Never Fear
At long last, Pitchfork (which seems to have sorted out a pesky server error) has published my double review of two amazing new Optimo-related projects: JD Twitch's 60 Minutes of Fear (RVNG) and Optimo proper's Sleepwalk (Domino). The first is a mix of hardcore punk (in the loosest possible definition), with a 10" of exclusive edits to accompany. The second is a mix of horizontal narcoticism, something you might conceivably call ambient/not-ambient.
I'll admit to a certain feeling of vindication that Twitch's "punk" set features five artists whose work I included in a list of my own 20 favorite American hardcore records for London's Fact Magazine; despite the fact that the list was intended as a personal, and not canonical, selection, it caught a fair amount of flak from gatekeeping bloggers whose tastes ran in opposite directions. So it's nice to see that I've got Twitch in my corner when it comes to a preference for the avant, the errant and the undone.
In any case, both records are stunning, and well deserving of your time and attention (and, if I may be so bold, your hard-earned money).
Sadly, I missed Twitch's appearance at Portland, Oregon's Nightclubbing party last Tuesday--inauguration night, as it turned out. Apparently Holocene was full of partying Dems who hoisted a cardboard Obama cutout on their shoulders to "crowd surf" during the unhinged dance party. We knew Obama could body-surf; now he crowd-surfs too? Somehow I'm not surprised.