Demdike Rarest

So, I was looking for something - probably images from the 2xCD release of Elemental (2012) - and what do I see on Demdike Stare's Discogs.com page?



Demdike Stare live [*NSFW* background films], 05/28/2011,
Milan, IT (more videos)

An all-new live CD! Live at Golden Pudel Club (2012) - 59 minutes from "15 Mai 2011" on the Hamburg club's own label, Pudel Produkte. I haven't found any source for the disc outside of Germany, but it's totally worth it. I got it with minimal translations from Hamburg's Hanseplatte for only 6,90€ - or try at Otaku for 7,00€ (minimum purchases may apply at either).

Nothing to stream or whatever, so you have to go on faith. I've really come to prefer Demdike's live/mix work a bit more than the original material. It's good stuff - thought it was a limited edition, but I can no longer find evidence of that. Maybe not.



Just found a 46-minute really new mix, another free download. In the very good interview at that link, Demdike says "this mix has more of a rock feel, most of the tracks are taken from rock records." Only just, but mainly relative to the usual...



"All Data Lost" by Chrome, from Alien Soundtracks (1977)

Tracklist
1. Arzachel: "Excerpt From Arzachel"
2. Black Cat Bones: "Chauffeur" (excerpt)
3. Graham Collier Music: "New Conditions" (excerpt)
4. Kristof Knittel [sp??]: "Niskie Dzwieke"
5. Third Ear Band: "Music From Macbeth" (excerpt)
6. Terrence: "The Emperor"
7. Cosmic Jokers: "Galactic Joke" (#6, 1973)
8. Jan Schaffer: "Harvest Machine" (excerpt)
9. Chrome: "All Data Lost"
10. Demdike Stare: "All This Is Ours (Sunrise)"
11. Glenn Branca: "Dissonance"
12. Demdike Stare: "Unction"
13. Sunn O)))): "Black One"
14. The Amazing Blondel: "Seige Of Yaddlethorpe"
15. Conjoint: "Bar Rock (Earprints)"

Well, that is pretty rock/jazz/folk for them.



On Boomkat, I'd seen a ltd-ed Slant Azymuth cassette (of 100) in a large-shell case, since sold-out & deleted. But I'm pretty sure it was only this Dublab session - still available for download. Ahhh, found it! Helical Scans (2012) on Per-Cert.

From intrepid, creaking atmospheres to typewriter rhythm attacks suffused with viscous ambience, from eerie, unidentified Giallo voices to driving spy themes and mindless drones, it's a labyrinthine session that'll test the knowledge of even the deepest heads and frazzle the rest. Highly recommended!

Unfortunately, I'm not yet completely taken with the Slant Azymuth LP (2012), but you should definitely get the free download of the ultra-rare cassette release of an internet podcast live-mix! Also, the record's still available at Forced Exposure, just in case it becomes one of my favorites of this year.



"Erosion of Mediocrity" from Elemental #4: Rose (2012)

That one's on both the 4th vinyl EP (Rose) and the 2xCD version, which has some all-different tracks and alternate versions of some vinyl tunes. (Here's a Not Safe For Work video version!) As with all Demdike Stare official releases, I'm getting past the stage of focusing on the spare-yet-clattering rhythmic framework, and starting to feel more familiar with the proceedings. "Familiar" in a recurring nightmare scenario, moreso than a safe-at-home sense.


Demdike Stare - Elemental (2CD Version) by modernlove

Modern Love never put up any of the four Elemental vinyl EP's for streaming, but now they've got the CD-edition up on Soundcloud. I'm enjoying having the handier plastic-digital version for more regular listening & loaning. Still need to do some close comparison on the alternate vinyl/CD song versions, listen to locked grooves ad infinitum, etc...

The Spindrift Drive-In Theater

Maybe this will finally be my opportunity to catch Spindrift live, after 2 missed attempts?



"Adavan Diazapan" from Songs of the Ancient Age (2007)

Again, that is truly psychedelic. But it's been quite awhile now...



"Drifter’s Pass" from Classic Soundtracks, Vol. 1 (2011)

Their more recent stuff tends towards Spaghetti Western soundtrack stylings. Morricone! Il maestro!!



"Confusion Range" from Classic Soundtracks, Vol. 1 (2011)

Or grindhouse... You can even see sci-fi "Space Vixens" video at Spindrift's website.



"When I Was Free" from Classic Soundtracks, Vol. 1 (2011)

Of course there's an actual film too: The Legend of God's Gun (2008) - with this song.



Spindrift records are on Xemu, and occasionally Teepee Records.

Draw!

Olivia Tremor Video

Another band I know very little info about: Olivia Tremor Control.



"Memories of Jacqueline 1906" from Music from the Unrealized Film Script "Dusk at Cubist Castle" (1996)

The only thing I know about them? They were part of Elephant 6 crew - which puts them alongside Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples in Stereo, etc...



"Define a Transparent Dream" from Music from the Unrealized Film Script "Dusk at Cubist Castle" (1996)

That means something approaching quirky but baroque but tuneful, vaguely '60s-indebted proto-indie-pop. Also, elaborate album and/or song titles. Right?



"Hideaway" from Black Foliage: Animation Music, Vol. 1 (1999)

Yeah, sounds right. O and Athens, GA!

Here's their website. I didn't realize that they'd only really been active such a short time - only two real albums and a handful of singles, within about 4 years. But they seem to have been re-uniting for quite awhile.



You can find their new suite "That Game You Play Is In Your Head," either for sale from Secretly Canadian or streaming at Pitchfork. And those two full albums are being re-issued by Chunklet.

Party of the Bombino

Probably the biggest surprise of Austin Psych Fest 2012, and in some ways the most intriguing: (Group) Bombino.



Bombino himself is a Tuareg guitarist. Tinariwen was the first - I think - to bring attention to this Saharan strain of contemporary guitar party music (Rai). Then I heard about Group Inerane, possibly Libyan rebel camp entertainers...



"Assalam Felawan (Peace To You) " > "Adounia (Life)" from Agadez (2011)

Now Bombino - and this guy can really play...



"Tar Hani (My Love)" from Agadez (2011)

Play in Austin next month! Really nice, right? Last year's album came out on Cumbancha Records. And also here's a movie with some connections.



"Tenere" from Guitars From Agadez, Vol. 2 (2009)

I have Group Inerane's Vol. 1 (2007) from a Sublime Frequencies spree, but never caught the follow-up with Group Bombino. It sounds at least as good - to me.



Bombino Concert - Agadez, Niger

Just added the "Jamming" tag to this post.

I thought it was a big step when 2 British acts played last year, but Agadez??

Back to Earth from Black to Comm

Has it really been 3 years since the last full album from Black to Comm (#1, Drone/Ambient 2009)?



Strangely enough, we ended up listening to Alphabet 1968 in Vegas. Yeah, it got a little weird. And now coming up is EARTH (2012).



"Water" from EARTH (2009)

I know very little about it, but it's not on Dekorder (the label run by BTC).

From at Forced Exposure (US $12/$18):

EARTH is a 2009 silent film by Ho Tzu Nyen, one of Singapore's foremost artists. The visually arresting film has been live-soundtracked by a number of artists (including Oren Ambarchi) in several locales, and after Black to Comm, a.k.a. Marc Richter's accompaniment at Berlin's Asian Film Festival and the Unsound Festival in Krakow (both in 2010), he decided to commit it to record.

Actually, I think this is all from De Stijl Records itself (US $12/$16): In Marc's own words: "Most of the music was composed under the influence of heavy pain killers while recovering from a broken leg. The music (like the film) is about slowness and decay, states of unconsciousness, sleeping and waking up, dying and being reborn. The film basically is a post-apocalyptic collage based on paintings by classical European painters (Caravaggio, Delacroix, Rembrandt, Gericault) -- the music tries to translate that concept employing similar collage-based sampling techniques using loops made from vintage vinyl and shellac records combined with acoustic and electronic instrumentation and voice." Et cetera...



"Mirror" from EARTH (2012)

And you know that Boomkat (UK £12/£15) will have some choice words...

Astonishing new album from Marc Richter aka Black To Comm on Minneapolis's ever-reliable De Stijl, featuring vocals from the fascinating Vindicatrix... The long-awaited follow-up to 2009's Alphabet 1968 LP on Type, this new album is based on an original score he created for Ho Tzu Nyen's film EARTH. There's no doubt that it's his most ambitious work to date, with deliciously woozy, woe-stricken vocals courtesy of Vindicatrix - impossible to hear without thinking of Scott Walker, David Sylvian or Antony Hegarty - at the fore of minimalist, electronics-daubed drone-folk arrangements that occupy a hallowed space somewhere between Talk Talk and Fennesz. It's really that good, conjuring a truly epic sadness but providing enough sonic nourishment that the tears feel like a good thing. The second half of the record heads deeper into loop-based abstraction, climaxing on the 15-minute "The Children" but those lachrymose vocals remain - and the combination is just sublime.

I'm already there!

Dunes Radio, Amen.

Austin Psych Fest line-up posting, cont'd...



"Bedroom Drum" from Through Donkey Jaw (2011)

I'm not sure I have a grip on what kind of music Amen Dunes makes, so the blog tags are a scramble. I've seen the term "singer-songwriter" here and there - maybe that's accurate. That one kind of reminds me of Grouper even (downer-pop submerged in reverb). Quite a few Psych Fest artists from Sacred Bones Records this year.



"For All" from Through Donkey Jaw (2011)

Do I hear a little Jandek in there (exploded and recombinated folk-blues)? I just don't know. You can stream some live sets over at Live at Shea Stadium.

Amen Dunes - Diane from Thal on Vimeo.

That's from the previous Murder Dull Mind EP (2010) - I like it. And there's some kind of recent 7" release (part of a label series). But "Watching Cartoons" sounds like a Vicodin-OD Butthole Surfers tribute from a Nirvana fan influenced by Kurdt's t-shirt collection.

Of course there's an Altered Zones profile...



[pix here]

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Meat Puppets!

On Friday, new Austin Psych Fest info was released. (Blogging news delayed due to being in Las Vegas...) Full line-up announcement is coming on March 27th.



"Orange" from Lollipop (2011)

Some leakage occurred, though - and it looks like The Meat Puppets will be playing too. That's some badass news!! They opened up the #2 Live Shows of 2010, and were really really great.



"Up on the Sun" from Up on the Sun (1985)

Of course they are legends and underground royalty, still going strong. Visit them at their website. And consider picking up some kind of Up on the Sun re-issues. A great one from their ultimate classic period.



And here's another Puppets website to peep.