Friday, July 15, 2011

Thank Your Parents Ox3x∞

Here is the 3rd and final (for now) post on Oneida and their record trilogy called Thank Your Parents. I've talked about album #1, Preteen Weaponry (2008). And I've covered the middle disc of the 3xCD Rated O (2009), which is the most accessible. With songs and everything... Now we'll wrap it up with the weirdo jams!



"Brownout in Lagos" from Rated O (2009)

The album opens with an unusual pounding noise-dub freak-out, with some chanted toasting mixed in. According to this BandCamp, Fat Bobby sez "(in case you care, his name is Dad-Ali Ziai and he lives in Santa Cruz)..." Check around there if interested in more info - there's a non-download page with "The Story of Thank Your Parents," and also some other Oneida free d/l's.



"What's Up, Jackal?" from Rated O (2009)

High-energy glitched sequencing and pounded out drums (short-form).



"10:30 at the Oasis" from Rated O (2009)

But I prefer the mid-energy glitched sequencing "Revolution 9"-cut into streamlined Kraftwerk-meets-Steely Dan jam. The front half of "10:30" would be good film music where the hero was being chased by hired killers (or cops), and he has to ride a commuter train for a couple of stops just sitting in those molded plastic seats. The second half is for when he's captured and tortured for information he doesn't have, in a dank concrete laboratory with flickering, strobing halogen klieg lights in his face. Something like that...



"The Story of O" from Rated O (2009)

No-one does soothing but agitated quite like Oneida! I will not be embedding "The Human Factor," as it is a bit hard to stomach (admittedly). And no-one seems to have uploaded it (understandably).



"Folk Wisdom" from Rated O (2009)

Given the lengths we've gone to, let's skip to the end. From Oneida's perspective, you've got to finish up your mega-triple-album with a 20-minute jam on a live favorite, right? Buy Rated O and download sample .mp3's HERE!


Absolute II
As I said, I haven't picked up the 3rd installment, Absolute II (2011). But I am concerned about the "no drums" rumor. I'm uncomfortable when bands move away from their strengths to completely different artists' strong suits.



"Horizon" from Absolute II (2011)

But there's the only track from the new album that I found with minimal effort... You can also buy the new one or d/l that track from Jagjaguwar of Bloomington, Indiana, USA.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Thank Your Parents 2x3x5

Second post (in a row) about "Thank Your Parents triptych of releases" from Brooklyn's Oneida. They've just recently put out the third and final chapter, but I don't have it (yet?). So to make this a trilogy of posts, I'll have to split up the second installment, Rated O (2009), in two.


Rated O
I think the logical way to split up this 3xCD(!!!) album would be between the more straightforward jams and the more outlandish experiments. The middle disc (of 3!) is generally the most accessible, so let's focus there.

You can also follow along with a full Rated O live set - from June 17, 2011, at Secret Project Robot, recorded by NYCtaper!



"The River" from Rated O (2009)

That's one kind of Oneida song: rhythmically hyperkinetic, tuneless and amorphous, eventually explosive. Sometimes there's even more accomplished and disciplined repetition - this is more like a pop song for them.



"I Will Haunt You" [live] from Rated O (2009)

There's a strange absense of studio versions from this album on YouTube. But that's okay. I think Oneida's music is very geared towards the propulsive live gig, and they seem to be able to pull it off. Jamming, that is... (Studio version on blog comp #3.)



"The Life You Preferred" [live] from Rated O (2009)

Agreed, YouTube commenter Alisterson: "One of my favorites tunes on the album, ace". Kid Millions is a superstar!



"Ghost in the Room" from Rated O (2009)

I'm not saying that Disc 2 should have actually kicked off the album, but I think it was the right place to start here. I'm imagining in my mind an uninitiated Oneida listener - say, myself a couple of years ago. "Brownout in Lagos" might not have been an inviting introduction...



Oneida - Saturday (Live @ Glazart 2009) by ParhelLives

Wow! I could not find a video of this song anywhere. Sure am glad I finally did - this one was on the last blog .mp3 comp... The live video's actually from the same show as "The Life You Preferred" above: Glaz'art, Paris, 8/13/2009.



"It Was A Wall" from Rated O (2009)

Punky...

And that's where it ends for Disc 2 of 3. Churning-drone-chant-into-noise "Luxury Travel" is nowhere streaming on the entire World Wide Web. I still haven't figured out my new video-making software, so you'll just have to buy the album.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Thank Your Parents 1x2x3

I'm going to have to start dumping what I have saved with even less writing. I'm splitting this one into 3 posts! It's gonna be all about Oneida's "Thank Your Parents triptych of releases." The triad of 3-way trilogy!



The first installment, Preteen Weaponry (2008), was a single tune - split into 3 parts (of course). Just recently, the final chapter was released - and it sounds absolutely bizarre. No drums?! On an Oneida album?!?! They are about nothing but rhythm and repetition and mesmerism and everything at once.



"Part Two" from Preteen Weaponry (2008)

The other day I was driving somewhere familiar, and I was so hypnotized listening to this record that I completely forgot to go where I was headed. I just kept driving down the same road, past my turn, completely spaced out. But I was zoned out on the music, not homed in on it. It altered my brain waves, man!

I believe Oneida first came to my attention via a Preteen Weaponry live bootleg, found on the NYCtaper site. And now again, very recent complete record shows: on June 17 at Secret Project Robot, recorded by NYCtaper! Here's that Preteen set, next one next time.



"Part One" [live] from Whelan's, Dublin - 08/22/2009

There's some Part 1 of some live Oneida from Dublin, Ireland... to give you some idea. Here's the previous "original" NYCtaper Aug 2008 Preteen show - with bonus, older song "Double Lock Your Mind" (2001).

Next up in the trilogy is Rated O (2009), a 3xCD record!!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

New & Used / Strange Bedfellows

On the way home from work yesterday, I picked up a couple of used CD's. And they couldn't be more different.


Arcade Dynamics
I originally associated Ducktails with what I'd sarcastically named the bunnygl!tch sub-genre, thus their inclusion in that post. I was first drawn in by the new album's cover - it's really good. Arty, but not what I would have expected from a lo-fi '80s pop fetishist. At some point I figured out that it was released by Woodsist, and that it's the solo project of the guitarist from Real Estate... Why not?



"Paisley Pattern Arcade Shift" from Bored Fortress split 7" (2010)

"Arcade Shift" is a song on Arcade Dynamics, but it's different than this one. Might as well start here, though... it's closer to the spirit of the album. I also recently got the Gnod/Robedoor split-7" from Non Not Fun's Bored Fortress series. (Will post soon!)



"Sunset Liner (for e. young)" from Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics (2011)

This is more of the kind of stuff that's on here. Kind of like Mark McGuire mixed with '60s vocal pop... or something?



"Little Window" [live] from Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics (2011)

Live!!


In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo...
And I got the 2nd album from Sweden's Abruptum. They were touched on very briefly in our Black Metal genre post, although clearly they lean more experimental than metal.



In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumpho Tenebrarum (1994)

1 track, 1 hour, 1 trip thru HELL!!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!

The Grateful Dead will always remind me of that wonderful word... "flag."



"U.S. Blues" from The Grateful Dead Movie (1977)

YouTube tells me that it was October 19, 1974 - at Winterland, San Francisco, CA...


Grateful Dead
USA!!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Go-South, America Neko!

Continuing with the theme of South America, Los Jaivas reminded me about one of my favorite (current) bands from that continent - Argentina's Go-Neko! Looks like I've briefly mentioned them in only two posts on modern Krautrock: Whaddya Mean? and 3 Who Would...


Los Malos de Verdad
Real cool band, with a pretty recent album. And yes - they are giving away FREE both of their records for download!

At the band's website, click on through, check out the comix en Español, and click again. On paginanueva, you'll see boxes for both Una Especie de Mutante (2008) and the newer Los Malos de Verdad (2010). "Descarga Gratis!" is Spanish for "Free Download!" Click each in turn, and unpack the downloaded .RAR full of space-kraut goodness. (American prices are very high for physical albums from their label - I'll keep looking.)

On to the new album...



Promotional announcement for Los Malos de Verdad (2010)

Just found Los Manos for Name-Your-Price purchase over at BandCamp (including FLAC format). Other tunes (including "Ask Matusa what to do!") streaming on trusty old MySpace.



Go-Neko! - 8th Man


Opening mega-jam!



"Los Malos de Verdad" from Los Malos de Verdad (2010)

Title track!



Go-Neko! - No tengo otra alternativa


I have no other alternative!



"14 de Junio" from Los Malos de Verdad (2010)


"Esta Es Guerra" from Los Malos de Verdad (2010)

Two more from the new-ish one.


Una Especie de Mutante
This looks like a mini-documentary about Go-Neko! from around the time of Una Especie de Mutante (2008). Speaking's en Español, but the video (and music) is pretty universal.

Go-Neko! Una especie de documental on Vimeo.


What, you can't spend 30 minutes watching a documentary about a cool Argentine psych band?



"Go-Kraut!" from Una Especie de Mutante (2008)

Alright then, maybe later... There's the opening track of the debut - have at it!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Early '80s Chilean Prog

I'll just leave this here...


"La Poderosa Muerte" from Alturas de Machu Picchu (1981)

Just learned about these guys - Los Jaivas, from Chile and then the world. From their 1981 album, based entirely on a famous Pablo Neruda poem, "The Heights of Macchu Picchu." With a very Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii-ish video, shot on location at majestic Macchu Picchu in Peru.


Alturas de Macchu Picchu
Here's part 2...


"La Poderosa Muerte" from Alturas de Machu Picchu (1981)

That's almost Magma-esque! A lot of their stuff seems to straddle the line between prog and folklórica, which is cool. Although they released albums from the '70s through the '00s, so I'd bet there's some variety.



"Mira Niñita," etc..., from television (1972)

Hippies en Sudamérica!