DJ Krush – kakusei (CD)

Another cool find at my favorite Renaiassance Montréal store (2.00 $ for CDs, count me in). DJ Krush (real name Hideaki Ishii) is a Japanese alternative hip hop producer, DJ and remixer (born 29^th july 1962). Kakusei, which came out in 1998 is his seventh studio album. This is nice and long recording (17 tracks = 68.58 minutes). Hideaki likes to jam / mix things up electronic, hip hop, downtempo, some nice sonic abstractions here and there, trip hop on the side, a pinch of jazz, chill out beats with some subtle dub elements throw in for good measure. The perfect soundtrack for a hot summer day. Lying on the beach, kakusei playing in the background, an icecold glass of sangria and your lover lying next to you. What am I talking about, it`s stinking hot here in Montréal, I don`t drink sangria and I`m alone. In the mean time, I have plenty of nearly frozen beer and this album to keep me company. I got myself a plan. I`m looking forward to hear more DJ Krush music, good stuff. Recommended. More info here: /http://www.djkrush.nl/

Art of the day

This is a mixed media small painting done with:
watercolor
some collages added
white glue
charcoal powder
felt pen
black pen

Dictation – always makes things worse (CD)

Dictation is the solo noise project of a Gentleman named Robert Wallace. The same guy who plays in `The crash hounds of America` and the owner of `hot & ready records`. I thought this was going to be an ear shredding, harsh, kinda wall of noise oriented listening material. I got pleasantly surprised, this falls under the category of ambient / experimental noise (8 tracks = 47.32 minutes). Here`s a short rundown of what`s in store (for the innocent, unexperienced listener out there).

1 – 5.02 minutes = lo-fi grindings / scratching + voice = ambient / meditative noise perhaps.

2 – 2.37 minutes = didgeridoo + random banging + guitar + short noisy burst = feels like sound collage.

3 – 2.05 minutes = processed voice samples + lo-fi goodness + weird experiments going on.

4 – 1.12 minutes = is this processed piano / synth / organ or you`re just happy to see me (nice short & sweet little track).

5 – 2.38 minutes = weird ass experimental noise (I like it! I like it| I like it|).

6 – 9.41 minutes = lo-fi ambient musings slowly and randomly going into noisy territories.

7 – 3.10 minutes = strange sound snippets (found sound perhaps) + rhythmic banging.

8 – 21.07 minutes = lo-fi aural minimalism + short noise bytes of unknown origins. Ear challenging to say the least. I like this and I highly recommend it. Send well-hidden cash to:

R.L. Wallace

2700 White Avenue # 3

Chico

Ca

95873

USA

homemade postcard of the day

Moonstar – Dupont (CD)

When I was a young one. I would go to a record store and buy an album from a band / artist I never heard of before (out of sheer curiosity). I`ve made some amazing discoveries (Gang Of Four, Yellow Magic Orchestra) and some horrible finds (Art Zoyd, New York Dolls). It`s a hot and humid Sunday afternoon. I`m at Renaissance Montréal, looking at their huge second hand CD section. I pick up this album by Moonstar. Never heard that name before. I look inside the sleeve my spider sense is tingling. It feels like electronic music. Anyways for two dollars, what the heck. That afternoon I purchased eight CDs and five DVDs. I`m sitting home, I open up a cold beer and sit down. Now let`s see what Moonstar sounds like. I hit the play button. Let the games begin. There`s sixteen semi-instrumental tracks. I couldn`t find any standout pieces here. It`s so good, every song is standout material. The music is an potent / infectious mix of jazz, broken beats, electronic, break beats, chill out, IDM, going sometimes into lo-fi territory. The arrangements are subtle. The perfect soundtrack for a hot summer day (sangria and company not included). More information here: http://www.ptrmusic.com/

From parts unknown (in America)

I got this envelope from the States (no return address). I have no idea who send me those cool politically incorrect collages. They' re kinda nice so enjoy folks.

Hiroshima Yeah! # 138 August 2016 (zine)

One of the reasons I keep doing this is having the chance to read, appreciate and review my favorite zine, yes you`ve guessed it it`s Hiroshima Yeah! The cover star`s Sandy Denny (1947-1978) was a British folk singer. She sang with The Bunch, Fotheringay, Fairport Convention and she also guested on Led Zeppelin`s fourth album. Now we shall begin with poetry and `joy in diminishing returns`. Here are my favorite pieces

Not having

For me,

The freedom                               

Of not having

The job,

The wife,

The kids,

The car

Beats all of the above,

Hands down.

And

Destiny

I was always destined

To be someone

Staring out at the rain.

And finally

Natural end

For a while,

I was obsessed

With you,

Wrote love songs

About you,

Travelled miles

Each day

Just to drink

In the same pubs

As you.

But now,

Bumping into you

Outside a supermarket

As you push

Your granddaughter

In a trolley,

It feels good to know

That all obsessions

Come to their

Natural end.

Man I love this stuff. There`s also `13.82 billion years in hell` (Gary Simmons monthly column this time he explores the theme of the forgotten prisoner) and our monthly episode of `doctor Thornaby` (a readers nightmare that`s for sure). We are to treated with book and music reviews. We conclude things with `Mortimer ` (Mark Ritchie). A short story about hanging out with the wrong people and managing to escape. Contact:    donbirnam@hotmail.com

Hiroshima Yeah| # 137 July 2016 (zine)

I come home from work tired, exhausted, sweating like a dog in heat (it`s warm and humid in Montréal this time of the year). I could smell that cold beer, I could feel it even though I didn`t open my front door yet. What is that? A small parcel from the UK. I hope it`s what I think it is. Damn straight. Copies of my favorite zine Hiroshima Yeah! Baby! Cover star of this July 2016 issue is Morrissey (no comments here, to each his / her own). HY! Is a 8.5 by 11, black & white, cut & paste, photocopied, monthly zine (6 pages of stuff this time around). There`s `fascism and rising crime `poetry department. My standout pieces are

Internal jukebox

I wonder if

The increasing number of people

Who constantly hook themselves up

To Ipods and smartphones

Have the ability to access

Their internal jukebox,

To use their imagination,

At all,

Ever.

And

Nothing has been lost

We used to drink

On rooftops,

Under bridges,

On deserted football pitches,

Now we drink in pubs,

Houses,

The occasional restaurant,

But nothing has been lost,

Except youth.

Man, I can relate to that. Gary Simmons writes his barely intelligible monthly ramblings (13.98 billion years in hell), along with our monthly dose of the `Doctor Thornaby ` serial (your guess is has good as mine here). There`s a good quantity of music, books, publications and concert (Nadia Reid – Glasgow 04-07-2016, Neil Young + Promise Of The Real – Glasgow 05-07-2016 and Sun Kil Moon – Glasgow 21-07-2016) reviews. Sid Clark and François Marceau contributes some poems along the way. We end this zine with a shorty from Mark Ritchie `waste disposal`. Bashing the head of a pseudo-friend. I feel you. A couple of years ago I was discussing the same thing with a friend of mine. Maybe we were precursors of the movie The Purge without knowing it. Contact: donbirnam@hotmail.com

Robert Wallace – 3 albums on 1 disc (CD)

Robert Wallace (hot & ready records) started transferring his cassettes on CD. I like tapes but I told him that tapes (also VHS) after numerous listens tend to lose sound and also break up. A CD lasts longer. You can even convert your audio as mp3 files and put them on an external drive or a backup CD / DVD, just in case (better be safe than sorry). Robert send me this CD, a three way albums split (44 songs):

1 – Not much of an excuse.

2 – Gross dummy.

3 – Obah Shaquille part V (parts of).

I`ve been listening to this CD all week long. It is oh so excellent. The music oscillates between lo-fi, bedroom pop (à la Eric`s Trip), indie, weird psychedelic pop and experimental sound collage. I like it and you should. Highly recommended. Send real cash to:

R. L. Wallace

2700 White Avenue # 3

Chico

CA

95973                                                                                                   USA

Momentum – diskotek (CD)

The obscure item of the day. I found this album at Renaissance Montréal for 2.00$ There`s no information regarding this band, except they`re from Québec. They have a website, unfortunately it`s closed down. I had a feeling that it was electronically oriented music, and I was right. There`s 11 songs in there (57.27 minutes). They like to mix things up., to be honest it flows perfectly. The music moves in various directions: chill-out, lounge, disco, jazz, electronica, pop, ethereal, dream pop, dub, reggae, some break beats included, trip hop, dark dub, ambient, psychedelic and electronic music. A couple of tracks caught my attention big time

3 – Disco tango (6.21 minutes) = jazz + lounge + electronica with a dash of flamenco perhaps. Sweet.

10 – Kick it down now (4.90 minutes) = a weird, phased-out, psyched-out, spaced-out psychedelic number. Space, the final frontier… 

art is everywhere part 68

Loose mail art of the day...

homemade postcards of the day

Mail art of the day

Various Artists – Protos Orofos – 1 (CD)

This is a compilation (10 tracks = 57.20 minutes) of bands which played live at 1ος Όροφος, in Thessaloniki, Greece, from Nov 2007 to Apr 2009. There`s a good variety of styles at work here: IDM (Wickid Culture Dance Orchestra), experimental electronic (Leaf , Vague), psychedelic rock (Vialka,Κεντρική Ψύξη), post rock (Experimental Souvenir, Esprit de Corps), electronic (Emdy), a free out there jam session (Fun With Nuns), and minimal electronics (PS Stamps Back & Mono.tonik). A couple of songs simply took my head off.

3 – Vialka – premier pas (6.37 minutes) = Pink Floyd circa Syd Barrett + The Byrds + Cocteau Twins if that`s a possibility.

7 – Emdy – tallxier (4.58 minutes) = intense electronic / techno crossover with some nice break beats as well.

9 - PS Stamps Back & Mono.tonik – nullbaby (10,21inutes) = beautiful  nearly ambient minimal electronic music with experimental undertones.  Limited edition of 1000 copies. This baby`s probably sold out.  More info here;   http://protosorofos.gr/                  Download link also here:   http://protosorofos.bandcamp.com/album/protos-orofos-1

Bodycocktail – guiltless pretext (CD)

I don`t remember where I got this album. It was lying on my huge, ever expanding, to listen pile. Bodycocktail is Zan Hoffman`s band since 1993. Since 2012 they released 177 albums, you do the math here. This came out in 2009 on ZH27 (this is the name for Zan`s record label). He started his label in 1984 and since then, he released 336 albums. He is an extremely prolific individual. This is my first Bodycocktail listening experience (10 songs = 32 minutes). It`s not what I was expecting, I`m impressed. This is a mix of rock / new wave i.e. bent-out-of-shape proto new wave. Imagine a jam session between the following unlikely participants; Eric`s Trip (lo-fi wholesomeness), The Vaselines (subtle pop sensibility) and Suicide (minimal orchestrations). My favorite songs are:

1 – Pass through flame (3.52 minutes) = melancholic (don`t think gothic), minimal, nearly new wave.

2 – Darkness or fraud (3.29 minutes) = lo-fi, slightly psychedelic lil pop number.

9 – Peace tock (2.22 minutes) = a schizoid / schizophrenic, out there, proto new wave / pop song. I like it I like it I like it! Freebies here: https://archive.org/details/zh27

Various – roots of dub funk 3 (CD)

A good friend of mine bough a bunch of used CDs at a garage sale (something like 20 CDs for 5.00$). After sorting out the pile he gave me the ones he didn`t want to keep. The first thing I see is this `roots of dub funk 3 `compilation. Once in a while I like chilling out with some dub. There`s 12 tracks in there (45.13 minutes). You will hear pieces from the likes of Brain Damage, Alpha And Omega, Dub 2 Dub, Jah Warrior, Version City Rockers , Dub Funk Association , Teacha, Burning Babylon , DJ Perch, Ras Shaggai and Vibronics. If you`re into reggae, dub, roots reggae (with a dash of electronics on the side) you will like this. Otherwise, this compilation is a great introduction to the genre. Standout tracks are:

2 – Alpha And Omega – Jerusalem (4.10 minutes) = a meditative / psychedelic / relaxing / hypnotic piece of British roots dub. Excellent.

5 – Version City Rockers – deeper roots (3.14 minutes) = a beautiful fusion of dub / reggae and electronic music. What else is there to say? I got this as a freebie and you can`t have it. Sorry about your damn luck.

Something for nothing # 72 (zine)

This is a half-size, black & white, cut & paste, irregularly published zine (36 pages this time around). There`s spotlights on The Dickies and Toy Dolls. I never heard of those bands before. They both sound interesting. The zine is mostly reviews of books, beverages (an amazing idea) and zines. Idy loves punk music and it shows. I just turned fifty this year. Upon reading this, it brought back memories when I was young (my early twenties). Seeing the Dead Kennedies, The Clash live, listening to punk music. I was a punk before you were a punk (The Tubes). There`s a couple of articles / short stories. My favorite is `shouldn`t someone else be buying me birthday presents`. On his Birthday Idy goes on a shopping spree. He visits second hand record / books stores across the greater Cleveland area. Good idea. It`s written on the cover that the zine is free. Printing is not free. Sending stuff by mail is highly expensive these days. My advice send Idy (Something For nothing head cheese) well-hidden cash or a trade (a record, a CD, a mixtape, a DVD your own zine). An amazing zine. Recommended. Contact:

Something for nothing

516 third street NE

Massillon

Ohio

44646

USA

homemade postcards of the day

art is everywhere part 67

Theo Nelson

Theo Nelson
2611 Charlebois Dr. NW
Calgary
Alberta
T2L 0T5  
Canada

art is everywhere part 66

Malokian knowledge of the day

Malok
P.O.BOX 41
Waukau
WI
54980
USA

homemade postcard of the day

Poem of the day

The interview                                                                            François Marceau (05-08-2016)



Tell me a little bit about yourself Todd
Go ahead Samantha
Do you own a car?                                                                               No    
Do you have a house?
I`m afraid not
Do you have a career?   
No
What type of work you do?
I work in a call center 
I`m looking at your picture 
You`re bald & chubby
Below average I`d say
You`re no Orlando Bloom you know 
I know 
In conclusion
No house
No car
No career
Not much for looks 
So tell me Todd
What makes you so damned special?
Why should I go out with you? 
What do you have to offer me?
The other Guys out there don`t have? 
Not much
Except my heart…