Never Knows Best #2: A Comprehensive Guide to Lucky Dragons (Part 1)

10 Mar 2013 — Trey Reis

For his second Never Knows Best column, staff writer Trey Reis decided to delve deep into the entire discography of under-appreciated LA project Lucky Dragons. The title originally suggested for this edition was "Comprehensive Guide to Every Lucky Dragons Release Ever", which would have been even more appropriate if we had had enough space for it, because really, that's what you're getting below. Due to its sheer length, we've decided to split it up into two parts, with the cut after Lucky Dragons seminal 2008 release Dream Island Laughing Language, the rest can be read over here. Except for this last LP, we have abstained from embedding any albums from bandcamp. However, if the respective release is available over there, the title line links to it.

I will begin by saying that this guide is very long, as the list of Lucky Dragons releases expands by something like four items a year. Anything I wasn’t able to order online or procure a download of from some kind blogger via a mediafire link, I did as much research as I could which sometimes only resulted in a line or so of information about the actual physical release (edition of, screenprinted, etc.).

If you don’t feel like sitting here and reading through what I have to say for every release right now, I’ll give you a spoiler: there is a rough listening order list at the very end of the second part tomorrow that you can wait for and skip ahead to if you are completely new to Lucky Dragons altogether. You can always come back here and use this guide as a reference later on.

I was first introduced to Lucky Dragons by a friend at the Rhinoceropolis in Denver. He told me he woke up and drank four cups of French press coffee and listened to two Lucky Dragons records every morning and it helped him get all jittery and psyched to start the day. I left that show with a whole mix of stuff to check out, the Lucky Dragons song "My Are Singing" from Dream Island Laughing Language tucked somewhere in the middle.

Now, after years of digging through record stores around the United States, scouring the Discogs marketplace for all of the limited edition stuff that sold out before I knew who Lucky Dragons were, and scrolling through pages of Google searches for free downloads, this is what I have found.

I hope it helps.

f_uxus 0.10 (2000)

Limited to only 300 7” records released by English Muffin Records in 2000, f uxus 0.10 is the very first Lucky Dragons release. Sparse and quiet, the whole 7" hints toward later Lucky Dragons techniques like the glitchy vocal samples, Sarah’s fragile a cappella melodies, and the acoustic strums turned wall of noise. It makes all of f uxus 0.10 feel like a teaser for their first full-length album, Dark Falcon, released two years later.

Dark Falcon (2002)

The first Lucky Dragons album, and probably my favorite Lucky Dragons release, Dark Falcon includes aspects of nearly every release that came afterward, beginning with field samples and moving through the glitchy, manipulated electronics of later releases and the organic folk elements that really defined albums like Dream Island Laughing Language. The impressive quality of this album is the way in which all of these elements, explored separately and, often, more in-depth on later releases, are combined on Dark Falcon to create the concise movement of a mechanical bird flying between ruined cities and thriving pastures.

Boys EP (2002)

The second really short 7” on English Muffin Records is filled to the brim with vocal samples, mostly seeming to refer back to the actual recording of this release. These samples are weaved into the kind of heavy, broken beats similar to the eerier moments of Dark Falcon.

Hawks and Sparrows (2003)

Hawks and Sparrows is 18 untitled tracks filled with field samples pulled from everything between semi-trucks to poor signal FM radio metal songs to marching bands, often set over simple, moving tones not entirely different from the kind of things you may hear in drone. The difference is the pace in which this album moves, touching on the normally long-winded aspects of noise and drone only briefly before getting in the car and driving to the next destination. The combination of these environmental samples and the eerie noises set atop them makes Hawks and Sparrows a comparably dark album, never spending much time in the playful campfire folk that lightens the mood on other Lucky Dragons releases.

Shh…! (2004)

Could not drum up a single bit of information about this one, and only saw it on a list of releases somewhere so I thought I’d include it for the sake of completeness.

Faults (2004)

From Discogs marketplace:

Assembled by Lucky Dragons in Portland, ORE 7/28/04.
Numbered edition of 100 copies packaged in screened paperboard envelope sleeve.

Norteñas EP (2004)

This EP is a strange release in the overall scheme of Lucky Dragons releases for one reason: a clear Mexican musical influence from pulled music samples; a technique used extensively by current musicians, but otherwise rarely, if ever, explored by Lucky Dragons in a style so un-effected and raw.

Bees (2005)

Could refer to a single for the song "Trenton Street Bees".

A Sewing Circle (2005)

Forty-six tracks long and nearly an hour and a half worth of music, A Sewing Circle flows more like a sketchbook than an album, and what can you expect when you try to glue 46 separate Lucky Dragons un-songs together into a concise piece of music?

Widows (2006)

Widows is similar to Dark Falcon in a lot of ways, in the sense that it feels like more of an album than a collection of sounds like Hawks and Sparrows or A Sewing Circle. Still very glitchy in nature, the album is a bit less dreary than Dark Falcon, comparable to the brightness of Dream Island Laughing Language.

However, all of the lighter moments do arise from a kind of haze of hiss and distortion from which the entire album is rooted. In that regard, the album paints a perfect picture of the band’s change in sound between Dark Falcon and Dream Island Laughing Language. It’s definitely an essential Lucky Dragons release to check out.

Also, my absolute favorite Lucky Dragons song, "Snowing Circle", comes in right at the end and is a six-minute masterpiece of folktronica which sounds a bit like a Horse Stories-era Dirty Three song filtered through a mountain of effect pedals.

Heart Stopping/Drums of Passion (2006)

I was unable to locate this album, but I found a review(?) of it by Not Nof Fun's Britt Brown on Deathbomb Arc (which seems to be associated with Cassette God Reviews) as part of the author’s "Top 10 Tapes I Can Never Fucking Remember What Their Deal Is" article. It reads as follows:

I may have gotten the ‘band’ name wrong, and the label, and everything else, but that’s kinda why I included it on this list. Totally left-field C25 of Luke/Lucky Dragons and someone else (his girlfriend I assume) playing peppy, pastoral David The Gnome-style flutes in a few different modes/moods (with not a single drum – of passion or otherwise – in sight/sound!!). I think the only reason I bought this thing was cause the tape itself was all fancily handpainted in this gorgeous, intricate way and when I asked David Kramer (of Family, where I got it) what the tape sounded like he didn’t even look up from his internet surfing, he was just like, ‘Oh, I dunno… I don’t think anyone here’s even listened to it.’ Strangely, that sort of functions as a fitting description. This definitely falls into the ‘didn’t need to be documented’ genre of recordings, but hey, it’s a free country, yr allowed to play goofy flutes all day long. You can even record it for no good reason and sell it to me for five bucks. I’ll buy it.

Mini Dream Island (2006)

Mini Dream Island seems like it should be a collection of bonus material from the album Dream Island Laughing Language, but none of the songs are actually from that album. It’s referring to a different island. This release is primarily comprised of live versions of earlier Lucky Dragons material, and remixes by a slew of other bands. The most interesting part of Mini Dream Island is the familiarity of many of the sounds placed into a live setting where they can be molded, transformed, and layered over otherwise different noises.

Future Feelings (split with Sweet Potatoes) (2006)

Each of the 11 tracks on Future Feelings barely average a minute and a half long and many of the tracks don’t feel like full Lucky Dragons songs, so much as layer experimentation of old sounds either never released, or not yet fully realized to find a place on a more full-length release. But, I think this happens with splits a lot. Regardless, Future Feelings includes some of my favorite sounds from the band. "Martha’s Work", the first track off the release, is one of my most listened-to tracks, and is a really solid example of the what Lucky Dragons can accomplish on the rare occasion when they heavily incorporate vocals into their approach of soundmaking.

Very Picture Disk (2007)

Could refer to bonus tracks released with Dream Island Laughing Language.

Layer Hater (split with Goodiepal) (2007)

Could refer to bonus tracks released with Dream Island Laughing Language.

Bleach on Bleach (split with YACHT) (2007)

Bleach on Bleach is just about the darkest and noisiest Lucky Dragons release I found. The title, album art, and song titles seem to be references to Nirvana, and most of the samples, underneath the chops and the walls of effect pedals, are either from Nirvana’s Bleach album or chopped-up covers from other sources. Only five tracks and just under 18 minutes long, this album reaches some HEALTH-like noise levels, making for a decidedly more digital noise feel than the softer folk drone of other releases.

Speak Your Own Language (2008)

From the Lucky Dragons bandcamp page:

"speak your own language" collects a few recordings of lucky dragons playing a home-made string instrument with a central bridge (you might call it a "zither"). the design of the instrument, which is played by two players plucking / strumming / striking the strings on opposite sides of the bridge, is such that the actions of a player on one side of the strings effects the tone of the strings played by the other player. as one side of a string vibrates, bends, becomes tight or relaxed, the pitch of the opposite side responds in a mirror-like fashion. harmonies float around, not fixed in place, but come back to rest in a rough middle. the digital version (what you hear here) is different: automated noise-reduction software attempts to discern a "signal" from the background sound of the original recordings, substituting its own idea of music lol. vinyl 7" comes packaged with a two-sided archival print by sumi ink club.

Dream Island Laughing Language (2008)

Dream Island Laughing Language is considered to be the essential center-piece of the entire Lucky Dragons repertoire, and for good reason. Dream Island falls right in the middle of the field folk elements explored erratically on previous albums like Widows and Dark Falcon. The primary reason this is the first album people listen to when hearing Lucky Dragons is due to the accessibility of these folk elements without the glitchy electronic sweeps and interludes which previously hung over these parts of music.

In no way does this accessibility degrade the quality of the album though. It’s a bit like Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion in the sense that MPP brought a huge wave of popularity to the band because of aspects of that album that, at least, vaguely resembled other aspects of modern electro-pop bands.

Dream Island Laughing Language is a great album to get into Lucky Dragons, highlighting the beauty in their noises without many of their normal factors that people consider to be non-musical (what people often call 'post-music' when referring to Lucky Dragons).

Go here for the second part of Trey Reis' essential guide to every Lucky Dragons release ever, from 2008''s Take Turns split with Ecstatic Sunshine to the most recent material, plus a comprehensive, immensely helpful 'Listening Order List' to top the piece off. 

New Zero Canada: Violence “Violence EP”

04 Mar 2013 — Silent Shout

Montréal’s Visage Musique (home of NFOP favourites Brusque Twins) can seemingly do no wrong. Rarely do they add a new band to their roster, so it's a momentous occasion when they do. It’s thrilling to discover a new act as good and fully formed as Violence, and it should be no surprise that Visage did the unearthing.

Ottawa outfit Violence's (pronounced the French way) beautiful take on minimal synth music expertly leads you through a range of emotions. It’s equally appropriate for when being bombarded by snow as it is for sunny afternoons spent in the park. People will break up at the beginning of one song, then start making out at the chorus. That isn’t to say the band is confused about what they’re trying to do—this is a decidedly confident debut EP. These are masterfully arranged and intricate synth-pop songs that evoke goths dancing to Deux in a 1980’s Parisian basement, while simultaneously sounding utterly timeless.

Get the self-titled EP digitally on bandcamp or on clear 12" vinyl via Visage Musique. Edition of 150.

New Zero Canada: Rakam “Stranger Things Before”

15 Feb 2013 — Silent Shout

Perhaps the most enjoyable thing about Rakam's Stranger Things Before is how easy it is to imagine it never leaving the bedroom it was clearly created in. It could fairly be described as an attempt at pop music, but it exists in a space carved out entirely by its own gleefully freewheeling invention, and seems motivated exclusively by the giddy realization that there need not be a limit to what form that invention takes. The New Wave DIY disco strut of the album's only French language song, "Le Jazz dans la Rue", is buoyed brilliantly by Marc-André Roy's exaggerated cool-guy croon, reaching peaks of impassioned warbling that recall a Francophone Patrick D. Martin only to be interrupted by a surprisingly delicate Casiotone harpsichord arrangement. Another standout, "Long Island Beaches", is about as close as Rakam gets to a plausible love song and veers into slightly more typical synth pop territory, albeit with some spastic drum machine programming and another run at a 'baby's first Bach' harpsichord interlude. The album's instrumentals are consistently excellent, especially the wonderfully developed "Ocean Liner", which owes equal debts to Brian Eno and 8-bit video game soundtracks, and shades its own complexity with its charmingly understated lo-fi sound and more than occasional missed notes. That juxtaposition is probably the greatest strength of Stranger Things Before, as it allows Rakam to maintain a level of intimacy while simultaneously being as wildly expansive and imaginative as they care to be.

Stranger Things Before is available on RAKAM's bandcamp.

Never Knows Best #1: Dual Form

29 Jan 2013 — Trey Reis

In the first ediiton of his new column named Never Knows Best, NFOP staff writer Trey Reis goes in-depth on Dual Form, a co-release between Stones Throw and Leaving Records, the process of exploration in new music journalism, and the future of tape labels reaching a larger audience.

I would say that 95 per cent of the records and tapes I buy online are purchased after 3 AM. I don’t know why this is, exactly. It’s possible I’m capable of worrying about money more during reasonable hours of the day, whereas sleep deprivation puts me more in line with the role of the American consumer. Also, a good majority of the blog spelunking I do is during that time of the night between deciding to go to sleep and actually falling asleep; a time, I’ve discovered, when my head has slowed down enough to listen to an entire Soundcloud embed and actually read what people have to say about a track or an album or a label.
That’s an important part of music journalism, I think; the willingness to read about the same track from five or ten different sources in order to gain a better understanding of connections and trends forming both in the music and in the way we all write about it. Although it may indirectly form our opinions, deciding what not to mention in my own write-ups and reviews is a beneficial process in keeping music journalism fresh and interesting.

I discovered Dual Form during one of those late night webspace digs. I was sold on it after seeing new tracks from Dem Hunger, Trance Farmers, and Run DMT on the tracklist. But browsing around online revealed hype about one specific track on the compilation: an Arthur Russell tribute of his song "You and Me Both" by Julia Holter. It’s a great track and a wonderfully opposite-direction kind of cover wherein Holter strips away nearly everything that would have been a draw about the song upon its release, opting to use the moody lyrics to reestablish a new setting (through a wall of audience chatter) for the song more akin to the slow-moving pop haze of her 2012 list-topping album, Ekstasis.

The popularity of Ekstasis and its place on many end-of-the-year lists is likely a large part of the reason her contribution to Dual Form is receiving the attention that it is. Run DMT’s masterwork, Dreams, received waves of acclaim in 2011, but the band was mostly silent last year save a short split cassette with Tracey Trance on CGI Friday. Louis Johnstone, the many-faced man behind Dem Hunger, has been focusing primarily on his Wanda Group project over the last two years, which has yet to receive the kind of attention it probably deserves in that blurred-line genre of drone and beat music.

Not to say that the attention "You and Me Both" is receiving lessens any other song on the Dual Form compilation. It’s an angle in which to discuss the release, and it certainly hooked me. But if the media is to be a constant check and balance for itself as well as the things it covers, then I feel it’s important as a journalist, but also a fan, to see the trends in coverage and diversify the literature being written, especially in the case of compilations with multiple artists.

Different aspects of a release of any size will appeal to different people. It’s like those people at record stores in the listening booths checking out records with the bass turned all the way up. Their priority is probably DJing, and a track without a decent level of bass isn’t much use to them regardless of details such as the way the art looks, how good the lyrics are, or what label released it.

In this case, the labels involved with Dual Form are a detail worth mentioning. Stones Throw, known primarily for its hip hop releases, teamed up with another LA label, Leaving Records, to highlight many of the Leaving artists, which, typically, exist on a level of fame below Stones Throw artists like J Dilla, Madlib, and label founder, Peanut Butter Wolf. It’s like a Stones Throw nod to the prevailing DIY scene in LA that garnered the creation of Stones Throw in 1996 and is still prospering today. And, depending on the attention span of this cassette tape resurgence, who’s to say that Leaving Records won’t be as big as Stones Throw is in another eight to ten years?

The compilation title Dual Form seems to be, in part, a reference to the physical releases of the album itself—on vinyl from Stones Throw, or on cassette tape from Leaving Records. For many of the artists, accustomed to tape releases and handmade CD-R’s, it is their vinyl debut. And it’s leading to a string of future releases, including The Cyclist’s debut album on Stones Throw.

The Cyclist’s contribution to Dual Form was, for many (myself included), the first we’d ever heard of him. In an interview with Dazed Digital, Matthewdavid, Leaving Records' founder, mentioned receiving an email from the 18-year-old kid behind The Cyclist, having never heard of him before, introducing himself and his music and commenting on aspects of Leaving Records he admired. The Cyclist brings that organic feel to electronic music, not unlike some of the earlier Teengirl Fantasy material but with a strong bass sense, reminding me of Actress’s 2012 dark dance stunner, R.I.P. It’s a refreshing alternative to that trend of chopped-and-screwed sample method (I’ve seen the term 404 tossed around to describe this, which is in reference to the overwhelming reliance on Roland’s SP-404 sampler to produce this kind of music) prevalent in cassette tape culture throughout all of last year and carrying over into 2013.

The Dem Hunger track on the compilation really surprised me. Leaving much of the tape hiss manipulation behind him, it’s the cleanest Dem Hunger song I’ve heard yet, while still managing to keep the beatfuck aspect of previous albums like Caveman Snack and Heavy Spinach intact. It seems Louis Johnstone’s last couple years of drone exploration as Wanda Group has had an effect on the attention to detail in his other projects. While I like all of the Wanda Group material that shows up mysteriously on his tumblr page, I did always prefer the old Dem Hunger material, and I’m hoping its appearance on this compilation, which was comprised completely of new, unreleased material, is a sign of future happenings from this face of the guy’s musical multiple personalities.

The Run DMT contribution has the same bedroom pop feeling to it as songs from Dreams, such as “Romantic” or “Richard”, and leaves much of the kaleidoscope visions from that album behind. It doesn’t leave much to assumption about any future material from Run DMT, but a potential 2013 album is still high on my list for the most anticipated releases for this year.

TRANCE FARMERS was one of those Bandcamp gems I stumbled upon one night. With only a short 2011 EP to their name, self-described as “Elvis and Busta Rhymes on the beach”, I was pretty excited to find this new song, “Purple Hay”, featured on Dual Form, and it has become my favorite song on the compilation by far. More Elvis and less Busta Rhymes this time around, it uses that strong Ducktails-esque drum machine and jangly guitar relaxation form channeled through a really simple 60s pop structure. I will definitely be hoping for a full-length debut from this band sometime in 2013.

According to Stones Throw, this is the first co-release between the two labels of a new distribution deal wherein some Leaving Records artists will be released to wider audiences through the Stones Throw name. It’s not only good news for the rest of us, but perhaps even a move we could begin seeing more of from these smaller tape labels responsible for putting out some of the past few year’s best music, like a loophole for talent unable to afford or uninterested in the clean sound of the traditional studio experience. With some of the more well-known tape labels selling out of their releases before many of us knew they existed, this could be a good sign of things to come.

Get your copy of Dual Form over here.

New Zero Canada: Homeshake “The Homeshake Tape”

25 Jan 2013 — Silent Shout

One of the more endearing elements of Mac DeMarco's often endearing rise to prominence has been the proliferation of side projects involving the members of his live band. Walter TV, the spastic psych-pop group fronted by DeMarco's bass player Pierce McGarry, put out a couple of excellent releases last year, and guitarist Peter Sagar is following suit with his project, Homeshake. Homeshake's first release, The Homeshake Tape, is very clearly the work of the same group of people, and to some extent splits the difference between Mac DeMarco and Walter TV, embracing the downbeat, jangly-guitared languor of some of DeMarco's work, while nodding to Walter TV's more experimental flourishes. "Northern Man" is perhaps the best marrying of these two aesthetics, with Sagar's shamblingly intricate guitar playing combining with a likeably lazy vocal into something redolent of the best Elephant 6 recordings. "Moon Woman", by contrast, is pure DeMarco. All smooth sleaze without the rough edges sanded down, the general creep providing cover for a tightly composed, totally guileless little love song. As with seemingly everything associated with Mac DeMarco, its always listenable, frequently interesting, and when all else fails it gets by on charm and personality. 

The Homeshake Tape will be out on Fixture Records on January 29.

New Zero Canada: Marie Davidson “Marie Davidson”

20 Dec 2012 — Alt Altman

Marie Davidson is a ubiquitous figure in the Montréal scene, playing with Essaie Pas (who released an incredible EP in August), Les Momies de Palerme , and Hotel Monochrome. Marie Davidson, a six-song EP that she recorded herself, is her first solo work, and it does not disappoint.

The first track, "Ma vie sans toi", is the poppiest song on the record, but it's a bleak and sparse piece. Recalling Nico, Marie sings a detached melody with a harmonium vaguely following along. The highlight of the EP, however, might be the menacing drone of "L'Unique". Overall the minimal electronics and tense Lynchian atmospheres make for a compelling listen - it's an exceptional debut for an already prolific artist, and hopefully this is only the beginning of her solo career.

Stream the whole EP below and get it for pay-what-you-want over at her bandcamp.

Stream: Femminielli “Double Invitation”

27 Nov 2012 — Alt Altman

Toronto native Alt Altman, better known to most as the man behind the next gen synth pop project Digits, has been an enthusiastic observer of the Canadian underground pop scene for quite a while now with his site Silent Shout. As we all know, there's a lot going on between Vancouver and St. John's these days, and though we here at NFOP have always been avid followers, from now on, Alt will help us out regarding all things Canadiana. (ed.)

Montréal producer Bernardino Femminielli had already left a significant mark on the Canadian music scene before releasing his third album Double Invitation, having toured as a live member of Dirty Beaches and producing some tracks for Montreal pop-star-in-waiting Jef Barbara. But on Double Invititation, Femminielli has made it clear that he is possibly the best current Italo songwriter/producer in the world. Drawing equally from the camps of Moroder and Gainsbourg, Double Invitation is divided between creepy synthpop singles like "Chauffeur" and "A Que Quieres Jugar" and epic long-form dark disco. Carefully constructed down to the last detail, it sounds so authentic it's difficult to believe it isn't from the late 1970s.

Double Invitation is out on Desire Records. Order your copy over here.

On December 8, Femminielli and Jef Barbara will play in Berlin as part of another NFOP x Noisekölln night of delightful madness. More info on that soon and over here.