ornery critter!

READ V for Vendetta..WATCH V for Vendetta..WASTE OTHERS' TIME BLOGGING about it too!

I somehow avoided,or perhaps just forgot about reading it,for quite sometime now.I remember at the time of it's release,being kind of impossible to get my hands on.Not a good match for a semi-lazy 20 something yr. old..I caught about 30 min. of the the film on cable a few days back,my favorite 30 min.(V's television hijacki speech,costume switch..).In light of my (not so) recent comic book/graphic novel obsession,decided it was time to soak it up. I checked out the local library cooperative site,and put a place hold on it.About 3 weeks went by,most of which were split between freaking on Ben Snakepit's "My Life In a Jugular Vein" comic book,and Charles Burns' "BLACK HOLE" comic book (amazing!).One afternoon while doing some gardening,I received the call from the library.My book had finally come in.Needless to say,I rushed over there on my "borrowed" Huffy cruiser and swooped into the parking lot.Without locking up,I did sort of a speedy 'Mall-walk' into the front entrance and made the pick up. When I got home,I went into my room and slammed the door behind me.I was so stoked,I felt this familiar feeling that I had been missing for years now,like the one I got when the first issue of Nintendo Power came in the mail (esp. the one with the giant Zelda map inside..).It's a rare,amazing kind of tingle in yr ears.
By the tenth page I was so involved in this story,that the music playing,rattle-buzz-buzz of the washing machine,and my Mom's daily telephone calamities all seemed to slowly fade into the background.I took to the old news print/funny paper-ish art themes,and clever paneling design immediately.It almost has this nice watercolor charm to it as well.I just love that Alan Moore,too..the writing is very clever and never,ever drags nor loses focus.
I have read over 180 pages thus far,(about 70% over the book) and it is just fanastic.By far my favorite novel,since my last favorite novel.Um..yeeaaah.
So,if yo uare a fan of the film,and if you have seen it then I'm sure you are...(If not,go see asap.)
this book will surely satisfy the comic dork in you.I can't say enough good things about it,really.Just hit up the library and check it out.If they don't carry it,put a place hold on it,or have them order it from Vertigo/DC Comics...tell them it's for an essay contest or something.
hearts,
M

Levitation,Mind Control,Spells,and Street Beats: The Return of Gang Gang Dance

I skeezed a copy of this by way of Soulseek, but I will surely be purchasing the LP in October.I advise you to do the same.It's well worth the cash!


GANG GANG DANCE
SAINT DYMPHNA

The Social Registry/Warp Records

Release Date: October 21,2008



Tsr050 Named after the patron saint of outsiders, taboo subject matter and general disorder, Gang Gang Dance have completed Saint Dymphna - a stunning follow-up to the critically acclaimed God's Money. The album is set for release Oct 21, 2008 on The Social Registry. Finally! After three years of complex and sporadic recording, complete with jetsetting, breakdowns, an acclaimed Whitney Biennial appearance, plus the Retina Riddim DVD+CD and RAWWAR EP, the band have yielded a true masterpiece to add to its canon. We couldn't be happier to throw this one out and let the world become enamored again.


If you've seen a Gang Gang Dance show since 2005, you know that Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian Degraw, Tim Dewit and Josh Diamond have taken an even dancier, inclusive direction that continues to emphasize the ritualistic elements of their music while upping the transcendent aspects. This is apparent (times ten) on Saint Dymphna. The record opens with "Bebey" - a preview of coming attractions that is like an organic, eastern Aphex Twin with spinning percussion, face-fuzz ambient textures and oral rebirth. The track melts into "First Communion," which is a great representation of the new, more-accessible-than-ever version of the band. After a dreamy introduction, the unit pummels in with a truly global punch - we're talking Brazilian guitars, punk snarl on the vocals and a beat that resembles the omnipresent sound of reggaeton flooding the NYC streets during summer months.


"Blue Nile" touches on 80s techno, trip-hop, interstellar travel and Hot 97 R&B without really sounding like any of those things. "Princes" is the real shocker of the bunch. The first appearance of London-based MC Tinchy Stryder and his "Oh shit! Gang Gang!" toast will cause more than a few moments of "Did I accidentally switch records?" before the conclusion that this stuff is smashing apart genre conventions in a way that few bands have been willing to experiment with. The song plays like the weirdest Grime track (or the weirdest Gang Gang Dance track for that matter) you've ever heard. Either way, it re-emphasizes the group's club potential, experimental success and beyond all, true understanding of good music no matter what label critics decide to obsess over on a given day.


Like God's Money, Saint Dymphna is envisioned as a LP experience, although each track is more than strong enough to stand alone. The production is pristine cinematic headphone candy with 70's Eno intricacy and 00's Timbaland immediacy that will firmly hold your attention while Gang Gang Dance continue to push things forward. The album will be preceded by the single "House Jam" that is backed with a remix of the track by Hot Chip, and accompanied by a free digital download of a remix by XXXChange. Highly recommended and well worth the wait!

-djouls

(SORRY FOR THE) DARK CONTENT.

Summer is officially over,and it looks like this might be the coldest winter ever,for us.I miss my Dad.15 things to help pass the dark times ahead of us.

1. KAYO DOT "Blue Lambency Downward" (Hydrahead)
2.BEIRUT "Lon Gisland" (Merge)
3.BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW "Drippers" (Advance)
4.PIT ER PAT "High Time" (Thrill Jockey)
5.EXTRA LIFE & NAT BALDWIN "A split 12inch" (S.Y.R.)
6.WILDILDLIFE "Six" (advance)
7.WOODS "Woods Family Creeps" (Woodsist)
9.DON CABALLERO "Punkgasm" (Relapse)
10.MAPS and ATLASES "You and Me and the Mountain" (Flameshovel?)
11.EXTRA LIFE "Secular Works" (I and Ear)
12.THE DEAD SCIENCE "Villainaire" (Kranky)
13.MENEGUAR "The In Hour" (Fuck It Tapes)
14.STEVE REICH "Drumming" (Water)
15.BRAIN ENO & DAVID BYRNE "Everything that happends will hapen today"
Love 'em or leave 'em...this stuff is doing me well,very well.
xo M.O.

ps- (nerd alert) I picked up the WATCHMEN novel,for the first time in like 15 years..still so amazing.I can't wait to see the film in March! (nerd alert)

NEW REVIEWS!

GLORYTELLERS
"Glorytellers" cd/lp
Southern Records
****




Geoff Farina is Glorytellers. Oh ok so he’s not entirely alone here, extra guitarists come and go and somebody gently strokes at a slimmed-down drum-set throughout, but really this is Farina’s baby. Now for the few people who recognise the dude’s name (almost certainly because the main man also fronted Karate and The Secret Stars) that might be quite exciting news. For everybody else it’ll mean nothing. But that doesn’t mean anyone should ignore this record.

What with the minimal roster at work ‘Glorytellers’ was never going to tick boxes for volume or distortion but, inspired by America’s rich, road-weary blues history, this is a record that doesn’t once have to shout or scream to get the job done. Opener ‘Camouflage’ tells a story so fast but so softly that it’ll have any listener leaning closer to their stereo, ‘Awake At The Wheel’ is about as dark as the numbers here come but never breaks above a whisper and some brisk Spanish means ‘Trovato Suono’ ends up sounding like something the house band in From Dusk ‘Til Dawn would play. Just without the amps and the vampirism.

However, just because the volume knob stays facing down and the influences are maybe a hundred years old at times doesn’t mean this is ever dull or redundant. ‘Quarantine’ soaks up jazz, soul, and some smartly poetic influences but kicks more lively than anything here, ‘Pry’ feels like its already arrived at the serene, sun-baked place Minus The Bear are headed for and ‘Exclusive Hurricanes’ sounds like Foo Fighters at their finest and most sedate. Whatever the era a song here might beg or borrow from though, everything simmers and occasionally even sizzles with wonderfully effective flavour.

In the end, this record, and the band pulling its strings, might be too quiet, too calm, or just too damn nice too get as far as it should do. It should be the soundtrack to every late-night road trip ever. But you get the feeling that playing to a few half-full rooms around the world and nestling in the hearts of a few thousand indie fans is all that Glorytellers would hope for anyway. Job done. And then some. -S.T.

Review!

This weeks reviews seem to be Thrill Jockey releases..this is completely unintentional.
but let's keep it rolling with my favorite future release.

artist: PIT ER PAT
album: High Time
label: Thrill Jockey
release date: Oct.21,2008
rating: *****



Pit Er Pat is Fay Davis-Jeffers (vocals, piano, guitar, kalimba), Rob Doran (bass, vocals, guitar, electronics) and Butchy Fuego (drums, vocals, percussion, electronics/programming). High Time was recorded at the bands own studio, “Top Cat”, by Butchy Fuego, who has also recently recorded Soft Circle and Matteah Baim.

From Shakey to Pyramids, from 3D Message to Feel No Pain, Pit Er Pat’s recorded output has no easily definable style. It instead represents their evolution as modern musicians, who’s affinity for pop and melody is filtered though their desire to have a truly singular voice. Modern Music if you will. The band are clearly comfortable with the fact that this music acknowledges several, yet exists outside of any one, genres. There is a consistency in all of the recordings in that they are all unmistakably Pit Er Pat. Their musical focus remains firmly grounded in rhythm, while incorporating a strong sense of melody and harmony to dance above the complex rhythms and to stretch the layers to lofty heights. A significant difference on High Time was that because it was recorded in the band’s own studio, they could spend the natural amount of time that the songs needed to become fully realized. The additional time allowed the band to work a horn section into several songs. The horn arrangements were done by Dylan Ryan (Icy Demons, Bronze, Herculanium) while Nick Broste and Nate Lepine played trombone and flute. Pit Er Pat also employed a variety of new instruments including electric kalimba, bobo balaphone, Burmese temple gongs, agogo bells, anandolohori, cuica, timbale, conga, bongos, vibraslap, various shakers, bells, chimes, claps, and melodica to name a few. Many of these instruments are used in traditional and spiritual music. That connection with music made for escape appealed to the band who personally explore elements of spirituality, be they mystical or merely the more introspective exploration of the terrible joy of existence.

It is important to note that whilst layered with many delicate details the record was not assembled like a collage. Pit Er Pat instead wanted to be sure to capture the energy of the performances, so little or no editing was done on the basic tracking. From song to song the album unfolds revealing many aspects of the band's aesthetic attitude - from the raw, lively sound of "The Cairo Shuffle," to the mellow, slinky funk of "Omen," to the expansive swirling celebration of "The Good Morning Song." The powerful focused energy in the music is consistent throughout. Even the more laid back grooves on songs such as “My Darkers” have this undeniable bounce to them. High Time is a perfect elixir for your Indian Summer. Its gentle and driving grooves are irresistible and its delicate layers reveal with every listen.- T.J.

Pit Er Pat : "Solstice" from the Pyramids LP
Butchy Fuego is no joke.

THRILL ME UP: Album Reviews!!

artist: The SEA and CAKE
album: Car Alarm
label: Thrill Jockey
rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)
release date: October 21




The exciting sound of a well-oiled band. Car Alarm is The Sea and Cake’s eighth full-length record. It is bracing, like the surge of wasabi on sweet sushi, like the slap of cool water on a diving body, like the head-rush of a rollercoaster just leaving summit. Bracing music is most often encountered in concert. Only the heaviest hitters have translated the live thrill into the recording studio. Think of the great working bands, the Charles Mingus Quintet, the John Coltrane Quartet, the Meters or the Minutemen. For them, there was no gaping chasm between the studio and the road; the studio was just another stop, a gig, a continuous part of the flow of playing and working and creating together.

Car Alarm is the sound of a well-oiled band. Heavy hitters. Listen to the intricate intertwining strings of Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt and you’ll hear the frontline of a working unit that has moved seamlessly from the stage to the studio and back. Historically, The Sea and Cake stayed the course since forming in Chicago in 1993, but over the last couple of years they have pulled in even tighter, recording hot and fast on the heels of a busy performance schedule without breaking for other projects. The sense of trust and communication that is key to a working band – particularly in the rhythm section, where drummer John McEntire and bassist Eric Claridge create their intimate alchemy – is cultivated over the long haul, by means of an epoxy bond and preternatural antennae. Stop working together, and those connections go dormant, hibernate; keep on trucking, and they deepen and get sharper, allowing the band to reach for new things, experiment freely, evolve and develop and grow. The ground doesn’t have to be prepared; the canvas is already primed, ready for the first brushstroke.

The aim with Car Alarm was to follow up quickly on its precursor, the somewhat stripped down Everybody. Prekop says the band wanted to make a record that felt like they had never stopped playing, a continuously limbered up ensemble that parlayed its last tour into new material. They started working on it right after an Australian tour in March, and finished it after a miraculous three-month gestation. If the usual process in pop music is to make a record and then breathe life into it on the road, this flips that presumption on its head, starting with a vital, pulsing set-list on disc; what heights they’ll take the new songs to in concert only remains to be seen.

Where in the past, The Sea and Cake has disbursed between records to allow each member their individual pursuits – Prekop and Prewitt’s artwork and solo projects, McEntire’s production at his SOMA Studio and work with Tortoise, Claridge’s alternate identity as a painter – in this case they didn’t disband, but dove straight into Car Alarm. The quickness reflects a personal urgency, too, given the imminent delivery of Prekop’s firstborn. Thoughts of fatherhood may lend a kind of optimistic air to the record. It has the breezy, open, crisp sound that The Sea and Cake have spent 15 years crafting, but Car Alarm also has a palpable edge. That’s the edge of people who know each other well enough to push a bit harder, who aren’t worried about ruffling each other’s feathers or trying something different, difficult, intuitive, trusting. Something bracing. Here ‘tis. --T.J.

artist: THANK YOU
album: TERRIBLE TWO
label: Thrill Jockey
rating: **** (out of 5)

Thank You is an athletic rhythm/action unit from Baltimore, made up of Jeffrey McGrath, Michael Bouyoucas, and Elke Wardlaw. They are three free individuals, subsumed into a collective form that spits out dank, skittering tracks filled with light and dark. Their new album, Terrible Two, was engineered by Baltimore’s beloved J.Robbins (Yeasayer, Mary Timony, Jets to Brazil) at his studio in Baltimore and mixed by Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Celebration, TV on the Radio) at his studio in New York City.

Shortly after the recording of Terrible Two, Elke was drawn by wanderlust and moved to Berlin. Drummers are always hard to find, but luckily for Jeff and Michael, good friend Emmanuel Nicolaidis, who played with Michael in a band called More Dogs (Monitor), stepped in to man the kit. Emmanuel’s heavy but quick, nimble and inventive style was an instant fit and he learned the entire set within a week. With the collective whole once again, they’ve been working on new ideas and are set to hit the road.

The band has been building up a reputation via their live show, which has left audience members joyful, overwhelmed, and ready to spread the word. A seeming telepathy occurs onstage. The band enters into musical dervishes, a union, a breathless chaos that results in one hell of a Saturday night and what seems like a musical fight.

The members of Thank You are longtime friends and musical collaborators, working hard to bring to life their wholly original compositions. Musical ideas are introduced and have conversations with one another, each track filled with new articulation and insight. The basics of drums, organ, and guitar build the foundation, but are augmented by whistles, cowbell, hobo harmonica, snappy loops, car horns, and whatever else might be at hand.

With the new album, building on the template they have created, under the otherworldly guidance of producer Chris Coady, the band has utilized live staples and new compositions to create a fully realized portrait. They sing, they dance, they go far away and come back. The listener taps their toes, nods their head, and smiles, welcomed into their glorious song.

It is safe to say that beat-diggers and electronic artists will have a rich resource in the recorded output of the band, each track having the potential to be chopped and screwed, looped and loped into new soundtracks and sample beds. Don’t wait for that to happen, though. Listen to Thank You and listen to the future now. --T.J.