Debut of the year?
― Number None, Tuesday, 27 September 2011 09:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
Some track previewshttp://soundcloud.com/rustie
― Number None, Tuesday, 27 September 2011 09:31 (1 year ago) Permalink
i don't get why i couldn't start this. i hate technology SO MUCH.
anyway this is what i wanted to post:
AND U KNOW I WANNA RIDE OUT // Rustie - Glass Swords (Oct 2011)
i've been stupid busy at conferences of late, and this b2b on the new rustie album has been a) keeping my energy levels up rushing between events b) making me feel inappropriately ravey when i get to meetings. double drop:
the whole album is like that :D
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 27 September 2011 09:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
it kind of renders everything Hudson Mohawke has done irrelevant
― Number None, Tuesday, 27 September 2011 09:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
In fairness everything Hudson Mohawke has done is already irrelevant.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 27 September 2011 09:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
they are working in very similar modes though. Rustie is just a lot better.
― Number None, Tuesday, 27 September 2011 09:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
I wasn't really sure about Ultra Thizz, it kind of felt like he was deliriously throwing in as many euphoric signifiers as possible without any regard to build or groove or anything. I admire his enthusiasm but... icing needs cake.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 27 September 2011 09:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
^yeah this is something like what I think about my less favoured parts of the album - on the dance partisans thread I said that it just reminded me of millennial chart trance - which I don't think is entirely merit-free (and has obviously had some of its tropes revived in the last few years) but imo he doesn't do it that well
the great bits of the album are... great
― the wrong terry to fuckwit (DJ Mencap), Tuesday, 27 September 2011 11:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
aw c'mon guys, hudson mohawke has his thing too.
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Tuesday, 27 September 2011 12:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
Dude evidently plays a lot of Nintendo and eats a lot of sugar, right?
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 12 October 2011 10:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
This sort of minimal-attention-span nonsense has kind of awakened the question of what horrors we'd have got had Warp artists tried to make drill'n'trance a thing 10 years ago.
A bit like drill and bass it's kind of baseline enjoyable in its silliness and shameless rushiness but beat-wise and groove-wise it's completely functionally useless as dance music.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 12 October 2011 10:16 (1 year ago) Permalink
I don't think it's actually trying to be dance music though. It is kind of a puzzler in that i'm not sure "how" to listen to the album, but i still love it
― Number None, Wednesday, 12 October 2011 10:35 (1 year ago) Permalink
idk, i think most of the highlights on this album seem made for the dancefloor
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 12 October 2011 13:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
Belated thanks to Number None for starting this thread and thereby making me aware of this record. Have enjoyed immensely.
― pandemic, Thursday, 13 October 2011 16:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think youre missing the point if you think this is unfocused or minimal attention span, I'd say the whole thing works as a very singular concept and whilst not totally linear its not got the floor clearing smugness that characterises drill and bass. Best Dance album since Sheds last
― straightola, Friday, 14 October 2011 15:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
But the grooves and beats that should underpin this sort of stuff just aren't there. Maybe it's the halfstep beats and/or the fact that Rustie's coming from a dubstep lineage but I dunno, it feels like this music is standing in the middle of the dancefloor making manic largin' it hand gestures rather than actually dancing.
― Matt DC, Friday, 14 October 2011 15:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
i wouldn't know how to dance to it but i've seen it done. rustie doesn't come from a dubstep lineage though. there isn't much of that lineage in glasgow.
― stirmonster, Friday, 14 October 2011 17:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah, he's pretty keen to distance himself from the dubstep label in interviews
― Number None, Friday, 14 October 2011 17:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
the hot beats juxtaposed against the over-the-top rave & '80s synth sounds is a big part of what makes it work for me. if it was a four-on-the-floor record, it would probably tip over into schlock.
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Friday, 14 October 2011 17:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
I am very excited about seeing Rustie, in Glasgow, tonight, what with this being out and him being a Glasgow native and all that.
― ha ha ha ha jack my swag (boxedjoy), Friday, 14 October 2011 18:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
Report back on the amount/style of dancing
― Number None, Friday, 14 October 2011 18:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
― Matt DC, Wednesday, October 12, 2011 5:16 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark
i'm enjoying this album but after reading matt's post i'd been expecting something really CRAZY and INTENSE and SCHIZOPHRENIC and it's really not? like what makes this "minimal-attention-span"? i guess the tracks are on the shorter side?
― congratulations (n/a), Thursday, 20 October 2011 16:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
agreed, most of the tracks have song-like structures that are very logical.
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Thursday, 20 October 2011 17:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
― stirmonster, Friday, 14 October 2011 18:48 (6 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― Number None, Friday, 14 October 2011 18:50 (6 days ago) Bookmark
<3 rustie
― nakhchivan, Thursday, 20 October 2011 17:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
some excellent writing about this album:
http://www.dummymag.com/reviews/2011/10/24/rustie-glass-swords/
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 10:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
This is probably closer to people like Crystal Castles and Justice than it is to dubstep, yeah.
It's good music to play Mario Kart to, I have discovered.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 10:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
Listened to the first three tracks from this in a shop on Monday. Must say I was fairly blown away. That Dummy mag description is the most accurate I've read so far. Have now ordered the CD.
― Jeff W, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 14:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
nice review, and it totally seems like rustie and hudmo are having fun trying to one-up each other. i don't hear it as a difficult listen at all though, it's pure pleasure.
― this is unusual for batman. (Jordan), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 14:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
agree with "emotive love letter" from that review, and wish the writer had expanded on that a bit. the primary appeal for me is the pathos of all the ravey flourishes.
― lukas, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
WOW...just fucking WOW !!!
beat-wise and groove-wise it's completely functionally useless as dance music.
bad workmen always blame their tools.
if you can't dance to this, you probably just can't dance
― meat to pleased you (flame grilled meat), Thursday, 27 October 2011 04:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
^^^ this. How is this not-danceable? Each track is a banger.
That said, there's something a little flat-plan about the production that makes it at once exhausting and less punchy as the album wears on. It's better enjoyed track-by-track imo.
― dog latin, Thursday, 27 October 2011 09:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
Like I said, it's full of the sonic signifiers of dancing - europhoric trance synths, enormous hooks and what have you - but without the beats and momentum underneath that make dance music. It's all icing, no cake.
The Dusted review above actually agrees with me that it's not particularly concerned with the dancefloor in the first place. Feels like a headphone/living room record to me.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 27 October 2011 09:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
It certainly helped me get the washing up done, although Ultra Thizz is one of the only one's I'd like to see played out. Then again, it does happily sit between Justice-style electro, big-room dubstep and IDM, so it's the eclectic DJ's wet dream. But it ain't straight dance, no. It all depends on what you wanna hear on the dancefloor. There's so much brostep stuff that sounds rhythmically disjointed out there and people go bonkers to that. Personally I love the disorientating switches in tempo/signature and don't think they make it anti-dance; it just keeps things interesting and fun. So yeah, it's kind of the Skrillex it's okay to like (mostly cos the metal/emo element is entirely removed).
― dog latin, Thursday, 27 October 2011 10:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
Music like this requires a new way of dancing to it. If you just want to get your standard groove on, fine, but if you want to push the limits of your particular dancing 'style' you will be rewarded.
I say, do what Rustie did with the sonic signifiers and apply it to your body movement, but then again i tend not to dance to the beat of the kick snare. It's all about the hi hats, rolls, fills and breaks.
― meat to pleased you (flame grilled meat), Thursday, 27 October 2011 20:15 (1 year ago) Permalink
i'm surprised that people only seem to dance to one element of a track. dance to the melodies!!
― lex pretend, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
My hips dance to the kick/snare, my feet to the hi hats, my hands/fingers to the melody/chords and my head to some shit only i can hear. Sometimes i open my eyes on the dancefloor and find i've cleared quite a little space around me.
― meat to pleased you (flame grilled meat), Friday, 28 October 2011 00:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
Look I am trying to find nice ways of saying that this is really nerdy funkless music, okay? And that's alright! The music itself is pretty explicitly acknowledging how dorky it is.
― Matt DC, Friday, 28 October 2011 10:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
This is all true, and I don't think "a lack of funk" is necessarily a bad thing (other elements of this more than make up for it - it's certainly got ENERGY). But where is it explicitly acknowledging its nerdiness?
― dog latin, Friday, 28 October 2011 10:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
Because it's like 80% prog rock and video games?
― Matt DC, Friday, 28 October 2011 10:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
prog rock?!?!
i disagree, this album's strength is its sugar rush obviousness, it's the opposite of nerding out over complex rhythms or abstract sounds
― lex pretend, Friday, 28 October 2011 11:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
There are prog rock synths and occasionally guitar noises all over this. But then there are prog rock synths over a lot of music I like from the last few years.
Sugar rush obviousness can be nerdy as well in its own right, especially given that most of this record sounds like an overdriven Nintendo soundtrack. I'm not even saying it's bad - it's very stupid, very enjoyable, ridiculously nerdy.
― Matt DC, Friday, 28 October 2011 11:05 (1 year ago) Permalink
― nakhchivan, Friday, 28 October 2011 11:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think it's a bit of both. There's something really studied about those ravey builds and rush-ups. There's quite a lot of music coming out at the moment (some of Bass Clef's work is another example) that explores a kind of poignant nostalgia for what rave could have been. I guess it's not far removed from what people like Luke Vibert were doing 10-15 years ago, but these are "children of rave", i.e. they probably grew up hearing Tricky Disco and Charly Says on the radio and somehow feel that world needs a deeper excavation with more advanced technology.
― dog latin, Friday, 28 October 2011 11:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
Is that Rustie? Christ, he looks about 15. To him early dance music must sound like what Led Zepp sounds like to me....
― dog latin, Friday, 28 October 2011 11:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
Someone's stolen his umbrella
― R. Stornoway (Tom D.), Friday, 28 October 2011 11:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
nerdy ? funkless ? dorky ? you haven't confused Rustie with Reso in power extreme mode have you ?
I'm just not getting the prog rock thing. At least not in a way i do from something like lol - me me, which along with this, is shaping up to be among my top picks of the year.
― meat to pleased you (flame grilled meat), Friday, 28 October 2011 11:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
Rustie is definitely a big prog fan, as is Hudson Mohawke
― Number None, Friday, 28 October 2011 12:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
http://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/features/300374-rustie_appliance_science
Glass Swords is also informed by music that pre-dates, and in many cases directly influences, hip-hop and techno. Rustie cites prog-rock pioneers Yes and the jazz fusion of Allan Holdsworth as pivotal (you can hear the latter's imprint all over the album’s titular opening track, an intoxicating perfume of flutes and chopped choral vocals that swirl around a naïvely epic, pedal-heavy guitar solo), as well as the pejoratively titled genre of 'yacht rock', as Rustie puts it – a "sort of smooth, sort of jazzy sort of rock from the 80s" – of which Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers were prolific practitioners
― Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Friday, 28 October 2011 12:35 (1 year ago) Permalink
Im hearing Vince Clarke and Trevor Horn in Rusties sound palette more than anything. That'll be where the Clarke/YES thing comes in i suppose, combined with the ethos of Horn's collab with Malcolm Mclaren on Duck Rock. But the mish mash pastiche of reappropriated sounds reminds me most of Tim Simenon's breakthough with Beat Dis albeit with analogue patches rather than samples.
― you want fries with that (flame grilled meat), Saturday, 29 October 2011 10:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
Is that Rustie? Christ, he looks about 15.
He looks like an exuberant Pokemon.
― Matt DC, Saturday, 29 October 2011 19:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
perhaps you are saying you do not want a mind trip, but a body journey
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
whoa this mix
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Thursday, 19 April 2012 22:03 (1 year ago) Permalink
(xpost) mind you, that Thunder Bay beat's great neanderthal insistence owes more than a wee bit to this old grime number....
― bingo dabber acid, Thursday, 19 April 2012 22:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
kinda weird that Pitchfork reviewed it
― Number None, Thursday, 19 April 2012 22:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah i thought it must have gotten a physical release or something
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Thursday, 19 April 2012 22:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
rev you so crazy
how you say the rhythm here is an afterthought
― the late great, Thursday, 19 April 2012 22:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
i mean on a conceptual level it sounds to me like a basic crunk / southern rap beat (admittedly i'm not a big expert on those genres) w/ crazy-ass synth work on top BUT i think it's an extremely competent and well-crafted basic beat and not at all an afterthought or half-assed beatwork
― the late great, Thursday, 19 April 2012 22:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
actually "extremely competent" is probably an oxymoron, maybe i just mean "completely competent"
that's my favorite track of glass swords BTW
― the late great, Thursday, 19 April 2012 22:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
i think the "maximalism" of rustie is somewhat overstated
― the late great, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 01:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
on the essential mix last saturday -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01f15yf
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:16 (1 year ago) Permalink
was listening to the essential mix today and it seemed like he's a huge chick corea fan
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
I like rustie, for whatever reason I'm not angry when I listen to whatever shit of his I've heard, think he's kind of boring to me in an overall musician way but still it's not the worst
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 09:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
Apparently he's been approached to work with Justin Bieber and Shakira. He wisely said no. I can't see how that would have worked.
― And I have been called "The Appetite" (DL), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 11:03 (1 year ago) Permalink
Hudson Mohawke appears to be making that move
― Number None, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 11:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
hahahaha this is like the most predictable thing ever. can't wait for the bela fleck collabo.
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 11:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
people say a lot of ott things about how much is going on in rustie tracks
to me rustie basically sounds like hip hop jacking IDM of yore, except updated to reflect the cadences of 00s rap tunes and ukg / grime and really creative / cheesy / goofy synth textures
― the late great, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 14:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
i definitely agree with that. although i think those write-ups are mostly trying to call attention to his aesthetic/attitude, i.e. going big rather than creating an atmosphere.
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 14:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah his music is kinda loud, those gloopy shiny synths really "fill up" the, uh, psychoacoustic space or whatever you want to call it.
i'm kinda referring to things like that quote from the pfork EM review where the writer says something like "five simultaneous melodies going on at once" ... uh, no. there's not five melodies going on at once, there's usually one melody with lots of pitchbending and fx (not much more intricate than a typical modern acid house track) and one bassline and some random embellishments (definitely not intricate compared to the DSP fuckery in most idm tracks)
― the late great, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 16:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
don't get me wrong i LOVE rustie and hudson mohawke it's just i think the praise they get is kinda ill-informed and misses what's great about them
fwiw i also think hudson mohawke's production and drum programming is much more "intricate" although definitely not "better" because of it
― the late great, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 16:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
apparently he's been approached to work with Justin Bieber and Shakira. He wisely said no. I can't see how that would have worked.
― And I have been called "The Appetite" (DL), Tuesday, April 24, 2012 7:03 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark
i don't see why someone wouldn't just try this. the worst that happens is that nothing good comes of it and that's that.
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 24 April 2012 16:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
he's holding out for lil wayne
― the late great, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 16:31 (1 year ago) Permalink
fwiw i also think hudson mohawke's production and drum programming is much more "intricate" although definitely not "better" because of it.
totally. i agree that rustie's thing isn't about a ton of sounds and parts, it's about huge sounds so that he can base a track around ONE part that still sounds pretty overwhelming.
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 16:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
sorry for repeating myself but this is all I could think of when listening to the essential mix
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
yup
Warp Record guest Rustie delves into the diversity of his own tastes with a special selection including: Boards of Canada, Allan Holdsworth, Yes, Return to Forever & Weather Report.
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:05 (1 year ago) Permalink
he should've totally taken bieber and shakira up ffs
― liberté, égalité, beyoncé (lex pretend), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
i mean you can totally imagine shakira doing a vocal along the lines of nightwave's on "surph" and fleshing the song out a bit
please apologize for linking to a site w/ a picture of rustie
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
This was originally meant to go to Rihanna
― Number None, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
ha xp
return to forever is totally in these days, just look at that thundercat record.
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
wtf r u talking abt when was RTF ever not cool?
― the late great, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
rustie looks like he could be on wdyll
allan holdsworth is a pretty deep pick
― the late great, Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:24 (1 year ago) Permalink
"nice keebaab?""it....it was a burrito actually"
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
ha i was obsessed with that stuff when i was a teenager, but you have to admit that they have the worst rep out of all the big fusion bands (for the usual jazz crimes - cheesy/overblown/soulless etc.).
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 April 2012 17:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
i think this is my actual biggest problem with the record. most of the synth sounds he uses are just loud and shrill to me and drive me nuts
― hologram ned raggett (The Reverend), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 08:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
rustie is shrill
but he is also shrewd, and chill
― Ms Tum-Bla-Wi-Tee (nakhchivan), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 10:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
are people still into glass swords ?
― the late great, Thursday, 2 May 2013 18:40 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Funny you should mention this. I was just listening to this today. I love this album (been listening to it since it came out, as well).
― c21m50nh3x460n, Friday, 3 May 2013 01:10 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
the best album of 2011 for me
"slasherr" from this year is decent as well
― monotony, Friday, 3 May 2013 03:04 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
yeah liked this record a lot, didn't even notice it was much taken notice of on ILM
― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Friday, 3 May 2013 03:11 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
My favorite 2011 album that I didn't hear until 2012.
― jaymc, Friday, 3 May 2013 03:17 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
I kind of hear what Matt DC is saying about it not really being dance music - not that you 'can't' dance to it, but a lot of the songs never get going quite enough or sustain a beat long enough. I could see it lending itself really well to dance remixes/edits that wouldn't have to do a whole lot.
― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Friday, 3 May 2013 04:14 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
sure it's still awesome
― i wouldn't mistake myself for anyone. (wolves lacan), Friday, 3 May 2013 16:09 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
that's part of what I like about it, all that tension that never quite releases
― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Friday, 3 May 2013 16:14 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
dance prog. imo it's really more an update on instrumental funk from the 70s, that was as much an exercise in jamming, in a musicianly way, as it was "dance music".
― Dominique, Friday, 3 May 2013 16:57 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
really? it's got some fusion signifiers, but to my ears the forms/structures are very exacting and dance-based (and the most fun moments are when he's playing with listener expectations on the builds/drops).
― shit tie (Jordan), Friday, 3 May 2013 17:25 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
something that confused me about rustie was that he got so much more popular / acclaimed than hudson mohawke. their approaches, qualities and strengths seem very similar to me.
― the late great, Friday, 3 May 2013 17:30 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
i guess that's not true post-tnght but i always felt "butter" got a bad rap
I don't really mean it sounds like fusion, just that it reminds of what a lot of instrumental and fusion bands were doing in the 70s, making records of essentially "dance" music, but that were never really the same kind of dance music as, say, giorgio moroder or chic. Even tho really, if you listen to it, formwise, it's not arguably a different thing. See also a lot of instrumental hip-hop, post-dubstep stuff like zomby, or even squarepusher (who really does play the fusion card).
hudson mohawke seems to actively court dance/hip-hop appeal tho. Like, he makes tracks, and with tnght, that sound like their primary purpose is to woo a rapper to use them for production, and to make festival crowds jump up and down. Whereas rustie to my ears sounds too "impressive" in a muso way. It sounds amazing when I hear it at home, but maybe too busy in too short a time to work as "dance" music, as was suggested upthread. A fine line tho!
― Dominique, Friday, 3 May 2013 18:31 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
just listened to "glass swords" b2b w/ soul jazz's "deutsche elektronische musik" comp which is largely just prog as opposed to electronic music and it was a very smooth transition
there are moments of the rustie album that are straight-up prog imo
― the late great, Friday, 3 May 2013 18:36 (3 weeks ago) Permalink