The AE Blog

Recently local music weekly Seven Days published a review of The Le Duo’s latest offering snwstrm saying:

“The surround instrumentation is too cacophonous for the listener to make out any kind of harmonic phrasing, experimental or otherwise. Whatever interesting improvisational creations might be happening here, they’re hard to grasp.”

“Even in the widely cast, anything-goes spectrum of experimental noise, this snwstrm never truly develops from the percussive din of its “Pt. 1.” A few scant clarinet phrases pipe up, and there are sometimes audible tape loops and seconds of barely discernable electric guitar.”

In his response SD’s staff blogger Will came out strongly in favor of The Le Duo (and Burlington’s flourishing experimental scene) stating in his article “The Art of Noise”

“To me, the le duo is the current genuine voice of whatever scene Burlington experimental music has created. The ever-evolving free-improv group could be seen as more of a collective. Started in 2006 by former Nest Material drummer and percussionist JB Ledoux, it has since comprised a fluid cast of folks from the area. The group’s forte is an elementary sense of musical freedom focused into a shifting complexity of textures and sounds, fused and scattered by JB’s percussion.”

“The solidified direction of the album’s two tracks weave different emotional tones throughout the whole piece as its slight, yet dramatic shifts carry the experience along at a meditative pace. It’s a soundtrack to someone on the verge of dreams, running through the confusion of vertigo.”

Quite differing opinions wouldn’t you agree?
Care to take the pepsi challenge?

Due to the request of our attendance at a recent Snake in the Garden show this week Aether Everywhere Radio show (and subsequent podcast) has been delayed for two more weeks. But thanks to a healthy back stock of unreleased AE Podcasts from previous shows along with a personal request from a regular reader I’ve decided to go back to the vault and pull out our show from Last winter focusing on one of my favorite genres – Japanese Psych. What follows is a reprinting of the original post as it appeared on highgatecenter.blogspot.com, enjoy.

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Hey everyone. Sorry that it’s taken until now to post the latest Aether Everywhere set and download (Jenny’s been checking her computer every couple of hours, folding her arms, and stomping away), but both Tanner and I had pretty hectic weekends. OK, so mine wasn’t really all that hectic, but since I was recently informed by my supervisor that, no, a hot pink Marc Bolan t-shirt (and the like) is not acceptable attire for work, I had to go get me some new threads.

Aaanyway, this past Thursday, we featured Ghost’s Snuffbox Immanence from 1999. A lot of people consider this to be their “classic” album, and I’d agree with that (although depending on the day, Lama Rabi Rabi gives it a run). We then spun a bunch of like-minded Japanese psych tracks, ranging from Ghost’s side work with Damon and Naomi (the rhythm section of Galaxie 500) to Nobuzaku Takemura, whose Steve Reich-meets-Markus Popp “Kepler” is reminiscent of Snuffbox’s “Daggma.” Hope you enjoy, and tune in Aether Everywhere this Thursday at 10 for some Elephant 6 action! – JOSH

(ps. This is one of my favorite setlists, i love all of these songs, and some of the artists are some of my all time favorite players, do yourself a favor, download this one, pop it into your ipod for that ride on the train, walk in the winter woods, or drive down the coast – also check out my mad photoshop p0Wnage! -tanner)

1) Damon & Naomi w/ Ghost – “I Dreamed of the Caucasus”
2) Keiji Haino – “I Don’t Want To Know”
3) L – “Troll”
4) LSD March – “Kimi Wa Tengoku”
5) Maher Salal Hash Baz – “What’s Your Business Here Elijah?”
6) Susumu Yokota – “Sleepy Eye”
7) Nagisa Ni Te – “Me On The Beach”
8 ) Boredoms – “(two circles)”
9) Nobukazu Takemura – “Kepler”
10) Boris w/ Michio Kurihara – “Fuzzy Reactor”
11) Masaki Batoh – “Spooky”
12) High Rise – “Outside Gentiles”

 

 AE Podcast #4 - Jap-Psych: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This weeks AE podcast is one long mix (divided into convenient hour long sets)  covering music from some of Sweden’s greatest psychedelic music makers, all not coincidentally appearing to varying degree, in three seminal outfits spanning from the mid 60’s to the early 70’s.

Starting around 1966 “Parson Sound” came out on the scene – easily the heaviest of the three, the group played huge, revolving walls of sound – thundering drum patterns, shreiking electric violins and guitars, ghostly moans and super blown production. Tracks would shamble in and after 10 minutes of building tension, crumble away.

allmusic described their one (compiled from various sessions 30 years later…) album as “mind-bending music that draws on the Velvet Underground, West Coast psychedelic bands, and Terry Riley and 1960’s minimalism, as filtered through a Krautrock-like angst and with some Swedish folk influences thrown in.”

Next followed (international) Harvester – The lineup remained mostly the same but this time they decided to abandon some of the more alienating elements of Parson sound and focus more on swedish folk roots and a more progressive psychedelic sound, described by someone in the know as “mastodon waltz-drone / acid soaked free jam psychedelia.” pretty apt – very stoned, very hippy – but so very heavy.

After a few years of this arangment the band reformed into their most successful arangment as “Trad Gras Och Stenar” translating to “Trees Grass and Stones”. Stripping back some of the heaviness and distortion Trad Gras opted instead for a more measured sound drawing more from the ongoing west coast psychedelic sound including the extended guitar interplay that bands like the Grateful Dead were popularizing. Though the volume has been dialed down to just under 10, the band still remained true to their vision of anarchic music making, playing at illegal festivals, staging shows at protests and writing their music to incorporate crowd participation.

SET 1: Harvester – Nar Lingonen Mognar // Trad Gras Och Stenar – Dansa Jord // Harvester – Och solen Gar Upp // Trad Gras Och Stenar – Rochtrall // Harvester – Kristallen Den Fina // Harvester – Hemat // Trad Gras Och Stenar – Sommarlaten (previously unreleased extended version) // Parson Sound – Tio Minuter // Trad Gras Och Stenar – Kangbron

SET2: Trad Gras Och Stenar – Halsa Ulla // Parson Sound – India (slight return) // Trad Gras Och Stenar – Chrisboogie // Trad Gras Och Stenar – Drammen export – Sommarlaten // Parson Sound – One Quiet Afternoon (in the king’s Court) // Harvester – Nepal Boogie

COMMENT HERE

 

 Aether Everywhere #15 Set #1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Aether Everywhere #15 Set #2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download