What's New?: 8.6.2015

Another grab bag!

kandodo — k2o (2013) Spotify

kandodo is the one-man drone project of one Simon Price.  Though far more psychedelic and lo-fi than most drone outfits, Price's idea of drone seems a bit more theatrical than your standard fare and his subtitling of 'swim into the sun' "a film for the ear" makes total sense.  'kandy rock mountain' overcomes an unnecessary blaring intro to be the album's rightful centerpiece.  This vinyl pressing came with a limited run bonus 7" of two extra songs that only enhance the experience.  And I do mean, "experience" man.  Because, yeah, heady stuff.  Key tracks: 'kandy rock mountain' and 'grace and'

Jessamine — self-titled (1995) YouTube  Spotify

Hard to see in the above scan, but it's there.   Decidedly gnarly noise rock with softy guy/girl vocals.  It really goes for the pretty/noisy dynamic, but's way too lo-fi to be shoegazey.  You just know that the songs are going to explode into shambling distortion and feedback at some point.  Totally "90's bro" in that respect.  Also, a bit predictable (but haha at me, as the album's highlight is a nine minute near drone that eschews all that called 'One Trick Pony' — you got me, guys).  Fancy original clear vinyl pressing on the great kranky label, it unfortunately excludes some tracks that were on the CD due to length issues.  Key tracks: 'One Trick Pony' and the closer 'Lisboa' which sounds like a lo-fi Stereolab, if you can believe that.

Fontanelle — self-titled (2000) Spotify

Would you believe that some of the same noisenicks from Jessamine would go on to form the polished jazz fusion group Fontanelle?  Funky drumming and mostly keyboards riffing on themes.  All the tunes here —hell, all of Fontanelle's tunes not on Vitamin F— are basically vamps.  This one has guitars on it, too.  So, it sticks out a little because of that.  Otherwise, these early Fontanelle albums are basically interchangeable.  The liberal use of wah wah on the closer 'Counterweight' proves they were Miles disciples from the get go.  Key tracks: the funky funky 'Reflex vs. Parallax' and the floaty '29th and Going'

Fontanelle — Style Drift (2002) Spotify

Probably the band's most polished effort as the guitars are all gone and it's all keyboards and drums.  There's still a much looser feel to the band than where they would go in a decade's time.  And while the ten minute title track does it's darndest to be the album's big centerpiece, it's actually the shorter pieces like the eerie 'James Going' and 'Red Light, Green Light' that steal the show, just based on tunefulness.  Key tracks: 'Just Go Crazy', 'James Going' and 'Red Light, Green Light'

Fontanelle — F (2001)

Not to be confused with their later opus, Vitamin F (2012), this 2001 album again has no horns.  Lots of squelchy, bleepy, bloopy electronic keyboardy sounds though.  Still some guitars in the mix, as well, and getting kind mathy on 'Floor Tile.'  Opener 'Fulcrum' is a fun, multi-movement thingy, while 'Charm and Strange' ventures back into wah wah land.  Key tracks: 'Fulcrum' and the genuinely resonating 'Slow January'

Various artists — Hotflush Presents. . . Space and Time (mid-2000's) Spotify

Hotflush in the pre-Mount Kimbie days was as hot a dubstep label as they got in London.  WUBWUBWUBWUB and how do you do from Jazzsteppa, right off the bat?  Boxcutter's 'Philly' is more of a funky house take on the style and it totally owns.  I think I dig the more boundary pushing stuff like Scuba's totally 80's-sounding 'Inmost' and Boxcutter's reflective, Burial-ish 'Infraviolet' more than your average 'choon, but conventional stuff like Slaughter Mob's 'No Big Deal' still goes down just as smooth.  Love the introspective tone that about half of the tunes here take on.  Great stuff.  Key tracks: Vaccine's dreamy 'Wishful Thinking VIP', 'Inmost', 'Infraviolet' and 'Philly'

Pink Floyd — The Wall (1979) YouTube  Spotify

Blasphemer that I am, I can't give this one a fiver.  It's too up its own butt, but you knew that already.  As an autobiographic piece of work about Roger Waters' youth, it can be quite affecting.  Instead of going for sidelong epics the way they did the previous two albums, this album is a more song-oriented affair, but this becomes a problem on disc two, with too many forgettable tunes being placed behind the narrative.  It's only on familiar ground like the deep, spacey 'Comfortably Numb' that things get realigned and substance matches execution.  Is it good?  Yeah, but not without its obvious flaws.  Not sure what else to say about this that hasn't already been said.  David Gilmour's delayed out guitar is fun when he utilizes the effect, recalling John Martyn's spaced out explorations.  Key tracks: 'Another Brick in the Wall' trilogy, 'Comfortably Numb/The Show Must Go On' and 'Hey You'

Peter Gabriel — So (1986) YouTube

'Sledgehammer'!  'In Your Eyes'!  'Big Time'!   Holy hell, this album is loaded with hits.  Big hits, at that.  It's got that nostalgic (for me) production value that I remember from my childhood radio listening: big, gated drums, layers of synth and gratuitous bass sounds — totally 80's, man.  And hey, lookah there, Kate's on it!  I love the melodrama, the cheesiness.  But, is it really cheesy?  I mean, it's dated, but there is a sense of Peter delivering most of it with a sly wink, as if he knows some of it is a bit over the top.  And side two of the album dives right back into the artsiness of Peter's earlier works, so he knew exactly what he was doing.  And when 'In Your Eyes' closes out the entire thing, it feels entirely sincere.  Probably my favorite Peter Gabriel album.  Key tracks: any of the singles

~Austin

What's New?: 1.6.2015

Happy new year! I have had to skip a large amount of stuff that I accumulated during my off time, but rest assured, I've still got plenty to keep me busy, so here's a grab bag if ever there was one. . .

John Fahey — Red Cross (2003)

John's last record before his death and a goodie, at that. Seems to feature a little more in the effects and pedals department than what was normal for him, which is just fine with me. There is a quiet, restrained air to the proceedings here. John plays a Tele at a couple points, which is just fun.  The looming melancholy that hangs over this stuff is just ace and, after a few plays, one gets the impression that John maybe knew it would be his final statement.  The longer pieces, especially, play off of a happy/sad vibe.  It sounds wholly unique, even within his catalogue.  There's just these huge, dissonantly beautiful chords all over it that don't quite fit in with your average Fahey album.  Perhaps the most Fahey-esque song is the bouncy 'Charley Bradley's Ten sixty-six Blues', but even that one takes a left turn at one point.  There's nothing else quite like it in the Fahey discography; not that I've heard it all anyway (I'm not going to sit here and pretend I know his entire output, because it's just too big).  Key tracks: the opening number 'Remember' and the long and building suspenseful number 'Ananaias.'

Dieter Moebius and Gerb Beerbohm (1983)

A dark and intense journey into an early style of what can only be dubbed downtempo at this point. Dieter Moebius is of course famous from his work with Brian Eno, but more importantly with Cluster. The sequenced beats and dissonant synth riffs and archaic drum machines sound very of their time, but music of this sort can now clearly be seen as the proper grandfather to acts like Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada.  Awesome, groundbreaking Kraut rock sidebar, basically.  Not much here for tunes, but if you can ignore that and focus on the sheer groundbreaking quality of the music, it's an easily enjoyable record. Otherwise, I'd say, it's a very experimental work. Any album with a twenty minute plus dark disco groove like 'Doppelschnitt' has to be somewhere in that vein.  Key tracks: the previously mentioned closer 'Doppelschnitt' and the opener (and perfectly dark sci-fi soundtrack) 'Minimotion.'

Tears for Fears — The Seeds of Love (1989)

It took these guys four years to come up with something that they thought could complete commercially with the Big Chair, but the core group of Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal basically fell apart under the pressure.  It's not a wash, by any means.  It's simply overproduced and pompous as hell, but boy does it sound nice.  The production, while definitely super dated and heavy handed by this point, is the album's gift and its curse.  Because while it can dress up otherwise b and c-list material to sound like top tier output, it does get in the way on the actually great songs.  I think the Big Chair was overproduced in just the right way, where it brought out everything good that the songs had and put it on display without teetering off into unnecessary layers for the sake of having them.  This album does that a lot.  With the forced sounding jazz flourishes, unnecessary lead guitar riffs and downright cheesy background vocals, it does make it a bit offputting at first.  The title track gets it right.  Like, really really right.  That's the one tune where it doesn't matter: they could have put a farting synth sound in one of the middle eight breaks and it would still be a triumph (oh wait! They actually DID do that!).  There's some other good 'choons and I have a hard time wondering why I waited to get this album for so long.  It's definitely the bigger, more grandiose follow up to Big Chair.  Not nearly as good, but darn worth sitting through.  Key tracks: the epic title track, 'Advice for the Young at Heart' and the perfectly melodramatic 'Swords and Knives.'

Fontanelle — Vitamin F (2012)

There's a strong case to be made here for plagiarism, but no direct riffs were copped and no one else plays as tight as this, so I'll happily let it slide.  This Portland sextet plays electric Miles-inspired funk of the type that will either win you over immediately or piss you off endlessly.  I, for one, see a lot of people namecheck electric Miles as an influence and then go on to play whatever it is that they play (which sounds, of course, nothing like Bitches Brew or Big Fun).  The sound is so well emulated that you can probably pinpoint exactly which Miles tune they were trying to riff on for each tune here.  I don't hear anyone else doing this type of music this well these days, so as an electric Miles lover, I have absolutely no objections.  There is perhaps a bit more structure overall than proper electric Miles, allowing for less solo time, but that vibe is just undeniable.  Key tracks: opener 'Watermelon Hands', the On the Corner-aping title track and the thoughtful closer 'Reassimilated' (perhaps the one time on the record where influence blossoms into something new).

Loka — Fire Shepherds (2006)

In a similar sort of vein, these blokes get funky and spacey, but they're able to throw a lot more of their own personality into the mix.  There's use of a full woodwind and string section, making this a decidedly more European slant on the whole thing.  This one's on the Ninja Tune label to give you a better idea of what's happening.  Still, funky funky riffs and backbeats that would have made Miles proud.  A lot of heart and thought in the playing, and again, it's not strictly jazz, as there is room for very few solos.  So, yeah, cool stuff.  Key tracks: the ballad 'Beginningless' and the opener 'Safe Self Tester.'

Much more to come.

~Austin