A couple weeks ago I posted a new song "Vamos" by Branches. Yesterday Salad Fork posted an even newer Branches jam, "Cool Kids," sort of on the opposite end of Branches' sonic spectrum. While "Vamos" is on the darker, murkier side, "Cool Kids" is light and airy, like a Pure Ecstasy song with unintelligible words. Also, according to the video's Youtube page, it's a Screeching Weasel cover. I don't buy it.
AyGeeTee (formerly AGT) recently remixed Lacc Fork's "Shiny Leather J" from his Fleet Swing EP. The original 96-second track seems like just a blip compared to the 8.5-minute-plus of the rework, which kind of revs up for a few minutes, dissipates, then really kicks in right around the seven-minute mark.
Check the remix, then the original, and watch out for some sort of cassette release from AyGeeTee soon on Sweat Lodge Guru.
By now, Outer Limits Recordings' Youtube channel had been documented a whole bunch, but I feel as though it's necessary to highlight my two favorite videos of theirs, "Julie" and "$20 Dollar Bill," a couple super weird videos for a couple super weird glam/pop songs.
Even weirder is the transition to Outer Limits Recordings from Sam Meringue's previous projects like Matrix Metals, Wingdings, Explorers, Flashback Repository, etc, etc. In this article, Pitchfork's Marc Masters and Grayson Currin ask the question "is it fair to call Sam Meringue a musical chameleon?" Considering the vast difference from, say, Matrix Metals' alien disco to the muffled pop transmissions of Outer Limits Recordings' Foxy Baby and from Explorers' otherworldly drones to the slime-grooves of 90210 (Meringue's 2008 project with James Ferraro), it's not a far-off comparison.
It's not that one wouldn't be able to believe that these sounds all came from the same source, it's just that all the different projects with different names seem to lead the listener away from each other, as if Meringue finishes an album and is already onto whatever he's doing next with little-to-no thought regarding what came before. Maybe we're dealing with less of a chameleon and more of an amnesiac with ADHD.
Here's the first cut to surface from matthewdavid's new full-length out January/February 2011 on Brainfeeder (you know, Flying Lotus dude's label). "Trivial Pursuit" rides some Far East pluckings before diving into bent sonic warped-mode, a mode md fans have come to expect. The track is a bit subtler than some of his more explosive tunes ("Trusss," "Desert Moon," "Fernwood Flash"), as it retreats back into Oriental twinklings to close the three and a half minutes, though the snaps haven't lost their crack and the bass grinds gritty as ever.
Last week I posted this reaction/primer to Dro Carey, sort of amazed at the bulk of material crammed in his tumblr. Since then I've spent a bit more time with certain pieces, increasingly wound up by his warped takes on Top 40sugar and original mixes darker than city-lights will permit.
"Hungry Horse" is sort of a combination of the two, the foreground propelled by an unintelligible pitched-up vocal clip while deeper layers peel back to reveal corridors of shackles used to hold back the bass of some slobbering, grunting, asthma-breathing monster. If this beast was once the titular horse, it has since been transformed into something terrifying, some experimental gene-splicing gone wrong. It is forever hungry, ready to sniff out and devour everything and anything thrown its way - warriors, women, raw shanks, giant bones.
As I sit here alone drinking a huge Bud Light, I can't help but thinking that, in all honesty, 90% of music videos should be scrapped unless they involve getting 40s and going to the park to dance with a bunch of your friends, one of whom is dressed in a giant mascot costume that you all chipped in for.
Cool World has obviously been studying up. "Dream Shake" remains one of their best jams, totally appropriate fit for the video. It was just about a year ago when I first posted three demos from their Gaydream Nation tape (out now on DŒS ARE), including Friendship Bracelet Club Volume 3 track "Sun Roof Top."
NSFW unless your boss is down with babes, guns and more babes.
Highlights include:
- field recording of young woman jumping on a couch - man running and jumping into a pool with rifle - seducing a statue - toe-sucking - removing undergarments via scissors - woman smoking with laundry piled on her shoulder - giving a young woman a bicycle
Alright guys, ALRIGHT. I’m kinda going on a limb here but it’s like if you don’t like this limb, well, that’s your deal not mine cause Sinead O’Connor’s “The Lord Must Be In New York City” is about the only song that I could possibly listening to. Okay hear me out! Not only am I currently on a flight to New York but by the time you read this, I will be probably drunk in some borough! Not only that, but You’ve Got Mail is one of my secret but not so secret favorite movies of all time! This song is from the soundtrack (LOL @ me). Ugh, though seriously it’s like I just wish I had a blonde bob and a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils! Then I’d be set! I will settle on the glass of cabernet I ordered before the “FASTEN UR SEAT BELTS” sign was off though. I’m a fast actor, ya feel me? Another thing, I’m so blessed to be going to NYC right now. Like, luckiest girl in the world! NYC is my favoritest place in the world & I can’t wait to eventually let go of my sunshine security blanket & move out there already. This is already in the running for best NYC trip ever and it hasn’t even begun yet! The best trip five years running was back when I was acting and I got flown out for a short film. Got to stay in an upper west side apartment for a couple weeks. Woof! So good! I just have never had to live with snow so I’m like IDK. Kinda hard when you’re used to chillin’ in a bikini 75% of the time. Oh well, the point is, NEW YORK CITY HERE I COME!!!
BTW, I’m throwing a show at Bruar Falls in Brooklyn tomorrow (9/28) with Underwater Peoples so come out if you’re in the hood. Alex Bleeker & The Freaks + La Big Vic + Sweet Bulbs. Yeah, I pull that shit.
Marissa A. Ross is a Los Angeles based blogger who enjoys music, potato salad and jerking off all day because she works from home. Check out her personal blog, Tangents & The Times, and follow her on Twitter @MarissaARoss.
Sometimes I wonder why it takes so long to find out about things. I don't know anything about Dro Carey except it was introduced to me on No Pain In Pop and as of now the B R A I N---S O---S O F T tumblr is 61 pages deep and I'm only on page 30. Also all the vimeo stuff is from the same account from which I posted a couple lil DJ Nate clips over the Summer. Here's a bunch of embeds in reverse chronological vimeo upload order, followed by many tumblr streams in reverse chronological order. And there's a ton of stuff I haven't gotten to yet.
Before I even listened to Ramage Y Nader's Conflakes Y Platano EP, I was lured in by XLR8R's curt description. Upon listening to their recommended track, "If You Leave," I can say that yes, these three sounds are a perfect marriage with a perfect name -- MOOMBAHTON.
There's also the 'acid house/techno' original mix of "First Trip," a new one they uploaded within the past day, plus a bunch of remixes. This shit will keep you awake.
If you're like me, you can't buy records. So when a highly anticipated full album stream is made available, you freak out. This is the case with Teengirl Fantasy's 7AM, out now on True Panther/Merok.
Recently Fact Magazine brought these streams into the world at their Soundcloud, so big ups to them. I've been following Teengirl Fantasy for a while now, from their CDR I picked up at a show at Vassar College in early 2009 to their TGIF EP to their Hollywood Hills EP and beyond. I most recently caught them at Glasslands, where they were killer:
Olde English Spelling Bee just released Greatest Hits' entire debut 7" into the world via Soundcloud. That's right -- four songs spread over two 7" sides, 100% free, 100% MP3, 100% dance-y pop euphoria.
Greatest Hits members include one Zak Mering, a.k.a. Raw Thrills, who FBUS has been getting down to for a good part of 2010. Also the dudes DJed at this past weekend's LowLoft party and were sick.
What's even greater is, given you're in the Brooklyn area the third week of October, you'll be able to see these sugar-coated anthems in the flesh. Greatest Hits will join FIVE OTHER OUTSTANDING ACTS to make up the FRIENDSHIP BRACELET X ROSE QUARTZ PRE-CMJ SHOWCASE, Tuesday October 19 at Bruar Falls. Stay tuned for even more details -- they will emerge over the next week or two. This will be a good one -- DON'T MISS OUT.
NNA Tapes sent over a sample from Harmonizer's self-titled c30. This is what the label has to say:
Harmonizer is the new duo of Burlington, Vermont residents Greg Davis (Kranky, Carpark, Autumn Records) and Toby Aronson (NNA Tapes, RATS COPS). Future world sample-driven electronic synthesis, heavy rhythms, and total harmonizer worship.
Mr. Powers pushed over his reworking of D/R/U/G/S' jam "Love/Lust." Anyone familiar with the dude can tell he pretty much makes it his own. Compare to the original, below.
Branches sent over this new-ish jam "Vamos" the other day, recorded in August and never released. This one comes on the tail of "Salão Flamingo," from Triple You Tapes' SUUUMMUUUR SAMPLUUUR. "Vamos" is a bit subdued compared to some of his other material, which usually sways between the sounds of Summer pop music and psychedelic guitar meditations. This new one, however, lays low to the floor, drowning in something hot and viscous that reminds me of High Wolf.
It's always good to follow up with a former love. In Spring 2009 I wroteaboutParalyze Humanity Sequence and his airy pop incantations. Dude sent me a new song from a new project of his, Glitter Bones, a trio from Chicago. "Worlds" is a dreamy ballad on the bummer side of things, not unlike some of those Lester Brown songs I posted in May. Dudes got a bunch more on Bandcamp, including a Twin Sister remix.
Raleigh Moncrief clued me into his new Vitamins EP yesterday. It's his third free download EP, following thus Summer's Carpal Tunnel instrumentals and Combed Over Chrome from October last year.
Not to say Vitamins is generally better than his previous work, or seeing that much of a shift in direction, but it features "Cheese Steak," which might be my favorite track is his overall. Super explosive and funky, "Cheese Steak" sounds like what Philadelphia's famed sandwich must taste/feel like. Which is to say 1) it's a fuckin gut-buster and 2) I'm going out on a limb with the simile cos I've never eaten a Philly Cheese Steak.
Peep the track then grab Vitamins, Carpal Tunnels and Combed Over Chrome on Bandcamp.
As previously reported, this dude Toujours from San Luis Obispo is rad. Dude hit me with a new track last night featuring an entity called Liz, Fleur, Ashley. He's finishing up a record now.
It's safe to say that the Odd Future dudes have been 'killing them all' over the past year or so, even though we here at FBUS hadn't caught a whiff until about a month ago. Guess that makes us "faggot ass dope boyz." This is #4 in a short series about listening to Odd Future.
Hodgy Beats + Left Brain = MellowHype. Their YelloWhite mixtape is on some smooth, smooth shit. Not really many tie-you-up and dump yer body inna river raps, more like mad hangouts in a cloud of weedsmoke and Chinese takeout.
First off I must mention, the more I listen to all these guys the more I love how hung up they are on 2dopeboyz. It's as if they hate them as much as Steve Harvey, but I couldn't find a post on 2dopeboyz about how Odd Future sucks so maybe it's a joke. Or maybe they just think they're fuckin lame. Either way, "Team" seems to be about standing behind your dudes especially when assholes hate on em.
"Two dope bitches wana dis onna blog when they can't see through this Odd Future smog. Odd Future Wolf you're a premature dog, I'll burn your whole website like it's a fuckin log"
This must have been what Earl was referring to when he suggested to "try talkin on a blog with your fuckin arms cut off."
"Team" is from MellowHype's YelloWhite mixtape, which gets better and better as the track numbers increase. "Polyurithane" is all cooled-out storytelling, "Thuggin" is about um, being thug. The flows remind me of something Kanye would want to pick up for G.O.O.D. music, like that only Big Sean song that matters but never boring.
It's not all about the flows, however. They got their big feet in productions as well, which I think are best on blazed-out tracks like "Premier," "Rasta," and "CocainKeys." Haven't dug into Hodgy Beats' The Dena Tape yet, but you should go for it.
"dreaming is bliss. imagination is power. music is love. odd is our future."
"Im Influenced By Dope Dealers, Adolf Hitler, Dinosaurs, Books, Hamsters, DOORs And White People."
It's safe to say that the Odd Future dudes have been 'killing them all' over the past year or so, even though we here at FBUS hadn't caught a whiff until about a month ago. Guess that makes us "faggot ass dope boyz." This is #3 in a short series about listening to Odd Future.
I think Tyler, The Creator spits the realest, most brutal shit out of the whole Odd Future crew. It doesn't just sound real and feel real, it reeks of dissociative rage. Tyler's Bastard mixtape is the prime example, hitting on dark themes such as growing up fatherless and dealing with all that must go along with it, as well as kidnap, murder, girls, the demonic, coke and the long road to be taken seriously as a relatively young (age 18) rapper/producer/designer.
The mixtape acts like a therapy session, as Dr. TC (presumably a pitched-down Tyler) acts as a school psychiatrist trying to figure out why Tyler's been misbehaving. He immediately jumps into all the imagery listed above, using Dr. TC as someone to pry his mind open. He transitions from opening track "Bastard" into "Seven" with the following exchange:
Tyler: "I just want my father's email so I can tell him how much I fuckin hate him in detail" Dr. TC: "Wow, um. So, Tyler. If you had the chance to tell him something, what would you tell him?" Tyler: "I'd tell him to eat a dick quicker than Mexican sprint over borders"
Next is "Odd Toddlers," which sees Tyler deep pitched over a slowed "One Beer" alongside Casey Veggies. This might be the lightest fare on the whole mixtape, especially slotted up against devilish "French."
Now, for some reason this video doesn't include Hodgy Beats' verse and his voice is all screwed again (it isn't on the mixtape version...), but the video is a good example of an interesting shift in hip hop videos mentioned by Tumblin Erb, trading in "animated arm flailing energy" for "exaggerated side glances, raised brows and twitched blinks" (he actually used this video as an example).
However, "French" absolutely pales in comparison to his clip for "VCR," which I'm not even going to try to explain in words. Trust me on this one -- turn the lights off, put yer headphones on and click play:
"Flooded With Bitches, Weed, Females, Marijuana, Sluts, Green Shit And Grocery Stores."
"Roll A Joint, Grab A Bitch, Make A Toaster Strutal and Swag This Shit The Fuck Out."
It's safe to say that the Odd Future dudes have been 'killing them all' over the past year or so, even though we here at FBUS hadn't caught a whiff until about a month ago. Guess that makes us "faggot ass dope boyz." This is #2 in a short series about listening to Odd Future.
Second stink of Odd Future was Domo Genesis and his Rolling Papers mixtape. While Earl Sweatshirt is hopped on stuffing bodies in his trunk, Domo comes off less harsh, seemingly due to an undying fascination with weed. At times shit gets slowed to a crawl, vocals pitched down superhuman deep in a dense plume of jointsmoke, though I think I'm diggin verses more that sound like throats and mouths than drank-screwed drowning victims. Thinkin this is evidenced best by the slow-as-fuck "Up" from Radical, which sure is slow but the vocals remain untouched.
Domo sounds classic, all nimble and paced out, less erratic than Earl. Somehow it's easier to relate to wanting to get high with some girls than choking them til they're blue and stashing em in your window-tinted backseat. I believe the finest moment on Rolling Papers is "Supermarket", a dueling faux dis-track between Domo and the gruffer Ace Creator (a.k.a. Tyler, the Creator). Domo wants some chips, cuts the line or something and Tyler gets pissed off. After a lengthy exchange, I think he kills Domo ("I'm high as fuck and I didn't call for all this I'ma get on my zombie shit wait here's my carcass" ...and then it sounds like a body hits the floor). The production's all huge horns and comic-book-like sound effects (screams, sword slashes, taco shell crunches) while the two go back and forth insulting and planning on how to kill each other.
Fix yerself a plate of cheese + crackers, peep samples and wash it down with the while Rolling Papers mixtape.
"Seriously, Things Are Just Getting Better. We Would Like TO Thank EVERYONE Who Fucks With Us, And Also, EVERYONE Who Didnt Fuck With Us To Begin With ( faggot ass dope boyz). It’s Kind Of Cool That People Like Us, Still Weird Tho. The People That Use To Torment Us And Call Us Weird And Shit Are Now The Same Fucks At Our Shows, So Swag Us The Fuck Out. And For The Record, Could People Still Stop Fucking Saying We Make Horrorcore?We Don’t. That Shit Is Really Fucking Annoying. Some New Videos, Music And Random Shit Coming Soon, Hopefully This New Found Coolness Of OF Wont Fuck Up The Nature Of Us Making Shit Normally. Thanks Guys, We’re Just Some Kids Doing What We Love, And We’re Fucking Good At It, At Least Respect It."
It's safe to say that the Odd Future dudes have been 'killing them all' over the past year or so, even though we here at FBUS hadn't caught a whiff until about a month ago. Guess that makes us "faggot ass dope boyz." This is #1 in a short series about listening to Odd Future.
The first odor that wafted over was that of Earl Sweatshirt's EARL mixtape. From what I can gather almost all of the collective, including Earl, are mad young, like 16. When I was 16 I was bagging groceries and had never seen weed before. Earl's 16 talking about mixing decomposing human remains with shit in a pan, putting it on the stove and eating it. Earl's flow is a sonic NSFW, plus NSFM ("Not Safe For Moms") plus PNSFS ("Probably Not Safe For Squares"). A good intro is the video for "Earl," a drugged and bloody trek through what I assume is a day in the life of a Wolf ("NSFW if you work with Steve Harvey").
The sound is addictive. Sort of a bummer EARL is only 10 tracks long (including 2 skits "Thisniggaugly" and "Wakeupfaggot"), though he's got a few songs on Odd Future's Radical mixtape which are all fantastic.
Here's reasons why Earl Sweatshirt is sick, in bullet-point form:
- "Sent to Earth to poke Catholics in the ass with saws and knock blunt ashes into they caskets and laugh it off" - "It's O.F., buttercup, go ahead fuck with us - without a doubt a surefire way to get your mother fucked" - "Try talkin on a blog with your fuckin arms cut off" - "Snapple fact you're rather wack" - "I'm back on my sixty-six-six shit flowin like the blood out the competition's slit wrist" - "The basement light is dark and the switchblade is sharp and her name on my arm and her face on a 2% carton" - the ENTIRE last verse of "epaR" (final minute or so) - "The Odd nigga with a spoon in your Danimals is hungry as a cannibal trapped in a van of cantaloupes" - Earl's verses over "Drop" ("I'm a nice guy in person but a pervert in the sheets") - Pretty sure he's referring to himself when he says "Who dat? Oh, that new coon John Cusack" - This video
Moptaco Dics, a.k.a. possibly the label with the best name ever, sent over Optic Nest's new LP Entertainment a few weeks ago. The record is riddled with terrifying synthesizer squelches and pounding drum machines. "Thirst" sounds like what the subway would sound like on Mars, while "Football" is on the lighter side, funky even.
Says the label:
"That LP will have global warming feel like a good hair day!"
Jam this in headphones late at night after surrounding yourself with metal. Not exactly sure how you can order this guy yet, but shoot Moptaco an email and ask cos it's not listed on their Discogs page and there's no way to add items to the Shopping Cart on their site.
EDIT: I'm an idiot, neglect most of the previous paragraph -- you can add items to the cart, nothing was ever wrong with it I just had a brain-melt from too much gut damm coffee. BUY THE RECORD.
This song takes me somewhere between the forest and the sea floor, a dream of tiny rising bubbles & falling orange leaves. Fluid & full, it's hard not to sink wholeheartedly into its reverie. I wish I could make some poetic & completely unpolitical Martha Rosler-ian photo-montage that would involve Meg Ryan as Pam Courson, dancing on those sand dunes, you know like right outta that Oliver Stone flick but then there would be a beautiful ocean and tons of trees. I hope you can picture that cause it's like DAMMMNNN. Mad poetic. I want that for my wall. Think I'm going to make it and open an Etsy shop. Yep, ahhhh, let me just scribble that in on my "Unactualized Drunk Aspirations" list.
Side note: Yo, "unactualized" may or may not be a word. I think it should qualify as a word but as a college dropout, I really don't have any authority on the matter. The issue is mostly problematic though because my computer doesn't recognize it as a word & Dictionary.com does not recognize it, yet, it does have synonyms on Thesaurus.com which I feel constitutes "unactualized" as an actual word.
Marissa A. Ross is a Los Angeles based blogger who enjoys music, potato salad and jerking off all day because she works from home. Check out her personal blog, Tangents & The Times, and follow her on Twitter @MarissaARoss.
Feast of Violet is Allen Taylor from Roman Photos and Double Phantom Records. His Botany Charm EP is now available for free download from Bandcamp, featuring the song "Notations" which Don't Die Wondering posted last month. "Notations" hints at Feast of Violet's house-leaning vibes, which is a common theme, but he's often subtle about it, drowning the pulse in disorienting ambient washes.
A couple weeks ago I was invited to come hang out at Jenn Pelly's New Afternoon Show on WNYU. I played a bunch of records and Triple You Tapes related material and Jenn recorded it while it happened, so I would like to share my first non-WMUA radio experience with you all. Feel free to download, share, repost, whatever.
Been sleepin on the Russian Lapti since Leaving Records chipped off a lil piece from one of his "hallucinogenic ice sculptures" back in late 2009. Seems like dude's been hard at work since then, churning out some fly remixes as well as some atmospheric original work.
Leaving said it was releasing a 7" of Lapti's music back in December, but that hasn't happened yet. Stay in-tune with his Soundcloud.
I've posted about AGT a coupletimes in the past month. Dude alerted me to a new track on his Soundcloud page, "Bronzed," which sees him playing a bit of guitar over the stuttering grooves I'm used to.
On the other side of the AGT spectrum lies "Corinne Daze," more subdued and spaced out length-wise and content-wise. AGT proves he can use dense sonic landscapes, blips and ticks to craft both engaging, danceable pieces and more textural, ambient sections.
If there's somethin on here you don't approve of me having here please let me know cos I don't wanna hurt nobody. Downloads are for sampling purposes and if there's anything afoot iprnelson@gmail.com is where complaints be filed.
