Add N to [X] – Avant Hard

Add N to [X] were way before their time. It’s like they predicted the boredom enduced by track after track of soulless electro in 2009. They were on more of a live vibe, with a pile of retro synthesizers, live drums (sometimes two live drummers!) and strong concepts for songs, videos and artwork.

There might not be much in the way of sub-bass convulsions but the lively drumming, imploding synths and strange vocal stylings of Ann Shenton add something much more lasting – character. There’s strong sexual overtones, from ‘Metal Fingers in My Body’ to ‘Plug Me In‘, which both have sexually-explicit videos:

Alice Coltrane – Ptah the El Daoud

This week some of my ebay purchases started arriving. Yellow Magic Orchestra, Mogwai, Camel, Dead Kennedys; it’s exciting stuff. It feels great to be buying records again, I don’t know why I stopped for so long. Next month I might even be able to afford some new needles and cartridges so I can actually listen to them! I’m thinking it might be worth investing in some concorde cartridges.

Today I picked up Alice Coltrane – Ptah the El Daoud from the post office. A worn-out, battered gatefold sleeve with an immaculate, hardly-played LP inside. It also has a pretty cool cover –>

Camel, Manual & Sonic the Hedgehog – Music for May

This month I have been buying records again. I got some bargains on Ebay which I am going to share with you.

Camel – I Can See Your House From Here

http://rapidshare.com/files/72038525/CAMEL_I_Can_See_Your_House_From_Here.rar

Faraquet – The View From This Tower

Today I read some great news; Dischord are reissuing Faraquet’s ‘The View From This Tower‘ on vinyl later on in the year! I’ve been looking for the lp for some years now, and was beggining to accept that it was out of print and unavailable. 

It’s angular post-punk from 2000 with guitars, horns, interesting percussion, good time signatures and ambitious structure, without being wanky. It sounds like Dischord grown up with some world music influences, but in a good way.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QO43PRBU

password: tfy

Chad Molter and Devin Ocampo from Faraquet went on to form Medications, who are a bit similar but not nearly as good.

Flying White Dots

Flying White Dots is my friend Bryan from work, who builds bespoke bootlegs from pop tunes. He’s made three albums, which have received radio play from the likes of Rob da Bank and Radio Reverb. Because his music consists of other tunes mashed together, he publishes his music on his website.

Still Blogging…

I don’t know why I started my blog, but I’m glad I’m finally picking up a bit of momentum. I found it unfeasibly difficult in the past to write posts on a regular basis, but as time goes on it feels more and more natural to share a bit of my brain, despite the fact that often it feels like noone is listening. It must improve my writing, which can only be a good thing.

Festival Season, Bestival and Hugo Frusslinky

Well festival season is approaching once again, and I’m scrambling around wondering how I’m going to get to go to the festivals this year. I think I will be recycling for six hours a day at Glastonbury, serving drinks at the Isle of Wight festival, and hopefully drinking gin and being merry at Rob Da Bank’s Bestival, as long as I can still get a ticket of course.

I gave the Bestival a miss last year, because by the time I thought about buying a ticket they were all sold out and going for very large sums on Ebay. Then the weather reports rolled in, and all of a sudden the price of a Bestival ticket plummeted. By this stage I didn’t really feel like going anymore, despite the fact that I’d attended the previous three years. I heard from my friends that it was still pretty good, and I love Glastonbury for the mud, but

Exotica, Moog Rock and Moog Acid

Today I continued the old-school synth and moog vibe, firstly by listening to A Psychedelic Guide to Monsterism Island again, and secondly by listening to Les Baxter and Martin Denny and some other stuff for the first time in ages.

One of the first cool things I found was Luke Vibert and Jean Jacques Perry’s album ‘Moog Acid‘, again out on Lo Recordings from 2007. This is a really modern electronica album with gorgeous retro synth sounds but current, booming beats. Highlights would have to include their somewhat dischordant rendition of Frere Jacques, Analog Generique and the onomatopeic Messy Hop. 

A Psychedelic Guide to Monsterism Island

Today I have been listening to A Psychedelic Guide to Monsterism Island, a loungey electronica compilation released on Lo Recordings last month.

 

 

It reminds me a lot of The Advisory Circle and Quiet Village albums from last year, with the atmospheric light-weight jazzy edge and subtle-yet-retro synths.

It features the Advisory Circle, Gruff Rhys Jones, Circulus and Luke Vibert among others, and is rather nice Tuesday-after-Easter Monday listening.

http://rs309.rapidshare.com/files/189301246/VA-A_Psychedelic_Guide_To_Monsterism_Island-_Advance_-2009-DV8.rar

I had a good weekend of fish-gutting, lamb roasting, whisky chugging and chest-beating. Massively disappointed that DJ Zinc and Joker didn’t make the Concorde II on Sunday night – I paid twelve quid!

Osiris & Yellow Magic Orchestra

Today I have pretty much solely been listening to Osiris and the Yellow Magic Orchestra, so I thought I would write about them on my blog.

Osiris are an arab prog rock band from Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, influenced by English prog-rock and arab folk music. Formed in 1979, their sound is considered neo-prog because there are some synths/keyboards violently competing with Mohamed Al Sadeqi’s guitar on the lead. The guitars sound is dirty, the songs are well crafted and dynamic and it has some of the phattest drum production I’ve heard on a rock record.