New Music: Colleen, Softwar

Colleen - Sun Against My Eyes (Leaf 2007)

Colleen - Les Ondes Silencieuses / Leaf

Ahhhh, Colleen, always coming round when I need her most. Everyone Alive Wants Answers came along on one of those starving post-graduation days where Taco Bell was a luxury; I was browsing Boomkat and applying online for a job at Mellow Mushroom (or something equally as dubious). The Golden Morning Breaks created a surreal French country village in my mind that was turning over space and time with too much ease. Les Ondes Silencieuses rides in quietly on spring winds carrying unseen misfortune. Colleen somehow always imposes her music at memorable times. Call it a mystery of the universe or simply coincidence but Les Ondes Silencieuses is here and I couldn't be more involved.

Why so interested? Yeah, I do hear alot of music on a daily basis, but what makes a particular record stick? In this case, Les Ondes Silencieuses is a distinct shift in sound from the previous two full-lengths; Colleen is all grown up, eschewing with the music boxes for serious instrumental archaeology. This album features only five promiment instruments, all decidedly retro: viola da gamba, spinet, guitar, clarinet, crystal glasses. A stripped down approach for an artist already dedicated to minimalism and space inbetween sounds. The result is a rich pallette of old-world sounds, the viola da gamba, the seven-string ancestor of the cello, deserving particular praise. It particularly works with Colleen's new affinity for chiarroscurro as opposed to Impressionism, less looping and now more akin to chamber music echoing out of a magical bottle, sound perfectly preserved from some medieval hillside convent also inhabited by the likes of Fursaxa, Kuupuu, and Josephine Foster.

"This Place In Times" sets the table with gentle, punctuated swells introducing the lush, regal sounds of the viola da gamba. "Le Labrinthe" is a chiming, meditative duet mostly between guitar and the spinet, a kind of small harpischord, which combine to paint the warm glow of a chalette on a cold, rainy evening. "Sun Against My Eyes" would fit right in on one of my very favorite records, Do Make Say Think's Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn. Its all snowflake delicacy, soothing sounds like a homecooked meal setting your tastebuds alight, unlocking so many good memories. Also, there's a definite nautical point to be made, songs like "Echoes & Coral" and "Sea Of Tranquillity" unfurl rickety old maritime culture, cured meats and sleeping in the hull and Captain's Logs. "Le Bateau", which means small ship in French, closes out the album viola da gamba proving itself as one of the most incredible instruments I've ever heard, like if the cello always gave soggy eyed monologues.

So have I mentioned the viola da gamba? If it were a person I'd pledge myself forever. Les Ondes Silencieuses is the most mature effort yet from Colleen. Not that the tiny orchestras of the previous two records weren't fully cooked, but this long gaze towards chamber music is certainly growth, Colleen stepping out fearlessly onto previously untouched lands, wielding the power to shape a world in her image.



Softwar - The Softwar (Digitalis 2007)

Softwar - S/T / Digitalis

I've gotta admit, I really like the new Kings Of Leon. Its spacious and clean and at times like what New Weird America would sound like gone arena-sized. Because Of The Times is just that, a product of its time, at a point where everything is so referential and only one degree apart. Thank you, Google. Thank you, Myspace. We are seriously getting too good at information grabbing and the ability to create instant culture just a blog site away. This Kings Of Leon could be Comets On Fire playing it straight or Wooden Wand if only knew his capability to take over the world. Just accept it, this is the world we live in, so lets all give thanks to the psych folk deities from the Jewelled Antler Collective for one of the records of the year.

Thats right. Softwar comes bearing the emblazoned mark of Jewelled Antler, the same folks associated with Skygreen Leopards, Thuja, Blithe Sons, etc.; in this particular case the line-up consists of major guru, Loren Chasse (Thuja, Blithe Sons, Kyrgyz), Christine Boeppel (Whysp, Skygreen Leopards), with Kerry McLaughlin and Geoff Koops of Franciscan Hobbies. Lots of star qualities here, and its ridiculous I even know who these people are but never underestimate the power of a good search. So travelling a billion miles an hour, this transcontinental root has burrowed miles and miles below the surface just to come tap my soul. Softwar's debut record is the brightest flower in a full-bloomed psych folk field already populated with copious beauty.

The album splits its ten tracks between coronating corporeal folliage and floating soft prayers into the night sky. "Psychic Shake" and "Hagoo (The Victory Over Moods)" are dense pieces with all the clangor and crash you'd expect from Thuja but this time with a more discernable form. Both of these tracks, as does most of the album, features the spellbinding vocal talents of Kerry McLaughlin. Its really amazing how the mood is so similiar to Finnish stuff like Islaja or Kuupuu, despite time and place somehow these artists connect to these California forest-dwellers. "The Softwar" is a faerie dance spell, McLaughlin's vocals hovering overhead, asking you the tough questions about life and then giving you the answers! There's healing power in this music, a waffing haze of mana leading you down the most golden of all roads. "Earthen Volley" and "Soft Love" show a dedication to tiny, delicate melody perfectly exemplified by artists on Japan's Noble label. "Immul: The Children's Crusade" and "Prui" are the longest tracks here with the latter clocking in at a modest nine minutes. As a result of the length these songs are given proper room to breathe, stretching out in a million directions like the thickest of canopies.

Its this seemless combination of all the good in the world that makes Softwar's debut such a fascinating album, stitching together so many things that make sense into an always rewarding listen. There's so much good sub-underground tape stuff out there right now and I'm barely keeping up. This Softwar record is a great example of the wealth of musical greatness being churned out on a daily basis. Thats right. I'm a critic and I've got a smile on my face, but that makes me more of a fan doesn't it? Its 2007, y'all, we've only got five years left until Quetzecoatl's return so lets get past the headnod and fully appreciate God-sent genius when it confronts us.

New Music: No Age, Raccoo-oo-oon

I've never been one to stoop to "the dog ate my homework" lows but in this case I'm prepared to take the incomplete, if you would be so generous. My Raccoo-oo-oon review disappeared earlier this evening in a freak power outage, such things happen in the ghetto. But with the best of intentions I share with you this exquisite diamond of a song, Black Branches, from Raccoo-oo-oon's upcoming full length, Behold Secret Kingdom. Its full of racket like the angry forest at night. Look for a proper LP release of this soon on Night People, and in the meantime buy buy buy everything you can from this wonderful DIY label run by Raccoo-oo-oon's Shawn Reed.




No Age - Everybody's Down (Fat Cat 2007)

No Age - Weirdo Rippers / Fat Cat

Being a child of the internet has its perks! Sure I waste alot of time on tentative relationships but all the constant scouring yields results. Lately, like once a week, I've found some bundle of joy delivered straight to my hard drive. Easily thrills? Yeah, maybe, but the timing has been spot on. Panda Bear and Times New Viking brought it at the first turn of spring, spraying sunshine all over the place; in the car, on the porch, situation by situation these timely interventions have been just right, just what I need. This week's speedy delivery is from LA dudes, No Age. No Age plays a big part in the whole Smell scene, by now a fairly well-known quantity in the underground for all the right reasons. Bands like No Age, Mika Miko, Silver Daggers, Abe Vigoda, and many others from the same locale are working hard to restore your faith in rock music. Weirdo Rippers is full-length collection of No Age's most golden tracks, wrapped tight like dynamite and ready to explode upon play.

If only you could see me smiling rainbows right now! No Age is definitely lo-fi, all the cracks and distortion sounding bad in all the right ways. This duo, featuring one dude from the sadly short-lived Wives, are a rarity these days, not even trying to make it seem like they're having fun; this is all full-blooded honesty and, I'll be damned, a genuinely fun rock record in an age where people are turning more and more to electro for their thrills. Much like Times New Viking's wonderfully naive Presents The Paisley Reich, the recording quality should perk the ears of old timers still lamenting the glory days of Husker Du and Guided By Voices. But mostly I think No Age would form a Rock-N-Roll Express fan favorite tagteam with Parts & Labor, as both groups are equally adept at mixing sugar-rush punk pop with bright electronics.

"Loosen This Job" is the best summation of No Age, maybe thats a little too concise but the song brims with distortion, feedback, noise, or whatever (!) providing a warm palette for campfire drums and wonderful lyrics about how "Night time is the right time" and "Its colder in your house than you think / Its colder in your bones" echoing exactly how I feel every day after an eight-hour work day. This song speaks directly to me, whether intentional or not, but I hear it loud and clear and the most important thing is that it lets me cast away all the unwelcomed shit that I deal with during the work day. "Everybody's Down" is on a similiar frown-destroying tip; it's a punk gem like the best Punk-O-Rama song ever, like this makes me hop around like I did when I was fourteen years old and first heard NOFX or Pulley or some shit. Its a simple, guiltless pop song, all anthemic with huge singalongs like "Every soul in every town's got me goin ooooo-ahhhh-ooooo". "My Life's Alright With You" may be one of the best mixtape songs ever written simply for the title alone. Things start off pensively among swathes of keyboard and faraway guitars, total fuzzed out beach-cruising pop hooks and a swinging guitar solo to get all the kids gyrating.

This is the top of the mountain. I hope my excitement about this band is translating because I am doing double dutch with my shadow totally beside myself. Expect to hear alot more from these guys closer to the release date of June 11th when Weirdo Rippers is released on the always respectable Fat Cat. Keep in mind No Age hadn't released a single recording until March of this year, simultaneously unleasing five very limited vinyl releases. We're all new to this then so get on it and enjoy all the vitality radiating from this amazing band.

New Music: True Primes, Mammatus

True Primes - We Have Won (Locust 2007)

True Primes - We Have Won / Locust

"Shambolic" is an under-used term in the American language. Of course the British use it properly, it is their language after all. For example: "Liverpool's defense was utterly shambolic on the night". Its all a shambles, a total mess, not really functioning like it should. We get so used to things functioning like way they should. Often times concision becomes too expected in music as well, even supposed surprises fall within the spectrum of expectation. Everything comes so totally stylized nowadays, even the truest of black metal bands adhere to a narrow form and yeah, that Prurient record is really brutal but thats what I expected. We Have Won, the first proper release from this Brooklyn duo, almost sounds like a total accident, songs slowly soldiering on, the drums at times kinda off, dark turns coming out of nowhere, not just challenging typical forms but conceptions of what "released" music should sound like.

Alot of music is amorphous, totally capable of flipping the script, and I'm not arguing against Kid606-like curveballs but even sometimes even the deftest maneuvers come off contrived. True Primes don't have any tricks. If anything the band sounds like a bird learning how to fly. Certain parts sound out of place or incomplete to my overlearned ear. Its all endearingly raw, coming off more spontaneous than jazz dudes diving into impenetrable theory. These songs are strung together by feeling, sounding more like the perfect practice sesh caught on tape than anything at all premeditated.

The title track has a listening-in feel, like hearing your neighbor's band practice next door. Tentative interplay between guitar and drums with slight humming sounds like maybe we started listening too soon or they started the tape too soon or something. Its all kinda uneasy hearing these two musicians find an understanding. The floating, intimate vocals of Rolyn Hu and chaotic musical underbelly provided in part by Che Chin reminding me alot of Jandek's classic, "Nancy Sings". "In The Surf" starts off like a sloppy beach party beat, everyone dancing in stop-motion, the drums persisting ever more erratic as it fights against waves of ominous synth. Here once again is the wonderful interplay between Hu and Chin, this time Hu's vocals taking on some Yoko Ono-type theatrics, and near the seven minute mark morphing into what the Magik Markers might sound like on a particularly good Valentine's Day. "13 Houses" is another loosely strung gem and showcases True Primes' penchant for pop experimentation. Hu's processed vocals sound otherworldly along a bed of warm electronics and that slow, unsteady beat that by this point is totally welcomed, like a good friend or a strong liquor shot on a cold day. "We Have Won (Reprise)" closes the record nicely, a delicate number that brings to mind Galaxie 500 at their best.

So its nice to think this is all accidental, amateurish stuff, and hopefully it is, but the True Prime's We Have Won asks a good many questions about listener assumptions. These songs wander with purpose, finding incredible heights in the awkward, fresh outta the box feeling of being in a new band, and its fun watching them find their feet, always stepping in the direction of something great. Also, its worth it to note Che Chen is the founder of the O'Sirhan Sirhan zine and Rolyn Hu curates Brooklyn's Glassland Gallery, a definite hotspot for artland vortex activities.





Mammatus - The Changing Wind (Holy Mountain 2007)

Mammatus - The Coast Explodes / Holy Mountain

"Behold the power of my wizard staff!"? God, how did I get here? Maybe it was the exposure to mind-expanding visions of alternate worlds, from Legend to He-Man, at a time when such odd things wedge themselves in deep, dark corners of the brain, only to come flooding back in adolescence and adulthood. I still get hit with an odd wave of attraction to comic book stores and the World of Warcraft because these things strike deep chords. Its all idealized, yeah, Brody from Mallrats embodies a worthy rolemodel in my mind, and I know its just a way of prolonging childhood, but geeking out is a true link to childish enthusiasm, a vital trait typically ground into submission by the weight of the world.

Mammatus is a band keeping it real. Live footage of the band could easily be settled in a northern California commune circa 1970, the band clad in trippy robes, donned only when the moon is right to conjure the right spirits. But this is the here and now, Mammatus claim Corralitos, CA as home, a metropolis of 2,500 people located in progressive Santa Cruz County, a place where marijuana is virtually decriminalized. Despite sounding like a mystical beast, the band's name actually refers to mammatus clouds, breathtaking monster cloud formation often appearing after tornadoes, looking like a celestial battleground protruding into the earthly realm.

The Coast Explodes is a panegyric to the sea. Recorded in the last throes of summer 2006 after a lengthy US tour, this record is Mammatus recharging their collective battery, jump-starting their souls in the spiritual homeland, delivering a sonic homage to God's mighty ocean. "Dragon of the Deep Pt. 3" opens the record with a twelve minute jam, burning at both ends with the rugged groove of the first six minutes or so, dual guitar leads riding a thick, precise Can-like bass groove. This track brings to mind a good many reference points; Sabbath, Hawkwind, Sleep, Molly Hatchet, all the sleeveless rock-n-roll glory is present here. Vocals kick in almost ten minutes deep, some whirlpool wizard rising from the depths to speak directly with a ghostly full moon. "Pierce the Darkness" exhibits the band's tightness, sounding like Soft Machine sitting around the desert with Matt Pike, the song eventually giving way once more to skyward looking twin guitar solos, this time evoking the warm washes of Growing with the slight twist of Slash's windswept solo in "November Rain". "The Changing Wind" is there suddenly, taking you to a peephole deep within a coastal cave. Druidly vocals echo off cavernous walls, somewhere a fire is burning, druids dancing ceremoniously around the flame, complete with their own master flutist, the meeting ending abruptly by an invasion of sea lions. The title track wraps up the record, another twelve minute behemoth, dirging heavier than anything else on the album, veering into Sleep-like inertia, slowly unfolding with the certainty of colliding glaciers.

Be sure to catch this band of marauding rock-n-roll explorers on tour this spring with Acid Mothers Temple. I caught the show in Asheville with both bands in majestic form. Watch out for the wizard staff!! And also be wary of Acid Mothers' ability to totally alter your outlook on life. Go see, hear, and feel this stuff live! You can be the rocky California shore to Mammatus' crashing waves of sound.

New Music: Adult., Dan Deacon

Adult. - I Feel Worse When I'm With You (Thrill Jockey 2007)

Adult. - Why Bother? / Thrill Jockey

So its Easter Sunday and I'm sitting here at the computer stuck in an internet-induced malaise, my stomach devoid of the wonderful down-home cooking my folks are dishing out just down the road. I won't be starving for long, just until I can finish this review for Adult's newest. This temporary hunger strike is supposed to get me into a certain mindframe conducive to fully experiencing Adult., I really wanna get up against their brand of blackened electro-punk and exchange knowing glances. I wanna dance because I have to, because the music demands it, overriding any reservations I have about throwing a fit in a public place.

I've been with Adult. with a minute now, first running across Anxiety Always as a wide-eyed freshman thumbing thru the WUSC music library, that album along with the Vanishing's Still Life's Are Falling soundtracking an especially awesome Halloween where I dressed up like a straightedger and made people really uneasy. Having released their first 12" in 1998, Adult. has been at it for a while, always existing smartly at the moment when punk splintered. Post-punk? Check. Industrial? Yeah. Goth? Kind of. These are a few of my favorite things when done right and Adult. manages to be all at once. But don't knitpick, over-intellectualizing sub-genres is sooo 2004. Adult. is a tight package navigating a black sea of now quite divisive musical cliques, they're capable of being loved equally by fans across the spectrum, from Nine Inch Nails to Prurient, Adult. will elbow, kick, and stomp a hole thru your playlists.

Adult. has always specialized in making black hearts beat. Alot of criticism splits hairs about the group's shifting sound but Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus have been stomping down the same twisted metal highway the entire time. Sam Consiglio or not, things aren't much different. Adult. has a fierce dedication to its craft; whether the record is debated as more electronic or less electronic, the duo has always aimed to make you move with panic attack fervor; the end result is similar whether its four-on-the-floor drum machine beatsss or an emphasis on scuzzy bass guitar thudding.

Why Bother? is yet another nod towards the shadows. Check their myspace for visual queues and clues about the outlook of the album. Its all playful doom and gloom. Sure its dark and moody and all but its really self-aware too. Not to say thats a fault, if they were this purely vitriolic it'd be too good to be true. Motivations aside, Adult. can still kick you square in the crotch. "I Feel Worse (When I'm With You)" is like throwing knives at your S.O. because he left the toilet seat down again and totally missed the target. Thats it, the final straw. Check the cheeky vid for this song on the Youtube front. I'm on this audio/visual tangent because how the song is presented visually can't help but shape criticism, these songs with vids as kind of focal point for us long-winded but short on inspiration blogosphere critics. "The Importance of Being Folk" is a suite of three ambient soundscaping type tracks, short and horizontal, broken up throughout the album, but presented visually to tell a creepy backwoods story with cryptic supernatural happenings. Overall, Why Bother? boasts the band's most acrid electro work to date, whether in grating synth stabs or noisy driving machine beats. Miller's basswork is also stellar, sounding like how a concrete block feels, heavy and something you don't want connecting with your head. And of course, Nicola Kuperus is in fine howling form, crying bloody murder over spilt milk and certainly being the opposite of a cliche. Punks, goths, rivetheads, noise nerds, electro enthusiasts, they all bow down to worship at Kuperus' shitkicking boots.

By now you should know Adult. Take away with you this nugget of wisdom: Adult. is gonna be that band in like ten years (if we're all still here) that people will look back on as being essential. All the microtrends invented by people on message boards will be eaten alive by even more bullshit ephemeral scenes of people pretending that wearing their underwear on their head is the cool thing to do. And it may seem like the thing to do but only for a minute. You'll wake up with your briefs on your head and be a total outcast. Adult. is a band built on strong foundations, embodying many good things like all the bastard children of punk, evolved and fully realized by the duo of Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus. This is one for the time capsule.





Dan Deacon - The Crystal Cat (Carpark 2007)

Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings / Carpark

I can't get enough Dan Deacon. Dan Deacon. Dan Deacon. Dan Deacon. See? Say that over and over again. Its fun! Thats life thru Dan Deacon's duct-taped glasses, little pixie sticks of fun grow everywhere. Pick them and eat them and get at it. You're only as young as you feel and thanx to Mr. Dan Deacon I'm feeling like eight years old right now. Its Friday night, I got new comix and Dad brought home pizza, things in my simple little world are a-okay. This burst of childhood exhuberance comes courtesy of Dan Deacon's new record, Spiderman of the Rings, out on Carpark May 8th. Its all suicide snowcones and monster trucks, a record of electronic whimsy, sugar-rush giddiness straight to the dome. I just snagged this yesterday and I can't stop bouncing off the walls. If only I had one of those toy basketball hoops in my bedroom. I'd be tearing that shit up right now.

Its impossible not to associate Deacon's music with a feel good childhood vibe. Dude has put out a record called Porky Pig. There you go. Deacon also counts Spiderman as a main influence, not only for the cartoony garishness but especially for Spidey's famous maxim: "With great power comes great responsibility". Kinda gets you all sniffly huh? I think Deacon's music is a large laser machette fighting against a mostly dour culture that tells people to grow up too fast. And somehow its caught up in this potential movement or maybe just coincidence of bands being tagged as "future shock", in reference to Alvin Toffler's 1970 cult sociology hit that warned of the ever-increasing grip technology has on our lives and how the constant accelerating speed of life will lead to total information overload, causing "shattering stress and disorientation" in much of society. I'm not sure its a cure, but Deacon's music is a well-intentioned treatment of pure lasertag love, surely meant to make us jump up and down like kids at play, kool-aid moustaches and all.

See also: Ecstatic Sunshine, Ponytail, DAT Politics, o.lamm, and Grabba Grabba Tape for more pure feeling generators, functioning in the same manner as Mr. Deacon with hopped-up geeked-out rainbow brite jams.

Deacon went to grad school at Purchase College where he was all about electro-acoustic and computer music studies, and Spiderman of the Rings is an exercise in academic electro tomfoolery. Academic as in your wacky English TA that wore goofy glasses and awful sweaters, eyes glazed, living in the wonderful postponed adolescence of academia. In other words, this is all about ideals and being, yes, idealistic about the kind of music that can change someone's general outlook, especially in the live-setting where Deacon's performances are legendarily sweaty and spontaneously combustible. Every show wants to become a huge "Funzone", which from what I've heard about Wham City, the live-in residence throwing shows, art bashes, etc. in Baltimore, the Funzone ideal was actually realized, putting theory to practice (as much as anyone can).

The twelve-minute track, "Wham City", is a sonic mission statement with huge gang vocals like a chorus of teddy bears chanting about this magical glowing castle with a fountain of gold and the sickest cartoon family band of all-time, the Gummi Bears, the Smurfs, motherfucking Shirttails, all jamming out. "Woody Woodpecker" also contributes to the Saturday Morning feel, with, you guessed it, a song based on that laugh, underlined by casio beats and blissful sinewaves. "The Crystal Cat" is my favorite track, hop along to the sound of Surf Cats, a powerhouse song featuring Deacon's talent for vocal processing, sounding like the most rock-n-roll chipmunk ever. "Okie Dokie" and "Trippy Green Skull" sound like futuristic hokey pokey throwdowns, you and your friends wylin' out in somebody's impossibly sweet treehouse. "Snake Mistakes" features a bouncey bassline and "I know, I know, I know" vocal stickiness, catching in your ear like moments of Beck's finer work, definitely leaning towards that easy-going Mellowgold vibe.

Do you still have an imagination? For real, Dan Deacon is like a Peter Pan for our generation. Let it all loose, guilt-free from looking like a spazz because here cool is measured in how much you boogie oogie. Its not overstatement to say Spiderman of the Rings is like going to Showbiz once a year, it carries an electric excitement and the need to just let it all go and hop around like a goofy toddler. Its smart, its fun, its a faceplant into your birthday cake. Dan Deacon, totally bringing the birthday party to full effect.

New Music: Zodiacs, Kavinsky, Der Teenage Panzerkorps

Zodiacs - Messin Up (Holy Mountain 2007)

Zodiacs - Gone / Holy Mountain

I've never been a fan of the desert. I could never connect with my grandfather's love of old west shoot-em-up's, and I always wondered why Spike didn't get just get smart and find himself a comfortable suburban doghouse. Growing up in South Carolina, the desert may as well have been outer space. There was no tangible connection, and despite never having been to the Himalayas either, there seemed to be something more to other settings, something alot less boring than ghost towns and bandits. Becoming a man, though, setting out on my own into the world, I finally got the appeal. One day you wake up fuzzyheaded and more than a little surprised to see you've been stranded deep inside this perilous game we call "life". Much like the loner anti-heroes of the Old West, you've gotta make your own way.

Riding in on hot summer wind, we have Zodiacs, three rough-n-tumble bunkhouse brawlers here to drink your beer and steal your women. These dudes also do time in Hush Arbors, Sunburned Hand, and WW&VV;, three key elements of that New Weird America trainwreck. I hate the hoopla over "movements, especially in today's fad-a-minute climate, but I do feel New Weird America is quantifiable, evident here in the burly sludge jams of Gone. Over the course of these four tracks, spanning forty-three minutes, Zodiacs extend a solid hand towards psychedelic rock oblivion. Its altogether a more focused affair than their other projects, showcasing the power of guitar, bass, drums, and most importantly, feedback, to possibly one day defend the Planet Earth from alien invasion.

"Born Free" is a nice welcome to the record. Thick guitar feedback pushing and pulling you, the slow-burning groove of the bassline cementing you in place. To listen closely to this song is like trying to keep the tides from changing with your bare hands. "Messin Up" starts off with a winding, patient guitar solo that would make Eric Clapton cry himself to sleep at night. Its got this outlaw blues feel, whether camping under the stars in 1889 or 1989, its connected to the timeless primal nature of the desert. "Get Off/Come Together" reminds me of Acid Mothers Temple at their single-minded best, its a proper psych rock freakout, taking no prisoners in its search for the sound of the cosmos. Its tough meat to gnaw, but rewarding to say the least. Play this for Burning Man's Weekend Warriors; see how soon they start to roam free, following the Flight of the Eagle as their souls have been set ablaze by the awesome power of Zodiacs.

So now I finally understand the appeal of scorched earth, how guys like Zodiacs can totally rule it. Gone is the aural equivalent of talking the talk AND walking the walk. Its like rolling up on a windswept town, the streets deserted and all the door locked. Its about all the maverick shit I used to think was hokey. In life you've gotta make power moves, take the girl and the money but always maintain a sense of honor.




Kavinsky - Dead Cruiser (Record Makers 2007)

Kavinsky - 1986 EP / Record Makers

Even critics have soft spots. I know I write about Finnish psych folk and other "difficult" music but I'm still buzzing from !!!'s Myth Takes. Those long nights keep on rolling, especially now that the weather down here in Cap City is conducive to porch life, the kind of mellowgold living when there's no excuse not to drink early and often.

So in celebratory spirit, announcing the arrival of spring and the breaking of winter's chains, here is a new EP from undead French playboy, Kavinsky. Raised from the dead by the current technicolor tide of French electro streaming from the Ed Banger and Kitsune camps, Kavinsky is here to bring the party 1986-style to all the potentially saddest nights out in the entire world. If reports are to be believed, Kavinsky bit it nearly twenty years ago in a gnarly wreck. Having totally destroyed his rare Ferrari, Kavinsky was nowhere to be found at the scene of the accident. Kept alive by the sheer power of the finest cocaine and a love for Giorgio Moroder, Kavinsky lived on, only to surface when the time was right. That time is now, post-trendy 80's worship be damned, 1986 is a synthtastic masterpiece.

Following up last year's deft but somewhat raw Teddy Boy EP, this new five-track offering is a gift from Jan Hammer himself, a blessing from the Great Keyboard in the sky, all white ties and 80's decadence. "Dead Cruiser" is bursting with laserbeam synth work, beefing up new wave explorations until the sheer size of sound can go toe-to-toe with the like of Justice. "Grand Canyon" could have scored the crowning film achievement of Jean-Claude Van Damme, a version of Bloodsport with the emotional depth of Hamlet. It seems like Sebastian is holding all the cards right now and he checks in with a sleek remix of Teddy Boy's "Testarossa Autodrive", speeding around hairpin turns in the glitz and glammer of Monaco.

Added this to your "hot night out!!" I-Tunes playlist. You may be partying in a mid-sized southern city but be assured the night will take on a posh vibe. No matter where you are, the jaguar instinct of fast cars and even faster living may usurp your soul. 1986 brings the brashly-boasted party of the mid-80's to the decidedly referential days of '07.




Der Teenage Panzerkorps - Nameless Diseases (Siltbreeze 2007)

Der Teenage Panzerkorps - Harmful Emotions / Siltbreeze

Seems like my reviews this week have been all about time machines, tripping the multiple contingencies of time and space. The music of Der Teenage Panzer Unit (Der TPK, for short) imagines if Himmler would have fronted a punk band. Its a smart maneuver given all the trappings that go with even the smallest hints of Nazism. Its amazing that this type of stunt can fly without mass outrage but such is the interpetive leeway given to art. It seems to me the band's image is more about the danger of nations and group-think mentality that, yes, even finds its way into punk rock.

Specific details about Der TPK are clouded. Context clues lead to an association with the psych-folk purveyors of Jeweled Antler Collective. In fact, enigmatic frontman, Edmund Xavier, is rumored to be Skygreen Leopard's member, Glenn Donaldson. This record's presence on the Siltbreeze label sheds further light on the band's intentions; Siltbreeze has a racism-free track record releasing crucial early material from the Dead C, Charalambides, Ashtray Navigations, and others. So, just to assure you one more time, this is far from Screwdriver. What Der TPK does is take the driving nihilism of early punk and twists it into a blackened war machine wrapped in an evil Third Reich aesthetic that we've all been drilled to despise.

Now that all the idealistic worries have been settled, I can tell you the reasons why you've gotta get your hands on Der TPK's first LP, limited to five-hundred copies on wax. Harmful Emotions is a top-notch punk record, way way smarter than anything today sporting spikes and studs. The recording is excellent, capable of fooling even the most astute punk vinyl fiend into thinking that he may have let one slip through the cracks. There's plenty of lo-fi racket; the murky recording convincing in its authenticity, and the disembodied Germanic vocal diatribes adding to the already heavy atmosphere. All tracks typically cut off around two minutes like any self-aware punk song should. Despite the band's best efforts to evoke tidy fascism, hints of kraut rock and black metal seep through. Okay...so maybe that is still a nod to Aryanism and I'm sorry for doubting how deep and wide this idea actually goes. This is one of the smartest "punk" records in ages, and without the internet's information-grabbing powers, Der TPK's aesthetic would be totally impenetrable.

New Music: Fursaxa, Wolf & Cub, Christa Pfangen

Fursaxa - Alone In The Dark Wood (Eclipse 2007)

Fursaxa - Alone In The Dark Wood / Eclipse

Music, at its very best, should be a vehicle to another place. Like a beam of pure information expanding your senses, informing them of this new surrounding, sight, sound, smell, wholly convincing in its realness. There's a million angles to take when reviewing a record. I tend to always spout off about location, certain sounds evoking Finland, having my morning coffee, floating through space, or whatever; the point is I like music to vividly construct a scene, to set entirely fabricated worlds in motion. So hopefully now you can understand my joy in discovering a new Fursaxa record. Its not easy keeping up with the world of handpainted cd-r's and Geocities homepages but apparently Alone In The Dark Woods is out on LP through Eclipse Records, to be released later this year on CD by All Tomorrow's Parties (or ATP).

If you're not already filled in on Fursaxa (aka Tara Burke), its a long, winding road but lets get you up to speed. It'd be easy to lump Fursaxa in with the New Weird America crowd, but the spirits that Burke channels exist on a different plane, freakier and folkier than where Devendra Banhartt dwells, and more medieval than Joanna Newsom. Its this kind of 12th century world where nature worship is a very big thing, most likely because its a tangible religion. Sitting by the stream at night, you can see the water nymphs sparkling just below the water's placid surface. It really is that intense. The most effective instrument here is Tara Burke's voice, echoing the same sadness as Nico, but instead of Chelsea Girl, its more like Benedictine Girl. Often being looped many times over, her vocals combine in different timbres to resemble Mass being chanted by a large congregation. Churches do exist in Fursaxa's world, as places full of reverance and that weird, chilling sensation you get when inside such monolithic structures.



Its amazing how Fursaxa always creates a wardrobe effect. Open the doors and step inside, follow that voice deeper and deeper into another world. Burke uses her voice brilliantly to propel her songs, deceptively simple instrumentation combines with cavernous, swelling chants to overwhelming effect. Its a feature of Fursaxa that I think Burke is conscious of, the seventeen second "Intro" serves to sweep you along into receptiveness. The first half of the record is especially funereal, culminating in the title track's black forest feel, disembodied voices echoing through the trees as a lone traveler plucks away nervously around the fire. "Nawne Ye" is the sound of a pagan harvest ceremony, invoking earth-bound spirits to insure good crops and prosperity. "In The Hollow Mink Shoal" begins as a sweet lullaby only to be swallow by quickly rising guitar, sounding almost celebratory. This is a familiar pattern of Fursaxa albums; Burke always mires things in darkness before delivering us with cleansing white magic.

Alone In The Dark Woods is a memorable entry into Fursaxa's already deep discography, and its no surprise she is championed by the highly reputable likes of Thurston Moore and Makoto Kawabata. Burke is a true visionairy, decidely single-minded and legitimately ancient, with determination to forge her own sound. This is timeless music offering the purest possible sense of escape to far away places in time and space.




Wolf & Cub - Steal Their Gold (4AD 2007)

Wolf & Cub - Vessels / 4AD

Ok, I've gotta admit this one caught me off-guard. Life is hard and you can't hear everything, not even the truest Audiversitarian. History shows that Wolf bands are good. The cover art is of this hash party full of all sorts of oddities. Firmly convinced, I played this for the first time at this record store where I work and for the duration of the album kept getting backhanded by all the rock-n-roll theatrics, all the smart tricks of the trade, that I was constantly made to pronounce to my coworker incomprehensibly dudetastic statements like, "Man..this is real rock-n-roll right here!!". This Australian group may be their country's best rock export since AC/DC...and blame it on my southern heritage but AC/DC are true r'n'r greats. Thats Wolf & Cub's trick, to be totally amorphous, cleverly picking through all that is good in rock music and sprinkling bits here and there to create a sound as much apart of the past as it is of the future.

Title track,"Vessels", plunges you in deep right away, plowing ahead with decadent swagger, riffing long and hard like the Stooges circa Funhouse. "This Mess" would be a choice single, stomping akin to Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" but with way more muscle, eventually sporting a burly lead guitar veering into rock god territory, as much devoted to the MC5 as it is to Molly Hatchet. Tracks like "Rozalia Bizarre" and "Conundrum" are awash in heavy feedback and psychedelic intentions; these tracks showing that Wolf & Cub are equally adept at jamming out into krauty oblivion, and based on their dexterity here I'd like for these guys to extend themselves a bit more into the ten minute realm. Singer/lone guitarist, Joel Byrne, is a more than adequate frontman whose vocal style falls somewhere between Iggy Pop and Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie on the wonderful but semi-forgotten record, XTRMNTR. Theres a definite dance undercurrent to all this rock-n-roll fervor, a track like "March of the Clouds" would be well-suited for remix action from someone like the Presets. Some consider it heresy to combine rock and dance but we must keep forging forward, potential pitfalls and all.

Wolf & Cub's music is a rare beast, as strong as it is smart. The influences are there to see but never easily pinned. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that this music perfectly combines all the right ingredients from the past thirty years of rock history, broken down and reassembled into a coherent sound, existing inside of an ever-shifting but believable framework of reference points. So raise your fist for rock-n-roll, Vessels may be the cream of '07.




Christa Pfangen - Today (Die Schachtel 2007)

Christa Pfangen - Watch Me Getting Back The End / Die Schachtel

Sorry for the shoddy representation of the album cover but there are some things even Google can't do. But I'm not too surprised, especially when general consensus of this group leans heavily on words like "enigmatic", "improvisational", and the dreaded "unclassifiable". However, it is certain that Christa Pfangen is the female Italian duo of Andrea Belfi and Mattia Coletti, and NOT the actual Christa Pfangen (better known to us as Nico). Further investigation reveals a whole new world of Italian experimental music. Aside from knowing Larsen and Ovo, I have to admit complete ignorance of Italy's avant garde scene. Die Schachtel seems to be the place, though, a label with a solid ideological base; "Die Schachtel" apparently being a metaphor for, amongst other things, the conceptual and creative space occupied by both composers and publishers of music.

You can throw alot of terms at Christa Pfangen but none of them truly stick. Watch Me Getting Back The End will be attractive to fans of Animal Collective's type of playful abstraction, the tricky technical wizardry of Battles, or Sigur Ros's post-rock soundscapes. More specifically, this duo creates electro-acoustic alchemy with an improvisational feel. Despite the improv tag, Christa Pfangen manages to be quite fluid, employing treated voice to smooth things over, to add a touch of human warmth, although proceedings rarely veer into the red, avoiding becoming too skronky or wanky. "Today" is a song of soft edges and watercolor sensibilities, two voices interlocking in harmony as guitar and drum turn tricks in the distance. The drumming here is exceptional, sometimes free jazz kit work and at other times, like on "Showing You How A Soft Beat Works As Well", settling into a surprisingly deliberate breakbeat.

For all their experimentation, Christa Pfangen makes surprisingly pleasant music. There's peace made between guitar and drum interplay, hugged by rich electronic washes and gentle voices bereft of words. Watch Me Getting Back The End has alot of potential appeal, especially to the internet-seekers here in the States. And while I'd love to see these Italian musicians get their due, lets try to avoid making Italo electro-acoustic avant garde another passing blogosphere trend.

New Music: !!!, Damero, BPitch Control Camping Vol. 3

!!! - Must Be The Moon (Warp 2007)

!!! - Myth Takes / Warp

The other day I got the disturbing news that some friends had just purchased a robot for their home. Sure, it cleans the floor, it's entertainment for guests, but it could very well choke you to death while you sleep. Have they not seen Terminator? It's clear where this leads!!! We live in mythical times; the last hundred years or so have been all eggshells and humanity working hard not to fluff its lines. We are always living history and it's important to keep in mind how all this bullshit may affect the people of the future. With Myth Takes, !!! is set on crafting a utopian state where we will all be excellent to one another; the otherwise uptight will dance freely until sunrise and the only crime will be acting a square. This set of ten songs connects to form a raging party monster of an album, and once listened, all converts will emerge into the world with their eyes truly opened, charged with issuing the word to all non-believers.

I can speak to the transformative power of Myth Takes. Blasting "Must Be The Moon" post-work is a recipe for danger. Its 2am and I don't know how many shots I've done but I do know they've all been different liquors. Such is the way of riding the snake and it's soooo easy to get lost in these perpetual party jams, tweaked and measured to perfection. As compared to their prior two full-lengths, Myth Takes feels more like a full realization of !!!'s sound. I loved Louden Up Now but it lost the plot at points, but even the longer tracks here ("Heart of Hearts", "Bend Over Beethoven") are more concise and keep jabbing you right between the eyes until the very end. Some of the versatility has to do with John XI stepping up on vocal duties, off-setting Nic Offer's close-talking street smarts with a debonair soul treatment that falls somewhere between Teddy Pendergrass and Prince. "A New Name" is a jittery dance-punk classic, creating a nervous vibe that for some reason reminds me of Ray Parker Jr's Ghostbusters song hyping the part where the boys in beige roll up on the Staypuff Marshmellow Man.

"Heart Of Hearts" has been going around the internets for a minute now and its certainly the album's centerpiece and the best song !!! has written to date. Its the essence of dance music, distilled and bottled, for whenever you want to pop the top on a ridiculous evening. But what about the guy that once told the president to suck his fucking dick? Don't worry, Myth Takes finds Nic Offer in usual rare form, getting the party started when everyone else is still nervously avoiding eye contact. On the title cut, Offer imparts, "Sometimes it's really just like the movies / Sometimes you just stay home and watch movies", amid sha-sha-sha-doobies and twangy dustbowl guitars. It's a cheeky way to start the record, surprisingly brief at less than three minutes, a song to silence all the haters. "All My Heroes Are Weirdos" is the "Pardon My Freedom" of this record, on the political tip but much more subtle, begging the question, "Why should we talk about what should be / When we could talk about what could be", decrying the fact that the politicians in this country, specifically the weak-kneed liberal variety, keep dropping the ball, and more importantly don't even have someone you'd want to carry the rock when it matters most.

So Myth Takes...what does that mean anyhow? !!! are really into open-ended meaning. I mean, I could sit around with a few friends and riff on this band for a good hour. That's the vital thing, !!! creates talking points in the face of micro-genre trends and up-to-the-second indie rock news tickers. They're ultimately debatable, possessing the timeless blend of musical innovation and aesthetical ambiguity that makes a band truly mythical.



Damero - Passage To Silence (ft. Apparat) (BPitch Control 2007)

Damero - Happy In Grey / BPitch Control

I wish I had a girlfriend that listened to Damero. I think that would be perfect, throwing on Happy In Grey on a rainy day, making some hot tea, a Bergman film shifting silently in the background. That's ideal, though, having anyone at all to enjoy this record alongside you. Damero's debut long-player is one for the happily isolated, those who can find warmth in melancholy, and self-satisfaction where others can only find loneliness. It walks a grey line, in between action and inaction, homing in on the minutiae of every day life.

Damero's story is an interesting one. Working as BPitch Control's promotions arm, Damero (aka Marit Posch) quietly went about her business recording at home on her laptop. That is until lightning struck and Ellen Allen heard her material and the rest is history. With help from friends Henri Hagenow, Apparat, Zander VT, and others, Happy In Grey is an expertly-crafted album, shimmering with complex feminine charm. "Mope" is the lead track and no doubt may perk a few ears in the Grey's Anatomy camp. Its the kind of plain-spoken, moodlit electro-pop that could reach a wider audience in a perfect world. It seems teaming up with Apparat is a smart move these days; his collaboration with Ellen Allien (Orchestra of Bubbles) was one of the best electro records of 2006, and he brings robust, grainy ambience to "Passage To Silence", a song celebrating such a simplistic notion as the beauty of sound. "Gerstern Morgen", produced with Nevin Peak, is another outright winner, with a lazy day guitar lick merging with glitchy production on this beautiful number sung in German.

Happy In Grey is an interesting addition to the already strong BPitch Control catalog. Interesting in that its one of the few records on BPitch not meant for the dancefloor. Still, it fits the label's aesthetic of moody, minimal electronic work, but hopefully it won't be pigeonholed because of the label it finds itself on. All things perfect, this record will be found by the right people and will fit nicely alongside other essential bedroom electronica.



Various Artists - Camping Vol. 3 (BPitch Control 2007)

Ellen Allien & Apparat - Red Planets / BPitch Control

It's been a strange, perilous trip coming back around to electronic music. I spent my high school years as a hopeless europhile, convinced that my American sensibilities were somehow inferior to those "across the pond". I flirted with DJ'ing, pledged allegiance to the Ministry of Sound, and even owned some Kikwearz. But that's before I got the joke, the unseen danger of culture, how eventually it all becomes a walking parody of itself. So I buried my past never to look back.

Eventually I exhausted all the possibilities. Music directing painted me jaded and I needed something new, something not rock. Thats when Ellen Allien came into my life; Berlinette hit me like a ton of chrome bricks and I returned to the dark side. Further investigation into the BPitch catalog uncovered Modeselektor, Smash TV, and Apparat; three rather different types of electronic artist, at least to my virgin ears that had for too long been blasted by bass, guitar, and drums.

So here I am, in too deep, a slave to Beatport and about to drop serious dosh on a laptop. BPitch is still here with me, demanding I cop at least one song from everything they release. This is the third installment of the label-wide Camping compilation. It functions like all good compilations should, providing newbies with something to go on, as well as giving those in the know a heads up about new material. The compact disc version of Camping is certainly a teaser, like you just know theres no way that Paul Kalkbrenner track is only 4 1/2 minutes. And assuredly, to get the full-length track you have to wait on the forthcoming Camping 12" series or snatch the songs from your favorite mp3 vendor.

Marketing strategies aside, this is a wonderful introduction to the sleek, smart electro practitioners of the Berlin-based BPitch Control. Label-founder Ellen Allien joins forces once again with Apparat to create another sweeping epic, "Red Planets", continuing their stellar work from last year's Orchestra of Bubbles. Paul Kalkbrenner has been a monolithic master as of late; "Der Sennat" is as deep as it is wide, propelling big room techno into something smarter than bucka-bah builds. Its grandeios in all the right ways. Staying on the minimal side of things, Larsson takes us to a cyberpunk mecca with "Off Voices". Seriously, this dude always manages to make that wonderfully dark, propulsive sound that I imagine would be perfect for Berlin in January.

As popular as minimal techno is at the moment, Bpitch's roster has much more on offer. Feadz, maybe more widely known as Uffie's DJ/producer, swings a concrete block of hard Detroit techno, laser-zapping us all into oblivion. Modeselektor are still on that other kryptonite, that of the eurocrunk variety, with a space-age ragga jam. Tomas Andersson is perhaps the most prolific Bpitch artist, always hard to peg, and the weirdo-funk of "Go To Disco" is no exception, with cracked-out vocoder and a devil on your shoulder telling you that the disco is the place to be for romance! As for returning techno romance to your life, look for further than the BPitch Control crew.

New Music: Tim Kinsella, Daisuke Miyatani, DJ Mehdi

Tim Kinsella - 10 Strange Friends and Friendly Strangers (I Had An Accident 2007)

Tim Kinsella - Field Recordings of Dreams / I Had An Accident

You think you know Tim Kinsella? You have no idea! Actually, its not all that drastic but Field Recordings of Dreams is an incredible artistic expansion. I've heard alot of criticism that Kinsella has gotten stale, and in all truthiness that is a fair observation, especially after nearly twenty years in the van, but Kinsella's status as elder indie statesman doesn't mean that the well is dry. Wrestling himself away from the confines of Joan of Arc and Make Believe, Kinsella has crafted an album founded on the separation of music and voice; a record that succeeds in splitting the Kinsella aesthetic in two, songs with music lack vocal narrative and the spoken word pieces are devoid of anything but poetic language. I've always been interested in Tim Kinsella's lyrical content, probably because its so opaque. Theres only so much to grab onto. Thats not a negative criticism but freeing the words from structured songs allows for more time to develop a depth of meaning. On "Ten Strange Friends and Friendly Strangers", Kinsella asserts that "words are boxes and words are boxcutters", and, indeed, words can be used to construct boxes that trap meaning, but words can also be used to free meaning, to flesh out the things we are thinking into some palpable form. That could be what he means or it could simply be my interpretation; thats the beauty of such ambiguity. Tim Kinsella is still very concerned with unknowables. Conspiracy theories and the secrets of the universe are pondered with due dilligence, especially on the lengthy, thirty-six minute album closer, "Depths of Field", in which Kinsella explores the microcosm of ballpark politics, a world in which I lived from ages six to sixteen. The Little League social strata is a world unto itself, and Kinsella depicts it with astounding accuracy. From the concession stand social scene to Fingerbang Creek, a lawless place of adolescent sexual discovery and initiation into what Kinsella calls "the pubescent illuminati", every detail is spot-on. Its easy to place myself in the kid's predicament, hopelessly stranded on the mound due to the abscence of a key pitcher or at least kids who could put the ball across the plate. Out of his element, the protagonist is isolated in front of everyone, walking in run after run, throwing wildly, and even hitting a couple opposing batters. Stuck and humiliated, I can imagine my dad stomping down the bleachers in the face of jeering spectators, both of the opposition and those supposedly on our side. With his boy on the brink of utter humiliation, the father here galantly, cluelessly attempts to stop "the whole ghastly scene". This is a truly affecting piece of spoken poetry, one that deserves airtime on something like This American Life. Yeah, theres music on display here too, and it is great and all, but Kinsella's word work is truly magical. Musically, Field Recordings of Dreams is sprawling but easily digested in one sitting. There are elements of Joan of Arc in Kinsella's guitar work but he has taken his electronic game up a step, creating sound collage along the lines of Black Dice but with a more human touch. If this solo record is any indication, Tim Kinsella is far from tapped; he will keep creating and exploring, being uncompromising and sometimes opaque, but thats all apart of the charm.





Daisuke Miyatani - Old Tape (Ahornfelder 2007)

Daisuke Miyatani - Diario / Ahornfelder

Having recently seen the film Cafe Lumiere, its hard not to draw parallels between Tadanobu Asano's character, Hajime, and the real-life Daisuke Miyatani. Hajime works in a small bookstore, sitting there absorbed in his thoughts until he can ride the train around Tokyo, capturing the clatter of subway stations and rumbling of passing railcars. Like the fictional Hajime, Daisuke Miyatani is concerned with small moments, the every day things that we take for granted in the hectic sprint of modern living. Its easy to get swept along, to overlook the importance of taking a purposeful breather and collecting oneself, and in those moments it takes an artist like Miyatani to help us work out the knots. Daisuke lives on the small island of Awaji, a place most Japanese zip through on bridges and cross-island expressways linking Honshu to Shikoku. Despite the presence of the planet's longest bridge (the Akashi Kaikyo), Miyatani's Diario is an open book, detailing the idea that, if you really want it to, the world can cease to exist. Most of these pieces feel extremely isolated, just the artist and his setting, making music from the heart; minimal guitar coalescing with found sounds, digital electronics, and that wonderful, child-like sound of xylophone. On "Rain Melodies" and "Water Lights", Miyatani deftly sets the scene of an isolated beach at sundown, the tide lapping the shore as an old wooden boat thwacks against the dock. "Old Tape" is a song of shining minimalism, making me want to scoop up everyone and everything important to me and hold it close. "Summer Child" evokes the mellowgold days of youth, penetrating electronic washes mixing with guitar and cicadas to conceive a pastoral childhood. This truly is healing music, a record for your comfort zone, whatever that may be.





DJ Mehdi - Lucky Boy (Surkin Remix) (Ed Banger 2007)

DJ Mehdi - Lucky Girl EP / Ed Banger

This here is the new remix EP from DJ Mehdi, who comes riding atop a mountain of cred. A long-time fixture of the Parisian electro scene, Medhi dropped a full-length on Ed Banger late last year and is an integral figure in the current French new dance boom, along with all the other neon light illuminaries from the like-minded Kitsune and Institube labels. Mehdi describes his sound as 21st century breakdance music, and its not hard to imagine a cybernetic pop-n-lock routine with B-bots inexhaustibly spinning around on their metallic domes. All four tracks here are hot fire, each one strong enough to be a choice single on its own. "Lucky Girl" features Mehdi's wife, Fafi, on vocals, riding a throwback synth groove like a futuristic diva. "Lucky Boy" is given two interpretations; the Outlines Remix is cheeky and soulful, bringing to mind Jamie Liddell and his ability to totally reimagine classic R&B. Surkin, who's been on a real winning streak lately, drops a break-heavy burner that wouldn't sound out of place on Homework. Speaking of Daft Punk, the god-like Thomas Bangalter checks in with a true millennial anthem. "Signature" is just the kind of surging, blissful techno that is so grand, so epic, that its worthy of scoring the last great party of the last night on Earth. With bangers abound, this remix record is a must have for anyone looking to properly rock a party.

New Music: Yuksek, Distance, Lovepump United 7" Series Vol. One

Yuksek - Little Dirty Trip (Relish 2007)

Yuksek - Composer EP - Relish

MySpace used to be an exciting place. In those heady post-Friendster days, each new friend request held promise; people were people, not spambots, and the musical universe was seemingly free of towny bar bands looking to tally another hipster so that by osmosis they would seem more with it. So it was refreshing to be added the other day by this industrious young Frenchman, Yuksek, obviously out there grinding hard on the internet. About halfway through "Little Dirty Trip," I clicked "open new tab" so that I could add the song to my profile and STILL KEEP LISTENING. Turns out that Yuksek is a member of France's new foreign legion, a fresh breed of producer looking to make the waters fun once again, clearing out all the debris that for too long has littered the dance music scene with boring ten-minute debris and "take you on a journey" pretension. Don't get me wrong, there's a place for Villalobosian psychedelia but if you want to really get me up then stop that five-minute build and give it to me now now now. Yuksek does just that on this four-song EP featuring two originals and two remixes. "Composer" is muscular and sleek, definitely springing from Justice's heavy metal mentality, but it takes Institubes soldier, Surkin, to fully articulate the song's potential to grate and scrape its way into your heart. "Little Dirty Trip" is a real burner and could be polarizing in the way that "Mandarine Girl" and "Waters of Nazareth" have either created converts or birthed enemies, changing minds or sending purists running back to their stale, cheezball anthems or minimal wanking. Check the remix, too, from yet another Frenchman, Vicarious Bliss; it has more tricks than the original and really is like rubbing shoulders with sunshine. Imagine Rick James jamming with New Order, taking any sterility out of new wave and infusing it with cocaine-fueled fierceness. So there it is, Mr. Smooth House Man. The line has been drawn. Do you want to rock crowds or bore them into submission? Yuksek and his kind are coming up from behind.





Distance - Traffic (Planet Mu 2007)

Distance - My Demons - Planet Mu

The future is bleak, my friends. Global warming and Islamic fundamentalism are threatening humanity's ascension to a Type One Civilization. Theoretical physicist, Michio Kaku, gives us a 50/50 chance to escape the dark ages, but is a dystopian future all we can hope for? Take your pick: Mad Max's future-primitive existence, Snow Crash's hyper-commercialized suburban sprawl, Orwellian totalitarianism; it's all about pessimism. The church of dubstep is equally insistent on blowing out humanity's barely burning flame. Like fellow scientists Burial and Kode9, Distance creates an aural cyberpunk aesthetic. "Night Vision" is a fitting opener, dropping you trapdoor-style into murky sewers teeming with failed biological experiments. "Traffic" roars like a biomechanical mutant charging at full speed, and I really wish I had a song like it back in high school to soundtrack my Unreal Tournament killing sprees. Unlike other dubstep DJs, Distance has shunned grime MC's in favor of being totally instrumental. It's a smart move, getting away from the streets of 2007 in favor of urban explorations circa 2027. Yeah, words can paint pictures, but not always correct ones, and shedding the constraints of language allows My Demons to spread its chrome wings and deliver a cohesive vision. So lock this in a time capsule with climate change studies and a photo of Kim-Jong Il so that future people can say, "Damn, how did they not see it coming?"





Various Artists - 7" Series Volume One (Lovepump United 2006)

Crack Und Ultra Excema - Arbeit - Lovepump United

Check AIDS Wolf, half-naked and mouths agape, their minds duly blown by this four band, 2x7" compilation. Functioning as the NATO of noise rock, we have gathered here Crack Und Ultra Eczema (France), Pre (UK), Dmonstrations (USA), and the aforementioned AIDS Wolf (Canada...errr, Quebec), who kick things off with "Put Your Head On A Plate", aiming to decapitate us all with razor sharp guitar stabs. Chloe's vocals join right in with the maelstrom, vividly pleading with you that there is a killer outside and he just maimed your sister. "Bad Vibes" is just as literal, like anxiety grabbing hold of your throat and never ever letting go. Crack Und Ultra Excema was a real revelation to me. "Arbeit" is the true definition of industrial music, pounding and scraping like an old factory. Julie Le Pute's ghost in the machine vocals ever rising until the bottom falls out into broken bass slogging it out with what must be the sickest guitar effect known to man, sound converted into a million tiny, lacerating lights. Le Pute again shines on the bouncy "Rastafareich", invoking the detached delivery of Delta 5; "Ebola Day" is a panic-indusing post-punk guitar romp that would make James Chance a happy man. Pre is always in your face like a petulant kid hopped up on too much sugar. Their songs are mostly wide-eyed and sprinting like suicidal lemmings. With titles like "Dude Fuk" and "Big Dique", there's a punk-as-fuck attitude that goes way beyond dumb mohawks and safety pins. Seriously, its 2007, I thought punk was about not being stagnant. It's a shame when your daily look is a Halloween costume for some people. Theres nothing punk about being a stereotype. Keep moving, keep punching. Dmonstrations bring up the tail end with four tracks, all of them yelpy and disjointed. These guys are truly weird enough to call San Diego home and continue the great lineage of bands like Antioch Arrow, the Locust, and the Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower. Remember, this is only available on 2x7", and you know how the kids eat up colored vinyl, so snag this today before it becomes another No New York-type situation.

New Music: Soft Circle, Woods, Hannu

Soft Circle - Moon Oar Sunrise (Eastern Developments 2007)

Soft Circle - Full Bloom / Eastern Developments

If I had a million dollars I would comission Hisham Bharoocha (aka Soft Circle) to come work magic on my house, and like some post-postmodern Michaelangelo, he would transform the place into an acid-tripping Sistine Chapel of bright, kinetic shapes. After instructing me in Vipassana meditation, Hisham would board his plane and I would say to him, very gratiously, "Nah, man, take it all because you've opened my eyes to the true nature of the universe". Aside from being a vital visual artist (with skills honed at the Rhode Island Institute of Design), Hisham can count himself as a founding member of Lightning Bolt and Black Dice. Those are lofty creative heights to say the least and Full Bloom is a strong indicator that we are seeing an artist in the warm light of spring. Bharoocha left Black Dice after Creature Comforts and his influence is evident on that record's trance-inducing drums and warm organic washes. On tracks like "Sundazed" and "Shimmer", both traditional and electronic percussion combine to put Mike Oldfield to shame; this is what your NPR-loving mom should be listening to if she really wants to "go for it" and find palpable inner peace. Bharoocha's undulating chants provide a deep, spiritual resonance to most of the songs here, and wouldn't sound out of place floating from a temple in Lhasa, especially on "Moon Oar Sunrise" with its gut-punching crescendo coaxing your soul to blast off into the astral plane. "Earthed" is the only real anamoly here, sounding more like Aphex Twin; its way too abrupt in disrupting the album's heady, natural feel, but thats only a small bump on the path to enlightenment. Full Bloom is a triumphant solo debut; shining and incorporeal, its one for your mind, body, and soul.





Woods - Hunover (Shrimper 2007)

Woods - At Rear House / Shrimper

I've never been much of an outdoorsman. My dad tried his best when I was younger, taking me deerhunting in the murky forests of lower-state South Carolina, but instead of dutifully waiting there with my gun I'd slip back inside the truck and listen to the radio. Maybe I'm less of a man for never having shot an animal but looking down that testosterone-laden path makes me glad I'm here in front of my computer right now instead of driving around in a monster truck thats supposed to project my unquestionable masculinity. If I were to revisit that hunting club at this point in my life, I'd definitely be listening to Woods. The duo of Jeremy Earl and Christian DeRoeck must like spending time with nature because they've coined the term "woodsist"; a word that (at least to me) signifies an appreciation for slow living, the kind of life that allows for the rest and relaxation of nature walks and campfire jam sessions. The songwriting reflects Earl and DeRoeck's dueling musical personas, moonlighting in the smart indie pop band, Meneguar, and also running Fuck-It Tapes, a tape-only (duh!) label thats released material from experimental royalty like D Yellow Swans, Excepter, and Magik Markers. Two-thirds of the record is comprised of rustic, bittersweet numbers not too far from the Microphones or a more minimal-minded Doug Martsch, but tracks like "Picking up the Pieces" and "Woods Children Pt. 2" escape off into the darkness of more experimental folk. At Rear House is a saavy record, melding memorable verse-chorus-verse songs with weirdo farmland explorations.





Hannu - Sumu (Osaka 2006)

Hannu - Worms In My Piano / Osaka

Hey listen up to this! Any of you kids hip to labels like Fonal, Type, or Carpark need need need to check out the Irish-based Osaka, and yeah, that is kinda like KFC in a Moscow airport, but these are the times we live in. Like you, I can thank Fonal for cultivating my mental image of Finland as some mystical snow kingdom filled with wood nymphs and oracles hidden deep in the drift. So its no coincidence that the music of Helsinki-based musician/filmmaker Hannu Karjalainan does alot for me on cold nights, when its too miserable to be active, and I can only find solace in a nice, warm place. Worms In My Piano sounds like enforced isolation, the kind brought on by perpetual darkness and neverending snowfall. Icy dins permeate this record. The opener, "Sumu", sounds alot like the infinitely small noise of a single snowflake hitting the ground. It could be eighty degrees out and I'd still need a blanket, such is the bleak winter mood of Worms In My Piano. Hannu is very good at painting landscapes with sound; he has a director's eye for mood-lighting and its no surprise he admits the influence of films by Bergman, Tarkovsky, and Lynch. "Lhyty" scores the scene for winter's first big storm, as the sky lowers and the sun retreats. "Ikuisuus" whistles and scrapes like the wind and "Suruista Suurin" signals your acceptance of the stark winter ahead. This may be music that melts come springtime but for now Hannu's Worms In My Piano is very much in season.

New Music: Lullatone, o.lamm, Bunny Rabbit

Lullatone - Pajama Party Pop (Audio Dregs 2006)

Lullatone - Plays Pajama Pop Pour Vous / Audio Dregs

This isn't so much of a review as it is an origamied note of thank you to Sean James Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida, the married duo that comprises Lullatone. This is their fourth album of innocent minimalism filled with tiny instruments and twinkling sine waves, and one could even make the argument for this record to end all religious and racial strife on the planet. Hyperbole? Maybe. But I can certainly speak to the changes in my life thanks to Lullatone's patented pajama pop.

Operating out of the city of Nagoya in Japan, Seymour and Tomida have stitched together music for daily life. "Good Morning Melody" begins the treatment for erasing stress and anxiety. Waking is a tricky matter but just follow Tomida's whispered instructions over a pallete of childhood toy instruments and warm electronics. No need for blithering red-faced radio jocks or acrid alarm clock beeping, just ease on into things. "Bedroom Bossa Nova" means a warm cup of tea and your kitten asleep purring in your lap. "Magical..." is just that, five sparkling minutes of Sean's lovely tones and Yoshimi making friends with the robots, planting dandilions behind their ears. All this is only warming us up for "Pajama Party Pop", a song thats not once failed to give me the warm fuzzies with its xylophone, whistling(!) and steady casio beat.

Pajama Pop Pour Vous won't be for everyone, and those people will continue down their long and anger-filled path. As for me, I'm smitten with Lullatone's cute manifesto. In fact, I've sent back my Buddha Machine with a sincere apology letter. Cuter than a kitten covered in birthday cake, this album is the soundtrack for coasting blissfully through your day.



o.lamm - Genius Boy (Audio Dregs 2006)

o.lamm - Monolith / Audio Dregs

O.lamm is a Frenchman named Olivier and his work expounds on my idealistic and perhaps particularly narrow view of French music. I'm thinking of disco balls, underwater filter sweeps, and a tendency towards unfettered fun. Not to say this is Daft Punk or even the Ed Banger camp, not even close, but o.lamm upholds the strong pop sensibility and smart hooks inherent in all great French electro wizardry.

Monolith isn't so much about robots getting off the bus. Its more like Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson dueling with Mega Man, all 8-bit pixelation and unadulterated fun. This is synth pop for the Nintendo generation. "Genius Boy" is a cavalcade of adventurous glitch, like a cartoon theme song for an all-star Nintendo character jam, before settling into sweet pop bliss complete with cute Japanese girl vocals. The excitement is palpable as you get deep into the string-groove of "The Macguffin", a track that finds perfect use for the high melodrama of female J-Pop, the type that soars on the wings of Ayumi Hamasaki and beyond.

"Open Malice" seems to be the "single" here. And by that I only mean that it has, y'know, the most wide-ranging appeal. Its a true dancefloor gem brimming with dirty King Koopa synth and detached electroclash vocals. Like if Annie hung out all the time with Miss Kitten about four years ago. Uh, that is if we assume such a splicing would achieve the best possible results. "Aerialist" is yet another of the record's highpoints. It makes me want to ride lazerbeams on a futuristic jetski!! And maybe the song is a bit of futurism in anticipating such an experience.

Monolith stands as a beacon of evolution, a hope for a better future, and we are all just apes hopping around waiting to be touched by the light.



Bunny Rabbit - Saddle Up (Voodoo-Eros 2007)

Bunny Rabbit - Saddle Up EP / Voodoo-Eros

Brooklyn's Bunny Rabbit is the latest entry into the current VIP room electro diva sweepstakes. You may also know her as one half of the hazy afternoon duo, Cocorosie, but I guess one can only pine so much and after dusk she becomes an altogether different creature that rocks to perfection vintage sneaks and all-over print hoodies. "Saddle Up" is all about sharp sexual ennui, the kind that never actually happens in real life because its far too clever, especially in the heat of passion. Beats here are provided by Black Cracker, who is definitely informed by grime and the Baltimore club sound. "Lucky Bunny Foot" is a tense one. Bunny Rabbit sounds like you just fucked up by stepping on her foot in the club and you made her drop a $15 drink. Black Cracker isn't helping matters with the Fatman Scoop call and response of "Come on, Bunny, wyle out!!". This is seriously all about attitude. Keep an eye out for the full length, "Lovers and Crypts", out on Feb 20, and if we're lucky some kinda coinciding beef with Uffie.