Underworld drop their latest studio album, Barking, on September 14th and are teasing it with the hilarious (and hilariously badass) video for second single Always Loved A Film. Skateboarding, shoplifting, drinking, girls, joyrides and more… from a group of deliriously ecstatic senior citizens!
I’m guessing it’s a reflection of, or sly commentary on, the men behind Underworld‘s “grandfather” status in the electronic music realm. They’ve come back with their most straightfoward party starting album (at least since the blissed out live Everything, Everything album and DVD) at a time when most of their peers are curating soft jazz shows on NPR or laying low in the south of France or some such idyllic place. It may not be the most original slice of dance nirvana or within spitting distance of the band’s 1990’s apex (see Second Toughest In The Infants right here on Optimistic Underground for that) but it sure gets my blood pumping more than most of what 2010 has had to offer.
All I’ll say beyond that is to watch the entire video. To say things escalate beyond mere (displaced) adolescent destruction is an understatement: this ride gets wilder until the very last frame. Enjoy
[pick up Barking soon at amazon or basically anywhere on the 14th. as a longtime fan I can attest it’s a worthy purchase]
Flying Lotus has crafted a masterpiece. Cosmogramma is a state-of-emergency tidal wave of an album. This self-evident space opera is a rollicking behemoth, sweeping all imitators aside and redefining any and all notions of what this genre can be. This album is a clear step above everything else I’ve heard in 2010, and what I can only hope is a harbinger for the next decade of music evolution. Oh.. and it’s out today.
Last weekend I had the pleasure to see Mr. Steven Ellison, aka Flying Lotus, perform twice in the same day. The first event was a live collaboration with Dr. Strangeloop for the Ann Arbor Film Festival, scoring the 1962 avant garde animated film Heaven and Earth Magic as it played in the Michigan Theater. Truly one of the strangest media experiences of my life, the film itself is an utter mind fuck – stark black and white 19th century cutout images swirling, grinding, and making Dali proud – while the accompanying score blew the doors off my perception of what Flying Lotus is capable of. This material was a straight up experimental drone symphony and shared few commonalities with the ostensibly beat-centric music the man is known for. Of course, I gave myself to it wholeheartedly and was spit out the other end with wild eyes and an expanded level of respect and admiration. And some dizziness.
A still from Heaven and Earth Magic.
Then, we hit the Blind Pig and became truly and completely blown away. We were the faithful masses and he was our prophet. Everyone around me surrendered to the tunes; even the most reserved students were compelled to move at least a bit. The live set eclipsed anything I came prepared for, and set the bar for live electronic acts at least a few notches higher than I’d perceived possible. Here’s a glimpse of him weaving Idioteque, one of Radiohead‘s towering productions, into the maelstrom:
[enjoy, and remember that Cosmogramma is coming May 3 in UK and 4 in US! Preorder now!]
So apparently to help promote the prequel series to Battlestar Galactica, Syfy channel has worked with Pitchfork and XLR8R to curate a far-better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be compilation “inspired” by the new show, Caprica. Rather than toss together a random selection of indie pop hits aimed at moving units, those responsible have created an ostensibly futuristic sounding mixture of left-field beat excursions, austere psychedelia, and blissed out ambience – and released Music For Our Future completely FREE of charge.
That’s right, this sublime collection is just a click away. The best part is that the selection is of such uniformly high quality, containing several tracks unavailable elsewhere, that it would easily warrant a purchase price if they so chose. Thankfully, their commercial impetus for appearing generous is a freewheeling invitation for those of us more into music than television to indulge in something we don’t get every day: an official mixtape that’s not only surprisingly eclectic and deep, but coherent and fluid unlike all but the best of film soundtracks.
Basically comprised of several key satellites orbiting the modern avant electronic landscape with a foot or two firmly in more well known indie territory, this playlist promises to release listeners from the shackles of gravity and set them adrift somewhere outside the oort cloud without a tether in sight. Sliding through warm drones, cold glitch, crushing dub, rapid space grooves and minimal-everything, we’re right on the cusp of anything conceivably fitting for this particular title.
The tracklisting:
1. Lusine – Gravity
2. Atlas Sound – Walkabout
3. Hudson Mohawke – FUSE
4. White Rainbow – Raw Shanks a Million
5. King Midas Sound – Outta Space (Slow Version)
6. Low Limit – Turf Day
7. Willits and Sakamoto – Toward Water
8. The Field – I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet (Gold Panda Remix)
9. Tyondai Braxton – Uffe’s Woodshop
10. Untold – Luna
11. Nice Nice – See Waves
12. Richard Devine – Matvec Interior (feat. Otto Von Schirach)
13. Peter Kirn – Anaxagoras
[once again, this is completely FREE. so grab it and enjoy]
Grackle was a complete mystery to me only a few weeks ago. Named after a small black bird I see often around the neighborhood, the name dared me to indulge, inflaming my curiosity. This turned out to be a far-more-than-worthy gamble, as William Burnett (aka Grackle) brings a shitload of personality, energy, and hardened swagger to a corner of the electronic music world often lacking in all of the above.
Ostensibly a moody space disco number, the title track evokes everything from laser-pocked 80’s sci-fi soundtracks to smokey funk bangers, its rhythm deftly negotiating an absolute stampede of bass, yet never once feels any older than Right Now. It’s the score to nighttime escapades in the Grand Canyon on a clear night, possibly in some future dystopia where the desolate home of the Roadrunner is the only solace from the onslaught of modern living. The set-opening Musiccargo remix feels like a primal dance around and through a brush fire, a stomping, clattering frenzy let loose when the crisp air first hits and the wild starts to take over. A 4/4 motorik pulse glides the momentum on rails straight into the main feature before you’re even aware of what’s happening. Afterward, the sparkling skyward view beckons and we’re flat on our backs, feeling the draw of space and the sounds of satellites. The Sombrero Galaxy version draws out the meditative (and frankly psychedelic) aspects of the track, riding through hot aquatic swells bathed in that surface-of-Venus skyline in Blade Runner. Twinkling synth stabs illuminate romantically pleading horn waves, sending shivers up the spine while the martial lockstep percussion wanders off towards a hazy oasis. We’re gently brought back to earth the the tune of splashing water and distant laughter. Finally rounding up this drum-tight selection is an original titled We Are It, feeling like a mysteriously shrouded cousin of some of Gothenburg’s finest club crushers. All buzzing seaside guitars and breathy vocals, snaking their way through wavering key lines and plinking drum taps, it’s 4am, long after the beach party died down. So Grackle leaves us by the salvation of water, after all. Starting out in the middle of the night in the middle of the desert (with possibly a satchel of peyote buttons) has been redefined into something not only desirable, but vital. If you grew up in the same era as I did (reading this, you probably did) – expect to have all your deep pleasure centers massaged over these 23 minutes. Take this trip and call me in the morning.
[grab this EP at boomkat, junodownload, or on 12″ from kompakt]
Dorian Concept is a one-man force of nature from Austria who’s been tweaking beats and spinning trippy jazz tracks for several years – and with the release of When Planets Explode in 2009, finally getting his due and hopefully some worldwide recognition. Fans of Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, Ras G (whose Brotha From Anotha Planet I’ve gone crazy for), and hell J Dilla himself, are pointedly advised to get in on this action and get familiar with the sick space-jazz-hiphop pulsing out of this LP.
This mindblowing mural of textural dexterity and extraterrestrial beat construction bears the hallmarks of Sun Ra or latter-day John Coltrane run through the modern wonky sensibility of beats straight out of a fevered acid dream. Unrelenting, inventive sounds burst out of the speakers at every turn, keeping the listener on his toes and his neck snapped to attention – no easy head-nodding action here with the sudden tonal shifts and oft-subverted structures. It’s a highly active album and all the more brilliant for it. Although not nearly your average party material, the percussion and korg stabs supply ample slam, stuffed into an oceanic low-end that’ll keep any subwoofer busy for the half-hour-plus duration. This is headphone nirvana, driving at night ecstasy, and fill-the-house explosiveness packed into a tightly wound free jazz banger sure to stupefy anyone willing to indulge in your latest album aquisition. Grab this and detonate heads along with the solar system.
[snag this brain bender at boomkat for about $7 digital!]
Optimistic Underground 