Wednesday, July 21, 2010

V/A - I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore - Mississippi Records
Various Artists - I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore 1927-1948 - Mississippi 013
An oldie from the Mississippi catalog, long out of print but resuscitated by a new batch of Folkways-style heavy-cardboard-and-pasted-on-graphic sleeves, I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore collects recordings made in the US of A between 1927 and 1948 by members of the many different immigrant populations newly calling america their home. Taken as a whole, the record has a gentle, mysterious quality, song by song spanning the globe through the patina of 78 rpm crackle and hiss. Beyond the track listing, the only information on the sleeve comes in the form of four weathered photographs, though you'll have to sleuth out to which groups they belong. 180 degrees from the world music compilations that try to show the influence of American funk, psych, soul, etc. on a given foreign country's music scene, this collection represents the breadth of traditions from the "old world" converging in the "new." Excellent selections from start to finish, all pre-rock and roll, many wistful, any curious listener will appreciate this audio-postcard from our great-grandparents. Eggy is the only place to get it online. $10.

You can have a listen here.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

PLACE Performance 9: First Music Event 07/16/2010 from gary wiseman on Vimeo.


Thanks everyone who came out to the Place gallery last Friday for the evening of music. Above is a video recap Place co-head-honcho Gary Wiseman put together, with snippets of Evan Miller, Hammer of Hathor, Kevin Thomson and me and Brian Mumford. There's also a nice slideshow of photos at the Place site. Gary and Gabe are organizing a lot of exciting stuff for the gallery through the summer -- and hopefully beyond -- so you should definitely stop by.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Portrait of the Woolen Men
SATURDAY:

The Woolen Men
Starparty
Sarcastic Dharma Society

Backspace, SW 5th and Couch, $5.

Woolen Men drawing by Asher Sandberg-Lewis

Orca Team art
SUNDAY:

Orca Team
The Golden Hours
The Stationary Set

at Rontoms, SE 6th and Burnside, FREE!

Thursday, July 15, 2010


FRIDAY:

Evan Miller
Hammer of Hathor
Kevin Thomson (of the Enablers)
Raf Spielman & Brain Mumford

7:30 PM (that's EARLY) at PLACE (3rd Fl. Pioneer Place Mall)

I'm very proud to be participating in this show Friday -- first off, the venue is Gary Wiseman and Gabe Flores' PLACE pop-up gallery space on the 3rd floor of Pioneer Place Mall. Second, the line-up is out of sight, Evan Miller and Hammer of Hathor being stalwarts of the local fringe scene with Kevin Thomson of the Enablers up from San Fran. Third, Brain and I will be exploring woozy, synthesizer territory. Plus it's free, I believe.

A note about logistics, this is what Gary says:
"We are on the third (top) floor of the
Pioneer Place Atrium Building. J Crew, Juicy, Starbucks and the Gap are in that side of the mall. There is a shop called Game Stop
a Starbucks, a Jenny Craig and a walking shoe store on our floor. If guests arrive prior to 8PM they may enter anywhere they want. Ater 8PM visitors will be met at 4th and Morrison. They will be taken up to the show in groups every 15 min (8, 8:15, 8:30 etc)."

See you there!

Stuart of the extraordinary Radiodiffusion Internasionaal blog will be spinning records this Thursday at Langano Lounge, the bar beneath Jarra's on 14th and Hawthorne. Not sure when it starts but I'm really hoping to make it down there and hear some international oldies, and I recommend you try to do the same!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

I'm in the Bay Area for the weekend, in the meantime you can browse Mimaroglu's wonderful tome of the best releases of 2009.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Yellow screen
EGGY MIX NUMBER ONE

Pale Saints - Little Hammer (4AD)
The dBs - Black and White (Albion)
The Rain Parade - This Can't Be Today (Restless)
14 Iced Bears - Blue Suit (Frank)
The Go-Betweens - Going Blind (Jetset)
The Bevis Frond - South Hampstead Rain (Rubric)
The Moles - What's the New Mary Jane? (Flydaddy)
The Mad Scene - Transatlantic Telephone Conversation (Merge)
Galaxie 500 - Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste (Live '88) (Ryko)
Pumice - Pebbles (Soft Abuse)
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - Noble Experiment (Matador)
David Kilgour - All the Rest (Merge)

HERE

Thursday, July 1, 2010

SUDDEN OAK:
I recently got a great batch of tapes from Matt Erickson's Bezoar Formations label down in San Fran, which motivated me to do this double write-up of Sudden Oak tapes. These guys caught my ear with their release on Stunned a little while back and this latest has me excited for what the future holds for the duo (be sure to read the post-script at the end of this post, though). OK, on to the tapes:
Sudden Oak - Causeways of the Sun - Bezoar Formations
Sudden Oak - Causeways of the Sun - Bezoar Formations
Chronologically, I think this is Sudden Oak's most recent material but it really could have come from any time in the last twenty years, by the sound of it. Everything is steeped in tape-hiss and there's a nice cut-and-paste organization to the B-side, which lend the tape it's pleasantly mysterious quality. But beneath the patina the duo are in top form. What really stood out for me hearing Sudden Oak the first time is J. Ward's phenomenal guitar playing, which is as wigged-out as it is measured, assuredly placing one note after the other as he travels into the outer reaches. It's really, really nice to hear this kind of playing completely free of mindless thrash. And Matt is right there with him, playing sax and god-knows-what -- as a duo they remind me a little of Golden Retriever, except ecstatic and Californian where that group has a more David Behrman/old-guard feel. Excellent tape that covers a lot of ground, I'm really digging the field recording from a boat or pier or something at the end, really ties things together. $5

Sudden Oak - Banquet Years - Stunned
Sudden Oak - Banquet Years - Stunned Records
Great tape that makes it clear how comfortable these two are playing together. It has such an unassuming start, some nice but maybe a little characterless clatter, but then slowly, confidently builds into a giant swaying tower of fried psychedelics. When this tape gets going, it's one of my favorite stretches of sound to cross my ears lately. Erickson's sax playing is discreet but pivotal, keeping the pace just right. These guys work a really great balance, keeping the playing fresh without letting it get sloppy or sound tossed off. $7

OK, here's the somewhat harrowing post-script: J. Ward, the guitarist in Sudden Oak, suffered near fatal injuries earlier this year when he fell from a three story building. Erickson and a few others are rallying support from the community with a limited edition LP featuring exclusive material from quite a few heavy-weights of the underground, which is being sold to help fund Ward's recovery (which, from what I gather, is going well). The whole scoop and information about the LP can be found here.