From New Weird Australia: Since 2009, New Weird Australia has broadcast a weekly show on Sydney’s FBi Radio – playing two hours of new, experimental and ecelctic Australian music. As well as covering off the best of the week’s new releases, the show also features regular guest performances, playing exclusive in-studio sessions.
Our new free compilation is a selection of exclusive in-studio recordings from recent months, including material from Edwin Montgomery, Kirin J Callinan, Hacks, Simo Soo, Little A, Paneye, Mental Powers, The Deadly Nightshades, Pimmon, Peon, Scattered Order and Anonymeye.
As millions of people begin the annual tradition of tackling a myriad of new resolutions (then – usually – promptly breaking them), those who secretly feel like change isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be ought to consider “Tron Voyage” their soundtrack for January. Produced by Analog Burners (aka Jason McGuinness), with Jim Aguzzi (on drums, percussion, Wurlitzer), Val Mazzone (on space guitar), and Mensa-El (“everything else”), this new Art Blakey-meets-Sun Ra album is available now for download via Bandcamp.
As Jason explains, Tron Voyage focuses on an extraterrestrial robot fed up with its life; after quitting work to enjoy peace on greener planets, things just get hectic again. Ultimately, this leads to a “realization that life is life, wherever you go. You can't escape it.” For anyone determined to make significant changes, it’s a story worth listening to – and Tron Voyage tells it fairly well.
The beatnik-like “Unhappy Worker – Work Sucks” feels like the musical mindset of restless 9-to-5’ers everywhere, counting down the seconds until work is over and it’s time to head to the closest dive bar. “Tourist – Where to Go” has a similar tripped-out yet disillusioned vibe. If Lost in Translation’s main character were Super Fly vs. Bob Harris, this track might follow him down Tokyo’s unfamiliar streets.
The album draws its influences from drum-driven jazz musicians, including Art Blakey and Max Roach, as well as other “story” albums from DJ Frane (Frane's “Fantastic Voyage”), Mike Ladd and Deltron 3030. Sweeping, experimental joints like the 12- minute “Blown Circuits Suite” and the ambient, jazzy hip-hop “Downtime – the Life” are among Tron Voyage’s standout tracks. Consider this coffeehouse music for the 22nd century.
We’ll be on the lookout for the forthcoming promo video to post here soon., but in the meantime, check out Unhappy Worker-Work Sucks:
Feel Guide is a free compilation of music from Caliper Music. It's a completely diverse array of experimental artists that have made their way onto the blog at different times in 2011. So diverse actually, this music probably doesn't belong together on the same album, which is partly the appeal. Download the album free, and Enjoy the bumpy ride.
An agora, in ancient Greece, was a place of open assembly where people would congregate for various reasons. It's also an apt title for Derek Piotr's remixed album: AGORA Regathered, released earlier this month on Bitsquare records. Remixes are the way that modern electronic musicians talk to one another, and make sense of our musically cluttered world. In an age where technology makes anyone a producer, but sometimes isolates us, the internet and sites like Soundcloud are kind of the modern Agora for musicians, a place to connect and share ideas.
Projects like AGORA Regathered are effective in the way they create such a sense of musical community. The album is a collection of remixed tracks from Piotr's first full length solo album, AGORA, a darkish electroacoustic soundscape full of jagged digital artifacts and vocal manipulations, partly produced by Finland-based artist AGF. The contributors include an eclectic array of electronic/experimental musicians, some known, some obscure, but all worth checking out: Ralph Steinbrüchel, HeeG, Twenty Knives, Zach Thorpe, Carlos Lemosh, Blevin Blectum, Chaircrusher, Salakapakka Sound System, Thone Halo, just to name a lot. It's an impressive gathering of experimental people and shows some ambition on the part of the young New York musician. “I carefully chose mixers from widely different demographics, both notable and obscure, but all of whom are dear to my heart. this echoes the concept of the ancient agora, by uniting people from various backgrounds into a single moment,” says Piotr.
The remixes, according to Piotr, are "essential extensions of the original ideas." “AGORA Regathered was a chance for me to expand on the initial concept of the AGORA record by gathering together diverse re-presentations of my work.” Many of the tracks indeed feel like they've retained some of Piotr's ethos, however re-arranged, re-interpreted, “re-gathered.” Blectum's version of “From Whiteness,” for instance, maintains it's cold feel (minus the apocalyptic lyrics) with it's percussive, industrial reverberations. In yet another version, Protofuse was able to sample and manipulate it into what sounds like locusts buzzing incessantly, yet rhythmically in the background. Perhaps the most distinctly different (and enjoyable) remix is “Winter Consummation.” The original feels like a romantic encounter on a lazy, snowy day while Thorpe's version is a little more frenetic and weird, with a kind of happy, pulsing rhythm.
You can compare both albums for yourself via Piotr's bandcamp, a free track is available courtesy of Bitsquare, and be sure to support the experimental community by downloading AGORA Regathered. You won't be disappointed. Enjoy.
