Tortoise, Keith Fullerton Whitman & Greg Davis & Ben Vida at The Paradise

The Paradise: newly renovated, wayyy more open & spacious, no more giant pillar in front of the stage, might actually think about going to more shows there

Keith Fullerton Whitman, Greg Davis, & Ben Vida: Arcade Ambiance style fire swamp, Jupiter basement discotheque, trans-warp glitter noise, FTL drive mechanics, dubbed out white hole, stutter static glory, massive junk rumbling sun drone, chaos bliss supreme

Tortoise: aging like Benjamin Button, getting smoother & tighter as time goes on, a band with a variety of different sounding albums that coalesce into a stupefying live experience, house lights be damned we cheered them out for a second encore, see them already, then see them again

Bigger photos on Flickr.

Keith Fullerton Whitman, Greg Davis, & Ben Vida

Felix Kubin, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Jessica Rylan at The Goethe-Institut

Felix Kubin & Jessica Rylan: the deadpan spoken word stuff wasn't especially my kinda thing, but all the crazy electronics, muy amazing, and Jessica's voice, always intense

Felix Kubin & Keith Fullerton Whitman: cosmic cavemen playing Kerplunk, air bubbles popping underwater, malfunctioning retro sci-fi equipment

And the best part of the evening, Kubin did a live score to René Clair’s silent short from 1924, Entr’acte. Totally awesome. But no photos, obviously.

More photos on Flickr.

Rylan & Kubin

Whitman & Kubin

Felix Kubin

Keith Fullerton Whitman

Prehistoric Blackout / No Fun Acid / Keith Fullerton Whitman / Oneohtrix Point Never - Synth Night (Protracted View, 2009)

No Fun Acid - Side B


There was a night last November where all of the amazing modern synth masters converged in Brooklyn to play a show that was unlike any other. Prehistoric Blackout, No Fun Acid, Keith Fullerton Whitman, and Oneohtrix Point Never played at Glasslands (along with Northampton Wools who didn't make it onto this release for some reason) and some kind souls decided it would be worth their time to let the world hear what kind of magic went down that one fateful Synth Night.

Prehistoric Blackout's set is teeming with inconsiderate douchebags talking for the first half but otherwise is a super sweet landscape of chimes and alien jungle sounds. No Fun Acid drops his crazy acid techno house shit, but only after a dramatic 2 minute throbbing drone intro and then he slips some subtle beats into the mix. Before you know it, the party is going full force, people yelling and dancing and it's just the best fucking non-rave ever.

Then Whitman comes on with scattered beeps and bloops while people are still chattering, trying to get their attention before he launches a full scale assault on their ears. Once things get going, it's like the control panel in a flying car is malfunctioning in the most glorious way possible. Finally we got OPN coming in to clean up, a perfect set to follow KFW's. It starts out all blorpy, gets itself in a major space groove, then he brings in some divine hazy drone and sprinkles it with his trademarked synth noodling. Near perfection.

Who couldn't love this stuff? 2 tapes/1.5 hours of live synth jams from the dudes who do it best. Slick art and packaging, double bubble case, vellum cover AND insert, limited, this is just too fucking cool. Get it while you can.

Top 10 Drone Albums Of 2009

I wasn't going to do a Top 10 list this year. I figured my Top 1 list was sufficient because that was so clearly the one thing that made such a life changing impact on me. But then the fine folks of Weirdo Records asked me to make a Top 10 for them. I couldn't turn them down, obviously, and it was an excuse to do something that I really wanted to do all along. I love making lists. And people love reading them. I don't know why I withheld from something that everyone so clearly wanted.

Once I made my list for Weirdo, though, I realized that about 75% of it was comprised of drone records. So to make things more interesting, I decided to make a Top 10 list of just drone records.

Links go to original reviews. Please check out the other lists at Weirdo because that's where this originally came from. Now, onto the heckling!


10. Gregg Kowalsky's Tape Chants (Kranky)
Minimal long form tape drone meant for deeeep sleep and/or meditation and/or my favorite kind of parties.


9. Nicholas Szczepanik's The Chiasmus (Sentient Recognition Archive / Basses Frequences)
Enormous drone, fills your house/head with wonderful smooth tones, mostly of the euphoric variety.


8. Ophibre's Approaching The Ionized Piezo Kiosk (Earjerk)
Simultaneously melancholic and blissful drone tearing you in two for a half hour. Literally stunning.


7. Keith Fullerton Whitman's Dream House Variations (Arbor)
4 tapes of differing length meant for simultaneous play and manual fucking around (fast forwarding, speed manipulation, etc) is encouraged. This is just fucking brilliant. Oh, and the music's great too.


6. Acre's Isolationist (Isounderscore)
Even though two of the three tracks on this were previously released (though unheard by me and therefor irrelevant), the brand new track is awesome enough to warrant being in everyone's top 10 list. It's the densest, warmest, drone ever and came right in time for winter.


5. Usputuspud's Live In The Shit (The Nafs)
Murky drone disco. That's why.


4. The Golden Sores' A Peaceable Kingdom (BloodLust!)
This is where drone is going. The is the new drone of the future. Everything about this record is utterly fantastic. Chill ambient style, guitar psych feedbackage, and everything else. This is how it's done.


3. Mountains' Choral (Thrill Jockey) (motherfuckers deleted my fucking review)
Unbelievably amazing ambient naturey organic drone. So life affirming. Put this record on and your stress is instantly zapped. Motherfuckers deleted my fucking review, so here's the same label approved mp3 I put up the first time.
Mountains - Choral



2. Jason Crumer's Walk With Me (Misanthropic Agenda)
This is the noisiest drone record I've heard all year. Sometimes it gets almost unbearably rowdy but it's the kind that gives you chills. The final two songs are probably the best sequenced tracks of the year.


1. Eluvium's Life Through Bombardment (Temporary Residence Limited)
This takes the number one spot with ease. Every Eluvium album on vinyl for the first time. It's like hearing each record anew and in the proper way. Plus, have you seen the packaging on this beast? It's gorgeous and epic. It's a fuckin BOOK. And it's personalized. TRL really went for broke on this and it's absolutely worth every penny.

Show Worthy 7/13 - 7/19

Monday, July 13
Animal Hospital, Truman Peyote, Our Brother The Native, Religious Girls at Gay Gardens (donate, 8:00, all ages)
Whoa this is a crazy awesome show. Animal Hospital & Truman Peyote are representing some of Boston's best accessible experimental (in a good way). Our Brother The Native and Religious Girls are on tour together and Fat Cat Records who saw OBTN at Death By Audio the other night said they were "rib achingly loud." Both OBTN and Religious Girls have that new ambient noise tribal dance stuff that you know you love. Like I said, this show is going to be crazy awesome.



Goat Of Arms at The Milky Way via telephag
Monday, July 13
Goat Of Arms at Weirdo Records (donate, 8:00, all ages)
If you're not able to make it to Allston Monday night, then go to Weirdo in Cambridge for some fun accordion and drums times.



Geoff Mullen & Keith Fullerton Whitman at Great Scott
Tuesday, July 14
Geoff Mullen & Keith Fullerton Whitman at Cafe Fixe ($5, 8:00, all ages)
Thanks to Non-Event for making this ridiculously amazing live collaboration happen yet again. Once a very rare occurrence, Geoff and Keith have performed together live maybe 4 or 5 times since the beginning of the year. BUT! This could be the last time. You never know. Anyway, mind blowing drone noise from two of the drone noise masters. This time it's going down at Cafe Fixe in Brookline with the caution that "the space is small and the espresso is amazing, so don’t be too fashionably late!"




Thursday, July 16 - Sunday, July 19
Homegrown Fest at Church ($10 per day, @6:00, 21+)
Ok guys. I mentioned it before. This is the one you've been waiting for. Boston's own Homegrown Fest, a 4 day psych/noise/experimental/mindfuck festival put on by Dan Shea/BOWAAC. Yeah, it's 21+ but the lineup is insane. Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen (yup, again), Infinity Window, Sightings, Bobb Trimble, Major Stars, Truman Peyote, Gary War, Kurt Vile, Blues Control, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, and TONS more. This is going to be fucking epic. Even if you can't go to all 4 nights, one will still be enough to destroy every other show this month. Full lineup and more info here and on Church's site.



Daryl Shawn's setup via deadbeatgeoff
Saturday, July 18
Daryl Shawn & Jonathan Lamaster at Outpost 186 ($10, 8:00, all ages)
Tape loops + violin = duh



Alash Ensemble by Peter Hasselbach via
Sunday, July 19
Alash Ensemble at New England Conservatory ($20, 8:00, all ages)
The Alash Ensemble are a group of Tuvan throat singers. So, obviously, I'm fucking excited as shit. Tuvan throat singing in my own backyard? Never in a million years did I think that would ever happen.

Keith Fullerton Whitman - Dream House Variations (Arbor, 2009)

Keith Fullerton Whitman - Dream House Variations


I can't tell you how lucky I feel to live within the same vicinity as electronic grandmaster Keith Fullerton Whitman. This guy is an honesttogod genius and I get the opportunity to see and talk to him frequently at shows and the like. I feel like I get some residual cool rubbed off just by living within 20 miles of him.

Dream House Variations, his newest solo release, is a real doozy. I'm talking super epic here. It's 4 tapes, which is cool enough, but they're meant for simultaneous play. You're supposed to play all 4 tapes at once. Now, forget the practical conundrums for a minute (who actually has 4 tape decks?), and just imagine the grandeur of such a thing. It's a fucking dream come true! 4 times the KFW, 4 times the electronic mayhem, 4 times the beautiful artistry!

But wait, it gets even better. Each tape is a different length (C44, C40, C36, C32) so one tape will stop and flip over while the A side on the others is still going. I'm no math wizard, but I can tell you that it would be a very long time before you reached the original starting positions for all 4 tapes again. So that means the possibilities are endless and you can listen to these tapes for, like, ever and never hear the same thing twice. In the liner notes, Whitman recommends putting the 4 sets of speakers in each corner of a room and to use different brands of tape decks and boom boxes. "Use of fast-forward, reverse, & tape-speed manipulation encouraged." I love him so much. Fucking brilliant.

Now, the problem with this is actually trying to review the music. The fact that it's constantly changing makes it difficult to say concrete things about it. Yes, it's electronic based. It's pretty unsettling, lots of throbbing and whistling and static and modular this and that. You get the idea. It's Keith Fullerton Whitman. And that should be all you need to know.

What I did for you, instead of putting up one side of one tape, I made a single track with each tape starting simultaneously so you get the idea of what it sounds like when they all play at once. What you're missing with this MP3 (besides everything) is the looping concept. Because when the shortest tape ends, I didn't restart it. It just ends and you're left with the sound of 3 tapes. Then 2. Then the last few minutes are just the end of the longest tape. Obviously, this is not the way you should listen to it. What you need to do is go and fucking buy this thing already. There's only 150 of them and you know you need one.

Show Worthy 6/1 - 6/7

Sometimes it's great to live in Boston. There is so much awesome shit going on this week that it's impossible to see it all. Fucking shame...



DJ Kat Fyte via
Monday, June 1
DJ Kat Fyte at Enormous Room (FREEEEEEE, 9:00, 21+)
Beat Research is doing their regular Monday night at Enormous Room with resident DJs Flack and Wayne & Wax except on June 1st, Kat Fyte will be there as well, spinning some sweet glitch hop, dubstep, grime, and all things electro for you to have a great fucking time. FYI, Kat Fyte is Max Pearl, the genius behind the now defunct Under 21 In Boston and the newly created Popular Influence. This guy's got serious skills. Fun is pretty much assured. Oh, and did I mention it's free?



Oneohtrix Point Never via
Tuesday, June 2
Oneohtrix Point Never, Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen, Brendan Murray, DJ Ning Nong at Piano Factory ($5-10, 8:00, all ages)
Semata Productions apparently are pretty reliable when it comes down to the wire. When one door closes, another always opens. This show is proof. Originally, Abelar Scout, Evan Miller, and Treetops were supposed to play. Which would have been amazing. Sadly, those guys had to cancel their tour but in their place, Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen will be collaborating again. If you've missed their last couple of shows, this is not something to keep slacking on. Together, they own the stage and make your ears weep for joy. Along with local hero Brendan Murray and ex-local still-hero Oneohtrix Point Never, with Ning Nong making sure you aren't bored in between sets, this show is going to be killer despite the last minute lineup change.



Vic Rawlings via
Tuesday, June 2
Vic Rawlings' Sound Fountain at Weirdo Records ($5, 8:00, all ages)
I couldn't tell you a thing about this Sound Fountain thing. Apparently it's been 3 years in the making and this is the debut. All I know is Vic Rawlings is the man and plays a mean electronically processed cello. I can imagine all sorts of crazy awesome things involving fountains and... sounds but your guess is as good as mine. My guess is EPIC.



Alva Noto & Byetone via
Thursday, June 4
Alva Noto, Byetone at Middlesex Lounge ($10, 9:30, 21+)
ALL HAIL NON-EVENT. They're bringing AlvamotherfuckingNoto and Byetone to Boston. They deserve, like, 5 gold medals for that. Not that you should need an introduction to either of these guys but Byetone is one of the brilliant founders of Raster-Noton and Alva Noto is, well, basically an electronic music prodigy.



Paul Metzger via
Thursday, June 4
Paul Metzger, Elaine Evans, Amen Dunes, Ernst Karel at Outpost 186 (donation, 8:00, all ages)
Man, it fucking sucks that this show is going on the same night as Alva Noto & Byetone because this show is going to be fucking awesome. Metzger plays a 21 string banjo. That right there sold me but I understand you might need a little more enticing. Evans does weird stuff with a pocket trumpet and a loop pedal. Amen Dunes has been getting a ton of buzz with his new album Dia out on Locust that's really really good. And Karel does analog electronic stuff. Seems like we're gonna have to make a pretty tough decision come Thursday night...



Gay Beast via
Saturday, June 6
Gay Beast, Neptune at Midway Cafe ($?, 9:00, 21+)
Gay Beast are a crazy noisethrashpunk band à la AIDS Wolf from Minneapolis and they're totally rad. I'm sure they put on a nasty live show but I can't say I know from experience. And Neptune is also playing which means it doesn't matter in the slightest who else is on the bill because the show is going to rock regardless.

Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen, Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul, Perispirit, Zerfallt, Double Awake at Great Scott

Geoff Mullen & Keith Fullerton Whitman

Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul

Perispirit

Zerfallt

Double Awake

More photos on Flickr

Double Awake: thick drone, vocal based and stuttered out with abrupt volume shifting

Zerfallt: the audio version of a lead blanket so heavy your legs can't hold out

Perispirit: power beauty

Eli Keslzer & Ashley Paul: the usual controlled frenzied awesomeness with the addition of a bowed banjo

Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen: not gonna touch this one; you'll just have to imagine it

Show Worthy 5/4-5/10

Animal Hospital via
Tuesday, May 5
Brian S. Ellis, Paul G. Maziar, Animal Hospital, Greg Mullen at Church (FREEEEEEE, 8:00 21+)
This is the second night of The Whitehaus putting on a free show at Church. Last one was that Hunted Creatures/Ophibre/Nature/Peace, Loving show and it was AMAZING. This one seems to be just as promising with some really great bands. Just an FYI, Prince Rama was originally billed but had to cut out at the last minute and was replaced with Animal Hospital. AH just dropped the fucking ridiculously amazing Memory and he puts on an awesome show. And it's free. So you should go.




Thursday, May 7
Twin Crystals, Modern Creatures, Prince Rama Of Ayodhya, Quilt at Gay Gardens (FREEEEEEEEEish, 8:00, all ages)
More Prince Rama? Yes. This one goes down at Gay Gardens in Allston, and there are "mandatory donations" for all shows there. If you wanna be a dick about it, you could "donate" the spare change in your pocket but they have every right to turn you away. You should probably support the good people that are performing for you as well as those at Gay Gardens and you can do so by dropping some cash at the door or at the merch table. Especially because both Twin Crystals and Modern Creatures are on tour from Vancouver. So go have fun and be nice.




Friday, May 8
Multimedia Circus at The Armory ($10, 7:00, all ages)
Voidstar Productions and Arts At The Armory are putting on one helluva show. The Boston Typewriter Orchestra, DJ Darryl Hell, Bill T Miller's Orgy Of Noise, Nau-Zee-Aun, Empire SNAFU, Eliza Blaze & David Pendu, The Vomit Arsonist, Mike D & The 3:2 Percussion Ensemble, November 14 and more. "Aerialists, turntablists, circuit benders, 3D video, performance art, mixed media, experimental music, invented and found instruments, and more will fill this 3.5 hour long non-stop show." All for 10 bucks? Who are you kidding, there's nothing else going on Friday that's going to be cheaper or more fun than this. Except maybe.....




Friday, May 8
Sway, Yankee Blue Jeans, Mikey French Fries, The Tin Thistles at Plough & Stars (FREE-$6, 9:00, 21+)
Upbeat, charming, alt country stuff to stomp your feet to. Sway is probably the best indiecountryfolk band ever and if you haven't seen them live yet, now's the time. Also, Wicked Whiskey may or may not be playing this show.



Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul at Studio Soto via
Sunday, May 10
Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen, Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul, Double Awake at Great Scott ($8, 9:00, 18+)
OH. SHIT. Can't believe this is happening. Not only are percussionist extraordinaire Keszler & Paul the sax beast joining forces again but the noisedrone masters KFW and Mullen are doing another one of their super rare live collabs. I saw them play together at PA's Lounge a few years back and I left with my mind melted. And Double Awake is opening? FUCK. This is NOT to be missed.

MP3: Hrvatski - Marbles

Hrvatski - Marbles


I just picked up Marble Madness for the NES a couple days ago. It's easily one of my favorite games ever with some of the best music (also included in that list would be Contra, Double Dragon, Zelda, etc). I grabbed it from the always well stocked Game Zone right down the street from me in Salem. Seriously, I could spend hundreds of dollars in that place and it would only take me 10 minutes. Partially because they have such a great selection of old and new games and also because they're used stuff can be a bit pricey. Dropping $30+ on an NES game is common and they usually have crazy rare stuff to boot. Like right now they have Earthbound ($100) and Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Stars ($80) and complete-in-box copies of The Punisher for Genesis ($100) and Final Fight Guy for SNES (a Blockbuster exclusive) ($500).

So yes, I used Hrvatski (aka Keith Fullerton Whitman) as an excuse to talk about video games on my music blog. Whatever. Doing a glitch/breakbeat version of video game music is the coolest idea ever. His song "Marbles" is fucking awesome, probably one of the best video game inspired songs that's not strictly a cover I've ever heard. It's based on the music from level 3 in Marble Madness and even has the "Times Up" part where the music stops and goes back to the beginning. This guy is a fucking genius, I tell you. No matter what moniker he uses, he creates amazing music.

"Marbles" can be found on the self released Inedits, but good luck finding a copy. It was a 3" CD-R that he only made 50 copies of 7 years ago. So if you find someone selling it, let me know. 'Cause I want it.

Keith Fullerton Whitman, Hands & Knees, Mystery Palace at The Middle East

Keith Fullerton Whitman photo taken by me at the Boston MFA



Hands & Knees photo taken by Frankie Two Thumbs in Baltimore



I'm a big fan of Keith Fullerton Whitman and his many aliases, but specifically when he goes by his own name. Last night, he played a showed at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge along with locals Hands & Knees and Mystery Palace from Minneapolis. I went to see KFW as I had never heard of these other bands and it seemed like most of the other people at the show were doing the same thing. Keith went on third, after Hands & Knees and Paper Summer (who I missed) but before Mystery Palace. There weren't very many people there to being with, maybe 30 or 40, but after Keith went on, everybody left and there was only about 6 or 7 people around when Mystery Palace went on. Aaaawkwaard.

Hands & Knees were decent enough. A four piece that sounded like a more countrified Modest Mouse, especially in the vocals department, fronted by a guy that looked like a cross between Ryan Stiles and Jude Law. And maybe a bit of Larry Bird thrown in for good measure. It was fun and I enjoyed it but I had my mind set on other things....

Those that came to see Mr. Whitman weren't disappointed. He had a relatively short set, 20 or 25 minutes, but it was time well spent. He started with his usual electronic type stuff but then it transformed into a gorgeous drone. I'm not going to lie, I like KFW best when he drones. His electronic stuff is really good, I love it, but it's his drones that really keep me coming back for more. Last night, he had a strange tiny, boxy guitar that was missing a head and tuning knobs. With it, he crafted beautiful noises that were altered by his Mac laptop, similar in fashion to clicky sounds of Willits, Hecker, and Fennesz. It was a mostly low volume affair but at one point, the sound picked up and it just became a wall of beauty. It was the kind of noise that you just close your eyes and let it wash over you. Something that definitely should be experienced live. Completely worth the $8 admission.

I probably should have done my homework before I went to the show last night, or maybe even just followed everyone else's cue and left when they did because it would have been nice to end the show with Keith's set. But no, I had to stick around and see what was so mysterious about these Minnesotan palaces. Let me start by saying that they weren't bad. It was just really something I didn't like. Maybe I'd call Mystery Palace electro-funk. Or maybe I'd try to conjure up sounds of Junior Boys making experimental porn music. Whatever you want to call it, it wasn't for me. Too much funky bass. And it didn't help them at all that they had seriously bizarre feedback issues with the mics. I stuck around for two songs, all the while debating how long I would stay, how many more chances I would give them. After the second song, the singer said to all 6 of us, "Thanks for sticking around guys." They started their third song and I couldn't take it any more. I walked out. Mystery Palace, if you guys are reading this, I apologize. That's very unlike me to leave in the middle of a set, but I just couldn't handle it after Keith. Maybe you'll find a bigger, more friendly crowd at your next show.