It's fun to look back at reviews we've written and see how we feel about them after some time has passed and we've spent more time with the record in question, records that we sometimes had to write about way too soon after first hearing. While we gave the latest outing by Australia's Cut Copy a favorable review we didn't gush and really rave about it as much as we might now. It's a record that became and still is one of our big pop addictions of the year. We've lost count of how many times we've listened to that record and it's looking like label mates The Tough Alliance are on their way to achieving that same state of pure dance pop bliss. Hailing from Sweden, where they've always known a thing or two about producing pleasing pop perfection, this is a record that channels eighties sounds from the Happy Mondays to OMD to The Human League. Breezy and infectious equal parts Manchester scene, indie pop, nu-rave, electro-pop and hi-energy, it's a whole album that sounds a little like some of our favorite songs stretched out into a whole record, like the Vaselines cover of Divine's "You Think You're A Man" or Death Cab For Cutie's most infectious song ever "Soul Meets Body". A New Chance doesn't reinvent the wheel but it sure makes us jump and spin and swirl in pure bliss and you can't ask for much more than that in a pop album. So fun and and so good!
Three boyz. Two bands. Two albums.
Toughguy Fantasy is an aural onslaught of noise insanity. Barely keeping up with itself, it's sorta in the vein of Lightning Bolt but with more musical toys and much more disfunction, making for an intangible attack from all angles.
Arctic Boyz is the slightly quieter sibling. Still chaotic for the most part, imagine Hella without "songs" with much clattering feedback. Starts off with a slightly middle-eastern flavor, and ramps up into a scratchy non-sensical maelstrom.
Features members of Hella, Chrime in Choir, The Appreciation and Holy Smokes: Zach, Carson and Justin.
Even if this wasn't some terminally obscure project out of Japan circa 1988 (we're guessing on the date and PSF isn't telling), we would still be freaking out over this mind blowing drone-plus-noise album. But as it stands, Toukaseibunshi is a project that's about as mysterious as they come, and that intrigues us all the more. Toukaseibunshi was the pseudonym for one Hironari Iwata, who used to run a cassette label in the late '80s called Angakok. Through that imprint he curated a compilation that featured HNAS, Asmus Tietchens, Merzbow, Conrad Schnitzler, SBOTHI, Human Flesh, and a bunch of other artists we're not all that familiar with. As Toukaseibunshi, Iwata fluctuates between all of these aesthetic poles, pulling a blistering (if more restrained) use of squalid noise from Merzbow, the sustained electronic clusters from Tietchens and Schnitzler, and an unsettled weirdness from HNAS. Yet the same time, Iwata's distorted drone pieces foreshadow the same types of digital overblown pieces from Fennesz or Belong some 20 years later.
The album begins with a sprawling twenty minute piece "Glace" whose arches of softened feedback take on the hue of a post-MBV glide guitar grafted onto a static field of electricity and billowing ambient swathes that sort of have a Stars Of The Lid vibe, but with a lot more teeth in the mix. Mesmerizingly beautiful stuff. The rest of the album is split between five other tracks of variable length but are considerably nastier than the opening number. Iwata's crunched tape loops, actionist metal bashing thrust into the background, and squawking electronics have the feeling of the sounds of a construction site being tossed around the high rises of Tokyo. The reverb dislocated the sound amidst the din of the city; and despite the turmoil, Iwata seems intent on making these industrialized sounds meditative. That doesn't imply a lack of noise, cuz these tracks got plenty of bloodcurdling white noise buzzing about.
This album has been released in PSF's Japanese Avant-Garde Cassette Reissue Series. So, we can only assume this came out on cassette sometime in the late '80s and early '90s when Iwata was active; however, there's no information whatsoever. It's great to have this available, even as it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
We are huge fans of Tinarwien, that amazing ensemble out of the Saharan desert who so effortlessly integrate electric guitars into their West African hypnotic blues. So we were super excited to check out Toumast when we learned that its leader, Ag Keyna, was not only once a freedom fighter in North Africa but also spent time as a member of Tinariwen. It's no surprise that musically this shares a lot in common with Tinariwen, which is not a bad thing at all! From impassioned foot stompers to entrancing and spacious songs full of soul, the music of Toumast is rich with a survival spirit that one can hear and latch onto even when you don't understand the language.
Keyna was severely wounded by military fire in the early '90s, and was airlifted out of Africa to France for medical care. He began to channel his fighting spirit into music making with the aid of his niece who is a great percussionist, along with the amazing vocal styling of Aminatou Goumar. And thus Toumast was born.
The songs on Ishumar all catch such tasty grooves and make for a listen that is both immediately satisfying and constantly growing on us with each repeated listen. So good!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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What a moving set of songs! Ali Farka Toure recorded this record shortly before he passed away, along with the immensely talented and soulful kora master Toumani Diabate. There is a mournful and graceful feeling to this record for sure, Ali Farka knew he was near the end of his life and these songs are filled with such patient, beautiful, and trance inducing sounds. Toure's classic guitar stylings touch on such tender and raw emotions while Diabate adds a warm bed of sound to flesh it all out, yet there is a stark and stripped down approach to these songs that really makes them that much more powerful. With such intricate, delicate and purposeful playing, along with Toure's emotional presence felt so strongly throughout the record, you are reminded what true blues really sounds like. Diabate has the special gift of being capable of making music that is totally therapuetic and healing and soothing, and that matched with Toure laying down his last songs to tape, makes this such a moving, entrancing and completely beautiful album. Highly recommended!
A gorgeous record of African folk music from this legendary Malian singer, documenting a series of collaborations between friends, recorded casually, field recording style, at a family member's house. Toure would meet with each friend, hang out, drink tea and choose a song the first day, then the next day, the two would record the song, giving themselves only two takes, in order to capture the energy and spontaneity of the moment. Originally, the producer intended to mix these songs with the sounds of the street and various interviews, to create a more historical document of the music, the time and the place, but once the recordings were finished, they decided the songs were too good to mess with.
And good is an understatement, the songs here are gorgeous, emotional, intimate, passionate, and quite simple, but so powerful, generally just two instruments and one or two voices, the instruments locked into looped cyclical melodies, super trancelike and hypnotic, while the vocals soar over the top. The opener is incredible, the two guitar wound into intricate harmonies and dizzying counterpoint, the vocals lush and soulful, and when the song shifts, and the guitars get even more tangled, and the second vocal comes in, it's so intense, we've listened to that first song about 20 times now.
The other collaborations are just as moving, the vocal interplay incredible, and the various permutations of dueling guitars fantastic, the sound shifting from traditional African folk, to desert blues, to something more American influenced, but all infused with Toure's spirit and style. Anyone who's been digging the various African releases on Sublime Frequencies, or any of the Tinariwen records, will definitely dig this too.
Vieux Farka Toure's music resonates with a strength, power and wisdom well beyond his years. While the shoes he's had to fill being the son of the late great Ali Farka Toure are quite enormous he's done so with an equally gifted ability to create songs that ring with a universal truth and strength that anyone can understand no matter what language you speak. We were instant believers in after hearing his debut a couple years ago and our appreciation of him grew when we saw him live opening for Tinariwen at the Palace Of Fine Arts shortly after that record came out. There was no doubt that this was a man filled with passion, remarkable guitar playing skills and a voice that is both peaceful and commanding of attention. Fondo is further proof that we will be hearing great music from Vieux for many years to come. While continuing the great tradition of Mali music that his dad helped bring to the ears of many across the globe, he is carrying on that legacy with a richness all his own.
Cheesy remixes, unfortunately.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Vinyl soundtrack reissue from a Bruce Lee movie we had never heard of. Must have been a later one, judging from the soundtrack; a cheesy mix of funky jazz fusion and 70's sitcom theme music, with lots of piano and slap bass. Makes us really want to see Tower of Death and see Bruce Lee trying to fight to this stuff!
Previously available only as a limited-to-300-copies one-sided piece of vinyl, Tower Recordings' "Folk Scene" now sees an expanded (14 more tracks!) compact disc reissue. Avantgarde cosmic bedroom psychedelia as these New Yorkers do best. Longtime TR members
Comparisons are being made to British psych-folk of decades past, a la the Incredible String Band and the pagan folk of the Wicker Man soundtrack, comparisons that work well for that wonderful P.G. Six album from earlier this year, but TR on "Folk Scene" is so much more wasted and kosmische, blurred and drugged, more like krautrockers Amon Duul than Fairport Convention!! So good! But of course, if you've got their previous cd on Siltbreeze, the wonderful "Furniture Music For Evening Shuttles", you already know that and are on your way down here to buy this...
Beautiful homerecorded avant-folk-pop-psych from this crew of NYC apartment-dwellers. They even do a lovely Mutantes cover! Recommended.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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Basement drone and experimentation for both morning and evening drug-ingestion. When TR gets into songs, it's comparable to early Smog.
Fans of all things psych-folk, and space rock and everything in between get all in a lather when talking about Tower Recordings. Rightfully so. Few bands have managed to capture the lilting dreaminess of seventies British psych, the otherworldly bliss out of modern space rock, and the transcendental urdrone of skree and shimmer outfits like Vibracathedral Orchestra and Sunroof!. The Galaxies' Incredible... is the first proper Tower Recordings record in three years and much has changed. Thankfully, none of those changes have affected TR. They continue to plot their own meandering trajectory through their unique hazy sonic world, managing to outdo almost all of their contemporaries in the process. The first track is a massive mellow jam / drone, huge chordal washes build and build into a massive slowly shifting whir, while ephemeral female vocals and various instruments float lazily by, bobbing in the spacy ethereal current. The second track is more straight up folk, with keening falsetto vocals, fingerpicked nylon string guitar, but with all sorts of weird bits, clapping, keyboardy bleeps, throbbing low end pulses. The rest of the record sort of drifts back and forth, more often than not resting right in between, with sweeping drones and warm ambience washing over dreamy folk melodies and delicate instrumental filligree. Absolutely gorgeous.
These guys have been the talk of the town lately. Folks can't tell if they're serious or a total pisstake, or if it even matters. The music is a wild raucous glammy punk rock, simple and catchy, snotty and repetitive, funny and rocking as all get out. Lots of sing along parts, lots of super simple guitar leads, the vocals delivered in a thick Cockney sneer with plenty of attitude. Their look is total eighties glam punk, skin tight trousers, ripped t-shirts, Doc Martens or Converse All Stars, leather jackets, sun glasses, and BIG teased glam rock hair. We're not sure what all the fuss is about. They look awesome. They sound awesome. What more do you need to know? Who cares if it's a joke? They're like some sloppy collision of the Sex Pistols, Hanoi Rocks, G.B.H., the Damned, the New York Dolls and Andrew W.K. which sounds pretty good to us. If you're a punk purist you'll probably immediately want to beat the shit out of these guys, but if you dig the Darkness, love the above mentioned bands, and are in the market for some big, fun, wild, dumb, air guitar worthy glampunk rock and roll, you can't really do much better than the Towers Of London.
On their follow-up to last year's lovely C'mon, Chicago soundscapists Town and Country drift into view with 5 (yes, it's their fifth full length). Stretching each song out langourously from the shortest, the 4:23 "Lifestyled" to the eleven minute long album closer "Shirtless", they allow the instruments (strings, woodwinds, percussion, a cornet, a glass of water) to resonate, ebb and flow naturally. Melodic and rhythmic elements take shape gradually, and give way to the spacious drones. An entrancing album with a beautiful, warm ambience. Nice!
The third album from this Chicago quartet who lovingly weave together harmonium, piano, guitar, trumpet, and contrabass. While their previous album was also a serene, dreamy gathering, Town And Country's new one reveals a lessening of their gentle guitars
This is a near-perfect album of stark, lonely instrumentals. Using a variety of chamber instruments -- including cello, piano, kalimba, organ, melodian and snare drum -- to gorgeous effect, these guys know how to pile on the cool sounds without oversaturating the songs' natural ambience. With barely a beat to play against, these four compositions just seem to flow together and fall apart with relative ease. And best of all, no signs of hated hack indie hipster jazz (always a danger from Chicago/Thrill Jockey acts).
It seems like this ensemble never get the credit and attention that many of their peers in Chicago do. Hopefully that will change with "Up Above" their most fully realized and compelling album to date. The record finds them incorporating lots of eastern instrumentation like tambura, sitar, karkabas along with lots of hand percussion, glockenspiel, violin and countless other musical tools which they bring together to brew some front porch minimalism at its finest. It's like they found a way to channel the meditations of Terry Riley with like a more celestial Henry Flynt. While past releases have always been really nice but also somewhat predictable, we were so happy to hear that they've set their sights to a higher place and hit their target oh so nicely.
Throughout the '90s, Cedric Peyronnet would boldy announce that none of his Toy Bizarre recordings were made with synthesizers or samplers, instead with field recordings and collage techniques as his twin media. It has been speculated that this notion comes from a punk attitude against France's institutional avant-garde which evolved out of the work of Pierre Schaefer and Pierre Henri; but at the same time, Peyronnet's recordings focus on the specificity of sound locations, and the technology of samplers and synthesizers didn't have the ability to reflect the unpredictability that Peyronnet witnessed in environmental sound. While Peyronnet doesn't mentioned his aversion to technology on this 3" from Ferns, he's retained the same adventurous sensibility for dynamic edits coupled with nocturnal, slippery ambience. From the jump-start opening of crackling twigs and grasses with an airplane's Doppler-effected engine roaring in the distance, Peyronnet's 20 minute composition dissolves into elegantly fluid timbres weaving out of tactile sounds from sand, grit, gravel, and other bits of detritus. Once all of the sounds have all settled into a drift of stasis, a quick jump to another set of textures and abrasions begins with a corresponding set of sympathetic drones. Fans of Loren Chasse's field recording work, Tarab, and Steve Roden should all take note of this exceptional release.
After all these years, we are still not all that clear what the acronym that Cedric Peyronnet (aka Toy Bizarre) has used for the bulk of his album titles. It's definitely some sort of cataloging system as his titles are in sequential fashion, now reaching 278, though there are some sizable jumps between the various numbers. Peyronnet may have explained what this may mean somewhere and at sometime, but enlightenment eludes us. So, we'll collectively shrug and move onto this vivid collection of manipulated field recordings and phonographic compositions that are found on this impressive album. Since the late '80s or thereabouts, Peyronnet has used natural sounds as his primary source material, working in parallel to Eric La Casa, Small Cruel Party, Tarab, and some of the more obtuse practitioners of contemporary musique concrete. Peyronnet's uneasy dislocations never settle on the notions of purely objective / narrative descriptions of sound, nor could they be defined as abstraction. So one can hear jolting splashes of water and mud along with Luc Ferrari like snippets of human voice well-removed from context alongside filter-heavy drones of liquid miasma and mercurial drones dappled with found object texture and splattered detritus. Peyronnet has quite a knack for rendering all of the components of his compositions with an incredible sharpness of detail - the purity of his dilated frequencies and an exactness to environmental elements work into his slippery compositions punctured with bursts of energy that Peyronnet allows to wane into solemn pools of contemplation.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Toy Bizarre presents another collection of sound illustrations constructed entirely out of unprocessed field recordings. Twilight noises, maddeningly unidentifiable drones, and the musical minutiae of stolen moments of the world that surrounds us. Completely free of synthetic sounds and samplers, Toy Bizarre's soundscapes are certainly for fans of Id Battery.
For a record produced and assembled by Weasel Walter of the Flying Luttenbachers, and titled The Unlistenable Years, and documenting some lost never before heard No Wave recordings, this Toy Killers disc is in fact, surprisingly listenable. But listenability is for sure relative, as this is still some pretty out there and difficult listening.
The names Mark E. Miller and Charles K Noyes are probably unknown to all but the most obsessive No Wave / No New York fanatics, but Miller and Noyes were both percussionists, who began life in the seventies as a crazed noise duo, that would morph into a strange noise / punk / free jazz hybid often playing with more well known NY scene luminaries like John Zorn, Arto Lindsay, Elliott Sharp, Bill Laswell, Wayne Horvitz, all of whom appear on these recordings right here, culled from a trove of unreleased and until now virtually unheard studio and live recordings captured on tape in the early eighties.
A spastic, dubbed out anti-funk, collaged noise groove free jazz what the fuck that veers from groovy woozy Material like post-dub to maniacal frenetic Ruins like skronk, and various stops in between, Krautrock rhythms underpin buzzing new wave synths, bursts of drums-down-the-stairs rhythmic freakouts, garbled speaking in tongues vocals, blown out wah wah bass and exotic percussion, angular guitar scrape and wail, chopped up samples and junkyard clang and clatter. The songs skip wildly from fuzzy anti disco funk to super skeletal This Heat skitter to super distorted almost grindcore to abstract atonal pound to total no wave vocal / drum / horn damage, to minimal noise dub and on and on and on.
The record finishes off with nearly half an hour of improvisations, that offer up all manner of minimal drone and dirge and buzz and skronk, ambient drift and stumbling deconstructed jazz, wild percussive freakouts, haunting collaged soundscapes, some deep and creepy dronemusic, and a whole lot of noise.
Features liner notes by Weasel Walter, who put this record together, and Anton Fier, who was THERE, and got to see some of this shit GO DOWN!
For many folks, Kiwi (post) punk outfit Toy Love was their introduction to Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate, but for us, we were already in love with the twisted home brewed bedroom pop of the Tall Dwarfs, aka Knox and Bathgate, before we learned that there was something that came before. And for some reason, we were expecting some sort of proto-Tall Dwarfs, and in a way, that is what Toy Love were, albeit sonically a whole different kettle of snotty punk rock fish. The clever lyrics, and strange turns of phrase, the inventive arrangements, and rollicking rocking looseness, not to mention the hilarious between song banter, all had their genesis in Toy Love, but for all that would follow, Toy Love were indeed a punk band, described by the label as New Zealand's answer to Wire, which is really not that far off the mark. And while there is a double cd collection which captures virtually everything the band ever recorded (we can order it for you, just ask, you should! It's awesome!), live, the band were something else altogether. Hearing this now, it's hard to imagine a band this good, with songs this great, would hang it up, especially after only a couple years (they only existed for two years, 1979-1980). This live set was one of their final shows, and displays the band in fine form, the sound loud and pristine, the songs KILL, the band tight as fuck, wiry and angular, but at the same time loose and wild, the onstage back and forth between the bandmates the sort of thing that makes the whole audience feel like they're just hanging at the rehearsal space drinking beers watching their buddies' band practice. This is one of those live records that most definitely captured a special moment in time, and a special band at their prime.
And the songs, holy shit, how has the Toy Love catalog not been plundered by a million punk bands looking for covers infinitely better than their originals, in fact the opening salvo here is pretty much untouchable, "Fifteen", is all buzzing bassline, wild octopoidal drumming, jagged shards of guitar, swaggery, snarly vox, and a hook to kill for. "Unscrewed Up" is more of the same, slowing it down a bit and adding some slither, the guitars spidery and droney, the drums still the driving force, the vocals a raspy yowl, and another killer chorus, the vibe dark and a little Wipers-y, which leads right into "Amputee Song" which is pure pop dressed up in punk clothing, crazy catchy, super melodic, very reminscent of -that- NZ pop sound, but way more punk. And so it goes, for the whole of this epic set, relentless, and relentlessly great! The set rife with slow, dark brooders, and crazy catchy punky pop songs, but leaning mostly toward wild, gleefully chaotic pop flecked post punky crunch. An essential NZ underground music artifact for sure!
Includes a mini-foldout poster, with extensive liner notes and rare photos.
It appears to always be springtime in the world of Japanese musician Takeo Toyama, who makes mellow and melodic mostly-instrumental tunes (using piano, samples, electronics, trumpet, la la las, guitar strum, etc.). Jazz-inflected soft pop for
Ok. First of all, this is a concerto for electric guitar and toy orchestra. TOY ORCHESTRA!! Six women and an array of children's toys and noisemaking devices intended for varying age groups. Fred Frith, as you may or may not know, is a well-known improvisational guitarist, who, over the years has worked with the likes of John Zorn and others. If anyone could play with a toy orchestra and do it right, it'd be Frith. The highly disciplined result is at the very least interesting and novel, and at most quiet emotionally evocative!
This has the Casio-tinged sweetness of Takako Minekawa with a Mouse on Mars sense of playful melodicism. (Not that we're saying Toyen are quite on the level of MoM or Takako, of course.) From the eclectic Blackbean and Placenta record label. All tracks
The man they call MC Trachiotomy is a cohort of mad sonic scientist/organist Mr. Quintron from New Orleans. Certainly not to be confused with their ladyfriend and puppet wrangler Miss Pussycat! Such a mysterious, eccentric trio they make. You might've spotted them on Quintron's recent Drum Buddy tour. What is a Drum Buddy? Well, it's another Mr. Quintron invention, an amazing light beam triggered spinning instrument contraption thing that spews crazy drum beats and sounds, and it makes an appearance on this cd too! Anyways, back to the business at hand, "W/ Love From Tahiti" is Trachiotomy on his own, and yes, it was indeed recorded in Tahiti. You might find this cd in the hip hop section of many record shops, but we're not so sure if that's really the right place for him to be. His often incoherent mumbling sort of sounds like a cross between Tom Waits and Bill Cosby. This "rapping" is plopped over a jumble of shuffling beats (many I'm sure are courtesy of the aforementioned DB) and assorted samples. Quite haphazard and homespun, distorted and a bit murky. The sizeable sample of Steve Martin as Navin Johnson in the movie The Jerk on the track called "Valentine" (I think that's the title, but I can't really tell for sure 'cause the liner notes are in messy chicken scratch) perked up my ears, but that might be because it sticks out amid the tracks as a *somewhat* coherent voice. Note: there is a warning in the liner notes that states "this is 'THE' baby makin' music. NNUUUUUTTHIN' BUT SSLLOOOOWW JJJAAAAAAAAMMMMZZZZZ!" Hmmm, dunno 'bout that! But whether or not that's completely true, we do recommend proceeding with caution. Maybe it's just me, but I found this to be some pretty weird, swampy and a bit dirty stuff - especially the track called "Along Th' Coast" that's driven (ha ha! bad pun intended) by a play-by-play pitstop commentary of the changing of a Maserati's tires. Something's might be better experienced live and in the flesh. You might say "Yikes!" or you might say "Yum!"
From Sub Pop's new sub-label comes a full length from SF's own Track Star, strumming furiously and angsting so much you'd think they were the Wedding Present or something.
Wyatt Cusick is the skilled scribe of some of the sweetest, smartest tunes around!! And he's in two of the brightest pop bands around - the Aislers Set and Trackstar. Purveyors of all that is sensitive, peppy and charming, tempered with a balanced dose of fuzzy and jangly guitars. His fellow Track Star Matthew Troy is certainly no songwritin' slouch either. After so many years of making music together its clear their chemistry is capable of brewing up a melodious storm. Each fellow brings his distinct approach to the group, Wyatt all warm, soft and boyish, and Matthew a bit more feisty and gritty. The faster songs are driving power pop whereas the slower ones have a definite Belle And Sebastian-esque fragile lilt and sigh to them (such as on "Green To Gold" a song that also appeared on their late 2001 Omnibus Records 7"). This is made even more pronounced on the song titled "The End" by the added honey-sweet vocal grace of Alicia Vanden Heuvel (of the Aislers Set and Poundsign). This release also marks drummer Brian Girgus' (formerly of Lowercase) full length debut for the Trackstar team.
Wyatt Cusick is one damn fine pop songcraftsman (you may have also heard his skills at work in the wonderful Aislers Set). He, together with bandmates Matthew Troy and Brian Girgus (formerly of Lowercase) presents this lovely short'n'sweet two-song single.... maybe even too short! It seems the songs are over before they've barely begun. Consider this just a hint of their new
Tractor is the early '70s UK heavy-folk-rock duo of Jim Milne and Steve Clayton, who made two classic albums, one record under the name The Way We Live, and this one as Tractor, which was originally released in 1972 on John Peel's Dandelion label. Here it's reissued on cd as a '30th Anniversary Special Edition'. Probably the heavier of the two records, "Tractor" comes off like a combination of obscure UK folksters Tony, Caro & John (whose album reissue on Shadoks we recommended a few months ago) and heavy rock n' rollers Led Zeppelin or Budgie (or, to be obscure again, T2). Doomy fuzz guitars, conga drums, mystick lyrix, acoustic strum... This 'power duo' recorded in a bedroom studio but their sound is BIG. Anyone into either kick-ass '70s psychedelic guitar heroics or epic blissful folksy melancholia, or *both* especially, should investigate. There's one goofy blues number, but that's more than made up for by the epic, fierce "Little Girl In Yellow", a heavy rock classic if there ever was one.
Hisses and boos to the record label though, for crudding up this disc's front and back covers with little blurbs about the record (including the logos of the magazines from whence several of the blurbs were derived). What were they thinking? Save that stuff for a sticker on the shrink wrap! We're also not entirely sure that including two recordings (and photos) from the band's 2002 reunion as 'bonus' tracks was such a great idea, although the extra four demo tracks from Jim Milne, just acoustic guitar and voice, are quite nice, whenever they may be from (they don't tell us).
Unfortunately no '30th Anniversary Special Edition' of The Way We Live's "Candle For Judith" has come our way, but if it ever does we'll give you the heads up on that too.
MPEG Download: "All Ends Up" [/audio/tractorallendsup.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "All Ends Up" [/audio/tractorallendsup.m3u]
There's something very strange going on in Finland. Well, yeah, obviously. That's why we love Finnish music so much. But we mean even STRANGER. Or nowhere has it been stranger than in and around the Circle camp. But whatever it is, we like it. The stranger the better. As if it wasn't enough that Circle records proper continue to get weirder and weirder and more in keeping with their self perpetuated New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal (NWOFHM) movement, the band continually create other outlets for their seemingly endless outpouring of damaged musical genius. So first they offered us the murky chug of Circle side project Doktor Kettu. Then the blown out psychedelic stoner rock of Pharoah Overlord. But more recently, running a parallel course to Circle's gradual metallizing, things started getting, well, still even more metal. Culminating in records by Krypt Axeripper and Steel Mammoth, who took Circle's new Judas Priest worship as far as it could go, until now. Circle seem to enjoy taking on the guise of lost mysterious Finnish heavy metal bands, only -sort of- trying to pretend it wasn't in fact them...
And thus we have yet another mysterious Finnish metal band, from the eighties? Maybe? Maybe not? It's the strangely named Tractor Pulling. Whose debut 7" is also the first release on Ektro sublabel Full Contact. The cover art while not metal, is definitely bizarre. The Tractor Pulling logo is appropriately metal, the band members are called Electric Erko, Eeto Von Tomb and Brutalpo (who is credited with "Exploding tom-toms"), and so it will come as no surprise that Tractor Pulling are fully and unabashedly (though perhaps ironically) metal. Eighties style. Falling somewhere between Judas Priest, AC/DC and Accept. Killer super distorted riffs, bombastic drumming, and crazy multi tracked vocals, one low and growly, one eighties metal falsetto, singing in tandem until the inevitable call and response of the chorus "HIGH SPEED! LOW SPEED!" with, yep, you guessed it, the falsetto vocal for the first part, the low growly vocal for the second. The guitars are a bit tripped out, processed and harmonized, some soaring dual guitar action, little flurries of space rock FX, and some serious hooks. It's pretty dead on in its borrowing and stealing from the eighties metal canon, but there are bits and pieces that are too modern, and a little too psychedelic, to be one hundred percent convincing, but those things only serve to make this stuff even more wacked and AWESOME. Maybe too 'metal' for hypnorockers, but any one who dug any of Circle's more metal side projects will probably dig this too.
Culture For Pigeon begins with Ms Tracy (aka Wynne Greenwood) at her most sing-song-y. Whereas in the past she's drawn comparisons to Kathleen Hanna and Hanna's electronic pop alter ego Julie Ruin, this time around comparisons may be drawn to a lo-fi Solex with a subdued PJ Harvey or fellow Olympia, WA starlet Mirah at the mic. It's definitely not as much of an all-out party as her 2001 debut full length Muscler's Guide to Videonics was. It's filled with tumbling programmed beats, slow moody organ-driven numbers and odd chuggy synth sounds that sometimes resemble someone pretending to play the trumpet (go on, listen to "Henrietta" and tell me it doesn't sound like that!). All in all though, this shouldn't disappoint her fans who know her live show is where it's at -- complete with video projected backing band Nikki and Cola (actually Greenwood in costume). Indeed in the past her live show has often stolen the thunder from her recorded work. However this release brings the two experiences closer together 'cause it includes a bonus DVD!
Tracy + the Plastics is the low-fi electro-dance solo project of Wynne Greenwood, an Olympia, WA-based artist. She used to be in the video-band Meme America and now she has taken on the alter-ego of Tracy, and her own two sidekicks, Nikki Romanos and Cola. Live, Tracy performs while the other two accompany her as pre-programmed video-projections. Quite impressive with the split personality, schizo, tight, well-rehearsed performance art. Both recorded and live Tracy and The Plastics strongly draws comparison to Julie Ruin (another alter ego electronica/ dance band solo project) by both taking on the characteristics of Kathleen Hanna's voice and the mood of the casiotone, low-fi, drum machine madness.
This is her second release on Chainsaw Records and was recorded by Joe Preston (of the Thrones, the Need, and the Melvins), Donna Dresch, and Tracy herself.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Finally available on vinyl, with two bonus remixes by 1774. Long awaited full length from Olympia, WA-based multimedia queen Wynne Greenwood, formerly of MeMeAmerica. Recorded by Joe Preston (Thrones), this LP compiles new material with songs previously heard on their previous cassette-only release on Heartcore. Lo-fi electro grooviness for fans of The Need. Carrie Brownstein (Sleater Kinney) makes an appearance on one track.
Long awaited full length from Olympia, WA-based multimedia queen Wynne Greenwood, formerly of MeMeAmerica. Recorded by Joe Preston (Thrones), this cd compiles new material with songs previously heard on the cassette-only release put out last year by Heartcore.
Trad Gras Och Stenar -- aka Trees, Grass and Stones -- are from Sweden and have a long, long history to go along with their wonderful band name. Presently, the members (all providing vocals) are: Bo Anders Persson (guitar), Jakob Sjoholm (also guitar), Torbjorn Abelli (bass), and Thomas Mera Gartz (drums). These "four old men" (as they describe themselves in the liner notes) have been playing together for many, many years: three of 'em were founder members of the totally amazing psychedelic drone band Parson Sound in 1967, which morphed into the equally amazing, also-heavy-but-folkier outfits International Harvester, then Harvester, and then Trad Gras Och Stenar, who released their last album in 1969. Now, 33 years later, here's another great Trad Gras Och Stenar disc! They certainly demonstrate here that they've still "got it" -- a la Faust, another, rather similarily experimental band of baby boomers who are still making great music today. They also demonstrate that yesterday's prog or psych rock is now today's post-rock, but better!
"Ajn Schvajn Draj" was recorded from 1998-2001 under various circumstances -- in an atmospheric detail, they thank the "patient horses" in the pasture outside the building on the island of Faringso where they recorded much of this. Fittingly, this 74 minute album conjures up a mostly somber mood that you can imagine horses enjoying, one that's dark, pretty, nicely repetitive, and gentle but also fully capable of unleashing some dense, "free rock" heaviness. Somber, but with humor, indeed, with some rather unusual singing -- we mentioned Faust, and we're also reminded of Can (some of the vocals seemingly channel Damo Suzuki).
Actually, at first listen, a couple of the vocal tracks were tough going (why sing in French if you don't have to?) but the rest is mighty fine, in particular the several extended, improvised instrumentals that really recall the heavy psych-rock power of Parson Sound and International Harvester. Overall, you'd never be fooled into thinking this was the old Trad Gras Och Stenar (it has a much more "modern" sound), but if you're familar with those records, you'll be able to tell it's the same band on these tracks for sure.
Track four, "The Dove", starts off with vocals that sound like a French version of U2's Bono, but by the end of the song the band has gotten into a repetitive groove that reminds us much more of French post-rockers Ulan Bator. Two later tracks are Swedish language versions of "Nothing", by '60s freak rockers The Fugs, which here sound like Viking drinking songs, backed by laughter and merriment. These Nothings bookend the twelve minute long instrumental "Ringring", perhaps the album's most Parson Sound-ing track -- a heavy, majestic piece that's indeed ringing with energy. Then, after the reprise of "Nothing", a lovely backwards guitar excursion ("Albatross Meets Lonely Sailor") segues into an ECM-ish drifting ambient piece ("Exit") to nicely end the album.
Certainly, you should get their original albums first (see elsewhere on our website for raves about Parson Sound, Int'l Harvester, et.al.) but out of 2002's post/prog/psych/whatever rock releases, this album is well worth checking out.
Yes! Maximum damaged Swedish guitar psych jamming in the house! Knowing how much we at AQ LOVE the sixties Swedish psych sounds of Parson Sound/International Harvester/Harvester/Trad Gras Och Stenar (multiple manifestations of basically the same band, whose crucial original LPs and unreleased recordings have been reissued on cd over the past couple of years, a boon to music-lovers everywhere -- see elsewhere on our website for reviews) you can imagine how excited we were to find out that TWO MORE Trad Gras Och Stenar LPs of early seventies vintage were now being reissued by new US label 1/2 Special, who indeed do a bang up job with these two discs. The booklets feature lots of photos and posters, a discography, and detailed liner notes from the band (delving into remembrance of the personal and social transformations of the hippie era). Plus, each disc's got a hefty bonus track (32 minutes on "Djungelns" and 27 on "Mors")! And of course it's the music that really makes these essential.
Influenced by Scandinavian folk music, drugs, radical politics, Terry Riley, the Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix, Indian ragas, etc. this is some awesomely messed-up far-out rock music for sure. If these guys were German instead of Swedish, we'd be talking about a Krautrock legend. TGOS, as the final incarnation of group that started as Parson Sound, features a stripped-down line-up playing music that is perhaps more conventionally "rock" based than earlier formations, but definitely the heavy minimalism of Parson Sound and the Amon Duulish folked-out trippiness of Harvester remain important elements of their lugubrous sound.
"Djungelns Lag" ("Jungle Law" in English), originally issued in 1972, collects tracks recorded by TGOS on tour in Sweden and Norway during the summer and fall of 1971. You get extended dual guitar tangle and lovely sad folk laments, brief bouts of sunshiney nonsense vocals backed with acoustic guitar strum ("Dibio"), and even hippie hoedown jaw-harp jams ("Munfiol"). Wherever they wander, this is generally mellow yet moving, always measured and stately even when at its most abstract and electric.
Likewise with "Mors Mors" (aka "Bye Bye"), a 1973 album of tracks originating on tour in Sweden and Denmark in '72, which continues with both the gentle freakiness and distorted thud. The Rolling Stone's "Last Time" gets a TGOS treatment (not quite as blasted as their take on "Satisfaction" found on their self-titled album, though) and again their originals feature plenty of what we dig: moments of ragged Haino-worthy axe attack, tripped-out Quicksilver leads, and lovely pastoral folk-drone...
So it's appropriate that both discs were reissued simultaneously, if you want one you'll want 'em both. What else can we say...well, anyone who buys Acid Mothers Temple discs ought to be sure to take some Trad Gras Och Stenar home too, that's for sure. As with all the reissues from this camp, highly recommended.
It's been, what, three years since Swedish psych veterans Trad Gras och Stenar toured the United States? Too long anyway. If you saw 'em then, you know why we're so excited about this new DVD. This band has been around, in one form or another, since the late sixties, starting off in 1967 as Parson Sound, then morphing into International Harvester, Harvester, and finally Trad Gras och Stenar (Trees, Grass, and Stones). And they somehow have maintained their radical hippy outlook, their politics and their musical adventurousness, all these years (they were on a long hiatus from 1972 until their 1995 reunion). This band just rules. Makes us young 'uns a bit less worried about getting old.
Heavy and mesmeric, TGoS's jams are something like a more hippified version of Circle, minimalist, rhythmic, trance-inducing. For more description of their sounds, please refer to one of our reviews of their several albums. Presumably if you're curious about this dvd you've already heard 'em, and just want to know what the dvd is all about. Basically, it's like their home movies from tour (and tour-prep). It's done in a cinema-verite manner, capturing quirky detail, Trad Gras definitely interested in demystifying and debunking any "rock and roll" pretense. For instance, when at one point the plays on Swedish television, the clip from the actual TV show is never shown, just their own "behind the scenes" footage. And then there's a scene of the band out of doors, in the snow (!), trying to tune in themselves on an old TV set, almost just to be silly.
Shot by filmmaker Michael Hogstrom circa 2002-2005, this documentary follows TGoS around Sweden and over to both Russia and the United States to various gigs, playing their wonderful music and dealing with the mundane misadventures of life on the road. There's plenty of performance footage and lots of inter-band banter (with English subtitles, yay!) in the tour van or backstage. In fact, thematically this movie is almost as much about "old friends" as it is a musical document. It's almost two hours worth of the Trad Gras och Stenar experience -- not a substitute for seeing 'em live in person but the next best thing for sure (and since we in the USA don't have that opportunity all that often, this is a treat!). And, another treat: there's a few minutes of 8mm footage of the band appearing at one of the famous free Stockholm summer festivals back in 1970, a montage of various vintage clips of the scene there, all scratchy and colorful. These were silent films, so the sound isn't synched, but there's a Trad Gras album playing on the soundtrack (literally, in a preamble, we're shown the needle being dropped on the vinyl). A nice bonus!
If you're not charmed by the way the dvd begins, outside Trad Gras och Stenar's practice space at a house somewhere in the Swedish countryside, with their wizened guitarist and spiritual leader Bo Anders Persson seated on a motorcycle, trying to get the thing to start up, as the rest of the band looks on, then perhaps this excursion won't be for you. But if immediately you wish you were hanging out with those guys, helping with the motorcycle, hearing their stories, basking in their music, then you're a fan of TGoS and will enjoy the rest of the movie!!
Somehow, we never wrote up a review of this before, although it was probably the first document of anything by this longtime AQ fave Swedish psych rock band that we ever stocked. (Guess it took us a while to really get into 'em.) So, cool this disc has at last been repressed, for us to finally list, especially since their several other live albums are all out of print.
If you're new to Trad Gras Och Stenar (Trees, Grass and Stones) you should read some of our other reviews of records by them and the other bands they morphed out of, like for instance their earliest incarnation as Parson Sound! In short, the whole TGOS/Parson Sound/Harvester/International Harvester thing was Sweden's answer to krautrock: droned out, rhythmic hippie hypnorock, representing radical politics and alternative lifestyles, in an almost proto-punk, or primitive prog style. Seriously, if they were German they'd be up there with Amon Duul I&II, Faust, Can, etc. And fans of Hawkwind also oughta check 'em out.
This live recording is an instant timewarp back to the pothaze atmosphere of the famous underground Gardet Festival in 1970, sorta the Swedish Woodstock, giving the listener a dose of TGOS's magic, live and raw. While there's other albums maybe we'd suggest for first timers, since this is a tad lo-fi, this WILL demonstrate their mesmeric majesty pretty darn well. Like we said, it's raw, and it rocks in its druggy dreamy hella distorted way. Oh, and it was recorded (on Nagra tape recorder, with one mic) by their fan, none other than Joakim Skogsberg, himself responsible for the amazing Jola Rota album.
Six songs here, almost an hour of music, including their oh-so-woozy cover of the Dylan by way of Hendrix classic "All Along The Watchtower" along with a wild nine-minute rave up on the Stones' "Satisfaction", and of course several lengthy, and equally wild, jamming originals, like the rollicking (and bluesy/folky) "In Kommer Gosta".
Must have been amazing to have been there that summer day. You can tell the audience is enjoying it. Rad it was recorded (thanks Mr. Skogsberg!).
The cd booklet is full of liner notes and vintage photos from the festival. And, by the way, this is also available in a relatively recent double vinyl pressing that we think we'll be getting some more of in soon, too.
We're forever amazed at this band of Swedish psych veterans. They've been around for what, 40 years?? Yep, if you go all the way back to their Parson Sound incarnation, one of our favorite archival dronerock releases ever. Trad Gras Och Stenar's 2002 comeback/reunion album Ajn Schvajn Draj was a most pleasant surprise, and their US tours afterwards honestly mindblowing. Seeing 'em live is a once, twice, let's hope a few more times in a lifetime event. Grizzled they may be, but they put many of today's young, so-called psychedelic bands to shame.
So here they are in 2009 with a new album. And it's again something special, for fans young and old and yet to be. Eleven songs, some sprawling, some not, that come across quite a bit like an especially drugged out, somnolent Circle or Pharaoh Overlord! It's supremely moody and immersive, the senior psych statesmen of TGOS slowly kicking out the heavy-lidded (and sometimes just plain heavy) lumbering riff repetition and instrumental interplay.
Be aware however, the very first song is actually a bit of an anomaly on this album, it's almost a pop number, with English language vocals, that can be a bit off-putting at first. The lyrics to "Punkrockarn" are a surprise as well: "Yes I am a punk rocker I am". Weird, or what? Then again, we get the idea that these guys really were the original punk rockers, back in the '60s. Political hippies, in a time of war and strife, doing subversive things the DIY way. In any event, it's an interesting if odd start to this album, which turns out of be mostly instrumental otherwise, and much more in a sleepy improv jam mode, full of both distorted guitar riffing and dreamy arctic ambience. Ferinstance, immediately with track two "Folkets Lok I Obeveklig Rorelse" we're definitely in more familiar Trad Gras territory, the song a seesawing grind and spaced out druggy lope, a nearly 7 minute jam that's timelessly TGOS (and thus nods as much to ye olde krautrock as it seems current with the likes of Wooden Shjips and Acid Mothers Temple). More of that, please? That's what they give us! Heck, these Homeless Cats end up sounding like something that the Holy Mountain label would be eagerly adopting regardless of whether their lease allowed pets or not! Also, several tracks, like "Svarmors Brudpolska", reveal hints of the traditional Nordic folk vibe that TGOS and precursors Harvester/International Harvester evoked in back in '70s, as well.
Definitely recommended, and we hope this means they'll be coming back to the States again to tour, it's been too long.
Super limited edition (500 copies) vinyl-only release from our favorite (especially after seeing the reunited band's recent brilliant gig at The Bottom Of The Hill here in San Francisco) Swedish folk-psych-jam band. If our country had been blessed to have them all these years instead of the Grateful Dead, I might have become a hippy and followed them around endlessly, selling hemp chips and utili-kilts to make a living. So maybe it's a good thing that they graced Scandanavia instead. But I digress, Live 1972 is, like the name implies, additional performances of TGOS in their prime and previously unreleased on viny or cd. Each side is one track of TGOS doing what they do best: extended jams. Side one is yet another great take on the Rolling Stones' "Last Time" medlied with TGOS' own "I Ljuset Av Din Dag". So if you dug the two entirely different early '70s live Trad Gras cds 1/2 Special issued last year, buy this and make your turntable happy, hippy.
Yes! Maximum damaged Swedish guitar psych jamming in the house! Knowing how much we at AQ LOVE the sixties Swedish psych sounds of Parson Sound/International Harvester/Harvester/Trad Gras Och Stenar (multiple manifestations of basically the same band, whose crucial original LPs and unreleased recordings have been reissued on cd over the past couple of years, a boon to music-lovers everywhere -- see elsewhere on our website for reviews) you can imagine how excited we were to find out that TWO MORE Trad Gras Och Stenar LPs of early seventies vintage were now being reissued by new US label 1/2 Special, who indeed do a bang up job with these two discs. The booklets feature lots of photos and posters, a discography, and detailed liner notes from the band (delving into remembrance of the personal and social transformations of the hippie era). Plus, each disc's got a hefty bonus track (32 minutes on "Djungelns" and 27 on "Mors")! And of course it's the music that really makes these essential.
Influenced by Scandinavian folk music, drugs, radical politics, Terry Riley, the Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix, Indian ragas, etc. this is some awesomely messed-up far-out rock music for sure. If these guys were German instead of Swedish, we'd be talking about a Krautrock legend. TGOS, as the final incarnation of group that started as Parson Sound, features a stripped-down line-up playing music that is perhaps more conventionally "rock" based than earlier formations, but definitely the heavy minimalism of Parson Sound and the Amon Duulish folked-out trippiness of Harvester remain important elements of their lugubrous sound.
"Djungelns Lag", originally issued in 1972, collects tracks recorded by TGOS on tour in Sweden and Norway during the summer and fall of 1971. You get extended dual guitar tangle and lovely sad folk laments, brief bouts of sunshiney nonsense vocals backed with acoustic guitar strum ("Dibio"), and even hippie hoedown jaw-harp jams ("Munfiol"). Wherever they wander, this is generally mellow yet moving, always measured and stately even when at its most abstract and electric.
Likewise with "Mors Mors" (a 1973 album of tracks originating on tour in Sweden and Denmark in '72), which continues with both the gentle freakiness and distorted thud. The Rolling Stone's "Last Time" gets a TGOS treatment (not quite as blasted as their take on "Satisfaction" found on their self-titled album, though) and again their originals feature plenty of what we dig: moments of ragged Haino-worthy axe attack, tripped-out Quicksilver leads, and lovely folk-drone...
So it's appropriate that both discs were reissued simultaneously, if you want one you'll want 'em both. What else can we say...well, anyone who buys Acid Mothers Temple discs ought to be sure to take some Trad Gras Och Stenar home too, that's for sure. As with all the reissues from this camp, highly recommended.
Along with the Algarnas Tradgard and International Harvester cds we re-listed last time, we're also super happy to have a couple other Silence label reissues back in stock, after a lengthy absence. This one is another entry in the discography of one of our absolute favorite Swedish psychrock band "families" that began with the group Parson Sound. The post-Harvester quartet Trad, Gras Och Stenar (Trees, Grass and Stones) was the most "rockist" outgrowth of the Parson Sound/International Harvester collective which you'll find celebrated elsewhere on our site. Indeed, this album starts with two covers of well-known rock tunes, one of the Dylan/Hendrix classic "All Along The Watchtower", followed by a version of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" that is so depressed and wasted-sounding that it *really* sounds like they can't and won't get no satisfaction, ever! Pretty soon, though, they've given up on any Top of the Pops pretentions and are delving into twisted, waltzing, freak-psych compositions that draw more from traditional Swedish folk music than British/American rock n' roll (although the fuzz guitars remain). Some of the material here also recalls the minimalist throb of their earlier work in Parson Sound and International Harvester.
What Hrvatski said of the Harvester album applies to this as well: "Another piece to the incestuous little jigsaw that was the 1967-1972 Swedish druggist music school dropout sector." A jigsaw well worth spending some of your time with! And we'll add that if you ever get a chance to see these guys play -- they're still in action -- don't miss it. They've been to SF a couple times in recent years and blew us away. Still amazing, and really nice guys as well. If only we could be as cool as they are, when we're their age...
