Archive for July, 2009
 
Athens, Georgia’s Japancakes formed in 1996, and for more than a dozen years they have crafted instrumental indie rock that injects drone-based structures with hazy post-psych signatures. Despite adopting a genre known for its niche appeal, Japancakes’ has crafted a number of jams of singular appeal, enabling them to enjoy far more wide-ranging success than many of their drone-based colleagues.
But finally, the band has decided that if they’re going to be tuneful, they might as well add vocals to the mix. The new single, “Behind the Mountains,†is available in two different vocal versions: one in English by Azure Ray’s Orenda Fink, and another in Mandarin by Miss Stocking’s Moon. Of course, there’s also an instrumental version. All of the new tracks are available exclusively on iTunes.
You can check out a new video for the single, directed by Ryan Berg, on Vimeo here.
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Posted by Christian Carey in Analog Synthesizers, CD Review, Downtown, File Under?, Mutable, Uncategorized, Uptown, composer, contemporary classical, electronica, minimalism
Tom Hamilton
Local Customs
Mutable CD 17533-2
 
 Composer and electronic musician Tom Hamilton has been active for over forty years. Beginning his investigations with early analog synthesizers, he’s continued to explore the parameters of technology with instruments of his own devising. Developed during a residency in Italy in 2005, Hamilton’s “electronic harmony generator†is now his synth of choice. He deploys it in a mixed chamber setting on Local Customs, an album-length five-movement work.
Hamilton has appeared on more than sixty recordings, becoming primarily associated with Downtown, rather than Uptown, circles. But his music isn’t so easily pegged. Whereas much minimal electronica tends to limit the pitch palette, avoiding overt atonality in favor of an extended triadic vocabulary, Local Customs allows for a wide range of harmony. This includes Webernian pointillism as well as triadic synth pads and overlapping modal wind ostinati.
On “Corral,†points of stillness and tart intervals set against triadic underpinnings give one the sense of a slightly filled-in Morton Feldman. There are places, especially in the third movement, “Counterpoint Four,†where the gradual evolutions sound like Steve Reich’s phase patterns in slow motion. Noteworthy here are the low-register members of the ensemble, trombonist James Martin and bassist Terry Kippenburger, who keep up lithely with their wind section counterparts.
The final movement, “All the Mapping Shifted,†imbues the proceedings with a belated urgency; percussion interjects, while angst-filled intervals are articulated in the clarinet and flute. Disjunct melodies are given to each instrument in turn, while Hamilton’s generator provides a subliminal, yet oddly insistent, harmonic background. Local Customs is all the more interesting for its unusual place in the contemporary classical universe, bridging a range of playing manners and stylistic conventions to make a singular, satisfying, hybridized music.
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Passion Pit
Manners
Columbia/French Kiss
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Boston quintet Passion Pit’s debut LP, Manners, has been one of the best-received releases of 2009. Justifiably so, as its mix of eighties synth-pop signatures and dance-rock anthems exude a positive spirit that serves as a much-needed tonic during these economically uncertain times.
However, the band’s music is no mere escapism. Michael Angelakos’ lyrics confront uneasiness and adversity head on. This proves an intriguing juxtaposition, as these potent messages are presented simultaneous to heady grooves, which urge you to dance your misgivings away.
 
 Passion Pit will be appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday July 29.
They’ve also released a video for the single “To Kingdom Come.†Check it out on Vimeo.
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 Phil Kline
Around the World in a Daze
Starkland 2xDVD
Around the World in a Daze is over an hour’s worth of music commissioned from Phil Kline by Starkland specifically for a surround sound release. While it’s likely that the DVD will be a demo disc for many high-end stores, the music reaches out farther than the specialty/audiophile market. It doesn’t just “sound good:†it fascinates, engages, and, often, moves.
Whether using multiple boomboxes to halo the string quartet Ethel, reproducing the effects of Bach on a PA system at a Zurich train system, or reimagining Ivesian spatializations through the cascading calls of parrots in Dzanga, Kline’s pieces transport the hearer from their listening space to imaginary vistas that envelope, even overwhelm. Â
Of course, it will never be the same as “being there:†visiting one of Kline’s site-specific pieces. But Around the World in a Daze gets the listener a giant leap closer to feeling like they’re onsite – without leaving home!
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Posted by Christian Carey in CD Review, DVD, File Under?, Nonesuch, Uncategorized, Video, YouTube, chamber music, crossover, dvd review, electronica, pop, women composers
Björk
Voltaic
Nonesuch CD/DVD
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Visually stunning and musically engaging, Voltaic chronicles Björk’s 2007-8 concert appearances in London, Reykjavik, and Paris. The instrumental complement this time out features an all-female (all-Icelandic) brass section/choir, keyboards, and copious amounts of percussion. They are abetted by dazzling production values in Paris and London. The appearance in Reykjavik, however, is more intimate. A chamber music styled performance, the choir is augmented, harpsichord replaces many of the synths, and the use of beats is suitably subdued. Â
The new songs off of the studio LP Volta – “Earth Intruders,†“Innocence,†and the show-closer “Declare Independence†– are given spot-on performances, but also imbued with the crackling energy of a live setting. The old songs are recast for the band’s unusual instrumental complement, with stirring results. “Hunter†is thrilling and “All is Full of Love,†which juxtaposes supple brass choir harmonies with downtempo grooves, is a compelling reimagining. Björk herself is in fine voice, adding a bit of timbral heft to complement the brass accompaniment, but never compromising her trademark fluid phrasing.
Like many Björk offerings, Nonesuch has released this in several versions. I’m glad to have gotten the CD/DVD, so as to enjoy both audio and visual presentations from the tour. But there’s also an expanded boxed set, with LP, 2xCDs, and 2xDVDs.  In the case of Voltaic, perhaps more might be even better!
Video: Voltaic Trailer (YouTube)
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Fire in July’s debut album, Ancient Star, features singing cellist Redhage’s inimitable “indie art songs†in ensemble arrangements.
A trio subunit of the Brooklyn indie crossover collective Fire in July will make the band’s Boston debut tomorrow night. Come and check them out live!
JODY REDHAGE & FIRE IN JULY
Saturday, July 25, 2009
8:00 pm
Kaji Aso Studio
40 St. Stephen Street
Boston, MAÂ 02115
www.kajiasostudio.com
www.jodyredhage.com
$10 tickets
Jody Redhage, voice/cello/compositions
Alan Ferber, trombones
Tim Collins, vibraphone
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Bad Boy Bill
The Album
Nettwerk
While many DJs are known to use multiple LPs in a mix, hard house Chicago DJ Bad Boy Bill is particularly adept at keeping a lot of plates spinning throughout a set: sometimes several dozen! That said, his latest LP (and first for the Nettwerk imprint) never gets too cluttered. Big bass beats, overlapping loops, and danceable grooves create backgrounds both intricate yet thriving with immediacy.
Songs featuring vocals by Alyssa Palmer are particularly fine, including dance singles “Do What U Like†and “Falling Anthem†and the rollicking retro-rock swagger of “Ishy.†Bad Boy Bill himself lends minimal vocals and syncopated scratches to a jaunty robo-house rendition of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit.†And “Wait†adeptly juxtaposes Jesse Moss’ ballad “Grace†with thrumming bass-heavy mid-tempo house patterns. An excellent mix of styles and materials, there’s little doubt that The Album will be spinning continuously at many late summer parties.
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Posted by Christian Carey in EMusic, File Under?, Uncategorized, Video, YouTube, electronica, iTunes, pop, recording review, singer-songwriter, women composers
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While fans of alt/experimental/avant/indie etc. music tend to look askance at sales numbers and mainstream popularity, sometimes the big web vendors get it right. EMusic has recently touted contemporary classical artists Nadia Sirota and Julianna Barwick. Both of these talents are accessing mainstream audiences in part due to the site’s efforts to raise their customers’ awareness of contemporary classical music with reviews, playlists, and primers. Mega-kudos EMusic! Â
Online juggernaut iTunes is posting big sales numbers for an electronic pop act with skilful arranging and composing chops. The site’s #2 overall and #1 electronica recording is Owl City’s new LP Ocean Eyes. Fans of Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie, and vintage bleeptronica will likely be please in equal measure by “Fireflies,†the recording’s leadoff single. Check out the video below.
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Video “Fireflies†(YouTube)
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Ruby Throat
The Ventriloquist
Sleep Like Wolves (Ryko)
Ruby Throat is Katiejane Garside (Daisy Chainsaw and Queenadreena) and Chris Whittingham. Previously released in a lavish, extremely limited pressing, their LP The Ventriloquist finally is seeing wide release. The duo creates alt-folk of a brave nature and formidable presence.Â
Garside is capable of stratospheric vocalism. She frequently explores her upper register here amidst arrangements inhabited by drones, pitched percussion, and understated guitar work. Sitting astride darkly-hued Gothic Americana and English traditional music, the music unfolds gradually; at times wafting sinuously at the periphery of awareness; at others, boldly taking center stage. Most ambitious is the sixteen-minute long song based on that most-famous of verses, “John 3:16.†It begins with hushed singing and repeated guitar figures, building to a howling, unsettling, avant-rock climax.
MP3: “House of Thieves†(via Tumblr).
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After a hiatus, singer-songwriter David Mead is releasing a new album August 25 on Cheap Lullaby. Almost and Always is well worth the wait. Mead has long been a songwriter who can combine polished craftsmanship with authentic emotional appeal – the new LP continues that trend. That Mead has overcome career vicissitudes – label changes and the like – to deliver some of his finest songs to date makes it all the sweeter.
Two tracks from Almost and Always are linked below.
MP3: “Blackberry Wintersâ€
MP3: “Rainy Winter Friendâ€
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