Kranky S&D

By the way for those interested - after I made that Kranky playlist mentioned upthread, I started writing my way through the entire catalog. I'm up to the 12th or 13th release at this point. About 170 to go. Scroll back a little to get to the beginning if you're interested: http://sctttnnnt.tumblr.com

started listening to that playlist, what an amazing thing.

By the way for those interested - after I made that Kranky playlist mentioned upthread, I started writing my way through the entire catalog. I'm up to the 12th or 13th release at this point. About 170 to go. Scroll back a little to get to the beginning if you're interested: http://sctttnnnt.tumblr.com

― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Wednesday, September 18, 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Four months later I've gotten to 96 albums and counting. Handy little archive here, if you like.

This afternoon I was on the Consequence of Sound Aux.Out podcast talking about this project, plus a few digressions. Talked about a lot of Kranky bands, with some shout outs to Windy & Carl, Growing, Charalambides, and others. My bit starts around 38 minutes in and goes til the end, if anyone is interested.

I see Bleep is offering a 30-track bundle of Kranky tracks.

https://bleep.com/stream/30%20tracks%20of%20kranky?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweet&utm_campaign=30%20tracks%20kranky%20tw

It's a Krapload of Kranky!

Really enjoying the new Tara Jane O'Neil album on Kranky.

Yeah, I've been enjoying the TJO album a lot. Still processing it but it's very nice. I basically lost track of her after her first solo album and her various post-Rodan bands broke up (Retsin, Sonora Pine). I didn't realize she had so many solo albums since then - totally fell off my radar.

Yeah she's been very busy in recent years, in a great way. The new album is indeed lovely.

Scott, just started reading your Kranky project and am loving it, and getting intoduced to a whole heap oif great stuff via it. Thank you!

Oh good! Thanks. It's been a lot of fun. I've discovered a lot too, and it's been very rewarding to stick with so many artists' discographies where I might not have given much time if I was just searching music for casual pleasure.

I've been writing my way through the Kranky catalog for the last eight months. 130 albums down, roughly 50 to go.

This is still one of the best projects of its kind around.

Thanks Ned! It's been (mostly) fun.

Enjoying the title track from High Plains' "Cinderland":

https://highplainskranky.bandcamp.com/releases

Demen

https://soundcloud.com/kranky/demen-niorum/s-2Lswu

Seems like Kranky went on a signing spree. MJ Guider, Forma, Earthen Sea, High Plains, Demen - all new to the label within the last 18 months. By contrast every release in 2014 and 2015 was by an artist who had other albums on the label. The last album by a brand new artist they released before MJ Guider's record last year was the Justin Walters album in 2013.

fwiw High Plains is Kranky vet Scott Morgan / Loscil and cellist Mark Bridges. Submers is a fave ambient disc, so stoked for the combo of his aesthetic and a cello.

Does Grouper count? If so, GROUPER FFS PEOPLE.

Gave the Demen an ear last night via an advance, very enjoyable.

Ah, didn't realize High Plains was a Loscil project! That excites me.

Earthen Sea is good. Abul Mogard-type vibes.

not sure where else to post this, but kranky fans might be interested in this:

https://vimeo.com/203361631

Looking back at this historical trajectory, Peter Burr, Mark Fingerhut, and Forma have created a spiraling interdimensional narrative aptly titled DESCENT - a meditation on one of humanity’s blackest hours. Taking the form of a desktop application, descent.exe gives the user a brief glimpse of a world descending into darkness - an unrelenting plague indifferent to the struggles of the user. There is a silver lining, however, tucked into the software’s final sweep. An equanimous watcher, reduced to a single eye, looks on as the plague of rats that has infested your desktop destroys itself.

This video is a recording of descent.exe running alongside Fingerhut's deepdesktop.exe.

Visuals: Peter Burr peterburr.org, undervolt.co/Peter-Burr
Programming: Mark Fingerhut markfingerhut.com/
Music: Forma - Descent (from Physicalist, Kranky 2016) formasounds.bandcamp.com/, formasounds.com/

i ran across it because i really like peter burr, but the music is outstanding too. turns out it's from a recent kranky release (Forma - Physicalist) which came out last fall.

I'm about to pre-order the new/old Grouper LP from kranky, but i want to pick up a couple others at the same time. are there any especially good, recent kranky releases? i've kind of drifted away from them over the years, to the point where i'm not sure i've even listened to anything by several of the most recent artists (Christina Vantzou, Dedekind Cut, Justin Walker, Demen, Earthen Sea, Anjou).

Justin Walter is great - parts of his most recent album sound like Labradford filtered through ECM (in a good way)

The Gregg Kowalsky album is modular synth melancholia stuff, definitely solid if you like that sort of thing

The little I heard of the new Dedekind Cut album sounded nice, if instantly forgettable as soon as it was no longer playing (which is a criticism I have of a lot of this stuff)

Anjou is essential if you like Labradford, though it's definitely its own thing - it's Bobby Donne's most recent (not really new) project and it's wonderful

Good luck, tell us what you end up choosing!

Christina Vantzou is great - in the vein of Winged Victory for the Sullen. And for that matter Winged Victory for the Sullen is great too if you haven't picked that up.

I second the Justin Walter rec - he's probably my favorite of their most recent group of signees (say, the last 4 years or so).

need to listen to that justin walter again. his debut on kranky was amazing but the recent one didn't really grab me all that much tbh

I do like the debiut more, but the second album is good too.

Here's a vote for Justin Walter - Unseen Forces

Never heard the first one. Same general vibe?

Yes, same general vibe. Might be a case of "first one I heard" but I just like it a hair more than the second.

the Demen album is incredible, probably my favorite of 2017

https://youtu.be/uXcTSlsme1s

I think I played Demen's Nektyr more than any other record last year. Justin Walter is also a safe pick (I prefer his second album – and yes, I did hear it first).

xposts....:( i was apparently so impatient yesterday that i couldn't even wait 30 minutes for a reply before submitting my order. i ended up adding tim hecker's virgins to my order, just i've listened to so much of his music via spotify without actually owning anything. feels like i owe him a little.

if i could turn back time, if i could find a way, i'd probably give justin walter a shot. next time!

25th Anniversary shows in Portland, Chicago, LA, NYC: http://www.factmag.com/2018/10/23/grouper-loscil-steve-hauschildt-kranky-25th-anniversary-shows/?fbclid=IwAR1HDyg2yd7sz7bSbzPBsxd18OgFeLxk8PD5X1du0I_9JRwUOH15-troUPo

Nov 16 – Portland, OR w/ Loscil, Valet, Saloli
Nov 17 – Portland, OR w/ Grouper, Benoit Pioulard, Strategy
Dec 1 – Los Angeles, CA w/ Grouper, Brian McBride, Less Bells
Dec 8 – Chicago, IL w/ Windy & Carl, Pan•American, Steve Hauschildt, Justin Walter
Dec 15 – NY w/ Christina Vantzou, Forma, Earthen Sea, Saloli

By the way - five years ago I posted about a spotify playlist I made of the entire Kranky catalog. I still keep that playlist up to date.
https://open.spotify.com/user/scottpgwp/playlist/6LjovhU0NCPKEMmSAPEWBZ?si=9SyijQ8qSEmoYbUUhy24sQ

Fuck: this tour needs to come to Europe.

Also fuck: Kranky is 25 years old = therefore I am ridiculously old :-/

Based on who's playing where, it doesn't look really like a "tour" - all those acts are essentially local to the cities they're playing, I think. or at least they don't live far.

In any case - I would LOVE to see that Chicago set. It's probably been 20 years since I last saw Windy & Carl! And I've never seen Pan*American.

But, I've also never seen Grouper so I'll be excited for that LA show. Brian McBride's first album ("When the Detail Lost its Freedom") is also an unheralded classic from the label - anyone who loves the last two Stars of the Lid albums should also love that album. It is nine-tenths perfection.

thought some people here might be interested that I am about to put out a (superb) new Dean Roberts record on my ErstPop imprint. I am bad about getting the word out usually but in case you are interested, available for preorder now with immediate DL access, and the great first track is streaming...

https://erstwhilerecords.bandcamp.com/album/not-fire

stellar news and that looks like a great line-up of players! super excited to hear it all - will try and order a bit later

Oh I was wondering where Dean Roberts had disappeared. Seriously pumped!

Additional:

Ekkehard Ehlers - Advisor

😎

Great news Jon, looking forward to this!

oh wow, cool! was thinking about White Winged Moth and Dean and wondering what the hell had happened to him.

will buy. thanks for the head's up!

Great news, Dean/AD are Kranky's best-kept secret, sadly.

that Dean Roberts is shipping now, CDs printed amazing with full lyrics inside, Pitchfork review coming shortly.

New Windy and Carl kills. Absolutely one of their best. (It's not quite, say, their Double Negative but it comes from a similar place.)

Which W&C is that? Forest Trails or something else?

New one:

https://windyandcarl.bandcamp.com/album/allegiance-and-conviction

I like the new Dean Roberts but can't help but feel like its deliberately prosaic lyricism detracts from it somewhat, as though he were weaving an aural narrative about failed interpersonal relationships from the wizened perspective of a 50-something divorcee or whatever and I just find that shit hopelessly dull, like a Jonathan Franzen novel.

Basically I hate psychosocial lyrics that make me feel like I'm supposed to relate to them, like 'wow so true man'.

Unsurprisingly, the new Windy & Carl is indeed fantastic.