Found In Sound: 12.9.09

It's been a while since I put anything up on this blog - sometimes life takes over and makes it difficult to reflect on the things you enjoy the most, or at least have the time to actually write about them. Between work, Oktave, writing and exploring new tracks, going to shows and films, prepping for gigs and attempting to have a semblance of a social life, there isn't a whole lot of time left in the day.

That said, I've been enjoying a lot of artists, authors, and filmmakers recently and wanted to share some brief notes about what I've been up to on this front.

Musically, I'm getting deeper and deeper into pure techno and growing more intolerant of the recent house renaissance. This has a lot to do with the type of material I'm writing, my roots in drums and percussive sounds, and all the classes and time I've been devoting to Ableton Live. Of particular interest to me is 'Headfuck Techno,' which seems to be right where I'm living and breathing from a creative standpoint. I've really been enjoying a lot of artists who seem to fall into this category for the last 6 months or so, and although some may argue whether all these producers and/or DJs actually qualify for the HF Techno category, I wanted to throw some names around of people I think are doing stellar work here at the end of our insane decade.

Highest praise needs to go out to Function, Silent Servant, and the whole Sandwell District crew. This dynamic, throbbing, tape-delayed collective is producing some of the finest techno on the planet. I seriously devour everything they do. I was able to catch a good bit of Function's set at The Bunker last weekend and was, of course, blown away. Really heady stuff - so dark, so groovy, so textured. Congrats to the Sandwell District label for putting together such a cohesive and distinct take on the genre.

Also, I've been really taken with Cio D'or, a German producer on Prologue who just put out an excellent, ethereal album on Prologue. She collaborates often with Donato Dozzy (another HF Techno stalwart), and is carving out a nice place for herself on the international scene. We are trying to put a show together with her for Oktave in the spring - more to come on that.

Other artists I've been really into lately include Traversable Wormhole, Frozen Border (another anonymous collective, based out of the UK), Pattern Repeat and Peter Van Hoesen.

On the literary front, I've been immersed in a lot of great fiction lately. I've been on several tangents over the last few months, including reading more female authors, as well as catching up on a few classics that I missed through my school days.

As far as the latter category goes, my favorites were 'Animal Farm,' by George Orwell, 'Night' by Elie Wiesel, and 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding. Don't ask me how I didn't read these books in high school. Let's just blame it on the lackluster American school system and leave it at that. All three books are frightening, fraught with posed questions that have very dark answers, and exquisitely rendered.

As for more modern fare, I really enjoyed 'Suite Francaise' by Irene Nemirovsky, 'Look At Me' by Jennifer Egan, and 'City of Thieves' by David Benioff. Also a quick shout out to a great non-fiction book called 'Columbine,' by Dave Cullen - a deep, intense look at what really happened on April 19th, 1999 outside of Denver. The general perception of the event and the media's depiction of it are both way, way off. An excellent, incisive, sympathetic read.

Lastly, I turn to film. I would have to say I cannot remember a year as poor as this one for film releases. The fact that I didn't step foot in a theater between August 20th and November 30th should say everything - I usually go to the movies at least 3 times a month. There's just been nothing to see.

However, now that Decmeber is here, at least we're getting some decent films to talk about. I saw 'The Road,' and it's just what you'd expect. A very faithful adaptation of the excellent Cormac McCarthy book, intensely dark and brooding, with great cinematography. Viggo Mortensen's acting is of his normally high caliber - and the man does like to show his bare ass, I can say that. The ending of the movie, like the ending of the book, feels a bit too convenient to me, but otherwise I recommend both the film and the novel.

More complex and challenging (believe it or not) is 'Up In the Air,' directed by Jason Reitman (Juno). This movie has some of the same quirky humor as its predecessor, but the jokes and smart alec-y back talk lead us down a different road here. George Clooney is excellent as a shallow, vacant American archetype re-tooled for the 21st Century. He's a traveling salesman, only he's selling layoffs and pat bullshit about re-tooling your life and cutting off your commitments to all things human and material. This movie easily could have wrapped up with a redemptive love and a revise of this dangerously detached man's life, but instead it opts for a more complex and troubling path. I won't spoil it, but I walked out of the theater feeling the way I might after a heavy drama.

Until next time, be careful out there...