MELOMANIA slings SEVEN at you AND an INTERVIEW with BOBBY GRANFELT of HIGH PULP!

What an excellent band too. What an excellent album to listen to you while we celebrate Labor Day weekend! Crank them all up!

LABOR AWAY

In examining sales figures and those precious radio/streaming numbers, there is a huge gulf developing in what music people are listening to and what they are purchasing. We have said it before and will say it again, these artists need your support - financially. It may be a labor of love for them, but when it simply does not pay to do it anymore - we all lose. So friends, take a part of the day to help those musicians you love out on Bandcamp. It being a Bandcamp Friday, friends and family like MSPAINT, Squirms, Beach Novels, Schaefer Llana, Glass Praxis, and BARK! who just dropped a new record could use a spin or download.

That concludes this public service announcement. Have a wonderful long weekend.

—> Join us at r:/NewMusicReport

PALE BLUE EYES - This House [LP/CD](Full Time Hobby UK)

Here’s what we wrote about the debut “Souvenirs,” “While the songs themselves are spritely and simple, Pale Blue Eyes has more of an ear for developing hooks than the others who actively try to push their admiration of this fertile period toward emulation (and avoid imitation.)” On their second stellar album, Pale Blue Eyes lean into their Synthpop with a wicked combination of those same spritely vocals and melodies but with a new muscular sublayer. “More” is deceptive in its motorik structure and Gary Numan-esque pulse. “Simmering” manages to use the same beat (and those hidden synths) to propel. If this were a guitar song, fists would be pumping and we would all be singing along (“What do we do to pass the time!”) Outside of refining their attack, the music here has a unique jangle - not associated with SynthPop. “Million Times Over” is their single. Like “Star Vehicle” from “Souvenirs,” (and “Kisses” by Slowdive, )Pale Blue Eyes really knows how to pull those heartstrings. The chorus with its streams of synths and wash of vocals is underpinned by a near-crunchy guitar. In addition, the way they intone the line “you taste so sweet” simply makes the track melt. “This House” lives up to its potential and exceeds expectations.

Various Artists - LATIN FREESTYLE: NEW YORK/MIAMI 1983-1992 ['LP/CD](ACE Records UK)

On his latest compilation, our hero Bob Stanley gathers together the Electronic Dance Pop that nearly took over Top 40 in the late Eighties thanks to the ongoing Madonna obsession with Madonna among the zeitgeist. Surprisingly, Stanley programs the segments together so well that the hits (Expose and Stacey Q both of which were played incessantly) blend in with some surprising discoveries.

Lisette Melendez’s “Together Forever” has all the hallmarks of the period (the orchestral stabs, the skipping uptempo beat, and the squirrely synth melody line.) As much as the producers clearly wanted her to be the next Taylor Dayne, Melendez’s phrasing on this 1991 Freestyle jam arrived too late to soar up the charts. Elsewhere, Nocera has some funky fun with sampling her helium-range voice on 1987’s “Let’s Go.” 1985’s “Funky Little Beat” by Connie (Martinez) may be stripped down and almost mid-tempo compared to the dancefloor smashes that follow, but the programming of the simple synth melody against the wash of chords clearly laid the groundwork. Finally, the inclusion of the 1987 smash “Fascinated” by Company B cements the connection of Freestyle to Dance Music’s tradition of fantastic singers like Gwen Guthrie (1983’s “Padlock” for the legendary Larry Levan) to Martha Wash (1990’s “Gonna Make You Sweat” from C&C Music Factory.)

INTERVIEW: BOBBY GRANFELT OF HIGH PULP!

High Pulp is not only bringing Jazz back to the mainstream, but the Seattle group is also celebrating music as not something to pass the time with or distract - but a consistent part of life. From their humble Seattle beginnings, High Pulp has long been getting people to listen and help fuel the entire experience. Drummer Bobby Granfelt’s job booking helped the band secure a weekly slot to develop their rapport among themselves, those who sat in, and the growing crowds who were there to follow their development.

On their latest ANTI/Epitaph/AMPED release “Days In The Desert,” High Pulp takes you on a lengthy trip through the Mojave Desert. Out where the air is so warm it heats you up to breathe, “Desert” looks to a mixture of Hip-Hop, Electronics, and Funk to cushion the impact of their modern take on Jazz. Their stellar slate of guests only helps send this journey into the stars (Brandee Younger on “Solanin”) and then return to terra firma (the earthshaking James Brandon Lewis on “Dirtmouth.”) Like Seventies albums from Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock, High Pulp is making thoroughly Modern Jazz that could even appeal to this generation’s Indie Rockers.

MM: What is the origin story of High Pulp?

HIGH PULP: A basement in north Seattle 2015. Friends making music with no intention of it becoming anything serious. We started playing shows, writing more, adding some members, and it sort of took its own trajectory from there. We’ve just been along for the ride.

MM: How did you get from covering Frank Ocean (and others) to making this new album that dares to make some very funky, thought-provoking, and challenging Jazz?

HIGH PULP: I think they’re more similar than people assume. When we’re making, listening to, or talking about the music, we’re not talking about genres as much as we’re talking about emotion and colors. We take influence from a super wide range of music, everything from film scores to 60s Jazz, to experimental ambient, to Hip-Hop. It all gets funneled through our High Pulp machine and out comes music that is taken from all those things, but is our own. 

MM: There are a lot of electronics on here which really creates atmosphere.  On a cut like “Fast Asleep” was this all thought of beforehand rehearsed or created in the studio with all the toys and instruments being at your grasp?

HIGH PULP: We built this song like a beatmaker would. In Ableton, adding and subtracting things, slowly locating what we wanted to be the focal point of each section and then using other instruments to help support the focal point. It’s much more trial and error as opposed to rehearsing and then recording.

MM: How did you snare Jeff Parker? He is just a natural fit guitar player for you. His parts stand out but never deter from the groove that you are all cooking.

HIGH PULP: Jeff lives in LA, Andy and I (Bobby) would go see his Mondays at ETA group pretty often. It was refreshing and inspiring in a lot of different ways. He then DJ’ed at one of our shows, we chatted a bit, and we asked him to be on a track. He’s super humble and absolutely made the song something special.

MM: Speaking of cooking. When you are constructing these grooves, is there any indication that you know — “This is ready!”  “Days” is so full, that it feels like every idea you had was brought to fruition. 

HIGH PULP: It’s really just a feeling and it takes time sometimes. We would record something and then sit on it for months and then return and say “No… this is close but it’s off”. Then back to the trial and error. Each song had a different “This is ready” moment. Trying to put a unilateral process for something like that on a song or album can be limiting. It’s a relationship and it’s constantly changing. The songs are sort of alive in that way.

MM: What albums/artists were inspiring you?

HIGH PULP: A ton. Too many to list. But on this record, it was a lot of Stereolab, Tortoise, Madlib, Gil Evans, and good food.

MM: Now. The bad question. Personally, we do not want to call it “Fusion” because outside of a handful of records that had become a pejorative. So what would you call your music?

HIGH PULP: We stopped trying to call it anything.

MM: That wasn’t too bad. 

HIGH PULP: Exactly. 

MM: Is there a cut on the album that sounds completely different from when you demoed it? 

HIGH PULP: “Never In My Short Sweet Life” really went every different direction. It was the problem child of the record. But also the most rewarding. It used to have a whole different outro and had way more chords and it just wasn’t that good lol.

MM: There seems to be a theme of either “driving” or “taking a road trip”.  Did you test-drive these songs just listening on the road? Do you get anything from listening to your tracks together that unites the “direction” of your music?

HIGH PULP: We didn’t really listen to these a lot on the road. Sometimes the road can be tiring and you don’t want to also pick up a half-finished project. I think the road really influenced this record, but more from just the general life of touring as opposed to working on the record while on the road. 

MM: There are some far-out moments on here. And some down-to-earth ones too. Choose your fave Far Out moment and your fave Down To Earth one.

HIGH PULP: I guess the ending of “(If You Don’t Leave) The City Will Kill You” is out there. Daedelus really took that track and specifically the outro to a special place.

“Robert Pollard” is a really beautiful horn chorale that Andy wrote. It feels grounding.

MM: This is clearly a lot to take on the road. What do you think (obviously without the guests) about them playing them live? Are you extending portions and really feeling the crowd as to where they want to see them go?

HIGH PULP: Each song is a different puzzle live. Sometimes we open up sections and feed off of the crowd, other times we think certain songs are important to keep it concise and to the point. We didn’t play any of these songs live before we recorded them, so it’s a fun challenge to reimagine them.

MM: What is next for you? Are there any big shows coming up you are excited about?

HIGH PULP: Touring in September, working on new songs, and getting some remixes done by some of our favorite artists. We’re playing a few dates with Daedelus on the East Coast, playing THING festival in Port Townsend, and playing the Earshot festival in Seattle. Lots of inspiring things at the moment!

“Days In The Desert” is out on LP & CD from ANTI and can be enjoyed/downloaded from their Bandcamp page. For more music and tour dates, visit their website below

EPARAPO - Take It To The Streets [LP](Wah Wah 45s UK)

As a new Afrobeat band, London’s Eparapo takes several huge chances on their lengthier excursions. These veterans of playing with Tony Allen and Seun Kuti know how important that central “crossed” polyrhythmic figure is to creating space for further development. On the brassy opener “Follow The Money,” its William Onyeabor-ish groove hits its stride in the mellow portion allowing a blazing organ solo to really raise the temperature on this jam. However, it is the eleven-minute title cut that borrows some wild horn figures from the current London Jazz Underground, mixes them with some moody guitar chords, and somehow eases into a true Fela-esque potboiler. Even after several listens (which we must say, these cuts are purposely to get lost within) Eparapo does such a masterful job of controlling the ebb and flow, it always leaves you feeling like it still has not peaked yet.

SPRAIN - The Lamb As Effigy [LP](The Flenser)

Like labelmates Chat Pile, this Los Angeles Noise/Rock quartet is out to explode the idea of music having melody (“Man Proposes, God Disposes” boasts a frightening string opening, and a midpoint atonal section/drop that is the aural equivalent of the rollercoaster drop,) and avant-garde ideas (“Privilege of Being,”) crash into each other at J.G.Ballard velocity. “Effigy” sifts through the wreckage for a thrilling, inventive, and exhausting (in a good way, the Godspeed-ish/Swans-ian “Margin For Error” plays for 24 minutes) detour into artistic darkness.

MARDUK - Memento Mori [LP/CD](Century Media/The Orchard)

A truly dangerous slice of Black Metal from a revitalized Marduk. “Memento Mori” is both aggressive and relentless. Drummer Simon Schilling gives a textbook example of precision (“Blood of the Funeral”) and bloodcurdling thunder. Most of these tracks play like little horror films, with furious guitars from Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson swelling around flurries of melody (the Thrash-heavy “Marching Bones”) and well-selected background work. Upfront is Daniel Rostén whose gravelly, processed vocals are run through a surprising amount of changes. The riveting “Shovel Beats Sceptre” opens with his voice rising up and enveloping you with its echo. Once the band enters to bring in its slow(er) monster-lumbering-toward-you beat, Mortuus is growling, howling, grunting, and therefore practically singing with himself. While this bleak, grinding, violent massive aural storm may not be for everyone - like much of the recent wave of Black Metal - it is mostly here to find a new audience to slay.

WARRINGTON-RUNCORN NEW TOWN DEVELOPMENT PLAN - Building a New Town EP [LP](Castles In Space UK)

Like a new Cluster (with acoustic guitar) or Pye Corner Audio with an eye on Seventies documentaries, W-RNTWDP (a/k/a Gordon Chapman-Fox) challenges you to listen not as Library music (the stunning closer “The Cornerstone” with its Pink Floydian undercurrent) or even Folk-meets-Musik Kosmiche (the haunting Alan Parsons-esque “The View From Halton Castle.”) “Building a New Town” is both pastoral and spooky. While Chapman-Fox always seems to have his ears tuned to Seventies culture and its hollowness, there is a richness to his arrangements that transforms these instrumentals. Admire its ability to capture both the industrious mood of buildings going up into the skies and the chill of the cold wind blowing through their open windows. In the end, we can only call it music for empty buildings.

P.G.SIX - Murmurs and Whispers [LP](Drag City/Redeye)

Ending his 12-year break, Pat Gubler returns with a relaxed British Folk record where the only facet that tries to sound Celtic is his Triplett Celtic Harp. Gubler’s quaint singing only lends to the delicate arrangements he has assembled here. “Leaves” opens with a beautiful combination of subtle synth (providing the drone) and dulcimer. The meditative “I Have Known Love” is strummed with the majesty of John Fahey. “Murmurs and Whispers” is not always so gentle, the pub-ready pull of that good ol’ “Barley Wine” begs you to sing along, while a saxophone breathes into the waves and harp of the lengthy exploration “I Don’t Want To Be Free.” However, the way he doubles his parts (Fairport Convention-style) and then ushers in the multi-tracked vocals on “Just Begun” heightens both the modern focus and its connection to the Folk tradition.

We hope you enjoyed this music. We always leave hoping that there is something on the list or the page for everyone. Support these artists. They are working on music that they love and firmly believe could be loved by others too. Glad to be your musical sifter/selector. Thank you.

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