Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, the world’s first Thereatari; a photoresistor-controlled dual 555 timer “Stepped Tone Generator” synth (the famous “Atari Punk Console“) with a bunch of bells and whistles.
It’s nice to be building again, after a break since early fall when I made the run of FNTSTC octave fuzzes.
This Thereatari will mostly live in the minirig, along with the Monotribe. The enclosure will also hold two passive mixers: one for submixing things to the Monotribe’s audio input, and one main mixer to produce a mono output from the whole system.
I might do a run of Thereataris later. In addition to putting them in others’ hands, it would be cool to have one for Night Mode shows to put at the front of the table and invite audience members to play.
I must have heard the band first through KDNE. 100 Broken Windows came out before I was even at the station, so my guess is the label may have been giving it a push in the run-up to releasing Idlewild’s next record (The Remote Part). I got comp tickets to The Remote Part tour through my connections as Music Director. This show also introduced me to the French Kicks; I remember both bands’ sets clearly.
All to say, I wasn’t quite in on the ground floor, but I made up for it in listening. Every note on 100 Broken Windows is as familiar as a favorite hoodie, and if CDs could be worn out my copy would be.
100 Broken Windows is a perfect indie punk record; it doesn’t waste a breath, it maintains momentum from start to finish, it’s stuffed with hooks, and it has a perspective.
This is expressed most clearly in Roddy Woomble’s use of repetition. Look at the lyrics to “Roseability.”
Roseability, there is no roseability Roseability, there is no roseability
You’ve got off with too much now You’re getting off with too much now Stop looking through scrapbooks and photograph albums Because I know They don’t teach you what you don’t already know You’ve always been, dissatisfied
Gertrude Stein said “that’s enough” (I know that that’s not enough now)
Roseability, there is no roseability
You’ve got off with too much now…
Gertrude Stein said “that’s enough” (I know that that’s not enough now)
Roseability, there is no roseability
You’ve got off with too much now…
Idlewild, “Roseability”
Across three verses there are only two lines (“Roseability…” and “Gertrude Stein…”). Both rhyme words with themselves, and follow the self-negating form [Thing] / [not Thing]. This is a recipe for boredom and cloying simplicity, but Roddy and the band make it work beautifully. They pull this trick off over and over across the record, and it still works.
For twenty years I’ve been happy any time I played this album, and I’m sure I will be for twenty more.
Not a lot of music works for both feelings, but here’s some that does for me.
High On Fire – Need everyone out of your face? Hell yeah. Blazing down the highway in a souped up Z/28 toward the best time of your life? DOUBLE HELL YEAH.
Run The Jewels – Goes without saying. Mike & El will save you, then MC your cookout.
Jim James – Specifically “Regions of Light and Sound of God” and “Eternally Even,” which are vulnerable and transcendent and mountain-funky.
Yob – The beauty and the absolute fury are the closest thing to capturing what my experience is like on the inside.
Doomtree – The crew records, in particular, speak directly to my body, mind, and heart at once.
Beastie Boys – Every other artist here helps me feel seen, heard, and known when I’m in a rough spot. Beastie Boys are the only ones who can drag me up a notch or two with sheer musical power.
First – new music in a week, or less! It’s already on Bandcamp if you know where to look 😎, I’m just waiting for the Spotify, Tidal, etc. links to come through before posting and sending the email.
( ^ Not joking. No pranks/foolin’ today, please.)
Then, I took a deep dive into analog noise over the weekend, working on two projects. The first inspired the second, and I went with it. I recorded seventeen (!) 46-minute (!!) takes of different colors of analog noise from synthesizers, and from dirt pedals with no input (just turning everything up, sometimes adjusting the tone controls if they worked). This is a long-term project too complex to summarize here.
That experience, and my surprise at the many different types of noise I was able to record, got me thinking about making a noise record. So on Sunday, I did.
Noise piece 1 rig
The first piece has a beat of sorts, and all the synths are synchronized; the Monotribe syncs the SQ-1, which sends MIDI to Medusa and CV/gate to the MS-20.
Noise piece 2 partial rig
The second piece is more ambient (though pretty intense to listen to) and I set up six different patches of gear. The six sections blend into each other, relay-style.
The picture shows my DIY slew module; just a giant capacitor alligator-clipped into the CV path! Works perfectly. I used this trick on an earlier (still unreleased) Night Mode recording as part of a thunderstorm simulator.
— M/S Ride – Night Mode – Mars Lights – MFR (@marslightsnoise) March 19, 2020
Short video of the mini rig. First jam, not bad, kinda left coasty!
We’re privileged and grateful to be doing this stuff instead of pulling double shifts, or grieving. But the scientists say staying home is what we need to do, so we are. Be as well as you can, everyone. -h
I’m working on a one-case mini-rig centered on my modded Monotribe. Tonight I got the lattice built and dual lock applied. Instruments and effects will move on and off the rig; there will be more synths and (let’s not kid ourselves) about this many pedals at least.
Compared to the stock Monotribe’s single output, I’m planning on three and a half signal paths:
Monotribe drums (direct output mod)
Monotribe synth voice
Monotribe audio in (including the Monotribe’s synth voice in a feedback loop and/or a separate, independent audio signal); this path routes through the Monotribe synth voice’s VCA
Extra synth voice (Volca Bass, Atari Punk Console, etc.)
This rig is more for me than anything else. It’s not particularly intended for Night Mode collaborations, though I’m sure I’ll use it for that eventually (and the ways it isn’t well-suited for that become cool challenges/limitations from another angle). In theory it would be fun to perform a solo show on it, though that’s more of a personal challenge and organizing principle for the setup than a serious intention.
With our best records of the year and decade in the books, here’s a chat we had a few weeks ago during the writing process. Let us know if you’d like more of these! (They’d be shorter than this)
A Tribe Called Quest, “We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service” (2016) – I worried about this one being way too sentimental or self-aware; a group resting on their laurels of being the best (by FAR) socially conscious jazz-rap bunch of all time. I shouldn’t have worried; this album bangs whether you’ve just heard of ATCQ or waited 18 years to hear it. -C
Arcade Fire, “The Suburbs” (2010) – Still the template for festival-sized indie pop a decade on, and the record Arcade Fire’s career arc hinges on. And still a great listen. Shoo-in for lists like this. -h
Autolux, “Pussy’s Dead” (2016) – Next-level musicianship – I’m talking Radiohead, here – that transcends guitarist/bassist/drummer while keeping grounded and maintaining some kind of thread throughout. A follow-up would be incredible. -h
Bon Iver, “Bon Iver” (2011) – Justin Vernon took a zag into yacht rock and never really looked back to the cabin his debut was recorded in (though he continues to zig, in smaller doses). -h
Brittany Howard, “Jaime” (2019) – Howard stands on the shoulders of others, from Sly Stone and Prince to her sister in whose memory the album is named, and carries them forward into her own vision of soul, and truth, and living in 2019. Immediate classic, and I can’t wait to hear what she does next. -h
Carly Rae Jepsen, “E mo tion” (2015) – I’m always searching for pop perfection, and with this album, I found it. Synths, ’80s funk guitar, big beats, even bigger melodies. Look down at your person while listening and you will discover that you are dancing. -C
D’Angelo, “Black Messiah” (2014) – Have you listened to this album lately? It remains as deep, mysterious, and vital as ever. Arguably the best album of the decade. -h
Dark Satellites, “Be Still” (2016) – Even after accounting for my bias, Drew’s transformation this decade from Rent Money Big and Mars Lights riff-writer and noise-shredder to a dude who created songs like “Flyover” and “Noflakes” from bottom to top is a phenomenal artistic achievement. “Be Still” is his best to date (emphasis on “to date”). -h
Derek Jennings, “Bummertown EP” (2014) – I can’t believe this guy. This is the kind of folk record you listen to and feel affirmed, inspired, heartbroken, in love… the whole thing. All the while, you can’t believe these timelessly perfect songs haven’t been around for 50 years; it feels like they’ve always been with you, just waiting to be sung aloud. -C
Ex Hex, “Rips” (2014) – My favorite power pop record. Maybe ever. Absolutely unbeatable for any mood, any surroundings, and any company. “Rips” is the understatement of the 2010s. -h
Fleet Foxes, “Helplessness Blues” (2011) – If you thought their self-titled was a rich tapestry of profound wisdom, harmonies, and stories told in ancient sounds, “Helplessness Blues” will kindly put you into space. -C
HAIM, “Days are Gone” (2013) – Time to face facts: An exceptionally talented power-trio of Jewish sisters from LA gave us the ballsiest (and most fun) rock and roll record of the decade.They filled Laurel Canyon with gated reverb and made a glorious noise. -C
Julianna Barwick, “Nepenthe” (2013) – About the catchiest ambient music you’ll ever hear, nothing sounds quite like Julianna Barwick’s layers of looped vocals, strings, and reverb. If a dream was a friend who was an autumn afternoon turned into a sculpture, that might be this record. -h
Kanye West & Jay-Z, “Watch The Throne” (2011) – As a complete work, this record is more rewarding than the bulk of Kanye’s solo discography from the last decade. Kanye’s production is on point as always, but something about Jay-Z’s presence makes him a better (and much more likable) MC. Plus, it introduced the world to Frank Ocean and quoted Blades of Glory. -C
Kendrick Lamar, “To Pimp a Butterfly” (2015) – Innovative, challenging, poetic, abrasive, intoxicating, haunting, demanding. This is the funkiest weirdest rap album of the decade and it’ll be years before anyone else catches up. -C
Kurt Vile, “B’lieve I’m Goin’ Down…” (2015) – The spacey fever-dream of a down-home folk singer related through ghost-stories, waking dreams, and reverb. And so catchy! -C
Major Games, “Major Games” (2015) – Loud, weird, melodic, and like nothing else; Major Games hits every vulnerability I have at once. Prospects of more music from the band appear dim, but there will always be this flawless LP. -h
Mitski, “Be the Cowboy” (2018) – A pop record that effortlessly and fluidly encompasses disco, folk, torch-singing, and punk through songs you’ll have in your head for roughly 30 years. Even putting the brilliant production choices aside, the songwriting here is next-level; no one does it like Mitski. -C
Müscle Wörship, “Müscle Wörship LP” (2013) – Some kind of sideways post-punk with incredible Jazzmaster vibrato abuse, I played this a bazillion times over the past six years and it never got stale. -h
The National, “High Violet” (2010) – Equal to if not the band’s best ever, though it would have been heresy to say it at the time of its release following “Boxer” and “Alligator.” I’m a whole-album guy, but “Bloodbuzz Ohio” gets me going no matter what context I hear it in. -h
Nine Inch Nails, “Hesitation Marks” (2013) – I keep telling people NIN is an Upside Down version of a soul band, and I feel like no one’s listening. This, Reznor & Co.’s most purely enjoyable record, remains vastly underrated. -h
Pallbearer, “Sorrow and Extinction” (2012) – Pallbearer got me through a terrible year; these five eternal slabs of down-tuned existential despair let me feel like I wasn’t alone. Things are better, and “Sorrow and Extinction” remains just as great as always. -h
Phases, “For Life” (2015) – A super-group that’s actually super! Alexander Greenwald from Phantom Planet, Z Berg from The Like, Jason Boesel from Rilo Kiley, and Michael Runion from… Buena High School in Ventura. Big ’80s pitch-shifting synth-pop with songs about dumb ex-boyfriends, convertibles, and havin’ fuuuuuuuuun! -C
Quilt, “Plaza” (2016) – This is a classic bedroom-pop record that could have come from just about any decade. Like their name implies, their sound is warm and comforting, like your super smart friend from school who wears oversized sweaters and makes collages. Hearing it always makes me think, “Dang it, I need to start a band like this!” -C
Real Estate, “Days” (2011) – A bunch of introspective sensi-jams bundled together, dipped in a dreamy batter, and fried whole in reverb-coil oil. Delicious. If you need to gaze out an airplane window and wonder where you’re going to land, this is your soundtrack. -C
Robyn, “Body Talk” (2010) – Club banger after club banger, with twists of whip-smarts and a welcoming kind of gender and sexual openness; Robyn’s heart is on her sleeve, and she’s ready to grind you into the dirt with her heel at the same time, and you’re here for all of it. Undefeatable. -h
The Roots, “How I Got Over” (2010) – Does anyone else love this record? It seems to exist in a forgotten interlude between their late-aughts barn burners and the more recent experimental stuff. It’s grown-as-hell rap and I think it slays (maybe because I’m grown as hell). -h
Sheer Mag, “Compilation (I, II, & III)” (2017) – Sounding like a bunch of punks beating up Thin Lizzy in a dirty alley, Sheer Mag’s initial EPs captured lightning in a bottle of Schlitz and never let go. Beneath the scuzz, these are brilliant musicians doing brilliant work, but don’t tell them we noticed. -h
Susanne Sundfør, “Ten Love Songs” (2015) – If you’re feeling TOO wistful when you hear this, you will likely drive into the country twilight while sighing heavily with remembering. Her voice soars and makes your heart ache. Plus, there are harps and weird Scandinavian pronunciations. -C
TV On The Radio, “Nine Types Of Light” (2011) – I loved this record hard for several years, and while I don’t play it as often any more it still surprises me with its emotional warmth when I do. Who would have thought Brooklyn’s Radiohead had a song like “Killer Crane” in them, except I guess it makes all the sense in the world. -h
Vampire Weekend, “Contra” (2010) – From the opening “In December, drinking horchata…” to the final “I think ur a Contra…” this album is flawlessly what it means to be, down to every polo button and Rostam overdub. -h
Vhol, “Vhol” (2013) – What if some friends tossed of a prog-thrash record? Sounds terrible. But what if their day jobs were in Yob and Hammers of Misfortune?!? Sounds like one of the best metal records of the decade. The effortless beginner’s-mind, fuck-it-do-whatever vibe is key; yeah, it’s harsh at points, but it’s never not *fun*. -h
The War On Drugs, “Lost In The Dream” (2014) – On paper, revisiting the post-“Born In The U.S.A.” heartland-rock-plus-synths sound doesn’t seem like a formula for emotional weight and resonance, but Adam Granduciel and his band transcend anything specific I can say about this music and make a whole that’s much greater than the sum of its references. -h
Wavves, “Afraid of Heights” (2013) – Punk rock for the modern age. These songs are self-involved, self-loathing, self-explanatory, and they are SO BIG AND HOOKY! These power chords are monstrous and the lyrics are about weed! -C
Honorable mention: Bully, “Feels Like” (2015) Bummer, “Holy Terror” (2018) Hiss Golden Mmessenger, “Hallelujah Anyhow” (2017) Sleigh Bells, “Treats” (2010). Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014) Weedpecker, “II” (2015)
This list represents the best discographies or bodies of work we heard in the past decade. A best albums list will follow. We chose to put artists on one or the other list, so don’t freak out that some of the top artists of the decade aren’t here.
Howie highlighted 19 artists with impeccable bodies of work; Cory went in-depth on his top three.
When I (Howie) sat down to write a few sentences about these artists, I struggled. Many of their records have already been on my best-of-year lists. I thought instead about what it means to create a strong series of works.
If you’re curious about any of these artists, go to your favorite streaming service (Spotify’s free tier is a decent option) and find their top tracks; it’s not like you can go wrong.
If I could earn a spot on a list like this, or a best albums list, I’d choose this one. These are the albums I reach for more often than not. These are the artists I trust to get me through an entire day. Brilliance is undoubtedly brilliant, but when you combine it with craft, and evolution, and call-and-response, you get something more.
These artists are doing what I aspire to do.
Aesop Rock, “Skelethon” (2012) / “The Impossible Kid” (2016)
Ka, “Grief Pedigree” (2012) / “The Night’s Gambit” (2013) / “Days With Dr. Yen Lo” (2015) / “Honor Killed The Samurai” (2016) / “Orpheus vs. the Sirens” (2018)
Radiohead, “The King Of Limbs” (2011) / “A Moon Shaped Pool” (2016) / “NOTOK” (2017)
St. Vincent, “Strange Mercy” (2011), “Love This Giant” (with David Byrne” (2012), “St. Vincent” (2014), “Masseduction” (2017)
Tame Impala, “Innerspeaker” (2010) / “Lonerism” (2012) / “Currents” (2015)
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Volume 1” (2010) / “Blood Lust” (2012) / “Mind Control” (2013) / “The Night Creeper” (2015) / “Wasteland” (2018)
Wye Oak, “Civilian” (2011) / “Shriek” (2014) / “Tween” (2016) / “The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs” (2018)
Yob, “Atma” (2011) / “Clearing The Path To Ascend” (2014) / “Our Raw Heart” (2018)
Honorable mention: Aleph Null Big K.R.I.T. Goya In Solitude J Mascis LCD Soundsystem Mastodon The New Pornographers P.O.S. Spoon Torche
Kacey Musgraves – With the advent of streaming, I rarely listen to the radio. It only happens when I’m stuck in a musical rut and need to shake things up.
That’s what happened for me during a morning commute in 2013, when I randomly tuned the FM dial to the local country station just in time to hear the beginning of “Merry Go Round,” Kacey’s single from debut “Same Trailer, Different Park.”
I remember being shocked that something this good was on the radio, and on the pop-country station to (cowboy) boot! With each passing lyric and transition, I kept getting nervous that the other boot would drop, and it would go into a shitty modern faux-nky-tonk bridge… but it never happened, and I was bowled over. I was also late to work, because I had to listen to the full song in my car first.
Once I got to my desk, I Googled the lyrics to find the name of the song, and I listened again immediately. I loved it even more, and gave her whole album a shot, and my heavens, what an absolute gem of a pop-country record. And I don’t mean pop music dressed up like country; I mean actual country music possessing actual choruses a la Patsy Cline or Willie Nelson or whomever else you want to name to sound hip.
Since that time, she’s just gotten better. She’s also been fully accepted and lauded by every type of music fan, a rare feat. “Golden Hour” turned her into Pitchfork’s Twangy Pet AND won her the Grammy for Album of the Year.
This proves how much Pitchfork has changed, but more to the point, it illustrates just how universal Kacey’s music is. She’s managed to speak to every soul in the world! Except for Howie because he does not feel, and because he has a complicated history with chaps and lassos.
Run The Jewels – Everything about this group is an anomaly, and everything about their success makes perfect sense.
I’d heard them referenced plenty of times without paying much attention, as much of the new (even critically praised) hip-hop in 2013 didn’t do it for me. How many times did Pitchfork trick me into listening to Lil’ Wayne before they became The Boy Who Cried “Dope”?
It was actually Howie that finally convinced me. He was visiting and said “Look up the video for ‘Run the Jewels’ (song) right now.” We did, and two things happened. One, I fell in love. Two, I realize that these weren’t new rappers at all. They were two middle-aged rappers with a lot of cred but nothing more than a cult following to that point. I would have said that individually, each had already peaked. But something about them trading verses over El-P’s production is lightening in a bottle.
Seven years and three monstrously powerful albums later (with a fourth dropping any day now), RTJ has established themselves as perhaps the most important “new” hip-hop duo so far this century. It’s heartening to know that such previously underground mainstays still have something new and exciting to say, AND that people were able to get on-board, zero hesitations, with two middle-aged regular-looking MCs who bear zero resemblance to anyone else on the charts. It makes no sense and perfect sense at once.
Surfer Blood – I love pop songwriting, an art that’s a lot more discerning than it gets credit for. You have to do something highly interesting in about three minutes, without overstaying your welcome, being TOO weird, or sounding trite. Really, it’s almost impossible to do with any regularity.
That’s why Surfer Blood is, no-question, my band of the decade. Album after album, they put out grunge-surf rock that recalls weirder and less commercial influences while exhibiting the same level of pop melody and sensibility that made Foo Fighters and Weezer famous. There’s something about power-chords, reverb, vulnerable lyrics, and driving rhythm sections that gets me every time, and no other band has done it better.
They’ve also defied some serious challenges, including original guitarist Thomas Fekete’s untimely death in 2016 from cancer. Few bands survive something like that; of the ones that soldier on, most of them sound watered-down, like they’re going through the motions. Surfer Blood went on to put out one of the more experimental and profound albums of their career with 2017’s “Snowdonia.”
I have no idea what the future holds for Surfer Blood. What I do know is that JP Pitts’ songwriting hasn’t faltered yet, and I feel only joy when I hear their music. For my money, no other band has given us this many records at this level of quality this consistently in recent memory.
