Utility Fog

Sunday, 16th of June, 2013

Not quite as concentrated a show tonight, even though we fitted in a couple of aritst specials!

Listen again or for the first time, on the podcast, downloadable below, or in stereo on your mobile or computer streamed on demand from FBi.

Starting tonight with a little special on These New Puritans, whose new album has raced up the best-of list for 2013. I'm still not sure it eclipses their incredible Hidden, which saw them turn their sound around for a sortof art-punk-disco into an amalgam of 20th century British classical influences (Benjamin Britten in particular), a particularly English strain of postrock, and dancehall's Bass children. The new album moves further into the quiet Talk Talk side of things and the classical choral and wind arrangements, further damping the beats and percussion. No surprise that it's produced with Graham Sutton of Bark Psychosis. There's some true beauty here, and a languid structure that rewards attentive listening and works better as one work. Still, the epic "V (Island Song)" that we opened with fits in most of what this album is about, although we didn't get to hear the beautiful vocals of Portuguese singer Elisa Rodrigues who appears on a number tracks, smoothing out Jack Barnett's awkward (yet effective) tones.

I have no proof that the title "Fragment Two" is a reference to Robert Wyatt's track "Fragment" (featuring Brazilian singer Monica Vasconcelos) from his Comicopera album. It has no real musical connection that I can find, but I like the idea that there's a connection, and any excuse to play Robert Wyatt...

It's always worth a mention when New Weird Australia drop a new compilation, and their latest, a collection of experimental guitar music from around the country, is a doozy. Collected by Andrew Tuttle (soon I'll be able to stop saying "ex-Anonymeye"), it's arranged as two sides to a mixtape, and features many well-known names and many new ones. Instant highlight is the gorgeous opener from Kris Keogh (ex-Blastcorp etc), who does to his guitar what he did to his harp for New Weird Australia a little while ago, a touching piece of processed indie songwriting. Meanwhile Kristian Roberts mangles his guitar in a way reminiscent of the extremes of James Plotkin's work.
Meanwhile, Chippendale's most favoured son Christian Moraga contributes a pretty fabulous piece of shimmery crunchy drone.

And then here we are with the second special of the night. This time it's Melbourne's Skye Klein, whose Terminal Sound System we've been hearing on the show for many years. Also known for doom rock with HALO, as Terminal Sound System Klein has been deconstructing drum'n'bass for over a decade, but more recently he has been adding back rock elements and even song structures. I hope, though, that it was revelatory to explore a small part of his back catalogue, which features some truly indispensable beat-mangling and minimal glitchy textures, almost all of which you can now find at his Bandcamp - although you'll have to look elsewhere for his The Rectifiers remix (which comes from a magnificent EP, so do go looking!)

Finally, Matthew Collings has released a new six-part composition called Elysia on his own Bandcamp, which represents the sound he's developed in his recent live shows. It's great to hear something different from the man behind one of our favourite albums of the year, Splintered Instruments. Featuring his clarinet among the grainy drones and noise, it's quite a trip and deserves your ears all the way through.

These New Puritans - V (Island Song) [Infectious]
These New Puritans - Organ Eternal [Infectious]
These New Puritans - Swords of Truth [Angular/Domino]
These New Puritans - We Want War [Angular/Domino]
These New Puritans - Fragment Two [Infectious]
Robert Wyatt - Fragment [Domino]
Kris Keogh - Stowaway [New Weird Australia]
Kristian Roberts - Start-Start-Finish-Finish [New Weird Australia]
Christian Moraga - Hyperreal [New Weird Australia]
Terminal Sound System - Oceans [Denovali]
Terminal Sound System - Uncalm Shudder [Embryo] {also available at the Terminal Sound System Bandcamp}
Terminal Sound System - Note Two [Embryo] {also available at the Terminal Sound System Bandcamp}
The Rectifiers - What You Can't See Will Hurt You (Terminal Sound System remix of Last Days of the Sunseeker) [Sensory Projects]
Terminal Sound System - 722 [Extreme] {also available at the Terminal Sound System Bandcamp}
Terminal Sound System - Run, Just Run [Denovali]
Terminal Sound System - Clearlight [Denovali]
Matthew Collings - Elysia Parts Three, Five & Six [Matthew Collings Bandcamp]

Listen again — ~ 109MB

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