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!!
I've put a couple of Cloudland Canyon videos up, usually to illustrate what's happening now in Krautrock. I figured it was time for their own post, because Lie in Light (2008) is a really cool album. Plus of the main duo, half is actually German! And the other from Brooklyn... which is not so unusual in a modern band really.
"Krautwerk" from Lie in Light (2008)
Fantastic song. If that doesn't hook you, then theses aren't the droids you're looking for. But anyway, I always include that song so there needs to be more. How about the whole album?
Regardless, I still made some more videos, because I couldn't believe there were only a couple out there from the record. Just some highlights...
"White Woman" from Lie in Light (2008)
Second song lays out a bed of electronic drone, with a little Velvet John Cale string scrapings, while a hip chant to the lady of the spheres detaches completely. Then "You & I" changes again, with hypnotic pulsations and a leisurely motorik rhythm.
"Heme" from Lie in Light (2008)
After a pure synth space-drone, "Heme" brings another floating, burbling drone intro - which settles into a nice melody. A heavy-lidded beat, wah guitar, and German vocals complete the blissed-out but mellow picture. It's like riding a magic carpet in slow motion on some exotic hookah-delivered substance.
"Lie in Light" from Lie in Light (2008)
Cloudland produce one more massive droning soundscape for the title track, before "Mothlight Part 1" again switches gears. Reverbed guitar, distorted vocals, it's almost like a Woods ballad.
"Krautwerk" [live] - May 9, 2008 - Chicago, IL
With the late, great Jerry Fuchs on drums - whose live drumwork in Maserati was posted earlier in the ongoing Krautstorm.
And here's a single, epic track released all on its own - a collaboration with Lichens: "Exterminating Angel" (2007).
"Before we start, if we start, I gotta know something: the things I say to you, what comes out, is that just between us... like a lawyer or a priest? Absolutely, he said. No matter what? No matter what. I watched him when he said it, I believed him. How do we start? We started when you walked in here. So then I had to laugh, HAHA! Alright, you got me! All I had was an opening. I didn't know where you'd go from there, so I couldn't be there ahead of you."
Whenever I load stuff onto my iPod, my car stereo resets to continue playing a 2-hour podcast of a BBC show, featuring one of Beyond the Wizards Sleeve. It's "The A-Z of Erol Alkan" from Radio 1.
Apparently, the host has done a ton of A-Z shows with different musical acts.
I'm only now up to J, but it reminded me to continue my project of figuring out the puzzle of Ark.1 (2008)~~~
Track 2: "Get Ready to Fly" Could not find original, but I actually do dig this French psychedelic-experimental band and their own song "Ready to Fly" (2008)! Which I might have originally found looking for BTWS originals... [Edit 5/9/10: Thanks to the Anonymous comment! For pointing out what it is: re-animated The Hooterville Trolley "No Silver Bird." Awesome!!!]
Track 3: "Dig It" - re-animated Monkees "Can You Dig It?" (from the film Head, 1968). Definitely the most worthy thing by the Pre-fabs. The movie, not necessarily this particular song.
Track 4: "Electric Bananas" - re-animated Electric Prunes "The Great Banana Hoax" (1967). I only have their debut LP, which is pretty goofy '60s West Coast novelty garage.
Track 5: "Aglarsa Anam Aglar" re-animated 3 Hur-el song by the same name (1976). I'd assumed this was Turkish because of their '60s and '70s history of Westernized psych-rock music.
Track 6: "Sunday Morning Sun-g" - re-animated Bill Holt's "Program 10 Part 6" (1973), sooo great!
Track 7: "Don't Cry Girl" - still no idea, Hungarian spacey rock?
Track 8: "I Swim Around" - re-animated Neu! "Hallogallo" (1972), also sooo great!
Track 9: "Bubble Burst" - re-animated Small Faces' "Don't Burst My Bubble" (1968), not at all what I was expecting!
Track 10: "A Path Through The Forest" - re-animated synonymous song by The Factory (1967), included on the Nuggets II (2001) UK compilation.
Track 11: "Light Years" - The Rolling Stones' "2,000..." (1967)
Track 12: "Red Tuesday" - couldn't find this one either. A synth song with that title by The Frank David Selection led me to Moog/sitar player Okko Becker. But that lead unearthed only unrelated oddity, like this.
Track 14: "Midas Reversed" - re-animation of The Hollies "King Midas in Reverse" (1967)...
Here's the best Archive.org BTWS search I could figure out, and here's the iTunes link for Erol Alkan podcast, which includes BTWS live sets. And here's more info on the podcasts.
Not much to listen to, but... Live! Spacemen 3's "Revolution" re-animated at The Green Man Festival 2009.
Black Mountain, and all their friends - Coming to your town, sure gon' shake it on down.
"Evil Ways" from In the Future (2008)
Rock City, Vancouver, BC! Black Mountain is one of the easiest in the Top 10 to categorize. They rock. From its Hipgnosis-inspired cover art, to the music contained, In the Future (2008) mines the deep veins of classic rock and brings them together and into the now.
An immediate and strong album package. It's got your Zeppelinite, your soundtrack acoustic Floyd, your Bowie-isms. A little prog, some Steppenwolfian heavy metal organ thunder (embedded above), even a little funky drone flavoring...
Not sure if I've mentioned this, but if a band's going to have vocals, I really like multiple lead voices. Different singers for different songs, singing together, trading off different parts in a single song... Black Mountain does it all, and their two lead vocalists are male and female. The diverse styles drawn from, along with the voice combinations, bring enough variety. Some of the more downtempo songs take a little longer to dig into, but I don't want total spoonfeeding.
Finally, once you've gotten down with the main act, not many others can compare on the side project front. Male singer/guitarist's more low-key, up-mooded Pink Mountaintops. The drummer, female singer and her sister's indie-folk Lightning Dust. The drummer also plays in Blood Meridian with members of Pink Mountaintops and Lightning Dust. And finally (so far), the keyboardist's old-school synthscapes as Sinoia Caves. He also did all the art design for In the Future and Zombi's Spirit Animal, 2009.
So check it out! Okay, that's it for 2008... up next: 2007. Another Top 10, I think it's just albums, and I predict there will be less writing per. (2006 in November?)
Head is peaking, into the clouds, Body heavy, rooted in stone - you're The Alps.
"Labyrinths" from The Alps III (2008)
San Francisco's The Alps play more of that instrumental, cinematic, wide-screen mood music. But theirs is ethereal, dream-like and calming... like the soundtrack to an opium den. The same basic components make up most of the songs, but they're approached with different emphases. Piano, acoustic guitar, discordant but not unpleasant synthesizers, background fuzz lead, wordless vocals, xylophone.
Haven't tried this before, but I think I'm going to actually describe each song on the album. I don't think that's the strongest approach, but might as well experiment on this one.
1. "A Manha Na Praia" - A lively but quiet acoustic guitar figure, punctuated by xylophone, a bass synth drone and some zither gets layered on, some strumming eventually happens, then the edges fray. Hanging in space... like a cosmic trapeze artist, enveloped in cozy feedback. Earth recedes in the distance.
2. "Hallucinations" - Drums and bass lock in, and set the controls for the heart of low tide. Synth waves roll along, with guitar feedback and harmonious squelch riding above. A crescendo, or maybe just a slight shift in amplitude. In the open sea, does a mirage look like dry land? The night wind moans in sympathy, the barometer drops, and a storm of noise gathers. By morning, your raft is almost gone.
3. "Cloud One" - A slow acoustic strumbeat, then a descending line on piano. This sounds like a song. Slow, and the drums seem to be dragging it slower. Fuzz guitar solo below, or is it synthesized? The piano is growing insistent, but its legs are caught in the splashy cymbals.
4. "Trem Fanstasma" - Synth cicadas buzz occasionally, a bass guitar bullfrog croaks in the distance. Piano, xylophone and voice come out on the patio to enjoy the night air. It's peaceful and cool outside. The conversation is pleasant and relaxed. More wine? [Great video.]
5. "Labyrinths" - The rhythm moves out, another descending piano line, a bed of subtle electric psych guitar, then the squelchy synths. The foreigner is in Italy on business, but he'd rather not go into specifics. No, he'll carry the case himself. A nod to the shady local that's been loitering around the hotel lobby all afternoon, who leaves immediately. The Embassy? Why, it's only a few blocks from here.
6. "Pink Light" - Wait, what? Two minutes of super-restrained Borbetomagus - saxes blow freely and intertwine amidst the reverberation. I'm not sure what happened.
7. "Echoes" - Now the synthesizers are intertwining, speaking in squiggles and bloops. A moaning woman intervenes, perhaps making peace. Or maybe trying to disable the irritable cybernetics. It never gets out of hand though, because they're in a silicon house of worship after all.
8. "Into the Breeze" - Like "Cloud Two." A slow acoustic strumbeat, then a descending line on piano. This is definitely a song. Slow, but the drums are trying to arouse it to wake. The piano and guitar respond, arising from the large pillows they'd reclined in - putting away the long pipe stem.
I can't believe I'm not finishing the 2008 Top 10 before October! How am I going to do the other eight 2000s before 2009's round-up?!
These are the folk songs generations old everybody knows but somehow the tradition the common sound have broken down in respectful tones improvisational drones a new generation now. Doo-dah, doo-dah.
"Camptown Races" - From the Great American Songbook (2008)
Tom Carter was in Houston pysch heavies The Mike Gunn during the early '90s. Then he followed up with the prolific Charalambides - quieter, folkier, more ambient, droney and feminine (and originally with Kyle Silfer). More recently, he's played in a variety of line-ups: solo, side-project/super-groups like Badgerlore, and one-off duos/combos.
Christian Kiefer seems to have furrowed similar ground, maybe a bit more traditional Americana but still on the edge. He (and others) received some NPR coverage for their one-song-per-president 3xCD project, and for a late addendum song for Obama. If I'd been paying attention to that, I wouldn't have been quite so surprised when Pitchfork reviewed the duo's 2nd album, From the Great American Songbook (2008). And positively!
Other than Beyond the Wizards Sleeve, this was the toughest to get ahold of, but I'm glad I didn't just download from iTunes. For one, the packaging is really super-fancy - with a separate cardstock liner notes insert for each song, written by such avant and folk luminaries as Tony Conrad, Sharron Kraus, even Byron Coley! Maybe it seems like I'm putting off discussing the music. I am.
It's hard for me to tell if I would really recommend this to too many people. It's folky, but not all mellow. It's droney, but rarely ever noisy. There are some drums and some vocals. It's all "covers" of old-timey popular songs, but they're hardly recognizable since they're mostly guitar-duo-plus improv. But to me, it's really amazing - to listen to intently, to drive around with, to have in the background. The whole thing is so fully-formed, well done, and just feels really right. It truly transports me - your mileage may vary.
I specifically chose "Camptown Races" because it's neither the most instantly catchy tune nor a death blues drone, and more typically instrumental than rhythmic or vocal - so I thought it was a good representative sample. Kind of a hub that the album's diversity could rotate around. See why it took me a week to move on to #8 of 2008's Top 10??
Fly into the sky, you keep getting higher, Be sure to watch out for Space Debris.
"Japanese Girl" from Elephant Moon (2008)
Swabia's finest, Space Debris, play a traditional organ-guitar-drum krautrock somewhere between Kosmische and Can. So much so, that their first two albums are named Krautrock-Sessions 1994-2001 (2004) and Kraut Lok (2005). Both are terrific. And then, last year's Elephant Moon was released as a 3xLP deluxe gatefold package (or 2xCD with bonus tracks!), which might be considered overkill. But by now, I think you've discovered that I can handle long instrumental jamming - and the organ adds a great element to the mix. Sometimes the songs are epic explorations, sometimes shorter jams - but as long as there's no vocals or 12-bar blooze, they're always super-spacey and "way out there."
The organ definitely allows things to take a more explicitly jazzy turn. I promise not to overuse "jazz" for any instrumental, multiple solo-ing, jamming music. This is primarily space-rock, no doubt about it. But I think it's warranted here - even if it's qualified as the early-'70s Miles-style, or more obviously the Ash Ra freak-out type, of rock-jazz.
Elephant Moon (2008) is the last with their original keyboardist, and I think a permanent bassist also joined for Live Ghosts (2009). The new guy sounds just fine, especially for a first record, replacing a critical member, live. I actually don't have the newest album yet, but this still seems like Space Debris to me:
The band's official site has interesting info, pictures, etc. For instance, I just learned that they did a few shows in Switzerland earlier this month. Cool! And it can point you to some (currently 8) free downloads - you 'pay' 0.00 Euros. So, check 'em out if you like any of the tagged genres. And here's a performance video, so you can witness the Teutonic glory...
Beware the Into The Sun dvd (2007, live at Burg-Herzberg Festival 2006), unless you have an international-capable player. It's not US format (NTSC).
Absinthe, expeditions to mysterious, exotic locales. Seeking Grails, that perfect temple sound - forever.
"Predestination Blues" from Doomsdayer's Holiday (2008)
I took awhile to connect with Portland's Grails**, for some reason grouping them with Sunn O))) and Earth. But they don't exactly play that kind of deep drone-doom, not sure what I was thinking. Once I gave them a real listen, especially over a few albums, they keep rising in my mind. It is instrumental guitar music, often with a cinematic feel. But the mood is Eastern, maybe of a '30s explorer-adventurer cresting a Himalayan mountain, sighting an ornate Shangri-La in the valley below, entering its jade temples, to smoke the local mind-expanding roots, and finding the legendary artifact - in your mind!!
The last three albums are all excellent, as is the EP Interpretations of Three Psychedelic Rock Songs From Around The World (2005). Which is exactly what it sounds like: covers of iconic mind-melters from Flower Travellin' Band (Japan), Gong (France), and The Byrds (USA). 2008 saw both Take Refuge in Clean Living (great but a tad short) and Doomsdayer's Holiday (greater and intricately woven). They each have a wide variety of material, all worth the journey of discovery. But I think the nod goes to Burning Off Impurities (2007), for the open-vista desert hide-and-go-escape "Silk Rd."
I honestly wish there was more to say, but it's more than difficult (and tedious) to describe the specific tones of different songs. And although the playing is first rate, it's really the ability to conjure a very effective feel that makes the records so engaging. Earlier this year, Grails released the dvd Acid Rain (2009), and TM+BC at least dig it (#6 - just like me!). It's got videos for most of Doomsdayer's, a song each from the the previous two, in-studio footage making Interpretations, a couple of live gigs (which are a real revelation). The videos are... weird, collaged up from found sources by the drummer. It's interesting - but with this band, I really prefer the mental images to having a new dvd. Unusual for me.
Going back earlier, there was apparently significant changes in personnel (including a mysterious permanent disappearance) and style (unknown). But we'll cross that bridge into the cursed ruins of Kemel'ze when we get there.
** In fact, Grails weren't even on the original 2008 Top 10 list, back in April. (Sorry, The Asteroid No. 4!)
Looks like it sounds like a subterraneon prison. But it's actually more like an open grove - Dungen.
"Det Tar Tid" from 4 (2008)
The very Swedishly named Gustav Ejstes started Dungen as a kind of solo recording outlet. This being a top discovery from last year, missing background history is an obvious theme. Supposedly, there's a big Swedish folk influence, but I don't hear it. Now maybe that's because I don't know my Swedish folk - but I think it's just a gimmick to lure the bespectacled corduroy demographic in. He also sings exclusively in Swedish - you know what that means! And it's pronounced [dOOn'-Gən]. Swedes.
So, a few years back, they had their big indie breakout with Ta Det Lugnt (2004), which is Swedish for "Take It Easy" (supposedly) and the song "Panda" (which I missed). Good stuff. The album might have been stronger if it wasn't a double-LP, though. Last year, he formed as a complete band and they released 4, and that's where I come in. I think the talent has matured a lot, and the (single) album is still diverse but also more focused. It has really strong vocal melodies, great tunes and varied material, based on pop- and folk-fueled sounds. But still it rocks, with a suprising lot of drumming squeezed in.
Given the light touch of the writing, it's surprising how often it's a busily percussive album - although pretty rarely too bombastic or overwhelming. There's a trap set, hand drums, shakers, woodblocks, hand claps, piano forte, I think a xylophone. I wouldn't be surprised if they had an 8-pack of temple gongs in there somewhere. "Finns Det Nagon Mojlighet" is mostly a march, "Mina Damer Och Fasaner" is mostly palm-muted guitar rhythms. But then there's the jazzy folk that's a hallmark of the Nick Drake acolyte, with "Maleras Finest" basically a jazz flute quartet. You get mid-tempo pop with peeling, distorted guitar. And of course a two-parter rock-guitar freak-out jam, "Samtidigt," which is very bombastic and overwhelming. In a good way!
I like how the New York Times says they "almost beg to be described as hippies." Saw them live in Austin a little bit ago, and they put on quite the epic rock show. Some mellow stuff, some rip-roaring guitar rock, some tight hooks, some looser jamming. And 4 is a lot like that - keeping a balance but never muddling it up. If you like prettiness in your music but also real rock sounds, and don't mind either one, Dungen does each and both together exceptionally well.
Remember what psychedelic-tinged '60s pop sounded like? So do The Pillbugs - like a whole lot!
"Soundman" from Everybody Wants A Way Out (2008)
So, I guess I'm cheating again. Counting the Pillbugs as a top discovery of 2008, when it was really more of a re-discovery. See, five years ago, I bought Happy Birthday (2004, now OOP) on the recommendation of Black Dog Records store. I listened to it, liked it, but it never took center stage in the rotation. Just another Beatlesque band making the sound of a day-glo grin over a cartoon horizon. When I saw Everybody Wants A Way Out (2008), with it's escape-from-dystopia painted cover, it looked good. A bit more 'with it,' for a completely retro-'60s psych-pop indie band.
A Pillbugs album tends to be packed to the gills, with at least a couple of double-cd albums (the s/t debut, Buzz for Aldrin from 2007). Happy Birthday has 20 tracks, The 3-Dimensional In-Popcycle Dream (2003, with 3-D glasses) has 24. The new one pares it down to 14, with added focus. First there's a really catchy psychedelic rocker, then a totally psychedelic pop song, and then there's a very melodic bit of psychedelia, followed by a really rockin' psychedelic rave-up with a great hook... They play around with all the building blocks handed down from the post-Rubber Soul, studio-bound Beatles.
They have of course covered the Beatles, as well as the Monkees (again with Head):
Although the overall sound centers on a very specific time and place, the songs don't all sound the same or like just slightly-tweaked covers. There are various moods and combinations, and the song-writing is suprisingly consistent - between the rockin', the pop, the psychedelia, and various admixtures. You either like where this is going, or you know you won't. Album title links in this post go to a YouTube sample from that record. I still don't own the two double-cd's - the 1998 self-titled debut (1998, OOP) gets the least coverage, and is definitely the hardest to find.
Buzz for Aldrin (2007) was the acknowledged masterpiece, prior to the new one's release. So that's where I'm heading next: To Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite!!
Extra! If that's not enough Pillbugs video for you, you can also check out this two-partdocumentary on the band from a couple of years back.
Putting the Power back into "power trio" - That's the business of Earthless... And business is good.
"Blue/From the Ages [edit]" from Live at Roadburn (2008)
"Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky" (their last studio album, 2007) is really good and got me into Earthless, but "Live at Roadburn" (recorded at last year's festival) is their great achievement. I'm not even sure what I'm doing here. I don't think I can add too much beyond this review, which probably subconsciously influenced the previous/first Free Music post's structure:
I’ll be blunt: if you find the idea of twenty-minute tunes that consist chiefly of a solid rock rhythm decorated with oodles of super-fast pedal-drenched blues-scale fretboard meanderings a turn off, Earthless are not the droids you are looking for, and you can go about your business.
This is another case of a band growing out of sorta prominent bands I'd never followed, or even caught up with - Rocket From The Crypt and Nebula mainly. All three guys fit into the music perfectly: they just flat-out jam. If you need a lot of (or any) structure, vocals, tunes, or anything that isn't described above, you're in for a long 90 minutes here. If that appeals, Earthless is really awesome at what they do. You should own it already, or buy it (at the very bottom).
I know what I can add! Earthless knows how to give you a value. If you clicked the shopping link, you might have noticed: $10 for 2xCD, $17 for gatefold 2xLP. Not bad at all, but because of the length of the songs, digital downloads are where to find the real deals - assuming you want to listen to this infernal racket. Especially on the "Re:Live" series of bootlegs (digital-only as far as I can tell).
In suggested buying order: 08/12/2004, 1 song ("Hawkwind"!!!), 50 mins - - $1 06/09/2004, 1 song ("The Can Jam"), 27 mins - - $1 04/06/2004, 1 song ("Sonic Prayer"), 55 mins - - $1 02/16/2005, 2 songs (w/ "Cherry Red"), 1 hour - - $2 Sonic Prayer (studio album), 2 songs, 42 mins - - $2
Finally, Earthless are getting ready to tour - and it's possible that this says they'll come to Houston in November or December, possibly with Baroness!! It's not the epitome of clarity.
And anyway, just look at those influences on MySpace:
Roky Erickson, Tony McPhee, Fred Cole, John Bonham, Geezer Butler, Lemmy, SLEEP, AMON DUUL 2, HAWKWIND, CAN, LED ZEPP, CREAM, ANIMAL, Mad Dog, Fire, Simply Saucer, The Cramps, Budgie, Spooky Tooth, Guru Guru, Scientists, The Firebirds, Pentagram, Ash Ra Tempel, DMZ, Celtic Frost, Darkthrone, Los Dug Dugs, Upsetters, Burning Spear, Funkadelic, Groundhogs, Bo Diddley, Double O, Vile Cherubs, Crucifix.
That's the kind of thing that makes them #3 of 2008.
[FYI - The video clip embedded starts about 20 minutes into the album's 1st disc: "Blue / From the Ages."]
O Denmark - Land of Hamlet, Baby Woodrose and... Danes. Let your Dragontears flow!
"Sunrise" from Tambourine Freak Machine (2008)
Baby Woodrose play '60s garage revivalism to the Stoner Rock crowd. I'd missed out on them, but last year, side-project/supergroup Dragontears released "Tambourine Freak Machine" (their 2nd). Instead of sharp and punchy, the psychedelics found here expand and sprawl out on a languid flying carpet. Dynamics are parsed out sparingly, in favor of ecstatic repetition and geological layers of guitar texture. It's a trip.
Most of the album can be described as a tuneful, restrained squall. Is a Minimalism of guitar wank possible? It is. "The River" sets the course - slow eddies of delay carry the lead guitar, and the vocals, and chimes, and subtle environmental water-sounds. The drums must wait until the next track, "Sunrise" [embedded above] - the most (relatively) direct thing on display. I was surprised to find a cover here at all, much less Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" - delivered with unexpected stridency, and an almost Spaghetti Western tone. That's right: in 2008, a Danish rock band mixed Dylan and Ennio Morricone with peyote-vision acoustics, and made it work! "The Freedom Seed" is another epic expedition, doing for the flowering of Third-Eye superconsciousness what "The River" did for the flowing of Seventh Chakra life-force energies. The final two tracks could be legitimately called an epilogue (short, instrumental, outro-esque) and a bonus track (significantly different in tone, lesser), but who knows what to think anymore...
Last year also saw a great 2-song single "Hadron Collider," which I went ahead and bought on iTunes (I think the 7" wasn't available anywhere). It's as good as the album, in much the same way, and maybe even the right place to start.
Still trying to get the debut "2,000 Micrograms From Home" - then I'll circle back around to the origins: Baby Woodrose, On Trial, the Raveonettes, and maybe even Alive with Worms. Looks promising, but the album and single alone would merit #2 on my own personal Top 10 discoveries of 2008.
Bonus! Apparently, covering 13th Floor Elevators is a Scando psych rite of passage. Here's Dragontears doing "Slide Machine" at this year's Roadburn Festival:
Bonus bonus! Just yesterday, I got fellow Danes Causa Sui's "Summer Sessions, Vols. 2 & 3" in the mail, along with Space Debris' live dvd (from the 2006 Burg Herzberg Festival). Only appropriate to post Denmark's primary jamband, live at this year's fest:
My favorite discovery of 2008, and thus #1? Beyond the Wizards Sleeve!
"Don't Cry Girl" from Beyond the Wizards Sleeve ARK.1 (2008)
Not living in England, or Europe or wherever it is, I'd never heard of Erol Alkan or Richard Norris. Nor the four 12" EPs they made from 2005-2007 as Beyond the Wizards Sleeve: Birth, Spring, George, and West. Also, I don't know even squat about international deejay culture, mash-ups, or any of that business.
But last year, they released Ark.1 on cd, collecting most of the OOP-vinyl-only EP tracks - and that made its way into my ears. Along with familiar songs by Neu! ("Hallogallo"), the Monkees (from Head) and the Rolling Stones ("2,000"), there was a treasure trove of obscurity!
See, BTWS does/did non-dance remixes (or Re-Animations) of non-dance songs, and here they were doing them to some great source material. Most of it from the '60s and '70s, most of it peripherally rock music. So there's soul-shouting organ rave-ups, Near Eastern power-pop, West Coast garage, droney feedbacking blast-offs, and even stranger bedfellows.
And then there's Bill Holt's "Program 10 Part 6" (as "Sunday Morning Sun-g"). Dissatisfied with traditional success - as an investment banker or somesuch - the major Beatles fan decided to drop out and start home-recording with an acoustic guitar, Moog, and the idea of combining the musique concrète of "Revolution #9" with downer folk and primordial melodies. In 1973. The remixing is very limited, but solely for introducing the source, I am seriously grateful.
Some live sets can be downloaded or streamed at Archive.org, with more detail at Erol Alkan's site. All of his podcasts are suscribeable through iTunes. Earlier this year, BTWS released a collection of official Re-Animations - which is fine if you're more into dance remixes and/or bands like Franz Ferdinand, Badly Drawn Boy, Midlake, and Peter, Bjorn and John... or Chemical Brothers, Goldfrapp, and Simian Mobile Disco. Not my cup of tea.
[This list originally posted here 4/23/2009, in slightly different form. Minimal changes made to reflect my current state of mind. Addition of locations and Lala on 02/23/2010!]
