Playlists, February 2001
- Mats Gustafsson (Trosa, Sweden), editor
E-mail: matsanna@mail.bip.net
Idyll Swords "2" CD (Communion)
Alastair Galbraith "Cry" CD (Emperor Jones)
Handsome Family "In the Air" CD (Carrot Top)
Charalambides "Home" CD-R (Wholly Other)
Damon & Naomi With Ghost "S/t" (Sub Pop)
Fit & Limo "As Above So Below" CD (September Gurls)
Linus Pauling Quartet "Ashes In the Bong of God" CD (Fleece)
Stone Breath "Lanterna Lucis Viriditatis" CD (Hand/eye)
The Tower Recordings "Folk Scene" LP (Shrat Field)
Steven Wray Lobdell "Automatic Writing By the Moon" CD (Holy Mountain)
- Lee Jackson (Texas, USA), writer
E-mail: stulee1@mail.utexas.edu
1. Alastair Galbraith ?Cry? (Emperor Jones) - Latest from Mr. G. mixes dense droning Caleian soundscapes (read as mounds of smoldering violin and organ) and an ever-increasing mastery of delicate songcraft into a hallucinatory aural achievement of great scope and rare beauty.2. Brian Eno ?Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)? (EG Records) - A monstrous little record that sneaks up under low cover and takes the cerebral cortex by force, dishing out 10 perfectly drawn sound documents of demented pop strangeness, ten beautiful worlds to explore and get lost in.
3. Mercury Rev ?See You On the Other Side? (Sony) - Forgot just how much I really love the way the Rev balances so many extremes on this disk, from the unbridled optimism of the opener to snarling rock and epic jazz/psych exploration, theremin symphonies and psychedelic tributes to Van Dyke Parks and the Band.
4. Damon and Naomi with Ghost (Sub Pop) - The ethereal duo join forces with Japan?s premier psych/folk ensemble (well three of em anyway), and the end results are absolutely stunning, easily standing with both bands finest work, and truth be told together they obtain an aura that neither has ever really captured in their own works. Not to say this is better, just different.
5. Leonard Cohen ?Songs? (Columbia) - If you?ve never seen the Robert Altman film, ?McCabe and Mrs. Miller,? I implore that you do so as soon as possible, not just because it?s one of Altman?s best works, or one of the most grimly beautiful movies ever captured on film, or even because songs from this album are grafted effortlessly into the narrative, serving not only as aural enchantment for those wide open shots of the northwestern vistas but also illuminating song sketches for the characters on the screen. No, see it for the whores and the opium smoking.
6. Sleep ?Enfolded in Luxury? (Metonymic) - Beautiful melding of prominent minds in New Zealand?s free scene employing guitars, bass, percussion, voice, radios, violin and sax to conjure indescribable ?music? that veers from grating harshness to swelling ethnic drones and soothing celestial contemplation, often in the space of the same song.
7. Various Artists ?The Nature of Systems? (Carbon) - Mesmerizing compilation of some of today?s most compelling outer sound explorers, including many familiar names, and just about as many new ones. Features what is currently my favorite Charalambides track, ?Mansfield Dam?.
8. Spacemen 3 ?Recurring? (Dedicated/Fire) - J. Spacemen?s side is the more fully realized of the two?his mastery of production is apparent from the first swelling harmonies of ?Feel So Sad,? but that doesn?t mean Sonic?s stuff is a wash-out: faux disco beats, cheese lyrics about ?cool, cool people,? racks of effects and enough reverb to blind an ox make for good shit in my book.
9. Angus MacLise ?Brain Damage In Oklahoma City? (Siltbreeze) - Second in a series of archival releases focuses on events surrounding Angus and wife Hetty, busted for pot in 68 in Oklahoma city, which spurned the mammoth trance jam, ?Dreamweapon Benefit for the Oklahoma City Police Dept,? proceeds of which went to the Man; MacLise?s intense hand percussion is at the center of it all, with a revolving cast of legendary avant composers supporting.
10. Various Artists ?Runner? (Next Best Way) - Excellent comp of various New Zealanders, some familiar, some not so familiar names. Can?t get Dermania Lloyd?s mysterious ?Maple? out of my head,and the Cake Kitchen track is a revelation, but the whole damn thing is a mystical experience, running the gamut from alienated loner rock to elegant balladry and experimental noise.
- Amy Nyman(USA), writer
E-mail: - Karl Morten Dahl (Trondheim, Norway), web
E-mail: kmd@fupp.netEssex Green - Everything Is Green LP
EPA - Evergreens Vol. 1 7"
Oranger - The Quiet Vibration Land CD
Love - Forever Changes CD
Hood - Useless 7"
Bag - Tetracycline EP
Mike O'Neill - What Happens Now CD
Photon Band - Oh The Sweet, Sweet Changes CD
Guided By Voices - Isolation Drills
Loch Ness Mouse - Flair For Darjeeling
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