Week in Review #83

On August 19th, Australia’s magnificent Lullabies for Insomniacs radio-show shared a new mix courtesy of Not Not Fun’s Britt Brown — bit out of our range, but since it’s still absent from their website and not too well circulated, I thought I’d appropriate it to open this week’s review. The vibe is mellow and moderately smudged, easy but addled, with an emphasis on synths and an expanded lounge palette, so bear that in mind before you get too involved. Check out more of the like at the Lullabies for Insomniacs website.

#1 – 8.24.2015 – Goldrush Music Festival announced the full line-up for its 2015 edition. The lineup will include choice sets by a number of Decoder favorites, including (but not limited to) Yoni Wolf, Guardian Alien, Lawrence English, Tara Jane O’Neil, Pictureplane, Landing, Benoît Pioulard, Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk, More Eaze, and Braeyden Jae. This year’s installment will occur again in Denver but will reside at Savoy at Curtis Park 9/18-19. Head over to the festival’s site for ticket options. -BP

#2 – 8.25.2015 – Plastic Response Records released the first of three reissues from Modern Art, a project from the 80s helmed by Gary Ramon (of Mystery Plane, Sun Dial, and more). Originally released on Ramon’s own Color Discs and Tapes in 1987, Living in The Distortion Parade gives the listener a window into the period when Modern Art’s sound was beginning to take on a different edge, with bouncy new-wave synth and psych-tinged vocals. Stream the catchy “Echo of Magenta” below and head over here to grab a copy of the tape (with original artwork) before they’re gone. -LP

#3 – 8.25.2015 – Blankstairs dropped a single from Ben Glas’ upcoming Music To Interact To cassette, due out 9.15.2015. The single (“Halbdruck”) is a simmering digital murk of Mille Plateaux-style clicks and cuts infused with Scape-rendered low-ends and sublime throbs. I, for one, can’t wait to hear the rest of the cassette. Stream “Haldbruck” below and head to Blankstairs’ site to pre-order a copy. -BP

#4 – 8.26.2015 – Following quickly on their new digital album with Percival Pembroke, Beer on the Rug unveiled a new free remix companion to Euglossine’s cassette, Complex Playground — titled Remix Playground, the download features a treatment from Pembroke himself, Nico Niquo, and Kane Pour, among others. Check that out at the Beer on the Rug Bandcamp. -DP

#5 – 8.26.2015 – Shortly after a successful and captivating Substrata festival, Rafael Anton Irisarri announced plans to release a new album on Room40. Entitled A Fragile Geography, the album follows Irisarri’s “personal journey of transience and tumult” over the past two years, a period that saw the New York by-way-of Seattle producer’s studio, audio archives, and possessions stolen literally hours before driving across the continental US to relocate his life. Stream the haunting “Empire Systems” below, and head over to Room40’s site to pre-order the album on digital and LP formats. -BP

#6 – 8.27.2015 – Ecstatic unveiled the vinyl debut from Abul Mogard, titled Circular Forms, following a long chain of wonderful cassette releases (VCO, Ecstatic, Emotional Response). For now Boomkat has the exclusive on ordering, so head over there to order a copy. -DP

#7 – 8.27.2015 – On A Clear Day, the exploratory modular electronics project helmed by Ryan Martin (Dais, Copley Medal, Robert & Leopold, et al.) and David Grant (Action Patrol, DeTrop, et al.), self-released a hand-made LP called Photo 51. The edition-of-134 LP finds the duo charting both calm and choppy waters, finding shadowy corridors of rhythm and pleasant dissonance along the way. Stream the entire album below and jump to the project’s Bandcamp to pick up a digital or physical edition. -BP

#8 – 8.27.2015 – Josh Atkinson, a member of the drum and synth focused experimental rock trio Aa (Big A little a), unveiled a new pair of sunset-hued drone improvisations based on piano loops from Paddy Gordon (of Melbourne duo Footy). The tracks, together dubbed Longplaying, are available on Atkinson’s (fairly) new Bandcamp, alongside a (slightly) older album of more heady compositions that were apparently commissioned as the soundtrack for a documentary on Russian mafia assassins. -DP

#9 – 8.28.2015 – Wounded Knife posted a snazzy new animation video for “Abschied,” one of the more blissfully burnt tracks from Baldruin’s upcoming Portal LP. The song and video whet the appetite for Baldruin’s ongoing display of dreamlike sonics and bizarre aural curiosities, by which we’ve been intoxicated by before. Pre-order Portal directly from the label now, and keep an eye on these pages for more Baldruin and Wounded Knife fun. -BP

#10 – 8.28.2015 – Kaleidoscope unveiled the j-card for what seems to be the imprint’s first factory duplicated release, a new excursion from UK multimedia artist Benedict Drew wistfully titled Dreamspace of the Burger King Commuter. God only knows what it might actually entail, but going from Drew’s SoundCloud and the j-card’s soulful apparition, we can hope for plenty (in the cornucopic sense). Check the Kaleidoscope Facebook profile on September 21st to trying and snag a copy. –DP