Muttley's Kennel

MK Stop 44: Muttley - Back To Mine Pt.3 - Dark Days, They Make Us Believe We're Someone Else

2009-12-30T12:29:00.001-08:00

The 50th SubVersion instalment brings a special New Year gift into circulation...

Muttley - Back To Mine Pt.3 - Dark Days, They Make Us Believe We're Someone Else

Well here it be: my opus to end 2009. The first 'Back To Mine' - "Overshadowed" - was heralded as a return to being myself. The second - "Reflections" - a home listening catch-all for mental disorders. This, in its unhurried incantation, is for putting the past behind me, revisiting, and travelling to and from my chosen occupation - painting and decorating. I've been in this job since I left school at 16, obtained an NVQ at college in two years and was the best person I could be socially. I never got in scrapes with classmates, or verbal trade-offs, however I remained very much reclusive, although this could be inherent from being there just one day a week, with a demographic of opinions lesser linked to mine in interests and moldability.

Around this period I furthered my inquisitivity for classical and ambient music, speaking to a 60-nearing friend there of his passion for opera. But it was also where I failed the medical examination for my last planned kickboxing contest. Memories are vague as it's likely I desired to forget the bad luck. I recall misery and suicidal thinking as the blackest of colouring of my anxious temperament. I had a dream the night I write this where I desired to have a rematch with the opponent to prove myself properly and that even if I couldn't be part of the gym I frequented, I would undertake it out of my family's identity. Surely, the sense of loss has stayed with me, even if I've moved on so far.

"Dark Days, They Make Us Believe We're Someone Else" is a nod to the old days briefly written, but moreover, an aid to get myself in the right mindset to guarantee I don't have ensuing problems of magnitude large or small. And I have experienced a lot of sensory congestion in recent months. Once I re-enter the car from a day of thinking on my feet, in the get-go I try to remind myself that self-questioning is vital to establishing clear sight ahead of us. No apothesis is thrown up. I'd never wish to cause a buzzing effect.

Onto the selections. "Where Are You?" I discovered via Paradigm X's excellent 15 Minutes Of Fame debut - "Vocalisms". I decided I needed a rhetorical counterpoint, and buffer, to maximise the changing of styles early in the set, and the calming of contrapuntal mental textures with the musical. The transition isn't smooth - I aimed to undercut the subsidence to a minimal drone, where synchronizing written with aural was a conduit - "How To Catch The Right Thought" (track 4) in a field of madness?

Often my thoughts maintain a pertinent aura when they are fertile and fragile, swirling in a reverie, building castles in the air. But when these buildings open fire and the gates slam down hard, I have to be ready for tides of relinquished instability.

This is what awaits us, subjectively - a well of despair and self-destruction, where our true self is disconnected from our peripheral vision, and self-doubt, disharmonic, and defective behaviour longs for spiritual manna. We have to rise above the deep mass of panic and scurry away from danger. The dark days that populate our forlorn form of consciousness are just temporary. And so I continued the mixtape with a handful of reserved niceties to buoy and balance the demonic whirlwinds of confusion.

Favourites, that have stayed with me through thick and thin, resolve the loose ends. Most notably Koen Holtkamp's "Night Swimmer", Richard Skelton's "Shore" and Mogwai's "Chocky" are emotionally poignant enough to heal the deepest of cuts; the awkward, impermanent silences where gaps are filled with sensations to cry out and scream uncontrollably. Whether an alteration in my medication will have a positive effect is yet debatable.

The last tune on this, Sigur Rós' "Viõrar Vel Til Loftárasa" I'd like to have played at my funeral. I have sat up until early hours on NYE with this serenading the room and it always sends shivers down my spine when the closing crescendo hits. I hope you have a productive 2010 and that "Dark Days, They Make Us Believe We're Someone Else" won't dim your lights, those which I hope will shine brighter towards the good in the coming echoes.

TRACKLISTING

01. Coil - Where Are You? (from the album Musik To Play In The Dark CD 2)
02. Zelienople - Slaving (from the album Gone OST)
03. Oophoi - Dimensional Passage (from the album Night Currents)
04. Hildur Gudanottir, BJ Nilsen & Stillupsteypa - How To Catch The Right Thought (from the album Second Childhood)
05. Fennesz - City Of Light (from the album Venice)
06. Milieu - Six Fourteen (from the album Brother)
07. Aphex Twin - SAW Untitled 1 (from the album Selected Ambient Works Vol.2)
08. Lawrence English & Tom Hall - Lines Twine Oscillation (from the album Euphonia)
09. Koen Holtkamp - Night Swimmer (from the album Field Rituals)
10. Obfusc - Alto Piano (from the split w/ David Tagg)
11. Atomic Skunk - Suspended Ascent (free download - www.atomicskunk.com)
12. Inverz - New Found Lands, New Found Sounds (from the album Slow)
13. Richard Skelton - Shore (from the album Marking Time)
14. Mogwai - Chocky (from the album Come On Die Young)
15. Lamenter - Kinski For Halloween (from the album Sleeping Me)
16. Inverz - Everything In Order (from the album Slow)
17. Greg Haines - Caesura (from the album Slumber Tides)
18. Mono & World's End Girlfriend - Trailer 1 (from the album Palmless Prayer: Mass Murder Refrain)
19. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Blaise Bailey Finnegan III (excerpt) (from the album Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada)
20. Arvo Part - The Beatitudes (from the album Part)
21. Sigur Rós - Viõrar Vel Til Loftárasa (from the album Ágætis Byrjun)

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MK Stop 43: Muttley - Life Support (December 2009)

2009-12-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

"Life Support" is the third and final set of 2009 that's dedicated to the people of Bridewell Gardens. As an alternative to sending out Christmas cards, giving each of my friends there a specially made CD seemed the best option.

Helping me replenish my mental health since February 2009, I wished to go beyond the basics of drones to impression a more accessible backdrop to my work on the site, that they could also benefit from. I will be handing "Life Support" out tomorrow at the Christmas meal. Not contrary to the goodwill, it's a free event put on by the Bridewell staffers.

"Comets" by Piano Magic carries the underlying message of this excursion: "you should always tell them, you love them, in case you never see them again". Of course, love is a strong word, but the basis of admiration comes across more poignant this way. In this selection I also aspired to showcase the magnificence of Rameses III and Greg Haines, two artists which I will be working with towards spring 2010. More info soon. Feedback relished as always.

TRACKLISTING

01. Rameses III - All Shall Be Well (from the album I Could Not Love You More)
02. Global Communication - 4-14 (from the album 76-14)
03. SpeaK - Drowning Peacefully (from the album Once Nomadic)
04. Peter James - Flight Of Tears (from the album Holding On - Letting Go)
05. David Tagg - Magic Interval (from the split with Obfusc)
06. Drowning The Virgin Silence - Beneath The Sulfur Sky (from the album Beneath The Sulfur Sky)
07. Greg Haines - Arups Gate (from the album Slumber Tides)
08. Mogwai - Friend Of The Night (from the album Mr.Beast)
09. Piano Magic - Comets (from the album The Troubled Sleep Of Piano Magic)

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MK Stop 42: Muttley - I Shall Not Drown (December 2009)

2009-12-30T12:27:00.002-08:00

A body that lives a long time, accumulates debris. It cannot be avoided. However, there are nearly always routes to trap the residue, brush yourself up to scratch and make strides forward. "I Shall Not Drown" is an antecedent mixtape to usher in 2010 and cast aside pre-emptive fears and fleeting gestures.

Partly inspired by Dave @ Low Light Mixes with his "A Solitary Sea", I chose tracks based on circumnavigating the drowning condition - whether it be your sorrows, tears, or loneliness.

Unlike "Weathering" and "Gravitation To Resolution", though, I wasn't rooted by track names - this opens up a wider range of textures and themes. Bat For Lashes' "Sleep Alone" is the sole track with national radio play. I saw them live in October and was staggered by the quality of their second album, particularly because of Natasha Khan's haunting voice. "Sleep Alone" is used based on the relationship I lost, and whether I should start all over again - which I surely will, in 2010.

Conjoining tenacity for creation with artists that receive a scant amount of attention, "I Shall Not Drown" oscillates through waves of counterweight with zero adhesion to your own limits. It's the second Muttley set built in Acoustica Audio Mixer, a program I can see myself using ever greater as the years roll on.

TRACKLISTING

01. Drowning The Virgin Silence - To Reach The Clouds (from the album Beneath The Sulfur Sky)
02. Rameses III - Across The Lake Is Where My Heart Shines (from the album I Could Not Love You More)
03. Eluvium - All The Sails (from the album When I Live By The Garden And The Sea)
04. Peter James - Adrift (from the album Holding On - Letting Go)
05. Stars Of The Lid - The Evil That Never Arrived (from the album And Their Refinement Of The Decline)
06. Herzog - Our Friends Save Us From Drowning (from the album First Summer And The Running Dream)
07. Fennesz - Rivers Of Sand (from the album Venice)
08. Arovane - Seaside (from the album Tides)
09. Seafar - New Town Dreams (from the album Hegira)
10. Black To Comm - Trapez (from the album Alphabet 1968.)
11. Bat For Lashes - Sleep Alone (from the album Two Suns)
12. Atomic Skunk - Liquid Dharma (free download - [url]www.atomicskunk.com[/url])
13. Global Communication - 12-18 (from the album 76-14)
14. Bitcrush - To Drown (from the album Epilogue In Waves)

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MK Stop 41: Muttley - The Eyes, They See An Ominous Pillar (December 2009)

2009-12-30T12:27:00.001-08:00

"The Eyes, They See An Ominous Pillar": designed to soundtrack Thursday 17th - Sunday 20th December. The title references magnifying of small happenings affecting my mindstate, and their consequential broadening and minimizing. It also counterbalances the theme of panic attacks caused by overloading of visual and aural stimuli.

I visited the county I grew up in with my family this past weekend. It was to attend my cousin's wedding reception, and have a meal with old friends. Upon anticipating this I got very anxious and so decided to put those feelings to music. The first section supplants a mantra via track names - I felt like I was "Alone In The Rising Fog", and the progress of my mania expelled "Like A Slow River". "The Low Falls" and "Saltwater" are precursors to "I Shall Not Drown", the mixtape that will follow this documentation.

At first, I was afraid the sensations would overcome me, so the tension reflects this. When in the venue surrounded by new faces and relatives, I hallucinated mildly, whereby I thought pictures (see Max Richter's "The Picture Of Us. P" for the aural equivalent) on the wall were rolling their eyes (windows and varying sizes of gaps). Different positioning of shutters on an adjacent image promoted disorientating factors to flourish, so I tried not to set my eyes on these. The lyrics of "Rough Hands" I used to consolidate the word count of what I screamed out. So instead of long sentences sweeping past me, I could just shout "rough hands" into my palms. It proved useful and no-one asked me if I was having problems.

The closing three tracks are reassuring in mood - a touchstone from environmental factors altering to more sedate territory - returning home. I desired to sculpt a contrasting sequence where demons are welcome to wither ("Everybody's got your back" from Zelienople's "Pajama Avenue"), and humanness is dissipated from the ether (see Metric's "I've seen all the demons that you've got / If you're not alright, now, come on baby, I'll take you where, take you where you want"). Ultimately the result is a file with a plentitude of moodswings stitched into it. Nonetheless it retains all the sensuality I like to apply to my work.

TRACKLISTING

01. Aquadorsa - Alone In The Rising Fog (from the album Cloudlands)
02. Lull - Like A Slow River (from the album Like A Slow River)
03. Jasper Leyland - The Low Falls (from the album Carbon Series Vol.5)
04. Last Days - Saltwater (from the album Sea)
05. Peter James - Aurora (from the album Holding On - Letting Go)
06. Stars Of The Lid - Another Ballad For Heavy Lids (from the album And Their Refinement Of The Decline)
07. Max Richter - This Picture Of Us. P (from the album 24 Postcards)
08. Alexisonfire - Rough Hands (from the album Crisis)
09. Peter Broderick - A Glacier (from the album Float)
10. Zelienople - Pajama Avenue (from the album Pajama Avenue)
11. The Caretaker - Long Term (Remote) (from the album Persistent Repetition Of Phrases)
12. Metric - Twilight Galaxy (from the album Fantasies)

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MK Stop 40: Muttley - Head In The Clouds (December 2009)

2009-12-30T12:26:00.001-08:00

"Head In The Clouds": constructed to celebrate my folks' 30th anniversary from meeting, in 1979. I like to dream, but I rarely recollect. And it's always conferred from my subconscious that I require an outlet to cathartically channel my state of mind.

Ahead of my tutor marked OU assessment this week, I decided to assemble a glimmer that reflected it: not quite footed in reactionary order, bordering on optimism with succinct drift. So blends don't synchronize totally, they're left to move in and out of foci, while the theme - having one's head in the clouds - is presented by the contemplative nature of the works within, and the result is a dreamy keystone where the occult is brought closer, out of burgeoning dystopia.

TRACKLISTING

01. Quosp - Submerged (from the album Soundscapes II)
02. Herzog - Congratulations, Here's Your Mountain (from the album First Summer And The Running Dream)
03. Carl Sagan's Ghost - Into The Light I (from the album Darkness And The Light)
04. Stars Of The Lid - Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage (from the album And Their Refinement Of The Decline)
05. Rameses III - Clouds Kings (from the album I Could Not Love You More)
06. Grouper - Wind And Snow (from the album Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill)
07. John Foxx & Harold Budd - Raindust (from the album Transluscence)
08. Biosphere - As The Sun Kissed The Horizon (from the album Substrata)
09. The Lights Galaxia - The Last Lights In The City (from the EP Global)
10. Leyland Kirby - And At Dawn Armed With Glowing Patience, We Will Enter The Cities Of Glory (Stripped) (from the album Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was)

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MK Stop 39: Muttley - Caught In Static (December 2009)

2009-12-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

Movement is a tried and tested operation for any artistically-minded individual. It facillitates growth opportunities, frees stangnancy and liberates matters from a rigid structure. However, there are also phases that benefit from being 'stuck'. "Caught In Static" accrues such temporality.

A companion piece to "Mind Over Matter", we've had the sleep selection "Threshold", sequenced to revitalise, now is the turn of specifically chosen tracks that have a time-lapsed feel to them, which, paradoxically, condenses my concentration into a small block and appertains to reap rewards of dedication and perserverence.

TRACKLISTING

01. Sawako - Cloud No Crowd (from the album Hum)
02. Apalusa - Live From The Dry Valley's (from the album Live From The Dry Valley's)
03. Stars Of The Lid - Arch Song (from the album Music For The Ballasted Orchestra)
04. Marow - Hadar (from the album Scintillation)
05. Last Days - Nothing Stays The Same, Nothing Ever Ends (from the album The Safety Of The North)

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MK Stop 38: Muttley - Threshold (December 2009)

2009-12-30T12:24:00.001-08:00

There have been an array of online comments foretelling that music can be good for sleep, breathing, anxiety reduction et al. There have also been a multitude of mixtapes that put that stigma to the test. And we all have thresholds that limit our conscious perception of living and dreaming. "Threshold" is an excercise in assuaging these statements and reproducing their fruits.

TRACKLISTING

01. William Basinski & Richard Chartier - Untitled 2 (from the album Untitled 1-3)
02. Richard Lainhart - Threshold (from the album Threshold)
03. Fennesz & Sakamoto - Oto (from the album Cendre)
04. Felicia Atkinson & Sylvain Chaveau - How The Light (from the album Roman Anglais)
05. Richard Lainhart - Cranes Fly West 040706-2 (from the album Threshold)
06. David Tagg - Cave Light Spectrum (from the album Dulcimer Studies)
07. Ian Hawgood - Ginseng & Polaramin, And One Long Slumber (from the album Before I Let The Sunshine Rot)
08. Quosp - Night Coast (from the album Soundscapes I)
09. Aphex Twin - Blue Calx (from the album Selected Ambient Works Vol.2)
10. Leyland Kirby - Tonight Is The Last Night Of The World (from the album Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was)

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I use "Threshold's" timeline as a measure of how active I've been that day. I then estimate what I can do to improve my sleep. By sharing this I trust there are individuals that believe in meditation, inner calm and replacing nothingness with something to treasure for years. The tracks may or may not resonate with the listener, but what they do achieve is lulling the brain and causing panic to subside.

MK Stop 37: Muttley - Mind Over Matter (December 2009)

2009-12-30T12:23:00.000-08:00

There are all manner of things we have to overcome as we exist. Whether it be baby steps, learning speech, refraining from urges, balancing work with love, or simply bypassing the tumultuous chaos around us, everything is valid, yet somehow, the mind is not strictly as it seems. With the advent of technology doing more of the work for us, drifting and distracting ourselves can increase.

"Mind Over Matter" is a cornerstone for such behaviour. It sprouted from procrastination and my attention span waning when studying for my Open University course. "Start Listening To Music" it's called. I'm presented units to devour each week, whereby listening exercises on the accompanying CDs demand me to focus in a variety of ranges.

Active and passive listening, timbre, structures and forms, texture, writing about sound: it's theoretically a budding music journalists' paradise, which surprisingly, took my metaphorical biscuit of knowledge, and swallowed it whole.

I like every Muttley mixtape to have a theme. This one, by the title alone, is obvious. You can do it. You can pick yourself up and face the hardships, frustrations and enigmas the world throws at you. Even if you're singularly partaking in discovery, you are never just 'you' - but you're ideally welcome to be yourself. There is likely a fourth dimension in the panoramic distance, one that we all uncover when the mists of grey vanish and we're left with achievement or failure.

Whatever the outcome, sometimes we need an informal push, and I hope this selection will help incentivise and inspire a few people to remember that memories live longer than dreams.

TRACKLISTING

01. Robert Haigh - Tomorrow Never Came (1989) (from the album "Notes And Crossings")
02. Leyland Kirby - Memories Live Longer Than Dreams (from the album "Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was")
03. Goldmund - Light (from the album "Two Point Discrimination")
04. Sylvain Chaveau - Staring (from the album "Nuage")
05. 36 - Inside (from the album "Hypersona")
06. Arlo Bigazzi & Arturo Staleri - Stregatto (from the album "Zaum Vol.1")
07. eDIT - Twenty Minutes (from the album "Crying Over Pros For No Reason")
08. Krzysztof Orluk - Beautiful Mind (from the album "Blurred Reflection")
09. Boards Of Canada - Dawn Chorus (from the album "Geogaddi")
10. Skindred - Who Are You? (from the album "Shark Bites And Dog Fights")

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MK Stop 36: Muttley - Dreamscape (November 2009)

2009-12-30T12:22:00.002-08:00

As a celebration of 20000 views and 350 posts in my "Ambient lovers" thread, I've uploaded "Dreamscape". It's dedicated to my friend dwarde, who once said he listens to my mixes when he goes to bed, but consequently misses most of the music. The theme here is life-affirming sounds. They are, on the counter, partly ghostly in demeanour. "Dreamscape" begins beatless with long blends, then traverses classical, downtempo and drone influences. I'm trying to break the habit of building sets to crescendo levels, and instead making a proper sleep selection where perception is motionless; a strong segment of the caveat. I've started another set for this experiment.

TRACKLISTING

01. Bruno Sanfilippo - Imagined Reality (from the album "Auralspace")
02. Oophoi - Night Psalm (from the album "Hymns To A Silent Sky")
03. Seafar - Dr.Catchlove (from the album "Hegira")
04. Philip Dickau - I Am With You, I Am Happy (from the album "This City, And You")
05. Stars Of The Lid - The Daughters Of Quiet Minds (from the album "and Their Refinement Of The Decline")
06. Eluvium - Reciting The Airships (from the album "Copia")
07. Slow - You Can't Say No To (from the album "Dual Box")
08. Black To Comm - Hotel Freund (from the album "Alphabet 1968")
09. Fur - Friends (from the EP "Black Castles")
10. Repetition / Distract - Ghosts On Our Train (from the album "Not Even In Sleep")
11. Breakage - Unireverse (from the album "This Too Shall Pass")
12. Noah And The Whale - Instrumental II (from the album "The First Days Of Spring")

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MK Stop 35: Muttley - Better Days To Come (November 2009)

2009-12-30T12:22:00.001-08:00

Specialised artwork to follow.

TRACKLISTING

01. Asher – 1.1 (from the album “Landscape Studies”)
02. Seafar – Yob Data (from the album “Hegira”)
03. Netherworld – Jostedaal (from the album “Zaum Vol.1”)
04. Mindspan – Conversations (Unreleased)
05. Fennesz – The Point Of It All (from the album “Venice”)
06. Svarte Greiner – Ullsokk (from the album “Knive”)
07. Olafur Arnalds – Raein (from the album “Found Songs”)
08. Jasper TX – Better Days To Come (from the album “A Darkness”)
09. Autechre – Outh9x (from the album “Quaristice”)
10. Antony And The Johnsons – Daylight And The Sun (from the album “The Crying Light”)
11. Sawako – A Last Next (Instrumental) (from the album “Bitter Sweet”)
12. Peter Broderick – And It's Alright (from the album “Home”)

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"Better Days To Come": dedicated to friends Conor and Louisa. This is a soundtrack to when I visited Ireland on November 7th. It begins with layered drones that border on lachrymose, overlaid with snippets of voice that are not quite quantifiable. My battle against mental compulsions tripping me up, and psychotic symptoms: hearing voices (when pleading I require assistance privately); persistent confusion, resulting in silent screaming (words lodging in my brain, outside influence from people conversing, not remembering correctly, frustrations forthwith) and deluded thinking (believing I've lived previously in that scenario, and foreseeing what responses I'd receive if I was to break my grip on rationale) - are all captured in this doctrine.

This episode in the set finishes at 13:45, where up to then my anxieties were unstable; the mood is hitherto very melancholic. Talking to Conor about "The Point Of It All" - a major link in initial words was what gigs we'd been to - freed and eased my mind when remembering we'd met twice prior. "Better Days To Come" then progresses to positive reminiscence with piano, female singing and strings. Louisa discussed with me people she knew, who would seem pretty unlikely to be noticed as having an illness. We agreed that if I hadn't said anything she wouldn't have noticed. There's a happy ending through the darkness - I was told to re-recognise that things will always pass, as they do. I have Conor to thank also for introducing me to Brian Hartnett, a founder of Hearing Voices Ireland, and ASC (aka Mindspan) for "Headspace", his second foray into ambient and minimal techno, currently unreleased.

MK Stop 34: Muttley - White Horizon (November 2009)

2009-12-30T12:20:00.000-08:00

Originally posted by Dave Trax on djtrax.wordpress.com

"This blog was set up to host News, Mixes and Videos from DJ Trax. However, Muttley has given so much support to the underground scene and therefore I'm proud to host his latest mix."

TRACKLISTING

01 - ICR - Misspent (Misspent Music)
02 - Probe-One - Protocol (Covert Operations)
03 - Silent Witness - Amazon (DNAudio)
04 - Hipnotic - White Horizon (D:Art Recordings Unreleased)
05 - ASC & Subwave - Storm System (Covert Operations)
06 - DJ Trax - This One (Subvert Central)
07 - Cloak & Dagger - Soul Sauce (Subtle Audio)

Download exclusively at djtrax.wordpress.com

"White Horizon": a set ordinated on the principle that this kind of music can be played in clubs at peak or primetime, if handled in an alternative way, and with enough discern. The well-being of dancefloors worldwide survives on variation, though counterintuitively you won't encounter a selection like this at the majority of deeper drum and bass nights. I view the problem as comparable to the medium of film transgression. If we call punter satisfaction the pivotal scene, then most events are a Hollywood blockbuster, where trailers and sub-scenes are fabrications of longevity, and idiosyncratic gestures go to waste. With "White Horizon" I chose a broad cross-section of tracks, from digital and vinyl labels, that are either today defunct, or running on small subscription-favouring protocols.

You get a package that's a labour of love, and not a disposable pseudo-commodity - as is your average big-buck flick. The Hipnotic track smooths over the syncopation as the sole tune with a two-step beat. Contextually, it highlights and transposes that, as a DJ, you don't have to revert to heavy-hitters to get the floor moving. I hope by submitting this online, that the notion, and associated branches high and low are perceiveable to you, the listener, or reinforced, furthermore.

MK Stop 33: Muttley - All Shall Be Well (November 2009)

2009-11-13T08:24:00.000-08:00

Artwork credits: lonekink @ lonekink.net

Download exclusively at Phuturelabs

TRACKLISTING

01. Lamenter – Redeemer (from the album “Sleeping Me“)
02. Slow – Loma (from the album “Dual Box“)
03. Rameses III – We Shall Never Sing Of Sorrow (from the album “I Could Not Love You More“)
04. Eluvium – Amreik (from the album “Copia“)
05. Harmonic 33 – Space Interval 2 (from the album “Music For Film, Television And Radio Vol.1“)
06. Harmonic 33 – Space Interval 3 (from the album “Music For Film, Television And Radio Vol.1“)
07. Intex Systems – Glaciers (from the album “Research And Development“)
08. The Alpha Rhythm – The Seventh Storm (from the album “Proof Of Concept“)

“All Shall Be Well”: dedicated to my good friend Lata. The tracks are on a happier, hopeful trajectory than my “Back To Mine” mixtapes. I aspired to convey what the receiving of goodwill on her part does to me – contributing science articles to this blog, and helping me deal with my troubles in 2008. I could praise her until I’m blue in the face, but I’d prefer to let the music symbolise the pacific qualities, and nobility, my knowing this lovely lady has brought to me. Ambience with the majesty of thousands: determinant, meaningful and rewarding, just like the kindness chanelled from our friendship, and reading her writing.

Mk Stop 32: Muttley - Back To Mine Pt.2 - "Reflections"

2009-11-13T08:22:00.001-08:00

Download exclusively at Low Light Mixes

"Reflections": music for healing bereavements, remedying mental disorders brought to light, enacting occupational therapy, and cherishing the good memories that can sometimes be hard to reach.

TRACKLISTING

01 - Brian Mcbride - The Guilt Of Uncomplicated Thoughts (from the album "When The Detail Lost Its Freedom" - Kranky)
02 - Philip Jeck - Wholesome (from the album "7" - Touch)
03 - Rameses III - The Kindness Of Letting Go (from the album "I Could Not Love You More" - Type)
04 - Mogwai - Aidan's Waltz (from the album "Come On Die Young" - Chemikal Underground)
05 - Hilmar O Hilmarrson & Sigur Ros - Degradation (from the album "Angels Of The Universe" - Import)
06 - Olafur Arnalds - Lost Song (from the album "Found Songs" - Erased Tapes)
07 - ASC - Highbrow (from the Warm008 12' - Warm Communications)
08 - Autechre - Nil (from the album "Amber" - Warp)
09 - The Drift - Noumena (from the album "Ceiling Sky" - Temporary Residence)
10 - The Alpha Rhythm - The Return (from the album "Proof Of Concept" - Seedknowledge)
11 - The Cinematic Orchestra - Diabolus (from the album "Motion" - Ninja Tune)
12 - Badmammal - Sending And Taking (goodluck/badluck unreleased)
13 - Glint - Double Vision (from the album "Sound In Silence" - www.glintonline.com)
14 - A Silver Mount Zion - The Triumph Of Our Tired Eyes (from the album "Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward" - Constellation)

MK Stop 31: Muttley - Back To Mine Pt.1 - "Overshadowed"

2009-11-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

Artwork credits: cordani @ est00.com

Download exclusively at The Hydrogen Cafe

TRACKLISTING

01 - Lull - Illusion Of Unbroken Surface
02 - Hildur Gudanottir, BJ Nilsen & Stillupsteypa - The Direction Was Foggy Or Cloudy
03 - Klute - Untitled
04 - Grouper - Close Cloak
05 - Stars Of The Lid - Hibener Toujours
06 - Massimo Liverani - Primavera
07 - Lamenter - Bleeding Riverbed
08 - El Heath - Epick
09 - Xela - Her Eyes Sparkled And She Walked Away
10 - Ulrich Schnauss - Molfsee
11 - Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Providence
12 - Hakobune - The July Skies Followed Us Here
13 - Kettel - Halt Him
14 - Mogwai - Punk Rock
15 - Bark Psychosis - Burning The City (Alt mix)
16 - Jodi Cave - For Myria (2)
17 - Lezrod - Digi4
18 - The Alpha Rhythm - Long Road Ohm
19 - Klute - Torrential Pain
20 - Pilote - The Dialogue

"Overshadowed": the "Back To Mine" model taken literally, in a mixed-construction collage of music very personal to my existence; upheld as a return to being myself. Catalysed by an explosion of hateful bile, and inaccurate surmising, from two allies, towards me - defending the woman I've scripted in the "15 Minutes Of Fame" writeups from part 5 onwards - who this is anonymously dedicated to, each track signifies through titles a soundtrack to meetings, and departures which have never taken place.

Cataloguing what can overshadow failed friendships by symbolism - from the rebuttal of society with "Untitled" by Klute, to the depth-charge fathomages - over fabrication - of Grouper's "Close Cloak", prior the stones of universal change, gathering moss, and returning with surplus details - from each rise and fade - on Ulrich Scnauss' "Molfsee"; rain samples bespeaking the "Where are you going?" questioning in GYBE's "Providence, then a handful of sentimental recordings from 2006, where I believed I could trust this lady - as a true friend; no infatuation, just investment by what I brought to the table in conversation; then finally the juxtaposing of rational and irrational lust, leaving the participant with a subconscious dialectic principle for advancement on "The Dialogue", by Pilote.

The end of a relationship or marriage can be a difficult and painful experience. It can leave you feeling confused, lonely and lacking confidence in yourself and the future. Feelings of betrayal, guilt or rejection are common. Anger, sadness and confusion are often intense. Moving forward can be hard when trust, self-confidence and self-esteem have been shaken. All I hope for is that "Overshadowed" can be an aural springboard to assist and heal those swathed in darkness, that which I'm slowly exiting, one step at a time.

MK Stop 30: Muttley & nrvnet - Transference

2009-10-13T10:27:00.001-07:00

“Transference” is the result of the first collaboration between fellow mixtape creators Muttley & nrvnet. Transference began as an exercise in association. Muttley started rummaging through his monthly archives one day, for tracks with titles that suggested an action of transference in the composition of a message. Given the biggest percentage of his collection consisted of beatless audio, the rigidity of tune choices remained, but the limitations decreased.

Influenced by the low-high penchant of groups like Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the consequential recording clocked in at 12 minutes, featuring dense soundwalls from Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd, Beef Terminal, Bitcrush and Broadway Project; going from tranquil piano motifs to a downtempo behemoth.

During this period, fellow ambient mixtape maker nrvnet had contributed two sets to the "15 Minutes Of Fame" mix series. Muttley emailed nrvnet to ask whether he'd like to collaborate on a joint mix. With passion for the cause, both were obliged, and an ongoing conversation was established. The result that you see today is an 83-minute exploration into soundscapes, ambiences, crescendos, and, critically, a bucket-load of emotional credence.

Muttley and nrvnet contributed three sections each following a guideline of 10-15 minute sections. Upon completion of a section, the completed piece was “transferred” to the other. The piece went back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean several times until the message was complete. We won't tell you who did what--that's up to you to decide. The piece represents a conversation between people—both literally and figuratively. It also reflects a transference of state—from quiet to loud; from ambience to dissonance; from drift to beat. What Muttley provides in unconventional selections, nrvnet matches with tapestries of sounds. Transference will be cross-posted at Muttley’s Subversion blog and nrvnet’s Hydrogen Cafe blog.

It was an honour for Muttley and nrvnet to engage in this musical conversation together. We hope this transference of sound will be enjoyable.

- Muttley & nrvnet, October, 2009

D O W N L O A D S (right click, save link as):

Transference MP3 (83:27) (320k) (200 mb)
Artwork (800k Zip file)

TRACKLISTING

01 - Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - Hidden Message
02 - Beef Terminal - Passing Secrets Through The Window
03 - Bitcrush - Prologue
04 - Broadway Project - Message From The East
05 - Porcupine Tree - Russia On Ice (excerpt)
06 - Andrey Kiritchenko - Let Oneself In
07 - The Radio Dept. - Gibraltar
08 - Amusement Parks on Fire - So Mote It Be
09 - Radiohead - Meeting in the Aisle
10 - The Caretaker - Unmasking Alzheimer’s
11 - Skare - To The Other Shore
12 - Emma Cora - Parcels Carrier
13 - Milton Cross - First There Came A Letter From A Tree
14 - Helios - Signed I Wish You Well
15 - Porcupine Tree - Metonia Pt 1; Mesmer Pt 3 (excerpts)
16 - The Gentleman Losers - Weed Garden
17 - Jónsi & Alex - All the Big Trees
18 - Max Richter - lonosphere
19 - Arca - Baixa
20 - Jacaszek - Orszula
21 - Con Cetta vs. Antartica - Thank You
22 - Stars Of The Lid - A Meaningful Moment Through A Meaningless Process
23 - The Alpha Rhythm - Escape Velocity
24 - Peter Broderick - Something Has Changed
25 - Hreda - Knowing How To Carry
26 - Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I (02)
27 - Underworld - Pizza for Eggs (excerpt)
28 - Archive - LeMans
29 - The Last Days - Nightlight
30 - Auburn Lull - Blur My thoughts Again

FIELD RECORDINGS

01 - Marek Brandt - Versailles Castle
02 - John Tenny - French Quarter Walk
03 - Figowitz - Kantine01
04 - Cognito Perceptu - AM Band Static
05 - Stomp - Factory X Operatios
06 - Sal Randolph - Grand Central Station
07 - Connum - Bakery in a German Train Station

"When that transference between beings does occur it is the result of some very strong unbroken karmic connection from the past." - the Dalai Lama

MK Stop 29: Simian Mobile Disco @ 02 Academy, Oxford (6th October 2009)

2009-10-10T05:35:00.000-07:00

I arrive at the Academy pretty generically to electronica club nights: there’s DJs, dancing and beats. Associated with 4/4 purveyors Slide, slamming electro gets the floor moving at heaving capacity. A black curtain is removed to unveil Simian Mobile Disco’s master contraption: two keyboards and a mass of effects units. Applause showers down as SMD take position. I’m ready to sample their danceability.

SMD, in the stadium-grandiosity stakes, make Tiesto sound like new generation Basil Brush: overtly politically correct; out of time. Hyping the crowd, raising their hands, SMD fidget around the machinery, rocking horizontally and vertically, dripping with sweat. Think two bedroom DJs mixing at a peak of concentration and enjoyment.

Seamlessly blending tracks from “Temporary Pleasure”, alongside more electro stompers, SMD’s stage setup is slightly disengaged from view. Paradoxically this centres the focus on the music and SMD equally. Meddling with the FX to crank up the bass, filter and phasers, SMD stick to a highly rational template, where breakdowns, and tempo shifts are bars of candy for the punters.

When SMD’s conservatism risks losing me, it’s rectified by pure adrenalin. Trainspotting welcomes fresh sounds (the majority) and familiar. Take “Cruel Intentions’”: female vox not to give the lover the wrong idea, whereas the Daft Punk-cum-Landscape stylings of “Audacity Of Huge” at 45 minutes of 90, gives great ideas. The euphoria feels like three mini-festivals rolled into one, and all from producers of hackeneyed bands like Arctic Monkeys.

To non-discerning media, dance music is a sterile commodity, being regurgitated in kitsch lengths of 4-7 minutes, needing to be sifted through by those with taste. What SMD lack is the dynamics of live performance. Unlike 2ManyDJs and James Zabiela, who loop, remix on the fly, and flag spontaneity, the set is like a journey on a single track road with no junctions. Considering one of the duo has his back to the room, it reads “programmed” / “pre-planned” in neon lettering. Nevertheless, SMD came, saw, and conquered. And I, for one, would like to go back for seconds.

Simian Mobile Disco: website
Download: "Temporary Pleasure" on eMusic
Simian Mobile Disco: MySpace

MK Stop 28: Zu + Dr Slaggleberry + Drunkenstein @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford (4th October 2009)

2009-10-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

Following their stellar showing at The Bully the week before, Drunkenstein get things rolling like a landslide. Imagine gentle tumbleweed turning suddenly into a boulder. If you asked Neil Armstrong how to control it, he'd probably tell you to put a flag on it; an ant would advise you to run for your life. But tonight's crowd aren't fazed; a couple even put their dancing boots on. Without showboating, Drunkenstein edge towards Pink Floyd on a slower tune, undergoing percussive reinforcement all the while, as if desiring to Connect Four. Ace stuff.

Despite white masks concealing their identities, the next act, Dr Slaggleberry, are a sonically multicoloured, highly dextrous three-piece. Songs hasten with incessant drum salvos, and slow down in squalls. Bracing, emotionally unkempt math-rock is sprayed with instrumental metal magic. When the music verges on fracturing, Slaggleberry regroup and lay a stoner glaze over the core. Their set is relatively short, but if anything that guarantees greater impact.

The band hotly tipped tonight are Zu, but is it worth the wait? Successful hardcore is like a game of Twister. Instead of treading on each other's toes, you create heated geometry, where peaks are only restricted by parts already present, and troughs have to find alternative routes. Conversely, Zu are so mechanical I was expecting WD40 intervention. Stymied by long foreplay between drums and guitar, their product shapes up more as Evian than hard water on tap; free of impurities, but consequently bland.

It's only when they take a subversive initiative that they shine. As a hyperactive Tool, they blend oddball fusions, sometimes somewhere on the road to Squarepusher's later, rockist moments. Grooves dodge complacency like running through revolving doors on a 100 metres sprint. Then during a languid duel session Zu stop for a second to realise the PA is rambling. If they could always be as unpredictable, then it'd be hats off.

Zu: MySpace
Dr Slaggleberry: MySpace
Drunkenstein: MySpace

MK Stop 27: HQ Presents: Commix + Data @ The Cellar, Oxford (25th September 2009)

2009-10-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

If nights had attire made to symbolise them, HQ would be a waistcoast and faded jeans: appealing enough to present to your gran, but not lacking the functionality and freedom for a traditional knees-up. The idyllic apprehension of contemporary drum & bass events would be that those who wandered, and are lost from the non-mainstream (and non-conformist) could find their path and recoil a love for the genre they abandoned. The onset of UK Garage disconnected many heads from the genre in the late nineties, while certain producers left or crossed over. The subsequent demise of experimental labels (think Partisan, Reinforced) and the loss of large imprint backing (Virgin, Talkin' Loud, etc), with Goldie's "Timeless" breaking musical boundaries, means that those jaded have a lot to remember that was superior to the wasteland characteristic of drum & bass today. HQ represent to fix and fuse.

The current measurements are high attendance, newer names integral to the growth of minimalist d&b getting booked, however a small scope of artists for consideration. Underexposed talent is difficult to pin down, and takes time to be recognised. Furthermore, not every producer is a DJ, and those who are could be too inexperienced to support main acts, or headline themselves. Inherently, also, the likelihood is they'll have made a small pool of tunes to present - for fear of tripping up into a mixing trainwreck - or will be looking to push their own productions (most fresh out the studio) so they get more bookings. It's an interesting argument: do you let the "real" DJs masquerade, or compromise the art of set-building for exclusive content to your night? HQ have the balance locked down well: treated by resident DJs Azonica and Chemical to the might of Photek and Source Direct, they return to the 90s, so that for old school heads attending, the evening is not consigned to the category of nonsensical.

The warm-up becomes honey mixed with dynamite. With The Cellar's system now enhanced, these tracks sound glorious. "Ready on the left, ready on the right?" asks Danny Breaks' "Firing Line (Origin Unknown Remix)". I had my appetite whetted for Data. Deep pads harness congruent wholeness, before powering like a steam train into 170bpm bliss. Hypnotic and arresting, the subs really are a peach. Data's "The Enemy Within" rattles the ribcage at 15 minutes in, coming off like the lovechild of Decoder and Surgeon. Thumping bass pressure coalesces with crafty edits and seasick synth growls. The mixing is tight and energetic, a perfect accompaniment to the dancefloor enthusiasts. The militancy is almost frightening, but maintains a sedation thanks to a sparse usage of the elements. The trend of minimalism in d&b is not a token-to-2009 affair; Deep Blue was championing the theories in 1999, but with the introduction of Cylon and their online mixtapes, it seems more and more are perceiving drum & bass as best in its barest essentials, a possible reaction to the stadium rock & bass that is prevalent in the scene. Pendulum swam into the covers of Kerrang! by it, lest we forget.

Data takes the ventures down low and guests are surely appreciative. It's his second stop at HQ and there's a marked improvement in cohesiveness tonight. There are echoes of circa "Piper" Jonny L present. The beats: sharp like razor blades, the bass piercing, comparatively to Azonica's selection, there's not much for the hips to cling onto. Data is expressionless throughout, a robot commanding cyber-domination with an entourage of tech-steppin' mercenaries. Whilst all this is going on, MC Manikular hosts measured, knowing when to shut up and let the beats talk.

Representing Cambridge, Commix have succumb to internet reviews that they look miserable behind the decks when they play out. Tonight they're making an effort, bopping while twiddling knobs. They hold my attention with sparkling melodies. It would be crass to say they plod, but unlike Data, there's not a lot of variation to compensate the raggedy steppers; no half-time, space trapped by rumbling blasts of bass. Legible rewinds aside, they could do with an injection of serotonin to offset the regimentation.

The success of an HQ night belongs to subtlety, not monotony. If you're a punter who's never listened to d&b before, you'd be advised to come for the full duration to sample a wide range of styles that could appear offensive with short exposure. Home listeners crave plenty of variety while not sacrificing musical content. HQ excites its fanbase by booking DJs who feed off the crowd, letting in MCs who compliment the music, playing classics from years gone by, siphoning dubs as unknown quantities, and applying consistency to all of the aforementioned. Watch out for the October 30th all-nighter with d&b legend Doc Scott.

HQ: MySpace
Data: MySpace
Commix: MySpace

MK Stop 26: Drunkenstein + The Wookies + Secret Rivals @ The Bullingdon, Oxford (24 September 2009)

2009-10-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Waiting, anticipation, dread – everyone’s parameters for stop and start are different, and who has the ability to wait the right length anyway? It could be down to chance, or transpire from attunement to your surroundings. Whatever. Secret Rivals enter in a pleasingly swift manner at tonight’s Moshka bill. Walls of noise-pop traverse elegiac guitars at angst-punk tempos. Cascading riffs accumulate friction, then fly with the female vocalist into an accelerated fray. Secret Rivals rock out, but there’s a degree of sameness to each song. Now and again the interest levels lift, but it’s only an occasional novelty in the face of better bands I've seen.

“We are a dark, broody band with a happy aftertaste,” say The Wookies, after Secret Rivals head offstage. Beginning with equal parts keyboard rigidity and melodic simplicity, there’s certainly no nightmare in their showing, even if, as the drummer proclaims, “Dreams are all I’ve got to give you”. Their second tune harbours a fairground-ride crossed with spaghetti western soundtrack. When balancing gruff vocals with soaring riffage and percussive tidal waves, they breathe gulps of air through the line-up. Recklessness is always counterbalanced by order, fighting prog ghosts but never losing touch with reality. I have a feeling this is a glimpse of a band on its way to great things.

True to their name, headline act Drunkenstein are a monstrous gothic hybrid of bands one and two with five cans of cider. Mikes are a prop for many a performer, but none more savage than punks at their most downtrodden, which is what Drunkenstein come across as at least. Concentration and vagueness are not mutually exclusive, but are handled with deft precision, the band cooking up measured heaviosity. Combined with the singing, which has a surprising theatrical quality, their entertainment is like a bath of ice: chilling, fragmented and demanding a careful touch. They say they “stayed up all night practicing”, and it shows.

But where’s the audience, I wonder. There are barely a dozen heads to count. Nevertheless, for those few in attendance, Moshka have provided a sure-fire winner.

Secret Rivals: MySpace
The Wookies: MySpace
Drunkenstein: MySpace

MK Stop 25: Muttley - Lost In Thought (Subvert Central Podcast 045)

2009-10-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

01. Svarte Greiner – The Black Dress (from the album “Knive” – Type)
02. Brian Mcbride – Silent Motels (from the album “When The Detail Lost Its Freedom” – Kranky)
03. Renderizors – Stranger At Your Party (Band version) (from the album “Submarine” – Last Visible Dog)
04. Jasper Leyland – Taken (from the album “Carbon Series Volume 5” -12X50)
05. Marcus Schmickler – Cue (from the album “Param” – A-Musik)
06. The Drift – Nozomi (from the album “Ceiling Sky” – Temporary Residence)
07. Robert Haigh – Lost On A Train (from the album “Notes And Crossings” – Siren)
08. Burial – Night Bus (from the album “Burial” – Hyperdub)
09. Dario Antonelli – ZX-21 Part 1 (from the album “Zaum Vol.1” – Psychonavigation Records)
10. Eluvium – I Am So Much More Me That I Am Perfectly You (from the album “Lambent Material” – Temporary Residence)
11. Stars Of The Lid – Requiem For Dying Mothers Pt.2 (from the album “The Tired Sounds Of Stars Of The Lid” – Kranky)
12. Burial – UK (from the album “Untrue” – Hyperdub)

“Lost In Thought”: dedicated to my mother, whom I have left home from, to build ledges of ascension, with my old place of residence.

Download

Any feedback much appreciated. :)

MK Stop 24: Mr. Shaodow + Meet Me At Midnight + Baby Gravy + Desert Storm @ 02 Academy Oxford (5th September 2009)

2009-09-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Guitar boxes shuffle, 180 bpm metal grinds out the speakers, ready for the spell we’re put under. Baby Gravy steer the ship from Desert Storm’s crescendos. Stalking and slinking over the premises, Iona’s taut vocalizing maps out a Van de Graaff generator of low-slung static charge. “Nuffink”, with local MC Nzyme, is a highlight, self-raising to a mid-tempo comedown, where the sub bass is enlarged and synths permeate like slugs caught in a beer trap. ShaoDow enters for live favourite “Don’t Touch Me”, and the set ends with Iona crawling round the floor.

The gap between tension and release begins to broaden, as beer fuels the mosh-pit riot; by now there’s a sweaty intensity inside the Academy.

Initially I was cagey about Meet Me At Midnight, who at first sound a casualty of alt-rock. But spinning the microphone yo-yo-style, they expand their tapestry from lysergic groaning and shovelling of instrumental dirt, to petrol-bomb riffs more mince than meat. When unwinding their playful side they’re of great enjoyment. Unlike the body ping-pong that continues to upset the concord.

But now the Shaolin rapper is waiting in the wings with laptop-merchant Offkey and MC Leen. I last caught ShaoDow supporting The Scribes close to a year ago, on the release of his single “Grime”. He’s come on leaps and bounds since then: his voice of satirical wisdom bypassing getting banned on Channel U, guesting the Truck festival (reviewed in September's Nightshift), and unleashing his anger indiscriminately (a moral duty given his involvement in the Love Music, Hate Racism campaign) with ingenious prose that could tongue-tie the fiercest auctioneer.

Leaping onto the stage with a spinning crescent kick – shadow; moving ShaoDow – he’s a beacon of delight tonight; running through “Look Out, There’s a Black Man Coming”, an audacious a capella, and an insanely good freestyle session; covering topics as experimentally vague as Cheestrings, Hitler, the magic roundabout and Michael Jackson. I ended my evening with an affection so vast I could hardly wait to drop “That’s Mr. ShaoDow To You” into the CD player again and bop along to my heart’s content.

MK Stop 24: Glint - Self-titled EP (www.glintonline.com)

2009-09-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

Glint was conceived by Jase Blankfort (NYC) and Mateus Tebaldi (Brazil) in New York City. This self-titled EP sees them issuing an electro-rock amalgam of Kraftwerk-meets-Muse, unfinished symphonies, taunted by paranoid guitar flex and forlorn lyrical passages. The epic "Kernel Panic", a graphically rich maelstrom of orchestral strings, percussive post-rock poise and vocal intrepidity, continually peaks and troughs as the opener, breaking down for a total of four, jolting your apex upward and downward like a see-saw.

The casual stroll / dilligent sprint meshing of (mislabeled) "Freak" squeezes oil from the painting as Mogwai encapsulated in a perpetual motion machine, Blankfort whining like an alchoholic, at odds with himself, over driving percussion, and rope-swing guitar.

The output appears tinted by asymmetrical structures that are once lopsided as they are angular, blending like rice with curry sauce. It's this spicy homogenity that populates the entireity of the EP, the poppier "Hold Still" exiting a dust-blown compartment to crash down with force on the listener, the rippling analogue, arpeggiated synth arching like a rainbow bridge from the underbelly of the procession.

Lyrically there's much to scratch beards over, particularly "I've tried this times before / I can't wait / Counting the steps I take / The hearts I break / I'm counting mistakes I make, the lies I fake / I'm willing to change my ways, take me away".

"Friends" rises from a pool of Detroit Techno glue to supplant a weighty cheerleader-wave of automated guitar persistence, searing like a lengthy burn. "Damaged Goods" which follows it, is hook, line and sinker to the record's mission statement: to prove "my love is true". There's weighty backing to Blankfort's gruff deliveries, pauses for breath, with a machine-gun grunt propelling the longing onward.

If there's one thing that's lacking from this EP, it's that the barriers to enlightenment are blocked by a tendency to be oppressive. "Sound In Silence", their 2008 LP, proved they have the scope to implement lighter textures instead of a doom-engulfed emotive smog. I have a feeling that if Glint can capitalise on this fact and sow sweetness in the lining, on the same release, they will be onto something very special indeed. As it is, they don't require to trade old ideas for innovative ones; just a gentle glance at the world wouldn't go amiss.

Purchase: "Sound In Silence" and Self-titled EP
Glint: MySpace
Glint: blog

MK Stop 23: Muttley - Gravitation To Resolution

2009-09-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

01. Jasper TX & Anduin – Where A Star Once Was (SMTG)
02. Robert Fripp & Brian Eno – Evening Star (EG Records)
03. Kettel – An Inky Moon (DUB Recordings)
04. The Drift – For Grace And Stars (Temporary Residence)
05. Sawako – Purple Sky Coming (Anticipate)
06. Gordon Giltrap – Sad Skies (La Cooka Ratcha)
07. Johann Johansson – Fordlandia – Aerial View (4AD)
08. Quosp – Stars (U-Cover)
09. Seeland – Station Sky (LOAF)
10. Peter Broderick – Below It (Type)
11. Neil Halstead – The Finer Points Of Flying (Brushfire Records)
12. Glint – Boy And The Stars (Rely Records)
13. Mono – The Sky Remains The Same As Ever (Temporary Residence)
14. Need More Sources – Sun (MOTEER)
15. Badmammal – Skydive (goodluck/badluck)
16. Bird Show – Clouds And Their Shadows (Kranky)
17. Christopher Willits – Clouds Form (Ghostly International)
18. Slowdive – Blue Skied An’ Clear (Creation)
19. Boards Of Canada – Skyliner (Warp)
20. Burial – Forgive (Hyperdub)
21. Brian Eno – An Ending (Ascent) (EG Records)

"'Gravitation To Resolution’: tracks that represent an ascending of consciousness, in their respective progressions, all connatural to the sky; objects of, motions in, from night to day, in whatever custom fits.”

Download

MK Stop 22: Muttley - Veer On The Side Of Caution

2009-09-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

Artwork credits: cordani @ est00.com

Download

They say if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, but they don't usually supplement if you fail to fail, you're on course to plan. This is the mentality I've been handling tighter in the last month, as the woman I've had the relationship breakdown with replied to one of my mails - directly, for the first time in over an annum. She informed me "you were thinking too much and too deep and tried to interpret too many things, which had absolutely nothing to do with you." Obviously there's misunderstandings at each end, a literary big cat that's had its dinner stolen. Reclaiming my equilibrium will be dictated by fate and common sense, as she says "I'm gonna explain you everything as soon as I'm gonna have a new laptop again, ok?" By kind direction of my parents I will resist answering her until that semblance is fulfilled.

"Veer On The Side Of Caution" is the second in a series of mixes dedicated to Bridewell Gardens, which I enrolled for earlier in 2009 to attempt work in the fields of conservation and decoration. To tie in the first paragraph, it is a cross-application of mellow and meaningful music that is themed on tracks that use piano for longer than two minutes. I partake in pricking out and potting on at Bridewell and this is my soundtrack. If you're unaware what these are: pricking out is lifting sowed seeds (plants) from their beds, putting them into trays, whereas potting on is lifting tray-bound plants and placing them in pots. Sound like fun? It's helped keep me sane and sedated this fall.

I've lengthened the double whammy of purposes by integrating the ominous narratives of L-r & Radiomentale's "I Could Never Make That Music Again" LP, ala "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie", to creep in and out. It is a relay of musicians talking of their personal hardships, methods of using music as healing agents, and the contextualising of such diction in succession opens the idioms into more adventurous areas. I can apply a multitude of the speeches as buoys for my problems with psychosis, most openly "I stopped listening to music in general. I had my own personal things that I was going through. I was also going through a time of, you know, I guess I would say...I'm not retro or conservative at all you know, I'm really not".

Leafcuter John's "Dream 111" is the badge of honour I sacrificed when presuming a test on the woman's MySpace page was to detect whether I was supposedly "stalking" her (which I wasn't. I was very worried for her and so prolonged my viewing of her MySpace to tell if there was suicidal hypothesising). A selection of her friends posted "one, two" in their specific language (this deal has greater space for misunderstanding as it veered over two different countries, one not native English) and I took the bait, intended for me or not, and posted "three" in her language. I then mailed the friend who shouted me down by saying if she has no more time for me, deleting my MySpace comment will let me know. For all I assume she could have removed me from her friends list there and then, as the comment on her site remained, but the one on mine "hello my favourite donut" (we used to jest and that was an affectionate term) disappeared. So the manifestation increased, opening up "This is battered and torn, with a scratch on the top, although it is not so worn, it is time to stop" to further interpretation.

"There are freaks that are created, either through accident or disease, and then there are freaks that create themselves. We get laughed at, it was a joke. We got laughed at for years, so we had to really believe in ourselves, because we could have given up. A freak is really a metaphor or a symbol for someone whos on the outside. And in a lot of ways, they've always seen themselves as outsiders...as freaks, if you were." Like trying to put ten pounds of mud in a five pound sack, this working could have transgressed desirably if I was able to see clearly, with clarity and restraint from not constantly wearing my heart on my sleeve. The anguish is almost palpable as I encounter my older emotions and attempt to open my eyes and realise this friendship I had online with this woman could teeter to trepidation all too quickly if I don't take my family's advice and hold back. Those reading my past write-ups, and newcomers to the 15 Minutes Of Fame Mix Series, I'll tell you honestly what occurs in good faith, very soon.

Mixed in Cubase SX 3.
Any feedback much appreciated. :)

MK Stop 21: Big Night Out @ The Bullingdon, Oxford (August 13 2009)

2009-08-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

You can attempt to sell pearls of wisdom, but if the surfaces are cracked, nobody's going to buy it. And like a natural brunette dyed blonde, eventually the streaks of sensibility can shine through, beyond the eyebrows. Lifting spirits and retinas in equal measure, this Thursday, are Big Night Out promotions. Presenting a three-artist medley, there is no fee on the door, everybody gets to say their piece in comfort of 30 minute spots, filled by DJ Natty Dread, and all donations to the raffle or palm are going to Children In Need. Kevin Jenkins, commencing the night, understands the dictum of forcibly altering one's consciousness with "Fucked Up Fairytale", articulating voice with mellifluous fluidity, and strums while rattling off metaphors like a bird cage on the move.

He's by trade a sound engineer, running SelectaSound Studio in Oxford, is Oxjam Oxford co-ordinator, and has been playing around the Oxford music scene for many years, in various bands and music projects, including Beta Spider (with Tim Goldsworthy) Blood Orange (solo experimental) Hot Flares (Party band) and newer project Cyberscribes. Renowned for his cover sets (the day from this he'll be in a pub somewhere in Oxfordshire), the set covets original material, his throaty tones crooning in obelisks between Bing Crosby and a more leftfield (think "Eternity") Robbie Williams, the direct attenuation of "I Want You" and "Burn For You" letting you know just where he's going for, touching the heart in a kaleidoscopic free-for-all.

"When a computer is on stage, all manner of strange things can happen" declares Big Night Out's forerunner. A rasping tractor-engine midrange would be one of those. Asked to do a mix, Sikorski get the juices flowing in fine style with their heavyweight electro noise. Sat behind computer screens, the show takes a fanciful turn when the group's vocalist steps into the limelight a la Landscape's "Einstein-A-Go-Go" to chat over an old-skool-rave-in-Ibiza atmosphere. It's never grating, there's no catch, and their and the crowd's boogieing ends all too soon.

Last, but by the standards of the ballads she brings, not least in any circumstance, is Jessie Grace. Her showing spans lullabies to lost souls on "Missing", calls to abort reprimanding for "Restore", a beguilingly beautiful delivery on "My Universe", and Portishead-in-a-beehive masquerading on "Spring Time". A great finish to a very impressive evening, despite the low numbers that yearned to be increased.

Kevin Jenkins: MySpace
Sikorski: MySpace
Jessie Grace: MySpace

MK Stop 20: Fanu interview

2009-08-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

I spoke to Janne Hatula (Fanu) across a period of two weeks online, seeing where he's putting pedal to the metal, and finding out more on his role as Lightless label owner.

We are influenced by many collectives, both groups with which we affiliate and those with which we are not members. Whether the collectives surrounding us are academic, spiritual, financial, work-world, familial, or otherwise, they enact powerful rewards (and punishments) to their members and non-members alike. They work to influence and control all manner of things, from our thoughts to our choice of lovers, to our life's work. They may also demean or discourage efforts that are not concomitant with their preferences. Did you take all of this into account when guaranteeing Lightless Recordings a Subvert Central affiliation?

Wow, what a monster of a question as a starter here, heh!
I'll say I'm definitely a subvert junglist for life and that's how it's going to be. Me and Lightless are definitely 100% down with the subversive movement. It totally helped me in terms of exposure as well as inspiration when it started.

Personally I was enamoured by the articulacy of events like "Is It Just Me, or...". There were passionate individuals with varying ideals coming together to discuss the nitty gritty, the serious to the downright silly, all in the same cache. The "behave yourself"; "don't make waves"; "don't think too hard"; "don't get big ideas"; "just keep a low profile"; "be a carbon copy"; "be nice"; "say 'yes' even though you don't like it"; it doesn't fit, it's not the right size and it hurts... To follow such a lifeless value system causes loss of soul-linkage in the extreme. On the contrary, do you feel empowered as being part of the Subvert Central community?

Well, I think I had all the drive, creativity, grumpiness (heh) etc needed even before I joined SC, but SC definitely connected me with so many like-minded producers and DJs. It also exposed a lot of people to my stuff as well as others', and it continues to do so.

I can recall you posting your tracks in the Beat Ranch. Back then, in 2002-2004, Paradox had coined phraseology for what he produced - 'drumfunk'. If the categorisation of your music as 'drumfunk' is antiperspirant, how and where would you like it sprayed?

Uhhh...these Qs are too clever for me, I just woke up!
So, if an antiperspirant prevents you from sweating, would a drumfunk (I hate that word – for the record!) spray prevent you from making and/or liking bad beats?

You could say that, yes.

I'd have it sprayed at all the big drum and bass events at primetime.

Homing is the instinct to return, to go to the place we remember. It is the ability to find, whether in dark or in daylight, one's home place. Did your relationship with your parents spread fruitful seeds with this in mind?

Yes, definitely. And I still go see my mom a few times a year. She lives where I grew up.

I love that little town, as life has a different pace there. They hardly have 8,000 (eight thousand) people there. It's a good place to go to if you want to distance yourself from your everyday life in the city.

Where are you from, and where are you currently?

The town I just mentioned is called Haapavesi. It's 500-600km north of Helsinki, roughly. I've been living in Helsinki since January 2000.

I always got the impression that you're a friendly guy, very approachable and warm-hearted. Photographs in your gallery and selected party out-takes (ICHiOne, The Cavern, Exeter and the US) confirm this. Has your temperament calmed with age?

I'm hardly temperamental. I've always been a nice, mellow dude.

In the interim of your travels around Helsinki, have you found the drum and bass mainstream to be lacking the breakbeat-heavy styles you engender?

I would have to say so, yes.

I remember you saying that some of the well-known DJs in that scene, liked your beats, but wouldn't drop them in clubs. Can you understand why?

Well, yeah, I can. That style of drum and bass doesn't really get played here.

However, my flatmate, who goes by the artist name of Trisector, is doing a monthly event in a bar called Loop, and they're exploring the deeper, breakbeat-oriented sounds there every month, and that shit kicks ass.

What is the scene like over in Helsinki, and how has it developed in recent years?

The scene is small, yet pretty lively. There's events all the time, and international DJs are being brought here on the regular. I started going to events here in 2000, and I think it's got livelier since. I have a lot of respect for the guys who do all the events here.

Lately you're planning to tour the US.

I've done three US tours already! The first one was short, the second one had around twelve gigs, and the last one – which I finished on June 19 – had ten. They were all organized and put together by mister Chad Simer aka Olcyrus from Mukilteo, to whom I'm immeasurably indebted for making it all happen. A good person with a huge heart and lots of musical passion. Gotta love him.

On that note, the drum and bass scene becomes a puddle of mud. What do we do to clean it up?

Wow. I don't know. Drum and bass as a whole is quite disintegrated in a way, so if it became a puddle of mud where everything mixed together pretty seamlessly, it might be a good thing. Heh.

A soulless world means some people are ruthless in getting what they want, without compromise. However in a lot of cases, things take time - time that they won't put up with. Do you subscribe to the ideal of the ruthless human, or are you more sensitive in the relationships you partake in?

Can't say I promote any ruthlessness in my actions. Even if you do something in your own terms, you shouldn't be selfish in your actions. This world would be so much better if we all were just a little less selfish. A little good goes a long way.

Then, if you could command the attention of millions of people for five minutes, what would you say?

Be a little less selfish. Care about the people around you. Try to do something nice to them, as it goes a long way. Love others like you love yourself (I'm not religious or anything, even though some of that may sound religious...).

In fairy-tale interpretation, the drummer becomes the heart of the centre of whatever new life and new feeling needs to rise and reverberate. In drum and bass' golden era (subjectively 1995-1997) this would explain the overflowing talent that married the breakbeat to atmosphere, the deep to the detrimental, and operations that condensed material as such. Do you miss those years?

I do miss those years in a way. Material similar to that of those years still is being made, no doubt – it's just that that material isn't in the spotlight anymore. That music was the dnb mainstream back then, but now it's in the very marginal, and the mainstream dnb of today is motherfucking awful. It's simply crap music.

I miss the adventurousness of the 95-97 dnb and how open people were about it; breaky or not, it was simply good music.

The drummer is also able to frighten things away, as well as evoke them. When Ed Rush And Optical begun the overwhelming techstep takeover, with "Wormhole" sticking out as a pivotal piece, breakbeats on subsequent efforts maintained regimented ideals instead of syncopation, perplexing rhythmic passages shunned over inherent power that comes with flattening the dynamics, and cranking up the mids and highs. I recall you started a petition to get Danny Breaks back into d&b. He, for me was someone who straddled the range of these contrasting styles very well. Do you wish more heads today were exposed to such productions, and were you influenced by the intersection?

I do wish more people got exposed to such productions for sure. The styles I push are in the marginal, and I don't think the main reason is that it's drastically less accessible to the junglists of today: it's mainly because people simply don't get exposed to those styles unless they go digging quite deep – which a lot of people fail to do, and I can't blame them.

In the last few years, I've heard a few people who dropped out of dnb and then tried coming back say "I haven't been following jungle for some years but I wanted to check out some and I did, and dear god, what has happened? I checked out some clips and it's all awful shit”.

It's those people who can't find their way back to the kind of stuff that they loved: it may have been way more mainstream many years ago, but these days, it's very underground, and they can't find it very easily by going to the "major” dnb sites or events.

I remember reading how DJ Fracture tried to strike up a conversation with a bored Photek at Technicality. How was your meeting with Bill Laswell in comparison?

Those meetings can't be compared.

I first did some beats for me and Laswell's collabo album, ”Lodge”, after which I made some beats for him that he used in his "Vessel” remixes for Nine Inch Nails that came out on the "Year Zero Remixed” LP (I'm not credited on the album so I'll just mention it here, so you know, hehe!).

I went to NYC for a few days after a US tour I did and he paid for my hotel in Manhattan, paid for my drinks, showed me some nice food joints in NYC etc and we just hung out and talked about music. A real good guy, super down-to-earth, funny as hell, and all.
Also, for the record, Photek's beats today are lame as heck, while Bill Laswell is into the wild breaks, man.

If by looking in a mirror you turn into a superhero, what is his name and what does he do?

William Breakspeare.

Haha!

He finds, samples and mangles all the wickedest breaks in the world, making them speak his language.

Did you ever get into producing to earn money, or was it just a motivation for you to prolong your studies?

Money was never in my mind...making music has always been – and still is! – a hobby I do for fun.

I've ALWAYS done it for myself, and myself only, and I'm being dead honest here. I've never done one single compromise in my music with the market/fans in mind. If all my recordings stopped selling completely today, I'd still do it for myself and enjoy it as much as I always did.

From adolescence, what tools have you used to carve a life for yourself?

Doing the things I love – to nourish the soul and maintain the zest.

Where did the Fanu name originate? Some names stick like fridge magnets; I'm intrigued to know where this stemmed.

An old friend of mine used to give people the silliest nicknames when he was young, and when we were kids, he noticed I had a sticker of an elephant with the word "HappyFant” on it. In his twisted nickname-making mind, he made "Fanu” out of that. So there you have it! :D

Cool. Now, a lot of people will know you for "Siren Song", which sold over 500 copies on Subtitles. However, it was one of Subtitles lowest selling releases, and took plenty of gumption to be repressed. Do you feel proud of that accomplishment, do you look back and wish you'd released it yourself, and what was the emotional input like in comparison to your Lightless highlights?

Geez, this stuff is old! :D

I doubt it's the lowest-selling one: it was pressed twice and it sold out both times. I do feel proud of getting a release on Subtitles and I'm grateful to Teebee for putting it out for sure.

I wouldn't go back and change anything: getting a release on Subtitles, one of the biggest dnb labels out there, makes people check it out, and if I had released it, I don't think that many people would've heard it.

Emotional input? You mean rewarding, or...?

I was thinking more along the lines of how much you put into a track, but sure, why not.

I'd say it's more rewarding now: things are more in my own hands, and I've matured in terms of being an artist (and see, I'm still not making clownstep!!), whatever that means.

Despite this achievement, I recall you having a fracas with Teebee, who once said "You ain't doing anything new. Man I see like 50 of you come and go in every year." Has such critique hardened you to hatred or malignation, or do you take it with tongue firmly in cheek?

Believe it or not, I don't care about any criticism, be it from anybody. It's easy, because I've never done one thing to impress others or to appeal to anybody...I only do it for myself.

If I can manage to impress myself in my own studio space, I've reached my aim for a short while, and what comes after that, it's OK, whether it be positive or negative or from fans or the big heads who think their opinions count more than those of others'.

That's the STS soft synth on "End Of An Era", am I right?

Highly likely it is...I've sampled the synth back when I had a PC.

I remember sending it to you and you consequently selling your Virus. How has the transition from hardware to software been for you, are you in the middle of major changes, and how settled are you with your setup?

I'm still using my Akai s5000 every now and then, as well as my Soundcraft desk...they will never go away.

Logic 8 is the sequencer I use.

Just trying to mix them all...it works nicely. Sometimes I make all-software tracks, but they are more or less mixed on my Soundcraft.

You once told me you don't get inspired to write music in the summer. Do you think there's a direct correlation to wistfulness inside you, and the surroundings you produce in?

Yes, it's true I can't really make music in the summer. First, it doesn't inspire me at all for some reason. I grew up in the dark, cold parts, and that did shape my musical unconsciousness.

Second, I started skateboarding again two years ago, and that's kept me out for most of the summer so far: I haven't stayed much inside. Come autumn, the beats will start rolling in!

What do you do to revive the senses - sleep, caffeine, sport, sauna?

I skate – and I work out daily now. The latter is part of me dramatically changing the way I live, which I started last December. I've lost a lot of weight and I feel so much better now and my health has improved so much.

I O.D. on coffee every day, though, heh.

In the grey mists of morning, are you usually busy honing music production, or tucked up in bed?

These days, I try to get up at decent times – between 8 and 10 – and just drink mad loads of coffee and work out while doing it, or just go skate right after the first cup of coffee.

Some people's daily practice is prayer. Do you have your own recurrent cycles you respect and partake in?

Exercising a bit in the morning and/or in the evening. Having my coffee as soon as I open my eyes, haha.

As a one-man operation with Lightless, I imagine you must be a very busy man. What do you do to help yourself unwind?

I'm not nearly as busy with music as many people think. I've been lucky to have it all pretty easy: doing gigs and getting paid for other music stuff, too.

However, skateboarding is what makes me forget the everyday mundanity.

Well, skateboarding: Ollie or kickflip?

Damn! My ollies go definitely higher than any of my flips, but kickflip has been in my repertoire for almost as long as the ollie.

If I have to let one go, I'd keep the ollie for sure as it's the foundation of so many other tricks.

If I was a budding producer looking for a Lightless signing, what would your criteria be?

Original music. Period.

Please, no tracks with 1) pretentious über-chopped breaks executed with no real sense of rhythm, 2) bleeps and minimal sounds run through delay, or 3) forced movie samples before the drop...I'm getting sick of those demos.

What were your primary inspirations for starting the Lightless label - was it a case of being let down too much by external delays, or do you think of it as a natural extension of your name and agenda?

Mainly the former. I just wanted to have it all in my hands...it's worked like a charm, and I'm super thankful to S.T. Holdings for letting me do it.

It feels good having a personal outlet for my productions so I don't have to shop around anymore.

So you've launched a rawrip page with over half of your catalogue available as Mp3s. What are your thoughts on the digital revolution?

Simply, I think music should be available to people who are willing to pay for it. Not everyone wants to buy vinyl, so it's good that they can get their music in digital form. I still want to support vinyl, but you want to be realistic, too: let everyone willing to buy your stuff do it. I'm not into the "vinyl-only” way of thinking of releasing music at all.

It's good to acknowledge you've kept your eyes open. A baby gets newly born into the world, alive with a background of classical music his mother plays him. What track from the Lightless catalogue would you present as a gift?

"Poltergeist", of course, to fuck the baby up.
Haha, well, maybe something from the "Daylightless" CD2...something mellow and beautiful, I think.

Can you take us through how you produced a chosen track on "Homefree" - how you start, whether you lead with your emotions, how you got things to a level you're happy with?

It starts with picking a sound that suits how I'm feeling. Everything gets built around that. It can be a bass sound, for example, but most often it's a pad sound or a simple melodic thing. It's never a break, however, that I build a track around. That's how it goes, in a nutshell.

What musical ventures would you still like to embark on - singular, or in collaboration?

Well, Polar has been saying we should do a collabo, so I think that has to be made reality sooner or later...

If you were granted a day with any producer, who would it be and why?

Amon Tobin. It's his samples and atmospheres and the rich sound textures I'd like to see get made.

If you could keep just one record in the world, what would it be?

Questions like this are evil...if I *really* took that question seriously, all the pondering might take five pages, so I'll just be a partypooper and say I couldn't choose just one.

You've sent me this picture of you with the book "The Golden Ass". What does it touch on - philosophy, science, or a hybridisation?

I don't have a clue what it is about! It's a total joke...I was just hanging out in New York (with awesome Mr. Cordani from Subvert Central forum), and I spotted that book and wanted to make a photo of myself with it.

Great! Re-investigating your past, you were born with a twin brother. Has there been any sibling rivalry between you, are you worlds apart in interests, and do you foresee any collaborations on projects in the future?

There's never been any rivalry between us. We're both pretty creative (he's an extremely talented tattoo artist) but I can't say our works could be combined – unless we're going to use a tattoo as a record cover...now that's an idea!

What are you afraid of?

My biggest fear would be realizing I've lost my creativity, dreams, and passion. My soul is made of those things.

Do you have dreams which have affected your reality, and do you think there is more to life than our climate change driven, self-fulfilled prophecy? (the world's ending)

If dreams here mean dreams you have when you're asleep, no, but as in a dream that keeps you going, yes.

The whole music thing – being a somewhat successful producer and a DJ in my own terms – was a dream, but it slowly started becoming reality, and I've already achieved so much more I ever dreamed of.

Dreams are what keep your soul alive. As long as you have dreams, you'll be able to take the daily grind and see further.

Ambient pioneer Brian Eno has developed a new interactive application for Apple Iphone. 'Bloom' allows users to create their own ambient compositions via the Iphone's touch screen. What are your views on technology - is it more of a hindrance than a help to us?

Can't be a bad thing, really. Whatever helps people to get creative, make more good, original music, and enjoy music in general, is a good thing in my book.

Heh, I'm just getting the new iPhone – for the music apps...

Could you name three recordings that have had pivotal influence on your life so far?

I have to mention ”Logical Progression 1” at least. It was spectacular in terms of being good MUSIC, let alone being good jungle or having good breaks.

FSOL's ”Lifeforms” taught me all I ever needed to know about electronic ambient music, and I still think that record was light-years ahead of its time.

It's hard to name the third!

If there was a possibility for paradise, what would make paradise for you, and would you take it?

I think part of every man's paradise is getting to do what he likes to do. I guess I can say doing the music thing, which has made it possible for me to live a life of not having to take a 9-5 job, has let me taste some of that paradise. I'm planning to start ”a real job” of being a teacher maybe next year, so I can't feast on my paradise forever, heh.

You graduated to teach English in 2007, completing an MA thesis. Are you passionate about English, or have the nuances of Finnish eclipsed your interest in literature?

I wrote my MA thesis on the use of African American Vernacular English (sometimes referred to as "Ebonics”) in the rap lyrics of some Finnish rappers. I am passionate about English for sure. It was the only thing that interested me in school, and I was always pretty good at it. And, for the record, I am the least literature-minded person ever...I hate literature, I guess. Heh.

I still haven't graduated fully, to be honest, but I'm literally one essay away from finishing my studies for good...I need to write 10+ pages about the history of Finnish schooling system, how it's changed and how the way it's been perceived by students has changed over time...see why it's the last thing I gotta do?

I remember reading your interview with Knowledge Magazine, where you said the culture of samurais had influenced your conscious decisions. Can you elaborate on that?

It's about never feeling you're good enough at what you do...about practising constantly, trying to get better at your craft.

I think that's testament to your high quality control.

As for being a samurai...I'm more of a "ronin”, as I don't work for anyone, really.

Your track on "Daylightless", "Hagakure" contains the vocal "when the samurai's head is cut off, he will still be able to perform one action with certainty". If you were the samurai, what would that action be?

Do a nollie frontside 360 shove-it on my skateboard. If the day ever comes that I can't do that trick, I'll be dead.

Something you served in 2000 was six compulsory months in the Finnish army. Have you taken any influence from the discriminatory factors of this work?

Hell no. That shit was useless as heck. The most useless six months of my life for sure. Army blows.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Some sweets every now and then. No matter how healthy you wanna live, you gotta have some chocolate every now and then!

I concur. So, are you a regular contributor to the SC 'Snax Creux'?

Haha, no, but I guess I should be! Banana + peanut butter milkshake with added protein...killer!

Contrasting, if you were out and caught a fish, would you leave the hook in, or let it go?

Well, I do eat meat and I like fish, so depends on the purpose.
If I was out fishing for nourishment, I'd keep it, but if it was for the sport of it (never done either, actually), I suppose it could go.

Do you have any childhood crushes you've held onto?

No, but I've turned one childhood aversion into love: mustard. Used to hate it, now I love it.

All this talk of food is making me hungry. Let's change the subject. If you had to disappear without a trace, where would you go and why?

Helsinki, Finland, is a remote enough place, I guess. But, I'd go to where I grew up: the Finnish countryside.

Twin Peaks: favourite episode?

Too hard a question! From my childhood I can remember Bob crawling over the sofa and Mike (the guy with one arm) getting interrogated...that's some unforgettable shit right there!

Finally, what are your aspirations for the year to come?

Improve my skating. I've been so hooked on it all year. Calling it an addiction is very true. I simply have to do it every day. I'm not even good, honestly, but it's the most fun I've done. I'm so glad I started doing it again in 2007 after a six-year break.

I also plan to start making loads of new music when the summer turns into fall...as that's when the inspiration kicks in. Expect some darkness and deepness.

Big thanks for talking to Muttley's Kennel Janne. All the best with your 2009.

MK Stop 19: Fanu - Homefree LP (Lightless Recordings)

2009-08-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to khal at dogsonacid.com for publishing this review, and allowing me to cross-post it. To leave feedback, see this article link.

When you have nothing to fear, you are truly free. So illustrates Lonekink's fire-laden bridge edging off to a distant land in the artwork to Fanu's new Homefree LP. Building on the brickwork of Daylightless, Fanu channels the hypnotic poignancy and quiet confidence of Calibre and D-Bridge towards heavier breakbeats and wholesome bass astringency.

It's hard to hide stolen pleasures even when they are not nourishing ones. Fanu's bread and butter is Twin Peaks sampling and on Homefree he walks with this notion, raising the jawbone to taut bricolages of real and unreal, analysis and (beautiful) paranoia, seeing things that aren't there, muttered morass into broken chorus. "Amok", track one, sets shipwrecked vocals to string-led cinematics. Segued prior to "Cry 4 U" (feat. Swervez and BBA), where the ululating "I gave you all the love I've got / You took my love, you took my life" takes centre stage, the progression has chronological significance, as the musical connector to personal hardships. It can be difficult putting past scars behind you and the subsequent "Burning The Bridge", is the conduit, the sludgy bass and wispy aria an effusion of angst and passion. As are those on "You May Fall But Don't Hide Your Face", upping the pretentiousness stakes in the titles, only to cough up bigger rewards for those who push past the superficial.

In the days when "back to back" meant rubbing shoulders to test one's size, polite etiquette wasn't mandatory. Comparatively, Fanu's collaboration with The New Law on "Showdown" is a creative venture with respect of rhythm and restraint, whereas on "And I Find Her There", prominent shark-tailed rasps meld with urgent percussive showers and sit-at-the-back vox. They're a step forward from the downtempo excursions of Daylightless, concentrating on absorbtion (melodic continuity, brazen personality) rather than fascination (samurai influences, Twin Peaks). "End Of An Era" is a patchwork of down-pitched amens and angelic harmonic quandary, as if Source Direct drove past the Finn's window and passed the dark, uncompromising baton.

Sometimes the things we are searching for are right under our noses, but it may take an arms' width to access them. It's therefore suitable then that Homefree contains long veins of integrity, diversity and change. On his remix of Vector Burn's "1000 Thrones", Fanu demonstrates the rough-hewn grit that is a staple of his DJ sets. Trading roles, Vector Burn's take on "For Those Who Can Dream" mutates the original into a grizzly bear of inflated cheeks and consequential sudden, winding, sucker-punch low end. "Yesterday we were home, today we're homefree, so uh, lets make a nice time of it," says the title track, as a spider spinning a web of mandolin flourishes around an accelerated dubstep backdrop.

For a supermodel with no face, weighing up elegance and adorableness requires careful consideration. So at 14 tracks deep, patience is a virtue in uncovering the album's true worth. But you will have more than a nice time with Homefree. This is Drum & Bass with its head screwed on, and a label with plenty of multigenre goodies left in the offing.

Purchase: Vinyl / Digital
Fanu: Official website
Lightless Recordings: MySpace

MK Stop 18: Natalie Imbruglia + Murray James @ 02 Academy, Oxford (6 August 2009)

2009-08-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

A row of umbrellas pitch like sandcastles outside the 02 Academy's four walls. A mixture of middle-aged, twenty-somethings and teeny boppers congregate. We're in thick, pouring rain, everyone's soaked, so what's initially appreciated is medication for the system, and if we're lucky, a torch of real promise musically.

Murray James is not carrying it. A mongrel version of Sting swallowing a handful of sleeping pills, dragged onto the stage half-cut, then subjected to ten shots of snakebite before cobbling together the faintest traces of melody, pulse and harmony, cackling like a sub-par Amy Winehouse, into a puke-making assemblage of office-worker-dull tunes, and all that springs to mind here is David Walliams Little Britain character re-enacting "Computer says no." No. Never again. Please, I'm begging you.

Now many times when ideas aren't unfolding or operating smoothly, or we aren't working them well, we lose focus. It is part of a natural cycle and it occurs because the idea has got stale or we have lost the ability to see it in a fresh way. Strapping on your guitar like you're ready to fly a plane couldn't be worse when the proceeding forty minutes summons up a nosedive of proportions akin to slipping on a dog turd while forced into reading a copy of the Daily Mail in a prosaic state of imagining.

After an abysmal start, who could lead-in with such a restorative, rejuvenating hour-and-a-half than Natalie Imbruglia. I swear my heart skipped a beat when she entered the vicinity; she looks stunning. Singing aloft a hefty four-to-the-floor kick, this outing is noticeably weightier than her works on 97's "Left Of The Middle". Announcing her collaboration with Coldplay's Chris Martin to receptive cheers, the newly rendered pieces exhibited are meaty, not fragile, unlike old Murray James, who had more holes in his performance than a game of Crazy Golf.

She entices uproarious applause by number three with "Torn", her biggest hit, which sat at number one on the UK charts in 1997 for fourteen weeks. "You don't know where my head is at" she sings between vocoders, wearing a top hat and trading blinks with her fans.

If she pulled out a bunny, the whole shebang could have been otherworldly rather than annoyingly pedestrian. "Shiver" and "Wishing I Was There" top off the highlights of this captivating evening, from two different corners of the critical spectrum.

Natalie Imbruglia: MySpace
Murray James: MySpace
Natalie Imbruglia: Website

MK Stop 17: Reservoir Cats + Adam Bomb Band @ The Bullingdon, Oxford (August 3 2009)

2009-08-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

Entering to Top Cat's theme, three guitarists, one drummer, and "a frog in my throat", Reservoir Cats aren't going to dethrone tyrannical laws, but they could robustly obstruct the barricades, and, like a rubber band on a slingshot, break off and fly to regions uncharted on the collective radar. Sarcasm rears its head early, where the lead singer jokingly remarks "it was a life changing performance for you wasn't it", as the venue slowly lifts to cruise control. Striking his strings like he's throwing down chips on a poker table, his gravelly voice supplants grit to the amplified diatribe of "I Put A Spell On You", a quieter number benefitting from fine inkjet solos, painting a blotted pattern of rollicking, riveting and reliable blues solutions.

Wearing a silver and gold suit, my, but what a lot of hair have the Adam Bomb Band. If hair was converted to oil, Adam Bomb Band would be one of the richest bands in the US. Perhaps their identity would be advanced by renaming Adam Edam. Not that cheese is a bad thing, but that's what's dominant on the menu tonight, as a bastard child of Judas Priest and Motorhead twists the Famous Monday Blues around its backbone, disturbs the flow like a speed bump, then drapes multilayered microphone lighting, cymbal-intrusive flickering flames and an amicable drummer's arms as if he's powering a rowing machine in a heavy-duty gym, around a glam-metal, sweaty anorak setting.

Covering Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" and The Kinks' "You Really Got Me", the crowd begin to bust obtuse moves with gusto, as the house is brought down like a Duracell bunny-implanted hybrid of the tempo, fortifications, and style of the traditional Famous Monday Blues. Roving far from self-absorbed show-off parameters, and jangling in the subterfuge, they're certainly a force to be reckoned with, but are likeably seductive, too.

Reservoir Cats: MySpace
Adam Bomb Band: MySpace
Famous Monday Blues: MySpace

MK Stop 16: Alamo Leal + Lightnin' Willie And The Poorboys @ The Bullingdon, Oxford

2009-08-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Most people don't like Mondays. Who can blame them? Like a hoody, it entraps heat, but is contaminated by the cultural outlook. Cloaked with the belief of misfortune, Monday is the turnaround back to the daily grind, taking the kids to school, making plans you'll perhaps never follow through with. However, it's also where life in renewed, sorrows can be drowned and hard work can pay off. So arrives the Famous Monday Blues to channel your woes...

Philip Guy Davis brings a call to arms every week, and tonight it's the turn of special guest troubadour, Alamo Leal to entertain passing punters. A slow and steady, solo acoustic guitar opening lays the groundwork. With almost thirty years of international career behind him, this practiced musician shows his lust for the female sex on "The Same Thing" - "Why a man go crazy when a woman wear a dress so tight?"; implementing stomping feet to the tapestry, giving off good vibes, and the air that he is simply enjoying his life. Plucking an evergreen thrust on each number, he's an everyman storyteller par excellence, winging in metaphors that get this writer's chin stroking with considerable kick - particularly "Sometimes you fly so high, you can't find a place to land". Bringing rockabilly pressure, all closely condensed chord shuffles and pinging keys that slide like projectiles from left to right, these are well-shaped, powerful pieces, peppered with Alamo's fine-grained lyrical script. "Why do I feel so good when a woman wears a night gown?" Your guess is as good as mine.

Carrying on their crusade as headliners are Lightnin' Willie And The Poorboys. Three months on from their last visit to the club, they're on fire tonight. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink, not least when thunder is afoot. This doesn't stop the audience standing like kids in a sweet shop, eager for more openings to the rock-and-roll boogie. How lightning initially forms is still a matter of debate. If you were to ask Lightnin' Willie, he'd probably tell you it arises from positive charges of the audience. Sassy, electrifying grooves abound like tetris blocks over a puzzle of blues craftsmanship, as Willie insists "This is our living room, and you are your friends". Kicking off with a rags-to-riches citation, they peak at quarter to midnight with "Eyes In The Back Of My Head", harnessing stamina and top-heavy hammering from the drummer as if he's tenderizing a steak; not battering the sticks, but the impetus is there. And with that, this is a splendid showing from a big favourite of the UK blues circuit, and reason, if anything that the Famous Monday Blues should be high of your shopping list.

Lightnin' Willie: Website
Lightnin' Willie And The Poorboys: MySpace
The Famous Monday Blues: Website

MK Stop 15: Polar - In The End LP (Warm Communications)

2009-08-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Artwork credits: khoma @ khomatech.com

Their initial LP project, Warm Communications and experimentation go together ala TV and video: one broadcasts forward-thinking ideals, the other embeds itself in the recordings of the past catalogue. His first in six years, the Scandinavian's co-produced, recovered-from-tinnitus comeback album - what's enthralling is how good it turned out.

Syncopated powerhouse "Almost And Beyond" opens with a bold statement, nodding melodically to "37 Degrees And Falling" Polar on Certificate 18. "End Of The Story" ties delicate vocal samples to a sly, heavy-suction drum section, and chirping, whirling atmospherics, coming off like the ghost of Ed Rush & Optical (when they were good) slipping through a contemporaneous wormhole, filtered through a cheesegrater and displaying the subtle, sinister funk that won over so many fans originally. "Another Time" prolongs this theme, with a bassline that wriggles like a wild snake through a maze of long grass. Busy on the percussion, big on quirkiness, it escapes triteness by a level of attentiveness that is signature to Polar productions.

"Nothing Personal" conjures imagery of Boards Of Canada and Autechre sharing seats on a gut-churning rollercoaster, only to be strapped in by Luke Vibert, handed chocolate milkshake and honest synth squiggles. The result is a sublime mix of off-kilter harmonics and dribbling digital synthesis.

"I Don't Remember" collides its intricate details akin to dodgem cars in an egg whisker, the drums accentuating the glitch-punctuated compartments of sound throughout. "Rendition", all space-age synth ditties, is the pick of the collection - if your agenda is to have drums incorporated as a major part of the cut. This and "High Voltage" are vintage Polar, employing intermingling textures with some superbly chopped, "tighten up" tenacity.

"In The Middle Of Somewhere" is "Out Of The Blue"-esque Polar fattened up and simplified, but here still maintaining your interest by its quality of ingredients - it's music beyond just a DJ tool; also thanks to its shorter-than-five-minutes length. "3 Liter" is a near continuation of once-album-of-the-week-at-boomkat producer Naphta's "Are You Ready", if it was dipped in a lagoon of syrup - this concoction oozes vitality and poise above the sub cushion. "Static", one of three downtempo cuts on this digital release, offers an inexorable hiphop bounce. "Stepping Out" is, not surprisingly, a militant stepper tune, but collates just as much subtlety as its peers, rinsing out the two-step break but never sounding too regimented or contrived.

These tracks, built like throbbing nuclei, are elementally leftfield, however never too bulky for the litmus test. So becomes "Uneven", filled with gangster electricity that's part horror movie, part Tron - like the rest of the LP, its construction is easy to follow, yet deviant, the message luxuriously translated, the sentiments easy to relate to. As an accompanying bonus to "Lo-Fi Epilogue", you'll get the seductive "Chula".

As with an empty suitcase, the constituent parts are awaiting to be taken somewhere exotic, but not to serve as hollow exoticisation; all saccharine show with no natural salt and pepper. In the end, here, Polar has created recordings that challenge the listener's expectations, but also have the audacity to appeal to the jaded junglist - or rather, armchair socialist contingent; complaining of no beats shaped for the dancefloor as well as headphones. It's like an unworn dressing gown when you're fresh out the shower: warm, inviting and stable. And as such, is highly recommended.

Purchase: Mp3 release
Dogs On Acid: support thread
Warm Communications: MySpace

MK Stop 14: Psychonavigation Records present Zaum Vol.1

2009-08-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Cutting the mustard comfortably as ambient compilers, Enrico Coniglio and Emanuele Errante take time out of their own careers to present, feature on and arrange Zaum Vol.1, a selection of specifically commisioned works by Italian ambient artists. Running since 2000 out of Dublin, Ireland, the Psychonavigation labels' compass ranges from electronica to electro to ambient, the latter a cornucopian mainstay of this disc, bending like a yoga student into various shapes, masses and sizes. Pictorially, the desolate artic landscape greets the viewer head-on upon unwrapping, and thematically, it's the perfect ten to be showcased. In the business of freedom, calmness is not the same as solitude, and Netherworld, the first artist represented here, conjures up a cloud of sadness through "Jostedaal", the low-fi hum emanating like a a gong hit in a lonely cave. Maintaining a solemn outlook, the pithy crackle that enshrouds, and drips carries through an Italian dialogue that resembles an extension of his feats on "Morketid", and contrasting his busy existence in the chaotic realms of inner Rome.

In archetypal symbolism, the carriage is a device that carries oneself from one place to another. Veering-off-course occurs on "Daylight Fading Into Evening Silence", an altogether more soothing piece from Enrico Coniglio and Oopohoi, under the Aquadorsa pseudonym. Clicks and pops meld around a repeated wash of dreamy synth interludes. Those following Oophoi's discography from the late nineties onwards will recognise his berth with mellow atmospheres, and the third cut, "ZX-21 Part 1" is a welcome second step up the escalator of affection, from Dario Antonelli. "Thank You" by con_cetta Vs. Antartica, filters the roughage of droney silence, and silences internal demons with a genetically modified spin on ambient dub. Arlo Bigazzi & Arturo Staleri's "Stregatto", the only track with acoustic guitar, and the first with piano, stumbles around with an aura of innocence, at turns soaked in reverb and delay, consecutively to eschew the frivelties of most chillout fare. "Last Love Inside Love" by -On- stoops at a shorter length.

Understanding that part of love means to embrace, and at the same time to withstand many many endings and many many beginnings - all in the same relationship, over the duration it drifts off to a secluded spot in the sequence of tracks, whereby Massimo Liverani's "Primavera" instills an eerie aftertaste that could frighten a wolf, let alone a baby, as such sticking out like a sore thumb, but not strained for cancelling satisfaction purposes. Emanuele Errante re-introduces scuttling insect noises to his composition "Egostasy", whereas the Illachime Quartet suckle bowed strings to warm-bodied violins, producing one of the highlights that aquiesce to pressures for mindless conformity. Luca Formentini's "Avaaz" is the distillate of Deep Chord left in a freezer overnight, all slow-motion, cascading chords and soaring white noise before an entrance of duvet-snug synth enwombs the earlobes. Closer "Amalidieses" by Zoo Di Vetro wipes away the hall, smoke and mirrors with a four-to-the-floor, bulging beat and exact, spoken narrative intermissions.

If you are striving to do something you value, it is important to encircle yourself with people who unequivocally support your work. Lending a larynx to the minority artists, Zaum Vol.1 is no unobservant fabrication, and unlike a pair of baggy jeans with no belt, doesn't demand tightening up. In days where compilations can sacrifice quality for quantity, it's a breath of fresh air to purchase a CD with a cohesive, alluring arrangement that could vivify even tbe lowest spirits, and conserve the equated to be timeless in this track order. Succulent like a fish supper, it's not so-laid back you fall over, but rather perks you up, the included and the industry who produces it, to listen with fresh ears.

Purchase: CD
Psychonavigation: MySpace
Psychonavigation: Website

MK Stop 13: Barry And The Beachcombers + Freakishly Long Mirrors @ Fat Lil's, Witney

2009-08-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

If you pleased everybody, you'd be old, raggedy and dry. Pummelling that statement into submission are Barry And The Beachcombers, as an entourage of seemingly seasoned, trendy student types fail to comply in their role as supporters, at Fat Lil's box of tricks in Witney, Oxfordshire. Setting up shop with a guitarist shimmied inside a cow suit – or a ram, depending on how the vision holds up, they brew a storm of punk seismology, never rooted to the spot, like an ostrich receiving an electric shock, and certain value for money, not like straining clothes that don't fit. Their ace of spades is closer “Green Cross Code”, but unlike the advertisement, I wasn't intending to cross the road just yet. As they plummet in waterfalls of distortion, to “keep you safe”, this beach is sun-kissed and worthwhile.

Warming the cockles in aftermath are Freakishly Long Mirrors. No, it's not a giraffe's vanity project. Cooking up a hybrid of Radiohead and Pink Floyd, but with a sturdier, percussive lead underpinning, once again it's tough to establish brevity in the lyrics, and besides a crew of casually curious at the front, and the odd, die-hard rocker, the venue is on autopilot before heating up the claps quota near the end. Upping the pace a notch on their second tune, FLM lack a few killer hooks to be essential listening, but are a pleasing distraction nonetheless. Bypassing the stereotypical indie self-pity, like toppled rows of dominoes, the smaller singer's lyrics rub up on the microphone like a preacher man reciting a prayer. Having a game of etcher-sketch with his kit, the drummer outlines angular cymbal crashes in a buccaneering finisher combo of jet-ski guitar and vocals that rise above the murk just enough to be comprehensive. Bin-bag of genre skeleton or rucksack of treasure? The audience are sitting on the fence, but this onlooker is satisfied. And at £3 a ticket, love, for once, does come cheap.

Barry And The Beachcombers: MySpace
Barry And The Beachcombers: Website
Freakishly Long Mirrors: MySpace

MK Stop 12: Nissenmondai + From Light To Sound @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford (July 12 2009)

2009-08-08T11:55:00.001-07:00

Car enthusiasts might get starstruck by the tonal similarity to Nissan (manufacturer) and (Ford) Mondeo, but if you're thinking Nissenmondai warrant such bland compartmentalising, their symbol of experimental post-punk noise will blow you away. Unfortunately I unlocked their jewellery box of MySpace audio when I got home - I had to leave before seeing them, but judging by the crammed-in-a-shoebox nature of the beast downstairs, where students, seeming regulars and dedicated gig-goers united, the murmured yet prominent drones of From Light To Sound, the band I did catch, fluidly surfing over the debris of Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, would be just the tip of the iceberg. When the time comes to settle down, who's to blame if you're not around?

Guesting the Truck festival this weekend, I took disc two of a limited edition hand-made fifty set. It's a CD that presents hard-wearing, at points krautrock kismet, climaxing with the adorable riff-tastic "Compliance", which at one turn presents post-rock with an ambient punch, later flipping the script of a nondescript, woodpecker tick-tock metronome, giving you that "everything's going to be alright" adulation in bucketloads. They don't play swings and roundabouts, whereby you're not sitting through 15 minutes of tedious trolling for replies - From Light To Sound are weavers of strong heart, twisting the ventricles into fluid musical ribbons, and necessary electricity. As put on their grubby, shredded-pencil riff-beavering, "No, You Listen". There's reason for sound, now there's reason for light. Shine it over here, will you.

Nissenmondai: MySpace
From Light To Sound: MySpace
Nissenmondai: website

MK Stop 11: Sharks + Computers + Ghost Of A Thousand @ 02 Academy, Oxford (14 July 2009)

2009-08-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

A chugging, continuous cacophony, Sharks bite like a ravenous crow onto the attention spans of tonight's gently packed 02 academy. Bold, bright and uplifting punk. Exeter's Computers invite people to "Take a step forward...it might be fun". Dressed like pageboys, all in white and with mullets to make a hipster cocktail party blush, their head-banging craziness is refreshing and, surprisingly, deeply felt, whereas the vocalist announces it's the slimmest stage they've ever been on, whereby they take to the floor, and with track titles like "Love The Music, Hate The Kids" you can be sure of a bashful sociological periphery, their momentous blasts of punk fizz enveloping, pulling stylish wheelies, while the drummer grapples with his equipment as if he's swimming against a torrent of trojan viruses.

Their last song - or moreover, scream, is met with welcome humility, bigging up their mortal counterparts Sharks, and the last act of the evening, Ghost Of A Thousand. If the decibels omitted during their performance are equivalent to anything, it is indeed a hoover bag of busted ghosts. Formed in Brighton, England, in late 2004, GOAT quickly won critical praise for their riotous aggression. Members Andy Blyth (guitar), Jag Jago (guitar), Memby Jago (drums), Tom Lacey (vocals), and Gez Walton (bass) released their debut album, "This Is Where the Fight Begins" in 2007, touring with the Zico Chain and Flood of Red, and playing sets at the Reading and Leeds rock festivals. With the album scoring five Ks in Kerrang!, Lacey's lyrics collapse in the mouth of the noise pit like chocolate truffles.

This drummer is also equivocally animated, chasing and hanging onto the tracks like an alligator with locked jaws. I can't comprehend a syllable the singer's saying, but perhaps that's not the point, and maybe it'll pay off for the memory matrix when I download a copy of this chuntering blitzkrieg. Even the moshing wasn't bad. To quote GOAT, "It's not about beating the shit out of each other, it's about community and having a f***ing good time. Give your neighbour a hug". And that, was nice.

The Computers: MySpace
The Ghost Of A Thousand: MySpace
Download: Ghost Of A Thousand on eMusic

MK Stop 10: Spinnerette + Little Fish @ 02 Academy, Oxford (July 13 2009)

2009-08-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

Mic range: check. Four guitars: tested. Water bottles: six. Towels: five. Beers: two. In spite of this, one song centred on being a diva. A semi-solo project it may be, but Brody Dalle wouldn't be as much an irresistible force without the bombast of her three-guitarist backing cast. Wearing a bra on the outside of his T-Shirt, I was concerned whether the second male guitarist was hinting, or if it was a coincedental metaphor for the performance going tits-up. Not so.

Rumbling like a tsunami, the wall-of-sound characteristic is prevalent and foreboding, and as an air pocket in the floor area fills, I take my place at the front row for this, her characterized-as-alternative-pop-punk romp post-leaving The Distillers, accompanied by Alain Johannes of Queens Of The Stone Age, Jack Irons from Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tony Bevilacqua, also late of The Distillers. It's a set that revels in punk hedonism while bringing up speckles of sludge in the midrange. The lyrics in places are oxymoronic counterpoints - "A Spectral Suspension" fastens in "Go to sleep" to begin, causing the listener an uneasy fright if not prepared for the burst of lightning that transcends the honeycomb flavouring.

"Rebellious Palpitations" is more confrontational - "Hey what's your name? Give you anything you want / Take everything you've got". "Baptized By Fire" is pure Goldfrapp circa "Train", wrenching in jittery electro bravura. Acting like a supercharged version of the Cocteau Twins on "Lullabies To Violane Vol.1", the songs are similarly refuge material, embracing their battle-scars from the past but keeping the motors visor locked to the future. Brody leans down at intervals to holler at her fans, blending an apex of slurred choreography with the wonky riffage on display.

Not unknown to acute rocking are Little Fish, supporting Spinnerette this evening. "Brody is the real deal, she has such a great voice and independent attitude that we feel blessed to be part of, and be able to watch perform every night of the tour." say Juju and Nez. "She is a true rock'n bleeder. You learn about music when you play with a band at this level, and we are grateful as it has forced us to sit up straight, not be complacent and work harder. We take note of what is needed in order to make a mark in the music world... and hopefully one day, we will be good enough to make our way through, as have Spinnerette". They do more than make a splash in comparison, their brand of two-piece, electric rock suited as the calm before the storm in this context. It's a toy box of sorts, harnessing layers of greatness on opener "Whiplash", the free-spirited sunshine pop stating "I'm fine with that" with an oomph recalling PJ Harvey. "When I first came here there was a black hole" she says on "Let Me Die Young". Hopes are high that they won't be sucked into the wilderness. What are their aspirations? "To take every day as it comes and be grateful that we are still in the running, still in the game, still learning, and still moving forward with our music. To have fun. To continue to do what we love doing - playing shows, and evolve. We have our album released out the states late October so we will be touring the US late September onwards...from there, we shall see. We also know that our album will then be released in the UK come November. Who knows what fate has in mind for us? We just keep our heads down, work hard and continue to make music that we believe in".

Download: Spinnerette on eMusic
Spinnerette: MySpace
Little Fish: MySpace

MK Stop 9: Edenheight @ The Cellar, Oxford (July 10 2009)

2009-08-08T11:48:00.001-07:00

In the midst of everyday life, where something normally vibrant within the psyche can be starched flat, given a drubbing, or distorted beyond recognition, there are heaven-sent bands like Edenheight to readdress the balance. Basking in the glow of an illustrious influences list, browsing their MySpace page for the first occasion offers up a titbit of what's to come at this month's afrobeat, latin jazz and funk extravaganza Bossaphonik. Having seen Mankala tear it up two months prior with a meld of Santana-like rhythms and lyrical interplay, fellow Bristolians' Edenheight present a repertoire of dub-inflected meanderings and a healthy smattering of jazz-funk attitude.

With the DJs ushering in funky but reserved tunes to please those seated and standing, starting as a four piece - Manfredi Funk Initiative - jamming out an arousing take on British funk, two saxophonists enter by the third number, while watching the drummer and keyboard player is a visual treat, and like a portable microwave, they know how to bring the heat. Abundant in atmosphere but never sickly like cake icing, seldom have I ventured to The Cellar when the vibes have been this spectacularly intense.

Edenheight are at their best when the instruments are left to ornament and careen wildly - the saxophone sections in particular - and distilled to the most vital levels of conditioning. A cauldron of good eggs as a nine-piece congregation, the interval is a nice touch, giving minutes to compose oneself before giving in to another hour of rockin' jazz-funk. Shortly after, the arrival of Madlox applies an underlying pulse to the evening. The partying audience lap this up, dancing with red shoes on. Working in unison, the sax men vary their inhalation technique to great effect, the group alternating numbers throughout but always making more than just a pretty sound. Madlox rides with the lyric "You know I wanna do anything you wanna do", attracting bodies closer by a word to "Get down", whereby the crowd show an affinity and respect by doing as he says. Ultimately, what's at stake with gigs like this? Edenheight have a simple answer: pleasure.

Bossaphonik: MySpace
Edenheight: MySpace
Edenheight: Official website

MK Stop 8: From Here, We Run! + Tristan And The Troubadours + Stone Saloon @ The Jericho Tavern, Oxford (July 9 2009)

2009-08-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

There are lights, cameras and action, and then there are smiles, hollering and tomfoolery. Such is the setting of the Jericho Tavern for From Here, We Run!, a band collating demo of the month accolades from Oxford's monthly music magazine Nightshift, and wooing the audience over with a math-pop backdrop, one that calls to mind Warp's Battles if they were straddled through a forest of sweet-natured melancholy. Like playing in a garage with a door open, letting passing traffic occupy an impermanent space for enchantment of their sticky, sultry myriad, as such, Pieteke's almost reclusive balladeering germinates amongst warbling guitar melodies and Alanis Morrissette-esque zest, singing "If this is a war of the worlds, I don't wanna be a part", and offsetting tumbling drum sections with an alluring, but decidedly detached rigour. She makes a montage of these lyrics with a commanding sense of presence, pulling the curtains on my listening, the night after with "Waiting", saying "The little things you say and do, it all dissolves like a sugar cube". Let's hope their name doesn't sink from the spotlights any day soon.

Opening with a grunting chord fluctuation and fuzzy, glitter-ball synths, Tristan And The Troubadours violin lifts proceedings amongst floppy percussion duets and edgy roleplay. Sounding like the lovechild of A Silver Mount Zion and Joy Division, they deliver sonic postcards to implant a partial emotive permanence onto the setting, "reel to reel". Swaggering like a swinger on heat, when a life becomes too controlled, there bides less and less life to control, and TATT understand this notion by implementing sparkling keys as an overlay to the soaring violin, that begins to poke its head to the forefront by the second half.

For those who longed it out, Stone Saloon stole the show. Commencing, ironically with "Down To Jericho", Ben Lee's voice stops you in your tracks like a red traffic light. A cross-breed of Michael Stipe and Bruce Springsteen. rather like a bubble in the side of a tyre, eventually, as the tyre evolves and heats up, as does the crowd, the pressure behind the bubble intensifies, as does the band, causing it to grow and grow until it explodes! Releasing all their inner content, his personhood is not bereft of a wink to the stars, as should Stone Saloon's status in the forthcoming months.

From Here, We Run!: MySpace
Tristan And The Troubadours: MySpace
Stone Saloon: MySpace

MK Stop 7: Black Powder + Ace Bushy Striptease + Saints Innocents @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford (8 July 2009)

2009-08-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

Don't be deceived by the student-prankster, piss-up styled pseudonym, Ace Bushy Striptease border on a twee, cutesy jangle, paired with march-style drum spurts and deliberately clumsy vocal deliveries. They're joined by Black Powder tonight and if proof were needed The Wheatsheaf have an uncanny knack of choosing great artists, the show is an hour late on the road. Not to be perturbed, an additional bonus is that Antony and the Johnsons are rambling over the PA. Black Powder's songs survive via alternated hops, skips and jumps from the drummer, scrunching up the pace like a hedgehog in defence, at other points synchronized to build a fiery synergy, topped off by the lead singer's spiky mohican to wash it down. Covering subjects as disparate as prostitution, Jesus ("your heroes are liars they love you so little") and assorted consequential "Filth" (another equally interesting track title), it's hard rocking right to the finish line, the players abusing their instruments as if life depended on it, and the moods harboured in doom-mongering cross-context juxtaposition - the singer a jekyll and hyde mish-mash of Noddy Holder and an irritable rottweiler. Whatever the score, they're here and heavy, and that's all that matters.

Ace Bushy Striptease see to taming down the noise threshold, yet by the end of their set there are cheers that ricochet from wall to wall. Reading her track order off a notepad, there are stops and starts from the lead singer, and the secondary ("this next song might be better"), that this reviewer puts down to not idle chatter, but a reminder of what it means to be human again. So there's mic trouble from the sound engineer's point of view, but still their identity remains intact, alive, and out there.

Google-searched as a defunct cemetery in Paris, Saints Innocents' music is fortunately posessed with more spirit than a well-stocked off-license. A complete bloody mess of sweeping guitar, speed-freak drumming and skydive-like screams and bellows, it reads like a cavalcade of insecurities being blasted to pieces by the angst of youth. Alright in small doses, but not for the long haul.

Ace Bushy Striptease: MySpace
Ace Bushy Striptease: Official website
The Wheatsheaf: MySpace

MK Stop 6: Edenheight interview (July 7 2009)

2009-08-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

I conducted a short interview with Ev of Edenheight ahead of their perfomance at Bossaphonik, on the 10th July 2009.

Many thanks for your words Ev. Are you looking forward to playing at The Cellar on Friday?

I look forward to all of our gigs. The band are too, as our performances are never the same twice. When we played at The Cellar last summer we had an impromptu moment where we decided to switch drummer and percussionist around mid-song during an afrobeat number, resulting in a massive percussion duel, which was a buzz for everyone on stage and off. The crowd were really receptive in Oxford too, which always helps us do our job with a smile.

A song can be a catalyst to developing some distance from problems. Do you want your music to draw people into the deeper states of reflection, to communicate information about sound, colour, planetary movements, dna, ethnic bodies, or any of the above?

"Just picking up a musical instrument is a political statement" - David Byrne. As for the lyrics you've picked up on, I can only say that Madlox is free to write what he feels and we're happy to empower his perspective. Everyone has a role, and he's the MC.

Your track "Triptych" bestows the vocal "I dare you to open your mind." Do you work with your emotions as a strength rather than trying to fight against them?

Like I said, I'm not the MC. I'm the producer/director. I know that we are a predominantly live band, with an emphasis on percussive energy and swing, and that the emotional input on everyones part throughout a performance is in all aspects a positive one. The choice made to involve an MC was implemented as we wanted to commit to a contemporary rhythmic style rather than edging towards a pastiche funk sound. I'm not sure how the question relates to the angle of the lyric and would rather leave the direct response to Madlox.

Right. Living in Oxford, I get to hear a broad palette of sounds via gigging. Harold Budd visited the city in 2007, while at November's Audioscope festival I experienced Boxcutter remixing his hypnotic "Gave Dub" with "Fieldtrip", and a shower of amen breaks. Do you think your location influences your footing in funk music, and are there pleasures beyond the genre that you enjoy seeing out?

There is definitely a vibrant live music scene in Bristol, which includes all the styles you can imagine. The inner city also produces many dance music innovations which I believe can be largely attributed to the innovation and musical fervour of Carribean culture. The carnival sound systems have played earliest host to home produced sounds including breaks through jungle and drum'n'bass to dubstep. People have talked about a 'Bristol sound', which if anything has probably been labelled 'dark' or 'edgy'. In our experience, there have been times where our sound has been misunderstood by crowds out of town, and we've discussed the possibility that maybe some towns have a different vibe to others. The vibe in Bristol may verge towards agression and angst at times. Perceived in context it's seen as an act of impunity against oppression, and human nature shines through.

What inspires you (the whole, majority or selected) to make music?

Life, love, and music.

You're all at various ages, culture is wide open to be sampled, and commodities, in the information age, don't always last forever. What do you value utmost in these climes, is your vision staying consistent, and what do you predict from it changing in the future?

Is it me or does this question start with 3 unrelated statements?

They're all connected by adherence to an impetus for change.

Irrespective of the rhetoric, my vision is still 20/20. People always want a piece of something good, but if they can't produce their own ideas eventually they'll dry up. Tap into the key energy of the constituent parts to form a real band, so that the energy flow is generated not borrowed. Then you have the creative well at the heart of any project. People might steal the water from time to time, but if it's good water, eventually the well gets the credit.

As producers, do you translate specific ideas from other artforms into musical ideas, such as films, radio or television?

I'd say it's probable, since we all absorb these forms on a daily basis. Specific ones though, not as yet. Maybe soon.

Technology has advanced society so much over the last 30 years. Before then, computers were for the rich only, mobile phones didn't exist and television was solely terrestrial. Now there's total overchoice. I remember reading a Knowledge Magazine article with Klute who said the same thing. His subject matter was his latest album at the time - "No-One's Listening Anymore." Do you agree or disagree with that statement?

Well I wasn't listening when it was said, but then I'm not sure I would have been before I had a mobile either. The overload of media has also shown that self-publishing doesn't always produce the best quality too!

Sure thing. All I know is that I'm safer when I go out, I can communicate with a whole community of like-minded (and lesser so) individuals on web forums, and I can choose to switch off the box (to the level where I no longer watch or have a television). Whether overchoice helps is debatable - people can spend more time deciding now, which could impair judgement on their wider life. Where music is concerned the effects are tenfold; anyone can make a demo CD cheaply, which is healthy for sending to media outlets. MySpace has revolutionised the A&R procedure of getting music signed - see the Artic Monkeys and their blowing up from the MySpace public. What would it take to plant the seed inside yourselves for wished mass exposure?

The industry is changing. Mass marketing is still required for mass exposure, so a major deal or investors are required to achieve that end, but product placement has dwindled and 360 deals have been born. Arctic Monkeys and such benefit from the fact that youth culture moves quickly and buys readily. Why do you think the vast majority of major artists are signed under 25?

MySpace is easier for demo distribution, but without marketing it would never propel a band alone. I watched the number of hits of a friends' band (who made the papers for all the wrong reasons recently) see their MySpace hits go through the roof, but they didn't sell any more albums. They had loads illegally downloaded however, and their gigs sell out.

It would be nice if all the people who'd like our music could find it easily, but we don't have millions to invest in production and such to get across the radio / TV hurdle so we just keep playing in the good small venues and try to produce a couple of tunes for
ourselves as a matter of course.

One final question: your list of players and collaborators is fairly vast for a funk-orientated group. Do you find it daunting recording in the studio with various ordinations, or do you draw inspiration from the melding of styles from your constituent parts?

It's never daunting until the live recording stages are finished and the post production begins. The collective that we have become are now functioning as 3 different groups - Manfredi Funk Initiative (the hammond funk 4tet featured on Craig Charles funk and soul show, BBC radio6 recently), The SubVersions, believe it or not, (A rare groove 7 piece, purely live), and Edenheight, who are appearing as a 9 piece at Bossaphonik on Friday. The additional guests that we invite in are all there because we respect their work and abilities, and decide we'd like to produce some work together. It's all an interesting process for everyone involved.

Thanks from all at SubVersion Ev. Hoping to catch you on Friday.

Edenheight: MySpace
Edenheight: Official website
The Cellar: MySpace

MK Stop 5: 3rd Degree Leburn @ The Bullingdon, Oxford (6 July 2009)

2009-08-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Despite Bryan Adams being in Oxford this evening, I preferred to plump for, on the basis of previous impressive acts from Dana Gillespie and Sharrie Williams, the Famous Monday Blues weekly party. Far from being dedicated to repetition of a single value without experimentation or renewal, my past visits have granted oracular voices; not sunken in pop sugar, nor treading over molten coals of extinguished blues spirits.

Tonight's performance is a slightly different proposition, changing the complexion to three guitarists, two vocalists, one drummer and additional percussion provided by Derome. If a burn is a type of injury that may be caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction, then 3rd Degree Leburn are a type of lotion for soothing pains and prejudices out of the system. Like stirring freshly poured coffee, their mixture is full of strength and potency from the off, hitting the Bully's four walls with grace. One regular sports his delightfully long beard, but he's not stroking it, rather swaying side to side with the joyous blues that Leburn administer. The audience are freed from turgid spectating to dancefloor making by tracks one and two, both extracted from a forthcoming CD. Tune three, "Angel Without Wings" embeds the overriding theme of their songs: love with women. "Old Age Pension" guarantees that they have a sense of humour: "You know it's bad when all the bus stops look the same". It's not long before the guitar lines, like trails from jet planes, are cast long and disperse minus cloud cover; manna for the mind and feet.

The interval allows the drum kit to take refuge, the lights to be dimmed, and the candle-lit audience rows combing through the locks of time. Covering Bob Marley and The Wailers' mighty "Exodus", they display versatility that greases the wheels of this venue's machine, whereas a rendition of James Brown's "Sex Machine" ups the ante to take us into the finale of much applause. The most important part of a house are the people inside, and Leburn understand the implications of putting on a great show for every attendee.

3rd Degree Leburn: MySpace
3rd Degree Leburn: Facebook
3rd Degree Leburn: reverbnation

MK Stop 4: White Denim @ 02 Academy, Oxford (3 July 2009)

2009-08-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

If the sizzling English weather of the last few weeks wasn't a make or breaker to staying outside, sitting at a computer monitor is assuredly not the best method to appreciate White Denim. Performing tracks from their "Workout Holiday", "Exposion" and "Fits" albums, they run the risk early on of being so damn lugubrious, so stoner slack racket, that it drags everything down with it. Thankfully that's not what happens here, as lead vocalist James Petralli lunges into an upsurge of quick-fire shouting amongst thorny guitar peaks, while the drummer regulates body temperature as if he's ploughing through ice in a chilly breeze. Heavy on a grungy, garage tint, their product is realistic but never cosmetic, eschewing traditional modes in favour of a wine glass of psychadelic merriness. Personal highlights of the set include the trashy, ramshackle gabber tempos of "Heart From Us All", the shuffly, ants-in-pants schizophrenia of "Ieiei"; scuzzy, Jethro Tull-on-lithium splendour of "Say What You Want", and all-out-guitar-and-indecipherable-language-barrier "El Hard Attack DCWYW".

The decisive flowing quality is that you're unsure where one tune starts and the subsequent begins. Instead of mapping cadences of silence to fill up the frenzy, each transition is a seamless collage of harsh feedback and percussive intermissions from guitarist and drummer respectively. And when I use respectively, that's loosely, for obedience of the vocalist is sparingly employed to guide the time-signature-switch-ups and rolling dynamic interludes between instruments. Through all of this, it's not tough to put your finger on why the full house of the 02 academy is raucous in support. Maybe it's the singer's rhythmic deviance where he goes off on a complete tangent but somehow remains anchored to coherency. Perhaps it's the additional wonder generated by the light show where red blends into blue and the darkness of the room beckons us asunder. Possibly it's the variation of the lyrical themes that keep the crowd bubbling, and that veers the show away from trite noisemaking. Personally, the talisman of enjoyment arises from recognising all of the above. Experimental fits: yes please.

White Denim: MySpace
Download: White Denim on eMusic
White Denim: Official website

MK Stop 3: Muttley - Time Heals All Wounds (July 2009)

2009-08-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

Artwork credits: cordani @ est00.com

I'm toying with the risk of sounding like a broken record, but I feel I have to get past troubles off my chest. The woman I've waxed lyrical of in the 15 Minutes Of Fame Mix Series blurbs was sent the writeup I pondered on for over a year. The initial response I received wasn't unexpected - her friend jumped in to reply to me with an expletive, saying "don't try to start your psycho games again", whereby I sent him an email, explaining my perspectives diplomatically, and gave him the download link to use as he liked. She, as it happens, never responded. A Muttley message is for life, not just for pixelated fairytales, though it appears I've been misunderstood severely.

"Time Heals All Wounds" consists of several symbolic interjections. Predominantly a drum and bass mix, my first since "Departure" in August 2006, the content respects past idiosyncracies I made in 2007, most heartily in The Dastardly Diaries Chapter 2. In this project, Mick Dastardly (aka Muttley) took on the task of presenting a multi-genre, all-nighter track showcase, coupled with a webzine, themed to complement the IChiOne events in Amsterdam (see SubVersion Stop 3), and two other causes not affiliated, or acting in conjunction with the Dutch event.

To download it, click here.

Comprising 150 audio clips and seven mixes, the sequence was three-tier; for one, it highlighted descriptive benefits in relation to basic genre tags - "Attitude", "Chill" and "Deepersounds" titles were attributed to each audio clip, allowing users to shape their own playlists; second, it juxtaposed aesthetic transitions where the tunes could be blended; third, cryptic data snippets covering science, nature, insomnia and etymology were submitted to aid crossing the boundaries of cigarette card-styled, information station emulation. "Time Heals All Wounds" is the continuation of such progress. The lyrical pigment of "Billion Dollar Gravy" - "Baby, don't you leave me", is a sentimental ploy to the woman I lost in the foliage.

Fanu's "Tribes (remix)" symbolises the alternation of personalities I could trust during my diagnosis of suffering from psychotic depression. "New Day" by ICR is the amulet of respect I bestow on the woman for moving on with her life. "Mystery Mating" objectifies the surfeit of sex and quick love that she appeared to have aggregated. "Barmaid" - "Nobody had a chance to be somebody...so, anyway, what? Hm?" externalizes the self-doubt and disconnected pitfalls of choice.

"You Are Never Alone" touches on the unbridled support of Bridewell Gardens in my recovery. "Calm Before The Storm (Flight Of The Albatross)" contains the vocal "You would say you'd care for me", then questioning the soloistic - "No crying, no lying, no trouble beautiful girl". Khonnor's "Daylight And Delight" centres the discerned emotions in a diaspora of confusion - "When I think that I am safe, something happens that makes me feel otherwise, because I can feel the pain of something better, could kill me". Panda Bear's "I m Not" recalls the minutes I spent plotting a graph of what I was listening, in relation to the woman overseeing it - like last.fm, it drew on track orders as a whole as opposed to singular rites. She replied to me indirectly with "I b there but not in 0s and 1s son", asserting the broken letters of "I m Not".

Badmammal's "Beach Song" is the epitome of advancing post "Murray Ostril: They Don't Sleep Any More On The Beach", one hidden (and the concluding) track in the TDD 2 collage, by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It is installed to identify a gain of self-esteem from the last project. In the "Clipticisms" (TDD 2's idiosyncracy system) I became very forlorn and distressed as to whether I had insulted the woman with my sequence of anecdotes - copied, pasted and methodized from the internet. Anyone knowing her screen alias could compose thought onto why I had paired her name with a quote rendering how some individuals have developed "a fake personality for themselves in the absence of one of their own". Today I regret the inclusion, whereas at that juncture I was low on sleep and pretty manic. I even have regrets as to apologising to the confederate of the data illustrated. But in all fairness, no-one else but me could have noticed, and to summarise, it shouldn't be a big deal. I'm undoubtedly the sole perpertrator whose lost hours of slumber over it.

I have hopefulness that you'll like "Time Heals All Wounds". It was originally created for my youngest grandmother's 74th birthday. Today it contains further reference and importance. It'll be the last drum and bass selection for a while, so if you're ready for another, please do let me know and I'll get on the case.

MK Stop 2: Muttley - Drones In Duality (June 2009)

2009-08-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

Artwork credits: cordani @ est00.com

Stop 5: Download

"Drones In Duality" is the first in a series of mixes dedicated to Bridewell Gardens, which I visit every week to engage in therapeutic conservation and decorating work. The name is a reference to the double meaning properties of each track title, and the transference of a gesture in two different timeframes - before mucking in, and after a days' graft.

For instance, Bibio's "Cherry Blossom Road" encompasses the ability to walk down roads adorned with flowers, to and from the bus trip to Bridewell, while "Sleep In The Eyes" identifies the product of doing much work on the premises, or getting cobwebs out on the journey in. Hammock's "We Will Say Goodbye To Everyone" nods to the friendly atmosphere I've encountered, and the desire to wish well each person I meet there. Pan American's "So That No Matter" curtails an extended metaphor for "so that no matter what problems I face, I can get through the day, with help from my friends and family".

This is segued into Hakobune's "Realization At Dusk", which symbolises the enjoyment factor I weigh up the evening prior (getting sorted to make a stop) and heretofore the welcoming in of darkness (post-assignments and seeing everyone off). Oophoi's "Beyond These Skies" is the subsequent result of thinking forward, to what can be sentimental gold beyond nostalgic trifles. Then "Diamonds In The Sky" arrives to calm the listener: "They shine in the night / The diamonds in the sky / The sweet dreaming girl's paradise". "Softkiller" harks back to my relationship with the woman I've been so preocuppied with. Incomprehensible lyrics act as the undertow to ethereal guitar noodling and hushed chants.

Grouper is juxtaposed with the grainy metamorphosising of Evangelista to end, "The Frozen Dress" a direct correlation to the freeze-frame behaviour of "Heavy Water / I'd Rather Be Sleeping". All in all, "Drones In Duality" is a 23-minute endeavour into fresh ground for me. There's lots of drones, granted, but these are counterbalanced with an accessibility from the vocals and brimming harmonies. Next up: "Time Heals All Wounds".

MK Stop 1: Muttley - For The Night Owls (May 2009)

2009-08-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

Artwork credits: cordani @ est00.com

Stop 1: Download

"For The Night Owls" is dedicated to my oldest uncle, who died of an inoperable brain tumour on April 19th 2009. My parents noticed lapses in his concentration, where he called up and forgot what he rang for near Christmas, as well as being confused for basic matters, like in his role as executor of my grandmother's will. In January he was diagnosed with CNS Lymphoma, and had everything from chemotherapy to steroids to try and shrink the piercing mass. Unfortunately this wasn't successful, and he was prescribed morphine to ease discomfort, unconscious by the end where all his family looked over him, his three loving sons co-operating to help ease the load.

With regards to the mix, the closing shudder of "Ages" tops off the fragility in which relationships can succumb to. "It took us ages to create / And we fill up the pages / Take it down in a day". Before this enters "Cracks In The Canvas" that I reviewed for The Dastardly Depot Stop 19, by PJ Harvey and John Parish. It represents the loss of motion from the vacuum finality of Quosps "Void" - "How do we cope with the days after a death, empty days, nothing left, not even a funeral?" Such questions are not predestined notions; they make us analyse our whole purpose on this earth. Widowed with her husband at 65, my sincerest condolences go out to my uncle's wife and their children at this time.