Eye on New Releases: April 24th, 2012

Spring is in full swing here at IRIS, which means there's a never-ending supply of new music! Here are a few of our favorites this week!

Label: Chemikal Underground
Album: Human Don't Be Angry
Artist: Human Don't Be Angry
Genre: Alternative

Former Arab Strap guitarist Malcolm Middleton returns with his self-titled debut album as Human Don’t Be Angry. Named in honor of the German version of board game Frustration, the album was recorded alongside producer and drum programmer Paul Savage, with live drum parts from Middleton’s old Arab Strap partner Aidan Moffat. "HDBA is a facade, a front so I can have fun again musically," says Middleton. "I thought I'd go back to what I enjoy, which is playing guitar and writing melodies." The original idea to create an album of gentle guitar instrumentals and drum-free ambient atmospherics was soon paid to when Middleton entered the studio with Savage, as drum tracks were added and lyrics emerged for some of the songs, albeit often as poetic repetitions of phrases rather than structured verse-chorus-verse affairs. The words fit with the laid-back air of the music and help showcase Middleton’s often under-rated skill as a guitarist, leaving the sense that he’s made "more of an album I'd want to listen to than the one I thought I wanted to make." Song titles like "Jaded" and "Getting Better (At Feeling Like Shit)" are a tongue-in-cheek diversion from an album which is musically breezy and upbeat, although the emotional bittersweetness you might expect from the man who wrote "We’re All Going to Die" is never far from the surface. So Human Don’t Be Angry is a refresher before Middleton returns re-energised to his solo career, but it’s also here to stay as a new creative avenue.

Label: kranky
Album: Oh Holy Molar
Artist: Felix
Genre: Pop

Oh Holy Molar is the second album from UK trio Felix. The group produces a bewitching, minimal chamber pop that works as the perfect framework for singer/songwriter Lucinda Chua's oblique and emotionally immediate stories of superstition and searching for protection against bad omens. As a follow up to their debut You Are The One I Pick, the band return with a collection of songs with a sound stripped back to its very core. Something is said to have "teeth" when it has the ability to make an impact. This record certainly has "teeth", and sharp ones at that. The album was recorded in a vast, spooky 1940s cinema in Nottingham, England, now converted into a studio. After recording was completed the band discovered that underneath the live room lay an abandoned Dental Laboratory. "Oh Holy Molar" indeed. Since the release of the first Felix album, pianist/vocalist Lucinda Chua, also an accomplished photographer, has been working on a number of projects, most recently with Wallpaper in Detroit. Guitarist Chris Summerlin has been recording and touring with his new band Kogumaza. The group is completed with the recent addition of drummer Neil Turpin who, when not performing with Felix, can also be found touring the world with French composer Yann Tiersen.

Label: Palmetto
Album: The Calling
Artist: Romain Collin
Genre: Jazz

You have to bring something extra-special to the table to attract the attention and involvement of the likes of Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, and Wayne Shorter.  French-born jazz pianist Romain Collin does.  Armed with a killer instinct for progressive, spatially friendly instrumentals that present themselves in the form of mini-soundtracks, Collin rode a scholarship wave to Boston's Berklee College of Music and then onto the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.  His work in an ensemble at the Institute garnered more than passing praise from famous mentor-artists -- Marcus Miller, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden. It garnered the honor of a ful tour with Hancock and Shorter in 2007 through India and Vietnam, as well as recognition and use of the Institute ensemble as a band of choice for Hancock, Blanchard, and Shorter. Described by NPR host Jon Weber as "a visionary composer, an extraordinary jazz pianist, and a very bright young rising star in the jazz world," Romain Collin continues to develop his vision on The Calling, combing the tradition of improvisation with sound designing and classical music.

Eye On New Releases: April 3rd

No week is complete without new releases!

Label: kranky
Album: Spooky Action at a Distance
Artist: Lotus Plaza
Genre: Pop

This is the second album from Lotus Plaza, the solo nom de plume of Lockett Pundt, better known as the guitarist in Deerhunter. Pundt has penned a number of the best songs on the last two Deerhunter albums; and his first album, The Floodlight Collective, was a tour-de-force of guitar pop smarts.  He has the uncanny ability to build soaring, melodic gems from simple musical phrases; a möbius strip of a guitar line and repeating clipped drum roll in “Strangers”; a tribal drum beat holding down the foundation on “Out of Touch”; two acoustic guitar chords and a slight bit of snare as the basis for “Dusty Rhodes”; and a series of slowly descending piano chord scales on “Jet Out of the Tundra”.  There is a wide variety of songs and moods here, from unabashed rockers such as “White Galactic One” and “Monoliths”, acoustic laced introspection on “Dusty Rhodes” and “Black Buzz”, to the lysergic electronics of “Remember Our Days.”  Spooky Action at a Distance is a wide angle view of what should be the zeitgeist of contemporary guitar pop.

Label: daly city records
Album: Mochipet is Evil
Artist: Mochipet & MC Zulu
Genre: Industrial

Mochipet is Evil, titled by Chicago's MC Zulu (aka Dominique Rowland), could almost be classified as a brand new genre in Bass Music Culuture.  Combining dancehall and reggae MC Vocals stripped of any of the stereotypical content used in the genre, with the uncategorizable beat explorations of Bay Area producer extraordinaire Mochipet (aka David Wang), this album is really like nothing else you have ever heard. Add in remixes by some of the best beat producers out today: Hellfire Mechina, Skulltrane, Jay Wikid, U9lift, Yan Zombie, BD1982, Polish Ambassidor, and Freddy Todd, and you have yourself a recipe for goodness. And if that is not enough, Mochipet has thrown in a added Ska Remix bonus track for your enjoyment. Mochipet maybe evil, but you're damn lucky if you listen to this release!

Label: n5MD
Album: Embrace
Artist: Ex Confusion
Genre: Ambient

Embrace is the second album from Atsuhito Omori's Ex Confusion project. His first since taking part in Keith Kenniff's (Helios, Goldmund) For Nihon compilation, this new album consist of ten tracks of emotionally-themed soloist ambient composed for guitar and piano. Much like his debut album something to remember, Embrace, at it's core, conjures a very strong thread of nostalgia. Wonderfully warm, hazy, sun-lit memories that actually somehow seem tangible. We all have something to remember, but Ex Confusion would now like the listener to use his compositions to embrace personal memories that are so very dear.

Label: Zum
Album: Trojandropper
Artist: Neil Campbell & Robert Horton
Genre: Electronic

Two individuals with long histories in improvised and experimental music come together through, and despite, modern technology.  Neil Campbell is an experimental musician known for his Astral Social Club solo project and for being a member of Vibracathedral Orchestra and a long time player in the UK noise underground. Robert Horton got his start in the San Francisco punk-noise act The Appliances and the eclectic Plateau Ensemble.  Although Campbell and Horton have never met in person, they met virtually on the Jeweled Antler mailing list. Both musicians are ridiculously prolific and prone to collaboration. They got to talking disco, probably as an antidote to all the folk and 'how to record' bug chatter. Campbell says, "Robert TOLD me in an email 'one day we'll make a disco record together'... who was I to argue?" As far as the end result being disco, Horton notes "we failed at that." Guest musicians on the album include Dan Plonsey and Hal Hughes (Horton's Plateau Ensemble bandmate). The title references the infamous Trojandropper virus that infected Horton's computer, eliminating many hours of work and files.  The resulting album that had to be pieced back together is something that mixes organic, almost crystalline drones with off kilter beat patterns and lopsided techno. Trojandropper is beatific, odd, and an anomaly to even its creators, like all projects that take on a life of their own.

Eye On New Releases: March 20th, 2012

Still recovering from that St. Patrick's Day hangover?  Today's new releases will help you through your day...

Label: kranky
Album: Foreign Body
Artist: Mirrorring
Genre: Ambient

Mirrorring is Jesy Fortino, who has recorded under the Tiny Vipers moniker, and Liz Harris, better know as Grouper. The recordings on this album came about through a songwriting session in Portland, Oregon. The resulting sounds are contemplative, reflective, and introspective, creating a feeling as much as a song, a mood as much as a tune. One could try to assess what part of the album each artist was responsible for, but that would prevent one from seeing the proverbial forest for the trees. Foreign Body was recorded and produced in 2011.

Label: Daly City Records
Album: Chicxulub Rebirth
Artist: Mochipet
Genre: Electronic

When we last left the dinosaurs, they had nearly escaped extinction and were headed to a newfound land. Since that time, Mochipet has enlisted the help of his friends Freddy Todd, Sugarpill, D.V.S., s.p.e.c.t.r.e, Papa Skunk, Elfkowitz, Preshish Moments, Smash and Grab, Bass Science, dkon, Profresher Blacklight, Renee Leah and Zen Death Squad in the creation of a brand new feast of sounds for their fans to dig into. Seventeen tracks of stomping basslines and glitchy overtones are designed to make crowds rawr for more!

Label: Coco Machete Records
Album: El Patron
Artist: Stereofunk
Genre: Electronic, House

Stereofunk, The guy from Dresden, is back with a new single on Coco Machete Records called ‘El Patron’. This is the second single from his upcoming full length album ‘Radio Robotic’ due out next month. ‘El Patron’, following last summer’s smash ‘Get Off’ featuring D’ Secret SVC, is all hands-in-the-air, revved up dance floor sensuality for the electro disco generation. Between the funk bass line, rising pianos, italo synths and imperative vocals, ‘El Patron’ just won’t let up until you’re hooked. ‘El Patron’ is the boss. But that’s it for now folks, we hope you’ve enjoyed this sneak peek, stay tuned next month for more ‘Radio Robotic.

Label: nice + smooth ultramedia
Album: The Moments I Ruined EP
Artist: ICR
Genre: Electronic, Techno, Minimal

Following his mid-tempo and house releases on Chi Recordings, Fokuz, and Orson (including his remix for Howie B), Hungarian multi-genre talent ICR still has undiscovered paths to explore. Now he ventured the stage of techno with such confidence and originality as you would expect. Groovy percussions, bouncy beats with haunting atmospheres in shady tones drives ICR's moody production into something epic yet melancholic 4/4 ; while fellow artist from Budapest, Synus0006 has a unique, stripped-down hypnotic minimal re-take on the title track.

Eye On New Releases: February 21st, 2012

Today's offerings include veterans of their fields. Disappears continues to do what they do best: rock out. Dirty Disco Youth & Fukkk Offf start the end-of-the-world party 8 months before the supposed apocalypse. And for those of us wondering where winter is (it has rained only four times here in San Francisco since the new year began) bios+a+ic & Tanker reminds us that the cold does exist... somewhere in the world.

Label: kranky
Album: Pre Language
Artist: Disappears
Genre: Rock

Right on cue, the third annual report from Chicagoʼs Disappears has been submitted for your consideration. Following up on the acclaimed Guider album released just over a year ago, and with new drummer Steve Shelley now fully integrated into the group, these songs were again forged into proper shape during live shows before heading to the studio and the tape machine. Never ones to dither or be indecisive, itʼs a full-bore assault from the opening track to the last as Disappears attack these new songs with their usual relentless determination. Itʼs a sinister proceeding - debut Lux was preoccupied with death and endings while follow up Guider with protection - but Pre Language finds the band speaking on, of all things, love. Direct allusions to Philip K. Dick, James Baldwin, and Joan of Arc sit side by side with songs about the lows of life and the characters that permeate it. Recorded in Hoboken New Jersey at Sonic Youthʼs Echo Canyon West studio and mixed with John Congleton, Pre Language finds Disappears at their most potent and focused. The band has finally stepped into their own world and the results are thrilling.

Label: Coco Machete Records
Album: Nuclear War Disaster EP
Artist: Dirty Disco Youth & Fukkk Offf
Genre: Electro House

Fukkk Offf's Bastian Heerhorst and Dirty Disco Youth's Phil Speiser team up to drop a bomb on Coco Machete Records and the world at large. With two equally devastating tracks the Nuclear War Disaster EP delivers on its promise of total devastation. Both tracks attack, drive, squelch and pound in ways only these two artists can only to be released by an overture worthy enough to ride with the Valkyries. I think it's time to head to the shelter!

Label: symbolic insight
Album: froZen
Artist: bios+a+ic + Tanker
Genre: Electronic/Experimental

froZen by bios+a+ic + Tanker was originally released by symbolic insight on March 9, 2007 in conjunction with Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland, Colorado, as a limited edition of 100 units, which quickly sold out. This epic album sonically documents one of the coldest winters in decades and reflects upon the strange annual festival which exploits a frozen old man. The music is edgy ambient noise and drones combined with field recordings of the artists walking upon the local frozen river and reservoir. It features bios+a+ic's lush effects-laden trumpet, time stretched looping, and minimal sound textures. These elements are combined with Tanker's warping analog synthesizer, pulsing rhythms, and glitched blips. Musician Vince Herman of the legendary bluegrass band, Leftover Salmon, states that this was the trippiest CDs he had ever heard. froZen is a powerful and unique musical statement which takes the listener to a strange and beautiful world which could exist in either outer space or inner Earth. This release was the final musical statement made by mountain man and artist, Tanker, as he left his world the following summer. The album ends with his voice speaking over his synth, may he rest in peace.

Eye on New Releases: October 4th

Two well-respected artists have finally decided to make new music! Lucky for you, we got it all here...


Label: FUNCK Music

Release: Skinetic Culpture

Artist: Roel Funcken

Genre: Dub

Okay, so we all know robots haven’t taken over the world (yet), aliens aren’t probing our brains (well, it could happen), and the flying cars don’t exist (I wish), but what we do have is someone at border of a new futuristic sound: Roel Funcken. With his sophomore album, Skinetic Culpture, Funcken creates an other-worldly sound, and you can’t help but feel like you’re in some kind of futuristic, life-size video game, with an insane robotic dub style mix and berserk head-bobbing beats. With his layering of different engineering sounds, one cannot help but ask, “ Is he from Earth?” His first track, “Subject Matter” it starts off with a dub beat, then transforms into a surreal futuristic one. No wonder one would feel like they’re in robot heaven on the dance floor.   

Label: Kranky

Release: Exile

Artist: Charalambides

Genre: Alternative

The innovative group, Charalambides, presents their new album, Exile, an artistic alternative release with moving, hypnotizing tones mixed with soothing waves of sound. Exile creates a meaningful and bizarre stir that makes you think, “No wonder it took five years of recording and traveling to create locations in creating this indescribable piece of  art.” Each song delivers a spiritual-like effect, yet they have different layers and moods that create other worlds. For example, the track “Words Inside,” has a beautiful and sensual melody, but also a hauntingly alluring twist. The song “Autumn Leaves,” produces a raw sound with an unhinged guitar that gives a feeling as if you were there in the room with just the guitar. An incredible album that has breath-taking effects.

 

Eye on New Releases: September 13th

With Autumn encroaching and San Francisco experiencing its first real pangs of summer (AKA cloudy & 68.2 degrees) we head into a busy new release season, of which these three eclectic highlights are but the mere tip of the iceberg! 


Label: 444 Records
Release: Exposed
Artist: Liz Primo 
Genre: Dance

Ms. Primo is the newest Pop Dance diva on the scene, and she arrives with major fanfare! Armed with a stable of producers supplying her electrifying beats (responsible for hits by chart-topping artists like Lady Gaga, Pussycat Dolls and Eminem), Liz is poised to break through on a high-profile multinational platform. Her newest EP Exposed features six new tracks brimming with sexuality, sass and a celebration of partying that have already caught the imagination of the LGBT community, where Liz's strongest support lies. Uptempo club vibes abound on tracks like the title jam with its "What happens here/ Stays here" refrain or "Wind Me Up" with its buzzing synth melodies and sub-bass thump. Look out for Liz Primo - as she sings on "Wasted Love": "I'm not your ordinary broad/ I get whatever I want/ Whether you like it or not."


Label: kranky
Release: A Winged Victory For The Sullen
Artist: A Winged Victory For The Sullen
Genre: Alternative

Shifting gears from pumping dance-club pop to ambient neoclassical drone is this new project from Stars of the Lid member Adam Wiltzie and modern classical composer Dustin O'Halloran. Lush pieces for piano, guitar plus effects and string quartet, recorded in West Berlin's famed Grunewald Church using a nine-foot Boesendorfer piano - sought after for its extreme sonic low end - achieve a drifting mellowness that is soothing, engaging and starkly beautiful. Gorgeous harmonic structures emerge like glaciers out of the sea of reverb & slowly decaying sound, occasionally reaching emotional peaks among the deep acoustic valleys. Incredible on headphones...



Label: Voltaire Records
Release: Split Infinitive EP
Artist: Tussle/Publicist
Genre: Electronic

Leaving the drone behind and moving to the indie disco dancefloor sees upstart San Francisco imprint Voltaire Records unleash their finest release to date - a split EP featuring two fantastic modern talents. First up, SF's own Tussle, having previously released two albums on respected Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound (with a forthcoming third produced by JD Twitch of unstoppable leftfield DJ duo Optimo), who contribute "Dusty Roads", a quirky funk monster whose strange groove comes from all manner of percussion and Tomo Yasuda's loping basslines. The other half of the equation here is Publicist, aka Sebastian Thomson of Trans Am, who drops the cosmic "Do You Know Who I Am", all spooky synths, robot vocals and wonderfully Italian melodies, sounding like a mixture of John Carpenter film soundtracks and Giorgio Moroder discoscapes. Each artist remixes the other to round out the EP to fantastic effect, finishing off its rock-meets-dance vibe perfectly. Voltaire - one to watch!