sing like buildings

review: oorutaichi single

2010-08-23T10:37:00.025-05:00

something happened this year. the endless feeds, links, and forkcasts have estranged me from digging intimately into new musicians. while i benefit from hearing so many new songs and bands, i can't help but realize that i'm not at the level of fanboy i usually am. this year, i only have about under five "new" artists i follow closely, the rest of my typical playlist are sentimental artifacts from my back catalog. it's nobody's fault by my own. it's just what happened. lao tsu heeds that "...five tones deafen the ear..", and i think that's what happened to me.

few things feel fresh. few things open my ears completely, but musical intimacy crises can now end, with the new double single release from osaka based, genre fusing master, oorutaichi.

the first release [okimi records] in 3 years since his electronic genre mash up masterpiece LP, "drifting my folklore"; oorutaichi still teases his listener with songs that pull from so many eclectic influences and bold origins.

the song, "futurelina" begins with a bass groove that feels like techno, but then it moves along with synth chord structure and whimsical singing, giving it an electro pop bounciness. the song carries along with more steady groove then anything from "drifting my folklore" but has all the elements that are still very oorutaichi. chaotic breakdowns ala xiu xiu, strange noise pop, and hyper melodic vocal yells (in his own invented language). it's experimental music you can nod to. playful and refreshing.

the second song "moeru himitsu" has guest vocals, from kicell, and takes on a more structured song approach. a folktronica dance groove with synthed gamalan instrumentation and harmonica breaks? the chorus is uplifting with an 80's j-pop/folk nostalgia and probably the easiest part to compare to oorutaichi's avant pop band, urichipangoon, with his wife, ytamo, and another couple.

can either of these singles hint to what the full length album will sound like? that's the funnest part of oorutaichi. i'm not sure. my ear's feel fresh, as i wait the release.

i strongly recommend getting this vinyl, or downloading the singles. in my small handful of new music i'm ingesting this year, oorutaichi is one of my favorite new artists. his music is fresh and awakening.

Futurelina - Oorutaichi by Okimi Records

minimalist casio sk-1 switches for circuit bend

2009-11-03T16:35:00.004-05:00

in an effort to keep the traditional tablebeast circuit bend as minimal as possible, i created these removable switches. most togglers or switches break over time, and i don't want to constantly take apart the sk-1 and solder on new ones.

also, a big part of working the sk-1 bends is being able to easily turn on and off an effect, or put on a staccato on/off bend. rca interface is too bulky, and most switches can't handle that kind of wear and tear. these tiny push button switches are perfect. by luck, they also have a metal protrusion that i can use to "clamp" the switch down into the grill speaker section of the casio sk-1. to replace the rca interface for the circuit bends, i basically ripped sockets out of a dip package and glued them in. with this approach, i don't have to remove the speaker for room. it was a cleaner more subtle approach for the bend. this way the casio sk-1 can look like a circuit bent instrument only when it wants to.

performance :: nine inch nails at bowery ballroom

2009-08-25T12:50:00.014-05:00

the very first concert i ever went to was the self destruct tour in '94. nin played in tulsa, oklahoma and marilyn manson opened. what can i say? i was in high school, full of teenage angst, and battling identity issues and conformity in the midwest. i remember blasting 'broken' in my room when i got home from school, and it just felt so good to use that music as a release for those feelings of alienation. some of the first guitar pieces i learned were nine inch nails guitar solos: i 'm pretty sure i can still play the solos in 'last' or 'the ruiner.'

the downward spiral is still a masterpiece to me, even in my current music interests and endeavors. nine inch nails will definitely be a big influence in my solo project, alias pail, as i am underway recording the LP. for twi the humble feather, i derive inspiration from their live performance and on stage synchronicity.

i just don't know anyone out there who writes lyrically and sonically as well as trent does when it comes to expressing anger, frustration, sexual aggression, alienation, social criticism, etc. using strong lyrics just don't seem part of the scene anymore. people call it emo now? not sure. it's all about sonic layering and atmosphere. i've never stopped being a huge nine inch nails fan; even if i am alone in this brooklyn world of avant garde, prog, tribal, experimental undergroundess.

i was lucky enough to have tickets to see nine inch nails perform to a crowd of 550 at bowery ballroom. the rarest event; perhaps my single most amazing live experience. the only debate would be boadrum 77. but boadrum 77 was more a spiritual trance experience, where nine inch nails was total fandom and celebration. the crowd of fans was amazing. hearing them chant along with trent and the gang was amazing. the drummer, rubin, was so tight and nonchalant, and of course, robin on guitar is such a pleasure to watch. to me, he embodies what i think a 'rock star' should be and look like. i want his haircut! ha. my friend and i were maybe only 5 feet away for the main stage most of the time. absorbing everything and point blank. trent gave 100% for 2.5 hours almost. a true gift to his fans. i'll have this concert in my mind for a very long time. i screamed my heart out to the lyrics i knew, and all the fans did too; eyes full of admiration and good vibes. thank you trent and nine inch nails. i was really happy to hear 'reptile' li ve. here's a taste of what i experienced:

performance :: oorutaichi

2009-03-19T14:17:00.028-05:00

oorutaichi [photo by hako hosokawa] played a scatter of shows for the first time in nyc. i caught him playing his last song at the yoshitomo nara opening to a boisterous gallery crowd, but was able to catch him full effect at glasslands gallery when twi the humble feather, played with him and rings. he passed his most recent cd, 'drifting my folklore' to me at the gallery show, and i've found his mixture of experimental electronic music fascinating. He combines gamalan music with electronic and dance on 'yori yoyo'.

:: listen to yori yoyo

seeing his live show, i'm reminded what a challenging medium live performance must be for a solo electronic music artist. i think by around 10 years of focus, oorutaichi has found a way to convey his audio onslaught into a thrilling live spectacle.

most solo electronic performances are subdued live, even seeing four tet or momus live before, it's hard to watch someone on stage watching a laptop screen, or shuffle an iPod. perhaps their audiences simply want to be in the presence of the aritist? they are not seeking a live show, just an intimate monologue, a musical preacher? i guess the solo electronic act has gained speed a little more in usa, with dan deacon's ability to send crowds into a frenzy with a microphone, some fx, an iPod, and lots of showmanship (oh and a green flashing skull). but then does that make solo performer's the carrot tops of the music world? relying on props and wit tactics to mask the fact that you won't be seeing a drummer sweat on stage?

[ watch video of beshaby from drifting my folklore]

it is a struggle of concept through medium; however, oorutaichi's live act dominates because rather then him trying to be a cheerleader for the audience, his live electronic performance completely demands all his talents and focus.

the nature of his music also lends to this satisfying live style. listening to the album, it's very hard to classify. it's an assortment of many influences all at once. in some points, it reminds me of the clamorous juxtapositions that artists like xiu xiu uses. it has experimental aspects, dance music aspects, hyper melodic pop, and even hip hop approaches. in it, he is extremely playful with his voice. during a live show this becomes the highlight. watching him twist out singing melodies at hyper speed, it almost hints to sing rapping. It is whimsical and playful at time, perhaps hinting to his T REX influence, but at other times it is robust and abrasive, cutting through his electronic layers and fluid knob fx twisting.

:: listen to MISEN Gymnastics

his overall dimeanor is modest and engrossing. you can't help but feel he's enjoying the other world he's created with his music on stage. he's playful and each song brings him into a different performance routine. even a little james brown dance, i joked with him later.

he's ambitious and i'm sure this past week won't be his last foray to nyc to perform. if you ever have a chance to check him out live, do. he'll change the way you think about solo electronic live performances. check out his album!

oorutaichi - drifting my folklore

stocking stuffer album review : 1-bit music

2008-11-23T13:04:00.014-05:00

back from the blogworld deadlands. consulting with utanapishtim and hunting for the boxthorn, i came up empty handed. but serious: blog time has shrunk, the master distraction, the important piece of procrastination in a stacked pancake of delicious duties, this once weekly blog has become a petrified tree.

so now i'll live vicariously through belated intentions with a present tense child post. vicar of the ghost of blogging past. that means i get to experience what it would be like posting as if i posted regularly, and this was an 'active' blog.

in that spirit, i always intened to write about tristan perich's release on cantaloupe records, 1 bit music.

i met tristan orignally through his rag tag projector martha stewarty audio IC cooking show, the loud objects, when alias pail shared the performance night at bent festival 2007. For anyone never exposed to loud objects, hmm. how to describe. not a band, a performance installation? education by example? man and machine sharing the same paris spleen? their performance content varies, but here's a taste when we played together opening up for lullatone.[ watch video]

going back to being a vicar, i'd say the same about tristan perich. i do have a level of envy for his works. myself having an electrical engineering background, i always debate about what i could have done with that career path if it was more related with my passion for music, rather then defense contracting. music for me, now serves more as an escape from that world. in tristan, it feels like the alternate path in which those two worlds are fused. i mean, sure, i circuit bend, but i don't think it can compare to the level of intellectual involvement in his music/art pieces. i romantically view circuit bending as a caveman curiosity with electronics and found sound. curiously strong.

the sheer concept of programming some IC's from assembly code scratch and putting them in a cd jewel case is mind boggling. originally i thought he must have written the music first in some software, and found a way to translate it to assembly. tristan said, nope, everything is written originally in assembly. that's insane. now i'm scared. very scared. for loops and shit in assembly to create compositions? i don't even wanna think about it. i've met tristan alot, through shows and parties, all good intentions to rap, but haven't really dive chatted. you know: kicked brewskies, confessed to the pope, unraveled the shrek onion. his head is always spinning, and he's in a rush to get to the next place. in favor to his mystique, i wonder if he's an insomniac.

so, this is like the concept album of all concept albums? i guess, the next question is what is the greater form, a conceptual presence or a emotional impact. i'm not gonna get into that. it's a matter of preference. listening to the whole album straight through is intense though. on the brains and on the ears. some songs a little more melodic, others very noise or rythmic. for his live shows, he humanizes it a little more by playing live drums to it.

it's just a great art piece too. something amazing to behold. thinking about all the kinky collectable electronic toys for christmas gifts this year, it's perfect for any gearhead. it used to be really expensive, because it's something hand made, but now it's alot more affordable at the bang on a can store.

performance :: alias pail and twi the humble feather

2008-08-17T12:31:00.003-05:00

sets by alias pail, twi the humble feather, and then an improv set between twi and alias pail w/ tomoyuki kage. curated by liberated matter, cross pollination series. last show for alias pail for awhile as shared members focus on twi. alias pail will play first. bring your grandma. we're doing a "soft" set.

+++

last.fm
going.com
facebook.com

Pianos

158 Ludlow St
New York, NY 10002-2211
United States
Show on Map

Tel: 212.505.3733
Web: www.pianosnyc.com

7:30 PM - Cross-Pol Doors Open + soundcheck/set up
8:00 PM - Alias Pail
8:45 PM - Twi the Humble Feather
9:30 PM - Cross-Pol Set 3-4 songs (twi and alias pail improv)
10:00 PM - Guitar Hero

interview :: love like deloreans

2008-04-28T14:55:00.038-05:00

i admit it, i have a local band crush on love like deloreans. i'm kinda scared about the honeymoon phase ending, but we'll just fly for now. for a brooklyn band, LLD is a refreshing diversion from the scene, sporting a 3 person synth/keyboard onslaught rather then the neo-no wave, tribal avant psyche attack i'm used to for brooklyn [which i love too, no haters]. their music is a keyboard synth dream. instrumental and uplifting, i find myself strangely happy after every set. their sound conjures the dreamy traveling vibes of krautrock, evoking comparisons to cluster and old kraftwerk. other songs take on a more direct synth pop vibe via gary numan's tubeway army, or peter's current closet admiration for 80's italian funk. [ watch video]

:: listen to how to get along with others [DEMO]

we sat down with lorna, derek, and peter to catch up with an alias pail / love like deloreans brunch. i sported english muffins and lorna made this unforgettable keesh. band history, escaping the neu music school, and derek's father's notable korg career were of topic:

+++

[ap]: originally, you guys are from wisconsin right?

[lorna]: peter and i met in music school in milwaukee. we were score reading partners. he brought candy to class, so i'd sit next to him and we'd read stravinksy scores.

[ap]: so your backgrounds are in classical?

[lorna]: he's compositional, i'm piano performance. we were both into the neu, experimental music classical scene at the time.

[ap]: but you're kinda burnt out from that now...

[lorna]: definitely. i just felt there was a limiting aesthetic to it, i felt uncomfortable going to concerts and being careful about stripping the brochure away from my palm, fearing it would make any noise.

[peter]: it's more fun to drink beer and yell loud and bump into people and sweat.

[ap]: a little too proper i guess. in your songs so far, i pick up the krautrock vibes, and yet it other's it's a little more synth pop derived, is there intention to choose one over the other or a direction?

[peter]: we're just having fun with it.

[lorna]: all our influences come in. peter has more of a funk background, i like the sugar poppiness, and he likes the drones. it all mixes up. minimalism is definitely a huge influence for all of us.

[derek]: i have a neu music background too. my dad was always involved in synths and electronic music. this now, makes a lot of sense for me.

derek's father's job was a designer at KORG USA. he's credited with writing a lot of the preset demos in old korg synthesizers.

[ap]: how did you meet derek?

[peter]: lorna got into banglewood, bang on a can, and steve reich was the mentor.

[lorna]: it's this intense training on neu music. we played a 6 hour marathon. i played steve reich pieces for steve reich. that's how i met cool new musicians then decided to move to nyc. there was a whitney birthday celebration for steve reich and that's how i met derek.

[ap]: are you specific about the kind of keyboards you like to use for LLD? any favoritism?

[derek]: i'm interested in any instrument, they all have their own quirks.

[peter]: we get to a point where we program one sound on one keyboard for one song, and yet we bring the one keyboad for the whole set.

[lorna]: peter's obsessed with mini-keys now.

[peter]: there's no fucking way i'm taking a fafisa to play in a club. it's retarded. we're tailoring it down.

[lorna]: the instrument that brought us together was my first keyboard, the casiotone 701.

[ap]: the band name? love like deloreans?

[lorna]: that's derek's genius.

[derek]: i like deloreans.

[ap]: hektor said he was researching john z. delorean, and said he was a real punk rocker in the automobile industry. the kinda outsider / genius character. since your song are instrumental, are they story line based? one of my favorites is 'how to get along with others,' what's the story behind it?

[lorna]: we were recording on a shoe box cassette tape recorder and ran out of cassettes. we pulled out my old tapes from high school. i had a cassette, from when i was skipping out on church. mom made a recording of the sermon and fed me the tape, "how to get along with others."

[peter]: if we'd pull out the original, you could turn up the other tracks and hear this sermon in the fuzz.

[lorna]:it's pretty funny. it's a very spacey sound, and i'm really into ufo's, so it takes a new meaning for us.

+ + +

we finished with other off topics, coffee, cigs, and mimosa's. filled our bellies on home cooking and lazied the rest of sunday away.

preparation :: bent festival 2008

2008-04-01T08:51:00.007-05:00

many of the alias pail circuit bends are very primitive on the technical side of circuit bending. but that's what's great, most circuit bending is very simple. just takes a couple of tools and a little curiosity. the real jewel is finding the right toy to bend. i found this little tikes toy drum off of eBay for a really low price. as the subject of a circuit bend, it's perfect. easy access to the inside and tons of empty space. the color scheme is already perfect, no needed improvements for product design.

the cool thing about the toy is that along with individual electronic sound for each of the four buttons, there's an alternate mode in which each button plays a programmed beat. some subjects for circuit bending don't allow too much variance on tweaking the pitch or the processor speed, but for this one, i was able to find the highest and lowest variances. on the high tip, the beats sound really aphex twin-ish, and the low level, you can hear and follow the low fi sound bit processing come to a grinding halt and stutter. the lfo circuit adds a little choppy start and stop effect to the beats.

fitted with a quarter inch output, if you send the signal into a delay or reverse pedal, it's amazing. the toy is also a fun showpiece for younger kids, since it's made as a necklace, inspired by flava flav's obnoxious clock wearing habits. feel free to ask to play with it after our performance at bentfest 2008 in nyc.

performance :: true primes

2008-03-27T08:54:00.008-05:00

true primes took home court advantage last night at glasslands gallery, opening up for samara lubelski. this will be the last nyc true primes show for awhile as che is traveling abroad for a couple of months to help save the declining bee population in europe. go che! che's last appearance will be hosting his o'sirhan o'sirhan zine release party at PLNYWN, april 2nd.

their set is always a suprise, not one ever repeated. lately, their development seems to be more song oriented with moments of improv, where before, it seemed like pure improv. rolyn's fx were keyboard and building abrasive atmospheres from looping. her prominence as a vocalist in true primes is becoming more evident. che's fragmented trash can beats pumping in and out through her layering. their music is adventurous, primal, dark, and sexy.

:: listen to first song*
:: listen to second song
:: listen to third song

*fragmented recording my MD shut off

video release :: dollboy

2008-01-22T10:28:00.000-05:00

alias pail's first music video is officially out for viewing. directed by jim turner and camy lee, the video is for "dollboy," an unabashful, joyful twee alias pail rendition of my pal foot foot's original. warning! total tweeness. as twee as alias pail will ever be, i promise. "dollboy" is on the upcoming split cd release by alias pail and my pal foot foot, called "my pail split split."

of course i want to thank camy and jim's hard hard work. making this video was harder then i ever thought, and i'm happy it's finally completed and ready to share. of course thanks to my friends who showed up to be my imaginary band: julianna, andrew, and anthony. [at the time i had no real members]

:: watch video ::

if you view the youtube version, and like it, rate it!

performance :: ches smith and xiu xiu

2008-01-07T10:24:00.000-05:00

a chilly night in greenpoint, in the most unique location for a show, a lutheran church. set up by todd p, i've been missing the shows set up there, but was happy to finally check one out. it was a great hall to experience a stripped down set of xiu xiu songs by jamie stewart and ches smith. ches opened the night will a solo drum performance. his jazzy avant garde instrumentation of the drums is a great live spectacle to witness, and the natural hall reverb from the church was a great sound setting. he's a true artist. the walls lined with candles, low lit green lights on stage, and the audience just shadowy movements sitting indian style on the floor.

a very respectful and pensive audience for xiu xiu and ches smith. the concert was a release party for david horvitz's polaroid book. jamie's songs were beautiful, sailing from whispers and empty space guitar to yells, in the classic xiu xiu dramatic style. the dark church hall added to the eerieness and wonderful emotional experience of his songs.

listen to ches smith set

:: first song
:: second song
:: third song

listen to xiu xiu set
:: clover
:: master of bump
:: the fox and the rabbit
:: f.t.w.
:: don diasco
:: brooklyn dodgers
:: helsabot /you have killed me [morrissey cover]
:: clown town

repost :: julianna barwick's sanguine

2007-12-06T16:40:00.000-05:00

due to the excitement of recentisms, this year old post deserves a re-post to catch up to da times. julianna's celebrating countless blog reviews and also a feature in the othermusic newsletter. she just finished opening for the dirty projectors at bowery ballroom, definitely my favorite venue in nyc. by the way dirty projectors live was awesome. masterpiece form.

+++

julianna barwick has self released her first album, sanguine. the cd is a collection of short loop based songs. lacking definable lyrics, the songs create their own themes sonically and leave nameless emotional impressions. julianna's talents as a vocalist push most of the musical strength in the album, her choice of melodic vocal overdubs with vocal percussion is fascinating and dizzying. some sounds become indecipherable as the human voice. comparable to bjork's medula approach to end instrumentation, most of the tracks are all vocal based. julianna's all vocal album has less of a political method behind it as does bjork's medula; it's based more on her natural approach to songwriting: spontaneously improving and recording immediately. many of the songs were written on the fly.

:: listen to dancing with friends

the vocal track layering lends to something stronger; carrying julianna's admitted affinity for the sounds of choir boys, the warmth of mum, and beauty of the human voice as found in panda bear's solo recordings. In a sense, many of the tracks take on a choir boy presence. but the lo fi quality recording and unstructured song loop presentation keep her in the realm of avant garde, rather just another pretty female voice. "unt. 6" grabs your attention immediately as a soundtrack moment. dark and mysterious. "unt. 3" is the most beautiful and angelic, conjuring memories of choir boys and cocteau twins watery pop.

:: listen to unt. 3

[photo cred] for a first release, sanguine serves as very promising start for julianna barwick. she effortlessly proves her strong melodic songwriting and vocal capabilities. the cd acts as a diving board in which she could easy mix her melodies into the dub or electronic world, creating layered atmospheric music on a larger scale, as hinted to in her collaboration with pandatone. for the moment, sanguine serves as an intimate group of melodies displayed through the minimal tools of a 4 track, a loop pedal, and a beautiful voice.

performance :: true primes

2007-12-03T12:01:00.000-05:00

true primes set up at the artist beehive mckibbin lofts yesterday to play a set for the promotions of fingered. ah the studio loft ambiance! digital projectors, artists, high ceilings, music. beats sunday school. true primes were playing along to footage che shot for his film. a nice addition to the true primes line up was robbie lee, accompanying with guitar and woodwinds. although fragmented in true primes style, there was something very traditional and cultural in this set verses others. something ceremonial like native american pow wow.

+++

true primes oozed in and out of atmospheric / musical pieces to their film with an improv manner; some pieces with pushing rhythms; this being one of the more melodic sets i've heard from true primes. i christen thee pop! the great difference was che and robbie bringing in alot of woodwind sounds along with tibetian chimes and rolyn's fx'd vocals and loops. overall a great sit down sound atmosphere experience. the acoustics were actually great considering the typical make shift pa's of loft parties. true primes worked well with empty pockets so each sound could arrive with no competition or clamour. perfect way to end the week as we take our first nyc step into winter.

+ + +

listen to true primes set

:: first song
:: second song
:: third song
:: fourth song
:: fifth song
:: sixth song

performance:: julianna barwick

2007-11-27T16:08:00.001-05:00

julianna barwick and twi the humble feather performed at the living room in lower east side. the sound guy was awesome, both julianna and twi experiencing some of the best sound during a performance ever. nice laid back environment, chairs and candles. perfect setting to absorb the sonics from both artist, who both demand a hush up and listen audience for their acts. twi performed their work from the album music for spaceships and forests, which is being mastered right now and shall be out shortly.

julianna plays at soundfix records this friday the 30th.

this is the first time to hear julianna's live work since june. she's mastered her gear, her loops are more emotionally compelling, and the venues keep getting better. a great spiritual music experience. she added one new song at the end, something she came up with the night before.

listen to julianna barwick's set

:: first song
:: second song
:: three song
:: four song
:: five song
:: six song

promotion :: julianna barwick

2007-11-14T13:47:00.000-05:00

wonderful news today in the circle of close musician friends. julianna barwick's recent jaunt to europe for performances and her appearance on portugal's má fama radio show has sparked the attention of pitchforkmedia. you can read the featurette here. this is a great achievement for julianna and her music. they give her a wonderful review. from the new live in studio performance at má fama you can clearly note her growth from her previous documents on this blog. a great celebration for julianna!

julianna performs on november 25th at the living room in the lower east side.

album release :: sawako

2007-10-12T09:53:00.001-05:00

sawako has released her third proper album, madoromi, through anticipate label. hum for me was an ambient/drone masterpiece. the moods set in her works are comparable to brian eno's 'music for airports.' although she introduces more field recordings and less song structure, they both seem to have the same intent. both set the listener in a state of calm space. sawako's madoromi has more instrumentation then hum; in some tracks you can hear definite instruments like guitar where in hum, on loose recollection, i remember chimes and whispered voice.

:: preview album ::

madoromi is also somewhat darker and pensive. hum always felt to me like a good morning sound to wake up to. pieces like 'appled soapbox' set a tone of anticipation and mystery. like walking cautiously through an old house you've never been inside. curious and cautious. i've never really confirmed with sawako, if she creates her music for an audience and purpose, or just as an artistic expression. ambient music allows more imagination for the patient listener. with no decernable lyrics, the moving sounds create a mixed state of impressions and visions. sawako's modoromi gives a feeling of warmth and nurture. she creates an intangible mother of sound that comforts you into a dream state.

i recently saw her album release show at monkey town. nobuko did live analog video and graphics for her. being in a room of four wall graphics, her sounds, and the overly comfortable seating is the best way to calm and clear the hustle bustle thoughts of the city week. oh, and the food and wine were great!

performance :: boris

2007-10-04T10:23:00.001-05:00

boris [photo cred: teamsteam] rocked out last night at the music hall of williamsburg. balls out rock. i don't know how else to blog it out with intellect and indie edge. i'm falling in love with this venue more and more. its floor plan almost identical to bowery ballroom. the space is extremely comfortable, allowing everyone a great view. the crowd was crazy for boris, they bring back a feeling of rock that has been forgotten. seeing michio kurihara on stage with them was perfect. one of the best moments for me was when they played 'rainbow'. michio kurihara's fuzz guitar solo cutting in after whispery vocals from wata.

:: listen to rainbow

my favorite critique of boris is that they "are only living band who have mastered the art of out-sabbathing black sabbath." after the concert, i'd have to say this is much true. they brought the crowd into a frenzy. they brought a gong. their heavy sludge metal songs are so anthem-like. withdrawn from the audience, they keep to their music on stage. a great night complete with drummer stage dive! soooo much fun. they played many of their best songs from rainbow and pink. I highly recommend picking up either. my ears are still ringing and my neck sore from head banging.

damon & naomi of galaxie 500 fame didn't receive much attention from the boris-hungry audience. at times, the audience was louder with banter. their music was too down tempo to survive the crowd's anxiety for boris. damon's historical, cultural lectures on japan for song intros were eye-rolling; then topped with overly dramatic guitar strumming.

performance :: the yard

2007-09-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

the first day of fall! or at least it felt like it. soft yellow sunlight, cool cool breeze. it was a perfect day for an outdoor music festival. high places set up off stage by the trees with their self contained pa [wise]. their set is easily manageable for both while conveying their sound to the audience. great sampled beats, part of it reminds me of solex. these are powers had to learn the hard way about sound man neglegance and problems during their set, riddled with mic cuts in and out. they still gave their best considering the sound mishaps. they've since picked up a new drummer, who was playing a nice mix of live and midi sounds. he also had the most elaborate spy case of pedals i've seen in a while. cheers to them keeping their cool, seemingly. it was my first time to see them live. i'm eager to see them again, without the sound gremlin curse. best fwends brought out the hyper crowd, everyone hopping to their comedy punchlines and electro junky pop.

interview :: lullatone

2007-08-21T11:13:00.000-05:00

p-a-j-a-m-a in the usa [and canada]

lullatone has been touring across the usa and canada, promoting their new album, and spreading sleepy time electronic tunes and pajama pop. they make their final usa appearance in brooklyn this saturday [august 25th] at glasslands gallery before returning to japan. it's gonna be a crazy fun night of electronics, plus many of the bands playing were featured performances on the final night at this year's new york city circuit bending festival.

:: listen to wake up wake up

on their way to philly sean [s] and yoshimi [y] made time to conduct a little mini interview, like an alias pail pop quiz for lullatone:

+ + +

1. sugar or honey?
[y]: honey that comes from a bear shaped container!
[s]: me too!

2. what's the best food/restaurant you've enjoyed on your tour?
[s]: mission burritos in san francisco!
[y]: me too!

3. which creature in our animal kingdom do you think would enjoy your music the most?
[y]: i don't know, but i know my puppy likes xylophone.
[s]: dinosaurs!

4. are you happy or sad if people fall asleep to your albums while listening and before finishing them?
[y]: happy.
[s]: we both fell asleep a million times making it.

5. was there a specific reason you couldn't hit the midwest during this tour?
[y]: i didn't know how big america is.
[s]: yeah, we didn't have any time this time. but I really want to go there soon!

6. crayons or markers?
[y]: crayons.
[s]: everything.

7. you've been involving the audience with pretuned recorders. which show had the best musically inclined recorder blowers?
[s]:there was a little boy in burlington [maybe around 5 years old?] who showed up in his pjs and totally re-invented the way the pre-tuned recorder had been played up to that point!

8. has anything broken on the tour?
[s and y]: nope.

9. silver or gold?
[y]: neither
[s]: gold watches and platinum teeth

10. do you write the basic melodies for songs by playing with midi loops in the computer, or organically, by just playing naturally on an sk-1, then moving to the computer for details?

[s]: i guess we start each song a different way. like some with xylophones, some with a harp, or some with some handclaps.
[y]: i just hum in the bathtub.

11. milk, half and half, or soy?

[y]: milk
[s]: i love milk!

+ + +

you can view a detailed flyer of the show here or watch a cute commercial for their tour here.

learn about other performers:
www.myspace.com/aliaspail
www.myspace.com/tristanperich
www.myspace.com/burnkit2600
www.myspace.com/twiandhumblefeather

release :: sly hats liquorice nights

2007-08-06T14:23:00.000-05:00

geoff o'connor is soft spoken. i have to lean in and cup my ears when he comments. maybe it's to protect his speaking voice from his singing voice. upon hearing him live, his delicate voice grew on me immediately. his first solo release from his mainstay crayon fields outfit, 'liquorice night' has been steadily growing in my playlist under repeat. his compositions inherit the nostalgia and carefree pop of the 60's. not just sonically, but you can really feel like you're taking a trip back in time. avant garde artist always pull from the past, and from the pop side, there is probably no overly reverenced pop album then pet sounds. panda bear's newest release and critical acclaim comes with alarmingly shocking similarities to a beach boys vocal attack and charm.

:: listen to kill the lights

geoff's approach and reference is more crafted and intentional. many of the beats have that grandma church organ sound. lyrically, the songs also draw from the innocent themes of courtship and romantic admittance in many 60's pop songs. in some parts the lyrics are almost too vulnerable and fumbling, but they come out strong in pieces like 'liquorice night' geoff whispering in pauses, "i miss our perfect harmless lives..." you can help but feel like you are enjoying music your parents listened to.

:: listen to liquorice night

tender and soft, a trip through nostalgia, a refreshing blast of innocent pop. anxiety building. highly enjoyable and recommended. geoff o'connor is sly hats.

performance :: guy blackman

2007-07-28T09:42:00.000-05:00

guy blackman and sly hats (of crayon fields) are on a world tour, grass roots style. partially promoting his new release, adult baby, but mostly being honored to perform this year's what the heck festival with k record counterparts such as calvin johnson and mt. eerie, guy's tour schedule is relentless. big travels for the earnest pop songs he creates. his new album at first recalls hidden threads of twee, maybe hinting a mellower belle & sebastian. but after listening to the whole album, there's a different kind of charm in his pop ballads. a quality of 1960's pop, in the quality of nico's chelsea girl or maybe nick drake. this becomes most evident on tracks like 'black eyes.'

:: listen to black eyes

the lyrical content holds a lot more soul then most passby twee too. mostly harbouring emotions of past relationship, faded friendships, and confronting sexuality. the cast for this album is an army of guest appearances and players, including a sing duet with jens lekman, and a vocal lead with peggy frew.

guy has his hands in many cookie jars. he also runs chapter music, which famously released, songs for nao, a compilation of underground japanese bands. it serves as an encyclopedia for japanese undergrounders. highly recommended if you're trying to gain speed on that scene. he was a temporary player in my pal foot foot, my favorite underground band from japan, and has collaborated with the tenniscoats and maher shalal has baz.

guy blackman plays one more time in new york before jumping to europe. he'll be at union hall (702 union st, park slope, brooklyn, NY) on monday July 30 - with in interview, doors 7.30pm.

circuit bent little tikes megaphone

2007-07-21T09:44:00.001-05:00

the little tikes megaphone is an amazing out of market jewel. even without the bends, it's pretty fascinating, having high pitch and low pitch voice alterations. my reference for this bend came from casper electronics founder and guru bender, pete edwards. he's provided a partially complete schematic for his circuit bends.

the most fascinating feature, and i don't know how pete came about discovering it, is that the circuit board has a robot voice mode. it must of been part of the original design, but once they went to production, decided to scrap the robot voice. too scary for children? too bad for them, amazing for us! this is by far the most amazing feature. all you need to do is add an audio out, and then you have a totally useful instrument for recording and live performance. what's even better is that there is already a volume control on the device, so you don't have to worry about high output signals from your quick audio interface.

the megaphone is built like a tank. the hardest item i've ever tried to disassemble. i recommend great great patiences and the right tools. putting it back together was a miracle too. there is plenty of room inside the chamber for extra circuitry, so that's good. in a crunch for time, so i didn't figure out how to patch the fx into the processor as pete edwards suggests. another time...

performance:: lullatone usa tour

2007-07-16T14:28:00.000-05:00

review tour schedule and watch lullatone tour commercial!
lullatone.com/

learn about other performers:
www.myspace.com/aliaspail
www.myspace.com/tristanperich
www.myspace.com/burnkit2600
www.myspace.com/twiandhumblefeather

performance :: 77 boadrum

2007-07-07T22:39:00.000-05:00

maybe the single most important musical performance i've ever witnessed? i'm not sure. feel completely whole, like a musical catharsis. the legendary boredoms assembled a gang of 77 drummers, converging in brooklyn bridge park. it was like getting struck by lightning and surviving. the first pounds of the drummers were like hammers in the heart. the beats spiraled outside to each drummer. then they converged on grooves and filled in their transitions [ watch video].

waiting in line under the city sun was pretty testing, but i was prepared with sunscreen and umbrella. it was the longest, largest line i've ever seen. i was shocked how many of my friends flaked on coming. was this not the most important experimental / avant garde whatever ya wanna call it event? warning, you may get teased...

i was thrilled to squat near brian chippendale of lightning bolt. other drummers i was thrilled to see were mathias schultz of holy fuck, enon and andrew w.k. you could see the looks on the drummers' faces. they were witnessing it for the first time too. lots of grins, smiles, and smirks. the crowd was eventually worked into a trance, and everyone who didn't know how to move or dance to this new music, just danced. it was an endearing moment. we all caught the bug. our heads were smacked with sound; thank you boredoms!

:: listen to excerpt
:: listen to excerpt

the thunderous unity of 77 drummers in a spiral can't really be well captured or shared. it was a rare experience that can only translate in person. a memory i never want to forget! tons of media [flickr] and posts are popping up, like here and here.

performance :: true primes at pete's candy store

2007-07-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

rolyn and che of true primes played at pete's candy store in brooklyn to a packed house of long time fans and pals, myself included. a nice hyper set with fx'd beat oriented loops, more familiar of their older material a couple years ago. royln calls it their hip hop set [ watch video]. the fun about true primes is you just don't know what you're gonna get until you start taking notes on che's set up as he's hooking his tape machine and toys up. a regular curiousity shoppe for gear geeks.

royln does the robot! sensual style and teasing stage presence: you always get the feeling that true primes have been pals longer then any hometown friend you still play phone tag with. the comfort level and banter with audience is very household. their new album 'we have won' is out on locust music.

:: listen to first song
:: listen to second song
:: listen to third song
:: listen to fourth song

performance :: julianna barwick

2007-06-29T08:35:00.000-05:00

julianna performed in greenpoint, brooklyn last night to a crowd of close friends at cafe grumpy for the promotion of her new album sanguine. she performs again in a couple weeks at pete's candy store. the greenpoint location just opened up a big backroom area. whether it will shape into being a performance room or not is unclear right now. her sets usually consist of whatever wandering melodies she's played with during that week and a couple familiars from the album. crossing fingers for 'dancing with friends' live, but it hasn't happened yet. working off loop tracks and building vocal live loops, the set was whispery and slumbery. no bad dreams tonight.

:: listen to first song
:: listen to second song
:: listen to third song
:: listen to green days
:: listen to fifth song
:: listen to sixth song
:: listen to seventh song

performance :: panda bear at bowery ballroom

2007-06-19T11:18:00.000-05:00

a wonderful night of music at bowery ballroom for the animal family. what was fun about the panda bear show is that all the performers are friends, and you could feel the comfort level, almost as if they were playing for each other. the connections and lineage parallel to a gabriel marquez index page, i won't decipher them. scott mou's solo project, queens, (photos by ef) opened the set. it was a nice surprise, not officially on the bill, i guess he was rehearsing for this saturday performance. looped and delayed guitars, reverb falsetto's and field recordings accompanied with video was his schtick.

:: listen to part one
:: listen to part two

kria brekken came on next, playing all piano based songs accompanied with sampler and tapes. working off two mics with one fx'd, she brought a new awareness of her piano playing skills. she's got mad skills. i haven't enjoyed a piano based set in a long time. i've never seen her perform without avey and it was a nice showcase to her songwriter powers.

:: listen to part one
:: listen to part two
:: listen to part three

i was really eager to see rusty santos perform again. i've only seen him once, as a two piece, open for ariel pink about over a year ago. he stole the show for me. his songs were refreshing after two performances of mid tempo relaxed songs. his energy is boyish, tantrum induced, and spastic. a great spectacle to enjoy live. i wish he'd play out more (or maybe i just never know). i loved his use of sampler fx vocals and thumping drums. there are aspects of his music similar to animal collective, but it makes sense, he's in family animal. yet he brings his own stylistic excitement on stage with noise, pop-antics, and just straight out rock n roll. it was fun watching the drummer play drums on his knees. i have rusty's first cd and picked up 'eternity spans' at the show. eager to dig into it.

:: listen to rusty santos

panda bear (photo by pf) played a full hour set calmly triggering his two samplers and singing. videos and photos are popping up fast. a delicately simple performance, overall a very spiritual experience. his voice is addictive. i always end up liking the new album more then i think i would. he performed a couple of new songs. a nice surprise was his rendition of chores, which i've only heard performed by animal collective as a group.

:: listen to take pills / untitled / take pills
:: listen to take pills
:: listen to take pills [end]
:: listen to carrots/laughed for a world filled with fantasy
:: listen to carrots/comfy in nautica / berserker
:: listen to bros
:: listen to daily routine
:: listen to number one
:: listen to carrots [end]
:: listen to chores [slow version]

release :: toys we made cd-r

2007-04-30T14:03:00.000-05:00

preparing for the bent festival was so much fun. cramming rehearsals and bending instruments to have a repertoire of bent gear was exhausting and inspiring. sadly though, i missed most of the workshops. we were the last band to play on the final night of the nyc leg of the coast to coast festival. the other acts that performed were so fun to watch. my favorite was probably the loud objects. for the bent festival we've prepped a cd-r of songs all derived from bent instruments called, "toys we made." we've also invited some of our musical friends to collaborate with us. the final product is a 13 track album all focused on bent instruments. appearances by twi the humble feather, julianna barwick, simon grimm, and dion dhrati.

:: listen to toys we made
:: listen to cubes

our performance was so much fun too. it was the best venue we've played at thus far and had a great supportive audience. videos are slowly getting uploaded. npr also did a little featurette on the nyc festival.

alias pail
toys we made
mookie/ap-1
$8.00 (free postage in usa)
CD-R

preparation :: bent festival 2007

2007-04-26T15:46:00.000-05:00

sometimes things break. you can't go back, the excitement is replaced with only-if's, what could have beens, and why me's. as much fun as bending is, when you destroy a toy you treasured, it sucks. especially if it was a jem. i broke my vintage fisher price creative music maker, weeks before a performance. a real great showcase piece. finding another is rare, even by eBay standards. luckily, a friendly stranger by way of google, helped me replace my baby.

the new version is safer, and designed to not get wires crossed. remember that most old toys don't have protection circuits. i'm developing a habit of adding diodes to protect crossing the wires. i'm totally obsessed with using altoids cases now. the graphics make the pieces look like pop art.

preparation :: bent festival 2007

2007-04-18T15:24:00.000-05:00

the older the instrument, the more room inside to place your circuit bends. the magical musical thing was just begging for some primitive bends. there's tons of room inside, so i didn't have to remove the speaker. there's lots of room on the other end too, i plan on adding a lfo circuit. a childish bend, but totally fun to play due to the nature, it almost holds like a battle axe guitar now.

performance :: pandatone, julianna barwick, praveen

2007-04-05T09:56:00.000-05:00

musical pals pandatone, julianna barwick, and praveen performed at cake shop to host visiting kiiii. pandatone standing at a live performance?! yes, it's possible. he ran his guitar through his computer for added fx and played off recorded loop starters. julianna eased in her vocal loops on top, and praveen held light beats. it was an improv'd set, and kinda served as a kickoff to promote pandatone's new album, happy together, which comes out april 24th. advanced copies were available at the show. the album features a strong collaboration between pandatone and julianna barwick's vocals. unfortunately, i couldn't stay to see kiiii, but judging from their colorful hyper gold and silver dvd, i'm sure their set pumped the rainy day attenders into sugar high antics.

:: improv set ::

:: listen to first song
:: listen to second song
:: listen to third song
:: listen to fourth song
:: listen to fifth song
:: listen to sixth song

preparation :: bent festival 2007

2007-04-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

completed stage one of a circuit bend for my tiny casio VL-5. i haven't found any bends online for this model, so i was left on my own to come up with something. soldering to the tiny motherboard contact points with a radio shack iron is extremely difficult, but i managed through persistance. the cool thing about this bend, is i was able to stay all 007 about it. the contact points are tiny socket pins glued through the speaker holes. the case is really tight and small, so i eased off going crazy with contact points, and just interfaced the ones i liked the most.

the coolest effect i could get was this random arpeggriator sound that is delicately triggered by changing the reistance between three points. you can get these really great philip glass type sounds from it. there's still alot more to do, but for now, it'll stay in this phase. the fun part was making an interface console from an altoids box. i was inspired by the multiple projects involving altoid boxes at makezine.com. however cutting in to metal boxes is difficult. we've been busy rehearsing and recording a cd-r for the bent festival. alias pail is performing in the evening of the last night of bent festival on the 28th of april.

:: casio VL-5 alias pail bend::

rememberance :: dad and music

2007-03-29T08:49:00.001-05:00

today marks the two year anniversary of my father's departure from the physical realm. in remembrance, i'd like to credit him with his overwhelming influence on me to channel my emotions into music. it's funny: he always lectured me on not pursuing music further than a hobby, but his actions taught me how to relate to music emotionally. charming hypocrisy. he played piano and accordian by ear. nothing special, but he could spit out a couple old german tunes. he was a romantic, contemplative character, and music was always the trigger in him for a tear.

he'd beg me to play his "3 favorite pieces" on the piano for him, much against my will at the time: beethoven's 5, a brahm's waltz, and pilgrim's chorus. many times he'd sit on his lazyboy, drink a brandy, and tears would come to his eyes. he would thank me from the bottom of his heart in his husky german accented voice. old memories of the war in berlin as a child, his regrets and losses, first failed marriage, and estranged friends would overwhelm him. from these moments, i learned about the emotional power in music.

he had this story he'd tell me about when he was a child and taking piano lessons. he sat at the school teacher's piano and began playing a piece for her from their lessons. when he finished, she said, "that's very nice, siegfried, but it's not what is written in the notes." he always talked about how he had talent but was too emotional to control it or stay within the boundaries of formal musical schooling. i love that story.

he was way behind the technology curve, and i remember one time when he came to my dorm room and i was trying to explain to him napster, and the capability to listen to anything you wanted. he asked me to do a search on marlene dietrich, an old german film star and performer. i pulled up "lili marlene." after it finished download, her voice filled my room, smokey and distant like a black and white postcard. dad sat, and his eye's twinkled with tears. at that moment, he disappeared into some old memory, mysterious to my understanding. he finally woke up out of it. "i haven't heard that song in 20 years."

:: listen to lili marlene

he always grabbed his accordion and played when he was sad. he hugged it for comfort. he played it when he was joyous, sailing into the kitchen like an unwelcome guest. he always played it when he was emotional. i can't help but tip every accordion street player i see. especially if i can get them to play lili marlene.

promotion :: casper electronics

2007-03-12T11:52:00.000-05:00

as bent festival 2007 slowly approaches, alias pail shall be recognizing some of the revered circuit benders. pete edwards of casper electronics is the strongest force in the circuit bending world. his pieces are the most sophisticated and his catalog of works is dizzying. he's renown for his works and has created many circuit bent instruments for musicians around the world. circuit benders like pete edwards are a great inspiration. he feeds us with curiosity and motivates us to seek our new sounds in all devices, musical and non musical.

:: video interview with pete edwards ::

preparation :: bent festival 2007

2007-02-25T21:28:00.000-05:00

bend a little more... worked on completing my bend for the fisher price melody maker. this is one of my favorite old toys i picked up. got it in an oklahoman flea market for five dollars. the packaging is tight and i was too scared to experiment hardcore, because i don't want to damage this eighties antique. but the fact that you can program your own melodies is simply amazing. with the bend, you can get these really glitchy tones. computer sounds without a computer. that part i love. working on some new bent electronic songs only. this will definitely have a showcase tune.

performance :: true primes

2007-02-23T12:55:00.000-05:00

true primes took stage at the stone in nyc, part of a month curation of shows by mary halvorson. the set was sonically my favorite true primes experience yet. true primes are the duo of che chen (oscillator, pedals) and rolyn hu (vocals, percussion). the true primes have been picking up speed and are currently celebrating their first label release on locust music, "we have won." joining che and rolyn for the night to assist with extra atmospheres was hektor, aka liek as shadow. the stone again, a perfect setting for artists to present a bare bones performance to a focused audience. the true primes set out unmake song structure with homemade electronics, fragmented beats, and untraditional vocals.

:: listen to first song
:: listen to second song
:: listen to third song
:: listen to fourth song

preparation :: bent festival 2007

2007-02-20T22:58:00.000-05:00

alias pail is thrilled to announce that our proposal to perform at this year's bent festival in nyc has been accepted. we are cramming hard to prepare a cd-r of bent instrument based songs to celebrate our performance at this year's bent festival, which will be held april 26th to 28th at eyebeam. expect an alias pail set unlike our previous recordings, as we dig into more experimental and abrasive sounds all focused around the concept of circuit bending. the main weapons for the first cram night (until 4am) were: a bent melody maker, 1-bit groove box, bent trendmaster concierge, tablebeast bent sk-1 casio, and a bent vl-5 casio. i went to the bent festival last year for the first time and it completely changed me; or maybe just opened me up. you can review last year's posts here. i highly recommend to anyone to check out this years bent festival. it's the best curiosity shoppe event of the year.

performance :: julianna and liek as shadow

2007-01-18T10:27:00.000-05:00

yesterday liek as shadow and julianna performed at glasslands gallery in williamsburg, brooklyn. glasslands gallery is a new effort by brooke baxter and rolyn hu, who previous ran the old glasshouse gallery around the corner; the new address is 289 kent ave (btw south 1st and south 2nd). i was totally impressed with the art space, a big improvement. same motive for glasslands: to promote local underground experimental music and art. a homey self expression bunker for underground types, no tight gap jeans required. more stage space, better sound system, less clutter, a proper seating section and refreshments area. it even has an upstairs booth, for those feeling the opera-box-look-down-on-the-crowd-people vibe. the entrance is still pretty conspicuous, follow the secret signs.

liek as shadow's set was mostly guitar driven this time, with atmospheres from fx pedals, falsettos, and a sampler. julianna's set again was totally new material, nothing recognizable from her sanguine cd. building vocal loops live, a warm and religious experience.

listen to liek's set
:: first song
:: second song
:: third song
:: fourth song
:: fifth song
:: sixth song
:: seventh song

listen to julianna's set
:: first song
:: second song
:: third song
:: fourth song
:: fifth song
:: sixth song
:: seventh song

cd release :: julianna barwick

2007-01-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

julianna barwick has self released her first album, sanguine. the cd is a collection of short loop based songs. lacking definable lyrics, the songs create their own themes sonically and leave nameless emotional impressions. julianna's talents as a vocalist push most of the musical strength in the album, her choice of melodic vocal overdubs with vocal percussion is fascinating and dizzying. some sounds become indecipherable as the human voice. comparable to bjork's medula approach to end instrumentation, most of the tracks are all vocal based. julianna's all vocal album has less of a political method behind it as does bjork's medula; it's based more on her natural approach to songwriting: spontaneously improving and recording immediately. many of the songs were written on the fly.

:: listen to dancing with friends

the vocal track layering lends to something stronger; carrying julianna's admitted affinity for the sounds of choir boys, the warmth of mum, and beauty of the human voice as found in panda bear's solo recordings. In a sense, many of the tracks take on a choir boy presence. but the lo fi quality recording and unstructured song loop presentation keep her in the realm of avant garde, rather just another pretty female voice. "unt. 6" grabs your attention immediately as a soundtrack moment. dark and mysterious. "unt. 3" is the most beautiful and angelic, conjuring memories of choir boys and cocteau twins watery pop.

:: listen to unt. 3

for a first release, sanguine serves as very promising start for julianna barwick. she effortlessly proves her strong melodic songwriting and vocal capabilities. the cd acts as a diving board in which she could easy mix her melodies into the dub or electronic world, creating layered atmospheric music on a larger scale, as hinted to in her collaboration with pandatone. for the moment, sanguine serves as an intimate group of melodies displayed through the minimal tools of a 4 track, a loop pedal, and a beautiful voice.

her cd release party will be next week with liek as a shadow opening: january 17th at glasslands gallery in brooklyn

music video :: dollboy

2006-12-25T14:26:00.000-05:00

the video for dollboy is still pushing through post production. chia's been working hard developing the animation scenes and jim and i are tying the ends in editing and other random fx shots. hopefully the video will be ready by march to coincide with the split cd release with my pal foot foot. hiko and i have been writing more japanese songs for the release too.

performance :: chavez

2006-12-17T11:04:00.000-05:00

i have two strong memories of listening to chavez in high school and college. one, blasting ride the fader in my friend's car and driving down the broken arrow expressway in oklahoma; two, taking a road trip from los alamos to denver, and climbing through the taos mountains with the windows rolled down and gone glimmering blasting. i even had a cassette tape of matt sweeny's first band, skunk. the chainsaw mxr distortion guitars, james lo's pumping drumset. definitely music for people with an ear from drumming. chavez always represented to me raw rock, extremely under appreciated raw rock. they came out in the late nineties under matador records, and went also rather unnoticed by indie circles. i think i remember matt sweeny joking about how no one came to their shows in an interview once. then all of a sudden, chavez disapeared from the rosters. since then matt has been playing musical chairs, collaborating with bonnie prince billy on the superwolf album, and then a brief stint will billy corgan's failed zwan project.

:: listen to unreal is here/guard attacks

chavez returned to stage this saturday at the warsaw in brooklyn, in response to their reissued cd package, better days will haunt you by matador records. it was amazing to see a band i've been listening to for ten years, finally live. they rocked as hard as their recorded songs. the band chemistry on stage was great. charmingly alpha male, earnest, and comedic. not one thing in matt's voice has changed. the guitars still burned. i head banged and hopped with every tune. i only hope that they actually start writing songs together again. here's a small clip from what i recorded:

top pocket man

repeat the ending

performance :: avey tare and kria brekken

2006-11-27T10:39:00.000-05:00

avey tare and kria brekken played to a packed house at tonic on sunday. beach house was a surprise opener, i enjoyed her voice and organ driven slow tempo tunes, reminded me of a darker mazzy star. a couple new tunes from avey and kria this time, and older tunes with flushed out arrangements. almost over an hour of performing. kria and avey ran into some lengthy tuning sessions, but otherwise it was another intimate performance of unique folky tunes. a couple of new covers this time too. no love from strangers, somebody unknowningly sat on my condenser mic i had clipped to a bass drum, thus i have the only in mono. i ended up having to clip the remaing working mic to my jacket and standing still as a statue. le sigh.

:: listen to MD recording::

:: untitled one
:: untitled two
:: fetus boy
:: untitled three
:: untitled four
:: untitled five
:: making bread
:: untitled six
:: untitled seven
:: untitled eight

cd release :: collected animals vol.2

2006-11-13T13:11:00.000-05:00

the collected animals forum, run by re:rz, has released a second cd to follow up the original popular musical compilation cd from active forum members. the second volume is an amazing compilation of experimental, noise, and indie rock music. another song by alias pail (co written by steve dacosta) appears on the comp.

:: listen to sonmi
:: listen to greenlandic blaque
:: listen to aimes francis

stronger songwriting and soundscapes from all the contributing members. there are some amazing gems on this compilation that transcend the influence of animal collective and establish the forum as a creditable meeting place for people passionate about listening and making music. it's going for $5 at flowerwolfdaddy's diy mini label, sterling roads records

project :: kathryn music video filming day

2006-10-23T13:21:00.000-05:00

on sunday, friends and film crew gathered in williamsburg brooklyn at the williamsburg cafe to shoot for the new kathryn music video. mayo and her crew arrived at 6:30AM and pushed through the whole day almost to 5:00PM, finishing up at the studio at dfa.

it was a great, fun, and exhausting day. i was so happy to have all my friends be extras in it. thanks everyone! means so much, because that what my music is about. that's what's precious to me. i'd write more about the day, but i'm still pretty exhausted. there were some great moments when anthony's charisma and natural acting talents bubbled up in the studio. good good times. it was funny to see my pals all 'act' various scenes, lots of laughs on set.[ watch video]

flickr photos of filming day

exhibit :: michel gondry

2006-09-30T13:26:00.000-05:00

saturday morning i met sam and rachel in soho to see michel gondry's exhibit at deitch projects in soho. it was a showcase of the props for his latest movie, science of sleep. many of the props and set were visual/audio interactive, adding a playfulness to the exhibit. i've never seen props for a movie before the movie; it'll be interesting to watch. it feels like michel's work is the last standing outlet for imaginative, dreamlike directing. i fell off the tim burton train long time ago, and i wish jean-pierre jeunet would go back to creating those dark and eerie storylines as in his early works. with the gleam of computer fx, i miss stop still animation and prop effects to create other worlds. michel seems to be the only guy that enjoys mixing all media together.

michel's childhood nightmare fears surface again in his works, one of the props is a man with oversized hands. the coolest piece was a piano which played film of a person playing a note for every note you hit. if you pressed more then one key, the video would splice and show two people playing the two notes. pure genius. i wonder what software he's using for that. i left the exhibit feeling like i just woke up from a vivid dream.[ watch video]

you can see rachel's flicker photos here.

performance :: sawako

2006-09-17T11:48:00.000-05:00

this sat ant, mayo, and i went to sawako's performance at monkeytown in williamsburg. monkeytown is a bar/restaurant with a room focused on presenting quality audio/visual shows. the sets are usually reservation only, maintaining a controllable audience, with entree order mandatory to watch the performance. snazzy dishes and a room boasting 4 screens enclosure, 6.1 surround sound, and limited capacity of 32 guests. the space serves as the perfect medium for sawako's material. this time sawako was performing her own visual effects, i think using jitter. the visual's were beautiful, moving from lights to negatives, feeling much like the music was passing through night and day.

words can't described how much admiration and respect i have for her work. i don't know any other female artist as sophisticated in audio and visual pursuits as her. she is a great inspiration and her focus on soundscape motivated me also to recognize the subtleties of creating woven atmospheres. currently she's working on many collaborations and preparing the release of a dvd of audio/visual works. can't wait to hear more; her album 'hum' is still on constant spin at my house, especially when i'm winding down in the evening.[ watch video]

:: listen to sawako live at monkeytown

another memorable moment in the night was chika and zach layton's duo performance. chika's visuals had reoccuring themes i remembered from previous performances. her set was hypnotizing and completedly exploited the four large screen enslaught. it was a complete dream. during the set i totally forgot what i did from the last week. i think her visuals and zach's laptop zooms and buzzes erased my memory. zach was sculpting this sound live with max/msp and they humorously miscounted a finale, 3...2...1... oops. no one really noticed and it was all smiles any way.[ watch video]

project :: music videos

2006-09-11T08:43:00.001-05:00

not planned, but by luck, alias pail has a second music video in production. my old old pal tobimayo from tokyo is in nyc taking film courses, and is going to make a music video for kathryn. according to her, she's going to create a mini set, film it, then film live action in greenscreen, place the people in the mini set, and have animation on top. woo hoo. sounds like fun! (and lots of work) tobimayo has always been in film, i think her father works at a tv station in tokyo. she's been doing little film and animation videos since college. some of her old old work is on youtube here. but i haven't seen any recent work for the last couple of years. she currently does high end macromedia flash design for companies here and here. i'm sure her skill has grown and i can't wait to see the results.

flickr photos of music video production

the dollboy music video is still in post production. filming is complete and now we're working on the animation and fx portions. animations take sooo long. hopefully this will wrap up by the end of this year. that's what chia promised me :)

cd release :: nikaidoh kazumi

2006-09-05T14:03:00.001-05:00

i was so excited to finally receive nikaidoh kazumi's new album in the mail from ontonson. 'no album' is her first proper solo release since 2003's magical 'you dropped it again, didn't you?' her last output, a collaboration with saya source of tenniscoats, showed she was still up to her playful childish fragmented melodies. Ipiya is challenging and not directly accessible, almost experimental. i fell in love with her music immediately a couple of years ago. playful, folky, melodic. she's a girl with an acoustic guitar that doesn't sound like every girl with an acoustic guitar songwriter. she's known for her colorful voice which she manipulates into multiple personalities. childish to human trumpet to breathy to almost this speak easy impersonation of something from the past.

upon the first round of listening to the album, a wave of many emotions came over me. this album is a total breakaway from her previous releases. her earlier works fell in suite with a kind of diy sound, fitting the entourage of tenniscoats and maher shalal hash baz. even her connection to mt. eerie and k records seemed like a realistic extension to her family of sound. her music is playful and addictive and spontaneous, mysteriously twee; if not hinted enough on her us tour 2003 dvd, her spirit highly crushable too. mt. eerie gushing over it on film and me too! seeing her collaboratory efforts on stage with the whole diy japanese underground gang, i was expecting a stronger influence of her friends' sounds.

:: listen to lover's rock

the new album has mad production all over it. nikaidoh has graduated from indie rock school and put out a j-pop idol album. her voice is as powerful and beautiful as ever, but the songs have dropped that level of intimacy that was so easy to access in her previous more lofi albums. a little bittersweet, i felt like a protective father who realizes on prom day that his little princess has grown up. the drums are mixed for jazz pop. brass sections almost sounding like ska production rather then maher bill wells i-can't-play-but-i'm-playing tones. the leading single, 'lover's rock', could almost sound like a japanese norah jones. most of the songs take on a much more adult sound to them. soft and beautiful. but this time, her multiple personality vocal style alienates each song from the rest of the album. 'itemo tattemo irarenai' runs playfully like a ragtime broadway song. 'aire kawaiya' is throwback to an old traditional japanese song style, but the high production search for a strange sound to push a melody is forceful. the rest of the songs fall into slow tempo lullabies awashed in production. 'temperature of the windowside' and 'kyou wo tou part 2' are familiar old songs from her previous releases and performance, all redone with crystal glass. the closest song that acknowledges her past is 'long torch song,' but it doesn't transcend the classics from her previous albums.

:: listen to aire kawaiya

the punch is nikaidoh does have the raw vocal talent to support a higher production, bigger sounding cd. although her associations in the past have been with diy lo fi sounding musicians, in comparison to their skill and not their creed, nikaidoh has the ability to surpass them. i guess that's the realization i have to overcome in listening to this album.

her voice is precious and will always turn my ear. this album will definitely inherit a new fanbase for her, but i feel like old fans may feel like their little nikasoup has gotten a makeover at glamour shots. a little recalibration is required. still beautiful, but with extra layers to the core sound. it'll take a couple of more listens and weeks to really digest this album. whether this album is her new direction or a separate instance of itself remains a mystery for now.

2,730 YEN
order from ontonson
postage will be 800 YEN from ontonson

nikaidoh kazumi myspace
nikaidoh kazumi homepage
nikaidoh kazumi youtube

performance :: order of ephemeroptera

2006-08-20T12:40:00.000-05:00

pandatone, twi and the humble feather, and julianna (loring) gathered at an art space in bushwick on saturday night at the order of ephemeroptera. don't ask me. let's just call it o.o.e. the building consists of many art spaces, each holding random home grown exhibits and performances. the only enemy if any of the night was the word "bushwick." say it, and you may conjure up a yucky taste grimace, like ordering a dish from noodle 36 and upon intake realizing it has bittermelon. is bushwick really that far out to see a show? no, it's not the same williamsburg - land of oz, dorothy, but an extra 15 min from some here to some there. i guess it comes down to where the scene is.

the art space had a pleasant atmosphere, very homey; serving can beers out of the fridge with small clusters of friends and fans. nice wooden floors and performance lighting. pandatone started the set, displaying his mad production skills with a laptop performance, indian style on the floor, and sequencing his piece live. the stereo p/a lent well to his stereo panned cuts.[ watch video]

:: listen to pandatone

twi and the humble feather came up next with their master opus movements. a full week of everyday practice paid off. antony's getting really psyched with crowd response to his works. it's always great to hear how people interpret the pieces. jim said they create a transcendental experience. sounds good to me! twi wants to tour this fall, i'm trying to figure out how i can squeeze out of work, considering i blew my vacation days already in europe. anthony's been holed up in tulsa for two weeks previously and has recorded almost an ep's worth of new material. twi and humble feather is also in line to record our performance material soon.[ watch video]

:: listen to twi

julianna put on her most powerful performance yet. i was so thrilled to see her organize her songs into interplayed loops from her casio keyboard and her new hot shit loop pedal, the rc-50. the loop station has become the necessary third arm she really needed to project her sound forward and keep her act solo. and finally a sound system that didn't give her road bumps with her loop outputs! her voice never ceases to amaze anyone in contact. flawless and as professional as any credited vocalist, yet steering for sounds original and sincere.[ watch video]

:: listen to julianna

performance :: mccarren park pool

2006-08-15T09:03:00.000-05:00

last weekend's mccarren park pool party was a blast. the weather was perfect for an outdoor festival; sun and breeze. this time brought a blanket, towel, flask; all the goodies i needed for another relaxing sunday afternoon of indie music. sandro and i got in on some major dodgeball this time, so much that my back muscles are still sore two days after. the first game i regretfully smacked a guy in the face with a ball. luckily hipsters are a peaceful species, like whale sharks. that's cool. there was this strange trend of indie boys who were completely comfortable with riding the slip and slide in their jockeys. pudgy white asses saying hello through their white undies. that was not cool.

in this weekend's line up were harlem shakes, apollo sunshine, beruit, and deerhoof. the nice surprise was ?uestlove from the roots dj'ing in between the sets and for warm up. i didn't catch much of the harlem shakes, too preoccupied trying to make impressive plays in dodgeball. apollo sunshine jam out music was perfect for an outdoor festival. they did a better job entertaining the crowd with banter then the cricket in the audience response the harlem shakes incurred.

i was really impressed by beruit on stage. his voice and the brass sections holding as much credit as the cd. the sound was really full and worked great on stage. it's hard to pinpoint, something like gypsy indie rock with quick comparisons to jens lekman, but soon after beruit established their own.[ watch video]

deerhoof

this was the first time seeing deerhoof minus chris cohen. they still rocked hard, all attention on the drummer. i guess i wasn't gonna hear chris's breathy voice push out "you can see," one of my fav deerhoof vocal melodies. i was always a big fan of the seeing the guitarists play in this band too, because some of the back and forth play was awesome. satomi filled the space with her dance routine singalong hops. but i was on the fence of whether it was a distraction for me from missing chris's absence or playful entertainment; was i happy or sad? i dunno. all i know is i couldn't get "spy on you" out of my head. deerhoof ran through their set playing many notable tunes from their albums. [ watch first video][ watch 2nd video]

3, 2, 1,.... dodgeball!

bent instrument :: trendmaster concierge

2006-08-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

a couple months ago i picked up this translation device at a flea market, while hunting for things to bend with chia. one dollar only. the device is circa 1990; twenty button phrases to help you on your travels if you don't want to use a dictionary. i finally got around to bending the instrument. this is officially my first clean package instrument bend. very primitive bend, but so much fun. using the basic theories i learned at the bent festival, i added two bends: a body contact that slows the samples down, and a potentiometer that sets the high frequency that the samples speed up to. in the future, i'm gonna add more to this instrument but for right now, the simple bends serve their purpose. the plan is to use a couple of bent instruments in the alias pail set under development.[ watch video]

performance :: mccarren park

2006-07-31T09:55:00.000-05:00

on sunday i headed to a free music festival at mccarren park pool in williamsburg. hats off to jellynyc for hosting the free shows. the space is an old emptied out pool, turned into a summer stage. the setup was pretty fun: team dodgeball with tournament, a slip and slide, burgers, brooklyn beer, and hot dogs. it's actually a perfect set up for outdoor concerts. the heat was intense at times, but if you come prepared and ready for sun, it was no big deal. many people brought their own blankets to lay on. of course the fastest way to cool off was to hit the slip and slide. [ watch video]

playing on the bill were asobi seksu, irving, enon, and of montreal. i was mainly there for enon, but i wanted to check out asobi seki (an 8.3 according to the pitchfork rictor scale) and of montreal. irving was the flattest of the performances; straight indie pop over influenced by morrissey and the smiths. asobi seki didn't really touch me in any way, the album songs sound good on CD, but live i just didn't really feel anything. as for their my bloody valentine or shoegaze comparisions, i didn't find it in them either.

seeing enon again was great. they're my record for most seen shows; i think i've seen 'em about 8-10 times now. john had some guitar tech probs and toko awkwardly entertained the crowd, squeezing out a couple of giggles here and there. most of the material was new, much more guitar and rock oriented then their play into electro such as on high society. i was glad to hear new material and can't wait to hear it on headphones for their next album.[ watch video]

overall the show was great. they had dodgeball. dodgeball! if you weren't into the music, there were plenty of distractions to take up your time until the next act. i left shortly after of montreal started, half overbaked from the sun and half not into their glamour pop. deerhoof is playing in a couple weeks with the same mccarren park set up, and i'm totally psyched for that.

performance :: bushwick art project

2006-07-24T08:49:00.000-05:00

on saturday night i headed to the bushwick art project festival held at 3rd ward, an all day and night mix match of electronic music and new media art. coming to the festival i was thrilled to see some of my friend's art and music: chia was doing video for helios's performance [ watch video] , sawako was set to play, and also a live / electronic set from combo loring and pandatone. sadly, after helio's set things started to fall apart. sawako's plane was delayed and she never made it to bapfest. i was excited to finally see bubblyfish though, bouncing around on her gameboy compositions.

:: listen to bubblyfish live at BAP

after her, bapfest basically just turned into a rave. this caused huge problems for pandatone / loring because the music was so loud from the other rooms, it was feedbacking the mics in their performance space. what's the point of having a multiroom music fest when one room takes over all the others with its sound? loring never performed that night, and pandatone switched to a laptop set, playing two hours after his set spot.

bapfest had some amazing new media installations downstairs. one of my fav's was this robot wall sketching machine.[ watch video] most of the pieces were interactive. but the magic of all the digital candy faded fast due to the sloppy management of the venue. bapfest was basically sweatfest and the poorly maintained restrooms on the third floor were absolutely horrendous. cramming a couple thousand kids into a 3 floor warehouse without air conditioning in the middle of a new york summer is just trashy. what's wrong with setting up this kinda festival in the fall? the festival just became a heat tolerance tester. sadly most of audience that came to see loring's performance baked long enough and went home. i left too, pretty disappointed. when i left, i thought of the festival less of a "festival of ideas"; it was just another sweaty rave.

performance :: blizzards

2006-07-18T14:05:00.000-05:00

last night, fighting jet lag from europe i checked out the final show of the blizzards / good anna tour at goodbye blue monday in bushwick. anthony, hektor, and adam have been touring for the last two weeks up and down the east coast with u.k. band, good anna. good anna's set was amazing, an experimental noise set composed of drums and guitar. the most fascinating aspect was watching the drummer wail away with great velocity and his creative alteration of drum sounds. [ watch video]

next the blizzards took stage and this was probably the best live showcase of twi and liek on stage. the music jumped from guitar and fx vocals with atmospheres and noise coming from twi's machines and liek's infamous blue suitcase. adam's drums drove and carried each song, and his work with the noise and electronics was fab. the songs varied from experimental to accessible avant gard and jam out, each of its own form. the blizzards may play an impromptu show with japanther tomorrow, but that's not confirmed. [ watch video]

the usual suspects we all there to support the blizzards, and for as deathly hot as was monday, blue monday stayed pretty cool with fans at every corner, and sangrias to ease the sweat factor.

music travel :: dorset england

2006-06-28T11:28:00.000-05:00

the net is vast and infinite. send an email here, post a comment there, and eventually over time you'll get acquaintanced to similiar interest musicians. there is a struggle too: create an internet music persona and myspace, but lack the physicality of playing a show. secret musician mode is so frustrating and it's a personal battle to get a gang together tight enough to play live. i'm working on it. gonna play live soon.

that being said, probably the coolest internet coincidence came about by a domino records bulletin response i received from steve dacosta. he heard some of my stuff and wanted to collaborate on a project he titled toy piano fanfare. steve is a member of the dorset outfit, plinth, who are loosely associated to the geographic records gang.

plinth was featured on the geographic compilation you don't need darkness to do what you think is right and have received a reviews in magazines such as the wire. mike tanner of plinth also runs a mini label, the dorset paeans, distributing underground efforts from dorset.

steve and i collaborated via internet, chat, downloads, and phone conversation to spit out an ep called 3 little stones ep. this weekend i am finally going to england to meet steve and checkout dorset. for me it was an experience to work on more atmospheric non structured songs. of course i squeezed in my pop sense, but for the most part i think the songs sound great in the early morning waking up, or just as you go to bed.

i can't wait to get to dorset and chill, drink, watch world cup, and hopefully make some music: in person for the first time with steve!

cd release :: collected animals

2006-06-14T15:44:00.000-05:00

trekking though all internet fansites, no resource has been more rewarding and active to me as the collected animals forum, run by re:rz. i've been active on it for about a year or so, and have been exposed to so many rare recordings and interesting (and sometimes off-beat) discussions about animal collective. one of the most magical things to come out of this forum is a mix cd of original music by many of the members. it started as an idea by flowerwolfdaddy, and the thread quickly grew with many contributors. the songs range from indie pop to experimental, it's completely amazing how talented random internet strangers are. give your humming screen a digital pat on the back.

after its release, the thread continued a very insightful review of most of the tracks in which forum members passed on opinions and advice. another magical random moment in the coincidences of internet surfers. it's going for $5 at flowerwolfdaddy's diy mini label, illabel.

1. sheepdog :: 9 axes
2. oh static (simonnewcomb) :: no oh
3. aliaspail :: kathryn/arata na yami
4. flowerwolfdaddy feat. boxcar ben snyder :: nowhere
5. otherwise_eclectic :: untitled
6. julia- (sonmi) :: here is
7. d.sound- untitled 8. ogerrob :: tubes
9. zoombiniss :: well I ate a ribbon an hour and 7 minutes ago so let me see
10. slang_king :: (mac kids) the defenestration of prague
11. langdon :: (ruddiger)- thirty-three
12. sneeks I :: gold lagoon
13. pngu :: a whale is angry

cd release :: pandatone

2006-05-14T09:38:00.000-05:00

i miss watching wwf, sitting indian style at a friend's house. cartoon character title names, but more importantly, the concept of tag team wrestling: the bushwackers, the nasty boys, rock and roll express. two giants working together to smash metal chairs over their opponents. the combos, the high fives, the back and forth. pandatone has collaborated with loring for his current ep. i'd kinda like to think it's a colosseum celebration of tag team sounds. pandatone's mad production and loring's vocal improbs cut and diced into chewable pieces. trevor's warm electronics push the vocal talent of loring into a great presentation format for the both.

what's even better? you've been invited to this reception and there's free wine. trevor has decided to release his ep online for free. check out pandatone's website and music related records to get the "and here i thought it was pointless" EP.

:: listen to i forgot if we dreamed

cd release party :: andrew phillip tipton

2006-05-04T08:29:00.000-05:00

i met andrew via myspace hook ups about a year ago. back and forth emails led to meeting him at his mainstay, the lorimer and bedford stations of the L train. during the time i was totally addicted to his songs: witty lyrical songwriting, the twang and twee, lofi folk antics. we've been pals since, and he even did a cameo in the new dollboy video. he calls himself the lovechild of bowie and dylan. he's been thrown into the antifolk club without permission, but i think he'd tell ya he's the sole headliner in the anti-anti folk festival, unless you're from german press. :)

andrew writes songs at an alarming rate, releases many cdr's of albums a year. i definitely envy his music creed: to eat, shit, sleep music. he's an inspiration and an entertainment and he's playing this saturday, may 6th at pete's candy store. you'd be ridiculous not to go:

:: listen to tell me what it's like
:: listen to turn the lights on

may, 6 2006
at petes candy store
709 lorimer st. brooklyn, ny 11211
cost: free!

8:00 - Cheese On Bread
9:00 - Dream Bitches
10:00 - Ching Chong Song
11:00 - Andrew Phillip Tipton

bent festival :: last day

2006-04-23T19:55:00.001-05:00

the last day of the bent festival. oh, sadness you are a mad ticking clock. i couldn't help but feel a little down. i've been lost in a dream of geekdom since tuesday, and now i must return to reality. when i arrived most of the exhibits were already deconstructed. a half life of the hopping scene the day before. i brought anthony and hektor to preach the digital way, but could only harp fantasy into the shell that remained.

the final workshop lecture was hosted by lorin edwin parker, titled, "how to make a robot sing from the heart." the lecture was a facinating historical account of vocal synthesis attempts since b.c. times. later participants were given guidance and kits for the manipulation of the speakjet chip, which permits robotic emulation of the human voice.

::listen to my speakjet

looking back on the festival, chia and i both agree it's the coolest festival in manhattan. the true spirit of passionate people comes out in all forms. in this case, it's the curiousity of new sound creations. i do confirm that all electronic instruments have a soul of their own; there are little ghosts in the shells awaiting attention. circuit bending is the reaching hand. it is new life, and in that sense circuit benders are creators. perhaps, that's the little high we all get. i am definitely changed. this festival has definitely awakened something in me, and i can't wait to get down and dirty and pursue it.

bent festival :: day four

2006-04-23T06:47:00.000-05:00

today's bent festival was the best one yet. tons of people came out for the workshops and to explore. most of the audio exhibits were up and running. i attended a workshop hosted by table beast. in this workshop we modded the casio sk-1 and added a patchbay system. table beast was so helpful and friendly and his ardous knowledge of the casio keyboard line is astounding. his whole career is dedicated to modding casio's and has done many mods for professional musicians [name drop time: he did one for trent reznor]. the workshop was pretty intense, took about 3-4 hours.

:: watch video clip of mod ::

other highlights of the day included a lecture and book signing by nicolas collins. his new book is called 'handmade electronic music.' wine and hors d'oeuvres provided by the publisher. hell yes! chia was also in this awesome workshop that ran in parallel to the casio sk-1 workshop. i sooo wanted to do that one. noah t. vawter taught how to build a one-bit groove box and fit it inside a cute vcr rental box.

bent festival :: day three

2006-04-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

today, sandro and i snuck out of work early to check out the bent festival again. sandro's never been exposed to circuit bending, so we immediately took to some toys and i showed him how putting a pot in parallel with the toy's resistor can tweak the sound. every day there are more and more exhibits available. i'm guessing the final day will be the most complete exhibit presentation.

today's lecture was by kyle buza, which grazed over the possibilities of using max/msp/jitter to bend video game emulations. the subject was a little over my head, but very interesting. learning max/msp is definitely one of my future goals. it was nice to get a taste of its capabilities.

bent festival :: day two

2006-04-20T23:28:00.000-05:00

today, took off early from work to make it to the bent festival open workshop. last night's intro had settled in, and i was eager to approach circuit bending with more predetermined intent. i attended a workshop hosted by justin jordan. in this workshop we built in house an lfo circuit which can easily be integrated into any instrument for bending effects. the soldering was tedious and everyone was scrambling like ants for parts and tools. i think over half of the class got their circuits to work. after taking this circuit home and playing with it more, i discovered a couple of things and had an new music instrument epiphany. i plan on designing this new instrument in the next month.

there were more exhibits on display and some of the instruments that the performining artists had on stage were truly amazing. this festival is one of the best festivals because of the level of interaction you have with other attendees, speakers, and the musicians. a great curiosity shoppe.

:: listen to my bent instrument

bent festival :: day one

2006-04-20T11:36:00.000-05:00

yesterday i went with chia to the starting day for the bent festival. circuit-bending is the creative short-circuiting of low voltage, battery-powered electronic audio devices such as guitar effects, children's toys and small synthesizers to create new musical instruments and sound generators. yesterday was the kickoff lecture by george lazenbleep. what is inspiring is how elemental and simple circuit bending is. anyone with a curious mind can do it. as an EE, i guess i was just in denial about ever taking the time out to fuck with the electronics of toys.

after the lecture we were all provided instrument toys to bend. immediately everyone started taking about their toys and bending. the room was filled with noise, bloops, and bleeps. if you ever want to turn yourself into a child, try circuit bending. the feeling of unknown results , the curiousity, and the manic excitement; i couldn't help but feel like a kid again. geeks of the world unite. every night after the workshops are concerts of electronic, laptop, circuit bending artists. i missed yesterday's show but will definitely check out today's.

performance :: avey tare and kria brekken

2006-04-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

avey tare of animal collective and kria brekken played an intimate show to a crowd of about 50 people at the stone in the lower east side last night. the stone is a small performance space for experimental and avant garde music; no refreshments or merchandize. only music. kria had a beautiful grand piano to play. the sound mix was gentle and balanced; not even a cricket chirped. avey and kria played a handfull of acoustic and piano songs, rotating between instruments and even playing piano duets together. it was so calm, felt like we were over for dinner. avey tare later endearingly asked the audience, "does anyone need anything?" content silence was the response, the performance, more then enough.

:: watch short clips of the show ::

:: listen to MD recording ::

:: untitled 1
:: untitled 2
:: untitled 3
:: untitled 4
:: untitled 5
:: piano instrumental
:: untitled 6
:: i've got mine (chris smither cover)
:: guitar instrumental

zine release :: o sirhan. o sirhan

2006-04-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

this week i saw two shows to support the release of o sirhan. o sirhan, a brooklyn based music zine. it's printed in 8.5"w x 11"h, some color prints, bound editon of 1000, and featured interviews, art, and photo diaries of artists such as animal collective, hanry flynt, devendra banhart, 7 year rabbit cycle, mary halvorson, deerhoof, david waldorf, and edie song. copies are available at earwax, kim's video, downtown music gallery, anitmart, clovis books, and othermusic.

::watch clip of true primes ::

true primes took stage at cakeshop on thursday with a strong presence, rolyn on drums this time and with an extra guitarist. the next day, che and rolyn took stage again at good bye blue monday in bushwick. opening that night was a che side project, the willing; really beautiful electronic fx noisescape. twi and humble feather set up next for their first live performance. anthony, hektor, and i were all really happy with the performance, finally after months of rehearsal. true primes took stage again, always impressing me with che's dirty electric beats and samples. after true primes, gregory stovetopp rocked out to originals and covers with a psychobilly twang, covering the whole room with his powerful yelling voice. next, fx violinist, core ogg the coalman took stage. it's the most pedals i've seen on stage for one person ever. unfortunately i had to bust out before seeing the closing acts by members of people and hi red center, under the banner name of quartet.

:: clips from the show ::
:: listen to twi and humble feather
:: listen to core ogg the coalman

performance :: animal collective

2006-03-27T10:10:00.000-05:00

on saturday i went to bowery ballroom to see animal collective's final show of their tour. last year's show at webster hall was pretty disappointing, more due to webster hall. i try to avoid shows there. bowery has always been my favorite backdrop for nyc performances. the best sound and an intimate size for performance.

i dare say the performance one of the best animal collective shows. deakin's and avey tare's stage presence has become stronger and stronger. they are really coming into character, mastering their own mannerisms. i was also stunned by avey tare's voice. his ability to switch from falsetto to screams to melodic yells fascinates me, and i think this was the most developed vocal presentation i've seen from him.

:: watch short clips of show ::

i also heard the most new material i've heard from the show. i've been hearing 'feels' songs for the last two years, so i was really eager to hear more new material. they played about 5 or so new songs in a two hour set. most of the new songs following the same format of tribal drums and guitars. the night had a really endearing moment in which the crowd sang happy birthday to geologist. overall it was a great show. animal collective is the first band i've seen grow from small venues to large shows and audience. it's been a long road, the first time i saw animal collective was mabye 4 years ago at tonic. a part of the intimacy has been lost, but at the same time i celebrate their well deserved success and am eager to hear what comes next for them.

listen to show
:: clip of safer
:: peace bone / we tigers
:: geologist's birthday
:: people
:: street flash
:: grass
:: purple bottle
:: fireworks

performance :: shoegaze returns

2006-03-21T09:22:00.000-05:00

japanese shoegaze comes to brooklyn. last night i went to trash bar to check out luminous orange. last week they played a showcase at sxsw in texas. this was an impromptu show booked right before they head back for japan. luminous orange was amazing on stage. shoegaze music has always had a distant relationship with me, never coming to full blossom. only existing on headphones. how long have fans been waiting for another my bloody valentine release? it's been so long, i almost forgot. after seeing luminous orange last night i remembered how much i loved that sound. the pumping drums, chainsaw-in-a-hurricane guitars, and sultry vocals. all i wanted to do was run home and hook up my big muff and mxr pedals and bleed distortion into the night.

luminous orange sail above their influences, where other shoegaze bands are just dependent imitations. the band was so tight on stage. guitarist, fujiii playing this guitar with extreme velocity, and rie, the lead vocalist, keeping a calm and focused stage presence. this show was definitely the best kept secret i've seen this year. all my friends that came loved the show. luminous orange will soon have a new release in the usa on trevor's record label, music related. keep an eye out for it!

:: view short video clips of their live performance ::

luminous orange
:: listen to drop your vivid colors
:: listen to starred leaf
:: listen to mother pearl
:: listen to fall again

performance :: twi comes out of hiding

2006-03-17T12:24:00.000-05:00

last night i went to bushwick for the first time to see anthony play an electronic set at blue monday. blue monday is a cafe/thrift store/art house that features experimental music and of the indie types on certain evenings. i'm not sure if this show was only for twi, but rolyn was sure to point out that twi hasn't played in a year and we were all thrilled to see anthony on stage again.

che and rolyn of the true primes took stage first; their music is a blend of noise improv, loop pedals, beats, and vocals. their stage presence was almost like bro and sis quarreling in good fun, pushing on each other and smiling. che was playing some kind of oscillator machine, maybe a signal generator or something, i dunno, pretty cool.

twi's set was a beautiful one piece electronic blend. mixing in his various recordings of ambient, electronics, and samples. some of his pieces i recognized. and i was glad he squeezed in some vocal recordings for a second. twi's music has two sides, his electronic field noise recordings, and then his childishly melodic and trained vocal and acoustic works. it's a great contrast.

the set was ended by a charming all-girl group from missouri called the leah quinelle all stars featuring happy. their songs really put a smile on my face, cute, 2 - 3 minute twee pop tunes, with endearing vocal harmonies. they all rotated instruments, each switch from vocals to drums to banjo and guitar.

::listen to the blue monday set::

true primes
:: untitled
:: best friend

twi
:: untitled

the leah quinelle all stars featuring happy
:: that's love
:: house of broken hearts

music video :: doll boy

2006-03-13T13:08:00.000-05:00

production for alias pail's first music video is underway! we've been doing story boarding for about 3 weeks, and have a set filming day in 2 weeks. woo hoo. we'll be doing a music video for the alias pail rendition of my pal foot foot's original, "doll boy." jim and chia have been working hard on storyboarding and organizing the video's plot and visuals. jim is the filming director, having work experience from years in tv production. chia is the creative director and handling animation. she received her masters from sva. we're all really excited about this project, so keep in touch to see updates on the video's production process. you can listen to the full song of dollboy at alias pail's purevolume account.

aziz ansari :: comedian/indie spokesperson

2006-03-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

indie rock? pretentious? no... the same obsession as those role playing magic card kids, only now for bands destined not to play on MTV (maybe just the OC?). ya gotta laugh real hard at the assumed intellect of indie music! we all love making fun of the fandom or the bands. i never take it too seriously. aziz ansari, a rising young comedian often flavors his acts to indie rock audiences. check out this hilarious clip shot at othermusic by human giant. f*ing hilarious. the background music is ariel pink; see post below.

:: watch video clip::

performance :: ariel pink

2006-02-25T17:27:00.000-05:00

last night i went to knitting factory to check out the ariel pink show. i was set for a do or die night, i've never seen him live, but have heard horror stories of his live performance at tonic last year, from friends. but i love ariel's records so much, i just had to see it for myself. maybe he'd try to redeem himself? ariel started his set basically just singing karaoke and playing air keyboard to his songs on his 4 track. popping in tapes for every song. his cartoony stage shy presence and scruffy look, enhance the impressions he leaves from his albums. totally lives up to the trashy silence of the lambs drag persona he paints in his 'wait for kate' video. the live performance was flawed, but i wasn't searching for a rock show, any performance with too much prerecorded material is typically a failed media for presentation. i was more just wanting to put a face to the music. i was thrilled to hear some songs i've never heard before.

rusty santos started off the night. really enjoyed his set. he played fx vocals and guitar over his boss sampler, with a drummer accompaning. his stage presence immediately takes over, tantrum-fit-squirming and jumping to his recordings. for me, some of his songs had a xiu xiu air to it for a sec, and later some animal collective flavored antics, him being part of that sound, his credits include contributing on production to alot of animal collective and ariel pink material. some of it was really melodically beautiful and noisy.

ariel pink is foremost a recording songwriter genius, not a performance artist; that's where his fans suffer. everyone dreams of him organizing a full rehearsed live band to perform his orchestrations. but if ariel's car gets impounded because can't even pay his parking tickets as in 'house arrest,' i don't come to the show with any expectation other then a loosely thrown together set. maybe if emily dickinson was put on stage and read her poetry to us, it wouldn't resonate. its best form, only as mental media? exceptor joined the stage for an overhaul sound experiment. nothing really errupted from their improv that caught my ear, but it was fun to people watch. they bring some random fruit on stage for every set i've seen so far. that's deep. overall i was really glad to see this show and glad to just put the myth for myself to rest. no doubt in my mind ariel's a musical genius. i'll always love his albums. the show just confirmed that it was the garbage monster who's been singing all those timeless lo-fi artless pop/motown/80's/70's/can't-put-my-finger-on-it songs to me. i recorded it on my md, but unfortunately it's all distorted. since hi-fi never was part of ariel's aesthetic, the poor recording probably just lends to the effect:

:: night time is great
:: let's build a campfire there
:: she's my girlfriend

:: ariel pink online mp3's ::

:: jules lost his jewels
:: helen
:: wait for kate

brooklyn hospitality :: drawing party

2006-02-20T08:57:00.000-05:00

on sunday, tamin and nobuko hosted a drawing party at their apartment. trev, sawako, kinya, and other fellow brooklyn pals of the hosts whipped out their creative weapons and went to town with paper, markers, drills, hot glue, etc. nobuko made the best homemade curry i've had in awhile, along with some awesome avocado dressing salad. i made karashi zuke, which was pretty well accepted i guess by the surrounding stomachs. later we all trekked to the dollar store to get more props.

kinya started making sculptures out of the dollar store toys, and everyone pretty much caught on. i was stuck to my medium, sketch. trev made this mutated genetically altered tigersaurus toy, by slicing heads and supergluing, and there was this cute egganimal bobbly thing too. the drawing party was the most relaxed sunday afternoon i've spent in a long long time. long moments of silence when arting it up, tea and sake, relaxed conversation and giggles, and uncomparable hospitality. maybe i'm starting to get the brooklyn bug too...

radio play :: alias pail

2006-02-14T12:07:00.000-05:00

dj emily is going to play "yo sis!" by alias pail again at breakthru radio. at the beginning of the valentine's day show, she gives me a shout out. hell yes!! shout out = good. helene lamachere sings back up for me. click here for tuesday's playlist

:: listen to blurb right before 'yo sis!' plays
:: listen to 'yo sis!'

performance :: laptop lizards vs. the blizzard

2006-02-13T11:28:00.000-05:00

went to tonic with anthony to check out sawako's cd release show. i stepped in a snow puddle! dah! but luckily on blizzard days i always wrap my feet in grocery bags before putting on my shoes. cheap? yes. :) that's my style. a dedicated group of attendees gave full attention and respect to the players. everything was whisper mode. laptop music is all about subtleties of sound creation, and i guess the audience already knew that coming in. chairs were lined up front to make everyone comfortable and the acoustics of tonic really lent to every performer. the set started out with a computer improv piece by paul dickow (aka strategy aka dj p. disco). taylor deupree & kenneth kirschner did a piano computer altered set next.

i really liked the delicate looping and fx taylor did with the piece. it had a nice live sense to it with a soundtracky mystery thriller air to it. sawako ended the night with really cool visuals by chika. i really enjoyed her field recordings and electronics, and putting in those high frequencies at the end of some pieces really was amazing.

with the exception of paul (who runs community library), all the artists are from the record label 12k, an institution that specializes in releasing computer and experimental ambient music. laptop music is new to me, but i definitely say intricate visuals for laptop music grow the performance for their realm like adding a live drummer to any solo show. it has presence.

:: md recording of show (sorry for the banter!) ::

:: listen to strategy's first song
:: listen to strategy's second song
:: listen to taylor and kenneth
:: listen to sawako

:: watch short clips of sawako's visual during her performance ::

performance :: glasshouse gallery

2006-02-11T08:25:00.000-05:00

on thursday i went to glasshouse gallery in williamsburg to see the prism concert series. prism is when a bunch of bands set up and play short sets and rotate. each set is maybe five to fifteen minutes long. loring played another great set of her vocal loops. glasshouse is getting crazier and crazier with their decor. haunted art house nickelodeon explosion. liek also played, toting his token blue suitcase of fx. he should name it. unfortunately i missed his first set with nick assisting him. other bands performing that night included kabloona, oriental skulls (watch video), and rolyn hu-doo / doctor hu-voo.

:: listen to loring's first set (5.40 min)
:: listen to liek's second set (16.17 min)
:: listen to loring's second set (6.33 min)

alias pail music :: yo sis! redo

2006-02-09T11:51:00.000-05:00

way back before susi left for thailand peace corps, i wrote her a song for her birthday. since then, there's always been a lingering thought about the chorus lyrics being pretty weak. i agree. i've redone the vocal track and changed the lyrics, and i'm definitely happier with it. helene, my one and only french connection, sings back up. yo sis! was my attempt to write the best sister song for susi. it's just hard to make something endearing but avoid the cheesy lyrics. i'll probably always be rewriting this one. i love her so much, and this song is a reminder for her, that i'm always there, in her iPod ears : )

the best sister song ever written i think is by antony and the johnsons, sister (video). that was a real tearjerker the first time i saw it!

:: listen to yo sis! (by alias pail)
:: listen to sister (by anthony and the johnsons)

alias pail pals :: myspacing

2006-02-08T11:54:00.000-05:00

on monday night i grabbed some dallas bbq with kyoka, tamin and nobuko. texas sized margaritas all around. woo hoo! i had so much fun meeting these musicians. talking to kyoka about the songwriting process and how these girls get all their noises. tamin and nobuko are whiskey gods. we went to APT, me on tequila mockingbird, them on whiskey. tamin is a photographer by heart, network security engineer by day. split career personality? i can relate, but is network talk still sparky talk? maybe a dialect? hmm we'll have to arm wrestle on it, again. kyoka took a flight to los angeles the next morn to play a show.

i was turned on to kyoka's and nobuko's music by myspacin' and trevor from music related (and of pandatone). kyoka and nobuko do electronic experimental music as solo artists, but also have their own collaboration project called groopies. this year nobuko will have her first usa release of off trevor's label, music related. i highly recommend checking out the website, trevor specializes in releasing mostly underground japanese musicians. the site has an awesome link section, where i usually spend too much time browsing. check out the media by his other artists, such as luminous orange, shugo tokumaru, and macdonald duck eclair.

:: listen to pandatone
visit myspace music :: kyoka visit myspace music :: nobuko

performance :: sculpture center

2006-02-08T09:13:00.000-05:00

on sunday i went with julz to the sculpture center to check out a experimental music/art presentation thingamabob. anya gallaccio's 'one art' was the backdrop for the performance, a disassembled and reconstructed dead weeping cherry tree. it looked like a frankenstein tree chained to the walls, with bolts in its branches and limbs. the no neck blues band along with other dance performers played for about an hour. each member slowly assembled into the set and added their noise/performance/music/dance to the stage until it became full clamor. mix up improv modern dance performance, noise making, music smashing. i couldn't help but feel sad, the tree just looked so sad. for me, the performance took on a nightmarish quality to it, very dark. the nice thing was since the sculpture center is a huge open space with concrete floor you could really enjoy the acoustics and mix match of sounds and noises. pete (mr. organizer of event) said the performance was in reference to a movie, charisma by kurosawa.

:: listen to no neck blues band ::

performance :: cheyenne

2006-02-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

went to mercury lounge last night to scope out cheyenne, the band that ben is playing keys for now. a nice surprise was the opener, the remains of brian borcherdt. the lead singer has a beautiful voice. i'm definitely gonna check them out again, but i think they change their band name often, he mentioned playing tonite at bowery under the title holy fuck. or maybe i missed out on an inside joke? when cheyenne came on the crowd had already filled in.

cheyenne's songs have an immediate genuine songwriting quality to them. most of the songs are midtempo or slow, all bringing focus to the lead singer's voice and lyrics. tight set. a perfect balance of back up instruments with the keys and steel slide. of course i was glad to see ben play. i love his stage presence and sensuality when he plays, keeping the groove with every song in his movements. this was an all star oklahoma night. full oklahoma band and my friends and I, the okie crew. midwest takeover? for one night, yes.

:: listen to cheyenne
:: listen to brian borcherdt