Plant Thief by Deerhoof, live on KEXP

It's time for Beginnings, the podcast where writer and performer Andy Beckerman talks to the comedians, writers, filmmakers and musicians he admires about their earliest creative experiences and the numerous ways in which a creative life can unfold.

On today's episode, I talk to musician Satomi Matsuzaki. Originally from Tokyo, Satomi moved to San Francisco in 1995 to study film production, but within a week of immigrating, she joined the nascent rock group Deerhoof, and has been a member ever since. In the intervening years, the band has released over two dozen albums, EPs and live albums on labels like Kill Rock Stars and Polyvinyl, among many others, and their latest, Miracle-Level, was released at the end of March on Joyful Noise Recordings, and like everything they do, it's great!

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The Go! Team - Secretary Song

Love & Friendship in Ghibli movies

Deerhoof — Miracle-Level (Joyful Noise)

Photo by Mike Bridavsky

Miracle-Level by Deerhoof

Though they’ve been at it for nearly 30 years, Deerhoof are still finding ways to stay fresh. Miracle-Level is, amazingly, their first album to be fully made in a studio with a producer. Plus, it’s also their first album sung entirely in vocalist/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki’s native Japanese. These circumstances pull the band in competing directions, on the one hand making the music a little more palatable in terms of the sounds, while on the other hand making it more disorientating due to the fact that the words are sung in a different language (unless you speak Japanese, that is). Seeing as the band had to hone and tighten their songs before heading into the studio, the performances are some of the most articulate and explosive in the band’s enviable catalogue, while also making room for moments of exquisite tenderness.

Though Deerhoof have always done a great job with their largely DIY recordings, on Miracle-Level there’s an astonishing depth to Ed Rodriguez and John Dieterich’s guitars, each part complementing the other with unusual voicings. There’s the usual barrage of blistering riffs, plus slide guitar, organ and piano cropping up here and there. From a production perspective, Mike Bridavsky has done a sterling job; the three-dimensional quality of this record is truly striking and exciting, whether on headphones or blasted on speakers. Hard-hitting drummer Greg Saunier is, if anything, a tad subdued here compared to some of his more unhinged playing, but he does get a couple of star turns at the mic: the slashingly dissonant “Everybody, Marvel,” and poignant finale “Wedding, March, Flower.” Befitting their exclamation points, “My Lovely Cat!” and “Momentary Art of Soul!” have a couple of the most punishingly intense and repetitive codas on the entire record, while “And the Moon Laughs” foregrounds a hilariously over-the-top glam-rock riff. In contrast, mellower cuts “The Poignant Melody,” “Miracle-Level” and “The Little Maker” provide some welcome respite from the chaos. 

The album in Deerhoof’s discography that Miracle-Level is closest to in feel is probably 2008’s Offend Maggie, where the band effectively balances ferocity with sweetness, dissonance with anthemic melody. At this stage in their career it feels miraculous that Deerhoof keep on releasing music that’s quite this vital and inventive. 

Tim Clarke

Sit down, and let Deerhoof tell you a story… 

Sung entirely in Japanese, the song is like a rock n’ roll merry-go-round, filled with dizzying, zigzagging riffs and staccato drums as Satomi Matsuzaki regales the masked crowd with a tale of crawling deserts and mad lightning. It’s pretty fun (✿◠‿◠) 

Deerhoof’s upcoming album, Miracle-Level, is out March 31 via Joyful Noise. 

- Bianca B. 

Wonderful World

Fandoms: コクリコ坂から | Kokuriko-zaka Kara | From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), 千と千尋の神隠し | Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away (2001), Mononoke-hime | Princess Mononoke, Gake no Ue no Ponyo | Ponyo, Mimi wo Sumaseba | Whisper of the Heart (1995), Howl no Ugoku Shiro | Howl's Moving Castle, Tonari no Totoro | My Neighbor Totoro (1988), 風の谷のナウシカ | Kaze no Tani no Naushika | Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), 天空の城ラピュタ | Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa | Laputa: Castle in the Sky, 風立ちぬ | Kaze Tachinu | The Wind Rises (2013), 借りぐらしのアリエッティ | Karigurashi no Arietty | The Secret World of Arrietty (2010), 紅の豚 | Kurenai no Buta | Porco Rosso (1992)

No Archive Warnings Apply

Pazu/Sheeta (Laputa)

Sophie Hatter/Howl Pendragon

Madame Gina/Porco Rosso

Arrietty Clock/Sho

Haku | Nigihayami Kohakunushi/Ogino Chihiro

Horikoshi Jirou/Satomi Naoko

Kazama Shun/Matsuzaki Umi

Ponyo/Sousuke (Ponyo)

Kasukabe Mei & Kasukabe Satsuki

Amasawa Seiji/Tsukishima Shizuku

Ashitaka/San (Mononoke-hime)

Kiki/Tombo (Majo no Takkyuubin)

(Feed generated with FetchRSS) source https://archiveofourown.org/works/46621678

50秒

昨年参加した「50秒」が恵比寿映像祭にて再上映されます。 東京都写真美術館1階ホールでの上映となります。会期中は毎日上映されますが、日によって上映時間が変わりますのでご注意ください。

『50秒』

参加アーティスト :青木真莉子、青木陵子、青崎伸孝、秋吉風人、麻生晋佑、荒川医、荒木悠、池崎拓也、イッタ・ヨダ、 伊藤存、江口悟、岡田理、片岡純也＋岩竹理恵、金村修、KAYA (デボ・アイラース＋ケルスティン・ブレチュ)、窪田隆之、COBRA、小松浩子、佐藤純也、 アーロン・ジェント、庄司朝美、髙橋耕平、たちばなひろし、田中和人、玉山拓郎、ナヴィッド・ヌール、 花代＋斎藤玲児、甫木元空、 細倉真弓、増本泰斗、サトミ・マツザキ、間部百合、南川史門、森田浩彰

詳細：https://www.yebizo.com/jp/program/2454

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ The “50 seconds”  exhibition of video works by a total of 34 artists, which the Kyoto-based artist-run space “soda” around director TANAKA Kazuhito presented in November 2022, is once again repeated at the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2023.  127 years after the Lumière brothers unveiled their 50-second-long landmark film Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in 1895, selected contemporary artists show works that are each just as long. The program at large explores new possibilities of the moving image as an art form.  Event produced by: TANAKA Kazuhito (Director, soda) Artists: AOKI Mariko, AOKI Ayako, AOZAKI Nobutaka, AKIYOSHI Futo, ASO Shinsuke, ARAKAWA Ei, ARAKI Yu, IKEZAKI Takuya, Ittah Yoda, ITO Zon, EGUCHI Satoru, OKADA Shizuka, KATAOKA Junya + IWATAKE Rie, KANEMURA Osamu, KAYA (Debo EILERS and Kerstin BRÄTSCH), KUBOTA Takayuki, COBRA, KOMATSU Hiroko, Aron GENT, SHOJI Asami, TAKAHASHI Kohei, TACHIBANA Hiroshi, TANAKA Kazuhito, TAMAYAMA Takuro, Navid NUUR, Hanayo + SAITO Reiji, HOKIMOTO Sora, HOSOKURA Mayumi, MASUMOTO Yasuto, Satomi MATSUZAKI, MANABE Yuri, MINAMIKAWA Shimon, MORITA

Damaged Eyes Squinting into the Beautiful Overhot Sun by Deerhoof from the album Future Teenage Cave Artists - Directed / Edited by Anders Ericsson

Deerhoof - “Wedding, March, Flower”

A rare ballad within the Deerhoof sonic multiverse, “Wedding, March, Flower”, the latest preview from the experimental art rock band’s new album, Miracle-Level, hears Greg Saunier on lead vocals, hushing words written by Satomi Matsuzaki, Between a tender piano played by Saunier and Satomi plotting its drum line, the listen moves with an understated beauty even as it bouquets something grander in the big picture.

Deerhoof’s Miracle-Level will be released March 31st on Joyful Noise Recordings.

[Album + Video] Kollektiv Temps kündigt Debütalbum "PARTY GATOR PURGATORY" an!

Temps, das 40-köpfige Kollektiv um den britischen Komiker James Acaster, kündigt die Veröffentlichung ihres Debütalbums "PARTY GATOR PURGATORY" an, das am 19. Mai digital über Bella Union erscheint.

Mit seinem gewaltigen Umfang und seiner experimentellen Energie schafft es das trippige Album, eine Vielzahl von Ideen, Gästen und Stimmungen auf den zehn Songs zu vereinen. Das Debüt wurde dabei von Acaster selbst produziert und konzipiert und enthält Beiträge von Acts wie Quelle Chris, John Dieterich, Joana Gomila, Laia Vallès, Shamir, Seb Rochford und vielen anderen. “I became completely obsessed with this project”, erzählt Acaster. “It was all I focused on for two years and we ended up making my favourite thing ever.”

Die Genres wurden während der Produktion ganz klar zugunsten der Experimentier- und Spielfreude vernachlässigt: So folgt eine gerappte Strophe auf ein Saxophon-Solo, eine barocke Gitarrenline wechselt sich mit einem Chor von Blockflöten ab - was auch immer der jeweilige Track verlangte, er bekam es. Dieser kollaborative, flüchtige Ansatz führte schleißlich auch zum Namen der Gruppe, Temps, die Ende 2022 bereits ihre erste Single "no,no" geteilt hatten.

"bleedthemtoxins", die neueste Single des Kollektivs, das irgendwo zwischen einem Nebenprojekt und einer Supergroup angesiedelt ist, verschmilzt experimentellen Jazz mit Bläsern und mehrstimmigen Rap- und Vocals-Parts, während Acaster in seinem bunten Party Gator-Kostüm London unsicher macht

Tracklist "PARTY GATOR PURGATORY": 01. lookaliveandplaydead (feat. Quelle Chris, Mal Devisa, Denmark Vessey, Foonyap) 02. kept (feat. NNAMDÏ, Gaston Bandimic, Xenia Rubinos, Satomi Matsuzaki, Law Holt, Quelle Chris) 03. partygatorR.I.P. (feat. Xenia Rubinos, Denmark Vessey, Quelle Chris, bb tombo) 04. no,no (feat. Quelle Chris, Xenia Rubinos, NNAMDÏ, Shamir) 05. at(moves) (feat. Quelle Chris, Wheelchair Sports Camp, Mal Devisa, Nate Mendelsohn) 06. partygatorpurgatory (feat. Babar Luck, Law Holt, Gaston Bandimic, bb tombo) 07. ificouldjust (feat. Yoni Wolf, Quelle Chris, Shamir, Montaigne, Ami Dang) 08. bleedthemtoxins (feat. Joana Gomila, NNAMDÏ, Shamir, Quelle Chris) 09. partygatorresurrection (feat. Open Mike Eagle, me oh myriorama, Montaigne, Low Growl, bb tombo) 10. slowreturn (feat. Yoni Wolf, Shamir, Elizabete Balčus)

Instagram

Deerhoof - My Lovely Cat (Official Visualizer)

What if the spiky San Francisco art-rock band Deerhoof decided to write a Rolling Stones song? “My Lovely Cat” might be as close as they get, with a rowdy, distorted 4/4 guitar riff, a more-or-less march beat and a slide guitar that veers between teasing the rhythm guitar and shadowing the vocal. Satomi Matsuzaki sings, in Japanese, about bonding with her cat in the internet era: “Let’s monitor on pet-cam!/Shall I start Instagram or TikTok?” Of course Deerhoof skews things, with sudden silences, sneaky shifts of key and meter and a final minute of obsessive repetition. But there’s a Stones swagger lurking underneath. PARELES

Asian nexus

IN FOCUS: Bassists

The latest edition of the IN FOCUS series at The Photo Ladies website is live and concentrates on bassists. I have the above two photos in the set and the full gallery is now available on that website here.

..:: #98. Deerhoof - O Ye Saddle Babes ::..

You never really know what you're going to get when you fire up a Deerhoof song, and sure enough, "O Ye Saddle Babes" comes loaded with all sorts of shenanigans. Rubberized bass, syncopated rhythms, atonal guitar lines, clattering synths, jumbled keyboards: it's all here. Eventually singer Satomi Matsuzaki shows up to poke fun at cowboys with some wry readings of their favorite sayings while horses clip-clop in the background.

Best Moment: The repeated wry taunt of "Can't we all just get along, little doggies?" that arrives with the descending, buzzing guitars at 2:13.

The Album [Future Teenage Cave Artists]: 7/10

The Playlist [WEIT?'s 100 Songs Of 2020]