DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!

So Friday was my last day at my old shitty job, meaning for the next while I will hopefully be writing up a storm on here, starting with an awful lot of writing about a song/album/group that awfully few people who read this will probably have any interest in. You have been warned.

Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom, "Relevee" (warning: this song is 13 minutes long, 20 mb big, and basically consists of a synth-y soundscape. This stuff is not for everyone, so download at yr peril, but let's not waste your time and my bandwidth if you read that and go "EW".)

At certain points over the last few years, I've caught myself in a moment of musical transition, like in 2003 when I learned that it's perfectly OK to completely ignore people who give me shit for adoring music like Blondie, or in 2004 when I suddenly came to the realization that the process of searching for music that I didn't even know existed is frequently as fun (if not moreso) than actually listening to the music itself (as in "it's a fun way to spend your time", of course). If that's the case, then the thumbprints of Animal Collective's Sung Tongs are suddenly all over 2005 - it may not be the greatest album ever (or even the greatest Animal Collective album ever), but in truth, it's the album that finally taught me how to appreciate experimental music. This sounds awful, I know - this whole essay feels suspiciously awful even to write - but learning to appreciate more experimental stuff really does require you to retrain your ears to a certain extent. I mean, even with sophisticated mass-audience stuff like Richard X or the Futureheads, everything's right there on the surface; you can make as concerted an effort to sift through the layers as you want, but all you're really going to come away with is a catalogue of your reactions to the various elements of the song (although to be fair, this will enable you to slip into the mix on the PopJustice messageboard without anyone batting an eye).

This is not that. This is thirteen and a half minutes of interlocking, intertwining synths completely devoid of participatory inroads - this is music made for people who just enjoy the act of paying attention to music. The pleasures to be taken from "Relevee" don't have anything to do with tension/release or hooking you in; they're all about catching yourself following a different musical thread than the one you'd been tracking before. Admittedly, this is hardly "experimental" work in and of itself; I'm a shameful novice when it comes to this stuff and even I know Phillip Glass and Steve Reich have been dropping cyclical compositions since back when my parents were getting stoned and listening to Peter, Paul, & Mary. In a lot of ways, this is probably only as "experimental" as the Strokes were "groundbreaking" - it only seems new and significant because we're getting it now rather than through the filter of history.

It's just that as with the Strokes, context is everything. Days of Mars, the forthcoming debut from Delia & Gavin where you'll otherwise find this, isn't just a product of some weird undercurrent in the zeitgeist; it's coming out on the motherfucking DFA label, which ranks up there with Criterion on the list of Brands For Whom I Will Gladly Assume Knows More About Stuff Than Me. I mean, I've been listening to DFA releases for about three years now, and I can't begin to count how many of their new releases would just leave me in a blank stupor, and I'm talking about the obvious stuff like "House Of Jealous Lovers". It really wasn't until I finally figured out how to enjoy LCD Soundsystem's cacophonous masterpiece "Yeah" (and sadly, I really did have to figure it out) that I realized that the DFA isn't really that effective as a pop label like Moshi Moshi or Domino, but they're devastatingly effective (on the almighty level of Ze, even) if you treat their releases like dispatches from some undiscovered desert island that float to shore every few months. I mean, "Losing My Edge" hardly gets truer as you learn to catch more and more of the references - the most devastating truth of that song lies in the taunting "You don't know what you really want" refrain at the end, still arguably the most adroit summation of a segment of my generation which absolutely includes me that I've heard so far.

ANYWAY. My point is that if you're expecting Enrapturing Satisfying Experiences out of something like "Relevee", then you're probably wasting your time - not that it can't completely and utterly gobsmack you, of course, but rather that that's just not what you should be expecting. Above and beyond anything else, I want badly to describe it as being nearly devoid of emotion; obviously distinctions like these lie ultimately in the ear of the beholder, but even so, this sounds an awful lot closer to Brian Eno's Music For Airports (an album I particularly enjoy playing right before Days of Mars) than to something emotionally charged as all get-out like Glass' score for Mishima. It's the kind of music you put on when you're in the mood for a different ambience, although I hesitate to call Days of Mars "ambient" music given the physical presence of All Those Synths.

I have to admit that, to steal from an email I wrote to Nate, this stuff scares the everliving piss out of me; it's terrifyingly easy to see music like this as the first step down a road leading to me turning into Tim Robbins in High Fidelity, which means that when the revolution comes I'll have to dive on a sword to guarantee the complete extermination of that specific breed of genuinely distasteful (in every sense of the word) people. I'm also a little nervous about doing a major disservice to Delia & Gavin, considering that the actual album is only four songs long and the majestic 20jazzfunkgreats already posted another one (and album opener "Rise" already exists in DFA remix form on Comp 2). In the end, I had to go with posting the track anyway since (a) I swore to myself I'd post anything on this blog which literally made me sit up in my chair, (b) maybe four people in the world will actually download it, and (c) I can't imagine any of those four who actually end up liking this kind of music not buying Days of Mars anyway - this is unquestionably music made for the kind of people who still see the value in buying music. Late Registration is still probably my favorite album of the year (although I can't deny that stretch between "Drive Slow" and "Diamonds Are Forever" that just draaaaaaaaaaaags), but in terms of "best" album of the year, Days of Mars may be untouchable - it's that kind of good album, even if it's got nothing to do with you. I mean fuck, just look at the cover art. (Click here to preorder Days of Mars from Amazon.co.uk)

edit: Or I could just trash all of that and link you to Chuck Klosterman's infamous and awesome "Advanced Theory" essay, which I had completely forgotten about for some reason. Sigh.

Mattafix, "Big City Life" (Cutfather & Joe remix) - I am also, however, a very simple man: find me a song that sounds like it would fit well over the closing credits of a Wong Kar-Wai movie and you've got my vote. And this one's just dreamy (in the least revolting sense of the word) - all crashing, brooding, melodramatic synths like some undiscovered UNKLE track until all of a sudden HEY WHAT'S THIS SUDDEN BURST OF RAGGA FURIOUSNESS WOW IT RULES A BUNCH. I doubt I even need to mention the comparative weak-saucity of the original mix; Mattafix' own blurbs describe them as "a steel pan virtuoso and a computer whiz kid from opposite ends of the musical spectrum", so you can probably make pretty assured guesses as to the weakness of that particular sauce (hint: BOY THEY AREN'T AFRAID TO LET THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CHORUS CARRY SOME INCREDIBLY THIN-SOUNDING MUSIC). But oh well; that's why pencils have erasers and why pop songs have producers. (Click here to buy the "Big City Life" single from HMV)

Elsehwere: I say let the Chris Dahlen love-in continue, as I was completely unaware of the fact that he was the one responsible for Pitchfork's Pop Culture Of 9/11 piece from a few months back. Those of you who know me in real life or who followed my insane babblings regarding Michael Bay elsewhere probably don't need to think too hard about why I'd be pimping this, but it's still a damn fine exploration of a subject pop journalism has left stupefyingly underexamined. Also, I am remiss in not pointing towards the essential OneLouder (and I live in Los Angeles!) pointing towards two fine songs which, unlike the ones put forth in the rambling mess above, are actually fun and easy to digest. I've taken a particular shine to that "10:1" song, although good god is their album ever not good. And finally, on the off chance that people who live in LA but exist outside of my social circle haven't heard, Art Brut is coming to Spaceland. How badly do I want to see Art Brut? Badly enough to switch money away from going to see my favorite band on the planet, for christ's sake - I mean, I passed on the chance to see the Arcade Fire there last year before the world conspired to ruin them for me forever, and I'm not willing to let that happen again. I would put the Club Packed To The Rafters With Joyless Hipsters forecast at abou %80, of course, but lest we forget, I'VE SEEN HER NAKED! TWICE!