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oh my my. Got any of this in a Joanna Newsome?
This isn’t the best time for inserting new variables into the system.
I did receive the latest LP from Not Not Fun Records, a split 12-inch featuring Psychic Reality and LA Vampires. Not Not Fun continues to be one of my favorite labels, releasing interesting work from young artists primarily situated in the psychedelic/noise/ambient/free realm. And, you know what’s awesome about Not Not Fun? Besides everything? When you place an order with them, they almost invariably send you cool bonus surprises. Lagniappe! Like an old album art transparency, or a loose LP label, or a limited edition CD-R, or a leftover liner insert scrawled across the back with the tallies from a card or dice game. Which is totally not not fun. I love it. I will order from them forever and ever, amen.
The Psychic Reality/LA Vampires split is an edition of 450 with alluring (sort of frightening, yet completely sexy) album art and similarly alluring, frightening, and sexy sounds. Psychic Reality is San Francisco’s Leyna Noel tapping the keys and dropping the beats and letting loose charming melodies through a white-hot mic. I’m reminded of US Girls and Best Coast and weirder shit from the 60s like Anita O’Day on acid. I like it. LA Vampires is even hazier, with dubbed-out rhythms, eerie clicks and clacks, shadowy jazz elementsis that a guitar or is it a trombone?and intoxicated mantras, slurred more than sung. Psychic Reality and LA Vampires will be touring together throughout the year, and I’m looking forward to their stop in New York City this May. Future LA Vampires collaborations with Sun Araw and Zola Jesus also look promising.
In the office, we’re getting close to the wire with the May issue. I’m proofreading stuff and making a mess with my red pen. On the road, John Atkinson, Michael Fremer, and Jason Victor Serinus are covering the events at Jacksonville’s AXPONA. That stands for Audio Expo North America. The show opens to the public tomorrow at 1, so let’s look forward to exciting audio news from Florida.
This "noise" genre fascinates me. Kinda inspiring in these days of crass commercialism and mindless entertainment. Makes me want to dust off my old Roland analog keyboard and make some noise. Really, it has about an inch of dust on it because I store it under my bed. Oh, great album art too. Not just the boobs but all the covers on Not Not Fun. It would be cool to be able to hear some sound samples on their site.
This is LP is pretty much standard fare for Not Not Fun in that it is completely fucking awesome. I'm especially digging the LA Vampires side. I'm sure it'll top my year-end list. For the folks who only recently discovered the NNF label, just know that everything they put out is gold and they totally deserve your money, so snatch up the new releases before they're gone!
I just want to say (again) how much enjoyment I get out of this Blog. I've been a S'phile reader for 15 years but over the last few years had stagnated a bit in terms of enjoying listening to music, tragic but true. Then my 16 yr old son asked for a turntable. He didn't even have a stereo, but something caused this IPod listening boy to want vinyl. His request prompted me to buy him a Music Hall MMF2.2 and me to buy a Pro-ject RM-5se. Just a few months later, I am already upgrading to a VPI Classic with Benz Glider (and found myself compelled to give my son my 15 yr old B&W M805s and buy Acoustic Zen Adagios and AZ Halogram speaker cable and of course, I had to buy a phono stage-I chose a Simaudio LP5.3) and the point I am trying to make is damn, this blog is fun as it strikes a sympathetic chord with what I am going through and with my own new-found enthusiasm. Vinyl is fun. Vinyl has helped me reconnect with something no life should be without. You know what that is.