Dig That Treasure!: Guest Posts

Showing posts with label Guest Posts. Show all posts

Guest Post: I Am Just A Pupil presents... Evening Meditation Mix

I am very excited to share a beautifully crafted mix, put together by ambient musician I Am Just A Pupil. The project of North Carolina based Josh Clarke, I Am Just A Pupil has a prolific catalogue that stretches from the mournful Somber Songs Collection to the witty, absurd and surprisingly poignant new age of 12 Hours FULL RELAXATION (the latter featuring the remarkable standout 'Family Dollar'). The mix that Clarke has lovingly put together for Dig That Treasure! is a gorgeous production that transcends the typical song-after-song format of a traditional guest mix. Instead, Evening Meditation Mix is a seamless weaving together of anonymous instrumental samples - beautiful harp, strings and woodwind - taken from "no ID or questionable ID cassettes/mix cds from thrift stores." The result comes off as somewhere in the middle ground between The Caretaker and Virginia Astley's ambient works.

I Am Just A Pupil presents...
Evening Meditation Mix

Guest Post: Madjestic Kasual present... MOVE, NOURISH, INSPIRE BELIEF

Announcing a guest mix by the subversive and demiurgic Madjestic Kasual...

"We are Madjestic Kasual.

We’re an audiovisual lifestyle agency operating primarily through YouTube. We want people to eggsperience music in a newer way.

Our current inspiration constellation comprises five ✩stars✩: Malala Yousufzai, Lil B, Kofi Annan, Eckhart Tolle, and Elon Musk. Their auras permeate our every action - and our every sonic dispatch in turn.

This one has three underlying aims: to move, nourish and inspire belief. That’s why we called it “MOVE, NOURISH, INSPIRE BELIEF”. It’s optimised for movement, nourishment and belief inspiration.

So go and do those things and have them done to you."

- Madjestic Kasual

Madjestic Kasual presents...
MOVE, NOURISH, INSPIRE BELIEF:

Quavius - Magic Man
Willow - untitled A2
killavesi - tired of waiting (prod. hi tom)
SpaceGhostPurrp - Alize Music
JJJJOSUE - Dont think (so pink) feat. Gods Wisdom
Wintertime - Bout a Check (prod. Gold & Winter)
d’Eon - Samsung India Software Operations I
Black Kray - Baby Pink
BODYGUARD - Wēnquán (Excerpt 1)
yyu - teu
ANBU - Shawty (prod. Jiri11)
noctilucents - 哀 (prod. Organ Tapes)
Katie Dey - Fake Health
Eckhart Tolle on how to dissolve the Egoic Self through non-identification
Lorna Jane on what’s in her fridge
Visible Cloaks - Terrazzo (ft. Motion Graphics)
Pure X - Rain At Dawn
Ian Isiah - 247 (prod. Sinjin Hawke)

Guest Post: Pictorial Candi presents Sunday Mood Nr.1 Mix

It's been over two years since the last guest mix was published on this blog (Otis Fodder's "Wordless Vocalizations Mix", March '14), so I'm very excited to share a new mix put together by Candelaria Saenz Valiente (Candi) of Pictorial Candi. The Warsaw-based Argentine has been on the scene for a while, formerly with noise pop outfit Paristetris and presently as Pictorial Candi - the name under which she has recently opened for Deerhoof and R. Stevie Moore. The second Pictorial Candi record was released earlier this year and is home to one of the year's best tracks, the triumphant 'Rhoda'. On this mix Candi takes us on a tour of contemporaries and classics, beginning with German transcendentalists Popol Vuh and ending with DIY queen of southern England Keel Her. Along the way we're treated to tunes by Warsaw group Xenony, Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti and Brazilian duo Gal Costa & Tim Maia.

Pictorial Candi presents...
Sunday Mood Nr.1 Mix:

Popol Vuh - Aguirre Part 1
Keel Her - Roswell
R. Stevie Moore - I See Stars
Ed Wood - Yeti Crab
Xenony - David H (Remix of "Chaos Engine" select screen theme by Richard Joseph)
Com Truise - Sundriped
Macintosh Plus - Lisa Frank 420
U.S. Girls - Navy & Cream
Lucio Battisti - Amarsi Un Po
Gal Costa & Tim Maia - Dia De Domingo
Keel Her - With Me Tonight

Guest Post: Otis Fodder presents Wordless Vocalizations Mix

Otis Fodder is a Canadian musician and record collector. As one half of The Bran Flakes he makes quirky and charming pop songs, by means of sound collage. He combines samples from old vinyl rarities with live instrumentation and in this special mix for Dig That Treasure, he's shared some of those rarities. These songs were all released between 1950 and 1978 and feature 'wordless vocalisations'...

A mix for listening in the early morning, the late night, or perhaps by train overlooking the scenery. A few of my favorite wordless cuts from vinyl. I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do. My very best - Otis

Otis Fodder presents...
Wordless Vocalizations Mix:

Tony Mottola with The Ray Charles Singers - "Danger" Theme
Bas Sheva - Hate
Leda Annest - Part I
Micheline Ramette - Eve Psychedelique
Mystic Moods Orchestra - Universal Mind
Francis Lai - Melissa
Kinkies - Midsummer Nostalgia
Claudine Longet - Epilogue/While You're Sleeping
Yma Sumac - Magenta Mountain

Guest Post: Eliot Krimsky presents Songs Of Alienation Mix

Eliot Krimsky is an American musician, producer and film composer. Frontman of Glass Ghost, he also often collaborates and performs with Luke Temple and the latter's band Here We Go Magic. In this mix for Dig That Treasure, he lays out tracks of emotion, humanity and alienation. I'll let him do the explaining...

When I first heard “My Time” from Roberto Cacciapaglia’s Ann Steel album (sung by Italian model Anne Steele) it felt like I discovered a long-lost relative.
It’s a happy mechanical Italian disco song with a dark undertone. The tone of the piece reminds me of this quote from great the media theorist Jean Baudrillard:

“We live in a world where there is more and more information and less and less meaning”

Upon first notes, we hear a claustrophobic synth and an automaton women singing:

"My thoughts are in perfect array / my life runs smooth like a highway / billboards show me the way"

and

"My time, my time I love my time / my time has something more / my time is the best it's ever been / I love my time thank you my time"

Is the main character from the song celebrating consumer culture and technology?
Or is this a cultural critique of alienation?
To me the tone of “My Time” feels as relevant as ever in 2014 - it’s funky and Orwellian and it evokes internet-era detachment.
The main character of the song sounds like an announcer on a Walmart loudspeaker telling you a revealing secret: The static that lies just below the field of ‘normalcy’ is violent loud, ugly and insane - but everything just keeps going as planned.
For this mix I tried to find songs that have meant a lot to me and have given me chills - ones that address technological or social alienation and bring us great deal of humanity.
This may be a first of many of these kinds of mixes for me. In this first instalment I chose the more iconic songs of alienation - but there are many more of its kind and yet many more still to be written.

Eliot Krimsky presents...
Songs of Alienation Mix:

Woody Guthrie - 1913 Masacre
Malvina Reynolds - Little Boxes
KRS-1 - Sound Of Da Police
Public Enemy - Don’t Believe The Hype
Nina Simone - How It Feels To Be Free (Live at Montreux)
Kate Bush - Deeper Understanding (Directors Cut)
Roberto Cacciapaglia - My Time
Peter Gabriel - Wallflower
Antony - Cut The World

Guest Post: KARESS present Baguette Sweat (JFK Mix)

KARESS is the multimedia project of Kim Westfall and collaborators Alex Smith, and future et al. Kim is an interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn. Her paintings are shown in the US and abroad, and 24/7/12/52/365 here. From Lio's opening track to Yano Akiko's closer, this charming collection put together by Kim explores JPop, KPop, Shibuya-kei, dream pop and new wave.

KARESS present...
Baguette Sweat (JFK Mix):

Lio - Clothes
Kim Wan-Sun - Let Me Light the Darkness (김완선 - 불빛을 좀더 어둡게 해줘요)
Portable Rock - Picnic
Elli et Jacno - Je t'aime tant
Hearts and Minds - That's Me (마음과 마음 - 그게 나예요)
Yano Akiko - Sleep on My Baby

Kim has also very lovingly written about each song on the mix, which you can read here.

Thanks to KARESS
karessmyband.tumblr.com
fallwestkim@gmail.com

Guest Post: Kiran Leonard presents Once Was Enough Mix

Introducing a guest mix from Kiran Leonard: songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, beat-maker and college student (he's 18). This is a relentlessly raucous collection of tracks spliced with audio samples, beginning in grand fashion and ending on a relatively hushed note, via the wacky world of Nervous Norvus, the noise of Half Japanese and Harry Pussy, and the avant-garde poetry of The Shadow Ring.

Kiran Leonard presents...
Once Was Enough Mix:

Alice Coltrane - Eternal Spiritual
Nmperign/Jason Lescalleet - Metal Gloves
Nervous Norvus - Stoneage Woo
Half Japanese - No More Beatle Mania
The Van Pelt - Yamato (Where People Really Die)
Susana Baca - Negra Presuntuosa
Cassetteboy - CV Mosq And More Except For CV Mosq
The Shadow Ring - I Am A Lighthouse
Primitive Calculators - Glitter Kids
Dreamers Cloth - The Coconut Pearl 4
Harry Pussy - Nazi USA
Mark Mcguire - Staying Home From School
Pedestrian Deposit - You Can't Help Me
Sufjan Stevens - The Mistress Witch From McClure (Or The Mind That Knows Itself)

Guest Post: Jerkcurb presents Palm Tree Tuxedo: Indoor Fountain Feelings Mix

Jerkcurb is Jacob Read; songwriter, illustrator and obsessive music fan. I'll let him explain the rest...

Jerkcurb presents...
Palm Tree Tuxedo: Indoor Fountain Feelings Mix:

The best I could sum it up was 'palm tree tuxedo'. Loosely, its some kind of niche bridge between easily listening muzak and outsider music, early/contemporary electronic, loungey mall vibe stuff. I did the illustration for it based on an old 60s mall postcard set I found, on the back it said "with controlled temperature, its always springtime here". First of all, its amazing they even made postcards for shopping malls, and secondly the idea of the 'eternity of spring' I found very interesting, its like soo utopic that its almost dystopic. I guess thats kind of the way the mix turns out, amidst all the optimistic chilled out stuff there's some really weird shit in there, lots of desperation. I hope you enjoy!

Jerry Paper - Is This It?
The Reels - This Guy's in love
Eco Virtual - Smog
Jerry Paper - Fuzzy Logic
Arthur Lyman - Aloha Oe
Mark Isham - Something Nice for my Dog
Snoretex - Synthesist
John Maus - Don't Be a Body / That Night
Tonstartssbandht - Hymn Eola
Zonotope - Sorry I was a Jerk
Shuggie Otis - Pling!
Ruth White - Evening Harmony
Neil Innes - Them

Illustration by Jacob Read.
www.facebook.com/jerkcurb
www.soundcloud.com/jerkcurb

Guest Post: Ed Askew presents Tracks From My Shelf Mix

It is contributions like this that evolve my love for this site - Ed Askew is the massively talented and prolific singer-songwriter, whose career began in 1968 with the release of cult-record Ask The Unicorn. His music is an enchanting stew of folk, psych-pop and jazz; often melancholy, often gleeful. In this exclusive mix, Ed has selected six songs from his record collection: from Margaret Leng Tan's interpretation of John Cage's 'Suit For Toy Piano' to Do Make Say Think's folk-slanted post-rock. Along the way are cuts from celebrated Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell, former-choir boy Liam O'Kane, Harry Partch (who built all of his own instruments) and the renowned ensemble the Kronos Quartet.

Ed Askew presents...
Tracks From My Shelf Mix:

Margaret Leng Tan - Suite For A Toy Piano 1948
Baden Powell - Berimbau
Liam O'Kane - Politeness Is Free
Harry Partch - Chorus Of Shadows
Kronos Quartet - Cold War Suite from How It Happens
Do Make Say Think - A Tender History In Rust

Many thanks to Ed.
https://soundcloud.com/ed-askew

Guest Post: Trixie's Big Red Motorbike present Marine Girls and Grab Grab The Haddock

It is with great honour that I present this guest post written by Mark Litten, brains behind one of my all-time favourite bands, Trixie's Big Red Motorbike. Originally active between 1981-85 and reformed in 2012, Trixie's were one of the most intriguing, playful and melodically exciting bands of not only the 'twee'/'C86' scene, but of the 80s itself. I could write for days about this band - in fact I may one day write an essay of my own. But for now, I shall allow Mark to present two of his favourite bands from the 'C86' era.

Mark Litten (Trixie's Big Red Motorbike) presents...
Marine Girls and Grab Grab The Haddock:

I want to write something about a very special but overlooked band from the early eighties. Grab Grab The Haddock seemed to have discovered the blueprint for the 'C86' sound well before the NME worked out what was happening in the DIY indie world. Who were these people? Read on... you might get a surprise!

Marine Girls were perhaps the single most important influence on what was to become known as "indiepop". Gina Hartman, Tracey Thorn, Jane Fox and her sister Alice came up with a unique melodic and minimalist sound based on prominent vocals, jangly guitars, tuneful basslines and hand-held percussion. Their first album "Beach Party" from 1981 is now recognised as one of the cornerstones of the genre. Marine Girls disbanded in 1983, due to musical differences. According to Alice, Tracey wanted to write songs for estate agents, while Jane wanted to throw ping-pong balls onto a xylophone.

All was not lost for their fans, however. In 1984 Jane got together with Lester Noel (later of Beats International fame), and with Alice on vocals, Grab Grab The Haddock were born. With Steve Galloway on second guitar, a drummer (Michelle?) and friends playing various other instruments, their sound was now fully fleshed-out indiepop.

Speaking in 1996, Jane said; "It was a hugely different experience to playing with the Marine Girls, and actually, playing live with Grab Grab The Haddock could be tremendous fun".

Mark.

P.S. It was between the Marine Girls split and GGTH that Jane recorded with my band, on a single and a John Peel session. For contractual reasons she is credited as Jane Fish!

Trixie's Big Red Motorbike - https://www.facebook.com/Trixieland

Guest Post: Steppe People present Second Summer Mix

In this exciting guest mix, Eric Carlson - guitarist and singer of Steppe People - has curated a collection of punk, psychedelic and experimental tracks, from the likes of Pere Ubu, Steaming Coils and Null & Void. The mix acts as both an upbeat post-summer collection, but also as a reflection on the influences of the band.

Steppe People present...
Second Summer Mix:

Side A
Suburban Lawns - "Janitor"
Pere Ubu - "Breath"
Steaming Coils - "Singing Notice"
Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - "Egyptian Cream (Live)"
Exile - "Kiss You All Over"
Side B
Dwight Twilley Band - "Could Be Love"
Green On Red - "Illustrated Crawling"
Cheap Trick - "On Top of The World"
Null & Void - "The Motorcycle Song"
Black Flag - "Spray Paint"
The Business - "Out in the Cold"
The Beach Boys - "Mama Says"

Guest Post: Hleger presents The Private Press Mix

Hleger is a South African musician whose experiments have taken him to every corner of alternative music, from drone to folk, psychedelia to bedroom pop. His diverse influences are spearheaded by DIY pop idols R. Stevie Moore and Ariel Pink, yet here he goes one further by exploring the world of 1960s Private Press music; the artists who recorded by themselves, for themselves!

Stuart Kets (Hleger) presents...
The Private Press Mix:

Eddie Callahan - "Santa Cruz Mountians"
D.R. Hooker - "Weather Girl"
Circuit Rider - "Just for Today"
Sister Irene O' Connor - "Fire"
Ted Lucas - "It's So Easy When You Know What You're Doing"
Dave Bixby - "Drug Song"
Ted Lucas - "It Is Nice To Be Stoned"

Guest Post: Half-Gifts presents Craig Safan & John Joyce - Life Is Looking Good

Introducing the first ever Dig That Treasure guest post! Half-Gifts is a zine and blog run by the viciously talented Jude Noel and here, Noel abandons his roots in shoegaze and dream pop and writes about the unlikely earworm 'Life Is Looking Good' from 1977 family comedy Breaking Training.

Half-Gifts presents...
Craig Safan & John Joyce - Life Is Looking Good

The songs most likely to get stuck in your head seem to come from the most unlikely places, and no source seems less likely to produce pop gold than Breaking Training, the 1977 sequel to baseball-themed family comedy The Bad News Bears. Living up to its optimistic title, the Motown-Influenced song 'Life Is Looking Good' gives the film’s turning point some extra kick, transitioning seamlessly from the 1812 Overture as the film’s titular baseball team pulls onto the interstate, headed for the Astrodome. In fact, the song’s chorus borrows its melody from the Tchaikovsky classic. Songwriter Craig Safan is able to capture the spirit of the seventies perfectly. Its grainy, disco sound meshes perfectly with the long hair and carefree attitude of the decade.
- Jude Noel, Half-Gifts.

Label: n/a
Year: 1977
Genre: Baroque Pop, Disco, Soundtrack