2008 Can Totally Suck It

So yeah, 2008. Fuck 2008. Right in its ear.
Actually, outside of a brief bout of deafness, 2008 was pretty good for my ears, even if most of what I fell in love with was released in 2007 (or 1971).
May next year at least bring a swift, painless death with minimal terror; barring that, some improvements [...]

Ask a Physicist!

For more than a generation journalists have thought nothing of getting the political, sociological and economic opinions of musicians. Countless musicians have, in return, given great weight to their opinions and what it means for their work. It’s now never enough to be able to say “I specialize in a form of nonverbal emotional communication [...]

Hercules and Love Affair

This is the song Antony was born to sing. It’s a bit too long, but it’s perfectly catchy and lacks the weightlessness that plagues nearly every other track on this self-titled record. This quality drought is strange, but it can be explained away by saying “this is a DFA production” – [...]

Om & Current 93 – Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun (Blackship Shrinebuilder)

This wee split sounds exactly like what you’d think it sounds like. While this may be a cop-out in terms of music journalism 2.0, it beats saying nonsense like “…the mystical union of sonorous bonghits from a land that’s the crossed out stepchild of Black Sabbath and The Incredible String Band…” cut off only by [...]

Fennesz – Black Sea

Christian Fennesz is a dude who does serious things. Let us consider three of these things; a trilogy that’s heavy on the melody and light on the noise.
While the 2001 classic Endless Summer beat the season into your ears with a semi-steady pulse and melodiese buried in sand, Venice was a soft wash that was [...]

Arranging Albums In Ideological Order

I’ve had this conversation many times over with many different people – what is the meaning of their support of an artist when that artist has “hells of lame” views on topic xyz?
The mighty Thoreau over at Unqualified Offerings has dug into the issue via 24 from a few angles over the years, though the [...]

SCSI-9 – Easy As Down

The slickest night at the cleanest Thai fusion restaurant with the most abstract menus (all the dishes are represented by gradiated circles comprised of gradiated circles) and the most beautiful clientele. The lights are just right (also circles), both too bright and too dark. Hypermediated semi-ethnic food eaten by impossibly tall, semi-ethnic models. Expensive cigarettes [...]

Flying Lotus – Los Angeles

I’ve been told by those I know well and love truly that California would be a terrible place for me. When pressed for explanation there’s an uncomfortable shuffle, followed by a “well, just…because…”
Anyway, this is the California of my heart. Apologies to Mike Patton. Rubbery cartoon basslines jaunting about in 90s hip hop fun times, [...]

Ear Bailout