tankt

Let me first say, I absolutely love Bibio’s Warp debut, Ambivalence Avenue. “Lovers’ Carvings” was an instant favorite, guaranteed to light up even the gloomiest day, a trick Abby used more than once when we never listened to anything else in the car. “dwrcan” came to be the brightest one of all, a song that sounds like several well-known epic anthems, Boards of Canada’s “Pete Standing Alone” (the quintessential BoC song of its era) and The Postal Service’s “Natural Anthem” (the only song of theirs I can stomach now), yet more than stands on its own.

That said, I was somewhat ambivalent about buying The Apple and the Tooth. I usually pass on things that are mostly remixes, and with only four new Bibio songs I thought my $9.99 might be better spent elsewhere. But in the end I bought it and the new Warp20 (Unheard) release at the same time. One week later and I still can’t get enough of “Bones and Skulls.”

There’s a then and now in this song. It feels like an old friend on first listen, and yet it just as easily comes across as a fresh memory found in the not so distant past. It builds beautifully, flows effortlessly, and ends ever so delicately. And it’s even better now that I finally figured out the lyrics:

shortened stones
and weathered broken glass
i’ll never trace their path
the reason for their form

it’s like the hairless brush
or the broken little things
in the kitchen drawer
full of forgotten memories
that are gonna be gone
like the people who made them
and the people who broke them
and the people who found them

and the people who put them in drawers
or the children who let them out
with the pottery
and the bones and skulls of birds

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I always listen to my Songs of the Day on repeat while I write these posts, and even after ten or so listens I never fail to lose myself in this song. That is perhaps the highest compliment I can pay, to know what’s coming next, to expect and anticipate it, and still be every bit as surprised by it time and time again. And now I am even more disappointed that I missed out on the limited edition vinyl.

Bravo, Bibio, bravo. I will never doubt you again.

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!

Hudson Mohawke, just 22 years old, has just released his first proper and widely-circulated EP on Warp Records. This thing has been relentlessly hyped as the second coming of hip-hop, with Hud Mo as J Dilla reincarnate, a comparison that isn’t entirely fair or even remotely appropriate.

It is clear he is talented beyond belief, and his music speaks with an almost innate knowing, like it was always meant to be. I know I have touched on this in the past, but I love the stuff that sounds so of-the-moment, yet clearly from-the-past as well. There’s a familiarity here, and it’s very comfortable too, but with a heavy dose of futuristic Fly Lo funk. How can you argue with his lineage:

At age 7 Hudson fell in love with jungle & rave music and it kick started an obsession collecting as much music of all genres as he could. At age 10 Hudson was making his first mixtapes, mixing between a personal cassette player & a broken hi-fi turntable. At age 12 he started making music, using only a Playstation. At age 14 he was the Scottish champion of both the ITF and UK DMC DJ Championships.

There is absolutely nothing forced or contrived about it, it’s just pure and simple musical genius:

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“Velvet Peel” is definitely my favorite on the six song EP entitled Polyfolk Dance. I both love that it’s just over two minutes long and wish it were an hour or more, and I can’t wait to hear the new album later this year. Between the new Squarepusher EP and this, Warp is tearing into the new year. May I please have a new Plaid album too?

Continuing with this week’s homage to Squarepusher (see the post from Monday), today’s song is from his very first Warp single in 1996, entitled Port Rhombus EP. Given that it was packaged in the iconic purple Warp bag, and had an exquisite rounded rectangle die-cut in the middle, I didn’t listen to it first, I simply bought it on sight. I knew nothing about Squarepusher, but the name elicited all kinds of amusing connotations, and I just had to have it — just thinking about it makes me want to retrieve it from my storage closet!

I never really made it past the first song, as you’ll soon know why. It’s simply one of the most astonishingly beautiful songs ever created, in fact I defy you to find anything at once as intense as it is sublime. This song is a masterpiece, but just the first of many for Squarepusher.

To be fair, in the beginning I listened to this track on 33 RPM (it wasn’t marked on the label, and the sedate pace was a more natural fit for me at that time, for various reasons). It wasn’t until I heard it on CD many years later that I realized Jenkinson intended it to be played at 45 RPM. Suffice to say I can’t imagine it any other way now:

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This song was a big part of my transition away from anything you might hear on the radio to the more esoteric sounds of artists such as Squarepusher. I never really found a way to talk about these songs, or anyone to talk to about them either, but I really enjoy sharing them now. I hope you do as well.

My final SOTD for this week is another Warp artist, Born Ruffians, a three piece band from Canada. While I have (and love) all of their releases, they’re still a bit of a bolt from the blue — I know less about them then I would like, but I hope to make up for that by seeing them live in San Francisco next week.

They describe themselves so:

We are the next link in the evolutionary chain of contemporary pop music, mixing drums, bass, and electric guitar, an almost unheard of combination, with bits of harmonium, piano and plenty of “hootin and hollerin” to create a sound we call “the best we could come up with!”

“Litle Garçon” is a perfect illustration:

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It’s such a beautifully heartfelt song, so simplistic in nature, also able to be sung in a round (very important), and most of all a wonderful reminder of my wife and son — we sing this song to him and each other quite often. Many of the other songs on their new album, Red, Yellow, and Blue, are both more raw and much more intense, but this one sticks with me the most. Give it a listen and you’ll see why.

Today’s offering is an epic track from Autechre (pronounced Ah-Tek-Er), one of my earliest electronic music favorites. This particular gem is from 1998’s legendary album, LP5, released on Warp Records. I find it difficult to believe that it’s over ten years old now.

To the uninitiated, Ae’s syncopated rhythms are far too complex, recognizable sounds are few and far between, and reference points are completely lacking. Give it time to grow — actually, let go of everything you think you know about music — and you’ll soon find yourself immersed in a lush, if entirely foreign land.

From the moment I discovered Incunabula in 1993, I have purchased each new album on the day it came out, more often than not counting down the days until its release. I am accustomed to finding very few obvious favorites on first listen, but repeated efforts always bear more fruit (I tend to listen to their new releases exclusively and repeatedly for a week or two, then take a month or so off before revisiting). I have also learned that there’s nothing like a new Ae album to make the previous one more intelligible.

“Rae” begins at a blistering pace, revealing its intricate and lengthy rhythm structure, all the while softer pads float just beneath the surface. With time, the harshness melts away, leaving those beautiful tones to envelope what little remains of the percussion, until it too disappears at the very end. There is nothing repetitive about it, its flow is completely organic. Just think about where it begins and where it ends, and tell me who else in the world can do this:

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Still amazing after all these years.

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.

Hot damn!! Both the song itself and its video are even better than I could have possibly imagined, or wished. Here’s an easy prediction: Jamie Lidell will be everywhere in 2008. I bet my parents will be listening to him before long (likely if I buy them his new album) and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends on up Letterman too. This is huge.

btw, a comment on the YouTube page says that he’s backed by Beck’s band here. Anyone know for sure?

↓ 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:

I thought they would be hard-pressed to top the video for Atlas, which I still maintain is the most ‘techno’ — whatever that means — video I have ever seen. This one has all the classic elements: richly detailed organic textures enlivened by the dancing light, quick step editing synched perfectly to the beat, all mixed as precisely as a dj might. And, of course, you know I absolutely love the way the lights drip like candles…

But it’s the last three minutes that truly blow me away, where the slow fade of the song is matched perfectly to the dawn of a new day. With rare exception, most live music is experienced as day turns to night. I don’t know that I have ever seen anything quite like this; it’s so peaceful, so tranquil, especially after such a blistering song.

I couldn’t be happier to see my beloved Warp Records continue to push the bounds of music and now video. I can’t wait to see and hear what they think of next. As for Battles, they sold out San Francisco the last time through, but I will not miss their next show on November 1 at the Great American Music Hall, one of my favorite places to see live music.

Until then, watch for the Making of Tonto dvd on October 22. I can’t wait.