego)

A thin fog approaches, slowly obscuring horizons, allowing hints, memories, flashes and threats of drama. A range of environments develop, from a near-static floating transparency punctuated by crumbling snowflakes to an organ elegy buried 100 feet down. Padded enough for decompression, active enough for attention, detailed stereo for the headphone bonus.

Sylvain Chauveau - Post-Everything (Brocoli)

I'm liking everything he puts out. In the vein of Fennesz, Sakamoto, and of course Sylvian (kind of weird given the name nearness). Emotive use of drones, saturated noise, melody and vocals for what are finally songs.

The National - Sleep Well Beast (4AD)

It's a mostly-mellow rock album. Not usually my thing, but I keep coming back to it. They're good, resonant songs.

astrïd & Rachel Grimes - Through the Sparkle (Gizeh Records)

careful magic

Antwood - Sponsored Content (Planet Mu)

Of the moment. Builds from last year's Virtuous.scr, this time with an excess of machine-gunned bass instead of constant breaking glass (IIRC). Also significant this time around is the heavier thematic conceit woven throughout, from the titles to the painful (for me anyway) samples, to the final “human” robotic ballad juxtaposing saccharine piano-chord-over-pad progression against frenetic happycore arpeggios. On the Planet Mu press info the artist describes it as "honest, flawed, with a little humour, and slightly up its own ass." I love I.T.

Lee Gamble - Mnestic Pressure (Hyperdub)

in a few days early, idmish junglish shamer really good. I think this will make it to the end.

Lanark Artefax - Whities 011

I thought this made it here the first time around.

Well I ended up listening to it again recently and its absence is undeserved.

Great stuff.

I wonder about the phrasing of "defend DACA," used often this week and associated with a march this weekend.
I tend to prefer "defend DACA recipients" or "defend Dreamers," meaning it would be great to have something legislated rather than another flimsy executive renewal.
No, I'm not someone who argues that Trump's point around this differentiation are fair. Complete double standard, given all the executive orders.
That said, congress should act, and in that case it probably wouldn't actually be "DACA" that's defended.
Right? I of course don't know what I'm talking about.

It's wild what he was able to do as a deaf composer (as Kissin's performance of Sonata 32 closes out the new DG release in my headphones).

Today in a meeting, seemingly out of nowhere, my boss asked if taking down a Robert E. Lee statue was the same as taking down a Columbus statue.

For some stupid reason I started speaking first but was confounded a bit by my typically literal approach to the question. Of course they're not the same, but they're similar.

I guess the real question is in what ways they're similar or different.

The question was asked with the intonation that they're "not the same," (of course they're not) which I'll take to really mean "they're not similar."

While the Columbus episode was (partially) foundational in determining who and what we are today and the same cannot be said for Robert E. Lee. as a person, and despite the fact that the basic intention of each person was different and the actions they represent are different and the scope of their impact is different, to me the core similarity, in relation to the statue question, is that they (overall, in the final summation) do not represent qualities, actions or characteristics we wish to champion.

Do they have qualities? Of course.

Do these qualities sort of outweigh their faults? No.

If you take someone like Jefferson, a slave owner, do his qualities outweigh his faults in the view of (our) history? Plenty of people would say no, but I think most Americans still say yes.

When it comes to Columbus I think many of the things that were even once seen as qualities are no longer valued the same way. So the society making these determinations changes.

Anyway, we don't need statues for either, though I think the decision around Lee can be arrived at more quickly. While the offenses and impact of Columbus may be greater, Lee's position and context is clearer.

looking as though I discern among nothing

Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman - Triple Fat Lice (Stones Throw)

rap and rap and rap; this is my favorite of the lice releases

on point all the time

Rafael Anton Irisarri - The Shameless Years (Umor Rex)

quiet becomes ocean becomes power

Nadia Sirota & Liam Byrne - Donnacha Dennehy: Tessellatum (Bedroom Community)

Spiraling strings. Also comes with a cool video.

Andrea Belfi - Ore (FLOAT)

At first this sounds like it's going to be an OK release with some moody drum beats, but then things break down with reversals and intricacies and it gets really good.

Vijay Iyer Sextet - Far From Over (ECM)

great band, great music, big group

Angelo de Augustine - Swim Inside the Moon (Asthmatic Kitty)

There's a big of magic in this mood. Saw him open for the Planetarium show at the cemetery and took note to look out for this one. Glad that I did.

Pessimist - Pessimist (Blackest Ever Black)

A friend asked me what genre this was so that he could find more music like it, and I was like "well this track is kind of a hip-hop beat, I guess this might be a trip-hop track, but that last track was more of a techno track and now this one starting up is basically jungle. So I think the label is the more informative thing here." BLACKEST EVER BLACK

Which leads us to...

Second Storey - Lucid Locations (Houndstooth)

Another release melting many "rave" genres into one aesthetic/approach. This one's wonkier/funkier/brighter than the Pessimist release. Both are great. Different moods.

pure moods III

that's a lot

more's on the way

https://theintercept.com/2017/08/28/entire-families-are-being-killed-by-u-s-airstrikes-in-raqqa-syria

nobody shows up as being online

While I slowly work through a larger-than-usual list of music, I've found myself cheating my system to come back and relisten to this album before its turn. The opening Baldwin quotation sets up a context of both poetic telling and knowing and critical engagement. The music proceeds to live up to its introduction, springing from traditions of rap, hip-hop, jazz, poetry proper and poetics more broadly to think through and connect the personal and social. And it sounds great. And there's fun. get

so at the tim hecker show like 80% of the audience had left by the end
not sure how the ticketing for that worked
it was great, both the dance piece in the beginning and the live performance after
though it was too bad I had to miss milo
then went to prime and someone vomited on me

mascule fuerte

toughy macho

jocky volcan

X.Y.R. - Labyrinth (Not Not Fun Records)

d r i f t z o n e z o n e d r i f t z o n e c o s m i c z o n e d r i f t z o n e z o n e d r i f t l i f t

Tyshawn Sorey - Verisimilitude (Pi Recordings)

hmm...

I'm interested to see what comes out of the DSA convention.

Sote - Sacred Horror in Design (Opal Tapes)

Santour, setar, electronic revelations. This is so good.
I actually saw Sote live a long time ago, the first time I heard of him...
at this: https://www.kuci.org/show_feature.cgi?id=181
TBH a little overshadowed by some of the Warp all-stars that night... in any case this album is awesome. Would love to see the live version.

Ben Frost - Threshold of Faith (Mute))

Noisy landscapes with plenty of bell/metal/clay-type sounds.

Elusive - Moments (DOMEOFDOOM)

Elusive has been on a roll with strong releases, and this one stands out. Will stay in rotation awhile, particularly in the car. Harmonic elements near the Flying Lotus / Brainfeeder sphere... I can still do with less key jangling / coin jingling, but it's a great set of beats/music.

this thing

I don't really know why it's online already, but it is. It's interesting and not what I expected. Will say more about it later.
I feel everything at the same time.

this is B-S
this is B-S
this is B-S
skies are so blue
but that's not blue
bright is so bright
banana black
really speckled
Those TV people are the worst.

solange
bjork
tribe
perfume genius
purp

great release with range of sounds from dynamic compositions, noisy power, and more IDM braindancy passages all working together
- - -

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

Untold - HEK029 (Hemlock)

two tracks of that haunted futuresound

Serenus Zeitblom Oktett - Erster Teil - Zweiter Teil - Dritter Teil (Hyperdelia)

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.

Ambrose Akinmusire - A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note)

great music through a variety of moods, tempos, expression

Roscoe Mitchell - Bells for the South Side (ECM)

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.

Cornelius - Mellow Waves (Warner Music Japan)

Let me put on some sunglasses and fill my ears with stereo tremolo (or panning on an LFO, whatever).

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - On the Echoing Green (Mexican Summer)

Take master droney noise and make it pop-shoegazey, not the other way around. He should perform on episode 19.

Mike Dehnert - Providing Home (Fachwerk Records)

Even with vocals, Mike Dehnert gets to that place. Some are down low. Some pump. It all works. Fachwerk.

Fred Frith & Hans Koch - You Are Here (Intakt Records)

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

Loke Rahbek - City of Women (Editions Mego)

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.

Christopher Willits - Horizon (Ghostly International)

raft.
I'm just now learning that this album is part of this whole multichannel thing...