International Date Line

My Warped Reality co-conspirator Susan is off tomorrow for a weekend visit to my spiritual home, Manchester. I’m a bit jealous, because I’ve been in one of my non-stop New Order phases. Yes, yes, I heard all about Bernard Sumner’s new group, Bad Lieutenant. ::lalalalalanotlistening:: (Bernard, please, take a break. And stop watering down what is an incredible legacy with all this MOR crap.)

In welcome New Order-related news, I discovered a wondrous thing a few weeks back: New Order’s infamous Western Works demos. (Western Works being the Sheffield studio owned by Cabaret Voltaire.) Thank you, Analog Loyalist, for posting these incredible tracks —and in FLAC no less. I’m posting my favorite here:

New Order, “Homage” (from the Western Works Demos, September 1980)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I myself am off to Chicago tomorrow for a few days. Not for P-fork (as you might imagine) but for a work-related conference. I’ll be seeing Dave McKean while I’m there, but I don’t think I’m going to make it to a single show. Which is criminal, given that Chicago is such an incredible music city.

In honor of tonight’s Tortoise Millions Now Living-fest, I give you my favorite Tortoise moment, EVER:

Tortoise vs. UNKLE, “Bruise Blood” (Tortoise:: Remixed, Thrill Jockey, 2001)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Remember when home taping was killing music? (Ok, the RIAA would claim that it still is, but I digress.) Right now it’s making my day. Tune Yards is a lo-fi cut n’ paste project from singer/songwriter/collagist/uke slinger Merrill Garbus. She recorded her first record, Bird-Brains, on her lonesome, selling pay-what-you-can copies herself over the internet. Now she’s signed to 4AD; the record will be re-released on August 18.

Tune-Yards, “Sunlight” (Bird-Brains, 4ad, 2009)

It’s got it all —wacked-out samples, nonsensical sing-song lyrics that sound like demented jumprope chants, distorted ukelele shanties and her wayward, fearless vocals that are marvelously all over the map, from husky to high-pitched and back again. Bird-Brains is as effortlessly listenable and danceable as the first Solex record, Solex Vs. the Hitmeister.

Here’s a live performance of “Fiya” from last month’s Northside Festival, filmed by Ray Concepcion:

tUne-YaRds: “FIYA” {Live} from Ray Concepcion on Vimeo.

PHOTO BY A. FELDMAN