Optimistic Underground

Spaceman

David James — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:55:38 +0000

I still feel like I’m hustling, and like I have no great talent. I’m not a great singer. But as long as I can keep the hustle going, and nobody taps me on the shoulder and says, “You’re busted,” then I can keep doing it.

- Jason Pierce

This, in all things. Thank you for the inspiration, Spaceman.

Demdike Stare – Elemental

David James — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:58:15 +0000

Demdike Stare hit my radar when a friend insisted I listen to The Stars Are Moving because it was totally my sort of thing – and a massive understatement. Liberation Through Hearing was not only on my Best of 2010 list, but part of the Tryptych compilation serving up a universally praised 160 minute slab of deep nocturnal bliss across three albums and discs. Having so much aural brilliance to chew on felt like an embarassment of riches before the craving for new material hit well before a year had passed. Thankfully the duo of Miles Whittaker and Sean Canty were busy interlocking the pieces on an even more audacious free fall into the abyss with a 4 EP / 2cd set which stretches their sound in increasingly hypnotic new directions.

The music here is given more space to move and to sit still. There are great leaps beyond their established spooky dub dream style into riots of kraut percussion, melodic poems buried in noise fields, and climaxes of bloody tribal warfare. This is nothing short of the full realization of their shamanistic trance ritual ethos, both more explicitly sculpted and expansive than all prior work combined. Songs cover wildly varying grounds – from beatless waves of digital grain to mountains of swarming disembodied vocals – while retaining a unified identity that would make the cover artwork jealous. Elemental strikes this perfect duality of technical bass mastery and unhinged manace, igniting every dark pleasure center in my auditory complex. It’s a soundtrack to my strangest apocalyptic dreams and the kind of art we could only wish more artists knew how to craft. This is a self contained cult in album form, a ritualistic palate cleanser which will make other music obsolete for a while.

Elemental, in its 2cd form, is fully streamable on soundcloud, right here:

For those lacking time or attention span, a couple highlights: cinematic Mephisto’s Lament and steamrolling Erosion of Mediocrity both destroy worlds and illuminate vastly different aspects of this set.

The fidelity is great but buy the real thing to fully absorb the meticulous near-chaotic detail in Demdike Stare’s work. If you’ve got the fetish and the cash seek out the extremely sold-out 12″ vinyl set from sellers on discogs or ebay. If you want to hear this masterpiece in optimal form for a reasonable price, grab the 2cd set, featuring alternate edits and new cuts fleshing out the experience; believe me, they’re essential and can’t be considered bonus. Keep in mind that this is selling out quickly as well!

For fans of: Shackleton, Actress, Oneohtrix Point Never, Coil, David Lynch, Joseph Conrad, exciting nightmares

2011 albums I should have mentioned. Part 1.

David James — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:07:54 +0000

First off, I don’t have the most reliable memory. The things I do recall, appear in crystalline detail. The rest.. are often lose in the shuffle. So when I stumble upon an infatuation and find myself half-surprised to remember that I adored it the first go-round, there’s an impulse to write it down, now. So here goes.

~~~~~

Sean McCann – The Capital

This one is easy: it appeared in February (or was it March?) and I rode the train listening several days in a row thinking, goddamn this is right up my alley. The chaotic artwork is a relevant indicator here, since the album is a prismic burst of epic slides shot through with hairy analog detail. String quartets and pockmarked vinyl and falling stars color the arresting psych-drone landscapes McCann has cultivated and I feel better every time I listen.

For fans of: Oneohtrix Point Never, The Caretaker, The Fun Years, Fennesz

Alvarius B. – Baroque Primativa

Well holy shit, this felt like a comforting slap to the face. It’s a fucked up, gorgeous folk spine tingler from Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls, an album I couldn’t be happier to repeat as often as necessary. Plus, the cover is an artful arrangement of nude women!

For fans of: Sun City Girls, Bob Dylan, Elliot Smith, Loren Connors

[EDIT: Oops! I didn't mean to post this unfinished. More forthcoming!]

The Weeknd – The Knowing

David James — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:52:10 +0000

So I’ve had the album for a year now. We’ve had the entire trilogy for a while, in fact. Only just now I realized there are videos: this one is compellingly odd and surprisingly fun for those with an eye for cinema.

Watch the entire video for an indulgent mini-opera of how singer Abel Tesfaye compares a messy breakup with the violent overthrow of an Ethiopian king, while the lyrics paint an unflattering story of misbegotten sexual revenge. Honestly, it’s a lot more fun than that sounds. The song is a crumbling finale on his first album, House of Balloons; although not my favorite, it’s a perfect end to the party-life-gone-to-seed theme of his work.

But for certain people (me) the highlight appears around 2:20 with a direct reference to one of the greatest films of all time. You may recognize it from the little image appearing next to the address bar in your browser right now.

If you aren’t yet familiar with this artist, I suggest you hit the-weeknd.com where all three of his albums are available completely free and are, to my ears, nearly equally brilliant.

Spiritualized – Sweet Jane

David James — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 05:22:39 +0000

So an artist I’ve loved for over a decade is about to release (maybe) the best album in that time, and it’s preceded by a video I’ve waited criminally long to share with everyone. I feel like a jerk. Sorry.

Enjoy.

Having heard the song streaming before, I may have had other imagery associated, but it’s long since been blown away by this short film / music video which has me hitting ‘repeat’ for both the incredibly catchy song and the beating heart of a story visualized. I’ll let it speak for itself.

BTW in case you have a job: this is very NSFW so use discretion.

The album is called Sweet Heart Sweet Light (streaming in full here) and its art will look like this:

Which is oddly perfunctory but maybe cheeky.

[Album is out any day now and I'll probably share more about it.]

This Week

David James — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:45:39 +0000

Here is a quick round up of some things I’ve been into lately:

Kraftwerk 1

One of three albums in their “lost” period before Autobahn, this is more akin to Popol Vuh and Ash Ra Tempel than the ‘man-machine’ electronic pioneering sound they’re known for. Alternating dark drones and punchy pysch hairiness, it pairs well with my pitch black coffee and readies my day for the noise ahead.

[check it out]

Machinedrum – Room(s)

I sort of liked this when it came out last year. I wasn’t excited for it, I wasn’t into high speed clipped vocals and juke rhythms, and I was probably just into something completely different at the time. When I brought it back out on a whim a couple months ago, Room(s) already felt fresher – then I made a copy for my car. Now it’s become a favorite driving accompaniment and sounds exponentially better with volume properly cranked. Hell, I included its moodiest track in the Shadow Piece mixtape. It’s fast and revelling in footwork colors and properly alien to first-time listeners, but there’s a depth and range of feeling here that doesn’t often crop up on dance albums. It’s this emotional tug that keeps it spinning and my interest pegged.

[seriously get it]

Ryan Teague

This guy just released Field Drawings and it’s been floating me for weeks. It was actually the first new album I heard after my mother passed and felt like it was piercing my dark world with a bit of much needed light. I’ll have more to say about this in another post. Just listen to the intro track above.

This handsome devil.

This is Tres, my cat’s cat. He was third in his litter, hence the name. Not everyone is a fan but to me, this is the most affectionate animal I’ve known. He’s a needy little bastard and seems nervous despite his unapologetic laziness. He is a bit out of shape but he’s spry. I think he’s allergic to pollen. He’s sitting on my lap as I type so I thought I’d share.