John Cage & David Tudor, 1963.

An incredible film of Cage and Tudor shattering notions of what music can be:




...and this Q&A from after a performance of Empty Words in 1978 is full of inspired wisdom:


John Cage 1978 from Larson Associates on Vimeo.

Stockhausen Lectures

Never have I seen someone elucidate so eloquently about music or creativity. Based in science as well as spirit, Stockhausen's ideas are rock solid and fully hold up under scrutiny. While I was very aware of his importance and I had heard a few pieces and read about him, the genius of Stockhausen remained illusive to me until I heard him speak about his ideas. I cant recommend watching all the videos below all the way through enough. For the uninitiated there is a 48 min documentary titled Tuning In that serves as a good introduction. It intersperses his music with segments from the series of seven lectures he gave in English in the UK in 1972 and 1973. Also below are two of the lectures themselves (the rest are on youtube). The first is a clear, concise breakdown of the Four Criteria of Electronic Music: what it is actually is and how it functions, direct from the pioneer himself. He details the creation of his piece Kontate and discusses many of his most important discoveries. It's fascinating, educational, funny, insightful and mind expanding; absolutely essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in taking electronic music seriously. Below that is a three hour talk about his composition for two pianos and ring modulators titled Mantra. The manner in which he explains this universal piece makes it so one doesn't need to know how to read music to understand the concepts at work. He shares some especially revelatory wisdom during the QandA in part three, the final moments are powerful and moving.
So there we are.

FOUR CRITERIA OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC:







MANTRA:







TUNING IN:

Psychedelic mix for Perpetual Dawn

I recorded a mix for Tigerbeat6's Jodorowsky themed Perpetual Dawn party. In their words: "An Unbelievably fine crafted deep mix spanning the outer-most 
realms of freeform electronic soundart experimental psychedelic ambient drone noise electroacoustic and so on and so forth."




(I didnt make the mix with that filmmaker in mind but after submission it was titled after the name of the party)

Tracklist:
Nocturnal Emissions - Sealing a Phase 
Francis Dhomont - Le Flux Des Sons 
Ulf Bilting & Zbigniew Karkowski - T Tex
Rashad Becker - Dances 1
Maja Ratkje - Acid
LST - Lewd Strewth Truth
Killing Sound - Eight Methods
Wolfgang Voigt - Rückverzauberung 6.2
Alvin Curran - Canti Illuminati 
SPK - In Flagrante Delicto
This Mortal Coil - FyT
Black Dice - Trip Dude Delay
Oake - Nihnin ned Bargund
SPR - Concubine
Chris Watson - El Divisadero The Telegraph
Time Machines - 4-Indolol, 3-[2-(Dimethylamino)Ethyl],Phosphate Ester: (Psilocybin)
Nurse With Wound - Soliloquy for Lilith
Pauline Oliveros - Horse Sings From Cloud
Vanessa Amara - King Machine
Nocturnal Emissions - Blended Senses

RadioActive Lamb

RadioActive Lamb was a record label operating in the UK from 1990 -1995. They are probably best known for their rave classic Mohamed's Mind as 2 Kilos ?.  Pretty much every release they made was something special and most have been severely slept on over the years. As far as I can tell it was a crew of a few guys that did all the music under a variety of alias'. A lot of it wasn't on Youtube so I uploaded a few gems for posterity's sake and also found a few tracks others had shared. Check them out below. Email me if you want MP3s.

The Dark Peace: A Tears Of Joy Mix

A compilation of unreleased or forthcoming music on Tears Of Joy. For stream or download.

Concrete ambient bass meditations, enlarged big room rhythm exercises, fluff-era acid workouts and consciousness-around-the-horn abstraction work.

Mixed in North Hollywood October 30th, 2014.

Intro (Cries & Whispers) 

City Illusion - Vineland (Live For Each Moon Dub) 

Live For Each Moon - The Settler 

Romeo - TB1 

T.E.A.L. - Membrain 

A Private Realm - Refuse to Conform 

Three Baskets - Initiation 1 

Rinpoche - Acid with Leslie & TK 
Snake - Kind of Upset  
Live For Each Moon - Paper Champion

HARASSOR - The Harassor

Video I made for local Los Angeles hardcore band Harassor. Track from the forthcoming LP Into Unknown Depths on Dias Records. Footage compiled from the Beslan School hostage crisis in 2004.

T.E.A.L. -- Coffins EP

After 12"s from A Private Realm and Rinpoche, P-Lord affiliated label Tears of Joy have released their third record. This one introduces techno experimentalists T.E.A.L. You can hear the entire record record here and purchase direct here. Or it will be in the usual shops next week. Features artwork by Nick Barbeln of Clipd Beaks. Released in an edition of 217 with digital to follow. The video for the track Skulls is below.

Joni Mitchell Interview

A throughly fascinating and insightful look into the mind of Joni. The interviewer is slightly annoying (interrupting Joni Mitchell when she starts discussing quantum physics) but hold his own well enough. The (medically unproven) disease she continually references is Morgellons.

A Few Notes on SPK

Some of the best music to ever emerge from Australia was undoubtedly created by SPK. They have one of the more confusing discography's to work through as many releases have various covers for each pressing, different versions of the same song with the same name or no names at all, often different names of the band for each release and even two different versions of the band entirely. It was mainly based around Graeme Revell who was the driving force and sole continuous member during their 10 year existence. He moved to London relatively early in the SPK lifespan and the remaining members, notably Neil Hill (committed suicide at age 28, his wife Margaret Hill died 2 days later from anorexia), still put out music under the banner as SoliPsiK (the ultra rare See-Saw 7"). There were many collaborators throughout the years, the other consistent being Revell's wife Sinan Leong, who appears on most releases and also appeared on a few classic Nurse With Wound albums.

There were three main phases of the band, the first being the early industrial noise material up until 1983 which is arguably their strongest. These very earliest recordings were intense punk inspired songs often creativity utilizing a wailing EMS synth in the background.  Those early 7"s were collected onto side one of the essential compilation Auto De Fe:



The B side to Auto De Fe, recorded in 1981 (as opposed to the late 70's) sits perfectly between their noise and dance periods:



The first proper full length (there were multiple live cassette releases and bootlegs) was Information Overload Unit (under the name System Planning Corporation) that was recorded while Neil Hill and Revell were working in a Sydney mental ward- the album deals with insanity and contains field recordings they made of patients. It's an noisey experimental masterpiece of the highest order, predating much of that kind of music:



After that was Leichenschrei, a very dense, amazing industrial classic by anyone's measure. It's a timeless recording- find it, buy it. Next came an incredible EP under the name SepPuKu:



After 1984 came the comparatively commercial period that spawned the dance classics Metal Dance, Junk Funk, Breathless and more, though I would venture to say, while still awesome, this is the weakest of their output. A few years later came the neo-classical ambient world music excursions that evolved into Revell's current film score career. The highlight of this era would be the Zamia Lehmanni Songs of Byzantine Flowers LP that is a groundbreaking mix of world musics and dark ambient textures, the pinnacle being the hauntingly beautiful single In Flagrante Delicto:



The obscure album Revell made up entirely of insect sounds, The Insect Musicians, is worth noting as well.

A totally amazing band, I recommend spending a few months or years exploring their catalog.

James Clausell Presents Live For Each Moon: A Mix For Golden Zed

A new mix for the up and coming label out of Long Beach Golden Zed. Recorded at home one Saturday afternoon. May 2014.

1 Burial Hex - Six Wings

2 Playgroup - Squeek Squawk

3 Kambo Super Sound - Kambo Dub Station

4 African Head Charge - Some Bizarre

5 Sunil Sharpe - Roki

6 Donato Dozzy - Sotto Ma Sotto

7 Call Super - Acephate II

8 Rrose - Waterfalls (Birth)

9 Jack Murphy - B1

10 T.E.A.L. - Birds

11 Aquarian Foundation - Planet of Discipline (Trip)

12 Jay Daniel - No Love Lost

13 Ty Holden & James Reynolds - Love the Dub (Where's My Accapella)

14 Colours Ft Stephan Emmanuel & June Hamm - Hold On

15 Imagination - Instinctual (Dave Morales Def Vocal Mix)

Records in 2013

ALBUMS

Alberich - Machine Gun Nest Cassette Works Volume 0



Authentic modern industrial delivered with an intensity rarely captured in music. Two of the tracks already appeared on his Psychology of Love LP but they are two of the best tunes ever released on Hospital Productions. Absolutely essential. Play loud. "Album of the year" by a long shot.


Georgia - Asemic Club

Georgia ASEMIC CLUB: Needle Teaser from Georgia on Vimeo.

An (other)worldly collection of instrumentals presented as a well conceptualized LP on one piece of vinyl. (There were too many unwarranted double LPs this year so it's nice to have a record to put on and not have to get up every ten minutes). There's a healthy variety of sound sources here; guitars, drums, rhodes, odd field recordings- the closest comparison I can come up with is later period Sun City Girls. For me, this is an essential companion to all the heavy recordings mentioned elsewhere in this piece. Comes with an amazing B&W newspaper poster.

Felix K - Flowers Of Destruction



Drum&Bass reinvented for 2013. A record full of properly psychedelic atmospherics and nasty dubbed out rhythms. Buy this 3x12" from his label Hidden Hawaii while you still can.


FFH - Make Them Understand



Raw savagery from FFH. Extreme noise mixed with poetic lyrics about bad things. If you like power electronics or angry musics of any sort find this and play it as loud as you can. They only made 114 copies but as of this writing there's a few for relatively cheap online.


Alexander Lewis - A Luminous Veil



Another amazing year for Blackest Ever Black. I didn't have enough money to buy everything they released though I did mange to acquire a few and this is my favorite of the bunch. There is a spontaneity to the arpeggiated synth blasts of noise that I find very listenable and each subsequent listen proves more rewarding. And, of course, the Cuts Hands stuff on BEB and Downwards is essential listening. The Gnod tape was great too.

Other LPs worth mentioning:

Nurse With Wound - Xerography
Nurse With Wound - Silver Bromide
Virile Games - Wounded Laurel
Vakula - You've Never Been To Konotop
Pharaohs - Replicant Moods
Factory Floor - Factory Floor


SINGLES

Paula Temple - Colonized



My favorite track of the year. Exciting, engaging, relevant techno. Temple is taking the form and doing something new with it. The Perc remix is a bit boring but the other two songs are mind blowing. The live sets she uploads to Soundcloud were my soundtrack to driving around Los Angeles this year.


Joe Claussell - Project Residue Part 1: Eno (Melodic Dub)



We are two releases deep into Joe's new series and they are both outstanding. The Melodic dub of Eno is the most techno track I've heard him make in a long time and the second 12", Underground Battle in Babylon, is an epic 16 min piano soundscape. You can get both these stamped 12s dirt cheap direct from his label. Timeless music.


Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement - Refuges From Black Magic 



This mix of rainforest recordings and dark ambient sounds was the perfect warm up to every set I DJed this year. It's also really great home listening. This was by far the best RSE release this year, the sound quality is much higher than the two Hospital LPs. The Bed of Nails 12" is nice but not quite as nuanced as this. It's probably the best thing Dominick Fernow made this year, though Prurient's near total conversion to dance music, Through the Window, was interesting as well. Also, When You Are Crawling by Vatican Shadow is the the best stuff from that alias since his classic debut on Bed of Nails.


Aquarian Foundation - Mystery Track from Silent Teaching EP



Great year for Brian Not Brian's Going Good label out of Brixton. All three releases thus far have been solid. The record pictured is by the Vancouver, Canada group Aquarian Foundation- the 12" on their own Mood Hut records is excellent too. The newest Going Good record is equally as strong- Anom Virus's lengthy EP is all acid squelching and lush pad work.


Gorgon Sound - 2x12"



Bristols' Young Echo collective put out a lot of strong material this year, my favorite was probably this: Kahn & Neek's grime influenced dub project Gorgon Sound. Four monstrous dubs that sound incredible on a proper sound system. The Dubkasm mixes are dope too. Along a similar line, the annual Kang Super Sound 7" on Sex Tag Amfibia is worth looking into as well.


Rrose - Waterfall (Birth)



Crazy tripped out techno with amazing tension. A very serious track on a proper system.


Also...
Jay Daniel - No Love Lost
Oake - Nihnin Ned Bargund
Objekt #3
Joey Anderson - Above The Cherry Moon and Sky's Blessings
Valentina - Wolves
Romanonthy - Ministry of Love (Andre Crom Rework)
Dusky - Nobody Else
White Material - Problems
Zsou vs The Velvet Season & the Hearts of Gold - Wild Honeyz

Thoughts on PJ Harvey's White Chalk

I had never heard PJ's music before this record as I had always associated her with guitar heavy indie rock music. But a friend that works in the industry gave me a lovely 45RPM pressing of White Chalk when it was released in 2007. I find myself continually coming back to this unutterably exquisite exploration of pain. There are no guitars here, mostly piano and autoharp along with some restrained drumming by the Dirty Three's Jim White. Bass, banjo, zither, fiddle and organ all appear here and there as well. Producing legend Flood and long time Harvey collaborator John Parish made the record with her and they're skills are obviously indispensable. It has some of the most beautiful vocal arrangement work ever put to tape, her voice is astounding stop-you-in-your-tracks powerful. When the back-ups drop on Silence it chills me to the bone every time. It is a short, concise, powerful record capable of stirring up serious emotion to those paying attention. The subject matter seems to be the dissolution of family, specifically abuse, and certain acts are strikingly recounted throughout the album- indeed, some songs are near transgressive in their vividness. Truly haunting. The album echos of another time or another world, its baroque feel and tonal longing are unlike anything I have heard before or since. So, yeah, I highly recommend this LP if you like heavy duty music- and it gets better with each listen even after 5 years. I am usually hesitant to recommend this kind of highly personal, emotive music but I think this LP cuts across a lot of boundaries. Also, I do not suggest listening one song at a time online, just buy the LP and play it loud at home in the dark to hear it's full potential. It's cheap on discogs. Her follow up- the war torn Let England Shake is amazing too but slightly more normal sounding than her ethereal and singular masterwork White Chalk.

Rinpoche - Degradation 12"

The second release on Tears of Joy Records is a record made by myself and Thomas Klepper, resident and co-founder of Los Angeles' long running (but now defunct) underground warehouse party space Music For Dancers. He also runs a cassette label called Association of Masks. We made the 12" in an edition of 252 copies with stamped sleeves and an insert. The tracks were written and recorded at Thomas' studio at his warehouse in the fashion district, downtown Los Angeles, earlier this year. Working without the assistance of a computer, we used various old synth and drum machines and mixed through a Tascam board to 1/4" tape which proved to be a rewarding way to track music. The A side is a deep bassline-led Chicago influenced tune suited for the early morning hours while the B side is an acid house workout featuring a demented vocal sample from the Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps. You can buy a copy cheap at the Tears of Joy website or it will be in the shops early November.

Genius - Waiting (Corrupted Cru Remix)

I recently ripped some of my UKGarage vinyl for a friend so I figured I share one of the tracks here. I scored this at the mighty DnR Vinyl in East Croyden, UK. Check them out, they are without a doubt the finest Garage shop on earth. The track is by Genius (Capone, Shawn T & Trimmer) on Kronik Records from 1998.

Genius - Waiting (Corrupted Cru Remix)

Paula Temple at Berghain

I heard Paula Temple DJ an amazing live set at Berghain in Berlin this past Sunday morning. To hear proper techno of this caliber on that clubs system was mind blowing. Below is a downloadable recording of the 3rd and final hour (7 - 8am) of her set. Coincidentally, the mix starts with the Surgeon track I posted earlier this month. Also, definitely check out her critical and forward thinking Colonized 12" on R&S.

Pere Ubu - Breath

Pere Ubu perform Breath (Let's Not Talk About Tomorrow) in 1989. From the Cloudland LP.

Sugeon - Radiance

One of the better electronic music albums I have heard in some time is Surgeon's 2011 LP Breaking the Frame. Unlike the punishing intricacies of his earlier records that defined the "Birminghmam techno" sound he is known for, this release is experimental and psychedelic in nature. You can download one of the more mental tracks below.

Surgeon - Radiance

Love And Money - Walk the Last Mile

A beautiful track from the Scottish band Love And Money from their 1988 LP Strange Kind of Love.



Download here.

The Dignity of Labour Part 1

A lovely piece of electronic music from 1979. Apparently made entirely with a Roland System 100. Ripped from the 12" on Fast records.

The Human League - The Dignity of Labour Part 1

A Private Realm

We just released an experimental techno record I made with Olivia Arthur called An Omen From No Man's Land under the name A Private Realm. You can buy it at Juno or in various Japanese shops. The vinyl is an edition of 164 with silk screened cover art depicting Vienna Actionist Gunter Brus performing ANA in 1964. There is also a DVD in an edition of 100 we did with Tim Hicks with accompanying visuals dealing with the subject matter at hand: Child Brides, Endless War and the Horrors of Psychedelia. You can get that at Tim's website and you can check out the first piece below.