i think i better follow you around

Peter Murphy and David J are celebrating 40 years of Bauhaus debut album “In The Flat Field” by performing it live in it’s entirety. Some of the songs in the album have not been played live since the album debuted on November back in 1980.

Trying to express the importance and/or the influence that this album has had in the almost 40 years that have passed since it was released is kind of futile. This is a benchmark and a cornerstone. Peter Murphy’s aging voice gave the songs a new gravitas, while having David J cemented the seriousness of the album.

Getting to hear the whole album played live was a very special treat. With some bands it might feel trite or gimmicky, but there are certain albums that deserve to be heard in order live, even if you only have half of the original band members on stage, they deserve to be felt and experienced that way. We are on this time when more and more bands are venturing out to celebrate their milestones and we are the lucky ones that get to bare witness.

Peter Murphy’s theatrics have aged well as he still commands the stage as if he’s possessed by the music and entranced by his lyrics. The sold out crowd sounded satisfied singing the chorus to Bela Lugosi’s Dead, and cheering on to She’s In Parties and Kick In The Eye. And always a highlight to hear Telegram Sam into Ziggy Stardust.

SETLIST: <In The Flat Field> Double Dare / In The Flat Field / A God In An Alcove / Dive / Spy In The Cab / Small Talk Stinks / St Vitus Dance / Stigmata Martyr / Nerves <In The Flat Field>
Burning From The Inside / Silent Hedges / Bela Lugosi’s Dead / She’s In Parties / Adrenalin
ENCORE: Kick In The Eye / The Passion Of Lovers / Telegram Sam (T. Rex cover) / Ziggy Stardust (Bowie cover)
ENCORE 2: Severance (Dead Can Dance cover).

Words & Pics by: Alfredo Tellez & Edith Morales.

The Adolescents played the Casbah on January 19th as part of the ongoing month long 30th celebration of the venue.

Here’s a gallery from the show:

Words & Pictures by: Alfredo Tellez & Edith Morales.

This is the first song Apparat has shared from the upcoming album LP5, titled “DAWAN”, and it is amazing. It will be out 3/22 via Mute Records.

Holy shit this is exciting. One of the most exciting releases that we are now anticipating is this from Apparat. It’s been 6 years since Sascha Ring has released anything under the Apparat moniker, he’s been busy with Moderat, but this project is amazing. We were fortunate enough to see him live during his tour for “The Devil’s Walk” album at the El Rey Theatre back in 2012 and that show still holds up as one of the best shows we’ve ever seen live.
The album has Apparat collaborating with cellist Philipp Thimm, and incorporates trombone, trumpet and saxophone, a harp, a double bass and strings.

Thru a press release Sascha Ring had this to say about his new album:
“I was only able to make the record this way because Moderat exists. Having a huge stage with Moderat gave me a setting for grand gestures and meant I could unburden Apparat from these aspirations. I don’t have to write big pop hymns here; I can just immerse myself in the details and the structures.”

LP5 Tracklist:

1. VOI_DO
2. DAWAN
3. LAMINAR FLOW
4. HEROIST
5. MEANS OF ENTRY
6. BRANDENBURG
7. CARONTE
8. EQ_BREAK
9. OUTLIER
10. IN GRAVITAS

There are tour dates announced now, they’re all in Europe as of now, here’s to hoping he brings Apparat back to the West coast.

Words by: Alfredo Tellez & Edith Morales.

Stephen Malkmus shares his first video for the song “Viktor Borgias” of his new album “Groove Denied”, out 3/15 on Matador Records.

The video is quite simple in the way that is Malkmus in a club dancing to laser lights, 80’s pop synth music with a touch of funk and new wave. Which sounds like a weird mix you wouldn’t dare touch with a 10 foot pole, however it works. Malkmus has the rhymes to back up the synths. The dance moves to challenge the avatars dubbed Random Businessman and Arianna.

Malkmus explains that “It’s fun to mess with things you’re not supposed to”, and in his case he’s right. This could’ve had disaster written all over, and is such a pleasure to listen to something “out of left field” from him since we are so used to listening to him with a guitar in the background.

Simon Reynolds wrote the bio better than we could do justice or anyone could explain, so please read:

“When Stephen Malkmus first arrived on the scene in the early Nineties, as frontman and prime creative force in Pavement, the area of music with which he was associated couldn’t really have been further from the techno-rave sounds of the day. Electronic dance music, then as now, was about posthuman precision, inorganic textures, and hyper-digital clarity. Whereas the lo-fi movement in underground rock championed a messthetic of sloppiness, rough edges, and raw warmth – a hundred exquisitely subtle shades of distortion and abrasion. “Imperfect sound forever” was the rallying cry for a micro-generation of slacker-minded dreamers and misfits.

Fast forward to the present and here comes Malkmus with a surprising new project that embraces the very digital tools and procedures he’d have once gone out of his way to avoid. Groove Denied – Stephen’s first solo album without his cohorts the Jicks since 2001 – was made using Ableton’s Live, a software sequencer and “digital audio workstation” that is the preferred tool of discerning techno producers and deejays worldwide. Instead of a human-powered rhythm section of electric bass and drums, Malkmus’s arsenal further includes drum machines, along with a host of plug-in FX and “soft synths” (digital simulations of vintage electronic hardware that inhabit your computer rather than take over your entire living room).

For the first time on record, what you hear here is just Stephen and the Machine(s).

But Groove Denied is not a full-blown plunge into EDM or hiptronica, into the soundworlds of Deadmaus, Villalobos and Skee Mask. In fact, there aren’t any purely instrumental tracks on the album. Every song is precisely that: a song, featuring Malkmus staples like an artfully askew melody and an oblique lyric. But Groove Denied is Stephen playing hooky from his customary way of going about things, jolting himself out of a comfy routine. As Malkmus commented recently in a video interview, “It’s fun to mess with things that you’re not supposed to.”

This departure from the tried-and-tested stems back to earlier in this decade, when Malkmus spent a couple of years living in Berlin and was exposed to the city’s vibrant club scene Back in the Nineties, Stephen had given rave culture a wide berth, in part because of bad personal associations with the drug MDMA (he’d had “a really really bad trip” on Ecstasy in 1987, bizarrely on a visit to New York to see Miles Davis perform). But in Berlin, thanks to a younger deejay friend, Malkmus made forays into the city’s world-famous all-night party scene and became fascinated by techno. “The music can be great… you can zone out, dance, and focus on music – or just get wasted!”

It would not be entirely off-base, or an overly cute rock-historical reference, to describe Groove Denied as Stephen Malkmus’s Low. Although largely recorded in Oregon, the bulk of the album was written while he was living in Berlin. Updating his home studio with Ableton and teaching himself rudimentary Pro Tools, Malkmus “started fucking with effects and loops”. He compares the process of track-construction to the way his kids “used to make these girls on my iPhone – choosing hair colour, dresses, etc. That intuitive swipe and grab thing. Chop and move the waves. Apple computer scroll style of thinking.” It’s a very different way of making music to the feel-oriented way of coming up with chord progressions and rhythm grooves on a guitar alone or jamming with a band. And in fact, electric guitar – while it does feature on Groove Denied – is really “just color for the most part”.

Yet while the methodology behind Groove Denied is absolutely 21st Century, the reference points for the sound-palette hark back to the pre-digital era. “The electronic music side of the album, I wanted it to be sonically pre-Internet,” explains Stephen. “So the EQ-ing is a bit 1970’s, that sloppy DIY sequencing. And the influences are kinda 1981 post punk – actually quite British.” “A Bit Wilder”, one of the stand-out cuts, specifically recalls Cabaret Voltaire, its slack-stringed dank-with-reverb bass a dead ringer for the Stephen Mallinder sound. “Yes, I was thinking the Cabs – and Section 25, whose 1981 album Always Now I think is a serious underdog stoner album. That grey industrial Martin Hannett sound. But also all these cute DIY group that imitated The Cure back then – loners with 4-tracks tape recorders and dreams of “Killing An Arab”.” Malkmus says he was trying to conjure or reinhabit the “fan perspective” on things like Joy Division and the Cure – the sort of “getting it a bit wrong” that unintentionally brings something new into the world.

Groove Denied is frontloaded with this Cold Wave redux sound – a style we’ve never heard from Stephen Malkmus before. Opener “Belziger Faceplant”, for instance, features a most peculiar processed vocal that sounds withered and grotesque, like a deflated wrinkly balloon still lingering on in your house weeks after a party. “I envisioned ‘Belziger Faceplant’ as made by someone off their head after a night out in Friedrichshain,” says Malkmus, referring to a district of the former East Berlin now rife with techno clubs like the legendary Berghain. “Coming back at 5 AM, firing up the laptop in the morning light and trying to make a song, but the instruments are tripping over each other. You can’t even speak because of all the Ketamine or whatever!” Malkmus adds that he’s never tried K but “for some reason I imagine it like that”.

Then there’s “Viktor Borgia,” a title that playfully merges the name of the comedian-pianist and the ruthless dynasty of Italo-Spanish nobles. With its stately melody and the almost-English-accented vocal, the coordinates here are early Human League or even Men Without Hats. “Yes, I was thinking things like Pete Shelley’s ‘Homosapien’, the Human League, and DIY synth music circa 1982. And also about how in the New Wave Eighties, these suburban 18-and-over dance clubs were where all the freaks would meet – a sanctuary.”

“Forget Your Place” features another eerily wobbled vocal a la “Belziger Faceplant” plus dub-style detonations of submarine sonar and nagging bleeps. Frankly, it sounds pretty darn wasted. “Like ‘Belgizer’, this is a pretty solid Ableton-based track – moving waves around, finding a trippy loop and throwing an echo on it,” explains Stephen, adding that “at times it feels almost childish, working with Ableton – like finger painting. But ‘Forget Your Place’ also makes me think about death – don’t ask me why!”

Alongside the early Eighties “minimal synth” and industrial influences, the other main palette of tone-colors audible on Groove Denied is closer both to Stephen’s comfort zone and to what his fans would expect from him: “warped psych,” as he terms it, that avant-garage tradition of dirty guitars and ramshackle grooves, except that in this case, it’s “one person pretending to be a band.” That illusion is pulled off magnificently on loose ‘n’ swinging tunes like “Come Get Me” and “Love the Door,” although the electronic element manifests still with the crisp and prim pitter of drum machine beats and a spume of Moog frothing all over “Door”. Then there’s “Rushing the Acid Frat”, whose title came from Stephen’s memories of a student fraternity at the University of Virginia that, unlike the typical beery bro frathouse, had a “Grateful Dead druggy tie-dye” vibe. Malkmus imagined “Rushing” as a “Louie Louie”-style shindig rumpus to soundtrack a “Star Wars bar scene in such a frat… It’s kinda 12-bar, but gigged with psych lyrics”.

As the album enters the homestretch, it returns to more familiar Malkmusian terrain, with a warmer, grittier sound. “I did frontload Groove Denied with the stuff that signals “80’s/cold,” he says. “That stuff excited me the most – and it sounded braver. If I had another year, it could have been all in that style.” Still, with the second half offering gorgeous tunes like the hazy-lazy ramble “Bossviscerate” and the glittering “Ocean of Revenge” – both graced with his signature style of odd-angled melodic beauty – who’s complaining? Mellow closer “Grown Nothing” feels like Malkmus easing back towards the sound of his recent album with the Jicks, Sparkle Hard. In fact, although it has been released after Sparkle, 70% of Groove Denied was completed before work on the Jicks record. Indeed, Malkmus’s explorations with sound-processing influenced that album, most notably with the unexpected appearance of Auto-Tune on a couple of tracks.

Groove Denied will shake up settled notions of what Malkmus is about and what he’s capable of, repositioning him in the scheme of things. But looking at it from a different angle, his engagement with state-of-art digital tech actually makes perfect sense. After all, Nineties lo-fi – the sound in which he and Pavement were initially vaunted as leaders and pioneers – was nothing if not insistently sonic – it was all about the grain of guitar textures, about gratuitously over-done treatments and ear-grabbing effects. Noise for noise’s sake. It’s just that it was looking to older modes and antiquated technology. From the Big Muff and the Cry Baby Wah pedal through to today’s deliberately distorted deployment of pitch-correction, there’s really an unbroken continuity: the creative misuse of technology, the aestheticization of mistakes and flaws, wrongness-as-rightness.

As Stephen tweeted recently on the subject of Auto-Tune’s omnipresence in contemporary music-making: “We long 4 transformation….and we humans fucking luv tools.”

Simon Reynolds, Jan 2019

Tracklist:

1. Belziger Faceplant
2. A Bit Wilder
3. Viktor Borgia
4. Come Get Me
5. Forget Your Place
6. Rushing The Acid Frat
7. Love The Door
8. Bossviscerate
9. Ocean of Revenge
10. Grown Nothing

Stephen Malkmus has some solo dates lined up, hopefully there will be a San Diego show added before the tour is over.

May 1 – Toronto ON @ The Great Hall
May 3 – Somerville MA @ Arts At The Armory
May 4 – Ardmore PA @ Ardmore Music Hall
May 5 – Washington DC @ Union Stage
May 7 – Austin TX @ 3TEN ACL Live
May 10 – Portland OR @ Doug Fir Louge
May 11 – Seattle WA @ Columbia City Theater
May 14 – San Francisco CA @ Swedish American Hall
May 15 – Los Angeles CA @ Lodge Room

Words by: Alfredo Tellez & Edith Morales.

Karen O & Danger Mouse have released a video for the song “Woman” off their new upcoming album “Lux Prima” out on March 15th.
The video was directed by Warren Fu & Julian Gross.
Warren Fu has directed promos for Daft Punk, A Tribe Called Quest, Depeche Mode, The Weekend, The Strokes and many more.
Julian Gross is a member of Liars and has acted (Depeche Mode video) and directed videos as well.

Karen O had this to say in a press release:

“Woman” came like a bolt out of the blue when we were in the studio. We did a first pass where I was blurting unintelligible words and Danger Mouse and I were like “Dang! That was intense. What’s that word I keep saying? Woman.” The atmosphere was volatile with it being just after the election. A lot of people felt helpless like you do when you’re a scared kid looking for assurance that everything is gonna be alright. I like to write songs that anyone can relate to but this one felt especially for the inner child in me that needed the bullies out there to know you don’t fuck with me. I’m a woman now and I’ll protect that inner girl in me from hell and high water.”

The song itself plays like a great Danger Mouse Stax meets rock n’ roll hit. He knows how to write a hook and knows what a hit single sounds like and he’s worked with some of the best performers this century, and now he’s partnered with one of the best voices.

If this song is anything to based the album by, then it just might be one of the best releases of 2019.

Tracklist
1. Lux Prima
2. Ministry
3. Turn The Light
4. Woman
5. Redeemer
6. Drown
7. Leopard’s Tongue
8. Reveries
9. Nox Lumina

Words by: Alfredo Tellez & Edith Morales.

Tamaryn played the Casbah on January 15th, where the celebrated venue is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary this whole month. It was exciting to hear Tamaryn live, the show had rich echoes of 4AD synth dream pop and her voice you could feel it could it could just explode at any moment.
Below you will find a gallery from the show:

This same day Tamaryn announced she’s releasing a new album titled “Dreaming The Dark” out March 22nd on Dero Arcade, which is co-written and co-produced by Jorge Elbrecht, and for it she released the first song “Fits Of Rage”.

The tracklisting for the upcoming album:
1. Angels of Sweat
2. Terrified
3. Path to Love
4. Fits of Rage
5. Paranoia IV
6. Victim Complex
7. You’re Adored
8. The Jealous Kind
9. Dreaming The Dark

She’s on tour and her next dates are:
1/19 – Petaluma, CA – The Phoenix Theater
2/23 – Mexico City – Frontón México
4/26 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echoplex

Words and pictures by: Alfredo Tellez & Edith Morales.

Daughters released their amazing album “You Won’t Get What You Want” on Ipecac back in November. The album was met with praise from everywhere and was on many best of the year lists for good reason.

This latest video is for “Less Sex” and it’s almost impossible to not make a comparison to Nick Cave in the style of delivery that Alexis Marshall has on this song.  The song itself is dystopian and cathartic surrounded by enclosing wails while standing on quicksand.
You want to move but you won’t.
You want to leave but you’ll stay for one more song.

They’ve been on the road during their hiatus, they accompanied The Dillinger Escape Plan on some of their final shows ever and they’re on the road now.
They will be on a US tour with Black Mass starting February 16th and they will play the Regent Theatre March 2nd.
See them live if you get the chance!

Words by: Alfredo Tellez & Edith Morales.

The Melvins played 2 sold out shows for the Casbah 30th anniversary. As usual the band played an amazing show in San Diego and at the end of their set they closed it by singing Happy Birthday to the venue.

Here’s a gallery from the show:

This tour is still in support of their latest release “Pinkus Abortion Technician” out on Ipecac Recordings, which is a reference on the Butthole Surfers album “Locust Abortion Technician” for which Jeff Pinkus was a part of.

As usual, if the Melvins come play your city you should get a ticket and go see them live. They’ve been doing this for 35 years and one day they’ll stop, just hopefully not soon enough.

Long life to the Melvins.

Words & Pics by: Alfredo Tellez & Edith Morales

Sharon Van Etten will be releasing a new album “Remind Me Tomorrow”, her follow up to the incredible “Are We There”, on JagJaguwar 1/18.

Ahead of the album release Van Etten has released a video for the amazing single “Seventeen”. This song is a letter to her 17 year old self in New York. The video perfectly captures herself now and herself 20 years ago.

It’s somewhat weird trying to sing accolades to Sharon Van Etten without hyping her or her upcoming album too much, but from what we’ve heard on the previous singles she’s released we should be expecting another masterful album, just like “Are We There” was. At this point there is no denying that her voice and songwriting are unique and that this a contender for one of the best albums from 2019.

To make matters even better she will be touring this album and she will be performing in San Diego at the Observatory in North Park with Nilüfer Yanya on February 28th.
Get your tickets here.

Words: Alfredo Tellez & Edith Morales.