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Live at Other Music: Antipop Consortium (Episode #15) -Josh Madell Watch Antipop Consortium "Live at Other Music"» Upcoming Live at Other Music Episodes: Watch earlier episodes of Live at Other Music with The Dirtbombs, My Brightest Diamond, Blood on the Wall, Black Lips, Taken By Trees, Toumani Diabate, White Williams, Richard Hawley, Celebration, Vampire Weekend, The Clean, Tinariwen, No Age, and St. Vincent
FREE SONG DOWNLOAD of "Fair Weather Friends" by Daedelus off of the upcoming Love to Make Music To, out July 15th. With his first full-length on Ninja Tune, Daedelus, the L.A.-based IDM artist/electro pioneer whom you may know from collaborations with MF Doom and Prefuse 73 or his own diverse yet prolific solo output, is back with an emotional record that won't neglect your body. The man's name is hard to pronounce, but his music is easy to love.
EXCLUSIVE ADVANCE RELEASE! Elodie Lauten's groundbreaking avant-opera, The Death of Don Juan, finally sees its first reissue in digital form. Hailed in 1985 by WNYC as one of the top 10 albums of that year, and more recently by Kyle Gann, as well as Alan Licht who pronounced the work as "one of the great lost experimental records of the '80s," this New York-based (by way of Paris) composer infused her neoclassical training with minimalism and microtonality (Lauten studied under LaMonte Young, Marian Zazeela and Pandit Pran Nath) and created a seminal piece of music that is both meditative and mystical, reminding the listener equally of Tangerine Dream, Steve Reich and Arvo Part. It's truly captivating from the outset, with the opener's hypnotic, Riley-esque poly-rhythms of harpsichord, trine (her custom made electric lyre) and Arthur Russell's cello which slowly unfolds into the Eastern-influenced "Vision" whose floating delayed guitar work is reminiscent of Manuel Gottsching. The album then goes in a more haunting direction with Lauten and soprano Randi Larowitz singing and speaking in several languages over semi-improvised arrangements of wind instruments including Peter Zummo on trombone -- Russell even makes a vocal appearance on "Death of a Woman." Although Lauten developed much of The Death of Don Juan on a Fairlight synthesizer, the work resonates with human emotion and remains contemporary to this day. An essential introduction to a pioneering voice of post-minimalism. Highly recommended! -Max Gray
OM digital has just acquired the excellent Osborne EPs that were first released on Spectral a few years ago. Up until then, most knew Todd Osborn(e) by his ragga drum-n-bass moniker Soundmurderer, but he switched gears and his nasty tech-house continues to influence to this day. This three-track EP is definitely my favorite as it deftly straddles the noisy micro-house sound that was burgeoning out of Berlin and Montreal at the time with the classic dirty jackin beats of the Midwest. The title track, "Afrika," was an instant classic amongst many crowds. Lifting a drum and vocal break from the classic Afro-rock track "Funky Highlife," Osborne gave it a jolt of rumbling low-end creating a modern twist on the NYC tribal house of Sound Factory yore. The two tracks that follow are exclusive to this EP; "In Gear" is a shifty, hands-in-the-air, tech-house burner for the afterhours dancefloor. It's all hiccupy snares, cowbells and bassline contortions. "Graphite" retains the shifty bounce of the previous track, but the groove's a bit slower and the repeated stabs of the acoustic guitar dictating the melody give it an almost metallic quality. This track is probably the most "minimal" sounding of the three. Overall, a solid and EP and a great introduction to Osborne's fine production for all those who are unfamiliar. -Duane Harriott
Looks like Dave 1 and P-Thugg (a/k/a/ Chromeo) get to hold onto their "Dance Party Record of the Summer " trophy for a second year in a row, as 2007's Fancy Footwork just got a whole lot fancier with this deluxe edition! The funky electro-pop sensation's sophomore full-length is new and improved with a second disc's worth of bonus tracks and remixes from notables like DJ Mehdi, MSTRKRFT, Crookers, Whitey, Playgroup and the DFA.
Asthmatic Kitty brings us this eponymous full-length from Shannon Stephens, whose former band Marzuki counted Sufjan Stevens as one of its members. More recently, the Seattle-based singer-songwriter's "I'll Be Glad" was covered by Will Oldham on his latest Bonnie 'Prince' Billy album, Lie Down in the Light. Like Oldham, Stephens transcends the oft-deep darkness of her sullen Americana with the aid of some brilliant and off-kilter lyrics.
Keiichi Sugimoto had two great records out in 2003 with his groups Minamo (on Apestaartje) and Fonica (on Tomlab). The majority of his fantastic solo album (released in late 2007) as Fourcolor was created using only the guitar as source material. He processes his instrument as if it were going through the phase changes of water, making it virtually unrecognizable as a string instrument. You can practically hear the sounds freezing, slowly melting, then evaporating, and finally condensing back into a liquid state. The compositions develop gradually and take on a gentle, barely perceptible pulse. Like a lot of the best electronic music, it's deceptively simple. The final track is a twenty-three minute long soundtrack to Jun Miyazaki's award-winning short film Frontire, which screened in competition at last year's Cannes Film Festival. The piece is more or less in the same vein as the music before it, but it also incorporates heavily edited field recordings and found sounds to tremendous effect. Water Mirror is subtle, gorgeous, and hypnotizing. Its warm and resonant tones will fill any room in which it's played. Those of you who are already familiar with Brooklyn's Apestaartje label know that their releases don't disappoint, and this is one of their finest yet. If you liked the latest albums from Fennesz or Mitchell Akiyama, you're going to love Fourcolor. Water Mirror is an absolute necessity for anyone who enjoys minimal electronic music. -Rob Hatch-Miller
If you had to name an apex of kitsch, a place and time where every piece of the prevailing cultural aesthetic is both fascinating and eminently cringe-worthy, I'd have to say Germany from the late '60s into the early '70s. Just think, that's Heino's heyday! Watch any piece of German television from that period and you'll see what I mean. And nowhere is this captured in an aural time capsule better than on this collection, in condensed, concentrated form. With 28 tracks of commercial music, from the :30 bleep to the longer, three-minute form, each track was designed to grab the attention of the radio or TV audience member in the service of selling -- whether it be coffee, chocolate, cars, appliances, gum, safety in the workplace, or something much more mysterious (I'm wondering where the two "Minikillers" soundtracks come in -- violent miniature psychedelic cinemas for the ear). Some have earnest proclamations in smooth German, but the majority are punchy, frantically zippy instrumentals whose ability to wake and shake was blocks away from the library (background) music of the same era. -Robin Edgerton
The second volume in a much-loved series compiling the work of Mali's famous (Super) Rail Band, one of the country's main musical attractions during the 1970s. The Rail Band played regularly at a hotel just off the railway in Mali's capital of Bamako, the group fusing elements of Arabic, French, Cuban, and American pop to their traditional Mandingo sounds. Essential for any fan of funk and Afrobeat.
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