Thursday, October 30, 2014

Genre Research Project 78/1362: Shashmaqam


Shashmaqam is a Central Asian musical genre, (typical of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), which may have developed in the city of Bukhara. Shashmaqam means the six Maqams (modes) in the Persian language, dastgah being the name for Persian modes, and maqams being the name for modes more generally.

It is a refined sort of music, with lyrics derived from Sufi poems about divine love. The instruments of shashmaqam provide an austere accompaniment to the voices. They consist, at most concerts, of a pair of long-necked lutes, the dayra, or frame drum, which, with its jingles, is very much like a tambourine, and the sato, or bowed tanbour, which vaguely resembles a bass fiddle.

It was named a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Fill my coffers up, pop my collar up


Shabazz Palaces - "Forerunner Foray" (Lese Majesty)

Monday, October 27, 2014

Dude Incredible


Shellac - "Dude Incredible" (Dude Incredible)

Playlist for 10-23-14




Playlist for Things that Are Square on 10-23-14

(*) = New release

Jens Lekman - I Don't Want to Die Alone - The Opposite of Hallelujah

(*) Allo Darlin' - Crickets In the Rain - We Come From the Same Place
Hefner - The Sad Witch - Breaking God's Heart
The Field Mice - An Earlier Autumn - For Keeps
Jeffrey Lewis - The East River - The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane and Other Favorites

Vâr - In Your Arms (Final Fantasy) - Todo Muere Vol. 2 (For Andrew in Irvine, CA)
Happy Trendy - January 6 - Die Young
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Jeane, If You're Ever In Portland - Twinkle Echo
Skull Tape - Anon Anon - The Invisible Hand and the Descent of Man

(*) Dads - Chewing Ghosts - I'll Be the Tornado
Pedro the Lion - Big Trucks - It's Hard to Find a Friend
Built to Spill - Dystopian Dream Girl - There's Nothing Wrong With Love
The Dodos - Black Night - No Color (For Alex in Irvine, CA)

Chain and the Gang - Interview with the Chain Gang - Down with Liberty...Up with Chains!
Reigning Sound - I'd Much Rather Be With the Boys - Time Bomb High School
Frank Black - Headache - Teenager of the Year
Mi Ami - Latin Lover - Steal Your Face

(*) Scott Walker + Sunn O))) - Lullaby - Soused
Popol Vuh - Oh Wie Nah Ist Der Weg Hinab - Leztze Tage, Leztze Nächt
(*) Zammuto - Your Time - Anchor

(*) Aphex Twin - PAPAT4 (pineal mix) - Syro
Techno Animal - Freefall - The Brotherhood of the Bomb
Container - Adhesive - Adhesive
(*) Cut Hands - The Claw - Festival of the Dead

(*) QT - Hey QT - Hey QT

I been sick since the uterus


Lil Ugly Mane - "Bitch I'm Lugubrious" (Mista Thug Isolation)

Friday, October 24, 2014

I’m chasing death or glory, whichever comes first


John Moreland - "Nobody Gives a Damn About Songs Anymore" (In the Throes)

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Playlist for 10-16-14 (Zoie's Afrobeat Party Edition)



Hey guys!

I was gone last week. But Zoie from Sound-Houses filled in, admirably. Here's what she played for you.

Honey Machine / Shake Your Body / Honey Machine 
Rob / Make It Fast Make It Slow / Make It Fast Make It Slow
Joe Moks / Boys & Girls / Boys & Girls
Mbiri Young Stars / Ndiri Ndanogio Niwe / Kenya Special (Selected East African Recordings from the 1970s & 80s)
CK Mann & His Carousel 7 / Asafo Beesuon (medley) / Funky Highlife

Charlotte Dada / Don't Let Me Down (Live in Ghana, 1971) / Youtube
Dark City Sisters / Langa More / Golden Afrique Vol. 3
S.E. Rogie / Easy Baby / Palm Wine Guitar Music
Lijadu Sisters / Orere Eljigbo / Horizon Unlimited
Blackman Akeeb Kareem / Esi fun Fun (White Horse) / Tomorrow
Honey & the Bees Band / Psychedelic Woman / Ghana Soundz
The Fabulous Three / No Name Bar / The Best Of...

Leiba Taht / Tilahun Gessese / The Legends 
Hailu Mergia & the Walias Band / Musical Silt / Tche Belew 
Irtin Band / Gabar ii Noquee / Youtube
Dur-Dur Band / Dooyo / Dur-Dur, Vol. 5
Mor Thiam / Ayo Ayo Nene / Spiritual Jazz
Tsegue-maryam Guebrou / Homeless Wanderer / Éthiopiques 21 : Piano Solo

William Onyeabor / Let's Fall in Love / Who is William Onyeabor?
Peter King / Watusi / Shango
Sir Victor Uwaifo And His Titibitis Of Africa / Ogiobo / Jackpot
Saramba Kouyate / Sene Foli / 56


Genre research project 77/1362: Cakewalk



Cakewalk originally referred to a style of dance, developing from slaves parodying and mocking the social dances of their masters, but over time it became a specific musicial form as well. The music is in 2/4 time, and has a particular ooompah rhythm, owning to each bar having two alternate heavy beats. There were many recordings of cakewalks during the ragtime era.

Genre Research Project 76/1362: Bulgarian Folk



Folk music revolved around holidays like Christmas, New Year's Day, midsummer, and the Feast of St. Lazarus, as well as the Strandzha region's unusual Nestinarstvo rites, in which villagers fell into a trance and danced on hot coals as part of the joint feast of Sts Konstantin and Elena on May 21. Music was also a part of more personal celebrations such as weddings. Singing has always been a tradition for both men and women. Songs were often sung by women at work parties such as the sedenka (often attended by young men and women in search of partners to court), betrothal ceremonies, and just for fun. Women had an extensive repertoire of songs that they sang while working in the fields. Young women eligible for marriage played a particularly important role at the dancing in the village square (which not too long ago was the major form of "entertainment" in the village and was a very important social scene). The dancing — every Sunday and for three days on major holidays like Easter — began not with instrumental music, but with two groups of young women singing, one leading each end of the dance line. Later on, instrumental musicians might arrive and the singers would no longer be the dance leaders. A special form of song, the lament, was sung not only at funerals but also upon the departure of young men for military service.

The distinctive sounds of women's choirs in Bulgarian folk music come partly from their unique rhythms, harmony and polyphony, such as the use of close intervals like the major second and the singing of a drone accompaniment underneath the melody, especially common in songs from the Shope region around the Bulgarian capital Sofia and the Pirin region. In addition to Koutev, who pioneered many of the harmonies, and composed several songs that were covered by other groups, (especially Tudora), various women's vocal groups gained popularity, including Trio Bulgarka, consisting of Yanka Roupkina, Eva Georgieva, and Stoyanka Boneva, some of whom were included in the "Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices" tours.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Fender Stratocaster art show


Hey, if you wanted a cool thing to do Friday night, head down to Hurley HQ in Costa Mesa and see art by a bunch of people of whom you enjoy the creative output. And I believe it's free. And maybe you can win some cool art in an auction. And meet famous people. And just generally be rock and roll.

Genre Research Project 75/1362: Television music


It's....you know....music from television.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Genre Research Project 74/1362: Gamelan Gong Kebyar


Gamelan gong kebyar is a style or genre of Balinese gamelan music. Kebyar means "the process of flowering," and refers to the explosive changes in tempo and dynamics characteristic of the style. It is the most popular form of gamelan in Bali, and its best known musical export.

Playlist for 10-9-14



You guys!

I'm not doing my radio show tonight because I'm going to Sinister Pointe. It's Halloween! You guys better be doing horror stuff. 

You know what else is scary? How good this playlist is:

Things that Are Square 10-9-14

(*) = New release

Blaze Foley - Clay Pigeons - Live at the Austin Outhouse

Vic Chesnutt - Lucinda Williams - West of Rome
Paul Baribeau - Ten Things - Grand Ledge
Fog - Cockeyed Cookie Pusher - Hummer
Big Mama Thornton - Everything Gonna Be Alright - With the Muddy Waters Blues Band

Champion Jack Dupree - Junker Blues - Blues From the Gutter
Girlpool - Plants and Worms - Girlpool
The Finches - How to Keep Your Heart Hate-Free - On Golden Hill
Pedro the Lion - The Longer I Lay Here - It's Hard to Find a Friend

(*) Allo Darlin' - Bright Eyes - We Come From the Same Place
The Wedding Present - Brassneck - Bizarro
Ballboy - Meet Me at the Shooting Range - A Guide for the Daylight Hours
Iji - About a Girl - Soup/Salad

(*) Perfume Genius - Longpig - Too Bright
Purity Ring - Fineshrine - Shrines
Elite Gymnastics - Here, In Heaven 2 - Ruin
Faust - Jennifer - Faust IV

Stereolab & Nurse With Wound - Simple Headphone Mind - Simple Headphone Mind
(*) Milo - You Are Go(o)d to Me (Editorial Length) - A Toothpaste Suburb
(*) Flying Lotus - Coronus, The Terminator - You're Dead!

(*) Caribou - Can't Do Without You - Our Love
Matmos - Y.T.T.E. - The Civil War
Baths - Ocean Death - Ocean Death

(*) Aphex Twin - Produk 29 - Syro

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

I still do feel so horribly lonely


I've been listening to such an obscene amount of Morrissey lately. I am unsure if this is symptomatic of something else.

But I also covered this song in case you like things that are not quite as good as the original.


Monday, October 13, 2014

So I take this weary heart and bleed it out


YOB - "Nothing to Win" (Clearing the Path to Ascend)

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Genre Research Project 73/1361: Space Ambient


Flowing and relaxing, Ambient music often employs sequencers along with cosmic synthesizers which are played in a sweeping and gradual manner. The successive ascending and descending rhythms are enhanced by almost imperceptible patterns in order to create a resonating, distant psychedelic sound. It emerged in the early 1970s from the ambient side of Progressive Electronic with the specific purpose to attune the listener's mind to a state of cosmic awareness. New Age music also exerted a great influence in the later development of this genre.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Playlist for 10-2-14



I know I said I'd be better at updating these playlists on time. But this time I mean it. I swear.

Things that Are Square 10-2-14

(*) = New release

Jonah Matranga - Birthday - Songs from Sacramento Vol. 1: Songs I Hope My Mom Will Like

Colin Meloy - I Know Very Well How I Got My Name - Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - We Real Cool - Push the Sky Away
Faron Young - Hello Walls - All-Time Greatest Hits
Woody Guthrie - Pretty Boy Floyd - Dust Bowl Ballads

The Field Mice - I Can See Myself Alone Forever - Snowfall
The Crabs - Love & Hate - What Were Flames Now Smolder
Teenage Fanclub - Sparky's Dream - Grand Prix
(*) Perfume Genius - Queen - Too Bright

Archers of Loaf - Web In Front - Icky Thump
Built to Spill - Singing Sores Make Perfect Swords - Live
Galaxie 500 - Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste - Peel Sessions
Vic Chesnutt - You Are Never Alone - North Star Deserter

(*) Shellac - Compliant - Dude Incredible
Isis + Aerogramme - Low Tide - In the Fishtank 14
The Blood Brothers  - Crimes - Crimes

(*) Puig Destroyer - Mike Trout - Puig Destroyer
Converge - Drop Out - You Fail Me
Melvins - Zodiac - Bullhead
(*) Torch Runner - Godlust - Endless Nothing

(*) Pallbearer - The Ghost I Used to Be - Foundations of Burden
Om - At Giza - Conference of the Birds

Bark Psychosis - The Loom - Hex
Low - Over the Ocean - The Curtain Hits the Cast
Grouper - Disengaged - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
(*) jj - When I Need You - V

(*) FKA Twigs - Kicks - LP1
(*) Qrion - Only - shh#ffb6c1
(*) Zammuto - Good Graces - Anchor
(*) Milo - You Are Go(o)d to Me (Editorial Length) - A Toothpaste Suburb

(*) Aphex Twin - syro u473t8+e (piezoluminescence mix) - Syro
Sigur Rós - Ekki Mukk (D33J Remix) - Unreleased

(*) DJ Rashad - Let It Go - Hyperdub 10.1


I'll think of you each step of my way


Dolly Parton - "I Will Always Love You" (Jolene)

If you're down with Dolly Parton then fuck you.

Genre Research Project 72/1361: Altai Traditional Music


Altai Traditional Music is the traditional music of the Altai people. It is a form of Turkic-Mongolic Traditional Music, which has developed in isolation in the mountains of the Altai Republic and Altai Krai (regions of the Russian Federation). It has similarities to other neighboring styles such as Tuvan, Khakas and Mongolian music but also has a rather unique sound.

There is major usage of Throat Singing in Altai music: the local style is known as kai or khai, which is used mainly for epic performance of poetry, and is often accompanied by topshur (a two-stringed lute). Altai vocalists make large usage of vocal imitations of nature - primarily birds.

Friday, October 3, 2014

Genre Research Project 71/1361: Psychedelic Soul


Following the lead of Jimi Hendrix in psychedelic rock, in the late 1960s psychedelia began to have a widespread impact on African American musicians, particularly the stars of the Motown label. Influenced by the civil rights movement, it had a darker and more political edge than much acid rock. Building on the funk sound of James Brown, it was pioneered by Sly and the Family Stone with songs like "Dance to the Music" (1968), "Everyday People" (1968) and "I Want to Take You Higher" (1969), which had a sound that emphasized distorted electric rhythm guitar and strong basslines. Also important were the Temptations and their producer Norman Whitfield, who moved from a relatively light vocal group into much more serious material with "Cloud Nine" (1968), "Runaway Child, Running Wild" (1969) and "Psychedelic Shack" (1969).

I need a miracle, someone to help me


Pedro The Lion - "The Longer I Lay Here" (It's Hard To Find A Friend)


Current goal: move to a place with lots of trees and starts a band that sounds exactly like Pedro the Lion.