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New Wave Man It was a shame to hear about Ric Ocasek's passing last weekend. One of my earliest musical memories was seeing him in the video for Magic on MTV. I distinctly remember thinking he was the coolest guy I'd ever seen! Even watching it now, his eccentric, offbeat delivery — alternating between quirky new wave … Continue reading Ric Ocasek
Man-machine rhythms melting into the night... There's a few things I noticed while compiling the Terminal Vibration anthology on Cheap Hotel, things that had been swirling in the background for some time before finally coming into focus. They all center around the idea of the 1980s as the decade when the liquid, telepathic grooves of … Continue reading Terminal Vibration: Melting Machines
Motion 003: It's The Terminal Junction The latest Motion playlist is actually an adaptation of the original Motion mix from a few years ago. I'd forgotten all about the O.G. outing before stumbling upon it about a week ago, and the general mood has fit the current drift of the Heights perfectly. All I did … Continue reading Motion 003
Funkadelic The Electric Spanking Of War Babies Warner Bros. 1981 Funk. The term has been rinsed thoroughly through the years — applied and mis-applied all over the shop on a seemingly loop — but at the end of the day, what is it really? The groove, hitting on the one, interlocking parts of a rhythm, all of them cycling … Continue reading Funkadelic – The Electric Spanking Of War Babies
The Truth I've always loved this quote from Derrick May, which is quite crisply evocative of the rich undercurrents of depth and mystery running through techno music. Actually, I'm worried I might be paraphrasing somewhat (in fact, it's rather likely, since I can't seem to find the interview I heard it in anywhere). But what … Continue reading Techno
A couple thoughts occurred to me over the course of last week's endeavors, including the whole Island Disco post and the trio of concerts (especially the Jarre show) that I was lucky enough to attend. These were thoughts that I didn't get a chance to work into the other pieces, even if they may have … Continue reading …One More Thing
Island Disco Picking up where we left off with the last chapter (Imperial Slates) and in light of the recent Parkway Bowl Disco Mix, it's as good a time as any to touch on a key element in the Terminal Vibration blueprint that doesn't fit anywhere else in the schema. Consider this a cool breeze … Continue reading Terminal Vibration: Bonus Round (Island Disco)
With Spring beginning to take flight, it was high time for the crew to get involved in some horticultural escapades at the Parallax Gardens. Consequently, here is the third edition of Garden Grooves (aka the music we played). Spanning a casual week of afternoon work, here's the selection as it played out: Toyan How The … Continue reading Garden Grooves 003
Jah Wobble/The Edge/Holger Czukay Snake Charmer Island 1983 I alluded to this record earlier, but seeing as it's turned into Jah Wobble week I figured it was worth delving into it in greater detail. As I was saying, the Snake Charmer mini-LP is a great little record that straddles the nexus between post-Eno/Byrne My Life … Continue reading Jah Wobble/The Edge/Holger Czukay – Snake Charmer
Remain In Ghosts Two years ago I asked the question Where does machine funk intersect with post punk? It's a question I'd meant to jump into deeper at the time, but then the moment seemed to pass. I'd been toying with the notion of revisiting it recently, weaving a narrative around these two strands of … Continue reading Terminal Vibration II