WIR #6 - long time coming

Hi everyone. Guess what? I'm alive! And here's some overdue updates of stuff I've written:

Kikumoto Allstars - House Music (International Deejay Gigolo; 2009)

Score: 80/100

In a landscape overrun with throwback acts looking for elusive "authenticity" in their nostalgic interpretations of dance music, Kikumoto Allstars manage to rise above and deliver a tight long-player of house grooves. It's all here - squelchy acid lines, ravey sawtooth synths, liberal helpings of TR-808 and TR-909 percussion - and it all pumps.

Full review at Cokemachineglow

SND - Atavism (Raster-Noton; 2009)

Score: 4/5

SND return from out of the blue with an intensely sterile take on minimal techno. There's no superfluously delayed percussion or field recordings, and certainly no M-nus- / Basic Channel-esque reverb. No, we get digital percussion pounding away with FM pad stabs, drawing from the same narrow sound palette for the entirety of the release. So why do I like it? Read on!

Full review at the milk factory

Ear Pwr - Super Animal Brothers III (Carpark; 2009)

Score: 55/100

And here I thought that Adventure album was as ridiculous as things could get in the "let's ape Dan Deacon" segment of Carpark. Ear Pwr have something really interesting going for them - namely those wonderful analog toys - but it all gets a shit-smear thanks to unfortunate (and unnecessary) hipster posturing. Did you really need to title a song "Cats Is People Too?" Or how about "Sparkley [sic] Sweater?" Ear Pwr would be so much more likable if they didn't elicit eye-rolls.

Full review at Cokemachineglow

Atom™ - Liedgut (Raster-Noton; 2009)

Score: 7/10

The man also known as Señor Coconut has some interesting tricks up his sleeve. In this case, said tricks include making a series of tracks based around a motif of rhythmic cell-phone interference, vocoded poetry on the nature of radio signals, and a guest appearance from the godfather of German techno himself, Florian Schneider! Ja.

Full review at PopMatters

Sascha Funke - Watergate 02 (Watergate; 2008)

Score: 8/10

No, I'm not sure why an album from 2008 didn't send out a promo copy until Spring 2009. Be that as it may, this is still a pretty impressive mix from Funke. Requisite 2008 inclusion of that one Nathan Fake track, of course.

Full review at PopMatters

That's not quite all for now - if you'll pick up the latest issue of Big Shot Magazine, you'll find a couple articles from yours truly; a discussion with Chris Jeffs (aka Cylob) about his homemade DJ software, the Kombine BeatHarvester, and a review of Ableton Live 8. They aren't online, but I think it's a pretty fantastic issue with some great pieces on The Prodigy, Pet Shop Boys, Peaches and more!

WIR #5

Been a busy week, particularly with CMG, where it was Kid606 Week™ for me. Check it!

Interview: Kid606
Anticipating the release of Shout At The Döner, I spoke to Miguel De Pedro about a whole host of subjects, for an engaging discussion long enough to warrant publication in two parts. Hear about his perspectives on running a record label, how he makes his tracks, what he thinks of the explosion of the mashup scene he pioneered, how Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart is unexpectedly hilarious, moving to Berlin, and much, much, more.
Part 1 at Cokemachineglow
Part 2 at Cokemachineglow

Kid606 - Shout At The Döner (Tigerbeat6; 2009)
Score: 84/100
The full-length return of Kid606 from his hiatus. Following the the dubstep phatness of last year's Die Soundboy Die, Döner is a return to the rave-obliterating madness of albums like Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You. This time, we also get zombie references. That, and it's one of his most solid releases.
Full review at Cokemachineglow

The Juan Maclean - The Future Will Come (DFA; 2009)
Score: 75/100
Co-authored with Calum Marsh (okay, being honest, he wrote 2/3 of it then asked me to add stuff, and is dude enough to give me co-writing credit). DFA's non-label-owning star returns with a second full-length, following the pure bliss that was "Happy House" (which appears in full form at the end of The Future). You'll wish some of the tracks went longer, but things could certainly be worse than that.
Full review at Cokemachineglow

Mauxuam - Viceversa (Interchill; 2008)
Score: 3/5
Worldly Italian producer returns from three years of traveling with this glitched-out aural document. While it's at times weighted down by its socio-political concerns, we've still got a worthwhile think piece on our hands.
Full review at the milk factory

WIR #4

Been a good week. Enjoy!

Reinventing the Music Box (Again)
Score: 9/10
Don't let the score fool you; this puppy is a feature-length discussiong of FM3's recently-released Buddha Machine II, and what the technological add-ons (in this case, a pitch-wheel) mean for the device's reputation as a tool of simplicity.
Full article at PopMatters

Ras G - Brotha From Anotha Planet (Brainfeeder/Alpha Pup; 2009)
Score: 70/100
Equal parts Sun Ra and J Dilla, Ras G is a promising new beatmaking talent out of the fertile blunted-space-beats garden that is LA. Like contemporary Flying Lotus, only more spaced out (which is most often a good thing).
Full review at Cokemachineglow

Jane's Addiction - "Whores" (self-released; 2009)
Jane's Addiction are back with the original four members in tow - including, for the first time in 1991, bassist Eric Avery. Fittingly, they've laid down some blasting new studio versions of songs from their semi-live debut for inclusion in a free sampler for their "NINJA" tour with Nine Inch Nails and Street Sweeper (if you're unfamiliar with the latter, it's a new collaboration between Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello and The Coup's Boots Riley).
Track review at Cokemachineglow

I'm aware of how lame it is that there's nothing on the milk factory this week. But I'll get something soon - promise!

Lastly, a couple new things. First off, I've started another freelance relationship, this one with Big Shot, a Brooklyn-based DJ magazine with some sweet features, reviews, and charts galore. I've written a review of Ableton Live 8 and a feature about Cylob's homemade DJ software (made in SuperCollider, my coding environment of choice, I might add) for the next issue.

Additionally, though it's not music-related, I've also started doing some writing for New York Magazine; I covered an ASPCA gala honoring Martha Stewart last night. You can read a couple items about it here and here.

WIR #3

Hola amigos. Been a while since I hollered at ya. I moved into a new apartment on Sunday (this one has an elevator, alright!) and have been busy with Pesach most of the week (family's in town). So, only a couple pieces this week, but I've received some interesting feedback about both.

Black Dice - Repo (Paw Tracks; 2009)
Score: 62/100
The veteran Brooklyn noise-makers with messed up beats unleash a record filled with collage pieces, reflecting the din of media in modern life. It's engaging, and as always there are some fascinating sounds, but Black Dice tend to be better when they work on crunchy rhythms and long ambient tracks.
Full review at Cokemachineglow

Eminem - "We Made You" (Shady/Aftermath; 2009)
After an inauspicious resurfacing, Em drops the first single off his upcoming Relapse. It's not surprising that "We Made You" is crap - I've long ago given up hope on Eminem ever being more than a self-pitying bigot with corny jokes - but that it actually sucks more than I could have expected. I know it's been customary to have the first single be the stupid joke track that's passe in two weeks, but cracks at Kim Kardashian and Bret Michaels aren't even remotely funny to begin with.
Track review at Cokemachineglow

WIR #2

Restarting another feature here - Weeking In Review (WIR for short, get it?). I'll run it every Friday, with links and summaries of pieces I've done that have been published that week. Since this is the inaugural one of this relaunch, I'm reaching further back into March for some pieces that I think merit the extra mention.

I'm also introducing a new color-code for pieces to indicate where they're published, as follows:
the milk factory
Cokemachineglow
PopMatters

Here we go:

Babe, Terror - Weekend (Perdizes Dream; 2009)
Score: 78/100
Claudio Szynkier is a fantastic and unique new talent that I've previously blogged about. Weekend is constructed out of samples of his voice put through basic and obvious effects. Pure and primal, yet with a post-modern take. Check out the Babe, Terror Myspace for more.
Full review at Cokemachineglow

Ethan Rose - Oaks (Holocene; 2009)
Score: 7/10
Portland-based creator of ambient electro-acoustics makes an album about memory. All samples are taken from the organ at the Oaks Park Roller Rink, where I attended a number of birthday parties growing up. Needless to say, this review gets a bit personal. See Rose's lovely website for more.
Full review at PopMatters

Interview with Chris Willits
I sat down with ambient/experimental/drone guitarist Chris Willits after a recent show to discuss Ableton 8, his new venture Overlap.org, and what exactly "folding" is. See Willits' site for more background info and music samples.
Interview at the milk factory