Postcode: *psy

music and video that inspire me

here we go magic – 'tunnelvision' (2009)

made with super-8 film, nails and paint with no post-production effects; a collaboration between peking and artist snejina latev (designed animal collective’s water curses video)

all footage captured on the edge of a lake in the catskill mountains

“the temperature had dropped the night before and the lake was starting to freeze. everything was half-frozen,” recalls peking’s nat johnson 

much footage was recorded with snejina’s homemade kaleidoscope fastened to the lens of the camera. it was then manipulated by hand, projected and filmed again

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r. stevie moore – hug me (2001)

since ’66 r. stevie moore has recorded nearly 2,000 songs on over 400 homemade albums of idiosyncratic variety and styles. he is considered a seminal pioneer in the diy ethic  

the son of bob moore, veteran nashville bassist, producer, and orchestra leader, as well as a longtime sideman for elvis presley, rsm quietly resides in new jersey as curator of his own museum  

this clip filmed in 1998 at crazy rhythms record store, nj  

song originally written in 1993

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sun ra – 'love in outer space' (1969)

sun ra (1914-1993): aka le sonra + sonny lee; cosmic philosopher, poet, pianist, jazz composer and leader of the arkestra. an early pioneer of electronic music

he claimed he was of the angel race, not from earth but from saturn

this track’s from his new york phase (which was sandwiched by chicago and philadelphia phases). though this phase was often associated with avant-garde jazz, sun ra himself did not believe his work could be classified as “free music”:

“i have to make sure that every note, every nuance, is correct. … if you want to call it that, spell it p-h-r-e, because ph is a definite article and re is the name of the sun. so i play phre music—music of the sun”

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zoe keating – sun will set (2008)

a canadian born cellist living in san francisco

this clip was recorded at the international terminal at san francisco airport as part of the inaugural ‘you are hear’ music festival there

she records samples and loops them to create dense, personal soundscapes; here also accompanied by a human hum and the transfixed stare of a young fan

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beach house – lover of mine (2010)

music made for sunshine

‘teen dream’, their third album was recently released on bella union in the uk (having been released on subpop in the usa

it was produced and engineered by chris coady (yeah yeah yeahs, tv on the radio, grizzly bear). vocalist victoria legrand had previously sung backing vocals on the grizzly bear track ‘two weeks’

i saw beach house warm up for the fleet foxes on june 10 2008, if my memory serves me right (he says consulting the ticket on his wall), in tiny bristol venue, the louisiana.

now that was a good gig

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dj honda + mos def – travellin' man (1998)

the second single from the hII lp

filmed around the world from japan to brazil to south africa

featuring a youthful mos def alongside japanese hip hop dj, turntablist and producer – dj honda

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the jam – that's entertainment (1981)

the band that launched paul weller.

‘sound affects’ (their 5th album) was released in 1980; influenced by current post-punk bands such as joy division. paul weller said that he was also influenced by the beatles‘ ‘revolver’ and michael jackson’soff the wall’

you can hear the revolver-era swirling psychedelia around the 2.05 mark on this track.

weller allegedly wrote ‘that’s entertainment’, a bitter slice-of-life commentary on the drudgery of modern working-class life, in around 15 minutes on returning (under the influence) from the pub.

despite being only available as an import single, it peaked at #21 on the uk charts, an unprecedented feat.

it made american magazine rolling stone’s 500 greatest songs of all time.

not convinced by the drummer, thou.

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tenniscoats – baibaba bimba (2008)

an experimental indie band from japan, tenniscoats have two regular members in saya & takashi ueno.

this accoustic clip was recorded earlier this year, in tokyo, for the la blogoteque take-away series; filmed by independant french filmaker vincent moon.

i believe the track was originally recorded in 2008.

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the go-betweens – streets of your town (1988)

australia’s finest group… the go-betweens were formed in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, robert forster and grant mclennan, aiming to recreate andy warhol’s factory… in brisbane, australia.

the band had an intensly individual make-up. both main men writing separately; forster with arrogant tales of high romance and mclennan with more dream-like poems, such as this.

but the success they aspired to never came. streets of your town was their highest charting uk hit – at no. 80.

mcLennan died on 6 may 2006 of a heart attack  aged 48, a year after the release of their 9th, and final, album.

the name of the band reflects l.p. hartley’s classic novel, the go-between.

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gang starr – code of the streets (1994)

the boston born rapper guru passed away on april 19. he had been in a long battle with multiple myeloma and was just 43 years old.

best known for his work with dj premier as gang starr, but also for three outings (and heavyweight collaborations) of jazzmatazz, and solo work under ‘baldhead slick’ and other monikers.

i had the good fortune of meeting the man in bristol when he arrived, without fanfare, at a club night i was running one wednesday night around 6 years ago. he seemed a quiet and humble man.

he will be remembered as one of the true pioneers of hip-hop.   

rip guru (july 17, 1966 – april 19, 2010)

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