“Various Peppermill Records” (Used 6 times)

"Long Ago, A Rodent As Big As A Bull Lurked In South America" was the headline of a New York Times article on Josephoartigasia the week that Rafter contributed to 52 Weeks (Peppermill Records).

Each week for a year, starting with the winter soltice of 2007, 52 artists like Mochipet, Binärpilot, Daedelus, Jason Forrest, and Gangpol & Mit each took a turn composing songs inspired by that week's news. After seven days, they passed their creation on to the next artist to pick up from where they left off (Rafter's tune feeds off of Nathan Michel's fantastic "Time To Fire Isiah". The entire project is divided into four seasonal albums: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. 

Rafter is a San Diego-based producer who runs Singing Serpent studios and has been releasing albums for Asthmatic Kitty since 2007. A remixed version of "Long Ago" appeared on Rafer's 2010 album Animal Feelings under the name "No F**cking Around." Also check out the accompanying remix album, and the video for the song after the jump.

Oddio Overplay first introduced us to Digi G'Alessio, aka Cristiano Crisci of the group A Smile for Timbuctu. The prolific Italian artist shines across a range of releases, from the irresistibly sunny downtempo beats on Love, Beats and Piña Coladas to the slightly darker/more experimental electronics of The Rain Book.

With his newest release The Cinar Session (his first on the Bedroom Research netlabel), Digi tries his hand at the trending dubstep phenomenon with a slightly ironic twist that his label terms "Dumstep" or "Spagetthi Wobble". Whatever you wanna call it, it's really good!

Thanks to PK at The Peppermill for the tip on this one -- PK's been delving deep into bass music (in part through the 2999 project) and has been digging up some incredible stuff!

A nugget of not-so-distant history from 2006:

My band politely opened the show and played a decent, three song set that didn't have anyone jumping out of their skin but generated some polite comments afterwards. Mordstrahlen, the eastern European chopped-and-screwed hip hop cdj alias of Shawn Greenlee played between all the sets as people perused the liquor table full of Old Grandad of an indeterminate age that my friend, the estate cleaner/tomb raider, had found in he attic of someone recently deceased. The attic conditions didn't prove to be too kind on Old Grandad's finer notes and nuances so a mildly distressed, kerosene-smelling crowd politely waited for the next action-adventure rock band to play...and play they did.

One particular person was so excited about the playing that it suggested to him that the plastic lawn nativity virgin mother that was hanging around was not being smashed with enough garden hoes. Person, who happened to be the propietor of the space, took his trusty garden hoe and in the upswing, knocked the head off of the sprinkler, letting a violent black cloud of warehouse water out on the crowd, band, and vintage equipment. He disappeared and water kept filling the space for about twenty minutes while I ran several blocks down to find a wet-dry vac from my studio.

This was the second out of five acts set to play, two being on tour from Europe: Jason Forrest (aka DJ Donna Summer) with his band, and About from the Netherlands. We certainly couldn't have brought these nice people all the way out to not play, so we strung some extension cords (on the ceiling, for there were already a couple inches of water on the floor) and some lights to a part to the warehouse where there was a spot of raised cement about four inches high where a band could conceivably fit, completely dry. They fit, and they performed for the remainder of the crowd who danced enthusiastically in several inches of water. Nobody was electrocuted.

Anyway, moral of the story: however cold, bleak and socially anesthetizing this winter might be, check out Jason's take from the Peppermill Records compilation "Winter" and remember that you're probably not ankle deep in water right now.