In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Blake Butler is the rare young writer who consistently and effectively challenges his readers. Scorch Atlas is a haunting collection of interconnected stories and vignettes, a dystopian work of genius. The book itself is a work of art. The internal pages are individually distressed, and the page edges and cover appear burnt and scarred, and the design complements the book's theme perfectly. Matt [...]
MP3: Nachtmystium - Cold Tormentor (I've Become) from Nachtmystium (2003) To me, "black metal" means a style of music pioneered by Norwegian bands like Darkthrone and Mayhem in the early 1990s. The (again, for me) defining elements of the genre are densely layered trebly guitars, often low-fidelity production, high screechy vocals, lyrics about darkness, despair, and evil (as opposed to dismemberment, gore and violence), and riffs that are more melodic than one finds in other extreme forms of metal like death metal. In recent years, American bands have produced some of the best music [...]
Like most American kids, I went to camp during the summer. From age 7 to 10 I did all the usual camp things; rode horses, shot arrows, rock climbed and made lumpy ashtrays for the non-smoking parentals in ceramics. Another campfire tradition, in between state-mandated Kum Ba Yas , were ghost stories. Yet another year where our counselor attempted to give us the Gold Arrow camp canard about the B-17 pilot who plunged into the lake, and now whose ghost still haunted the area. By 9 years of age our cabin wasn't buying it, we [...]
Detroit Free Press (MCT) -- DETROIT - First novels are often thinly disguised autobiographies, so why should a first piano concerto be any different? Michel Camilo's Piano Concerto No. 1, which the 55-year-old jazz pianist performs with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra this week, describes most of the key influences in his musical life. In its blend of Afro-Caribbean rhythms, classical forms and jazz, including two improvised cadenzas, the concerto reflects Camilo's extensive classical training in his native Dominican Republic, his...
The radio plays on and on. The heartbeat flat-lines. The Norwegian transplant Sondre Lerche, a music industry veteran at only 27, possesses considerable talent, but his new album Heartbeat Radio finds him working too hard toward no discernible end. The album is about love in its most mundane forms -- passing the morning paper back and forth over tea, squabbling, driving, chatting. It's a minor work for minor moods, but it mostly fails to achieve even its modest intentions. There's a sort of ill-fitting...
Doctor Nico and African Fiesta - Save Me Les Krakmen - Krakmen Twist! Teta Lando - Muato Wa N\'gingila From: Cazumbi African Sixties Garage Vol. 1 (No Smoke, 2009) In the last year No Smoke has released two African garage rock compilations. The second was released just a few months ago, however this post features songs from the first released at the beginning of the year. This compilation is really interesting. Many people have been digging around into the archives of highlife, afrobeat [...]
DM (David Michael) Stith 's haunting, other-worldly debut album Heavy Ghosts , released earlier this year by Asthmatic Kitty, contained some of the most mesmerizing, uniquely left-of-center music we've heard in ages, described by his label as "folk songs with epic electronic gestures". Orchestration that veers from soothing to dissonant forms the backdrop for Stith's dream-state vocal melodies on "BMB" (Be My Baby) presented here in mindblowing video and an alternate audio take (released this summer as part of an expanded EP). A third EP of reworkings and remixes of songs from Heavy Ghosts arrives [...]
In one of the weirder Radiohead news stories of the year (topped only by Miley Cyrus telling the band she'd "ruin them"), the Fiery Furnaces ' Matt Friedberger started beef with Yorke and company over what he thought was a "bogus" tribute to experimental music composer Harry Partch. Actually, Radiohead had released a song about the death of Harry Patch , the last British World War I veteran, but this didn't make Friedberger change his tune. Instead, the Fiery Furnaces released the following statement: [...]
2009 marks the fifth anniversary of No Music Day , an unofficial holiday coined by Bill Drummond , artist, writer, and former member of The KLF . The event, part of a five-year project, takes place on November 21st. This year's host city is Linz, Australia (past events have taken place throughout Europe). The premise of No Music Day is simple: People are asked to think about the music they are currently consuming, and are encouraged not to blindly accept it. The idea is not necessarily to sit in silence (though this is also [...]
![[MP3] Beck: "Harry Partch"](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/2137900_lg.jpg)
You like feuds, right? Because this new Beck song is the baby of the feud of the year and it's pretty messy. The story goes like this: Radiohead wrote a song back in August about Harry Patch, the UK's oldest surviving WWI veteran (aww!). Well The Fiery Furnaces' Matthew Friedberger heard this and mistook it to be a song about apparently trendy 20th century composer Harry Partch . Because this upset him so, Friedberger lambasted Radiohead for being obnoxious and writing about trendy things. When he realized his mistake, he released a statement that read: "Matt would [...]
Once again it's time to look back into the past. This mix starts with two covers and it even has a remix of a Passion Pit song. Luckily, the remix is by Pollination . Just what was November 2008 like? It was a little like this… Downloadables: Banned From The Roxy (mp3) by Jeffrey Lewis We Didn't Start The Fire (mp3) by The Forms Focus (mp3) by The Forms [...]
Harry Patch, the longest surviving veteran of World War I, lived an honorable life, his very existence serving as a reminder to countless others of how far we've come, and at what cost, in matters of international conflict and discourse. And thanks to an initially subpar rocker beef that's blossomed into something going on classic, Harry Patch has also served as a reminder of the life of composer Harry Partch, and how far we've come in matters of incorporating his 43 tone scale into countless blog posts. To recap: Radiohead wrote a song for Harry Patch the Tommy, [...]
Chris Brown's "Forever" was one of the best pop songs to emerge out of 2008, despite the flak it received for its Wrigley's corporate tie-in. And so, setting all scandal aside–if that's even possible—it's nice to see (or hear, rather) there are what appear to be two obvious successors to synthy dance number "Forever" on Brown's otherwise ballad-heavy Graffiti . They come in the forms of "I.Y.A" (or, "In Your Arms") and "Pass Out." Catch a video clip of all the Graffiti Deluxe Edition album snippets (via Amazon France ) below. [...]
I love Steve Earle and Allison Moorer. I think Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis are great. Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler of Over the Rhine make me giddy. You know how I feel about Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson. For my money, though, Buddy & Julie Miller are the first couple of Americana music. Buddy is the multi-instrumentalist/producer /singer/songwriter [...]
The following is from New Mexico State University's "ABCs of Making Adobe Bricks." Select a site that is near a suitable soil and has a large level area for drying and curing the bricks. Dig a pit about 2 feet deep and of any convenient size for mixing. Before you start mixing, soak the pit thoroughly for at least 12 hours to saturate the retaining perimeter. When you are ready to start, put some soil in your pit and add just enough water, mixing as you add, [...]
Illogium of Portal In the same way that old science fiction is retro yet futuristic, Portal 's death metal seemingly spans decades. The oddball Aussies have gotten much attention for their recent album Swarth ( Profound Lore , 2009). I interviewed guitarist Horror Illogium for the December '09 issue of Decibel (#62, Converge cover, order here ). Space constraints meant that I used only a few quotes. Here is the interview in full. I conducted [...]
I often find myself in a place of reverie, contemplating what my life would be like without heavy metal. From the time that I first heard the distorted notes of "Detroit Rock City" at the tender age of six, to the more poppy, yet still fairly aggressive riffs of Def Leppard 's Pyromania , to the ultimate epiphany of Metallica 's Ride the Lightening or Slayer 's Haunting the Chapel , the music has always been that something special that I've been able to rely on. My metal never let me [...]
By Carrie Brownstein Man writing music in the dark with his cell phone. Old school or new school? ( blankdots/flickr ) As we dissect, pour-over, analyze, celebrate, question, and generally try to make sense of the past decade in music, no matter how many words we read, no matter how many comments [...]
Secret Little Opiate While most of us have been captivated by Dandilion Wind Opaine's other band Fan Death all year, she has been secretly recording some new material for Dandi Wind . To reward our patience she has released a new limited edition 73 silkscreen printed vinyl split with Chicago's Dead Gods , which you can buy from her myspace page. The 73 features a new song titled 'Incubation' and like her previous material it's a bit of a banger. Known [...]
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
Friday Five: Surf Songs
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
