Monday 14 May 2012

Music Diary 2012, days 6 & 7

Typically, my weekends are family time, so the three of us are usually mooching around at home, shopping, or daytripping. Unusually, I listened to almost no music this weekend – just during a car journey on Saturday night, and on headphones on Sunday night. For some reason, having to document what I listened to as part of this music diary has made my music choices more discerning. This is a good thing.

Kingbastard Lost Property (Herb Recordings)
Yep, this one's a keeper. During its second airing in the car I realised just how many great moments there are on this album. Really looking forward to an uninterrupted listen on headphones.

Mogwai The Hawk is Howling (Matador)
This is rapidly becoming my favourite Mogwai album. My interest in the band was reignited late last year by their amazing set at Harvest music festival. Aside from a few stunning moments (eg, 'San Pedro') I don't rate their latest album Hardcore... that highly, but Hawk is just beautiful. It spans both poles of Mogwai's musical universe, from the gorgeous and languid ('Local Authority') to the snarling and savage ('Batcat') – and explores various points in between ('I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead'). Great for night driving.

Tim Key Tim Key. With a String Quartet. On a Boat. (Invisible Dot)
Having thoroughly enjoyed his latest stand-up show Masterslut and his book The Incomplete Tim Key, I figured I may as well download his album, too. It's probably the weakest of the three, but still has some great moments, mostly courtesy of his arguments with Tom Basden.

Friday 11 May 2012

Music Diary 2012, day 5

Friday is my music day, the day I have lots of time to spin tunes, whether driving to and from work, or at work (I work part-time at a music studio).

Ex Confusion Embrace (n5MD)
The second of the three review CDs I received this week turned out to be glorious, immersive ambient-drone from Japan, with a couple of glowing piano miniatures interspersed here and there. I requested the album because it's released on n5MD, and most of their stuff is really good. No idea what instrument is creating most of the tones, but it sounds pretty amazing. Probably a guitar and a shitload of pedals and processing. Reminds me of Auburn Lull minus the vocals and drums. I listened to this on the way to work and loved the way it coloured the afternoon air. Looking forward to getting stuck in on headphones.

Wizards of Time Will the Soft Curse Plague On? (Hidden Shoal)
This has been one of my favourite albums for months now. So excited to be releasing it on Hidden Shoal. 'Little's Jingle' won Single Of The Week in Melbourne's Beat this week, so I felt like celebrating by listening to the whole album, loud, soon after arriving at work. Still sounds amazing after 50 spins or more.

Tim Hecker Harmony In Ultraviolet (Kranky)
This is still my favourite Tim Hecker album, probably because it was the first one I heard. I decided to blast it in the studio shop after a Green Day cover band arrived and played really loud in one of the studios nearest the shop. I simply couldn't compete by playing rock music on an iPod dock, so I shifted emphasis and filled in all the gaps around the sound of a rock band as only Tim Hecker can. It sounded very different than how I remember, but then I don't often listen to it at the same time as a Green Day cover band. Thankfully. It prompted a lot of strange looks when musos came into the shop to buy a beer or rent an amp, as though the stereo was broken. No, a Green Day covers band is broken; this is perfect.

SBTRKT SBTRKT (Young Turks)
Yep, still enjoying the first half of this one hell of a lot.

Kingbastard Lost Property (Herb Recordings)
Well, this is unheard of: I like all three of the review CDs I've received this week. Kingbastard has mustered quite an epic and complex album with his latest, Lost Property. I span it once in the shop, then again on the drive home. There's some beautifully considered soundscaping going on here, very intimate and moving. The chord changes have a disarming grace, punctuated by passages of rhythmic momentum. There's even a bluesy lo-fi number thrown in there. It definitely sounds like a labour of love for its creator, Chris Weeks. The intricate handmade sleeve is pretty spectacular, too. Looking forward to spending more time with this one.

Thursday 10 May 2012

Music Diary 2012, day 4

Today I received a package in the mail from Belgium: three review CDs from Brett at [sic] Magazine. Whoop! I got stuck in right away...

Kutin, Ivory (Valeot)
Well, this is very promising indeed. I put the first of the three CDs on the lounge stereo while I was cooking and immediately liked it. This rarely happens. Field recordings, static, warm slushings of synthy noise; heartbreaking melodies buried beneath digital detritus. Definite shades of Fennesz, which is a very good thing. It gets abstract and creepy towards the end, which had Holly looking at the speakers with concern. Some of the passages on the last couple of tracks sound like little metallic beetles are trying to fight their way out of the speakers and eat you. Yuck. Will definitely explore this one, loud, over the next few days. Excited to dip into the other two by Kingbastard and Ex Confusion, too. All three have lovely packaging.

SBTRKT, SBTRKT (Young Turks)
This has been my album of choice to blast in the car since I borrowed it from my local library a few weeks back. So, on it went again as I made the half-hour drive to rehearse with my band, Summon the Birds. The first half of SBTRKT is wall-to-wall melancholy-infused bangers; the second half sounds dated to my ears, so I normally skip back to the start once I reach track seven. There's a vocalist called Sampha whose voice kills me. The female vocalist isn't so good, but is still strong. I think when this came out last year I didn't pay much attention because the phrase 'dubstep' was waved at it. (I can't really get into all these new trendy genres. 'Chillwave'? Ugh.) I picked up the CD at the library because I liked the cover and seemed to recall reading a good review somewhere. 

From spinning these two albums today I recognised a simple truth: I like to listen to loud, pace-quickening music in the car, and reflective, atmospheric stuff at home. Predictable, but true.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Music Diary 2012, day 3

Grouper, Dream Loss (Yellowelectric)
I kicked off my afternoon working at the computer by listening to Dream Loss by Grouper, the companion album to the previous day's Alien Observer. I listened through my half-decent computer speakers, but at low volume so I wouldn't get too distracted. The titles of the albums are a pretty perfect summation of the feel of each: Alien Observer captures a sense of eerie wonder at watching UFOs in the night sky, while Dream Loss has a sad, muzzy, distant atmosphere that's a bit depressing. I mean, there's a song on there called 'Soul Eraser'. To have on in the background while working, the album passed me by. I think it needs headphones and a stiff drink to work its magic.

Trentemoller, The Last Resort (Poker Flat Recordings)
A producer friend put me onto Trentemoller's album The Last Resort. Given it's one of his favourite albums, I wasn't surprised to find it stuffed with production trickery. For this reason, I find it hard to really engage with. The production tweaking seems to take precedence over the songwriting. However, as background music when you're working, it's perfect. There's some glitchiness in there, some murky funk, some dubby ooze, and plenty of crisp beatwork. I like it as long as I don't ask too much from it. You can also leave it on, pumping away, without having to worry about what to queue up next. It fills up an entire CD and any albums that do that are always far too long.

Etc. 
I did skim through a bunch of other stuff today, but nothing I feel compelled to mention. So, a bit of a 'meh' day as far as music listening was concerned.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Music Diary 2012, day 2

Grouper, Alien Observer (Yellowelectric)
I put my headphones on this morning and immediately immersed my entire being in Grouper's magical Alien Observer. I wasn't a massive fan of Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (Type), but this one's spectacularly good. It's simultaneously really dense and feather-light. The multi-tracked vocals are really eerie. It can make you imagine there's someone behind you calling your name, which is a bit unsettling when you're trying to work. It's really good all the way through and I tend to listen to it a whole lot more often than its companion album Dream Loss. There's an eerie video to the title track featuring blood, smoke and lesbian snogging:

   
Soundcloud
Seeing as my Internet connection is slow, I favour Soundcloud for sampling tracks to see if I might like albums by particular artists. (If I try listening to stuff on YouTube I'm plagued by buffering.) Seeing as I enjoyed Grouper, this sent me exploring related releases by Mirrorring and Tiny Vipers, then on to Moonface, The Cribs and Orcas. All of them were pretty good. I'm especially intrigued by Mirrorring and Orcas, so will probably grab some of their stuff off eMusic when my monthly subscription renews in a couple of days. (Incidentally, you can get Alien Observer on eMusic for under $3, which is ridiculous.)

Steely Dan, Aja (ABC)
I began my afternoon with little Holly by spinning some piano music on the lounge stereo because Holly seems to like that stuff. However, Sophie Hutching's Becalmed (Preservation) is pretty maudlin, so I quickly switched tack and stuck on Steely Dan's Aja. It got Holly dancing and I drooled over the classic Dan songwriting smarts and production, as usual. Who doesn't love 'Peg'?! This reminded me that I should revisit the Classic Albums episode on Aja, which is probably the best I've seen. Plus, there are plenty of other Dan albums that I've yet to explore in depth. Back catalogue, here I come.

Simon Scott, Navigare (Miasmah)
There's a new Simon Scott album out soon on the excellent 12k label, plus I've queued up a download of Bunny once my eMusic subscription renews, so I decided to revisit Navigare on headphones, in bed. I'd given up on reading The Incomplete Tim Key again as it just made me snort with laughter, so decided to immerse myself in some ambient droney stuff instead. It's cool. Not the best of its kind, but worth a spin if comedy poems are too stimulating at a late hour. 

Monday 7 May 2012

Music Diary 2012, day 1

Nick Southall, who wrote an excellent, award-winning article called 'Imperfect Sound Forever' in the now defunct Stylus Magazine many years ago, currently writes a blog called Sick Mouthy. He's come up with an interesting idea called Music Diary 2012, which basically involves documenting what you listen to for a week, paying particular attention to the circumstances of the listening experience: where we are, who we're with, etc. Seeing as I write a music blog I've decided to get involved – and here's my first day, Monday 7 May 2012.

De La Mancha, The End Of Music (Karaoke Kalk)
I write the occasional music review for Luna Kafe and [sic] Magazine, which is handy when I spot an album I fancy – I can write to the label or artist, tell them I'll write a review, and hey presto, more often than not I get emailed a download link. Now, this is normally fine – I'll listen to the album a few times, pen a review, email a link to the label or artist, and everyone's a winner. However, sometimes I download an album, listen to it a few times, then I simply can't think of what to write about it. Or, I might write something, it'll get published, and then I'll regret having been quite so blunt in the review because I've offended one of the musicians involved (which happened with a recent Luna Kafe review). In the case of De La Mancha's The End Of Music, I'm having the former problem. I downloaded it a while ago, gave it a few spins, and now the record label are asking where my review is... I haven't written it yet because I can't think of what to say. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. What the hell do I say about it? I re-listened to the first half on my iPod while out walking this afternoon, during my daughter's afternoon nap. Let's just say it's growing on me. The airy quality of many of the songs is well suited to strolling under an overcast sky. Review coming soon...

Nils Frahm, Felt (Erased Tapes)
My 18-month-old daughter Holly loves music. If she likes an album, she goes quiet and listens intently, beatboxes along if there are prominent rhythms, or dances elegantly. I tend to listen to Nils Frahm's Felt at home, in the afternoon. Every time I put it on, Holly smiles and sways from side to side, especially to the gorgeous first track, 'Keep'. Today we listened to Felt while I made a very complex vegetarian dish called tempeh and millet loaf. The interweaving piano parts are beautiful and it's currently my album of choice for quiet, reflective listening, especially while cooking. Unfortunately, today I stuffed up the timing of the recipe. The loaf needed an hour to cook by the time Holly's dinner was due, so I ended up cooking her a decidely substandard omelette so she could eat, have her bath and get to bed in time for me to watch Masterchef. I think the lesson here is that Felt suits moments where there are no deadlines; just leisurely, reflective activity. And my cooking style is far from leisurely and reflective now I have a daughter.

Other stuff
Given the choice, I like to listen to albums all the way through. Unfortunately, being the parent of an 18-month-old means this doesn't happen very often. I did listen to other stuff today – a couple of tracks off Tycho's Dive, some stuff by Wizards of Time and Elisa Luu that's coming out on my label, Hidden Shoal – but it was playing in the background while I wrote emails and surfed the net, so I didn't really pay much attention. I also like to listen to music on headphones, in bed, before I fall asleep, but tonight I started reading The Incomplete Tim Key and found myself laughing so hard at the following poem that listening to music would have felt like an anticlimax to the day:

Poem #1193 'For My Passengers' Sake'
There was a gap in the track and the train was heading right for it.
The driver noticed and hated it.
He threw down his sandwich and sprung into action.
He tried to jump out of his cabin and throw himself into the gap to act as additional track
      so the train could keep going.
This obviously didn't even come close to working;
His back was ripped to shreds and the train bounced into a forest.


Wednesday 2 May 2012

Hidden Shoal alt.pop/rock compilation

Umpire
Now We're Active
Just a reminder that I've also compiled a ten-track compilation of alt.pop/rock stuff from the Hidden Shoal roster that's available for licensing via dots and loops. It kicks off with the dreamy garage-pop of [The] Caseworker's 'National Runner' and concludes with Umpire's majestic 'Cyclones Into Sunshowers', visiting Salli Lunn, Iretsu, Boxharp, Chris Mason, Rich Bennett, Kramies, Glassacre and City Of Satellites along the way. Plenty of melody-driven mastery to fill the air with.

Check out the comp on Soundcloud:



If you're interested in licensing the music of any of these artists for use in your creative project, please contact tim@dots-and-loops.com