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Shock World Service #051 - Long Distance Call by Jon Averill
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Another podcast on a theme; ‘Long Distance Call’, our first offering of 2013 is littered with the sonic minutiae of travel, be it long distance or the sounds of a big, loud city – the overpowering screeches from the brakes of a tube carriage, chanting football fans, disembodied conversations & whatever else can be picked up by a microphone. These sit alongside the usual collection of melancholy spread across multiple genres. Grab the podcast at any of the above links.
1. Chromatics – The Telephone Call
Some late night atmospherics to start us off from Chromatics 3rd album; ‘Night Drive/Original Motion Picture Soundtrack IV’ accompanied by a recording of rain on my window from some time back.
2. How To Dress Well – When I Was In Trouble
The nu-school sound of r’n’b continues to be one of the most interesting musical spaces. How To Dress Well’s album ‘Total Loss’ brings melancholy & starkness to the genre. This sounds more like the soundtrack to the walk home after breaking up with your girlfriend than the traditional themes of champagne & gold chains.
3. Inc. – Swear
Another track representing the welcome progression of the genre. ‘Swear’ by Brother’s Andrew & Daniel Aged is their debut on the (until quite recently) holy grail of alternative indie; 4AD.
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis on Ketamine.
4. fLako – Mating Dance
For me music is at it’s best when it sounds unconventional, surprises you or just sounds downright strange. With roots in Chile, via Germany & currently residing in London, Flako’s afro-electronics ticks all the boxes.
5. The Chosen Gospel Singers – Prayer For The Doomed
My knowledge of gospel music is sketchy at best & little information is available about The Chosen Gospel Singers despite them notching up a series of hits. I do know this track was recorded at some time in the late 1950s & though a million miles away in process, to me has a lot in common with the previous tracks by How To Dress Well & Inc.
6. Daniel Bernard Roumain & Ryuichi Sakamoto – The Need To Be
A captivating piano & string duet by the equally esteemed composers Daniel Bernard Roumain & Ryuichi Sakamoto. ‘The Need To Be’ is taken from a compilation with the lengthy title of ‘DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid* – Sound Unbound Audio Companion: Excerpts & Allegories From The Sub Rosa Archives’, which is to accompany his book of the same name.
7. Edgar Froese – Icarus
Edgar Froese was a founding member of seminal German act Tangerine Dream.
in 1978 Froese released his solo album ‘Ages’ after major differences with his bandmates. According to Froese, it was recorded at a very emotional time in his career. Fellow member Peter Baumann had been asked to leave resulting in a cancellation of their tour leaving Froese with a lot of time on his hands. A shame as the album itself is not up to much.
8. Dom Thomas – Gin & Tonic
From the Finders Keepers & B-Music Crew; Dom Thomas blurs the lines between mixtape & original composition, 'Gin & Tonic', taken from the album ‘The Exploding Disco Inevitable’ is a psyche-rock track that sounds like it could have been recorded at any point in the last 60 years.
9. Robert Ashley – Bruno Part 1
Robert Ashley is a contemporary American composer whose work traverses opera, experimental electronic music & theatrical works. ‘Bruno Part 1’ is a hypnotic spoken word piece that is similar in tone to Laurie Anderson’s ‘O Superman’.
10. Lee Hazlewood – Hands
Ah, our old pal Lee Hazlewood is back – possibly the most featured artist ever on the World Service. Wouldn’t you know it, poor old Lee is down on his luck & of course it’s a woman that’s the source of his troubles. Chin up son.
11. Hackman – Forgotten Notes
Hackman is a producer that should be on everyone’s radars. This track is released on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Records, named after North London’s Brownswood Road, which my house backs onto. A fact interesting only to me, as are the background noises throughout the track which I recorded on a recent flight to Dublin.
12. Vangelis – Multi Track Suggestion
This track sees Van the man in rare disco mode, disco with his unique take on it as you would expect. This is from the 1980 album ‘See You Later’ which sees him experimenting with electronic sounds for the first time. 2 years later he would take things to greater heights & acclaim with his soundtrack to Ridley Scott's 'Bladerunner.
13. Oneohtrix Point Never – Betrayed In The Octagon
This is taken from Oneohtrix Point Never’s 2007 album also titled ‘Betrayed In The Octagon’. The Brooklyn-based musician Daniel Lopatin describes the track as "a stoned space epic about one really bad day in the life of an astronaut.", & that is good enough for me.
14. Robert Frost – Reluctance
Another piece of spoken wordery by American poet Robert Frost
15. Julia Holter – Goddess Eyes (Echo Manor Version)
Drifting in rather comfortably under Mr Frost’s wise utterances is the current Pitchfork darling Julia Holter. Holter’s music builds up from layers of patient, breathy voices & strings that seem to slowly sneak up on, rather than impose themselves on you.
16. Bill Fay – The Never Ending Happening
Revealing itself behind some Arsenal fans (thanks lads) is ‘The Never Ending Happening’, simply one of the most beautiful pieces of music i’ve heard in a long time, & i’ll gladly admit it makes me well up everytime I hear it.
Bill Fay's musical story is a sad one with a relatively happy ending. After little succes in the 1970s Bill went into exodus, only finally receiving recognition for his work in 1998 when his albums were reissued.
In 2012 Bill released ‘Life Is People’, his first new studio album in 40 years, from which this track is taken.
17. Seti The First – Sugar To Sea Lion
I’ve been a big fan of Seti The First for a while, only very recently discovering they were two Irish musicians; Kevin Murphy & Thomas Haugh. Their instruments of choice are culled from the lower end of the string-driven section: cello, viola & double-bass fuse with percussion, piano, ukelin, flugelhorn & trumpet.
18. F.J. McMahon – Sister Brother
I may have tried 50+ different tracks to close out the podcast but none seemed to quite fit until I discovered 'Sister Brother'. The album; ‘Spirit Of The Golden Juice’ from which this is taken was originally released in 1969, following a stint serving in the U.S. Air Force. The album’s outsider, lo-fi folk pulls from his experiences in Vietnam & has become a top item among collectors and folk/psych lovers alike.
