DIScourse

I'm putting this up a little late, but here's some exciting news, for me anyway.

In March, I was asked by John Parish to come up with a playlist for the Guardian UK and as of April 1 the (edited) list was published.

Guardian Playlist

Here's the complete list:

1. Scout Niblett - "Let Thine Heart Be Warned" This Fool Can Die Now

Since I was asked to create this playlist for the British based Guardian, I
wanted to start off my set with something that joins England with my city. This
is my favorite track from Bristish musician and Portland transplant, Scout
Niblett's latest LP, "This Fool Can Die Now".  This is a perfect Scout Niblett
track covering her soft and hard vocal styles with her distinctive guitar
playing and great drum beat.

2. Imaad Wasif with Two Part Beast - "Seventh Sign" Strange Hexes

Imaad Wasif is an under-appreciated guitarist and songwriter and it was hard to
chose what song from this album to put on this but I ended up choosing "Seventh
Sign" because I feel it showcases Imaads range as a musician.  This album also
is the debut for Two Part Beast, consisting of Bobb Bruno on bass and Adam
Garcia on drums, giving a great structure for Imaad to build upon.

3. Hazel Winter - "Don't Send Me Back to the Dark Place" Situation Normal Then

The third and most recent release for Bristol based musician, Hazel Winter,
"Situation Normal Then" is a nice progression from Hazel's previous albums.
What I really enjoy about this track is that retains the familiar sound of her
voice and guitar while adding some interesting instrumentation that's not often
heard in this type of music.

4. Holy Sons - "Evil Falls" Decline of the West

Another track from a Portland based musician.  This one from the prolific song
writer Emil Amos under his Holy Sons solo project.  Holy Sons is a new band for
me but I've been listening to this album a lot as of late.  Emil has a great
voice and I love how this song swells up, breaks and ends with a noise and
samples.

5. Food - "Last Supper" Last Supper

Food along with label-mate Supersilent, are responsible for getting me
interested in Jazz.  This is the final track from the 2004 album of the same
name released on the very dependable Norwegian label Rune Grammofon.  I chose
this track because I like the use of the traditional jazz instruments mixed
with electronics and vocals and I feel it's a good representation of the band.

6. Giya Kancheli - "Enimal" Exil

I found out about Georgian born, Giya Kancheli purely by chance but feel he is
a great example of a contemporary composer making meaningful works today.
"Enimal" is written around a Paul celan poem and features the perfect saprano
Maacha Deubner along with a five piece ensemble.  I love the simplicity and
sadness of this track as well as its use of silence.  Kancheli is currently
living and working in Antwerp, so now there's another reason besides diamonds,
chocolate and fashion to visit that great city.

7. Elegi - "Søvnens Kvelertak" Varde

Tommy Jansen (aka Elegi) is another new artist to me but his latest release,
"Varde" has been in constant rotation at home since its release in January.  It
tells the story of artic explores and their hardships as they trek across
barren lands.  I love how this track opens and closes creating resting places
for the listener during their travels.  I can't help but picture this being
used in a Guy Maddin film.

8. Murcof - "Cielo" Cosmos

Since 2002, Mexican born artist, Fernando Corona has consistantly been
releasing great electronic music and the 2007 release of "Cosmos" on the Leaf
label is probably my favorite to date.  The entire album is great from start to
finish (especially through headphones or a good stereo) but I really enjoy the
track progression and tempo of "Cielo" as well as Corona's use of string and
what seem to be vocal samples.  Get the triple vinyl edition while you can.

9. COH - "No Monsters No Rock (Part I - Mezzo Forte Passionato) Strings

I have been listening to Ivan Pavlov (aka COH) since the his 20' to 2000
release on Rasten Noton.　The full length album, "Strings" was released in 2007
and is broken into three parts that relate to the artists personal history and
experience with music.  The second part, "No Monsters No Rock" is based on
Pavlov's time playing in a Russian heavy metal band.  The main instrument is
his old Russian guitar but the composition has been filtered through the
musicians current interest in electronics.

10. Ester Brinkmann - "Mimesis" Totes Rennen

Thomas Brinkmann and his side project, Ester Brinkmann, are responsible for
opening the door to minimalist techno music for me.  "Totes Rennen" was the
first album to be released under the Ester Brinkmann monicker and dates from
1998, but I keep going back to it.  Brinkmann is a master at creating
infectuous rhythms and "Mimesis" is no exception.  Building on a study beat
Brinkmann starts to gradually layer in glitches, noise, and even samples from
philosophic recordings.

11. Einstuerzende Neubauten - "Grundstueck: GS 1" Grundstueck

This is my favorite recent recording by the pioneers of industrial music.
Recorded and released to only to supporters during Phase II of their online
music experiment, "Grundstueck" is proof that albums can benefit from the
absence of record executives.  This song is a great example of Blixa Bargeld's
writing and vocal style, while also showcasing the bands expertise in creating
new sounds using scrap metal, PVC piping, de-tuned instruments and various
other unusual sound sources. The song also feature a 100+ person choir largely
made up of the online supporters. It is the beginning of a bigger piece, but
stands up on its own.

12. Ryoji Ikeda - "Data.Reflex" Dataplex

Ryoji Ikeda is primarily responsible for getting me interested in minimalist
electronic music and multimedia installations.  It's hard to choose one track
from his multitude of releases for inclusion on this list since his music,
while all related, varies quite a bit.  However, I chose "Data.Reflex" from the
2005 "Dataplex" album since it is a good representation of how Ikeda approaches
his compositions.  Created purely from data the piece is like walking through a
supercomputer and being able to see the information being sent and received.
While some people may find Ikeda's music to be hard to listen to I always feel
like my mind is more clear after listening to his recordings.

13. Pan Sonic - "Arktinen/Arctic" Kesto (234.48:4)

This is my favorite track from Pan Sonic's lenghty discography and was the
final track on the disc two of Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen's 2004 mammoth
four cd release, "Kesto (234.48:4)".  By mixing Ilpo Väisänen's rhythmic
minimalism with Vainio's darker aesthetic of glitches, noise and loops, this
track is a great example of how two artists with different styles can create
something wonderful.

14. Bohren & Der Club of Gore - "Unkerich" Dolores

Bohren & Der Club of Gore is another new band for me although they have
officially been around since 1986.  "Dolores", their most recent full length,
was released at the end of 2008 and I've been listening to it quite often.
With "Unkerich" this jazz band has created a wonderfully mysterious atmosphere.
I can picture Agent Cooper listening to this in the Black Lodge.

15. The Gentleman Losers - "Silver Mountain" The Gentleman Losers

Like Pan Sonic, The Gentleman Losers are also a Finnish duo, but that's where
the comparison stops.  This 2006 self titled release is the debut from the
brothers, Ville and Samu Kuukka, and is primarily based around acoutsic guitar,
organ and synthesizer.  I chose "Silver Mountain" because it feels very
hopeful, as if you're traveling down a road at sunset, headed towards a better
place, hopefully, a place with a follow-up album by these musicians.

DIScourse - Amsterdam

It's been awhile since my last journal entry and a lot has happened so let me start with what went later in the day after my last entry, June 6. After work I rode my bike to the salon, STAN, and got my hair dyed. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it other than making it darker so I let the woman doing my hair sort of do whatever she wanted. We ended up going for a dark reddish-purple with the front part dyed black. It pretty much looks black unless I'm under a light or out in the sun. I was worried about missing my train to Amsterdam but I ended up getting out of the salon early.

I rode my bike to the train station and got my bag out of the locker then went to a cafe and had a beer before getting on the train. The train ride to Amsterdam takes about 2 hours and goes by pretty quickly. I just listened to music and watched the scenery go by.

When I got to Amsterdam I got a taxi and told him to take me to Hotel Europa 92 and showed him a print out I had. I had a bad feeling that something was going to happen but the driver seemed nice so I just got in the cab and looked at the city. We finally got to the hotel but it looked different (nicer) than the photos on the internet, so I asked if it was the right hotel and it turned out that he took to my Hotel Europe which is a different part of town. He reset the meter and we left. When we finally got to the correct address I paid the driver and gave a good tip and got my bag and as I was going into the hotel he said that I owed him another 10 euros for the ride to the first hotel. I refused saying it was his fault since I showed him the print out and he obviously didn't look at it, then went into the hotel.

I checked in, put my things in the room and walked to the Paradiso, hoping that I wasn't going to be late for the show. In true Dustin form I got a little lost and what should have taken me ten minutes took me about 30, but I made it in time for the show, in fact I was early. The Paradiso is a legendary venue and I was glad to finally see a show there. When I arrived there was a dj playing music and a few people milling around, but it wasn't as crowded as I was expecting considering it was premier of a new Ryoji Ikeda piece. After about an hour Ikeda was on stage and I was surprised to see that he looked younger than I was expecting. The music and video projections were fantastic! It's amazing how loud something can be and not damage your hearing when the sound quality is good. After Ikeda played Olaf Bender (aka BYETONE) went on stage and played an almost equally good set. Once the show was over the dance party started. Some of the crowd left while more showed up. I wandered around the venue a little and found another dance party going on the first floor (second floor) which I danced at a little. Getting back to the main floor I danced on and off for awhile and then headed back to the hotel.

In the morning I got up and dressed and went down stairs for breakfast. I then headed into town to finally do some shopping and sightseeing. I found my way to the 9 Streets (a famous shopping part of town) and wandered around until the stores opened and took some photos:

When the stores opened I made my way to Van Ravenstein which opens a basement sale room on Saturdays. I tried on some great Demeulemeester boots but the pair I really wanted was too large. In the end I got a black tank top with the AMOUR print on it. I talked to the sales associates and they gave me some ideas on other shops to look at, including telling me where the Droog shop was, since I couldn't remember from my last trip. They also told me about another shop, Frozen Fountain, which turned out to be great.

So I walked and walked and walked...

It is amazing how many bikes there are in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of bikes and all kinds of bikes: delivery bikes, bikes with kid baskets, old bikes, mountain bikes, tandem bikes, recumbant bikes, etc...

I ended up going to a shop, Ennu, that was recommended to me by the women and Van Ravenstein and found a new bag (my white leather bag is falling apart) and a scissor pendant that I had been wanting since the beginning of the season. The people in the shop were really nice and one of the owners was wear the Theo Brainwear frame, so I told them I was working there at the moment, to which they said "great, but you should move to Amsterdam." I've been told and I've noticed there is a lot of rivalary between Netherlands and Belgium.

After going to the Droog shop I stopped into a Smart Cafe and purchased my evenings activity, Philosophers Stones. I then did some more walking and eventually found my way to a bar called the Chaos Cafe, where I sat on a bench outside and enjoyed a La Chouffe while looking at a canal. I then headed back to my hotel and ate the Philosopher Stones along with some chocolate. The next 6 hours is hard to describe, but it was a trip.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling a little more tired than usual but got dressed, packed my things and had breakfast. I checked out, leaving my bag at the hotel, and walked around the city for about 4 hours, taking in the scenery, taking photos and finally stopping for a beer, Kwak, at a Belgian pub. I then caught the 2pm train back to Antwerp.