For this week’s episode we tried out something new. Shelmatic jumbled some marbles in her mouth through the whole show, and I (Z Note waxing digital right here) tried to conjure strange words in a fruitless effort to describe the music of Bay Area experimental [...]]]> Verdant Volts (right click and “save as” to download)

For this week’s episode we tried out something new. Shelmatic jumbled some marbles in her mouth through the whole show, and I (Z Note waxing digital right here) tried to conjure strange words in a fruitless effort to describe the music of Bay Area experimental indie band Birds & Batteries. Who wants to be boxed into the silly expressive powers of language anyway? Band frontman and vocalist, Michael Sempert, dropped in to select some Eritrean drum machine tunes and tell us a bit about B&B’s latest EP, Up To No Good, a minimal funk synth effort that instills magnetizing images of an enchanted forest where the flora and fauna are actually robotic manifestations projected from the mind of a twisted hillside gnome–a psychotic little creature with dark intentions and yet, the pathos of a P Funk, cosmic liberator. It’s really a very satisfying combination of sounds. Imagine if John Carpenter produced the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings in the early 80s. Or consider a prismatic focus into one corner of David Bowie’s labyrinthian monsters.

In the spirit of layering the organic with the electric, we happily conceptualize this episode Verdant Volts, a certain tongue twister for our mush mouthed Shelmatictron. And, yet she still carries the torch, saying much wiser things than I. In the second half of the show I suspend my cationic words in favor of spinning some tunes, intertwining psychedelic jazz, post-punk electronica, abstract beats, and a bit of funkified disco for ya’ll. Enjoy!

Click to show tracklist