(Jason continues to breathe air into this blog while a rather busy time for work keeps me from doing much other than eating and sleeping.)

I’ve been really delighted with Asthmatic Kitty’s Library Catalog Music series, a set of instrumental albums designed by the label “for possible use in films and television, background sounds for home or office, or personal needs, such as relaxation, stimulation, meditation, concentration, or elevation,” with specific uses such as “accompaniment to cooking, eating, sculpting, exercising, high stakes poker, soaking, panoramic landscapes, cuddling, car chases, drawing, knitting, bandaging, romance, playing chess, or planning the rest of your life, of which this is the first day” suggested. Sounds good, right?

I’ve really enjoyed The Law of Least Effort album, Music For Measurements, a set of Booker T & the MGs style funk by noted side-man Casey Foubert, of the sorely missed Crystal Skulls. The catalog also includes entries from his Skulls bandmate Yuuki Matthews, Asthmatic Kitty co-owner Lowell Brams (joined by “Minister of Aesthetics” Sufjan Stevens and members of The National), Roberto Carlos Lange (Savath & Savalas) and James McAllister (Sufjan Stevens, Ester Drang).  Future installments include an LP from Richard Swift (who I’m a pretty big fan of) under his Instruments of Science and Technology banner.

All in all, the stuff is interesting and wildly diverse.  Check out Brams’ ambient offering, and some grooving from Matthews and Law of Least Effort.

• Lowell Brams | Alpha to Theta
• Law of the Least Effort | Law 2
• Yuuki Matthews | Conquerors

I think that if it were the 70s, I’d probably be one of those “Disco Sucks” guys, probably jamming out to Boston on headphones while getting stoned in my parents’ basement, or maybe, if I was really cool, shaving my head and going punk. After all, I despise my generation’s club music, be it obnoxious rave fare or the even more disgusting hipster-baiting, extra low-V neck sporting Indie-Electro-Dance-Rock-Bangers scene.

Of course, it’s not the 70’s, and given a few decades’ distance, I really can’t even try to deny the pure pop power of stuff like The Bee-Gees, Donna Summer, and Labelle.  It’s from this stuff that L.A. (of course they’re from L freaking A) combo Music Go Music draw their sound, with liberal doses of Blondie’s punk-edge, E.L.O.’s classical flourishes and ABBA’s laser-beam precision Swedish melodies tossed in for healthy measure.  The band issued their debut full length on Secretly Canadian Oct. 6th, and these live videos from talent show Face Time showcase their particular sound.  Not sure what Face Time is, really, but it seems weird and pretty awesome.

Music Go Music-Warm in the Shadows Live on Face Time

We saw Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison do an acoustic take on Swim Until You Can’t See Land from a park bench, and now we have a full-band studio version that’s available for streaming at Fat Cat. Another song, Fun Stuff, can also be heard.

According to the label, the Swim single will be released in November, preceding a new full-length in spring 2010.

Sayeth Hutchison:

“’Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ was the title I had in my mind before I even started writing the album; I was becoming more and more interested in the idea of a rejection of the habits and behaviour most people see as normal, and in turn embracing a certain madness. It’s about losing your mind in order to reset the mind and the body. Forget what’s gone before and wash it out. This is not necessarily a geographical journey, as the ‘swim’ can involve any activity in which you can lose yourself. It’s a good introduction to the record as the theme unravels therein.”

[STREAM]: Frightened Rabbit | Swim Until You Can’t See Land
[STREAM]: Frightened Rabbit | Fun Stuff

Here’s that aforementioned park-bench performance:

Do you think Southern Lord just wouldn’t let a band put out a record called “God Is Good?”

Whatever the reason, doom-metal mystics OM’s new record is released by the fine folks at Chicago’s Drag City. The Steve Albini-produced set is the first album to feature the band’s new lineup, with drummer Emil Amos (Grails) joining bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros, replacing Chris Haikus, who was Cisneros’ bandmate in the legendary doom band Sleep, before that band splintered into OM and High On Fire.

The record finds the group even further mellowed out than previous releases. There isn’t even that much of the ever-present fuzz that defined their genre; in its place instead are chimes, flutes and harps recalling the groovy mediations of Alice Coltrane and overt Middle Eastern influences.

I kinda wondered how long the group could mine just minimalist territory, and the expansive sounds of “God Is Good” have made me happy they aren’t confining themselves any longer.

• OM | Cremation Ghat II