Jam of the Day: DJ Shadow ft. Nils Frahm - "Bergschrund"

Stuttering and haunting track from DJ Shadow and Berlin-based composer Nils Frahm. From DJ Shadow's upcoming record The Mountain Will Fall.

Mux Mool: Planet High School - Album Review

Mux Mool
Planet High School
Rating: Grrrr

Brian Lindgren, better known by his producer moniker, Mux Mool, is a throw anything against the wall and see what sticks type of guy, whose debut Skulltaste was almost too eclectic for its own good. It held my interest, only because it dared you to not like it. But the constant genre hopping could get rather exhausting. His latest LP, Planet High School, doesn't really change that game plan much, but there seems to be a method to the madness this time around, each track working with each other instead of against the grain. The album, while definitely flashy in parts, gives the listener time to get into the flow, each track growing better and better in the mix. By the end of the album, you are totally on board with what he is doing. Does Lindgren limit himself to a few genres this time, making his definitive statement for each? Not really; there is still the restlessness apparent. In describing his sound to a friend of mine, I noted that it sounds like four record collectors running into each other, their albums all getting mixed up, with a little hip-hop, bass music, beat music, old school house, and early 80s robo-funk-R&B thrown in for equal measure. But instead of being an unholy mess, it mixes well together like a Reeses' cup.

The beginning of the record starts out more subdued. Drawing from DJ Shadow's crate digging experimentalism and Boards of Canada's elegant pastoral IDM, "Brothers" is a stunning down-tempo track full of hip-hop beats, and atmospheric keyboards.



"Live at 7-11" continues the low-key vibe, featuring a funky organ and lush synth underbase, before a late beat music breakdown that wouldn't be out of place on any current Brainfeeder release.



Just as things seem to be staying a little too sleepy with the languid beats of "Palace Chalice" and "Ruin Everything," Lindgren starts notching things up, adding faster tempos and more intricate layers into the mix. "The Butterfly Technique" adds crisp drums, piano rolls, and clipped vocal samples into a heavenly mesh with 80's R&B synths and bells. The late song drum freakout is stunning.



"Raw Gore" feels like the lovechild of Cameo/The Gap Band and Flying Lotus. The shuffling drum programming driving the 80s robo-synths into a fury.



"Cash For Gold" is the best Daft Punk song that Justice has been trying to make for years.



Which all leads to the amazing track "Get Yer Alphabets (Guns)" which throws together deep electro, beat music, and dubstep into the blender and comes out with pure ear candy. The inventiveness of this track alone makes the album worth getting.



People may be put off by all the genre hopping on Planet High School, however, this, for me, is what makes the record so special. If you tire of one track, there is not going to be another track like it and you can move on to something different. Some have said they wish Lindgren would focus on one type of sound, but I think that does a disservice to how people listen to music these days. I don't listen to one type of music. I fluidly jump back and forth between electronic acts, guitar driven indie, R&B, pop, and hip-hop, so much so, there is bleed-through with all of them. I say, keep doing what you are doing, it sure the hell is working for me.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Coachella 2012 Countdown: 65 Days! DJ Shadow - "Six Days"

DJ Shadow always puts on a great audio/visual show when he performs. I was able to see him and his "sphere" at the Identity Festival, which was really amazing. I love this track off his second album, and the video directed by Wong Kar-wai is visually stunning.

DJ Shadow: The Less You Know, The Better

DJ Shadow
The Less You Know, The Better
Rating: Meh

When you leap out of the gate with an album that is as seminal as Entroducing..., it is going to be almost impossible to ever follow it up with something better or even as good. Expectations are going to be too high, and you are almost destined to fail. DJ Shadow almost came close with the follow up, The Private Press, which retained the feel of the debut without sounding like a facsimile. His third release, the polarising The Outsider, was just a throw everything to the wall and see what sticks mess, that despite such inconsistency, actually had some of Shadow's best work. It just took a lot of time and effort to filter it out. Five years have now passed, and we haven't heard much from Shadow other than a consistent touring presence. I was fortunate enough to catch his set on the Identity Festival, and it proved he still has the DJ chops and can marry it well with some stunning visuals. But it was telling that the material that got the best response from the crowd was the older stuff. It's very hard to classify DJ Shadow's latest album, The Less You Know, The Better, other than it plays like an overview of Shadow's entire career. As such, it has several very high points and then varying degrees of success for the rest. The ramshackle flow of the record is initially charming, like a set of DJ Shadow songs set on shuffle, but then gets wearying over multiple listens, as there is no thematic touchstone to get your bearings.

Ultimately, this record becomes an interesting curiosity in DJ Shadow's discography, as it is the first one that treads water more than setting out in new directions, and also, it doesn't really point a clear direction as to what he will do in the future. With that said, there are quite a few really great tracks on the album. I loved the addition of Tom Vek on the driving rock track "Warning Call," though sadly it is more because of Vek's delivery and not necessarily Shadow's production.



Even better is the delightful soul/pop song with Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon (seriously does she even have a band anymore), "Scale It Back," which could easily be heard on Top 40 radio if it were marketed correctly.



The murky, drum heavy "Come On Riding (Through The Cosmos)" appears to sample Laurie Anderson and adds a very alt-rock vocal to the track which builds into a gorgeous bed of strings.



And first single, the stuttering 80s metal cutup "I Gotta Rokk," is mesmerizing in its aggro silliness.



Strangely, I found myself drawn more to his pop experiments on the album, and can only hope he might put out a pure pop record at some point. The gorgeous "Redeemed" is a particular highlight, featuring a breathy soul vocal over delicate guitars and sampled drums.



And there are, of course, several impeccably produced sample-based instrumentals that recall his work on Entroducing..., for example, the chilly, aquatic "Tedium," lonely, skeletal "Enemy Lines," and the pair "Back to Front (Circular Logic)" and "Circular Logic (Front to Back)."



But too often, the tracks sounds like sketches or rehashes of tracks from other albums. The same 1940's vocal sample is used in two tracks, "Sad and Lonely" and "(Not So) Sad and Lonely," but neither of the tracks really make much of a statement, other than recalling the much better "Six Days."



The chicken -scratch guitar funk of "Run For Your Life" and metal excursion "Border Crossing" also feel slightly dated, but nothing comes close to matching the full stop horror of "Give Me Back The Nights," with the world's most annoying beat-poetry screaming. It is truly the most wtf? moment in Shadow's career.

The Less You Know, The Better, is ultimately frustrating because it has no forward momentum and doesn't push any envelopes whatsoever. I kept waiting for an "A-ha!" moment that sadly never came. As he moves into this stage of his career, it appears DJ Shadow is struggling to figure out his next steps. The album is impeccably produced, as always, and there are some really killer tracks, but a merely good record from Shadow is always a bit of a disappointment.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Videos of the Week

Thankfully another Friday is upon us, and here are the videos this week that gave me the sweet sweet lovin:



First single from the new album from DJ Shadow. Love the squeltchy beats. This video is completely bizarre.



New song and video from St. Vincent. She is such a wonderful songwriter, and each album finds her getting better and better.



I will admit that New Zealand outfit Cut Off Your Hands is not going to win any awards for originality, however, their mixture of 80s alternative rock guitar riffs a la The Smiths, R.E.M., and Echo and the Bunnymen actually seems quite refreshing these days. Sometimes you need something simple and beautiful.



New video from Charlotte Gainsbourg from her upcoming Beck-produced EP. Interesting sound, and I love the look of the video.



First single from the upcoming second album from Florence + The Machine. It is a typical Florence sounding track, which is a little disappointing to me, as I wanted her to expand her sound a little bit more. I will have to wait to hear the album before making a true opinion of this.

Non-Sequiturs

Finally got to see one of my music heroes live this week. Kurt and I went to the IDentity Festival here in Atlanta. The festival is a traveling electronic music festival with three stages. Most of the artists are DJs, however, there was a smattering of acts that performed somewhat live. The last artist we saw was DJ Shadow. Have loved his music ever since Endtroducing.... Was a real thrill to see him as every other time he has been in town, I have had a conflict.

He played inside this sphere that had all sorts of cool videos and images projected on it and a big screen behind. The visuals matched up perfectly with his music and was a great audio-visual experience. He's such a nice guy, and also very cute.

Another highlight was finally seeing Hercules and Love Affair. Andy Butler and crew performed a DJ set with their three vocalists who, despite the heat and dismal crowd support, put on an energetic set. Andy is absolute adorable.

Rusko also put on an amazingly high energy set. He was dancing like a Tazmanian devil the whole time, and the crowd (whose drugs must have kicked in) was really into it as well.

Overall the festival was fun, however, the crowd was full of typically obnoxious 20 somethings that were rude and high as kites, the concessions were ridiculously overpriced, and it was brutally hot and even worse on the second stage which was out on a blacktop parking lot. I was able to see a lot of people I haven't seen, including Nero, DJ Chuckie, and Crystal Method. For the price, it was a good deal.

Interesting shuffle segue on my iPod, Burial's "Southern Comfort" bleeding into Jamie Woon's "Night Air" which was produced by Burial. Just sounded like a natural transition. Sublime.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"You said only a back page
Will get as read as the first page
Now you're observing the corners
And showing the first signs of aging
I'm not trying to read you anymore
Just keep on turning me through the days
Until the latest chapter unfolds

You look aroused
You look awake
You are the light
Turned on"

Tom Vek
"Aroused"

"You got me so riled
How can I ever deny
You got me so high
So high I cannot feel the fire
And you keep telling me
Telling me that you'll be sweet
And you never want to leave my side
And long as I don't break these
Promises
And they still feel all so wasted on myself"

Nero
"Promises"

"Sleeping when the day breaks
Dreaming as the evening falls
He's got no more headaches
Leaving us with empty walls
The last of many efforts

I know it's not my place
But I don't even wonder why
What commitment
What grace
To just refuse to be alive"

The Radio Dept.
"Sleeping In"

"Got struck by the first volley
Of the war in the courts
Never held my serve
Send'em a wire, give'em my best
This ammunition never rests
No one serves coffee, no one wakes up

Stop breathin'
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
Dad, they broke me"

Pavement
"Stop Breathing"

"I've got too much energy to switch off my mind
But not enough to get myself organized
My heart is heavy
My head is confused
And my aching little soul
Has started burning blue

I can't give you up, 'till I've got more than enough
So infect me with your love
Nurse me into sickness
Nurse me back to health
Endow me with the gifts of the man made world

When desire becomes an illness instead of a joy
And guilt a necessity that's gotta be destroyed"

The The
"Infected"

Appealing Things

Nero DJ set
Seeing cute little DJ Shadow come out and introduce his set
Rusko's energy
Tom Vek
Cut Off Your Hands
Coupons
Skimpeez

Annoying Things

People who are so un-self aware they continually put their foot in their mouth
Girls who wear those really stupid furry boots to concerts
$11 beers
People who don't say excuse me
People who reheat fish at the office