Good time to love the damaged and super charged garage prowess of Ty Segall as he's got great songs just gushing forth with a whole slew of new releases, most of which are of course crazy limited. There's his split with Thee Oh Sees, two new 7"s of his own, a split 12" with Black Time and a brand new full length coming soon on Goner. We were slow on the draw on the last round of TS 7"s which are sadly already out of print, so we're happy we were able to grab some of these before they disappeared too.
"Cents" is one of Segall's best songs yet and it'll probably be on his forthcoming full length too. Packed with infectious raw and dirty guitar and those slightly distorted yet crisp vocals, all coming together to make your body do the herky jerky. The 'b' side has two great fast and furious pop nuggets that are as timeless and potent as perfectly crafted garage rock gets. The kid is on fire!
Latest blast of sixties styled psychedelic glam stomp from this longtime aQ fave, and while the sound is pretty similar to previous records, Segall's songwriting somehow just keeps getting better and better, which is even more notable this time around, cuz he also seems to have upped the weirdness quotient, adding plenty of twisted WTF filigree, and messing with all sorts of craziness, somehow only making it that much more catchy. Case in point, "California Hills", with its weird little shreddy wild psych blurts that will get lodged in your head just as much as the hooks proper.
The whole record is like that - what in other hands might be perfect pop songs, here are doused in wild distorted guitars, or buried beneath tons of layers, and multiple melodies. Some songs devolve into droned out jams, others get almost new wave-y, and still others sound like some warped strain of industrial / coldwave via flowery sixties psych. But really, at its heart, Emotional Mugger is a genius mix of super charged paisley pop, loose limbed garage rock, and home brewed psych, all informed by Segalls's wickedly cracked pop smarts and twisted, masterful songsmithery. And even though we want to, it's hard to claim this as Segall's best, or even our favorite, but it could be both, and it's definitely the weirdest.
After having spent the last year kicking out the heavy psych jams with his power trio Fuzz, Ty Segall returns with a new solo single, which somehow manages to fuse the dirgey retro rock of Fuzz, with the glam pop of his last few solo records, the A side is a stunner, anchored by some thick fuzzed out bass churn, and eventually some fierce riffage, Segall tempers that urgent rock crunch with some ethereal steel string strum, and heavenly falsetto vox, for a gloriously catchy, and strangely heavy chunk of psychedelic glam pop that is as good as anything on the last full length, and definitely has us hankering for more. As does the B side, which dips back into the woozy, wasted glam-folk of Sleeper, with Segall channeling Marc Bolan and T-Rex into a lazy, acoustic groover, laid back, a little wasted, dreamy vocals over softly swaggery acoustic guitars, all sun dappled and dreamy. So good.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Ty's demos for Twins. Unfortunately, vinyl only and horrendously limited.
Album number four, from San Francisco's garage-pop mastermind Ty Segall. It wasn't that long ago when we talked about how much promise this young guy named Ty seemed to have, and now he's an internationally renowned force to be reckoned with, and this just happens to be his debut full length for Drag City. Segall has been climbing up the musical ladder the righteous way, not by hype or gimmicks, but by touring his ass off and releasing one great record after another.
Goodbye Bread, finds Ty continuing to really focus on being a songwriter who doesn't rely on feedback or distortion to create cool songs, but instead the skeletal core of these songs is where the real meat is stored. Many of these jams show a slower paced, more laid back and almost paisley psych-pop disposition. Sounding like a scrappy cross between Syd Barrett, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, and Roky Erikson, yet none of it feeling like a put on and all of it delivered with an understated ease. Not to worry, there are still wonderful moments of fuzz and distortion, maybe more than ever, but those moments accent the album instead of shape it.
Ty has found ways to stay raw and spirited without having to hide behind a simple means of recording and playing. He's more than proved his mettle as one of the most captivating and commanding songwriters around. And no matter if the songs are slow or fast (we love how the last ten seconds of "My Head Explodes" morphs into the guitar shredding intensity of an early '80s hardcore-punk song) they all stick in our heads like crazy. It's funny that this is the most sneering and agitated recording he has made. Taking advantage of a slower pace in songs to amplify the moments of tension and release. It sounds so corporate rock magazine of us to say, but this really does sound like an amazing combination of Kurt Cobain's aesthetic and introspection mixed with Jack White's musical prowess and garage rock roots appreciation. But damn, just because they were/are huge doesn't mean being compared to Nirvana and The White Stripes is a bad thing, in fact it's fucking rad! Once again, Ty hits the mark RIGHT ON.
Awesome odds and ends collection from mighty lo-fi garage rocker, Ty Segall. Horn The Unicorn includes his first cassette which forecasted the fucked up brilliance to come, as well as the recent and way out of print Skin 7" which we never managed to get. Also within the grooves of Horn The Unicorn, you'll find Segall's songs from a split cassette with Superstitions, as well as a few tracks that have never appeared anywhere else before.
By this point you probably already know that when it comes to impassioned, stripped to its core and way in the red garage rock it just doesn't get a whole lot better or more exciting then Ty Segall. It's pretty awesome to see how hard Segall is working, playing shows in town almost every week solo or in one of his bands, and busting out new songs at the same ferocious speed without sacrificing quality. You might recognize a few of these tracks even if you didn't get to hear them in their original incarnations the first time around, as some of them have been re-recorded and reworked on both of Segall's proper albums. We have to say though, that we kind of love how those songs sound here in their original even more raw form. While this collection gives folks a chance to grab so many songs that have gone out of print, there's no saying how long this vinyl collection will stay in print itself so better act fast to avoid losing out again.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
These two killer Ty Segall records now reissued on cassette! Here's our review of Horn The Unicorn, when we first reviewed the lp back in 2009:
Awesome odds and ends collection from mighty lo-fi garage rocker, Ty Segall. Horn The Unicorn includes his first cassette which forecasted the fucked up brilliance to come, as well as the recent and way out of print Skin 7" which we never managed to get. Also within the grooves of Horn The Unicorn, you'll find Segall's songs from a split cassette with Superstitions, as well as a few tracks that have never appeared anywhere else before.
By this point you probably already know that when it comes to impassioned, stripped to its core and way in the red garage rock it just doesn't get a whole lot better or more exciting then Ty Segall. It's pretty awesome to see how hard Segall is working, playing shows in town almost every week solo or in one of his bands, and busting out new songs at the same ferocious speed without sacrificing quality. You might recognize a few of these tracks even if you didn't get to hear them in their original incarnations the first time around, as some of them have been re-recorded and reworked on both of Segall's proper albums. We have to say though, that we kind of love how those songs sound here in their original even more raw form. While this collection gives folks a chance to grab so many songs that have gone out of print, there's no saying how long this vinyl collection will stay in print itself so better act fast to avoid losing out again.
And here's our review of Live In Aisle 5 from when we reviewed the lp in 2011:
At this point we really don't need to go on and on about why we love Ty Segall so much. If you go back to all the records we've reviewed you'll get a sense of how much his raw, impassioned garage rock really moves us. With the release of his first proper live album, we can reflect on how lucky we are being right here in SF and getting so many chances to see him play, so this record is a chance for everyone else to hear what they've been missing...
Whether its a house party, a small club, or an impromptu jam, whenever Segall plays live he lays it all on the line. Being able to perfectly mix his impeccable guitar playing alongside unhinged spirit and sparks of kinetic energy.
Recorded live in the summer of 2010 just down the street from aQ, at Amnesia, this is a perfect representation of the fierce power of the Ty Segall live experience. The set-list pulls from Ty's three previous albums as well as a brand new jam and a couple scuzzy covers of tracks by G.G. Allin and the Vibrators.
Just in time for summertime, it's two new jams from San Francisco's finest garage rock wunderkid, Ty Segall. Both of these tracks prove once again that Ty doesn't even need to be lo-fi or or in the red to sound super rad, cuz the fact is he can write seriously and undeniably damn good songs. Both of these tracks have a sun soaked and dusty quality that burns with such a nice slow sizzle. Hot on the heels of his record store day release of T. Rex covers, you can tell Ty's been basking in some '60s and '70s psych glory as of late. There are nice echoes of Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, and Moby Grape in these two tracks. Whether his songs are full throttle rockers or more mellow and spaced out like these two are, they always sound so damn good!
We've been in love with the raw passionate sounds of Ty Segall ever since we first heard him, his sound channeling the best of garage punk's past while sounding so immediate and charismatic and heartfelt, with a distinctive style all his own.
Lemons is his newest full length and it once again proves that we're going to be hearing great music from TS for so many years to come. One of those rare examples of someone who has both technical talent (a shredder on the guitar, perhaps that's why he's recently been recruited as a member of Sic Alps!), but he also understands that less can be so much more than, well... more! Stripping away the fat and keeping only the notes and sounds that matter, stripped down and urgent, lean and mean. While Lemons does contain the fast and blasting way blown out sound that he's become known for, we're also happy to hear a few slower songs that demonstrate he can really write strong and irresistible songs that get jammed in your head. Lots of Lemons has us imagining raw demos of Nirvana jamming out covers of the Sonics and tracks from the first Redd Kross record. Whether soaked in psychedelic fuzzed out acid garage rock or bursting with infectious melody and surf rock undertones, all the disparate elements on Lemons come together for such a potent result. Much like his buddies Thee Oh Sees, Segall's massive output of totally great songs of late proves that the he is still totally on fire!
FYI, for a limited time, we're selling the cd at a special discount, $2 less than normal retail price ($11.98 instead of $13.98)!! Through July 31st, 2009 only.
At this point we really don't need to go on and on about why we love Ty Segall so much. If you go back to all the records we've reviewed you'll get a sense of how much his raw, impassioned garage rock really moves us. With the release of his first proper live album, we can reflect on how lucky we are being right here in SF and getting so many chances to see him play, so this record is a chance for everyone else to hear what they've been missing...
Whether its a house party, a small club, or an impromptu jam, whenever Segall plays live he lays it all on the line. Being able to perfectly mix his impeccable guitar playing alongside unhinged spirit and sparks of kinetic energy.
Recorded live this past summer just down the street from aQ, at Amnesia, this is a perfect representation of the fierce power of the Ty Segall live experience. The set-list pulls from Ty's three albums as well as a brand new jam and a couple scuzzy covers of tracks by G.G. Allin and the Vibrators.
Limited to 1,000 copies, best to jump on this before its too late.
Before we get into this new Ty Segall record, we should probably state right up front, that we thought about making this a Record Of The Week. And then didn't cuz we ALWAYS make Segall's records Record Of The Week. And on first listen, we didn't immediately dig this quite as much as the last few, but if we've learned anything, we can almost guarantee that in a week or two, after repeated listens, we'll probably be losing our shit and proclaiming this his best yet. So bear that in mind, and consider this a probably could/would/should have been Record Of The Week. Cuz even if it doesn't have the immediate appeal of say, Twins, or Sleep, or even the Fuzz record, it's still pretty goddamn great, overflowing with impossibly catchy songs, a little bit fuzz poppy, a little bit garage rocky, still pretty glammy, the sound lush and dizzyingly ambitious sonically, with some songs sounding like a straight up rock band, others like pure studio concoctions, with most landing somewhere right in between, and even writing this review, and finally hearing this record for the first time on headphones, not in the store, we're having second thoughts again about this NOT being a Record Of The Week.
Just have a listen to the samples below, if you're new to the world of Ty Segall, odds are it won't take long for you to be on over, and if you're already a fan, like us, you'll immediately feel right at home. The opener/title track is all organ driven fuzz, with Segall effortlessly slipping into a falsetto, wound around multiple instruments harmonizing, buzzing and jangly and very retro sixties pop by way of modern garage rock, not unlike many of his contemporaries, but then there's "Tall Man, Skinny Lady" which sounds like nobody else, urgently strummed acoustic guitars wound around groovy drums, everything wreathed in a cloud of effects, the vocals drenched in echo and reverb, the falsetto in full effect, total glam rock swagger, and then when the super distorted fuzz guitar kicks in, especially the wild shredding psychedelic leads, it's divine. And hell, we're only two tracks in.
Instead of going track by track, just know, that if you dig the sound samples below, odds are there's pretty much nothing here you won't dig like crazy, whether it's all torch songy garage rock balladry, or fuzzed out heavy psych, or buzz heavy almost metallic distorto crunch, or grandiose baroque retro-pop, or the tons of gradations in-between. We're gonna stop now, before we change our minds and make this Record Of The Week anyway. Which we might still do anyway. Needless to say, way Way WAY recommended!!
While Ty Segall may be as prolific as they come when it comes to 7"s, splits, and collaborations, a new one seemingly coming out monthly, weekly even, faster then we can keep up with, there's still something so special, thought out, and so damn satisfying about Segall's full-length albums proper.
Especially this new one. No longer can you just reduce a summarization of his music as 'way blown out lo-fi garage radness.' Although that's definitely some of it, but Segall has begun to widen his scope in such thrilling ways. Melted finds his sound more punchy, a dizzying mix of psychedelic, pop, surf, gritty rhythm & blues, punk rock, in fact the album opener is a perfect example, it begins all fey and jangly, but then the guitar kicks in, surprisingly heavy and crunchy, swaggery and sorta bad ass, big loud drums, and then suddenly, a super tripped out squiggly synth solo! The second track too, begins all acoustic guitar, until in comes a groovy walking bassline, and it's total sixties jangle pop that finishes off in a flurry of fluttery flutes....
From the very beginning of the record, the whole thing takes such awesome twists and turns, getting all tweaked and super far out right when you might expect straight ahead jangle, and getting all poppy and heartfelt, right when it sounds like it was gonna explode into chaotic whatthefuckness. Alongside influences like The Gories, Thee Headcoats, and The Sonics, you can even hear some Led Zeppelin, albeit stripped of its excess and indulgence and boiled down to its primitive and riveting core, kind of what it felt like when we heard The White Stripes for the first time. Not reinventing the wheel for sure, but instead pressing the pedal to the metal and spinning all four wheels in a frenzy of unfettered creativity, OWNING these sounds, making totally original music out of borrowed bits, and blowing away so many of the bands around him in the process. Along with that intensity, Segall has a crazy knack for incredible hooks, deep rooted melodies, crafting perfect pop all wrapped up in fiery, fierce rocking crunch.
"Girlfriend" may just be song of the year! It's impossible not to listen to it over and over from the beginning with Ty growling and then it bursting into one of the most catchy, sweat inducing, body shaking songs ever, the sort of jam you would want to put on every mix tape you make. As always, Segall writes and plays just about every note of music himself on the album, but there are some nice moments where his friends lend a helping hand, like John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees laying down some FLUTE on "Caesar", and Mike Donovan from Sic Alps adding vox, as well as some guitar on a couple tracks, including the absurd blown out brilliance of the simple yet so totally addictive "Mike D's Coke". And on tracks like "Imaginary Person" it's like this awesome blend of early Adam & The Ants crossed with The Misfits for an all out sonic showdown.
Segall has a found a way to bring together primitive and powerful stripped down Bo Diddley-like energy and a very honest and sincere emotional undercurrent in his songs that convinces us that once this latest lo-fi garage revival dies down, Segall will still be making engaging, moving and truthful sounds. He is for real!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Even though we reviewed a lot of em, we had no idea Segall had been cranking out singles at such a crazy clip, nearly 20 tracks from 2007-2010, and that's not even counting the full lengths. And if you're a faithful reader of the aQ list, you probably already know we're a huge fan of Segall's fuzzed out jangle and crunchy garage rock stomp, and it's kind of great to have em all gathered up in one place, especially considering that we somehow missed a whole bunch of these.
Just check out the opening salvo, "Where We Go", 90 seconds of fuzzy, murky jangle and pound, all murky and fuzzy, with some weird percussion and some reverby sing along vox... then there's "It", which is also pretty far out, super lo-fi, and way dynamic, with a strange stop start arrangement, and a KILLER chorus. And then "Sweets" which is of a classic garage groover, but if those three songs don't knock your socks off, well, there must be something wrong with you.
We could go track by track, but pretty much everything here kills, some highlights include "Caesar", which, starts out all strummy and jangly, with some seriously fuzzy bass, the vocals a reverbed croon, shifting into a falsetto here and there, at one point getting all tangled up in effects in a twisted distorted psychedelic freakout. There's even a super rocking PIANO SOLO! But all that stuff is just icing, on what is a killer hook, and a crazy catchy jam. And the B side from that 7", "Bullet Proof Nothing", which is a Simply Saucer cover, is a little more grimy and buzzy than "Caesar", sounding almost like the Stooges "Search And Destroy" slowed down to a garagey dirge, but again, Segall wraps that jangle and crunch around a hook most bands would kill for. There's also Segall's cover of Thee Oh Sees' "Maria Stacks", a song which might just be Andee's favorite Oh Sees jam, not just cuz it's hooky and catchy, but it also immortalizes AQ pal and amazing artist/zine-maker Maria Forde. Ty finds a way to make the song a bit more lo-fi and fucked up sounding while still holding on to the great melody that makes the original stick like it does. We also dig "Cents", which still ranks as one of our favorite Segall jams ever, but there's also "Booksmarts", which we had never heard before, but is definitely now also in the running for best Segall jam, in fact, the more we listen to this, the more contenders there seem to be. Lots of the A sides from various singles did end up on the full lengths, but some of these versions are pretty dramatically different. Segall also does a pretty killer version of the Gories' "I Think I've Had It", with some chiming jangly guitars, lo-fi drum pound, and some crazily distorted vox.
In addition to the singles, there are also a handful of demo tracks, which are gloriously low fidelity, the yelped reverbed vox super reminiscent of Thee Oh Sees, which makes sense as Segall and Thee Oh Sees have shared numerous stages and records, and all except one have never popped up anywhere before, and even in their raw form, sound as good as anything else here.
Obviously if you dig Thee Oh Sees and Mikal Cronin and Bare Wires and the rest of that Bay Area garage rock crew, you probably already own most of Segall's records proper, and need this too (trust us), but if you somehow don't, this is as good a place to start as any!
NB. This is specially priced at $12.98 instead of the normal $13.98 for the next few weeks only!
NOW ON VINYL!! Deluxe double lp pressed on 150 gram wax, includes MP3 downloads of the whole comp as well...
Even though we reviewed a lot of em, we had no idea Segall had been cranking out singles at such a crazy clip, nearly 20 tracks from 2007-2010, and that's not even counting the full lengths. And if you're a faithful reader of the aQ list, you probably already know we're a huge fan of Segall's fuzzed out jangle and crunchy garage rock stomp, and it's kind of great to have em all gathered up in one place, especially considering that we somehow missed a whole bunch of these.
Just check out the opening salvo, "Where We Go", 90 seconds of fuzzy, murky jangle and pound, all murky and fuzzy, with some weird percussion and some reverby sing along vox... then there's "It", which is also pretty far out, super lo-fi, and way dynamic, with a strange stop start arrangement, and a KILLER chorus. And then "Sweets" which is of a classic garage groover, but if those three songs don't knock your socks off, well, there must be something wrong with you.
We could go track by track, but pretty much everything here kills, some highlights include "Caesar", which, starts out all strummy and jangly, with some seriously fuzzy bass, the vocals a reverbed croon, shifting into a falsetto here and there, at one point getting all tangled up in effects in a twisted distorted psychedelic freakout. There's even a super rocking PIANO SOLO! But all that stuff is just icing, on what is a killer hook, and a crazy catchy jam. And the B side from that 7", "Bullet Proof Nothing", which is a Simply Saucer cover, is a little more grimy and buzzy than "Caesar", sounding almost like the Stooges "Search And Destroy" slowed down to a garagey dirge, but again, Segall wraps that jangle and crunch around a hook most bands would kill for. There's also Segall's cover of Thee Oh Sees' "Maria Stacks", a song which might just be Andee's favorite Oh Sees jam, not just cuz it's hooky and catchy, but it also immortalizes AQ pal and amazing artist/zine-maker Maria Forde. Ty finds a way to make the song a bit more lo-fi and fucked up sounding while still holding on to the great melody that makes the original stick like it does. We also dig "Cents", which still ranks as one of our favorite Segall jams ever, but there's also "Booksmarts", which we had never heard before, but is definitely now also in the running for best Segall jam, in fact, the more we listen to this, the more contenders there seem to be. Lots of the A sides from various singles did end up on the full lengths, but some of these versions are pretty dramatically different. Segall also does a pretty killer version of the Gories' "I Think I've Had It", with some chiming jangly guitars, lo-fi drum pound, and some crazily distorted vox.
In addition to the singles, there are also a handful of demo tracks, which are gloriously low fidelity, the yelped reverbed vox super reminiscent of Thee Oh Sees, which makes sense as Segall and Thee Oh Sees have shared numerous stages and records, and all except one have never popped up anywhere before, and even in their raw form, sound as good as anything else here.
Obviously if you dig Thee Oh Sees and Mikal Cronin and Bare Wires and the rest of that Bay Area garage rock crew, you probably already own most of Segall's records proper, and need this too (trust us), but if you somehow don't, this is as good a place to start as any!
We here at aQ hQ are kind of spoiled for great local music right now. It's no secret that San Francisco's been producing tons of great garage rock over the last few years and Mr. Segall's been one of the leading lights in that movement since the get-go. He's one of the most prolific too, with Sleeper being his third full length in just over a year. Ty is a man who truly never tires (or should we say Tyres? sorry!). And though he seems to split his time between SF and LA we still like to think we can claim him as our own! Compared to the reckless garage freak out of last year's Twins and other earlier recordings, Sleeper finds Segall at his most restrained - and dare we say at his most Bolan-esque! Sleeper is a gorgeous lo-fi dose of otherworldly glam-folk, immediately recalling T. Rex's mellower moments and even those late '60s records where they still went by Tyrannosaurus Rex (complete with the occasional bongo accompaniment!). But what makes this record work so perfectly is how none of the rough edges have been sanded away - it's glittery but gritty too. These sound predominantly like raw home recordings, mostly revolving around a single acoustic guitar and a bit of percussion. The vocals are what really make the album - fragile and warbly, but also ethereal and hypnotic. Like we said, Marc Bolan is a clear point of reference, especially in the way Segall manages to make his songs sound both totally personal and strangely distant at the same time. But there's also a bit of Perry Farrell there, especially on some of Sleeper's twangier more mystical segments, which definitely invoke the same drifting sun-bleached desert imagery of Jane's Addiction's mellower moments. There's a twinge of nostalgic melancholy to some of the songs as well, but it's subtle and never comes across as heavy handed. Mostly it's just one of those records that you want to wrap yourself up in - turn it on, close your eyes, and see what strange places it takes you to. It's a slow burn of an album, but before you realize it it's consumed your stereo entirely!
Ty Segall's Goodbye Bread record has been in constant rotation since it came out, so we were super psyched for this brand new single, but we were totally unprepared for what at first blush sounds like some crazy heavy noisy freakout, the title track opening with SUPER distorted guitar, all crunchy and in the red, which proved to be just a false start, but then the main riff comes in, and it too is totally heavy and sludgey, and we were convinced it was playing at the wrong speed, but no, this is just a dense slab of psychedelic garage pop heaviness, all murky and dirgey and almost doomy sounding, distorted echoey vox over that churning blown out riffage as well as some rad psychedelic guitar. The second track also has a bit of a false start, and while a bit more traditionally psychedelic and garage poppy, it too is petty noisy and distorted, lots of feedback, still a killer pop song, like the first one, just slathered in noisy distortion, and it sort of suits him.
The flipside is way more groovy and sixties garage rock sounding, fuzzy and poppy with a killer chorus that definitely reminds us of the recent Mikal Cronin Record Of The Week. This is definitely our new favorite single, and might even trump Goodbye Bread in terms of our favorite Ty Segall release. WAY recommended.
Two song teaser for the forthcoming full length, the A side already has us freaking out, a killer slab of glammy, proggy, garage pop, that might just be the best thing we've heard from Segall yet. A cool female vocal intro explodes into some seriously fuzzed out glam rock garage stomp, no lo-fi production here, it sounds incredible, massive and lush, and totally heavy, the boy/girl harmonies on the chorus KILL, the vibe swaggery and seriously glammed out, with some blasts of wild psychedelic shredding. The flipside is a bit more subdued, but also quite glammy, with a total Bowie vibe going on, hooky and heavy, fuzzy and jangly, further proof that the new full length is gonna be a mind blower!
When we reviewed the teaser 7" released a few weeks back to whet appetites for this, Ty Segall's new full length, we described the jam "The Hill" thusly: "a killer slab of glammy, proggy, garage pop, that might just be the best thing we've heard from Segall yet. A cool female vocal intro explodes into some seriously fuzzed out glam rock garage stomp, no lo-fi production here, it sounds incredible, massive and lush, and totally heavy, the boy/girl harmonies on the chorus KILL, the vibe swaggery and seriously glammed out, with some blasts of wild psychedelic shredding." And while that single and that sound is not really all that far removed with Segall's sound in general, the glamminess is cranked big time here, as is the hookiness. Just check out album opener "Thank God For Sinners", the perfect mash up of classic Beatles style melody and swaggery, slithery T-Rex fuzzed out groove. Which leads right into "You're The Doctor", adding some seriously driving psychedelic garage rock stomp, a wild blast of heady heavy psych rock that will have Oh Sees freeks losing their shit.
But as with every Segall record, the sound veers all over the place, slipping easily from sound to sound, vibe to vibe, and speaking of vibes, The Beatles vibe is huge throughout, but is deftly applied to Segall's already hook heavy sound, "Inside Your Heart" adds some brooding minor key melody as well as a killer catchy main guitar part, not to mention a wild squall of psychedelic freakout and a woozy, warped drag of an ending that makes it sound like the tape is slowly melting. "Would You Be My Love" is a dead ringer for classic Redd Kross, a supercharged sixties pop, while "Ghost" is a fuzz drenched, but still darkly melodic, almost metallic dirge, rife with gorgeous vocal harmonies, and a wicked main hook.
And so it goes. The rest of the record brimming with classic fuzzy pop and psychedelic garage gems, groovy and jangly one second, blown out and chaotic the next, but every track here stone cold killer. And while we do feel kinda foolish, going on and on about each successive Segall record as being the best yet, and our new favorite (and even making this one Record Of The Week only a few lists after Segall's Slaughterhouse record received the same honors), that's exactly what happens every time. And Segall really does just keep getting better and better, not just the songs, but the arrangements, the production, the vocals, everything. Have a look at past reviews on the aQ site, and you'll see just how much we love past records of his, which should tell you something when we once again, proclaim this the best one yet!
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.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
NOW ON CASSETTE!!
Here's our review from when we first listed the lp and cd versions way back in 2009:
We've been in love with the raw passionate sounds of Ty Segall ever since we first heard him, his sound channeling the best of garage punk's past while sounding so immediate and charismatic and heartfelt, with a distinctive style all his own.
Lemons is his newest full length and it once again proves that we're going to be hearing great music from TS for so many years to come. One of those rare examples of someone who has both technical talent (a shredder on the guitar, perhaps that's why he's recently been recruited as a member of Sic Alps!), but he also understands that less can be so much more than, well... more! Stripping away the fat and keeping only the notes and sounds that matter, stripped down and urgent, lean and mean. While Lemons does contain the fast and blasting way blown out sound that he's become known for, we're also happy to hear a few slower songs that demonstrate he can really write strong and irresistible songs that get jammed in your head. Lots of Lemons has us imagining raw demos of Nirvana jamming out covers of the Sonics and tracks from the first Redd Kross record. Whether soaked in psychedelic fuzzed out acid garage rock or bursting with infectious melody and surf rock undertones, all the disparate elements on Lemons come together for such a potent result. Much like his buddies Thee Oh Sees, Segall's massive output of totally great songs of late proves that the he is still totally on fire!
'70s glam pixie Marc Bolan & his band T-Rex (along with that group's earlier hippie acid folk incarnation Tyrannosaurus Rex, in the '60s) have emerged as quite a big influence on a number of today's popular indie / garage artists, notably Devendra Banhart, King Tuff, Guy Blakeslee, and Ty Segall to name a few (Electronicat too!). Ty has taken things further by recording a bunch of Marc Bolan cover tunes, which couldn't be more perfect 'cause first of all, he can call it Ty-Rex, and also 'cause his songwriting often already sounds a lot like Bolan's.
This special limited-edition "Black Friday Record Store Day" release compiles together two totally out of print Ty-doing-T-Rex vinyl releases previously issued by Goner, a 12" from Record Store Day 2011 and a 7" from Record Store Day 2013. All eight tracks from both much sought-after tributes are found here, along with a previously unreleased bonus cover of "20th Century Boy" done very much Fuzz style. Can't imagine any Ty fans not wanting this, even if you don't know Marc Bolan from Mack Bolan!
Good time to love the damaged and super charged garage prowess of Ty Segall as he's got great songs just gushing forth with a whole slew of new releases, most of which are of course crazy limited. There's his split with Thee Oh Sees, two new 7"s of his own, a split 12" with Black Time and a brand new full length coming soon on Goner. We were slow on the draw on the last round of TS 7"s which are sadly already out of print, so we're happy we were able to grab some of these before they disappeared too.
"Universal Momma" finds Ty exploring a more slowed down and drugged out vibe with a Roky Erikson sound heavy in its grooves and the title isn't just some rock talk, his mama Cherrie Segal actually co-wrote the song with him. The flip side "86'd" is also a bit more on the midtempo side proving Segall's far from a one trick pony, instead he's a seriously immediate and satisfying garage rock songwriter and is one of the folks helping the current scene sound so vibrant and alive. Limited to 500 of which we only have a handful.
One of our favorite tracks from recent Record Of The Week, Twins, from local garage pop kingpin Ty Segall, and listening to this track, we forgot to mention how much the main riff sounds like classic Nirvana! Which is most definitely a good thing, but Segall transforms it into something even poppier. In our review of Twins, we describe it as being a dead ringer for classic Redd Kross, which is also sorta true, a supercharged sort of sixties pop. The flipside, exclusive to this single is another slab of sixties pop, but much more stripped down and acoustic, some dreamy hippy psych pop, all dreamy harmony vocals, steel string strum, and even some whistling at the end. Not hard to imagine this song distorted and supercharged, and fitting perfectly on Twins, but in it's acoustic form, it's pretty much the perfect B side, and well worth the price of the 7"!
Holy shit this record totally floors us! We're not the most easily moved and impressed when it comes to most garage rock that we hear these days so a record really has to be packed with explosive energy and endless hooks to win us over, but oh my lord Ty Segall makes us want to be locked in a small and sweaty garage while he belts out his one man band jams and makes us jump and sweat and lose ourselves like only true rock n' roll has the power to do. We knew that Ty was something special ever since we heard his homemade and way out of print cassette Horn The Unicorn and saw him play in countless charming and kick ass bands (Traditional Fools, Epsilons, Party Fowl, etc.) all before even being 21 years old.
There is a difference between being retro and making music that is timeless and Ty Segall's full length debut falls perfectly in the latter category. This could have been recorded in '81, '91 or today and it would still hold up and blow us away. All the songs are around two minutes, no wasted space allowed, total urgency filled with punk spirit and pop songwriting chops that set him head and shoulders above so much of the current garage flock. We bet labels like Swami or In The Red wish they had put out this record and it makes such perfect sense that it's being released on Jon Dwyer's label as there is a similar spirit to the energetic and frantic sounds he created in The Coachwhips and the crafty songwriting and right on lo-fi production he employs with The Ohsees. Drenched in reverb and full of such a vibrant punch we hear hints of everything from Hasil Adkins to The Rip Offs and Thee Headcoatees but most of all we hear the emergence of one of the most exciting new voices in modern day, sweat soaked, soul filled rock n roll!
No doubt about it, Ty Segall is really one of our favorite garage rockers around. We're lucky enough to get to see him play all the time and the incredible sweat and energy of his live shows manages to seep its way into his recordings as pretty much every slab of wax he's released has delivered way raw fucked up garage rock at its absolute best!
Teamed up with his pal Mikal Cronin, the two take things to even more of a blasted and fractured state of garage mayhem with Reverse Shark Attack, tons of moments that remind us of the amazing thrashing garage pop scorch of the great Japanese band Acid Eater or some dream universe where Syd Barrett got to jam out Brainbombs covers. In fact they do an amazing cover of the Barrett era Pink Floyd gem "Take Up The Stethoscope And Walk" - it was so rad when we played this in the store for the first time and an enthusiastic customer screamed out "Who is doing some serious fucking justice to the spirit of Syd Barrett right now!?" and we totally understand where that impassioned and immediate reaction comes from! Segall continues to tap into the kind of music making that truly grabs a hold of your body to give you a totally enthralling pure and raw physical experience. We had heard an awesome 7" these two did together earlier in the year that sadly we weren't able to get our hands on, and it seems that Cronin really encourages Segall to go more into the outer limits of sound than on his own and we have to say we really love it! And we pretty much love any and all of what Ty does whether it's the amazing pop hooks he's capable of creating in his great songs on his proper solo albums or when he totally just goes way free and enters a total garage freak-out state that goes way beyond fuzz, like the tracks on Reverse Shark Attack. So rad!
Sort of seemed inevitable that these guys would get together, two local lo-fi garage pop masters, both of whom have gotten much love from aQ, and both of whom have surprisingly similar styles, collaborating on a set of songs, that ultimately manage to sound like they could have been proper records from either. No distinct separation between tracks, no huge stylistic shifts, instead, a meeting of the minds that manages to be both impossibly hooky and fuzzy and catchy, but also as weird and twisted as anything either of them have done on their own. Lots of kick ass axework, wild psychedelic leads and dense squalls of tangled freakout, over all manner of jangle and crunch, the vocals doused in reverb and appropriately washed out and yelpy, the drums simple and spare, the songs slipping easily from druggy psychedelic jangle pop to crunchy noisy garage punk raveups, to full on skiffle-y sixties psych-pop to twisted echo drenched garage rock dirges and some head spinningly experimental garage rock space jams, like "Scissor People", which might be THEE jam here, beginning with a little bit of birdsong, before launching into some jangly crunch, another blast of garage-y poppiness, until things go totally crazy about halfway through, the song suddenly a patchwork of alternate takes and different productions, as if multiple versions of the song were playing simultaneously, and someone began to flip between the various channels, the sounds dramatically different, even the tempos, and then coming out of it into a sort of motorik psych-kraut groove, wreathed in killer leads, and thick swaths of guitarnoise, it's the sort of jam most bands would have stretched out for ages, but these guys cram into a succinct 3:31.
We have to admit, that on first listen, mostly heard in the shop in little chunks, didn't fully sell us, but once we strapped on some headphones, this collab definitely revealed itself as being something sort of next level, and blossomed into a pretty fantastic(al) psychedelic garage pop trip out that we've had on pretty heavy rotation ever since.
Wish we had more of these, apparently it's out of print already (until they repress, c'mon) and we only have a couple...
It's been raining Ty Segall the last few weeks with a slew of rad vinyl offerings that have flown out the door. This new split LP with Black Time finds Ty at his most raw and rocking! Seven brand new songs including a smoking cover of The Dwarves "Be A Caveman" from back in their total garage punk days. Black Time were new to our ears and they definitely prove that London can get raw and fuzzy with the best of them, as their way lo-fi and in-the-red sound make them a perfect match for Segall. Maybe a bit more punk in sound and aesthetic then TS while still totally tapping into the more damaged and distorted side of primitive garage punk. Such a good time to be a fan of raw and impassioned garage rock cause folks like Ty and Black Time are totally coming correct.
The LAMC series of 7"s features tons of our favorite bands (Fuzz, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees), delivering an exclusive track on the A side, while the B side features one of THAT band's favorite new artists. A pretty cool concept for sure and we're reviewing 3 of our favorites in the series.
Number 7 features a killer A side from Ty Segall, who lays down a super funky drum track, swaddles it in organ, then some super distorted percussion, bongos maybe, a wild rhythmic freak out, that gets more and more wild and distorted as it goes, bursts of psych-squall noisiness, ultra distorted leads, all somehow wound up into a dense slab of cinematic psychedelic groovery!!
Segall's choice for unknown up and comer on the B side was totally unknown to us, still don't know much about them/him, other than they have a super goofy band name, and that they kick out some serious jams, a psychedelic garage rock din that is very reminiscent of Thee Oh Sees, scrappy and rambunctious, soaring harmony vocals, plenty of ooooh's and aaaah's, wound around gristly, rumblingly distorted crunch, even some almost metallic riffing and harmonized guitars, some chugging heaviness, and some crazy catchy poppiness, not to mention some weird high vox. Oh Sees fans will flip for these guys for sure. The bandname is definitely not doing them any favors, but odds are, if you can get past that, these guys could be a garage rock next big thing. You heard it here first!
And as you probably figured out already, EXTREMELY limited!!!!
Heck really does this even need a review? The Castle Face "Live In San Francisco" series continues - White Fence, Fuzz, OBNIIIs, now another awesome garage rock act from the local/Castle Face scene, an obvious and popular choice indeed, the Ty Segall Band. Not to be confused with Ty Segall the solo artist, though that'd be easy enuff. The Ty Segall Band's discography ain't nearly as extensive, with Slaughterhouse being their only studio album, they also did a Live A Death By Audio set, and this, oh and a limited 7" featuring Motorhead and Black Sabbath covers too.
Anyway, here Ty, Charlie, Mikal, and the rest of the Band rip it up on ten tracks recorded live in front of an enthusiastic crowd at SF's Rickshaw Stop in 2013. Approximately 50 percent comes from Slaughterhouse, the rest drawn from various corners of Ty's solo career. Played with punked-out energy and lotsa fuzz, kinda reminding us of early Mudhoney, this recorded performance is a nice souvenir for anyone who was there, and for everyone else, a yummy taste of what was clearly a freakin' fun live show!! After hearing this, you'll know never to miss 'em next time. For the uninitiated, no reason really not to start here with Ty and/or the TSB...
Rumor was that this was gonna be Segall's 'metal' record. The title did nothing to dissuade that notion, 'Slaughterhouse', and the garish black and white howling monster/medusa artwork definitely seemed to support that theory as well. And while we remained skeptical, album opener "Death" (good metal title btw) briefly gave us pause, with its wild opening, a churning squall of super distorted guitars and squealing feedback, but soon the record proper kicks in and all is well, fear not, Ty Segall has not gone metal (as much as we think that would be amazing!) however, this is most definitely his heaviest record yet. His first recording with his live band, which of course includes longtime collaborator Mikal Cronin, find the sound cranked to eleven, the guitars blown out and distorted, the riffs heavy and crunchy, the songs are still garage pop, but with some serious heft, the vocals occasionally slipping into raspy howls, the guitars exploding into full on shredding leads, the group sounding all Stooges-y, raw and feral and seriously fierce. And it totally suits them. And even the tracks that are all jangly and poppy, are weirdly produced, with the guitars crumbling and in the red, beautiful harmony vocals, all oooh's and aaah's laid over grinding near metallic riffs, pounding drums, this is most definitely the first Segall record we'd describe as 'headbangable', but the key here, is that the songs are still impossibly catchy, just check out "I Bought My Eyes", which is so catchy we were convinced it was a cover, sounding like some sixties or seventies classic rock jam supercharged and dirtied up. The title track is a 90 second blast of churning garage punk riffage, with glass gargling vox, before they slip right into "The Tongue", with its Oh Sees-like opener, and sixties jangle rock verse, only to explode into some full on psychedelic noise freakout.
Beyond the sonic shift though, these are definitely some of the best songs we've heard from Segall, the heaviness and dirge-y rockingness only making them that much more intense, and in addition to the originals, Cronin contributes one track, another 90 second blast of super blown out Stooges-y swagger, that as you might imagine is shot through with some irresistible poppiness, and there's a couple of covers, they manage to transform Fred Neil's "The Bag I'm In", into a super dynamic tangle of low slung bass, and dense walls of psychnoise crunch, pounding garage rock pummel doused in wild guitars and sheets of blown out psychedelic guitar, and the take Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy" and rough it up a bit, adding some guitar crunch, and messing with the lyrics, before stumbling to chaotic premature halt. And let's not neglect to mention the 10 minute closer "Fuzz War", which sounds like it could be some lost Fushitsusha basement tape, or some lost seventies private press underground psych jam, a sprawling landscape of drone and buzz, noxious clouds of grinding guitars, super abstract drum splatter, the sound slipping from dark and droney to wildly chaotic, to a weird almost industrial clatter, and finally to a sort of freejazz drum heavy noiserock coda. So cool. And as you might have surmised, definitely one of our favorite Segall records yet!
The second lovely Nonesuch solo disc for Mr. Segundo, a Buena Vista Social Club veteran. Chalk another one up for all these elderly Cuban fellows now getting their due.
Buena Vista Social Club alumnus Compay Segundo plays the armonico, an instrument of his own creation which combines the guitar and the tres -- the armonica has seven strings but only six tones, which produces its unique sound. An oldtimer who's an alumnus of the legendary Trio Matamoros, Segundo recorded this record in Havana in 1997.
Another classic slab of dark dreamy drone from Stephen Clover aka Seht. The title definitely hints at what you'll find on this here disc: a slow moving glacial drone, icy and crystalline, throbbing and reverberating, shifting and swirling, barely there but somehow totally and gorgeously suffocating. Lush layers of sound, piled atop one another, as we watch each layer slowly merge with the one beneath it, sonic tendrils surreptitiously exploring the layers around it, until all the layers are inexorably linked, a slowly squirming intertangled mass, dreamy and hypnotic, but haunting and foreboding as well. The second track threw us for a loop though, when a seemingly out of place shuffling drum beat kicked in, all dubbed out and effected, which at first seemed totally distracting, but quickly drew us in with its propulsive throb, and the whole thing quickly becomes some sort of gorgeously alien krautrock. Really cool.
Another mysterious outfit on Celebrate PSi Phenomenon, who we've come to love, if not know entirely. How could we? Each record is a huge expanse of mysterious sound. A barely there sonic travelogue, a slow motion trip through a foggy and murky underbelly. As if somehow we figured out how to sneak behind all of the records ever made. Hidden behind the grand facades of commercial radio and punk rock rebellion and experimental noodling, is a vast expanse of concrete hallways that seem to go on into infinity, in every direction, even down. Tiny sounds echo through the halls forever, making it impossible to discern when the original was made, ten minutes ago? Ten years? A thousand? A dark and creepy seemingly endless glacial drift, the hum of machinery can be heard, just barely, through the thousands of feet that separate these deserted halls from the surface. The distant chirping of some tiny underground insect sometimes intrudes on the shimmering stillness, but just as soon drifts away, leaving ghostlike traces of sounds, and far away impressions of melodies that once were.
Brand new disc of free drone weirdness from long time aQ fave Seht, aka Stephen Clover, whose discs never disappoint, whether he's crafting long form minimal dronemusic, or kicking up a clattery freerock buzz, Dead Bees is a little of both, two looooong tracks, the first a super minimal dronejam of deep soft shimmers and warm warbly whirs, that begins soft but gradually gains momentum, and along with that momentum, layers of gradually thickening whir, what begins as a barely there whisper quickly transforms into a heaving slab of rumbling static heaviness, eventually introducing some unlikely melody to the mix, the sound suddenly almost orchestral, a layer of horn like drone draped over the undulating lowend backdrop, the grit and buzz and fuzz slowly sloughing off eventually leaving a smooth stretch of soft soft shimmer.
The second track, another long one, is much more active, beginning with some random clatter, and slowly transforming into a weird pulsing circusy abstract pulse, with strange haunting melodies, almost like Chain Reaction via a New Zealand 4-track, soon the playful pulse is enveloped in a cloud of hiss, creating a haunting gauzy throbbing drift that is both mesmerizing and mysteriously unclassifiable. And once again, the hiss dissipates, leaving a warm whirling warble that slowly settles into a dark, dreamlike drift.
Dronemusic indeed. Seht is one Steven Clover, who has released a handful of limited lathe cuts under different names. On 'Dronemusic' Clover crafts deep, rich sonorous drone music, seemingly simple but lush with harmonic overtones. As the record
Latest cd-r from NZ sound sculptor Stephen Clover otherwise known as Seht. Three tracks, nearly an hour of soft sonic sweetness, warm beds of barely there glitch and click underpin thick rich billowy clouds of cotton candy like organ drones, airy and slowly shifting and overlapping, melodies ghostlike and nearly transparent. Occasionally the organ drifts off leaving a strange hissing minimal fuzz, dense and rife with subtle rhythm and not quite melodies, like some muted guitar riff pulled apart and spread out into a delicate gauze. Or like an alien insect buzzing out some simple message, expressing itself in subtle shades of grey. The final half hour track begins as soft swell of keening high end trill before dispensing with the subtle shadings altogether, allowing the organ to step forward and offer up huge thick swirls of sound, still peppered with subtle glitches and unlikely hiccups and jumpcuts, this is like some epic Charlemagne Palestine jam, but played through a PA with faulty wiring, a stuttery soundscape of warm organ melody and implied rhythmic interference. So cool.
This is a sort-of-reinterpretation of the amazing 'Dronemusic' cd-r released on a while back on Celebrate Psi Phenomena. This is very minimal with lots of incidental clatter and totally random noise. Sounds a bit like some guy cleaning/re-arranging his kitchen, with lots of thumps and bumps and clicks and even some bird calls(!). After about 10 minutes, the drones finally make their presence known. Joined gradually by warbly guitars and wisos of melodies. But almost as soon as they're there, they diappear again. Then it's back to the ambient clatter, discussions, room sound. A reverby piano or buzzing harpsichord surface occasionally, but it always seems to return to our house cleaning, room tidying protagonist. Very strange...
Latest release from NZ free drone sound sculptor Seht, aka Stephen Clover. A single 34 minute track,
a lengthy soundscape of slow burn decay and abstract shimmer. The first 17 minutes are an ultra minimal crawl, through a bleak landscape of barely audible keyboard sputter and amp buzz. Distant grinding gears of some murky machine, drifting strands of simple guitar strum floating to and fro, before everything coalesces into a thick twisting snarl of corrosive drone and reverberating rumble before drifting back into another extended tranquil drift. Haunting and quite gorgeous.
A hand decorated cd-r packaged with a cool textured paper sleeve with iridescent designs on one side, and a full color insert. And as with lots of things like this, it's also unfortunately criminally limited. How limited?
LIMITED TO 86 COPIES!!! We got a handful. Once those are gone, we won't be able to get more...
One of three new 3" cd-r releases on the Grey Daturas' Diagnosis ... Don't! label, each super limited, and housed in cool hand made packaging.
Of all the noisemakers from New Zealand and Australia, Seht, aka Stephen Clover, is by far the dreamiest and droniest and -least- noisy. Which might be why he holds such a special place in our hearts. And ears. Every Seht disc is a gloriously blissed out tranquil exploration of some deep dark ambient wonderland. There's nothing harsh or heavy, caustic or corrosive, instead, listening to Seht is like drifting through space, or floating a hundred feet below the surface of some clear blue sea. Everything shimmers and sparkles, flows and swirls, the sounds are soft and delicate, distant and dreamy, ethereal and indistinct. Soft focus and beautifully blurry. And this little three inch is no different. Gorgeous and serene. This disc definitely feels like a dark drift along the ocean floor, due to the haunting sonar-like pulse that permeates the whole track, it's not at all distracting though, just the contrary, very hypnotic and soothing, an organic, super minimal pulse, a barely there framework for the slow shifting liquid drones.
AS ALWAYS, ULTRA SUPER LIMITED!! We only got about 30, and probably won't be able to get more...
Packaged in thick textured paper black mini 3" sleeves, with a printed (band name, label info, liner notes) Japanese style obi. Nice.
Another amazing sonic document from one of our favorite sound makers, NZ outfit Seht, aka dronelord Stephen Clover. The Green Morning picks up right where the recently reviewed Federacy Boot left off. If anything it's even darker and dreamier, which is quite a task considering how much we dug the last one. Opening the proceedings is a gorgeously lugubrious soundscape of slow subterranean rumbles, a glacial low end shimmer, that gradually begins to allow dreamy song fragments to surface, just barely breaking the surface, before slowly going under again, a droning dreamlike voyage across a thick fuzzy sonic sea. In fact the first three tracks here all sort of follow the same template: a lengthy barely shifting slab of densely layered deep dark drones, while beneath all sorts of random melodic fragments and sonic debris drift and bob. Almost like a thirty minute three part epic. The second to last track is less droney as it is dreamy, the bulk of the song is a murky melody, smeared into a shape so indistinct it almost does become a drone, but somehow hovers just this side, very underwater sounding, almost like a slowed down Oval, with a strange slow motion rhythm picked out by a sporadic glitchy crunch, like footsteps on gravel. The final track is a 20 minute epic, that returns to the sonic theme of the opening trilogy, but manages to go even deeper and slower and more abstract, delivering a delicate drone that barely shifts, just sort of pulses gently, the whole thing wrapped in a barely there layer of sparkling static.
Seht are a modern New Zealand outfit carrying on the tradition of what was once referred to as NZ noise. A good simplified scene summary perhaps, but not all that accurate. In the eighties and nineties, there was an explosion of small labels and loads of bands in New Zealand, all exploring sound in similarly unique ways, but all inhabiting their own unique sonic space. From the clattery free noise of the Dead C and Gate, to the jangle pop of almost every Flying Nun band, to the avant minimalism of groups like Omit and A Handful Of Dust. And the cool thing about the scene, was that the pop bands incorporated occasional swaths of noise and bursts of chaos, and the 'noise' bands were not above introducing a bit of poppiness here and there. Seht fall somewhere in the middle of all those groups, not really crafting songs as much as 'pieces' or maybe more accurately assemblages of sounds, but in doing so, using traditional instruments often guitars, In fact the steel string acoustic guitar is sort of a them running throughout the whole record, picking out simple melodies, while beneath, drones rumble and whir, snippets of conversations surface, as do occasional bursts of static and noise. Collages of found sounds become hypnotic drones, running water becomes a tranquil stretch of dreamy ambience, samples of laughter become a dada-ist sound poem, some strange percussive melody played on a buzzing stringed instrument becomes a lost snippet of unlikely 'world' music, and creaking industrial clatter becomes a strangely tribal exploration of sound and space. NZ noise indeed!
AQ fave Seht (aka Stephen Clover, who is all over this week's list, also appearing as part of The Stumps) teams up with East Coast sound maker Howard Stelzer for an intercontinental drone drift long distance relationship, and the results are absolutely divine. Both are masters of crumbling decayed ambience and slow shifting organic drones, both of which are present and accounted for on Exactly What You Lost. Field recordings, old tape loops, old tape recorders, all contribute to the gorgeously frayed soundscapes. Thick warm swells shimmer and slowly expand, the louder they get, the more they seem to crumble and dissipate, until the tones becomes staticky blasts of garbled sonic interference. Haunting faded melodies drift through dense clouds of abstract whir, all wreathed in a druggy haze, bits of tape manipulated into strange rhythms and textures, all leading up to the nearly half hour long final track, the darkest and heaviest on the record, a slow drift through a blissed out fuzz drenched universe, drifting in a slow orbit around both the Earth and the SUNNO))), floating on thick swells of downtuned thrum, a crumbling mass of glacial guitar, ominous, foreboding, but also strangely pretty, eventually emerging into a more serene soundworld of murky shimmer, oscillating overtones and strange footstep-like percussion. Mysterious, and quite cool!
Featuring one part Kentucky crusty black metallers Panopticon, and one part Kentucky blacknoise buzzers Wheels Within Wheels, one might not have expected something so melodic, but for all its melody, the debut from Seidr is also a crushingly heavy slab of doooooooooom. Laced liberally with post rock, shoegaze, blackdrone, and really pretty much anything else these guys felt like mixing in. The good news is that somehow, even with all of those disparate elements, the final sound is so much more than its constituent parts.
The tracks are long, and they build slow, the guitars spidery and softly reverby, the drums tribal, eventually exploding into thick swaths of blackened doom, the guitars grinding and chugging, the drums pounding, the vocals a demonic bellow, but even once the heaviness ensues, those spidery guitar melodies keep right on, intertwining with the heavier chug and churn, transforming what would otherwise be more standard doom/sludge into something weirdly washed out and sort of pretty. And yeah, we know you're not supposed to describe stuff this heavy as pretty, but fuck it, we're pretty sure that's what these guys were going for, the perfect balance of extreme heaviness and delicate melody.
The obvious comparisons will be Neurosis, Isis, Pelican, even Asunder and Agalloch, but Seidr's sound is way more black and way more doooooooomy, plus there's definitely plenty of Mogwai and Godspeed and Explosions In The Sky going on as well, which is fine with us. The sound is darkly emotional, heavy as fuck, and super melodic, even at its heaviest, the sound manages to exude emotion and melody, which is rare, especially without losing any of its heft, Seidr definitely seem like the oddball on Flenser, which has so far trafficked pretty much exclusively in black metal, but Seidr's sound is still pretty black, and hell, maybe this is the band that gets Flenser noticed beyond the grim kvlt underground. Although, that said, for all of Seidr's post rockisms, and melody, they're far from being anywhere close to mainstream, this is still some seriously twister, blackened postrock black doom heaviness, and we're digging it big time.
FUSHITSUSHA! No, that wasn't a sneeze. We're trying to get your attention, if you're into that band, Fushitsusha. Those of us here who are big Keiji Haino fans (and we're talking BIG fans), will readily admit that while we love all of the Tokyo psych shaman-in-shades' multi-instrumental solo outings (including solos for guitar, hurdy gurdy, percussion, and electronics) and various collaborative efforts (with Pan Sonic, KK Null, Boris, Sitaar Tah, Tatsuya Yoshida, Merzbow, etc.), it's really his best-known band, the legendary Fushitsusha, that got us into Keiji in the first place, and that we love the most. Avant-garde, free-rock, garage-psych heaviness taking off from obvious sonic/spiritual '70s inspirations Les Rallizes Denudes into the realms something even more experimental and "outsider", a la the Dead C. Unfortunately for us, Fushitsusha disbanded some years ago. But at long last, we've got these, the simultaneously released TWO debut albums from Haino's new "permanent band", Seijaku. Like Fushitsusha, an improvisational power trio, led by Haino's amped up guitar. He's also on "blues harp" on one of these discs, steel guitar on the other, and of course trademark anguished vocals (or should we borrow the metal term vokills?). Besides Dark Lord Haino, the Seijaku trio consists of Nasuno Mitsuru (Altered States, Korekoyjin, Sanhedolin) on bass, and Ichiraku Yoshimitsu (Acid Mothers Temple, Nishinihon, ISO) on drums.
And yes, the "blues harp" does mean that the idea here is Haino & Co. playing "the blues". Or what the label suggests is a fusion of Delta blues, and Noh theater. But electric, very electric. And, well, Haino sure sounds like he's got the blues, bluer blues than any blues EVER, judging from how his guttural cries sound like each word is being tortuously torn not just from his throat, but from his very soul, as if it's the last thing he's ever going to be able to say, or scream, in this world. A striking contrast to his relatively calm and trad harmonica playing. But quite in keeping with sheets of feedbacky guitar skree, utterly Fushitsusha style, that Haino often unleashes. At other times, his guitar is a chiming, slashing, distorted twang, part of the fractured "blues" vibe, along with the plodding percussion and low end rumble that gives this an apocalyptic atmosphere indeed. Would Robert Johnson recognize this stumbling, staggering, scrabbling music as the blues? Well, he knew about dealing with the devil, right, so the vocals wouldn't faze him, and yeah we think might well appreciate the improvisational and spiritual aspects of the Seijaku sound. But beyond that...
Of the two discs, Mail from FUSHITSUSHA (bless you!) (it really is all caps in the disc's title) is the one that, according the Haino, represents "21st century blues". The title obviously makes the connection clear to Haino's earlier outfit, they're apparently "adhering to the Fushitsusha method", and the back cover credits Haino as the "originator". There's ten tracks, with titles like "Forced To Think You Love" and "Please Send Me A New Heart"... this one has a sheet of lyrics provided, in Japanese though, but we think we might get already have gotten an idea of what Haino is so down about.
Meanwhile, the 2nd of the two discs (by catalog number), You Should Prepare To Survive Through Even Anything Happens, with the whiter/lighter cover, is dedicated to "Albert King, The Doors, and Steppenwolf"! It's meant as Haino's tribute to the SPIRIT (if not exactly the sound) of 20th century blues, and is the one with his occasional harp blowing. It features four (long) tracks, titles include "Keep On Fighting" and "Look Over Here From The Other Side".
While each is a bit different, Mail From... with more short sharp shocks, You Should... stretching out soulfully, rollin' but mostly tumblin' hard, we're pretty certain that if you want one, you'll also want the other! Both come in handsome digipacks, like all Doubtmusic releases, of course.
FUSHITSUSHA! No, that wasn't a sneeze. We're trying to get your attention, if you're into that band, Fushitsusha. Those of us here who are big Keiji Haino fans (and we're talking BIG fans), will readily admit that while we love all of the Tokyo psych shaman-in-shades' multi-instrumental solo outings (including solos for guitar, hurdy gurdy, percussion, and electronics) and various collaborative efforts (with Pan Sonic, KK Null, Boris, Sitaar Tah, Tatsuya Yoshida, Merzbow, etc.), it's really his best-known band, the legendary Fushitsusha, that got us into Keiji in the first place, and that we love the most. Avant-garde, free-rock, garage-psych heaviness taking off from obvious sonic/spiritual '70s inspirations Les Rallizes Denudes into the realms something even more experimental and "outsider", a la the Dead C. Unfortunately for us, Fushitsusha disbanded some years ago. But at long last, we've got these, the simultaneously released TWO debut albums from Haino's new "permanent band", Seijaku. Like Fushitsusha, an improvisational power trio, led by Haino's amped up guitar. He's also on "blues harp" on one of these discs, steel guitar on the other, and of course trademark anguished vocals (or should we borrow the metal term vokills?). Besides Dark Lord Haino, the Seijaku trio consists of Nasuno Mitsuru (Altered States, Korekoyjin, Sanhedolin) on bass, and Ichiraku Yoshimitsu (Acid Mothers Temple, Nishinihon, ISO) on drums.
And yes, the "blues harp" does mean that the idea here is Haino & Co. playing "the blues". Or what the label suggests is a fusion of Delta blues, and Noh theater. But electric, very electric. And, well, Haino sure sounds like he's got the blues, bluer blues than any blues EVER, judging from how his guttural cries sound like each word is being tortuously torn not just from his throat, but from his very soul, as if it's the last thing he's ever going to be able to say, or scream, in this world. A striking contrast to his relatively calm and trad harmonica playing. But quite in keeping with sheets of feedbacky guitar skree, utterly Fushitsusha style, that Haino often unleashes. At other times, his guitar is a chiming, slashing, distorted twang, part of the fractured "blues" vibe, along with the plodding percussion and low end rumble that gives this an apocalyptic atmosphere indeed. Would Robert Johnson recognize this stumbling, staggering, scrabbling music as the blues? Well, he knew about dealing with the devil, right, so the vocals wouldn't faze him, and yeah we think might well appreciate the improvisational and spiritual aspects of the Seijaku sound. But beyond that...
Of the two discs, Mail from FUSHITSUSHA (bless you!) (it really is all caps in the disc's title) is the one that, according the Haino, represents "21st century blues". The title obviously makes the connection clear to Haino's earlier outfit, they're apparently "adhering to the Fushitsusha method", and the back cover credits Haino as the "originator". There's ten tracks, with titles like "Forced To Think You Love" and "Please Send Me A New Heart"... this one has a sheet of lyrics provided, in Japanese though, but we think we might get already have gotten an idea of what Haino is so down about.
Meanwhile, the 2nd of the two discs (by catalog number), You Should Prepare To Survive Through Even Anything Happens, with the whiter/lighter cover, is dedicated to "Albert King, The Doors, and Steppenwolf"! It's meant as Haino's tribute to the SPIRIT (if not exactly the sound) of 20th century blues, and is the one with his occasional harp blowing. It features four (long) tracks, titles include "Keep On Fighting" and "Look Over Here From The Other Side".
While each is a bit different, Mail From... with more short sharp shocks, You Should... stretching out soulfully, rollin' but mostly tumblin' hard, we're pretty certain that if you want one, you'll also want the other! Both come in handsome digipacks, like all Doubtmusic releases, of course.
Japanophile AQ-customers may already be familiar with Seikazoku, or at least with work of the three individual musicians that make up this band: Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Korekyojin, Koenji-hyakkei, Akaten, etc.), Kawabata Makoto (Acid Mothers Temple this, Acid Mothers Temple that, etc.), and Tsuyama Atsushi (Omoide Hatoba, Akaten, Acid Mothers Temple, Zoffy, etc.)! So you'll expect what you get here, psych-drone-freakout weirdness improvised on a multitude of instruments, live in Japan like it says. Some of the 13 tracks on this disc are drifting, mellow krauty jams with hippie hand-percussion, electronics, and fake throat-singing (courtesy of goofy vocal specialist Tsuyama we think, though we know Yoshida is capable of some fairly over-the-top vocals as well). But then there's also the other side of the Seikazoku coin: spazzy jazzy manic meltdowns at greater volume and velocity. It's all got a bit of an indulgent ADD vibe, and might be an easier listen if they stuck to one mood (if not the other). We'd say the primitive bliss of the mellower tracks would be the way to go. But there is indeed a lot of crazed chaos here, so those of you who share their silly, hairy mania should dig the whole set.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
The title is a bit misleading, as this Japanese psych-prog-improv fest was recorded in '96... Seikazoku consists of Tsuyama Atsushi (Omoide Hatoba, Akaten), Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Akaten, Musica Transonic, Mainliner, etc.), and Kawabata Makoto (Musica Transonic, Mainliner, Toho Sara, Acid Mothers Temple).
