Utility Fog

Sunday, 31st of August, 2008

Happy 5th birthday to FBi and Utility Fog! That’s right, 5 years ago to the day, I sat down behind the mixing desk and broadcast the very first Utility Fog. It’s been a while hey! We exhort you to sign up as an FBi supporter at the FBi website, and help keep the station running and bringing you brilliant music!
Tonight we have a bit of a vinyl explosion, although by no means is it exclusively wheels of steel… Starting with a fabulous new track from Oren Ambarchi, on a one sided marbled aqua 12″, followed by some gorgeous strings, acoustic guitar and maybe piano (maybe not on this track) from Richard Skelton on the ever-reliable Preservation label.
We’ve got Finnish freak folk from Paavoharju, and also from Finland, Pan Sonic’s Mika Vainio brings us a cover of Kate Bush from the astounding ten-7″ compilation Recovery.
Meanwhile, Why? covers Bob Dylan, and also features on a track from Alias’s excellent new album, while their label-mate Odd Nosdam remixes The Notwist.
Epic 45 are remixed twice from two different releases tonight, and later on we had a couple of dubstep artists over a few different releases, highlight the mashing up of the dubstep and breakcore scenes at the moment.
And finally, among various other local releases we have a preview from Heidi Elva’s gorgeous forthcoming album – look over for it soon!

Oren Ambarchi – A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks [Table of the Elements]
Richard Skelton – Shore [Preservation]
Tape – Sand dunes [Häpna]
Paavoharju – Ursulan Uni [Fonal]
Mika Vainio – Running Up That Hill [Fractured Recordings]
Why? – As I Went Out One Morning [Asthmatic Kitty]
Alias – Well Water Black (feat. Yoni Wolf of Why?) [Anticon]
The Notwist – Sleep (Odd Nosdam remix) [Domino Records]
Epic 45 – You Are The Annual (remixed by Bracken) [Make Mine Music]
Atlas Sound – Atlas Shrugged [K Records]
Lucky Dragons – starter culture [Hawks and Sparrows/Mistletone]
Lucky Dragons – Onda Tocadisco [States Rights Records]
Lucky Dragons – wooden cave loop [Hawks and Sparrows/Mistletone]
mom – josh likes me [moamoo/art union]
Qua – Silver Red 2 [Someone Good]
Scissor Lock – Scribbles [sound&fury]
Epic 45 – England Fallen Over (randomNumber ‘winter steppers’ mix) [Make Mine Music/Thomason Sounds]
Because of Ghosts – Dreaming is Essential [Feral Media]
Heidi Elva – there’s a spell [self-released, through Vitamin]
Panoptique Electrical – A vast wilderness of white (or everything has a ceiling including nothingness) [Sensory Projects]
a slow rip – don’t leave the light out [endgame records]
Komonazmuk – Shadows [Terminal Dusk]
Cardopusher – Parrilla [Red Volume]
Komonazmuk – Love [Terminal Dusk]
Cardopusher – Everything is a new surprise [Terminal Dusk]
Ebola – Painkillers [spectraliquid]
Comatone & Foley (aka Trigger Happy) – Desmond [self-released through Vitamin]

Sunday, 24th of August, 2008

And another batch of utter loveliness I have to bring you tonight! Oh yessss.
Qua’s fabulous new EP Silver Red contributes two tracks of Steve Reich-meets-postfolkrocktronica; in between, Tom Hall phoned in from Taswegia to talk about his field recordings and processed keyboards and guitars, the beautiful results of which he’s bringing to Sydney for two shows this week (see his website).
UK duo State River Widening aka Phelan Sheppard have teamed up with Japanese singer moomlooo to form Smile Down Upon Us, and their gorgeous first album is released by Static Caravan.
Also in there, some very fine drum’n'bass from dBridge, Brooklyn composer Nico Muhly’s new album, US nu-folk trio Bowerbirds (go here right now to see them play four songs for La Blogothéque’s Take Away Shows!), and Atom™’s Señor Coconut moniker takes us All Around the World with a Yello cover! Meanwhile, a flashback to 1999 with early Anticon supergroup Deep Puddle Dynamics – a stunning female vocal sample in there that I’d love to know the provenance of…
And finally, some fabulous new and forthcoming stuffs on Sydney label sound&fury…

Qua – Silver Red 1 [Someone Good]
Tom Hall – beauty [hellosQuare]
…phoned in interview with Tom Hall…
Tom Hall – Reflection [from self-released Floats]
Qua – Silver Red 3 [Someone Good]
State River Widening – Desertesque [Vertical Form]
Smile Down Upon Us – Two Weeks Last Summer [Static Caravan]
aus – Headphone Girl (State River Widening Remix) [Preco]
Smile Down Upon Us – A Vessel In The Fragrance [Static Caravan]
aus – Moraine (Bracken Remix) [Preco]
Various Production – Deadman (Milanese remix) [Various Production]
Comatone & Foley (aka Trigger Happy) – NTV [self-released through Vitamin]
dBridge – Pure Elegance [Exit Records]
Icarus – Moon Palace [Recordings of Substance]
dBridge – Mourning Dawn [Exit Records]
Icarus – keet [Rump]
Señor Coconut – Pinball ChaCha [Third Ear]
Yukihiro Takahashi – Pythagoras’ Trousers [333 discs] {from a wonderful Japanese Penguin Cafe Orchestra tribute album}
Nico Muhly – Mothertongue (excerpt from Pt 1 (Archive) and Pt II (Shower)) [Bedroom Community]
Nico Muhly – The Only Tune (feat. Sam Amidon) [Bedroom Community]
Bowerbirds – In Our Talons [Dead Oceans/Longtime Listener]
Deep Puddle Dynamics – Purpose [Anticon]
a slow rip – drift down kiera [endgame records]
Scissor Lock – Scribbles [sound&fury]
Shoeb Ahmad – Tangled [sound&fury]
Telafonica – Nothing Ventured [4-4-2 Music]
65daysofstatic – I’m Dreaming of a White Noise Christmas [classic mashup from these guys that you'll have to search for...]
Laura – Z.I.B. 2 [Elevation]
Silver Bone Tone – I Don’t Miss You Anymore [demo]

Sunday, 17th of August, 2008

Hiya. Tonight it’s a bit of an exploration of nouveau-naïveté through a few lovely artists like Sweden’s Hans Appelqvist, Germany’s Flim and Americans Lucky Dragons and High Places.
Also in there, Appelqvist’s Häpna compatriots Tape, multinational jazz/postrock/electronica band Strings of Consciousness, and some minimal Moteer goodness from Italy’s Con_cetta.
Finished with a track from Adelaide’s very versatile DJ TR!P, from whom more next week!
And starting with some gorgeous stuff from intr_version label boss Mitchell Akiyama, on French label Bip-Hop.

Mitchell Akiyama – The Tactile Properties of Light [Bip-Hop]
Spartak – Can You See The Snow, Love? [hellosQuare]
John Chantler – …No Sad Songs Tonight [hellosQuare]
Spartak – Ostpolitik (Part Timer’s Ost Is Ost mix) [hellosQuare]
Tape – Sunrefrain [Häpna]
Tape – Altamira [Häpna]
Hans Appelqvist – Ser ni Lena jag ser Lena och Ola [Komplott]
Hans Appelqvist – 5×5 / Samiels eftermiddag [Komplott]
Hans Appelqvist – On the Beach [Häpna]
Hans Appelqvist – Jag en gök [Häpna]
Flim – Picture 3 [PowerShovel
Audio]
Flim – Picture 7 [PowerShovel Audio]
Flim – Linker2 [Tomlab]
Tape – Beams [Häpna]
Lucky Dragons – ikeepwaitingforearthquakes [Hawks and Sparrows/Mistletone]
Lucky Dragons – Heartbreaker [555 Recordings]
Lucky Dragons – Cherchez Le Dragon [555 Recordings]
Lucky Dragons – oh i understand [Hawks and Sparrows/Mistletone]
High Places – Jump In (for Gilkey Elementary School) [Thrill Jockey/Mistletone]
Firekites – Worn Weary [Spunk]
Strings of Consciousness – Crest & Watersheds [Stilll]
Strings of Consciousness – remixed by Sutekh [Stilll]
absent – surface scratches [unreleased demo]
Pole – Sachte [~scape]
Comatone & Foley (aka Trigger Happy) – Prayer Bowl [self-released through Vitamin]
Con_cetta – Megamix by Part Timer [Moteer]
Con_cetta – Connected Formingaveraging Positive [Moteer]
Comatone & Foley (aka Trigger Happy) – Heifen [self-released through Vitamin]
Foals – Red Sox (Various Production remix) [Various Production]
Plastician – Symptomatic [Terrorhythm]
Westernsynthetics – Electronic Cosmetics feat. Werdzvah [Sub Continental Dub]
DJ TR!P – In Dust We Try [demo]

Sunday, 10th of August, 2008

Tonight, some wonderfully demented music from High Places at the top, and Lucky Dragons near the end, along with more demented stuff from Hans Appelqvist (from whom much more next week!)
Along the way, we had more from the amazing James Blackshaw, and from the lovely Gas reissues, plus something from the bonus CD 4ad put out with their UK version of the Atlas Sound album. In a strangely similar vein, some spooky ambient stuff from Wollongong trio a slow rip.
Fabulous postrock from Apse, and stupendous hip-hop (meets industrial meets shoegaze meets the kitchen sink) from Dälek, from whom much more in coming weeks!

On the local front, I finally tracked down Melbourne (via, well, the world) outfit function’s album the secret miracle fountain overseas, and it’s wonderful stuff. Sydney’s Preservation release US folk singer Tan or Boil, enlisting Aaron Martin to do arrangements & collaborations, and bringing in Melbourne’s Part Timer to do extra remixy biz on a couple of tracks. It’s fantastic stuff.
Also, two tracks from Newcastle band Firekites, beautifully recorded acoustic instruments plus some nice electronic touches, effected drums and the like. Very fine debut. And Holly Throsby’s new album is as beguiling as ever.

High Places – Banana Slugs/Cosmonaut [Thrill Jockey/Mistletone]
James Blackshaw – Echo And Abyss [Tompkins Square]
Gas – Königsforst track 5 [Kompakt]
Atlas Sound – ABC Glasgow [4ad]
a slow rip – devil in the well [endgame records]
Angels of Light – Palisades [Young God]
Alexander Tucker – Veins to the Sky [ATP Recordings]
Various Production – Foller (Zan Lyons remix) [Various Production]
Apse – Shade of the Moor [ATP Recordings]
Darqwan – Universal Wan-Ting [Planet µ]
Funckarma – Stub Dane [Highpoint Lowlife]
Dälek – Abandoned Language [Ipecac]
Subtle – Hollow Hollered [Lex Records]
Laura – Cardboard Cutout Robot Victim Hero Children [Elevation]
Firekites – Same Suburb Different Park [Spunk]
Holly Throsby – Warm Jets [Spunk]
Firekites – Skimming Rooftops [Spunk]
function – prayer in tonal forest [locust music]
Tan or Boil – Visas, Paperwork (extra production from Part Timer) [Preservation]
function – hanalei (alone with the real magic dragon) [locust music]
Ryuichi Sakamoto & Ren Takada – Paul’s Dance [333 discs] {from a wonderful Japanese Penguin Cafe Orchestra tribute album}
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Laurence [Milan]
Hans Appelqvist – Tänk att himlens alla stjärnor [Häpna]
Lucky Dragons – my are singing [Hawks and Sparrows/Mistletone]
Comatone & Foley (aka Trigger Happy) – CF1 [self-released through Vitamin]

Sunday, 3rd of August, 2008

Big interview in the early parts of tonight’s show with the lovely Greg Seiler (Comatone) & Alon Ilsar (Foley, Gauche etc), whose Trigger Happy album is out now. Fantastic stuff.

Also some lovely droney stuff from Sydney’s Moonmilk, and post-rocky sounds from Melbourne’s Laura.

In Japan I found ginormous quantities of spin-out stuff, like things sitting on the shelves that you never see. More next week (and later!) but tonight we have a couple of newish Japanese releases: Live in Japan captures 13 & God with fantastic sound quality at a brilliant performance from 2005, and includes an otherwise-unreleased (to my knowledge) track. And there’s a delightful Japanese tribute to Penguin Cafe Orchestra that I’ll be sampling more from in the coming weeks!

Finally, I featured a number of 3″ CD releases. London label disco_r.dance recently put out a series of 12 3″ CDs from mostly (entirely?) London-based artists, covering a lot of electronica plus some freak folk and other weirdnesses. Heaps of great music there and I played material from half of the 12 releases…
And much-loved Leeds duo the remote viewer have released a very limited new album in the form of 2 3″ CDs, on their beermat-based spinoff 3″ label mobeer.

Spartak – Sunstrokes [hellosQuare]
Comatone & Foley (aka Trigger Happy) – String Thing [self-released through Vitamin]
Comatone & Foley (aka Trigger Happy) – Desmond [self-released through Vitamin]
Comatone – Winter Day [Feral Media]
Foley – isert [self-released]
Moonmilk – Air Fish [self-released]
Alpen – Look Into The Sunrise [Feral Media] {available for download here}
Laura – Bobik Is In Amerika [Elevation]
13 & God – Out in the open [Art Union]
Shitmat – Super Intelligent Monster Transvestites Invading Your Personal Space [Here's My Card Records]
Con Brio – We’re All On Fire [disco_r.dance]
Blaubac – Pinwheel [disco_r.dance]
Point B – Sponge Brick [disco_r.dance]
mothboy vs startslow – annoyed (mothboy version) [disco_r.dance]
now – don’t decide [disco_r.dance]
Same Actor – i stand still as i ride in circles [disco_r.dance]
Kwerk – good night chicago [disco_r.dance]
the remote viewer – untitled track 5, “side a” from new double-3″ cd album [mobeer]
the remote viewer – untitled track 2, “side b” from new double-3″ cd album [mobeer]
Takako Minekawa – Telephone And Rubber Band [333 discs] {from a wonderful Japanese Penguin Cafe Orchestra tribute album}
Pivot – Love Like I [Warp]