Strange Light Radio

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Plays: 8

Emeralds - “Lasting”

Various Artists - Lasting c90 [Pineapples Tapes, 2009]

Few things give me greater pleasure in life than a solid compilation. What better way to discover something new than from a lovingly crafted mix of various artists and styles. Lasting, the final release from now-defunct Swill Radio sub-label Pineapple Tapes, has gotten heavy tapedeck love since its release last year. Clocking in at ninety minutes, Lasting presents tracks from many of Scout Foust’s various collaborators and label musicians, plus a few outsiders and no doubt fans.

Above is the titular piece courtesy of Emeralds, a real doozy that comes on suddenly with synth burst and bubble, before making room for a few minutes of McGuire guitar and then disintegration into noise.

Solo piano plays a large role elsewhere on the tape, from Karla Borecky’s sublime, minimal “Structure” (which I’ve played many times on the radio), to Vikki Jackman’s slightly more whimsical “A Night Sketch,” to birdcall and repeated keys from BRRR (a.k.a. outspoken sociology professor Dr. Timothy Shortell).

Tim Goss displays some evil beats with his shamanistic “Thunder-rum,” while the prolific Asmus Tietchens summons trance music from Jupiter with “S.17.A.” Philadephian Weyes Bluhd brings the creep with mournful, wordless evocations over ethereal creaks and the sounds of some midnight lake.

I could describe every piece on here, but I suggest just downloading the damn thing and listening to these sixteen tracks. The MP3s are encoded at 256 kbps to preserve some of the great sound from the chrome tape. It’s a wonderful sampling of minimalism, field recordings, synthesizer exploration, and discreet noise. Well worth checking out. Tracklist and download link below.

Side A

1. Foust!, “Jungle Fever (Goldfish Mix)”
2. Karla Borecky, “Structure”
3. Graham Lambkin, “Recycle 19”
4. Emeralds, “Lasting”
5. BRRR, “Ditmas Park Excerpt”
6. Dead Girl’s Party, “The First Pill”
7. Tim Goss Featuring Beverly’s Records, “Thunder-rum”
8. Frans de Waard, “Nijmegen Hiss”

Side B

9. Asmus Tietchens, “S.17.A”
10. Ian Middleton, “Forest Walk”
11. Vikki Jackman, “A Night Sketch”
12. Weyes Bluhd, “All And Over”
13. Matt Krefting “Maiden Voyage”
14. The Collection Of The Late Howell Bend, “Long Fields”
15. Andrew Chalk, “The Last Rose Falls”
16. Idea Fire Company, “The Sinking Ship”

Listen to “Lasting” by Emeralds above, and download the full tape here.

cassette sunday

Mount Eerie. October 6, 2005 at the Shed in Palmer, Massachusetts.

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Plays: 4

Sean McCann - “Ocean Lamp” (excerpt)

Sean McCann - Fable Shop c49 [Cylindrical Habitat Modules, 2010]

download tape

McCann Fable Shop 2

Grabbed this in a batch of tapes from Cylindrical Habitat Modules a couple months back. McCann’s Open Resolve tape got a fair amount of attention in blogland earlier this year, and the dude’s got much, much more to offer. (Discogs says 35 releases since 2008, and those numbers are usually low.)

McCann Fable Shop 1

Fable Shop is two side-length pieces with a lil’ one thrown in the middle, and they’re both pretty, meditate takes. McCann’s hushed string-sounding drones are particularly sparse in A-side “After the Spring,” laying atop comforting sounds of unknown object manipulation. All a bit thin and distant, like listening through an ear horn. Your grandfather listening to a small string quartet accompanying the kitchen sounds of making breakfast, maybe? Side B’s squawky “Gaslit Statues” makes way for more bowed beauty with “Ocean Lamp,” the sound now a little lusher, a little more powerful. A potential oboe emerges from the mix. There’s a definite sense of renewal sparked by major keys. Good vibrations.

All in all, a beautiful tape of calm, wheezy, wave-like string drones, with pleasant foreground mystery noises and an overall imparted feeling of purpose and positivity. Mix with summer sunrises for feelings of hope. (Cheesy line, totally uncheesy music.)

McCann Fable Shop 3

Listen to an excerpt of “Ocean Lamp” above, and download the full tape here.

Sean McCann at Myspace and Discogs.

David Byrne plays the songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno. December 2, 2008 at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Thursday, June 17 Strange Light Playlist

Strange Light June 17

Hour 1

Onra, “Send Me Your Love,” Long Distance [All City, 2010]
Mist, “Dusk,” Mist [Amethyst Sunset, 2009]
Belbury Poly, “A Thin Place,” The Willows [Ghost Box, 2004]
Moebius & Beerbohm, “Minimotion,” Double Cut [Sky, 1984]
Dirty Beaches, “White Sand,” Dirty Beaches c22 [Night People, 2009]
Herbie Hancock, “Rain Dance,” Sextant [Columbia, 1973]
Love Cry Want, “Tomorrow, Today Will Be Yesterday,” Love Cry Want [Weird Forest, 2010]
Alesia Cosmos, “H-Co,” Exclusivo! [Planetarium, 1983]
Scratoa!, untitled track 3, Live En San Antón [Killer Pimp, 2010]

Hour 2

Vindicatrix, “A Long Straight Road In A Cold City,” Die Alten Bosen Lieder CDR [Mordant Music, 2009]
Craig Leon, “Ring With Three Concentric Circles,” Nommos [Takoma, 1981]
Spine Scavenger, “Weighted Ghost,” Wierd Compilation Volume II: Analogue Electronic Music (Comp.) [Wierd, 2008]
Nosaj Thing, “Voices,” Drift [Alpha Pup, 2009]
Sun Araw, “Deep Cover,” On Patrol [Not Not Fun, 2010]
Indian Weapons, “Maleficent,” Parousia c30 [Digitalis Limited, 2010]
J D Emmanuel, “Part II: Prayer,” Wizards [North Star Productions, 1982]

Playlists

Thursday, June 10 Strange Light Playlist

When I came rushing into the studio last week, Rich was closing out End of Radio with Freddie Hubbard. It made sense, then, to start the show with some jazz of my own before diving into blasted pysch-rock zones for the rest of the first hour. I picked up that Pharoah Sanders record at Mystery Train earlier in the week, where they’ve recently had a bunch of great jazz, specifically of the avant-leaning early seventies camp (grabbed that Alice Coltrane record from a few weeks back there).

Hour 2 kicked off with a cut from the recently reissued Mark McGuire Tidings/Amethyst Waves. Buy this thing from Weird Forest, please! It’s such a great package, especially if you can manage to snag the turquoise/purple marbled vinyl. Plus they included that Inca Ore album for free with my order. How great is that. (Really great!)

Strange Light June 10

Hour 1

The Soft Machine, “Virtually Part 2,” Fourth [Columbia, 1971]
Pharoah Sanders, “Spiritual Blessing,” Elevation [Impulse!, 1974]
Jimmy Lyons, “Push Pull,” Wildflowers: The New York Loft Jazz Sessions Vol. 4 (Compilation) [Douglas, 1977]
Psychic Ills, “4AM,” Early Violence [The Social Registry, 2006]
Indian Jewelry, “Temporary Famine Ship,” Free Gold! [We Are Free, 2008]
Loop, “I’ll Take You There,” The World In Your Eyes [Reactor, 1987]
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, “Butthouse Blondies,” Until Today [4AD, 2010]
Agent Side Grinder, “Kneivel Claustrophobia,” Debut [Kill Shaman, 2010]
Silk Flowers, “Night Shades,” Silk Flowers [PPM, 2009]
Silver Apples, “Program,” Silver Apples [Phoenix, 1968]

Hour 2

Mark McGuire, “Along the Coral Reef,” Tidings/Amethyst Waves (LP Reissue) [Weird Forest, 2010]
Andrew Chalk, “The Last Rose Falls,” Lasting c90 (Compilation) [Pineapple Tapes, 2009]
Geoff Mullen & Keith Fullerton Whitman, “#01.1.5,” November 28 2009 [Upstairs CDR, 2010]
Inca Ore, “546-47-8539 Solo For the Voice of Tupac,” Brute Nature Versus Wild Magic [Weird Forest, 2009]
Harmonizer, untitled side B, Harmonizer c30 [NNA Tapes, 2009]
Dylan Ettinger, “Gordons Theme,” New Age Outlaws [Not Not Fun, 2010]

Playlists

Thursday, May 27 Strange Light Playlist

Catching up on some old shows. Purely archival purposes. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Hour 1

Roll the Dice, “Into the Ground,” Roll the Dice [Digitalis, 2010]
Mi Ami, “Ark (Version),” Ark of the Covenant 12” [Lovers Rock, 2008]
Youth of the Beast, “Grackle Will Follow,” Lantern 7” [Arbor, 2007]
Predator Vision, “Real Aliens” (excerpt), Predator Vision/Sun Araw Split LP [Not Not Fun, 2009]
Color Rabbit, “Winged Out” (excerpt), A Live Once & Reincarnations 3” CDR [Darbolistic Rex, 2009]
Baroque Bordello, “I’m God,” 1st Trip [Qbico, 2002]
Sightings, “Hush,” City of Straw [Brah, 2010]

Hour 2

Nate Young, “Sweating Sickness,” Regression [iDEAL, 2009]
Dick Raaijmakers, “Contrasts,” Evolutions & Contrasts [Limelight, 1968]
Jeff Greinke, “Oceanic Lift,” Places of Motility [Hypnos, 1987]
Lorn, “None An Island,” Nothing Else [Brainfeeder, 2010]
Oneohtrix Point Never, “Ouroboros,” Returnal [Editions Mego, 2010]
o0o00, “No Summer4U,” o0o00 CDR [Disaro, 2010]
Rob Walmart, “Weenie Roast On Buttfuck Island,” Everybody Hurts [Marriage, 2010]
Foxy Baby, “L.A. Skyline,” Foxy Baby c46 [Outer Limits, 2009]
Loop, “Circle Grave,” Black Sun 12” [Chapter 22, 1988]
Lunar Miasma, “Purple Oscillator,” Crystal Covered [Basses Frequencies, 2009]