|
listen.camp / episode 008 / 21.04.21
episode 008 is a mix of, ambient, edited loops, neo-classical and a few post-rock songs. Headphones are recommended for optimal listening.
As always please support these artists. Almost all of the music in the program is available via
bandcamp, some of it at no cost.
Editor's note (2023): When I started the experimental trash podcast- I really had no idea what the expectations were. I started with playlists of songs by my favorite artists. But I quickly found this to be a dull and uninspiring task. The show soon morphed into something else. But these are pretty fucking good songs by artists that I admire and respect.
01. John Vanderslice (2002)
The program starts with a slightly chopped version of the beautiful introduction to Underneath the Leaves by John Vanderslice, from the 2002 classic, Life and Death of an American Fourtracker. Heavy drums and a delicate guitar line.
02. Bearsuit (2005)
Bearsuit was best known for their quirky combination of soft flutes, ragged harmonies, and thrashing guitars. On Your Special Day is the closing track to their first release, Team Ping Pong- and it showcases their songwriting and performance skills that would continue to evolve into their current form as Mega Emotion.
03. Picturebox (2013)
Modular Pursuits is a compilation of artists covering songs by the genius Pulco. On this track, Personnes à Palette, Picturebox lays down a very 60's-70's groove, while the lyrics are sung in French. An already great song on another level.
04. Spacemoth (2021)
Spacemoth (aka Maryam Qudus) is a San Francisco based musician, engineer, producer, that has not met a genre she doesn't like. This piece, Distorting Time, was a limited release track of drone, noise, and modulated feedback that demonstrates her writing and production abilities. We were very fortunate to capture this track and present it in episode 008.
05. Laurence Made Me Cry (2014)
Jo Whitby is an extremely gifted songwriter and Laurence Made Me Cry is just one of her musical projects. In 2014 she released an album of experimental remixes of songs from the album The Diary of Me. This track, Between Destinations (Underpass Remix) takes a very sentinmental song and puts it on a slow boil.
06. Lower Dens (2010)
Chapter 2: I Get Nervous is a post-punk classic. This a brilliantly performed and recorded drone and one of the high points from their album Twin-Hand Movement. This song has not only stood the test of time, it continues to be a standard for the current generation of drone-istas.
07. the Kanzler (2021)
I have been hounding the Kanzler to send me a solo cello track for weeks. I received a 45 second long figure that I looped into a five-minute long piece. The cello has fantastic dark tones.
08. Sweet Benfica (2016)
This song, Happiness, is from Iechyd Da - A Tribute to Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. On this release from RecordiauPrin, 32 artists each picked they're favorite Gorky's song and re-recorded it. Many gems on this tribute compilation. The contribution from Sweet Benfica is simple and haunting, providing a perfect contradiction to the song's title.
09. Young Marble Giants (1980)
Chapter 3: The music of the post-punk pioneers, Young Marble Giants, continues to inspire lo-fi / DIY artists. This is a classic example of not being intimidated by limitations. On Brand New Life they took what they had and did the best the could with it. The result is a stunning song. The title reminds me of spring- when new life starts.
10. Kaki King (2004)
Kaki King is a rare guitarist. She approaches the instrument through a lens that most solo musicians simply do not have access to. The resulting compositions range from percussive to dream-state ambient. Can the Gwot Save Us? is an instrumental piece that is quiet, precise, and highly emotive. The title and tone of the song are ambiguously hopeful and cynical. This is a complex work, recorded during a complex time.
11. rift|fault (2019)
The Swamp Yankee Ethnographic Series is the soundtrack to a written work in progress. It consists of variations of three core themes. Variation 11 features percusive piano drones, minimal percussion, with a cello line that stitches the rest of the parts together.
12. SHR (2015)
For several years I've had a piece of music and a set of lyrics that were written in parallel, yet never fit together in a workable fashion. So, I added new words to describe why some times it is hard to let go of bad ideas. Then tossed the original music tracks and made it something unlike the original. SHR gives the finishing touch by reciting half the words in German. One recurring word, "clusterfuck," summarizes things nicely.
13. Patti Smith (1976)
Chapter 4: Poppies is based on one guitar riff, but performed as a series of multiple interlocking guitar lines, with a watery electric piano, solid bass, and a glacially slow, yet brilliant, funk drum beat. The result is a dreamscape, punctated by muted rage, in the vocals and the music. Best part- listen closely to the two widely panned guitars.
14. Ruth Crawford Seeger (1929)
That is not a typo. Diaphonic Suite, No. 4 was composed in 1929. Seeger is an interesting figure in American music and a pioneer in "new" music. Newness, in this sense, is not a radical departure from existing traditions, just a new perspective. Utilizing the standard classical motifs of waltz, sonata, lullaby, string quartet, and woodwinds, Seeger used halting phrasing and introduced voice to some of the works.
15. Gabe is a Unit (2021)
The latest project of Ben Mason, Gabe is a Unit seemed the based way to end the program with a bit of much needed humor. This track, I’ve Had an Absolutely Marvelous Evening, Babes is a drunken stumble through a list of beverages at a small gathering of friends. The vocals are thick, and dripping with punk cynicism. Where is the menu for the dessert wines? is a line that totally cracks me up. Hissing programmed drums and wobbly synth lines create the perfect atmosphere for a night on the town.
|
