FFFreakout: Podcast #38

Nuojuva “Kuu piirtää sillan” Valot Kaukaa CD* (Preservation) 

Ashley Paul “Only You Know” Slow Boat LP (Orange Milk) 

Visitor (Elizabeth Harris & Ilyas Ahmed) “The Edges” Visitor LP (Social Music) 

Ghedalia Tazartes “Tazartes’ Transports (track #4)” Tazartes’ Transports CD (Alga Marghen) 

Viktor Timofeev “Eden_Olympia” Give Health999 LP (lo bit landscapes) 

Black To Comm “Mirror” Earth LP (De Stijl) 

Excavacations “Silver Salver” Object Permanence CD (Weird Forest) 

House of Low Culture “Inappropriate Body, Pt. 1” Poisoned Soil 2LP (Taiga) 

Ben Vida “ssseeeeiiiiii” esstends-esstends-esstends LP (PAN) 

NHK’Koyxen “530_Green and White with Yellow” Dance Classics Vol. 1 LP (PAN) 

Quicksails “Must Never Catch It” Silver Balloons In Clusters LP* (Under The Spire) 

Han Bennink “Nerve Beats” (excerpt) Nerve Beats (Atavistic/Unheard Music Series) 

Nate Wooley “Amplifer" (excerpt) Trumpet/Amplifier LP (Smeraldina-Rima)

Simon Balestrazzi “Persistence Of Memory” (brief excerpt) The Sky Is Full Of Kites CD (Boring Machines) 

Sparkling Wide Pressure “Future Voice” Grandfather Harmonic CD* (Preservation)

Well, spring has officially sprung around these parts and damn if it hasn’t been unbelievably nice. Since I last chimed in on these pages, you could have possibly found me doing the following: (a) riding around aimlessly on a bike, (b) sporting horribly uncool shorts, (c) BBQing out on a deck, or (d) drinking unusually colored cocktails. Okay, it’s all of the above and, hell, it’s not even April yet!

Anyways, let’s get on to some of the highlights of this week’s podcast show. We started things off with a track from the terrific new album Valot Kaukaa from Nuojuva, which is the new alias of Finnish sound artist Olli Aarni, whom previously recorded under the name Ous Mal. Aarni came across my radar last year with a pair of stellar releases out on Sweat Lodge Guru and Avant Archive. On this release that the Preservation label just put out, Aarni moves into a more abstract songform mode, yet it still retains the warmth and blissful atmospheric qualities of his previous work. The same could be said of the forthcoming Sparkling Wide Pressure album that Preservation is also set to release in April. Sparkling Wide Pressure (a.k.a. Frank Baugh) has been producing some of the most consistently engaging work within the cassette underground for several years now, but, for me, this Grandfather Harmonic release has to rank at the very top. The mantra-like vocals and varied instrumentation, especially the ghostly harmonica textures, sound like both a natural progression and a bold new direction for Baugh. It’s just an impressive album all around. I’m guessing I’m not alone in saying that the recent arrival of the PAN catalog at all the reputable mail order outlets in the States has been a much-welcomed development. I’m probably also not alone in saying that I’ve been slowly trying to snatch up everyone of these releases as the ol’ budget will allow as this has to be one of the most exciting, both sonically and visually, experimental labels operating right now. The Hecker and Ghedalia Tazartes releases from last year are downright essential and the more spins I give this Ben Vida record I’m thinking that it too falls into that category. Like Matt Carlson’s recent Particle Language album, esstends-esstends-esstends is an innovative slab of electronic music that upends your notions of composition and sonic possibilities within the “genre”. The NHK’Koyxeu release, on the other hand, is easy to enjoy on a purely physical level. It wasn’t too long ago that I bought into the 'Malkmus maxim' that the “dance faction is a little too loose for me.” But Dance Classics Vol. 1, not to mention the recent Heatsick album, is a nice reminder that it’s good to get loose every now and then. Granted, for an aging dude with questionable coordination at best, getting loose involves nothing more than mildly rhythmic head nodding and the occasional tightened lips if I’m really feelin’ it. But hey, move the way you’re moved, right? And if we’re speaking of being moved, for entirely different reasons in this case, the new Black To Comm album Earth is a hauntingly beautiful piece of work. I was initially a bit turned off by the vocals, but this release has a certain appeal to it that is undeniable. It’s captivating and unsettling in a post-Climate of Hunter-era Scott Walker sort of way. And, as far as I know, no sides of meat were punched during the making of this one.

FFFreakout #304 (Aired on 3/22/12)

Featureless Ghost "Scanproof (Cyberdream mkII)" from Dada Damage: Night People 2012 compilation
Food Pyramid "Orange Alert" from Mango Sunrise
Skoal Kodiak "Nerve Dice" from Three People Are Keep Having Grape Emergencys
This Mortal Coil "You and Your Sister" from Blood
Mark Hollis "Watershed" from S/T
39 Clocks "New Crime Appeal" from Zoned
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion "Hold On (feat. Dr. John)" from Plastic Fang
Southern Culture On The Skids "White Trash" from Dirt Track Date
Suicidal Tendencies "Institutionalized" from Repo Man O.S.T.
Luna "Lovedust" from Romantica
Culture Club "Karma Chameleon" [Note: Carl's Guilty Pleasure Pick]
The Clash "Police On My Back" from Sandinista!
Kool & The Gang "Kool & The Gang" from Soul Power Instrumentals

FFFreakout #303 (Aired on 3/15/12)

Bruce Springsteen "Shackled and Drawn" from Wrecking Ball
The Doobie Brothers "What A Fool Believes" from Long Train Runnin' 1970-2000
M83 "Midnight City" from Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Beastie Boys "Dis Yourself in '87" from Paul's Boutique (Japanese edition)
The Stranglers "Peaches" from Gr. Hits 1977-1990
Jimmy Cliff "The Bigger The Come, The Harder They Fall" from The Harder They Come
Prince "Play in the Sunshine" from Sign O' The Times
Linda Watkins "Down To The Sea" from Poetry Out Loud #6
German Army "Guinea Strongarm" from Papua Mass
The Residents "Elvis and His Boss" from Duck Stab
Elvis Presley "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" from 50 Years - 50 Hits
Rodd Keith "Baby, I'll Give It To You" from My Pipe Yellow Dream
Russell Hoke "Saturn and the Lads" from The Magic of My Youth
Patrick Burke "Choc Electrique" from A Black Balloon

FFFreakout: Podcast #37 - Poetry Out Loud Feature with Clint Simonson of De Stijl Records

Peter & Patricia "Like The Leaves In Fall" from Poetry Out Loud #1

Klyd Watkins "American Morning Mantra" from Poetry Out Loud #1

Peter & Patricia "Let Me Ride You" from Poetry Out Loud #1

The Harlemans "I Am The Crow" from Poetry Out Loud #2

Klyd and Linda Watkins "Open Your Flower" from Poetry Out Loud #2

Klyd Watkins (w/ piano by Bill Chelf) "Down Into Your Smile" from Poetry Out Loud #2 

Linda Watkins "Put Down" from Poetry Out Loud #2

Klyd and Linda Watkins "Ride 'Em Ranger" from Poetry Out Loud #3 

The Harlemans "We Blew From The East" from Poetry Out Loud #3

Klyd and Linda Watkins "Amen Absent" from Poetry Out Loud #4 

Patricia Harleman "Between The Valleys" from Poetry Out Loud #4

The Harlemans "I Am Weeping" from Poetry Out Loud #5

Klyd and Linda Watkins and The Harlemans "Ocean" from Poetry Out Loud #6

The Harlemans and Klyd and Linda Watkins "Magic" from Poetry Out Loud #7

The Harlemans "For Clyde and Linda" from Poetry Out Loud #8

The Harlemans "I Give My Body To The Drum" from Poetry Out Loud #9

The Harlemans with Klyd Watkins "Let's Let The World Go Down" from Poetry Out Loud #10

For this week's podcast show, Clint Simonson of De Stijl Records joined us in the studio to discuss the re-release of the Poetry Out Loud series, one of the most extensive archival projects his label has taken on. The show includes selections chosen by Simonson from each of the original 10 LPs released during the years 1969-77 and between tracks we discuss the context from which these innovative records emerged and their connections to more contemporary experimental works.

The official De Stijl press release reads:

"Poetry Out Loud was a series of ten LPs released between 1969 and 1977 as a sort of “magazine of oral poetry.” The driving forces behind Poetry Out Loud were two couples: Peter and Patricia B McGarry  (Harleman), from Topeka, Kansas, and Klyd and Linda Watkins, from Nashville; together they followed their muse of “taking poetry off the page,” seeking a centuries-long end-around back to the oral tradition. As Peter said it then, “The poem on the page has no relationship to the poet. There has to be an integral relationship between poet, performer and audience.” In other words, this is word-as-sound art, a heavy trip.

While the ensuing years have pushed Poetry Out Loud toward the fringes of crate-digging awareness, they won over some significant fans in their day. Robert Palmer (author of Deep Blues, among other works) wrote about Poetry Out Loud at length in Rolling Stone more than once during the ’70s. “Such sounds, with their welter of enharmonic pitches, stimulate most of the surface of the basilar membrane, thus ensuring the transmission of as many simultaneous neural impulses as possible to as much of the brain as possible,” he wrote in the notes for Poetry Out Loud Number Nine, getting at the physio-mystical heart of things. “And the neurons are able to rest between firings because of the rapid decay time of the sounds, thus insuring continuing peak effects for the sound and allowing changed or other sung material to periodically resume its own hypnotic pattern. In other words, the shaman’s basic equipment – voice, drum, rattle – is actually a sophisticated tool for self-induced hypnosis, or trance.” That (and much more) said, no written words are going to prepare you for the experience of hearing what might be one of our most visionary releases."  

For more information on Poetry Out Loud and to order the remaining LP copies or the newly remastered digital versions, head over the the De Stijl Records website.

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

We still have a small stash of these limited edition Free Form Freakout t-shirts that were designed by Frank Ouellette (a.k.a. Hobo Cult Records, Hobo Cubes, etc.) available. We're down to only a few for S/XL sizes. 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 #302 (Aired on 3/8/12)

Food Pyramid "Mango Sunrise" from Mango Sunrise
Excavacations "Sine 3" from Object Permanence
The Garment District "The Parlance" from Melody Elder
Damon & Naomi "Blue Moon" from Damon & Naomi with Ghost
The Golden Dawn "Starvation" from Power Plant
Lab Coast "Better Than Me" from Editioned Houses
Heroin In Tahiti "Campomorto" from Death Surf
Blanche Blanche Blanche "Runny Day" from Dada Damage: Night People 2012 Compilation
Bruce Springsteen "We Take Care Of Our Own" from Wrecking Ball
Bruce Springsteen "The Big Payback" from Essential Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen "Atlantic City" from Nebraska
The Monkees "I Wanna Be Free" from The Monkees
The Beatles "And Your Bird Can Sing" from Revolver
Beastie Boys "Sabrosa" from Ill Communication
Jeff Buckley "Grace" from Grace
P.I.L. "Careering" from Second Edition

FFFreakout: Podcast #36

Mascara Snake “Punishment of a Hunter” Portraits and Scenes CS (Avant Archive)

Bomber Jackets “Hot Georgian Summer” Larching CS (Night-People)

The Haiduks “A Tide Through the Flames” The Lemon Tape CS (Hobo Cult/Kinnta)

Raajmahal “Curly Locks” Celandine CS (Digitalis Ltd.)

Pierrot Lunaire "Take Me With You" Theme for Ascension and Eternal Love 7" (Hooker Vision)

Chapels “Where Is Everyone, Part 2” split w/ Jeremy Kelly CS (House of Alchemy)

Insect Factory "Radio Forecast" Melodies From A Dead Radio LP (Fabrica/Insect Fields)

Asio Otus “Pesuvettä hangella” Taivaallisia tulia CS (Sicsic Tapes)

Toning “Paranormal Romance” Paranormal Romance CS (Skell)

Thoughts On Air “Lowbrow” Paleo Sails CS (Avant Archive)

Nathan McLaughlin “4.4” Echolocation #4 CS (Sunshine Ltd.)

C. Yantis “Rand” Box Elder, Cold Scholar CS (Holyoak! Resounding)

Mohawk Park “Vanilla Spiderwebs” Ungeometric Circuit CS (Scissor Tail)

M. Geddes Gengras “Burning” The Kiss of Life CS (Sicsic Tapes)

Aaron Dilloway “Shatter All Organized Activities" Modern Jester 2LP (Hanson)

It has been a couple of months since I put together a non-feature formatted podcast, so I thought I'd try to mostly play a little catch-up with some of the great tapes that have arrived in that time. Of course, just when I think I'm actually getting "caught up", two of my favorite tape labels, Avant Archive and Night People, roll out brand new batches of tapes within the past week that look and sound as fetching as the material we played on this week's show. As for new(ish) tape labels, I'll have to say that Sicsic Tapes out of Germany is now fully on my radar. The music and artwork for their last couple of batches of tapes has been absolutely top-notch. The M. Geddes Gengras The Kiss of Life release that they put out has to, for me anyways, rank at the top of his near flawless output from the past year. It's a more concise statement compared to his previous Stunned and Sacred Phrases tapes, but it's just as mindbendingly powerful. This new Asio Otus tape that just came out on Sicsic, reportedly inspired by UFO sightings in Finland during the early 1970's, bumps and drones according to its own weird, yet fascinating logic, bringing to mind a perfectly realized Fonal offshoot project. I'd also like to give some props to Mike Griffin (a.k.a. Parashi) and the work he is doing with his Skell label. He offered up a New Year's gift of three stellar releases from the likes of Toning, Cruudeuces, and a Fossils of the Sun vs. Parashi/Xanthocephalus split, all of which are total rippers and worthy of your/more attention. Lastly on the tape tip, I received the final two installments of Nathan McLaughlin's Echolocation series over the past couple of months. It's hard to pick a favorite among this series, but I've been really enjoying these shorter pieces found on Echolocation #4, which just came out on Sunshine Ltd. Now that the series has been completed on tape, who's going to reissue this sucker as a CD/LP boxset?

This show wasn't (or isn't) all about tapes though, right? There will definitely be more wax in the weeks ahead, but for this week I had to spin the new Aaron Dilloway and Insect Factory LPs. The sound quality of Dilloway's Modern Jester is impeccable: clean and loud as fuck. The album, as a whole, is another clear reminder from the Wolf Eyes crew of why they were always in a league of their own within the Noise ranks. Between Stare Case, Nate Young's Regression, Failing Lights, and now Dilloway's Modern Jester - hell, these guys are making, to these ears at least, some of the most forward-thinking music they've ever made. I'm also very impressed with this new Insect Factory album that was co-released by Fabrica and Insect Fields. Mr. Insect Factory, Jeff Barsky, coaxes this wonderfully hypnotic late-night drone-drift from his guitar, that fits the album's title, Melodies From A Dead Radio, quite perfectly. Quality stuff!!

FFFreakout #301 - David solo (Aired on 3/1/12)

David Crosby "Laughing" from If I Could Only Remember My Name
Ty Segall "Side A (excerpt)" from San Francisco Rock Compilation . . . 
Ron House "Twenty of Thirty People" from Blind Boy in the Backseat
Daniel Kroha "Rowdy Blues" from The Folk-Blues Stylings of Daniel Kroha
Zack Kouns "Conselated" from Concealed History of Coming Races
Andy Stott "North to South" from Passed Me By
Alvo Noto "Uni Pro" from Univrs
Einsturzende Neubauten "Z.N.S." from Strategies Against Architecture II
Uilab "St. Elmo's Fire" from Fires EP
Brian Eno "Sombre Reptiles" from Another Green World
Wilco "Born Alone" from The Whole Love
Jakob Olausson "When Your Bridges Burned" from Morning and Sunrise
Niao "Aman Aman" from Prayer

Click here to listen to this show.


ZACK KOUNS - Brother, Lead Me Home from Moduli TV on Vimeo.

FFFreakout #300 - Carl's Yacht Rock special - (Live on 2/23/12)

The Doobie Brothers "What A Fool Believes" from Long Train Runnin' 1970-2000
Little River Band "Take It Easy On Me" from Greatest Hits
Chicago "Feelin' Stronger Everyday" from Chicago VI
Hall & Oates "Did It In A Minute" from Private Eyes
Boz Scaggs "Lowdown" from Silk Degrees
Steely Dan "Hey 19" from Perfection in Performance
Christopher Cross (w/ Michael McDonald) "Ride Like The Wind" from S/T
Kenny Loggins "I'm Alright" from Caddyshack O.S.T.
Kenny Loggins "This Is It" from Keep the Fire
Climax Blues Band "I Love You" from Flying the Flag
Ambrosia "Biggest Part Of Me" from One Eighty
Kenny Loggins "Mr. Night" from Caddyshack O.S.T.

Carl plays an hour of "Yacht Rock" jams in honor of Kenny Loggins live performance in town this evening.