Another day, another new podcast, though today a solid one, the debut of the KrankyKast (MP3, RSS), from Kranky Records, the Chicago-based home to a mix of explorative electronic and psychedelically rural acts, the best of which blur the lines between those two realms. The ‘cast’s DJ is a bit, er, subdued, but the track selection is excellent, packed with entries from the label’s fall collection. It opens with “Piano ABG,” off When the Detail Lost Its Freedom by Brian McBride (of Stars of the Lid), in which the source material is subjected to enough torque to render it smooth as loose cotton, and utterly unrecognizable. Lichens‘ “Kirilian Auras” has a guitar solo that needs to be experienced in headphones; as it goes back and forth, from left to right, it’s like a fly’s caught in your brain. A gently glitchy track off Christopher Bissonnette‘s Periphery and a hazy bit of guitar-threaded ambience by Windy and Carl, off The Dreamhouse / Dedications to Flea, are choice entries. Also included: Boduf Songs‘s stripped down folk (“Oh Celebrate Your Vague Words and Coquettish Sovereignty,” off a self-titled set), one from Safer Here by Dawn Smithson (ex-Jessamine), and a second McBride further along.
In related news, the latest podcast from brainwashed.com, which hosts Kranky’s website, kranky.net, and a heap of other great band and labels sites, features music by Tortoise (“TNT (Nobukazu Takemura remix)”), Meat Beat Manifesto (“Love Mad”) and others (MP3).