Month: June 2010 Page 1 of 2

Dial, Live in London

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Dial limns the fertile territory between abrasive noise and oddly meditative controlled chaos.

Jacqui Ham, a guiding force in primal No Wavers Ut , assembled Dial in the early 90s with Rob Smith (ex-God, guitars, drum machine), Dom Weeks (Furious Pig, Het) on bass & synthesizer, and Lou Ciccotelli (Eardrum) on drums.

The music is immense in both scale and space. Exploiting tape hiss and the pitted, low-end patina of electrical interference, what is initially apocalyptically skuzzy-sounding becomes, via droning repetition and haunted keening, nearly sepulchral. (By which I mean it’s pretty damn fantastic.)

The group play an all-too rare show this Thu, July 1 at London’s The Luminaire, Kilburn. Sperm Wails and some very special guests share the bill. I suggest you drop everything for what promises to be an unforgettable evening.

Buy tickets.

MP3Dial, “Inside B” (from Infraction, 1997)

MP3Dial, “Psychotrance” (from 168k, 2007)

DIAL, LIVE IN VENLO, THE NETHERLANDS

Eerie Echo

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Angkorwat is Dublin-based musician Niamh Corcoran.

This haunting little track has fascinated me ever since it first surfaced on a Wire sampler last year. High time I shared it, yes? (Yes.)

MP3Angkorwat, “Big Little Edie”

IMAGE: BIG EDIE AND LITTLE EDIE FROM “GREY GARDENS”

Apocalypse, Now

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I’ve spent the last few weeks in a kind of fugue state of disbelief. I still can’t quite believe this is happening. I can’t believe this is happening the the Gulf Coast again. At the very least, Katrina was a natural catastrophe, tragically compounded by negligence, ill-preparedness and bureaucratic red tape. In stark contrast, we brought the Gulf spill on ourselves: it speaks volumes of human selfishness, greed and hubris.

That it’s still going on leaves me heartsick, horrified and incredibly angry. I’ve never used this blog as a soapbox — I usually just natter on about music and leave it at that. But this issue is too big to ignore. (And getting bigger by the day. To put it in perspective, here’s a handy-dandy infographic that compares Deepwater to other epic spills.)

There are so many ways you can help.

Sign a petition or three. Reduce the amount of petroleum-based materials you use over the course of a day. Carpool to work. Tell the President how angry you are. (Better still, make him keep his promise to “kick BP’s ass.”) Donate your time or money to an organization trying to make a difference in the stricken region.

From now until June 18, Tiny Showcase is donating $15 from this Jen Corace print to the Gulf Restoration Network. Julianna Swaney is donating every penny from her latest limited edition print to the Audubon Society.

Oceana is concentrating its efforts on cleanup and outreach, while the International Bird Rescue Research Center, Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Conservancy are focusing on rescuing and rehabilitating as many birds and animals as they are able.

I won’t link to any photos, because I will completely lose it. Instead, I’ve posted the aforementioned Jen Corace print, “Down, Down, Down.”

Music: Lida Husik’s haunting “Ship Going Down,” from Your Bag. (A lost classic, If you don’t own it, hie thee to iTunes.)

MP3Lida Husik, “Ship Going Down”

ARTWORK BY JEN CORACE, “DOWN, DOWN, DOWN”

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