Learning how to use a CD-Recorder, Andrew Liles, and Laughter, 1/28/2008

Due to some difficulty with hardware in the studio, this week's edition of Laughter will not be available for download. Unfortunately the recorder I use to make the show available each week recorded nothing but silence for two hours; thankfully the reason for this has been explained to me and next week I'll have a show uploaded and available for you. Such is life in the shadow of electricity. There is good news, however. Several individuals called in while Andrew Liles' "Ghosts on Magnetic Tape (Reconstruction) II" was playing and wanted to know where and how they might be able to obtain a copy. There were 1,000 total copies of Ghosts on Magnetic Tape (Reconstruction by Andrew Liles) made. 500 were "regular" copies, 200 were "special art editions," and another 300 came packaged with the original Ghosts on Magnetic Tape by Bass Communion. As far as I can tell this album is completely out of print, which is good news for you because that means I'm willing to upload it for all of you to enjoy. This album was released by Steven Wilson's Headphone Dust label in 2004. Please visit his website and order something from him; Bass Communion is an excellent project and that label releases excellent album after excellent album. You're getting something for free from them, so go there and buy something in turn - the original Ghosts on Magnetic Tape is still available and is also quite good.

If you are interested in Andrew Liles' music, there are a number of places you can go to find his music and find out more about him. The first place to look is his website. News, music, a comprehensive discography, and a biography are available there. Brainwashed is host to a number of reviews of Andrew Liles' work, many of which were (shameless plug) written by me. Sound samples from each of those reviews are available at Brainwashed.; simply go to the site, click on reviews in the side bar, and then search for his name. I've also had the privilege to interview Mr. Liles by email. That interview is available here. There are two other interviews available here and here.

I will try and make sure that next week's show is recorded properly. Until then you can check out some of my previous shows listed below. If any of the links have expired, let me know. I will re-upload those as soon as possible. Also, the E.E track played today is available for free at Wise Owl Records. A number of listeners called in and asked about that song, as well. The disc itself is out of print, but the music is still available!

UPDATE: Wise Owl Records has informed me that some copies of The End of Deconstruction are still available! If you download the album and like it, buy the album. I know there's an economic recession going on right now, but these guys need to eat, too! And it's more than likely that your money will go towards them putting up more free mp3s and assembling more packages as awesome as The End of Deconstruction. Look for a review of this album to appear here and on Brainwashed, soon.

Thanks for listening - any comments or requests you'd like to make can be left at this website or you can e-mail me at the address listed below in the sidebar.

Enjoy.

Bass Communion - Ghosts on Magnetic Tape, Reconstruction by Andrew Liles - full album, .zip file

01. The Human League “Blind Youth” from Reproduction (1979) on Virgin

02. Thomas Leer & Robert Rental “Day Breaks, Night Heals” from The Bridge (1979) on Industrial Records

03. Fad Gadget “For Whom the Bells Toll” from Under the Flag (1991) on Mute — originally released 1982

04. The Legendary Pink Dots “Disturbance” from The Maria Dimension (1991) on Play It Again Sam

05. Daniel Johnston “Spirit World Rising” from 1990 (1990) on Shimmy Disc

06. Kawabata Makoto “Door of Your Enigma” from Hosanna Mantra (2007) on Important

07. Wire “Three Girl Rhumba / Ex Lion Tamer” from Pink Flag (1977) on EMI

08. Full Fathom Five “Smoke Screen” from Smoke Screen (1989) on Link Records

09. The Long Ryders “And She Rides” from 10-5-60 (1983) on PVC

10. Christian Kiefer “The Lovers” from Dogs & Donkeys (2007) on Undertow

11. Davenport “Trolling the Wake Song” from Rabbit Foot's Propeller (2005) on 3Lobed

12. Bohren & Der Club of Gore “Kleiner Finger” from Geisterfaust (2005) on Wonder

13. Bass Communion “Ghosts on Magnetic Tape (Reconstruction) II” from Ghosts On Magnetic Tape (2004) on Headphone Dust — remixed by Andrew Liles

14. E.E & the Owl Archimedes “Liminal State” from The End of Deconstruction (2008) on Wise Owl Records (download this for free @ http://www.wiseowlrecords.com)

15. Christ. “Skylab One” from Metamorphic Reproduction Miracle (2002) on Benbecula

16. Courage of Lassie “The Rose” from The Temptation to Exist (1986) on Amok

17. Lichens “Faeries” from Omns (2007) on Kranky

18. Phew “Dream” from S/t (1986) on Pass Records-Japan

19. Nadja “Breakpoint” from Truth Becomes Death (2005) on Ah Syd

Laughter, 1/24/2008

Below you will find the play list and zip file for my latest show on WZBC. Popul Vuh has been impressing me for the last couple of weeks and today I stumbled upon Letzte Tage - Letzte Nächte, a fine cut of German pseudo-krautrock from 1976. If you don't know much about Popul Vuh, here's a little information for you: the band was founded in 1970 by Florian Fricke with percussionist Holger Trulzsch and Frank Fiedler. Affenstunde, their first album, explored various kinds of found-sound electronic music as well as ambient and so-called "new age" music. In den Gärten Pharaos continued this kind of exploration, but afterwards Fielder began moving away from electronic keyboards and synthesizers and picked up the traditional black and white keys - Fricke, in the meantime, began using music as a means of exploring various religious themes and in 1972 the band released Hosianna Mantra. Eventually Werner Herzog became familiar with the band and in turn Fricke and company contributed to the soundtracks for several of his films, including Aguirre, The Wrath of God and The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. Popul Vuh continued releasing music until 2001, when Fricke passed away. The group disbanded shortly thereafter. Wikipedia includes a nice quote from Klaus Schulze, which appeared in the liner notes of the Hosianna Mantra reissue and pinpoints part of what makes Popul Vuh's music so appealing to me:

"Florian was and remains to be an important forerunner of contemporary ethnic and religious music. He chose electronic music and his big Moog to free himself from the restraints of traditional music, but soon discovered that he didn't get a lot out of it and opted for the acoustic path instead. Here, he went on to create a new world, which Werner Herzog loves so much, transforming the thought patterns of electronic music into the language of acoustic ethno music."

There are a couple of Popul Vuh tracks included below that do not appear on the radio show. The first is from their debut album, Affenstunde and a the second is from their excellent 1979 release, Die Nacht der Seele.

Enjoy.

01. The Residents “Infant Tango” from Meet the Residents (2004) on Euro Ralph — originally released 1973

02. Captain Beefheart “Nowadays a Woman Gotta Hit a Man” from Dust Blows Forward (1999) on Warner/Rhino

03. End “Countdown to the End” from The Sounds of Disaster (2004) on Ipecac

04. Nobukazu Takemura “Toybox with Moonshine” from Child & Magic (2002) on Warner Japan

05. Otto Von Schirach “Boombonic Plague” from Chopped Zombie Fungus (2003) on Schematic

06. Bene Gesserit “Existentialisme” from A High, Happy, Perverse and Cynical Cry of Joy (1986) on insane

07. Sonny Sharrock “Many Mansions” from Ask the Ages (1991) on Axiom

08. Paul Schütze “The Mutant Beautific” from New Maps of Hell (1992) on Extreme

09. The Soft Machine “As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still” from Volume 2 (1969) on Big Beat

10. Glenn Branca “Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar” from Lesson No.1 (2003) on Acute — originally released 1980

11. Autistic Daughters “Spend It on the Enemy (While It Was Raining)” from Jealousy and Diamond (2004) on Kranky

12. The Tower Recordings “I Didn't Know That Hajji Smoked/ID Can Hear the Magic Spring” from Folkscene (2001) on The Communion Label

13. Popul Vuh “Oh Wie Weit Ist Der Weg Hinauf” from Letzte Tage - Letzte Nächte (1997) on think progressive — originally released 1976

14. A. Wiltzie Vs. Stars of The Lid “I Love You, but I Prefer Trondheim (Parts 1-4)” from Ulver 1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines (2003) on Jester

15. Coil “Another Brown World” from Unnatural History II (1995) on Threshold House — song originally released 1989 on Sub Rosa

16. KTL “Estranged” from KTL (2006) on Editions Mego

16. Aleister Crowley “Various” from The Great Beast Speaks (1993) on Disgust 1

17. Current 93 “Black Ships Ate the Sky (Alternative Mix)” from Brainwaves: Disc C (2006) on Brainwashed

18. Sunburned Hand of Man “Buried Pleasure” from Rare Wood (2004) on Spirit of Orr

19. Popul Vuh “Kyrie” from Letzte Tage - Letzte Nächte (1997) on Think Progressive — originally released 1976

Laughter, 1/24/2008, .zip file

Popul Vuh - "Train Through Time" - bonus track from Affenstunde
Popul Vuh - "Wo bist Du, der Du überwunden hast?" - from Die Nacht der Seele

Radio, 01/23/2008

I subbed from 1pm to 3pm on WZBC, today and happened upon some great music from three different compilations released by three different labels. Most people are probably familiar with Touch Records; they've released music from the likes of Pan Sonic, Rafael Toral, Fennesz, Ryoji Ikeda, Biosphere and many others. For their 25th birthday, Touch released a compilation of 25 new songs that most of you are probably familiar with... but I am just stumbling upon it and wanted to upload a couple songs from it because it so captured my ears. I've included what may be one of Christian Fennesz's finest recordings to date.

In addition to a couple tunes from that comp, I've uploaded a couple songs from the Gommagang Start comp and the excellent New Deutsch comp. Gomma is a little label from Germany that specializes in slightly off-kilter dance-electronic music and moody stuff more suitable for bedroom listening late at night. Their compilation separates these two approaches onto two discs and I've included a track from both. On the whole this label misses more than it hits, but the two songs included below are heads and shoulders above the rest. Gigolo Records (careful, link not completely work safe), on the other hand, specializes in just about every kind of dance music you can possibly imagine, including the really clunky, clumsy, and primitive German synthesizer music from the late 70's and early 80's. New Deutsch features 24 tracks from 19 different bands. There's a range of styles on the disc, but principle among them is the muddy, sloppy, and over-simple pop tune. I was reminded of Fad Gadget, early Human League, and Harmonia right away, but some of these songs have a little of the post-punk sound to them. The entire disc is worth listening to, but the two songs below were post-show highlights for me. Below is the play-list and downloads.

Enjoy.

01. Grauzone - “Film 2” from New Deutsch (2003) on Gigolo
02. Bjorn Torske - “Hatten Passer” from Feil Knapp (2007) on Smalltown Supersound
03. Mofongo - “Loco” from Tumbao (2007) on Aagoo
04. Kid 606 - “Whereweleftoff - Fortune Cookie Remix by Atom (TM)” from P.S. I Dub Ya (2001) on Tigerbeat 6
05. Damiak - “Fnificun” from Micalavera (2007) on N5md
06. Can - “One More Night” from Ege Bamyasi (1972) on Spoon/Mute
07. Bene Gesserit - “Femmes aux Yeux D'Argile” from Fashion is a Dirty Word (1987) on Dead Man's Curve
08. Popul Vuh - “In der Halle des Lernens” from Die Nacht Der Seele (1979) on Spalax
09. Rosy Parlane - “Atlantis” from VA: Touch 25 (2006) on Touch
10. Black Dice - “Seabird” from Beaches & Canyons (2002) on DFA
11. Blindganger - “Spiel ohne Worte” from New Deutsch (2003) on Gigolo
12. Ike Yard - “N.C.R. (Funkstorung RMX)” from Gommagang Start (2005) on Gomma
13. Oval - “Class” from Dok (1997) on Thrill Jockey
14. Nathan Halverson - “Nurse / Shark Pt. 2” from Nurse / Shark (2007) on Peapod
15. Converter - “Error” from Blast Furnace (2000) on Ant-Zen
16. Sightings - “A Rest” from Through The Panama (2007) on Load
17. Nurse With Wound - “Yagga Blues” from Livin' Fear Of James Last (2005) on Castle
18. Fire on Fire - “Amnesia” from 5 Song EP (2007) on Young God Records
19. LCD Soundsystem - “Tribulations” from s/t (2005) on DFA
20. Feyd - “Wait” from VA: Gommagang Start (2005) on Gomma
21. Six Organs of Admittance - “Shelter from the Ash” from Shelter from the Ash (2007) on Drag City
22. James Blackshaw - “Transient Life in Twilight” from O' True Believers (2006) on Important

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mp3s:

from New Deutsch
Moreno - "Suicide Commando"
Grau Zone - "Esibär"

from Gommagang Start
Ike Yard - "N.C.R. (Funkstörung RMX)
Feyd - "Wait"

from Touch 25
Christian Fennesz - "Tree"
Peter Rehberg - "TT 1205"

Black Mountain, "In the Future"

Arrayed in dystopian garb and armed with righteous indignation, Black Mountain pounds out one explosive song after another, each of which echoes the despair, fear, and disappointment that populates Stephen McBean's lyrics.

The world is a bleak place in McBean's eyes. It is full of violence, injustice, doubt, and little else. If hope exists it lay dormant beneath a constant threat of dehumanazing and near-invisible evils. There's plenty of melodrama on In the Future and much of its bombast serves to positively amplify Black Mountain's brute approach to rock 'n' roll. "Stormy High" begins the record with a sudden and heavy jerk. It stomps about wearing tattered guitars and half-moaned vocals with confidence, drawing its sex and grit together closely enough to warrant thoughts of "The Lemon Song" and Robert Plant convulsing on stage in a fit of orgasmic delight. McBean's idea of danger, however, revolves less around his penis and more around enslavement or the kinds of demons that haunt lazy men. Their debt to blues and '70s rock is hard to miss, but the band proceeds to carve the lazy "Angels" out of sweet pop mechanics and epic synthesizer swells. This song is the first sign that Black Mountain is out to do more than rehash the tumultuous birth of heavy rock; they clearly aim to sit psychedelic pop, rock, and metal beside one another, with the stylings of America's "southern rock" music added for good measure. Other bands have gone down this road to varying degrees, but Black Mountain's approach to genre-bending is especially bold. There is no fusion of elements on In the Future, each of these genres are simply mashed together, their individual identities kept pure and separate.

"Tyrants" represents the first all-out mashup on the record. It begins like a titanic military march across a barren desert; the guitars erupt in rhythmic fashion, followed exactly by aggressive drumming. With the introduction of a dusty bass line and resigned beat, the song quickly shifts into a lower gear. Enormous spaces open up in the music and a seething synthesizer begins to circle through the song like a vulture. The lyrics and music then work themselves back into a frenzy propelled by an infatigable disdain for the evil men do. A deep serenity pervades much of the song in the form of cascading electronic melodies and a rubbery rhythm, but its all sandwiched between heavy guitar riffs and a solo that calls Satan to mind more than Timothy Leary. It's neither a metal tune nor a psychedelic rock song nor a blend of these two things; it's a shape-shifting monster that emphasizes rhythmic guitar performance and spaced-out pseudo-improve in equal measure. In contrast, "Wucan" emphasizes psychedelic rock's influence on the band. After a fuzzy and vaguley funky rhythm section sizzles out, the music is shot through with thick, almost cheesy keyboard atmospherics. Those keyboards shimmer and wobble in acidic light while the band plugs along beneath the vast reach of their sound. As is the case with the rest of the album, there is an epic and foreboding quality to the music that reaches beyond the confines of pop and rock convention. Then again, I had to make sure Richard Wright wasn't listed anywhere in the liner notes after the song ended.

The bombast of unrestrained playfulness doesn't always work in the band's favor, however. There are moments where the music is as awkward as some of McBean's more introverted and indecipherable lyrics. "Stay Free" clunks along with a beautiful melody and an ethereal vocal performance, but it sounds flat sandwiched between "Wucan" and "Queens Will Play." After a number of inventive songs the album becomes predictably and upon inspection the lyrics are both confounding and over-simple. Perhaps someone with more time than I can make sense of these lines: "Bodies at sundown / Stiff on their knees / Beautiful ponies / So beautiful / They'll kill us all." On the one hand McBean's concerns come across loud and clear, but on the other hand his desire to compress a range of complex and diverse emotions into only a few lines leaves something to be desired. This is true not only of his poetic abilities, but of the band's musical abilities as well. "Evil Ways" could have been a great voodoo jam spiced with American brute force, but it ends up sounding awkward with its lumpy chorus and superfluous instrumentation. I admire bands that shoot for the stars, but Black Mountain don't always succeed in getting there.

"Bright Lights," the album's 16 minute dénouement, highlights the band's best and worst qualities. The lyrics are less than stellar, but the instrumentation blends the band's gentle and aggressive qualities without flaw. The entire middle portion of the song is an extended psyche-jam brimming over with all manner of interesting minutae. There's a delicate mixture of drone noises and melody on this song and it seems as though the whole thing could fall apart at any moment. The song highlights just how fragile some of the band's compositions are; in their reappropration of multiple genres the band sometimes overlooks the fact that their music depends on just how enjoyable that reappropration could possibly be in the first place. Their energy and confidence helps make some bad songs tolerable, but without that energy the record could have easily fell apart.

That energy is this quintet's greatest virtue and when it is paired with solid songwriting Black Mountain sound both unique and as massive as their name implies.

---

In the Future is available on Jagjaguwar

Laughter, 1/17/2008

As promised, my weekly radio show on WZBC is now available for download. Contained in the zip file below is two, one-hour mp3s. These mp3s contain the entirety of my show, minus a brief concert report read at the top of the hour. There are two track 19s listed because those two records were played simultaneously. Any comments or questions can be left on this site or sent to me by email.

Enjoy.

01. Black Mountain - “Wucan” from In the Future (2008) on Jagjaguwar

02. Low in The Sky - “Dialogue with a Shadow” from We Are All Counting on You, William (2007) on Abandon Building

03. Harmonia - “Gollum” from Deluxe (2006) on Lilith

04. Flying Lotus - “Spicy Sammich” from Reset (2007) on Warp Records

05. Portable - “Arrabida” from Powers of Ten (2007) on Sud

06. Klimek - “(Sun)fall” from Milk & Honey (2004) on Kompakt

07. Alog - “The Beginner” from Amateur (2007) on Rune Grammofon

08. Bon Iver - “Blindsided” from For Emma, Forever Ago (2008) on Jagjaguwar

10. Fire on Fire - “Amnesia” from 5 Song EP (2007) on young god records

11. Randall of Nazareth - “Read Your Name” from Randall of Nazareth (2007) on Drag City

12. Volcano the Bear - “Burnt Seer” from Amidst the Noise and Twigs (2007) on Beta-lactam Ring

13. Jandek - “Hilltop Serenade” from Six and Six (1982) on Corwood

14. Static North - “Ours, That Night Got Away From Us” from Static North (2007) on Self Released

15. Edward Ka-Spel - “Prisoners of War” from Tanith and the Lion Tree (1991) on Third Mind

16. Eu - “Said” from Warm Math (2002) on Pause 2

17. The Tuss - “Rushup I Bank 12” from Rushup Edge (2007) on Rephlex

18. Jan Jelinek - “Planeten in Halbtrauer” from Kosmischer Pitch (2005) on ~Scape

19. Jonathan Coleclough and Andrew Chalk - “Sumac” from Sumac (2004) on ICR

19. The Ghost Orchid - “Various Tracks” from An Introduction to EVP (2005) on Ash International

20. Hirsche Nicht Auf Sofa - “Grundgütiger! Der Drang Verstärkt Sich (K.i.F.)” from Küttel im Frost

(2002) on DOM

21. Einsturzende Neubauten - “Weil Weil Weil” from Alles Wieder Offen (2007)

---
Download: Laughter, 1/17/2008, .zip file

Reviews and Radio

Today I begin posting music reviews in order to archive my writing over the next year. My hope is to make my reviews from Brainwashed available to individuals who do not read that site and to use this blog as a tool to improve my writing. I encourage everyone to post comments and critical feedback. I will also be posting play lists from my radio show on WZBC 90.3 FM in Newton, Massachusetts. Currently I run the station on Thursdays from 10 AM until noon, but that will likely change in the forthcoming weeks. The show is called "Laughter" and, as you will see, I play a wide variety of experimental and rock music. With any luck I will also be posting mp3s from that show, soon. What follows are my first reviews of the new year and the first few radio shows, too. Brainwashed hosts one-minute sound samples of nearly every review they now publish; if you wish to hear samples of songs from these albums, please visit the site.

Rolan Vega, "Documentary"
on Community Library

Rolan Vega's ambiguous debut on Community Library suffers from its unfocused genesis. In part a tribute to movie and television soundtracks, Documentary is an intriguing compilation of Vega's synthesizer compositions but not an entirely successful album.

Released last year, Documentary wobbles between being an academic salutation and a directionless compilation of synthetic melody and rhythm. The music itself was composed at different times for different media and purposes; these songs were used variously as live scores, soundtracks for short films, and accompaniments to Vega's own video projects. The result is an uneven collection of songs. No matter how intriguing many of these compositions are, listening through from beginning to end can become a chore. While an emphasis on completion may have demanded the inclusion of many short and unique tracks, their inclusion on Documentary represents the majority of the album's disposable fare. Video may have originally given depth to these tracks, but standing alone they inspire little more than an anxious desire to move to the next song.

Fortunately Vega is an adept composer capable of producing uneasy moments, triumphant crescendos, fecund sound-scapes, danceable rhythms, and unique aural episodes. Given time and patience, Documentary blooms and showcases some undeniable gems.

Both "Viva Myria" and "Playlite" contain an enchanting depth and complexity. The former relies upon synthetic drift to weave its spell while the latter hums to the stuttering of a suffocated percussion section. Neither offers more than a minimal number of musical sources, but both call very strong images to mind with little effort. If it were not for the two intervening shorts, "4 Autiim" would have complimented them both nicely. For five minutes it pulses with electronic waves of sound and metallic snares, engendering a fleet of sci-fi memories as played by whirring robotic musicians. My three favorite pieces on this album call to mind sci-fi movies, actually, all of them dense and distorted with an undeniable element of foreboding included.

The disc closes with "Documentary," a piece sure to call some other soundtrack-obsessed musicians to mind. With the sound of chirping birds in tow, Vega ends his album with a warmth characteristic of the soundtracks composed for nature documentaries and PBS specials. It does not come as an unexpected surprise nor is it wholly un-listenable, but it's a bit of a disappointment; Vega is at his best when he's cutting his own path, not emulating someone else's. Documentary provides enough to enjoy, but lacks both continuity and consistent quality.

Marc Hannaford, "The Garden of Forking Paths"
on Extreme Records

Accessible, improvisational jazz is given new life at the hands of this exceptional quartet. Australian pianist Marc Hannaford leads his group through a variety of musical approaches, drawing a lively dialogue out of each of them that entertains with ease. This quartet reaches deep into their imaginative bag of tricks and pull out one stunning performance after another.

In some ways it seems all too easy to release an album of improvised music. With the advent of cheap recording it is possible for almost anyone to assemble a bunch of half-assed recordings produced over the course of a few extended jams and call it an album. Woe to the thoughtless noise-maker indeed, for his kind is populating the internet with increasing regularity. I expected so much from Marc Hannaford. I must admit a certain amount of cynicism when it comes to modern jazz recordings; all too often they favor technique over content and, as is the case with other genres that claim improvisation as a cornerstone of their craft, fail to provide much to appreciate beyond the technique itself. Hannaford, Scott Tinkler, Ken Edie, and Philip Rex know a thing or two about improvisation, however. They exhibit a thoughtfulness in their play that the likes of Albert Ayler and John Coltrane recognized as invaluable to the art form. With an eye on certain compositional principles and methodologies, each member of this quartet contributes their own character and reason to eight superb recordings of controlled chaos.

"Sauna Twins" begins with Hannaford's incongruous and drunken piano playing; he stumbles and careens across his ivory keys in seemingly random jumps, ranting with a persistent vigor that pretends coherence. Philip Rex soon answers his call on bass, entering open spaces in the conversation with light jabs and punchy deliveries. It's not hard to imagine that the two musicians are in conversation with each other, one calling out in a certain chord, the other responding with a quick urgency. The addition of Edie's drums and Tinkler's trumpet suddenly clouds this exchange, but soon each musician falls in with the other, filling in the gaps that one or the other leaves. In no time at all (and without introduction), the massive "G.E.B." is in full swing. The instruments have, in the span of just over four minutes, become characters of their own. Sometimes they compliment each other by falling into near silence together, other times they appear to argue, one yelling in order to claim dominance, the other three huddling together before launching a counter-attack. The beauty of many of these performances is that they feel genuinely organic, like the best written dialogues. For all the random components at play, however, there is a unifying theme at work in the background, a theme that each of the musicians manage to keep in mind as they parade through their own musical arguments.

Clocking in at over 17 minutes long, one might expect "G.E.B" to become boring or overwrought, but each of its varied movements not only seem necessary, they're downright beautiful. Tinkler's trumpet performance, especially in the last five minutes or so, is nearly epic in all its 64th-note glory. Rex's percussive force is immense, his hands creating a virtual parade of power throughout the entire piece. It might be argued that "G.E.B." lays too many cards on the table too early; both "Pure Evil" and "All Booze" seem small in its shadow, but both are appealing and set the rest of the record up quite well. The initial and deceptive calm of "I'll Go Down..." (Hannaford's solo piano performance) is all the more powerful because of the way it contrasts with "All Booze" and "Pure Evil" features some pseudo-funky bass and drum explosions that'd make Squarepusher more than just a little jealous. There's a lot going on throughout The Garden of Forking Paths. It's equally diverse, random, tight, well-conceived, and welcoming. I'm as impressed with the music as I am with the technique that spawned it.

Caldwell, Subbing (ZBC Rock) Jan 7th 2008, 10.00AM to 12.00PM

Artist	Song	Disk	Year	Label
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282	Selections from A Fistful of Dollars	Everyday / Selections From... 7"	1995	amarillo
Silkworm	Our Secret	The Chain / Our Secret 7"	1992	Aurora
Clearlake	Don't Let the Cold In	Don't Let The Cold In	2000	Dusty Company
Siddal	Angel Wars	7"	1993	Bedazzled URL
Pseudo Code	Far Away From My Own land	7"	1984	Waving Graphic
Disappointed a Few People	Dead in Love	Dead In Love	1986	Psyche
Ed Kuepper	Electrical Storm	Electrical Storm	1986	Hot Record
Peter Laughner and Friends	Me & the Devil Blues	Take the Guitar Player for a Ride	1995	Tim Kerr
Roni & the Jitters	Wild Weekend	7"	1980	Rockpool
Scout Niblett	Kiss	This Fool Can Die Now	2007	Too Pure URL
Salem 66	Across the Sea	7"	1984	Homestead
Misfits	London Dungeon	Collection I	1986	Plan 9
Ranch Hands	Stomp It	7"	1984	Egon Records
Songs:Ohia	The Big Game is Every Night	Magnolia Electric Co.	2003	Secretly Canadian URL
Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Dawn McCarthy	The Signifying Wolf	Wai Notes	2007	Drag City URL
The Raybeats	Instant Twist	It's Only a Movie	1983	Shanachie Records
Cabaret Voltaire	James Brown	Micro-phonies	1984	Virgin URL
The Residents	Kaw-Liga	Stars + Hank Forever	1996	ralph records
Orbital	Impact (The Earth Is Burning)	Orbital 2	1993	FFRR
Kinski	Argentina Turner	Down Below It's Chaos	2007	Sub Pop URL
Six Organs of Admittance	Jade Like Wine	shelter from the ash	2007	Drag City URL
Cranes	Shining Road	EP Collection 1 + 2	1997	Dedicated URL
Front Line Assembly	Big Money	Gashed Senses & Crossfire	1989	Wax Trax! URL

Caldwell, Subbing (ZBC Rock) Jan 9th 2008, 10.00AM to 12.00PM

Artist	Song	Disk	Year	Label
Mark Arm	Masters of War	7"	1990	Sub Pop URL
Archers of Loaf	Web in Front	Web in Front	1993	Alias URL
13 Ghosts	Movie Night at Brackett's	Movie Night at Bracketts 7"	1999	Babydoll
Majesty Crush	Sunny Pie	Sunny Pie / Cicciolina 7"	1992	Vulva
Love Camp 7	Huxley in Hollywood	7"	1990	Bowlmor
The Royal Macadamians	Relax in Lebanon	experiments in terror	1990	island record
Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy	Language of Violence	Language of Violence 12"	1992	4th & B-Way
Die Krupps With Nitzer Ebb	True Work - Mix	The Machineries of Joy	1989	BCM Records
Magnetophone	Monitor Rocket Science	You Should Write Music / Monitor Rocket Science 7"	2000	Earworm URL
Pinch	Widescreen	Underwater Dancehall	2007	Tectonic
Pole	Winkelstreben Ghislain Poirier Remix	Steingarten Remixes	2007	Scape URL
Burial	Raver	Untrue	2007	Hyperdub
Alasdair Roberts	As I Came In By Huntly Town	The Crook of My Arm	2001	Secretly Canadian URL
Eyeless in Gaza	Invisibility	Invisibilty	1981	Cherry Red URL
Echoboy	She	Pure New Wool	1999	For Us
Citizen's Utilities	King County Derelict	7"	1995	Shangri-La
Inspiral Carpets	Commercial rain	Joe EP	1990	Moo
Razor Penguins	The Math Professor	7"	1986	Ice Works
Sid Presley Experience	Public Enemy #1	Public Enemy #1 / Hup Two Three Four 7"	1984	I D
Man Or Astro-Man?	King of the Monsters	Welcome to the Sonic Space Age	1996	Clawfist
The Hate Bombs	Ghoul Girl	Ghoul Girl / She Bit Me	1997	Baby Doll Records
Jonathan Fire Eater	The Beautician	Tremble Under Boom Lights	1996	The Medicine Label URL
Daniel Johnston	Speeding Motorcycle	Yip/Jump Music	1983	Homestead Records
The Bloods	Button Up	Button Up 7"	1981	Exit International
Elephant	Dance on Me	7"	1998	Mock Rock
Electric Sound of Joy	Play Away	play away	1997	Earworm URL

Caldwell, "Laughter" (ZBC Rock) Jan 10th 2008, 10.00AM to 12.00PM

Artist	Song	Disk	Year	Label
Future Sound of London	We Have Explosive	Dead Cities	1996	Astralwerks URL
Test Dept.	New World Order	new world order	1991	Ministry of Power URL
Stereo Taxic Device	Soman	Stereo Taxic Device	1991	KK-Records Belgium
Strange Nursery	To Whom the Unit is Attached	Strange Nursery	1989	Strange Nursery
Penguin Cafe Orchestra	More Milk	Broadcasting from Home	1984	Editions EG
Dark	Drifting	Tamna Voda	1991	CMP
Can	I Want More	Flowmotion	1976	Virgin URL
Einstürzende Neubauten	The Garden	ende neu	1998	Nothing
Breather	Maya	Loves and Disloves	1984	Sonic Incision
Lida Husik	Billboard	Bozo	1991	Shimmy Disc
Dog Faced Hermans	Cactus	Humans Fly	1988	Calculus
The Leaving Trains	Hometown Blues	Well Down Blue Highway	1984	Bemisbrain Records
Husker Du	MTC / Don't Have a Life	Land Speed Record	1982	SST URL
Labradford	Scenic Recovery	Labradford	1996	Kranky URL
Valium Aggelein	Abheben in Stereo	Hier Kommt Der Schwartze Mond	1998	Audio Info Phenomena
Squarepusher	Do You Know Squarepusher	Do You Know Squarepusher	2001	Warp URL
DJ Food	Monocle (Silver Dub)	The Quadraplex ep	2001	Ninja Tune URL EMAIL
R.U.O.K.	The Job Interview	R.U.O.K.	1998	Quantum Loop
Faust Vs. Dälek	T-Electronique	Derbe Respect, Alder	2003	Staubgold URL
Fennesz	City of Light	Venice	2004	touch music URL
Blackgirls	Moonflower	Procedure	1990	mammoth records
John Fahey	Joe Kirby Blues	The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick	2004	Water
Charalambides	The Good Life	Likeness	2007	Kranky URL
Dead C	Comme Toi Meme	The Whitehouse	1995	Siltbreeze