Utility Fog

Today’s theme is “pop”, although this being Utility Fog, it’s pretty twisted. With a couple of exceptions, the music is mostly song-based, but either through an experimental lens, or coming from more esoteric genres, or merged, sampled, mulched through other genres. We also have a substantial special at the end on a genre-crossing low-key Aus musical hero.

LISTEN AGAIN to the popular sounds. Stream on demand @ FBi, podcast here.

Boris – Drowning by Numbers [Sacred Bones/Bandcamp]
Boris – I Want to Go to the Side Where You Can Touch… [Sacred Bones/Bandcamp]
An ever-reliable fixture in the Japanese heavy music scene and the world over, Boris have never settled into one particular style over their 2½ decades of existence. So their new album W doesn’t come as a huge surprise – but nevertheless, after 2020’s raucous NO, its counterpart (the two albums together form NOW) is particularly ethereal in comparison. Produced by, and featuring, suGar Yoshinaha of Buffalo Daughter, it incorporates a lot of the electronics of that band’s indie-dance aesthetic, but in a shoegaze miasma. There are massive walls of guitar noise at times, and alternatively there are minimalist dubbed out drum machines, all with the gentle vocals of Wata. I love Boris in all incarnations, but this is one that will appeal even to most the metal-averse.

Beneather – Dreamgaze [Where It’s At Is Where You Are/Bandcamp]
London’s The Leaf Library are much loved by this show, combining a melodic sensibility with krautrock pulse, and frequently delving into into ambient and electronic side-quests. Beneather is one such side project, from their drummer Lewis Young, who plays all sorts of synths and electronics, joined by Melinda Bronstein on vocals. The first single from the forthcoming self-titled album describes itself in its title, “Dreamgaze”. It’s a psychedelic, pulsating electronic shoegaze concoction and bodes well for the rest of their material.

Mücha – Begin [Frequency Domain/Bandcamp]
Mücha – Fall [Frequency Domain/Bandcamp]
“Electronic shoegaze” isn’t an inaccurate description of the music of Mücha on her new album Fall, but like “indietronica” it doesn’t quite capture what it is. Amanda Butterworth, the DJ and multi-instrumentalist behind Mücha, layers vocals in dreamy songs that are housed comfortably in IDM-inspired productions, ranging from drum’n’bass/jungle to dub techno, with plenty of jittery drum’n’bass-adjacent IDM techno in between. It’s absolutely lovely, familiar and new at the same time, just what the doctor ordered.

Tune-Yards – Hypnotized (DJ C Remix) [Mashit Bandcamp]
I didn’t realise there was a new Tune-Yards album, but I’m glad to have found out from Jake Trussell aka DJ C, who’s done a delightful breakbeat-heavy, head-noddy remix of “Hypnotized” now, replete with sub-heavy downbeats and Merrill Garbus’ talent for twisty melodies and riffs.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Black Hot Soup (DJ Shadow “My Own Reality” Re-Write) [KGLW/Bandcamp]
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Ya Love [KGLW/Bandcamp]
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Butterfly 3000 [KGLW/Bandcamp]
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Shanghai (Deaton Chris Anthony Remix) [KGLW/Bandcamp]
Last year, Melbourne psych rock larrikins King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard took a sharp left turn into synth-pop with Butterfly 3000, retaining the tricksy time signatures and proggy structures. Thematic material recurs throughout the album, and I particularly love the joyful last 2 tracks. Now they’ve asked a varied bunch of artists from around the world to remix the album, with the resultant Butterfly 3001 ending up well over twice as long. You may have seen the video of the DJ Shadow remix – and if you haven’t go watch it now, with John Safran as a washed up old raver. Among the other highlights is a surprise from rising bedroom r’n’b star Deaton Chris Anthony, taking “Shanghai” into dub and then amen break jungle freakout territory.

woulg – The Lurch [woulg Bandcamp]
woulg – Sedna When [woulg Bandcamp]
woulg – Sernylan [woulg Bandcamp]
Continuing the “pop” theme, Greg Debicki aka woulg declared that his late 2021 album Bubblegum was his interpretation of “pop music on PCP” – hence bubblegum vocals and beats twisted inside out and fragmented, disorienting and disquieting. It’s not that much of a stretch for woulg, mind you, whose IDM productions have always leaned towards chaos over danceability, and who has been curating a series of “hyperglitch” releases for Mille Plateaux – e.g. this great Seskamol one. Thanks to John Part Timer for alerting me to this release!

Pugilist – Jade [Pure Space]
LOIF – In Flux [Pure Space]
Two tracks from FBi’s current album of the week, the brilliant PROXIMITY II compilation from Pure Space, the label of the FBi radio show from Andy Garvey. There’s a plethora of advanced sounds here, from the extraordinary ambient piano on the opening track by Grace Ferguson, through synth ambient, bass-heavy techno, drum’n’bass influences of various sorts, dubstep hybrids, electro and more. It’s a great showcase of brilliantly-produced electronic music from around Australia. Melbourne’s Pugilist has releases on many international labels under his belt, including AD 93 (when they were Whiti.es), Navy Cut and now Banoffee Pies Records. His percussion-driven stepper pushes the subs to their limit. Also from Melbourne, LOIF turns in a dubby piece of jittery techno.

Sweeney – Solitear [Sound In Silence Records]
Sweeney – Child Star (1988) [Observable Universe Recordings]
Sweeney – It’s Always Raining In My Room (1995) [Observable Universe Recordings]
pretty boy crossover – x-3 fader [Surgery Records]
Other People’s Children – Swallow Glitch [Observable Universe Recordings]
Other People’s Children – Skywave [Observable Universe Recordings]
Other People’s Children – Sun and eucalyptus [555 Recordings]
Sweeney – Song For The Last Of The Attention Seekers (2008) [Observable Universe Recordings]
Panoptique Electrical – Hope [Midira Records/Bandcamp]
The last section of the show is entirely dedicated to the music of Adelaide’s Jason Sweeney, who’s helped us along in this celebration recently with a slew of archival releases – starting last year with the Decades (2001-2021) collection of soundtrack work as Panoptique Electrical. A few others have now appeared on his Observable Universe Recordings Bandcamp, including the massive 5-hour, 84-track Disappointment Archives 1986-2016 – and before you go running from this acknowledged (but justified) excess, maybe you could start with the more manageable Selective Memory 1998-2003 collection from Jason’s indietronica band Other People’s Children? I first became a dedicated fan when I was handed an advance copy of his duo (with Cailan Burns) Pretty Boy Crossover‘s album the building and formation around 1999 – a phenomenal collection of IDM tunes, melodic, minimalist, with tweaked drum machines and lo-fi synths that’s never stopped being deeply evocative. It’s lovely hearing those lo-fi sounds married with Jason’s indie songwriting – his melancholy vocals, with guitar or keyboards – on songs old and new. Jason’s been involved with many projects over the years, including scuzzy indie rock, post-classical and ambient, IDM, indietronica and more. Last year under Sweeney he released a short album of dramatic songs, with piano and vocals offset by intense electronics, called Misery Peaks – this gave us the first track from tonight’s special. And released just now on Midira Records is an album of drone and ambient works created from classical instruments and field recordings, called Picturesque Ruins. Such an important, versatile Australian musician.

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