I love Odd Nosdam. Love him. I love Clouddead. I think Mr. Dave Madson is a visionary musician, far beyond any and all labels ascribed to him. Odd Nosdam is incredibly prolific, and though I’ve loved every album, remix, and collaboration so far, an artist with as expansive of a repertoire as his is, statistically speaking, bound to misstep every now and again (for my taste at least). T.I.M.E. is that misstep… sort of.
Anything from Odd Nosdam that one could consider a “misstep” is still unequivocally an enjoyable listen and decent record, something that cannot be said for 99% of indie rock right now. For me though, when an artist has truly carved a niche, or really mastered an original and brain-burnin’ sound, I hate to see him/her/them deviate too much. Though experimentation is the cure for stagnation, Odd Nosdam’s signature sound is so extraterrestrial that I don’t think he need worry about becoming stale… ever. Continue reading ‘Odd Nosdam – T.I.M.E. Soundtrack’
Sure, the best-of list is already out, but I would be remiss to not take this opportunity to admit missing a few pretty good recordings this year. New Orleans’ Belong was one of them, and I stumbled upon said artist by way of a time machine. I was rummaging through a stack of old magazines when I found a copy of Arthur from the summer of 2006 – the one with Brightblack Morning Light on the cover and their interview where they talked about how rad they think nature is. I had read “Heavy Air” before, a much better title for an article on Belong than the stupid Internet meme I referenced. However, something really struck a chord with me reading it this time around. But more on that in a minute…
Belong’s latest is called Colorloss Record. It dropped a while ago, actually. But I’m slow at the punch sometimes. Colorloss Record is a collection of covers, though you probably wouldn’t discern that from just listening. It doesn’t sound like any of the originals. Therein lies the power of Belong, covers or originals – Belong appropriates elements of shoegaze, ambient, minimalism, and drone without falling into or sounding like any of the aforementioned genres. They sound like a pop band through a thick filter, like listening to a neighbor’s stereo. Really unusual, and pretty exciting. The volatile surges and swells of balmy, warm analog noise peppered throughout invoke the eroded and washed haze of William Basinski’s The Disintegration Loops by way of Kevin Shields. Despite hailing from a warm and humid climate, I must say that Belong sounds quite majestic as the soundtrack to the silent and cold winter night we’re enjoying here in Louisville tonight.
Belong is Turk Dietrich and Michael Jones, and both gentlemen probably have a lot of love for Tim Hecker, Lichens, and the Goslings. But on Colorloss Record, they show a love for the likes of Syd Barrett, July, and Tintern Abbey, laying to tape some obscure covers in a completely unrecognizable, sonically aquatic fashion. Dig “Late Nite” and “My Clown,” por favor. Yes, the music really is supposed to sound something like the transmission of an extraterrestrial and/or underwater shortwave station broadcasting distant psychedelic pop music, and it’s unabashedly balls to the wall. Totally otherworldly. Continue reading ‘All Your Base are Belong to Belong’
Not to be one of those morons that likes to be nostalgic about the ’80s even though your hippocampus was not developed enough to hold many memories of it because you were fuckin’ five years old… BUT, if you were born in 1984 like me, the Flintstones Vitamins jingle has been permanently burned into your cerebral cortex. The person who wrote it made a lot of money, I’m sure. As such, every time I think of the band Growing, this melody pops in my head. Not exactly the tune you want to have circulating in your dome whilst Growing is ripping a hole in the sky immediately above you. Continue reading ‘10 Million Strong and Growing’
About 10 years ago, Art Bell, then host of late night alien and conspiracy theory-themed radio program Coast to Coast AM, aired the frightening urban legend recording “The Sounds From Hell.” It’s an unsettling clip, but also morbidly fun. It’s also completely a hoax (literally speaking, not theologically). The origin of this sound is as follows: Soviet scientists drilled a hole nine miles deep in the heart of Siberia to study plate tectonics. When they hit a heat pocket, their drilling equipment was destroyed, followed by the sound of millions of screaming souls. As any good scientist would do, they whipped out the mics and recorded it.
I tell this anecdote as it relates the feeling I get when I hear Cloudland Canyon, and subsequently, when I feel my face melt off my skull. I don’t believe in hell, but I believe in nine mile deep holes. And at the entrance of such a tremendous cave, portal, the dark and cavernous chasm reaching deep into foreboding stretches beyond our measly surface existence, is the sound of Cloudland Canyon. It’s huge, it’s beautiful, but it’s teeming with trepidation. If they ever make a film adaptation for Mark Z Danielewski’s House of Leaves, Cloudland Canyon should produce the sound of the ever-expanding house. This is the biggest thing on the planet. Cloudland Canyon, should their discography get too prolific, will knock our planet right off it’s fucking orbital plane. Continue reading ‘Cloudland Canyon Ain’t Nothin’ to Fuck With’
The expansive 1981 Brian Eno + David Byrne LP My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was groundbreaking to the Nth degree, and it’s undoubtedly my favorite release from either gentleman. To think that this unabashedly bizarre album was laid to tape in the middle of Eno’s ambient explorations and right before the ever-popular Remain in Light (all recorded in ’70s no less) is pretty mind-blowing. In many ways, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts made the world safe for artists like Boards of Canada and Godspeed You Black Emperor to utilize strange field recordings over vocals. And it looks like the 2006 rerelease treatment for My Life in the Bush of Ghosts has renewed enough interest for a follow-up collaboration effort. Everything That Happens will be released as a digital download on August 18 from the official site. Throw it on and have the most fucked-up dance party you’ve ever witnessed. Continue reading ‘New Brian Eno and David Byrne – “Strange Overtones”’
For full disclosure, I’ve known these guys for years now. I first met (from left to right) Trevor Tremaine, Robert Beatty, and Mike Connelly my freshman year in college at our campus radio station. Though I thought they were totally rad dudes, I was fairly intimidated by them at first, in part due to the fact they were older, yet certainly exacerbated by the fact they were in an absolutely terrifying band called Hair Police.
At first, I didn’t like noise music too much because I didn’t “get” it, and wasn’t sure what I thought about Hair Police. I learned later that noise is, like many forms of art, performance based – you really have to see it live to let it take hold of you. And that’s all it took for me to convert. The live show usurps all paradigms of traditional rock music. Noise itself certainly isn’t as simple as the title suggests, as noise has structure and acts as an expressive, fringe genre, much like punk circa 25 years ago. It isn’t just a complete destruction of musical norms – it’s more akin to an altering of the listener’s aural perception. Harmony and melody is simply replaced with rhythm and intensity. The typical audience reaction of swaying in unison and applauding each song is replaced with fist pumping, erratic spazzing, and sarcastic jeering. The result is powerful. Noise inverts everything about rock, which is exactly what punk did in the ’70s. Robert Beatty even told me once that Lightning Bolt is as relevant today as the Sex Pistols were in the the heyday of punk, but the world is too different now to embrace LB like they did with Johnny and Sid. I think I can agree with this sentiment.
After seeing my first noise show, I also realized that there’s nothing to “get” with noise. You either find it interesting and fun, or you don’t. No matter your opinion, its influence is undeniable. Stereolab and Broadcast were simply noise-influenced bands with a penchant for vocal pop. Sonic Youth are simply a group of noise and punk dorks who also had enough pop structure sensibility to expand their audience. To further this point, Hair Police spent their summer a couple of years ago opening for Sonic Youth throughout North America, handpicked by Thurston. And of course, noise has been a crux influence for the psychedelic movement for decades – everyone from United States of America, Silver Apples, and the Red Krayola in the ’60s; to Can, Brian Eno, and Faust in the ’70s; to Ruins, Swans, This Heat, and My Bloody Valentine in the ’80s; to the excellent, genre-pushing work of Indian Jewelry, Boredoms, No Age, Animal Collective and more today. Shoegazing owes a lot to noise, as does this blog. And, ya know, lest we forget its affect on neo-classical works by Cage, Branca, Basinski, and Reich.
But enough about the tenets of noise and avant psych – this is what you need to know. Hair Police are three righteous dudes who like to hang tough and bring the funk live. They’ve been shattering sine waves and giving sound engineers something to scratch their chin about all over the globe since 2001. Hair Police’s live show is exhilarating and otherworldly. The band and crowd shout mantras between songs. Apologies for sounding dumbtarded with what I’m about to say, but ya know, this is real rock and fucking roll. While their live show often subscribes to a certain aesthetic (*ahem* controlled insanity), Hair Police’s recorded repertoire maintains a surprising diversity – from zone out dronescapes, to full on aural assaults, to foreboding caravan treks across the astral plane. This isn’t just Merzbow bangin’ on pots and pans, Hair Police have a vision (and I totally invite you to hypothesize what that might be).
As with many experimental groups, Hair Police often mechanically alter their instruments and utilize traditionally “functional” equipment as musical divining rods. One of Robert’s weapons of choice is the Qualiton Acoustic Appraise… it’s used to test hearing. The members of Hair Police are in a zillion other projects as well, including a orchestral chamber collective, pop-rock groups, and more. The influences of the band are a lot wider than one might think, as they cite everything from jazz, to psych, to the Beach Boys, and more as co-sculptors in their face grinding canticles. Last time I spoke with Mike, during their 2006 summer tour, that he was all up all on that Sean Paul “Temperature” joint. Trevor has drummed with the Coup. Dudes love jams.
Hair Police has collaborated on record with the likes of Viki, Kites, and Wolf Eyes (of which Mike Connelly is their newest member and the first guy I know personally to be signed to Sub Pop), and have performed with countless others. They do not ask for adoration, only acknowledgement. Their Facebook fan group is, aptly, titled “Hair Police Acknowledgement Club,” wherein one anonymous person started a group under the premise that “nobody likes Hair Police” but “Mike Connelly IS in Wolf Eyes, so let’s acknowledge this band exists.” The band has since taken over this chunk of cyber snuff and welcome you to, in the non-existential sense, acknowledge their mighty presence. Trevor Tremaine, who indeed exists and can be acknowledged, was nice enough to take some time out to discuss their forthcoming release Certainty of Swarms (out Aug. 11), the recording process, and cracking skulls.
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KB: Beside slap bass and touches of Upper West Side Soweto, what can people expect with Certainty of Swarms that’s different from previous albums?
TT: It’s the only Hair Police album to start with a countoff.
It’s really varied, like ‘Obedience Cuts.’ ‘Constantly Terrified’ was more of an exercise in tedium. It was a record made out of necessity. Other than that, I think the mix on the new one makes it feel more “live.” The drums are really present and there weren’t really any overdubs or much in the way of post-production at all. Also, whenever the vocals come in, they overwhelm everything else on the track, which is a pretty hilarious effect. It’s a really garagey record.
KB: Hair Police and a few choice other acts in the genre have made the leap from playing in people’s basements to playing renowned music venues. Which do you like better?
TT: As long as it’s really loud and people are having a good time, I don’t care. Basements are good for intimacy, but a place like The Bottle can have much the same energy, with a killer PA and free beer to boot.
KB: Without bothering you with the obligatory biography, what was your entrance into both being interested in and performing such evil, scalp scalding scorchers?
TT: To be honest, Hair Police is just kinda what happens when you put the three of us together. We all have really broad tastes in music, with, of course, a lot of overlap. I personally discovered free jazz really early on, some punk rock, 60s counterculture stuff, Dada, etc. After high school I first heard noise, mainly Japanese stuff, which still slays me. Seeing the Incapacitants at No Fun Fest last year was revelatory. Mike is a noise/black metal guy, Robert’s a weird electronics guy, and I’m kind of a pop/rock guy. We all share each other’s taste, and all love psych, jazz, noise, punk, avant composition, I don’t even know. Everything rules. It all goes into the Hair Police cauldron.
KB: What’s the songwriting process like? Do songs evolve from sessions, Robert tinkering around with his toys; does one person record an idea for the group to expand on, or something else entirely?
TT: It all comes from jams, but we never say “let’s try and do that one again.” It’s more about conjuring a really specific atmosphere or emotion. Our arrangements are just sets of textures. We rarely play a song the same way twice. I take that back, “Strict” is pretty rigidly structured. It’s kind of like a folk song.
KB: What about your righteous song titles? Is it like a Joy Division thing where you keep a running list?
TT: I don’t really know how it comes about. Mike did all the song titles for the last few, going back to ‘Constantly.’ I did most of the ones on ‘Certainty.’ It’s kinda just up to whoever. If you have a good idea, throw it out there. We all know what Hair Police is about by now. Most bands operate by dictatorship or democracy, but we’re pretty anarchic. We trust each other enough to do it that way, I think.
KB: I sorta remember the origin of the “gnarly times” mantra, but pretty please recite that again for the highly literate readers of this blog dude.
TT: To be honest, I can’t remember. It stemmed from several conversations about the way civilization is headed, how things seem to be getting more and more precarious by the day. The mantra sorta summed up both the situation and how we had it in our heads. Actually, I don’t even know who came up with it. Mike, Robert, our friend Greh, who knows. Anyway, now the mantra is “Choke on your elders.” That should be pretty self-explanatory.
KB: I don’t know if people realize how many non-HP type projects you all are a part of. Let’s see, there’s the complex pop group Attempt, the chamber-oriented Eyes and Arms of Smoke… I’m probably leaving out a few… but regardless, with these projects, on top of Mike being an official member of Wolf Eyes and living hundreds of miles away, how do you all practice and stay tight?
TT: It’s not Rush. Our rehearsals aren’t very rigorous. We’re more likely to record new material than practice old shit, whenever we have a chance to play.
Other non-Hair Police projects you’re omitting are Three Legged Race, Failing Lights, Coptic Nausea, Sick Hour, S.M.E.L.L., ARA, Birth Refusal, Gate to Gate, and The Haunting. And actually I might be leaving some out. Note that if you include John Olson [of Wolf Eyes] as a member of Hair Police, which he was for much of 2006, this list would expand indefinitely like Pi.
KB: Saying noise shows are insane is both stupid and redundant. But with that said, what are the most insane show memories you have?
TT: Lots, but here’s a good one. One time at Club Seal, the hallowed, no defunct house venue in Lexington operated by Irene Moon, an audience member whose identity I shall conceal – let’s call him “Walter C” – took Mike’s guitar and commenced shredding. Mike just grabbed the mic and did his vocal thing, thrashing around. Well, at one point, Mike is bringing his head down really hard and the guy in the crowd is bringing the guitar up with the same force, and the two inevitably collide, with a tuning peg going into Mike’s nostril. In one quick yank, half of Mike’s nose is split. Mid-show, he’s rushed outta there, and I didn’t even realize what had happened, Robert and I finished the set while triage was going on in the next room. He had to go the the ER, but our van wouldn’t fit through the parking garage entrance.
Actually, there’s a good show memory from Chicago from this place called the Mutiny that involves Robert, but I’ll let him tell that one if he wants to. Gigs have been getting tamer lately. The whole crew is getting older. Now you go to noise shows and people are sitting down. Either way is cool.
Hair Police kick off their tour in Chicago this Friday night (July 25) at the Empty Bottle with Bloodyminded and more. The rest of the jaunt looks like this:
July 26th–Cincinatti, OH– Art Damage Lodge w/ Wretched Worst, Wasteland Jazz Unit
July 27th–Columbus, OH– Skylab w/ Mike Shiflet, Envenomist/Jason Zeh duo.
July 28th–Cleveland, OH– Tusco Embassy w/ Aaron Dilloway, Emeralds, Tusco Terror
July 29th–Pittsburgh, PA– Belvedere’s w/ Ryan Jewell, Cock Scene Investigator
July 30th–Rochester, NY–Bug Jar w/ Pengo
July 31st–Albany, NY– UAG Gallery w/ Rise Set Twilight, Century Plants
Aug 1st–Florence, MAFlorence American Legion Hall w/ Sunburned, Thurson Moore/Kate Village duo, Paul Flaherty/Jeff Hartford Duo
Aug 2nd–New York, NY– Rehab w/ Carlos Giffoni, Sixes, FFH.
Aug 3rd–New Haven, CT– BAR w/ Sickness
Aug 5th–Boston, MA– Middle East w/ Heathen Shame
Aug 6th–Montreal, QC– Zoobizarre w/ Yomul Yuk, Selfish Implosions, Antinferno
Aug 7th–Toronto, ON– Savage Garden w/ Disgues, Bottom Feeder, Flatline Construct
Aug 8th–Ypsilanti, MI– Pleasure Dome w/ Awkward Squad, Uneven Universe, Regression (Nate Young solo)
Boards of Canada are sacred territory for me. In fact, I may subject you sometime to this college thesis I wrote about Geogaddi when I was a freshman. Normal people don’t think this hard about ambient, immovable analog synth launches, so BoC is serious business. Only one dude can do them right, and that’s the elder statesman of thick, sprawling, storm inducing psych-hop, Odd Nosdam.
Pretty Swell Explode, Odd Nosdam’s latest 2-disc release,compiles all of his fairly recent remixes and collaborations, including this track from BoC’s Trans Canada Highway. I need to sling some of Odd’s excellent, gorgeous mountain-moving “Untitled Three” collaborations with Flying Saucer Attack’s Jessica Bailiff up here soon (one of which can be found on Pretty Swell Explode), but for the time being, Odd Nosdam showcases his genius in this gigantic, barely recognizable interpretation of “Dayvan Cowboy.” Despite this, I still think of the Kittinger Fall, as featured in the original music video, when I hear it. Odd Nosdam kinda sounds like falling from the edge of the atmosphere, in a way. The second movement is not for wimps, so proceed with caution.
For full disclosure, I’ve known these guys for years now. I first met (from left to right) Trevor Tremaine, Robert Beatty, and Mike Connelly my freshman year in college at our campus radio station. Though I thought they were totally rad dudes, I was fairly intimidated by them at first, in part due to the fact they were older, yet certainly exacerbated by the fact they were in an absolutely terrifying band called 
