"I stood up and I said yeah/ I spoke up and I said hey/ I stood up and I said hey, yeah, yeah yeah..."

I wrongly panned the Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin in Alternative Press at the time of release, due mostly to the shift away from their guitar-based records and the absence of Ronald Jones (who filled in as the perfect foil for Johnathan Donahue's woozily trebly guitar sound). I was cool with Zaireeka -- what a great concept -- but now it seemed Wayne Coyne was relying too heavily on the songwriting of Steven Drozd, busily turning into a caricature of himself as this 'weirdo from Oklahoma!' billed as 'midwestern art genius,' who got just lucky enough to slip through the cracks to get funded on the backs of (Pops/Papa) Warner Bros. In hindsight, good for him/ them -- Wayne really was sorta an asshole the few times I got to spend a few minutes with him, but Michael Ivins is a sweet dude! For the most part, though, this is/ was the Lips' last great record, released 20 years ago now(!). I rescind my review (authored under the name Michael Segal, (thanks, Mike!, sorry, Mike) around issue #129-132 somewhere, if you have a copy)... highly recommended!

newer shit i have been digging &/or trying to take the time to check into/ check out:

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – Tracing Back The Radiance (Mexican Summer 256) July 2019
I Jahbar - Inna Duppy SKRS Soundclash (Bokeh Versions 27) July 2019
Sun Araw & Mitchell Brown – Fluid Array (Longform Editions 31) July 2019
Ride – This Is Not A Safe Place (Wichita 570) august 2019
Pan American – Nightbirds (Longform Editions 33) august 2019
Bitchin Bajas – Demeter (Longform Editions 34) august 2019
Deathprod – Occulting Disk (Smalltown Supersound 360) October 2019
Stereolab - Cobra & Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic_Warp)
Stereolab - Dots & Loops [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic_Warp)
Stereolab - Emperor Tomato Ketchup [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic_Warp)
Pita – Get On (editions Mego 269) October 2019
Chromatics – Closer To Grey (Italians Do It Better) October 2019
Kim Gordon – No Home Record (Matador 1379) October 2019
Theodore Cale Schafer – Patience (Students Of Decay 122) October 2019
Ohio – Upward, Broken, Always (12k 2042) September 2019
VA – Total 19 (Kompakt CD154) September 2019
Saariselka – The Ground Our Sky (Temporary Residence) October 2019
Vetiver – Up On High (Loose 251) October 2019
VA – Place Language (Facture) October 2019
Pan American – A Son (Kranky) November 2019
Rafael Toral – Constellation In Still Time (Room 40) November 2019
Matt Valentine - Preserves (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond) November 2019
Ohio – Interludes (12k 3021) October 2019
Marcus Fischer – On Falling (12k 2043) October 2019

Moon Diagrams – Trappy Bats (“Wipeout Meets Jefre Cantu-Ledesma) (geographic north 54) august 2019
Luxembourg Signal, The - Are You Numb (ReMixes by Robert Hampson) October 2018
Bill MacKay & Katinka Kleijn – STIR (Drag City 756) October 2019
Alex Cobb – Abate Fetel (bandcamp) august 2017

"just when the thought occurs, the panic will pass..."

well, certainly a lot has happened since my last post. Our dear friend, music guru, artist, indie psychologist has suffered a massive heart attack... kids have gotten older, wiser... parents have gotten dumber, more resilient... and the world keeps turnin', spitting out bile like a drug... thank god for like-minded souls, continued connections -- however few and far between -- it always feels like yesterday when we meet up again... recalibration and recharging the batteries of those in tune with humanness is never too late... love to everyone I know !

Dig: (meaning, I have listened to, purchased, spent some time with these 'new' releases/ reissues, which you can find on bandcamp, youtube and blogs...):

Nicola Ratti – k1/k2 (Longform Editions 018) February 2019
Balmorhea - Clear Language, Reworked (Western Vinyl 171 dig2) January 2018
Balmorhea – All Is Wild, All Is Silent (Remixes) (Western Vinyl 064) august 2009
Warm Ghost - Claws Overhead (Geographic North) may 2010
Royal Trux – White Stuff (Fat Possum) february 2019
Maayan Nidam - Sea Of Thee (Perlon 119) December 2018
Skee Mask - 808BB (Ilian Tape 003) february 2019
Tilliander - Expect Resistance _ Respect Existence (Dub On Arrival 01) February 2019
Tzusing / M.E.S.H. – Split 12” (PAN 95) january 2019
William Basinski - On Time Out of Time (Temporary Residence Ltd. 311) march 2019
Tilliander - Cleanse and Manipulate (Føld 01) January 2019
VA - Chairs, Speakers, Sparse Light (Prasens Editionen 15) march 2019
Asuna & Jan Jelinek - Signals Bulletin (Faitiche 18) march 2019
Stephen Malkmus - Groove Denied (Matador) march 2019
Ricardo Villalobos – Mandela Move (Deset 02) february 2019
Bill MacKay – Fountain Fire (Drag City 734) march 2019
JAB – Erg Herbe (Shelter Press 105) march 2019
VA - Big Gold Dreams; A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989 (Cherry Red Box69) february 2019
Kyle Bobby Dunn - From Here To Eternity (Past Inside The Present 001) march 2019
Sarah Davachi – Pale Bloom (W. 25th) march 2019
Fennesz - Agora (Touch 115) march 2019
Phew, Oren Ambarchi, Jim O'Rourke - Patience Soup (Black Truffle 46) march 2019
M Sage - Catch A Blessing (Geographic North 52) April 2019
Lightbath, Emily Sprague – HERE004: full/ new (Commend 004) February 2019
Chris Forsyth - All Time Present (No Quarter 62) April 2019
Saariselka - Ceres (Longform Editions 008)
Stereolab – Transient Random Noisebursts With Announcements [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic/ Warp) may 2019
Stereolab – Mars Audiac Quintet [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic/ Warp) may 2019
VA – Black Truffle at 10 (Mixed by Oren Ambarchi) (Black Truffle Digital 01) may 2019
France Jobin – Solitude (Silent) April 2019
Loren Connors & Daniel Carter – The Departing of a Dream, Vol. VII (Family Vineyard 101) may 2019
M. Grig – Mount Carmel (12k 90) may 2019
Kyle Bobby Dunn - FHTW-B (Dunn 001) may 2019
Bill Callahan – Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest (Drag City 747) june 2019
Oren Ambarchi – Simian Angel (eMego 263) june 2019
Andrew Chalk – Paradise Lost (Faraway Press) may 2019
Helm – Chemical Flowers (PAN 99) may 2019
Rafael Anton Irisarri – Solastalgia (Room 40 105) june 2019
Swervedriver – Think I’m Gonna Feel Better b/w Reflections 7” (Dangerbird Records) April 2019
Brother JT – Tornado Juice (Thrill Jockey 457) march 2018
Ambarchi, Mark Fell, Will Guthrie & Sam Shalabi, Oren – Oglon Day (ThirtyThree ThirtyThree 002) june 2019
Ambarchi, Will Guthrie, Oren – Knotting (Black Truffle 52) june 2019

Acid, Bitter and Sad

Suggestions:

Ty Segall – Fudge Sandwich (In The Red 326) October 2018
Roman Flugel – Themes I-XIII (ESP Institute 76) October 2018
Vladislav Delay – Untitled Circa 2014 (self-released) October 2018
Felicia Atkinson & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – Limpid as the Solitudes (Shelter Press 101) November 2018
Ian William Craig – Thresholder (Fat Cat/130701 32) November 2018
Mark Templeton – Distorted Tourist (Graphical 05) june 2018
Oren Ambarchi, Jim O'Rourke & U-zhaan - Hence (Editions Mego 249) November 2018
BEAST - Ens (Thrill Jockey 475) November 2018
Federico Durand - Pequeñas Melodías (IIKKI 007) November 2018
Tomasz Bednarczyk - Illustrations For Those Who (Room40 95) November 2018
Primal Scream – Give Out But Don’t Give Up (The Original Memphis Recordings) (Sony 19075815741) October 2018
VA – S C A L E (Schwebung) November 2018
Harmony Rockets w/ special guest Peter Walker – Lachesis/ Clotho/ Atropos (Thompkins Square 5548) September 2018
Panda Bear – Buoys (Domino) November 2018
Deerhunter – Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared (4AD) December 2018
Alice Coltrane – Spiritual Eternal: The Complete Warner Bros. Studio Recordings (Real Gone Music) December 2018
The Sight Below – Glider 10: Reworks (Ghostly International 329) December 2018
VA – Pop Ambient 2019 (Kompakt 395) December 2019
Swervedriver - Future Ruins (Dangerbird)
Eli Keszler – Stadium (Shelter Press 99) October 2018
Alexis Georgopoulos & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – Foreign Affairs 7” (Emotional Response 38) December 2018
Stephen Mathieu – Folio (instrumental version of Palimpsest) (Schwebung) November 2018
Stephen Mathieu – “Algol” (The Falling Rocket extra track) (Schwebung) (from Folio box set, November 2018)
Alexander Spence – AndOarAgain (Modern Harmonic 86, september 2018) may 1969
Steve Gunn – The Unseen In Between (Matador 1309) January 2019
VA – Centennial (NNA Tapes 100) august 2018
Sun Araw Trio XIII – Activated Clown (NNA Tapes 115) January 2019
Andrew Chalk – One Long Year (Faraway Press) January 2019
France Jobin + Richard Chartier - DUO (mAtter 015) December 2018
Lee Gamble – In A Paraventral Scale (Hyperdub 119) February 2019
Corey Fuller – Break (12k 89) February 2019
Stephen Vitiello & Taylor Deupree – Fridman Variations (12k 2041) February 2019
Asuna & Jan Jelinek - Relief Pt. 1 (Faitiche 18_S1) February 2019
Mercury Rev - Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited (Bella Union 852) February 2019
Telescopes, The - Exploding Head Syndrome (Tapete 409) February 2019
LCD Soundsystem - Electric Lady Sessions (DFA_Columbia_Sony) February 2019
Mike Weis, Simon Scott - THESIS 15 (Thesis 15) November 2018
Taylor Deupree & S. Carey - THESIS 01 (Thesis 01) January 2017
Kyle Bobby Dunn, Anjou - PRINT TRACK 04 (Thesis Print Track 04) September 2018
Julianna Barwick, Rafael Anton Irisarri – THESIS 10 (Thesis 10) October 2017
Akira Rabelais - CXVI (Boomkat Editions 18) February 2019
Nivhek – After Its Own Death/ Walking In A Spiral Towards The House (self-released) February 2019
Piroshka – Brickbat (Bella Union 865) February 2019
Evan Caminiti – Refraction (Make Noise) February 2019
Alvin Lucier - Ricochet Lady (Black Truffle 45) january 2019
Eli Keszler – Empire (Shelter Press 107) February 2019
Efdemin - New Atlantis (Ostgut Ton 45) February 2019
Simon Scott – Soundings (Touch 112) February 2019