SXSW 2010 MEMS

I had a blast this year in Austin! Saw everything I cared to see and then some. It was a total shock and surprise to finally meet OWLEYES and PEGASUS in person. Really warms my heart to meet these internet friends in the flesh. Ben Aqua's mega event Awthumfetht V was a total success and probably the best showcase I saw all week. Besides S U R V I V E superb performance in the early evening, //TENSE// , Psychic Violence and Bodytronix tore the roof off the mother by the end of the night. I wish I had more footage on my iphone, but I was busy working visuals on an awesome 50'x50' wall w/ an HD projector. Like a kid in a candy store I was ;)

I ended my week at the instore performance showcase at SWITCHED ON, Austin's new vintage electronics and keyboard repair shop. If you haven't seen or heard about this place, do yourself a favor and follow the link. Most likely the premiere vintage synth store in all of North America. This place is going to be a true mecca for keyboard nerds for years to come... AMAZING!!!

I've always wanted to see MEDIO MUTANTE perform and this was probably the best setting I could have hoped for. Perfect clear blue skies, 75 degrees, in front of the nexus of current electronic music appreciation, MM didn't disappoint. There were a few new tracks in the mix I wish I recorded but was running out of juice. Can't wait to hear the new EP which is soon to be released.

Lastly, my dear friends Eric Archer and Erich Ragsdale(TJ Laserphone) of Bodytronix absolutely blew minds with their all original circut bent techno/electro/acid set complete with modified drum machines and all. That customized 606 Drumatix with the added 808 kick was a complete monster. I feel our Dutch friends would be really stoked about these guys. I can't even act like I know what all is going on in all those boxes and wires, but it's still mighty impressive!!! Here's a clip from Eric's camera at Awthumfetht.



Phheew, it was alot of fun and exhausting being in ATX for SXSW. Glad I left when I did! After my last day with the 70 degree weather, the temperature dropped 40 degrees and I actually came home to snow in Dallas in mid-March. Anyone familiar with Texas weather knows that snow, any snow, especially this late in the year is just really wrong and totally bizarre. Long story short, I had a blast!!! I hope the video above does justice to the bands and the memories I made this year!!! I really can't wait to see everyone again!

Noc Komety

Where would we be without Bumrocks? Without its mysterious branding and pushing of sounds long forgotten and misunderstood? Seems that the site, a gateway to places I'd never dared dream of before, is dead now, its creator taking their aesthetic away from the digital landscape of the interwebs and back to where it belongs. On vinyl.

Their first release brings Zambon, a polish DJ/producer to the editing decks, digging through obscure Polish disco, synth pop and rock and coming out with some absolute gems. Here's his amazing uptempo re-work of the slow burner above...

Budka Suflera- Noc Komety (Zambon Master Of Orion Edit)

and the original...

Budka Suflera- Noc Komety

Check out more samples and pre-order some vinyl here.

クリネックスティッシュ-赤鬼編-

Yoko's orchestra of light

I fucking love Yoko Ono. She is perhaps one of the most under appreciated artists in the conventional media, but she is quite admired by many other radical artists such as Patti Smith, Lene Lovich and John Cage. Some of her films, perceived as quite dull, magnified the minute details of living moments... such as her films about a blinking eye or a fly. Supposedly the films were intended to be a protest against the archaic institutionalism of the art community. Showing the reality that exists instead of the often sectioned off masturbation of academic art. Yoko has never been one to settle in the image of life that the media or academia attempts to force us to accept.

It was quite a shock for me when I discovered her album "Approximately Infinite Universe." An album that mixed elements of proto punk, avante garde concepts, feminism annddddddd catchy pop riffs? Seriously. With quite poignant lyrics describing the difficulties of being a sensitive man in a production dominated land alongside songs about the intensity of frustrations felt by family problems I was in love. The album tingled my emotions while expanding my perceptions of life period(.)

Yoko Ono - I Felt Like Smashing My Face In A Clear Glass Window
Yoko Ono- Yang Yang

Reporter

Sooo... every time I see Reporter live I basically think... Reporter is the shit. Their energy is similar to nuclear fission with a touch of neon lights. Absolutely amazing sets that incorporate both synthesized and non-synthesized instruments to create a heavy rock and rolling dance aura. A sweet cacophony of buttered pleasure and primal rhythm. After contacting Reporter Alberta, the bassist, was kind enough to send me over a couple mp3s from their upcoming album and to answer two rather short questions. Boom.

So I know you guys were formerly part of a band called Wet Confetti, which has been described as art rock... (I kind of dislike categories?), but I was wondering what inspired the change. Reporter has a definitively dark texture to it, but you often add pretty radiant drum beats. What drove you guys to make a distinctly different sound, which is still greatly experimental.

We also strongly dislike categories. Its seems like every writer is trying to pigeonhole bands and if they can’t they tend to not talk about the bands music and choose to talk about trivial shit like their Myspace quotes or their ironic clothes instead.

The outfit change from Wet Confetti to Reporter just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Wet Confetti was making dance music when folk music was all the rage. When Reporter first started we were attempting to do something new. It was still rock but we were trying to find ourselves. Then slowly but surely we slipped back into our old ways of creating dance music with Reporter, a lot less spastic this time around and sure enough we started getting a lot more attention than ever as dance music is finally widely accepted in this country. So I guess what we do well and naturally is finally in time with what is popular.

How do you feel playing and living in Portland contributes to the experimentation in your music?

I’m not sure how Portland contributes to our style of music. We love this city and I’m sure it does contribute as you are influenced by everything around you and there are so many great bands and people in this town. I think the abundance of cheap weed in this town is our biggest “influence.”

Reporter - Geronimo's Bones
Reporter - Clicksha

Belated Birthday

"Believing here, what you deserve to hear:
Your birthday as my own to me is dear...
But yours gives most; for mine did only lend
Me to the world; yours gave to me a friend"

We sort of forgot to celebrate our 3rd Anniversary which just recently came and went. Whoops. Oh well, better late than never I guess.

I want to start off by saying how grateful I am to Sean for creating this place and keeping it going. I can't believe another year has gone by, we're getting all grown up. Sniff. Sniff.... We’re also so pleased to be celebrating this special occasion with our new friend and caregiver, Bearbaby.
With each passing year, new and exciting adventures into sight and sound continue to unfold before us, seemingly richer and more fulfilling than the last. What I'm trying to say is, I can't wait to grow old with you. Love you guys!!! But enough with emotional ramblings, in keeping with our birthday tradition, a very special gift mix was commissioned to share with all of you. In previous years our dear friend JAZ has been generous with sharing some exclusive tracks with us. This year is no different, except this time we're proud to introduce you to TJ Laserphone, a long time friend and mutual digger of all things cosmic and gold.

I wish I could go into length about this brainiac space cadet, suffice to say, he's come a long way from his days communicating via slide whistle and robot hand gestures. Riding around in his musical cosmic cabbie during SXSW will always hold fond mem's for me. But I digress, Mr Laserphone is 1/2 of the brilliant DYI circut bending electro collage outfit, E^Squared. When he's not building drum machines out of suitcases and making audio collage with cut-up flexidiscs, he's scouring record bins for dusted 12" gems. This exclusive ARAWA Bday mix is a perfect example of the unique aural tapestry only TJ knows how to sew together. I asked him to describe his process and here's what he had to say:

This 113 minute mix starts off with a very nice "champagne synthesizer" effect realized by Edrupt as a toast to Arawa on its birthday! Cheers! ... And a lively party atmosphere strikes up on cue from the synthesizer by the Science Fiction Corporation! About half of the tracks are edits or reissues but its all vinyl mixed on an Allen & Heath Xone 32 (unique filter controls! ). There are many surprises and twists to this mix, going many different places somewhat carefreely. I had a crate of select records and chose two at the start of each side. Then I just went for it! I actually played several more tracks at the end before realizing the tape had stopped! The next mix block will be all Library and X-ploitation grooves so stay tuned! ~ Tape Jockey Laserphone

TJ Laserphone - Tape Mix Side 1
TJ Laserphone - Tape Mix Side 2
(playlist in comment section)
Arawa's Birthday Toaster Mix by TJ Laserphone

HD110 cassette mix processed thru RNC1173 compressor

additional FX provided by Edrupt's Manual Data Insertion Unit and a Pro 1 synthesizer!

I wanted to leave you with a few video clips of E^2 in action. The first clip is from a video jam session I did with them and Chad A. at the Maker Faire last year


and a great live shot from recent a performance in Austin

Birthed from cupcakes

Omfg... I don't believe there is a more divine bliss than spending a Saturday afternoon hung over with Francois De Roubaix soundtracks and crackers. The overly blessed Roubaix spent nearly fourteen years gracing the public with his lovely jazz infused musical experimentation. I do not mean to diminish the supremely deep qualities of his compositions by saying they are "birthed from cupcakes," but I simply want to describe the giddy emotion that spills from each layer of his musical creations.

I think he must have experienced a quite deep happiness in his life since his songs tend to have an underlying layer of zen-like joy. Sadly he died in a tragic diving accident at the age of 36. I am still rather amazed at the catalog he left behind for such a "short" period of life. His passion and self taught style are incredibly lucid in the complexity, yet subtlety of his arrangements with a total projection of life and warmth.

"Le Samourai" is the theme song for the epic film of the same name by Jean-Pierre Melville. "Les Amis" is the theme song for an out of print french film that is apparently about pederasty. Awesome... both songs have really charmed me.

Francois De Roubaix - Le Samourai

Francois De Roubaix - Les Amis

Commune Prog

What do you get when you cross hippie commune dwellers and avante-gard prog? Amon Düül II of course. Perhaps some of the most inventive and inspired krautrockers, Amon Düül II spun an eclectic quilt of psychedelic sounds throughout their decadeish long career (1969-1981).

The jam above best embodies the experimental and raucous energy notable in their performances. I personally like the drugged-out people piled on top of each other next to Rainer Werner Fassbinder lucidly smoking cigarettes. "Mozambique" and "Jalousie" are featured on their 1973 release "Vive La Trance." Though I love both I must say "Jalousie" is ridiculously catchy in an eccentric way. It might be Renate Knaup's delivery, but the song feels like a perpetual climb up a crystal mountain. Highly recommended if you are interested in expanding your german rock consciousness.

Amon Düül II - Mozambique
Amon Düül II - Jalousie

Cherry 2010

Hard to believe I've been listening to Ed DMX in all his many forms for 13 years now. He's trucked on, outliving a herd of retro music revivals and micro genre explosions. Always retaining his sound and pushing it further with each release.

Rephlex just released Wave Funk this month, pulling together new material as well as 12" releases from the past year or so. And in typical fashion, it amazes. Eclectic, weird and dancey, machine music with soul and emotion.

DMX Krew- Cherry Ripe

Grab all seventeen tracks here...

We're Gonna Make a Lil' Music

We are getting a lil' bit of sunshine up here in the Pacific Northwest for once in twenty nine days. I felt like Van Dyke Parks' "Discover America" is the perfect homage to bright heartbeats and American folkism to soundtrack my sunny day. This little ditty I've chosen to share has a blissful xylophone, punchy kick drum and transcendent background vocals. What more can one ask for in an eclectic seventies pop song? People justa singin' occapella...

"Occapella" came out in 1972 on Van Dyke Parks' "Discover America." The album is a steelband tribute to America's history. It's quite eccentric, but delightfully enjoyable.


Van Dyke Parks - Occapella