Doesn’t the word “Plunderphonics” just make you swoon? Not typically? Well, take a listen to Panagiotis Melidis, an Athenian artist who has mastered a special sort of sample-based songwriting under the name Larry Gus. There are precedents in The Books, even Animal Collective in a certain way, but Melidis has an intelligence, style, and humor that places him in his own space. 2013’s DFA-released, George Perec-inspired LP Years Not Living was no doubt a peak, and now he’s moving into new territory.
Melidis is releasing his second DFA album, I Need New Eyes, on October 2. It features a lot more live instrumentation and vocals than his previous work. It also finds him staring “intensively into his obsessions, anxieties and inadequacies” after the birth of his first child. “When you have kids,” he says via press release, “you realize that all of the infinite branches that you were wishing to explore are starting to being [sic] cut violently with a axe (held by the baby), and all infinite choices in your life (and lifestyle) start to shrink and diminish slowly.” A metaphor for the abandonment of infinite sample-pools and movement toward more limited live arrangement? P’haps.
Remixes are a forte of Melidis’s as well, having rearranged the likes of Cut Copy, Sandro Perri, and Sinkane. His most recent was for a track off former Black Dice member Eric Copeland’s 2013 album Joke In The Hole, part of a remix EP also featuring Panda Bear, Anthony Naples, and Fhloston Paradigm. Check that out. Also check out the 90-second I Need New Eyes video-announcement, where Melidis appears to poke his eyes out, but by some slight of hand, does not. The record is up for pre-order in limited, blue-vinyl edition on DFA’s site, and a digital and/or CD option will probably pop up soon.
I Need New Eyes tracklist:
01. Black Veil of Fail
02. NP Complete
03. A Set Of Replies
04. Taking The Personal Away
05. Belong to Love
06. All Graphs Explored
07. The Sun Describes
08. Nazgonya (Paper Spike)
• Larry Gus: https://www.facebook.com/larrygus
• DFA Records: http://store.dfarecords.com
More about: Larry Gus
