Living here in California, the whole mystique surrounding the Cali-Lo-Fi-Tropical thing has a been a little lost on me. Best Coast sounds great, but I’m not lost in some sound-therapy fantasy when I hear it. But when I saw this video from Manchester’s Obsidian Pond it really clicked. This prismatic wish of love and calypso may not be what Cali life actualy is, but it does make me jealous of those that get to dream of it from far away.

Obsidian Pond “Sundog Sinners”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqPYzOaKCa8[/youtube]

Obsidian Pond- Sundog Sinners

The fantasy that does pull me in still is that of Halloween. The only day in the USA that strangers actually visit each others homes and act like we aren’t afraid of each other. Oh wait, we are supposed to be acting scary? I don’t know. Social reality is very confusing to me.

Halloween makes sense though. Why not get freaky and turn on smoke machines!?!?!?! Cuz Halloween is about a lot more that being spooky.

And so is Lo-Fi drone for that matter! So when everyone pigeon holes all these fantastic lo-fi dronesters like US Girls and Grouper as just spooky goth girls, they are being lazy. Pay attention! It is a medium capable of expressing anything and everything. Thats why I am so stoked on this new Inca Ore track on Not Not Fun. This bold proclamation is not only happy, but insanely confident in a way that could never be confused with depression. This is life-affirming!!!

Inca Ore-Ruff Ridin’

Don’t despair though! If happiness bums you out, then I still got some true Halloween shitz for you! The first is an incredible video debut from E&E (who I posted a track from here earlier this year) While totally ghetto-tech inspired in the vocal chants, there is so much foreboding and desolation in the strange production here that I can’t help but think of the way David Lynch reinterprets the norm. Everything you are used to, flipped on its belly to see the demons beneath.

You go E&E! And you go Angela for making this awesome video!

E&E “Variable X” video:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/7058053[/vimeo]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsiP6lem8Vw[/youtube]

Or if scary isn’t your idea of Halloween, and you just like costumes, then how about this music that is wearing a sich Nine Inch Nails costume?

Everyone is familiar with the so and so shreds videos by now, right? Where people take footage of a famous band playing and overdub inept music performances timed masterfully to seem like Santana actual has no idea how to play guitar. Or, to my ears, actually loves NO WAVE!!!

Yes!!!

I honestly think these shreds videos are producing some of the most amazing, alternate-logic No Wave music in ages. Driven by visuals rather than audio-aesthetics, the results and other-worldly without being nonsense. The Nine Inch Nails shreds kind of takes the cake. So I started doing some detective work and discovered that the music for NiN Shreds was made by Matthieu Le Berre from France. I’ll show you the video, which is funny. But listen to the music on its own. That is where the truly paranormal experience awaits!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Matthieu Le Berre-Ninin