"Desperate times call for desperate music. Not to suggest that San Francisco trio Mi Ami offer a hopeless, stymied outlook in the face of global economic tumult. Quite the contrary: Watersports, the group’s debut full-length on the recently downsized Touch and Go subsidiary Quarterstick, channels the desperation, anxiety and fear shared by many during this Great Recession into an urgent, genre-blending brand of punk rock that takes it personal.

Conceived during the final days of a presidency that did more than its fair share to get our country, and the world, into the mess that it’s in, Watersports is filled with hostility – a rabid restlessness conveyed through equal parts rhythm and cacophony. But politics and failing stock markets aren’t the focus here; the political references are oblique enough not to be off-putting, deftly intermingled between private, introspective tirades and spacious jams. Watersports is more of an idiosyncratic exercise in relating to a greater context, searching for one’s proper place in a world that seems to be falling apart.

“I feel your pressure,” shrieks Daniel Martin-McCormick, building tension from troubled whispers and cascading guitar lines that give way to his ferocious, hallmark yelp. Listeners familiar with former D.C. Dischord band Black Eyes will recognize the style: both Martin-McCormick and bassist Jacob Long were among the group’s ranks during their short-lived tenure between 2001 and 2004. While many comparisons can be drawn between the two – the emphasis on percussion, the barbed guitar, the vocals, the intensity – Mi Ami take the volatility of Black Eyes into much different territories, incorporating a wider scope of influence more obsessed with groove and space than jazz and aggression.

Mi Ami’s effortless assimilation of such wide-ranging genres is one of the main aspects that makes the group’s sound so fresh and exciting. Far beyond the dated “post” prefix that could be employed to denote the group’s foundations in punk and hardcore, Mi Ami map out a direction that applies a more globalized approach to modern experimental rock. Damon Palermo’s four-on-floor kick drum and flexible percussion provide several references on their own, most notably a skewed Afro-Cuban swing and techno pulse. At its 6:00 breakdown, “Echononecho” could be mistaken for a Ricardo Villalobos track, as Palermo’s buoyant beat gets peppered by a wonky swarm of guitar plucks, synthesizer, and bass. Just don’t call it “dance punk” – that term soured soon after the Rapture came and went. And don’t try to tag it as “tribal” either; Martin-McCormick has already expressed his discontent with the underlying racism that the label assumes in a past interview.

The comparisons continue from there: “New Guitar” taps into the reckless screech of the James Chance and No Wave, or the Velvets’ “I Heard Her Call My Name; “White Wife” lopes along like a loose-limbed Laddio Bolocko; “The Man In Your House” evokes skewed traces of King Tubby’s dub consistency; the intricacy and fist-pumping emancipation of “Freed From Sin” suggests math-rock’s most funky; and Long’s sparkling notes on “Peacetalks Downer” nod toward West African high life.

The unifying factor is Mi Ami’s live vibrancy. Except for the overdubbed vocals, almost the entirety of Watersports was performed live in the studio, allowing the three musicians to explore texture and space, collapsing their influences into a gripping dialogue on the darker side of human experience that we so often ignore. That notion is solidified by the album’s title – a multi-faceted allusion to sexual deviance, the use of waterboarding as torture, and the “aquatic” sound produced from the band’s exploitation of delay, reverb, and rhythmic fluidity. With Watersports, Mi Ami reconcile these factors in a way that is relevant, terrifying, and – at its end – liberating."
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4880

"For a few minutes early in 2003, D.C. clatterers Black Eyes were basically the best band in the world. They fed the sharp-shock Rapture dance-punk of the day through about 50 layers of organically grimy Dischord history, ending up with a whirling sort of catharsis that was as fun as it was heavy. The band's personnel went like this: two drummers, two bassists, and one dude who made dying-pterodactyl squawks while thrashing out tinny, spidery almost-funk guitar riffs and doing everything he could to disrupt the thundering groove exploding all around him. Black Eyes' live shows were dank basement dance parties for the ages: furious, immediate, jarring, sweaty as all hell. And then the band recorded Cough, their half-assed dub experiment of a second album, and suddenly ended. They were, after all, a D.C. band, and that's what D.C. bands do.

Black Eyes bassist Jacob Long and squawker/guitarist Daniel Martin-McCormick make up two thirds of the San Francisco trio Mi Ami, whose existence makes me not miss Black Eyes so badly anymore. Their debut album, Watersports, takes the skritchety tumble of Black Eyes and stretches it out into something psychedelic, near-infinite. Watersports is seven songs long, and it lasts 47 minutes. Their beats don't rattle; they push and flicker and fade. Watersports is like the self-titled Black Eyes album calmed down and zoned out, the attempted dub of Cough fully developed and realized. The songs don't have verses or choruses; they're endless, mesmeric builds that flare up and then cool out again. Even at their noisiest, they maintain their mantra-like repetition.

Part of the secret is in the recording itself. Watersports sounds terrific. A couple of pre-album 12" singles captured a similar sound, but the bass was too thin, the drums too muffled. Here, the bass is thick and supple, echoing and ringing and never losing its footing. Long's bass makes the real rhythmic bed here; Damon Palermo's drums color spaces around that metronomic bubble as often as they keep time. Martin-McCormick's voice, which could be downright annoying even when Black Eyes were at their best, still works as an agent of rupture. But even he has cooled out a bit, muttering deep in the mix rather than yowling overtop of it. His lyrics, on the rare occasions when I can understand them, seem to turn Watersports into a disco album about being trapped inside your own skull; other people are "only the echo of my mind." On his guitar, he plays Morse-code pings, letting them fall over the tracks like rain as often as it slashes through them.

The album comes sequenced almost like a DJ set; grooves maintain across tracks, and sometimes you don't notice immediately when one song dissolves into another. That reverb-y stretched-out quality is Mi Ami's greatest strength, one I hope they keep pushing on whatever records they do next. But you've probably already noticed that I can't help comparing this band to Black Eyes. This isn't really Mi Ami's fault, but Black Eyes were just too good, and wishing Mi Ami sounded just like them is as inevitable as wishing "30 Rock" was even more like "Arrested Development". The two ex-Black Eyes dudes in Mi Ami have some powerful magic working here, but they had even more when they just couldn't contain themselves."
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12840-watersports/

Mi Ami
"Echononecho" b/w "Version" 12"
(Quarterstick/Touch&Go)


"San Francisco's Mi Ami are carrying the same calling card that a lot of bands are liable to wave in 2009: drum-centric punk with Afro-pop leanings, punched up with noise and lo-fi experimentalism for good measure. And that's not a slight, for this band who caught our attention with an excellent remix of Telepathe's "Devil's Trident". Two years after the dissolution of their D.C. punk outfit Black Eyes in 2004, guitarist and vocalist Daniel Martin-McCormick and drummer Damon Palermo started Mi Ami, adding bassist Jacob Long in 2007 to round out the trio. "Echononecho" comes from the A-side their new 12" of the same name, and dares to make sense of their MySpace's awesome-yet-dubious name-checking (Minutemen and Don Cherry both get shout-outs). The track is no doubt jammy, sounding something like Ponytail tripping out on last year's Nigerian Special compilation complete with dubby bass grooves, banshee yowls (yes, that is apparently Martin-McCormick on high-pitched vocals), and squealing guitars rising from a primordial soup of polyrhythms. As for the debut full-length Watersports, consider our interest piqued."
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/148749

"Mi Ami are the hungry tiger that roams slender and green-eyed in a murky space beyond your pulsating speakers, waiting to leap out and shred you to pieces in a methodical, almost caring way, so you can lay in your back as your innards spill over the floor in a tide of irrepressible red, beholding a space of blinding light above your eyes towards which you seem to rise very slow while blurry figures you can’t quite make out stand around you silently, there is something strangely soothing about this gruesome experience, a warm drone that envelopes you in a hypnotic daze as you make your transition. This is included in the Echonoecho 12 that came out a couple of days ago, we are almost unbearably excited about their debut album, ‘Watersports’, which will be released by Touch and Go Records on the 17th of February. Upset the Rhythm are putting them on in London on Friday the 10th of April, a show where we will be proudly DJing."
http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/2009/02/02/our-favourite-bands-are-better-than-your-favourite-bands

"“Echonoecho” (Quarterstick), a new 12-inch single by the San Francisco band Mi Ami, is a strange and cool record. It is slow and humid and elegant, with long notes from the bass, reggae and disco drum patterns, a singer (Daniel Martin-McCormick) shouting unintelligibly in a high voice, and echo, lots of echo. Sometimes there’s a trebly guitar — for stretches it becomes frenetic and noisy and fills up the sound picture — but otherwise this is something like a dub-reggae record gone crazy. It’s included on a full album from the band, “Watersports,” coming out in February from Quarterstick, but this is a song that deserves to be heard on vinyl."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/arts/music/01play.html?_r=1

"Yeay! We are so excited that SF's own Mi Ami were recently snapped up by Quarterstick and as we type this are on the road touring the States! It's just a matter of time before these guys start becoming loved all across the map for their high energy approach to genre bending, percussive, heavy and sweat inducing colorful rhythms. Echonoecho is the first song on what will be their new full length Watersports and once again they get to let shine their love of the 12" format. Side A finds the song in its full almost nine minutes of glory. High pitched vocals come blasting right out of the gate along with frenzied instrumentation for a totally epic and catchy track that sounds like some kind of joyous meeting of Nation Of Ulysses, The Rapture and Liquid Liquid. And we have to say that Mi Ami shine so brightly with the 'Version' sides of their singles. Dubbed out for maximum slow burn perfection. We can't wait for the full length, but we hope they keep cranking out 12"s as well cause they are one of the few groups around today who really know how to make the most of this special format."
http://www.aquariusrecords.org/

Mi Ami
"Ark of the Covenant" b/w "Ark (Version)" 12"
(Lovers Rock Presents)

purchase "Ark of the Covenant":
DISCHORD
INSOUND
JUNO
WHITE DENIM (email matt@whitedenim.com for availability!)
AQUARIUS
SAKI

"Mi Ami infiltrate our interstellar space with a new 12", so we thought we'd say WHA, in Ark of the Covenant they continue reading the crooked ways of the drum straight off the black source without resorting to post-punk translators, and the message strikes home fierce n deep. The sheer intensity of its death wailing, which surfs over a red tide of stomping dub bass and no wave guitar shrieking, yellow-eyed panther chewing through its own flesh to escape that cruel trap, burns into our brains images feverish like Malaria-induced hallucinations, camouflage nets covering barracks where taut guerrilla muscles tattooed with the severe faces of Fela Kuti, Sun Ra and Jah Wobble flex resolute covered in a sweaty sheen.

Mi Ami's music sounds made in the treading of hidden paths across a war-torn spiritual jungle, from the splinters of punji sticks, empty shell cases, the sun shining stroboscopic through punctured blood-splattered leafs, caterpillars of unbelievable colours contorting in bizarre shapes, and tribal echoes in the distance of a revolutionary heart of darkness. We so fucking dig."
20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk

"Second 12" by this SF trio, ex-Black Eyes … hell, ex-Rapture too. Heavy bass/dub vibes all over this one, screeching vocals rolling over top of processed guitar and very real, in-your-lap rhythms. Definitely prefer the dub version, as they get impossibly deep in the space provided, pitting double-time drums against half-time bass. Self-released and I really hope these fellas don't drown; they've probably got the most exciting approach to outside-looking-in On-U/jazz-based rhythm roll experiments since Tortoise, and more people really need to be rockin' their records from the dance music perspective. Edition of 400, silkscreened sleeves." Doug Mosurock
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/768

"Over the last couple years Mi Ami have become a serious and sweaty inspiration for the music scene here in San Francisco. Whether it's playing and hosting all night dance parties in living rooms, or DJ'ing African jams and cosmic disco in dark rooms with reckless abandon, the three guys in Mi Ami have shown that they have a deep and vast appreciation for music of all styles and variations. This is a band whose record collections are as likely to have vinyl from DNA and JFA as they would M.I.A. and MDC. But thankfully, they are one of the few bands who makes music as cool and exciting as the records in their collections. It's been so hard to actually get a hold of any of their recordings until now, unless you were lucky enough to snag one of their previous slabs of vinyl at one of their high energy body moving live shows. Chances are that this will likely be most folks' first chance to get a hold of Mi Ami on record, and this 12" is a really great introduction to what they're all about. And what they're all about is all over the map, from dub to disco, no wave to post-punk. Yet somehow they find a way to meld all those sounds into something distinctly their own. While members of the band were previously in Black Eyes and even did some time in The Rapture, Mi Ami is truly a beast of it's own vision. "Ark Of The Covenant" finds them firing at full throttle with no-wave aspirations and heavy grooves to keep the blasts hitting so right. The B-side which is "The Ark (Version)" finds them dubbing out with such spacious delight, the energy and vibrancy reminds us a lot of how we felt when Tussle first hit the scene. We can't wait to see what the future holds for Mi Ami as they continue to pull from such rich and varied influences from the past while feeling so committed to the present."
http://www.aquariusrecords.org/

"In the vein of their first, excellent, and now out-of-print 12", Mi Ami bring the thick dub/skree in a dark and fevered wall-of-squall. "Ark of the Convenant" is rock at its most strangled and contorted, more discombobulated and obscure than anything Black Eyes laid to tape. The B-side is a significantly more subdued dub version of "Ark" undoubtedly as great (ehhh... maybe even better) as the original. Highly, highly recommended."
http://wazoorecords.blogspot.com/search?q=mi+ami

2/5 MI AMI / DENVER @ HI-DIVE
2/6 MI AMI / LAWRENCE KANSAS @ 8TH ST TAPROOM w/ BRAD SHANKS (Social Registry)
2/7 MI AMI / CHICAGO @ HIDEOUT w/ ONYOU
2/8 MI AMI / MADISON @ REVOLUTION CYCLES w/ A.DECANINI (Binges)
2/9 MI AMI / ANN ARBOR @ YELLOW BARN w/ CITY CENTER & BRAD HALES (People's Records Detroit / Humaneye)
2/10 MI AMI / PITTSBURGH @ GARFIELD ARTWORKS
2/11 MI AMI & THANK YOU - NYC @ CAKESHOP w/ MIRACLES
2/12 MI AMI / WFMU (airdate 2/16/09 12-3pm)
2/12 MI AMI & THANK YOU - BROOKLYN @ DEATH BY AUDIO
2/13 MI AMI & THANK YOU - BOSTON @ PA'S LOUNGE
2/14 MI AMI & THANK YOU - MONTREAL @ BAR ST LAURENT 2
2/15 MI AMI & THANK YOU - TORONTO @ SNEAKY DEE'S
2/16 MI AMI & THANK YOU - PONTIAC @ THE PIKE ROOM
2/17 MI AMI & THANK YOU - CHICAGO @ AV-AERIE
2/18 MI AMI & THANK YOU - IOWA CITY @ 109 N.DODGE ST. BASEMENT
2/19 MI AMI & THANK YOU - ROCK ISLAND @ RIBCO
2/20 MI AMI & THANK YOU - OMAHA @ SLOWDOWN JR
2/21 MI AMI & THANK YOU - DENVER CO @ RHINOCEROPOLIS
2/22 MI AMI & THANK YOU - SLC UTAH @ URBAN LOUNGE
2/24 MI AMI & THANK YOU - SEATTLE, WA @ THE VERA PROJECT
2/25 MI AMI & THANK YOU - PORTLAND @ SOMEDAY LOUNGE
2/26 MI AMI & THANK YOU - EUREKA, CA @ THE LITTLE RED
2/27 MI AMI & THANK YOU - SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ HEMLOCK w/ JAWS
2/28 MI AMI & THANK YOU - LOS ANGELES @ THE SMELL w/ EXTRA LIFE & ABE VIGODA
3/1 MI AMI & THANK YOU - ARIZONA @ SOLAR CULTURE
3/2 MI AMI - SAN ANTONIO @ FARM
3/3 MI AMI & THANK YOU - AUSTIN, TX @ THE MOHAWK
3/4 MI AMI & THANK YOU - HOUSTON TX @ THE MINK
3/5 MI AMI & THANK YOU - DALLAS @ THE LOUNGE ON ELM ST.
3/6 MI AMI & THANK YOU - ATLANTA, GA @ 529
3/7 MI AMI & THANK YOU - CHAPEL HILL NC @ NIGHTLIGHT
3/8 MI AMI & THANK YOU - RICHMOND, VA @ TRIPLE
3/9 MI AMI & THANK YOU - @ FLORISTREE w/ LEXIE MOUNTAIN BOYS, BIRTH CONTROL, DAN HIGGS
3/10 MI AMI - DC @ VELVET LOUNGE w/ FOOD FOR ANIMALS & LEXIE MOUNTAIN BOYS
3/11 MI AMI - PHILADELPHIA @ JOHNNY BRENDAS w/ BIRTH CONTROL & LEXIE MOUNTAIN BOYS
3/12 MI AMI - BROOKLYN @ SILENT BARN w/ EXTRA LIFE & LEXIE MOUNTAIN BOYS
3/14 MI AMI - CHARELSTON SC @ A HOUSE
3/15 MI AMI - ATHENS @ FARM 255
3/16 MI AMI - PENSACOLA FLORIDA @ SLUGGOS w/ NO BABIES
3/17 MI AMI - NEW ORLEANS @ XANADU CLUBHOUSE
3/19 MI AMI - SXSW @ CLUB 1808
3/20 MI AMI - SXSW @ FLAMINGO CANTINA
3/21 MI AMI - EL PASO @ DOZAL BROTHERS HOUSE SHOW
3/22 MI AMI - PHOENIX (SELECT SHOWS presents) @ TRUNK SPACE w/ EXPLODE INTO COLORS
3/23 MI AMI - LA (SEAN CARNAGE presents) @ PEHR SPACE w/ LACO$TE, EXPLODE INTO COLORS

contact: ned[at]littlebig[dot]org[dot]uk
http://www.littlebig.org.uk/archives/000348.html

4.09.09 Brighton UK @ GREENHOUSE EFFECT
4.10.09 London UK - UPSET THE RHYTHM @ LEXINGTON w/ 20JAZZFUNKGREATS (DJ)
4.11.09 Rotterdam @ MOTEL MOZAIQUE
4.12.09 Brussels @ AB (DOMINO FESTIVAL) w/ HEALTH
4.13.09 Lille France @ AERONEF CLUB
4.14.09 Paris France @ LA JAVA
4.15.09 Nantes France @ LA SCENE MICHELET
4.16.09 Bordeux France @ HERETIC CLUB
4.17.09 Milan Italy @ DAUNTAUN
4.18.09 Rome Italy @ INIT
4.19.09 Ancona Italy @ THERMOS
4.20.09 Nuremberg Germany @ K4
4.21.09 Berlin @ FESTSAAL KREUZBURG w/ BLACK DICE
4.22.09 Krakow Poland @ CLUB RE
4.27.09 Hamburg Germany @ HAFENKLANG
4.28.09 Koln Germany @ RUBINROT
4.29.09 Den Haag Holland @ THE PAARD
4.30.09 London @ MACBETH
5.01.09 Nottingham UK @ CHAMELEON ARTS CAFE
5.02.09 Manchester UK @ RETRO BAR
5.03.09 Glasgow OPTIMO presents @ SUB-CLUB
5.04.09 Newcastle UK @ END BAR
5.05.09 Liverpool UK @ KOROVA
5.06.09 Cambridge UK @ THE PORTLAND
5.07.09 Galway Ireland @ ROISIN DUBH
5.08.09 Bellfast N.Ireland @ MENAGERIE
5.09.09 Dublin Ireland @ CRAWDADDY
5.10.09 Cork Ireland @ CRANE LANE THEATRE
5.12.09 Helsinki Finland @ KUUDES LINJA
5.13.09 Stokholm Sweden @ LILLA HOTELLBAREN
5.14.09 Malmo Sweden @ DEBASER
5.15.09 Copenhagen Denmark @ LADES
5.16.09 Riga Latvia @ RIGAS MAKSLAS TELPA (Skanu Mezs Festival)

1. Devils Trident (Big Pink REALITY)
2. Devils Trident (Teengirl Fantasy Basic Sensation Dub)
3. Devils Trident (Mi-Ami Remix)
4. Devils Trident (Planningtorock 'brass mines' Remix)

£5.99 - On Sale
Pre Order this release now for a reduced price. Out November 21st
Featuring fold out poster.
http://merok.bigcartel.com/product/telepathe-devils-trident-the-remixes-12-pre-order

"Here's a very low-key and mysterious video by director Dan Nixon for a remix of Telepathe's "Devil's Trident" by San Francisco trio Mi Ami (a track originally commissioned by the blog 20jazzfunkgreats). The more tightly wound and bulbous original is opened up completely, injected with air and sent to coast along close to the earth like a low-flying cloud. There's a bit of a KLF Chill Out feel to Mi Ami's treatment, as they remove vocals and turn the stuttering rhythm into a long glide into the horizon. Nixon's video, shot in the forest in East Sussex, pulses to the beat, sometimes existing on the threshold of visibility."
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/148465

"Having your home flooded can do strange things to the mind. Shortly after the August 'monsoon' in Brighton, 20JFG sent me the Mi Ami remix of Telepathe's Devil's Trident and asked if I'd like to make a video for it. So, surrounded by all my (slightly damp) possessions and trying to sleep on the couch one night, I plugged in my headphones, fully intending to think of ideas while listening to the remix on repeat.

The remix is dense. Dense and layered and (I'd come to discover) incredibly intricate. Probably too intricate for my tired mind as I started to have the most intense 'visions' of trees and strobes and pagan rituals and other oddities no doubt influenced by the M.R. James book I was reading. This went on for about an hour. Finally snapping out of it I placed the headphones down beside me and fell into a deep sleep. In the morning I sketched out the video you see here." DAN NIXON

Telepathe - Devil's Trident (Mi Ami Remix) from Daniel Nixon on Vimeo.

wednesday, april 9, 2008  12:08 am 
African drums

"Mi Ami have us totally psyched, they are a SF trio including members from the oft-missed Black Eyes, and in their debut 12" 'African Rhythms' released by White Denim, they unleash a percussive no wave barrage into the very blackness of space drawing lines of power between imaginary constellations of afro-disco muscle and super-heroic noise verve, totems such as those of Liquid Liquid, Can, Lightning Bolt, Kid Creole and the Coconuts or MARS have in legends appeared to other shamans partaking in such psychedelic journeys, they are an esoteric coda for an attack plan executed with Jaguar-spirit-like carnivorous intensity which ends with our bodies cast into a sweaty spirit world of frantic shaking & twitching."


thursday, july 17, 2008  12:01 am 
Welcome to the Jungle

"Our beloved true magick star Mrth told you about this particular tune with drawings we couldn't even try start to describe, least be us forever vanquished to the asylum for psychedelic glosolalia motherfuckers, alien code spilling out of eyes bulging boiled and all that this entails.

Well, Mi Ami infiltrate our interstellar space with a new 12", so we thought we'd say WHA, in Ark of the Covenant they continue reading the crooked ways of the drum straight off the black source without resorting to post-punk translators, and the message strikes home fierce n deep. The sheer intensity of its death wailing, which surfs over a red tide of stomping dub bass and no wave guitar shrieking, yellow-eyed panther chewing through its own flesh to escape that cruel trap, burns into our brains images feverish like Malaria-induced hallucinations, camouflage nets covering barracks where taut guerrilla muscles tattooed with the severe faces of Fela Kuti, Sun Ra and Jah Wobble flex resolute covered in a sweaty sheen.

Mi Ami's music sounds made in the treading of hidden paths across a war-torn spiritual jungle, from the splinters of punji sticks, empty shell cases, the sun shining stroboscopic through punctured blood-splattered leafs, caterpillars of unbelievable colours contorting in bizarre shapes, and tribal echoes in the distance of a revolutionary heart of darkness. We so fucking dig."

http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/cats/mi-ami/

monday, february 2, 2009 12:05am
Our favourite bands are better than your favourite bands
Mi Ami are the hungry tiger that roams slender and green-eyed in a murky space beyond your pulsating speakers, waiting to leap out and shred you to pieces in a methodical, almost caring way, so you can lay in your back as your innards spill over the floor in a tide of irrepressible red, beholding a space of blinding light above your eyes towards which you seem to rise very slow while blurry figures you can’t quite make out stand around you silently, there is something strangely soothing about this gruesome experience, a warm drone that envelopes you in a hypnotic daze as you make your transition.
Mi Ami- Echononecho (Version)
This is included in the Echonoecho 12 that came out a couple of days ago, we are almost unbearably excited about their debut album, ‘Watersports’, which will be released by Touch and Go Records on the 17th of February. Upset the Rhythm are putting them on in London on Friday the 10th of April, a show where we will be proudly DJing.
http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/2009/02/02/our-favourite-bands-are-better-than-your-favourite-bands/

ANTHEM MAGAZINE 11/06/08
ONE'S & TWO'S: MI AMI

Text: Nik Mercer
Musically, San Francisco is a pretty varied and scatterbrained place to dwell in; every block, it seems, is host to a differently themed venue, dance party, DJ set, or experimental show. In short, the place can't be pigeonholed. In many ways, Mi Ami's 'One's & Two's' mix encapsulates this aesthetic in and of itself. Leaping from African beats to chopped and screwed rap to jangly post-punk to cosmic disco―and much, much more―in no particular order, the podcast is a baffling yet intriguing one (dare we say our most experimental to date [catch the sarcasm?])

Mi Ami itself may not drop rap into its tunes, but everything else is fair game, making them especially tough to categorize. The songs on their MySpace page don't even scratch the surface, to be honest―this is a complex trio that, like their hour-long aural hodgepodge, refuses to stay put! One commonality: dancey, tropical beats underscore most of their stuff whether its densely-packed, reverb-y noise jams or spacier ambient ditties.

Stream Mi Ami's podcast in the media player to the right or just download it below... be sure to read the below notes―personally written by all three members―while you play it, too. The full tracklist can be found on the next page...

Mi Ami - One's & Two's 02 (MP3)

Bad Brains, 'Pay to Cum'
When talking about abrasive bands with marked dance music influence (such as ours), the general assumption is that they really want to make chart-topping 'bangers,' or whatever, but are afraid to/don't know how. Fuck that. There are many many things I would like to have happen when playing music, but the Bad Brains remain a blindingly bright north star. How the fuck did this happen?―Daniel

Andriessen Jurriaan, 'She's Far From the Land'
Found this one on Mutant Sounds. Lots of nerdy 'Modern Classical' tracks on Jurriaan's The Awakening Dream (1977), but also a couple of trippy synth bangers! And this is one of 'em. Kinda' reminds me of Terry Riley's 'Shri Camel'! I'd be into checking out Jurriaan's debut Hardware Software... guess it sold thirteen copies? Hell yah!―Damon

Talking Heads, 'Born Under Punches (The Beat Goes On)'
Was never really a Talking Heads fan until my friend/tourmate Andrew (Food for Animals) turned me onto this record (Remain in Light). Rocked it hard on tour and immediately grabbed it when I got home. Insistent and non-changing funky/non-funky rhythm section proppeling things on and some great vocal melody/harmonies throughout... All I want is to Breathe... ―Jacob

Patrick Cowley, 'Sea Hunt'
Ocean sounds opening and closing a disco song? Yes! This song is loosely based off of the theme from the late-50s - early-60s television show Sea Hunt, starring Lloyd Bridges. Awesome to think about young Cowley watching this TV series as a child in Buffalo, New York―could've been dreaming about drumming for 'Indoor Life,' all night 'Menergy' parties in S.F., or shredding during his 15:45 minute mega mix of Donna Summer! R.I.P!―Damon

DJ Screw w/ UGK, 'Woodwheel'
Another friend of mine originally introduced me to screwed and chopped music on a lazy spring afternoon a number of years back (David Banner's Mississippi S & C'd) and it hit me hard. I've heard my share since then but none of it has hit as hard for me as this track. Heavy and psychedelic and UGK's flow sounds impeccable at this speed... listening to the original makes my head spin now because I can't help but want to hear it as spaced as possible... Leavin' stains on cerebellums indeed.―Jacob

51717, 'Hi 2'
Lili, a.k.a. 51717, and I are really close and I love this song. It's very sad―as you can hear for yourself―and hits me on a deep level. I have a tape at work with rhythm based lovers 'Caught In the Middle' and this back-to-back on side A and I rarely make it past this track without a few rewinds to the top. A tech factoid is that the synth sound is supposed to simulate a mandolin―picked super fast. word up.―Daniel

Nightlife Unlimited, 'Peaches & Prunes (Ron Hardy re-edit)'
I dig Nightlife Unlimited's 'Peaches & Prunes' and i really dig Ron Hardy's re-edit! Not many edits hit me harder than an original song, but this one surely does. Also love his edits of Blue Magic and Plastic Bertrand.―Damon

I second that.―Daniel

Can, 'Sunday Jam'
I first thought this Can's Inner Space was from 1985―but it's actually 1979 recordings released in 1985. Love the guitars, love the bass-line, love the hit hats! Love everything about this jam and'll never forget playing it over and over while driving around Michigan (summertime).―Damon

the Chosen Brothers, 'Mango walk (Dubwise version)'
Heavy. 'It's a fruit, y'all.' Sure.―Daniel)

Steel an' Skin, 'Afro Punk Reggae (dub)'
I first heard this song played by Alexis Georgopoulos, a.k.a. Arp, here in S.F. I was rather drunk and didn't understand if the song was old or new, where it was from, etc.... steel drums, killer bass-line, dubbed out vocals... beast ova' song!―Damon

King Suny Adé & His African Beats, 'Oremi'
Nigerian Juju music's champion (at least in the West) King Sunny Adé cut a few records for Mango in the early-80s that fused this infectious music with some 80s style major label production and some guest spots (Stevie Wonder plays harmonica on the opening track on this LP). Lukcily, the guest chair on this track is filled by Tony Allen. Lighter and brighter than its musical cousin, Afrobeat, but just as forward propelling and hypnoticaly repetitive... ―Jacob

the Bug, 'Murder We w/ Ricky Ranking'
Kevin Martin, a.k.a. the Bug, crushingly heavy take on dancehall always make me want to smash things (in the best way possible). Pulling influence from Sound System culture, Public Enemy and free jazz and combining it in a stew of subwoofer-destroying madness is pretty much bliss to me. I'm just bummed that when he played S.F. recently the system he was playing on left much to be desired. I still dream of seeing him play on a system with no less than 10 subs booming out sub-bass frequencies that will make my insides wobble.―Jacob

Void, 'Dehumanized'
This is the band that makes me want to smash things in the best way possible. When I think of face peeling or whatever, this is pretty much it. The sound of super fucked youth rage unleashed in pissed waves of screaming madness. Also critical is 'who are you and why am i here'―obviously.―Daniel

Culture, 'See Dem a Come (12' mix w/ Prince Weedy)'
The disco mix of this single from Culture's incredible Two Sevens Clash features an extended dub with Prince Weedy toasting and lots of syndrum style action... (a little early for that so maybe its some tricky dubbing). All the same, some transcendent reggae to get you to that spot... ―Jacob

African Suite, 'Pigmy'
Arranged by orchestra conductor Richie Rome (nice name!) Fortunately, he left lotsa' orchestration out and stripped 'Pigmy' to funky drums, bass and some occasional jungle samples. Also, that instrument (?) that's in a bunch of G-funk era jams! Gotta' love the record art too!―Damon

King Tubby & Friends Tubby, 'Get Smart'
Also heavy. Dub is such an obvious part of this band. When we recorded our album, I explained to the engineer that we needed to sound like King Tubby, especially the hi-hat and hissing high end in general. I love how his music sounds like a tropical environment as much as a song or whatever... a perennial goal.―Daniel

Philip Glass, 'Knee 5'
A favorite love song of mine. It's long, so it goes at the end.―Daniel

Bad Brains, 'Pay to Cum'
Andriessen Jurriaan, 'She's Far From the Land'
Talking Heads, 'Born Under Punches (The Beat Goes On)'
Patrick Cowley, 'Sea Hunt'
DJ Screw w/ UGK, 'Woodwheel'
51717, 'Hi 2'
Nightlife Unlimited, 'Peaches & Prunes (Ron Hardy re-edit)'
Can, 'Sunday Jam'
the Chosen Brothers, 'Mango Walk (Dubwise version)'
Steel an' Skin, 'Afro Punk Reggae (dub)'
King Suny Adé & His African Beats, 'Oremi'
the Bug, 'Murder We w/ Ricky Ranking'
Void, 'Dehumanized'
Culture, 'See Dem a Come (12' mix w/ Prince Weedy)'
African Suite, 'Pigmy'
King Tubby & Friends Tubby, 'Get Smart'
Philip Glass, 'Knee 5'



"Their mix is a de facto testament to the schizo-diverse rhythmic sounds of hardcore from Bad Brains, voyage disco from Patrick Cowley, some DJ Screw, AND Ron Hardy’s edit of “Peaches and Prunes,” which remains an incomparable learning tool for explaining the joys of deep disco to the uninitiated. They have an intriguingly titled 12″, Echononecho, out in January and a full-length in Feb.”
http://meatskull.wordpress.com/2008/12/20/ones-twos-mi-ami/