The Audiozine

Totally unannounced, total surprise, totally awesome. Straight outta Popperton University:

Zirafa presents Hipshooter EP.

Zirafa = the musical moniker of Farsheed Hamidi-Toosi, who is a dear friend and easily one of the best musicians I've ever known. Over the years I've learned tons about drumming, composition, and music software from hanging out and occasionally collaborating. He was one of the four remixers who worked on Audiozine Volume 01.

Per Farsheed, re: Hipshooter: "Hipshooter was inspired by dancing, blips and bleeps, old cowboy movies, lasers, free jazz, forgotten technologies, and bagel sandwiches. It's a listen-from-the-hips type of record (a first for me). So turn it up and make your ears into mush!"

Travel + School + Computer Issues + Editing Sound Recordings = Long Delay Time for this post. All Apologies.

The short story:
I met Nels Cline before he played with his Nels Cline Singers group at the Paramount Theater on 06/06/08 and you can download "Thurston County", which has never been recorded before or commercially released, from that set. Nels Cline played "Thurston County" on a Fender Squier guitar lent to him by my friend and Clarence Thomas Action-Adventure Unit bandmate, Aaron Albin.

You can also download zip files of the entire first set and second set. Both come highly recommended. Many thanks to Nels Cline Singers and the Paramount Theater for an amazing night.

Unabridged story + photos after the jump.

I'm about to meet Nels Cline in 30 minutes.

Tonight there is a show that I hope to attend and it sounds like you should be there too.

Nailgun Media Presents:
Animal Hospital (Boston multi-instrumentalist post-rock solo layers + drones)
Dais Queue (local musical asset Davis Salisbury previously of Grand Banks and Bucks and Gallants)
Myceum (Scott Ritchie who was one of my previous bandmates in Cloeburner and who I consider to be a supernice guy and top notch sound architect)

June 3, 2008 @ Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar -- price unknown (probably cheap or even possibly on a donation basis?)

You should go because the lineup is great. However, you might also consider going as a show of solidarity because (as James points out on Nailgun):

1) This might be one of the last shows of “experimental” music at the Tea House for the time being; there’s been talk of steering things more towards folk/old-timey acts, MOR/aspiring-professional rock bands, and Hip-Hop acts; so come see some far-out drone rock excursions there while you still have the chance. 2) It’s also probably going to be Davis’ last show in town for a while, because he and his wife are moving to NYC next week. Davis has been a significant part of the Cville music community, from his time on the radio, to service in innumerable bands, to helping to run the old PudHaus space. And since the dissolution of Grand Banks last fall, he’s been doing some really solid solo performances, so you should come see his farewell show and give him a good send-off. 3) Given the facts of Davis’ departure, I’m told that we can expect some special surprises and guest appearances during the show. I’m not at liberty to divulge more, but in summary let’s just say this is going to be an awesome show and you’ll be kicking yourself later if you miss it.

Pitchfork ran a pretty fascinating interview with Dan Deacon last night. He critiques the press coverage of his music, obliquely criticizes some of the musicians he gets lumped with, and threatens to go artsy on our ears. Here's an extended riff from the man himself:

And getting pigeonholed sucks shit. Words like "wacky" or "quirky" are different than a band being called emo or indie or new wave or hardcore. While those words also describe the attitude and nature of band, to me, those words aren't as destructive or at times condescending. "Wacky" quickly turns into "goof ball," into "man-child," into "stupid," which turns into a public that doesn't take the music seriously.

About eight years ago, when I first started writing music in this style, it was important for me to write music that was both simple and complex at the same time. Esotericism and pretension were (and still are) my archenemies. The goal was to create work that could be fun to listen to and dance to at a party but that wasn't stuffy or sleazy or sexual or like "dance" music. It was written to play at noise shows where people who were just listening to harsh noise would get up and dance. It's hard to present that attitude without being lumped into a bunch of people who don't take what they do seriously or are just based on novelty.

You can read the rest here.

1) Peace to Plan 9 on the Corner. I missed the memo that Saturday May 24th was their last day open, so I wasn't able to make a final, hugely symbolic purchase (probably Chuck Berry or Charlie Parker...). It was nice having a decent record store within walking distance, picking up tons of cheap used vinyl (which I should get around to uploading), making friends, hearing about shows, and on+on.

2) R.I.P. Satellite Ballroom. I can't even begin to remember how many great bands, big and small, that I saw at this wonderful place. An absurdly incomplete list: Wolf Eyes, Animal Collective, Silver Jews, Cataract Camp, Les Savy Fav, The Books, Grizzly Bear, Bonde Do Role, Battles, !!!, Acid Mothers Temple, Deerhoof, Danielson, Chuck Brown (wind em up Chuck!), Cat Power, Ostinato, MEN, Mas Y Mas. I caught my last show there on Thursday night. The lineup was great although the highlight for me was the headlining set by Truman Sparks. Somehow, after 7 years in the area, I had not yet seen T.S., usually because I was busy with work or travel just about every time they have played in the last few years. They played a set that churned, shuddered, and hurtled forward at all times and it was the first straight up rockin' show I've caught in a long while. Anyway, peace to the Ballroom and the many good nights I spent there soaking up great music and making good friends.

3) Farsheed nearly saw Totally Radd!! at the Smell in L.A. quite recently. He ended up missing the show, but read on via that link and be amazed by Neil Schuh and his peculiar blend of alcoholism and 8bit technology.

4) I am reading a well-written, compelling book by Drew Daniel of Matmos. The book is in the 33 1/3 series and it is about Throbbing Gristle's 20 Jazz Funk Greats. You can read a great interview with Drew Daniel discussing the book and TG at length here.

5) Autechre. I've been listening to even more Autechre.

Hey folks,

You should check out one or more upcoming shows featuring Bellman Barker, a new indie-pop (twee?) group from DC. They'll be playing shows in Virginia Beach, Richmond, Baltimore, Fredericksburg, and DC among other places along the East Coast.

The Washington Post says re: their self-released EP: "The obvious highlight is "Molly Maroon," a very Belle & Sebastian-esque
twee-pop shuffle, complete with affected vocals. The hand claps and
backing chorus in the song's final minute work perfectly and push the tune
from cute to nearly irresistible."

Tour dates and songs here at their Myspace.

Video of them playing as a duo here at Vimeo. Or check the embedded video below:

Bellman Barker-Bronx Lullaby/Smuggler's Waltz from J robinson on Vimeo.

For starters, an apology: in 2007 there were no new posts to the Audiozine Listening Series. Two reasons: A) I was super busy with school and B) I am a huge procrastinator and it made more sense to procrastinate on this blog than on my schoolwork.

That said, here's a short and sweet set of posts to music I meant to post throughout 2007. May they make yr summer 2008 merry:

1) Spoon -- The Underdog (Demo)
Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga came out in summer '07 and became my number one jam of the sunny season. Ga... is their most accomplished album, managing to sound terse and tense, but replacing the minimalism of earlier LP's with a new lushness. This demo version of lead single "The Underdog" comes from a limited 7" that came with the album if you bought it at an independent record store. Which I did.

2) Spoon -- It Took A Rumor To Make Me Wonder, Now I'm Convinced I'm Going Under
The B-side to aforementioned 7". This is a quirky little electro-disco-dub workout.

3) Radiohead -- The Gloaming (DJ Shadow Remix)
Remember the Bush era? When nobody could so much as question anything without being labeled Al-Q-whatever? Well, back then Radiohead set the standard for political rock -- namely, they (and TV On The Radio, who had some politically charged moments on "Return to Cookie Mountain") expressed our sense of frustration and powerlessness. Too bad they couldn't transcend it with their music and offer reasons to take action, get informed, or at least stay hopeful. Well, whatever, here's a track from Hail to the Thief, remixed by DJ Shadow and released as a limited vinyl single. Couldn't find a cleaner version than this rip from the radio, but the graininess kind of lends some grit. P.S. these electronic squiggles, blips, and clangs really jarred listeners who expected downtempo instrumental hip-hop from DJ Shadow.

4) Jaylib -- The Message
Ok, I lied. The other soundtrack to my Endless Summer '07 was the reissue of Jaylib's Champion Sound. Jaylib = J Dilla + Madlib, two of my fav producers. The album is comprised of nasty lo-fi hip-hop, with lots of vinyl noise, static, and rhythmic disjunctions. "The Message" is not one of the album's tracks, instead coming from a white label released by Stones Throw. It refers obliquely to an early Grandmaster Flash + The Furious Five single.

5) Child Rebel Soldiers aka Kanye West + Pharrell Williams + Lupe Fiasco -- US Placers
Oh geez. There have been super-vague rumors of an album-length collaboration between these three giants under the name Child Rebel Soldiers. This track comes from one of Kanye's mixtapes and contains a beat that rips from Thom Yorke's solo album The Eraser. So in the year that brought us In Rainbows, we also got our first Radiohead-hip-hop-crossover.

RIGHT CLICK + SAVE AS + ENJOY!

I'm gonna ask the question so that Sasha Frere-Jones doesn't have to: Is Noel Gallagher a racist? Or just irrelevant?

Take Note:

Monday May 12th @ the Teahaus
MAS Y MAS (in audio and video form)
w/ Cinnamon Band + Loom

First time I saw Mas Y Mas, they were opening for the Silver Jews. The drummer played standing up, the keyboards ranged from cheesy to abrasive, the guitars were played through a PA speaker in lieu of a proper amp, the lyrics were mostly about boredom and scenester minutiae, and there was a superb electro cover of "Buggin' Out" by A Tribe Called Quest. Their lineup has changed a few times and it sounds like they're now a trio. My guess is that their aesthetic concerns continue in the same vein as before: trash(ed) poetics. Or, as Mas Y Mas themselves put it: No Talent No Rhythm No Guts -- We're The Kind Of Band That America Wants.