All right, gonna wrap up the Kiss reviewing, for a little while anyway. Talkin' this week about not one, but THREE Kiss classics: Hotter Than Hell (1974), Dressed To Kill (1975), and Rock And Roll Over (1976). With these three reviewed, that means we will have covered all the Kiss studio albums up through 1981's Music From The Elder, except the universally loathed Unmasked... which might be for the best. (Crucial albums Alive I and II also remain to be reviewed.)
I don't mean to give any of these three short shrift by doing 'em briefly all together, it's just that lengthy reviews might not really be necessary. So, to begin: Hotter Than Hell, Kiss's second album, followed up their self-titled debut with another strong collection of songs, perhaps chief among them the heavy headbanging groove of Ace's "Parasite" (later covered by Anthrax) and the majestic lecherous lament of Gene's "Goin' Blind" (later covered by the Melvins). Meanwhile, tracks like "Let Me Go, Rock And Roll", "All The Way", and the title track are ones to crank come party-time. Actually the whole record is pretty much a rockin', rollin' barn-burner, aside from the aforementioned dirgey "Goin' Blind", and also album-ender "Strange Ways", whose lyrics and metallic plod have a sinister vibe that could weird out some partygoers. Cool though! Really, nothin' in they way of weak ones here, though maybe Paul's opener "Got To Choose" will be a bit too Bad Company sounding for some. Hotter Than Hell is an accurate album title I've gotta say, though it's too bad it didn't get the production job it deserved.
Next up, Kiss platter number 3, Dressed To Kill. There's a bunch of fairly poppy, finger snapping, boot-stomping hard rockers on here, Kiss again (almost) reminding us of the MC5 circa Back In The USA on opener "Room Service"... The immortal hits from this album include the Stonesy "C'mon And Love Me", mission statement "Rock And Roll All Night" (which you've probably heard a few million times too many), and "She", which lumbers a heckuva lot like BoC's "Godzilla". They go all flowery and acoustic for the first half of one song, but snap out of it in time to kick some ass ("Rock Bottom"). Incipient self-parody may be noticeable here, with groupie-themed lyrics and rock n' roll anthems making soon-to-be predictable appearances, but that's ok, some of my favorite Kiss albums later on are ALL self-parody and none the worse for it.
And then we skip ahead ('cause I've already reviewed the intervening Destroyer) to Rock And Roll Over, which fits in between the big D and Love Gun as their 5th studio album. This one starts off with one of my very favorite Kiss songs EVER, "I Want You", with its deceptively pretty n' sweet melodic intro immediately bursting into godlike amps-on-11, chest-thumping heavy metal riff rock that's about as catchy as it gets. Lyrically, it's the lustful essence of Kiss. But is Paul singing romantically about a longtime love, or rather more sleazily about the blonde in the third row, center, who just caught his eye? Probably the latter. Gene's "Calling Dr. Love" was another hit here, and definitely meant for that blonde... in fact, not just her, but all the willing ladies in the audience, no doubt!
What else? Peter sings an acoustic ballady number that's not too bad, "Hard Luck Woman", likely intended as this album's "Beth" (the sensitive, surprise hit he had on Destroyer, though this time, Paul wrote the song). Otherwise, not too much to say. "Take Me", "Love 'Em And Leave 'Em", "Makin' Love", "Mr. Speed", etc., it's all decent enuff Kiss stuff but nothing really stands out for me. Well, dumbest one "Ladies Room" maybe stands out, but not in a good way. But, dumb or not, Kiss knows what they're doing, and you'll be singing along to lots of Rock And Roll Over before it's over. And besides, it's got "I Want You"!
Ok, with these three albums, maybe that's all the Kiss we'll be reviewing for a while. Whew! But I'll start another series of reviews of another overlooked (by AQ) band, next time...
Many moons ago, a strange disc passed through our doors from a mysterious Swedish post-punk outfit called Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons. That disc collected one of the band's albums plus a bunch of random odds and ends. Dark Entries has now reissued that album proper from the collection - Screams To God. Weird. Fucked-up. Angular. Totally great. Here's what we had to say about K&TPS way back when:
An amazingly weird synthy Swedish new wave punk band that burned bright for one short year way back in 1980. Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons were herky jerky, full of demented pep and enough deranged energy to make themselves a seriously freaked out and super unique proposition. Sort of how we always wished new wave sounded, not overly polished but instead kind of demented and mad in all the right ways. Like The Pop Group and the Dead Kennedys all mixed up with Siouxsie and Johnny Lydon taking turns on vocals. As much as this makes us think of some of the more well known (relatively) bands of the era like The Slits, Raincoats, Au Pairs, Liliput and Maximum Joy, there is something so singular and unique about Kitchen And The Plastic Spoons that makes it kind of surprising that this is the first time these tracks have been dug up in almost 30 years. It's amazing how vibrant and timely this still sounds. It's hard not to imagine that bands like Erase Errata had somehow gotten their hands on one of the few hundred original lp's and used it as a sort of template or inspiration. With all the hype in recent years over lost punk reissues this might just take the cake for a long overdue rediscovery of a truly weird punk classic!
Wow! An amazingly weird Swedish new wave punk band that burned bright for one short year way back in 1980. Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons were herky jerky, full of demented pep and enough deranged energy to make themselves a seriously freaked out and super unique proposition. Sort of how we always wished new wave sounded, not overly polished but instead kind of demented and mad in all the right ways. Like The Pop Group and the Dead Kennedys all mixed up with Siouxsie and Johnny Lydon taking turns on vocals. As much as this makes us think of some of the more well known (relatively) bands of the era like The Slits, Raincoats, Au Pairs, Liliput and Maximum Joy, there is something so singular and unique about Kitchen And The Plastic Spoons that makes it kind of surprising that this i the first time these tracks have been dug up in almost 30 years. It's amazing how vibrant and timely this still sounds. It's hard not to imagine that bands like Erase Errata had somehoww gotten their hands on one of the few hundred original lp's and used it as a sort of template or inspiration. With all the hype in recent years over lost punk reissues from the likes of The Homosexuals, Crime and The Metal Boys this might just take the cake for a long overdue rediscovery of a truly weird punk classic!
Latest single from this Aussie post punk downer pop outfit, but unlike their Siltbreeze lp, which we likened to vintage Guided By Voices or Strapping Fieldhands, the A side here is way more subdued, and definitely fits the song title, a gorgeous woozy lament, all detuned guitars, and lazy sad boy vox, over a skeletal shuffling beat, the sound fuzzy, and gauzey, when the record first started we though it was spinning at the wrong speed, it had that sort of warped warble. It's all drowsy, and darkly psychedelic, slo-mo garage pop, like some classic indie pop jangle jam slowed way down, softly noisy and really quite lovely.
The flipside is more of the same, a minor key, Velvets style chunk of minimal dirge pop, shimmery and reverby and sweetly melancholy, washed out and woozy, this time the sound laced with what sounds like a harmonica or some sort of organ, adding a druggy bit of wheezing whir, softening the edges, and making the already soporific pop seem just that much more wasted and dreamlike. Nice!
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!!
Not one, but two new(ish) singles from this Aussie post punk downer pop combo, whose Siltbreeze lp we flipped for a while back, and ever since have been on a mission to find as much KF as we can, so up first, is the awesomely titled "Deadshits", which finds the band in a seriously weird and seriously stripped down mood/mode, getting all Jandek-y, with urgently strummed acoustic guitar, primitive drumming, warped percussion, distorted vocal warble, and on the opener, a demented sounding falsetto chorus, the whole thing unwinds like some brain damaged outsider bedroom 4-track pop, although in places, like on "Left", the band get a bit more melodic, adding some female vocals, sounding a bit like a super minimal Eric's Trip, still super spare and mostly acoustic but a bit more melodic and poppy, the whole record has a serious early Flying Nun /Xpressway outsider indie jangle vibe to it, which was present to a lesser degree on the full length proper.
On Regrets, the band drifts a bit closer to the sound of the Siltbreeze lp, still pretty lo-fi, but with buzzy gnarled guitars, stumbling trashcan drumming, wild squalls of psychedelic leads, and the vocals buried in the mix, a bit more punk than Deadshits, but not nearly as poppy and polished as the full length, but hidden amidst all the stumbling pound and atonal guitar noise, is some seriously dreamy gloom pop, and minor key jangle, culminating with closer "Still Night", which adds deep dramatic vox, much higher in the mix, a primitive druggy drone pop that somehow still hits the spot. Both are probably crazy limited, as things like these usually are...
Man are we digging this new wave of Australian post punk / downer pop / psychedelia, having gone a bit nuts recently for Naked On The Vague and Total Control, Kitchen's Floor is having the same effect. We somehow slept on their debut, but this, our first exposure to these guys, didn't take long at all to win us over. Exactly the sort of shit we love. A modernized mix of classic old post punk indie rock. Think classic Aussie outfits like Feedtime and the Celibate Rifles, and give it a bit of a 2011 garage psych makeover. But only a little cuz lots of this sounds like it could actually be from back in the day. In fact, much of this harks back to the early days of Siltbreeze, like the second track "Graves", which sound like it could be some lost nineties SB 7", released right between a Guided By Voices and Strapping Fieldhands, and if you're a fan of either of those bands, then some of this is a dead ringer for what some weird hybrid of the two might sound like. The whole record is petty stellar, jangly, fuzzy, distorted, hooky, the vocals melodic but sort of world weary and occasionally yowly, lots of wheezing organ, the drumming is pretty awesome too, and hooks galore of course, one of those records that sounded pretty good at first, but after just one play, we found some of these songs lodged pretty firmly in our head, which of course required further and repeated listening.
Fans of Crystal Stilts, the Mantles, Naked On The Vague, Royal Baths, Pink Reason, and similarly dour, jangly, noisepop will be in heaven!
Includes a download coupon too.
Not one, but two new(ish) singles from this Aussie post punk downer pop combo, whose Siltbreeze lp we flipped for a while back, and ever since have been on a mission to find as much KF as we can, so up first, is the awesomely titled "Deadshits", which finds the band in a seriously weird and seriously stripped down mood/mode, getting all Jandek-y, with urgently strummed acoustic guitar, primitive drumming, warped percussion, distorted vocal warble, and on the opener, a demented sounding falsetto chorus, the whole thing unwinds like some brain damaged outsider bedroom 4-track pop, although in places, like on "Left", the band get a bit more melodic, adding some female vocals, sounding a bit like a super minimal Eric's Trip, still super spare and mostly acoustic but a bit more melodic and poppy, the whole record has a serious early Flying Nun /Xpressway outsider indie jangle vibe to it, which was present to a lesser degree on the full length proper.
On Regrets, the band drifts a bit closer to the sound of the Siltbreeze lp, still pretty lo-fi, but with buzzy gnarled guitars, stumbling trashcan drumming, wild squalls of psychedelic leads, and the vocals buried in the mix, a bit more punk than Deadshits, but not nearly as poppy and polished as the full length, but hidden amidst all the stumbling pound and atonal guitar noise, is some seriously dreamy gloom pop, and minor key jangle, culminating with closer "Still Night", which adds deep dramatic vox, much higher in the mix, a primitive druggy drone pop that somehow still hits the spot. Both are probably crazy limited, as things like these usually are...
Kite-Eating Tree get your blood pumping with their very mid/late '90s-ish feisty emo rock. Each time this is in our cd player, it strikes us as being immediately familiar sounding. High octane chunky guitars and angsty male vocals that in turn brings to mind Rocket From The Crypt, Foo Fighters and At The Drive-In. Features ex-members of AQ faves Death Cab For Cutie and emo rockers Sunday's Best.
More Load-label craziness.
Kicking up her heels and cooing up a storm, Kitten On The Keys is one-ma'am band Suzanne Ramsey.
And (It's Not A) Pretty Princess Day is a delightful album full of quirky, charming old tyme piano numbers. She sings and plays with plenty of spritely wit and sass. Each song is steeped with saucy vaudevillian and pouty burlesque excess. Ramsey performs both her own originals as well as a plethora of covers, even tackling Sex Pistols and The Cure with a giggle and a wink. Actually (if she hasn't already!) she'd be a great human performer at the Musee Mechanique!
There is something so damn special about family bands. You know... the Jackson 5, The Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, ESG, people who share roots that really allow them to communicate with each other on another level. These three young siblings (we think they still might be in their teens!) out of North London, Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, have that special something together and with it, they tap into the vintage sound of Sun records, classic rockabilly, that awesome intersection of country music and rock n roll. They nail the sound and aesthetic so perfectly.
The recording is totally analog and its warmth and rugged quality shines through so strongly. These are kids who grew up in a totally amazing musical environment, with a father who is one of the top engineers at the London mastering studio The Exchange and a mother that played drums for The Raincoats!! So it makes perfect sense that these kids have so much respect for the history of music and that they would make something with all the right ingredients and their own unique energy. This really is in so many ways to vintage rock n' roll what folks like Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators are to classic vintage soul. They capture the absolute sound and mindset of that special moment in time, yet bring a spunk and enthusiasm that is truly their own. Think if Holly Golightly and a more revved up Jolie Holland joined forces and tackled covers from the Sun Records catalog, AWESOME!
Kicks ass is more like it! Super catchy high energy hard pop. This is their third record, from 1985 and is the perfect blend of Cheap Trick's pop hooks and AC/DC's heavy groove. Allan and Andee both love this band. In fact, if you buy this record and love it, we will have no problem ordering you their other three records, all amazing. Oh yeah, Allan wants me to make sure you realize we aren't joking. Because we aren't.
Look, people, we really weren't kidding about how much we (Andee and Allan to be precise) love Kix! The response to our listing of their Midnite Dynamite on the last AQ-list was less-than-overwhelming (although Brian at WFMU did email to let us know that his covers band does a Kix song--way to go Brian!), so we're trying again. This is Kix's first album, from 1981, and it is also quite representative of their blend of Cheap Trick and AC/DC (no Def Leppard-ish ballads to be found on this one, although they're good at those too). Someone, anyone, take a chance, take our word on it and order one. A great hard pop record with even some new-wavish moments (it being 1981 and all). Don't you wanna rock? C'mon!
This compilation of singles circa 1971-1975 by new-to-us Anatolian folk-psych singer and guitarist Fikret Kizilok has been blowing our minds this week We don't much about Kizilok, except he was a dentist who, inspired by the Beatles, got into music, and recorded with Baris Manco, which led to a friendship-ending affair with his girlfriend. He is also rumored to be one of the first Turkish musicians to introduce the sitar into Turkish popular music (a bit hard to believe, and strangely there is no sitar on these recordings, but nevertheless that is what a cool-looking photo from a music magazine in the liner notes seems to state). However, Kizilok's hypnotic psych-tinged folk music, played with both electric and acoustic instruments (including lots of hand percussion and electric organ provided by Mogollar's Turhan Yukseler!), is impossible to ignore. Equally dreamy, moody, groovy, complexly arranged and politically driven, this is another great Turkish-psych discovery right up there with Selda, Mogallar, Cem Karaca, 3 Hur-el and Edip Akbayram. Also if you loved those Psych 101 compilations, this will be right up your alley!
A few lists back we reviewed a killer disc from a German band called Woburn House, who traffic in a killer blend of repetitive hypno rock a la Dutch outfit Gore, but blended with a heaping dose of mathy post rock, a combo that totally kicked our asses. But then we discovered that there was in fact a Woburn side project called Klabautamann, who were supposedly a super weird black metal band!! This we had to hear. So after some internet sleuthing, we got in touch with the band and managed to get a bunch of the Klabautamann debut cd Der Ort, and if anything, it's even cooler, and WAY WAY weirder than we would have ever hoped.
Take the first track, it begins like most black metal songs, with a buzzing insectoid riff, which explodes into some epic blackened riffing, we love it already, but then suddenly, the guitars drop out, and leave a skeletal post rock jam, lilting clean guitars, but with blasting double kick drums and growled demonic vocals, a weird combo for sure, but so good. Then the song transforms into some mathy metallic breakdown, before blissing out into some dreamy melodic drift, before bursting back into full on black blast again. And that's just the first track.
The second track begins with acoustic guitars and drums, a dreamy strum and pound that could easily be some weird indie rock band, the vocals kick in, a sort of sing song monotone, with little melodic curlicues underneath, until the song lurches into some complex stop start groove, with wild octopoidal drumming and little bursts of squiggly guitar leads. After a gorgeous classical breakdown, the drums kick in, a blazing blast beat accompanying this lovely finger picked guitar, another bizarre juxtaposition that sounds amazing.
The next track is a dense tangled black angular workout, all impossibly convoluted Voivod-ish riffs over furious drumming, before again breaking into a weird loping post rock jam, punctuated by brief bursts of blazing blackness.
It's hard to explain exactly what's going on, but whatever it is, it's awesome. Every track is dense with riffs and parts, gorgeous clean sections are butted up against filthy frosty blackness, acoustic guitars routinely jam alongside metallic blast beats, crazy complicated riffs are chopped into stuttery fragments, and rearranged around mathy rhythms...
Then there's the final track, a total out of the blue mind blower, a nine minute epic, that is still sort of black metal, but also sounds like Tool or Coheed And Cambria, chugging riffs, wailing vocals, both male and female, all tangled up in killer harmonies, the whole thing shoegazey and kind of emo and super poppy, the guitar weaving elaborate textures, but it's the vocals, so weird and cool, it almost has us wishing the whole record had singing like this. So unexpected and so goddamn great.
After the recently reviewed Lifelover, probably our most listened to new 'black metal' disc for sure!
Third full length from these German post-black metallers, long time favorites around here, which of course means a new Klabautamann record is always a cause for celebration, as is any record by any band related to this ever shifting collective, who play in a bunch of different outfits, including other aQ faves like Woburn House, and Island. But Klabautamann is probably the 'blackest' of the bunch, the guitars buzzy, the vocals harsh and hellish, the drums furious, but that's really where the resemblance to typical black metal ends, take the first song, exploding out of the gate with a loping mathy post metal groove, a bit Slinty, all wound tight, gnarled rapid fire guitar chug, wild drumming, when suddenly, the song shifts and the band are locked into some sort of prog / folk thing, with spidery guitars, and polka like rhythms, which gives way to a dreamy waltzy folk breakdown, but peppered with brief dynamic bursts of metallic crunch, only to slip right back into the opening churn and chug.
The next track is another woozy, doom flecked bit of black lope, but it changes constantly, at its fiercest reminding us of classic Satyricon, but at it's least metal, reminding us of some sort of avant prog pop. Which is the cool thing about Klabautamann, the fact that they're constantly flitting back and forth between the two, but in such a away that it sound totally natural and organic. The songs, as convoluted and complex as they are, seem to flow perfectly, slipping from grim raw blackness, to weird pretty pop in the blink of an eye, often finding some way to meld the two in transition. The playing here is incredible, dexterous, nimble, frenzied and freaking fast, super prog, only in so much as the parts are intricate, and there's so many of them, without digging too deep, this is definitely easy to enjoy as just a super varied black metal record, the band do tend to return to blasting buzzing blackness, but there's so much going on, that to try and enjoy it on just that one level would be a waste, Merkur, much like the records before it, is a lush, layered complex black prog beast, one best enjoyed slowly, immersing yourself in every nuance, from the harsh and heavy to the ethereal and delicate. Amazing stuff.
Ultra limited seven inch picture disc from these German black metallers. But Klabautamann aren't at all your typical black metal group, beginning with the fact that most of them also do time in metallic math rockers Woburn House, who we raved about on a past list. And that math rock pedigree definitely finds its way into the sound of Klabautamann. As always there's plenty of growling demon-vox, blasting beats, and buzzing riffage, but more than half the time is spent in various non-metal forms, from blissed out dreamy folk interludes, to simple slowcore crawls, to weird angular prog workouts. And even in full blasting metal mode, the sound is anything but typical, the buzzing and blasting is infused with haunting melancholy melodies, ultra catchy hooks, weird burbling underwater bass, but all deftly wrapped up in the curious freaked out, gloriously demented black-post-math-metal-whatever that is Klabautamann.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, each copy hand numbered, packaged with a cover/sheet of liner notes with the credits and lyrics, and the picture disc is an eye popping full color illustration of dancing gnomes and faeries on one side, a sleeping witch, curled up with here staff and bugle and mysterious book of spells on the other. The best part is the 7" also comes with a cd-r with the tracks from the single, so you can throw those right on your iPod and hang that single on your wall right where it belongs...
Second disc from this mysterious blackened outfit, that just so happens to feature members of AQ faves Woburn House, a modern metallic post rock combo, who knocked our socks off with their recent Message To Ourselves Outside The Dreaming Machine record on UK label Paradigms. Where Woburn house took math rock and metallized it, creating a sound much more akin to some unlikely blend of Shellac and Gore, in Klabautamann, they take the buzzing blur of black metal, and add all sorts of melody and strange convoluted arrangements.
The record opens with the crunch of winter footsteps and glistening arpeggiated guitars, a lilting swoonsome introduction to the record proper, which erupts out of the gates as track two lurches into black aktion, manic drumming, buzzing crusty riffage and growled demonic vocals. But that's where any resemblance to traditional black metal ends. The songs buzz and thrash and pound, but it's so much more melodic, with cool little Iron Maiden-y guitar harmonies, strange mathy breakdowns, all sorts of strange guitar parts lurking around and under the main riff, lots of jangle and shimmer, even at its fiercest, there always seems to be some sort of sweet melody lurking underneath. The riffs too are much more rock than black metal, giving the record another strange twist. Lots of parts even sound like a blackened Treepeople, with multiple guitar lines all tangled up into gorgeous melodic knots. So cool and so weird. Could very well be the perfect gateway black metal band for folks who may have been a bit shy about taking the plunge into the dark side. And for the rest of you, whose musical souls are already tainted, this is strange and twisted, mathy, melodic, buzzy and blackened heaven!
The Old Chamber is the latest from these oddly monikered German post black metallers who have been long time faves, along with the various other bands like Woburn House, Island, and Valborg, who all seem to share members, and definitely share an distinctive aesthetic. The new Woburn House is reviewed elsewhere on this week's list, and while that group seems to be moving further away from metal, Klabautamann seem to be doing precisely the opposite, infusing their sound with a healthy dose of classic old school black metal. Just check out the opener, a pounding melodic blackened dirge, depressive and minor key, but melodic enough that it could be Khold or Katatonia, but then the vocals change everything, a sick, glass gargling raspy black croak, which makes for a strange combo, the music lilting and loping, the vocals venomous and hateful, but it works. Even stranger is when the band's post black metal proclivities shine through, like when the song shifts gears, and gets sort of soaring and proggy, chuggy and mathy, only to slip right back into that melodic lumber, adding some melancholic guitar leads to boot.
The second track "Bog Spawn" finds the sound shifting more toward the sound we remember, a little bit Slinty, but still super heavy, spidery melodies, descending arpeggios, all sort of woozy and sea sick sounding, minus the vocals, it could be some heavy math rock band, the vocals just give it a little bit of black grimnity. On past records, it seemed like the sounds were separate and distinctive, pretty post rocky parts would collide with blasting crusty blackness, and then back again, but it seems like on The Old Chamber, while the overall shift seems to be toward a sound more melodic, it also sounds like those two halves of Klabautamann's sound have been fused into something pretty fantastic. The melodic side definitely seems to hold sway, but it wouldn't sound as good as it does without the grim black energy underneath. Needless to say, this is the sort of avant heaviness and melodic blackness, that we can never get enough of, and while we loved their last record Merkur, we're beginning to think we like this one even more. And along with the Woburn House, we've barely been able to bring ourselves to listen to anything else.
Last list we reviewed the new Young People album which we quite liked. Its minimal avant pop and stripped down approach got us thinking of Young Marble Giants and a record by a UK band called Klang that came out a few years back but sadly didn't seem to make much of a splash here in the states. This is that record. So seductive, sensual and mesmerizing in it's ability to rope you into its luring world of post krautrock fake-em-out-with-simplicity approach to indie rock that will make you think of groups like Broadcast, Quixotic and Electrelane. The vocals of Donna Matthews (ex-Elastica) are so perfectly suited for this style. We're so happy she left Elastica to form this outfit as this is leaps and bounds more creative and satisfying then anything her previous band ever did. One of those records that ends before you want it to and never has a weak moment throughout. They leave you wanting so much more and we'll keep our fingers crossed for something new from them soon. Until then make sure you check this out!
"Organic free metal from Malaysia" is what we had heard about Klangmutationen. Wow, really? Utech doesn't provide much information at all about this band, other than to describe them as a "mystery" (how helpful), and compare their music to the work of outside '70s free improv artists from Europe (the FMP label) and Japan (Masayuki Takayangi, Kaoru Abe). We're also told that this mysterious group hails from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Do we believe it? Maybe. We'd like to.
Certainly their music has a dark, strange vibe - literally, vibrations - cycles of low-end droning, sounding like giant metal springs being vibrated... or more likely, electric guitars, detuned. Strings/springs flapping loosely, arcing with electricity. Weird and atmospheric. Like Harry Bertoia meets Caspar Brotzmann!?
That's the first track (2:19) and part of the second into which it flows (25:05). But before long, the lengthy track two develops a serious case of screaming, saxophone/flute/clarinet skree, definitely giving some skronked-out substance to those free jazz comparisons. It's pretty intense and extreme, right on for those into Rudolph Grey's Blue Humans, John Zorn's Painkiller, Peter Brotzmann, Charles Gayle, Arthur Doyle, Albert Ayler, cats like that... yet it's definitely not, y'know, jazz. More like "jazz" for fans of SUNNO))) and Aufgehoben... or drone music for fans of Borbetomagus. Dense and distorted, this is the sound of plunging into the abyss, with a witches' chorus of reed-squealing cacophony as company.
The third track, clocking in at 19:42, is almost as much of a juggernaut. More whale-call feedback guitar grind, murk and moodiness. And then this disc comes to a close with the brief (1:58), relatively quiet caresses of fourth, final track. An eerie, wispy coda that could be the soundtrack music heard as a landing party from TV's Star Trek beams down to some strange, oddly lit world... and they should be glad they don't have to face whatever alien threats the album's earlier tracks would provide cues for!
Curious stuff, this Klangmutationen. Heavy too. We're enjoying repeat spins of this disc, and also should mention we have another release of theirs, yet to be reviewed - an LP on the Holy Mountain label (which affiliation in itself is a recommendation).
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Klangstabil's "Gioco Bambino" finds the duo only using a Nintendo Gameboy with an additional cartridge and a few simple effect boxes. Not at all a whimsical affair, the resulting paranoid electronica is full of increasingly complex post-techno arppegiations, made of those simplistic Nintendo tones and clipped rhythmic stutters. Released on Conrad Schnitzler's Plate Lunch records, but wouldn't be out of place on Raster or 12k.
A match made in heaven (or maybe hell), one of our favorite noise makers / soundscapers, Mr. Dan Vallor, aka Clarinette, or in this case, Klarinette with a K, tries his hand at 'metal', the end result sounding less like metal proper, and more like some twisted, super distorted, ultra heavy, hypno rock, avant noise rock dirgery, which of course means we're digging it big time. We weren't sure what to expect when Vallor told of us this impending metalocalypse, but it definitely wasn't this. We were expecting something more dronedoomdirge-y, sort of noise style drones, but delivered with some extra heft. But instead, The Path Of Sisyphus reveals itself as something much more subtle, rhythmic and hypnotic, a simple skeletal drum beat (programmed perhaps?) locks into a stripped down krautrock like groove, and seems to set the controls on autopilot, while the surrounding sounds explode in wild gouts of crumbling distortion, keening moaning swaths of blown out buzz, murky tangled melodies, undulating swells of layered guitar fuzz, that pulsing propulsive beat, keeping this from being straight up abstract noise, and helping transform it into something that sounds not all that far removed from a past Record Of The Week by Torlesse Super Group, which features another longtime aQ fave Roy Montgomery. That TSG record was a fantastic assemblage of murky ambience, and minimal rhythms, tranced out and super hypnotic, and the vibe is similar here, but with a hefty helping of Dead C style guitarnoise over the top, as well as some super catchy melodies buried in the murk, all deftly woven into billowing clouds of soft focus psych guitar and bleary distorted tangles of blissed out noise, and all anchored to that beat, that persistent rhythm, which somehow holds it all together.
Those guitars, and it sounds like there's lots of 'em, as in swarms and swarms of em, are what this is all about, and they swoop wildly from angry buzzing barrage to keening Sunroof! like skree, to grinding metallic churn, to weird Butthole Surfers like distorto melody dirge, in fact, at some points, this sounds like it could be some lost live BH recording, that simple tribal rhythm, and the super distorted melody infused guitar freakouts over the top, all wreathed in a sort of fuzzy haze.
Fantastic stuff! And while maybe not strictly metal enough for metalheads, it's still plenty heavy, not to mention psychedelic, dark and rhythmic, tranced out and utterly hypnotic, which means, of course, absolutely recommended! And it's dedicate to our very own Andee!!
LIMITED TO 60 COPIES!! Of which we have almost half, but it's very likely these will be go pretty quick, and once they're gone, that's it. Each one hand numbered.
Yes, lords and ladies, here's another new band that the UK press are shitting their pants over... Sometimes their hyperbole can be utterly maddening and other times we'll admit we're right there with 'em... like maybe this time. Good thing it's a laundry day. Anyways, in our ongoing series of 'what if' musings, here's another one for you: what if TV On The Radio took a fistful of amphetamines before leaping into the recording studio (or onto a stairmaster for that matter -- hahaha!)? We'd bet the results would sound a lot like this, The Klaxons' debut album. No, it's not a new sound, but it is a very 'now' sound. Really the resemblance between the two bands carries through from the falsetto-reaching vocals to the densely packed production to the overall heady, brooding quality. These Londoners' vigorous, rigorous modern rock arrives full force like a giant tidal wave. Infectious, feverish, at times overwhelming and very cool. Some might call this a guilty pleasure, but we think it's simply a pleasure.
One of two new tapes from Root Strata, this one comes from Arrow Kleeman, who we know very little about other than the fact that he's a visual artist and musician/composer, on Phase Reps And Builds, he pretty much does exactly what the title suggests, repeating electronic phrases, looped rhythms, and layering them into lush, gorgeously mesmerizing sci-fi synthscapes. Percolating rhythms, overlapping melodies, the sound simultaneously futuristic and retro, definitely tapping into the whole Blade Runner / John Carpenter / Logan's Run vibe that folks like Majeure and Zombi and Umberto have been exploring lately. But where those folks seem to be pushing the eighties soundtrack / Euro dancefloor, Kleeman's explorations are more minimal, more academic. Not to say they're lacking in emotion, they're just darker, and more contemplative, the sounds cyclical, mesmerizingly repetitious, each track and experimental loopscape, trancelike and tranquil, infusing its rhythmic and electronic elements with the compositional approach of Steve Reich and Terry Riley, creating a sort of modern minimalism / sci-fi retro-futuristic space synth hybrid.
Needless to say, recommended for fans of Lichens, Grasslung, Oneohtrix Point Never, Pulse Emitter, Le Revelateur, etc.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!
While they were only an active band for a few years, the legacy and impact of Kleenex's (later Liliput's) music is immeasurable. Along with their peers The Slits and Raincoats, they helped spearhead female fueled post-punk. Raw, angular catchy and free from any kind of commercial gloss. Their sound was the blueprint for the riot grrl scene that would be born a decade later, with bands like Bikini Kill, Excuse 17 and Team Dresch all most definitely inspired by the amazing and uncompromising sounds this Swiss band conjured up way back in the day. Kill Rock Stars (home to many of the best of the '90s riot grrl scene) do a great job in going back to the true source of much of the label's inspiration in releasing this loving cd/dvd collection. The music portion is all from live recordings, demonstrating how stripped down, and full of fiery energy these ladies were. While we're not usually a huge fan of live records, this one makes total sense. It's not as if their studio records were recorded with much, if any budget, so hearing them live actually seems like the most proper way to enjoy their already raw infectious sounds. What made them so cool was that there was a nice variety to their sound, they could go from being really fast and punk sounding one moment to bouncy and poppy the next, and underneath their scrappy aesthetic they always managed to infuse their sound with awesome melodies.
The list of bands they have influenced could go on and on. From the aforementioned leading ladies of the riot girl scene to folks like Erase Errata, Wetdog, Dog Faced Hermans, Silver Daggers, Brilliant Colors, Electrelane, Klang, Slant 6, Deerhoof, etc.!
The dvd features really cool footage from them on tour, all shot in super 8 which makes the visuals as raw and impactful as the sounds...
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
Finally on vinyl, the complete recorded works by these seminal punks. This vinyl version contains all of the music from the 2cd on Kill Rock Stars, but Mississippi has gone ALL OUT, cramming that same music into a massive QUADRUPLE lp set, each lp in its own heavy sleeve, all housed in a super striking and seriously hefty box! Here's what we had to say about this when we first listed the cd version a while back:
Well all right! Lots of folks have been waiting a loooong time for this collection!! Kleenex were a Swiss punk band who released one record in 1978 before being forced to change their name to LiLiPUT, the moniker they used for the next four years until they disbanded in 1983. For the five years of their existence, Kleenex / LiLiPUT amassed an astonishingly cohesive (considering they went through three vocalists) body of work that was championed by everyone from John Peel to Rough Trade Records, who were their label for a while. Since their demise, the legend of LiLiPUT has only grown larger and larger. At one point a brief 1993 cd reissue of their work was reportedly going on eBay for over $300! The riot grrl scene, among other punk movements, has been inspired by and today rightfully acknowledges and champions the influence of Kleenex/LiLiPUT (heads up, fans of Le Tigre, this will kick your ass and you'll thank them and ask for more). Somehow it seems appropriate that stalwart indie-punk label Kill Rock Stars first got this stuff to a lot of the kids today!
But what do they sound like? Well, no fan of the Slits, Raincoats, or X-Ray Spex should be without this for a moment longer. Yeah, it's got that much unbelievable energy, choppy melodies, and three-chord majesty... and the band was similarly female fronted (one guy was only briefly a member). The two constants in the band - the two people who were present throughout all the incarnations of Kleenex/LiLiPUT - were guitarist Marlene Marder and bassist Klaudia Schiff, so there's driving, relentless, yet thoughtful basslines, coupled with slash 'n burn, jumpy guitar terrorism that at times recalls the band's contemporaries in the scene, like Gang of Four, Joy Division, and Wire. The vocalists ferociously crowed and cackled mostly in sing-song English, making for funny and evocative lyrics. Violin and skronkin' saxophone were occasionally used as embellishment to their already full, solid sound. Every song is unique, approachable... every song is good. And boy do Kleenex/LiLiPUT sound as good now as they did then!!
What is more amazing than discovering a whole movement in music that had never been documented, let alone even heard of. EVER! No mention in any books, magazines, not a single trace. What if that music was in fact the music of Funerary violins. A music created and composed to be performed at funerals. The only evidence of these musics, some scratchy old wax cylinder recordings, some faded photos, and brittle sheafs of old sheet music. A music that flourished in the 1800's and disappeared almost completely by the 1900's after the Catholic church's Great Funerary Purges. Only recently discovered in a locked trunk was the music of Herr Gratchenfleiss, recorded to wax cylinder by Wilhelm Kleinbach. The sound a mournful miserable, gorgeously minor key dirge. So completely moving and emotional, the recordings thick with static and crackle, only adding to the power and timelessness of the music. What could be more amazing?
How about making the whole thing up? Constructing an elaborate history of a genre that never existed. Populating this history with lifelike characters, creating photos, sheet music, historical documents, but most amazingly, recording all the music, and treating it to sound as if it was some old wax cylinder recording.
Hard to say which would be more amazing, a wholly undiscovered hidden dark corner of musical history, quashed by the church and relegated to be lost forever, or an insanely detailed project, the ultimate conceptual art piece. Either way, we are in love with this stuff.
Simply from a musical standpoint, this is everything we could hope for. The recordings are fuzzy and staticky, bathed in layers of crackle and grit, and years of neglect and decay, but beneath the recording inconsistencies we love so much, are some truly moving and emotionally rich performances, the melodies are so intense and sad, minor key and mournful. truly funereal. It's impossible not to imagine some old funeral procession, a row of black clad mourners, trudging down a dirt road, with their deceased atop an old wooden cart, the sky grey, the music of the Funerary violinist winding around the procession like wreaths of black smoke. So goddamn lovely. We have been listening to this non-stop since we got it.
And then there's the story. The "history". Is it real? Is it possible that a musical movement could disappear so completely. So much so that not a single person anywhere EVER had heard of the Guild Of Funerary Violinists? Or is it all a huge put-on? A massive made up world? The ultimate outsider art project. Either way, we are completely blown away. If this is indeed real, HOLY SHIT! How utterly mysterious and romantic!! We do sort of want to believe it's real. It's so perfectly evocative of some other time, of death and sadness throughout the ages. But if it is in fact made up, it has to be one of the most brilliantly conceived and executed hoaxes of all time. There's even a book (you can probably find at you local bookstore), filled with photos and sheet music, and histories of all the players, the birth and death of the genre, it's so detailed and elaborate, so much so it almost seems impossible that someone could have created all of this from thin air, if it was made up, it must have been the creator's life's work. Years and years of methodical planning and writing and recording for sure. But either way, it's magical and fascinating, and 'real' or not, the music is truly gorgeous, and the story completely captivating, both intertwined into some sort of time machine, perfectly transporting us to that rain splattered dirt road, the soaring sad sounds of the Funerary violin drifting into the black sky...
About a couple years too late to be fresh, this is an album of downtempo electronica that is strikingly like Boards of Canada -- in that the lush bass beats impart melody while above it the melancholy synths and effects cavort in minor key introspectiveness.
With a name like that - golly, pretty much says it all, eh? - these three guys get right to business. Mark Kleiner, Pete Mills and Kurt Dahle (whom you might recognize from his able beat-keepin' and singin' in that lil' pop group the New Pornographers) are the trio in question. And we promptly get to see what these fellows look like as they're pictures prominently on the front cover. Absolutely no poncey artwork, no frills. And their music? Straight-shooting hook-laden power pop jam-packed with effervescent vocal harmonies, punchy guitar, sunny piano and oh yes, handclaps too! Whew, was that quite enough adjectives for you in one sentence??? If you need some reference points, they brought to mind the mid/late-'70s Squeeze, Elvis Costello or Todd Rundgren or the more recent likes of fellow Canadians Sloan and Flashing Lights, as well as The Stereo, and Silver Sun. Mr. Kleiner has doffed his formerly more glam trappings (except his zebra print pants) and sings all bright and boyish, delivering a falsetto with the ease of Sloan's Chris Murphy. Lyrics are amply sprinkled with power pop staple lalala's and oooh's. Definitely not ones to get mired in heavy meanings or complexities, the 'Power Trio's agenda is all about lettin' the good times roll. So it's no surprise that the only times they falter is when they slow things down to balladness, but that only happens a couple of times really. Includes a cover of Phil Seymour's "Baby It's You". A buoyant summertime delight.
Legendary UK noise merchant Gary Mundy (Ramleh, Skullflower, Broken Flag collective) returns with Kleistwahr, a project that fits nicely within the legacy of a man known for harsh electronic noise. While we struggled to find any detailed information on Kleistwahr, we can say that anyone digging Skullflower's more recent forays into blown out guitar skree (and we know there are plenty of you out there) will find much to love here. The four songs making up The Return contain all the air raid siren guitars and eardrum pulverizing feedback we have come to love, but things take a surprisingly beautiful turn on side two, with warm droney keyboards weaving a haunting melody that perfectly compliments the album cover, a stark photocopied image of a building foundation sitting exposed in the snow surrounded by dead trees. Though the songs are instrumental, Mundy is able to perfectly convey a feeling of despondency and sadness, genuine emotions that definitely set Kleistwahr apart from the multitudes of floorcore outfits, all hunkered over effects pedals making lots of noise, but very little of it as compelling and emotionally charged as this.
Part of Noiseville's awesome Outer Bounds Of Sound series, with each lp limited to a one time pressing of 300. We received 20, so you know what that means...
Kleistwahr is the lesser known project of Gary Mundy, probably better known for his long running industrial/noise/psych project Ramleh, and probably even better known for his occasional membership in Skullflower. Kleistwahr began life with a couple early tape release, and has been active sporadically over the last few decades, this however, is in fact new music from Mundy, and is a sonic stunner, much like past missives, a massive sprawl of psychedelic power electronics and dense distorted industrial-drone atmospheres, blown out and harrowingly heavy, the first few seconds are misleading in a way, a warm hazy melodic swirl that had us thinking Mundy might be going soft, but fear not, soon that hushed shimmer is swallowed whole by a blizzard of gristled guitar, distorted samples, disembodied voices, grinding textures, a dizzying assemblage of noise drenched sound that like much of this stuff, to the casual listener, might just sound like noise. And let's not kid ourselves, noise it is, but Mundy is surprisingly deft at sculpting these sheets of furious guitarnoise into something strangely lovely. A roiling blackbuzz howl on the surface, but beneath, all manner of murky melodies, and fractured chordal drift, even the bellowed, echo drenched vocals contribute to transforming white/grey/pink/black noise into something more.
And it's not all speaker melting crush, this 39 minute songsuite, seven tracks fused into a single epic, moves through all sorts of sonic permutations, even returning to that opening shimmer, at about 11 minutes in, sounding like the Caretaker by way of Skullflower, a warm, undulating chordal thrum barraged by a cacophony of clatter and crunch. From there, the sound blossoms into prismatic flurries of crumbling distortion, before coalescing into a sort of burnished kosmische ur-drone, pulsing and pulsating, drifting atop a bed of gnarled buzzing blur, and pocked with strange rhythmic throbs, but again, it's all somehow prismatic and glistening and glimmering, even the final movement which finds everything slipping into keening sheets of high end and crooned distort-vox buried beneath, the sound is shimmery and mesmerizing, very reminiscent of the prettiest moments from Our Love Will Destroy The World, a bleary, smeared soft-noise that manages to be dense and completely crushing, while somehow washed out, ethereal and totally transcendent.
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!! In cool Broken Flag style packaging.
Can't judge this by its cover, nosiree. All you get is fairly bland head shot of this Krystof Klenczon guy, with a pensive look to him, wearing a yellow shirt, his hair tousled, with sideburns. Nothing in the background, no guitar in hand. No clues about what this would sound like. Mellow, pop solo singer songwriter stuff maybe? NOPE.
Maybe that's why the folks that reissued this 1971 (there it is again!) album on cd felt the need to include a hyperbolic blurb -- sez here, right on the back cover: "Possibly the best Polish 70's rock album!! Psychedelic rock plenty of dirty fuzz guitar!!"
Well, we're not up enough on our Polish rock to be 100 percent sure about their first claim (nor can we say otherwise), but we do agree that this is chock full of dirty fuzz guitar, that's for sure. Pretty darn kick ass. The songs are all catchy and energetic, real rave ups with enough searing fuzz to impress freakin' Sir Lord Baltimore. You can hear influences from the Beatles, and maybe folk music (but no polkas!) and though it's not Middle Eastern psych rock, but rather Eastern Bloc psych rock, this should appeal to a lot of you into that brand of wild, groovy, exotic psych. And you gotta love the fuzz. So good. If you agree that "prog is not a four letter word" you'd probably like this. In fact, Klenczon was a member of the '60s beat band Czerwone Gitary, who appeared on the comp of that title that we reviewed a couple lists back. We described their track as fierce and fuzzy, so it's no surprise Klenczon solo amps it up even more at the dawn of the '70s.
Featuring Andy Moor (from The Ex), Kletka Red's international folk-punk sound incorporates the angularity of The Ex with Eastern European folk and the traditional Greek rembetika musical styles. Previous recordings had been on Zorn's Tzadik label.
Before there was Joanna Newsom, there was Carol Kleyn, a young hippie spirit with an ethereal songbird voice who wrote rapturous paeans to love and nature on her harp. So it makes sense then that Newsom's label, Drag City, would reissue this lovely private press recording from 1976. Studying at the University of Santa Barbara, Kleyn befriended Bobby Brown (the instrument builder who recorded the amazing old aQ fave The Enlightening Beam of Axonda) and she assisted him with his constructions and live performances. He gifted her the harp, and she began to learn to play and write her own songs, eventually opening for Gregg Allman. Instead of waiting to get a record deal, she decided to make a record on her own and released it on her own label. She recorded two other lps soon after, before devoting herself full time to her family.
Love has Made Me Stronger divides its compositions between harp and electric piano. Her tone is bright and the songs exude a sunny yet eccentric warm energy. Similar to the beautiful Collie Ryan and Connie Converse reissues we listed a while back, Carol Kleyn's debut is a much-needed positive ray of sunshine in these dark days.
Klimek might just be our favorite practitioner of this known as Pop Ambient. The swirl and shimmer of chill out techno music without the beats. Leaving just gorgeous gaseous whirls of sound that soothe and mesmerize, sprawling expanses of glistening, glimmering gauzy soft focus ambient dreampop.
Most aQ customers are already hip to the whole Pop Ambient thing, we sell tons of the Kompakt Pop Ambient comps, and those collections do tend to work well as albums, just not compilations, the various artists' sonic likemindedness coming through as a series of songs that blend and mesh into each other, offering a woozy late night dreamlike journey through sound.
But there are serious limitations to what a compilation can offer. It's a series of brief glimpses into these sonic worlds the artists create, and more often than not, we want to crawl in and get lost. The recent record from The Field is a great example, maybe the best ambient techno release since the last Gas record, dreamy and bleary and fuzzy sounds wrapped around haunting loops and skipping beats. Not so much heroin house as, as well, maybe ecstasy house. Like laying on dewy grass and watching fluffy white clouds make strange shapes in a cobalt blue sky. But when the sun sets, and the moon comes over the trees, the stars twinkling, that's when Klimek steps in, our own sonic sandman, sprinkling his gritty, granular pixie dust into our ears, sending us drifting into the netherworld between this world and the world of dreams.
While we've loved pretty much every Klimek record, this new one might be the darkest, and best yet. A much bigger focus on the guitar, and consequently the song. Bits of tangled picking, or softly strummed chords, are wreathed in digital buzz, or chopped up and sent skittering like rocks skipping across a pond. The sound is almost more Morr music than Kompakt (which makes sense since this one is NOT on Kompakt). More like one of those pop bands who dip their minor key minimalism in a swirling cauldron of strange hiss and warm thick reverb. But unlike much of that music, the sound here is quite dark, ominous and swirling, tense and intense, moody and cinematic.
The idea behind this disc is pretty unique as well. Each song dedicated to two of Klimek's idols, not always musical, and the two influences don't always seem compatible. But somehow they end up sounding pretty perfect. The source sounds often culled from the works of one or both of the influences. The track dedicated to Mark Hollis and Giacinto Scelsi, takes just the opening chord from one of Hollis's songs, and stretches and smears it into a gauzy midnight drift, soft and sweetly shimmery. The track dedicated to Eugene Chadborne and Henry Kaiser, is the most obtuse, weird little squalls of stuttery guitar and glitchy electronic FX, but they are somehow woven into something warm and beautiful, the edges smoothed, with only brief flashes of the gnarled riffage beneath.
Other tracks are based on / influenced by artists as varied as Kurt Kirkwood, Steven Spielberg, Marvin Gaye and Michael Gira (to name just the ones we've heard of), but those influences are just that, and this isn't any sort of plunderphonic experiment, it's merely Klimek recognizing the artists who have shaped his sonic worldview, and offering up a tribute, as abstract and hazy as that tribute might be. Absolutely stunning.
More absolutely blissy pop ambient lovliness!
None of us here really like "techno" all that much. That's why we were always so attracted to the mutant strains of techno that manage to turn what often to us seems to be vapid, plastic dance music into cool and creepy, murky weirdness. Chain Reaction's brand of so-called "heroin house" for one. And of course Kompakt's beloved minimal thump. That German label's output was however always really close to being just straight up four on the floor house music, but somehow they always found a way to be sonically creative enough to turn their techno into something new and exciting. And then something weird started happening. The folks at Kompakt called it "pop ambient", a new strain of techno that removed the beat from the equation entirely, relying more on thick organic swells and crystalline melodies than beats. Occasionally, those melodies would fragment and shift and loop and form abstract almost-rhythms, but more often than not, notes and chords would just hover, suspended in an ambient ether, humming and vibrating, shimmering and buzzing. Such is the case with this new Klimek record (an artist who had a track on the Pop Ambient 2004 compilation we also made Record Of The Week a little while back). Spare and sparse and elegently gorgeous. The source material sounds like it must be a guitar. But it's as if the notes were extracted one at a time from the guitar. No strumming or fingerpicking. Just the timbre of a steel string vibrating and disturbing the molecules around it. Removed from its natural setting, these notes sound completely alien, althought they remain rich and organic. Klimek takes these notes and drops them delicately into a warm sonic bath, letting them settle next to complimentary notes, some notes dissolving into nothingness, or disturbing the tranquil stillness, sending off gradually decaying sonic ripples. Imagine the abstract glitch-guitar technique of Fennesz, the underwater ambience of Oval, the quiet parts by your favorite post-rock band, all stretched out, melodies pulled apart until, the notes are almost far enough apart that the melody that birthed it is just a shadowy memeory, a sonic trace, leaving a gorgeous and shimmery landscape of sonorous languor.
Washed out, hazy, dreamy, shimmery, warm, droney, otherworldly, gauzy, ethereal, all perfectly describe a microgenre we've come to love, called simply Pop Ambient. A techno subgenre, that essentially removed the beats from electronic music, leaving just the shadows, the outlines, the colors, loosed from the stricture of rhythm (for the most part), those colors and moods and textures are free to seep and bleed and drift and vaporize, into whirring soft focus streaks of blurred, almost new age-y ambience. A sound that various other music makers have definitely referenced, Jeck, Tim Hecker, the Fun Years, anyone creating haunting drone music or textured minimalism, will no doubt find themselves drifting into a certain sort of pop ambience. But it seems, that pop ambience has a certain warmth, not quite sunshine-y, but definitely a glow, the imbues the majority of that music with a dreamlike luminescence. While the other folks traffic in something much darker, and while their sound may touch on pop ambience, it remains in the realm of the black, the grey, the sonic underworld.
Weirdly enough, we do find ourselves wondering about a pop ambience that was, well, less glowing, more ominous, something darker and more sinister, that could somehow remain ambient pop, without slipping into something else, into dronemusic, or some sort of minimal noisemusic. Strange that it would come from Klimek, who is responsible for some of the dreamiest prettiest pop ambient music we've heard, but Movies Is Magic, Klimek's 'film music' record, is in fact that rare beast, a gorgeous slab of pop ambience, that seethes with tension and emotion and drama, sure it shimmers and glistens, but it also creeps and hums ominously, drones are layered and pulled taut, melodies are minor key and are wrapped around looped cycling strings, field recordings, voices, organic instruments, all woven into Klimek's constantly mutating noir soundscape.
Gorgeous and haunting, these tracks evoke everyone from Bohren, to Autechre, Philip Jeck to Pole,�Barry Adamson to Oval, this record would be a perfect fit for Kompakt if it weren't so dark, or Chain Reaction if there were some beats, instead, it exists in some strange rain soaked constant midnight nether region, the pop dialed way back, as is the ambience, this is anything but placid, or calm, this music is alive, crackling with dark energy, tense, and intense, very evocative and textural and moody. The songs are quite varied, but work perfectly together as a whole. Dark moaning horns surface here and there, Bernard Herrmann strings everywhere, the occasional skittery snare, rubbery bass, everything woven and smeared and layered, woozy and dreamlike, a few of the tracks sound all rural, a bit Morricone-ish and Western, subtly twangy with reverbed harmonica, others drift into flute flecked almost Kitaro sounding new age-y flutter, beneath a murmur of rainfall,�disembodied reverbed voices, murky percussion, and hazy looped melodies.
Here and there, the record does get all dubby, with little synth stabs, and careening not-quite beats, all wrapped in whir, and exuding a serious sonic import, sometimes sounding almost sinister, but just as often pulling back into something much more melodic and mysterious, straddling the line between lush drift and blackened beauty.
Movies Is Magic is our new late night chill out drift off soundtrack, and should certainly appeal to folks who like us maybe always fantasized about a little darkness in their ambient drift. And folks into dark drone music, black ambience, and soundtrack music, might find this the perfect gateway to the fuzzy dreamy drifty world of pop ambience.
This former Record Of The Week, now available on vinyl, with swank new cover art...
Washed out, hazy, dreamy, shimmery, warm, droney, otherworldly, gauzy, ethereal, all perfectly describe a microgenre we've come to love, called simply Pop Ambient. A techno subgenre, that essentially removed the beats from electronic music, leaving just the shadows, the outlines, the colors, loosed from the stricture of rhythm (for the most part), those colors and moods and textures are free to seep and bleed and drift and vaporize, into whirring soft focus streaks of blurred, almost new age-y ambience. A sound that various other music makers have definitely referenced, Jeck, Tim Hecker, the Fun Years, anyone creating haunting drone music or textured minimalism, will no doubt find themselves drifting into a certain sort of pop ambience. But it seems, that pop ambience has a certain warmth, not quite sunshine-y, but definitely a glow, the imbues the majority of that music with a dreamlike luminescence. While the other folks traffic in something much darker, and while their sound may touch on pop ambience, it remains in the realm of the black, the grey, the sonic underworld.
Weirdly enough, we do find ourselves wondering about a pop ambience that was, well, less glowing, more ominous, something darker and more sinister, that could somehow remain ambient pop, without slipping into something else, into dronemusic, or some sort of minimal noisemusic. Strange that it would come from Klimek, who is responsible for some of the dreamiest prettiest pop ambient music we've heard, but Movies Is Magic, Klimek's 'film music' record, is in fact that rare beast, a gorgeous slab of pop ambience, that seethes with tension and emotion and drama, sure it shimmers and glistens, but it also creeps and hums ominously, drones are layered and pulled taut, melodies are minor key and are wrapped around looped cycling strings, field recordings, voices, organic instruments, all woven into Klimek's constantly mutating noir soundscape.
Gorgeous and haunting, these tracks evoke everyone from Bohren, to Autechre, Philip Jeck to Pole,�Barry Adamson to Oval, this record would be a perfect fit for Kompakt if it weren't so dark, or Chain Reaction if there were some beats, instead, it exists in some strange rain soaked constant midnight nether region, the pop dialed way back, as is the ambience, this is anything but placid, or calm, this music is alive, crackling with dark energy, tense, and intense, very evocative and textural and moody. The songs are quite varied, but work perfectly together as a whole. Dark moaning horns surface here and there, Bernard Herrmann strings everywhere, the occasional skittery snare, rubbery bass, everything woven and smeared and layered, woozy and dreamlike, a few of the tracks sound all rural, a bit Morricone-ish and Western, subtly twangy with reverbed harmonica, others drift into flute flecked almost Kitaro sounding new age-y flutter, beneath a murmur of rainfall,�disembodied reverbed voices, murky percussion, and hazy looped melodies.
Here and there, the record does get all dubby, with little synth stabs, and careening not-quite beats, all wrapped in whir, and exuding a serious sonic import, sometimes sounding almost sinister, but just as often pulling back into something much more melodic and mysterious, straddling the line between lush drift and blackened beauty.
Movies Is Magic is our new late night chill out drift off soundtrack, and should certainly appeal to folks who like us maybe always fantasized about a little darkness in their ambient drift. And folks into dark drone music, black ambience, and soundtrack music, might find this the perfect gateway to the fuzzy dreamy drifty world of pop ambience.
There are two facets to the Kompakt sound. The thump thump thump house music side, and the shimmery blissed out 'pop ambient' side. We definitely much favor the the sleepy glistening swoonscapes that define that warm welcoming pop ambient sound (although there are a few Kompakt records where the house beats are just murky and muted enough that the resulting Heroin House sound pushes all those same buttons) and no one does it better than Klimek. Responsible for maybe the defining pop ambient track "Milk And Honey", the perfect blend of electronic drones and subtle simple indie melodies, Music To Fall Asleep continues in a similar direction, exploring post-Eno ambience, and offering up a huge sleepy swirl of sound, that is, duh, perfect to fall asleep to. Warm thick whirls of dense droning synths ebb and flow like a midnight tide, guitars are chopped up and stuttered into smooth sleepy smears, like some sweet slab of indie rock left out in the sun so long it melts into a big puddle, rich chords shimmer into vast expanses of reverb and delay, each melody slowly developing over minutes instead of seconds. What else can we say? This is gorgeous and gentle, delicate and dreamlike, sun dappled and absolutely perfect. Essential for fans of all things pop ambient, and something to hold you over until the next Gas record. And like we even need to say it again, the perfect drifting off to sleep record!
Yeah, the project name and the record's title are gratuitously faux-German in their neologisms alluding to the imagined litanies broadcast from the Temple Of Psychick Youth; but fortunately, the content of Negativ Psykotelepathi Surveillanz transcends whatever lame archetype you might have toward the industrial culture and dials in picture perfect recapitulation of the psychically disturbed electronics of SPK, Factrix, Premature Ejaculation, and the Death Factory facets from Throbbing Gristle. Klinikal Skum is one of the monikers for bad-vibe monger Ryan Oppermann, whose other numerous projects run the gamut of the power electronics / black noise / death industrial spectrum. Slow plodding rhythms, static electricity charges, hammered metal bashing stomps, divebombing/doppler-effected/soul-draining tonal declensions and plenty of Videodrome brain drilling electronic sequences that point to septic surgeries, botched gravedigging excursions, and the psychic uncleanliness of derelict mental wards. Scary as shit and totally worth it. Limited to 100 copies on the seminal noise / electronic label Chondritic.
From the same label that brought us the old school electro synth lo-fi party jams of the oddly monickered Oxykitten, comes this, the latest from PDX via SF audio alchemist Garth Klippert, who while living in SF and working as a cab driver, spent his free time creating dreamy abstract melodic soundscapes, cobbled together from field recordings, twangy guitars, electric pianos, assorted homemade instruments and toys, as well as all manner of junk (plastic guns, saw blades, pot lids, shoes, etc). These disparate elements are smeared and blurred into warm, fluid, layered sonic drifts, from woozy piano driven sunshiney kraut shimmer, to twang flecked Negativland-esque vocal collages, to slow burning skeletal blues wrapped around mysterious voices and fields of click and chitter, to windswept expanses of almost Eastern sounding sort-of-ragas, rife with sped up voices, croaking frogs, muted murky looped and lo-fi rhythms, everything very hazy, a little haunting, cinematic and subtly psychedelic. Cool stuff for sure.
Pressed on bright yellow tapes, housed in full color sleeves, LIMITED to 100 COPIES, each one hand numbered, and comes with a digital download.
