Poolside >> The starlight will guide us through the night

Poolside - "Slow Down"

(Day & Night Recordings, 2012)

I can't believe I never posted this.  I'll sheepishly admit I found out about this song thanks to a feature in Pitchfork that summer, and in my opinion it was the unquestioned slow jam of that year.  The more you listen to this song, the more you realize just how perfect every tiny detail of it is.  You will understand why Poolside calls their music "daytime disco."  They literally have a poolside studio, and in fact that's where their band name comes from.  Best line from the Pitchfork article: "They aspire to parlay their success into DJing high-end pool parties."

Note: This Poolside is a duo from Los Angeles consisting of Filip Nikolic and Jeffrey Paradise.  They are not to be confused with the indie pop group Poolside, whose boring CD Indyglow I bought a decade or so ago.
Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" is basically just a more disco'd up, cocaine'd up, and way less subtle, take on this song. Then again, this song is extremely similar to chillwave's defining song, Washed Out's "Feel It All Around."
Here's the video that started my obsession:

Incredibly, though they obviously made a video for it, this song was apparently not released as a physical single.  Record labels are fucking stupid, as I've said time and time again.  A few months ago, on Sirius radio's Chill station, I heard a Poolside remix of Black Sabbath's chillout classic "Planet Caravan."

Fri. Mar. 7: Went to new Central American / Mexican restaurant Mizado for my mom's birthday.  It was indescribably loud.  My dad, who is 61 and has been to probably thousands of restaurants around the country / world in his life, said it was the loudest restaurant he had ever been in.  I unfortunately missed Com Truise at the Hi-Ho Lounge that night because it sold out.

Sat. Mar. 8: Went to Euclid Records' sidewalk sale ahead of their move one block west later this month.  It turned out to be a stunning 5 CD's for a dollar bonanza.  And the stuff being sold was not garbage either.  Spent 3 hours loading up on tons of CDs, including ::reaches for big cardboard box:: John Coltrane, Sigur Rós, 2Pac, Steve Roach, the Pointer Sisters (x2), Diana Ross / Supremes, Opal, Ivy, Coldcut, Aphex Twin / AFX, Pole (x2), Vangelis, Dizzy GIllespie, Baaba Maal, Deee-Lite, Spearhead, Smashing Pumpkins, Tortoise, Goodie Mob, Royal Trux, Johnny Griffin, Steely Dan, the Crystal Method, Spiritualized, Foreigner, Aaliyah, the Pastels, Henry Mancini, the Telescopes, Adina Howard, Born Against, Beans, Plastikman (x2), Maude Maggart (Fiona Apple's jazz-croonin' sis), Carla Bley, Sponge, Iron & Wine, V/A - Lounge-A-Palooza, Edith Frost, Kings Of Leon, Dead Kennedys (x2), Nine Inch Nails, the Warlocks, Eisley, Sonny Rollins, Delerium, Sting, 702, the Seconds, Jaco Pastorius, the Crimson Curse, the Ocean Blue, Magik Markers, Gang Gang Dance, Amorphous Androgynous (a.k.a. the Future Sound Of London), Robyn, Mötley Crüe, Diana King, Rachelle Ferrell, Liz Story, Mary Lou Lord, Skinny Puppy (x2), David Toop, Foo Fighters, Gravity A, the Other Planets, Reception Is Suspected, Sade, Loop, Paul Simon, Rickie Lee Jones, Autechre, Black Dice, Chris Thomas King, Sam Phillips, Digable Planets, Nas, MGMT, Cex, Keith Jarrett, Primal Scream, Arcturus, the Donnas, Sage Francis, Fluke, Squarepusher, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Michael Gira, Transvision Vamp, Brass Bed, Björk, Davell Crawford, Mercury Rev.  All for only $11.  Wow.  Thank you, Euclid!  I also talked with DJ Lefty Parker about Chapel Hill's early '90s indie rock scene.  He said he worked at Schoolkids Records with members of Superchunk and other bands, told me some stuff about Polvo that kind of blew my mind, and said a band called Metal Flake Mother was the best band in town. This sale, combined with this recent find, has swamped me with CDs.  So I've been busily burning them onto the ol' MacBook so that people on last.fm can see what I listen to.  Afterwards, I went to Harold's Nursery and bought an echeveria.

Sun, Mar. 9: Saw Future Islands + Wye Oak + Ed Schraeder's Music Beat at the Spanish Moon.  ESMB play a hokey, primitivist rock n' roll that wears thin very quickly, much like the music of Beat Happening or the White Stripes.  Wye Oak were good, doing mostly stuff from their upcoming album Shriek, according to singer Jenn Wasner.  Plus an intense "Holy Holy."  But the entire reason I made the trek to Baton Rouge was to see them do their masterpiece "Spiral", and they did not.  Oh well.  I asked Wasner if they still play it, and she said they hope to start playing it again soon.  She was beaming after I told her I thought it was the best song of the last five years.  I bought a 7" by her solo project Flock Of Dimes.  Future Islands, fresh off an appearance on Late Night With David Letterman, did their usual workmanlike synth-rock replete with odd dance moves from their singer.  I guess being on Letterman didn't provide a huge career boost, because I seem to remember just as many, if not more, people at their show at the Moon in Nov. 2012.  Weird.

Planets with similar climates: Washed Out - "Feel It All Around" (2009), Kool & The Gang - "Summer Madness" (1974), Ween - "Freedom Of '76" (1994), School Of Seven Bells - "Love Play" (2011), Janet Jackson - "Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)" (1985), Dead Leaf Echo - "Act Of Truth (Extended Truth Mix)" (2009).

Moons >> Saw you in a dream screaming in the dark

Moons - "Waves At Night"

(No Recordings, 2012)

I got this song via Under The Radar magazine's free mp3 sampler #44.  I bought the mag to give to my sister, since it has Grimes on the cover and it named Wild Nothing's Nocturne as the best album of 2012.  (That's my pick for album of the year too, by a wide margin.)  It's such a good issue that I bought it despite the fact that the phrases "Passion Pit" and "Sleigh Bells" appear on the cover.  Moons is apparently a one-man project by a guy named Patrick Canaday from Atlanta.  The vocodered vocals at the beginning are presumably by Canaday, and I read that the female vocals are by some people named Lorely Rodriguez & Arielle Guitar.  Looks like chillwave ain't dead yet...

This effing tight song is the b-side on Moons' debut 7" called "Bloody Mouths," which is the first-ever release on a label called No Recordings.  The 7" is limited to 250 copies on cream-colored vinyl, and the covers are made via hand-stamping; see several pics of it here.  Unfortunately, it retails for $10, but I would presume it'll be repressed on black vinyl at a much cheaper price once the demand begins to rise.  i think demand will indeed rise, since this single seems to be getting lots of attention on various music sites / blogs.

Here's the video for "Bloody Mouths," subtitled "(Watchtower Version)" for some reason, though it appears to be the only available version:

A rather daring and probably illegal performance art piece by Chris Burden; apparent inspiration for Trumans Water's "Skyjacker" 7"

Thur. Feb. 21: Saw Caspian, Junius, Aiua at Siberia.  It was very loud, and the club played Hüsker Dü's New Day Rising in between bands to ensure that it would not get any quieter.  Even local instro-rockers Aiua, who I had remembered as being quite atmospheric and spacey from seeing them at Dragon's Den, were aggressive and almost metal.  Two of their four members were shirtless by the end of their set.  Junius played my two favorite songs of theirs, "A Word Could Kill Her" and (as their final song) "The Fires Of Antediluvia" (a.k.a. "The Antediluvian Fire").  Their drumer wore a Deftones shirt.  A guy from Caspian wrote out a setlist for us afterwards from memory.  The merch table was so immense (covered the entire pool table and then some) that I took a pic of it.  I would say it rivaled Boris' for the most impressive merch table I've ever encountered, though The XX's from a few weeks ago is also in the discussion.

Planets with similar climates: Chromatics - "Lady" (2011), Maria Minerva - "Luvcool" (~2010), Memoryhouse - "Sleep Patterns" (2009), Julee Cruise & Angelo Badalamenti - "Falling" (1989), School Of Seven Bells - "Reappear" (2012), Grimes - "Skin" (2011), Makeup And Vanity Set feat. Jasmin Kaset - "Homecoming" (2012).

Maria Minerva >> Northern star, what you are

Maria Minerva - "Luvcool" (a.k.a. "Lovecool")

(Not Not Fun Records, 2011)

This song is like a complex crystal built from deceptively simple molecules.  It's a perfect example of "less is more," and the importance of simply playing the right notes.  If that opening keyboard drone note was any lower or higher, it simply would not mesh with her voice the right way, and if Maria sang the opening word "Cool" differently, it would just not be as starkly beautiful.  Drea immediately remarked that this song has a real Twin Peaks feel to it, and I had to agree.

Maria Minerva was born Maria Juur in Estonia, and is now based in London.  She has written for the super-highbrow music magazine The Wire.  I had been hearing about her for the last year or so, as one of many artsy female electro-pop crooners.  After thinking about going to see her opening for Jesus & Mary Chain-esque retro fuzz-poppers Moon Duo, the evening arrived and still had not decided.  And there was a somewhat shockingly contentious Vice Presidential debate on TV.  The show was gonna start at 10 PM and I live an hour away.  I was quite sure I'd be able to see her when she returns as a headliner someday, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.  9:00 rolled around; listening to some of her stuff on YouTube... "I'm a dude whose main love is shoegaze & post-punk type music; why do I even feel the need to see all these solo female electronic musicians?"  Striking me as a more less-girly, more "European" version of Grimes, or a less pretentious Laurie Anderson... 9:15... Listening to some more, still also listening to the debate in the other room... I forgot to shower tonight... 9:30... Welp, after listening to "Lovecool" (how it's spelled on YT) about 5 times and having my soul / mind just turn to warm lime jello, I realized this song would be haunting me for the rest of my life, and hence I had to go see her.  So at 9:45 I headed out.

Listened to MSNBC's post-debate analysis on the radio; WTUL's DJ played my request for George McCrae's "I Get Lifted" right as I pulled up to Siberia.  I had previously only been to two shows here, and one Record Raid.  In fitting with its name, the club now serves what is billed as New Orleans' only true Russian / Slavic food, so I ordered a $4 provolone blini (Russian crepe) and $2 grilled asparagus while watching a blonde-looking lady setting up some equipment onstage in the nearly-empty building.  It turned out to be Maria, who I guess dyes her hair darker in her videos.  She began by saying "Can you guys come in closer, away from the bar?" and some people obeyed.  There were film clips projected behind her the whole time.  She had some sound problems, due to getting to the club right before 10; "This is what happens when you don't have a sound check," she said apologetically at one point after having to restart a song, and I had flashbacks to Grimes' performance at Tulane's quad last March.  She only played for 30 minutes, and did not do "Luvcool," so I was disappointed, but was still glad I had gone, since I would have always been wondering if she played it or not.  I think most of the crowd was a bit dumbfounded by her music, especially the singing.  Like many great singers her voice can admittedly sound off-key until your ears adjust to her style.  I could sense some snickering going on just based on how people were turning to their neighbors and talking while smiling.  (For example, Bob Dylan has a terrible voice but is a great singer, if that makes any sense.)  I think her voice is more suited to icy, almost-whispered songs like "Luvcool," just as Grimes' voice is better-suited to songs like "Be A Body."  She could totally become the go-to female guest vocalist in all of indiedom, not just in synth-popdom or chillwavedom.  I'm not trying to turn this site into Hipster Runoff or anything, but hopefully Maria will supplant the rather boring and pretentious Zola Jesus.

It's kind of freaky how much she resembles my dad's sister Kathleen.  I also kept thinking to myself how much she resembles Lindsey Vonn, even down to the height (probably almost 6 feet) and the frankly startling Olympic swimmer build, which was only startling because most indie dudettes & dudes tend to be so rail-thin and lacking in musculature.  Those N. Europeans are generally the most unweak on earth, which you'd know if you've ever watched those World's Strongest Man or CrossFit competitions on ESPN2.  Maria Minerva is probably Lindsey Vonn.  Maria Minerva is Lindsey Vonn.  Maria Minerva is the world's foremost female downhill skiier.  Lindsey Vonn is the most meteorically-rising composer of electronic avant-pop.  Maria Minerva was on a Wheaties box.

Pic with no flash during middle of her set, showing projected video

Pic with flash during her last song; the flash obviously killed the video

I took one flash pic as I on my way out the door to get a few moments of refreshing air; this turned out to be at the end of her last song.  Camera battery died soon after, so the existence of the pic itself is sort of a miracle.  Saw her outside a little later and gave my standard "Good show."  Her accent is quite odd, since English is probably not her main language; she sounds kind of like Marlee Matlin.  I was wearing a black shirt with 4 gold dolphins and the word "MAUI."  "Mah-oo-ee?" (or something like that) she asked, while touching the word on the shirt.  I told her I came in just to see "Luvcool" and added "and you didn't play it, or at least I don't think you did."  She confirmed she didn't, and asked if I had seen the video.  I said yeah.  She said she can't play it live because she no longer has the computer on which she composed it about 3 years ago, which had all the synth presets; I forgot if she said it had been stolen or if she just lost it.  I told her she should re-record it and should definitely keep working on it / start playing it, but I stupidly forgot to ask her what the song is about.  Also forgot to ask if she tried the club's food to see if it passed the authenticity test.  She said she was surprised at the low turnout because "Moon Duo are big," so I explained the neighborhood's new no-concert-flyers rule.  I asked if opening act Sir Stephen (misspelled on the chalkboard outside as Sir Stephan) had gone on before I got there, and she said "No, he's on next.  He's my fwend; you should come back inside and watch him."  Then she indicated that the convo was over when she reached out and shook my hand and said that she had to go back inside.  So yeah, that was my little 5-minute brush with the next Laurie Anderson or Grimes or, if she gets more into multimedia stuff, Miranda July.  Her future stardom is all but a given.  She has boundless charisma, friendliness and energy, and zero ego whatsoever, so it's weird that people probably think of her as an "ice queen" based on her music / image.

Other show tidbits: DJ Perpetual Care played Kraftwerk's "Trans Europe Express" and "Numbers," among dozens of other songs.  In fact, the vast majority of the music came from his decks, since there was only 75 mins. of live music in the 3.5 hours I spent there.  Sir Stephen, with trumpeter in tow, got bumped.  DJ PC pointed me to him, so we chit-chatted and he apologized and seemed really bummed out.  He's a local dude on 100% Silk Records, a disco-ish offshoot of Not Not Fun, hence he and Maria are basically labelmates.  He told me he and Maria had just met tonight, so I thought it was cute that Maria already thought of him as a friend.  But that's just her personality: super-friendly as fuck.

I put 2011 as the date at the top of this page, even though I mentioned that she said she recorded the song about 3 years ago, which would be around 2009 or early 2010.  If you stole her computer, please return it to me.

Staking Chinese Pistachio trees with Parkway Partners peeps, incl. Nell Howard, Tim Hurley, and two guys whose names I have temporarily forgotten.  This was the biggest and most annoying tree, so we had to rock the roots back and forth to sever some of them.  Pic by my sis, who provided moral encouragement and called this pic the "Iwo Jima moment."  I'm in the red Drew Brees jersey, as I mentioned before:

Mon. Oct. 15: Saw MONO at the Spanish Moon for the fourth time; Chris Brokaw (ex-Codeine guy) opened.  More on that show next time maybe.

Today: Tamaryn's new album drops, but they are not coming here on their tour with the equally dream-poppy Young Prisms.  Still mad at myself for skipping the Prisms last year.  Tamaryn's new single is sorta forgettable, not nearly as amazing as "Dawning" (then again, what is?), but the new album is allegedly more radio-friendly as a whole.
Probably going to eat at GW Fins tonight for my parents' anniversary, even though it's a seafood restaurant and I don't eat seafood.

Oops: Without permission, Paul Ryan and family show up washing clean dishes at Ohio soup kitchen - "The Post reports that Ryan made the unscheduled stop after an event at Youngstown State University, and was there for about 15 minutes.  But though the pictures taken show Ryan apparently doing dishes, the food had already been served and everything had already been cleaned before he got there."

Planets with similar climates: Julee Cruise & Angelo Badalamenti - "Falling" (1989), Memoryhouse - "Lately" (2009), Laurie Anderson - "Walking & Falling" (1982), Chairlift - "Cool As A Fire" (2011), Slowdive - "Losing Today" (1990), Insides - "Darling Effect" (1993).

Memoryhouse >> I'm not breathing without machines

Memoryhouse - "Lately (Deuxième)" (a.k.a. just "Lately")

(Beko DSL, 2009 [digital single] [France] / Arcade Sound Ltd., 2009 [digital-only EP] [Canada] / Inflated Records, 2010 [ltd. 7"], Sub Pop Records, 2011 [re-recorded CD-EP])

Memoryhouse barged into the crowded field of female-fronted dream-pop bands like a 4WD Ford F-550 dualie with Truck Nutz plowing into a herd of quail or endangered salamanders on an organic commune.  By using a low speaking voice instead of a shout at a loud party, it's often easier for one's voice to be heard, and Memoryhouse got noticed by doing essentially the same thing.  They're an example of the occasional good band that is propelled to star status by the indie music blogs and review sites, whilst getting basically zero notice from actual music magazines.  Chalk one up for new media over old media.  I really think this is one of the most important bands out there today, but unfortunately they often get dismissed as the poor man's Beach House, which is laughable.  Yes, both bands are on Sub Pop, both are boy-girl duos making depressive, dreamy music, and both have names ending in "House," but Beach House have a different, more "masculine," non-spacey, almost campy, "Euro-friendly" sound, in my opinion.  I think of their quiet stuff as just segues in between their singer's throaty bellowing, whereas for Memoryhouse the quiet stuff is the framework of everything.  I think everyone can agree that Beach House has no ties to the "chillwave" trend, whereas Memoryhouse does.  This is one of those songs that really re-established my love of music in the often dreary modern musical climate.

Original 2009/10 version:

2011 re-recording:

Mash 'em up!
Note: I will be taking down the Sub Pop version after a certain amount of time.

Yes, this song has been released by four different labels so far, though the first two are digital-only "labels," so I don't know if they count.  The Sub Pop re-recording has more prominent (DEVASTATING) piano, an ultra-powerful vocal performance, and, to top it all off, the addition of some amazingly nuanced violin.  It also has less of that thumping chillwave beat that's in the '09 version. Confusingly, the original version is subtitled "Deuxième," which is French for "Second."  So there must've been an earlier (still unreleased) version, which means the Sub Pop re-recording is actually a third version.  Got that?  Overall, it might be the best re-recording I've ever heard, and it almost singlehandedly rescues Sub Pop from the abyss of irrelevance.  (Easiest way to tell which one you have: The original version is 3:23 long and the Sub Pop one is 4:05.)

I don't know if this song is comparing having a broken heart to being on life support in a hospital, but one has to assume that it is.  When Denise distantly pleads "Shut me off," it has to be one of the most devastating lines ever uttered in any song.  Denise pretty much has a built-in Autotune in her throat, which makes her singing very unique, kind of like that of Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval.  They each like to split individual syllables into different discrete parts.  Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel is my favorite at this technique, used to particularly stunning effect on their debut album Ferment (which is my #2 favorite album ever).  This way of singing gives the vocals a cool stop-motion effect, like you're listening to an old movie reel with a hitch in it.  Evan Abeele's guitar playing is cinematic and pastel-like, and I think both he and Denise play synths on the song.  The music video does not feature Denise or Evan:

With only one digital EP and one 7" to their name, the 'House hit the pavement hard in 2010 on an ambitious headlining tour of indie clubs:

In August of that very annum, my sister & I saw them at One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans, with opening acts Twin Sister and a new local band called Kindest Lines.  Partly due to a thunderstorm and extreme heat, the turnout was quite low, maybe 40 or so people, but it was great to see the 'Mem rock a club with a large stage and a top-notch sound system.  They had a third member in tow on electric bass.  Denise seemed bored and distant, looking at the ceiling a lot, and she never once said anything to the crowd.
I bought the "Lately" 7" on limited colored vinyl at this show from members of Twin Sister who were manning the merch table; it's obviously one of the finest singles I've ever bought.  The b-side is a nicely trippy, deconstructed, chillwavey remix by Teengirl Fantasy.  I pretty much went to that show just to see them perform this song, and it was worth trekking into the heart of the French Quarter on this ridiculously hot / stormy / humid night.  I had my sister film "Lately," but she can't find the clip anywhere.  Sorry.  She also lost her clip of Twin Sister doing a tremendous rendition of "The Other Side Of Your Face."

iPhone pic by my sister, near the start of their set.

My 7" bought at the 2010 show; too bad it's not on black vinyl for better sound quality.  Yes, I like the "Dutch Angle" photo technique.
Notice the nearly-identical color scheme / photo treatment / clothing on the cover of their 2012 album.

Some of this song's vocals (pitch-shifted higher) were sampled in the downtempo / dream-rap (er, "cloud rap," as Generation Z calls it) song "Breaking" by a one-off supergroup called Seeing Suge.

Facebook users band together to exile Pitbull to Alaskan WalMart - “I’ve known Pitbull for a few years now, and he’s up for a party – whether it’s around the corner, or you have to get there by three planes and a boat in between, as I understand it takes to get to Kodiak.”

Planets with similar climates: Slowdive - "Losing Today" (1991), Julee Cruise - "Falling" (1989), Low - "I Remember" (original 7" version) (1998), Velour 100 - "Stare Into Light" (1996), Chairlift - "Cool As A Fire" (2011), Ella Fitzgerald - "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" (1961), Yo La Tengo - "Damage" (1997), Red House Painters - "Drop" (1995), Portishead - "Roads" (1994).

Twin Sister >> Can't see the other side of your dream

After doing approx. infinity posts last month, and with the otter-rich coast of California fresh in our minds, I'm giving myself a planned semi-sabbatical this month.  So here's the first of a few well-placed monster smash hits to close out the year.

Twin Sister - "The Other Side Of Your Face"

(Infinite Best Recordings, 2010)

This band formed in Long Island and soon moved to hipster mecca Brooklyn.  My first thought when I heard them was "Cat Power for chillwavers."  I think this song is up there with Film School's "TIme To Listen as one of the best songs of 2010.  SInger Andrea Estella coos her way through some obliquely undulating guitarscapes, while a metronomic drumbeat pounds away surgically.  It's long, but it could go on for another hour and I would still be transfixed, so hopefully some intrepid remixer will take me up on that.

When Rhino puts out a chillwave box set in 20 years, this song ought to be on it.  Twin Sister played this song when I saw them open for Memoryhouse at One Eyed Jacks in Aug. 2010.  I filmed them doing an amazing performance of this song, but my sister can't find the clip on her camera, nor can she find the clip of Memoryhouse doing "Lately."  For now, check out the music video for another song they played that night, the shoulda-been-hit "All Around And Away We Go":

AE is a brunette in that video, though she was blonde at the concert, a few months before this video was released.  (I read her say in some interview that she's Hispanic.)  Not sure who the blonde in the video is, but she bears a lot of resemblance to AE.  I never knew AE had such dance moves inside her, since she pretty much just stood still during the concert.  My point is that a band has to be pretty versatile to make a catchy pop song like "All Around" and a meandering song like "Other Side," and both were released on the same EP, which my sister bought at the gig.  Memoryhouse were better overall, but "Other Side" was probably the highlight of the evening for me.   A local synth-goth band called Kindest Lines played first; they recently opened a leg of Xiu Xiu's tour.

I like how Infinite Best Recordings is a pun on the inscrutable book Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.  So inscrutable, in fact, that I have it but haven't even started reading it.  They returned this June opening for Beirut, but you couldn't pay me enough to go see that damn band.  In 2011, Twin Sister have become such Pitchfork favorites that I have to assume that money has exchanged hands between the two parties.  I can all but prove that that has happened in recent years with Pitchfork and the following acts, all of whom get a breaking news bulletin on P4k if they so much as lose a sock: Neutral Milk Hotel, Spoon, Wilco, M.I.A., Wavves, Drake, White Stripes, Arcade Fire, Flaming Lips, Kanye West, Bon Iver, and of course Radiohead / Thom Yorke.  Note that three of those are on Merge Records, a (one-great) label that advertises heavily on Pitchfork.

I went to Blue Cypress Books on Oak St. today for the first time, after seeing a photo of it a week or two ago in the newspaper.  I asked if they had anything by John Biguenet, and the girl mentioned that he is her English teacher at Loyola, so I mentioned that his daughter Nicole was in my grade in high school.  I was pretty impressed by their selection.  I then shot some hoops at this covered basketball court on River Rd. at the foot of Broadway, instead of riding my bike in Audubon Park.  Tonight is Saints vs. Lions, and I almost scored a ticket from my dad's friend Jay.

Planets with similar climates: Curve - "Cherry" (1991), My Bloody Valentine - "Soon" (1990), Sonic Youth - "The Diamond Sea" (1995), Long Fin Killie - "Valentino" (1996), Cocteau Twins - "Road, River And Rail" (1990).


Bought at Blue Cypress Books today: Daniel Scott - Pay This Amount; Wallace Stegner - Collected Stories; Charles Baxter - Through The Safety Net; Alain Robbe-Grillet - Topology Of A Phantom City; Ellen Lesser - The Shoplifter's Apprentice; a "Reading is sexy" bumper sticker. (All the books are short story collections except for Topology.)

ILYA >> Time slips through my fingers

California Month, tremor #11:

ILYA - "Isola"

(Notsuperstitious Records [Japan], 2002 / Second Nature Recordings [U.S.], 2003)

ILYA, always spelled capitalized, were from San Diego, and their very uncatchy name was bogarted from a famous Russian writer.  This song is a nocturnal feast of dark corridors and regret, with two dueling tempos (fast drums vs. slow vocals) giving it a disconcerting overall feel.  It is possible that I have not put any song on mix CD's more often than this one.

This song originally appeared on the band's 2002 CD called Japanese Mini Album, which was released only in... Japan.  (That disc also has appallingly lame remix of the song by someone named The Snodgrass.  I listened to it over and over trying to convince myself to upload it here, but I failed to find anything good about it.  JMA does have some very good songs on it, though, especially "Celda.")  The mp3 I'm posting is from JMA, but it's identical to the one on the band's true debut album, Poise Is The Greater Architect.  I have recently ascertained that Poise was recorded from January to June of 2002, then was self-released locally by the band themselves in Nov. 2002, then was reissued nationwide in June 2003 by Second Nature Recordings.  And I found out that guitarist Duane Pitre is from New Orleans, hell yeah.

Inside view of the Japanese Mini Album CD

This song is not exactly what most people have in mind when they think of "California music," that's for sure...  There was also a more well-known, dancey band called Ilya in the '00s; they had to change their name to San Ilya, apparently since San Diego's ILYA were around first.  The dancey Ilya had an album called They Died For Beauty.  (So the one with San in its name is not the one from San Diego... confusing.)  AllMusic Guide said "It's pretty amazing that Ilya [sic] licensed music to several independent films, was nominated for Best New Artist in the San Diego Music Awards, was voted San Diego's Best Indie Band, ended up on the Urban Outfitters in-store play list, had a song on MTV's Sorority Life, and released this stunning debut all without a record deal.  The haunting group crosses Portishead with San Diego's chilling Black Heart Procession to make for a moody set of trip hop, jazz rhythms, atmospheric rock, and entwined piano melodies. On 'Isola,' Blanca Rojas' gentle, gin-joint vocals are a dead ringer for Björk torch-singing in a dive."

Here is a clip of Blanca Rojas laying down a vocal take (possibly the final take, in fact) for this song in the studio in 2002:

This very mpeg clip, which was posted on their website, ilyamusic.com, is the main reason I went to see them in Oct. 2003, though I think this show flyer which I got from a telephone pole on Tulane's campus was another main reason:

I became sort of obsessed with this song just from listening to its 30-second preview clip on a new little online gizmo called the iTunes Store.  So, thanks iTunes Store.  They were selling ILYA panties at the merch table (staffed by Blanca herself), but I don't think anyone bought any.  I did buy my Poise CD at that show, and I just opened it and found an ILYA sticker and a Second Nature sticker, plus a little sheet of paper talking about Pilotram (see below).  The other bands on the bill were The Gunshy, The Show Is The Rainbow (whom I missed), and locals Silent Cinema.  Since it was about a week before Halloween, Blanca walked through the crowd passing out candy during Silent Cinema's set!  Plus, it took place in the attic of a pizza place (Mama Rosa's Pizza) on the north edge of the French Quarter.  And I went to one night of the Canal Street Projection Project earlier that night.  To call it a very memorable night would be putting it mildly...  I took some low-quality video clips and photos which I'll post if I find them.
I drove almost 100 miles to Baton Rouge to see ILYA again the following June, on the night the Pistons beat the heavily-favored Lakers to win the NBA championship.  Mama Rosa's closed down due to Katrina; I never did eat any pizza there, since that was the only time I ever went.
Guitarist Duane Pitre is now somewhat well-known experimental / ambient composer based in New York City, under the moniker Pilotram.  I would have to presume he had a large role in creating "Isola"'s eerie background soundscapes.  (I unfortunately missed Pilotram opening for Tristeza in '05 because I got there late.)

In addition to kindly giving away a free mp3 of the great song "Disturbed", ILYA's label, Second Nature Recordings, gives this bio:
"Emerging out of the vibrant San Diego underground, ILYA creates languishing and soothing musical textures that tap into the subconscious stream of thought.  ILYA's full-length debut for Second Nature Recordings conveys a provocative blend of sounds and styles that are quiet and haunting one moment, a wall of sound and explosive percussion the next.  Combining elements of Portishead, My Bloody Valentine, The Black Heart Procession and Massive Attack, with caressing vocals reminiscent both of Bjork's breathlessness and Fiona Apple's poetic beauty, resulting in an elegant tapestry of trip-hop, atmospheric rock, electronica, and ambient jazz."

By the way, the climax of "Disturbed" was head-splittingly loud in concert, with the band's guitar & bass players practically falling over and onto each other while contorting their bodies; it came off as a possible spoof of the act of headbanging, but it was real... so real.  Blanca was always like a genie lost in her own little world, doing her interpretive body movements amidst the often threatening music being spun around her.

I found an exciting screenshot that someone named Azure Divina took of ILYA's website when it was ilya.com, circa 2003:

Fun Fact: The Poise cover model holding those eggs is someone named Sally Dalton, according to the CD booklet.

Planets with similar climates: PJ Harvey - "Down By The Water" (1994), Slowdive - "Missing You" (1993), Cocteau Twins - "My Love Paramour" (1983), The Emerald Down - "Heavier Than Ether, Lighter Than Air" (2001), Björk - "Army Of Me" (1995) & "Human Behaviour" (1993), Portishead - "Mysterons" (1993).

The Emerald Down >> Heavier than heaven

The Emerald Down - "Heavier Than Ether, Lighter Than Air"

(POPsound Records, 2001)

I already told you about this band in one of the very first posts on this blog, so go back and read it by clicking the tag "the emerald down" at the bottom of this post, or find it by any number of other ways.  This is the song that got me into TED back in '02 or '03, and it's from their only full album, Scream The Sound.  I've been badgering people to check out this song for so many years that it's nice to finally post it here and be done with it.  Rebecca's vocals are just otherworldly, but I can't make out a single word she's saying, even while using the "Vocal Booster" EQ setting on my iTunes player.  Hopefully the CD has a lyric sheet, but I just have it on mp3's, which I obtained this very year.  I kinda like the concept of wordless vocals, though, e.g. Sigur Ros, early Cocteau Twins, etc.  (Update, 8/29/11: While drinking a swig of orange juice in the other room, I figured out that starting at the 1:05 mark, she says the song's title.  It only took me about 100 listens to figure this out.)  This song's brevity is its only downside, so someone out there needs to get an extended mix together, and I shall post it on here with much fanfare.  Since it has such an ominously delicious bassline, I used part of the song title in a list I made of my favorite basslines: Heavier Than Ether, Serious As A Heart Attack.  High-quality speakers, preferably including a subwoofer, are a must when listening to all songs on Blowtorch Baby.

The slow, stalkerish tempo of the song is so freaky and nerve-wracking.  Seriously, this deserves to be the theme song for some low-budget neo-noir flick.  Few songs have ever been as aptly-named as this one, and rarely has a music video been as minimalistic or as fitting as this one:

According to the band's MySpace, "The album was released on September 11th, 2001 - not the best day for a CD release!"  Then it was apparently reissued in 2003 with slightly different cover art, but I'm not sure.  All I know is I've seen two different covers, and I've seen this album assigned the release date 2001 and also 2003.  Here are the two cover designs I've found:

Apparently the original 2001 cover

The 2003 cover?

The two other awesome songs on this album are "Recondite Astral Traveler" (with the most amazingly sensual, extraterrestrial guitar textures ever) and the aggressive, jagged "Perilized."  Most of the other songs are very similar to Slowdive, for better or for worse; mainly for the better, if you ask me.  The disc was recorded and mixed at Engine Studios in Chicago in a mere four days.  As far as live shows, they opened for other Pacific NW bands like Unwound, Hovercraft, and The Posies before and/or after moving from Washington to Ohio.  The Hovercraft influence is prominent in "Heavier"'s intergalactic ambient guitar.
Their bassist was definitely their secret weapon, and their guitarist(s) pretty much stayed out of the bassist's way by playing high, trebly feedback/noise (sort of mimicking the singer's super-high voice).  The band broke up in 2003 (according to a post on their MySpace in 2005), and their other website, www.theemeralddown.com, is mothballed.

Undated live photo from their MySpace page, showing only Chad Williamson & Rebecca Basye.
Possibly from the same practice room gig as the "Recondite Astral Traveler" link I gave above.

They're probably in my U.S. shoegaze top 5, with Colfax Abbey, Stella Luna, Hum, For Against, and I forgot the others.  Maybe Tamaryn will make it someday?

Fun Quiz: Did this song invent chillwave?  Y/N

Cacti I bought yesterday in Gonzales on a cloudless 96º afternoon:
Mammilloydia candida
Mammillaria haageana subsp. elegans
Parodia werneri (a.k.a. Notocactus uebelmannianus) (already had 1)
Parodia magnifica (a.k.a. Notocactus magnificus) (already had 2)
Mammillaria hahniana (already had 1)

Planets with similar climates: ILYA - "Isola" (2002), Slowdive - "Losing Today" & "Albatross" (1991), Juned - "Titanic" (1995), My Bloody Valentine - "To Here Knows When" (1991), Tagging Satellites - "Five Star Memory" (2000), Ciccone Youth - "G-Force" & "Platoon II" (~1988).