Bleeding Muddy Water

Those who liked the moodier, more atmospheric material on the last Mark Lanegan Band offering, 2004's Bubblegum, will find much to enjoy on Blues Funeral -- an album that has little to do with blues as a musical form. Lanegan has been a busy man since Bubblegum. In the nearly eight ensuing years, he's issued three records with Isobel Campbell, joined Greg Dulli in the Gutter Twins, guested on albums by the Twilight Singers and UNKLE, and was the lead vocalist on most of the last two Soulsavers offerings. Produced by Eleven guitarist Alain Johannes (who also fulfills that role here as well as playing bass, keyboards, and percussion), Blues Funeral finds Lanegan in a musically ambitious place. His voice is deeper, smokier, but more restrained, even on the few straight-up rockers.

While the album is sequenced seamlessly, with varying textures and dynamics, there are standouts. Of the two tracks that feature the mysterious guitarist Duke Garwood, "Bleeding Muddy Water" is a mournful, midtempo dirge. Dulli's guest spot on backing vocals on the Ennio Morricone-inspired spaghetti westernism of "St Louis Elegy" is beautifully rendered; Joshua Homme lends his guitar to the over-the-rails rock in "Riot in My House." Electronics also have a prominent place on Blues Funeral -- and not merely as atmospheric add-ons. I was very surprised to hear this, as I never expected somewhat of a techno beat with his voice on it. "Harborview Hospital"'s meld of keyboards and guitars touch on U2's Joshua Tree period and late-'80s New Order. Weird as that reads, if anything, these expansive retro sonics provide Lanegan's raspy baritone a foil, with added texture that lends not only a sense of beauty, but walks out the tension between elegiac lyric and harmonic lyricism. "Leviathan" is the only thing that really approaches blues here, though it's via a 21st century approximation of Led Zeppelin's darker, airier moments on Physical Graffiti. Blues Funeral, while an adventurous, strident, and complex album, will likely polarize longstanding Lanegan fans. If one is looking for the kind of balls out rock that he's made with Queens of the Stone Age, this might be a bit too "soft" for you.

If you already love Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, then Mark Lanegan is your man.

Listen to "Bleeding Muddy Water" here.



Buy your copy of Blues Funeral Here.

Coum

Richard Fearless, aka Death In Vegas, emerged in the UK in the late 90's with some of that era’s most unusual records, fusing electro, dub, rock, psychedelia, soul and solid-gone experimentation to create a sound that was spacious and other-worldly, while also segueing with the pop mainstream. His new album, ‘Trans Love Energies’, marks a return to his roots in minimal techno, deploying the rudimentary gear behind all the classics of the original Detroit/Chicago era to try and spirit up fresh atmospheres.

In Autumn 2009, Fearless was buzzing about being reunited with some of his vintage analogue electronic gear from his old Contino Rooms studio. After five years living in different cities, he and his old ’Vegas engineer, Tim Holmes, had gone their separate ways. Hiring a new room at Andrew Weatherall’s Rotters Golf Club studio in Shoreditch, Richard found himself newly emboldened to tinker around solo in his electro-sonic playground.

It's fun to note Richard's palette of gadgets-- a 303, an 808, a 909, a Korg MS-20 synth, a Roland SH-09 – the stuff that inspirational old Trax and Metroplex tunes were made on. In New York, he’d been grooving the whole Cold Wave revival of 1980s synth music, snapping up records on the Minimal Wave label by obscure old groups like Linear Movement, as well as tracking back to old favourites like Harmonia’s ‘Notre Dame’, or David Bowie’s ‘Low’ album. Also, by the by: Detroit’s Perspects/Le Car, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Syd Barrett, Jackno, Exuma, The Black Angels and Howlin’ Wolf.

When he played the first fruits of his labors to friends and associates, they’d all say, This doesn’t sound like Black Acid, this sounds like Death In Vegas – an alias, which Fearless had subconsciously considered laid to rest. Assuming that identity again, just him on his own, was finally something he was prepared to take on at this point in his life. It would also entail finally going properly public, on record, as a singer.

“It wasn’t a conscious thing for me to sing with Death In Vegas,” Richard says, “but one good reason for me to do it was, there weren’t going to be loads of guests singing on this record. You know what? I toured four albums without vocalists. I always had to treat the original vocal tracks [in pre-production], and really make them sound like samples, because, say, with ‘Scorpio Rising’, we obviously wouldn’t be having Liam on tour with us. If I did another whole album with just guests on it, I wasn’t gonna want to tour it. It’s just boring. So, it was a bit like, Right, I’m back on the vocal thing.”

So, that’s Richard you hear at the beginning of ‘Trans Love Energies’, reciting an elegy for a succession of songwriting heroes, against ‘Silver Time Machine’’s VU-meets-TG desolation, and yowling over ‘Black Hole’’s pulsating baroque-‘n’-roll grandeur. Originally, The Kills’s Jamie Hince had been lined up to sing and play guitar on ‘Black Hole’, but when scheduling proved difficult, Richard tried it out himself. “I’m really glad I did,” he says, “it feels like it’s more mine this way”.

Richard hadn’t entirely closed himself off from the idea of working with other singers. He had a certain epiphany on hearing ‘Beat On The Pulse’, the debut single from Austra, on Toronto’s Paper Bag label, particularly the operatic tones of Katie Stelmanis. He dropped them an email, and quickly received a reply gushing about her love of Death In Vegas. At the end of Austra’s European tour, Katie stayed on in London for a couple of days, which actually ended up nearer three weeks, and voiced her parts ‘Your Loft My Acid’, and ‘Witch Dance’, which have more of an ethereal, Cocteau Twins-y feel than the full-tilt operatic belting for which Stelmanis is becoming renowned.

Having just started out on the path to discovering his own voice, Fearless says he’s into using it with a firm consciousness of its place in the whole production. He cites Matthew Dear’s ‘Slowdance’ as his model – haunting electronic pop music, which points resolutely forward into the remainder of the 21st century. ‘Trans Love Energies’ is palpably, urgently, on the same page.

“The best dub and the best techno – it’s all about minimal components, conjuring up the most feeling from the least tools. If you can trigger emotion with the most minimal amount of sound, that’s job done as far as I’m concerned.”

You make the call with Coum here:



Watch an interview!!



Buy your copy of Trans-Love Energies (or get caught up on others) here.

Mind Bending

Back On Time

Plug —
Back On Time

ZEN177

Released 09/01/2012

In early 2011 Luke Vibert (who happened to be bringing to Ninja Tune HQ cushions designed like 808 drum machines as a present!) said that he had just found some, long-lost never heard before DATs dated 1995-1998 and entitled Plug. This we are sure will bring bearded pogoing type excitement for many of you but for those that doesn't happen to here's a quick recap....

In 1996 Blue Angel Recordings (later Blue Planet) an imprint of the legendary Rising High label released the Drum 'N' Bass for Papa album by Plug AKA West Country king of kitschtronica Luke Vibert, whom at that time had only released under his Wagon Christ moniker. The album cover was an old picture of his professional magician grandfather Frank which only added to the oddness in the best of ways. The album was largely ignored by the D'n'B purists at the time, however it was hailed by many beyond, and remains to this day one of the acclaimed records to emerge from the buoyant and hugely influential electronic scene of the south-west in the 90's. Alongside people like Aphex Twin, Tom Middleton, Grant Wilson-Claridge and Jeremy Simmonds and away from the lights and police of the big cities they put on club nights, filled cassettes with new tunes, hijacked the pirates and revelled in all that was original, twisted and like nothing else before. And whilst there is no doubting the talent of all these individuals, it has always been Vibert's keen sense of humour and also funk that enabled him to evolve to a stage to make a landmark release such as Drum 'N' Bass for Papa.

So a few years later and somewhat ahead of the curve, Vibert shook up D'n'B - at that point no album had been released in the genre that departed from the formulaic template. Avant-jungle that wasn't made for the "club", the album was an eccentric bolt from the blue, it shocked many of Vibert's contemporaries but went on to influence many, most notably Squarepusher.

At the same time Luke's Wagon Christ project was being snapped up by Chemical Brothers A+R man at Virgin Records for his 3rd album, so a new name was needed for his eccentric d'n'b output, and Plug was born. Until now Plug has yielded just one album - possibly only a humble man like Luke Vibert would have a whole album of top-quality electronic tracks just sat around for over 15 years and not release them. The 10 tracks on offer here include the proto-garage vocal stylings of "Feeling So Special", the demented circus-organs of "No Reality", the hilariously titled "Come On My Skeleton", the old-skool rinse out of "Mind Bending", the skewed bollywoodisms of "A Quick Plug for A New Shot" and all with impeccably produced jungle credentials as the bed.

Sounding brand new as well as being a lost classic from a electronic icon, Back On Time is a release that anybody interested in the progression of dance music should be very curious to hear and enjoy.

Listen to Mind Bending here:



Buy your copy of Back on Time here.

Summertime Sadness

Oh Lana Del Ray, I did not want to like you. But after seeing your miserable, kafka-esque performance on Saturday Night Live, I felt for you, a little. If any of you haven't heard, critics and celebrities alike have panned her appearance on the show a couple weeks ago. It could have just been nerves or as she admits, that she's just not a good performer. Take a look. It's pretty painful, but I get a kick of the awkward holding herself and hair flipping.



Lana del Ray was born Elizabeth Grant. Born to Die is her major label debut on Interscope Records. Up until a few months ago, no one knew of her. Part of the reason Del Rey inspires so much ire is that her persona is somewhat made up. Three minutes of Internet browsing will tell you a few things: She had once been a struggling singer-songwriter from Lake Placid, where her father was in the domain-name business. It is not clear whether she was a trust-fund baby or she really lived in a trailer park, which is what she later told Complex magazine.

But, most controversially, she looked quite different as Lizzy Grant. She used to wear her hair short and bleached it blonde. She did not wear ball gowns. Her lips were considerably thinner. (She has denied getting lip injections.) She did not look like the gangsta Nancy Sinatra—which is how she describes herself. She looked more Mary Ann than Ginger.

But then her new music, now produced by Emile Haynie of Kid Cudi fame, stole a dash of Mazzy Star’s heroin slumber, fused it with so-called sad core soul, and paired it with mournful, poignant lyrics about a lovelorn girl. And her vocals were being sung several octaves lower. The result: Lizzy Grant had turned herself from sweet and airy to sultry and dark. The first comparisons that came to my mind were Shakespeare's Sister meets Portishead.

For the tastemakers, learning about Lizzy Grant was “the beginning of the backlash,” she says. It was almost intensified by the fact that they were being swindled by a pretty young woman. The interesting thing is female singers invent their personas all the time,” she says, citing Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Beyoncé.

The key difference between someone like Katy Perry and Lana Del Rey is that it’s understood and accepted that the former is the invention of a bigger image-making machine. But someone like Del Rey dredges up those age-old questions around authenticity in art: Can she really sing? Is she a true artist with a real vision? Is she just a puppet of the record label? Did she write her own lyrics?

After listening to the entire album and comparing it to her performance on TV, it is my estimation that her sound is made "in a lab", as I like to call it--lush strings, heavy-handed production that's layered in a way that's incredibly noticable. I'm not inherently against such things, but I warn you, this isn't an "indie" album. There is nothing lo-fi about it. And yes, there isn't anything denoting a "struggling" singer-songwriter.

However, it's definitely worth a listen.



Buy your copy at the shop! It comes with a free 7" Single and she is on our listening station for the month of February.

Email marta@alternativemusic.com if you want to special order a copy.

Nate Will Not Return

This week I have selected The Fall's Ersatz GB. It was released late last year, but as a fan, I must include this as this week's pick. While it may not be their best album, they still have a few very rockin' tracks that get yer foot a'stompin. At this point, the legacy of Mark E Smith outshines the music. He has been notorious for firing his band every couple of albums so the fact that they have made 3 or so albums together is something worth mentioning. I hope to see them live someday, as I have only heard remarkable things.

For fun, I have included a lengthy review of this album. I have never deferred to a second reviewer but I think Tjames Madison succinctly and very entertainingly tells the tale of the new album. I don't think I could have said it any better myself:

Rock your ears off with Nate Will Not Return here:


Buy Ersatz GB here.

I Know

If you don't know who David Lynch is, well, I don't know what to tell ya. He's only one of the most fascinating people of the twenty first century! His album, Crazy Clown Time has received many reviews last year and it made my top twenty of 2011 list. In honor of his upcoming birthday on the 20th, I have selected his album as my pick of the week. It's like a soundtrack to a non-existent film. The single that people have heard, "Pinky's Dream" with Karen O is misleading, as there are not many female vocals on the album nor is it a rockabilly album. This isn't like listening to the Twin Peaks soundtrack or Julee Cruise. However, if you are versed in some of Lynch's films or have watched him on Twin Peaks, then this output should not be that surprising of an album for you. There is plenty of tense, repetitive bluesy music permeated by reverb and echo. His interest in transcendental meditation comes through in the spoken word track, "Strange and Unproductive Thinking"and even in "Noah's Ark" and "Football Game". They might seem like strange ramblings through some kind of vocoder but they are worth a listen. His lyrics are more or less what you might expect: simple, fragmented, and a bit dull on the page, but threateningly voiced in his high, twanging pitch. There is definitely nothing else like this album at the moment.

Check out the ethereal grooves of "I Know" here.



Watch my favorite Lynch segment from the Twin Peaks Series!



Buy your copy of Crazy Clown Time here.

We Are Back!!

Happy New Year! It's time for the first selection of the year and while I have no new release to report, I do a re-issue that I am pretty psyched about. It's LFO's debut album from 1991 (yikes!), Frequencies, which came out late in 2011. Rereleased on Warp Records, this takes us back in time to when techno felt like a new genre, when terms like "Acid House" and "Dance Music" were pretty concrete terms.

Sheffield's techno duo of Mark Bell and Gez Varley have only released only two records and not many more singles while they worked together, the pair's apparently meager contribution would hardly seem to bear out the claim that they were one of British techno's most important, agenda-setting groups. Nonetheless, early singles have indelibly marked British techno with Detroit's progressiveness, electro's funk, and an unflinching, uniquely British experimentalism.

Taking their name from the foundational component of the synthesizers -- the low frequency oscillator (kind of like calling a rock group "Power Chord") -- the pair were approached by Warp in the late '80s after tapes the pair had put together on some junky, second-hand equipment caught the ears of local DJs and the dancefloors of local clubs. Both Bell and Varley admit to roots in the early- and mid-'80s hip-hop and electro invasions, as well as the more obvious British acid house explosion, and their affectation for thick, electronic breaks, vocoder samples, and sparse, modal melodies derived largely from that source. (LFO were also one of only a few -- with 808 State and Coldcut -- to find domestic reissue through the New York-based hip-hop label Tommy Boy, making obvious a connection between British experimental techno and American hip-hop and electro-funk.)

Releasing their bass-heavy debut in 1991 to universal acclaim, the pair were silent for the next five years, with rumors of a follow-up surfacing from time to time failing to produce anything. LFO finally resurfaced in 1995 with the ironically titled "Tied Up," followed several months later by Advance. The group also remixed tracks for Björk and the Sabres of Paradise, but dissolved the partnership soon after. Varley went on to a solo career, while Bell began an intermittent production career, working on tracks for Björk's Homogenic LP of 1997 and Depeche Mode's Exciter from 2001. After resolving what Warp called his mid-range crisis, Bell returned with the third LFO full-length, Sheath, in the fall of 2003 (officially, it was the first without Varley).

So take a listen to "We Are Back", an apt selection for both the resurgence of this classic album and for the first blog of the New Year! Get your headphones on, this jam is bassy!!!



Buy your copy of LFO Frequencies here.