Haus Arafna - New York Rhapsody

Delightfully polished industrial/darkwave: New York Rhapsody is sometimes reminiscent of Raime, but a bit smoother--full of crisp popping, dripping synth tones, and murmured vocals. The record was originally made to serve as a soundtrack for a fashion show, so it's bit more rhythmic than Haus Arafna's other releases.

A contemporary minimal synth release that is neither comically macabre or overtly "dancey."

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Tuxedomoon - Desire

Post-punk does psychedelic. Desire is one of the strangest records I've ever heard: as it seems to embrace both minimal synth and prog-rock templates equally.  With a wide range of stylistic experimentation, this record somehow remains coherent and compelling for all ten tracks.

Tuxedomoon takes cues from White Light/Heat (in particular, "Sister Ray" and "Lady Godiva's Operation"), Taj Mahal Travellers, The Comsat Angels, and Swans. There are a few weak points in the album, namely the last few, dwindling minutes of "East" (of which the first half is excellent), and a touch of overexposure to Winston Tong's dirge-like vocals. However, the absolutely killer basslines and totally refreshing use of a saxophone is more than enough to make this record memorable, and utterly sophisticated.

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Songs Of The Humpback Whale - Dr. Roger Payne, 1970

A lot of good blogs have made mention of this record, but most of the links for it are dead. It's a total gem.

"The rare recordings are from a 'Bel Canto' era of whale singing. Even though Humpbacks change their songs every year, none from recent years has been so beautiful as these they sang in the 1960's."
... can you argue with that?

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Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations - The Conet Project

This isn't much in the way of music, more a way to spend a few hours (or a whole day) sifting through through the wealth of shortwave numbers recordings and the mythology surrounding them. I think the most incredible thing about these recordings is the fact that numbers stations are still owned and operated by different government agencies, notably Cherry Ripe (active until December 2009) and the Lincolnshire Poacher (active until July 2008). Shortwave transmissions continue to be a widely used form of covert communication given that one-pad systems are notoriously difficult to decipher and therefore there is no danger in broadcasting them publicly (assuming the key is completely randomized).

I uploaded Disc 1 and Disc 2, and maybe I will upload more, but metadata was a nightmare and there's more than enough material here for hours upon hours of conspiracy-theorizing.

While preparing to post this, I came across a Pitchfork article from 2012 announcing the anticipated reissue of these recordings. Evidently I'm not alone in my obsession with Cold War ephemera/espionage theories. Also, here's a good NPR segment on the topic, along with the Irdial website containing more information that you could ever want to absorb.

Disc One 

Disc Two

"But worse things were about to be found in the bedroom: on the jeweller’s wife’s ottoman, in a casual pose, sprawled a third party- namely, a black cat of uncanny size, with a glass of vodka in one paw and a fork, on which he had managed to spear a pickled mushroom, in the other." 

1. Intro: Pärson Sound 
2. Nr 1: Ziyo 
3. Lift Off: Nagamatzu 
4. Girl In A Fishtank: Kreng 
5. Ranta: Vladislav Delay
6. Solo d'un marin: Christian Zanési
7. Voice No Bodies: T++ 
8. The Last Foundry: Raime 
9. For Lack Of A Better Word: My Dad Is Dead 
10. Shadow From Tartarus: Actress
11. Led By Leather: Liable 
12. Musical Sculpture: Marcel Duchamp

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In Aeternam Vale - "Dust Under Brightness"

I've been spending a lot of time lately exploring the Minimal Wave catalog. I've listened to this LP nearly ten times and I still don't feel like I have a handle on what it is. Dust Under Brightness is a bit of a hybrid: standard-fare French coldwave with clear tribal and industrial influences--particularly early German new wave. (Some of the songs also sound eerily similar to The Knife, a welcome comparison in my opinion).

Dust Under Brightness

Ugandan Methods - Sixth Method 12"

How the hell did I miss this? One of the best electronic releases of the year, and yes I am someone who loves hyperbole but wow. This 20 minute 12" starts out with two clean, minimal dance tracks and then works itself into a third track of industrial feedback and muffled vocals. Up there with Muslimgauze and Vatican Shadow.

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Twist Barbie

This will probably be taken down within a matter of minutes, but if you can snag it, your finals week will suck infinitely less. Guaranteed.

Tortoise Brand Pot Cleaner's Theme (Sea Turtle)

Also, this:

Shonen ('boy') have very cute feelings and 'knife' have very keen or very strange feeling.

Best of 2012

It was a good year for industrial, and a laughable year for "DIY" (here's lookin' at you, Merchandise), and the countless number of Drive Like Jehu imitators that magically spawned as if on cue. Overall, things were pretty solid on the electronic front, with Andy Stott's impeccably produced and emotionally androgynous "Luxury Problems" coming in at #1 for me.

1. Andy Stott - "Luxury Problems" (Modern Love)
2. Raime - "Quarter Turns Over A Living Line" (Blackest Ever Black)
3. Vatican Shadow - "Ornamented Walls" (Modern Love)
4. Speedy Ortiz - "Sports EP" (Exploding In Sound)
5. Roomrunner - "Super Vague 12"" (Fan Death)
6. Swans - "The Seer" (Young God)
7. Useless Children - "Post Ending // Pre Completion" (Iron Lung)
8. Shoxx - "Demo Cassette" (C6)
9. Silent Servant - "Negative Fascination" (Hospital Productions)
10. Jan Jelinek - "Music For Fragments / Music & Birds" (Faitiche)

Honorable Mentions:

Taco Leg - "Taco Leg" LP

Lamps - "Under The Water Under The Ground"

Tearist - "Purple Video" [Cass.]

Slices - "Still Cruising"

Mutant Video - "Head Scan - Part Two"

Dum Dum Girls - "End Of Daze EP" (surprisingly good, and a Strawberry Switchblade cover!)

Potty Mouth's new 12" managed to step in to sate Shoppers fans, though overall I wasn't that impressed with the new material, but thank god for Dark Times---a band that never fails to impress. Their record Girl Hate saw them going in a less melodic and more hardcore direction. It's desperate and fast moving and fantastic.

Also, I am shamelessly gonna plug Sean's new project, No Paris. He's touring sometime in the spring with Screen Vinyl Image.

Various (Reissues/Live):

Unwound - "Live Leaves" (you can stream here)

The Cleaners From Venus - Blow Away Your Troubles / On Any Normal Monday / Midnight Cleaners

Medicine - "Shot Forth Self Living"

My Bloody Valentine - "EP's 1988-1991"

Bikini Kill - "Bikini Kill" EP

William Basinski - "The Disintegration Loops"

Radio Phnom Penh

This is by far the best Cambodian compilation I've ever listened to. Khmer music, in my opinion, has always sounded more complex than Thai pop and rock from the same era. Perhaps it has to do with the common knowledge of Cambodia's 20th century history, which is nearly impossible to mentally separate from its cultural exports. Cambodian (as well as Vietnamese) music tends to have a more wistful, unsettling quality. There is also a huge Hindu influence, which can be heard immediately. This particular compilation mixes together years of Cambodian music, with spoken words parts as well--in both Khmer and French.

And yes, of course, this is a Sublime Frequencies release. This compilation is definitely special because it both incorporates and moves past the Cambodian musical staples of Sinn Sisamouth, Pan Ron, Meas Samon, etc.

320 kbps