New Music: Lymbyc System, TTC

Lymbyc System - Astrology Days (Mush 2007)

Lymbyc System – Love Your Abuser / Mush

Partially because of time constraints and partially because I like to hear albums pumped through their large speaker system, I have quickly gotten in the habit of spinning my newly received albums during my allotted playtime at Reckless Records. On Friday morning I slid in Lymbyc System’s debut full-length for Mush Records, Love Your Abuser, and was enjoying their captivating melodious music when a customer asked me what was playing. I excitedly told him, and he remarked how much he was digging it and asked what this particular kind of music is called. When I told him it would pretty easily be categorized as post-rock, he just kind of stared at me with a confused look on his face. I then noticed he had pulled an Incubus album from the shelf and decided it was best to start from the beginning, because hey, we all got to start somewhere so why not share a little knowledge and maybe I will spark a more exploratory music fan. (Actually, I can still remember the day my fellow Audiversitarian Jordan explained to me the very same concept). So I detailed how in the late 80s/early 90s alternative rock took stranglehold of the mainstream, and in reaction a new movement began attempting to counteract the easily definable brand of rock by infusing a large amount of influences like krautrock, jazz, ambient, prog, classical, math rock, avant-garde, dub and IDM into an epic statement of instrumental prowess. I talked about Spiderland and Tortoise and Labradford and how the antithesis of the compact rock of the time was too patiently string it out into complex structures with lyrical melodies, and how it eventually became the norm itself and was also dismissed by a new movement in the early 00s. But sadly after all the explaining and detailing, he wasn’t even able to buy Love Your Abuser, because all we had was the promo copy I was currently spinning and it was not for sale. It is really a shame too, because Lymbyc System is a very promising young voice in the rebounding genre and I would have loved to cast him off on his burgeoning musical voyage with them to lead the way (but don’t worry, we special ordered it for him and his trip is merely delayed, not canceled completely).

The core of Lymbyc System is a pair of brothers from Tempe, Arizona, Jared and Michael Bell. Molding their sound since 2001, they have whole-heartily embraced the aforementioned post-rock sound and further infused it with a healthy dose of one of its side products, folktronica. Like most albums in this field, Love Your Abuser is the result of many a rehash with each recording laid down by the Bell brothers, reconfigured and re-recorded and overdubbed, and then re-reconfigured and re-recorded and overdubbed once again, and then re-re-reconfigured… you get the idea. Some of the source material is nearly impossible to decipher listening to the final product, which skips and sweeps and sashays and stutters and swirls in an invigorating blend of soul-sighing melodies and unconventional structures. The groundwork was mostly created with vintage keyboards and wonderfully time-unperfected equipment adding a lovely layer of crunch and crackle to the sugary sweet center. The Bell brothers, talented musicians in their own right, also got a little help from their friends with the similar-minded Dylan Cristy of The Dylan Group and Mice Parade laying down some vibes and Jimmy Lavelle of The Album Leaf, Tristeza and The Black Heart Procession providing his noted forte, which also saves me some time from listing reference points to Lymbyc System’s sound. Really though, the album Love Your Abuser reminds me of the most is the sorely overlooked Easy Pieces from the short-lived Lateduser (featuring Andrew Broder and Martin Dosh) released in 2004 on Merck. Both albums build strikingly moving melodies out of profuse textures and unconventional instrumentation that create nearly tangible atmospheres without meandering on for too long. And that is one of the defining characteristics of Love Your Abuser: quickly making its point and constantly moving to the next thought. It’s a post-rock album that does not muck around too much in slowly drifting ideas, which is a rarity. These songs are rich tapestries of finely interwoven textures that let you discover a new layer with each spin, just like my newly guided friend is going to do when he peels off each layer of post-rock’s history. If he can’t start from the beginning, he may as well start from this excellent summation of ideas that proudly has its roots in such an interesting genre.






TTC - Quand Je Claque des Doigts (Big Dada 2007)

TTC – 3615 / Big Dada

Outside the U.S. market, the sponge-eared kids of France make up the second largest audience for hip-hop and it’s many stemming byproducts. In fact the evolution of hip-hop culture in France is almost an exact parallel to its rise to popularity here in the states, really just a short lag in trends separates the two markets. Hip-hop first appeared in Paris in 1979 with a large number of devoted radio stations emerging not too far behind in the early 80s. Not unlike the jazz scene in the 60s, the French welcomed American rap stars with open arms throughout the 80s long before their home audience did, and they eagerly awaited each concurrent trend within the genre confines. Rap hit the mainstream in both the U.S. and France in the early 90s, both succumbed to controversy as it grew more aggressive and anarchic (ahem, gangsta) as the decade plugged along and finally a very productive underground emerged on each side of the Atlantic in the late 90s/early 00s. In fact, a lot of heads feel the French language is better suited for the lyrical style since it naturally flows much smoother opening up a new world of possibilities for rhyming. And as the last few years has seen an increasing dependency on electro-trashy beats and avant-club music in the American underground, so has it in France (or probably the other way around) and a group by the name of TTC is leading the pack with their contagious analog synth bounce and multiple personality dynamic.

Signed to Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada in 1999 after dropping off a single at their home office, the emcee trio of Tido Berman, Teki Latex and Cuiziner along with their usual helmet-clad DJ, Orgasmic, are releasing their third full-length in four years. Like Ceci N’Est Pas un Disque and Bâstards Sensibles before it, 3615 has completely different appeals depending on your geographic location. If you are sadly stuck in solely the English language like myself, a TTC album is more of an aesthetic attraction. The emcees each have their own personal flow: a raw, crunk-influenced, guttural flow, a more straightforward NYC/east-coast scheme and, my personal favorite, the over-emphatic, kooky, comedic relief voice that really rounds out their appeal. They trade free-flowing Beastie Boys-like rhymes, at least in vibe not necessary lyrically, over electro-euro-trash beats built from analog synths and basic drum machines giving the overall sound a very throwback vibe that rings more an updated 80s party-hop than anything. Joining DJ Orgasmic behind the decks are renowned electronica artists Para One, Tacteel, Modeselektor and Tido all providing their own two-cents, but keeping with the overarching musical theme. Though I have absolutely no idea what in particular they are spitting about, some of the translated track names include “Rub Your Ass on the Ground” and “Strip for Me,” so you have to think it’s got a club-ish swagger to it; maybe not in a Lil Jon way, but definitely the underground equivalent, perhaps a Peaches or the likes. When TTC does it right and matches the quirk level on both lyrical flow and backing track, like the click-and-spring bounce of “Quand Je Claque des Doigts” or the stuttering synth sass of “Une Bande de Mecs Sympa,” it’s undeniably infectious; you are going to dance, laugh, and join in on all the fun-loving exuberance no matter what they may actually be rapping about. But every few tracks you get a “Turbo” or “Ambition” where the synth cascades are over-emotional and even though it’s in French, you can tell it’s cheesy. Thankfully though the prior outnumbers the latter and you get a great pop-club album that is primed for your next rent paying keg-party. Loud, silly, boisterous and even a little thuggish, 3615 makes for an over-enjoyable gulp of party-hop much like that third Jäger-bomb that most likely wasn’t a good idea, but fuck it, you don’t have to work in the morning. And if you are one of the many laptop on-the-cutting-underground-edge loft-party DJs, stick this in your rotation because your hipster crowd will eat it up no questions asked.