Woefully out of Print Friday

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is going to be one that was a bit of personal frustration for me. I was getting some music ready for a new downtempo night here in Pittsburgh, and I noticed that this cd was missing. So I hopped over to Emusic. NOPE. iTunes... Same thing. I even tried to find a Torrent of it desperate to get the couple of songs I was thinking about playing. Guess what? NO TORRENT. The only mention of it in the blogosphere was one of my earlier entries! UGH. So with out further adieu I give you Welcome 4000 by For a Space.



I first heard of this little project via a remix of the haujobb track overflow in 2000. I was taken aback by the simplicity of the remix. It didn't try too hard to be something it wasn't. Naturally being the person I was I spent a chunk of time trying to track the band down. They had one album that was self released and was out of print. However, there was something new from the band coming very soon. So I just had to be patient.

My patience paid off. Welcome 4000 was released in 2001 on Daniel Meyer's (of haujobb and NEWT fame) Basic Unit label. The very first few moments of the album is that of a passing subway train, which transformed my environment into an unnamed bustling metropolis in a not too distant future. (this particular track could have easily appeared on the Fifth Element soundtrack.) The subdued click beat is a nice accompaniment to the pads that dominate the track. The simple melody keeps the flow of the song moving along. A lush song that held my interest for all of it's 7 minutes. The rest of the album was the same sort of blissed out ambient that would probably appeal to fans of Microgravity era Biosphere.

For a Space re-released their first album Secrets Behind in 2003 to the delight of fan boys everywhere. The second proper full length Civilian on a Battlefield was released in 2005. While both of these are great records, the magic of Welcome 4000 will always hold a soft spot in my heart. (though that being said... Civilian is quite spectacular, and the addition of female vocals will really appeal to some dream pop fans)


download Overflow (For a Space Remix)
download Mindtrip from the Basic Unit Productions Subunit Four comp/

For a Space home page

Something a little different for Friday

This week there will be no woefully out of print Friday.

Today I would much rather talk about an unsung (to the casual listener) hero who pioneered electronic music production. HER name was Delia Derbyshire. The name may not be familiar, but her work certainly is to any Sci-Fi geek worth their salt.




Delia joined the BBC in 1960. During that time she composed quite a bit of incidental music for radio plays and television shows.

In 1963 she was asked by composer Ron Grainer to produce the theme song for a new show on the BBC called Dr. Who. Delia as a part of the Radiophonic Workshop labored for weeks on the theme song. Her production was such a major component of the success of the theme that Grainer reportedly tried to get her a co-composer credit. Due to BBC red tape (and a slight bias against women working in productions) This was not meant to be.

To listen to the song in modern times it sounds very straight forward. However in 1963 the luxuries of multi-track recorders, and synthesizers did not exist. Each note had to be recorded to tape, and spliced together to form loops which were then syncipated and the output was then recorded into a final mix. Sound complex? Here is a short video clip (which was posted earlier this week on the excellent Create Digital Music blog) that demonstrated the process by none other than Ms. Derbyshire herself



Delia continued working in music production throughout the 60's and 70's. By the mid 70's though she was disillusioned with the future of electronic music and dropped out of the industry all together. Her interest was re-peaked in the 90's but sadly she passed away in 2001 at the age of 64.

Much of the incidental music that she produced IS woefully out of print. Some things can be found on ebay, or through vintage record shops. (several of the Avant Garde recordings she did with various groups have been re-issued ove rth eyears, but can be hard to come by) For the most part though the music is floating out there floating in the ether waiting to be heard again.

DOWNLOAD Dr. Who Extened theme


Delia Derbyshire dot org -featuring interviews, music clips and a discography

Martin's Delia Derbyshire page An audiological chronology. A conscise biography of Delia with a ton of information.

Au Revoir Simone and The Bird of New Music

So you may remember a few months ago when I went seven different kinds of ga ga over a band called Au Revoir Simone. I was kicking myself because it had I listened to a friend of mine's imbedded music on her myspace profile sooner I would have heard this great band.

Fast forward a few months. I go back to said bands myspace profile and lo and behold I find a blog post from JANUARY which tells me that their new album will be out in digital form March 5th.

Seriously. I need to do a little something about this lack of mindfulness.



This new record is a step forward in song-writing, and has a different feel to it. I stick to my original assessment- that it sounds like the LIbson sisters with synthesizers. It's there. It's delicate in it's femininity, like those characters were. However, in this case the Libson girls grew up in a later decade on a steady diet of Wes Anderson films. (that being said I would be quite surprised if we don't see the band show up on a few more soundtracks soon) There is not as much melancholy, but rather a playfulness with their emotions. (that is not to say the last album was melancholy. It's just that this cd is even less so)

It's quite hard to listen to this band with out having a smile on your face. Some people have maintained that they are a little too squeaky clean in their production, and it detracts from the overall sound. I really disagree. In a world where I can spend an afternoon listening to an album that was reconstructed from scratched up and painted cds, I like being able to celebrate a group that takes their instruments and PLAYS them. Nothing more, nothing less.

This band comes and album HIGHLY recommended. It's pop in it's purest, and a great example of the craft of song writing with no gimmicks. Just great songs. The band is probably going to be in your town very soon. (Just not if you live in PIttsburgh) I urge you to check them out. The album is available right now from both itunes and emusic

Download A Violent Yet Flammable World

Au Revoir Simone on myspace

Au Revoir Simone dot com

Wait, don't worry I've not left you again

I know, my first week back and no woefully out of print Friday. Well... right now I'm working on a pretty big post about an electronic music pioneer, and would like to get some high quality rips to share. So if you can be patient I PROMISE that you'll hear some cool stuff soon.

Speaking of cool stuff... anybody hear anything that is really striking their fancy? I'm all about microhouse and glitch (again) but I would like to know what other cats are on about these days.

Maybe in the next few days I'll post some of the tracks that keep ending up in my on the go list.

Later taters.

PS. Look for a post about Alva Noto soon...

The Return of the Revenge of the Woefully out of Print Friday (Strikes Back)

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week I'd like to dig to the early days of techno with a little record called The North Pole by Submarine by Bleep.



1990 was a year of changes in electronic music. Most notably Bel Canto founding member Geir Jenssen wanted to branch off from the band and record something new and fresh. So Bleep was born. In a 2004 email interview with The Milk Factory Geir Describes it as happening ...by accident. In the summer of 1988 I started listening to acid house and techno. The second Bel Canto album, Birds Of Passage, recorded in the summer of 1989, had some elements of this music. While recording Birds Of Passage in Brussels I also worked on my own material in a small 8-track studio nearby. This was the first time I used a sampler. This material became the Bleep album The North Pole By Submarine.

North Pole by Submarine had a club hit A Byte Of AMC but Geir lost interest the project as he wanted to avoid unwanted associations with the UK Bleep techno scene. Thus Bleep was no more. Jenssen released the first Biosphere record Microgravity in 1991. This album however stands as an interesting monument to the early workings of the man who would redefine ambient in the late 90's.

One interesting tidbit that I dug up about the record. According to legend Geir Jenssen signed to R&S the same day as the Richard James. The two met in the label's offices where Aphex admitted to listening to The North Pole By Submarine almost every day!

download A Byte of AMC
download Cycle 92

Biosphere page

Well, hello new blogger!

So, just a couple of things before I get started up again. I had mostly given up on this blog because I really thought that it had fallen on deaf ears. It wasn't that I needed validation for doing it, but if anybody had said something about the blog I would have known that people were appreciating it and the time I was putting in was totally worth it to everybody.

LIttle did I know that a BUNCH of people were reading it, AND commenting. Blogger failed to let me know that it was going on.

So I wanted to thank EVERYBODY that has taken the time to not only read, but interact with the blog. It really meant the world to me.

So, what better way to thank you than to post something supremely cool?

How about 3 members of Portishead performing a stripped down version of Only You a couple of days ago?



Apparently this gig happened out of nowhere. There was a dj gig going on, and according to this story over at PItchfork "Geoff and...Adrian Utley began to play 'Wandering Star'-- Geoff playing bass. A few bars in Geoff picked up the mike and asked 'Anyone here know how to sing?' At this point Beth walked on stage and started singing."

i've listened to this about 4 times since I found it. If the rumors are true this is going to be the year of PORTISHEAD. I cannot imagine a better way to spend 2007 than looking forward to new material by them.

Between this, the new NIN tracks that have leaked (which will get their own entry this week) AND a new Download record... it's time to dust off my blogging skillz, and get this party started again.

An now for something totally diferent: The Importance Of Having A Lot Of Influences

John Kricfalusi. Name sound familiar? maybe you remember him as John K. I had read this post The Importance Of Having A Lot Of Influences about a month and a half ago on his really excellent all kinds of stuff blog.

The post talks about influences in art and how important it is to look into not just the basics of the art you're into, but what influenced the artists to create what they did.

So lets say for say for sake of argument Nine Inch Nails is your favorite band. You love NIN so much it makes you want to make music. Your next step is to look into what made him make the music he does- so you would read about and listen to some Skinny Puppy, Prince, The Clash, Depeche Mode, and Ministry.

Maybe Skinny Puppy strikes your fancy and you adore the band. Now you go back further and listen to Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, and Severed Heads. So on and so forth.


I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a real understanding of the art that came before. Without knowing the past, there is no chance for a future.

Please read his entry, if you are an illustrator, musician, designer or effects make up artist. It will put things into a new light for you.

One more thing- Speaking of influences. Check out the work of Zan Lyons Sort of a moving amalgimation of Chris Cuningham and Boards of Canada cover art.

Really cool, and really inspiring.

No music today

I think that many of you would agree that today your time could be much better spent making your voices heard rather than reading about my fetish for obscure electronic music, shoegazer rock, or Asian cinema.

Please get out there and vote. The internet will still be here tomorrow.

Promise.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

So, remember me saying that I was going to get back to doing this blog on a regular basis?

I was totally on track until I was asked to play a show. All of a sudden *POOF* my time disappeared.

The show was for my local goth night. I decided to do a couple of cover songs.

Here are they are in all of all of their sp00ky glory

Halloween

Humanity (Part I) -main titles to The Thing

So, everybody have a safe and sane Halloween. I'll see ya Friday!

Bobby Bird email interview

Hello everybody.

You may remember my woefully out of print Friday about System Error from a few weeks ago.

Bobby Bird of System Error/Higher Intelligence Agency was kind enough to do an email interview with me.

I hope you enjoy! (I'll be in italics, BB will be bold)

Hello Bobby,

Thank you again for allowing me to conduct this interview by email. I realize it's not
the ideal medium for an interview so your graciousness is really appreciated. 

1. What were the early days of HIA like? 

early HIA evolved in a club night we used to do called Oscillate, we started of in this tiny club called Jasmin's in Birmingham in about 1991 & used to put our equipment in the DJ booth & play live tracks & jam between disc's, it was pretty heady days really, the club owner used to wonder why we didn't drink much beer!


2. What records had the biggest impact on your first recordings?

I suppose stuff that influenced me to make records was things like:
Nick Cave
jimi Hendrix ,
syd Barrett,
the Swans - Children of God,
white noise - an Electronic Storm

3. How did you hook up with Warp records? 

Sean Booth from autechre came to some early Oscillate night's & they played live at one of them & warp records came to that show, I think it was there 2nd live performance, HIA supported them on there 1st

4. What kind of impact did your appearance on the Artificial Intelligence comp have?

I think there was a lot happening at that time with HIA anyway, we were playing live & writing a lot & it was generally a busy time.

5. When did the work begin on the System Error record?

I think it was started in 1998 at my studio in Brighton rd , birmingham, it seemed to take us ages!! about 4 months if I remember correctly

6. What equipment were you using at the time?

for the sounds we used a Akai S700, Akai S1100 & Emu E64 samplers, effects were things like - Ensoniq DP4, Quadraverb ,Zoom 9030 guitar FX, plus Atari ST computor...

7. What was your process for recording System Error VS HIA?

where HIA was mostly analog, System Error was totally digital, we spent a lot of time making sounds from nothing, we'd sample nothing, turn it up, squash it , stretch it , try & make the samplers crash, anything we could think of to make new sounds, quite an interesting process thou as the machines somehow created the sound we had to work with, rather that creating the sounds you wanted as is the case with analog gear.

8. If you re-did the record today how would the sound differ?

I'm sure it's not possible to re-do the system error album, if we re-did it now, it would be a different album

9. Did you play any shows as System Error?

no

10. What can we expect to hear from you next?

I've been involved with a collective of people/artist's 'Modulate' for a few years now & we've been putting on events, creating installations & recently we've completed a DVD of abstract Audio/Visual works called - Modulate 5.1, it's just released on my label Headphone records, anyone who's interested could go to - modulate.org.uk - for more info.

also maybe some more HIA material in the not too distant future.

For more information on what Bobby is up to (and has done) head on over to:

Headphone Records
Modulate

And I really do encourage everybody who is reading this to purchase a copy of System Error's Nothing

Empty City [file under: ghost ambient]

There was a time several months ago that I first though of doing the radio2019 blog. I was walking away from a very successful (in the sense of information sharing, not financial) website about high tech special effects makeup materials. But my heart wasn't into it anymore. I had been talking about doing a blog like this for years (in it's original incarnation it was called 3lectric Sh33p) But the timing never seemed right, but fortune would smile on me and I would find my muse. In this case it was for a singular reason- an album a friend of mine was releasing on his own Strange Fortune label. The album was being described as "(A) new category to discover. The subtle underlying melodic structure of this music means it may be the most listenable "ambient" music you've ever heard, while it's all drenched in a singularly moody, haunted atmosphere that is Tor's real trademark. "

That was enough for me thus radio2019 was born. Just one problem.

In all of my excitement I forgot to buy the CD, and do a review of it! So with out further adieu I present to you what should have been the first radio2019 review Empty City by Tor Lundvall.



It's rare that an ambient album will really strike a chord with me. In 1997 I was blown completely sky high by Biosphere's outstanding album Substrata To me that album defined what modern ambient could (or should) sound like.

Almost 10 years later what Tor Lundvall has done is re-define ambient music by invoking not just an aural landscape, but what felt to be (to my ears) a fully immersed environment.

Even as a write this review in the middle of the day in a coffee shop in Pittsburgh I feel like I am in a desolate seaport city that lacks both people, and the trappings of commerce. Large empty buildings covered in layers of snow and ice surround me. Empty train yards tell stories of the people that used to be, but have ceased to exist.

The music with it's broken hip hop beats, and subtle melodies harkens to an alternate soundtrack to Twin Peaks (perhaps with Ridley Scott directing?) The slow grooves won't linger in your head for days, but will call to you to listen again and again. The delicate tranquility will reveal itself more and more like the layers of posters you see on city walls. If you carefully peel it back more and more of it's history will be revealed. This would probably appeal to not just fans of ambient, but to people in love with Souvlaki era Slowdive, and has certainly taken it's place as one of my favorite ambient records of all time.

download Scrap Yard

Order Empty City from Strange Fortune

Tor Lundvall's home on the web

Hello my lovelies.

It's been a while. Work and weddings and such got in the way of me posting. I'll not let that happen again.

To make it up to you I've got a ton of content for the next week. Album reviews, DVD reviews, an interview with Bobby Bird of HIA/System Error. (Not to mention the return of woefully out of print Friday)

All of this for you. My loyal fan-base. :)

For now how about a little bit of news?

First bit. The Horrors.



I don't hide the fact that I love the band for 2 reasons.

1. The music is really cool in a psychobilly sort of way- minus the billy. (and as you may guess I'm not a little bit country in the least bit)

2. Their first video was directed by Chris friggin Cunningham!

So, I was pleased as punch when I got this message via a myspace bulletin:

US HORRORS FAN – PRE-ORDER THE HORRORS US EP NOW

The Horrors are releasing a 5 track EP Stateside on October 23rd as an introduction to all you guys over there. The tracklisting is:

1. Death At The Chapel
2. Crawdaddy Simone
3. Sheena Is A Parasite
4. Jack The Ripper
5. Excellent Choice
Enhanced with the 'Sheena Is A Parasite' video

PRE-ORDER THE HORRORS EP by OCT 23 and receive a limited edition autographed poster!
Go here now to pre-order the EP.

Autographed poster AND the Sheena video. No brainer yo. BUY IT!

Now for something completely different.

I love Asian cinema. Tartan Entertainment has been releasing some of the best films out there under the Asia Extreme banner. (Including the Chanwook Park revenge trilogy, not to mention a bevy of other amazing flicks)

A little birdie told me that for the next 2 weeks a bunch of them (including Marebito, Cello, Face, Koma, Phone, Wishing Stairs, Whispering Corridors, Memento Mori, Acacia, Unborn But Forgotten, Doppelganger, The Booth, and Pray) will be on sale at Walmart for $9 monies each. I'm not the biggest Walmart fan, but if you'd like to build up your Asia Extreme this would be the best way a cheap way to do it.

That's all for now. I'll get something posted either late Sunday or early monday. Until then have a great weekend!

PS. Make this weekend a shoegazer weekend with some Slowdive. It's what all of the cool kids are doing. ;)

Woefully out of print Fridays

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is bLaCKlaNDs by bLaCKlaNDs



George Cicci was a hero of the Morgantown W. VA music scene having fronted the local punk band Dreagerman. However, it was his work as the ambient project bLaCKlaNDs that would catch my ears in the late 90s. The record shared much of the same sonic space as things being released on Skam, and to a large extent Warp.

His shows where something of legend with thick smoke encapsulating the stage and the music creeping through like the calls of the Sirens. (Though to listen to his music didn't force anybody into rocky places. Some were to have said to have drowned in the ambience created on stage however.)

There was a rumored 2nd album to be released as a follow up, but it was not meant to be. I thought George had all but faded into musical obscurity, however I am happy to report that his new project Evasdad is just as good as bLaCKlaNDs (though not nearly as dark, and much more sci-fi)

download Skies
download Celestine

Evasdad myspace page

Oldboy 3disc Special edition

It's no small secret that I love Asian Cinema. One of my favorite films of the last few years had to be Park Chanwook's masterpiece Oldboy The 2003 revenge film was based on the Manga by Minegishi Nobuaki and Tsuchiya Garon. In a nut shell (from IMDB) After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in 5 days.

The movie is one of the most amazing character studies I have ever seen. Every action of every character is so exquisitely orchestrated to the very end that you are on the edge of your seat with anticipation for what the next moment will bring.

Several years ago there was an amazing limited edition of Oldboy on DVD. It was no less than 4 discs, included the soundtrack and was house in a handmade metal box. Unless you were in the know you had to buy this after the fact on ebay ay quite an inflated price.

Tartan Films who have been releasing some of the finest films Asia has to offer is going to release their own Oldboy Limited Edition on November 14th.



The package looks AMAZING:

DISC 1
Feature Film
Director’s Commentary
Director and Cinematographer’s Commentary
Director and Cast Commentary

DISC 2
5 Behind the Scenes Documentaries:
Making the Film – The Cast Remembers (11 mins.)
Production Design (13 mins.)
The Music Score (17 mins.)
CGI Documentary (8 mins.)
Flashback (23 mins.)
Cast & Crew interviews (41 mins.)
10 Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary (25 mins.)
Featurette: ‘Le Grand Prix at Cannes’ (9 mins.)

DISC 3
The Autobiography of Oldboy (212 mins.)
A video diary from each of the 69 shooting days.

INCLUDED IN METAL CASE
Special collector’s edition card featuring an actual film cell from the theatrical 35mm print.
The first volume of the Old Boy graphic novel upon which the movie is based.

That's an amazing amount of stuff packed into that metal box. This will be the first in Tartan’s “Vengeance Trilogy Collector’s Series” (which included Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy , and Lady Vengeance )

I highly suggest hopping over to your favorite online retailer and pre-ordering a copy today.

Trailer

Woefully out of print unheard of Friday

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week though, I wanted to do something just a little different. I wanted to share with you an album that (IMO) has gone very unheard, and not talked about. Ironically, the album is titled Nothing and was put out in 1996 by System Error.



Bobby Bird had already gained quite a bit of a fan base with several releases under the Higher Intelligence Agency moniker (including an appearance on the seminal Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence II in 1994) and 1996 was to be a stellar year for releases. Not only was it the first of two collaborations with Biosphere's Geir Jenssen but a record created literally from nothing would fuel my musical imagination for years to come.

Something from nothing. But what was the nothing? According to these notes on the album "..the album is called 'nothing', because that's essentially what it was derived from. We wanted to reveal the hidden voice of sampling technology and play the samplers rather than the samples. Using no input signals at all, we just sampled nothing and looked really closely at it. We used every glitch and software fault and tried to listen to what the machines had to say."

What does nothing sound like? Not as cold and digital as one would think. There is a real human feeling to the compositions.(despite the tracks coming from such an unfeeling source) A warmth within the machine hums.

This was from a time when dance music really was intelligent, and not just the noodlings of a kid and his MacBook. Meticulously programmed beats intersperse with delicate melodies that reside within subtle textures. It's relaxing and challenging, and is best suited in a room lit only by a single computer monitor while reading something like E.M. Forester's The Machine Stops as the music could easily be a future artifact from that time period.

The album is thankfully still available on the web. I would suggest hopping over to Headphone and picking up a copy.

Fans of the early days of Warp will not be disappointed.

Look for an interview with Bobby Bird later this week.

For now have a great weekend.

download Enough Already

Woefully out of print Friday Sunday

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is 2000's The Age of Terminal Irony By Ammo.



In 1999 I was introduced to the power electronics movement, and all of the output on the Ant Zen label. I adored the albums put out by the likes of Imminent Starvation, Synapscape and the like. (More-so I was impressed with the output of their sister label Hymen. )

Through Ant Zen and Hymen artists I discovered the much lamented Flatline Records label, and their 2 disc comp. I was really blown away by much of what was on there, but I especially loved the track No Safe Place by Ammo.

Who was this band? I put my internet ninja skills work, and tracked down info telling me that The Ammo EP was going to be released in early 2000. I was totally psyched!

When the day did arrive I was totally unprepared for the opening track Ghost Phalanx The 3 minute intro is very reminiscent of the ambience John Sellekaers created as Xingu HIll. That all changed at the 3:14 mark.

The tension of the track with it's pulsating high hats gave way to glitched out drum and bass that easily could have been the soundtrack to Asuka Langley's final stand in the End of Evangelion movie. It was brutal, and sounded like a battle between giant robots that decided the fate of all mankind. The song didn't so much end, but have the life drained from it.

The other stand out track (though there were no bad tracks) Reptiles in Paradise has a really infectious beat to it, despite having what i dubbed as a studio error sound to it. (The glitch reminds me very much of the Lassigue Bendthaus album Pop Artificielle, and it would probably appeal to fans.)

The included remixes were good, though I do believe the original tracks had much more power and urgency to them. Live the band was just phenomenal. The tracks were tighter, and lent themselves to really great live remixing on the fly. (I still can't believe I saw them in Pittsburgh!!)

Ammo put out a few other VERY out of print EPs after that, but faded into nonexistence. They will be missed.

download Ghost Phalanx
download Reptiles in Paradise

For more information on all of John Sellekaers's musical output head over to the Metarc page. (John's mastering company)

We interrupt this Woefully out of print Friday to announce an amazing reissue!

Spend enough time with me and you will learn that I am a bit of a sucker for all things electronic. By sucker, I mean that if something is really good, I will probably fall for it, and it will become a huge part of my musical environment.

Case in point: Bola.


Darrell Fitton's Bola is one of the most underrated/unknown of all of the heavyweight IDM projects out there. I fell hook line and sinker when I heard 2001's Fyuti. It was a nice change from all of the digital terror I was listening to at the time. A guy who was making music with analogue gear that was both compelling, and challenging. (Not to mention easy on the ears)

I spent much of my time looking for everything and anything I could find on the guy. I tracked down a copy of his first full length Soup I found the great Mauver EP, and READ about the so called "Shapes" LP (which wasn't attributed directly to him, but the lucky 300 who got a copy knew it was) I spent my time and energy looking for it, seeming to miss it at every turn.

Then today I looked on a whim for Bola on ebay, and what do I come across, but this: An auction for the shapes EP re-mastered with bonus tracks! I did a little bit of digging around and found that not only was it going to be released september 26th, but that his new record was finished and slated to be released in a few months!

What a great day to find that something isn't quite as woefully out of print as I though it was just one scant day ago!

Run, don't walk over to the Skam shop and pre-order the Ep. Or, if you are like me, and can't wait purchase the MP3 album directly from Skam!

HOORY FOR NEW BOLA!!

Look for a bonus WooP sometime this weekend as I load some Ammo into a gun and fire it at your ears!

Au Revoir Simone

Sometimes I amaze myself as far as the whole "missing something right under my nose thing" goes. For example- I don't listen to the music my friends have embedded on their myspace profiles.

It's not because I'm a jerk, or that I think my taste in music is soo much more refined (ok, it is partially both of those reasons, but I don't mean it in a disrespectful way). It's mostly because 9 times out of 10 I'm already listening to something, and that something will get all kinds of garbled with the myspace music... Tragedy unfolds.

However, tonight when I listened to a friend of mine's musical selection I discovered something quite spectacular!



Au Revoir Simone is an electronic band from Brooklyn made up of Heather D’Angelo [vocals, drum machines, keyboard], Erika Forster [vocals, keyboards], Annie Hart [vocals, keyboards].

What do these fine upstanding young ladies create? Some of the most amazing dreamy pop music I have heard in a long time. (Though this trio owes more debt to Stereolab, than say MBV) I know that gives a vague explanation to the band. (it's 2:30 in the am, and my brain is leaking out of my ear) Let me try again

Imagine if you will that the 3 eldest Libson sisters (of the Virgin Suicides) each got a synthesizer, and recorded poppy soundscapes using bits and pieces from their diaries as inspiration for their lyrics. The sweet sounds would be light and airy, (the kind of music you would want to hear while sitting under the stars on a cool October night) but with enough worldly understanding to keep even a jaded listeners ears perked.

If the Libson girls were around now, and didn't write this music they would all certainly do everything they could to listen to it. (as my readers should)

Their cd (with a hand silkscreened cover) is available online. I would suggest doing what I just did and buy it.

Download Through the Backyards

Au Revoir Simone on Myspace
Au Revoir Simone official page

[Thanks Rachel! Your taste in music has never ceased to amaze me!]

{EDITED 9:21 AM, now fortified with added coherence!]

Holy Crap! It's ben almost two weeks since I posted!

Ok, so it's been a while. Life got in the way. That is going to change. Starting next week there will be at least two posts a week.(Including the return of Woefully out of print Fridays.)

As time permits I'll post more. For now, have a great weekend. See ya next week!

-The Management

A little of the old catch up.

So, I kinda dropped the ball on this whole blog thing last week. Yes, life kinda got in the way, but that's no excuse.

That being the case, I'm going to try to pack as much musical info into the next week.

So, welcome back to Radio2019. You can read along with me in your book. You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear Artoo-Detoo beep like this

Lets begin now.

First order of business is The Prairie Cartel.
I got a friend request from them on myspace. I usually proceed with much trepidation with these invites, after the large amount of awful indie and electronic acts I've heard on there. (No, I'm not a snob- well ok, I sorta am, but really a few chords and some Apple Loops does not a band make.)

However, that is not the case with this Chicago based band. I was mad impressed with the sound of their project. The track Fuck Yeah that Wide reminded me very much of Land of Rape and Honey era Ministry. While other songs had a very great post punk/disco feel to it that will really appeal to fans of Bloc Party and the like. I have a feeling that the next time I dj they are going to be a big part of my arsenal!

Their myspace page has 4 songs available for download, and I encourage peeps to head on over there, and check them out!

Prairie Cartel on Myspace
Official Site

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And now for something completely different.



I should come right out and say I don't like pop music. Like not at all. It doesn't challenge the ears, nor is it up to par with the production standards that demand. Annie being the exception to the rule, but I digress.

However, my ears were given the a treat earlier in the week in the form of an IM from a friend of mine who told me I HAD to check out this band called Khoiba. Ok, now I am really particular about my music, and not to say that my friend doesn't have good taste in music, but he does legitimately like the Insane Clown Posse. Again, I proceed with caution.

I was blown away. To call Khoiba pop is a great disservice to this amazing band from The Czech Republic. Really mind blowing intricate noisy electronic pop structures with female vocals that remind most people of Bjork, but to my ears she sounds like a cross between Bjork and a much less annoying [and talented] Jewel.

I would post some mp3 love, but I have the iTunes DRM'd versions of the Album. No love I'm afraid. However there are a bunch of songs at both their myspace page, and the official site.

Who would it appeal to? Fans of Dntel, The Knife (at their noisiest), and of course Bjork. [Though I think if you played this for the average Jewel fan their heads would asplode. ;) ]

Khobia on myspace
Khobia Official Site

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