SIlent Barn Benefit Compilation

Obsolete Units has made a 2cdr / download compilation available in support of the Brooklyn DIY space Silent Barn. The space (which has hosted shows by Last Nights and have always been the nicest dudes around) was established in 2004 and has become one of NYC's premier venues for experimental / avant-garde musics, many up & coming indie bands, along with being the HQ of Babycastles & Showpaper. Unfortunately due to some unfortunate circumstances the people behind Silent Barn have been forced to vacate their former home & are currently seeking a new permanent space from which they can continue serving the local & national music community by putting on affordable shows running the spectrum of the current state of underground & alternative musics. Obsolete Units has gathered together a large group of artist in support of Silent Barn for this release, with all the proceeds going directly towards funding the Barn in establishing a permanent home.

The artists represented on the compilation, aptly titled The Noise From Ridgewood, features exclusive tracks by some of Brooklyn's (& beyond) talented musicians who have passed through or been involved in the space. The album boasts music by the likes of C. Spencer Yeh, Excepter, MV Carbon, Tomutonttu, Aaron Dillaway, & The Tenses among many others, running the gamut of harsh noise grain, surrealist audio collage, & electronic bleaps & burps. A listen definitely worth your attention & for a good cause at that.

Dog Daze Tapes

Dog Daze Tapes, of Portland, OR,has been popping up on my radar recently. The label only a handful of releases to it's name, each available in cassette and mp3 formats. What's more is that each displays a keen sense of taste and curatorial prowess that can sometimes be lacking in the cassette label scene. This includes releases by Excepter, Marnie Stern, and Blues Control's alter-ego Watersports. When looking beyond the curatorial choices made by Parrish, the label distinguishes itself by keeping each title in-print as often as possible. A move which is in contrast with most other labels around these days.

Watersports - Natural History by dogdazetapes2

Watersports Natural History is so far the most satisfying cassette from Dog Daze yet. This double tape release is a compilation of the duo's out-of-print cassette and CDR releases over the past couple years. This is a needed look into the alter-ego of Lea & Russ as their other project Blues Control has seemingly become M.O. of these two. The releases brings light to the duo's noisy new age compositions. These sparse, often aquatic themed, tracks showcase a juxtaposition of grainy noise/drone & plenty of insect samples along with the previously mentioned new age vibes.

Dog Daze's first release Excepter's Maze of Death was recorded in a "within the ad-hoc labyrinth, Excepter performed obscured to the audience and alienated from each other, starting early and playing late. Shares title with a Philip K. Dick novel in which an isolated group of space colonists consider the absolute as their mutual hallucination crumbles around them" according to the cassette's press release. For those familiar with Excepter then this translates to pretty much what they do best, extended synth and drum machine jammers that follow a logic all their own. This release is a special version of the performance edited by Robert Giradin and was recorded at one of Last Nights favorite brooklyn DIY spaces Death By Audio.

Marnie Stern - Demo by dog daze tapes

I'll admit that I wasn't too familiar with Marnie Stern's work outside of seeing her name name coming up here & there. Each of time she was mentioned the word "shred" always tagged along. Dog Daze's release of Stern's initial home recorded demos really showcase why. Even more so though a great deal of credit must be equally given to the overall compositions & song craft that appears even as early as these demos.

Dog Daze has some exciting stuff lined up for it's future releases including music by Twins & Occasional Detroit. Also be sure to check out the label's mixtape offshoot Foggy Notion Tapes which has Mitch Hedberg (note from editor: love that dude) mix on the way.

SSPS , aka Jon Nicholson or Porkchop (of Excepter), has been a busy dude as of late. He was seen earlier this year releasing what constitutes his first full length album Highly Sensitive Safeguards Secure on the Obsolete Units imprint. As the video above demonstrates the CS showcases SSPS honing in on his improv electronics for a far more concise & maybe most engaging to date. It is a dark & straight to the point minimal synth affair, that establishes a relationship works of the past, like Obsolete Units cited Juan Atikins, Kraftwerk, & Conrad Schnitzler, while forging a singular path within this vernacular.

Now only a few short months after the release of Highly Sensitive comes the announcement of SSPS's 1st 12" "Sky Plane Field Road." The album is set to be released by Avant-God, which is co-run by another member of Excepter Nathan Korbin, sometime in the near future.

Excepter have reissued, if that's even the right word, a collection of classic tracks from the band titled OD. The album is composed of "early versions" of tracks that appeared on the albums Throne & Alternation (a Last Nights favorite) & has been released today (4/1/11).

The lengthiest track in the collection Heart Beat / Rock Stepper showcases some classic Excepter moves. During Heart Beat synths soar throughout the mix, weaving undecipherable vocal snippets throughout. That is until a loose rendition of Rock Stepper begins to make its way around the 11 minute mark. Offering some considerably different lyric content & vocal arrangements. That is exactly what you can expect from OD though, a great glimpse into the always diverse nature of Excepter.

It's very good indeed to hear some positive news for this band after the untimely passing of member Clare Amory. Hopefully time will allow the group to return to live performances in the future. A digital version of the release can be found on the group's Bandcamp site & is released through Excepter Records.