Take 2 Tuesday: "My Sound" by Squarepusher

Genre: Drum and Bass
Origin: Chelmsford, Essex, England

Here are a couple facts about Squarepusher:

1. He's only one guy, and
2. He's only one guy

But you would probably never guess that, considering the amount of work that sounds involved in each of his recordings. Just look at his early albums Feed Me Weird Things or Hard Normal Candy. They pretty much draw the line at what one can do in a genre that's more jazz-infused than anything. His newer stuff is a little bit heavier on his electronics, but we can't forget that he started out providing some of the chillest and downright experimental modern jazz.

So here's "My Sound" off of 1998's Music Is Rotted One Note. The majority of the album has a much more raw vibe to it, with a lot of the recordings performed "live." "My Sound" has this quality, but it doesn't toy around with semantics. It rightfully takes a hit with rocking chair music, stripping down drum and bass to their cores. It's in that way that the song feels raw rather than in the quality of the recording, with atmospheric keyboard for added measure. Perhaps the most accessible track from the album, "My Sound" revels in it.

Check out "My Sound" below and let us know what you think.

Squarepusher - "My Sound"

Take 2 Tuesday: "Patron Saint" by Philip Selway

Another one of many overlooked solo efforts from last year, Phil Selway of Radiohead fame released Familial under false assumptions. What we got was not a technical drum fest or a project in the vein of Thom Yorke's solo material. Instead, Phil works soothing lyrics and drifting melodies into acoustic atmospheres, providing guitar and vocals and contributing artists Lisa Germano and Sebastian Steinberg. The album has a few shining spots such as "Patron Saint," a quiet and hushed affair that doesn't stray too far away from the album's viewpoints. Phil easily yearns for ideas of growth in our closer relations, all the while setting himself at a distance with a relaxed, melancholic vibe that's soft to the skin. It bears resemblance to the work of Nick Drake, whose influence is very much heard throughout the album, but "Patron Saint" tackles on more intricacies that separate Phil as an artist in his own element.

Take another look at "Patron Saint" here and listen to the rest of Familial, available on Nonesuch Records and on both Amazon and iTunes.

Philip Selway - "Patron Saint"


-DJ

Take 2 Tuesday: "Laughing Hieroglyphic" by Avey Tare

David Portner, also known as Animal Collective member Avey Tare, released his second solo record, Down There, in the fall of 2010. The title really meant what it implied; it was a murky, confused, and euphoric album that showcased the complexities that Avey Tare often brings to the lyrics of many of Animal Collective's songs. Considering the smashing success of Animal Collective's most accessible effort, 2009's Merriweather Post Pavilion, listening to Down There is quite a different, more personal experience. Gone are the Beach Boys-equse harmonies and soothing beats, but Portner allows for us to enter his psyche and drown within the sounds, creating some kind of weird and exotic pathway that was best experienced on tracks of Animal Collective's Feels. "Laughing Hieroglyphic," the opening track off Down There, is fantastically hypnotic and sensory, almost asking us for our attention from the get-go and refusing to bubble up to the surface for breath. Even if the album was somewhat overlooked in 2010, at least this track is continually intriguing and worth taking a second look.

Check out "Laughing Hieroglyphic" below and tell us what you think. Is it better or worse than any of Avey Tare's solo outings or of Animal Collective's? Do you feel the eccentricites of Portner's personality through the music or lyrics he creates? Is it self-indulgent?

Avey Tare - "Laughing Hieroglyphic"


-DJ

Take 2 Tuesday: "Future Daniel" by Clark

Never heard of him? You might have if you've seen Cartoon Network's Adult Swim during recent televised commercials. Still not? Well, the name might not strike you as immediately as James Murphy or Justice, but English musician Chris Clark, otherwise simply known as Clark, is very much a great asset to electronic music. Though probably more progressive in nature than the two artists listed above, Clark takes whatever it is that's nice about the genre and completely breaks it down into mathematical equations and paradigms, almost as if listening to the motherboard of a calculator over speakerphone. All the synths and drum machines and bleeps and bloops of his recordings can make one's head fry from overloading, though there's a distinct beauty in the trials and tribulations that he somehow molds together. "Future Daniel" from the overtly-named LP Totems Flare is in this kind of category, providing some tightly-knit beats and enough electronics that it barely survives the eruption that follows. Again, it's all constructed in a way that seems beautiful and awesome, even if it does seem too electronic for its own good. Check this out.

Clark - "Future Daniel"


-DJ

Take 2 Tuesday: "Sudden Organ" by Yo La Tengo

"Another day, another time, another way for the moment, watch it for a sign..."

1993's Painful was Yo La Tengo's first foray onto a major independent label (Matador), and it was also their first album that really shifted their sound toward a more ambient and sonic experience to match their hazy lyricism. It's a fragile little record that seems to be the transitional album for the band, and probably didn't get the attention it deserved back then. They turned into what I feel is this generation's Velvet Underground, replacing what felt ordinarily like structured melodies into jams with great emotional presence. Whether it's the muted organs, soft bass, or buzzy guitar, Yo La Tengo form this sort of pathway into your psyche and never intend on leaving. "Sudden Organ" features as simple and ambiguous as lyrics listed above, but it's so well brought into the spotlight with their jam that it turns into a wonderful moment of shoegazing glory. Take a look-see.

Yo La Tengo - "Sudden Organ"


-DJ

Take 2 Tuesday: "Limo Wreck" by Soundgarden

Of the four 90's Seattle -based grunge bands that really managed to go for broke when it came to meeting the brooding-ness of the genre, you could always depend on Soundgarden. I mean, just take a look at "Black Hole Sun". Sure, the imagery in the video is a little apeshit crazy, but there's no denying the unanticipated depth that the song eerily implies, brought on by the sludgy bass and distorted guitar that defined the genre. Then again, everything on Superunknown has that effect, which makes the album satisfyingly unified and focused. "Limo Wreck," while not a single, is perhaps the album's most epic track, featuring some of Chris Cornell's highest vocal peaks that we - quite frankly - would like back sometime very soon. It also has such a fantastic rock construction that it's hard to pass off, taking the song to otherworldly levels. It still shines in all it's lyrical errie-ness and depth, but it never calls attention to itself. Not until Take 2 Tuesday, that is.

-DJ

Soundgarden - "Limo Wreck"

Take 2 Tuesday: "Chain of Missing Links" by The Books

Genre: Experimental/Sound Collage
Origin: New York City, NY

This week's Take 2 Tuesday brings you The Books, an eclectic duo that quite honestly know what direction they're going in, even if we as listeners don't know where. Their off-kilter style of letting the different effects and loops overtake the synthesis of vocals and lyrics can oftentimes be funny and outright confusing, but I mean that in the greatest sense. It's a strange and unique quality to have considering that none of their contemporaries tend to do the same thing, and in that way, The Books are their own territory of music. "Chain of Missing Links" is only the tip of the iceberg on The Way Out, but even throughout their catalog, The Books like to change things up in what would be an "ordinary" genre and turn it into something that's wholly their own. Whether it's meditative or intrusive, The Books will take you on a ride of discovering something completely new.

The Books - "Chain of Missing Links"


-DJ

Take 2 Tuesday: "Echo's Answer" by Broadcast

Broadcast was an electronic English band headed by vocalist Trish Keenan. I say "was" because the band was effectively finished when Trish died of pneumonia this past January at the age of 41. I had honestly not heard of any Broadcast's material before hearing of her untimely death, but from what I can tell you is that I had been sorely missing out on excellent electronic instrumentation and very melancholic sounds that I can tell were deep from Trish's heart. Of course any artist tries to make that so, but if any of Broadcast's songs were to contribute to really letting the artist speak for his/herself, it's "Echo's Answer". It deserves to be heard, along with the rest of Broadcast's catalogue.

Broadcast - "Echo's Answer"

Take 2 Tuesday: "I Ran Away" by Coldplay

As a B-side to the wonderfully hypnotic "The Scientist" from A Rush of Blood to the Head, "I Ran Away" makes a lot of sense. It compliments the former in both lyrical content and somberness in every way, but while both songs' outlook can be interpreted as deftly bleak, "I Ran Away" comes out as significantly immediate. There's no question what "The Scientist" does in retrospect to the core of the album, but "I Ran Away" is a slice of Coldplay that need not to be taken amongst the others. Tangled in it's dreamy yet nightmarish landscape, Coldplay succeed in taking emotions higher and spinning rock a new record. Take a closer look.

Coldplay - I Ran Away


-DJ

Take 2 Tuesday: "Sparkplug" by Idiot Pilot

Genre: Alternative/Post-Hardcore/Progressive

Origin: Bellingham, Washington

The coil we've received is winding down (to the tension, the tension)/

There is no longer a need for any kind (of complexion, complexion)

I regret that I come to you today disappointed. It has just come to my attention that a phenomenal indie band has fallen from grace. According to a blog posted on their site on January 12th, 2011, "the band will be going on indefinite hiatus, and although we can not say at which point we will be working again, there is no telling what the future may hold" (www.idiotpilot.com).

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, an independently-spirited art mecca if there ever was one, Idiot Pilot belong(ed?) to the music scene that defined what indie-rock sounded like for the first decade of the 21st century with the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, and The Decemberists. I was turned on to them by a friend in high school after I saw the video for their track, "A Day in the Life of a Poolshark." I have always described them as what Radiohead would sound like if Thom Yorke had finally had enough with the world and decided to tear it apart verbally and sonically. So this week's Take 2 Tuesday is a track off their first album:

Idiot Pilot - "Sparkplug" off Strange We Should Meet Here

Also, a bonus track to check out this week: a song they released on their site back in March 2010 on a pick-your-own-price basis. It serves as a bittersweet bookend to their exciting evolution and possibly a peek into what would have become their third album.

Idiot Pilot - "The Tail of a Jet Black Swan" (Single)

-JB