Audioasis album review KRGA – Magic Wand June

by Rachel LeBlanc

In the future, when we live in space stations, leading simpler lives with a higher level of consciousness, I imagine the music produced will be much like the music already created by Seattle’s KRGA. The songs contained on these two albums, Magic Wand and June, are highly ethereal, droning vibrations layered upon pulsating electronic manipulations layered upon vibrations layered upon otherworldly sounds resulting from the crossing sound waves.

The force of this album is captivating. As with other drone music, I feel gripped in a meditative state, the sustaining notes taking hold of my imagination. Different from other drone acts though, KRGA’s music focuses on higher octaves rather than deep bass lines. Variation is the key, with the language of machines spoken throughout: beeps, static, signals, feedback, reverberation.

At times, beautiful atmospheres are created, particularly in “DM.” Other moments, if you are held close enough, induce a discomfort in a subliminally psychological way, much like a David Lynch soundtrack. This album is definitely not for everyone, nor do I think it is intended to be. But the composition contained in these albums, of pushing a guitar to what it can generate and further probing to what level you can take the produced sound waves, grant them at least a try.

The man behind this experimentation is local musician Kristian Garrard. Garrard is not new to the music world; this solo project is only the newest edition to a growing list of acts. He’s played drums in math-rock group Joules, has a solo acoustic act which makes the rounds at local venues frequently, and a few other appearances in groups, particularly of the non-mainstream sort. Availability of the KRGA tracks is strategically limited. Released on local atypical label Aphonia Recordings, as with the rest of their catalog’s releases, the songs are provided through digital download only, rather than a tangible source.

My word of advice: listen through headphones.

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Monday News Roundup

• Today, Apple becomes the third technological superpower to announce their cloud-based music service, fittingly titled iCloud. The new service will let iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners stream music from their personal iTunes libaries on their various devices. iCloud is free, but for $24.99 users can purchase iMatch, a utility that scans your music library (full of old 128kbps MP3 CD rips) and replaces it with higher-quality 256kbps AAC digital files, provided the music is in the iTunes Store. iCloud is the only heretofore announced cloud service that is free, and it’s not limited to music: iCloud also allows its users to share applications, photos, documents, calendars, and virtually anything else on Apple devices. Users who sign up automatically get 5GB of free storage. Purchased music and applications are already stored in the iTunes Store, so those files do not count against the storage. Viva la revolution.

• Following their successful reunion show at last month’s Sasquatch! Music Festival, 90′s alt-rockers Archers of Loaf are continuing their revival campaign by announcing reissues of all four of their studio albums, accompanied by a North American tour that, for now, culminates in a September 9th show at Seattle’s own Neumo’s venue. No word on new songs has yet been received, although the reissue of Icky Mettle will include expanded and remastered material, including early b-sides. The album will be available digitally, on CD, and on limited edition blue vinyl. Preorders are already live over at Merge.

• Zach Condon’s Beirut project has been slowly waking from its slumber, with a new tour and a newly announced album (no release date yet). They’ve even played some new songs live, but today’s the first day we can hear a studio version of their new single. The song’s “East Harlem,” and is available for purchase at all forthcoming Beirut shows. If he’s not stopping in your town, you can still hear the track streaming on Soundcloud, via One Thirty BPM.

Beirut – “East Harlem”

• Melancholy folk singer Marissa Nadler‘s new self-titled was entirely funded through Kickstarter, an impressive achievement for the Boston native, considering she’s yet to break into the mainstream. But Marissa Nadler should change all that, finding her in top form. We’ve already heard lead single “Baby, I Will Leave You In The Morning,” but now you can stream the album in its entirety over at NPR. Trust us, it’s well worth the time.

• M83 frontman Anthony Gonzalez has been elusive concerning details about his band’s follow-up to 2008′s gorgeous Saturdays=Youth, but in a recent interview with Spin, Gonzalez let loose some information about his project’s upcoming full-length. Some of the juiciest tidbits: the release will be a double album, interspersing short ambient/acoustic interludes between longer pop-driven tracks, featuring guests like Zola Jesus and Beck. Morgan Kibby, Gonzalez’s singing partner on Youth will also be on the album and subsequent tour, though her parts will reportedly be toned down, and Gonzalez’s own singing will be amplified. A release date, title, and tracklist have yet to be announced.

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Decibel Festival 2010 Sunday

Decibel Finale crowd during Monolake (photo by +Russ)

Mary Anne Hobbs (photo by Dave Lichterman)

Mary Anne Hobbs (photo by Dave Lichterman)

Plastician (photo by Dave Lichterman)

Fax (photo by +Russ)

Neumos during Luke Hess's set (photo by Nic Launceford)

Monolake (photo by +Russ)

Tarik Barri (photo by Philip LaRose)

Monolake and Barri (photo by Nic Launceford)

Pépé Bradock (photo by +Russ)

Techno Gnome (photo by +Russ)

Decibel Finale crowd (photo by Nic Launceford)

One of my favorite acts from last year’s festival was DJ Mary Anne Hobbs, and I was excited to see that she would be back this year. So, bucking the late trend of the past couple days, I made it down to Seattle Center just in time for the start of Hobbs’ set at dB in the Park. Hobbs mixed hip-hop, dubstep, house, and heavy techno, and proved skillful at using a sudden scratch break and pause to change up the rhythm and keep the crowd excited. Unlike many of the DJs and electronic artists, Hobbs was a lot of fun to watch: she was always bouncing a bit and often stepped back after setting something up to jump and wave her arms excitedly. Just before ending her set, she ran out into the crowd to dance and give high fives (I got a high five!), then got on the mic to thank the audience, saying she loved Seattle and would move here in a minute. We can only hope to be so fortunate.

Next up was Plastician, who relied on heavy slow beats in a hip-hop/dubstep style, generally slower than I usually like, but it was still good for dancing and he did drop some faster beats in the mix too. I was particularly amused when I recognized a vocal sample and realized after a couple minutes that it was the refrain to Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen,” not something I’d have expected. It was a very good afternoon, but I had to leave at 6 to get dinner before the night’s final shows.

The audience at Neumos was fairly light when I arrived just after 9:30 for the Decibel Finale: Dub My Soul showcase, no doubt due in part to it being a rainy Sunday evening as well as the festival’s end. Fax was onstage playing something with a guitar melody that sounded like a remix of a good rock instrumental, which was cool. I liked what I heard of his set, and the next artist, Luke Hess, played some good deep house as well, though it felt a bit monotonous at times.

There was a clean break when it was time for Monolake to set up, though he did start a basic beat right away and did not take long to start building it up. The music began with a sparse, spacey sound accompanied by spare black-and-white images resembling the starry sky or virtual matrices. Although the music was danceable, the mood of room also chilled out, with the audience reverting to bobbing in place rather than dancing. As I mentioned in Wednesday’s write-up, Monolake proved to be a strong contrast to Lusine: where Lusine’s music was warm, breezy, and welcoming, Monolake’s was dark, ominous, and cold. Midway through the set he included a bit of sampled dreamy vocals, a hint of warm keyboard chords, but always with a sense of vastness.

Monolake’s music was a soundtrack for the classic arcade game Tempest, music for vector-line graphics, and the visuals by Tarik Barri were more complex than that but still perfectly suited. While AudioPixel’s LED displays from last night’s D25 Showcase may have been the most exciting visual effect, Barri’s images were the best visual accompaniment to music that I saw all weekend. At the end of the set, Barri included closing credits for the video and audio technicians, which I thought was very classy. Perhaps Monolake and Barri should’ve been in an Optical Showcase, though then there wouldn’t have been dancing—and as Monolake built up intricate structures and faster rhythms, the dancing built up too.

I want to note that I did step into Sole Repair a couple times before and after Monolake’s set to check out the Bubblin’ Showcase, which with its mix of disco and soul seemed very aptly named, and it looked and sounded like a good time. However, I couldn’t abandon the finale in Neumos, where Pépé Bradock brought the mood up with a brighter, warmer sound, upbeat and airy, and kept the club dancing until close. It was a very satisfying ending to a fantastic five days at Decibel Festival 2010. Here’s to next year.

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Bumbershoot Music Lounge 2011, Sunday Shelby Earl

photos by Jim Bennett

Shelby Earl is deeply rooted in the Seattle music scene Coach Drawstring, whether it’s booking nike air max 2011 mens, mentoring, or promoting bands. Now, she’s adding to the flavor of the bands she’s helped Nike Air Max 90, in the form of her debut album Burn the Boats. In addition to her own girl-and-guitar indie-folk artistry, she’s teamed up with a myriad of collaborators for the release, including members of The Long Winters, SHIM, Telekinesis, and former Fleet Foxes. The resulting musical effort is an accumulation of songs about seeking lost loves, stretching for the unattainable, and “waking up one’s own life after a long slumber.” The latter metaphor is particularly apt for Earl herself, who left her high-stakes corporate music industry job in favor of a position as a waitress, in order to focus on her music. Her commitment to becoming a full-time musician came on the heels of the breakup of her last band, The Hope, during which time she played a slew of solo shows in Seattle and New York. The enthusiastic responses to these shows prompted her shift in careers, and culminated in the (Long Winters’ frontman) John Roderick-produced debut. Now, Earl’s summer tour continues with a stop at KEXP’s secret stage at the Bumbershoot Music Lounge.

Shelby Earl put on a delightful set of alt-country tinged singer-songwriter ballads, all lyrically related to relationships and love in some way or another. Sometimes this topic was explored in a comical, uplifting manner. “22 (You’ve Got Me Undone)” was about an innocent rock & roll crush. “Legend of Persephone” was about a new relationship in which “one person hadn’t ‘gone as far’ as the other person.” In these songs, Shelby Earl appeared to notice the slight humor involved in these relationship miscues – not only do they make for interesting stories, but this is part of what makes human romantics so consistently new and adventurous. Several other songs were about pure heartbreak, such as “The Seer,” a slow-burner in which wall colors were used as a metaphor for the status of a relationship. Lighthearted or wistfully mournful, Shelby Earl provided listeners with a relaxing midday set of songs.

Sonic Roundup 5 25

• Eccentric glam-pop group of Montreal stopped by the AV Club’s studios to record a cover of The White Stripes‘ “Fell in Love with a Girl” nike air max ltd mens, but far from turning the track into a bubbly acid jam, Kevin Barnes and co. stripped down to a four-piece and bared their garage-rock teeth. It may be the most un-of Montreal song ever.

• Unsung chillwave king Teen Daze stunned with last year’s Four More Years EP monster beats dr dre headphones, and now the first taste of the forthcoming A Silent Planet EP has hit the web. Entitled “Surface” and drenched in reverb and delay air max 2011, Teen Daze crafts a tune that would make Washed Out proud.

The Only Son

,Monster DiddyBeats

>> I'm aware that as September encroaches, S/S 11 will be on everybody's minds and I'm the slow mo still catching up on the A/W 10-11 collections I saw back in Feb-April.  From press days, I still happen to have a mound of stuff to go up that is of the autumn winter ilk.  One of the gems that I unearthed from press day folders was The Only Son.  I tend to know exactly what I'm going to see when I'm doing London press days but The Only Son, designed by Bangkok-based Au Ekbutr Udomphol (yes, I had to copy and paste that...) was a surprising new find.  Well, because there aren't many Bangkok-based labels with British press representation and because I loved what I saw in the cuts of the clothes.  Udomphol has experience at Ksubi, Sass & Bide (he studied in Sydney's Institute of Technology) and Imitation of Christ in New York and then came back to Thailand to start The Only Son with a debut collection that impressively includes - shoes, bags, jewellery as well as both menswear and womenswear. 

Whilst there are nods towards androgyny, the differentiation between men and women are still well defined through the deconstructed tailoring.  That buzz phrase 90s minimalism supposedly is an influence but there's a richness about the clothes, especially seen in the scarlet coat where the detailing comes in abundance - a slit here, a fold in the double layered-lapels, a criss-cross vent at the back - construction a plenty that means the effect is anything by minimal.  This sort of cutting carries over to the other pieces of outerwear in the collection with zippers and pockets accentuating other parts of the collection.  I also love the asymmetrical length of the dresses/skirts, cut to mid-calf. 

(With ASOS studded jeans, vintage shoes, Fannie Schiavoni chainmail glove)

Can't quite get over how complex this coat is in terms of its construction... if I'm to wear a dress coat, this one would survive all on its own as a sole layer...

(With Emma Cook for Topshop boots,wholesale coach handbags, Victim dress)

Looking at the rest of the collection,Coach Backpack black, again, minimal or muted don't come to mind especially with the introduction of the purples, satins, knitwear, prints on top of all the jolts and jumps in pattern making... then it's all weighted down with the utilitarian backpack, the sturdy shoes and the nail-ridden jewellery...  

Burning Up!

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Following on from what I was saying about unavoidable traps and therapy groups, I feel as though a short and sharp conversation needs to be had about Sandra Backlund again.  I posted her collection in situ in her showroom but of course on a live, human being and photographed by Peter Gehrke, it's a completely different kettle of fish we're dealing with (as well as two extra new pieces!).  Her work was flooring us long before Tweeters were even in existence, hence why routinely every six months a set of images will always surface on this blog (and on Diane's too... just call us hardcore fangirls) but now that handy 140-character messages are available, I think tweets tagged with #backlund and linked to tinyurls, could go something like this and we could all have a jolly Twitter time weighing in on Backlund's work...

"New collection S/S 10 images devastatingly good..."

"Yay for poseur swimwear that absolutely cannot get wet,nike air max 2012!"

"Yay to anybody bolshy enough to get away with knittwear swimsuit and nothing else..."

"We've all had enough of merely Backlund ogling... where does one buy this stuff"

"News on the grapevine is that Browns Focus is going to be stocking her,monster dr dre headphones!"

"Eggcited about Browns stocking Backlund but pennies are not quite stacking high enough..."

"Need to invent a sub genre of knitwear purely for Backlund...knittech?"

"Twisty Fabric Lego?"

"Protective Yarning?"

"These white armour pieces are surely the key to successfully avoiding getting bullied by gangs of 12 yr olds"

"How did #backlund make upward square pleats work?"

"Hang on there... pretty sure these weren't in the showroom..."

"What IS this corset and sole arm cuff made of? Wood? Plastic?"

"Is it photoshopped on?!?!"

"Nope, it's from Backlund's 60s hallway wallpaper collaged into the corset and arm warmer!"

"I don't BELIEEEEEEEEEEEVE it...Victor Meldrew style..."

"If I attempted to do the same thing, I'm thinking Neil Buchanan would hunt me down and say 'Bad Art Attack!'

"Whereas Backlund would get featured on the show... not that she even knows what the heck Art Attack is."

"This is not an Art Attack.  These are just stupendous..."