Music for 10/7/20!!! Jeff Mills, Velvet Negroni, Snail Mail, Wild Billy Childish

@@@ Jeff Mills: Moon The Area of Influence (Axis, 2019) Today I listen off a couple of All Music notable release emails from 2019. I can not find this record on Apple Music so we’re going to peep the beginning of this record in the GooglePimpTube video below. Mills is a pioneer/founder in the techno movement. After the spoken word intro by Walter Cronkite and astronauts and others in the news game, a restrained and polytechnic dancefloor banger begins and it’s notable for the lush pads and a chiller funky beat. I don’t know how a listener would judge whether this is intergalactic techno but to my ears it is. I’ve clicked around within this forty minute video/audio file and he does get spaced out and funky, I like it. You can tell he’s been in this genre for a long time as this music is very focused and integrated. All the parts fit together to work on the listener’s perception. Check it out.

@@@ Velvet Negroni: Kurt Kobain (4AD, 2019) It’s interesting to see a youth rock a r&b track called Kurt Kobain. Especially one that uses sounds closer to Madonna and another ’80s artist I can’t pull off the hard drive this morning than to any grunge era sound. I like his voice, it’s full and expressive, the drum machine beats I don’t like nearly as much. I have no idea from listening to the lyrics how this track relates to Kurt Cobain or if he’s even attempting to or whether it’s an inside joke or some such. There are points where I hear the word youth so maybe there’s some statement about Kurt Cobain as some universal youth figure. If I liked the sounds more I would be more interested.

@@@ Snail Mail: Habit (Matador, 2018) Some old school lo fi indie guitar business complete with that slack, detached voice I’ve grown to not like over the years. I like the drummer and the simple nature of the beat, don’t much like these strummed electric chords I’ve heard literally hundreds of times before and I’m not down with the vocalist. I know I’m in the minority on this formula as millions love and support it but it’s not for me. The drummer is good though and they’re really well recorded and mixed. The drums that is.

@@@ Wild Billy Childish: Last Punk Standing (Last Punk Standing, 2019) There are many flavors of punk rock and this record stands as a garage punk biscuit with a flavorful drummer, standard guitar sounds and a British accented punk preacher. I’m not sure it matters who the last punk standing will be as the word punk was never really defined so there may be 50 different dudes and ladies standing up for their 50 different definitions of punk and that might be considered a very punk thing. As music I like it as a connection back to sounds of a long time ago but I don’t think most kids would give a flying fuck about this.

YTD recordings listened to: 772
Good music, not list worthy: 419
Not good music: 328

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis

Music for 10/25/17!!! Elan Noon, The Deep Dark Woods, Holy Hum

@@@ Elan Noon: Have a Spirit Filled (Self-released, 2017)  An intimate hippie/lo-fi folk mash that is #1 on CFUV’s Weekly playlist email.  Seriously shy bedroom vibes up in this first tune with arpeggiated acoustic guitar and voice.  That’s it yo.  It’s not content to rest there as the second tune brings in the synths and the soft rock vibe.  I’m guessing the sensitive gent is still gonna be on the mic.  Whoops, there he is!  The fourth tune features a different singer (ladybits!) but you’ll be thoroughly softened by the tidal wave of feelings of the first three tunes.  It may seem like I’m dogging this record but I’m not — I appreciate its sincerity while acknowledging it’s not my bag.

@@@ The Deep Dark Woods: Yarrow (Six Shooter, 2017)  Also off this week’s CFUV playlist email.  There are three pre-release tunes up on the Apple Music and this first tune, Fallen Leaves, is a sad one.  Watch out, forlorn alert!  Stripped down band arrangement and there’s an Emmylou Harris sounding lady joining sad gent on vocal duties.  It’s a Daniel Lanois-esque production sound they got going here.  This music is so American it makes me want to buy a horse and ride around collecting tumbleweed!  How’s that for analysis?  The second pre-release tune, Deep Flooding Waters — hold up, I got these three tunes all mixed up due to interwebz music player horseshit.  The first tune is a midtempo rocker with some space organ (still lonesome), the second tune is the acoustic saddie, and the third one is a slack, drunk in yer boots kinda track.  I’m sure this level of fatigue haunts El Trump-o’s wife as her miserable life with that orange haired pee brain must be quite a handful.  Overall, I got the gist of what they have on offer with a tad of rambly.

@@@ Holy Hum: All of My Bodies (Andrew Yong Hoon Lee, 2017)  Some ambient electronic off this week’s CFUV email.  Oh, here comes a vocalist which changes the vibe a lot.  The singer has an arch, highbrow tone which elevates the proceedings into earnets art-tronica.  Let’s peep more….the third tune brings on an indie band with a slack straight beat, strummed clean electric guitar and a wood flute (guess!)  I like this track, it has the sparseness of John Lennon’s first solo record though the singer is just too ethereal for me.  Also he sounds a bunch like the singer of Coldplay and that’s not working for me.  I can see people digging this so check it out if the description works for you — stripped down indie with ambient sound vibes and a white shoe singer.

YTD recordings listened to: 689
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 369
Not good music: 287

Buys: 9
Honorable Mentions: 7

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Leviathan, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Janelle Monae, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Gentleman Surfer, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, James Brandon Lewis, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, American Lips, Sudan Archives, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements

Active Music Listening Thursday November 6, 2014

YTD recordings listened to: 887
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 546
Not good music: 283

Honorable Mentions: 11
Buys: 15

Possibles:  Boyd Rivers, Chris McGregor, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Dave Arner Trio, Bill Horist, MAKU Soundsystem, Zomby, Retox, About Group, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Kendl Winter, Bone Dance, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee,  The Ballantynes, Debruit and Aljawal, Slidhr, The Whammies, The Chewers, La Misa Negra, Alexander Hawkins, Cheryl Pyle,  Toxic Holocaust, Equal Stones, Comeback Kid, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Bio Ritmo, Lenguas Largas, Khun Narin, Doug Seegers, Shakey Graves, The Coral, Sleaford Mods, Simo Lagnawi

@@@ Thurston Moore: The Best Day (Matador, 2014).  I’ve almost always thought Mr. Moore is more than a bit overrated.  Here on this solo outing he’s shifted focus from the Sonic Youth meltdown post-punk shitshow to a mannered, Pavement/Velvet Underground mostly clean guitar American rock.  I really like the guitar tones, his voice is all right.  The first tune is dragging a bit so we’re gonna hit that fast forward.  The second tune, Forevermore, feels a little like that’s how long it’s gonna be and I can’t believe I’m saying this but I kinda miss Sonic Youth right now.  This smells a tad precious.

@@@ Deerhoof: La Isla Bonita (Polyvinyl, 2014).  Off the All Music weekly email.  I’ve always appreciated the quirky as fuck aesthetic of this band.  It’s just off kilter, splintered and compositionally jumpy so there good for some surprises.  This one is marketed as punk and funk, and I would just caution that we’re not talking Maggot Brain here, it’s more like Red Hot Chili Peppers funk here, and a bit less funky than that even.  Very nice drum sound and the recording sounds very good.   The second tune is much more ambient than funky.  It’s not punky either, which is fine.  I didn’t really like the third tune, but I might circle back to check out more of this record.

@@@ Grouper: Ruins (Kranky, 2014).  Off last week’s All Music weekly email.  Lo-fi legend, apparently.  What the fuck, this first tune was just someone tapping a drum two beats at a time?  Hello, I don’t show up for that shit.  Ah, second tune, Clearing, and it’s some somber piano and some whispered vocals.  It’s wistful and lonely and whatnot.  I know the indie hipsters find this vibe enthralling.  It’s wispy, that’s for sure.  I’m going to remain agnostic on this as she’s trying to do something more than than the average indie asswipe, but it’s not a bullseye for me.

@@@ Clark: Clark (Warp, 2014).  Also off last week’s All Music weekly ‘notable’ releases, this is slotted as experimental techno so it might be boom-titch with a little strange sauce or it might be a total wank.  I’m hearing a lot of ambient winds, and now comes the kick drum on the second tune, Winter Linn.  I’m thinking this is gonna be a slightly more sophisto boom-titch — all the club sounds are there but it’s a tad mimimalist and more tastefully arranged.  No awful fucking lyrics, that’s a plus.  It gets a bit New Age-y as it unfolds, but that’s an undercover part of the EDM sound.

 

Active Music Listening Wednesday May 1, 2013

YTD recordings listened to: 334
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 221
Not good music: 93
Buys: 10

Possibles: Sidsel Endresen & Stan Westerhus, Boyd Rivers, Abdoulaye Alhassane Toure, Cryptopsy, Nick Waterhouse, Patterson Hood, Skyzoo,  Chris McGregor, Brother Ali (2009), Alvin Youngblood Hart, Bob Gluck Trio, Ether Net, Oddisee, Holly Williams, Matt Davis’ Aerial Photograph, Hollis Brown, Dave Arner Trio, Graveola, Safe Haven, Cyanide Pills, Har Mar Superstar, Trap Them

@@@ Akron Family: Sub Verses (Dead Oceans, 2013).  I was first introduced to these guys by a friend of mine who’s really into them and their lifestyle, and then I was impressed that they did some shows with free jazz bass honcho William Parker, but as of yet I’ve been unable to enjoy their music.   I think of their music as being new school hippie rock and that’s mostly apt for the opening tune of this record, No-Room.  A pushing snare beat underneath some epic hippie style electric riffage and a loose and vibey vocalist.  Production includes a repeating reverbed out vocal section that lends a psychedelic air to the tune and some swirling, shoegazer type guitar whooshing.  You can tell these guys are a seasoned live band as they latch on and hold a groove with ease as they work through various musical ideas.  The first tune feels a bit long, which isn’t a good sign.  I like the third tune, Until the Morning, but I’m afraid I still don’t like this band.

@@@ Neon Neon: Praxis Makes Perfect (Lex Records, 2013).  A MOG new release page record.  Distinct Kraut-rock overtones added to this mostly disco record.  The second tune introduces a pillowy soft male voice on top of the pulsating synth beat.  Oh boy, this isn’t gonna work for me.  Lord, the third tune gets more into the applesauce disco, I gotta move on here.

@@@ White Fence: Family Perfume Vol. 2 (Woodsist, 2012).  I was looking for the new record by Destruction Unit, and found a write up of these guys over here at Brooklyn Vegan.  It’s a rambling psychedelic affair with low, detached passages as well as swirling worked up space jams.  The guitar tones are nice while the flat affect singing makes me want to jump off a bridge.  Overall, just a bit sleepy time tea for my taste.  I do think the video clipped below is a tasty nugget.

@@@ Craig Taborn: Chants (ECM, 2013).  I thought this piano trio recording by Taborn was too snoozy.  Production is very high minded, but there’s a restraint in the playing that I didn’t enjoy.  Others may love it, but I was expecting a bit more as I’m a big fan of Gerald Cleaver’s drumming.