The Others - "Africa"

The Others - Bushido (Dub Police 2007)

The Others - Africa 12" / Dub Police

Cyrus (Random Trio) was a nice step in the right direction, but I still don't think I really know what's going on with the dubstep underground. It's a deep, dark, twisted terrain of alien dub the likes of which the creatures from "Independence Day" must listen to when they're docking their spaceships on the mothercraft. I'm not sure even dubsteppers themselves know what they've birthed.This bizarre mental correlation seems to hit me every time I hear dubstep of any kind, actually.

That changed with The Others, two guys from SW16 London who go by Dexterous and D-Code. Their background springs from the Vestax DJ Academy, where they met and united under the banner of similar taste. This promo CD-R and/or vinyl 12 arrived unadorned in early May and I've been listening to these three tracks quite often lately. I feel like a narrow-minded fool for bringing him up again, but in a time when listening to Madlib's latest Beat Konducta record is pretty much the norm (It's all getting a bit unhealthy, but I hope to recover soon; get-well cards can be sent to the address at the bottom of this page), the unique nooks and crannies that these songs inhabit gets me as close to India as any trip Otis Jackson Jr. might have taken me on lately.

First, the two tracks kids will come to know and love as their own: "Africa" and "Flapjack." Cut from the same cloth as the rest of their brethren borne out of the wobblestep streets that have produced the audio wreckage seen elsewhere on these pages, "Africa" uses vocals more than the other two tracks, but the point is the same: Reggae zooms in from the future, breaks your ears with its wamping bass and brings you back with echo-laden vocals replete with a thick accent and vaguely sinister words. "Flapjack" is thankfully not quite as hokey as its title may suggest, a similar bassment-dwelling thriller with slightly less vocal influx and a healthy penchant for keeping it sleazy. Parents will be proud of their children blasting this from their Civics if they're not totally put off by it first.

While these wicked riddims are all well and good, "Bushido" is the exotic ace up The Others' sleeve and has already garnered "anthem" status in finer dubstep circles. Caspa has already done a remix of it, for example, and its obvious hook is so enticing I can almost smell the curry rising from the darkest recesses of East London. Whereas "Africa" plays like the label the continent once carried and "Flapjack" has the amusing backstory of N-Type rambling on about his mother's flapjacks on Rinse FM so why not call it that?, it's "Bushido" that takes the cake with its British Raj vibe, except who rules who may or may not be reversed. You decide.

This is the eighth release for Dub Police, who are just two years old and already on the cutting edge of the scene; L-Wiz, N-Type and Caspa were their early releases (and L-Wiz has already had three releases at the time of this writing). A sister label to Storming Productions and Sub Soldiers, Dub Police was started in 2005 for the more dubbed and half-stepped beats. This is just one example of how they've succeeded. As dubstep grows a little older and the folks at the forefront of the movement look to change and evolutioni[s]e the sound, new names are beginning to emerge. Those of you who are into this and have been sleeping on Dub Police, it's time to wake up: The Others have arrived, and they're not alone.

Pumice - "Pebbles"

Pumice - Brownbrownbrown (Soft Abuse 2007)

Pumice – Pebbles / Soft Abuse

It is incredibly frustrating when you sit down to research an artist in preparation for your own review and every bio or critique you come across lists related or similar artists that you have never listened to or even heard of before. For me personally, the thought always comes fluttering across my mind that I could fake a little knowledge and cop a comparison or two, but that damn conscious of mine always wins out demanding honesty and kicking me in the shins for even considering the thought. This is the trouble I have gotten in with the latest release by New Zealand outsider musician Stefan Neville, or has he’s known on dozens of cassette-only releases, Pumice. I am really digging Pebbles and it’s lo-fi psychedelic-pop cacophony, but reading the number of other reviews already strewn throughout the internet has made me realize that I know jackshit about the New Zealand underground… or really anything New Zealand. Is that where kiwis come from? Sigh. My knowledge of the South Pacific island is laughable, and though I am familiar with the names circling Neville’s sound like Alastair Galbraith, Tall Dwarves, The Clean, The Enemy and Flying Nun, I can’t say with a clear conscious that I have spent much time actually listening to them. But this is also the exact reason I am so excited to write about Pebbles, because I find the feedbacking outsider avant-pop to be incredibly hypnotizing and am looking forward to exploring the scene that influenced Neville in this direction.

Since the early 90s, Stefan Neville has gained a cult following thanks to his lengthy discography of self-released cassettes, 7 inches and CD-R’s with the majority of them being released under the Pumice moniker and through his own label, Stabbies, etc. A one man band, Neville explores a sound lying somewhere between Fahey, Jandek and Moondog, setting up an archaic organ immediately in front of his abbreviated drum-set and running his electric guitar along with everything else through distraught, yelping amplifiers. Though, as I mentioned before, I can’t speak for his entire discography, the Pumice sound appears to be an oddly enchanting mix of outsider folk and near-droning avant-garde rock with excursions into rollicking rockabilly, fragile singer/songwriter, and experimental psyche-pop explorations.

I honestly almost want to approach this album one song at a time, because Neville attempts a number of styles with each individual track, though he always sounds distinctly himself. Album opener, “Eyebath,” is a rollicking, jaunty electric guitar workout that is ridiculously catchy though bathed in feedback and buried in dynamic-less quarter-inch tape mid-frequencies. It is a dead giveaway to why Neville was picked to be featured on the forthcoming compilation of Fahey-inspired New Zealand artists as he transcribes the innovative folk-jazz into new realms of noisy avant-rock. The cacophony is set aside for the next few tracks though as “Bold/Old” introduces the more intimate Pumice sound and is a crawling, endearing piece of soft-spoken singer/songwriter vocals, sparsely feedbacking guitar noodles and acoustic piano flourishes. I find “Brownbrownbrown” especially interesting with its stuttering arrangement and absolutely hypnotizing melody. It proves Neville has the ability to be an effective pop songwriter, but he thankfully chooses to express such intimacies in experimental settings. Tracks like “Greenock” and “Spike/Spear” continue that method but in an increasingly droning setting and calling to mind similar acts like Sun City Girls or Flossin. The hypnotizing melody is there and effective, but it gets buried and teased in between over-modulated organs, minor drum freakouts and swirling feedback. If you have ever wondered what Jandek sounded like if would ever stumble across a hook, Pebbles wouldn’t be too far off.

Mastered by Yellow Swans member Pete Swanson and released by the reliable psyche-folk label Soft Abuse, Pebbles is one of those albums that initially sounds like insular bedroom experimentation but with each successive listen reveals more and more intriguing and catchy psyche-pop nuggets. Though maybe a little tough to approach for those used to more traditional production, Pebbles is a pretty accessible album and Neville’s songwriting absolutely sounds like that of a musician with a discography pages long. I definitely recommend this to anyone already into the lo-fi psyche scene or is up to the challenge of widening their pop tastes. As for me, I have a few decades of New Zealand underground music to explore, because if spurred an artist like Pumice, I am definitely interested.

Modeselektor - "Happy Birthday!"

Modeselektor - 2000007 (feat. TTC) (Bpitch Control 2007)

Modeselektor - Happy Birthday! / Bpitch Control

By crook or by diff, last week was a bevy of hip-hop releases. It was only partly intentional, but the quality was all there. Germany's Modeselektor could've been propped up right with them, but they are a different animal. Working from our beloved Bpitch Control offices in Berlin, using big-beat electronic anthems more akin to Justice than Jay Dee, utilizing the vocal talents of Thom Yorke and a questionable collaboration with Maxïmo Park, Modeselektor continue to choose the road less traveled of audiversity, if you know what I mean.

In short, they go beyond mere categorization, and though that's a trite thing to say (I shuddered typing that out just now, in fact), Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary are on a trajectory that will take them beyond mere "electro" or "party-hop" MySpace tags. And anyway, the title of their two albums have been Hello Mom! and Happy Birthday! Only The Saturday Knights take themselves less seriously.

The history of the duo dates back to 1992 when Bronsert met acid house DJ Szary in Berlin. After coming together under the Fundamental Knowledge alias, they rechristened themselves as Modeselektor in 1996 and one chance meeting with Bpitch head Ellen Allien later, the boys were on the label at the turn of the millennium. It's been all uphill since: Several collaborations and remixes have furthered the Modeselektor name in between 2000 and 2005, but Hello Mom! was a wake-up call to those who weren't already on top of the electro game. One advocate in particular helped them garner enough attention to get a US release for Happy Birthday!, and he's on here. That'd be Thom Yorke.

But that'd be jumping the gun, because Thom doesn't make an appearance until penultimate tune "The White Flash." There's so much more happening on this record that reducing it to mere guest appearances (which also include TTC, Siriusmo, Puppetmastaz, Apparat, Paul St. Hillaire, and Otto von Schirach) would be foolish. Bronsert and Szary are doing plenty with the production of this record, and that's one of its many joys: If it doesn't sound like the perfect Franco-crunk of TTC's appearance on "2000007," it's the dark n' stark minimalism on "B.M.I." expected from a Berlin-based bunch of electronics-savvy personnel (We could've picked any song from this record to get the point across that they are working their stylistic palettes, but the TTC track just seems to have this extra bit of zest in their demented delivery that is hard to turn down). If it's not "Nova"-style flowers-blooming-at-speed on "The First Rebirth" (Just picture the voice-over as a woman describes how "In a few short weeks, this rhododendron has become a part of the landscape... Forever..."), it's the thoughtful IDM of "Edgar," which shares a lot in common with French brethren Tepr. I've always mentally associated these three but while Tepr is more boisterous more often, Modeselektor show an air of restraint when they're not throwing down wicked glitch-hop for the kids to flip out about.

There's a pleasant stretch of five songs in the first third of the album that are free of guests, and these songs, from "B.M.I." to "The Dark Side of the Frog" are both emotionally and sonically coherent. This reveals a definite mood that Modeselektor fall into when they're left to their own devices; just have a peek at "Late Check-Out" deep into the album to understand. Even when it's Kavinsky-esque Testarossa autodriving on "Sucker Pin," it's never overtly flamboyant or boisterous as it seems to be when there are others hanging about the studio. Take for example IDM terrorist Otto von Schirach's appearance on "Hyper Hyper:" The twisted voices bring out the dark side of the song. It's an interesting dynamic and one which Modeselektor have not always employed; I seem to remember Hello Mom! being a little more excitable a little more often.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. The two sides to Modeselektor balance themselves out quite nicely here. "The White Flash" is a tantalizing taste of what The Eraser should've sounded like had the songs been, you know, tolerable in length; hopefully Yorke will have taken a few clues from his friends here and the next Radiohead album (due whenever they feel like it!) will follow suit. "I Can't Sleep (Without Music)" is a bit boring but you never see it coming on the CD so as an addendum it's somewhat of a last-gasp kicker.

Not that Happy Birthday! needs one. See, the great thing here is that Modeselektor are peaking at a time when people are open to rockist electronica, so Modeselektor are in the right place at the right time, even more so than they were two years ago. If this is the summer of Simian Mobile Disco and New Young Pony Club and on and on it goes, then Modeselektor deserve to rope in their own contingent of followers and, as they've done so often in the past, bend their brains on the next release (which I predict will be called For the Graduate! if the last two album titles are anything to go by). It's what being brilliant is all about, and though we toss that description around a lot here at Audiversity, Modeselektor are truly deserving.

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators - "Keep Reachin' Up"

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators - If This Ain't Love (Don't Know What Is) (Light in the Attic 2007)

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators – Keep Reachin’ Up / Light in the Attic

Though you have to put up with all the rowdy immaturities of her pop divaness, you got to give a few props to Amy Winehouse for helping re-popularize classic funk-backed soul music to a young audience. She is obviously not the singular reason for the stylistic shift from the over-produced dance-heavy digital backing tracks of the late 90s/early 00s to the raw, live-sounding retro-soul in the mainstream today, but again, having a new generation research names like Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan just because they are listed as Winehouse’s influences is absolutely a good thing. I only even use Winehouse’s name as a comparison to Nicole Willis, where I should probably be citing Beverly Knight or Jill Scott as similar contemporary artists, because Willis has a discography that made that very transition from fronting trip-hop or electronica acts from the 90s to sporting a retro-soul-funk outfit with her third solo outing, Keep Reachin’ Up. With the help of the Finnish answer to the Daptones, The Soul Investigators, the Pekka Kuusisto String Orchestra, her husband Jimi Tenor, and producer/engineer Didier Selin, Willis has crafted an album of classic soul workouts that easily shows why Seattle’s always-impressive Light in the Attic Records was willing to follow up their Betty Davis re-issues with it.

Brooklyn-born, Nicole Willis has utilized her earthy, calm, soul-drenched croon for a number of acts in the last two decades. For the most part, she has stuck with the flow of the pop-soul genre as it transitioned from a number of styles, from acid jazz to trip-hop to urban to today’s retro-soul, always sounding completely effortless and natural. Over the years she has contributed her vocal chops to a range of diverse artists including Curtis Mayfield, Brand New Heavies, Deee-Lite, Wax Poetic, The The, Leftfield and most of the Mo’ Wax roster. All of the Finnish connections throughout Keep Reachin’ Up can easily be traced to her husband, Jimi Tenor, an alum of WARP, Matador and Ubiquity who is described as techno’s first cabaret star by AMG. Tenor has no doubt had a big influence on Willis over the years (or perhaps the other way around) as he has progressed from techno to IDM to new-groove to the recently released Joystone on Ubiquity where he teams up with the West African rhythm section Kabu Kabu for a Fela-meets-Stereolab sound.

Anticipation for this release has been stirring for a while now especially since London’s renowned DJ and tastemaker Gilles Peterson proclaimed opening track and hit single “Feeling Free” as the 2006 Worldwide Winner Song of the Year. Really though, that can’t be too much of a surprise if you have ever heard Peterson’s radio show as he is quick to champion most anything that is both danceable and soulful all the while molding the Northern Soul sound to his tastes for a number of years. “Feeling Free” is a hell of a song though as it pairs a backing track that can easily be traced back to Mayfield or Hayes with it’s string-heavy climaxes and deep funk rhythm section. Willis vocally swoons with grace overtop never sounding forced and teasing each and every syllable with her sexy alto. I find the vocal arrangements to be much less emphatic soul workouts as proto-disco paint-within-the-groove accompaniment. In contemporary comparisons, less Aguilera, more Winehouse.

As on the first track, The Soul Investigators color each track with Motown-like pop-funk instrumentals that are less concerned with fiery solos as masterfully capturing a groove and perfecting it. My personal favorite track, “If This Ain’t Love (Don’t Know What Is)”, is a great example of this. The Investigators head-nod there way into an easy-going groove that would have Berry Gordy bopping all night long while Willis effortlessly swaggers with minute harmonic precision never really grabbing the spotlight, but never missing a beat either. Tenor even contributes a quality flute solo that of course is strung through an echoplex plug-in; once an electronica artist, always an electronica artist. Later, “Invisible Man” ups the pop factor hand-clapping it’s way into Jackson 5 territory as Willis ups her vocal pitch that though sounding slightly uncomfortable, works well. “Blues Downtown,” on the other hand, is more of a workout for The Investigators with a deep funk organ and elliptical horn groove while Willis coos with jazzy melodic waves.

Though most of the names in the credits are Finnish, Keep Reachin’ Up sounds more Detroit circa the mid-60s when The Four Tops and The Supremes were teaming lush arrangements with party-soul vocals. While I want to group in Willis with contemporary soul vocalists like Sharon Jones, she is much less funk and much more pop-soul. The Soul Investigators and the Pekka Kuusisto String Orchestra doing a wonderful job of contributing a great live setting for Willis to shine over; they play with great talent, precision and most importantly soul, riffing just enough to loosen the arrangements but without ever stealing the spotlight. Keep Reachin’ Up is a solid outing for all the artists involved and should do wonderfully in the Northern Soul circuit, and thanks to the recent American pop-soul mainstream shift, may even make a few waves here in the States.

Interversity: History Invades

History Invades is our featured artist in this week's Interversity. Fielding questions for the San Francisco three-piece is Paul Harper, who has taken the ordinarily obtuse aesthetic of the band and kindly (and directly) answered our questions. Straight from the horse:











History Invades - Post-Modernist Trap: A Stalker's Guide to the Universe - In Vision Vanish Invisible (Lujo /Pish Posh of North America 2007)

1. What other musical endeavors were you involved with pre-History Invades?

Believe it or not, not really any before the original incarnation of HI. I played in a circle of local friends' bands just because they needed this or that. I toured the west coast with Map (Velvet Blue Music) as a drummer in 2003, and nationally with Kat Jones (VBM) as a bassist in 2004. Those tours were great learning experiences of how life on the road really is.

2. I've always loved the band name. What's the story behind how it came about?

Originally, when we were changing our bands name and figuring out what to call the project, Michael Norman Williams had a handful of joke side bands, all with these outrageous names, including James Dean & The Pase Robles Racers, We Come In Pieces (This one we are still planning on using actually), Die Capitalist War Machine!!!, and a bunch of others. One of them was History Invades, and someone (i think Daniel Scott Mayberry) suggested it. We never really agreed on it, until we played a local show (our first in a few months as we were out on the road quite a bit), where Michael stated that our other band couldn't make it because they changed their name to History Invades, finishing with "Hi, we're History Invades." Ever since then, we have rolled with the name, and its been a good name for us. We never really had a good reason for calling the band HI, but numerous people have commented on what they think the name means, and thats more important to us...to know that our name spurs different ideas into the listeners mind. We have had people tell us that it reminded them of the Great Depression, others talking about history repeating itself, and probably so many more. It holds specific meaning in my life now, and i think the name will be a good one to keep around for the tenure of this band.

3. The album artwork is reliably distinctive and In Vision Vanish Invisible in particular is tough to miss. How did you hook up with Nigel Dennis?

We played a festival in southern Washington called Tomfest (though i think it was called Portico that year), at which The Evaluation were playing. We played in Portland, Or a couple nights beforehand, at which a couple people asked us if we had ever heard of The Evaluation, which we hadn't, and stated that we should check them out when they play at Tomfest. Well, I had no idea who they were, and when we got there, we started seeing these two dudes running around the grounds. These guys were the best dressed of everyone there. You could tell that they seemed kind of beat, tired, but still, they looked good, and they were everywhere. We played our set on either the first or second night, and right afterwards Nigel and their touring drummer at the time (Frank Lipari) ran up to us in the merchandise tent and started flipping out, stating that they had not heard a band like ours in years and making phone calls. These two dudes, who we thought were just some guys with a fashion sense, were actually The Evaluation. So we told them our story, and we heard about their tour, we exchanged numbers and CDs, and we talked to Nigel the following year about doing our seven inch artwork, which led to him wanting to do our first record, and subsequent work since. He is one of the greatest guys I have met in this business and a force behind the band, and thats why he is considered a member of the operative.

4. I feel obligated to ask about the song titles because I'm honestly curious as to the methods of creation. What's the process in writing and naming a track? Do you start with a title or theme and write a song or the other way around?

Very often the title has little to nothing to do with the actual song, though we never pair a title with a song that we don't feel defines the song somehow. A lot of the songs on IVVI didn't have titles until we started working on the design of the CD. Some of them were stolen from ideas in a short story I had written about fake characters in separate situations who finally come together in a Happy Endings / Me, You, And Everyone We Know sort of way. A couple of the songs' titles came from jokes or conversations had with everyone in the band and even just people in our lives. "Check That Figure! With Digits Like That, Who Needs Cell Phones?" is our friend Evan Persons statement he made at an In & Out in California back in 2004 about good looking people on their cell phones or something. I mean, our titles can come from anywhere and everywhere, if they feel right for a song, no matter how ridiculous, they will be used. I wanted to say, because i just found out...track five on IVVI is listed as "Romance Of Sand And The Salts / Snakes And The Consequential Epilepsy" on a bunch of websites. It's really Shakes. I don't know where Snakes came from.

5. Your new live EP is out now so you've got fans sated for the moment, but how far ahead are you looking for the band's future? Album by album, or something grander?

Well, we have actually ran out of copies of the We Touch The Sky Now Live EP. The only way to get it now is to ask us personally for it. But we have plans. We currently have plans into 2009, but we're taking it one step at a time. We are currently working on a new full length, which will be entitled "COMPANGLOMAMMOTH." The majority of the tracking is finished, but were going to spend as much time as we need to make sure we like what we're doing. HI's focus on this record is a blending of electro-club dance beats and synths with guitars and noisy percussion from experimentation with post-punk. So far it is shaping up to be the most diverse and cohesive record we have done. We were planning on releasing a movie with the album, but that idea was vetoed in the post-birthing stages. Besides that, we just got word recently from Lujo that we will be doing a three way split with label mates All Teeth And Knuckles and The Drugstore Cowboys due out sometime next year. I hear the other bands each have a song or two finished, and we're still coming up with ideas. Luckily, we have time for that. In addition to these, we're hitting the remix circuit, as I am personally remixing all of IVVI for an iTunes exclusive release entitled "Visions", probably around the transition of years. Finally, History Invades is remixing Lujo Records bands as part of a compilation we're releasing on the label. I believe we are calling it "History Invades Lujo." We are in the process of collecting the tracks from the bands. Once we have them we will be hitting that pretty hard, and everything in rotation. So, i would hope that is something grander than just record to record, but we'll find out when these releases see the light of day.

Audiversinquiry (10 questions we ask everyone)

1. What did you specifically remember listening to as a child that triggered a notable response?

There really is only a few I can think of... there is hardly any music that I really listened to until i was in my early teens, and the bands worthy of noting at the time were Frodus, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Bjork, Starflyer 59, Devo, Sunny Day Real Estate, and I'm sure there is more.

2. You are heading across town this moment and will have time to listen to one complete album during the trip, what would you two individually listen to?

Well, I would opt for something recent, and it's always subject to change, but currently i would probably pop in "Fancy Footwork" by Chromeo. Michael would probably listen to the new Hella record "There's No 666 In Outer Space", Noah Guitar Prado might have all of the Radiohead albums and rarities on shuffle with his iPod, Zachary Alan Zeller has been rocking the CSS album lately, And Nigel Evan Dennis has been listening to "We Are The Night", the new record from The Chemical Brothers.

3. Are there any other media that you draw inspiration from? Books, authors, painters, actors, movies, celebrities, etc?

Of course. A few from each I'm sure. As far as books go, the oblivious "1984" by George Orwell, "No One Belongs Here More Than You" by Miranda July (Christine Jesperson from "Me And You And Everyone We Know), "The Tao Of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff, and any of the "This Book / Diary Will Change Your Life" series by Benrik. As for authors, David Icke, Noam Chomsky, Douglas Adams, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Pablo Picasso is my favorite artist, but the majority of inspiration I get from paintings is from friends and people close in my life. It's the only thing in the arts that i can't even come close to doing. For actors, Christopher Walken, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Daniel Dumile, Kirsten Dunst, Stella, and I really respect Drew Carey and Matt Maiellaro. Movies have been hard to come by lately, but I will say The Fountain, The Virgin Suicides, Pans Labyrinth, Wet Hot American Summer, Pi, Spinal Tap, Repulsion, Twin Peaks, Office Space, Dr. Strangelove... to name a few. And as for celebrities, they are rarely an inspiration, but they are great to watch. Lindsay Lohan, Kathy Griffin, talk/game show hosts are always great, Ross Matthews, and probably so many more. Those people on Top Chef are way too interesting... I have to say, i haven't been anticipating something so much as The Flaming Lips Film, "Christmas On Mars."

4. Where do you go to discover new music and sounds?

A lot of my friends are constantly showing me and sending me new music. Sometimes it's something i have heard of and really want, and sometimes it's just someone being really excited about a new band. I probably get into 5 new bands a year. At this very moment I am enjoying a band i heard of today called Bat For Lashes. The only thing i know about them is that they have a fantastic vocalist, and their record is called Fur And Gold. The singles I've heard from Common's Finding Forever are outstanding.

5. What question do you get most often that you hate answering?

I can't think of a single question that i have been asked that I couldn't answer, or hated to answer.

6. Favorite instruments or specific sounds?

All sorts of percussion. Like Kylie Minogue said in her single Slow, "let the rhythm pull you in, it's here so touch it." Rhythm is pulsating, and without a pulse, you don't have a heartbeat. Besides that, i absolutely love my Korg KP2, and I am always a sucker for the French tremolo picking style on a mandolin.

7. The record store is closing in ten minutes and you are hell-bent on buying something before they close; what section do you head immediately towards?

These days, probably to the used vinyl to find any of the Randy Newman LPs i haven't already purchased.

8. What is the last notable daydream you had and where did it take place?

I don't know if I ever have had a daydream. The closest thing I could think of would be last summer, when I was out on the road... I think we were in PA driving west from Philadelphia and I was lying down on one of the benches in the van. Before I really knew it, I was skateboarding (which i haven't done in a decade) to my house, at which some lady was waiting. I was listening to !!!'s Louden Up Now on my iPod. The road to get there was much more difficult to ride on than it would seem. I got there, and she was talking to me, but I couldn't hear her. so I tried talking back, and nothing would come out. So I took off the ear buds and attempted to speak again, but I could still hear the same song playing, and I still couldn't talk. This turned into me not being able to breath, and i started freaking out. Somehow, i shook myself to a conscious state, and i had my iPod on my head, listening to !!!. Is that considered a daydream?

9. What is the perfect album to you? Are there any? Is it possible?

I don't really think there is such a thing as a perfect album, but if I had to choose my closest choice of perfection, it would be The Fashion Focus by Starflyer 59.

10. Do you keep up with blogs? Which do you read if so?

Not many, but a few. Joee Irwin's IM ON THE INTERNET, Seth Werkheiser's Buzzgrinder, and i poke my head into Audiversity from time to time.

WLUW Update: First Loyola Response

So, as I explained in my last WLUW post, the biggest concern we have is the callousness Loyola is presenting in their re-absorption of 88.7 WLUW-FM Chicago, a one-time listener-supported community radio station. Well after a good number of unsuccessful attempts to contact John Pelissero, whose email is listed on the FAQ page presented by Loyola in response to the situation but most attempts to that address were bounced back unsuccessfully, a WLUW volunteer got through to Jennifer Clark, Director of Community Relations. The following is the email exchange word for word followed by a response by Dustin Drase of The Hump Day Dance Party (Wednesdays 8-10p on WLUW) sent out to the WLUW staff listserve. My reasoning behind posting this to the public is because the absence of communication between the university and the station has been our biggest concern, so I wanted to share with everyone the first response we received. I feel it is important to forming a well-rounded perspective on the situation.

The following is the exact email WLUW volunteer Ang Concepcion sent to the WLUW staff listserve containing the email exchange she had with Jennifer Clark, Director of Community Relations at Loyola-Chicago:


I was talking to some people at my office, and my supervisor suggested that I should contact Jennifer Clark of Community Relations and see what's up.

First email is mine, the second is Clark's response:

Hi Jennifer-

My name is Ang, and I'm a senior at Loyola who works at Student Life, Campus Recreation, and WLUW. I was referred to you by Mary Rinaldi, and I was hoping that maybe you can help us out, or perhaps give some insight.

I went to a community council meeting of WLUW's yesterday evening 7/25, and witnessed a fair amount of people from the community who support the radio station. Basically, they expressed much disdain and frustration with the lack of communication from the university to WLUW. The chair of that council, who happened to resign that evening because he did not want to fight Loyola to get any answers, said that it didn't help that John Pelissero's email on the press release on WLUW was bogus.

I feel like I'm rambling, but the gist of this is that it's not just the Rogers Park community that'll be affected; there are many people who tune into the station that are from Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Uptown, and Andersonville. The people I met at this community radio council last night feel that Loyola doesn't care about the community and the type of rare programming that WLUW has that makes it more special than any of the other commercialized radio stations.

How can we, the community of volunteers and staffers, and the community of listeners, have our voices heard?

~~~~

These are some articles that various Chicago media outlets have posted/blogged:

Robert Feder's article on Friday 7/13 in Sun Times:
http://www.suntimes.com/business/feder/466749,CST-FIN-feder13.article

Preliminary follow-up from Loyola:
http://info.luc.edu/newsevents/public/news_story.cfm?newsID=7325&siteid=0

Chicagoist story (a pretty solid account of a staff meeting held on Monday 7/16):
http://chicagoist.com/2007/07/17/wluw_wtf.php
Chicagoist follow-up (with some clarification):
http://chicagoist.com/2007/07/18/wluw_mini_updat.php

Time Out Chicago blog (has some back-'n-forth with Loyola administration):
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/outandabout/?p=2548#more-2548

~~~~

Many of the WLUW staffers are just devastated that our bosses are getting fired, and that no one from Loyola has stepped up to even acknowledge us.

Thanks for reading this email,

Ang Concepcion

And her response:

Properties
From: Jennifer Clark Thursday - July 26, 2007 4:11 PM
To: Angelic Concepcion
Subject: Re: Loyola and the community based radio station WLUW

Ang,

I am not aware that Dr. Pelissao's email was "bogus." If the people who are interested in learning more are not willing to believe what they hear, there is very little anyone at Loyola can do to help. Loyola takes control of the station back from WBEZ in July 2008, so very little has been planned that will effect anything in the meantime. Also, there has not been any discussion about changing the format of the station, it has an independant community format, and that seems to be what people are most worried about - I am not sure where the idea came from that it will change to talk radio or punk music or anything - I think there is a lot of misonformation being spread by some disgruntled people about who owns the station and what it is intended to be used for.

In terms of communication between Loyola and the staff of WLUW, you have to remember that the at this point the staff are employees of WBEZ so it would be inappropriate for Loyola to communicate with them, they should be getting their information from their employer.

As to your last point, I am very disappointed to hear that people think that Loyola doesn't care about the community. It seems to me that it is the people that are spreading half-truths in order to make themselves look good are the ones who truly don't care about the community. Like I said at the begining, why would Dr. Pelissaro lie? He has nothing to gain from lying, but other people do. I am not accusing anyone of lying, I don't even know the people involved, I am simply encouraging you, as a critical thinking Loyola student to consider how quick you are to believe that Loyola would lie to you for no reason.

To have your voice heard on this matter, contact Dr. Pelissaro. His email is in groupwise and I am sure he would be happy to hear from you.

Jennifer

----------

No where did I say in my email that Pelissaro ever lied about anything, and I never ever implied that Loyola lied about anything; they're just not really saying anything... and there's only so much that WBEZ can do for us.

I like how she kind of slipped a jab at me with the last lines in the third paragraph. That's all I guess.
-
Ang



And now a response from WLUW staffer Dustin Drase sent over the listserve to other staffers that I felt was appropriate to include as well so you have an idea the kind of discussion we are having in-house:



I was hoping to stay out of the large scale rhetoric on all this for a while, but Jennifer's email and specifically the response she got from it, really struck a cord for me. What hurts me the most in all of this, is that Loyola is completing dismissive of the current staff, many of whom have been around the station for 5-10 years.

Specifically, these two points from Jennifer Clark's response email are what gave me an angry start to my day:

"In terms of communication between Loyola and the staff of WLUW, you have to remember that the at this point the staff are employees of WBEZ so it would be inappropriate for Loyola to communicate with them, they should be getting their information from their employer."

Inappropriate? How so? Torey and the folks at WBEZ can only tell us as much as they know, and at this point any information in regards to the future of the station is completely out of their hands. Attending the community advisory meeting this past Wednesday, reminded me how passionate, and genuinely concerned Torey is about the situation. However, for Jennifer Clark to brush all of us off as "employees of WBEZ" is exceptionally short sited. It's obvious from this statement that they have zero regard for us as a part of what WLUW is now and what it will become in the future. How exactly is Loyola helping the current staff follow the Jesuit mission of spreading justice into the world? The answer is, that they are not. We are DOING exactly what their school is trying to exemplify, yet they act as if we are some sort of rogue agents working for a rival company. It's obvious that they have no idea that WLUW is more than just a transmitter and a license; there is literal sweat, and lifeblood behind every radio wave broadcast from this station. For us to do what we do every single week is not a whimsical decision. To give up our precious free time to be part of something that is truly important and rare in this or any community for that matter, it really does take a lot out of us both physically and emotionally. A large part of who I am is intertwined in that station, and i'm sure every one of you reading this email can say the same. Why does Loyola not realize this?

"I don't even know the people involved, I am simply encouraging you, as a critical thinking Loyola student to consider how quick you are to believe that Loyola would lie to you for no reason."

This here is some truly specious reasoning. Jennifer says it all right here, "I don't even know the people involved". What the hell? How idiotic and shortsited can these people be (answer...immensely). Maybe they are, and maybe they aren't lying. Craig's dismissal (Ed. Note -- http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/thebusiness/070727/) reeks of behind the scenes power plays, and it's truly unfortunate that a man that I admire so much, and who would be infinitely useful as a resource for both the school and the radio station, has been ousted for no apparent reason aside from the fact that Loyola wants to start with a clean slate when they take over in 2008.

I plan to keep doing the Hump Day Dance Party as long as possible, knowing full well that Loyola has absolutely no use for me, and has absolutely no regard for any of the relationship that I have forged over my 7 years at WLUW with staff, listeners and community members. Apparently none of that matters to them, and that fact almost crushed my spirit entirely. Luckily, something Torey said to me at the advisory meeting kept my spark alive. To paraphrase what both he and Shawn have been saying, this radio station, and our shows are a completely altruistic endeavor. Each show we do is a treat for our listeners, our fans, and those that we play over the airwaves. I have been so incredibly lucky to have this forum to champion things that may not have gotten exposre otherwise, be it music, bands, artists, movie makers, social ideals, community activism and all other sorts of weirdness that has taken place on the Hump Day. Shawn has said again and again, "it's better to have a radio show than to not have a radio show," and she is right. Whatever I have built by doing my show may not have a place in the future of WLUW, and that's ok. I am extremely proud of what I have done, and what I have been a part of. I am extremely grateful for the friends and colleagues that I have worked with over the years at WLUW. We deserve to be treated with a bit of respect, and Loyola has not done that in any way whatsoever. The fact that this whole fiasco was leaked to the press on the same day as one of our biggest promotional events of the year is completely demoralizing. I have no interest in smearing Loyola. They can do whatever they want, and they've proven that point. What I do have an interest in, is them treating us with a bit decency and respect, and the very least they could do is send a representative to talk with us. Even if that person spoke with double talk and vague statements, it would show on some level that Loyola actually espoused their own beliefs. Somehow I have little faith that they will even give us that.

your friend

Dustin Drase
Dr. Drase of the Hump Dance Party
http://www.humpdaydanceparty.com



I hope this adds a little more perspective to what we are dealing with and the feelings from both sides of the situation.

Singleversity #20

Audiversity’s weekly column, slightly modified, on random music in a predetermined number of words between 1 & 150. This week's randomly generated number: 98.

MA:



I dropped "Crooked Booty" by Atlanta supergroup Dungeon Family the other night at a party and was surprised at how many people there were unaware of their existence (all of them). A one-off experiment that resulted in the incredibly fun though slightly underwhelming 2001 album Even in Darkness, the Dungeon Fam was made up of rap groups Outkast and Goodie Mob, production outfits Organized Noize and Earthtone III and a couple other scattered Atlanta emcees. Easily the sum of its parts, EiD bounces with that quirky early-aughts Southern hop and the wonderful eclecticism of the minds involved.

PM:










Though there are a ton of bands out of Brooklyn and it’s often difficult to tell who’s good from who isn’t, The Social Registry quartet Telepathe has been stellar since their four-song debut Farewell Forest in February 2006. Focused around part-time dancer Busy Gangnes and New Orleans transplant Melissa Livaudais (who was recently featured here for her work as “Coronation” in First Nation), Hoss Records 12” single "Bells" is their freshest, most novel processing yet. Dance enough to hit the clubs and avant-rock enough to please the elitists, “Bells” is a sublime slice of perfectly harmonized, challenging space-pop.

Genghis Tron - "Triple Black Diamond" EP

Genghis Tron - Dead Mountain Mouth (Epeirogenesis) (Crucial Bliss 2007)

Genghis Tron - Triple Black Diamond EP / Crucial Bliss

I'll never forget the time I saw Genghis Tron play Columbia's old Immaginarium on Bull Street a few years ago. I really had no idea what I was in for and, not being partial to tech-metal or grindcore at the time, felt particularly out of place among Columbia's wiser and less "refined" youth. One set later and I was sold; they had to shut the place down because it was too loud and not long afterward the Immaginarium moved elsewhere. The indelible imprint of Genghis Tron live had won me over. Genghis Tron. What a fucking fabulous name. To think it came from three modest gentlemen native to Poughkeepsie, New York and you have on your hands a genuine success story of the highest order. If they're not the hottest thing in "extreme" music, they ought to be.

Triple Black Diamond, a limited tour-only EP (from their recent run with Ed Gein and Gaza) released on Crucial Blast's CD-R imprint Crucial Bliss, is another example of the band's versatility. It's not the first time they've done this tour-only shorthand thing: Last year they released Cape of Hate in anticipation of one of 2006's most overlooked (and most underrated) albums, Dead Mountain Mouth. This time around, the anticipation is for their second full-length to be released on Relapse. We're not in the kiddie pool anymore.

Why should the average person care about Triple Black Diamond? The short answer is "Colony Collapse" and the future it holds, and that translates to Kurt Ballou. Better known for his work in seminal hardcore architects Converge, Ballou's reputation as a first-rate producer has been building since he established Godcity Recording Studio. This is the same guy who literally thought My Bloody Valentine's Loveless was "a great record but sounds like shit." And when a man has managed to make Swarm of the Lotus sound coherent, I guess he can get away with saying that. What he will do with Genghis Tron is not for us to know just yet, but this EP gives at least one indication of what kind of material he'll be working with.

Having written new stuff over the course of the past year, the trio have allowed fans the opportunity to hear a working version of "Colony Collapse," the only new song on the album and competently self-recorded this past spring. It starts with a dulled guitar played at lightning speed before exploding in typical Genghis Tron fashion into a Mookie Singerman-led blast of electro-grind. Elements of shoegaze are in the first bridge, while glitchy electro take over in the second as a dreamy guitar line of Hamilton Jordan's creation are brewed and Michael Sochynsky's keyboard programming works a quiet magic. This is one of Genghis Tron's best songs and who knows what will happen when Ballou gets his hands on it, but I for one am very excited.

Appropriately, "Colony Collapse" is the final song on the EP. The other seven songs are either remixes by friends or reinterpretations by the band themselves of their own material from both the Cloak of Love EP and Dead Mountain Mouth. The opening tracks, "Ride the Steambolt," "Chapels" and "The Folding Road," are all live versions from a Montreal radio session. You can get a pretty good feel for what was going on that night at the Immaginarium three years ago from these recordings, but while they serve as an interesting addition to the tracklisting, they're not the best songs on here.

Remixes can either be fruitful or frustrating depending on how liberal you want to be. Some people just throw a lazy hi-hat-addled 4/4 over an otherwise unchanged song and call 'er finished; that doesn't happen here. The "Carwash Climax" remix of "The Folding Road" almost sounds like I Am the World Trade Center or maybe a Big Country song with synths instead of those genuine bagpipes, but another harmony sounding either like a manipulated vocal or another synth quivers in and out to give this track beauty where you wouldn't expect it. The "Greek Beds" remix proves the group has a sense of humor in that it is exactly what the title suggests it is: A 1993 industrial dance remix of the creepiest kind. Trent Reznor would approve if he weren't so worried about the apocalypse or whatever it is he's doing now. In fact, that's a good idea. Somebody get a vocal track of his and put it over this song to see what it sounds like.

While all these tracks are brilliant, I've selected "Dead Mountain Mouth (Epeirogenesis)" because it has struck a cord with me that Marnie Stern didn't earlier this year. It's not a typical 'Tron track: There are no Alec Empire-esque beats. There's none of Mookie's shot-in-the-arm vocal screeching. There are only two guitars, working against each other for over 10 minutes to uplift and depress the crust at a third the speed and three times the length of the original. Its colossal tensioning is the stuff of greatness and if Battles were less into crisp guitar tones, they would sound like this.

We've had a lot of hip-hop here this week, but balance is a beautiful thing and though cybergrind isn't quite related, the electronic beats of Gouseion or Kid606 are just a few steps removed from Shape of Broad Minds when they're not a few steps removed from Converge or Pig Destroyer. Genghis Tron represent a unique intersection in music: They are impossibly hard rockers, they are impossibly soft electro-poppers, they are beatsmiths and they are six-string shredders. Everyone can relate to at least one aspect of their sound, and while Triple Black Diamond is realistically only a stopgap between Dead Mountain Mouth and their untitled forthcoming fuller, its demonstration of the group's massive potential is a good reason to continue caring about this band. They may be moving on to Relapse, but Crucial Blast certainly didn't get the short end of the stick. Here are eight reasons why, eight reasons why Genghis Tron are not only one of the most "extreme" bands in extreme music, but also one of the most mercilessly intriguing.

Educated Consumers - "Write/Hear"

Educated Consumers - Catch a Glimpse (VeriZum 2007)

Educated Consumers - Write/Hear / VeriZum

In a week that's been full of hip-hop for us, Educated Consumers round out our five-day forecast with their second album, Write/Hear. Let's get right into it: The duo of Cole "Seez Mics" Policy and Jason "t.E.C.K!" Fields are not actually from Washington DC or Baltimore - they call College Park, Maryland home - but their reputation as arguably the best hip-hop duo to come from the greater metropolitan area betwixt B-town and Dead City has been growing steadily since they first came together in 1999. Already under their belt are two LPs, Aisle 2 having garnered the most acclaim and getting them the attention that allowed Write/Hear to happen. You'll have to ask Jason Torres what the name of that first one is.

They've opened for Murs. They've been on a Warped Tour date. They've been hyping Write/Hear on their website for over two years. What took so long? Who cares. It's finally here, and it's better than you're expecting, if you were expecting it at all: As the cover-art suggests, this album is built on old-skool beats and back-to-basics lyrical prowess the kind of which has been lamented so often as of late.

Seez Mics is on form straight away on the title-track, a crowd-pleasing, throw-your-hands-up anthem that has to work like magic live. "Make some noise if you're ready to enjoy it," and you will be by the time "Right They're" wraps up a hefty 17 tracks later. This album seems to fly by though, and a large part of the reason is Seez Mics. His delivery isn't anywhere near Twista-esque brain-benders, but his solid n' steady flow keeps things lively even as the album winds down in the second half. He's relentless and relentlessly entertaining.

Though the guys have a NoW Coast mentality on tracks such as "Dot, Dot, Dot..." where their political conscience comes out, the majority of the topics are more about average day-to-day living. "In the Pocket" describes how Seez Mics has to "move a few boxes and write a lot of songs" as the "Internet sales cover half of my rent." Straight commerce, that's all this is. In some ways, that's what's missing from hip-hop these days. On one end, you've got the Top 40 Courvoisieur VSOP-sipping superheroes with bullet wounds in their arms and exaggerated tales of thuggery; on the other end, you've got the underground good guys with the heart of gold working for their neighborhoods to raise awareness and fight the power by motivating people to get involved and change it from within. Stuck in the middle are the average educated consumers, buying it up but worrying more about the daily grind and paying rent most days than marching against Bush or deciding which slut to take home from the club. "Educated Consumers is not just a mantra," Seez Mics insists. But it can be, and that's part of the appeal (even if I might inadvertently be undermining everything they stand for).

"Save the cookie-cutter murder for 106 & Park," has to be my favorite line, from "Catch a Glimpse." Seez Mics is sharp alright, and the fact that you get some Pharcyde-worthy beats from t.E.C.K! makes this feel like it came straight outta 1992. It's laid-back sonically, but the rhymes can be aggressive depending on the subject. That clash is at the crux of the greatness behind this record. Its austerity works in its favor, smart but not distracting in sound and lyrically smart but not preachy.

Write/Hear is a great album because it shows how necessary every point on the hip-hop spectrum is. I'm not going to lie and say that "This is Why I'm Hot" doesn't have an incredible beat with mind-numbingly stupid lyrics, or say that Sage Francis doesn't have a keen eye for exposing political turmoil... But Educated Consumers prove that you can have both, and neither, and still be good. That's the magic of this album. It's totally average and perfect for exactly that reason.

If there's nothing else, this single week has reinvigorated my belief in hip-hop. It's far from a dead art, and though Educated Consumers are taking a slightly different approach - a little more throwback than Pharoahe Monch's futurism and a little less crate-diggingly deep funk than Copperpot - they are still a vital part of the landscape this genre has traversed in its relatively short existence. Educated Consumers are for the educated consumer: They know what the score is, but they play to their strengths and it shows. If you've dug what we've had here this week, support these witty bastards and get this album. We'll both be glad you did.

The Stringed Theory - "Universal Relativity"

The Stringed Theory - Quark (Stadtgruen 2007)

The Stringed Theory - Universal Relativity / Stadtgruen

Now nearly 40 years old, the sad truth is that there are still precious few people who actually know what the whole idea behind String Theory is. "The Elegant Universe," the "theory of everything," what does all of it mean? Here's as simple a description as I can come up with: Quantum theory (which holds that the universe is made of finite amounts of things) and relativity (which holds the universe as smooth and continuous) are incompatible when dealing with extremely large or extremely small sizes or masses. String theory plugs the hole by describing matter as small, vibrating loops called excitation modes. Throw in a little about Rube Goldberg and flaws in the system and you have a pretty good idea of why the layman doesn't really get it. Scientists don't, either.

It's enough to make the average person's mind wrap around itself in an effort to take it all in. Diving head-first into the whole concept can be both mind-numbing and stressful. It is ironic, then, that The Stringed Theory is actually instant anti-stress music. Though inspired by the complexities of a theory that may or may not even be true, Vista, CA resident Dustin Frelich has made an album that inhabits the worlds of ambient electronic and post-shoegaze IDM. Fennesz and Belong are a good way to enter the protons, neutrons and bosons of Universal Relativity.

That's how it starts off, appropriately enough. "Boson" comfortably warms up the headphones as the opener, inhabiting a space with drones and force carrier particles to ease the brain. The bosonic string was the earliest model of string theory, so a subtle nod to make this the opener is both coy and virtually unnoticeable. The beauty of "Quark" is the most immediately touching to me, its guitars reminiscent of Belong's October Language that came out last year. Cosmic key tones and swirling guitar noise are also the meat n' potatoes of songs like "Sparticle" and "Parallel," while "Equivalence" chimes along with a simple electronic note progression that changes slowly over the course of its five-and-a-half minutes. With seven tracks running 40 minutes, the songs are in no hurry to grow on you, which they always do. Universal Relativity is sort of immediately striking in that you can remember one or two tunes the first time you play it through; to properly digest these recordings, however, one must play it back at least three or four times to take it all in. That said, it's a swell album. Sedate and pleasant, optimistic and playful, cosmic and coherent.

One of the best parts to the album? This stuff is all licensed under a creative commons license, so if you happen to love this track, there are plenty of places to go to get the rest of them for free. German-based netlabel Stadtgruen have chosen wisely in releasing their first American: Frelich has brought the best in ambient and minimalist drone to the table. For a group of like-minded individuals that have brought their culturally natural music together under the Stadtgruen name (Though their roster is full of electronic artists, their homepage is dominated by the image of a plant), one of your best places to start is The Stringed Theory. Just be prepared to take some heat from the growing number of String Theory disbelievers. If only they knew Universal Relativity, maybe they would change their minds.

Fog - "Ditherer"

Fog - Inflatable Ape pt. 3 (Lex 2007)

Fog – Ditherer / Lex

To be perfectly honest, I offered up this album to Patrick first and he respectfully declined for the same reason I offered it in the first place (if I wanted it myself I would have never even asked, muwhahaha): Andrew Broder’s Fog has never really struck a chord with either of us. Well that’s not completely true. I saw the trio (which is rounded out by drummer Tim Glenn and bassist Mark Erickson) perform at CMJ 2004 and still clearly remember the moving set. In particular, I remember a moment where the music stopped and Broder ached out a line about a dump trunk dropping 200 kittens on him. While obviously a bit on the weird side, it was also very moving, especially in the dank NYC club I witnessed it in (which was later covered in baby powder thanks to a certain Gary Wilson). Well that moment made me a fan, and I have checked out most of his discography since, but none of the recordings had that same lasting effect on me. So when Patrick turned down my offer, I figured at the very least I’d give it a curiosity spin, and I’ll be damned if I haven’t listened to it six times in the last two days. I have no idea why Fog’s upcoming release on Lex Records, Ditherer, is succeeding in my ears where the prior releases fell short, but I am glad to have an album to finally accompany that fond live memory.

The oddness of Fog’s sound is easily traced through the awkward path it took to develop. A Minneapolis, MN native (and I believe still resident), Broder made a number of different stylistic jumps while carving out his musical niche that vaguely followed the trail of punk rocker turned acclaimed hip-hop DJ turned 4-track experimenter turned bedroom singer/songwriter turned quirky avant-rocker. It may not be the most natural evolution, but the current product easily speaks for itself. After capturing the imagination of Adam Drucker (Doseone, Anticon) with his first self-produced release, Broder scored a deal with the U.K.’s Ninja Tune and repeatedly gained a following and then confused them endlessly with each subsequent release. By now though, the fan-base expects only the quirkiest from the now full-fledged trio (the Fog line-up went through a couple of different member changes and at one time included Martin Dosh, Michael Lewis and Jeremy Ylvisaker), and they delivered the goods with the acclaimed electro-pop leaning 2005 release 10th Avenue Freakout on their new home, the WARP offshoot turned independent buzz-maker Lex Records. Now two years later, Fog is an all-out rock band as Broder transcribes his endearingly absurd lyrics and avant-pop arrangements to anthemic hook-heavy pop-rock songs that excel greatly in their ability to tiptoe the line between accessibility and quirk.

I think the biggest difference between Ditherer and previous releases is its fully fleshed-out sound, which very well could be due to the stability of a band and the number of collaborators involved. Not that Broder wasn’t an able songwriter on his own, quite the opposite in fact, but the number of collaborating creative minds teamed with his own avant-pop sensibilities make for a much more refined sound. Though I don’t have the exact credits in front of me, all of the former Fog touring members contribute (Dosh, Lewis, Ylvisaker) along with Anticon members Pedestrian and Why? (Joanthan and Josiah Wolf, Doug McDiarmid), Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum, indie-popster Andrew Bird and Low’s Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. Broder does an amazing job of balancing his increasingly confident vocals, wonderfully oddly syncopated and typically multi-layered rhythms, accessible pop-rock guitar hooks, omnipresent background noise and seemingly spontaneous arrangements. It’s music that is both unpredictable and catchy as hell, which is the absolute mark of a masterful songwriter.

I think what is most surprising is the amount of pseudo-anthems strung throughout Ditherer, though to really sing along you have to master Broder’s idiosyncratic oddball lyrics. For Example, “I am smothered in glistening chicken fat on my mother’s bedspread” or “When the appendix burst dust blotted out the sun, we stood on the mountaintop with calendars and guns” or “A three-piece suit on me me, a tutu on you, in an empty airplane hangar at a table for two,” to name just a very few. While it may just seem weird on paper, it is absolutely infectious while listening to the album. Tracks like “Inflatable Age pt. 3” and “I Have Been Wronged” are absolutely irresistible near-anthems that will have your finger laying on the repeat button to go back and attempt to catch each and every hook. Later on, “The Last I Knew of You” sounds like a mix of Why? and Animal Collective, and “Ditherer” blends Drums and Guns-era Low with Kieran Hebden-leaning production and a Subtle-like mix of drum machine and strings. And honestly, I may be reaching with such comparisons, because it sounds so much in its own class.

So if you are like me and earlier Fog albums just didn’t quite strike that long-lasting chord with you, I urge you to give Broder and company this one more chance because I am near certain you will be sold. If you have always been on the Fog bandwagon, then my friend, you are in for a treat with Ditherer because it just keeps getting better and better. As for me, I think I will revisit their discography because perhaps I just wasn’t in the right mindset at the time; I just can’t believe that the transition would be as abrupt as it appears from my angle. Either way, Ditherer is a hell of an infectious album and I strongly recommended it if you are a fan of the avant-pop music.

Post-Dramatic WLUW Feelings

There was a recent comment posted on a lot of the message boards concerning the state of WLUW-FM Chicago (see here and here to catch yourself up), and it spurred a reaction out of me that I felt was a bit more important than the comment section. It is a direct response to the anonymously left comment you can read below, but also features a lot of my thoughts on the subject now that I have had a little time to reflect on the situation. If none of this concerns you and you are just here for the music, then feel free to skip ahead to the two new reviews posted today.

Anonymous comment left:

Guys - LUW always supported local/indy music way before the "community" designation. I seriously doubt that's going to stop simply because the University is opting out of its contract with BEZ. History would tell you that just 5 years ago BEZ's involvement was considered the worst thing to ever happen...the same types of outrage, blogging and petitions you’re seeing now, were out there then decrying the association between the two.

Sean [sic] and Craig, while seemingly great stewards of the station, are just the most recent in a long line of faculty and staff that have given their hearts and souls to the students and listeners… The station has been around for 30 years.

Change happens. The University finally realized what an asset they were holding, and quite frankly, the infighting and general lack of comportment and “bi-partisanship” during the last major change (way before BEZ entered the picture) did real, long-term damage to the Dept of Communication both in their internal dealings with each other and how they were perceived in the greater university community. People lost their jobs or were forced out. Students who complained were subtly threatened in ways way beyond acceptable behaviors from Dept Heads. Tenures were denied and those educators moved on.

With a “New” Dept of Communication (whatever that means) in the works, maybe it made sense to take the entire thing back under control. History would show that in previous incarnations the station was a very real draw for students of both broadcasting and community affairs. There are professionals in the industry all over the US that are Loyola/LUW grads – go to Wikepedia and look at the VERY small number of Alumni listed. I can add another 20 to 30 working at what they love off the top of my head.

We all know about the groups like “Friends of WLUW” If you’re interested in the flip side of some of the goings on over the last several years, take a look at http://www.wluw.blogspot.com/

Having said all that – I’m taking a wait and see attitude.

In response:

I do understand what you are saying; and very much understand that Loyola had every right to do what they did with 88.7 being their frequency. And though I wasn't around at the time, I have been fully informed on the craziness that went down when WBEZ stepped in.

The biggest concern I have had with the entire situation is the callousness Loyola has shown in their steps to take back the station. They have still yet to say a single word to us that I am currently aware of at this moment. We have entered into a transition period, but have no idea what we are transitioning towards. It feels mostly like they just wanted to say they have a radio frequency to lure in front of potential students, but don’t really care what happens once they get their tuition. And I emphasize “feels,” because again, Loyola has not said a word to us about their ideas concerning the station, so I have no idea what is going on in their heads.

I agree with what you implied as well, educating students in radio is absolutely a good thing, but it just seems like there was a better way to approach this whole situation. First of all, I personally would be a hell of a lot more inclined to come to a university which houses a professionally run community radio station than just some trial-and-error, student-run college station. We already enlist the second most student volunteers of any radio station in Chicago, second only to WNUR, and we reached out to students on a continuous basis and in a number of different ways from flyering the campus before interest meetings to setting up booths during the school’s get-involved fairs. When I was picking out assistant Music Directors to assist me, I was even asked specifically by Shawn Campbell to make sure one was a student because they are assets to the station.

And I realize that WLUW has been supporting the local/indie music scene prior to it becoming a community station (but to a much lesser degree, to my knowledge it was a Top 40 station for a good duration of time). But as a community station who makes all of its own programming decisions, it can do so much more than as a run-of-the-mill college radio station. The definition of a “community radio station” alone designates that you have to reach out into the community to stay supported and operational, and then you return the favor by supporting your supporters in every way you can. It’s a give-and-take system that benefits both the community and the station.

From a music department standpoint, it will be most detrimental. I approach this position like it’s my full-time career (it’s not, I work 40 hours on the side to pay for rent, etc). And to be done right, it really needs to be a full-time position, but the money is not there and I have no problem doing it for the minimal amount I do make (minimum wage, 10 hours max a week, though I clock many more hours as you can tell by Audiversity) or nothing at all. For typical college stations, the turn-around for music director is yearly, which is why nearly all college stations stagnate. The position has at the very least a 6 month learning curve just to associate yourself with the innerworkings of the particular station, familiarize yourself with the tastes of the DJ body and audience, and to establish connections with the music industry that services you. I have been the MD at WLUW for about a year-and-a-half and I’m still tweaking my system on what seems like a daily basis. Stability in a music department is the only way it can grow productively, and that is just not a liberty that is allowed in college radio for obvious reasons: they are student-run stations and students graduate. I plan on sticking around probably until I am forcedly replaced by a student, but it’s incredibly frustrating. When before it honestly felt like we were well on our way to establishing ourselves on the same level stations like KEXP, The Current and WFMU are regarded, it now it feels like we are working towards nothing. Not that working for the current listening audience is chump change by any means, but I have lofty ambitions, and I was very much hoping to achieve them through WLUW because I knew the staff was aiming for the same goals.

And as far as the hyperbolic statements the “WLUW Watch” blog (whose existence I was aware of, though it seems to suffer from the same hyperbolic statements it is calling out and appears, as far as I can tell from reading, to be fueled somewhat by personal vendettas; but since I wasn’t around personally during the period that spurred that site, I will remain as objective as possible) reposted from the Chicagoist article, they were said, they were heartfelt, and perhaps they were a little over the top. But you have to understand that we all took the station incredibly serious and were putting a ridiculous amount of energy into it, so you can’t blame us for being upset when the ball was dropped seemingly out of nowhere. I think the biggest concern for most of us is not losing an outlet to play indie rock or whatever, but the possible disbandment of both the community within the station walls and the accompanying listening audience we have connected with over the years. WLUW was the first community I joined when I moved to Chicago (which was only 2 months before I started volunteering), and they not only welcomed me with open arms but also gave me the opportunity to work my dream job (music director of an independent radio station). Now a year-and-a-half later, every single one of my best friends in the city came from the station, I have learned a countless amount of information about radio, music and the city of Chicago, it was the catalyst for starting this very website, I have met a ridiculous amount of wonderfully intriguing people through being on the air or at a WLUW participating event, and it has open more doors than I could have ever hoped in such a short amount of time. It’s not only disappointing that I am losing this myself, but it won’t even be an option for others in a similar situation as mine in the future.

Maybe it won’t be as drastic of a change once Loyola let’s us know their plan, maybe it will. Like you implied, only time will tell, but it just doesn’t seem plausible that this move will benefit the station. From every indication we have been given (emphasis on indication), the station will become an academic lab and student-run, which obviously equals college radio. I have no problem with college radio, and it was an integral part of my own education, but it just seems like squandered potential with the direction WLUW was heading. Why couldn’t Loyola just have created a closed-circuit station for an academic lab like most schools have? I can’t believe that would be any more expensive. Or work with Kois and Campbell to at least attempt to figure out how they could integrate student curriculum with the existing community format? It just seems to me like the entire situation could have been handled better by Loyola.

I guess it’s on to bigger and better endeavors though, no need to sit around a gripe about lost opportunities. Click here to sign a petition to help persuade Congress to approve more Low Power Frequencies in urban areas, and check out the newly formed Chicago Independent Radio Project so we can work towards securing a license if it passes and hopefully give Chicago an independent, community radio station full of localism, diversity, adventurousness and immediacy it can be proud of sharing.

Copperpot - "WYLA? (What're You Looking At?)"

Copperpot - WYLA? ft Prince Po (EV Productions 2007)

Copperpot – WYLA? (What're Your Looking At?) / EV Productions

Next in the slew of excellent rap albums that have finally found their way to the Audiversity offices comes from fellow Chicagoan Daniel Kuypers aka hip-hop producer Copperpot. Most interestingly, in context with the other recent rap albums we’ve been covering (especially from the producer point of view), Kuypers seems to be attacking the genre from a completely different angle; he is embracing the past rather than pushing forward with all out aggression. I think it’s safe to say (and as I did say in the Shape of Broad Minds review) that the style of inventive producing Madlib and the late J Dilla perfected in recent years is the go-to sound for most underground hip-hop purveyors. While cats like Jneiro Jarel are out to one-up the current kings by further tweaking the dense arrangements of boom-bap beats over minutely chopped funk, jazz, soul and worldly dance music samples, Kuypers is looking back to the influences of the current style and purveying a sound somewhere between Pete Rock and Madlib, or Premiere and Dilla, Prince Paul and Jarel. He is embracing the longer loops and instead of burying an oddly syncopated beat in a dense fog of swirling samples, he puts them right out front in easily decipherable sequences to let the emcee do what they do best, rhyme. Like his debut, WYLA? (What’re You Looking At?) is a solid album of classic early 90s-inspired rap; so who cares if he is not reinventing the game in the process?

2005’s Chapter Seven introduced Copperpot to the hip-hop industry. Kuypers made it clear from the very beginning that he was interested in just being behind the boards and putting most of his effort into creating deceptively simple beats for emcees to verbally soar over. Of the eighteen tracks of Chapter Seven, only five were instrumentals, and they were dubbed as “interludes.” While the rappers involved weren’t too buzz-worthy at the time, Kuypers did wonders spinning tracks for Diverse (please release another album!), LongShot, Edo.G, Braintax, Profound and Pace Won to name a few. For WYLA?, his reputation has definitely gotten around both as Copperpot and for his EV Productions label/studio, and the names involved are a bit more noticeable. On the mic, we get three cuts from the notorious (and still very able) KRS One, Organized Konfusion’s underrated Prince Po, legendary Juice Crew member Masta Ace and fire-tongued Chicago female emcee Psalm One, along with a couple hold-overs from Chapter Seven, The Streets-meets-Roots Manuva sounding Braintax and the gruff-voiced Edo.G, and a few cats I am not familiar with including Truth Enola, Rodney P, Time Bandits and Valeska Jakobowicz. Behind the scenes, Kuypers was also able to round up a number of notable Chicago musicians to help fill out his sound including guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise, Isotope 217, (((Powerhouse Sound)))), percussionist Dan Bitney (Tortoise, Bumps), bassist Matt Lux (Isotope 217, Exploding Star Orchestra), bassist Josh Abrams (The Roots, Town and Country, a million other projects), guitarist Rodney Anderson and cellist Tameka Reed. Kuypers has got friends and his music is that much better for evolving with some of that classic Chicago collaboration.

Like I mentioned in the opening paragraph, the Copperpot sound is not as much redefining the game as embracing the best elements of it, especially that competitive early 90s spirit when rap was concerned about the commercialization of the genre. And Kuypers isn’t concerned with stuffing four obscure samples into one bar as much as crafting a solid, well-rounded beat to riff on. It is definitely a Pete Rock derived sound with a bit more live instrumentation and buoyant flare. The album opens with bang as KRS One spits a youthful spew over a flute-heavy jazz beat calling for hip-hop to come back home. It’s certainly not a new subject (and one that is repeatedly covered on this album), but maybe as relevant now as ever before. KRS later gives two different renditions of “Dem Know,” which definitely has a reggae flare in its original sta