Well it's that special time of year again (what time of year is that?), the time of year when we need to put out a record, and noone has anything finished, so we cobble a comp together. (Oh, I thought it was something cool) Well that's the thing, you'd be amazed by the splendiferous entity our ignoble intention hath produced. If y'all thought Assemblage Sessions 1 was a suprisingly sophisticated compilation from such a bush-league label, then Assemblage 2 will convince you we've sold our collective soul to some luciferic being. (Oh I all ready thought that). Very funny, smart ass. Seriously though, ASS 2 is freaky amazing. All of the typical Adandon Building nerdowells make an appearance (DoF, Set in Sand, Sheveks Masada, Color Cassette, and Moot and Lisp from Flowtation Addvice) along with good friends Conrad Newholmes (Snakebird/Couchblip) and Adventure Time (Plug Research), both of whom contributed to the first assemblage as well.
The truly mind blowing component within the new comp is the first time contributers, a wonderful mix of big and little fish from a variety of different sized ponds. Somehow a handful of relatively well known artists have decided to donate wonderful songs to the label voted "least likely to succeed" by its graduating class. And when we say relatively well known artist, we ain't talking cop-outs like some third rate garage band whose bass player's a distant cosign of the Grateful Deads accountant, naw man we're talking about some of the luminaries of modern composition, (ok so spit it out, enough build up already) well fine, if your going to be impatient, I can let you know that the contributers include Populous (Morr) Caural (Mush/Chocolate Industries) Michael Johnson (who?) the drummer from Holopaw (Sub Pop) and guitarist for The Lilys (Manifesto) and J. D. Wenceslas, a solo endeavor of Doug McDiarmid, who does a lil of everything in the band Why? (Anticon) (damn that is quite a list, whatch ya do kid nap their grandmas?) no we're saving that for Assemblage 3. But just because there are some pretty decent people involved dont think that Abandon Building has sold out...(don't you actually have to sell something before you can sell out?) Ahem.....like we were saying Assemblage Sessions 2 is still an equal opportunity release, sharing the spotlight with emerging talents, which we've searched the dark corners of the world (or at least the world wide web) to find. Some of these newly discovered treasures include Nimble, a vinyl loving sample pirate, sailing the high seas of the american midwest, Nara, a Beijing based sound doodadist, Otem Rellik, a wild and wooly mountain man MC from Colorado, and Crillix the hardest working producer in the UK, this guy makes new songs so fast he might have robots working for him.
And of course like the first comp ASS 2 is dressed up all mixtapey and friendly like, askewing the traditional "sound-a-like" format that ruins far to many electro compilations. Only on Assemblage Sessions will your ears be pleasantly jarred by the dream drone washes of French creator Stuntman 5 transitioning ito the gentle epics of Tokyos Gutevolk, or find neo-Detroit kid genius Phylum Sinter (big shout out to Chris for doing a banging mastery o' this puppy, by the way) just a hop, skip, and a jump from Spanish guitar hero Bacanal Intruder. This comp has a little of every kind of music...except bad music (well Moot and Lisp's song isn't that decent...) Well, it's alright, and those guys mean well. (do they?)
(Ok, I'm actually excited about this now) but wait! there's more...well not much more...but the artwork is flaming! our buddy and ace digital creationist Matt Garret has collaged various snip-its from artists Nathan Rogers (Cactus on Fire) and Jason Corder (Color Cassette) into a hyper textural hootenany, making ASS 2 a treat for your eyes as well as yo ears. (Ok, enough propaganda, I get it, this is a neat sampler, let it go at that.) Alright, well, hope you enjoy.
The Assemblage Sessions volume 1 is the third release from the Midwest based Abandon Building, and their first compilation. Featuring 16 new tracks, the album clocks in a hair over 60 minutes. Assemblage Sessions avoids the predictable montage of sound-a-like songs, and goes for a more eclectic blend.
Assemblage compliments ABRs already diverse roster of Electro/Organic composers (such as DoF) and more beat oriented artists (like Sheveks Masada) with inspired guest appearances, across a full spectrum of sound, by the likes of Adventure Time (Plug Research) and Mr. Cooper from Mummy Fortunas Theater Company (Lex).
Rather than struggle to establish a prevalent Abandon Building sound, Assemblage celebrates the diversity of the artists involved. There in lies a lot of its charm. None of the different styles ever seem forced or out of place, but instead feels like a natural evolution from one song to another, touching base with most scenes and sub-genres currently producing relevant music. For example hearing the haunting vocals of Cubic Musics Piana segue into the folksy funky string arrangements of Vancouvers The Winks or listening to punk noise pioneers The Poison Arrows transition into post-ironic avant- pop duo Rhys and Tom, its all good.
The Assemblage Sessions displays elements of IDM, hip-hop, folk, noise, punk and post rock with out leaning predominately in any one direction. It's contrast strengthens the characteristics of each song with out disrupting the flow of the album in its entirety. Assemblage Sessions is sure to appeal not only to Electro heads, but anyone who seeks being swept off their feet by a strange mess of sounds.
- ABA005 - V/A - Assemblage Sessions 2 CDABR003 - ABR's Assemblage Session 1 CD
Have your very own Assemblage?