On The Hi-Fi (in brief) Part 43

Walberswick - Jon Brooks
Brooks is back just 6 months after Advisory Circle's 2014 classic From Out Here (which I'm still listening to on a weekly basis) with another bewdy. He's keeping up his batting average and getting better with each new release. This starts off in weird electronics mode with Mr Brooks I Presume before settling into synth ambience in excelis.

Songs Of Gold, Incandescent - Dolphins Into The Future/Lieven Martens Moana
Classic themes here from Lievens. This is actually a compilation of rarities from 2010-2014. I mean isn't all his stuff rare. We've got waves, bells, jungle sounds, Pacific Islander choirs, strange electronics, underwater soundtracks, Casio vibraphones, submarine drones and the inevitable scuttling sea creature soundz. Songs Of Gold makes you realise how much sonic territory Dolphins Into The Future have covered over the years without you even realising.

Machines Are Obsolete - Pye Corner Audio/Pathways - Pye Corner Audio & Belbury Poly
(Ghostbox Other Voices Series 05)
A-Side: "Easy listening dystopian sounds. 80s attempts at futuristic soundtracks."*
B-Side: "Future Sailor but not as good like Howard Moon has found the new sound but no he hasn't it's just an old one. It sounds like every single song from 1983!"*

*Special comments from Mrs Space Debris.

Pathways is reminding me of a John Foxx tune I can't quite put my finger on. Chuck in a bit of Kraftwerk and a Giorgio Moroder synth guitar lead break and you've probably got it in a nutshell.

Murder For Hire - Kevin Gates
I was really looking forward to this but there's just way too much screaming dj action on this one. Kevin Gates gets buried beneath all the extraneous racket here. I hope he didn't put any classics on this 7 track datpiff exclusive mixtape because I don't think I can put up with dj holiday for one more second in my life. Why does he have to show up on like every 4th rap mix-tape and why doesn't he shut the fuck up and let Gates do his thang.

Livonia - His Name Is Alive
Who would have thought that this would still sound good 25 years later? My 90s trip has gone back to my 4AD records and sure the 80s was 4AD's decade but they still had some gems in the 90s like their last Cocteau's record, Throwing Muses The Real Ramona, The Breeders Pod, The Pale Saints, Red House Painters and the first 2 LPs from His Name Is Alive. Livonia was their first record and yeah it's really pretentious but fuck it sounded good today. I was expecting to want to turn it off after 30 seconds but I played it twice in a row. This is a strange album. It's sort of outsider folk/loop-ology/random electronics and noise guitars. I wanted to play their 2nd LP Home Is In Your Head which I recall being even better but it's on tape and sadly me house no longer contains a tape deck!

John Carpenter - Lost Themes

WHAT THE FUCK???

What a nice surprise to brighten the gloom of my past week or perhaps add to the gloom but that will make me happy. Why didn't someone think of this earlier? Just get John Carpenter the music composer to do albums without the films. The films, have been nowhere near as brilliant and influential as his scores. I don't necessarily hate his movies but I think his scores are 20th century masterpieces. I dunno if I've heard anything by him from this millennium, though. Anyway lookout Zombi, Pye Corner Audio, Drokk and Umberto the real deal is here to give you a run for your money as just a recording artist. I'm a little excited by this prospect I must say. Halloween 1, 2 & 3, Escape From New York, Assault On Precinct 13, Christine, The Fog and Prince of Darkness are among my favourite pieces of music of all time! I'm not the only one who thinks this. Check out industrial music, 90s Memphis Rap, Techno, Doomcore et al. as well as 21st century genres like Deep-Tech and Ratchet. I was only saying the other day right here on this blog that John Carpenter might be the most influential musical artist of the 21st century. His music is universally adored and held in high esteem. Let's hope this record lives up to our expectations. If not, don't worry there will be another Umberto record around the corner (I hope) and whoever else Carpenter is currently influencing like Xander Harris, Gesaffelstein, Shay & Sinista etc.

This sounds very good indeed. It more than makes up for the lack of a new Umberto album last year.

I Like The Old Stuff Better Than The New Stuff

So far this year there's been 3 releases that have arrived but I hardly want to play them at all. Before I started my blog I had a renewed interest in all things current in music from like 2008 to pretty much the start of last year. The only things from the recent past still getting an airing are that Gesaffelstein album Aleph, which I just can't get enough of (the best album of 2013 I reckon) and the Logos album Cold Mission. My most played music of last year wasn't new at all it was Steely Dan in fact. This year its been T-Rex, post-Eno Roxy Music, 70s Bowie (is there any other?), Suzi Quatro singles, New York Dolls, The Runaways and The Dictators. Who can explain where your head is gonna go? Youtube is probably the most influential catalyst for my listening, not radio, tv or print media. In fact I haven't listened to the radio or bought a music magazine for six months. The occasional blog or website might put me on a path but its mainly my own brain that leads the way. Listening to Ultravox, Tubeway Army and the subsequent solo outings from John Foxx and Gary Numan makes sense. I can thank Genesis P Orridge for a renewed interest in The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by The Incredible String Band and the discovery of Dr Strangely Strange's Kip Of The Serenes. He mentioned liking those recently on the interweb.

It's not lookin good for these 3 new records. I've skipped through Sun Araw's Belomancie and it seemed a little annoying so I dunno if I'll return to it? Sun Araw's Beach Head, Heavy Deeds, On Patrol and Ancient Romans are some of my favourite recordings of last few years. Cameron Stallones last LP under the guise of Sun Araw The Inner Treaty didn't really appeal but his collaboration with M Geddes Gengres and The Congos Icon Give Thank from 2012 was great.

I got a little excited by the arrival of Pye Corner Audio's Black Mill Tapes 3 & 4.  I dug the previous Volumes 1 & 2, Sleep Games and The House In The Woods (his side Project) LP Bucolica, but I don't even think I've played this new one all the way through yet and I've had it for over a month.

After these two underwhelming releases I wasn't expecting much from Kemper Norton's album Carn. Maybe there was no life left in the farmer in the city, gumboot industrial, rustic bunny blah blah but thankfully it sounds bloody great (after one listen) and this one I will be returning to right after listening to The Groundhogs Hogwash, Gary Glitter and DJ Extreme's Tom & Jerry Mix  of course....

The House In The Woods-Bucolica

Whilst still in the 90s & 00s I have visited now a couple of times I must admit. Didn't really know what to expect with this record. It's the dude from Pye Corner Audio doing some stuff that's pretty different from the music he does under that moniker. We're still in darkly atmospheric territory but this time its more of an organic blur. Only one track has anything resembling a beat. This album is more in line with mid 90s isolationism than haunted slasher soundtracks. Bucolic is a funny word isn't it. I always have to stop and think 'bucolic no its not some hideous disease or poison. Its about idyllic country life.' So it's a word that sounds like it should have the opposite meaning than the one it has. A bit like this record really. This is the sound of wind and rain amongst the trees and mysterious lights off in the distance. I can smell the air and feel the temperature. But I can also feel the melancholy.  There's bliss too particularly on Sunlight On Rusting Hulk, which reaches MBV-like blissed out proportions. Then sinister vibes arrive, but are they though? Or is your mind playing tricks on you for a moment.  Are we just projecting fear onto a lull or stillness. This is a fascinating record. Rural psychedelia lives.  

Boards Of Canada-Tomorrow's Harvest

The opening of the new record Tomorrow's Harvest seems funny to me. They have a little logo tune or is it a logtone? An Ident? I don't recall them having used one before and to me it seems like a nod to the people they've influenced ie. The Belbury Poly, The Advisory Circle and the rest of the GhostBox crew. Then there are hints of John Carpenter that I don't recall being referenced before on their previous records, which could possibly be a nod to Pye Corner Audio or even Umberto. One wonders whether they keep up with all this stuff or it's just a coincidence.

Tomorrow's Harvest does seem a lot darker and not as lovely* or gorgeous* as previous efforts. The beats seem to trudge and appear quite inert. It's still unmistakably Boards Of Canada with no sign of the guitars used on The Campfire Headphase.  The Jury is still out for me as I'm only half a dozen listens in. Still it must be alright even if I've played it that many times. I remember playing Music Has The Right To Children about 5 years ago to someone who only listened to trance and he said it was like electronic funeral music. He didn't even think you could chill out to it. So the darkness thing was always there but now we're splitting hairs over its minute shades.

*Lovely and *Gorgeous are two terms, I learnt yesterday, that announcers on a certain Melbourne independent radio station are never supposed to use on air about the music they are playing. Guess what all you prince's and princess's of darkness nice is nice! The Black Crow King obviously still wields influence in Melbourne town.

2012-A Look Back Part 1

2012

Possibly my worst year as a human being. I did become an Uncle again twice! Yin & Yang. Anyway on with the lists. Well you probably know how much lists get on my nerves by now, so c'mon here's your chance to whinge about mine. Leave a comment. Be nice. Be offensive. Be whatever you want to be. These are not ranked you know, it's not sport. This is just 20 of my favourite Albums of the year.

The Top 20+

The Fog Signals - The Ghosts of Bush House
Resonant reverberations. Who would have thought you could make a compelling record from a building? You can really picture this boffin with mini tape recorder and mike in hand saying "Quick lets get the sound of that floorboard on tape.' Creaks, horns, voices, rusty lifts, wind, squeaks all chime for Mr Fog's tape recorder. Excellent gear.

Ix Tab - Spindle & Bregnut Tree
erie, dank, majickly psychedelic and enchanting. It's getting dark in the forrest, you've become disorientated. Are you gonna make it out?

Swans - The Seer

Does it get any better than Swans in full epic flight?

No.

At their peak again.

Who would have tipped they'd be making the best record of 2012?

No one.

Scott Walker - Bish Bosch

Incomprehensible drunk, incomprehensible madness or incomprehensible genius?

Or all of the above. He has developed his own musical language and is honing it to almost accessible listenability.

Pye Corner Audio - Sleep Games

Just when people were ready to write off GhostBox (the record label) along comes a record to say that isn't going to happen. This one creeps up on you like a stalker (the one it's soundtracking). Then it's in your albums of the year. Perhaps more horrological than Hauntological.

Fabulous Diamonds - Commercial Music

Awesome drones, the coolest drumming and words I don't think I really wanna know. This has a cult like vibe. There is something deliciously wrong (so right) about Commercial Music.

Dave Graney & The MistLY - You've Been On My Mind

Just when you thought rock was dead and gone, unexpectedly Dave makes a rock album. Not only that, it's fuckin great. The soundtrack to wandering empty country town streets alone at 1.30 am and driving in the Australian summer at dusk with the windows down.

Outer Space - Akashic Record (Events: 1986-1990)

For those of you not diggin the new Emeralds record. No need to fear John Elliot's other group went out onto Saturn's rings and bought this back for your pleasure.

BEBETUNE$ - inhale C-4 $$$$$

I don't know if this is a mixtape, plunderphonics or all new material made by James Ferraro. 5th world soundz from a futuristic metropolis. This maze of plastic, neon, digital and HD is all put through the Ferraro warp machine for one bad trip that keeps you coming back for more.

Panabrite - Soft Terminal/Blue Grotto/The Baroque Atrium

This trio of albums was in my life to soothe, calm and rejuvenate me with its Utopian vistas and wombedelia. Then put these records at a loud volume and they can be quite the opposite ie. dark, strange and slightly dread inducing. Then through headphones they reveal that this ain't no ambient/new age dross. The compositions are put together with great thought and care. This isn't synth music on autopilot. Subtly sublime.

Bataille Solaire - Baal Shamash Et Son Char Celeste

They remained a mystery to me. I didn't come across one article on them or seek one out. I liked the mystique. Church organs and synths drifting through labyrinths and wormholes. Soundz from the cosmos that drift into black holes, through the asteroid belt and back again. This was a voyage to strap yourself in for. Hynagogia lives.

Lazerhawk - Visitors

This album had similar sort of influences as Daft Punk's Discovery. You know like AOR, funk, disco, metal, 80s soundtracks etc. Add a little horror and you are almost there. But unlike Daft Punk they didn't put it through the now/house/trance ringer, they just left it as is. Fun, good times and neat tunes. Retrolicious.

Gary War - Jared's Lot

This was like the world had blown up in 1982. Then in 2012 aliens landed. In an old bunker they found a bunch of records including Kraftwerk, Chrome, Ilitch, ELO & Durutti Column. They also salvaged a malfunctioning turntable and ELO's robot. When these aliens got back to their planet they started a groop. Their repertoire was retro electro human rock. The little aliens loved it. The robot sang on a couple of tracks but his batteries were running low. They thought it was great anyway.

Human Teenager - Animal Husbandry

See above.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes

More deliriously addictive pop from the pint size pop master. He's made the pop album of the year again.

Lee Gamble - Diversions 1994-1996
Deep spacious electronics leaving an emptiness that is evocative of the aforementioned era without actually sounding like the jungle pirate tapes that are apparently the source material. Memoredelia.

Dolphins Into The Future - A Star Maker, Strange Dreams & Clairvoyance
Dolphins come back strong in 2012 with some of their most out there music to date. I can see/hear scuttling sea creatures, palm tree jungles, underwater song, neon squids and mysterious deep sea disco fish. Put on The Blue Planet: episode 2, The Deep, turn the sound down and crank up the Dolphins. With a little help from your friends, the good times will roll.

Ekoplekz - Intrusive Incidentalz Vol 2/Mildew Riddims/Skalectrikz
Mutant machine music. How can all of this be so good? Three and a half hours of deliciously deranged dubby electronic noise for the end of dayz. Clank, clatter and squelchy splatter. 

Motion Sickness of Time Travel - Motion Sickness of Time Travel
MOTT make immersive echoing electronic drift from the heavens. Sometimes this aquatic pulsating music has a womb like vibe and at other times it's a little ominous. Ethereal vocals send this into almost holy territory. In 2012 it didn't get more beautiful than this.

Sand Circles - Motor City
It's 2am....you fill in the rest. Choose from these words - driving, cruising, cityscape, lonely, bewildered, lost, lights, tunnels, urban, roads etc. There is something allusive about Sand Circles soundtrack for night city cruising that sets them ahead of the pack. Totally irresistible.

The other bewdies

• Umberto - Night Has a Thousand Screams
• Miami Nights 1984 - Turbulance
• LX Sweat - Sweat, Sweat, Sweat
• Mark Van Hoen - The Revenant Diary
• Actress - RIP
• Dolphins Into The Future - Canto Arquepeligo
• Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales
• Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury - Drokk
• Inner Tube - S/T
• Bassnectar - Vava Voom
• Moon Wiring Club - Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets
• Future - Pluto

What's On The Hi-Fi Lately.

Having had a lot of time off I've had a chance to listen to heaps of music and even do some reading too. Some of which I've already mentioned Swans, Scott Walker, Pye Corner Audio and that great mix by Ix Tab. Ix Tabs mix had me going back to old Coil records. Coil always seem to turn up on these mixes which is indicitive of their continuing influence on the underground of the 21st century.   I've also gotten around to some less new things like a Dolphins Into the Future tape from 2008 Plays Themes From Voyage which is from the golden era of that kinda gear so I'm loving it along with their 2 fine releases from this year.

Just had a couple of listens to Lee Gamble's Diversions 94-96. which is hitting all the right notes apparently he has another one just out too. Minimal, spacious electronics that are kind of empty but evocative of the mentioned era without being retro. I also caught up with Kemper Norton's Collision/Detection v6 from earlier this year and that's a rip snorter of an ep that put me in mind vocally of the recently discussed Disco Inferno. Hard to describe Norton, kinda folky, pastoral post industrial. A rustic farmer kind of vibe but quite creepy and wintry. Sounds like a bloody press release. Right enough cliches.















I finally got a copy of Moon Wiring Club's Somewhere A Fox Is Getting Married only on digital though (thanks bookmat). I think it was like a royal wedding commemorative album. I don't think it got in any best of 2011 lists, an overlooked classic perhaps. I reckon it might be the best one since their debut An Audience Of Art Deco Eyes. I like it more than the other record they did last year Clutch It Like A Gonk. That Bleep43 mix is also killer! Possibly my favourite of their mixtapes but as I've said before they're all gold. I totally recommend both of those way over 12 months since everybody else probably raved about them. Whatever. Still looking forward to the new CD & LP.

Was it really only last year that Will & Kate got married?
That can't be right can it?
I feel like Pippa's arse has been with us longer than that!

Ghost Box

I noted somewhere Ghostbox was getting a bagging possibly because it's old news or is it because that guy from LCD System is now rocking an old skool Librarian/Geography teacher look. I only just let Jarvis get away with it or did I? It was a bit weird after many years of beard wearing and being sometimes bespectacled that people started saying 'oh you look a bit like Jarvis.'  Maybe that LCD guy is gonna do a Hauntological album, then you'll know it's time to move on. If those GhostBox Study Series of singles, Belbury Poly's The Belbury Tales and that new Pye Corner Audio record are anything to go by GhostBox are in fine shape! I can't wait for a new Focus Group record.

*Also in other things related there is this new mix over at Pontone by IX Tab who I only found out about today. Choice cuts in this mix. Pontone have done it again by getting these guys to do a mix. Best Pontone Mix in ages.

**Also while in the ball park I found an old  Moon Wiring Club mix I'd somehow missed along the way. I've talked about all the other 4 or 5, so this was a nice surprise. It's called Bleep 43 or something? Click on the link. There's loads of film, radio and telly dialogue amongst the op shop records, library music and like minded artist's trax.

This is another fantastic Moon Wiring Club track. I've not seen that record anywhere in Melbourne and It's not on i-tunes. Was it only a limited thing? Maybe I'm gonna have to start ordering things via the Internet. Have I reached that phase in human evolution? Perhaps. On a similar note I haven't seen a GhostBox record in Melbourne since Synathsesia shut up shop years ago.