Children, rejoice! The new OPN is finally here and available for us to stream. I haven’t even listened to it properly yet, so I’m not going to try to pretend I can provide insight, but if lead single Replica is anything to go by, we’re all in for a treat. Aah.
Illustration is by Atelier Olschinsky
A new Oneohtrix Point Never album is rearing its head over the horizon, like a glittering orb of synthetic wonder. But are the first rays of its light that reach our senses really exemplary of what we’re to expect? These minor piano chords and degenerating tape crud that sound just like OK Computer-era Radiohead? This alien sparseness of texture? This silence? These caesuras? Surprised as we may be by this strange new direction, we are certainly not perturbed. Just listen on and wait for the trademark coruscating lasers to return, only this time imbued with something new, something different – a richness of harmony, a layering of timbre, a narrative, perhaps – and it is very exciting indeed…
Replica is being released by Mexican Summer and will be out on the 8th of November.
Image is by lovely lomo person Irregulargirl/Dana/Zuul. Check out her awesome tumblr here.
There’s what looks like a really great little festival going on this weekend. We got all excited by the line-up and were rubbing our grubby little paws together in eager anticipation when we happened to read the small (ok, fair enough, the totally normal-sized, if not actually quite prominent) print and discovered the bastard thing’s in sodding Chicago. Damn Yanks get all the fun.
Anyway, if you’re in the Illinois area this weekend (well, you might be), you should probably check it out. There’ll be sets from a lot of acts we’ve recently featured like Oneohtrix Point Never, Rene Hell, Mountains and the awesome White Rainbow, as well as plenty of other daringly original, genre-defying and thought-provoking artists. Here’s a quick round-up of what we would be looking forward to if we were actually going:
First off is the new solo side-project from interstellar voyager John Elliott. Not entirely sure how he manages to pump out so much stuff – whether it’s with Emeralds, solo or for his various label imprints – or how he manages to make it all so good. But it doesn’t matter. He does. And that’s all that counts.
Staying in similarly cosmic territory, Portland’s Pulse Emitter weaves glacial, dream-like synth sequences that stretch endlessly into the distance. Definitely one to bury your head and get lost to…
Veering towards more terrestrial tones, we come to the excellent C V L T S, who first came to our attention a few months back thanks to AV favourite Time Wharp and his remix of their track Angel Chromosome. Check that, as well as a cut released especially to coincide with the festival, here:
Angel Chromosome (Time Wharp Remix)
White Cluster
Slightly out of place, but no less worthy of a slot at the festival, is warped blues guitar wizard, Bill Orcutt, whose spell-bindingly frenetic youtube videos have been favourites of ours for some time.
Filling the yawning chasm between Grouper and Fuck Buttons is the mercurially-styled Leslie Keffer, whose past work has veered from punk rock, to extreme noise and now into electronic improv. Should be a really great set if this teaser of a track is anything to go by.
Back onto the intergalactic megabus now for Dylan Ettinger. Check out his awesomely heavy, uber-slow synth-dub odyssey, Lion of Judah. Nizzze.
Last, but absolutely, positively and resolutely not least, is Lucky Dragons. A group that seem to change their entire direction every time they release a new album or play a gig, they’re always an absolute treat to see live. Here’s a quick round up of what to possibly expect, or to make you surprised when they play something totally different.
Brooklyn ambient noise duo Mountains have been on our radar ever since we discovered their beautiful album Choral and its graceful acoustic minimalism a couple of years ago. Their new release, Air Museum, has surpassed all previous output in terms of mood, scope and technical proficiency, catapulting them into the hypnagogic realms of Ducktails, Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never.
Check out their stunning new video and an additional track off the new album here, then hop over to Thrill Jockey to pick up the album.
Image is by old fave Ryan McGinley.
Double track post for you today. This one’s of Antony and The Johnson’s gorgeously sombre video for their new track Swanlights, and the accompanying remix of alternately delicate and devastating electronics from the ever-brilliant Oneohtrix Point Never. More collaborations like this one please gents. It’s a real treat.
Image is from one of our favourite and aforementioned contemporary photographers, the fantastic Jason Nocito.
Fans of Oneohtrix Point Never should prick up their eyes for this one. It’s a stunning album of glacial synths, celestial electronics and rippling rhythms from Chicago-based sound artist Adam Tramposh, aka Polymer Slugs. Each track is under or around three minutes long and is semi-improvised, coming across as initial sketches or brief glimpses of moods, ideas and concepts. Hopefully this is just the beginning, too, and Adam will soon be treating us to the more grandiose, rhapsodic soundscapes we feel are tingling at his fingertips. Definitely one to watch…
Listen in full below. And please do buy it if you like.
Image is by digital artist Gerhard Mantz.
Here’s another epic electronic soundscape from the sound-art genius that is Keith Fullerton Whitman. It’s got to be one of the most intense, sublime, enrapturing pieces of music we’ve heard for some time – like a collaboration between Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never doing a re-work of Vangelis’ Blade Runner score. Yes, really.
If any of his output from last year passed you by we’d urge you to jump on it – it’s got to be some of the most incredible electronic music ever produced. Absolutely crying out to have a film cut to it, too. One day, one day…
P.S
Another track’s just popped up on his Soundcloud, may as well share that as well:
Pretty cool gig lined up by blogger/promoter God Don’t Like It at Hoxton watering hole The Macbeth this Saturday. Definitely one to check out if you can make it down there for the night, especially as tickets are only £5. Bargain, eh?
Headlining the night are rambunctious Dalston stalwarts TEETH, whose mix of DIY electronics, gregarious posturing and day-glo occultism should be a suitably filthy end to the evening. Stream their recently released 7″ See Spaces here (and just imagine the fun you’ll have to Time Changes once you’ve had a skinful).
Next on the bill is probably the one we’re looking forward to the most – Birmingham-based solo electronicker Seams. He’s touring round Germany in March with Gold Panda and Dam Mantle which should give you an idea of sound and quality of output. Definitely one to look out for in future…
Also playing are East London duo Drugg, whose heavyweight Oneohtrix Point Never style drones are met with arching vocals and live drums to create something almost singalong, but is instead rendered ghostly and supernatural by the constantly rippling layers of noise decay. Awesome stuff.
And finally is experimental duo Vialka, kind of like a stripped down gypsy punk band playing Deerhoof covers. Or maybe the other way round. I’m not really sure. But either way, they’ll be a lot of fun.
Image is of (you guessed it) Lady Macbeth – by English Romantic painter Henry Fuseli.
So it seems we’re slightly stuck in the past. 2010 is rapidly speeding into the distance and we’ve admittedly been a little slow in outing all of our favourite tracks from the year that’s passed.
As far as we’re concerned though, that’s no reason to stop looking back. At least three of the songs on this mix have come to our attention in the short window January has so far afforded, some from as far back as February last year, and I’m sure we’ll discover more as the year continues.
The selection of ambience and drone we’ve put together shows that 2010 was a year in which the marginal seemed to come to the fore. Emeralds and Oneohtrix featured in many a ‘best of’ list and they’re firmly nestled in ours alongside some less heralded favourites. This has been the hardest mix to finalise a track list for, with songs from Concern, The Fun Years, Barn Owl, Philip Jeck and Yellow Swans all just missing out. Still, there should be enough here to hold you interest for an hour or so. Click here to get the tracklisting and download the mix for free.
The picture is from a stunning collection of photos by Susanna Majuri called Nordic Water Tales. You can see more of her wonderful work here.
If you have a brief window at work today, watch this on full screen with headphones. Compelling, hypnotic and ever so slightly unsettling. Just what you need to get you in the mood for the weekend.
The tracks on this mini-EP are kind of crap, but it’s such a funny concept that I thought I ought to post it. Plus, I really, really love Lindsay Lohan.
‘Inspired in part by Lindsay Lohan’s grotesquely fascinating black hole existence and in part by my unwavering belief in the power of pop music as an artform, I saw an opportunity to create something interesting with her music, and decided to ask some friends to reinterpret some of Lindsay’s songs. “Tri Angle Records Presents: Let Me Shine for You” is the result. Even though we are all fond of Lindsay in our own ways, there is no FREE LINDSAY agenda here. We all love pop music and this is merely an experiment. All of our intentions are very sincere.’
Babe Rainbow – I Can Try To Run (Stuck)
Laurel Halo – sinh (Something I Never Had)
Autre Ne Veut – Bossy
oOoOO – I Live For The Day
Stalker – Disconnection (Disconnected)
Oneohtrix Point Never – LL [Stresswave Edit] (Something I Never Had / Over)
DL: http://dismagazine.com/audio/dis_let_me_shine_for_you.zip
