"It's all up in the air, girl/ it's like a snare, girl/ in all its manifestations"

--Thurston Moore

Spent the majority of April listening to Sonic Youth. Particularly their post Dirty-era, which I largely abandoned at the time—between their side-projects, experimental self-released material and their more accessible Geffen albums—it was tough to keep up. Turns out, their career had a pretty great second half. The jams sound more mature, some in line with their longer-form “verse-chorus, verse-chorus, NOISE shred” pieces of the past while others embraced a new, more concise, albeit still somewhat “anti-pop song” style—both of which maintained the band’s patented anthemic apathy and aggression edge, and totally hit the sweet spot.

BRETT'S PICKS VOLUME ONE (1994-2009: post Dirty-era):


BRETT'S PICKS VOLUME TWO (1994-2009: post Dirty-era):


BRETT'S PICKS VOLUME THREE (1994-2009: post Dirty-era):



Added "to-do" playlist projects: Sun Araw, Tuluum Shimmering and Psychic Ills (and yet, another crucial loss, Tres Warren RIP):

check it out:
Marina Rosenfeld and Ben Vida Vertice (Fridman Gallery 01) april 2020
The Green Kingdom Residence On Earth (Past Inside The Present) April 2020
Home Diaries series (whitelabrecs)
Asuna + Tomoyoshi Date + Federicl Durand In The Open (Dauw) April 2020
Élodie Le Nid D'Ivoire (La Scie Dorée 2419) January 2020
Psychic Ills' "Never Learn Not To Love" b/w "Cease To Exist" (Sacred Bones 248) April 2020
Howling Hex, The Knuckleball Express (Fat Possum 1725) April 2020
Alva Noto's "A Forest" (Noton 48) April 2020
Sun Araw Rock Sutra (Sun Ark 60) April 2020
Felicia Atkinson Everything Evaporate (Shelter Press 121) April 2020
Cornershop England Is A Garden (Ample Play 129) march 2020
Corey Fuller Sanctuary (self-released) march 2020
Maggi Payne Arctic Winds (Innova 2010, reissued by Aguirre) March 2020
Derek Rogers Immersions (We Know Better) march 2020
Portable The Transit of Mercury (Khoikhoi 05) march 2020
Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2 curated by Jorg Burger (Kompakt 416) march 2020

Also finished reading Trust Exercise by Susan Choi and Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa—both pretty good, but if I had to recommend one, I suppose it’d be Yoko Ogawa’s Memory Police, if, for no other reason, than its ability to convey long-arc, many-layered and often frightening themes of loss in such a beautifully simplistic and calming language.

"Once in a while you get shown the light/ in the strangest of places if you look at it right"

--Jerry Garcia/ Robert Hunter

More projects: the sea & cake, kiln, verve, zelienople…
finished reading Jenny Offill’s Weather (Alfred A. Knopf, 2020)

LISTENING

"all the blowing themselves up motherfuckers will realize the minute they die that they were suckers"

--Julian Cope.

Unfortunately we lost two good ones this month (title of this blog post in no way related).
First, the passing of Andrew Weatherall,

then David Roback?

Projects still unfolding:
Kompakt Pop Ambient 20 year redux, Autechre, 12k, Longform Editions, Stephan Mathieu, 24 hour playlist…
On the horizon: Zelienople, Sun Araw, Golden Retriever & Chuck Johnson…
Further investigation: somesurprises’ ‘somesurprises,’ Matthew Halsall’s ‘Oneness,’ Califone’s ‘Echo Mine,’ Close Lobsters’ ‘Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols.’

listening...
Six Organs Of Admittance - Companion Rises (Drag City 777) february 2020
Vladislav Delay - Rakka (Cosmo Rhythmatic 11) February 2020
crys cole – Beside Myself (Students Of Decay 123) february 2020
Chuck Johnson - Balsams (Vin Du Select Qualitite 21) July 2017
Botany - Fourteen 45 Tails (Longform Editions 47) February 2020
Nicola Ratti – Continental (Students Of Decay 121) July 2019
Britton Powell – If Anything Is (Catch Wave Ltd. 005) February 2020
Beatrice Dillon - Workaround (PAN 106) February 2020
Michael Grigoni & Stephen Vitiello – Slow Machines (12k 2044) February 2020

"I'm wrapped up in hope/ I'm wrapped up inside/ You give me the waves/ Oh you give me life and light"

Ahh, an old fave, the legendary Wolfgang Press... (the whole 4AD/ Ae/ Pop Ambient/ January thingy... ;)
Managed to read about a dozen books in 2019, among the favorites?
There, There Tommy Orange
Nickel Boys Colson Whitehead
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Fleishman Is In Trouble Taffy Brodesser-Anker
Where'd You Go Bernadette? Maria Semple
Recursion Blake Crouch
Dopesick Beth Macy
Just Kids Patti Smith
As far as records go... I didn't listen to as much new stuff as usual, I've been trying to sift through the wreckage of a mid-2018 iTunes crash which has me parsing back through my entire collection to try and retrieve old faves and discard stuff that really shouldn't be taking up any more of my time. But these stuck out:
Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? Deerhunter
Soundings Simon Scott
From Here to Eternity Kyle Bobby Dunn
Sunrise, Looking East Danny Paul Grody
Tracing Back the Radiance Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Constellation in Still Time Rafael Toral
Reducing the Tempo to Zero Ben Vida
Haalea Olli Aarni
Abate Fetel Alex Cobb
Agora Fennesz
Mount Carmel M. Grig
...Stereolab reissues... I left a lot of shit on the table, I hope to return as I try to stay committed to the process.
and, songs? well...
"Courtyard" Mercury Rev feat. Beth Orton
"On the Wall" Chromatics' Jesus & Mary Chain cover
"Suburban Junky Lady" Royal Trux
"New Atlantis" Efdemin
"Dragon Country" Bill MacKay
"No One Here is a Stranger" Bill MacKay & Katinka Kleijn
not enough... I know.
other faves in 2019: humility, sincerity, humor, love, empathy.
My January, 2020 (not much):
Simon Scott "Emergency Exit" (Touch)
Pale Saints The Comforts of Madness 30th Anniversary Re:Masters (4AD 0159 CDX)
Oval "Eksploio" (Thrill Jockey 515)
Oval Scis (Thrill Jockey 514)
Jeff Parker & The New Breed Suite For Max Brown (International Anthem 29)
and reading Maria Gainza's Optic Nerve (Catapult, 2019, orig. 2014)

"the radio plays the sounds we made/ and everything seems to feel just right..."

January is for revisiting old 4AD records, Autechre and Kompakt’s Pop Ambient series… <3

VA – Pop Ambient (Kompakt CD 155) november 2019
VA – Thousands of Eyes in the Dark (Ghostly International 345) november 2019
Jim O'Rourke - To Magnetize Money and Catch A Roving Eye (Sonoris 16) November 2019
Beck - Hyperspace (Universal JAP) november 2019
Coldplay - Everyday Life (Parlophone - Third Man) november 2019
Gene Clark - No Other [Deluxe Edition] (1974_ 4AD, 2019) November 2019
Stereolab - Margerine Eclipse [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic/ Warp) February 2004/ November 2019
Stereolab – Sound Dust [Expanded Edition] (Duophonic/ Warp) September 2001/ November 2019
Circaea – The Bridge Of Dreams (Faraway Press 33) june 2019
Arp – Ensemble – Live! (Mexican Summer 277) December 2019
Olli Aarni - Haalea (Longform Editions 41) December 2019
Vitiello & Molly Berg, Stephen – I Drew A Fish Hook, and It Turned Into A Flower (IIKKI 10) November 2019
Sean McCann – Puck (Recital 69) November 2019
Ben Vida – Reducing The Tempo To Zero (Shelter Press 108) December 2019
Royal Trux – Quantum Entanglement (Fat Possum 1728) november 2019
Andrew Pekler – Sounds from Phantom Islands (Faitiche 20) November 2019
Slowdive - Golden Hair (Live) (Sonic Cathedral 117, Singles Club #10) November 2019

"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