Get smitten: The Airborne Toxic Event

Mikel Jollett once discovered the perfect complement to his band’s live stage setup in a junkyard.

The frontman of Los Feliz five-piece The Airborne Toxic Event had trekked to a local facility along with drummer Daren Taylor to sift through rubbish in search of a “big metallic sound.” With golf club and bat in hand, the two began banging until they stumbled upon just the right clunk: the hood of a 1969 Alfa Romeo, which would later be incorporated into the gaggle of L.A. shows that Airborne would play over the next year. Continue reading.

Get smitten: Thailand

“Change” may be the political buzzword of 2008, but it has always been a mantra for L.A. new wave/post-punk trio Thailand. Figuring out what works – and what doesn’t – took core members Marc Linquist (vocals, beats, guitar) and Staci Roark (synths, vocals) on an edifying journey through lineup additions and subtractions, new locales, fresh approaches to songwriting and a challenging transition from bedroom band to a live rock act that fearlessly uses a drum machine to create music on its own terms. Continue reading. *P.S. Must check out the track "Control Control" on Thailand's MySpace.*

CD review: Odd Nosdam "Pretty Swell Explode"

Longtime Anticon sound guru OddNosdam’s latest offering, Pretty Swell Explode, proves why a posse of the label’s artists and experimental like-minds such as Mike Patton have put him at the top of their collaboration lists. Over this two- disc, 17-track compilation of remixes, B-sides, rarities and unreleased originals – many stemming from Nosdam’s two previous albums, 2005’s Burner and 2007’s Level Live Wires – the Bay Area producer whips up an enchanting brew of sampler magic, field recordings, tape hiss and other effects that evoke a range of sensations and showcase his sonic prowess.

Pretty. On “Untitled Three,” one of eight unreleased tracks, Nos taps into shoegaze serenity by rekindling his Burner partnership with Flying Saucer Attack associate Jessica Bailiff, whose sunny but surreal vocals coat blissed-out drones and barebone beats in calm. And the reworking of Black Moth Super Rainbow’s psychedelic “Forever Heavy” features Bailiff’s gentle murmur, somnambulant thumps and lullaby keyboard tinkers to call a sleepy beauty into light.

Swell. Nos explores ambient soundscapes on the second disc, most notably on Boards Of Canada’s “Dayvan Cowboy,” which stretches into a hypnotic, nine-minute opus of warmth and meditative quiet that may just conjure what heaven would sound like.

Explode. Bursts of glitches, grungy distortion and dizzying echoes on “Freshman Remix” thicken up a dissection of label brethren Thee More Shallows. And the standout “(Growin Up in the Hood) Four Thousand Style,” which mashes a gaggle of bits and pieces from U.K. band Hood, blasts off from a jarring, fuzzy bass into staccato hip-hop beats and blips, sensual synth pulses and lyrical slivers cut from vocalist Chris Adams for a stunningly intricate collage.

iTunes software classifies the album not as experimental, electronica or hip-hop, but “easy listening.” Considering its totally chilled-out musical rapture, Pretty Swell Explode presents a strong case for fans of sonic euphoria to make room in their record collections. (Anticon Records)

Originally published in the August 2008 issue of West Coast Performer.

It's good to be back

Capping a weekend where I rediscovered music (thank you Pixies "Surfer Rosa," Slint "Spiderland" Trans Am "The Surveillance," Spank Rock "Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo") and arose from the new-job-black-hole that swamped the past two months of my life with words and numbers but no sounds, online today I found video of an Elephant Six show held over the weekend that features none other than Jeff Mangum playing my favorite Neutral Milk Hotel song, "Engine," a children's song. Mangum, the principal of '90s indie rock fathers and sons and holy spirits Neutral Milk Hotel, has been tagged a recluse for his MIA status in the music world for the last 10 or so years, having chosen to hide out (live a normal life?) after he released the seminal album "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea." That Mangum, a goddamn blessing to music as far as I'm concerned, has emerged from his seclusion bodes well for these dark times. Maybe we're all about to enter a moment of light.