Cheerleading for squarepusher

Sound the alarm! Alert the town crier! One of the most decisive albums of the year is sliding underneath the WXYC radar. Santa's getting confused. The best-of-2007 lists are spilling out the mail slot, but Squarepusher's "Hello Everything" has been suspiciously absent from this year's crop. Look at the nine panels on the cover and understand what this album is -- it is one man, pushing pieces of plastic and steel around with his hands, zipping around electrons to move in metal. The metal of my speakers and his instruments shakes and pulses with hype. Furious hype. And my electrons. 1990s. British scientists uncovered the perfect rhythmic noise -- the Amen breakbeat -- and well, the rest is history. You can speed it up too to slowly so that they move more quickly in time. It's like it's dance music, except way too fast for anyone to dance too. That is, if using your body. Use the electrons!! Listen to this album www.squarepusher.net or watch the videos and understand that "The Modern Bass Guitar" is played on the bass guitar somehow, using fingers. I refer to the cover for proof that they really are fingers. Fingers are doing this.

-tyler

SLICK SCALPS

Artist: Sic Alps
Album: Pleasures and Treasures
Label: Animal Disguise

This overloaded album of feedback and feverish hallucinations was recorded in San Francisco and Mendocino CA in 2005, courtesy of Mike Donovan (Big Techno Werewolves), Bianca Sparta (Erase Errata), and Adam Stonehouse (The Hospials), with Flying Luttenbacher wild-man Weasel Walter doing the mastering. The current incarnation of the band is now a duo consisting of Donovan and Matthew Hartman (Cat Power, Coachwips), so theres no telling what they actually sound like now. But on this release, they destroy rock music to the point of absurdity and beyond, completely drowning your point of view in a garbage dump of distortion and abrasive noise overlaps. Somewhere inside, hollowed out vocals moan out a druggy dirge of busted melody, at times completely obscured by the onslaught of psychedelic sludge. Imagine Royal Trux in their smacked-out Twin Inifinitve days, with crunching guitars jangling in and out of rhythm to tampered time and complete obliteration. It isnt a very settling listen, but the unpredictability and cacophonous jubilee make me a fan, and when it rocks, it fukkin rocks (see track 5). Take a ride with the slow-moving guitar chugs of righteous repulsion, shredding song structure with a machete along the way.

My Spare Time is a Bleary Eyed Sip of Cheap Wine

Not to begrudge this blog, as it is a valuable resource with which XYC jocks might share our vast collective musical knowledge and initiate thought-provoking discussions about new and old musical styles and artists, but right now it seems as though this page is mostly a clearinghouse for youtube links, which while perhaps modestly entertaining, are of the most debilitated visual and audio quality and do little to demonstrate the heavy potential of this space on the interweb. Not to be one to simply smear the format and content and then bail, I must posit this humble observation concerning the potential of the blog format, and issue it as a personal challenge to myself and others to up the bar for our own wastes of time.
For an excellent example of a blog which instructs and inspires, head to the No Doctors homepage. Despite the fact that I consider these dudes my friends, I also admire their homepage for its lively discussion and interesting mix of fact and fiction. I issue a challenge to myself and others for the XYC blog - put some of yourself out there and let the world know what you think about music, the world, and our relationship to sound. If we could but smear some of the email jeezus that we produce over topics such as tuba or the legacy of luc ferrari, we would go a long way.
That said, TIME magazine has certainly indavertantly made an ass of themselves by hailing blogs such as this as harbingers of some new era in pluralistic entertainment provision, insinuating the the whole of America is ready to be entertained by folks with lots of spare time, like myself. Hmmmm. Maybe my own presence on the internet is not ready for my own chagrin at the bevy of crap that shuffles it way through the aether and spurts its electronic spunk all over my slow wireless connection. Blorch.

To Live and Shave the Thursday Night Feature

On last week's Thursday Night Feature, I exploited the work of Miami-based avant/industrial/pre/noise/dub band TO LIVE AND SHAVE IN LA. For three whole hours, listeners were treated (annihilated) to an audio history of the band, starting with main founder Tom Smith's work in Peach of Immortality and winding all the way up to the new album, Noon and Eternity. Mr. Smith was even nice enough to engage me in an interview, which was also included in the show. If you missed it, or you were one of the many who turned off your radios, you can relive the magic by downloading the show in its entirety below.


To Live and Shave TNF

If you like what you hear, be sure to pick up Noon and Eternity, which was recently released on Menlo Park Recordings.

Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas

It happens every year. You are busy, things get hectic, and in the end you forget to do any Holiday Shopping! Uh-Oh! How will all your loved ones ever know that you love them without a gesture of consumerist reciprocity?!?

The sad truth is that they won't know and will therefore stop loving you. Therefore it is imperative to give them gifts to win their love. What's that? No money?!?

Well, the re-gift is a classic, though tacky, move. But do you know what's better than the re-gift? The modded re-gift.

It's simple really: take the crappy electronic toys and gifts from yesteryear and tweak them to make them completely awesome! The perfect gift!

The Sesame Street Talking Alphabet!


A Talking Pikachu!


A Toy Guitar!


A Playskool Keyboard!


And many, many more!

And for all your other tweaking, building, hacking, and DIY needs, let me highly recommend the MAKEzine blog and their archive of music and audio centered projects.

Best,
Kellen

the New Zealand Trick

Instead of studying or paper writing, check this out. Its cooler, I promise.

This might not make any new fans, but here I've got a pretty cool 1984 television program that takes a look at Christchurch and Dunedin. Its mostly Flying Nun-centric, but who cares? There's lots of interviews and live clips from folks like Shayne Carter, the Verlaines, Look Blue Go Purple, Backdoor Blues Band, and Alastair Galbraith. There's some forgettable stuff maybe- but this is definitely fun. Part III is probably best.

(too much to post right onto our blog, so check out some links)

Part I
Part II
Part III

And I couldn't resist putting up these videos from two huge NZ pop groups. They will make new fans, quick.
The Chills, Pink Frost. From 1984, can be found on Kaleidoscope World, an early singles collection. Its a hit.
The Clean, Anything Could Happen. Released as a single sometime during their first existence (1978-83). You can find it on Anthology, and it rocks. David Kilgour wears a Bob Dylan costume. Cool.

Inspirational Religious Leaders, pt. 3: This Guy

who is he?? someone said his myspace page was here, but i don't think that's right. we need to give this guy a time slot on XYC.

Inspirational Religious Leaders, pt. 2: Jonathan Bell

wow.

Inspirational Religious Leaders, pt. 1: Reverend Alicia

pimp it.

Feedback Farm Goes Christmas Shopping: Crap + Junk, Part II

Those of you who heard Feedback Farm on Wednesday might think I'm lying when I say that due to a technical glitch the recording of the program was lost and thus cannot be presented to you here. It would perhaps be understandable that we wouldn't want the recording of that episode made public. But I tell you, it's true.

And, in fact, as evidence of my earnestness, let me make an appeal to anyone who may have recorded the show at home: If you have a copy of the November 29, 2006 Feedback Farm, please contact WXYC and I'll get it up on the blog to the considerable embarrassment of all involved in that show.

For the benefit of those who missed the program, the best we can offer is a play-by-play of what went down:

From 9pm until about 9:10pm, the Feedback Farmers scrambled to hook up their equipment and reconnect the power to the microphones. Due the the cramped quarters, tight spaces, and the farmers' large hands, replugging the microphone mixer power cord proved more difficult than it should have been. Thanks wholly to Kevin, the signal going out over 89.3FM and wxyc.org was kept alive by a lovely Bing Crosby loop with a spoken word piece succinctly describing the Christmas season: "More is never enough." Unfortunately, the loop and spoken word lost the brunt of its considerable impact long before it ceased playing. The home listener was probably bored by 9:05pm, and given the concomitant, huge men's basketball game, most people had likely turned off their radios before the Feedback Farmers ever turned on their microphones.

At which point the fun really began.

The point of the show was supposed to be to talk about the insanity of the Christmas shopping season. Black Friday, people getting shot to get that last PS3, people camping all night to get into Best Buy, etc.

The show did cover these topics, it must be said. Cole set up the discussion, PJ took his cue and mentioned Black Friday so that Kevin could spin the Steely Dan song of the same name, and Robin told a touching anecdote about Christmas shopping with his family.

But all too often the Farmers got distracted and the discussion veered away from the evening's purported focus. As if we really care what your favorite Christmas cookie is or whether you believe in Santa Claus. O muddled inanity! Farmers, your disparaging British telephone caller may have it right when he says your show is nonsense. Please don't let him be right!

There were a few nice moments. The philosophizing caller who extrapolated from the ever-lengthening Christmas shopping season (decorations in stores before Halloween!) the day when we go shopping for next next Christmas was particularly memorable. Still, in the end, the show was one to be missed. In the future, hopefully the Farmers will stay on topic and keep their petty bickering off-mic.

That about sums up what you would have heard if you had listened live or if an archive of the show were available to download. And with that, hopefully you're all as excited as I am to tune in on December 13th at 9pm WXYC-time for the next fabulous episode of Feedback Farm!

(Seriously, though, see the blog post from November 15th "Oh, the Hypocrisy" for a sample of what the Feedback Farm can be.)

To Live is Dying, Saved in Bombay

So, after getting this in the mail the other week and listening several times, I've finally formulated a review for the new To Live and Shave in LA. Here's the XYCified version:








Artist: To Live and Shave in La
Album: Noon and Eternity
Label: Menlo Park

What has happened here!? Tom Smith and his demented vehicle To Live and Shave in LA have returned with a behemoth of brooding sound unlike anything theyve released before. The tracks are long, tedious and still a difficult pill to get down, although this time it isnt as much for the abrasiveness, oh no. This time, its for the sheer size and depth of the cavernous compositions within, roaming through a desolate black canyon of bad acid trips and stereophonic drifts. Gone are the abrasive shitstorm of samples and destroyed noise orgy. Gone are the blatant sexual images and perverted derivations blared in uncomfortable excess. Instead, TLASILA brings us four tracks that read like a book of grotesque musical wanderings scripted from a group of crazed soothsayers, forecasting an infinite spiral of despair and degradation. I think I even heard an actual guitar chord in there. Smiths vocal approach has also shifted, focusing more this time on clarity and range, rather than intense-as-possible screams of vein-bulging depravity. Joining him are long-time friends and contributors Rat Bastard, Ben Walcott, Don Fleming, Chris Grier, Mark Morgan, Thurston Moore, and even Andrew W.K. on drums. This isnt a causal listen. You need a pair of headphones and a solid hour of your time to properly digest the meticulously edited escapades of gurgling depth and disgust. There are moments of utter brilliance that shine through the sludge (see the crescendos in Tracks 1 (~12:30 in) and Track 4), but it definitely takes a while for the first three tracks to get to the climax, rumbling slowly along in mechanical drama. I prefer the tight-packed sensory overload approach of old, but I can respect what the boys are doing here, especially with the amount of time and effort they still put into the recording and editing. Its a big one to suck on, thats for sure, but dont be frightened to swallow.

Silence!

It's coming, and WXYC will not be participating.

Some guy from England named Bill Drummond has decided November 21st should be No Music Day. He cites stagnation in musical creativity as one of his primary reasons and hopes that a day of silence will kick-start something really new. I think he's not listening to the right stuff (does he have the Gordon Monahan and Tim Hecker releases that graced WXYC's rotation this year?), or maybe he's forgotten how to listen.

He has a point that there's a lot of musical fodder out there, but after reading his rant I personally think his idea is silly and contrived. So, despite the fact that London's excellent Resonance FM is participating, I'm glad that we are not.

I believe you can make a much more meaningful (if still futile) statement by participating in Buy Nothing Day this Friday.

Correcting A Misunderstanding

In an effort to correct misconceptions about what this blog actually is for, I submit the following list of carefully considered guidelines.

What This Is Not / Ain't According to The Talking Heads
My beautiful house
My beautiful wife
No party
No disco
No fooling around
No Mudd Club or CBGG

Oh, the Hypocrisy!

The good Reverend Ted Haggard, the honorable ex-Representative Mark Foley, and their assorted hypocrisies were discussed and remixed ad nauseum tonight on the Feedback Farm. Missed it? Download it. (25MB MP3)

Relive the BBQ

If you missed the Backyard BBQ live at the Local 506 on October 20th, you missed a great show with great food. Embarrassing Fruits, The Nein, The Moaners, and Black Taj provided the music; and the BBQ Joint catered.

At this point, we can't help you out with dinner, but we can help you partly relive the evening. MP3s from the show are available for download on the Backyard BBQ home page. Click over and check it
out.

To hear Robin S's interview with Black Taj mere hours before their Backyard BBQ performance, click here (18MB MP3).

Be sure to come out to the next Live Backyard BBQ coming soon!

Roommate on WXYC!

Hey everybody,
Today at around 4pm on WXYC I'll be interviewing Kent Lambert, aka Roomate , who reached number one on our charts last summer with his debut full-length release Songs the Animals Taught Us . In addition to being an internationally-acclaimed musician (he's gotten pretty cozy with the volk over at Studio Brussel ), Kent is a prolific video artist . I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about and I hope you'll tune in. After the interview, Kent will be performing for free at the Carolina Union Cabaret . If a live interview and free performance haven't sparked your pancy, check out this picture I found of Kent from his run for the U.S. house of Representatives in 2006.

WXYC's new Southern music show premieres Friday

Hey gang - Well, we've been at work on the concept for the whole darn semester, but finally, we're proud to tell you that a new show is about to make its debut on WXYC. This Friday at 4, you'll hear the first "Carolina Breakdown," a coproduction of WXYC, the UNC Curriculum in Folklore and the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.

It's a pretty straightforward concept -- an hour of locally peformed, Southern-oriented music each week, along with brief interviews with band members and songwriters. We've been taping acts at Graham Memorial's Thursday on the Terrace series, and will do so again this Thursday. We've also been taping acts at the ArtsCenter, and will -- guess what -- do so again on Friday and Saturday.

We'll provide frequent, though not annoyingly frequent, updates here as the show evolves.

The show will primarily feature artists and bands that define themselves as "Southern." We'll be exploring what it means to be a Southern musician -- whether it's hip hop, country, bluegrass, roots rock, or anything that falls in between.

On the premiere show, you'll hear The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a great African American string band from Durham, and the Allen Boys, a "sacred steel" quartet out of Mount Airy.

Next week's show will feature Nashville singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell and Mississippi free-style hip hop artist Top Notch the Villain.

The show will also be available as a podcast. Details here soon.

We're looking for suggestions to book bands for the spring shows. Got one? Email us at carolinabreakdown@unc.edu.

Thanks to all the great WXYC staff who've supported the concept. We hope you'll enjoy the first show this Friday at 4.

~John

Get Your Head Wrecked

Holy shit. I've been waiting for this news for some time, and now, it's official! The Psychic Paramount are scheduled at the Nightlight for Thursday, November 30th, and they are coming to obliterate your sense of self with psych jams heavy enough to erase space and time. Seriously, this is the real deal, one of my faves, and I am excited.

You can visit their website for a little taste: www.thepsychicparamount.com

Definitely watch the live in Rome video for a visual tour of how completely fuckd this show is gonna be. There are also audio clips there for your enjoyment. They released a live album recorded in France and Italy back in 2002 that was an amazing testament to their live abilities, which they last displayed locally at the dearly departed Go! Studios with Acid Mothers Temple in 04 maybe? Their studio full-length came out in 2005, and I get chills every time I hear it. Ballstothemuthafuckingwall. They've apparantly got some double album thing coming out this month that documents solo recordings of the group members prior to the conception of Psychic Paramount, with the accompanying disc revealing new(?) material.

Brief history: Two of the band's members, Ben Armstrong and Drew St. Ivany, were in the short-lived mindfuck Laddio Bolocko, along with Blake Flemming (Dazzling Killmen) and Marcus DeGrazia. Laddio Bolocko were the sheer essence of demented rock distorted to the point of insanity, crunching metal with guitar strings and building a bridge to hell. A short-circuited radio melts on your tongue and all over your hands, electrifying your desires and processing them out the other end, reeking of wrecked consciousness and the smell of a black limo filled with rotting carcasses. They existed from 96-00, after which they splintered into two factions: Ivany and Armstrong took the talent to Psychic Paramount, while Flemming and DeGrazia decided to suck at life in Electric Turn to Me. Conclusion: Go see this show. Nightlight. November 30th. It will be loud and it will be heavy. Please share in the joy with me.

On that note, there are TONS of amazing shows lined up at the Nightlight in the coming month, so if you live in the Chapel Hill area, do youself a favor and check out the Nightlight website for a full line-up. Three cheers also to Mr. Charlie St Clair, a fellow XYC jock, who is kicking ass and bookin the names over there. Go Nightlight, Go!

computer-generated music

Check out these links if you are interested in computer-generated music!

Wolfram Tones: Variations on cellular automata, simple programs that produce very unpredictable results. A cellular automaton is made of a line of "cells" which each have a single value and two neighbors. The program computes the next cell based on the parent and its two neighbors. Output features stable local patterns and fractals such as the Sierpenski triangle. Wide variety of genres. MIDI format.

Fractal Tune Smithy: Annoying visual interface, fascinating results. Choose from an enormous selection of scales, rhythms, structures, etc. from all around the world. Results are often unclassifiable.

Whitney Music Box: Mesmerizing audio/visual display of harmonics and polyrhythms. Line of colored dots unfolds into a whirlpool of spiral shapes while musical scales perform in synchrony.

Crap + Junk = Feedback Farm

The Feedback Farm returned to explore Crunk Music (Crazy + Drunk, or so they tell me) tonight. Hear the results for yourself by clicking here (19MB MP3).

Tune in on November 15 at 9pm WXYC-time for the next installment of Feedback Farm!