Tome to the Weather Machine

My contributions to the Tome as of late have been the equivalent of that dude at the party who starts every sentence with, “well, when I was in Africa.” Dude, we get it. I promise this will be one of my last Afro-centric posts. My time is winding down here, I am starting to listen to music seriously again, I even found a place that has an Ethernet cable and charges me E10 for internet time. At the risk of being overindulgent and self-promoting I would like to share something with you that I have been working on. If you have wondered what my work is in Africa, it is usually nothing like this. It is not every day that I get to shoot a music video for a rapper in my community of Mpaka. But here it is, I shot this video in and around Mpaka, Swaziland and at the Refugee Camp where my wife and I teach. You get a glimpse into our life here. But really, this isn’t about us, or me. It is a glimpse into the life and mind of Napolfoxen, the kid on the rollerblades rapping about running from the cops in Swahili. This is his world. From the beautiful, to the comically dismal, to the startling poverty of the refugee camp and the community of Mpaka, to his bizarre insistence that I film him on rollerblades (his defense: “what other African rapper you know on rollerblades, nje?”).

So here it is, I shot and edited it. Napolfoxen and his producer Sakhile Mavimbela a.k.a Flameboy Universe steal the show here. Napolfoxen is a Swazi who grew up at the Refugee Camp and became fluent in Swahili, SiSwati and English. Part of this deal was teaching him how to use youtube and bandcamp. Check it out. Kid is the future.

Ryan H.

Napolfoxen Bandcamp

"But still, Dth, do you have a tap on my phone?" — Ryan H.'s closing line to the first DTH review we ever posted, several albums back circa March of 2010. I think about that line a lot whenever I see/hear something new from Dth. The way he uses the very concept of sampling is inherently glued to his own auto-biographical history, but it always feels like his music and images reflect my own life at the same time. I don't know how he does it exactly, but all of the smiles and lights and drinks and kissy faces and playful middle fingers and rock shows and roller coasters like you see in the video below are all things I know that I've experienced, and I think most of the people reading this post right now could find themselves SOMEWHERE in this video. As such, being called "Moving On," makes this piece a little nostalgic, a little bit sad, as it seems that both Devin Hldebrand and I are growing up, leaving these memories behind in a glitchy, half-remembered photo album of song. 

It's very nice to hear new material from Devin Hildebrand, the drummer for New Orleans' Sun Hotel, but I'd be lying if I said this was the first new Dth material to be made available in a while. Actually, Dth released the amazing "Sleepless / Endless," which somehow flew under our radar last year (but is currently blasting and blowing my mind on my home stereo). Visit Devin's website, and collect his discography by checking out his bandcamp.

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I'm trying to remember the last time I got a Halloween present, especially one in the mail. Probably was about the last time I did a holiday-themed post on ye ol' Tome... which was never. And I guess this music isn't meant to be as absolutely perfect for today (October 31st, that is) as Andreas Brandal actually made it, but Hell (note the capital H here), if this isn't Transylvania-rock at its finest, I'm not sure what is. Plus, the cover is orange. Or, the cover has orange in it. So yeah.

Anyway, Turning Point shows up in my box, I pop it in and all of a sudden I'm surrounded by encircling synths bearing down with a spooky intensity that instantly reminds me of Goblin's score to Suspiria. Norway's insanely prolific synth-mongerer already has at least one tape out that I know of in 2012, a black-hole of zoned-out drones out on Field Hymns. This new release via NY's Tranquility Tapes matches that one at the very least in sheer darkness while adding a nice melodic center. Brandal's arms are the pipes of an organ here, all gothic, foreboding and intimidatingly minor in key. And Moduli TV's visuals appropriately keep the creep-factor up to par as well, what with the darkened frame, swooping birds, ominous window and faces cast in shadows. The entire thing smacks of classic horror, making this one-and-only holiday themed Videodrone a complete success, wouldn't you agree?

Nab a copy of this excellent tape from Tranquility Tapes today. And of course... Happy Halloween! Be safe out there, kids.

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