Wilgira

Been awhile since I did a friend of the show post. My old buddy Keif, from WALTZ BOP SHOP was in a very cool band after our break-up. Wilgira allowed Keif to go more out than WALTZ ever went. Just saw that their stuff is on bandcamp. Check it out.

 

Putting the links for other music below, for your convenience. 

You can, of course, browse through the pages for artists. 

aboombong: apophenia

aboombong: asynartetic

aboombong: AGNOSIS
ABOOMBONG: articulations

ABOOMBONG: Aprhonesis
ABOOMBONG: adumbral

ABOOMBONG: anaphora

ABOOMBONG: atrophic

ABOOMBONG: admixture

ABOOMBONG: amnemonic
ABOOMBONG: asynchronic
ABOOMBONG: aboombong

Boom Dispenser: A Chronic Groove Feeder

dustdevil & crow: accidental music

dustdevil & crow : .​.​.​and chuang tzu dreamed that he was me
dustdevil & crow: while speaking softly you can hear the insects sing
ABOOMBONG (w/ dustdevil & crow): Taking Blue Mountain by Stages

AZWARM: shelter
AZWARM: a morning's work

¡para!helion: Midaq Alley
¡para!helion: 3 Miles From Mecca
¡para!helion: >3
¡para!helion: When Technology Fails
¡para!helion: Harpers Bizarre Film Festival
Icastico: The-ambient-Sundae bar
Icastico: Étude for Six Mirrored Hands

Blotter: Once and Again - Minus Four - in Stereono
Blotter: Sludge the Butcher
Blotter: Songs for Mommy
DJJ: Throw it out there, not away

Psychic Enemies Network: Valis (with bonus tracks)
Psychic Enemies Network: P.E.N. (with bonus tracks)

Punk; No-wave; Post-punk, etc.
Thorn: solace of noise

Waltz Bop Shop: All My Idears are Flawed in Sum Way + Quartet
Waltz Bop Shop: Name Dropping at Angela's and Melting
Waltz Bop Shop: All my idears are played live today
Waltz Bop Shop: A whisper in the airwaves

The Jonny Cats: Last- Ode to Sergio
The Johnny Cats: Burns Rubber 7"
Swayback: Outer Space Tonight

AOS: Rip It up! + live tracks
AOS: live and Raw in the Pit also (some cleaned-up live tracks)
Shoegaze; Rock; etc.
Choke: Choke (e.p.)
Choke: Hard to Swallow
Choke: Gauze/Total Reverence
[redacted]: left blank
Super Naam: two rough cuts

K11 - aboombong

Another in the underwater ambient video series. 

k11- adumbral: études dans le contrôle imprécis

Atlatl - Piano Finalist

Just noticed this one. Nice...and check out the photography. Damn.

I Gaze

Artist: aboombong
Album: admixture
Style: shoegaze
Release: 2012/2014
Players: aboombong, percussion; Dynamo Stairs, bass and guitars; Lana Van Boven, vocals; Wharf99, field recording; madrotter, samples.
Available in a variety of formats from http://aboombong.bandcamp.com/track/i-gaze-admix-one-suisse-miss

admixture, a two-track, interactive e.p. from aboombong. Back in 2012 I sent solicitations for additional elements for each track to my musician friends: not remixs, admixs. The additional elements here trickled in over the last two years. Additions are still welcome for both tracks. Send 'em if you've got 'em.

Disquiet Junto Palindrone

Each week, Marc over at disquiet.com posts a challenge to the soundcloud community he calls the disquiet junto. As aboombong I have been involved in a number of them. This is the latest one with an aboombong track (track 7 here), 0023 palindrone.

Don't forget to check out the latest aboombong album, atrophic, and the admixture project. Another new one is in the works. A few touches to get done and perhaps a release by late summer.

atlatl - the gratification of ambition

A quick one before I have to put the baby to bed. Friend of the show atlatl has a new one up on bandcamp. Worth your time if you like the abstract sound art.




In news, aboombong's next is coming along slowly but surely, and the next dustdevil & crow is in the works.

azwarm - shelter

A new drone piece from azwarm is up over at bandcamp. Not much to say about this one. Like the last azwarm, the piece is the result of an experiment that went both wrong and right at the same time...didn't work for the intended purpose (i.e., as part of a song I am working on for the next aboombong release), but I liked it enough that I thought it was worth sharing. 30 minutes of sonic anesthesia for your morning commute. Enjoy.




Artist: azwarm
Album: shelter
Style: ambient, drone, musique concrète, minimalism, noise
Release: May 16th, 2011
Players: me - steel pan, manipulation.
Available in a variety of formats from http://azwarm.bandcamp.com (set your own price)

atlatl - now on bandcamp

Now you can get your noise on with atlatl on bandcamp. Here's the latest release. Hard copies are available...and have stunning artwork. Enjoy.



Don't forget you can support our work here at Pen & Mallet by purchasing something from aboombong , psychic enemies network, or azwarm, or making a donation via a "donate" button here at Pen & Mallet.

sludge the butcher

Another release from Jeff and Dave recorded in the 1990's, Sludge the Butcher. Some longer trippier tracks alongside some shorter odder ones on this release...in the end it all blurs into one beautifully incoherent whole. This one has a lot more sampling & tape manipulation/outright noise on it than Songs for Mommy but manages some definite ¡para!helion like passages as well. Whereas touchstones for Songs for Mommy might include Half Machine Lip Moves era Chrome, this one is much closer to territory opened up by The Residents or Negativland. Very much a DIY gem for the fan of outsider music. Enjoy.


Don't forget you can support our work here at Pen & Mallet by purchasing something from aboombong , psychic enemies network, or azwarm, or making a donation via a "donate" button here at Pen & Mallet.

atlatl - head on the nail - early work

atlatl is one of the most extreme/experimental noise acts out there - these days filling the world with minimal drones and noisescapes made with vintage synths and obsessive focus. But like everyone, atlatl has a past. Today we have an early video from the days when atlatl was doing more conventional industrial electronic music. Circa 1992, head on the nail. Check out newer atlatl music on last.fm. Or buy the new one Draws the Atlantic at mimeomeme.com.

amnemonic and rhapsodic

Just a quick note today for all of you that use Rhapsody.
The latest aboombong, amnemonic is now available through Rhapsody.



Of course, along with iTunes and all the usual outlets, it is still available for download from bandcamp in a variety of formats (including lossless formats) and you can name your own price (no minimum). There is a special limited edition bonus track available for the first 200 folks who name a price of $5 or more over at bandcamp, or donate (from the button below) $5 or more to Pen & Mallet. I will email you a unique, one-time use download code with instructions for retrieving your bonus track in gratitude for your support.

Update 2.0: Just noticed this review of asynchronic from the nice folks over at MP News, "Un maelstrom dai risvolti fortemente sperimentali, all'apparenza mostruoso per chi non avvezzo a tali "estremizzazioni" in musica, ma comunque in grado di svelare un suono cangiante e fluido nell'insieme." Graczie Damiano. Recent Music Heroes also has a nice review of amnemonic.

Some hype: amnemonic, thanks 4 helping spread the word

Reaction to amnemonic has been encouraging.
I thought it was time to pass along some of the early hype.

Artist: aboombong
Album: amnemonic
Release date: September 11, 2010


The first review hit the webs over at The Stranger's Line out. The money quote "This is some of the most interesting, ambitious music coming out of Seattle at the moment." Humbling.

A nice feature over at Disquiet focused on Cheshiahud Loop and called it "a deep journey into Fourth World territory... a cacophony of bazaar action, all ringing bells, vibrating drums, and ritual chanting...as if some majestic parade has turned a corner. "

Estonia's Recent Music Heroes gives a very positive review (10 out of 10 rating, the highest I've spied on the site). Google translate had a hard time with the Estonian, but I had to pull this translated phrase: "then it can be concluded that the publication was completed around the monster floating on the harmonious (misjärel võib tõdeda, et lõppenud üllitis oli kõikjal hõljuv harmooniline monstrum)." I like the image (UPDATE: Translated version of the review is here).

geometria innamorata calls it "musical matter, like a flow, oriented by alchemy....original and wild. Orient and Occident are superposed in an origami of earth, wind, and thunder." Dying For Bad Music calls it "heavy listening." The Sound of Eye, calls it "an untamed collusion of the finest noise, concrète and ambient soundscapes."

The Sirens Sound, continues their strong support for aboombong calling it "another weird and freaking[ly] SPLENDID LISTEN where experimental-drone boundaries are reached and breached. EXCEPTIONAL title."

Thanks to Nadia for a nice review over at the couch sessions who calls it "full blown musical freedom."

And check out this short film featuring the opening minutes of Cromsby Grovernor's Jujujaiponmolam.

Also thanks to Disruptive Platypus, Living Exposed, ,& Exile on Moan Street for helping to spread the word. It is only through support like this that a zero budget DIY project like aboombong will ever get heard. Truly appreciated.

UPDATE2.3: There's this Hungarian review that has been sending over a lot of business. And action_jackson says "after listening to it again and again, I knew that this music would accompany me from now on...if you don't know aboombong by now, it's high time to dive into his great music." And, of course, the hype for asynchronic continues with a new review up at Visotactile Symphony...along side a nice collection musical cohorts. AND I don't know how I missed this one, but here's a nice review of Psychic Enemies Network from Wine, Women, and Song.

As with all the aboombong releases, this one is available for download from bandcamp in a variety of formats (including lossless formats) and you can name your own price (no minimum). Please note that there is a special limited edition bonus track available for the first 200 folks who name a price of $5 or more over at bandcamp, or donate (from the button below) $5 or more to Pen & Mallet. I will email you a unique, one-time use download code with instructions for retrieving your bonus track in gratitude for your support.

A note on changes at bandcamp. Bandcamp now limits the number of free downloads that an artist can offer and has begun a profit sharing plan (whereby they take a share of the artist's profit). These are both good for bandcamp, a service I strongly support, but it means that when you decide to support aboombong, some of your money will go to bandcamp and some of it will have to go to support continued "name your price with no minimum" for works by aboombong, azwarm, and psychic enemies network ($20 will support 1000 additional free downloads). If you want all of your money to go directly to me (minus a small paypal fee), use the donate button below. I'll still send you the download code for the bonus track for any donation of $5 or more.

amnemonic, dustdevil & crow: what I did for summer vacation

This summer has been a particularly enjoyable and productive one. While completing the azwarm album and the boom dispenser remixs project (as I have mentioned previously), I was honored to be asked to collaborate on the newest Dustdevil & Crow album, while speaking softly you can hear the insects sing. It was completed recently and is now available on the Free Music Archive. I have also added amnemonic over at the FMA (HERE). The FMA is a great resource, chock full of amazing music with easy access to high-quality MP3's. It also allows you to create custom mixes with an easy to use interface. I have created a mix with both while speaking softly you can hear the insects sing and amnemonic that will allow you to listen to or download both albums in one click. You can also easily embed this player or send it to your friends to help us get the word out (always much appreciated).


For those audiophiles out there who are looking for lossless versions of either of these albums, well, of course, they are available. Bendle has put both Dustdevil & Crow albums up at his bandcamp page for free (along with lots of other goodies), and, of course, all the aboombong releases are available in lossless formats on bandcamp (name your price) as well. Don't forget that I will email a special access code to anyone naming a price of $5 or more that is good for limited edition bonus material from amnemonic. You can also get access to this bonus material by donating directly using the "donate" buttons here at Pen & Mallet, or the "tip the artist" button at the Free Music Archive.

UPDATE2.1: Thanks to Dying For Bad Music and The Couch Sessions for helping to spread the word. And check out this short film featuring the opening minutes of Cromsby Grovernor's Jujujaiponmolam. Also a NSFW friend of the show note: Swellco & Swellco are getting some notice for exposing the underbelly (and more, much more) of the city that loves you back.

aboombong - amnemonic (the new album)

The new one is here. Start spreading the word.

Artist: aboombong
Album: amnemonic
Release date: September 11, 2010


Style(s): afro-asian noise, post-rock shoegaze, musique concrète, minimalism, noise, drone, post-punk.
Toys: amplified tongue drum, Turkish darbuka, New Mexican wooden-headed goblet drum, Igbo Ekwe (two tone log slit drum), Ibo Ekpiri shaker, Vietnamese jack fruit danmo, camel bells, elephant bells, goat bells, 16-tine Thai temple bell, Mimi's souvenir travel bells collection, Trinidadian tenor steelpan, 5-string table-top electric guitar, Kawai K3, one-man-army chants, Stylophone S1 orchestra, harmonica, drum kit.

Tracklist:
1) Cheshiahud Loop
2) From Cracked and Bloodied Fingers
3) Cromsby Grovernor Worthington's Jujujaiponmolam
4) Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, & Wang Hongwen in Dahomey
5) Noon

"Restrained" would not be a good word to use to describe this one.

As with all the aboombong releases, this one is available for download from bandcamp in a variety of formats (including lossless formats) and you can name your own price. Please note that there is a special limited edition bonus track available for the first 200 folks who name a price of $5 or more over at bandcamp, or donate (from the button below) $5 or more to Pen & Mallet. I will email you a unique, one-time use download code with instructions for retrieving your bonus track in gratitude for your support (which goes directly to pay for things like drum sticks, guitar strings, cables, distribution, and an occasional bowl of Phở).

UPDATE: in a totally uncoordinated coincidence, the new dustdevil & crow, while speaking softly you can hear the insects sing is also out. It was a real honor to be invited to work on this one. Check it out and spread the word.
UPDATE2.7: The first review of amnemonic is in and it made me blush. Now featured over at Disquiet with some very positive words. Also thanks to Nadia for a nice review over at the couch sessions and to Estonia's Recent Music Heroes for a very positive(?) review (google translate had a hard time with the Estonian, but I see a rating of 10.0 and lots of nice phrases scattered throughout) ; and thanks to Disruptive Platypus, Dying For Bad Music, Living Exposed, The Sound of Eye, The Sirens Sound, geometria innamorata, & Exile on Moan Street for helping to spread the word. The latest review of "asynchronic" over at rym deserves mention as well (by Ily, August 14th).

Boom Dispenser remixs: A Chronic Groove Feeder

Artist: Boom Dispenser
Album:Boom Dispenser remixs: A Chronic Groove Feeder
Style: acid jazz, trip bop, minimalism, noise, drone, dark ambient
Release: May 15th, 2010
Players: Fez Dispenser remixs aboombong; aboombong remixs Fez Dispenser
Available in a variety of formats from http://aboombong.bandcamp.com (set your own price)



A sonic sibling rivalry. Enjoy. Start spreading the word (^_^) !!!

Original Tracks from the albums "asynchronic" by aboombong and "high bottom groove feeder" by Fez Dispenser - available at: http://aboombong.bandcamp.com/album/asynchronic & http://fezdispenser.com/

azwarm: a morning's work

A couple of long ambient improvisations made with bells and pans.
Artist: azwarm
Album: a morning's work
Style: ambient, drone, musique concrète, minimalism, noise
Release: April 24th 2010
Players: me - ringing metal objects, manipulation.
Available in a variety of formats from http://azwarm.bandcamp.com (set your own price)


UPDATE: 3 Bells Gone now included in a nice mix over at Subversion.

Creative Commons - Daymare

Just a quick one...
Found Daymare from asynchronic being used as intended according to its creative commons license over at Kassette Klub. It is the intro to an interesting mix. Check it out. Also, asynchronic is featured today over at Acousmatik System along with some other really nice selections.

ep. 2 Anticipation (side a) by KassetteKlub

Speaking in Tongues: Waltz Bop Shop Live @ Wavy Brain (video)

This one is from 1994 (95?). A show at the height of Waltz Bop Shop's Math-Punk Noisiness. A fun show dedicated to Marc Bolan with all the bands doing at least one cover penned by Bolan. Held in Wavy Brain Video (RIP). Features some good shots of the hardest working guitar amp in Albuquerque: Grant's Marshall. Enjoy.





And, of course - the mandatory plug for the new aboombong: asynchronic. Available (set your own price) in pretty much any digital format you could want.

aboombong - asynchronic on FMA

Asynchronic has been selected for inclusion in the Free Music Archive (thanks Jason). I have set up a mix over at my profile page (you can embed the mix or create your own, easy as pie). Send me suggestions of good stuff and I'll add it.



Of course, the album is still available (set your own price) at bandcamp. I have been truly humbled by the positive response so far.

aboombong - asynchronic

Artist: aboombong
Album: asynchronic
Release date: January 2010

Style(s): afro-ambient noise, musique concrète, minimalism, experimental
Toys: field recording, split bamboo marimba, Turkish darbuka, Punjabi ektara, Vietnamese jack fruit danmo, camel bells, elephant bells, goat bells, bone cymbal mallets, Trinidadian tenor steelpan, homemade surdo, piano, 5-string prepared electric guitar, Kawai K3, sequencer, effects, tape-manipulation, drum kit.
Tracklist:
1) never been to Konono
2) ritualistique
3) jericho
4) daymare
5) forsaken
6) drag along behind

Trumpet on jericho by Dave Chapman (from ¡para!helion) is an outtake from the valis recording sessions.

This one was a blast to make.
A DIM* soundtrack to the no-budget films in my head.
Not sure what that says about my head, but I hope you enjoy the ride.

*Do-it-myself

UPDATE (s): a very kind review of asynchronic is posted over at My Little Bubble. Check it out and then have a look around one of my favorite blogs. Also, posted with a nice comment over at YoungMossTongue - the man behind DUSTdevils ... check out his latest, it is great stuff. Also now featured over at Dogs Can Read Your Mind along with a load of other DIY artists you should check out. A very nice review from deadwhitehorse is now at geometria innamorata...check out his music while you are there (or at his new blog). Now available at Last.fm for those who use it. A very enthusiastic review now up at TheSirenSound...join the discussion. Also now posted at Make Noise! Go look around. Another nice review over at Hate R'n'B - along side a great mish-mash of underground culture. Jason just added asynchronic to the Free Music Archive. And aboombong has now officially hit the airwaves (and in the big apple nonetheless). Another nice review over at the brand spanking new blog Hype Light. Also now available on Altsounds drop by and vote for aboombong. A new review now out on Seattle's The Stranger's music blog. Now also reviewed at the mighty Snap Crackle & Pop...alongside some of the best music on the web. Also featured at Hot On The Heels of Love. Ran across a very nice review of asynchronic over at Shot By Both Sides , looks like a good place to find new music. And Babelfish tells me this review is positive and eloquent. Also at Kalachakra with some nice comments, and asynchronic has even crept into the political discourse at analytic analeptic, if you haven't heard it yet, you should check out this political pundits music. If for some reason you don't want to get it direct from me (set your own price), asynchronic is now available through Napster, Songorilla, iTunes, Amazon, and will be showing up in your favorite download store soon....

To start the year off I thought I would post a round-up of last year's major music posts

ABOOMBONG: asynchronic
ABOOMBONG: aboombong
¡para!helion: Midaq Alley
¡para!helion: 3 Miles From Mecca
¡para!helion: >3
¡para!helion: Fourth: When Technology Fails
Waltz Bop Shop: All My Idears are Flawed in Sum Way + Quartet
Waltz Bop Shop: Name Dropping at Angela's and Melting
Waltz Bop Shop: All my idears are played live today
Waltz Bop Shop: A whisper in the airwaves
Choke: Choke (e.p.)
Choke: Hard to Swallow
Choke: Gauze/Total Reverence
The Jonny Cats: Last- Ode to Sergio
Swayback: Outer Space Tonight
AOS: Rip It up! + live tracks
AOS: live and Raw in the Pit also (some cleaned-up live tracks)
[redacted]: left blank
Super Naam: two rough cuts of two tracks
DJJ: Throw it out there, not away
Icastico: The Build-your-own-ambient-Sundae bar
Psychic Enemies Network: Valis (with bonus tracks)
Psychic Enemies Network: P.E.N. (with bonus tracks)

Most of these links will allow you to download in FLAC, MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. Let me know if you have a request for a FLAC/WAV version of any of the other MP3 only files.