WHAKAOHO 007: Anna Domino - East And West (1984)

 

WHAKAOHO 007

Anna Domino  -  East And West (1984)

When Max sent me Anna Domino's debut project "East and West" in 2019 (might have been 2020) he said he was sure it would be my thing. I put it on and yes. It was definitely my thing. 

The whole album breathes a sort of acceptance of life as well as a wistful hope of things better to come. When I listen to this album I  instantly feel like I should be at a cafe somewhere rooking out the window, reviewing art or finding tickets to a contemporary piece of french theatre. It is notable that, for a short while, it was the soundtrack to my 30-ish minute walk into Wellington city from my flat. Where I would walk to the pace of "Trust, In Love" the 5th track.

Every song on here is made up of stacks and stacks of loops. Every bass note in the songs feels as though it has been intentionally punched in one by one. The drum programming is spread across 4 bars always staying consistent yet sporatic. Every now and then, a guitar lick or piano sequence will return from a few bars before, but they feel like they always come one bar later than you expect them to. It's magic. It is actually magic to me.

It isn't very long, so every song has it's own place here, but "Trust, In Love", "With The Day Comes The Dawn", and "Everyday I Don't" are songs I always come back to. By far my favourite song is "Land Of My Dreams" which is a romantic, wistful track with a groove and hook that is so easy to recall from memory I am hearing it in my head right now. It makes me very happy.

Overall, a great project that can suit any surroundings you spin it in.

- R

Favourite songs:

"Land Of My Dreams"

"Everyday I Don't"

"Trust In Love"

Listen:

https://lesdisquesducrepuscule.bandcamp.com/album/east-and-west

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUNYAJrvpRo&list=PL1uNaBQCwwSUOIMS-l_bhsqR1bsDeFtAn

WHAKAOHO 006: Sonic Youth - Bad Moon Rising (2004)

 

WHAKAOHO 006

Sonic Youth - Bad Moon Rising (1985)

Look at the cover for this album, it is insane. The title text colours, the sunset, the green bars on the left and right hand sides. What the fuck. A contender for one of my favourite covers of all time.

This album sounds like absolute danger. It's a far cry from the expectations I had for Sonic Youth considering my only listen prior to this one was Daydream Nation. This album is dark and ambient and gloomy.  According to wikipedia, at the time the band felt they had no future in their musical approach, and so changed all their equipment and detuned their instruments so they couldn't play old songs. A truly unique sound emerges from this experiment, and one that was likely very out of the ordinary for listeners at the time. I know it definitely would have thrown me off a good 5 years ago.

My favourite track is definitely "Brave Men Run (In My Family)" The starting riff is nice, it delves into darkness, then it plays out with Kim Gordon singing. The lyrics fold in and out repeating the two versions of brave men running in her family, both metaphorically and literally (Apparently inspired by an Edward Ruscha painting). The lyrics are continuous and drive through the track, much like the instrumentation. This whole thing culminates in noise and ends with a Lou Reed sample. Something about this track absolutely clicks into my brain. I love this song a lot.

"Society Is a Hole" is a mud pool of garbage and slop, and paints a picture of the title with great detail. "Death Valley 69" features Lydia Lunch and is something I would place alongside a car chase scene in a movie, it is also apparently about the Manson family, which I did not catch on my first listen. "Ghost Bitch" is about US colonisation. I am surprised by how many topics and time the whole project covers.

I think this album is worth listening even just because of it's unique placement in the bands discography. Sonic Youth is no small unknown band, but this album resembles something you'd find on bandcamp for free with zero supporters. It's dark, and brooding, but it's also expressive and insightful. I feel as though musicians don't take chances or experiment like this often enough.

- R

"Seven days and seven nights, 

I dreamt a sailors dream at sea"

Favourite songs:

"Brave Men Run"

"Death Valley 69"

"Hallowe'en"

Listen:

https://sonicyouth.bandcamp.com/album/bad-moon-rising

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKBtVe-krtM

WHAKAOHO 005: scallops hotel - too much of life is mood (2016)

 

WHAKAOHO 005

scallops hotel - too much of life is mood (2016)

2016 was a hectic time. I was an emotional teenager and hip-hop like this was something I was really looking for. Introspective, calm, sample-based and indie. A few of these songs have some of my favourite bars to quote every now and then. I say the words: "He put the magic in my left hand" all the time, which is weird, cause I don't know what that means. 

Scallops Hotel is the alter-ego of renowned rapper R.A.P Ferreira, previously known as milo. His voice is infectious to listen to, and occupies a pretty unique space in hip-hop music in my opinion. His scallops hotel projects are, as he claims: "written without the audience in mind" which is a pretty interesting way to go about that. This tape is messier, honest, open and is half instrumental. When I make music, I am often VERY preoccupied with how it will be heard, or interpreted, and that can often get in the way of the actual creative process, so I imagine this to be a very freeing process for him.

"too much of life is mood" is formatted for cassette tape. It is presented on bandcamp as a single 40min track, so encourages itself to be listened to as such. It has some really great moments. "2" is an Elucid led track with expertly crafted lyricism. "Hank dumas's thoughts" takes Henry Dumas poetry and flips it to fit the sound collage nature of the tape. This as a format was influential on me as a young music artist, it really opened up my perspective on what an album/mixtape could be or sound like. Especially on a platform like bandcamp and in a DIY way. It is for this reason that I would recommend it to others, as I think it has a lot to offer in terms of comfort or inspiration.

- R

"While my own shallow soul feel like a quick sandpit, 

At the table of life like where's the mixed man sit?"

 

Favourite songs:

"2"

"Niopo Tree Stipend"

"A Handful of Mullberry Berries"

"discussing lanquidity with the moor"

Listen:

https://afrolab9000.bandcamp.com/album/too-much-of-life-is-mood

WHAKAOHO 004: Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating as One (1997)

 

WHAKAOHO 004

Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997)

If you took away every album that Max has ever recommended to me, my all-time list would be half as long. Aside from my parents and my brothers he is a huge influence on my taste. He would have put me on this album in 2017, and it must have slipped through the cracks and never found its way to my ears. I have spoken about this album on here before in my short lived orange m&m series, where I properly dove into this record as a full listen head first, I have had it on repeat over the last little while.

This is really really something. Sitting in a record store with no one to talk to, practising driving on your own as the sun is shining, doing the dishes. When I hear the opening track: "Return to Hot Chicken" (potentially the greatest song title of all time), I am taken back to 2017. My friends and I would spend our time after high-school hanging out, eating cheap snacks from jadan near Max's place and (as far as my brain is capable of remembering) the sun was always close to setting. I have been thinking a lot recently about how much I have changed since this period of time, and getting older can be quite unnerving. This album really helps with that feeling. It is a deep breath.

The whole thing dances around the edges of the various sub-genres that indie rock takes, with songs that are slow and somber, some that are shoegaze-y and noisy, and some that are twee-pop. All of them work cohesively together. No track feels out of place and yet they are all different. Indie-rock albums often have a tendency to get old, or have a lack of creativity among the tracklist. But this album does not suffer any of those problems. 

Please listen to this album. It is very very very good.

- R

"Well it's One PM again

I guess I'm ready to begin,

And it's reeling, there's a feeling,

Let's not make any sudden moves"

Favourite songs:

"Sugarcube"

"Damage"

"Shadow"

"Stockholm Syndrome"

"One PM Again"

Listen:

https://yolatengo.bandcamp.com/album/i-can-hear-the-heart-beating-as-one-25th-anniversary-deluxe-edition

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfqWkY7RIxIVM8wJM4nT41RWgQBdMl2Ai

WHAKAOHO 003: Cormega - The Realness (2001)

 

WHAKAOHO 003

Cormega - The Realness (2001)

Cormega was off my radar for a long time. When I was younger and I leapt head first into 90s Hip-Hop, I was needlessly strict and ignored most albums released past 2000 for a long time. This is a great great album. It is calm and poetic and makes no excuses for being underground. In this album he makes it crystal clear who his music and life is dedicated to.  The sound is tight and focussed, the production, the rhymes, it all moves forwards at a steady pace. Production credits on this album include Havoc, J-Love, and The Alchemist. 

I first listened to this album while cleaning my kitchen and found it really sat in my head along with the mood of that day. It was a cloudy day, and doing an aimless task tends to let my brain soak everything in a lot more. It was melancholy, this album lives up to its title, it does not shy away from sad stories and lyrics about people Cormega has lost. 

"Thun and Kicko" feat. Prodigy is a Nas diss track, and I had no idea until I actually went out of my way to look it up. Happy to find out through research that they had all made up eventually, especially before Prodigy's death (RIP). Also a great track on this album is "Fallen Soldiers" with its iconic bass line. I would say this album is definitely worth a listen, as too many of these kinds of releases tend to be left behind when it comes to recommendations from other people. I wish I had come across it sooner.

- R

"I treasure our memories together, hard to believe

I'ma never see you again, but i'ma make you breathe with the pen"

Favourite songs:

"Fallen Soldiers"

"Thun and Kicko"

"Rap's a Hustle"

Listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOtBcjPRH8A

WHAKAOHO 002: Mirrorring - Foreign Body (2012)

 

WHAKAOHO 002

Mirrorring - Foreign Body (2012)

It has been a while since I have come across an ambient album that pushes it's way to the top of my favourites. It is no surprise that this album was made in part by Liz Harris, who I would consider one of the finest musicians to ever touch the genre. I initially came across this album in Feburary in 2023 and have thrown it on repeatedly whenever I've needed it.

Mirrorring is a duo made up of Liz Harris from Grouper and Jessy Fortino from Tiny Vipers. The latter of which I was not aware of before listening to this album. It has an element of folk music and jangly guitars that accompany the drones we would come to expect from an album like this very nicely. The use of vocals and lyrics stand alongside the ambience and neither take away from any of the song as a whole.

Layered, textured and easily kept me in tranquil state for it's full length.

"Mirror of Our Sleeping" stands out as my favourite, because of the strong build and emotional intensity of the song.

- R

"Rising light amongst the trees,

Metal shows amongst the clove,

Turn the sail towards the emptiness,

Orphan hollows and never close"

Favourite songs:

"Mirror of Our Sleeping" 

"Silent from Above"

"Drowning the Call"

Listen:

https://mirrorring.bandcamp.com/album/foreign-body

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRraLwpE79I

The Orange M&M - Day 2 [17.10.23]

On occasion, I work at Creeps Record Parlour in Newtown, Wellington. While working there I am allowed to play any records I want, as long as it’s either one of my personal records or if it’s used and I found it in the store. I have decided to keep a listening diary here for all the records I listen to in the store, some of them I am new to and others are trusted favourites of mine. I have named this series of posts “The Orange M&M” as a reference to a scene in the movie “Empire Records” (1995) where Marc gets an m&m that matches the colour of the one Gina has, which gives him the right to play whatever he wants in the store:

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

"Awaken, My Love!" (2016) 

Childish Gambino

I walked in to Creeps hearing the last little part of "Me and Your Mama" The walk was rainy, it was the darkest day I think we had all year and it was like 12:06. It felt relieving to hear something familiar. Since bossman already had this one playing I decided to keep it playing. I had forgotten just how funky this album was, I probably hadn't heard it in full since like 2017. A lot of this album stuck with me now, much more than when I was 16. "Terrified" in particular stood out to me way more than it would have back then. In general I was really happy to hear this album again as it hadn't crossed my mind in a while.

The Unseen (2000) 

Quasimoto

I decided today to bring in a favourite of mine. This just might be my favourite hip-hop album of all time. Still completely holds up 23 years later. I would consider this album to be one of the most significant influence on my music and production style. Hard to find new words to say again and again that Madlib is one of the most influential producers of our time. Using a pitch-changer to create a new ALF-looking alter ego to mask your own rapping voice? and then still using your normal voice when trading bars with yourself pretending to be two different people? Incredible.

Curiosities (2013) 

Lord Echo

Really enjoyed this listen. It works well as a record store album to play. I've played it at lulu's bar on vinyl night a few times. Really warm, sounds like it was made for playing on vinyl. Every bass groove on this record is tasty and gets me grooving as I'm cleaning jazz records. I found that the middle of the album dipped my interest a little bit, maybe I was just sleepy. Also the bro Mara TK is on this record and he is dope as shit. 

Warm Leatherette (1980) 

Grace Jones

The legend Grace Jones! Nightclubbing is a fav of mine, so I was excited by how I would feel about this album which came out a year earlier in 1980. The album starts with a punch of feeling and it is so recognisable as her style. It is interesting to me how easily many artists and style icons are categorised these days, and how effortlessly Grace Jones exists outside of all of those spectrums. She IS the moment. She makes great reggae and funk tracks, it's hard to not enjoy just listening to it. I did only listen to Side A of this record, but I can say I will definitely be returning to listen to the rest of it.

Venus Is Home (2022) 

Erny Belle

I have been meaning to listen to this album for AGES. I remember seeing it everywhere at Flying Nun on Cuba Street, My friend Sean told me to listen to it in February. Safe to say I waited too long. It's really great. Her voice is stunning, the gorgeous instrumentation and songwriting make it easy to daydream to. It's a really nice album. The slide guitar also goes hard as hell.

Rapture (1986) 

Anita Baker

It was just about the end of my shift, so I decided to play something from the used $30 section. I have listened to this album a couple times before for sure, Obviously notable is the MF DOOM sample on the opening track. Anita Baker has a stunning voice and this would be great to listen to on a sunny afternoon.

Day Two working at Creeps was fun. It was rainy and cloudy and it was dark as hell for 12pm on a Tuesday. Wellington weather was as unpredictable as ever.

Reon x