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SiinaiShopping Trance
'Siinai are progressive kraut-rockers from Finland, and their new album Supermarket is due out June 17 via Splendour. As you may have surmised from both the album title, and the title of their new track “Shopping Trance,” the project is an attempt to make “a soundtrack for the supermarket nations. “Shopping Trance” most certainly fits the bill: an 8-minute churning swath of groove that plods along like one might plod along through aisles of frozen french fries and Frosted Mini Wheats. Also, just like your average trip to the grocery store, it starts out determined and on a mission, mathematical in precision and execution — but eventually gets distracted, slowing after about six-and-a-half minutes when our focused eyes glaze into supermarket eyes, lost in the aisles.'-- Stereogum
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The BugSave Me
'The latest offering from the The Bug, Angels & Devils, escapes the London cage, drawing on it for influence yet blowing it up into a world-view now seen from Kevin Martin's new Berlin home. A record that simultaneously draws on London Zoo, completes a triptych cycle which started with his Bug debut Pressure, and fills the spaces between and inserts what was missing previously. Both a year zero re-set and a continuation of what has been. Like the Bowie/Eno classic Low, or Can's Tago Mago, the album is split into two distinct themes and explorations of light & dark. Bringing the angel & devil voices together under a single common banner. Antagonist at times, but not solely for the sake of being antagonistic, there's a beauty and lush sparseness to be found within, even when at its most chaotic.'-- ninjatune.net
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The Austerity ProgramSong 30
'A grim smile flickers out from behind many of the songs on Beyond Calculation, the second full-length album from NYC duo The Austerity Program. In the grand tradition of post-punk’s noisier offspring, The Austerity Program approach some of the darkest corners of the human experience with their teeth bared like grinning apes circled by predators they can’t fend off. Tales of mundane cruelty, of neighborhood assholes and cyberbullies, are elevated to mythic stature and set beside images of genuine horror and hardship. The album is littered with the debris of those who have shattered themselves against the malevolent or just plain indifferent forces encroaching upon their world.'-- Tiny Mix Tapes
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Shabazz Palaces#CAKE
'Herein bumps and soars Lese Majesty, the new sonic action of Shabazz Palaces. Honed and primal, chromed and primo. A unique and glorified offering into our ever-uniforming musical soundscape. Lese Majesty is a beatific war cry, born of a spell, acknowledging that sophistication and the instinctual are not at odds; Indeed an undoing of the lie of their disparate natures. Lese Majesty is not a launching pad for the group’s fan base increasing propaganda. It is a series of astral suites, recorded happenings, shared. A dare to dive deep into Shabazz Palaces sounds, vibrations unfettered. A dope-hex thrown from the compartments that have artificially contained us all and hindered our sublime collusion.'-- Sub Pop
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Owen PallettSong for Five & Six
'Unlike fellow Toronto-raised musician Drake, interviews are not like confessions for Oscar-nominated arranger/composer/conductor/songwriter/compulsive violin looper Owen Pallett. Instead, they are spirited debates with lofty goals in mind: The 34-year-old is adamant that he'll "do anything within my power as a gay, white, Canadian male to assist in improving the relationship between creatives and consumers.” This diplomacy appears to have carried over to his latest baroque art-pop album, In Conflict, which replaces the sci-fi and RPG-based subject matter of his previous work with what sounds like more autobiographical themes. But when I ask him if he has role models in terms of confessional songwriting, he snaps back: “I have a problem with your choice of the word 'confessional.’ I hate the word ‘confessional’ or ‘cathartic.’ I think those terms are vaguely misogynistic and always applied to female songwriters. And it's like, 'Well, what do men do? Do they have something they need to get off their chest?'”'-- Ian Cohen
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ElehObservation Wheel
'The stuff that Eleh sets in motion from whatever electronic sound generators he/she deploys represents a measured and methodical paring away of all that might appear superfluous, baroque and rococo. Each of the tracks here consists of just a handful and discrete (and discreet) but highly charged sound events that emerge, overlap, recede and reverberate at critical frequencies over extended durations. At certain crucial points this approach serves as a formula for opening a portal what David Toop has referred to as the dark void, that spectral realm magicked into being (or exposed by) the drone, in which audio apparitions and chimeras dance through smoke and mirrors, suggesting the existence of occult planes and dimensions, multiple other realities, worlds within worlds.'-- Tony Herrington, The Wire
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Asian Women on the Telephonelive
'In a basement club near the Kremlin, a recording of howling wolves moaned through thick fog. A boy beside me said something in broken English; I asked him to repeat it and he said “The music — it’s mostly about wolves.” Asian Women on the Telephone are a startling phenomenon to behold live. Their homemade costumes are always changing and evolving, and their sound lies somewhere between experimental punk and junkyard machinery. For the trio of drummer Nikita, synth player Max and vocalist/bass player Nastya, it’s the sound of their inner beasts. Born in 2007 from the ashes of three underground stations – Lubyanka, Park Kulturi and Domodedovo – a Moscow experimental outfit ASIAN WOMEN ON THE TELEPHONE is one of the new Russian avant-garde movement’s most innovative and successful hands.'-- Electronic Beats
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Electric FuneralOrder from Disorder
'Swedish harsh noise punk act Electric Funeral is not for people who value conventional structures, ample production, clarity of lyrics, joyous attitudes, or any combination thereof. Total Funeral, which will come out via Southern Lord on July 22, collects the entire discography from the solo project of Jocke D-Takt, and it's highly recommended if you are into Disclose and D-Clone. Like those bands, Electric Funeral takes the static tone of Discharge's Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing and magnifies it to the point where it becomes power electronics with live drums. Admittedly, this collection is a LOT to take in at once, but it's all the Electric Funeral you'll ever need. The only reason to listen to this is to torture yourself.'-- Andy O'Connor
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Sue Tompkins Grow Fins
'Working with fragments of language gathered from everyday encounters and experiences, Tompkins’ practice incorporates text, sound, installation and performance. She is best known as vocalist for the now defunct indie rock band Life Without Buildings. Made up of text that is original, altered or borrowed, the strength of Tompkins’ work is in its disruption of verbal communication. Through complex yet eloquent layerings of repetition, non-sequential juxtaposition and re-contextualisation, Tompkins reinvigorates and gives new meaning to language.'-- collaged
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NGLYSpeechless Tape
'The occult project (a revitalization of lost/forgotten knowledges) has largely fallen by the wayside in the light of rationalistic, humanistic models, but NGLY hearkens them back, locating powers that might rightly be called inhuman. The key comes with “Speechless Tape,” the asymptotic anti-climax of their new EP. An obviously ironical contradiction between title and content reveals itself not with a smirk, but with a distant stare fixated somewhere beneath long, greasy hair. It’s truly a successful occult project, as “Speechless Tape” doesn’t work from a paradigm of desire-enhancement, but from precisely the opposite: it stays calm in the face of unendurable entropies. No synthesis, no assimilation, no recuperation, but an immense power made manageable only through a vital act of disengagement.'-- Tiny Mix Tapes
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Lee GamblePlos 97s
'With albums that explore sonic abstraction and decomposition in deliberately warped and murky ways, forward-looking British producer Lee Gamble operates on the cerebral fringes of modern electronic music. A founding member of the austere Cyrk collective, Gamble and his heavily processed computer music recently joined the ranks of experimental label PAN. His two exquisite 2012 releases deconstruct visceral body music with academic rigueur, as ghostly sounds are processed beyond recognition. Whether it be his sublime jungle/d’n’b deconstructions of mid-1990s mixtapes onDiversions 1994–1996 or his adventurous techno disfigurement on Dutch Tvashar Plumes, Gamble crafts complex atmospheres and twisted arrangements. When performing live, he imbues his compositions with a playfulness that doesn’t compromise his experimental roots – the very framework for his densely layered sonic palette.'-- mutek
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Oren AmbarchiRhubarb
'From modest beginnings, in the last two decades Oren Ambarchi has risen to become one of the world's best-known experimental musicians, whose work crosses genres and boundaries with ease. His initial fame arose from a series of solo records released by Touch that brought him recognition more in electronic circles than in the improvised music world where much of his work now resides, but Ambarchi has never been one to stand still for long. Initially inspired by Japanese noise hero Keiji Haino to find his own approach to the guitar, the Australian went from admirer of the Japanese legend to a friend and performing partner in barely a decade, and they now regularly record and play together in various formations. At this point, Ambarchi's list of collaborators on record is as impressive for its length as for the names it contains - as well as Haino, it includes Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson, Jim O'Rourke, Fire!, Z'EV, Fennesz and Robin Fox - many of whom have made important contributions to 20th and 21st century experimental music.'-- The Quietus
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p.s. Hey. ** Bill, Greetings to Linz. I've never been there, but, for some reason, based on the name, I have a picture in my head of a quite pretty, scenic place. Off or on? Are you playing in Ars Electronica? I was just reading about it somewhere, I think in The Wire. Very cool in any case. What's happening? Yeah, 'Honored Guest' rules. She is so good. I've always really want to meet her. Her PR interview is terrific, no surprise. Enjoy your day and tell me what you did and saw, please. ** Adrienne White, Howdy, Adrienne! How was Nick Cave? Nice about the New Jersey trip. Where in New Jersey? Oh, I think that's plenty exciting, and my life is very excitement-impaired these days, so I'm even envious. ** Scunnard, Yeah, nice quotes, right? She's a great sentence maker/nailer. I don't know if Metzger is big in France, but the name totally escaped me until you clued me in. Anyway, it's not just you. There were/are at least two of us. Only one of us now. I feel so alone. I guess stress is part and parcel re: a project like this. I'm trying to turn it into fuel. Environmentally friendly fuel. Solar power, I guess. Wow, it doesn't feel like solar power. Solar power seems like it must be so zen. ** David Ehrenstein, Indeed! ... All the boys and girls! I'll try 'Igby' again one of these days. I only remember that I found it too cutesy and clever-clever, but I don't remember why. I know that Christophe's film is finished. He might still be toying with it a bit in post. I don't know a huge amount about it. I'm sure it's going to be great. Have you seen the trailer? If not, it's here. ** MyNeighbourJohnTurtorro, Hi, Johnny! If I may call you Johnny. Tricks are tricky in the not so good way, but what the heck, right? I'm surprised I haven't heard the new Swans either. It's rather inexplicable. I'll put that absence in the past asap. Well, I've been having to keep my mouth shut about the Scott0))) project for quite a while, me being buds with Stephen and all. I haven't actually heard it yet, but the word among the listener cognoscenti is that it's amazing, no surprise. But, yeah it's a crazy thing. And there's even more on that front that remains inside my forcibly closed mouth for now. We'll be filming through the first week of September, and then it moves into the editing phase. When it's finished, which is supposed to be by the end of the year, and then when it's through post, which should be by early next year, the producers will submit it to festivals. It already has a distribution deal and DVD release guarantee in the US because the US distribution company put money into the project. I think there is some European distribution in place, but I don't know what. All of that is vague at the moment, but I assume the film will at least start being seen by early/mid next year. My Monday wasn't so hot, but I'm hoping for better for today. How was your Tuesday? What happened? ** Kier, Hi, K! Wow, really, you bought 'HG'. She's so great! I hope you like it. Blue film! Ooh. Wow, you really scored with all that stuff yesterday. Oh, Kate Bush ... you know, I don't really know all that much of her stuff, strangely. I mostly only know the 80s stuff, 'Running Up that Hill' and that era. But hardly anything since, for no good reason. So I think she seems pretty great, but I'm kind of a Kate Bush innocent. What do you recommend I get? I'll get whatever you tell me that I should get. Oh, crap, I see that the rash on your arms has turned into boils! I'm so sorry. Shouldn't they have made you wear long sleeves or long gloves or something? Shit. Did the doctor give you something to start getting that fixed? Major hugs, my friend! ** Steevee, Hi. From my limited investigation, it does seem like Strypes have a least a bunch of young fans. Oh, the 'authentic' thing, right. That's so uninteresting. That 'the stuff I grew up listening to is authentic because I personally have an emotional attachment to the style of music made when I was young' argument is so gross. As is the guitars = authenticity argument. Oh, well, I guess it's all very harmless. ** Etc etc etc, Hi, man. She's great! Ugh, hustling. Oh, I just saw yesterday on Facebook that Lazy Fascist Press is currently reading submissions, if you want to try them. They're a terrific press. Here's a link to their FB page. Sure, send me a chunk or a few pages, cool. It'll take me a while to read them because I'm completely overwhelmed with film project stuff for at least the next two weeks, but I would be very interested to read that. That 'much bigger thing' you're working on sounds kind of really mouthwatering. Yeah, my novel. The aforementioned film thing has really cut into my work on it of late, but I'm angling to get back to it asap, and I'm very excited about it. Take care, Casey. ** Sypha, Hi. Yeah, ha ha, I figured you'd be into Jake Bugg. Well, like I said, I sort of find it hard to believe that they won't want your/Oscar's book, but, yeah, no harm in widening your fishing grounds. ** Keaton, I've never heard of an Italian soda. Maybe France erased my memory. I did meet them both. Nah, I would just watch them skeptically but politely. Wife of Rob Zombie, gotcha. Wow, I really should have been able to guess that one. Gif stacks are really tough and interesting. Obviously, I'm kind of addicted to making them. I think gif stacks are a important new form, and I fully intend to go down in history as one of the forms early serious attempters. Yeah, I do. Have you actually read Joy Williams? Based on what I've read of your writing, I would have thought you'd be into her prose. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, B. How was the Franz West show? That sounds promising. I guess I think he's kind of uneven, but I think some of his work is really something. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Hm, a favorite Joy Williams. That's hard. I honestly really love everything I've read by her, which is almost all of her books, I think. Yeah, I can't come up with just one. Do you have a fave of hers? I think Zac has that new French 'Providence' DVD. We've been planning to watch it for weeks. It's a must have for absolutely sure, as is that R-G box obviously. ** Misanthrope, Oh, you have, have you? Or if you're a younger top guy into older bottoms. Obviously, that's a thing too. Everything's a thing. There are things for everyone out there. Things so thingy that I often sit back and fold my arms and say, 'Huh'. ** Rewritedept, Hey. Oh, your excerpt will appear in a workshop for sure a week from this coming Saturday. It's all set. Yesterday was not an improvement, and I'll leave it at that, ha ha. No, I haven't read the sample other than kind of skimming it when I was setting up the post. I'll read it carefully between now and the workshop day. I really just do not have any brain power at the moment that isn't taxed out and maxed out by this film stuff, and I'm sorry for the delay. I hear you about life stress at the moment big time. High five. ** Okay. Up there is one of those gig posts I do showcasing music I've been listening to lately and liking enough to suggest that you discover it yourselves. Enjoy. See you tomorrow.