The Lacking Permanence

Australian Ben Lee broke through as the singer for the teen outfit Noise Addict, but has since made quite a solo career for himself. He kicks off this edition of Version Control — all covers, all night long.

The Weatherman returns and takes prominence on this latest sound art foray, taking on the intersection of the surveillance apparatus and our insatiable need to have machines listening for our latest whim.

If you love Neil Young as much as Scott McCaughey does, you’ll be able to grin at yourself on recognizing each and every one of these deep, deep cuts, delivered in McCaughey’s enthusiastic yelp rather than Young’s grizzled whine.

This collection of instrumentals is bewildering in its variety and intent, miniature symphonies with the tinkling plunk of a toy orchestra and a sharp whiff of sulfur from a struck match.

A heady brew of oscillations, arpeggios, and other pulsing throbbing sounds set against layered vocal harmonies that bring to mind multiple participants in a spacewalk aggregating to form a conga line.

Creating minimalist compositions out of broken loops, glitched samples, and clearly electronic sounds is a dangerous path to tread, balanced between chaos and monotony, and one Atom™ walks quite easily.

They couldn’t figure out why they kept returning. At first, the hookah lounge was a noxious hangout, bearable only for the crushed-on bartender. Then, suspicion of nicotine addiction. Finally, the realization that it was the music on the jukebox.

Here is something different — a brief collection of music I consider "dub", though some may want to argue that point. Nonetheless, the intent is clear: tune in and zone out.

Atlanta’s long-reigning kings of greasy garage fuzz get yet another tribute, and given the source material and the participants, it’s easy to see why this hits all the green lights for a multicolored psychedelic ramble.

Hatfield’s relentless output is given some inventive production, and I have to pause to carefully listen. There’s a lot to unpack, sonically and lyrically, and it refuses to fade into the background.