Gichy Dan's Beachwood No 9 - On A Day Like Today (Todd Terje Friendly Children Edit)
UNINTENTIONAL MUSIC INFLUENCE
I am listening to a recent release by band Peaking Lights - 'Wedding Song' which is an eleven-minute song that incorporates a simple repetitive structure, a five beat block throughout, harmonious whales and some drone-y guitar vibes. It is a great song because it combines the electronic, the psychedelic and the progressive elements of music from the late 60's psychedelic rock movements (Silver Apples springs to mind instantly) and the Krautrock of the early 70's (Faust - Giggy Smile is an obvious direction) and updates it slightly in a recorded-in-a-bedroom-on-a-cassette-player with layers and loops aesthetic. The rest of the songs on the record 'Imaginary Falcons' debatably vary from 'Wedding Song' - more organs and synth variations.
A while a go, a friend of mine sent me a traditional Vietnamese folk song by Mawlam Rattri Si-Wilai. I was instantly attracted to its repetitive use of instrument (some sort of pipe I assume) and the aboriginal female singing voice of which accompanies the pipes and which follows the pipes so closely that you can almost merge the two together. Both pieces are completely similar in the way they function as simply repetitive and progressive by nature. It is intriguing that these songs are uninformed of each other yet share such similar concepts. If the Vietnamese folk scene were introduced to keyboards and loop pedals, would they be making what is classed as psychedelic drone today? If Peaking Lights were stripped of their high tech instruments would we be hearing something more native?
BEAUTY OF THE BRUTAL
I have made some engaging discoveries as of late!
These are etchings by Nieve Brown. Brown is also the architect who designed one of my favourite housing estate projects in London. The Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate which is situated off Abbey Road in the borough of Camden. It is one of the most brutal and intriguing structures I have come across. The three buildings within the estate were designed in 1969, around a train track and subsequently had to function as noise barriers to prevent train noise disturbing residents - to work in this way they had to be built in the style of a ziggurat, concrete and angled:
A space efficient complex for over a thousand residents, the complex aimed to create a private space for families to exist in. It also contains open spaces for recreational purposes, there is a school on site amongst other institutions. Everything is contained and you have never felt so 'purpose-built' in your life. It is true, perhaps, a system where you never really have to withdraw yourself from. Although, how effective it is on a community-based level, I am unaware.
So, so brutally good.
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