Microkingdom – “Zero To Negative Diggity”
Microkingdom are a sax/guitar/drums trio from Baltimore who play a sort of euphorically spazzed-out improv noise-jazz. They don’t take themselves even remotely seriously, even if they’re always pushing for the most extreme bug-out they can achieve. The group features Marc Miller, formerly of the great math-rock trio Oxes, on guitar, and they’ve recorded with people like Peter Brotzmann, and Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring. Their new album is called Smooth Tendencies, and it’s a total departure, as they’ve electronically chopped up their own tunes and turned them into something oddly slick and unsettling. The album comes on pink vinyl in a homemade crushed velvet jacket, which is awesome. (It actually came out a couple of weeks ago, so late pass. But I saw them play a fun-as-hell house party last night, and it was an “oh hey, I should post this” type of situation.) The 10-minute album track “Zero To Negative Diggity” is the one with the funniest title, so it’s the one I decided to post. Listen to it below.
Smooth Tendencies is out now on Friends Records. Stream it at Bandcamp. And oh, hey, here’s Microkingdom and Sam Herring covering Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” from a couple of years ago.