INTER-DIMENSIONAL MUSIC is North America’s Gnarliest Mix of Heavy Mellow, Kosmische Slop, and Void Contemplation Tactics. We’re coloring 30,000 square miles of Chihuahuan Desert airwaves every Sunday night at 11pm CT on Marfa Public Radio.
VØID CONTEMPLATION TACTICS is your source for ID Music downloads for offline listening, annotated setlists, slop-style Zen, and more thoughts on practicing non-self-improvement. It is a free, monthly-ish newsletter: Blessed are the lurkers, and all subscribers saints!
The most recent ID Music episodes are (sometimes) streaming for a limited time at the Inter-Dimensional Music FM page:
You can support the artists we play on our airwaves directly by purchasing their music at bandcamp.com/interdimensionalmusic, or sign-up for a paid Void Contemplation Tactics subscription and I’ll invest those funds on Bandcamp for you.
artist – work IKSRE – falling snow Jay Duncan – Mondariz ft. Cha Cha Muslimgauze – Drugsherpa (Long) Ras Michael – Fool’s Gold Alpha & Omega – Back Against The Wall of Babylon Ibrahim Hesnawi – Al Hob Wal Salam Shamek Farrah & Folks – Waiting for Marvin Nightmares On Wax & Kuauhtli Vasquez & Wixarika Tribe – Back To Nature (Ricardo Villalobos Back To Earth Mix) IKSRE – forest stream
annotations:
• This week’s practice begins and eventually comes to an end with some of my favorite ambient music in recent memory, an immersive album from IKSRE that “follows the arc of a traditional sound bath, expanded through field recordings and layered instrumentation that reflect water’s shifting states. Alongside crystal and Himalayan singing bowls, handpan, gongs, voice, and acoustic instruments, she incorporates bass, synthesisers, and ambient electronics.” Light percussion takes formless ambient music to a whole other level, as demonstrated by the Sadoul Ixchel selections to which I am partial. Maybe it’s because it’s comparatively easy to sustain a pleasant synth tone and play some cricket sounds, but when you start doing rhythms it’s much more obvious if you don’t know what you’re doing? IKSRE is an acronym for I Keep Seeing Rainbows Everywhere, and IKSRE knows what they are doing.
• Despite occasionally harshing the mellow with bands like Lebenden Toten, at this point ID Music is more of a heavy reggae show than a heavy metal show. This program is no exception, with surprisingly sinister nyabinghi vibes from Ras Michael vs Muslimgauze and speaker-wrecking bass from Alpha & Omega, but the riddim and voicing in heaviest rotation here at Cosmic Chambo Studio is this compilation of North African livity and lover’s rock irations from Ibrahim Hesnawi, The Father of Libyan Reggae.
• One of the ways I coped with the intensity of Zen Chaplain Trauma One Summer Camp was listening almost exclusively to Ricardo Villalobos remixes and I’m still totally mesmerized by his long-form Nightmares on Wax& Kuauhtli Vasquez & Wixarika Tribe sessions with Max Loderbauer. As with much of Villalobos’ work, the dissociative “ketamine house” tag sticks cuz I can’t remember what happens over “Back To Nature (Ricardo Villalobos Back To Earth Mix)”s 15 minutes after it ends and halfway through I think surely this is a different track, which is not surprising given all of the people contributing to the sound. Also there’s a couple people talking unintelligibly in the background through a lot of it or wait are they actually here in the apartment?
• Bandcamp is the only good social network because I know what it costs me up front. And sometimes one comes across a reissue of an impossible to find and endlessly joyous 1978 spiritual jazz love-bomb from Shamek Farrah & Friends for One Quid. It is the opposite of all of the bad vibes happening right now in the world. Shamek Farrah is one of the first jazz guys I liked who wasn’t one of the main jazz guys, and First Impressions is still end-to-end spiritual jazz burners.
On the one hand yes all jazz is spiritual but . . . if Strata-East is Spiritual Jazz does that mean Underground Resistance is Dialectical Materialist Jazz?
Find the fully annotated setlist and downloads for offline listening in the free Vøid Contemplation Tactics newsletter from Cosmic Chambo Studio.
The teaching which is written on paper is not the true teaching. Written teaching is a kind of food for your brain. Of course it is necessary to take some food for your brain, but it is more important to be yourself by practicing the right way of life.
Shunryu Suzuki Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
artist – work Clams Casino – Wassup Bitchin Bajas – Jammu (2017.11.30 Hungry Brain, Chicago) Ricardo Villalobos – Samasai Autechre – YJY UX Nadja – Space Time & Absence Ricardo Villalobos & Max Lodebauer – Reblop DEAFKIDS – Cicatrizes Jeri Jeri – Xale Rhythm Clams Casino – Instrumentals Medley
Annotations:
• I have loved Clams Casino forever. I also used to like Salem and while I still enjoy their Gucci Mane tape, “witch house” with white guys saying the n-word tends to lose it’s appeal if you are more prone to scarfing candied drugs rather than scraping them around with sharp implements. “Cloud rap” from a white guy that helped A$AP Rocky and Lil’ B establish a distinctly psychedelic ‘00s aesthetic holds up much better. I read something once from Clams where he said he found source material by looking up music on youtube using search terms like “blue.” Youtube used to be good, but his vaporous vintage productions will always be the premier lo-fi beats to study, work, sleep, and relax to. Also, who wants to watch Lost Boys again for some reason?
• Bitchin Bajas is obviously a jam band and so while you should buy their albums you can also find some good and loose live recordings on the internet, such as the 2017 Chicago set featured on this broadcast. The “ID Music: Collision Mandalas” newsletter is about some videos I made with Baja Rob for his bird music project, and about the Bajas’ show in Marfa 10 years ago where my friend Sarah and I hung out with them and played an after-hours session tapping and hootin on some (unknown to us) extremely expensive pottery.
• DEAFKIDS are the best ones currently making post-punk post-world acid-house Afro-Cuban D-Beat that also includes heavily manipulated samples of dolphin communication isolation tank acid scientist John C. Lilly, and as such they are always welcome on the ID Music airwaves.
Find the fully annotated setlist and downloads for offline listening in the free Vøid Contemplation Tactics newsletter from Cosmic Chambo Studio.
“Smooth Jazz for Armagideon Times” is the second in our Pure Flow series of newsletter-exclusive mixes. For this volume, it’s two hours of heavyweight jazz and jazz-like abstractions informed by mindfulness practices ranging from the ascetic to the lysergic. It’s a “less dharma talk, more dharma rock” soundtrack for taking it easy while maintaining awareness, a refuge from harsh ‘20s reality, and a chance to recharge before we resume cutting through all of the endless delusions in these Armagideon Times. As always, mixed “live-to-FLAC” from the yoga mat at Cosmic Chambo Studio.
artist – work Six Six (Anthony Pirog | Luke Stewart) – Before (edit) John Coltrane – Om, Pt. 1 (edit) Shabaka – Black Meditation Contours – Eastern Bells ft Beka Reid & Seth Sutton Chicago Underground Duo – Hermeto Jon Hassell – Tonkwave (Maarifa Street Jazzfest, Berlin 2006) Norman W Long – Sikan I Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid – We Dream Free (edit) Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer – Rensenada Chelsea Carmichael – There Is A Place (It’s Not Here) Jamael Dean – Olokun Yesterdays New Quintet – Vibes From The Tribe Suite (For Phil) (edit) Philip Cohran And the Artistic Heritage Ensemble – New Frankiphone Blues Yesterdays New Quintet – Vibes From The Tribe Suite (For Phil) (edit) Bengt Berger & Don Cherry – Tongsi Santana – Eternal Caravan of Reincarnation Spencer Zahn, Jacob Bergson, Austin Tufts – Mile X Shamek Farrah – First Impressions Tortoise – Everglade Creation Rebel – African Space Tortoise & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Love Is Love Six Six (Anthony Pirog | Luke Stewart) – Before (edit) John Coltrane – Om, Pt. 1 (edit)
Find the fully annotated setlist and downloads for offline listening in the Vøid Contemplation Tactics newsletter from Cosmic Chambo Studio. Blessed are the lurkers, and all subscribers saints!
Forever Sucking Dry, my cetacean-mind-communion soundtrack to Ballroom Marfa’s Desert Surf Films series from August is now streaming. Many thanks to Travis Bubenik and Gory Smelley for help recording and editing the mix for broadcast. The setlist includes songs from Aloha Spirit, Emeralds, Former Selves, These Trails, Buffy Sainte-Marie and more, underscored by surf ambience, whalesongs, and a cameo from Magaret Howe and her dolphin lover, Peter.
You can find an 11” x 17” print of the Forever Sucking Dry image as the centerfold ofStay Golden, a desert surf films ‘zine designed and edited for Ballroom Marfa by Hilary duPont, Liz Janoff and Ian Lewis. Available for $10 (cheap!) from Ballroom Marfa. The ‘zine also includes prose, poetry and artwork from Joshua Edwards, Tim Johnson, Eileen Myles and Brandon Shimoda.
Inter-Dimensional Music returns with the Big Bend’s Number One broadcast of white magic and black metal tonight, February 1, 2015. If you’re out here in Far West Texas tune in from 9-11p (CST) on the first Sunday of each month at KRTS 93.5 FM in Marfa, KRTP 91.7 FM in Alpine and KDKY 91.5 FM in Marathon. You can also stream the show live at marfapublicradio.org, and find archived sets on Soundcloud.
In the first hour we’re going to relive our late ’90s turn as a Los Angeles rave reporter for techno/hip-hop magazineURB by sifting through the trove of tracks that Aphex Twin released earlier this week. The deluge of new music triggered a massive serotonin rush in listeners of a certain age, for whom AFX represents a kind of ideal synthesis of hip-hop’s low-end thump, slinky earworms, Eno-esque ambient glide, and Throbbing Gristle-worthy transgression.
A quick summary of why some people are very excited: Richard D. James hadn’t released any new music since 2001’sDrukqs. He emerged with three new things in the past year: A single copy of a mostly unheard 1994 album of spastic breakbeat, Caustic Window, sold at auction for $46,300 to the guy who created Minecraft; an immediately beloved new album called Syro; and then a trickier EP, Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2. Arrival of said music was heralded, in part, by the appearance of an Aphex Twin blimp in the skies over London.
Last week the ever-vigilant AFX superfans who scour the internet for any sign of the wily musician discovered aSoundcloud user who was uploading songs that sounded a lot like classic Aphex Twin. Word spread, obsessive fans debated their authenticity on message boards, and as the user48736353001 account posted more and more music aconsensus emerged that these were the real deal. Those listeners of a certain age began to rejoice as the catalog of new-old music grew to 110 songs. For some perspective, imagine if D’Angelo followed up on Black Messiah by giving away eight albums of top-shelf unheard material from his decade of silence.
The prankish nature of the release made it seem even more intimate, as the user now assumed to be the man himself cracked wise and offered inebriated philosophy in the comments … (more…)
Inter-Dimensional Music is back on the Marfa Public Radio airwaves Sunday from 9-11pm (CST). That’s tonight!
We’ll start off with conversation + a selection of proto-New Age vibes from Alexis Georgopolous of Arp. The full configuration of Arp performs here in Marfa as part of Ballroom Marfa and Mexican Summer’s free festival next Saturday, March 8, at El Cosmico. Quilt, No Joy, Weyes Blood and Connan Mockasin too. More on that at Ballroom Marfa.
Second hour is yours truly rolling through a set of rusticated Aquarian visions inspired in part by hearing that MV & EE cover of “Shotgun Willie” that’s being passed around. Puff puff give!
Also! ID Music is co-presenting the New Bums show coming up on March 11 at the Marfa Book Co., so we’ll likely get into some old bum music from Skygreen Leopards and Six Organs of Admittance.
P.S. if you’re in Marfa and want to take a look at the South Plateau Adobe Ruin squat installation that’s happening next door to my house, drop me a line and we’ll connect.
P.P.S. Our pals at Arthur Magazine are in the final hours of a massive once-in-a-lifetime closeout sale, including the ID Music “Backcountry Chillout” mixtape. CHECK OUT THESE DEALS!
The #1 New Age radio show in the Big Bend of Far West Texas returns to the airwaves tonight on KRTS, Marfa Public Radio, 93.5FM.
Get mellow for two hours with Chambo rolling solo through a soothing mix of classic New Age and chill new discoveries from the international Earth-psych underground including — but not limited to! — peaceful ambience from Forming, Kaliska, Grumbling Fur and Michael Stearns.
If you’re out here in Far West Texas tune in from 9-11p (CST) at KRTS 93.5 FM in Marfa, KRTP 91.7 FM in Alpine and KDKY 91.5 FM in Marathon.
+ ALSO: Take ID Music on-the-go with the first edition of our new Backcountry Chillout mix series from Arthur Magazine. Volume 1 features Marfa’s own Celia Hollander along with fresh tunes from Stag Hare, Matthewdavid, Sun Araw and more.
+ In other news: ID Music HQ reports a purloined skull! More info on Marfa List.
$3.33 at Marfa’s Highland Annex. Photo: Alex Marks
Tune in to KRTS, Marfa Public Radio this Sunday night from 9-11p (CST) for a very special Inter-Dimensional Music featuring an hour of fresh tunes from Marfa-based electronic musician Celia Hollander, aka $3.33.
Plenty of Texas heads are still ringing from her recent psychedelic desert R&B AV collages in Marfa and Austin, opening for William Tyler and Demdike Stare, respectively; regular ID Music listeners will recognize some of her more ethereal compositions from past shows.
Celia will be joining ID Music host Daniel Chamberlin from 9-10pm. Chamberlin plugs his computer into the soundboard from 10-11p, delivering the usual mellow set of kosmiche slop, maybe some Terry Riley or something from the Holter/Barwick-dominated genre of angelic slow jams.
Listen at 93.5FM if you’re out here in the Big Bend, otherwise point your computer at marfapublicradio.org for the live stream.
ID Music extra-planetary operatives are constantly scanning Earth twins for enlightening audio transmissions.
Chambo and Hollander return to the airwaves of Marfa Public Radio for the Big Bend’s only post-Super Bowl chakra cleanse. Tune in this Sunday, February 3, 2013 from 9-11p (CST). Check back after the show for playlists and more.
UPDATE: Playlists for 3 Feburary 2013
9-10p – Crystal Mix by Hollander:
Crystallite from Crystal Meditations by Don G. Campbell
The Crystal Star soundtrack from The Crystal Star by Jim Oliver
The Trombones of Lithia from Crystals by Craig Kupka
10-11p – Chambo’s Super Bowl After-Party Chillout Zone
Sand – Mountains – Centralia is this and yes – My Bloody Valentine – M B V
In Our Dreams – Motion Sickness of Time Travel – A Marbled Youth
Freeflow – Blues Control & Laraaji – FRKWYS Vol. 8
Night Flight in the Southern Hemisphere – Monopoly Child Star Searchers – The Garnet Toucan
Spectral Split – Pantha Du Prince & The Bell Laboratory – Elements of Light
