Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Liquid Liquid
From a previous era of expermental NYC dance, and how influential did that turn out to be eh!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL45YOtbuy0
90. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
Formed out of the NYC scene that also produced Animal Collective, Black Dice and Excepter; Gang Gang Dance have followed a more dance orientated sound, whilst being open to the massive variety of sounds available to a true 21st century group. Started as an improv collective, and honing their sound through 4 albums, each one more focused than the last. Sounding somewhere between songwriting and loose dance jams. In fact much interesting music has come from the glut of improv/noise acts at the start of the decade, finding an individual voice through experimentation, as acts like GGD, Sunburned, Wolf Eyes, Religious Knives are outed as goths, industrial rockers, ravers, hippies etc...
Unlike the previous generation of groups who pretended the last 15 years of electronic and hip hop music hadn't happened, GGD throw themselves into rhythms from techno, dub, DFA and the kind of cut and pasted forth world landscape of David Byrne/Brian Eno, Sublime frequency axis.
Vocally, Liz Bougentsos channels the spirits of Sinead O'Connor, Kate Bush and Siousxie, with wordless, lost in music mystery that was shied away from in the 1990's. GGD incorporate grime MC Tinchy Strider into their vision with 'Princes', which coincided with the MC's chart success in the UK, the only other US act who have acknowledged grime that I can think of is a Dizzee appearance on a UGK record. Other highlights include Blue Nile, a melange of MBV synths and DJ Shadow trip hop, and House Jam, perhaps what The Plastic Ono Band would have sounded like in the 2000's.
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
BBC Public information
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0xmSV6aq0g
I remembered every detail of the pylon frisbee incident!
http://vimeo.com/3772540
Probably the scariest film aimed at children ever. He drowns in pig shit for christs sake!
I remembered every detail of the pylon frisbee incident!
http://vimeo.com/3772540
Probably the scariest film aimed at children ever. He drowns in pig shit for christs sake!
91. The Focus Group - Hey Let Loose Your Love (2005) We Are All Pan's People (2007)
The Focus Group is Julian House. An artist and graphic designer, who self releases his music on his own Ghost Box Music label, alongside other similarly minded artists. His proclaimed influences include 'music for schools, cosmic horror stories, library music, English surrealism, and the dark side of psychedelia'. These influences are collaged into analogue concrete style musical trips, subsequently labeled as hauntology, for it's ghostly, memory evoking and disorientating properties. The music always suggests songs which never quite emerge, and contain depths of detail, that seem strangely familiar but will never reveal it's true meaning. Vocal samples and loops, which never loop in the obvious places, often contain samples of BBC public broadcasts from the 70's. The work that Nurse With Wound and Coil did to show the sinister underbelly of easy listening & Martin Denny in the 80/90's could be compared to the similar unearthing of the 70's early 80's generation childhood themes and programmes that The Focus Group are involved in now.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Note on M.O.P.
M.O.P. have the distinction of having more albums stolen from HMV stores in 1998 than any other act.
92. M.O.P. - Warriorz (2000)
M.O.P. aka Mash Out Posse started life in true Zulu nation fashion as a street gang who redirected their energies into producing music. Consisting of Billy Danze and Lil' Fame aka Fizzy Womack from Brownsville, Brooklyn.
In retrospect this seems from a former age of hip hop when the music was hard as nails and threatening, and NYC hip hop remained a insular world (pre Jay-Z, fiddy, Kanye, becoming massive). Basically Warriorz continued M.O.P.'s unrelentingly aggressive, stressed and violent raps with some of DJ Premiers & Fame's best soul thumpin productions , even hitting #6 on the UK singles chart with Cold As Ice, aided by a toothpaste ad! This received radio play with barely contained contempt of DJ's, about 50% of the lyrics had to be edited leaving an unlistenable mash of gaps, whilst still retaining the terrifying threat 'you ain't cold enough to freeze hot floods when they run up in ya'. M.O.P. keep it real, no boasts about money here, just survival tactics for those without, one of the greatest hip hop records is Ante-Up where Danze & Fame warn a newcomer to Brownsville the dangers of showing your jewelry in public whilst positing their unique approach to distributing the wealth, 'gimme your fuckin watch before i pop one in your brain'. In fact what better metaphor for hip hop in general than 'I'm a mess with stress but I present it with finesse', however please beware of such bloodthirsty and angry gangsters they 'have the constitutional right to bear arms, to flair arms, whenever we fear harm, so calm down, ease back, CALM DOWN, EASE BACK', and these dudes are peeping round corners.
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
93. Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (2009)
Broadcast are a Birmingham group heavily influenced by Stereolab, BBC Radiophonic Workshop and 60's British pop sounds. They have been through several line up changes and have released a consistently great body of work, mostly on Warp. However with the collaborative help of Focus Group's Julian House, who had been designing Broadcast sleeves since The Haha Sound, they were able to combine their pop nous with some serious psychedelic investigation. Conjuring ancient occult British symbolism, with the folk atmosphere of Shirley and Dolly Collins, Wickerman style uncertainty, Basil Kirchin soundscapes and Syd Barrett eccentricities, ensures the future of British past is not lost in a globalised haze of pop factors and wal-marts but can be magicked into existence with the help of some inspired witchcraft.
94. Sightings - Michigan Haters (2002) Absolutes (2003)
Sightings were first seen destroying rock and roll in NYC lofts post 9/11. A trio of guitar, bass, drums that play so distorted and in the red, that frequently any semblence of instrumentation vanishes, leaving behind shards of electronic noise and trash rhythms. Sightings seem to be an unpretentious exercise in how distorted rock and roll can get whilst still maintaining some semblance of structure. Occasionally Sightings music (Anna May Wong, Reduction) points to a post apocalyptic future in which human savages celebrate riotous rituals with the use of raw electricity alone. This tendency was explored in later albums (more of which...). Michigan Haters and Absolutes document their early noiseist era, and are essential to anyone wondering what happened to the advances (retractions?) made by White Light era Velvets, Stooges, No Wave, Buttholes, Harry Pussy, need look no further.Monday, 8 February 2010
95. Von Sudefed - Tromatic Reflexxions (2007)
An unexpected record between the techno duo Mouse on Mars and Mark E Smith, brought out unexplored elements of both parties and totally satisfied as a genuine collaboration, and not just MES vocals tacked onto techno tracks. In fact Mouse On Mars became harder edged and more energetic with MES at the helm, and MES was able to improvise and free associate, showing his vocal abilities and range of stutters, coughs, shouts and growls that would put the most phlegmatic sound poetrits to shame.
96. The Fall - Fall Heads Roll (2005)
Fall heads were to roll the following year when MES sacked the entire band (apart from his wife). This album sees The Fall in punky rollicking mode for the most part, interspersed with some more tender moments. Not the greatest Fall of the decade but still beats of most of the competition with a shitty stick. In fact many of the songs are available in better versions elsewhere, Peel sessions, Mixing it session, live versions). Some of the lesser known tracks are the most satisfying, if, like me you have heard lots of alternate versions.
The first great tune is Pacifying Joint, a basic riff hammered along with MES' impenetrable lyrics, which like many of the songs on this album (and others) appear nonsensical but manage to convey a mood or even a outlook (how does he do this?).
In a contemporaneous interview MES described this song as being about ' a teenager who is looking for a place he can sit down to and eat carrots and meat!' Midnight In Aspen references Hunter S Thompson and contains a line about pointing a bestest rifle at the stars Orion but only rebounding the shot off of satellites, a Fall Classic.
Assume is another great tune which MES says is about 'Humans, aircraft, rabbits and that kind of thing'.
Blindness and What about us? are the best songs on this album, although best heard elsewhere, Blindness conjures a draconian new labour state (ASBO's) that punishes those who stay out late, and smokers whilst imagining the stay at home alternative as a horror of the mind 'the flat is evil and full of Calvary and cavalry', whilst What about us? appears to be about a refugee rabbit who wants Harold Shipman to administer morphine to him!!!
This was a popular Fall riding on the success of COTC, and filling venues, shitting on the competition from a great height. At the time MES referred to Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party as 'fucking bank clerks'. A big fuck off to two groups who profess their love of The Fall.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
97. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (2007)
The biggest and trendiest indie band in the world at the moment (new album Contra has debuted at no.1 in the billboard chart, only the 12th independently distributed album to reach no.1) could not have existed even five years ago. The great indie crisis of 96-99 produced only dull plodding Coldfuckingplay/Oasis types who ignored the evolution of rhythm, which was left for 'urban' music to advance, and seemed to be content with making songs which would have seemed unbearably boring throughout the previous four decades of rock/pop. This resulted in music fans leaving indie in droves and going to urban music/computer games/dancehall/drum n bass etc. The balance was redressed somewhat at the begining of the decade with a rock resergence (Strokes, White Stripes, Libertines). However indie remained less fashionable than other types of music. This had the positive effect of opening indie types to previously unexplored terrain (Wu-tang, techno, drone, noise and older funk and folk records supplied by the growing reissues market). Thus come the end of the decade indie groups began to explore rhythm and pop (Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance, MIA), just as the post punk artists did before them. This is why Vampire Weekend bear close comparison with groups such as Orange Juice, Dexy's & Talking Heads.
Lightness of touch, an openness to all music including global musics, and an ear for a tune you will want to hear over and over makes VW the new face of indie. They inspire love or hatred in those who hear them, thanks to Ezra Koenig's prep school priviledge image. However the lack of self obsession and simple joy of the music will win the day.
98. Rhythm and Sound - With the Artists (2003)
Rhythm and Sound are the duo of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus from Berlin. After having their aural DNA altered via the house boom of 88-90, they began Basic Channel, an anonymous (at the time) dub techno act who released a clutch of influential 12"s which can still be heard reverberating in the electronic music of today, especially in minimal techno and dubstep.
Rhythm and Sound collects the 7"s they pressed throughout 2003 at their legendary record shop cum dubplate mastering enterprise Hardwax, each one released as Burial mix with a dub versioned B-side.
What makes With the Artists the best reggae album of the decade is the focus on reggae as trance, reducing the rhythm to a minimal slow-mo throb, whilst bringing out the timbrel elements of bass quality, technoid skank and percussion which can vanish into puffs. This minimal backing also accentuates the sweetness of the vocals, supplied by various reggae veterans. What you need is a good sound system to play loudly.
During the 2002 All Tomorrows Parties curated by Autechre, there was a fire alert and we all retreated back to our chalets. After getting suitably inebriated a message on the TV told us it was safe to return to the venues. After making the effort to do thus, Rhythm and sound were DJing classic Wackies deep roots tracks alongside their own productions, and we skanked till the early hours, a great night was had by all.
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