tankt

Though brief, this post might be the meatiest of all my song of the day posts, especially since I have three excellent tracks to share, and each more than stands on its own. Nonetheless, they all fit together, albeit in a somewhat circuitous way, so please bear with me.

As I alluded to before when discussing Busdriver, I am frequently bored by hiphop, both lyrically and musically. With so much experimentation and innovation elsewhere in modern electronic music, I am continually surprised to see so little of it crossover. APC, however, not only embraces it, they take it in a completely new direction too. I didn’t immediately get this particular song, and I recall it was the feature track on Warp’s website for a number of weeks to my then dismay, but I quickly warmed up to it. In fact, the only thing I love more than this track itself now is the video for it:

I think seeing the way they move makes the music even more accessible. Here’s the track again:

There is no way I cannot share LFO’s superb remix of “Ghostlawns”:

And no mention of LFO can go without playing his epic remix of “Me and Guiliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)” — see yesterday’s post on !!! for the original):

APC broke up several years ago shortly after touring with Radiohead in Europe, but have recently begun recording together again. While Beans more than kept it interesting in APC’s absence, I can’t wait to hear all of them on their new album Fluorescent Black when it comes out in 2009.

Completely ungoogleable by their proper spelling, !!! is more often both printed and pronounced Chk Chk Chk, but any other three monosyllabic grunts will suffice in a pinch. Like Brooklyn’s Gang Gang Dance, !!! is another New York band (with some from Sacramento, CA and Portland, OR too), and I thought their epic “Me and Guiliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)” track would be an excellent followup to Monday’s GGD Song of the Day.

It’s difficult to escape the reality of our current situation in America: our economy is crumbling under the weight of its own inequity; our government is in crisis-mode with the Bush administration trying desperately to conceal the true extent of the damage they have done; our environment is changing, rapidly, perhaps beyond the point of no return; our human race is at war with one another over the last remaining drops of oil, soon to be water and food as well; and the list goes on and on. Yet through it all, there is an unmistakeable sense of hope, and a deep desire to find another way forward in the world.

People always ask me, “What’s so fucking great about dancing?”
How the fuck should I know? Yeah, even I can barely understand it
But when the music takes over, the music takes control
Here’s a message to you, Rudy and you, sir, Mr. Bloomberg
And the rest of you ties-too-tight dudes
Y’all could learn a lesson, by losing inhibitions, yeah
Losing yourself in the music, losing yourself in the moment
Because we have nothing more than this very second
You can’t count on the one coming after, no one’s sure about the one before

At the risk of getting all raved out on you, and believe me I was only barely on the periphery of that mindset in the mid 90s, what can and will unite us is love, and dancing, and living each and every moment to the fullest. I truly believe a singular focus on the here and now, with an eye toward our comparable struggles and common dreams in life, can bridge our most historic gaps.

My generation is on the cusp of taking control of our country, and all involved deserve a little dancing in the streets. Our work to end oppression and discrimination may be difficult, but it need not be drudgery, and I for one plan to keep on dancing, laughing, and loving for the next four years and well beyond.

Edited slightly after posting.

Charles Alexander was married for 69 years, but lost his wife just four weeks ago. Ever since then, he’s poured his heart and soul into volunteering for Barack Obama (via debha):

I can’t watch this without crying, but I am more hopeful than ever that Obama can truly bring about the change we so desperately need in America. Yes, change has become a catchall phrase in this election, but look into Charles Alexander’s eyes to see what it really means — it has nothing to do with him, and everything to do with making the world a better place for his grandkids and great grandkids. That’s a life worth living and a love worth sharing.

btw, music takes a back seat to politics on tankt today, but will resume with another Song of the Day tomorrow.

After reading nothing but rave reviews, not just of their new release but pretty much of their entire being, I finally bought Gang Gang Dance’s Saint Dymphna. To be fair, I have only listened to it twice with headphones and just put it up for Fly Lo’s patented whip test last Friday night, so a more thorough review will have to wait a bit longer.

What’s most interesting to me now is the way GGD feels both wholly of the moment and completely timeless as well. There’s something very current about their sound, something that can only be made in this modern era, yet it so clearly encompasses the energies and eccentricities of another era. Many other eras, in fact.

I love to find myself aware of both an instant and the infinite, and I can think of no better way to access that feeling than through music. “Princes feat. Tinchy Stryder” immediately takes me there and definitely keeps me coming back for more, I just can’t get enough of it:

“Oh shit, Gang Gang.”

I look forward to learning more about this Brooklyn band, and hope to see them live next month in San Francisco. If you’re thinking about going, please let me know, I would love to meet up.

I have been itching for some new hiphop lately, but I long ago stopped actively looking for it, and instead rely on serendipity. Prior to today, I only knew of Busdriver by his association with two other Los Angeles based luminaries Flying Lotus and Pigeon John, as well as the incomparable Beans.

I was browsing bleep today, and came across Busdriver’s Cosmic Cleavage release on Big Dada. Since it wasn’t licensed for sale in North America, I went searching for more, ended up on his myspace page, and discovered a gem in “Imaginary Places” from his 2001 album Temporary Forever.

You can imagine my delight in hearing this Busdriver track, with its stripped down sound, breakneck beats, massively deep bass, and one seriously spastic flute. I can’t even read the lyrics as fast as he can speak them:

She doesn’t love me cause I don’t have the right hair cut
I’m misunderstood, I just face it, I’m no good
but I will not appologize for anything that I say
My name is Mr. Busdriver
this is the producer Paris
we did not embarass to admit that we were purchasing a bit
of our own imaginary place

I have only bought this and one other song so far, but you can bet that I’ll look for more from Busdriver, and I will definitely have to catch his show the next time he comes through town. I know he toured with Beans the last time around, how did I miss that show?

I am almost embarrassed to have done 12 songs of the day before including my first Aphex Twin track, but fortunately what I lack in quantity can be quickly made up in quality. “Ziggomatic V17” comes at the tail end of 2001’s massive double album Drukqs — say it out loud, sounds a lot like drug use, huh? — so it’s easy to overlook amongst all of the other gems.

This track is dense and sprawling, seemingly random, but each and every sound is perfectly placed and pinpoint precise. Believe me, nothing is accidental and nothing is left to chance with Richard D. James. It has all of the Aphex trademarks: impossibly intricate rhythms and rapid-fire fills, familiar sounds tweaked just enough to render them wholly unique, distinctly warm and emotionally evocative melodies, countless twists and turns that expose different combinations of sounds and create entirely new songs within the song itself…

It is virtually impossible to point to any particular moment in a song full of them, but my three personal favorites are the breakdown that begins just before the two minute mark and the lull that follows for the next 75 seconds, the rush that takes off at roughly the five minute mark and continues while the bottom end completely falls out a minute later, and that beautiful little pause at 7:11. I don’t smoke, but damn if this track doesn’t make me want a cigarette when it ends, instead I usually just press rewind and take another spin:

“Thank you for your attention, bye.”

I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Sea and Cake had a new album coming out, and even happier to finally have it Car Alarm my possession today. While I wouldn’t call it love / hate, I am often of two (or more) minds when it comes to this band, which is surprising given how much I love Tortoise (John McEntire works on both, and produces many other excellent bands as well).

I enjoyed their previous album, Everybody, and immediately identifed with the line “And still I’ve been taught to glorify what’s left to do” from “Coconut,” but I didn’t love it from beginning to end. One Bedroom and Oui completely surprised me and pretty much had me hooked for life, but then I saw them in concert at the Wexner Center in Columbus and they were depressingly flat.

I have always ranked things I love first, things I loathe second, and things that give me absolutely nothing in return last. TSAC can beautifully blend into my life and become the soundtrack of my day, or it can completely disappear to my great dismay. When I am listening to something, I want to feel it in my bones.

That said, the subtly seductive sound of “On a Letter” spoke to me immediately. It’s an effortlessly beautiful song, so soft and full at the same time, and warms me up like the sun’s rays on a perfectly warm but not too hot summer day, just like this afternoon in San Francisco. Have a listen:

I have to share “CMS Sequence” too, as it immediately follows “On a Letter” and perfectly completes the moment:

I definitely look forward to diving deeper into this one, especially since tomorrow is going to be every bit as beautiful!

Much like Animal Collective, Sun Ra is another artist I have barely processed, even after 15+ years of listening, but nonetheless deeply respect and revere. “Stardust for Tomorrow” ranks as one of my absolute most favorite songs, jazz or otherwise, and when combined with the title tracks of Somewhere Else forms the most exquisite 16 minutes of music, in my not so humble opinion.

My first taste of Sun Ra came by way of a cassette recording of Blue Delight, which my good friend Myungho Choi miraculously dubbed from the vinyl collection of a true-blue jazz aficionado. I briefly had possession of that cassette in my old Saab, which did battle with A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders for many years, until the latter became permanently lodged in place. I never thought I would hear it again until I tracked it down on eBay many years later. More on that one soon.

Myungho also bought Somewhere Else for my birthday shortly thereafter. I don’t know that I have ever fully conquered the first four songs, but the last half just lights me up, especially “Stardust for Tomorrow.” It begins innocently enough with the most delicate piano line, joined by cymbals that seem to tip toe about until the bassline creeps in, and with it the drums too. It takes just one minute to go from a full stop to a galloping hop, and it only gets better from there:

I can only think of one other song that hits its climax with the vocals, and by the time June Tyson begins her lines at the end I am positively euphoric, but she just sends me into orbit. It truly takes my breath away.

Shifting gears from last week’s five-day homage to Squarepusher, today’s song is yet another epic Animal Collective track, “Safer.” Once again, I owe my brother Kevin a thank you for this one as well.

I wish I had the bandwidth to keep up with everything new and dive deeper into everything old by Animal Collective. As it is, I feel like I have barely scratched the surface, but what I know I truly love.

Ever since I saw them in concert just over a year ago (again, my pics and video), I have been searching for a small reminder of that same frenetic energy and uninhibited emotion I found in their live show. You can then imagine my delight when Kevin sent me “Safer,” which initially seems to be an afterthought B-side to their Peacebone single, but does in fact stand quite well on its own.

I have just begun to unpack this song, and even after 20+ listens in the last four days, I still can’t get enough. I love Geologist’s little doodads in the background, Avey’s coarse enunciations, and Panda’s emphatic drumming. Add in the most delicate piano line, a ridiculous amount of reverb, and multiple layers of vocals (screaming too) to a meandering song that never seems to end and what you get is pure magic:

This is why I love Animal Collective. With the exception of Radiohead, who truthfully exists on an entirely different plane, I don’t know of another band so consistently pushing the envelope. They just might be the new Beatles.

I haven’t even begun to consider exactly where this one sits on the continuum of my all-time favorite Squarepusher songs, partly because this process of writing about them has caused me to listen to everything with brand new ears, but it’s definitely near the top of the list. Of all the tracks on his newest album, Just a Souvenir, this one stopped me cold, and only “Star Time 2” has anywhere near the number of listens as “A Real Woman.”

I can think of very few three minute songs that leave me as breathless at the end, but this track just gallops so quickly it feels like it’s over before it even begins, which of course has me reaching for the back button to play it again. More than a few people on Last.fm thought it was a Ramones cover, given its brevity, blistering pace, and relatively basic opening sequence, but it’s far much more than that.

Though I am an unabashed fanatic for anything with a vocoder in it, I have never heard anything as lush and luxurious. I can’t get enough of the lyrics either, at least the ones I have been able to decipher. How can you go wrong with lines like these?

you are a member of society
you are a member of reality

do you think it’s time that you are called upon
do you think it’s time that you are seen to be you

you are real
you exist
you are sane
you’re alive
you are here
you are fine
you are you
because you’re real

you think a lot about the world today
you think a lot about what to say
everything you say, it should be listened to
everything you say, well, it should be understood

you are real
you exist
you are sane
you’re alive
you are dreaming
you’re a person / you are present
you are happy
because you’re real

please show me what it’s like to be real
please show me what it’s like to be you
everything that is including me
that’s how it is in reality
everything that is including you
that’s how it is in reality

you have an edge of satisfaction
you have an air of satisfaction
i want you to tell me that it’s what i love
i want you to tell me that i’m significant

you are real
you have feelings
you’re important
you have feelings
you are perfect
you have feelings
you’re really real
you have feelings

you are real
you exist
you are sane
you’re alive
you’re impressive
you’re important
you’re smoking
because you’re real

Just listen to those brushed snares, they have a snap unlike any other, especially when rolled so tightly. Plus, those bass fills might be his stickiest yet, they’re just dripping with funk. I could rave on this song for hours, but perhaps it’s best to let the music speak for itself:

Brilliant. Simply brilliant.

Updated with my best guess at the full lyrics. Please fill in the gaps or correct me in the comments. Thanks to emberexi for the assist, even though I didn’t accept all of your changes you definitely helped fill in the gaps!