Weekly Music Roundup: Chris Walla Splices Tape; Puppets Fall in Love Too
Weekly Roundup | Sep 8, 2015
Rescue your Tuesdays with our weekly roundup of music news, videos, and songs that just might help you get through the rest of the week. This week, a touching musical memorial, robot puppets, and a new generation of ambient music.
A Moving Tribute To An English Music Legend
You may not recognize Tony Wilson’s name. But you’ve probably heard of the Sex Pistols, Joy Division and New Order, Happy Mondays, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Tony Wilson, in his role as a broadcaster in England, was probably the first person to put the Sex Pistols on TV. He co-founded Factory Records, which signed all those other bands I just mentioned, and many others besides. (Personal faves included the late new music composer Steve Martland and the early music/new music band Red Byrd.) He founded the nightclub known as The Haçienda, which helped launch the careers of The Smiths, Madonna, and later a host of rave and acid house acts. None of these ventures actually made money, but they had a profound impact on the music world. His name became synonymous with the Madchester music scene, as it was known, and eventually, with Manchester itself. Now, eight years after his death (kidney cancer, age 57), some of Manchester’s finest have turned out to do a mostly lip-synced tribute to Tony Wilson. Including Steve Coogan, who played Wilson in the film 24 Hour Party People. The poem, by Mike Garry, is full of references to bands, to Manchester, to soccer and Wilson’s other interests; the music is a touching arrangement of an old New Order song, “Your Silent Face,” by Joe Duddell. You may recognize Iggy Pop, and a surprise cameo at the end by Philip Glass, peering owlishly into his computer; but mostly this is a very British, very straightforward affair. Though one of the cast seems to be getting a little teary towards the end. You might be too.
Kid Koala, Robot Puppets, and a Live Silent Film
DJ and producer Kid Koala (Eric San) was last on Soundcheck as part of the alternative/sci-fi hip-hop group Deltron 3030. Now he’s returning to New York, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, with Nufonia Must Fall, based on a mostly wordless graphic novel that he wrote. Bringing it to life is K.K. Barrett, the Oscar-nominated production designer behind Her, Lost In Translation, and others. The music is live, but that’s just the beginning: the action is played out live on a series of small stages by puppets, with the action being edited and projected as a live silent film. Dates are September 17 to 20 at BAM, then it tours the States in 2016. You can get a good look at how it’s being put together here.
Dark Pop From the Front Lines of the Gender Wars
Wax Idols makes a dark-hued brand of rock built around the voice of Hether Fortune. While the sound of the band (mostly Fortune herself) is polished, like a black pearl, Fortune’s lyrics are often raw, and the emotions seem pretty close to the surface in “Deborah,” the new single from their forthcoming album American Tragic, due October 16. Fortune, who has worked as a dominatrix, clearly has the gender wars on her mind, as she told Noisey recently. None of which would matter if the song didn’t so effectively build to its rousing chorus.
Good Old Fashioned Guitar Rock From Fort Lean
Whew–some pretty heavy stuff so far today. Okay, here’s a wry little song about going to a bar, having a few drinks, and managing not to get into a fight. Of course, on a deeper level, it’s about mixed signals muddling a potential relationship between two people. Nah, just kidding–it’s really about electric guitars, coming in loud and hard at the chorus. Fort Lean is the band, and “Might’ve Misheard” is from this Brooklyn quintet’s debut LP, Quiet Day, due October 2.
Chris Walla Wants You to Just Chill, Man
Chris Walla, the founding guitarist and producer of the platinum-selling indie rock band Death Cab For Cutie, left that group last year and is now out on his own. What’s he been up to? Apparently, he holed up in the studio and started playing with audio tape. Yes, tape. With razor blades and splicing tape. Analog tape, people. The way God meant music to be made. Anyway, he’s releasing a solo album called Tape Loops on October 16, and has released a track in advance called “Kanta’s Theme.” I don’t know who Kanta is, but if it turned out to be a secret nickname for Brian Eno, I wouldn’t be at all surprised. The piece occupies the same ambient music space that Eno first created in 1978 with Music For Airports, a piece also created out of different length tape loops. Eno’s work was met with some bewilderment by fans of his prior albums of quirky songs, and Walla can probably expect the same. But give it a try and you might find yourself being converted.
Live on Soundcheck.org this week:
2:00pm, 9/8: Marrow
2:00pm, 9/9: Small Black
2:00pm, 9/11: Michachu and the Shapes
John Schaefer
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