“Experimental Pop” (Used 45 times)

Some best music and songs of October on a netlabel Clinical Archives.

01 - dmyra - Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat (Robert Zimmerman) (ca472) - 4:38
02 - NOW - MONOTONE PLUG SUGGESTION (ca473) - 3:41
03 - Stefano Ferrian (with Sandro Marinoni, Stefano Roncarolo) - the grid (ca474) - 3:44
04 - MONC - Sierpita (ca475) - 5:10

Total time: 17:12

Artists: dmyra (Costa Rica), NOW (United Kingdom), Stefano Ferrian (w/ Sandro Marinoni, Stefano Roncarolo) (Italy), MONC (Argentina)

This week the catalog of Portugal based netlabel You Are Not Stealing Records was added to the Free Music Archive.

The following mix pulls some easy favorites from many of the YANSR albums on the FMA. You will want to jump around in the mix to find items you enjoy, because a broad spectrum of genres are covered.

These include Ambient, Ambient Electronic, Avant-Garde, Blues, Chip Music, Classical, Composed Music, Electronic, Experimental, Experimental Pop, Field Recordings, Folk, Goth, Indie-Rock, Industrial, Lounge, Metal, New Wave, Noise, Noise-Rock, Polka, Post-Rock, Punk, Reggae - Dub, Rock, Rockabilly, Sound Collage, and Surf.

That's a lot of ground for one label! Enjoy!

Dipping a few months back into our archive, I’m thrilled to be able to share the complete recording of the wonderful Nat Baldwin's solo set from May 22nd set at ISSUE (a bill he shared with the also-great Woody Sullender). Beyond being one my favorite songwriters to come around in the last decade (ignoring the somewhat strange arbitrariness of cataloguing albums based on calendar years, his Most Valuable Player album would have almost certainly taken the spot as my favorite album of 08, if I made such lists…which I do), Baldwin also wields his contrabass like an inextricable extension of his own body. At times, the connection between self and instrument feels so intimate and natural that concepts like ‘virtuoso’ feel irrelevant and platitudinous – like saying someone has a virtuosic ability to see with their eyes or walk down the street. As a result, evocations of Arthur Russell are rather difficult to avoid – indeed, Baldwin closed the set with a gorgeous take on Russell’s classic “A Little Lost” – but it’s more of a kindred spirit-type connection; Baldwin has certainly developed a wholly unique voice of his own.

Also like Russell, Baldwin manages to instill his haunting and effortlessly approachable tunes with an inseparable and organic layer of continuous experimentation that, rather than call attention to itself, pushes and propels the songs forward with a subtle but unmistakable tension – injecting the compositions with an alluring honesty and grounded vulnerability. The brief but viscerally emotional sections of free improvisation that commence and bifurcate the set (obligatory mention of his tenure as a pupil of Anthony Braxton) coalesce seamlessly into his structured songs, which in turn flow, one into the next, over a gentle cascade of perpetual motion eighth notes. Conventional demarcations of regular time are not so much evaded as made unnoticeable, and the elastic vocal melodies stream over the tops of the imperceptible bar-lines with an elegant freedom of movement. Time maintains a steady and immediate presence in the music yet the annoying but often difficult-to-avoid human tendency to insert artificial divisions remains refreshingly absent. Lovely stuff, for sure.

If you're looking for him around town, check his August 21 show at the Silent Barn with Dead Western, Skeletons, Little Women, and Nine 11 Thesaurus.

I was at work on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 when I got the news that legendary drummer Steve Reid had passed away.  Not even a week after the death of Malcolm McLaren, my heart was heavy that day.  With all of the amazing accomplishments that Reid achieved during the course of his life (as well as the wealth of talented musicians he played with), I can't help but think of his collaborations with Kieran Hebden a.k.a. Four Tet.  Their conversations between drums and electronics were something really special and it caused me of have Four Tet on the brain while Reid was on my heart.

It was about five years ago that I went to see an in-store appearance by Four Tet at Other Music in New York City.  Surrounded by an arsenal of keyboards, drum machines and effect boxes, it was there that I witnessed first hand his love for improvisation.  Even while performing songs like "Smile Around The Face" or "Sun Drums and Soil," the random bursts of noise threatened to run some onlookers out of the place.  It was as if Hebden was saying to the crowd, "If one of you refer to what I do as 'folktronica' one more time..."

For all of the melody and beauty his recordings possess, it was clear that Four Tet wasn't interested in his performances sounding just like the record.  There was an element of "OUT" that was being unleashed.  He wanted the music to get "free."  By that rationale, it was only a matter of time before he would cross paths with Steve Reid.  I will forever be in debt to Kieran Hebden: it was through him that I was introduced to Reid's music.  Both volumes of The Exchange Sessions remain phenomenal recordings in my mind, these one-take moments of unbridled energy.  You can tell the chemistry that Hebden and Reid had together just by listening to those albums.  They didn't have to exchange words; all they had to do was meet up in the music.

"Angel Echoes" is the opening cut from Four Tet's latest album, There Is Love In You.  This version was recorded live in the studios of KEXP earlier this year and aptly showcases Hebden's on-the-fly performance style.  The beats that usher us in to this selection slowly give way to sparkling tones and vocal cut-ups, making this song one of his most touching and poignant selections.  Put this one on and think of the living legacy of Steve Reid's music as well as the continuing tradition of rhythmic freedom that Four Tet provides within his own...

The city blocks have the hypnotic power to lull you off to sleep. Don't do it. Do not slip away into the sleep. It's too dangerous. You can't sleep on the train. Wake up. Vulnerable, too vulnerable, wake up, missing your stop, wake up, traveling to unknown districts, and then the startling wake up call, el despertar.

The experimental electronic and rock album Ruptures by DIY-Note is now in the Free Music Archive.