Gig #75: Of late 19: Suuns and Jerusalem In My Heart, Buck Gooter, Paul de Jong, Erase Errata, John Wiese, Jlin, Isnaj Dui, Wire, Andrew Hung, Florian Hecker & Mark Leckey, Marching Church, Watter, Container, Death Grips

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SUUNS and Jerusalem In My Heart Gazelles in Flight
‘Suuns’ last release, Images Du Futur, was, for me at least, a classic example of an album that slowly invades the brain’s pleasure centres rather than immediately overwhelming the heart. The first couple of listens were oddly alienating, the band’s rarefied take on alt psych proving difficult to get a handle on beyond their sometimes uncanny resemblance to Clinic. But then it began to work some kind of creeping magic, its stark grooves, sense of tension and sudden changes in atmosphere revealing a group that was fully in control of its aesthetic. I don’t think that Suuns And Jerusalem In My Heart is in quite the same league as Images Du Futur, but it shares that album’s initial elusiveness, the feeling of familiar elements being viewed at an unusual angle. And of course, it isn’t just a Suuns album, but the fruits of a collaboration between the group and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, a Lebanese experimental music producer and engineer who’s been resident in Canada since the early 90s. Moumneh is a long-time associate with the likes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but his Jerusalem In My Heart project is inspired by the traditional music of his homeland, specifically the lo-tech, often distorted tapes of Syrian wedding singers he would scavenge from local markets.’ — Joe Banks

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Buck Gooter Sex with a Hornet’s Nest
‘On The Spider’s Eyes, Buck Gooter have strapped sheets of urban post modernist metal to their bodies and weaponized themselves. The music that comes forth is a smarter and more capable predator than what the band has previously produced. It makes their last effort, Witch Molecules, seem almost friendly by comparison. The beats on The Spider’s Eyes are machine stamped, relentless. The songs themselves are reverberant sheet steel cacophonous odes to devastation. The vocals are comin’ to ya straight from an abandoned factory in some lost industrial ghetto. Is Buck Gooter mad or merely telling you how it is? The Spider’s Eyes could be the new Blues for those who escaped mediocrity’s slaughterhouse in a century whose future went to the highest bidder almost as soon as it was ushered in less than twenty years ago.’ — Henry Rollins

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Paul de Jong This Is Who I Am
‘When The Books broke up in 2012, an era came to an end. The collage-pop duo of guitarist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong had invented a magical, comforting, mashup of strings and found sounds, creating the type of music that is as perplexing as it is educational. Since then, Zammuto has gone on to release two solo albums. De Jong, on the other hand, stayed relatively quiet. Today, he says, “it’s time to come up for air.” It should come as no surprise that after all this time, Paul de Jong’s solo debut is a brilliant, jovial, smooth product that lets his genius shine.’ — Stereogum

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Erase Errata My Life in the Shadows
‘Erase Errata looked like they could have been a brightly colored flash in the pan in the early 2000s. Between 2001 and 2003, the Bay Area band toured consistently and released a slew of well-regarded singles and splits as well as two full albums, Other Animals and At Crystal Palace. Since the twitchy dancefloor “post-riot-grrrl” sound they specialized in was on the ascent at the time, there was a lot of hype, which brings with it naysayers and trendwatchers. With founding guitarist Sara Jaffe’s departure in 2004, the band took a couple of years to regroup, finally solidifying into trio form for 2006’s relatively under-the-radar LP Nightlife. On Lost Weekend, their first LP in nearly a decade and their first offering since 2010’s “Damaged” single, they take a measured, deliberate approach, an acknowledgment of space and patience. Erase Errata haven’t lost their ability as songwriters, the smart tack they developed over their discography of winding unexpected texture around sparse, jagged rhythmic structure. I hear bits of sonic reference to some underrated and unexpected post-punk predecessors here—Bush Tetras, Disco Inferno, Moonshake—but Erase Errata have eked out their own space here, grown into their own legacy.’ — Jes Skolnik

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John Wiese Spectral Hand
‘While John Wiese’s music is chiefly interested in the new, much of its energy is consumed in representing the old. “Segmenting Process for Language” and “Cafe OTO,” for example, are tracks built using a method of tape manipulation not unlike the rest of the album, but among the complex tableau of sources is a freewheeling brass section not completely removed from Coltrane circa Interstellar Space. Drums play a more pronounced role on the “(Portland)” reprise of “Segmenting Process.” And while Wiese’s documents are never simply that (a fact intimately related to his purpose, if he has only one), “Memaloose Walkman” is close to pure field recording save for some radio-dial interruption and makes for one of the record’s only moments commanded by the interesting features of an isolated source of sound. For all of Wiese’s hypertextually critical gestures, his maneuverings are meant to be situated within the constellations of jazz and mid-century tape music. It’s within these networks that Wiese’s scramblings, errors, and transcendences are constituted as such.’ — Tiny Mix Tapes

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Jlin Black Ballet
‘Based not in Chicago but neighbouring Gary, Indiana, Jlin’s developed a musical dialect that sets her apart from her footwork peers. For one thing, she mostly foregoes sampling in favour of abrasive digital synthesis. For another, her use of rhythm is unique. Much of footwork’s twitchy funk comes from the way different grooves compete for dominance. Jlin favours just one rolling triplet feel, which can stomp along mercilessly or break apart into a mess of whirring tom-toms and hi-hats. The effect is often apocalyptic. Jlin’s debut album builds satisfyingly on the promise of “Erotic Heat.” That breakout track is here, sounding as weird and compelling as ever. Its sexual charge surfaces elsewhere too: in the breathy interjections that soften portentous opener “Black Ballet,” and in the vocal refrain of “So High,” a maddening loop expressing caged, desperate desire rather than euphoric release. (Voices are the only things Jlin does sample, and she does so extensively.) Elsewhere the aggression is purer and steelier. On “Ra,” syllables are broken down into tiny shapes and fired off like machinegun bullets. The trance synths on “Expand” sound like a swarm of deadly hornets.’ — Resident Advisor

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Isnaj Dui East
‘In Western terms we’re used to the idea that if we write a piece of music then it belongs to us and anyone using recognisable parts of it is in breach of that. Yet at the same time we have so many compositional rules that everyone follows, for instance twelve bar blues is by definition the same chord pattern so which parts do you claim as being original? I played with a London based Balinese gamelan group for several years and was always told that this attitude of copyright and ownership just doesn’t exist there. Someone will write a piece but then different groups will interpret it and modify it as they please. Yet it’s still considered to be the same composition! I think it’s perhaps more where you take the idea rather than ownership, another example would be hip hop and sampling, what those guys did in the early days was amazingly original, yet all done by chopping up existing (and recognisable) records. Having said that I just can’t bring myself to like plunderphonics, it just always comes across as a bit of a piss take.’ — Isnaj Dui

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Wire Blogging
‘The dispiriting farage that English life seems to have descended into in this election year undoubtedly informs Wire’s latest LP: perhaps inevitably, given that they have always been oblique observers on the shifts in our national character since their formation in the mid-1970s. It’s become a cliché to describe a band as “quintessentially English,” but perhaps Wire deserve the epithet more for it not being so obvious. They may not be larger-than-life eccentrics like Mark E. Smith or Billy Childish, nor deadpan comedians like Half Man Half Biscuit or Morrissey. But consider their reserve and detachment, coupled with a startling and persistent capacity for controlled aggression alongside moments of understated, gentle beauty. Add to that their dry, ironic humour, their wary, watchful introspection and the sense that they are ultimately an island unto themselves; and one too that seems somehow to remain always three-quarters submerged. This makes Wire one of the most un-showily English of rock bands in my book, a position they’ve maintained over a constantly evolving, near-forty-year career.’ — The Quietus

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Andrew Hung The Plane
‘Andrew Hung, one-half of the duo Fuck Buttons, takes a step back on the Rave Cave EP. In place of the intense polish of the duo’s most recent album, Slow Focus, Hung offers a brief look at the way his mind works when faced with a vastly pared-down set of tools—in this case, a Game Boy. (Though as he has said, that choice was simply a convenient solution to the dearth of portable, easy-to-manipulate gear during Fuck Buttons’ last tour.) Writing music on an obsolete gaming tool probably seems hopelessly antiquarian to some (especially if you grew up with the DS) but the uninhibited, high-strung music Hung wrings from it feels fresh. The EP also benefits from a handmade quality, one that you certainly wouldn’t find on a Fuck Buttons album at this point. Hung and Powers have often worked with cheap equipment, from karaoke machines to children’s toys, though they’ve shown an increasing focus on sound quality as the scale of their work has increased. Here, Hung’s unvarnished approach serves to highlight themes that repeatedly creep into his work—an underlying affinity for gear-grinding industrial sounds; a focus on process over a specific end result. In that sense, it’s a welcome refresher.’ — Abigail Garnett

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Florian Hecker & Mark Leckey Down
‘A joint LP from leftfield sound artist Florian Hecker and and multi-faceted creative Mark Leckey joining the shelves of PAN. Made up of a trio of 17 minute compositions which were originally presented as part of a performance at the Tate Modern. The highly abstract piece is made up in part of Hecker reshaping the sounds of Leckey’s 2010 piece GreenScreenRefrigeratorAction where the inner functioning of a Samsung fridge became the catalyst for sonic art. These fluttering, glitchy sounds sum up the appeal of the 3 compositions. Challenging but highly rewarding explorations in to the digital capabilities of sound art.’ — bleep.com

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Marching Church Calling Out a Name
‘When Marching Church first emerged in 2010 as Rønnenfelt’s solo project, Yussuf Jerusalem was probably his closest contemporary; both artists presenting a similarly stripped-back mix of black metal, garage rock, folk and psychedelic pop. Now recently resurrected, the sound has been beefed up and the line-up expanded to include members of Lower, Choir Of Young Believers, Hand Of Dust, Sexdrome and Puce Mary. Overall the album pivots on Rønnenfelt’s voice; here the songs are opened up way more than they ever were with Iceage, leaving more space around his words. His vocal style might be somewhat polarising when not backed by a dense barrage of noise – and at times This World is a challenging listen – but there is no doubt that broadening his scope has added new strings to his bow; namely the ability to adopt breezier sounds without losing any of his emotional clout.’ — The Quietus

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Watter Bloody Monday
‘Fans of post rock, prog rock and, more importantly, of amazing instrumental music will be delighted with This World, the album that signs the début of Watter, a super trio composed by Britt Walford of Slint, Zak Riles of Grails and the multi-instrumentalist Tyler Trotter. A great party requires a special guest and it so happened that Tony Levin, longtime bassist of the legendary progressive rock band King Crimson, joined the team and together these genius created an album that is absolutely amazing. Other guests on the album include Walford’s fellow post-rock veterans Rachel Grimes of Rachel’s and Todd Cook of The For Carnation and Shipping News. When I read about this project I was obviously excited and when I finally had the chance to listen to it I got lost in it. This World lures you in, and then you know you cant get away, it’s beauty in plainness …. it fools you.’ — Echoes and Dust

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Container Eject
‘LP is the most explosive offering in the Container oeuvre, capturing the raw and unhinged essence of the live Container experience while exploring new compositional and sonic limits. The opening “Eject” wastes no time with it’s instant feedback squeal backed by a barrage of pounding, distorted percussion. The concomitant storm of misfiring FX and derailed drum patterns set the stage the for aural pandemonium that this third LP delivers. Patchwork polyrhythm motifs, melodic (albeit fully blasted) hook sensibilities, and ballistic synthesized sounds are melted down together and shaped into some of the most rewarding, enjoyable works yet heard on any of the “LP” offerings. The closing “Calibrate” pounds with a hypnotic churn, growing into a stasis of red-hot squelches and deranged electronic malfunction recalling some of the earliest tape works Schofield created. LP gives a sense of “full circle”, blurring the end and the beginning into a baffling riddle that can only be admired and never solved.’ — Editions Mego

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Death Grips I Break Mirrors with My Face in the United States
‘Sonic violence underlines a majority of their work, but Jenny Death sounds specifically aimed to decimate venues in its straightforward expression of that aggression. It lunges at you instead of inviting you to find the thrills in its detritus. It’s their most punk album, both musically and in function. There’s a spectrum within its darkness: MC Ride’s anarchy-by-masochism howls on “I Break Mirrors with My Face in the United States” make for an apoplectic opening salvo, while “Inanimate Sensation” — a tad overenthusiastic in the effect of the revving engine climax of its “hook” — keeps up the ante. Both tracks clearly run on adrenaline, but what adds another layer of humanity is how they opt to steer away from cold, mechanized structures. Little things like the percussion bedlam that grounds “I Break Mirrors…” and the high-pitched voice that accompanies “Inanimate Sensation’s” onomatopoeic scratches add to the mania.’ — Consequence of Sound

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p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, My pleasure, thank you! ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh! I did indeed. Yeah, the location’s great, right by Bastille, sort of right next to Place de Vosges, etc. It’s on the first floor (in the European sense, i.e one floor above ground). You’ll have to come have tea with me. ** Keaton, Poetry’s difficulty is why it’s great when it’s great, I think. It’s probably great more frequently than fiction is great. It’s a lot harder to be lazy in poetry if you’re serious about being a poet. Nice Godard lullaby and wake up call, duh. Llama? Love is great, hooray. Wow, you do sound smitten, very cool. Moving to the 4th, near Bastille. New you/blog stuff. Righteous. Everyone, Keaton has stuck, or, rather, finessed some new particularized amaze balls-level things onto his reliable, slippery blog, and go have at it. ** Thomas Moronic, Yeah, weight partly lifted. The actual move is very daunting, so there’s still that much weight. But, yes, whew, you’re right. I hope your novel work went well. It did, right? Tell me I was right. Oh, and I moved your guest-post from tomorrow to this coming Thursday for reasons to complicated to explain. I hope that’s okay.  ** TIM MILLER QUEER PERFORMER, Tim! Hi, Tim! I miss you too! I was just briefly in LA, or in and out of it whilst on a road trip east of there, but not long enough to see anybody, sadly. Hopefully soon again, I hope. When are you ever going to visit me in Paris? T’would be super awesome. I need to get Brad’s book. Yeah, that was an incredible time we had in the ’80s, NYC, sigh. But it’s a good thing that the present and future rule too! Huge love to you, my dear buddy! ** Steevee, Hi, Steve. That’s really good to hear about ‘Unfriended’. I’ve been very piqued by the sound of it, and now I’m piqued and tweaked at the same time. I’ll check the local listings. Thanks a lot! ** Bill, Hi, Bill. No, it’s mine already, but I’ll move in probably over next weekend because the pre-move organizing is a lot of work and also and largely because there’s no internet there until after the first of the month. It’s in the 4th, rue St. Antoine (which is what rue Rivoli turns into just before it reaches the Bastille). Sounds like a sweet weekend. What desserts did you make? Thanks, pal! May your week’s beginning be the bon-nest! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Oh, okay. I hope your face prepares a nice feast for you, ha ha! ** Kier, Dentist, ha ha. That’s good. Did I already try Krispy Kiereme on you? If not, hi, KK! I’m glad you’re feeling a bit more human. Yeah, that un-locatable unhappiness thing is weird. I mean, I suppose all unhappiness is actually unlocatable, but it’ sweird when you realize that and can’t convict one particular thing in your life of fucking with you. Silje looks even more commanding and great than I had imagined. Wow, it’s true, there’s just something about her, and, yeah, you really see/feel it in that group shot. Thank you! She’s a beaut! The new apartment is a boon, for sure. It’s not very luxurious. It’s big, and the location is kind of a luxury. But it’s very old and gloomy and the furniture is a mishmash of junk. But I’m happy. I hope your today brings you further sparkliness! Today Zac and I are finishing the sound mix of the film, and then we have to send the new version to our producers. That’s my day. Yours? ** Casey McKinney, It seemed like one could have ransomed a King, of at least some minor country, with that plate of oysties. Or was it two plates? I saw the video. Yeah, that’s the place, but, yeah, more spruced up looking or something. Life’s mystery and reflection are important, especially in these spew-y days. Love to you too! Come back to Paris! ** Cal Graves, Hi! The weird thing is that I’m totally not creepy in real life. But I guess if I was shrunk and saddled with angel status, I might give creepiness a shot. That unintended interconnectedness of your stories sounds really good. I love that kind of stuff. I love interconnectedness, and I love when it happens without masterminding and becomes something magical that’s then subject for editorial intervening. That would make one dislike poetry and does all the time. Poppers are interesting. Good name. Thank you for the luck and take some luck for all your work ahead, most if not all of which sounds perfectly worthy of your resplendent talent. Precipitatingly, Dennis ** Misanthrope, G-man. It’s amazing how hard to impossible it is to find certain people on the internet. There are old friends of mine from high school and college that, every maybe six months or so, I’ll do an intricate search to find, and there’s always nothing whatsoever about them. Do you know how hard it is to hide from the internet? It’s spooky. Really, people still get sentenced seriously for pot possession in most of the US? That’s like a rip in the fabric of time or something. ** Right. I made another one of those gigs I make that show (off) some music I’ve been into and that I wish to share in an outward direction for some reason. I hope stuff stands out for you. See you tomorrow.