Abe Vigoda – “Wild Heart”
Reviver
This is a strong (but relatively quiet) stretch of an interesting but spotty EP. It reminds me of Remora with its unsure, wavering vocals and repetitive but hypnotic background instrumentation. (insound)
Chopin – Etude, Op. 10, No. 7 in C Major
I just love that there are pieces like this. Flighty, rhythmic, and colorful, yet still full of carefully-planned harmonics and counterpoint.
Rachel’s – On Demeter
Selenography
Give this track a little time and the lengthy intro gives way to beautiful and atmospheric chamber music. I heard Selenography in Barnes & Noble when it came out in 1999 and immediately bought it. The track that I’d heard was “The Mysterious Disappearance of Louis Leprince,” a standout on the album, and at the time I didn’t think the rest of Selenography stood up. I know better now that I’ve heard a bit more contemporary chamber music, though I’ve never listened to much else from Rachel’s. Selenography is about to be reissued as a 2xLP, so now is as good a time as ever to start listening.
This voicemail is now diamonds!
(Let’s try this again)
Circulatory System – “Symbols and Maps”
Circulatory System
This band’s first album is one of the deepest and most puzzling albums of all time. While it resembles in some ways the Elephant 6 psych-pop of Olivia Tremor Control, its intense layering and mind-blowing instrumentation (multi-multi-tracking) put it beyond even OTC’s complexity, while better maintaining its musicality. It required a lot of close listening to “get” for me, and I’m still discovering details in it years later. Luckily, there are also moments of easy clarity and beauty, like the dreamy beginning to this track. (cloud recordings)
Calexico – “Inch by Inch”
Aerocalexico
This is a short but sweet track off of Calexico’s self-recorded tour LP — whenever I hear it, it always captures my attention, but it’s so short that I always think I missed some of it.
Earthless – Cherry Red
Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky
This absolutely stunning album is equal parts Don Caballero, Van Halen, and Dead Meadow. The virtuosity on display in the two 21-minute epics making up the rest of the album is ear-breaking. It’s indulgent, insane, and technically impressive — and I’m betting their live shows are bananas. This shorter track encapsulates the sound, but you should really get the whole record to feel the expansiveness of this psych-rock masterpiece.
Seven That Spells – Quetzalcoatl
Future Retro Spasm
My friend Jeremy (who also sent me the excellent Peach Pit) is now in this band, though he didn’t play on this album of wildly kinetic prog. This is the shortest and most succinct of the tracks on the record, which barely gives you time to breathe except during the spacey epic “The Abandoned World of Automata.” Personally, I think it could use a little less horn-wankery, but it’s chock full of ideas and some great sounds — the guitars at 1:25 through 2:06 remind me of the very best of Earthless’ superb Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky. (band site)
Green Palm Radiation – “Rachel Brook”
Green Palm Radiation
This psych-rock album calls back to Jesus & Mary Chain style heavy guitars and atmospherics, though inexact vocals tend to hamstring some of the songs. This, the closing track, brings it to a beautiful and hazy conclusion, with shades of Charalambides’ INCREASE and the more ambient cuts from Sunset.
Dirty Three/Low – “Down By The River”
In The Fish Tank
This fruitful collaboration seemed to me at first to be a strange match-up. The personal, immediate songwriting of Low struck me as a poor match for the itinerant chamber improvisations of Dirty Three — but as it turns out, they supply each other’s wants quite satisfactorily, as this rendition of “Down By The River” demonstrates. Low occasionally wants atmosphere, Dirty Three occasionally wants direction. I hear a lot of both in this song, though many will disagree.