9.26.2011

I'm so sorry!

But a new Cloudkicker song "It's inside me, and I'm inside it." came out via his Tumblr, and this unexpected slow jam from Ben Sharp flew totally under my radar. Mr. Sharp claims that there isn't going to be a new EP or album anytime soon, so in the meantime I can only hope for more one offs like this. It's nice to see Cloudkicker broadening it's palate.

9.11.2011

Anticon Expansion and fresh videos.

Raleigh Moncrief recently debuted his woozy stomp "Lament for Morning" from his twitter account, followed close behind by this video that I've been staring at in a daze since I came across it. Moncrief, known previously for some production and other behind the scenes work and a for string of EPs, is bringing his debut full-length Watered Lawn out into the world on October 25 via Anticon Records. Sounds dope, hot shit, can't wait.

8.17.2011

Don't Sleep: Emo's August 23, DNTEL w/ Geotic

This Tuesday, Emo's welcomes electronic mainstay Dntel to the inside stage, bringing along with him The One AM Radio and Geotic, another of Will Wiesenfeld's alter-egos. Expect a lot of the best kind of staring and swaying, and probably a heat induced vision quest or two. To tide me over until then, Geotic's gorgeous ambient albums are posted for free on Weisenfeld's Angelfire page. Trust on this, see you next week.

7.20.2011

The Poor Man's Music Review.

We all have our excuses. One thing or another always gets put off, for reasons we convince ourselves make perfect sense. We either wait until these issues resolve themselves (at which point another convenient roadblock always pops up) or we make these excuses no longer applicable, screwing ourselves into doing what needs doing. So here I am trying to eliminate some of my shittier excuses. It's easy for me to put off writing by saying I don't have anything to talk about, and I'm tired of that. Maybe nothing new and interesting has come out (bullshit) or I'm too poor to make it out to noteworthy shows (more true, but similarly weak).

Something something economy, something something tough times. Whatever.

So all this brings me to my newest column, the Poor Man's Music Review, with the simple premise that I put my 8000+ songs on random, and brilliantly muse on whatever happens to come up, in real time, off the fucking DOME, suckers. This guarantees both some awful songs, and some great music that I haven't talked about, because who reviews old music? I do now, and those opposed can suck an object of their choice. I hope this is fun for you, and I know it will be fun for me. End of intro, let's go.

#1: Genghis Tron- City on a Hill, from Board Up the House
The best metal band I've found in the past few years, from their last album before their unfortunate hiatus. City is typical of the juxtaposition Genghis Tron has mastered, swerving between breakneck thrash and heavy electronic beats. another one of those bands that disappeared after showing me how brilliant they can get, this shit is the jam.

#2: El-P- No Kings, from I'll Sleep When You're Dead
One of the bosses of early '00s indipendent hip-hop, spitting his usual shit about being the underground boss that's cooler and doper than his mainstream peers. El-P brings some of the heavier beats in the underground, but he's always been one of those guys who has individual songs I dig more than his whole albums. I gotta find some El-P instrumentals.

#3: Thom Yorke- Harrowdown Hill, from The Eraser
From the album that everyone accuses The King of Limbs of sounding like. Comparisons aside, Yorke has a way with his minimal arrangements and shifty beats, creating the same uncomfortable vibe that he does with Radiohead. I came to the Radiohead party shortly before this came out, and it played nonstop in my early 20s, right when I realized I thought Thom Yorke and co were brilliant. Maybe this is why I don't buy into any unfavorable comparisons of new Radiohead.

#4: Pedestrian- The Toss & Turn (A Capella Revision), From The Toss & Turn.
Noise remix from anticon. founder The Pedestrian's first 12", circa 2004. Vocals obscured in favor of glitches and washes of mangled sound, letting phrases slip in with no context and echo into the distance. Way to be weird, hip hop, I'm so into you. Fades into squelched beat.

#5: Animals as Leaders- Behaving Badly, from Animals as Leaders.
My favorite kind of metal. Emotionally intelligent, musically brilliant without being masturbatory, and just fucking different, with a depth that metal often gets away with overlooking. Can't wait for a new album from these fools. If you're not into it I'm sorry, because this guy speaks to me in a way that I just want to share with people.

Wow that went surprisingly well. Umm I mean I have nothing but amazing songs on my computer, so how would anything less than great come up? Duh.

5.10.2011

13&God- Own Your Ghost


If you thought you'd live forever, 13&God would like to remind you otherwise. On their second record together, and their first as 13&God in six years, the first thing you notice is how much Own Your Ghost dwells on the ticking clock. The whole album (which is still streaming for free here) covers a wide stance sonically, owing equally to The Notwist's multi-intrumentalism and Themselves' gritty sampling, but these sounds all revolve around recurrent tropes on death and old age that read like proverbs, from Marcus Acher's "These are troubled times, and so dip your scarves in armor.", to Adam 'Doseone" Drucker's "Fools like us will go nameless to death, bet.". But if Own Your Ghost is a reminder that we're all bound to a short timeline, it also shows us a group of people who recognize this, and answer it by living, exploring shamelessly while they are here.

Both bands can still sound familiar, but they benefit from each others' influence, and it's when their styles meet in the middle that makes this collaboration more than it's parts' sum. The Notwist can lean a little darker in front of Jel's MPC work and Doseone's nervous rapping, and Dose gets to stretch his singing voice out more in the context of a full band. "Armored Scarves" shows off the range afforded by this personnel bump, but Own Your Ghost constantly reaches into odd new places, shifting momentum and mood both between and within songs like fast standout tracks "Sure As Debt" and "Beat On Us".

Since 13&God's self-titled debut, Themselves released a fantastic mixtape, LP, and remix album. The Notwist has kept busy too, with their own LP The Devil, You + Me, a film soundtrack, and other side projects' releases. Despite this considerable output of energy from all it's component members, Own Your Ghost shows that there's plenty left. To call 13&God anyone's side project betrays how unique it is.

Own Your Ghost is out May 17th on Anticon records.

5.08.2011

Yoni and Josiah Wolf (of Why?) at St. David's Episcopal Church

So Yoni Wolf sits at a grand piano and starts dryly rapping, his brother Josiah backing him up on a bass drum made of a guitar case with a tambourine taped to it. They start things out with a verse from their yet-to-be-recorded Why? album.








"Oh, to be born as anything but this...
...fruitless in the holster...
...it's scary how we always end up...
...it yields only drops like an unripe lemon...
...is your love but a ploy, like Bugs Bunny in drag?"

Soon the song veers from kick and rhyme into piano and croon, and a cozy group of a couple hundred people settled in for the last show from the Wolf brothers before they and the rest of the band that's a question go into the studio to record the follow up to 2009's Eskimo Snow.

"And he will always thirst like that. Yeah, he will thirst like that always."

New material was all over the hour-long set, but songs showed up from as early as 2005's Sanddollars EP, all performed in stripped down piano and homemade percussion arrangements, with Josiah picking up bass or guitar from song to song. The new stuff sounds new, but still fits into the Why? canon, equal parts dry wit and personal revelation (or narrative fiction), hip-hop cadence over acoustic guitar and beatboxing over piano making strange but intimate bedfellows.

It's got to be mentioned that the space at St. David's was visually and acoustically gorgeous, so definite thanks go to them for offering up their room for the evening. Also, the biggest ups to Transmission Austin, for putting the whole thing together. And of course thanks to the brothers Wolf, and the rest of the Why? clan. Thanks for a beautiful evening, and best of luck in the studio. Now I can't wait.

4.19.2011

Newish Music: Cloudkicker


They said the death of the record industry would be a bad thing. We were asked who would possibly want to release music without record sales propped up by major label distribution. And yet, the world hasn't fallen silent. I know because I listened to Cloudkicker's "We're goin' in. We're going down." all day today. I'm not sure, but I don't think the world has ended yet.

Cloudkicker is made of Ben Sharp and his computer. Mr. Sharp has a day job, and he self-produces and distributes his instrumental metal releases from Columbus, Ohio. Sharp offers CDs and vinyl, but also gives away downloads of his albums for free. So, you can't tell him what to do. You can buy a shirt from him, but he won't play your town. He's not playing concerts at all, and seems fine with that. Cloudkicker looks like just another thing that Ben Sharp is working on, which is becoming a part of the business model these days (Buck 65 called it in November 2009, and here we are). You'd better have more than one job, and you might as well give your shit away for free, because people will just steal it if they want to. Make it good enough that people want to buy it, and then make it worth the money in some tangible way.

But I rant. I'm happy that we have an artistic climate and an information infrastructure that lets people make art for themselves, and put it out there, just in case want it. I'm happy to live at a time when I can find new favorite artists out of practically infinite options, instead of choosing from the small selection provided by people I've never met, who presume to know what I like. That system created an illusion of artistic scarcity, and taught us falsely that only special people can make meaningful things. That terrible outlook is being challenged by a growing army of folks making headlines and becoming part of people's lives, and doing it without much besides a laptop and a Tumblr account. I'm happy about that.

Cloudkicker is over this way.

4.15.2011

http://www.cmj.com/features/2011/03/video-premierqa-13-and-god/

3.21.2011

SXSW 2011 Highlights

Aaaaand we're back, what a week. The dust has settled, the tourists have mostly left, and downtown smells like pee, even in the parts that don't ALWAYS smell like pee. Shows were seen, and a few shows were missed, for reasons ranging from exhaustion to canine ocular trauma to gorgeous weather. I won't bore you, but here's some broad strokes.

Wednesday: Sumerian Records Showcase

This was the first actual show I sought out, mostly to see Tosin Abasi's outfit Animals as Leaders, but I'll get to that. Opening the show up was New York's Ultrageist, a forward thinking act specializing in idiosyncratic breakdowns and bizarre vocal textures. Vocalist Gabriel Perez at first brings to mind Glassjaw's Daryl Palumbo, but strikes out into his own sonic territory by using an array of delays, distortions, and octave pedals to warp his voice on stage in real time. Interesting stuff, I'm looking forward to more. These guys were followed by Tamworth, England's Structures, leaning both melodic and death metal, but rarely at the same time, making dynamic songs out of crushing verses and the occasionally merciful break.

And then, Animals as Leaders. I was impressed by AAL's self-titled debut when it came to my attention last year, for a few reasons. Despite being something of a 'virtuoso' album, Abasi actually writes songs that have their own merit, instead of just being a framework for his shredding. There's long been a battle in heavy music over who can tune lower, and while AAL's low-E tuned 8 string guitars are certainly front runners in this, it's the way Tosin Abasi manhandles the damn things that really sets him apart. Rather than just relying on competitively low notes, he really stretches out into the space an instrument like this affords, utilizing broadly spaced intervals and chord voicings, and occasionally being his own bass player, using his low string for percussive patterns and slapped lines, while his right hand taps melodic runs on the tree trunk of a neck his guitar has. On AAL's self-titled debut, all strings were played by Abasi, with drum and synth programming handled by Misha Mansoor (guitarist with fellow djent O.G.s Periphery), but the album's striking elements translate well live, and rhythm guitarist Javier Reyes and drummer Navene Koperweis (who is an absolute monster on his kit) enhance the sonic landscape, rather than dilute it. Tosin Abasi and company make music that is more than just skillful or interesting, it really is beautiful. This right here is Mr. Abasi solo, playing "Wave of Babies", a digital single released shortly after AAL's eponymous debut.


Thursday: Friends of Friends Showcase

I was at this thing all damn day. Thankfully not an official SXSW event, but a free party hosted by Friends of Friends Records, Barcelona on 6th evolved from a sparse early afternoon gathering to a heaving molasses of bass over six short hours. A varied set from DJ Sodapop (aka Anticon label manager Shaun Koplow) opened things, followed by a brief set by Baths. After Non Projects labelmates Asura and Anenon, Shlohmo took the stage and delivered a set with an energy his albums don't really indicate, making good use of Barcelona's impressive system. The next big highlight was Ernest Gonzales' masked luchador alter-ego Mexicans With Guns (pictured below left), a throbbing ghettotech Hyde to Gonzales' shimmery Jekyll.
Closing the party was beat scene lifer Daedelus (pictured right), whose recent shows have been seamless club sets, fully of glitched highs and huge modulating basses. Definitely one of my favorite days of last week.




Saturday: Buck 65 @ M for Montreal Party

I've waited to see Buck 65 for a long time, and after a handful of badge-only shows through the week, he played at the free M for Montreal party, accompanied by the talented vocalist Jenn Grant. Combining Grant's sweet voice with Buck 65(aka Ricardo Terfry)'s gravelly but thoughtful raps and live turntable work, the duo offered reworkings of oldies like Roses and Bluejays, and new songs (such as Paper Airplane, shown here in an early incarnation circa 2009) from this year's 20 Odd Years, touted as "The most beautiful hip hop album ever made". Terfry is a pleasure live, as interesting on stage as on his numerous records. Check out the album version of Paper Airplane and other new songs at Buck65.com.

And that was the gist of things. Not by any means a full list, but a few high points from SXSW 2011. So here I am, sore and sunburned, exhausted in the best way possible. Back to work everyone.

2.23.2011

New Songs from 2/3 of The Nevermen, The Cool Kids

Lex Records is edging closer to the unveiling of The Nevermen, the mysterious vocal supergroup of TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, Themselves/Subtle/13&God frontman Doseone, and Faith No More/Ipecac Records' Mike Patton, but two of the three have releases in the meantime. TV on the Radio has a new album out April 12th called Nine Types of Light, and Will Do is the first track available off of it, listen to it here. It's still a few weeks until 13&God releases Own Your Ghost, but the string of leaks continues with Old Age, free for your ears via Pitchfork

It's been three years since The Cool Kids announced that their debut LP, When Fish Ride Bicycles, was definitely coming out in 2008, and a handful of EPs and mixtapes later, we're still waiting. So the word is that Spring 2011 will actually see the group release their first full length album, and an actual first single, Bundle Up, makes it a little more believable.

2.06.2011

RECAP: Baths @ Mohawk, Austin TX

I like Baths. I could tell you I like him as a part of the beat scene I've been fixated on lately, or because he's a part of one of my favorite labels, or because he injects a personality and heart into the often sterile world of electronic music. But watching him tonight, I realized that boiled down to it's base, I like Baths because he's so unashamed. His music is brave and expository, and it's comforting to see public experimentation this bold. I've seen Will Weisenfeld perform three times since the release of Cerulean on Anticon Records, and even with one album under his newest moniker's belt, each performance is fresh. Experiments happen, and new songs are tested out each time I've seen a Baths show. Even his beat manipulation gets a little more tweaked out, adventurous, and glitchy. On top of that, he always seems genuinely excited and blessed to be doing what he does, and people respond to that. Definite highlights included a few new songs, including "The Nothing" from his new 7" on Anticon, and selections from his tour-only B-side collection. Not new, but he also slipped in a Shlohmo remix that I love, and which can be yours here, at Potholes in My Blog

2.02.2011

Darkest Hour announces new album, The Human Romance, offers preview


Washington D.C.'s Darkest Hour have been putting out albums for over a decade, but particularly since 2005's Undoing Ruin, they've been reinventing and refining themselves in ways acclaimed both critically, and by their fans, including yours truly. Earlier this month, they debuted the surprisingly melodic skull-basher Savor the Kill, the first new track from The Human Romance, on the street February 22nd through E1 music.

13 & God offers first peek at new album


13 & God, the ocean spanning collaboration between Oakland CA's hip-hop explorers Themselves and the stoic chill of Munich's The Notwist, offered the first official look at the upcoming Own Your Ghost, their second official LP, and the first in six years. Here we see a glimpse of one of the more pastoral Notwist tinged songs, Armored Scarves. Pitchfork has the release info and official tracklisting, Some of these songs have been years in the works, including Sure as Debt, which they first broke out at 2005's MELT! Festival in Ferropolis, Germany. See video proof below.



Own Your Ghost drops May 17th.

Oh, and The White Stripes broke up.