China, Bitch

I'm going to China for three weeks starting from tomorrow so there will be none, if any posts for the next three weeks.

Sorry

But I will be back hopefully with some foreign goodies to share around.

Vodka Soap- Oceansion Island

Here is another release by Spencer Clarke which is probably even better than the one that I have posted below. Interviews and information is quite scattered. Some call it a scam, others call it beautiful noise. I'm quite obsessed though.

Here's an interesting interview on The Skaters too. http://www.sfbg.com/40/15/art_music_skaters.html

http://www.mediafire.com/?mmgxjl3hyll

Vodka Soap- Un Chand Pyramidelier

For the past week or so I’ve been falling to sleep to the sounds of James Ferraro and Spencer Clarke, most well known from a band called The Skaters. Vodka Soap is a side project of Spencer Clarke

Out of all the releases I chose probably some of the hardest recordings to listen to originally and was quite deterred but with some persistence I kept listening and have been rewarded innumerably.

I’ll say it now. This is really hard music to listen to but it’s incredible, maybe that’s an oxymoron for some.

The Skaters are their main alias but there are many different side projects that all have the same sound. Each album consists of relentless drone/bell/wood nymph twittering that is so encompassing that everything around is muted and dimmed. For me it creates a sense of unease and comfort simultaneously which is just so weird and bloody frustrating.

http://sharebee.com/87214dd3

Exuma- Exuma

Anthony Mckay originated from the Bahamas before moving to New York in the late 60’s to study Architecture but found himself making music instead. Eventually he named himself Exuma, and released his fist album in 1970. If you want to delve more into his history I’m not going to recite it, just go to wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exuma_%28musician%29

On this self titled release Exuma creates a world controlled by spirits, strange noises and sacrifice. Influenced heavily by his origins Exuma borrows from street music such as Junkanoo and calypso music and presents it for us Anglos in a language of ballads and folk tunes that we can more easily digest. But it is when the music is at its most detached and strangely possessed is the most rewarding. The sea shell shimmers and thunderous, sporadic drums of Séance in the Sixth Fret seem to call on some dark ghost to control the ebb and flow of the melodramatic rabble of noise. The perfect antidote follows in the form of a beautiful ballad about loss and confusion calling to some ethereal power.

This is a serious gem from a time dominated by what is better known as ‘psychedelic music’. That’s all I have to say.


http://link-protector.com/467048/

Redjayway- Two Songs

Redjayway is the lead singer from another small time band named John Columbus. His solo work is characterised by its extremely minimalistic, folky approach. Located in the heart of Sydney’s glitz and glam, they are a little beacon of light for real music.Very little has been released by either Red or John Columbus. John Columbus has one E.P released and Red has one in the works.

I’m personally a sucker for Australian folk. Paul Kelly, The Go-Betweens, the Lucksmiths and the like all send a warm tingle down my spine whenever I listen to them. So, with those comparisons Redjayway gets a big series of ticks.

So, have a listen and I’m sure you will be hearing much more from Redjayway and Mr. Columbus.

http://rapidshare.com/files/123466617/Redjayway.rar.html

Daniel Johnston- 1990

I just don’t get Daniel Johnston.

After listening to Retired Boxer about three years ago I was left stunned, dumbfounded and even frustrated. I’d leave the album for months in the vein hope that when I came back for another listen, maybe it had changed, maybe I wasn’t listening right and all that fuzz and static was just my mind playing trick on me, that these brutally simple lyrics where more cryptic than what I originally thought. But no, it just stayed the same.

What I realised is that it was this intrigue, that kept bringing me back, that someone was recording this ‘terrible’ music without inhibition or care and they were so convinced that what they were doing was beautiful and right that it was undeniably infectious.

Three years later my opinion hasn’t changed. It’s not that I love Daniel’s music nor loath it but there is something that always draws me back. Maybe partly it’s due to me being undecided on his authenticity. After watching The Devil and Daniel Johnston one thing that struck me was his determination to become ‘famous’ and be played on MTV. If I heard those statements coming from another’s mouth I would surely doubt their intentions for making music, but with Daniel it is almost excusable, and why? Is it because of his illness, his label as an obscure, unappreciated troubadour or something else?

Everybody loves an ‘unappreciated’ artist, somebody that they’ve found that nobody understands except the select few and maybe Johnston fills those boots for many, maybe even myself.

Do we like him because he is or was mentally unstable? Is his music just our dirty little window into his room of confusion and suffering? After the album has finished we can walk away with hands clean and a quaint image on what it’s like to be crazy. The theme that really struck a chord with me from The Devil and Daniel Johnston was not the music, the crazy antics or his flittering with the big names of the underground. For me, the movie highlighted the unconditional love that Daniel’s family held for their son and the fact that without they’re support he may not even exist let alone be an artist. It is the families of the mentally ill that have the hardest time and receives the least thanks.

End rant. To the album

1990 is the best way for someone new to be introduced to Daniel’s chaotic world. It is one of the most polished and clean recordings of Daniel’s career and one of the most direct. It is a collection of studio and live recordings capturing Johnston at his most angelic and most manic. Careless Soul and Funeral Home were recorded in New York in a small record store and shows Daniel almost at breaking point. At one stage during Careless Soul he holds back tears for reasons only known to him. The pearl of the album is my favourite Johnston song, Some Things Last a Long Time. It is just undeniably beautiful and honest. Honesty is something every artist struggles with but for Daniel it is indisputably natural and to his credit he is one of the most honest artists in the world.

http://www.divshare.com/download/2287884-7bc

Oren Ambarchi- Mort Aux Vaches

Meaning ‘Kill the Cows’ in French, which is a phrase which essentially means ‘kill the pigs (cops)’ Mort Aux Vaches is a series of ambient album curated by Staalplaat records in the Netherlands. The back catalouge from this series is incredible and im really trying hard to find some more releases. People such as Flying Saucer Attack, Merzbow, and Tim Hecker have all contributed to the series.

To the album… I don’t understand it. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not incessantly intrigued to find out what it means. Similar to releases from Stars of the Lid, the album reaches an aural level that very few other artists achieve. It is so sparce, so infrequent and unpredictable that the soft chiming, distorted notes dip in and out of ones consience. To grasp onto the music is as hard a task as catching a fish with ones bare hands.

Beautiful.

I wonder what it sounds like on vinyl.

http://rapidshare.com/files/119741426/Mort_Aux_Vaches_pt1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/119730769/Mort_Aux_Vaches_pt2.rar.html

Sly Hats- Liquorice Nights

This is Geoff O’Connor from the Crayon Field’s first solo release. It is very similar to the Crayon Fields sound.

This record has a strong ‘bedroom’ feel to it. Small, quirky sounds circle around simple, beautiful songs. Along that theme, I particularly enjoy musing where and what these little sounds are and where he has collected these strange, tacky sleigh bells and maracas.

Help was administered by various people from around the Melbourne music community most notably Jarrod Zlatic and Nisa Venerosa of Fabulous Diamonds and Max Kohane from Agents of Abhorrence.

This is a really fun and relaxing album. Kill the Lights is a standout.

http://rapidshare.com/files/119730771/Liquorice_Night.rar.html

Eddy Current Suppression Ring- Primary Colours

When I hear the words ‘Australian Pub Rock’ I cringe and run away in the opposite direction as quickly as possible. Unfortunately when I was hearing about this band that how I was told they sounded. When I actually got around to hearing them for myself I was pleasantly surprised that they were quite different from what I assumed.

Primary colours is their second album after their debut self titled which included my favourite, goofy and bleatingly obvious stoner anthem ‘Get up morning’

There is a universal honesty to every release that this band puts out. No song is perfect, they’re all recorded within two or three takes and they’re all kept to one or two riffs. I know, age old formula, but once again it works a treat. There is a sense of urgency throughout the whole album and amazingly the tempo never slows nor becomes belated or old.

For those people experiencing this band for the first time, especially those who are not Australians the first thing that slaps you in the face is Brendan Suppression’s outright Australian spoken/shouted voice. It takes a while to get use to this but eventually it is impossible to think of the band without the vocals.

The highlight song for me is You Let Me Be Honest With You for no other reason that its just fucking awesome, which I’m sure ECSR intended, no strings, no gimmicks, no wank.

http://rapidshare.com/files/119721840/Primary_Colours.rar.html

13th Floor Elevators- Bull of the Woods

13th floor elevators were part of that whole 60s and 70s psychedelic music explosion…remember? I don’t have much to say about this album because I’m quite new to this whole genre. Even so, this is quite a good album.

Though this is a personal opinion, I think the sound on this album is extremely similar to some of the Silver Apples albums. I’m not sure exactly what it this similar; maybe the restricted choice of chords or possible the bands inkling to use strange ambient noises such as the ‘electric jug’

http://rapidshare.com/files/119672048/Bullofthewoods.rar.html