February 22–March 1, 2001

music

Mall Brats

Digi-men: (From left) Mall’s Mike Page and Rob Cantagallo.

by a.d. amorosi

In his book The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance — The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age (Bloomsbury), Mark Prendergast presents a deconstructionist 20th century made possible through advanced technology and thought. He credits Gustav Mahler with being ambient music’s forefather, Karlheinz Stockhausen with discovering the power of a single note, John Cage with presenting silence as energy and Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder for bringing calculated German-ness to African-American music. Prendergast helps us to appreciate how jungle, techno, house, et al., shifted focus from maker to listener, and how non-musicians became as crucial as classicists. From the sublime to the silly, Ambient Century presents "electronics" as pop’s true liberating force.

It’s this liberation that fuels the sublimity and silliness of a couple Caucasoid weed-heads Philly-blunting some primal, basement-taped electronica that’s chilled, childlike and quietly innovative: music trapped like smoke in a bong until it creeps out sweetly into mid air.

Since 1997 Rob Cantagallo and Mike Page — the Jersey natives of electronic duo Mall — have been making mutant lo-fi party records, each release squeaking and squealing louder than the last. But with a new obliquely titled CD 05.17.2012 01:34:28 PM –0400 and a label compilation, Vibon, due for release on their tbtmo (an essentially meaningless acronym) label through Darla, Mall moves from pavement to penthouse with a bugged-out cerebral-somber sound that’s as sine-wavey sensuous as it is buoyant.

Page, 25, and Cantagallo, 26, started Mall-ratting (with pal Rod Sledge of likeminded Pacifica, whose next CD will be a tbtmo joint) before they ever hit high school in Burlington, NJ. "We had a fanzine, Blind, in 1991, as young indie rock dudes," says Rob. "I was determined not to be in a rock band or listen to rock… Mike had guitars and used to metal out … [but] I didn’t wanna be a rock dude. I’d rather do some blippy video game tunes or something."

Rob and Mike did agree on the power of one thing: Flowchart, the NJ duo of Sean O’Neal (now a City Paper contributor) and Brodie Budd — the makers of 1995’s Stereolab-biting Multi-Personality Tabletop Vacation (Carrot Top). (By 1997 Budd was out, replaced evermore by Erin Anderson.) "I liked Sean’s Stereolab rip-off era and noticed he was from right near us, in Mt. Laurel, so I asked him to do an interview for our zine, and he was a really nice, cool guy. Go figure, he must have been high not to bother making fun of us."

From that evening on Flowchart and the future members of Mall and Pacifica became tight like homeboys and a homegirl, up in each other’s faces, collaborating various projects.

From 1997 on, the familial nature of Mall and its tbtmo label (now based in the Art Museum area) has branched almost continuously. The way Rob spells it out is this: Mall is made up of himself and Mike, with occasional contributions from Rod. Mike’s solo project is Planet Nett; Rod’s is Pacifica. When Rod and Rob get together, it’s called Blue. Rod also collaborates with his girlfriend under the name Collette Carter. Rob goes it alone as Air & Space "when I get a chance to sit and write a track without Mike."

"We have been lucky to have a lot of down, talented friends," marvels Rob. "Maybe it’s not talent, but good vision and good taste."

The music they all make plays off a similar sound: some are less beat conscious, some denser than others. But each record — from Mall’s debut Special Education to Pacifica’s Modern Technology Meets Sexual Obsession to the Planet Nett CD-R — is as distinct as fingerprints.

Like Bruce Haack’s PBS soundtrack or Dusseldorf’s Neu at its droney best, Mall’s Special Education dropped stolen rhymes, gently jangling percussion and clattering toy noise amid slow synth-pop melodies. The effect is creepy and bright — an electronic Philly-space soul lounge classic. "We just wanted to do a really cool, funny record that made people smile," says Rob, "but at the same time, was a little trippy, a little sleepy, a little poppy."

In the meantime they’ve contributed tunes like "Cold Chill" and "Philly Trips and Chemical Drips" to the Darla label’s Little Darla Has a Treat For You series, cementing a partnership with the San Francsico label that enabled tbtmo to release CDs by pals Pacifica, Planet Nett, Collette Carter and Transient. "James at Darla wants to put out a tbtmo/Darla CD once a month. He apparently believes in what we’re doing more than we do. His cash, our shit. Fine by me. He’s a smart businessman. It’s nice to have someone lighting a fire under your ass."

Unlike Special Education , 05.17.2012. 01:34:28 PM-0400 (taking its format from e-mail date headers), is slower and thicker with a hypnotic, intensely still sense of atmosphere.

Recorded in bedrooms and basements by Rob, Mike and Rod using unauthorized samples, cracked programs, fucked equipment and illegal substances, tracks were arranged meticulously. Improvised keyboard and sampled or mic’ed noise was flowed over top in order to give it a less machine-heady feel. With the exception of the hasty "Fucker One" (mostly Rod’s fast dropped beats), the pulse of 05.17.2012 moves quietly through the insistently vibrating music — a glittering soft synth blanket of old-school analog and new-school MIDI technologies — as if pouring Karo syrup into motor oil. Though there are some speaking samples throughout, like "Two Breaths," the instrumental-only CD is a marvel of serious, subtle harmonic shifts and icy chilling thrills.

"We wanted it to be a little freaky, a little spaced out — get away from the giddiness a little to make people think," explains Rob. Though he insists he’s not a musician ("I couldn’t point out a C on a keyboard or a guitar"), the bug-outs on this new CD show a knowing musical growth worthy of an Ambient Century or any century. "I would like to get more into white noise and textures as opposed to melody and such.… Maybe at times intense, other times really cloud-like and soft," says Rob. "Ambient is fine by me. Beatless would be sweet. Maybe a little pop for the kids, sugary and feel-good. But no stupid beats. Textures. Tones. Noises and sounds. Bliss."

Mall will perform a record release party at Hologram 8 with Aerialist, Niku and Asop on Sat., Feb. 24, 10 p.m., $4, at La Tazza, 108 Chestnut St., www.tbtmo.com.