Saturday, May 28, 2011

Last minute show, Polyps are playing as a trio tonight (me and Chris from Trace Figures/Archers and Lawton from Woolen Men) at the Banana Stand, with Blast Majesty, who are a blast from the 90s. I think it's a "secret" venue, so I can't tell you where it is, but I've been made to believe if you do the Facebook thing all will be known to you.

Friday, May 27, 2011

let them eat tape
Hey! Lame Drivers contributed a list to Dusted Magazine's Listed feature this week. Jason is a DJ over at WFMU so it's a great list, from Guided By Voices to Ghedalia Tazartes.
In related news, the Drivers' Demoverse Platform tape released by Eggy two years back is getting vinyl treatment by Sleeping Giant Glossolalia. I still have a few copies of the original tape, get it here for the normal human price before you have to get it on Ebay. Just sayin'... JUST SAYIN'!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

pattern 6
TONIGHT AT MUDAI:

THE GOLDEN HOURS
&
LIZ EISENBERG

NE 8th and Broadway

Monday, May 23, 2011

Tracey Trance/Shep and Me - split CS - Faux Pas
Tracey Trance Quartet/Shep And Me - Split CS - Faux Pas
Astute pairing from Faux Pas, the through lines being the Walkman-fidelity and harmonizer vocals on both sides. Shep And Me is new on me despite having seen the name on any number of releases. Distant, dreamy recordings with enough grime to keep it interesting. The tracks here are definitely songs, which earns them (him?) a lot of points in my book. The Tracey Trance side is listed as the work of a quartet and is a pleasant variation of his usual output. Although the overall tone and melodies are familiar from other releases, the group setting loosens up and widens the sound of the tape. In one of my favorite parts, the mood is more gentle than I've heard from Tracey Trance before, similar to the song "Fountain" on his Night-People tape. Another reason why this tape works is that the other instruments often content themselves with doubling the main melodies, which reinforces them in a nice way. Nice new territory in the Tracey Trance universe, hope he returns to this mode again in the future.
$6

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Two tapes from KRAAK...
Limpe Fuchs & Gerard Hermann - Ghent, October 2010 - Kraak
Limpe Fuchs & Gerard Herman - Ghent, October 2010 - KRAAK
Live recording of a collaboration between young Belgian artist Gerard Herman and established and respected German composer/sound artist/instrument builder Limpe Fuchs, who has been making interesting and challenging music since the 70s (There's a record at Mutant Sounds, and some nice writing at MMS). Really wild stuff! Fuchs plays an assortment of her self-built instruments and sings a little, and Herman provides alto sax, otherworldly vocalizations and assorted rattlings from his home-made Duchamp Wheel. Dynamic recording in what sounds like a large church--would loved to have seen this performance! I can't tell you very much about Herman other than he seems to be a very, very cool dude, and very funny. Definitely check out his website, especially the Gordon Matta-Taart in the "Performance" section. The duck bike is also a hoot!
$8
Koln - All I See Is Light - Kraak
Köhn - All I See Is Light - KRAAK

Epic live performance from this Belgian musician about whom I can tell you very little. The work here is a long, flowing, organ and synthesizer piece of remarkable maturity and concept. Like many artists at the moment, Köhn seems to be interested in the "transcendent" or "cosmic" but he balances these ideas in his work with a relatively spartan approach and an emphasis on clarity. A very pleasurable listen--the pace is relatively quick but still gives each idea the space to develop before moving on. Nice wide range of modes, too, from stately organ playing to that addictive motorik bounce, there's even some Big Beat style filter twiddling. To be critical, the tape doesn't quite sustain itself for the entire duration of this very long piece but it is only near the end that it begins to lag, with plenty of good ideas crammed in before then.
$8

Thursday, May 19, 2011

V/A - Endless Loop Vol 1 - Pots Raw Records
V/A - Endless Loop Vol. 1 - Pots Raw Records
Only have one copy of this fun one, a compilation of bands from Lexington, KY, most of them centered around the Void Skateshop scene, I believe. Night-People just dropped their latest batch and Lexington swept up with three of the 13 or so new tapes coming from that fine city (Street Gnar, Trailblazer and Three Legged Race); Jovontaes have a new one on San Fran label DNT; and Eggy will be completing it's Lexington trilogy (you heard it hear first, kids) with a killer new Trailblazer tape in a few weeks. Fun pop vibe throughout, nice snapshot of a city quietly exporting more musical talent than most of us realize.
$6

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Last of the new Ekhein tapes...
Sean McCann - S/T - Ekhein
Sean McCann - S/T - Ekhein
I think there are healthy number Sean McCann fans already out there so I can be honest. Never felt too strongly one way or the other about his work--heard some stuff that was nice enough, heard some stuff that I thought was pretty flat. Given how incredibly prolific he is, this comes as no surprise. I would say this tape falls into the "nice" category, so if you're a fan of his music you will get what you are after. For the uninitiated, McCann makes bright, shimmering drone pieces using his violin as the source material (I believe), which is run through some effects. They've got that vintage "ecstatic" vibe--though there's something a little digital about them to my ears--with the occasional puff of dissonance floating though. Sometimes you can hear the violin more clearly and I like that. Easy, straight-forward stuff, reminds me of Mark McGuire. $7

Monday, May 16, 2011

Continuing with the latest Ekhein batch...
KFW - Regaining Composure/Negating Freedom - Ekhein
KFW - Regaining Composure/Negating Freedom - Ekhein
In the last year or so, Keith Fullerton Whitman's output on cassette tape has lulled me into expecting releases of rigorous intensity--difficult but rewarding music. He used the medium to explore process-based pieces that spiraled through endless variations of tone and timbre, sprawling works largely without peer in the tape scene. Heady stuff for sure, but ultimately also very enjoyable when given the focused attention it deserved. Regaining Composure/Negating Freedom is a gentle reminder of his early works using the "Keith Fullerton Whitman" moniker--namely Playthroughs and to a lesser degree Multiples. The two side-long pieces are pairs in their mood of understated melancholy and use of relatively simple, sine wave-based textures. There is actually something a little naive and out-dated about the straight-forward quality of this music, which--being a person who grows tired of trends very, very quickly--comes as a pleasant surprise to these ears. Very enjoyable release; gentle, interesting music that is neither "cosmic" nor washed away in reverb. $7

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Earn - Performance - Ekhein
Earn - Performance - Ekhein
Live tape from Ekhein main-man Matt Sullivan's Earn project. Live tapes are always a gamble but the consistent quality of Earn material so far was a good enough endorsement for me to pick this one up. The recording on the A-side is truly a stunner, easily the most powerful Earn track to date. Although the audio is certainly lo-fi, the energies of the space and of the audience are felt -- something I was not expecting from a performance of music so abstract. But the B-side feels unfortunately like filler. This is in part due to the remarkable strength of the A-side, but it also stumbles in a few places that live recordings usually do. In contrast to the constant upward lift and layering of the A-side, the piece on the B relies on stasis and immersion -- and though this kind of material is handled excellently in other Earn recordings, the chatty crowd and clinking of beer bottles are really detriments, in my opinion, as is the relative lo-fidelity of the audio. So that's laying it all out -- really outstanding A-side, fine B-side.
$7.
Greg Davis - Schumann Resonances - Ekhein
Greg Davis - Schumann Resonances - Ekhein
Two sides of deep listening from Greg Davis. A-side is "Schumann Resonances (Level 2)," a sparse drone-scape out of which billowing tone shapes rise and dissipate. The overlapping forms create a subtle rhythmic play of pulsing beats with each rise and fall. From a distance the movement appears slow but on closer inspection the surface is teaming. B-side is "Schumann Resonances (Level 8)," a piece whose mood leans toward the menacing. There is a similar sense of movement as the flip as the sound seems to change in slow waves, but the rhythmic element is more pronounced here and the surface churning like an ominous ocean. Tones across the spectrum collide and warp each other.
Here's the Wikipedia article on Schumann Resonances. Good luck with it!
Tape is $7.

Monday, May 9, 2011

pattern 5
B U N K B A R

Free show Tuesday night:
The Golden Hours
Formica Man

1028 SE Water (between Yamhill and Taylor)
FREE! 10pm.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Kleenex/LiLiPUT - 1977-1983 4xLP - Mississippi Records
HOLY COW!
Very excited to have this in stock! What we have here is a 4 LP reissue of everything this legendary Swiss punk group ever released. This is a BIG DEAL for me because the CD reissue that Kill Rock Stars released many, many moons ago was the FIRST punk album I ever bought as a young teenager. So! I don't feel like I can write about this music without losing myself in superlatives and hyperbole(but really, they wouldn't, in the case of LiLiPUT, be superlatives or hyperbole...)
I'm selling these for $45. This is a very reasonable price. If you can afford it, I really, really recommend it.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011


Couple things this week:

THURSDAY
My housemate and Oregan Records main-man Adam Zeek will be opening his collaborative art show with Conlan Murphy at the Tracey Gallery in the Everett Street Lofts (NW 6th and Everett), 6 to 10pm. Me and Adam will be tag team DJing, so expect an eclectic mix of vinyl oddities.

SATURDAY
The Polyps
The Early (first Portland show)
Jewelry Rash (Brian Mumford doing IC drones)
at Mudai Ethiopian Lounge (NE 8th and Broadway).
I believe it is FREE!

Also, the Mail Order page is newly updated.