March 2, 2010
Beaumont Hannant “Psi-Onyx (Autechre Mix)”
Is there anything better than stumbling onto new-to-you tracks from a favorite period in a favorite artist’s discography? I just heard this song on Autechre’s Oversteps Radio stream (they’re mixing it live right this minute, and it’s very much worth listening to) and someone in the chat box there (which is maybe not as worth listening to) identified it for me. It sounds straight off Tri Repetae or Anvil Vapre, which is far and away my favorite Autechre musical period, and probably always will be (can’t say I’m super impressed with anything after the still-stunning LP5). Here’s a five (!) year old post I wrote featuring a couple gorgeous tracks from this era. The sense of infinite atmospheric space, crystalline precision and future-nostalgic yearning they had going back then still gives me chills. Since then they’ve gotten murkier and way, way less melodic. It’s (mostly) all texture, and sloppy texture at that. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for a return to form, but in the meantime, this will do. And maybe *cough* this too.
December 31, 2009
December 16, 2009
(Re)Introducing TRMW Archives
I’ve been casually tweaking this project over the last few months, and at this point I’m thinking it’s finally ready to be unveiled. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you TRMW Archives. This little site compiles all of my pre-Tumblr bloggage, which was previously spread across a really older Blogger account at Metempsychosis (where this blog started in 2001), and a static HTML archive at Urban Honking (where it lived from 2005 to 2007). To honor the occasion, here are a few of my favorite posts from back in the day:
- This one about the lineage of the amazing pop-disco jam “Behind The Mask,” which was written by Ryuichi Sakamoto and made its way through Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, and beyond. By far the most popular thing I’ve ever done on the internet.
- A weirdly vivid dream about visiting Brian Eno’s house.
- Diagramming the musical sublime via Swell Maps’ “Full Moon in My Pocket” suite.
- Having my spirits lifted by random Woody Harrelson sighting whilst living in London.
- This one about feeling confused about people and high school.
- Two amazing Autechre songs (for the music more than the words)
- Being really, really excited about PDX Pop Now 2005.
- PDX CUTE NOW
- Another bucketfull of Portland pride. Seriously, Portland in 2004 was a great place to be in your early twenties.
- Related: A bunch of a old Portland show reviews, imported from the now-defunct Team Tinnitus group concert review blog.
- Year end lists from 2005 to 2007, proving that there really was a time when I was slightly more lucid than I am now.
It’s definitely been interesting looking back over this stuff as I’ve slowly imported and finessed it into the new site. [I could go into some seriously geeky detail on the importing part here, but I’ll spare you. Suffice it to say, REGEXP FTW.] For better or worse, I used to write a lot more, and try a lot harder with the writing. Sometimes that meant I ended up sounding like someone trying way too hard to be an actual writer, bullshitting deep thoughts that I may or may not have actually thought through. But other times it resulted in real thinking, and some decent writing. I’m proud of it, really, and it feels good to have it all in one place where people can continue to stumble onto it, and maybe leave a comment or two. And if not, hey, I’ll still rule the “umbrella” keyword on Google Image Search.
January 30, 2009
MATT WRIGHT PR *heart* BLITZEN TRAPPER →
Just did a little cleaning up at the old PR site, and I have to say, the above link will always make me smile. This was the first ever quasi-managerial thing I did for BT, and it ended up going really well. Lot’s of people came out! Two records and a few years later (I think this was in 2005), I’m so proud of how far these guys have come. They deserve every bit of it.
October 5, 2008
“The happy effect that Babar has on us, and our imaginations, comes from this knowledge—from the child’s strong sense that, while it is a very good thing to be an elephant, still, the life of an elephant is dangerous, wild, and painful,” Gopnik writes. “It is therefore a safer thing to be an elephant in a house near a park.”This article is surprisingly deep and poignant. Recommended reading.
September 29, 2008
XL Recordings: The First Chapters →
Holy crap, this is totally fantastic. Old school super catchy breakbeat jams, from the label that’s now putting out the White Stripes and Beck. I am totally down with both sides of that trajectory, and listening to this comp just reaffirms for me what a uniquely great label XL really is. Hey, I think this calls for some gratuitous YouTube embedding!
So here’s a (very) vintage clip for SL2’s track “Way in My Brain (Remix),” which apparently hit the UK top 40 in 1993. Enjoy the music, but don’t pay too much attention to this video (trust me).
And here’s Kick Like a Mule’s remix of Awesome 3’s “Don’t Go.” Love those vocal samples!
And this is Prodigy’s “Everybody In The Place (Housequake Remix).” Watch out, these breakdowns are super peaky.
Good times. You can buy The First Chapters off Amazon MP3 here.
