yellowfever

totally into yellowfever. a surfier quix*o*tic sounds good.

jimmie rodgers / chemirocha

full story here ("half man, half-antelope")
(an extension/prologue to this previous post)

gowns

I've been listening to the song "Johnny" by Gowns on a pretty regular repeat lately.

It reminds me in a weird way of that (awful) suicide song, frankie teardrop. Except that it is sortof the antithesis. It comes from a pukekos download of the first gowns cdr that I got last year but nearly forgot about.

I saw gowns play last in new york, at cake shop, and now they've ceased to exist as of earlier this year. I heard recently about Erika Anderson's new band, Some Dark Holler, opening for throbbing gristle, with acre.

smog

All the sudden I'm into Smog. I never was interested before, only barely heard of him as a boyfriend of Lisa Carver and via cat power covers. So I've order the whole back catalog from the library.
Is there a "must-hear" record?

weed demon/ 1993

I really like this post from Impose, about the current generation's zeitgeistian anthem being "Weed Demon" by Wavves. It has really lingered - both the post and the song. And then I dug out a bunch of Smashing Pumpkins jams as well. & too the wikipedia article "1993 in Music." There is a new Wavves jam that isn't quite as so. Anyways, nothing is ever as good as it was.

Currently Listening

I just picked up these albums today..

Pocahaunted - Island Diamonds on Not Not Fun Records. This is really good! I just started it over again after it played once through already. My friend Ben told me about them forever ago, but I did not actually hear them until last week on Pseu Braun's show on WFMU. It is pretty spaced-out; two girls with chanting and effects. I am into it, it is trance-inducing. They are maybe treading some thin pc ice, but too I heard recently about this German art collective that gathers annually to have a big pow-wow in full regalia. two thumbs up anyhow.

Beach House - Devotion on Carpark Records. Also a bit spaced-out, and very sweet. I think they call this sort of music "dream-pop". It reminds me of old Mazzy Star records, and something else too. I really like it. The opening riff on "Gila" evokes so much that I can not explain. Somehow I missed seeing them at the Baltimore Round Robin show last month. The title is very much the theme of the record, performed by a pair that I can only assume are a couple in life.

Kria Brekkan - Apotropaiosong Armour CDR exclusive to Other Music. The disc was wrapped in a paper photograph of Kria Brekkan, glued actually so that I was unsure if I was to break the seal. Inside the disc is blank and there is no text to speak of. It compiles some recent work - I am so into her work, and up until now the only proper release I have is a seven inch but no turntable. (But see the first post in this blog for more.) The tracks here feel small, and quiet in some ways, but I must be used to listening to her live songs. The samples are more apparent though and despite that it is likely only her, the work is not lonely. Eerie, echoed and beautiful.

Avant Composers

Something about being in New York has me listening to and seeking more of the avant-garde composers. I went to a free concert last night of compositions by Arvo Part and Morton Feldman. Feldman's "Rothko Chapel" being the climax of the show. It was in a giant glass atrium full of palm trees: The Winter Garden. (Appropriate as it is now 27 degrees here.) "Rothko Chapel" was written to coincide with the opening of the Rothko Chapel in Houston, TX. Rothko, however, killed himself before it was opened. So the work has a lot of melancholy. It is arguably the first ambient work as well. (Eno's "Music for Airports" arriving several years later.) The performers felt slightly awkward with their "zen" delivery; I enjoyed the Part compositions more. Part is an Estonian composer known for "sacred minimalism". Part also created the Tintinnabulation style of very bell-like compositions. My mother has explained to me that music was the only method of preserving language and culture during the occupation in Estonia by foreign powers. She was there once during a huge fest when people came from all over the world to sing together. It must have been fantastic. Now I await my Massiaen discs from the library.

New arrivals - music

Woelv - gris - yes, I like it very much, it came in the mail today from P.W. Elverum & Sun (Source of Wind). "Edition Japonais"/ four tracks. A little bit haunted, but I would be surprised if it weren't, coming from her. I came upon her website recently, where I signed up for a mailing list to receive actual/physical mail. There are some of her drawings in the liner notes and a little string cluster pattern tucked in the jewel back as well. all thumbs up.

Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna - I picked this up on trade at Other Music. A little too clubby (persistent electronic beats) for me, but I will come back and listen to it some more for certain. Some standout tracks, one of which I had already downloaded free from OM : "Desert Storm". I haven't seen them yet in the city, so I'll likely go to their upcoming show at Santos w/ Marnie Stern. Dymphna of course being the saint of mental illness.
Update: This album is really good and has totally grown on me

Meredith Monk - Atlas - Just downloaded this from iTunes, my second time with this service. I had heard this on the radio very late one evening and was pleasantly surprised to enjoy one of her later (1993) works so much. She continues making music, but my favorite by her came out the year before I was born. I thought the whole album might be wordless, but then a few recognizable bits emerge, followed by the rare dialogue of "Choosing Companions". I am happy to have a work by her of greater length, and general consistency.

Growing - Color Wheel - I love this album. I only had it on vinyl with no turntable to speak, so I picked this up on disc at OM today as well. I am not so into their newest album, All the Way, but I have not given it a thorough chance yet. I keep missing their shows in the city, and only wish I had ever seen them back in Olympia. No words at all on this album, and any Growing works ever?