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Stilluppsteypa's powerbooking has found a new home on Ritornell, the experimental sub-label of Mille Plateaux. This Icelandic trio (now living in The Netherlands) shows that the digital glitch market is not cornered, nor mastered by, Oval, as multiple layers of clinical drones slash across terse rhythmic clicks and pops. While Oval's collages of skipping cds occasionally fuse into beautiful, "warm" sounding melodic structures, Stilluppsteypa has always maintained a precision in the structure and sound of their digital detritus that is always bleak and barren, always cool and controlled.
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Another crucial recording in the "Mort Aux Vaches" series of commisions for VPRO Dutch radio. Hyper minimal, austere and quite beautiful. Soothing and hypnotic currents of rumbling bass and prickly micro drones fight not to be heard just as you are straining to hear, when crackles of residual conversations and concrete sounds emerge as dub-like ghosts disembodied above the Icelanders' dronology.
Four-song ep from these Icelandic electronic experimentalists. Somehow this reminds me of the sounds one might imagine encountering in the ducts and pipes of a massive office building, vibrating with the sounds of computers and A/C...and then everyone's gone home, and it's very very quiet. With some trumpet playing by Andy Diagram of the Spaceheads (for a moment, it sounds like a Mille Plateaux Spaceheads remix), and barely-there vocals by Japanese chanteuse Hanayo (who last collaborated with Panacea). Very cool see-thru blue edged cd.
Who would have ever guessed that the first photo cover on the clinically sterile Ritornell label would have been this? A slickly produced cover photo of Stilluppsteypa donning faux-regal sparkling capes with huge stiff collars and one of the members (Sigmar?)
I would hazard a guess that the visual sensibility of Stilluppsteypa has been informed by the odd conceptual agendas of Leif Elggren who is responsible in part for the Kingdoms of Elgaland / Vargaland (amongst a number of other oddball projects). Both Elggren and Stilluppsteypa play with the notions of royalty, as an residual political emblem of inflated egotism as well as of self-deprecating absurdity.
With that entire diatribe on how good the cover is, it needs to be stated that artwork completely betrays the integrity of the music within. Stilluppsteypa has developed into one of the most adventurous staples of the electronica glitch community. "Stories Part Five" deviates slightly from what is expected from Stilluppsteypa with their multipled layers of electro-acoustic minutae exploding into clinical technotic escapades, rippling with deep unwavering basstones. Stilluppsteypa's forays into techno minimalism are not the smooth tendencies of microhouse, instead preferring to enhance the skeletal grooves with a psycho-acoustic tension.
Stilluppsteypa has reduced their ranks down to the duo of Siggtrygur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson as Heimir Bjorgulfsson has left to pursue his career as an electo-glitch superslueth in the Vacuum Boys. Yet the mission of these Icelandic transplants remains as convoluted as ever. Even the nature of this record is a bit of a puzzle; "The Immediate Past" may be a Stilluppsteypa retrospective drawing from their 10 years of recording, but also could be contemporary reworkings of older archival materials, or just their 10th year anniversary present to themselves. The only thing that can be said with any certainty is that the tracks on this album haven't appeared (in these forms) on any of the earlier Stilluppsteypa recordings. Upon asking Siggtrygur about the album, the response was a vague declaration of everything being "pretty new stuff" followed by an inexplicable AAAARRRRRHGGGG, YEAH! HA! and something about robots. If you allow yourself to be seduced by Stilluppstyepa, you'll see the logic there. It's something I really can't explain, but it's beautiful.
Regardless, "The Immediate Past Is Of No Interest To Us" is another brilliant Stilluppsteypa album of damaged electronics framed by semiotic slippages. Where the drone and the glitch had been previous focal points for the Icelanders, Stilluppsteypa centers upon the rhythm. With breakbeats constantly atomized into their granular parts, bounced backwards and forewards, and filtered through densely packed filters, this isn't music to dance to; but like fellow obtuse pop technicians Matmos, Stilluppsteypa isn't exactly music to think about. Stilluppstepa operate in a funhouse where they happily pull the trapdoor levers to let everybody (including themselves) tumble down to the nether regions below. Really fantastic!
We may shooting ourselves in the foot by listing this record, as we only have a handful of the records and are not too sure about the possibility of restocking it. But what the hell, it's another great Stilluppsteypa album... so we'll list it, but if you want one act fast!
While certainly not by design, the Icelandic duo of Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson have kept a relatively low profile as Stilluppsteypa during the past couple of years. Sigmarsson kept himself busy with his own solo projects of likeminded isolationist spectroscopy and grandiose electronic absurdities, but Stilluppsteypa have only managed two albums since 2002 including The Immediate Past Is Of No Interest To Us and this eponymous album from 2004 on the obscure Japanese label Atak. The simple fact that Thorsson has been living in Amsterdam and Sigmarsson has been continuing his studies in Hannover helps explain the slow working process of the two these days. Nevertheless, when they do manage to get together to fire off another raygun blast of high-voltage rhythms crossed with clinical dronescaping, it's always amazing.
On this album, Stilluppsteypa pick up where they left off with The Immediate Past and their 2001 masterpiece Stories Part Five. Mechanical whirlings and abrasively tense drones steadily build into giddy episodes for electo-bossanova beats and carnivalesque melodies. Where most of Stilluppsteypa's contemporaries would treat such source materials with fart jokes and a purile disregard for quality, Stilluppsteypa take a considerable amount of pride in scripting inventive electronica juxtapositions with remarkable technique and theatrical panache. In many ways, Sigmarsson and Thorsson are emerging as the equals of B.C. Gilbert and Graham Lewis in all of their extra-cirricular activities outside of Wire. Great stuff.
Six laptops, three Icelanders, and three Chicagoans embarked on a collaborative tour in October 2000 throughout the US (but alas, not making their way to San Francisco). While certainly familiar with each other's work, they hadn't any previously working
A small pressing of some 100 copies on Colin Potter's ICR label from this little known project Stimulus. Supposedly, this ensemble began life in a more abstract electronica vein; but here they've managed an excellent recapitulation of the classic Organum sound, with open-ended acoustic drones crafted out of growling textures and distended bellows massing into a dense, static cloud of acoustic energy. Further on, Stimulus blurs guitars and vibraphone into more of a distort-o-shoegazer drone much more in line with Fennesz or Machinefabriek, then shift to a heavy subharmonic bass drone coupled with elongated church organ tonalities. Well worth investigating!
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Their first album, f'n amazing drums/standup 'lectric bass/geetar instrumental action. Post rock, metal, jazz, hardcore -- these terms don't matter, it's Stinking Lizaveta from Philadelphia and they rule. One of the best live bands I've ever seen (sez Allan). They've done two AQ instores, two of the best. If you like Gone, King Crim, AC/DC, Mahavishnu, The Champs, Don Cab, etc. get with the program and get anything and everything by Stinking Liz.
High-adrenaline, deliriously complex, hard-hittingly heavy multidimensional power trio music that's part metal, part jazz, part punk, part prog. Gorgeous stuff played with supreme power and passion. Telepathic precision, improv awareness, and hella guitar heroics. They've been around forever and just get better and better. But they started off pretty good in the first place, as you'll hear here!!
That's right, one of our favorite bands, the ever-touring, ever-incredible Stinking Lizaveta (name taken from Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov), have themselves reissued their first album of f'n amazing drums/standup electric bass/electric guitar instrumental action. Post rock, metal, jazz, hardcore -- these terms don't matter, it's Stinking Lizaveta from Philadelphia and they rule. One of the best live bands we've EVER seen. They've done two AQ instore performances in the past, two of the best. And when they played in SF and Oakland last year, they destroyed. Don't fail to see them if you get the chance. If you like Gone, King Crimson, AC/DC, Mahavishnu, The Fucking Champs, Don Cab, Melvins, Gore, Breadwinner, Ruins, etc. get with the program and get anything and everything you can find by Stinking Liz. Especially including this, the new reish of their debut disc. It looks pretty much the same as the original release on Compulsiv, but it's got an unlisted, hidden bunch of previously unreleased tracks tacked on!! Five songs from the same Steve Albini overseen sessions as the album proper. They got left off the album's original release back in '96, but now the band can't figure out why (and we can't either, they're prime Stinking Liz awesomeness), so they've been added on for your extra listenin' pleasure.
Is there any other band that's SO GOOD live that I (Allan) would actually plan a trip somewhere thousands of miles away almost entirely on the basis of getting to see 'em play? 'Cause that's what I'm doing for Halloween -- flying to New Orleans, which would be fun anyways but is gonna be extra-awesome 'cause this Philly-based, all-instrumental power trio will be tearing down the house at Checkpoint Charlie's on the edge of the French Quarter, as they apparently do every Halloween. And as if to pile on the excitement, what shows up at Aquarius this week but a brand new Stinking Lizaveta opus? Yay! Their fourth album finds 'em doing what they do best, adhering to their math rock + jazz + exotic flourishes + sheer rock and roll exuberance formula, with perhaps a little bit more stoner rock added to the equation this time around. Imagine an instrumental Spirit Caravan melded with The Fucking Champs and Gone...something like that. Heavy, sinuous, emotive, grandiose, intimate, anguished, epic, melodic, HEAVY. It's not a perfect album, though -- the drum sound could be better (or at least the drums could be not so loud) sez Andee, and it suffers as all Stinking Lizaveta records do in comparison to their spectacular live performances. Basically, they are SUCH a good live band that it's just hard for them to ever make an album that's nearly as good as they are in person. I love their records, but they really don't compare to the band on stage. Their intense playing, telepathic interplay, and sheer energy are all there...but not as much as you get live. That they're such a formidable proposition live works against their recordings in another way: they probably just assume that if they just go in the studio and kick ass like they do on stage, they'll make the best album ever. Of course, it's not quite that easy. Still, Caught Between Worlds is worlds above almost everything else in the post/math/instro/stoner rock realm... Recommended -- get this and also don't miss 'em if you get the chance, they're on tour right now!
We've been waiting for this for a loooong time, the new, third (duh) album from one of our favorite bands, the amazing Philadelphian power trio Stinking Lizaveta. The first thing to say is that we like how the front cover shows band members seated
For those who need to know more, let's give you the basics: This is ROCK. Goddamn. An instrumental trio of godly Les Paul guitar, hard-hitting mathrock drums, and virtuoso upright electric bass. It's not exactly metal, it's not jazz, but it's heavy and tight and blows away most other rock outfits on the planet, live especially. And "III", with somewhat fuller production than past efforts, reminds us that Stinking Liz kick ass in the studio too. Imagine Black Flag/Gone mixed with King Crimson, or AC/DC playing Mahavishnu instrumentals, or The Champs falling in love with each other, moving to the country, and practicing yoga. Those are woefully inadequate comparisons, of course, but that's cause this band is its own incredible thing. With "III", they've added some synth and violin to the mix -- and even some half-buried vocals on the very first song -- but primarily what you're going to hear is the basic guitar/bass/drums trio, simply cookin'. With gas. Fuckin' huge propane tanks of it, exploding left and right. Whoops, but then let's not forget the moments of delicate, Eastern-tinged post-rock bliss to be found here as well. Lizaveta's multi-genre rock synthesis results in a unique and varied album, from the tension-buildup of a slowburning track like "Tenuous" to the Frippian ambience of "Diana" to the psychedelic soulshiver of "Naked And Alone" with its doomy Black Sabbath bassline and Yanni's lengthy Fushitsusha style blues-psych guitar blowout. The brothers Papadopoulos (Yanni, guitar and Alexi, bass) and drummer Cheshire Agusta do all this and more, with sincerity, passion and might.
Joe Lally (Fugazi) released this on his label Tolotta, best known as the home of stoner rock heroes Spirit Caravan. I'd really like to see both SC and SL go on tour together, that would be something...
For a band that's proudly "always on tour" (and have been for the better part of the past 15 years!), the band of Philadelphians known as Stinking Lizaveta don't make it out here to San Francisco nearly often enough, in our opinion! (And when they do, we always request they play an instore here at AQ, just so we get to see 'em twice.) So, not having had the pleasure of attending a Stinking Liz show for far too long, getting in this brand new album is, well, the next best thing. It also might be the best Stinking Liz recording yet. Steve Albini (no slouch) was behind the board for the first five of their albums, but this time 'round they've switched things up production-wise and recorded with heaviness guru du jour Sanford Parker (Pelican, Indian, Buried At Sea, Samothrace, Minsk, Bible Of The Devil, etc.). With more overdubs and a thicker sound, or something, this just immediately impressed sonically. While it's by now commonplace to remark that any studio album from this all-instrumental, more and more metallic "doom-jazz" trio can't quite capture the sweaty, gleeful intensity and exuberance of their live performances (how could they?), this one still certainly excels as an at-home, loud listening experience, revealing subtle nuance of light and shade while also pulverizing massively when they tilt towards the heavier side of that so-called doom-jazz thing. (Really, what are they? They've been rightly welcomed into the metal realm, specifically the stoner/doom scene, but the upright electric bass points to jazz, and they display signifiers of mathrock, postrock, prog, fusion, and crustyhippiepunk as well... let's just say Stinking Lizaveta ROCK and be done with it.)
And even though it's their sixth album, they have no problems conjuring the usual Stinking Liz magic in the songwriting dep't. The feel and finesse of SL's style of tightly wound jams is in full effect, these ten tracks packed with all the power and prettiness we expect: Menacing, calm-before-the-storm moodiness. Surging grooves. Eruptions of exotic, trebly guitar god soloing. Ripping riffage. Dynamic stops and starts. Sheer beauty and sudden complexities.... You get plenty of what we might (confusingly?) term 'Earthless-condensed-and-gone-classical' geetar wailin', wired through the choppy chunky chuggery of song structures that sound like Confessor on SST.
Fans of the band will be seriously chuffed, and if you haven't heard 'em before this would be a fine introduction as any (short of seeing 'em live of course - but heck WE got into them in the first place from hearing their debut cd, not at a show). Sacrifice And Bliss currently stands as the authoritative album from this band about whom we've waxed rhapsodic so much before, that all we can say is if you haven't gotten into 'em yet, please do so now. Of course, we don't expect EVERYONE to like 'em, though we do feel sorry for you if you don't...
Oh, Stinking Lizaveta, why do we love you so? We'd count the reasons but it's tough to write about a band that's like, one of the best bands EVER, we'd have to say, particularly if you ask Allan. We'll wax poetic about 'em, for sure, but it's gonna just sound like fanboy hyperbole. And having said that, can you expect an unbiased review here? Hell no, we're proudly biased regarding this virtuoso instrumental three-piece (rock god guitar, Energizer drums, upright electric bass) from Philadelphia. What we'd really like to do is just humbly suggest that you GO SEE THEM PLAY whenever you get the chance, which is more likely than you might think, since they're indefatigably touring pretty much all the time. If only like five percent of the people reading this right now are moved to sometime go see Stinking Lizaveta for the first time on our recommendation, we can feel like we've done y'all a service, since we're super duper sure that anyone who does will be amazed and become big fans too. Who can resist the exuberant, enthralling instrumental prowess displayed by this telepathic trio playing their unique blend of mathy metal, post rock, and heavier-than-thou hippiepunk jazz?? (They call their music "doom-jazz" by the way.)
This new album, their fifth (as always, engineered by Steve Albini) is an excellent demonstration/distillation of everything that's great about Stinking Liz (though we'll offer our usual caveat that they're EVEN BETTER live, you just can't entirely bottle/record that magic). These 16 new songs are some of their best yet, full of the ponderously head-nodding riffage, gorgeous arcs of lead guitar, and explosive rhythmic excitement we expect from 'em. There's moody tension throughout, with clusters of dense note-spirals building to ultimate release. Slow-burners like "Willie Nelson (Tired Of The War)" coexist with the sheer metallic chug of "Indomitable Will" and the darkly psychedelic storminess of "Cyclops", to offer a few examples, these elements prevalent all across this disc, no tracks lacking. And despite being an all-instrumental band (but for Yanni howling into his guitar pickups upon occasion, as on "Soul Retrieval") this isn't just a techy display of chops, it's passionate creativity drenched with sweat and emotion. Another all-instro trio y'know we love is The Fucking Champs, but Stinking Lizeveta are waaaay more soulful. They come a lot closer to the aesthetic of Earthless (another of this list's highlights), but instead of untethered interstellar exploration they compress and complexify that jamminess into tightly-wound compositions. Stirring stuff. And soooooo recommended.
Supremely awesome instrumental rock trio of guitar/drums/upright electric bass from Philadelphia. Last weekend they played a beautiful and energetic show to a lucky crowd at the TipTop bar a couple of blocks from here. And last year they did a great Aquarius instore performance. This is their brand new disc. If you like old Gone, or Fripp, or previous AQ-list Record of the Week honorees The Champs, you must bow down to Stinking Lizaveta. Meditative virtuoso impassioned metal/jazz explosive bliss!
aQ-beloved, all-instrumental metal/jazz/punk/prog power trio Stinking Lizaveta just won't quit. Thank God. Year in and year out, they make genius records, tour tirelessly (playing to perhaps not excessively large but always extremely enthusiastic audiences - naturally, since they're one of thee BEST live bands you're ever gonna see!), and just keep getting better and better. They have a well-deserved cult following (folks you know who you are, of course you don't need to read this review, just know there's a new SL album and come get it!!) that should be getting bigger with every record and tour. This album, their lucky seventh, is especially representative of the band's dedication and will. 'Cause earlier this year, Stinking Lizaveta's badass drummer Cheshire Augusta was struck by a hit and run driver while riding her bicycle in the band's hometown of Philadelphia. Fortunately, she survived the accident but had to endure surgery and painful therapy. But did that stop her from completing this album, and going out on tour a few months later? No sir!
If you're not yet familiar with the magic of Stinking Lizaveta, what this telepathic trio can do with abundant energy, incredible chops, and endless creativity, well please pick this up and listen (also, go see 'em perform if you get the chance 'cuz as all who've seen 'em will acknowledge, no matter how good they are on album, live is even better). Along with drummer Cheshire, the brothers Yanni and Alexi Papadopoulos (on guitar and upright electric bass, respectively) bow to no one in terms of majestic math-metal musicianship, crafting tracks that somehow meld together classic rock bombast, atmospheric post rock vibes, and jazzier, noirish moodiness. Plenty of heaviness, but also so much feeling and emotion and lighter moments of great beauty. And of course, no singing, none needed! While every member of this tight unit are virtuoso players, special mention must be made of Yanni's sheer sinuous psychedelic guitar heroics and his ripping riffs galore. He's a master, of "we're not worthy" caliber. There's something downright spiritual about his tremulous, ecstatic playing - and the music of Stinking Liz in general.
Ok, that's (almost) enough superlatives. Let's just say that Stinking Lizaveta's eighteen years and counting career of kicking ass in their utterly unique fashion are fully embodied here. Heck this has a bunch of our favorite Stinking Liz jams on it yet. As always, we know their fans will want this, but we really want to induct more new folks into the Stinking Liz fanbase. So let's say, did you dig the latest Six Organs Of Admittance? Well try this out too, it takes certain instrumental elements of that to whole 'nother level. Or, how 'bout a cross between Golden Void and The Fucking Champs? Sound good? Here it is, but better! Then mix in both Black Sabbath and Dave Brubeck (RIP). Yup, if you can imagine, it's in here.
And once again, this boasts a powerful production job from Sanford Parker (the switch they made on their previous opus Sacrifice And Bliss, from longtime engineer Steve Albini to Sanford P was, as it turned out, a pretty good one). Though we said the live SL experience can't be really captured in a recording, this comes damn close, especially if you play it LOUD! Includes 2 cd-only bonus tracks.
Guitarist Stinson and improvising pals (including object of much AQ-admiration Nels Cline, Stuart Liebig and Gregg Bendian) create a bunch of fine jazzrock skree. Nels Clines' liner notes, written in the the form of "the top ten things you should know about G.E. Stinson", includes the useful fact that he's NOT and never has been that guy from the Saturday Night Live Band.
The boys in Stirling Says have really beefed up their sound and cranked the amps and feedback since we last heard from them on their split 7" with Katie The Pest. And we think this added punch serves them so well! Balboa has such an awesomely raw and free wheeling guitar driven sound, reminding us of that awesome intersection of the late '80s SST scene (Dinosaur Jr, Leaving Trains, Screaming Trees, Das Damen) and the early beginnings of the Sub Pop roster (Eric's Trip, Seaweed, Sebadoh) and that sound is so totally refreshing right now! So much of the recent output of guitar driven rock seems to be so centered on its lo-fi/outsider aesthetic, we've been missing what it feels like to just have a great short two minute song hit you in the gut with a wall of guitars and soaring vocals. This is the kind of record perfect for roadtrips as the songs on Balboa really do flow with a never-ending summer charm.
Another rootsy lo-fi cd-r from the SF folk whippersnapper Ryan Stively. This one's a bit more even-keeled than his self-titled debut cdr which took a few wigged-out distorted detours. From Sugar Thunder's packaging to the dozen loosely woven acoustic tunes to Stively's slightly frayed around the edges vocals, this release is entirely shaded in muted earth tones. Note: As we mentioned, these recordings are quite low in the fidelity department with volume levels that jump about haphazardly. So, keep in mind that you might need to govern the volume knob a bit.
This homespun offering from SF singer/songwriter Ryan Stively has varied levels of lo-fi recording quality (the first track is much quieter than the second), but the quality of his songwriting shines through. Each song is mainly centered around voice and acoustic guitar which he embellished with an occasional higher backing vocals, violin, and percussion. For the most part, these nine songs linger in the hushed intimate folk realm. The one exception is the eighth song (which we've dubbed "It Takes A Worried Man To Sing A Worried Song" because no song titles are provided) dissolves into unexpected almost Ween-ish fucked-up and distorted mischief. Nonetheless, if you dug the recent Iron & The Albatross album, you might wanna check this out too!
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Another super-limited 45 by playful, clever sample-a-thon electro-Brits on their own label. Side one is for the "gents" with song titles "sphincter" and "fistycuffs" while side two is for the ladies, "ici big jim" and "sore throat". Buy now or cry later.
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At last, we've got the new album from these witty British sampling artists. Possibly their best yet, truly the finest in dadaist electronica! Less overt spot-the-sample action than before. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of electronica as well as spacerock.
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Stock, Hausen & Walkman's second volume of organ transplants is filled with lots and lots of organs. And we don't mean that in an eviscerated Hermann Nitsch kind of way... well sort of. The Manchester outfit has liberally spiked their lysergic electronica grooves with any form of organ deemed ripe for appropriation. Church pipe organs, Farfisas, hand-crank organs, Hammond organs, and tons more! Like records by fellow plunderphonists People Like Us, "Organ Transplants 2" is full of seemingly obvious musical quotations, tweaked just beyond the point of recognition. Beyond the brain-teasing / tongue-twisting frustration in trying to pinpoint the references (we're damn sure Aavikko pops up at the end of the record), this is wonderful collection of cool weirdness.
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This is the third version Stockhausen constructed of his legendary composition "Hymnen" in which elektronische musik/musique concrete recordings of 'found objects' (a variety of broken speech from conversations, crowd noise, demonstrations, and other public events) and shortwave radio noise are accompanied by a composition for a full orchestra (originally composed in 1973) playing a pastiche of national anthems. Performed in 1994 in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall by the Gurzenich Orchestra and conducted by Stockhausen himself.
While this may seem to be the more economic means of getting this legendary piece, we have to recommend the more expensive 4cd version. It really is soooo much better. But definitely the the Stockhausen bargain hunter's place to start.
Along with a photo of a dapper young Stockhausen looking just like John McEntyre of Totroise, this cd also features a massive 188 page book in German and English. Along with "Kontakte" are the compositions "Etude," "Studie I," "Studie II," and "Gesang Der Junglinge." "Etude" is a tape piece inspired by a meeting with Pierre Schaffer in 1952 in which the original recordings of piano strings being struck by an iron beater have been mangled through an incredible amount of splicing and re-recording. "Studie I" (1953) and "Studie II" (1954) are experiments in organizing micro-acoustic sounds and transforming sine waves & white noise into note-mixtures. "Gesang Der Junglinge" (1955 - 56) is a sophisticated electronic composition unifying vocal sounds and electronically produced sounds.
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While Karlheinz would certainly object to one of his scores lovingly described as a pipe fight (the AQ-coined term for a bunch of guys randoming tossing large pipes in a reverb laden warehouse - see also No Neck Blues Band and Organum), the aural similarities between "Microphony" and a pipe fight are indisputable. Instead of choosing the palette of the industrial wasteland, Stockhausen has scored a piece in which six classically trained percussionists tinker with spaghetti forks, tea china settings, suction cups, and cardboard tubes on a gong. But somehow this manages to be downright stunning.
After a decade of parallel work in the synthetic sound production of electronische musik and in traditional orchestras, Stockhausen strove for a union of the two possibilities. "Mixtur" (1964) was one of the first far-reaching compositions that achieved his goal, as this piece is for 5 orchestra groups, 4 sine-wave generators, and 4 ring modulators.
"Prozession:" for tam tam, electrochord, electroniyum, piano & filters, potentiometers, and sound projection. "Ceylon:" for electronium, Persian camel bells, triangles, synthesizer, modulated piano, tam tam, and kandy-drum. Two pieces featuring small ensembles and electronics, with the performers processing their parts live. "Ceylon" in particular is quite successful.
"Since the time of 'Mixture' and 'Microphony II' the sound of ring modulation belongs to my musical language." If you needed more proof of Stockhausen's megalomania, that statement should tide you over until you next encounter his monologues. "Spiral" (1968) consists of a "sequence of events in which the imitation, transformation, and transcendence of short wave radio is experienced as an organic network of relationships" with vocalist Michael Vetter whose operatic training seems unneccessary as his 'singing' is closer to Jaap Blonk's dadaist sound poetry. Bursts of tuning shortwave radio with voice.
"Musik Im Bauch" was composed in 1975 for music box and percussion. Originally, "Tierkries" was composed for a solo instrument to be accompanied by a chordal instrument. On this recording, Stockhausen has arranged "Tierkries" for 12 music boxes - each with its own melody representing a character of the Zodiac. The results are quite beautiful.
AQ's Byram Abbott has resigned himself to the fate that he must own one of Stockhausen's limited edition music boxes which were prominently featured in the "Tierkreis" performance. This "70th Birthday Edition" is limited to 40 music boxes for each of the star signs. The melodies are encased in a light-colored natural wood box measuring 17.7 x 12.1 cm. The notes of the melody are silkscreened onto the lid of each of the musicbox. Support the Stockhausen drug habit, buy a music box!
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Singer and guitar palyer whose enormous repertoire of early folk, blues, old time country and popular music, along with his influence on local musicians has made many point to him as the true father of Memphis blues.
Why Kelley Stoltz isn't world famous yet is a total mystery, as this guy is clearly one of SF's most talented, creative musicians -- and here on his second solo effort he really shines. It's kind of amazing what home recordings can sound like in the hands of great musicmakers, but instead of the stark loneliness you might expect (a la Iron & Wine, maybe), this recording is full of layers and layers of grit and melody and mood and attitude. There's the pop vivacity of Ted Leo, the eccentricity of Syd Barrett, the offbeat blues-based weirdness of Beefheart, the rough 'n earnest buzz of Neutral Milk Hotel, the occasional '60s garage psyche vibe, barely-there electronic squiggles (not at all overpowering the overall organic rock feel), and the propulsive chugging guitar of the Velvets... Believe me, this is just great, a remarkably mature and well executed effort. The instrumentals and weirder bits are paced well between the proper songs, making the album a good listen straight thru. Bravo, Kelley.
Hey Kelley, you've got your Beatles in my Beach Boys in his Bowie! On his first full length on Sub Pop (his last album was the excellent self-released Antique Glow), Stoltz gleefully mixes and matches the unmistakable compositional styles and sounds of the abovementioned, and in lesser hands this would prolly be a bit stickily problematic. However, Stoltz is such a fine songwriter and performer in his own right that, rather than groaning at an unabashed mining of the classics, you just might find yourself getting swept up in the delight of these refreshing pop gems. His vocals jump from high emotive Bowie-ness to slightly gruff Ringo-esque speak-sing to Brian Wilson-y croon. Entirely exuberant and engaging. Recommended!
Hurrah, Kelley's back! Granted we might sound like a broken record comparing his music once again to the three mighty B's -- The Beatles, Bowie and The Beach Boys -- but the influences continue to ring loud and clear. However, Mr. Stoltz is such a terrific singer/songwriter that his songs somehow always sounds fresh, and he sounds as fresh as ever on his latest full length Circular Sounds! This time though his vocal delivery also recalls the older, knowing tones of Ray Davies and Robyn Hitchcock. You'll wanna go round and round with these fourteen songs filled with wistful musings on age-old sentiments about talking to girls, losing one's mind, etc. Sweet!
Perhaps taking a cue from SF's Doug Hilsinger & Caroleen Beatty who lovingly crafted a complete reinterpretation of their favorite Brian Eno album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), fellow Bay Area artist Kelley Stoltz has tackled Echo & The Bunnymen's Crocodiles album in its entirety. Stoltz did all the performin' and recordin' on his faithful ol' 8-track with impressive, full fledged results. Surprisingly gritty and raucous! So, while we eagerly await his new album out soon on Sub Pop, we can delight in his right-on rendition of one of Echo & The Bunnymen's bestest albums!
What's this? A little bit more from Kelley Stoltz! Wow, we've barely been able to catch our breath after he double-whammy'd us with Below The Branches and Crockodials (aka his terrific new full length and his complete recreation of Echo & The Bunnymen's album Crocodiles respectively). In case you're still craving more from Mr. Stoltz, the kind gent himself has just brought in some copies of his latest 7" vinyl offering for your hungry lil' ears. Instead of the Beach Boys-Bowie-Beatles-y pop sounds of his album or the '80s somber angst of the cover album, he's opted for a more swaggering, grungey Motor City-ness. "Discount City" and its baseball-themed flip side "'84 Tigers" are edgy, trippy blues rock numbers, very well suited for release on this Detroit, MI indie label. Cool!
Limited to 500.
Kelley Stoltz is no stranger to John Dwyer's stalwart Castle Face label, where he has worked on various projects of other artists as a studio engineer and session musician behind the scenes, but In Triangle Time is Stoltz's first solo release on Castle Face and it's a beautiful match. We've always been big fans, but there is something so freeing about this album, more so than on Stoltz's last couple of records. Always well-versed in great production, perhaps it's 'cause of working with friends, and with less pressure, that his songwriting and studio chops on In Triangle Time just cut right to the chase. There is so much energy and drive here, with a keen focus on a glammy infectious psychedelia, that like a magician he pulls out of his bag of tricks one song after the other to our utter glorious amazement.
Always nice to see the sun come through, and it's nice to hear Kelley Stoltz's shining tunes too! This is terrific! Mr. Stoltz is certainly one of San Francisco's cherished musical treasures, and Sub Pop's kindly taken it upon themselves to help spread the word beyond the California border. This is a 5-song ep in preparation for his third full length (his first on the Seattle label). Such a skillful songcraftsman, he encorporates the very strong influences of the Beatles (check out "You're Out Of This World") and David Bowie ("Away With The Swans and "Let's Go Out Tonight") into his music without making them distractions. This ep already makes for an excellent follow-up to his fine Antique Glow album, can't wait for the full length!!
The music of Kelley Stoltz has always given hearty nods to The Beatles, and on his latest album their influence is still felt in spades. Unlike many other artists who are content to copycat their heroes though, Stoltz consistently crafts fresh songs that are respectfully infused with the spirited energy of his forefathers. Don't miss the lilting sweetheart "Pinecone" or the comparatively feisty "Little Girl". Terrific! You can also hear a bit of The Cars, The Kinks, Nick Lowe, XTC and Electric Light Orchestra who themselves were hugely inspired by the Fab Four. Perhaps slightly a bit more angular this time, To Dreamers is nevertheless a warm, inviting pop album that would make a great spin alongside your Spoon or New Pornographers albums!
Sweet (and Super Limited!!) four song 7" from local popstar Kelley Stoltz on Artschool Dropout who have also brought us The Josephine Foster and Michael Yonkers 7"s (reviewed elsewhere on this list). Covering Emitt Rhode's classic "With My Face On The Floor", plus three originals. Stoltz brings a vintage pop quality to these songs, which if we didn't know any better, could easily be mistaken for long lost Kinks tracks from the Something Else sessions. Includes artwork by Simon Evans.
