Week in Review #99

We’re opening this week on a somewhat somber note — this week our friends Cameron Potter (Little Spoon, Deflector) and Virginia De Las Pozas (Couples Counseling) recently had gobs of equipment taken during a robbery (to say nothing of other possessions, or their roommates’ losses). To try and offset the loss to their bread-winning music-making capacity, the two are accepting donations and in lieu of that, out of deference to a single go-to-spot, I wanted to point folks to Sweat Equity’s Hot New Tracks compilation from earlier this month. For the remainder of the month proceeds from all sales will go to those two good folk. It’s well worth a look either way, with a slew of Sweat Equity alums and operators, including a track from Cameron’s Deflector project. If you’re keen on second and third options though, I’ve included links to their respective Bandcamps in the parentheticals above. -DP

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The FFFoxy Podcast #70: Stefan Neville, Pumice

“We have a very special show for you this week focusing on the work of Pumice, a New Zealand-based project that has been around since the mid-90’s and has since gone on to release a number of superb albums that are stylistically wide-reaching – from battered folk and pop songs to expansive droning chord organ dirges – and all soldered together in a singular DIY approach. The one constant throughout all of these years and all of this activity has been Stefan Neville. Back in 2009, we had reached out to Neville and put together a short feature show on Pumice for the weekly Free Form Freakout radio show. This was well before the podcast was up and running. In many ways, it was that particular show that laid the groundwork for what we envisioned the Free Form Freakout podcast could be and the type of music and artists that we wanted to cover on the show. Fast-forward over six years to now, with a new Pumice album out on Soft Abuse called Puddles, not to mention a few other archival and side project albums currently available, and it simply felt like the perfect time to check back in with Stefan. We’re pleased-as-punch to say that we do just that on this installment of the FFFoxy Podcast show.

We recently had a chance to chat with Stefan about how Pumice has evolved over the years and where it’s heading into the future. We also talked specifically about the making of the new album Puddles and some of the other group and duo projects that he’s currently involved in. In addition to hearing a bunch of Pumice music scattered throughout the show, Stefan also generously provided a selection of some other forthcoming tracks to play, along with some older material from his early days in Hamilton, New Zealand. There’s plenty of great music to be heard, so do what you can to listen through the entirety of this show. We’ll likely have one more podcast before the end of the year and, time permitting, we’ll be putting together some type of year-end list on the site. Until then, we hope you enjoy this new episode. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or comments.” -David Perron, The FFFoxy Podcast

1. Pumice “Pumiceraft” Raft (Last Visible Dog)
2. (Introduction)
3. Pumice “The Only Doosh Worth Giving” Pebbles (Soft Abuse)
4. Pumice “Twin Neck Double Kick Bum Chin” split w/ Grouper (Soft Abuse)
5. Pumice “The Screaming Heap” Fool Fool Fool Moon (Doubtful Sounds)
6. (Interview segment with Stefan Neville)
7. Pumice “Plastic Plant By Faircol” Poise Etc. (Planam)
8. Pumice “Force Eyes” Poin (Stabbies etc.)
9. Pumice “Upsets #4” White (Stabbies etc.)
10. Pumice “Lisk Yes” A Window Into A Egg (Stabbies etc.)
11. (Interview segment with Stefan Neville)
12. Pumice “What Did You Have For Tea Last Night” Puddles (Soft Abuse)
13. Pumice “Why I Chew My Sleeves” Puddles (Soft Abuse)
14. Pumice “Mothers in Mantis” Puddles (Soft Abuse)
15. The Coolies “This Car Is A Safe Place” Kaka (Feeding Tube)
16. (Interview segment with Stefan Neville)
17. Greg Malcolm + Stefan Neville “Prospectus” (by Steve Lacy) Deep & Meaningful Vol. 3 (Deep & Meaningful)
18. Hermione Johnson + Stefan Neville “Dead Spit” Deep & Meaningful Vol. 3 (Deep & Meaningful)
19. Ben Holmes “Dreamboat Scream Up the River Of Blood” *forthcoming 7” lathe (Stabbies etc.)
20. (Interview segment with Stefan Neville)
21. Hand Of Glory “Weird E Coughing Blood” S/T (Orange Recordings)
22. The Big Muffin Serious Band “Le Cocaine” Jabberwocky Goes To Town (Big Serious Promotions)
23. Gfrenzy “To The Sea” NaN (Stabbies etc.)
24. Ponzo Danko “Boing Boing Boing” (unreleased)
25. Thistle Group “I Don’t Wanna” (unreleased)
26. Biscuits “Swimming” Self-Titled lathe 8″ (no label)
27. Mr. Sterile Assembly “Othering Heights” It’s All Over (Skirted Records)

Find out more about the FFFoxy Podcast and submitting material at David’s website, Free Form Freakout.

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#1 – 12.13.2015 – The LA-based Norelco Mori podcast did a special episode on the now nearly two-decade old Generations Unlimited label — they’ve been reissuing some of their early catalog recently so the special revolves around those releases, and they are not to be missed. Check that out here. -DP

#2 – 12.15.2015 – Former Decoder contributor and experimental popsmith Ben Varian shared a new music video for “Szechuan Palace,” a track off his most recent album, Part Of The Y’all. Composed of footage shot in Gainesville, FL by David Levesque and VHS feedback by Bjørn Halden Parramoure, the combination is the perfect fit for the song’s funky effervescence. Check out the video below, and although the tape version from MJMJ is sold out, you can still download the album over here if you haven’t already. -LP

#3 – 12.16.2015 – Swedish-born and now Berlin-based producer Olle Holmberg, aka Moon Wheel, shared a private streaming link to a live set from earlier this month, at Ecophagie in Montréal. It’s private, so I can’t embed a stream, but click through here to listen: “Warning: Contains ungodly amounts of shameless techno ‪#‎shirtsoff‬.” –DP

#4 – 12.17.2015 – Brooklyn-based experimental techno outpost Pastel Voids unveiled a SoundCloud sampler of their upcoming winter releases featuring our friends Golden Donna, aka Joel Shanahan’s Purpura project, and Miami-based P.H.O.R.K., alongside four other similarly inflected tapes from Jock Club, Jonny Oso, a VA-producer going by (703) 863-4357, and label proprietor U.S. Hard / Contemporary. Preorder the tapes via the Pastel Voids Bandcamp. -DP

#5 – 12.17.2015 – Juno ran a fairly extensive write-up on Umor Rex’s new batch with a new appearance from one of their regulars, M. Geddes Gengras, alongside the SR Hess + RM Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek) collaboration we covered yesterday and a Shapes / Malfi split. -DP

#6 – 12.17.2015 – Cabin Floor Esoterica shared a picture of their first ever 7″ and undeniable 2015 hood ornament: a 50-piece pressing featuring new tracks from Tashi Dorji, Dylan Aycock, Daniel Bachman, Matt Lajoie, Matt Boteilho, and Wes Tirey. It’s also a special release available exclusively to the label’s mailing list subscribers this week… so chances are I’m posting this mostly for the sake of the very pretty picture, though we may well have more to say about in the blog shortly — and who knows, maybe you can still muscle onto that mailing list in time! -LP

#7 – 12.17.2015 – Vitrine is closing out their year in good form with a slew of releases, though on this day the label’s Facebook offered a tease of their first upcoming tape for 2016, a wonderful passage of processed field recordings and audio courtesy of Philadelphia-based Christian Mirande. If the bit streaming from the tape’s b-side — titled “Thracian Summer” — is any indication, or even if it were all indication, the tape itself is going to be a wild ride. A good squint at that magnificent j-card indicates the track, a collage of field recordings taken in Bulgaria, will close the tape. Follow Vitrine for updates and ordering information. -DP

#8 – 12.17.2015 – The Wire reported that Jennifer Walshe and Holly Herndon have created an open source database of sound and music “related to the internet since its inception,” suitably titled Post-Internet Sound — read the full write-up at the Wire and access the database via Google Docs. -DP

#9 – 12.18.2015 – Martyn Pepperell interviewed Wellington, NZ-based experimental muzaker and End of the Alphabet proprietor Noel Meek about his label and its recent regional compilations: Pekak! Indonesian Noise 1995-2015: 20 Years of Experimental Music from Indonesia and a series focused on New Zealanders called NoFi Rainbow series focused on New Zealanders. Read that in full at the 405. -DP