21-12-2021 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX (2h 15m)

21-12-2021 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX (2h 15m) [2019-2021] # Son Lux, TOY, Eerie Wanda, Rose City Band, Goat Girl, Benjamin Lazar Davis, Urlaub in Polen, Bradford Cox / Cate Le Bon, Lost Under Heaven, The Growlers, Pom Poko, Deap Vally, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Night Flowers, Desert Sessions

M U S I C (2h 15m)

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Originally the post-rock project of composer/keyboardist/vocalist Ryan Lott, Son Lux grew over the course of the 2010s to include guitarist/composer Rafiq Bhatia and experimental drummer Ian Chang. Combining live instruments with computer-manipulated acoustic performances, samples, and Lott's strained vocal delivery, Son Lux's bold, dystopic sound often correlates with anxious lyrics about a fearful future.

Son Lux 

Bodies 2:41

Warning 3:02

from Tomorrows II 2020

Son Lux released the first installment of their Tomorrows trilogy in August of a turbulent 2020. Fourth months later, and loosely reminiscent of the second movement of a classical symphony, Tomorrows II proves to be a relatively more hushed, introspective volume. Like Tomorrows I, it was recorded with group members and contributors separated in such far-flung locales as New York, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and Budapest... 

London's TOY borrow from shoegaze, Krautrock, and classic psychedelia to make pulsating, absorbing music. 

TOY 

Down on the Street 4:43

A Doll's House 3:35

from Songs of Consumption 2019

TOY started 2019 with one of their lushest releases and ended it with a study in minimalism. On the full-length Happy in the Hollow, they indulged in as many styles and sounds as they could pack into its songs, but on Songs of Consumption, they don't pile on layer after layer to keep things interesting. Both rawer and more electronic than any of their previous music, this covers EP finds TOY drawing on the evocative simplicity of vintage synth pop, minimal wave, and electro-punk as they reimagine songs by artists ranging from the Troggs to John Barry. Not only does the band have an enviable record collection, they know how to pick songs that challenge them. They begin the EP with one of their biggest departures: Their taut version of "Down on the Street" trades the Stooges' raw power for sullen synth rock with a cruise-controlled Motorik beat... The band gives Nico's "Sixty Forty" a makeover that's nearly as radical, miniaturizing its dark, rolling majesty into something more intimate but just as poignant... Their dedication to stripping these songs down to their bones yields especially fascinating results on "A Doll's House," where they translate the complexity of John Barry's composition with just a handful of instruments. Even when TOY returns to a more familiar sound, they do it creatively...

The Dutch band Eerie Wanda are led by vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Marina Tadic, whose warmly intimate vocals are paired with melancholy pop songs influenced by psychedelia (as on their debut album, 2016's Hum) or, as on their second record, 2019's Pet Town, sweet early-'60s ballads and rockabilly.

Eerie Wanda 

Pet Town 3:27

Rockabiller 3:32

Hands of the Devil 2:35

from Pet Town 2019

...There are traces of girl group sweetness, soda shop, rockabilly, and lots of Ricky Nelson's "Lonesome Town" in the sound Tadic and her mates create. It's quiet and peaceful, but never boring thanks to the richness of Tadic's voice and the power of her lyrics. There's a disarming directness to both the melodies and the words, and though one might miss Verhulst's pulsing basslines or the electric guitars, the unbroken mood Tadic creates is entrancing. .. Pet Town makes for the perfect record to calm down at the end of a typically bonkers day or as a brief respite from the storm during the middle of it. Tadic's vocals are endlessly soothing, the arrangements are comforting, and the warmth of the songs emanates from the speakers like gentle heat waves from a crackling fire. Stripping back from the already gentle sound of Hum could have been a step in the wrong direction' instead, it's a perfect evolution and a wonderful album.

After initially appearing as a semi-anonymous psychedelic country jam band, Rose City Band was revealed to be the project of Wooden Shjips/Moon Duo guitarist/vocalist Ripley Johnson. He worked with indie giant Thrill Jockey to reissue the band's 2019 self-titled debut after a self-released pressing quickly sold out. ..

Rose City Band 

Rip City 3:49

Rivers of Mind 6:34

Fog of Love 4:22

from Rose City Band 2020

Mysterious and calm, the debut album from Rose City Band rolls in slowly like the morning fog. Produced by Moon Duo/Wooden Shjips member Ripley Johnson, the project filters the softer side of the Grateful Dead's jammy explorations through a gentle, spaced-out haze. Where other late-2010s disciples of Garcia and Weir sometimes reworked the Dead's amped-up boogie rock tendencies, Rose City Band's self-titled debut leans more into the moments of soft, cosmic elegance that sometimes arrived deep into lengthy space jams... Rose City Band is ultimately less about the songs, or even the jamming, and more about the muted, textural palette it stretches out on.

04-03-2021 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from recent past] (1h 58m)

04-03-2021 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from recent past] # Sneaks, Urlaub in Polen, Free Nationals, Lee Scratch Perry, Axis: Sova, The Young Sinclairs, Mamalarky, Henrik Appel, Palberta, Cursive, Galactic, The James Hunter Six, Sunwatchers

M U S I C (1h 58m)

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Spoken word, bass, and drum machine minimalism from D.C.-based post-punk Eva Moolchan.

Sneaks 

Ecstasy

Holy Cow Never Saw a Girl Like Her

from Highway Hypnosis 2019

Depending on your point of view, 2019's Highway Hypnosis is either the third album from post-punk artist Sneaks, or the first. Sneaks, born Eva Moolchan, has two previous releases to her credit, 2015's Gymnastics and 2017's It's a Myth, but those clocked in at 14 and 18 minutes... While no one would ever accuse Highway Hypnosis of sounding busy, producers Carlos Hernandez, Tony Seltzer and Moolchan have greatly expanded Sneaks' aural palette on this material. The beats have a greater swing, and the grooves are funky in a sneaky, roundabout way her previous work was not, and if her truly memorable bass work isn't as prominent, when it lands on "Holy Cow Never Saw a Girl Like Her," it's powerfully effective... Sneaks sounds justifiably confident on Highway Hypnosis, and this suggests any number of new directions where her talent could travel.

Cologne, Germany-based post-punk duo known for their driving Krautrock rhythms and experimental synth textures.

Urlaub in Polen 

T.H.D.T

Proxy Music

from All 2020

Germany's Urlaub in Polen has always been a hard band to pin down. At their core, they are a two-man guitar-and-drums unit, though both members also handle the myriad synthesizers and ambient electronics that shimmer and buzz through their hypnotic songs. Just after the release of 2011's Boldstriker, the Cologne-based duo of Georg Brenner and Jan Philipp Janzen called it quits, having logged a decade's worth of interesting albums that merged post-punk, Krautrock, and propulsive electronic experimentation. Reuniting after a nine-year gap, they return with their sixth album, All. If anything, the ten-song set feels even tighter than the band's earlier releases, paring away some of the harsh and cavernous sounds of Boldstriker and presenting a leaner, cleaner sort of minimalism that plays to their strengths...

Smooth, funk-fluent R&B band that took shape behind Anderson .Paak and branched out in 2019 with a self-titled album.

Free Nationals 

Obituaries feat. Shafiq Husayn

On Sight feat. JID, Kadhja Bonet, MIKNNA

from Free Nationals 2020

T. Nava (keyboards, vocoder vocals), Callum Connor (drums), Kelsey Gonzalez (bass), and José Rios (guitar) took the name Free Nationals after they formed a tight bond with Anderson .Paak... The L.A. band's distinct identity came into focus with extensive touring in support of their chief collaborator... For the most part, the band zeroes in on their hip-hop-minded approach to reconfiguring polished late-'70s/early-'80s fusions of jazz, soul, and funk. Hints of synchronous Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder, the Blackbyrds and the Brothers Johnson, and even a little Steely Dan/Donald Fagen, are in the mix... 

10-12-2020 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from recent past]

10-12-2020 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [from recent past] # Jon Spencer, Cat Clyde, The Sufis, Arbor Labor Union, CocoRosie, Jaakko Eino Kalevi, Okay Kaya, The Sufis, Sneaks, Urlaub in Polen, Free Nationals, Lee Scratch Perry, Axis: Sova

M U S I C

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Scuzz-rocking guitarist who fused ernest traditionalism and destructive tendencies fronting Pussy Galore, the Blues Explosion, and Heavy Trash. Best known as the leader of punk-blues firebrands the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Jon Spencer became a major figure in noise rock and alternative rock circles for his gritty, combustible songs, fiercely minimalistic guitar work, and over-the-top performing style.

Jon Spencer 

Love Handle

Trash Can

from Spencer Sings the Hits 2018

...More than anything, Spencer Sings the Hits suggests the Blues Explosion without the same degree of fire and gravity, and with a little bit of noisy clatter and keyboard blurt added for seasoning. The high-attitude strut of Spencer's vocals is as loud and proud as ever, and the minimalist snarl of his guitar work is similarly confident. But where Judah Bauer and Russell Simins pushed Spencer forward, giving as good as he gave out, percussionist M. Sord and keyboardist Sam Coomes follow the star rather than walking in formation with him, and it makes a difference... 

Cat Clyde is a new artist out of Stratford, Ontario. A fresh take on the classic sounds of yesteryear. She breathes new life into the velvety vocal, tack-piano, slide-guitar-style that can instantly walk you through the swinging doors of a packed saloon. With influences ranging from Etta James to Kevin Morby to Lead Belly; hers is a mix that goes down smoother than a neat glass of mellow Kentucky bourbon. No longer do you need to reach for your trusty sifting pan and river boots to find gold. You just need to know one name

Cat Clyde 

Bird Bone

Not Like You

from Hunters Trance 2019

The melodies of Hunters Trance will inspire you to pour a glass of whiskey and sulk at a bar; it epitomizes the grudge and allure that is notorious of blues-truly authentic and particularly chilling. Cat's voice encapsulates the essence of inspirations such as Amy Winehouse and Janis Joplin to remind us that music that comes from the soul is never outdated and forever transformative. Whether you’re a die hard bluesy-folk fan or not, Cat Clyde’s velvety voice will bury into your heart, stick in your mind, and leave you with that familiar bittersweet taste in your mouth.

Nashville duo dedicated to reviving mid-'60s garage rock and psychedelic pop. The Sufis began their career dedicated to excavating garage rock nuggets and re-creating them in lo-fi, bedroom psych style. After releasing two albums that sounded like a cross between the Byrds, (the original) Nirvana, and the house band on Shindig, the duo added synthesizers, dubby post-chillwave psych, and smooth soft rock textures to their sound on a pair of albums that brought them up to date.

The Sufis 

Find Your Friends

Cleveland

from Double Exposure 2020 

The Sufis' fourth album, Double Exposure, follows in the same lo-fi, weird, and woolly bedroom psych footsteps as their previous album did. Only this time the duo have a much more focused and animated approach to the writing and recording process and punch their performances up just a touch. The sound might be oddly smooth and bathed in cheapo synths, warbly vocals, and drums that sound like they have an inch of water sloshing around inside them, but the songs are shiny and sharp as diamonds. Each track connects like a sucker punch, whether it's the bubbling post-Ariel Pink pop of "Find Your Friends," the compressed jangle pop of "Cleveland," the moody new wave of "Too Far"... they vault to the forefront of the style with an album that shows off their skills as writers, performers, producers, and arrangers like none of their other records has, and few other bands of their ilk have either.

"Summer Madness" #111 ALTER.NATION.MiX - weekly favtraX 06-12-2020

 ALTER.NATION #111

Khruangbin, Joan of Arc, The Smashing Pumpkins, Urlaub in Polen, Kelley Stoltz, The High Water Marks, Son Lux, Lee Ritenour, Jahari Massamba Unit

weekly favtraX 

0 6 - 1 2 - 2 0 2 0

"Summer Madness"

Jet-setting Texas trio whose smooth, mainly instrumental music is heavily influenced by Thai rock and funk, among other styles.

Khruangbin - Late Night Tales: Khruangbin / Summer Madness (Exclusive Cover Version)

Texan trio Khruangbin's singular sound draws from a vast array of far-flung influences, yet it's accessible and familiar enough to captivate a widespread audience. The group are a logical fit for the LateNightTales series, which features notable artists presenting tracks much in the manner of a close group of friends hanging out at home, sharing personal favorites deep into the night... Khruangbin also sneak in a studio recording of their steamy cover of Kool & the Gang's "Summer Madness," a longtime staple of their live shows... After spending the album exploring different corners of the world, the final journey to the cosmos seems quietly astonishing.

Indie rock stalwarts led by Tim Kinsella, with a sustained focus on exploring the boundaries of their art.

Joan of Arc - Tim Melina Theo Bobby / Land Surveyor

...In true Joan of Arc fashion, final album Tim Melina Theo Bobby (the first names of the players who made the music) sees the group taking their sound in a new direction, even on the way out the door... Many songs are led by synth lines, and the curious instrumental track "Land Surveyor" has more in common with the moon-walking electro of early-2000s Mouse on Mars than the organic electronics-tinged rock of the band's last few albums...  It's a perfect ending note for a band whose unique sonic language relied on equal and interconnected shares of joy and confusion.

One of the biggest bands of the alternative era, who deftly mixed roaring rock with dark, insular alternative pop. Although they emerged alongside grunge acts like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were the group least influenced by traditional underground rock. Headed by principal songwriter and frontman Billy Corgan, their sound was an amalgam of progressive rock, heavy metal, goth, psychedelia, and dream pop, a layered, powerful style driven by swirling, distorted guitars that churned beneath Corgan's angst-ridden lyrics.
The Smashing Pumpkins - Cyr / Wyttch

Cyr, the 11th studio album to bear the Smashing Pumpkins name, is another example of Corgan's knack for creating massive albums, only this time translating layered guitar rock into dark, moody synth pop... Unlike the electronic tinges that added to the cold elegance of that album, however, Cyr puts the synths front and center. Guitars are mostly buried under warm synth pads, buzzing electronic bass, and a mixture of programmed beats and lockstep live drumming... The angry metallic grooving of "Wyttch" is one of the few moments on Cyr where the band lean into the loud guitars and organic drums of their earliest albums...

Cologne, Germany-based post-punk duo known for their driving Krautrock rhythms and experimental synth textures.

Urlaub in Polen - All / The Witcher

Germany's Urlaub in Polen has always been a hard band to pin down. At their core, they are a two-man guitar-and-drums unit, though both members also handle the myriad synthesizers and ambient electronics that shimmer and buzz through their hypnotic songs... Reuniting after a nine-year gap, they return with their sixth album, All. If anything, the ten-song set feels even tighter than the band's earlier releases, paring away some of the harsh and cavernous sounds of Boldstriker and presenting a leaner, cleaner sort of minimalism that plays to their strengths... 

San Francisco singer/songwriter and longtime purveyor of melodic, lo-fi indie pop. Skilled at crafting pop songs under his own name, excellent at producing albums for others, and a good enough guitarist to be in Echo & the Bunnymen's touring band, Kelley Stoltz carved out an interesting career for himself on the fringes of the indie rock scene beginning in the late 1990s.

Kelley Stoltz - Ah! (etc) / She Likes Noise

Since the turn of the 2000s, seeing the name Kelley Stoltz on the cover of an album meant that the contents were sure to be guitar pop music of the highest quality, produced with a sure hand and played with consummate skill. 2020's Ah! (etc) is no different. It is of a piece with Stoltz' previous few albums that combined moody post-punk with jangling power pop and stripped down indie rock to come up with a sound that's immediate and a little melancholy, though also prone to moments of almost giddiness... and even indulges in some straight up New Wave novelty with the goofy "She Likes Noise."...

Dynamic indie pop group fronted by former Apples in Stereo member Hilarie Sidney and Palermo's Per Ole Bratset.

The High Water Marks - Ecstasy Rhymes / Accidentally On Purpose

The High Water Marks first album in over a decade shows that the pairing of Hilarie Sidney and Per Ole Bratset is still as strong as ever and the result is the band's best album to date. By far. In the past their winning mix of lo-fi Elephant 6 pop and fuzzy indie rock sometimes suffered from muddy recordings or songs that weren't as punchy as they could be. No worries about either of those issues here as the sound of Ecstasy Rhymes is clear and crisp with layers of strummed guitars, nimble bass and gleefully bashed drums form a safety net for the rambling lead guitars and the duo's home cooked vocals...

Dynamic, sound-manipulating post-rock project helmed by composer/keyboardist/vocalist Ryan Lott.

Son Lux - Tomorrows II / Bodies

Son Lux released the first installment of their Tomorrows trilogy in August of a turbulent 2020. Fourth months later, and loosely reminiscent of the second movement of a classical symphony, Tomorrows II proves to be a relatively more hushed, introspective volume... In the second half, the funky "Bodies" adds colorful choral voices, prepared piano, and Ian Chang's off-kilter drumming to a central bass line before ..

A prolific session player and musical chameleon, a guitarist whose speed, facility, phrasing, and technique are always flawless.

Lee Ritenour - Dreamcatcher / Abbot Kinney

It's hard to believe that in his over-50-year career, guitarist Lee Ritenour has never released a solo guitar album. He rectifies that fact on 2020's warmly delivered Dreamcatcher. The record follows Ritenour's star-studded 2015 album A Twist of Rit, in which he reworked songs from throughout his career with a bevy of special guests. Dreamcatcher finds him taking a more introspective, stripped-down approach, but one that still showcases his lyricism and adept fretboard skills. Recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ritenour produced the album himself at his home, working remotely with studio assistance by Gary Lee and Brian McShea. There's an intimacy to the recordings that has the feeling of a small private concert, or it's as if you're eavesdropping on Ritenour just jamming for his own pleasure... He even rips into far-eyed electric jazz-rock on "Abbot Kinney."...

Occasional future jazz and hip-hop recording project from Madliband drummer/producer Karriem Riggins.

Jahari Massamba Unit - Pardon My French / Du Morgon Au Moulin-À-Vent (Pour Duke)

Jahari Massamba Unit is the very occasional collaborative recording project between producer/mixologist/multi-instrumentalist Madlib and jazz/hip-hop drummer/producer Karriem Riggins... Pardon My French is an exploration and statement of Afro-futurist jazz refracted through hip-hop, vanguard, Eastern and Latin influences, and funk... The album's centerpiece is "Du Morgon au Moulin-à-Vent (Pour Duke)," a nine-plus-minute jam introduced by the sound of running water, incessantly rolling tom-toms, crystalline vibraphone, and acoustic guitar. Its long intro is anchored by a two-chord piano vamp, and the track eventually weds post-bop, Latin and Brazilian jazz, exotic percussion, and squalling trombone, all before Jackie Earley recites a brief poem...  It's difficult to pin down to be sure, but extremely listenable as a mind-blowing experiment to encounter and absorb. The future is now.

Khruangbin, Joan of Arc, The Smashing Pumpkins, Urlaub in Polen, Kelley Stoltz, The High Water Marks, Son Lux, Lee Ritenour, Jahari Massamba Unit