Author Archive for shaun bateman

10
May
2008
tags: The Paper Chase.

this is what you are

Saturdays are oft great for rediscovery. Take today, for instance-I randomly re-found(after many re-losings) one of my favorite albums fr0m 2006, The Paper Chase’s Now You Are One Of Us.

A beautiful, glorious and heady mess of noise, unbridled terror and equally unbridled hope, Now You Are One Of Us stands as a testament to modern fear and anxiety wrapped in childhood night terrors.

The live show, consisting of John Congleton (he who IS the paper chase) and his Texan (definitely NOT Canadian, no sir no way no how) band-mates, exists solely to take the fear ever-present in the Paper Chase’s studio recordings to a level of full-on confrontation (Congleton makes being in the front at a Paper Chase show an incredibly uneasy experience) that ultimately leads in an insane amount of sweat and catharsis. I’ve only seen them once, and it was on the 06 tour, and by god it ranks in my top 5 shows of all time.

I put a lot of painful and abusive relationships, with girls and other monsters, to bed on the night of this show. Coffins were nailed, hammers were swung, and faces were wet with more than sweat. It was a fucking wonderful thing.

All of that came flooding back today as I passed over listening to the Santogold record (yes, AGAIN) for a bit of the re-memory trail.

The Paper Chase: You’ll Never Take Me Alive

This song inhabits some of the same territory as the newer ADULT. recordings, in my sonic outlook-there’s a lot of off-putting atonality, and in that a fuck-ton of beauty. In the movie Juno, when Ellen Page’s titular character makes the proclamation “I bought another Sonic Youth album and it sucked. It was just noise”, she’s making both a grave mistake and a telling error. Noise and beauty aren’t mutually exclusive; if anything, they’re wrapped in one another. You have to get through the noise to find the joy-hell, as big ol’ Ben Gibbard reminded us ages ago, there are patterns in static. Patterns are familiar. Familiarity is comfort. Hence, the bliss that Congleton and company bring with “You’ll Never Take Me Alive”, a call to the coming apocalypse and a reminder of our own ticking-by mortality. In the time it takes you to read this, to listen to this song, you’re closer to death. Simple fact. And, in coming to terms with that, Congleton’s uplift, the rallying cry behind the entire album, the call of “we will show this cruel world we were here”, loses its’ place on the “there’s no I in TEAMWORK” plaques at your local office supply store and becomes damn near life-changing.

The Paper Chase have a new record coming out soon-ish, I think. You can do some exploring and purchasing for yourself at the official Paper Chase site.

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07
May
2008
tags: Nico, Pocketknife, Cousin Cole.

everybody will help you

Sometimes, the most simply beautiful stuff ends up in my email.

A long-time Resonator reader, DJ Koob, pointed me, earlier this morning, towards this: what has turned out to be, in my listening thus far, a spectacular, treated with fragile-hearts and careful-hands, set of reworkings of simply classic singer-songwriter stuff. The version of Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” (don’t chuckle or huff, indie kids, you know that Win Butler dreams at night of screen doors, porch swings and girls named Mary with dirty bare feet and torn white cotton dresses) is life-changing, but it’s this, this not-so-subtle but still graceful, gracious and glorious refix of one of my favorite love songs ever, that has me cycling it over and over in iTunes this morning.

nicvel.jpg

Nico: I’ll Keep It With Mine (Pocketknife’s Odd Beauty mix)

There’s a way about how Pocketknife handles this, keeping that rumbling trance synth just below Nico’s fragile quiver, the voice that’s always in danger of breaking but refuses to show, that makes this remix live up to its’ subtitle-this is the definition of fragile beauty.

I can’t help it
If you might think I’m odd,
If I say I’m not loving you for what you are
But for what you’re not.
Everybody will help you
Discover what you set out to find.
But if I can save you any time,
Come on, give it to me,
I’ll keep it with mine.

This is a heartbreaker. The rest of the Tambourine Dream stuff operates in a similar blood vein, something close to a less hipster-aesthetic Pocket Mix (as in, there’s no hard eurohouse Cat Power remix that’s going to tear Res in half with in-fighting on this album) than what’s going on in the remix-madness circles right now. Just some great, great stuff, and I’m certain more from it will find a way on here. For now, though, may your skies be cloudy today, as so you’ve an excuse to have this as your soundtrack.

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05
May
2008
tags: Deerhunter.

last night i

So Friday evening, Bradford’s other project Deerhunter regrouped at the central focus of my old stomping/haunting/debauching grounds, the Marietta square (most famous for being memorialized by the Lil’ Jon lyrics “Marietta, ho/that’s where I live, ho”).

While most never, ever, have any reason to pass through Marietta (”scarietta” to those in the know) whilst in Georgia, Deerhunter put their time to good use, recording, amongst other things, a Tom Petty cover.

Right now, though, all we have to show is an acoustic out-take video:


Deerhunter - Winter Never Stops (Acoustic) from Bradford Cox on Vimeo.

Also, apparently inspired, as a closer to the late-arriving-as-in-today Atlas Sound “Things I’ll Miss” EP , the Tamborello-sounding, late-growning “Marietta”

Atlas Sound: Marietta

It does my heart good, and fills it with the legends of my youth, to know that a band is seriously utilizing neighborhoods that don’t involve “avenue ____(insert letter here)”. The southern United States is as glorious and grotesque as the north, and as such bless the beautiful noise of Deerhunter for forcing its’ way through.

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01
May
2008
tags: Atlas Sound, Ethereal.

Without a dream in my bedroom

One album that’s been shaping the year for me that I haven’t yet found the time (truth be told, the words, really) to write about on here is Atlas Sound’s Let The Blind Lead Those Who See But Cannot Feel. It was released for retail purchase in, I believe, February, but reached these trembling hands a brief bit before Christmas-but only after I’d pledged, on my life, heart, death and soul to not type a single word about the record until it was officially “out there”.

What I found on first listen was the glossy, dreamy haze that haunted (so unexpectedly) Atlas Sound-purveyor Bradford Cox’s proper band (as in, with other living beings), Deerhunter, on their Cryptograms/Fluorescent Grey, being expanded into full-on, blissed out bedroom delay pedal nervous tension.

Well, change of seasons and flights of fancy all have come and gone, and though I’ve been living and loving Bradford’s daydream of a record, I’ve not really written a thing about it. Maybe it’s because I feel that, now, trying to pen 100 words (or more, or less) on a record that’s so in the public consciousness is an exercise in crap-blog futility. Seriously, go to hypemachine, type in “Atlas Sound”, and click on any of the blogs that come up and you’ll probably find a comprehensive guide to squeezing into your skinny jeans while “Recent Bedroom” plays. It’s a symptom of the sea- falling incomprehensibly, indescribably in love with an album means not being able to “blog” about it.

In the same vein tapped by other recent Resonator favorites Blue Screen Love Scene, to my ears and the heart that’s between them Bradford’s solo bedroom work, wrapped in tissue paper and warm summer nights with the windows open, fills a void that the musical landscape’s just beginning to recognize the existence of. Atlas Sound bypasses the dancefloor entirely for the chance to let electronic sounds heal, for a chance at catharsis (from, of and by anything and everything). It’s at-times cobbled together with little more than love and shirtsleeves covered by influences, but the record’s a gorgeous piece of work.

bradfordnewest_2.jpg

It’s for that reason, then, that it took until I heard the Atlas Sound version of “Blue Moon” for me to find an in to shining some light into the fluorescent grey.

Atlas Sound: Blue Moon

Scrolling through his oft-updated blog, one will find so many outtakes, demos, and one-off songs recorded under all of Bradford’s various guises that it’s possible (and would be logical) to chalk them all up to embarrassing self-parody. That is, if most of them weren’t so fucking good. This, Bradford’s take of an old standard (one of two on his “Covers Two Songs For My Dad” EP of mp3s), has him removing a lot of the fuzzed Atlas sound and choosing instead his old favorite standbys-the echo and the wash of guitar. He has a voice made for old standard and soul covers, and there are a billiontyseven songs I’d love to hear get the Atlas Sound re-rub; name any Motown classic, for example, and I assure you the Atlas Sound version would jaw-drop, or possibly Bowie’s “Young Americans”. The other note-worthy moment of this song comes at the vamp-til-end, when it conjures up possibly the last unturned touchstone of influence in the drone-haze movement, The Trinity Sessions. Seriously, why did Cowboy Junkies never get signed to 4AD?

The Deerhunter/Atlas Sound blog also has posted a video for the wistful, No Age-as-seen-through-the-lens-of-old-Soul Let The Blind song “Recent Bedroom”:


Atlas Sound- Recent Bedroom from Michael E Palm on Vimeo.

This one’s not one of my favorites on the album, but it is a good tension-builder for the soft, shock then release of what comes as the record builds. With the change of weather, it seems like the entire album (and the new stuff coming with the European release) is worth another listen-in headphones, of course, and with heart firmly in throat.

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29
April
2008
tags: Hope For Agoldensummer, Lykke Li, Judi Chicago, videos.

VideOverdose

Oh, man, with the green pollen tides of spring lapping against the bedroom doors of the world (and, no, I have no f-ing clue what that means), it would appear a pool of incessant distraction has overtaken Res. Hacks is somewhere in my ‘hood and I can’t find him, Trixie is doing…uh, things, probably (make your own joke *here*), and I am also doing things, but not the same things I’m normally doing, nor the same things Trixie’s doing. Truth be told, I’m not even trying that hard to find Hacks. He’s a big boy, he can take care of himself. Besides, if he gets too lost in his old stomping grounds, I’m sure the folks at Ed Banger pass out, like, Justice crucifi that can function akin to bat-symbols for deejays-in-distress.

Musically, there’s a lot to sort out around here, and to buy us some time, I thought I’d unload a few vid clips that are due by a minute, but not so overglazed as to be irrelevant, or even late.

The first two come courtesy of our Atlanta friends Criminal Records, from whence Record Store Day originated.

My new favorite band, Judi Chicago, performing “Chick Feeler” in the Crim parking lot on said Record Store Day:

My old favorite band, Hope For Agoldensummer, covering the Aaliyah jam “Are You That Somebody”, inside Criminal on Record Store Day:

And, finally, NOT at record store day (or at least not in America, but possibly in SweNordLand, the magical place of cupcakes, unicorns, rainbows and the best fucking pop music ever, where tap water tastes of raspberries), Lykke Li playing the most stripped version of “I’m Good I’ve Gone” you’ve yet heard, in the back of a cab

Resonator Mag: we’re not lazy, just busy and sober. More music coming soon.

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23
April
2008
tags: Blue Screen Love Scene.

Blue Screen Vs The Shark

Our friends over at Wordsmiths Books in Decatur, GA are having quite the party tomorrow night:

And, to celebrate, they’ve gotten Richy, from Res-fave BSLS,  to do a little bloggity-bloggin about, amongst other stuff, uh…Fleetwood Mac?

Click on over there to read, and then come back here and listen to “Perfumery” again.

 Blue Screen Love Scene: Perfumery

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20
April
2008
tags: Animal Collective, videos.

tickle vultures

I’ve admitted very recently that the Resonator distaste for the freaky mask-clad hippie furry-fetishists Animal Collective is beginning to break, at least in terms of my personal listening.

First, there was the discovery that the Panda Bear record was stunning.

Then, there’s this new EP, Water Curses . It’s hallucinsane, especially on an iPod, and I can’t quit it. Wish I knew how to.

But now…my god, TICKLE VULTURES. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE PRESENTS: TICKLE VULTURES.

What? You don’t know ’bout Tickle Vultures? Just watch

Yes, that video is one of the most meme-worthy things in recent memory, and it hits the current pulsevein of the blog-verse smack on the nose.

And, yes, Animal Collective’s stuff is growing on me. If Panda Bear were to make a song about petting his cat, I’d be all over it.

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19
April
2008
tags: record store day 08.

Support your local

We at Res like giving music away for free. We also recognize the importance of some facets of the corporate music machine in making  said music a full experience.  Good local radio stations, intelligent, talented and forward-thinking publicists (a dying breed, I could name maybe four working today),  concert venues that are so spectacular you’ll go see any band there, ever, and, last but not least, record stores that make music shopping a full-on pleasure.

In support of that last one, today, Sat April 19, is the first-ever Record Store Day.

To celebrate, what/wherever your local record store is (if you’re in the U.S.), something is going on and going down and (Allison’s waiting to)happening.  Get off soulseek and go check out the limited-edition, indie record shoppe-only vinyl releases that some pretty damn good bands have put out, and, most importantly, leave your folks’ basement and go out and associate with other music lovers (and those who’ve based their livelihoods on making the kids dance and shake) in the light  of day.

For those of you, like myself, who are in the southeast, Criminal Records is definitely the go-to for happenings. Res favorites Judi Chicago, Hope For Agoldensummer and Janelle Monae are all going to be playing hour-long sets…for free.

If you need to hunt down a record store near you that’s playing a part (3-D videos, free pizza, PBR for you kids stuck in dance party mode with URBN t-shirts, giveaways, concerts, at some point, somewhere, whatshername from The Dresden Dolls is painting in her underwear I AM SO SERIOUS ABOUT THAT), check the Record Store Day website.

As the folks on the rave forum used to (still???) say, SUPPORT YOUR LOCALS. Without record stores, there wouldn’t be music for you to pilfer off the internet. Think about that while you’re squeezing into your jeans.

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17
April
2008
tags: Lykke Li, videos.

Lykke on the grind

Lykke Li, currently a fascination in the…

aw, screw the intro. You know Lykke by now. There’s a video for the studio version of “‘I’m good I’m gone”, which has it’s own, more multi-layered pleasures to discern (my new indie-rock trio record: Pleasures to Discern) than the hollerin’ hootenanny of the acoustic version (which shows Robyn who’s who). And it’s f-ing out there, in that Lykke way.

Stomp. Start. Shout. Scream. It’s all good. The entire album, that is.

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16
April
2008
tags: ADULT..

Nervousness, anxiety and decampment

Just when I’d begun to worry that they’d beheaded themselves like they did Sam Consiglio, the Detroit noise-punk duo ADULT. (beloved here at Res for the way they’ve eschewed any sort of electronic pop trend while continuing to hammer out literate, dark, anxiously jittery tech-punk) release what can only be described as the best news for lovers of the uncomfortable and disconcerting ever: ADULT. have moved into film.

From an email update (also posted at the ADULT. homepage) today:

Part I
ADULT. will be premiering their new silent-experimental-short

-horror film DECAMPMENT May 9, 2008 at 7:00pm and 8:30pm at the Detroit Institute of Arts accompanied by their own peculiar electronic horror music especially scored for the film. DECAMPMENT was written, produced and directed by ADULT. in early 2008 and follows a women’s transmigration from her “normal” life into a new society of deceit. Filmed entirely in Michigan, DECAMPMENT explores ADULT.’s obsession with an often overlooked and distinctive aesthetic that they call “midwestern horror”. The all new soundtrack will be performed live by ADULT. during the screening of the film and will be a mutation of instrumental film music and more ADULT.-like irregularities.

 

But wait…there’s more:

 

PART II
ADULT. will be releasing their first new release in over a year. The DECAMPMENT TRILOGY is an extremely limited 7″ series to be released on ERSATZ AUDIO. Three 7″s -each strictly limited to 100 copies- will tell the story of DECAMPMENT through music, lyrics and photographs. Each hand numbered 7″ will come in a full color jacket along with a limited 16″ x 20″ photographic print from Nicola Kuperus signed and numbered. Collect the entire 7″ trilogy to piece together the narrative of DECAMPMENT, plus own the limited edition 7″s and the Kuperus Triptych available ONLY through the ADULT. website. One 7″ will be released each month starting May 13th. More info coming soon concerning this project.

If you’re unfamiliar with the gorgeous(ly unsettling) artistic/photographic work of Nicola Kuperus, you need only tour through her online album at the ADULT. site.


This news makes requisite the (long-overdue) posting of my favorite ADULT. song (barely edging out “Disappoint The Youth”), from 2006’s Why Bother?:

ADULT.: You Don’t Worry Enough

And now, begin making plans for Detroit. And take me. If I don’t get to witness this merge of ADULT. nausea-noise on screen, well, in the words of Nicola herself, I’m just suggesting that something undesirable is likely to happen.

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