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321 : Neon Indian [Photo by Dagny Piasecki] As we wind down to a long weekend of cultural activity and fine dining, here is one last August hurrah, a fantastic and fascinating 321 from Alan Palomo, the pop wizard behind Ghosthustler, Vega and now the woozy and wonderful Neon Indian. Find out about gaseous Japanese islands, Alan's awesome dad and the ultimate high school make-out song after the jump. Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer [mp3] 3 FACTS Alan Palomo: "1. There’s a string of islands off the coast of Japan by the name of Izu. As a result of consistent volcanic activity, these lands have the highest concentration of airborne natural gas and sulphur on the entire planet. Oddly enough, the people that have chosen to remain there after its nauseating transformation do so with gasmasks. All the time. Even indoors. In fact, scientists pay them a small stipend to continue living there to test the long term effects of prolonged gasmask use. I wonder what this does for the social dynamics on the island.. If courting involves a dangerous five minutes of gas huffing in order to conduct a much worthy make out. Or if most bonds are developed predominately through hefty chats given that their faces are obscured for a majority of the time. Wikipedia this if you don't believe me. "2. My father has released two albums. One in the late seventies and one in the early eighties. He even had a brief stint as a Mexican pop star throughout this period. In some ways, much of the music I write isn't too dissimilar from the style of Hall & Oates inspired jams he put together back in the day. Same Lindrum and Oberheim sounds. We've only recently come to bond over this idea but have always shared a mutual infatuation with synth cameos in classic rock songs. Some of his music is actually featured on Psychic Chasms in the form of strategically placed samples. 2 songs if I remember correctly. "3. My first DJ set ever was in the living room of a guest house in Denton where I projected images from the Stan Brakhage Anthologies over a makeshift dancefloor filled with sweaty college freshmen. My old band Ghosthustler had just moved in and we took full advantage of the housewarming shindig in a joint effort between us and the mainhouse. Aside from being incredibly nervous I was also pretty euphoric given that it finally felt like the kind of gathering I had envisioned since high-school. After fumbling with the mixer and nervously triggering songs off beat I managed to find my rhythm about three songs in. Exhilarating times. I believe the first track I played was Mu - Paris Hilton. " 2 SONGS AP: "Neu! - Cassetto. This track is a great example of tape manipulation as a musical instrument. Much of the Neon Indian sample distortion has been inspired by this technique. Slowly dicing up the pitch to create a completely new melody or disregarding speed in an attempt to obscure its point of origin are all fun experiments that shortly followed after listening to this album. Neu! in general have held on as good production references whenever I'm feeling devoid of ideas. It's surprising how much of the bare recordings from these sound like pretty straightforward rock songs until they undergo studio transmutation. I recently got a chance to watch an old kung fu flick by the name of Master of the Flying Guillotine that featured half the songs on that album. Never really drew the comparison but much of the snare hits on this track kinda do sound like the hissy crack of a superhuman punch to the solar-plexus. Neu! - Cassetto [mp3] "My Bloody Valentine - Slow. Probably the ultimate high school make-out song. Something about the lovesick atmospherics being ripped in half by that menacing bassline that makes me think of playing 15 minutes of heaven, even when no one is daring you to. Even the vocals seem to be coated in adolescent saliva. This kind of unabashed musical display of affection is partly the reason why i started making music. Somewhere between this and Jesus and Mary Chain - The Living End, which seems to hold a similar vibe. I think the first time I heard it was lying in bed junior year, contemplating the events of that night which revolved mainly around running through a golf course with the sprinklers on in an attempt to escape a cop-crashed party. Play this in a car when you want to share a mutual blush over the lyrics with a soon-to-be significant other. " My Bloody Valentine - Slow [mp3] 1 WISH AP: "Some theorize that December 2012 is meant to be a spiritual awakening given that the actual Mayan calendar isn't Gregorian (meaning it measures nothing in the physical world) and it wont have any detrimental effects to our planet. They say we'll be communicating with inter-dimensional beings and garnering additional senses that allow us to re-contextualize space and time. That'd be pretty sweet if it was. Because if it is the impending apocalypse that doesn't even give me enough time to write and release a second full length. Also, the extra senses might make for more interesting music. That and I wish they would have made that third Ghostbusters film. A true shame they didn't. " The amazing Psychic Chasms EP is out on Lefse Records in October. Neon Indian recently had their gear stolen. If you know anything about it please get in touch with the band. Posted by: Scott 28/08/09