The New York based collective around danish mastermind Mikkel Hess has just released a wonderful two song EP on Gomma. It’s mostly instrumental music, played with real instruments… somewhere between Toro Y Moi, Caribou and spacerock from the 1970s. Now they did a wonderful podcast for the Gomma podcast series… Have a listen!

And check the release: www.gomma.de/2015/06/16/new-band-on-gomma

Tracklist (Commented by Mikkel Hess from Hess Is More):

1. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Strauss)
– Yes – Ding Dong – Space Odyssey 2011 – what can I say – fell asleep to that movie so many times – great – as is by the way the documentary “Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes”.

2. Better Change Your Mind (William Onyeabor)
– Rasmus Bille Bahncke and I met Eric and Yale from Luakabop Records in New York – they played us some tracks from William Onyeabor and this mysterious record they were about to release. We immediate became fans. Some years later we had a chance to perform with the Onyeabor tribute band “Atomic Bomb” at Roskilde Festival. We both played accordion and we were dressed in priests costumes that we borrowed from The Royal Theatre. We practiced the keyboard part in advance so we could hop right in – the keyboard player Mark was super nice. I didn’t know it was MONEY MARK till after the rehearsal – probably good – otherwise I would have been too starstruck to play.

3. I Want More (Can)
– One time after a concert many years ago a friend of mine said that we sounded like a band called CAN. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I started listening to the band and I really like them a lot. So, in retrospect I think that was a great compliment.

4. Youarenotaprimate (Hess Is More / Dimitri From Paris Remix)
– The original is 13 minutes of dorky live dance music. It’s so wild to play it live with the incredible band – building building building….
Dimitri From Paris of course did a fantastic job with the remix, keeping the DNA intact and really getting into details with the arrangement. And if it wasn’t dancy before…. We are honored how deep and funky he went! Thanks maestro.
This will be out on limited 300 copies of vinyl via Gomma Records in September.

5. White Horse (Laid Back)
– Well not really, but those four bars at least. I have been a fan for a long while so of course we should have a little taste of their magic in the podcast.

6. Airlane (Gary Numan)
– Speaking of Laid back before – It was Kenneth Bager who first introduced me to Tim and John in Copenhagen. Come to think of it, it was also Kenneth who gave me this Gary Numan track.

7. A State of Tomorrow (Listening Center)
– Listening Center aka David Mason. One of my favorite artists in New York. Mason also plays the electronic drums with Hess Is More. He’s just the best – can’e even begin to explain it. The music will do the talking.

8. Stockhausen ?
– I think it was Julio Monterrey aka Youthfaire aka Ambiance who once sent me this Stockhausen mini audio file – I don’t know where it’s from but it’s a nice little peak into another world.

9. Creation Keeps the Devil Away (Hess Is More)
– Fairly self explanatory no ?

10. Everybody (Madonna)
– This is such a cool intro – not so sure about her sining later on, so I kept it short for now.

11. And More (Can)
– Yes, there is more. We did a version of this song for Live Mixtape, the opening of Distortion Festival in Copenhagen some years back. Tiffany Roth from Midnight Magic came over, mainly to do this repetitive chorus backed by four drummers. It was nuts. Really nuts. Good nuts. Nobody got hurt.

12. Inside is Outside (Listening Center)
– I told you already I have a man crush on David Mason, so of course there’s gonna be one more track from Listening Center in here.

13. Wheel of Fortune (Hess Is More)
– Maybe this wasn’t my most shining hour of healthy living, meditation and divine insight. But the slightly dark outlook during that period made for some good moody lyrics. Written, recorded and produced at our Broadway spot with Rasmus Bille Bahncke and Theodor Clausen.

14. Bearsong (Hess Is More, Lorna Dune Remix)
– Lorna is another New York / Brooklyn favorite. I shall not spoil the fun on this one – just dive in and we’ll talk later.

15. Beam Me Up (Midnight Magic)
– Well it all kind of connects doesn’t it – now here’s Midnight Magic – what a killer crew. Andrew plays that mean bass – he also helped us produce and record Hess Is More practically “live to tape” at Midnight Sun Studio in Greenpoint. I’ve seen / heard Midnight Magic live at least 10 times – and I’ll go again any day – is it called slaying now a days or what’s the correct term ?

16. “DJ FRENZY”
– Yes, you can put everything in a sandwhich!!! This is a princemgmtsteviecuremjdepechedoubledecker. Why ? But Why Not.
I think Rasmus Vestervig aka 99 Blows was trying to teach me a more intuitive approach with the software.

17. Pine Siskin (John Neville Bird Sounds)
– Just a little breather before the finale.

18. British Mango (Hess Is More ?)
– Yes, one more overloaded sandwich – this one without samples though. Only fresh ingredients mashing up the classic recipes.
Nightmare from a UK 80’s teen room.

Categories:  Podcast.