So an artist I’ve loved for over a decade is about to release (maybe) the best album in that time, and it’s preceded by a video I’ve waited criminally long to share with everyone. I feel like a jerk. Sorry.
Author: David James
This Week
Here is a quick round up of some things I’ve been into lately:
- Kraftwerk 1
One of three albums in their “lost” period before Autobahn, this is more akin to Popol Vuh and Ash Ra Tempel than the ‘man-machine’ electronic pioneering sound they’re known for. Alternating dark drones and punchy pysch hairiness, it pairs well with my pitch black coffee and readies my day for the noise ahead.
- Machinedrum – Room(s)
I sort of liked this when it came out last year. I wasn’t excited for it, I wasn’t into high speed clipped vocals and juke rhythms, and I was probably just into something completely different at the time. When I brought it back out on a whim a couple months ago, Room(s) already felt fresher – then I made a copy for my car. Now it’s become a favorite driving accompaniment and sounds exponentially better with volume properly cranked. Hell, I included its moodiest track in the Shadow Piece mixtape. It’s fast and reveling in footwork colors and properly alien to first-time listeners, but there’s a depth and range of feeling here that doesn’t often crop up on dance albums. It’s this emotional tug that keeps it spinning and my interest pegged.
- Ryan Teague
This guy just released Field Drawings and it’s been floating me for weeks. It was actually the first new album I heard after my mother passed and felt like it was piercing my dark world with a bit of much needed light. I’ll have more to say about this in another post. Just listen to the intro track above.
- This handsome devil.
This is Tres, my cat’s cat. He was third in his litter, hence the name. Not everyone is a fan but to me, this is the most affectionate animal I’ve known. He’s a needy little bastard and seems nervous despite his unapologetic laziness. He is a bit out of shape but he’s spry. I think he’s allergic to pollen. He’s sitting on my lap as I type so I thought I’d share.
Shadow Piece [mixtape]
Change begs itself.
I needed to do something different here. Too much has happened to remain the same. This will now be a home for mixtapes. I will still write about music that I love, sometimes even in the same fashion as before, but this place will change. I have a large mix backlog that can and will be shared, but I assembled one special for this occasion. Here is the inaugural Optimistic Underground mixtape:
This Is For My Mother
BEST OF 2011
In 2011, like every year since I’ve discovered how to harness the power of the internet (and a handful of discerning friends) to expand my horizons and unveil whole dimensions of music, has been an incredible year for listening: another slab in my monument to Why You Should Pay Attention. I held crushes on a number of albums and fell deeply in love with a select few. All deserve acknowledgement but only the most striking motivate me to gush at length. With a little luck, I can turn people on to something which will enrich their lives and change perceptions in small or significant ways. Or maybe even sell an album for one of these deserving artists!
Destroyer – Savage Night At The Opera
This video dropped halfway through the year and I feel terrible for failing to share it immediately. The song is one of 9 front-to-back highlights on a pop masterpiece I wrote about in February and the video is something odd and special, inventive and thoughtful. And unexpected. And fun.
Yes, this is a first person race through the streets of Vancouver on a fast motorcycle. The driver blasts through stoplights and throughfares with abandon and although the imagery pairing with this song feels arbitrary at first, the conclusion leaves no doubt as to its artistic intent. It reminds me of Gran Turismo and Stockholm Getaway and my own attempts at taping rides through the city (albeit on a bicycle, in my case). This is an experience, as much as the song (and album) itself is a blistering neon-lit ride through a dark night of Dan Bejar’s soul. Watch to the end.
Speaking of bicycle rides, I wish this was me:
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble – Drips/Take Notice
I had nearly forgotten: this is one of my favorite things ever.
Or at least the past year.
In late 2010 this clip from a July 23 concert in Los Angeles was posted and I realized how much of an incredible force of nature Miguel Atwood-Ferguson is. Flying Lotus fans know him as the guy providing the string arrangements in the legendary album Cosmogramma, while those more familiar with J Dilla probably smile at the thought of his work as headliner of the Timeless: Suite For Ma Dukes album, a sweeping orchestral take on the late James Yancey’s productions. This 13 minute alchemic beast weaves a stargazing intro from the former into one of the sparkling highlights of the latter’s final statement, the Ruff Draft EP, into an uplifting, hard charging masterpiece.
Truly an all star production, this band includes none other than Flying Lotus himself, Thundercat (best known for 2011’s Golden Age of the Apocalypse and making Cosmogramma jump like frogs in a dynamite pond), Rebekah Raff (another Flylo alum, she of the Alice Coltrane-worthy harp ethereality) and a full set of accomplished musicians I’ll list below.
Flying Lotus (laptop)
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (violin)
Evan Francis (flute)
Dontae Winslow (trumpet)
Joey Dosik (alto sax)
Kamasi Washington (tenor sax)
Garrett Smith (trombone)
Rebekah Raff (harp)
Marcel Camargo (guitar)
Brandon Coleman (keys)
Stephen ‘Thundercat’ Bruner (bass)
Chris ‘Daddy’ Dave (drums)
Nikki Campbell (percussion)
I’m just hoping this hints, if not at Flying Lotus‘ next album (which will be announced at Coachella) perhaps a collaborative effort or even a full length release from this Ensemble itself.
Optimistic Underground 