WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Slasher Risk, My Castle of Quiet Live Session, 28th Oct 2009

I'm running out of ways to gush about Slasher Risk. Point is, this relatively young band, a duo, doesn't seem to yet realize how good they are, or how amazing they're going to be in just a short while. That's a fine thing, because it means they're only doing what must be done—what comes naturally. And what comes naturally is dynamic improvised music, with one limb occasionally stuck in something that remembers rock, but just as often or more so, dances in the air above the unimaginable maw of the Lovecraftian abyss. Frightening to some, but not to Andy or Sara, who do it seemingly just because it's their thing.

A two-person Can? Lou and Sterling? Moe and Sterling? Or a guitar-noise duo whose work makes Solmania seem "uptight"—just who the hell are Slasher Risk?

Here are 37+ minutes that at least put us closer to an answer:

Slasher Risk Live on WFMU's My Castle of Quiet

Good photo and top-notch session engineering by Trent.
Lousy photo and video by your host and author.

Slasher Risk Live on WFMU's My Castle of Quiet is covered by a creative commons attribution-non commercial-no derivatives license.

New Podcast: Choking on Cufflinks

Introducing a new podcast: Choking on Cufflinks with Michael Goodstein!

Michael is taking a break from the air schedule, but he's still delivering the goods: DIY pop, shitalo, & the other "fun" stuff from Brooklyn, Jersey City, Manchester circa 1980, and everywhere else the DIY impulse took root.

Click here to subscribe to the Choking on Cufflinks podcast via iTunes, or visit our podcast page for more options.

WFMU's Record Fair - this weekend!

Get your game face on and your vinyl flipping fingers warmed up: WFMU's annual Record Fair hits the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan this weekend! Besides 10,000 square feet of amazing CDs, LPs, DVDs and artworks, there will be live broadcasts all weekend long, and live music from the Trashmen, People Like Us, Kevin Blechdom, Heavy Trash (w/ Jon Spencer) and more (full schedule here). Check out movies in the A/V Lounge or deface your favorite record sleeve at the LP Modification Booth!

Location:
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street, NYC

Hours and Admission:
Friday, October 23rd, 7-10pm, $7
Saturday, October 24th, 10am-7pm, $7
Sunday, October 25th, 10am-7pm, $7
Early Admission: Friday, October 23rd from 4-7pm, $25 (includes re-admission all weekend)

Download this flyer (PDF), print it, and present at the ticket booth to receive $2 off admission.


Live Bands and Guest DJ sets

Saturday 10/24

• Chip Taylor (11:30am), wrote "Wild Thing," "Angel Of The Morning;" live acoustic set.
• The Trashmen (2pm), best known for their smash hit "Surfin' Bird."
• Heavy Trash (4pm), rockabilly love child of NYC rockers Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray.
• New York Night Train DJ set (6pm), with Jonathan Toubin spinning rock and soul.

Sunday 10/25

• Electric Chaircuts w/ Nelson Loskamp (noon), electrosonic haircuts.
  
• Kevin Blechdom + BARNWAVE + special guests (1pm, A/V Lounge).
• People Like Us (2pm, A/V Lounge), audio/visual collage... avant retard!
  
• Chris Brokaw (3pm), of Codeine & The New Year; 12 string guitar trio.
• Damu the Fudgemonk (3pm, A/V Lounge), an Akai MPC 2000 and turntables.
  
• La Cumbiamba eNeYé (4pm), European, African, and Colombian sounds.

(photo by the junes, CC by)

New Podcast: The Eternal Now with Andy Ortmann

Andy Ortmann is not only the mastermind behind Nihilist Records, but is also a member of Plastic Crimewave Sound and Panicsville, with a number of excellent noise/experimental releases under his own name. Andy had a brief on-air stint here at WFMU a few years back and we still have (and use) the air raid siren he left behind.

Any person who has an air raid siren at their disposal is exactly the type of person we want hosting a new WFMU podcast that focuses on contemporary experimental, psychedelic, noise & other obscure music.

Introducing... The Eternal Now podcast with Andy Ortmann!

Click here to subscribe via iTunes, or visit our podcast page for more options.

Old Jersey vs. New Jersey, Part 2

Billy Jam sez:

In the first part of this series (posted a week ago) I included an MP3 of people on the streets of Jersey City speaking on their knowledge (or lack thereof) of the origins of the name of New Jersey. This time I am including an sample of what the folks I stopped on the streets of St. Hélier in "old" Jersey had to say when quizzed on their knowledge of New Jersey (MP3). I am also including my new favorite old Jersey song which sums up so perfectly the unique and special place that is the small island of Jersey, Hedley Le Maistre's "Jersey, Mon Vie!" (MP3).

Friday, October 2nd's WFMU live remote broadcast (during Doug Schulkind's timeslot) from Jersey's capital of St. Hélier during the Channel Island's 2nd annual Branchage Film Festival was an amazingly wonderful event to be a part of, and a rewarding one on many levels. First off it was a really great idea of the festival's director Xanthe Hamilton to link "old" Jersey with New Jersey via WFMU - something she presented to a receptive FMU station manager Ken Freedman about five months ago, and whose concept grew in scope since. And secondly for the dialog it began between the two Jerseys - one which we hope to keep going on the air here at WFMU. Expect to regularly hear "Jersey Bites" on Friday afternoons during the new WFMU Fall/Winter season which kicked into effect Monday, October 12th.

If you missed last week's broadcast it is archived - in playlist and audio forms - here, and includes a wide variety of guests getting on the FMU airwaves to share insights on the island of Jersey; a place that may only be 45 square miles in size but is incredibly rich in culture and history. A British Crown dependency the Bailiwick of Jersey, as it is officially known, is 100 miles south of England and lies only 14 miles west of the coast of Normandy, under whose rule it was once governed.

The WFMU remote show guests included Philip Malet de Carteret whose ancestors - several centuries ago - owned the land now known as the Garden State and were the ones responsible for giving New Jersey its name. The interview I conducted with him at his historic manor in the parish of St.Ouen (Jersey is divided into parishes, not counties) ran a lot longer than the segment included in the remote broadcast. Hence snippets of it will be played over the coming months on the air. Same for the organic Jersey dairy farmer Ian Mitchell, who was a live guest during the October 2nd remote but whose farm I visited the following day (see video below) and recorded more footage about the Jersey cow (a highly intelligent & unusally friendly animal) and its rich dairy product.

People Like Us end of season album download

People Like Us says:

It's the end of the Summer Season and so time for DO or DIY to unplug the ethernet cable, give the ol' modem a bit of a dust and take the next season off. But before we go we haven't forgotten that it's somewhat a tradition to make a downloadable collection of the best of all things avant retard for your ears and eye-pods, you lucky people - complete with downloadable artwork. So here it is. I always say there's nothing like art, and this is nothing like art.

Do or DIY - "Awful Fun" (zip file: MP3s and artwork)

Separate Files:

Artwork (PDF)

Track 1 (MP3)
Track 2 (MP3)
Track 3 (MP3)
Track 4 (MP3)
Track 5 (MP3)
Track 6 (MP3)
Track 7 (MP3)
Track 8 (MP3)
Track 9 (MP3)
Track 10 (MP3)
Track 11 (MP3)
Track 12 (MP3)
Track 13 (MP3)
Track 14 (MP3)

WFMU Launches 2 New Webstreams

WFMU now has two brand new webstreams for your listening pleasure.   WFMU's Rock & Soul Ichiban (listen here ) and Ubu Audio (listen here ).  Ichiban features the best in obscure hits from the 50's and 60's mixed with vintage commercials, jingles and monster movie trailers; all selected by Debbie D.  Plus, you get short radio sets from Mr. Finewine, Rex and Dave the Spazz with all of the tracking and none of the yakking.  Visit the Ichiban blog for more information.  The Ubu audio stream consists of sound poetry culled from Kenny G's amazing ubu.com site. Stream on!

ATP-NY 2009: Grouper (MP3)

(photo left: Abbey Braden) It was most rewarding to see that All Tomorrows Parties gave Portland OR's Grouper (AKA Liz Harris) the larger room for her September 12th set from Kutsher's resort in the Catskills; the glacial, elegant movements of her solo performances (armed only with guitar, voice, and FX) were befitting of a past-its-prime ballroom where the spectres of 1950's-1970's entertainment loomed large. That and the fact that a large room's acoustics were perfect for her; in front swirling projected images Harris projected murky, oceanic melodies, lumbering overtones and dreamlike drones, all a seemingly symphonic creation all at the hands of one person and a guitar. It sounded very controlled yet completely vague and very much non-digital sounding. Surrounded by this, you feel completely transported by these dense yet never-overpowering clouds of sound, always distant, but directly connected your cortex in a way I think even My Bloody Valentine could not quite accomplish with their live barrage last year. Comparisons to Arvo Part meets Throbbing Gristle are definitely accurate; there's an epicness about Grouper's music that never quite releases its sense of foreboding while at the same time aims to sooth the soul.

WFMU broadcast a good portion of the weekend from All Tomorrows Parties, and we're uploading new performances every day to this blog and the Free Music Archive's ATP collection. Grouper's set was recorded somewhat simply for broadcast by Jason Sigal, a basic mix and room mic is really all needed to capture this.

Old Jersey vs. New Jersey: WFMU On Location

Billy Jam sez:

If you stop people on the streets of Jersey City and quiz them about the origins of the name of the Garden State, the majority will be unaware of the island of Jersey - the British Crown Dependency located in the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy. I know because recently I did exactly this: I interviewed a sampling of Jersey City folks on the street near the WFMU studios (MP3). 

I will be playing back this vox pop on Friday (Oct 2nd) between 9am and 12 noon (NJ time) during the WFMU live remote broadcast from Weighbridge Square on the harbour-front in St Helier (Old Jersey's capitol), during day two of the four-day Branchage Film Festival in Old Jersey.

In addition to talking on the air with the film festival's director Xanthe Hamilton and many others about the festival that also involves music, I will be talking with several authorities on the relationship between Old Jersey and New Jersey. These will include Philip Malet de Carteret whose ancestors are literally responsible for New Jersey. Back in 1663 King Charles II rewarded the de Carterets for their loyalty during the Civil War by gifting them with a large tract of land in North America. That tract of land would become New Jersey.

Also to be interviewed will be Rod McLaughlin - an acclaimed Jersey historian who will speak on Jersey's status as a Crown Dependency, how it was once under French rule, its occupation by the Nazis, and its relationship to New Jersey. Jersey cow farmer Ian Mitchell, who will bring along samples of some dairy products derived from the rich creamy Jersey milk, will discuss Jersey's popular export.

And in conjunction with BBC Jersey, who are producing the festival's Shear Music showcase of local talent, I have invited numerous Old Jersey artists including Jjjiiim, Jersey Bob, and Wizard & Frog to come on the air live to perform. There are many more guests expected on this WFMU remote broadcast but who knows just what might happen on freeform FMU. Tune in to find out on Friday 9am to 12 noon (Doug's normal slot) on WFMU. For exact details on the Branchage Film Festival click here. And check back here on the WFMU blog for updates from Jersey on the Branchage Film Festival. 

- Billy Jam

ATP-NY 2009: The Melvins (2 MP3's)

More sonic souvenirs from the Sept 11-13 All Tomorrows Parties from Kutshers resort in the Catskills, broadcast over WFMU. The Melvins. A lone blog post can't sum up all there is to say about these guys, except theirs is a world so universal that only these musicians could be the common thread between Lustmord and Gene Simmons (both of whom have made music with them). Simply calling the Melvins the godfathers of Northwest grunge shorts them on many accounts; their beauty, brutality, and enormous palette for experimentation and forward-thinking has never stalled out. It's no wonder they were a handful for Atlantic Records in the mid 90's, but thankfully their post-majors career sees the Melvins invigorated and making some of their awesomest sounds on stage and in studio. Their latest release "Chicken Switch" (Ipecac) finds them remixed by the likes of Merzbow, Eye, Sunroof, Christoph Heeman, Matmos and more. 

Their Saturday, October 12th set at stage 2 of ATP was the first chance I've had to check out the post-2006 lineup of the band, with 80's mainstays King Buzzo (guitar/vox) and Dale Crover (drums) actually merging their band with Big Business (Coady Willis on second drums, Jared Willis on bass). To say they slayed would be an understatement, and in all truth this is the only band that could have one of its members perform in a Snuggy and not lose one fraction of heaviness. We've got two approved MP3s from the set: "Zodiac" and "Kicking Machine" engineered during WFMU broadcast by Scott Konzelmann.

WFMU Fest in Brooklyn This Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Faust, Teenage Jesus, Pissed Jeans and More

WFMU curates and produces its own festival this week! Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, October 1-3, we take over the Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 N. 6th Street in Brooklyn) for an all-out live assault with a myriad of some of our favorite local and international acts. Krautrock godfathers, No Wave pioneers, post-Gristle industrial coldwave, French post-rock doom, and full-on ass-flattening punk rock explosions will abound!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1st (doors 8PM, $20 advance or door)
Faust
Cold Cave
Aluk Todolo

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2nd (doors 8PM, $12 advance/$15 door)
Pissed Jeans
TV Ghost
VeeDee
Guinea Worms

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3rd (doors 8PM, $20 advance or door)
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
Sightings
Drunkdriver
Talk Normal

More pics and info on the bands on an earlier post, and advance tickets are still available at the Music Hall of Williamsburg site, or Other Music (W. 4th and Lafayette Street in Manhattan). Words can't relate how happy WFMU is to be able to gather such a criminally great mass of live performers onboard for this. Our thanks to everyone who's bought advance tix so far, the bands, Henry Owings for the poster design and Chantelle Hylton-Simmons for helping us out as well. Great ready for a clobbering weekend of live music, and stop by the station's tables in the venue's lobby to say hello (and pick up some FMU wear or one of our limited-run WFMU Fest posters!) Once again, we are not broadcasting live, so get on out there to be part of this!

ATP-NY 2009: Caribou Vibration Ensemble w/ Marshall Allen (mp3s)

Earlier this month, WFMU brought an all-star crew up to Kutsher's Country Club for the second annual NY installment of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. For everyone who missed the live broadcast, we'll be archiving many of them for on-demand listening on WFMU's blog and Free Music Archive, starting this week. We've lined up a post a day from the likes of Deerhoof, Deerhunter, Atlas Sound, The Melvins, Grouper, Akron/Family, Black Dice, the Dirty Three (w/ Nick Cave!), and more surprises await.

Let's start things off with the 16-person Caribou Vibration Ensemble, which featured Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra for this special festival performance. The heart of Caribou is Dan Snaith, a Canadian mathematician, who started his musical project back in 2000 under the name Manitoba. Following the success of the 2003 album Up In Flames, "Handsome Dick" Manitoba of the Dictators claimed ownership over the name Manitoba and threatened legal action. Snaith decided to change his name to Caribou "while on an LSD trip with friends in the Canadian wilderness" (source). Caribou sounds a lot like an LSD trip in the Canadian wilderness, led by a mathematician with a PhD and a penchant for laptop IDM. Snaith has taken an increasingly organic approach to live performance leading up to the formation of the Vibration Ensemble.

Taking the stage at the Stardust Ballroom on Sunday September 13th, the Vibration Ensemble included every musician who has ever been a part of a Caribou live performance -- from frequent collaborators like John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac) and Kieren Hebden (Four Tet), to the one-off special appearance of the legendary Marshall Allen (current leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra). All-in-all, the ensemble includes four drummers, a 5-piece horn section, and a choir to bring every thunder and peak of Carbou's music to vibrant life. Engineer Rob Christiansen did a fantastic job mixing this set, we hope you'll enjoy these four selections (after the jump):

Kevin Nutt on BBC Lancashire Radio 9/26

WFMU's esteemed host of Sinner's Crossroads, Kevin Nutt, will present a 40-minute gospel set on the BBC Lancashire's "On the Wire" program this Saturday, September 26th.

OTW host Steve Barker is celebrating his program's 25th Anniversary and invited Mr. Nutt in on the festivities. Check out OTW's blog here.

Jabladav, WFMU-exclusive track, "Loss"

The music of Jabladav (aka one-man, metal virtuoso James H. from NC, USA) takes me almost as often to The Court of the Crimson King as it does to screaming out my soul's anguish in a bone yard. Jabladav donated this monster exclusive track to our blog and Free Music Archive.

Jabladav - Loss

You can hear my (somewhat technically blunderous) interview with James, as part of the full My Castle of Quiet program archive from 9/16, by clicking here, and selecting your poison playback of choice.

The new Jabladav full-length, Atta Vinter, is perhaps James' finest work yet—a cohesive, album-style vision, that's very much a black metal record, as much as it's all over the map with surprising elements and influences. This is clearly a guy with tastes and a record collection to rival most WFMU DJs. Enjoy.

"Loss" is shared by Jabladav through a creative commons attribution-non commercial-no derivatives license.

My Castle of Quiet Free Music Archive curator page

Kathleen Hanna & AdRock visit WFMU

Keili says:

Disregard any and all messages, songs, and movies directing you to "Kill Your Idols." On Monday, September 14th, the sanctified grand poohbah of Riot Grrrl herself, Bikini Kill, Julie Ruin and LeTigre centerpiece, KATHLEEN effin' HANNA, blessed WFMU with an appearance on Beastin' The Airwaves! with Keili, to chat about youth empowerment and to share her personal herstory and experience with our devoted listeners.

Playlist  |  Archive

(pop-up)

Tagging along for the fun was the king of Boggle himself, The King AdRock, Adam Horovitz of the world-altering Beastie Boys and BS 2000.

Listen as the studio walls buckle under the pressure to contain so much sheer talent and the floor shakes with the realization that these superstars are still relatable people who can make time to have a fun chat on freeform radio without having to promote any product.

While you're in the thick of reawakening the grrrl inside you, head on over to Kathleen Hanna's blog for some hilarious photos, art tips, and lady-centric commentary.

WFMU's Broadcast Schedule from ATP Sat/Sun/Mon

WFMU's crew is firmly entrenched at Kutshers' resort in the heart of the Catskills, and basking in the glow of some of history's foremost Jewish entertainers. By that of course, we mean Alan Vega and Martin Rev (left, from Abbey Braden's Flickr), whose live presentation of Suicide's first album in Friday night's Don't Look Back series was otherworldly and somewhat ear-damagingly loud.  Suicide will be among the sets aired on WFMU over the next three days as we preempt programming to bring you performances once again from the celebrated All Tomorrow's Parties festival. We're set up at two separate stages and will be carrying the shows in delayed form so we don't have overlap issues ala a few of last year's later sets, with commentary by Pseu Braun and Gaylord Fields Saturday and Sunday from WFMU's broadcast central (conveniently located next to the ping pong table near Kutsher's nail salon, so expect all kinds of sonic ambience from around). Check out our schedule below and tune in at wfmu.org all weekend!

Please keep in mind, as per usual with WFMU's festival broadcasts, artists agree on broadcast permissions independently, hence it's not always possible to bring you these events en masse.

Saturday, September 12 (Eastern Time listings)
7:00 PM   Panda Bear
8:00 PM   Black Dice
9:15 PM   Grouper
10:15 PM Atlas Sound
11:15 PM Akron Family

Sunday, September 13
5:00 PM  Deerhunter
6:15 PM  The Melvins
7:30 PM  Animal Collective
9:00 PM  Boss Hog
10:00 PM Deerhoof
11:15 PM Caribou Vibration Ensemble

Monday, September 14
12:00 PM WFMU's Marty McSorley hosts ATP founder Barry Hogan (interview/guest DJ)
1:00 PM  Suicide (perform their 1st album)
1:50 PM  Dirty Three (joined on piano by Nick Cave), excerpted set
2:30 PM  No Age with Bob Mould (performing Husker Du songs)
3:30 PM Circulatory System
4:15 PM  Antipop Consortium

Please keep in mind some of these times may be subject to change, but WFMU will keep you updated on its Facebook and Twitter pages, and also its home page.

Reminder: WFMU Broadcasting from ATP 2009 This Weekend

In case you missed the news, WFMU will broadcast and webstream from All Tomorrow's Parties at Kutshers this Saturday and Sunday evening (and possibly Monday afternoon, depending if we have some extra sets to air). Saturday's 5PM ET-Midnight lineup looks to include Panda Bear, Grouper, Black Dice, Antipop Consortium, Atlas Sound, and Akron/Family; Sunday's 6PM-Midnight airing will feature sets by Deerhunter, the Melvins, Animal Collective, Boss Hog, Deerhoof, and the Caribou Vibration Ensemble. Stay tuned to the station's home page, Facebook and Twitter for live updates and possible changes and additions during the weekend.

From previous post on BotB:
Once again, WFMU makes camp at Kutsher's resort in the heart of the Borscht Belt, as we hook up with the All Tomorrow's Parties festival and broadcast live! The three-day long event in Monticello NY runs from September 11-13th and if you caught last year's simulcast from the My Bloody Valentine-curated fest you know that having WFMU is the next best thing to being there (though while we carried a myriad of live sets, we may have fallen short in relaying the experience of having one's nails done in the Kutsher's spa). This year's lineup is co-curated by the Flaming Lips, and WFMU's simulcasts will happen Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 12 and 13. We're still working out assorted artist permissions (stay tuned to the blog and our home page, and once again we'll alert everyone as to which sets may be downloadable later on), but the performance roster this time out includes Suicide, the Feelies (each performing their first albums) Jesus Lizard, Animal Collective, Boris, Boss Hog, the Melvins, Deerhunter, No Age (w/Bob Mould performing Husker Du songs with them) Boredoms, Deerhoof, Grouper, Oneida, Caribou Variation Ensemble, Anti-Pop Consortium and more. We'll have interviews, full sets, probably some remotes from the lake's rowboats, and WFMU will be heading up a DJ night in the Kutshers lounge on Sunday (UPDATE: FRIDAY) night at midnight! More info on how to attend ATP here (rooms at the resort we are told are now sold out however). Hope to see some WFMU listeners there!

Reintroducing WFMU's Local Events Guide

The Arbitrary Guide to Popular Culture is back!

WFMU's local events guide underwent a minor facelift and is now ready to show you a good time. It may even help you predict where Marty Markowitz (right) will turn up next...

Hit the Arb Guide to check out what's going on in NYC & NJ, and find something to do this weekend! Special thanks to Ari and Jeff for helping out.

New Podcast: The Rampler with Frank Edward Nora

WFMU has just added yet another podcast to our growing roster...

The Rampler with Frank Edward Nora

From the streets of NYC and also in-studio, a unique, pleasantly insane talk show about pop culture, food, technology, the mysteries of the universe, and a whole lot more. Subscribe to The Rampler podcast via iTunes by clicking here (or visit WFMU's podcast page for more options).

WFMU Fest at Music Hall of Williamsburg October 1-3: Faust, Pissed Jeans, Teenage Jesus and more

(poster design via Henry Owings) Breaking news: for three nights October 1st, 2nd, and 3rd WFMU Fest takes over the Music Hall of Williamsburg for our very first ever big-scale multi-day curated concert event. Hot damn. Check out this lineup: Thursday October 1st: Krautrock pioneers Faust, with Cold Cave and Aluk Todolo opening! Friday, October 2nd: a home run punk fest featuring Pissed Jeans, TV Ghost, Vee Dee, and Guinea Worms! Saturday the 3rd features the return of No Wave legends Teenage Jesus and the Jerks plus a triple attack setup of NYC noisemongers Sightings, Drunkdriver, and Talk Normal. Tickets will be available in advance via the Music Hall of Williamsburg's site starting September 3rd. We will not be broadcasting, so you better get on out and not miss this, it's gonna melt brains! More info on the bands after the jump: