phil manley - life coach (2011)

01 FT2 Theme by philmanleylifecoach
04 Forest Opening Theme by philmanleylifecoach

Phil Manley
San Francisco, California, USA
Life Coach (Thrill Jockey, 2011)
http://www.philmanley.com
RIYL: Edgar Froese, Arp

Given today's news about Phil Manley engineering the new album from SF krautsters Wooden Shjips, and the fact that I'm gonna be seeing Phil Manley play live tomorrow with Santa Cruz's best psychedelic detonators Mammatus, I thought I'd take a moment to consider the debut solo album from this noted local guitarist and producer.  Manley's longest running music project is Trans Am (he's also been a member of Oneida, The Fucking Champs, and most recently, Jonas Reinhardt), but in my opinion his work as an engineer tops his work as a musician- Alps, Arp, Mi Ami, Moon Duo and Wooden Shjips rank among my all-time favorite bands, and Manley has manned (heyyyyyy) the boards for all of them.  Now frankly I don't really know enough about the production side of music to be able to tell you exactly what it is that Manley brings to the albums that he produces, but the fact that he is involved in so many amazing recordings makes me think that he must be doing something special.  This is his first record under his own name, although I've seen this project referred to as "Phil Manley's Life Coach" or "Life Coach", rather than being an album titled "Life Coach" by Phil Manley.  Confusing, but at any rate, it is Manley's first solo affair, and it definitely follows the path that his both his production work and previous musical output have set.  Life Coach is a collection of propulsive kosmische stompers, patiently finger-picked guitar pieces, and humming drones.  While none of the tracks on here are standouts in their respective genres, they are all very competent and enjoyable and showcase Manley's adeptedness at a multitude of styles.  However, this impulse to work in a variety of genres is definitely this album's biggest weakness, because although individually each track here is worthwhile, the end result is a very scattered and unengaging album.  I suspect that these songs were not written specifically for this album, and I don't think the tracks are sequenced here in a way that works very well.  Because Phil Manley played the very first KUSF-in-Exile co-present a few months ago, and because his upcoming show with Mammatus is also a KUSF-in-Exile benefit, it made me think about what a perfect record this would have been for radio.  The choice of tracks in different styles, Manley's history in the local music scene, and the individual strength of each track would have doubtlessly made this a very successful album on the KUSF airwaves.  Had I first approached it from that angle- of playing a single track from it here and there- I might have had a much higher opinion of this album.  But taken as a whole, the quality of the individual songs is obscured by the unfocused presentation on the album, and the end result is an album that is promising and yet disappointing at the same time.  I'm looking forward to seeing how these songs play out in a live environment (and therefore hopefully in a different sequence), and hoping that any future full-length albums will be more cohesive. 

video: grouper on the experimental 1/2 hour show

Experimental 1/2 Hour - Episode XI: Grouper from Experimental 1/2 Hour

I'm working on a round-up of various tracks and videos that have hit the net over the last few days, but here's one that's so substantial that I think it needs its own post.  The Experimental 1/2 Hour is a Portland community access program that proves that community access television can be more than just City Hall meetings and drug casualty weirdos.  This 30 minute set from Grouper closely approximates what it's like to see her in a live setting, but here she is unaccompanied by the nature footage that was projected behind her last time she performed here as part of the On Land Festival.  She's not really the most dynamic stage performer, so without the film there's not much going here visually.  Fortunately for those curious about her non-musical work, Grouper has released "Divide", a new book/DVD combo on Roots Strata (the book portion of it is really really awesome, but I've yet to watch the DVD).  And then there's more music (two albums!) coming from Grouper in April, too: Dream Loss and Alien Observer.  While I'm hoping her new records will be a little more engaging than this, this performance is nevertheless a patient and beautiful (and kinda terrifying at the end) ambient piece, and I'm pretty jealous that Portland gets such great community access TV.... who wants to try and get something like this going in SF?

PS - for extra experimental weirdness, check out this performance that launched the Experimental 1/2 Hour show (and was my introduction to the program)

show review: nadja @ vacation vinyl/ nadja @ synchronicity space

nadja @ vacation vinyl

Monday's in-store appearance from Nadja took place at Vacation Vinyl, which is only a half-hour's walk from where I live. The weather recently had taken a turn for the gray, so I grabbed an umbrella, stopped for some coffee, and trekked to Hollywood and Vermont. Upon arriving, I was immediately greeted with bad news- Skeletonwitch had played an in-store the day prior! FUCK!! I have the worst luck with that band. They played a "secret show" in the bar I worked in, and NO ONE TOLD ME, and I missed it!! I didn't have time to dwell on my misfortune, though, because Nadja started their set just as I arrived. The store seemed pretty cool, although small - about the same size as Aquarius Records. I took a spot right up front, next to one of the speakers, and although Aidan Baker was given permission to turn the volume up from the store clerk (owner?), it still wasn't loud enough to necessitate ear plugs. Over the course of half an hour, Nadja played three songs (I think), without breaking for applause. I recognized only one, though I'm not sure which release it was from. While it wasn't as loud as I would have liked, and although Nadja is not a particularly "theatrical" band, it was still a great performance, and perfectly suited for the overcast twilight outside the store.

synchronicity space

The following night, Tuesday, was the official show. It turned out that my friends who were planning on coming were otherwise occupied, so I ended up going to the show by myself. I didn't mind though- I think that small avant-garde art gallery shows are pretty ideal for solo attendance. I showed up at the official start time, but the show was a little late in starting. The gallery owner/curator was playing Oval side-project So over the speakers, which is a great album. I was glad for that. Outside, rain came and went intermittently.

aiden baker

Aiden Baker did his solo ambient set first, and everyone took seats cross-legged in front of the stage. Much like the show at Vacation Vinyl, the volume was just loud enough for me to try putting in my ear plugs, but not so loud that I felt I needed them. The music was beautiful, melodically droney, and reminded me of Cliff Martinez's score for Solaris.

pedestrian deposit

The next band was Pedestrian Deposit, who set up their equipment on the ground in front of the stage. I hadn't heard of them before the show, but ended up enjoying their set. The object you can see placed on the white stool was pretty interesting- it was something like the head of a broom made out of iron, or a miniaturized Stonehenge set in tall metal reeds. There was some sort of receiver placed on the underside, and the girl playing it plucked the rods, tapped the mini-obelisks and even used a bow to play it. The sounds it made were interesting, and created a feeling of cavernous disquiet over the thick background ambience. Equally compelling as the music were the extremely loaded glances that the members of Pedestrian Deposit exchanged throughout the duration of their set. The non-verbal interplay between the two seemed important, although I couldn't guess what it was they were communicating to each other.

infinite body

I had run out to my car to check on something, and missed the beginning of Infinite Body's set (although I think not by much). His set-up was as unique and interesting as Pedestrian Deposit's had been- it seemed that most or all of the sounds he was generating were through a microphone, and heavily tweaked and modified. He would forcefully exhale or sing into the mic, and the results sounded almost like a bizarre melodica. His table was surrounded by colored lights that were set up to pulse and fade with the music, leaving the stage in darkness before exploding into illumination with the swelling drones. Infinite Body played two long songs, but declined to play a third- I was grateful, since my feet were asleep and I needed to go to the bathroom.

nadja

Finally, Nadja took the stage, set against a visual backdrop that showed Aurora Borealis-esque lights, vibrantly colored stalactites, psychedelic rapid-fire Rorschach tests, and cryptic runes. The result was mesmerizing, and I found myself spacing out for long, long stretches of song. Unlike the Vacation Vinyl store, there was no mic for vocals, and the volume was much louder. One again there were no breaks in between songs, and the heavy, body-vibrating drones seem to exist timelessly. By the time the show ended and the lights came on, I felt dazed, and staggered back out into the rain.

show review: eagle rock music festival, 10/03/09

pocahaunted @ the american legion hall

Saturday was the Eagle Rock Music Festival, a free event that I only learned about last night. Knowing how these free festivals tend to be, I was expecting a lot of shitty lowest-common-denominator local acts to be playing. Surprisingly, there were a few bands I actually wanted to see, so Rob and I decided to check it out. We got there a couple hours after the festival began (it was scheduled to run from 4-11PM).
The first acts we wanted to see were a couple of local dubstep DJs we had seen a few weeks back, opening for Mary Anne Hobbs and Flying Lotus. Gaslamp Killer was first, and I'm kind of bummed I didn't get any pics or video of him, because he's visually one of the most entertaining DJs to watch. Imagine Animal from the Muppets playing air trumpet and doing energetic dance moves, and you'll have the general idea. His set was mostly Eastern European and Middle Eastern music, which wasn't what I had expected. I assume he was tailoring his set to the all ages crowd, and perhaps taking the opportunity to take a break from dubstep.

DJ nobody

Next up was DJ Nobody, who weirdly was playing several blocks away at the other end of the festival. I'm not sure why he and Gaslamp Killer weren't on the same stage. At any rate, he played some pretty cool songs, including one ridiculous Mars Volta remix, but he definitely seemed to be half-assing it when it came to blending songs and, you know, actually DJing. It wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as the last time I saw him, either.

robedoor

Robedoor were another band that I had seen in the last month, opening for Ducktails at the L'Keg Gallery. I was pretty impressed the first time I saw them, and was looking forward to seeing them again. Unfortunately it took a little while to find the American Legion Hall in which they were playing- it was the only indoor venue at the festival, and tucked away on a side street past a bunch of food vendors. We got there in time for their two last songs, both noisy, heavy jams. They were pretty great.

pocahaunted

We journeyed to the nearest gas station so I could grab an energy drink, and returned to the American Legion Hall to catch Pocahaunted. They shared members with Robedoor, which I think I had heard about but then subsequently forgotten. They played a mixture of dub, funk, noise and rock. It was pretty killer.
"Wow," I thought as the energy drink started to kick in, "this band is really good!"
"Those two singers are really cute!"
"I feel great!"
"...I should drink more of this energy drink!"

no age

Although Pocahaunted ended their set quite a bit later than the schedule had predicted, it was still well before No Age were supposed to go on. We trekked back to the stage DJ Nobody had been on in order to catch Peanut Butter Wolf, but it turned out that stage was even further behind schedule than the Amercan Legion had been. So we returned to the stage No Age were playing on, and waited for the show to start. No Age are yet another band I've seen recently (come to think of it all of these acts play pretty frequently), and I'm not super into them, so I wasn't really dying to see them again or anything. Their set started out terribly- the sound from the speakers was so muddy and indistinguishable that all you could hear was a wash of guitar. But soon enough they added another amp to the stage, and things improved. It didn't really compare to their set at FYF Fest, but it was still good to see all the local kids getting super psyched for it. We left to go check out Peanut Butter Wolf, but the sound on his stage was so quiet that it was actually kind of infuriating to try and watch. So we bounced. All in all, pretty great for a free festival.

six organs of admittance - luminous night (2009)

Six Organs of Admittance, AKA Ben Chasney, is back with his new album, something like... his nineteenth official solo release? Not counting split albums? On Luminous Night, Chasney continues to expand the variety of sounds he incorporates into his music, this time collaborating with musicians in his new base of operations, Seattle. His last album, the excellent Shelter From the Ash, saw him working with San Francisco musicians, including members of Comets on Fire (Noel Harmonson, with whom Chasney also collaborated with on the harsh noise album NVH/CHASNEY, in addition to their work in Comets on Fire together), The Fucking Champs (Tim Green), and Magick Markers (Elisa Ambrogio, his then-and-maybe-still-now girlfriend?). This time he worked with ex-Pearl Jam and Tori Amos drummer and current session musician Matt Chamberlain, violinist Eyvind Kang (Secret Chiefs 3, Laura Veirs, guest spots on Animal Collective and Sunn0))) records), flautist Hans Teuber (who has worked with Ani DiFranco, Kayo Dot, Sunn0))) and Secret Chiefs 3), Tor Dietrichson on tabla (Diga Rhythm Band), and pianist/electronics musician and album producer Randall Dunn (who has appeared on albums by Sunn0))), Mayhem, Wolves in the Throne Room, Earth, Grails, and many more). I don't usually pay so close attention to who the guest musicians are on an album, but I tend to in the case of Six Organs of Admittance- the reason being that Ben Chasney has been performing for so long, and released so much, under this moniker, that his recent albums have each represented a new incarnation and sound for the band. While Luminous Night isn't a major departure from his older work, it continues the trend of higher production values, more varied instrumentation, and more compact songwriting (side B of the album The Sun Awakens excepted) that has been true for his Drag City releases so far. Side A of Luminous Night is probably his most streamlined, "rock" oriented release yet, although that's not saying much, and Side B definitely takes things down a dronier path. But many songs feature Chasney's vocals, and most songs are around the five minute mark; for indie rock fans who are unfamiliar with Six Organs of Admittance, this album would be a pretty good place to start. Older Six Organs fans have probably made up their mind about the direction the band has been going in over the last few years- if you're a fan of the drone and raga, solo guitar-style Six Organs, this might not be for you (although you might like the track "The River Of Heaven"). But if you've dug the last couple of albums, you'll certainly like this one.

Six Organs of Admittance - Anesthesia
Six Organs of Admittance - Cover Your Wounds With the Sky