A slow moving and evocative synth dreamer dancing among the video synthesis.

-posted by Malcolm Elijah

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[Outside the club, Glasslands Gallery, Johnny Sagan of PENDU interviews Sasha and Alex of BLISSED OUT after their live performance for PENDU DISCO at Glasslands Gallery]

Johnny Sagan: Okay, so I’m here with my PEOPLES, Blissed Out. SO glad I didn’t miss your performance.

Blissed Out 1: Chill.

Blissed Out 2: Dark.

Johnny Sagan: Yeah…”a lickle darkah!” You guys killed it.

Blissed Out 1: Dark!

Blissed Out 2: Dark!

Johnny Sagan: Love it that you had sequencers and drum machines on stage! There was not a laptop screen in sight.

Blissed Out 1: Fuck that shit.

Blissed Out 2: I don’t own one! At this point, I wish I did.

Blissed Out 1: Hahaha.

Johnny Sagan: It would make things easier, to like organize all the files?

Blissed Out 2: In my home life, it would make things…more easy.

Blissed Out 1: Fucking touring on smartphones is hard.

Blissed Out 2: But it’s doable…

Blissed Out 1: You can’t listen to Myspace songs.

Blissed Out 2: It’s hard, though…

Johnny Sagan: No, that’s true! Like, someone’s like, “Listen to my shit…” Yeah.

Blissed Out 1: But yeah, we want a laptop for other stuff, but not for making music.

Blissed Out 2: For porn!

Johnny Sagan: Communication.

Blissed Out 1: It’s all about, like…it’s really important to have things that are, like, special…

Johnny Sagan: Dedicated to different…

Blissed Out 1: Dedicated to music!

Johnny Sagan: …functions, yeah.

Blissed Out 1: It’s like the idea that, like, someone could be on their, like, laptop talking to their friends on AIM, you know…

Blissed Out 2: And they could also be on…oh, on AIM, yeah!

Blissed Out 1: Yeah, and, like Tweeting, or whatever, while they’re making music. It’s like, no: it’s like you have these special objects that you use sort of ritualistically to come back and, like, Do That Thing. Which is music, you know?

…
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RAW CHOP/DARK SPINNERS/HOOD TROLL/TRASH BEAT/DEEP THUGG/CREEP CLUB/FRESH MEAT/R&BEAST/GHOST (RAP)E/WITCH BLOG/WITCH HOUSE/HYPER HOOD/NEU CLASSIK AMERICORE/DEATH DOTH/HTML HOUSE/ECTO DRONE/GAZE WAVE/MINIIMVL SLOPPED N’ SCREWED/GOTH ETC. AND SO ON

Although, Don’t cage this in. DJ Nate and Footwurk Trax are doing something all 2-REAL. Stylistically its branched outside of most contemporary styles and is a strange off kilter and darker brand of Juke. To categorize this, like many things, is an all together moot point and is best described as “Footwurk Trax”.
Check it out.

-words by Malcolm Elijah

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[Outside the club, Glasslands Gallery, Johnny Sagan of PENDU interviews Scott and Isul of THE PRESENT MOMENT after their NYC-debut for PENDU DISCO at Glasslands Gallery]

Johnny Sagan: So…

Scott: Do you have a light, or…?

Johnny Sagan: Unfortunately, I don’t have a light.

Isul: I don’t [see any?], motherfuckers! No, not really, I…[unintelligible].

Johnny Sagan: I brought weed, I brought a one-hitter, but I didn’t bring a lighter.

Isul: It’s always funny, it’s like the people who actually smoke never have lighters.

Johnny Sagan: Well, because we steal them from each other.

Isul: You actually agree with me on that one. I like to hang out in the smoking section but not smoke…I, like, fake it.

Johnny Sagan: Aw, perfect. Perfect. Okay, let’s see if we can do this…[we both try to light our cigarettes off a votive candle]…use your long magician’s fingers…musician’s fingers…you can do it…Barcelona Style. I call this Barcelona Style…you are brilliant. That’s why you get the big bucks.

Isul: (mumbling) Yeah right, the NONE bucks…

Johnny Sagan: The Nunchuks…

Isul: Yeah…the nunchucks…[unintelligible].

Johnny Sagan: Okay, so: I’m here with The Present Moment. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Scott: Let’s hope so.

(both laugh)

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Von Haze
Von Haze’s live show carried a distorted edge that‘s often winked at but never quite fully unsheathed in their recorded material, which often skews towards more minimal pop. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you. The raw, kinetic energy they manifest onstage is a grand departure from the stereotypical – manbot meets ladybot and they stand still onstage while you and your friend take turns whispering in each other’s ears – dynamic that many bands seem to accept as the de facto stage presence for performing any music that involves a drum machine. Trading off vocals from song to song, Travis Caine and Katherine Kin’s disparate vocal styles give them license to explore the fringes of their aesthetic. Have a good hunch the kids in London are going to fall for their vicious guitar sounds and purring synth lines on their upcoming UK tour.

Gatekeeper
Taking full advantage of Glasslands’ system, Gatekeeper recast their thick synth lines, smart beats, and atmospheric oscillations into something that was at times a roaring mass of sounds, sometimes a single driving force, and often both at once. The crowd responded enthusiastically, dancing despite the influx of body heat. It was exactly how this music was meant to be heard: loudly and in a room full of sweaty people. The dance floor vibe was in full effect as Glasslands’ signature paper clouds caught the powerful flashes of the strobe light that sat behind the pair like the rear reflector in a gigantic camera flash, filling the entire venue with bursts of light. Mostly obscured behind their hulking synth rigs and thick smoke, Gatekeeper brought an intensity beyond what the icy feel and often ornate arrangement of their songs would lead you to believe was possible.

-words and photos by Luke Carrell
-more photos, vids, mp3, etc can be found at http://www.pendu.org/events/past/07-20-10

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Imagine you are gazing in to the sky in rural Idaho. A clear night, with well defined clouds and a moonlit sheen to the field you are in. Suddenly a strange pattern develops in the atmosphere.Immediately following it is an ungodly shrieking high frequency that dips to a low grumbling bass. A streak of light tears through the clouds, and within seconds a swelling sensation of unnaturally white light encompasses your vision and thus, an explosion. Your fear is overcome by the possessive curiosity to investigate the crater left by the astral interruption. Within the field you see a crater with a ring of burning grass around it. Heart pounding, you race through the field to see a murmuring pink opaque light swelling from within the crash site. You reach the edge of the circular intrusion…and as if some sort of cosmic joke has been played on you, you find yourself staring at none other than an Apple IIe personal computer.

And the guiding force within you compels you to crawl into the impacted earth and ever so gently push the well traversed plastic “on” switch that lies before you. And the boot sequence is as follows….

Magic Square from Duncan Malashock on Vimeo.

Pyramid from Duncan Malashock on Vimeo.

Untitled from Duncan Malashock on Vimeo.

Temple from Duncan Malashock on Vimeo.

These sequences/videos were produced by Duncan Malashok.
I asked him a couple of questions regarding his work.

I ask: How would you describe your own work?

He replies:
In general my work is about using computers to challenge the idea that the world can be understood and controlled, and as a kind of critique of scientific-thinking and/or the culture industry, or as a comment on the digital mindset. Sometimes it can be like having a Chatroulette conversation with a pile of fluorescent garbage.

Although the work is very technical, I don’t think it’s important for people to necessarily know how the work is made. At this point, using a computer is very normal for a lot of people, so although my way of making work is new to many people, making art with computers as a novelty is not something I try to emphasize. I’m very interested in how people personally relate to the content of the interactive pieces.

I ask:What influences you in your practice?

He replies:
I’m inspired by a lot of early computer artists like Ben Laposky, John Whitney, Vera Molnar, Michael Noll, and others. I draw on their work because being I think their ideas for exploring techniques are still very insightful today. At the same time they seem to still be very excited by the “gee-whiz” view of computers, which is a perspective I usually try to frustrate in my work.I’m also very inspired by graphic design of the 70s and 80s, and how the nostalgia it provokes can be used in ways that can cause frustration, surprise, or confusion in the viewer.

More information about Duncan can be found at these internet venture locations:
http://www.duncanmalashock.com
http://www.letsmakesureeverythingisathing.com
http://www.itsalwaystimetochillforever.com

-words by Malcolm Elijah

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Run This Town

On To The Next One

Jigga What, Jigga Who

Blue Magic

Big Pimpin

-posted by Todd Pendu Brooks

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Dancing Ghosts (1983)

October Love Song (1982)

Synaesthesia (live) + Interview

Interview from Sound & Vision

-posted by Todd Pendu Brooks

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Here’s to these lovelies. Presented are two tracks I adore and a little background check with some info around these champs. Minimal, dark, and classic.

IT95’s 2nd single “21st Century European Temptation” was released a few months after their debut “Desire To Desire/Brazilia” and was an electro anthem,the only band in Greece with that sound during the time that “garage rock” was ruling the local scene. Song started after a rhythm track laid by Alex on Drumatix (the band’s Roland drum machine) and added a bass line on TB303, Nikos took over writing the epic choir chorus at the band’s first sampler (mirage) and additionally in the studio recording the beat was replaced by newer sounds more industrial. Political lyrics sung on aggressive tone completed the song and itenef recorded as well a dub mix for B-Side that ended up as the 2nd track on side A of the single. Due to high costs itenef shared this release with Dada Data,bringing them closer to Coti K.,who would play a significal role to the band as their “sound man”. The song was intented to be included at the band’s “Steel & Neon” concept album that although it was recorded,it wasn’t released in favor of “Code of Obsession” that happened to be their first complete work that got released.

When Itenef used to be In Trance 95,they released “Desire To Desire” as their 1st single on 1988. The band is still active as ITeNeF that is the initials of the old name. This is the video for the song filmed and edited on 35mm film back in a period that it was almost impossible in Greece (high cost and lack of media)… In Trance 95 is still and active group under the new moniker ItEnEf.

You can listen to more trax and get more info here!

-posted by Malcolm Elijah

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SCENE REPORT:::
DALLASIAN WARRIORS ->- GEORGE QUARTZ & DARKTOWN STRUTTERS performed Dallas, TX ->- 06-18-10

Last Friday, my band PSYCHIC VIOLENCE had the pleasure to play a show with two of my favorite groups creating these days.

First up, George Quartz (who performed at PENDU DISCO in NYC previously this year) started off the night by scaring away a group of curious but easily frightened Dallas yuppies having their 10 year high school reunion. You got to stick it to the squares sometimes, and put a little fire in their heel if you know what im sayin…

Anyways…George is a fantastic performer; like if Studio 54 birthed a psychotic lounge singer with a crooked sense of charisma and charm. Or perhaps a wedding singer coming down off an acid trip and wanders into a funeral accidentally. Backing him up on synthesizer was the talented Jake Schrock who is also a performing member of another fave of mine, Houston based E.B.M. group //TENSE//. Joining them that night was a new addition to the group, a smooth sax player named Lisa. The 3 of them all live down the hall from each other in a an industrial suite of lofts that used to be a candy factory, live and make music together.

Later in the night were the jewels of Darktown Strutters. I was totally fucking enamored with lead singer Kara Howell’s stage presence and the near robotic straight faced sunglasses-wearing Wes Darrin on drum pads. They have driving rhythms generated from a mixture of vintage home organ drum presets and live playing of drum samples, warm creeping organ tones, and a swooning voice glazed atop all of it. The sound and vision is unique and skillful. Pure Jammers, like being lured into a slow moving dream curiously and then it exploding into a vast pit of demons having an unworldly blacklit dance party and you keep asking where the bathroom is and the demons just point to a laptop with your facebook profile on the screen.

Darktown Strutters recently released their first 12″ and its solid. Be sure to check them out along with George Quartz!

GEORGE QUARTZ
MYSPACE
FACEBOOK

DARKTOWN STRUTTERS
MYSPACE
FACEBOOK

-posted by Malcolm Elijah

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Assemblage of Classic/Unclassic House and acid tracks from a span of time between one week old and 20 years old… mixed by THE WILDING CORPORATION (Matthew Radune)

-posted by Todd Pendu Brooks

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In this age of slowing it all down… chopping and screwing… dragging, throwing, and generally fucking with the music… It’s inevitable that someone will start chopping and dragging minimal synth trax…

Back in 1985, Belgian act, VITA NOCTIS, was slowing/dragging dark minimal trax on their own recordings… check out Against the Rule” from their album ‘Much Money…’

Really, since the beginning of record players, everyone has created that mutant sound on their own…. everyone at some point has put a 45rpm record on their turntable when they were a kid and played it at 33-1/3 giggling while freaking out to the scary and weird sounds… right?

Take a listen. The slow-down begins 2:58 into the track… enjoy!

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-posted by Todd Pendu Brooks

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Brilliant art direction in this ad campaign for 1980’s Japanese make-up line, Shiseiko’s “Inoui”. Elements of the occult minimalism, horror, fantasy, japanese classics, and goth cosmetixx fuse in to a truly creative series.

WATCH AND SEE FOR YOURSELF INTERNET CASUALTY

-posted by Eli Welbourne

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Stunning and beautiful. Mystery singer still intact… no one knows anything for sure. The letters must be getting us closer to an answer at this point. The last videos have been entitled “b”, “o”, “u-1″, and “u-2″. The letters left over from the earlier codes of the earlier videos were “i”, “c”, “c’, “v”, and “q”. It’s like some weird word puzzle, but without any idea how many missing letters there may be to solve it. Regardless, this has not been a waste of time. This song stands on its own. A gem.

-posted by Todd Pendu Brooks

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NANCY GARCIA by ADRIANE SCHRAMM
Two years ago, Nancy Garcia and I met during the Noise/Art show at KS Art gallery. I don’t remember formally meeting Nancy, but feeling like I already knew her in a soft magnetic way, we just turned to each other and talked. I felt more like I was recognizing an empathetic familiar. She was warm to me and showed me her drawings which were very much as she seemed to be. The lines were gentle, cut, lithe and urgent. The KS art show was also right across the street from No Fun Fest 2008 and Nancy was also set to perform that night with Thurston Moore. We kept in touch and I found that she was not just an artist in these two ways, but in almost every way. She was also a performance artist and a dancer. She was extending herself, in art, as a whole being. She was expressing in total ,which transcends and illuminates all hard and terrific human truths. She inspired me and we exchanged thoughts about making something together. I asked her if she would take some photos with me and it was the best of collaborations. We were in such a present act of exchange, communicating and creating together. It was like painting with the warmest definitive hues of real living life, like slicing a palette of grass with a red, wet heartbeat.

She reminded me that the body, the vitality of working our blood can actualize our art as well as all the beautiful paints.

-words and photos by Adriane Schramm

Nancy has a new record recently released on Ecstatic Peace entitled “Be the Climb“.
Her release show is May 29th, at Union Pool.

Links:
http://www.nancygarcia.org
http://www.adrianeschramm.com

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NY EYE & EAR FEST III May 22-23, 2010! Knitting Factory, Brooklyn

Single day passes and two day passes ($17/day or $30/2-Day Pass)

Saturday, May 22 BUY TIX NOW!! Sunday, May 23 BUY TIX NOW!! Buy your NYEE Tix now and you will be automatically entered into a raffle for One Free Hour of Tattooing at Twelve 28 Tattoo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. ($200 Value) Good luck!

Pendu presents: NY EYE & EAR FEST III
…a massive Annual Music and Arts Fete showcasing some of the most exciting bands, artists, and filmmakers currently living and working here in NYC. In addition, NYE&E assembles a Record Fair featuring NYC-based Record Labels and Vendors selling LPs, CDs, 7′’s, cassettes, lathes, comics, zines, stickers, and art prints. NYE&E exists to facilitate the introduction of new artists placing them side-by-side with the more well-known like an eclectic living mixtape of sound and vision. This is a festival for discovery – discover new bands + discover new art + buy new records + meet new people…

The title of the fest is inspired from the 1964 NY Eye & Ear Control soundtrack by Albert Ayler as well as the all-too-familiar signs seen daily in the subway tunnels by riders of the L-train of the infamous NY Eye & Ear Infirmary.
__________________________________________________________________

LINEUP :::::::

SATURDAY MAY 22
BUY TIX NOW!! $17/day or $30/2-Day Pass

1:00AM Blank Dogs (http://www.myspace.com/blankdogtime)
12:30AM White Ring (http://www.myspace.com/whytering)
12:00AM Effi Briest (http://www.myspace.com/effibriest)
11:30 Mirror Mirror (http://www.myspace.com/mirrormirrornyc)
11:00 Living Days (http://www.myspace.com/livingdays)
10:30 Passions (http://www.myspace.com/limitlesspassion)
10:00 Twin Stumps (http://www.myspace.com/twinstumps)
9:30 Liturgy (http://www.myspace.com/liturgynybm)
9:00 Konnichiwa (http://www.myspace.com/konnichiwatheband)
8:30 Fostercare (http://www.myspace.com/f8stercare)
8:00 Love Like Deloreans (http://www.myspace.com/lovelikedeloreans)
7:30 Hex Breaker Quintet (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Hex_Breaker_Quintet/)
7:00 Follower (http://www.myspace.com/followerfollower)
6:30 Human Resources (http://www.myspace.com/humanresources)
6:00 Dubknowdub (http://www.myspace.com/dubknowdub)
5:30 Pop 1280 (http://www.myspace.com/population1280)
5:00 Eli Keszler (http://www.myspace.com/elikeszler)
4:30 C. Lavender (http://www.myspace.com/paidinpuke)
4:00 Loose Limbs (http://www.myspace.com/looselimbsbrooklyn)

———————————-

SUNDAY MAY 23
BUY TIX NOW!! $17/day or $30/2-Day Pass

1:30AM Xeno & Oaklander (http://www.myspace.com/xenoandoaklander)
1:00AM No Fun Acid (http://www.myspace.com/nofunacid)
12:30AM Blondes (http://www.myspace.com/blondeblondeblondes)
12:00AM Cult of Youth (http://www.myspace.com/cultofyouthband)
11:30 Naam (http://www.myspace.com/naamdestroysfaces)
11:00 SSPS (http://www.myspace.com/secretservants)
10:30 Freshkills (http://www.myspace.com/freshkills)
10:00 Laurel Halo (http://www.myspace.com/laurelhalo)
9:30 Hunters (http://www.myspace.com/huntersny)
9:00 Figure Study (http://www.myspace.com/figurestudy)
8:00 The Gamut (http://www.myspace.com/thegamut)
8:30 Omega Jarden (http://www.myspace.com/avaomegajarden)
7:30 Desert of Colors (http://www.myspace.com/desertofcolors)
7:00 Chaos*CM*Majik (www.myspace.com/chaosmajik)
6:30 DIABLO (http://www.myspace.com/redglaer)
6:00 GDFX (http://www.myspace.com/therealgregfox)
5:30 Hallux (http://www.myspace.com/halluxmusic)
5:00 Memorial Gore
4:30 Effing (http://www.myspace.com/thenameofthisbandiseffing)
4:00 Source of Yellow (http://www.myspace.com/sourceofyellow)

Facebook RSVP @ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=327387516830

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All this talk of DARK MUSIC in the air these days… well, it doesn’t get much darker or more fucked than this. Wisconsin’s MADDEN and Brooklyn’s own FOSTERCARE are making some of the bleakest dragged d/\rkb3/\t this side of Hell… Seriously, you don’t want to miss this. Tuesday Nite @ Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. Check out more on this event and other upcoming events by PENDU :::: go to http://www.pendu.org/events
_________

Listen: MADDEN

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“With african drumming, classical composition, chopped and screwed rap, reggae, delta blues, dub-step and even samba and idm the soundscapes MADDEN creates invoke emotional and spiritual response bringing the listener into a otherworldly realm that is inhabited by a powerful magic and a healing energy transforming the self into a shamanistic transcendental entity. Hailing from Madison, Wisconsin MADDEN has been moving audiences in dance clubs, galleries and festivals since their creation in early 2010.”

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Listen:FOSTERCARE

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“Fostercare creates deeply personal and ritualistic electronic music and video art. With shoegazed walls of synth spiked with doomed 808 drums, hissing hi-hats and brutal handclaps, amidst a dirge of screwed vocals, glossolalia and whispers, Fostercare produces songs for lost souls.”

-posted by Todd Pendu Brooks

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Here is someone I was very excited to find among the trenches of internet media I filter through. His name is Val Gesto, a young Belgian video artist who has been displaying work for just over 3 years now. I was immediately captivated by his abstraction of format using garbled VHS footage and further manipulating it digitally. A wash of color and form emerging out the degradation of media are present throughout most of his videos, accompanied by meditative drones and floating melodies. Its heavy on the “data mosh” too, which furthers it into an acid washed video hell/heaven.

For further info and to check this guys game, check his website.

-by Eli Welbourne

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We now have watched 9 Videos from IAmAmIWhoAmI and we still don’t know much… lots of chatter, lots of conjecture, lots of grumbling, and lots of praise… Almost 5 months now and we’re all still guessing. Some of us think they know the answer, but no one can be sure yet. The BIG REVEAL is yet to come. For now, we get another snippet… a short visual and melody, not a song this time as much as a lead up to something else. Now the wait-and-see game begins again. I’m still not bored, at least not yet.

-posted by Todd Pendu Brooks

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