One of my favorite artists working today, the insanely talented Dam-Funk, got together with the nocturnally beguiling Nite Jewel one afternoon and crafted this vintage-future-shot of a dusky lovers’ jam.
new release
Dam-Funk – Mirrors
Dam-Funk, as readers well know, dropped one of the absolute hottest albums this year with the massive Toeachizown. He’s already my personal choice for biggest surprise of 2009, and his debut is looking at best of the year status. Here’s the inspiringly trippy video for infectious first single, Mirrors.
Lynch-esque employment of light and shadow! Dreamy visuals! Laser glowing keytar action! Yes!
[album is on sale at stones throw in either 2CD or 5LP format – peep the gorgeous artwork]
Dr. Strangeloop
Are We Lost Mammals of an Approaching Transcendental Epoch?
I think so.
Evidence: A single 18 minute post-rock-esque collage of beats, spacey atmospherics, feedback skronk, beat loops, synth swells, and percussion galore; this piece has the arc of a massive Artistic Statement album, played in double time with enough dips, curveballs, and trap doors to lock interest in a firm grasp and obliterate all sense of time passing.
Primarily a visual artist, Dr. Strangeloop (seriously, check his vimeo page now) met Brainfeeder head honcho Flying Lotus in art school, where the two became fast friends, smoking and playing atari while working on film and music. Currently VJ-ing Brainfeeder events and working on new music, this is his first release, created about a year ago. He has this to say about the track:
“I made it about a year ago, and it is probably the strangest thing I’ve ever shepherded into this world. It is one track, 18 minutes long, very lo-fi, and I picture it as some sort of narrative about the Singularity, mystical states, and the evolution of man. It is more post-rock influenced than the stuff I’m working on now, and is divided into three idiosyncratic movements.“
So that pretty much sums it up. This video gives a good taste.
[pick this dream shard up at boomkat or through brainfeeder itself]
Dâm-Funk
Dâm-Funk, who just dropped his epic 2cd debut album Toeachizown on October 27, is set to explode heads through the end of the year and beyond with funky electro-boogie workouts the likes of which haven’t been heard since Prince and the Revolution erected bangers for the new millenium two decades early. I’ve barely had time to absorb the 2+ hour set, much less give it a proper writeup, so here’s the video trailer featuring psychedelic space visuals and a selection of tunes from across the album. In no way does this do the massive set justice but it’s a tasty slice to whet your appetite, and a heads up to anyone still sleeping on this guy.
Keep your eyes on Optimistic Underground, as I’ll be unleashing a full album post within the week.
-note that the spelling is *not* Dam-Funk, on the artwork-
[available on CD now at the Stones Throw store, or pre-order the ungodly gorgeous 5LP vinyl set available January 10, 2010]
Memory Tapes – Walk Me Home
A perfect Halloween treat, Memory Tapes has dropped the excellent longform instrumental, Walk Me Home, for our holiday enjoyment.
Click the artwork or grab it here!
[right click to save the mp3]
Thanks to ARAWA, this 17 minute slice of fried gold is absolutely FREE. Opening with eerie synth pulses and a latin-flavored rhythm section, the song shifts gears after 5 minutes into an ass-shaking robo-zombie groove momentarily until the halfway point. This is where the epic washes of balaeric keys chime in for a relaxing setup – after this point all hell breaks loose and Memory Tapes finally drops the hardcore stuff on us. Stuccato organ hammers and stiltwalking percussion swell and the song barrels toward its ending like a runaway freight train from Camp New Order, all quaking mass and blurred signposts until a quietly haunting outro reminds us of nighttime debaucheries and spooky old films.
Spin this monster before heading out tonight. You’ll be well fortified for whatever strange delights the twilight affords.
White Rainbow – New Clouds
White Rainbow (née Adam Forkner) recently tore through the autumn skies to drop this bomb, blowing away expectations, surpassing anything I could have anticipated after the already-excellent 2007 LP Prism of Eternal Now. Expanding on the warm, nebulous nature of his live jam constructions, New Clouds is an impossibly appropriate title for one of this year’s best records.
Transcendent, overwhelming, hypnotic bliss. Building layer upon layer of drones, stretched and echoed vocals, muted tribal percussion, and gorgeous synth swells, each track is a towering confection allowed room to naturally develop and breathe. The four tracks comprise an hourlong running time, every moment feeling palpably open and inviting. This album inspires and propels further listening, rather than demanding it. Songs begin focused on a singular element, be it delayed acoustic guitar strums or rubbery hand drumming, and evolve with such grace and intuitive logic that final assembly is nearly imperceptible. This music simply happens, while the conscious mind is busy absorbing the amorphous beauty like a pillow swallowing a blissful dreamer. Informed by a wide range of greats, from Terry Riley to Can at their most euphoric, Forkner has finally broken through to a plane where his art exists on its own terms, immaterial of time or place. This album raises hypnagogic exploration to new heights.
[pick this brand new album up at boomkat or amazon, or directly from kranky, a label fully deserving of your support]
Between My Head and the Sky
Yoko Ono. Divisive to many, divine to few. And a patron saint of confident weirdness to certain odd souls, myself included.
Optimistic Underground 