Description
The music of the Oakland-based art-pop group Makeunder, the brainchild of musician Hamilton Ulmer, is undeniably visually evocative. The sweeping sounds featured on the project’s latest EP, Great Headless Blank, came paired with an Illustrated Listening Guide created in collaboration with noted Illustrator Dean Stuart (SF Weekly feature).
Following the premiere of the animated video for the EP’s title track, a Vimeo Staff Pick also supported by The Creator’s Project, The Line of Best Fit, Impose Magazine and more, Makeunder now shares a remix of “What A Lovely Bandsaw!” turned in by Naytronix (Nate Brenner of tUnE-yArDs.)
The remix premiered via Clash who said, “Dream-like compositions, there’s a slightly surreal air to Makeunder’s music, a uniquely visual property that arrives laced in superlative colour.”
On the remix, Brenner shares, “Sifting through Hamilton’s stems was like exploring a treasure trove. I tried to capture the intense emotion that was in the original while adding a fresh perspective, and a few bass riffs of my own.”
Ulmer adds, “‘What a Lovely Bandsaw!’ is about the day my family sold all my deceased father’s belongings so we could put the family home on the market. It’s a dense, anxious, ebullient wall-of-sound designed to mask profound grief. The subject matter makes it a tricky song to remix, but Naytronix managed to strip all the pretense and weave the song into this tender, meditative dance. It’s absolutely brilliant.”
The Great Headless Blank EP, available for the first time on vinyl, is due out October 14th, 2016 and also serves as the debut offering from the newly launched Good Eye Records. Pre-orders are now ongoing here.
Stay tuned for more leading up to the physical release of Makeunder’s critically acclaimed Great Headless Blank and be sure to read Ulmer’s extensive guest blog as hosted by Bob Boilen on NPR Music.