LIFE GETS IN THE WAY OF LITANIES

Hujambo! When I first began this substack page I had big plans to be writing here more frequently. I have a litany of ideas I’ve been wanting to further explore and write about. Life gets in the way of litanies and this has (for now) turned into more of a space for my infrequent musings about what I’ve been up to or what I’ve been listening to. Most days it feels like there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I’m setting out to do.

So with all that being said, let’s get to it.

If you are not familiar with ML Buch I have been playing her recent album “Suntub” non-stop around the sanctuary.

I have to credit my fellow Inner Magician Mikal Oor for turning me on to this album. I’m usually very late to what people and critics are currently extolling the praises of. No joke but I literally live under a rock. But it’s a beautiful rock, and I love living under it.

It was a late Saturday night a couple months ago when Mike texted me recommending that I really should check out this ML Buch album. I was home alone with the dogs, coming down from mushrooms, physically depleted, dehydrated, trying to relax and fall asleep but my brain was still erupting. I couldn’t stop thinking about my ideas for the future, which I had begun scrawling about illegibly across pages of my notebook. In my head I could see my new dreams so clearly. In hopes that listening to some music would help put me to sleep, I put on my headphones and gave the ML Buch album a try. I was so moved by the music that I ended up listening to it over and over on repeat (brain still erupting) until around 4 a.m. when I finally fell asleep. Describing music is a difficult thing. So I suppose the best way I can describe this album from the point of view of someone who lives under a rock is the same way I describe much of the other music in the world that I love and that makes me feel something.

The album sounds like its own little world that you get to visit and escape to with each listen. I can hear the influence of many of my favorite things of the past (Polvo, The Durutti Column, Classic 4AD, Conny Plank) but synthesized in a way that all feels fresh and very now. Not at all retro. I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you this has been one of my favorite albums I’ve been lucky enough to stumble across over the past few years. Thank you Mike. And thank you ML Buch for creating a masterpiece which has only grown more expansive to my ears after the many spins.

If you’re in Los Angeles this weekend Inner Magic will be performing Saturday, September 21st at the Echo at Sacred Skin’s record release party. It’s going to be a real lulu. Just check out the lineup! I hope you can make it. We go on at 9 pm. Here’s the very Warhol Querelle inspired poster I made for the occasion.

Tickets are available here. I am excited too because I haven’t performed at The Echo since September 2007 when Chromatics played at Part Time Punks on the Night Drive tour. Here are a couple pics from that night that I’ve never posted before. I have no idea how I have these photos on my computer. My guess is that they were sent to us by the photographer via Myspace.

I should also mention that I saw Ruth open up for Chromeo at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles last Friday. Her set was fantastic and her band is top notch. It was perfect. Go see her now if you can! She’s on the road in the states for a couple more weeks.

Lastly my friend Hannah Lew and I recently shared some music on Bandcamp for a little project we’ve been calling A.M. Blue. Chris Coady mixed the tracks. Mike performed on and helped us with one of the songs “Annie” as well. These songs had originally began as some of my Chromatics demos but for years sat alone hiding out in lonely garageband files. The music from the song “September” is literally from 2006! “Annie” was born in 2013, a little after we had toured Kill For Love and I was back in Portland for a bit. It has felt so great to finally complete this material and share it with the world. I’ve had the good fortune of working with many talented people in my lifetime and Hannah Lew is one of them. These tracks will eventually go up on all the streaming services but for now we wanted to let them live on their own as a little secret before we dropped them off into the big pond. You can check out them here

Thanks for reading this. I hope everyone out there reading this has a prodigious week. Love, Adam

P.S. More new Inner Magic coming next month…

P.S.S. And also been loving the new Olivia Laing. As brilliant as I was anticipating it to be..