[All photos by Erez Avissar and Erik Liam Sanchez]
Altered Zones is proud to present some photo memories of our unofficial CMJ showcase at the New Museum last Saturday:
Dive
Altered Zones is excited to announce the set times for our unofficial CMJ extravaganza at the New Museum tomorrow. Atlas Sound recently jumped on the bill, and there also a few new names on the Nuit Blanche New York-curated roster of visual artists, which will include Alice Cohen, Liz Harris (Grouper), Luke Wyatt, Miko Revereza, Camilla Padgitt-Coles, Stephanie Wuertz, Todd Ledford, Olivia Wyatt, James Thacher, Ethan Vogt, and Brock Monroe of Joshua Light Show.
Altered Zones takes place at the New Museum, located at 235 Bowery in Downtown Manhattan. It starts at 7:30 p.m. and costs $20 for New Museum members and $25 for general admission. Buy tickets here. This event is 21+. Beer will be provided by Brooklyn Brewery.
Theatre:
08:00 pm (downstairs) Dive
09:00 pm (downstairs) Teengirl Fantasy
10:00 pm (downstairs) Light Asylum
11:00 pm (downstairs) Eric Copeland
12:00 am (downstairs) Trash Talk
1:00 am (downstairs) Atlas Sound
Skyroom:
08:30 pm (upstairs) FORMA
09:30 pm (upstairs) Xeno & Oaklander
10:30 pm (upstairs) Prince Rama
11:30 pm (upstairs) GRIMES
12:30 am (upstairs) AraabMUZIK
Lobby (DJs):
Awesome Tapes From Africa 8-9
Weird Magic 9-10
Todd Pendu 10-11
Main Attrakionz 11-12
Ayshay 12-1
CMJ is finally here! While we couldn't be more stoked to present our own party at the New Museum this Saturday with Trash Talk, Eric Copeland, araabMUZIK, and Atlas Sound, among others, there's four other nights of music to behold. Read on to see the CMJ shows that you absolutely can't miss. --Ric Leichtung, Altered Zones
Update: We are thrilled to announce today that Atlas Sound has joined the lineup of our event this Saturday at New Museum! More information, as well as set times, will be revealed Friday.
This Saturday, October 22nd, Altered Zones is throwing an unofficial CMJ party at the the New Museum. Inspired by the idea of setting some of our favorite artists from the DIY music world in the museum context, we've teamed with our parent site, Pitchfork, to put together a line-up of AraabMuzik, Grimes, Teengirl Fantasy, Trash Talk, Eric Copeland, Prince Rama, Light Asylum, Xeno and Oaklander, FORMA, and Dive, not to mention a killer stable of DJs, including Awesome Tapes From Africa, Weird Magic, Todd Pendu, Main Attrakionz, and Ayshay.
Visuals will be curated by Nuit Blanche New York, will feature Alice Cohen, Grouper's Liz Harris, Luke Wyatt, Miko Revereza, Camilla Padgitt-Coles, and more. The New Museum, our city's only museum devoted exclusively to contemporary art, will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the 2012 New Museum triennial, which is an international exhibition of emerging artists.
Altered Zones takes place at the New Museum, located at 235 Bowery in Downtown Manhattan. It starts at 7:30 p.m. and costs $20 for New Museum members and $25 for general admission. Buy tickets here. This event is 21+. Beer will be provided by Brooklyn Brewery.
MP3: araabMUZIK: "Streetz Tonight"
MP3: Eric Copeland: "Krankendudel"
MP3: Light Asylum: "Dark Allies"
MP3: Prince Rama: "Rest In Peace"
MP3: Xeno & Oaklander: "Sets & Lights"
As The Fader pointed out, it's rare that a week goes by without some new song, remix, or video from Grimes. Contrast that robust frequency with the sparse output of up-and-coming Tri Angle affiliate Stalker, who last remixed Becoming Real's "Closer" (also recently re-touched by Pictureplane). We're elated to hear something new from the Chicago producer after no letters or phone calls for months-- which, in blog time, translates to years. Stalker chops up the Montreal-based chanteuse's high croons and lays down a heavier beat with descending, B-movie slasher synths, putting a (predictably) darker, more twisted spin on "Crystal Ball." --Ric Leichtung, Altered Zones via The Fader
MP3: Grimes: "Crystal Ball (Stalker 432Hz Mirroremix)"
Blog-turned-label No Pain in Pop drops their re-issue of Grimes' 2010 album, Geidi Primes tomorrow
The great No Pain In Pop will be re-issuing covergirl Grimes' brilliant debut LP, Geidi Primes-- one of GVB's favorite albums of 2010. Originally released by Arbutus on extremely limited cassette, the album will be re-released on vinyl and CD come August 8. Here's a bloody clip for one of the spookier, more haunted album joints, directed by David J. Romero & Courtenay Mayes. --Chris Cantalini, Gorilla Vs Bear
[image by Max Capacity]
In celebration of one full year of Altered Zones, we're going back to where we began and observing our very favorite tracks of 2011 thus far. We pulled together all of AZ's contributing blogs' top picks and assembled a 25-song list of cuts that can't missed. --Ric Leichtung, Altered Zones
Balam Acab: "Oh, Why"
Bill Callahan: "Baby's Breath"
Clams Casino: "I'm God (Instrumental)"
Devin Gary & Ross: "Four Corners"
Dirty Beaches: "Lord Knows Best"
Ford & Lopatin: "Emergency Room"
Gang Gang Dance: "Glass Jar"
Grimes: "Vanessa"
Holy Other: "With U"
Iceage: "White Rune"
John Maus: "Believer"
Julian Lynch: "Terra"
LA Vampires Goes Ital: "Streetwise"
Light Asylum: "Dark Allies"
Matthewdavid: "Like You Mean It"
Panda Bear: "Alsatian Darn"
Peaking Lights: "Tiger Eyes (Laid Back)"
Protect-U: "U-Uno"
Pure X: "Don't Wanna Live, Don't Wanna Die"
Purity Ring: "Loftcries"
Puro Instinct: "Stilyagi"
Sic Alps: "Do You Want To Give $$?"
Sleep ∞ Over: "Casual Diamond"
The Weeknd: "The Morning"
Woods: "Pushing Onlys"
Feel like there's a pretty heavy new weird resurgence coming out of Montreal right now, and if you've been reading AZ lately (what with Tonstartssbandht, Grimes, d'Eon et al.) that will surely seem apparent. Here's some further cross-polination again involving Grimes, who guests on a few tracks of this new Majical Cloudz tape, II. Together, they ice this one out with a pop fragility that's lifted from '90s shoegaze and twee realms with a haunted Enya-ized positivity and piles of reverb. --Richard MacFarlane, Rose Quartz
MP3: Majical Cloudz: "Dream World (feat. Grimes)"
Arbutus' side imprint Movie Star asks you to pay what you want for Majical Cloudz's II
AZ contributor Gorilla vs. Bear just announced a one-night, nine-act festival on Saturday, July 23rd at Dallas' historic Granada Theater, featuring AZ faves Julianna Barwick, Pure X, Sleep ∞ over, and Grimes, among others. An excerpt from the announcement below:
"The inaugural lineup couldn’t be much more representative of the inspiration and history behind this blog, as it features our current favorite band (White Denim), the newest endeavor of one of my favorite rappers of all-time, and the creator of the best album of 2011 to date (Shabazz Palaces), the debut of the new project from a Dallas icon and founder of one of the most beloved bands in the history of our hometown, and much more. The bill is rounded out by a few of our favorite — and most posted about — artists that are currently making music: Julianna Barwick,Grimes (who’ll be coming off a stint opening for Lykke Li’s current North American tour), Sleep ∞ Over, Pure X, Sunset, and Dreamed, with DJ sets coming between bands from Dallas’ own Sober.
Tickets are on sale now. Everything will kick off a little earlier than usual, and we encourage you to come out and spend the evening with us. The first 200 people through the door will receive the limited edition poster pictured above. Hope to see you guys there."
--Previously:
MP3: Julianna Barwick : "The Magic Place"
Grimes says:
When I heard I was doing a guest-post, I didn't even think for a second about who I would write about. I could elaborate endlessly on the merits of this musician (spiritually, musically etc.) but I think it will suffice to say that I've rarely (if ever) met a person who is so magnetic and alive, and to whom my love of/ and ability to make music is so largely indebted.
I see Arthur Russell performing in a fedora with a bunch of snapping detectives all dancing at the same time and Panda Bear is doing some shit on a sampler. But it's like, not comedic at all. It's like, some hyper-emotional feel-good supergroup moving into the future by looking back. This doesn't really do justice to this song, but I'm not a great writer or anything. <3 <3 <3
Download Flow Child's Body Go by donation at Arbutus Records imprint called Movie Star
When I heard I was doing a guest-post, I didn't even think for a second about who I would write about. I could elaborate endlessly on the merits of this musician (spiritually, musically etc.) but I think it will suffice to say that I've rarely (if ever) met a person who is so magnetic and alive, and to whom my love of/ and ability to make music is so largely indebted.
I see Arthur Russell performing in a fedora with a bunch of snapping detectives all dancing at the same time and panda bear is doing some shit on a sampler. But it's like, not comedic at all. It's like, some hyper-emotional feel-good supergroup moving into the future by looking back. This doesn't really do justice to this song, but I'm not a great writer or anything. <3 <3 <3
This music is released on an Arbutus Records subsidiary called Movie Star. Download by donation here <http://www.arbutusrecords.com/index.php?p=moviestar>
When I heard I was doing a guest-post, I didn't even think for a second about who I would write about. I could elaborate endlessly on the merits of this musician (spiritually, musically etc.) but I think it will suffice to say that I've rarely (if ever) met a person who is so magnetic and alive, and to whom my love of/ and ability to make music is so largely indebted.
I see Arthur Russell performing in a fedora with a bunch of snapping detectives all dancing at the same time and panda bear is doing some shit on a sampler. But it's like, not comedic at all. It's like, some hyper-emotional feel-good supergroup moving into the future by looking back. This doesn't really do justice to this song, but I'm not a great writer or anything. <3 <3 <3
This music is released on an Arbutus Records subsidiary called Movie Star. Download by donation here <http://www.arbutusrecords.com/index.php?p=moviestar>
AZ contributor Gorilla Vs Bear just premiered two videos from the upcoming d’Eon/ Grimes split 12", Darkbloom, out next week from Arbutus Records/Hippos in Tanks. We're glad to see that the Montreal dwellers show no shortage of weird; Grimes' chanteuse chews on clumps of d'Eon's luscious locks in his video, while Grimes' video features another femme smearing blood all over herself. Delicious! --Ric Leichtung, Altered Zones
--Previously
My fascination with Grimes has only grown since I saw the Canadian songstress perform a handful of enchanting SXSW sets earlier this month. Her newest track, "Vanessa," is filled with 4/4 breaks and a much more uplifting beat than anything we heard on last year's Halfaxa LP. As always, her powerful voice boasts that big things do come in small packages. This time around, Claire Boucher teams with Montreal neighbor D'eon to release the split EP, Darkbloom. Although each side was produced and created separately, the album remains cohesive, as though it all stemmed from the same session. --Nathan Smith, Weekly Tape Deck
Darkbloom EP is out April 19th via Arbutus Records/Hippos in Tanks in digital and vinyl 12" formats
[Projections by Tommyboy & VidKidz; photos by Weird Magic & Trent Lesicar; Austin, TX; March 16th, 2011]
More ethereal, eerily moving outerspace transmissions from Montreal’s amazing “cosmic-pop deity” Grimes, who’s firmly established herself as one of our favorite new artists of 2010. “Weregild” is a preview of her magical new album, Halfaxa, which will be officially released by Arbutus Records on September 30th at the Pop Montreal festival. (via Gorilla Vs Bear)
In the last several years, there's been an explosion of small-scale DIY music. Altered Zones is a team of 14 music blogs dedicated to exploring these emerging musical worlds, traversing genres from psych and drone to electronic and underground pop. Our mission is to highlight the most notable and adventurous new artists, and to serve as a focal point for the flood of creativity coming from deep within the music underground.
To launch the site, we've each chosen one favorite track, cassette, and album from the first half of this year. Yesterday, we opened with tracks. Today, we cover cassettes, and albums will run on Friday. Our regular posting schedule begins Monday. We hope you enjoy reading and listening.
Welcome to Altered Zones.
No UFO's: Soft Coast
20 Jazz Funk Greats says:
No UFO's Soft Coast first found its way to us back in April, cut up and edited together as snippets. Assembled into an album by May, it became a longer-form but equally channel-hopping glide through Chris and Cosey’s early-electronic loops, cosmic Legeti drifts, and Jamie Principal arpeggios-- and that’s in the space of about five minutes. The influences here are sewn together in the best possible tradition of mix tapes; you appreciate the connections as they’re replayed in a joyous, nebulous drift. This is music by one person trying to come to terms with his influences by making something frankly beautiful.
We also dig the Juan Atkins reference.
Soft Coast is out now on Nice Up Int'l and available at Mimaroglu
Grimes: Geidi Primes
Gorilla vs. Bear says:
With her debut cassette release, Montreal's Grimes has created a beautifully hypnotic and eerily inviting soundscape by drawing from such disparate genres as dubstep, wobbly lo-fi bedroom disco, and more straightforward '80s pop (see "Rosa"), all filtered through a strange, vaseline-smeared kaleidoscopic lens. Spooky coos and strangely familiar, half-realized melodies drift in and out from a distantly twinkling ether, as the tape plays out like a bent, no-budget dream collaboration between Kate Bush, Nite Jewel, and Paavoharju, as produced by the low-end theorists at Hyperdub.
Geidi Primes is sold out on Arbutus
Various Artists: Dark as Night
Weekly Tape Deck says:
Dark as Night is a mind-bending four-way split that Bathetic Records has now twice released upon the world. Each side of the cassette takes you on an ephemeral vision quest of magical proportions. Though the two tracks submitted by each band (oOoOO, SLEEP ∞ OVER, Terminal Twilight, S U R V I V E) run the gamut of soundscapes from haunted to angelic, they all blend into one ethereal sound. Reactions may range from nodding your head in enjoyment to a meeting with your spirit animal.
MP3: Terminal Twilight: The Fire of Love (Fire Mix)
Dark as Night is sold out on Bathetic Records
Wild Safari / Cough Cool
Yours Truly says:
Although song titles like "History of Savannah" and "Flower Reading" exude a sense of late spring warmth, you can almost see your breath around this split cassette from Wild Safari and Cough Cool. There's lava burning at its core, though, like blood pumping faster in an attempt to fend off the bitter cold. These tracks simmer beneath their surfaces, slowly building but never boiling over. Despite the cold it brings, this split cassette still keeps you warm enough to make it through any winter.
MP3: Wild Safari: History of Savannah
Wild Safari / Cough Cool split is out now on Leftist Nautical Antiques
Campfires: Burning Rivers, TV Flickers, Drifting Off to Bed
Visitation Rites says:
Stamped out before the three-minute mark, the songs on Campfires' debut cassette seem tailor-made to our impatient ears, so accustomed to clicking from one mp3 or YouTube video to the next. As we chase fleeting moments of musical gratification, we Y-Generation listeners may actually be using the web to actively construct our own musical narratives. Campfires' Jeff Walls seems to anticipate this, minting eight fuzzed-out musical moments that pack a strong melodic punch and then stringing them together into a yarn of his own: "The songs all occur in one evening in a place that is [...] a lot like my hometown in southwestern Michigan." Walls' concept is foolproof: rather than click on to the next artist, we await the next plot twist.
Burning Rivers, TV Flickers, Drifting Off to Bed is nearly sold out on Leftist Nautical Antiques
Active Child: Sun Rooms
The Road Goes Ever On says:
Between the sparkling beauty of “Wilderness” and the pounding drums and resounding vocals of “When Your Love is Safe,” Active Child has a knack for dreamy hooks. The six tracks on his Sun Rooms cassette may at first seem slightly stiff, but they always reach out a soft, warm hand in the end, lifting you up and taking you home. Something about Pat Grossi’s ethereal voice atop all those mysteriously airy synths makes this a great tape to pop in when you’re driving into a brilliant sunset on a quiet, Sunday evening.
MP3: Active Child: When Your Love Is Safe
Sun Rooms is sold out on Mirror Universe
His Clancyness: Always Mist
Transparent says:
His Clancyness is Jonathan Clancy of Bologna, Italy via Ottawa, Canada. Always Mist, his first full-length release, is a tender, clean, and consoling collection of snug little dream-pop blankets to ball up in, marked by gliding harmonies into which Clancy injects his rich, wistful sigh. These are not songs that demand a great deal of insight. In fact, there's no need for understanding at all; the simple arrangements and heartbreak hooks bypass the nerd-centres, burrowing straight through the chest only to manifest themselves two minutes or so later as lumps in the throat and knots in the stomach.
MP3: His Clancyness: Ottawa Backfired Soon
Always Mist is out now on Mirror Universe (limited to 100)
Coma Cinema: Stoned Alone
Delicious Scopitone says:
Coma Cinema is the solo project of Mat Cothran of Columbia, South Carolina. Without a doubt, one of the most engaging personalities we've had the pleasure of coming across this year, Cothran's singular enthusiasm and sincerity radiates through every last note of Stoned Alone, his debut release. Falling somewhere between the writhing axe-work psychosis of Lou Barlow and the disarmingly delicate intensity of James Mercer of the Shins, songs like "Sucker Punch" or "Come On Apathy" are magnetic and moving to the point of being cleansing.
MP3: Coma Cinema: Come On Apathy
Stoned Alone is out now on Arcade Sounds Ltd and available for free download at comacinema.org
Dylan Ettinger: New Age Outlaws
Raven Sings the Blues says:
Syrupy synth projects seem to be falling down two avenues of late: either they douse themselves in the frosted pink nostalgia of 80s ski weekends and infomercial bed music, or take the scholarly high road to analog experimentation. But Dylan Ettinger is an outlier. He’s certainly not running down the Day-Glo path of banana-clipped past-gazing, but he might not possess the pedigree to hang with Analog Masters just yet. Instead, he’s captured the latter’s sense of wonder and applied it to a loose concept album of gritty crime drama and darkened noir corners. Definitely my favorite on the small spools this year.
MP3: Dylan Ettinger: Rico's Pawn Shop
New Age Outlaws is out now at Not Not Fun (limited to 500)
Tracey Trance: The Fountain
Chocolate Bobka says:
Slugs, beetles and worms mill about the surface of the Earth. Often the beetles will roam in a circular pattern, occasionally bumping into a termite or a fire ant as if bug life were a game of miniature bumper cars. The music of Tracey Trance-- and especially The Fountain-- combs the uneventful ether for these types of collisions. Cascading like a waterfall over endless cliffs, Tracey hits buttons and melodies that a trained musician could never replicate. Instead, his outer-worldly melodies seem more natural, as if sparked by collaboration between a plastic woodwind acolyte and a manic Geppetto with a knack for the squeeze box.
MP3: Tracey Trance: Fountain 1
The Fountain is out now on Night People
Twins / Luke Perry: Guts
Rose Quartz says:
For all the Peace Agers mining 90210 nostalgia, these two East Coasters add the most electro zest to that hyperreal televised romanticism. Twins and Luke Perry's brand of day-glo is about as close to a VHS Supersoaker commercial as it gets; "bodacious" is about right for this ultra "Californian"-sounding sample-heavy pop, highlighted by trebly guitar wailage that sounds perfect on tape via your worst boombox. These bouncy hits may be scratchy and lo-fi, but they still fit great alongside hazy electro acts like Blondes and schizoids like The Samps.
MP3: Twins / Luke Perry: Malibu Body Crew
Guts split is out now on Peace Age
Dem Hunger: Caveman Smack
Friendship Bracelet says:
I've been nothing short of addicted to the work of Dem Hunger since first coming across his free download Heavy Spinach in the first half of last year. His first physical release, Caveman Smack, has only further intensified my obsession-- a sonic patchwork of spaced-out dub, beats that snap as heavy as any other on the planet, and eerie, mind-frying vinyl samples. Scenes skip as you try to keep up, but keeping up simply isn't an option. Time flies and you're left stunned.
Caveman Smack is out now on Leaving Records
Clive Tanaka y su orquesta: Jet Set Siempre No. 1
Get Off the Coast says:
Jet Set Siempre No. 1 has two personalities: Side A is labeled "For Dance" and Side B as "For Romance." From the opening notes of the A-side, you're immediately caught in a groove that entraps you until the tape is tightly wound around its second spool. While the B-side retains the rhythm, its added sense of enchantment ensures your moves connect with the eyes you're trying to attract. With Jet Set Siempre No. 1, Clive Tanaka y su orquesta have created one of the best electronic jammers I've heard in a long time. The only downside is that I'll probably wear out the cassette before summer ends.
MP3: Clive Tanaka y su orquesta: I Want You (So Bad)
Jet Set Siempre No. 1 is available now at clivetanaka.jp
Cruisin': What Is Quality?/Cruising in the Year F-Zero
Don't Die Wondering says:
Cruisin' is the latest analogue adventure from the ever-quirky Peace Age conglomerate, designated to be meekly laid down as a sacrifice before the volatile drug gods. What Is Quality? brings together the collective talents of Twins (Matt Weiner), Luke Perry (Ryan Howe), CH-ROM (Charlie Lanning), E-Tip (Elise Tippins) and Alex500 (Alex Morrison), which I imagine translates into a sweaty room centered around a heap of dusty electronics which are then subjected to forms of torture the manufacturer would not approve of. The resulting 20 minutes feel like a car ride through the changing scenery of one’s psyche, peering passively out the backseat window to find sights alternately pastoral, menacing, strange, and lovely, and sometimes just focusing on your own reflection peering passively back.
What Is Quality? is out now on Peace Age
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