NOVEMBER 20, 2015 (WEEK #46)
1.
ADELE-“25” (11/20)
2.
ARCA-“MUTANT” (11/20)
3.
BEAT HAPPENING-“LOOK AROUND” [2-CD] (11/20) (Formed
in the early ‘80s in Olympia, Washington by Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis and
Bret Lunsford, Beat Happening combined a primitive pop sound with a D.I.Y.
attitude and inspired countless artists along the way. The community that arose
around the band and their label, K Records, was in many ways, the sonic
antithesis of their Seattle neighbors (and friends) but was no less
influential. Look Around is a remastered, double album anthology, handpicked by
the band. It's a great starting point for the uninitiated as well a refreshing
reminder to those who caught the wave the first time around.)
4.
BJORK-“VULNICURA
STRINGS (VULNICURA: THE ACOUSTIC VERSION – STRINGS, VOICE AND VIOLA ORGANISTA
ONLY)” (11/11)
5.
TRACY CHAPMAN-“GREATEST HITS” (11/20)
6.
CHROMATICS-“SHADOW”
[WP] (11/20)
7.
GIVERS-“NEW
KINGDOM” (11/13)
8.
JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD-“GLOBAL CHAKRA RHYTHMS” (11/13)
9.
MARK MCGUIRE-“BEYOND
BELIEF” (11/13)
10. THE
PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART-“HELL” [EP] (11/13)
11. POLLYESTER-“CATRINA
[REMIXES]” (11/20) (Pollyester, whose fans include James
Murphy and Alex Kapranos, follow their 2015 album City of O. (DB 170CD/LP) with
three remixes of album track "Catrina." On Abe Duque's remix shadowy
flakes of Polly's voice echo through the background and a 303 finds its way to
the surface where classic disco strings are waiting to merge in pollyphonic
beatitude. Disco edit and cosmic dub priest Hugo Capablanca adds rattling
percussion and a mumbling bassline to drive his more melodic remix forward. The
most sinister version comes from The Emperor Machine, who turns in a work of
functional Detroit techno pervaded with classic electro patterns.)
12. RECONDITE-“PLACID”
(11/20)
13. SHOVELS
& ROPE-“BUSTED JUKEBOX VOLUME 1” (11/20)
14. KELLEY STOLTZ-“IN TRIANGLE TIME” (11/20) (***Silver-tongued songsmith and true
American treasure Kelley Stoltz presents a new collection of instant classics
with just a hint more synthery than 2013's Double Exposure. For those not yet
in the fan club, Kelley's like a Ray Davies / Brian Wilson / Tom Petty power
pop Cerebus from another dimension where well placed tambourines, handclaps,
and wry observations are a universal language. Criminally under-appreciated,
Kelley's face should be on Amoeba-bucks for his contributions to the pop
canon--the black-lipstick-smeared stand-out and lead-off track "Cut Me
Baby" could be his walk-on music for the acceptance speech. Each track
here leaps off the table with Kelley's carefully considered wit and expertly
layered arrangements. His innate way around a sticky hook and no shortage of
tasty studio flourishes will bring out the listener's inner record nerd,
guaranteed. It's got a little glam in it.)
15. USELESS EATERS-“LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO” (11/20) (***Announcing a white-hot entry into
Castle Face's Live in San Francisco series: Useless Eaters, recorded in the
basement of vintage clothing store Vacation."This show was bananas. When
we set up to record a live set, we always hope the band will just murder it and
the people will go all crazy. I'd say that crosses over onto the tape and makes
the record shine... This was one of those magic moments. All the elements in
place for a memorable evening--BYOB, a basement, in the tenderloin of San
Francisco, a wicked goddamn band slaying their songs, and a perfect essence in
the air. Everyone falling over each other, spilling beer, smiling screaming and
sweating. A fucking mess. When everybody leaves and you look at the muddy, hot,
trashed, and disgusting room you think, 'yes, something good happened here
tonight.'"Seth Sutton's lineup is in peak form here, from touring and
being general road-dog bad-asses. His guitar is slanted and choking with
intermittent echo--just raw-vibes awesome. Miles Luttrell's drumming is honed
to a point and drunk with hi-hat countdowns. Brendan Hagarty's bass sounds like
it smells bad and is the perfect accompaniment to Seth's treble-burst guitar,
and the at-the-time new edition of Jacob Olsen on keyboard pulls even more of
the dystopian spirals from the studio recording out into the live
world."--John Dwyer (COACHWHIPS, THEE OH SEES….)
16. ANNA VON HAUSSWOLF-“THE MIRACULOUS” (11/20)
17. VARIOUS ARTISTS-“POP AMBIENT 2016” (11/13) (It's no small feat to keep an ambient
compilation fresh and interesting for over a decade, especially when the core
aesthetic idea is as well-defined as Pop Ambient's. But this didn't keep Pop
Ambient 2015 (KOMP 120CD/KOM 315LP) from finding a compelling balance between
veteran contributors like Jens-Uwe Beyer and Leandro Fresco and new,
idiosyncratic voices like Max Würden and Thore Pfeiffer. They all return for
Pop Ambient 2016, joining a captivating cast that also includes heavyweight
soundsmiths, experimental composers, and ambient confidants. Pop Ambient 2016
opens with electroacoustic composer and installation artist Stephan Mathieu,
whose highly textured opening drone "April Im Oktober" bears all the
hallmarks of a pop ambient classic, stealthily weaving in layers of sound and
moving fluidly between territories. Meanwhile, The Orb show off the full extent
of their experience in the field and have their own little ambient collage
opera going on in "Alpine Dawn," a slight detour from their
beat-laden 2015 full-length Moonbuilding 2703 AD (KOMP 124CD/KOM 330LP), but on
that same level of masterful sonic dexterity. SCSI-9's Anton Kubikov builds
momentum with a sweet melody, slowly evolving to the atmospheric backdrop of a
light synth rain, while Würden imagines a dreamy yet twisted underwater world
with lots of space to get lost in. He later returns for a collaboration with
Pfeiffer, the other newcomer hero from Pop Ambient 2015, and the result is a fascinating
amalgamation of both producers' distinct sonic sensibilities -- the grittier,
drone-based approach from Würden and Pfeiffer's penchant for roaming samples
and skewed loops. Another dedicated collab comes from Sicker Man and Gregor
Schwellenbach, who team up for the string-infused, cinematic epic
"Turns." Longstanding Kompakt ally Mikkel Metal presents the surging
"Titan," followed by Fresco's magisterial rework of Dave DK's
"Veira" from his 2015 Val Maira album (KOMP 121CD/KOM 326LP).
Pfeiffer's "Megamix" of Wolfgang Voigt's "Rückverzauberung"
reimagines an entire concept series as one sweeping cut before Beyer continues
his expeditions into hypnotic, semi-acoustic soundscapes on "The
Bremen," transitioning into the windy mountaintops of Fresco's mysterious,
multi-layered "Configuración de Ataque." Pfeiffer has the honor of
concluding Pop Ambient 2016 with the appropriately titled "Idyll," a
soothing, swirling synth study that gives the listener ample opportunity to
return to mundane reality at their own pace.)
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