On this tribute to Augustus Pablo, Morton Feldman, Sun Ra, and Terry Riley, multi-instrumentalists Dax Pierson (Subtle) and Robert Horton (a.k.a. Egghatcher, Future Ears) erect academically rigorous soundscapes that lean more toward Feldman’s dispersive use of space than they do dubby rhythmic ballast. Of the titular legends, Feldman and Riley receive the most aural love. At its best, PFSR generates fluctuating mantras of minimalist bliss, and foreboding synth jabber that evokes bleak, unpopulated vistas. As earnest and intriguingly bizarre as PFSR is, the album, more than anything, makes one want to delve into its honorees’ catalogs.
Dälek Abandoned Language
It’s not easy being the most innovative hip-hop crew on Earth, but Dälek is persevering with gusto. On their third album proper (ignoring a crucial collab with Faust), Abandoned Language, the New Jersey trio scales back on the caustic noise grind and ushers in eerier tones and more blissful atmospheres than found on their previous full-lengths. Here, finesse trumps brute power and in-the-red squalls, elements that Dälek had taken farther than anyone in hip-hop history. Language is the group’s most melodically accomplished work, and it also exhibits producer Oktopus’ and turntablist Still’s continued mastery of drones. MC Dälek’s verses continue to boil with articulate rage, lamenting the lack of progress for minorities, and documenting centuries-old injustices as well as current oppression and strife. Dälek’s music may have slightly simmered, but its quality remains as staggeringly high as ever-its sting is just more subliminal now.
Dominik Eulberg Heimische Gefilde
Greeting, and colorful woodpecker. That’s the gist of Heimische Gefilde‘s opening, which revisits the “wildlife techno” that underscored Eulberg’s debut, Flora & Fauna. This time, the part-time park ranger introduces a new bird or insect between each track of glittering minimal techno. From the machine comes music on par with (but sexier than) the best of Lindstrøm and The MFA. “Afraid of Seeing Stars?” sets things in motion, followed by bait-and-switch banger “Der Buchdrucker” and eventually a track in which the bass, snare, hi-hat, and vocals are literally for the birds. Remarkably Eulberg remains so connected with the natural world, and in sharing it with listeners, that he reveals some of the most exotic sounds of all.
Explosions in the Sky All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
In 2004, this Austin instrumental quartet scored Friday Night Lights, a movie pulsing with the shoulder pad-crumpling hits and kinetic drive of young Texans high on testosterone. (A predictable move, since the band’s careening, quiet-loud-quiet cacophony sounds tailor-made for the movies.) On All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, the band seems like it’s in soundtrack mode again. More restrained and less explosive, Everyone finds the group delicately dropping a few guitar-based nuclear blasts and pulling back instead of pushing the damn button, bringing forth everything they’ve got and letting God sort it out. There’s more color and gentler build-ups, as if the band is stretching out and refining its ideas, which makes the more extreme moments-like the neck-snapping crescendos of clipped guitars and the glittering clusters of piano melodies on “What Do You Go Home To?”-that much more intense.
Deerhunter Cryptograms
There are placid bands, and those that froth; Deerhunter balances the extremes, and a river runs through it (figuratively, sure, but semi-literally, thanks to Cryptograms‘ burbling undercurrents). Seeing as this five-piece hails from fresh water-challenged Atlanta, however, any regenerative tributary is more likely just the white noise of Interstate 75. Deerhunter could end up on every hipster’s 2007 rock road map, as the band culls influence from The Jesus & Mary Chain (“Cryptograms,” “Strange Lights”), the bristly bliss of Sonic Youth and Acid Mothers Temple (“Lake Somerset,” “Hazel St.”), Animal Collective/Grizzly Bear affectations (“Providence,” “Spring Hall Convert”), even shimmering spots of U2 (if produced by Darren Emerson with Alan Moulder) on “Octet.” Live, the band still indulges in reedy derangement, but even at its most unhinged, Cryptograms is cohesive-showing Deerhunter’s ability to pile on as much kindling as klang.
Dommm Yoloxochitl
It’s debatable whether Bright Eyes will still be the “new Dylan” 30 years from now. But in the here and now Conor Oberst’s doe-eyed-gone-wild-eyed affectations certainly have at least one fan in Los Angeles’ Dommm (a.k.a Dominic Tiberio). Somewhere between the confessions of Oberst (or perhaps Xiu Xiu) and the confrontations of Venetian Snares lie Dommm’s hectoring siren spasms and crimped synths, and these calm, melodic vignettes struggle with issues of ugly-beautiful vulnerability (especially “Candy Apple Head” and “Holy Hyena”). Dommm places emphasis on having a center of gravity within the diffusion, á la Fennesz (see guitar-flecked “Sloth” and “Conked”). Past all the Cex-ual tension, IDeMo is emerging.
Uncle Sam Goddamn
The Week In Music, April 27
Sheryl Crow has finally taken a stance against toilet paper. According to the BBC, Ms. Crow is advocating legal action against those who use too many squares in the loo. Haters of the planet, don’t stress–she has also requested no less than 18 vans for her tour to fight global warming.
Right Said Fred pseudo-star Richard Fairbrass also took time this week to stand up for what he believes–cars and cigarettes. Fairbass has stated he will run for mayor in London, claiming he’ll fight the smoking ban in rebuttal to “Red Ken” Livingstone’s bill that charges commuters eight pounds to drive to the city’s center. Perhaps the former should just take the bus and calm down.
Willie Nelson (pictured above) was caught with 1 ½ pounds of marijuana and 0.2 pounds of hallucinogenic mushrooms this week, and promptly slapped on the wrist with $1,024 in fines before being released. While leaving the building he simply said, “Thank y’all.” Let’s not forget that he allegedly smoked pot on top of the White House, a true patriot.
Meanwhile, in the news of the common man, XLR8R’s Fred Miketa interviewed Oliver Stumm, from New York-based duo A Touch of Class (below). During the interview, Stumm remarked that most music being produced is awful, and that digital DJs are pushing a sound and approach that’s simply “unsexy.” He also professes a dislike for trance and liver.
And finally, a group not making arses of themselves in the headlines. Legendary reggae label Trojan records celebrates its 40th birthday. The label is known for releasing works by Duke Reid and Lee “Scratch” Perry early on, as well as influencing skinhead and Mod groups. After the better part of half a century, we’re excited for their silver anniversary in another 10 years. Big ups!
Cameron Octigan
FriendsWithYou: Plush Playgrounds
With so many brands trying to insinuate themselves into your daily life, it’s easy to be suspicious of an organization that wants to befriend you. But it’s hard to stay cynical about Friends With You, an outfit so upfront about their intent that they’ve made their mission statement their name.
In actuality, Friends With You’s Sam Borkson, 27, and Arturo “Tury” Sandoval (son of the Cuban jazz trumpeter of the same name), 30, consider themselves merely the earthly vessels by which a panoply of otherworldly characters–Malfis, the Good Wood Gang, and Red Flyer–get their message of magic and wonder across to the world. The Miami-based twosome started their outreach in 2002, hand-making limited numbers of plush characters and selling them via designer toy emporiums like Kid Robot and StrangeCo. Unlike “too cool for you” vinyl toys, each FWY avatar came with a story: Shoebaca, a pile of brown fur with removable kidneys, was designed to help you make decisions; King Albino, a giant fuzzy square with a gaping maw, promised to “erase all of life’s embarrassing moments.”
It may sound crazy to you, but FWY’s ageless philosophy has taken off like wildfire. Erasing the line between childhood and adulthood with a rainbow-dipped paintbrush, they’ve created a playground at a mall and an interactive dream installation for the Miami MOCA, as well as hotel rooms, a stop-motion short film for Nike, a blimp parade, and a forthcoming line of children’s books. Is there anything they can’t do? No, and you can do anything too–just take heed of their inspirational words below.
XLR8R: When did you realize that you could do what you wanted as “work?”
Sam: We don’t call it work. And we’ve been always doing it.
Tury: It is a full-time job to do what you want. People take it for granted that other people are there to dictate what they need to do. Once you have full control of your actions then you are also in full control of your failures. Can’t blame anyone else, and that in turns makes you be even more responsible and on point.
Where do you get your best ideas?
Sam: I get tons of them from dreams, from seeing a spirit in the street or just looking at something ordinary differently. I love to study religions old and new to see how they advanced civilization through messages, and try to adapt that to the very open club we are creating.
Tury: The best ideas are the ones you always had–it’s how you interpret this and how you implement those ideas in the real world. That is where function and form meet to create magic or a disaster! The best (or my favorite) ideas are the ones that take a long time to form. Quick ideas are like cheap thrills: sweet and great, but they make you feel like you are not really in control.
What keeps you in Miami instead of moving to NYC or L.A.?
Sam: I love, love, love Miami. It’s a great portal to the entire universe and the rest of Earth. Miami has a great spirit and a ton of mashed-up culture, which is very inspiring. We also have access to one of the greatest power centers in the world, which is our beautiful beaches, great weather, great times, and lots of BBQs. The energy here is very thick and you can either have amazing adventures or hide away in meditation and hard work and study.
Tury: Miami is where the magic is! Don’t you know? Yeah, you knew. That’s why you asked.
What character are you closest to?
Sam: We are both Malfi by nature, I feel some kind of silly spirit that is a trickster and is all powerful.
Tury: Characters come and go! They are just like friends: you fall in and out of love, and you find each other again some time after… I’m most fond of the characters that we are working and developing right now, including some of the old ones that keep reincarnating into new forms and shapes. That permanent transformation is what makes a character powerful!
Your work suggests that humans need magical talismans.
Sam: They don’t need them, but they do need spirituality–all humans do. It’s why coming together to pray is so important. It gives you magical and superhuman powers when we focus our brains together towards a certain goal or resolution. Our magical talismans are basically a good way of presenting people with a focus tool to help them empower themselves.
Tury: Talismans or amulets are of great importance because they serve as a constant reminder to their owner that he or she believes in that outer option. Without that in place it’s so easy to fall prey to the modern (false) sense of control. You will always find a lot more spirituality in communities or countries that are poor or in a chaotic social state. These people have little control, [so] believing is an essential need for survival. We (first-world citizens) don’t need that any more, and that makes us a little cold. It’s humbling to know that you are not in control. Once you know this then it is freeing to know that control is something that you can live without. We tell people that they are not in control and they freak out, because they have nothing else to fall back on!
What is your favorite magical talisman or creature, like Pegasus or a rabbit foot?
Sam: I love all of them and they are all relevant to what we are doing.
Tury: Outside of the ones that we design ourselves, I would have to say Eleggua. [An orixa of the Santeria faith, who is a trickster god. – Ed.]
What are some big influences on your design?
Sam: Mother Nature, TV, Miyazki, Tezuka, Jodorowsky, religion, the future, the universe, microcosms, branding, kawaii culture, the internet and new information systems, music, life and adventure, and lots of science.
What comes first when you create a plush toy, the story behind it or the actual figure itself?
Sam: Mostly it is a simple shape or feeling we have and we are depicting it through the simplest means necessary. Then so much emotion and life begins to attach to it as we distort and construct and deconstruct the idea. We draw them hundreds of times together and it’s really fun!
How much of an influence is Japanese culture on Friends With You?
Sam: Huge. The Japanese culture is absolutely genius. They keep themselves young through their ancient diet of sea plants and fermentation devices, they have a vast knowledge that the world is hungry for, and their version of consumerism is really brilliant. We study hard to convey emotions through simple brands and characters–it is an intelligence we love to learn and combine with our life and experience, and the rest of the world’s, and then rebroadcast the signal from the other side of the world.
What is the best advice you ever received?
Sam: “Be truthful in your pursuits” is a great one.
Tury: It’s hard to say. But this friend of my dad once gave me The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran and a Jimi Hendrix tape. Those rate pretty high on my list.
Belong Announces Tour
Since 2006’s October Language, New Orleans-based duo Belong has been on a roll. Turk Dietrich and Michael Jones (not to be confused with Mike Jones), have announced a predominantly East Coast tour with Sub Pop production-monolith The Album Leaf, plus the release of a mysterious, untitled 12” on Secretly Canadian sub-label St. Ives, which will include vocals (a step away from the duo’s swollen soundscapes), and some ’60s covers (groovy).
In addition to crafting a remix for Nine Inch Nails under the moniker Benelli, the collaborative duo has also scored a soundtrack to the video game Blast Factor, for Playstation 3, under the name Drop D. Unlike Belong’s signature lush instrumentals, Drop D is all-out Science Fiction-electro–with some traces of Belong’s textured history.
The OG Belong duo is also prepping a follow-up long-player, set for release in the fall of 2007, presumably without any signs of dancecrafted-wizzardry. But Science Fiction-electro? Vocals? You never know.
Tourdates
05/07 Tampa, FL: Crowbar
