The singularity is near!  Ray Kurzweil’s book of the same name describes a time where human’s will transcend biology, and listening to “Wilderness” made me conscious of where music sits in relation to this revolutionary precipice.  In some ways there is nothing fresh about Active Child’s production - vocals backed by an electronic beat began several decades ago.  On the other hand, there is something very new about the ease and availability of technology and where it is leading us.  A project like Active Child can simultaneously sound lo and hi-fi.  The lo-fi element comes from the warmth of analog.  It’s why human’s gravitate towards vinyl, Bob Dylan and Daniel Johnston.  We want that hiss and pop and human inflection.  The hi-fi production comes from the immense technological resources at our fingertips.  A studio full of equipment is now available with one click of the mouse.  And it’s finally real. We’ve reached that tipping point.  What’s emerged from this are a group of artists (Memory Tapes, Active Child, new Animal Collective, Neon Indian etc…) who give technology an analog heart.  The days of “Drum Machines Have No Souls” bumper stickers are over.

So where does that leave Active Child. On the surface Pat Grossi’s project is a dubby, basement producer’s take on Grizzly Bear.  It’s lo-fi in all the right places, but facilitated by technology’s democratizing presence.

[mediafire] Active Child - Wilderness

Dirty Projectors played an intimate apartment show in Brooklyn in 2007, showcasing their reworking of Black Flag’s Rise Above.  Above is a video from that night.

Sunset Rubdown give us a taste from their new album, Dragonslayer,with a free track on LaLa called “Idiot Heart.”  You can find that and the mp3 at Pitchfork.

I Guess I’m Floating has collected all the Grizzly Bear content on Youtube.  Get your fill here.

My Bloody Valentine will play the El Rey Theater tonight as a warm up for their Coachella show this weekend.  Photos and review to follow.

In Ear Park is not a tide-over record, one to keep your patience at bay, while you await the next release from Grizzly Bear.  Its hard not to connect the two projects though; this Department of Eagles album is smudged with the fingerprints of Grizzly Bear and the subtleties of sound, the ghoulish background vocals, and dedication to seventh chords that made Yellow House such a delight.  Though it hints at a California sound, as filtered through Randy Newman or Van Dyke Parks, In Ear Park is far from the sunshine popping playfulness that seems to bracket most music under the California banner.  The result is much moodier, like a fog-ridden drive down Highway One before sunrise, when the cramped California still feels far away.

I Guess I’m Floating has two new live tracks.

[mp3] Department of Eagles - No One Does Like You