featured releases
(Wagon Repair) CD & 2LP
Now stationed in the techno mecca of Berlin, Montrealer Scott Monteith has chipped a distinct pattern out of dub’s storied lineage. His career has been a dichotomy of sorts to date, juggling his own take on post-Basic Channel dub techno with a future-purist strain of classic skanked-out dub. As the title indicates, Roots & Wire maintains this path. Opening with “Rise Again”, the esteemed chants of Paul St. Hilaire litter a classic dancehall dub track; he blesses the sparse, echo chamber scape with energy & soul. The paced ventures are great, but when Deadbeat hones in on the dancefloor, Roots & Wire really opens the meditative channels. “Xberg Ghosts” is flawless textbook dub-techno; familiar delayed chords whisper around, finding ground in rhythmic basslines. And then the kick & clap drops & you’re sucked down the vortex of techno-hypnosis. “Deep Structure” & “Sun People (Dub Divisionaire)” follow this same brilliant form of spectral lures inside of throbbing, undeniable rhythms. Turn it up loud.
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6 November 2008 by Chris Long
| Electronic
(Kranky) 2CD, 2LP Nov. 15!
Bradford Cox’s exploits over the past 2 years often overshadowed Deerhunter’s music. But beginning with his solo project earlier this year (Atlas Sound) & now with Microcastle, Cox seems to have finally embraced the gift. Microcastle bears the hypnotic tunnel vision of Cryptograms but winds all that shimmering in taught pop structures, much akin to the brilliance hinted at with the Fluorescent Grey EP. “Agoraphobia” goes right at you with direct rhythm & intelligible vocals — “comfort me“ pleads Cox — while “Nothing Ever Happens” wields effervescent melodies out-popping anything Deerhunter or Atlas Sound have committed to tape so far. The Strokes comparisons do rings true, but there’s oodles of Sonic Youth & by the time you make it to tracks like “Operation” on Weird Era Cont. (disc 2 of this sweet lil’ package!), it’s good ol’ Velvet Underground that seems to have posessed this whole venture. One of 2008’s best.
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3 November 2008 by Chris Long
| Pop / Rock
(Fatbeats) CD
It’s true that J Dilla is being ceaselessly mined in the post-humous, but his organic-wonk-jazz-funk has been nothing short of a revelry for those seeking new avenues out of hip-hop’s filthy mirrored back alleys. Detroit native Black Milk (along with Madlib, Dabrye & Shape Of Broad Minds among others…) has managed to echo Dilla & continue his legacy of rhythmic experiments. The extra bonus with Black Milk is: he’s not a shitty rhymer. He’s got mad swagger & the right amount of flow to even out the bumps on the quirky, un-quantized road of breaks that Dilla paved. “Bounce” pits analog synth arpeggios against the familiar off-center kicks & snares that have come to typify the Detroit sound so well. The Motor City’s sound is now equal parts hip-hop & techno, as robotic lines, arpeggiation & synths litter the soul & jazz funk. A nice retreat from the idiocy of southern-fried lethargy.
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3 November 2008 by Chris Long
| Hip-Hop
(Warp) CD & LP
So far, these NY hipsters have tap danced in the chasm between spaced-out tribal-psych meanderings & arty synthetic pop. But on Saint Dymphna, Gang Gang Dance congeal around their fondness for hip-hop, house & Eno with a fizzy, fresh outcome. The new material twinkles in technicolour, devouring stuttering grime beats, phasing synths, Animal Collective manic sound environments & striking melodicism. Just skip directly to “Prince” to have your mind blown: UK grime MC Tinchy Stryder creeps out of a Pink Floyd-esque cloud of psychadelia & faster than you can say Anti-Pop Consortium, you’ve got yourself one of 2008s weirdest/catchiest hip-hop tracks. “Inners Pace” is part loping dubstep (think Burial in a k-hole) & part electro-drum machine workout. “House Jam” feels like Kate Bush fighting with Digitalism. But make no mistake: Gang Gang Dance feel no gravity toward the past; Dymphna is the patron saint of hybrid future-pop. Totally, completely, utterly fresh.
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3 November 2008 by Chris Long
| Electronic, Pop / Rock
(mail order) CDR
Flying Lotus’ mysterious pal (some have ventured to suspect that they are one & the same) Samiyam has been hotly tipped for much of 2008. With only a 4 track 12” available on London’s Hyperdub imprint (home to Burial & Kode9), we saught out what we could & found this – a CDR direct from Los Angeles via snail mail. Simply titled Rap Beats Vol. 1, the disc is chock full of brief bursts of L.A. now-funk hip-hop instrumentals, none of which last longer than 2 minutes. Much like Dilla’s amazing Donuts, this format is a brilliant way to venture into Samiyam’s vault of ideas; the quirk, lope & bounce of Madlib, Dilla & Flying Lotus are here, in focused shots of robotic funk. We only have a few of these for sale; simple CDR with no track titles, but each comes with specific custom individual artwork, forged by Samiyam himself.
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8 October 2008 by Jeremy Robinson
| Electronic, Hip-Hop
(4AD) CD
Known more as a Grizzly Bear side-project than a band in their own right, the first Department Of Eagles album was actually released in 2003, before front-man Daniel Rossen joined Grizzly Bear for the making of Yellow House. The first Department Of Eagles outing, The Cold Nose, was filled with melodic, organic swiftness, yet was equal parts glitch & groove; some of it sounding like it could have been thrown onto a Ninja Tunes sampler. In Ear Park departs from that charming but muddy variation & grows with a lush rustic air, which means those fond of the creeky wistful grace of Yellow House will find In Ear Park is like settling into a pile of fall leaves.
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8 October 2008 by Tara Campbell
| Pop / Rock
(Environ) CD
Morgan Geist is one half of the legendary New Jersey duo Metro Area. Over the past decade, MA have fused funk, R&B, house & techno with seamless proficiency, creating some modern dance classics. Geist has released a sparse amount of work, but finally delivers here with a full length of slick late night cruisers, fit for dance floors, car stereos, headphones, bedrooms, you name it. Double Night Time comes with an added little bonus feature: the bulk of the album’s tracks are littered with coos & whispers from Jeremy Greenspan of the Junior Boys. Greenspan’s style is employed brilliantly by Geist, who ends up using the vox as a final layer over retro percussions, vintage analog lines & ebb/flow melodicism. The first single “Detroit” has two hearts: one lingering with ghosts of passion (a girl? the city?); the other willfully toying with the fruits of Kraftwerk’s sonic legacy. Beautiful electronic sound environments.
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7 October 2008 by Chris Long
| Electronic
(Kill Rock Stars) CD & LP
Cojones. Deerhoof have been wielding them well lately. The Runner’s Four & Friend Opportunity were micro-prog pop delights & Offend Maggie is no different. Opener “The Tears & Music Of Love” totally rocks with lumbering riffery, like the playful shards of “Matchbook Seeks Maniac” & “+81” from Friend Opportunity. Too accessible? Nope: Satomi Matsuzaki’s orations are still pretty wacky & with the second geetar of newcomer Edward Rodriguez, Offend Maggie channels all of Deerhoof’s refined qualities into a concentrated dose of YEAH!
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7 October 2008 by Chris Long
| Pop / Rock
(Brassland) CD
Nico Muhly is a 27 year old contemporary composer based out of New York. There has been much stirring about his work over the last 12 months, due in part to the deft arrangements he contributed to Sam Amidon’s All Is Well earlier this year. He has worked alongside Phillip Glass, Antony, Björk & Will Oldham & has composed a litany of works (as well as scoring a few films along the way). Mothertongue is a nosedive into Muhly’s modern appropriation of compositional ideas & propositions. Opening with “Mothertongue: I. Archive”, clipped & cut vocal snippets swarm the sound field, augmented with a deep synthetic synth tone. The results are stirring, sometimes off-putting & pretty bloody interesting. Reich-ish rhythmic clatter & Muhly’s “chamber music + electronics“ approach litters Mothertongue, as do vocal contributions from Amidon, Helgi Hrafn Jónsson & Abby Fischer. With a few more producing gigs no doubt in the works, Mothertongue is a great document of this young outsider-music talent still new to the world of indie-recognition.
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7 October 2008 by Chris Long
| Avant-Garde
(Interscope) CD, LP in soon
I maybe a giant fan, but aren’t these guys just the best? Return To Cookie Mountain was an amazing mash of Dave Sitek’s avant noise dabblings with gospel, hip-hop & some severe pop inclinations (“Wolf Like Me” is basically the greatest song of all time). It was a tumultuous victory, possibly a challenging one to follow. Or… not. Dear Science is forthright in its attempts to get you going – much of what’s here is anchored by distinct rhythms & breaks, often sounding like the final echo of James Brown’s “Funky Drummer” – and the album is the group’s most accessible record to date. Opener “Halfway Home” bears the throttle of “Wolf Like Me”, while “Family Tree” is ballad with the group’s most classic-rock-wary arrangement yet, all piano & strings. “DLZ” is a bit of a dirge offset by counterpoint “la la la’s“ & Tunde’s familiar intensity. A great left-hook follow up that, while likely to propel TVotR further into the spotlight, manages to reaffirm their command of a seemingly endless number of influences, tones & perspectives.
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19 September 2008 by Chris Long
| Pop / Rock
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