resurrecting flashes of brilliance.

this is the first record i downloaded from flash strap, & my mind was absolutely blown away by how emotionally moving this r&b/soul record could be. super funky in the right spots without resorting to cheese. i knew when i got this record i needed to know this guy, & that i could trust his rec's because his taste is immaculate. keep yr head up amigo, & see you around.

another day punching in.

more gauzy hazy summery dream pop for those afternoons where the heat creates shimmery trails across yr line of sight.

tim cohen has the right idea.

because not everything has to be obscure or underground or kvlt or ripped from some record that was only pressed in an imaginary country. american analog set are my favorite band from texas, & one of my all time summer go to bands fershure. i feel like this album gets overshadowed by know by heart & set free, but fool around should be on everyone's summer mixtapes. put this on & get lost forever.

promise of love.

another criminally unknown cat who recorded some really groovy shit for some questionable films. fabio frizzi should be real high in the ranks of the masters, but kinda lurks in the shadows which is a real cryin' shame. i have some other giallo jazz soundtracks i've been thinking of posting up if people are interested. also, sorry for the drop off in posts, sometimes real life gets the best of ya, dig?

when yes means no.

walter rizzati is an underappreciated genius of easy listening giallo jazz soundtracks to b grade italian films. if you like morricone, ferrio, marchetti, or piccioni, then get this now.

in mother russia.

holy fucking shit. why have i not heard of vladimir vysotsky before? some canadian cat who was staying where i work told me about this guy, & said he was the russian leonard cohen. i can see a bit of that, but on this record, he reminds me a lot of brel & my man walker. i definitely see those cats in the same league... i guess he's referred to as the russian bob dylan because they both came up at the same time? maybe they were both working in a "political" realm around the same time that civil unrest in both countries was running high? who fucking knows. anyway, just download this & thank me later. & if anyone out there has more gems from this cat, let me know.

race for space aums.

super burnt out psych slow jams for rejoicing in a vegetarian restaurant on sunset strip. if yr not familiar with yod, here is a great chance. my favorite from him, it's a pretty weird but rockin' record. pretty hissy, but still, who can complain? thanks to the original ripper whoever ye be.

meet me at the bus stop.

everyone owes r. stevie moore so much... i know i do. he's a really big influence on my music & the way i view diy ethics when it comes to music. i feel he is FINALLY now just starting to get his due. if you've never heard this genius, jump the fuck in.

she's in my head.

lo-fi dream pop for lazy summertime afternoons.

these hands could separate the sky - demo.

one of my all time favorite bands. imagine if explosions in the sky had cribbed from mineral. i think if this had come out in the nineties, it would have definitely been on crank!, & been really really big. perfectly soundtracks any summer time activity fershure. jackson, if you read this, miss you buddy. send me a smoke signal.

cool, cool water.

lo-fi kosmische kraut noise recorded live back in the golden days of san diego past. beautiful hypnotic synth jammers... if yr into emeralds or any of the modern shit, then you'll really dig physics. put out on gsl a long long time ago, i haven't seen this around very much, but everyone should know this gem.

bravo, max! - dmtblues.

some dallas brahs i use to take drugs with. i worked with two of the members, & hung out with the producer separately. the two dudes would invite me to their shows on a semi frequent basis, & i always dicked my way out of it by coming up with some poor excuse. finally i went to go see them, & they were this mid tempo folk rock band with a little too much nmh & beirut showing on their sleeves. a few minutes sounded like a post rock calexico, which i then drunkenly decided to tell them was "THEIR sound man" & that they should just write songs like that. anyway, fast forward five months. i have seen them a couple of more times, & even did a horribly drunk cover of where eagles dare by the misfits with them. they lose their second guitarist, their accordion player, & their third guitarist/multi instrumentalist & gotten a new drummer (the producer from earlier in the story). i went over to the producer's house to hang out with him, & he played me the new demo tracks which i was blown away. it's just raw lo-fi stripped down mid nineties folky indie rock which was the other avenue i was hoping they would go down if they weren't going to desert rock like i begged them to. anyway, i saw them almost every show they played after that for a good month & a half stretch because every time they got better & better. then i went over to jj's house one day, & he played me some new tracks, & they just didn't have the same sparkle as the old demo he had given me. the ones sounded too much like blown out bloozy two steppin' bar rock which is fine for other people, but i didn't dig it. anyway, here is that first demo that jj gave me for y'all. he didn't title the songs, so i gave them the names i always thought of them as in my head when they would play them. i also made the cover art for them. sorry if yr bummed duders. call me!

don't even sing about it.

bloodshed will always hold a really special place for me. they were the first hardcore band i ever saw when i was twelve at some church show. they weren't much older than i was... they were talking about how they couldn't tour outside of california because their drummer was in eighth grade. i think the oldest guy might have been sixteen maybe? it was really inspirational to think of kids not much older than me getting up on stage & creating this visceral art. i saw them as often as i could, which was maybe another eight or nine times until they broke up. definitely d.c. & ebullition inspired, this still really holds up for me after 17 years.

eat!

just saw this movie a week ago. holy fuck what a mind warping experience that was. it has led me to explore other asian movies & develop a deep found love for the shaw brothers. this soundtrack is amazing. rent the movie asap!

this is the song where i break my arm.

this is a really special record made by a really superb human being. i only ever got the chance to see alunared once, but it was one of the best shows i have ever seen. i have bugged jack ever since, & he has been nothing but gracious everytime. he has also been a really encouraging source for me to follow my muse to whatever fucked up end it leads me to. this record is all cold icy synths rubbing up against death disco beats. dude is still putting out amazing records to this day, support him here.

spanish bee.

one of my all time favorite soundtracks to one of my all time favorite movies. the way the music moves with the images is absolutely stunning. glass is an amazing composer, & should be a house hold name at this point.

there are still secrets.

a friend sent this to me when we had a discussion about jazz. i dig it a whole lot. really smooth & the drumming is fucking immaculate. get this for the first song alone. the drum solos abound & each is amazing in it's own right. i wish the piano was a bit more free, but ya know... beggars can't be choosers eh?

yr just a fucking hood.

i ran into andrea zollo a month or so ago while shopping for orange juice. i fanboy'd a little which she was nice about. i really liked pretty girls make graves a whole lot when they came out with their first few seven inches, but this is what made me crush on her when i was a young dude. lo-fi punk with members of murder city devils, pgmg, the cave singers, and some other questionable bands (ie jaguar love).

indonesia's best kept secret.

Ponorogo is most well known for the reyog mask dance, which is said to have been created by one of the kings of Kediri in the 12th century. The performance re-enacts a legendary battle between Pujangga Anom, a minister from the court of Ponorogo, and Singa Barong, guardian spirit of the forest of Lodoyo. The former had aroused the anger of Singa Barong when he stole 150 tigers from the forest, apparently to be offered as a dowry payment for a princess of Kediri, whom the king of Ponorogo wished to marry.

A typical reyog troupe, then, usually consists of the principal characters; Singa Barong, wearing an enormous tiger head and peacock feather mask, and his adversary Pujangga Anom. They are accompanied by one or more masked clowns/acrobats, as well as a number of hobby horse dancers, who are said to represent the troops of Pujangga Anom.

The people of Ponorogo have a reputation for being tough, both physically and mentally. The qualities of bravery and daring are fully displayed in a reyog performance, where the focus of attention is on a trance dancer supporting a giant mask, often weighing more than 40 kg, between his teeth. The mask is a ferocious, snarling tiger’s head, covered in real tiger skin and crowned with a gigantic three meter fan of peacock feathers.

The success of a performance, including the ability of the principal dancer to bear the weight of the mask, is said to depend upon the magical power of the leader of the dance troupe. Known as warok, these men are believed to possess special talents, gained through years of training. One of the unique features of the reyog dance is that the hobby horse (jaran kepang) dancers are invariably young boys dressed as women. Known as gemblak, they accompany the warok, who are forbidden close association with females, in their travelling performances.

Contest of Reyog dance is presented annually by the local government. Ngebel, a natural lake and batik printing of ponorogo are also worthwhile seeing.

Reyog Ponorogo: Tiger, Peacock

A tiger’s head and a wide-winged peacock are the principal features of the traditional Reyog Ponorogo dance. The weight of this pair, called Dhadhak Merak, may reach 40 kg or even 100 kg, carried by one man, moving around, up and down. The tiger’s head symbolizes a hero. The man, warok, who bears it must have a magic power.

Dhadhak Merak, often known as Singobarong, is performed as a welcoming dance for honorable guests, or as attractions, complete with its attributes. For instance, the player of the role of Prabu (King) Kelana Sewandono, with his supernatural power, always carries an inhabited, holy whip.

Another man plays the role of a dancer, Bujangganong, a governor under the rule of King Kelana Sewandono. He is a hero with a bad face, bearing a mask with a red, long nose, untidy hair and tusked teeth.

The team of players is completed with riders on horses made of bamboo plaitwork or skin of animal. They symbolize the escorting soldiers of King Kelana Sewandono on his trips. Formerly these horse-riders were played by men called Gembak. But now they are generally women.

The total number of a Reyog team is between 20 and 40 members, including the magical heroes (waroks) with open breasts and waist band, symbolizing their magic power.

According to history the Reyog dance originated from the glorious era of the Kediri kingdom around the l5th century. The region of Ponorogo was called Wengker, the seat of the kingdom of Bentarangin (now the area of subdistrict Sonoroto) under King Kelana Sewandono. He had a governor, Pujangga Anom (in the Reyog dance called Bujangganong). One night Kelana Sewandono dreamed meeting a beautiful princess, Songgolangit. He felt in love with her and ordered his governor to ask the hand of the princess. This proposal was accepted on the condition that the King should present an attraction which was still unknown at that time.

King Kelana Sewandono then decided to kill the powerful King Singo Barong, who was pictured as a king with a tiger’s head bearing a wide-winged peacock. The victorious King Kelana Sewandono then went into procession to the palace of the princess, bearing the defeated Singo Barong. The procession attracted great attention during the trip to the palace.

Another story says that Reyog dance is a hint on the king of Majapahit, who married a Chinese princess. The King’s power was therefore pictured as being defeated by the beauty of the Chinese princess.

No matter its origin, the Reyog dance is a popular attraction, not only in Ponorogo, but all over Java to be performed on various events, including the field of tourism. - http://ponorogoku.wordpress.com/

i bought this yesterday & just had to share this with everyone, but especially the trio of travelers ollie, mike, & my man flash. this is some of the most enchanting music i have ever heard. i'm not very familiar with this style of music, but i can say it consists of repetitious drumming with what sounds like vibes & there is some sort of reed instrument in the background. i don't know duders, maybe some helpful cat out there wants to illuminate the situation a little. just download this, this is an amazing tape & needs to be heard. included a cover art scan by my girlfriend & 320 kbps for y'all. yr welcome.

forest hymns.

so i made this mix for my partner in crime since we've been making a lot of trips to the forest lately, & i thought i would share this with you as well.

1. Hearts & Flowers - Save Some Time
2. Six Organs Of Admittance - Hazy SF
3. Josephine Foster - Little Life
4. Fursaxa - Cle Elum
5. Skygreen Leopards - Julie-Anne, Patron Of Thieves
6. Rangda - Sacophagi
7. Golden Hotel - Hiawatha
8. Mirroring - Silent From Above
9. The Famous Boating Party - The Great Sled-Makers
10. Joanna Newsom - Bridges & Balloons
11. Eternal Tapestry - Night Realms
12. Arborea - Dark Is The Night (In The Wind)
13. Mike Gangloff - Ironto Special
14. Wooden Wand - Spitting At The Camera
15. King Blood - I'll Take What's Mine
16. Vashti Bunyan & Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing In The Hands
17. The Birdtree - Everyone Of Us A New Leaf
18. Giant Skyflower Band - Rainbows & Dreams
19. Feathers - Old Black Hat With A Dandelion Flower
20. The Once & Future Herds - New Hills
21. Kathleen Baird - Breaking The Roofs
22. Glassine - Orchard
23. Fire On Fire - Heavy D
24. Jack Rose - Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground
25. Surface Of Eceyon - Dragon Breather

lies heavy on the new weird amerikuh tip, but i've had a rediscovery period with that shit since it sounds so very nice when yr walking through clouds amongst the green green trees.

goodnight sweet prince.

ray bradbury is one of the most important writers of the last century. he along with tolkien & twain inspired a love for reading & most importantly inspired me to pick up a pen & paper myself. dandelion wine to this day remains one of my favorite books. if you have never read any bradbury, i would highly recommend it, nay, encourage you to go out this moment & have yr life changed forever.

bopapocalypse. - psychonauts. (2k12)

sorry for the long times in between posting, i've been putting this together. this is my newest chopped & screwed tape with a mix of everything. one moment it's asap rocky, then billy idol, then johnmaus, then maybe some oddisee or crowded house. definitely intended for those who like to travel to distant lands in the middle of the night.

i'm going to try for the sun.

this album has fast become a favorite around these parts as the weather warms up a bit & beach trips have become more common. predating gram parsons, this is cosmic country how i want it to be. it reminds me of late era byrds with gorgeous harmonies, although it predates the byrds sweetheart of the rodeo by an entire year. these cats were onto something with this lp, but never reached the fame or popularity of the bigger names which is a real shame because this is a beautiful hazy psych country album. the second song will floor y'all. if yr into the byrds, flying burrito brothers, or my main man lee hazelwood, then i highly recommend getting this now. this is another one i haven't seen around too much, but this should be gigantic.

i trust you & i don't think yr spies from the other side.

another ian svenonius project. probably my favorite make*up album just for the version of we can't be contained. imagine if prince led a 60's soul revue inside of a gospel tent or some shit like that.