Jason Ajemian & The Highlife on Sundmagi Records

As soon as I found out this single from Jason Ajemian was inspired by his niece, it immediately changed the first few listens. I thought it was going in a kind of childlike direction, with some deliberate mis-arrangements, and off key notes, but that deliberate twist makes it come together. There's a sort of sludgy, slow tempo haphazard feel, added to the drawings on the sleeve it's an interesting idea to take this naive, and by default, sincere approach to the songwriting. What's a more authentic way to get to that place than with the help of a kid throwing the rules out for you.
It must have been entertaining as hell...that is if he even sat down with this master plan in mind, or it just happened one night, putting her to bed... and of course you have to press that to a seven inch. I have that compulsion almost daily.
'TV/Animals' is a horn heavy arrangement, and by the time it gets to the Animals section it's full on call and response with the band where it becomes Talking Heads meets Foot Village...all pounding drums and the band minus Jason yelling back different descriptions of the animals.
Monsters on the B-Side has a dirty, Tom Waits feel, it's an off kilter blues, the horns on this one range from Tortoise post rock to Sufjan style instrumentation.
The recording has a real room, alive sound, the instruments sound close, probably to help catch those little moments like the sax squeaks or a cracking trumpet phrase...shining a light on the seeming imperfections.
I knew this would end up in a sort of experimental classical compositional place...there's a huge amount of conception and work behind the tracks, nothing is left to chance, exactly....maybe it's in attempting to keep that spontaneity going when you're also forced as a composer to keep applying that mathematical right brain to composing.

I feel like Jason is working in a contemporary classical indie direction, approaching pop culture with a trained ear. I could see any number of his eclectic pieces performed everywhere from Le Poisson Rouge to the Issue Project Room.

"Monsters and Animals" are compositions inspired by Ajemian's 3 year old niece Madeline Rae Ajemian. Monsters started as a repetitive hook the two would sing to go to sleep and distract Madeline's mind from the possible monsters in the closets. Animals was started as a bass tap dance duet when she received her first pair of tap shoes and danced like an animal.

Get it from Sundmagi Records.

Lay all over it - Never too fat to fly on Laboratory Standard

I saw that Jason Ajemian is playing a couple of places in Brooklyn this week. Tomorrow, Aug 13th @ Tea Lounge and Aug 14th @ Zebulon.
I saw one of Jason's performances a while back where he conducted an orchestra playing Black Sabbath 'Into the Void' backwards. His brother 'performed' the lyrics backwards as a percussion section broken up into individual pieces of the drum kit attempted to play crashes, high hats and snare sounds backwards. Completely bizarre and amazing. I was blown away by the concept and hearing it being performed live was really one of those special moments where you have to appreciate NY a little more than you did already.
I highly recommend picking this 10" up, in fact I'm amazed that Sun Magi still has this available to order. Although now that I look at it it may just be the Mp3's.


Jason has a lot of projects going on, the list of active bands he's a part of on his website is out of control. I ws browsing his discography when I noticed this single from Laboratory Standard records, and I thought I actually might have it already. I placed an order with them a long time ago and literally just found it in an old box of singles. I knew I remembered that sleeve for some reason.
Apparently both sides of this single originated as a single story/song from his Uncle, and have been reinterpreted by Jason with two different approaches on two sides. It's all delivered by Jason in this jazz sing song spoken word style.
On Side A of 'Never too fat to fly' a saxaphone minimally randomly bleets, an upright bass gets bowed, and a far off snare is played with brushes. It's that kind of beats free jazz where everyone sounds improvised, but this kind of thing has to be rehearsed...it's too chaotic. I'm still trying to piece together the narrative of the story on both sides. There's a lot of great lines, I just wonder if I'm missing out on the bigger punchline. I keep getting drawn away by the music.
The B-Side has two different beats that work together in different channels in headphones. It's not echoed, they are two separate old school breakdown beats.
It's pretty amazing on this release there was this interesting starting point for the music. Another layer to just an improvised jazz session. There's a long an interesting history to the original as well. I like it working on all those levels.

He's making me think this morning and my brain is overheating.

Asked to make a single for Labratory Standard, LayAllOverIt took Ajemain’s uncle, Michael Ajemian’s song Never Too Fat to Fly and did two versions. One spectral and floating in a
soft doppler effect. And the other side, locks into 2 overlapped back beats. Each side holds half the story dictated in Uncle Mike’s original.

Available from Laboratory Standard or Sund Magi

CFTPA - picture disc

This was in an email from CFTPA a while ago, and I remember seeing the xiu xiu one that was out now that I see this one, it was a picture disk by the same photographer. Randomly I walked home from the train the other night instead of riding my bike because it was raining balls and soundfix had it....3 copies! So that leaves 497 left out there...or well 2 left at soundfix, because you better believe I picked this one up, and an Earth LP. I kept hearing about those guys kind of being ahead of their time in the instrumental rock pelican genre, so I had to investigate.
Plus I want to make sure they keep getting good 7"'s, so I vote with my bucks.
Haven't heard it yet, but at this point it's all been great.

Tonight in chelsea Jason Ajemian is performing Sabbath's 'Into the Void' backwards, live, with orchestral accompanyment.

Can't wait...I'll try to post something tomorrow.

From Owen's blog:

....This show will also be the record release party for a new Casiotone for the Painfully Alone picture disc 7" from Aagoo Records. This vinyl only release will feature two exclusive tracks with guest vocals by two of my favorite singers and photography by David Horvitz.
Here is the track listing:

1. "Old Panda Days" sung by Nick Krgovich of No Kids & To Bad Catholics
2. "Lesley Gore on the TAMI Show (version)" sung by Jenny Herbinson

This release won't be available in shops or through mail order until early 2008, and I will only have a limited number available at the show. Only one copy per customer will be sold, so come down early and pick up your copy!