I revived an old music blog from the early 2000s?
Maybe it’s been a foolish endeavor, and maybe I’m the only one who misses the blog ol’ days, but I’ve been giving it a shot. I’ve been working on restoring some of the old content, though much of it was lost. I’ve slowly been rebuilding the old remix sunday archives, and even posting the occasional new edition. And I’ve been writing again.
You can find all the label’s releases here, on bandcamp, or most anywhere you listen to music these days. I’ve still got copies of some of the old vinyl releases, and I recently released the first in a set of charitable cassette compilations to raise awareness about the continued [mis]use of broken windows policing methods.
Plus, I put together a playlists section with a handful of spotify lists that hopefully start to capture a [slightly] updated version of the moods we used to peddle. Give those a listen and a ❤ if you would be so kind. If you want to get in touch, just give me a holler.
– Haldan/Boody
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Visual Velcro 6
Naeem – “Simulation” (ft. Swamp Dogg & Justin Vernon) (2020) Jesse Boone – “Due Season” (prod. Shy Guy and Roc & Mayne) (2021) Shannon – “Mal À Dit” (2018) -
DJ Lag & Sinjin Hawke – Raptor
DJ Lag & Sinjin Hawke – Raptor DJ Lag and Sinjin Hawke are bitter koud and hot like braai when their forces combine. Simon says proper super hero music.
DJ Lag & Sinjin Hawke – “Raptor” (sc)
And while I’m at it, another favorite Sinjin collaboration from last year.
La Zowi – “Fulani” ft. Ian Isiah (prod. Sinjin Hawke & Zora Jones) (sc)
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Monolithic – Baby Hold Me Close
Hold your people close, people. <3
From New York via Tokyo producer Monolithic. Out a couple of months ago on the Reverse Engineering After Hours comp on Queens-based label, Mechanical.
Monolithic – “Baby Hold Me Close” (bc)
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Garneau – Rainfall
This track from Vancouver, BC based Garneau appears on this year’s edition of the annual 12 days compilation series on Bass Coast. 2021’s edition of the series is pay what you wish, and its proceeds will go to the Nicola Valley Food Bank located in Merritt, BC on the shared traditional territories of the Nłeʔkepmx and Syilx. Merritt and the surrounding areas were recently devastated by immense rainfall and resulting floods. Donate a few bucks when you grab this record, which also includes excellent contributions from Ikonika, The Librarian, Mat the Alien, and Fort Knox Five, among several others; and have a listen to the other volumes of the compilation series, which is reliably first-rate.
Garneau – “Rainfall” (mp3)
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Stefano Ritteri – Dope Mania
I keep playing catch up trying to cover the trajectories of former Palms Out favorites. I guess that’s what happens after a ten year hiatus. Stefano Ritteri used to make *idget house music as Solo, and we covered him several times. In the years since, his output has been largely focused on balearic, Italo, and cosmic disco styles. He’s behind the excellent Viaggio and Spaciale labels (the latter of which was wildly productive in 2020, somehow managing to avoid the worldwide vinyl production standstill).
This song is the title track on the Dope Mania 12″, released on Viaggio in 2019; it fits nicely in that little corner of music that blurs the lines between disco, old school New York-style electro and a first wave Frankie Knuckles record.
Stefano Ritteri – “Dope Mania” (sc)
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A.dixen – Death Tapes
Anders Dixen is another dear friend from Copenhagen. Once upon a time, he put out an excellent (but criminally under-appreciated) record on Palms Out under the name Dix One, and then went on to make music for a number years as Unkwon, a name he was gifted by a close mutual friend of ours who was no longer using it. He subsequently had his greatest success as part of trio Av Av Av (with DJ Er Du Dum Eller Hvad and another Palms Out alumnus, Eloq) — releasing a couple of really solid albums, scoring the Netflix series The Rain, as well as the film Brakland. He’s also made music as part of duos Dokkedal/Dixen (with Simon Dokkedal of Den Sorte Skole), and Diamond Mouth (with Ane Trolle). This list is incomplete; Dix is as much a fixture of Danish electronic music as anyone could conceivably be.
He’s always been a brilliant producer, but he’s truly found his voice with his newest sobriquet, A.dixen, under which he has released far more personal and nuanced work — and unsurprisingly so, since the handle is only a few letters removed from his government name. In 2019, he released two albums as A.dixen, both on Øen Records. Death Tapes Vol. 1 was without doubt my favorite record of that year, and Vol. 2 was among my favorites of 2020 (though it was released at the very tail end of the previous year); and not just because both make myriad and original use of breakbeats, though they do. At the beginning of this year, he also made available for free on his bandcamp two improvisational ambient records.
Below is a brief selection of some of my favorites from the Death Tapes series. It was hard to choose, as both albums deserve to be listened to in full.
A.dixen – The Birds the Birds (bc)
A.dixen – “Slow Jamz 4 the End of the World” (bc)
A.dixen – “A System to End All Systems” (bc)
After the jump, find a recent remix Dix did for Rumpistol, which is inexplicably not on bandcamp.
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Rumpistol – “Aurolac” (A.dixen Refix) Why Be – Impossible Drops
Why Be is one of those artists who probably has innumerable songs wasting on old hard drives that no one will ever hear, but are probably really good. When I met him once or twice in the late aughts, he was a part of HVAD‘s Syg Nok collective in Copenhagen. These are two from 2020’s Caged Animal on Berlin-based Yegorka.
Why Be – “Impossible Drops1” (bc)
Why Be – “Impossible Drops2” (bc)
And since I mentioned him, I may as well share one from HVAD, another Dane who releases far less than he creates, and whose records I treasure. From 2014, when Syg Nok was still active.
HVAD – “Angst” (sc)
CTM & August Rosenbaum – Celeste Song
I first met Cæcilie Trier when she was playing cello in Atoi, a band I blogged about a few times, years ago. She’s since released a handful of records under the name CTM, and is current with a collaborative album under that name with pianist August Rosenbaum on Posh Isolation. She’s a superb songwriter, and the production on all of her work is as inventive as it is immediate. For as delicate as much of her music can seem at first blush, it also feels distinctly physical; sort of body music for air signs.
In addition to the title song from her latest with Rosenbaum, Celeste, I’m including a favorite of mine from her most recent solo effort, 2018’s Red Dragon, as well as the title track from 2013’s Variations.
CTM & August Rosenbaum – “Celeste Song” (sc)
CTM – “Paloma pt. 2” (sc)
CTM – “Variations” (sc)
And just because, here’s the video for another one from Red Dragon.
CTM – “Stages” Soho Rezanejad – Greed Wears a Disarming Face
Soho Rezanejad – “Greed Wears a Disarming Face” Soho is a dear old friend. We used to be in a band together when I lived in Denmark, though that’s not saying much; she’s collaborated with so many others in the time since. She was a regular member of Lust for Youth’s live band, she’s been in bands like the short-lived but excellent Gold Lip, and she’s made records with the likes of Croatian Amor, Kasper Bjørke, and many others. But it’s really her solo work that strikes my nerves most; her voice is beautiful and an obvious blessing, but she’s also a gifted composer and producer.
She’s been prolific in recent years, but since things were dormant here, I didn’t have the chance to post any of her wonderful work. Above, I’ve posted a video of one of my favorites, from her 2018 album Six Archetypes, which included five video treatments, all of which are really worth attention. I’ve also included a selection of other songs from recent years that may inspire you to dive deeper into her catalog.
Soho Rezanejad – “Greed Wears a Disarming Face” (2018) (bc)
Soho Rezanejad – “December Song” (2018) (bc)
Soho Rezanejad – “Two Women Bucolics” (2020) (bc)
Soho Rezanejad – “Memory Shell” (2019) (bc)
Soho Rezanejad – “Everyday’s Another Holiday” (2015) (bc)
And for good measure, another video from 2016, for a song that isn’t available on bandcamp.
Soho Rezanejad – “Shark” Bjørn Svin – Mer Strøm #0 (Reprise)
When I moved to Denmark for the first time as an adult, I fell in with a bunch of sweet people all at least tangentially connected to one another through music. In this little micro-scene, there was one person who stood as a sort-of elder statesman, at least symbolically; and one song that served as a guidepost for what Danish electronic music could do. Bjørn Svin‘s 1997 song “Mer Strøm” was by no means a worldwide hit, maybe not even in 8-bit or IDM circles, nor was he a household name anywhere outside of Denmark (or even in Denmark outside of certain circles), but the song had made an impact in the country and abroad in a way that others of its kind hadn’t yet. I haven’t been back to Denmark for a number of years now, but I suspect the song still symbolizes something for Danish musicians, about Danish music. Something anti-jantelov, exuberant, and free.
A couple of years after the original song was released, Bjørn released this reprise. The best known version of the song often bears a #2 following the title, but this reprise is tagged as #0, so maybe it existed first. I’m sharing it here as a way of kicking off a series of posts focusing on Danish music, music I’ve always championed in the course of doing Palms Out. I’ve done so partly because my Danish half demands it, but also because the country’s music is so perpetually ignored–maybe because its neighbors are such powerhouses of pop and electronic music, or maybe because of its ingrained societal modesty. In any case, my American half makes me partly immune to that hyper-modesty, so I insist on doing my small part to share the country’s music more widely.
Bjørn Svin – “Mer Strøm #0” (Reprise) (1999) (bc)
Bjørn Svin – “Mer Strøm #2” (1997) (bc)
Boody – We Had That
Earlier this year, as prelude to the gentle resurrection of Palms Out, I decided to release a small handful of old songs that have been burning holes in my hard drive for far too long. Split into two releases, We Had That and Flatbush, all the songs are available for whatever you wish to pay (including zero$) on bandcamp, and streamable wherever else you listen to music. Listen to selections from each below.
Boody – “We Had That” (sc)
Boody – “Kora Zone” (sc)
Boody – “GENRE BACKLASH” (sc)
DonChristian – Get Me Lit
A few months ago, Palms Out had the pleasure of releasing the second formal album by DonChristian, the self-produced Don, which features appearances from Shanekia McIntosh and TM Davy. Don is a ray of light, a truly generous soul, and an incredible artist. Some of the music on this album was incorporated into Don’s recent piece Volvo Truck performed at The Shed as part of their summer open call series. Don also spent most of the panini building Public Assistants, a mutual aid network for and by BIPOC artists, creatives, and makers, primarily focused in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
One of my personal favorites from the album is streamable below, but I really urge you to have a listen to the album in full wherever you listen to music (or buy it on bandcamp).
DonChristian – “Get Me Lit” (sc)
And if you missed it, check Don’s first album, 2017’s Where There’s Smoke, for which I produced three songs, and which features appearances from bbymutha, Eartheater, and Ms. Boogie.
DonChristian – “Unfolding” ft. Eartheater DonChristian – “Where There’s Smoke” (produced by Boody) DonChristian – “Been Sleep” ft. Ms. Boogie New Hots Hots 7
moktar – “Silk” (sc)
Logic1000 & Big Ever – “Natural” (sc)
Posthuman – “Terror Police” (DMX Krew Remix) (sc)
image/ Margaret Bourke-White
Main Phase – Hear Them
I was legitimately excited to find out that Main Phase, whose work quality has been unwavering in recent years, used to be a member of a crew of Danish 14 year olds that would regularly submit remixes to Palms Out in the way back whens. While I wouldn’t do him dirty by sharing any of those old submissions, I will tell you he always had the spark. He recently announced his latest record, Lost City Archives Vol. 5 on the homonymous imprint, which includes the song below. Pre orders are open now, but it’s gonna sell out quick.
Main Phase – “Hear Them” (sc)
