GP's music picks

[Gaijin Punch]

I like the new album -- a lot. I even bought the LE vinyl. Very impressed with what he has done. I quite like Past is Prologue, but I do think this is a bit better... at least it has more standout tracks I like.

[Gaijin Punch]

New Trouble Books LP out. $13, and limited to 300. Even if you're on the fence on the music the label deserves support b/c of their philosophy. They're basically fans living out their hobby... kind of like us losers and gigantic, old video games.

[Gaijin Punch]

I've Been To Another World And Fell In Love, But It Was Not Mutual And I Was Forcibly Removed

I know my tunes aren't everyone's cup of tea, but here is a link to my latest mix, if anyone cares.

[Greatsaintlouis]

So I was digging through the 500-yen music shelves at a Book Off the other day, hoping to maybe find one of the Aphex Twin albums I don't have, when I stumbled across a copy of Tetsu Inoue's Ambiant Otaku! It was the Ambient World reissue, sadly, but I still snatched it up.

My elation at such a great find was tempered somewhat when I got home and looked at Discogs to see that there was apparently another Ambient World reissue in 2012 (the entry for the first Ambient World release also mentions a reissue in 2007, though there's no entry for it). Good news for people looking to source a physical copy, though there seems to be absolutely no indicator whatsoever on the fairly minimal packaging as to which pressings the AW releases are.

[Gaijin Punch]

Hey, look on the bright side, you got some dope music you can touch and feel for 500 yen. I'd call that a win. I still have my copy of the CD, but I'm sure it's the reissue. Just not sure which one. I actually listen to Organic Cloud more. Tracks 1-2 from Ambiant Otaku and 3-5 on Organic Cloud would maybe top 30.7.94 in my book.

Also, I've got Brian Eno's LUX on Vinyl on the way. Should get it in a package from home next month, along with the Ballasted Orchestra reissue which I'm totally hard for. Not sure if I will listen to the whole thing all the way through or skip to the last 3 tracks which are dope.

[Greatsaintlouis]

Oh, I'm not complaining at all about its availability, it's just that feeling of, "Oh yeah, got something super rare for a great deal!" and then getting home to find it's not QUITE as much of a lucky bargain as you thought. Still a great price for a disc that was always on the "Highly Unlikely to Find in the Wild" portion of my wishlist, and like every used album I've bought in Japan, it's in stellar condition. Nothing less than an unqualified win, especially since my eMusic download of the album was at the lower end of acceptable VBR. I got Organic Cloud as well when I was still on eMusic, but I don't think I've listened to it as much.

Let me know what you think of the Eno record. He's a bit of a mixed bag for me. I just started slowly digging into his discography within the past few years, starting with Small Craft on a Milk Sea when it came out, which I liked but understand isn't completely representative of his older work. Later picked up Apollo, Another Green World, and On Land, but I haven't really given any of those the attention that I should have. Skipped his second Warp album because I wasn't too excited about the whole spoken word/poetry gig. Tried to get into his second collaboration with David Byrne when it was streaming online; I remember liking it but not enough to put any effort into getting a copy.

[Gaijin Punch]

Lux is on Youtube... it was good enough for me to order the vinyl at $28. I believe it's 2xLP at 1 track per side. Apparently he's getting back to his Music for Airports roots, which is his top tier. I agree, he's a mixed bag, but this is good shit.

[Greatsaintlouis]

I nearly soiled myself when this suddenly popped up on news sites the night before last, but it looks like My Bloody Valentine have finally released their newest album, after only 22 years.

http://www.mybloodyvalentine.org/

Part of me is pretty bummed I didn't jump on the 8,000 yen tickets for one of their Tokyo shows this weekend before they sold out, but I'm going to be working on churning out a pair of end-of-term research papers instead and probably wouldn't have been able to enjoy it anyway. Oh well.

[CIT Seven Force]

I got the album and have been listening the last few days. It's good – picks up right where Loveless left off. But it's not 22-years-in-the-making good, considering it's essentially more of the same.

[Greatsaintlouis]

Which raises the question: is this the album (or albums) that Shields had been working on and then shelved as a follow-up which never met his lofty standards, or is this something much more recent in origin?

[Gaijin Punch]

I went to see Crystal Castles recently in Tokyo, at Akasaka Blitz. There, I saw the flyer for an upcoming concert on 2/13 and 2/14... one of which I think I will attend. Dead Can Dance. Not sure what to expect, but I think I'm going!

[Greatsaintlouis]

What are some good resources for live show info in the area? I know there's a ton of stuff going on at all times, but have no idea where to look.

[CIT Seven Force]

http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/music
http://www.tokyogigguide.com/gigs
http://metropolis.co.jp

[CTN]

I got the album and have been listening the last few days. It's good – picks up right where Loveless left off. But it's not 22-years-in-the-making good, considering it's essentially more of the same.

Good to know I'm not the only one listening to mbv.

[Greatsaintlouis]

http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/music
http://www.tokyogigguide.com/gigs
http://metropolis.co.jp

Thanks for that; I had completely forgotten about Metropolis.

Good to know I'm not the only one listening to mbv.

I broke down and ordered the vinyl package the other day; the cost made more sense than just buying the digital download alone (though I'm glad they didn't keep with the industry dick move of trying to charge more for the WAV files than the MP3s). I've only listened through it twice so far, but I'm really liking it. I was a bit concerned at some of the reviews I saw that just passed it of as Loveless, Part. 2, but there really is a lot more to this one.

[Gaijin Punch]

Dead Can Dance was an excellent show, btw. Really happy with my 7500 yen ticket. They played for 2 hours. The sound was excellent, and it was a nice "tight" venue. Great value, IMHO.

Biggest goosebumps moments were in their three encores. Their cover of Song to the Siren (even though I'd have rather heard Lisa Gerrard sing it rather than Brendan, but it was still great) and Rising of the Moon which you may recognize from Gladiator.

If you were on the fence and didn't go, you fucked up. It was beautiful.

They were really lax on phones, but there was a sign as you walked in that said, "No professional cameras. No detachable lenses." So, as much of an oxymoron as it is, I had to go ninja mode with my 5d2 and Zeiss 2/100. Haha. It's huge.

[CTN]

Upcoming shows in my neck of the woods till June:

Yo La Tengo
Pallbearer
Melvins
Swans
Neil Young + Crazy Horse

not bad at all for a little backwater place in Germany

Record wise I bought some new old stuff:

1. Wipers Box Set
1980s US-indie-rock. Recommended if you like Dinosaur Jr or The Thermals.

2. Fugazi Repeater
I don't know why it took me so long to finally buy it.

3. Country Funk 1969-1975 (Sampler)
Shows that country-music once had many facets. Normally I wouldn't listen to country but this is really good stuff. Example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQkX8quhqiI&feature=player_embedded

4. Kavinsky OutRun / Protovison
After his appearance on the Drive OST he got really famous. If you don't know him think Moroder, Carpenter and S.S.T. Band.

[Greatsaintlouis]

It feels like music is getting my attention more than gaming lately, with the exception of the occasional Minecraft binge, and my current pastime of plowing through the four Ys titles currently available on Steam. Of course, having about an hour and a half each day of train commute means a lot of time spent in my headphones, so maybe it's not so surprising.

I considered myself lucky for finding a copy of Boards of Canada's Geogaddi a few weeks ago for only 600 yen, but I think I may need to listen to it a few more times for the full effect. The general consensus seems to be that it's their best album, but right now I feel more partial to Music has the Right to Children, but that could be just because I've spent more time on that one.

One thing that may interest the music heads here, if you're not already aware of it, is the drip.fm music service. It was started a few years ago by Ghostly International (possibly my favorite label at this point), and is a really fantastic way to stay updated with a label's current releases and back catalog. Labels charge a low monthly fee--I think Ghostly is the most expensive one at $15, with most others being about $10 or so--and while what you get varies from label to label, you generally receive all new releases as they come out, or selections from their back catalog if there's no new release that week. You get a choice in file formats--most labels do 320kbps MP3 and WAV, and the past two months has seen FLAC, Vorbis, and AAC as well. Everything's DRM-free as well, and yours to keep forever after you download. Most labels also give you a discount on their web store, which is nice if you like to order the physical music as well. I just absolutely love it--I signed up for Morr Music on the service as well when they got started last summer, and so $25 a month gives me at least 8 new albums in FLAC. It's a little hard to keep up with everything, but I'm getting so much stuff I probably would never have come across on my own that it feels totally worth it. Some of the other labels on the service might interest people here, like Stones Throw, Carl Craig's planet e, Kill Rock Stars, etc. Highly recommended.

On that note, Morr Music is an amazing label. Releases from their artists have popped up in this thread before--mum, Herrmann & Kleine, Lali Puna, the Blue Skied an' Clear compilation--and in addition to their glitchy electronica, they have a fair amount of artists doing this sort of indie pop routine that is refreshingly different from anything I'd expect to hear from those two adjectives back in the states. Might try and write up some of the more enchanting ones in the future, but overall it just seems like an incredibly fun and eclectic label.

[Gaijin Punch]

I considered myself lucky for finding a copy of Boards of Canada's Geogaddi a few weeks ago for only 600 yen, but I think I may need to listen to it a few more times for the full effect.

He shoots he scores. Good album, but I find Music Has the Right to Children as their best. I've not really listened to The Campfire Headphase though.

One thing that may interest the music heads here, if you're not already aware of it, is the drip.fm music service.

Sounds exactry like what I need. Will check it out.

[Greatsaintlouis]

Yeah, so far I think Music is my favorite, but I currently only have that, the bootleg-ish BOC Maxima, and Trans-Canada Highway, which would be even better if it was a full-length done in that same style. Still need to pick up Campfire Headphase and In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country for the full experience, and definitely need to give Geogaddi more time.

Drip.fm is a really great service, and if you have any interest in the labels on it, you'll probably have a great time with it. I don't know if you've run into the same problem, but sometimes I run up against a wall in trying to find new and interesting music on my own, because I start to see the same albums always recommended in the same places. Having a curated service like this from a label that's small enough to focus on a particular style or sound can be a great way to kickstart further avenues of exploration.

On a somewhat similar downtempo note to BoC, I stumbled across the amazing instrumentally ill EP by a couple of Finnish dudes called Aphilas completely by accident about a year ago. The release was initially on Miasmah back when they were a low-bitrate netlabel, so 160kbps MP3 is the best you're going to get. However, the album got re-released on beautiful colored vinyl shortly after by the sadly-defunct Merck, and you can still find copies on Discogs. I feel like it's 180 gram, but if not it's still thicker than your standard weight vinyl. The original release is a free download, and worth having despite the quality: http://archive.org/details/mia049

[Gaijin Punch]

Did you notice that the last mix on Trans-Canada Highway is by Odd Nosdam? I guess it's not weird I enjoy it the most.

[Greatsaintlouis]

I did, but I can't say I've really listened to Odd Nosdam much beyond that. I know you recommended Level Live Wires on an earlier page of this thread, and I've sortof been kicking myself for not snagging it when I was still an eMusic member. The electronic-leaning angle of the instrumental hip-hop sub-genre has really become appealing to me in the last year or so, because I've finally realized there's a way to get the production and the beats without the misogyny, hollow braggadocio, and three-digit vocabulary of mainstream hip-hop. Machinedrum, early Dabrye, Mux Mool...need to dive into Prefuse 73's back catalog as well some time.

[Gaijin Punch]

Dillon is an underground rapper from Atlanta. White dude -- well educated (and huge on organic food). I like some of his stuff. A bit of it falls into the not-so-old school vibe that I don't like, but quite a bit of it doesn't.

[Greatsaintlouis]

4. Kavinsky OutRun / Protovison
After his appearance on the Drive OST he got really famous. If you don't know him think Moroder, Carpenter and S.S.T. Band.

Finally just heard some Kavinsky the other day. Good stuff--haven't gotten around to seeing Drive yet, but it reminded me a lot of the soundtrack to Hotline Miami (both soundtrack and game are great, and supposedly inspired somewhat by Drive).

An artist you may want to check out in the similar style is Com Truise, who takes that slow 80s synth sound and funks it up a bit. His debut EP is free here: http://www.amdiscs.com/download/cyanide-sisters-ep(amdiscs_d005).zip, and it was re-released in expanded form (along with a sadly out-of-print beautiful blue vinyl) on Ghostly, along with his later full-length (sweet orange vinyl still available) and a recent collection of early work.

[Gaijin Punch]

I have sampled some of Com Truise... didn't jump right after it but it's in my queue to get at some point.