Even with a new year full of delights and new wonders, the old guard still never knows when to quit.This week we received word that James Murphy is pooping out an LCD Soundsystem Greatest Hits called Shut Up and Play the Hits, full of insider-yesterday's buzz that was relevant in the oughts; or the upcoming 128 Beats Per Minute: Diplo's Visual Guide To Music, Culture, And Everything In Between book; the Chemical Brothers upcoming cinematic 'concert event experience' playing one night only, February 1, called Don't Think; and the mixed emotion news of Katy “Kickball” Goodman leaving Vivian Girls for the buzzosphere heights of La Sera. So before you commence your Friday the 13th marathons with the buddies, first consider this week's finest rebels in no particular order.
On a serious note, on December 8 New York Night Train DJ Jonathan Toubin was severely injured in a freak accident when a taxi cab crashed through the wall of his hotel room in Portland. Toubin is still in the ICU and on January 18, a benefit show featuring Ty Segall, Shannon and the Clams, Hank IV, Lenz (members of The Cuts), DJ Primo (Oldies Night) plus more to be anounced is going on at San Francisco's Mezzanine. Show your support if you are in the area or attend one of the many Jonathan Toubin benefits happening around the nation.
Georgia Anne Muldrow has been working with Madlb on his first album produced for a female vocalist with Seeds. This is also a first where Ms. Muldrow has been able to take a break from the producer's chair where she describes the process as, “Not handling production and focusing strictly on the lyrics and vocals was a very different experience for me. It was as if I walked into someone else's world and built a hut. But I'm very proud of the hut we built and am excited about the release.” The title track presents Madlib's handiwork behind the wheels of steel, concocting a timeless blend of dizzying vintage vocals, big arrangements and a mural of sound for Ms. Muldrow's conscious lyrics of universal maternal care and concerns “for all the unborn trees.” Seeds drops on March 27 and the the Seeds 7″ drops February 14 on SomeOthaShip Connect.
Standard Fare hyped up their single “Suitcase” from their upcoming album Out of Sight, Out of Town on Melodic. What we are given is an emergency suitcase survival kit recipe and ode of confidence for getting through the big one. Out of Sight, Out of Town is here January 24 on Melodic.
Wymond Miles of Fresh & Onlys cool status has anounced that he has a solo EP being released February 7 called Earth has Doors on Sacred Bones. The EP has been some 4 years in the making, with Miles distracted by his duties as a student of the humanities, as a father, and as a F&O. His solo outting has him drawing from anthroposophy and eschatology, along with a heaping dosage of gnostic and hermetic symbolism to draw you in. One listen to “Hidden Things are Asking You to Find Them” and you too might be inspired to go on a personal vision quest in the name of gnosticism. Sacred Bones will be releasing Earth Has Doors on 12″ vinyl February 7 and will release Wymond's LP later this year.
Brooklyn geek chic institution They Might Be Giants released their arts and crafts video for “When Will You Die?” off last year's Join Us. If you dreamed about a paper and cardboard 18 foot monster wheel hearse than check this out:
L.E.P. Bogus Boys just dropped another webisode from their on the road adventures. For the third installment you get to see Count & Moonie hanging with Young Jeezy, Wale, R. Kelly, etc from a Holiday Concert sponsored by Chicago's 107.5 WGCI. Certainly not your average holiday office party.
As Mauro Remiddi prepares to release his debut Strange Weekend as Porcelain Raft January 24 on Secretly Canadian he shared the track “Unless You Speak From Your Heart” with us all. Remiddi presents a quite effective rhythmic use of Mellotron, guitar drapes and some encouragement buried in the right amount of effect dissonance.
Funny or Die! dropped a zany video for Real Estate's “Easy.” While there is no felony vandalism as featured in the FOD! promotional video of “Odd Future Gets Signed;” the Domino darlings are presented taking it to the streets in their decked out tour bus, getting aggressive with their message, kidnapping a would-be fan and the rest you got to see to believe for yourself.
It was only a matter of time before Trash Talk got the animated treatment, and here we have a Jim Dirschberger-directed and Jay Howell-illustrated video for “Slander” off of the Awake 7″ from True Panther. We see Garrett, Lee, Sam, and Spencer rocking out, the crowd tearing stuff up, a fan bro that eats nuclear shrooms, and a closing scene involving public urination. Better yet is that they even have a customized Creature skateboard deck for the occasion.
Moe Green enjoyed this week with a video for “Mean Green Okerlund” off of his Free Water EP and a webisode of “Out of With the Out Crowd.” First check out the video for “Okerlund” which looks like Moe swaggin' out at a freeway rest stop feeling one of the highlights from Free Water.
Then on the Vallejo rapper's “Out With the Out Crowd” webisode Moe presents the highlights of playing at San Fran's big money Regency Ballroom. In a show featuring Dom Kennedy, IAMSU and Skeme you get all the pregame, game and post-game coverage that you could hope for from any concert documentary.
From our friends in the Monterey Peninsula comes “Lost Encoded Memories” from Jimmy Moonboots. From the EP in progress Long After I'm Gone you get a dense digital ode to the lost mediums of forgotten memories transcripted in some forgotten language on tablets beneath the sea weed of Garrapata beach. If Sacred Bones is looking for the sound of 2013 they should look no further than the expansive sonic realms of Mr. Moonboots.
Austra released the much anticipated video for “Spellwork” from last year's Feel it Break. To satisfy our need for songstresses of the night we need the right balance of rituals of the occult, a natural setting, inexplicable and always transcendental calamities, and pious wood nymphs that look like extras from “Little House on the Prairie” or Kelly McGillis's amish chic in Witness. In true fashion and form Yelena Yemchuck's video does not dissapoint.
To balance out Austra's earth centered spells is the offshoot Trust. Their video for the track “Bulbform” presents analog tape impositions that beam international instructionals for obsolete mediums edited on the beat to the synth pulse. The Toronto duo of Robert Alfons and Maya Postepski are dedicated to a murkier town sound compared to the country gnostic mysticism of their parent Austra. TRST drops February 28 on Arts & Crafts.
Few things in this life get me as pumped than a video from ZAKEE. From last year's Assimilations, we get the TriggerHappy directed video for “Snakes” that sends us down a kaleidescope of effects and designs while the track rolls on with the hottest electro buzzings with a rhythm chapter that I am not equipped enough word wise to convey. 2012 is a big year for ZAKEE as he has parted company with Green Owl Records and is now under Jay Jackson's (Santigold, Spank Rock) management with two new EPs on the way. First up is Love & Sacrifices coming this February and the second EP with the production crew Drug Horse is in session right now with word of an upcoming album later this year. Also check out his monthly self-produced African compilations beginning here.
When I listen to Mike Wexler I think about the snarky critics who will pontificate about the second coming of Elliot Smith-style pop but might miss out on what Mr. Wexler does between spaces. From listening to “Pariah” you get the feeling that this is someone who takes his time with this song construction business; sustaining a key in this note here, the jazz brush drum hits and masterful and understated guitar picking and breathy vocal verses at all the right times. You can now find Mr. Wexler at his new home at Mexican Summer as he prepares for the March 6 release of his second album Dispossession.
We just heard that Hiero's Pep Love is planning his first album in 11 years time since Ascension with Rigmarole. Still in development, Love describes the album's title; “The word 'rigmarole' means the necessary steps or process that one must go through to achieve a certain end. With my Rigmarole, then, it speaks to the process that I went through and go through as an individual and an artist – and also to the greater process of cultural evolution that hip-hop and society is experiencing.” Rigmarole drops March 6th on Hieroglyphics Imperium.
And if your idea of a Friday night at the club is more about occupying the darkened spaces reserved for the lonely folks left to feign scrolling through the lists of texts they never receive, than CREEP's “Animals” was made for you. With dramatic strings and a “we are animals” message you now have friends in the scene that share your ideologies.
If you want to hear Cate Le Bon's CYRK before it drops on January 17 from the Control Group then you are in luck. Here is a full album stream, and look out for Cate as she tours the States through February.
We got a message that Miami's MAYDAY are 'putting the finishing touches' on his debut album, Take Me To Your Leader. The cable also revealed that Florida's finest are also rolling with the likes of M1 of Dead Prez & Reks on this official leak “Internal Wars.”
Caveman just signed to Fat Possum on the heels of last year's CoCo Beware with a big international tour in the works that includes a return to SXSW. If you missed the big buzz, check out their single “Old Friend” here.
COOLRUNNINGS' Brandon Biondo, Adam Cottle, Forrest Ferguson and Scott Kapuscinski are taking 2012 head on and given us a few gold kernels of fresh popped kettle corn to gorge on. “Sprited of the High” sounds like the Knoxville bunch rocking over dubplates from '60s freakbeat heavies like Mouse and the Traps or remixes of some rare and never heard Dead jam-tapes from the Bear Owsley vaults.
Then COOLRUNNINGS began to feel their inner George McCrae and covered “Rock Yr Baby” in fine analogous disco fashion. Not that McCrae would have ever let a demo of this disco era defining classic see the light of day; the bunch at Dracula Horse know few limits and boundries to twist the tender leather of our sacred cows' sanctified musical integrities.
Brothers Peter and David Brewis of Field Music are gearing up for the release of their fourth album Plum through Memphis Industries this upcoming February 14 US (13 in the UK) and were kind enough to share “A New Town” with the world. Something tells me that this is the sort of music Justin Timberlake might be making if he gave the movie industry the finger and got serious about some doe-eyed funk. As a bonus, listen for the incredible background bubble noises.
Field Music – A New Town by memphisindustries
Since his release You Drive Me to Plastic we have been patiently awaiting this follow up from London's Bullion. We still talk about his talents of splicing J Dilla beats, Brian Wilson studio banter, and Beach Boys cut ups on the widely acclaimed Pet Sounds (In The Key of Dee) as his big The Grey Album moment. By January 30 we will be able to get Bullion's latest installment of future dance with the 12″ single “Say Arr Ee” with the B-side “What Does She Know” on R&S. The A side brims with new romantic vocals shouting into a car tunnel with ice cold keys and what might or might not be an esoteric Jah Lloyd vocal sample.
With the week winding down, we caught wind of a new Chip tha Ripper mixtape on the way with the chill-deluxe single “Out Here.” With some production in step with Lex Luger it sounds like Tell Ya Friends could be the best Chip mixtape since Gift Raps. Decide for yourselves, but this track just made our week a little more 'out there.'
In our ongoing press of Liam the Younger's upcoming Underwater Peoples releases and remasterings, we bring you “Beneath the Weeping Willow Tree” from Clear Skies Over Black River. With Liam making his first proper studio album due this spring, Underwater Peoples are also remastering both of his self-released albums After The Graveyard and Clear Skies Over Black River for a second release for those that missed his honest, stripped down hymns the first time around.
Matthew Dear's Headcage EP is arriving on January 17 via Ghostly International and to prepare your ears, eyes and minds here is a video directed by Morgan Beringer to wet your whistle. Here you will see an assemblage of morphing water patterns, colors, images that looks like old blurred photographs, water reflections and more twisted to the Mr. Dear's title track. If you think the title track and video is heavy, wait til you hear the remaining track heavyweights “In the Middle (I Met You There),” “Street Song” and “Around a Fountain” on the EP. Enjoy!
