Crow’s Nest 76: 111024
Lotta words, not a lotta meaning atm
Hey there, and welcome to issue #76 of Crow’s Nest. I hope you’re doing ok, at least on a personal level, at this time, considering, well …
They said the outcome’s odds were going to be pretty much a coin toss. For reasons too innumerable to list here they really shouldn’t have been akin to the mechanism I use to decide whether whether to stay in or go out to something I’m moderately interested in but truly can’t make a decision on, but that’s what it was like, according to the analysts and prognosticators. Something like that being an impersonal and random outcome nevertheless doesn’t mean there aren’t emotional, financial, or even more significant impacts associated with the outcome. Intellectually, you know the undesired outcome or the one you’re not leaning towards very much could happen; that doesn’t make the fruition of said outcome any less devastating.
There are numerous explanations out there for why Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump; Matt Bruenig has a succinct summary of the main ones here. Let’s set aside, for this paragraph, the motivations of Trump’s core constituencies of bigots, misogynists and every other unpleasant type of person celebrating his victory. The most compelling reason I find for why those outside his base voted for him is that Harris did not articulate how her presidency would be different than Biden’s, and stuck to the message that economy was great (at the macro level), even as many felt their personal finances strained by inflation and rising prices. Nationwide, Democrats lost 15,000,000 votes compared to 2020 through this messaging, alongside other demotivators like the Dem establishment’s support for Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. The American people hungered for change, and enough found it either in the belief that Trump in the White House would return the economy and prices back to 2019, or that they liked their chances of things getting better under Trump.
To the extent one can predict what will happen over the next 4 years, I don’t expect a return to 2019 or 2017. From Project 2025 onward, analysts predict this will be an administration guided by revenge and greater extremism via stronger ideological unity to Trumpism among Republicans, which doesn’t bode well for the sort of future and life I want to have. At this time, one of the most promising avenues for support will be locally, in supporting our community members against the incoming attacks against them, and bracing for the storms to come—be they economic, health-wise, or actual storms, considering this admin won’t be doing shit to counteract climate change. Avoiding despair and continuing to try to have fun and otherwise “live your life” as forms of resistance and self-care also appear to be in vogue. So I guess that’s why I’ve written about a dozen or so new releases I’ve appreciated over the past couple weeks, even if it doesn’t seem especially meaningful at times. I don’t know how useful it is or will be as you can only escape the reality around you for so long, but I also don’t see the most compelling of alternatives other than to organize to fight back and support one another. One of the worst parts of thinking about this all and what’s to come is knowing for certain that it soon won’t be theoretical at all—surely we’ll be living it soon. Ugh.
I’ve never exactly been too big on IDM, clicks and cuts, downtempo, those sounds most notably associated with experimental music in the late 90s and early 2000s. A lot of it simply doesn’t have either the energy I crave in dance music or go out far enough into more esoteric grounds for my taste. To me, it’s an in-betweener sound that isn’t worth revisiting much. Ultramarine’s fusion of acoustic and electronic elements slots them firmly into this category, and I have given some of their material—mostly the newer stuff and that associated with Andrew Weatherall iirc—fair consideration, but nothing has quite clicked with me like this reissue of their 5th album via WRWTFWW. Something about how the duo synthesized together all of the disparate, art-y undercurrents of that era and presented them here remains a compelling listen, one I’ve spun frequently over the past couple weeks. WRWTFWW note this is a slept-on part of their discography, so hopefully their repress gives it some more of the attention it deserves.
Screaming Females may have called it a day last year, but its members haven’t hung up their instruments. Drummer Jarrett Dougherty has formed 34 Trolley, a vibraphone-heavy post-punk/mutant disco outfit, and is off to the races with this debut EP. Opener ‘Relaxation’ quickly lands in a groove that could easily slot into Fear of Music, and after you’ve heard former Screamales guitarist Marissa Paternoster wrap up her guest solo a few times, you’ve got a sleeper candidate for your end-of-year charts. All tracks have both the groove and spaciness that’s practically begging for extended mixes, remixes, dubs, everything from the era this style emerged from. Highly recommended, to say the least.
I am still and probably will be perpetually finding myself buried under a pile of music I want to listen through—at the time of writing I have not yet opened up Bandcamp emails from 3 weeks ago due to the number of open tabs I already have—so I can’t recall from where I came across this record, only that I’m really glad I did. Longform organ drone with some indeterminate electronics added in that gives this a bit of an electroacoustic flair. Apparently the last recording on this organ before it was relocated, it’s a phenomenal piece of drone music, unsettled yet ecstatic in a similar manner as Kali Malone. I won’t lie, I’ve really enjoyed it while getting high and trying to avoid the outside world a few of the past evenings, and for that purpose, it’s exactly what the doctor in my head ordered.
I’ll show my ass with this one a bit. In college I ran a reading group one semester for some of the 33 1/3 books, which included the one on Selected Ambient Works Volume II. I can’t seem to find my copy now; perhaps I never replaced it after it got soaked in my bag heading home one day through late-night storms my final semester? Despite this, I’ve never gone as deep into the world of Richard D. James as you might expect. This reissue definitely wasn’t the first time I listened to this album though my memories are a bit hazy of how frequently I have spun it; nevertheless, and no matter how dubious the remastering source was, it holds up all these years later. Whether you need a reminder or primer of Aphex Twin’s genius at work, don’t let the meme riffage on its name from earlier deter you, this is one to sink deep into.
Another one of those records where it’s been long enough that tracing back how I actually came across it is a futile endeavor. A murky dance 2-tracker, on the bass continuum, a strong base of UK funky. Slinky, hard to pin down stuff I found myself putting on repeat while working the email job. I feel it’d be at home on Livity Sound or somewhere adjacent to Call Super’s realm? Timedance? A solid offering from Benyayer with surely more to come soon, definitely worth keeping an eye on.
While things might shift drastically in America as a result of the election, one of the (supremely unfortunate) points of consensus—supporting Israel’s genocide of Palestine—is unlikely to get better for its victims. To that end, the underground music community continues doing what it can to support the Palestinian cause, and this compilation around the global egg punk scene has caught my ears recently. Many artists within I’ve ever written about, seen live or am otherwise familiar with, and there are some new names to add to this list as a result. If you’re the type who needs, say, an exclusive Uranium Club song download to contribute to the cause, follow the instructions within; they also link to ~100 other charity releases or Palestinian artists to support if you’re going ‘Jesus Christ more egg punk from this guy’.
London promoters Eat Your Own Ears celebrate 20 years in the game with this compilation from a wide variety of talent. Whether they’re new to you, (now) too big for you, you thought you were over them, or EYOE have reminded you of an obscure cut you never gave proper attention to before, there’s surely something within for you to enjoy.
Melbournian producer Cousin impressed me on last year’s dub techno excursion HomeSoon, and has now kicked off a series of digital only singles a la Bicep’s CHROMA series. This skippy jaunt’s got enough power and build to it to stand out from the genre originators, and with more to come in the series, now’s a great time to get familiar if you’re not already.
I’ve listened to Hungarian producer Gábor Lázár’s new record on raster quite a bit since release, and it’s grown cold on me. The hyper-pointillistic style may be intense even within the contemporary ‘sound design’ arms race, but it feels too quantized and cold to revisit once the initial effect wears off. I don’t recall who (Lighght?) turned me on to this record from Ueno Masaaki, out a decade earlier also on raster, and it’s a bit more my speed. It’s got a very similar vibe—what does one even call this genre?—but feels a lot more humane overall, I think. Punk vs. academia in that sense, with the former retaining my attention for sure.
Perth (Scotland) dance music outpost Craigie Knowes recently put up a pressing of their 4th annual charity compilation for War Child, dating back 4 years. Sadly, still relevant and importantly needed work that they’re doing. Overall the record has a sort of underwater, submerged sort of feeling, framed by the opening and closing tracks for sure and the more inward-facing mood from when it first came out, for sure, but still a solid slab of wax to pick up.
If you liked 34 Trolley above, they namechecked post/dance-punk/mutant disco OGs Liquid Liquid as an influence, and said OGs recently, (finally) put out a slab of wax on the original revivalists DFA Records. Percussive numbers by people definitely going to town on real instruments with sticks within. The cheeky Scots in Optimo show up on the second track to remix their namesake number from the group. Another excellent one for all involved.
This record by bicoastal collaboration Cell\Borg sees the trio marry the Kraturock sound of West Germany—motorik drums and chunky synth lines especially—with the proto-punk simultaneously germinating in the American underground during its initial wave. The recombinant sound is a bit too hi-fi to slot in as minimal wave, yet it manages to sound fresh (unless something I haven’t uncovered already did this). If New Wave took a slightly different path to fruition, these might be alternate history classics.
Finally, yes, me including this is a bit tongue in cheek, but I’ll end this issue with a little bit of Real Country Music featuring the words of Mr. Woody Guthrie c/o Thomas Brinkmann. Proceeds benefit the Lebanese artistic community which could sure use them right now.
So, that’s it for issue #76 of Crow’s Nest. Thanks for taking the time to read and listen/through, and hopefully you appreciated something within as well. Until next time, take care of yourself and let’s see what we can do from here.
