Radiant Republic three against four

A warning, this might get awkward...
I wasn't aware of Radiant Republic, nor Radiant Republic of Texas, nor  Brad Pennington. Evidently, they/he are somewhat related to others I do know, and that's probably how they came across this blog, and then, requested that I give their stuff a listen.
Now, I do get sent stuff fairly frequently, and most of the time I don't mention it at all because it's crap, and who wants to waste time on that? So, I'm mentioning Radiant Republic because I do see a fair amount of value in what they do- but there is some hesitation because what they do is very, very opaque.
See, the title is a reference to polyrhythm- three against four is a fairly simple polyrhythm- something that Talking Heads might do. Radiant Republic start where Frank Zappa leaves off in terms of rhythmic complexity- but then, they're fairly atonal as well. On top of that, they'll go in for extremely close harmonies- almost microtonal. If all this is gibberish to you, Radiant Republic are not for you. If the part that throws you off from Sun Ra is the improvisation, you don't want to listen to Sun Ra. If advanced music theory bothers you, you will just hear Radiant Republic as noise.
Now, I'm not without my background- they say that music critics are frustrated musicians- I don't think that's true. I think music critics, and film critics, and restaurant critics are all frustrated English Majors. I come from really frustrated musicians- techies. Sound Engineers, lighting techs, roadies, and the like- these are some real frustrated musicians. I was definitely one of them, and yet, I still wouldn't say I'm a "frustrated" musician- I would say I'm a decent musician, in terms of technical proficiency, but severely lacking in talent when it comes to artistry and inspiration. Give me an hour, and I can master a set of notes. but, I could have unlimited time, and I still won't come up with something that can make you happy or sad, or feel much of anything.
This is why the "music as competition" thing that you see especially in Heavy Metal guitarists is so utterly stupid to me. I don't care if you can play 8 million downstrokes in 30 seconds, have mastered circular picking and finger independence, and play on a 24 string guitar- can you write a song that makes another person feel something?
So, Radiant Republic are extremely proficient musicians. But is there Art? Well, like I said, there is value to what they do. Like Marnie Stern, like Battles, like Dillinger Escape Plan, they can make theory work for them. I tend to prefer when they slow it down a bit, like on " Ghost Towns of the Future" because the harmonies, while still close, are a little easier to process. They want me to review it, though, and I'm afraid I can't give them the pull away quotes that most bands want for a press release. The music is too dense, and too opaque to give you some two sentence summation. A "RIYL" type of genre classification is near impossible. Basically, the audience for this is going to be limited to those who can appreciate both the aforementioned Marnie Stern, but also Slint, and Sweep the Leg Johnny. Pop Math rock with deliberate nods to both no wave and post rock? Yeah, that's going to crack Vevo wide open. About the only way I could sell this to you is as a kind of challenge-a "can you handle it?" type of elitism. Given what I just said about my background, guess how good I am with that?
So, the most honest thing I can say is that if you're like me- able to hear and analyze a fair amount of music theory, but also able to see how that's all just a tool chest for what music really is about- communication, beauty, inspiration, and edification- you might get the same charge that I get from hearing almost John Zorn levels of abstract complexity get resolved into nearly Jesus and Mary Chain primal buzz. Math Rock? Well, yes, and there are parts where the math definitely overtakes the rock, and I do tune out at those points.  But, on some of the tracks, "High Road", "Ghost Towns of the Future" and "Variations IX" in particular, there can be moments that are exquisite. So, if you're of the type that likes this sort of thing- if names like Sweep the Leg Johnny mean something besides the Karate Kid, you'll probably dig it. If not, don't worry, I'll be talking about Dead Meadow and Franz Ferdinand in the near future....

Methodology part 486

Just a note for them wot might not know-
This here blog is just my random pop culture thoughts. I do have a larger agenda, and I'm not coy about it: I believe that culture as we know it, is shifting in an overall good way.  We're moving away from the Tentpole, blockbuster, mass culture model towards something more a la carte, more idiosyncratic, more free, and more authentic, ultimately. I'm good with that, and if I thought I could help it along, I would, but I think it's such a massive, tectonic shift that all I can do is surf the lip of this earthquake. So, that's all I'm doing here. I am, however, dodging my mis-steps. That is to say, I'm not spending a whole lot of time on negative reviews.  If I write about something, I like it. I don't think anyone really benefits from me dissing the new Gogol Bordello cd, or  me whinging on about being forced to watch the pilot episode of the Originals, a crap offshoot of a crap TV show. I can learn from my mistakes, but part of the beauty of this new, emerging tribal culture is that our mistakes of choice are easily remedied, and no one else really has much of a chance of making them. There is no real method beyond that. I'm documenting, that's about it.
So, why get all meta about this? Because I can demonstrate that I have gone up in readership again since the last time I got all meta. I just wanted folks to be aware, before they started viewing this as some kind of "official" thing- that's about as far away as it gets. I am a former music professional, and Cameraman, and general-all-around-Audiovisual professional. I know the business from the inside, and that's no boast. I didn't ever really find happiness on that side of the fence, even if I was decent at it, and I got paid decently. No, I prefer just being another punter in the crowd. So, if you detect some professionalism, it's a vestige from 20 some years in the "biz". Now, I  do concierge/consulting/fixer type work, and live out in the hinterlands. It's better, really. So, nope, I'm just a geek who really, really gets involved in culture...

more randomness

So, I still have some music to discuss, and maybe I'll get to that, this week-end,but I've got some other entertainments, and arts to discuss.
As for Television- I've been watching a fair amount of Netflix- mostly House of Cards, which is absolutely fantastic, and well worth a subscription, in and of itself. Sure, Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright- but moreso, the writing which is tough and smart- there's a slight dip about two-thirds through, however, they stick the landing. It's like "This Town" as a TV show. Absolutely top notch political thrills with David Fincher adding really artistic touches- if I sound general and vague, it's because I don't want to give anything away. I'll just say that it's about the machinations of a political operative who seems like the inevitable result of our current political structure.
I also watched part of "Red State" which is Kevin Smith's attempt at a slasher/exploitation flick, and ye gads did it suck. It sucked so hard that I didn't finish it. So, I really can't spoil it. I can tell you that it's typical Kevin Smith over-articulate slacker protagonists meet Westboro baptist antagonists. Which almost sounds promising, except, well, it has no real excitement.
On Hulu, I've been keeping up with the Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and watching the odd episode of Drunk History, and i finished watching Moone Boy which was great fun. Now, I'm mostly watching Long Way Down, the season 2  of Long Way Around, the Ewan Mcgregor/ Charley Boorman travel show. I'm also watching season 7 of Burn Notice, but that's mostly for completion's sake.
Books, just one- the aforementioned "This Town" which is basically about how fucked up my government is. I may end up an Anarchist, at this rate.
I don't talk about food very much, but I do eat- On my recent trip, I ate at The Brown Hotel, and Toast on Market and at Crane's . All were excellent- in different ways. The Brown Hotel was excellent in old-fashioned "high dining"- like fine dining from the 1940's. Toast on Market was very much modern "Foodie" kind of restaurant, that got skewered so well on Portlandia. Crane's is the kind of super- authentic roadside mom-n-pop dining lauded by the likes of Alton Brown.  Did I have a favorite? Yup. I am a cliche, give me the Toast on Market style, any day. I'm a sucker for the (pseudo?) artisanal style all day long. But I'm totally down for it all. I'll eat at the fine places, the diners, you name it. I think each has its merits, but I am still a creature of my time and place, and I have to own up to having all the typical vanities of your modern hipster foodie...

The phantasmagoric Tilts

Ok, This post should be taken for entertainment purposes only. I mean no harm to persons living, dead, or undecided. I just think it's funny.
So, it has been brought to my attention that there is more to this Tilts record than what you may have been led to assume. That is, no, they are not simply a now defunct hard rock band. They are the results of dark magicks and occult rituals performed by secret covens of the rich and powerful.
Unknown to most, Ben Orr did not die in 2000, as many believe. Instead, he retreated into arcane mystic rituals, trying to create interdimensional party rock for the coming of the dark old ones. Towards this, he had been collecting genetic samples of various and sundry rock gods, for use in unspeakable experiments meant to make Yog-sothoth shake its hairy and tentacled nether regions.
So, first, he combined the sweat of Ted Nugent's soul patch circa 1989, right before Damn Yankees, with the skin flakes of Mac McNeilly from Jesus Lizard, thus creating a rock superbeast. He mated this slavering monstrosity with 100 would be groupies for Tom  Scholz who were disappointed that he'd prefer to invent the Rockman for use as Kurt Cobain's distortion pedal, and thus were primed to serve the dark master Ben Orr. This created the million headed demon known as "Super Ultra Mega", and when it found a cowbell formerly owned by Andy Parker of UFO, it developed a tumorous parasitic twin called "Mexiqo". But Yog-Sothoth was not yet pleased so The Evil Wizard taught it to play "Brown Sugar" by the Rolling Stones, as it was performed by Slint  and bootlegged by Larry Clark. This summoned the astral projection of Josh Homme's psyche through time and space from his medically induced coma and left his mojo there. Josh Homme's mojo then did a series of eight quick phantom power squats,gave a withering look at a portrait of Ron Wood, and  said the incantation "blooey" then exploded into pattern that resembled  Leslie West's mountain of a white boy afro. It helps, but whatever happened only Superstar Billy Graham knows. The psychic energy thus released curled up and congealed into a throbbing ball of solid groove that burned off  Jesse Hughes' mustache forcing him to borrow Bob Hite's merkin.  This struck Ben Orr as some kind of onanistic display so he referred to Hughes as a "Palm Reader" with a quizzical arch to his voice. Ritchie Blackmore was previously recruited as a Contractor to Her Majesty's forces to hunt down this speeding eight ball of groove, and finally caught it using a netting technique described by Chris Goss as an Ozark Bowtie. However, the trail left a gash of burning cheesey positronic disruption that ignited a previous experiment from Dr Orr's lab using DNA harvested from Eddie Van Halen's tongue during his cancer surgery, and the new creature instantly cloned then and there felt a burning hunger. Truly, it was Hot for Pizza. Chaos thus unleashed, as new interdimensional daemons and Angels were being created and destroyed in Nanoseconds, some of which might burn your plans, or might just ignore you for some sidepipin' ( the latter invented a new musical genre by the scraping of their skateboard wheels on Sammy Hagar brand Cabo Wabo tequila bottles- cocknoose bluesgrindcore) . Fortunately, it was precisely at this nexus point of chaotic cacao that The Right Reverend Billy Gibbons restored order by modifying his solo on Gimme all your Lovin, by replacing his legendary Peso pick with a Zloty, and toning it down by saying "Well, ok give me some of your Loving" . Placated,  the spirits and mutants decided to settle down in a small dive bar near Hereford, drinking Strongbow cider, and shouting "Tilts" at the pinball machine in the corner. Incidentally, it's this one.
( I know, I know- really freaking obscure. You didn't laugh once. It helps if you're drinking Wild Turkey and listening to the record)

Flaum Adger

Hmmm. I want to like Flaum Adger. Really I do. They basically sound like early- to -mid Gang of Four meets early-to-mid Dream Syndicate, and if that doesn't sound a bit intriguing, I'm afraid you may have stumbled across the wrong blog. However, as should be obvious, I can't say I'm all the way with them, yet. Somehow the "jam band" type of noodling doesn't sit so well with dry, harsh Gill-igan's island type solid state flat feedback guitars. The tentative vocals also seem a bit of a mismatch. Still, it's not bad, and when the groove locks in, it can remind you of some of the best stuff from the early 1980's. So, maybe they'll develop into something a bit more solid. One to keep an eye on?
Well, listen to a couple of tracks, at least, I might be way off base, here....

Infinite Void

I'm not really fond of Savages. Part of it is the arrogance and the ill-thought out lyrics, but the primary reason is that it's so old and tired, and predictable. The fact is, I've heard it done before, and I've heard it done better. I've also heard it done often. Our next exhibit- Infinite Void. They do neo-goth with loud, tight guitars, and alto female vocals. What they don't do is present themselves as either some form of ultimate ends, or even some new iteration. They're just a goth post-punk band. I prefer that I can even hear their nervous grasping in the playing- like a band that hasn't quite found their way, yet. That's far more exciting to me than a bunch of control junkies playing stuff that was tired 20 years ago, and trying to pass it off as somehow new. So, if you've been interested in the Savages hype machine, but mostly just want to hear a new goth band with guitars. Here you go, a better alternative.

Medicine- To the Happy Few

Medicine never really went away, since it's long been established that "they" are, essentially Brad Laner and friends. So, the only reason why people would consider this a "comeback" would coincide with the only reason why anybody would listen to Medicine. They are My Bloody Valentine clones- all the way down to when they'll release albums. However, I really, truly deeply love that sound. So, I'm ok with them being clones. Why not sound exactly like the best noise ever? But, I'm not stupid- I know Brad is basically hoping to cash in on MBV.If you're like me, you'll need none of this- I'm only writing for the few who might stumble upon this because of some search terms gone wrong, and who like My Bloody Valentine and wish there was something else by them. Here you go.

Superchunk- I hate Music

What happened to Superchunk? This is decent, and I don't hate it, but it is in no way Superchunk.

Borracho Oculus

Well, it's happened. I knew that Baroness were a game-changer. Get ready for this- Borracho were a fine, if somewhat predictable stoner rock band. They now have heard Yellow and Green, and the first three minutes of this EP sounds like it was cribbed directly from Baroness. Don't get me wrong- I like it, but it just proves exactly what I thought. You know how Songs for the Deaf changed everything, and suddenly dozens of bands copped that basic template about a year later? Well, prepare for that with Yellow and Green. Again, Borracho do their own thing, and it owes more to Kyuss than anything else, but proper respect to them for recognizing the genius of Yellow and Green.

Tilts

Do you like the riff? No, I mean how much do you like the riff? Well Tilts like the riff more than you do. I don't care if you are in PWEI, and the song is Can U Dig It- Tilts live for the riff. The secret is Andrew Eistner, now in Torche. He sings like Ben Orr meets Dave Grohl, but he riffs like the history of rock, and I promise you at least one "Oh, Hell Yeah" moment if you listen to the record whilst drinking ( I've got several. Most of the record. I've got a bottle of Wild Turkey, and a volume control. I'm set.) . What more do you need?