Best Ever Albums

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Mon, 8 Feb 2021 14:39:12 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 02/08/2021 19:39

We're God's Trashmen Sent to Right the Mess! So begins Fievel Is Glauque, one of the bravest pop records in recent memory. Recorded entirely in five sessions across Europe and North America with an entirely unique set of musicians in each session other than Zach Phillips and the vocalist Marie-Amélie Clément-Bollée this whole thing expertly captures the feeling of seeing just an impeccable jazz band in a cafe at a time where we're all a year removed from that experience. In a way, this album is the logical conclusion of Blanche Blanche Blanche's mic experiments. Recorded with just one mic yet impeccably engineered and mastered by Ryan Power who's one of the best to do it right now. The whole thing has a messy, impassioned song sketch vibe. It certainly summons Zach's Maher Shalal Hash Baz love at times as well as this stereolab sense of vocals. Fear not the Gowi, she is wrong, there is no Cibo Matto vibes here just messy bass placement and the vibe of a lovely spring day.

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Mon, 8 Feb 2021 13:55:12 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 02/08/2021 18:55

Freebasing bandcamp is back! Now under the competent hands of another BEA account (thanks to Albummaster for rescuing the thread permissions from the old one). Right now I'm studying for an FM license so I can start broadcasting this regional DIY retrospective show to start in the spring on a radio station in Santa Barbara. First episode's on NYC DIY during the OSR Tapes reign and sorta that cross pollination with Brattleboro. So I might as well write about some records as I'm listening to them.

First up is Wooden Ball by Blanche Blanche Blanche. This frenetic zolo record from Zach Phillips (the mind behind this years much praised but bizarrely recorded lounge pop record Fievel is Glauque) and Sarah Smith (just this wonderful free association poet who delivers her lines like a New England Lydia Tomkiw from algebra suicide). It's got an ear to a lot of classic and revival prog pop, like blue gene tyranny or the fiery furnaces but filtered through a four track tape portastudio with lots of observations to belgian minimal synth (this could fit on a volume of the legendary insane music for insane people comps right between berntholer and bene gesserit). The structure switches come quick here (faster than the tape changes on a Cornelius record) and these tight solos that dot this record quickly spindle out of in control like they just run out of musicianship. A masterclass in mic placement too. Yeah, this kind of studied and observational work can come off as self-knowing but it's absolutely wonderful.

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 01:56:05 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/30/2020 05:56

Repo wrote:

Hell yeah! This fucking awesome!

Glad you like it! Palberta's sick, want to write about some of their affiliated projects because I'm starting to think they might be even better ("Lily and Horn Horse" and Shimmer particularly). But there's something particularly sharp yet comforting about this record. Miss these types of live shows

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

RoundTheBend — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 01:46:19 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 10/30/2020 05:46

PossiblyMichigan wrote:

RoundTheBend wrote:

Well said mate. I'd be very interested in listening to the rest - I guess I need the tubes cuz just a bunch of singles on spotify.

I link to a full stream in every post! Just click the hyperlink under the album art.

Doh! I mistook that for the BEA link. Thanks!

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 01:42:50 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/30/2020 05:42

RoundTheBend wrote:

Well said mate. I'd be very interested in listening to the rest - I guess I need the tubes cuz just a bunch of singles on spotify.

I link to a full stream in every post! Just click the hyperlink under the album art.

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

RoundTheBend — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 01:11:27 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 10/30/2020 05:11

PossiblyMichigan wrote:

Well oh well BEA. Today I have been on the hunt for tapes unheard. Literally! As I had to unearth this one from a convoluted scavenger hunt. It's Smiling Beth's debut LP A Piano Walks Home Alone at Night

This is a timely release for them. Smiling Beth's been toiling away in the Los Angeles underground for a while and have recently been getting the notice they deserve after LA cultural institution Weirdo Night went national last month. As the featured musical guest, they were exposed to thousands of new people thanks to an aggressive social media campaign and great New York Mag writeup.

So what's it like inside? Well, we're wading through a lot of emotions here. There's the capitalist pastiche where an almost Debussy-ian piano driven odyssey builds out of the 800-588-2300 empire carpet cleaner jingle (this isn't hyperbole, front woman Jean Delkhaste is a classically trained virtuoso that leans into that sense of impressionism). Simmering female rage on the heartbreaking True Story which is catchy enough to get stuck in your head but if you let those lyrics sit with you, fuck, you'll be hit with little waves of shock throughout the day. And Manic Pixie Nightmare Noise through the delicious vocal processing on stuff like Bads 001 or Float into the Air. Others highlights include this smokey lounge New Orleans blues vibe that clings through the brass section on Purse on a Vacation. Or the Charlie Brown wah - wah representation of parents on O Happy Day (there's an argument to be made that this outro is muchhhhh longer than it needs to be but I say phooey, it commits to it and so should you!

Anyway the cover art is one of the prettiest covers I've seen all year and that title is a solid reference to one of the best horror films of last decade.

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A Piano Walks Home Alone At Night by Smiling Beth

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Well said mate. I'd be very interested in listening to the rest - I guess I need the tubes cuz just a bunch of singles on spotify.

Although Purse on Vacation - dig the vocals... not sure what to think of the production. In someways it sounds very live, DIY. Drums especially, yet they sound really good in some ways too, like that kick drum is room filling. Pretty rad arrangement and love the mix of horns... slides right in with almost not noticing... like that wall of sound - you don't hear it, you feel it.

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

Repo — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 00:06:14 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 10/30/2020 04:06

PossiblyMichigan wrote:

HEY! It's the sound of the beat friendship! Palberta. Yes Palberta. This riot grrl/no wave trio of female rockers from NYC have been making waves for the last seven years from a modest but very critically successful start on OSR Tapes to recently being singlehandedly picked by Kathleen Hanna to open for bikini kill on their revival tour. And that's not including their own successful solo projects. What I love about Palberta is that the three of them switch off on their instruments both live and on record and they all bring their own vibes and influences to the instruments they're on each creating a really dynamic experience to the album. Lily's got a cool dance punk/arthur russell approach, Ani's always on some Beefheart tin can shit, Nina on the polyrhythmic bendy grind. They're in the process of album rollout for their fifth record but that's still 4 or 5 months away and I want to talk about their absolute classic Roach Going Down now goddammit. It's Jittery and jumping around the floor is lava style. Not afraid to groove atonally with hammer ons on Ziddy, fill you with infectious hooks on Sound of The Beat, summon the spirits of The Raincoats for a Hall and Oates Rich Girl cover with all the pronoun and gender swapping you'd hope for or just be possessed with absolute masculine apathy on Come Again, which is about exactly what you think it is. That said, ask any member of Palberta what the songs are about and you’ll get a different answer everytime. Ask yourself what the songs mean after each listen and it’s a similar story. It’s a dancey schoolyard enigma with equal parts love and cliquey hate.

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Roach Goin Down by Palberta

Hell yeah! This fucking awesome!

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 21:36:12 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/30/2020 01:36

Well oh well BEA. Today I have been on the hunt for tapes unheard. Literally! As I had to unearth this one from a convoluted scavenger hunt. It's Smiling Beth's debut LP A Piano Walks Home Alone at Night

This is a timely release for them. Smiling Beth's been toiling away in the Los Angeles underground for a while and have recently been getting the notice they deserve after LA cultural institution Weirdo Night went national last month. As the featured musical guest, they were exposed to thousands of new people thanks to an aggressive social media campaign and great New York Mag writeup.

So what's it like inside? Well, we're wading through a lot of emotions here. There's the capitalist pastiche where an almost Debussy-ian piano driven odyssey builds out of the 800-588-2300 empire carpet cleaner jingle (this isn't hyperbole, front woman Jean Delkhaste is a classically trained virtuoso that leans into that sense of impressionism). Simmering female rage on the heartbreaking True Story which is catchy enough to get stuck in your head but if you let those lyrics sit with you, fuck, you'll be hit with little waves of shock throughout the day. And Manic Pixie Nightmare Noise through the delicious vocal processing on stuff like Bads 001 or Float into the Air. Others highlights include this smokey lounge New Orleans blues vibe that clings through the brass section on Purse on a Vacation. Or the Charlie Brown wah - wah representation of parents on O Happy Day (there's an argument to be made that this outro is muchhhhh longer than it needs to be but I say phooey, it commits to it and so should you!

Anyway the cover art is one of the prettiest covers I've seen all year and that title is a solid reference to one of the best horror films of last decade.

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A Piano Walks Home Alone At Night by Smiling Beth

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 19:52:58 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/23/2020 23:52

HEY! It's the sound of the beat friendship! Palberta. Yes Palberta. This riot grrl/no wave trio of female rockers from NYC have been making waves for the last seven years from a modest but very critically successful start on OSR Tapes to recently being singlehandedly picked by Kathleen Hanna to open for bikini kill on their revival tour. And that's not including their own successful solo projects. What I love about Palberta is that the three of them switch off on their instruments both live and on record and they all bring their own vibes and influences to the instruments they're on each creating a really dynamic experience to the album. Lily's got a cool dance punk/arthur russell approach, Ani's always on some Beefheart tin can shit, Nina on the polyrhythmic bendy grind. They're in the process of album rollout for their fifth record but that's still 4 or 5 months away and I want to talk about their absolute classic Roach Going Down now goddammit. It's Jittery and jumping around the floor is lava style. Not afraid to groove atonally with hammer ons on Ziddy, fill you with infectious hooks on Sound of The Beat, summon the spirits of The Raincoats for a Hall and Oates Rich Girl cover with all the pronoun and gender swapping you'd hope for or just be possessed with absolute masculine apathy on Come Again, which is about exactly what you think it is. That said, ask any member of Palberta what the songs are about and you’ll get a different answer everytime. Ask yourself what the songs mean after each listen and it’s a similar story. It’s a dancey schoolyard enigma with equal parts love and cliquey hate.

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Roach Goin Down by Palberta

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 13:44:43 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/23/2020 17:44

Lina Tullgren finally allowed guitar and fiddle to kiss on Free Cell or the album to play on the longest hot afternoon of your life. Here assisted by Simon Hanes (a very Italian romanticist style composer who used to be in Guerrilla Toss but now is in Tredici Bacci and a regular collaborator of John Zorn and JG Thirlwell), Tullgren’s compositions unfurl, lethargically at first but then Tullgren unleashes their fiddle with all the passion of Ravel (and sometimes paired with the claustrophobia of a jangly Marc Ribot solo). Especially on moments such as Golden Babyland where Tullgren’s boredom feels compressed and ready to lash out. But these compositions can unfurl and languish / practically hang in free time. The title track or the two soft glove’s for instance.

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Free Cell by Lina Tullgren

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 15:22:54 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/22/2020 19:22

Personally, I actually find myself vibing with the Bay Area/Castle Face psychedelic garage rock offshoots for the majority of last decade more often than not. Lately though, when I hear something like the latest Oh Sees record I get a little sad on what could have been. I'm talking the lo-fi meth addled sounds that John Dwyer and co would create on the first two oh sees records (Sucks Blood and Cool Death of the Island Raiders) or even earlier (the ocs tapes). This isn't your royal trux shambles though, their approach at the time was making things as quiet and harmonious as possible. Think bay area garage rock perverted versions of early AnCo albums. Fascinating stuff to listen to and it's a shame no one really went back to this approach.

Enter Kamikaze Palm Tree, a recent project from Oakland that is white fence affiliated (but goddamn are they better than anything Tim Presley touches). They've brought a sense of wonder and refreshing enigmatic mystery to this sound by partially incorporating back these early oh sees sounds to the regional style. But they play with harsh pannings, triplet delay and samples like no one's business. From the opener, Toucan's Nose, with bouncing vocals, and choked out guitar that's throttled shut until the drums kick in, to the titular Good Boy, a lofi fingerstyle Fahey open tuning type beat farce on nice guys, to the closer Run Around that fast approaches Laura Palmer style screams. Highly recommended to those that have 27 minutes and want to see where garage rock is going, because with energy like this, the future is bright.

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Good Boy by Kamikaze Palm Tree

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

Repo — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 22:20:35 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 10/22/2020 02:20

PossiblyMichigan wrote:

Mannn that's a compliment. I wish, I do miss Keith, I was CubaZed but do not condone that era. :lol:

Cuba!!! No way! Welcome back, brother! Well, you have to participate in that Blondie Rank 'Em then!!! That's all pretty much in your honor! I don't do any fancy calculations though! lol

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 20:25:41 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/22/2020 00:25

Repo wrote:

Loving this!!! Is this, KKS?! You have similar taste!

Mannn that's a compliment. I wish, I do miss Keith, I was CubaZed but do not condone that era. 🤣

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

Repo — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 20:19:49 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 10/22/2020 00:19

PossiblyMichigan wrote:

Been listening a lot to Christina Schneider lately. Current partner of Kevin from Of Montreal and one of the greatest talents to come off of OSR Tapes (along with Chris Weisman, Blanche Blanche Blanche and Palberta). Though her focus is currently on her band Locate S,1 I've been digging on her solo release from a few years back Violence Etcetera. It's a really enigmatic tascam 8 track album that channels a lot of 60's influence. Lots of comfort in danger here. The staccato, nearly dubby bass, is a persistent frenemy and the guitar here is this beautiful little swirl that has this Marc Ribot edge I cannot escape. Some highlights here include all of Click Hendrix ("he told me where to plug it in, I'm comfortable now" - one of those little moment stopping vocal whispers), the title track (promises of Violence never have seemed so fruitful) and Rebecca Rom Frank's poetic delivery on Oranges. For fans of The Raincoats and Mitski and Joni Mitchell.

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Violence Etcetera by Christina Schneider

Loving this!!! Is this, KKS?! You have similar taste!

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 16:17:34 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/21/2020 20:17

Feel the need to shill out for Wendy Eisenberg’s new album. They are a songwriter who has always struck me as pleasant enough. Very virtuosic guitar player does free improvisational stuff and bangs out a quality record or two every year. Not to peg Eisenberg as one thing, they’ve always been capable of more (the John Zorn record proves as much) and Auto, Eisenberg’s label debut for Ba Da Bing, proves I should have been paying much stronger attention. The element of collaboration really makes this record go in directions I’d never expect. Spinning guitar gives way to short bursts of Deerhoof esque rock breakdowns or ambient synth stabs.

Eisenberg’s not taken seriously enough either as a guitar player. They are the only westerner I’ve ever heard capable of playing in the same realm of noise Keiji Haino. And their sweet and lilting voice really disguises the warped nature of some of these tunes - the lingering anxiety of assault in Centreville or how to grow in Give it A Year. This album is liberating and monk like and I’d love it if y’all gave it a shot.

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Auto by Wendy Eisenberg

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Mon, 5 Oct 2020 14:54:02 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/05/2020 18:54

Let's Eat some Cheap Meat! Great snazzy post punk ep released last week with members of R. Clown, Prized Pig and Old Maybe. Obsessed with the vocalists nasally delivery ("the last time we kissed we were in my room and you were masturbating while we napped") and the bass tones they generate here (was slightly convinced they were using a synth till the third track).

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Let's Eat by Cheap Meat

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Mon, 5 Oct 2020 14:10:00 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/05/2020 18:10

Been listening a lot to Christina Schneider lately. Current partner of Kevin from Of Montreal and one of the greatest talents to come off of OSR Tapes (along with Chris Weisman, Blanche Blanche Blanche and Palberta). Though her focus is currently on her band Locate S,1 I've been digging on her solo release from a few years back Violence Etcetera. It's a really enigmatic tascam 8 track album that channels a lot of 60's influence. Lots of comfort in danger here. The staccato, nearly dubby bass, is a persistent frenemy and the guitar here is this beautiful little swirl that has this Marc Ribot edge I cannot escape. Some highlights here include all of Click Hendrix ("he told me where to plug it in, I'm comfortable now" - one of those little moment stopping vocal whispers), the title track (promises of Violence never have seemed so fruitful) and Rebecca Rom Frank's poetic delivery on Oranges. For fans of The Raincoats and Mitski and Joni Mitchell.

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Violence Etcetera by Christina Schneider

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Sat, 3 Oct 2020 17:02:33 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 10/03/2020 21:02

Well I'm back! Right out the gate I've got a trio with a masterful vision. It's Banny Grove! One of those "it" bands right now in west coast college radio, they've just come out with their southwestern odyssey, Dust World. Based in the middle of nowhere in the mojave desert, they journey spreading a particular sunday morning cartoon glam pop all wrapped in an optimistic cult vibe. There's an "aw shucks gang, the world sucks, I'm sorry you don't have insurance, neither do I, let's hug each other and sway to the beat of this sampler" vibe that already felt pertinent when these songs were written and played live last year but feel downright necessary now. This optimism is special though as it doesn't negate an anger at the state of things here, it just wants to take a deep breath and sit in the moment and smile. On the lead single, So Happy So Good, Louise, the vocalist, recalls scattered memories of feeling grateful on a bike ride to work that explodes into a healthy plea of compassion. There's a thinness and smallness here, provided in equal parts by Peter's skeletal guitar work but then aided by Louise's thin voice that gives my the feeling it's all coming through the tiniest wires. And then there's the adlibs. The adlibs that cut through the humbleness of the work with such a ridiculous genuineness I can't help but laugh "ohhhhh brother let me tie your shoes!" Other highlights include Malibu's little breakdowns where the singer begs to look like a barbie doll. The guitar melody on Piece of Mine. When Standard Lives launches into an entirely different key on the chorus. Anyway check it out, they're on their own label, Nicey Music and work as a non profit, consistently giving back to their community.

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Dust World by Banny Grove

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Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

craola — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 14:02:56 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 09/14/2020 18:02

PossiblyMichigan wrote:

Been choking on bad air here which has put me out of action for a bit. Starting up again today.

i hear you. been smoky skies for the past week here too. thankfully, the closest wildfire to our place was 9 miles out and put out in two or three days, and hopefully, these rains clear everything out tonight.

Re: Freebasing Bandcamp

PossiblyMichigan — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 12:05:16 GMT

Author: PossiblyMichigan

Posted: 09/14/2020 16:05

Been choking on bad air here which has put me out of action for a bit. Starting up again today.