The Week on EB: February 17, 2013

We don’t need to tell you that we live in an era of information surplus; where every day our attention spans are torn asunder by channels competing for our eyes and ears and keystrokes—and that’s before IRL gets involved, too. We don’t expect you to catch every piece of content that goes up on EB (as much as we would like you to) which is why we’re giving you a Sunday digest with four of our favorite features from the preceding seven days that may have slipped under the radar. And for a look at some of the visual content you might have missed, be sure to check out our favorite photos from the last week!

A quick technical chat with Pete Swanson

After his gig at the Berlin club Horst Kreuzberg as part of the CTM Festival, we caught up with Pete Swanson, who in the early noughties was one half of the experimental noise duo Yellow Swans and is now, after the band split up, exploring amazingly dysfunctional realms of what we would probably call techno. Used to playing in gallery spaces or concert venues, Swanson still feels a bit uncomfortable with his foray into the basics of club culture.

Richard Brody recommends Claude Lanzmann’s The Patagonian Hare: A Memoir

People in America tend not to have seen Shoah for a very silly, practical reason: its unavailability on DVD. You can buy a copy from absolut MEDIEN, but very few people know that this version is code-free. So if you didn’t get a copy when the DVD was in circulation a decade ago, or if you weren’t an adult in the mid-eighties when Shoah was in theaters or on public television, you’re kind of out of luck. We’re talking here about a generation of Americans in their twenties and thirties that don’t even know what Shoah is. Of course, watching the film on YouTube is a literal option, but not an ideal one. I’ve certainly watched plenty of films on YouTube, and I also consider the website to be the cinematheque of the future. But Shoah is a grand-scale movie, and it gains a lot from being projected onto a large screen. Conversely, the smaller you see it, the more reducible it becomes to a mere delivery of information, and devoid of its—how should I put it?—unique beauty.

Scream & Dream Again: an interview with reliq

When you think of the word “metal”, “beauty” is a term that rarely follows. With a sound that incorporates elements of crunchy sludge, melodic post-hardcore, and experimental spoken word, reliq transcend genre limitations to rise into a realm of harsh, ritualistic, and soul-snaring energy. It’s been a year since the Berlin-based group has performed together, and in that time they’ve expanded their sound into a far more lurching and lurking beast. When they took the stage at this years’ CTM.13 festival, nobody knew what to expect; some were hushed in reverent expectation, while others seemed tensed, ready to mosh—or flee. Whereas earlier tracks like “Herkules” saw them using their power to thrash, now they soar. It’s clear that they’ve found new muses within themselves (and each other) when you see how they feed off each other’s energy, and when you hear their recent soundtrack work for London director Claire Kurylowski‘s short filmGreed. To better grasp their personal philosophies, I abased myself before the magick of drummer xorzyzt, vocalist Grayl, and new guitarist Niko.

Mix of the Day: Louise Brailey & BlackBlackGold

EB editorsLouise and Daniel chat together on flux.FM, and together they shape a mix via Daniel’s altered ego BlackBlackGold. HOODS UP is some serious hard gothic thuggery, weird club and touches of R&B pop, laced together with input from Louise and her love of UK bass. It’s certainly one of the more diverse mixes we’ve had in our Radio Sessions, and gives a taste of what our writers are filling their ears with.

Published February 16, 2013.