Will wonders never cease? Jandek now tours, Dot Wiggin of the Shaggs has a new album, and our own fascinating outsider music discovery (actually, he discovered us) The Everyday Film has given his first interview. This coincides with a new video (see below). We now have a name, face, and a bit of background on transgressive audio artist The Everyday Film, courtesy of Italian writer Davide Carrozza: Interview with the Everyday Film
Longtime readers of the blog may recall that the Everyday Film project has been so steeped in mystery that we've never known the slightest thing about who or what is responsible for these most striking, disturbing, and mordantly funny recordings. CDs would just show up unannounced and unexplained in my PO box. Well, we now know that the Everyday Film is one Drew Steinman, lives in New Jersey, likes Rick James and Meat Loaf, and is the sole brain behind the music, videos, and artwork. He admits that he has no musical influences that he can detect, and that just might be the most impressive thing about TEF, that he isn't, unlike just about everyone else, the sum total of his record collection. Steinman's stepping into the light does not destroy the illusion of a bewildering enigma, not with such choice quotes as: "My ideal audience is the person completely alienated and losing touch with reality." Carrozza also reviews and analyzes TEF's ouvrein a separate article. It is gratifying to see someone take the works of a so-called "marginal" figure of the music world like TEF and give it such a serious treatment. This site is still the only place to get most of the Everyday Film releases, e.g.: the first four albums. And we have a new video, a preview of the forthcoming album "Bleed Over." He sez: "Unlike my other stuff this tune is very danceable."
Turn on the t.v., watch a movie, what do you get? Inane sitcoms, "Transformers," cops chasing serial killers for the umpteenth time...but what's this?! Video being put to good use for a change, producing such feasts for the eyes and ears as
Nintendo audio played by player piano and robotic percussion:
"This system allows for Nintendo gameplay audio to be played through an
acoustic player piano and robotically controlled percussive instruments.
The piano and percussion play live during actual gameplay." It's true, watch the game in the upper left to see how it triggers the robot instruments.
I wrote about Gnarboot's nutty album in 2011, but this video from earlier this year isn't so much kooky as it is pretty sick 'n' twisted. Imagine David Lynch making children's programming. Over an eerie electronic score, the title phrase "Cats In Pajamas" is chanted mantra-like by a childlike vocalist, as people in cat masks mysteriously appear and disappear. My three-year-old came over to my computer when I was playing this, intrigued. After all, it's kitties, right? But when the scary knife-wielding clown showed up, she ran from the room. Thanks a lot for scaring my kid, Gnarboots!
Speaking of sick and twisted...the gold standard of such, The Everyday Film, who released an album we reviewed earlier this year, have now added video to their arsenal of weapons of mass hysteria. It's for the short version of their song "Goool" and, like a slideshow of early Jandek album covers, features a series of blurred, discombobulated photos in as compelling a video realization of alienation and disconnection as you're ever going to see.
Need a laugh now? Another M4M fave, the absurdist mad scientist and his "singing" robot duo the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, have also released their debut video, "Frankenstein's Laundromat," another welcome bit of their trademark electro-poppin' surreal humor. This is a preview of the forthcoming album, "Experiments With Auto-Croon."
Swedish female duo The Haggish Moue have a bunch of videos up on the youtubes, and I watched 'em all. Not sure if I really need to listen to their wistful brand of electro-psych on it's own, but the largely-instrumental (+ somewhat ethereal vox) music works great as a soundtrack to spacey video art acid trips that you can get lost in. Let's fall into space...
I believe it was Winston Churchill who once described The Everyday Film as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." After taking last year off (incarcerated? institutionalized?) he/they/it have released a new album and an ep, both available thru iTunes and Amazon. There's a whole lot of music out there in this great, big universe, but there is still nothing like The Everyday Film.
"New Skin Wine" is 11 tracks in a mere 22 minutes, but those are some pretty dramatically charged 22 minutes. The wide dynamic range of the album ranges from subliminal ambient drones and whispered vocals, to nightmare-ish noise that will have you jumping out of your skin if you're not riding the volume levels (look out, headphone wearers!) The album ends with over 2 minutes of static drone that might have you checking your stereo to see if it's grounded.
After receiving the new album, I was wondering if TEF had anything new to say after all their releases, or if they still had the power to shock. Hoo boy. The track "Want Cycles" features electronics so terrifying that they make Throbbing Gristle sound like Air Supply. Bravo!
TEF's trademark demonically harmonized vocals are not as present here, in favor of dark electronic soundscapes. But when they do appear, the old body-horror themes are still present in dimly-heard surreal snippets like "My cancer's gone, but you can't seem to put me back together," or "It should be enough to be my own dessert."
"Goool" is a three-track EP that features a nearly 13 minute long track. Pretty amazing, considering most TEF tracks last less then one minute. TEF has given us the short version of "Goool" that's found on "New Skin Wine" to post here:
One of the most enigmatic figures in music today, The Everyday Film, sent us their new "album" (11 songs in under 10 minutes) entitled "Festival of Emotions," and, on some tracks, this usually horrifying figure actually sounds like he/they might be in a somewhat better mood than usual. Maybe even in love, or some bizarre variation thereof. Elsewhere, it's the usual claustrophobic terror-tronics. A festival of emotions, indeed.
We have permission to post two tracks from it:
"The Bottom Of The World," only 39 seconds long:
"You, The Entrance; You, The Exit," an epic, at 1:39:
The Everyday Film has a new, er, "song" - for lack of a better word - up on iTunes called "Emotional Margin Call." Go buy it! After all, he (she? they? it?) gave me permission to post his first four releases here.
Music doesn't usually scare me. But as I wrote when I reviewed the first two albums:
"The Everyday Film's album "The House I Used To Turn Into" was, on first listen, one of the most disturbing things I've ever heard (and maybe on second and third listens as well.) Much of it isn't what most people would even think of as music: a vocoder-ized voice pitched way down loooooow mutters cryptic non-sequiturs, interrupted by brief shards of industrial music-like sounds. "Song" titles include: "The Boy In The Wall," "We Don't Exist Yet," "Budgeted Out The Perverted," and "A New Class of Paranoia." The final track on the short album (27 tracks in 15 minutes) is the sound of some poor soul begging for his life while Mr Vocoder Voice mumbles banalities like "relax in the sun...take a vacation...take a 'me' day..." over unsettling electronic drones. That's entertainment! Not to scare you all off, but it can be a fascinating, sometimes funny headphone experience, and a wicked beat even turns up...A 12 minute follow up CD...seems slightly less creepy, and the song titles aren't as twisted. It'll still be dismissed as sick shit by 99.9% of the population, tho." The Everyday Film - First 4 Albums
The Everyday Film mails CDs to my PO box from time to time, and I get the occasional email from him, but I still don't have a shred of biographical info on him , or pictures, and the return addresses have been from different states each time. I used to call him "the Jandek of electronica," but, as one of you commented, he seems to be far more reclusive than even that notoriously shy outsider. There's no longer even a website for the band, so, for now, this is the only place to get these releases. Thanks very much to The Everyday Film for letting me post these here.
The Everyday Film, the Jandek of electronica, have a new "album" out (it's 11 minutes long) of 7 brief tracks, and we've got it. He/they no longer have a website, but they've kindly let us host this typically disturbing, fascinating burst of noise-tronics and serial-killer vocals cryptically muttering non-sequiters about how he gets his tv friends mixed up with his real friends, and how he hopes he doesn't bleed on your rug. Will make your skin crawl. Have a nice day!
The Everyday Film is the Jandek of electronica: secretive, musically unique and disturbing, and completely in his own universe. I don't even know where he (they?) are from anymore - every package I get from 'em seems to have a different return-address. And the most recent CD is 26 second long. Yep, he went to the bother of making a cd, packaging it, mailing it...all that work for 26 seconds. Top that, Jandek!
The track makes up for it's short length in sheer shock value. As usual, vocals are so distorted it's hard to tell what's happening, but apparently he's in surgery: "That's me on the table."
The Everyday Film: "Multiple Women" - It's a sneak-preview of a forthcoming album. .
...Yes, Virginia, there are still independent artists out there selling albums, trying to raise a little scratch so that they can continue their good works. So go buy stuff! Like what what we used to do!
The Everyday Film have another CD of serial-killer vocals and enigmatic electronics; 24 tracks in 12 minutes; still the most creepy cryptic thing out there, but this one seems strangely more accessible...or maybe I'm just getting used it. "The Cycle - excerpts" Pan For Punks is an instrumental collection of Ramones classics performed punk/reggae/calypso style on Carribean steel drums. Could be a cheezy gimmick, but it's so well executed that it's a really good gimmick. Beach party/bbq album of the year. "Rockaway Beach"
Arrington de Dionyso blows mad horn improv over throbbing percussion - a voodooceremony on Hepcat's Island. Recorded directly to vinyl. Only 100 tapes available. "Naga Suara track 3" Thelema Trio are a sax, clarinet and piano trio named for Aleister Crowley whose latest album features the work of South American composers. I know, I know, another one? My fave track might be "Shadowing" for intertwined clarinets and saxes reminiscent of Steve Reich stuff like "Electric Counterpoint" but more loose; it's 8 minutes long tho, so here's a piece by Peruvian composer Raphael Leonardo Junchaya that suggest Philip Glass playing a Bulgarian wedding: "Sikkinus"
Sc.art is a trio with roots in the Budapest '80s New Wave scene (who knew?) but have moved far beyond - the songs on their album "The Well-Tempered Universe" are based on actual outer space sounds, such as the ones we've featuredhere. Quite a variety of styles result, from the expected Vangelis-ish space-rock and Eno-esque ambience, to near-funk/pop, to abstract percussion, electro-noise and spooky drones. Hmmm, maybe in space they can hear you scream. "Universes Wailing"
The Everyday Film's album "The House I Used To Turn Into" was, on first listen, one of the most disturbing things I've ever heard (and maybe on second and third listens as well.) Much of it isn't what most people would even think of as music: a vocoder-ized voice pitched way down loooooow mutters cryptic non-sequiturs, interrupted by brief shards of industrial music-like sounds. "Song" titles include: "The Boy In The Wall," "We Don't Exist Yet," "Budgeted Out The Perverted," and "A New Class of Paranoia." The final track on the short album (27 tracks in 15 minutes) is the sound of some poor soul begging for his life while Mr Vocoder Voice mumbles banalities like "relax in the sun...take a vacation...take a 'me' day..." over unsettling electronic drones. That's entertainment!
Not to scare you all off, but it can be a fascinating, sometimes funny headphone experience, and a wicked beat even turns up:
A 12 minute follow up CD has just come out. It seems slightly less creepy, and the song titles aren't as twisted. It'll still be dismissed as sick shit by 99.9% of the population, tho:
The Everyday Film:Broken Up Love Channels(excerpts) But then again, what else would one expect from the land of Jandek, and the Houston Noise scene? The name "Houston" usually only conjures up images of big bland oil industry high-rises, not cutting-edge culture. Maybe all this stuff is a reaction to the city's sterile corporate reputation. I used to think that Austin was Texas' most mental musical city, what with the likes of Daniel Johnston, Roky Erikson and the Butthole Surfers as residents, but I dunno, Houston is starting to make Austin look like Nashville. .
