Good news on top of bad news, everyone! We’ve already reported on the slightly mysterious (though not entirely surprising) disbandment of abstract folk duo The Books this past January. At the time, Nick Zammuto calmly alluded to “a box set with the four [Books] records” as one noteworthy aspect of their musical death knell, but now that a few months have passed, the reality is looking even more worthwhile. As Zammuto himself relays, The Books are releasing an “enormous” box set of all their albums, plus a “huge” amount of bonus material, both audio and visual, by the “end of the summer.” Okay, so that isn’t much of an elaboration on what he previously said, but I can only assume that his focus on the physical size of the box set means that we can at least expect something doorway-sized. Utilize your tape measures to ensure proper delivery, folks.
Zammuto regretfully informs us of his inability to reveal any details regarding the box set, but more than making up for it in terms of sheer Books-related information is his brand new blog, dedicated to documenting how each and every track was made, from the “recording process” to the “strange trajectory of the project.” He continues, “I’ve been threatening to do this for a while and now the time has come… I need to do it now or risk forgetting it all if I wait any longer. I apologize in advance for blog entries that sprawl and ramble.” The first entry (already posted) is a detailed, first-person account of the year or two before The Books was even an idea, and of Zammuto’s inner grappling with his interest in both art and chemistry. I’ll let him do the storytelling. Something tells me he has an affinity for it.
Zammuto (the band) dates:
06.17.12 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live *
06.18.12 - Mobile, AL - Soul Kitchen *
06.19.12 - Tampa, FL - The Ritz Ybor *
06.20.12 - Miami, FL - Grand Central*
06.21.12 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre *
06.22.12 - Charlottesville, VA - Jefferson Theater *
06.23.12 - Baltimore, MD - The Ottobar
06.25.12 - Morgantown, WV - 123 Pleasant Street *
06.26.12 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre *
06.27.12 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium *
06.29.12 - Hudson, NY - Club Helsinki
Chuck Brown, the gravelly voiced bandleader who capitalized on funk’s percussive pulse to create go-go, the genre of music that has soundtracked life in black Washington for more than three decades, died May 16 at the Johns Hopkins University hospital in Baltimore. He was 75.
The death was confirmed by his manager Tom Goldfogle. The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Mr. Brown had been hospitalized for pneumonia.
Known as the “Godfather of Go-Go,” the performer, singer, guitarist and songwriter developed his commanding brand of funk in the mid-1970s to compete with the dominance of disco.
Like a DJ blending records, Mr. Brown used nonstop percussion to stitch songs together and keep the crowd on the dance floor, resulting in marathon performances that went deep into the night. Mr. Brown said the style got its name because “the music just goes and goes.”
In addition to being go-go’s principal architect, Mr. Brown remained the genre’s most charismatic figure. On stage, his spirited call-and-response routines became a hallmark of the music, reinforcing a sense of community that allowed the scene to thrive. As go-go became a point of pride for black Washingtonians, Mr. Brown became one of the city’s most recognizable figures.
“No single type of music has been more identified with Washington than go-go, and no one has loomed so large within it as Chuck Brown,” former Washington Post pop music critic Richard Harrington wrote in 2001.
What were you doing when we first told you about We Rose from Your Bed with the Sun in Our Head (TMT Review), Swans’ two-disc live album? Whipping up a batch of oatmeal cookies? Rollerskating? Googling pictures of cats wearing pirate hats? What did you do when you got to the part about the album selling out before you could snag a copy? Burn your cookies? Fall off your skates? Forget to feed your real cat?
How would you feel if I said that you could order a copy of that very album right now if you wanted? That it’s currently available via the Young God website and maybe at that dingy little record store around the corner? That Michael Gira says “it would behoove you to listen to the music at a generous volume level?” Stoked? Jazzed? Over the moon?
Aaaannnndddd how about if I rained all over your little CD parade and said that you missed out on ordering a handmade copy Michael Gira’s book, Eight Stories, which would have included a CD of readings by Michael Gira himself? You could read Nine Stories and pretend it’s almost sort of the same?
A few months ago, in some office somewhere in the middle of Brooklyn, Syd Butler was trying to figure out how to grow. He had a pretty decent office, running his label Frenchkiss Records with some debonair, and had a few employees under his wing, doing everything but band publicity (that was outsourced to some pigeon that hits windows in Manhattan). But he had no idea what to do from there. He sat down and had a brainstorming session with his subordinates, subordinating them to think of something.
“Think, my lovelies, think!” Syd admonished. “We’ve been at this for three hours.”
“No we haven’t,” said Grace. “It’s been three minutes.”
“Feels like three hours,” said Syd. “Paul, you got something?”
“Uh, IPO?” Paul clearly didn’t know why he was here, he just sorted mail.
“We’re an upstart label, not a startup!” Syd glared with some viciousness. “Phil?”
“Invest in creating the greatest record in the history of great records?” Phil had some understanding of the business, but he preferred to not care.
“Eh, last time that happened, Creation Records got devoured by Sony. Good start, though.” Syd turned to Grace. “You’re the most business-minded of the bunch. Any ideas?”
“Partner with a larger label?” Grace said. “Sub Pop did that with WMG, and they came out okay. They got a couple #1s now.”
“Sub Pop was desperate, lady,” Syd responded. “I… err, we shouldn’t have to lose control when we’re on our A-game. Anyone else?”
“How about forming a supergroup?” Craig Finn said as he waltzed in, looking through the mail, eyes brightening at the coupon book.
“Wha…”
“A supergroup. Get a few other labels together, form a larger ‘superlabel’ that shares all the business aspects, including distribution, that a regular label does. Like Rough Trade, only with more kicks.”
“Good idea, Craig,” said Syd, “…But what are you doing here?”
“…Status report on the next record?”
“You still haven’t found a place to live yet, have you?”
“Noooo, but…”
Groans aside, Craig’s idea took shape. However, Syd twisted it a little: instead of being a typical superlabel, the newly-formed Frenchkiss Label Group (FKLG) would be a sort of a label farm, allowing smaller labels to gain the resources that a superlabel can have in order to develop into a sustainable and larger business. After getting a variety of rejections from Matador (too big), In The Red (not in the mood), and GAYNGS (not actually a label), they settled on a starting lineup of nine, including JAXART, Pendu Sound, Julian Casablancas’ Cult Records, and Cavity Search Records. The big ones, though, are White Iris (home to FIDLAR and Eric Copeland) and ATP/R (home to Deerhoof, Jackie-O Motherfucker, and Fuck Buttons). To celebrate, FKLG released a compilation record of all the bands now under Syd’s all-encompassing groovy wings, and they had a party at the office.
“This is great, man,” Syd said. “And thanks for the booze, Paul. What should we do now?”
“I think we should get our artists to collaborate with some of the artists on these labels,” said Grace said.
Before Syd could respond, a loud vacuum-like sound silenced the crowd, and a man walked out from behind the FKR blue pillar. “Don’t ask me to collaborate with anyone,” said Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit, before disappearing from behind the pillar. He reappeared 10 seconds later in equally loud fashion. “Unless it’s with Alex Hung of Fuck Buttons. Then, maybe.” He disappeared again.
“We have pneumatic tubes?” asked Phil.
“We do now,” said Syd, cackling.
If This FKLG Compilation Record Were A Supergroup, It’d Require Three Stages:
01. Guards - Do It Again (Extended Version) [White Iris]
02. Slow Animal - Bliss Brain [JAXART]
03. Two Wounded Birds - If Only We Remain [Holiday Friends]
04. Pete Krebs and the Gossamer Wings - Kid Domino [Cavity Search]
05. FIDLAR - Oh [White Iris]
06. So Many Wizards - Lose Your Mind [JAXART]
07. The Memories - Softly [Underwater Peoples]
08. Eric Copeland - Louie, Louie, Louie [Underwater Peoples]
09. aTelecine - 4 AM [Pendu]
10. Fuck Buttons - Olympians [ATP Recordings]
11. Chelsea Wolfe - Tracks (Tall Bodies) [Pendu]
12. La Big Vic - LYNY [Underwater Peoples]
13. YVETTE - Cold Sweat [God Mode]
14. Anywhere - Anywhere [ATP Recordings]
15. Tall Firs - Crooked Smiles [ATP Recordings]
16. Fletcher C. Johnson - Messin’ Up My Mind [White Iris]
17. Starred - Call From Paris [Pendu]
18. Travelogue - Cathedral [Holiday Friends]
19. Matty Fasano - Unkind [God Mode]
20. Mr. Dream - Scarred For Life [God Mode]
21. Von Haze - His Love Is Fine [Pendu]
22. Steffaloo - The Red Runs Free [JAXART]
23. Gentlemen of Leisure - Boy Toy [Cavity Search]
24. Snow Bud and the Flower People - Bong Hit [Cavity Search]
Last September, I wrote some typical bullshit about DOOM and Brooklyn MC Masta Ace getting together on a new LP that would come out under the name MA DOOM, with DOOM dropping all the beats and Ace spitting all the verses. Unfortunately, there were no hard details to turn into whacky, class-A, TMT jokes (or even bro-dog Pitchfork jokes) at the time, so I ended the piece by suggesting that some sucker find out the rest of the details whenever possible, write up a hilarious story about it, and slap my name at the top so that I’d get credit for it. Well, it turns out that I’m an idiot, because eight months later… I am that sucker. It’s like M. Night Shyamalan is writing my life as a terrible screenplay somewhere!
Anyway, according to one of my favorites FACT Magazine, the MA DOOM album is finally coming out after months of annoying delays and reverbs. It’s called MA DOOM: Son of Yvonne and is set for release on July 17 on Fat Beats Records (I know that sounds fake, but it’s not). The duo unveiled the first sample of said album a few weeks ago on Soundcloud, a decidedly feminist cut about, you know, women using their sexy tits to seduce, drug, and burgle you. So, you know, I guess we can look forward to more of that. Check out the track below, and keep your beguiling breasts and buttocks the fuck away from me.
You hear about a show, buy tickets, go to the venue, and then enact the ritual of modern-day musical performance, where the line between artist and audience is clearly delineated and everything is dictated by schedules. This ritual is more than just a convenient way of catching a performance; it’s a reflection of capitalist ideology, where time itself is a commodity and the resulting expectations of musical performance are reduced to bullet points on a show-goer’s valuation checklist. The You Are Here festival, created by conceptual installation art duo Trouble (Sam Hillmer of ZS and Laura Paris), is an attempt to subvert this ritual. Rather than setting up multiple stages over the span of a weekend, the third-annual You Are Here fest is set up in Brooklyn’s Secret Project Robot Gallery, from Thursday through Saturday each week for four weeks starting July 12.
The kicker? There is no stage. In fact, there is no center, no focal point, no defined Spectacle to fetishize. Instead, musicians are embedded in an actual life-size maze, an installation designed and built by Trouble, with lights, projections, sculpture, sound, and more. According to the fest, “Audience members arrive at ‘You Are Here’ with the intention of catching a particular presentation, but intentions are frustrated and transformed by the labyrinthine construction the festival provides. Artists and audiences alike are invited to question the expectations that arise around performance in the context of community.” Having troubles picturing it? Check out this slick digital simulation of this year’s maze design:
Past artists have included Dirty Projectors’ Dave Longstreth, Thee Oh Sees, Calvin Johnson, and Excepter (click here to view images/videos/etc. of past mazes), and this year’s lineup is just as a-maze-ing, with TMT favorites like C. Spencer Yeh, Laurel Halo, ZS, Dustin Wong, Noveller, Extra Life, Mick Barr, Amen Dunes, and Diamond Terrifier, as well as Miho Hatori’s New Optimism, Ann Liv Young, Win Win, Fuckton, Jack Quartet, Nymph, MV Carbon, Driphouse, Psychic Reality, and many more announced and to be announced.
In addition to the New York event, Trouble are attempting to bring the maze installation to Berlin at the West Germany Gallery and Show Space in Kreuzberg. They’ve started a Kickstarter campaign to make this happen. Check it out and pledge all of the money in your bank account.
