Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Talk Talk//Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti//Sun Araw//David Bowie








Sorry, I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been moving, starting new jobs, attending to typical life bullshit, etc. But the past few weeks have been good and this is what I've been into. 

Talk Talk

I revisited Talk Talk (first picture above) who I haven't listened to in years. I went through a phase a while back trying to hear all the classics that aren't on Rolling Stones greatest list of great music records. As I could have figured, there was tons of great shit that was outside the pop music/radio spectrum that Rolling Stone loves so much. There were a lot of interesting things going on with music for decades that they decided to leave out so that they could sell more copies of their magazine (that's something you can respect). Not only did they give into commercialism but as music journalists, failed doing their research on music. This still seems to be the case today. No going back now though. 

I was pretty sick yesterday and my girlfriend was in study mode. With that in mind I put on Talk Talk's 1991 album Laughing Stock. The album was even better this time around than last time and it seemed to be perfect for an atmosphere of studying and recuperating. I always try to find the perfect sound track for the situation. In the car, Laughing Stock, reminded me of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew. The way those beautiful notes would melt into noise. I love it. I know improv was used on this album a bit and that incense was burning along with glowing black lights in the studio to set the mood of the album during the recording session. At certain points there were thirteen violin players who would show up for a recording session. 

No matter how you feel about post-rock, this album might be one of the reasons that term exists and why it can also be very cool. 




(You might know the No Doubt cover of this. This is when Talk Talk we're more pop and just got back from touring with Duran Duran. How funny that Duran Duran was on tour with Talk Talk)


(This is towards the end of their career as Talk Talk. It reminds me of the Radiohead "No Surprises" video. Talk Talk is one of the few groups who progressed being a band and not digressed. I would have loved to see what they would have done after Laughing Stock)


Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti 

This year a friend of mine came to me and asked me if I heard the new Ariel Pink? I was a little shocked because this person was more into the other spectrums of music. I instantly said YES! I wasn't too impressed by the record, I've only heard it a handful of times. I am not here to talk about the new record either. I heard a disco edit by Night Plane (a Brooklyn producer) of one of the singles and knew I'd have some friends that would be into it. Ariel Pink is one of those artist you love or hate. I love the way he chooses sound for his records and the way he doesn't care about what Rolling Stone says (or at least I think) about his record, that above all things deserves respect. 



Sun Araw

Sun Araw is a solo member of Magic Lantern and Vibes. He recently moved out to Long Beach after spending some time in Austin. Much like Talk Talk, Sun Araw uses methods of improvisation. If you're not a fan of psych rock, drone, classic rock, afro-beat, noise or jam you might not be into this record. It's almost as if he took all the 70's weirdo stuff we might or might not know and threw it in a blender and pushed liquify on modern effects. This takes time to get into and if you're looking for a hook, you're done for. Cameron Stallones (Sun Araw) also makes his own music videos. If all artists did this we might have less capitalism in music and more art, or at least I'd like to think so. 


DEEP COVER - SUN ARAW from CatCakes on Vimeo.
 


David Bowie

I'm not going to write a David Bowie bio, if you don't have David Bowies first 12 records, you shouldn't be reading this blog. Download them right now. There is some rough patches like Pin Ups and Diamond Dogs, but besides that they're all pretty fucking good. The man was always on some next level shit. Especially the album, Low, that record freaks me out. 

I stumbled upon this edit while re-downloading some Bowie I've lost over the years. 



The embedded for this was taken down but its David Bowie doing "Golden Years" on Soul Train. It's pretty fucking cool being that he looks like a vampire and all in front of the Soul Train crowd. WATCH THIS VIDEO!