Liz and Sean of Xeno and Oaklander are the most successful live sequencing, analog synthesis band I have ever seen.  They are able to seemlessly develop ideas and construct songs using nothing but analog synthesizers and sequencers.  Beyond the gear, their music is amazing.

These Are Powers Candyman 12′ ep is out now on RVNG Int’l. My favorite track is World Class People and also the Teengirl Fantasy World Class People remix.  MNDR had the major honor of playing the ep release along side a face melting set by Blondes at CoCo66 (best bar live music venue in all of NYC).  The show was absolutely amazing.  There was a crazy fireworks type lighting event that occurred throughout the entire show along with an audience made of pure electricity.

Here is the ep.  It is available via RVNG Int’l website.  This is an essential 2010 spin for any music lover/dj.

These Are Powers Candyman 12' EP

Also here are some live pics from Village Voice Blog. Photos by Rebecca Smeyne

Blondes

These Are Powers

These Are Powers

MNDR

CoCo 66 Crowd!

Also check out the video for Candyman!

THESE ARE POWERS “CANDYMAN” from KNOWMORE on Vimeo.

Recently I felt really stuck with how was I writing music.  I felt like my beats were sort of reflective and dull.  I was talking with my friend Jaqueline from 0th and we were reminiscing about old times in SF.  A couple of times I hung in her art studio while she was quilting vinyl and we would bond over Cluster…..specifically the Zuckerzeit album.  I searched my mp3′s and found the record and listened to it four times until I fell asleep.  It blew up my brain.  I have listened to it 5000 times and I felt like I was listening to it for the first time.

Cluster (Hans Joachim-Roedelius/Deiter Mobieus/Conny Plank) are a seminal krautrock/electronic pop/ambient group from 1970s’ Germany.  They were also in a band with Brian Eno called Harmonia, a ground breaking ambient group. Clusters’ 1974 album Zuckerzeit seems to be timeless.  It is impossible to tell if this record was made 35 years ago or 5 minutes in the future.  Julianne Cope of Tear Drop Explodes (and Krautrock expert/author) hails that Zuckerzeit is one of the best Krautrock records ever recorded.

Zuckerzeit is a collaboration between Cluster and Michael Rother of Neu!.  Rother’s influence on this record is apparent when listening to its Motorik, repetitive and rhythmic, influence.  The Collaboration between Cluster and Rother perfectly highlights Clusters’ melodic sensibility/synth design with Rother’s rhythmic perfection.  It is so fucking good.  This record influenced all that is electronic music.

A couple of years ago Cluster toured the US.  I saw them in SF at Great American Music Hall and it was probably one of the best decisions I have made.

basically just listen to this record…and I love Krautrock…

Truly one of the best bands on planet earth.

SILK FLOWERS – In Your Memory from Tara Sinn on Vimeo.

Check out the write up on FADER

This remix by the French Duo Perfect Loosers of Tampa Girl Dominique is a brain bleeder…if your brain bled out the color of your tongue after two packs of pop rocks.  Dynamic!  I am going to spinning the living hell out of this.

Here is the link for the download.  Grab it and love it.  Tell me what it makes you do at the candy store and then let Lil’ Dominique Young Unique know on her myspace.  This girl makes Rye Rye and every up and comer look like they gotta play catch up.

Girls are an amazing duo pop band from SF.  My friends have made a couple of videos for them.  This song is really amazing and makes me feel like throwing up flowers.  I really love it.  A lot of my friends from Oakland/SF are in the video.  Makes me miss it.  SF is such a beautiful city and it is nice to see it orchestrated by Girls.  Their record is out via Turnstilemusic/Fantasytrashcan and True Panther Sound

Check out their video directed by Aaron Brown.

I went to see Silk Flowers (members of Soiled Mattress and The Springs) record release show Saturday Night July 18th at The Cake Shop. Silk Flowers are truly one of my favorite bands.  I have seen them 4 times now, which includes seeing them in LA earlier this spring.  They have taken their own spin on minimal/cold wave and industrial pop.  It is truly zooming this style of music into a modern window and changing how to make pop music.  They play everything live, including live drum pads, keys, and samples with very little sequenced parts.  Also Aviram Cohen’s voice is haunting. One of my favorite voices I have ever heard and also his live performance is awesome and sounds even better.  The keyboard parts (played by Peter) are sonically distinct using new synth sounds and complicated parts with a lot of developtment.  The third layer and use of noise/concrete is played by Ethan and is no less some of the best use of sonic layers in pop set I have heard.  They play a lot and their blog is killer.  They just released their debut full length Silk Flowers Silk Flowers.  It is up on Amazon, iTunes, and Post Present Medium (record label).

Here is their video for Shadows In Daylight.

SILK FLOWERS “shadows in daylight” from brian degraw on Vimeo.

The other great thing about the show was Further Reduction.  A two piece featuring Shawn from Let er Est and his girlfriend Katie.  They also played a killer set and Shawn is really outstanding at live sequencing and song writing.  Cold Cave played and so did City Center.

Saturday was a day of awesome shows.  I went to see Xeno and Oaklander play at PS1 during the afternoon which also included DJ set from Peter Wierd Records.  Xeno and Oaklander executed a seamless highly involved synth/drum machine/sequencing live set like I have never seen.  It is difficult to describe people’s music because I always feel like I take role of a music critic, but descriptions are good.  Xeno and Oaklander are rooted in the tradition of cold/minimal wave with a dash of early pop industrial.  Their musicality is like watching a darker Vince Clark.  The most impressive thing is that their songs are highly involved with chord progressions, beat developmets/transitions, different multi-layered sequenced keyboard parts, and not to mention live vocals.  It is really impressive and is worth checking out evey single one of their shows. Here is a video.

My art band 0th played on July 15th at The Lab in SF for Mission Creek Music Festival.  This time JapJap was in Las Vegas so both JapJap and myself MNDR skyped in for the show.  The Lab is a space for multi-media art and proved to be an excellent venue for 0th.

Unannounced to us, CNET had heard wind of our skype performances and were interested in doing a piece about 0th on CNET.  So they interviewed Statue of Liberty and Gloat about the set up and the mission of the project.  For this performance JapJap and myself choreographed movements for the visual aspects of the show, along with contributing live synth, samplers, and singing.  Gloat played drums, MAX MSP, brought her robots, clarinet, and sang.  Statue of Liberty played violin, sang, and also performance art.  They smashed LEDS inside of glass and also contributed to movement.  The audio always turns out better than expected thanks to our friend Wobbly.  Here is the CNET permalink along with a screen shot of the produced piece on CNET.

We also uploaded the entire performance on youtube.

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I have been returning back to some feelings and classics that have really steared my sense of audio, melody, song structure, and rhythmic feeling.

The first is Todd Rundgren’s I Saw The Light off of Something/Anything?  I gotta say Todd Rundgren is especially hit or miss for me.  However, when he smashes it, it is truly undeniable.  He also played every instrument and sang every melody on this entire full length.

Next obsession from the past is Prince’s The Ballad of Dorthy Parker off of Sign Of The Times.  This was Prince’s first full length after dis-banding The Revolution.  It is one of his best complete works of all time.  However, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker shows the absolute genuis that is Prince.  Not only does he produce, write, and play everything, he also was able to quote Joni Mitchell, one of the most undeniable melodic freaks of nature, inside of his pop song.  The lyrics, its meandering song writing quality, and its devestating Linn Drum Machine programming is yet another example of Prince changing everything all at once without anyone knowing.  There is nearly zero bass on this track (one of the Prince tricks).

Brian Eno’s Another Green World and Here Comes the Warm Jets.  Using his discreet methods to obtain pop perfection.  He mastered melody outside of influence and could really let his ideas flow and ride on rhythms without being concernced with form.  And within that process form was created.  I like to listen to these when I feel like I am just doing the same thing over and over again.  Also, Eno was classic for singing stream of conciousness vocal ref’s and then distinguishing words out of those refs.  I like this style a lot, but often times, you still got to reign it in.  Usually what you are feeling and needed to say is just hanging in your brain.  At least the sort of message people can relate to.

Eats Tapes (Tigerbeat 6) from SF via Berlin have just released a free ep. I toured with them in August 2008 and will also be touring a “Nor-Easter” with them in early August 2009. Check www.myspace.com/mndrtronica and www.myspace.com/eatstapes for shows and dates.

They are a live techno duo that are by far the best I have ever seen for live sequencing with old school drum machines/sequencers/synths.  They also have some home made electronics and some circuit bent instruments.  A lot of groups got into live techno, but few if any really execute it live.  There is a lot to handle when you have drum machines, sequencers…etc on stage and still make a seamless set with builds, transitions, and boom kicks for a modern style set.  They are on par with the greats from Detroit and Berlin.

Download their new EP www.eatstapes.com and play it until you melt into a pile of blood.  Sweaty Blood!