Monster Rally|||Honey
Rarely does Ted Feighan come off as dramatic. For the latest helping off his forthcoming LP, Beyond the Sea, Feighan, aka Monster Rally, lays down a sample of wind chimes over chopped cuts of xylophone to flex his sonic brand of mesmerizing memorabilia. By the time it takes one of his normal tracks to finish off, Feighan slides in his down-tempo bass stylings and a light sample of snare to kick up some dynamic and extend the track to almost twice the length of any of his previous concoctions.
Is Feighan’s aural pastiche still for the sake of hip-hop? You betcha, but don’t let it corrupt your listening experience; he’s more about drifting than over-thinking.
Scope the video for Beyond the Sea’s first teaser “Jaguar,” below. Pre-order Beyond the Sea here due out June 19.
Review|||Dinowalrus Best Behavior
Selection: “RICO”
Somebody had to take the reins on the egalitarian approach to dance pop, and, in this day and age, the execution of this particular shade is either too exploitative or too esoteric for a heterogeneous bunch to enjoy together. Despite the obvious cues from the “Second Summer of Love” and all that 24-Hour Party People taught us, Dinowalrus’ second album, Best Behavior, generates a seamless balance between late ‘80s/early ‘90s stylings of the aforementioned “oldies” and experimental pop by a generation devoid of identity and imbued with technical know-how and eclectic taste. This album slaps the festival scene in the face for ever thinking that LCD Soundsystem mattered.
What we have here is another reference in the necessary emergence from the culture of “cool.” A group of dudes that said, “Fuck it. This one’s for everybody.” A seemingly conscious departure from the ostracizing funk-psych of their firsty, %. Right on, Dinowalrus. And they’re Brooklynites.
A change in 2/3s of the lineup — Liam Andrew (synth/bass) and Max Tucker (drums) are now backing head Dino Peter Feigenbaum — may have a little to do with Dinowalrus’ adjusted and more focused vision, but the compelling results will more likely than not have you scratching your head over “Where has this been?” than “Why?” That’s because the chorus-laden muscle and hook of the tracks rarely give your brain a break. Although, former members Kyle Warren (synth/bass) and Josh Da Costa (drums) do take Feigenbaum’s back on “Phone Home From the Edge” and “Burners” adding a subtle nuance to Dinowalrus’ matured behavior.
Best Behavior is broken up into two parts over its nine tracks separated by a 57-second segue of dub reminiscent of the Robyn Miller-helmed Myst soundtrack (that visually stunning game with an ambiguous plot your dad was really hyped about in ‘94). Both parts brandish an infectious blend reel and hook that rivals any sound or style they might recall.
Straight out of the gates, “The Gift Shop” flexes dance with breathy melodies, tropical percussion, and driving bass that never let the wave of swirling distortion submerge its throbbing head. The edges are well rounded, which never sound too harsh, allowing the full degree of musicianship to shine and peak into a wah and delay-heavy face melter. “Phone Home From the Edge” merges the woozy sway of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless with the madcap excitement of Animal Collective’sStrawberry Jam. “Beth Steel” retains the flow while offering us a glimpse in to what Dive might sound like once they get out of the shadow of being Beach Fossils’ Zachy Smith’s side project.
This bring us to the peak of Best Behavior, “RICO.” A bizarre MDMA-friendly blending of trance and psych-pop. It sounds like MGMT, Evangelicals, Hot Chip, WU LYF, Gauntlet Hair, and Darude were all trapped in a studio until they came up with an acceptable jam for the devil himself to munch E to.
Following the segue, Feigenbaum’s former touring mate Patrick Stickles, of Titus Andronicus, pops his head in for a raspy guest appearance on the chorus of “What Now” propelling us into the krautrock-heavy leanings of the remaining tracks. Closing off Behavior is “Riding Eazy” which relaxes the tension allowing the flavor of the latin percussion to perpetuate the glistening convergence of Feigenbaum’s charred vocal swing.
While Best Behavior will yield repeat listens on your headphones, it begs to breathe the open air. Give it life. Let it save the waning and bored heart of the music festival.
Hats off to Room 205 for giving us a glimpse into what Tim Presley and Ty Segall’s upcoming month-long barrage across the states is going to look (sound) like. Here, the blood buds— backed by pals Mikal Cronin and Nick Murray— show off their finger callouses on this rendition of the mod-psych ripper “Scissor People” off their forthcoming collaborative LP, Hair.
Unroll those peepers; you’re going to have to re-focus on the screen to purchase tickets— I wouldn’t count on buying them at the door. Scope the dates, below.
5/3Portland, Ore. @ Star Theater
5/4 Vancouver, B.C. @ Waldorf Hotel
5/5 Seattle, Wash. @ Chop Suey
5/6 Missoula, Mont. @ The Palace
5/8 Minneapolis, Minn. @ 7th Street Entry
5/9 Madison, Wis. @ High Horse Saloon
5/10 Chicago, Ill. @ Lincoln Hall
5/11 Detroit, Mich. @ Lager House
5/12 Toronto, Ont. @ Horseshoe Tavern
5/13 Montreal, Quebec @ Il Motore
5/14 Portland, Maine @ Space Gallery
5/16 New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall
5/18 Philadelphia, Pa. @ Johnny Brenda’s
5/19 Raleigh, N.C. @ King’s Barcade
5/20 Atlanta, Ga. @ The Earl
5/21 Nashville, Tenn. @ The End
5/22 Memphis, Tenn. @ Hi Tone
5/23 Little Rock, Ark. @ Whitewater Tavern
5/24 Houston, Texas @ Walter’s
5/25 Austin, Texas @ Mohawk Outside Stage
How awesome would Bitch Mob letterman jackets be?
UK producer Star Slinger, aka Darren Williams, teamed up with Lil B and Stunnaman, former members of Berkeley, CA’s The Pack, for his latest “Bad Bitches.” The name is about as impressive as the southern-drawl-gone-Cali delivery by B and Stunna, but that seems to be the angle Williams is working with on this track.
His production on “Bitches” forms a bog of minced vocals and bubbly tricks looped and stuffed between syncopated hits of wet snare, hi hat, and cow bell. The verse and chorus slog through the neck-high soup of maximalist club that will have grind-induced erections finding the belt more often than the high school “end of period” bell. Lil B and Stunnaman are not the feature here; they’re merely accomplices with letterman jackets in the assault.
(via Impose)
Interview|||Mikey Collins of Culture Dealer and Run DMT
Selection: “Eternal Dosez”
Kirby Michael Adams Collins, Dm.T, strikes again with a democratic compilation that will have your creative juices starving to be sampled. For the people, of the people, and by the people is his game on One Hit Wonders; a compilation of submitted song poems parleyed into glistening gems by studio misfits The Doobie Sisters Family Band.
In addition to a promo featuring samples of Culture Dealer’s take on the desultory poetry of people like you and, literally, me, scope an interview with Dm. T about the project prior to its release, below.
Check the Altered Zones submission by yours truly, above.
What interested you in creating a song-poem series? How long has this concept been on your mind?
Specifically, the song poem idea has been in my head since I watched the film Off the Charts: The Song Poem Story. I guess that’s been a year or two. The greater concept of using a musical stage to offer some sort of interactive service where you can collaborate has been in the forefront of my plans for many years. I hate the idea of how many writers, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, etc. remain inactive because of self-consciousness, personal strife or lack of inspiration.
That’s just the whole idea for me. Before I really found my voice creatively, I was lucky to have a number of truly supportive close friends and collaborators, and my path now is to simply express myself and fuel the fire of others who might need an invitation to do so.
Why cassettes as opposed to vinyl, or just a simple digital format?
Well, I’m just starting out obviously with having a label, so as I plan on doing vinyl in the future, I’m not rushing that now. I just love cassettes; they are physical, you have to sit with them, and the fidelity is incredible.
Also, though, for the song poems, I love the idea of a split cassingle for the copy you receive. It’s so cool that each song submitted is getting a copy back with another strangers song. There will be a chance for those people to correspond because each of those parties will be the only one’s with each other’s song.
How long do you plan on accepting submissions? When do you plan on releasing the One Hitter Wonders comp(s)?
I’m gonna turn it off soon, until all of them are sent, then probably do a second round. One Hitter Wonders will probably come out before this summer.
How did you get up with The Doobie Sisters Family Band?
The Doobie Sisters [Family Band] is myself, Sasha Winn, and a range of session musicians that change day-to-day. Frequent members include Alex Deranian, Edwin White, Sam Shea, Renee clark, and others. Essentially, it’s a brain trust, but The Doobie Sisters also have original songs that we’re all really exicted about. Those songs will appear on a Doobie Sisters full album called The Wizards of Ahhh’s.
How are you and The Doob Sis’s interpreting the poetry? Are there strategies in interpreting these, or is it spontaneous?
We have a slightly different crew every song usually, so it’s all reading the lyrics, jamming for a bit, then someone will step up and shine some idea, and we’ll just all support it. I like that energy. The level of collaboration here is a dream for me, from the person who wrote the poem, to the muse they write about, to the newest member of The Doobie Sisters, to the music were pulling from.
Buy One Hitter Wonders here. Get busy, the world is awaiting your slime.
Review|||Lee Bannon Gnarlon Bando’s Midnight Noir
Selection: “The Chase!”
Imagine it’s a Saturday around midnight. You’re blunted, cruising down an inner-city freeway in the backseat of a tricked out Chrysler 300 playing Virtua Racing on a Sega console hooked up to the shotgun headrest video monitor positioned ahead of you. You there? Good. Now you’re at the vantage point Lee Bannon wants you for his latest mixtape Midnight Noir; a surreal-noir soundscape tracking Bannon’s alter ego Gnarlon Bando for a single night of seedy misadventure.
On Midnight Noir, Bannon breaks from the J Dilla Donuts template of ADD and quantity—typified on ‘09’s Big Toy Box and ‘11’s BTB 2—to flex concept and cohesion. His segues of cryptic dialogue, tire screeches, redlining engines, and natural sound animate the interiors, roadways, and confrontations inspired by the minimalist titles and production of the 11 tracks spanning Midnight Noir. Bannon’s sleight of hand in shape shifting and half-beat chopping has favored his rolodex thus far, so it’s only natural that stepping out of character as Gnarlon Bando grants him space to parley a dramatic title like “The Chase!” into the satin funk Final Fantasy characters bang to.
Ultimately, Bannon allows the listener to construct the rising and falling action by eliminating dynamic with phantasmagorical synth and sample, and by emphasizing pace with repetitious percussion and bass. Following the opening sequence, “Nighshift Pt. 1,” we know that it’s raining, wherever Gnarlon Bando may be. With the shift into “Pt. 2,” Bannon introduces the listener to the sonic convergence of life, electricity, and infrastructure, encouraging the imagination to construct the setting.
Bannon is deft in continuing his blueprint throughout the mixtape, never confusing the perspective and action of the protagonist with the nature of the scene. Paranoia is suggested in “Arcade Scene.” The preceding tracks’ titles are based around a “Motive” and a suitcase with $50K. Unlike the disco tech scene in Terminator, Bannon distracts us from Sarah Connor’s fear of her killer stalker with the lights, the music, and the dance floor.
During “The Chase!” we are but voyeurs to the weaves and drifts of the cars at play. The confrontation of “The Shoot Out” is palpable, but never gives away to injury, death, or cowardice.
By “The Count Down,” Bannon’s production evolves out of the quasi-ambient into glitch-beat contemporary, harping on the loop “Count on me.” It’s with “The End Credits” that the Gnarlon Bando’s Midnight Noir is indeed over, and Bannon is back to being himself, waking from the Rockstar Games veneer and banal moniker to the rising producer with the ability to drunk dial Talib Kweli and DJ Premier.
Stream and download available here
(via Impose)
The best art about the sinking of the Titanic is a piece of minimalist composition.
Selection: “The Sinking of the Titanic”
From President Abraham Lincoln’s death in 1865, the breaking of the MLB color barrier by Jackie Robinson in 1947, to Tax Day (since 1955; unless the date falls on weekends or Emancipation Day), April 15 has retained a level of historical significance over the last 150 years. Not only does the anniversary of RMS Titanic’s tragic plunge fall on this date, but also this year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the event. For the centennial, Le Poisson Rouge is presenting a rendition of Gavin Bryars’ “The Sinking of the Titanic” by mainstays in the Wordless Music Orchestra and LPR’s house band.
Bryars’ composition, produced by Brain Eno and released on his Obscure label in 1975, is a haunting and surreal speculation of the Titanic’s demise in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. The almost half hour piece is based around the last song played on the Titanic described by Harold Bride, the junior wireless operator on board the ship, to be the Episcopal hymn Autumn. Bryars’ construction ensconces elements of wind instruments, piano, guitar, bass, atmospherics, and archival audio of interviews with survivors into the violin-led hymn. For those interested in the ambient, this is essential.
While observing the centennial of the Titanic’s last breath isn’t going to be a social fest reviling Halloween or anything, Le Poisson Rouge is offering you an interpretation of a visionary that explored the wreckage of the Titanic ten years before it was even found. Or, you could certainly give James Cameron some more bucks to explore the Mariana Trench by catching the 3-D version of Titanic. On the upside, “The Sinking of the Titanic” won’t have you waiting around two hours for a 3-D shot of Kate Winslet’s boobies. On the downside, no Billy Zane.
(via Impose)
Review|||Eyes, Wings & Many Other Things Napalm beach
Selection: “Double Rainbow”
“No, no. The Waves. The Waves! Look at that, breaks both ways. Watch. Watch! Look! Those six-foot swells! …See how they break both ways? One guy can break right, one left, simultaneously. …We’ll have this place cleaned up and ready in a jiffy, son. Don’t you worry. …Smell that? You smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
—Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now
After all, “Charlie don’t surf!” And neither does Dallas-duo Eyes, Wings & Many Other Things on their recently released Napalm Beach. What we are introduced to in Sean French and Colin Arnold’s latest outing off Pour Le Corps Records (co-created by French) is surface level experimentation with elements of drone and neo-psych that meander in and out of meter-peaking production. The game has changed, and French and Arnold are strongly influenced by the ambient world of curtailed shatter-scapes reaching for pop acceptance.
Despite their faults, there is promise in their sound—although it either collapses interest in its familiarity with more-pleasant noise acts like Run DMT and Cough Cool or in prompting the listener throw on any incarnation of Sun Araw’s Cameron Stallones. It could be argued that hypnagogic pop like Oneohtrix Point Never’s latest, Replica, institutes a similar structure (albeit a different approach) of ephemeral noise planes that have the ability to cross over to a broader audience in compatibility with our “ADD” generation, but Brightblack Morning Light and Pure X - as well as the aforementioned acts - have already accomplished a more unique sense of the focus Eyes, Wings & Many Other Things reach in the nine tracks of Napalm.
That being said, Napalm isn’t a bad listen whatsoever. It’s just nothing new, or exploratory; more of combination of their taste and a reiteration of what should be gracing your speakers in times of devastation and contemplation. “In Crumbles” will find a nice home with fans of Psychocandy, while “Cruelty” and the title-track “Napalm Beach” edge you closer and closer to the nuances of Sun Araw’s production style. The effects and production used in processing the guitars and synths create a shimmering cacophony that almost seems destine for over-modulation. But, the wall of sound teetering on edge finds relief from the wreckage before aural cataclysm occurs. This is where the band finds promise and truly understands the works of constructive decay exemplified in artists connecting ‘80s shoegaze with neo-psych. “Engulfed” and “Double Rainbow” couple this sensibility with slow-drone warmth creating a necessary light for the traveler approaching the album as a whole. The whispering pan of atmospherics beneath the melodic vocal groans and choppy, delay guitar melody of “Bad Powder” shines the deep psych of their Texas home teasing us with a sound that almost peaks its head over contemporaries.
Keep your ears peeled for a tour. Despite having similar traits, Eyes, Wings & Many Other Things have the live potential to reach an audience untapped by peers with their stylistic convergence and pop-brevity. Let’s just hope they play a warehouse and not a “legal” venue.
(via Impose)
Oneohtrix Point Philip Glass|||Koyaanisqatsi Remix
Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never and co-founder of Software, recently concocted this remix of Philip Glass’ work on the Godfrey Reggio documentary Koyaanisqatsi for the forthcoming remix album celebrating Glass’ 75th birthday. In a conversation with The Fader, Lopatin said producers Beck and Hector Castillo considered his version to be “not good enough” to make the record.
Lopatin’s remix first surfaced on the most recent edition of WFMU’s Mudd Up! hosted by DJ/Rupture. During the show, Rupture talked to Lopatin about the rejection, Replica, echo jams, dropping tears to The Wake, and how Blank Dogs member and Captured Tracks founder, Mikey Sniper, stole not only his idea for re-issuing rare shoegaze albums, but also his black scarf.
While Brooklyn indie beef via radio is retro blah, fashion and comfort is nothing you want to strip from a man-about-town in the winter—I’m a scarf man, too, Danny. Although, the “beef” could certainly (most likely) be a joke on the gullible blogosphere. Stick around for Lopatin’s selections featuring an older track from Software’s new sweetheart Autre Ne Veut called ”Demoneyez” and the V/Vm, aka Leyland Kirby, tweaked Abba cut “Money, Money, Money;” they’re well worth the wait.
But White Fang is really about confidence.
In preparation for their upcoming non-stop tour ‘round the “United States of Whatsup,” PDX’s White Fang recently released new videos for Positive Feedback cut “Chill Yourself” and Gnarcotics Unanimous standout “Shit Happens.” The tour, in support of Positive Feedback’s vinyl release on Marriage Records in June, begins late May and is slated to hit 38 cities in as many days. Along the way, the quartet will pair up with Chicago couch cadets Nude Sunrise and Lexington sludge psychers Jovontaes.
White Fang is no stranger to the camcorder and, for that matter, self-incrimination. In their latest video installments, the four-some get adventurous, presenting a hearty of display of dick and grass. “Shit Happens” is probably one of their best songs to date, and instead of creating a video that could potentially hook a broader audience, the quartet decided to take a more ‘anti-social’ widescreen take on the art of the 18-in. ripper. We’ve seen White Fang smoke weed before, but not to this extent. Every member’s pull is shot in its entirety. Risky? No. White Fang? Yes.
“Shit Happens” off Gnarcotics Unanimous
For the third video off Positive Feedback, the crew accents their signature style of cheap and easy life shots with a enough dick to make your non-artsy, hetero male friends uneasy. The Daniel Johnston-esque hip-hop of “Chill Yourself” deserves more than face zooms, cemetery swagger, and open-mouthed fast food eating, so it’s quite natural that the boys find themselves waving their penises around the setting of an outdoor hot tub. Simply, if you cannot muster up the confidence to get naked with your buds in a hot tub for a music video then you need to reassess your close friendships. This is the beauty of White Fang: Separate yourself from the pack by embracing what you have, not by busting your wallet for what you think you may need.
“Chill Yourself” off Positive Feedback
While the second Gnar Tapes compilation album, Gnarcotics Unanimous, is sold out, Positive Feedback is currently available on cassette.
Scroll through the list below to see if White Fang is going to hang dong in your area this spring/summer.
(via Impose)
Review|||Monster Rally & RUMTUM MR&RT
Selection: “Tribes”
On last year’s Coral II: The Remixes, a digital bonus to Monster Rally’s debut, we first heard RUMTUM, aka John Hastings, blanket fellow Columbus, OH producer Ted Feighan’s “Splash Talk” with a variegated vail of gossamer trance. For their first collaborative effort, MR&RT, Feighan and Hastings flex their personal strengths into a funky effervescent timbre neither of the two are capable of manufacturing on their own.
Since 2010, Monster Rally has garnered a decent amount of attention for sampling thrift-store bargain records—leaning heavy on the exotica variety—into ephemeral spells of crackle and hook. RUMTUM’s 2010 digital offering Lunar Lanterns spanned the down-tempo and up-beat sides of the lounge giving us a dubby glimpse into the sounds permeating his John Malkovich room. Feighan’s not known for peaking the two-minute mark, but with a co-pilot like Hastings augmenting his samples into an expanse of lush dub-trance it seems only fitting that listeners are treated to more than just a taste.
While MR&RT was recently released on both digital and cassette formats—the latter coming with the additional tracks “Andes” and “Forest”—for the past couple of months the calculated release of cuts “Raindrops” and “Tribes” have given Tumblr and Wordpress bloggers enough to circulate more hype than either of the two have received for their previous solo efforts. The only unfortunate aspect to the trickle leak of these two particular tracks is that they’re arguably the best representation of the duo’s sound. Not only that, but the tracks are placed successively and early on in the 7-song EP.
The opener, “Jungle,” introduces the fluid and hypnotic repetition of half-beat samples that act as the vertebrae of each track comprising MR&RT. By track two, listeners are rushed into the climactic up-tempo funk of “Raindrops.” The entrancing stretch of the sampled lyrics coupled with thick bass and a jazzy outro cannot help but to grab your head and shoulders and force them into a cyclical bob leaving your hippocampus desperate to process more Monster Rally & RUMTUM into the long term memory bank. The head-fuck tranquility of “Tribes” slows down the pace, lulling the imagination onto the floor of a white-sand ocean bed fit with the wash of crystal-clear waves crashing overhead. The mind can do little but watch the air bubbles float up from the mouth and into the curl of the waves overhead.
While these two tracks compliment each other in their succession, it leaves little room for the remaining tracks to make as much of an impression as they could with a reworked track list. The following three tracks “Sultan,” “Birds,” and “Tundra” play heavy on Feighan’s interest in the production stylings of Pete Rock and J. Dilla. The layering and transitions are slick and complex, but lack the repeat power of the preceding tracks which adds a minor lull to the progression of the EP. We all can’t be winners.
The finale “Free Store” shows true promise in its warm, palpitating ambience, but gets knocked up by a heavy-handed layer of acoustic guitar and tambourine. While arpeggiated samples of acoustic have worked in the past for RUMTUM, the addition seems superfluous for this number which, at its core, would be just fine as a closer.
Feighan’s and Hastings’ work on MR&RT is a prime example of why it’s so important to explore new territories and angles as a young artist. So, it will be exciting to see what the two conjure up individually following an insightful experience such as this.
(via Impose)
Their witchdoctor didn’t know they were a band. But he knew where their future was.
Selection: “Masaka”
It’s shoulder-to-shoulder in the small common area of Shea Stadium. Three Japanese girls clad with little to nothing but taped Xs over their breasts and feathered panties approach the stage. Three men back them dressed in white togas. They’re the rhythm section. The lot of them are sporting Australian Aboriginal dot paint. Elliot Hasiuk, the drummer, cues the pre-recorded hyper electro-pop on a device I imagine is an iPod. Yuka, Qrea, and Nabe Nippple begin to shout what seems to be English into their microphones over the groove and clatter of Hasiuk, Joseph Lamont (bass), and Jimmy Masheder (guitar). Whether people are moshing or jumping is indistinguishable, as are the lyrics. What’s happening is simply energy. People are moving, transferring sweat. The casual spectator does not thrive in this crowd. There is no room for modesty here.
This is Trippple Nippples, an outfit from Tokyo, and, with ease, they’re capitalizing on an opportunity to fuck your brain just because they know how. The emphasis is not necessarily on the music but on the spectacle. Forget Fashion Week when you have Trippple Nippples in town. Their style is not one you should be able to pinpoint, nor is their sound. It’s simply a product of the 21st century. And, if they can find a local prop like Roberta’s pizza to emphasize that, they’re going to certainly use it and spit it back in your face. If you weren’t soaking wet following their performance, simply, you weren’t there. And if you were bored, well, “Sucks to your ass-mar!”
Following the show, I open a door adjacent to the stage at Shea in an effort to locate a quiet space to conduct an interview with the sextet after the final performance of their first American tour. Two dudes with bleeding eyes look at me awkwardly through the thick smoke of a fresh bong hit.
“Is it cool if we do an interview in here?” I ask. They look reluctant to even answer.
“Who’s it for?”
“Impose.”
“Oh, ok.”
You would think after almost a month on the East Coast, Trippple Nippples would be a little tired – and after five performances in the area, a little over the whole New York thing. But no. Even after playing higher profile gigs with Devo at proper venues with capacities capping the 1K mark, they’re pretty jazzed about an interview in a makeshift loft that may very well kill them if it collapses – seven people in an indoor, plywood treehouse the size of a child’s closet is a pretty scary interview setting. They scamper up the stairs that look as sturdy as the rest of the constructions at Shea and dive into a single-size mattress as if it were a pool. Despite the lack of space, they look comfortable nestled together. It’s pretty fucking precious. Tokyo’s not known for living space, but I guess there are a decent amount of ramshackle loft spaces in Tokyo, or Trip Nips are all just full-grown kids.
Without having a full-length album, Tripple Nippples have managed to make quite a name for themselves since their beginnings back in 2006 with a handful of singles, videos and a live reputation Pharrell Williams is willing to bet on.
“We’re bullshit artists. We want to create a fantasy world,” said Masheder prior to their performance. With faint paint still dotting their faces and sweat fresh from the surprise, late-night performance by Anamanaguchi, the Trip Nips gang chatted with me about playing to members of the AARP, ancestor worship, a Mexican witchdoctor, and recording in the midst of the 3/11 earthquake disaster.
How was your first tour of america going from supporting devo at bigger venues to finishing off at a diy space?
Yuka: The first tour in America was fantastic Mr. Fox. The Devo show was kind of interesting because a lot of the audiences were over 60 years old, basically. The grandpas were really enjoying it, and some grandmas were really pissed because you don’t wan’t to see your husband going crazy with young Japanese chicks. One mother was shielding her daughters ears when we were swearing at the audience. It was a really great experience over all. The Devo guys were really nice. They’re really brilliant guys and we had a really good time with them. We miss them a lot.
How did you get up with devo for your first american tour?
Jimmy: We found out that America really loves us, and, of course, we really love America. And Mark [Mothersbaugh] from Devo was interested in what we were doing so he asked us if we would support them for their east coast dates.
Do you prefer a more intimate reception like the one you received here at shea stadium?
Yuka: I think that audience should not matter so much. Our job is to entertain people and we just want people to have a good time at our show. It’s our job and what we want. Just that.
Yuka, when did you meet nabe and qrea?
Yuka: We are basically all cousins. The three of us grew up together in the countryside of Japan, and our dream was to become Destiny’s Child. But it didn’t turn out that way…
Where does the inspiration for your costumes and performances lie?
Joseph: Oceania.
Jimmy: We’re just trying to pay respect to our ancestors.
Joseph: And the Pacific. Literally we are—we’re not kidding. That’s where it comes from. There’s a little bit of Africa and a little bit of China, but it’s mainly Oceania through a Japanese filtration system.
Jimmy/Joseph: Ancestor worship…(giggle)
Yuka: I think we didn’t worship our ancestors enough before, but we realized our ancestors made us be here. So we thought we should respect our ancestors – Jo’s ancestors used to chop up enemies heads and make human Xmas trees—he is Scottish. We may not do that, but once upon a time we were all warriors! It’s in the blood, cant you feel it every now and then?
I have to ask you about incorporating roberta’s pizza into your performance. What was the thought behind it?
Yuka: We wanted to include THE American thing in our performance, cause we are in America. We tried hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and popcorns, whatever we can get around the corner of the venue. Time, place, occasion it is!
I read somewhere that your coming together had something to do with a witchdoctor?
Qrea: One day we were at the beach in Mexico and saw a witchdoctor. We followed him and found his house, which was filled with voodoo dolls. There was a guy sitting in the house with a broken leg getting voodoo magic done to it. He looked like he was in harsh pain. The very next day, we saw him running at the beach. I’m serious. We went back to the witchdoctor’s house and started talking to him. He said we are fated to be together, and said something about music. And here we are now. We don’t exactly know who he was, but we will go back there again soon. We have to.
He assumed you were a musical group?
Yuka: He didn’t know we were a band, but he knew where the future was. It’s a voodoo thing.
So how did you start creating music as trippple nippples?
Jimmy: We had two cassette boom boxes and we would just multi-track record onto one and record onto the other, and make instruments from wood and stones.
More organic instruments?
Jimmy: We’re trying to get rid of our electricity again, back to where it began.
I’m interested in the influences on your musical style because i don’t want to bastardize your sound. What’s the source of your sound?
Joseph: Go to the Oceania exhibit at the Met and have a walk around.
Tell me about how you got up with pharrell williams?
Jimmy: Our witchdoctors who are really looking after us always lead us to whatever is meant to happen. That’s how we caught up with Pharrell and also Devo.
Kind of like destiny?
Jimmy: Yeah. From the future they tell us. They know what’s going to happen, and they just make it as they see fit. Pharrell is a really big fan of Japanese culture and he wanted to support it after the quake and make this film. And they wanted to see the cool stuff happening in Tokyo, and of course he came to see us because we’re like the funnest thing. Yeah, it just happened.
I heard you’re planning on recording with him.
Yuka: We’ve been talking to him back and fourth. I guess it’s going to happen sometime this year, but we never know. That should be in our witchdoctor’s list though.
Should we expect an lp in 2012 or 2013?
Yuka: Yes! In 2012.
Joseph: 2012 it’s going to happen, finally.
Yuka: Wait, we live in the future, so it’s actually 4012, not 2012.
will there be any association with the winter solstice of 2012?
Joseph: I hope so.
Did 3/11 affect the way you approach and perform music? In what ways?
Yuka: Yeah. I think since 3/11 happened our music got a lot faster and harder. I guess it’s because you always think tomorrow will be promised, but not really because shit happens and you never really know what’s going to happen. You really have to live life to make the most of it. You deserve it; it’s the only life you get. I think we didn’t really think that way at that time, but I guess we got the vibe of the whole thing and naturally our music got a lot faster which is kind of killing me (giggles)!
What is the process of recording a song like “lsd” or “masaka”?
Jimmy: Actually, LSD was recorded while [3/11] was happening.
Say what?
Yuka: We are really a hardworking band, so we went to the rehearsal studio a couple of days after the quake – that was when the radiation news was everywhere . We were like “let’s fucking do this!” as always, but nobody was at the studio practicing – even nobody was in the city! It was weird, all the water was gone from the store so I remember I was so thirsty while rehearsing.
Jimmy: ”LSD” was done literally that week - at the end of that week. I think it was a positive influence, actually. I think it made everybody in the scene realize what was going on and it got rid of all the fluff.
I have to ask: What do psychedelics have to do with your spirituality and your music? You do have a song called “LSD.”
Joseph: Nothing, that’s a separate thing. The only spiritual hippie we got is Nabe Nippple. She ran away to India and just returned to the group last year. We are so happy she is back.
(Everybody laughs)
Last thing: Yuka, during the last song you were chanting “USA, USA, USA!” then you held up your middle finger and said something. I was wondering what that was?
Yuka: I think I was saying something like “Don’t be a fucking wuss.” You have this moment in your hand, right now, in your face. It’s fine to go crazy ‘cause this moment is gonna go in both good ways and bad ways. You have to make most of the moments you have. So I wanted the audience to come on the stage – share the time we have together. That’s the basic idea of our live show anyway. I don’t remember holding up my middle finger. Hmmm, I wonder why?
(via Impose)
Interview|||Pow Wows
The Pow Wows never meant to be a real band.
Selection: “Following the Tracks”
“The whole retro thing is cool, but you have to understand – rock ‘n’ roll, country, and punk have all been borrowed. It’s all gone through the gamut and there are just new incarnations of it. If you want to start an avant-garde band then go fucking do that… But, if you like rock ‘n’ roll then just put your own spin on it and you’ll be free.”
—Tim Presley
It is in Toronto, Ontario that the convergence of the grit of the Detroit scene, the manic panic of the San Fran psych scene, the twang of the Southern scene, and the eeriness of the French scene have come together over “dudes getting drunk and stoned recording shit thinking it’s a joke.” While Pow Wows have a sound embedded in the tried and true style of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s how they’ve seamlessly melded the panache of contemporaries and early adopters into a style that has both fans and critics looking north of the border for what’s next in the evolution of DIY rock.
According to native Canuck, King Khan, on their self-produced debut Nightmare Soda Pow Wows “gloriously carry the flower-punk torch and continue in our debaucherous death cult tradition.” High praise, and for good reason – although the flower-punk sash is more of an adornment than a religion. It’s a sound that provokes gallivanting beyond hedonistic salubrity. The kind of mischief that results in the form of lush ambivalence, the daily shakes, consistent trips to the free clinic, a boost in the black-market drug trade, yellow teeth, bad breath, diarrhea, paranoia, and one hell of a record collection. This is an ethos I’m not confident is embodied by Pow Wows’ members, but one that could certainly be ascertained through their variety of shit-hot garage.
On Halloween Pow Wows – composed of vocalist/bassist F. Scott Beaudelaire, guitarists Jay Shite and Juarez Laredo, and drummer Kelly MacGrewver – came to the Lone Wolf bar situated under the cackle of the J train on Broadway in Brooklyn – not the Broadway known for lights, stars, and theatre but the one known for bodegas, dime-bags, and bootleg porn – to play what would be their American debut. Pageantry was absent despite the holiday. Go figure Bushwick.
“Honestly, I think that this band wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Get Hip getting behind us,” said MacGrewver following the show.
The majority of the half-capacity crowd adorned with mostly black leather jackets, selvedge jeans, and hair styles reminiscent of Elvis’ iconic coif were in attendance to see Pittsburgh garage stalwarts the Cynics. Get Hip founder and Cynics guitarist, Gregg Kostelich, discovered his label’s latest darlings during a show at Toronto’s Mitzi’s Sister (now the Sister) over a year ago.
“It was our second show as a band,” said Beaudelaire. “We had this tape. We gave the Cynics a copy of the tape, and then, that was it. We went on, and maybe three or four months later they contacted us saying they wanted to make it an LP. We were like, ‘really?’”
At first, Kostelich and Barbara Garcia-Bernardo, co-head of Get Hip, only wanted to issue a 7-inch single, but, after spending more time with the cassette, the two decided to master what was already recorded into Nightmare Soda. Their only changes as far as content were adding the numbers “Know Her Name” and “Plastic Factory,” as well as removing the blistering cassette closer “Riding Down The Tracks” which is a Captain Beefheart cover. “We committed copyright infringement,” said Beaudelaire.
The recording that would become Soda was built around a series of sessions in a couple different practice spaces dictated by work schedules and the abilities of a Zoom MRS1608 digital interface. The original lineup – Beaudelaire, MacGrewver, Shite, and another Jay whose last named went unspoken by the band – was only fully present for the recordings of “EIO (During the Flood)” and “Pandemic 44.” At the time, Pow Wows was just a collaborative project, not a focus, which served advantageous for these sessions.
Michael Kastelic (Cynics), Jay Shite, Juarez Loredo, and F. Scott Beaudelaire
“The rest of the record consists of lineup mixes of Siam Cat and Godzillas. It wasn’t meant to be a record, none of this was meant to be an album. It was just that we were in the space, fucking around,” explained Beaudelaire. “Here’s a song. We recorded a song. We’d do that. Then there would be days when I wouldn’t be there, and there were days where he [Shite] wouldn’t be there and it would get recorded.”
How many bands receive a 180-gram vinyl pressing for work they didn’t intend to even properly release? Not a lot. For recording the distorted layers of vocals, guitars, bass and drums Beaudelaire said it was all about “mic placement.” Either way, the inexpensive method contributed towards their timeless sound. A sound that seeks an audience not by recording capacity but by product. “We just kind of write our own songs and then record it in a lo-fi quality. Digitally. The recorder we have might as well be a tape machine. But, that’s the beauty of the technology. The only thing different is the ease. The actual sound quality is achieved by the mics being used. If we went to a proper studio, they would laugh at the methods that we use.”
Ultimately, the decision to release an LP with Get Hip prompted the boys to make, what they considered, necessary changes to their lineup in order to become a proper recording and touring act. Pow Wows’ original lead guitarist, the other ‘Jay,’ was asked to step aside. A couple of weeks before the show, Juarez Laredo was asked to step into the role of lead guitarist for the tour.
“Once Get Hip got involved, that was when it came to a point that it was like, ‘ok, maybe this can be an actual band,’ because it was literally not a real band. Once we tried to take it as a real band, there was a point where we had to get rid of a member because it was this fractured thing and that’s when Juarez Laredo entered the picture. Not that we’re like ‘serious,’” said MacGrewver. “I was more concerned with being able to deal with an asshole as a bandmate. We wouldn’t have wanted to do these shows with The Cynics in these five or six cities. We wouldn’t want to do these shows with the previous band,” he added.
During their set, the Toronto gang wheeled out renditions of Soda numbers “EIO”, “Seeing Black”, and “Worry… Don’t” which captured the essence of what made the album so exciting:
Beaudelaire’s guttural vocals, Shite ‘s heavy-handed strums, the solid pace of MacGrewver’s skins, and the delayed twang and fuzz of the lead played Juarez. As raucous as there sound is, live and in studio, ugh, practice space, they would prefer not to be placed in any bracket of rock ‘n’ roll.
MacGrewver expressed a cynical disposition to the modern state of rock ‘n’ roll that didn’t sit well with the rest of the band.
“It’s happened and it’s dead…”
“What the fuck are you talking about? It’s not dead!” shouted the rest of the band at MacGrewver.
“I’m not into that kind of music,” said MacGrewver. “I don’t listen to garage rock on my own. I listen to fuckin’ acid house and drum machine kind of music, and that’s how I try to play drums.” I guess it’s safe to assume he’s not the one playing tambourine on Soda’s closer “Plastic Factory.”
Thus far, Pow Wows have enacted their sense of rock ‘n’ roll elementals, and an aptitude for the delay pedal, into a rousing DIY venture which, in attitude and execution, bleeds passion over intention. “There’s an aspect of old school rock ‘n’ roll, though I don’t feel like we’re necessarily that sound. But, somewhat in the aesthetic but more so in the delivery. It’s an honest thing we are doing. We’re not doing something punky. We want to bang out the songs on our instruments and see what happens. Every night [of practice] is jamming our tunes and seeing how they go,” said Shite.
Recently the boys debuted the video to the A-side of the follow up single to their debut “Killing Me.” The 7” release will be available upon their return to the states for the Get Hip SXSW showcase featuring Paul Collins and Peter Case, The Ugly Beats, The Higher Stte, Authorities, The Ripe, and Nervebreakers at the Easy Tiger Patio this Saturday.
If you’re one of the fortunate souls down in Austin this week, catch them somewhere if not the showcase and tell ‘em “Impose” sent you.
(via Impose)
Review|||The Caretaker Patience (After Sebald)
Selection: “When The Dog Days Were Drawing To An End”
At a dinner party in the East Village prior to Christmas, I asked the host about what he thought of The Caretaker. He said simply, “You could make a movie around his sound.”
Filmmaker Grant Gee had the same thought for his latest documentary focusing on German writer AG Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn. I have yet to see Gee’s Patience (After Sebald)—it premiered in the UK in late January. I assume I’m in the majority at this point, so, for now, we can take Leyland Kirby’s soundtrack to the film as the next offering in his growing oeuvre as The Caretaker.
Since 1999, Kirby has gone by a handful of names, and even by his own with a couple of eponymous releases in ‘09 and ‘11. But none have penetrated the critical spectrum as much as The Caretaker. The moniker is derived from Jack Torrance’s role at the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, and, originally, the focus of the project was more of an embellished sampling of The Shining’s vintage orchestral offerings by Henry Hall, Jack Hylton, and Ray Noble.
Selected Memories of the Haunted Ballroom is where Kirby first sank Hoover-era ballroom selections under an exaggerated wash of archival vinyl static. Until last year’s An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, Kirby’s signature foreground of hiss, crack, and pop rarely found a solid and consistent balance with the sampled materials. According to The Caretaker’s Bandcamp, Bliss was intended to “reflect the ability of Alzheimers patients to recall the songs of their past.” Regardless, you didn’t have to have a Psych degree to appreciate the beauty and power of the nameless ballroom samples on multiple levels.
There are similarities in Kirby’s latest. The archival static. The loops. The repetition. But this is from a whole nother angle. This is Kirby adding his Caretaker touch to the works of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise. Considering these tracks were concocted prior to Bliss, the balance of the sample and static makes a lot more sense. This is Kirby’s new era of “shining.”
While Schubert’s Winterreise is Baroque in its essence, Kirby manipulates his sampled dissections into an almost 12-song affectation of Gothic liturgy. Ken Burns would drool at the chance of incorporating the hypnotic spells of Patience into a documentary piece concerning the writings of Clara Reeve and Edgar Allen Poe.
“When the Dog Days Were Drawing to an End” is, ostensibly, the most beautiful. The mesh of major and minor keys connecting the warped “woosh” vocals fixates the mind into a loop of an endless, solitary waltz. If Kirby was ever concerned with the connection of repetition with memory, then this is where the concept holds the most weight. Each loop is a deeper draw into the subconscious, a further dissent into the imagination. The individual is pitted against their mind’s ability to keep up with the song’s feet which adds a variation to each identical refrain.
On the following track “A Last Glimpse of the Land Being Lost Forever,” there’s a glance into what even Ken Burns would consider a worthy addition to his most heralded work on ‘The Civil War.’ Sincerity in narration rarely finds such a complimentary partner as this.
The opener “Everything Is On the Decline” waxes the dark, emphasizing not just the archival static, but what seems to be artificial static emphasizing the separation of the original works and the touch of Kirby. This characteristic is extended until “Dog Days,” left alone, then revamped with “I Have Almost Come Invisible, To Some Extent Like A Dead Man.” A track that races and holds the static and resonation of the minor progression in a whirlpool of tenebrous key bass.
At the album’s end “Now the Dawn Is Over and the Dawn Is About To Break,” Kirby stretches the vocals over the static and piano for the finale. Conveying the original meaning of the vocals is about as important to Kirby as representing the original works as it were intended to be heard. What is important is the ability of the vocals as an instrument rather than a source of intelligible language.
With the concept of Patience, Kirby demonstrates an understanding of the source material and his own devices which gives his work the ability to exist outside the realm of just music. An understanding that is now not only worthy of but part of the cinema, and a product beyond the boundaries of the images which it is intended to soundtrack.
(via Impose)
