I recently started participating in a daily exchange of music with a group of new friends. My day to share is on Friday, in which I’ve entitled FRIDAY FEEL (not to be confused with FALAFEL FRIDAY). This is the second mix and it contains some beautiful pop, experimental delights and even some hip-pop. I try to share a broad range of world class hits in each mix. You will find Mix #1 plus all future mixes here
I’m not going to go into how hard it was for Caroline of Chairlift to time her jump onto our porch from her chair lift, let’s just rejoice in the fact that she did get here safely. Things have been looking up for the Brooklyn-based band as of late. Their debut album, Does You Inspire You, is out now on iTunes, and will be released through Kanine Records on October 28th in a more physical form. Chairlift has just finished up touring with underground garbled psych legend, Ariel Pink, as part of his “Thanks Mom I’m Dead” North American tour. In the future, October to be exact, Chairlift will be touring with fellow Brooklyn renters and 80s outerspacers, Yeasayer. But, for a collection of fleeting moments, Caroline graced us with herself on our humble little porch, giving insight into the band, talking about Brooklyn land, and staying away from Planet Tan.
I recently had the pleasure of conducting a little Q&A session with Denton/Dallas dream-pop duo Fight Bite. Their gorgeous, drifting tunes can be found on their debut LP Emerald Eyes and a soon-to-be released 7″ – both available on their MySpace page. Check out what they had to say during their time on the Porch after the jump.
Henryk Fantazos is a wonder. His story is as unlikely as his paintings are good. My first encounter with his work was the “Face of the South” collection, which is the focus of this article, and from which all of the works displayed here come from. These paintings move with the fluidity of the Mississippi and sway with the cotton fields of Georgia. Even submerged in the murky bayous of Louisiana, his paintings still shine with a light of fantasy that is most unique. Below is an interview with Mr. Fantazos which covers such subjects as a blushing peach, wal-mart shoppers, and of course his singular take on the intrinsic beauty of the South.
Here is a fit collection of tracks i’ve been enjoying this summer…Hurry & snag it before the sunshine hides from your ears. Not sure what all these tracks have in common…Perhaps most were discovered from my SXSW experience and have since tickled my veins throughout the summer waves.
The wonderful people at Nene Records asked me to contribute a mix to their excellent series of podcasts. I served up a 38 minute slice of warm, psychedelic jams for the longest, hottest days of summer. And, as an added bonus, you get to hear me struggle through the Spanish language! Really, what more could you ask for?
Tracklist:
01) Taj Mahal Travelers – “Part I” August 1974 [1974]
02) High Places – “Canary” 03/07 – 09/07 [2008]
03) Panda Bear – “I’m Not” Person Pitch [2007]
04) White Rainbow – “Sundune Sandset Sundrip” Sky Drips Drifts CD-R [2007]
05) Kraftwerk – “Tongebirge” Ralf und Florian [1973]
06) Fantastic Magic – “Flowerbeds” Witch Choir CS [2007]
07) Julianna Barwick – “Unt7″ Sanguine [2007]
08) Attar Cups – “Untitled I” Attar Cups CS [2007]
09) Grizzly Bear – “Plans” Yellow House [2006]
10) Persona – “Céu” Som [1975]
11) Magic Lantern – “At the Mountains of Madness” At the Mountains of Madness CS [2008]
In the village of Kapkatet, Kenya in the early 1950’s, members of the Kipsigi tribe somehow came across a few 78 records of Jimmie Rodgers’ Blue Yodels. Convinced that such strange sounds could not come from a human, the voice was attributed to a centaur-like spirit they called Chemirocha. This half-man half-antelope is honored in fertility rites where young Kipsigi maidens dance seductively to the Jimmie Rodgers records, begging him to join them in a leaping dance in hopes that Chemirocha will jump completely out of his clothes.
The Kipsigi villagers also sing various songs to celebrate Chemirocha. One of the only recorded instances of these hymns is this gorgeous, haunting version played on a pentatonic wishbone lyre and accompanied by a pair of Kipsigis girls.
Earlier this year, during a live performance on East Village Radio in New York, Icelandic musician Kría Brekkan covered this Chemirocha hymn in a way that only adds to the sacred mystery of the original.
I met with my dear friend and fellow Denton dweller Sarah Jaffe a few nights ago on the precipice of her quaint Texas tour triggered by the release of her EP “Even Born Again.” Sarah is above all else an engaging person, who also happens to write folksy rebellious anthems, juxtaposed by her angelic vocal chords.There is a certain redeeming air to many of her songs, such as the title track “Even Born Again.”I seemed to have stumped her when I asked her what her best experience has been while performing.She paused for awhile and finally said that she did not think it had happened yet.Sarah knows that her best days are yet to come, and her silent optimism has a tendency to infect her followers as well. Sarah rested comfortably in her bed while I typed on the floor the following conversation.
For my first excursion into the underground of Monterrey, I was led by the enigmatic Mou to see Los Implantes and Los Margaritos, two of the bands who have put out records on Nene Records, the label he runs with Anel Escalante. After surviving the utter entropy that is Monterrey traffic, we arrived at a nondescript two story house in a neighborhood that looked, as a majority of Monterrey’s neighborhoods do, like stack after stack of giant, disheveled shoe boxes. On the back patio of that house, amidst the palm trees and decorative tile, stood a stack of amps surrounded by tangles of extension cords and guitar cables.
The first thing I was struck by, besides the seeming incongruity of a palm-shaded punk rock show and the proximity of the neighbors’ windows, was the diversity of the crowd. Black-clad punketos and the skinny-jeans-and- keffiyeh crowd mixed with kids in Polos and cargo shorts, sharing beer and cigarettes. Because, for many people in Monterrey, the only kinds of music that exist are norteño, cumbia, and reggaeton, the kids who have wandered off the beaten path of music have to stick together. This makes for an incredibly tight-knit, inclusive scene that promotes both creativity and collaboration.
Los Implantes, a band that rose out of this collaborative breeding ground, took the patio first, blazing through a set of surfy, infectious numbers. As they set the mood with their fast-paced, raucous grooves, the Carta Blanca and Tecate began to flow freely. Once their final song was finished, Los Implantes quickly handed over their instruments to the boys of Los Margaritos, who wasted no time in ripping out a set of manic speed-punk. The Margaritos are one of the fixtures of the scene, as was evidenced when each of frontman Edwin Sandoval’s guttural screams were echoed by the 30 or 40 kids gathered around the patio.
While both bands play fast and dirty punk rock, their music is somehow able to retain an air of playfulness. Los Implantes’ tight grooves are augmented with cheesey Casio keyboard presets and Los Margaritos laugh as they announce that their next song will be something that roughly translates to “Sperm from Hell.” This playful take on their music gives off great vibes, inspiring optimism instead of the downtrodden frustration of most punk music. This may simply be because it’s hard to be pissed off while standing under lush trees in the balmy air of Mexico, but playing optimistic music also may serve as a escape from dark side of Monterrey – the images of drug cartel wars and poverty that flash by on the nightly noticias.
