Week in Review #33

The big news this week came from SoundCloud, who emailed users mid-week to let them know that the upload limit for free accounts had been raised by an hour’s worth of material, and that the site would begin expanding its architecture to accommodate advertising and royalty schemes. Though some of you may have noticed, like us, that secret links and sharing became glitchy for a short time the day-of, the move otherwise seems like a manageable change for all those currently investing time and energy in the service. The site is still negotiating with the country’s big labels, so judgment will have to wait until they’ve actually unrolled some of the infrastructure for advertising and more of the specifics they have in mind for commercial partnerships.

Looking farther back, Innovative Leisure announced an LP from Khun Narin’s Electric Phin Band last week, a Thai psych ensemble you might remember from a much shared Dangerous Minds post in early 2013. Still “mindblowing,” to say the least. Check it out and read the background on IL’s involvement (facilitated by an LA based Thai restaurateur) at the label’s website. Incidentally, Dangerous Minds also shared WFMU’s incredible collection of playable vinyl stamps from 1970s Bhutan last week.

This little rumination is going way back, July 31st (eons ago from the perspective of a weekly column), but I had to point out an interesting, if superficially benign, Medium.com article on cassette mixtapes; interesting because it’s one of the first I’ve seen that conflates the ongoing tape revival with just mixtape making (related, but hardly the same phenomenon). It may also fall prey to a variation on the now standard glossing of emerging generational differences as primarily a laziness/attention-shrinking thing, rather than the root of a shift in attitudes… always an ironic perspective, but particularly so when you’re blaming children for not upholding your favorite whim. If you’re simultaneously pinning this on people’s unwillingness to make mixtapes, without exploring the nature of digital mixtapes (obviously still a thing) or even the options you have in 2014 for how to make a tape mix… seriously, does it seem super complicated to make an iTunes playlist, put an empty tape in your deck, hook the two devices together, and play the mix while it records to tape in real-time? Sure it was time-consuming and difficult to “make” a cassette mixtape in decades past, but the computer, versatile instrument that it is, even makes this analog task simpler. Rather than laboring over the mechanical parts, you’re at leisure to draw tracks from absolutely any source and from there we hook ourselves back up to another 21st century buzz notion: curation. Hooray y’all, start a blog, let’s talk, etc.

#1 – 8/18/2014 – Medical Records, easily one of our favorite labels issuing both new and older/rare music, announced four (!) new releases to its already hallowed discography, including a two-for-one LPs collecting two albums from Null and Void, Rollerskate Skinny‘s seminal debut LP, IKO‘s shady and mesmerizing 83 LP, and a new split 7-inch featuring ((PRESSURES)) and Roladex. Head over to Medical Records’ Bandcamp to pre-order each and every one now. – BP

#2 – 8/18/2014 – In other re-issue+new release news, the always-great Bridgetown imprint announced four cassettes available via Bandcamp, including Hollow Sunshine’s Atascadero, Tanner Garza’s There’s More to Life Than This, and Shivering Window’s When We Were Metal, with a limited-to-ten re-issue of Vehicle Blues’ Koz Park at a  discounted rate as well. All four are available at a batch rate, so what are you waiting for? -BP

#3 – 8/19/2014 – Christian Filardo announced that after three years of running Holy Page Records, the imprint would be calling it quits after pressing a tape version of Stephen Steinbrink’s album Arranged Waves for him to tout on tour with Ever Ending Kicks. Expect a lengthier memorial from us soon but in the meantime, I’d suggest spending some time with the Holy Page Bandcamp (which, incidentally, has the best header of any I’ve seen this year). -DP

#4 – 8/19/2014 – Styles Upon Styles shared news that Brooklyn based (Miami born) synth wrangler Oliver Chapoy had done a live session for DubLab as Certain Creatures. The SUS guys had us well prepared to enjoy Chapoy’s live set with a few suggestive snippets as it came together, and the outcome is even better than originally billed. -DP

#5 – 8/19/2014 – Patient Sounds issued the sixth edition of it’s consistently sublime sampler series. Broken out into two sets (AM and PM) and released in the morning (6 am) and late-afternoon (6 pm), the compilation includes 48 exclusive sounds from some of the best names around, including but definitely not limited to M. Sage, Dura, Sugarm, Hakobune, Kevin Greenspon, Micromelancolié, Ant’lrd, and Grand Mal. Head over to the label’s Bandcamp to nab the AM and PM sets now. – BP

#6 – 8/19/2014 – DC based experimental producer Maxmillion Dunbar (aka Dolo Percussion, Max D, half of Beautiful Swimmers, etc) pulled together a righteous mixtape for XLR8R, “…and the 57-minute session showcases an artist who’s not afraid to get weird from time to time.” On top of his out and out “weird” picks, highlights include a few unreleased joints from Future Times projects, from his own Dolo Percussion project and Hashman Deejay. Check out the mix at XLR8R. -DP

#7 – 8/19-2014 – Toro Y Moi’s Chaz Bundick announced the first LP from his Les Sins project, Michael, following his debut “Lina” 12″ on Carpark and two other outings on London label Jiaolong. Reportedly inspired by designed Paul Rand, Michael will be released in November via Bundick’s own Company Records, a new imprint founded with Carpark’s complicity. Pitchfork shared the first single, “Bother,” an exciting turn farther into the minimalist funk production of his previous Les Sins tracks but with a more measured approach and clipped vocals reminiscent of DFA; check out the announcement here. -DP

#8 – 8/19/2014 – Marriage Records may not be the most prolific label around, but you can always count on the stuff they put out. The label continued its rewarding and varied stream by announcing a new LP by Jordan Dykstra, a Portland, Or. resident who’s worked with “Gus Van Sant on film music, Dirty Projectors as a session player and string director, and many other projects.” The label also released a video for a track from the LP that focuses on the sordid life of a houseplant. Check the video here and check out Marriage’s site for additional details. – BP

#9 – 8/20/2014 – Touch tweeted a tease of a collaborative LP by label mainstays Jóhann Jóhannsson & BJ Nilsen. Apparently titled I Am Here, the LP will undoubtedly be a monumental work of slurred symphonics and droning beauty. – BP

#10 – 8/21/2014 – Philadelphia based experimental pop project Power Animal, aka Keith Hampson, unveiled a new t-shirt, printed under the auspices of his charity-oriented home imprint Human Kindness Overflowing. 50% of all proceeds go to provide clothing and books to those in need in Lofa County, Liberia, courtesy of Keith’s industrious friend Seleke Sesay. Order a shirt from HKO and check out some pictures of Sesay’s operation, on the disbursement side, at the Power Animal tumblr. -DP

#11 – 8/21/2014 – Moon Glyph shared a short teaser video for their upcoming collaborative LP from Halasan Bazar and Tara King th., both having previously released cassettes on the Oakland based psych imprint. Everyone looks very poised and comfortably dressed, so perhaps the LP will end up vibing that way? -DP

#12 – 8/21/2014 – Aphex Twin is putting out an album on Warp next month, but you already knew that. – BP

#13 – 8/22/2014 – Daniel Leznoff had a banner week of a banner year for his Demonstration Synthesis project, releasing two new cassettes a day apart from eachother on separate labels. DS10 dropped 8/22 on Rainbow Pyramid alongside six (!) other tapes in the imprint’s August batch, following the release of DS8 alongside Memory Leaks Onto the Rug‘s latest cassette on Adhesive Sounds a day prior. At this point, Leznoff has graced the discography of every worthwhile tape label in operation today. Let’s hope a vinyl edition surfaces soon. – BP

#14 – 8/22/2014 – In other batch announcement news, electronic cassette upstart Dionysian Tapes announced its next six tapes, with appearances from Dreamcrusher, Dbeat and Lion due out before the end of the year as well as Demonstration Synthesis, Tresilaze and a split by Cata and Sundial due out early next year. We’re huge fans of the label’s initial three cassettes (two of which we wrote about here and here) and can’t wait for more. -BP

#15 – 8/23/2014 – M. Geddes Gengras shared footage from a live appearance in LA on August 15th; dude’s still stellar. Liz and I are definitely not going to enough electronic shows. -DP