Music Review: Patterns of Twelve

By admin | December 31, 2008

I have a love/hate relationship with technology and its effect on communication and personal interaction, but I have to say, the music of Patterns of Twelve somehow makes it ok that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have built empires on technologies that fundamentally allow us to exist in bubbles completely outside one another.

What the hell am I talking about? Lucas Sharp and Trevor Humphrey, collectively Patterns of Twelve, live in San Diego and New York. Without the machines that give us the power to hate on strangers in forums and help Nigerian princes regain their lost fortunes, their album wouldn’t exist. See. It all makes sense.

Patterns of Twelve might best be described as a mix between bands like the American Analog Set, Mogwai, the Sigur Ros and Tortoise with electronic acts like Four Tet, Bonobo and other Ninja Tuners.  The blend of organic and electronic/glitchy elements creates lush textures that most traditional bands/electronic acts simply can’t.

Newcomer (Part One) has quickly become one of my favorite songs.  It feels oddly familiar to me - almost like a musical representation of an episode of my life.  Not one that starts particularly well, I might add, but one that ends with a Full House moment where I learn and grow and become a better person.  It’s not that often I can say that about a piece of music, so I guess the long and short of it is this:  This song is really fucking good!

Newcomer (Part Two) is also an excellent track, although where Part One settles into some sort of resolve, this one remains angsty and unsettled.  Still, it’s an absolutely beautiful piece of music.

For Your Love is a catchy electronic cover of the Yardbirds song of the same name.  This song certainly has the most electronic feel of any of PoT’s tracks and although it lacks the emotion of some of the more organic tracks on this album, they did a great job translating this one into modern electronics.

Patterns of Twelve’s first album is available as a free download here.  If you enjoy their album and are so inclined, I’m sure they’d appreciate a donation.  And thanks to Gates and Jobs, you can donate from the comfort of your home (possibly even the comfort of your underwear, but that’s your business) without ever setting eye on another human being.  Technology is great… sometimes.

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Music Review: Isao Yokoo and You_Tang

By admin | December 22, 2008

So I just came across a wonderful Japanese shoegazer-type act that I thought I would share.  Isao Yokoo and You_Tang is, as far as I can tell, one man who is making some absolutely beautiful music right now… reminiscent of Mogwai, The Album Leaf, My Bloody Valentine and the more ambient works of Squarepusher and Aphex Twin.

Season is probably my favorite based on Yokoo’s myspace tracks.  From beginning to end, this one moves me.  Its airy, ambient, piano-based intro definitely has sense of otherwordliness and it builds to a wonderfully emotional peak before bringing you back to earth.

Toy Box reminds me of a My Bloody Valentine track.  Driving electric guitars, just the right amount of electronics and the kind of mellodramatic, angsty warmth you might expect from a Valentine offering.  Very nice indeed.

If you have some time, check out Isao Yokoo and You_Tang… you won’t regret it.

By the way, here is a link to a Japanese site with some of Isao Yokoo’s tracks available for download… look for the “mp3″ button, right click and “save as” - voila.  You just learned Japanese.

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Loose Ends

By admin | December 17, 2008

We all have them.  A bridge burned.  A relationship left to dry.  They’re out there.  Fortunately for most of us, these loose ends are long enough to tie.  I suppose the purpose of writing this is to encourage mending them, although I’m not sure if it’s you or me I’m trying to encourage.  Maybe it’s not all that important…

My mind wandered here, as it’s apt to do.  It started this train of thought on the way to work this morning as I considered how many unfinished songs I’ve created.  On one hand, I attribute each and every one, finished or not, to part of the learning experience.  I appreciate that… So maybe there is no other hand, which means purpose of writing this hasn’t anything to do with tying loose ends.

Perhaps this is one of the situations where life is supposed to imitate art and I’m supposed to get the notion that some bridges were meant to be burned and some relationships aren’t worth nurturing, even if neither party wants to admit it.  And some songs just suck.

Long story short, I’ll probably never finish the tracks I’ve mentioned, but I doubt I’ll delete them either… especially now.  I’d say a few gigs of hard drive space is a fair trade for a daily reminder that sometimes, it’s ok to leave things behind.

And it’s funny, but I think this passage’s purpose has been reinstated… the loose end that is now tied?  My approach to loose ends.

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Why I Buy Vinyl

By admin | December 9, 2008

If you’ve been to a club lately, you’ve probably noticed a significant increase in the use of CDJ’s and computer applications like Serato, FinalScratch and Ableton by DJs.  Although I don’t have a problem with another DJs preferences, I don’t see myself playing anything other than vinyl in the near future.  Why?

Forget the digital versus analog debate.  Analog certainly has a unique, rich sound, but new digital files (both uncompressed and high quality compressed) sound pretty damn good.  And whatever points digital loses in terms of sound quality are most likely covered by a significantly lighter “record” bag and access to a much broader catalog on any given night.

That said, digital does have a glaring deficiency; one I’m not sure any redeeming technical qualities can repair.  It lacks character.  Not in terms of sound quality, but in terms of the actual physical medium transmitting soundwaves through the air and into your earhole, which… um… vibrates some stuff and… uh… makes music in your head.

No, the character I speak of can only be described in much more (and much less) tangible terms… things like the musty smell of old record stores and thoughts of who might have owned a record before you and what they might’ve done while listening to it (I recommend cleaning old Barry White records thoroughly prior to use).  The feeling of finding that classic disco/hip hop/jazz/whatever record you’ve been trying to find for three years at a thrift shop for a paltry $.75 or buying an absolutely terrible album purely for the art.

I fear these things have been lost, or at least are threatened by the rise of iTunes and Beatport; Serato and Ableton.  Keep in mind, I’m not saying the digital revolution is without its benefits.  And to be clear, there’s a part of me that’s tempted by all the new bright shiny DJ gear… I’d certainly be a better DJ if I had my entire catalog at my fingertips, but at what cost?

By the way, I found this article on the Big Black Disk site… it’s nice to know others agree.

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