A mere five months after my unofficial retirement from my beloved tankt and I’m already back for more. Is this the start of something new? Only time will tell…
I can think of about a fifty new songs worth playing for you all, and maybe ten or so in need of a deeper discussion, but none is more worthy than this unconventional beauty from John Callaghan. I have followed John since his debut on Warp in 1998, and that incredible little 7" entitled I’m Not Comfortable In My Mind remains one of my most cherished possessions, not only for it’s rarity, but for it’s intensity and ingenuity and individuality. Truly, no one else in the world can make music quite like John.
For as much as I love and still relentlessly collect Warp’s releases, there are few songs on the new Recreated double CD that rise above the novelty of it all. Certainly the Born Ruffians’ cover of Aphex Twin’s “Milkman / To Cure a Weakling Child” ranks near the top, but after that I find the rest to be wholly disappointing. Fortunately, John takes on my least favorite song off of Autechre’s flawless Cichli Suite EP and turns it into one for the ages. Here’s the original for reference:
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“Tilapia” pales in comparison only because the other four songs define the pinnacle of Autechre’s classic 90s sound. Yes, it’s a fine song, but it feels a bit out of place in the context of the others. Quibbles aside, John’s remix is more of an homage, finding inspiration in the click track, square-wave baseline, and that same sense of the song withdrawing into itself. It’s masterful:
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The instrumental track alone shines brightly enough, but it’s even better with the vocals, which in turn are made even more meaningful by that strange and unfamiliar word in the title. If I understand it correctly, a phylactery is an object used to contain a soul. What else is music if not the same?
So I’ll keep on talking
for as long as I can
warm you with my embers
hoping you’ll remember
as I leave my debris
like temporal graffiti
audition for your memory
oh please don’t forget meAnd these souvenirs
are fragile and small
so mark where they fall
I need them to prove that I was here at allLike a stone makes ripples
like a stone I’m sinking
create a puppet of me
to occupy your thinking
I leave a thousand footprints
and a million echoes
a million flawed impressions
in the people I knowAnd these souvenirs
reflections of John
I will be gone
I need you to carry them so I live onAnd these souvenirs
momentos I make
forming my wake
you were my phylactery so keep me safe
As I continue to uncover what it means to be me, and unravel what it is I am put here on earth to do, I find comfort and encouragement in those who also hunger for meaning and a deeper connection to all that is. There’s a certain futility in living to be remembered, but as best I can tell there’s nothing wrong with creating something of lasting value. I should be so fortunate that my work touches another soul, that someone else chooses to carry it forward, that what I have accomplished with my life lives on in some small way.
If I hadn’t already posted it before, Aphex Twin’s “Ziggomatic V17” would be the only other song that could follow o9’s exquisite “Terminal Orange.” However, this mix o’ mine needs a bridge to the somewhat more sedate songs I have planned at the end, but that bridge needs an intensity too, something only Boards of Canada can do.
“Skyliner,” from their most recent Trans Canada Highway EP, is yet another in a long line of monumental BoC tracks, perhaps second only to their paean to Beck’s “Broken Drum.” In all sincerity, if you have haven’t heard that remix, one which Beck claims as his favorite remix of all, you must find it. Or wait patiently for me to post it next week.
I couldn’t possibly say enough about Boards of Canada, nor even begin to add anything that hasn’t already been said a million times. Their music defies easy classification, transcends any recognizable era, and pretty much exists on its own plane. While many ape elements of their style, their music remain instantly recognizable — both old and new, with a heavy dose of the now too:
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I saw them play one of three lives shows in the past ten years at Warp’s We Are Ten parties in London. Not only was their set flawless, and full of songs that would not see the light of day for several more years, but their visual arrangement tops anything and everything I have seen since. I remember like it was yesterday, listening to the opening song “Zoetrope” while watching the most enchantingly grainy loop of blurry-faced children move in reverse on playground equipment — floating back up the sliding pole, jumping backwards off of the merry-go-round, and so on. One of my fondest memories for sure, easily topping that night’s live sets of Autechre and Squarepusher, and a djing Aphex Twin!
I love the idea of The Unfinished Swan, a new “first-person painting game” from Ian Dallas. I’m not sure which is more amazing: the concept, the execution, or the soundtrack, which feels much like Aphex Twin’s epic Selected Ambient Works, Volume II (I just so happen to own one of the 10,000 limited edition triple brown vinyl UK release, its one of my most prized possessions).
I can’t wait to play this game in the spring of ‘09. Until then, here’s a taste:
(via kottke)
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:
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“Thank you for your attention, bye.”
I was hooked from the moment I first heard FlyLo’s sound, and everything that’s followed only confirms that Steven Ellison is a highly imaginative and intuitive talent. His stuff just works on the most fundamental level, and even with his increasingly complex constructions, he never loses sight of each track’s heart.
I have always felt that his music had a cinematic quality to it, a vastness encapsulated into such endlessly satisfying bite-size vignettes. Perhaps it’s no surprise that Ellison studied film in school, or that his aunt is Alice Coltrane, married to the great John Coltrane. Oh, and, he’s signed to Warp Records, home of Squarepusher, Autechre, Aphex, Plaid, and more. The man has pedigree in spades!
I could point you to any one of the 17 tracks on his new album Los Angeles, but for me the one that truly stands above and beyond all others is “RobertaFlack (feat. Dolly).” The sparsely spaced rhythm track shines on its own, but that gives Ellison plenty of room to add Dolly’s beautiful voice for color and depth. And then he tops it off with the most unexpected breakdown at the end, so ridiculously sultry and seductive I could listen to those last 52 seconds on repeat for the rest of my life and die a very happy man:
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And if you like that, you won’t want to miss the exquisite video for “Parisian Goldfish” — Dance Floor Dale — co-directed by none other than one of my old favorites Eric Fensler. Be warned, it’s not for the faint of heart.
↓ Download all ten songs Just like last year, though admittedly much less ambitious, I want to mark the passing of another year of with my thoughts on the most distinguished artists and albums of 2007 (according to me), and give you a song from each one to take with you.
If there’s one common theme in this disparate mix, it’s a delicate balance between such lush and abundant instrumentation and a sparse and minimal sound. As I’m fond of saying, it’s the space in between that’s most interesting, and that’s clearly the case in these ten songs, listed below in alphabetical order. Enjoy!
Animal Collective · Strawberry Jam · Unsolved Mysteries
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I would have never known about AC if not for my brother Kevin — he was the first to suggest Sung Tongs and Feels and even sent me some pre-release mp3s from Strawberry Jam. While I liked songs from the first two, SJ was so dense (and unbelievably tense) that I found it difficult to listen to in the very beginning. But again, on his recommendation, I bought tickets to see them live and then also began to listen to SJ more intently, often for days on end, as the show approached. It’s safe to say I was absolutely blown away by their show (see my pictures and my videos from it) and now I’m completely hooked on the album in its entirety. Definitely at the top of my list for 2007.
Battles · Mirrored · Tonto
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Warp heavily promoted the new BTTLS album for a number of months, but it never really caught me the way it seemed to hook everyone else. My good friend Andrew ‘Japandy’ Tweed insisted I take a second look, and I did to my great delight. I wrote about both of their incredible videos, and was lucky enough to see them live not so long ago in San Francisco (need to upload that video to YouTube, it’s amazing). I have yet to see anyone or anything play with such pace, precision, and passion; the only way I can describe it is to say that I can’t listen to their incredible album anymore: it’s too slow, too lifeless (that’s a preposterous thing to say, btw). I was exhausted at the end of their show and (still) incredibly inspired by the whole thing.
Beans · Thorns · We Rock
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I came to follow Beans when Warp signed Anti-Pop Consortium (apparently soon to be reunited, thankfully). Most hip-hop bores me — even though I would listen to nothing but hip-hop if there were more artists like Beans — instead I often find nothing but unimaginative rhythms and even more mindless lyrics. I loved many songs on Tomorrow Right Now and even more on Shock City Maverick, so I eagerly awaited Thorns. After hearing Thundermouth for the first time, I thought it would be near impossible to top that track, but he did it with We Rock. Show me someone, anyone, who rocks it harder than Beans — it can’t be done.
Björk · Volta · I See Who You Are
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Abby absolutely loves Björk, and while I do too, it’s not with the same intensity. I was definitely excited to see her show this summer, but after having seen her on the Vespertine tour before, I wasn’t expecting such an intense and high energy show. This song is equally intense, even though it’s much more sedate. I love the delicate instrumentation on this track and her beautiful lyrics, it’s yet another exquisite collaboration with Mark Bell (LFO). Tops.
Burial · Untrue · Archangel
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The reviews on Warpmart practically begged me to buy it, but the lo-fi samples on bleep sounded flat and uninspired. I debated it for several weeks, but finally gave in and bought the album just to hear it for myself. I was immediately taken by it, no doubt egged on by my then new Shure SE530 headphones (such a guilty pleasure, but damn worth it — find ‘em new on eBay, they’re way cheaper there). This album is incredible, infinitely complex and yet just right there where it should be. I find new twists and turns every time I play it. If you haven’t heard it, you owe it to yourself to get it. btw, Abby’s first impression: “It sounds like Jamie Lidell meets Boyz II Men meets Autechre”. Yep, classic.
Flying Lotus · Reset EP · Dance Floor Stalker
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When the news of his signing to Warp hit, I immediately went searching for his prior release 1983 on Plug Research. It’s an epic instrumental effort, notable for its brief but incredibly thick and dense tracks. I was immediately hooked and kept it in heavy rotation on my peaPod this past summer. Luckily, the Reset EP is all of that and a whole lot more. I played this six-track EP over and over without ever tiring of it. The bass is monstrous, the beats are genius, and the flow is absolutely out of this world. FlyLo deserves his place on Warp’s legendary roster, I can’t wait to hear what comes next.
Matthew Dear · Asa Breed · Don and Sherri
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I almost left this one off, as much as I love this album and listened to it non-stop for a month straight. I saw his show in San Francisco this fall, and well, to put it kindly… It sucked. Ass. The crowd was sparse, poor promotion perhaps, but he failed to connect with it, preferring instead to plod along with his pre-canned rockstar shtick. The highlight of the show was the next to last song, the epic Don and Sherri, also known as that sick track on the Hummer commercial. Even with the goofy lyrics, this track makes me want to shake my booty. I still love the album, in spite of the awful show. I do believe he will learn so much from this tour, and I expect to see a better show next time. I still believe!
Radiohead · In Rainbows · Bodysnatchers
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Yes, I whined about the 160kbps thing, impugned their motives, and generally disparaged In Rainbows in the very beginning. But the more I listened to it, the more I came to see that the music on this album is as revolutionary as all that surrounds its internet-only release. No one makes music like Radiohead, and Bodysnatchers in particular has my head bouncing from side to side the moment it comes on. But nothing, nothing tops the breakdown shortly after the two minute mark, and the way it builds back into the first part of the song just makes me want to play it all over again. And again. And again. I absolutely love this track.
Sky Observer · Sky Observer’s Guide 070707 · Skyway Drive
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“Space, space, space.” It’s true, Stewart Brown and I go way, way back, and I played a small part in getting this release out to the world, but that has so little to do with how strongly I feel about it. At once timeless and yet clearly of this very moment, Brown succeeded in capturing the dichotomy of his youthful, irreverent energy and his measured, masterful touch. With no hesitation whatsoever, I predict that years from now people will love this effort the way they love Boards of Canada’s In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country, as an old friend indeed. Listen to the other four songs for free at FORKLIFT ENTERTAINMENT.
The Tuss · Rushup Edge · Synthacon 9
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C’mon, we all know it’s Aphex Twin. And it’s without a doubt the most magnificent track ever created.
Late update: Here’s a pic of Sawyer helping me write this post:
