Greg Davis & Sébastien Roux - Merveilles 10-08-2008
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Artist: | Greg Davis & Sébastien Roux | |
| Title: | Merveilles | ||
| Label: | Ahornfelder | ||
| Release: | October 7 | ||
On Merveilles, a collection of edits from a recent European and US tour, Greg Davis and Sébastien Roux mine far-flung territories, inviting gentle Americana to creep in alongside airy field recordings, crunchy Merzbow scuzz, and blurred musique concrète. "London" begins with a dockside stroll, as nautical bells and creaking wood undergo subtle digital treatment, only to eventually unify in a glowing drone. The liquid theme returns during the final moments: wet boots slush through the peaceful hum of a downpour. On "San Francisco," Paquet Surprise's "I Am Waiting (for December)" turns up among an arrested Elvin Jones-ish solo of freeze-frame snare taps and interrupted cymbal splashes. Pinched from Carlos Giffoni's playbook, "SF" breaks down in white static. The narrative arc of these live performances makes for a more diverse and engaging Davis/Roux collaboration than their 2005 album, Paquet Surprise. If only this trans-Atlantic duo took to the streets more often. - Marc Gilman | |||
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Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin
"KEEPING IT LOCAL": Trinie Dalton visits BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT
Posted by Arthur 10/21/2008
Nabob, photographed by Trinie Dalton
Two transplants from the Heart of Dixie who went west to the land of mesas, pueblos and geodesic domes, Rachael Hughes and Nathan Shineywater have found a way to thrive beyond society's mad dash to survive. Trinie Dalton travels to New Mexico to meet BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT, and hear their stunning new album in the pair's natural habitat.
<SNIP>
Motion to Rejoin is lighter, more airy, and more interstellar sounding than their last self-titled LP. They've been digging into Terry Riley, Procol Harum, Gert Weldon (an obscure "'60s music poet"), and Iasos, a Vangelis-like musician who, according to Iasos.com, is one of the "founders of New Age music." Motion to Rejoin is piled to the heavens with crystals, feathers, and walking sticks, and isn't embarrassed to embrace the New Age. Song titles, like "Hologram Buffalo," "A Rainbow Aims," and "When Beads Spell Power Leaf" are even more cryptonically stoned than those on their last LP. There are fewer chords in favor of the drone, more vocal harmonies and chanting, yet its "dirty" sound, as Rabob calls it, is less about sedated blues than long, Allman Brothers-on-piano jams that conjure up the majesty of actual earth. In character, Rabob is a terrestrial guardian, a practical, disciplined woman who speaks directly, while Nabob is the star freak, one who relishes a good digression. Their storytelling abilities in conversation extend into their songwriting realm, a more poetic, intentionally gray area. Their songs are incantatory. Both band members believe in an alchemical mystery inherent to their collaboration, and don't discuss their songs in a concrete, explicit way for fear of breaking the spell. Rabob says of their songwriting, "If you really want to dig deep and be a truth seeker, be spirit-led in a metaphysical sense, it's tough. The ecosystem is rich with life-giving beauty, but it's not respected and upheld in many places. On the east coast, there is no wilderness, and I feel suffocated by property-driven attitudes there. I need somewhere to go completely wild. I prefer writing music with another person. When I play music by myself, I feel it's a study to play with someone else…
"I sing in harmony. It's about the texture, the breathing. The muscles have to be trained a little bit. I like the idea of discipline…I really dig an enhanced way of projecting what's coming out of our mouths and instruments. This is mostly about the live scenario, the direct moment. Nabob's taught me a lot about direct action, on a daily level, and what that means as an individual regardless of where you are.
"Are we politicians on a creative level? We kind of are. People who take direct action are the truth seekers I really respect. Julia Butterfly Hill was protecting trees while we were [in the redwoods]. Now, I'm living alone rurally, and I'm fine with that. Living off the grid, not being taxed on money that I don't need to spend, that's my truth-seeking path. That's direct action. But I feel like a foreigner around most people for thinking this stuff. That's a little scary, and I get emotionally shaken. You see people not wanting to change, even though they're oppressed."
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Alexander Tucker - Portal
Alexander Tucker
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Animal Collective - Water Curses
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Johnny Cash Remixed
Johnny Cash Surgically Remixed by Snoop, More
The Man in Black was a badass for sure. But can he withstand sonic recombination from the likes of Snoop Dogg?
We'll find out in January 2009, when Johnny Cash Remixed drops. Featuring several Cash classics squeezed through the various filters of Snoop, Pete Rock, Alabama 3, The Heavy and other head-scratching candidates, it's a far cry from its source material's stripped-down country and blues. But it's nevertheless got the stamp of approval from the legend's estate.
LISTEN: Johnny Cash vs. Apparat, "I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow"
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/10/scalpel-johnny.html
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HUSH ARBORS out today!
Chessy Zanghi sent a message to the members of Ecstatic Peace! Records and Tapes.
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Subject: HUSH ARBORS out today!
Check it out, Mp3!
http://www.ecstaticpeace.com/kits/mp3/follow_closely.mp3
Keith Wood, along with constant foil Leon Dufficy, is Hush Arbors, and while his self-titled Ecstatic Peace! debut is not his first album by any means - he's been at this almost ten years - it does provide the perfect introductory point to Hush Arbor's distinctive take on psych folk. Combining the pensive songwriting of John Phillips circa Wolfking, the plaintive honesty of Neil Young, and the fishtank-gazing cacophony of Six Organs of Admittance (Wood is a frequent collaborator), Wood writes classic-sounding songs that sound readymade for AM radio, circa 1968.
These songs would play as comfortably over a scene from The Wonder Years as they would piping from a noxious chillout tent at Terrastock. There are songs here that resonate with the minor key melancholy of Bert Jansch or perhaps even Mark Kozelek, while others hint at a Wire subscriber's Siamese Dream, all propulsive rhythms and lysergic electric guitar.
Some albums are 'growers' - not this one. While repeated listens reveal more and more details, as good albums should, this is also an album that commands immediate attention. Try to put it on in a crowded room - just try. You'll have a 'High-Fidelity-Beta-Band' scene on your hands within two minutes.
Get it!
http://www.ecstaticpeace.com/store/index.php?products_id=266&main_page=product_music_info
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High Places
High Places / 03/07-09/07
| Album: | 03/07-09/07 | Collection: | General | |
| Artist: | High Places | Added: | 07/2008 | |
| Label: | Thrill Jockey Records | |||
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Rio En Medio - Frontier
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Rio en Medio - Frontier (2008)
Genre : Indie,Folk,Electronica,Experimental FINALLY!!Myspace
Tracklist
1. Heartless
2. Ferris
3. The Umbrella
4. The Diamond Wall
5. Venus of Willendorf
6. Standing Horses
7. The Last Child's Tear
8. Frontier
9. Fall Up
10. Stars Are
11. Nameless
12. Never Get You
13. The Light House
14. The Visitor
Rio en Medio is composed of songwriter/producer Danielle Stech-Homsy and a continuously evolving cast of friends and guest artists. Aligning herself with visual art, film and literature as much as music, Danielle's primary influences are the textures, sounds and patterns found in nature, the human voice, the sacred, childhood, dreams, language, chance and divination. Born in New Mexico and raised in California by her mother (a costume designer and flamenco dancer) and her father (a gay Syrian painter and set designer), it would be surprising if Danielle didn't turn out artistic. As a child she pursued dance, writing, drawing, playing, singing all with the same passionate intensity. When she lost her father to the 80's AIDS epidemic, it was through art that she continued to receive her father's guidance and speak to his memory. After studying Russian in college and writing and translating poetry for a year in New York, she suddenly and inconveniently found herself victim to a period of songwriting mania. She recorded her first album while living in Brooklyn and working as a writing teacher at a public school. With no intention of releasing it, she was quite surprised when Devendra Banhart, who had heard her music through a mutual friend, approached her about releasing the album on his label, Gnomonsong. The Bride of Dynamite, as the album came to be called, is a sparse and haunting trio of baritone ukulele, subtly harmonized vocals and electronic/sampled soundscapes. The songs are delicate and fragmented, evoking the spun poetry of ancient folk lullabies, but not without a hint at the darker side of today's cultural climate. Since the release of The Bride of Dynamite, Danielle has performed across the States and in Europe and has opened for many notable artists such as Grizzly Bear, CocoRosie, Devendra Banhart and Patrick Wolf. She has been joined on stage and in the studio by a number of special guests including Andy Cabic, Sierra Casady, Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, Cibelle, Justin Riddle, Tim Fite, Christian Lee (guitar/keyboards), Vlad Kromatika (video projection/keyboard), David Coulter, Cohdi Harrell (trapeze) and Nicholas Toll (live painting/percussion). Danielle's new album, Frontier, (Manimal Vinyl) was written and recorded at home in the wintery isolation of Northern New Mexico, where Danielle now resides. Written first as a series of interrelated poems, then later set to music, the album unfolds as a sort of constellation of tales, inviting a narrative reading but perhaps without all the lines drawn in. What results is a wildly imaginative journey into the cosmos, where concepts are reduced to light and matter and Mystery. Lifting the mythology of space exploration and the conquering of the wild, western forests, and aided by Danielle's intricate collage style and a remarkable host of synthesizers, the featured instrument is still Danielle's crystalline voice and the careful way she uses it to serve the magic of the song. Frontier is scheduled for release in October on Manimal Vinyl. It will be available on vinyl and on itunes. Two singles, Heartless and Fall Up are currently available for purchase on
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rated 4.13 by 8 people [?]
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Oct releases
Juana Molina
I Heart Lung
The Sea & Cake
Larkin Grimm
Windy & Carl
Lau Nau (November)
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