Monday, April 13, 2009

KDVS Fundraiser

KDVS is an amazing freeform radio station in Davis California that I am lucky enough to have a show on. We are having our annual week-long fundraiser starting April 20, and are trying to raise $60,000. Two-thirds of our budget comes from listener donations, so we need your help to keep our freeform programing on-air. We have amazing premiums for those that donate $25 or more, you can view these premiums here (they work out to be about a dollar for dollar value - and they are tax deductible). Plus, if you donate during our show you will get an excellent CD mix that I put together with some really unique tracks (including Moon Wiring Club, Drahomira Song Orchestra, and a never before released song by Benedict Siegel). You can donate to our show here.

If you love freeform/community/alternative radio and the music that we bring with it - and if you can afford to donate (even a little) - then please support us.
Thank you

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Drahomira Song Orchestra



Drahomira Song Orchestra is a French duo consisting of former film students Julien Pacaud and Jean-Christophe Sanchez. They make sometimes ambient, sometimes drony, sometimes industrial musical compositions...or I guess they're more like musical scrapbooks - musical ephemera (hehe). Their music is unlike anything I have heard before, yet it has always felt very familiar, like they taped in and recorded some sort of collective unconscious and put it to beautiful music.


They are also filmmakers and graphic artist - I haven't been lucky enough to see any of their films, but both Julien Pacaud's graphic art (as displayed) and Jean-Christophe Sanchez's paintings are remarkable and consistently intriguing. Their art can be viewed over their very fun website, and can be purchased at DeviantartArt

You can download some of their albums at their last.fm page, and some more over at Mutant Sounds. You can find a couple albums of theirs for sale here and here.

Here are a few tracks off their 1999 album Strange Baltic Laboratoire, which has quickly made its way into one of my all time favorite albums:

The Rules by Heart
Gymnastik Nocturne
Fin de Journée au Politburo
Now Change Head Back Sorry










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website (check out their 'Employee of the Month Maker' under Bonus)
myspace
last.fm
discogs

Monday, March 30, 2009

Saturday, March 7, 2009

fwawn

fwawn is the musical alias of Cyrus Fisher. He puts out excellent electronic music self described as "dark and depressing trip hop/downtempo mostly played in uncommon meters." Depressing it might be at times (especially with titles like 'Everything is Meaningless' and 'Can Life Merely Be Despair?') but the best tracks have a wonderful sense of gloom, drama, and beauty (just listen to 'Everything is Meaningless') that Geoff Barrow would be proud to make.

He releases all of his music into the Public Domain: "No rights reserved. You may edit, remix, or reprint anything on this disc. Unauthorized copying, public performance, hiring and broadcasting of this record are encouraged. Please copy, download, upload, share, and tell your friends about this disc. It's yours now." What a deal.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Zola Jesus

Some more great stuff from Zola Jesus. These songs are off her most recent release the Tsar Bomba 12" EP, released on Troubleman Unlimited. 

"Intriguing release from Zola Jesus, a mini LP on Troubleman called 'Tsar Bomba'. She's trained in Opera studies and loves everything from No Wave to Classical arias and her emotive, tragic vocals carry along this unique trajectory, coming across a little like Julee Cruise & Kate Bush buried under this wonderful layer of discordance whilst industrial bass pulses & a John Carpenter-esque drum machines worm their way into your soul. It's like some distorted minimal dark-wave torch song shit, very Lynchian in it's eerie, otherworldly feel. Songs veer off into wild sludgy flatfields of sonic fall-out but the voice creeps back through the melee, like Bat For Lashes remixed by the DHR set or Cobra Killer. Fucking interesting record, yes I want this....." -from Norman Record

It looks like she has a handfull of releases coming up, including a full length (!!!):
New Amsterdam (WNYU Sessions) CD (Sacred Bones)
Collab w/Dead Luke Split 12" w/ Burial Hex (Aurora Borealis)
The Spoil LP (Sacred Bones)

(follow the links to download/stream)


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

New Dan Melchior Und Das Menace

Yesterday I picked up my copy of the new Dan Melchior Und Das Menace 2xLP "Thankyou Very Much," just released on S-S.  And it's no surprise that it's another remarkable album...so continues his amazing streak of superb releases (but has he ever released a 'bad' record??).  I dare say that I'm enjoying it even more than last year's "Christmas for Crows" LP, which many called his best work yet.  The sound is more reminiscent of (his previous band) the Broke Revue then anything since its break up...but, to be sure, his sound is not standing still (I don't think it ever will), it's yet a further evolution of his pounding pop sound.

This is already his third release this year; the first two were a pair of 7-inches released through the Columbus Discount Singles Club: "Mr. Oblivian" and "The Post Office Line" (copies still available via his website). And those two on the heels of the "She's So Blank" 7-inch and the "Christmas for the Crows" LP, both released last year. But the man will not rest: two more 7-inches are planned to be released in the next month, "Dim Are The Lights" on Convulsive Records and the other as part of the Dull Knife Songwriter Series, already up for preorder here. And still it doesn't stop there: his unreleased masterpiece (yes masterpiece), and (according to me) best work ever, "O' Clouds Unfold" will be released on Hook or Crook Records before the end of the year (according to his website).

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Monday, March 2, 2009

WFMU fundraising Marathon




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Sunday, March 1, 2009

Shreber Harber Mole Flying Wheel

"Shreber Harber Mole Flying Wheel is a Japanese trio formed by Saitoh Tomohiro, Yamamoto Shinichiro, Kohno Nagahiro...they shows how to combine a perfect mix of dark ambient, catchy rhythms, IDM structures and electronic-pop oriented songs. All nice mixed and layered by warm and soft sounds, bright melodies, hidden guitars." (from U-Cover)

both songs from their 2004 release Air Comfort (on U-Cover CDr Limited):

both videos from their 2007 album Bloom (on Rednetic Recordings):





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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Lost Child Sound / The Lemonade Heist



I can't find much information on his music, but from what I understand Daniel Niejadlik (aka Daniel Danger) is the man behind the excellent and fairly unknown musical projects that are (among others) The Lost Child Sound and The Lemonade Heist. He is probably best known for his various prints (pictured below) which can be viewed at his site.

"The Lost Child Sound is a collection of solo material written by Daniel during his time at Rodchester Institute of Technology. The project, along side many others, was openly stored in RIT’s student webstorage directories and available to anyone wanting to download works from Daniel. 
The tone of The Lost Child Sound reserves the production value that Daniel has become well-known for in recent years, yet is deemed appropriate by the style that the project traits after -independent, solo music produced on a home computer." (from Last.fm)

The Lemonade Heist was a project that he recorded in 2001, in between Lost Child Sounds albums, the sound is very similar only with more well rounded sound. It is my favorite project of his; Ghost, especially is a standout, and is (for me) his pinnacle song.

Some other bands/projects he was/is involved with: Hue of Two, Maura Dance Fandango, Keith Moon Explosion, Downing Plane, and the still active A City Safe from Sea.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Life Partners



Boston exp/screamo band that you may have already heard of. Their Aids of Spades/Teenager in Trouble 7" was a standout last year. A LP is due out in the next few months.


You can buy the 7" at Ride the Snake Records.