Rod Poole R.I.P.

report

simply crushed. a more gentle, passionate, unassuming, and humble man is hard to imagine, and with (largely unrecognized) talent of a very rare level... the kind of talent i believe comes around on our planet extremely rarely...

last Saturday, the day before i flew out of LA, the day before this tragedy took place, he called at around 3 PM, and we had a 20 some minutes conversation. i remember it very well... i was standing outside of the Apple store on Melrose... he told me about his new record, which was a long and arduous process, because the mastering place compressed the sound like a pop record, cutting off the sustained sounds and echoes, so that each note faded to silence -- NOT what Rod intended. and they would not give him his money back so out of his own pocket he re-pressed the record, and made only 50 copies. he told me that he had saved a copy for me, and if i had time to come by and pick it up... leaving the next day and trying to get ready, i asked him to send it to me in Germany... along with some CD-R copies for me to pass around the new-music / improv festival in Vienna in July. he was happy that i offered to try to get him gigs in Europe. and I was happy to offer as he is the best, there is no doubt in my mind, in the field of microtonal solo acoustic guitar, period. and the best the LA underground has to offer. he continued to reflect on the (dreary) improv scene in LA compared to that of England, his home country, where he has played with Derek Baily, etc. it was a lovely exchange.

he was so very devoted to his art. he played at a show i organized a few years ago, and the fluidity of the playing was incredible. it was funny that while he was doing unbelievaly complex chords and polyrhythms he was looking around at the space, and the projections going on behind him, seeming to be occupied with the objects and people around simultaneously as his fingers plucked with a mind of their own... it was so natural, a 6th sense.

he did not care about anything else; money, fame, was all beside the point. he had called to thank me when i posted Death Adder on this blog many months ago, expressing that all that was important to him was for people to hear the music...

and now this momentary, sensless, meaningless act of brutality has taken a great gift to all of us, to mankind, away from us... life is so very fragile... and the psychopaths out there far out number the angels.

rest in peace Rod. you will be missed.

PS: if anyone missed Death Adder, I would be obliged to post. also I will also share with you his "December 1996" recording sometime soon.

Columbia!

Columbia! - The Golden Age of Discos Fuentes

a friend o mine recently turned me on to this GIANT of a Columbian Salsa and Cumbia compilation from THE difinitive label -- Discos Fuentes. heavy Latin rhythms and bass, mighty brass sections, sweet touches of American jazz... my feet ain't stopped tapping, my ass ain't stopped shakin since.

man... compared to the folks responsible for this unstoppable fire sure to bring any house down in matter of minutes, what do we know about partying or anything else?

no more links. complaint from record label received. i usually only do out of print or overly expensive or rare records on this here blog, but this was so fucking good i just wanted to share it with the world... apologies. and more restraint will be exercised in future. go buy it, worth every penny.

Goldene Schläge von den 70s und den 90s

Tyranny of the Beat

what we have here is testimony of the endless ability to annoy of big label (Elektra) marketing departments. this compilation contains examples of timeless 70s and early 80s experimental dance (and listening) music, under a sketchy concept. (cool cover shot though - i do have a soft spot for wax trax era posturing) the essay in the sleeve is not badly written, dealing with the appropriation of pseudo-fascist aesthetics in "industrial music", its exaltation of brute physicality and open flirtation with totalitarian themes. but the writer was too much in a delusional ferver to realize that his statements are much more apropriate for later bands such as Test Dept., Laibach, or Front 242, or in the context of more stringent forms of new minimalism or simply hard techno, and does not apply at all to the very diverse, and very borderless music you will find in this CD. things begin with SPK's chilling operatic vocal epic In Flagranto Delicto, and move through a selection of amazing 1970s and early 80s electronic, noise, proto-techno, post punk, new-wave, kraut-rock, ambient soundscapes, plunderphonic cut-ups, and pop-noir. so there you go, great music that will be endearing for a long time, packaged as some awful subgenre toss that should be ignored.

1. SPK - In Flagranto Delicto
2. Throbbing Gristle - See You Are [Live]
3. Cabaret Voltaire - Automotivation
4. Chris Carter - Solidit [Edit]
5. Die Krupps - Wahre Arbeit, Wahrer Lohn
6. D.A.F. - Co Co Pina
7. Einstürzende Neubauten - Tanz Debil
8. Non - Cruenta Voluptas
9. Can - Oh Yeah
10. Wire - Our Swimmer [Live]
11. Swell Maps - Midget Submarines
12. Boys Next Door - Shivers
13. Dome - Cruel When Complete
14. Monte Cazazza - Candy Man
15. The Hafler Trio - Thirsty Fish/The Dirty Fire
16. Loop - Collision
17. Fad Gadget - Collapsing New People

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Deutscher Funk vol. 1

of all the interesting projects that Korean film maker (Modulations) and founder of (late) Caipirinia label Lara Lee has put together in the 90s, this is the best. and also a good contender for best electronica compilation of the entire 90s, period. a variety of excellent tracks that are difficult to find anywhere else, one of the highlights is a monstrous remix of Pluramon, and another a selection from Fridge Tracks, the first MEGO 12 inch ever put out.

by the way, don't bother with Deutscher_Funk vol. 2. entire waste of time with shit like Jazzanova (shudder).

01 workshop - eskapade [ladomat]
02 the bionaut - wild horse annie (pluramon remix) [harvest]
03 beige - yakumo dippel
04 mono - inflatable rasta wig (deflated) [helix]
05 general magic & pita - spring fridge [source]
06 pluramon - syth
07 nonplace urban field - roll over ehrenfeld
08 pole - berlin
09 beige - bomb schiller
10 f.x. randomiz - dirtum [a-musik]
11 kobat - harq-al-ada [source]
12 mao ii - der kleine rote rächer
13 mouse on mars - chromantic [sonig 01 lp]

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