Crow’s Nest 75: 102824
Three-Quarters of a Newsletter Headline of … uh …
Hello everyone, and welcome to issue #75 of Crow’s Nest. I wasn’t anticipating as big of a break between issues as happened, but travel and otherwise being busy on weekends will do that to you. I feel the amount of material on offer inside should be well worth the wait though.
RIP Phil Lesh. Fare thee well.
Before we get to the meat of the newsletter, a reminder to my readers in America to vote in the upcoming election in a week. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, nor would I necessarily encourage you to vote in every election on the ballot given some of the options, but there are probably a few downballot races that are close where your vote could make a difference on local issues. They wouldn’t try so hard to convince you your vote doesn’t matter if it truly didn’t.
Set time conflicts at multi-stage music festivals are an inevitable part of life as a live music fan. It’s always a little upsetting to see that two or more of the artists you were really looking forward to will be on at overlapping times, knowing you can’t catch all of both of them and will need to make a tough decision.
I anticipated I’d find myself in more than a few conflicts at this year’s Making Time in Philadelphia. The 3-day, 5-stage dance music festival simply books too many good acts for this not to be an issue. Frankly, that’s a good problem to have! But even knowing this, after combing through the schedule and identifying who I wanted to see, I had multiple four-way conflicts on the books. I suppose there’s numerous reactions one could have to this, many negative, but ultimately I decided the best strategy would be to go with the flow, make choices of who to see and stick with them, or bounce after giving them some proper consideration and moving and grooving. ‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint’, I found myself telling myself as I got ready for the fest and reminding myself when I was not feeling too good at different points.
Unlike most everything else in the modern world, I do think dance music is a marathon and not a sprint. Proper appreciation of a DJ set requires surrendering control and, consequently, your time over to the person(s) in the booth and letting things go where they may. As work, you can’t finish up a 2-hour set in an hour and 15 minutes and then have free time on your phone (unless you’re shit at it), and the individual song selections and performances often matter less than the totality of the performance. It’s a challenge to describe such feelings in words or, increasingly, in a world dominated by instantaneous feedback and reward, or contained in a social media post meant to give you the full context and everything you should know within itself. If you struggle to understand this, I encourage you to set aside your expectations, find a nearby club night that seems appealing, and try to give in to the experience and see how you like it.
This being my third year of going to Making Time, I’ve seen the experience change and continue to get better at a sustainable rate. There’s still no VIP section, thank god, encouraging a commonality of experience among attendees that keeps things friendly. Another great thing, as I noted to a friend that joined me this year, is that everyone seemed to be over the age of 25 at the fest. The resulting maturity and experienced nature of the crowd cut down on the aggressive and narcissistic attitudes some attendees might have towards others, and knowing themselves well enough to behave and take care of themselves appropriately. (It also helps that the festival remains small enough to not require getting up close to have the best experience.) I never felt unsafe despite the minimal onsite security and medical presences. This alone would have to put Making Time in the top tier of festivals.
The main Transcendental stage added a lighting structure reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty’s crown around the DJ booth; I’ve never been one to consider lighting a make-or-break part of a show’s experience, though it can help or hinder. While the tenting that went up last year obscured the graphics show I loved in 2022, that’s an understandable concession to mother nature, which the crown of the throne helped counteract. Speaking of which, the weather was probably the best it’s been for the fest so far, with no rain and it being warm enough to wear shorts all 3 days. So, once again I planned for the wrong conditions this year, but if that’s the worst of it, I can’t really complain.
Elsewhere, there were logistical snafus and other shakeups. Ticketing service/news agency Resident Advisor sponsored the Futuristic Zone stage; it had negligible impact on the lineup and experience as far as I’m concerned, but it is a sign this is getting bigger and more notable. The wine cave bar ran out of amaro quickly on the first day, and I struggled to find a yerba maté soda once or twice at other bars when I wanted one. A handful of acts did drop out, with the schedule rejiggered on short notice to accommodate that, but that was no where near as drastic as last year either in terms of who dropped or the rain-adjusted schedule. Of the biggest note, shuttle service to Fort Mifflin from close to downtown Philly was not offered this year, and logistical issues of some kind made for lengthy delays on the return shuttles for the first day. This got sorted out in time, and paying for more Ubers on my end didn’t break my budget, but was nevertheless frustrating after 9+ hours of dancing and more.
After flying in on Friday, decamping at my hotel then heading over to Fort Mifflin, I eased in to the fest, taking in most of the sets from Jessica Pratt and Valentina Magaletti. My legs got bitten up by insects heading to and from the new, secret forested ambient area in a nature trail just outside the fort’s walls. Malibu’s ambient set ran far longer than scheduled, which I know I found frustrating in the moment in that ‘Hurry up you’re going over time’ manner, but writing this several weeks later I forget what my fuss was about. Probably my anxiety was high and I was still internalizing the go with the flow attitude I espoused above.
John Talabot’s disco set on the Transcendental Stage was the first true highlight of the fest, in my book. I think I’ve been growing more fond of disco over the past couple years because the arrangements on them feel so full and lively, compared to most of the tunes done digitally these days. I resisted the urge to Shazam pretty much every track he spun and instead live in the moment, though I really should track down some of those IDs for my own reference. Afterwards, I had one of those 4-way conflicts come up, bounced around trying to find the best one, and … wound up back where I started for Marie Davidson’s live show. Funny how that works. It was a good reminder of those earlier principles I was trying to apply, along with how the humanity of Davidson’s hot and cold attitude towards dance music helps with her appeal.
The other major highlight for Friday was Wata Igarashi’s set of masterfully executed techno on the Majestic stage. Hanging with a friend, we were both impressed by how well he was spinning and mixing behind the decks, and also managed to spot Daniel Avery in the crowd taking things in before his B2B with DJ Stingray. My friend, knowing I write this newsletter, asked me for some words to describe his set for his girlfriend back home (also a Crow’s Nest reader) to help describe the appeal. I noted Igarashi set had ‘that minimal chug as the base, but he was really keeping things moving in the upper end of the mix in an almost psychedelic style. It wasn’t moving as fast as in a standard rock or pop song, but was still more energetic and interesting than most do’. Does that help describe things like this? A lot of dance music requires being there and your own base knowledge of the elements to make sense of it, in that you already know what I’m talking about when I say so. At several points Igarashi dropped the tempo but simultaneously brought up the intensity of what he was playing, keeping the energy seamlessly intact, which was tight. I stuck things out after that set until deciding I should go get some sleep and that I wouldn’t get an award for staying out even later; shuttle delays didn’t help but I got back in one piece and then over in time to get lunch offsite with an acquaintance at noon the next day.
Early Saturday was more easygoing bouncing around—Dee Diggs’s vinyl house set an early highlight—before the main attraction of the day started at 5:30 PM: a 3-hour set from Detroit legend Theo Parrish. Unfortunately words and memories of the set fail me, writing this up over a month later, but it was excellent all around, with Theo brining plenty of joyous energy to his mixing, excited to share what he’s done and what he knows with the crowd for an extended period. I do recall him mixing with what appeared to be the same model headphones I have in my bag for working at the office, which is a nice little recognition of what decent but not excessively expensive gear can do for you alongside talent.
As Theo’s set continued, more decisions needed to be made—or, rather, sometimes decisions are made for you. My sinuses got aggravated during his set, which I’d later determine was the result of dust getting kicked up at Majestic by everyone’s dancing, which alongside what I suspect was the sugar content in a cider I had to mix my drinking up, left me not feeling 100%. After grabbing some food and bouncing around a bit, I wanted to get in to the Futuristic Zone for Ayesha, but the zone was at capacity (maybe 200 or so people could fit into that stage in the fort’s casemates) and was deterred by the entry line of similar length. (I could hear plenty of her bass from the chill zone in another casemate though.) Eventually I wound up back at Majestic for Djrum, but was caught off guard by both the intensity of his all-vinyl hardcore and the crowd’s response to it. He hadn’t had new music out for nearly 6 years and would only announce a new one the week after the fest, so I’m still a bit baffled there. Perhaps he’s got an internet radio show that’s massive? I retreated to a blanket off to the side that some friends of my friend had set up, chilling and shooting the breeze. Despite the multitude of things to catch, sometimes taking it easy is the right call.
Recuperating sufficiently, Paranoid London’s live set after Djrum was the other highlight of my day. I’m not sure how to describe them—British Protomartyr? Sleaford Mods, but good?—but the duo’s mix of hardware dance, working class credibility and refrain-heavy vocals was exactly what the doctor in my head ordered. I always have a little bit of reluctance to identify heavily with dance music, since it came up and is maintained through Black and queer communities before straight, white folks like myself catch on and hog the spotlight. Not that I’ve ever felt unwelcome at an event, but sometimes it does feel awkward to be there in those situations. I’m not 100% sure what I’m going for here, but the acceptance and embrace PL had for the crowd and vice-versa seemed a bit like a moment of connecting the dots and recognizing the commonality of struggle many of us face from different backgrounds. It helps that they brought it for the hour they had on stage, for sure.
After PL I stuck around for John Talabot’s non-disco set, staying until again I felt it was time to call it a night. Only Sunday remained, a bit shorter than the rest. Cosmo Vitelli got things started with a good set of spacey, cosmic longform synth material that would’ve been better had I wanted to get very high at 3 PM. Marcellus Pittman, who I learned after the fest is a part of 3 Chairs with Parrish and Moodymann, had a good early set as well, though the conflict with Nabihah Iqbal’s dream pop stung. Bouncing around, I spotted, of all people, Kurt Vile at Mabe Fratti’s set. Perhaps ‘Kurt Vile was at Mabe Fratti’s show in Philadelphia’ is itself not that surprising, but that the indie rock hero would be at the dance music festival caused me to have the sort of processing error you get in second grade when you see your teacher at the grocery store.
KMRU’s live set in the chill zone was up next. I had listed it as one to potentially catch, but I didn’t really expect I would see it. I’m glad I did though, as taking in his expansive ambient drone set was incredibly compelling and one of the best I saw all weekend. I’ve been lukewarm on his many releases from the past few years, but in a live setting at an incredible volume, his music comes alive in an astonishing way. More bouncing followed—including, again, the line in to Futuristic being too long to catch Skee Mask’s second DJ set of the weekend—along with some food and the feelings that come as a great weekend comes to a close.
Closing out Sunday was Bicep B2B Optimo on the main stage. Bicep had headlined by themselves two years ago, and Optimo had such a good time last year that evidently they felt compelled to return right away like Avalon Emerson does. Well, half of Bicep was there: Andy Ferguson of the duo has been doing their Chroma DJ sets solo the past few months as the other half of the duo Matt McBriar recovers from surgery for a large, noncancerous brain tumor. While I don’t imagine anyone would be unsympathetic towards them for this, I can see many not really caring about the details on what doing Chroma without his partner in crime might entail for Ferguson, and how difficult it might be for him. Even before the tumor events, I can imagine Bicep were looking forward to mixing it up with the Scottish veterans in front of a highly friendly crowd; after, I imagine it was a great relief to be working with others both uncompromising in playing what they want and capable of delivering to such a crowd, who’ve no doubt had their own series of ups and downs after several decades in the business. Fuck it, play The Cure. Mix Joy Division into that. Throw a breakbeat on top. Flowdan next? Now we’re cooking. Look, the crowd loves it. It was such a joy to see the three of them throw down to an excited crowd like that, and a perfect way to close out an incredibly solid weekend of raving. Hopefully, no matter what all comes our own ways over time, there will still be time there to dance, have fun and enjoy ourselves in such a wonderful atmosphere. I’m already looking forward to going back again next year.
As the greater festival market cools down, attendees’ desire to go wanes, and high prices discourage others, many festivals and promoters try different strategies to get people in the door and fork over their money to them. Most prominently, a number of new genre-specific festivals have emerged in Las Vegas as the city of sin and sand tries its best to turn the next generation of vacationers into regulars. Elsewhere, many festivals have reorganized their schedules around a bit of the opposite principle of Making Time, minimizing set conflicts and prominently noting that you can see every act on their lineup. I suppose this is a bit of “water is wet” advertising when they do this, or misleadingly billing a standard concert as a festival to justify higher ticket prices. I’m not a fan of this trend; as much as conflicts suck, as it might be the only opportunity to see an artist for quite some time, an hours-long gap between acts I’m interested in is worse. Do I want to shell out a significant chunk of change for a festival knowing I’m only interested in the acts on at 4 PM and 9 PM? If I decide I have better things to do instead, can I justify the higher cost of a ticket to see just one act? If set conflicts discourage attendance, I’m not convinced ensuring I can see everyone I’m not interested in works any better.
That thinking made me hesitant to commit to going to Warm Love Cool Dreams at the Salt Shed last month, a new 2-day single-stage festival boasting an eclectic yet intriguing lineup. The Jesus Lizard headlining definitely caught my eye. I vacillate on Floating Points depending on how I feel about his latest release and appearance I catch. Reggae legend Sister Nancy in the mix? I probably wouldn’t go to that by itself, but sure. I’d been meaning to see what Shabaka (Hutchins) is up to since disbanding the groups he played sax in and focusing on the flute. Some other names I hadn’t heard of, and local acts that didn’t hurt the appeal. Very promising all around, and yet …
Ultimately, I did go on both days, on free tickets. The first day I got a pair through the Do312 More ticket subscription service, and then another pair for the other day about a week later as a bonus through the service (fittingly enough while I was at Making Time). That helped me, personally, of course, though not for the bottom line for the Salt Shed, I imagine. I know I am not the only one who felt this way: while Warm Love Cool Dreams was billed as being outside on the Shed’s fairgrounds, the indoor Shed stage was used for the music. This was good for me as an attendee imo, since that allowed for light shows during the ‘daytime’ acts, and reduced issues from outdoor weather. Not that it was unpleasant outside, but outflow winds from Hurricane Helene cancelled an outdoor show from alt radio staples Lake Street Dive the day before WLCD. And the fairgrounds’ capacity is much greater than the Shed, so that the switch could happen to begin with is indicative of weak sales. And while the Shed wasn’t completely empty once the day kicked into high gear, it definitely never got close to full or packed in there. Which, again, is fine by me, but a little concerning for the venue, not that it’s the attendees’ job to make an event profitable.
That being said, launching a festival is hard, particularly when you’re not booking the same lineup as every other major festival. It can be hard to judge interest for notable acts who aren’t ‘mainstream’ or lack many comparative peers. Would The Jesus Lizard be able to headline the Shed on their own? Floating Points? Kelela? I’d like to think they could, but I can’t bring myself to say yes for any of them. I’m sure the Salt Shed can weather a bad weekend, and I’m glad they took the risk in putting this together knowing the mishmash could be a hard sell. It’s a lot better than endlessly repackaging the same things over and over again.
(Speaking of free tickets and poor sales, in addition to the free tickets for Warm Love Cool Dreams, Do312 More gave me another bonus pair of Saturday tickets to Riot Fest. If you followed the news there, RF was to decamp to suburban SeatGeek Stadium this year, supposedly over permitting issues with the Chicago Park District, with strong tension with the Black and Latine communities surrounding Douglass Park no doubt factoring in. RF’s stereotypical attendees lean white and might be a suburbanite who would consider the area ‘dangerous’ on a normal day, or a fly-in tourist exploiting the park for their fun at the expense of the local community. RF did an about-face and relocated back to Douglass Park a month before the fest was to start, allegedly over abysmal ticket sales in the new location and SeatGeek Stadium’s inability to fully host the full fest. I gave the bonus tickets to a friend. Then, at 1:09 AM on the Friday RF started, Do312 More emailed again to give me a pair of 3-day GA tickets for the fest, as PDF attachments, in roughly the same manner as an aggressive salesperson shoving their free sample into your hands. I stuck to my plans to go to Philly for Making Time, and handed them off to my brother who passed them along to someone else who attended, I think. I found the tickets a nuisance overall, and realize the privilege in writing about them like this, and yet, handing out $1,000+ in free tickets to one person because of your boneheaded hardballing over permitting really doesn’t speak well of RF in my book. Lol all around)
Anyway, I checked out the acts I didn’t know for Saturday of WLCD, which didn’t do anything for me, and arrived to catch Sextile before The Jesus Lizard. My brother, who separately got a pair of free tickets through Do312 More, noted they were very 2009ish. They definitely took liberally from the blog house/Ed Banger book, styling in that Millennial post-Great Recession forced optimistic way that still feels cringe. They weren’t bad, but they’re not anything I’ll intentionally go back to.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from The Jesus Lizard; I know their reputation as a live act but also feel they’re much more talked about than listened to on record. Writing this up, I checked and frontman David Yow is only a few months younger than my dad, so I wasn’t exactly expecting the full 90s experience. That being said, Yow was in the crowd within 2 minutes of them starting, and if the consensus on them and their new record is ‘They’ve still got it’, which they do, that’s still impressive. Not bad for the price of admission.
I decided to do the full day Sunday, since the bill was much more up my alley than Saturday’s. Lolina has been on my list to catch for over a decade since I first fell for Because I’m Worth It. The (former?) Dead Blunt collaborator manipulated her gear from a couch, incorporating it into her performance, disaffectedly singing of lust and desire in a deadpan, played-straight manner that leaves you a bit uncomfortable and unsure whether it’s meant to be serious or satirical. Exactly what I expected and well worth getting there early to catch. Shabaka was up next. He had actually played at the first Salt Shed show with Sons of Kemet, and appeared here with a drummer and harpist. If the militancy and Afrofuturist tendencies of his sax groups has changed to a spiritual zone, he’s still a phenomenal player. Just focusing on his breathing during several virtuosic runs, I was blown away by the chops on display. Partially explaining the changeup, he stated one of the flutes he was playing was based on a Mesoamerican design found in pre-colonial archaeological digs; “We know what they look like, but we don’t know what they sounded like.” I do miss Sons of Kemet but I can see why he changed his focus given the inspiration such a premise could offer, and he’s still an incredibly talented performer well worth catching.
SML, a jazz group on International Anthem, were up next. I thought they did a good job, more subtle than aggressive, especially as one of the quintet was mostly playing a modular synthesizer. He introduced himself as Jeremiah Chiu, and actually he had opened for Suzanne Ciani earlier this year. Interesting. Looking up the other members after, drummer Booker Stardrum and guitarist Greg Uhlmann have respectable indie rock careers, and rounding things out, saxophonist Josh Johnson and bassist Anna Butterss are also members of the Jeff Parker ETA IVtet. Color me impressed, especially as the group turned around after their set to serve as the backing band for reggae legend Sister Nancy without missing a beat. Truly cool stuff going on there that was a lot of fun.
The friend who joined me and I decided to skip the next act 454, due to general unfamiliarity and some fatigue setting in. We took a break from standing on the concrete inside and hung around a tabled outdoor area, shooting the breeze, making small talk with other attendees around there, and gearing up for Floating Points. Mr. Shepard played a mixture of his own works, threaded with other styles and genres including CAN and Olof Dreijer remix deep cuts, Tirzah and other stuff I didn’t Shazam. Floating Points definitely lived up to expectations and the caliber of performance you’d expect in such a realm. My friend left afterward since it was getting late—Kelela wasn’t scheduled to start until 10:15 PM or so, and this was a school night after all. I’m all for staying up late for such a performance, but it was a fairly long day already and I’ve never been big into her, so after a few songs I found myself calling it a day and heading home.
I hope Warm Love Cool Dreams returns next year. I have my issues with the single-stage festival format, and the eclecticism underlying it can be, to repeat myself, a tough sell if you’re not fully onboard. I do respect and appreciate the ambition behind it, and if festivals like WLCD and Making Time can anchor a North American fall festival circuit of sorts for more experimental, electronic-leaning material to come stateside, that’s all the better for the artists involved and pushing back on the homogeneity promoted by the dominant industry players. Cultivating the audience for this material can be challenging, but the rewards for all involved are worth it. It’s better than remaining stuck in the past or giving up as things change around you.
I’d like to be able to say ‘I knew about Being Dead before they got BNM’, and I did see their upcoming show at the Empty Bottle before then, but truthfully it took that well-deserved award for me to listen. And what a treat it is, with a day-glo take on indie rock that feels fresh. Imagine the similarly named Dehd or Palberta taking more influence from the OG Austin acid rockers (whose catalog has recently been remastered and reissued), with some sticky hooks and vocal harmonies in the mix, and you’ve got it. I’ve tried moving away from material predictions like this, but at said Bottle show I felt as though they were nailing the audition for a pre-4:00 PM slot at the Union Park festival, and feel confident they’ll be there for that.
When it comes to dance music, oftentimes what is considered ‘good’ is highly subjective or dependent on the context surrounding it to improve things; however, I think it’s pretty objective to say LWS is one of the best techno producers in the UK right now, and I didn’t know about him before last week. (Editor’s note: there is an unread Bandcamp email about one of his releases on Peder Mannerfelt Produktion from last year sitting in the writer’s inbox.) Turning up on Call Super and Parris’s can you feel the sun imprint, the Edinburgh-based artist marries the former’s artsy churn with a sense of menace, endlessly evolving numbers as primed for home listening as they are to a dancefloor near you. I’m not sure exactly how to describe these numbers even as they’ve been on constant rotation the past few days; that they retain a slippery feel and demand relistening even at home is a strong marker of their quality. His string of self-released singles follows a template of another dearly beloved British producer no longer with us … not that I’m comparing apples and oranges here but we just might be witnessing the rise of another producer of that caliber. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more from this one.
Even after following their writing for years, The Quietus is capable of throwing curveballs or impressing me with the breadth of music out there that doesn’t get the coverage it deserves. So I didn’t know what exactly they meant when they tweeted “The legendary hurdy-gurdy powered kraut/psych/folk/drone band France have announced three hugely anticipated English shows in November”, but that was not only intriguing but sounded Important so I looked into the matter. All signs point to their decade-old live record in a church in Den Haag as the starting point for them, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re a phenomenal kraut/psych/folk/drone band centered around the hurdy-gurdy, keeping alive and probably revitalizing rural folk traditions of their namesake country. Really great zoning that you can also dance to, the type of record few may know about but those that do might be inclined to pay ridiculous sums for the wax on Discogs if they miss getting the pressing firsthand. I still need to—say it with me now—dig deeper into their other work and those of their associates, but I’m a fan and paying attention now.
Local art rockers Finom have remained in heavy rotation since they impressed me with their set at Square Roots Festival this summer. In advance of some fall touring, they released a live recording of Not God highlight ‘Hungry’ that has also been in heavy rotation since the first spin. Reveling in their signature vocal harmonies and drawing out a very krautrock-y buildup c/o Spencer Tweedy on the drums, it makes a formidable case for checking them out on this run. Still confirming plans for that day but Metro is just up the street from me and Cabeza de Chivo is opening so I’ll nail that down soon.
In addition to their DJ work noted above, Optimo (the record label) have stayed busy out in left field, putting out a pair of ‘Anarcho Disco’ EPs from Japanese producers Keita Sano and Monkey Timers as GǼG. Keita Sano will always have a special place in my heart for his excellent Holding New Cards LP, and here the pair live up to their series name with an everything and the kitchen sink approach to odd noises and seeing what holds up across the runtime of 7 tracks on offer here. Excellent for the open-minded dancer.
It had been a little while since I checked out what Sano had been doing. I followed him on Bandcamp after getting the message from Optimo, and he’s been busy. Like, at least 30 releases on Bandcamp in the past 2 months busy. Putting folks like Hieroglyphic Being to shame with his prolificness. Not all of them hold up as more than DJ tool filler, but fuck if it’s not a lot and lot of it’s good. I’ll stick to the one that has gotten some $ on Bandcamp Friday from me here for you and you know how to dive in if you’re interested.
Tropical Fuck Storm. Need I say more? I think y’all know my deal with them at this point, but sure. So, while I was in Philly, they were going to be performing here in Chicago, and I definitely would have been there if not for that. So, seeing they were playing in Vancouver 2 weeks later, and always wanting to visit that area/region, I found that reason enough to book a long weekend there. Good trip, glad I went. I was a little underwhelmed at their show, not because they didn’t put on a good show, but because they stuck so closely to the same set that I saw them in Chicago two years ago. And they released a recording of that live set a month ago. I was there.
I’m hearing a lot of different and new things on this record than I can recall that evening at Lincoln Hall. Part of it is no doubt the difference in a mixed and mastered soundboard recording vs. your own perception at the concert itself; another part is that I was incredibly high at that show and emotionally torn up from losing my wallet while running errands earlier in the day. Even though it’s so common an occurrence that a band is more ferocious live than they are on a comparatively restrained studio recording, I’m struck by just how much more intense and wild they are here than one of the studio records. I haven’t asked my brother about this yet, though he was there and when it was announced noted that he didn’t think he had a vinyl record of any show he’d been to before. That might be this year’s Christmas present sorted then.
Local noise iconoclast Kevin Drumm resolutely does things his own way, on his own terms—his live performance at Constellation this February was his first in the area in 5 years—and has the intimidating back catalog and devoted head following to prove it. It’s more useless than usual to try describing a release like this one, mostly ominous buzz and eerie texture, but it came with a note that its higher price was to help him pay off an unspecified medical bill, and that he was avoiding starting a GoFundMe for that. So, $5 minimum if you’d like to help him in his moment of need, surely you’ve spent more on something less important recently.
Isle of Jura knock it out of the park again with this reissue of a single from Cameroonian group Esa. A quite groovy 80s disco number whose DNA shares a little bit of that of future African grooves to come, this single has a sweet dub mix and is perfect for a slower or sunnier moment on the dancefloor.
I forgot where I learned of Swedish producer Lex Ludlow from, though issue 49 says it was through an Atomnation reissue of her work last year. It’s always a treat to get another slab of lo-fi house from her, and this new one has been a great reminder to always check her out when it appears. Great sense of skippy groove here.
Bench Press came onto my radar via a snarky Bandcamp Daily tweet claiming their sound is reminiscent of the sounds of bands you the reader used to like (past tense). Excuse me? Their brand of jangly egg/post-punk from down under is exactly the kind of stuff I listen to in droves. A bit more IDLES-declarative than some of their peers, but still an excellent spin. Or two. Or three, just like you used to do.
Nice gritty, modern bar rock from local group Beastii. Exactly the sort of thing you’d hope to stumble across in an opening act that sticks with you after the show.
While I hope my above write-ups and past consumership of some of the stuff I’ve written about before gives you a bit of a sense of the types of dance music on offer at Making Time, I get that you may still be scratching your head at what kinds of sounds might be on offer there. Probably the best snapshot of contemporary undergroundish dance music comes from the Dekmantel festival/label across the pond, who put together this 43-track, not quite 4 hours long compilation of original productions from some of the festival’s regulars as a celebration of a decade of dancing. At least a quarter of the acts on it have played MT and I imagine many who haven’t are being targeted by Dave P. for next year. I’ve only spun it once because, you know, it’s like 4 hours long and I’ve been busy, but it’s still worth your time.
Part of the reason why I didn’t send a newsletter last weekend was that I saw Faust on Sunday. The 1920s F. W. Mernau film, not Faust the band. Really cool visually though the second half love story plot lost me. I have been listening to Faust the band too though, mostly this compilation OG Fauster Zappi Diermaier put together for the mystics at Bureau B. (There are multiple incarnations of Faust the band that are currently active. It’s complicated. I don’t follow closely.) I’m not sure when these tracks were initially recorded, but they move between eerie industrial psych murk and more motorik-y material. It’s perfect for the season.
You know how sometimes the store brand of a food product is better than the name brand competitors? (Shout out the Signature Select Rising Crust Five Cheese Pizza.) When I describe this group as ‘We have The Dare at home’, that’s what I mean by that. Local group Bloodhype make better music in the indie sleaze realm, actually seem to have genuine fun in doing so, and have the good sense not to think smoking cigarettes is a personality trait on top of it. They impressed me when they opened for Plum last month, and I’m looking forward to seeing them again soon somewhere.
Alright, that’s 6,000+ words written down in digital ink with 14 additional blurbs there for you. That’s enough of an issue for #75 of Crow’s Nest. As always, thank you for reading and opening, hopefully you found something within enjoyable. Hopefully there won’t be as long of a gap between issues as there was between this and 74 but we’ll see. Until next time.
