Holiday Hyperdrive

Holy freekin’ cow, man. Days are whipping by like minutes with not a moment to spare, and now we’re all in the holiday hyperdrive. Things are only going to accelerate from here, so I’ve no time to tarry; here is what I’ve covered in Stripwax for the past two weeks…

Seeland, the record company from owners/operators Negativland, just released Scrambles Of Earth, in which alien lifeforms of one sort or another send back the golden elpeez carried by each of the Voyager space probes in remixed formats. As usual, the Negativland guys have created an elaborate backstory. HOWEVER –this is for Negativland completists only. The concept is more fun than the actual product, which is little more than what you’d hear dialing around the fringes of shortwave radio.

The other object in my ears is the self-titled sophomore elpee by The Wagner Logic. It’s been out since the end of July, but hell, it came all the way from Alaska, fer crissakes, so it took awhile to get here.

This is one you might want to check out if yer into the soft-spoken trippyness of The Flaming Lips and/or Sparklehorse and/or Mercury Rev. Pay particular attention to tracks 3 and 11. Track 3 is “Years From Now,” a powerful, anxious look into the future with the knowledge that: a) mistakes will be made and b) there will be no do-overs.

Gentle verses + shredding choruses = the appropriate amount of angst for the subject. Track 11 is “You Had A Right To Be,” which has all of the slinky cool funk of a “Scary Monsters” era Bowie outtake.

Next week, I’m either doing the new Killing Joke, Stereolab, Brian Eno, or Nicki Minaj elpee. Dunno yet. Happy Holidays everyone.