A short documentary detailing the process of scoring a famed Balinese gamelan (the name refers the percussion ensemble and arrangement, as well as the genre) in MIDI notation, augmented with animated visual representation. I’ll be honest, the MIDI version lacks the resonance, both literal and figurative, that comes with a human performance. But I do appreciate this creator’s approach to finding a way into a music that’s often confounding to Western ears. [c/o MetaFilter] #video
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I had a few words on Mastodon the other evening about what looks to be the first release from London post-punks Moist Crevice, and thought I’d expand upon them a little here. More…
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On Bandcamp Daily, a thorough introduction to the prolific Japanese noise-rock-plus guitarist. #link
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In case you were under any illusions that Battles’ John Stainer was at all embarrassed about his former status as ‘the drummer in Helmet’, here he is absolutely blown away that Hank Shteamer recognises the subtleties he brought to that band’s sound, beyond simply cranking his snare so tight that even Terry Date would have second thoughts. #link
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An emulator for the Lyra-8 synthesiser. Which doesn’t currently support M1 chips so it won’t work on my Mac. But I’m saving this here for later. #link
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#NowPlaying Meat Puppets - Monsters (the 1990 repress on blue marble vinyl, which I just got for a steal) #aside
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Just got an email saying the reissue of NoMeansNo’s Wrong has been pushed back by yet another month (it’s early May now, apparently). I know it’s bad for indie labels pressing vinyl these days, but most seem to handle it better than what Alternative Tentacles have been doing #aside
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Is it bad that I really want this? I don’t care, I really want this. #link
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No one else sounds like U.S. Maple (except maybe Singer, the short-lived act with the guts of the band plus Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, and guitarist Todd Rittman’s subsequent band Dead Rider). This is an easy introduction to their music and story and what makes them so enthralling to me. #link
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On this #BandcampFriday, maybe spare a few bucks for this EP of rarities from the incredible post-black metal #music outfit Mamaleek, raising funds for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund > mamaleek.bandcamp.com/album/those-who-pass-between-fleeting-words #aside
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RIP Killing Joke guitarist Kevin ‘Geordie’ Walker, whose style and tone may be imitated but never duplicated. Everyone will have different recommendations but mine is the mid-’80s run: the incendiary Fire Dances, the epic Night Time, even the divisive Brighter Than a Thousand Suns #music #aside
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Heavy #music alert: Cloud Rat are one of the best grindcore bands going, and their digital discography is free this weekend on Bandcamp > cloudrat.bandcamp.com #aside
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I remember when Sunbather came out, I looked for the CD at Rough Trade East in London but they hadn’t got it in yet (big omission on their part, missing the blackgaze zeitgeist like that). I never did get around to buying that CD, but now I have the 10th anniversary vinyl #music #aside
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I’m privy to a promo of the new Vastum LP out next month (I’ve already ordered the vinyl) and it’s expectedly immense #music > 20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/inward-to-gethsemane #aside
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LP reissue of Up on the Sun arrived today and it sounds great to these ears. Easily one of my top 10, maybe top five favourite albums (this is my fourth physical copy of it, too) #music #aside
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Only one purchase for me this #BandcampFriday: Palm’s (RIP) Rock Island on milky clear vinyl #music #aside
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Finally getting a listen to the Let It Bleed edition of The Replacements’ Tim and my immediate impression is, “It’s a seventies rock record.” Ed Stasium do Candy Apple Grey next #music #aside
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Late to the news of the death last month of Ed Barger, best known to me as producer on the Meat Puppets’ earliest stuff as well as with the LA art-punk collective Monitor. But he was also producer and benefactor of the embryonic DEVO in their shared hometown of Akron, Ohio. His former partner Laurie O’Connell, one of the brains behind Monitor, posted a touching tribute here #music > Facebook.com/WorldImitation #aside
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#NowPlaying Palm - Nicks and Grazes (on fancy limited ‘Away Kit’ vinyl). I completely missed that they’re breaking up and just played their last show two nights ago. What a loss! #aside
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Tomb Mold trying to out-fusion VoidCeremony on their new album, I hear #aside
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I might not get home till 1am but BIG|BRAVE were worth it #music #image
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Well I’ll be damned, it’s episode 32 of Enlarged Heart Radio, now streaming with another hour of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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Just got a promo link for the new #Sprain album (while the vinyl I ordered is on the way). Please note it has not one but two tracks that run over 24 minutes. (This might be a way-off-the-mark reference, but I’m hearing a Mark Eitzel influence on the vocals here) #aside
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Bandcamp Daily has a nice profile of contemporary classical/“weird #music” composer/performer Elliott Sharp > daily.bandcamp.com/lists/elliott-sharp-discography-list #aside
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There’s a new Sprain LP, The Lamb As Effigy, in September; their previous/first, As Lost Through Collision, is one of my faves of the last few years > sprain.bandcamp.com/album/the-lamb-as-effigy #aside
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New one from Dead Neanderthals (their second collab with Skeletonwitch’s Scott Hedrick) is up for pre-order > deadneanderthals.bandcamp.com/album/specters #aside
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Listening to the new Pere Ubu, a prime example of a record that’s not for everyone. But it’s heartening that a band with a near 50-year history are still putting out work at this high level of creative engagement > pereubu.bandcamp.com/album/trouble-on-big-beat-street #aside
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They don’t have the same lyrical preoccupations as Bolt Thrower, but the new Torture Rack is certainly scratching that Realm of Chaos/War Master itch for me > listen.20buckspin.com/album/primeval-onslaught #aside
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Some Balinese and Javanese gamelan sounds for the Sunday that’s in it. #link
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I also had a few things to say on Mastodon about the new LP from neo-screamo outfit Portrayal of Guilt. More…
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I shared some brief thoughts on Mastodon yesterday about Snail Mail’s Valentine and figured they should have a home here, too. More…
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Two things I hold to be true: Dan Franklin is an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and insightful writer. And the dissertation format is not the best application of his talents. More…
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In other news, I really like the new track from black midi; more melodic without sacrificing their knack for jagged rhythms #video
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So I actually finished this one some time in mid to late 2021, having read it on and off, here and there, since… what Goodreads tells me was April 2018. Being an oral history, it’s the kind of book that lends itself to that kind of dipping in and out of the story. It’s a record of a very different time, but also a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. More…
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Better 500 days late than never: it’s episode 31 of Enlarged Heart Radio, now streaming with another hour of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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It’s about time: episode 30 of Enlarged Heart Radio is now streaming with a new hour (and a bit) of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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Mutations is right, as Sam McPheeters’ collected essays shapeshift between wry criticism, wistful but not rose-tinted reminiscences, self-excoriations and determined opinions on any number of topics: consumer culture, scene politics, the worth of art. It concludes on a rueful note, with a vignette from the early Noughties on the closing of a longstanding record pressing plant that’s by happenstance a treasure trove of US independent punk history, one read some 17-odd years later with the keen understanding of a contemporary vinyl revival that has made little room for the small labels that kept the format breathing when there’s some bullshit classic rock reissue to put out or whatever. More…
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I went by the manufacturer’s guidance when I set up my turntable earlier this year, but this will probably come in handy in future. #link
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The National Concert Hall Gamelan Orchestra (I didn’t even know we had one, but there we are!) in a special performance for the socially distanced Hotter than July festival. (I’d prefer if it were strictly instrumental but that’s just me.) #video
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When I first learned what this story of Mark Lanegan’s early years in music would entail, I couldn’t help but think of Bob Mould’s own autobiography, See A Little Light, and all of its recriminations and petty swipes at his ex-bandmates in Hüsker Dü. But at least I can understand Mould’s bitterness, if not accept or agree with it, because it comes from a place of passion — a band that he and his former musical compadres wanted to be in, music they wanted to make, and then life and its complication sours the milk. More…
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Missed this earlier in the month: Container’s set on 7 April for The Quarantine Concerts. #video
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Basic stuff, here, but I’ve got a few dirty LPs in need of a scrub and it’s worth saving this for reference. #link
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Weird music for weird times: episode 29 of Enlarged Heart Radio is now streaming with a new hour of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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Back to a monthly schedule for these, I think. More…
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Surveying the sizeable discography of the shape-shifting combo; my favourite is their second LP, History Is What’s Happening. #link
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So, a week fairly busy with content management, and a new edition of Enlarged Heart Radio, besides moaning online about missing parcels in the post. And as I sit here and contemplate the previous days, I mostly have thoughts about the arts. More…
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Delayed from the holidays by illness and life in general, Episode 28 of Enlarged Heart Radio is finally here with another hour of interesting sounds for your ears. I’m still getting the hang of mixing down so you may need to turn this one up. More…
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Feeling mostly ill and cold and tired: the last four weeks in a nutshell. More…
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Technically it’s four weeks since my last one of these, not quite a month, but there’s no shorthand for ‘four weeks’ so m/e it is. More…
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It’s only been a couple of weeks since the last one but Episode 27 of Enlarged Heart Radio is already here with another hour of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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