Category: Music

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té’s “Therefore, the fantasy of density fails, and the world that you see is “forgetting” tomorrow.”

Therefore, the fantasy of density fails, and the world that you see is "forgetting" tomorrow. album coverIf you’d enjoy some hard rock without screamy vocals (or, any, for that matter) then I have a great recommendation for you. Check out té’s Therefore, the fantasy of density fails, and the world that you see is “forgetting” tomorrow. Or ゆえに、密度の幻想は綻び、蹌踉めく世界は明日を『忘却』す。in the original Japanese.

Google claims that the original translates to Therefore, the illusion of density collapses, and the snarling world “forgets” tomorrow. and honestly I like that one a lot better. For brevity’s sake, I’m going to just call it fantasy of density fails.

Not sure if I picture the band snarling but they’re definitely intense.

Playing at the boundary between continuous and discontinuous

I think I stumbled on té via Bandcamp but possibly through some of the post-rock and instrumental sets I’ve been digging on YouTube. The last Bandcamp Friday, I stocked up on several of their albums, including this one.

Weighing in at 11 tracks that range from less than two minutes to nearly eight, té brings some tight guitar-heavy rock that feels disciplined but not rigid. Some of the tracks, like “Honeymoon of the “particle” in the desert is the moment of the moment when the existence of me is sparkling.” transition from heavy to almost airy, and back.

For my money, the band manages to be intense without being ponderous. They could hold their own next to Helmet or End of Silence-era Rollins Band, but also deliver some transitions to slower sections that give a bit of a breather to the listener to brace for the next onslaught.

You can give the album a shot on Bandcamp to see if you like it. If you’re into instrumental rock / post-rock (or aren’t sure if you are), I strongly recommend giving this album a spin. I’ve been going down the té rabbit hole and have no regrets.

[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3698151970 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]

 

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Downtempo and chill but still interesting: Massive Attack v Mad Professor

Album cover: Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor

Album cover: Massive Attack vs. Mad ProfessorDon’t let the cover fool you, this album is full of chill. No Protection (1995) by Massive Attack v. Mad Professor is nearly 50 minutes of slow, throbbing remix of (most of) Massive Attack’s Protection from 1994.

Want an album to put on in the background while you work? This is a great disc when you need all the language centers of your brain on full but need the lizard brain to chill out.

Want an album to chill out to and just appreciate the sonic textures and waves of music? No Protection also fits the bill. If I’m being honest, I’m more likely to reach for this than the album that was parted out to make it. Kudos to the band for recognizing how good the first track Mad Professor remixed was and asking the prof to go after the full album.

If you haven’t listened to it before, give it a try. If you have, I probably don’t have to tell you to give it another go.

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Shpongle: Live in London

Shpongle Live in London 2013

Late to the party is better than never to the party. Shpongle has been around for ages, but first crossed my radar a few months ago.

[youtube https://youtu.be/ZYowY7tvBbY]

Decided to see if anything good was on YouTube while I was having some Caturday recliner time with the kitties. Turns out there’s a great video of a set the band did in London in 2013 at the Troxy, on Halloween. Not sure if all their shows are quite this elaborate with costumes and such, or if it was a Halloween thing, but damn. This is one high production quality event.

Shpongle Live
Shpongle Live

Um. The music is also pretty damn good. If you did mostly instrumental prog/psychedelic rock, this is definitely something you should check out. Makes great background music but also rewards paying attention and letting the music just wash over you.

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Praxis: Warszawa

One of Bill Laswell’s many, many, many projects, Praxis is an experimental rock band that has featured a rotating cast of players. This iteration features Laswell on bass, Bryan Mantia (“Brain”) on drums, Buckethead on guitar, and Mix Master Mike and DJ Disk on samples & turntables. Continue reading “Praxis: Warszawa”

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A little Robyn Hitchcock

Went to see Robyn Hitchcock Thursday night at The Arts Center in Carrboro. This was a solo acoustic show, joined for a few songs by Emma Swift. Before the show Emma was working the merch table and we bought a few t-shirts, she asked if we had any requests.

My brain sort of short-circuited because it’s super hard for me to single out one or two songs by Robyn as favorites. I finally asked for “A Skull, a Suitcase, and a Long Red Bottle of Wine,” since it is one of my favorites and I know he doesn’t do it live very often. (Though I’ve gotten to see him do it live three times now, so.) Was super-pleased he did play it towards the end of the set.

Here it is from his show at Rough Trade in NYC, back in 2017 when he did the entirety of Black Snake Diamond Role with Yo La Tengo.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/310841138″ params=”color=#050505&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true” width=”100%” iframe=”true” /]

If you prefer electric, here’s Robyn & the Sadies doing a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine” and “Lucifer Sam.”

[youtube https://youtu.be/aHweEQNtZfc]

Have a great Saturday!

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Nicky Skopelitis & Raoul Björkenheim: Revelator

Revelator by Nicky Skopelitis & Raoul Björkenheim

Bill Laswell has been a busy fellow lately, pushing out a lot of stuff on his label (I guess?) to Bandcamp that’s been out for years or even decades but no longer in print. I’m really enjoying Revelator, a collaboration with Nicky Skopelitis and Raoul Björkenheim. I’d never heard of Raoul before, but I’ve picked up a couple of things by Skopelitis over the years and really enjoy his work.

[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3161926210 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]

This one is from 1998, but sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday. Some really lovely guitar work on this one, it flows really nicely. If you enjoy instrumental multi-genre jams, I would recommend checking this one out. It works as background music, but also rewards close listening.

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The Checkmates: Do the Walk

Once upon a time I thought I knew a lot about “oldies” music, but the more I delve into things the more I find that I’ve just barely scraped the surface. The good news about that is that there’s just so much good stuff out there to be discovered, like this cut by The Checkmates, Ltd.

[youtube https://youtu.be/TlL9pcn9caM]

Clocks in at just a bit more than two minutes, give it a listen or two and you’ll find yourself humming it later in the day. Released in 1966 on Capitol Records, B-side “Glad for You” which has a great chorus but sounds a bit underdeveloped.

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Jah Wobble meets The Edge

Snake Charmer cover

A few days ago I was reading through Jah Wobble’s discography and noticed something I hadn’t spotted before, an EP with Holger Czukay and U2’s The Edge. This dates back to 1983, and I’m sort of surprised it didn’t get more exposure given U2’s popularity in the 80s.

On further inspection, it looks like one cut (“Hold on to Your Dreams,” track 2 on the EP) made it to Jah Wobble’s Redux: Anthology 1978-2015 but it’s otherwise slipped into obscurity.

Listening to the tracks I found on YouTube, it’s not bad but I’d never have spotted The Edge’s playing on this one. I guess you can sort of detect The Edge’s fingerprints on “Hold on to Your Dreams” late into the track, but it’s more like he’s trying to channel Nile Rogers. Or vice-versa. Vocals contributed by Marcella Allen, whom I’ve never heard of and Wikipedia and Google are of little help.

[youtube https://youtu.be/WF_SxvpS8-g]

Apparently somebody in the props department was a fan, or thought that this is what a teen would like, because a poster pops up in the background of Ferris Bueller’s bedroom.

Unless you’re really, really into Wobble, The Edge, or Czukay this isn’t really a must-have. It’s not bad, but I doubt it’s going to find its way into heavy rotation for me. But it’s worth a few spins, and might grow on you.

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Get your top 40 on…

Casey Kasem

If you’re of a certain age, you probably spent some time listening to American Top 40 with Casey Kasem. While I’m not a big top 40 person—probably more like obscure 40, much of the time—Kasem’s smooth delivery has a special place in my heart. And the top 40 from the 70s and 80s isn’t so bad in retrospect, when you’re not being blasted with it relentlessly.

A question on Ask Metafilter the other day mentioned that a bunch of the American Top 40 broadcasts are available on Archive.org. If you’d like to have a quick trip back in time, you can head over and search through the collection.

The site also has a number of show logs and some commercial clocks and promo scripts. I had a little fun reading a few to see if I can do the trademark Casey Kasem delivery. (Spoiler alert: no. He’s a master.)

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The Staves: Tired as Fuck (and a rant)

A few months ago, I stumbled on The Staves “Tired as Fuck,” and it’s been a go-to listen on YouTube, Spotify, etc. It’s got a great build – adding layers until it turns into a chorus of voices and blistering guitar and throbbing percussion.

Really, you should listen to it right now if you haven’t already.

And now, the rant… I really want to buy a copy of this, but it’s only available digitally. I can buy it via iTunes, or listen on Spotify and Apple Music. (Or YouTube.) Or I can buy it via Nonesuch as an MP3. (Presumably, I hope, at 320.) No CD, no vinyl, not even FLAC.

Maybe demand is no longer there, but I don’t want my only copy of music to be digital.

I recently went with a deal on Bandcamp to buy 200+ releases from Buckethead, and it was similar – no vinyl, no CD, just digital. At least in this case, Bandcamp offers FLAC so the music quality is as good as you get on CD, even if you don’t get the actual physical media. (And Bandcamp has a reasonably good archival experience, I can go back for my purchases anytime – at least as long as they remain in business. Which I hope is a long time.)

Similarly, one of my favorite scrappy Indie labels (Magnatune) stopped offering physical media a long time ago. They’re such an awesome outfit, I’m happy to subscribe and have access to their catalog, but… I’d really love to have physical copies of Ehren Starks’ catalog, and Ninety Pounds of Ugly‘s Richmond Motel Room 3. (Pity they’ve broken up.)

For folks who only want digital, that’s great – but I want a pristine, physical copy. Hell, I want something the artist or band can sign if I get the chance. Something that, assuming civilization survives, somebody might pick up in 100 years and listen to.