Monday, November 15th, 2010 // Paperhouse
The Library Catalogue Music Series is Sufjan Stevens’ label (Asthmatic Kitty) recently-created series of albums. For those of you who are intrigued by Stevens’ recent electronic compositions, you should know that much of the music in this series is part of the same lush electronic lineage. I highly recommend exploring the series, as it’ll open your ears to the goings-on of Asthmatic Kitty.
One prime example of the diversity of this series is Kristin Miltner’s Music for Dreaming and Playing. For starters, it’s warm, playful, ethereal, and devoid of lyrics. The album is all about mood. If you’re looking for some contemplative touches of digital femininity, pop this album into your CD player.
As the album’s title would suggest, the album has two distinct sections: dreaming and playing. The dreaming portion consists of the first four tracks, while the rest is play of the video game sort. Imagine that you’re listening to little morsels of music that Miltner has created for the soundtrack of some warm and fuzzy indie game, and you’re there.
“Altamont Pass” is the most outstanding track on this album for those looking for an acoustically rich experience.
To describe this song in more lush language: Harmonics pulse in and out, resonating and creating a shroud similar to muted bells. As a listener, you are now wandering through a desert in your dreams where purple and white clouds drip by slowly and the hologram horizon seems to flicker. Harmless ghosts, about your size, their auras tinged with nacreous greens, pass through you. As they pass, you can see clearly into their muted neon robes. They’ve been precisely where you are. They’ve made the journey and they’ve watched you pass.
You are neither hungry, thirsty, lonely, tired, happy, nor sad. You simply are observing.
Monday, November 8th, 2010 // Paperhouse
So, beloved reader, I bet you’re wondering how the WRCT Dance Party came out.
Well, let me tell you, ace, it was quite a night. Here are some morsels to give you a taste of what it was like:
Dancing duos, lips locked and hips entrenched in the loins of their partners, grooving to wobbling square waves.
Architecture students bouncing to the beat in a genderless free-for-all of grinding, packed so tightly they looked like human accordions.
Crafty remixes that had the crowd guessing at the next batch of music to go into the sonic bouillabaisse.
A break dancing circle that lasted for a half-hour.
Lasers and an ingenious video jockey set.
Down-tempo pleasure in the blue room, rocked by five DJs.
The company of your friends.
Tell me if that doesn’t sound like the best night you had in a while.
Oh, you weren’t there? Well, by gosh you missed out on the hootenanny of the month! A night where you could truly get lost in the maze of musical mayhem crafted by WRCT’s DJs.
If you’re looking to experience the glory of a WRCT dance party, keep your eyes out in the spring for announcements regarding our spring semester dance party. Idioms aside, it’ll be sure to knock you off your rocker.
Some warm and fuzzy songs to keep your spirits up in the face of the cold: “Angel Echoes” by Four Tet (UK) “Alohamora” by Pogo (Western Australia) “A Gigantic Dub” by Tommy McCook & the Aggravators (Jamaica) “Perverted Undertone” by Prefuse 73 (Atlanta, Barcelona, New York) “Cabildo” by Chico Trujillo (Chile)
-Juan Fernandez
Monday, November 1st, 2010 // Paperhouse
I’m going to write about a song that I honestly believe should make its way into the lives of every human being. Recently it has been influencing every aspect of my life.
Let’s go over the progression of this song: Giselle speaks. A piano gently backs her. This is a song of longing. What’s funny is that I’m in no way in a rut of lonely unrequited love. I’m no beautiful damsel dripping in gold, but the song resonates because it captures an emotion so fully. The lyrics are effectively paralleled in the instrumentation, and together they create an image that’s impossible to shake. Tasting the hushed blazes of orange behind plum-speckled clouds, feeling like you’re floating gently through a glowing forest of jellyfish, you are wrapped in Giselle’s words like the gentlest smoke of incense.
What makes this song such an earworm? I would have to say that it’s due to the simple layered progression of the song. Each layer is simple and memorable and satisfying in its own right. Nevertheless, the song is a gem because whenever a single constituent part of the song is remembered, the rest of it hovers in your mind, gently holding your memory like a lover easing into bed. Despite how memorable each individual piece of the song is, there’s a particular inimitable reverb on Giselle’s voice that makes every listening drip with pleasure.
This is the kind of song that, oddly enough, makes you want to make sure that your mom knows how much you love her and how fortunate you feel for having been raised by her. So, that’s what I’m off to do. By gosh, I’m going to make her proud of this kid she’s brought into this beautiful world! Again, the song is “Crave You (ft. Giselle)” by Flight Facilities. Look it up online. Readers, I promise you’ll love it.
As per usual, if you want to get down with the WRCT sound, check out the following artists and their respective songs: “Duck Sauce” by Barbara Streisand, “El Remolon” by Cumbia Bichera (Tremor Mix), “Minotaur Shock” by The Downs, “Rye Rye” by Sunshine ft. M.I.A., and “This Unfolds” by Four Tet
-Juan Fernandez
