FFFreakout: Podcast #31

Jakob Olausson “When Your Bridges Burn” Morning & Sunrise LP* (De Stijl) 

Stare Case “Don’t Get Caught” Lose Today LP (De Stijl) 

The Polyps “II” Ant On The Golden Cone LP (Hello Sunshine)

Kraus “Summer Is Icumen In” Supreme Commander CS (Dungeon Taxis) 

Alpha Strategy “Append and Divide” Muck 12” (Ownness) 

Rambutan “The Chamber” Partial Wires CS (Hooker Vision)

Dain Daller “4:01” The Tirehouse Tapes Vol. 1 CS (Lighten Up Sounds)

Henry & Hazel Slaughter “Track #4” Demo CD-R (American Tapes)

Dead Reptile Shrine “Blasphemous Coven” The Sun of Circles and Wood 2LP (Weird Forest)

Burning Witch “Tower Place” Crippled Lucifer 2CD (Southern Lord)

Andre Vida “Blues Shuffler” Brud: Volumes I-III 3CD* (PAN)

The Hermetic Trio “untitled” S/T CS (Lighten Up Sounds)

Christopher Merritt “Hundred Waters” split w/ Reedbeds CS (Tranquility Tapes)

Matt Carlson “Robot Nostalgia” Particle Language LP (Draft)

Prayer “untitled” Dawn Chorus (split w/ Nathan McLaughlin) CS (Full of Nothing)

As mentioned in the previous post, I was considering putting together a sort of Best-of 2011 show for this final podcast of the year. But that was tough to justify given how much excellent new music was sitting next to the stereo that I had yet to play on the show, and I'm guessing that more than a few people out there have reached their threshold for lists and countdowns at this point. Plus, there is plenty of material on this week's show that I would stack right up there amongst the best of the year anyways. For starters, Matt Carlson's Particle Language has to be the finest synth-based record I've heard all year. Carlson had me fumbling for words earlier in the year with his Gecko Dream Levels release on Gift Tapes and on this new LP his singular approach is even more apparent. It's quite refreshing actually to hear someone who is dealing with knobs and patches that has broken free of the Kosmische influence. I'd also add that the recording and mastering of this LP is impeccable - the music just jumps off the vinyl. In terms of song-based albums, I've heard few better than Jakob Olausson's Morning & Sunrise that De Stijl put out a few weeks back. I'll have to say, you can get completely lost in this record and "When Your Bridges Burn", which I opened this week's show with, could very well be my favorite song of the year. Another song from this week's show that I can't listen to enough is "Append and Divide" from Rory Hinchey's Alpha Strategy project. I was sold on this album out of the gates with it's Graham Lambkin-designed cover art, but the music holds up too: vintage synth-pop that isn't the least bit derivative. Finally, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this new Andre Vida collection, Brud: Volumes I-III, out on PAN. There's enough ideas and sounds contained in this set to keep a person busy listening for months on end. I swear I could just play this release on shuffle mode and it would make for one hell of an interesting podcast in its own right. Hmmm . . . . something to consider.

I'd like to close by saying thanks to all of the guests that appeared on the show throughout the year and to everyone who took the time to listen and, in many cases, provide feedback. Your support and encouragement has turned what had initially began as a rather half-baked idea into something quite meaningful. Hope you all find the time to enjoy the holidays with friends and family. See you in the new year with more features and more new music. Cheers!!

     

FFFreakout: Best of 2011 List (Podcast Edition)

So, I was considering putting together one final podcast before the end of the year that featured some of my favorite releases from 2011. Since I have a bunch of new stuff that I'm itching to play, I've decided against it for now and have put together this best-of overview instead. I believe all of these releases have appeared on the show at some point throughout the course of the year or soon will for the show that I'm preparing for later this week. I hope there's maybe a few new or overlooked releases you'll want to check out from this list. Scroll through the Free Form Freakout Podcasts section to track down audio on most of these. Thanks for looking and listening.      

Albums:

1. Lee Noble “Horrorism” (Bathetic)

2. Pimmon “The Oansome Orbit” (Room40)

3. Rene Hell “The Terminal Symphony” (Type)

4. Alvarius B. “Baroque Primitiva” (Abduction)

5. Haino/O’Rourke/Ambarchi “In A Flash Everything Comes Together . . . " (Black Truffle)

6. Ricardo Donoso “Progress Chance” (Digitalis)

7. Matt Carlson “Particle Language” (Draft)

8. Stare Case “Lose Today” (De Stijl)

9. Red Horse “S/T” (Type)

10. Panabrite “Omni Center” (Sturmundrugs)

11. Matt ‘MV’ Valentine “What I Became” (Woodsist)

12. Terrors “Lagan Qord” (Weird Forest)

13. Bee Mask “Elegy For Beach Friday” (Spectrum Spools)

14. Wet Hair “In Vogue Spirit” (De Stijl)

15. Black Eagle Child “Lobelia” (Preservation)

16. Son of Salami “A Study in Eraser Headless Tape Recording” (Feeding Tube)

17. C. Yantis “Kerning” (Blackest Rainbow)

18. Mamuthones “S/T” (Boring Machines)

19. Quiet Evenings “Intrepid Trips” (Hooker Vision)

20. Elklink “The Rise of Elklink” (KYE)

Tapes:

1. Super Minerals “The Hoax” (Stunned)

2. Sparkling Wide Pressure / Rambutan split (Tape Drift)

3. Matt Carlson “Gecko Dream Levels” (Gift Tapes)

4. Remote Islands “Days of Heaven” (Stunned)

5. Belarisk “II” (Semata Productions) 

6. V/A – “Pacific Support” (Draft)

7. John Zuma St. Pelvyn “Ampex, Stolanoff, Dogwood, Rain” (Lighten Up Sounds)

8. Cannibal Movie “Avorio” (Sound of Cobra)

9. Sean McCann “Mammoth Mountain” (Avant Archive)

10. Spare Death Icon “Survival” (Gift Tapes)

11. Ous Mal “Riioraa/Viime Talvi” (Sweat Lodge Guru)

12. Pierrot Lunaire “Exercise in Futility" (Semata Productions)

13.  Primitive Motion “By Arc or Chord” (Soft Abuse)

14. M. Geddes Gengras “The Empty Space” (Stunned)

15. Christopher Merritt / Reedbeds split (Tranquility Tapes)

16. Banana Head / Phantom Payn split (Goaty Tapes)

17. Grasshopper “Miles in the Sky” (House of Alchemy)

18. V/A - "Sacred Phrases – Inscriptions Vol. 1" (Sacred Phrases)

19.  Nathan McLaughlin “Echolocation #5 (Notice Recordings)

20. Head Boggle "Unsounds and Domo Live" (NNA Tapes)

FFFreakout #292 (Aired on 12/15/11)

Mohammed Rafi "Jaan Pehechaan" from Ghost World O.S.T.
Elvis Costello "Watching the Detectives" from My Aim Is True
El Vez "Feliz Navidad" from Favorite Hits of Christmas
Primal Scream "Jailbird" from Dirty Hits
Neko Case & The Sadies "Rated X" from Making Singles, Drinking Doubles
Henry Rollins "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from A Lump of Coal
Freddie Fender "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" from Classic Country - Late '70s
Dave Dudley "Six Days on the Road" from Classic Country - 1960-1964
Peaking Lights "Hey Sparrow" from 936
Circuit des Yeux "3311" from Portrait
John Maus ". . . And The Rain" from We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Matt 'MV' Valentine "Hit the Trails" from What I Became
Kurt Vile "Baby's Arms" from Smoke Ring For My Halo
Ricardo Donoso "Klatu" from Progress Chance

A FFFavorite of 2011:

 

FFFreakout: Podcast #30 - Ricardo Donoso / Semata Productions Feature

Ricardo Donoso "Baiting Disappointment" Progress Chance LP (Digitalis)

(Interview segment)

Perispirit "14th Annual Seance (Part 1)" Spiritual Church Movement (*forthcoming LP on Digitalis)

Ricardo Donoso "Zerovinteum" Zerovinteum b/w Plate Fourteen 7" (SEM-003)

Ricardo Donoso "Equivalence of the Thirteen" (*forthcoming 2LP in 2012)

(Interview segment)

Belarisk "Advanced Orbit, Decrepit Realm" II CS (SEM-020)

Work/Death "Like Two Little Magnets" Tender Comrades CD (SEM-018)

Pierrot Lunaire "Chimera" Exercise in Futility CS (SEM-021)

(Interview segment)

KPLR "Compressor" Errorrhythm (*forthcoming LP on Semata)

Ouxatil 95 "Drain95UK" Drain95UK (*forthcoming CS on Semata)

Keith Fullerton Whitman excerpt from Live at Smash Palace (*forthcoming CS on Semata)

On this week's podcast show, we air our recent phone interview with Boston-based composer and musician, Ricardo Donoso. Having created one of this year's finest albums in Progress Chance, and now set to unleash his next Digitalis-backed release, Spiritual Church Movement, with his experimental electronic duo Perispirit in the coming month, we were happy to get a chance to ask Ricardo some questions about his music and Semata Productions, the micro-label he has been running since 2008. And if that wasn't enough, Ricardo went and sweetened the deal by providing us with a bunch of tracks from forthcoming Semata releases due out in the coming year, not to mention something from the new Perispirit album and his next solo release that he his currently putting the finishing touches on.

Check out the Semata Productions website for more information and to order some of the currently available titles.

FFFreakout #291 (Aired on 12/8/11)

Heatsick "Tertiary" from Intersex
Andre Vida "Put It In Your Pocket" from Brud: Volumes I-III
Pigeons "Behind the Reeds" from Theysweetheartstammers
Warm Climate "We Buy Broken Gold" from Pigeon Brides Weigh In
Jakob Olausson "When Your Bridges Burn" from Morning & Sunrise
Silver Apples "Oscillations" from S/T
Plagal Grind "Midnight Blue Vision" from Xpressway Pile-Up
Charlie Parr (feat. Nicholas Mrozinski) "Rocky Raccoon from Minnesota Beatle Project
David Simonett "Gravity of the Situation" from Minnesota Remembers Vic Chesnutt
The Black Keys "Lonely Boy" from El Camino
Neil Diamond "America" from The Jazz Singer 7"
Coyote McCloud (feat. Clara Peller) "Where's the Beef?" from Where's The Beef promo 7"
Iron Maiden "Flight of Icarus" from Flight of Icarus promo 7"



André Vida "Put It In Your Pocket" from The Wire Magazine on Vimeo.

FFFreakout #290 (Aired on 12/1/11)

Jakob Olausson "Don't Drown in Sorrows" from Morning & Sunrise
The Parasites of the Western World "Politico" from b/w Zytol Automation 7"
Hermit Thrushes "Braided Stone" from Mystery Ocean
Comet Gain "Clang of the Concrete" from Howl of the Lonely Crowd
Happy Jawbone Family Band "My Affectionate Eye Disease" from OK Midnight, You Win
Sorry "Keep A Cool Head" from But How?
James Ferraro "Adventures in Green Foot Printing" from Far Side Virtual
Devo "Freedom of Choice" from b/w Snowball 7"
Yoko Ono "Will You Touch Me" from No, No, No 7"
The Rolling Stones "Little T & A" from Waiting On A Friend 7"
Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, & Carl Perkins "I Saw the Light" from The Survivors 7"
John L. Ritter "The Legend of Bud Grant" from Viking Fight Song 7"
Herbie Hancock "Rockit" (album version) from Rockit 7"
Mr. T "Mr. T's Commandment" from Mr. T's Commandment 7"


A Free Form Freakout first - Carl acknowledges an appreciation for the music of Yoko Ono!!!

FFFreakout #289 (Aired on 11/24/11)

Comet Gain "The Weekend Dreams" from Howl of the Lonely Crowd
James Ferraro "Sim" from Far Side Virtual
Alva Noto "Uni Deform" from Univrs
Bee Mask "Stop the Night" from Elegy for Beach Friday
Projekt Stinka "Nosohltan" from 12" split w/ Alpha Strategy
Carolee "Rainout" from EP1
*Mr. Gasser and The Weirdos "Effin It Don't Go - Chrome It" from Hot Rod Hootenanny
*Mr. Gasser and The Weirdos "Phantom Surf" from Surfink!
*John Cale "Catastrofuk" from Extra Playful EP
*The Black Keys "Run Right Back" from Lonely 12" single
*Pete Townsend "Punk (demo)" from The Quadrophrenia Demos, Vol. 1
*The Beatles "Hey Jude" from The Singles box
Black Eagle Child "Families Get Together" from Lobelia

*These tracks were from Record Store Day - Black Friday exclusives.

Here's a track from the Alpha Strategy side of that split with Projekt Stinka that we played on today's show. Album cover art by Graham Lambkin.

 

FFFreakout #288 - Carl solo (Live on 11/17/11)

Dick Dale "Misirlou" from Better Shred Than Dead
The Everly Brothers "Gone, Gone, Gone" from Walk Right Back
Feist "The Bad In Each Other" from Metals
Wanda Jackson "Shakin' All Over" from The Party Ain't Over 
Kate Bush "Running Up That Hill" from The Whole Story
Joy Division "Transmission" from Heart & Soul
Tegan & Sara "I Know, I Know, I Know" from Get Along
Lou Reed & Metallica "Bradenburg Gate" from Lulu
Lou Reed "What's Good" from Magic and Loss
Wild Flag "Romance" from S/T
Cheech & Chong "Basketball Jones" from Cochinos
Alejandro Escovedo "Smoke" from Real Animal
Pizzicato Five "Twiggy Twiggy Twiggy vs. James Bond" from Made in U.S.A.
The B-52's "Roam" from Cosmic Thing
Moldy Peaches "Anyone Else But You" from S/T

FFFreakout: Podcast #29

Happy Jawbone Family Band “Book of Fire” Okay Midnight, You Win LP (Feeding Tube)
Ulaan Khol “From Overland They Came In Droves” La Catacomb CS/MP3* (Soft Abuse)
Plankton Wat “The Path Obscured” split w/ Super Minerals CS (Stunned)
Pigeons “Dead Echo” They Sweethearstammers LP/MP3* (Soft Abuse)
Ambrosia(@) “Yacht” Hysteria Siberiana CS* (Bomb Shop)
Grasshopper “I Sang A Sad Song Today” Miles In The Sky CS (House of Alchemy)
Decimus “Side A” (excerpt) Decimus 8 LP (Kelippah)
Lee Noble “Ghost of Structure” Horrorism LP (Bathetic)
Warm Climate “Cattle Criminy!” Automatic Ghosting CS (self-released)
Spirit Catepetl “Powwwowing” Lai Khur CS (Sacred Phrases)
Ricardo Donoso “The Deck of an Ancient Ship” Progress Chance LP/MP3* (Digitalis)
Pimmon “Yicco” The Oansome Orbit MP3 (Room40)
Quiet Evenings “Radiant Endless” Intrepid Trips LP (Hooker Vision)

Click here to listen to this show.

It has been a few months since we put together a straight-forward, non-feature-formatted show and, in that time, heaps of incredible music has been piling up all over the damn place: around the stereo in the basement, on top of the boombox by the kitchen sink, all over the bookshelves in the living room, and in various e-mail inboxes. So, with a nice long holiday break just around the corner, it felt like the right time to sift through all of this and offer up some of our current favorites for this week's show. My hope is that this will make for ideal listening when you're sitting there in your post-dinner, tryptophan-daze sipping your sixth glass of wine (or bourbon). At this point, I'm thinking Bailey's & Coffee as I look out this window at the first snowfall of the year.

As for highlights this week, I'd like to simply say that all the selections fit that category and leave it at that, but I won't cop out that easily since its been awhile. For starters, Soft Abuse just dropped two stellar new releases from Pigeons and Ulaan Khol. Fans of Pigeons' previous work may be somewhat surprised by the slightly more abrasive, avant-pop direction the duo takes on They Sweethearstammers; however, Wednesday Knudsen's consistently dreamy vocals still provide an element of smoothness and sensuality to this collection of songs. Ulaan Khol (a.k.a. Steven R. Smith) follows up his excellent Ceremony trilogy with another scorcher of a release. Though La Catacomb doesn't feature the full-blown lift-off that the final installment from that trilogy did, Smith continues to make his guitar speak in new and interesting ways that is both melodically and emotionally charged. Sacred Phrases most recent batch of tapes has also been getting heavy play around here. Included in this lot is more (to-be-expected) awesomeness from M. Geddes Gengras and Hobo Cubes, but I actually keep coming back to this (new-to-me) Spirit Catepetl release, which features some great zoned-out, late night transmissions. Lee Noble and Quiet Evenings both continue their winning ways on their (sort of) latest full-length offerings, delivering what I'd say is their strongest material to date. Noble's Horrorism has been glued to the turntable for weeks now and is making its case to be positioned at the top of my year-end list. That being said, these new records from Decimus are perhaps my favorite to have arrived in the past few months. Decimus is the solo guitar/electronics project of Pat Murano, an artist who also puts in time in such groups as No Neck Blues Band, Key of Shame, and Malkuth.With Decimus, Murano is working at this fascinating intersection between noise, industrial, drone, and electronic music and, like NNCK, he clearly understands the role of pacing and dynamics in all of these side-long pieces he offers up. There are five of these Decimus releases currently floating around and, reportedly, there are seven more in the works. Finally, I also spun a track from Ricardo Donoso's amazing new album, Progress Chance. We have plans to chat with Ricardo about his music and his label, Semata Productions, here on the show in the coming weeks, so definitely check back.

FFFreakout #287 (Aired on 11/10/11)

Rodd Keith "My Pipe Yellow Dream" from My Pipe Yellow Dream
Carolee "Closed Light" from EP 1
Unwound "NO TECH!" from Challenge For A Civilized Society
June of '44 "Cut Your Face" from Four Great Points
Wise Blood "Darlin' You're Sweet" from These Wings
Altar Eagle "Honey" from Mechanical Gardens
Dick Kent "Maker of Smooth Music" from The American Song-Poem Anthology
Arthur Russell "Nobody Wants A Lonely Heart" from Love Is Overtaking Me
The Moog Cookbook "Evenflow" from S/T
Deee-Lite "Groove Is In The Heart" from World Clique
The Stone Roses "Fools Gold" from S/T
The Normal "Warm Leatherette" from Just Say Yesterday
Dizzee Rascal "Fix Up, Look Sharp" from Boy In Da Corner
A Tribe Called Quest "1once Again (remix)" from Old School vs. New School
Johnny Carroll & His Hot Rocks "Wild, Wild Women" from Decca Collection

FFFree Mixtape Series, Vol. 2: Places and Patterns Edition

After a few months of combing thrift stores for images and sealed blank tapes, we're now set to offer up the second edition of the FFFree Mixtape Series. Again, there's nothing too complicated about it: write to us and let us know that you want a mixtape and we'll send one to you free of charge. We encourage you, however, to share with us your own mixes, original music, artwork, writings, recipes, poetry, etc. - but that's entirely up to you.

Each mixtape in this second edition comes with different artwork and inserts and feature slightly different tracklists on c90 (and a couple c60) length tapes. 

Get in touch if you're interested.

FFFreakout: Podcast #28 - Eli Keszler / REL Records Feature

Eli Keszler “Cold Pin I” (excerpt) Cold Pin LP (Pan)

(Interview Segment)

Eli Keszler “Side A” (excerpt) Oxtrin LP (ESP-Disk)

Eli Keszler “Untitled - Track #3” (excerpt) Tilt CD (REL010)

(Interview Segment)

Red Horse “Part One” S/T LP (Type)

Aster “Untitled” (excerpt) S/T LP (REL016)

(Interview Segment)

Ashley Paul “At Last (Least)” To Much Togethers CD (REL015)

Oxtirn “Untitled - Track #1” Live CD (REL017)

We recently had a chance to speak with Eli Keszler about his various musical and artistic pursuits, including the work he is doing with his REL imprint. We aired this interview on this week’s show and played several tracks from Keszler’s solo and collaborative projects, along with something from his partner and collaborator, Ashley Paul.

*Eli Keszler is a composer, artist and multi-instrumentalist based in New York City. In performance, he often plays drums, bowed crotales and guitar in conjunction with his installations. In his ensemble compositions, he uses extended strings, motors, crotales, horns and mechanical devices to create his sound, balancing intense harmonic formations with acoustic sustain, fast jarring rhythm, mechanical propulsion, dense textures and detailed visual presentations. Eli has toured extensively throughout Europe and the US, performing solo and in collaboration with artists such as Phill Niblock, Aki Onda, Joe McPhee, Loren Connors, Jandek, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Coleman, Joe Morris, Steve Beresford, C Spencer Yeh, Greg Kelley (Nmperign), T Model Ford, Ran Blake, Ashley Paul and Steve Pyne. He has recorded solo releases for labels such as his own REL Records, ESP-DISK' and Type (Red Horse). His installations have appeared at the Boston Center for the Arts and Nuit Blanche NYC and the Shreveport MSPC New Music Festival. He has most recently won the Mata composers competition for the 2012 season. Eli Keszler is a graduate of the New England Conservatory in Boston where he studied with Anthony Coleman and Ran Blake. (*taken from the PAN website)

Check out the REL Records website for more information or to purchase any of the releases played on this show.

I'd also like to extend a special thanks to Bill Kouligas from PAN for providing the Cold Pin track prior to the album release date.

FFFreakout #286 - Fall Pledge Drive Show Pt. 2 (Aired on 11/3/11)

Dead Luke "Cheyanne" from Meanwhile . . . In the Midwest
Alva Noto "Uni Pro" from Univrs
Felix Kubin "Groscher Lausangriff" from Bruder Luzifer
Suicide "Dream Baby Dream" from The Second Album
Magnetic Fields "Desert Isalnd" from Holiday
Peaking Lights "Amazing & Wonderful" from 936
Sade "The Sweetest Taboo" from Promise
Destroyer "Blue Eyes" from Kaputt
Jakob Olausson "Live to Tell" from Moonlight Farm
Red Krayola "Hurricane Fighter Plane" from Parable of Arable Land
John Coltrane "Compassion" from Meditations
Ricardo Donoso "Chrome Decadence" from Progress Chance

If you happen to like what Free Form Freakout is up to and believe in the importance of independent public radio, then we would love to hear from you. KMSU is in the home stretch of its annual Fall Pledge Drive and we are still several thousand dollars shy of our goal. Unlike some of the other public media pledge drives, we don't have set amounts that you have to donate. Any amount that you can swing is greatly appreciated and helps to pay for much of our operating costs to bring you diverse programming and to keep us on the air. For those that pledge at specific dollars amounts ($25, $50, $60, $100), there are different premiums available that you can view at the KMSU website. We also have Free Form Freakout goodies to give away on the side, so get in touch once you've made your pledge by calling 507-389-5678 or 1-800-456-7810 or at www.kmsu.org.

FFFreakout #285 - Fall Pledge Drive Show (Aired on 10/27/11)

Times New Viking "Try Harder" from Dancer Equired
Destroyer "Chinatown" from Kaputt
Panabrite "Lunar Station" from Omni Center
Wet Hair "The Garden Room" from In Vogue Spirit
Tall Dwarfs "Tip of my Tongue" from Weeville
Charlie Feathers "Peepin' Eyes" from Sun Records - 50th Anniversary collection
Russell Hoke "Miss Arkenzie" from Comet of Despair
Alvarius B. "Mussolini's Exit" from Baroque Primitiva
Bob & Doug McKenzie "Mutants of 2051 II" from Strange Brew O.S.T.
Roky Erikson & The Aliens "I Walked With A Zombie" from Halloween A Go-Go
The Misfits "Halloween" from New Wave Halloween
Los Straitjackets "The Munster's Theme" from Halloween Hootenanny
Dead Kennedys "Halloween" from New Wave Halloween
Donovan "Season of the Witch" from Halloween Hootenanny
The Ramones "Pet Cemetary" from New Wave Halloween



Panabrite "City on Stilts" from Uriel Tekunoff on Vimeo.

FFFreakout: Podcast #27 - Tape Drift / Rambutan Feature

Rambutan “The Temple of Echo” The Temple of Echo CD-R (TD-43)

(Interview segment)

Parashi “Apparat” Counterweight CD-R (TD-48)

Jefferson Pitcher “11/30/08” To Light The Snow CD-R (TD-47)

Sparkling Wide Pressure “Untitled" (excerpt) split w/ Rambutan CS (TD-44)

(Interview segment)

Chapels “Pt. 1” (excerpt) Some Decay CS (TD-18)

Locrian “Omega Vapors” Dissolvers LP (TD-33)

Oddly Imploded “Atoms As Human Beings” Choke All Your Habits Before It’s Too Late CD-R (TD-41)

(Interview segment)

Rambutan "Passing Thought" For Conrad Schnitzler (*forthcoming release)

Rambutan “Ordinary Vertigo” Erasing the Past 7” (TD-39)

We recently had the chance to speak with Eric Hardiman, the main man behind the always incredible Tape Drift label and recording project, Rambutan, based in upstate New York.With this past month marking Tape Drift's biggest batch of releases to date, and with Rambutan set to unleash some new sounds on various labels in the coming months, we were fortunate to have Eric get us up to speed on the label, the music he has been making, and his involvement in the Albany Sonic Arts Collective. In addition to airing this conversation, we played various selections from the Tape Drift catalog, including a brand new Rambutan track from a forthcoming release entitled For Conrad Schnitzler.

Check out the Tape Drift website for more information and to order some of their great releases.

FFFreakout #284 (Aired on 10/20/11)

The Who "A Quick One, While He's Away" from The Kids Are Alright
Ian Thomas "Strange Brew" from Strange Brew O.S.T.
Spinal Tap "Cups and Cakes" from This Is Spinal Tap
Balloon Guy "Incidentally" from West Coast Shakes
Pearl Jam "Go" from Vs.
Stiff Little Fingers "Alternative Ulster" from D.I.Y.: The Modern World - U.K. Punk
Elvis Presley "That's Alright" from The Essential Elvis Presley
Supersuckers "Dead in the Water" from Must Have Been High
Foo Fighters "Dear Rosemary" from Wasting Light
Lee Noble "Your Privelege" from Horrorism
Dead Luke "God of Nothing" from Meanwhile. . . In The Midwest
Spacemen 3 "Take Me To the Other Side" from The Perfect Prescription
No Neck Blues Band "The Natural Bridge" from Sticks and Stones May Break . . . 
Sun City Girls "Gum Arabic" from Gum Arabic

"Desire Isn't Suffering" Lee Noble from Bathetic Records on Vimeo.

FFFreakout #283 - David Solo - (Aired on 10/13/11)

Village of Spaces "Ovum's Influence" from Alchemy & Trust
Mr. Marks and the Secretaries "McC II" from Borgata Boredom
The Bombay Sweets "Wolf's Breath" from S/T EP
The Blind Shake "They're All Gone" from Seriousness
Shellac "Dog and Pony Show" from At Action Park
Bardo Pond "Wank" from Amanita
Julian Lynch "Natalie Barney's Salon" from How Mata Hari Lost Her . . .
Noveller "Three Windows Facing Three Doors" from Desert Fires
Nico "Janitor of Lunacy" from Desertshore
The Blue Rondos "Baby I Go For You" from You're Holding Me Down
Cluster "Fur Die Katz" from Cluster II
The Rain Parade "I Look Around" from Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
Remora "Let Me Die With A Coin In My Pocket" from Scars Bring Hope
Low "Especially Me" from C'Mon
The Away Team "Drift" from Borgata Boredom

Click here to listen to this show.

 
BOW TO SHIVA DRAFT- NO NARRATION from Amy Ruhl on Vimeo.

FFFreakout: Podcast #26 - A Tribute to Stunned Records

Queen Victoria "Untitled" The Present Tense CS (no. 129)

Nite Lite "Corvid" Marlene CS (no. 134)

(Commentary from Frank Baugh of Sparkling Wide Pressure, Kimberly Dawn Recordings, etc.)

Sparkling Wide Pressure "Hearts" Facing the Nothing World CD-R (no. 74) 

Xiphiidae "Untitled" (excerpt) Pisces Muse CS (no. 101)

(Commentary from Seth Kasselman of Warm Climate and Gul Bara)

Warm Climate "Tourmaline Witches" Pigeon Brides Weigh In CS (no. 136)

(Commentary from Brad Rose of Charlatan, Digitalis Recordings, etc.)

Charlatan "Like Glass" split w/ Spare Death Icon CS (no.  106)

Remote Islands "Houseboat on Schuylkill" Days of Heaven CS (no. 122)

(Commentary from Donato Epiro)

Donato Epiro "Fantasma Di Una Pulce" Sounding the Sun CD-R (no. 52)

Berber Ox "Do That Twice" The Great Parenthesis CS (no. 130) 

(Commentary from Eric Hardiman of Rambutan, Tape Drift Records, etc.)

Rambutan "Returning to the Entrance" Broken Infinity CD-R/CS (no. 38/100)

M. Geddes Gengras  "Untitled" (excerpt) The Empty Space CS (no. 135)

(Commentary from William Giacchi of Super Minerals, Eureka, etc.)

Super Minerals "Be Brave Children Of The Monsoon..." (excerpt) Contacteer CS (no. 128)

Pimmon "Block Cipher" (excerpt) Lay Down Real Slow CS (no. 133) 

(Closing comments from Phil & Myste French of Stunned Records)

For me, Stunned Records was truly one of the main inspirations for starting up the Free Form Freakout webcasts. I was consistently moved by the wide-ranging sounds that they were putting out and was, quite simply, just looking for an outlet to maybe let a few other people hear about some of this incredible music that I was getting ahold of. Not only was the first track that I ever played on these shows a Stunned release, a Warm Climate track to be exact, but the first interview feature show was done with Phil French from Stunned. And over the past year, I’ve continued to spotlight at least some of the tapes that came out with each new batch they released.

As Stunned has now officially come to a close, I felt compelled to do something a bit special for this week’s show.  So, in addition to playing a bunch of tracks from the Stunned catalog, including several selections from the final batch of tapes, I called on some Stunned alumni to provide some comments on what the label meant to them and their work, which you’ll hear spread throughout the show.

It certainly was no easy task trying to put together a playlist that I felt was fairly representative of the label as a whole and there are, admittedly, some glaring omissions, but I sincerely hope that you enjoy what I've put together here. I do want to extend a big thank you to Phil & Myste and to all the other artists that took the time to lend their voice to this show. I encourage you to do the same by sharing your own thoughts on the label, or perhaps some of your favorite Stunned releases, in the comment section below. Finally, I recommend checking out the newly revamped Discriminate Music website to snatched up the remaining copies of that last Stunned batch and any of their other releases you can get your hands on right now!!

FFFreakout #282 (Aired on 9/29/11)

Alias "Talk in Technicolor" from Fever Dream
The Bombay Sweets "Happy Birthday (To Your Petty Reasons)" from S/T EP
Amen Dunes "Sunday" from Through Donkey Jaw
Orfanado "Avorio" from Iter
African Head Charge "Take Heed . . . And Smoke Up Your Collyweed" from Voodoo of the Godsent
Sun Araw "Fit For Caesar" from Ancient Romans
Faust "The Sad Skinhead" from IV
Rayne "Good Dog" from S/T
Ricardo Donoso "Klatu" from Progress Chance
Rick James "You and I" from The Ultimate Collection
Prince "D.M.S.R." from 1999
My Morning Jacket "Highly Suspicious" from Evil Urges
Run DMC "You Be Illin'" from Raising Hell
The Pixies "Head On" from Head On EP


Ricardo Donoso, "Baiting Disappointment" from Impose on Vimeo.

FFFreakout: #281 - Looking Back on 30 Years of R.E.M. (Aired 9/22/11)

R.E.M. "Radio Free Europe" from Murmur
R.E.M. "The One I Love" from Document
R.E.M. "Crush With Eyeliner" from Monster
R.E.M. "E-bow The Letter" from New Adventures in Hi-Fi
R.E.M. "Can't Get There From Here" from Fables of the Reconstruction
R.E.M. "Wind-Out" from Dead Letter Office
R.E.M. "Begin the Begin" from Life's Rich Pageant
R.E.M. "Turn You Inside Out" from Green
R.E.M. "Monte Got A Raw Deal" from Automatic for the People
R.E.M. "Gardening At Night" from Chronic Town
R.E.M. "Accelerate" from Accelerate
R.E.M. "Don't Go Back to Rockville" from Reckoning
R.E.M. "Half A World Away" from Out of Time
(Outro Music: R.E.M. "New Orleans Instrumental #1 from Automatic for the People)       

With the announcement that R.E.M. had offically disbanded, we decided to take a look back through their discography on this week's show. Carl led us through some of his favorite R.E.M. songs and shared stories of his (mis)adventures at various R.E.M. live shows over the years.

Ltd. Ed. Free Form Freakout t-shirts now available

As mentioned a few weeks back, the Free Form Freakout site was given a much needed new look thanks to Frank Ouellette of Hobo Cult Records, Hobo Cubes, Moduli TV, and countless other mind-expanding projects. To mark the occasion, we printed up a limited run of 50 t-shirts with the new Free Form Freakout design on it to sell. Please check out the details listed below and get in touch if you would like to order one. Any profits made from the sale of these shirts will be given to Frank for lending his time and talent.

T-Shirts:
Silk-screened on 50/50 cotton/poly white shirts by the good folks at Key City Creative in Mankato.

Sizes Available:
S, M, L, XL

Cost:
$10 (for locals - if we can arrange a pick-up/drop-off locale)
$14 (ppd within the U.S. & Canada)
$16 (ppd rest of the world)

Buy now:

Price Postage Paid

U.S. & Canada $14.00International $16.00

Write us at fffreakout@hotmail.com if you'd like to pay by cash or money order.

FFFreakout #280 - David Solo - (Aired on 9/8/11)

The Blind Shake "Man Leaves House" from Seriousness
UV Race "Burn That Cat" from Homo  
Alpaca Brothers "Hey Man" from Flying Nun 25 Years Box Set  
Patrick Burke "Souvenirs" from Silence and Timing  
Azalia Snail "Space Heater" from Celestial Respect  
Amen Dunes "Lower Mind" from Through Donkey Jaw  
Battles "Futura" from Gloss Drop  
Konono No. 1 "Kule Kule Reprise" from Congotronics  
Nina Simone "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter" (live) from To Be Free Box Set  
Hell Shovel "Blow Holes and Q-Tips" from Sonar Elastici il pianeta si risveglia  
Russell Hoke "Shattering of the Form" from Cosmic Outlaw  
The Yoleus "AKA" from Splain  
Julian Lynch "Temple Dance" from Music For How Mata Hari . . .  
Coppertone "Year of the Tiger" from Best of the First Six Months  
Dub Syndicate "Overboard" from Tunes from the Missing Channel

Click here to listen to this show.

FFFreakout #279 - Carl Solo - (Aired on 9/1/11)

Bjork "I Miss You" from Post
Beck "Burro" from Jackass Single
Ween "Buenas Tardes Amigo" from Chocolate & Cheese
Spoon "The Way We Get By" from Kill The Moonlight
Otis Redding "Satisfaction (I Can't Get No)" from The Definitive Soul Collection
Justin Townes Earle "Can't Hardly Wait" from Midnight At the Movies
The Replacements "Alex Chilton" (alternate version) from Pleased To Meet Me
Al Green "Here I Am" from Come and Take Me
Blur "Coffee & T.V." from 13
The White Stripes "Walking With A Ghost" from Walking With A Ghost
Rick James "Give It To Me Baby" from Funkdamentals
Material Issue "Very First Lie" from International Pop Overthrow
Faith No More "Easy" from Who Cares A Lot: Greatest Hits
G. Love & Special Sauce "The Things That I Used to Do" from S/T
Henry Rollins w/ Bad Brains "Kick Out the Jams"

FFFreakout: Podcast #25 - Avant Archive / Black Eagle Child Feature

Black Eagle Child “Crandon” Lobelia CD (Preservation)

(Interview segment)

Emuul “Without Looking Back” Waiting For Winter (AA004CS)

Sean McCann “Along A River” Mammoth Mountain (AA009CS)

Rogue Cop “A1” Act of Violence (AA013CS)

Horse Marriage “Pee-Chee” b/w "Lay Your Hands on Me" 7” (AA014VII)

(Interview segment)

Excavacations “The Sine III” Afternoon Future CS (AA008CS)

Bret Schneider “$dimpl” Model of a Garden Scene With Watering Can CS (AA010CS)

HMS “Belle River” (excerpt) Cascades (AA012CS)

(Interview segment)

Black Eagle Child “I Am A Bunny” Pages On A Plane LP (Under the Spire)**

Black Eagle Child “Roscoe Running” split w/ Donato Epiro LP (Blackest Rainbow)

Outro Music: Black Eagle Child “Stole” Poland CD-R (Sturmundrugs)

We recently had a chance to speak with Michael Jantz who runs the Avant Archive label out in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over the past year, Jantz has honed a very distinctive and instantly recognizable visual aesthetic for the label, while building up a catalog with an impressive range of sounds. In addition to his work with Avant Archive, Jantz has also been an active player within underground tape trader circles for several years now, having put out numerous releases of his own as Black Eagle Child on such reputable labels as Stunned, Digitalis, Housecraft, and many others. We aired our recent phone conversation with Michael on this week's show, where we discussed his work with both Avant Archive and as Black Eagle Child, and we played several tracks from each respective discography.

Check out the Avant Archive website for more information.


**Please note: The track played off of the Pages On A Plane LP was "I Am A Bunny", not "Cycle to the Moon" as indicated on the show.

New Free Form Freakout design by Frank Ouellette of Hobo Cubes & Hobo Cult Records

You'll notice that the Free Form Freakout site has been given a much-needed makeover thanks to the multi-talented Frank Ouellette of Hobo Cult Records, Hobo Cubes, Moduli TV, and countless other mind-expanding projects. To mark the occasion, we're going to be printing up a limited number of t-shirts with the new FFF design on it. Please get in touch with us if this is something you may fancy, just so we have a rough estimate of how many to do. All the profits from the sales of these t-shirts will be given to Frank for lending his time and talent to this project, and to help support his own future projects.

FFFreakout #278 (Aired on 8/25/11)

Dinosaur Jr. "Little Fury Things" from You're Living All Over Me
Bill Orcutt "Bored With the Moon" from 2011 Tour Only 7" (Jaggar cover)
Son House "Pearline" from Father of the Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions
Terrors "God Bless the Child (take 3)" from Lagan Qord
Olivia Tremor Control "Love Athena" from Presents: Singles and Beyond
Brian Eno "By This River" from Before and After Science
Low "Something's Turning Over" from C'Mon
Francoise Hardy "Comment te dire Adieu" from Comment te dire Adieu
The Jayhawks "The Liquor Store Came First" from The Bunkhouse Album
Gorillaz "Revolving Doors" from The Fall
Jeff Bridges "Hold On You" from Crazy Heart O.S.T.
John Doe & The Sadies "I Still Miss Someone" from Country Club
Big Star "September Gurls" (live) from Columbia: Live at Missouri University
Sonic Youth "Anti-Orgasm" from The Eternal
John Lee Hooker "Huckle Up Baby" from Very Best of ...
(Outro Music: Lonnie Mack "Memphis")

Bill Orcutt, along with Paul Metzger and Jesse Petersen, will be performing this Saturday at the Franklin Art Works in Minneapolis:

FFFreakout #277 (Aired on 8/18/11)

Ganglians "Voodoo" from Monster Head Room
Black Eagle Child "Paper Delivery" from Lobelia
Nico "These Days" from Chelsea Girls
Young Marble Giants "Brand-New-Life" from Colossal Youth
Half Japanese "Said and Done" from Greatest Hits
R. Stevie Moore "You Love Me, Do Something" from Contact Risk
Excepter "Any and Every" from Debt. Dept.
Tortoise "Eden 2" from Standards
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks "Dark Wave" from Pig Lib
Pavement "Silence Kit" from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Mark Lanegan "Nothin' in the World Can Stop..." from Give the People What They Want
Superchunk "Driveway to Driveway" from Foolish
The Pixies "Wave of Mutilation" (U.K. Surf) from Pump Up the Volume O.S.T.
Camper Van Beethoven "Take the Skinheads Bowling" from Telephone Free Landslide Victory
The Who "Magic Bus" from Greatest Hits
Harry Nilsson "Coconut" from Nilsson Schmilsson

Since we had to fade out the Nico track early due to the CD player going haywire:

FFFreakout: Podcast #24

 

Panabrite “Citadel in the Sky” Omni Center CD-R (Sturmundrugs)

Banana Head “Open the Kimono”  The Phantom Payn split CS (Goaty Tapes)

The Teleporters “Untitled” Invite You To Come On A Pompous Journey CS (Goaty Tapes)

Pumice “The Only Doosh Worth Giving” Pebbles LP (Soft Abuse)

Glue Clinic “Soft Blows” s/t CS (Lighten Up Sounds)

Chrome Dome “Topped” s/t CS (Night-People)

Kluster “Part Two” Klopfzeichen CD (Hypnotic)

Red Horse “Untitled –Side A (excerpt)” s/t LP (Rel)

Horse Marriage “Lay Your Hands On Me” b/w “Pee-Chee”/”I Need To Tell You” 7” (Avant Archive)

Outer Spacist “Frequency of Souls” s/t CS (Dub Ditch Picnic)

Parashi “Corrach” Zone of Alienation 3” CD (Kendra Steiner Editions)

Super Minerals “Earth Acropolis Welcomes . . . (excerpt)” Contacteer CS (Stunned)

Keijo “15 Days” Along the Stream CS (Cabin Floor Esoterica)

Serfs "Nameless" Sha La La-La Later On CS (Cabin Floor Esoterica)

First, I'd like to begin by acknowledging the passing of Conrad Schnitzler this past week. While I'll openly admit to only scratching the surface of his vast discography, it goes without saying that his seminal work in Kluster and Tangerine Dream, along with his numerous solo and collaborative efforts, casts a fairly sizable shadow over several generations worth of experimental music, including the current wave of post-Noise/neo-Kosmische artists. Plenty has already been written elsewhere about Schnitzler, so I'll simply conclude with a statement he made about his work in a David Keenan-penned feature in The Wire from 2006 (which the above photo is taken from): "It is pure sound that I make. And I'm not expressing myself in any way when I'm making it. If anything, I express myself more when I listen back to it, when I go upstairs and listen to it and have one hour of joy." Thankfully, Schnitzler left us with countless hours of joy to experience for ourselves.

Some highlights from this week's show include another brilliant track from Panabrite. Norm Chambers continues his winning streak of upward bound synth explorations on Omni Center, his recent release on Sturmundrugs, finding new and inventive ways to meld his electronic and organic sound creations. Goaty Tapes and Cabin Floor Esoterica also just dropped some impressive new sounds in their latest tape batches. Amongst the Goaty heap, the Banana Head / Phantom Payn split has been getting repeated spins here in the FFF bunker. I was a little surprised to see this pairing at first, but it makes perfect sense really. The Phantom Payn material, which was recorded around the same time in the mid-Nineties as the excellent Days/Daze release that De Stijl put out last year, fits quite nicely alongside the contemporary loner psych pop moves of Banana Head. I'm quite pleased, in fact, that Goaty had the foresight to present the Phantom Payn's work within the current DIY underground context where it rightly belongs. Along with being some of the most visually stunning tapes I've seen of late, the recent Cabin Floor Esoterica batch also delivers the goods musically. The otherworldly wandering blues of Keijo's Along the Stream hits just the right Jandekian sweet spot for me, albeit in a more tuneful way, and Serfs' blown-out guitar playing on Sha La La-La Later On is rather beautiful, turning a Curtis Mayfield cover into something totally new and original.  But, since I've mentioned originality, I must bring up the latest Super Minerals tape as well. The duo of Phil French and William Giacchi continue to make some of the most mind-bendingly original sounds around and with The Hoax, and now Contacteer, they've released two of my favorite albums of the year thus far. Lastly, we spun the brand new Horse Marriage single, which marks Avant Archive's first foray into releasing vinyl. In the coming weeks, we will be joined by Avant Archive owner/operator, Michael Jantz, where we will be discussing the label and his own musical endeavors as Black Eagle Child. Do check back.

FFFreakout #276 (Live on 8/11/11)

Flower Travellin' Band "Satori Part I" from Satori
Russell Hoke "Morning Medicine" from Til I'm the Best I Can Be
Turner Cody "Up Up High" from Buds of May
Alvarius B. "Face to Face With A Couple Axes" from Baroque Primitiva
Television Personalities "Painting By Numbers" from Part-Time Punks: The Very Best of . . . 
Lee Noble "Evil Book" from Creeping Death Fever
Bibio "K Is For Kelson" from Mind Bokeh
The Pheromoans "Stubble Brothers" from S/T
The Seeds "Pushin' Too Hard" from Nuggets
Weezer "El Sorcho" from Pinkerton
Wanda Jackson "You Know I'm No Good" from The Party Ain't Over
Justin Townes Earles "Can't Hardly Wait" from Midnight At The Movies
Big Audio Dynamite "The Bottom Line" from Planet Bad - Greatest Hits
The Rockford Mules "Drag the Swamp" from Ma They Broke Me
Tom Jones "It's Not Unusual" (Note: Carl's Guilty Pleasure Pick)
The Stranglers "Peaches" from Peaches: The Very Best of . . .


LEE NOBLE - Fantasy Hair from Moduli TV on Vimeo.

FFFreakout #275 - Carl Solo - (Aired on 8/4/11)

Stereo Total "L' amour A 3" from Musique Automatique
Cults "You Know What I Mean" from S/T
Talking Heads "Psycho Killer" (acoustic version) from Talking Heads 77
The B-52's "52 Girls" from S/T
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. "Morning Thought" from It's A Corporate World
Stereolab "The Free Design" from Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night
Elvis Costello "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" from Under the Influenza
Cat Power "He War" from You Are Free
Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson "Folsom Prison Blues"
The Rolling Stones "Far Away Eyes" from Some Girls
The Jayhawks "Falling Star" from Lost Highway: Lost and Found, Vol. 1
The Buzzcocks "What Do I Get?" from Singles Going Steady
Blondie "X Offender" from S/T
Liz Phair (w/ Material Issue) "Turning Japanese" from Juvenilia
Lou Reed "Satelitte of Love" from Transformer

FFFreakout #274 (Aired on 7/28/11)

Beach House "Zebra" from Teen Dream
Orange Juice "Poor Old Soul Part One" from The Glasgow School
The Vaselines "Rory Rides Me Raw" from Enter the Vaselines
Lee Hazlewood (w/ Suzi Jane Hokum) "Sand" from The Complete MGM Recordings
Nina Simone "Real Real" from Sings the Blues
John Fahey "Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt" from The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick
Noveller "Entering" from Glacial Glow
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas "Rett Pa" from II
Mark Ronson (feat. Amy Winehouse) "Valerie" from Version
Beastie Boys "33% God" from Paul's Boutique (Japanese version)
Old 97's "I'm A Trainwreck" from The Grand Theatre Vol. 2
U2 "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" from Achtung Baby
Christopher Cross "Ride Like the Wind" from Easy Rock (Note: Carl's Guilty Pleasure Pick)
The Rolling Stones "It's All Over Now" from 12x5
Dennis Coffey "Scorpio" from Soul Power Instrumentals

FFFreakout: Podcast #23 (w/ Chris Berry from Soft Abuse Records)

 

Jerry Yester & Judy Henske "Snowblind" Farewell Aldebaran LP (Straight)

Ed Askew "Little Eyes" Little Eyes CD (De Stijl)

Exiles from Clowntown "Fast One" b/w Something ... 7" (Great Dividing)

Maher Shalal Hash Baz "Flowerages" From A Summer to Another Summer (An Egypt to Another Egypt) 2LP (Geographic)

Stan Hubbs "Seems Like It's A Rich Man's World" Crystal LP (Companion)

UV Race "Nazicistic" Homo LP (In The Red)

Pumice "Hey Crap Crab" Puny (*forthcoming on Soft Abuse)

Pigeons "Red Friend" TBA (*forthcoming on Soft Abuse)

Primitive Motion "Amplify This Thought" By Arc or Chord (*forthcoming on Soft Abuse)

Moebius & Plank "Feedback '66" Rastakraut Pasta LP (Bureau B)

The Pin Group "Hurricane Fighter Plane" S/T CD (Siltbreeze)

Kitchen's Floor "Lander" Loneliness Is A Dirty Mattress LP (Bedroom Suck)

Real Numbers "Tear It In Two" b/w Pinckney St. 7" (Florida's Dying)

Family Fodder "A 'version'" b/w Debbie Harry 7" (Fresh)

Lighted "Moss Smuggler" Lighted/Mole Hole Tour 2011 CS (Lighten Up Sounds)

Russian Tsarlag "No Chance Left" Open Casket LP (Hot Releases)

Poli Styrene Jass Band "Drano In Your Veins" b/w Circus Highlights 7" (Violet Times)

For the second year in a row, Chris Berry from Soft Abuse Records made the trek down from Minneapolis to join us in the studio. Last time around, he was toting mostly rare 7" singles from his collection. This time, however, the box was much larger and included a variety of DIY singles, along with plenty of obscure full-length gems in various formats. In addition to this, he previewed a few tracks from some of the forthcoming Soft Abuse releases due out in the coming months, including new stuff from FFF favorite Pumice, as well as Pigeons and Primitive Motion. Check out the Soft Abuse website for more information.

FFFree Mixtape Series, Vol. 1: Back to Nature Edition

Introducing the first edition of the FFFree Mixtape Series. There's nothing too complicated about it really: write to us and let us know that you want a mixtape and we'll send one to you free of charge. We encourage you, however, to share with us your own mixes, original music, artwork, writings, recipes, poetry, etc. - but that's entirely up to you.

Each mixtape in this first edition comes with artwork and inserts lifted from various turn-of-the-century nature publications (Where were you in 1902?) and feature slightly different tracklists on c60-c90 length tapes. 

Get in touch if you're interested.

Note: This first batch of mixtapes are gone. Be on the lookout for more in the coming months.

FFFreakout #273 - Russell Hoke Feature (Aired on 7/21/11)

Russell Hoke "Lullaby Waltz" from He Would Have Been A Fine Young Man
(Interview segment)
Russell Hoke "Twisted Mountain" from He Would Have Been A Fine Young Man
Russell Hoke "Weird Wendy" from He Would Have Been A Fine Young Man
Russell Hoke "Worms in My Brain" from He Would Have Been A Fine Young Man
Russell Hoke "Oh, Grand!" from If I Had Been the Universe
Russell Hoke "Goodbye, Gypsy" from If I Had Been the Universe
Russell Hoke "Hey, Marie" from If I Had Been the Universe
(Interview segment)
Russell Hoke "Haunted Brain" from Haunted Brain
Russell Hoke "Brown-haired Smile" from Haunted Brain
Russell Hoke "Girl of Glass" from Haunted Brain
Russell Hoke "Someday Among Flowers" from The Magic of My Youth
Russell Hoke "Why Is It So Hard When It's So Easy?" from The Magic of My Youth
Russell Hoke "Angelic Choir" from The Magic of My Youth

We recently came across Russell Hoke's records while flipping through the tastefully stocked bins of Dusty Groove America on a recent trip to Chicago. Tucked in their small "Folk & Country" section sat these fascinating looking hand-assembled and hand-scrawled record jackets, with titles like Haunted Brain and If I Had Been the Universe, that looked positively out of place among the more recognizable selections of the genre. With absolutely no knowledge of what any of these would sound like, we took a chance and laid down the coin on Hoke's He Would Have Been A Fine Young Man record. And what an amazing record it is!! The album is a haunting work of psych-tinged folk and bluegrass that sounds like some lost late-sixties/early-seventies gem, adding a bit of intrigue and confusion to the 2011 copyright date.

After tracking down more of Hoke's records in the ensuing month, though, it became apparent that much of his material was actually recorded throughout the 80's and 90's, but is only now, in recent years, being released in small quantities by Hoke himself. His work brings to mind various left-of-center songsmiths such as Michael Hurley, Holy Modal Rounders, Lee Hazlewood, Syd Barrett, Daniel Johnston, and we'll even go out on a limb and say Neutral Milk Hotel. It's outsider music indeed, but not in the overly oddball fashion that this tag typically connotes. We were fortunate enough to get a chance to chat with Russell recently over the phone and ask him some questions about his music and his string of new releases. We aired that conversation on this week's show, along with various song selections from his catalog.

To buy some of Russell Hoke's records, check out Dusty Groove America and Fusetron. You can also buy them direct from Russell by contacting him at:

russnbus@yahoo.com.