foxy digitalis blog

bay area fun

2006-12-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

if you're in the bay area, you now have plans for this weekend:

Women Take Back The Noise Live Performance Series
December 8, 9, 10 - 2006 • 21Grand Arts Space, Oakland CA
416 25th Street (at Broadway) in Oakland.
$10 at door or $25 for a 3-day pass.
3- day passes are available online at www.ubuibi.org/wtbtn or at the door Friday Dec. 8th at 21Grand and Thursday Dec. 7th at the Luggage Store Gallery (New Music Series).
Full event calendar can be viewed at: www.ubuibi.org/wtbtn/wtbtn_events_2006.html
---------------

crazy good times to be had by all. and at the very least, you MUST (MUST MUST) check out the excellent 3CD compilation, "women take back the noise": chuzzah!. so much to sink your teeth into.

erik amlee

2006-09-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

just want to give some quick love to erik amlee's latest opus, "afternoon dream." it's his first 'real' CD and it's an absolute gem. it's six raga-infused acoustic trips. amlee's sitar playing is magnificent and beautiful, and he accents this with a real proficiency on steel strings. the mix of backwoods porch jams and indian-infused folk are an absolute delight. i can't take this CD out of the player. it's easily one of the 2 or 3 best albums released this year.

it's co-released by mandragora and fire museum, the latter of which has been on a tear this year. recent CDs by helena espvall (from espers) and the traditional burmese sounds of nai htaw paing ensemble are both brilliant in their own right and essential listening for those of you reading this blog.

and a quick mention to black history moth, whose self-released cd-r arrived today and is already wreaking havoc on my skull.

animal psi

2006-08-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

hey all-

just a quick post to introduce you to a new site i was introduced to last night, which looks like it'll be a great resource for weird-o, obscur-o music. lots of release news, some reviews, some sound samples, tour dates, etc.

http://www.animalpsi.com/

mike tamburo/larkin grimm tour

2006-08-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

hey all,

posting these for mike... should be some sweeet shows:

MIKE TAMBURO AND LARKIN GRIMM TOUR DATES
Aug. 26 Alternative Books Kingston, NY

Aug. 27 La Cena Syracuse, NY

Aug. 28 charm city arts space Baltimore, MD

Aug. 29 611 florida Washington D.C

Aug. 30 Eat Records (w/ Jesse Sparhawk) 6pm New York, NY

Aug. 30 Galapagos (w/Jesse Sparhawk) 10pm Brooklyn, NY

Aug. 31 The Honeymoon Compound 2033 Frankford Avenue Philadelphia, PA

September 1 and 2 Wickermania Festival Amherst, MA
http://www.myspace.com/wickermaniafestival (we play on september 2)

Sept. 3 South Union Arts(w/Zelienople, Kathleen Baird) Chicago, IL

Sept. 4 Hall mall Iowa city, IA

Sept. 5 TipTop - 3803 S. 25th St. Omaha, NE

Sept. 6 Burnt Toast Boulder, CO

Sept. 8 The Habitat San Diego, CA

Sept. 9 il coral (with Refrigerator Mothers) Los Angeles, CA

Sept. 10 help needed!!!! TBA, CA

Sept. 11 KFJC 3pm Los Altos, CA

Sept. 12 The Makeout Room (w/ Sean Smith) San Francisco, CA

Sept. 13 Mama Buzz Oakland, CA

Sept. 14 House show San Francisco, CA

Sept. 15 need help!!!! Nevada City, CA

Sept. 16 Delta of Venus Davis, CA

Sept. 16 KDVS Davis, CA

Sept. 17 Sacramento Audio Waffles 12 noon Sacramento, CA

Sept. 19 Das Gasthaus Arcata, CA

Sept. 20 TBA (w/ Arrington De Dionyso and matt mcdowell) Olympia, WA

Sept. 21 Town Lounge (w/ arrington de dionyso & matt mcdowell) Portland, OR

Sept. 22 Sunset Tavern (w/ old time relijun) Seattle, WA

Sept.23 Shakespeare & Co Missoula, MT

Sept. 24 Rogue Buddha (w/ Paul Metzger) Minneapolis, MN

Sept. 25 Sneaky Dee's (w/Yellow Swans, Grouper) Toronto, ON

Sept. 26 The Green Room Montreal, QC

Sept. 27 AS220 Providence, RI

Sept. 28 TBA (with KG Fields) Boston,Ma

still having our massive sale: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/catalog_sale.html

huge digitalis/foxglove sale

2006-07-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

hey everyone,

we're having a huge sale on digitalis/foxglove stuff. get the scoop here:

http://www.digitalisindustries.com/catalog_sale.html

thanks!

wait for the rest of your life

2006-05-01T12:20:00.004-07:00

pardon my absence over the next 3 days, but FDHQ is being invaded by terracid. chutzpah.

destroyer's rubies

2006-04-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

while i don't have the time to do a proper review of destroyer's latest on merge, let me just say that it's easily going to end up as one of the year's finest. i've been a sucker for dan bejar for almost 10 years now, but "rubies" marks his finest effort to date (which is really saying something). with all the fuss made over his side-band, the new pornographers (who are snoozeworthy) and it's lead ginger (the equally boring a.c. newman), those same people should literally be shitting their pants over this record.

"why can't you see that a life in arts and a life of mimicry is the same thing?"

'zactly.

inverted crux

2006-03-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

just wanted to post a shout-out to my new favorite australian label, inverted crux. these guys are pouring out some truly shambolic mudpsych jams. there's some real amazing shit brewing in australia right now, led by the musicyourmindwillloveyou clan and the lost domain (who, subsequently, have two new CDs coming out on digitalis this year at the very least). inverted crux is showing the early signs of being an important new cog in the dust-bitten machine. spores of the golden beard, bohemian knights, paeces, and lakes are all pure folkloric magic.

there's also a connection to a lot of the finnish spazz from recent years, esp. the less lucid groups like master qsh, braspyreet, etc. it's a disjointed quixotic free-for-all. at times, it's like dropping some giant machine from 50000 ft up and recording the sound it makes as it crashes and coagulates into the ground. fucking great, in other words. fans of mymwly/BOTOS/terracid, etc would do well to seek this stuff out.

yeah, yeah moses..

2006-02-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

yeah, so i know i promised more year-end ramblings, but i've been busy! heh. anyway, i've had the lyric, "take it from me, brother moses / take my sins away from me" in my head since at least october. finally, after many moons of driving me mad, i give it to you: take it from me, brother moses. where it'll be released, nobody knows...

a look back at 2005

2006-01-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

so tomorrow (or possibly tonight) i'll be uploading the latest foxy update, which will include our massive end-of-the-year feature. but a few things not covered there that i wanted to mention..

2005 saw the beginning of a couple great, new labels. at the top of the heap is the might barl fire. run by the unimitable simon allen, barl fire's dedication to beautiful releases of great music is to be admired and held in high regard. every release of his has been a winner, with the latest handful being the best (you'd be retarded not to check out the magical new 3" from xenis emputae travelling band). simon also stepped up to help me out and take on the continuously delayed release of "underneath the jesus tree," the north sea's magnum opus. i salute you, mr. allen!

another great label to pop up is new zealand's united fairy moons. everything i said about barl fire goes for UFM too. particularly great about this label is that everything he's released has been a project i've not heard previously. and they're all fantastic (special coconuts to three forks).

then there's root strata. this label has planted my foot firmly in my mouth. run by jefre cantu-ledesma of tarentel fame, every release so far has been brilliant. i've even become a big tarentel fan in the process and am excited to be involved in releasing some new records by a couple of jefre's sideprojects in 2006 (the alps and the holy see). get over to his website and check out the mp3s, send him your clams, and thank the heavens.

i'll write about some releases that were great, but didn't make my list later.

digitalis gets in bed with piranha

2005-11-28T06:03:00.000-08:00

hey everyone,

just a quick announcement i'm pretty excited about...

the good folks at who do the in bed with piranha on france's radio-g
will be doing an all-foxglove/digitalis show on monday, 11/28, from 5
to 7 PM eastern standard time (10 PM GMT, i believe). the show can be
heard over the internet at http://www.radio-g.org/. everybody should check it out.

pre-orders for new CDs by christina carter & gown, james blackshaw,
and brothers of the occult sisterhood available soon, as well as the
limited new CD-R/DVD-R set from our favorite alien feline, roberto
opalio. some new foxgloves too.

routes reborn

2005-11-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

well, i have to say that i (along with many others) were pretty irked
at the sudden deletion of the might routes list. seemed completely
unnecessary and ridiculous, but hey... they can't kill us forever.

so i invite you to join the new routes list..
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/routeslist

love,
-brad

last.fm

2005-10-13T06:07:00.000-07:00

damnit. i held out for months, but you people finally broke me down and got me to sign up to last.fm. but it's not so bad, other than the fact their website layout drives me fucking mad. it's ass-terrible.

anyway, love me: http://www.last.fm/user/foxydigitalis/

now you can see how uncool my listening habits are. like the fact i'm currently listening to "november rain" and liking it.

and if you have a problem with that, you can kiss my ass. *kisses*

in unrelated news, gFrenzy has to be the most underrated artist ever.

the wire ((hearts)) VTB

2005-09-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

huzzah! from the new wire:

email me if you want to order a copy of this beaut.

i love you, finland

2005-09-16T05:51:00.000-07:00

so this past weekend in st. louis at the spooky action palace was nothing short of spellbinding. the finnish caravan made its way through the midwest (along with davenport and the might skaters) and laid a psych bomb on st. louis like its never seen. first i want to give props to michael @ spooky action palace for putting on a great event. it stayed surprisingly calm with little drama (save for the girl passing out on night one, perhaps. that was hardcore).

anyhow, lau nau, islaja, tomutonttu (aka jan anderzen), kuupuu, taikuri tali, & sala-arhimo left a long-lasting impression on me.

every performance was great, though i have to admit that lau nau, islaja, and taikuri tali took me furthest. lau's set (w/ taikuri tali backing her up) was stunning. she played 'unplugged' and when she played the theme from holy mountain, i was practically on the floor. it was mesmerizing, beautiful, and nothing short of brilliant. her voice is enchanting. it's great on album, but in a live setting... it just grabs you and embraces you in its innocent warmth. it's jaw-droppingly beautiful stuff. antti's accompaniment was great, too.

islaja offered up one of the most-rocking sets, accompanied by sala-arhimo (aka jukka). i especially loved the songs that jukka played bass and sang on. his and islaja's magical voice work very well together. islaja's voice is simply powerful, though. you can't get away from it. she played a number of songs i recognized, but it was mostly just about the entire moment, not the individual songs. it was great. i also have a new affinity for her for claiming that jan anderzen is their (the finns) "evil master from mordor!" (all said in an authentic possessed-by-satan voice). heh.

and then there was taikuri tali... nothing like the above two. taikuri tali (i believe) is antti tolvi's (perhaps best known for playing in finnish freejazz kings, rauhan orkesteri, with his brother jaakko) solo project. on this night, lau nau also played with him to create a wonderful collage of clattered folk sounds. it was hypnotizing, but wholly inspiring. their CDR on POK is lovely. and it was an added bonus that they wore blankets and scarves (or something!) over their heads. heh.

of the non-finns.. while davenport were fantastic and in a mode like i'd never heard them, the skaters stole the show. it's hard to believe that two guys sitting on the floor can create such sounds. it was a deep, dronning spiritual sludge. seriously, the way that the low-frequency wails completely infected your blood... it was like a fucking religious experience. consider me converted. i've long enjoyed the racket that james ferraro and spencer clark have released on various CDRs and tapes, but none of it comes close to seeing them live. it was fantastic.

the whole weekend was great. i am more inspired than i've been in a long, long time. it was also wonderful to finally meet a bunch of people i've been corresponding with throughe mail for the past year or more. lee jackson and i will be co-writing a lengthier recap for foxy digitalis, complete with pictures (and, i hope!, mp3s).

now, i just need to figure out how i can move to finland...

empires to ashes

2005-09-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

check out our new politicoblog: empires to ashes

because i'm just too pissed of these days to shut-up.

PLEASE DONATE

2005-09-02T05:31:00.000-07:00

please donate to the red cross or any other aid organizations to help those who have been affected by hurricane katrina and the absolute ineptness of this administration and the federal government. this is an amazing tragedy and these people need help.

red cross

what we are witnessing goes beyond partisan politics. what we are seeing is a catastrophe of epic proportions and the blood is on the hands of the federal government. this is inexcusable. there was more than TWO DAYS warning to evacuate these people before the storm hit. but in this land where all men are surely not created equal, the poor, the sick... they have been told by the united states government with resounding clarity: YOU DO NOT MATTER. WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU.

for five years we have witnessed this administration commit horrid atrocities, but this... this is too much. i have no words to express my disgust. this is unacceptable. there will be hell to pay.

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." - 4th sentence from the declaration of independence.

PLEASE DONATE!!!!!

i am a ghost

2005-08-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

hello everyone. many greetings, a lot of news. since i'm updating FD so often now, the initial purpose for this blog kind of died. but now i'll just use it for pertinent news and information that pertains to my projects and whatever. just call it an extension of my ego.

first off, some exciting news. my new band, ajilvsga, will be playing live in st. louis as part of the HALLUCINATIONS ARE REAL 2-day extravaganza. here's the skinny from organizer and mr. spooky himself, michael ferrer:

HALLUCINATIONS ARE REAL!!
September 9th & 10th @ Spooky Action Palace, St. Louis MO.

September 9th

DAVENPORT
ISLAJA
LAU NAU
KUUPUU
AJILVSGA
OWL POLITICS
NAVY BLACK

September 10th

THE SKATERS
HERTTA LUSSU ASSA
BURNING STAR CORE
TOMUTONTTU
DE FENESTRA
TAIKURI TALI
RAGLANI

for more info, email me. eden and i will be there along with a number of writers and contributors to the foxy digitalis brigade. i'll be carrying TONS of digitalis & foxglove swag and selling it at discount prices in an effort to pay for gas. there's also going to be an exclusive ajilvsga CD-R available only at this show. you don't wanna miss this shit. the finns aren't going to be here again for a while, i would imagine.

so now that that's out of the way...

the north sea's magnum opus, underneath the jesus tree, is almost finished. woo! enjoy a song off the album by clicking here: windmills. this brought to you by the good folks at music fellowship.

but if that wasn't enough, i've also got the follow-up to this little guy 90% done. it's called in the time of the sugar pines. and it needs a home. so email me if you might want to put this out. for now, enjoy a sample: we are ghosts in the vast white skies.

then there's alligator crystal moth. magic swamp kingdom is available and flying off the shelves. spectral lysergics desperately needs a CD or LP home. and a 3rd album is nearing completion, too. ACM just wants to take over the world. nothing more, nothing less.

and finally, i leave you with more of me blabbing about myself: huzzah

me! me! me!

2005-07-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

just a few links of interview/articles about me that i thought i'd pass on:

kid shirt

in tension

thanks to everyone for taking the time to let me babble.

lately i'm infatuated with this label: one minute trolley dash

cdrs by ffehro, silvester anfang, and drunjus (a double-disc) will be released next week on foxglove.

i feel like talking about myself..

2005-07-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

..but i suppose that's entire point of a blog, in a way. heh.

summer's here in full force these days... every day feels like 100 degrees. my longing for autumn is at a feverpitch. really, i just want orange leaves and a cool breeze... i don't feel like it's too much to ask for.

since i love talking about myself, i'm excited to say that alligator crystal moth, my cross-oceanic project with michael donnelly of brothers of the occult sisterhood, terracid, 6majik9, etc, is about to be excavated and exposed. we've been recording like mad (we have over 2 1/2 hours of material currently). our first release will be a foxglove cd-r, entitled "magic swamp kingdom." it's going to have seven tracks: 1. mother stars / 2. and the ocean becomes the altar / 3. flying the midnight dragon / 4. blue pariah / 5. sunspots amongst the ruins / 6. may alltonia minor / 7. kerosene hat (by cracker)

ah, i'm excited. we also have another album called "spectral lysergics" that we're hoping to get released on CD or LP. any interested parties should email me. and those of you wondering what ACM sounds like... fuck, i don't know. psychedelic swamp music or something. it definitely is very much what you might imagine a combination of michael and i's various solo projects would sound like. i'm convinced michael d isn't human.

anyway, something unrelated to ACM. has anyone else heard all these LPs from back in the '80s that loren mazzacane connors and kath bloom did? i recently unearthed these gems and can't believe that no effort to reissue these has happened (well, maybe unsuccessful efforts have gone down, i don't know). i could listen to this shit for hours. i don't care if it all sounds the same.

some samples (as requested) - both tracks from "spectral lysergics":

alligator crystal moth "python"

alligator crystal moth "fuschia waves in the golden sun"

red hunter

2005-06-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

i want to dedicate this post to someone who is one of the best singer/songwriters i've heard in a long, long time. someone who doesn't get the attention his music and talent demands, which is a shame... especially when sub-par artists constantly get lavish praise b/c they look the part or have a big PR budget. well fuck that. music is about music, and for my money, few people are writing songs of the caliber of red hunter.

red is also 1/2 of the magic cemetary duo, peter & the wolf. his work in that project is mesmerizing and beautiful. he writes simple songs (many of which seem to be about war - refreshing subject matter considering most of the garbage out there). but they speak to me in a way that most artists can't even grasp.

case-in-point #1: the fall

i can honestly say this is one of the best songs i've heard in 2005 (even though it was recorded in 2003). the way hunter's vocals and words command your attention and pull you in from the second he opens his mouth is enthralling. the simple guitar line follows a stark, winding path through post-apocalyptic ruins. but hunter welcomes the death of civilization. this is a song about being reborn. it's insanely powerful and memorable. i've probably listened to it 20 times today alone.

case-in-point #2: strange eyes

this is peter & the wolf - red's project with vocalist dana falconberry. this song is but a glimpse into their ethereal world, but it's simplicity is stunning. "strange eyes, older than the hills i know we are." i said this in my review on the FD mainsite, but still... it's a beautiful line that conveys so much. there's this underlying sense of emotion in both voices that hints at a lost opportunities with grave consequences. fuck, it's so good.

case-in-point #3: couches by the sea

another solo track. this one has all the charm of a sunday afternoon in the middle-of-nowhere. hunter has a unique voice and it is on perfect display here. if you close your eyes, it's like he's cradling you, the music holding you close. it's enchanting.

so there you go. red hunter. meet him. hear him. love him. he's an amazing artist - the kind of songwriter independent music desperately needs. the kind of independent voice that resonates so deeply, he becomes part of you.

red hunter.

happenings

2005-05-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

well foxy digitalis is going through some changes and growing pains right now... well, i guess they're not really pains, per se, but anyway. we're moving away from the clunky html style of old and into the sexy new, mysql database style of new. it's going to be a revolutionary change for me as i'm not going to have to format 80 reviews at a time, 10 features, etc. this also means more updates when it's up and functioning (we're talking weekly updates). yeah. hot! we hope to have this finished, tested, and launched by mid-june in time for the next update (which will be the last of the massive updates). this is all very exciting and all the love and praise should be directed toward our friend jean-bernard who is 100% responsible for this.

a bunch of new releases are going to be coming on foxglove before the end of the summer... we've got some really amazing masters right now that i'm kind of shocked we're going to be releasing. for you finniacs, there's going to be a lot for you too, including 4 new keijo related releases spread on digitalis (his debut solo CD) and foxglove (a collaboration with vapaa's tiitus as well as releases by his bands kheta hotem and kundalini snakes), plus a few other tricks i've got up my sleeve that should blow some collective minds.

what else... i think i need to change the digitalis & foxglove news pages to be powered by blogger. this shit is way too easy.

oh, and a few brief recommendations of stuff i hope to do long-form reviews of someday:

seht's 'application antarctica download form' on c/psi/p might be the most essential minimalist drone releases this year.

the new compilation on rebis, 'time & relative dimensions in space' is stunning. it features long-form pieces from the skaters, taurpis tula (in their best performance so far), my cat is an alien, number none, and jim haynes (best known from his work with loren chasse in coelacanth).

emerald cloud cobra's forthcoming cd-r on outa is quickly becoming the best new discovery of 2005. eastern tinged drones, space flight ragas, archaic vocals... it's a mind-melting combination and will floor avid readers of this site, guaranteed. email outa and pre-order a copy b/c i don't know how many will be available.

and lastly, andy robbins 3" on firstperson is a fantastic tiny acid-soaked document of simple, solemn folk tunes. andy jarvis' firstperson series has proved to be one of the best new labels around and this robbins disc only further cements that fact.

more soon...

etc.

2005-04-27T05:35:00.000-07:00

it's been a month now since i've updated this thing. heh. but hey, we've had a massive foxy update in that time, so cut me some slack.

life in tulsa is good. school is out for the summer (queue alice cooper) and i'm going through the typical "oh my god i have so much time so i am going to be lazy" mood. so bear with me folks - your orders will be shipped, your emails replied to, and such. it might just take a few extra days.

in north sea news, the "pink moon" 3" is out now on timothy renner's fabulous folklore of the moon series. i'm happy with the release - it's a "conceptual" ep, but i don't think anyone's picked up on the concept yet. score one for me. get it here: dark holler. in further proof that i apparently have no perspective on my own music, everyone's favorite track (and many have said favorite north sea track ever) is one of my least favorite i've ever done, and one i almost left off the release. so score another for me.

some great records we've been spinning lately include multiple releases by the awesome funeral folk label. of particular interest is silvester anfang. gruesome, solemn "quiet" tunes to infect your brain with overbearing blackness. per & öystein is also great in that doomed retard sort of way. this "evil noise" tape is almost essential for those who have a good sense of humor and like their music scarred. really great.

vampire belt might be my favorite "new" band though. chris corsano is such a monolith. fuck. everything that guy has touched lately has turned to gold (see: "school of the flower;" see: MV&EE's track on "from the roots..."), but vampire belt is a total sonic onslaught aimed at one thing and one thing only: total anihilation of your aural sensory units. his drumming just slays me. seriously though, check out vampire belt - you will be a better person because of it. ha!

the next installment of my cat is an alien's "from the earth to the spheres" series is also fantastic. christina carter & gown are lovely as expected, and MCIAA delivers another piece of beautiful space debris. really, i can't explain it, but my love affair with MCIAA is going at full force these days. they must put something in the packaging or something that has infected me. i don't care, i fucking love it and everyone reading this should jump on the MCIAA bandwagon. these italians are true cosmic artists.

digitalis mailing list

2005-03-31T20:43:00.000-08:00

i've had a lot of people asking me about one lately and decided to finally get off my ass and make one. so, for all the latest digitalis news, join the list:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/foxydigitalis

thanks.

arbors quieting the sea

2005-03-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

so what a fantastic weekend in every way. mr. keith wood (who most of you know as the one who pulls the strings of hush arbors) spent the weekend here in tulsa at the digitalis HQ. to say we had a fantastic time is a vast understatement. despite what seemed to be an oncoming-cold, keith was the ultimate guest. anyone who shows up at my door with a six-pack of fat tire knows me well.

so the festivities started early. soon after keith was settled in a bit, we drove out to the woods with instruments and minidisc player in hand. on the way, we passed sixty donut shops which made keith happy. between the donuts and the cheeseburger tacos, i'll have keith a tulsa resident someday. i swear.

anyway, we made it out to the woods and found the most perfect spot ever. we set up next to this giant rock that overlooked a steep incline and the river. it was beautiful and enchanting. we only managed to record one piece out there ("wildwood salvation") b/c it was so cold and we could barely move our fingers. but it was great and set the mood.

we got back and hung out a bit, did a little recording, and had some great thai food. even managed to get in a little eddie izzard (do you have a flag?), which is always a plus. saturday was filled with more hanging out, more eating (we got donuts), and more recording than any two people should probably do in a day. also, by late afternoon/early evening, eden was tired of listening to was create tons of racket in our office/studio and wanted to join in. she collected various things from the apartment and sun milk was born. the three of us had a blast recording crazy, freaked-out shit. it was our secret ode to the anaksimandros. sun milk will hopefully reunite some day soon to wreak havoc on the world.

in all, it was a beautiful weekend. keith is awesome, and we got along famously (as i knew we would). eden insists we look like we could be brothers. heh. and in many ways, we are. the final tally was 82 minutes of new golden oaks material and 31 of sun milk. releases are being assembled for each project. so keith, say so long to north carolina and take another extended vacation. the donut capital of the world is waiting for you...

some pictoral proof: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/go_multi.html

knowing your forest's roots pt. 1

2005-03-20T11:11:00.000-08:00

the finnish underground has received loads of praise and attention over the last few years. this is by no means undeserved, but many people make the mistake of assuming that this is a new phenomenon coming out of the great white north. this is simply not the case. over the course of the next few weeks, i am going to do some posts talking about some of the great music finns were producing in the '60s, '70s, & '80s.

first up is the magnificent pekka streng. i'm honestly not sure how many albums he released, but what must be his two best, "kesämaa" and "magneettimiehen kuolema" (w/ tasavallan presidentti) were reissued in 2003 on love music.

streng's music is reminiscent of american and british luminaries such as nick drake, leonard cohen, & donovan. his music is fairly song-oriented, but with a distinct psychedelic bend. lyrically, i have no clue what he's saying (it's all in finnish, which to me makes it even better) - but i've been told alot of his lyrics are drawn from children's stories (he also used to perform children's radio plays before he was a musician, apparently).

these two albums are steeped in the rainbow of psych-folk's predecessors. streng is a gifted songwriter and composer - the arrangements and ancillary musicianship on these records is magical. from the soft opening guitar plucks and flute waves of "gilgames," you are instantly transported to place with trees in full-bloom and oceans of flowers covering the ground. it's heartbreakingly beautiful. the leonard cohen similarities are most audible on "kylmä kaupunki," but there are also hints of bill fay's inspired work.

streng's music has an underlying gentleness to it all, like great care was taken to make sure listeners feel like they're in the cradle of their lover's arms. these are albums that exude joy and beauty (even though i have no clue what he's saying). even on the most psychedelic excursions, like the mini-epic "takaisin virtaan," it is simplicity that overwhelms. this piece is filled with effects and electronics that sound ahead of their time, but throughout streng's soft voice guides you to the promised land.

eastern influences also make an appearance on these albums. "auringon lapsi," for example, is guided by a simple table beat. also, this eastern-ness is perhaps exaggerated by my belief that finnish sounds and awful lot like japanese.

there is a darker side here, too - at least musically (he could be singing about butterflies, for all i know). songs like "kaukana" and "mutta minä lähden" have an eerie feeling to them, like a person confronting their mortality head on. it's absolutely stunning, and even those these songs are short, they leave perhaps the longest lasting impression.

streng's voice is the best thing here, though. i have no idea what he's saying, but i don't care - i could simply listen to his enchanting voice for hours on end and not get tired of it. he's clearly an ultra-talented songwriter as these songs transcend any language constraints. streng died in 1975 from cancer and these two albums are the only legacy he left. 31 tracks of blissed out psychedelic finnish folk from the early '70s. seriously folks, it doesn't get much better than this. 10/10 most assuredly.

update w/ MP3s:
gilgames

kylmä kaupunki

roope hattu

christina carter, gown, & the juniper meadows

2005-03-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

last night was absolutely lovely... the juniper meadows played our first show ever at a local coffee shop, shades of brown (not named after poo, though it definitely does seem like it!). we played one long piece that lasted about 20 minutes and it went over quit well, i think. i liked it, anyway. i was going to tape it, but technical difficulties fucked that up.

but the highlight of the weekend for me was getting to meet, watch, and hang out with christina carter and gown (aka andrew macgregor). i've long admired christina's solo work and of course the charalambides, so i was extremely excited to see her perform live. i thought they played a great set, though the yuppies at shades of brown seemed awfully perplexed. but it was great. we sat in our apartment until 1:30 am drinking beer and scotch, talking about whatever and listening to music afteward which was equally great. and so far i've listened to one of the gown cdrs and the amarillo stars cdr i bought from andrew, and they're wonderful - you all would be well-advised to check them out. i hope to post proper reviews of them soon.

so all in all, a great weekend.

UPDATED: some images from the evening

foxy digitalis podcast !!!

2005-02-18T13:03:00.000-08:00

expect the first installment to be up soon... i'll post a link here and on the digitalis & foxy digitalis main pages.

in the future, i hope to expand to other FD writers having 'shows' too.

LINK: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/podcasts.html

foxy digitalis podcast?

2005-02-17T06:41:00.000-08:00

so i'm soliciting opinions here and seeing what kind of interest there might be in a weekly or bi-weekly foxy digitalis "podcast."

first you are probably asking, what is a podcast, exactly? here's some info: via wikipedia.

my understanding is that it's basically a pre-recorded radio show that people download. awesome idea. it's another way the internet is decentralizing the powers-that-be.

my thoughts would be that every week or two i'd do either a half-hour or hour-long "show," featuring alot of music that we currently have featured in that month's issue of foxy digitalis, and i'd also intermix some tracks from new and old digitalis and foxglove releases.

my biggest concern is bandwidth... a 30-60 minute mp3, even encoded at 128 kbps, is still going to be 30-60 MBs. depending on how many people downloaded that... that could be huge. i've been considering setting up another server just for hosting mp3s, so this might be something that would make that a necessity.

so what do you all think?

clay's festering lungs

2005-02-03T14:10:00.000-08:00

some new scrawl from 23 productions in the form of a few limited cassette releases. first up we have clays festering lungs, a solo project from clay ruby. this is some mind-bending noise... like dirty pistons inside a barely functioning engine, this tape sputters and purrs its way to a conclusion. it's quite good. the racket contained within is neither ear shattering or overly abrasive. it's got polish, and that's good.

davenport returns with two split cassettes, both of which are excellent. on the split with the mighty leannan sith, we venture through the cosmic dust rising up in the form of organ drones and phased keys. his duo consists of john gould and kelly shippy, this is reminiscent of the softer side of birchville cat motel. it's haunting and beautiful. davenport scrape their way through the organic fields of the midwest. their acoustic based composition is memorable and whimsical. it is filled with the voices of ghosts ascending through the heavens into an ethereal plane. absolutely stunning.

finally, davenport offers a split with mumber toes. this is essential. davenport contributes eastern raga jams steeped in violent shades of purple and pink. the organic drone that dictates the early proceedings is impressive and mind-numbing. there's over 40 minutes of davenport stuff here which makes this an absolute must for any fan of theirs. i hope these tracks are reissued in a wider release/format sometime b/c this is some of their strongest work. mumber toes is quite good, too. this release is a bi tlong but well worth the effort it takes to get through.

root!!

2005-01-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

first off, the new xenis emputae travelling band album, "toadsman's bell" is available from digitalis for $12 PPD. it is wonderful. order here: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/catalog.html. you'll also notice the next two digitalis releases added to the site, which are braspyreet's opus, "mamme laulu," and matt rosin & the dead raven choir's "fire mouth." cja's seminal work, "ironclad," will be reissued around the same time. i'll add that one shortly.

this leads nicely into this post which is about clayton's root label. i received a lovely package from him yesterday with all the new root cdrs and some other things, all of it pure gold. i'll be reviewing some of it in FD more extensively, but first off the futurians' "subway songs" double cd-r is a monster. it features outtakes and stuff recorded during the "faktory" sessions, but fuck. it's so amazing. the futurians are the best punk rock band to emerge in years. no one is even close. also, root! just released a live band of the futurians-related, dick the phone. the DTP 3" on pseudoarcana is nice, but this is even better. more raw, more energy. if you're into the futurians, you'll be into dick the phone. it's sprawling. the strange girls is an odd concoction of drones and wails. it's like floating through black water with nothing by a pilotfish to guide you. you feel safe, even though there's danger surrounding you. it's an eerie album with alot to offer.

but the best news about this package is that "ironclad" will soon be widely available like it never was. this album will make you want to burn your electric guitar in effigy.

link: root!

steven r. smith chapbooks

2005-01-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

i just received the latest chapbook from one of my favorite artists, steven r. smith. most know him from his great solo albums, his magical hala strana project, and his work in the jewelled antler centerpiece, thuja. his two recent chapbooks, "these villages" (which is a beautiful accompaniment to the hala strana album of the same name) and the newest, "the scale of conjunction" are beautiful. smith's words joined with his always impressive woodcuts create an impressive whole. what i find most interesting though is his prose. all of steven's great music is instrumental. he is one of the most talented artists i know that can say so much without words. his music speaks for him in angular tones and obscured melodies. but in "the scale of conjunction" we get to read some of his words... and, as would be expected, he writes as well as he composes. the imagery he creates is fantastic... at times disturbing, at others beautiful. my favorite passage is "a sun enshrouded by moths / fluttering in a constant reversal / of inmost and out." wonderful.

these chapbooks are definitely something for fans of hala strana and his other projects. especially those who want to get even more out of "these villages" (which seems impossible, i know...).

visit: http://www.worstward.com/

kneale.francis.milton "hiss methodologies" + news

2005-01-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

yesterday, i was exhausted. half of davenport crashed here tuesday night unexpectedly. i was glad to help them out - it was really foggy in oklahoma last night - not ideal weather for driving. was really good to finally meet clay, albeit briefly. good people. i'm so excited to be putting out the new, massive, drunjus album.

anyway, this fantastic double dip done by the trio of campbell kneale, richard francis, and antony milton is a monster. four tracks and just under an hour & a half of drones, this release will lull you into a coma. hushed, whirring sounds float through space like a sattelite orbiting the earth. these tracks bend and twist their way into the depths of your skull, seeking to hypnotize you into a state of lucidity. these are simple pieces on the surface, but underneath, there's so much more happening. it's pretty fucking great. but considering the three artists involved, it's hardly surprising.

celebrate psi-phenomenon

first person 3" cd-r series

2005-01-10T14:29:00.000-08:00

i reviewed one of these in the recent foxy update, but i got a package a few weeks ago with the rest of the series (to date). all of these cd-rs, released by andy jarvis, are fucking great. of particular note is the collaboration disc between andy and his sister, mikarla (i think). it's glorious acid drenched psych folk, with hints of drone and sunshine. will say more on that one next update..

but some others, the ben reynolds solo disc - highly recommended. ben's stuff is reminiscent of takoma meets birchville cat motel. intense finger-picking, next to heavy drones. it's a great combination and he pulls it off. also, a split between the mighty neil campbell and fickle is great. campbell's stuff never fails to blow your ears off. the piss superstition split with culver is also excellent. culver does drone as well as anyone, and the piss superstition... well. good stuff. and an awesome name.

everyone email andy and get on board! andy!

welcome

2005-01-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

hello. and welcome to the foxy digitalis blog. what's this about, you ask? basically, since foxy digitalis is only going to be updated every 4-to-5 weeks for now, this will be a way for us (though mostly me) to talk about new music we've heard, do some short little write-ups, and spread news about foxy digitalis, digitalis, and other related artists and items. so check back often. aye!

xo,
-brad