The Groove Seeker: Blink’s The Architects

The Groove Seeker goes in search of killer grooves across rock, funk, hip hop, soul, electronic music, jazz, fusion, and more.

Blink: The Architects (Whistler, 4/19/11)

Blink: “Protect From Light (I)”

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If there’s one collective that typifies the spirit of modern jazz and the next step into its “post” era, it’s Chicago-based experimental-jazz quartet Blink.  And though that might sound bogus given the fact that its new album comes only in cassette and digital-download formats, the quartet’s lo-fi approach doesn’t mean that it’s not legit.  Since its 2008 debut, The Epidemic of Ideas — a record that imparts heavy emphasis on jazz experimentation and improvisation — the quartet has toured the world, received awards from the Illinois Arts Council, and had its compositions commissioned and performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble and the Peoria Ballet Company.

On its sophomore effort, The Architects, the quartet builds on its mishmash of free jazz, rock, and electronics, this time with a new approach for structured compositions.  The beauty of it all? You can’t really tell the difference.  In jazz, it’s said that the best improvised music sounds composed and the best composed music sounds improvised.  As circular as that sounds, the adage holds a lot of wisdom in understanding the merits of Blink and its overall sound.

Listeners will find the nine-song set, entirely composed by bassist Jeff Greene, to have a distinct balance.  Greene’s compositions build on one another, creating a musical dialogue that revisits melodies and textures to create intricate forms of theme and variation.  But the songs still feel open-ended, with solid foundations for drummer Quin Kirchner, guitarist Dave Miller, and saxophonist Greg Ward to instill in them a loose musical chemistry that is spontaneous and artful.

Damon Locks

Guest Playlist: Damon Locks’ most truthful tunes

The Eternals: Approaching the Energy Field (Addenda, 2/15/11)

The Eternals: “War’s Blazing Disciples”

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Damon Locks — frontman for experimental dub-punk band The Eternals, former member of Trenchmouth, and part-time member of Exploding Star Orchestra — is an accomplished visual artist in addition to being an accomplished musician. For ALARM’s newest book, Chromatic, Locks curated a section of handmade mix-tape art. In addition, his sociopolitical mixed-media art is featured alongside a story that details his upbringing, influences, and guiding principles. Here, Locks compiles a playlist of tunes that he repeatedly turns to for inspiration.

The Uncompromising Art
by Damon Locks

I side with the ones that follow their hearts,
Not the ones making due rather than making art

These 10 tracks are tunes that inspire me to make work both visual and musical and to trust in the creative process. Upon every listen, these pieces always feel so kinetic and vital. The music business is now so savvy and marketing is so embedded into the processes of music-making that the impetus to make most music generally feels (and sounds) suspect. I wanted to put a list of tunes together whose intentions felt truthful and without an eye for its profitability.

1. Eddie Gale: “Song of Will”

A spiritual and uplifting female vocal chorus crescendos to reveal a cacophonous horn melody that punctuates and empowers.

MadCity Music Exchange

Behind the Counter: MadCity Music Exchange (Madison, WI)

Established way back in 1981, MadCity Music Exchange in Madison, Wisconsin has changed ownership a few times, but its diverse selection and high level of service have remained just as high. Local weekly publication Isthmus recently bestowed its readers’-choice award upon MadCity, after fervent fans voted it the best in the area. Before current owner Dave Zero took the reigns in 2007, the store had run by Dave Benton since 1986. We spoke with Zero and learned what exactly makes Madison and MadCity great places for music.

What was your motivation for starting a music store? / What is your background in music?

I was a long-term employee and was lucky enough to be the first person that my boss, the previous owner, asked when he was interested in selling the store.  I’m just another obsessive music fan that wanted to be around music as much as possible.

Dave holds Superchunk's On the Mouth
Dave holds Superchunk's On the Mouth

How has the Madison musical community changed over the years?

The musical community was greatly changed when we lost our beloved rock club, O ‘Cayz Corral, in a fire on New Years Day in 2000.  It was a giant hole that has only recently started to feel closed.  We now have a few places that are wonderful: High Noon Saloon, The Frequency, and Project Lodge.  Within the past five years, there has been a great resurgence of a real DIY spirit with local bands, and we now have more great local bands than we might have ever had before.  Those Poor Bastards, Midwest Beat, Burial Hex, The Hussy, Zebras, Shane Shane, United Sons of Toil, Second Family Band, Dead Luke…just to name a few.

Del the Funky Homosapien

Beats & Rhymes: Del The Funky Homosapien’s Golden Era

Del the Funky Homosapien: Golden EraDel the Funky Homosapien: Golden Era 3xCD (The Council, 4/19/11)

Del the Funky Homosapien: “One Out of a Million”

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Del The Funky Homosapien has come a long way from being known as Ice Cube’s weird cousin (who isn’t even gangsta). After lending his inimitable, elastic flow and irreverent lyricism to “Clint Eastwood” and “Rock the House” (singles that helped launch Gorillaz to super-stardom), teaming up with Dan the Automator and Kid Koala for sci-fi concept album Deltron 3030, and helming his own group (Heiroglyphics), Del has carved himself a place in the halls of hip-hop history.

Although Del went from 2000 to 2008 without releasing a solo record, his current rate of output is staggering. His latest record, Golden Era, is packaged with two albums from 2009 that were previously only available electronically, Funk Man and Automatik Statik.

As the title suggests, Golden Era hearkens back to Del’s heyday, with astonishingly funky beats throughout. Smooth, nimble bass lines bounce along effortlessly, with slick synthesizers and guitars providing a melodic touch.

Some tracks, however, stray from this formula, keeping the album from repeating itself. Most notably, “Double Barrel” uses discordant synth bleats and bursts of guitar fuzz to create a noisy, Dälek-lite atmosphere. Tracks like this break up the stretches of old-school funk, keeping the record from becoming monotonous.

Rusko

Concert Photos: Rusko @ Congress Theater (Chicago, IL)

UK-based dubstep producer Rusko (real name: Chris Mercer) released his latest album, OMG, on Mad Decent one year ago Wednesday. Since then, he’s been working with some of the biggest names in the music business, including Rihanna and T.I.

Collaboration is turning out to be one of his calling cards; he’s worked with Switch, Diplo, Yo Majesty, and Wiley, and has remixed artists like Adele and A-Trak. In addition, Amber Coffman of Dirty Projectors is featured on “Hold On,” a single from OMG. Despite his myriad connections, Rusko needed only his equipment (and some snazzy stage decoration) to wow the crowd in a recent jam-packed show at the Congress Theater in Chicago. ALARM staff member Kyle Gilkeson snapped these shots of the thousands-strong dance party.

Rusko

Thursday

Guest Spots: Thursday’s list of 10 absurd/wonderful Beatles songs

Thursday: No DevoluciónThursday: No Devolución (Epitaph, 4/12/11)

Thursday: “Magnets Caught in a Metal Heart”

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New Jersey-based post-hardcore band Thursday just released No Devolución, its sixth full-length album and second on Epitaph. The band’s lead singer, Geoff Rickly, is also involved in a side project called United Nations, in which he’s the only officially listed member, due to its various members’ contractual obligations. The music occupies the same hardcore-punk territory as Thursday and features comedic lyrical contributions from Daily Show correspondent Kristen Schaal. Before it was turned away by multiple retailers, its self-titled debut from 2008 originally featured a modified version of The Beatles‘ Abbey Road cover art. Here, Rickly explains his longtime interest in the Fab Four.

Ten Absurd and Wonderful Songs by The Beatles
by Geoff Rickly

When I was just a boy, my mother would sometimes drop me off at my Nana’s house in Connecticut, kiss me goodbye, and rush off to work.  It was one of my favorite places in the world: the way the sun came through the porch and made patterns on the curtains, the way there were treats of every possible variety (coffee cake, waffles, bacon, etc.), and, most of all, the way that my Nana had no regard for material things like money, possessions, security, or savings accounts.  She would often say to my mother, “Enjoy it, Patty, you can’t take it with you.”

Case in point: my mother’s complete collection of The Beatles’ records.  My Nana saw no harm in letting me play whatever record I wanted on my cheap, blue-and-yellow plastic Fischer Price record player.  It completely broke my Mom’s heart that I ruined those records, but I think she was able to laugh about it proudly when it became clear, many years later, that I was devoting my life to a passion for music.  A passion that started with destroying those records.

Being that I started my love for The Beatles at the age of four, I’ve always been drawn to the most absurd, childlike, and wondrous tracks by the Fab Four.  Here are my favorites.

1. “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”

Nothing conjures the joy and mania of a grand circus like the multi-ring narrative of “Mr. Kite.”  The wide cast of mysterious characters like Mr. K, Mr. H, Henry the Horse, and the Hendersons dances, sings, and spins its way through Bishop’s gate and hoops of fire, while the band cartwheels through the pomp of a traveling circus band.  The crowning achievement of the song is John Lennon announcing the proceedings in the disaffected eloquence of a tired but consummately professional carnival barker.