Utility Fog

Sunday, 4th of April, 2010

Good evening! It's nice to be back :) You can LISTEN AGAIN to this selection of prime cuts via the link at the bottom.

The fabulous Crab Smasher launched a new 3” CD this afternoon (and so did I as it happens... Raven site desparately needs updation, don't look!) It's brilliant stuff as per usual, and you need it.

Ex-Adelaidian London resident Inch-time has a new EP coming soon (on cassette dammit) via Static Caravan, and it features some ace remixes. On the first for tonight, Canberra's Shoeb Ahmad takes the original, loops segments and adds a Hood-inspired vocal over the top.

While in Melbourne last week, I visited the usual slew of record stores and turned up a number of gems. Among them was a 2006 album from Zelienople called stone academy, from which we took this piece of lo-fi drone-country (I just made that genre up).
I also came across a dakota suite album from 2002, the first CD of which was fairly forgettable piano and strings, but on the second there are some very lovely tracks...
Couldn't resist a replay of Peter Broderick’s gorgeous remix to follow this.

Jasper TX’s double CD from a few weeks ago is still getting a few turns on the player, both the original tracks and the remixes, and this week we get the aforementioned Zelienople with an extended Zelienople-ised version which I played a goodly portion of.
Speaking of goodly portions, Machinefabriek’s new 3” CD with Freiband is over 20 minutes long, so I played the lovely first section, droney goodness and hi-fi noises.

final is one of the many monikers of Mr Justin Broadrick, taking his interests in punk rock & noisy electronics into thoroughly atmospheric territory. I was hoping to play more than one track from this tonight, but tune in next week for more.

Next up, another ex-pat Aussie, J.G. Thirlwell as Manorexia. Sometime I'm gonna do a big scary special on Foetus and his various other guises. He has a new album out on the Tzadik label, based in his long-adopted home town of New York, and appropriately for John Zorn's label it's chamber classical renditions of his more soundtracky warped sounds. I played an example also of what Manorexia sounds like when it's at home (I think both previous albums are semi-out-of-print these days, but try New York institution Downtown Music Gallery for lots of his back catalogue.

The drum'n'bass influence on the latter track allowed me to sample another of Icarus’ genius tracks from their just-released live album all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. I did a big special on them two weeks ago, if you like what you hear.

Inch-time remixes himself, and then we have one of our regular Part Timer exclusives, sent in just a couple of days ago. This time it's a forthcoming remix of Tokyo Bloodworm, with gorgeous string samples mutated in the mix. John's work is getting better and better (not that it even needed to), but that said, it sounds like Tokyo Bloodworm (who had a collaborative release on Moteer a couple of years back) are doing excellent work too.

Melbourne's The Scrapes are up next, following the string theme, and while there's a clear influence from The Dirty Three here, the violin loop which begins this tune in particular is very lovely. You can find this album via Birdland, and they'll be playing at the Cad Factory on the 18th of April alongside, yes, Mick Turner from the aforementioned Three playing with Jeffrey Wegener (Laughing Clowns) and Sydney's princes of postrock Founder.

Tula came to me via 7” vinyl on Static Caravan, and all I know is that she's a Swedish folk singer and this song is absolutely wonderful, 'nuff said.

CoConuts are two Melbournites and a New Yorker and make very dark pop songs somewhat along the lines of HTRK's noise pop. It's repetitive and dirgey, and sustains that feeling throughout. Also released on No Quarter.

The mutant pop of Liars is as hard to put your finger on as always. A weird mix of just about every genre under the sun, with some great songs in there as it happens. Acoid the single CD version and find the gorgeously-packaged hardcover book with concertina photographic artwork and bonus remix CD, which contrary to the annoying Pitchfork review is actually great. Thom Yorke does a nice line in minimal(ish) electronics, and leads nicely into our next entry...

Dubstep duo Vex'd took the genre into distinctly industrial territory rather early on in the piece with their singles and then double album on Planet µ. Sadly the two then moved to different parts of the world and were unable to continue working together, so after a serious gap, the few tracks they'd produced towards album #2 have been collected along with various remixes and other appearances, separately and together. It works impressively well as an album, and even those who like me have a number of these tracks already, there's enough there to make it well worth grabbing. The first track I played goes into Various Production territory courtesy of Anneka's vocals, and the Plaid remix is beautifully dark & crunchy.

I also slipped in another track from The Knife’s fantastic analogue synth opera :)

And then, back to the noise — well, sortof. Phil Todd has been churning out incredible psychedelic noise from Leeds for years (see Discogs). I picked up an ashtray navigations disc in Brooklyn last year on somebody or other's recommendation, and got hold of a new one recently, from which we heard the appropriate-for-its-time analogue synth exploration "chalk rock", like a slightly rocking out Emeralds perhaps. The second track comes from the slightly older CDR release, tripped out harmonica... nice...

Followed by... yes, finally... the new Burning Star Core! It's 66 live performances edited together into four parts, each 16+ minutes long. It is, in a lot of ways, fairly relentless noise - sometimes BxC's live performances, with a plethora of guests both regular and special, can be a lot more raucous and "free" than his immaculate (and still uncompromising) studio creations. This has a bit of both - very lo-fi but with a guiding hand over it. There are some brilliant sections, one of which is the opening section, with driving (albeit buried) percussion and, yup, NOISE.

We could probably class Crab Smasher as some kind of noise group - certainly it's free improv, although the three tracks on their new 3” CD are reasonably sedate in their context. Check it out.

Equally, our very own Pimmon represents an outpost of noise/drone, and here he creates something singular for Inch-time.

Another singular Sydney voice is Blake from Telafonica aka Lessons in Time. Beats made from household objects, a real indie aesthetic to electronic music. Bring on the new album!

Out now, or any minute, is the 9th installment of Feral Media’s POWWOW series, this time coming from Sydney electronic artist Gentleforce. It's mostly ambient electronica, and there are a few classic (as in "what a classic sound", y'know?) tracks here.

And finally, another track from the latest release on Sydney label Preservation, folky electronica from Ben Swire. Really pretty stuff, this album's a grower.

Crab Smasher - How To Dodge Red Shells [CURT] {buy the 3” from CURT & download it from Bandcamp!}
Inch-time - Suspended (Shoeb Ahmad remix) [Static Caravan]
zelienople - when you were 9 [digitalis]
dakota suite - one for the shoeshine man [glitterhouse]
dakota suite - this failing sea (peter broderick remix) [karaoke kalk]
Jasper TX - Harrisburg pt. 2 (Zelienople remix) [Under The Spire] {plast last 10 mins or so}
Machinefabriek & Freiband - Kilauea [moll] {played first 1/2 or so!}
final - Green (alt mix/edit) [No Quarter]
Manorexia - Armadillo Stance [Tzadik]
Manorexia - Ataxia [Ectopic Ents]
Icarus - Eulot [self-released, through Not Applicable]
Inch-time - Suspension [Static Caravan]
Tokyo Bloodworm - Canaanite Coast (Part Timer remix) [forthcoming Palestine (remixes)]
The Scrapes - Before There's Nothing Left [self-released]
Tula - No name [Static Caravan]
CoConuts - Silver Lights [No Quarter]
Liars - No Barrier Fun [Mute]
Liars - Proud Evolution (Thom Yorke 500QD remix) [Mute]
Vex'd - Heart Space (ft. Anneka) [Planet µ]
The Knife in collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock - The Height of Summer [Rabid/etcetc]
Plaid - Bar Kimura (Jamie Vex'd remix) [Planet µ]
ashtray navigations - chalk rock [memoirs of an aesthete]
ashtray navigations - photographing the waterfall [memoirs of an aesthete]
Burning Star Core - Papercuts Theater Part I [No Quarter] {I played about... the first third of its 16+ minutes}
Crab Smasher - Little Fingers [CURT] {buy the 3” from CURT & download it from Bandcamp!}
Inch-time - Suspended (Pimmon remix) [Static Caravan]
Lessons in Time - You Dance and You Dance [digital single now through forthesakeofthesong, forthcoming on 4-4-2 music]
Gentleforce - Oh The Mystery, Oh The Wonder [Feral Media]
Ben Swire - Far Removed [Preservation]

Listen again — ~ 192MB

3 Responses to “Playlist 04.04.10”

1. adrian Says:
   April 5th, 2010 at 11:02 pm

   probably should be pointed out that lessons in time's download only single is actually out through forthesakeofthesong records from leicester. the forthcoming album will also be released by them for the rest of the world - 4-4-2 music will put it out for australian audiences.

2. Peter Says:
   April 5th, 2010 at 11:03 pm

   Thanks Adrian sir! I shall correct that - couldn't work out (not that I tried hard enough) who the label was...

3. kath Says:
   April 5th, 2010 at 11:19 pm

   another great show - loved every track. thanks for recording it. I was thinking I should start buying cassettes & taping radio shows like I used to back in the 80s/90s, but since you recorded it there's no need. I got the Crest album you played the other week - it's beautiful. so is the Spartak. thanks for introducing these bands to me (& others)