What is it about California that spawns such fury and hatred and musical malevolence? Must be the weather! Or its proximity to HELL! There's been a remarkable number of cold and frosty, cult black metal bands coming from the Golden state in the last few years, all of them worthy of inclusion in black metal's elite: SF's legendary Weakling, Ludicra, Leviathan, Xasthur, Draugar (coming soon on tUMULt) and now CREBAIN. Another one man project, Crebain is Ancalagon The Black, who handles "Majestic Hellcommand Of Kataklysmik Deathstrings, Nightmarish Throatshredding and Percussive Programming." This is classic black metal, hateful and misanthropic, buzzy and hypnotic, ala Burzum, Darkthrone, Judas Iscariot, and the like. Named for Sauron's huge black birds in Lord Of The Rings (what would black metal bands do for names without Tolkien??), Crebain exudes a similar malevolence on Night Of Stormcrow, replete with howling, guttural, hyper-distorted wails of anguish, hellish riffs, buzzing insect-swarm guitars and some masterful programming that thankfully turns the drum machine into a hellish instrument of evil. Less atmospheric than Xasthur, and less fucked up than Leviathan, but equally true and black, Crebain follows his own dark path straight to the pits of hell. And as Ancalagon states in the liner notes: "To all those who have dared to cross me, your time is coming. Eventually, I will kill you all." This cd-r is strictly limited to 66 copies and numbered in BLOOD!
MPEG Download: "Night Of The Stormcrow" [/audio/crebainnight.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Night Of The Stormcrow" [/audio/crebainnight.m3u]
We had a handful of Crebain's ultra limited demo Night Of The Stormcrow a few years back, and they sold out in no time at all. You've now got yourself another chance to pick it up, on VINYL no less, with this here super limited picture disc version of these very first recordings from SF black metal horde Crebain. Nice thick picture disc vinyl with the logo on one side and an amazing photo of Crebain mastermind Ancalagon The Black on the other, weilding the most metal of weaponry, the sledge hammer! So fucking cool. Here's what we had to say about Night Of The Stormcrow first time around:
What is it about California that spawns such fury and hatred and musical malevolence? Must be the weather! Or its proximity to HELL! There's been a remarkable number of cold and frosty, cult black metal bands coming from the Golden state in the last few years, all of them worthy of inclusion in black metal's elite: SF's legendary Weakling, Ludicra, Leviathan, Xasthur, Draugar, and now CREBAIN. Another one man project, Crebain is Ancalagon The Black, who handles "Majestic Hellcommand Of Kataklysmik Deathstrings, Nightmarish Throatshredding and Percussive Programming." This is classic black metal, hateful and misanthropic, buzzy and hypnotic, ala Burzum, Darkthrone, Judas Iscariot, and the like. Named for Sauron's huge black birds in Lord Of The Rings (what would black metal bands do for names without Tolkien??), Crebain exudes a similar malevolence on Night Of The Stormcrow, replete with howling, guttural, hyper-distorted wails of anguish, hellish riffs, buzzing insect-swarm guitars and some masterful programming that thankfully turns the drum machine into a hellish instrument of evil. Less atmospheric than Xasthur, and less fucked up than Leviathan, but equally true and black, Crebain follows his own dark path straight to the pits of hell. And as Ancalagon states in the liner notes: "To all those who have dared to cross me, your time is coming. Eventually, I will kill you all."
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, WE GOT 60 AND WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET MORE, SO IF YOU WANT ONE ACT FAST. ONE PER CUSTOMER!!!
The black cloud over sunny California grows and grows, with each addition to its dark army and each new missive from one of its elite! Black metal has found a strong foothold in this unlikely location. Xasthur, Leviathan, Draugar, Crebain and a small dark likeminded legion lurk in the shadows, far away from the fun and the sun, unleashing some of the most raw and uncompromisng black metal we've ever heard.
AQ pal Wrest and his genius one man avant black metal outfit Leviathan return with what may quite possibly be his best, most intensely weird material to date. We just can't get enough of his dark and violent, totally skewed take on grim frosty black metal. And for this release he teams up with relative newcomer Ancalagon The Black and his outfit Crebain. Not quite as weird as Leviathan, Crebain channels his darkness through a more thrashing Darkthrone/Mutiilation style.
On this split, Wrest takes his ultra distorted inhuman vocals, pummelling hyperspeed blasts, and violent riffery to a whole 'nother dimension, and moves even further away from his contemporaries, both in terms of sound and concept. There are certain sonic similarities for sure, but Leviathan has such a personal and undiluted take on the black sounds that so obviously flow through is veins. For every blast beat and every buzzing riff, there's some stuttery, fucked up breakdown, or extended blissed out ambient soundscape, or rhythmic mathrock workout, or strummy clean guitar jangle, or weird production with all sorts of glitches and strange sounds. The ambient parts here are definitely some of the most beautifully creepy we've ever heard, from a metal band or otherwise. And the metal, well, by now you should know few can touch Leviathan when it comes to black metal brilliance. And the thing is, Wrest doesn't think any of this is weird. He just makes the sounds he hears in his head, and they sound right to him. And they are right, but in such a beautifully weird way. Can't wait for the upcoming full length Tentacles Of Whorror. His half of the split ends with a straight ahead and super necro cover of cult early '90s San Francisco metallers Von's "Blood Angel." Nice.
The other half of this is Crebain's first offical cd release, having previously only released a super limited cd-r demo last year, and it's just as good as that demo led us to hope. This is as raw and buzzing and blazing as it gets. Where Wrest is a master of arranging, creating moods and ambience, Ancalagon is a master of the riff. An unbelievably good guitarist, these riffs are lightning fast and swarm into your ears like a plague of locusts. Thrashing and chaotic, Crebain is a furious no-nonsense metallic onslaught. Programmed drums allow the rhythms to keep up with the madness inducing riffery. Occasionally things slow down to midtempo, and then it becomes quite obvious that Crebain is actually writing catchy songs, not just an insane series of parts. Melodies and almost-groovy riffs propel loping hypnotic dirges towards their eventual obliteration via hyperspeed blasts and that blurry Crebain riffery. Fucking great.
This split is another nail in the coffin containing the corpses of the Nordic metal elite, as black metal's Calfiornia contigent threatens to thaw their frosty corpses with the soul shearing rays of its black sun! Aieeee! Limited to only 666 copies!
Creeper Lagoon's first post-Dreamworks release finds its home on the Arena Rock Recording Company. An aching melancholia continues to flow throughout the music of this SF quartet (which also made them a perfect presence on the recent Nothing Left To Lose: Tribute To Kris Kristofferson compilation, they did a beautiful rendition of "Why Me"). Each of these five sleekly produced songs is steeped in the lushest of aches and yearnings even despite the uptempo-ness of a couple of them. Spacy, glistening and drifting, it stirred thoughts of an imaginary encounter between the Alan Parsons Project and producer David Fridmann (Sparklehorse, Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev). A lovely, subdued downer affair.
Originally released for this year's Record Store Day, this seminal slab of SF punk is now available to the world at large, the first in what will hopefully be an ongoing reissue campaign of all the singles from these legendary punks. This 7" was originally released in 1976, and while some younger folks might not remember Crime, they probably remember the A side, "Hot Wire My Heart", as it was covered by Sonic Youth, and listening to the original, it's easy to hear why SY were drawn to it, with its droned out melodies, killer hook, and noisy guitars (especially for the time), in fact, it actually kind of sounds a little Sonic Youthy in its original form, which is pretty remarkable. The flipside "Baby You're So Repulsive" is all swaggery knuckle dragging snarl, and like the A side is surprisingly noisy and is definitely prescient, knowingly or not, of what would follow. There's some strange stuttery lurches too, which make this just slightly damaged, and a fucking killer jam that sounds as good now as it did 35 years ago!!
Digitally remastered from the original master tapes, housed in an exact reproduction of the original sleeve, pressed on crazy tri-colored red, white and blue vinyl, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!
Now finally, also reissued on vinyl! Thanks to local label Superior Viaduct. When we got the cd version of this on Kitten Charmer late last year, we didn't happen to make it a Record Of The Week, but probably should have. We certainly sold enough of 'em for it to have been the Record Of The Week by default. So, now that it's on vinyl, let's make it official! (Oh, and the cd version is now gone it seems.)
The first proper, non-bootleg reissue of classic material from this seminal SF punk group came in the form of a demos collection released on John Reis from Rocket From The Crypt's Swami label, and in that review, we offered this concise description of Crime: "Crime proclaimed themselves to be San Francisco's 'First and Only Rock and Roll Band'. That hyperbole of course ain't quite true but indicates the level of punk attitude you're in for. Hard rocking, fast, and snotty, Crime were violent and stylish - they kicked out the jams in SFPD uniforms and shades! This definitely belongs on the same shelf with your Iggy & the Stooges and Dead Boys discs�"
And now finally this long in the works, OFFICIAL singles collection sees the light of day, now on vinyl too, gathering up the groups iconic first three (and only) singles, along with what is essentially a whole record of previously unreleased studio tracks! Up first is there debut single, "Hot Wire My Heart", which was famously covered by Sonic Youth, and listening to the original, it's easy to hear why SY were drawn to it, with its droned out melodies, killer hook, and noisy guitars (especially for the time), in fact, it actually kind of sounds a little Sonic Youthy in its original form, which is pretty remarkable. The flipside "Baby You're So Repulsive" is all swaggery knuckle dragging snarl, and like the A side is surprisingly noisy and is definitely prescient, knowingly or not, of what would follow. There's some strange stuttery lurches too, which make this just slightly damaged, and a fucking killer jam that sounds as good now as it did 35 years ago!! "Terminal Boredom" is a furious blast of nihilistic punk rock, laced with plenty of poppiness, a killer main guitar melody, and some mush mouth vocals, that perfectly capture the titular mood. The flipside of that single starts out loose and sloppy, and practically falls apart, before they launch into "Dillinger's Brain", which manages to sound nearly as loose and sloppy, somehow without actually falling apart!
"Frustration" is up next, and the group inject some power poppiness into the aggro punk stomp, with a super catchy main riff, as well as more kick ass guitar melodies (sort-of leads?), before they finish off the singles proper with the B side that gives this collection its name, a Black Flag sounding doomy dirge (SF's doomed for sure), all churning creep, before things crumble into chaos halfway through, only to explode into some serious almost surf punk sounding crunch, that quickly devolves into some snarly, sonic swagger.
And if that weren't enough, there's NINE extra tracks, most of which sound like classic Crime, except maybe for the weird electronics flecked "Gangster Funk", but stick around for the crushing alternate version of Crime's classic "San Francisco's Doomed"!
The first proper, non-bootleg reissue of classic material from this seminal SF punk group came in the form of a demos collection released on John Reis from Rocket From The Crypt's Swami label, and in that review, we offered this concise description of Crime: "Crime proclaimed themselves to be San Francisco's 'First and Only Rock and Roll Band'. That hyperbole of course ain't quite true but indicates the level of punk attitude you're in for. Hard rocking, fast, and snotty, Crime were violent and stylish - they kicked out the jams in SFPD uniforms and shades! This definitely belongs on the same shelf with your Iggy & the Stooges and Dead Boys discs�"
And now finally this long in the works, OFFICIAL singles collection sees the light of day, gathering up the groups iconic first three (and only) singles, along with what is essentially a whole record of previously unreleased studio tracks! Up first is there debut single, "Hot Wire My Heart", which was famously covered by Sonic Youth, and listening to the original, it's easy to hear why SY were drawn to it, with its droned out melodies, killer hook, and noisy guitars (especially for the time), in fact, it actually kind of sounds a little Sonic Youthy in its original form, which is pretty remarkable. The flipside "Baby You're So Repulsive" is all swaggery knuckle dragging snarl, and like the A side is surprisingly noisy and is definitely prescient, knowingly or not, of what would follow. There's some strange stuttery lurches too, which make this just slightly damaged, and a fucking killer jam that sounds as good now as it did 35 years ago!! "Terminal Boredom" is a furious blast of nihilistic punk rock, laced with plenty of poppiness, a killer main guitar melody, and some mush mouth vocals, that perfectly capture the titular mood. The flipside of that single starts out loose and sloppy, and practically falls apart, before they launch into "Dillinger's Brain", which manages to sound nearly as loose and sloppy, somehow without actually falling apart!
"Frustration" is up next, and the group inject some power poppiness into the aggro punk stomp, with a super catchy main riff, as well as more kick ass guitar melodies (sort-of leads?), before they finish off the singles proper with the B side that gives this collection its name, a Black Flag sounding doomy dirge (SF's doomed for sure), all churning creep, before things crumble into chaos halfway through, only to explode into some serious almost surf punk sounding crunch, that quickly devolves into some snarly, sonic swagger.
And if that weren't enough, the cd tacks on NINE extra tracks, most of which sound like classic Crime, except maybe for the weird electronics flecked "Gangster Funk", but stick around for the crushing alternate version of Crime's classic "San Francisco's Doomed"!
New liner notes, including some from Thurston Moore, as well as a few rare photos and reproductions of the original 7" sleeves!
Ah, sadly this new disc from San Francisco's Crime In Choir is also their swansong. Please say it ain't so, guys. 'Cause what other band around here is going to provide our fix of dazzling, groovy instrumental prog inspired by cult foreign film soundtracks?? But at least we've got this final recording. It's with the same lineup (right?) that produced their previous album Trumpery Metier highlighted here two years ago, meaning this features Tim Soete, formerly of the Fucking Champs, doing percussive math on the drumkit, joined by plenty of vintage synth sizzle, glorious guitar wail, and jazzy sax. Crime In Choir's usual '70s prog derived bombast is in full effect here, with some nods and winks to the discotheques of the high-gloss, coke-dusted '80s. The 7 tracks here range from the cop show / suspense movie chase music funk of the disc's opener and title track to more melancholic, moody stuff like the mellow yet majestic "Pedal Nervous Sensation" and the cosmic synth pulsations of the album's lovely finale, "Fool's Guild" (which builds to something of a maniacal conclusion).
Both Goblin (definitely) and Italo-disco (probably) seem like possible reference points, and if you liked Zombi's "Sapphire" you might be on the same wavelength as Crime In Choir is here, not that this gets quite so electronic-dancey. Same goes if you like the likes of Maserati, Tangerine Dream, and the dancefloor filling live shows by CiC keyboardist Jesse's new unit Jonas Reinhardt.
Gift Givers comes packaged in a brightly colored "eco-wallet" recycled cardboard sleeve thing, and was released by the same label, Kill Shaman, who brought us Animism by Expo '70, and that recent Night Control disc, fyi.
Leaps and bounds from their already impressive self-titled debut from a couple of years ago, Crime In Choir's second full length reveals sharper chops both in composition and musicianship. They've adapted a much more prog aspect into their post rock instrumental sound with definite shades of Goblin. A sophomore success from this mathy, Moogy San Fran quartet, who now have replaced drummer Zach Hill of Hella with drummer Jay Pellici of Dilute and 31 Knots. Recommended!
You could call San Francisco's Crime In Choir a mathy, instrumental post-rock band, sure. But you could also call 'em a kick ass '70s progressive rock act (except that they're not actually from the '70s...). This is certainly prog rock, a la Van Der Graaf Generator, Yes, Goblin, PFM, Le Orme, Soft Machine, Magma, and other greats from the prog past. Definitely a delight for all the prog-fanciers among us here at AQ. We're pretty thrilled with this album, which we couldn't wait to hear after having just seen these guys live, performing in front of a projection of the 1973 Italian art film La Grande Bouffe, providing their own soundtrack to the gustatory grotesquery on screen. So perfect for Crime In Choir's cultivated brand of ripping, groovy bombast. They deliver on record too, this one (their third) being perhaps their best yet! The energetic pulsations of the crack rhythm section -- CiC's latest drummer extraordinaire* is now Tim Soete of The Fucking Champs, and on this album the bass is played by Seth Lorinczi, formerly of The Quails and long before that, the late great DC prog punkers Circus Lupus -- are matched by the mass of keyboards employed by Kenny Hopper and Jesse Reiner, along with the guitar of Jarrett Wrenn and Matt Waters' sax. Those synths are sometimes sinuous and sizzling, sometimes spacey and soaring, and ever present. And while we know the use of saxophone is a deal-breaker for some folks, Crime In Choir's tastefully restrained saxophonist eschews any smooth jazz cheesiness, either riffing brassily along with the keys and guitar, or supplying spiraling, screeching solos with gusto (when necessary, which is not that often). Definite points for non-sucky use of saxophone in other words! Furthermore, while their '70s prog lovin' sound is right on, so is the songwriting. They've managed to hit that sweet spot for instrumental bands, where these songs -could- have singing (they're melodious enough) but don't -need- a vocalist at all. They'll grab you regardless. File somewhere in between your Champs and Zombi albums, nearby to your collection of '70s progsters, and not far from your Citay cd (another excellent San Francisco band of prog revivalists with whom CiC have shared a member or two). Recommended!
*after having Hella's Zach Hill behind the kit on their first album, and 31 Knots' Jay Pellici on their second.
After years of being a sidekick of, and special guesting on records by, folks like Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees, Mikal Cronin came into his own in a big way in 2011, with his self titled debut full length, which we dug so much, we made it our Record Of The Week. And we were psyched that the rest of the world began to finally take notice too. And now here we just a couple years later, and Cronin has a super hyped new record on Merge and seems poised for the sort of success that his fellow SF garage rockers have been enjoying lately. As is often the case with the follow up to a record you love to death, II took some warming up to. At first we were thinking it was a watered down, more mainstream version of the debut, and while it most definitely is WAY more polished, and not nearly as raw and rambunctious, it's definitely not watered down, and after a few listens, the songs began to reveal themselves as the genius pop songs they are. And now that we've had a few weeks of constant listening, we've beginning to think we dig this new one as much as the debut.
Check out the sound samples below, the opening 4 song blast is pretty much untouchable, hooks galore, lush classic pop, acoustic guitars, piano, even sax, the guitars jangly and shimmery one second, crunchy and buzzy the next. After raving about the new Telekinesis! record on the last record, we're getting a lot of the same feel from this one. Personal and passionate, super rocking and rollicking, but introspective and sensitive at the same time. The chorus of "Shout It Out" is a killer, the fact that is sits in a song that's predominantly acoustic guitar strum and sweet sad boy croon, only makes it that much more fierce. "Am I Wrong" does something similar, pairing a crunchy, stomping chorus with a lilting main melody, and some sweet falsetto vox. "See It My Way", is a groovy shuffle, again, all spare and psychedelic and jangly, and then a seriously fuzzed out chorus, with wild drumming, and swirling vocal harmonies. And did we mention the opener? Setting the stage perfectly, with it's dreamy piano, heartfelt vocals, and fuzz guitar. Total hook heavy noise pop bliss. That song more than anyone here perfectly straddling the sound of the two records, maybe purposefully acting as a bridge between the raw rocking of the debut, and the more polished poppiness of II.
And one thing we noticed is Cronin's mastery of classic heart tugging pop epicness, with many of the songs exploding into those sort of instrumental sprawls that you always hear in movie trailers, or underpinning the super emotional parts of indie art films, soaring, melodic, emotional, majestic, moving, that vibe finding its way into the garage poppiness of the rest of the record and transforming II into something classic and timeless and really fucking great!
We made Mikal Cronin's debut album our Record Of The Week a while back, and still it remains one of the most listened to records in the shop. And a testament to that record's rulingness is the fact that none of us are sick of hearing it yet. That said, it doesn't mean we're not hankering for new stuff. Which is where this brand new single comes in, two new blasts of psychedelic pop bliss, the first, "Tide" is fuzzy and almost Elephant Six sounding, lush vocal harmonies, and a weird super catchy chorus that manages to stick in your head like crazy, but sound totally twisted. And there's a wicked wild psychedelic guitar solo, the production too, much like the full length, manages to be lush and expansive, but also raw and lo-fi, with some super strange choices in terms of balance and volume, in this case, that guitar solo nearly leaps out of the speaker, but somehow it still sounds perfect.
The B side is much more pure pop sounding, all fuzzy and dreamy and Beatles-esque, a killer hook, an impossible to resist melody, wild and loose, a little ramshackle, but so catchy and great. And another weird psychedelic solo that is about twice as loud as the rest of the song, but again, once you hear it, you can't imagine it any other way. How this guy remained a secret for so long we'll never know, but we're psyched the world is finally catching on. And we're psyched that we have two more MC songs to spin again and again and again...
Up until now, SF garage popper Mikal Cronin seemed to exist mostly as sideman, his name usually following an ampersand, which in turn seemed to typically be preceded by the name Ty Segall. Thus most of our experiences with Cronin had been the duo of Segall & Cronin, and everything we had heard we dug, a LOT, but it was hard to tell what exactly Cronin was bringing to the table, versus Segall, but listening to this now, seems the answer is EVERYTHING! And as much as we love Ty Segall, we're thinking that maybe much of that garage pop magic was coming from the other side of the ampersand, cuz WOW is this record totally great. Anyone at all into the SF garage pop scene, Thee Oh Sees, the Fresh & Onlys, Ty Segall, Bare Wires, etc., will go absolutely nuts for this. And if this record doesn't immediately catapult Cronin into the spotlight, then there's something very very wrong with the world.
It's a perfect blend of sunshiney jangle, garagey fuzz, paisley pop and noisy psychedelia. And for all the warped fuzz and reverbed drenched lo-fi crunch of his peers, it seems Cronin has much more of a pure pop heart. That pure pop is however gloriously corrupted by little bits of wild flute flecked freakouts, strange horns, noise rock jams, and whatever else struck Cronin's fancy it seems, yet whatever sonic weirdness Cronin adds to the mix, it never sound gratuitous, it always sounds like an organic part of the song and the sound, and without fail, the song is crazy catchy, and the sound is fantastically lush and psychedelic and utterly ruling.
The first track manages to sum it up pretty perfectly. Starting with some dreamy Beach Boys a cappella harmonies, then some big distorted guitar crunch, pounding drums, before slipping right into some dreamy almost folky jangle, acoustic guitar strum, fuzzy bass, sweet vocal harmonies and HOOKS FOR DAYS, like the best song the Fresh & Onlys never wrote, but a little bit more twisted and a little bit more Byrds / paisley pop, but with plenty of crunch and fuzz, a little bit proggy in its arrangement, and then out of nowhere, with about a minute left, the song explodes into a double time pounding psych rock blow out, complete with jagged guitar crunch and a wild flute freakout (courtesy of John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees, who knew he played flute?). We've probably listened to that song 50 times since we got this in.
But once we dug deeper, we realized that pretty much every song here is an absolute gem, "Apathy" with its start/stop acoustic strum, wild feedback, and total classic pop hooks (reminding us melodically of The Olivia Tremor Control actually), "Green And Blue", with its thick crunch droned out guitar buzz, dirgey drumming, thick blown out wall of sound and wild tangle of psychguitar freakout, "Get Along", which is another acoustic guitar driven chunk of practically perfect dreampop, rife with sweet harmony vox and some cool tripped out backwards psych guitar melodies, "Slow Down", a lo-fi, organ driven ballad, all stretched out drones and fuzzy reverbed vox, "Gone", another crunchy, riff heavy rocker, that should have Thee Oh Sees fans frothing at the mouth. And so it goes, the perfect mix of modern garage pop and classic indie jangle, and some of THEE best songs EVER. This week's list is chock full of contenders for pop record of the year, but if any of the other ones are gonna come out on top, this is gonna be the one to beat.
Oh, if you're wondering if it's vinyl-only, no it's not. But we're just listing the vinyl format this week, 'cause for some weird reason, the cd version we originally received turned out to be a cd-r. However, the label has fixed that and pressed some actual, real cds, we're just waiting for them to show up. They're on the way, should be here sometime next week, so if you're a cd person, or just prefer the cheaper format, let us know and we'll put your name down for one. We'll also of course list it on our next list.
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 11 is the latest and features an exclusive A side from Mikal Cronin, driven by a Casio drum machine rhythm, all warm acoustic guitar strum and sweetly crooned poppiness, which eventually explodes into something much more rocking, a bombastic noise pop gem, swirling guitar fuzz wrapped around that acoustic strum, wreathed in keening buzzing melodies and all wound up into a super hooky chorus, with a post chorus bridge that's total classic baroque pop, before doing it all again. So good!
Cronin picked Wand as his up and coming fave, a name new to us, but listening to their track it's easy to see why Cronin digs 'em, a seriously psychedelic blast of tripped out heavy fuzzpop, which starts out with a sprawl of squelchy synth blurt over kinetic drumming and poppy crooning, before things get a bit noisier and jangle poppy, and finally, in swoops a fuzzed out almost metallic main riff, the sound wild and chaotic, sounding a lot like Ty Segall's Fuzz, soaring harmony vocals wrapped around plenty of crunch and pound, definitely need to hear more from these guys ASAP!
And like all the other singles in the series, as you probably figured out already, EXTREMELY limited!!!!
Seven Sisters is actually a soundtrack for a documentary film of the same name which follows the lives of seven sisters who grew up and moved away from their home in the Kentucky Appalachians during the 30's and 40's. The songs are all covers and traditional numbers that were popular during this time and arranged by the Crooked Jades. Among the tracks here are "Put My Little Shoes Away", Roscoe Holcomb's "I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again", "Cumberland Gap", "Mystery Train" (the very one popularized by E. Presley), "Pretty Polly" and much more.
Feels like it's been ages since we've heard from local faves, The Crooked Jades, and just when we were about to file a missing persons report, in they walk with a brand spanking new release of the darkly tinged Americana that we've been craving. Shining Darkness has a more fleshed out sound than previous Jade releases covering a lot of ground from haunting Appalachian lullabies and fiery bluegrass dust-ups to dirgy British folk, full of sweet two part male and female harmonies, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and atmospheric harmonium. So nice!
After a much too long three year recording hiatus, the Crooked Jades return with 23 new tracks. Like their previous releases, volume 2 of The Unfortunate Rake is a mix of both arrangements of traditional tunes and original compositions. For those who still haven't heard them yet, the Crooked Jades play a seamless blend of American roots music that absorbs bluegrass, country, and early string band styles with remarkable fluidity. Like their previous releases, heart rending ballads, superb vocal harmonies and high powered fiddle tunes abound here. As much as the Jades -- possibly the hardest working roots music band in the Bay Area -- excel in what's expected of a great string band (excellent instrumental breaks & vocal harmonies), it's their arrangements and choice of instrumentation that puts them over the edge. With judicious inclusion of hammond organ and piano to their growing arsenal of ukuleles, Hawaiian slide guitars, dobros, myriad banjos (tenor, banjo-uke, etc) and pedal-steel as well as the usual suspects (fiddle, guitar, string bass, mandolin), the Jades have developed a sound that's far more rich and interesting than the "olde-timey" groups they're unfortunately often lumped in with. There's even a soundtracky instrumental composed by leader Jeff Kazor which is nicely reminiscent of Penguin Cafe Orchestra's better moments -- Yellow Mercury No. 2 -- featuring Jeff on dulcimer accompanied by Richard Buckner (who again plays all over this new album as well as being credited as co-producer) on piano & ukulele and Michael Ismerio on fiddle. Highly recommended! And for those who still don't have them, we still stock the Jades first two records.
Those AQ customers who live here in SF may have seen the Crooked Jades play at the Mission's beloved Radio Valencia (R.I.P.) on Sunday nights for years. And though it's been hard to catch them live these days, we're blessed with two new releases by the group to serenade us any day of the week, any time of the day in lieu of the real thing. Drawing from old time string band, bluegrass and country influences the Crooked Jades put together a sound that's original, but never forced. With a full arsenal of guitars, dobro, hawaiian guitar, banjo (played clawhammer style), fiddle, piano, ukulele, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, string bass and even the occasional casio & moog (says so on the liner notes, but hardly noticeable) the Crooked Jades continually vary the size and style of their arrangements to accompany beautiful male and female harmonies. The Unfortunate Rake is comprised of about 50% traditional numbers and the other half equally divided between covers and originals. The album was produced (and excellently recorded at SF's Tiny Telephone) by Richard Buckner, who also sings and plays on several of the tracks including an eerie rendition of the traditional song 'Ida Red' played on piano, baritone ukulele & E-bow.
Another wonderful album from these veteran Bay Area craftsmen and women of old time, rootsy Americana finery! Tireless band leader Jeff Kazor once again heads the ever-changing cast of Crooked Jades, and he does so with remarkable consistency in sound and feel from one album to the next. Not only that, on the generous 15-song long World's On Fire, the band glides seamlessly between The Jades' originals and their cover versions of vintage country, Appalachian folk and bluegrass tunes, and effortlessly between rowdy bootstompers and aching heartbreakers. Recommended.
In lieu of a new full length (this Fall perhaps?), the Crooked Jades have tossed us a very nice bone of an EP. Five tracks, recorded live to multitrack at SF's own Tiny Telephone in August of 2004. Of the five tracks, three are traditional arrangements and two are originals: one by Jades frontman Jeff Kazor and the other by newly added mandolin player extraordinaire Jennie Benford. For this outing the group have reigned in their broad influences and focused their labors to produce an EP that's almost strictly bluegrass, and very traditional at that. The exception is the final track "Gabriel (World's On Fire)" which is a traditional gospel tune sung by the group a cappella, but for some frantic blues acoustic guitar accompaniment. So nice.
Latest from these local fuzzed out jangle pop shoegazers, and it's the perfect mix of classic twee pop, and something a little bit more distorted and dirty. At its core, the sound seems very indebted to classic nineties indie/college rock, especially Unrest, just check out opener "White Flag", with its urgent jangle, and crooning echo drenched vox, but whereas Unrest was often all stripped down earnestness, Cruel Summer occasionally pile on layers of distorted guitars, some dreamy background 'oooooh's and 'aaaaaah's, not to mention some cool sinewy post punk sounding basslines. The rest of the record though, does deliver some serious dreampop minimalism, the female vox over the spare jangle and psychedelic shimmer of "Silent Star", that at times sounds like a more subdued Sleater-Kinney, or the hazy jangle of "Venetian Blinds", which occasionally blossoms into warm swirling squalls of soft focus guitar noise, before slipping right back into chiming jangle, or the weary, distortion drenched "Strange Fruit" which reminds us of the late great Scrawl. Definitely recommended for fans of other local outfits like Grass Widow, the Mantles, etc.
LIMITED TO JUST 250 COPIES!!! Cool die cut cover too!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Two local (Oakland) metal bands duke it out on this split disc, one so heavy that it took four labels to put it out. Cruevo say they play "crusty sledgehammer stoner doom" while Brainoil opt to describe themselves as a "crusty wizard sludge metal" band. Well, whatever they want to call it, both bands churn out some mighty heavy, ugly punk/metal, doubtless inspired by such bands as Buzzoven, Eyehategod, Neurosis, and High On Fire. Yet more nightmare Sabbath spawn unleashed upon the world... In case it helps in your purchasing decision, here's what t-shirts the various band members are seen wearing in the booklet photos: Assuck, Spirit Caravan, Destruction, Oakland Raiders, Weedeater (we think) and Sunn.
Extra points go to Cruevo for the Shut Up Little Man! sample introducing their half of the disc.
A few years ago Chris Cohen parted ways with weirdo pop combo Deerhoof, but lucky for us he continued to pursue his own take on idiosyncratic pop with his band The Curtains and now he has a new project with Nedelle who he shares vocal duties with on Dig That Treasure. Cohen's charming songwriting skills are easily identifiable on these songs, though it's even more tender and sweet then any of his past outings, but still filled with enough left-of-center twists and turns to keep things unpredictable and engaging. While his former band is enjoying a large level of popularity in recent years we think Cohen's music deserves the same kind of attention from all ears interested in creative pop crafted with wonder and unique imagination.
We're huge fans of guitarist Matt Baldwin, we are so smitten by his psychedelic kraut-guitar drift, beholden to Fripp and Riley and Reich and Rother but also the Appalachia of Fahey and Kottke. So when he brought in this new disc on Psychic Arts, that's pretty much what we were expecting, although we did think Cryptic Cross was an odd name for some dreamy droney minimal guitar music, so we threw it on and pretty much knew we were in for something completely different. The opening intro is a super lo-fi dirge, all crumbling guitar buzz, sped up voices, tape malfunction, and then suddenly "Don't Chew Worry" kicks in, and we're in full on lo-fi new wave dirge metal territory. At least that's the best way we can describe it. Super murky and lo-fi, buzzy metallic riffage, but strange almost outsider cold wave vocals, crooned, sort of spoken, insane lyrics, the guitar and vocal melodies locked tight, making everything sound sing songy, and then when the vocalist slips into a falsetto, and the guitar shreddery begins, we're in total whathefuck heaven. We say this once in a while, but again, this totally sounds like something you might discover via Brian Turner's show on WFMU, psychedelic, metallic, but with a twisted knuckledragging post punk / lo-fi sludge vibe. Fucking weird, but totally bafflingly genius. Not sure where they're from, or what their deal is, but what we do know is that we have been jamming this nonstop! Fucked up and heavy, warped and drug addled, this is some crazy, kick ass shit!
LIMITED TO 50 COPIES! Each one hand numbered, and housed in a silkscreened origami style cd sleeve.
It's been quite a while since we last heard from those frisky Bay Area residents Cubby Creatures, but they've always had a knack for reappearing right when a bright, warming beam of slightly woozy pop is needed. On their new self-released album After The Deprogramming, they've kept to the basic sound of their handful of past releases -- blending together psych, folk, indie pop and assorted other quirky sweetness -- but seem to have shed their early lower-fi ramshackleness for good, in favor of more composed tunefulness. After The Deprogramming is certainly a much more focused and polished work. That said, there's still a bounce in their step, but the playfulness is now counterbalanced by an occasional dip into darker dramatic territory. Hurrah!
At the end of this much-too-short EP from SF's clever, quirky popsters The Cubby Creatures, you can't help but wanna hit 'play' one more time. Five playful and pretty tunes that sound as if each of the six Cubby folk had a gleeful time performing them and
Named, for some reason, after a Revolutionary War spy cell, Culper Ring is an experimental collaborative side project from three Bay Area underground music notables: Steve Von Till of Neurosis/Tribes Of Neurot, Kris Force of Amber Asylum, and Mason Jones of Subarachnoid Space. There's none of Neurosis's crusty metal grind to be found here, so this might appeal more to fans of Subarachnoid's space rock and Amber Asylum's gothic chamber strings, with the spacey folky vibe these three conjure up. Apparently inspired by the likes of Coil, Nurse With Wound and Current 93, Culper Ring utilize violin, effects-laden guitars, haunting female vocals and some electronic noises to generate a soundworld that's melancholic, dark, a bit droney and "psych". It's actually quite pretty and mellow, with eight untitled tracks to wander through your ears. Not bad at all for a project that we suspect got its start just 'cause the principals all happened to share a practice space.
MPEG Download: "track eight" [/audio/culperring8.mp3]
One of our fave new Bay Area indie labels Dynamophone close out 2007 with a fresh batch of aural treats. They are four installments in their limited edition 3" cd-r ep Parcel series by the likes of Curium, Lullaby League, Science Teacher and Sleep Robot. Chances are if you've been paying attention to our recent aQ lists you're probably already as enchanted with this label's richly atmospheric hazily dreamy roster as we are, and will welcome these four into your music collection. This one features three new luminous listens by Curium.
Don't delay though! Each release comes in a diminutive square cardboard box festooned with a full color cover art sticker, and is limited to 100 each. We only have a couple handfuls. Once they're gone, they're gone!
Psst: in keeping with this particular release's theme, Aember comes with a Dynamophone book of matches!
The third release from SF's Curium comes in the form of a 3" cd-r encased in a slightly larger gift box. As with the rest of the Dynamophone Parcel series, this is a delight to open up and delve into.
Curium (aka Evan Sornstein aka the man behind the label) draws inspiration from literary works, this time it is C.S. Lewis' fantasy realm Bism which "lies below the Shallows of the Underland below Narnia. Gnomes grow living gems and salamanders swim in rivers of fire giving great words of wisdom" (quoted from the liner notes). While the three instrumentals may not necessarily conjure such fantastical visions in your mind, they will offer a soothing dreamy respite from the hecticness of your day. Diminutive as this 3" may seem, there's twenty minutes of loveliness for you sink into as it drifts slowly through limpid, wistful melodic lines.
Psst, seeking more new calming contemplative sounds on this label? Be sure to check out Abbasi Brothers (also reviewed this week) and Fjordne!
Cool. A super-limited 7" release from San Francisco's no-wave noise militants, Curse Of The Birthmark. Three hundred and thirty three of these were put out, as part of a 7" series from 333 Recordings. Features Weasel Walter from Flying Luttenbachers on keys.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
In case the title didn't already give it away, this is part of the German label TomLab's special 7" single series dedicated to the alphabet! It all began with Mark Robinson and the letter 'A' back in July 2004. Now it's mid-2006 and they've reached the letter 'N', but don't punish yourself if you've missed a few (if not or all) of 'em thus far. Each edition has only been pressed in a super fleeting run of 500. Geez, you can barely catch a glimpse of them. 'M' by Max Tundra and 'L' by Les Georges Leningrad (which came out in May and March of this year respectively) are already long gone. Sooooo, while it lasts we have 'N' which features two tunes by SF art-popsters The Curtains (aka Deerhoof's Chris Cohen). Snooze and lose...
Asthmatic Kitty, the label that brought us a bunch of early Sufjan Stevens releases as well as two dream-folk albums by the Castanets, has released another likemindedly quirky lovely cd by The Curtains starring Mr. Chris Cohen formerly of Deerhoof. Not at all surprisingly, the mildly tweaked elements of his old band definitely make their way into the pastel pop weave of The Curtains, but the overall sound is more straightforward fluttery retro '60s psych-pop with very heavy Beach Boys and Beatles influences. It's all super sweet and wistful with female vocals courtesy of Nedelle Torrisi (also of SF duo Nedelle And Thom). Half-Handed Cloud's John Ringhofer also lends (more than half) a musical hand. Cohen has the kind of irresistible boyish wonder and charm that few possess. It's almost like he exists in a Michel Gondry film, so many wonderful colors, state of the bedroom invention and endless wonder. There's nothing but puffy clouds floating in a bright blue sky when this one's playin'!
A beautifully rendered document of the early stages of this San Francisco trio. A posthumous release of sorts, considering the radical personnel changes since the recording of "Fast Talks". But alas, we can now enjoy the magic of what once was. Comparisons to Beefheart's Magic Band, The Shaggs or the reserved expansiveness of guitarists like Derek Bailey, Taku Sugimoto or Fred Frith certainly come to mind, though those likenesses are only fragments of the larger landscape. The duelling guitars of Chris Cohen and Trevor Shimizu weave into one another, not colliding or stepping on each others toes, but crafting a web in which the stumbling percussive rolls of drummer Jamie Peterson (ex-Saint Andre) are able to grasp onto. Peterson's unique style recalls the Magic Band's John "Drumbo" French, though with more reservation and a playful discretion. In fact most of the songs on "Fast Talks" are refreshing in their sheer simplicity and sense of discovery. You might be inclined to say "naive" upon first listen, as remnants of "outsider" artists such as The Shaggs can be traced through their arrangements, though these pieces are extremely well conceived, complex and strongly informed by restraint and the spaces in between. Several moments throughout the record even contain qualities which recall another SF avant-rock outfit -- Deerhoof -- whose guitarist John Dieterich, coincidentally, takes production controls here. Vinyl only, and gorgeously packaged as per the Thin Wrist standard of excellence.
Fresh from their split cd and tour with Japanese pop-psych shamblers Maher Shalal Hash Baz, The Curtains release their first full-length cd. On it, this Bay Area trio of synthesizers, guitars and drums make a precarious heap of quirksome dissonance... and it's really no wonder since its members are Chris Cohen, Andrew Maxwell, and Greg Saunier. These gents also make sounds with such groups as Deerhoof, Natural Dreamers and Open City. On Flybys, melodies are introduced and seemingly take root, only to have the notes scatter like a disturbed anthill. A tangles of plucked guitar strings. Woozy synthesized heaves. A tumbling snare drum. The three are joined on a number of tracks by their former Curtains comrades Jaime Peterson (electronics) and Trevor Shimizu (synthesizer and guitar). As the album progresses the tracks seem to teasingly approach a slightly more traditional song structure, but you'll find with The Curtains you're seldom on completely stable ground. 22 tracks in all with the longest one clocking in at 3 minutes and the shortest at sixteen seconds (most are around one to two minutes)!
Sometimes bedazzled, certainly bemused and maybe befuddled, that's where curious local art-rockers The Curtains keep the listener, one never knowing from track to track where the album is likely to lead. And there's a whole lotta tracks on here, like 23 of 'em! All share the The Curtains charming style of quirky, indie-rock confusion, that can be proggily grandiose one moment, innocent and simple the next. Faux-naive? Beefheart-complex? It's all good. The Curtains make their own rules, and we love 'em for it.
Possibly the most polished and "full" sounding album (of the several we carry) from San Francisco's beloved Beth Custer, the restless innovator who, whether as a solo artist or in her prolific past as part of Club Foot Orchestra and other intrepid musical
Collected solo work from reeds playin', multi instrumentalist Beth Custer, founding member of Club Foot Orchestra and Eighty Mile Beach, and all around San Francisco institution.
Treasured local composer Beth Custer has self-released another collection of her clarinet-led music. Along with the clarinets Ms Custer also wields the piano and the keyboard sampler, and she sings. The Tin Hat Trio and the Club Foot Quintet (both groups also local gems) make appearances, as do several other folks. This is wide-open music with no attitude and plenty of originality. Silences and single-instrument passages that are evocative as much for what they don't say as for what they do. Gritty noir tangos that wouldn't be out of place in a Jim Jarmusch film. The (very occasional) vocal parts don't do much for me but I'm sure they were entirely appropriate in the context of the dance pieces these tracks were originally composed for: What the Body Knows, Take/Place, Undertaking Harry, and The Maverick Strain, all performed by the Joe Goode Performance Group. Nice.
Beth Custer can't be stopped and who'd want her to? She's one of the most prolific and most varied musicians in the Bay Area. You might recall one of her most recent projects was the scoring of the historic silent film A Trip Down Market Street (now on dvd). It's a wonderful treasure! Or how about Clarinet Thing! her clarinet collaboration with Ralph Carney? Or the electronic dance/jazz fusion duo Eighty Mile Beach? Or the inimitable Club Foot Orchestra? She's pretty much done it all, always with a meticulous eye for detail and usually with an unconventional twist.
Bernal Heights Suite finds her performing with The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and it's her first chamber music cd. These vocal and string arrangements are lively, colorful and have a definite theatrical feel. For non-SF savvy folks, Bernal Heights is the neighborhood directly south of the Mission District. Custer has lived there for over a decade, and this is her musical tribute to her ol' stompin' grounds. Terrific.
Wow, we've got not one, but two new releases featuring Ms Beth Custer! Not only do we have her wonderful Clarinet Thing collaboration with Sheldon Brown, Ralph Carney, Ben Goldberg and Peter Josheff, but also this politically charged cd of her latest ensemble work with Carney and Goldberg (this time handling horn duty), the amazingly dextrous keyboardist Graham Connah, and Charming Hostess' Marika Hughes on cello, among others. Custer might be based here in SF but she's a music nomad through and through, covering an astounding expanse of styles from Latin jazz to ambient to country to trip hop and beyond (both as a solo artists and in groups such as the abovementioned Clarinet Thing, Club Foot Orchestra, Eighty Mile Beach, and Trance Mission) on an equally broad array of instruments. She simply can't/won't be pinned down. Respect As A Religion is no exception. It frolicks, grooves, wrestles, and enchants.
This new SF group sure do indeed have their cute dial turned up to 'full', bringing together very childlike singsong female vocals, chiming musicbox and piano melodies, and an occasional indie boyish vocal too. That said, they don't completely induce sugar shock by tempering the tracks with some buzzing and hissing IDM interventions. It's a promising direction to take, although it can be somewhat jarring to the flow of the album at times -- as if they weren't quite sure where to go next or perhaps as if individual members wanted to try their hands at different things. It'll be interesting to see where they go from here... whether they'll further fuse the two distinct styles or focus more on one or the other or something altogether different. Anyways, it's a very homespun affair right down to the packaging: both the jewelcase and cd-r are handscreened with an image titled "Polar bunny in a snowstorm" (sorta reminiscent of Zappa's Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch album illustration) and a sparkly sticker graces the traycard.
It's kinda of ironic that what sounds to me like a fully authentic power pop record from the early '70s was actually made this year by young 'uns from Oakland! This is so pitch perfect Nuggets-y that even the purists amongst us will be impressed. The singer sound a li'l bit Tom Verlaine/Television, a li'l bit Ric Ocasek/Cars. The sweet poignancy of some of the tracks recalls "#1 Album"-era Big Star, when they rocked more than they wept. Recorded in Memphis with Greg Cartwright of the Oblivians. Recommended.
MPEG Download: "How Can I Get Through" [/audio/cutshowcaniget.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "How Can I Get Through" [/audio/cutshowcaniget.m3u]
Two Oakland bands on Birdman, here for your consideration. The Gris Gris just came out, The Cuts has been hanging out for a few months (and is a first time on cd reissue of their debut vinyl album anyway) but both get the thumbs up from the garage psych squad here at the store. Starting with The Cuts...well you can chalk another one up for the rock and roll revival. Yeah maybe the Stripes and the Strokes made the world safe for labels to release retro rockers like this, but that's fine 'cause a band like this shouldn't have to toil in obscurity anyway...plus we know our pal Dave who runs Birdman isn't about hopping on trends, he just puts out music he likes (which explains a few things). And The Cuts are the real deal too, with all kinda influences stirring in their pot...Zombies, Big Star, Television... A lot of you (and us) liked their 2nd album (first cd) 2 Over 10, which did the '70s power pop thing to perfection. Hearing this, first I thought hey weren't they supposed to be some sort of Cars-like proposition, with their keyboards and all?, but this sure harks back further than those New Romantic Waver whatevers, all the way back to the Electric Prunes!! Rockin' the joint with lotsa fuzz and great Nuggety songs/vox. Next up, The Gris Gris...
