Utility Fog

Sunday, 3rd of June, 2012

So, a mad day of flying to Townsville and back for a gig in the one day, all so I could still play music to you tonight! (and admittedly so I could go to work tomorrow)
Like a good number of you I'm guessing, I saw Amon Tobin's intense gig at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on Saturday night, and like probably not many of you I received my pre-ordered Box Set mid last week, containing a mere 10+ hours total listening (including bonus downloads which included all the vinyl tracks and more). So a goodly part of tonight's show was taken up with a retrospective on his early work and some more recent material.
LISTEN AGAIN as per usual - link at bottom, podcast, or via on demand streaming.

Started with an excerpt from the upcoming(?) album(?) from Bee Mask on ROOM40 — wonderful soundscapey analogue synth work. Bee Mask is coming to Australia this month, and can be seen at Serial Space on the 15th of June.

Montreal's CFCF, whose work is usually more directly aimed at the dancefloor, has released an album of Exercises, featuring piano and synth, plus some subtle syncopated beats. It sounds quite indietronica to me, in the best possible way, and is absolutely charming and a little bit melancholy, perhaps in a Boards of Canada type of way.

We heard some new Montano last week, and tonight, more new tracks plus another from their 2005 self-titled release: two New Zealanders meet in Melbourne and create minimalist electronica entirely from field recordings. The new album introduces some other sounds, but is still solidly based around field recordings, and it's intriguing and beautiful.

Melbourne's thoroughly modern jazz quintet motion have a new album out through listen/hear collective. We heard driving basslines with clattering percussion and sax/keyboard melody. The second track has a fine an example as you're likely to find of live drum'n'bass jazz drumming.

And thence we're into our big Amon Tobin special — well, let us just insert another heavy, rolling drum'n'bass-meets-dubstep remix of björk by current value, well suited to the recent Amon Tobin sound.
We started with probably the first Amon Tobin release I bought - 1997's Chomp Samba EP. It was love at first listen, and those intoxicating chopped-up jungle rhythms with endlessly inventive jazz & Brazilian samples featured heavily in the part, including a spectacular amount of music from that year, 1997.
It's not until the brilliant "Nightlife" that we even get to 1998, and then jump through 1999's excellent remix of legendary Brazilian experimental pop icon Tom Zé (and I couldn't resist playing the gorgeous original), and then heavy (haha) "4 Ton Mantis" from 2000.
We heard an early collaboration with Doubleclick and then the two of them with their grimey Two Fingers project (new material later this year!) and a few selections from the insanely huge Box Set (see above for brief description).
It's pretty awesome that UFog favourites Colin Stetson, Machinefabriek and Jasper TX are among the remixers. Stetson contributes his usual style of cover: circular breathing repetitive saxophone with multiphonics from singing over the top; Machinefabriek gives us high-res recorded sound, with an Amon Tobin-like beat filtered through the Machinefabriek aesthetic, and a slow-growing cloud of droney crackle. And Jasper TX's take is also slow-growing in drone-style, and also with a nice beat to it.

Finally, one other artist slips in at the end. We'll hear more from Parenthetical Girls' Jherek Bischoff's orchestral pop project next week, but tonight the Brazilian connection via Caetano Veloso. Wow!

Bee Mask - Vaporware (excerpt) [courtesy ROOM40]
CFCF - Exercise 2 (School) [Brille]
CFCF - Exercise 3 (Buildings) [Brille]
Montano - Late [available from Bandcamp]
Montano - Sun 6 [available from Bandcamp]
Montano - Billowing [available from Bandcamp]
motion - first short [listen/hear collective]
motion - liberty stole my shoes [listen/hear collective]
Amon Tobin - Chomp Samba [Ninja Tune]
björk - thunderbolt (current value remix) [One Little Indian]
Amon Tobin & Noisia - Sunhammer (VIP Version) [Ninja Tune]
Cujo - Cat People [NINEBARecords]
Amon Tobin - One Day in My Garden [Ninja Tune]
Cujo/Funki Porcini - Z Cars (Superintadude Mix) [NINEBARecords]
Amon Tobin - Hydraulics [Ninja Tune]
Amon Tobin - Tabukula Beach Resort [Ninja Tune]
Amon Tobin - Pyranha Breaks [Ninja Tune]
Amon Tobin - Nightlife [Ninja Tune]
Tom Zé - Curiosidade (Amon Tobin remix) [Luaka Bop]
Tom Zé - Defect 2: Curiosidade [Luaka Bop]
Amon Tobin - 4 Ton Mantis [Ninja Tune]
Doubleclick & Amon Tobin - 0wnage [Ninja Tune]
Two Fingers feat. Sway - Jewels and Gems [Ninja Tune]
Amon Tobin - Breaking Protocol [Ninja Tune]
Amon Tobin - Lost & Found (The Thief: Colin Stetson's Lost & Found Redux) [Ninja Tune]
Amon Tobin - Lost & Found (Machinefabriek Deconstruction) [Ninja Tune]
Amon Tobin - Journeyman (Jasper TX Reorder) [Ninja Tune]
Jherek Bischoff - The Secret Of The Machines (feat. Caetano Veloso) [Leaf]

Listen again — ~ 162MB

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