+ so... do you come here often?

i have a new plaything that has been diverting my attention away from this. my bad. i ain't done with this one just yet, it's just that i've not had as much time to write as before, and the inspiration well has been kinda dry lately. it'll come back to me i'm sure but in the meantime... 12blocksfromthebeach.blogspot.com

+ i don't love you to death, but i'd die if you left

it's funny how random ideas and words thrown into the ether can bring up long buried memories. this morning, i was listening to the debut record from seattle band telekinesis, which itself is quite terrific - power pop at its shining best and due out on merge records in the next week. i mentioned on m+n that in the song 'great lakes', i may have a found a worthy successor to beulah. someone else followed up by saying 'that's a big call'. as i do always, i started to second guess myself, and thought hmm i better listen to some beulah just to make sure and yes, i maintain my claim. but now, i'm sucked into the 5-album-and-countless-bsides vortex of beulah and i started to reminisce about the documentary 'a good band is easy to kill' about the band which came out in 2005.

"i don't love you to death, but i'd die if you left". in their own words, the band might just have foretold their own successes and failures. FOR SHAME, for beulah was a fantastic band that i am holding out might still make a comeback (as long as miles is good for it, kidneys working and all). a wonderful (and timely) feature-length documentary, just about my favourite musical one perhaps because of the level of fangirl-dom i reserve for this band.

mostly a tour diary with a multitude of clips collated from their last US tour (and props go to filmmaker charles norris for getting so much out of just one camera. i have learnt a lot from his skillz), there's an air of resignation as the band nears the end of its tour - not necessarily of defeat but a tacit acknowledgement of doomed inevitability. whatevz, it's just great to see what the band would've been like since i never had that opportunity. i'm just wishing analog set had one done before they petered out (though it was certainly not for lack of effort. lord knows i spammed kenny multiple times when set free was released).

as for telekinesis, the whole album can be streamed here.

+ waiting for black metal records to come in the mail

have a nice life "deathconsciousness" (enemies list 2008)
i didn't get around to talking about this album much because i came to it so late in the game but it ended up as one of my favourites from last year. combining an ambient shoegaze buzz over a doom-drone framework, i suppose you could throw names like nadja, swans, jesu and 4ad around as a point of reference but it's not really like any of those. it's far more melodic and emotionally-weighted and at times really quite ghostly and sparse sounding (which just shows that you can come out a black metal band and still make pretty music).

lyrically, it sits well within the depresso-core genre which may not be everyone's cup of tea (even by their own admission, they're aiming for “most depressing record in the history of music”) and even though it's not mine either generally, this record became a companion at the right possible moment when i was feeling pretty bleak about things. not so now, but the music still resonates deeply.

that said, there must still be some sense of humour maintained when you have song titles like "waiting for black metal records to come in the mail" (itself the most upbeat, like a less abrasive version of a place to bury strangers) and "holy fucking shit: 40,000". so perhaps by that reasoning, you could say it's just music for shut-ins (made by shut-ins - a band incidentally of 2 dudes from new england getting their masters in history, and recommended to me in the first place by a self-proclaimed shut-in.)

anyway you can stream most of the album from last.fm (not all probably because it's too long, clocking in at just under 90 minutes) or download my most favourite track 'bloodhail' from the built on a weakspot blog.

extra golden "thank you very quickly" (thrill jockey 2009)
not really what i expected, even with no expectations to begin with. kenya benga meets american indie rock. actually less indie and more, a.m. radio/paul simon-esque territory. as with dengue fever, and to an extent, macha, it's 'world music for white kids' in a way that is far less disingenuous than say, vampire weekend.

+ good birds fly home

"TEXAS is Exponential Record's SXSW Label Sampler which features over 17 tracks from various Texas based producers. The album is a window into the bubbling electronic scene in Texas and covers the gamut of electronic sounds from Dubstep to Electro to Downtempo. The album is a completely free download."

Bubbling electronics you say? I'm so there! Amongst others, one to check out would be Day of the Woman - a new project for Houston's Yppah (Joe Corrales) from the Ninja Tunes label teaming up with Pollination (aka Low Scores aka Nick Noeding from Albuquerque, NM) and Stenographer (Dave Salinas, also of Houston, TX). The group keeps a lot of the shoegaze and melodic aesthetic of Yppah but with a great "live band" vibe. Niiiice. Can't wait also for Yppah's new album "They Know What Ghost Know" to drop in May on Ninja Tunes. His first record was so sweet, I'm sure this'll be too (the word is that it is also meant to have more of a band-vibe to it).

Plus, I was pleasantly by the surprised the appearance of one Ma Bell on the comp in two tracks - guesting on Rae Davis' track, plus his own composition. Ma Bell is otherwise known as Mike Bell, from the Lymbyc Systym, as well as drummer to the stars (most recently Crystal Castles and Her Space Holiday, but these days hitting the skins for Balmorhea).

+ making plans

if i get to see even a fraction of this, i'll be happy.

+ going back to the 512

south by, here i come. i was depressing myself looking at listings when i didn't think i could go, but no more. it's sunshine and smiles from here til march. already looking forward to the analog set reforming to play 'the golden band' in full at the insound party and the tomlab/asthmatic kitty showcase - parenthetical girls, no kids etc. bring on the good times!

+ the only band worth blogging about

damn, i wish i'd known about this earlier. like say, before the tape relay christmas special. still, better late than never when it comes to the analog set. a new song! holy shit! except it's not new, and it's kinda random, a one off for a digital-only charity compilation. also featuring christmas/hanukkah songs from pattern is movment, laura gibson, anathallo, bodies of water, someone still loves you boris yeltsin and social scene's jason collett.

as for this song 'winter birds', it's more of a kenny solo track wrapped up in the name of the set. lee didn't play on it, and mike lymbyc played drums instead of mark. still rad but.