Caliper Music: an experimental music blog

Free Compilation - Broadcast Three

2012-01-23T19:44:00.002-08:00

From New Weird Australia: Since 2009, New Weird Australia has broadcast a weekly show on Sydney’s FBi Radio – playing two hours of new, experimental and ecelctic Australian music. As well as covering off the best of the week’s new releases, the show also features regular guest performances, playing exclusive in-studio sessions.

Our new free compilation is a selection of exclusive in-studio recordings from recent months, including material from Edwin Montgomery, Kirin J Callinan, Hacks, Simo Soo, Little A, Paneye, Mental Powers, The Deadly Nightshades, Pimmon, Peon, Scattered Order and Anonymeye.

Download for free on Bandcamp.

Album Review: Analog Burners – Tron Voyage

2012-01-02T19:17:00.004-08:00

As millions of people begin the annual tradition of tackling a myriad of new resolutions (then – usually – promptly breaking them), those who secretly feel like change isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be ought to consider “Tron Voyage” their soundtrack for January. Produced by Analog Burners (aka Jason McGuinness), with Jim Aguzzi (on drums, percussion, Wurlitzer), Val Mazzone (on space guitar), and Mensa-El (“everything else”), this new Art Blakey-meets-Sun Ra album is available now for download via Bandcamp.

As Jason explains, Tron Voyage focuses on an extraterrestrial robot fed up with its life; after quitting work to enjoy peace on greener planets, things just get hectic again. Ultimately, this leads to a “realization that life is life, wherever you go. You can't escape it.” For anyone determined to make significant changes, it’s a story worth listening to – and Tron Voyage tells it fairly well.

The beatnik-like “Unhappy Worker – Work Sucks” feels like the musical mindset of restless 9-to-5’ers everywhere, counting down the seconds until work is over and it’s time to head to the closest dive bar. “Tourist – Where to Go” has a similar tripped-out yet disillusioned vibe. If Lost in Translation’s main character were Super Fly vs. Bob Harris, this track might follow him down Tokyo’s unfamiliar streets.

The album draws its influences from drum-driven jazz musicians, including Art Blakey and Max Roach, as well as other “story” albums from DJ Frane (Frane's “Fantastic Voyage”), Mike Ladd and Deltron 3030. Sweeping, experimental joints like the 12- minute “Blown Circuits Suite” and the ambient, jazzy hip-hop “Downtime – the Life” are among Tron Voyage’s standout tracks. Consider this coffeehouse music for the 22nd century.

We’ll be on the lookout for the forthcoming promo video to post here soon., but in the meantime, check out Unhappy Worker-Work Sucks:

02 Unhappy Worker-Work Sucks by Mensa-El - Analog Burners - Captain Moor - Jim Aguzzi

Feel Guide Compilation Vol. 1

2012-01-01T18:30:00.011-08:00

Feel Guide is a free compilation of music from Caliper Music. It's a completely diverse array of experimental artists that have made their way onto the blog at different times in 2011. So diverse actually, this music probably doesn't belong together on the same album, which is partly the appeal. Download the album free, and Enjoy the bumpy ride.

Dustin Wong - Talking Walking Cloud by Bmore Musically Informed

Derek Piotr: AGORA Regathered

2011-12-18T13:50:00.003-08:00

An agora, in ancient Greece, was a place of open assembly where people would congregate for various reasons. It's also an apt title for Derek Piotr's remixed album: AGORA Regathered, released earlier this month on Bitsquare records. Remixes are the way that modern electronic musicians talk to one another, and make sense of our musically cluttered world. In an age where technology makes anyone a producer, but sometimes isolates us, the internet and sites like Soundcloud are kind of the modern Agora for musicians, a place to connect and share ideas.

Projects like AGORA Regathered are effective in the way they create such a sense of musical community. The album is a collection of remixed tracks from Piotr's first full length solo album, AGORA, a darkish electroacoustic soundscape full of jagged digital artifacts and vocal manipulations, partly produced by Finland-based artist AGF. The contributors include an eclectic array of electronic/experimental musicians, some known, some obscure, but all worth checking out: Ralph Steinbrüchel, HeeG, Twenty Knives, Zach Thorpe, Carlos Lemosh, Blevin Blectum, Chaircrusher, Salakapakka Sound System, Thone Halo, just to name a lot. It's an impressive gathering of experimental people and shows some ambition on the part of the young New York musician. “I carefully chose mixers from widely different demographics, both notable and obscure, but all of whom are dear to my heart. this echoes the concept of the ancient agora, by uniting people from various backgrounds into a single moment,” says Piotr.

The remixes, according to Piotr, are "essential extensions of the original ideas." “AGORA Regathered was a chance for me to expand on the initial concept of the AGORA record by gathering together diverse re-presentations of my work.” Many of the tracks indeed feel like they've retained some of Piotr's ethos, however re-arranged, re-interpreted, “re-gathered.” Blectum's version of “From Whiteness,” for instance, maintains it's cold feel (minus the apocalyptic lyrics) with it's percussive, industrial reverberations. In yet another version, Protofuse was able to sample and manipulate it into what sounds like locusts buzzing incessantly, yet rhythmically in the background. Perhaps the most distinctly different (and enjoyable) remix is “Winter Consummation.” The original feels like a romantic encounter on a lazy, snowy day while Thorpe's version is a little more frenetic and weird, with a kind of happy, pulsing rhythm.

Winter Consummation (Zach Thorpe Mix) by Derek Piotr

You can compare both albums for yourself via Piotr's bandcamp, a free track is available courtesy of Bitsquare, and be sure to support the experimental community by downloading AGORA Regathered. You won't be disappointed. Enjoy.

EP Review: Robert Allaire – Sacrament

2011-12-15T10:13:00.001-08:00

We recently wrote about Evan Dice, a musician who wrote for theater and dance ensembles throughout college and has since begun producing his own atmospheric, electric violin-driven sounds. Artist Robert Allaire is another music composition pro who just came across our radar, but unlike Evan, Robert continues to primarily hone his craft through pieces specifically designed for visual interpretation – on stage or on screen.

The L.A. resident (and CalArts MFA graduate), who has collaborated with multiple choreographers and experimental filmmakers, recently released the digital version of Sacrament. The five-track post-noise EP originally accompanied the dark, modern dance piece of the same name. You can check out a 90-second trailer of the stage version here, but it isn’t necessary to watch a second of it to notice the violent, futuristic themes in the music itself.

For example, “She Rises Without” offers a post-apocalyptic vibe that straddles drone and industrial, and brings to mind Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ forthcoming The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack. Throughout Sacrament, Robert utilizes hardware and acoustic feedback loops filtered through sounds of his own heart beats and breaths. It effectively conjures up the age-old struggle between spirit and science – a struggle most pronounced in the closing track, “Deicide/A Thing Not Quite Remembered.”

Aside from composing, Robert also keeps himself busy as a keytarist in the chip music dance band, Beta to the Max. This group project, with its new-wave synth influences, could draw comparisons to a chiller Dan Deacon, and provides a cool contrast to Sacrament’s darker tones.

Sacrament as a choreographed performance will be returning to L.A.’s Highways Performance Space next March, but in the meantime, pick up the album via Bandcamp or stream it in its entirety via Soundcloud:

Sacrament by Robert Allaire

--Elaine Ordiz

New Weird Australia 'Unpopular Music' Compilation

2011-12-14T22:41:00.003-08:00

From New Weird Australia: The annual Unpopular Music event returns to Sydney this Saturday, December 17th, raising cash for FBi Radio (home to the NWA radio show) and featuring eight bands over two venues.

As a preview to the show, you can download a free compilation featuring all the artists playing at Unpopular Music 2011, including Brisbane psych-rock ex-pats Strange Forces (back on Aussie soil after tearing up a storm in Berlin over the last two years), Sydney drone-grunge four piece Zeahorse, former Brisbane residents Secret Birds (one of the last artists, and few Australians, to feature on Pitchfork’s now defunct Altered Zones blog), Scattered Order, Thomas William and Scissor Lock (launching their debut collaborative album ‘Jewelz‘), Melbourne’s Monolith, Und and Anna Chase.

Download for free on Bandcamp.

One to Watch: Response (Evan Dice)

2011-12-08T17:46:00.003-08:00

Properly “trained” musicians are generally welcome additions to the music scene – they tend to provide clear visions of where they come from and where their sounds fit in the grand scheme of things. Evan Dice, a.k.a. Response, is a new experimental artist who has been immersed in music since childhood. You can check out more than a dozen tracks via Soundcloud (including an ethereal remix of Zomby’s “Digital Rain”) and also download his new Desert Songs EP for free.

A classically trained violinist since age 5, Evan dabbled with music (electronic and otherwise) throughout his youth and spent college (he recently graduated with a music composition degree) writing for theater, dance and instrumental ensembles. He’s most inspired by experimental hip-hop, bop/jazz, 20th century classical composers, and world music (he grew up primarily in Zambia), which make for a wide range of touch points.

Despite those eclectic influences, what Evan has recorded under the new Response moniker never feels scattered or like simplistic explorations of beats upon pointless beats. The Desert Songs EP successfully layers live loops and electronic violin with other desert-inspired sounds (shakers, glass bottles, sand, etc.). His music is somewhat reminiscent of Laura Escudé (who is known for impressive performances that blend violin with Ableton-driven IDM), or even Deru. The tracks are “sectional in nature” and “closer related to classical and pop,” as he himself notes.

Evan’s only been recording and performing as Response since May, but is aiming to make bigger waves in Washington, D.C. (which he now calls home). In the meantime, check out one of our favorite tracks, “Dust Cloud Shuffle.”

Dust cloud shuffle by Response (Evan Dice)

--Elaine Ordiz

Corpse Lights (Three Track Single)

2011-12-06T17:47:00.007-08:00

There is a Welsh folk lore about lights that signal an impending death. The “corpse candles,” or “corpse lights” were said to hover over homes where death was near and predicted an upcoming funeral. About as obscure as that reference, are the sounds of the two piece UK band Corpse Lights.

Formed in the fallout of their old band, Woe, Corpse Lights is distinguishable by strange, robotic, pitch shifted vocals over dreamy, effected synth sounds. They effectively create their own unique, ethereal environment with this combination, which is no surprise considering the pair's work in sound design for film and theatre. The tracks on their latest three track single however, also have sort of an indie dance feel (you'll recognize that popular retro clap sound), and there is a certain pop sensibility present, albeit heavily altered after the fact. Their work, according to their bio, is a product of “the environment in which they have immersed themselves; taking visions from Dungeons and Dragons, Varèse, early computer games, and modern Outsider culture” (now the name starts to make sense, given their D&D roots). The paintings and album art that decorate their website offer more evidence of their plentiful artistic surroundings...

Their three track release, which has gotten some attention in the blogosphere it seems, is available for download from their website or bandcamp. Check out Youplayaarp off that release:

Youplayaarp by Corpse Lights

Logan Seguin - Drone

2011-11-29T13:49:00.004-08:00

How do you react to an artist who delivers an album chock-full of murderous references, who then concludes with a track asking if you could “try to be a little bit more happy?” That’s the challenge posed by 24-year-old Logan Seguin in the 8-track album, “Drone,” available via Bandcamp through Digitalis Recordings.

As the album title suggests, “Drone” draws upon the genre of the same name, and incorporates long, pulsating noises that could belong in a 2001: A Space Odyssey-type weightless environment where time stands still. However, “Drone” is not concerned with the universe beyond the stars; instead, it concentrates on the dark side of human nature.

The album builds dense buzzing synths around samples of dialogue primarily from horror films. For example, “Max Cady” is named for the villain in Cape Fear who terrorizes the family of the man responsible for sending him to prison. Track 3, “Dr. Loomis,” references the psychologist from the Halloween films, with the creepily slowed down speech describing “the devil” in Michael Myers’ six-year-old eyes. Similarly, “Mr. Grady,” “Annie” and “Patrick” incorporate quotes from The Shining, Misery and American Psycho.

While some sensitive listeners may require a dose of some happy top 40 to get the words from “Drone” out of his or her system, there’s something poetic about Logan’s decision to use such aggressive dialogue with minimalist noise. The deconstructed and exploratory nature of his music – where no shiny movie screens, fancy DP work, attractive actors, or popcorn are involved – makes hearing about stabbing, shooting, killing and dying all the more disturbing. Even ‘mainstream’ music seems to have desensitized listeners to such themes (how many people sing along to “Pumped Up Kicks” without thinking twice?).

The final “Drone” track, “Please…” is a departure from the rest of the album. This simultaneously sad and sweet ambient song offers up the only non-distorted voice pleading, “Would you please / just try to be / a little bit more happy with me / and one day maybe / I’ll be happy too.” In a way it’s as though Logan is taking five minutes to remind listeners that it’s time to cross back over into “normal” humanity.

In our correspondence, Logan, who hails from Michigan but moved to Los Angeles two years ago, alluded to frustrations over the sporadic completion of various projects. However, he is working on a new album – inspired by the pending birth of a friend’s child – that will be “positive and more upbeat” in opposition to the vibe of “Drone.” It seems that Logan Seguin is still honing in on what sound he’ll ultimately be known for, but at least he’s demonstrated that he’ll make the exploration worthwhile for listeners.

logan seguin - drone (album preview) by experimedia

--Elaine Ordiz

Fresh Snow: "Saturation Complete"

2011-11-20T18:08:00.002-08:00

Saturation Complete is the first single from the Toronto four piece, Fresh Snow, available on soundcloud. It’s a catchy, post rock jam with a driving bass line that lays the foundation while the piece goes through phases of spacey synth/computer sounds, to fuzzed out chaotic guitar that interrupts the groove. It calms for a few moments but continues to climb, like the climactic last scene of a bank heist movie, without the resolution of pop music we’re all used to. The band is finishing up an album, which “will be broader in scope” and even have vocals on a couple of tracks. While you wait for that sure-to-be-cool release, check out Saturation Complete and help yourself to a download:

Saturation Complete by Fresh Snow

EP Review: Finger Fangs – Nine Species

2011-11-14T12:00:00.003-08:00

There’s a portion of “Teutonic Mythology,” a literary resource for German and Norse mythology, which refers to “nine species of holden.” The bad holden are described as elfish beings that “waste away the man at whom they are aimed.” It could just be a coincidence that the Brisbane-based experimental Finger Fangs named its free four-track EP “Nine Species,” but either way, the title fits this eerie collection of ambient sounds, field recordings and otherworldly soundscapes.

The opener, “Jackal Emperor Down on Earth Blues for Sale,” utilizes animal-like grunts, minimalist guitar instrumentation, whistling (which could also be interpreted as a monotone shriek) for an overall ghoulish effect. The ghostly “Pink Rainbow” offers up far-away howls and muffled voices -- the sounds of a mist-filled graveyard waiting to suck you into the depths (or a good old-fashioned scary haunted maze).

The clanging metallic noises and empty hallway feel of “Enwebbed” immediately brought to mind Emika’s “Cooling Room” (from last year’s Ostgut Ton Fünf compilation, which also incorporated found sounds); but instead of being ushered into an empty warehouse club, Finger Fangs listeners are ushered into the ninth circle of hell.

Enwebbed by Finger Fangs

Not too long ago, Soundcloud (where you can find more Finger Fangs tracks) posted the “What Is Sound” video, asking other musicians and sound artists to describe how they relate to sound. It was another reminder that “there’s music in every sound.” Finger Fangs clearly holds this concept to heart with “Nine Species” – it’s just that in this case, the music is dark, creepy, and if you dwell in it too long, it may just waste away at you.

--Elaine Ordiz

Sarongs – Prison Art/Velidoxi Tape

2011-11-10T14:31:00.007-08:00

It’s taken a little bit of time for news about the short-lived Syracuse band, Sarongs, to cross the country, but their post-punk sounds have now seeped in here at Caliper. In September, the now-defunct act (which formed in fall 2010 and broke up this spring) released a self-titled 7-track tape via Prison Art that proves quality always trumps quantity: the Sarongs debut grabs you, shakes you around, smashes you into a wall, then expects you to beg for more.

The album kicks off with “Pedestrian,” which drifts from fuzzed-out “evil surf punk” to piercing chaotic garage rock. “North Face” is all swagger and growl and fierce percussion courtesy of Wes Garlock, with singer Lindsey Leonard (who at times brings to mind the Ettes’ Coco Hames) breaking out into a sing-songy voice to ask, “Do you love me, do you really love me?” (Note: it’s not a love song when vomiting sounds are involved).

It’s unfortunate Sarongs broke up prior to the rise of the Occupy Wall Street movement in their home state – they could provide some seriously defiant, kick-ass rallying songs. For example, “Mineral” is an art rock commentary on the War in Afghanistan, and “Pixel” accuses “you bastard child of the glitzy corporate / fermenting my sour grapes to celebrate / spitting and slurring / with that / trashy postmodern inflection.”

With so many shifts in tempo and genre (and even Lindsey’s vocal range), the album can be a challenging first listen. This is not background noise for a hipster coffeehouse, it’s not totally danceable, nor is it a 100 percent “I’m-angry-and-need-to-rage” banger. However, guitarist Andrew Nerviano’s unconventional riffs, combined with the rest of the band’s frenetic energy, should appeal to fans of math-rock/post-punk/psychobilly who like a side of sharp, smart lyrics.

The album concludes with a slow-burning cover of Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses,” made infamously disturbing by its use in Silence of the Lambs as Buffalo Bill dances in front of the camera. Like that scene, Sarongs seems to be saying: “You know you can’t take your eyes off of us, even though you want to … you’re just as twisted as us, aren’t you?”

In Sarongs’ brief stint, they’d garnered decent buzz in Syracuse for their wild live shows. However, Lindsey recently moved out to L.A., so West Coasters like myself can only hope that she finds a new project to help shake up the local punk scene, like Sarongs had started to in New York.

Pedestrian by sarongs

--Elaine Ordiz

Walter Gross Podcast Vol 13

2011-11-04T18:06:00.001-07:00

Walter Gross, the ambient/experimental producer has been doing his own podcast featuring some pretty unique and eclectic sounds. Check out the latest playlist:

Co La: Dialtone Earth/Fugitive of Leisure

2011-11-03T11:21:00.004-07:00

For those of us who are in denial that the end of Halloween just marked the beginning of the winter holiday season, a dose of musical escapism may be in order. Co La, the solo project of Matt Papich (founder of Ecstatic Sunshine and mainstay of the Baltimore experimental music scene), is the man willing to provide your fix. Co La’s "Dialtone Earth" (essentially a 48-minute mix), and "Fugitive of Leisure" (a four-track EP), both available via Bandcamp, are just right for warming up ears as the weather cools down.

Listening to “Dialtone Earth” is like unfolding a desert island soundtrack to a strange mix of movies. Take the first third: bubbly instrumentation that could belong in the 1950s (soaring strings included), fused with subtle reggae skank. It’s Pleasantville meets Pulp Fiction – innocent until you scratch the surface and find a bored housewife ready to dance her way to a drugged-up stupor.

The vibe is definitely by design: “Dialtone Earth” is interspersed with readings from Thomas Pynchon’s 1966 novel, “The Crying of Lot 49,” a book full of hippie satire and conspiracy theories. The mix’s psychedelic feel is punctuated by the final 20 minutes, which comprise ‘80s synth sensibilities, a splash of island calypso and swishy dark ambience (think Emeralds popping Ambien while on a Caribbean vacation).

Co La’s “Fugitive of Leisure,” released in September, takes the dreamy state of “Dialtone Earth” and makes it heavier and sexier. If the video for the first track, “Blood Orange Crush,” doesn’t make you feel a little (or way) hotter on a cold day, I don’t know what will:

Co La - Blood Orange Crush from Co La on Vimeo.

Another track, “Blanketing Marrakesh” fizzes and pops like some steamy international adventure, and the last song, “Manhattan Possessions” twists up the blues then sticks it underwater. Personally, I prefer this latter EP overall, since I’m a fan of wonky and frenetic beats – but I’ll fall sleep tonight listening to “Dialtone Earth.”

--Elaine Ordiz

EP Review: mangulicaFM – Third Eye

2011-10-25T09:27:00.007-07:00

A lot of attention has been heaped this year on young basement DJs and hip-hop prodigies who have successfully leveraged the newest tech toys and viral word-of-mouth to their full advantage. While those artists’ skills are of course impressive, sometimes it’s just more interesting to hear from a producer whose inspiration comes from somewhere slightly deeper than a swimming pool of “#firstworldproblems.” Enter 22-year-old Serbian producer Luka Papic, a.k.a. mangulicaFM, who grew up in Belgrade – a longtime focal point of political and economic upheaval. His new six-track EP, “Third Eye,” is available now as a free Bandcamp download.

You can see history’s influence on the album cover (a counterculture nod to the Bulgarian flag) and the song titles (“Crnjanski” presumably honors the social-political poet/diplomat of the same name). More importantly, you hear it in the tracks, which build upon Serbian samples and folk themes (song 2, “Hromi Daba,” is the name of a Slavic deity), then layer on dark synths, a smattering of vocals, and chopped up dub reggae-like beats.

Regardless of how much (or how little) you care about mangulicaFM’s roots, “Third Eye” is an aural treat for any experimental beat junkie. It’s like something Burial or DJ/rupture might make if they had grown up in the woods vs. endlessly rainy cities, and had shorter attention spans (all the songs are under three minutes long). “Naputuholesterola” (don’t ask how it’s pronounced) may be the most accessible: this closer is a serious head-bobber that could easily fit into a Forest Swords mixtape or Flying Lotus DJ set.

mangulicaFM, who cites Tom Waits, RZA and Monolake as key influences, recently moved to Hamburg, Germany to study film. Hopefully, this just means someday he’ll be able to deliver a full A/V set that incorporates the Serbian folklore that inspires his decidedly modern sound.

(And if you like "Third Eye," you may also want to check out an excerpt from the March EP, "Disznotor," a collaboration with L.A.-based dead/Bird):

mangulicaFM - shortcuts (with dead/Bird) by mangulicaFM

--Elaine Ordiz

Walter Gross and Lost and Found Sound Split

2011-10-15T17:26:00.005-07:00

Starting in Baltimore and moving to Los Angeles, Walter Gross has been making dark, ambient tape loops and beats, along with album art and his own brand of video montage for quite a while now. His latest release is a split with the Arizona artist Lost and Found Sound. The album contains ambient medleys and soundscapes from Gross, a collection of sounds that combine to create a different world of experience and new meanings. In the opening track: Poor Man Blues, for instance, re-contextualized samples of a black folk tune, over dark, moody bass and drums give a different feel to the familiar blues track. A sample monologue from the film Slacker comes in and the idea becomes clear: the benefit of struggle, finding what your made of, etc. Other tracks are more minimal, using nature sounds, instruments, mixer feedback, samples, effects, etc. that, together, seem to hint at something distant and dream like. Side B features unique tape/electronic hardware manipulations from Lost and Found Sound.
The album can be purchased from Gross's website, where you'll also find all the cool videos he produces. He also has a Soundcloud and Bandcamp page with past work that are worth checking out. Here's an excerpt from Time Lapse:

Time Lapse c60 Walter Gross *Excerpt by Walter Gross

And here's a beautiful video clip made by Walter for "Alone" off of the split:

Ed Wrzesien - "Choas Atlantis"

2011-10-08T11:34:00.003-07:00

Ed Wrzesien's new project, "Choas Atlantis," is a generative music program developed by Wrzesien that uses oceanic data to create ambient music. Ed explains: "My idea was to pull ocean marine data from the NOAA data buoy website and feed that data into sound generating algorithms. I ended up using the music programming language, Supercollider, to create the sounds. Starting simple, I began using the water and air temperatures to choose the tonic pitches of my tone arrays. If the air temperature was 79.4 degrees Fahrenheit, I would multiply 79.4 * 10 to get a tonic pitch of 794Hz. I used the water temperature similarly to control the pitch of my more “noisier” sounds. The wait times between notes are divided by wind speed. For example, some sounds wait 5 seconds divided by wind speed before another sound is played; the higher the wind speed, the faster the tempo of the music. The dominant wave period is used to choose from several arrays of multipliers that make up different tonal scales. The wave heights are used to control amplitudes of oscillators in a variety of contexts. In short, this is a combination of data sonification and chance operations. All of it is steered by real time weather events."

It may just be the knowledge of how these sounds are created, but one gets the sense there are forces at work that are outside of our control, giving the music an almost ominous feel. You can listen to Choas Atlantis in real time from the homepage. Here's a soundcloud excerpt:

Chaos Atlantis Excerpt www.chaosatlantis.com by Ed Wrzesien

New Release: Paul Heslin - Chaque Jour

2011-10-04T21:02:00.007-07:00

Paul Heslin released his second EP this week, entitled: "Chaque Jour." Using everyday sounds of the happenings, routines, and climaxes of life, Chaque Jour is more sonically and rhythmically compelling, than the ordinary things we often take for granted. According to Heslin: "no instruments were used in the making of this record. The sounds used were from a shower, eating breakfast (eggs on toast), catching a train (pakenham line), working (rosebud projection room), watching tv (channel surfing), sex (in paris), and sleeping (snoring)." It's Available on compact disc or free download through Bandcamp.

True Aristocrats - "Susurrus"

2011-10-02T10:25:00.002-07:00

The two piece prog/experimental band from Fort Collins, True Aristocrats, have an interesting handful of EPs and albums (one of which, Haruspex Cremisi EP, was made entirely in 24 hours). Their latest release is Susurrus. From ethereal electronics, furious metal rhythms, quiet, dark acoustics, to noisy guitar-effected ambiance and back again, Susurrus is like riding a sonic roller coaster made of right angles.

While a direct comparison would not be fair, fans of Mr. Bungle, The Mars Volta, and maybe Hella would do well to have a listen. Their catalog can be streamed and downloaded (name your price) from their bandcamp page. Here's a track off of Susurrus:

Xibalba by True Aristocrats

Wax Fingers - "Pierre Fauchard" Video

2011-10-01T09:57:00.003-07:00

I think this was kind of eclipsed by the Radiohead video I posted the same day. So, here it is again... because I can do that.

Wax Fingers - Pierre Fauchard from Aaron King on Vimeo.

Thom Yorke Lion Attack

2011-09-27T19:11:00.004-07:00

Stephen Colbert said to google "Thom Yorke Lion Attack" to find the second half of the episode featuring performances and interviews with Radiohead. I couldn't help but bait you with a stupid phrase that I knew people would be searching for... Anyways, check out their performance of "The Daily Mail" (previously unreleased).

AIDS Wolf new album (Oct. 4): Ma vie banale avant-garde

2011-09-25T13:03:00.004-07:00

Active for the better part of the 2000’s, Montreal’s AIDS Wolf is now getting ready to release their fourth lp and first double lp, Ma vie banale avant-garde. The band has been tagged as no-wave, noise rock, experimental, in a word: fuckin crazy (ok, two words). If your unfamiliar, imagine a barrage of atonal guitar riffs, wicked witch vocals, and loud, tantrum-like drumming feeding off of each other in what sounds like a collective emotional breakdown. According to the band's home page, while recording the new album, the band grew a bit and developed it’s sound as it “focused on polyrhythm and flowing, elastic tempos.” “In AIDS Wolf’s compositional approach the band ‘learns its mistakes’, composing songs by learning improvised passages off blown out cassette tapes recorded on a trusty GE tape portable device.”

Ma vie banale avant-garde drops on Oct. 4, 2011 on Lovepump United and will be celebrated with a release show on Oct 7th at Quebec's largest museum of modern art, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. Have a peek at an mp3 off the new album and check out upcoming tour dates in the US here. This is from their last album, March to the Sea:

Teaching To Suffer by AIDS Wolf

Apperception

2011-09-24T16:32:00.003-07:00

Solo project of Toronto composer Joey Hoyda, Apperception is an ambient guitar project distinguished by experimentation with polyrhythm, melody, and musical ambiguity, playing with the perception of the listener. It has it’s roots in a concept explored previously by Hoyda in a quintet. In that project, according to Hoyda: “a single repeating note pattern was orchestrated with an indefinite feel and time signature, allowing the listener to focus on different musical cues and create their own time signature depending on the object of their attention.” In some pieces, like Zappa Memorial BBQ, one main melody seems to stabilize the piece, which you eventually forget is there and begin to focus on all the counter melodies, while the percussion moves you through different phases of the composition. Other times, it is unclear what melodies are leading, and different rhythms seem to be fighting each other, but it all blends together in a beautiful, spacey ambiance.

More information, a link to purchase the CD and a free download of the album are available at the homepage. Check out the trippy fractal video made for Zappa Memorial BBQ:

PAS

2011-09-20T19:18:00.002-07:00

Post Abortion Stress is the angst and psychological trauma a women experiences after an aborted pregnancy. It is also a collective of abstract sound artists from Brooklyn. Started by Robert Pepper in 1995, the name is a metaphor for “those who have been aborted by society, because their point of view doesn’t fit in the constraints of ‘normal’ society,” and the music they create expresses this alienation, along with an affinity for pure sound. PAS’s music, it seems to me, is more akin to art than music. Although the music hints at patterns and rhythms, it’s more like a free form sound collage with no traditional musical foundation. It’s a combination of effected sounds, often made with found objects, that talk to and interact with each other in ways that only the individual listener can propose in his or her own mind. It is like music for a strange animation, with the listener’s own imagination, experiences, and memories left to draw the images.

They have a pretty impressive catalog, which includes some interesting collaborations and side projects like the new york quartet Jazzfakers, and they’ve performed at countless music festivals around the world. Info on all of their concerts, collaborations, videos, as well as a complete discography for sale is on their homepage. This is from their 2010 collab with HATI, appropriately called: P.H.A.S.T.I.
PAS & HATI - Stage 4 (Delta Sleep) by Alrealon Musique

Interview with Pete from Wax Fingers

2011-09-18T14:59:00.004-07:00

I talked with Pete from the band Wax Fingers a while back about a range of subjects: musical influences, the difficulties of collaborative song writing, and making a name for themselves in the Portland music scene. Refer to the original post on them for more info and links.

Matt: So how long have you guys been at it?

Pete: About five years... Our first EP with a bassist was in 2008. He left immediately after, and this was after we had sort of been searching for a long time… after he left we kind of said “fuck it, we’re done looking for bassists” and that was when I started incorporating electronics into the show. We incorporated more looping and more samples and then bass tracks and things like that and it’s really dramatically shifted the sound to what you hear on the new album.

Matt: You guys actually did pretty good without a bassist. I didn’t really notice…

Pete: Our bassist is a computer or one of us on guitar using a pitch shifter, or playing bass lines on synth. There's definitely a low end on that album… Some of it is triggered samples. Sometimes live we have to play the pre-recorded tracks.

Matt: Ok, so how did you guys all meet originally?

Pete: We are a craigslist band… Tommy, the drummer, and I were both putting up craigslist ads looking for people. He was finishing up school down in Eugene and he was putting up ads for when he moved back to portland and the two of us kept answering each others' ads. It was like: “oh it’s you again…” and the two of us played. It was great. Then I played with Zac, the other guitar player, and just hit it off. It was kind of like, effortless…

Matt: Are you guys all from Portland or surrounding areas?

Pete: Tommy is a Portland native, I grew up in Ohio and then spent some time in Chicago, I was in Chicago about four years and then moved to Portland. Zac is from Florida, grew up there. So, both Zac and I are transplants.

Matt: It seems like the idea that Portland is like this indie rock haven or whatever is growing in popularity. Did you move there for that reason or….?

Pete: I moved out here, 7 years ago, I guess, now… I had just always wanted to move to the west coast. Chicago was not turning out to be what I wanted it to be as far as music anyways. I was busting my ass and looking for people to play with and nothing was coming together really and Portland, there’s the music scene, it's one of the cheaper cities that you can live in on the west coast… and I got here and within a year I was playing with these guys I’m still playing with… Its been exponentially better than my time in Chicago. Zac would probably say the same thing… So, we moved here looking for something.

Matt: How have you guys faired in that music scene, because I feel like you guys have more of a progressive, almost experimental edge. How does that go over up there?

Pete: How does it go over in Portland? Uuh… (laughs), not as well as we’d like it to. We bitch about the scene here. We love Portland but I’d say there's a lot of regurgitation of the same sort of material over and over again. The same music with different cued instruments, you could say, (laughs). I don’t want to bad mouth the scene too much, but we have definitely run into a hard time, even with the newspapers and media here… They celebrate a lot of bands, and its been hard to get them to grab on to our stuff… Actually, recently, we’ve heard, there’s been a lot of rock bands and bands that are doing some more experimental stuff and it’s been kind of exciting. Not all of it is necessarily experimental but it’s just bigger and louder… We need more of that I think.

Matt: You guys seem pretty eclectic to me. What are your various influences?

Pete: We all like a lot of different stuff but Animal Collective definitely had a big influence on all of us, with Sung Tongs and Feels… combined with stuff like Don Caballero and Battles. We’re definitely big fans of Battles. In my mind, I think a lot of what I hoped to do is sort of combine some of the new pop elements that have been introduced by bands like Animal Collective with some of the more math rock, experimental, rhythmically jagged stuff, from stuff like battles. We’re big fans of Tortoise and Radiohead, and Tom Waits too. We like Raunchy stuff as well.

Matt: Interesting, I don’t think your style is easily pinned down, but if you had to think of a weird genre name, what would it be?

Pete: Uum, (laughs), we get called all sorts of weird stuff, psychedelic math rock I guess… experimental math pop, (laughs) I don’t know! It’s becoming less weird as far as time signature is going. So we’re, in a lot of ways, leaving the math rock thing behind.

Matt: Talk about your creative process a little bit. Do you guys share the song writing responsibility?

Pete: It’s pretty collaborative. I’ll often bring an idea or Zac will bring an idea and we tend to sort of tear it apart and put it back together again… I tend to be the one that sort of comes with a full song idea, and then Zach will tell me what sucks about it. (laughs), We’ll arrange and move it around at practice. Inevitably, it just turns into something completely different than what it starts as, because Tommy is such an aggressive, crazy drummer, that sometimes the beat just changes the mood in such a way that you’ve got to adjust the way that your going about playing what your playing ya know? And the same thing goes for Zac’s parts. He does a lot of the weird pedal and effected guitar stuff that you hear. And sometimes… it’s like well “fuck, this is a completely different thing,” and now the song needs to go to this place instead. It’s really unpredictable in that way and it definitely ends up being more than any of us can pull off on our own.

Matt: Right. It sounds like you guys use a lot of effects. Do one of you guys have a discount at Guitar Center or something?

Pete: (laughs)… I try to avoid Guitar Center as much as I can, but we buy and sell gear. Most of what we buy is used just because shit is so expensive these days. Zac and I both recently got two new crazy effects pedals, Eventide effects pedals. I got the Pitch Factor and he got the Time Factor. I imagine that they are going to have a pretty big impact on our sound for the next year or two.

Matt: How long did it take you guys to finish recording the album? That’s a big accomplishment: recording a whole album.

Pete: About 9 months. We recorded the first batch of songs, and overdubbed and built the whole thing and then scrapped, I think, two songs, and recorded two or three more. So, the whole process took about nine months, with shit being recorded and mixed and built up on top of it for most of that time. A lot of it… changed in the recording process. There’s stuff that we do a lot differently now, live, because we didn’t know exactly what it sounded like or how it was supposed to be until we recorded it.

Matt: Did you guys record yourselves or work with someone in a studio?

Pete: I recorded all of it, pretty much. We did it in basements and living rooms around Portland Oregon, (laughs). I would love to be able to go into a studio and have a producer but so much time gets put into it, so much time screwing around with different sounds, different melodies, different things… this album didn’t become what it is until we got to build on these songs and make them all into what they are, and none of that would have happened if we had been working in a studio, because, ya know, $300 a day…

Matt: Got it. What was the biggest hurdle, or thing you had to overcome to get this album done?

Pete: … There were a few tunes on the album that just weren’t working… Because it is so collaborative… we need to wrestle with each one of these tunes, for two or three months sometimes before they really feel complete… We didn’t have a huge batch of songs and so I think the challenge was getting the last two or three of them up to par. Abacus was a big to do. (laughs) We fucked around with that song forever to get it to where it finally went.

Matt: So that one took forever huh? I like that one.

Pete: Yeah (laughs), we can barely pull that one off live because it took so much work after the fact.

Matt: Interesting. I always find it amazing that a band is even able to come together and agree creatively on what it is (laughs) that they are trying to do… To me that’s the hardest thing: the politics of art or music… trying to agree on your vision. How do you think you were able to do that, or do you think you were able to do that?

Pete: Yeah, we bicker and stuff. I think I tend to be the most sensitive (laughs), about the music I make, its like I bring this thing to the band and I think they are supposed to fucking love it or something, and half the time it just gets torn apart. Zac is the one that kind of digs in… And I go home and stu on it a bit and figure something else out and it ends up getting better. I think we’ve found a good Balance. I don’t think it is very common. I think all three of us in this band have more creative input than most bands do. In other bands, it’s usually just one person calling the shots and everyone just kind of agrees that this is the person calling the shots, so everyone else does what they’re told. And our band is not at all like that, and we were just sort of lucky enough to have found each other… We all have the same feeling about what is good and what isn’t… We still bitch about stuff and get on each other’s nerves, but it’s also why we can’t find a fuckin bass player (laughs). We always talk about: “aww man if we just had one other person to hit those notes on the synth or shake that thing or beat on this drum pad or play this bass line…” We always talk about how we want this auxilary person… and every time a fourth person walks in the room its fuckin akward (laughs). Its like someone watching you have sex with your girlfriend or something (laughs).

Matt: (Laughs)… Any recent commercial successes to talk about?

Pete: Well, there’s this guy who writes for this blog called Caliper Music who really took a liking to our music (laughs).

Matt: (laughing) ok…

Pete: ... We got asked to play a music fest North West, which we were really fuckin excited about. We had to, very sadly, turn it down because of a wedding… we got picked up by this small booking and management agency called Octopus Entertainment. They really took a liking to us and have helped make some of our more recent gigs be more successful… We’ve been shopping around, sending this thing out and doing our best to get people to care. We’ve made some fans but as far as commercial success goes, we’re still waiting.

Matt: Are you guys planning any tours or anything like that?

Pete: We’re gonna do a short little northwest thing here in the next few months but it will just be Seattle, Olympia, Bellingham, Vancouver, maybe Boise or something like that. Just a small little thing and then probably next spring we’ll head out and do a bigger west coast thing.

"False Awakenings" (a video by Celeste Byers)

2011-09-17T10:01:00.004-07:00

A trippy short video by Celeste Byers, a visual artist based in Los Angeles, False Awakenings was made using live action time-lapse photographs and features music from Disappearing People (a side project of the bay area Psychedelic prog band Moccretro).

FALSE AWAKENINGS from Celeste Byers on Vimeo.

Religious Girls - Midnight Realms

2011-09-16T18:31:00.002-07:00

Although I just stumbled upon the bay area band Religious Girls recently, It’s been a couple of years since 2009’s Open Your Heart to Fantasy. Their follow up EP, Midnight Realms is more psychedelic synth melody drowned effects, zealous chanting, and pulsing rhythms with the occasional change up. It's worth a listen. This track is available for free download on their bandcamp.

OG by Religious Girls

New Deerhoof Live Album

2011-09-15T17:59:00.003-07:00

Earlier this year, at a show on their Deerhoof vs. Evil tour, Deerhoof recorded a live album which they just released for free. 99% Upset Feeling contains 11 tracks from past albums and attempts to capture the high energy presence of the band. Check out one of the tracks:

Deerhoof - Pinhead

Download the album from their homepage.

Modus Pony

2011-09-12T19:46:00.006-07:00

A unique little home recorded album, Modus Pony is made up of interesting experimental ideas contained inside succinct, elegant compositions: random distorted chanting that somehow morphs into a song, dissonant layered organ melodies with a funky beat, a song composed entirely of feedback loops, etc. It's weird and seemingly chaotic at times, but it's tempered with catchy melody and infectious rhythm in tracks like "Star Sweeper" (albeit with some randomized drum breaks). The album, which includes two free tracks, is available on the Bandcamp page.
Modus Pony - How to Unatomize a Chicken by howlingcaliper

New Hella album: Tripper

2011-09-11T18:17:00.002-07:00

I don't think Hella has ever done anything I don't like. Their new album, Tripper, is a return to the original two-piece structure the band had so much success with in the early 2000's. The duo of Seim and Hill move through (by now familiar) scrambled beats, drastically changing time signatures, accompanied by noisy, angular guitar riffs with the occasionally discernable "hook." Basically, it's enjoyable if you like Hella and is a good example of a band that knows their sound, and each other very well, and has it all down to a crazy science.

Tripper by Hella

Wax Fingers

2011-09-08T22:04:00.003-07:00

A unique and eclectic band hailing from Portland OR, Wax Fingers recently released a self-titled debut album that brings together some pretty diverse contemporary styles: experimental, math rock, progressive, psychedelic. “Animal Collective with a math rock edge” seems to be apt at first listen, but stay tuned and you’ll find it’s far from simplistic or contrived. There’s an authenticity to the album that makes the stylistic blend seem like their own, with jagged yet understandable rhythms, dynamic and practiced vocalization, artful use of electronics/effects, and sometimes spastic guitar riffs. Even styles you wouldn’t expect to hear seem to rear their heads (“Pummel Horse” has kind of a Klezmer, “Strange Days” sort of feel to it). While its probably too early to call them auteurs, solid musicianship paired with an interesting creative vision makes Wax Fingers one to watch. The Album is available to stream on Soundcloud (including a couple of free downloads), or it can be purchased on their homepage.
Sticky Bees by waxfingers

Pink City - Pitcher (from "Designing Women")

2011-09-06T17:22:00.003-07:00

Somewhere between punk and noise, between the US and UK, Pink City, the duo from two different continents, has a heavy, degraded sound, with some monotron and samples mixed in for nuance. As ear-splitting and gritty as it is, however, there’s also a bare honesty and passion, felt especially in the uncompromising vocals of Mike, that makes the music instinctually accessible, yet almost scary for the same reason. Their debut album is Designing Women and is available for download on Bandcamp.
Pink City - Pitcher by ilove5ive

Ernie Althoff - The Way I See It/You've Got the Option

2011-09-05T19:59:00.002-07:00

From Shame File Music: Ernie Althoff is a Melbourne sound artist and instrument maker active in the Australian experimental music scene since the late 1970s. He is unique not only for the original textures and sonic elements he creates, often tempered with wry humor, but also for his practically continuous contribution to and participation in the Melbourne experimental music community for over three decades. Shame File Music is very proud to present online reissues of each cassette, complete with cover art, original liner notes and Althoff's thoughts on these recordings today, all for free download/streaming, or on CDR with basic artwork if you prefer.

The Way I See It by erniealthoff

Paul Heslin - Shower (from chaque jour ep)

2011-09-03T11:54:00.003-07:00

Paul Heslin, the Australian born experimental musician hears the sounds around us in a different way than you or I. He transforms everyday experience into strange rhythmic soundscapes that are as interesting as they are oddly enjoyable. He also seems to share a mind with the experimental artists of old, judging from the set of rules he lays out on the bandcamp page for his album "Rubbernecker" (“sound may only derive from the performer's voice or room sounds… recordings must be performable live,” etc.) His new EP, to be released 1st of October 2011, is chaque jour.

shower from pauljheslin@yahoo.com on Vimeo.

Trackathaday: Silver Apples - Starlight Noodle

2011-08-28T11:36:00.004-07:00

Active between 1967 and 1969, the duo from New York reformed in the mid 1990s. One of the first bands to use electronic instruments in a rock context, their minimalistic style, pulsing rhythm and often discordant electronic melodies made them popular not only in the experimental and krautrock scenes of the 1970s, but also the indie rock and electro scenes of the 90s.

Trackathaday: Zorch - E.M.F.

2011-08-25T18:47:00.004-07:00

Not to be confused with the electronic U.K. band from the seventies, this duo from Austin Texas produces dense omnichord melodies, catchy, dynamic compositions, soulful vocals, and an all together weird/fun vibe. Their latest EP is Cosmic Gloss/E.M.F.
Side B - E.M.F. by zorch

Sparky and the Random Band: Making the Strange Things Happen (Everyday)

2011-08-22T17:10:00.005-07:00

Patrick and Jami, the husband and wife duo out of Minnesota known as Sparky and the Random Band have been making free form experimental music and videos for about a year now. Ambient and bizarre, their music, as well as their videos, create an alternate sensory experience. Listening to the music, I find myself asking: “what’s making this noise?” Then I watch their videos and ask: “what am I seeing here?” Eventually I give up trying to guess how they made that weird sound and I’m simply absorbed in it like an acid trip. Its amazing that they are able to achieve this other worldly quality considering their material is improvised and recorded live in their basement, with an old multi-track recorder. "It's based on free form jazz and beat poetry but made with effects pedals” Patrick says. "We make music, make videos and then post them to the internet… sometimes all in one day.” The instruments range from an old Conn organ, Moog theremin, didgeridoo, vocal samples, and even their cat Ozma, all of which are diluted with effects until they sound like something else entirely. Always adventurous and experimental, they try to “make the strange things happen (everyday)” as their tag line goes. Their new EP is called "Organza." It is available for free download along with their other albums on Vibedeck. They also have a blog with a little more info including a completely true story about how the band started. And make sure you check out all their weird videos. Like this one:

Drawdio

2011-08-21T09:37:00.001-07:00

This is a video for a new little theremin gadget that I've seen some people posting around Twitter. It works by the electrical connection between people or objects, so you can turn almost anything into an instrument. Its a very basic little circuit but the idea of turning all your interactions with the world into music, I think, has huge potential. I love the idea of turning something visual, kinesthetic, or otherwise non-musical into music. It's an idea that has been explored by experimental musicians before (I'm thinking of John Cage poking holes through spots on cardboard with a pen onto musical staffs on the other side), but as far as I know, not quite this way.

The Ladies (Zach Hill + Rob Crowe)

2011-08-20T08:45:00.002-07:00

Thought I'd check up with Zach Hill to see what the busiest drummer alive is doing. Turns out: not much, but I realized I never listened much to The Ladies (the collab with Rob Crowe from Pinback back in 2006). They make a good two piece. Crowe's soulful yet somewhat mellow vocals and distinct melodic picking style is a good counter to Zach's furious, unconventional drumming:

Big Spider's Back - Black Chow

2011-08-19T09:25:00.004-07:00

It's amazing what one can do with some old logging video and a sense of irony. I like all the trippy dissolves in the beginning. It goes perfect with the chill wave kind of vibe.

Brian Eno and Generative Music

2011-08-18T16:10:00.004-07:00

Brian Eno's concept of generative music is basically a musical system that feeds on itself and improvises (out of the control of a composer) under certain parameters. In other words, a system, game, or procedure created by the composer determines the music, not the composer. The history of experimental music is full of pioneers exploring this avenue, Steve Reich, John Cage, Terry Riley, etc. Each performance is unique, being just one of many possible musical outcomes, rather than a set composition. In 1996 Eno, with the help of SSEYO, developed Koan, the first generative music computer program. A few years back Eno and a software designer developed Bloom, a generative music iphone app. Makes me wish I had an iphone. Here's a demonstration:

Chelsea Wolfe - Mer

2011-08-17T20:05:00.002-07:00

Chelsea Wolfe’s upcoming album, due out August 23rd on Pendu Sound, is titled “Ἀποκάλυψις,” which is Greek for “apocalypse.” Obviously pretty dark, which I dig as long as it's authentic and not going for some generic goth sound (or the current "witch house" incantation). If it succeeds in giving me the chills, I'm in. You gotta love this rhythm, and the guitar line too:

Halloween Swim Team - Science Fiction

2011-08-16T20:28:00.003-07:00

Sorry people, haven't updated in a while. I've been working on other stuff, including the new Twitter account (which you should follow... now!). Anywho, I'll try to update more frequently. Here's a little track from the LA band Halloween Swim Team. I like the retro synth/electronic sounds they are so fond of. They also did a cover of David Bowie's "Look Back In Anger" which is worth checking out.
Halloween Swim Team "Science Fiction" by howtobeamicrowave

Noise Room

2011-08-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

This comp, Noise Room from Sonig, has a lot of cool electronic/experimental stuff from artists like Black Dice and Kevin Blechdom. Definately worth adding to your library.
Robomomma by blechdom

Fire! with Jim O'Rourke - (excerpts from Unrealeased?)

2011-08-05T00:28:00.006-07:00

Jim O'rourke's new collaboration with the swedish avant garde group Fire! Read alabootit on the pitchfork.
fire! with jim o'rourke - unreleased (album preview) by experimedia

Tickely Feather - Trashy Boys

2011-08-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

Philadelphia's Annie Sachs, better known as Tickley Feather (on Animal Collective's Paw Tracks records) achieves an almost eerie, ethereal yet fun and catchy sound, which is impressive considering it's all home recorded. This track, for instance, could easily be a pop hit from any decade depending on how you play it, but washed in effects, it takes on another, stranger quality. The video is kinda trippy/funny. White trash will never cease to make me laugh.

Thao and Mirah w/ tUnE-yaRds - Eleven

2011-08-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Thao Nguyen of Thao With the Get Down Stay Down got together with singer/songwriter Mirah under the name Thao & Mirah. Their self-titled debut is out now via Kill Rock Stars. tUnE-yaRds mastermind Merrill Garbus co-produced, and wrote this song. It's a cool track, especially the intro, very tUnE-yaRds.
Thao and Mirah - Eleven (ft. tUnE-YarDs) by snipelondon

Fractal Music

2011-07-30T13:08:00.001-07:00

If you don't know about fractals there's some cool videos on youtube you should watch, but basically they are "self similar" patterns found everywhere in nature from plants to cell phone chips. I learned about fractals a while back and wondered about their possible application in music. I had my own ideas, but here's how some scientists in the late 90's went about it. They used a method involving L-systems, which is explained on their website much better than I could break down for you. They produced many different midi tracks using methods such as this, which one might say are more interesting than enjoyable, but I think there's definitely artistic potential here and it depends on the artist using these methods and how they use them.
Fractal Research (Hazard, Kimport, Johnson)-Erie chords by howlingcaliper

Trackathaday: Micachu - Vulture

2011-07-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

01 Vulture - Micachu by radieschen

Flaming Lips and Lightning Bolt Collaboration

2011-07-22T22:43:00.000-07:00

I really like the experimental direction the Flaming Lips have gone down in recent years. Now they collaborated with Lightning bolt on a limited Flaming Lips collab 12" with Lightning Bolt due out next week. This video is trippy and amusing to me. I love the vocals on this track.

Negativland - Nesbitt's Lime Soda

2011-07-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

I was just listening to this song today and it occurred to me that a big part of experimental music/art requires being unattached from your work. Take this Negativland track for instance, if it were me, I would tend to resist "ruining" this cool, dark chord progression with lyrics about a bee flying into your lime soda, and try to write fitting lyrics in an expressionistic kind of way. Well, you have to be brave to try new things. And a sense of humor doesn't hurt either.

Red Crayola

2011-07-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not much for noise music or non-musical "screwing around", as much of what is referred to as "experimental music" seems to be, but I do like this tape loop from "Parable of Arable Land". Instead of using the loop as a foundation however, all the improve sounds are arrhythmic. The band dubbed this jamming style as "free form freak out."

Deerhoof special 7" with guest vocalist

2011-07-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

Woom on Hoof is part of a series of collaborative 7"s featuring guest vocalists singing self-composed lyrics and vocal melodies over a Deerhoof instrumental track. Side A features SF/NYC-based WOOM (Ba Da Bing) on Deerhoof's "Must Fight Current." Side B features the WOOM song "Quetzalcoatl's Ship" mixed by Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier. Available on Polyvinyl Records

Steve Reich/Rebecca Black (together at last)

2011-07-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

I apologize for perpetuating the fading popularity of this girl but I came across this on sound cloud and got a kick out of it. It's based on one of Reich's phasing tape loops I assume.
Rebecca Black x Steve Reich - Fun by wlonkly

Religious Girls

2011-07-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

I like their sample heavy, Animal Collective(ish) kind of sound. They are doing a free show today in Potrero Del Sol park in San Francisco today, along with some other good bands. Check out the line up.

Delora by Religious Girls

Jackie-O Motherfucker - "The Cryin Sea"

2011-07-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

Not an irish guy with a funny name, an american experimental music collective that operates it's own label, U-SOUND ARCHIVE out of portland. JACKIE O MOTHERFUCKER - The Cryin Sea by rocktympans

Kevin Blechdom - Airplane

2011-07-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

I like the use of little samples, tediously sutured together to create something completely alien, and elegantly succinct.

Airplane by blechdom

Megafaun - These Words

2011-07-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

This is from their upcoming self titled album. I liked the occasional dissonance and the variety of sounds, musical and non, in the context of a folk song. Really cool song.

Megafaun "These Words" by Hometapes

Trackathaday: Excepter - The Last Dance

2011-07-08T19:03:00.000-07:00

RIP Clare Amory.

Excepter - The Last Dance by excepter

Egg

2011-07-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

One of the best prog bands of the 70's. A short biography

Old Time Relijun

2011-07-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

Fun Fact: their name is a Captain Beefheart song. I wonder if the name "Fun Fact" is taken.... hold on.... I checked. Its not.
Old Time Relijun - Casino by Zombielazer

Caribou/Jacques Greene Remixes Radiohead

2011-07-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

The first in a series of remixes on 12" vinyl will be released on Monday 4th July (or Tuesday in the US & Canada).

The series kicks off with Caribou remixing Little by Little, and a remix of Lotus Flower by Jacques Greene. The tracks can be downloaded here

Little By Little Caribou RMX by Radiohead

The Art of Negativland

2011-07-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've always thought that the kind of sound collage that Negativland does is sometimes more like art than music, obviously with a sense of humor. Confirming their role as artists, their website has a lot of their different creative endeavors, including Negativland's album art and other visual art. www.negativland.com
12. Yellow Black And Rectangular - Negativland by eminn3m

Metal Mother

2011-07-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

this racial sensitivity seminar is boring.

Metal Mother - Shake by fanaticpro

Article on Metal Mother from Soma Magazine

Dustin Wong

2011-07-02T23:39:00.001-07:00

Hot and cold don’t begin to describe anything.

Disto by Dustin Wong

More from this artist

Suede Ape

2011-02-24T17:32:00.000-08:00

Jam albums don't have much of a place in the musical phases I've been in as of late, but this one is interesting. Suede Ape is a side project that brought together some pretty talented and creative musicians including Geoff Rowan (In Sepia), and Andrew Monzon (In Sepia, Last Legs). In addition to the familiar guitar and bass foundation, some electronic elements (kaos pad, synth, drum pad, etc.) were used to keep it interesting. There doesn't seem to be any big concepts here besides the simple idea of editing a jam into an album, but thats kind of what's exciting about it: your not sure where it will go. The album is available for download, including one free track on their bandcamp page.

Suede Ape by howlingcaliper

How To Wreck A Nice Beach

2011-02-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

Dave Tompkins, former columnist for Wire magazine has written a book on the history of the vocoder called How To Wreck A Nice Beach. Dave and Monk One have made a mix of their How To Wreck A Nice Beach track for The Wire. You can download on Wire's blog post.. Pretty Kewl...

Myspace surfing...

2011-01-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

While Myspace is definately riding the suck-wagon to crapopolis as they say, I've always liked their particular navigation because of the way you can browse new music by clicking on bands that are friends of bands and so on. Heres some bands I came across by doing that:

Battlehooch Quirky, varied eclectic-ness with a saxaphone, psychedelic Mr. Bungle?
Little Teeth Very entertaining live. Mostly pleasant and soft but sometimes screaming, crazy dissonance is right around the corner. It's like a..... schizophrenic sound-coaster? One of the things I like about them is they don't rely on a bunch of effects. They do, however have an arsenal of organic sounds at their disposal.
Ganglians mmm....good band.
60 Watt Kid Dynamic, interesting, melodically catchy.
Space is Far Interesting electronic sounds.
The Avant Garde Volkpenis Self explanatory.

2011-01-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

some random stuff I like on the youtubes:

this is so awesomely creepy in a good good way

I like renaissance men like david lynch. He's doing music now apparently. he calls it "modern blues." It's actually really good.

According to pitchfork "OOIOO began life in the mid-90s as a fake band for a magazine photo shoot." I gotta check out more of their stuff after seeing this:

There's always room for a classic:

New Weird Australia

2011-01-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

I downloaded the most recent New Weird Australia compilation for free at their bandcamp and really enjoyed the tracks on there. Seems like there's some interesting things happening on that continent these days.

Shoshin Music Project

2010-11-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

So, its been a long while since I last made a blog entry or even thought about this thing for that matter. Its shaping up to be a pretty random collection of entries. It started with an opinionated essay-like piece about emotion and experimental music, then a fan zine type piece about Zach Hill, now I’m going to write about what has been keeping me so busy: The Shoshin Music Project.

Initially, the idea of Shoshin (a Japanese word meaning “beginner’s mind”) came from reading the book Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki (1970). It had a quote that I liked: “in the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” The reason why I liked this quote so much is, applying it to music, the idea intrigued me that one can return to a state of mind where the canvas is totally blank (or in aural terms: totally silent), where there are limitless musical possibilities. It may seem that musicians and artists create this way but we are almost always starting with and building on some set of stylistic tendencies we have developed over time. Before a musician even picks up his guitar for instance, there is music already there: the song he played last, the melody that's stuck in his head that day, the rhythm he has been tapping with his foot, etc. Musicians, artists, human beings as a whole for that matter are not designed to create from nothing. We build on the past. We take what already exists and change it, tweak it, combine it with something else. For the avant garde artist concerned with doing something new, however, it becomes important to think from nothing: not building on what’s already there but tearing it down and truly starting over.

When I concocted what was to be the Shoshin Music Project, I had this vague creating-something-from-nothing idea but the project had no flesh and bone yet. Then, I came back to an old idea I’ve had for a while: through limitations we see new possibilities. This may seem contradictory at first. It is indeed a little paradoxical. The idea came to me I after being introduced to a film actually, by Peter Bogdanovich called Targets (1968) in a cinema of the 60’s class. Bogdanovich was given by Paramount some Boris Karloff footage from one of his last films and asked to “make a film around the footage.” Bogdanovich was initially stumped by the challenge. What was a director in the 1960’s to do with classic horror film reels that no longer seemed relevant or scary for that matter in today's world? In the modern world of the 1960's in which one can walk out of the house and be shot by a sociopath on a shooting spree, are dracula and frankenstein really that scary? With this thought in mind, some classic horror reels, and some money from Paramount, Bogdanovich made a film starring Borris Karloff that juxtaposed the now impotent and phony classic horror genre with this more real kind of horror that we see on the news and read about in the paper every day. Hollywood and reality collide in a very thought provoking film that would not have occurred to Bogdanovich had he not been tasked with making “a film around the footage.”

So, from this the idea came to me: that starting with a unique set of limitations like that of Targets can create something potentially interesting, that would not have otherwise occurred to the artist. This is basically the premise of the Shoshin Music Project. The project will raise funds for Wood Craft Rangers, an afterschool program in LA that teaches music to middleschool students (among other activities). The funds will be raised with a compilation album and a live benefit show. A group of about 20-30 musicians will be formed that will then be split up into smaller groups (mp3s will be traded online most likely) that will contribute tracks to the album. Each group will be assigned or create a "game," a set of limitations to work within for the sake of creating something unique. Some examples of these “games” as we’re calling them, include: write something using only 3 notes, only use one guitar string, beat must change every measure, use instruments in unintended ways, just to name a few. Through these different writing processes, every track on the album should be unique and distinct from the average song, while still accessible to the greater alternative music community.

If you have any interest in participating in the project in any way, please contact the creator of this blog or go through the facebook.

The many bands of Zach Hill....

2010-03-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

Zach Hill, the talented Sacramento drummer is in so many experimental, progressive, and math rock bands its easy to lose count. All of these bands are interesting, and many, but not all, have a math rockish sound similar to Hella, his main band/duo, formed in 2001 with long time friend and band mate Spencer Seim, with whom he played in Legs on Earth (his first band I believe). Dan Elkan was also in Hella From 2005 to 2006.

Most classify Hella as math rock, or experimental rock. With seemingly complex, crazy, angular guitar riffs, electronic sounds, drum machines, samples (that sometimes seem to have no rythmic relation to other melodies or to the beat), complex rhythms and odd time signatures, Hella’s music, like Zach Hill’s drumming style in general, I think, can be called excessive. They ironically put “minimalist” as their genre on myspace. But as he said in an interview on thewigfitsallheads.com: “I don’t set out to make something weird for the sake of being weird. I do like to go about things that create a new experience and I don’t set any limits for myself. I am open to trying new things and experimenting. It’s never a cautious thing, but it isn’t really about intentionally going out to do things to be weird. I try to avoid anything contrived, for the most part. You can hear it when an artist does stuff like that purposefully.” He is also a visual artist and photographer, being credited with much of the album art work for several of the bands he’s played with. You can check out some of his card board paintings here.

Here’s a list of all of his other bands besides Hella that I could gather:

Holy Smokes: (I couldn’t find much information on Holy Smokes, but I hear the voice of Rob Crow from Pinback on one track. You can listen to holy smokes here.
Nervous Cop: With drummer greg saunier of Deerhoof, this was supposedly a jam session between the two drummers that was later edited, also features electronics guru John Dieterich, and harpist joanna newsom of The Pleased. You can buy/download the album here.
El Grupo Nuevo (de Omar Rodriguez Lopez): with Omar and Cedric from The Mars Volta, its pretty much The Mars Volta, as the title states: its "Omar’s new band."
Team Sleep: With Chino Moreno from Deftones, and Rob Crow from Pinback. Mostly melow, ethereal, Deftonesy, with lots of effects and drum machine beats.
Goon Moon: Folksy, alternative, indy, Zach was just a collaborator in this band.
Marnie Stern: An experimental/progressive guitarist from new york, really interesting, fairly accessible for a progressive artist. Zach doesn’t always play with her.
Crime in Choir: sounds like an 80s prog band to me
The Ladies: With Pinback’s Rob Crow.
Bygones: With Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos. Some of it is metal/ hardcore, good but typical, other times they are pretty interesting. Similar to Hella. The song “Click on That (Smash the Plastic Death)” is cool. sounds like a more accessible Hella song to me.
CHLL PLL: Electronic, midi, happy yet perverse, odd and heavy. Catchy rythms and melodies.
Flössin: Free form, improve, electronic, noise, jazz, pretty cool.

And of course his solo stuff: http://www.myspace.com/zachhillmusic, He's going to do some shows coming up in April with Nick Reinhart.

Can experimental music be expressive?

2010-03-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

The term “experimental music” is generally applied these days to lots of different musicians that are innovative, or just plain weird. Although these musicians can be soulful, in a more strict definition of the term, coined by John Cage, emotion doesn't have much of a role to play. Cage and some of his contemporaries in the twentieth century, attempted to extract or minimize the influence of the composer’s will by using arbitrary systems or processes to choose which note comes next, where it will go, how loud it will be, for how long, and how it will sound. These pieces are interesting for the processes they employed, the end product of which is sometimes cacophonous or bizarre. This wouldn't seem, on the face of it, to exemplify the notion that music is the language of the soul, emotional short-hand, etc.

Traditionally, I’ve considered the purpose or motive behind art or music (if any) to be emotional expression. We create it or consume it because it feels good. The reason why one musician, for instance, might switch from the verse to the chorus at a certain time in a pop song is the same reason another might makes noise with a circuit bent toy for half an hour: it feels good. The idea of experimental or art music serving a purely intellectual purpose is almost a paradox: can something emotional even be intellectual? Is music a means to an end, or an end in itself? Is it rational, irrational?

Obviously, logic and reason do play a big role in music. Knowing and recognizing patterns are essential to playing or just listening to music. Even in the sappiest of songs, a song writer must decide how the song should be organized, the arrangement of notes/beats, how the various instruments are coordinated, how fast to play it, time signature, key, etc. There are a lot of decisions to make. These decisions are usually made intuitively, but also involve math and reasoning skills.

So obviously, the intellect has a place in music along with emotion. I think in "normal music," emotion is the guiding force, the inspiration, the muse (whatever you want to call it), while our prefrontal cortex helps decide how that emotion is specifically expressed and organized. When understood this way, the idea that music is both rational and emotional is not so paradoxical: it is a rational, deliberate expression of something more irrational, mysterious, and emotional. Can the same be said about experimental music?

One could argue that experimental music is more rational, or scientific even, than other music and I don't think many people would object. The name "experimental" obviously implies there is something being tested. What's fascinating to me about experimental music is it seems to bring two worlds, or ways of thinking/being that are traditionally thought of as opposed to one another in western culture: scientific and artistic. To be both a scientist testing or playing with the fundamentals of sound, time, structure, etc. and musician (or maybe "artist" is more apt?) with the desire to express and create is a pretty unique job to have.

The early experimental musicians of the last century did have more intellectual methods of composing music (in contrast to the pop music we're all used to anyways). One pioneer of experimental and avante garde music in the twentieth century, Milton Babbitt, was also a math teacher, and regarded his music as purely intellectual. In his use of the serial, or twelve-tone method, he attempted to compose purely mathematical music. Serialism was a technique developed by Arnold Schoenberg, an Austrian and American composer, and teacher of another pioneer of experimental music: John Cage. Serial composition, or the twelve-tone technique, was widely used by modern composers as a method of choosing the order of notes. It works like this: you start with twelve notes, say the twelve notes in the key of C Major (CDEFGAB). Then, you can play these notes in four ways. In it’s:

1. Original order
2. Reverse order
3. Inverse order (if the second note is three steps up from the first note, now it is three steps down, etc.)
4. Reverse Inverse order

This method was normally just applied to melody, and maybe just to certain parts of a composition, but Babbitt, like Cage, was an extremist, and applied it to every aspect of music: rhythm, pace, time signature, dynamics, timbre, etc. (Anton Webern and Pierre Boulez used total serialism in Europe as well). His compositions were extremely complex and difficult for musicians to play, so he eventually turned to electronic instruments that he could program to play anything. The Mark II electronic music synthesizer, developed by the David Sarnoff research center with Babbitt as a consultant, was a giant, room sized computer that featured a binary sequencer using a paper tape reader. It had an array of switches that controlled things like pitch, octave, volume, timbre, and envelope/dynamics. One of Babbitt’s more famous piece composed with this sequencer is Philomel (1964):

Other composers that have used some form of serialism include Anton Webern, Alban Berg, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Jean Barraqué, Béla Bartók, Luciano Berio, Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland, Olivier Messiaen, Arvo Pärt, Walter Piston, Alfred Schnittke, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Igor Stravinsky.

While Babbitt sought a completely intellectual method of composing, John Cage was trying to detach himself completely from the music, being neither intellectual nor expressive. With his indeterminate or chance compositions, he used, for many of his compositions, a random method contrived by him to choose the various musical aspects of a piece. This method should be distinguished from aleatory. Like serialism, aleatory was normally applied to some but not all parts or aspects of a piece. Cage’s indeterminate compositions, however, applied the method to all aspects of music. Cage’s methods became increasingly complex, but one of his earliest methods, which demonstrates the idea of indeterminacy well, is that which he used to compose Music for Carillon 1954. Cage placed a piece of graph paper underneath a sheet of cardboard. He then marked the imperfections in the piece of cardboard (discolorations, stains, etc.) with a pen by punching through to the graph paper. One horizontal inch on the graph paper equaled one second in time, and each vertical inch indicated a certain pitch.

Another indeterminate piece by Cage, composed using the ancient chinese text I Ching, or book of changes, is Music of Changes (1951). Cage would "ask" the book questions and then refer to charts that corresponded to pitch, duration, dynamics, and tempo:

Other composers that have used aleatory or indeterminacy are Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

One could argue that serialism, aleatory, indeterminacy or any other systematic method one can imagine for composing music, although they may seek to extract the expressive influence of the composer, in a way, fall short of that intent. Is is realistic to think that one could completely extricate his feeling, whim, intent, or will from a piece of music? Babbit had to at least start by deciding the order of the 12 note series, and what permutations of that order were to follow. I’m willing to bet that if you questioned him on every little aspect of his composition, more than half the time he wouldn’t have an answer as to why he composed it exactly that way, why he used that order, formula, permutation, etc. Perhaps there's still some intuition involved in musical experimentation.

Cage’s indeterminate pieces probably come the closest to non-expression, (it’s non-composition really). But consider his cardboard and graph paper method, for instance: did he not have to decide what counts as an “imperfection” in the cardboard? Or what if the mark he made on the other side landed in an ambiguous area? He’d have to make a judgment call about what note to play. Even in Music of Changes, where he apparently thought of an arbitrary way to make every little decision, the system itself was contrived by him. Had someone else been assigned the same task, the system, and therefor the music, would necessarily be different. This music can hardly be considered expressive in the common sense of the word, but isn't doing something like this, doing anything for that matter, an expression of who we are in that moment?

As I touched on before, there is no logical purpose to art or music. Music can be logical only in method, not purpose. Maybe methods like serialism and aleatory/indeterminacy are more an expression of a curiosity than an emotion. Maybe these composers are driven by a desire to see how delightfully mad it will all turn out. In Cage’s case, however, he was concerned with letting things just happen, letting the universe write the music, so to speak. This was, no doubt an expression of his spiritual and philosophical background in Zen Buddhism. One of his most famous pieces, 4’33” (1952), consisted of four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence in which a pianist just sat at a piano, not playing. The idea was that all the little unintentional sounds in the room (people shuffling feet, etc.) are, and should be considered music. He also wrote music for the prepared piano, which, by placing nuts and bolts and bits of rubber on the piano strings, introduced an element of aleatory or randomness to the sounds the piano would make. Music for Marcel Duchamp (1947) is one of the more famous pieces written for the prepared piano. This has also been done with guitar and other string instruments by the way.

The experience of listening to music, I think, is also inherently emotional. If you compare the two pieces above, for instance (Cage's Music of Changes, and Babbitt's Philomel), two pieces written in ways that intended to deny the composer's emotion, the experience is similar: maybe delight or fascination by some, uncertainty, unease, maybe even annoyance at what is perceived by most people as "just a bunch of noise." The point is: regardless of how music is composed, it produces some emotional effect in the listener, which may or may not be a result of its method of creation.

These composers did create some really interesting music by obsessively following their ideas to their logical end, which is a quality American artists and musicians seem to have in common. I think, however, that its best to avoid extremism. A mixed approach is usually the most interesting and entertaining. And always listen to your artist's intuition. I say, follow your experimental curiosity but let your musical gut get the last say.

Caliper Music: an experimental music blog

Free Compilation - Broadcast Three

Album Review: Analog Burners – Tron Voyage

Feel Guide Compilation Vol. 1

Derek Piotr: AGORA Regathered

EP Review: Robert Allaire – Sacrament

New Weird Australia 'Unpopular Music' Compilation

One to Watch: Response (Evan Dice)

Corpse Lights (Three Track Single)

Logan Seguin - Drone

Fresh Snow: "Saturation Complete"

EP Review: Finger Fangs – Nine Species

Sarongs – Prison Art/Velidoxi Tape

Walter Gross Podcast Vol 13

Co La: Dialtone Earth/Fugitive of Leisure

EP Review: mangulicaFM – Third Eye

Walter Gross and Lost and Found Sound Split

Ed Wrzesien - "Choas Atlantis"

New Release: Paul Heslin - Chaque Jour

True Aristocrats - "Susurrus"

Wax Fingers - "Pierre Fauchard" Video

Thom Yorke Lion Attack

AIDS Wolf new album (Oct. 4): Ma vie banale avant-garde

Apperception

PAS

Interview with Pete from Wax Fingers

"False Awakenings" (a video by Celeste Byers)

Religious Girls - Midnight Realms

New Deerhoof Live Album

Modus Pony

New Hella album: Tripper

Wax Fingers

Pink City - Pitcher (from "Designing Women")

Ernie Althoff - The Way I See It/You've Got the Option

Paul Heslin - Shower (from chaque jour ep)

Trackathaday: Silver Apples - Starlight Noodle

Trackathaday: Zorch - E​.​M​.​F.

Sparky and the Random Band: Making the Strange Things Happen (Everyday)

Drawdio

The Ladies (Zach Hill + Rob Crowe)

Big Spider's Back - Black Chow

Brian Eno and Generative Music

Chelsea Wolfe - Mer

Halloween Swim Team - Science Fiction

Noise Room

Fire! with Jim O'Rourke - (excerpts from Unrealeased?)

Tickely Feather - Trashy Boys

Thao and Mirah w/ tUnE-yaRds - Eleven

Fractal Music

Trackathaday: Micachu - Vulture

Flaming Lips and Lightning Bolt Collaboration

Negativland - Nesbitt's Lime Soda

Red Crayola

Deerhoof special 7" with guest vocalist

Steve Reich/Rebecca Black (together at last)

Religious Girls

Jackie-O Motherfucker - "The Cryin Sea"

Kevin Blechdom - Airplane

Megafaun - These Words

Trackathaday: Excepter - The Last Dance

Egg

Old Time Relijun

Caribou/Jacques Greene Remixes Radiohead

The Art of Negativland

Metal Mother

Dustin Wong

Suede Ape

How To Wreck A Nice Beach

Myspace surfing...

New Weird Australia

Shoshin Music Project

The many bands of Zach Hill....

Can experimental music be expressive?

Trackathaday: Zorch - E.M.F.