Has it really been almost five years since I saw Raccoo-oo-oon at the Smell? I always laughed at old people who would warn me that time flies once college ends, but god damn if that isn't true. At the time I said of their set, "Phenomenal…they had a little PA speaker set up behind their [...]
It's been an adventurous weekend. Two birthday parties on back-to-back nights (I remained sober! Give me my 48-hour chip!). Pretty much everyone I know was drunk from 5pm on Friday until, well, they're still drunk right now. And none of them have to work tomorrow so they'll probably keep raging through the night! I just [...]
Matta Gawa - "Dialogue of a man and His Ba" MP3/download Ahhhhh, MaaaaaaattaaaaaaaaaaaGaaaaaawa aaaaaaaaa ... kind of reminds of "Goosefrabba," the saying Jack Nicholson, playing a psychiatrist, employed in Anger Management (admittedly: not a great movie, though John C. Reilly puts in a characteristically quirky cameo as an angry, former bully of a Buddhist) when he [...]
Browsing eBay the other day I noticed a lot of three cassette tapes at an eye-popping price (as in low, not high). Then I checked "Seller's other items" and found a lot of four 3-inch CDs, as well. Guess what? I WON. Now I have all seven artifacts sitting in front of me, and I [...]
![V/A - Utmarken - Release the Bats [Album Review]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2039203_lg.jpg)
Before you go wonderin' what the fuuuuudge "Utmarken" is, let me tell you that I had the same question, and it's a rehearsal space-slash-record store-slash-live venue (pic below; looks really, really, REALLY cool) started by Release The Bats Records founder Matthias Andersson and a couple of friends. Not familiar with Release The Bats? Get with it; they released the best Raccoo-oo-oon record, Is Night People , a classic Black Eyes 7", a [...]

raccoo-oo-oon 3 2008 (française version) Par terre. Se coucher. Sur le dos. Sur le côté. Regarder le ciel dans des flaques d'eau après avoir écouté la fin de l'averse. Au tapis. Couché. Sur le dos. De côté. Sentir le sol glacé. En regardant le ciel dans des flaques d'eau après avoir écouté la fin de la pluie. (englikhtonian version) [...]

On their final album, Raccoo-oo-oon push themselves further into the abyss; melding the chaotic rhythms of their last album with the freeform explorations inherent in their Mythos Folkways recordings. The result is a searing bit of noise-prog that veers further off the rails than some of the songforms that make up Behold Secret Kingdom . Building in length and intensity over the course of the album, tracks careen from synth mutterings to intense percussion explosions and grumble back into murky pools of guitar. The band holds loosely onto the reigns, pulling in bits of fury and flame quickly then [...]

Raccoo-oo-oon Raccoo-oo-oon (11.2008, Night People/Not Not Fun) Verdict = Earning their oo's with an expansive swan song 2008 has been miraculous as any year of music in regards to exciting new tunes from fresh new faces and inventive musical genius from old torch bearers alike. However, despite all the standard pomp, there has been some casualties along the way that have been particularly devastating for me. As I mentioned in my review of Millipede's Hyrule , experimental stalwarts, Yellow Swans and Wzt Hearts, both announced their respective dissolutions this year (though [...]
Raccoo-oo-oon - Untitled IV Last ditch for Raccoo-oo-oon and it's all bummer rock and semi-catastrophe, shooting weird torch swords of fog through their weird idiosyncractic primitivist futurism. Some of these untitled tracks get pretty flippin' dark but elsewhere it's muffled technicolour, letting loose in rather gnarly fashion in several places, chugging wild guitars over phantom eulogies, matching organs with rubble guitars and distant analog drum machines against plastic jewel percussion. Pretty immense, this swan song. [ Raccoo-oo-oon/Night People Website ] [Buy Raccoo-oo-oon from Release the Bats ]

I'm back in Los Angeles now, sitting on Nicci's couch, watching her create her own Nintendo Wii character. It's been a relatively uneventful twenty-four hours since I've returned. I woke up and went to work today -- apparently my boss found his way onto my Facebook profile, so it's only a matter of time he stumbles across this here website and loses the last shred of respect for me that was left after viewing all my Facebook photo albums. Expect a notice of unemployment here any day now. By the way, I received a very handsome $25 donation [...]

For my final "Friday Top Ten" of the year, I always like to write about the news music that has found its way into my possession over the course of the previous 365 days. In 2005, I think I devoted a paragraph to each of my favorite 25 records. Last year, I wrote three-word reviews for my favorite 50 records. This year, I'm upping the stakes, with one all-encapsulating sentence for the best 100 new records. Strap your safety belts on, because this is going to be a very, very long music-related entry. The Top 100 [...]

Image: Kenneth Rougeau These Old Shoes - Deer Tick Oh he's goooood , I'll give him that. Still, I suspect our protagonist is just a cheap bastard, trying to obscure the fact that, in his typical cheap bastard fashion, he purchased of a bargain seat on a shady, fly-by-night (ha!) airline. "Darlin'", he drawls to his sweetheart, "you don't know what I suffered just to get to [...]
I overate this weekend. Yesterday I had brunch at a little outdoor cafe on Ocean that made a sublime omelet for breakfast, and had fancy gourmet Mexican food for dinner (grilled achiote chicken served over a layered casserole of corn tortillas, tomatillo salsa, manchego, panela, and cotija cheeses, and coriander radish sprout salad, according to their menu) at the Border Grill, which is owned by two lady chefs who have a show on the Food Channel (apparently). Delicious! Today I had a Santa Fe omelet at noon and In-N-Out later in the day. The hotel near LAX had free food [...]

raccoo oo oon black branches 2007 (française version) 2007. Combien de neige tombée et fondue, combien d'herbe fraîche coupée et jaunie, combien de baisers perdus, combien de peaux mortes abandonnées au temps pour apercevoir à nouveau le royaume secret des élans camouflés du coeur ? 1984 cindytalk memories of skin and snow 1984 [...]
This extended mix of psychedelic, ambient, noise, and done (a.k.a not rock) was inspired by the freak out work outs by Dungen, ILM's ongoing discussion on what's new in the category of weird sh*t , and my own desire to find more sounds that can't be described with the combination of these two words: indie and pop. It started out as the traditional four song rock block, went way beyond that to a mix that stretched out way past the hour mark, then pared itself back down to a more manageable size. As for what [...]

I've never been one to stoop to "the dog ate my homework" lows but in this case I'm prepared to take the incomplete, if you would be so generous. My Raccoo-oo-oon review disappeared earlier this evening in a freak power outage, such things happen in the ghetto. But with the best of intentions I share with you this exquisite diamond of a song, Black Branches , from Raccoo-oo-oon's upcoming full length, Behold Secret Kingdom . Its full of racket like the angry forest at night. Look for a proper LP release of this soon on Night [...]

Acid-skronk warriors Racoo-oo-oon have a penchant for dark and noisy walls of chaos. In most cases their nocturnal moniker captures the spirit accurately as they tear at your ears and scurry off into the surrounding darkness. However, on Behold Secret Kingdom there are some brief moments of "lighter" tone but nothing resembling bliss or a foray into sunshiny days. Mostly they follow their sinister impulses down a ragged path to the secret hollow namesake of the album and proceed to clear-cut jagged rhythms and torrents of sound into your brain. Pure dark fires that burn with a [...]
These days, even psychedelic acts can become a bit tired, a bit predictable, and easily categorized. With Behold Secret Kingdom , Racoo-oo-oon manage to avoid all of these faults while remaining listenable.
Ok so we have been thinking about the 2.0 revolution and everything it means for the world. Everyone knows how any movement is just hype until 20JFG gives it its seal of approval, it's all a bit... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://20jazzfunkgreats.blogsp ot.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]