What's New? : 24 January 2022

Hi, friend.  Thank you for being here.  What's new? is something we started to get some quick thoughts out about music we had recently listened to.  As we became more aware of ourselves and became even more split, it became too difficult to try and continue.  We never stopped checking out music of course, as it is the most important thing that presently exists.  It has been brought to Andy's attention that I still have a lot to say about music and that perhaps it would be beneficial to start things up again.  It would be impossible at this point to run down all of the things we have checked out and have been deeply into during the interim, but if you look through the archives of the column, I don't think it would be any surprise to hear that it's been a little bit of everything.  As such, we will be going through the past year or so of acquisitions over the next little while.  So, on we move.  Please excuse the interruption.  Time, as a smarter man than myself once said, makes fools of us all.

Going to look at some New Americana today.

William Tyler — New Vanitas (2020)
Bandcamp YouTube Spotify

It's hard to know what to say about an album like this.  It is definitely better as a whole and feels absolutely like the individual songs form to make the complete piece.  In more recent times, WT went for a larger, decidedly Technicolor presentation of his tunes.  But, on this surprise release, he goes back to a more stripped down, one-man approach that recalls Behold the Spirit or Deseret Canyon.  It was released in the final weeks of a brutal 2020 summer and it's hard to think of it as anything other than an album created by the COVID-19 pandemic.  It's meditative and stirring, lo-fi and often hauntingly beautiful.  More than one of the song titles makes reference to an afterlife of some sort and it doesn't strike Andy as anything except a very melancholy record overall.  Definitely recalls some of the most resonating sounds of WT's biggest influences, but also manages to incorporate the Krautrock accents of his more recent work.  Very singular vibe throughout; the sound of a guy sitting alone and just playing while trying to sort out some rather difficult thoughts.  Extremely comforting music, in that sense.  Junior called it one of the parts of "the soundtrack to the beautiful apocalypse" and Andy finds that a pretty good summary.  Where it succeeds is in its hope.  Initially released as a digital-only album, it was "reissued" about six months later on vinyl for Record Store Day.  Key track: "Four Corners"

Six Organs of Admittance / William Tyler — Parallelogram (2015) 
Bandcamp Spotify

Part of the Three Lobed label's Parallelogram series, this finds WT sharing a 12" with sympathetic fellow traveler Ben Chasny.  I've always enjoyed the Six Organs stuff I've heard in passing, and his sidelong multi-movement lo-fi dronescape "Lsha" is no different.  It's a good indicator of what he does, as far as I know, but it doesn't really get me excited to check out more.  WT's side of the record is taken up by two of his vintage longform multi-layered pick sessions.  Feels like he was purposely going for a "trippier" sound with these two tunes and I have to say that it all sits extremely well as extra material for when Andy just can't get enough of Impossible Truth.  "No Marigolds in the Promised Land" gets a little more intense towards the end, while "Southern Living" paints a very bright picture of a lifestyle that feels simultaneously ancient and futuristic.  Extremely nice while it's playing and one for the completists who just have to have more.  Key track: "Southern Living"

William Tyler + Marisa Anderson — Lost Futures (2021)
Bandcamp Spotify YouTube

Another pandemicwave creation, this finds WT teaming up for a proper collaboration with Pacific Northwesterner Marisa Anderson and the results are just about as eerily pretty as New Vanitas.  There seems to be a bit more tension at work in these songs when compared with that album and I have to wonder just how much has passed me by in Marisa Anderson's previous catalogue (this is our introduction to their music).  This definitely feels like the soundtrack to something intense and unlike anything WT has laid down in the past — how much of that is MA's personality coming through?  The songs all have a very defined theme and progress accordingly; not a whole lot of meditating on moods (except for the noise drone "Something Will Come", which is probably the one track I'd toss out).  For WT, it's a very unique move and a completely unseen one.  However, again: this could be the standard for MA.  Whatever the case, it's good, very satisfying, and is bookended by two of WT's best tunes thus far.  Makes me interested to see what will happen next.  Key tracks: a fully fleshed out revive of "News About Heaven" (originally appearing on New Vanitas) and "Haunted by Water", as genuine a Grateful Dead pastiche as they come I'd say 

William Tyler + Luke Schneider — Understand (2021)
Bandcamp Spotify YouTube

And one more collaborative effort from WT, this time with fellow Tennessean Luke Schneider.  This one was released as a limited cassette (okay, sure- insert "lol" emoji) on the experimental Los Angeles-based label Leaving Records.    The music is easily the most cosmic and starbound WT has yet been associated with and it finds him sitting down at the keyboard for a few turns, while LS adds wonderfully atmospheric pedal steel and banjo accents.  Although only four songs and clocking in at a too-brief 24 minutes, this is (as of this writing) the most recent material WT has recorded and it is about as promising as I would imagine it could get at this juncture.  The pandemic has done us all in and this is the kind of music you put on your headphones, turn all the way up, and just fuck off for a walk to.  Heck, there's even an update of WT's now-classic "Highway Anxiety" that completely bubbles over with good vibes (it's appropriately retitled "No Trouble" here).  Proof that the darkest times need the most beautiful soundtracks.  Am perhaps setting myself up for disappointment, but I do hope this isn't a one-off collaboration.  Probably my favorite thing he's done since Lost Colony.  Can WT miss?  Key track: "No Trouble"; I mean dang, that's a tune

Sam Prekop — Comma (2020)
Bandcamp Spotify YouTube 

Sam Prekop seems to have entered a later phase where he just does whatever, whenever, and however he feels like.  After the unsurprisingly strong Any Day, the Sea and Cake has been on hold for some years now; their releases were slowing down significantly anyway.  Sam's own albums have been strictly modular synth-based ever since Old Punch Card just flew in from nowhere over a decade ago (I'm old).  Check in on him via social media these days and he's taking his beautifully idiosyncratic photographs or wading through a spaghetti pile of patch cables and showing off his found sounds from his arsenal of synth gear.  Comma continues along the more accessible path first hinted at on The Republic and I have to say: besides his first solo album, this is probably his best work under his own name.  It sounds nothing like the Sea and Cake and is totally instrumental.  If I had to liken it to something, it very much reminds Andy of the pleasantly weird mid-70s albums by Cluster or maybe the famous 5 EP by Slowdive.  Where Sam's synth stuff has been more on the reflective, fully ambient side of things in the past, Comma focuses a lot more of its energy on drum tracks and proper rhythms.  When that four-to-the-floor stomp finally lands on the opener "Park Line" it feels like a wholly natural and totally rewarding progression from where he last left off.  It's extremely pleasant music and I often think of it as the kind of music I hear in my best dreams.  His creative spirit and drive to just continue making some of the damned prettiest music around are truly something to behold, especially in these times.  Key tracks: "September Remember", "Summer Places", and the closer "Above Our Heads" which sounds like the epic end credits theme to a lost Nintendo 64 game 

~~~~A SHORT INTERLUDE~~~~
Sam was busy over the past year.  In addition to Comma and its little brother discussed below, he also released the digital-only twenty-five minute track "Spelling", via the Australian Longform Editions label: Bandcamp Spotify YouTube.  It's a bit of a departure, as it's just one long vamp with a lot of doodling.  Still no less pleasant than anything else he's done recently.
~~~~BACK TO THE PROGRAM~~~~

Sam Prekop — In Away (2021)
Bandcamp

A digital-only release everywhere except Japan, this CD version features an extra track not available elsewhere (mine also came with a glossy postcard print of the cover art; okay Andy is done gloating about my cool CD now☺).  Recorded immediately after Comma was released, there aren't any drastic stylistic turns away from that material, so it sits very nicely as a related companion piece.  Both records back-to-back run just over an hour, so that's how I find myself listening to this stuff most of the time.  That said, I definitely prefer the three closing tracks (one of which is the Japan exclusive "Sunset"; okay that's the last of my gloating, I promise☺).  All three are easily highlights of Sam's synth material so far and some of his most soothing songs to date.  Wonderful music.  Endlessly enjoyable.  Key tracks: "Community Place", "So Many", and "Sunset"  

We'll try to be a bit more frequent about these going forward.  Thank you.💙

ace sides.

hi, hope this finds you well.  happy new year.

redundant chicanery originally started as a way for me to legitimize my budding music journalism career.  i was a staff writer at okayplayer.com when it began and i wanted to be paid to talk shit about music.  so i practiced and put in my time to "build a portfolio."  of course, nobody read it and i just started to treat it as a regular random blog with a semi-focus on music.  throughout its tenure, i've lost both of my parents (for better or for worse), seen ron carter play live more times than i can remember, gotten divorced twice (once legally, the other in spirit) and, for the first time, really started to completely understand the severity of my mental health problems (as a peak through some of the archives around non-music posts will confirm).  i don't have a lot of photos from the past fifteen years, so it's the best personal document i have.

suffice to say, i've learned a lot about myself during that meantime.

i said all that to say all this—

eventually, you have to confront it (whatever "it" is).  and it's not a bad thing.  i don't even consider mine a "confrontation."  it's just a thing that i didn't understand about myself.  i didn't understand because, like too many other things in this life, i was told that i was required to put myself in one of just a handful of boxes.  

if i didn't fit into any of those, there must be something wrong with me.

truly how i've felt most of my life.

but in understanding that i identify as a romantic asexual person, i've found that the only thing wrong with me is that i was disinformed.  which, upon further reflection, is no fault of my own.

you can't reach the destination if you are purposely given an incomplete map.

it is with immense gratitude that i am able to say that at least i'm getting there now.

i love you all.
—gaa

PS—
andy and j have a short little ep coming soon.  it'll be on the main austinato bandcamp probably in the next week or so  (UPDATE: "free and pretty, just for you." © andy).  here's the cover art (nice one, andy!):

and here's a sneak peak.  j's new arrangement.

The transcript.

What follows is the transcript of the original transmission.  Contrary to some beliefs, the two broadcasts were identical.  In a lot of recollections, it was louder the second time.  Andy does not recall this being the case and the Sialogeans have no concept of volume or what “loud” is, so it’s hard to say.  Although they do acknowledge that the second transmission was broadcast with a stronger signal, due to the fact that more of them had arrived by that point. It commandeered any electrical device with sound projecting capabilities, whether or not it was powered on or plugged in.  It even utilized some electronics that didn’t have speakers, but could still vibrate, filling out the lower frequencies.  It was quite resonating and capable of shaking the ground throughout inhabited areas.  After the first one, media outlets reported that it caused countless transit accidents and major structural damage, especially in metro areas.  It was meant to be heard, or at the very least felt, by everyone.  The total duration from when the first silence began to when the second silence ended was three minutes and thirty-three seconds.  Here it is, in its entirety:

“(thirteen seconds of silence)

(G major triad)

Greetings, Earth people.  We are Sialogea.  We are not your creators.  Oumuamua was unsuccessful.  Due apologies.  You are understood now, friends.  We are preparing to update and integrate as efficiently as possible.  Thank you for understanding.  This transmission will be broadcasted twice.  After the second transmission, the lights will go out in order to properly configure the Thought Transfer Protocol to Earth’s needs.  Please prepare as needed and act like nothing is wrong, as this will streamline the update.  A proem will be sent via lunar explosion seven Earth days from the start of the first transmission of this broadcast.  All people will receive this proem.  Please expect Sialogean residents to contact you within ten Earth minutes of the lunar explosion.  Thank you for listening.  Thirty three Earth seconds of silence to follow.

(thirty three seconds of silence)”

Taken from the book "It Was True: A Collection of Recollections About First Contact With Sialogea, as told to Andy by Dulce"

Excerpt.

The Announcement.

Their first attempt at direct communication with us: it scared everyone greatly.  Hospitals were overwhelmed.  They turned me away because I did not have any apparent physical injuries.  I panicked with such intensity that I was convinced it was another heart attack.  I’m not sure if I slept for about three days afterwards.  They knew it would be jarring and have a staggering effect on Earth.  Going back and listening to it now, their approach was the right one.  They said everything we needed to know.

I had spent most of the summer in Eureka and the whole trip had a sense of somber finality to it.  I wasn’t forbidden to go there, but even I knew I was getting too old for such trips that served no purpose, except to satisfy my nostalgia.  I was supposed to be mature and responsible and not so carefree as to make such flighty, impulsive choices.  I could play basketball anywhere.  It didn’t need to be on that court.  So, on my way home, I stopped at a record store in Willits and bought the new OutKast album as a sort of pity present to myself.  It was the perfect soundtrack for the drive back and for my summer overall.  I loved it immediately and listened to it pretty much everyday for the following three months.  

I’m only telling you this so it’s easy to understand: when that transmission happened, I knew ATLiens backwards and forwards and I was absolutely sure that’s what I was hearing.  And yes, definitely my memory is accurate: without the major triad, it totally started off like the opening seconds of “Two Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac).”  

They said “Earth people” though, so I knew something was up.

It was midnight when the first one started.  I had just fallen asleep.  It woke me up immediately for two reasons: 1) It was loud and 2) I had put Inspiration Information into my CD player, not ATLiens why am I hearing ATLiens is this what overdosing on music feels like?!  

I guess some people didn’t have any electronics close enough and assumed it was some police operation in the distance, probably a contributing factor to the initial skepticism.  Most of my neighbors went outside to make sure it wasn’t just them that had heard it.  Besides an emergency notification acknowledging it on our smartphones, there was no formal media coverage for at least an hour following the thirty three seconds of silence.  

When they finally got on it, you better believe it was non-stop coverage.  In some of the more ridiculous analyses, the “rational answer” sounded just like the “crazy conspiracy theory” to me.  Glass and smoke was the name of the game and these were some of the shiniest of ring-blowers.  

In their defense, I remember agreeing that the message itself was straight out of an old monster movie.  Pretty unbelievable stuff.  I was a little bit offended that I was supposed to take the sender of that message seriously at all.

And so it went for the next few days.  In all of the media, we were told that it was a hoax of the most villainous variety and that the culprit would be found and punished, oh so punished.  “Experts” were brought in from every angle you could bend.  They all painted themselves as Holmes to the perpetrator’s Moriarty.  

They’re the ones who started calling it “The Announcement.”  Read straight from a script no doubt.  

I remembered how well they had managed to bury Oumuamua in manipulative disinformation.  I knew back then they weren’t ever going to tell us the truth, but this was much better content.  Even now, I’m not cynical enough to deny that I was totally and thoroughly engaged.  Things were finally getting good.  

As promised, it was retransmitted.  The second one began exactly ninety six hours after the first.  I was hoping to hear something different.  Once was enough for me, but it was even more menacing the second time.

And then the power went out about five minutes later.

I was in my bedroom and I could hear my neighbors scream and gasp through the walls.  I joined them.

Up until then, most people knew it was a hoax.  For a few hours I did talk myself into believing that it was “the Dutch” (or whoever was the propaganda target of the time) and I remember falling asleep as the sun was rising, while trying to listen for machines or explosions that never came.

To be honest, I felt a lot better after I woke up on Christmas day.  The power was still off and nothing else had really happened.  

Initially I was like, “Yeah, they’re punishing us.  They always find a way”, but most of my neighbors were more open-minded and at least half of them admitted that they believed we were in the process of being contacted by aliens.  

They sounded utterly ridiculous to me.  Even now when I say that, I feel a bit silly.  I wasn’t sure what to believe, but it definitely wasn’t that.

There hadn’t been much traffic around where I lived anyway, but it really got quiet after the power went out.  

I much preferred it, though I did miss being able to listen to my headphones, especially on my walks.  I taught myself some chords on my kalimba and managed to suss out the “I Want You” melody, and that was probably the best thing for me at the time.  

I had issues already, but this constant barrage of mental chess matches was of no help whatsoever.  I kept telling myself that it was real and that the truly insane person isn’t aware of their own insanity — as I sang makeout songs to myself, whilst awaiting the explosion of the moon, which I had been assured (twice now, thank you very much!) would definitely be happening by a voice that came from inside the radio and the TV and my headphones and my toothbrush and yes, even my toaster somehow.

Taken from the book "It Was True: A Collection of Recollections About First Contact With Sialogea, as told to Andy by Dulce"

they sent me YOU

 you used to speak the truth, but now you're liar.

you used to speak the truth, but now you're clever.

stay clever.  act like nothing's wrong.

-gaa