Stream: Mutual Benefit “Love’s Crushing Diamond” (exclusive)

03 Oct 2013 — Andi Wilson

In mid-may and a week after I moved to a new world (the city of Brooklyn), it was the rainiest night I had experienced living on the east coast thus far. Which is saying a lot due to the fact that I'm originally from Seattle. I was on my way to meet many people that play an extremely crucial part in this scene's DIY culture. One who at time feels more like kin, the ever-loving, Jordan Lee. I was so ecstatic to finally see a live set from Mutual Benefit. Though I had fallen for every past release (Figure in Black, Drifting EP,  Spider Heaven, Mutual Spirits, I saw the sea, and The Cowboy’s Prayer) a sensation was gathering in my thoughts that there could be no expectation for this performance, besides an unfamiliar set of emotions.

Jake Falby joins the MB set on violin, raising the level of intensity a bar higher. Myself and many other locals hear the single, “Advanced Falconry” for the first time that night. Looking amongst the audience, it was apparent how in awe we all were of these polished yet unheard ballads being performed for us in the cozy apartment. You immediately knew these songs had been constructed over years of time. It has been a long time coming for this album to be shared with the world.

Love's Crushing Diamond will intrigue your heart to flutter with anticipation, find balance in places you never knew, and shoot darts of nostalgia into your mind. The production and growth we are so kindly treated to with this album is remarkable. By virtue of all Lee’s travels, every track completes a different journey or story. Some are lullaby-ish goodbyes, others remind us of romance and heartbreak, and the rest of lush-like wanderlust. The recording process of LCD was very much a collaborative effort with contributions from members of Cry Guy, and Lizard Kisses, adding many more layers of unique energy to the album as a whole. As the album begins with “Strong River”, we profoundly end with “Strong Swimmer”. The cycle of thoughts orbit around your head at such abundance that these pop gems are difficult to not play on repeat.

Soon to be released by Brooklyn newcomers, Soft Eyes, Love's Crushing Diamond will be available on 12" vinyl and handmade, screen printed cd-r. If your heart so desires, you can catch Mutual Benefit perform at Father/Daughter's official CMJ showcase as well as a handful of northeastern dates in November.

You can pre-order the album here or feast your ears and stream in its entirety below:

In case you missed it, NFOP’s Tonje Thilesen also filmed this breathtaking session with Mutual Benefit last year:

 

/ talk softly, walk slowly /

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Stream: Kelela “Cut 4 Me”

02 Oct 2013 — Andrew Wagner

Kelela and Kingdom’s “Bank Head” is, without a doubt, one of the most breath-taking pieces of music to emerge in 2013. Kingdom’s forward-thinking, futuristic beats found their match in Kelela’s singular and evocative vocal abilities. Kelela’s long-awaited mixtape debut, Cut 4 Me, affirms that “Bank Head” was more than just luck. Armed with a who’s who of Fade to Mind/Night Slugs producers (Kingdom, Bok Bok, Nguzunguzu, Jam City, Girl Unit, Morri$, and NA), Kelela has crafted a mixtape that’s always exciting to listen to, with music that’s at once immediately familiar and unlike anything else. Kelela is something of a chameleon, equally adept at taking on aggressive club music (“Enemy”), sensual R&B (“Go All Night (Let It Burn”), and meditative ballads (“A Lie”). That Cut 4 Me feels cohesive in spite of its diverse array of producers is a testament to Kelela’s talents as a vocalist, which unify the mixtape by crystallizing a fresh and exciting R&B sound. In turn, Cut 4 Me is one of the most imaginative and dazzling pieces of music to be released this year.

Stream Cut 4 Me below. The mixtape can be downloaded for free from Fade to Mind. The mixtape is also available for purchase through iTunes.

 

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NFOP x BCR #2: Human Ear Music

02 Oct 2013 — Henning Lahmann

Last Friday night, the second edition of our NFOP radioshow on Berlin Community Radio was broadcast through the interwebs. My co-host Tonje was absent sadly, but that shortcoming was compensated by the amazing Jason Grier, founder and head of Berlin via Los Angeles label Human Ear Music, surely one of the most fascinating and significant underground (for lack of a better word) imprints out there. We talked about the history of HEM and some of its greatest affiliates, including Ariel Pink and Julia Holter. As we've also played some very exclusive rarities from the label's seemingly infinite back catalogue (track list below), you might not want to miss out on this. Take a listen below.

The next show will air on Friday, October 11, at 9pm CET. Tonje is gonna be back for it, and we've invited another very special guest that we'll announce soon. Tune in!

(Photo of Jason Grier by Tonje Thilesen)

Track Listing

(1) copeland "Fit"
(2) Dean Blunt "Six"
(3) Ariel Pink & Jason Grier "Bad Liar" (original version of "Live It Up" off Mature Themes) (exclusive)
(4) Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti "L'estat" (original version of "Lestat" off Before Today) (exclusive)
(5) Linda Perhacs & Julia Holter "Delicious (Live at San Francisco Art Institute)" (exclusive)
(6) Michael Pisaro & Julia Holter "Some Kind of Emergency" (exclusive)
(7) Lucrecia Dalt "Glosolalia"

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Berlin Current #1: Moon Wheel

02 Oct 2013 — Henning Lahmann

As I've said myself probably a hundred times at various opportunities, for example here, Berlin is a city that is not easily grasped in terms of music when it comes to both 'scenes' and genuine innovation. It's easy to get carried away by that fact and to keep complaining about it, especially in view of London or New York, and I am certainly guilty as charged when it comes to that. The smarter thing to do, no doubt, is to make an attempt to actually explore and map the musical undercurrents that exist in Berlin probably like in no other city at this very moment in time. Enter Berlin Current, a new joint initiative by CTM, Berghain, Boiler Room Berlin, De:Bug, and BLN.FM, and sponsored by the surprisingly forward-thinking and interventionist (in a good way) Musicboard Berlin. Putting "an ear to the scene and presents new, future-oriented musical ideas from Berlin", the project will showcase selected young talents at various events in the coming months. There's some more conceptual underpinning over here (including a definition of pop that's convincingly/alarmingly close to our own), and a list of currently selected artists right here. It's a very compelling list indeed.

The first two musicians to be highlighted are "Neukölln native" Kobosil and Moon Wheel aka Olle Holmberg, a Swedish expat whose music neatly falls in line with recent North American tape-induced psychedelic experimentalism. If you happen to be an avid reader of this site then the name should sound familiar; in fact, Holmberg supported the great Dylan Ettinger at one of our very first showcases at Mme Claude back in October 2011. Earlier this year, LA powerhouse Not Not Fun released the strongest Moon Wheel material to date on a self-titled cassette. In anticipation of forthcoming events, we briefly spoke with Holmberg via email. Read the interview below the break.

This Friday, October 4, both will perform at Berghain as part of CTM's Polymorphism #8, supporting a truly breathtaking line-up that features Oneohtrix Point Never, Stellar OM Source, Lorenzo Senni, and Ital. More details over here. See you there.

 

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How long have you been making music?

For ten or fifteen years. Can't remember exactly. Started out in QBASIC and FastTracker II in MS-DOS as a teenager.

When and why did you come to Berlin?

In 2011 I got kicked out of Australia and didn't like the vibe back home in Sweden. I checked out several other European cities, but when I visited a friend here I decided to not leave.

Does Berlin inform the music you make in some way and if yes, how?

It taught me how to dance, which lead me to explore music with more corporeal intention.

What do you think about the city's music scene and opportunities for musicians?

In the beginning it was not difficult to get small shows, and the rest followed slowly but steadily. I've met some very talented, generous and encouraging musicians here that helped me grow. However, I wish the corporate infiltration of our culture would cease, even if it meant the spectacle became a bit less shiny.

How did you get in touch with the NNF people?

I emailed Britt the first three Moon Wheel songs right after I'd written them and he asked for more. Two years later I sent him the album when it was finally finished. I was afraid he'd forgotten about me, but was still keen.

What is your setup on stage, and what is the relationship between your recorded tracks and your live improvisations?

Varying bits and pieces (controllers, fx, keyboard, drum machine, sequencer, guitar) plugged into a hardware/software sampler with some additional software behind it. It varies from show to show. Most of my recordings are live jams from the studio, so to take it to a show feels like a natural step. Spontaneous arrangement and intuitive jamming from sets of sounds and patterns.

Is playing at Berghain for the first time an exciting or rather intimidating imagination?

A dream come true. I feel humbled to be given the opportunity by CTM even though I'm unknown. When I asked somebody who has played there for advice they said it's like driving a tractor. Grandpa showed me how to do that, so it should be fine. Just hoping it'll be as loud as it should be!

Moon Wheel's self-titled cassette is out on Not Not Fun. Get it over at Boomkat.

Perera Elsewhere “Giddy (Ft. Gonjasufi)”

01 Oct 2013 — Kelsie Brown

We very quickly fell into infatuation and obsession with Perera Elsewhere upon hearing the first verse of her debut single, "Bizarre", last August. In the much-awaited followup to that track, Perera Elsewhere teams up with the legendary Gonjasufi for another dreary and woozy jam. Perera Elsewhere's voice remains the backbone to the song, over unsteady, psychy guitar and light drum pats, while Gonjasufi's rough vocal style provides the perfect balance to the mystery. It's a natural fit.

Perera Elsewhere's debut LP Everlast will be out October 28 via Los Angeles label Friends of Friends. Here's "Giddy (featuring Gonjasufi)".

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Watch: Hua Li “Pinkett”

01 Oct 2013 — Parker Bruce

Rapper Hua Li (aka Peggy Hogan) – based out of Montréal – who just played with Cakes Da Killa during Pop Montreal, put out her very first video (directed by Eduardo Menz and David J. Romero) late last week for a song called "Pinkett," a production by Teck-Zilla. The song uses the sample from Drake's "Over" where he says, "Bought to set it off in this bitch / Jada Pinkett" (a reference to the late 90s movie "Set It Off" that Jada Pinkett Smith was in with Queen Latifah). The video has quite the cast of characters: two shirtless guys wearing unicorn heads, a male acrobat careening around a stripper pole, a white cat, and boys wearing hats that say "Cake" and "Bad Kid." Top it all off with Hua Li herself putting some of her stripper pole class knowledge to work. Go get her mixtape The Bound Feat. Pt. 1 that came out in June on her bandcamp, and if you're in Montréal tonight, go see her DJ at the Royal Phoenix.  

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Watch: Pillars and Tongues “Knifelike”

01 Oct 2013 — Henning Lahmann

When Henry Schiller wrote about Chicago outfit Pillars and Tongues' latest single "Knifelike" a couple of weeks back, he suggested it would be perfect "to watch a sunrise to". While I found his advice initially quite convincing, the image is lost now that I've watched the official, David Sampson-directed video for the song. Whatever kind of sunshine might have been implied in the three-piece's folk-indebted compositiion originally, Sampson's dreamlike visual accompaniment aims more at the subconscious: gathered around a rather uncanny than comforting bonfire, band members Beth Remis, Ben Babbitt, and Mark Trecka present or are faced with – that remains deliberately unclear – different artefacts whose significance for the protagonists might necessitate proper psychoanalysis. The video's overall tone is correspondingly and, we may add, appropriately sombre. It's not exactly pessimism that prevails, let alone depression. But just like the song's darker overtones, an indistinct, fragile cautiousness has taken over, hinting at a different kind of poetry.

"Knifelike" appears on End-dances, which is out now on Empty Cellar.

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