Morpheus Descends - Ritual of Infinity (1992)

Retardedly primitive and heavy death metal with that percussive New York sound. Linear, riff salad song structures that don't meander off into irrelevance like most current technical death metal bands. This is not a random collection of upbeats and pinch harmonics; these songs detail one path of a branched narrative.

Detuned power chord melodies swirl in sonic whirlpools before coalescing into an absolutely devastating riff that just completely blindsides you. See "Proclaimed Creator" for an example. This song gets my vote for having the most crushing death metal part ever recorded.

Also, the production is hilarious, and each kick drum hit does that weird volume swelling thing, which actually makes this a lot more primitive and heavy. Hey Andy, why does that happen again? Basically, I'm going to steal some of these ideas for Like Rats.

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US Maple - Sang Phat Editor (1997)

Like many teenage punk rockers, I first heard of US Maple via a catchy Alkaline Trio song. At the time, I was probably 15 and I thought I was into "some really crazy stuff" like At the Drive-In. Cool, man. US Maple, however, bummed me the fuck out, and that rules. Bum outs rule.

Those weirdo Napster found files stuck around in my life for awhile until I was ready for them, and, since then, US Maple has been dear to my heart.

Anyway, with any sort of modernist, deconstructionist what-have-you, you often run into the problem of "cool idea, too bad I never want to listen to it." This is not a problem with US Maple. Their damaged, chopped in half rock riffs have just the right style of discordant melody for my ears. Is it weird to say that the intro to "Mountaintop" is one of the catchiest things I've heard?

Also, I came across this video documenting US Maple recording Acre Thrills. The most fascinating part is the sequences showing the vocal tracking, because dude meticulously plans out and notates how his voice should sound on each part. Fucking awesome.

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Also, please note that I made a guest mix for top-notch internet destination ILLOGICAL CONTRAPTION. The theme is "THE FUTURE" and I spent some time making something that I'm proud of that tells a narrative about what might happen someday. Please enjoy this music HERE.

Guest Mix Volume 8 - Drew Brown

Drew is one of the best drummers I know. And apparently, he's also one of the best drummers that people who know more people than me know, as he has played drums for Owen (New Leaves live @ Beat Kitchen) and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy (hey a Prince cover). Keep in mind that these are people who have a very wide selection of drummers available to them. Oh yeah and he plays bass in Weekend Nachos. That's Drew on the right if you have the will power to pull your eyes away from Caution's seductive leather vest.

Drew has a music taste that is very interesting and foreign to me, so I was really curious to see what he would come up with for a guest mix. I am almost completely incapable of predicting whether or not he will like something. Like, I think I'll have him figured out, and then he'll completely love Arab on Radar or something and my model fails. Although science may not have the right answers, at least it's asking the right questions....

It seems as though Fall has been the theme for all of these mixes.* In keeping with that, I figured I would just pull songs from my laptop's itunes that have been getting a good amount of plays as of late. There is no real rhyme or reason to the mix besides that they're all songs I've been listening to in the past month. Maybe you will like some of these songs, and if you don't...I don't care.

Tracklist:

1. The American Analog Set - Punk as Fuck
2. Califone - Funeral Singers
3. Cass McCombs - You Saved My Life
4. Gameface - Gibberish
5. Japandroids - Sovereignty
6. Lali Puna - Faking the Books
7. Morrissey - Boxers
8. Owen - A Fever
9. Prince - Kiss
10. Red House Painters - Byrd Joel
11. Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
12. Wilco - We're Just Friends

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*Whoa, I guess Drew sent me this awhile ago. Well Drew, if you don't like it... I don't care.

Elza Soares - Elza Pede Passagem (1972)

Really squealy record with lots of nice vocal overtones. Some people have the genes that enable them to scrape their vocal chords together in completely insane ways, and Elza is one of those people. Her cornucopia overfloweth with squealy-ass overtones.

Did you guys remember that I had already posted one of her records? Did you remember this?

Anyway, this one is a bit more all over the place, although not quite entering into the tropicalia freakout zone that was existing in Brazil around the same time. There is some stuff going on here, though. The soaring chorus coupled with the sudden intro of those insane pipes in Maria Vai Com As Outras is really weird.

Tempos are a blur, which enable to Elza to say a lot of words really fast. Vocal melodies are loose, and vocals serve almost as an additional percussive instrument by augmenting the samba feel with a flurry of accents before switching into a surprisingly clear tone.

Track 7 is one of the most uplifting things of all time, so never have a bad day again.

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(Sorry about the 128. Not really you're fine.)

Skip Spence - Oar (1969)

There are a few records that exist entirely in their own universe. Although they can be placed in the context of some sort of musical movement, they are truly unique and offer an insight into the mind of an alien. Oar is one of these records. (I've talked about similar concepts in my discussions of Sun Ra's works.)

It's hard for me to write about this, as this music exists in a world completely outside of my own experiences. Listening to it turns me into a reality tourist briefly shedding my overanalytical science perception in favor of a much looser existence based upon floating in melting martian ice caps. Layered vocal tracks, open strings, and reverb create an emergent phenomena that absolutely must be experienced. Dangerous, damaging psychedelia that is orders of magnitude trippier than even the most fuzzed out of all guitar solos.

And I can't help but compare the vocals on "Diana" to US Maple. Oops. Oh and motherfucker was in Moby Grape too. Remember that shit from back in the day?

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Marva Whitney - It's My Thing (1969)

I've already written about this record for trend-setting, paradigm-shattering web periodical Jettison Quarterly, but I really want to share it with my Primitive People. As such, here is the text that appeared in Jettison coupled with that mediafirewater.

James Brown not only had the luxury of being a complete godhead genius, he also had the luxury of being an astute talent scout, thus ensuring that he was always surrounded by the very best of the best. In this case, we’re talking about back-up singer Marva Whitney.

On this record, the ol’ J. Brown penned a bunch of tunes, and the ol’ M. Whitney took over lead vocal duties. At this point, Brown had already filtered gospel and soul through the twisted, boiling tubes and sieves of his brain in order to isolate the most essential elements. What remained was a deceptively simple structure of a few seventh chords, syncopated snare hits, and tight horn accents. When painted onto an aural canvas, these components became the quintessence of “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, as microcosms of human experience are isolated and implied recombinations open up new possibilities of existence.

A lot of these songs barely have vocal melodies, as Whitney is given free rein to improvise and embellish loosely over the minimalist grooves. Her belting, brassy voice soars unremittingly over the dancing worlds of mortals, while the band grounds the whole experience by tapping into rhythmic senses far beyond conscious control.

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Guest Mix Vol. 7 - Erik B aka Don Mattingly

Yeah for this muxtape Dr. Mario in training Mr. Erik B aka Don Mattingly aka Erik B & Don Mattingly of Brilliant Corners arrives with a right proper donk on it. This dude is overstanding the pop music scene from multiple angles at all times, enabling him to bring us things such as this Amerie remix (an already ill song based on a Meters sample) which is turned into a complete mind-melter. Fuck yeah. And that Vistoso Bosses song is catchy as fuckkkkkk, too. Anyway, Erik has some white guy rock of his own in the pipeline, first show Jan 29 competing with my white guy rock band's first show. Fortunately, like my hoes, these shows are in different area codes. Brilliant Corners. Brilliant Corners. Brilliant Corners.

so i made this mixtape like a cassette with two sides and a fairly loose theme attached. the first side is about being a young white man channelling anxiety through powerpop and other dumb weenie music, and the second side is about being seduced by black ladies, falling in love, and then breaking their hearts i guess. aphex twin is the most natural transition between the two. its all pop music abounding in vitality, so fuck what you heard.

-erik bengtsen bka giorgio caetano

tracklisting:
1. Crocodiles - I Wanna Kill
2. Rocketship - I Love You Like The Way That I Used To
3. Toms - Sun
4. Barcelona - C64
5. The Nerves - Working Too Hard
6. Orange Juice - Falling and Laughing
7. Marshall Crenshaw - There She Goes Again
8. The Ponys - I'm With You
9. The Flashing Lights - Highschool
10. Luxury - Green Hearts
11. Rivers Cuomo - Lover in the Snow
12. Aphex Twin - Flim
13. Aaliyah - Come Over (ft Tank)
14. Electrik Red - 9 to 5
15. The Diplomats - I Wanna Be Your Lady ft Cam
16. Keke Palmer - First Crush
17. Amerie - One Thing (siik rmx)
18. Candy Hill - Juicy
19. Vistoso Bosses - Delirious
20. 88 Keys - Wasting My Minutes
21. Ciara - I Don't Remember
22. T2 ft Jodie Aysha - Heartbroken (radio edit)
23. Mariah Carey - Shake it Off

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Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 3 in C (1921)

I gave my ex-GF the Miles Davis autobiography for her birthday because I wanted to read it, and I recently took it back for myself, also because I wanted to read it. In this autobiography, Miles refers to Prokofiev as a "bad motherfucker who was terrible" or something like that, which is absolutely, unequivocally true. This shit is fucking bad.

If you read any of these words that I write in this bloggie, you should understand by now that variation on a theme is one of my favorite things. And hearing the twists and turns that a godhead freak of nature genius like Prokofiev can weave from a single musical idea is unreal. In Andantino con Variazoni, things eventually head down a bleak, somber path before activity returns to the music; this time, the orchestra plays with the theme while the piano dances chromatically in the background. My god does that smell good.

Infinite recombinations mimic the cause and effect decision trees that we use to imagine the future.

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Formicide - Demo I (1987)

A mid-paced thrash riff with cool syncopated emphasis is a beautiful thing, and as such, this demo tape is fucking beautiful. If you are into something like Nuclear Assault, then you are gonna want to download this. If you are a fan of playing a riff over a fast thrash beat, then dropping it to half time and switching the tremolo picking to down-picked palm muting, then you are gonna want to download this. If you sit around in a trailer camp listening to Anthrax, then you are gonna want to download this. Also, there are Halford wails.

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African Brothers Band - Me Poma (1984)

Yeah it's that catchy West African highlife rock. It's tough to find a lot of the output of this band here in Chicago, Illinois, so if any of my dear readers have hidden stockpiles of African Brothers digital files, please leave a comment or send an e-mail. Here is a discography that makes my ears ache for all of the songs I have never heard.

These songs are busy with syncopated percussion filling out the not-quite polyrhythmic feel that flirts with that three against four. Guitars dance around major chords in intervallic progressions with plenty of room for improvisation. Nana Kwame Ampandu has an almost matter-of-fact delivery for both verses and call-and response choruses, and the catchiest parts of the songs are often instrumental statements made by the horn section or the keyboard as introductions or as sort of a transition between vocal parts and solo sections. Speaking of which, some of the effects-laden keyboard and guitar tones take on a cosmic psychedelic atmosphere, like the little chirping UFO floating throughout the title track nailing the upbeats for you.

TIME TO GO TO THE DENTIST WISH ME LUCK.

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Guest Mix Vol. 6 - Adam Could Die Tomorrow

The internet is oversaturated with music blogs, and you can find just about anything you're looking for using Google's blogsearch. However, most of these blogs have very poor internal quality control, and their backlogs are clogged with the plaque of boring, derivative records that no one in their right mind would ever want to actually listen to. What I'm saying is that it takes quite a bit to make it into my own personal reading list, and I Could Die Tomorrow is one of the select few. Adam and co. really get it done over there by having great taste and running a smooth operation. Pretty much anything goes as long as it rules. If you like what I'm doing, you will like what they are doing. Thanks, Adam, for doing this cool guest mix, and thanks for putting Trouble Funk on it.

When I make mixes for someone (usually friends, but sometimes babes), I tend to abandon any sort of coherence or theme and just bludgeon the listener with whatever it is I think they’ll like, songs that remind me of them, or just shit I’ve been listening to lately, so that’s just what I’m going to provide for you, the distinguished reader of Primitive Future.

My mixes tend to not only be disjointed affairs, but also overly-long and, therefore, potentially annoying; my mixes are practically a representation of myself. The shit has got to have hardcore, shoegaze, sludge, twee pop, noise, funk (or Go-Go for all you D.C. natives!), black metal, hip-hop, and random, obscuro shit. This guarantees that the listener will enjoy at least one song on the mix and will, hopefully, hangout with lonely Adam.

For this super guest mix, I’ve included “When You Smile” by bedroom pop masters Veronica Lake. What does this mean? Let’s just say that if I make you a mix without this song, you ain’t shit. But don’t fret, Primitive Future reader, you are shit and I have included it for you. I care. You’ll probably hate it, but oh well. FTW.

Lastly, I would just like to apologize for forcing you to have to sit through my uninteresting narcissism. I’ll just end this here, though, because this write-up is played out like the Jheri Curl.

-Adam

p.s. Thanks, Todd, for giving me the privilege of doing this! It was fun.

1. Ramleh - Pit Bull
2. Warhead - Fight With No Fear
3. The Charlottes - Are You Happy Now?
4. Sutcliffe Jügend - Falklands National
5. Iron Cross - Psycho Skin
6. Tubeway Army - Are 'Friends' Electric?
7. Grief - Virus
8. Brenda Hutchinson - Me And My Rhythm Box
9. Kristallnacht - For Resurrection Of Our Movement
10. The Cherry Smash - Nowhere Generation
11. Trouble Funk - Hey Fellas
12. Jupiter Sun - Violet Intertwine
13. Brain Handle - Cold Pavement
14. Talk Talk - John Cope
15. Wale - The Perfect Plan
16. Medicine - Sweet Explosion
17. Deep Wound - Time To Stand
18. Veronica Lake - When You Smile
19. Disco Inferno - Footprints In Snow

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Originoo Gunn Clappaz - Da Storm (1996)

I looked at the "Boot Camp Clik" label over on the left there, and I was surprised to only see a little "1" in parentheses next to it. This is something that must change. ORIGINOO GUNN CLAPPAZ 2 DA RESKEW. Yeah with that gritty New York sound that I love.

Beatminerz provide stark, understated production. The arpeggios in "Gunn Clapp" take me to a better place, and "Danjer" reminds me of the dungeon music in some sort of Secret of Mana-ass video game. Oh yeah and notice the shared sample in "Da Storm" and the Dr. Octagon intro. Short post this week, so rest your eyes with some seltzer water and pumpernickel bread.

What's up what's up, what's up what's up what's up.

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Donny Hathaway - These Songs For You, Live!

I have a few CDs in my car that I use for vocal practice, and this is one of them. That vibrato, man. This record is great because Donny comes across a bit WNUA RIP in the studio setting sometimes, so it's just right to hear him live with a bit more grit.

These recordings are culled from a few different performances, and there are plenty of goosebump moments like the excessive crowd participation on You've Got a Friend. Guaranteed to give you that full body tingle. "That feels pretty good to me, y'all." -Donny Hathaway

This version of Flying Easy is absolutely ridiculous, and completely crushes the too smooth, string-laden version on Extension of a Man. The tempo is cranked, and the drummer is laying waste with tight fill after tight fill. Seventh chords and modulation done just as well as Stevie ever did it. We've also got an extended jam version of The Ghetto to satiate all of The String Cheese Incident fans out there. So if you get here from a Google search about buying patchouli oil (because you can buy patchouli oil here for cheap, as I have overstock patchouli oil in bulk), download away.

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Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw (1982)

Yeahhhhh it's that catchy white guy rock. Anyone who has liked any of the same catchy white guy rock as me in the past (The Pointed Sticks, Buddy Holly) is gonna want to like this as well. And I've got to give credit to Erik B for getting me into this record many moons ago.

I bet that Someday, Someway sparks a flame of recognition. Hey look this song has even been performed live in concert.

The chorus is certainly the focus of these song structures, but the interesting thing is how smooth all of the transitions are. There are very few breaks or rests or abrupt shifts or anything like that. Even though the chord progression is always changing from part to part, these shifts are barely noticeable. There are also pretty active arpeggios going on all of the time that whites such as The Smiths have also used to great effect over the years. But Marshall Crenshaw, unlike Morrissey, is no bitch. You won't catch him crying about some bullshit. Just kidding, you probably will.

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