We Are Experiencing Turbulence | A Mixtape by Filastine

March 5th, 2010 Stu

When presenting Fat Planet many moons ago, I was always keenly attuned to sounds that fused my two (then) primary concerns – broad internationalism and rugged experimental beats. Proponents of such a fusion were (and to a large extent still are) few and far between, but Mutamassik, dj/Rupture and Filastine stood out, stood proud and stood very loud. Often abrasive, and never compromising, they nonetheless married the promotion of global sounds throughout Western lands with an unfailing respect, collaborative diligence and due payback for the local artists involved. To herald the release of his ‘Extra Dirty Bomb’ EP (reworks and live tracks that “shits on geography & genre”, with mixes from Jahcoozi, Cardopusher, Phowa, Deep Throat X, Maga Bo and Electromeca), I’m delighted to post Grey Filastine’s new mixtape of insurrectionary bass music, and as an accompaniment, asked him for a few words on its genesis.
Stuart Buchanan

BUY: Extra Dirty Bomb at iTunes | Additech | vinyl

“Last year’s tour started in Oceania January 1st and ended at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in late December. I went there to do a sound intervention, broadcasting 5-channel noise collages from moving bicycles as part of the larger direct-action bike bloc. The state repression was massive, we were detained, searched, and had our workspace raided. Meanwhile the COP15 Summit itself was a fucking disaster, as the leaders of the world proved yet again that we can’t rely on solutions from above. While there I also did a Filastine gig, in a circus tent inside the free-town of Cristiania, which ended in teargas & police helicopters pounding overhead. On return to Barcelona I began working on this mix, it was to be a “promo” for a new EP of remixes, but the urgency of this moment shaped it into something else. I hope it triggers some reflexion, some inspiration, or perhaps even some action.” Grey Filastine

DOWNLOAD: We Are Experiencing Turbulence – Insurrectionary Bass Music Sin Fronteras | Mixed by Filastine (Megaupload)

Tracklisting:
- Infernal Noise Brigade- live in Mexico at street protest
- Jazzsteppa- AmeriCa B
- Filastine/Cardopusher – Discontinuities (Singularities remixed- from the EP Extra Dirty Bomb)
- Fnaire- Lalla Mennana
- Filastine/Jahcoozi- Opium Den (Desordenador remixed- from the EP Extra Dirty Bomb)
- Beats Antique- Oriental Uno (feat. Fanafara Kalashikov)
- Oro 11- El Cangrejo
- Arena & Etian acapella- excerpted from Voces Rebeldes project
- Filastine/Ill Gates- Pharma Sutra (Fitnah remixed- from the EP Extra Dirty Bomb)
- Filastine/Maga Bo- Batalha Cotidiana (B’talla remixed- from the EP Extra Dirty Bomb)
- Chancha Via Circuito- Calzada
- Foxdye- Foxdyechek Collision
- Frikstailers- Sudaka Invasor
- Tego Calderon- Diento de Oro acapella cameo
- Sonik Omi- Ye Jawani Hai Mera Jaan
- Simbad- Airport Beat 1008
- Jahdan Blakkamoore- Dem A Idiot (instrumental – prod. by Matt Shadetek & Modeselektor)
- Amir Sulaiman- Danger
- Sunship feat. Warrior Queen/ Sinden(remix)- Quits
- Filastine/Deep Throat X- Con Las Manos En La Masa (remixfrom the EP Extra Dirty Bomb)
- Madera Limpia- La Lenta (Schlachthofbronx remix)
- Bassnectar- Cozza Frenzy
- Venetian Snares- Sabbath Dubs
- Kray Twinz feat. Twista- What We Do
- Suckafish P. Jones- Caribbean Nightmare Agent
- Dubchild- Can’t Keep Me Down
- Caving- Slimthug
- Dog Murras (feat. Propria Lixa)- Vai Levar Galheta
- Brasil 96- Batucada
- Lightning Bolt- On Fire
- Rhythm Collision featuring- Indian Street Music #3 / Sein Sah Thin / Tabuh Winangun Marga / Venetian Snares /
- Filastine / Drumcorps
- Filastine- Como Fugitivos (instrumental version)

with words lifted from:
- UK newscasters
- Carl Sagan dubbed into castilian spanish
- ANC Radio Freedom BroadcastSouth Africa1969
- a US Military Commander
- Waking Life
- The Century of Self
- Slavoj Zizek
- and more sources of lost origin

Tags: filastine, infernal noise brigade

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Discontent | In Teen Dreams

January 16th, 2010 Stu

Do you remember those teenage dreams?  For some it may be a recent memory, for others, it’s somewhat more distant.  To the latter, teen dreams exist simply as faint, fading memories -  idylls, fantasises, hopes and nightmares, never to be lived or experienced, destined only to be ravaged and degraded by time.  The nostalgia for lost teenage dreams is balanced by the fact that the actual shape and substance of those dreams can no longer be recalled – it’s simply a sense-memory, an instinctual belief that something has been lost, but with no recollection of what the ’something’ actually is. This mixtape somewhat boldy tries to capture that sense memory – a hankering for a past, refracted through the eyes of the future.  Everything contained herein is stretched and strained over time, not so much hypnogogic as hypnotic, post-nostalgia – lulling us into the security of a place and time that is simultaneously familiar and unknown. We drift from Roj’s Ghost Box intro, to Salem’s screwed goth-hop remix of Playboy Tre and Tan Dollar’s funeral wedding march, projecting via White Rainbow’s astral tones, Kharkov’s elusive and ultimately unobtainable folk melody and Ancient Crux’s dark pean to romantic longing, dripping with echoes of music from half a century ago. It’s full of promise and mystery, yet it ultimately unsettles and perhaps never truly satisfies – the true mark of a real teenage dream.   Stuart Buchanan

DOWNLOAD: Discontent | In Teen Dreams (103MB)

1. Roj – You Are Here / England [1:29]
2. Black Vatican – Night Is Come / U.S. [4:18]
3. Railcars – Cathedral With No Eyes (white rainbow remix) / U.S. [6:24]
4. Playboy Tre – Sideways (Salem Drag Chop remix) / U.S. [4:48]
5. Shlohmo – Couch / U.S. [3:34]
6. Tan Dollar – Untitled / U.S. [2:36]
7. Ancient Crux – In Teen Dreams / U.S. [2:33]
8. Pina Chulada – Someone Like You / U.S. [3:39]
9. Blastcorp – Last (Harp mix) / Australia [2:25]
10. Syntaks – Sudden Dream / Denmark [3:00]
11. White Rainbow – Mind Haze Is Clear Delights / U.S. [10:29]
12. LJ Kruzer – Tam8+ei4 / England [1:02]
13. Kharkov – Folkal / Australia [5:34]
14. Mokira – Seven Ply / Sweden [7:16]
15. Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood – Precognition / Australia [2:14]

img: Nyalee (via Flickr, Creative Commons)

Tags: ancient crux, black vacation, blastcorp, brothers of the occult sisterhood, kharkov, lj kruzer, mokira, pina chulada, playboy tre, railcars, roj, salem, Shlohmo, syntaks, tan dollar, white rainbow

Posted in Mixtapes. | 1 Comment »

Americas Volume One, A Mixtape by Moses Iten

January 11th, 2010 Stu

Around three years ago (April 2007), Fat Planet featured its first look at the early shoots of a new crop of what became known, to some, as ‘digital cumbia’, or ‘nuevo cumbia’ with a post on Andres Schteingart, aka El Remolon.  Unbeknown to anyone reading it, least of all me, Schteingart would come to form part of the core nucleus of producers that took hold of a revitalised Central and South American sound, and took it all over the world.  You can now discover vast quantities of similar material via collectives such as Argentina’s prolific ZZK crew, or releases on labels such as Bersa Discos or Dutty Artz.  An incidental result of this sprawling genre development has been the way in which cumbia has been celebrated and adopted outside of the Americas – and here in Australia, one of the pivtoal players in the ongoing internationalisation of the sound is Moses Iten (a.k.a. saca la mois DJ!!).  I had the good fortune to DJ regularly with Moses back when we were both part of the Uber Lingua crew – he continues to DJ, to make music, to produce, remix and educate on music from the Americas, with performances next week as part of Tasmania’s MONA FOMA festival and the 2010 Big Day Out Festival. When we were discussing Moses’ mixtape for Discontent, we were both keen to push towards more innovative and experimental material – music that that we both loved, but perhaps didn’t get to expose often enough. Here, Moses presents a wonderful selection of sounds from ‘the Americas’, and – as he’s named in ‘Volume One’ – I’m hoping that we’ll see a sequel before too long.
Stuart Buchanan

“Americas Vol. 1 is sourced from the Spanish-speaking Americas, but there are many other languages spoken from Alaska to Patagonia. Exploring andean minimal, huarachegaze, nueva cumbia and other experimental genres hopefully never to be deciphered, Americas Vol. 1 is not about being a definitive compilation of “Futuristic Sound from Latin America”, but attempts to be a mixtape as platform for a dialogue of the past with the future. Also, while as a DJ, performer and producer it’s mostly my aim to make you dance above all else, I took this mixtape as an opportunity to expose other sounds I’ve been hearing, and digging, from the Americas. Although I travel as much as possible, much of my exploration of music is via internet from my home base in Australia, so it was only appropriate to also make this an opportunity to present some of the best music that is little represented even in countries of origin and can only be sourced via cyberAmericas.”
Moses Iten (a.k.a. saca la mois DJ!!)

DOWNLOAD: Americas Volume One, A Mixtape by Moses Iten (108MB)

1. EL REMOLON feat. SUMERGIDO Remoloneando - from ‘Cumbia Bichera EP + Remixes’ on Pueblos Nuevos, 2007 (Argentina)
2. MIKA MARTINI Iniciacion - from ‘Mestizo’ on Pueblos Nuevos, 2007 (Chile)
3. MARCELO FABIAN Negros y Serenos - from ‘NF0005’ on newfolder.com.ar, 2008 (Argentina)
4. TREMOR Viajante (THE CUMBIA COSMONAUTS Remix), 2009 - upcoming release on ZZK Records (Argentina/Australia)
5. KING COYA feat. TREMOR & AXEL KRYGIER Don Axelina – from ‘Cumbia De Villa Donde’ onZZK Recordss, 2009 (Argentina)
6. TREMOLO AUDIO El Ya Sabia – from ‘Random V 1′ on Mil Records, 2004 (Mexico)
7. KAMPION Primaveral - from ‘Invisible EP’ on Filtro, 2005 (Mexico)
8. THE PERONISTS La Cumbia Del Laberinto – previously unreleased, 2009 (Argentina)
9. ALDO BENITEZ Día Libre (CHANCHA VIA CIRCUITO Remix) - from ‘El Portafolio Sin Un Peso on Peaton, 2009 (Argentina)
10. EL REMOLON Cumbia Bichera (TREMOR Mix) – from ‘Cumbia Bichera EP + Remixes’ on Pueblos Nuevo, 2007 (Argentina)
11. CERO 39 feat. BETO Morenita – previously unreleased, courtesy of Cero39, 2009 (Colombia)
12. LOS AMPARITO Las Miradas De Magaly – from ‘Fonogramaticos Vol.3’ on clubfonograma.com, 2009 (Mexico)
13. CARLA MORRISON Buena Malicia (LOS AMPARITO Remix) - unreleased, courtesy of Carla Morrison, 2009 (Mexico)
14. DIEGO BERNAL Dusty Sanchez – from ‘4corners’ on Exponential Records, 2009 (USA)
15. MIKA MARTINI Why No – from ‘Mestizo’ on Pueblos Nuevos, 2007 (Chile)
16. LOS MACUANOS Alma – from ‘Fonogramaticos Vol.4’ on Club Fonograma, 2009 (Mexico)
17. KIXLY Surfline Coaster – previously unreleased, courtesy of Kixly/Moises Horta, 2009 (Mexico)
18. TREMOLO AUDIO Rosita (LUCRECIA Remake) - from ‘Visitas: a collection of remixed tremolo audio’ on Mil Records, 2008 (Mexico/Colombia)
19. SOKIO El Pueblo… (“Pueblo” GERARDO FIGUEROA Version) – from ‘Columbia Remixes’ on Pueblos Nuevo, 2009 (Chile)

img: Magdalena Pereza (Mexico)

Tags: aldo benitez, axel krygier, carla morrison, cero 39, chancha via circuito, diego bernal, el remolon, gerardo figueroa, kampion, king coya, kixly, los amparito, los macuanos, lucrecia, marcelo fabian, mika martini, moses iten, sokio, sumergido, the cumbia cosmonauts, the peronists, tremolo audio, tremor

Posted in Mixtapes. | 2 Comments »

Disorientation Session | Disorient’s Mixtape For FBi

January 8th, 2010 Stu

In June 2009, I gave away a free mixtape to new subscribers of FBi Radio during my ‘Disorient’ show. The mixtape, titled ‘Disorientation Session’, features a few tracks that you can find on the first two Discontent mixtapes (Mixtape One and Two), with additions from various artists that appeared regularly on the show’s playlists, or as earlier single posts on the Discontent blog. As an aggregator of the sounds found on the (somewhat short-lived) Disorient radio show, this will more than likely remain the only existing audio document.

I’m particularly fond of this mixtape as its sensibility stretches back to the earlier days of the Fat Planet radio show – a focus on more innovative and often experimental music from around the world, before the beats and bass kicked in.  I particularly like the way that Salem’s screwed, slow-core can nestle near Villa Diamante’s warped take on South American cumbia and AGF’s truly distressing cover version of Rhianna’s ‘Disturbia’.  An eclectic and surprising session, I hope you agree.

DOWNLOAD: Disorientation Session: Disorient’s Mixtape For FBi (105MB)

1. Dalt Wisney – Sci-Fi Dot Fiends [Pakistan] 2:03
2. The Craters – Samba Party [U.S.] 2:40
3. Ghoul – Fuck Math [Australia] 1:54
4. Salem – Brustreet [U.S.] 5:02
5. 7VWWVW – Mammal Theme [Scotland] 5:55
6. Villa Diamante – Tonolec vs Kromestar [Argentina] 2:56
7. Berrettaz – Pense A [Côte d'Ivoire] 2:44
8. AGF aka Antye Greie – Disturbia [Germany] 4:07
9. Filastine – B’talla (feat. Rabah) [U.S.] 3:10
10. I Buried Paul – Favola [Brazil] 3:17
11. Fletcher – Dreadlox Dub [South Africa] 6:17
12. The Peronists – Cumbia Maligna [Argentina] 3:39
13. Atomhead – Unsuspecting Broken Receiver [Belgium] 2:09
14. Growing – Green Flag [U.S.] 6:16
15. Sleepmakeswaves – Exits To Nowhere [Australia] 3:41
16. Rothis Bournias – Last Days Part Two [Greece] 7:07
17. Inverness – Bats [Brazil] 3:13
18. Flica – Mid [Malaysia] 4:53

Note: All music on the mixtape is licenced via Creative Commons or has otherwise been made freely available by relevant artists & labels. If you like what you hear, please support the artists -visit their site, buy their music.

Cover image by Irving Liaw (under CC Licence).

Tags: 7vwwvw, agf, atomhead, berrettaz, dalt wisney, disorient, filastine, fletcher, flica, ghoul, growing, i buried paul, inverness, rothis bournias, salem, sleepmakeswaves, the craters, the peronists, villa diamante

Posted in Mixtapes. | 1 Comment »

New Weird Australia, Volume Four

January 7th, 2010 Stu

cross-posted from our sister site, newweirdaustralia.com.  hit the site for volumes 1-3 and the new ‘broadcast one’ compilation.

New Weird Australia Volume Four, January 2009, NWA004

DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE (AUDIO & ARTWORK):
Standard Quality, 160 kbps (83 MB) | Higher Quality, 320kbps (146 MB)

1. TEXTILE AUDIO, Some Kind Of Mininova (5:32)
2. PAINT YOUR GOLDEN FACE, Television Is About Picture (4:12)
3. REUNION SACRED IBIS, Sing It To The Mountains (2:11)
4. TANTRUMS, Beat The Happy Pavement (4:08)
5. SCATTERED ORDER MK 1, Ruined By Me (5:44)
6. ALISTER SPENCE TRIO, Two Halves Of The Moon (3:26)
7. SCISSOR LOCK, Codify (2:05)
8. GUTTER PARTIES, Sashi (2:15)
9. NO ZU, Lay Of The Land (4:25)
10. THE TOWNHOUSES, Jigsaws Under The Clouds (4:08)
11. SEAWORTHY, They’re Cicadas You Know? (3:55)
12. GENTLEFORCE, Our Last Day Together (4:30)
13. GOLD TANGO, Telescope (3:26)
14. ALPEN, A Meditation On Flight (3:16)
15. RED_ROBIN, The Surveyor (4:36)
16. AUTOMATING, When Use Becomes Abuse (9:19)
17. SILVER BULLETIN, Minding Time (4:13)

Compiled by Stuart Buchanan & Danny Jumpertz.
Artwork by Anna Vo, annavo.wordpress.com.

Click artist title for background information and links.
All music donated by the artists for use in this compilation only, all rights reserved.
All tracks previously unreleased, except: 6. from ‘Fit’ ; 8. from ‘Marooned EP’ ; 9. from ‘Graffiti EP’; 13. from ‘Gold Tango EP’.

Sleeve Notes, January 2010:

What’s in a name?

In attempting to find answer that question, and thus establish a title for this very project, there was a solitary guiding idea – that the artists shared a deep common bond, beyond just an experimental approach to music making. In their own unique ways, we believe that each artist on New Weird Australia shares a disdain for any cabals of musical ‘authority’, an irreverence to established industry etiquette, a rejection of art neutered for acceptability, and ultimately a dismissal of ‘rules of behaviour’ in contemporary music practice. Their music exists in an autonomous zone of their own construction, unburdened by any sense of what ’should’ or ’shouldn’t’ occur.

In broader Australian culture, the comedic variant of this sensibility is often referred to as ‘larrakinism’ – characterised by the mischievous or outlandish ‘larrakin’, who gleefully flaunts regulations and standards set down by society. The nemesis of every po-faced ‘do-gooder’ in the country, the larrikin takes the piss, flaunts convention, and pushes buttons and boundaries with great abandon.

Although this action is universal, the word ‘larrikin’ is perceived as a quintessentially Australian definition, with roots as far back as the 1860s. In one of its earliest occurrences, the larrikin is beautifully cited as a “young urban rough”, although its lexicological roots suggest it was born of a conjunction between ‘leery’ (‘wide awake’ or ‘knowing’) and ‘kinchin’ (‘youngster’). Most of its recorded use in the late nineteenth century always seemed to involve both thievery and mischievousness.

Transgressions against boundaries or conventions, rejection of norms and standards handed down by an authority, all wrapped in a roughish youthful spirit – whichever way you cut it, the larrikin sensibility is writ large in New Weird Australia. No more so than in this particular volume – where Textile Audio takes both classical and operatic blueprints, and weaves them around found sounds and abstract electronica; Tasmanian duo Paint Your Golden Face rethink and reshape the fundamental essence of the male voice choir; Reunion Sacred Ibis cuts a sharp sheath through archival sounds in a spirited slice of plunderphonics; Gold Tango reinvent Kraftwerk with an unexpected tribal swagger; and Scattered Order stick two well-placed fingers up against the very idea of ‘heritage rock’, their original line-up reforming after over 25 years, with their innovative touch still absolutely to the fore – delivering an exclusive cut from their (very) long-awaited new album.

This entirely Australian larrakin paradigm – an irreverence to a learned authority, maverick thievery, a rejection of etiquette – it may help to explain why ‘New Weird Australia’ is ripped directly from ‘New Weird America’, a phrase coined by Scottish journalist David Keenan in 2003 to define a new breed of American psychedelic folk or ‘free folk’. Since then, ‘New Weird America’ has been used in a variety of ever changing contexts – cited in artandpopularculture.com as “[finding] inspiration in such disparate sources as heavy metal, free jazz, electronic music, noise music, tropicália, and early- and mid-20th century American folk music”. Any perceived rules of definition are clearly dubious.

‘New Weird Australia’ does what it says on the tin. It’s new, weird, Australian music. Thus, we felt compelled to appropriate (nay, thieve!) Keenan’s nomenclature for our own ends. Sure, it’s a bastardisation. Sure, it’s wrong-headed. But if in the rejection of a guarded sense of ‘what is right’, we put even more noses out of joint, then more power to us. And while the odd prude may cry ‘plagiarism’, they might well be missing the point.

Consider it even more broadly, reduce it to its simple acronym. The letters N,W and A. And, there once again, for a second time over, we steal where we shouldn’t steal from, we tread on toes that we shouldn’t tread on – in fact, we clearly reject any notions of what we should and shouldn’t do. An ideal I’m sure both the American freak folksters and the late Eazy-E would readily connect with.

New Weird Australia is a not-for-profit initiative designed to promote and support new eclectic and experimental Australian music. Our current projects include a free compilation series (available to download every two months), a weekly show on Sydney’s FBi Radio and an irregular program of live events. Contributions from Australian artists are welcomed and encouraged -submission details and terms can be found on the About page.

Tags: alister spence trio, alpen, automating, gentleforce, gold tango, gutter parties, new weird australia, no zu, paint your golden face, red robin, reunion sacred ibis, scattered order, scissor lock, seaworthy, silver bulletin, textile audio, the townhouses

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China | A Mixtape by Shaun from Tenzenmen

December 28th, 2009 Stu

One of my most long-serving curatorial projects was ‘Fat Planet’ – a radio show and blog that ran from 2003 to 2008. The mission was simple – uncover new, alternative music from around the globe. Ignore the ‘western paradigm’ and dig around for non-traditional, contemporary, innovative music. Uncover the hitherto uncovered. At first I thought Africa would pose the greatest challenge, but in truth the hardest location to crack was China. Most of my research was carried out online, and – at the time – there was precious little posted online about Chinese music, at least nothing that could be uncovered without a roadmap or directions to follow. Thankfully, Shaun at Sydney label Tenzenmen proved to be something of a guiding light – exposing alternative Chinese music outside of its origins, providing us with a rare glimpse of the sounds that are actually stirring in the clubs, bars and bedrooms of one of the world’s oldest civilisations. When looking for curators for Discontent, for people that might provide a lifeline to something less ordinary, Shaun was top of the list. Stuart Buchanan

China – it’s the buzzword of the first decade of the 21st century.  Back in the last century I started learning about Chinese history and culture and in 2001 embarked on my first trip there (no doubt many if you have done the same since).  Quickly adapting the Chinese push and shove I was curious when I came across an article in an English language weekly newspaper that was documenting the very beginnings of the punk scene in Beijing.  What the hell did punk mean in a place like this?  I had no idea but armed with the scant information I went in search of these punks and couldn’t find anything.  It’s easy to be lost in the many millions of inhabitants of Beijing and all I knew was the train station near where these kids hung out.

Back in Australia I continued learning and discovered many other music scenes around the whole Asia region and then finally made contact with a new group of musicians building a scene in Beijing and expanding throughout the country.  Several more trips garnered visits to cool venues and hearing some great new sounds.  So impressed I began licensing releases for Australia through my label tenzenmen (www.tenzenmen.com).  But that is not what this mix tape is really about.  For this mix tape I challenged myself to find the new fresh bands, the second wave as such.

China has it’s own equivalent of myspace called Douban (www.douban.com) as well as a Chinese only myspace (www.myspace.cn).  Even without understanding the language it’s fairly simple to click around these sites and discover the motherlode of music you never heard before.  I had a few pointers of things to look for and gathered the results here for this mix tape.  It’s a wide and varied mix, expressing my own interest in different genres and highlighting the diversity of sounds coming from the underground there (we could probably consider even popular artists in China as still underground).

You can find all the tracks here at the various sites mentioned above and also keep up to date with news and info from China via various links at the tenzenmen website or ‘the MAYBE MARS series’ facebook fan page.

Shaun, Tenzenmen

DOWNLOAD: China | A Mixtape by Shaun from Tenzenmen (119MB)

01 – Low Wormwood (Di Ku Ai) – Who – 5.11
02 – The Curry Soap – Little Northern Europe – 4.18
03 – Godot – No 4 – 6.26
04 – Demmy – Will You Remember Me Tomorrow – 6.42
05 – 21 Grams – 21 Grams – 7.58
06 – 8 Eye Spy – Live – 2.10
07 – Cover People – Trip To… – 3.07
08 – Snapline – Nice Dream – 3.11
09 – White – 47 Rockets (For Wan Hu) – 5.10
10 – Little Nature – Different World – 3.00
11 – Sonnet – A Nice Song – 3.10
12 – I.D.H. – Final Trial – 3.53
13 – Boys Climbing Ropes – Dirty Bots – 4.35
14 – Lava Ox Sea – Regnarts! Yeh – 6.15
15 – 24 Hours – Mr Stevenson (with Train) – 3.24
16 – You Mei You – All Talk No Action – 1.36
17 – Mortal Fools – Drink! Drink! Drink! – 2.04
18 – Muscle Snog – Think and Shit – 3.48
19 – Fanzui Xiangfa – Kill Your Television – 1.04
20 – The Curry Soap – You Keep Everything But His Heart – 1.06
21 – D!O!D!O!D! – A02 – .53

img: Steve Webel

Tags: 21 grams, 24 hours, 8 eye spy, boys climbing ropes, china, cover people, D!o!o!d!, demmy, fanzui xiangfa, godot, i.d.h., lava ox sea, little nature, low wormwood, mortal fools, muscle snog, snapline, sonnet, tenzenmen, the curry soap, white, you mei you

Posted in Mixtapes. | 4 Comments »

Paper Money | A Mixtape by Raphael Dixon

December 6th, 2009 Stu

Raphael Dixon is a broadcaster on Sydney’s FBi Radio. His show follows mine, which means that I always get the chance to listen to his selections when I’m hanging around the studio or I’m on the drive home. When I first heard that Raph was ostensibly presenting a hip hop show, my heart sank a little. There’s already an upfront hip hop show on the station (the perennial Stolen Records), and I remember thinking to myself, “do we really more of the same?”. And that’s when Raph pretty much blew my mind. His curation of sounds from the outer fringes of hip hop, includes innovative beat work and often radical production methodologies, but his real skill also comes to the fore in his ability to map that with other sounds, to cross-pollinate and thus recontextualise our often misplaced notions of what hip hop means in 2009. I hope this mixtape helps to add some critical mileage to Raph’s ongoing mission. Stuart Buchanan

“The genre of Hip-hop has a certain stigma attached to it, often rightly so. Personally, I have always been fascinated by the hip-hop sound and indeed it is the hip-hop sound that this mixtape explores. I say ‘hip-hop’, but I’m sure that there would be a lot of hip-hop  fans who would not enjoy this mixtape, moreover, I’m sure many a ‘purest’ would go so far as to call it “not hip-hop” (an insult of sorts in the hip-hop world). This mixtape is predominately instrumental, ranging from sample based downtempo works, to bassy, electronic, club-influenced glitch-hop.  The drums loops are often slightly wonky or glitchy, the samples brutally chopped or the basslines fuzzy. The idea is to strip down hip-hop to its basic form and rebuild it in a re-contextualised manner that critiques its mother genre. As the experimental hip-hop netlabel Error-Broadcast awkwardly, yet acurately describes it, the wonks, quirks and distortion is  “…the glitch that interferes with crept over mainstream Hip Hop, the increment of postmodernism”.

“Many thanks to the artists, I hope you enjoy their work as much as I do” Raph

DOWNLOAD: Paper Money | A Mixtape by Raphael Dixon (110 MB)

1. Ilz – Paper Monies (Discontent Mixtape Exclusive) [4:31]
2. Shlohmo – Socks (Error Broadcast) [3:23]
3. Bentone – Casual Recurrance (Unsigned) [4:00]
4. Swede:art x A-rec x Fuer.steps – Wonky Carz (Error Broadcast) [3:05]
5. Look Mom No Plans – Falling Apart Ft Ted Faley (Unsigned) [3:44]
6. Freddy Todd – LoFi Fiction Blaster (Unsigned) [4:36]
7. Black Moth Super Rainbow – Sun Lips (Graveface) [3:16]
8. WD4D – Have U? (Unsigned) [2:44]
9. Akira Kiteshi – Ulysses (An-Ten-Nae Presents…) [3:43]
10. Fever Ray – When I Grow Up (Bassnectar Remix) (Amorphous Music/Child’s Play) [4:13]
11. Blunt Instrument – Smashing Plates (Unsigned) [4:39]
12. Nasty Nasty – No Names (Unsigned) [3:31]
13. Eskmo – From The Standpoint (Demo) (Planet Mu) [2:13]
14. Black Era – Just Left Hand Left (A Quiet Bump) [3:54]
15. Claviq – Osika (Amenorea) [2:34]

Raph’s Blog: thegetby.blogspot.com

img: Jade Cantwell

Tags: a-rec, Akira Kiteshi, bentone, Black Era, black moth super rainbow, Blunt Instrument, Claviq, Eskmo, feur-steps, Fever Ray, freddy todd, Ilz, look mom no plans, Nasty Nasty, Raphael Dixon, Shlohmo, swede-art, WD4D

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We Sleep In This Cave | A Mixtape by Pink Priest

November 21st, 2009 Stu

Discontent is regenerating – and the key shift is a significant one. Discontent will no longer be a home solely for my own curations, I’m opening it up to other minds, other voices, other sounds. I’m opening the door ajar to friends and colleagues thus far, but may well open further as the experiment progresses. First up, an artist who appeared on the recent ‘All That Glitters Is Gold‘ mixtape, Pink Priest. He emailed to thank me for including his track on the mixtape, I suggested he might want to put his own together.  ’We Sleep In This Cave‘ is the result – a singular treat awash with hypnotic tones and drones, punctuated by rough bursts of primal punk and lo-fidelty abstract pop.  It’s a genuinely beautiful curation, and one which I hope sets a benchmark for further guest-tapes to come.  Stuart Buchanan

“Recent days, months, weeks, year(s) have been a good time for music… at least, they have been to me. Over the past year to year and a half, I’ve discovered so much incredibly epic, gorgeous, utterly mind-blowing music, that it’s been hard to keep up with. I don’t want to go too far into detail concerning each and every track on this mix, but these are some musicians, peers, projects, and tracks that have really stuck out to me this year. There’s an aesthetic that flows through this music; it’s grainy, it’s reactionary, it’s radiant, it’s intelligent, it’s haunting, and it packs this intense vibe that you can’t help but take notice to. I won’t keep throwing cliché adjectives around, I’ll simply let this wonderful music speak for itself… Here’s some of my favorite music of recent days, months, weeks, year(s)…” Pink Priest, November 2009.

DOWNLOAD: We Sleep In This Cave | A Mixtape by Pink Priest (94.4MB)

01. Jen Paul – Late Film
02. Peaking Lights – Silver Tongues, Soft Whispers (from Imaginary Falcons – Night-People)
03. Among The Bones – Hark From The Tombs (from Chosen Sons Of Snakes Demo – self-released)
04. Cough Cool - Girl Tell Me (from Buy Some Dust – BATHETIC)
05. Flight – My Business (from Flight 10″ – Kill Shaman)
06. Taped Hiss – Underwater Casino (from Underwater Casinos – self-released)
07. With Moths – Swimming (from 5 Old Songs EP – self-released)
08. Dem Hunger – Nah Fiat Shit Mama (shelleyduvall.blogspot.com)
09. Twins – Less Weight (from Doubles – Peace Age/self-released)
10. Dirty Beaches – Coast To Coast (from Dirty Beaches c22 – Night-People)
11. Wild Nothing – Cloudbusting (Kate Bush Cover)
12. Ducktails – Deck Observatory (from Landscapes – Olde English Spelling Bee)
13. Terrors – Soft Proliferating Light (from Ceaseless Fall c20 – BATHETIC)
14. Ye Olde Maids – Hawk Over The Highway From My Way To You (from God Blesses Us, Mother Dresses Us - Art Fag Recordings)
15. A Gal – And All I Could Think Of Was You (from Jeans Wilder / A Gal Split -BATHETIC)
16. Sparkling Wide Pressure – The Long (from Touching Pasture – Students of Decay)
17. Jen Paul – Muerte O Casamiento Durmiente

Pink Preist: godofblues.blogspot.com | myspace.com/pinkpriest

img: Plamen Stoev

Tags: 2009, a gal, among the bones, art fag recordings, bathetic, cough cool, dem hunger, dirty beaches, ducktails, flight, jen paul, kill shaman, night people, olde english spelling bee, peaking lights, pink priest, sparkling wide pressure, students of decay, taped hiss, terrors, twins, wild nothing, with moths, ye olde maids

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New Weird Australia | Volume Three

November 12th, 2009 Stu

(cross posted from newweirdaustralia.com)

The old adage still holds true – one man’s meat is indeed another man’s poison. Divert the same philosophy to music and the song remains the same. One woman’s rock is another woman’s roll – or thereabouts.

We make this point to simply note that our definition of ‘weird’ is purely subjective – and we make no claim otherwise. The artists that represent Volume Three of New Weird Australia truly stretch, invert and redefine the notion of ‘weird’. To some, this selection might well be perilously unlistenable, to others we’re toying dangerously with pop at various flash-points throughout the compilation. And therein lies the point.

Our mission is not to meticulously scope and define what is to be ‘weird’ (#FAIL). Our mission rather is to map out a loose terrain – one that skirts around the topological spread mapped by mainstream alternative media, and one that sits both simultaneously in and out of reach. New Weird Australia is designed as a bridge to reach fresh pastures – at some points that journey might feel familiar, at others it might be terrifyingly new.

Given that we’re now on our third volume, we understand that in order to go deep, we also have to go wide – which means fucking with the boundaries at both ends of the spectrum. From Zeal’s quasi-Anticon hip-pop to Anon’s 14-min noise excursion, Volume Three does indeed traverse considerable distances – along the way winding via Lecter Macabre’s pitch-black slow-mo roar to Pompey’s steel-drum romp that winds the set towards a final, optimistic flourish. We could obviously go much wider and much deeper yet – there lies new worlds to conquer in future volumes.

For now, for this month, this is our definition of New Weird Australia. Some you’ll adore, some you’ll abhor – and with that very disagreement, we’ll all find common ground.

New Weird Australia Volume Three, November 2009, NWA003

DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE (AUDIO & ARTWORK):
Standard Quality, 160 kbps (90MB) | Higher Quality, 320kbps (164MB)

1. JEFF BURCH, Untitled 1 (The Western Hour) (3:44),
from ‘As I Remember, If I Remember Correctly, I Arrived Sweetly’
2. AFXJIM, Through The Woods (6:08), from ‘POWWOW Eight (Blackout Music)’
3. 48/4, Hlibt (3:39), previously unreleased
4. THE SINGING SKIES, September (2:52), from ‘September Sky’
5. K MASON, Of 2 Evils (7:15), from ‘2 (Evils)’
6. ALPS, Goosebeak Whale (2:21), from ‘Alps Of New South Whales’
7. DRIVE WEST TODAY, Anthropology (4:37), previously unreleased
8. ADAM TRAINER, Corrosion Party (4:22), previously unreleased
9. COMATONE, They Fall Freely (6:05), previously unreleased
10. ZEAL, Wasps (2:34), previously unreleased
11. NAMATOKE, A Mountain With A Secret (4:53), from ‘Chiaroscuro’
12. LECTER MACABRE, Granelli (New Version) (2:43), previously unreleased
13. BUM CREEK, Fast Forrest (5:13), from ‘Bum Creek’
14. ANON, Quiver Crura Quaker (13:46), previously unreleased
15. ERASERS, Lost///Found (4:26), from ‘Erasers’
16. POMPEY, Actual Locks (3:20), previously unreleased

Compiled by Stuart Buchanan & Danny Jumpertz
Artwork by Lee Tran Lam, www.leetranlam.com

Click artist title for background information and links.
All music donated by the artists for use in this compilation only, all rights reserved.

New Weird Australia is a not-for-profit initiative established to promote eclectic and experimental Australian music. Free compilations are available to download every two months from www.newweirdaustralia.com. Contributions from Australian musicians and designers are welcomed and encouraged – submission details and terms can be found on the About page.

Tags: adam trainer, afxjim, alps, anon, bum creek, comatone, drive west today, erasers, fortyeightfour, jeff burch, k mason, lecter macabre, namatoke, new weird australia, pompey, the singing skies, zeal

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Discontent | All That Glitters Is Gold

September 19th, 2009 Stu

Looking back at the collection of mixtapes that adorn the elongated top shelf of my CD stack, it’s fascinating to watch genres, trends and styles come and ago. As much as the mixtapes pin down flashpoints in time and space, they also reflect a linear narrative of sorts. Buried in between the idiosyncratic choices that I’ve made, are signals that indicate a broader passage. Some genres bleed in slowly over months or over a sequence of multiple tapes, others crash in without much warning, overtaking everything in their path. However, it’s often hard to distinguish whether I’m being pulled, or I’m doing the pulling. Am I responding to signposts in the ether, or am I fashioning my own?

Certainly on ‘All That Glitters Is Gold’ artists such as Gary War, Cold Cave, Oneohtrix Point Never and Best Coast (a post-Pocahaunted project for Bethany Cosentino) are garnering an increasing recognition factor from blogs worldwide, however Australian artists such as Cabaret Callado, Pompey, Hi God People or the newly reissued Pelican Daughters (Itch-E & Scratch-E’s Andy Rantzen in experimental / post-punk mode) remain almost entirely obscured from view, even in their home country. So, is this my story, or someone else’s? Truly, like all good mixtapes, it’s an eccentric combination of both.

What surprised me when pulling together this selection was the complete absence of remixes or covers. Instead, this is (with one slight exception) the original instance of all the tracks represented, not a reversion in sight. Perhaps the seemingly unstoppable glut of remixes and bootleg versions over the years has finally taken their toll on me – I need to return to the source. This theory is bourne out by events in my life – twelve months ago I was running down a clu-de-sac flogging ‘global ghettotech’ on Fat Planet, today I’ve reconnected with what drove my love of music in the first place: free experimentation, unbridled by a sense of scene, or notions of taste. Whether this is symptomatic of a wider condition is unclear, but I defy anyone to send me a bootleg electro remix via email and expect to see it cropping up on a mixtape anytime in the next era.

The title reflects this – these tracks shimmer and glow in their own right, with no need for spit or polish from any third party. It’s also a phrase culled from the closing track (the caveat mentioned above) – Buttress O’Kneel and Lucas Darklord’s destruction of the Led Zeppelin classic. In Lucas’ own words, this is not so much as a remix, as a “ruin”. And it befits a mixtape whose underlying purpose (initially unbeknown to me) was to draw a line, to ruin the past, and to plant a signpost for a different kind of future.

Discontent – All That Glitters Is Gold | download [Rapidshare, 105MB]

1. Pink Priest – Field Of Orgasms [U.S.] 2:02
2. Teeth Mountain – Black Jerusalem [U.S.] 5:42
3. Lucky Dragons – Power Melody [U.S.] 3:46
4. Gyratory System – Cargo Cult [England] 4:34
5. Blank Dogs – Set Living [U.S.] 3:18
6. Peace In – Candy Rug Lizards [U.S.] 2:52
7. Oneohtrix Point Never – Zones Without People [U.S.] 4:00
8. Cabaret Callado – Ware [Brazil / Australia] 2:56
9. Gary War – Good Clues [U.S.] 2:51
10. Cold Cave – Life Magazine [U.S.] 2:56
11. Flight – Flowers [U.S.] 2:51
12. Hi God People – Thunder On The Way To Funan [Australia] 8:24
13. Pelican Daughters – The Haywain [Australia] 3:38
14. Zaza – Sooner or Later [U.S.] 5:06
15. Pompey – Hands Miniature [Australia] 2:56
16. Best Coast – Something In The Way [U.S.] 2:11
17. Polyfox & The Union Of The Most Ghosts – Cross Boa Tangles Gently Around Polyfox [Australia] 3:02
18. Fol Chen – Cocktails at Shadeland [U.S.] 0:59
19. BOK Darklord – Stairway to Heaven [Australia] 2:12

img | anniewong

Tags: best coast, blank dogs, BOK, cabaret callado, cold cave, flight, fol chen, gary war, gyratory system, hi god people, lucky dragons, oneohtrix point never, peace in, pelican daughters, pink priest, polyfox, pompey, teeth mountain, zaza

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