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This Week's Free Song Download Having spent the past year or so remixing the likes of Bloc Party, the Field, HEALTH, and Simian Mobile Disco, as well as releasing a string of much-acclaimed EPs and CD-Rs, Gold Panda's debut full-length, Lucky Shiner, finally sees release on Ghostly International this Tuesday, September 7. This free download of "Snow & Taxis" is one of the many highlights off this wonderfully diverse album, the UK producer pulling from an eclectic palette of sounds and inspirations, as he seamlessly fuses hip-hop, minimal house, IDM and more in new and original ways with warm, dreamy melodies floating atop. This Week's Featured Downloads I've always been a fan of white-boy soul attempts to merge emotion with beats and swagger, a la Scritt Politti or A Certain Ratio, so it's nice to hear current names like Panda Bear, Ariel Pink and Toro Y Moi continuing this tradition. Now add Autre Ne Veut to the list, whose self-titled debut is an intoxicating concoction of swishy, hazy indie-electronic pop; his sweet-n-bitter falsetto and ear for rhythmic programming, mixed with an overall off-the-cup vibe, makes for one of the freshest records I've heard all year. Similar to female contemporaries Nite Jewel and Pearl Harbor, his sound could be best described as an opened time capsule containing '80s synth pop and '90s urban radio jams, all sonically reshaped through the technological advancements of the '00s -- a soft center of fragile intimacy, covered in a subtle low-fi sheen of spacious dubstep and R&B flavoring, all with a slightly skewed and queer bent. The albums mixer, Chris Coady (Delorean, Beach House), does a nice job at making all of the odd elements somehow feel accessible. It's an original and engaging release that sparks lots of reference points, yet is special because of the way these elements are not so much copied as they are absorbed and re-envisioned in a youthful and unabashedly emotional release of energy -- a brilliant indie-pop album that remembers not only Prince but also John Hughes, being both sexy and sappy (which is not a diss, btw). From ANV's use of restraint to the colorful simplicity of his music, nothing is predictable, making for one of those special moments in indie rock when an artist emerges on the scene and actually lives up to the early blog hype. I've been listening to this on repeat since the day I first heard it, and it still holds up. I really can't say enough good stuff about this debut; it's definitely going to be the sleeper hit on many year-end lists. But don't wait until then, pick this up now and bask in Autre Ne Veut's nouveau, weirdo pop radiance. -Daniel Givens
OOF, uh, I mean, umm... What??? Seriously, what a great state of delight and confusion my old poor brain has been subjected to while listening to Pressure Sounds' ABSOLUTELY BONKERS new collection of Lee 'Scratch' Perry's long lost dub plates, spanning his peak creative period of 1973-1979. There's just some supremely mind-scrambling music to be found here, being mostly one-off Black Ark Studio remixes of classic rhythms where Perry literally took it to the limit. That's not to say it doesn't groove, it does, and relentlessly, but between the parting clouds of pulse, clatter and phase, it's like you can almost physically catch a glimpse of the unspooling of the man's creative genius before your very eyes. Since these mixes were specifically cut to be played at sound system parties, they afforded Perry a prime opportunity to let loose without any real commercial consideration. Due to the fragile nature of these unique dub plates, the sound quality can somewhat vary throughout, but there's never less than a near mystical level of clarity on display. One of the huge highlights of this set is the track "Chim Cherie," which is surely one of the most unique reggae songs I've ever heard, being a play on the classic "Billie Jean" rhythm, which chugs along with an almost minimal insistence, all primitive drum machine and consciousness warping effects. Surely one of the five or six greatest collections of Lee Perry's music ever put together, and up towards the very top of Pressure Sounds' tremendous catalogue as well, and about as essential a body of work as you'll likely find all year. -Michael Klausman
If you've been following Other Music's disco comp review thread at any time, you've probably heard us urge one and all to explore the deep and elegant sounds of Philly disco from the early to mid '70s. Well, 2010 seems to be the year this music is finally getting some love from the soul heads. Tom Moulton practically invented...correction, he DID actually invent the remix (and the 12-inch record format but that's another story) and this collection is an interpolation of the original Philly disco classics that Mr. Moulton always wanted to revisit, each track a modern "re-edit" of a tune that he had remixed some 30-plus years ago. Ever the perfectionist, Moulton has been wanting to get his hands on these songs and improve upon his original re-workings, and Philly Re-grooved is the result. In theory, each cut isn't so much a complete makeover, but what Moulton does instead is actually push certain elements to the forefront. The classic "Armed and Extremely Dangerous" by First Choice is given the heavy kick drum treatment, with the strings stripped away to emphasize the deep thump; he takes a minimalist approach to Ultra-High Frequency's "We're on the Right track" as well to emphasize the tight conga-percussion and the bottom heavy kick once again. Elsewhere, Finishing Touch's "Don't Put Me Down" is an exquisite gospel-styled mid-tempo burner with the strings panned right up front and a creamy vocal/ percussive break midway through that'll melt your kneecaps. Another great Philly disco comp for 2010 and it makes an amazing companion piece to the Dimitri from Paris Sigma Sound collection that came out a month ago. My cup runneth over! -Duane Harriott
Oh man, here's some totally ripping and entirely lost-to-time proto-punk/glam-rock weirdness out of mid-'70s California. These dudes started jamming together in Sacramento as early as 1971, and though they lasted until at least 1982, they only managed to issue three 45s, despite having a pretty astonishing body of work put down on master tape. Raw, catchy as all hell, full of boogie strut and teenaged disaffection, these buddies managed to encapsulate so many sweet strands of '70s rock, from Bowie to Beefheart to Sparks to B.O.C., that you can practically imagine the boner this would of given a critic like Lester Bangs if he'd ever had a chance to hear them! Tightly wound, with a wicked amount of energy, and the perfect balance between boneheadedness and lyrical brilliance, this may very well be the greatest rock resuscitation in recent memory. -Michael Klausman
The second album by Brazil's Novos Baianos, released in 1972, is widely considered to be their best, and a high water mark for the Música Popular Brasileira. These ten tracks burst at the seams with samba-based brilliance as it spills over into Brazilian folk, fuzz-pop, rock & roll, and sun-baked dance rhythms. As the summer burns off, this music actually retains the heat of seasons past, and will be certain to bring you back to the sweltering frenzy of life lived in the wake of some of the most incredible cultural fusion you're likely to hear in this lifetime or any other. No amount of hyperbole could anticipate the smile that this album will bring to your face. -Doug Mosurock This performance of "Graffiti Composition," recorded live at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2006, is the first release of one of Marclay's more triumphantly arcane process-based musical compositions. In 1996, Marclay wheat-pasted large posters of blank sheets of staff music throughout Berlin as a contribution to an experimental sound festival. At the end of the month, Marclay photographed the sheets as they existed, now strewn with graffiti, stickers, advertisements, cultural detritus, and yes, musical notes. Assembling these photos into a kind of "score," Marclay's intention was to present this composition to a group of musicians and let interpretation dictate performance. As such, the piece is infinitely re-interpretable, and will sound unrecognizable with regards to the whims of the musician, the instruments it is performed on, the context in which it is played, and any other natural variable that could be conjured into existence. This particular version of the piece was executed by Lee Ranaldo, Melvin Gibbs, Vernon Reid, and Mary Halvorson. Four electric guitarists, each with an exploratory mind for the sonic capacities of the instrument itself, an inclination to dissonance, and the beauty of feedback -- one could pretty well imagine what this would sound like. Either way, this is a valuable document and a revealing look into both the complexities and limitations of one of both contemporary art and music's great boundary-pushers. -Simon Gabriel
At this point, Thomas Köner's reputation should precede him. Both as a member of Porter Ricks and as a solo artist, he has presided over a number of excellent releases over the past couple of decades that have pushed at the boundaries of techno, ambient electronics, and pure sound art. With many of these records languishing out of print, the Type label has emerged to do listeners a great service here, reissuing Köner's first three solo records digitally, reviving a clutch of great albums that have influenced more than a few current practitioners of drone-based ambience. Nunatak, his solo debut, is easily the darkest and most forlorn of this triptych. His tones are deliberate, at times even cautious, making ample use of the full stereo field to highlight negative space and gradually build each track's overall intensity without relying on all-out volume assaults. It's a careful and measured work full of bowed metal and unsettling sonic sweeps, one that manages to betray a surprising maturity without ever sounding too forced or clinical -- probably the perfect soundtrack to being trapped in a desolate underground bunker.
Though Köner's overall approach remained similar for his follow-up, Teimo, that record managed a distinctly different feel than its predecessor. No less ominous, the drones here have been taken above ground to cascade across the frozen tundra, and given more slack to push the needles just a bit more. The sound is harmonically richer at times, as on the title track, without ever sacrificing the tension that required close listening on his debut.
Permafrost, Köner's third solo record, was originally released in 1993. Perfectly balancing the impulses explored on his first two records, these six tracks serve as the high watermark of the man's early ambient work. Pieces like "Firn" and "Serac" gradually develop the power of frigid winds, with the pensive scrapes of metals pitted against a steadily encroaching rush of sound to excellent effect. -Michael Crumsho
In Aeternam Vale were a French synthwave project featuring a rotating cast of one or two guys known for their crazy 200-something-long discography. Even more impressive than their resume, however, is this kick-ass album itself. I have to admit though, like the start of a lot of musical love affairs, I first felt repulsion, but before too long had given in to many of this record's decadent charms. You see, while many of the reviews have been talking about the album cover's "genius collage work" -- something I'd describe as artwork heavily resembling Carcass meets Nurse with Wound in a '70s science fair/Museum of Skin Afflictions -- it did not make me anxious to pull the LP out of its sleeve. I could only imagine that the album would sound like a bummed-out, lonely teenager with a synth and a handful of b-movie samples randomly thrown in. But oh how wrong I was. In Aeternam Vale's throbby, synthwave art-rock comes off like a cross between 39 Clocks and Thierry Mueller, and I mean that as a heavy compliment. All the caustic, lazy, lowbrow/highbrow genius is there and even though the music is still raw, ramshackle and DIY-sounding, it's produced and mastered like a MOTHERF***R! And for all the buzz-qualities that make this "my kinda" album, it still manages to sound SPECIAL. That should be enough info for anyone that knows me, but I'll throw ya some details. The opener is a perfect mix of buggy, fruggy, smart/dumb art-pop, with spoken/sung vocals blubbered out like a mush-mouthed, junk-sick Mark E Smith and dirty like a pedophiliac. I'm tempted to make the ridiculous claim that the album could end there but won't bother, as it goes on to fulfill the immediate hope, inspired by the first song, that there are plenty more good tracks to match. I love In Aeternam Vale's cover of "Money (That's What I Want);" it not only outdoes the Flying Lizards' version, it also makes you forget how dead tired you were of the song. There is one sample-y, collage-soundtrack cut that slightly resembles what I assumed this album would sound like, but it becomes a welcome addition to the song selection in light of the other more "standard" gems. And then you reach a venomous, funky art-pop track featuring a lead vocal that has the crazy flow of Rakim and Serge Gainsbourg's lovechild. If you haven't noticed, this one's a bit different for Minimal Wave, but nonetheless, it abso-f**in-rules. Certainly one of my new faves, I'll give it 4 out of 4 stars. It's a wrap. -Scott Mou
Laid to tape by the great Martin Hannett in the far off and mysterious town of East Orange, New Jersey, A Certain Ratio's proper debut full-length from 1981 finds the Manchester group perfecting its dark and funky post-punk sound. A co-worker once remarked that before he heard this band he never thought he could enjoy music with so much slap-bass, and I couldn't have agreed more. Aside from the dreary Ian Curtis-style vocals, their style is completely unique, instantly recognizable, and totally in line with the funky-punk craze of the past decade. If you've enjoyed releases from the Rapture, !!!, and the like, then you should check out these originators. -Rob Hatch-Miller
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