Post-SXSW Festival in Monterrey Mexico?

"ToddPNYC"

Yesterday some interesting pictures of an abandoned drive-in movie theater turned up on Facebook. BK DIY scene leader Todd P posted them. Later I came to learn that the pictures are of the potential grounds for a post-SXSW festival in the Mexican city of Monterrey, roughly four hours south of Austin. Rumor has it 200 bands (Correction: more like 40-80 bands) will be playing the three day festival, which will reportedly kick off the Saturday March 20th, and will overlap with SXSW for a couple days. If the lineup is anything like Todd's SXSW shows of the past, his legendary beach BBQs, or CMJ shows under the Bridge, 80 bands over three days is probably an accurate, maybe even conservative, take on the amount of music that could be blasted from the base of the Sierra Madre's one late weekend in March. Fingers crossed. See ya in Mexico.

mp3: Noveller "Rainbows"

"Tunnels"

Charcoal waves rolling across the the decrepit North Brooklyn Industrial Zone are too glacial to be real, to visible not to be. Uneasy, at best, anxiety confounds, or, rather, frightens. Noveller's Red Rainbow, recently released on No Fun Productions, dwells in this sort of submerged heaven, where fractals of light engulf entire regions, blanketing the spirit realm in a foreboding slate mist reminiscent of the sky over Mt St Helens. A sort of lethal snow, or mystical asbestos. I haven't seen The Road yet, and while Warren Ellis and Nick Cave's score is probably fantastic, I sort of wish Noveller had been given the task, as "Rainbows" and "Brilliant Colors," both from Red Rainbows, could aptly soundtrack the impending doom of the apocalypse and life thereafter.

Noveller- Rainbows

video: Grippers Nother Onesers

"Costco Zones"

Deep inside the freak labs at Olde English Spelling Bee some serious Frankenstonian tweaker shit is going down. Besides expanding its web presence/digital footprint to its new blog/site, the higher ups at the perpetually zonked label are also set to issue another set of killer records this week, specifically a limited edition vinyl reissue of Grippers Nother Onesers (At Slimer Beach), which you may recognize as Lamborghini Crystal's 1992 Cool Runnings Holiday, which you may attribute to a certain dude who releases about 15 albums a year. Dedicated to Richard Ramirez, the vibe on Grippers is transmitted via a possessed transistor radio hell bent on scoring premium laced Sherm and hitting the town in search of the best Ice Cream-Pizza combo deal around, or as Lamborghini Crystal puts it, "I wanted the record to have the feeling of when you find a half empty bottle of anti-psychotics and just see the name of the owner and you wonder where that person is now." Tweak on.

live: Pure Ecstasy

"Pressure Drop, Yeah Pressure Baby"

Been jamming hard on Pure Ecstasy for a few months now and couldn't be happier to report that Nate Grace's psychedelic machine will be headed north to play a weekend's worth of shows in Brooklyn January 29th & 30th. The first is a straight up stunna shades show at Bruar Falls with B-More typnotist Run-DMT and an assortment of special guests (stay tuned). The next night Pure Ecstasy will play a small loft show (details to come) with Twin Sister, who've been churning out some of the most zen arcade scores I've heard in a while. Pure Ecstasy's maiden voyage to the Big Apple comes a few weeks after the bands first west coast tour, so expect them to be in tip top, or shall I say, super loose shape.

As many of you know, Pure Ecstasy's released a few things this year; a self-released super limited 7-inch (50 copies, art above), the self-released SEVN DAZE tape and the Future Nostalgia tape on Leftist Nautical Antiques. Still reeling in it, the band has three upcoming releases, including a new 7-inch on Light Loge, a tape on Bum Tapes, and another 7-inch on Acephale. Probably the most productive stoner band I've ever encountered, and that's saying a lot. In addition, a couple weeks ago Pure Ecstasy "phoned in" a live performance for, um, Phoning It In, in which they play a large portion of their recorded output over a phone. Inherently lo-fi, the session actually sounds pretty damn good and makes me extremely excited to be presenting their Brooklyn debut next month. Stick around for more info in the coming week.

Pure Ecstasy- Phoning It In Session (Live)

Best of: Loved in 2009

"War Is Over, If You Want It"

Everyones coming out with their end of the year/end of the decade top whatevers, and while they're always interesting, and often insightful as to things I may have overlooked, I like to do things a little different around here. For one thing, I have a really hard time ranking albums, to me, its sort of silly to say that one thing is "better" than another, mostly because, well, its all completely subjective. Instead, I'd rather give out deserved praise to everybody, noting exactly what they're best at, ya know, personalize it a little, sort of like we did last year.

Artist(s) of the Year:
Ridgewood Crew
(Ducktails, Alex Bleeker & the Freaks, Julian Lynch, Real Estate)
Last year it was Bradford Cox who consistently blew us away with a boatload of quality releases and live shows, the year before James Murphy. This year it'd be hard to deny that anyone put out more killer shit than these kids. Mondanile's solo output alone (two Ducktails LPs, Parasails, Predator Vision and a bunch of singles, splits, etc) would've been enough to put him at the top of the list. Throw in an exceptional string of Real Estate releases (three killer 7-inches, two EPs, and one of the best full length albums of the year), the out-of-nowhere release of the year (Alex Bleeker and the Freaks), Julian Lynch's absolutely stellar Born 2 Run tape (may have been 2008 but 2009 to me), Orange You Glad LP on OESB/Future Sounds, as well as his Michael Jackson/Cindy Lauper covers, and it's really hard to deny that anybody had a bigger impact on independent music this year than these guys from North Jersey. Of course, anybody whose been reading this website for the past year probably already knows this. As far as I'm concerned, these are all essential releases from 2009.

Favorite Album (to Blaze OG Kush to):
Ganglians- Monster Head Room

Great Record That Couldn't Possibly Live Up to My Inflated Expectations:
Girls-Album

Best Album to Dream To/With:
Julianna Barwick- Florine EP

Best Avant-Pop That Even Your Lil Bro in College Digs:
Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavillion

I'd Break Up W/ Someone Over & Over Again to Fully Understand This Record:
Marissa Nadler- Little Hells

The Real "Soundtrack to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea":
Dolphins into the Future- ...On Sea-Faring Isolation

Sounds Like Its Being Played Directly In Front of You:
Alex Bleeker & the Freaks- s/t

Most Surprised NPR Didn't Blow Up/Ruin:
Alela Diane- To Be Still

Best Pop Record by Ivy League Kids Co-Opting African Music:
Dirty Projectors- Bitte Orca

Record That I Really Wish More People Would Hear:
Sharon Van Etten- Because I was in Love

Great EPs Uncaptured by Full-Length:
Kurt Vile- God is Saying This to You
Kurt Vile & the Violators- Hunchback EP

Best Singles:
Crystal Stilts- "Love is A Wave" b/w "Sugar Baby"

Best Tape:
Pure Ecstasy- Future Nostalgia

Best World Comp:
Siamese Soul: Thai Pop Spectacular Vol.2 (Sublime Frequencies)

Best Collection of (Almost) Entirely New (to me) Tunes:
Underwater Peoples Summer Comp

Best Live Act You Won't Hear If You're Too Busy Chatting:
Mountain Man

Best Show of the Year:
Beach Fossils/Real Estate/Girls/Kurt Vile at Monster Island

Best Big Show:
Animal Collective 1/20/09 MPP Release Show at Grand Ballroom

Best One Time Only:
Caribou Vibration Ensemble at ATPNY

Most Overused Word of the Year (Myself included):
Chill (and variations of)

Worst/Most Cliche Music Terms/Genres of 2009 (Myself included):
Glo-fi, Chillwave, Beach music

Radical Old Stuff I Discovered this Year:
Popol Vuh Soundtracks for Werner Herzog (Herz Aus Glas & Coeur De Verre)
'Auhea 'oe e Sanoe: Field Recordings of Hawaii
Ain't Gonna Rain No More: Blue and Pre-Bues from Piedmont, North Carolina

R.I.P. (You'll Be Missed):
Pocahaunted (original lineup)
Silver Jews

Poised for Big Things in 2010:
Big Troubles
Fluffy Lumbers
Mountain Man
Run DMT
Pure Ecstasy

old: A to Austr Musics from Holyground

"Judy"

Released in a limited batch of 99 in 1970, A to Austr's one-off masterwork Musics from Holyground takes the psych-pop aesthetic to an entirely new level. A behemoth (and fun) journey through psychedelia, Musics from Holyground touches on everything from psych-pop and eastern influenced folk to pub ready saxophone jams and vaudevillian break downs, with a ton of other sounds I have no business describing thrown in the mix. The Penguin Guide to Rare Records calls A to Austr's only record "the most sacred UK LP there is," which sort of makes sense considering only 99 folks in the world have an original copy, and it wasn't given the reissue treatment until 1989. Apparently the initial goal was "to write about King Arthur who lies sleeping with his knights of the Round Table until England needs him." This was news to me, as the record in no way, shape or form feels like a treaty on Renaissance knights, rather an exploration of an entire genre, gleaming back and forth from the nuanced psych pop of "Birds" to "Hawaiian War Chant" (which sounds exactly like its title suggests) to "It's Alright", which is basically the Incredible String Band-Love-Zombies collaboration I've been dreaming about for years. I could go on and on about this record, but it wouldn't do any good, mostly because its impossible to describe. Even after listening to it about twenty five times over the past six months, I still have trouble wrapping my head around it, as if its not supposed to be chewed on, merely experienced, over and over again, sort of like life (and psychedelic experiences in general). If this spiked your interest, even just a little bit, I highly recommend heading over to Holy Ground's website and peeping their extremely thorough and insightful history of the recording session, the album itself, and its little known legacy.

A to Austr- Bird
A to Austr- It's Alright

video: Oneohtrix Point Never "Time Decanted"

"Actual Air"

Wafting digital sound waves in the dark are Oneohtrix Point Never's specialty. OPN reigns over the sci-fi fantasy realm of dark places and dark planets, crafting the sort of digitized mechanical hum I'd expect to hear coming from the control room on a spaceship docked just east of Neptune. Appropriately, the video, directed by Olde English Spelling Bee mastermind, and renowned man of mystery, Todd Ledford, compliments the song so much that together the two feel more like the pre-roll credits for a Blade Runner prequel than a music video, which I'm pretty sure is exactly what OPN (and Todd) were going for. "Time Decanted" can be found on the Russian Mind LP on No Fun Productions, as well as the Rifts 2xCD on No Fun Productions, where it's titled "Actual Air."

video: Marissa Nadler "Dying Breed"

"Summer of Love is Over"

By now its apparent how much I love the songs of Marissa Nadler. Little Hells, her latest record on Kemado, seems criminally overlooked this year, despite great reviews, extensive touring and a masterful step forward in both her songwriting and production. Sort of makes me wonder, What if P4K had bundled that 8.1 with a BNM? Either way, like most of Nadler's output, its a daunting affair, one that resonates strongly with grey skies and dead leaves. There aren't too many records this year that I'd say are must owns, but this is one of them. Grab her entire back catalog, if you can, it's well worth it.

Anyway, a few weekends ago, on a cold dreary night in Brooklyn, Ray Concepcion headed down to the haunting Union Hall to capture Nadler in all her haunting beauty. The audio from this intimate set is extraordinary, as Concepcion bottles the essence of the Union Hall basement, filled with flora and fauna, taxidermy, and the piercing eyes of Grandmothers long since gone, through soft focus and a peephole perspective, sort of the visual equivalent of the way Willa Cather paints her novella A Lost Lady.

bobkast #30: Northbound Trains

"Cold Hard Times"

There is one leaf left on the mighty Oak outside my window. Winds are humming up the East River, cutting through Greenpoint with Exacto knife precision. The sun goes down at 4:30 pm. Sick of the varying weather, we head North to a more serene destination, where the sun will melt into the horizon at 4:08 pm, the breeze out of the East will be from the Northern reaches of the Atlantic Ocean, and while conditions aren't exactly permitting, they seem more fitting than in the city, where the vital signs of season change are shrouded in concrete capes, keeping natural form at bay. The train ride to northern New England is approximately 8-9 hours from NY Penn Station. This mix will only last you through Westchester, maybe Southern Connecticut, if your lucky, either way, it'll put you in the right state of mind for Winter exploration and the enjoyment of the forthcoming season.

Bobkast #30: Northbound Train
1. The Feelies- Forces at Work
2. The Clean- Flowers
3. Lee Hazelwood- Cold Hard Times
4. Woods- Death Rattles (Daytrotter Session)
5. Warpaint- Billie Holiday
6. Taken By Trees- Cedar Trees
7. Animal Collective- Sleeper Factory (live)
8. Linda Perhacs- Porcelain Over Cast Iron Wedding
9. Shop Assistants- Somewhere in China
10. Woodsman- Sunglass.
11. Julian Lynch- Nen Vole
12. Popol Vuh- der ruf
13. Galaxie 500- Cold Night
14. Twin Sister- All My Trials
15. Dink Roberts- Old Blue
16. Sibylle Baier- I Lost Something In The Hills
17. Mountain Man- Sewee Sewee

Download Bobkast #30: Northbound Trains (PC: Right Click + Save As|Mac: Option+Click)

mp3: Yes Please

"I Smelled Your Smell on My Fingertips"
Molly from Mountain Man sent me a few tracks from San Francisco's Yes Please a couple days ago and they couldn't be more appropriate given the nature of tomorrows Holiday. Playful, earnest and introspective, Yes Please is the (former?) folk project of Lily from Grass Widow. While her more current act dwells in poppy girl group melodies and jangle fuzz, Yes Please is more akin to the trinkets that adorn window sills around the globe; glimpses of times spent with friends, ex-lovers, and books, the sort of intrinsically good stuff that can, for lack of a better term, turn that frown upside down. While certain songs invoke the sylvan wordplay of Joanna Newsome, Yes Please is most certainly a bedroom project, which finds Lily experimenting with anything she can get her hands on; loop pedals, toy guitars, the sounds passing by on the street. Her looping is majestic, invoking the spirit world much in the way Julianna Barwick does, though within a more traditional folk structure. Fans of Merrill Garbus, you will like this.

The tracks I were sent were unlabeled and I haven't been able to track down their titles, mostly due to the fact that Yes Please's early EPs on Bicycle Records seem to be long out of print. My guess is this track, in particular, is from the Oh La La EP, or possibly the Purple EP. In all honesty, it doesn't matter what its from, because its just plain good.

Yes Please- Track 02

show: Mountain Man, Bleeker, Liam the Younger

"Sewee Sewee"
Going to be a special evening. Bring blankets, yoga mats to sit on. Baked goods will be sold on the premises. BYOB. Click here to see a large scale, beautiful rendering of the work, done by Mike Mahon.

video: Julian Lynch at Monkeytown

"Droner"

Breaking down the walls of retransmission, it was a must to beam Julian Lynch into Monkeytown during CMJ. Fortunately, the needed technologies are embedded in laptop machines we carry in over-the-shoulder bags and so, presenting Julian Lynch live from the his bedroom floor in Madison, Wisconsin wasn't that big a deal, technically speaking. It was, if anything, essential, a must, and even more so in retrospect, as Julian's cosmic raga pixelated the air in the room until all we could see were molecules and molecules made up of molecules. This is what I imagine lucid dreaming to be.