The Kikapu netlabel’s 75th release comes from its founder, Brad Mitchell, who records under the name Pocka. Titled Devoured by a Shark, it collects what he describes as “random” tracks that have been on his “hard drive for the better part of a year or more.” The set opens wisely, with one of its strongest pieces, “Metahmafasis,” which floats a brief piano figure over the sort of microsonic whirring we’ve come to expect from Pocka. That foreground melody doesn’t evolve much, though he does eventually embrace some thick chords. It’s actually the background that changes the most, from light buzzes to scrappy rhythms, and there’s a lesson in there: throughout this album it’s worth paying attention to the background; even if it initially seems like ambient inaction, that’s often where the action is. This is especially the case on tracks that are nothing but background, like the haunting “Gwely Mernans (Remix)” and the arid “Ratsagain (Extended),” both rich swaths of sound. A drum’n’bass/dancehall montage (“Cutty Ranks Mashup”) doesn’t offer much that’s new, except to longtime Pocka followers, who might be surprised that someone who has produced a substantial amount of enticingly vaporous sounds has interest in these by-the-books rhythms. The same could be said of “Ziggomatic 17 (Remix),” but at least it does inject some brisk chaos. Those are all just a few of the album’s 14 tracks. One major highlight is “Cherublossom,” which plunks electric piano for funky little riffs, and then sets ’em against an equally tasty drum beat. Download the full batch at kikapu.com.
MP3 Noise Album on Test Tube
The new album from Sal., Ohne Titel Mit Titel, now downloadable from the Test Tube netlabel, will appeal mostly to veteran noise fans, but there are nods to a more general audience. While three tracks are about as pleasurable as the wind breaking against a cheap microphone during an ill-fated field-recording trip to the shore (“Compreendo perfeitamente a tua estupidez,” “Compreendo perfeitamente a tua necessidade,” “Compreendo perfeitamente porque e que e redondo”), the irritants here can become attractors. In particular, “wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww” (yes, that’s the title) is far more complex than it initially appears, a fevered rash of conflicting cogs banging against each other, spitting up tiny, high-pitched sparks. For most listeners, though, the one real keeper is “Parte Primeira,” which opens with a pleasurable rhythmic lope and hints at the fire of feedback, and then evolves through an exploration of murkiness, before splintering into a wash of sine waves and white noise. Get it at monocromatica.com/netlabel.
Jon Hassell Interview MP3
Some call it a podcast, while others call it a radio broadcast segment ported to the web. In either case, the estimable Echoes radio show has posted an interview, including musical interludes, with fourth-world trumpeter Jon Hassell. He talks about the increasing prevalence of non-western touches in popular music, and riffs on the correlation between so-called fusion cuisine and his own brand of global-blender ambient jazz. A search for “Hassell” on the show’s website, echoes.org, yields a null return. But you can download the MP3 directly here, and subscribe to the Echoes podcast here.
Kiritchenko MP3 EP on -N
The second release from the minusn (or -n) netlabel is a short, four-track Andrey Kiritchenko EP, Scatter Stars. Early on it emphasizes minimal-techno’s interest in muffled beats that echo in barren spaces, though in Kiritchenko’s hands that means the pitter patter not only of synthesized percussion but also of hand claps, pneumatic tones and the background hiss of rain. As the EP proceeds, the rhythms get more present, more insistent, more industrious. “Spread Your Satellites” in particular spins and chugs like a nanotech combustible engine. Check it out at minusn.com.
11 Bleep.com MP3s
Bleep.com is the digital-music download service operated by the folks at Warp Records, and it’s running a special free-download promotion in conjunction with Rip ‘N’ Burn magazine, which is ceasing to publish (the magazine, not the download retailer). Bleep is a DRM-free service, which means you purchase unencrypted MP3s, not heavily protected, proprietary files, which is the case with, oh, the iTunes Music Store. (DRM = “digital rights management.”) You need to register for Bleep to be eligible to enjoy the promotion, but registering is free, and once you do, you’ll see “RIPNBURN” listed toward the top of the pulldown menu that names all the Bleep affiliated labels (among them Warp, Ninja Tune, One Little Indian, Domino, Lex, Schematic, Skam and others; in other words, the good stuff). If you’re already registered, you can also just click on over to bleep.com/ripnburn. Every time you access this pulldown or that link, the site rotates through various free downloads, from deservedly prominent artists such as DJ Vadim, Luke Vibert and Four Tet. You can also access the free tracks individually from the menu on the left side of the screen, which features the covers of the albums from which the songs were extracted. There are 11 downloads in all: Busdriver‘s “Unemployed Black Astronaut,” Colder‘s “Shiny Star (Matthew Dear remix),” Fog‘s “10th Avenue Freakout,” Four Tet‘s “Smile Around the Face,” the Go! Team‘s “Get It Together,” Jamie Lidell‘s “The City,” Mugison’s “Murr Murr,” One Self‘s “Be Your Own (radio edit)” (that’s DJ Vadim with rapper Yarah Bravo), Quasimoto‘s “Greenery,” Luke Vibert’s “Funky Acid Stuff” and Vitalic‘s “Wooo.” Locate the ones you’re interested in, and then “purchase” each file for $0.00. If you’re not familiar with the Bleep interface, consider this a free lesson. Particularly recommended are the Four Tet (a funky beat with these high-pitched glossolalia vocals), the Vibert (which finds a common ground between his more recent electro-retro sounds and his earlier blunted downtempo), and the Vitalic (a heavyfooted fuzzed-out organ grind).