Chewing Pine

Odd Nosdam: Nofoolisnotaintready

Via XLR8R, here’s a brand spakin’ new mix tape from Anticon’s Odd Nosdam. Apparently, releasing T.I.M.E. recently, just wasn’t enough.

Tracklisting:
01 The Books – “It’s Musiiiiic!”
02 Mr. Dibbs & Jel – “Rhythmic Soarin”
03 Kevin Ayers – “Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong”
04 Grandaddy – “Go Progress Chrome”
05 Dorothy Ashby – “For Some We Loved”
06 Valet – “We Went There”
07 Grouper – “You Never Came”
08 Marika Papagika – “Zmirneikos Balos”
09 Tortoise – “Whitewater”
10 Black Moth Super Rainbow – “Runite Castles”
11 McDonald & Giles – “Birdman Flies!”
12 Mulatu Astatke – “Ene Alantchi Alnorem”
13 Ween – “Pollo Asado”
14 Bre’r – “Birf Crawl”
15 Philip Jeck – “Wholesome”
16 Kevin Ayers – “Beware Of The Dog”
17 Deerhoof – “This Magnificent Bird Will Rise”

Stream | Download

Themselves – theFREEhoudini

Via  the always useful Beatbox Radio Show, here’s the new Themselves. But if you wanna wait a few days, it’ll be available straight from Anticon, gratis.

Blogload: theFREEhoudini

Odd Nosdam – Pretty Swell Explode (Anticon, 2008)

(This originally appeared in Skyscraper)

The Cincinnati native and cLOUDDEAD founder brings out Pretty Swell Explode, not so much as a follow up to Level Live Wires, but as a summation of recent remixes and apparent ephemera. This collection comes in the form of a double cd. The shorter, second disc is comprised of drone induced ambient music with the only beat coming from the Boards of Canada remix “Dayvan Cowboy.” Even if this consistent blueprint gets chalked up to style, the main disc of this offering fairs only slightly better. What saves this album is the ability of Odd Nosdam’s tracks to imbibe an ethereal feel that easily marries his chunky keyboard melodies. That’s most likely why “Untitled Three” leads this disc off, but soon falls flat. Reinvigorating the aural traipsing through this affair is the half-way marker “Hollow Me”, which sounds distant and yes, hollow. The vast reverb on what is the snare-downbeat somehow recalls bees. And with the inclusion of what sounds like a melodica, this track almost seems out of place amongst the remix fodder. Considering though that this is not a proper album by the producer, the follow up to Level Live Wires can and will surely surpass what listeners will find here.

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Passage – The Forcefield Kids (Anticon, 2004)

(This originally appeared in Canned Magazine)

Everything from Anticon has an undeniably cohesive style. This release from Passage (Restiform Bodies) has that feel and a little style on top. The Northeasterner transplanted himself to Oakland a few years ago and has since been involved with Anticon: spreading the gospel of oddity. Again, Anticon doesn’t specialize in hip-hop. The collective specializes in exploding the boundaries of said genre. Passage doesn’t necessarily rap, he sings and strums a guitar a good part of the time. Although the guitar playing is accompanied with myriad burps, gurgles and hums of electronics, one can most certainly hear the folky influence in the music. The album itself flows well. With any hip-hop or electronic recording a test for competence is the ability of the producer to meld each track together to create a seamless breadth of work. The Forcefield Kids possesses a singular vision of sonic textures, thanks to Passage. While this slab does not sound specifically derivative of one artist/group the closest relation may be Beans and his first solo full length Tomorrow Right Now. Sometimes the boom-bap doesn’t sound like rap, but more like electronic punk. The album starts off with an unsettling instrumental and proceeds to offer similar sonic settings throughout. Often times Passage does not rap, but sings portions of the verse only to explode with section of raps (“Lost in Boston with a head full of Zanex”). When verses are understandable they’re interesting, but occasionally between the raps and bizarre production a track becomes trying (“Put together/Play/Red Ferrari calendar blob”). This is an amalgam of sounds, only for the advanced listener, but certainly an apt introduction to Anticon for the uninitiated.

Tracklisting:
01 – Forcefield Intro
02 – In the Bio Burbs
03 – Creature in the Classroom
04 – The Pins in the Bowels of Charmed Design,
05 – Old Aunt Mary
06 – Free Luvv, From Left Field
07 – Whine Money
08 – The Unstrung Harp
09 – The Kiss Ass Karaoke
10 – Put Together, Play, Red Ferrari Calendar Blob
11 – Jail 4 Lil’ Geniuses
12 – Duck’n'cover
13 – 19911
14 – The Unspectacular Whiteboy Slave Song
15 – Spring ‘97
16 – Suffragette
17 – Reagan’s Chest
18 – All the News That’s Fit to Pint
19 – Scarefilm
20 – Poem to the Hospital
21 – Pail of Air

Odd Nosdam – Level Live Wires (Anticon, 2007)

(This originally appeared in Rock-a-Rolla)

The scattered aural aesthetic of Anticon is forever weaving in and out of its past. Level Live Wires works hard to sit itself firmly in early Anticon styles while still trying to accommodate newer listeners who are familiar with some of the more rock flavored releases of the collective. The more droney aspects of this slab are in relation to the latter day releases and include a consistent vocal throughout “Fat Hooks” that somehow, tangentially, refers to Rhys Chatham or Lou Reed. In all fairness though, the beats presented by Nosdam include dirty, earthy samples that can shoot images of old vinyl into listeners’ heads as on “Kill Tone” and its sequel “The Kill Tone Two”. In the same manner that the producer uses simplistic hip-hop and assimilates it into an even more minimalist structure, he has created a vast array of track titles that are obviously interrelated. “Burner” and “Up in Flames” are a prime example of this work with the two following each other closely and sharing a very similar tempo. Criticism aside, this disc can work as something to drive your car, read a book, take a nap or just jam out to; all the while, Odd Nosdam pushes his label towards a return to form.

Tracklisting:
01 – On
02 – Kill Tone
03 – We Dead
04 – Freakout 3
05 – Fat Hooks
06 – Blast
07 – The Kill Tone Two
08 – Burner
09 – Up In Flames
10 – Slight Return
11 – Off

DJ Mayonnaise – Still Alive (Anticon, 2007)

As Anticon has decided to spread out musically, the halcyon days of the late ‘90s, the forward thinking hip-hop and its production has been left behind to a certain extent. Fittingly enough, the last release by DJ Mayo was in-fact from that period; 1999 to be exact. Additionally, he’s responsible for the unappreciated, watershed moment that is Bottle of Humans. But a hiatus then ensued. The result after his time away from he boards can easily be considered as thoughtful and passionate as his earlier work. The hidden track that finds its way on to the end of the disc is as upsetting as anything Mayo produced for Sole. This along with the almost rock song “The Windham Song” fill in the time between this release and Mayo’s previous work. Additionally, K-the-I turns in the only vocal on this slab over a clavichord beat that makes the entire affair sound as if Antipop Consortium got back together. This disc is not a hard listen, apart from the ambient oboe track, “May Days”. Yet, Still Alive recalls what Anticon was headed towards and reminds the listener what could have been if label heads shied away from Thee More Shallows and the likes.

man’sbestfriend – The New Human is Illegal (Morr Music, 2004)

This isn’t the future of hip-hop. It already was the future. I believe that new things cease being new after a time. This is the case with Sole, who happens to also be man’sbestfriend. He still well may be the most important emcee in the country, founding Anticon and creating Bottle of Humans. Each new release of his does not need to be heralded as the new water-mark by which hip-hop be judged. He does continues to lead the way, regardless of the way being the path that he has already tread upon. He blurts out, “Pain is life,” on “Idol Victim”, and that one line probably best explains not only this release, but a general outlook expressed on every release by this man. The lyrics on this slab tend to begin examining a sprawling topic, but end in personal exploration. The track titles on The New Human is Illegal portray an already well-documented opposition to the general consensus of the country (“Ode to Clean Air”, “How to be Rich and Powerful”, “Dream about Afghanistan or Oakland”). The production too comes across as subversive, but in another way. The lo-fi smashed down sound that helped initially set Sole apart from the masses is accentuated on this release. The listener expects a certain amount of underground sound, but Sole further refines his tunes (“Numb”). The slab is solid. And if you already own everything else this man has released, there’s no good reason not snag this one. Maybe this isn’t the best way to familiarize yourself with him, but it’s still better than ninety-seven percent of the music out there.