FRICTION NYC

Video: Apse “The Crowned” + Spirit Out July 7th

Back in March, I mentioned that New England-based post-rock band, Apse, would be re-releasing their 2006 gem, Spirit, on ATP Recordings later this year and had plans to tour the UK. Fast forward to three months later and the band has played ATP vs. Pitchfork, finished their tour, and has three U.S. dates scheduled. Lucky for us, one of those dates is for the stacked ATP New York Festival on September 20th – a thin layer of icing on an already sweet, sweet cake.

I’m not usually into these “fan generated” videos, and to be honest, they sometimes downright creep me out. However, this video done by Mr. Alvaro for Apse’s “The Crowned” off of the soon to be re-released Spirit (July 7th) is kind of badass. It has an antiwar theme running through it as two tribes of shirtless dudes meet in a woodland clearing to do battle a la Braveheart, only instead of using hatchets and swords, they employ pillows. Hmmm…not liking the way this is sounding, but trust me, it’s totally safe for work.

Spirit is out on Monday. Listen to unreleased and remixed Apse tracks on their Muxtape. Happy 4th.

[MP3]: Apse  ”The Crowned”
Spirit, ATP Recordings; 2008

Ambient Not Not Ambient

Lo-fi glitchy dance imprint Audio Dregs‘ recent double negatively-titled, Ambient Not Not Ambient is an excellent compilation of contemporary artists take on sound art. The comp, curated by Portland’s ERock and Strategy’s Paul Dickow (and mastered by Kranky and Carpark’s Greg Davis), is an outsider’s take on ambient music done by a solid contingent of seventeen genre-bending bands. Glancing over the tracklist reveals an impressive list of names: Yellow Swans, White Rainbow, WZT Hearts, Grouper, Lucky Dragons, Valet, Ratatat’s EVax and more paint a cohesive, unified soundscape from beginning to end.

Seventeen tracks of “ambient” music may sound like a monontonous onslaught of background music to the occasional reader and could easily be discarded. However, on Ambient the label successfully brings together acts from different ends of the spectrum, while sequencing the hazy and beatless affair flawlessly. Each track bubbles up diverse characteristics and elements, causing the listener to continuously re-focus on the sounds. It’s not music for ignoring, it’s music for listening…intently.

Ambient is out now on Audio Dregs. Pick up a copy over at Darla and check out Lucky Dragons contribution to the ten year project below.

[MP3]: Lucky Dragons  ”Sayles Street Ok Ok”
Ambient Not Not Ambient, Audio Dregs; 2008

Lucky Dragons: Dream Island Laughing Language

Lucky Dragons remind me of a West Coast version of Brooklyn’s High Places on their new album Dream Island Laughing Language. The Los Angeles duo of Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara (and the occasional collaborators) has been making music since 2000 and has seven albums and something like 18 releases under their belts, so maybe the comparison should be the other way around.

Dream Island marks one of the unusual instances in the group’s discography where the band made the decision to craft and album consisting of “conventional” songs. I use “conventional” lightly, Dream Island as compared to their free-form past, stacks up more as a traditional album. It may be a step in the conventional sense for Lucky Dragons that the record’s twenty-two tracks are built on the frenzied elements of pop, but for the listener, it’s like stepping into a trippy dream set on a deserted island in the southern Pacific. Handmade meets digital as primitive sounds from instruments including rocks, poppies, hands, necklaces, and bowls, along with basic sounds of mbiras, bongos, flutes, bells, and jagged electronic interruptions are cut and pasted into delicately woven experimental pop songs.

With their handmade aesthetic, Lucky Dragons knit themes of ecstatic language, folk melodies, messages of unrest,and AM radio rave-ups into this genre transcending record. The live incarnation of Lucky Dragons breaks down the barrier between audience and band where audience members may find themselves physically interacting by complimenting each other or generating sounds via skin to skin contact, causing those of us squeamish about audience participation to duck for cover.

Dream Island Laughing Language is out now on Marriage Records. Check the band’s MySpace page for upcoming area shows. There are four scheduled in New York City in the next couple of weeks.

[MP3]: Lucky Dragons  ”Givers”
Dream Island Laughing Language, Marriage; 2008

Teeth Mountain Welcome You to Their Comfort Dome

Baltimore’s Teeth Mountain are a “free collaboration” of members that perform live in a space called the Comfort Dome, employing bowed saws, electronic loops, droning cellos, multiple floor toms, and a communal symbol to craft their sounds. You may expect a sprawling hodgepodge of free sounds complete with weird freakouts, chiming bells, and the smell of burning incense from that description. However, that’s not the case with Teeth Mountain. What the eight-piece outfit does, and they do it incredibly well, is create a controlled mayhem of weighty neo-tribal trance music, packed with organic organ tones, distorted cello drones, and a skilled singing saw. Part Indian, part African, part Balkan, and part Baltimore, Teeth Mountain will enthrall you in a rhythmic musical spell.

The band is prepping a three-way release on Discos Compulsivos/Luv Luv (50 CDR’s) in Spain, Illinois’ Nail in the Coffin Records (100 CD’s), and Virginia’s Shdwply Records (500 LP’s). Teeth Mountain play Brooklyn on May 30th at Death By Audio Silent Barn and June 6th at Glasslands, followed by a June 8th date in Philly at Big Rock Candy Mountain. Full tour dates on MySpace.

[MP3]: Teeth Mountain  ”Keinsein”
[MP3]: Teeth Mountain  ”Black Jerusalem”

CDR; 2008