I Am Oak – Sou Ka EP
I have been itching to write about a release on net label Rainboot Records for some time now. They are a really nice label to deal with, but they’ve just sent me stuff which has been teetering on the verge of being featured here. Somehow, though, I’ve never quite liked anything enough to feature it for some reason. It’s weird how that happens, because it’s clear that our respective tastes are millimetres apart in the grand scheme of things, just for some reason that last little gap has seemed oddly difficult to traverse.
With I Am Oak, however, I think we’ve finally clicked, because I am really enjoying this. It reminds me of a slightly less crackly Gobble Gobble in that the electronics seem to flirt with pop at times, and the overall feel of the song can often verge on sounding like Far Eastern musical theatre, but it’s all been slightly subverted in a notable, but still quite subtle way.
What I mean by that it that this isn’t just all-over-the-shop mentalism by any means, it’s just that while all the familiar bits are present and accounted for, they are out of place enough to be a little disconcerting, whilst still being close enough to their usual spot that the overall picture is still recognisable. It’s a bit like looking at a jigsaw puzzle where none of the pieces are in the right place, but no single piece has been moved more than two spots from where it belongs.
There are times, particularly on songs like Coats Coat, for example, where I can almost picture actors dressed as wolves peering from behind cardboard trees as they stalk some innocent young child lost in the woods. That classical theatre association is somewhat at odds with the everso digital makeup of the music itself, but that’s just the contradiction this record conjures up. It is basically an EP of experimental electronica, full of weird noises and interrupted rhythm, but nevertheless at its heart it seems to have grown from seeds planted firmly in the soil of narrative drama. If you told me there was a play to go along with this music I would not be in the least surprised.
I Am Oak – Western Springs
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How significant is an ‘album cover’ to a net label? I’m curious because even without a physical product to sell, labels still seem tied to the classic abstract square image you’d see in a vinyl rack.
That said, here at at work with no means to actually listen to the tracks, I’m reading the associated image. I want to know where the photo on the album cover was taken. Looks like Ventana or somewhere down that way. I like it.
Well there’s the simple, practical fact that most music players have a little tiny square for displaying album artwork, and that’s all, so failure to conform in that respect might damage the only chance you have to make your music look as pretty as it sounds.
However, I think netlabels have to be a little wary, because an mp3 with nothing else at all added really is just data, which I personally think makes free downloading much much easier for people to rationalise. So I do think they need to be a tad careful to make sure that there is something beyond moral comfort to be had from downloading from the proper source.
Although Mrs. Toad brought up the very interesting topic of the multi-media-enabled mp3 on another thread recently, which really does give you the opportunity to do a lot more than a simple mp3 file.
Well, I love “Western Springs” but not so keen on “Ohayo” – interesting stuff.
I have been listening to I Am Oak’s LP “On Claws” and it really isn’t reflected in the tracks from this EP posted above. It is more straight forward folk and minimal at times similar to a Sufjan if he was of European decent. All finger picked banjo, sombre accordion, et al. interesting these musicians and deciding not to stay in a mold….
I will always want album art as well, just can’t get past it…. my $0.02
~S.
It’ll be interesting to see if this MusicDNA format gets any traction, particularly if there are any patent licenses on it. Associated video would be an interesting way to go, you could bundle short films with your tracks like in the olden days of MTV. Radical idea, I know.
Does anyone watch MTV anymore and if they do, does it actually play music or just reality shows with good looking morons slurring at each other in exaggerated street patois borrowed from the scarier elements of society?
What was the attraction in watching hours of music videos anyway. i don’t really get it in retrospect but it worked at the time.
Where have all the video directors gone as well, that used to be a decent line of work (and if you are the stupidly named McG, a conduit to greater things such as err.. Charlies Angels and Terminator – I Forget How Fucking Many)
SMan – that LP sounds really good, I definitely have to have me one of those!
Music video was a really good way for emerging directors to catch a break and show off their talents, back in the day. Nowadays it seems to be only adverts or possibly those free YouTube trailers some people seem to have used recently to make successful movie pitches.
I’ll confess though, the latter seems a little dubious to me. One or two high-profile success stories maybe, but I’d be surprised to hear that it was a viable way to build a CV.
I might start watching music tv again when there is some good music to listen to/watch on it. It’s all just a horrendous advert for the latest wank that noone actually cares about.
Speaking of wank – did anyone see the Brits? And for Best British Group did anyone hear Idris Elba (Stringer Bell from the Wire), who was presenting, say “Let’s see who the best band in London is…”?
I would like to think he was being ironic but something tells me he wasn’t.
Then it was Ned rockers Kasbian who won and they did their best out of date Gallacher “have a go” walk at the camera. Absolutely disgusting.
We heard that chappie from The Wire perform one of his own songs on the radio while we were driving back from London the other week, and it was genuinely, magnificently, hilariously bad, so I’ve kinda developed a soft spot for the guy.
So quite similar to Kasabian in that respect. Apart from the sliver of affection part, obviously. Because they’re cocks.