A very krautrocking good day to you.
Can‘s Lost Tapes 3CD boxset of unreleased music dominates tonight’s procedings, but there’s lots of other sounds too…
LISTEN AGAIN on demand at the FBi website, or via podcast/download right here.

Two tracks open tonight’s show from Russia’s Oceania, from an excellent EP of dubstep/bass music with a pop edge.
The second track I played, the last on the EP, moves into almost-drum’n’bass regions, and that brings us to our next selection.

In 1997, Mute released a 2CD set called Sacrilege, featuring remixes of the legendary krautrock group Can in various contemporary electronic styles. I didn’t really know Can at that stage, but I loved my drum’n’bass and experimental electronica, and that was here in spades. I’m well acquainted with Can’s legacy now, but I still have a fondness for these remixes, however of-their-time they are. A Guy Called Gerald here delivers a track which could hardly be accused of containing any references to Can’s original, but is a storming piece of beat-choppery whatever.

So, Can. There’s not much need for me to introduce them — one of the most important groups in the legacy of “krautrock”, a genre name redolent of anti-German bigotry, but strangely embraced by its proponents (on the whole, I think). Can’s influence can be felt across punk & post-punk, electronica, postrock, ambient music and so much more. For me, Jaki Lebezeit’s propulsive funk-influenced drumming is the core to their best tracks, some of which are heard tonight — along with the adventurous analogue sampling, and the stream-of-consciousness lyrics from their two main vocalists. We heard some previously unreleased gems with both Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki tonight from The Lost Tapes boxset, including a 12 minute soundtrack excerpt which is a sort of extended jam on the brilliant “Vitamin C”.
And at the end, Mute’s Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones appear as Sunroof, to remix another legendary track, “Oh Yeah”, once again taking it into the drum’n’bass realm, albeit with a lot more of the original track intact.

Sydney’s Kevin Purdy has certainly ingested a lot of krautrock in his time, and some of his earlier albums, along with his duo Tooth with Sir Robbo. His new album is his take on ambient music, but isn’t lacking in beats and experimentation either. Hopefully next week I’ll play a longer, freakier track!

We heard a couple more takes from Shoeb Ahmad‘s newie, Watch/Illuminate, which was launched at London’s Cafe OTO earlier this week. I can’t recommend the album enough.

Also appearing at that show, launching their own new album, was Leverton Fox, featuring Sam Britton of Icarus along with live drums and trumpet. Improv meets electronics, with some very beguiling sounds.

Oneohtrix Point Never has a new EP out shortly of remixes and collaborations from his Replica album. Mostly short and sweet, they include Matmos and Surgeon, plus two vocal renditions of his tracks. Roger Robinson of King Midas Sound drops his characteristic vocals over “Replica”, with OPNon the subtle edits. Meanwhile Richard Youngs, of all people, turns “Nassau” into a howling, distorted mess. Quite disturbing, really :)

Two Australian labels, Sydney’s Feral Media & Brisbane’s lofly, have teamed up for their second remix compilation, Strain of Origin II. As with the previous volume, it pits artists from the two cities “against” each other, but in a “team” fashion, so the same artists don’t actually remix each other. Very fine from my first quick listen, and it’s a free download from Bandcamp!

Launched this weekend in Sydney was Clan Analogue‘s tribute to Severed Heads, entitled Headspace. It’s strange to hear covers of and artist with such an iconic sound, but there sure are a lot of catchy tunes in Tom Ellard (& co)’s catalogue. We heard two Sydney artists, Kazumichi Grime and Aeriae, doing very distinctive but still recognizable takes — plus I had to play something by Severed Heads from my favourite late-’80s-to-early-’90s period.

After an epic special on Amon Tobin a couple of weeks back, I’ve been shying away from playing too much more, although there’s a plethora of great material. Tonight I had Julia Kent‘s cover of “Surge” as my excuse, and I played a couple of very beautiful multi-tracked cello pieces from her as well.

Next up, a little special I’ve been meaning to play for a while on Japanaese electronica artist Geskia!, including a remix from the always brilliant Bracken. Crunchy beats and ambient textures.

Ending with one more cut from Shoeb’s album, preceded by one short track from the new glitchy opus from Markus Mehr — definitely recommended, more from it next week.

Oceania – Mantra [7even Recordings]
Oceania – Forest [7even Recordings]
Can – Tango Whiskeyman (A Guy Called Gerald Mix) [Spoon/Mute]
Can – Spoon [Spoon/Mute]
Can – Millionenspiel [Spoon/Mute]
Can – Dead Pigeon Suite [Spoon/Mute]
Can – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Whore [Spoon/Mute]
Can – Oh Yeah [Spoon/Mute]
Can – Oh Yeah (Sunroof Mix) [Spoon/Mute]
Kevin Purdy – Mountains Dreaming [Soft Records]
Shoeb Ahmad – the orchids [Mystery Plays Records]
Leverton Fox – Le Tombeau de Monsieur Whippy [Not Applicable]
Oneohtrix Point Never feat. Roger Robinson – Replica (OPN Edit) [Software]
Oneohtrix Point Never – Nassau (Richard Youngs Remix) [Software]
Ambrose Chapel – A Small Return To Big Nothing (Underlapper Remix) [Feral Media/lofly] {free download from Bandcamp!}
aheadphonehome – Think Music (AFXJIM remix) [Feral Media/lofly] {free download from Bandcamp!}
Kazumichi Grime – Petrol [Clan Analogue]
Aeriae – Snuck [Clan Analogue]
Severed Heads – Golden Height/I’m Your Antidote [Volition, now available direct thru Sevcom]
Amon Tobin – Dustmen Suspense [Ninja Tune]
Amon Tobin – Surge (Cover by Julia Kent) [Ninja Tune]
Julia Kent – Overlook [available from Bandcamp]
Julia Kent – Tempelhof [Important Records]
Geskia! – Sour Leaf [Home Normal]
Geskia! – Inside Out Night [flau]
Geskia! – Second Coming (Bracken Remix) [flau]
hopeless local marching band – the old man chokes up with tears, thinking he will be saved soon (geskia! remix) [Symbolic Interaction]
Geskia! – Requiem For Genome (aus remix) [Home Normal]
Geskia! – Answer Song [Home Normal]
Markus Mehr – I’m Gonna Make You Love Me [Hidden Shoal]
Shoeb Ahmad – this is how you fall apart [Mystery Plays Records]

Listen again — ~ 159MB

Stu Buchanan is away, so I get to play in his new weird Aussie garden!
No podcast, but you can stream on demand from the FBi New Weird Australia page!

Cock and Swan – Stash (Part Timer remix) [Lost Tribe Sound]
Vieo Abiungo – why dogs mimic sirens (part timer remix) [Lost Tribe Sound]
y0t0 – Uriarra Crossing Mirror Condensation (Downliners Sekt remix) [fac-ture]
Shoeb Ahmad – the orchids [Mystery Plays Records]
Shisd – Charcoal 26th May (Scissor Lock remix) [available from Bandcamp]
Shisd – Without You Walking [Wood & Wire]
Kevin Purdy – Mountains Dreaming [Soft Records]
Karoshi – Blood In The Rain [available from Bandcamp]
Dro Carey – Foes, Gallons n Fathoms [free download from his Tumblr]
Peon – Io (feat. Lloyd Swanton) [Wood & Wire]
Derek Piotr – Colossus [bitsquare.net]
Kazumichi Grime – Petrol [Clan Analogue]
Severed Heads – First Steps [Volition, now available direct thru Sevcom]
Lux Voltaire – Pilot In Hell [Clan Analogue]
Montano – Dollar Kilo [available from Bandcamp]
Montano – Billowing [available from Bandcamp]
Kate Carr – La piscine naturelle [Flaming Pines]
Shoeb Ahmad – falling fast [Mystery Plays Records]

Late start rainy night! Had the second of my gigs at the Rocks Popup and zoomed in, to start about 15-20 minutes late. Featuring the best in new electronic and folktronic sounds, and some epic heavy riffage near the start.
LISTEN AGAIN via the link at the bottom, podcast, or stream on demand from FBi.

Having gotten hold of another of his albums, Airs of the Ear, I thought I’d start once again with the amazing Richard Youngs. I think this might be one of his very best albums, and “Fire Horse Rising” is classic Youngs – traditional English-sounding song, but with psychedelic electric squiggles over its long tail end.

Next up, the awesomely intense live version of Swans‘ “Sex God Sex”, with the massive bassline, massive drums and intense Michael Gira vocal. This is from the tour that took them to Australia last year, now released on a stunning 2CD set called We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Head. The new studio album (also 2CD!) later this year can’t fail to be immense.

Speaking of immense, we now hear all 18 or so minutes of Jesu‘s “Sundown” from the Sundown/Sunrise EP, which I somehow missed in 2007. Heavy riffs and shoegazey vocals/electronics, as is his usual approach with Jesu. Just lovely.

I’ve been spruiking Shoeb Ahmad‘s new album for a few weeks now, and I’m not about to stop. It’s out Monday week, June 18th. Premier Aussie indietronica, indie, drone, well, whatever you want to call it, just great songs and textures, guitars with drum machines and crazy string samples and pianos and low-key vocals. Dig it.

Great to have a new release from Melbourne duo Peon. Two percussionists take up digital and analogue effects and synths along with their usual instruments, and this time they’re produced by the fabulous Lloyd Swanton, bass player in The Necks, who also joins them on the double bass for a couple of numbers. Released by Wood & Wire, the new label from Stu Buchanan/New Weird Australia. That man never rests, I tell ya.

Collarbones have a new single out in anticipation of their new album. Fuller bass — altogether pretty hefty production, and meanwhile Marcus’s vocals are getting more impassioned in their r’n’b influence.

Dubstep label 7even Recordings have a new EP from Russian producer Oceania, a warm pop approach, with vocals from someone credited as “N” on a couple of tracks. It’s a great listen from start to finish, definitely recommended.

Also in this sort-of Bass region of genres, we have Howse, on the fêted (see what I did there) Tri-Angle label with some very nice bass-friendly beats, and then we have RYAT, on Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder. Sadly even these days, female artists are few and far between in the electronic world, which is surely a reflection of the environment rather than the female artists themselves — in any case, this is an excellent album of wonky experimental electronic beats and processing. The second track I played is a beatless exploration of layered, eventually processed vocals.

Memory Drawings is the long-awaited new project from Richard Adams of Hood and The Declining Winter, along with hammered dulcimer player Joel Hanson and Declining Winter member Sarah Kemp on violin. Richard’s brother Chris aka Bracken contributes a remix, and leaves us desparate for more new material – hopefully a new album on Anticon later this year! And The Rachels’ Rachel Grimes contributes piano plus a remix as well, while fellow mellow post-classical folks Dakota Suite also appear on remix duties. A star-studded release with beautiful packaging from Second Language Music.

The strings remain with a couple of tracks courtesy of wonderful English duo Geese. One of their characteristic remixes to start with, of Plaid‘s collaboration with composer/pianist Will Dutta, and then a solo (I think unreleased) live piece. You can download the remix via the link in the playlist. Awesome string arrangements drawing from electronic music.

Then we go on to two fabulous artists on the Lost Tribe Sound label. Vieo Abiungo, who I did a fascinating interview with last year, has a new album out with a DVD by film-maker Pete Munro, which was funded by a Kickstarter campaign. And a limited-edition version of the Cock and Swan has equally lavish packaging, a gorgeous hardcover book with colour-printed artwork, fake-woodboard “wallpaper” and one of those rubbery buttons to plug the CD onto. The music’s equally brilliant — Vieo’s usual world-inspired percussion and acoustic instruments, unfettered melodies and all. And Cock and Swan apparently used to be a whole lot more electronic, but here turn to acoustic instruments, ramshackle percussion and homely vocals, recalling Broadcast but really all their own. I can’t recommend either of these albums enough.
And we also had our Melbourne friend and Lost Tribe Sound artist Part Timer on a minimal but crunchy remix tip.

Before one more appearance from Shoeb, we have a delightful track from the new EP by Kate Carr, head of the Flaming Pines label. It’s a homage to New Caledonia, and features burbling water presumably recorded on the island, along with subtle drones. She’s doing some amazing work with the label creating and curating site-specific sounds and musical performances meeting field recordings, and her own EP is a perfect example of that art.

Richard Youngs – Fire Horse Rising [Jagjaguwar]
Swans – Sex God Sex (live, 2011) [Young God]
Jesu – sundown [Aurora Borealis] {now available direct from Bandcamp}
Peon – Io (feat. Lloyd Swanton) [Wood & Wire]
Shoeb Ahmad – this is how you fall apart [Mystery Plays Records]
Collarbones – Missing [Two Bright Lakes]
Oceania feat. N – You Live In Me [7even Recordings]
Howse – Fete [Tri-Angle]
RYAT – Owl [Brainfeeder]
RYAT – Totem [Brainfeeder]
Howse – VBS [Tri-Angle]
Oceania – Mantra [7even Recordings]
Memory Drawings – The Canal’s Drowning Black (Bracken remix) [Second Language]
Memory Drawings and Rachel Grimes – The Canal’s Drowning Black [Second Language]
Memory Drawings – There Come Days to the Hills (Dakota Suite remix) [Second Language]
Plaid and Will Dutta – Distance (Geese remix) [Just Music] {free download from Soundcloud}
Geese – Spool (live) [unreleased?]
Cock and Swan – Stash (Part Timer remix) [Lost Tribe Sound]
Cock and Swan – Stash [Lost Tribe Sound]
vieo abiungo – while the others sleep (cock and swan – etherise remix) [Lost Tribe Sound]
Vieo Abiungo – rejoice the blind coincidence [Lost Tribe Sound]
Cock and Swan – Tectonic Plates [Lost Tribe Sound]
Kate Carr – La piscine naturelle [Flaming Pines]
Shoeb Ahmad – the orchids [Mystery Plays Records]

Listen again — ~ 142MB

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