Seah – “Conduits of the Hydrosphere” – [Sominage Corporation]

kittywompus   3/7/2023   A Library

Dark ambient sound by artist Seah assembled from field recordings of worn hydrophones and cameras interacting with different bodies of water and instruments made by Tim Kaiser. Created as part of a 10 year Critical Feminist Posthumanist research project on “what it means to be a human, part of the hydrosphere, and a water body simultaneously.” (Bandcamp). The 5 track album contains 4 tracks ranging between 5 minute and 9 minute long noise and ambience, while the last track (and my favorite) Dinosaur piss runs through our veins runs almost 19 minutes. The perfect companion to your Thalassophobia, the soundtrack to your Devonian fantasies; let yourself drown in these ominous but undeniably magnetic sounds.

Movements Vol.8 [coll.] – [Tramp Records]

kittywompus   3/7/2023   A Library

This 8th volume collection of once rare and lesser known privately produced American Jazz, Funk, and Soul comes from German owned Tramp Records. Artists such as Papa Albert French, The Noteables, Ulysses Crockett, and Kay Dennis all make an appearance on this CD, with most tracks running 2-3 minutes. Perfect for Soul Patrol, or whenever really. Check Out: Funky Frog [T9] , Top Going Up, Bottom Going Down [T15] , Bony Bony [T3]

Monkey Power Trio, The – “Cry Mama” – [Pocahontas Swamp Machine Recordings]

kittywompus   2/20/2023   A Library

Opening with acoustic ukulele and lazy vocals into a shimmering percussion, trumpets, soulful electric guitar and a surprising amount of recorder are all examples of what might be found on the newest release from DIY band The Monkey Power Trio. In accordance with their 27 year tradition, the entire album was recorded in a day, and you can tell. To the layman Waltz Aestas Schizophreniae may be as weird as it proclaims to be at the beginning of the track, but to the average KFJC listener it’s business as usual. Freeko Chicho is the real wtf here, they themselves quite literally are unsure of what they say, something about fried eggs? Improve rock with the odd funky and psychedelic ska track like Sand Flea, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. Personal faves: Parties of Our Yesteryears, Screams Inside Your Heart

(FCC: track 9 “ass” Screams Inside Your Heart)

Secret Emchy Society – “Gold Country/Country Gold” – [Broken Clover Records]

kittywompus   2/20/2023   A Library

2022 release

Fun, Queer, Country made for bar listening while downing whisky sours and waiting for the pool table to free up. Cindy M Emch’s lead vocals unify the varying themes and pace of this album, all unabashedly country and driven by deeply emotional lyricism (My Old Flame, Cowboys are..) and excellent strumming. Think I do and Murdered your bourbon are great drinking/dancing anthems, along with Birch Bones Redux (a story laid out by angsty and bustling rhythm akin to traveling a bumpy road with rising anticipation within the traveler). The album’s title song is a jam I can only hope to be able to play on a jukebox of the next dive I frequent should I be so lucky (One can dream).

T1 Cowboys are… Has FCC (Fuck)

Wong, Theresa – “Practicing Sands” – [Focsle Music]

kittywompus   1/31/2023   A Library

Practicing Sands is the latest project from Bay Area cellist, composer, and vocalist Theresa Wong. Experimental improvisation pieces inspired by “…the sounds of the natural world and sensation’s of [her] sonic genetic memory.”(bandcamp), each song runs about three to four minutes long with the exception of Opening Sea which runs 11:52. Deep, wavy plucking and Wong’s own vocal interjections create a variety of sounds ranging from spooky to mournful and occasionally bizarre. My favorites off this album are Everyday Light, a very unexpected but playful track reminiscent of birds flittering through an early spring morning, and Opening Sea an ominous and entrancing track appropriately suited for deep dive into the recesses of your mind. – KittyWompus 

Masma Dream World – “Play At Night” – [Northern Spy]

kittywompus   1/31/2023   A Library

Hypnotic and unnerving, Devi Mambouka’s otherworldly vocals and tone changes create a transcendental experience to the listener. The tracks are relatively short (averaging 2 and half minutes) but impactful, and flow into one another creating a cohesive trip into phases mirroring that of an actual trip, you find yourself thrown into to different scenes; a music filled temple, in front of a live band, a void of your own self awareness and dread, a room where you swear you hear static on the floor though no one else seems to, and back to the void. “Rest in Peace” and “Sundown forest” are my two favorites from the album, but be sure to listen to the album all the way through with headphones on, it’s an experience. 

No Dead Monsters – “Lineup” – [Fun With Tape Records]

kittywompus   11/9/2022   A Library

A Two track 45 recorded in 2017 but released in 2022 by Annandale, VA 3 piece punk outfit No Dead Monsters has Steve Francis on vocals/guitar, Chico Rodriguez on Drums/Vocals, and Brian Kiviat on Bass. Self described as ” high energy, driving, grinding upbeat melodic punk goodness.” This is the band’s first release since their 2018 single “Let it Burn”, that followed the release of a few other singles released all of which have a very pronounced punk sound. Both tracks, each running about 2 minutes and 30 seconds, begin with drums leading into a guitar baseline for vocals to join. “Lineup” is more energetic at the start and leans more punk with smashing fast paced drums and urgent guitar in comparison to the intro and overall pace of “D Hall”, however both carry a very similar energy and sound.

A Benefit Compilation for Leslie Keffer [Coll] – “Paroxysm” – [No Part Of IT]

kittywompus   11/9/2022   A Library

2022 Release

This album was put together as a means to help noise musician Leslie Keffer financially as she has been unable to work due to physically incapacitating symptoms of epilepsy. The entire compilation is mostly ambient noise with a few of the later tracks containing distorted vocals and samples. The first track is by Leslie Keffer herself, a very sci-fi trilling and chilling track that descends into shrieking whirring all while maintaining an ominous bass note that sounds theremin in origin. The rest of the album follows suit with electronically driven (mostly) instrumental tracks from different artists. Ranging from growling noise and static (with track 9 Johnathan Canady – The latest disturbing symptom (early mix) ) to more experimental unnerving ambience with distorted samples (Track 4 Testing Vault – Strange Kind Unborn). This may not be for every show but I do recommend checking it out if you’re into science fiction soundtracks at all , or if you just like noise. I recommend track 12 (Ravenna – Nobody knows the struggle I’ve been through {edit}) It is worth noting that Track 13 is not a song but an instrument backed folklore poem about “The Hunter”. There is a longer (and differently ordered) version of this compilation on bandcamp also worth listening too, it contains more tracks that deviate from this original album with the inclusion of downtempo electronica and lounge music type tracks in addition to noise.

Orquesta De La Luz – “Salsa Caliente Del Japon” – [CBS Records]

kittywompus   10/19/2022   A Library

From Japanese salsa band “Orquesta De La Luz” formed in 1984, their first album “De La Luz” on BMG Victor Records in Japan, released in 1990 in the United States under the name “Salsa Caliente Del Japón” features four original songs (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5) and covers from spanish music hard hitters Juan Carlos Calderon, Dominican composer Mario Diaz, and Puerto RIcan composer Johnny Ortiz. Included in the covers is “There’s nothing better than Love” from none other than Luther Vandross (this is notably the only English song on this album). Following a tradition of Latin American music in Japan dating back from the Taishō Democracy, surviving the second World War, and continued to this day in acts such as Mumbia y Sus Candelosos and Amy Akaoká, “Salsa Caliente del Japon” is a novel but technically excellent salsa album sure to delight any salsa/cumbia enthusiast.

Tagaq, Tanya – “Tongues” – [Six Shooter Records]

kittywompus   10/19/2022   A Library

2022 release

Tanya Tagaq is a Canadian Inuk throat singer, songwriter, novelist, and visual artist from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada known for developing her own solo form of Inuit throat singing, called katajjaq that is typically performed by two women. Following a year delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, her 2022 album, “Tongues” was inspired by Split Tooth, Tagaq’s award winning mythobiography’s poetic passages. and was produced by New York poet Saul Williams (a multimedia talent in his own right) and mixed by Gonjasufi (American vocalist, producer, disc jockey, and yogi Sumach Ecks) who reworked a “grimier” sound into the album. Haunting, powerful, and stark, covering themes addressing the subjugation of Canada’s indigenous peoples, Tagaq describes Tongues as her “Most explicit and specific…speak[ing] not to horrors and crisis…but directly of these things.”. Piercing lyrics about cultural genocide (such as the loss of indigenous languages, the subject of the album’s title track) and Tagaq’s personal call to rage and healing from the resulting generational trauma are amplified by an industrial, electronic exoskeleton and spotlighted by Tangaq’s own raspy, ominous and at times non-lyrical vocals.

 Mess, Kristin / Birds of California [coll] – [555 recordings]

kittywompus   9/14/2022   A Library

Released 2009

Side A is a mellow and dreamy indie rock album with just enough casual strumming and echoey vocals to make this the perfect backdrop to any quirky 2010 indie love story. The second (Paul Is Dead) and third track (Brief Addendum) bleed into one another creating a psychedelic whirl down the spiraling emotions of the bittersweetness and resentment of heartbreak, a unifying thread between both sides. Kristin mess’ sleepy voice leads side B with acoustic guitar through reflections on past love, youth and sadness, tear-stained cheeks and all. Touching on lost friendships once thought undying, “Eleanor” harkens to a time when we all asked our childhood bestie “We’ll be best friends forever right?”.

FCC: track 2 “Paul is Dead”(Fuck)

M. Pluckett – “Rust Water” – [L.Rossi]

kittywompus   9/7/2022   A Library

Muffled electronic keyboard, distorted sounds, and morse code; M. Pluckett’s “Rust Water” is a four track vinyl, a slight detour from that of his previous project “Monocle Eye” which also has a home in the KFJC library. This album is mostly instrumental barring a few distorted voice samples from what sounds like a mish mash of media (shows, movies, commercials). It begins with “oneMorePush” and ends on “oneLastLaugh”, static-y and beep filled tracks reminiscent of a phone call from a fever dream, creating a fluid journey through all four tracks. It is noticeably more electronic than their first release, though “killWithSmiles” and “thinker” are on the grittier side. If you get lost listening to this, just remember to wiggle your big toe.

Petric, Joseph – “SEEN” – [Redshift Records]

kittywompus   8/31/2022   A Library, CD

Performed by Canadian accordionist Joseph Petric, this 2022 release is a collection of commissioned songs from various artists over Petric’s long and fairly prolific career. The album’s title work SEEN, a three-part work by Norbert Palej, is intended as a demonstration in spiritual contemplative movement through the accordion’s “intimate” respirations and it is easy to hear as such throughout all three “visions”. A standout track, Pneuma (track 7) was written and produced in 1986 by composer and music curator Peter Hatch; it contains computerized “improvisation” originally created through the use of software of the Yamaha CX5M that has since been imported to Max/MSP due to the obsoletion of said hardware. Nevertheless this track evokes a very surreal and unsettling feel with the use of these computer generated chirps that break through the tracks acoustic sound. Tracks run from 7 minutes and 34 seconds to 14 minutes and 52 seconds, so settle in and enjoy. I would also like to note that SEEN is dedicated to the memory of Leo Niemi (1931-2021), who built and maintained the instrument heard on SEEN.

CAC – “The New Morse” – [No Sides Records]

kittywompus   8/23/2022   A Library, CD

This is an 2022 instrumental beat and loop album released by Dan Hintz under Chicago DIY label No Sides Records. The best way I can descibe this album’s sound is by imaging that if you had a little robot buddy who made tunes at your request, this would be his edgy phase (Adventure Time-esque a la BMO). Very rythmic and beat heavy through out with the exception of track 5 “Jerky Silent Film”, which is a somewhat despondent and ominous sounding in its unsettling crashing and skipping (I like to imagine your robot buddy having an existential crisis). I recommend Track 6 “Ring of Cobras” which is a fun dancey little beat.

Executioner’s Mask – “Winterlong” – [Profound Lore]

kittywompus   8/3/2022   12-inch, A Library

FCCs: Tracks 1, 2, 7

A 2022 release out of a band based in Philadelphia, this moody and psychedelic tale of grief and self-destruction is sure to delight shoegaze punks and goths alike. Hypnotic and swelling synth back up noisy guitar to create a hopeless bed for the bemoaning vocals of lament and sorrow, though overall this album is surprisingly upbeat in terms of tempo and beats that underline throughout.

I recommend Sick in Heaven (track 4), a sinister but almost dancey track one could easily shuffle in a dark basement to.

Shawn Lee & Misha Panfilov – “Space & Tempo” – [Funk Night Records]

kittywompus   8/3/2022   A Library

What could easily be mistaken as a soundtrack to a big city mystery action-drama is a surprisingly funky rhythm heavy and mysterious bit of instrumental from a collaboration between Estonian artist Misha Panfilov and UK based Shawn Lee. Sudden changes in pace and the use of house type electronica on some tracks makes for a very chill but comfortably ominous feel. Heavy bass and synth make appearances alongside beeps, boops, and zings that evoke a feeling of taking a journey through open space halfway into the album. Overall a great album to play while playing laser tag on shrooms. MY FAVES: Turbo engine, Separated at Surf 

Los Peyotes – “Introducing…los peyotes”- [Dirty Water Records]

kittywompus   8/3/2022   A Library

Los Peyotes is a psychedelic 60s garage band out of Buenos Aires, with a self described sound of cien percento fuzz y farfisa their fourth album Introducing…Los Peyotes is a whirrly, screamin, surfy good time background for driving fast and other risky behavior. Raspy vocals scream in english and spanish throughout. Periodic screaming, energetic guitar solos, and chanty yeh yehs create the perfect balance of hype and hysteria.