More Chinese music, thanks to our pal Ricky, who's been bringing us all kinds of amazing music from overseas, this one from a guy called Li Dai Guo, a super skilled improvisor who's proficient on at least a dozen traditional instruments, and who fuses those with more modern sounds, samples, beatboxing (!), experimental vocals, the result is pretty fantastic based on this single, which apparently consists of a series of sonic advertisements for various locations he found appealing during his 6 year stay in the city of Chengdu, the buzz of a traditional Chinese stringed instrument, is laid over weird percussive burbling, and laced with fluttering flute like melodies, before blossoming into a strangely lush bit of choral drift, throat singing, beatboxing, and all manner of humming and crooning. Other tracks take the traditional instruments, and add a bit of propulsion, while others get downright far out, chirping birds, what sounds like prepared instrumentation, operatic vocals, moaning violin like melodies, moving and dramatic, and still others add horns and approximate what sounds a bit like Klezmer music. From there on out, the sound flits from modern grooves to minimal Chinese folk, to what sounds like a strange electronic musique concrete / traditional folk hybrid. So cool.
Housed in a super cool fold out map sleeve, with pasted on artwork. Probably quite limited too, and if/when we run out, be patient as we have to order more from China!
This actually came out last year, and we'd been wanting to review it (and confer upon it Record Of The Week status) ever since, but held off until we were able to do an order directly with the PSF label in Japan and thus get a bunch of 'em for a better price ($16.98 being not that bad for a Japanese import these days, eh?). Finally, they're here, and this is the Week it gets to be a Record Of, though really it's a timeless piece of work that we've been enjoying for a while now, as we said.
Why the high honors? Well, we know there are those of you (and of us) who love guitar, loud GUITAR. Y'know, who just bow down to sheer, untrammeled outward bound electric six string axe action. This is for YOU. Another amplifier worshipping guitar god for you, in turn, to worship, one we can readily place in that eternal electric guitar pantheon that includes among noisy others Jimi Hendrix, Randy Holden, Ax Genrich, Masayuki Takayanagi, Uli Jon Roth, Caspar Brotzmann, Keiji Haino, J. Mascis, Thurston Moore, Matthew Bower, Campbell Kneale, and, well, Li Jianhong! Perhaps you've heard of him already, after all, we've reviewed at least one of his previous solo releases (on aRCHIVE), and also his noise guitar/drums duo D!O!D!O!D! (also on PSF), and drone guitar/laptop duo VagusNerve (on Utech). This, though, definitely the best thing from him we've heard yet, and is his first solo album for PSF, where he most definitely belongs, alongside the likes of Haino, Takayanagi, and High Rise's Munehiro Narita. Though, he's not Japanese, he's Chinese and as PSF says, is "China's hottest, loudest and most psychedelic avant-noise guitarist". Dunno why you wouldn't just believe that but if you want definite proof, here it is, take a listen!
It's mindbending, utterly mesmerizing stuff, pushing into the red at all times almost, but also supremely controlled, like an elemental under command, lotsa "static" but not static, instead always moving forward into searing, cosmic white light oblivion... The disc is seventy minutes long, comprising two longer-than-side-long tracks (32:47 and 37:15), but it pretty much stops time when you're listening. Ultra droney deep distorted sheets of amped up sound, howling wah wah fuzz fuzz to the extreme, cranked to 11 (though we dare you to dial it up half that high at home), but what's got us is that he's definitely playing, we mean SOLOING, melodically, the whole time pretty much. So it's got that Earthless, endlessly jamming guitar solo vibe to it, but imagine Earthless that sounds more like Earth (the band), and it's JUST guitar too, though it sounds like more than one of 'em. Jianhong never lets it turn into unrecognizably guitar-generated skronky noise, it's not like Metal Machine Music or Solmania or Merzbow, though they're on the horizon perhaps. Even at its most abstract, when it sounds like a jet airplane engine drone or an ecstatic chorus of angelic screams, wavering and echoing, you can still picture him wielding his axe in a classic guitar hero pose, conjuring all sounds with his fingers, strings, amp, and intervening pedals.
Of the two tracks, the 1st is more active and "shreddy", 2nd is calmer, but still full of energy and motion. Both are beautiful... if you think sounds like grinding whale calls having close encounters with UFOs and swarms of bees in a hurricane can be beautiful. Pretty much a must-have for fans of such artists as Urthona, Ulaan Khol, Keiji Haino, Earth, Boris (in their Absolutego / Feedbacker / Cloud Chamber mode), Skullflower, Makoto Kawabata & Acid Mothers Temple, Neil Young (on Arc anyway), etc. Bow down!!
51 minutes, 1 track. 1 guitar, 1 guy: Li Jianhong. No, we didn't think we'd ever heard of him, either. But this is an aRCHIVE release, super limited and super swank, which means that we HAD to order a bunch in. We trust those guys, aRCHIVE. And we're glad we did, this is great! That is, if you're into distortion and feedback and heavy drone guitar like we are. This is extremely droney, very vast and very physical, sheets of glorious amped up fuzz. What's not to like? It moves forward with energy, building, swelling, keening, billowing. Rising and falling, at about 30 minutes in, subsiding from a dense, intense drone-tone into a mellower respite, before Li Jianhong leans on his amps/pedals/volume knob/etc. and dials up the distortion yet again.
He's the Chinese Keiji Haino perhaps, but without any of the shrieking vocals. Yep, this is some nice, thick, bleak psychedelia (it says so on the sleeve, "bleak" and "psychedelia" being some of the only text not in Chinese, and it's true).
Turns out Li's a member of PSF label noise band D!O!D!O!D!, reviewed here a while back, and has some other solo works out on his own label... we'll definitely look out for more from him in future... While D!O!O!O!D! was one for improv skree-lovin' noiseniks only, we wouldn't hesitate to recommend THIS to fans of, say, Boris's Feedbacker. And the likes of Suishou No Fune and LSD-march. Also Nadja, Fear Falls Burning, Birchville Cat Motel...
LIMITED TO ONLY 500 copies. Packaged in a tri-fold sleeve featuring live photos of an impassioned performance by Li, inside a tri-fold vellum wrapper bearing a image of a craggy mountain peak.
This is the first we've heard from this local synth pop combo, who manage to mix the lilting indie jangle of that Slumberland Records sound with old school classic eighties new wave into a sweet electro pop confection. Programmed drums, buzzing crackling synths, ethereal female vocals, occasional boy/girl harmonies, all sort of hazy and softly psychedelic. The sound is alternately crunchy and fuzzy and surprisingly aggressive, and wistful and dreamily shimmery. The A side title track is the A side for a reason, hooky as hell, and the sort of song former aQ staffer Irwin would claim would be just the thing to get your body moving. While the B side takes the same elements and crafts something a bit broodier, and almost ballad, that creeps and drifts darkly, but is peppered with bursts of wild squelching synths, and is laced with chiming melodies, reminding us a bit of Stereolab, and like minded retro-poppers. The included download adds another track, which fuses some seriously gristly rhythms, to acoustic guitars, and some wild, noisy synth splatter, but weaves it all into a driving electro-synth jam that's got some heft to it, while still managing to be dreamy and divinely poppy!
Another great reissue from the Hit Thing label! Joining the Georges Montalba pipe organ cd on their catalog is this mysterious European minimal industrial album from the very early '80s.
Liaisons Dangereuses were primarily two individuals, Beate Bartel (who in later years went on to form Malaria!) and Chris Haas (a founding member of DAF). They were accompanied on vocals by Krishna Goineau who sang in French, German and Spanish (a few customers have mistaken his flamboyant delivery for that of Falco). Very much akin to Einsturzende Neubauten, The Normal, Suicide and DAF. Edgy, dark and throbbing, the programmed nailgun-like beats are punctuated by Goineau's impassioned singing/speaking, some high pitched female backing vocals, squidgy electronic belches, an occasional saxophone run, and much metallic clanks and thuds. It was all mixed at Conny Plank's studio. The one track here that may be familiar is their dance 'hit' "Los Ninos Del Parque", however L.D.'s impact goes beyond this one song. Indeed they were/are highly regarded and very influential in techno, house and yes, electroclash circles. Fans of present-day electro, EBM, post punk and no wave should definitely check this out as it's the real deal - solidly kicking ass on many of the current crop. This album sits quite perfectly next to the Teutonik Disaster compilation that we recently reviewed as fine historical documents of the early '80s European sounds. May leave you reeling.
Another awesome discovery from Chinese black metal label Pest Productions. A few lists back we reviewed the bafflingly brilliant depressive black metal outfit Heartless, with its over the top vocals, and surprisingly twisted blackened sound, as well as the killer outsider blackness of Icelandic horde Dysthymia, and now we have the oddly named Liam, a German post rock / black metal outfit whose washed out shoegazey depressive drift should definitely hit the spot for anyone into Alcest, Ameseours, Les Discrets, Lifelover and other pop minded blackened outfits.
Journey... Two Years and a Fragment collects two long out of print eps, 2007's My Journey To The Sky and 2008's Two Years And A Fragment. My Journey To The Sky is all instrumental, and plays out much more like a metallic post rock record, the blackness mostly implied, the chords ring out, the arrangements are epic and slow building, the crescendos massive, the sound mathy and mesmerizing, the vibe melancholy, washed out and dreamy, definitely super shoegazey, more Mogwai than Mutiilation for sure, the songs are so majestic and melodic, in fact, if these guys didn't simply consider themselves a black metal band, odds are no one would even know.
Two Years And A Fragment is a very slightly blacker beast, kicking off with some harsh vokills, but they quickly fade into the background, leaving just a darkly buzzy gloom pop, the vocals WAY down in the mix, the sound lush, and buzzy, but so melodic and minor key, and with plenty of clean vocals, definitely reminding us of a more depressive Lifelover, or a way less melodic Katatonia. The arrangements are awesome though, the stop start chug, the clean vocal harmonies, and the swoonsome melodic miserablism. Long stretches of buzzy prettiness, three songs clocking in at about 28 minutes, but it sort of sounds like three movements of one single epic track, heavy for sure, and there are harsh vox, but overall this is just some fantastically melodic, hook filled epic shoegazey gloom pop, and we love it. Definitely not heavy enough for the grim throng, but fans of this sort of thing will maybe have a new favorite band, and all you metallic post rock obsessives, here's your chance to dabble in something a bit blacker. But only a bit.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Liar Ball is a dandy collaborative project by AQ pal Wobbly and Ball 2000! Right from the get go, it's made perfectly clear that they're not gonna let you get all comfy listenin' to this disc. No, just when you think they might be settling into a followable rhythm or playful melody, a sonic bump in the road pops to toss you out of your smooth head-bobbin' roll, and sometimes they even derail completely. Sorta the musical equivalent of a shopping cart with a gimpy wheel... in the best possible way! But things aren't all off-kilter kookiness, by the fifth track "You Are A Dolphin", Liar Ball has transported the listener into darker, more mysterious territory, only to re-surface in funland for the closing two tracks. Note: don't be alarmed by the packaging... it appears that they recycled cut-out jewelcases (hence the melted nick in the spine) and festooned them with assorted stickers and labels.
A new release on Profound Lore, featuring members of Wolvhammer, Nachtmystium and Mourner. Now it's just a question of what stripe of metal it might be. Grim black, warped death, filthy crust? You'd be wrong on all counts, cuz Liar In Wait, while boasting a serious metal pedigree, is not metal at all. It's still dark, and gloomy, and maybe a little grim, but it's actually death rock, or gloom pop, or some hybrid of the two. And really, it's not surprising considering most metalheads have a soft spot for gloomy old pop and goth rock, whether it be Depeche Mode or Christian Death, Fields Of The Nephillim or Sisters Of Mercy. And really if you like any of those, then this just might hit the spot. Four songs, of brooding bass driven gloom rock miserablism, Joy Division-y basslines under chiming minor key guitars, deep crooned vox, softly psychedelic, heavy at times, but much more atmospheric and gothic. While not as great as say Soror Dolorosa, it's still pretty good, and death rockers, gloomy metalheads and depressed goths should all be able to get into this. The perfect soundtrack for depressed wanders through a dark and decaying city, or just a night home laying in the dark.
Seems to be a lot of Liars haters out there. But hasn't the Right Wing taught us anything about hate? That when something is hated so much, it attracts people to see for themselves, and in opposition, not only like it, but defend it! Maybe in some kind of paranoid Machiavellian plot, the haters are actually on the Liars payroll, because we couldn't help but like Drum's Not Dead. Sure the flimsy "concept" about the creative process between two opposing figures, Drum and Mt. Heart Attack, falls a little flat. And they only have two ideas here (mathy percussive heavy clattery shreik and murky drony ambient murmuring), obvously inspired by sipping from the Black Dice / Animal Collective teapot. But at the end of the day it comes down to this, Drum's Not Dead is just a way more enjoyable listen than the latest outings from Black Dice (Broken Ear Record) or Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice (Gypsy Freedom) or a handful of other avant rockers. What can you do? They make the rain feel good. Check it out.
Liars are such a strange band, we've mentioned it before, but it definitely bears repeating, it seems like they get some sort of sick satisfaction out of gleefully subverting all expectations, some sort of thrill from annoying their loyal fanbase. Every record could go in any of a million directions, some far less appealing than others, and often, it's those less appealing directions that the band find most alluring. So it's usually best to approach a new Liars record prepared to be, at the very least disappointed, quite possibly pissed off.
Sisterworld however was immediately appealing, yeah, sure, a bit weird, but it's the Liars, this time they unfurl a sort of slow burning mystery of a record, super dramatic, with some gorgeous guitar playing and rough, whiskey soaked vocals, moaning cellos, sweet vocal harmonies, a twisted dark pop, with bursts of angular noise rock. Album opener "Scissor" might be one of the best songs they've written, with brooding, moody verses, a soaring bridge with lush harmony vocals, and a crashing synth driven breakdown blow out.
The rest of the record is sort of a schizophrenic mess, but in a good way, the band dipping their toes into woozy gloom pop, twisted cabaret, dreamy swirly string laden swoon, weird angular synth punk, hushed crystalline balladry, skeletal new wave, atonal noise flecked indie rock, furious buzzing dirge rock, but all the various shades and permutations held together, by that Liars vibe that's hard to quantify, but for being as scattershot as Sisterworld seems, it's also a weirdly cohesive set of songs, twisted for sure, but well crafted, and oddly and subtly catchy to boot.
While they last, we have the super deluxe, double disc, which comes in an incredible accordion foldout mini hard cover die cut book packaging, and a whole disc of remixes, from folks like Atlas Sound, Tunde Adebimpe from TV On The Radio, the Melvins (!), Devendra Banhart, Thom Yorke, Boyd Rice and more! Most of the remixes are super radical, the songs all twisted up and reimagined, without losing the essence of the originals, a few add electronics, a couple get all chopped and screwed and looped, one or two are heavied up, and one even gets some female rapper action, pretty wacked, but what would you expect from a remix of a record that's already pretty weird to begin with? The more we listen to the remix disc, we almost might like it more than the record proper....
Well, here we have another band mining the whole 99/Y records arty disco punk legacy (see also: !!!, Rapture, etc). In this Mute re-release of their Gern Blandsten debut (a sign, perhaps, of blow-up potential), Liars certainly aren't trying to hide their influences; hell, they make a whole track out of putting lyrics over ESG's "UFO." Now that would be a criticism- only the Liars are really fucking good at what they do. Vocalist Angus Andrews has the perfect super tough shout/growl to pull of the hefty dose of bad attitude spewed by their abstractly funky tunes, home to the requisite dance beats and heavy bass alongside cold noise and drum machine. The short album of ass-shakers is topped off with a 30-minute looped epic, which is either hypnotic or dreadfully boring, I'm not sure. Anyway, "They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top" will find a cozy place in your record collection next to the Pop Group and Liquid Liquid, as well as a place in magazine articles about new hot shit bands from NYC. And hey, they deserve it.
It's tough being a Liars fan. They seem to exist to confuse and confound, almost every record dramatically different than the last, this new one is no different. That is to say, it's TOTALLY different. But it might just be our favorite on yet. Another dramatic shift in style and sound finds these guys conjuring up a strange, droned out electro-pop. Raspy Peter Gabriel sounding vocals over billows of synths, skeletal rhythms, that can be churning and robotic one second, krautrocky and propulsive the next, and then even sorta dubsteppy the next, with thick slabs of wobbly bass. The sound on the surface is spare, but there's a lot going on, with layered loops, vocal snippets that are sliced and diced and collaged into strange melodies, or made into rhythms themselves, some twisted mad scientist beats, but those beats tend to be engineered for maximum mesmer, instead of the dancefloor. That said, plenty of these tracks do have some groove to them, it's just that those grooves often act more as textural framework, for songs that without would otherwise drift aimlessly. Some of the tracks here have a sort of nocturnal downtempo Portishead style vibe, but most of the record actually sounds a bit like Radiohead, fusing a sort of alien future funk to some sort of minimal electronic pop, like an underwater Kid A, murky and muted, sort of laid back, but also kind of driving, and hypnotic and mesmerizingly addictive. Sans vocals, this could be some mysterious minimal electronica, but the Liars transform it into their own brand of electro pop minimalism.
Lp version includes a cd cope as well!
Every new Liars album brings with it some fretful hesitation as to what direction they'll venture into next. Not afraid of alienating their fan base in favor of exploring some obsessive but ultimately impenetrable concept, Liars have a love 'em or hate 'em relationship with most folks. After the atmospheric and rhythm-heavy Drums Not Dead, Liars bring the guitar riff back into full focus, and deliver for the first time in a while a relatively straight ahead rock record, but not in a way they've done before. There's no underlying concept to negotiate and the song structures are concise and compact. Yet they're still pushing these self-imposed limitations into kaleidoscopic realms that are sort of dubby, proggy, damaged and yet melodic. Lurching from furious and dissonant assaults into charged and sublime pop hooks. It's quite possibly their best record yet.
More frantic punk disco from the Liars. As we mentioned before, these boys wear their post-punk influences on their sleeve (Pop Group, ESG and the like), but they perform with such a raw, visceral intensity that they rise above mere redundancy. These three new tough, sweatily sexy tracks definitely hit the spot.
Not sure what to say about these guys. Wanted to hate 'em with all the hype and next big thing talk being thrown around, but damn if they aren't pretty cool and weird and kickass. With an obvious sense of humor, the Liars kick out atonal blasts of jagged post punk/new wave absurdism on this, their second album, that is sometimes annoying as fuck, but just as often has us bobbing our heads, tapping our feet and wanting to hit the dance floor and squirm and wiggle our contorted bodies to the sort-of-grooves and obtuse rhythms!
Not to be confused with the Trunk Records compilation of Norwegian composer Sven Libaek's film scores that had the same name and cover photo, this Votary Records reissue is the actual full soundtrack to the 1973 Australian undersea nature documentary, Inner Space, from which only four songs were included on that previous Trunk comp. But they were among our favorite tracks on that disc, not only because of their inclusion in Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic, which used the film Inner Space as a referential touchstone, but because they are some of the most alluring and evocative jazz pop scores we have ever heard. A hallmark of what would be called in library music circles as "underwater music", Libaek captures haunting and wondrous melodic scores that carry just the right tone of curiosity, beauty and mystery found in the life of deep ocean waters. Remastered from the original tapes and including some of the best Australian Library musicians, such as John Sangster from the band Tully and an amazing soundtrack composer in his own right. Full of vibes, piano and flutes, Libaek's film score work recalls the best of John Barry, Vince Guaraldi and John Cameron, composer of Kes and Psychomania. 180 gram record in deluxe gatefold with extensive liner notes. Amazing!
Do You like sixties pop-jazz with your underwater nature films? Then you will love this. Norwegian composer, Sven Libaek scored dozens of Australian science and nature films in the sixties and Trunk Records has compiled some of the best examples here. Some of you may be familiar with Libaek's work for Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic, which featured four of Libaek's themes in the score. Full of vibes, piano and strings, Libaek's film score work recalls the best of John Barry, Vince Guaraldi and John Cameron, composer of Kes and Psychomania. Totally Awesome!
The soundtrack reissue campaign of this Australian (by way of Norway) jazz composer keeps rolling along. A few lists back, we reviewed his score for Inner Space, a nature documentary made for television about the Ocean and its inhabitants (notably sharks!), and this week we got another knockout eco-jazz score about the Australian Outback. We have been in love with Libaek ever since the Trunk Records compilation of lost film scores came out a few years ago (now sadly out of print), and his music was also famously included in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic. Now that many of his film scores are seeing proper reissues, including The Set, Libaek's only non-documentary film score, and Ride A Pale Horse, from a film about about Australian Surfing, we'll try to review those as well.
Nature Walkabout opens with a fanfare of horns in a swinging reverie of flutes and drums. Libaek's trademark style is both pastoral and upbeat, mysterious and lighthearted. Comparable to composers such as John Barry, Henry Mancini and Vince Guaraldi, utilizing harmonicas, pianos and vibes in endearing melodies that seem to describe the delicate nuances, both beautiful and dangerous of the wild Australian landscape and the birds, mammals and snakes that inhabit it rather perfectly. Fans of library music, nature scores and cinematic pastoral jazz, take note!
RECORD STORE DAY 2016 ITEM!
A late but welcome RSD arrival is the latest and last remastered reissue of the four Sven Libaek film soundtracks from the nineteen sixties. To Ride A White Horse (1966) was an Australian surfing documentary that came out in the wake of the globally popular surfing film Endless Summer. Libaek's jazzy film score is tops, evoking a sublime wonderment of flutes, vibes and piano that run counter to the typical American surf guitar music we often hear in such contexts. The effect, as with all Libaek's documentary scores, underpins the theme of man's relationship to the natural world, seeking solidarity with nature rather than trying to conquer it. A beautiful moving score and if you were into Inner Space or Nature Walkabout, don't miss out on this brilliant wave.
Don't know 'bout you, but we've found it a bit irksome (and laughable) how bands who've only released a couple of albums have been getting "Best Of" cds. Yes, it's true that audience attention spans have gotten so short, popular music fans are seemingly at their most fickle, and as a result the shelf life of bands has too. So shrewd record company marketing departments have adopted the "Best Of" release as a ploy to remind fans of the band/pop star they held so dear only a couple years or months ago (possibly the worst one to date? "The Best of Martika"). Often they have arbitrarily selected songs to pad up the 'hits'. Yeeesh, we guess it's not really lie if they really do think the chosen songs are the BEST of the artist's body of work, but...
Anyhoo, this is our longwinded introduction to The Libertines' Time For Heroes cd. Yeah, they were probably more known for band member Pete Doherty and Kate Moss' tabloid exploits than their music. That's sort of unfortunate because they were a pretty good U.K. band with two albums that had A FEW good, solidly catchy, swaggering songs that blended garage rawk revivalism and post-punk fervor... you get them all here. Time For Heroes features what someone (apparently some were fans) deemed the band's best material from their 2004 self-titled sophomore album and 2002 debut Up The Bracket along with some b-sides. Heck, both albums in their entirety could probably fit on the one cd... and then they could've called it "ALL Of The Libertines"! Hahahaha. So silly.
With the monstrous hype machine churning away for this UK band (there's even a glowing testimonial from The Clash's Mick Jones plastered on the shrinkwrap!), I was really braced for disappointment, but y'know what? The Libertines are a-ok! They're pretty darn fun, and just might have you sock-hoppin' around your living room in no time. Yes, they do get compare quite a bit to the aforementioned Clash, but it's primarily apparent in their gritty energy and Brit badboy posturing rather than in any social or political agenda. They actually possess more pop bounce making them more comparable to The Jam. Plus, they have the added charming attraction of an audible genuine Brit accent in the vocals.
Most of you have yet to hear the mighty Solar Anus, Japan's masters of stumbling psychedelic doom (although thanks to tUMULt's forthcoming double cd collection of the first three SA albums, you soon will -- beware!), but in the mean time, Solar Anus mainman
A vinyl reissue of this rare '70s Italian horror movie soundtrack (for cult director Mario Bava's 1977 film "Schock"), composed and performed by a very Goblin-like band called Libra. Fittingly for the murderous, paranormal goings-on of Bava's flick, this album is full of gothic keyboards, eerie wordless vocal choirs, queasy prog-funk synth vamps, and ominous drum-scapes. Libra really rock out on the Schock theme, while elsewhere they deal in creepy electronic ambience. Bands like Libra can make sweet lullabies seem scarier than full-on screams and metal guitars, and yet their spooky piano instrumentals wouldn't be out of place if used as intros for Cradle Of Filth songs. Soundtrack/horror/Goblin fans will be pleased.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
On this solo venture, Ash Bowie (former guitarist for Polvo and Helium) rips it up and makes a quite a raucous din. Not unlike early-mid Sebadoh (a la "III" which I loved to bits). In fact on track #4 called "Toy Planetarium" Ash does his best whisper-y voiced, plunky guitared Lou Barlow. Then moves on into more strummy distorted chords and peculiar melodic mish mash. One moment gently emo-indie and the next noisy enfant terrible. 14 tracks in all.
In the interview / temper-tantrum given by Kid 606 to The Wire, the Kid complained that with each album he sold, he inevitably gets a demo in return, and thus offered proof of the growing aesthetic culture of juvenile cyberpunks. The sound of Libythth is more than likely what the majority of those demotapes must sound like, with drum machines and MIDI patches triggering modulated
Libythth is the wacky electro-percussion project from the same sick mind who came up with the Guy Albino persona in Hawd Gangstuh Rappuhs MCs Wid Ghatz. "Dissolve A Diamond" is the first recording for the Libythth project, being a spasmodic spluttering of car-crashed electronic rhythms and bango jangle. Think Matmos attempting to collaborate with Atom & His Package... so silly it borders on the painfully moronic.
8-bit, Nintendo, thrash metal. We're putting those keywords up at the start of this review to grab your attention, just in case you've never heard of Lich King before. Or even if you have, 'cause this ain't anything like the usual record by 'em. Massachusetts' zombie-lovin' Lich King are a New Wave Of Old School Thrash band, one of many these days (there's quite a glut), and they're pretty good. Although we've never felt compelled to actually review any of their albums before, some of the metalheads here do own a couple Lich King discs themselves. Even moreso than some other current retro thrash revivalists like Gama Bomb and Municipal Waste, Lich King are probably best known for their overt sense of humor. They write songs with titles like "Black Metal Sucks", "Behaver", and (they deserve an award, or at least a chuckle, for this one) "Attack Of The Wrath Of The War Of The Death Of The Strike Of The Sword Of The Blood Of The Beast". There's a tradition of fun and humor in '80s thrash metal after all (Anthrax! S.O.D.!), so their silliness makes 'em all the more authentic, especially since it doesn't stop 'em from spitting out some totally legit riffage, in the vein of Slayer and Nuclear Assault and Exodus, et. al.
With this release, for their own amusement mainly, the boys in Lich King decided to get even sillier, and recorded a bunch of their own tunes 8-bit chiptune '80s video game style!! Perhaps they were inspired by the internet-only fan band 8 Bit Mayhem's black metal covers (whose "De Mysteriis Dom Supernes" album is well worth Googling). Or maybe AQ fave Xexyz (if you liked that, you want this!). Certainly they were inspired by their own childhoods, playing Nintendo. In any case, a cool idea. With Super Retro Thrash, it's revealed just how catchy Lich King's songs really are. Stripped of vocals and guitar distortion, here it's all about the "riffs" and rhythms. And they're relentless, mind numbingly mesmerizing, we're lovin' it.
There's 9 songs here, including two unreleased as yet tunes from Lich King's next, upcoming proper album. And yes, among the "hits" they've selected, you get an 8-bit version of "Attack Of The Wrath Of The...", along with chipped-out takes on "ED-209" (their Robocop themed song), "Combat Mosh", "Toxic Zombie Onslaught", and more, including also the aforementioned "Black Metal Sucks".
The ironic thing is, not only is this the first Lich King album we've ever reviewed, we're also honestly more into it than any other of their "actual" albums, having listened to it lots more already (it's addictive!), AND surely will sell lots more of these than we would of any other Lich King release ever. We pretty sure it will be a big AQ hit like the Xexyz, or the Iron Maiden electro album. Meanwhile, it's something THEY thought only a few fans would want, it's limited to just 299 numbered copies!!! We got a bunch, but dunno if we'll be able to get (m)any more. The graphics are great, parodying an actual NES cartridge (we love the little lo-res Lich King guy depicted on there, rushing around Mario-style), photographed like it's sitting on a shaggy green carpet in someone's family room back in the '80s.
Robert Lowe, of the now defunct 90 Day Men, as well as part time member of TV On The Radio, delivers his first solo record, using the name Lichens, and creates a ghostly otherworld, using primarily his voice. That's right. An acapella record. Well, mostly. Lowe's haunting impressionistic vocals are drenched in reverb and sent drifitng into the ether, a soft fluttering falsetto most of the time, a low monk like chant at others, swooping through ominous minor key melodies, over simple sparkling guitar lines, wrapped in a warm and shimmery haze, over a bed of rumbling drones and occasional chiming percussion. Delicate crystalline soundscapes equal parts Pelt, Sigur Ros, Scott Tuma and Jewelled Antler. All three tracks recorded live with no overdubs, all completely otherworldly and breathtakingly lovely.
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Finally, the debut from these Swedish twisted doom pop black metal freeks is available once again. We listed record number two, Erotik, a while back, and like us, everybody freaked out, digging these guys' strangely off kilter black melancholia, so much that we had trouble keeping it in stock. Like a damaged, blackened Katatonia, Lifelover are creating some of the most original and not entirely black, black metal we've heard in ages.�
On the same label that brought us discs from�Bone Awl, Urfaust, Planet Aids, Vrolok, Emit, Gauhaert, Lifelover's sound couldn't have been further from what we were expecting. Our first clue should have been the cover art. A series of photos of a nude blonde woman, covered in blood, reclining in lush grass and blossoming wildflowers. Inside, old woodcuts, photos of boats, apartment buildings, and then the creepy band photos, featuring all four members, the strangely named (), B, LR and 1853.
But what exactly does it sound like? Well, Katatonia is definitely a good starting point, super moody and melancholic, soaring and dramatic, guitars that do almost everything else but buzz, jangle, strum, shimmer, keen, roar, and ok, maybe they buzz a bit, but they tend to be much more melodic than textural, although the sounds is definitely lush and layered. The arrangements are simple, but never straight forward, there is piano all over the place, the vocals are wild and unkempt, howling and hysterical,� sometimes haunting and spoken, drenched in reverb, the drums go from simple time keeping to strange stumble to thunderous pound usually during the same song, and amidst and within the music are all manner of samples and found sounds, Swedish folk songs, panicked crowds, weird voices, record crackle, amp buzz, and lots of other indescribably sonic events.�
It's easy to hear some Factory records here, some Joy Division for sure, definitely a bit of the Fall, Gang Of Four. Minus the metallic buzz and the unhinged vocals, these guys might even be entering Interpol / Editors territory. A sort of modern moody new wave. Downcast and introspective, but with Lifelover, it all ends up completely twisted and damaged and a bit buzzy. In a very very good way. There's been much discussion here about which Lifelover record is better, Pulver or Erotik, and the split is pretty even, but no matter which side anyone falls on, they definitely agree that BOTH are absolutely essential.
It's strange watching videos of Lifelover performing live. With the sound turned down, you would probably think you were watching the sickest, noisiest, grimmest band ever, the frontman in a white shirt, seemingly in some sort of trance at the front of the stage, cutting himself up until he's a sopping bloody mess, covered in scars, his mouth wide open, seemingly howling demonically, but as most of you already know, the sound of Lifelover is far removed from grim black buzz, or dirgey blackened sludge, instead, they traffic is a sort of doom pop, surprisingly melodic, still metallic, but often with piano, and synths, juxtaposing wild hysterical vox, with music that is frankly not that far removed from the mainstream. But that's the magic of Lifelover, they are a seriously twisted entity, sonic and otherwise, their records sprawling confusional free for all's that shift tone and timbre constantly, brooding and dark one minute, wild and heavy the next, the vocals over the top and super dramatic. A sound that's dark and depressive, but totally melodic and catchy. We've loved pretty much every record so far, and their records get played all the time in the shop, even by the non metalheads, especially by the non metalheads. That's not to say this is not metal, it most definitely is, just its own unique strain.
On first listen, we were tempted to proclaim Sjukdom the heaviest Lifelover yet, and while repeated listens do reveal the record's hidden melodic secrets, we definitely think the ratio of distorted heaviness to plaintive melancholy doom pop is definitely above average here.
The opener sets the tone, with some seriously chuggy metallic riffage, but laced over some mournful minor key piano, the vocals slipping from anguished shriek to more guttural howl, the song surprisingly catchy, the drums weirdly processed so they almost sound programmed, the track slipping into an almost punk rock blast before slipping right back into the more metallic midtempo crunch.
It's definitely the best sounding Lifelover yet, in terms of production, the guitars are massive, thick, super distorted, the vocals manage to be audible, bizarre, but not overbearing, the drums might be the only weak spot, triggered sounding, but as the record grows on you, the drums start to sound, right, somehow. And the songs, super catchy, melding the sort of Katatonia style depressive metallic melancholia, with depressive black metal ambience, the piano, which sort of defines their sound, as much as the guitars certainly, and the vocals, which are so emotional, expressive, tortured, bizarre, grunting to shrieking, to whispering to mewling.
And beyond the Lifelover 'sound', these guys do whip up some fantastic audio weirdness, peppering the record with strange samples, swirling snippets of other songs, haunting interludes, mysterious stretches of ambience, even whole songs that totally stand out, like "Bitterljuv Kakofoni", with its hushed backwards guitars, tortured growled vox, all over a weird super minimal, ultra distorted rhythm, laced with minimal piano, and haunting guitar twang, creepy and beautiful. There's also the strummy blissy "Utdrag", that sounds like Lifelover's take on jangle pop, sounding a bit like the singer's other outfit Hypothermia, minus the piano.
If you liked the other Lifelovers, you're gonna dig this one too, not their weirdest, but definitely their catchiest, and best produced, and it's a total grower. At first we were convinced it could never live up to Erotik or Pulver, but now we find ourselves listening to it like crazy, and digging it as much as those other ones if not more.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
From its humble beginnings as a genre, black metal has changed dramatically, transformed into something style and sound based rather than belief based. And where black metal was once strictly the province of the grim and kvlt, and yes, the actual metalheads, it's now gained a certain cache, a definite hip factor, where any band, metal or not, is likely to feature one member with his or her own solo black metal project. We're not complaining, not in the least, it's these fresh injections into black metal's sonic gene pool that keep it interesting, that produce more and more strange and wonderful variations, a great many perpetrated by folks new to metal completely, who were lured to the darkside by black metal specifically, its mystery and unique sound, the sonic possibilities offered by its murky symphony of buzz and blast, rumble and shriek, sounds easily twisted into all manner of shapes.
We got this particular cd-r in the mail a few weeks ago, and as we've mentioned before we do get quite a few. Our first impression was that it would most likely be some sort of minimal drone record, very stark white packaging, hand made, the band is called Light, with song titles like "When The Green Midwestern Sky Comes Crashing Down", and "When The Flood Waters Come Rushing In", the packaging unfolds to reveal nothing but the song titles, rendered in a flowery script, but on the disc, there was what appears to be a smear of actual blood (which we later discovered was in fact menstrual blood!). The first clue as to what sort of mysterious darkness lurked inside...
Once we threw it on, we knew this was something else entirely, there is plenty of drone indeed, but the drone is only one element of Light's mysterious lugubrious buzz drenched blackened crawl. Almost like a more lo-fi Skepticism, Light trudge along at tarpit tempos, the guitars not so much riffing as unfurling thick swirls of soft fuzz, the vocals howled and wailed, but way off in the distance, the drums strangely un-drumlike, more like pots and pans, a clattery, skeletal percussion, the whole thing held together by the warm dramatic keyboards, that sound like the Haunted Mansion soundtrack played at 16rpm, all smeared and blurred together into something only barely black metal, only barely doom, a thick lurching slow motion black doomdrone, evocative and cinematic, at once epic and sprawling, lo-fi and ultra personal. Creepy and haunting, but strangely melodic and beautiful. Think Trollmann, Abruptum, Celestiial, Catacombs, Monument of Urns and again Skepticism, but filtered through the cracked lo-fi filter of underground cd-r dronemusic. If one was unfamiliar with black metal, one might be reminded of Lustmord, or some other sort of deathambient, but with the confusional addition of actual riffs, and those hellish vox, and the strange primitive percussion, the end result a sort of metallicized slowcore, or a washed out ultradoom, or a blurred bleary black metal, however you describe it, Light have crafted some truly original, gorgeously bleak, warm and almost dreamy, slow motion buzzing black beauty.
Hand folded, hand assembled, stark white sleeves, with a Japanese style obi, and an extra inner sleeve, crazy limited to maybe 50 copies or so.
Earlier this year, we reviewed a super limited avant outsider blackened doom record called A Million Dead Beneath The Ice, by a duo called Light. Which was anything but light, in fact, it was one of the darkest and most harrowing discs we'd heard in a long time, a slow motion drone drenched funereal crawl, with a lush almost orchestrated feel that definitely reminded us of Skepticism. And if anything, record number two, the awesomely titled Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever is even more! More black, more doomy, more droney, more beautiful, more harsh and more bizarre.
One long hour long track, which begins with a slowly cycling piano figure, draped over a wash of reverbed tones, distant rumbles, the sound gorgeous, slightly atonal, ominous and sinister, and then there are the vocals, a nearly impossible to describe high pitched shriek, that almost sounds like someone screaming as they breathe in, a twisted strangled howl, totally at odds with the music underneath, reminding us a bit of Tomb Of..., who also paired up piano and black metal vokills, but Light seems borne more of a free noise aesthetic. Minus the vocals, the sound on Life Is Meaningless, is a sort of abstract slowcore crawl, a little post rocky, a little doomy, a bit of black ambient drift, but the vocals are just SOOOO creepy, it definitely pushes it into a whole other realm. And suddenly what could have been something darkly pretty, becomes something fucked up and grimly gorgeous.
Like the first release (which is long out of print so don't ask), the packaging is a hand folded, hand assembled, plain grey origami style sleeve, with a Japanese style obi, and an extra inner sleeve, as well as a hand written insert, and again crazy limited to less than 50 COPIES!!
Third and final release from this depressive black doom duo, and it's a fitting epitaph to a short but brilliant streak. Three super limited cd-r's, less than 200 all told, each one overflowing with blackened misery and gorgeous harrowing sonic blackness, the first, titled A Million Dead Beneath The Ice, gave way to the second, titled Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever, which brings us to Worse Than Anyone Would Have Expected, which should give you a decent impression of the overall vibe and tone of Light's distinctly UN-light sound.
Three looooooong tracks, thick caustic layers of buzzing low end drone, sparsely strummed acoustic guitar, shrieked vocals way down in the mix, funereal, glacial, miserable, not even plodding as there seems to be no drums, or if they are there, they're practically inaudible. The melodies are lilting and melancholic, there's some piano, the rumbling buzzing backdrop seems to coalesce into some sort of melody, the whole thing lurching in slow motion, grim, and dense, and miserably and mournfully lovely. Totally hypnotic .
The second track offers up more of the same, another lovely black expanse of pointillist piano, harrowing screams, and slow swells of black buzz, before finally segueing into the epic closing track, a formula similar to the first two, but somehow even slower, more abject, more ambient, so slow and spaced out and minimal, that it nearly ceases being metal or doom and is transformed into some sort of black ambient slowcore, a haunting doomic creep, that to these ears is as pretty as it is grim and harsh.
LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES. Gorgeous packaging, black on black, black disc, elaborately folded sleeve with a black on black printed obi, super fancy, and most likely gone before you know it...
Three out of print cd-r's from this outsider blackened doom duo, A Million Dead Beneath The Ice, Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever and Worse Than Anyone Would Have Expected, all available again, now repackaged and offered together as a single triple cd-r boxset, with all new art, additional inserts, and two buttons, released on Crucial Blast sublabel Crucial Blaze. Here's what we had to say about each of the records when we first reviewed them individually:
A Million Dead Beneath The Ice:
From its humble beginnings as a genre, black metal has changed dramatically, transformed into something style and sound based rather than belief based. And where black metal was once strictly the province of the grim and kvlt, and yes, the actual metalheads, it's�now gained a certain cache, a definite hip factor, where any band, metal or not, is likely to feature one member with his or her own solo black metal project. We're not complaining, not in the least, it's these fresh injections into black metal's sonic gene pool that�keep it interesting, that produce more and more strange and wonderful variations, a great many perpetrated by folks new to metal completely, who were lured to the darkside by black metal specifically, its mystery and unique sound, the sonic possibilities offered by�its murky symphony of buzz and blast, rumble and shriek, sounds easily twisted into all manner of shapes.�
We got this particular cd-r in the mail a few weeks ago, and as we've mentioned before we do get quite a few. Our first impression was that it would most likely be some sort of minimal drone record, very stark white packaging, hand made, the band is called Light,�with song titles like "When The Green Midwestern Sky Comes Crashing Down", and "When The Flood Waters Come Rushing In", the packaging unfolds to reveal nothing but the song titles, rendered in a flowery script, but on the disc, there was what appears to be a�smear of actual blood (which we later discovered was in fact menstrual blood!). The first clue as to what sort of mysterious darkness lurked inside...�
Once we threw it on, we knew this was something else entirely, there is plenty of drone indeed, but the drone is only one element of Light's mysterious lugubrious buzz drenched blackened crawl. Almost like a more lo-fi Skepticism, Light trudge along at tarpit�tempos, the guitars not so much riffing as unfurling thick swirls of soft fuzz, the vocals howled and wailed, but way off in the distance, the drums strangely un-drumlike, more like pots and pans, a clattery, skeletal percussion, the whole thing held together by the�warm dramatic keyboards, that sound like the Haunted Mansion soundtrack played at 16rpm, all smeared and blurred together into something only barely black metal, only barely doom, a thick lurching slow motion black doomdrone, evocative and cinematic, at once�epic and sprawling, lo-fi and ultra personal. Creepy and haunting, but strangely melodic and beautiful. Think Trollmann, Abruptum, Celestiial, Catacombs, Monument of Urns and again Skepticism, but filtered through the cracked lo-fi filter of underground cd-r�dronemusic. If one was unfamiliar with black metal, one might be reminded of Lustmord, or some other sort of deathambient, but with the confusional addition of actual riffs, and those hellish vox, and the strange primitive percussion, the end result a sort of�metallicized slowcore, or a washed out ultradoom, or a blurred bleary black metal, however you describe it, Light have crafted some truly original, gorgeously bleak, warm and almost dreamy, slow motion buzzing black beauty.
Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever:
Earlier this year, we reviewed a super limited avant outsider blackened doom record called A Million Dead Beneath The Ice, by a duo called Light. Which was anything but light, in fact, it was one of the darkest and most harrowing discs we'd heard in a long time, a�slow motion drone drenched funereal crawl, with a lush almost orchestrated feel that definitely reminded us of Skepticism. And if anything, record number two, the awesomely titled Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever is even more! More black, more doomy, more�droney, more beautiful, more harsh and more bizarre.�
One hour long track, which begins with a slowly cycling piano figure, draped over a wash of reverbed tones, distant rumbles, the sound gorgeous, slightly atonal, ominous and sinister, and then there are the vocals, a nearly impossible to describe high pitched�shriek, that almost sounds like someone screaming as they breathe in, a twisted strangled howl, totally at odds with the music underneath, reminding us a bit of Tomb Of..., who also paired up piano and black metal vokills, but Light seems borne more of a free noise�aesthetic. Minus the vocals, the sound on Life Is Meaningless, is a sort of abstract slowcore crawl, a little post rocky, a little doomy, a bit of black ambient drift, but the vocals are just SOOOO creepy, it definitely pushes it into a whole other realm. And suddenly what�could have been something darkly pretty, becomes something fucked up and grimly gorgeous.�
Worse Than Anyone Would Have Expected:
Third and final release from this depressive black doom duo, and it's a fitting epitaph to a short but brilliant streak. Three super limited cd-r's, less than 200 all told, each one overflowing with blackened misery and gorgeous harrowing sonic blackness, the first, titled�A Million Dead Beneath The Ice, gave way to the second, titled Life Is Meaningless & Goes On Forever, which brings us to Worse Than Anyone Would Have Expected, which should give you a decent impression of the overall vibe and tone of Light's distinctly UN-light�sound.�
Three looooooong tracks, thick caustic layers of buzzing low end drone, sparsely strummed acoustic guitar, shrieked vocals way down in the mix, funereal, glacial, miserable, not even plodding as there seems to be no drums, or if they are there, they're practically�inaudible. The melodies are lilting and melancholic, there's some piano, the rumbling buzzing backdrop seems to coalesce into some sort of melody, the whole thing lurching in slow motion, grim, and dense, and miserably and mournfully lovely. Totally hypnotic .
The second track offers up more of the same, another lovely black expanse of pointillist piano, harrowing screams, and slow swells of black buzz, before finally segueing into the epic closing track, a formula similar to the first two, but somehow even slower, more�abject, more ambient, so slow and spaced out and minimal, that it nearly ceases being metal or doom and is transformed into some sort of black ambient slowcore, a haunting doomic creep, that to these ears is as pretty as it is grim and harsh.�
This reissue is also limited, only 200 copies, each one hand numbered!
Pure Diva-Goth greatness! Light Asylum bring a much needed emotional weight and darkness to the current realm of left-field dance floor weirdos. Led by the striking and powerful voice of Shannon Funchess, who makes us think of Grace Jones being kidnapped out of Studio 54 and dragged to a dark and dirgy, gothy warehouse filled with whips and chains.
Funchess has paid her dues over the years, starting out in weird DIY bands in Seattle that played with groups like 7 Year Bitch and The Gits, before making her move to New York where she was quickly spotted and recruited by folks like !!!, TV On The Radio, and Telepath to guest on their albums and perform at live shows. With Light Asylum Funchess seems finally able to fully realize her unique vision. Probably one of the few black girls to be wearing a Joy Division t-shirt when she was a teen, she has a special ability to bring a strong sensuality to doom and gloom. Fans of Zola Jesus, Former Ghost, Blessure Grave, Bauhaus, early Nine Inch Nails, Joy Division, Magas, Gina X, Teengirl Fantasy, etc. will want to jump on this right away.
Besides digging the music so much, we have to say In Tension boasts one of our favorite record covers of the year!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
These here Texas drone rockers show that they have much in common with others in their homeland (Stars of the Lid, Ultrasound, Charalambides, 26, etc.) on this beautiful lp (white vinyl, if you must know). Each side consists of slow, hazy pieces that devolve from Mogwai-like explosive melodies into deep sleepy drones. Quite exceptional.
Finally, a new batch of releases from the always kick ass Crucial Bliss label, the limited cd-r experimental ambient sublabel of the mighty Crucial Blast. This first one comes from Light Of Shipwreck, a one man power ambient drone outfit that is the work of Ben Fleury-Steiner who runs the also quite awesome Gears Of Sand label (Aidan Baker, Encomiast, Seconds In Formeldahyde) and who for From The Idle Cylinders has woven guitars, percussion and programming into a darkly organic soundworld. The label compares the sound here to some swirly mix of Steve Reich, Brian Eno, Can, and Earth, which is definitely not that far off the mark, but we also hear some This Heat, some Wolf Eyes and lots of Necks in these extended shimmery and serpentine sprawls.
Haunting super rhythmic industrial soundscapes laced with a propulsive locomotive shuffle of programmed percussion, keening high end and hissing whirs of smeared almost jazziness, looped and cyclical, some sort of disembodied krautrock/spacerock like a more mechanical Necks jamming in a thick cloud of Birchville Cat Motel fug. A groaning creaking percussive framework beneath a sky full of shimmering black clouds.
All three tracks begin all abstract and drifty, the first "I Rode And Am Riding On An Ocean Of Violent Lights", quickly explodes into a fog of jagged edges and swirling squalls of chaotic percussion and overlapping drones, while the second,�"I Watched And Am Watching A Cold Dead Sun Rise Then Explode" coalesces into a serious chunk of glorious Ur-kraut, a simple stripped down rhythm spread out over a massive expanse of low end whir and phantom drone drift, gorgeous and mesmerizing, with a dark dreamy melody, both ominous and lovely, think a super mellow druggy Circle, or a slightly more noise rock Necks...
The final track begins with subtle Eastern sounding percussion, before giving way to some Fear Falls Burning massive glacial guitar drone, eventually splintering into glimmering harmonics, the rest of the twenty minute track, a tangle of the two, shuffling skittering rhythms wrapped around slow burning solar flare guitar. So good.
As with all Crucial Bliss releases, the packaging is gorgeous, a dvd sized fold over thick cardstock sleeve, full color inside and out, the cd attached to a plastic hub affixed to the sleeve... and LIMITED TO ONLY 200 COPIES!!
Light Of Shipwreck, while a long time favorite around here, has always been a tough outfit to describe. In the past we've compared the sound of LoS to Wolf Eyes, This Heat and the Necks, but that only scratches the surface. There was all sorts of blurred digital shimmer, dubby beats, lurching almost metallic heaviness, it really was a wild assemblage of sounds, but they were somehow woven into something listenable, heck, more than listenable, something pretty fucked up and far out.
So finally, another full length, and as we might have expected, while some of those references still apply, In The Empty Wreckage Of A Dream is a whole 'nother beast.
Two loooong songs, the first clocking in at nearly half an hour, and beginning with a strange cacophony of industrial clatter, warm low end pulsations, a sort of muted noisescape, that manages to be heavy, but strangely soothing, until the drums come in, and then it's just chaos, programmed beats careen all over the place, skittering and pulsing beneath a suddenly active swirling squall of moaning feedback, of grinding metallic crunch, a dark billowing cloud shot through with bits of melody, chunks of throbbing bass, but for the most part the sounds is an ever shifting cloud of hiss and buzz and blur surrounding a looped skeletal beat. Eventually all of the skitter and pound, the skree and crunch slough off, leaving a gorgeous heaving river of low end drones and layered buzz, thick and dense and blackened, slowly drifting like some sonic black tar, until the sound again shifts, more of the low end falling away, leaving a gleaming and glistening shimmer, all soft edged high end that is swallowed up by the darkness almost as quickly as it emerged. The track buzzes and crawls, a moaning drone behemoth, before it finally dissipates leaving nothing but a spectral whisper.
The second track, slightly shorter at 21 minutes, is another multi part epic. This one a gloomy gothic sprawl, again, a sky full of dark clouds, wrapped around more off kilter programmed skitter. The tones thick and heavy, moaning and groaning, like the sound of hellish beasts letting out their final wails of anguish, or some blackened city crumbling to dust, with nothing but the drums to play it out. Weirdly tribal and raw, it could almost be some super obscure eighties goth rock combo, jamming out, drugged out of their gourds, unfurling some impossibly otherworldly murk jam, but it too gives way to something more ethereal and ephemeral, the drums still present, more as echoes, eventually dropping out completely, leaving nothing but shadowy tones to drift weightless in a sky full of FX. Weird as hell, even for a band who already traffic in the weird, but if you're into droney heavy fucked up ambient drum heavy noise drenched weirdness, then In The Empty Wreckage Of A Dream should definitely hit the spot.
