new age of earth ASHRA

my new holy grail of kosmische music right here. this is by the group Ashra, which is actually a shortened name of Ash Ra Tempel, which is actually just a Manuel Gottsching solo record. this LP came after all the brilliant earlier Ash Ra Tempel albums and was the beginning of Gottsching's ambient/drone/proto-techno phase. many might know Gottsching more readily for one of his other post Ash Ra albums: "E2-E4" from 1984 which provided building blocks for a lot of house and techno music. "New Age of Earth" was the first of his solo jaunts after Ash Ra Tempel.

"Sunrain" kicks off the album with layers of synths, delayed guitar tracks and drum machine that wouldn't be out of place as a soundtrack to a nature documentary. the key here to is that it's quite obvious that the drone and stasis is built around songwriting. yes, songwriting. there are chord changes, melodies etc, yet the track never changes tempo, never changes volume, and never changes the built in rhythms. it has a Steve Reich feel, a very filmic quality to it. totally brilliant. the rest of the album is a little closer to the "windham hill" type of new age that was popular around the time. but there is something about Gottsching's tones and pacing that avoids the "windham hill" cliches. this LP is also unique in that it features Gottsching focusing much more on sythnesizers rather than his later solo work which primarily focused on guitar loops. it's a perfect balance of all of the great things that Gottsching did over the years.

in all honesty i really rediscovered this album last week after reading an interview with Sam Goldberg (Radio People, Mist, etc) who mentioned this album in his top 3 of kosmische. i had found this album probably a year ago and liked it but never gave it my full attention until last week. and it has been blowing my mind since.

listen to it here.

music in similar motion/music in fifths PHILIP GLASS

this past Christmas, the wife and I decided to take a little trip to New Orleans. and every time I'm in New Orleans I always have to make a trip to Domino Sound Record Shack with my friend Trey. this is THE record store in New Orleans, all kinds of great new and used LP's, plus they have their own label which they have co-released a couple LP's by The Ex and put out all kinds of great cassette compilations (I picked up two this last time, one of early electronic music and another of West African music, both killer. will try to upload them at some point soonish).

but more to the point, I've never really listened to much early Philip Glass so I was quite excited to find an original copy of this LP at Domino! after watching the Philip Glass documentary, "Glass: A Portrait of Philip in 12 parts" i was quite blown away by some of the early video footage of him playing at small NYC loft spaces in the late 60's/early 70's. stylistically it doesn't sound all that much different from what we've all come to expect from Glass, but the multiple analog keyboards, saxophones and all sound fresh and exciting as opposed to some of his digital works.

this LP has two pieces recorded in '69 and '70 respectively and still sound fresh and exciting to me. Music in Similar Motion is still in rotation in the Glass Ensemble touring repertoire. Music in Fifths is an early example of Glass going against the grain of traditional and even some supposed "experimental" classical composers of the time.

his attempt at an humanistic, non-virtuoso approach is refreshing and anti-authority. i mean sorta...for example "Music in Fifths" is dedicated to Nadia Boulanger whom Glass studied harmony and counterpoint under in Paris in the 60's. the piece is written entirely in parallel 5ths, which is a cardinal sin in traditional counterpoint pedagogy.

"Music in Similar Motion" though is the real treat here. according to Philip himself:

"The real innovation in Similar Motion is its sense of drama," Glass said in 1993. "The earlier pieces were meditative, steady-state pieces that established a mood and stayed there. But Similar Motion starts with one voice, then adds another playing a fourth above the original line, and then another playing a fourth below the original line, and finally a bass line kicks in to complete the sound. As each new voice enters, there is a dramatic change in the music."

two great early pieces from Glass. Enjoy them here!

Trish's Mind Bending Motorway Mix

this is an extra special post that was featured yesterday on the previously mentioned Root Blog. i'm more or less copying the entire post but feel that this should be shared.

as you may or may not know Trish Keenan of Broadcast passed away last friday January 14th, 2011 from complications with pneumonia. an extremely sad loss. Broadcast's "Haha Sound" will always be a favorite LP of mine. Broadcast's recent short LP with the Focus Group was a teaser for great things to come. this however is a mixtape that Trish made for a friend before their last Australian tour.

From the Broadcast message board :

“Before she went to Australia Trish sent me a mix CD of bonkers pop music she compiled, I never thanked her. Its called Mind Bending Motorway Mix and I want to share it with you, please pass the link on, share it far and wide, its a little tribute to a (as a friend referred to her today) exhilarating woman, we’re all thinking about you James.”

click here to download the mixtape

below is the track list for the mix. this is a really stellar mix of left-of-center quirky pop. great stuff that most haven't heard (or at least I hadn't heard). enjoy.

Trish’s Mind Bending Motorway Mix

1) Emerald Web – “Flight of the Raven”
2) Harumi – “What a Day For Me”
4) Mandy More – “If Not By Fire”
5) Tages – “You’re Too Incomprehensible”
6) Twice as Much – “The Spinning Wheel”
7) Tangerine Peel – “Trapped”
8) Twice as Much – “Playing with Fire”
9) Catharsis – “Masq”
10) Victor Jara – “El Aparecido”
11) Natty Bumpo – “Theme from the Valley of Dolls”
12) Koji Ueno – “Professor Parsec”
13) Fuat Saka – “Atladm Girdim Baa”
15) The Vampires of Dartmoore – “Tanz der Vampire”
16) Rock Revival – “Venus 2038″
17) Mark Charron – “The Girls and the Boys”

of psalms DATE PALMS

i've casually been a fan of Gregg Kowalsky since i first heard his "tape chants" release on Kranky Records. and it's grown on me more and more with time. however this release from his new group with Marielle Jakobsons, Date Palms really blows the lid of things. "Of Psalms" consists of 5 'psalms' created through a beautiful mix of acoustic and electric effects and instruments. think of it as a mix of raga, drone, spacemen 3, and even some dub.

i could throw around musical references all day for this album: Alice Coltrane, Terry Riley, Tony Conrad, Sun Araw, Cluster, Pandit Pran Nath, Earth, etc etc but that really can't do it full justice.

the simple yet repetitive bass lines really hold the whole thing together. each 'psalm' has a slightly different bass line but each is reminiscent of the other. each track holds its own ground, but also serves to create a unified entirety. few drone/raga albums have this much low end to beef up the sound, intensity and rhythm. no percussion is around at all, yet there is a flow and pulse thanks to the low end. add to this multiple layers of gorgeous synths, eastern-tinged strings/harps etc, and subdued feedbacking guitars. i could go on and on but this LP must be heard to fully grasp.

this album is easily one of my favorites of 2010 and was released by the incredible Root Strata label, who have really outdone themselves lately. all their releases are highly recommended. and the Root Strata blog (simply called Root Blog) is full of incredible music, videos and links galore...has turned me on to some incredible stuff.

listen to it here

like what you hear? buy it here.

stars have shapes EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA

it is rare in jazz (and recorded music in general) to see quick turnaround times from idea germination and recording to album release. usually there is an immediate reason or desire to push a recording out as quick as possible rather than mixing it to death or obsessing over details. such is the wonderful and rare case with the latest Exploding Star Orchestra record "Stars Have Shapes."

on June 16, 2010 and June 24, 2010 two jazz legends passed, Bill Dixon & Fred Anderson respectively. i'm not sure (and quite curious) if this recording is a reaction to those deaths or if Rob Mazurek and the orchestra had already planned on recording this album in June 2010 (I would really love to know if anyone wants to fill me in) . to make matters even more personal both Fred and Bill had played with Exploding Star Orchestra at different times (the second ESO album was with Bill Dixon, released on Thrill Jockey in 2009). but the turnaround on this is incredible. the album was released by Delmark records in October (on both CD and Vinyl no less). a mere 3 months from studio to vinyl on my record player. rare to find something that tangible these days, especially within the jazz world.

the A side comprises one 20 minute track "Ascension Ghost Imression #2" which is the centerpiece and highlight of the LP. starting from a lonely whistle, it builds subtly into a dust storm of beautiful electric and acoustic noise that wouldn't sound out of place on a Sun Ra or even an Emeralds record. Josh Abrams bass playing grounds the first half of the track sustaining the drone but giving it a sense of space and movement. the real clincher comes halfway through, right in the eye of the storm if you will. a refreshingly melody appears out of nowhere. and before you can blink it's gone and you're surrounded again by the noise and clatter. i especially love the multiple vibes players and extra percussion, gongs, wood blocks, etc. this track is, to me, the most fully realized 20 minutes of Rob Mazurek's sound world. it feels like a perfect amalgamation of all of his work to this moment.

the B side has three shorter tracks that compliment "Ascension" without ever really going full steam ahead. "Chromorocker" is reminiscent of the first Exploding Star Orchestra record. "One Block of Light" is a beautiful ambient piece. and "Impression #1" hints at side A but also reminds me a lot of Mazurek's Quintet record on Delmark "Sound Is" Great stuff, but nothing can top the immediacy of "Ascension Ghost Impression #2" this track is seriously one of the best things I heard in 2010.

listen to it here.

or go to Delmark and order a copy of the CD. LP is sold out at the source but might still be around at your local record store. i've seen copies of it at Waterloo Records (fyi for austinites).

Porcelain Opera RENE HELL

Rene Hell is the newest project from the uber talented and many faceted Jeff Witscher. he's released albums on Not Not Fun, Chronditic Sound, Agents of Chaos, Arbor, and this one on Type (among many others). his many psuedonyms include: Secret Abuse, Impregnable & Marble Sky among others, but Rene Hell is the most fully realized to my ears.

taking cues mostly from 70's kosmische musik he creates beautifully dense soundscapes of bleak and garbled electronics with washes of other-worldy synth trips. most would equate this with other modern day artists such as Oneohtrix Point Never, Emeralds, Raglani, etc. while i would not argue with this at all i really find this LP bridges gaps between 70's kosmische, modern drone music, electronic psychedelia and even disjointed electronia at times. The B side starts off with spliced vocal samples that wouldn't be out of place on an Aphex Twin record and a steady pulse built from distorted synth stabs, but slowly fades into watery gurgles and slow moving synth tones. it's this very element of randomness that makes the LP so compelling. the constant movement through alternate universes of sound builds a dramatic tension and release that pulls you in. but it's NOT completely random and therein lies the beauty. his sense of momentum and order is what keeps the LP from being a kitschy homage to kosmische and proudly plants a foot in modern composition alongside the likes of Keith Fullerton Whitman, Geoff Mullen, Greg Davis and many others.

"Porcelain Opera" also has the distinction of being released by Type Records who have put out some of the best LP's of 2010 including Jon Mueller, Geoff Mullen, Arp, Heavy Winged, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Thomas Korner, Yellow Swans and more. those are some heavy hitters to keep company with and this record totally lives up to it.

and on a final note I'm uber-excited to have the opportunity to see Rene Hell live tonight here in Austin. It's a rare treat for some of these more experimental acts to make it all the way down here to Texas.

I highly recommend searching for the vinyl record (which is accompanied with a companion CD) however it's sold out at the label, you might be able to find it somewhere on the interwebs.

listen here.

I - FOOD PYRAMID

a year ago I made my first attempt at blogging and failed miserably. after spending the last couple hours looking at all my talented friends and their various blogs (which will be linked in later posts) i've decided i need to make another go at it.

first up: Food Pyramid. a new band from the Minneapolis area released their first cassette release entitled "I" last year on the excellent new label Moon Glyph. these guys make no claim toward commercial success in the least and put together a mind blowing meld of Emeralds style synth/space jams, krautrock jams worthy of Neu and other forefathers and even add some perfectly cheesy yet tasteful saxophone. each of the seven tracks take a single idea and flesh it out through subtle yet insistent shifts that create a wonderfully cohesive sound.

"The Sundance Kid" kicks off the tape with an 18 minute krautrock trance inducing mood stabilizer. the B side shows more variety but exemplifies how all their facets work together. From the funky synth backbeat and squawking sax of "Southside Blacktop Beat" to the tone zone synths of "Lesbian Seagull" to the shorter expansion on their krautrock "Das Tier? Die Autobahn? Die Brunnen?" and then finishes up on a perfect note with "Speedboat Exit Miami Sunset" which brings together the lite funky beats with gooey shifting synths and some smooth yet tasteful saxophone on top.

i've been totally enthralled by this tape over the last few months. this is the first in a trilogy of tapes they are releasing on Moon Glyph. their second tape "II" was just released. i just ordered a copy of it for myself and I propose you do the same. each tape is in an edition of 150 copies and will be gone shortly.

listen to Food Pyramid "I" here, then go to Moon Glyph and buy physical copies of both "I" and "II" on cassette to support!