FUCK YEAH Presented by Tumblr at Mohawk

Early in the evening, two DJs (Friendly Ghost Music) were casually spinning some nice tunes as a back drop to the Tumblrcade, presented by KILL SCREEN. The arcade featured some classic games, and also some fun indie games like Bara Bari Ball, Chasing Aurora, and the hilarious Get On Top.

Meanwhile, Ume and Cloud Nothings were playing outside at Mohawk. Back inside, Orthy lit up the stage with some decent synth indie pop. They sounded pretty akin to Passion Pit minus the whiny voice and replaced with a more airy voice. They put on a good set, but nothing unique enough to write home to mom about. If you’re a fan of the indie rock genre, they were good enough to deserve a listen.

By 11 p.m. Jerome LOL was ready to play. This is honestly one of the main reasons I was at the FUCK YEAH party (besides Anamanaguchi). Jerome LOL is a former member of the DJ duo LOL, which broke up back in September. Jerome LOL came out of the breakup on top, though, and tore up his set last night. His music is hard to categorize, but people have been putting his productions under the genre future beats/bass. I would compare his sound to other people from the BODY HIGH record label, but also has similar vibes to Shlohmo, and Ryan Hemsworth. His mix was flawless and it included Some of his own tracks like “Forever/Never,” and “House Track 4 Sam.” He also mixed in some of his awesome remixes like “Diamonds” by Rihanna and “Nightmares of the Bottom” by Lil Wayne. Jerome LOL’s set also included some nice tracks like Burial and Four Tet’s song “Moth” and “Leaving Me” by John Talabot.

The crowd (myself included) enjoyed the set, but was clearly there for Anamanaguchi. While there was some dancing up front, much of the crowd was standing and nodding their heads. Hopefully as Jerome LOL’s realm of music gets more popular, he will get more people dancing.

Post by Sam Friedlander. His DJ show “____lander” airs Thursdays at 1 a.m.

Photos by Kati Richer. Her DJ show “Under the Cut” airs Mondays at 4 p.m.

WRCT is headed to sunny Austin, TX for SXSW again this year! We’ll be providing all kinds of broadcast and blogs coverage of the festival throughout the week, so we want to make sure you know what’s gong on.

Daily Recap Broadcasts:
Every day while we’re in Austin (Monday, March 11, through Friday, March 15) we’ll be doing a daily broadcast from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. featuring interviews, show reviews, and more.

Blogs:
We’ll also be updating our blogs frequently with photos, reviews, and interviews, so check them out this week at www.wrct.org/blogs.

Twitter + Facebook:
For the most up-to-date coverage, follow our Twitter at www.twitter.com/wrct883 and our Facebook page for the event at http://on.fb.me/Y0w4T7.

While in Austin, we’ll be having an Alumni Reunion. We’d love to reconnect with any of y’all who are in Austin this week! If you’re a WRCT alum and you’d like more info on the gathering, please email Kati at staffrep@wrct.org and she’ll give you the details.

My favorite new album at WRCT has been coldwave band Black Marble’s A Different Arrangement. Like much of Black Marble’s other source material, the album’s vocals are reminiscent of a low-key Ian Curtis, further developing the sound of their earlier Weight Against the Door EP. Here, the typically subdued tension between the angular synthesizers and human melancholia is at its zenith.

A Different Arrangement surveys a wide variety of sounds, from the radiant, bouncing ebullience of “A Great Design” to the haunted-playground bop of “Limitations,” juxtaposing sampled rim-drum tracks with layers of sentimental synth melodies. Warm basslines shapeshift across the album’s runtime and vintage synthesizer arrangements are airy and, at times, so distinctly sculpted they seem otherworldly.

“A certain handmade feeling is what we’re after,” Stewart explained in an interview with Hardly Art, the record label. “The music doesn’t have to be complex, but it’s more important to carry some residue of the process, especially when working with what [can sometimes] be construed as cold-sounding electronics. It’s humanizing.”

Black Marble’s latest album certainly embodies an analog quality that brings life to otherwise unfeeling electronic music. The textural complexities to which Stewart refers can only be fully appreciated after multiple listens, allowing the soundscapes to sink in further, quietly addictive.

If Weight Against the Door constituted a long, cold night, then A Different Arrangement heralds the moment when the radiator finally sputters to life, flooding the room with heat as the sun rises over a horizon of Brutalist tower blocks. The homemade soundtrack to a still, uncertain dawn, A Different Arrangement is a striking evolution in Black Marble’s sound.

(Originally published in The Tartan)