BLASST 132: C. Diaz

TRACKLIST

1. Björk - "Big Time Sensuality"

2. Ataque de Caspa - "Viaje a Egipto"

3. PJ Harvey - "Is This Desire?"

4. Cocteau Twins - "Cherry-Coloured Funk"

5. CCFX - "The One To Wait"

SHOW NOTES

We made it! Welcome back to another weekly entry of Blistering Listens and Strange Sounds, thank you so much for listening as always.

Today's guest is the artist, filmmaker, archivist, and dog lover, C. Diaz. C. is an RGV native, but has spent quite some time out in the world pursuing the threads of their creative energy. This journey has led them through the ever-twisting and turning paths of cinema, from live video mixing for bands in Austin to discovering their love of direct animation at Mono No Aware in NYC, and finally to awakening their talents as a colorist at a post-production house in LA -- all the while making films of their own using various media. 

As we discuss in the episode, this journey has ultimately been one of self-discovery for C. Throughout the 2.5 hours of this show we look back at their path through the world of cinema, and talk about how each leg of the journey, each kind and helpful soul along the way, has helped shape them into the artist they are today.

Speaking of the present day, C. has been a great collaborator of mine for nearly two years now. In early 2021, we started working on an idea that would eventually become ENTRE Film Center & Regional Archive, the biggest project either of us has undertaken in a long time. We go in-depth about it in this video:

In the middle of 2021, while ENTRE was still taking shape as a concept, we both worked with fellow artists and friends Natalia Rocafuerte and Josue Ramirez to organize, curate, and host MIRAAA Media Fest, a festival encouraging RGV artists to explore non-traditional storytelling and media through collaboration and experimentation, in late August of that year. You can still watch the stream here (it eventually went virtual due to a surge in COVID cases via the Delta variant).

Beyond being an excellent collaborator, C. has also become a great friend, and I'm really glad I was able to bring them on the show. Below are a few links C. sent over including their website, substack, and other projects and inspirations! Episode is below them.

Věra Chytilová

Mono No Aware

AMIA

Ana Mendieta

Belladonna of Sadness

PST LA/LA

Echo Park Film Center

MIRAAA

This week in experimental

Collapsed Timelines in Felicitous Space

Crossing Over (C's Substack)

Academia.edu

Are.na

C. on IG

Website

BLASST 131: HiMarcus

TRACKLIST

1. Dijon - "Rodeo Clown"
2. Ravyn Lenae - "Skin Tight (feat. Steve Lacy)"
3. Blood Orange - "Dark & Handsome"
4. Vegyn - "So Much Time - So Little Time (ft. John Glacier)”
5. Radiohead - "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi"
6. Kero Kero Bonito - "Time Today"

NOTES 

Something I've observed over the last decade or so is that the roles of "artist" and "marketer" have essentially merged. As a direct result of the advent of social media, most folks trying to lead a successful career as an artist also have to find a way to promote their art. We can go into the details of this phenomenon another time, but perhaps one benevolent byproduct is that this is the perfect environment for auteurs. Artists who wish to carefully craft every aspect of their work have never had it easier, honestly. 

Enter HiMarcus, the nom de plume of Marcus Narro, one such auteur. His can of earworms debut LP, Dirtbag, was released last September to an RGV that frankly did not see it coming. With its polished production, memorable songwriting, and strong stylistic vision, the album - and Marcus himself - wasted no time in making a lasting impression on the music scene. 

On today's episode, we talk about how he got into music, where he pulls inspiration, his album's rollout and everything that went into it, and of course, some of his favorite music as well. Tune in below.

 

 

 

BLASST 130: B11CE

TRACKLIST

1. J Dilla - “Workinonit”

2. Kanye West - “Two Words”

3. B11CE - “Vicky”

4. Rustie - “After Light”

5. B11CE - “Slo-Mo Rodeo”

6. Pequeño Baile - “Que Cunta La Tele De Nosotros: La Zona 2ndre”

7. B11CE - “Pointillist”

8. B11CE - “UniSun”

9. B11CE - “Where It Ends & U Begin”

10. B11CE - “Pretty Sick”

NOTES

It occurs to me that I should probably not be writing these at the crack of midnight (maybe it'll help the writing be better) but nonetheless, here we are again with another episode. Today's guest is a musician, producer, and multimedia artist I've had my eye on for the last few months, B11CE, the nom de plume of one Adrian Barrientes from Brownsville, TX. 

As you will hear in the show, Adrian's musical journey has taken him across the country and across various genres, eventually landing upon his current project, which seems to find him at his most realized in a creative sense. From one gander through his IG, one can be exposed to a spread of different art and media delving into both the absurd and experimental, which I think is a fitting representation for B11CE's creative approach. He first appeared on my radar when he released the deluxe edition of his most recent LP, Nalgaz Dulcez, the stunning artwork for which is posted below.

(Art by Michelle Spearmint)

What I found particularly remarkable about this album push was that Adrian was doing all of the work himself. He posted photos on his instagram of the whole production process, and I was thoroughly impressed to see someone in the RGV putting that much time into their merch game. It doesn't hurt that the album itself is trippy work of art, pairing fever-dream production with booty-shaking jubilation. It's very easy to find yourself listening to the last track before you know it. Some standouts for me are "Pointillist", "Ble$$M32DETH", "Sustame", and "Playt1m3". 

During our conversation we also mention the music video Adrian shot for one of his early singles, "Vicky", throughout various laundromats in the LA. Check it out above, or tune into the episode (at last) below.

It was a great pleasure to speak with Adrian, and I look forward to seeing more work from in the near future. If you enjoyed the episode, drop me a tip via my page on Mixcloud! BLASST is a labor of love and completely funded out of my pocket, so any support y'all can give would be massively helpful.

Thanks again for tuning in, and see y'all in a couple weeks. Next guest: HiMarcus.

- AS

BLASST 129: Bekah Hinojosa

TRACKLIST

1. Boris - "Furi"

2. Alice Cooper - "Clones (We're All)

3. Black Sabbath - "War Pigs"

4. ABBA - "Fernando"

5. Lita Ford - "Kiss Me Deadly"

We're not on Apple Podcasts anymore, I'll get into it next episode. You can find all of our episodes (including new ones) on MIXCLOUD. You'll find today's episode embedded at the bottom of this post.

NOTES

Alright y'all. Let's get the obvious out of the way first. Yes, BLASST is back, after a little over a year off the air. Nothing happened to prompt the move, I just felt burnt out after keeping the show going through 2020, which was a really hard year to do literally anything with your life. So, when 2021 rolled around, I figured it would be a good time to focus on me for a change. Surprise, surprise, it helped! I got my routine back, worked on a couple fun projects with friends (MIRAAA & ENTRE), and most importantly, survived another year in the pandemic. 

It wasn't until 2022 rolled around that I started to feel like there's a real chunk of life breathing through the RGV again. It'd been happening long before that, but it wasn't until a couple of months ago that I sensed a consistency in it, longevity. All of a sudden we were awash in a sea of new faces doing great things. Cool things, even. People that I feel deserve a platform of some kind. And so, BLASST has returned. I wanna talk to these folks, learn their stories, and learn a bit about their music taste while I'm at it. Which brings me to today's guest: Bekah Hinojosa!

Bekah is an environmental activist from Brownsville, TX. She's been organizing for a really long time, at least a decade, and most recently has been putting in a lot of time with anti-LNG (liquid natural gas) and anti-SpaceX movements. Well just last month, following the appearance of some graffiti underneath that atrocious 'BTX' mural in Brownsville, she was arrested and put in jail for 26 hours. After her arrest, the mayor of Brownsville posted her mugshot on his official facebook account, thanking the police for acting on an act of "vandalism". See the original post (he edited it the next day) below:

I wanted to speak with Bekah as soon as I heard about this happening. Not only is this a gross abuse of power on the part of the mayor of Brownsville, but it also reflects poorly on the infrastructure of support that SpaceX has essentially bought for itself in South Texas. Mayor Mendez is defending this mural (which continues to be poorly received by people across the Valley, not just Brownsville) as a gesture of blind loyalty to SpaceX. I believe the kids today define what Mayor Mendez is doing for SpaceX as "dick-riding".

That being said, Bekah is super cool, and I'm very thankful to have been able to speak with her about her experience. As you will hear in the show, she currently has a donation page setup to help cover her legal costs as well as a petition to get the misdemeanor charges dropped. Links to both below:

Bekah's Petition

Donate to Bekah

On top of being fun, our chat explores why this abuse of power is problematic and what it means for the rest of the Valley as SpaceX reaches further into the RGV for roots of power. She also picked some damn good songs, so tune in and enjoy!

*Editor's Note: I chose Boris to open this show because the recurring theme in this episode is rock n' roll, and it just doesn't get more rock n' roll than Boris.

See y'all in two weeks. (fingers crossed) 

AS

BLASST 128 - Looking Back on 2020

TRACKLIST

1. Cold Beat - “Prism”

2. Shamir - “On My Own” 

3. Dua Saleh - “Umbrellar”

4. Moses Sumney - “Virile”

5. Yves Tumor - “Kerosene!”

6. Chiiild - “Back to Life (feat. Shungudzo)“

7. KeiyaA - “A Mile, A Way”

8. Armand Hammer - “King Tubby”

9. The Serfs - “Perverted Disco”

10. Ghösh - “Rock 'Em Sock 'Em”

11. I Killed Techno - “I Sailed the 7 Seas of Shit”

12. Pillowsnake - “Copaganda (feat. I Killed Techno)”

13. Valley Swerve - “Apparition Haunting Grounds”

14. Ariel Zetina - “Vanity 7”

15. No Home - “A B- In This Economy”

16. Special Interest - “Street Pulse Beat”

17. P22 - “Endling Chorus for the Terminarch”

18. Straw Man Army - “Arrival”

19. Sweeping Promises - “Safe Now”

20. Chronophage - “Absurdity”

21. NNAMDÏ - “Wasted”

22. serpentwithfeet - “A Comma”

23. Arlo Parks - “Eugene”

24. Futuro Conjunto - “Heat Death”

25. Dandy Heat - “Southpop”

26. Dead Finks - “Box Office Poison”

27. Cindy Lee - “One Second To Toe The Line”

28. Ana Roxanne - “Suite Pour l'invisible”

29. Desire Marea - “Studies in Black Trauma”

30. MF DOOM - “Operation Doomsday”

LISTEN ON MIXCLOUD

LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

NOTES

Perhaps the first thing you'll notice about this episode is how it wasn't released last year. I had intended to release this on New Year's Eve, but in as little words as possible: I dropped the ball. Instead of rushing it, I decided to wait and work on it when I had some time and had a better headspace. That time has come. 

There was so much great music released in 2020. Killer albums, EPs, and singles. I didn't listen to nearly a fraction of what I usually do, however. I spent more time in 2020 listening to older music and playing catch-up with artists I'd never explored before, and I found a lot of joy in that. However, of all the new music I did listen to last year, the stuff that really stuck with me remained plentiful. Today's episode covers a chunk of those tracks that really hit for me. I should say that this playlist is not comprehensive, as there are songs that technically belong on this list, but simply didn't fit the narrative of the mix. 

I don't feel comfortable making 'Best Of' lists for albums or songs because most of what I did listen to last year, I ended up liking, and that's all these lists are really meant to show, anyway.

Here's a list of artists that didn't make the episode, but who released new music last year which I thoroughly enjoyed:

Crack Cloud

Navy Blue

Loraine James

Moody Garland
TV Flesh

That Guy Montag

Afterlife Dating Site

Nicolas Jaar

Jay Sol

Moor Mother

Fehler Kuti

Anjimile

Mama Duke

Xetas

Las Nubes

Sen Morimoto

Black Marble

Protomartyr

Against All Logic

Lithics

Lianne La Havas

ONO

Raspberry Bulbs

Here are some artists who did not release new music in 2020, but who I spent considerable amounts of time listening to anyway:

Weyes Blood

Moon Duo

Angel Bat Dawid

I hope that in the new year, I'll listen to more music, and be able to provide a more comprehensive list of things to pay attention to. Not going to lose sleep over it though. I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned from 2020: taking care of yourself comes first.

See y'all soon.

AS

BLASST 127: Halloween 2020

TRACKLIST

1. William Castle - "Intro to The Tingler"

2. Sonido Verde de Moyobamba - "Danza Del Vampiro"

3. Fela Kuti - "Zombie"

4. Bertrand Russel & The Velvet Underground - "Demonology & Medicine"

5. Eartha Kitt - "I Want To Be Evil" 

6. The Shaggs - "It's Halloween"

7. Wojciech Kilar - "Corso" (The Ninth Gate)

8. Ho99o9 - "Sleep Paralysis" 

9. John Zorn - "Demon Sanctuary"

10. Flatbush Zombies - "Ascension"

11. Andrzej Korzynski - "Kreuzberg 1" (Possession)

12. Gravediggaz - "Diary of a Madman"

13. Koji Kondo - "Ghost Attack" (TLOZ: Majora's Mask) 

14. Funkadelic - "March to the Witch's Castle"

15. Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Halloween"

16. The Haxan Cloak - "The Blessing" (Midsommar)

17. Roky Erickson - "Night of the Vampire"

18. Dead Moon - "Evil Eye"

19. The Bags - "Prowlers in the Night"

20. The Cramps - "Human Fly" 

21. Koichi Makigami - "Ngoh"

22. Mort Garson - "Black Mass"

23. Robert Johnson - "Me and the Devil Blues"

24. Boris - "My Neighbor Satan"

25. Dead Kennedys - "Halloween"

26. Wendy Carlos - "City of Temptation"

27. Goblin - "Suspiria" (Suspiria)

28. Diamanda Galas - "The Litanies of Satan"

LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

LISTEN ON MIXCLOUD

NOTES

Today's show is for all gals and ghouls of every dimension, with plenty of music and no condescension. It's Halloween, and I wanted to put together a special show to celebrate, complete with a smorgasbord of styles and sonic expressions, and some scary film soundtrack selections to boot. Not much else to say except to enjoy the show, I had a great time putting it together, and hope it keeps your Halloween nice and vibe-y. 

I don't plan to keep a regular release of episodes, as that's how I feel I got burnt out in the first place, but when I have the time and energy, I'll keep releasing stuff and posting them here for your enjoyment.

In other news, I've released a solo album! It's called Secret Stages and features music I originally composed for the COVID CALLS episodes of the show, preened and propped up by yours truly in the aptly named digital audio workstation, REAPER. You can find Secret Stages everywhere you listen to music, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Bandcamp, and Soundcloud. If you want to support me directly, please buy the tunes on Bandcamp, or buy the tape which will be released next month. Will probably post a bit about that then.

That's all for now. See y'all next episode.

A

BLASST 126: Any Takers?

TRACKLIST
1. Fushitsusha - Endless Waltz excerpt
2. Conjunto Primavera - "Y Que Me Importa"
3. Thugly Mane - "I'm Baby (prod. Riddiman)"
4. Vic Spencer & Sonnyjim - "The Best Natural Face feat. Che Noir"
5. Edwin Voyager - "wear ur skin"
6. diseasefreak - "pulling+leaves"
7. Pillowsnake - "HAZEHazEHAZE"
8. Nobuo Uematsu & Masashi Hamauzu - "Due Recompense"
9. Crack Cloud - "Drab Measure"
10. Anadol - "Görünmez Hava"
11. Sary Moussa - "In Praise of Shadows"
12. Noveller - "A Pink Sunset For No One"
13. Maleem Mahmoud Ghania & Pharaoh Sanders - "Moussa Berkiyo/Koubaliy Beriah La' Foh"
14. John Fahey - "Finale"
15. Rowland S. Howard - "Avé Maria"

LISTEN ON MIXCLOUD
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

NOTES
This week, I'm tired. I've been daydreaming of taking a sabbatical from everything. Everything being BLASST, social media, the U-Punk stuff - everything. I just feel overwhelmed. This is partially due to everything happening in the world, but I also just feel like I haven't taken the time to replenish my energy, both physical and emotional. I don't want to make excuses and say stuff like "I'm not as young as I used to be" because I don't think age has anything to do with this. I just feel like I'm not spending my time the way I should. I miss making music. I kind of want to take time to focus on creating, and letting my brain breathe a bit, outside of weekly obligations. Mind you, most of these obligations are ones I've set for myself, I don't have anyone else holding me accountable for any of this. In turn, the only person I let down by taking a break - or closing this chapter altogether - is myself. I know I'm ranting, and probably not making that much sense, but if you're reading this, I appreciate you. I hope you enjoy the show, save for my stream of consciousness bits between music blocks. Today's episode is full of stuff that I've been listening to that has made me feel things. Some days I forget that I can feel, and listening to music is a great reminder of that.

Anyway, humoring the idea of not doing BLASST anymore, I wonder: is anyone out there interested in learning how to do these things? I'm more than happy to share my skills and knowledge with anyone looking to learn how to run a podcast, run a weekly live music series, etc. 

Send all inquiries to uupunk @ gmail.com and I'll get back to you promptly. 

Otherwise, I'll see y'all next week - maybe.

AS