Exclusive interview with Dan Brown.

For more information about the how the sciences in the book can change your life, visit now: http://www.thelostsymbol.org.uk

THE LOST SYMBOL will have a first printing of 5 million copies, and it will once again feature Dan Browns unforgettable protagonist, Robert Langdon.

For more information about the how the sciences in the book can change your life, visit now: http://www.thelostsymbol.org.uk

The author of ‘The Intention Experiment’ attends the premiere of ‘The Living Matrix’ in Hollywwod, Los Angeles. Lynne also conducts an intention experiment at the panel event after the movie.

For more information about the sciences of theLiving Matrix, check our website:

http://www.ukions.org.uk

What will movies look like 15 years from now? Director James Cameron thinks they’ll be bigger, sharper and in 3-D. Jorge Ribas sits down with the cast and crew of Avatar to get their take on the future of film.

Want to know more about the future and how to bring more prosperity and happiness in your life? check our website:

http://www.ukions.org.uk/

In this one-minute video, Lynne McTaggart asks the question – “Can Intention Change the World?

No guest compiler for isolatedmix 05. Instead, a selection of my favourite tunes from the past year. Thank you to all the artists who feature and here’s to even more great music in 2010.

isolatedmix 05 – best of 2009 by astrangelyisolatedplace

1. Bibio – Fire Ant
Ambivalence Avenue – one of the albums of the year. Daft-punk’esque Fire Ant is the stand-out track.

2. Mux Mool – Ballad of Gloria Featherbottom
Released as part of the 30th SOS Mix, this track reminds me of Aphex Twin’s Polynomial C.

3. port-royal – Balding Generation (Losing Hair As We Lose Hope)
Possibly my favourite album of the year, I could have picked all the tracks from ‘Dying In Time’. 2009 has seen my hair rapidly recede. Fitting.

4. Fever Ray – Keep The Streets Empty For Me
Fever Ray will appear in a lot of people’s top albums/records of 2009, but few will pick this track. My favourite vocal off the album.

5. Jonsi & Alex – Boy 1904
Hard to single out a track from the Riceboy Sleeps album, but seeing as it’s Christmas, this choir sounding tracks fits perfectly.

6. Lightsway – Risen
Taken from Fugues Unreleased tracks 2009, Lightsway lead the way, and the rest of the album isn’t far behind.

7. Klimt – Pozegnanie
Featured a couple of weeks ago, Klimt is my find of the year. Look out for an exclusive isolatedmix from him coming soon.

8. Yagya – Fimm
‘Fimm’s’ beauty is best suited when accompanied by the full album – ‘Rigning’. But, it would have been wrong not to include it.

9. Echaskech – Shatterproof
The one album i was looking to most in 2009 didn’t disappoint. Echaskech’s ‘Shatterproof’ arrived full of dark beat-heavy electronica. This track, the darkest of the lot.

10. Alla Farmer – Elektrik Sunrize
Featured as part of the latest Kilchurn Sessions, as soon as I heard the piano mid way through this Alla Farmer track, i was hooked.

11. The Field – The More I Do (Thomas Fehlmann mix)
The Field’s latest album ‘Yesterday and Today’ didn’t blow me away as much as the first, but ambient maestro Thomas Fehlmann sprinkles his magic on ‘The More I Do’ to great effect.

12. The Toy Library – Once The Dust Settles
The second track taken from the Fugues Unreleased Tracks 2009 compilation. Told you it was good.

13. Alva Noto – Xerrox Monophaser 2
No mix would be complete without some beautiful beatless ambient.

14. Aphex Twin – Rhubarb (Addled’s edit)
Yes, Rhubarb is featured a lot. But, it’s an amazing track And the Addled edit released by the ISO50 Blog, means i mention it yet again. Vote for your favourite Rhubarb remix here.

15. Tycho – Coastal Brake
From one ISO50 to another. Tycho’s much anticipated release for 2009.

16. Jon Hopkins – The Low Places
Another eagerly anticipated release for 2009. Jon Hopkins mixes infamous delicate pianos and distorted breaks.

17. Jesse Somfay – Algonquin
Taken from ‘A Catch In The Voice’, Somfay takes us on one of his epic journey’s.

18. port-royal – I Used To Be Sad.
Should i feel sad for featuring port-royal twice? I used to, then i listened back to the mix and thought this would be a perfect ending.

Album artwork courtesy of Yes Studio.

See all isolated mixes
isolatedmix 01 – Ulrich Schnauss
isolatedmix 02
isolatedmix 03 – Milieu
isolatedmix 04 – Jesse Somfay
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This is definitely one of my favorite mixtapes ever (honestly it’s up there with like Piracy Funds Terrorism). Wonder why? Here’s the tracklist:

1. I’m Good, I’m Ghost (vs Holy Ghost)
2. Zdarlight Department (vs Digitalism)
3. Dance, Dance, Dance In My Face (vs The Field)
4. Belonging It Up (vs Hercules & Love Affair)
5. Beauty Flies (vs Gui Boratto)
6. Melodies, Desires & Charlotte (vs Booka Shade)

need any more convincing?

Download: Hood Internet vs. Lykke Li

 
I am happy to present Inaudible’s first annual end of year listy list.
 
 
TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2009
 

 

23. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon: The End of Day (GOOD Music)

Kid Cudi’s proper debut is solid collection of nu-skoool hip-hop jams and pop anthems – and when it came out a few months back I listened hell out of it for about two weeks straight. Originally, I thought it was going to end up way higher on my list, but in the end, it’s levelling off at the bottom. The main reason for this is that it unfortunately lacks lasting power. I don’t want to listen to it anymore. I feel I’ve exhausted it of all its charms. Still, “Man on the Moon: The End of Day” does have some great tracks, and at its best moments shows Kid Cudi’s potential as a force to be reckoned with in mainstream hip-hop.

But where does the Solo Dolo go from here? I’m afraid his recent gigs with Lady Gaga are showing us exactly where . . . but ya never know, he could still surprise us. Cudi is worth listening to, but so far he ain’t changing the game, he’s just going along with it. At least I discovered Chip Tha Ripper because of this album.

22. Junior Boys – Begone Dull Care (Domino)

The Hamilton, Ontario duo Junior Boys return with their third album and present more of the same lush and textured emo-electro-pop. There’s something about Jeremy Greenspan’s voice that I am absolutely and completely fed up with, but this album gets a nod on the list for its ridiculously smooth production and the number of times I kept returning to it over the year. “Begone Dull Care” is great for dinner parties, morning hangovers on the TTC, and dates with girls who don’t really like electronic music. And that is exactly the Boys’ problem. They are playing it way too safe, veering off into the terrifying world of muzak instead of delving deeper into the world of next-shit electronica. These boys are audiophile nerds to the extreme, which is why their albums sound so goddamn good, but is also why I want them to push their sound further. And I want Greenspan to try something other than his trademark breathy crooning. His voice on Morgan Geist’s “Double Night Time” was a welcome addition, and a nice teaser as we waited for a new Junior Boys release, but he sounds exactly the same in every song. His timbre, tone, emotion, and pitch does not vary one bit from the opening track on “Last Exit” to the last track on “Begone Dull Care”.

Still, I do give the Junior Boys props, they’re an excellent duo, but all I ask is for them to step it up in future releases, especially if they want me to show more than just dull care. (I know it’s a cheesy end but I’m going with it.)
 
 

21. Sleeping Me – Lamenter (Hidden Shoal)

Sleeping Me is the moniker of guitarist Clayton McEvoy who makes sweeping ambient compositions that are reminiscent of Stars of the Lid, Harold Budd, and Brian Eno. McEvoy uses only guitars and an array of pedals to create his droned out sound. The result is a relaxing and dulcet lull that is perfect for morning coffees or an absorbing book before bed. McEvoy also put out an album entitled “Cradlesongs” earlier this year, but it is hard to find, so I have not heard it in its entirety. However, if “Lamenter” is any indication, it too is sure to be ideal listening for shoegazers, just in the horizontal position.
 
 

20. Telefon Tel Aviv – Immolate Yourself (BPitch Control)

In late fall of 2008, I finally saw Telefon Tel Aviv live, and was given a sneak preview of “Immolate Yourself” as they played the album almost in its entirety. Although, I was a tad dismayed at their stripped-down sound, I was still happy to finally see one of my all time favourite electronic duo’s play live. And when this album came out in January, I picked it up immediately. TTA are meticulous producers – their early releases and 2007’s excellent “Remixes Compiled” disc clearly illustrate their amazing attention to the slightest glitch, hiss, and frequency. While still arranged and produced with the same hyper attention to detail, “Immolate Yourself” seems much more restrained and unadorned. Even so, this is dark electro-pop at its moodiest. I think it’s worth owning this album for opening tracks “The Birds” and “M” alone. Fun late night experiment: smoke a joint and try to figure out exactly what Cooper and Eustis are saying over and over in “The Birds”.

Fans of the group will unfortunately know already that just a few days before the album was released Charles Cooper committed suicide in Chicago. This was upsetting news, yet ironically helped give the album even more emotional resonance. Telefon Tel Aviv are an ambitious and forward-thinking band and it’s a sad fact the duo won’t be on any more top lists in years to come.
 
 

19. Mokira – Persona (Type Records)

Andreas Tilliander returned this year with a beautiful release under his Mokira moniker. Andreas Tilliander has put out some of the finest and most genre-defining electronic releases of this decade: “Ljud” and “Elit” under his own name and “Cliphop” and “Plee” under Mokira. Now a seasoned and respected veteran in the electronic music world, Tilliander’s 2009 release on the lovely Type Records may be his finest album to date. With such strong work backing him up it makes it almost impossible to truly gauge, but suffice to say “Persona” is a brilliant piece of static-warbled and absorbing ambience. Opening track “About Last Step and Scale” begins very much like a Basinski loop, but then after a minute or so, you feel like you’re being pulled downwards, deep below the ‘disentegrated loop’ and into Mokira’s territory. He operates miles below the surface, creating dark bass rumbles, enigmatic rhythms, and low-frequency bleeps and bloops, yet still keeps it melodic at all times. It’s an album I can write to, fall asleep to, but also listen carefully to and get lost within. Andreas Tilliander stole my robot heart years ago and “Persona” reminds me exactly why.
 
 

18. The Field – Yesterday and Today (Kompakt)

It took me awhile to get over my initial fears that Axel WIllner’s second album would fail in comparison to “From Here We Go Sublime”. But once I was finally swept into the looped brilliance of “Yesterday and Today” I was hooked, and now think it’s a much more fully realized vision of his musical aesthetic.

The second track “Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime” slows the tempo down and adds lush vocals in the mix to fantastic effect, and then “Leave It” comes next – a sprawling and emotive track of 4/4 techno bliss – and when the bass hook drops at the 3 minute mark, I am fucking sold. Wooh. One of my fave songs of the year for sure. The title track is also fantastic and features John Stanier from Battles adding some live drums to the mix. Another fine piece of work from The Field and yet another solid release from Kompakt.

17. CYNE – Water For Mars (Hometapes)

Gainsville, Florida’s, CYNE released the fantastic “Water For Mars” this year on Hometapes, and it quickly turned into the most satisfying summer album of the year for me. The production skills of Speck and Enoch are bass-heavy and hip-hop smooove. MC’s Akin and Cise Star play off each other’s rhymes, always trying to compliment each other’s lyrical dexterity. “Pretty Apollo” begins with a Fender Rhodes tinkle and snare pop and quickly builds into one of those hazy summer jams. CYNE’s overall feel is that of next-level hip-hop . . . ain’t no gangsta shit here, just intelligent rhymes, dope production, and positive energy. This was one of my most listened to bike ride albums for sure. I’m such a boombox pimp, pimp, pimp, pimp.
 
 

16. Passion Pit – Manners (Frenchkiss)

Passion Pit’s full-length debut fits in with a long line of “dance rock” or “synth rock” bands that I enjoy listening to when a) I want to have a good time, b) I am getting ready to have a good time, or c) I am already in the process of having a good time. Think Hot Chip, Cut Copy, Bloc Party, Phoenix, Hall & Oates et al. It really is quite surprising that a band mixing uber-falsetto lead vocals, a children’s choir, and chipmunk synths, actually sounds this goddamn good. Thanks to the slick production, ridiculously infectious hooks and refrains, and the band’s youthful energy and emotion, “Manners” is a through and through winner of an album, and one I dig a little more with every listen.

Fave track: “Let Your Love Grow Tall”. Lovely.
 
 

15. Rameses III – I Could Not Love You More (Type Records)

“I Could Not Love You More” is a soothing and pastoral album full of lush drones and ambient soundscapes. Combining acoustic guitar, lap steel, loops, voice, synths and field recordings of idyllic summer days, the London-based trio have released a relaxing and intimate album reminiscent of Mountains, Helios, The Green Kingdom, and Klimek.

Like all good ambient and modern classical, there’s a sense of weightlessness to Rameses III’s music, yet there’s still an inherent feeling that a band is playing this music – it’s not overly produced, it’s soft and very organic. Tracks like “The Kindness in Letting Go” and “Cloud Kings” play up the trio’s love for sprawling drone, while tracks “Across The Lake Is Where My Heart Shines” and “No Water, No Moon” are more song-like in composition, where the instruments maintain their sonic shape, rather than morphing into a whirr of sound. Overall, Rameses III has released another fine album and one of my favourite ambient, home listening albums of 2009. C’est tellement beau, le!
 
 

14. DJ Sprinkles – Midtown 120 Blues (Mule Musiq)

I have consistently returned to “Midtown 120 Blues” throughout the year and find it one of the smoothest house albums in recent memory. This is house music that conjures up the classic sounds of Chicago and Detroit and is very rewarding after repeated listens. There’s soul here, techno, nostalgia, and rich ambience. The monologues and voice snippets are interesting and introspective and deal with the politics of music and identity. Tracks “Ball’r (Madonna Free Zone)” and “House Music is Controllable Desire You Can Own” are highlights that play just as well in a party setting as they do in a horizontal one. Sexy, sad, deep, smart, and emotional music. Smoooove.
 
 

13. Moritz Von Oswald Trio – Vertical Ascent (Honest Jon’s)

One could argue this is electronic music’s answer to rock super group Them Crooked Vultures, because the trio is made up of a) Moritz von Oswald of Basic Channel, Maurizio, and Rhythm & Sound legend, b) Sasu Ripatti, better known as Luomo and Vladislav Delay and Uusitalo and c) lesser known but still prolific, Max Lodenbauer of Sun Electric and NSI fame.

Jesus Christ!

Early releases from Ripatti under his various monikers define some of my finest moments listening to music ever (especially on drugs for Delay and on a dance floor for Luomo), and don’t even get me started on Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound – the definitive forerunners of stripped down minimal techno and dub techno respectively, and also up there as some of my finest listening experiences ever! So suffice to say, I was stoked and intrigued when I found out the trio, being hyped as a live improv jazz meets dub ensemble, were releasing an album.

Each of the four tracks are simply called Pattern and all range around the ten-minute mark, and they do have a jazzy feel to them. The type of stuff a later Miles would have made if he was, ya know, an android. Pattern’s 1 and 3 both keep the pulsating, rolling percussion throughout, while Pattern 4 is the most dub-like in execution, working at a slower more languid clip and builds hazily, ending with a strange burst of synth. Pattern 2 is the most atmospheric of them all, and sounds like robots slowly building other robots in a factory that has absolutely amazing acoustics.

The fact that “Vertical Ascent” is a live album is also something of note. Especially in a genre of music where many “live” shows consist of nothing more than staring at Powerbooks. These three musicians have been innovating for close to twenty years and show no sign of stopping. Brilliant!
 
 

12. Mayer Hawthorne – A Strange Arrangement (Stones Throw)

No other album this year made me smile as much as Mayer Hawthorne’s instant classic “A Strange Arrangement”. This LP is so much fun and infused with the smoothest soul I’ve heard in years. Meshing the sounds of Smokey, Marvin, Curtis, and the Temps, Mayer Hawthorne’s debut plays like a warped 33 from your parents old LP collection, but also manages to sound like the next shit at the same time. Seeing him live was also a great experience, and I hope he continues to refine his throwback sound and innovate a bit more with his next release, but overall when the Mayer’s in town, you know it’s gonna be a good time.
 
 

11. Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship (Thrill Jockey)

Post-rock darlings Tortoise release their first album of new material in 5 years and it’s a complete return to form. Sounding like the proper follow-up to 2001’s “Standards”, “Beacons of Ancestorship” truly is a prog album. It is dirty and crisp, sounding like it was recorded underwater and in an air-tight studio at the same time. And as always, their sound is undefinable – dub, post-rock, lo-fi, electronica, dance, spaghetti western, jazz, classic rock, punk, it’s all here in a tight 45-minute set. What more can I really say? Tortoise’s musical influence really knows no bounds. They are one of the best bands in the biz and one of my all time faves. Catch them on their belated North American “Beacons” tour in early 2010. Love it.
 
 

10. Memory Tapes – Seek Magic (Rough Trade)

Dayve Hawk took the blogosphere by storm in early 2009 putting up free releases as Weird Tapes and Memory Cassette, and by summer he had wed the best aspects of his two projects to become Memory Tapes. Instead of building tracks with layers of sound, the songs on this album are filled with catchy hooks, choruses and refrains, in proper pop song fashion. Guitar licks reminiscent of New Order, and analogue synths suggestive of Aphex Twin are meshed together to smashing effect in “Green Knight” and “Bicycle”. The choruses of “Stop Talking” and “Graphics” are so infectious and hooky you’ll find yourself singing them for days. Album closer “Run Out” is a perfect come down track, it’s emotional and harmonious, and could easily be stretched out to ten minutes in length and I’d still want to play it over again. Props to Hawk for his musical output this year, and let’s hope 2010 sees him playing some live shows in our respective local areas.
 
 

9. Dog Day – Concentration (Outside Music)

It was great to discover an amazing east coast rock band this year, because it’s been many a moon since a group from the Maritimes has really piqued my interest. But in the tradition of bands like Eric’s Trip, Hardship Post, and Elevator to Hell, Dog Day have the lo-fi power pop indie rock thing down to a beautiful science. The vocal interplay is great, and the album is chock full of catchy melodies, smooth synth lines and angular guitars licks. Their live show at The Horseshoe in Toronto was also a great concert and proved the band excels not just in the studio but also on stage. Best band outta the Maritimes since Shotgun and Jaybird for shizz (and they don’t really even count because they orig from the Yukon). Gimme more!
 
 

8. Mountains – Choral (Thrill Jockey)

Brooklyn duo Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp have released my favourite ambient/modern classical album of the year. Mountains are up there with Marsen Jules and Loscil for me, because with “Choral” they have crafted a beautiful album that expertly blends the organic with the digital – seamlessly meshing acoustics with electronics to fantastic effect. I have been lulled to sleep by this album more than any other this year, but have also enjoyed it in the early mornings, and while reading and writing. Their live show at The Music Gallery in Toronto was one of my favourite live shows of the year. Using guitars, synths, accordion, melodica, voice, two Powerbooks, and lots of other toys, they created a whitewash of introspective and hypnotizing ambience.

In October, the duo released another album entitled “Etching” that was limited to 1000 copies, and I’ve unfortunately been unable to get a hold of it, but I’m sure it’s just as warm and abstract as the fantastic “Choral”. If you can find it, buy it.
 
 

7. The xx – The xx (Young Turks)

Oh youth! In all your angsty, moody, cigarette filled ennui! Let’s write an album so deceptively simple and void of emotion that it will end up being one of the most complex and emotional albums of the year!

Lucky for us, the bloodsuckers behind the “Twilight” travesties weren’t quite hip enough to know about The xx yet, otherwise “Crystalised” would probably be playing during some anti-climactic softcore vampire porn moment in “New Moon”. They already stole Death Cab, Bon Iver and St. Vincent from us, and forever tarnished their musical credence as fodder for vampire-related garbage, and no doubt The xx’s lethargic pseudo-goth sound would have fit right in.

But I digress. The debut album from this young band is a very good one. It’s been hyped to death, and deserves at least most of it. I unfortunately showed up late to their Toronto debut at The Phoenix with Friendly Fires on December 2nd and missed their brief half an hour set. I was upset to have missed them and received mixed reviews from various people at the concert. Perhaps the recent loss of keyboardist Baria Qureshi from the band had something to do with their hasty and as one person said “lackluster” performance. I can’t say for sure, but I think I would have liked their live show. I’ve returned to this album many times since its release and think it’s a melancholic grower worthy of repeat listens.

Fave tracks: “Stars” and “Night Time”
 
 

6. Nosaj Thing – Drift (Alpha Pup Records)

Jason Chung aka Nosaj Thing made quite a name for himself in 2009 with the release of his first full-length album “Drift”. While he’s being lumped in with the LA hip-hop scene, “Drift” is far from being simply a hip-hop album. There’s just as much dubstep and leftfield IDM as there is hip-hop. The beats are spastic and crisp, the bass deep, and the synths dark, murky, and atmospheric. This album has continued to surprise me all year with its depth and range. The last half of the album gets a bit more heady, pulling the listener in with its offbeat compositions. Sonically speaking this is one of the best sounding albums of the year with its many layers and intriguing use of samples. I caught his show in Toronto earlier this year and although the turnout was few, Nosaj’s set was great. I look forward to more new music from this young and talented producer.
 
 

5. Wax Stag – Wax Stag (People in the Sky Records)

Reminiscent of Solvent, Plaid, Marc Houle, and early Autechre and Aphex, Rob Lee’s debut as Wax Stag is a veritable analogue bubblebath for your ears. Synths, moogs, hand claps, and 8-bit bleeps and bloops help make this album a charming and sonic winner. And for those of us who’ve been listening to IDM and leftfield electronica since before the new millennium, it may churn up some serious nostalgia too.

Rob Lee also records music under the moniker Tack Till, a more subdued indietronic solo project, which is really awesome stuff as well. It reminds me of the very first Savath and Savalas album. Check it out and if you haven’t heard Wax Stag yet, please do so.
 
 

4. Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue (Warp Records)

Stephen Wilkinson aka Bibio released his first album for Warp Records and with it his musical aesthetic expanded twofold. Bibio’s earlier releases “Fi” and “Hand-Cranked” were excellent skewed folktronica, but as he continued to release new music, the sound was getting a bit samey and uninspiring. Definitely not the case with “Ambivalence Avenue” though – Bibio keeps his indie folk roots but tosses soul, hip-hop, and techno in the mix, to create one of the most pleasant surprises of the year, as well as, one of my fave releases. The production is amped, the song writing more structured and deliberate, and the juxtaposition of genres works like a charm.

The remix album “The Apple & The Tooth” also features four new tracks from Bibio, as well as some dynamite remixes by Wax Stag, The Gentleman Losers, Eskmo, and Leatherette, and I find it just as satisying a listen as “Ambivalence Avenue”. A great year for Wilkinson’s musical output, and I look forward to further evolutions of his sound.

3. Lusine – A Certain Distance (Ghostly International)

Jeff McIlwain returned as Lusine this year with “A Certain Distance”. The album is full of Detroit-tinged synths and beats, as well as the addition of vocals from Finnish singer Vilija Larjosto on “Two Dots” and “Twilight”, and Caitlin Sherman on the absorbing “Gravity”. Although, McIlwain doesn’t break any new ground with “A Certain Distance”, the album does an excellent job of straddling the divide between electronica and pop music. The production is smooth and has been tediously tinkered and tweaked with by McIlwain, and in the end it tops my list because it epitomizes that type of melodic techno I like to listen to no matter what mood I happen to be in.
 
 

2. POLVO – In Prism (Merge Records)

Chapel Hill, NC post rock legends POLVO returned this year after a twelve year absence and dropped the fantastic “In Prism”. Barely missing a beat in a dozen years, the band (with new drummer Brian Quast) have written my favourite “rock” album of the year. Now, this may partly be because Polvo are one of my all-time favourite bands, and the mere fact that they got back together and put out a new album is enough to warrant them a place on my list. BUT, the album is really fucking good, it’s dark, and moody and off-kilter. However, I do usually skip the first three tracks of the album and start at “City Birds” because the opening tracks sound like a “new” Polvo, all polished and mature, whereas the rest of the album transports me back to the mid-90’s, to halcyon days, to my youth, where things seemed happier. Or better. Or funner. Or I don’t fucking know. More carefree or something.

“Lucia” has some amazing guitar work, with Ash Bowie’s skewed chord progression and Dave Brylawski’s classic rock riffage mixed with Eastern sensibility. The following track “Dream Work/Residue” sounds as if mined from “Exploded Drawing” B-sides and does a good job of churning up the post-rock nostalgia I apparently have become an eternal sap for. Polvo were probably the most influential band for me during my own music making days, with their crooked tunings, fucked-up time signatures, and stoned energy. And so Polvo’s “In Prism” is topping my list for 2009, because like Wax Stag and Tortoise and Lusine, it reminds me of days gone by and the many memories that come with . . .
 
 

1. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (Warp Records)

. . . Grizzly Bear’s “Veckatimest”, on the other hand, reminds me of the future and the past in asynchronous chorus.

Sometimes when a band gets too much hype I will refuse to listen to them. Take Fleet Foxes for example: I just recently began listening to their self-titled debut and now a year after its release I love it. My cousin Chris did the same thing with Burial. While everyone around him was going ape-shit over “Untrue” in the fall of 2007, he staunchly dismissed it, not ready to embrace the dubstep sound that was beginning to inflect electronic music. But a year later, like me and Fleet Foxes, Chris and Burial were having a torrid aural affair…

The way I see it, if a good band puts out a good album, I will eventually get into it, and I don’t care if I’m riding the crest of the hype-wave or not.

Which brings me to Brooklyn based quartet Grizzly Bear. I have never listened to “Yellow House”. Or the “Friend” ep. Or seen them play live. Or really know anything about them. All I do know is that when I finally gave “Veckatimest” a chance, I quickly realized that Grizzly Bear was one of the best young bands composing music in our present day. A throwback to “White Album” era production, elaborate songwriting with many hooks and changes, and amazing vocal work reminiscent of The Beatles, Beach Boys, CSNY, The Guess Who, Bjork and more.

Now this is not to say that they sound like The Beatles, it’s just that the ambition displayed on this album reminds me of the fab-four’s further aspirations for the White Album. Plus, the production value of “Veckatimest” is comparable. The drum toms in “All We Ask” sound like they were stolen from Ringo’s set, and the deep bass slides at the end of “Fine For Now” sound like they must be coming from a Rickenbacher. Yet, Grizzly Bear have appropriated none of Paul’s schmaltz, they’re very much more rooted in John’s sonic textures, rather than Paul’s sentimentality. But enough comparisons to a band it’s stupid to make comparisons to in the first place…

There isn’t a throw away track on “Veckatimest” and it’s subtle infectiousness grew on me slowly but surely. Album opener “Southern Point” starts with a jazzy guitar riff with simple Rhodes chord accompaniment that gets your head bobbing and then builds to a beautiful chorus with strong vocals that remind me of The Guess Who. Second track “Two Weeks” is probably the most accessible track with its sing-along refrain and mid-tempo beat. Standout tracks for me are “Fine For Now”, “Ready, Able”, While You Wait For the Others” and the beautifully sparse closer “Foreground”.

What an assured, and matured collection of songs, yet, it’s clear the band is still experimenting with their sound(s) and overall aesthetic. No other album this year in any genre has given me a glimpse into the future of music for the next decade like “Veckatimest”, and Grizzly Bear do so by first taking one step backwards into the past and then a strong hop, skip, and jump forward into what’s to come. Fucking awesome. I made it to the end.
 
 

BEST NEW ARTIST OF 2009

Sam Shepherd aka Floating Points

Look at that baby face! The fact that he already sounds so goddamn good at the young age of 22 makes me very excited about his future in music. I am already assured of his deftness for sound. Shepherd’s got an ear for sonic composition like Spencer Tunick’s got an eye for the visual. A natural is what I’m calling him.

Everything he’s put out this year has been a warmer, a burner, and a mafuckin’ killer – and still just footnotes to the amazing music he’s going to produce in the next 5 years!

My wish for 2010: A Floating Points full-length please. I imagine it sounding so good it’ll be inaudible.
 
 
RIP MJ (1958-2009)

Merry Xmas.
Happy 2010.

Thanks for reading…
 

ml
 
 

2009/ The XX – XX

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00’s/ The Field – From Here We Go Sublime

You Like We Like have just published an interview with port-royal and a neat accompanying podcast.

For me, combining classic tracks and the relatively unknown is an essential first step towards a great mix that you can revisit again and again. Particularly when the unknown tracks turn out to be little gems which you feel compelled to share with everyone else.

After all, that’s the point of a mix isn’t it? So job well done on this one…I like, and i am pretty sure you will…

01. Solvent – A Panel of Experts
02. Herrmann & Kleine – Her Tune
03. Magnétophone – Frankholmes’ Drive
04. Nathan Fake – You Are Here
05. Fizzarum – Phut of Plex
06. port-royal – Deca-dance
07. Bowery Electric – Soul City
08. The Field – Everday
09. Daft Punk – Veridis Quo
10. Ulrich Schnauss – Suddenly the Trees Are Giving Way
11. Figurine - Way to Good
12. Xela – Afraid of Monsters

Download the podcast and read the interview with port-royal here

Here’s a few of the standout tracks from the mix…

Bowery Electric – Soul City. 1990’s Shoegazers Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener go DJ Shadow/Massive Attack style for this classic track.

Fizzarum – Phut of Flex. First time i have heard this. So many elements from so many artists. BOC, Aphex, Tyco, Milieu, Freescha…I’ll be hunting down more of from Fizzarum.

The Field – Everday. Without doubt, the best track from his album ‘From here we go Sublime’ and one I love to hear as loud as it will possibly go.

A heart-stopping moment for a high-jump competitor, preserved in the Gerald Webb papers at the National Sporting Library

SOMETIMES you come across stuff you just have to share. That’s happened a lot in the last couple of weeks here at the National Sporting Library. I’ll be poring over dusty tomes from hunting history, or scouring a huntsman’s ancient scrapbooks, or perusing the leather-bound Country Life and The Field magazines from the last century, and something unusual or eye-catching will pop up. Most involve hounds but don’t really apply to my research. Some, like the Country Life photograph of a giant mushroom (37 inches in diameter!) that was labeled “Five Pounds of Edible Fungus,” don’t fit in anywhere. But these curiosities are too wonderful to let go. So they fit in here.

J. Mell, the oldest foxhunter of the time in North Carolina, photographed with his most unusual hunting horn

Like Mr. Mell here. There’s no telling what year he had his photo taken, but here’s what the back of the photograph said: “J. Mell, one of General Lee’s men, age 84, oldest fox hunter in North Carolina, wearing the horn which he carved from the horn of a steer captured by him from the Federal forces at Petersburg, Nov. 5, 1864.” That looks like a mighty nice Walker hound you’ve got there, too, Mr. Mell.

The silver collar was given in Madison County, Kentucky, "to the Fastest Foxhound in the State" at a field trial on April 25, 1866. It is lined in red leather and is fastened "by a small padlock with a secret spring by means of which its circumference may be adjusted to the neck of any Foxhound," according to its history. The field trial was held three times consecutively, and a foxhound named Rock, owned by Bill Terrill, won the coveted silver collar twice.

Some of the weirdest items in the National Sporting Library’s collection aren’t photographs. They’re words, stories, accounts of events that happened on the hunt field. Or in a Los Angeles office building. This is from The Sportsman’s Review in the early 1900s:

The chase began in the gymnasium on the third floor of the Knickerbocker Building on Olive Street near Seventh. It ended with the capture in a steam bath cabinet of a small but exceedingly spry and bloodthirsty beast of the cat, coon, or marten family.

For nearly two weeks the occupants of the big skyscraper have been mystified by tracks over the floors, desks, and furniture. The tracks were believed to have been made by an astonishingly large rat or a cat with a curiously shaped foot.

No glimpse of the strange animal was caught, however, until yesterday noon, when George Bartini, the jiu jitsu instructor in the establishment, opened a small dressing room in the gymnasium. Bartini has the reputation of being afraid of nothing, but when he opened the door he let out a yell that could be heard outside the building and made a dash for the stairway.

With brooms, fencing foils, Indian clubs, and other weapons, men chased the creature into a bath cabinet.

The hunt field, such as it was, managed to tip the creature into a cage, where “it barked much like a small and exceedingly peevish terrier and snapped savagely at any article stuck through the meshes of its cage. The animal is about two and a half feet long, brownish gray in color and has a long black-and-white ringed tail. “

The verdict was that the quarry was a civet cat, but no one ever figured out how it breached the ramparts of the Knickerbocker Building.

If you think the civet cat sounded well dressed, how about Lord Ribblesdale (below)? The very essence of dash, yes?

The elegant Lord Ribblesdale shows how a gentleman dresses for hunting

The writing of the late 1800s and early 1900s was often clever and frequently florid. You could open The Field or Turf, Field, and Farm and find more words in a paragraph than most people put in a page nowadays. An example, from an 1873 story that led The Field’s “Hunting” column:

“There is a story told, of the bygone three-bottle day, to the effect that an old gentleman, whose rubicund visage gave suspicious indication that his precepts as regarded temperance did not exactly tally with his practice, felt called upon to lecture his son on the vice of over-indulgence in stimulants.”

Got that? Essentially, he was a teetotal-preaching drunk.

For sheer beauty, it’s tough to beat the rare book room’s volumes of Daniel’s Rural Sports, the first of which was published in 1801. These were donated as part of the extensive and valuable collection that John and Martha Daniels donated. The leather covers surround inlaid watercolors on vellum. Together, the volumes are valued at $5,000, and it’s easy to see why.

A volume of Daniel's Rural Sports, part of the widely varied Daniels collection

Inside the covers of Daniel's Rural Sports, a history in bookplates

This volume tells some amazing tales of canine and hunting feats and also includes this nice sentiment: “Where has Zeal, Fidelity, Boldness, and Obedience, been so happily united as in the Dog? More tractable than man, and more pliant than any other animal, the Dog is not only speedily instructed, but even conforms himself to the movements and habits of those who govern him. Savage must that nature be, which can ill treat a creature who has renounced his Liberty to associate with Man, to whose service his whole life is devoted, who, sensible of every kindness, is grateful for the smallest favour, whilst the harshest usage cannot make him unfaithful; he licks the hand that has just been lifted to strike him, and at last disarms resentment by submissive perseverance.”

Feeling wrinkly? Consider Ulpian, who has, I assure you, got you beat in the wrinkles department.

Ulpian the Wrinkly

Ulpian, photographed in 1914, was one of many wonders to be found in Country Life’s pages. This long-running magazine and its other British sibling, The Field, provided some of the most entertaining headlines and stories. I found a story this morning in an 1874 issue of The Field that discussed “The Octopus and Its Eggs.” Octopus? Eggs? Seriously? There was also a summary of a game–cricket, I think–between the Royal Engineers and The Wanderers; hard to imagine they were very compatible in temperament. The American periodical Turf, Field, and Farm also provided an impressive array of topics for its readers’ edification, ranging from “Strange Stories about Rooks” to “Gudgeon Fishing” to “A Wonderful Eel,” as well as a surprisingly riveting competition of “base ball” between the employees of the New York and Brooklyn post offices (presumably, their games were never called off on account of rain!).

Speaking of surprisingly riveting … It’s hard to tell who got more gussied up for this hound show, but they deserved to win–and they did!

While we’re talking about Country Life, how about this fellow? Word: you can’t beat the Country Life’s letters to the editor department for obscure topics.

I’ve also found a new artist to fall in love with. He’s not new (he lived from 1857 to 1927), but he’s new to me, and his name is Gustav Muss-Arnolt. The National Sporting Library has a group of nine hound paintings that Muss-Arnolt did in the 1890s, and they were my favorite things at the library. I will leave you with the largest of them, a portrait of a hound named Matchless who appears to personify the quality of sagacity that we always hear applied to hounds:

Matchless. Doesn't he look as if he sees right into your soul?

Needless to say, it will be hard for this houndblogger to leave the marvelous vault, shelves, and galleries of the National Sporting Library. Fortunately, I’ve stocked up on interesting stories that I can unwind over the next few months or years, so the National Sporting Library’s books, archives, photographs, and collections will continue to make regular appearances here.

Thank heavens we have such a priceless resource right here on our shores! I hope you will support them by joining, so that they can continue to help keep the history of field sports alive, thriving, and available to the public.

I’m genuinely excited: I just purchased a … lamp! OK, hold your applause… Yes, I do appreciate the small things in life – and buying a lamp might commonly fall in that category, but this lamp deserves its own category: let’s label it “larger than life” (I haven’t received it yet, but I like to aim high).  Coined the Mind Lamp, it’s described as an “Ambient Mind-Matter Interaction Lamp”. From mind-lamp.com:

The Mind Lamp is much more than a simple color-changing light― its colors are responding in real time to processes that are shown to be influenced by the human mind. At the heart of the Mind Lamp is a precision device known as a random event generator (REG), which was designed by engineers at the PEAR lab for use in scientific experiments.

Simply put: you supposedly can change the light of this lamp to a color you set your mind to. The whole idea behind it is what really gets me going: power of the mind, intention and consciousness. Many associate this subject with spirituality, self-help, wishful thinking and might dismiss it as mumbo-jumbo (and corner-cutting overly commercial Holy Grail-techniques, understandably, add to the bad rep). Though the “power of the mind”-concept resonates with me on a natural, intuitive level (which should not need further proof), there is also a scientific effort that I find really interesting (somehow “you resonate with nature”, while science gets a more stand-offish “interesting”)

A couple of years ago I read The Field (and re-read it recently), by Lynne McTaggart, which sheds a scientific light (no pun) on the whole “mumbo-jumbo”. McTaggart takes us on a journey across labs, scientists and experiments in the field of consciousness research over the last half century, in a layman accessible way. She takes us to the heart of the PEAR lab at Princeton University, where they research the impact of human intention on random processes (say computerized coin flipping, or random event generating), with remarkable results. PEAR has officially closed down, but its activities are continued in a broader organization, ICRL.

Now, the Mind Lamp is a direct commercial offspring of this research. As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so I can’t wait to start my own non-scientific experiments at the Juice Lab . One reason for this purchase is to strengthen and upgrade my “Belief” to “Knowing”, which in my humble opinion is the quantum leap that makes all the difference.

Since I’m still anxiously waiting for delivery, I have to entertain myself in the mean time… “This lamp is your lamp – this lamp is Mind Lamp…”    – TO BE CONTINUED –

One of the most encouraging books that I have read on marriage and relationships is by the best-selling author Gary Smalley, who has  sold millions of videos on how to strengthen our vital relationships.  John Gray, the well-known author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, comments: “If you want a lasting love relationship, I highly recommend Gary Smalley’s guide to forever love”.

One of the keys to his memorable books is that Gary teaches you how to fall in love with life all over again.  Everything he writes has to do with the age-old struggle between the life-giving principle of honour and the life-draining emotion of destructive anger.  The average person, says Smalley, has little or no idea how damaging that forgotten or ignored anger can be.  Worse yet, most people don’t even know how much destructive anger they have buried inside, much like unexploded landmines left in the middle eastern sands.  Once buried, our anger does its worst damage, wreaking havoc on our physical and emotional well-being.  Facing our anger is indispensable to Making Love Last Forever.

Anger, says Smalley, is a secondary emotion, not a primary feeling.  It arises out of fear, frustration, hurt, or some combination of these three.  Anger is actually a coping strategy to attempt to banish fear from our lives.  Sometimes our parents have non-verbally taught us that perfect anger casts out all fear, when the truth is that only perfect love casts out all fear.

Smalley comments that anger can be thought of as a sticky, bad-smelling dangerous substance that can be compressed and stuffed into something like a spray can.  Angry people tend to go around spraying their anger on other people.  The spray is felt by others as meanness, insensitivity, and general offensiveness.  Most angry people have no idea that their angry spray stings others like hydrochloric acid.  Unresolved anger is the No. 1 enemy of Making Love Last Forever.

Some of us as men pride ourselves that we are not as other husbands, who physically beat up their wives in drunken rages.  Yet even if our anger never turns violent or illegal, unresolved anger can still prove destructive.  All of us want to feel connected in our primary relationships.  But one of the most common results of deep anger is relational distance, an unwillingness and inability to let others get close.  It is as if we are living inside a relational box of thick plate glass.  Yet we keep wondering as men why our wives won’t become more intimate.

Unresolved anger, says Smalley, is not only destructive to our families.  It is also destructive to our personal health. Many of the backaches, neckaches, and headaches that send us complaining to our GPs are actually the outworking of buried anger.  Anger studies were done on medical doctors and lawyers over a 25 year period.  By the age of fifty, only 4 percent of the low-ranked easy-going lawyers and 2 percent of the doctors had died.  Lawyers who had ranked high on anger had a 20 percent mortality rate;  doctors 14 percent.  Studies are also showing that angry people are more susceptible to heart attacks – the leading cause of death in North America.  Hostile anger can boost heart rates, raise blood pressure and lead to increased clogging of the arteries.  What’s worse, says Smalley, is that the risk of heart attack seems to be greatly increased during the two hours following a bout with anger.

Why do we get angry anyways?  Smalley suggests that we get angry because either someone is taking something away from us that we don’t want to lose, or else we’re being denied something we want to gain.  By facing and grieving our losses, we break the power of anger to make our lives miserable.

Part of healthy grieving is the willingness to lay aside bitterness, the willingness to say like Jesus: “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”  Another key to grieving, says Smalley, is to search for “hidden pearls” in any offense committed against you.  The idea here is that some good can come out of any bad situation – if you’ll just look for it.  That’s why the Good Book says that all things work for the good for those who love the Lord.  Grieving our losses is an irreplaceable key in Making Love Last Forever.

I recently watched a most disturbing and enlightening movie entitled “The Field”.  It was about an Irish farmer who dedicated his life to providing for his family’s future.  But again and again his anger rose up to destroy everything and everyone that he loved.  Given my Irish heritage,  it was a strong warning to me that I had to face the anger in my life, or it would one day destroy me.

Unresolved anger can cripple us in so many ways.  Anger keeps us distant from the very people we want to care for.  In contrast, love builds bridges of trust and forgiveness.  Sometimes anger even keeps us distant from God himself.  Smalley has found that the greater the unresolved anger, the more difficulty that person has in developing a meaningful spiritual life.  Studies after studies are confirming that a healthy spiritual life in a marriage reduces divorce rates, increases marital satisfaction, and lowers the level of relational conflict.

My prayer for those reading this article is that each of us may discover the keys to Making Love Last Forever.

The Reverend Ed Hird

Rector, St. Simon’s Church, North Vancouver

Anglican Coalition in Canada

http://www3.telus.net/st_simons

-previously published in the Deep Cove Crier

-author of the award-winning book Battle for the Soul of Canada

http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

so tonight i went to see new moon…….. i know, how unlikely. i enjoyed it a bit more than twilight – partly because i was laughing the whole way through, partly due to the reaction of the crowd – and also it did look quite nice at times. i’ve been avoiding any talk of the soundtrack, just noticing but not following headlines on pitchfork about thom yorke and death cab contributing.

to be fair, thom’s track is quite amazing.

in other thom-related news, i picked up the collection of his remixes (or rmxs) the other day – i know i’m two years late on that, but i didn’t think it was available on cd! it’s a japanese import, i saw it in hmv, i couldn’t resist. it’s gold! i’d heard a few of the remixes already, but the field’s reworking of cymbal rush is simply mesmerising. quelle surprise.

here’s the burial remix of and it rained all night, quite appropriate a) because burial sounds best in november and b) on account of the flooding across the country this week. not that i want to make light of that horrible situation at all.

Thom Yorke – And It Rained All Night (Burial Remix)

Wiadomość wcześniej zamieściłem na Nowej Muzyce, ale przyda się do rozbudowy nowego wątku na moim blogu.

Na stronie Kompaktu pojawiła się zapowiedź płyty z remiksami utworów The Field. Epka ma się ukazać na początku grudnia, a znajdą się na niej remiksy stworzone przez takich muzyków, jak Walls, Rainbow Arabia i Gold Panda. Tego ostatniego możemy usłyszeć już dzisiaj, bo Kompakt za darmo udostępnił jego wersję utworu I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet, pochodzącego z ostatniej płyty Axela Willnera: Yesterday & Today. Kawałek I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet (Gold Panda Remix) znajduje się tutaj.

Premiera epki zaplanowana jest dokładnie na 7 grudnia. Dzieło zatytułowane Yesterday & Today Remixe będzie można nabyć w formie cyfrowej i na winylu.

そのことの意味大丈夫

the field – i have the moon, you have the internet (gold panda remix)

the xx – basic space (pariah remix)

the beatles – a day in the life (baba black boot)

-bv-

This Gold Panda remix is sounding pretty fresh so far. It also gives me an excuse to post “Quitters Raga”, since it hasn’t shown up on here yet. The track will definitely be on my “Best of ‘09″ list.

The Field – I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet (Gold Panda Remix)
Gold Panda – Quitters Raga

miracleGro