Pitchfork presents: Altered Zones

http://pitchfork.com/news/39305-pitchfork-unites-blog-collective-for-new-music-site-altered-zones/

Pitchfork is excited to announce the upcoming launch of Altered Zones, a new sister site that will focus on leftfield pop, experimental, and home-recorded sounds. In the last several years, there's been an explosion of small-scale DIY music, and Altered Zones is dedicated to exploring these emerging musical worlds. Uniting an international team of bloggers whose individual sites have proven among the most consistently rewarding outposts for unique and leftfield music, this new site will highlight the most notable and adventurous new artists, serving as a focal point for the flood of creativity coming from deep within the music underground.

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Part of me thinks this is a nice gesture, considering how "The Playlist" for the last year or so has basically pillaged all these blogs and served as little more than a feedreader. On the other hand, is this Pitchfork's attempt to absorb the people doing the actual scouting into their fold just to look like they haven't been sleeping at the wheel? (Because they have, no doubt.)

there's not enough space on the main site to cover these areas?

i'm not trying to be snide, by the way.

also, wasn't one of the big advantages of blogs the notion that music recommendation and criticism would be decentralized, opening up new space for acts to flourish and grow? if such an advantage ever actually existed, this seems to cut against it. i'm not against the idea, by any means; i'm just wondering.

That main image is all very 1979 Omni.

Also, Altered Zones inevitably makes me think of Mutant Sounds...which might be the point.

this will be cool if some of the music is not terrible, but "leftfield pop" and "home recording" are rarely good buzzwords

"altered zones" is hilarious. sounds like an area visited in a bill & ted sequel.

btw, I meant the Forkcast and not The Playlist, which tends to focus on a larger audience.

wasn't one of the big advantages of blogs the notion that music recommendation and criticism would be decentralized

Yes.

can't wait to see what great "leftfield pop" Gorilla Vs Bear helps to get on this site

have the feeling that pitchfork currently devotes a fair amount of dink (digital ink) to "leftfield pop" and home recorded whatever. is this a way to refine the brand so as to concentrate less on the fringes, more on the stuff that will actually sell?

TRIANGLE MUSIC

because pitchfork wasn't paying enough attention to chillwave

^ right

dink

seriously dude?

LOL, i totally missed clowning contenderizer for dink

"a fair amount of dink"

"a fair amount of dink"
"a fair amount of dink"
"a fair amount of dink"
"a fair amount of dink"
"a fair amount of dink"
"a fair amount of dink"

just tryin that out

alteredzonesreviewsreviews.tumblr.com

just sayin'

pretty chillwave nostalgia bro

http://www.tvacres.com/images/dinosaur_dink.jpg

"leftfield pop, experimental, and home-recorded sounds"

these are all kind of ambiguous terms that afaik could be applied to a huge percentage of what PF already covers, right?

Here's just the important words from the Pitchfork press release, listed without context: home-recorded, surreal, retrofuturistic, cassette-only, pyramid, phantasmagorian synergies, aura, radio wave, collage artist, daze, antiquated photographic techniques, noise, psych, lost, astrophysics, half-remembered cultural nostalgias, cosmic, colour-drenched, heartbreaking, audiophile, tacos.

kinda sick and tired of all u warm jets complaining about chillwave every day on the internet

incredible words

tacowave

pitchfork should put a dink on it imo

best of luck to P4k in their effort to monetize phantasmagorian synergies

this is as much news to me as anyone, but what makes sense about it to me is that ... I don't think there's a "sleeping at the wheel" issue, I think that (especially as the site's grown) it's had to split its real estate among covering both niche/underground stuff and everything else -- it makes a certain amount of sense to create another space that can concentrate on the niche.

oh yeah, it's smart as fuck.

they're going to be basically writing the narrative of underground music in the 2010s if chill/witch/tape/magik shit turns out to have legs instead of just being a passing fad

hope there are mediafire links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ZetW6bQ7Q

just sayin'

writing the narrative of underground music in the 2010s

but isn't the turnaround time between like 20jfg and the forkcast already like only a matter of weeks? not sure how this gives them any more share/control of "the" narrative.

Don't get how Gorilla Vs. Bear is a voice for "leftfield pop, experimental, and home-recorded sounds" and/or "notable and adventurous new artists" -- anyone care to enlighten me?

i totally missed clowning contenderizer for dink

― Elektro Guzzi Mane (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, June 29, 2010 9:50 AM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark

it's self-clowning tho

I don't think there's a "sleeping at the wheel" issue

I didn't mean that PFM was missing a lot of stuff. I meant that PFM was letting bloggers find stuff and then just siphon it off of their sites like a lazy newsfeed. At least all these bloggers are finally getting a home base that serves as a "thank you" of sorts, but it's also a strategically beneficial move for PFM itself.

I had a discussion with Perpetua a while ago about whether Pitchfork's role was still to discover or to just report on the discoveries of others. He claims the latter, but I think a site with the resources Pitchfork has (meaning they can hire a couple people dedicated to combing through the blogosphere and the internet at large looking for bands no one else is writing about, instead of relying on a handful of blogs and a barrage of press releases to do the job for them) is almost obligated to discovery.

daniel's first post otm

ps- wtf is witch house? is it the same as triangle music? or does it just describe salem err...

writing the narrative of underground music in the 2010s

but isn't the turnaround time between like 20jfg and the forkcast already like only a matter of weeks? not sure how this gives them any more share/control of "the" narrative.

― like a musical album. made by a band. (fucking in the streets), Tuesday, June 29, 2010 1:19 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Because this is really wrapping a bunch of disparate elements covered by a bunch of different bloggers--noise, chillwave, drone, witch house, leftfield club, psych-rock--and uniting them ONE aesthetic that essentially corners the market. Like the way we associate 70s punk with leather jackets and safety pins, we could be thinking about 10s DIY via triangles and cosmic ish and YouTube clips of Nova specials.

a site with the resources Pitchfork has (meaning they can hire a couple people dedicated to combing through the blogosphere and the internet at large looking for bands no one else is writing about, instead of relying on a handful of blogs and a barrage of press releases to do the job for them) is almost obligated to discovery.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, June 29, 2010 10:22 AM (27 seconds ago) Bookmark

man, hipster runoff better take the day off for this

it amuses/confounds me that talk of "discovering" new bands apparently translates directly to "combing the internet" and not, like, going to shows or being out in the world or involved in some actual small underground scene.

Like the way we associate 70s punk with leather jackets and safety pins, we could be thinking about 10s DIY via triangles and cosmic ish and YouTube clips of Nova specials.

― Elektro Guzzi Mane (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, June 29, 2010 10:23 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

it amuses/confounds me that talk of "discovering" new bands apparently translates directly to "combing the internet" and not, like, going to shows or being out in the world or involved in some actual small underground scene.

― ripe dink (some dude), Tuesday, June 29, 2010 10:28 AM (30 seconds ago) Bookmark

this includes pretty much the only blogs I ever look at anymore (xxjfg and Visitation Rites, both really good) so I'm sure I'll check it out

xxxxp 99.99% of all working bands, including those who might be just a guy and his girlfriend in his bedroom recording songs with Logic, have some kind of web presence now. Not everyone lives in London or NYC and can just have their pick of 40 shows to go check out on any given night.

I'm thinking about starting a blog

oh i know...and i definitely USE the internet to find out about bands, but (and big caveat here, i'm noone's idea of a tastemaker and i cover live shows because i get paid to do it) when i see that a band that might be interesting is playing nearby, i go see their show instead of just checking to see what i can download or how many blogs have already written about them.

blogs on tape

do it

theres already a blogs on tape I googled it just now

shit cat

I am actually seriously thinking about starting a blog though

quick rant, but basically i think if a reader/consumer wants to hear and learn about only music they can get through the internet, that's fine, but writers and media outlets who don't venture offline to experience anything to bring back to their readers, online or otherwise, are feeding into an impoverished dialogue

3\COMTRUISE/E

fantasy, what are you gonna blog about dude?

meant that PFM was letting bloggers find stuff and then just siphon it off of their sites like a lazy newsfeed.

I think this is kind of mis-imagining the dynamics, though -- I mean, talking about stuff first is just what blogs do, and they have the ability to follow hard and early on a single niche in ways a big review site doesn't. A big review site will sorta inevitably wind up talking about whatever's turned out most significant in various ... areas, right? So it makes pretty obvious sense to create an area to talk about a particular area more in depth.

xpost -- for better or worse, the internet is part of "out in the world" now, you know? a part of the world where just as much music stuff is happening as in venues and bars, so ... it's not the whole thing, but acting like it's "lesser" strikes me as wrong

I just said "area" too much but you know what I mean

poems + album links maybe but a lot of people probably already do that

the name immediately brings to mind the uncharted zone, which of course brought us the inimitable mark gormley.

"This I know: the Next Big Thing in music will come from from the United States Gulf Coast. I know this because I watch The Uncharted Zone, featuring Phil Thomas Katt."

xpost

oh neat

interviews with bouncers at chillwave shows

should've taken acid with them

chillwave fruit + cheese pairings

I'll call the blog The Hypotenuse

should've taken acid with them

irl lol congrats d00d

http://twitter.com/ryanpitchfork

FYI: no blogs were purchased in the making of @alteredzones. they are contributing on a purely freelance basis

1 minute ago via web

a huge influx of new readers is gonna be a disaster for these bloggers imo

i doubt a huge influx is on the way

i'm betting your avg pfork surfer is not that interested in this kind of shit

If those bloggers end up getting paid some non-trivial amount to keep doing what they were already doing then I'm all for it.

xpost

I don't think they'd launch the site if they didn't think it'd have a significant, albiet lesser than the main site's, readership

right, it unclogs all the weirdo stuff from the main site so ppl can get their the national track leaks in peace

i'm betting your avg pfork surfer is not that interested in this kind of shit

Salem at Fader fort .jpg

xpost

you think the launch of this site will shift the editorial focus of the main site, albiet slightly?

truthfully i don't give a shit

Almost certainly.

xp

yeah, suggested that earlier. maybe allows p4rk to spend less time on marginal weirdness that doesn't appeal to their core demo.

Salem at Fader fort .jpg

― the food has a top snake of 1 (ulillillia), Tuesday, June 29, 2010 2:46 PM (36 seconds ago)

http://i46.tinypic.com/14udeeh.jpg

I don't know, I just think it's super doubtful that P4k would hand over total coverage of an entire subsection of the music they cover to bloggers

agree w that. i'm certain they'll continue to skim the cram, but p4rk main can be used to funnel the curious towards "altered zones". check out this insane sloth y'all...

siked for the whiney/gorilla vs bear beef

this is fucking wack. the only useful music blogs now are going to be the ones that just post up mediafires and don't even bother to say shit.

really disappointed the XXJFG is joining, one of my favorite blogs from way back

i meant now as in, if this trend of consolidation continues

i route all my blog reading thru rss anyway, so who cares. w/o any evidence at all i think this is a growing trend.

anyway, sorry about your graphic design, blogs. i bet it's really good.

yeah, I use Google Reader for all of that stuff

I hate you people. rss is the worst invention ever.

we could be thinking about 10s DIY via triangles and cosmic ish and YouTube clips of Nova specials.

This is funny because I just did this exact thing with an old 4-track recording of mine from 2001:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ0uh6L34bs

how many blog collectives can gorilla vs bear be a part of

should start a new one called Animal Collective imo, fuck tha SEO haters

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/fez_/goat.gif

I hate when that gif gets posted. It freaks me the fuck out!

^yeah

it amuses/confounds me that talk of "discovering" new bands apparently translates directly to "combing the internet" and not, like, going to shows or being out in the world or involved in some actual small underground scene.

― ripe dink (some dude), Tuesday, June 29, 2010 10:28 AM (4 hours ago)

some dude otm

and sorry, but that .gif is what "altered zones" made me think of - multi-eyed goat creature from Altered States and Herve Villachez (sp?) from Forbidden Zone

I'm going to be challopsy and say I actually kind of like this idea. A site covering this kind of stuff but with some actual money/muscle/pull behind it sounds like a good thing to me, and inasmuch as Pitchfork already covers it, I think the mainsite is probably not ideally suited to do so, particularly with so much emphasis on the Best New Music picks and the generally schmindie vibe of the site. I don't see this as very different than a magazine publisher creating a new magazine to appeal to a more specialized interest.

I happen to like a certain amount of centralization and I don't think music travels as well by pure "word of mouth" as is commonly represented.

All this being contingent on the site actually being well-executed, of course, and the name does not necessarily portend well.

Hurting - I think it depends on how one feels about canon formation.

i'm ok with it.

This might also just be part of my transformation into full-blown adult career yuppie dude -- "great, a convenient, one-stop-shopping site that will allow me to find out about all the hip noise without having to trawl blogs. Who has time for that?!"

the mainsite is probably not ideally suited to do so, particularly with . . . the generally schmindie vibe of the site.

are the blogs covering stuff so far afield from what's on the main site? "leftfield pop, experimental, and home-recorded sounds" sounds indie to me, though maybe not "major indie labels," i suppose.

actually, i am mildly disappointed p4k isn't using this to discuss other genres that the main site covers, but only on occassion, e.g., (a) dubstep (they have a pretty fabulous dubstep/grime column, but it doesn't seem to be published regularly); (b) reissued and lost gems from earlier eras (with an emphasis on the amazing amount of top-shelf african music that's being reissued all the time nowadays). but whatevs., minor quibbles.

i am mildly disappointed p4k isn't using this to discuss other genres that the main site covers, but only on occassion

tbh, i'm still excited for Altered Zones, but a site of the type Daniel's talking about would've been dope

Maybe it's more a branding thing than anything. I mean I honestly don't read pitchfork enough to know in depth everything they cover, but maybe that's the problem. I just can't shake the idea of them in my head as the place you go when you want to know the 5 CDs you should namedrop in your graphic design studio, or whatever.

xp - Hurting - I wonder if the obvious 80s cult references signify that the target audience for this site is Gen X-ers who grew up with a more solid notion of a mainstream/underground divide and want to keep abreast of the products of the underground but due to life's normal progression desire the convenience of a pitchfork-related filter site?

that is a solid theory

i mean, it would appeal to me if i had a "normal" life for someone in their mid-30s, as opposed to having pretty much the same lifestyle i had in my mid-20s

this could have a potentially horrible impact imo. one of the nice things about psych cassette labels and trashy rips that gets posted on all everyone united is that you get the impression this stuff can't really be contained by the internet, that there's too much of this stuff and the best thing is just to connect with your local scene and make your way through bands and labels, or local scenes.

i was kind of hoping the internet would relax its grip over music in the upcoming years of my life, the resurgence of cassette labels maybe being sign of a renewed interest in tangible forms. everything is so nerdy now and i guess enough people like it that way and will just continue ripping cassetes and downloading them off mediafire

I guess I don't see why something like Altered States should preclude any of that.

What I suppose I'm hoping for, which is not necessarily what I will get, is something with a quasi-tastemaker role but that is more attuned to my taste than Pitchfork and not so, you know, Pitchforky.

i'm kinda resentful of it because it means that i will be lured into pitchfork-related threads on ilx

trying to figure out if it's possible to killfile posts containing the words "witch house"

The Matrix is my favorite film by the witch houseski brothers.

w1tch h0u$3

*gouges eyes out*

http://www.lauragivens-artist.com/images/witches-house-s.gif

So which artists will this new website be largely covering? It looks at this initial stage to be a digestible gateway into all this obscure-seeming witchwave/fuckwave stuff. Like someone/something sorting out through all those mp3 blurbs and picking out the worthwhile stuff? Probably artists that I've never heard of, and make it seem like I have no fucking idea what's happening in modern music at the moment.

i guess i'm just skeptical about it - i doubt it will be completely awful and some musicians that i like and respect will get more recognition because of it, and there will be mediocrities championed, bullshit spewed, and complaints about the mediocrities and the bullshit and authenticity and co-opting ...

Listening to this witch house shit for the first time right now and i'm fukkin dyin

I don't actually think 'witch house' has been discussed at all on ILM. So Witch-House 101: who is witch house's A+ artist, what is best or most notable witch house song??

*what is THE best or most..etc

this shit is neither witch nor house: discuss

polyphonic, watch this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0ZetW6bQ7Q

can't get past singing "witch house" to the tune of "brick house" and imagining Margaret Hamilton cackling providing the backing beat. Does witch house actually sound like that?

I don't actually think 'witch house' has been discussed at all on ILM. So Witch-House 101: who is witch house's A+ artist, what is best or most notable witch house song??

― Davek (davek_00), Tuesday, June 29, 2010 6:56 PM (4 minutes ago)

The Witch House thread

:( sorry my bad

also o_O at ksh's youtube link. A pitchfork spin-off, dedicated to that?!

to be fair, that performance is a disaster -- here's the studio version: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4zhqtlcdi0

Adam Bruneau's 4-track recording above >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Salem

However this is good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBBm_Px3PFM&feature=related

i doubt it will be completely awful and some musicians that i like and respect will get more recognition because of it, and there will be mediocrities championed, bullshit spewed, and complaints about the mediocrities and the bullshit and authenticity and co-opting ...

In other words, it'll still be Pitchfork?

lol @ me calling it "Altered States" after a sequence of exceedingly lame posts

xpost

http://i47.tinypic.com/29ze8ft.jpg

i think Altered Zones should have an animated gif of multi-eyed goat creature on its home page, as a way of demonstrating scene cred

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA that jpg omg lol xp

maybe allows p4rk to spend less time on marginal weirdness that doesn't appeal to their core demo

ha, as a brand umbrella this sounds rather more like "allows p4k to spend MORE time on marginal weirdness that doesn't necessary appeal to the whole readership," just by way of collecting another site

I mean, this is sorta broken-record for me to say, but I think right now there's maybe a larger-than-usual split between mainstreamy indie and more underground indie-type stuff? which makes it a little harder to stretch across the whole gamut on one site. so there's a pretty obvious appeal to collecting a separate space to actually concentrate on the niche stuff

(and then maybe 20 years from now they will be using witch house in iPud commercials and Altered Zones will need a put together a sub-site to cover emerging pimpwave and jowlcore artists)

(also yeah, as said earlier, it could have the result of pulling niche stuff to the attention of broader readership, etc.)

didn't gorillavsbear just get bought out by some nü-media conglomerate? cuz their new site has the lulziest SEO title: Music Blog, Music Videos, Free Mp3s | GORILLA VS BEAR

didn't gorillavsbear just get bought out by some nü-media conglomerate?

yes, dutch media conglomerate dullco, inc.

Gorilla vs. Bear is doing something with Buzzmedia, but I'm not sure what it is

for those of you who don't know what Buzzmedia is, they're the fine folks who brought you the critically acclaimed Idolator overhaul last fall

xpost to LOLX

lovin' the "Free Mp3s" in the title especially

http://www.buzz-media.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/SS_pop.jpg yo can we get some AD UNITS up in here?

http://i46.tinypic.com/2nvedm0.jpg

actually, i am mildly disappointed p4k isn't using this to discuss other genres that the main site covers, but only on occassion, e.g., (a) dubstep (they have a pretty fabulous dubstep/grime column, but it doesn't seem to be published regularly); (b) reissued and lost gems from earlier eras (with an emphasis on the amazing amount of top-shelf african music that's being reissued all the time nowadays). but whatevs., minor quibbles.

― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, June 29, 2010 6:03 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark

this. though i do agree that there's nothing that would stop them from re-branding the site should chillwave prove to be a phase.

just creating another blog, regardless of whether or not it's an amalgamation of other blogs, is not going to be a game changer in any sort of way for p4k or anyone interested in these disparate genres/sounds. the whole idea just sounds like the huffington post of chillwave. it also seems to be an effort to capitulate on the success of tumblr; the most interesting aspect of the whole project is the linkage of the music to visual art with the "rotating series of surreal retrofuturistic backdrops inspired by the site's name." though at this point i don't see this venture as being any more successful than pitchfork.tv (the address of which just redirects to the main p4k page now - has for quite some time - not even the pitchfork.tv section).

i agree with what some have said about the site's ability to create a narrative for chillwave, which therefore makes it a more legitimate genre because it will finally have a context. it'll be interesting to see how it all comes together in the next couple of months.

part of the beauty of pitchfork is the fact that the majority of the albums they review are easily obtained. either from RAR blogs or itunes or whatever. so a recommendation from them can spark an interest in a reader who can access the album a minute later. i'm wondering if people will embrace altered zones as easily, despite the fact that the content that's being discussed will be much harder to get. it's fine if they want to document a scene, but if i'm interested in hearing that music, and i can't get it, then i'm probably going to forget about it and move along.

that reality places a lot of emphasis on the written content of the site. will it be strong enough to sustain interest alone? probably not, as visitors apparently need a "rotating series of surreal retrofuturistic backdrops inspired by the site's name" to keep them coming back. unless they have a [nabisco] [.] or tom ewing hidden in their ranks, i don't think people will stick around or pay attention.

maybe this is PF's way of extending an olive branch to bloggers who can't write for shit but with whom they want to network and share resources

hurting2 have you heard the original

lol @ deej vanity googling for week-old gucci mane posts on independence day

how do i google a youtube embed b/w i thought u decided u were 'above' this -- relapse

i know, i know... but you got to admit it's a little lol.

guys this is a great thread don't wreck it for the rest of us w/ a beef you already supposedly settled!!!

dont want to get in the way of ksh posting links & saying 'just sayin'

you got it dogg!

actually, it's more

http://i47.tinypic.com/29ze8ft.jpg

just sayin

i thought u decided u were 'above' this -- relapse

― blap...tremendo (deej), Sunday, July 4, 2010 6:46 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

kind of autololled at this but does it even work

i thought u decided u were 'above' this -- 'above the rim' (1994 film starring tupac shakur)

it wasnt supposed to be a young money punchline lol

TOP BRANDS YOU MAY HAVE SEEN ON ILXOR:
http://www.buzz-media.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/BuzznetBrands.jpg

(and then maybe 20 years from now they will be using witch house in iPud commercials and Altered Zones will need a put together a sub-site to cover emerging pimpwave and jowlcore artists)

― oɔsıqɐu (nabisco), Tuesday, June 29, 2010 7:37 PM (5 days ago)

just wanna say how great of a genre name i think pimpwave is, and if google's any indication i think you might have actually invented it

http://i45.tinypic.com/11grqzn.jpg

So it's July 7th now. Where is it?

IT'S IN YOUR HEAD

Maybe you're right. I've imagined all of this.

Should be up sooner than later: http://twitter.com/alteredzones/status/17925256988

moments away... 19 minutes ago via web

alteredzones
altered zones

Site just went down . . . http://alteredzones.com/

launch sequence initiated... 6 minutes ago via web

alteredzones
altered zones

So is "the modern DIY scene" just going to be like the unnavigatable stream of CDBaby bands with better record collections and an inflated sense of self-importance?

chillwave really brings out the Ott in me u_u

There is an Ott in all of us, it just takes the right stuff to draw him to the forefront. I think I'm aligned with Lex on the twee hatred front. I will get super Ottsy all up on some motherfucking twee shit.

doubleyou doubleyou ee eye en gee ay ar tee ee en

eye el ex oh ar

ess tee eff you

I'm afk until way later today -- somebody plz take over liveblogging this critical moment in independent music history for me. thanking you in advance

At this point I'm kind hoping it all leads up to a page that just says "HAHAHAHAHA FUCK YOU".

i'm a display name
i've finally made it

Oh wow. It's up.

I don't dare click a blind Whiney link, anyone have an update?

http://www.alteredzones.com/posts/18/most-overlooked-2010/

Well they actually succeeded in posting about bands I've never heard or heard of. Whether or not they're any good remains to be seen, but I appreciate the opportunity.

One review begins "Their power-pop steez" = ARGH.

Well they actually succeeded in posting about bands I've never heard or heard of.

I think you might have heard of Ariel Pink. :-D

Ariel Pink and Tennis too, but for the most part it's all new. And I visit a lot of these contributors' blogs, so they've been sitting on stuff.

It's definitely a case where the value comes from how much you're already familiar with the ill-defined scene as such, or rather its contours. A lot of this is continuing Terrastock-and-after fallout, which I'm more than fine with! (Sun Araw being a good local example for me.)

Should we have a poll for most hyperbolic turn of phrase in one post?

There was a short period when I thought I'd never hear another song that made that familiar smile grow across my face--the one you get when you click play and immediately know you’ve found something special, something unique.

###

This spiraling club sprawler slings you through a vortex of sound and emotion in instances that bleed between lines of reality and fiction, allowing you to sink into a semi-comatose state

###

f you've ever taken music lessons, "Dust" by Brooklyn's Up Died Sound will return you to the time when you played your first harmonic minor scale and gasped as a new universe opened up before you

opening with tracks = smart move

I think it's sort of cool, because I haven't heard of any of these bands (spare Ariel Pink) and I like hearing things I've never heard before and I'm really enjoying the two tracks I've listened to so far, so all in all I am pretty cool with this thing. So everyone fucking throw rocks at me or something.

yeah, so most of these bands sound kind of...shitty, but some of them are bound not to be.

Difficult to see the point of Altered Zones. If you've got an RSS reader and Twitter, why do you need another site that collates content published elsewhere? I can see the point of The Daily Swarm, which offers up stuff that has mostly slipped through the cracks, but all I really need to do here is have all these sites in an RSS or Twitter feed. Right? Or am I missing something?

Altered Zones isn't just a news feed. It's fresh content that these bloggers are giving Pitchfork in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship.

familiar w/ sun araw, dead luke & ariel pink of course, so the old friend/new friend ratio isn't unusual for a mystery blog vaguely aligned w my interests. so far, i'm enjoying the sounds. dead luke = my favorite of the first 3, sounding completely unlike anything i've heard from them/him in the past.

cluster here is very tight so far.

I don't know what percentage of internet users use RSS readers, or use twitter as a news site, but I'm guessing it's pretty low.

so this is like the internet equivalent of people who are "really into the local music scene" isn't it

"Altered Zones isn't just a news feed. It's fresh content that these bloggers are giving Pitchfork in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship."

But that Ariel Pink post has already been on GvsB, for example. More text added here, but I couldn't really give a hoot what GvsB has to say about something.

Ned's Terrastock comparison upthread isn't too far off. This is that for the 2010s. People tried to turn freak folk into this in the 00s, but it was neither freaky enough nor folky enough and people moved on really quickly (which they might do again, but at least some people are making an effort now).

wu lyf: 4/10
raw moans: 2/10

Altered Zones isn't just a news feed. It's fresh content that these bloggers are giving Pitchfork in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship.

plus there's some benefit in having ppl comb through heaps of blogs to pull related content. like, sure, you could do it yourself, but primary emerging internet service = paring down info already provided elsewhere.

and GAH, mind spiders are cleaning my clock. notice now that they is = ex marked men, so no wonder. will actually go out and buy this.

on realizing that i am "the audience"...

wu lyf: 4/10
raw moans: 2/10

yeah, but dead luke 6/10
mind spiders 10/10

dead luke: 4.5/10; get a fucking drummer

it is about the SPACE

I was assuming "get a fucking drummer" applies to 99% of the bands covered on Altered Zones

i know i feel bad already blowing it

echo lake: 6/10

maybe you should rate the songs based on the direness of their need to get a fucking drummer

http://www.lolotov.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/pzone.jpg
http://www.lolotov.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/pzone.jpg
http://www.lolotov.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/pzone.jpg
http://www.lolotov.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/pzone.jpg
http://www.lolotov.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/pzone.jpg

xp in a sense that is what i am doing.

mind spiders: 7/10

up died sound: 8/10 because it's a straight amon duul ii ripoff, the blogger who wrote about it is an idiot.

yeah, but with maybe a little bit of early SY dust sprinkled over. mostly before it duuls out.

so far, the whole thing feels like an excercise in framing the mind spiders track. hmm, what kind of completely unrelated crap can we bump it up against in order to make it sound better?

ranceray = ksh?

oberhofer is so horrible

"Roxy Music on DMT."

are psychedelics really an integral part of the scene or is it just part of the image?

d/r/u/g/s: 4/10; borrrrrring

so are they actually representing a broad variety of underground music, or does this stuff all sound the same, in your opinions?

the common thread is bad recording

games sounds like phil collins on 5-MeO-DiPT :D

i would genuinely like to ask these musicians what their goal is; tbh if they're content making stuff that sounds like this they should cede their coverage to those who are more deserving.

oberhofer: 2/10; just 22 and needs to be put out of his misery

it doesn't all sound the same, but most of it shares similar DNA, comes across in a bleary, gazey, denatured sprawl. plus yeah, lo-fi recording. some anemic dance music, some psychedelic guitar muddle, some folksy pop, but all kind of "washed out". they're definitely trying to describe or define a specific aesthetic.

then that's a shame ...

the other thing is that w/the exception of up died sound and mind spider, they don't sound like bands

tennis: 4/10; middling retro nonsense

The Gobble Gobble track is probably my favorite of the bunch.

velvet davenport: 3/10; maybe like the strapping fieldhands if they were terrible and not funny?

gobble gobble: 6.5/10; this is like chiptune, right? major points for having a pulse.

not sounding promising - will actually listen to these, once i finish listening to this Arab on Radar album.

sun araw: 4/10; blogger seriously misunderstands the meaning of "anthemic"

and i now understand the ranceray joke.

so tomorrow they're going to do cassettes, huh? if you listen to a "new" cassette in 2010 i am going to laugh in your face.

Um, well, then you should have done that the other week...

hahah well for you, i at least would have let you explain where you're getting these new cassettes first

i have a "new" cassette i've been meaning to listen to ... it features bands that have drummers.

so it's got that going for it

only pointing that out because it seems like there might be a presumption that cassette releases are all of a similar aesthetic stripe

yeah i mean i know that there are still black metal cassettes and whatnot; you guys can correct me but this seems like some ridiculous obscure-by-choice ish

a lot of it has to do with cost, as well as wanting to produce an object

can't just burn a cd, huh

i bought a tape in 2010. local country band, The Cunts, whose songs are about what you'd expect.

a lot of it has to do with cost, as well as wanting to produce an object

Very true. I was talking with the couple who run Stunned Records at a mini-festival back in May -- despite the name, a tape label -- and for them it is a combination of cost, the desire for a physical object even at a low tape run amount, and ultimately getting the word out. They were aware that the tapes would get ripped and circulated but had found a good balance between that inevitability and how to work to make sure a tape run had sold out first.

Also, my purchases are for now limited to touring acts -- they're on the road, they have something to offer, and bands always need (and if they're good, deserve) extra money. I didn't buy anything unless I'd heard and enjoyed them live.

xp - it's not my medium of choice, that was just the only format it was released on.

lol ian

I have one cassette of a really good radio show that I really want to listen to. Does anyone have a cassette player I can borrow?

I have a small stack of cassettes I got in the last month on my desk.

it doesn't all sound the same, but most of it shares similar DNA, comes across in a bleary, gazey, denatured sprawl. plus yeah, lo-fi recording. some anemic dance music, some psychedelic guitar muddle, some folksy pop, but all kind of "washed out". they're definitely trying to describe or define a specific aesthetic.

a lot of it doesn't even sound purposefully blurry/hazy/distorted/otherwise lo-fi, just recorded in an amateurish and unpleasant way?

xp

the description of the Gobble Gobble track is just really overblown and ridiculous - it's fun synth pop, but the synth textures aren't bizarre at all, and i wouldn't call the vocal presence "unmatched" - and geez, the apiary simile?

yeah if you want to remain calm try not to read the writeups

the Sun Araw track isn't really the kind of thing that I love, but I do like it and think it's interesting.

i'm still in favor of this in principle, but it doesn't look like it's gonna align with my tastes.

I guess the teenager in me still wants to believe that there is a whole undiscovered world of amazing, mind-throttling lo-fi music being made and recorded by drugged out beardos in abandoned warehouse lofts in decaying former industrial hubs around the country. And that a blogsite brought to me by the people at Pitchfork Media will give me a pass to that world. RIP naive internal teenager.

Hurting 2 - this world exists to some extent.

agreeing w/c.a.d. on velvet davenport & tennis - these songs are just kinda dull.

why do so many of these songs sound like background music in nightclub scenes in schlocky B thrillers from the 80s that are only available on VHS?

Oh man, it's too bad they don't allow comments on there. The response to "like honey oozing from the combs of an apiary long since farmed" would have been priceless.

It's just a Godspeed You Black Emperor songtitle.

bizarre move for pfork to involve themselves this far - overarching reportage is their big strength, why piss that away on a passing aesthetic (which the creation of this site will only hasten towards the exit)?

this Up Died Sound track is pretty boring and is probably the first one i've heard (i'm listening bottom to top) that i feel the lo-fi recording is to its detriment

Oh man, it's too bad they don't allow comments on there. The response to "like honey oozing from the combs of an apiary long since farmed" would have been priceless.

― Position Position, Wednesday, July 7, 2010 9:48 PM (10 minutes ago)

Click on the post's title so that you are viewing the "Entry"/"Permalink" of the content, then scroll to the bottom. Comments.

huh - I know the Yells at Eels guys that play on the Ariel Pink track - not too fond of the way the trumpet sounds on it.

they would do this two months after my record already got covered by some of those blogs.

After checking it out I find the fact that they are so vested into such an ephemeral aesthetic somewhat bizarre. Acid washed hyper color I'm so bored I'm going to watch PBS Presents: Nova mid 90's nostalgia is what this whole project evokes in me.

who will be the first to get
"like honey oozing from the combs of an apiary long since farmed"
tattooed across their chest?

that whole Sun Araw double LP is really good. one of those sound worlds that sounds interesting but maybe a little offputting at first but becomes addictive

so far it's the most interesting of these tracks - Mind Spiders was ok, but I kept wanting it to have some chorus or hook a la Del Shannon's Runaway - but it failed to deliver.

in general terms i think this is a good thing cos surely this is all so beyond cliche now that ppl have to figure something new out (...surely?)

bizarre move for pfork to involve themselves this far - overarching reportage is their big strength, why piss that away on a passing aesthetic (which the creation of this site will only hasten towards the exit)?

i dunno, seems win/win...the main site keeps doing its thing, but if any of this stuff ends up crossing over they can still take credit for breaking it?

u guyz are all so intent on killing the magic :((((((((

h8 u so much

Lamp is secretly Raw Moans.

yeah i guess i feel they have corrupted the main site betting their chips on this, i dunno

the main pitchfork organ is still such a big stage in these things crossing over i don't really see how they can negotiate the congruence of interest

why does this Wu Lyf track remind me of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" from The Lost Boys soundtrack? I mean, it doesn't sound like it, it isn't hard-hitting and the percussion isn't very heroic at all - these descriptions are really bad.

if i'm honest (and wildly generalising) i feel this whole shitty subfusc undie machinery has denied us a kinda random white dude variety in pop music - like what would your peter gabriels or robert palmers or thomas dolbys or whatever be doing if they were 21 now yknow

Click on the post's title so that you are viewing the "Entry"/"Permalink" of the content, then scroll to the bottom. Comments.

― Catbird (mbvrc), Wednesday, July 7, 2010 5:00 PM (20 minutes ago)

Thanks for that. It took me a while to figure it out, but I can see it now. So you can only comment on everything posted? How weird. I'm guessing hardly anyone has stumbled across that. Yet.

sarahel your descriptions sound more interesting than the website descriptions. wish I wasn't at work so I could listen to some of these

r/t/c - subfusc undie machinery?

subfusc undie machinery sounds like a more interesting decription than most of these merit

Everyone will forget about this aggregate/regurgitation site by fall.

Mind Spiders was ok, but I kept wanting it to have some chorus or hook a la Del Shannon's Runaway - but it failed to deliver.

― sarahel, Wednesday, July 7, 2010 2:09 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmarki can see that. i said 10/10 cuz love that kind of thing in general and have liked marked men in the past, but it's realistically more like a high 7/low 8, even in my world. relative to everything else, though, i really dug it. sun araw, too.

i got marked men confused with Diminished Men from Seattle ... the latter I like quite a bit, haven't heard Marked Men.

xp yeah well that's the other thing, it is piss-easy to fanny up all this nonsensical florid bollocks and i detest the enthusiasation of music crit

I hope this benefits some of my friends somehow, I guess.

if i'm honest (and wildly generalising) i feel this whole shitty subfusc undie machinery has denied us a kinda random white dude variety in pop music - like what would your peter gabriels or robert palmers or thomas dolbys or whatever be doing if they were 21 now yknow

― r|t|c, Wednesday, July 7, 2010 5:22 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is a truth bomb, had been trying to figure out how to articulate that exact feeling for a while now

Trip Maker otm - that was my first thought when I heard about it.

yep. mind spiders are the only standout so far, but i'm big on the marked men, so i'm not too surprised by that.

if i'm honest (and wildly generalising) i feel this whole shitty subfusc undie machinery has denied us a kinda random white dude variety in pop music - like what would your peter gabriels or robert palmers or thomas dolbys or whatever be doing if they were 21 now yknow

― r|t|c, Wednesday, July 7, 2010 5:22 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is a truth bomb, had been trying to figure out how to articulate that exact feeling for a while now

― Mr. Zone 77 (some dude), Wednesday, July 7, 2010 4:30 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ha this basically fits in w/ pfork's interview w/ james murphy where hes explaining what its like to be an old bro in a young bro scene. & hes talking about how like a 27 hes just like "wtf am i doing playing this song in 13/4 time for" or something along those lines

the vast majority of dudes playing songs in 13/4 are well over 27 years old

no way is james murphy 27. more like 37?

he's 40, but he's talking about being 27 (he's also talking about 15 years ago when chicago indie rock mattered but hey)

ah so. i don't read pitchfork

altered zunes

ranceray = ksh?

― he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, July 7, 2010 3:38 PM (6 hours ago)

?

scroll down to the very bottom of the alt zone page

Tags: altered 2010.5 tracks, wu lyf, raw moans, dead luke, echo lake, mind spiders, ariel pink with added pizzazz, up died sound, drugs, games, oberhofer, tennis, velvet davenport, gobble gobble, sun araw

Posted by alteredzones on 07/03/2010 at 12:38 a.m..

?

Tags: altered 2010.5 tracks, wu lyf, raw moans, dead luke, echo lake, mind spiders, ariel pink with added pizzazz, up died sound, drugs, games, oberhofer, tennis, velvet davenport, gobble gobble, sun araw, ksh

Posted by alteredzones on 07/03/2010 at 12:38 a.m..

OK, so you added my name to the tags list. Instead of being cryptic or pointing me to something, can someone who understands jon's post explain it to me?

ksh, I was referring to the name of the first commenter on the Altered Zones site who was very excited about it, it was meant as a playful jab at your breathless coverage earlier today.

Hahaha, no problem! I just didn't see it before because I didn't even bother to read all four of the comments, and when I started looking at the front page to figure out what you were talking about, I wasn't looking at the permalink'd page where all the comments are anymore.

So . . . well . . . after quickly skimming it, the site looks totally uninteresting to me, and the phrase "eerie-ass organ warbles" will haunt me forever.

I think I had the "eerie-ass organ warbles" the other day post-Chipotle.

did you listen to the tracks?

xpost

that would involve an opinion beyond "yawn."

I already can't keep up with my Google Reader, and I already follow more than enough music writing than I have time for, so if a new music site looks like it's not for me, even on first pass, I'm not going to bother really investigating it further, even if it's a project with P4k's approval.

man it took me like an hour to listen to the songs at work today

this blog looks kinda shockingly amateur?

oh it is

i mean like, the design etc -- i haven't read anything that's been posted cuz this music does not appeal to me

still want to know where they got the godawful name

I really do think it was a riff on Mutant Sounds.

key diff being "mutant sounds" makes sense on its own

I think it makes plenty of sense, but its still kind of a dumb name.

what are the "zones"

The "zones" of unexplored bedroom music. Again, dumb, but makes sense to me.

why have they been "altered?" what is different about them now?

I think the "altered" refers to the heavy drug influence on a lot of this stuff.

the site looks amateurish because the design feels like a just barely-modified, vanilla WordPress theme

after looking at the HTML, I don't think they actually used WordPress though

And rather than explode into chaotic waves of climax, it simply melts away into the ether, leaving you wondering what audio specter just transpired.

These ZONES just don't seem very ALTERED, tbh. The first song sounds like My Morning Jacket.

iirc

http://foodbeast.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/pzone-11.jpg

the blogroll they list is pretty funny since a bunch of the people on there complained about not being invited to the cool kids table while still having middling content on their blogs

weedtemple straight up links to full albums, no? kinda strange that p4k would condone ILLEGAL ACTIVITY

they apparently condone the existence of Altered Zones too

the blogroll they list is pretty funny since a bunch of the people on there complained about not being invited to the cool kids table while still having middling content on their blogs

― the food has a top snake of 1 (ulillillia), Wednesday, July 7, 2010 11:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

nothing says "we are the future of retrofuture psych-goth noize" than co-signing POP JEW

Raw Moans is some of the laziest, most worthless aimless-meandering-masquerading-as-music I've ever heard. Even the most derivative hardcore band GIVES A SHIT, ffs

I am digging Dead Luke and Echo Lake, but I dig Raven/20JFG in general

Here's a song better than Mind Spiders

http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Bats/dp/B003JFLCD2

Wish there was a place in this narrative for Thee Oh Sees, who basically do the mushgaze sound but with actually playing and harmonies and caring. Too bad it's super uncool to champion any band older than 6 months.

Everyone should listen to the Oh Sees.

http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Bats/dp/B003JFLCD2

whiney f weingarten otfm

only prizing the nuest of nu shit = the worst thing abt zones philosophy

Your post is six minutes old and is therefore outdated and irrelevant.

i mean that type of thinking (which is rampant on waaaay more blogs than just AltZones) is ultimately TERRIBLE for bands and music in general.

also for some reason the logo really reminds me of those drawings on the outside of underwear packages

http://i30.tinypic.com/amcktv.png
http://i30.tinypic.com/2e49j6a.png

wtf i knew about these bands already. altered zones is a fail.

i mean that type of thinking (which is rampant on waaaay more blogs than just AltZones) is ultimately TERRIBLE for bands and music in general.

agreed. thing is, it seems to be built into the structure of "free public internet", at least where the intersection of "new music" and "people into new music" is concerned. appeal to novelty or die unmourned.

and just to clarify, whiney otm about oh sees, too.

aaand speaking of missing the point:

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/07/all-the-pitchfork-reviews-youd-normally-skip-all-in-one-place-starting-today.html

i feel like someone is making fun of my brother. dude, only WE can do that. that's not cool, vanity fair

lollollol at the url alone of that vanity fair piece, awesome

omfg why does VANITY FAIR have a wiseguy internet culture blog

fucking awful times we live in

and that vanity fair piece didn't even quote the most egregiously horrid prose - i mean, how could they fail to quote the apiary line?

Curbed to launch lo-fi, underground real estate blog: Altered Zoning

also for some reason the logo really reminds me of those drawings on the outside of underwear packages

looooooooooool

I'd be curious to find out how much traffic this thing brings in, because even if they link to it from the P4k main site every once and a while, it's pretty apparent that this is only going to have a really, really small fraction of the readers.

Not sure why they don't just make a weekly Altered Zones column and just link it from the main site.

I think this site is fun.

xpost

Actually, that's a great idea. Maybe even make it monthly or something. If it were more of a roundup thing, written by one of their actually skilled writers, I'd be so much more inclined to check it out. As of right now, it kinda just seems like barely curated deluge of mediocrity.

Re: The AZ logo, there's kind of a Lost vibe to it.

http://www.cs.mun.ca/~csmith/images/dharma.gif

I would totally read a once-weekly Pfork column with song picks from 14 blogs. Not a far stretch from The Out Door or anything else along that similar vein of thinking. Just with a more curatorial aspect, I guess.

with song picks from 14 blogs

If those blogs weren't total shit, sure. Not saying the Altered Zones ones are, because I haven't actually really even read any of the full entries, but on the level of the individual sentences I did read, I can't imagine they're that great.

this site seems fine to me.

i know everyone was waiting for me to chime in

after looking at the HTML, I don't think they actually used WordPress though

What do you think they used? I like how the pics don't load until you go down and then they kinda fade in.

I think it's probably a custom CMS

there's nothing in the HTML that indicates they're using a CMS I know of, but it could still be a non-custom thing, although I doubt it

hmmm

It's almost certainly on Drupal. That image loading thing is pretty standard Javascript/JQuery thing.

oh, ok -- that makes sense. thanks dude

Alright, I'll admit it. I think they sold me on Beat Connection. I like the EP.

I really want to like this site. I like "genres from psych and drone to electronic and underground pop" and I like '70s sci fi paperback cover looking design and all of that. Plus I have no use for Pitchfork since it's all about like Vampire Weekend and shit I don't care about.

But all of the buzzwords and design are so disconnected from the reality. I get all excited by reading things like "French crazies in the 1970s, when prog became that all-encompassing juggernaut"... "Neon Colony" comes out like Subway soundtracking Fantastic Planet." And I expect to hear some rad Magma / Alain Goraguer style shit but instead they link to a song that's like a really boring Boards of Canada outtake.

Where are they going with this? Are they kind of waiting around hoping that eventually people will actually start making the music they're trying to describe? Or is it just a bunch of people who have no clue what they're talking about?

people are making music that these descriptions would fit. unfortunately, said music is not what they are currently choosing to feature.

I just now went and visited the site for the first time since its introductory week. It's a slow-loading mess, but I really like that Solar Bears track.

ya so far most of this music is pretty deep bullshit. idk, what to expect right? good weird music is hard to come by, this is just an rss feed of a few big hipster blogs, there's only so much of that synth sound one human being can want to hear

my homie zach (omon ra ii) got a write up though which is good & justified because he's rad!

The writing is absolutely appalling. I know this is a guest post, but surely someone should have looked at it and thought "nah, we can't publish that" when this came through:

Apparently there is a SOCA version that's pretty tite but I haven't found that yet. Princess has a sick voice like old LIL KIM or something but with a sexy swagg. It's bout a nite out n gettin down! WAT ELSE IS THERE? HALLO!

http://alteredzones.com/posts/30/guest-pick-lizzi-bougatsos-gang-gang-dance/

i liked that actually. it's nice when people who don't really know anything about music just like a song and write some uninformed but probably pretty honest response to it. the writing c/o the actual bloggers is way worse imo, but yeah, blogs

diluting the brand

problem with this sort of thing, it seems to me, is blog team don't have the right to be critical, to say "ye it's been a boring week for weirdpsychpop go listen to a hawkwind lp and smoke a joint" or "can you believe this bullshit." enthusiasm levels are deceptively uniform even if the quality of the music differs drastically. i try p hard to be enthusiastic about new music and i love a lot of it but i couldn't sustain this level of interest and i doubt they do, too

people are making music that these descriptions would fit.

But probably not enough for several new posts a day right? And especially not if they're not allowed to write about anything that'e more than 2 minutes old and isn't exclusive and undiscovered or something right?

Or basically what young monet says above with "ye it's been a boring week for weirdpsychpop go listen to a hawkwind lp and smoke a joint".

well, if you confine it to "weirdpsychpop" ... but weird new music in general, sure I'd say there's enough

i think these guys should have been offered seats on the altered zones round table. the site only updates a few times a week but high quality ratio, very much within the az aesthetic, although maybe too much punk music. canadian, even.

i agree this stuff is definitely out there en masse, but

And especially not if they're not allowed to write about anything that'e more than 2 minutes old and isn't exclusive and undiscovered or something right?

this is a pretty important consideration. something like the termbo review zine does a pretty good job of covering a tonne of very underground music in its own narrowly defined niche, but with quarterly or by-yearly updates rather than this rigorous daily onslaught. i used to read a few of the blogs that are now part of altered zones, and it's a good way to keep up with mp3 leaks and whatever, but quality control is almost always bunk. at some point every mp3 feels so ethereal and meaningless.

hear part of new Arcade Fire song "Rococo." Also, Win & Regine as puppets http://bit.ly/98m9hm
about 4 hours ago via TweetDeck

gorillavsbear

Rococo is a fucking jam, and destroyed live, but not really Altered Zones type shit.

I really hope this cassette thing doesn't catch on, hated that format even when it was ubiquitous. I totally get the appeal of aesthetic statement, especially irt the whole lo-fi thing, but the thought of having to deal with tape-eating decks and winding tapes with pencils makes me sad.

I really hope this cassette thing doesn't catch on

Agreed. And I mocked it as the pointless logical extension of hipster vinyl fetishism, but like....at least one and maybe two of my favourite albums this year are cassette only releases?

Ugh.

which records

Um. Blue Hawaii's Blooming Summer for sure. Not a perfect album but the parts I love are so fucking wonderful. Check 'Blue Gowns' and 'Dream Electricxa' or however you spell it. The silly kissers remix of the latter is darn good too.

Grimes' Geidi Primes is pretty stunning too, but I haven't decided if I love it or am merely impressed.

Both of those are available for free in mp3 format from Arbutus Records, tho.

OTOH, one of my other favourites thus far, Valley Maker is a web-only release pretty much, so three cheers for weird and wonderful 2010 distribution channels, I suppose.

Dream Electrixra, rather

i'm still not clear on the kind of music this website is highlighting. homemade, vaguely-retro little synth-pop records released by the band or a tiny label?

I really hope this cassette thing doesn't catch on, hated that format even when it was ubiquitous. I totally get the appeal of aesthetic statement, especially irt the whole lo-fi thing, but the thought of having to deal with tape-eating decks and winding tapes with pencils makes me sad.

The solution of course it to just download rapidshare rips of them. You don't even pay for music anyway, do you?

Actually I do. I pay for about 95% of my music, I'm a fan of supporting artists - call me weird and old-fashioned.

i'm still not clear on the kind of music this website is highlighting. homemade, vaguely-retro little synth-pop records released by the band or a tiny label?

No, they're digging up the freaked out visions that damaged outsiders have channelled from higher planes of existence and committed to decaying vhs tapes. They're sifting through these endless lonely transmissions and zeroing in on the few mystical totems that are worthy to be passed on to us fellow travelers.

Those things just happen to sound almost exactly like vaguely-retro little synth-pop records.

yeah but the point is that they sound like shit, right?

The cassette thing to catch on? Didn't this happen a long time ago? Because tapes are the easiest/cheapest way of making copies of stuff physically at least?

Also, every album this blog covers has the same cover of neon triangle tessellations.

http://www.iconarchive.com/icons/babasse/imod/96/CD-R-icon.png

The CD player in my car stopped working like 2 years ago, so I appreciate the cassette releases personally.

i'd probably make tapes all the time if i had a deck in my car

i mean mix-tapes, not original recordings of altered zonage or w/e

They're sifting through these endless lonely transmissions and zeroing in on the few mystical totems that are worthy to be passed on to us fellow travelers.

In this blog's case, it's called ZONING IN. Fucking hate this catchphrase.
: )

ha ha in what world is this true?

tapes are the easiest/cheapest way of making copies of stuff physically at least

n/a otm

4-pack of blank Maxell UR-120 cassettes on Amazon: $7.99 (roughly two bucks per tape)
100-pack of blank Maxell 700MB/80-minutes discs on Amazon: $19.98 (roughly 20 cents per disc)

Also, way way way easier to burn a cd than put together a tape.

http://www.arcal.com/c303.html

much cheaper than amazon

At the local thrift store they sell tapes 10 for a dollar (although these tapes already have stuff on it and I have to tape over it)

Okay fine, but dragging and dropping a playlist is infinitely easier than making a cassette.

This is true. I actually have no idea why the tape thing is all of a sudden taking over, although it's been done in the underground noise world consistently since tapes were being traded without any irony regarding the format.

bunch of xposts, to Alex In Montreal:

thanks! I'll check out some of those releases

I just don't understand how Lil B fits in this place at all. It's an odd choice in my opinion.

similar audience?

Is that really leftfield music? In my opinion, rap is not.

Maybe I'm just not "zoned in" enough

http://oberlin.edu/student/lfamular/headache.jpg

But what does a tape manufacturer charge an artist or label per tape? That number's more important than what tapes cost some dude who want to tediously dub a lot of tapes.

I'd wager CD-R's wind up cheaper on the whole, cause those things cause next to nothing to manufacture.

It depends on the operation. It could be that the dubbing is quicker even if the tape itself costs more. I worked at a place that made automotive instructional tapes and they had two dvd writers that had a pretty low output and a whole bank of vcrs that had a huge output. Even though the cassettes themselves cost more than the dvds, they could sell them for less. And if you compare typical CD packaging to typical tape packaging, the tape packaging is easier to assemble and there's less printed material. For a while in the nineties - and for some labels this is still true - the vinyl copy of something would cost less than the CD. I think this had to do maybe with manufacturers saying, "Yes, please, we want your business," but I don't really know.

Don't get me wrong, tapes sound like crap, but I can play them in my car when my CD player overheats, which is all the time. And I buy new ones for $4 or $5 bucks and used ones for $1 or less.

I have 3 tape players, yet none of them work properly. Whenever someone gives me a tape I thank them, look at the art, and put it in the closet.

Give them to me. I have one in my car and at home. They're $6 at thrift shops if I ever needed to replace one, but I haven't yet.

I'll even pay you.

what were the automotive instructional tapes like? like were they about how to drive? or how to fix cars? or were they for the cars to listen to and learn from - like they were recorded in special car language?

I skimmed through the site earlier -- don't have sound on my internet computer atm -- and saw the name Bathcrones as being from Atlanta and I thought this is weird I've never heard of this band, read the name on a shows list, seen any flyers around town, etc. Then I went to the myspace and saw this picture

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/124/m_3c2d9f2008d54024badb2e5dd7fe0cf1.jpg

Which, I don't know, seemed to immediately say to me, "This is why this music is on a blog". I was gonna ask what is it with the popularity of beach graphics worship in the year 2010 but I guess it's because anyone who's a child of the 80s (pretty much all these musicians) was taken to Florida or somewhere and dressed in weird silly clothes with neon palm trees and stuff. The chillwave visual aesthetic is largely derived from the Florida/California Board of Tourism.

+ Miami Vice

the Florida/California Board of Tourism is way overrated

what were the automotive instructional tapes like? like were they about how to drive? or how to fix cars? or were they for the cars to listen to and learn from - like they were recorded in special car language?

― sarahel, Thursday, July 22, 2010 12:48 AM (10 hours ago)

^^ drunk post that i don't remember making

The beach/palm tree aesthetic was pretty much all over kids clothes of the 80s, at least as far as I remember. I remember a lot of neon pinks and greens, and clothes from Ocean Pacific and the like taking over department stores.

You know we keep saying 80s, but aren't most of these people in their mid 20s and therefore much more influenced by early to mid 90s stuff?

Of which I will grant you beach graphics on Bugle Boy shirts were a big part.

yeah i mean i'd say 85-95 give or take

that aesthetic is very much early/mid-80s nostalgia though - the age (or youth, rather) of the musicians that favor it could be key - like, they didn't actually live through it already, unlike some of us on this thread.

xpost speaking of which http://www.peglegnyc.com/ is pretty hilariously inspired by bugle boy

I wonder what kind of traffic AZ has been getting -- I still read P4k pretty much daily, but only check out AZ posts sporadically, and always leave feeling like I just wasted time looking at bad reviews on a landfill music blog

"reviews"

hay guise come see my band /D/R/U/G/S/ http://peglegnyc.verbsite.net/__data/005f38b30dce004d64f28fec2f0e22b0.jpg

I feel like the opening credits to Saved by the Bell also influenced a lot of this shit.

xpost I don't know about traffic but I like the wiseblood song they have up right now.

xpost
I think the show "California Dreamin'" (very much a SBTB clone) maybe even more so.

holy shit dudes i haven't looked at pitchfork for quite a while until today

xpost

Surf dudes with attitudes
(Kinda groovy) Laid back moods,
Sky above, sand below
(Good vibrations) Feelin' mellow
Won't give it up Don't wanna stop
Don't wake me up Don't wake me up if I'm dreamin'
California dreams
Just let me lay here in the sun
Until my dream is done

kinda sums up the whole vibe

"The California Board of Tourism"

Sounds like a name for a chillwave band right there.

http://c1931172.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/post_art/toothachecoverweb.jpg

'10s chillwave or '90s emo? Both name and aesthetic.

^^^But not in sound^^^

Brutally amateur/infantile.

I didn't even listen to it, I was just struck by the cover/name combination. My 19 year-old self would have snatched that up in a heartbeat back in my emo days.

Yeah I totally agree. Almost uncannily emo/hardcore aesthetic.

wonder what the traffic is like for this

kinda seems like P4k gave it a little push before and at launch, then left it to do its own thing and now its just kinda sitting there

any ilxors read it regularly?

Not regulary but check in now and then. The guest post from AnCo turned me onto a neat glitchy 70s spoken word electronica thing, and they've covered a handful of bands that were on y radar already. It is what it is.

i check the site from time-to-time, too. i don't find it as adventurous or interesting as i thought it might have been.

yeah, i guess i just thought that p4k wouldve given it a little more postlaunch attention. and that id hear more about it in general. oh well

it's not really that (for me, at least). it's more that (a) i wish more under-the-radar genres/styles were featured and/or (b) the music from the genre(s) they do focus on was more interesting. and i also am not a fan of some of the participating blogs, which colors my view some.

i just popped over there, and saw a "guest post" from the "awesome tapes from africa" guy. him, i do like. more of that would be welcome.

yeah. i guess this was always gonna be a niche sorta thing. just kinda weird how divorced it is from the main p4k site!

i don't mind it being a niche site.

maybe i need to give it more of a chance.

i dont think its an issue that its niche at all. in many cases its totally the way to go

http://alteredzones.com/posts/233/altered-zones/

nice to see Soft Powers there, gonna check that mix out

been feeling alot of what they have been posting as of late

Soft Powers just put up a new single that's the best thing he/they have recorded yet: http://softpowers.bandcamp.com/album/its-like-a-dream-single

^^ wow, this is really good, doesn't beat "Strawberry Soup" in my ears, but still very good

so I gave that mix a spin, bored me at places, but few moments caught my attention
those mixes might be convenient for people like me, who are too lazy to keep track of AZ but are interested in their finds, so I'm def looking forward to next mixes (I'd like it even better though, if it came in form of a single .zip file containing the tracks)