Sdtrk: ‘Vodiak’ by Stereolab

So I was out and about today, and I had no idea that Stereolab had a new release out! That shit slipped beneath my radar, completely and utterly.

I love that title

Apparently, it’s not really a new full-length, it’s a compilation of recent singles. So far, I’ve only listened to half of it, and it almost pains me to say it, but… Stereolab just doesn’t stimulate me as much as they used to. In fact, their previous release, Margerine eclipse, remains rather unmemorable to me as well, as it just didn’t have a lot of stand-out tracks. I completely dug the EP that came right before it, Instant 0 in the universe, but ever since the Dots and loops era, where they’d begin a song, get halfway through it, and then completely switch melodies, they’ve been inching down a preference slope for me. Not to say that that’s what I don’t like — New order used to do that all the time, which was one of the qualities that drew me to them — but I’d say it’s something else…

Personally, I think the reason for the dew being off the lily these days is due to their lack of Farfisa-centred Motorik-based songs. Compare Mars audiac quintet to Cobra and phases group… and it’s almost like two different bands. Yes, I realise that if you’re running a band for fifteen (!!) years, your sound is obviously going to change, but for a person like me who swears by consistency, it’s a wee bit unsettling. For instance, the only albums by The Jesus and Mary chain that I own are Psycho candy, Barbed wire kisses, and Honey’s dead, and that’s cos they all pretty much sound alike. Hell, I was disconcerted when Broadcast started relying less on samples on everything post-Work and non work.
This is why whenever a band I like breaks up or otherwise quits, there’s the initial heartbreak, but eventually I’m okay with their decision, cos oftentimes it crystallises them forever at their peak (i.e, Joy division, the Smiths), as opposed to flogging their particular horse into mucilage (i.e post-Technique New order, post-NATO Laibach).

They’re in town this Sunday, and I have to say that I’m altogether not too gung-ho on seeing them. Plus it’s on a Sunday eve. I hate it when bands do that. I have to work the next morning, you know. Goddamned rock stars.
I’ll still buy Stereolab’s releases, but it’s just not the same anymore, as I’ll keep hoping for them to do a 180, and make another Transient random noise-bursts. Even if it’s only temporary, I’ll be a happy lad..

Looks like another passel of interviews about being an iDollator is nigh! Are nigh! Whatever. That troublemakin’ lass Elena Dorfman wrote me from out of the blue today, saying that someone from Details magazine would have words with me concerning the Missus, which was really a surprise, as I haven’t seen an issue of Details on the racks since the mid-Nineties. Also, there’s some bloke from a Finnish youth and culture magazine called Image hoping for an article as well. The Finnish mag I have no problem with, but I’ll have to be cautious with the Details fellow, as that’s, y’know, published in the States. Obviously, I don’t want a repeat of the Pandagon colostomy bag explosion, or worse. I’ll keep you posted…
Gods, can’t these people wait until Sidore-chan’s site is back up (still pending)?

As an aside, I simply must share with you a line from Elena’s Email that struck me: ‘It’s a marvelous day here in the Bay Area; lots of sunshine and big, fluffy clouds. Makes a girl feel like jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. Know what I mean?’
Ha! Feckin’ brilliant

Sdtrk: ‘Pretty girls make graves’ by the Smiths

So I was musing to myself a couple of days ago — what bands have I seen perform live? Hrrm.. *strokes chin in thought*

+ GLOD (four times — I miss them)
+ Batterie acid (twice — I miss them as well)
+ Silver apples (before Simeon and Danny Thomas got back in touch with each other, but a good show anyway)
+ Princess Dragon-mom (at least five times)
+ Mystic Moog Orchestra (twice)
+ Crash worship (a very Bacchanalian show)
+ Medicine (twice)
+ Lush (twice; the second time round, it was so hot at the concert venue that Miki’s hairdye began running down her face)
+ Mojave 3 (so boring, I actually fell asleep)
+ Shonen knife
+ Tasty bush (twice; a rather underrated band)
+ Laibach (unfortunately, it wasn’t during their heyday, it was when they toured for ‘Jesus christ Superstars’, their worst album ever)
+ Combustible Edison
+ Broadcast (three times)
+ Stereolab (five times I think, I can’t remember)
+ My bloody valentine (fucking ace show)
+ NON / Death in June / Scorpion wind / Strength through Joy (also, filed under ‘fucking ace show’)
+ Merzbow / Masonna (a pair of fantastic performances, only marred by the fact that Psywarfare opened for them)
+ Death from above 1979
+ Interpol
+ the faint
+ Adult. (three times)
+ Add N to (X) (twice)
+ Subliminal self (I know one of them!)
+ New order / The sugarcubes / PiL (the others weren’t bad, but I was there for New order)
+ Morrissey (the ‘Kill Uncle’ tour… largely meh, but nevertheless — it’s Morrissey)
+ The Dears (four times)
+ The Divine comedy (an ‘intimate evening’)
+ Destroy all monsters ‘reunion’ show (eh)
+ Social outcast (twice)
+ Bloc party (hooray for free tickets!)
+ Labradford (opened for Stereolab once)

I’ve actually restricted this list to the good, or at least memorable, performances; other bands I’ve seen would predominantly be hateful and/or boring opening acts for the shows mentioned above. Also, I’m sure I’m forgetting a couple; if I remember them, I will be sure to surreptitiously insert them into the list and pretend they were there in the first place, heh heh.

Unrelated! I may have a cunning plan as far as displaying Sidore-chan’s pics in the interim between now and ‘Kitten with a Whip!’ going back up. Details are, of course, forthcoming

Sdtrk: ‘Microtronics 13’ by Broadcast

So yeah, as you may have suspected from the Subj.title and soundtrack choice, I decided I was well enough to go witness Broadcast on Sat eve. Was it worth it? Indeed it was!

Jeff, Tim and I left got to the Magic Stick round 8.30, as the doors were due to open at 9, and we didn’t want to have to wait in a potential queue that stretched round the block, like when the faint played there. Oddly enough, there wasn’t a line at all! Not that we were complaining, of course.
As I’d stated, the doors (meaning, the iron gate at the top of the steps that lead up to the venue) were supposed to open at 9, but they didn’t actually do so until almost 9.30, which was weird, as the Stick is usually spot on with their ‘door open’ time. That’s the sort of silly bollocks that we’d come to expect from seeing shows at St.Andrews in downtown Detroit, back when 90% of the good shows played there, which is something that hasn’t happened since the mid-to-late Nineties. But St.Andrews used to do that all the time — they’d say ‘Doors open at 8pm’, and they’d open like an hour later, sometimes longer. I tell you, waiting for whoever to get their shit together and open up when you’re physically waiting out in the weather was truly the Apex of Fun. But I digress.

So we get upstairs and grab a table off to the right. About ten minutes after that, the merchandise guy materialised, offering vinyl, T-shirts, and the coveted volume 2 of ‘Microtronics’. Broadcast has always been a band that have worn their influences proudly on their polyester sleeves, and the Microtronics series is no exception. Basically, it’s their collision of the heyday of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the Manhattan Research Incorporated years of Raymond Scott, and music from science class 8mm filmstrips. Pretty much standard Broadcast fare, only each track is an instrumental averaging about two minutes in length. Plus, the art is done ‘in the library style’, meaning the 3inch Cds look as if they belong on the shelves of a broadcast (ho ho) studio’s library. All of these factors add up to Cds that are required purchases. Besides, they’re a snip at $8..

Round 10pm, the opening act Gravenhurst, from Wales, by their own admission, took the stage. Labelmates of Broadcast, they’re best described as ‘competent’, and ‘indie’, and unfortunately, ‘nothing to write home about’. They had a number of fans amidst the crowd, as signified by the number of ‘wooooo!!‘s between numbers, but you could also chalk that up to people getting their pints in. Unremarkable? Yeah, pretty much. Good try though, lads.

Broadcast went on round 11. Trish, James, and the two new/fill-in blokes played to a by-now full house, performing songs from ‘Tender buttons’, and a couple dating back to ‘The noise made by people’, and going on for about an hour. I had a couple of misgivings when ‘Tender buttons’ came out, as former guitarist Tim Fenton had left the group, bringing the number of original members to two. Not only that, but the recent release had more songs based around a drum machine. Don’t get me wrong, Odhinn knows I love my drum machines, but to me, it initially didn’t jibe with what i considered the ‘original Broadcast sound’, despite the fact that you can hear the change from ‘Work and non work’ up to now. So initially, I was like, I dunno.. Thankfully, they didn’t let me down at all live. Although it was weird to see everyone save the drummer using Roland PC-70s, instead of more traditional analogue keyboards..
Much like New order during the Eighties, Broadcast had to do the double duty thing with their instruments: Jam played synth as well as his bass, the New Guitar Guy played synth as well, and when Trish wasn’t playing her synth, she had this odd little guitar which boasted a large headstock and a shortish neck. (I wish I could remember what it was called, as the name was right there on the pickguard, but I do remember it said ‘London’ beneath the name.) The fill-in lads did a really good job as well; any drummer that can manage to get through their extended concert version of ‘Drums on fire’ and not literally burst into flames can definitely hold his own. And during the encore, they played a really ace version of ‘I found the F’. Nice!
Between their darkly psychedelic Motorik sound and their customary visual backdrop, which consisted of film stock from Sixties and Seventies-era science class filmstrips, it was an excellent show! But it’s Broadcast; you simply can’t go wrong by them..

The three of us stuck round after the performance, cos I wanted to get autographs, like I had done for the past two times Broadcast visited. There was a bit of a wait — Trish and Jam were set upon by four people apiece — but it was definitely worth it. I requisitioned Trish first, and as soon as she got a good look at me, she exclaimed, ‘I remember you! You’re the one with the ace name!’ She even managed to pull Jam’s attention away for a couple of seconds from his own signing frenzy to notice me.
‘It’s something-cat, right?’ she asked.
‘Yep.. Dave. Davecat,’ I replied. ‘I was rather happy to hear that you had a song on the new album called “Black cat”!’ Which is entirely true, as it’s one of my favourite songs on that release, and the title just makes it better.
While she was signing my copy of Microtronics v2, I asked her about that strange guitar of hers, and if she’d found it at a car boot sale. No, you can still find them in shops here and there in England. She mentioned it was just her size!
I got James to sign as well, and asked him, ‘Everytime you guys come to town, you’re missing a member, what’s going on with that?’
‘Well, Tim left cos he wanted to go and do stuff on his own.’
‘Was the split amicable?’
‘Not really.’
‘Ergh.’
He also mentioned that he wanted to do either two more volumes of Microtronics, or four more volumes of Microtronics. Sounds like a plan!

They’re fine people, Trish and Jam. Wouldn’t hear a word against ’em. Come back soon!

Sdtrk: ‘Rock me booa’ by Merzbow

I have to apologise for the lack of recent posting or updates and sundry, as I’ve been attempting to keep a rather low profile lately. It seems that the recent Salon.com article has not only produced bandwidth spikes the likes of which neither Shi-chan nor I have ever seen, but also a passel of radical feminists are now literally shrieking for my blood, as I, more than any other man in recorded history, am singlehandedly responsible for the subjugation of all women, simply because I’m an iDollator. It’s True! Ahh, notoriety. Is it Good or Bad? I can’t tell from here…
At any rate, the longer, unadulterated version (with a better title) of Meghan’s excellent article is now online here. Read it! It’s markedly better, and if you’re anything of an open-minded individual who was perhaps unfortunately led away from reason by knife-wielding feminazis*, the full article makes a hell of a lot more sense. It’s literally like watching ‘Blade runner’, then seeing the Director’s cut version — it’s like two different films. Well, stories.

On a more acquisitional note; yesterday, I managed to score an inexpensive copy of the Tetsujin 28 box set — just over $15, compared to the $28 – $30 that most online shops want for it — and my copy of Merzbow’s ‘SCSI duck‘ Cd arrived through the post today, which I’m listening to right this very minute. So far, it’s rather sonically penetrating, which is what I require out of my Japanese power-electronic artists. Good job, Masami-san!
And thanx to a benefactor, yesterday I got a new computer! It’s a Toshiba Satellite M55-S135, that I kinda had to jump through some retail hoops to obtain. I’d recount the story here, but it’s a bitter one, and I’m trying to maintain a rare good mood, here. But the laptop boasts a 80 GB harddrive, 512 MB of RAM, and a DVD burner. It’s got some other bollocks as well, which I’ve not paid a whole lot of attention to, as the three qualities I’d mentioned are the selling points for this difference engine for me. So that’s also a factor in my recent silence; not only have been adding all my old software, I’ve also been trying to configure the look and feel of the fecker, so that it’s similar to my old machine. Colour me satisfied!
However, I have to say without reservation, that touchpads are fucking shite. Ergh. I’ll be getting a mouse for this bad boy really soon..

Annnd back to Synthetik women (heh; that didn’t take long, but I stick to what I know), I ran across a photo on 4chan recently of two Japanese lasses seated on a train. They were twins; one was Synthetik, and the other was Organik, and they were both dressed in the height of Elegant Gothic Lolita fashion. Whoever posted the photo didn’t give any names or details, and as a consequence, I had to repost it in the Request board, to find out what the source was, the lasses’ names, anything. A couple of days later, someone provided the URL http://absolutmetropolis.com, and after duly scouring that site, I learned that the name of the Organik lass was Marie Honda, who worked in conjunction with a doll maker by the name of Erimo. So after a number of minutes grabbing Google Japan by the lapels and shaking the information out it, I successfully located Erimo’s site. I have to say, his work is overall rather fab, but my interest is especially piqued by his life-sized Dolls. But that goes without saying!

left, Marie Honda; right, Marie Honda

Right, I’m off to meet up with Penda, for our (mostly) monthly dinner rendezvous. I am having ridiculous cravings for tendon and that soba with the dipping sauce right now

*I don’t use that term too often, so it really means a lot here

EDIT (05 June 2008): The Pandagon, err, ‘people’, have deleted the above-linked post for reasons unknown. Thankfully it’s archived on the Internet Wayback Machine, so you can view the baseless vitriol here

Sdtrk: ‘Beethoviana’ by Wendy Carlos

from the ‘No good’ files: Robert Moog, pioneer of the modular analogue synthesiser that bears his name, passed away yesterday.

Bob’s Body Leaves Us

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — August 21, 2005 — Bob died this afternoon at his home in Asheville, N.C. He was 71. Bob was diagnosed with brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme or GBM) in late April 2005. He had received both radiation treatment and chemotherapy to help combat the disease. He is survived by his wife, Ileana, his five children, Laura Moog Lanier, Matthew Moog, Michelle Moog-Koussa, Renee Moog, and Miranda Richmond; and the mother of his children, Shirleigh Moog.

Bob was warm and outgoing. He enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. He especially appreciated what Ileana referred to as “the magical connection” between music-makers and their instruments.

It goes without saying that Bob Moog changed the shape of music for the better. He will definitely be missed, but his legacy will live on

Sdtrk: ‘Fallait pas écraser la queue du chat’ by Clothilde

Yup, Jeff & I caught the Dears at the Magic stick again this Sun past, and we successfully managed to drag along Mike as well (he’s even more of a shut-in than I am, if that’s even physically possible). It was a really ace show, and easily better than the last time we saw them..

Departing from Le Jeff’s digs in eighty degree heat (great, Summer’s fuckin’ here already), we reached the locale, and simply walked right upstairs, as there wasn’t really any sort of queue to speak of, which we chalked that up to the fact that it was a Sunday. Having paid for our tickets, we were greeted by a trio of lasses who draped these backstage-pass-like things round our necks, like we’d just set foot on Fantasy Island or something. ‘Welcome to the show!’ said the lasses. ‘Why, thank you!’ I replied. Turns out that the Dears have signed out with that crazy Dentyne ‘Live it Loud’ service, where you can purchase a Cd, recorded directly from the soundboard, of the very concert you just saw. Despite all the corporate trappings, it’s actually a pretty ace idea. See the show, wait 15min, leave the venue with a copy of the show on disk. The passes that we were awarded with were actually contest pieces, as this bloke in a Dentyne shirt checked them under a little UV light. If the pass said you were a winner, you won a free concert Cd (normally $15). None of us were winners, but the checker bloke said we would have another chance if we had any Dentyne on us. We failed in that regard as well. ALAS ALACK

I neglected to mention the doors opened at 8pm. So it was rather surprising that the first opening act, Marjorie fair, went on about 17min after 8. Quickest start-up ever?! None of us had ever heard of them before, and were happy to discover that they didn’t suck. They’re a bit like the Dears, but not nearly as intense.. quite pleasant in a gloomy sort of way. Not bad! Shame their set was so short — they couldn’t have played more than five songs..
The following act, the Shout out louds, weren’t bad either. Three blokes and a rather milkmaidy-looking lass from Sweden, that had a bit of a Nordic pop / Remington super 60 vibe to them. I’d also say some of their tunes sounded a wee bit like New order as well, but I think that was due to their Linn drum. The lead singer explained that their drummer was absent, as he was getting married, so they borrowed a drum machine. Honesty really is the best policy. Midway through their set, George, the drummer from the Dears, took over, and his crazy talents helped to thicken up their sound. But I liked the Linn drum..

I believe the Dears took the stage, to the strains of Yoko Ono’s ‘Let me count the ways’, around quarter to midnight. This marks the fourth time Jeff & I have seen them: once in Ann arbor, once in Windsor, and once before at the Magic stick. They can’t stop touring! In all likelihood, they’ll probably be bringing this leg of the tour to a close, as Natalia was noticeably a couple of months preggers with a bun in the oven. Or a baby, one or the other. The band were in fine form, playing a couple of their soon-to-be-released songs, a good portion of material from ‘No cities left’, and a few songs from ‘End of a Hollywood bedtime story’, which I think is my favourite album of theirs. Murray even had us all clapping in time to ‘Heartless romantic’ during the encore..

After the show was over, Jeff stood in line to get his pre-ordered post-concert Cd, and as I was relatively skint, I bought two Dears buttons instead. We’d noticed that the venue was half-empty, which, in a way, is kinda nice, as you’re not packed in like sardines, but hopefully the performers didn’t think it was just a crappy night. This is why you don’t play Sunday eves! But all in all, we’d agreed it was an excellent show, bringing our party’s total number of skyward-pointing thumbs to three.
Well done, the Dears! Now go home and get some sleep!