What is it about the flexidisc? We were shocked by the resurgence of interest in cassettes, but we could NEVER have predicted that the flexidisc would be next. But hell, we actually love those things, and for what they lack in fidelity and sound quality, they make up for in cool quirkiness. Take this flexidisc right here, a sort of picture flexidisc, a square record adorned with a naked woman's torso, housed in a printed plastic sleeve covering up the sexy bits, includes a postcard with liner notes and a download code, this is in fact the debut release from Les Demoniaques, a duo made up of gothy songstress Tamaryn and Dee Dee from The Dum Dum Girls, and sounds pretty much exactly how you might imagine, a gloomy gothic ballad / sixties girl group fuzz pop hybrid, all woozy and warm, reverby and shimmery, the vocals softly echoed, the music repetitive and trancelike, no drums that we could hear, hazy and drifty and jangly, a super short and sweet bit of dreamy gloom pop, peppered with some synthy swirl, and some divine "oooh's" and "aaah's", oh yeah, and it's a Jesus And Mary Chain cover! Definitely has us hankering for more and has us wondering if they can whip up some originals that can live up to this psychedelic shoegaze classic, here's hoping...
LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES.
Latest from these French post black metal shoegazers, who seem forever doomed to live in the shadow of their countrymen Alcest and Amesoeurs, which makes sense, cuz most folks might in fact have a little trouble telling them apart. It's a shame though, because removed from the whole 'post black metal' equation (like really, all three of these band should be at this point), Les Discrets are masterful practitioners of fuzzed out, distortion drenched shoegaze dreampop heaviness. While they have essentially given up any pretense of being a black metal band of any stripe, their are some hints of blackness here, mostly in the occasional atonal riffage, and the brief stretch of guitar buzz and blast beat, but if anything, they definitely have more in common with the soaring dramatic metallic gloom pop of Katatonia, or the shoegaze blissiness of 4AD and Creation. There's plenty of buzz and pound, big soaring guitars, epic riffage, but even at their heaviest, Les Discrets are still a pop band, which is really what makes this stuff so great, every song here, gorgeously melancholic, epic and hook filled, maybe not necessarily in the classic verse chorus verse sense, but their knack for unforgettable melodies, for lush enveloping textures, for hypnorock mesmer, are unmatched, and yeah, we'll say it, even by their more famous countrymen. And when they slow it down, LD are capable of great beauty, of hushed crystalline mystery that sounds even more dramatic in the midst of a sprawling progged out black pop shoegaze epic. And all that said, of the three flagship post BM shoegaze combos, at this point we'd have to say LD might be out favorites. It could be simply because this is new, and these songs are fresh, but we're thinking it's much more than that.
The easiest way to describe Les Discrets is thus: anyone who loves Alcest or Amesouers, is gonna love these guys too. Which makes perfect sense, they're French, their sound is a blissed out shoegazey post-black metal pop, and heck they even share members with Alcest.
But unlike Alcest, whom these guys shared a split release with not too long ago, Les Discrets have pretty much eliminated all and any blackness from their sound. Only the barest traces, only shadowy vestiges remain, no harsh vocals, no blast beats, no frenzied riffing, no Les Discrets is like an even more poppy blissed out Alcest, all jangle and chime and soar and shimmer. And as we mentioned in the Alcest review elsewhere on this week's list, these guys are inexplicably beloved by black metallers. With Alcest it makes a bit more sense, as there is actually some blackness, but the blackness in Les Discrets has been infused with sunlight, transforming black into bursts of greys and blues, hazy and gauzy, a sound more akin to Katatonia really, majestic and epic and heartfelt and emotional, still heavy for sure, even a little mathy, but more than anything, lush and dreamy and shimmery, shoegazey and softly fuzzy, lots of clean guitars, acoustic jangle, crooned vocals, warm whirling effects, all mixed into the woozy distorted crunch and softly blown out buzz, the result, while not remotely black metal, is turning out to be one of our favorite shoegaze gloom pop records ever!
Yes. Yes. Yes. Hmmmm, yes. Yes. And Yes! While some people around here might be incredibly annoyed by our ridiculous French-Canadian electropop-artrock-postpunk friends, Les Georges Lenningrad, others of us can't get enough of 'em. Ainsi, pour nous qui t'adore [so for those of us who adore them], this remix cd ep lands on open ears and, um, dancing feet. And as always, it features some cool handmade-or-sewn-'n-scanned artwork. Meow. I wish they would handmake me a fuzzy shirt.
Ahhhh ouuuuiii... Le nouveau super rockin' release from our French-Canadian friends Les Georges Leningrad. Poney, Bobo and Mingo (a trio now after losing one member through interpersonal conflict) deliver astounding electronoisepop compositions on Sur Les Traces De Black Eskimo. Groovy beats and spastic outbursts are prominent characters in the song craft they call petrochemical rock. Why they are obsessed with 'black eskimo', je ne sais pas. Mais, je t'aime, Les Georges. If you have the chance to see them live, they generously offer an award-winning show, featuring self-made costumes and an arresting stage presence. Their artwork is all done by the band members themselves and est la superbe. Check it!
We have to say, that lots of the time, when a band is touted as being some lost heavy psych or proto-metal classic, it often eventually turns out to sound sonically more like blues rock or bar rock, with merely HINTS of that psychedelic heaviness that lured us in, in the first place. Such is most definitely NOT the case with obscure French psychedelic rockers Les Goths, who within one track, establish themselves as a serious sonic juggernaut, obviously beholden to Hendrix and Cream and Blue Cheer, and yeah, with hints of sixties blues rock, but with a tendency for wild super distorted guitar playing and wicked bombastic drumming and dramatic vox, not to mention a raw, in-the-red production which only enhances the band's fierce sound. Some of us were definitely reminded of sixties Swedish psych trio Baby Grandmothers, and anyone who bought their now out of print reissue on Subliminal Sounds (and that was a whole lot of you!) is for sure gonna want this. Check out the first song and see if you're not totally sold, a four minute non-stop blast of buzz drenched riffage and effects soaked garage psych pound, the guitars thick and distorted, the drums WAY up in the mix, the vox too, everything reverbed and echoey and a little blown out, some wild psychedelic leads, a total lost classic garage psych classic for sure. We've probably listened to this track a hundred times since we first got this in, it's the sort of track that would steal the show on any vintage psych comp, in fact it's the sort of track that would inspire someone to CREATE an obscure psych comp. The song gets more and more distorted and druggy as it goes, we dare say worth the price of admission alone. But once you get over being obsessed with that track (if you ever do), there's lots more here to dig into.
Tracks like "I Remember" are bluesy groovers, displaying the band's love of groups like the Animals, but even here, the sound is a little twisted, the arrangements a bit off kilter, with a little bit of that girl group vibe, cool soaring harmony vocals, with some super intense about-to-crack lead vox, all hazy and dreamy, and then the band slip right back into something a bit heavier and more propulsive like "Out Of The Sun" with its low slung bass groove, wild tangled guitars and chaotic super busy drumming, the whole thing sort of sun baked and druggy, with some cool churning chuggy riffage surfacing throughout.
The rest of the record offers up more of the same, long stretches of brooding bluesiness, groovy psychedelic shuffles, and pounding garage-y stomps, in equal measure, always with some killer guitar work and easily some of the best drumming we've heard, which had us wishing there was a way to nominate Les Goths drummer Bruno Frascone as should have/could have been drum legend. Consider him so nominated! One of our favorite new garage / psych reissues for sure!
Like with all Shadoks releases, plenty of rare photos, lyrics and liner notes.
Previously a vinyl-only reissue, now also available on cd -- the crazy French-Canadian sound of 1968! Collectors (like Jello Biafra) have apparently been salivating over this bizarre record for years. A wild psychedelic big-band instrumental soundtrack
Putain de merde!! '70s French noisy garage punk rock insanity here, courtesy of France's Born Bad label who know their shit (they brought us some early '60s French rock insanity not too long ago from Les Blousons Noirs, remember). We've been wanting to review this for a while too, finally got a few imports in on both cd and vinyl. It's an offical compilation of most what remains of the recorded legacy of these cult '77 era punks, named after psychiatrist and drug addiction treatment specialist Claude Olivenstein. They were worthy contemporaries of the great Metal Urbain, sounding totally killed by death. The 13 tracks here range from their killer singles to even rawer and wigger demos to live material, some of it previously unissued, rescued from dusty old cassette tapes and so forth. Like their countrymen and early '70s forefathers Rotomagus, they never made a full-length album - or rather, this is it, 30+ years later!
Savage, slashing stuff, the vocals en francias delivered with a snotty sneer, the rhythms chugging and cooking like rock 'n' roll should, guitar jangle mixing it up with some wild lashings of noisy fuzz and distortion. Crazy. Like certain other obscure '70s French faves we can think of (Angelface, Soggy) there's plenty of Stooges-y shake appeal here. Also, if Metal Urbain was in fact the French answer to the Sex Pistols, these guys were ready to back 'em up in a pinch. They also have a cute little doo-wop thing going too with the ironically sunshiney "La Nuit Tragique", while the groovy twang of "Olivenstein Je T'ai Dans Les Veines" (performed here live) reminds us of both Radio Birdman and The Stranglers. Oui oui, recommended! (Compact disc version comes enhanced with a QuickTime video of Les Olivensteins performing "Euthanasie" on TV.)
All right, time to crank the stereo! There's no way to listen to these, but loud. Two rather crucial entries in the distorto-delic discography of seminal '70s Japanese underground rock band Les Rallizes Denudes are now reissued, on proper compact disc for what we think is the very first time, these having being previously only "available", if you can call it that, as cd-rs. Blind Baby Has It's Mothers Eyes, and Heavier Than A Death In The Family, woah, you know with titles like that they've gotta be good. And before you go running to your Japrocksamplers to look 'em up, we'll save you the trouble: Julian Cope rated these two albums at #11 and #3, respectively, on his top 50 of Japanese psych artifacts. Deservedly so.
Heavily mythologized and mysterious, this lo-fi, in-the-red, sunglasses-wearing, Motown-loving, airplane-hijacking (??!), studio-recording-avoiding, raw outsider rock and roll unit provided the inspiration for every latter day underground Japanese psych band who have ever slipped on shades, cranked up their amps, and had a Tokyo Flashback. (Like Fushitsusha!) And these two discs, both equally recommended, are essential documents as to how and why.
Heavier Than A Death In The Family features six songs, all but one of 'em in the double digits, with some great titles, no less than three of 'em referencing the night in some form or other: "Strung Out Deeper Than The Night", "The Night Collectors", "Night Of The Assassins", "Enter The Mirror", "People Can Choose", and "Ice Fire". All were apparently recorded live in '77 (except one from '73). Blistering is the word. Super echoey, reverbed out, almost like Ariel Pink producing Wooden Shjips or Comets On Fire gone dub... Sounds also like some Siltbreeze shitgazers, or current psychsters like Heavy Winged, plodding and throbbing. And "Ice Fire" is 16 minutes of proto-Merzbow meets Hawkwind howl. Wow.
Frayed and fried, ULTRA fuzzed and feedback-y, of course, and yet for a Rallizes release, the sound isn't all that "bad", compared to some of their stuff we've heard wherein the tape hiss competes with the guitar for domination. Not that that's a bad thing, either, but this will take less getting used to.
Meanwhile, Blind Baby Has It's [sic] Mothers [sic] Eyes consists of three tracks, but clocks in at 54 minutes total: the title track, "An Awful Eternity" (aka "An Aweful Eternitie"), and "The Last One". Presumably also recorded live, we don't know when, sometime in the '70s, the sound here is similar sickness. More of their charismatically clangorous chaos, getting quite hypnotically repetitious across the lengths of these three wandering, wah-wah wailing epics. We'd recommend this as a good gift for your friend who likes the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray", Circle, and primitive black metal such as Striborg... if they haven't heard Les Rallizes yet they'll be thanking you!
Although due to the confusing nature of the Rallizes catalog, we imagine that some of these tracks might appear on other Rallizes discs that you may or may not have, but in any case these two albums are essentials in their entirety. Get 'em while they last.
Typical Phoenix no-frills cardboard "wallet" packaging, each cd numbered and limited to 1000 copies.
All right, time to crank the stereo! There's no way to listen to these, but loud. Two rather crucial entries in the distorto-delic discography of seminal '70s Japanese underground rock band Les Rallizes Denudes are now reissued, on proper compact disc for what we think is the very first time, these having being previously only "available", if you can call it that, as cd-rs. Blind Baby Has It's Mothers Eyes, and Heavier Than A Death In The Family, woah, you know with titles like that they've gotta be good. And before you go running to your Japrocksamplers to look 'em up, we'll save you the trouble: Julian Cope rated these two albums at #11 and #3, respectively, on his top 50 of Japanese psych artifacts. Deservedly so.
Heavily mythologized and mysterious, this lo-fi, in-the-red, sunglasses-wearing, Motown-loving, airplane-hijacking (??!), studio-recording-avoiding, raw outsider rock and roll unit provided the inspiration for every latter day underground Japanese psych band who have ever slipped on shades, cranked up their amps, and had a Tokyo Flashback. (Like Fushitsusha!) And these two discs, both equally recommended, are essential documents as to how and why.
Heavier Than A Death In The Family features six songs, all but one of 'em in the double digits, with some great titles, no less than three of 'em referencing the night in some form or other: "Strung Out Deeper Than The Night", "The Night Collectors", "Night Of The Assassins", "Enter The Mirror", "People Can Choose", and "Ice Fire". All were apparently recorded live in '77 (except one from '73). Blistering is the word. Super echoey, reverbed out, almost like Ariel Pink producing Wooden Shjips or Comets On Fire gone dub... Sounds also like some Siltbreeze shitgazers, or current psychsters like Heavy Winged, plodding and throbbing. And "Ice Fire" is 16 minutes of proto-Merzbow meets Hawkwind howl. Wow.
Frayed and fried, ULTRA fuzzed and feedback-y, of course, and yet for a Rallizes release, the sound isn't all that "bad", compared to some of their stuff we've heard wherein the tape hiss competes with the guitar for domination. Not that that's a bad thing, either, but this will take less getting used to.
Meanwhile, Blind Baby Has It's [sic] Mothers [sic] Eyes consists of three tracks, but clocks in at 54 minutes total: the title track, "An Awful Eternity" (aka "An Aweful Eternitie"), and "The Last One". Presumably also recorded live, we don't know when, sometime in the '70s, the sound here is similar sickness. More of their charismatically clangorous chaos, getting quite hypnotically repetitious across the lengths of these three wandering, wah-wah wailing epics. We'd recommend this as a good gift for your friend who likes the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray", Circle, and primitive black metal such as Striborg... if they haven't heard Les Rallizes yet they'll be thanking you!
Although due to the confusing nature of the Rallizes catalog, we imagine that some of these tracks might appear on other Rallizes discs that you may or may not have, but in any case these two albums are essentials in their entirety. Get 'em while they last.
Typical Phoenix no-frills cardboard "wallet" packaging, each cd numbered and limited to 1000 copies.
With the publication of Julian Cope's long awaited Japrocksampler tome, interest in Japan's underground psychedelic rock scene in the '70s has gotta be running at an all time high. A big portion of Cope's book dealt with the legendary Les Rallizes Denudes aka Hadaka No Rallizes, a long running (since the late sixties, still "active" today) and influential act led by guitarist Takashi Mizutani. Without Les Rallizes, more modern day bands like Up-Tight and LSD-march wouldn't exist. Rallizes were also a big inspiration for Keiji Haino's equally significant Fushitsusha group. Their style (musical and sartorial), their distortion, their sunglasses... blown-out minimalist rock throb, carving delicate and/or devastating beauty out of guitar feedback and reverby pop simplicity. Unfortunately for readers of Cope's book, pretty much the entire catalog of Rallizes LPs, cd, cd-rs, cassettes etc. falls into the category of near-myth, hard to find at the very least. It used to be, you could go into a record shop in Japan and spend hundreds of dollars for a handful of live Rallizes cd-rs. We've stocked what we could, but Rallizes cds are few and far between.
In other words, good timing that this disc just materialized (and maybe no coincidence that it was written up as a Record Of The Month on Cope's Head Heritage website a few months back). Titled either Yodo-Go-A-Go-Go or Flightless Bird Needs Water Wings, this cd offers up eight tracks of prime Rallizes, a "best of" of sorts drawn from rare recorded relics circa the early/mid '70s, though it goes back to '67 for track one. The disc opens with that garagey raver, "Otherwise My Conviction", then ventures into a gentler but no less distorted drone pop territory with "Valle d l'eau". The mood stays mellow until Mizutani busts out his searing Neil Young eat your heart out style guitar scorch for the end of the 13 minute third track, "Enter The Mirror". Has Wooden Shjips heard this? We're pretty sure they have. "Smokin' Cigarette Blues" is next, supremely lo-fi (with this band, that's a virtue), about as murky a 19 minutes of "blues" as you'll ever hear...it's all ambient low rumble and clatter, so abstract it's hard to tell if there's a band involved or not... this could be the Dead C for goshsakes! Wow. Following that, the fiery "Flames Of Ice" is propulsively distinct in comparison, and these 17 minutes should weigh heavily as a reason to pick this up. Then they plow into "Field Of Artificial Flowers", another heavy one, something like Link Wray's "Rumble" ultra-distorted into white hot sizzle and stretched out for ten minutes. What can they do to follow that? Being Les Rallizes Denudes, they go "Deeper Than Night" of course, which perfectly condenses everything that's wonderful about Les Rallizes into a mere two minutes and 24 seconds -- the mantric plod, the screeching sheets of sound wrenched from still bleeding guitars and amps. And then we're back to "Otherwise My Conviction", another version ending this disc much like it began. Whew. While any Rallizes cd is almost by definition essential, this really covers all the bases. Definitely one to get -- and it's also one of the only ones you CAN get.
Reissue of one of our favorite indie rock records ever. Les Savy Fav don't really get their due, but back in the day, these guys were just about the most freaked out, chaotic noise-pop proposition going. An insane vocalist who spent as much time in the crowd, or dragging his mic into the parking lot as he did on stage. And a hyper kinetic band of dissonant, angular axemen and a seriously spastic drummer backing him up. This disc, their debut from 1999, finally gets the remastering/repackaging/reissuing it so deserves. A gloriously energetic blend of the Pixies and the Archers Of Loaf, but with loads of extra snotty swagger, plenty of metallic crunch, and a fistful of hooks most pop band's would kill for. And some of the best indie rock vocals ever, sometimes getting locked into long stretches of looped yelps, or wildman stream of consciousness ranting, all delivered in a distorted scrachy garage rock howl.
Worth it alone for the third track, a wholesale rip off of Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", that instantly recognizable melody, but all twisted up into a chugging, propulsive chaotic slab of fuzzy pounding perfect pop throb. An all time mix tape staple for sure. But the rest of the record kicks just as much ass. Like the record the Pixies would have made if they were twenty something art school nerds from Rhode Island dosed on Red Bull and Robitussen. Fuck yeah!
Pssst: new record coming in 2007!
Hey Les Savy Fav fans, if you missed the band's Accidental Deaths release the first time around when it was released as a limited edition, tour only cd in Australia on Pop Frenzy Records a few years back, today's your lucky day 'cause it's been reissued! Mind you it's another limited edition! The two songs "Hit By Car" and "Hit By Train" have been pressed onto a 7" vinyl record. This time it is by the Rococo label. Limited pressing of 1000.
These east coast art-rocking boys are back with their third release. Word has it that this band is pretty right-on live. This record is totally dancy and catchy, and much more emo and peppy than previous releases. Their post-punk guitar assault swings from
Attention Les Savy Fav fans, here's a compilation of sixty-three inches of your favorite band... or if you prefer, nine LSF singles... or if you prefer, eighteen LSF songs which charts the band's notable progress in reverse chronological order (i.e, it begins with the most recently released and steps back in time with each subsequent song on the cd). An unusual choice for sure, but then again LSF are well known for not always sticking with the norm. Whichever way you choose to measure it, you gotta credit those LSF folks with creating some damn cool angular postpunk. At each stage of their career thus far, from the early more raw recordings to the recent more 'polished' stuff, they've maintained a consistency of dynamics and craftiness. Oh and hop to it 'cause the first pressing of the cd includes a bonus dvd!
Hard to believe, but it has been close to six years since Les Savy Fav's last studio album! For this grand occasion, they've pulled out the big guns in the guest department... Fiery Furnaces' Eleanor Friedberger, Metric's Emily Haines, Islands' Nicholas Thorburn, Modest Mouse's Joe Plummer, Fred Armisen, and the whole of Enon! Have to say, it starts out a little peculiarly jumping from Modest Mouse-y indie rock ("Pots & Pans") to Turbonegro or Hot Snakes-y fire power ("The Equestrian"). Actually it isn't until the fourth song that they make us feel we're truly back in the Les Savy Fav zone. It's the alien indie funk post punkiness of "Patty Lee" that does it. So it idiosyncratically goes, Let's Stay Together is a total mixed bag, but a super hyper fun one! Sounds like at the heart of it all their aim is to rock you, and they succeed!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Not so much a split or even a collaboration really, this is basically two tracks from spastic indie noise-rockers Les Savy Fav with a David Cross intro / outro on each track. The LSF songs are great, falling somewhere between Deerhoof, Grandaddy and Interpol, equal parts moody throbbing hypno rock, and skronky indie splatter. And the Cross stuff is pretty funny, mildly un-PC as you'd probably expect, but unfortunately quite brief.
It's still very early in their career, but those hectic Rogers Sisters, real-life sisters Jennifer and Laura along with their honorary bro' Miyuki Furtado, have already demonstrated a penchant for brevity in each of their releases. Why belabor the subject? Why waste time? Just get in, have yer fun and get out! The Brooklyn-based trio's latest is no exception coming in the form of a bilingual 2-song cd single. The title song is sung in Japanese by Jennifer while the other "45 Prayers" is sung in French by Miyuki. Note: If you've already got their album Three Fingers, you might not really need this unless you're a total completist 'cuz you've already got these songs, albeit in slightly different versions. If you don't have Three Fingers and/or have never heard them yet, this makes for a nice little sneak peek. Very much following in the footsteps of the 70s/80s female post-punk, no wave, and stripped-down funk bands such as Slits, Liliput and ESG with jutting guitars, skronky sax and whooped vocals. Pretty rad!
One of the stranger one-off missives of early eighties post-kraut weirdness was the lone 12" of Conny Plank and Holger Czukay's Les Vampyrettes project, offered here in a limited cassette reissue. No kosmiche krautrock here, instead Les Vampyrettes is an homage to the dread factor in horror cinema offering a brooding melange of slow creeping bass, spine-tingling ritualistic sound scapery of cut up screams, chants, water drips and knife scrapes amid Satanic incantations in deep monstrous tones. Extraordinary sound design, but very bizarre! Listen at loud volume or on headphones in the dark for full fear effect. Uber-limited!
Everyone's favorite, um, "lesbros" from up north in the Cascadian woods are back, three years after their last effort, with a new album of epic heaviosity. And we do mean epic - perhaps it should come as no surprise since Lesbian's previous two albums were full of pretty darn long songs with lots of parts, but here they REALLY decided to go for it and do the one long song thing - there's just one track on this disc, and it's 44 minutes long. Not as groundbreaking as when Sleep did it way back when on Jerusalem, but like we said, it makes sense for 'em. Why write several 15 or 20 minute long songs when you can just cram everything into one non-stop barrage?
With that much time to kill, Lesbian opt for (as always, actually) a kitchen sink approach, mixing together a wide variety of metal styles: stoner-doom-sludge, post-rock/post-metal, black metal, and more... There's parts here that remind us of everything from Neurosis to Agalloch to Mercyful Fate! Also, there's "less metal" moments that bear some resemblance to their colleagues, the Master Musicians Of Bukkake (whose Randall Dunn produced this, and whose Timba Harris arranged the strings here), as well as the forest-y pagan ambience of stuff found on the Glass Throat label from the same neck of the woods too.
While we couldn't possibly give a comprehensive, blow-by-blow account of this lengthy composition, let's mention a few of the high points. Forestelevision opens ominously, like some sort of soundtracky black metal, lots of eerie / arty atmosphere, but a few minutes in gets a lot more sludgey, with heavier riffs and vokills. At about 10 minutes in, you'll find a fantastic folk-riffed segment, like a collaboration between Swedish '70s psych act Trad Gras Och Stenar and Neurosis!
By the 20 minute mark, Lesbian have worked themselves into a bit of a frenzy, getting all hectic and mathy, with lots of effects and a great deal of effort on the part of the drummer. This crazy chaotic section goes for a while, then at around 32 minutes or so they need to take a breather and so the song suddenly gets all mellow and moody, delicate and even kind of pretty. Lesbian could be mistaken for a ordinary, instrumental postrock band at that point - but not for long, because soon they launch into a triumphant metallic gallop (or maybe it's just a trot, but it's glorious) crowned with completely unexpected high pitched shrieking King Diamond style heavy metal vocals! WTF?! Rad!! If we weren't convinced we needed this already, we are now. They chug along like that for a while, while we make involuntary devil horn hand gestures. Not sure why they waited, like, 36 minutes to bust into this part, maybe it took the singer that long to get up his courage... This more metal than thou section proves to be the album's heroic climax, stretching out in an almost psychedelic fashion however, before it at last comes to the end. The End. And guess what? The excitement of that last section really makes us want to hit "play" again right away and take the whole trip all over again - so that's a recommendation!
Of course it also makes us want to go listen to some of our other favorite "one long song" cd metal cds, like Crimson by Edge Of Sanity and Key To The Gates Of Apocalpyses by Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra...
Digipak cd or double lp gatefold vinyl, the latter of which actually messes with the integrity of our review by adding on an exclusive bonus "outro" track!
Black Metal. No, wait. Sludge-doom. Wait, no, it's post-rock. Huh? Seattle's Lesbian (who do themselves no favors with their dumb name, although they used to be called Lesbian Witch, not sure if that's better or worse) are, to us, pleasingly confusional and compelling when given a listen, their extended, epic songs -- 4 tracks in 1 hour here, folks -- veering from sheer metallic violence to moody melody to shoegazing stoner space-outs... it's like Wolves In The Throne Room one moment, Pelican or Isis the next. And it's great. Definitely another "heavy" winner from the eccentric Holy Mountain label, fresh from their successes with the likes of Om and Mammatus, two other question-mark-metal bands with heady, hypnotic abilities.
Their throat-torn vocals and the weighty riffage argue for Lesbian's status as metallers, while the many passages of quiet blissfulness reveal a surprisingly sensitive side, just as emotionally effective, each opposed aspect of their music enhancing the power and beauty of the other via Lesbian's devastating dynamics and psychedelic synergy. Recommended!
Er, we've never been sure that Lesbian was such a good name for this all-dude band from up north Seattle way. Unfortunately not an easily Googleable choice either, if you're just trying to find the band. But in its seeming inappropriateness, it does at least represent the "not quite what you expected" nature of their sound. And we HAVE always liked 'em; their debut for Holy Mountain, Power Hor, was a bit of a heavy fave here when it came out in 2007, we compared it to both Pelican and Wolves In The Throne Room! Now moved over to the Important imprint (they have good taste in labels, and vice versa), Lesbian present a solid follow-up in the form of Stratospheria Cubensis. Giving off a serious, melancholic vibe, this new opus, resplendent in Seldon Hunt artwork, should meet all your epic prog-doom-stoner-psych-metal needs quite handily.
The disc starts off with a great song, with a great title: "Poisonous Witchball", full of proggy angular riffs, and very metal ones too. It's the shortest song on the album, but still manages to fit in a great number of shifts and surprises, foreshadowing what's in store on the rest of the disc, which consists of looooong songs, five of 'em, that shortest one a relatively brief 8'28", the others in the double digits, up to 22'31", which gives them plenty of space to stretch out and psychedelicize... rather than go track by track, let's just say you get a smorgasbord of avant-metal mayhem and majesty, with repetitive sludge-bludgeon, speedy attacks, postrock soft-loud dynamics, sharp shredding guitar shards of quirky math metal, mammoth doom riffage, shoegazing melodic pretty parts, and more. It flows, though, how it flows. From ripping it up like Darkthrone one minute to crushing like Conifer or Samothrace another, there's no false steps, and no boring (but many beautiful) moments. We note that the "Lesbros" thanks list does not omit drugs, and likewise *your* thanks list should not omit Lesbian!
We've mentioned it before, but it definitely bears repeating. It's always good to print the speed a record is meant to be played at. If your band is slow and sludgey, droney and dirgey, then odds are it will sound good at both 45 -and- 33, and if you're like us, you'll probably think it sounds better slower, dirgier, heavier, so we're gonna review this split at 33, cuz it sounded better that way. If it was meant to be played at 45, well, everything we're about to say, only slightly higher pitched and a bit faster.
Lesbian are from Seattle and feature a bunch of dudes who have done time in other heavy bands, most notably Asva. They released an awesome album on Holy Mountain a year or two ago. And here, they offer up one track of classic sounding doom, at least at first, soaring minor key guitars, wrapped around crushing drums, harsh demonic vox, strangely haunting and pretty, but as the song develops it gets weirder and weirder, introducing some blasting double kick, some old school eighties style chug complete with guitar harmonies, and some streaks of blurred almost-black metal. Like Khanate meets Iron Maiden, but weirder, and even cooler than that already sounds.
The flipside is a new track from Ocean, from Maine, not to be confused with THE Ocean from Germany, the sound here is brooding post rocky metal, a simple strum, all murky and Godspeedy, slow building, before exploding into a churning low slung sludge, that at 33 is thick and viscous, but maybe slightly less so at 45. Heavy and murky and pummeling, before giving way to a pretty droned out abstract outro.
Packaged in sturdy full color sleeves, pressed on thick opaque yellow vinyl, and most likely limited.
This is strange indeed. The last Less record (reviewed 2+ years ago) was a blast of MTV ready prog-gloom post-metal, equal parts Tool, Rage Against The Machine and Nine Inch Nails with strange and wonderful math rock filligree a la Don Caballero. We predicted that in a couple years we'd probably be seeing them all over MTV if there was any justice in this world. So you can imagine how surprised we were when we first threw this, the new Less record, on. A completely different beast altogether. Well, not completely. First off, there's not a distorted guitar to be found. Anywhere. And all traces of pounding percussion have been replaced by skittery brushwork and delicate whispery shuffles. The riffs remain, still sort of doomy and heavy, but slowed down, played on a steel string guitar, giving them a sort of backwoods mystery and acoustic urgency. This may be stripped down and acoustic, but it's definitely not wimpy. This is dark and heavy and groovy, grim and sinister, creepy and crawly. Slightly distorted/reverbed vocals wail minor key laments over dirgy minor key doomscapes, vocals slithering between the riffs, tense and intense. Lots of ambient murk, backwoods twang, and sinister groove. Think Sixteen Horsepower crossed with Deadboy And the Elephantmen, or Woven Hand mixed with Agents Of Oblivion, or an even darker, creepier version of Alice In Chains' acoustic record Sap. Recommended.
Local one man band Less (not to be confused with Lesser) spits out a caustic blend of Tool and Don Caballero and Rage Against The Machine. I can't really figure out what this guy is doing releasing his own cds, when he should be on MTV and touring with Tool or
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We've made no bones about out love of the POP. We love the fuzzed out black metal too, and the sludge-y dirge sure, and of course the beautiful blissed out drones, but sometimes nothing does it for us like pop. Pop. POP! Be it delicate lo-fi 4-track bedroom pop, jangly indie pop, or big guitar hook drenched POWER pop. Sometime you just need to fill your head with hooks, bounce around, air guitar, sing along, you know. And no recent band did it for us quite as much as The Stereo, who wrote unbelievably catchy songs, wrapped in HUGE chugging guitars, amazing drumming and gorgeous harmony vocals. The Stereo broke up last year which really bummed us out (The Stereo being one of the few bands EVER than Andee has ever written a fan letter to!) but we soon discovered 2/3 of The Stereo had regrouped as Let Go. In fact when Andee and Allan went to CMJ, one of the only shows they really wanted to see was Let Go at CBGB's (which they didn't, goldarnit, since the show was WAY sold out) but upon their return to SF, the Let Go record was out and as if it were even possible, it might be even better than the Stereo. It basically sounds like the next Stereo record would have, bigger hooks, catchier songs, even more clever arrangements, more elaborate harmonies, and like the last Stereo record, it's definitely a grower, as all great records are. On first listen, we were mildly disappointed, but now we can't stop listening to it over and over again. Even has a sticker on the front of the cd featuring testemonials from other current pop bands (including Fallout Boy) going on and on about how good the Let Go are and how their bands wouldn't even exist if it weren't for Let Go and the Stereo and maybe the most accurate: "Let Go is your new favorite band." Indeed.
Another heavy one from this great label.
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A blast out of London cassette culture circa 1985, Leven Signs was the duo of Maggi Turner on vocals and Peter Karkut on synths, tape and drum machines in a brilliant hodgepodge of avant-pop experimentalism. Atypical of the cold minimal synth wave sounds we've been hearing lately from the period, Leven Signs had a more exotic attitude, blending ethereal vocals with ambient ethnic flourishes, medieval rhythms and a flair for making synth sounds that emulate acoustic instruments like organs, percussion and flutes sounding like a remarkable hybrid of Young Marble Giants and Gang Gang Dance. Definitely one of those rare "incredulous" records where we ask ourselves, why haven't we heard of this before? Remastered for its very first vinyl issue, this was originally put out on Robert Cox's Unlikely label and then reissued on Cordelia the same year with a different track order and with some new tracks and some omitted tracks that were on the first version. This Digitalis vinyl release follows the Cordelia version, for anyone keeping track. Amazing!
Strong material from this local lady with the powerhouse voice. Singer, songwriter and pianist Alison Faith Levy is assisted by several members of the late great Camper Van Beethoven, and the album is produced by Chris Xefos (King Missile). A straightforward voice-driven album, it reminds us of Carole King and Aimee Mann. Sure, it sounds pretty mainstream, but that's definitely not a bad thing when it's done by someone of Levy's talent and integrity. Why she isn't absolutely huge on the radio is a mystery to us.
Singer songwriter fare from local talent, who used to be in the Sneetches. Piano and voice-driven material that reminds us of Alex Chilton, with guests Alison Faith Levy and Jonathan Segel of Camper van Beethoven who contributes lush violin.
One of the more intriguing private press recordings we've heard, this 1983 soft-focus epic of romantic longing and regret is shrouded in mystery and conjecture. The music itself is a brooding country-western tinged affair of delicate airy synth washes, gentle loping piano and soft acoustic guitar strums lushly arranged into expansive emotional ballads sung with a ghostly mumbling barely-there vocal delivery that reminds us a lot of Arthur Russell, but much more introspective. Newly reissued and remastered by Light In The Attic, not much information was given out in the original release except for a dedication to swimsuit model Christine Brinkley, a photo credit to legendary punk photographer Ed Colver and the Germanic movie star good looks of the artist himself, who has since disappeared without a trace.
Trying to uncover the mystery of who Lewis is (or was) and what happened to him, has only led to more questions as rumors began to swirl of the singer being a con-artist who arrived in LA seemingly out of nowhere driving a white convertible Mercedes with a beautiful model, stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel, hired session musicians, recorded this album and did a photo shoot only to skip town without paying any of his bills. The record eventually showed up at flea markets and fell into the hands of private press aficionados where its cult-status grew. While the larger than life mystery of the singer largely fuels the appeal of such a bafflingly sensitive and otherworldly record, the music is actually quite captivating once your ears are opened to its languid and slowly unfolding pace. Definitely a headphone record, it's a narcoleptically sublime take on the Western landscape in musical form offering up a romantic big sky worldview with a dreamy celestial-minded quietude.
We only have the cd version available now. The lp version will be released next month.
Since we reviewed the reissue of the mysterious private press album L'amour by the equally mysterious single-named crooner Lewis, who was rumored to have disappeared shortly after its release in 1981, a lot has happened. First, there was a discovery of not just one, but of two previously undiscovered albums he released in the early eighties, of which Romantic Times is one, now reissued. But perhaps more importantly is the news that Lewis himself has been discovered, complete with last name, Baloue, alive and well in Canada, and he apparently has no interest in drudging up his previous life as a hopeless jet-setting and rumored bill-skipping romantic. In the L'Amour review, we mentioned the legendary rumors of his arrival into Los Angeles seemingly out of nowhere in a white suit and white Mercedes with models on each arm before running up a fancy hotel bill and studio time and then skipping town, tapes in hand, without paying his bills. While those rumors may be dubious, it's hard to argue with the cover photo of this newly discovered record of Lewis in fancy white suit with not only said Mercedes, but a white private jet to boot!
If L'Amour was all about epic space and heartbreak, an atmospheric personal lament projected onto the big open landscape, Romantic Times is much more about inviting and nurturing love back into life. Some of the songs sound like classic love songs with new words, for example the opener, "We Danced All Night", is basically "Strangers In The Night" with new lyrics and a snail's tempo. The spacious synths are tempered by narcoleptic waltz rhythms from a drum machine, and there is, of course, also some romantic sax inflections. Lewis's croon is more soulful and breathy, kind of like a mumbling Bryan Ferry, that quivers and soars with each pulse of the drum machine. But with all the romantic allusions, the slow dancing, candlelight and roses, the silhouettes shot through a brandy glass, there is this pervasive creepy stalker vibe that we imagine women would run for restraining orders if they heard this music on a date. Which is kind of why we are digging this so much, the allure of romance and affluence blind-sided by some creepy sentimentality makes for an incredibly bizarre listen.
We were never really all that into Crass. And we have no idea who the heck Jeffrey Lewis is, but shit, this record has totally kicked our asses. Okay, ass kicking might be a little off, considering what a playful, fun, and goofy record this is. And not goofy in a bad way, just goofy in that way that old pop record are, those super naive early K records singles, old They Might Be Giants. You know, clever and cheeky, almost like children's music. In fact this record might be just the thing to get your toddler started early in their nascent desires for anarchy and their just waiting to blossom urge to smash the state. And it won't hurt teaching them some profanities either, maybe baby's first words will be "Fuck off!"
The arrangements are sing songy, strings, piano, simple acoustic guitar, the sing songy aspect is probably due to having to cram so many words in such little spaces. Minus the lyrics, this might be some gorgeous twee bliss pop disc, bits of folk, tinkling piano, moaning strings, stretches of drone, some subtle twang, all woven into a lilting playful pop. The darker songs almost sound like Magnetic Fields, all brooding melancholy misery and muted pop jangle. But it's the lyrics hat make the record, that turn these playful pop songs into off kilter punk rock, indie folk, protest songs. Lewis has a super laid back sung/spoken delivery, that suits the songs and lyrics perfectly. He's also joined by some awesome female vocalists, who sing a handful of the songs, but mostly join in for the choruses, like on "I Ain't Thick, It's Just A Trick", the hook delivered in a strange boy/girl harmony that sticks in your head like crazy.
Some of the tracks sound a bit beatnicky, with bongos, and tongue twisting political manifestos, lots of this sounds like it could be some weird NYC band from back in the nineties with a record or two on Shimmy Disc, a sort of off kilter, fractured anti-folk, some are extra goofy, a couple are intense and dark. But light or dark, goofy or earnest, the lyrics transform each song into something almost sinister, something subtly powerful, the lyrics having to carry much of the anger and bitterness, since in Crass, the music was as vitriolic as the words, and here for the most part, the music is anything but. The result, while still patently poppy and folky, is much more thought provoking and subtly challenging than most pop music.
Huge Crass fans might be distraught at these reinterpretations, but Anarcho dabblers might just dig, and folks into weird pop, and weird folk, who like their tunes with a little weight-of-the-world behind them, should definitely give this a try.
Awesome packaging, a colorful coloring book sleeve, with two die cuts, revealing an inner sleeve decorated with various images which show through the die cuts depending on which way the sleeve is oriented. Also includes a massive comic book rendering of how this record came to be on one side, while on the other, a comic revealing just what those images showing through the cover mean.
Acid tongue?! Well, from the sounds of her latest album it's not residing in Ms Rilo Kiley's mouth. Her voice is as sweet and smooth as ever, however, the album itself is certainly asking for one thorough tongue lashing. On it, she's taken a flying leap into the syrupy slick pool of adult contemporary. Aaaaiiiieee! And the guest appearances of Chris Robinson, M. Ward, Zooey Deschanel and Elvis Costello (heck, these days he's the king of the genre!), don't help one bit. Someone in Hollywood must've thought this was a good idea. A shudder inducing shame.
The lovely voice that defines the sound of L.A.'s Rilo Kiley goes solo on (in?) this Rabbit Fur Coat. Well, sort of... she's got a pair o' angelic voiced twins in tow, and the results are a remarkably lady-like affair. Jenny Lewis unveils a much broader range of both style and expressiveness -- generously planting a number of bare-branched country and gospel inflected saplings here and there amid her more familiar sounding lush pop blossoms. Initially upon hearing the poignant, soulful opening track, we mused that fans of Neko Case might also take a shine to the equally red-tressed Lewis. Mind you though, Lewis and her music do come across as being considerably more milquetoast (meaning, you probably won't be finding The Grand Ol' Opry taking issue with her the way they did with the fiery Ms Case!). At any rate, it's clear that in both fashion and song, she's just as comfortable in womanly Lawrence Welk Show gown as she is in a winsome floral country frock or barefoot in a sassy pop gal mini-dress. To boot, she's stacked the indie luminary decks in her favor -- her pals Conor Oberst, Ben Gibbard (whom she sings with in Postal Service), and Matt Ward to name a few -- and the star-studded cast is put to good use on the very faithful rendition of the Travelling Wilburys' tune "Handle With Care". Quite a beauty that's just might not only appeal to her younger Rilo Kiley fans, but also their parents!
Psst, coincidentally Lewis' R.K. bandmate Blake Sennett's side project The Elected also just released a dandy album!
This record sat on the shelves for a few weeks, unreviewed cos the cover art was confusing. I mean, the record has got a hysterical white woman on the cover -- you wouldn't think it was hip hop. Turns out it *is* hip hop, and it's pretty decent hip hop at that, despite it being from Glendale, California, which pretty much guarantees these guys are whiteboys. Anyway, the hip
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LFZ is the new homemade kosmiche venture of former Bay area guitarist Sean Smith and his contemporary new age concern Stimulus Progression, which has been releasing both new and obscure archival recordings on cd-r and cassette, such as the Les Vampyrettes cassette we listed last time. LFZ is inspired by Harmonia, Fripp and Eno and Terry Riley, bringing us two longform pieces that progress through various movements of modular synth, electric guitar and an array of analog and digital effects. In an effort to convey the journey of life and death, synthesized raga modes are employed through searching improvisations and oceanic expanses of sound. Sonic spaces morph seamlessly from cosmic floating fields to pulsating jet streams, and intrepid wonder to pensive hallucinatory explorations. Available on cd-r and cassette. Quite lovely, but limited to 100 copies. You know what that means!
We also have a handful of their second release, Pointless Prism which features 14 shorter trance-inducing pieces in a kind of Steve Halpern vein based on timbre, colors and sonic frequencies. Not as dynamic as the self-titled release, but highly purposeful for any hypnotic states you might be seeking.
Here is Ms Lhasa De Sela's debut album from 1997 which we alluded to in a recent AQ List. Yes, this is the one that came before her current sumptious full length The Living Road. If you love one you'll surely love the other. Simply stated, it's an earthy yet electrically charged beauty! Effortlessly elegant, Lhasa's sultry vocals (sung in Spanish) entwine with the snaking acoustic guitars and accordion. A seamless blend of dangerously seductive torch balladry and an enchanting carnival-after-dark atmosphere. Recommended!
Stunning! Heck, when we heard murmurs that Joey Burns from Calexico might soon be playing live with Lhasa we figured that was a pretty darn good indication that we were in for something really great with this new album... and The Living Road does not disappoint. Each song on Lhasa De Sela's second album lures you deeper and deeper into the shadows, and you'd be wise to follow. What you'll encounter is a slowly unfolding, deeply intoxicating drama of mariachi horns, desert twang guitars, somber piano, ghostly theremin and pedal steel and oh yes, her voice which is a force unto itself -- dusky, slinking, and smouldering winding its way around her English, Spanish and French lyrics. The music has a rich mysterious cabaret and carnivalesque flair and it's not surprising 'cause in between albums she spent her time in a small travelling circus with her sisters in France! If you'd like some current points of reference, think Calexico fronted by a much older Mirah or a much younger Omara Portuondo (Buena Vista Social Club). If you like this don't miss her first album La Llorona that came out back in 1997. Recommended.
We were very excited to see the arrival of a new full length from this Montreal based songstress! This is album number 3 for Ms Lhasa De Sela, and all of the adjectives we've showered upon her previous two albums do still apply here (2004's The Living Road and 1997's La Llorona were both highly recommended, beautiful, sultry wonders, please see our reviews for the detailed descriptions!). However, some might find this one to be perhaps a bit more (or too) 'Lilith Fair' and AOR-ish at times. 'Twas a bit disappointing in that regard. Although her voice is as amazing as ever, these recordings didn't floor us immediately like the previous ones did. The overall tone weighs heavier on melancholia and less on darkly whimsical enchantment. Actually, it draws easy comparisons to Norah Jones' last album Not Too Late, and conjured imaginings of Chan Marshall as a smoky lounge singer too. So, while we still wholeheartedly embrace her first two albums to one and all, this one might be destined for a different audience.
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One track, nearly forty minutes, titled "The Eric Zann Memorial Barbeque", live at Terrastock '97...no doubt Lovecraft's Eric Zann would approve of the cosmic noise conjured here. I'm told that this performance was one of the surprise highlights of the Providence Terrastock, and fans of improvised spacerock can now experience it on their home stereos. Lhasa Cement Plant contains present and former members of noise legends Borbetomagus (the guitarist and ex-electronics guy, to be precise), but do more of a rock thing...
