PAPERCUP MIXMASTER - HALLOWEEN EDITION

All apologies for not being able to fulfill your wildest dreams the past two weeks, but fear not - Papercup Mixmaster returns this week with a Halloween show which will surely raise some hairs, cause some nightmares, etc. Check out myself along with MC² bringing you spooky delights to dance you off into the night, on air from 8-10PM EST on 91.1FM and streaming from wmua.org. Ward off zombies, draculas and bearded ladies with jams from Scientist, Excepter, Prince Jazzbo, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Autumn and many more seasonal favorites. Should be radical. Call in and make a request or just talk some werewolf jive - (413)545-3691.

Also it's WMUA fund drive week, so be sure to tune in to catch the number to call and make a donation! I believe we've reached our goal, but the more the merrier! Premiums available for donations (like... t-shirts, totes, hats, CDs) and all money collected goes to helping the station with its equipment upkeep, events, etc. You can even donate online without talking to us on the telephone! Click HERE to support WMUA!

CMJ

Here's a few (mostly crappy) photos of stuff I caught at CMJ last week. I had a really cool time, saw tons of bands, met lots of new friends, chilled with lots of previous acquaintances... generally drank a ton of beer, ate and slept very little and certainly felt it when I got back early this week. This is surely not enough shit to sift through, so head over to Chocolate Bobka, Pixelhorse and Ray Concepcion's Vimeo to peep assuredly better material.

I gotta say, Eric Copeland and Pill Wonder were probably my favorite parts of the week. Copeland is in Black Dice and really was a lot different than Black Dice was when I saw them at ATP NY. That is, the couple minutes at most I could sit through before having to leave the room because of how deafeningly loud it was. Copeland's set was a bit more groovy, a bit less absolutely chaotic but totally loud and killer. Pill Wonder was phenomenal as well in their seven-piece formation, totally fleshing out their songs with two drummers and huge shout-alongs. Really can't wait to hear more music from these dudes cos the tape that they're turning into a 12" is just not enough.

Also, I must say, my first "live" run-in with Mountain Man was perfect. I was sitting outside Monkeytown waiting for the show to start and I hear a three-part harmony holding hands walking down the street towards me. Just when it couldn't get any louder, the three burst into giggles. Superb.

Alex Bleeker & the Freaks at Monster Island

Fluffy Lumbers at Monster Island

Coasting at Monster Island

Country Mice at Mexican Summer/Kemado studio

Crystal Antlers at Mexican Summer/Kemado studio

Dream Diary at Don Pedro's

Eric Copeland at Market Hotel

Gary War at Market Hotel

Sian Alice Group at Cakeshop

Julianna Barwick at Cakeshop

Forest Fires at Cakeshop

Kria Brekkan at Cameo Gallery

Frat Dad at Delancey

Frat Dad at Delancey

Frat Dad's late-nite party favors

Sun Dagger at Cameo Gallery

Big Troubles at Cameo Gallery

SUBURBAN SPACESTATION

Rad new video from Rangers, whose new record Suburban Tours will see a split release later this year on Olde English Spelling Bee and Future Sounds. "Deerfield Village" follows in the footsteps of Joe's previous sounds - goopy, rhythmic guitar swirls which perfectly match the video's aerial views, long architectural shots and dated close-ups. Can't wait for this record to drop.

(image via Google Search)

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Also, if you haven't checked it out yet, Rangers' "These Things" is featured on Volume 2 of the Friendship Bracelet Club compilation series.

SUICIDE DREAM

Tom (a.k.a. How To Dress Well) describes the music he makes with three fairly dissimilar markers:

"international gay r&b, haunt-pop, noise"

However, we're not talking harsh noise. This is minimal and soaring, fairly subdued and dark. He is in the middle of releasing a run of five 3" CDs over the next six months. The first, The Eternal Love, dropped out the sky earlier this month and features a reworking of one of my favorite new jack swing // 90s R&B cheese tracks "Candy Rain" by Soul 4 Real.





How To Dress Well - The Eternal Love

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Here's a couple newer tracks from the Friday Morning Hymnal 3" CD, featuring someone by the name of cokc dokc, both supremely airy and perfect for some sort of early morning grass frost crunching beneath soles.





How To Dress Well & cokc dokc - Suicide Dream

How To Dress Well & cokc dokc - Ready For the World

PISSED UP

Got back to Western Massachusetts last nite. I'll post up stuff about CMJ (words, photos) soon, but for now I'm simply pleased and endlessly honored to announce another Friendship Bracelet release, this time in collaboration with Leaving Records - the as-yet-untitled debut from dusty sonic nomad Dem Hunger. This will not see light of day until early next year, so in the meantime here's Peugeot Pregnancy, a new mix Mr. Hunger did for Leaving. The piece is about his beloved red Susie (A RED CAR).

"NOT REALLY A MIX YAKNA


MORE ME SITTING ON THE FLOOR WITH DIRTY RADIOS AND MY CAR DRIVIN AROUND AND AROUND A BUSTED KEYBOARD I FOUND 15 YEARS AGO"

As Leaving notes, these eerie tones surface just in time for Halloween so get yer spook on.





Dem Hunger - Peugeot Pregnancy



And if for some reason you ain't copped his previous works, do it now:



Dem Hunger - White Drugs



Dem Hunger - Ejaculation Control



Dem Hunger - Heavy Spinach





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ALSO:


Stay tuned for a couple more Friendship Bracelet releases coming your way before the end of the year and check out this article from the Washington Post about rad label bros Underwater Peoples not only because they drop the name Friendship Bracelet (among others), but because it's fairly well-written and it's the Washington Post and it's cool. Big ups UP, ya do a body right.

CMJ

I'll be leaving for New York to hang out at CMJ in a couple hours, which is exciting but also means no posts until I get back Sunday or Monday. Again, thanks to WMUA for the badge and the room and for essentially making it possible for me to go spend five days in NYC and see rad bands.

To everyone who ordered things the past week: I will get first orders out when I return, so hold tight. Byrds of Paradise tapes should be coming in sometime this week so they'll get sent out next week too. Also it you're at any of the CMJ showcases I'll be attending (think along the lines of Chocolate Bobka/Olde English Spelling Bee, Group Tightener, Underwater Peoples, Impose's Colt45 shit, etc, etc), I'll have Friendship Bracelet Club Volume 2 CDRs for sale. Check out the packaging in person and buy one!

Check back here for a rundown of the "Marathon" from my point of view next week. See you there.

UNDERWATER CASINOS

If you checked out that Taped Hiss album I mentioned the other day, Audio Ectoplasm, you'll be pleased to hear that his second album entitled Underwater Casinos is now available for free download from his blog. This is not to say it directly resembles Audio Ectoplasm, rather he admits it sounds "much more spacey and zoney" and describes the types of songs as "meditative underwater space museum type songs, a few chill beach vacation type paradise drones, and some zany calamity jams for good measure."

Well put. Check "Sky Monoliths," more of the "space museum" type, then grab the rest.





Taped Hiss - Sky Monoliths





Taped Hiss - Underwater Casinos

BLK JKS LIVE

I had the opportunity to check out Johannesburg's BLK JKS a couple weeks ago at T.T. the Bear's Place in Cambridge with support from SuperVolcano and Art Decade.

I can't really stress how cool it is to see a band from half-way around the world, especially when they won't be around these parts for another while (not until March 2010 or so) and by then they'll probably be playing a bigger stage with a bigger ticket price and a bigger fan base. The four-piece's new album After Robots (Secretly Canadian) was recently named one of SPIN's "30 Best Albums of 2009... So Far" and with good reason. While the album is solid, certainly nothing to scoff at, their live show was brilliant, a psychedelic passageway in which globetrotting pop sensibilities were mashed with traditional African vibes to create something quite unique.

I believed I arrived right as Art Decade got going, each of the three members sporting a different David Bowie album cover/image on their matching white t-shirts. I've seen the band enough times to be able to tell that they're truly getting better with age [full disclosure: I'm good friends with Benny (guitar/vocals)]. Maybe it was because they had some major Berkelee College student support in the house (these dudes attend Berkelee and love to self-promote), but the three seemed the most comfortable and relaxed I've ever seen them. The set included a cover of Bowie's "Let's Dance," complete with an electric clarinet solo from none other than "King Clarinet" himself, Felix Peikli.

SuperVolcano never really seemed to settle into any consistent groove, so luckily BLK JKS did.

What I dug most from BLK JKS' set was the intoxicating and entrancing use of a vast dynamic range, largely controlled by the drummer who hit his drum set with so much force I would imagine he needs new heads pretty often. I'm talking battering ram power mixed with an indelible sense of groove, like he could keep up with some classic prog-rock percussion guru. The two guitars never dueled, rather wove layers of wild tones into and out of each other, topping off the impressive loud/soft range. Check these guys out if you get a chance.

NO RADIO

Unfortunately this week's edition of Papercup Mixmaster will not happen due to a sports preemption. The following week is questionable as well seeing as how I'll be at CMJ. However I still have two pairs of tickets to give away to King Khan & BBQ Show/Dum Dum Girls at Pearl Street October 28. Leave your name and email in the comments to grab a pair. I'm also throwing this out to Twitter so the first two people that get at me will receive the tickets.



(image via Google Search)

COASTING

In preparation for CMJ (yeah, I stumbled upon free badge & lodging - thanks WMUA) I've been scouting shows, finding shows with bunches of bands I'd like to see and then surfin the net finding out about the bands playing those shows that I have not heard before.

Coasting is one of those bands. They're playing the CMJ-unofficial Group Tightener showcase Wednesday evening at Monster Island Basement alongside Best Coast, Alex Bleeker & the Freaks, Fluffy Lumbers (w/ Byrds of Paradise's Kenny Brown filling in), Highlife and Ducktails.

Coasting is Fiona + Madison, a guitar/vocals duo who seem to have three songs to their name, though they admit that they "have to write more songs." The two craft some surfy sort of sounds, but this is not necessarily your Corona commercial beach shit - this is huge waves rolling in from some far-off tropical depression, about to smash some quaint straw huts. Impose posted up their track "Coasting" yesterday (along with that semi-incognito photo up there), so check that out HERE, then coast down the page a bit and check out another jam "Kids," then cruise to their Myspace to peep one more, then head to the Group Tightener showcase Wednesday.





Coasting - Kids

JULIAN LYNCH - BIRTHDAY

Been jamming on Julian Lynch's Birthday CDR (Buffalo Songs 002) a lot recently, mostly accompanied by the dead of night. It was recorded in August 2008u and I received my copy early sometime this year along with the Orange You Glad CDR. While OYG overshadowed Birthday, the latter seems less of a collection of songs and more a collection of song parts/movements/exercises/repetitions/drones, each as warm and cozy as the next. Maybe it's the effect on the sound of the CDR being played through a line to an old boombox cranked all the way up that made Birthday really click.

"Dubna" oozes forth at a snail's pace, dull flickers of campfire clarinet lick a ceiling of dying trees. The song evolves ever so slightly, growing less and less dim until, out of nowhere, we find what might be Julian's most uptempo material, a strummy affair spanning the last minute of the song. "Bansuri" is another favorite - clarinet fever.





Julian Lynch - Dubna



Julian Lynch - Bansuri





Also check out this new video for the last song on Orange You Glad, "Seed."

JULIAN LYNCH "SEED" VIDEO from OESB // FUTURE SOUND on Vimeo.

(image via Google Search)

WOVEN BONES - MINUS TOUCH 12"

Scummy goodness from Woven Bones. "If You're Gold I'm Gone" can be found on the new Minus Touch 12" out now on Zoo Music. Pick up your copy HERE.





Woven Bones - If You're Gold I'm Gone

JULIANNA BARWICK LIVE

Thursday evening Julianna Barwick will perform at Matthew's Mug (at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY) with PC Worship and Religious to Damn. Assuming the show is free and will start at 9PM. Barwick's Florine EP is easily one of the most beautiful recordings I've heard this year. Thanks to the generous response to a call for donations, the EP will soon be available on white vinyl in a run of 200 copies. Grab yours HERE. Hoping she has some Thursday night.

Chocolate Bobka recently posted another one of those inescapable (oh, and intimate + warm + fuzzy) Ray Concepcion videos, this time of Barwick performing the epic stained glass Florine track "Cloudbank" so check that out below.

Sunlight, Heaven: Julianna Barwick from Ray Concepcioñ on Vimeo.

(photo via Myspace)

FRIENDSHIP BRACELET CLUB VOLUME 2

That's right, it's been another few months of participation and anticipation and Volume 2 of the Friendship Bracelet Club series is now ready for your consumption, enjoyment and general listening pleasure. Thanks to all the bands/dudes that sent over tunes for this volume, it's a real honor to be able to distribute all this fine music digitally in addition to the first fine batch of songs I brought to you last Summer.

However, on this go-around you will have the opportunity to physically acquire a little piece of Friendship to call your own - I have taken it upon myself to create hand-made sleeves for a run of 100 CDRs, available for a small fee. The sleeves are made of 100% Baseball Cards and paint, recycled products from a childhood of hoarding away small pieces of cardboard in Reebok shoe boxes. Hey, it's the middle of the Fall Classic after all. I'll have a Paypal up eventually, but until then any and all orders will have to be check or money in the U.S. Mail. Email me at iprnelson@gmail.com for details.

Here's a tracklist + quick blurbs bout the songs:

1. Forest Swords - Sister (Rough Demo). Spacious plod from summits of misty mountains to the dankest of dank sewers, "Sister" sets a downlow Autumnal vibe far removed from our dearly departed summer of beaches and babes. Think more along the lines of discovering a cult pentagram carved into an ancient tree in the middle of the woods. And you're alone.

2. matthewdavid - No Need to Worry. Dude runs Leaving Records, is associated with dublab, creates generally mind-boggling and dissociative beat productions intent on confusion, dissection, speculation. This offering bubbles up but never quite boils, instead lending more to the imagination than to a clear understanding. But do not fret.

3. Wild Safari - Vitamins A & C. Another quick trip into the outer reaches of space and time, Wild Safari acquaints us with an even less certain existence, that of a blurry descent down such waterways as irrigation canals, streams, brooks. Not babbling brooks. Silent streams. Sleepy, floating bliss into the abyss.

4. Julian Lynch, Jessica Calvanico and Gregory Campanile - Basement Jam. By now you know Julian Lynch and you know that he will create chill vibes so devastating you'll never want to leave. On this "Jam" he collaborated with Jessica and Gregory, two partners who seem to radiate a similar gaseous aura. Been stashed away since 2007.

5. More Bikini Babes - Fishing With My Dad. Influences include Mr. Lynch, James Ferraro and Predator Vision so you know the groove'll sway stoney and true. Though the song's sad it's certainly hopeful as well, I mean, since there's bound to be more bikini babes next summer.

6. Screen Gems - All the Fun We Had. I presented one track from Screen Gems a bit ago and here is the other, another down-tempo-yet-hopeful dirge brightened by its sunrise chorus. Can't beat friends.

7. Rangers - These Things. A Rangers song with words. Yeah, words. And it's just a few minutes long, not a huge half-hour mix like Low Cut Fades. Can't wait for his next record on Olde English Spelling Bee, which is supposed to have more "song-length" songs like this one, though this jam is a bit older.

8. Speculator - We Don't Give a Shit. A rough cut, yes, but a rad cut nonetheless. Expect more great things. On some Peter Gabriel shit.

9. Dem Hunger - Horrible Arsehole. Glitched and fucked beat shit from one of my favorite sonic purveyors of the year. Expect great things comin up from this man.

10. Tonstartssbandht - Black Country (Demo). You heard this track before from these guys' An When CD. This is the first version before they really wrote all the words, "just total emotion" according to Edwin. Check out their new music, it's rad.

11. Tan Dollar - Epic Mana. New track from these dudes that they're been playing live, not that I've seen em live (they doin the West Coast up hard). Turns into some massive, buzzing Goliath at its climax, puttering out after a few minutes of pulsating repetition.

12. Big Troubles - Wouldn't Mind (Demo). Here's a demo from Big Troubles' new/first LP, out soon on Olde English Spelling Bee. Raucous beer pop shred shit.

13. Byrds of Paradise - Bag of Plantains. "Slop Pop" jam from upcoming Hearts of Palm tape, out so so soon via yours truly.

14. Weed Diamond - Year Culture (Agressive Edition). This version of the song will not appear on an upcoming tape on Leftist Nautical Antiques, but a different version will, so here's the lil sneakpeek exclusive for ya.

15. Pure Ecstasy - Pressure Drop. Cover of the fantastic Toots & the Maytals song. You seen this out there. If not, it's gospel-tinged like all their other jams and breezy.

16. Jen Paul - Muerte O Casamiento Durmiente. Lonely instrumental cowboy ballad. Sounds like the desolate plain, wheat swaying in the very slight prairie wind.





Friendship Bracelet Club Volume 2 - FREE DOWNLOAD

RALEIGH MONCRIEF

While yer at it downloadin all this free shit check out Raleigh Moncrief's Combed Over Chrome EP - buff beat shit, dense outerspace shit via Impose, whose Blake Gillespie put it all very well. Kinda reminds me of some Becoming Real business without words. Snatch it direct from Obstructive Vibe and get blunted all night.





Raleigh Moncrief - Combed Over Chrome

TAPED HISS

Taped Hiss shit is killer. And it's called Audio Ectoplasm, which makes perfect sense. Dude admits there's a bunch of tape hiss (umm..) but who cares - radical beats, flitting spaceship noise, rain-forest drips all outweigh recording quality. First few tracks kick it, last few fizzle n fade. Wish I had this last summer.





Go for it.





Taped Hiss - Audio Ectoplasm



(via Not Not Fun blog)

CRESTING

Just received Cresting's an ep in the mail from Montreal yesterday and now I'm remembering why I asked em to send one in the first place - lowkey drones + melodic hooks + repetition, seven songs and none of em sound alike. Straight Whitman's sampler. "Sashes" could be lodged deep in a Rangers jam. Other tracks bleed murky in a different sense, darker and more cavernous. Grab the entire EP from Fixture Records and check out the free Fixture Records Compilation House No. 1.





Cresting - Sashes



(image via)

NEW JULIAN LYNCH - EARS

Freaks-worthy guitar solo on the end of this new Julian Lynch track "Ears," streaming from his blog Space Mountain. This plus that "Untitled Jam" he sent me the other day (and Chocolate Bobka posted upon) are his newest material in a good while, since Orange You Glad wasn't exactly new (even his cut for the new compilation - yes that's coming this week - had been on the shelf for a while).

The "Untitled Jam" seems like it could be buried between tracks on the first half of OYG's low-key hooks, sort of muffled. "Ears," on the other hand, is a little more intent on letting itself be known. As opposed to creeping in from behind your subconscious, the track gallops in on some "I Want Candy" shit before offering up the rootsy solo. Sort of reminds me of a more clear version of the first song on that Weed Diamond demo. It goes without saying, but I really can't wait to hear more of his new stuff.





Julian Lynch - New Album Jam

EASY

Nate from Pure Ecstasy sent over the band's "Easy" single yesterday, along with its b-side, "Baby." A welcome addition to the handful of Pure Ecstasy tracks out there for the masses to eat up, "Easy" offers more warm reverbed goodness to nuzzle up against songs to soundtrack that good old seasonal change - crisp nights, crisp leaves, apple crisp.

Details on purchasing info and label coming soon (EDIT: label's Light Lodge outa Austin, pre-orders are available now), but if you end up pre-ordering the white vinyl (assuming a 7") you receive "a rad painted cover." If it's anything like the Future Nostalgia packaging, prepare yourself for neon weed leaf stencils.

You may have heard it already, but Pure Ecstasy has also offered up its Toots & the Maytals "Pressure Drop" cover for the very nearly completed second volume of the Friendship Bracelet Club compilation series. Peep that sometime in the coming week. GET STOKED, AMPED, PUMPED, JAZZED, DUSTED, WARPED, KILLED & CHILLED!





Pure Ecstasy - Easy



Previously:



Pure Ecstasy - You're In It Now



Pure Ecstasy - Pressure Drop (Toots & the Maytals cover)

JUNE 26, 1990

PAPERCUP MIXMASTER a.k.a. DJVijay + MC² will air tonite from 8-10PM EST on WMUA in Amherst, Massachusetts. Peep it on 91.1FM in the valley and STREAM worldwide. Check out the PLAYLIST and call us up at (413)545-3691 and request something ballsy like Mike did last week - Richard Thompson "Shoot the Lights Out."

New music from High Wolf, Julian Lynch, A Grave With No Name, Oscar McClure, Dam-Funk and tons more, plus John Maus, Stellar Om Source...



(image via Google Search)

...ONE FALSE MOVE...

Picked up on this photoblog today. Forget where I clicked it from. Themes include skinny nudes smoking cigarettes, weed, luxury, violence, the occult, bikers, graffiti.