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▓█▓▓█ Artist.....[ Odd Nosdam ▀████▄█▓
██▓▀ Album......[ Level Live Wires ▀▓██
▄ █▓█ █ Label......[ Anticon █ █▓█ ▄
█▒█▓█▄▀ Catalog #..[ ABR0074 ▀▄█▓█▒█
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▓█▀ ▀▀█▓█▒ Source.....[ CD ▒█▓█▀▀ ▀█▓
▓█▄ ▀▄ ██▓ Genre......[ Electronic ▓██ ▄▀ ▄█▓
▓▓█▓▀ ██ Language...[ English ██ ▀▓█▓▓
▀ ▄████ Rip Date...[ 2007-08-21 ████▄ ▀
▄ ▀ ▓█▓ Store Date.[ 2007-08-28 ▓█▓ ▀ ▄
█▀▀ ▄▓█▀ Rip Tool...[ EAC ▀█▓▄ ▀▀█
▓█▄████▀ Encoder....[ LAME 3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ▀████▄█▓
▀█▓▀ Quality....[ 179 kbps AVG VBR 44.1/Joint Stereo ▀▓█▀
▄ █▓█▄▓█▓ Url........[ http://www.anticon.com ▓█▓▄█▓█ ▄
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█▓ 01 On 0:57 ▓█
█▓ 02 Kill Tone 5:10 ▓█
█▓ 03 We Dead 1:20 ▓█
█▓ 04 Freakout 3 4:05 ▓█
█▓ 05 Fat Hooks 5:46 ▓█
█▓ 06 Blast 1:49 ▓█
█▓ 07 The Kill Tune Two 4:54 ▓█
█▓ 08 Burner 5:49 ▓█
█▓ 09 Up In Flames 4:53 ▓█
█▓ 10 Slight Return 1:57 ▓█
█▓ 11 Off 3:15 ▓█
█▓ ----- ▓█
█▓ 39:55 ▓█
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█░█ An Odd Nosdam record is something more than █░█
█░█ music. More and more, David P. Madson's albums █░█
█░█ are collections of wordless short stories and █░█
█░█ scenes, intricately woven audio scrapbooks that █░█
█░█ buzz with singular experience as lived through █░█
█░█ the eyes and ears of one very electric human █░█
█░█ conduit. Whereas 2005's threateningly dense and █░█
█░█ gorgeous Burner was built amongst bad █░█
█░█ relationships, nasty headspaces and East Oakland █░█
█░█ situations, Level Live Wires is the distinct █░█
█░█ product of inspiration, bizarre happenstance and █░█
█░█ wonder lived out in a series of bright moments █░█
█░█ eventually brought together under the roof of an █░█
█░█ unruffled West Berkeley cottage. Here 8-track █░█
█░█ cassettes, samplers, synths and Dictaphones, lost █░█
█░█ records and found sounds, field recordings and █░█
█░█ happy accidents are brought to stirring life by █░█
█░█ our humble collagist. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Level Live Wires is announced by ôOn,ö where a █░█
█░█ rolling dub bump bounces under a windy choral █░█
█░█ drone to pleasantly gangsta effect, which soon █░█
█░█ gives way to the surging slow dance of ôKill █░█
█░█ Tone.ö A ticking arrives on a tiny loop, birds █░█
█░█ chirp overhead, something burns, then a crunchy █░█
█░█ harp melody beginsùand begins again as if waiting █░█
█░█ to catch a groove. As a swell of bass pushes from █░█
█░█ below, the aural landscape shifts: sampler drums █░█
█░█ punch in and out, a guitar grinds slowly in the █░█
█░█ background (played by Dee Kesler of Thee More █░█
█░█ Shallows), voices echo elsewhere, and suddenly a █░█
█░█ rapid line of barroom piano (WhyÆs Doug █░█
█░█ McDiarmid) lends the final context needed to turn █░█
█░█ the loping beat into swirling ballet of █░█
█░█ syncopated sound. With a sharp kick of the █░█
█░█ turntable, ôWe Deadö pulses in on a vocal loop █░█
█░█ and a train-whistle, before ôFreakout 3ö █░█
█░█ crash-lands with a heavy burst of sludgy doom. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Tense glacial air warms to a warbling phonograph, █░█
█░█ a thunderstorm breaks, and a ball of aural white █░█
█░█ light overwhelms everything. DavidÆs voice █░█
█░█ trickles in via Dictaphone during a PresidentÆs █░█
█░█ Day gang shooting outside of his old Oakland █░█
█░█ Victorian, but itÆs the speaker-shattering cry of █░█
█░█ Chris Adams (Hood, Bracken) that leads the heavy █░█
█░█ bass and building fuzz onward. Following a blast █░█
█░█ of electronic squelch, ôFat Hooksö lifts █░█
█░█ listeners skyward with an airy composition of █░█
█░█ turntable bump, rich organ and soaring voice █░█
█░█ (courtesy of Jessica Bailiff), while ôBlastö █░█
█░█ sounds delectably dirty and glassy in dub. ôThe █░█
█░█ Kill Tone Twoö returns to a busted-up break-beat █░█
█░█ and its predecessorÆs lo-bit harp progression, █░█
█░█ but adds live violin (by TMS collaborator Cosmos █░█
█░█ Lee) and voice to create a rolling pastoral epic. █░█
█░█ TV on the RadioÆs Tunde Adebimpe and WhyÆs Yoni █░█
█░█ Wolf trade poems, tones and beat-box while Odd █░█
█░█ Nosdam plays conductor and composer. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Then comes ôBurner.ö ThereÆs the sound of a █░█
█░█ window sliding open, a car horn steadily █░█
█░█ blurting, and flames raging as a freshly █░█
█░█ abandoned Ford Explorer is caught on tape █░█
█░█ exploding in front of DavidÆs ex Oakland digs. █░█
█░█ The slowly warping horn becomes the tonal base of █░█
█░█ the song, and the sharp blasts inspire sporadic █░█
█░█ but controlled bursts of heavy drum. What follows █░█
█░█ is a patched beat of the most ominous variety: █░█
█░█ rap bounce, deep synth whirrs, blurred bass █░█
█░█ (WhyÆs Josiah Wolf), harmonizing frequencies and █░█
█░█ endless texture. Like ôFreakout 3,ö the song was █░█
█░█ originally intended for Burner, but the gravity █░█
█░█ of its origins were stultifying. David worked on █░█
█░█ ôBurnerö obsessively for three years before █░█
█░█ turning to one of his musical idols, Chris Adams. █░█
█░█ Halfway through the song, the Hood architect can █░█
█░█ be heard, sawing at the base of the composition █░█
█░█ with violin and singing ghostly etherea overtop. █░█
█░█ When ôBurnerö breaks, weÆre back at the burning █░█
█░█ car, alone and surrounded by pitch black. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ That Nosdam is as fascinated with these odd █░█
█░█ moments as the rest of us are is what gives Level █░█
█░█ Live Wires its enveloping draw. Each bit that █░█
█░█ becomes a part of a song is an otherwise static █░█
█░█ and eventually staid sound that could have become █░█
█░█ mere memory. Instead, he takes each into his life █░█
█░█ (often burning sounds onto disc and listening to █░█
█░█ them throughout his day), and gives them some █░█
█░█ blood in return. The albumÆs closing triptych █░█
█░█ bring things to an appropriate end, with ôUp in █░█
█░█ Flamesö returning to the clouds on the back of a █░█
█░█ bubbly reggae bassline, while piano and pounding █░█
█░█ drums (played by Jel), get pulled into a █░█
█░█ mechanical tornado (David mashing and jamming the █░█
█░█ 8-track cassette while transferring the base loop █░█
█░█ onto computer). ôSlight Returnö slows down and █░█
█░█ stretches out the crux harp melody, but in █░█
█░█ reverse, creating a dark and crystalline kind of █░█
█░█ pretty, and ôOffö gives us a glorious wash of █░█
█░█ tone and synth to drift out on. Also included █░█
█░█ with Level Live WiresÆ first pressing is a █░█
█░█ limited bonus disc of isolated sonicsùa fine █░█
█░█ ambient EP in its own rightùthat allows listeners █░█
█░█ to hear the albumÆs underpinnings from Odd █░█
█░█ NosdamÆs peerless perspective. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ Which is, of course, the view weÆve enjoyed from █░█
█░█ Level Live WireÆs very beginning. █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ "You can draw some crooked lines from My Bloody █░█
█░█ Valentine's smeared soundscapes and from The Bomb █░█
█░█ Squad's edited-to-death production to [Odd █░█
█░█ Nosdam's] sound." - Grooves █░█
█░█ █░█
█░█ "Odd Nosdam is to experimental hip-hop what █░█
█░█ Herbert is to disco. Although samples abound, █░█
█░█ it?s the field recordings (exploding SUVs, gang █░█
█░█ shootings) in his latest LP that make it a truly █░█
█░█ intriguing (and often moving) collection of █░█
█░█ cinematic, fuzzy bricolage. After one listen to █░█
█░█ ON's Level Live Wires, a single question remains: █░█
█░█ has gangster shoegaze actually been composed?" - █░█
█░█ XLR8R █░█
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▄▀▀██ 1way AMOK BCC BUTT CMS EGO ██▀▀▄
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▄▄ ▀▓█ JUST MTD NuHS pyt rH RNS SDR █▓▀ ▄▄
▓▓█████▓▄ SER soup SSR twee UKi WUS ▄▓█████▓▓
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▄ ░▒▓█████████▓▒░ ASCii By AyL!cRO 2oo5 ░▒▓█████████▓▒░ ▄
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