Utility Fog

Well. Tonight’s show is primarily based around music that will be coming up this week for Sydney Festival – well, a few of the things coming up, which I’m self-indulgently stringing out into nearly a whole show (see bottom for LISTEN AGAIN link – not including all the overtime stuff!).
But we start with some pretty new music (and new pretty music), from Brooklyn’s Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never, who takes analog synth nostalgia to a new level on his double CD album Rifts. Ohio’s Emeralds are doing something else, also ostensibly in the noise field, with beautiful nostalgic mostly electronic music.

Then the bulk of the show: our Sydney Festival specials. Severed Heads’ importance to Australian and international music can’t be overstressed. We heard material going back pretty early, with tape loop experiments, early amazingly-prescient techno (like, ultra-early: 1982), and some of Tom Ellard’s exquisitely understated and brilliant pop songs.

Next up: John Cale, whose importance doesn’t even need to be stressed by the likes of me. My selections were, I guess, nothing more than a little essay in John Cale’s importance to me, and why not?

That said, The Books are probably one of the most important bands for me in the last decade, at least. Featuring my instrument, the cello, and a wonderfully gregarious approach to music-making, with digital cut-ups commingling with Appalachian folk and more… They’re the perfect Utility Fog band…

SydFest are doing well, because Grizzly Bear are undoubtedly another of the most important recent bands for me, along with Dan Rossen’s other project, Department of Eagles. I tried to play a number of unusual and different related tracks tonight (and we had a couple of rare Books tunes as well earlier).

And finally (for the Festival), Patrick Watson’s début album Close to Paradise was a revelation when it came out in 2006; it won Canada’s Polaris Music Prize, a surprising accolade for a quite experimental (or at least non-mainstream) release. His 2009 album Wooden Arms was an equally beautiful blend of songwriting, post-classical and jazz, along with bits of electronica and experimental touches.
Our Allnighter fell through at the last minute tonight, so I had to hold the fort till about 1:45am. We got a bit of a bonus, therefore, and I played a few more Aussie tracks.

Sydney musician Eve Klein’s Textile Audio project has been a long time coming. Operatically trained, Klein has been working on this mix of classical music (including her operatic vocals) and electronica for well over 5 years if I’m right. The results here are very impressive.
From Melbourne, Tantrums give us a great fun piece of electronica – their album this year will be another to look out for.
Both these tracks are downloadable for free from New Weird Australia.

From Sydney’s Frequency Lab comes another download comp (not free), and we heard Sydney artist Edseven doing a nice wonky number.

And finally, the new single from Pikelet, in anticipation of her new album Stem, out in February. I cannot wait – Evelyn is one of Australia’s musical gems.

Oneohtrix Point Never – Grief and Repetition [No Fun Productions]
Oneohtrix Point Never – Russian Mind [No Fun Productions]
Emeralds – Geode [Wagon/Gneiss Things]
Severed Heads – Anthem 82 [Vinyl on Demand]
Severed Heads – Somehow Pain/Always Randy [Vinyl on Demand]
Severed Heads – 4.W.D. [Ink Records, now available direct thru Sevcom]
Severed Heads – Sydney Quads & the Megascope Space Probe [Ink Records, now available direct thru Sevcom]
Severed Heads – Big Car Intro/Big Car [Volition, now available direct thru Sevcom]
Severed Heads – First Steps [Volition, now available direct thru Sevcom]
Severed Heads – Golden Height/I’m Your Antidote [Volition, now available direct thru Sevcom]
HEY FOLKS! Utility Fog cross-FBi information blirt! Download a 51-minute Severed Heads special from New Weird Australia with Tom Ellard interviewed and more of this awesome music to listen to!
The Velvet Underground – Heroin [Verve]
John Cale – Paris 1919 [Reprise]
John Cale – Fear Is A Man’s Best Friend [Island Records]
John Cale – Heartbreak Hotel [Island Records]
John Cale – Heartbreak Hotel (solo live) [Hannibal]
John Cale – The Soul of Carmen Miranda [Hannibal]
Brian Eno/John Cale – Lay My Love [Hannibal]
The Books – motherless bastard [Tomlab]
The Books – the lemon of pink [Tomlab]
The Books – the lemon of pink [Tomlab] {yes, track 1 and then track 2!}
The Books – there is no there [Tomlab]
The Books – vogt dig for kloppervok [Tomlab]
The Books – Three Day Night [self-released]
The Books – 8 Frame [self-released]
Department of Eagles – Sailing By Night [Melodic]
Grizzly Bear – Deep Sea Diver [Kanine Records]
Grizzly Bear – Don’t Ask (Final Fantasy remix) [Kanine Records]
Grizzly Bear – Owner of a Lonely Heart [audraglint] {Cover, of course, of Yes}
Dan Rossen – Graceland [from some mp3 blog somewhere, I’m sure…] {Cover, you’ll have noticed, of Paul Simon}
Dan Rossen – Too Little Too Late [download from La Blogoteque or the Grizzly Bear blog] {cover, you will probably have no idea, of JoJo…}
Grizzly Bear – Little Brother [Warp]
Department of Eagles – Deadly Disclosure/Balmy Night [taken from their http://www.myspace.com/deptofeagles a couple of years ago…]
Patrick Watson – Down at the beach [Secret City Records]
Patrick Watson – Daydreamer [Secret City Records]
Patrick Watson – Where the wild things are [Secret City Records]
Textile Audio – Some Kind of Mininova [New Weird Australia]
Tantrums – Beat The Happy Pavement [New Weird Australia]
Edseven – Pigeon Clap [Frequency Lab]
Pikelet – Weakest Link [Chapter Music]

Listen again — ~ 198MB