Endless Summer Nights

Caught a free Fennesz set last night as part of the Moving Patterns Festival at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Manhattan. Bad, cramped room. Mediocre sound system. But the set itself was incredible. Fennesz, alone on stage, hair hanging over his eyes, having his way with a laptop and occasionally sending out sheets of sound from a guitar. A large screen behind him projecting appropriately blurry pictures of moving water and falling rain. Ryuichi Sakamoto was supposed to appear as a "special guest," but he was feeling ill and cancelled at the last moment. Both Fennesz and I were a little under-the-weather as well, and our pre-gig interview turned into an hour of quite enjoyable, spaced-out fever talk.

He made a great comment about how music (like his) that was seen 10 years ago as being discordant and difficult is now being accepted as beautiful, occasionally tame. As an example, he told a story about his mother's reaction to his early work. When he first released the Instrument 12", she didn't like it at all, claimed she could only hear noise. A few years later, when he released the collection Field Recordings 1995-2002, she responded that of the whole album, she only enjoyed the first couple of tracks and wished he would make more music like that. Those tracks, of course, were those found on the original Instrument LP.

Look for the entire interview in the next Grooves.

Time-Lag

Got a box of new goodies from Time-Lag Records today. Hands down one of the top labels in the world, plus they represent my (at least in some ways) home state of Maine. The real gem of this batch is the By The Fruits You Shall Know The Roots 3xLP compilation, a co-release with the always awesome Eclipse Records. Six artists, each taking up half a side of wax. All housed in a beautiful, textured, triple-gatefold jacket that folds out into a massive poster styled after classic '60s rock art. Incredible. And that's before you even get the fucking thing on the turntable. Tunes from Six Organs, Jack Rose, Matt Valentine & Erika Elder w/Chris Corsano, Dredd Foole, Fursaxa and Joshua with Kemiallset Ystavat.
Also in the batch, the new Drona Parva LP. Thick black vinyl you could chip a tooth on housed in black cardstock sleeve. Meandering late-night lullabies for fever dreams and moon worship.
Finally, the no-longer-lost 1973 acid-folk LP from Brazilians Satwa. So tuned in you can hear the hum of the earth ringing in their ears...

Summer Sun

85 degrees today in New York. Sky heavy with humidity, cut with a curling breeze. I know it's been a long, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time since I've been seen 'round these parts, but the weather this past week has been perfect. The city that never smiles is lit up. Spring fever is in effect, and the streets are filled with guys strutting and girls shaking and clothing being shed baring soft skin to the sun.

And now I'm at home with Ayler on the stereo and everything is... alright.

HAMMERED!

A copy of a letter I just received from Dawna Hammers, a middle-aged folk musician with an incredible name, whose CD I trashed in a recent Seven Days:



I love her use of italics.

Read the review here.

Against the Wall

Deadline time again, and I'm flipping trying to find time to craft words from sounds. Briefly, though, here's a short list of some things getting frequent spins around here:

William Basinski — The Disintegration Loops I-IV (2062)
Apothecary Hymns — Trowel & Era (Locust)
Albert Ayler — Spiritual Unity (ESP-Disk)
M Ward — Transistor Radio (Merge)
Shining — In The Kingdom Of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster (Rune Grammofon)

(Hopefully) look for further deconstruction of some of these titles — along with plenty more — here soon. Or maybe I'll just start rattling off about Zeppelin, like Chasny recommended…

Wrecked

The tale of Cali slop-rockers Reeks And The Wrecks is most bitersweet. Long a live fave on the West Coast, known for knocking crowds sideways with their off-the-cuff blend of vampiric, red light district jazz and experimental rock squall, the band had finally laid down the tracks for their debut CD release, Knife Hits. However, before the disc made its way to the shelves, front man/guitarist Orion Satushek was hit and killed by a drunk driver while bicycling in Portland, Oregon. Thankfully, Andee Connors from Aquarius Records, who runs the tUMULt label, has issued Knife Hits, so peeps can get a taste of this tragic band.

While it's hard to seperate the curcumstances surrounding the record's release from the music itself, on its own, Knife Hits is a wild thrill ride through a world of noirish guitar lines and swaggering, booze-soaked horns. The band plows through each song, casting off sick carnival melodies and self-destructive slobber. Songs explode with sludgy basslines and choppy guitar licks that frame horns which careen and curve with indefatigable glee. Then, on a dime, the band veers into extended slow-motion workouts that push classic Californaian surf elements towards the darkest corners of the dancefloor. The result is an intensely emotional record that plays like the soundtrack to a James Bond flick where no one gets the girl and the villain always win.