Audioccult Vol. 18: The Purged Afterparty

Light a candle. Draw the required sigils. Now, raise your arms above your head and slowly, gently, exhale your soul. You won’t need it here. This is Audioccult, and it’s time to get low.

I’ve spent the last 27 hours hopping between a riverside field and a concrete warehouse, dumping toxic waste and audio crud into my ears and into the ears of hundreds. My collaborative PURGE party, a bleak and violent alternative to predictable clubbing that I do with the two dirtiest dudes in town, was a beautiful blacklight orgy of loving hate and crushing bass. While the codeinewave of Jaws and the spastic peniscore of Anklepants made bodies sweat, it was the intense, pulsating dronemetal of Nadja that formed the climax of the evening. We bummed out the techno kids and blissed out the freaks: mission accomplished. Now that my ghost has flown back into my mouth and I regain mortal status (bummer) the only thing my ears can handle is audio extensions of the weekend soundtrack: I can’t let go; PURGEy stay on my mind. Thankfully, the newest Dronestep mix was just released, and includes, among others, favorites like Sunn O))), Wolves In The Throne Room, and Shackleton. This is running back-to-back with the newest FACT mix from The Orb and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, and all I have to say about that is ‘Cranberries dub mix’. Yeah, boyee.

SpaceGhostPurrp‘s ghetto-goth beats busted heads throught the day/night/day, but I sincerely wish I’d had his latest instrumental to crunch spines. Possibly the heaviest thing Purp has done, ‘Black Swamp’ is a filthy slab that rides through your ears like a black-and-chrome spectre. Adjectives adjectives adjectives, and if you’ve been lusting after Chelsea Wolfe‘s upcoming acoustic album Unknown Rooms, this 37-second preview trailer isn’t going to make you feel any better. I’m always lusting for October, but this gives me one more reason to roll up like a worm and hibernate ’til Fall. Grubguy needs goddess sounds, stat.

The-Drum‘s R&B beautEP Sense Net is required listening, but even more so when touched by a Neuport angel. The young producer was already on my radar after making me an amazing mixtape for my BlackBlackGold blog (not mention his amazing and sinister collaboration with Triple Six Sound Club) so it’s a pleasure to see something new from this dude. His remix of ‘BZE’ is equal parts chill and trill, a haunting rework of skittering 808s and abyss-dredged vocals for after-dark lean sippin’. For a more upbeat mEYEnd-set, the psych(o)po(m)p of Moon Duo is perfection. ‘Sleepwalker’ is off their upcoming Sacred Bones release Circles, probably one of my most anticipated rock releases of the year. No post-anything, just pure psychedelic brainmelters. Music to destroy anatomy is my favorite kind.

When he’s not writing and editing for Electronic Beats, Daniel Jones is a music promoter and creator of the subculture reconceptualization & aesthetics tumblr Black Black Gold.

Published August 13, 2012.