Chromatics
Eclipse
After work, on apparently 'the hottest day of the summer' I wondered around listening to nothing but Italians Do It Better trying to evoke a dangerous Summer of Sam vibe. So kinda surprised when I logged onto my internets and discovered plenty of Italians Do It Better activity. First up - the sequel to the 'Doing It After Dark', and this - Chromatics tour diary. Some labels really are just their own universe aren't they?
Weyes Blood and the Dark Juices
Dream Song
Am absolutely fascinated by Weyes Blood. Eerily reminscent of Catherine Riberio ... we were emailing back and forth for awhile with regards to an interview and she kinda dropped off planet Earth. Kinda hope she's off somewhere starring in an underground film by Godard. And you say freak folk died?
Cooley G
Playin' Me
Cooley G brings the heavy into the heatwave. Vibin' on Cooley G. And as such you gotta vibe as well -- also check out It's Serious, cuz it is ...
Quilt
Going Home
Man. I've been tired. So tired, that I've not noticed the array of Fellini-like street characters that inhabit my mini mall, obese folk in chairs, one legged bros hopping around asking for cigarettes, and hobos getting into fights. But tonight I did. All with the soundtrack of Quilt. Stumbling upstairs, I moved past the mall cop, who lives above me, her new hobby? Seems to be pulling apart old furniture at two in the morning. Quilt kinda makes me understand it just a little bit more...
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Only In My Dreams
Ariel Pink's gone 'big business' - I mean, the bro only needs to cover a rare track, and someone needs to reissue it, and suddenly - you've got the record everyone wants and needs. So what does 'Only In My Dreams' sound like? Kinda like the Archies. Listen here. And download below
The Frogs
I'm Sad My Goat Just Died Today
I'm sad, a member of the Frogs died today.
Tame Impala
Apocalypse Dreams
New Tame Impala. Not many people are going all psychedelic day-glo (tell-a-lie - perhaps - the fellow who had devil horn's badly tattoo'ed on his forehead could be considered psychedelic day-glo, and yes, it was reasonably to give him a cigarette, as he was sunbathing outside the Centre for Mental Illness and Addiction) - maybe, this is the song that goes through his head all day, he was pretty chilled considering he had devil horns tattoo'ed on his forehead.
Concrete TV
Were the 90s the last opportunity for true underground creativity in terms of people operating in a vista of novelty and invention on a hidden plane of alternative (before the term was rendered meaningless) existence known as the sub-culture? You know, before mainstream culture even knew what a 'hipster' was (or thought it did). Whew, I dunno, but maybe that's why all hipster communities in the Western world look no more recently than the 90s for reference points and nostalgia fodder?
I know sometimes stuff rises from the depths of my poor memory and reminds me of more exciting and surprising times. Today that stuff was Concrete TV, something I saw on public access television night after night on a trip to NYC in the 90s in early hours when jet lag taps you on the shoulder. Twenty years on, all the 'terms' I could use to describe it (video mashup, video collage, etc) make it sound like something on Network Awesome, but this guy Ron Rocheleau was one of the progenitors of this fun occupation. He called himself 'perhaps the greatest video editor of all time' and maybe he was right. Where'd he get all this stuff pre-YouTube? Guy didn't have Final Cut Pro or AfterEffects either, ok? His work is still inventive and raw after all this time. I don't 'feel' irony here. Is that what the 90s was? The pre-irony period?
Here's an interview from 2007:
Oneohtrix Point Never x Quadrators
Oneohtrix Point Never x Quadrators
I heart my ghetto neighbour. She's a local mall security guard, who - when not out 'busting' some kids, sits at home, and watching 'Cops' (filmed live on location) on her high def, monster tv, probably dreamin' of the day when she is 'fit' enough to 'join the force'. Don't feel too sad for me, it has given me 'license to Oneohtrix' and I've been playing it at exceptional high volumes. Never 'got' how great it is too high this at high volumes. Now, I feel the need to build some robots for the 'complete experience'. Listen to it here.
Araabmusik discusses life; awkward white people dance...
Damn. I love Araabmuzik. But jesus. Do you see that audience? What is the difference between comic-con and this? I dunno.