The internet can be a beautiful thing. GTB Records, an internet label whose members share an intensely personal relationship with their relatively small fanbase on Tumblr, have formed a new collective called All There, who will release their self-titled debut album sometime later this year.
All There is a collaborative project between Los Angeles electronic act Copys, hyperactive experimentalist Maxton Stenstrom AKA Infinitefreefall, Florida-based ambient wonderkid Meysell Quintana, and 16 year old songstress Pilot Chmielarczyk. And while their members reside across the entire length of the U.S., the band’s debut single “You’ve Changed” is a masterfully crafted soundscape that almost demands a live presence. Stenstrom and Chmielarczyk’s vocals reverberate and bounce through layers of trip-hop flavored ambient beauty, and each layer of the song blooms and wilts with grace. For a group who composed this entire song from various bedrooms across the country, it’s a promising single from a talented group that may be blowing up radars in the very near future.
Seattle based “Lusine” (known formally as Jeff McIlwain) is a producer who steadily punches out release after release. Each one is admirable and a joy to listen to. “The Waiting Room” is no different. That eclectic yet laid back feel is present throughout the entire album, with tempo between tracks ranging between something to drive to, dance to, and fall asleep to. I really like albums that can cover a ton of bases without being all over the place, and this fits the bill like nothing else I have heard for a long time.
There is a certain spring-time vibe as well, yearning for that Pacific North West summer warmth that teases behind clouds, wind, and, at least at taking a break from writing this review to look out the window, hail. Indeed, the electric haziness that is typical to Lusine’s sound is something that blankets the listener in such a great way that a sun would appearing behind a cloud. Very metaphoric I know, but, it does make the point.
Styles range from minimal (“First Call”), shoe gaze (“By This Sound”), Deep House (“Lucky”), IDM (“Another Tomorrow”), 80s vibe (“Stratus”) to a brilliant four on the four house-like album-closer (“February.”)
The vocals are by his wife, and her assertive yet smooth voice fits that blurry, yet crisp sound that Lusine’s production bases himself off of very very well. (Especially well on “Get The Message.”) I especially like the streamlined crisp overall vibe one gets from most of the tracks, but the lurching, messy styles are just as great.
To sum it up, this album encompasses balance quite well, with no one influence, style, vibe, technique, or anything like that drowning out the other. It is a superbly produced album that must have taken a lot of time to create, because the complexity (and coinciding simplify…see that balance thing again) surely required much skill, time, and patience.
Patience, however, is something that the listener will not need to become absolutely hooked to every track on “The Waiting Game.”
I have a hard time coming up with a rebuttal to the notion that a lot of what we consider “popular” underground music is complacent and/or conformist. Many of the most highly praised albums in recent history favor personal, relatable songwriting over controversial or abstract themes. When we consider the history of music as a tool of liberation, it seems incredible that we could have lost such an important tool for voicing the voiceless in a tumultuous age where privacy, freedom of information, and political integrity are all being threatened or questioned. Of the few artists still willing to still speak out through their music (see: Killer Mike, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, M.I.A., among a few others) The Knife have found something sufficiently more profound to declare on their fourth album Shaking the Habitual, their first release since 2006′s Silent Shout.
Shaking the Habitual, while thematically heavy, can be phenomenally subtle at times. The Knife are a duo who have rarely been conspicuous with their message, often hiding behind masks or releasing bizarre press sheets that read more like serial killer manifestos than promotional materials for launching an album. When Karin Dreijer Andersson won Swedish Public Radio’s award for Best Dance Artist for her 2009 solo album Fever Ray, she accepted the award by revealing a mask of melted flesh and moaning in strained agony into the microphone. The audience (and most of the internet) took it as a stunt or prank — a fair assumption since the costume was never really explained. But appearing at an award show is already a notable occurrence for a member of The Knife, a band who has famously turned down making any appearances at any of the numerous Swedish Grammis they have won for their music. Andersson’s Fever Ray acceptance speech coincided with a rise in acid throwing attacks in the Middle East and India, where women were disfigured for dressing inappropriately, attending school, or any other violation of archaic law. It was a silent commentary on an ignored tragedy on a national stage.
Musically, Shaking battles with itself throughout most of its 96-minute runtime between subtlety and seething rage, oftentimes blending contrasting emotions with music that reflects the opposite, like the bouncy, Caribbean-influenced opener “A Tooth for an Eye”. Despite the brightness of the music, Andersson fiercely concludes the song by demanding “[Draw] lines with a ruler / Bring the fuel to the fire”. It’s a mission statement that youth uprisings in Egypt and Libya adopted years ago. One that separates this kind of demonstration from whatever the hell this is. Though in spite of the militaristic intentions of some of more aggressive songs here, there are equal moments of frail uncertainty. “A Cherry on Top” sounds on the verge of snapping in half, with a detuned zither plucking aimlessly beside a mournful hymn. “Fracking Fluid Injection” is 10 minutes of shrill mechanical sounds rhythmically toying with echoed mumbles. “Wrap Your Arms Around Me”, despite its romantic title, sounds more like a funeral dirge than a passionate slow dance. Where some of the more accessible tracks on Shaking are upfront with their intentions, a large portion of the album expects a certain degree of critical interpretation from the audience.
Yet from the retina-burning cover art to the extensive dissonant ambient pieces that extend this album’s runtime past one and a half hours, everything about Shaking the Habitual is purposefully confrontational. The violent drum machine kicks that rattle throughout the 9-minute single “Full of Fire” eventually give way to a cacophony of belching and pulsing electronic feedback where Andersson’s Salt-n-Pepa referencing coda “Let’s talk about gender baby / let’s talk about you and me” is consumed by some sort of suffocating distortion. Later on during “Raging Lung” she states through gritted teeth: “You’ve got your money / and you’ve got it because others can’t”
But the most controversial and antagonistic moment of the album is the 19-minute centerpiece “Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized”. It’s an impossible piece to ignore, due both to it’s overwhelming length and placement in the middle of the album. In a traditional record, a song like this would be a mood killer; completely deflating any momentum or pacing set by the first half. But here, after 35 minutes of politically-charged fire, it’s a welcome and necessary opportunity for contemplation. Quivering ambient patches inflate and deflate behind an amalgam of ominous noise. Footsteps slosh through damp mud, a metallic hum throws itself down a concrete hallway, doors slam and warning sirens chatter in and out of audible range. It is — cliches aside –frighteningly post-apocalyptic.
A continuing thematic pattern throughout the album deals with power struggles and class issues prevalent in 21st century capitalism. And while The Knife continually borrow elements of Eastern and tribal music, it rarely feels exploitative or farcical. Because for all of the co-opting of traditionally non-Western instruments and styles, it’s the progressive mindset and recognition of advantages (like the chorus of “Ready to Lose” that repeats “Ready to lose the privilege”) that makes the melting-pot of influences feel more communal than naive.
Shaking the Habitual, like many other great politically-charged albums before it, rarely claims to have the solutions to the problems it describes. It simply lays out a devastating narrative of what the world has become under our watch. Think of the ambiguity of Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” in comparison to this record and you’ll find a striking number of similarities. There are few instructions for reform, just incentives to achieve it. In reality, the social influence of this record will take years to understand. If it has one weakness, it’s the audience it’s trying to reach. This is, after all, the MTV generation we’re speaking to here. If extreme wealth inequality, war, poverty, racism, monarchy, and oppression won’t rile up the Tumblring youth of today, what will? Apathy killed punk as we knew it, and it’s taken us this long to figure out how to get it back.
-Adam
Shaking the Habitual is out April 9th via Rabid Records.
In preparation for my inaugural trip to SXSW in about a month, I’ve compiled a cute little list on my phone titled IF YOU DON’T SEE THESE BANDS AT SXSW KILL YOURSELF, which contains a few of my favorite artists from last year as well as some longtime favorites I either want to see again or have never seen (Deerhunter, Beach Fossils, Laurel Halo, How to Dress Well, Death Grips, etc). One band that I haven’t seen before that is atop my list right now is Thee Oh Sees. Aside from being one of the most prolific rock bands around today (they’ve released 7 albums in the past 5 years), they put on one of the most visceral, intense live shows around. Their newest album, titled Floating Coffin comes out April 16th and supposedly contains a lot darker material than their last few albums, which already were dark enough. Regardless, you can hear the relatively tame string-laden first single “Minotaur” below, and catch a live video of a blistering live performance of “The Dream”.
Guten Tag is here. And Paul Kalkbrenner has returned to his basics leaving nothing behind in a very “Berlin” sounding album. As the director of “Berlin Calling” Hannes Stohr explained, “Techno is to Berlin what Reggae is to Kingston.”
His sound resonates in every song. Those hard-hitting beats, the complex drums, and the for some reason quite-PK-typical repetition. (Vörnern-Anwärter.) Some new sounds are here too of course, otherwise, why release a new album. Indeed, some of the sounds seem to have been inspired by old-school German experiments with techno. (Very prevalent in “Spitz-Auge” and a little bit in “Globale Gehung.”) Some tracks warm you for the winter cold (Das Stabsvörnern), and others seem to yearn for spring to come around again. (Das Gezabel.) Even other tracks will go in the opposite, going very very dark. It would appear every track has its own little nod to some sort of inspiration, all with a typical Paul Kalkbrenner sound. But the more important point here is that Paul Kalkbrenner has made another fantastic album, in my opinion just edging out his “Icke Wieder” album. It is awash in Berlin Techno, House, whatever you will. In a similar way to “Berlin Calling” this album screams inspiration from the past, sounding like it is totally fitting for post-wall-fall times in Tresor, Berghain, or E-Werk. (Though i’m sure PK himself would be quick to disagree.) But as fan, it’s certainly the vibe i get from many of the tracks.
That being said, there is a future thinking sound on a couple of the tracks, like the phenomenal “Der Buhold” which brings a big bass drum out of nowhere where if you yourself didn’t bring yourself to bobbing, it’s intesntiy would do the trick alone. Same goes for the mesmerizing “Trümmerung” which has a real seems to emulate the repetition of a major european metropolis through sound. Another track giving a total “ahead of the game” vibe is “Der Ast-Spink” which is a great blend of everything PK can seem to throw together. The album is finished by a brilliant redone version of “Das Gezabel” with a faster pace and a neat guitar sample.
So far, no online stream i can embed for you, but i can link you to this stream so you can check it out for yourself. Enjoy!
Since Rihanna and Azaelia Banks effectively killed the seapunk/net-art aesthetic by bringing it to the commercial realm (or so the internet’s subsequent meltdown would have you believe), there’s been a weird identity crisis going on. Scottish electronic musician Oliver Sabin, who releases music as Unicorn Kid, was an early member of the seapunk movement, releasing an EP last year titled Tidal Rave and a mixtape called Coral Reefer. He also spent a good part of 2011 opening for Owl City on a nationwide tour. Seriously.
Since then he’s stopped wearing the goofy lion hat and has been steadily releasing a stream of songs in a new direction, leading up to an upcoming 2013 debut album. His new material, “Feel So Real” in particular, is a bombastic blast of equal parts 90s rave and video game music, in particular some of the more intense tracks from Dance Dance Revolution or the soundtrack to Megaman Battle Network. It’s mostly a refreshing, honest, contemporary take on a style that is often seen as ironic or tongue-in-cheek.
The band, I mean. Maybe the act of teen suicide too, but I’m talking about the proper noun version: Maryland band Teen Suicide, who just released their third album I Will Be My Own Hell Because There is a Devil Inside My Body. Along with DC Snuff Film and the kinda-sorta-unreleased Waste Yrself, Teen Suicide has become one of the more consistently prolific and enjoyable bands of 2012 (and that doesn’t even factor in the numerous EPs, singles, and demos the band is constantly dropping on their tumblr). Led by songwriter Sam Ray, Teen Suicide has evolved from a one man lo-fi doo-wop/garage band to a two-piece punk act to an uncategorizeable amalgamation of band members and styles, ranging from early 90s Olympia lo-fi noise to delicate piano-driven ballads in the style of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
Their output this year has been among my favorite musical events of 2012, and following the announcement of a vinyl release of their newest record, Sam joined me on Skype from the hurricane damaged east coast to discuss his music and perform a few songs, which you can stream below. You can also download all their records for free on their bandcamp.
KZUU has some pretty awesome fans and listeners. As the premier radio station for all things weird in Eastern Washington, we feel it’s important to embrace the weirdest holiday of them all: Halloween! Seriously, what’s weirder than grown adults dressing up as fictional characters and then drinking enough to throw up? (real professionals stay in character even mid-vomit). Luckily for us, Halloween falls right in the middle of the fall semester, which is the perfect time to assemble a mixtape of some of our favorite spooky fall-themed songs. This year, Music Director Adam compiled a 40+ minute mix of weird, strange, and eerie music to get you in the mood for the holiday. You can stream it below, and check out the entire track listing on soundcloud!
Being a folk musician at Moscow High School shouldn’t seem like such a daunting task, but when you realize one of the school’s most notable alumnus is acclaimed singer-songwriter Josh Ritter, it’s surprising any Moscow teen has the guts to perform in that shadow. But if 17 year old Cooper Trail is experiencing any sort of anxiety about living up to expectations, he doesn’t show it. Performing under the moniker Misé, Trail is one of the more impressive musicians in recent memory from the small Palouse scene to begin performing and recording. His debut EP titled Little Mountain was released this past Monday on a brand new label, Woolly Records, run by friend and fellow musician Luke Taklo.
Little Mountain is a short collection of songs well beyond what you’d expect based on the age of the creator. And while the instrumentation and orchestration of the swirling tunes are mature, the lyrics are like glimpses of daydreamed young love. On the power-pop swinger “Barcelona” he sings “When we get married on some random day in July / We’ll fire rockets we bought with real money into the summer sky.” Elsewhere on the albums eight-and-a-half minute closer “Mark IV”, he showcases a sophisticated storytelling ability much akin to the previously mentioned he-who-shall-not-be-named. Over the course of it’s modest 26 minutes, Little Mountain showcases a phenomenally talented young local musician just getting started. Cooper was kind enough to answer some questions over Facebook this week for us, just following the release of his new record. You can stream Little Mountain below for free, as well as purchase a CD for $5 at the Woolly Records website.
KZUU: First off, what’s the name Misé mean?
CT: Well, it’s a long story. My name, “Cooper,” means barrel-maker. Like a cooperage; it’s where they build barrels for beer and wine and gunpowder and whatever. Anyway, the French call the process of barreling wine “mise en rose,” pronounced something like “meez on rose.” I wanted a simple name, and I thought the mise part of that phrase sounded cool. I stuck an accent on it to make it “me-zay” instead of “meez.” So there you go. Funny enough, misé turns out to be the past participle of miser, the verb (also in French) for gambling. So technically, the name means “It was a gamble,” which I think is kind of coincidental, because it’s completely true: this whole thing is a gamble. My intention was to have a sort-of-meaningless-but-pretty-sounding name, but it turns out to have plenty of meaning.
KZUU: I hear some pretty distinct styles in your music, especially the sort of wistful, worldly work by Zach Condon from Beirut or the booksmart lyrics of Colin Meloy. Who are some of the musicians you look up to?
CT: Funny you mention those two artists. Beirut was a big influence on me during the recording of Little Mountain; Zach Condon’s story is pretty amazing, if you don’t know it. His romanticized writing and singing styles really intrigue me. Colin Meloy’s work in The Decemberists has also been really influential in my writing. The Crane Wife was one of my first albums I heard about when I was in junior high through one of my sister’s mid-2000s-hipster high school friends. That album really introduced me to modern folk music. Josh Ritter is probably my biggest influence lyrically…he is a true master of the ballad and the metaphor, two of my favorite artistic devices. Conor Oberst’s emotional, dark, grasping songwriting has made a big impact on me, especially on Digital Ash In A Digital Urn. Other artists that have influence my writing include Simon & Garfunkel, Ben Gibbard, and Jack White (especially his work in The White Stripes). The list goes on and on and on, but those are the important ones.
KZUU: You’re still in high school, right? Do you have any plans to continue music through college as a potential career? And are there any plans to record a full-length record in the near future?
CT: Haha, that’s right. Yes, I’m a senior (I’m 17….I can’t even smoke with the cool kids after a show). All my plans revolve around the pursuit of Misé. I mean, I’ll get a job or go to school, but yeah, I plan to pursue music as a career. My plans do involve an LP, which I hope to record/release during 2013. I’ve written a lot of songs for it already, but I need to spend time supporting Little Mountain before I move on to that.
Here’s a few music videos I’ve been watching endlessly over the past few weeksfeaturing some incredible acting, choreography, cinematography, and some pretty good music as well!
