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October 27, 2005
please don't accept apologies
Nadja - Absorbed In You (excerpt)
There's tension and release and then there's this. 'Absorbed in You' is graphed solely on the tension axis, working its way toward a limit that is ill-defined and poorly-lit. The piano parcels out chords that sound malnourished or misplaced; it's comforting and alienating simultaneously (say you were lost in a foreign land, directionless, anxious, etc. and you came upon someone who spoke your native tongue, but spoke it in the most wrenchingly ungrammatical way- that is the function that 'Absorbed in You's piano fulfills). Take succor, at the end, in the tugging undertow of static and oil-black drones (it's good).
Nadja is the duo of Aidan Baker and Leah B., who've got an album that was just released on Alien 8, "Truth Becomes Death". If you're familiar with Tim Hecker's "Mirages" (which I love), it's definitely got some of that thick, desolate feel to it, but Nadja's work is a bit more song-oriented. Definitely go listen to the mp3 of 'Breakpoint' that Alien 8's got up- for the first seven minutes or so it's just pummeling, colossal, tectonic- but then it just drops the front and turns into a cold, sweet lullaby.
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Reruns
Panda Bear - O Please Bring Her Back
I figured today was as good as any to post something from Panda Bear's first (self-titled, out-of-print) solo album. Most of 'Panda Bear' is a mixture of acoustic guitar-accompanied, dark-beat inflected pop songs, and ruminative electro instrumentals. If you know any of the Animal Collective records well, Panda Bear's first solo has elements of 'Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished', and 'Sung Tongs'. The staggering fact about this album is that it was recorded when Noah Lennox was around, say, 18 years old. If memory serves me right, 18 was around the age I was listening heavily to Dave Matthews Band Can and writing bad poetry in French class being an absolute badass.
'Please Bring Her Back', as you might've guessed by the title, is about a girl lost, and the swirling despair that accompanies such an event. It's Panda Bear, sitting calmly in his bedroom 7 years ago, wishing for a 'reset' button on this relationship, more than anything. It's the kind of blind, irrational and overpowering sentiment that I'm sure everyone experiences at least once. The searing brand of heartbreak that keeps you up all night, playing and re-playing scenarios in your head about how, just how you might be able to win back your love. What you would say. What you would do differently this time.
This track starts off with heavily-strummed acoustic guitar, and Panda's soft voice enters with the lyrics 'Go to sleep, sweet child/push aside your cares/calm your beating heart/ease your furrowed brow', while a quick swarm of lightning-bug plucked acoustic notes flies through. Towards the end of the song, Panda sings 'She's as much of me as I am', trying to prove that, without her, he's a mere figurant- an empty, speechless prop, robbed of something integral.
This album was, apparently, the first and last release on Panda Bear and Deakin's label, Soccer Star Records. I don't think you could possibly find it anywhere, but as consolation, Insound has two other mp3s from the album, if you're interested.
(This song is new but the words are partly recycled)
Rusty Santos - Conspicuous Minimalist
Rusty Santos, who I've written about previously, has a knack for writing oddly-arranged but perfect little pop songs. So many of the tracks on "The Heavens", Rusty's most recent LP, have that tossed-off and effortless feel- as if Santos rented a practice space in the city for a day on a whim, brought in his friend Dave Portner to help with production, and sat down and just recorded a great album. No rehearsal, just some loose ideas bouncing around and caught on tape. But even though the songs feel spur-of-the-moment, this music is obviously very well thought-out and polished.
This version of 'Conspicuous Minimalist' was recorded live at an art exhibition in 2003, at the Coral Room. One quick interesting fact about Rusty Santos: he's produced the last few Animal Collective recordings (with the exception of "Feels"), including the unparalleled "Sung Tongs". Smart guy. Also word is that he's got a new album coming out soon on Uunited Acoustic Recordings. He just released a new 7" this summer, called "Up High:Beloved Below", which is available here. 'Conspicuous Minimalist' is originally from "Outside Versus In" (which is hard to find, apparently).
Posted by Kevin at October 27, 2005 12:31 AM
Comments
That Nadja song Breakpoint is awesome. the density of the mix and all that heaviness reminds me of Devin Townsend, but much sloooowwwweeerrr. Very cool!
Posted by: scott at November 2, 2005 01:26 AM
thanks for posting this -- glad people are digging the sounds!
Posted by: aidan at November 5, 2005 04:31 PM
Scott- I'm glad you dig 'Breakpoint', it's definitely one of the most exciting things I've heard this year.
And Aidan- thanks for making such a good record! Hope you're doing well.
Posted by: Kevin at November 6, 2005 10:03 AM