Sunday, March 25, 2012

DC MEGA POST Q1 2012

Hi bros. It's been a minute since i rapped at ya.

I recently got a sweeet DVD from my buddy in Maplewood, so sweet with such top secret gems that I'm hesitant to even release these certified bangers to the WWALT community too quickly because it would freak you out.

One jam in particular really got me, a CD by this band Plankton Wat. Recorded live (proudly) to cassette 4-track in Portland, the vibe is Six Organs / Fahey / Woods / Freak Out. While researching on the interwebs I wound up at one of my favorite spots in the world, Mimaroglu Music Sales. I like this one so much I threw down on the physical media copy with red colored vinyl.



Plankton Wat is just one guy who plays all the instruments. He's in another band called Eternal Tapestry which I also recommend. That one is just EPIC JAMZ, a la Magic Lantern (if you feel that) or maybe Wooded Shjips / Moon Duo. Straight up, i can't pretend that Eternal Tapestry joint is anything other than four dudes in the midst of weed and beer fueled jams in their Portland jam space... but that hits the spot sometimes. Plus they have song titles like "Cathedral of Radiance" and "Temporal Starshine Voyage"... EPIC BRO!!!

Continuing down that K hole I found another gem, Garden Sound (umlauts over the A and O) which is a side project of 2 guys from Eternal Tapestry and the guys from WWALT favorite Barn Owl (If three or more dudes like an album it is considered "WWALT Favorite" -Ed.). The first jam is a moody, restrained gem of a song, the rest gets pretty sludgy fast, but this is another good'un. All these joints are available using the old +Mediafire trick, FYI.



This one has been on my radar for a while but i haven't pulled the trigger. Glad I did, the "FRKWYS" series has been a bunch of collabs with new noise makers with old school legends. This one has Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never, et al), James Ferraro (The Skaters, Vodka Soap, etc..), and Lauren Halo playing with synth minimalism titan David Borden & long-time sideman Sam Godin. The result is solid goodness, synth weird out but never crossing into painful noise, good textures. I wish I had the language to pin point what I like and what I don't with this kind of bug out music, because there is lots I don't like, but this one is in my sweet spot. The covers pay tribute to the old Folkways covers from the 60's and 70's, if you feel that.



I also got that new Oneohtrix Point Never joint on cassette so I can listen to it in my 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee:



I got this Pierre Schaeffer record. I have so much early electronic / musique concrete stuff, but this one caught my ear when i checked an audio sample. It's good and listenable:



Last but not least, I threw down on this one. Way too much money but i just got my bonus at work and so I said F it, treat yourself, Donald. This is a super deluxe 5 LP box set of all the records that Dome put out. Dome was the side project band that formed after the seminal punk band Wire broke up in the early 80's. Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis of Wire did a complete 180, went into the studio and used the "studio as an instrument" and just bugged out. I've only come across only one Dome record in all my years record collecting, including blogs/mediafire trick, so glad ot have the whole batch, and the packaging by label Editions Mego is really beautiful and on point. Pretty stoked for this.



Word up. hope all you guys are doing well, hit up the blog with the latest and greatest. The Shins have a new one out, I give a Meh minus. Rootless hipped me to "Mirroring - Foreign Body" which is a Grouper side project that is doooope. Good looking out Rootless.

Later.

dc

3 comments:

blablazo said...

A cassette, huh? I'm somewhat puzzled about the revival of cassettes. Jahtari put something out on cassette a few years ago and I'd buy it if I found it. I even have a cassette deck that (mostly) works.

Never heard of Dome but the box set looks nice.

rootless said...

I need to hook up with Plankton Wat. Regift that DVD to me, please. Eternal Tapestry is on Spotify, so I'll check that out. I got a mega-post coming up.

rootless said...

oh, and the new Shins is hit or miss, some songs as good as anything they've done (and I'm a fan), some are gay like valet.