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July 28, 2007
M.S. Picks: Rare Book Room Records
One of my biggest anticipations for the '07 music calendar is the still yet to be announced date that Rare Book Room Records finally ships out their debut release, the functionally (and perhaps still temporarily) titled, RBR 001 compilation. That might not ring too many bells out there, and I don't expect that name dropping label head Nicolas Vernhes will be a bolt from the blue. You are undoubtedly aware of the Frenchman's production and mixing work, however. American Water? Blueberry Boat? Cryptograms? All have passed through Brooklyn's Rare Book Room Studios, in one way or another (although the full list is miles longer than that)...
So now that's he's ready to play mogul himself, St. Nic has a lot of favors to call in. The picture overhead is a partial roster of the expected sprawling two disc set, though it leaves out big name (photo shy?) contributors like the Silver Jews, Black Dice, Fischerspooner, and Animal Collective's Avey Tare. We've already fawned over the Deerhunter contribution in this space, so we now turn our tasteful gaze towards a couple of artists whose rep is not yet cemented...
Palm in the Claw - "Der Koenig"
Long time readers of the site are well aware of our lonely devotion to the early eighties Berlin group, Malaria! Super fans will remember that this love is based solely on the grounds of one song and one song alone, the mighty "Your Turn to Run." Well, finally we have a song that would be fit to follow that masterpiece, not just on a mix tape (which I think I've done already) but on a dusty old vinyl sleeve with our favorite transmutable disease itself printed across the top.
Though not as aggressively sinister as "YTTR," Berlin/New York duo Palm in the Claw's "Der Koenig" has that same magical beat to synth ratio that immediately sets the hairs on your neck to attention. In this case, that's about 7:3, beat. The keys throb elegantly behind the crisp drum sound, giving sonic space for both Nadja Korinth's wild background wailing and ice cool lyric delivery. The subject matter, even when not slipping into intimidating German, seems mysterious and impenetrable. Something about the woods, I gather? That's not really the point, which is that this kind of krautrock menace, this balance between propulsion and restraint, is very hard to come by, even when sifting through a knee deep pile of carefully crafted retrospectives. That Rare Book Room would value such a dark and seductive sound, to the point of making Palm in the Claw their first official signing and first post compilation release, is a pretty fabulous confirmation of taste.
Telepathe - "I Can't Stand It"
Telepathe's entry, "I Can't Stand It," is much harder to place on the influence time line. It's elusive all around, really. Completely formless for it's first minute, the song floats along with nothing but female harmonies. When the slow dance beat finally enters, the cloud scatters. We're left with a lone singer, heavily treated, whose nagging half melodies will shape the song from there. As mini shoegaze squalls and peripheral piano notes gather and loop at her back, she peers straight out, open eyed and profoundly disappointed. "Ooooh, you know, it could be so much be-et-ter" she sings, the line barely congealing into a memorable tune on first listen. But it stays there, in your head, burrowing deeper and deeper, with repeat iterations, haunting you. It's transfixing, but not for any real structural reasons that you can pinpoint. It's a lovely puff of smoke.
// Rare Book Room Records - website
// Palm in the Claw - MySpace
// Telepathe - MySpace
Posted by Jeff Klingman at July 28, 2007 03:30 PM
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Comments
still waiting to finalize US distribution. ah flute ze amerriCans muzique machine can be so all bizness bizness alltime! thnx for listening.
Posted by: rbr at August 3, 2007 11:42 PM
