Violet Noise: 08
NMESH Feature Film, Giant Claw Decides the Fate of the Election, and More
“I love dance music. I love having fun.” - Miranda Cosgrove describing Lady Gaga’s music on What’s in My Bag?
Hi everyone. My name is Sam Tornow. Welcome to the eighth edition of Violet Noise, a bi-weekly newsletter/gathering place for all things experimental music, focusing on curation rather than criticism.
Before we jump in, apologies for the lapse in issues. It’s been a hectic time, and hopefully, we’ll be returning in the normal bi-weekly format. I have a ton of ideas in the mix and am excited to see them materialize.
One reason for the delay in publishing is that I’ve written two different newsletters recently, if you’re interested, here’s a Matmos interview I did for Tone Glow and a primer on the wonderfully wacky work of Mark Mothersbaugh for Tusk Is Better Than Rumours.
If you haven’t yet, I recommend following @VioletNoiseNews on Twitter to stay 100% up to date on new issues, scheduling changes, experimental music tweets, etc.
Lastly, feel free to invite any friends or enemies to subscribe. I’m happy to do this for any amount of readers, however, part of the reason for Violet Noise’s existence is to shine one more light, no matter how small, on the artists who are often snubbed by Spotify and YouTube algorithms and the mainstream music press.
Let’s get into it.
The Media Lab
Better late than never
“All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff” - Frank Zappa
Vaporwave artist and Trapt hate-club president NMESH has released a film component to accompany his 2015 album Dream Sequins. Dreamy and full of purple, the video gives insight into the samples of the album and provides some appropriately weird background viewing material.
Against The Clock: Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream recently went Against The Clock with a *surprise* cold droning piece with some building arpeggios. It may not be Edgar, but it’s still the Dream, and they still knocked it out of the park.
Caught red-handed
“New” music
“New” Doesn’t Stop at The Next #NewMusicFriday
Both by Claire Rousay (Second Editions)
2020 has been kind to Claire Rousay, at least musically. The Texas-based artist has released several phenomenal albums and given beautiful performances on various live streams. Both, her first vinyl release, sees her continuing to push the listener’s boundary about what music can be and where it can exist. On Library, she leaves the audience in near silence for roughly two-minutes until fading in a wall-of-sound field recording of a nearly texture-less sound of a library filled with patrons. The chatter rises and falls and eventually climaxing into a brief roar.
Both is a record that inspires the listener to look around and open their ears and hear the possibility of music everywhere, and to question whether they are a small part of some larger, cosmic Lifesong improvisational session.
FFO: More Eaze, Lolina, Felicia Atkinson, Eli Keszler, DJ Healer, Clicking the Heels of Your Doc Martens Together, Drinking Wine on the Zoom Call, Eavesdropping
Buy/listen to Both on Bandcamp here.
Natursymphony No. 1 - Spring Music by Vlad Dobrovolski (Mappa Editions)
Press releases claiming that music combines the organic and electric are about as eye-roll inducing as the one’s that say that a record exists at the intersection of art and technology. For once, though, someone has pulled it off. The Russian artist Vlad Dobrovolski’s lastest work, Natursymphony No. 1 - Spring Music, does it by integrating electric sounds into organic field recordings, rather than attempting to imitate nature. Goopy synths bells melt all over the mix and get washed away by the myriad of water source samples. Dobrovolski’s effort works so well because, like the sounds of nature, nothing really repeats, but it never diverges so far as to alert the listener of an outside sound.
FFO: Dane Law, Wobbly, More Eaze, Toiret Status, CVN, Seth Graham, Mindspring Memories, Diamon Soul, Slime, Gak, Bird Watching, Ex Machina
Buy/listen to Natursymphony No. 1 - Spring Music on Bandcamp here.
Music from Saharan WhatsApp 08 by Hama (Sahel Sounds)
From the beginning to the end of 2020, Sahel Sounds is doing an ongoing, monthly series called "Music from Saharan WhatsApp." Each month, it releases a record by a Sahel-based group/artist, recorded on a cellphone, sent over transmitted over WhatsApp, and put on Bandcamp. Each release only stays up for a month and is pay-what-you-want, so make sure to get pick them up while you can.
September’s entry is a set of tracks by the Saharan keyboard wizard Hama. Hama’s rhythmic pieces truly make the most out of a single synthesizer. Here, he dives into his newly acquired Yamaha PSR 530 and fishes out some galactic beauty for us.
FFO: Mamman Sami, Ivan Conti, Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla, Miami Vice, GTA Radio
Buy/listen to Music from Saharan WhatsApp 08 on Bandcamp here.
Drop Shadow by Eyeliner (Orange Milk Records)
Let’s go to the mall and shop. Let’s get some sweets. I want some clothes. I want some candy. Does anybody have any stickers? I love dancing. I love having fun. I live by the Top 40. Give me more. I enjoy smiling. I enjoy laughing. I like YouTube. Let’s subscribe to YouTube Red together. I want to exchange my time for capital. I want to exchange my capital for goods. I want to exchange my goods for clout. Let’s go to the mall and shop. Let’s get some sweets. Let’s watch some YouTube.
How will we survive without college football?
FFO: Tech Honors, Death’s Dynamic Shroud, Toiret Status, Foodman, Toys R Us, Chuck E. Cheese, Dreamcast YouTube Videos, Taking It One Day At a Time
Buy/listen to Drop Shadow on Bandcamp here.
Superstar by Harry Pussy
Harry Pussy returns with a never-before-heard set of 15 30-second long songs for all of us lucky punks. It’s a quick shot of adrenaline straight to the veins. Skip the espresso, down this instead.
FFO: Bill Orcutt, Sun City Girls, Chris Corsano, Boredoms, The Dead C, Sightings, The Shadow Ring, Jackie O Motherfucker, Sitting in Garages, Smashing TVs
Buy/listen to Superstar on Bandcamp here.
The Invention of the Human by Dylan Henner
FFO: Post-Vaporwave, Introspective Jams, James Ferraro, Jay Glass Dubs, Pub, Hudge, Vague Imaginaries, Shielding, Cool Maritime, Deep Breathing Through a Vocoder
Buy/listen to The Invention of the Human on Bandcamp here.
Joey’s Goof World by Joey (Hanson)
FFO: Noise Noise Noise, Aaron Dilloway, Wolf Eyes, Pete Swanson, Black Dice, Skullflower, Ramleh, Boredoms, The Tiny Mix Tape Chocolate Grinder Section Selections
Buy/listen to Joey’s Goof World on Bandcamp here.
Harmony Of An Interior World by Protect-U (U-Udios)
FFO: CDX, AFX, U-Ziq, Lord of the Isles, Golden Living Room, Objekt, Ken Ishii, Special Request, Jeff Mills, Cornelius, LFO, Electronic Music
Buy/listen to Harmony Of An Interior World on Bandcamp here.
5G Death Grid by Deejay Chainwallet (Death By Sheep)
FFO: Jungle, Breakcore, LTJ Bukem, Sewerslvt, Goldie, Machine Girl, Doc Scott, 99jakes, Squarepusher, chain wallets, chain necklaces, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Using the “Fatality” sample in all of your homemade mixes, ICP
Buy/listen to 5G Death Grid on Bandcamp here.
Peel by KMRU
FFO: Ambient, JAB, Ulla, Malibu, DJ Lostboi, Sky H1, Celer, The Dead Texan, Blakmoth, C, Letting the Campfire Go Out on Its Own Terms, Running Your Hands Through the Grass
Buy/listen to Peel on Bandcamp here.
Guitar and Turntables by Otomo Yoshihide (Amplify 2020)
FFO: Free Improvisation, Jan Jelinek, Steamroom, Shuttle358, Alva Noto, Autechre, Sawako Kato, Fennesz, CD Rot, Tape Hiss, Vinyl Noise, Digital Glitches, Matrix Skips
Buy/listen to Guitars and Turntables on Bandcamp here.
“Old” Music
There’s Always More
Analord (Full Series) by AFX (Various Years)
In mid-to-late-00s, after a briefly flirting with digital music-making tools, Aphex Twin went back to his analog roots under the guise of AFX. The Analord series originally came in the form of 11 EPs, which were then combined by Warp in 2009 for a full series package. Fans of ‘90s Richard D. James’ works will find comfort in the extra grit and unpredictably his analog process. Many of the tracks found their way onto fan-made Greatest Hits compilations all over YouTube. It’s a crate diggers dream.
Music For Tuning Forks by Warren Burt (1987)
Australian sound artist Warren Burt officially enters the YouTube recommended-core pantheon thanks to a recent upload of his blissful 1987 album Music For Tuning Forks. Taking what’s often used as a preparation tool for performance, Burt flips the idea around and makes the tuning forks the main instrumentation. Unsurprisingly, the long, pure tones of the tuning forks make for an icy ambient sound that echoes on and on. The first side features a piece made up entirely of these crystalline voices, and on the second track, “Voices, Tuning Forks And Accordion,” Burt introduces additional instrumentation, which juxtaposes the smooth tones of the forks with the harmonically rich meditative push of the accordion and human voice.
Having some Deep Thoughts
Recommended Reading
Patrick St. Michael interviews Foodman for Tone Glow.
Phillip Freeman explores the world of avant-garde metal for Bandcamp Daily.
Jesse Locke writes about the touching short film John Was Trying To Contact Aliens for Music Journalism Insider.
In celebration of Cecil Taylor’s discography being uploaded to Bandcamp, Marcus J. Moore offers a guide to the legendary pianist’s work.
For the record collectors out there, Discogs released its mid-year report.
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