Jam-packed show tonight, including an interview with the lovely Michael Pulsford of Battlesnake. Check them out along with various other excellent acts this Saturday night (17th of April) at the Excelsior in Glebe.
Download the interview separately via this link (~30MB).
LISTEN AGAIN to the whole show via the link at the bottom!

Started with the latest edition of the L-O-A-F Explorers’ Club, with Brighton collective Sons of Noel and Adrian contributing beautiful string arrangements and a doom-laden folk song.
Second up was the only track I managed to play from Sam Amidon’s brilliant new album. We’ll be hearing plenty more next week from this master of post-folk, but we heard Nico Muhly’s first-rate orchestral arrangements and Shahzad Ismaily’s everything else…

Sydney band Parades’s first album has been a long time coming. I’ve been sitting on this Underlapper remix ever since Greg Underlapper sent it to me months ago, and am very excited to have been able to play it tonight. Bit of a 65daysofstatic feel, and with a new 65dos album out soon, I’ll be sure to give it another spin then. I just happen to have heard a preview of the new Underlapper album this week and I can’t wait to play you that one! Unspecified release date as yet though.

Next up, a bit of a hint of things to come with some electronic music. Two drum’n’bass-influenced tunes, starting with Roel Funcken, who with his brother Don has produced some of the best idm of the last decade or more as Funckarma. Funckarma have always looked outside idm for influences from hip-hop, drum’n’bass, techno and these days dubstep, and all those are present on Roel’s debut solo album Vade. This track, in collaboration with another Dutch idm hero, Kettel, is distinctly drum’n’bassy, and I approve.

Also on excellent German electronic label Ad Noiseam is a new EP from Enduser, another old favourite of this show. In fine form, Lynn Standafer is up to his usual tricks, sampling lovely female vocalists and overlaying huge bass synths and drum’n’bass beats. This time it’s the turn of Miki Berenyi and her beloved band Lush, and I’m such a fanboy of the album it’s off that it took me about 2 secs from the first sample to go running to the CD shelf and grab my copy, and we heard the original source song tonight as well.

Next up, Michael from Battlesnake talks about his band’s history and philosophy of music-making, and we heard a couple of songs under the interview plus another after. Their music on the album Umlaut is a beautiful mix of improv influences and cinematic evocativeness. Being bass, drums and organ/keyboards, they have a pretty unusual sound. Should be a top gig this Saturday.

We also had one precious song from an altogether brilliant album from another Melbourne band, otouto. They’re making quite a stir at the moment anyway, with the Brown sisters’ lovely songs and multiple instruments, and Kishore Ryan’s unbeatable drumming (see his other band Kid Sam).

…And then we’re into something quite unusual and special. The Internal Tulips’ debut album on Planet µ prompted a bit of a trip down memory lane, as the band is made up of two most excellent idm/experimental electronic artists whose work was worth exploring independently as well as together.
Alex Graham put out two 12”s as Lexaunculpt in the late ’90s, and was for a while the wunkerkind, the next big thing. The music is very much the idm of the time, skittering beats with a hip-hop foundation and tiny melodies, and I’ve really been enjoying nodding my head along, having pulled the vinyl off my shelves earlier this week. He also had one quality album on the µ, but even that was back in 2003.
Brad Laner, meanwhile, has had many projects including indie rock band Medicine, but it’s as Electric Company that I’m most fond of him, and that’s the most apposite of his identities for this new project anyway. He had a few albums on Tigerbeat6, moving from minimal glitchy electronica to something like maximal glitchy electronica. The album it’s hard to be a baby, from which I took two tracks tonight, really is a bit of an unknown classic, with crunchy beats, acoustic and orchestral samples galore, and just a great feel to it.
I also dug up a collaboration (or at least Lex remixing Electric Co) from years back, and in between we had a number of slices of rather bent pop from The Internal Tulips. This act very much shows their pedigree in electronic music, but also Laner’s pop experience. I have a feeling it’s a grower, and I’m already really liking it. One to keep an eye out for.

From here we go even further into electronic territories. Our gateway thence is the incredibly intricate work of John Kameel Farah, who combines his classical piano technique with elements of jazz and Squarepusher-stylee drum programming. Crazy stuff from Toronto – we like.
This came from the Ad Noiseam store, while I was picking up a bunch of new stuff on the label itself. Nicolas at Ad Noiseam has a very fine and wide-ranging selection of electronica, breakcore, dubstep, dark ambient and more. I also found the CD version of the Underscan label’s now series. I have a couple of them on 12’, but it’s great to have CD, and Funckarma’s contribution is worth the whole thing — they’ve often hinted and drum’n’bass in their crazy drum programming, but this is pretty much the real deal.

DJ Hidden is definitely the real deal, if you’re looking for really heavy & dark d’n’b that’s also pretty intricate. This track from his 2009 album The Words Below is particularly special, with its quasi-classical elements and comparitive restraint :)
Another Enduser track samples another female vocalist, and we have a brief but full-on track from Hymen artist Defrag.

Back to Roel Funcken, whose next offering is a kind of hip-hoppy 2-step thing that takes us conveniently into a mellow 2-step kind of tune from Scuba’s beautiful new album. Even though it verges a bit too much on the 4/4 minimal Berlin dub-techno thing, there’s a lot to love about Triangulation and it’s garnering well-deserved praise from all over the place.
On Ad Noiseam, Broken Note’s debut album collects all their 12” tracks on CD, making for a very heavy affair, mostly dubstep with some bits of drum’n’bass in there. Not unexpectedly you wouldn’t expect to find this on the dancefloors of drum’n’bass clubs, but it fits the bill along with the breakcore-verging stuff I’ve been playing tonight.
And my last Roel Funcken track of the night has some very nice bass growls and off-beats of the dubstep variety.

Finally, Emeralds’ self-titled LP from last year is now out on CD. Analogue heaven, nostalgic synth lines galore, with appropriately psychedelic artwork. To get us there, Pimmon from his cassette-only Steered in Smash Ascent. I know that Paul Gough aka Pimmon has been listening to a lot of this underground cassette culture that Emeralds are part of, and no doubt he’s been soaking up the analogue synth yumminess, because it’s overflowing all over this cassette. Next week I’m hoping to play epic tracks from both these releases…

Sons of Noel and Adrian – Black Side of the River [L-O-A-F]
Sam Amidon – Rain And Snow [Bedroom Community]
Parades – Hunters (Underlapper remix) [Direct from the ‘lappies, but available on iTunes (eek!)]
Roel Funcken – Halfkriel (with Kettel) [Ad Noiseam]
Enduser – Death Vest 09 [Ad Noiseam]
Lush – light from a dead star [4ad]
…interview with Michael from Battlesnake. Tracks 1.1 & The Integrity Unit underneath conversation…
Battlesnake – Shadow of the World’s Tallest Midget [self-released]
otouto – Autumn [Two Bright Lakes]
The Internal Tulips – Bee Calmed [Planet µ]
Electric Company – test card [Tigerbeat6]
Electric Company vs Lexaunculpt – The Blingus Cufflinks [Tigerbeat6]
The Internal Tulips – 9 Tomorrows [Planet µ]
Lexaunculpt – Peraudi.tt.e [Isophlux]
Lexaunculpt – my peach and my pear [Orange]
Electric Company – it is not that very true [Tigerbeat6]
Lexaunculpt – Has Been Trying Not To Wonder [Planet µ]
Electric Company – i shall choice my self [Tigerbeat6]
The Internal Tulips – Mr. Baby [Planet µ]
John Kameel Farah – Crystalline [Dross:tik]
Funckarma – Brim [Underscan]
DJ Hidden – The Devil’s Instant [Ad Noiseam]
Enduser – 2/3 [Ad Noiseam]
Defrag – Pale Shotguns [Hymen]
Roel Funcken – Martyrz [Ad Noiseam]
Scuba – Three Sided Shape [Hotflush]
Broken Note – Dubversion [Ad Noiseam]
Roel Funcken – Fiction Stub [Ad Noiseam]
Pimmon – That Anguyestes Loop [Stunned Records]
Emeralds – Geode [Hanson]

Listen again — ~ 173MB

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

I was away on tour this weekend (and purchasing musics in Melbourne for your entertainment, dear listener!), so the fabulous Shannon O’Neill, Jennifer Teo and Adrian Bertram came in to hold the fort.

Here’s what they played.

Lucas Darklord – Asmoir 5
Wayne Butane – We Smell Sausage
Buttress O’Kneel – Kung Fu Core
Stock, Hausen und Walkman – Flagging/Dirty 30
Nat – An Ending for the Beginning
Blevin Blectum – Cygnet
Kelpe – Closed Cup Headroom
Ulver – Theme 10
µ-ziq – Prongh Seemness
Cluster – Malturi Sa
The Black Dog – The Crete That Crete Made
Pierre Bastien – Noon
OOIOO – Hewa Hewa/Uda Hah
Melt Banana – Last Target on the Last Day
Melt Banana – Chain-Shot have some fun
OOIOO – Nin na Yama
Ruins – Komnigriss/Messiaen
Vampillia – Setinarepce/Heyoah
The Golddiggers – An A Flat Cricket and a B Flat Frog
Scatterbrain – Don’t Call Me Dude
Ralph Smedley – Suffocate
Shockabilly – Bluegrass Breakdown/People Are Strange
Rick Powell – I Walk the Line
Howitzer Industries – TestV01
Ministry – The Missing
Fishbone – Date Rape
Severed Heads – Cyflea Rated R [Live at Ozone]
Bring Philip – Underthinking Time
Roger Doyle – Entry Levels 1 & 2
Asmus Tietchens – Tielmenge 7 (Tielweise)
Howitzer Industries – untitled
Shannon O’Neill – TV Scrub
Pimmon – Don’t Remember
Pimmon – Dervieux
Nudge – Harmo
Black Francis – Threshold Apprehension
Lloyd Bridges – Snorkel Diving

Evening!
LISTEN AGAIN link down below the playlist kidz.
Just to let you know, next week the wonderful Shannon O’Neill will be filling as I’m on tour with FourPlay…
Following Sunday I’m back in action, and that arvo I’m playing a rare Raven gig at 1/475 King St Newtown. Facebook event here – it’s for the launch of a 3” of mine, plus one for the brilliant Crab Smasher, also playing. Both 3”s on Marcus Whale’s CURT label.

To start, RIP Alex Chilton. Two of his beautiful songs started tonight’s show. This Mortal Coil were responsible in a way for Big Star’s cult status from the 1980s on, so we heard their version of “Holocaust”, but the original of the devastating “Kangaroo”.

Also incredibly sad news now confirmed is that Sean Stewart from Melbourne indie-noise-goth trio HTRK has passed away. Absolutely tragic for all concerned, I have no words — played two tracks as some kind of memorial.

Sydney’s Howling Bells get the Ulrich Schnauss epic electronic-shoegaze treatment, from a compilation of 14 of Ulrich’s remixes from the last while. A few well-loved ones are missing (where’s Sia?) but it’s a fabulous journey, and essential plays like a new Ulrich Schnauss album, which is a nice thing in itself.

And the first hint of a huge feature in the middle of the show on Icarus, one of my favourite bands, who are playing in Sydney this Friday.
Details at this Facebook event. Part of Emily McDaniel’s Refraction series, the gig starts at 6:30pm on Friday the 26th, with Shoeb Ahmad (see below), Jon Hunter of The Holy Soul (etc), and UTS student Jordan Bryon.
It’s at Bon Marche Studio at UTS, and it’s gonna be awesome folks!
This first track is from their new live self-released album all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds, nice Voltaire reference there guys!

Shoeb Ahmad’s playing at that gig too, yeah. His newest release is called Blossoms, and features 8 tracks in which he bends the music of his North Indian heritage into doom-drone. Lovely.
And next up, the legendary Four Tet remix by Icarus, folktronic drum’n’bass as only they can do it.

Did someone say drum’n’bass? Breakage appears next with some very dubstep-tinged d’n’b from 2007, one of my favourite tracks from that year. He’s got a new album out where he explores dubstep, drum’n’bass, dancehall and probably other genres starting with “d”. Awesome stuff, that leads us directly into the wonderful world of Icarus.

Icarus’ first two albums were pure drum’n’bass heaven – intensely complex drum programming, bass drops and atmospherics. Plenty of experimentalism already there, especially in the second album, and then as we progress forwards through their catalogue we hear the drum sounds get muffled and tampered with, and all sorts of other sonic adventurism added into the mix. Hopefully the music speaks for itself. They’re very well worth investigating further.
I interviewed the two of them for the forthcoming issue of Cyclic Defrost, so check it out shortly for heaps more.

My mates & colleagues in New Weird Australia are having a showcase on Saturday (damn them! I’ll be away) and we heard two artists who will be playing there (note the link in the playlist where you can download both tracks!)
Karoshi’s been working hard for the last few years at his high-quality electronica/folktronica, and has a new album in the works. Hobart’s Paint Your Golden Face have a very Aussie take on something like freak-folk, and I’m sad to be missing them live this time round. Check out the gig at St Petersburg, 21 May St, St Peters, this Saturday night (March 27th).

Another Ulrich Schnauss remix, and this one’s a favourite from the last couple of years, from Katharina Franck. Just a beautiful song made all shimmery and golden by our Ulrich. What a lovely chappie.
And more from a couple of other recent new releases. Autechre’s best album in ages, Oversteps, is now available in the physical record stores, and Spartak’s fabulous Verona is available direct from Shoeb (see link below) for a very decent price (including postage).

My Icarus special meant I had less room than I wanted for a few excellent new releases, a couple of which were shunted over to two weeks’ time. But I couldn’t let the night go without a couple of tracks from Jasper TX’s absolute stunner of a new album, the 2CD set A Voice From Dead Radio. There’ll definitely be more of this coming next time I’m around, but tonight we had one highlight plus the remix from the ever-reliable Peter Broderick, whose meticulous reworking is as good as you’d expect considering his first-class work over the last year plus…

And finally, finishing up with another release I couldn’t allow to slip back another two weeks: the latest disc on Sydney’s Preservation, a lovely bit of folktronica (etc) from Ben Swire. More of this coming too, minimal electronics and some guitar & double bass.

This Mortal Coil – Holocaust [4AD]
Big Star – Kangaroo [Rykodisc]
HTRK – Look What’s Been Done [Fire]
HTRK – Fascinator [BLAST First (petite)]
Howling Bells – Setting Sun (Ulrich Schnauss remix) [Rocket Girl]
Icarus – Uke ’Em [self-released, through Not Applicable]
Shoeb Ahmad – Blossoms part 4 & 5 [hellosQuare]
Four Tet – My Angel Rocks Back and Forth (Four Teas on English Time mix by Icarus) [Domino]
Breakage – Clarendon [Digital Soundboy]
Breakage – Open Up [Digital Soundboy]
Breakage – Temper feat. Kemo [Digital Soundboy]
Icarus – Moon Palace [Hydrogen Dukebox]
Icarus – Jemo [Hydrogen Dukebox]
Icarus – Oott [Output]
Isambard Khroustaliov – Mou Iranai [Not Applicable]
Icarus – Dolphin Lylic [Temporary Residence]
Icarus – Gnog [Leaf]
Icarus – keet [Rump Recordings]
Icarus – Husky Offset [self-released, through Not Applicable]
Karoshi – Re-Animate Me [New Weird Australia showcase] {free download from here!}
Paint Your Golden Face – Television Is About Pictures [New Weird Australia showcase] {free download from here!}
Katharina Franck – Faithful Friend (Ulrich Schnauss remix) [Rocket Girl]
Autechre – d-sho qub [Warp]
Spartak – Tweezer [Low Point] {available locally through hellosQuare. Cheap! Awesome!}
Jasper TX – A Beacon to Lead Us There [Under The Spire]
Jasper TX – A Beacon to Lead Us There (Peter Broderick remix) [Under The Spire]
Ben Swire – Passing Through [Preservation]

Listen again — ~ 179MB