pink floyd - 1968-07-27

besides my current obsession with electronic music, i've had a long love affair with the psychedelic sounds of the 60s and 70s. over the years i've collected a bunch of live recordings from a bunch of bands, and a huge share of my collection comes from pink floyd... and i'm not talking about your goddamn dark side of the moon floyd. while that album is good and historically important, and i agree that it is one of the tragedies of modern music that no video exists of a full 1970s performance of the DSOTM set, i feel that the band was way more interesting in the years before DSOTM. originally started as a white-boy blues band, songwriter/guitarist/singer syd barrett steered pink floyd toward a 'progressive pop' direction with their essential first album, piper at the gates of dawn, released in 1967 and recorded at abbey road studios, down the hall from where the beatles were finishing sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band. few recordings exist of syd playing with the band, and none that i've found are of particularly good quality (another tragedy, methinks).

while syd was 'replaced' by dave gilmour in mid-1968 due to drug problems and an increasing lack of focus, his whimsical influence was felt for a few more years, and expanded upon by gilmour's calculated guitar attack, before roger waters took the helm with DSOTM. before the relatively polished presentation of that album and its live tour, pink floyd in concert was a raw psychedelic beast, capable of steering through mind-shattering walls of sound and, moments later, descending gently back down to earth with pastoral odes and falsetto choral sections, and even some ridiculously funky, bluesy jams. i can only imagine that a pre-'72 pink floyd show was the psychedelic experience par excellence...

this is a short recording, but definitely a good one: two 15-minute long mindfuck jams with exceptional sound quality. in my opinion this is a good representation of the early live floyd sound, immediately after the syd-led 'pop' phase and before the composed, theatrical feel of DSOTM.

pink floyd - 1968-07-27 - los angeles, CA
1. interstellar overdrive
2. a saucerful of secrets

as i consolidate my live cd collection, i'll occasionally post an old recording which i think deserves to be heard. i'll upload ~224 kb/s vbr mp3's, directly from the wav files i have. since we're indebted to the tapers and sharers of these treasures, i must say: individual use only--please do NOT pass these along as lossless/wav files. lossless files are available all over the internet, particularly via torrents, if you're interested in getting this in wav quality.

enjoy! there is much more to come...

this saturday, 10.3: FREE peoplemuver party - skoozbot (m_nus/plus8/drumcode)

on to a more techno-oriented tip...

this saturday, my buddy shawn kawa and his peoplemuver peoples will be throwing a FREE party here in chicago, featuring skoozbot, a dj who has produced tracks for richie hawtin's m_nus and plus 8 labels, as well as adam beyer's drumcode imprint. given those credentials, you should expect techno of the darker, weirder variety.

just as this event will be free, so is skoozbot's recent net release, music for nighttime stalking. i literally just discovered this upon peeping the dude's myspace, and a first listen is leaving me pleasantly surprised. the second track, corpse callosum, is my favorite, with its soft yet insistent atmospheric growl. the 'living release' project gives the mp3s, flac's, and ableton source files for free, definitely something to keep an eye on for the future.

the party is free, but you gotta rsvp at the email address in the flyer to find out where it's going down. this should be a fun one at a low-key spot (so chill people only please!) that will go from 10pm until very late. support free music and free parties!

i love bruno pronsato !

bruno pronsato is one of my favorite electronic music producers, and his LP why can't we be like us was a top pick for resident advisor's 2008 albums of the year. his older material frankly doesn't impress me that much, but with his most recent handful of releases, he has really carved his own niche in the world of experimental dance music, marking his territory with off-kilter rhythms and wistful female vocals; surprising, given his previous musical life as a speed metal drummer.

bruno's most recent offer, and the first release on his new label thesongsays, is the make up the break up, a 40-minute 'single' that rambles through droney soundscapes, flocks of chirping birds, and other repeated melodic motifs, all while bruno's signature hand claps and wet percussion lazily keep the beat. perhaps the peak of the track comes with the entrance of a few snippets of lyrics by nico, accompanied by blissfully-strangled guitar feedback. nico's barely-coherent preaching, as well as a beautiful wordless female vocal, weave in and out of the mix as those bird chirps bend and curve in strange new directions. it's an epic composition that requires patience, and a close listen.

for those looking for a more immediate form of gratification, try this ep: take 1/take 2, an apparently uncredited collaboration between bruno and daze maxim released late last year on musique risquee. the concept behind both 10-minute tracks is very similar: take a few horn samples (first saxophone, then trumpet), and effect and distort them almost beyond recognition, then submerge them in a sexy stew of acoustic percussion, those hand-claps, and a couple of female vocals intoning "soy tu mariposa" (i think). the results, on both tracks, are ass-shakingly good.

visit his resident advisor page for more information, live dates, and an intriguing interview on the eve of his album release last year. originally from america, bruno now works out of berlin and hops around the world with his live set. i chilled briefly with him after his appearance at sonotheque here in chicago a few weeks ago. the scene was rather debaucherous, but bruno told me his next release will be entitled lovers do/lovers don't. needless to say, i can't wait to hear more out of this talented producer.

cold weather - dislike!

chicago is great during the summertime but its winters get bitterly cold, and it looks like the cold weather may have set in today for good... i sure hope not. anyway, i'll post some music links soon, but until then my buddy posted this track to my facebook wall. that cheesy horn melody warms my heart just a bit... now i'm gonna go take a steaming hot shower and mourn the death of summer. CHEERS!

new mnml ssg mix - nuel

one of my favorite music blahgz is mnml ssgs. those guys have great taste when it comes to the deeper realms of electronic dance music, both in their own recommendations as well as the mix series. i'll occasionally link to stuff on their website that i find particularly good.

the most recent mnml ssg mix is from nuel, a dj from italy whom i had never heard of before listening to this, an hour of great, atmospheric, moody beats... have at it!

introductory bla bla

i am from chicago and i love music, among other things. i only listen to good music and i only go to cool parties.

enjoy the blahg!