Tuesday, December 11th, 2001

Ryan Schreiber reports:
Not content with just having released a new pop record for Drag City last month, the always-prolific Jim O'Rourke has just issued yet another brand new full-length through the Austrian IDM imprint Mego, which is home to such next-levelists as Fennesz, Pita, and Francisco López. The record, created with much assistance from computer software, isn't a damn thing like his other new album, the traditionally rock-ish Insignificance; the label calls it "equal parts schizoid pop, cracked minimalism, concrete drama and melancholic contemplation."

Titled I'm Happy, and I'm Singing, and a 1, 2, 3, 4, the disc features three extended tracks that alternate between highly melodic passages and dense, layered discordance. Mego goes on to tell us to "imagine the Powerbook as a springboard to explore oneself inside... not a machine for accentuating the inhuman, but a machine for embracing, and giving voice to the more delicate elements of the inner human." And you know, if you think of it in those terms, it actually does sound kind of like an octopus sodomizing a fat, transsexual manbaby.

I'm Happy, and I'm Singing, and a 1, 2, 3, 4 was released to Austrian record stores on December 3rd, and should be hitting U.S. stores right about now. Streaming MP3s are available at the official Mego website.

.: Pitchfork Review: Jim O'Rourke: Insignificance
.: Mego: http://www.mego.at

Jonah Flicker reports:
Do you smell something, or is it just me? I can't quite place it, but it almost smells like... Noise Pop 2002! Can you feel it coming in the air tonight? (Oh, lord.) The San Francisco-based indie rock festival will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Noise Pop began as a scrappy one-night event in 1993, when Kevin Arnold (no relation to the "Wonder Years" kid) booked five bands to play at the Kennel Club in SF. But now, 10 years later, it's exploded into a beast with many arms and heads, consuming everything and everybody in its path... well, there's a shitload of bands and venues involved. Arnold is still at the helm, along with Jordan Kurland of Zeitgeist Management (Creeper Lagoon, Beulah).

The list of Noise Pop alumni is long, but some of the bands that have participated in the past include Archers of Loaf, Blonde Redhead, Creeper Lagoon, Death Cab for Cutie, Flaming Lips, Grandaddy, Imperial Teen, Jim O'Rourke (see above fiasco), Modest Mouse, Rocket From the Crypt, Sam Prekop, Television, Unwound, Versus, the White Stripes and Yo La Tengo.

This year, Noise Pop spans six nights and includes SF venues such as Bimbo's, the Bottom of the Hill, Cafe du Nord, the Fillmore, the Great American Music Hall, the Justice League and Slim's. And lest you think it's just about snotty bands, the Noise Pop Film Fest will be returning, along with the Noise Pop Educational Series, art openings and a party celebrating the 10 Year Anniversary. No word yet on when the Chicago version of the festival will be taking place, but updates will be posted on the Noise Pop website. This year's Noise Pop Festival will run February 26th-March 3rd. The following bands have already signed on: The Faint, Death Cab for Cutie, Dismemberment Plan, Adult, the Makers, New Pornographers, and a first time collaboration between John Doe and Neko Case.

.: Noise Pop: http://www.noisepop.com

Matt Wavrin reports:
Acid Mothers Temple have been keeping themselves busy lately. Their latest recording, In C/In E, has just been released in the U.S. through Eclipse Records. The LP will be available only in deluxe gatefold vinyl and will feature (for the first time) pictures of all the band members and their individual instrument credits.

Eclipse will also release vinyl reissues of the band's three releases with PSF (to include Wild Gals a Go-Go). The first to be released will be their second album, Pataphysical Freak Out MUH!, which will feature new artwork and a resequenced tracklist, as well as the unreleased version of "Blue Velvet Blues."

Founder Kawabata Makoto also released the fifth installation of his Private Tapes series to coincide with their tour of the UK back in October as well as headlining the Asian American Jazz Festival 2001 in Chicago. The AMT label has also been busy coughing up releases by Pardons (in a limited edition of 200 copies, nearly sold out) and French acid folkster Frederick.

.: Pitchfork Review: Acid Mothers Temple: The New Geocentric World of...
.: Acid Mothers Temple: http://www.acidmothers.com
.: Eclipse Records: http://www.eclipse-records.com

Josh Slobin reports:
Sometimes two things just fit together right, each playing off the other's inherent strengths and weaknesses to create a greater whole. Take, for example, Black Francis and Kim Deal, or, if you prefer, chocolate and peanut butter. In this tradition of mutual benefit, the Athens, Georgia-based Kindercore Records and Brooklyn, New York's Telegraph Company have recently joined forces.

According to the terms of the deal, Telegraph will become a minority partner in Kindercore, and will head up the indie label's distribution, retail promotion and business affairs/finance. Dan Geller and Ryan Lewis retain ownership and full A&R; control of Kindercore, which probably bodes well for perennial favorites like Of Montreal. Telegraph will distribute new titles nationally, giving Ryan and Dan more time to scour the countryside looking for bands willing to sing about dogs controlling people's lungs.

Kindercore is the sixth label to sign with Telegraph, including Daniel Johnston's new home Gammon Records. The first Kindercore release that will benefit from the deal is Vermont's new record, Calling Albany, followed in the coming months by new releases from Dressy Bessy, Sleeping Flies, Masters of the Hemisphere, Of Montreal, Japancakes and the Essex Green, among others. Time to ask for a bigger allowance.

.: Kindercore Records: http://www.kindercore.com
.: The Telegraph Company: http://www.thetelegraphcompany.com