Kronos Quartet - Floodplain
416)Kronos Quartet/Floodplain: Desolate interpretations of Middle Eastern music, starting with unnerving drones and working backwards.#7
http://twitter.com/1000TimesYes/status/2246394018
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new releases from Glenn Jones
2009 Overview:
GLENN JONES
Expect a ramped-up set of releases in 2009 after a pretty
light 2008 schedule. Looking ahead, we are going to start
out this summer with an album of brand new material by Glenn
Jones (Cul de Sac). Barbecue Bob in Fishtown
marks the third solo album of acoustic genius by Jones, one
of the undisputed leaders of today's vanguard of soli steel-stringers.
Barbecue Bob in Fishtown finds Jones expanding
his instrumental arsenal to include banjo. Its an absolutely
stunning album. To be released on CD/LP (w/MP3 coupon) and
digital download. Check back soon for more announcements.
JACK ROSE / GLENN JONES
Also coming in 2009 will be a very special, intimate performance
DVD of Jack Rose and Glenn Jones, each artist
playing solo and together. The footage was shot expressly
for this project in a loft in Manhattan. The takes are live,
but the performance is not in front of an audience, but rather
in front of the camera. Includes interviews of each player
by Byron Coley. A one of a kind, remarkable document
of the two leading lights of solo acoustic steel string guitar
in their prime.
GLENN JONES MAKES INCREDIBLY SUBTLE, UNPRETENTIOUS SLIDE GUITAR MUSIC. GET.
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Group Doueh
LIVE BLOG
Sublime Frequencies: Omar Souleyman and Group Doueh
[Star and Shadow; Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK]
[05-23-2009]
Newcastle’s premier cult cinema/low-key music venue filled up pretty quickly with people whose perceptions of Sublime Frequencies were probably as uneasy as mine. It’s definitely problematic to want to imbue the music with a certain esoteric quality, something that lifts it above some “World Music” compilation state of faraway-ness with manufactured "authenticity." Naturally, the music of this excellent UK tour is just more oblique sounds from unknown places (to me at least). Sun City Girls’ Alan Bishop (who also Djed and MC’d between bands) certainly has an ear for it.
Syrian Omar Souleyman interestingly took a turn opening the night with his massively electric colors and hyper-rhythms, adopting an aloofly stoic presence in white tunic dark glasses and red kieffa. The five-piece band maintained a deadpan stoked-ness, too, applying additional percussion and wobbly, wailing melodies to the rhythmic bombardment. Sometimes it almost felt like another whole dancebeat grooving underneath the main staccato sitar, coming off in every direction — real delirious and vibrant.
Group Doueh were scheduled to perform before Souleyman on all other UK dates, so the reversal tonight seemed a contrast to the enthusiasm of many. Not that it really mattered — the diverse crowd seemed just as excited for slower-paced rock as schizoid dance rhythms. Group Doueh are from the Western Sahara and have a more live feel, a desert rock kind of vibe: ultra melodic and recalling scorched 70s moments of the likes of James Brown with a dash of Holy Mountain-flavored psych. The performance was massively electric, and even if physically most of the group had a similar steadfastness to Souleyman’s, they must’ve been focusing on transcendence, sometimes feeling like some mutant Jimi Hendrix. Their guitars were highly rhythmic and their tones mostly sunny, leaving a warm glow to the concrete venue.
Not sure if the show was what everyone expected in Newcastle (a city usually skipped by good tours), but it invariably met my high hopes.
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Gregg Kowalsky
Song Of The Week | Gregg Kowalsky | VI-VII
Song of The Week: Gregg Kowalsky - 'VI-VII'
For many years now, Kranky
have been consistently delivering stunning records by forward-thinking
artists who craft vast musical landscapes and push the boundaries of
electronic music far beyond perceived limitations of the genre.
Gregg Kowalsky is one such artist and he has returned this year with his second album for Kranky entitled Tape Chants following his label debut Through The Cardinal Window The main idea behind his new record is a rejection of digital recording methods (in his case, computers) in favour of using cassette tapes as the main source material, other sources including shruti box, percussion, gongs, tape loops, analogue synths and sine oscillators to name a few. Kowalsky admits to feeling limited by the seemingly unlimited nature of the digital medium, therefore recording Tape Chants was also a personal challenge for him. This rejection of the digital medium was also acknowledged by Greg Anderson in a recent interview in The Guardian about Sunn 0))) where he discusses the ways in which digital recording simply cannot record frequencies correctly.
This is certainly an interesting topic and you can read more about Kowalsky's methods of recording on the Southern website.
Now to praise the release of his new album we have crowned an edit of
the epic track "VI-VII" as Song Of The Week which is marked by the
refreshing sound of an underlying analogue hiss reverberating
throughout the entire song (and indeed the whole album). Deep drones of
various tones and other sources are impeccably layered to create a rich
sonic wall of sound which resonates in absolute epic proportions.
Gregg Kowalsky's music can be incredibly subtle and in order to really appreciate the abounding textures you really do need to play it at a high volume, then I can assure that you will feel a staggering cathartic experience, one which I would liken to the effects of the music of Stars of the Lid. In the same way, the music rumbles through your body, slowly guiding you to the deepest depths of tonal dissonance. It is as though you are cruising along the bottom of the ocean taking in its beauty whilst concurrently feeling the weight and pressure of the water on your body. It is these simultaneous feelings of experiencing something beautiful and also challenging that makes this kind of electronic music very unique.
If you want to learn more about what Kranky has to offer then I for one would strongly recommend you visit the Southern webshop and bask in the bounty of aural delights that await your eager eyes.
-- Lauren Barley Southern Records
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end of an ear. new releases.
Antiguo Automata Mexicano "Chez Nobody EP" CD (Static Discos Mexico) Antiguo Autómata Mexicano (AAM) with new tracks are an analogous mixture of kraut, minimalist tech and free jazz.
Cave "Psychic Psummer" CD (Important Records) Full length studio album from Chicago's Cave. "Like driving a train full speed off a cliff only to discover that the train can fly and you'll live forever if you stay inside."
Kubisch, Christina "Dreaming of a Major Third" CD (Editions RZ) Subtitled 'a composition for the clocktower of MASS MoCA', this is a beautiful piece made entirely of pitch-shifted and layered recordings of the bells in the clock.
v/a "The Blasting Concept" CD (Smalltown Supersound) Featuring Ken Vandermark, Lasse Marhaug, Thurston Moore, Mats Gustafsson, Paal Nilssen-Love, Joe McPhee, Jim O`Rourke, Peter Brötzmann, Terrie Ex & Yoshimi, and more.
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Wooden Shjips - Contact
WOODEN SHJIPS Contact (Mexican Summer) 12" 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.The
first sighting on anything Wooden Shjips related is usually all it
takes to induce mass hysteria around these parts. Apparently, you, our
loyal customers, feel the same, because man, we have sold a fuckload of
Shjips records. We just can't get enough, and these guys deliver
without fail every time. And now, right after their amazing Dos record,
comes yet another offering, a two song 12" single featuring a Serge
Gainsbourg composition, originally written for and performed by
Brigitte Bardot, and a new version of "I Hear The Vibrations", which
first appeared on the group's insanely limited Vampire Blues tour 7".It's
doubtful that anyone expected Wooden Shjips to go all French pop on us
here. They don't. Instead, "Contact" sounds like the Wooden Shjips we
all know and love, with warm bass grooves holding the foundation over a
cool, midtempo drum beat with a nice tambourine accent. Bursts of
filtered fuzz and wah guitar bubble and whoosh about as the organ
pulses rhythmically, and the vocals, sung in French, add the perfect
amount of mystery to this hazy rocker.As
awesome as "Contact" is, it's the flipside that really has everyone
here going crazy. Why? Because "I Hear The Vibrations" is simply one of
the coolest Wooden Ships songs to date, that's why. The song somehow
manages to be both mellow and cosmically heavy, not in a typical
"heavy" way, just... huge. It's a lumbering behemoth of hazed out
stoner majesty that would go on forever if we had our way. To anyone -
"anyone" being pretty much the majority of the human race - who hasn't
heard this one yet, you'll just have to trust us. It's fucking
essential. The few of you who actually got a hold of the 7" will also
find a reason to snap up this son-a-bitch, because the version
presented here (the "E-Z Version" according to the credits) is
definitely the way to go. To quote the Mexican Summer website, it is "
slower, grander, heavier, and dreamier, and takes full advantage of the
12" format for better fidelity and a truly blissful listening
experience." Yep, pretty much. It's everything that was great about the
song to begin with, but MORE of it in every conceivable way.
Sooooooooooo so awesome.But,
like most things of this nature, and like everything on Mexican Summer,
this is super limited, with only a scant 550 copies to be distributed
throughout the globe (though we're told there will be second, equally
limited pressing done soon). It also comes with a download card, but
really, the best way to listen to this is stoned in your room with the
lights on low and the stereo cranked all the way, not on your iPod on a
crowded bus. The record itself, pressed on asskicking white vinyl,
comes housed in a cool disco sleeve that was printed on a variety of
colors. We just hope everybody likes green.Once
again, we can't recommend this band highly enough. When you listen,
you'll realize that Wooden Shjips have done all the thinking for you
and given you exactly what you wanted. Did we mention this was limited?
Ready. Set. GO!!!!
http://aquariusrecords.org/
There will be a repress of this sold out LP with a pre-sale to begin July 1st. myspace.com/mexicansummer
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Cave - Psychic Psummer
CAVE
Psychic Psummer LP
"Welcome to the season of the Psychic Psummer. Important
Records' dream come true--a full length studio album from Chicago's
CAVE. Major momentum expertly crafted and embracing maximum minimalism,
repetion, Can cloud-bounce & full on heavy chant. Like driving a
train full speed off a cliff only to discover that the train can fly
and you'll live forever if you stay inside." [Important records]
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Headdress
Headdress
Lunes is the second album by the Texas psychedelic duo Headdress. Written in the desert but recorded during an endless New York City winter, the album is a dark meditation on Americana. Guitarist Caleb Coy and organist Ethan Cook sculpt a cold, expansive sound made ripe for these turbulent times. It’s the blues shaped by the avant-compositions of La Monte Young and Dylan Carlson. It's drone rooted deep in the American tradition.
Headdress formed in 2006. Part-heshers, part-American nomads. They self-released their first album Turquoise as a limited CDR and traveled the country, sleeping in cars and dwelling in caves but eventually ending up in New York City. The vinyl only label Mexican Summer reissued the album in September 2008 coinciding with a US tour with Dungen. They entered the studio to record their follow-up soon after.
Members:
Caleb Coy
Ethan Cook
MP3:
Booking:
Angela Means
Eclipse Booking
610-419-1500
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