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Squarepusher presents Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator (Warp)

Squarepusher presents Shobaleader One: "Megazine"

Bass/electronic guru Tom Jenkinson has covered astounding turf in his 15-year career as Squarepusher, fluctuating between fusion-filled drum-and-bass, jazzy IDM, classical-guitar pieces, pure dance tracks, and experimental electronica.  Depending on how you count certain releases, he's up to 14 full albums and more than 20 EPs (either under Squarepusher, his own name, or a different alias).

There isn't too much that he hasn't done with his bass, synthesizers, and drum sequencers, but d'Demonstrator is new territory — a new, funky "space band" project as Shobaleader One.  Jenkinson is responsible for the compositions, and the mysterious extra "players" don't play anything that he couldn't record on his own, so the band thing seems bogus.  It doesn't matter, though, because the first in a series of Shobaleader releases is enjoyable with or without the back story.

Most songs are rooted in synthesized vocals and pop hooks — a definite first for Squarepusher.  Though melodies abound in Jenkinson's back catalog, they've never been as streamlined.  Some older releases have been fully danceable, but again, never in the airy and almost strictly 4/4 manner of d'Demonstrator.

And though it's not an unadulterated riff bonanza as on albums past, the album has enough of Jenkinson's technical skills peeking from behind the grooves.  It's another new turn in a constantly twisting career — and one that makes for a slinky good time.

Zach Hill: Face Tat (Sargent House)

Zach Hill: "Memo to the Man"

In 2008, drumming dynamo Zach Hill took time from his impossibly crammed itinerary to release his first solo album, Astrological Straits.  Packed with friends and guest musicians, it showcased his pop side — albeit one with crazy beats, complex polyrhythms, and weird vocals.

Face Tat is the second in what should be a long line of solo releases, despite Hill's renewed activity in Hella and more releases with Marnie Stern, Bygones, and others on the way.  Though still intricate, noisy, and strange, it's a little easier to follow than its predecessor, with a few more parts being focused on a single melody, rhythm, or vocal line.

The vocals again are doubled, distorted, or half-spoken, but they're all Hill.  Plenty of other random parts come via guests, but like the debut, they might be rearranged or cut up by Hill to mesh however he sees fit.  This time around, those guests include Guillermo Scott Herren (a.k.a. Prefuse 73), Devendra Banhart, Nick Reinhart from Tera Melos, and various members of Hella, Deerhoof, and No Age.

If you missed it in ALARM 33, check out music editor Scott Morrow's interview with Zach Hill about Astrological Straits and its inspirations.

V/A: From the Land of Ice and Snow: The Songs of Led Zeppelin (Jealous Butcher)

Portland Cello Project: "Dazed and Confused"

There's no shortage of Led Zeppelin cover albums, but the newest — courtesy of Portland's Jealous Butcher Records — is both a community-focused project and an interesting mixture of restyled classics.

Over two discs (33 songs), From the Land of Ice and Snow features a cavalcade of Portland artists — mostly in the indie-rock and folk realms but also expanding into alt-country, chamber music, and a little noise rock.

Some of the bigger and more noticeable names include M. Ward, the Portland Cello Project, Kind of Like Spitting, and Tu Fawning.  But the lesser-known artists hold their own, and there are few duds.  The digital edition offers 18 more bonus tracks — enough for an entire third disc — and this is worth checking out for most Zeppelin fans.

Dustin Wong: Infinite Love / A Square Defining a Circle (Thrill Jockey)

Dustin Wong: "Brother (Talking Walking Cloud)"

For his debut full-length, guitarist Dustin Wong has delivered a rather peculiar package — two discs that each represent a sort of "what if?" take on the same album.

Infinite Love / A Square Defining a Circle is two variations on 40 minutes of melodic, multi-layered guitar instrumentals.  Each disc is approximately the same until its midpoint, when the two split for six or seven tracks until they rejoin with the same conclusion.

Using loop, delay, octave, and other effects pedals, Wong crafts slowly building pieces out of sounds that often no longer resemble a guitar. Many passages build upon one simple repetition until the whole piece is nearly unrecognizable from its start, turning into a pulsating swarm of riffs.  The combined presentation is an interesting concept, but the real appeal is Wong's melodic layering.

Martina Topley Bird: Some Place Strange (Ipecac)

Martina Topley Bird: "Sandpaper Kisses"

For more than 15 years, Martina Topley Bird has been one of the leading female voices of trip hop, lending her talents to Tricky and Massive Attack in addition to a host of other guest spots. She has released a pair of solo albums — one produced by Danger Mouse — before putting out Some Place Strange, a stripped-back recreation of older material.

There are a handful of new tracks here as well, but they all scale back the instrumentation to feature Topley Bird's voice in a new way. That instrumentation, in fact, is assorted, but there seldom is more than one or two parts to accompany the vocals. The album is sparse, and though existing fans may appreciate it more by contrasting it familiar old tracks, first-time listeners should enjoy it as well.

Honorable mentions

Brent Amaker and the Rodeo: Please Stand By (Spark & Shine)

Eskmo: s/t (Ninja Tune)

How to Dress Well: Love Remains (Lefse)

Gaucho: Pearl

Radio Citizen: Hope and Despair (Ubiquity)

Scott Amendola Trio: Lift (Sazi Music)

Soars: s/t (La Société Expéditionnaire)

Diamond Watch Wrists

Each maintaining a busy 2009, Guillermo Scott Herren (Prefuse 73, Savath & Savalas) and Zach Hill (Hella, Bygones) join forces to create Diamond Watch Wrists, a project that holds elements of each artist but sounds unlike what one might imagine their collaboration to be.

Like Hill's 2008 solo record, Ice Capped at Both Ends is very much a pop record, for as unconventional as both records may be.  Reverberated, multi-layered vocals guide each track, similarly to Savath & Savalas, and Hill's beats are as focused and straightforward as they've been in a while.  Effects and ambiance hold important roles, but Herren's electronic Prefuse work essentially is a nonfactor here.

Given the impending release of the next Savath & Savalas release, it's an interesting time to release Ice Capped at Both Ends, but at first glimpse, the S&S disc contains more elements of Herren's initimable work as Prefuse 73.  It seems that we've entered an impressive stretch of Herren's creative legacy.

Themselves: theFREEhoudini (Anticon)

After a seven-year hiatus, Anticon hip-hop duo Themselves (Doseone and Jel) has returned with this free (for 90 days) "mixtape."  Consisting of one 39-minute track, the release serves as a self-remixed album and teaser for the duo's third full-length album, CrownsDown, due in August.

Doseone's nasally delivery is as aggressive as ever, presenting less of the high-pitched anti-raps from his work in Subtle. Jel's breakbeats carry the well-balanced mix, and hip-hop bedfellows Aesop Rock, Slug, Busdriver, and Yoni Wolf make well-placed appearances.  Like the duo's respective careers, theFREEhoudini is a compelling, original endeavor.

Soap&Skin: Lovetune for Vacuum (PIAS)

Austrian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress Anja Franziska Plaschg holds musical ability and power that is stunning for her age of 18.

On Lovetune for Vacuum, Plaschg's debut album, powerful, melancholy harmonies pour out of her throat and piano in contrast to softer, somber exchanges.  Vocal overdubs, pounding low keys, ominous sample, and bits of violin and electronics augment the main melodies as Plaschg channels influences from Bjork, Aphex Twin, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.  Prepare to hear a lot about Plaschg in the coming years.

Soap&Skin: "The Sun"
Soap&Skin: \"The Sun\"

Nadja: When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV (The End)

This interesting cover EP continues a highly prolific streak for Canadian heavy/ambient duo Nadja, which has a pair of upcoming albums due later in 2009 — one of which is a double release.

Foreseeable innovators like My Bloody Valentine and Swans are covered in baths of fuzz, feedback, and synthesizers, but less-predictable favorites such as Slayer, The Cure, Elliot Smith, and A-Ha also are turned on their heads.  Preexisting fans of Nadja and electro-noise dirge enthusiasts should both greatly enjoy this one.

Corey Wilkes & Abstrakt Pulse: Cries from tha Ghetto (Pi)

Trumpeter Corey Wilkes' debut album as a bandleader, Drop It, was released just 10 months ago on storied jazz/blues label Delmark Records.  The funky debut contained quirky soul jazz with moments of extended solos and improvisation, but Wilkes digs back to a bebop-fueled sound for this new release with his group Abstrakt Pulse.

Featuring the reed work of Kevin Nabors and the exemplary melodic guitar licks of Scott Hesse, the sextet fuses some 1960s Blue Note-era jazz with the freeform influence of Lester Bowie, a lauded experimentalist whose seat Wilkes filled for the Art Ensemble of Chicago.  The fusion on Cries from tha Ghetto isn't smashing any boundaries, but its execution is top notch.  Highly recommended for jazz heads.

Corey Wilkes & Abstrakt Pulse: "Visionary of an Abstrakt"
Corey Wilkes & Abstrakt Pulse: \"Visionary of an Abstrakt\"

The newest solo album of Nile linchpin Karl Sanders is another beautiful acoustic release of Arabic flavors mixed with Western structures.

Following Saurian Meditation from 2004, Saurian Exorcisms is full of gorgeous, dark motifs that run a wider gamut of styles than Sanders' last solo effort.  On Exorcisms, Sanders handles all instrumentation — baglama saz, glissentar, acoustic guitars, guitar synth, keyboards, drums, and percussion.  He even contributes vocals, which complement the haunting vocals and chants of Mike Breazeale.

The music contains some of Sanders' blistering fretwork, but it never strays from its overlying melody and accessibility.  Covering Turkish, Egyptian, Indian, and Arabic styles, Saurian Exorcisms is a must-own album.

Karl Sanders: "Rapture of the Empty Spaces"
Karl Sanders: \"Rapture of the Empty Spaces\"

Crippled Black Phoenix: 200 Tons of Bad Luck (Invada)

Penning epic "endtime ballads," the United Kingdom's Crippled Black Phoenix plays dark folk with dirty guitars, ominous effects, diversified vocals, and countless guest electro/acoustic contributions.

The group's style is predicated on the multi-instrumental prowess of Justin Greaves (former drummer of Electric Wizard), whose lengthy tunes are augmented with a massive cast.  Nine of the songs on this disc clock in at or over five minutes, including the 18-minute musical triptych "Time of Ye Life / Born for Nothing / Paranoid Arm of Narcoleptic Empire."

Crippled Black Phoenix: "Rise Up and Fight"
Crippled Black Phoenix: \"Rise Up and Fight\"

Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: Inspiration Information 3 (Strut)

Known as the father of Ethio-jazz, Ethiopian bandleader Mulatu Astatke is an internationally lauded musician whose works may be best known in America through the soundtrack to Broken Flowers or the Ethiopiques series.

Now, for Strut's Inspiration Information studio pair-up series, Astatke creates an outstanding disc of worldly jazz-hop fusion with the help of UK hip-hop/funk/psychedelic all-stars The Heliocentrics.

The collaboration has already received vast amounts of praise, and it comes strongly recommended for anyone into the aforementioned genres.

Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: "Masenqo" (radio edit)
Mulatu Astatke / The Heliocentrics: \"Masenqo\" (radio edit)

Prefuse 73: Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Warp)

Guillermo Scott Herren's newest album as his glitchy alter-ego is meant to be a linear work — one that Herren describes as both straight ahead and obscure.

That description is on point, but it could also apply to most other Prefuse releases.  Still, this effort finds Herren's chopped sound collages about as accessible as they come, layered over hip-hop beats that don't stutter like on previous efforts.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed: Agorapocalypse (Relapse)

Specializing in über-fast thrash/grind, ANB presents just its second full-length album in 10 years with Agorapocalypse.

The brutal quartet features three vocalists — two of the stand-alone variety — aiding the semi-diversity of sound on the new disc.  Everything is extra heavy, but breakdowns, breakneck solos, and sludge bass combine to make this the band's most realized release to date.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed: "Agorapocalypse Now"
Agoraphobic Nosebleed: \"Agorapocalypse Now\"

Two Fingers: s/t (Paper Bag)

DJs/producers Amon Tobin and Doubleclick comprise Two Fingers, an experimental mix of hip hop and drum & bass that features Ghanaian UK rapper Sway and a pair of additional guest rappers.

Nothing lacks in the production, which is a mix of factory-sound dance numbers that boast Tobin's trademark pastiche/found-sound style.  Sway's rapid-fire delivery fits, but it also gets a bit tiresome, particularly with the frequency of certain passages.

Dengue Fever: Sleepwalking Through the Mekong (M80)

Following Los Angeles Cambodian/American pop-rock group Dengue Fever through Cambodia, the film for which this soundtrack was created explores the homecoming of singer Chhom Nimol and the journey of the band that she fronts.

Full of the band's psych-tinged tunes as well as great Cambodian rock tunes of the 1960s and '70s, the soundtrack honors a musical culture that was put in peril during the Khmer Rouge's atrocious reign.

he was making an album that could alienate his normally open-minded listeners. Some might even call it daring.

“Daring?” Herren asks incredulously. “No. Maybe dumb. Suicidal. It’s like jumping off a cliff. You don’t know what to expect. I think Warp [Records] are smart in the way that they’re marketing the record,” he continues, discussing his label’s decision to add the orchestral compositions as a fifteen-track bonus album, entitled Interregnums, that comes with the physical purchase of Preparations. “The beat-heads and the cats who are into Prefuse as Prefuse is can get this shit however they want, but if you really want the other disc, you can buy that too. Because I’m sure that there are lots of people who have absolutely no interest whatsoever in the other disc, and that’s fine.”
Pieced together over the span of a year and completed during time off from tours and various projects, Prefuse 73’s unusual double album breaks new creative ground for the man who almost singlehandedly reinvented instrumental hip hop. Herren took the genre by storm in 2003 with One Word Extinguisher, his sophomore full-length for Warp; the album’s stuttering samples and crackling electronics were unlike much else heard over hip-hop beats.

The last two Prefuse albums—Surrounded by Silence (2005) and Security Screenings (2006)—brought a variety of guest musicians and MCs that resulted in disjointed releases. Now four years since his breakthrough, he is returning to the insular, deeply personal heart of his craft.

“This is the sixth record, so I just wanted to do something other than ‘Prefuse is on his MPC again,’” he says, mentioning the beat-making equipment he has used to craft his idiosyncratic sound. “I left the sounds alone instead of editing, chopping, and sampling so much. I was more into arrangement and form and the construction instead of editing and splicing and deconstruction. It was sort of the opposite way around. I implemented more live playing on the beats instead of sampling. That’s why it gets really dense with live playing and live sounds. I just wanted to take that direction, because I never have before. I’ve always put a restriction on my level of live playing. But this time I went crazy and did it all.”
Doing it all included playing cello, piano, flutes, clarinets, and percussion for Interregnums, the orchestral material that laid the foundation for much of Preparations.

“Making the beat part—the actual beat side—was very natural, and it was exactly what I wanted as I was making it,” he says of Preparations. “The hard part came with side two. That was more of a challenge, like, ‘How am I going to do this without it being incredibly corny or over-the-top stupid?’ I didn’t want to hire other people to do it either. That was the hard part, doing things that I’m inexperienced in doing. That’s what made it fun and interesting for me.”

“It opened my mind up to a lot of stuff,” he admits. “I was listening to a lot of modern classical…a lot of movie soundtracks, just sitting there listening to how they were placed in movies. And then I went back and watched old movies to see how they were placed in those movies. I sort of went along with those guidelines. I wasn’t really following anything other than listening to too much [Ennio] Morricone or Italian soundtracks, just doing minimal versions of what I was hearing…just to see if I could pull it off.”

Put together, the two albums seem incompatible yet are made complementary by a similar textural depth and meditative spirit. They’re both layered with nuance and detail, they both are emotionally rich despite rarely mandating a mood, and they’re both meticulously arranged. Herren is creating an umbrella under which two kinds of listeners are bound to rub up against each other. Still, he doesn’t see himself as uniting the two traditions.

“I don’t really see them related in much of a way,” he explains. “Modern composers want to do things with electronic musicians, but I’m not involved in that scene so much. I just do my thing as I do it. You have people like Ryuichi Sakamoto, and he’ll work with someone like Alva Noto and do something electronic when you know he can write the most straightforward classical compositions. But he’ll go with someone like that and let them crush it to pieces. That’s another world than the one I exist in. I listen to it and appreciate it, but I don’t think with hip hop, particularly, there are any connections whatsoever. This is a very odd record in itself, and for them to go together is just what spilled out of my mind.”

The remaining question is whether Prefuse 73’s devoted fan base will prove resilient enough to embrace both Preparations and Interregnums. “In an ideal situation, each CD could be appreciated by the people that listen to that type of music,” Herren suggests. “I don’t really have expectations for anything that I release, because you never know how people are going to receive it. One thing one person says can set off a whole army of people. If one person says it’s bad, then a person who never listened to it might think it’s bad. That happens all the time,” he says solemnly. “That’s why I had to make a record like this blindly. I just have to keep going.”