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.
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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Lieven Martens




















Since 2007, Lieven Martens has been making some of the most vividly aquatic and deeply meditative music under the name of Dolphins Into The Future. His most well-known release may be 2009's ...On Sea-Faring Isolation, which was released by Not Not Fun. Everyone I have played this for has fallen in love with it almost immediately. The level of pure calm and letting go that this record creates is sincerely gentle, somnambulant, and deep.
Its sonar lullabies are kind of like the sonic equivalent of Luc Besson's The Big Blue. Other excellent points of entry include: The Music of Belief, Ke Mirning Pu'uwai, and Voyage Shopibo Coast, Pacific City.

In addition to Dolphins Into The Future and various other pseudonymns, Lieven has performed and collaborated with Orphan Fairytale, Wietskie Van Gils, James Ferraro, Spencer Clarke, Ducktails, and Ada Van Hoorebeke. Lieven has also curated several labels including Dreamtime Taped Sounds, Bread And Animals, Imvated, Dutch Beer, Cauliflower Dreams, and most recently, Cetacean Nation Communications. His latest releases, Ke Ala Ke Kua and Two Romantic Landscapes are available now. Past releases can be found at Tomentosa and Volcanic Tongue.












I was thrilled to receive such a beautifully written list of favorites and poetic descriptions from Lieven. Find out for yourself.


SOME FAVORITES FROM LIEVEN MARTENS


The Landscape Paintings by Caspar David Friedrich
The quintessential lesson in learning to construct a landscape, with both mystique and depth. With originality, and creativity. Beyond the Polaroid.













Philip K Dick’s Final Valis Trilogy (including the fourth volume of
…Albemuth
)
A magnificent turn in his pretty intense bibliography. Going beyond all things usual, to grasp the real truth. With the only truth being a message of hope.
Werner Herzog Interviews
A master in using emotions to construct landscapes. And using landscapes to construct emotions. And using sound to construct landscapes. And… A truly liberated modern poet.
Annea Lockwood’s Sound Map Releases, Chris Watson‘s Radioplays
For the obvious reasons.
Being At Big Island Hawaii & Ilha Do Pico
Putting the pieces together with or without Aguardente. Using the landscape to ponder on what we’ve learned.











Scuba Diving
The pressure of three atmospheres on your head is a more liberating feeling than any induced, faked schizophrenia.
Theosophy Viewpoints On History, Islands, The Sky, Folk
The many atmospheres of knowledge and heat. Out there in many volumes of book.
The Micronesian / Melanesian / Polynesian Island Music Collections on Folkways, Nonesuch, Lyrichord, Music City, & Ocora
Master Musicians inspired by nature. Inspiring nature, Koinos Kosmos.
Steiner’s Ideas On Colours, Van Hoorebeke’s Batiks
Because we want to be convinced of the color blue, and the color green, and the color red. The waters and the plants. The earth.










Steven Halpern’s Electric Piano Sound, “The Creator Has A Masterplan” by Pharoah Sanders, “Tezeta” by Mulatu Astatke, “Leapday Night” by Behrman, Organic Music Society, etc
.
Since there’s a place for the experiment and a place for the beauty. In our Idios Kosmos.
The Constructed Sound Records of Joe Jones, Bill Fontana, Robert Ashley, Henning Christiansen, Floris Vanhoof, etc.
Because there’s no such thing as a full day of work. And when the moon prompting the many dreams, we need a landscape to wander.
A Mixtape With Songs by Prefab Sprout, China Crisis, Microdisney, Etienne Daho, Rick Ocasek, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Ocean, etc.
Because our happy glass of daylight's red wine needs a background volume.



Friday, October 28, 2011

Illuminance

Four things I'm in love with right now.





























Rinko Kawauchi

This woman can do no wrong. I can't even think of the last time I've been so taken with anybody's work. Her photographs make everything else seem incomplete. If you're in LA, Skylight Books on Vermont has a few of her books right now, otherwise Foil might be your best bet. Her latest book, Illuminance, was published by Aperture earlier this year. These images will change your life.



















Clube Da Esquina by Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges
This album is constantly surprising me with its depth, beauty, and distant innervisions. Life-affirming and gorgeous.




My Dinner With Andre by Louis Malle
Probably the coziest movie ever made. The conversations are endless, but the effect is universal.




We All Go Back To Where We Belong by R.E.M. starring Kirsten Dunst
This video makes the R.E.M. breakup kind of sad and makes me want to download Up and New Adventures In Hi-Fi. Kirsten is sensational.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Leslie Keffer

























The first time I came across Leslie Keffer seemed like a revelation: noise music with a real feminine side. Using mainly guitar, vocals, and electronics, she makes noise music that doesn't sound like noise, and isn't easily mistaken for anyone else.

Her first release on her own Action Claw Records, was 2003's Dielectric Lull. She followed it with several tapes and cassettes (Pollutes, Devestates, Represents...) many of which were packaged in hand-sewn fabric cases.









She has performed live with Tusco Terror and in duos with both Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore. Her 2007 release on Ecstatic Peace, Feels Like Frenching (probably my favorite record title ever), is almost like a noise version of shoegaze. The static, drifting, and psychedelically glamorous music on this record sounds infinite and even strangely soothing. Her latest release, Give It Up is a bit of a departure, with beats, vocals, and pop elements. You can hear some of Leslie's more recent songs on her Soundcloud, which open up and expand on this sound even more.

Leslie also created the world's first and only noise tabloid, Noisebloid.

Here is a list/guest-post of some of Leslie's favorite records and how she came to love them.


LESLIE'S FAVES

The first records I really got into when I was in grade school were:

Madonna- Like A Virgin, True Blue, You Can Dance, Like A Prayer
Whitney Houston- Whitney

My dad and my late step-mother used to hold flashlights on me and my sister and we would have all the lights off and they would shine the flashlights on us like spotlights and we would lip sync all these songs from these tapes and make up these dances. One year we got Star Stage toy microphone stands. They were these kid toys that lit up and amplified your voice and put an echo on it so we could be real stars. I can only imagine how annoying this thing was after about 10 minutes out of the box.









Other songs we would dance to (i.e. cassette singles):

Cathy Dennis -Move To This
C.C. Peniston - Finally
U2 - Pride In The Name Of Love
Martika - Toy Soliders
Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror
Janet Jackson - Escapade
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth

As I got a little older, like 6th grade I got more into Tori Amos. Serious obsession. The red hair, the fairytale whacked-out lyrics. I loved her. Under The Pink changed my life, and I was so fanatic about her I would save up all my money from working at Arby's so I could go see her or buy her bootlegs at the nearest record store to my hometown, Quonset Hut, which was 30 minutes away. I was also completely into REM. Life's Rich Pageant is their best record, or at least my favorite. Michael Stipe was my first crush. He has pretty eyes and a deep, sexy voice when he talks. I finally got to see him naked last week when he posted nude photos of himself on his tumblr, but it was so penis-y and hairy....i guess it was a good thing REM broke up the same week.

http://www.dlisted.com/2011/09/21/open-post-hosted-michael-stipes-peen

I also fell in love (like everyone in the early 90s) with Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Hole. I had a crush on Thurston Moore until my best friend's older sister told me he was married to Kim, who I basically worshiped and wished was my best friend. I was horrified! So I just stuck with Michael Stipe because no one knew if he was gay or straight and I was a prude so it was safe. I even liked Dave Matthews back then. I mean y'all know what goes down at a DMB concert. When I got to college I started listening to indie rock and riot girl stuff. This boy I liked, my first real love, liked all this stuff and he got me into all kinds of new and weird music. And he could take me to shows. He got me into Helium and took me to cool local shows like the Party Of Helicopters. It all blew my mind and inspired me. My favorite bands then were Low, Helium, Stereolab, and My Bloody Valentine.

We broke up my sophomore year and I was depressed and hated all the music he got me into because it reminded me of our relationship. My friends were going to raves and were DJs. I started going to these parties and dancing all night. (Like the DMB concerts, we all know what went down at these raves.) I was introduced to techno, house, drum-n-bass, electro, you name it. It was some of the most memorable music and times of my life.

After I graduated college I started messing around with radios and making music like I make now. This was about the time my friend Issac introduced me to Kate Bush. He couldn't believe I was so into Tori and never had heard Kate Bush. He made me a tape and I heard Hounds Of Love and Running Up That Hill and it changed my life. The album Hounds Of Love has definitely influenced how I make and listen to music. Listening to Kate Bush brought me back to my pop roots and now I'm a hardcore pop fan again. Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj, and my new absolute favorite, Robyn. BUY BODY TALK BY ROBYN PEOPLE!!! No excuses. One of the best pop records ever. I mean its a tie with Hounds Of Love for my favorite record of all time, and in my opinion, if you can place with Kate Bush, you've made a perfect record.

White Light

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Girl Talk

Mary Lattimore























One of my very favorite sounds in music right now is Mary Lattimore's harp. Her sound is so distinct: clear, celestial, and pure. I first heard her playing on Kurt Vile's latest record, Smoke Ring For My Halo, and since then on Thurston Moore's Demolished Thoughts and Meg Baird's Seasons On Earth. The depth and beauty she adds to these records is unmistakable. All three of these records tap into something every-day, but infinite. Life echoes and post-modern folk songs.

This summer I saw her play with Thurston, et al. here in L.A. at the Troubador. The way the five of them played together was really beautiful- open, yet with such discipline: unplugged but not soft, flickering, dreamy, like late-night black & white poetry. Two guitars, drums, violin, and harp.

Mary has also played with Jarvis Cocker and Fursaxa and is currently working on her first solo record, as well as on projects with Annabel Alpers and Steve Moore. I recently asked her to send me a list of some of her favorite records, which she shares here.


Some Of Mary's Favorites Right Now And Maybe For Forever:

Disintegration - THE CURE
And Don't The Kids Just Love It - TELEVISION PERSONALITIES
Lost Album 78-79 - THE GO-BETWEENS
III - ESPERS
Constant Hitmaker - KURT VILE
Soft Winds - DOROTHY ASHBY (Thurston gave this to me for my birthday recently)
Armchair Boogie - MICHAEL HURLEY
Goat's Head Soup - THE ROLLING STONES
What Are They Doing in Heaven Today? - WASHINGTON PHILLIPS
EVOL - SONIC YOUTH
Lounge Lizards - PURLING HISS
Alone In The Dark Wood - FURSAXA
S/T - ERNIE GRAHAM

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Storm In Heaven























1. Labano - SIMON SCOTT
2. Brigitte - BRIGITTE FONTAINE
3. Spring - CHARALAMBIDES
4. Coming Down - DUM DUM GIRLS
5. See You In The Next One (Have A Good Time) - THE VERVE
6. Trapez - BLACK TO COMM
7. Ritournelle - COLLEEN
8. The Honeybees In My Heart - JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA
9. Two -KOMËIT
10. A Space Without Corners - SUPERBRAVO
11. Little By Little (Caribou RMX) - RADIOHEAD
12. Moon - BJÖRK
13. Take A Little Time - REBECCA GATES
14. Today - RIDE

Twenty-Seven




Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Prelusion





Laricheard


























1. Intro - JOKER
2. Laricheard - AFX
3. The Pull - HIGH PLACES
4. Pk 50 - OPIATE
5. Warn-U - AYSHAY
6. Farukx - FLOATING POINTS
7. Ego - BURIAL/FOUR TET/THOM YORKE
8. Chartered Flight - PENGUIN CAFE ORCHESTRA
9. Champagne Year - ST. VINCENT
10. All I Need - CLAMS CASINO
11. Language - EKIN FIL
12. Echo - MINA TINDLE
13. Rugs - FATHER
14. May Clouds Fly Away - WIND IN WILLOWS