Siriusmo – Mosaik (2011) [Monkeytown] // Grade: B+

Ever see the episode of The Simpsons where Lisa drinks the water from the Duff Gardens ride and she starts hallucinating? That’s what Mosaik, the debut LP from Siriusmo feels like. There’s no other way to describe this collection of deliberate experiments from Moritz Friedrich, aka Siriusmo other than its accurate title. Over the 17 relentless, fun and unpredictable tracks, Siriusmo takes you on a C3PO carnival ride of hip hop, electro, dubstep, techno, disco and more.

The opening track “High Together” sets the tone for how you’re supposed to react to Mosaik. The track begins with a keyboard virtuoso noodling on some keys with an enthusiastic crowd cheering. Once The Keyboardist doesn’t deliver exactly what the crowd expects, they begin booing. Then as soon as the jeering dies, it explodes into a powerful 80’s Italo banger, the type of track you blast while engaging your flux capacitor driving over 88mph on the Autobahn. This is exactly Siriusmo’s ethos for Mosaik: my way or the highway. It’s more than apparent Siriusmo is fueled solely by his own brilliant inspiration, creativity, and incredible synth and record collection. The album has hints of Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Hudson Mohawke, Funkstörung, Mr. Oizo, Giorgio Moroder, Boys Noize, and even some Stevie Wonder!

Though chaotic at times, there are some incredible stand out tracks. “Good Idea” is a gorgeous, feel-good Larry Levan homage complete with snapping claps, whistles and bouncing apreggios. Meanwhile its evil counterpart, “Bad Idea,” is a pummeling, head banging blend of grime, dubstep, IDM and the big room crunching synths of his Berlin peers, Modeselektor. How can these two tracks even be in the same category, let alone album? Take one listen to Mosaik and you’ll see. “Lass Den Vogel Frei!” is so electro French you can smell the 2nd hand cigarette smoke, and “Einmal In Der Woche Schreien” sounds like Richard D. James and Orphan Annie got together to make a beautiful, lush trance showtune from hell. Again, all of these descriptions sound completely contradictory, but they dance in harmony in the Mosaik universe.

My only issue is I’m unsure of how I’m supposed to emotionally respond to this album. Though there are some clever dance grooves that could get any dance floor moving, it’s too unpredictable and disjointed to be a “dance” album. On the other hand, it’s too anxious and disorienting to be a zone-out-and-vibe-out headphone album. As I was listening to this on the subway, I didn’t feel angry, sad or particularly happy, just lost in a plastic synthetic futureworld. It’s an engaging and exciting feeling, but listening to Mosaik in its entirety should only be reserved for times when you want to feel like a Replican returning to your sleep chamber rather than an album you’d pregame to on a Friday night.

I’ve only sat with this for a shortwhile, but it’s clear Mosaik will be a great album to revisit throughout the year, and new subtleties will continue to reveal themselves. For a 25th Century voyage of rich modulation and musicality, dive right into this debut LP.

Dirty Beaches – Lord Knows Best

Star Slinger – Mornin’

Nattymari – 2ce 23 f0ld (featuring Zombelle)

Schlachthofbronx – Chambacu

Homework – Hudson Square

Couldn’t get enough after last week’s Deepsession with Poland’s finest, Supra1? Don’t worry, tomorrow Italy’s best all night rager will be bringing in the London’s favorite light and sound showstoppers, Simian Mobile Disco.

From their days as your friend’s favorite indie rock band Simian to becoming the unstoppable dance machine they’re known as today, James Ford and Jas Shaw, the duo that makes up the portable dancefloor smashing unit, have never stopped being a powerhouse force from the future. By performing with analogue synths and drum machines, the electro tag team takes the tradition of quality house and techno into the 21^st century, and have claimed their place as an essential act in modern electro.

Their experience performing as a live band shines in their production, and is why they’ve been chosen to remix such festival and stadium acts as Muse, Klaxons, The Go! Team, Air and more. With incredible energy, musicianship and an epic light show that rivals Nine Inch Nails, Simian Mobile Disco live are an unrivaled experience.

So what are you waiting for, Roma? Head over to Room 26 tomorrow night to get your face melted by thunderous bleeps, bloops, lights and bass kicks from the UK’s top robot rockers.

Friday February 25th, 11pm-4:30am
Room 26
Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 31 00144
Roma, Italy

Saw this thing over on Flavorwire and it got me thinking about some other things. So I’m gonna tell you about everything. First, here’s a sweet diagram of an AT-AT from a book of Star Wars cross sections. I always used to love these as a kid. Thing is, whenever I think of what’s inside the robots I just picture all the other little Star Wars figurines I owned packed inside them, because all my carrying cases were the ones modeled after the bigger units.

Remember those? The Death Star one was my prize possession for sure. Pack all my different Bossk figurines in there and whatnot. Youth swag. Anyway, this extremely detailed model of the inner workings of one of the Empire’s most awesome yet woefully inefficient battlers is nerdgasm inducing to say the least. I mean, look at those cogs. Them’s some heady cogs yo.

This got me remembering the cross section manuals I had as a kid, so I dug a few of them up. So sweet. I apologize for the crappy pictures. My camera game is not on lock. But seriously, these things are awesome. I got one for the Rebellion and one Imperial one. There’s a third somewhere, but I can’t remember what it is. Gosh, I could look through these forever. Seriously it breaks down stuff you never even realized you desperately wanted to know.

Including the diameter of the Death Star, the variable wing deployment angles on the X-Wing’s, and my personal favorite, the minutiae of Lord Vader’s life support system. I had always wondered what every little light and switch and valve on his chestplate/mask did. And this book has all the answers. Body heat dispersion vents! Durasteel Coating! Respiratory sensor matrix! So satisfying.

Ahh the weird wide world of webcomics. What a love hate relationship I have with you. Y’see, web comics can be extremely funny. But, as a rule, I tend to find them obnoxious, annoying, and generally rage inducing. Something about how they were glombed onto by the Digg/Reddit war-machine (xkcd, The Oatmeal, I’m lookin at you two) and turned into blindingly overhyped little nuggets to be circulated through chain e-mails…ugh. The internet does evil sometimes kids. But, as I mentioned, there are exceptions to the rule, and Romantically Apocalyptic is one of them.

Taking place post nuclear holocaust (what doesn’t these days?) RA follows the mentally deranged Captain and his two loyal servants, The Engineer and Mr. Snippy. The Captain, always in his gas mask and usually toting around something Hello Kitty related, is hysterical and endearing, as are the story lines. It’s really funny, but also dark and epic, and has radiated monsters and whatnot. But the art is the real star. I guess it’s sort of done rotoscope-esque, by drawing over photos of abandoned buildings and shit. I dunno, I ain’t no artist, but I am an internet addict. And this is worth your time.

Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972 (2011) [Kranky] // Grade: A-

When it comes to challenging the notion of ambient electronic music, Tim Hecker’s your man. Although he creates vivid soundscapes and impressive sonic plateaus, the Montreal-based artist finds way to constantly step outside of the limits of sonics and not only indulge in his own achievements, but is able to push the limits of patients to whoever is listening. Often understood in more extreme surroundings (for example, Hecker performing at a church), sometimes to the human ear, it can be hit or miss. However, Hecker finds the right balance of analog tones and digitized effervescence to create some truly emotive records. Touching upon his previous releases (An Imaginary Country, Apondalifa EP) ever so slightly, Ravedeath, 1972 is a room-filling journey that stretches its tracks into multiple-movement epics that explore simplicity and brevity simultaneously.

The record starts off with build-ups; and there is a ton of build-up moments on this record (in nearly every track) but again necessary to the formula that Hecker provides. Reverse audio, harmonics, tones that attack and disassemble; only parts of the puzzle to each track on the album. While the multiple-movement tracks (“In The Fog,” “In The Air,” “Hatred of Music”) all piece together a cognitive sonic story, it’s really the stand-alone tracks that bring upon a sense of emotive endearment. “No Drums” is a track that relies on it’s synthesized bed and sparse melodies and harmonics to take the listener to somewhere perhaps more ethereal or otherworldly. In other cases, the emotions felt can be evocative of shock and awe, such as the case of “Studio Suicide” which burgeons along a build-up that is already somewhat melancholy and than surely dilutes itself upon dissonance and deformity in its darkest form. What’s striking about the entire record is that it’s all interconnected in some twisted way; it’s a journey that takes you from one emotional extreme to the next without even explaining why.

People should  know by now that Tim Hecker is undoubtedly one of the most heralded ambient producers of our time and when he makes something this good, everyone should listen. While it’s best to not listen to this record on laptops speakers, a good pair of headphones can change the dynamic instantly and transport one to a state of collective consciousness that’s both bright and dark at once, inviting and angry, engaging in the best and worst way possible. This is surely one of the records that will whet any ambient fan’s appetite and perhaps will open the eyes of a casual fan, if they have the patience.

Starting this week and running for a hot month, some of the most talented street and graphic artists around will join forces to bring their work to one place for all to see. The Unusual Suspects will unite artists such as Abe Lincoln Jr, NoseGo, Chris RWK, and our very own Royce Bannon.

While different in style the work done by some of the guys can be found on your neighborhood lamp post, phone booth, or even wall. The beauty of street art is that it’s meant to be shared with the masses whether they can appreciate it or not. Art is what you make it and with the wide variety out there is always something for someone to admire or critique.

Luckily for you, all the work will be in one location so you won’t have to hunt for it on the streets or online. This is your chance to see it close up and personal as it’s joined by other similar styles popular today in the underground art world if you will. The opening reception will be held on February 26th (6-10pm) as the exhibit will run until March 26th. Don’t miss it!

Saturday February 26th, 6-10pm
17 Frost Art & Performance Space
17 Frost Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

One of our biggest supporters in Japan is featured in the new Ollie Mag. Marco has been mentioned here on the Bloglin countless times and the dude’s a real ripper. Seeing articles like this makes me with I could get back over there to ride with him and the W-Base crew!

Suckers photo by Marley Kate

• Мишка Spring 2011 Collection (First Delivery) Now Available!

• Мишка Spring 2011 Lookbook by Marley Kate

I think even those of us at Мишка who enjoy winter and cold weather have finally had enough of this shit. It’s time for Spring. We had a taste of warm weather a few days back and it drove everyone giddy with pleasure before it was taken away from us the very next day. But our suffering is almost at an end and our happiness will be coming soon.

The pretty girls will emerge from their giant coats and layers of fabric like fashion conscious butterflies with good bangs and stupid tattoos. Young boys who think they’re rebels are gonna be skating in packs and cackling at inside jokes. Our moment of great joy hasn’t happened yet, but any day now we’re going to wake up in Heaven.

Roofeeo photo by Marley Kate

We teased our Spring 2011 Lookbook with a killer video by Matthew “The Vidiot” Caron, but the teasing has ceased, so dry your tears. Here’s our Spring 2011 Lookbook, for real, right now, for you to lurk at. We got Marley Kate to travel around New York and shoot our musician pals at their practice spots, homes and studios. A lot of our pals are in here, wearing our gear.

There’s Neon Indian, who rule pretty hard. There’s Suckers, who we’ve known forever and who make some of the best Indie pop around. There’s Das Racist, who we’ve watched explode over the past year – plus those guys were wearing our stuff before anyone knew who they were. We’ve got Roofeeo in his studio, who’s known for drumming in The Death Set as well as Djing, making good remixes and most recently, being Ninjasonik‘s newest member.

Creep photo by Marley Kate

There’s Creep – a group containing our dear old pal Lauren Flax – who by the Fall will be be on everyone’s “hot lists”… hell, they already are. There’s AraabMuzik, who’s not only one of the hottest producers in the game, but he’s an absolute wizard with an MPC. There’s AC Slater and The Captain from Trouble & Bass, who have been intertwined with Мишка since as long as I’m sure anyone can remember – we’re basically common law with each other at this point.

There’s also Fostercare and BL§§D OU†, two of New York’s – nay, the world’s - finest, in one of our favorite cultural movements in forever: Witch House. There’s the dark and grooving Hussle Club, whose single “Loose Tights” is our most recent record release. Finally, we’ve got Stalley, the up-and-comer star in Hip Hop, who laced us with one of 2011′s best releases… and he has that awesome beard.

Das Racist photo by Marley Kate

These clothes are some great fucking clothes. We’ve got tie-dyed tees, grim tees, breezy jackets and button downs, and Psychic TV shit that is probably going to be completely sold out before I manage to snatch any for myself. If you’re hanging out in Brooklyn at night and going from place to place to place during drinking adventures, you inevitably will run into one of the people in our lookbook, and a ton of people wearing these clothes.

Winter’s been harsh as hell this year, but the pendulum’s started swinging back the other way, so be ready for it.

Мишка
350 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY
718-388-1725
—
Мишка LA
1547 Echo Park Ave
Los Angeles, CA
213-536-4234

Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie XX – We’re New Here (2011) [XL] // Grade: C-

As an instrument, the human voice can be far more compelling in ts natural speech patterns as opposed to singing.  During the 1970’s the silky voice of Gil Scott-Heron was almost too smooth to be delivering the revolutionary tales that it conveyed. There were plenty of times that Heron crossed over into song, but it was the spoken words of a track like “The Revolution Will Not be Televised” and the simple talking blues of “The Bottle” that demanded attention, despite the fact that his soundtrack was spirited but rather generic funk.

Forty years later and Heron’s voice has deteriorated to the call of the milk crate preacher, hanging outside the corner bodega spreading the Good News. It is perhaps far more powerful than its predecessor. This slightly passionless death rattle is genuine and minatory unlike the charactorial brilliance of someone like Tom Waits. There is truth and soul in it, despite its near death rattle. When you hear it it sinks in and stings deep.

Unfortunately, the spirit ends at Gil Scott-Heron’s voice. This time the soundtrack is not cocktail lounge funk, instead it is replaced by the tepid sounds of Jamie Smith’s dubstep. Smith marvelled the world with his command of beatwork on the debut album by The XX, but on this collaboration he fails to deliver. Where the beats of “Crystalized” and “Islands” suck a listener into deeper, the music hear actually turns the ear away, making this a scholarly endeavor and not very enjoyable.  The quirky poorly matted remake of “Home Is Where the Hatred Is” is perhaps the only song that fully works, and only because it doesn’t quite work at all.

This album reminds one of the output of Bill Laswell in the 1990s. Those amazing high concept combinations that looked fantastic on paper, but never quite translated into sonic wizardry.