At Foggy Notions'sFoggy Jam a couple of week back, for me HEALTH's cover of Pictureplane's "Gothstar" was easily the highlight of the night (although I did only catch the last three bands). "Gothstar" contains a neat Fleetwood Mac sample which is cut and cropped, tumbles drunkenly along giving the song an almost exhausted energy, sun stroked and buzzy. Is and along with the accompanied vhs alchemy ritual video, it's hard not to fall for it's charms.
Fuzzed up laments from the wilds of Wexford. Rhino Magic has made a six song mini album full of joyous distorted pastel pop. It's the soundtrack to a found hi8 video of a 10th birthday party. Fizzing coke and tayto burps, never ending hazy adventures in roaming sun drenched fields till "the mother" calls everyone in for cake cutting and more coke. Like No Monster Club, Hipster Youth and Squarehead, Rhino Magic wears his lofi-pop heart on his sleeve. Is this our summer of Irish noise pop love?
I picked up their "Seasonings Greeting" tape single early in the year and now the new What's Up?'s debut LP has landed and certainly doesn't disappoint. Pulsating, hynotic and still as a pinch of The Advantage (Main man Robby Moncrief's previous band) in it. Im still waiting on road records to get the vinyl I order in but Ive been tapping in to its sultery playfull ways, having it stuck on repeat since I downloaded it three weeks ago. What's Up? - Harper.mp3 What's Up? - The French Song.mp3 Buy What's Up? - Content Imagination LP (From Norman Records UK)
Is there any light at the end of the tunnel, or is it cave with snarling packs of panthers and bears jostling for control, trying to keep your foothold with the hopefull, dogged Emperor X buzzing in your head.
Still no Irish tour date on the horizon, boo, and they have been touring the UK 3 times already, Not cool. New Reviver EP is quite a departure in style compared to their Last album, but in a good way. Lyrical songs have matured and are darker in atmosphere. Its a good sign that the next long player should be even better than Skeleton. Here the longest song I have of theirs, near the five minute mark, quite long since most of the songs on Skeleton are two minutes something. Abe Vigoda - The Reaper.mp3 Buy Reviver EP Here.
Not only have A Faulty Chromosome made my favourite album of last year, now they have made the best "covers" album I've heard in recent memory. Five Magnetic Fields covers three of which are from the "House Of Tomorrow" EP and a amazing cover of a song from a band called Triple Fast Action who I never heard before. Best of all is the cover of Arthur Russell's "Arm Around You". The Ruby Suns have also covered this song, but by their owe admission, it's very similer to the orginal. Hear The Ruby Suns - Arm Around You Here. The A Faulty Chromosome version flitters and sways you around and around, its dark so dark in fact but still has hope, I supposts thats what draw me into Arthur Russell's music in the first place. Here's a vid for one of the Magnetic Fields songs covered.
A friend send me your very nice "things i fell in love with" post about my album and -- even though I have been periodically working on a mix for you, it kept getting bumped lower and lower on my 'things-to-do list.' But today I managed to somehow pull it together and finish. It's sort of strange, but you had said something about wondering what I listened to, so wonder no more:
Hi. My name is Eric and "a faulty chromosome" is what I named the band that I make all the music for (on account of people always asking me if I was retarded). When I say that I am in a band, people often ask a variation of this question: "What kind of music do you play / what are your influences?" Personally, I always seem to struggle with this answer, as I like to be thorough with my explanations because -- if I don't do this -- I'm merely presenting a rushed response so as not to inconvenience the question-asker. But many people are quickly bored (most don't like being subjected to long-winded stories nearly as much as I do) and just want as easily digestible and obvious of a reply as possible, and then move on. Like: Lazy reply: "It sounds like New Order mixed with My Bloody Valentine? Even lazier question-asker: "Oh, I've heard of those bands. Got it. What's for dinner?" But you see, if someone can accurately and precisely explain what my songs sound like by merely listing a few well-known bands, then I feel as though I am a failure, and am making redundant and mediocre music, and should not keep wasting mine (and everyone else's) time. If every second of every song doesn't somehow express something uniquely specific to me and who I am and what I am trying to convey (at the very least, to me, as well as whoever might feel brave enough to take the time to really study it), then I suck. So I present to you, a compacted chronological view of my musical memories from 1980-1999; a time spent living in the exact same bedroom in the most dilapidated house in my specific suburban neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois USA (though I do not know how well it will translate, as others I have played it for seem confused or unaffected by songs that resonate so strongly for me, but here it is anyway, it all it's lo-fi cassette-quality crappiness!). ------------------- Harry Caray (feat. 35,000 cubs fans) - Take Me Out To The Ballgame.
I was 4 when I went to my first baseball game and I still remember getting goosebumps in the 7th inning singing along with that many people. It's also one of the rare times in life where you can make eye contact with absolutely anyone near you and they will smile and not look at the ground (granted, most of them are drunk, but still, it's a wonderful and fairly rare thing in America). Sun Ra and the Nu-sounds - Chicago USA. Driving in the car with my mother essentially guaranteed that you -- the passenger -- would be subjected to some of the most shameful attempts at "music" ever imaginable: Contemporary Christian Rock. Nearly alll other music was of the devil. But somehow, I managed to convince her to let me listen to jazz. The Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew -- The Super Bowl Shuffle.
This was the first record I ever bought (at Kmart, I believe?). I was five years old. I would flail around in the living room breakdancing/rapping along over and over (and oh, that air-saxophone solo!) every single day for years. When a swear is said, the referee blows a whistle, but my mom would still insist on turning the volume down anyway. Mr. T - Treat your mother right.
Mr. T was a very big deal in my childhood. He was a local hero, and I still have a picture of me in my A-team pajamas looking very, very terrified as he has his giant hand on my shoulder when my sister and I met him at our local mall. I enjoy songs with a positive message, rather than wallowing in sadness or seething in anger. Ministry - Everyday Is Halloween.
I first heard this song at a christmas-themed amusement park called "Santa's village" and it (specifically the "oom bop oom bop bop" part) stayed with me for years until i finally found out who it was. They became absolutely huge in middle school, and all the cool, tough kids wore black ministry (or metallica, or slayer) shirts every day (not me, I was not cool, but my 7th grade girlfriend would call me and play Psalm 69 over the phone). I didn't understand why he was from Chicago, dressed like a vampire, and sang like he was British though? Maniac Mansion theme song for NES.
A large portion of childhood was spent playing nintendo. To think that those songs looping incessantly didn't somehow effect how I listened to music is crazy (note: this was not from chicago, though I certainly played it there). Big black - Heartbeat.
I first heard this from my friend's older brother (I think it was 4th grade?). I remember seeing a picture of Steve Albini and thinking how weird it was for a nerdy looking guy to sound so dark and angry (it's probably worth noting here that -- by this time -- I'd begun to hide cassettes I dubbed from friends and the public library underneath the Michael Jordan posters on the ceiling in my bedroom). DJ Funk - Fine Ass Pussy. A different friend's older brother would PUMP this in his brand new Mustang (which he wrapped around a tree with me in the back seat one night when he was showing off speeding in the snow). I loved the beats and the simplicity of it all, but it made me sort of uncomfortable to think about this thing called "pussy" though. Wesley Willis - Rock 'n Roll McDonalds. A 300 lb. schizophrenic guy who almost always would ask for you to headbutt him when you made eye contact with him at a show (I did it once. I was little. It was scary). There was something horribly amazing about how awful it all was. About how he could sing/speak whatever he wanted over a pre-programmed casio beat and it was still beautiful (also, I have fond memories of going to birthday parties at Rock and Roll McDonalds when I was young). I also began to run gameboy headphones in the sleeve of my jacket in order to listen to music all day during school. Smoking Popes - Let's hear it for love. After getting my junior high heart broken, it was nice to hear that nerdy guys from the suburbs weren't afraid to sing about how stupid love was in a sincere way. It was around here that I began to write lyrics to melodies I would hum in my head instead of paying attention in history class. Screeching weasel - Hey suburbia! Once I started high school, I began to hang out with the punk kids (though I was never fully accepted because I didn't want to wear a leather jacket or dye my hair or smoke or swear or be mad and hate everything). But it became very real that I too could start a band when I saw that their first album had a drawing of the 711 blocks away from my house. Not New York. Not La. Not London. Prospect Heights. I bought a guitar. My mother cried because she thought I would begin to worship satan. I tried to learn it right-handed, but I couldn't get it to work. I thought I'd never learn. The eclectics - Bitch. At this point, friends began getting their driver's licences, and -- even though I was afraid I was going to get beat up in a mosh pit -- I began to go to shows pretty much every weekend: in people's basements, at bowling alleys, and anywhere with some sort of electrical outlet. Ska was fun because you could dance and flop around and you didn't need any skill, but very limited in that -- for a genre based on supposed unity -- there sure were an awful lot of fights. Cap'n Jazz - Forget Who We Are.
By this time, I had joined a punk band and then gotten kicked out because the lyrics I wrote were too depressing (that band would subsequently/embarrassingly turn into pretty-boy emo band afterwards). Cap'n Jazz were a band of average-looking kids from down the street in the suburbs that made me feel slightly less crazy for attempting to make noisy and confusing music with really well-written lyrics about trying to understand life and not pandering to what was currently safe and popular. Wolfie - (title unknown?). Although I could easily scream in a punk band, I can barely sing (I have no range to speak of, and my projection skills are far better suited for movie theatres! awful joke. sorry), so the idea of making pop songs seemed unlikely. But twee gave me the gift of not having to worry about that, and focus on the joy of singing songs no matter how off-key I was. Lake Of Dracula - Plague Of Frogs. Finding no wave was a musical miracle for me, as finding a proper way to make my guitar sound as confused and frustrated as I felt had always been a bit difficult for me, but there it was, all jaggedy and squelchy (also, it helped that I finally figured out that I was much better playing left-handed guitar, so I began to write my own songs). Magas - Pocket Racers. Feeling absolutely hopeless that I'd ever be able to put together a proper band, I decided to purchase the cheapest drum machine I could find (mind you, this was 1998, and laptops were still far away from being the portable studios that they are today). At the very least, I could have concerts for myself in my bedroom, right? (And then my parents divorced and sold our house, so I packed up my car and waved goodbye to the windy city)
A Faulty Chromosome have created such a likable lofi pop noise record that they ask for "donations" to get their cd from their myspace. Sincerity is lost with most bands with "pay what you want" gimmicks, but you know that they post all albums themselves and in the package I got at the start of the summer including free badges and a one of a kind photocopied poster with hand scibbled crayon all over them, smell memory kicks in when I open the package and the waxy smell fills the room. They have a pretty acurate discribtion for themself, " a faulty chromosome is a fuzzy mess of tremolo, hand-claps, 8-bit blips, water-damaged Mister Rogers records, mashed Casio chords and drum machine’d beats." Jackie O from mike ambs on Vimeo.
Fuzzing up my pop timbers, here is some wonderful tunes for uk pop noise band/one dude, A Grave With No Name.
"And We Parted Ways At Mt Jade" is beautiful hazy Galaxie 500-eque groove that makes me feel the same way when I listen to Liars - Pure Unevil. Like a kid just getting out of school for summer holidays, freewheelin' all the way to beach. While "Open Water" sounds like running/ falling down sand dunes in slow motion. And We Parted Ways At Mt Jade.mp3 Open Water.mp3
Also go here for a Virtual 7" of theirs, and in case you missed the series of Virtual 7" I put together with so far all Irish artists go here.
Heres a 11 track compilation given away with the new Analogue Magazine. "Underground" maybe not since the majority of side a is bright bubbly pop. It does contain some wonderful new Irish music and this cd/vinyl is shining a light on a lot of bands/Artist that are unknown even in their hometowns, so maybe it is underground. Dont be put of by the first track, Supernova Scotia and Gran Casino are super and Pascal's Country Sounds regulars Patrick Kelleher and Hunter-Gatherer beef it up.
And to celebrate Analogue Magazines's 1st birthday/Issue Launch, Tonight at Twisted Pepper on Abbey Street, "Spilly Walker" (David Kitt sweet electronic side project with his younger bother), "Patrick Kelleher and the Come Back Johnnys" and "Villagers" followed by Analogue DJs (they better be spinning the black circles) €8 in or €5 with a student card. Doors are at 9.
Joyous messy folk with delayed acoustic guitar, looped vocals and crackle water chimes. More wonderful stuff and free for all, the last couple of weeks have been to good of free album/mixs and eps from the artist themselves. Download this 3 track bundle of joy from Banjo Or Freakout's Blog Here
So I started to uses my Last FM account after a friend told what the dealio was with it. The first great find is Applied Communications. A band of "weird allusions to masturbation and hypertext markup language". Emperor X style of sound collage american indie with casiotones and shout shout dairy entries. Sweet.
Sad news was transmitted over the auld wireless this evening.
"One Grain More" are no longer. I first hear them after pickin
up Havin' A Ball 7" from Road Records, hopefully more people will
now jump on their bandwagon now that the end is nigh.
They can only get more exposure in death than what they ever
got when they were hitting the hightways and byways of cruel
Britannia. I always thought they come across like a tropical Blurt.
See what you think yourself, you can download their last ever ep
for free of the main man from One Grain More own site here.
http://www.danielpatrickquinn.com/downloads.html
And/Or go down to your friendly local record shop and buy their
last album "Isle of Grain". The only regret you will have is not
buying it sooner.
Here's their Shining Violence record that was meant to come out on Troubleman Unlimited Records but they moved to Italians Do It Better and released only one songs off it on the Italians Do It Better Compilation. I read that they give it away on CDRs at shows. So you might be able to pick up a copy tonight at Andrew Lane Theater.
Go to their Myspace to download more free mp3s from their new album including an ok cover of a Kate Bush's classic. Link In Comments
"I'll never be a Bowie, I'll never be a Eno. I'll only ever be a Gary Numan" - Smog Rugby/Glendaloch native Patrick Kelleher took thoughs words to heart but he sure makes accomplished full sound using a cheap old Yamaha keyboard his parents bought him when he was 12 and a battered drums kit. The title track with its casio dg10 drum track pulsates like "A Zombie/Vampire Cop Car Chase on a hot summer night in San Fran." While the hypnotic "Mulitipass" sounds like an organic John foxx track with lush Hot chip esque vocal track. Great Stuff Indeed. For more free downloads and hear songs of his new outstanding EP go to his Myspace Page.
If you like it, try to support the artists featured here and purchase their music.. If you are the copyright owner and wish for your material to be taken down, simply leave a comment on the newest post and I will promptly make it so.
Apologies for the bad spelling and even worse grammar.
"Extract files" using WinRAR which is free to download HERE.
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