January 28, 2007

THANKS!


thanks to everyone that tuned in sunday night. the web.concert went great and the following blog.cast went well also. i'm looking forward to the february edition and have already began working on the play.list. be sure to check back soon as i'll have it posted mid month with commentary (feb).

[photo: web.cam image of my studio post web.concert ]

posted by jason sloan @ 10:08 PM 0 Comments

January 13, 2007

play.list 1.0 [1.28.2007]

this is the first playlist for my initial blog.cast to air
SUNDAY JANUARY 28, 2007 8-10pm EST.

HOUR ONE [1]:
live web.cast/concert: live set from my studio in baltimore, md. usa.

the set is all new material i've been working on. most of what you will hear will be created on the fly and in the moment. feel free to post comments about the set or blog.cast to follow. enjoy.


HOUR TWO [2]:
this blog.cast will feature a few artists that have been very influential to my work over the years. i've selected, in my opinion, particular standout tracks from various recordings. i've attempted to sequence these selections so each track augments it's prior and successor. as it turns out, this months play.list is a rather contemplative one, but very fitting for the damp, rainy january we've been having here. this is music that is very much a part of my being and i am excited to share it with you. i've written some notes about each track which follow:

coil // the last amethyst deceiver // the ape of naples [2005] 10m 11s:
coil have always been very important both conceptually and aurally in my work. for some, they can sometimes seem a bit over the top or pretentious, but that's okay. this particular track from their final studio record is one of my favorite cuts. i think it captures both the honesty and wonderfully dark atmospheres that jhonn and chris created for the past two decades. it's a real shame things ended the way they did, but hopefully, jhonn is in a better place.

click click // mercy (remix) // wet skin and curious eye [1987] 6m 40s:
a very little known electronic/industrial band state side. i first heard click click back in 1988 and was taken right away with their approach to "industrial" music. at that point, industrial was becoming what i like to call spooky pop music. the concept, art and nihilism that drove genre pioneers throbbing gristle, leather nun, spk, whitehouse etc... was pretty much absent at this point. but scattered among some of the more dancy click click tracks were dark gems like mercy. this is a remixed, and superior, version which appeared on their 1987 e.p. collection wet skin and curious eye.

chris and cosey // the gates of ancient cities // trance [1982] 4m 35s:
chris carter and cosey fanni tutti's second album trance is probably one of my favorite. i love everything about this record. the sleeve, track sequencing, duration, everything. still exploring sonic texture, but pushing beyond their past as half of throbbing gristle, trance is a mature experimental and instrumental effort. the closing track, the gates of ancient cities, is my favorite from this album & easily the most contemplative.

alan lamb // last anzac // night passage [1998] 12m 55s:
i first discovered the wire music of australian sound artist/musician alan lamb over a decade ago. when i purchased his first dorobo records released Primal Images: Archival Recordings 1981-1988 i was immediately taken with what i heard: the actual sound of decaying telegraph wires in the australian outback. these were some of the last sounds these wires would ever make. it fascinated me to think about the years of communication that traveled through the wires and it seems lamb has given them a chance to finally speak before they die. when listening to these wind organs as he calls them, it's amazing to think about his fairly simple process of applying a contact mic to the wire's surface and it resulting in this amazing music. understand these recordings are unaltered or processed in anyway. this is a true industrial music.

rapoon // omaneska // the fire of the borderlands [1996] 13m 54s:
one of my oldest and best friends introduced me to rapoon back in the mid 90's. i was a fan of :zoviet*france: and had some bootleg cassette copies of their albums floating around, but had never really kept close tabs on what each member had going on the side. when i first heard rapoon, it was on a 2nd gen bootleg cassette of errant angels. (we were just out of undergrad and had no money). at the time, i was living in a small cottage by a lake and loved to walk along the dimly lit shore at night with my walkman listening to that record. it seriously would give me chills. there was something so peaceful and almost spiritual about that experience. i have since then purchased a proper copy of that album (along with most of the rapoon discography), but will always hold that dual experience of sound and place close to my heart. after all that, i decided to play another favorite track from a different rapoon record.

throbbing gristle // slug bait (ICA) // second annual report [1978] 4m 20s:
throbbing gristle are probably one of the most influential, and at the same time, misunderstood group of sound artists to emerge in the second half of the 20th century. sonically, what they were doing was really no different than what italian futurist luigi russolo was doing almost 60 years prior. their ideas about music, sound, information and art were extremely important in the advancement of sound art, music and performance, but unfortunately until recently, were largely ignored within academic circles. T.G. are the true originators of industrial music and industrial culture. not the diluted electronic dance music that the genre evolved into in the late 80's and early 90's. don't get me wrong. i have my soft spot for the original wax trax artists and the first round of bands label head jim nash gave exposure to (ministry, revco, coil, liabach, TGT, front 242, etc). but the genre's history was largely forgotten at this point. the foundation T.G. laid was so very important and i'm very glad to see a new generation finally re-discovering them. the track slug bait was recorded live at london's ICA in 1978. this selection is one of many T.G. favorites of mine, but not entirely indictive of their sound. if you like this track, be sure to check out the other highly influential projects the four members went on to create after T.G. terminated their mission in 1980. genesis p-orridge, chris and cosey, peter christopherson.

vidnaObmana // the ominous dwelling // the river of appearance [1996] 6m 35s:
belgian electronic musician dirk series who performs under the name vidnaObmana is one of my all time favorite ambient/electronic musicians. matt borghi and i had the pleasure of performing on the same bill as dirk back in 2004 at the university of penn's gate to moonbase alpha concert series. after briefly talking to dirk i realized we shared a common musical interest in almost everything from extreme noise to ambient minimalism and everything in between. there was great apprehension on my part to meet him. in the past when i've met artists i admire they usually turn out to be dick-heads. they don't want to talk to you, give attitude or are extremely pretentious. when this happens, quite frankly, that sucks. it ruins the music, you can't listen to them in the same way, and you end up selling their discog on ebay. yes, this has happened once. haha. anyway, i was glad dirk turned out to be such a great guy. okay, i'm done with that diatribe. so i was first introduced to his music back in 1996 when projekt records released his opus the river of appearance. i give sam rosenthal credit for giving dirk exposure state side with this amazing record. i have questioned a lot of what projekt has released in the past, but was very thankful for this album. dirk's vidnaObmana project has recently evolved into a more textural, noise based outlet, which i also enjoy, but this period of its evolution created some of the most powerful and emotive soundscapes i've experienced in many years.

cindytalk // in this world... // in this world [1986] 3m 08s:
cindytalk are another one of those bands that exist on the extreme edge of near invisibility. for close to 25 years gordon sharp or "cindy" has been recording some of the most beautifully dark and distrubing music i've ever had the pleasure of listening to. his highest profile gig was contributing vocals to kangaroo. an alex chilton song covered by 4AD records this mortal coil. the band resurfaces every 5-10 years with new recorded material but the 1986 double album, in this world remains one of their stand out efforts. in this world was originally released as two individual vinyl albums at different times on the same day. the first disc was an all out aural war. littered with references to pier paolo pasolini's salo: 120 days of sodom, among other obscure topics made for a very dark journey. the second album was just the opposite. a very minimal, contemplative instrumental recording composed entirely of piano and ambient sounds. this album, for me captured both extremes of our world. everything that is truly fucked and all that is beautiful.

posted by jason sloan @ 3:34 PM 1 Comments