t.r.a.n.s. a.m. - 'c.a.l.i.f.o.r.n.i.a. h.o.t.e.l.' (2017)
witty album title, lads. trans am still at it after almost twenty-five years or whatever. i got bored on them after futureworld, circa 1999. still, they put out some seminal work. i would love to herald this record as a return to form. instead i'm just gonna say you could be listening to worse shit in 2017. they're playing shows these days. i am pretty sure if i saw this live, i'd be pretty into it. good tunes. it kinda remind me of stuff like ota petrina, a little bit, or maybe some of the older shit they like to imitate. anyway, nothing revolutionary here. still, a formidable record. not too many other records i post fit the "jock jams" taxonomy quite as thoroughly as this.
_pert plus
h.o.u.n.d.s.t.o.o.t.h. r.e.c.o.r.d.s. - 't.e.s.s.e.l.l.a.t.i.o.n.s.' (2016)
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the process or art of tessellating a surface, or the state of being tessellated.
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an arrangement of shapes closely fitted together, especially of polygons in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping....cool name for a techno comp if you ask me. also if you google image search houndstooth tessellations, i think it's basically that pattern you see on chef's pants. and, these artists certainly cook up some tasty beats. more in depth review here, if you care. please don't stop the please don't stop the please don't stop the music._dj come on barbie let's go party
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t.a.r.a. j.a.n.e. o'.n.e.i.l. - s/t (2017)
been into tara jane's music since the 90s. she was the bassist for rodan, my favorite band of the 90s in the 90s. she played in the sonora pine, also an incredible band. and a band called retsin, who i was into as well way back when. she starred in this really silly slacker film called half cocked, which, does not stand the test of time, i can tell you. i tried to watch it recently and groaned my head off, so i had to shut it off. anyway, she's made a whole bunch of solo records over the years. i kinda stopped following her for a while, for the same reasons i burned out on bill callahan and will oldham and company. i just felt like bummer singer songwriter stuff had sorta said all it was gonna say to me. anyway, this record, i was surprised to discover, is pretty upbeat. it's pretty good, too. nice lazy afternoon easy listening music for your 2017. dig it.
_duck sauce
v.a.k.a.n.t. r.e.c.o.r.d.s. - 't.e.n.a.c.i.t.y. 2.0.1.6.'
A.p.o.s.t.a.t.e. V.i.a.t.i.c.u.m. - 'B.e.f.o.r.e. t.h.e. G.a.t.e.s. o.f. G.o.m.o.r.r.a.h.' (2017)
µ.-Z.i.q. - 'L.u.n.a.t.i.c. H.a.r.n.e.s.s.' (1997)
imagine if aphex twin made a record with vladislav delay in the late 90s... in fact, this sounds so much like both of those artists, that it might be tempting to write it off as derivative, were it not for the stellar song writing chops on display. this artist is the founder of planet mu, one of the more consistently interesting electronic labels of the last few decades. i'm a bit late to the party on this... by oh say 20 years or so... but, better late than never! this album is mostly upbeat and really nice dish doing music for your sunday afternoon. dickie dustpan type music, as my brother might say.
_alibi
a.z.a.r.a.t.h. - 'i.n. e.x.t.r.e.m.i.s.' (2017)
A.n.c.i.e.n.t. M.e.t.h.o.d.s. - 'A. C.o.l.l.e.c.t.i.o.n. O.f. A.n.c.i.e.n.t. A.i.r.s.' (2016)
c.a.r.p.e. n.o.c.t.e.m. - 'i.n. t.e.r.r.a. p.r.o.f.u.g.u.s.' (2013)
there is a black metal scene thriving in iceland that's been well documented in the press. i surveyed a lot of records by a lot of the key players, and this record really impressed me above the rest. glorious forward thinking blackness.
_mink nun