Stadiums & Shrines
Currently viewing the tag: "S&S Radio"
E59

 

Sila Ptahi makes abstract beat tapes which, save for two released with Nekubi Tapes and Haju Tapes, are shared anonymously on SoundCloud. For Episode 59, Ptahi assembled an hour-long block of dust-covered soul and hip-hop, heavily optimized for headnods. Selections traverse syrupy sampledelia, jazzy instrumentals, and time-warped balladry, with careful attention paid to texture and tempo.

The episode’s second block catches up with 2018. A pastiche of new modes, the set kicks off with Jon Bap‘s frenetic new jack swing, Akiko Kiyama‘s scattered percussion, and Meitei / 冥丁‘s mood tribute to 19th-century painter Kawanabe Kyosai. Onto Anenon‘s latest fusion (of soprano sax, piano, synth and field recordings) on Friends of Friends, spacious dream-folk from Montreal songwriter Alexia Avina (courtesy of Cuddle Formation’s label Never Content), followed by woodwind drone via Eve Essex‘s tape out today on Soap Library. Next is a Séance Centre-reissued 1987 cut by Mexican guitarist/synthesist Eblen Macari, a Balearic night drive from Sydney’s Angophor, buzzing free jazz from Japan (that’s woodblue on MPC, Yudai Suzuki aka Multi purpose studio on trumpet, and Hiroko Arima on stone), and, finally, a tender bedroom-pop outro from New York-based artist Grub (hat tip, Tyler).

Hour One: Mix by Sila Ptahi
Hour Two: Freeform
Jon Bap – Voice Memo from 2013 / _Stuck_
Aalko – Body & Soul
Meitei / 冥丁 – Kawanabe Kyosai / 河鍋暁斎
Anenon – Open
Alexia Avina – Bird
Eve Essex – Here Appear
Eblen Macari – Supernova en Macuspana
Angophora – Uncarved
Hiroko Arima, Multi purpose studio, Woodblue – re-flectionB
Grub – Baby in the Sea

Continue reading

S&S-NewtownRadio-E56

 

At the start of 2017, in a particularly bleak January, Denver-based artist Madeline Johnston — who records drone-pop music as Midwife and Sister Grotto — released a video for the song “Name.” Its first minute is silent. A guitar is tied to the back of a pickup truck with an amplifier switched on in its bed. A phrasing of chords begin; the truck pulls the guitar across pavement and down dirt roads, disrupting the debris of a solemn Midwest stretch. Johnston’s voice obscures in the mix, nearly clipping the audio as it rises into shouted refrains including the defiant “I’m not at home.”

Simple and devastating; the blunt image communicates anger, grief, and resilience. I keep returning to it. Johnston’s album Like Author, Like Daughter is said to represent her final days as a resident of Denver DIY venue Rhinoceropolis, which closed during the politically motivated assaults on creative spaces ushered in with the country’s new administration. In this context, “Name” aches as an anthem for cultural displacement, an ode to the expanding void.

Like Author, Like Daughter is out on Whited Sepulchre. Johnston made S&S a mix of her own material; entirely unreleased save for one track (the last), featuring collaborations with Tucker Theodore of Inanambulance Recordings and Allen Karpinski of The Six Parts Seven. Like her album, these thirty minutes are heavy and beautiful. Episode 58 is lucky to host them in the top half.

The show’s bottom half is lighter, flipping to a few favorites as of late: Olympia dream-pop group CCFX (DFA), Vancouver producer Yu Su’s latest ambient jazz cut via New York label Arcane, a highlight from Lee Noble’s new tape of synthesizer suites (Pale Blue), and one of ten transcendent piano studies from the hands of Billy Cigarette. Additional visual references, below.

Part One: Madeline Johnston’s set
303-295-3952
Midwife- Unborne
Midwife – Already Gone
Tucker Theodore – Placeholder
Midwife – Runner
Allen Karpinski & Tucker Theodore – My Reasons
Sister Grotto & Tucker Theodore – I Don’t Want To Love

Part Two: Freeform
CCFX – The One to Wait
An Luu – Pourquoi Tu Me Fous Plus Des Coups
Dip In The Pool – Transit
Yu Su – I’ll Say When I Can
Lee Noble – Elektra
I Am Just A Pupil – Algorithm
Marcus Fischer – 170211 – Dual Deck Piano Loop RRR
Billy Cigarette – Ecstasy

Continue reading

S&S-NewtownRadio-E56

 

Portland-based percussionist/synthesist Don Gero joins Episode 56 in its second hour. Wizarding, his new collection of blitzing, polyrhythmic, earth-toned swords-to-the-sky noise, is out now on Crash Symbols. Gero used his Newtown set to shine a light on some Portland friends and lead listeners through vast sonic terrain: from dark folk to hypnotic beat music to machine drone.

The opening hour retraces a few paths as of late. Perhaps the most tread belongs to Hayeden Pedigo, a student of American primitive guitar whose 2017 album on Driftless Recordings depicts the dusty landscapes of Amarillo, Texas. Onward, after the anti-cowboy Dougie Poole, is San Diego-based artist Salami Rose Joe Louis, creator of a particular style of waltzing and sketchy bedroom material. She describes her new tape, Zlaty Sauce Nephew, as such; “on a scale of one to peanut butter cookie, it’s just peanuts.” Watch her build a song live at the bottom of this entry.

Later we get a charming phone call from Domenique Dumont — this the lead track on Parisian label Antinote’s compilation entitled Five Years Of Loving Notes. Next, less a trail, more a sail, is the breezy Balearic sound design of Scott Gilmore‘s Subtle Vertigo (video below). There’s a table towards the midway point, at the Refractory Cafe, where the du jour is empty space with a side of tranquility, prepared by Amsterdam’s Jonny Nash and Suzanne Kraft (video included). Last is an excerpt from Lowlands, the third edition of IIKKI, a French imprint that pairs two mediums in a single narrative (like the windswept Stills). Scroll deep for Ester Vonplon‘s Arctic Ocean photography — the set is printed in book format alongside Taylor Deupree & Marcus Fischer audio contribution.

Hour One: freeform
Hayden Pedigo – Good Night / Thoughts on Greetings from Amarillo by Terry Allen
Dougie Poole – Port Authority Hymn
Salami Rose Joe Louis – Not that lovely
Rare Silk – Storm
Shy Layers – Black and White
SW. – Untitled A2
Astral Samara – Innerenvironment
Domenique Dumont – +371
Scott Gilmore – Pieced Together
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – An Intention
PANXING – Orig weep
Love Theme – She’s Here
Joseph Shabason – Aytche
Jonny Nash & Suzanne Kraft – Refractory Cafe
Taylor Deupree & Marcus Fischer – On Branches

Hour Two: Don Gero guest mix
NUMBSKULL – Satan Says
Don Gero – Phlegm Trails
Oro Azoro – No No No
Ross Fish – well
Montgomery Word – WHUT IT IS
Chip Scout – u know how 2 live (1)
Banny Grove – Cheese Dream
Rust Promoter – old accordian n orson
Sea Charms – YT
Infinity Farm – Damonbok
Winnie Black – howdo
Ant’lrd – cherry
Mantra Blues – noisestretch777
ratbath – mother
Vinyl Williams – Ode To Eternal

Lowlands
Lowlands
Lowlands

 

S&S Radio broadcasts every now and then on Newtown Radio.

S&S-NewtownRadio-E55

 

Last time Dan Goldberg came by the Newtown studio he performed live, running his guitar and synthesizer through a 4-track recorder. Ahead of this set in April—the week his new record came out on Fire Talk—The NY-based songwriter dubbed some of his favorite tracks (from friends, video games, and beyond) to tape. Dan’s vintage Tascam machine adds a certain character to his recordings as The Spookfish, and it lends a similar wobble and warmth to each selection here. As he patiently loaded and ejected cassettes, embracing the kind of cuts and chasms that normally alarm DJs, Dan shared assorted thoughts and stories. He was kind enough to collect some of those for us below:

Continue reading