We have always loved The Dirty Three, and Dirty Three guitarist Mick Turner has another little outfit we love just as much, The Tren Brothers. Problem was it was always pretty hard to get a hold of Tren Brothers records as they were usually only released as limited edition 7"s, But it was well worth the effort as the Tren Brothers' songs are just as gorgeous and breathtaking. Luckily Turner and Jim White (the amazing drummer for both outfits) have decided to make a proper full length together and we're so glad they did! Take the melancholy of Dirty Three, subtract the violins, add some more pastoral elements and thus you have the gorgeous world of Mick Turner / Tren Brothers. Turner music has always been so intense and emotional. And the music here transports us everytime we hear it. Blue Trees is such the perfect weekend record, pretty enough to keep you reminiscing and filled with enough longing and sadness to remind you how much you don't want Monday to come. Beautiful!
You've loved him for years in Mudhoney and Monkeywrench (among numerous other extracurricular musical jaunts). Heck, where Seattle grunge crushes were concerned, you could keep your Mark Arm 'cuz this fellow was totally the prize in Mudhoney, although in Monkeywrench Tom Price gave him a run for the money... but we digress. Now doncha just love him all by his lonesome? We sure do! Actually dandy guitarist Steve Turner has been goin' solo sans trumpeting fanfare for a few years now. Despite the album's title, his sound is neither new wave (there's not a synth in sight!) nor punk (tho' he's prolly got a pretty big punk heart inside), and we wouldn't think of him as an asshole neither. So, we assume the name is not self-referential. Instead New Wave Punk Asshole is for the most part retro bluesy rawk that drifts occasionally into countrified terrain. IF comparisons are to be drawn, we'd say that vocally on this album he sounds quite a bit like Mike Peters of The Alarm... which is a good thing in our opinion. Oh yeah, and as far as his chosen backing band moniker goes, we looked real hard and couldn't find a real stinker lurkin' anywhere.
Unlike the last few Alexander Turnquist records (As The Twilight Crane Dreams In Color, Hallway Of Mirrors) this new one eschews much of the sonic lushness in favor of something much more simple, but no less lovely. While those first two found Turnquist weaving expansive sonic landscapes of piano, violin, glockenspiel, vibraphone and more, all around his lovely 12 string guitar, the combination pushing the sound further from a drone folk minimalism into something more akin to a hybrid of classic Appalachia and a more modern chamber pop, strings sweeping over looped guitar figures, pointillist piano over rich, slow shifting backgrounds of thrum and shimmer, lots of counterpoint, lots of harmonies and overtones, and slow builds. All quite lovely.
Which is not to say that this new (or newish, it came out a few months ago) one isn't, it most definitely is, it just strips away the extra instrumentation, and allows Turnquist to explore the possibilities of the guitar itself, the colors he's able to coax from it, the various overtones, and while on the surface it might seem to be Turnquist's take on a Fahey or Kottke style record, it has more in common with those other records of his, as if even on just a guitar, he's composing for an ensemble, just here he's forced to figure out how to fill out the sound on his own. And fill it out he does, notes chime, and figures loop and cycle, the air is filled with the ringing of steel string buzz, and the chiming of crystalline harmonics, rhythmic and textural, some tracks smooth and lush and tranquil, others assembled from buzz, and strange jumbles of notes, the chords and notes' decay as important to the sound as the notes and chords themselves, lots of space, the vibe minimal for sure, but the playing most definitely maximal, often unfurling flurries of notes, even making the guitar sound like a gamelan at one point, and like the guitar equivalent to a prepared piano throughout, the sound shifting from pulsing and hypnotic to more free and abstract and back again. So gorgeous. A fantastic modern guitar soli record, but with Turnquist's own more modern, and yet somehow still seemingly timeless spin. WAY recommended. Like everything else he's done!
Pressed on blue and white swirl vinyl, and meant to spin at 45, but as you might imagine, at 33 it's a bit darker, and murkier! Either way, beautiful!!
Here's some exceptionally tense n' rhythmic post/prog/psych rock from France, loaded with spacey synths in the tradition of their '70s forefathers Heldon, these thirteen tracks seething with skittering pulsations, distorted drone crescendos, and whispery vocal incantations. The dramatic, nervous mantras of Turzi are like a noirish version of the Circle/Salvatore neo-krautrock thing, or like a suspense film soundtrack scored by Suicide. For some reason, this album's called A and every track starts with that letter: "Animal Signal", "Are You Thinking About Jesus?", "Afghanistan", "Amadeus", "Axis Of Good", etc. All right. But we kinda wish they'd done the lyrics in French, rather than English... or maybe remained totally instrumental. Not because there's anything terrible about their English singing/lyrics, but just 'cause the instrumental aspects of this band -- the percussive propulsiveness, the electronic textures -- are quite powerful, compared to the French-accented vocals...
Turzi actually would appear to be one individual, Romain Turzi, credited with "synthesized guitars, vocals, keys & drones". But he's got a band helping him out, called Reich IV. The four members of Reich IV all sport slightly goofy stage names: Sky Over, Judah Warsky, Arthur Rambo, and our favorite, Hard Rock Gunther. For more weird names, turn to the "virtual" bonus disc -- this comes with a coupon for the free download of an mp3 compilation of Turzi's faves from the current underground French psych scene, none of whom we'd ever heard of before: Aqua Nebula Oscillator, Kill For Total Peace, Mogadishow, Juan Trip, Butch McCoy, and nine more...cool stuff too!
Tussle is an appropriate name for a group that has had as many line-up changes as it has records. With the addition of Tomo Yasuda (The Boy Explodes, Hey Willpower, Coconut) on bass stepping in for the departing Alexis Georgopoulos (Arp, The Alps), who in turned filled in on bass duties for the previously departing Andy Cabic (Vetiver), it looks like we're finally seeing a group beginning to gel. While their overall sound philosophy remains intact from album to album (highly percussive bass-driven disco rock), Cream Cuts shows the keyboard and synth tracks taking more of a lead role than on previous albums where before they mainly served as atmosphere. While still very bass and rhythm heavy, it has less of the post-punk disco references of Liquid Liquid and ESG and more of a trippier cosmic vibe of cinematic flourishes, spacier textures and idiosyncratic nuances that are a welcome development to this much loved local outfit. One small beef we must call out though is the tedious inclusion of what sounds like the band setting up in the middle of the record. Save it for the live shows, guys!
Tussle's disco dub track "Disco D'oro" gets a couple more remixes on this 12", a round two of sorts for this single. The first one was great. The original track and then two remixes by Ben Cook and DJ Spun. But now, ok, I think I'm gonna need a redbull over here. Side A is a deep-dish techno disco beat blanket by Berlin's MUNK, while Ben Cook's Side B parties in the art-rock dance-dub circuit. Friends and fans of Tussle's other work, as well as DFA and LCD Soundsytem, will have something to keep on in the zone of their all-out discotrash dance attack with DD2. Will there be a 3?, 4?, 7?! This party may never die.
Local boys Tussle strike again with Don't Stop, an ep that brings us two new tracks along with the dub version of "Eye Contact" (found on the cd of this only) from their previous, debut 12" of that title, and remixes of said two new tracks, one by Mr. Drew Daniel of Matmos/Soft Pink Truth. You can hear here why folks are making such a fuss over Tussle -- their instrumental post-punk-funk jamming is so then it's now, so out it's in. Referencing krautrock, '80s NYC new wave disco, and Jamaican dub, amongst other hella retro, hella cool soundz, they just kick ass and make you wanna invite 'em to play your next freak party. Hopefully there's a full-length on the horizon, cuz these eps always leave us wanting more.
Local, retro-aggro-post-punk-funk ensemble Tussle have been wowing audiences here in SF for a couple of years now, their music a catchy instrumental brew that recalls such early '80s sonic compatriots Liquid Liquid, A Certain Ratio, ESG, and modern practitioners such as Outhud, !!!, etc. Led by clattery organic percussion -- handclaps, skittery cymbals, assorted metallic stuff over a stripped down traditional kit -- and a cheerful rubbery bass, the sound is augmented with occasional guitar and effects embellishments. It's a hip, ramshackle groove that if executed more precisely would be too cold -- thankfully this is organic, warm, lowkey and non-attitudinally approachable, know what I mean? Dubbed out remix on the b-side, which hints at further sonic explorations to come -- their full length set for this winter contains krautrocky workouts and more out sounds.
GORGEOUS cover art by local artist Chris Johanson, honestly one of the nicest pieces I've seen by him.
For six bucks, this is a great little nugget of Tussle! Moreso a sweet morsel for the discodubby DJ, this 12" is a good start for those still caught unawares by the perma-lockgroove styles from this San Francisco fourpiece; nom: Tussle. Actually, if you're gonna buy one thing, it best be the Kling Klang (their full-length debut that came out late last year). Still, Here It Comes! + Lockgrooves! has the tiltle track, a punky electro-noise workout that totally kills and two alternate versions, one a DSP / Banghra freakout, and the other a super laid back Neu-ish groove.
At loooooong looooooooooong last!!!! The debut album from this San Francisco 4-piece! They've taunted you with ep, singles, splits, short coastal-US or European tours and finally a solid album's worth of grooviedubbydance beats. Think Liquid Liquid, ESG meets found (now seemingly archaic) electronic machinery. Two drummers, one technically traditional, the second a junkyard kit trash-beat man machine, elegantly powerhouse percussion. A snaking bass-line guides you all around and straight on up through catchy electronic samples all the while creating a perfect balance of sonic kineticism. Kling Klang is just Krauty enough in its pairing down of essential sounds and repetitive percussive treatments to ensure it as a classic recording. Despite many songs recorded by two different engineers and a few recorded in their basement practice space, the production is as smooth as can be -- in fact, it sounds fucking great!!! Long Live Tussle!!
Tussle have always been the musical version of the party you wish existed and would go on forever and ever. The one where everyone is having fun and has great taste in tunes. Sadly for some reason that sort of party is a real rarity. Most parties are filled with people screaming and -trying- to have a good time but not really doing anything fun or interesting. And the rooms filled with folks with "good taste" can get pretty dang stuffy, weighed down and boring.
Rare is the party packed with people who want to go wild, but want to do it to the best tunes imaginable, who realize how amazing and important it is to move your body and have a good time. Luckily for our ears Tussle are that rare band, whose music is the perfect soundtrack to THAT kind of party. Great taste and fun spirit wrapped in one. With Telescope Mind they have once again come up with the perfect formula. The one where Can is jamming with Liquid Liquid and ESG is in the living room unfurling with beats your body can't deny. Crafted with much care, Tussle have truly created an album that works from beginning to end. A perfect balance of experimentation and percussion fueled ecstasy. Since the recording of this album the band has gone through some major lineup changes, with co-founding member Alexis Georgopoulos leaving the band and super talented SF scene fixture Tomo joining the group. We're excited to hear what Alexis cooks up in the future as his writing and aesthetic were a huge part of this record and Tussle's sound in general, as well as where the new lineup of Tussle will travel. Until then we'll just follow the instructions in the liner notes and enjoy Telescope Mind at MAXIMUM VOLUME because this is an album that will be moving our bodies and pleasing our ears for a long time to come!
It's been about a year since Tussle's great sophomore release, Telescope Mind, and now they've put together an ep of remixes from that disc, calling on the capable hands of folks like Optimo, Dennis Young (Liquid Liquid), Kango & Torkill and their friends Hot Chip (who they hit the road with for a jaunt across the east coast last summer). We are still really anxious to hear what the new incarnation of Tussle will end up sounding like (as there has been some major line up shifts since the original recording of the songs getting the remix treatment here). But until then this will sit nicely next to the other forward thinking kraut-meets-dance-floor offerings in this current chapter of Tussle ever evolving sound.
The second in a series of limited 7"s (the other two are from Tarentel and A Sunny Day In Glasgow) features local SF rhythm jammers, Tussle. The A-side track, "Animal Cop" begins as a lackadaisical dance rhythm with some fuzzy bass before breaking down into percussive clatter and switching gears into what sounds like a seventies cop theme, albeit one buried in fuzzy reverb. While the B-side, "Room 191", is a heavy slow dub with distorted synth crashes put through a wobbly syrupy filter that almost sounds like a Screw backing track.
Our only complaint is that it's too short! We could have easily listened to 5 minutes of that!
Brand new super limited 7" from this awesomely monikered drum and bass duo, and like their previous lp, I Wish My Wife Was This Dirty, these two jams deliver some seriously stripped down, doom / sludge / noise rock minimalism. The bass super distorted and almost guitar-like in its riffery, the drums suitably caveman like, the sound churning, and lumbering, super dynamic with plenty of mathiness, but ultimately, it's some serious Neanderthal heaviness, like OM with a frontal lobotomy, or a more abstract / avant version of Aussie heavies Dead. Needless to say, if you like it slow and low, heavy and hypnotic, this is the sort of minimal hypnorock heaviness that should push all your buttons. Especially spinning at 33, at which point it turns into pure, rib cage rattling slo-mo sludge!!
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!! Pressed on random different colored vinyl, the packaging super deluxe, a cool origami style Stumptown Arigato cardstock silkscreened sleeve, with two silkscreened color prints, and of course a digital download as well.
This new band on Fonal with all the double-u's in their name is of course Finnish, and in fact is something of a super-duo: Fonal boss Sami Sanpakkila (Es) and recent Wire magazine cover star Jan Anderzen (Tomutonttu, Kemialliset Ystavat) are the two collaborators here (at last!). The name they've chosen is apparently a play on the humorous Finnish phrase "tuusan nuuskana", which means something like "total shambles" in English. Ok, well, but while the abstract, intermittent, fractured soundz & rhythms heard here could lend themselves to that description, Sami & Jan are actually exercising a fair amount of control, and the tracks here, while not your usual sort of "songs" are most definitely music, not noise. Instrumental, full of sweet sweet drones and distortion, shining shimmer... we think most fans of both Es and Tomutonttu and other Finnish/Fonal acts on the more abstract edges of soundmaking will appreciate this quite a bit!!
The five long tracks find this project getting out of the usual "Finnish forest folk" thing we associate with Kemialliset and instead seem much more sci-fi and electronic, synth zips and zaps transmitted from a mad scientist's laboratory. Some of the sounds remind us of sferics, that spooky VLF radio noise phenomenon of the Earth's magnetosphere we used to sell whole cds of (Stephen P. McGreevy's Electric Engima and Auroral Chorus II, wish they were still in print). Somehow those sorts of sounds - however produced - are woven into a detailed, textured sound world that's at once both pleasant (really) and intriguing. Finnish forest science lab fans won't be surprised.
And, the usual obi-strip with which Fonal packages their cds is cleverly been utilized here to enhance the cover art with a simple form of animation. Designed by Shogun Kunitoki's Jari Suominen, it's a clear acetate strip printed with narrow stripes, that interacts with the cover art to create a pretty cool optical illusion of motion (a flickering, spinning pinwheel) when you slide the obi across the cover. Neat! (We haven't opened the lp, but assume it must also contain a similar insert.)
The first two eps by San Francisco's avant post-punk mutants Tuxedomoon get the reissue treatment by local (excellent!) reissue label Superior Viaduct. Both eps came out in 1979 before the band's Ralph records debut, Half-Mute in 1980. Formed by Steve Brown and Blaine L. Reininger who met in a City College electronic music class, they formed Tuxedomoon with the plan to be a band that sounded like no one else, and indeed they largely succeeded. Using a polymoog synthesizer, electric violin, guitar and saxophone, the duo enlisted a rotating line-up of musicians, filmakers and performance artists including Peter Principle on bass and Winston Tong on vocals, to make a weird hybrid of mutant jazz, goth-industrial atmospherics and noirish caberet styles with a live show that was both bizarre and highly theatrical. "No Tears" was their first hit and it remains today a classic Batcave goth-punk floor-filler, even if it may be somewhat of an anomaly in the band's overall sound, which leaned more towards an artier Throbbing Gristle than say Specimen or Alien Sex Fiend. They even do a subdued downbeat cover of "Nite and Day" by Cole Porter.
Their theater and avant-jazz leanings endeared them more to Europe than the states and they moved to New York and then Belgium shortly after their debut album was released. But these two eps are Tuxedomoon at their most experimental and exploratory and weird, fleshing out the dark corners of their sound with what Simon Reynolds called "an aura of jaded elegance". For fans of the SF underground, like The Residents, Sleepers, Noh Mercy, and Factrix. Both records come highly recommended!
The first two eps by San Francisco's avant post-punk mutants Tuxedomoon get the reissue treatment by local (excellent!) reissue label Superior Viaduct. Both eps came out in 1979 before the band's Ralph records debut, Half-Mute in 1980. Formed by Steve Brown and Blaine L. Reininger who met in a City College electronic music class, they formed Tuxedomoon with the plan to be a band that sounded like no one else, and indeed they largely succeeded. Using a polymoog synthesizer, electric violin, guitar and saxophone, the duo enlisted a rotating line-up of musicians, filmakers and performance artists including Peter Principle on bass and Winston Tong on vocals, to make a weird hybrid of mutant jazz, goth-industrial atmospherics and noirish caberet styles with a live show that was both bizarre and highly theatrical. "No Tears" was their first hit and it remains today a classic Batcave goth-punk floor-filler, even if it may be somewhat of an anomaly in the band's overall sound, which leaned more towards an artier Throbbing Gristle than say Specimen or Alien Sex Fiend. They even do a subdued downbeat cover of "Nite and Day" by Cole Porter.
Their theater and avant-jazz leanings endeared them more to Europe than the states and they moved to New York and then Belgium shortly after their debut album was released. But these two eps are Tuxedomoon at their most experimental and exploratory and weird, fleshing out the dark corners of their sound with what Simon Reynolds called "an aura of jaded elegance". For fans of the SF underground, like The Residents, Sleepers, Noh Mercy, and Factrix. Both records come highly recommended!
Dear Science is album number three for TV On The Radio, and it's already been hailed far and wide as a triumph of art-rock adventurousness striving for pop perfection. That said, we're finding this album more hedging toward a Bloc Party meets Radiohead with Peter Gabriel singing (yes, frontman Tunde Adebimpe still sounds a hell of a lot like mid '80s Peter Gabriel). There's plenty of soulful horns, post-Velvets jangle-drone guitars, and whimsically rickety electronics amidst these atypical tunes. This isn't a bad thing at all, but we have to say that Dear Science lacks the epochal hits that defined TV On The Radio. There's nothing like "Staring at the Sun" or "Wolf Like Me," seeking more a slowburn arc of an album instead of the urgency dotting their first two records.
Excellent! TV On The Radio's sophomore release (and debut full length!) is a passionate, captivating, artful work, with languid bass grooves and simmering guitars. Atmospheric tensions take shape, gradually build, deepen and close in. The album's second song "Staring At The Sun" is quite something to behold -- a brooding stunner. The vocalist reminds us of Peter Gabriel so much sometimes that it is unnerving. But in a good way. Kind of like classic Genesis filtered through the depressive brood of modern slowcore mope rock. But with lots of studio sheen and ambient fuckery. Dark and delirious, dreamy and moody and oh so good!
Here's a double scoop of music from these Brooklyn art-rock brooders. A smooth progression from Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, the title track and "The Wrong Way" (the lead-off track from their album) offer an increased sense of urgency and gravity with groovingly insistent jitterbug-y rhythmic waves and multi-layered vocals ranging from a low, throaty spoken-sung delivery to an untethered falsetto Peter Gabriel-esque yelp. TVOTR's music is challenging, deeply infectious atmospheric rock that levels all of its contemporaries'. Totally great!
Oooh, buzz, buzz, buzz! Here's an album that barely needs announcement! People have been chatting up a storm about it for months. Didn't hurt that the ridiculously anticipated Return To Cookie Mountain came out overseas well in advance of the domestic release. That said, unlike most other grossly hyped to excess bands, TV On The Radio is fully deserving of both the hipster hysteria and the critical acclaim lauded upon them. Those who've waited patiently will be rewarded not only with this exceptional album, but also with a handful of bonus tracks ("Things You Can Do", "Snakes And Martyrs" and "Hours (El-P Remix)")!
On this NY band's sophomore full length, some key aspects pick right up where Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes left off, while there are also some marked differences and new developments. There's certainly no shortage of heady mood, steamy atmosphere and dark tension, but Return To Cookie Mountain is far more lively and kinetic and less brooding than the fellows' debut. Take the peppery fifth song for instance with its infectious rhythm that recalls Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" and sultry sinewy guitars. "Wolf Like Me" is a standout TVOTR single if we ever heard one (it was actually the lead-off track on a pre-release album sequence). Another highlight is the deeeep saxophone-laced ninth track "Blues From Down Here". Soulful goodness! Overall, there's more layers of (yes, still very Peter Gabriel-esque) expressively throaty and fasletto vocals, more melodic elements, more energy, more depth, more MORE -- making for a most compelling and immersive listen! Adding the almost extraneous cherry on top are guests who include David Bowie, Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino and Katrina Ford of Celebration.
Windy's other new favorite record this week is this EP from TV On The Radio, who online searches reveal as being the new band from onetime AQ-regular Kip -- one of the nicest guys around, plus you could see his afro coming from way down Valencia, like at 19th. Seems he's been keeping himself plenty busy since departing SF for the east coast (you can also find him starring in Jon Moritsugu's latest film Scum Rock). Simply put, TV on the Radio sound like an indie version of Peter Gabriel. At least that's what Andee thinks (as do all the intrigued folks who're coming up to the counter to ask which Gabriel album we're playing). However, not being super familiar with Gabriel beyond that Sledgehammer song, I'd have to liken the Brooklyn band's sound to the early pop albums from Brian Eno -- think Taking Tiger Mountain and you have some idea of the brilliance of this dark pop, intelligent arrangements, impassioned treated vocals, insidious clackety percussion. It's a fantastic combination that I'm having trouble describing. A very satisfying listen from a band that sounds so directed and mature. Guests on the record include Brian Chase of Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Four songs, plus a hidden fifth track -- an a capella rendering of the Pixies' "Mr. Grieves" complete with oohs, aahs and sunshine harmonies.
Welcome to the happy-go-lucky side of Fonal records!! A shiny pop-rock gem of a band from Turku, Finland, TV-Resistori play electronic toy pop with wide-eyed wit and unadulterated exuberance. Could be likened to a younger and rougher Stereolab, a Finnish Stereo Total, or a happier Cyann & Ben. Also for fans of '90s Shibuya-Kei bands, snowsuited indie pop, and wonderfully silly synths. Intiaanidisko is warm and scratchy as a brand new scarf. Charmingly dorky. Enthusiastically recommended.
The shiny happy side of Finland's Fonal roster. If we didn't know better we would probably believe it if someone said that they were from Japan or France because they kick out that totally bubbly, playful and addictive flavor of pop that totally brings to mind the best moments of Cibo Matto, Pizzicato Five, Stereo Total (yeah we know they are from Germany but you get what we're saying), Buffalo Daughter, etc. This time out we also hear some nice fuzzy USA influence with some Beach Boys moments and an overall feel that reminds us a lot of Mates Of State. What's so great about TV-Resistori is how they keep their sound so warm, punchy and catchy without resorting to all out quirkiness or kitsch. Too many bands trying to pull of this style suffer at the hand of over the top and glossy production that in the end kind of erases all the charm that might be within the songs. TV-Resistori do it right and keep their sound rich and dense with an analog warmth and a tender touch on the control boards which so nicely compliments their songs, and makes for one of the better pop albums of the year.
Latest from this LA sludge pop duo finds the guys sounding a bit more polished and spacey than before. The opener "Weird Oasis" reminds us a bit of the Meat Puppets, or even an alt rock Allman Brothers, which is not a bad thing at all. In fact, they always had a bit of that vibe to their sound, but fear not, it's soon right back into the usual Tweak Bird churning riffage and drawled vox, all groovy and psychedelic, but still a bit twangy and spacey. Plus, as always, there's an element of Weezer / Jeff The Brotherhood power poppiness to TB's sound as well, super simple hooky, heavy pop, a little bit stonery rock, but liberally doused in crumbling distortion, and warm, blurry guitar fuzz, the arrangements slipping into a little progginess here and there as well, but at its core, Any Ol' Way definitely has the feel of a classic rock record, or at least the sort of record that might be considered classic rock in 30 or 40 years, but for now, this is just a seriously satisfying slab of primo, hook heavy, psychedelic fuzz pop, that we can't seem to stop listening to...
Latest from weirdo psychedelic sludge pop duo Tweak Bird, whose self titled debut was a HUGE hit around here, and at the time, we compared them to Torche, since they definitely specialized in a similarly hook heavy poppy sludge, and really very little has changed this time around. The record opens with a maddeningly looped vocal, over pulsing synths, collaged melodic fragments and weird voices, panned heavily swooping from speaker to speaker, before the band finally launch into a song proper, which displays much of the stuff we loved about the other record, but here displaying much more of a poppy vibe, still heavy, but not nearly as sludgey, the vocals slipping into near Geddy Lee territory, but the song, CRAZY catchy, a little proggy too, a pretty much perfect blast of short sharp proggy psych pop heaviness that reminds us how much we missed these guys. The follow up is more of the same, buzzing guitars, keening vocals, pounding drums, hooks galore, totally anthemic, the kind of jams that you'll find stuck in your head for days, and we're imagining would whip a pit into a serious prog pop frenzy, assuming there are prog-pop-pits, and if there aren't there sure as shit should be.
The record is short, seven songs, sixteen minutes, but odds are you'll find yourself playing this over and over and over. A new favorite for sure. Heavy pop nerds pay heed!
The first thing you notice about the new record from psychsludgepop duo Tweak Bird, if you're us at last, and you're seriously obsessed with seventies Japanese psychedelia, is that the cover art is obviously an homage to Flower Travellin' Band's Anywhere record, the two members of Tweak Bird, shirtless, on a motorcycle, tooling down the highway with open fields in the background. Musically, though, these guys have way more in common with Torche or Floor than FTB, their sound a spaced out psychedelic proggy fuzzy buzzy stoner pop, thick baritone guitar riffs, big pounding drums, crazy catchy hooks, and some seriously dreamy vox, not quite falsetto, but soaring and clear, there are lush harmonies, and surprising melodies, and of course some 'ooooh ooooh's here and there, all draped over some seriously thick sludgey riffs, the band slipping from chuggy fuzzy pop, to pounding howling almost metallic crunch, there's sax too, and flute, and some synths, the more we listen the more proggy it sounds, Daniel Higgs like vocalizing wrapped around jazzy sax, all draped over shimmery keyboards and motorik drumming, only to blossom into something that sounds a little like Magma or the Ruins, albeit a stoner pop indie rock version, but it's killer. Elsewhere, flute flutters over some buzzy riff heavy groove, and those floaty ethereal surprisingly high boy vox, a sort of tripped out stoner metal prog fuzz folk pop, or something. And those doses of weirdness are balanced out by the blasts of full on buzzing metallic distorto pop, and heavy downtuned chug, the riffs slipping from jangly and minimal to super distorted and blown out, the band somehow creating an impossibly catchy sound with some seriously disparate elements. So goddamn good. We'd be seriously surprised if the rest of the world didn't finally catchy on, and like Torche, make these guys the underground stoner pop indie sludge super stars they should so obviously be. AWESOME!
What would happen if you took the songwriting talents of Townes Van Sandt and Terry Allen, fed them a bag of dried hallucinagenic mushrooms, brought in the recording talents of Bjorn Olsson with his recycled cassettes mastered onto a dying tape deck and ran the whole thing through the Jewelled Antler's nature recordings filter? Charlie Tweddle's Fantastic Greatest Hits, that's what. Recorded in 1971 in San Rafael, California, with a backup band of either friends who shared his vision or hired guns, Charlie released the album himself in 1974 under the name of Eilrahc Elddewt in a pressing of 500 copies. Needless to say the record was a flop and -- due to the inclusion of extended periods of silence between tracks -- many were returned as defective. It didn't help that there were no track names and that all of side b was a field recording of frogs and crickets. Charlie Tweddle was quite possibly way ahead of his time. All of his songs are mixed with field recordings and random sounds and most of them have a tendancy to end abruptly. In one song, folky acoustic guitar ballads are mixed in with squawking seagulls, ocean sounds and overdubbed spoken word. The second track, an off-kilter mariachi imitation with acoustic guitar and vocals uses an am radio accompaniment (supplying the mariachi band). This reissue includes the original album in its entirety (recorded directly from an existing copy of the LP) plus six never before released tracks. A definite must for fans of the Jewelled Antler releases, Jandek, or outsider country artists in general.
Fear not, Mr. Jeff Tweedy's not lost at sea. Despite this dvd's title, the live performance footage showcases the Wilco frontman goin' it alone absolutely present and accounted for and fully in his element... if somewhat mildly cantankerous at times. Filmed earlier this year on his West Coast solo acoustic tour which stopped in Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Arcata and SF, he performs beloved songs from all of his bands (Wilco, Loose Fur and Uncle Tupelo) as well as an unreleased tune called "The Thanks I Get". Really good! Very bare bones, intimate and direct. So we say, "Sunken? No! Treasure? Yes!"
Whoo-hoo! Epic awesome proggy proto-metal krautrock alert!! Germany's oddly named Twenty Sixty Six And Then concocted these heavy, organ-overloaded tracks back in 1972, jamming hard and crazy in that they-don't-make-'em-like-they-used-to mode we love, bringing to mind such much better known bands as Iron Butterfly, early ELP (or The Nice), Deep Purple Mk1, Jethro Tull and Uriah Heep, plus fellow krauts like Out Of Focus, Necronomicon, Murphy Blend, Hairy Chapter and Birth Control. It's groovy and dramatic, sometimes jazzy, often complex, definitely getting pretty wild and rippin', with kinda hoarse, bluesy vocals in English, lots of Iommi-worthy guitar soloing, a dose of Mellotron, and FLUTE!!! What's not to like? Psychedelic "hairy funk" heaviness, with both soft melodies and a harder edge, like on the mathy attack of the 9+ minute "Autumn", that reminds us also of some of our fave '70s Italian prog, too, like I Teoremi.
We should note, for accuracy's sake, that we're pretty sure this cd reissue contains the same tracks as the (out of print) one done by the Second Battle label back in 1994, called Reflections!, featuring in fact alternate, extended versions of all but one of the songs from the band's Reflections On The Future lp originally released in 1972, plus 4 bonus tracks from the same era. Which is just fine by us, if confusingly not precisely how this reissue presents itself.
Always thought this was one of the best over-the-top (yet melodic) heavies in the prog-kraut canon, nice to have it available on cd again... Connoisseurs of obscure, unfettered krautROCK will find this essential.
Melbourne's Twerps find themselves in very good company at the home of Superchunk, with Range Anxiety being their second album and their first on Merge. Their homespun, jangling songs are the long-lost younger brothers to those penned by The Bats, Yo La Tengo, The Go-Betweens, and whatever your favorite understatedly catchy indie-rock band circa 1992 might have been. Twerps frontman Marty Frawley presents a shaggy demeanor of aw-shucks sincerity topped off with the charms of an entertaining doe-eyed drunk. He shares the vocal duties with Julia McFarlane, who deftly harmonizes with Frawley; but when she takes the center stage she's got all of the summer sunshine clarity of Amelia Fletcher of Heavenly. The band's bittersweet melodies embrace the deceptively simple songs of wistful, delightful, and deliciously nostalgic indie-pop, spinning tales of love and loss. What else is there?
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Been looking forward to some new Twilight Sad for a while! You might recall our gushing over this four piece's self titled debut ep back in 2006. Well, we've just gotten in their latest album! What first caught our ears was their ability to draw on key sonic elements of three aQ faves My Bloody Valentine, Interpol and Arab Strap, yet still inhabit their own place in the musical arena. They incorporate densely packed atmospherics a la MBV with the moody brooding swagger of Interpol and the weathered unmistakably Scottish vocals akin to Arab Strap's Malcolm Middleton. Now add in the epic dynamics of Mogwai (whom they played with earlier this year) and the low-slung driving guitar force of Swervedriver, and you have the Twilight Sad of Forget The Night Ahead! In other words, this is a really potent Scottish musical concoction... one we've already been enjoying repeat listens of!
Imagine Interpol, Arab Strap and My Bloody Valentine havin' a menage a trois.... nine months later you'd have The Twilight Sad. Ooooooh la la! With the moody melancholic poetics of this their debut release filling our ears in the bestest of ways, what else can we say, except that we've got another Glasgow band to adore! This ep's been released exclusively here in U.S, and was mixed and produced by Max Richter, an artist who himself has please our ears plenty. Epic waves of washy shoegazerly guitar distortion and emotive Scottish inflected male vocals. What's not to love? Sooo lovely!
Right up front, let me just say that the Afghan Whigs were one of my favorite bands on Sub Pop. Sure, Soundgarden were monlithic and heavy, channelling Blue Oyster Cult and Led Zeppelin, and Mudhoney were wild, scum rock stoners trying to be the Stooges, but what the fuck were the Afghan Whigs?! They were sort of jangly indie rock in a way, but the guitars were so brittle and keening, and the mood was so intense and uncomfortably miserable. And then there was Greg Dulli's tortured, miserable whine, spinning tales of drugs and women and misery. Weird and unlikely (especially on Sub Pop, this sure as hell wasn't 'grunge') but so utterly compelling. And they just kept getting better. Culminating in 1993's Gentlemen, the perfect distillation of Dulli's bitter, self loathing, relationship-phobic lyrics and the band's sweeping morose soundscapes, and minor key moody jangle. Unfortunately it was all down hill from there. The Whigs lost their edge and Dulli's R+B obsession turned their caustic rock into a bland, watered down indie rock. There were definitely moments, but for the most part it seemed like the spark was gone. Even the first glimpse of the Twilight Singers a few years back revealed more of the same Whigs' indie R+B whatever.
So this, THIS, is what we've been waiting for. The return of Greg Dulli, the cynical miserable bastard, willing to spill his guts over a gorgeous minor key tableau of moody claustrophobia and suffocating melancholia for all the world to see. Like Arab Strap if they were raised on blue eyed soul and had a little more outward pointing vitriol then self-loathing misery. Sonically reminiscent of the Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen, with sweeping arrangements (including horns, electronic beats, and breathy female backup vocals), intense and uncomfortable lyrics, mostly mumbled but occasionally belted out in anguished howls, and a brutally dark ambience that invades every shadowy corner of this gorgeous record. There are glimmers of hope, but it's that sort of hopeless hope, knowing she'll never come back, and you'll never get out, and it'll never get better, but maybe...if only...
Afghan Whigs / Dulli fans will rejoice with this return to form, but all the rest of you who are into dark and depressing rock ala American Music Club, Red House Painters, Arab Strap and the like should give the Twilight Singers a chance. You can always use a new record to drown your sorrows in.
Now on vinyl!
Greg Dulli is a strange strange man. After fronting the very ungrunge grunge outift the Afghan Whigs, he struck out on his own, giving in fully to his all consuming obsessions, sex and soul music. The later Afghan Whigs records hinted at his proclivities, certainly his creepy, depraved sex life was already on display for all to see (much like mope rockers Arab Strap) and said soul music was gradually seeping through the cracks of the Whigs songs. Unfortunately those later Whigs records reflected a band that didn't quite seem to know how to handle Dulli's drive for musical soulfulness and sonic sensuality. Things not easily conveyed in the standard rock format. Thus those records were blunted and not all that effective, syrupy instead of emotionally charged, and sonically not all that inspired. That all changed with the Twilight Singers. A sexy swaggering, dark and dangerous rock band, infused with sweet soul and tragic heartbreak. The last Twilight Singers record, ...Plays Blackberry Belle, was an absolutely gorgeous album, an emotionally devastating sonic map of Dulli's battered and bruised soul. Much like the Afghan Whigs classic Gentlemen, it was a dark and brutal collection of ultra personal songs, equally capable of moving you to tears as it was of making you want to drag Dulli into an alley and beat the shit out of him. While She Loves You is not quite as powerful, it does manage to convey many of the same emotions, bitterness, lonliness, unrequited love, seething hate, undying love, through a curious, but perfectly chosen collection of covers. Songs by Bjork, Fleetwood Mac, Mary J. Blige, Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye and more, all deep and devastating in their own right, manage to become even darker and moodier and sound like they could have come straight from Dulli's own poison pen. Drunken waltzes, stuttering loping drums, rumbling ambience, creepy minor key piano all underscore Dulli's tortured vocals, sometimes an urgent whisper, but more often an anguished wail. Mark Lanegan contributes vocals to many of the tracks, his world weary, whiskey soaked drawl adding even more emotional weight. There's been lots of mixed reactions to this record around here, and if you don't already dig Dulli and the Afghan Whigs, this record is not likely to change your mind. But those of you who already like to stroll through Dulli's dark and dreary world of love and sex and death will feel right at home.
Afghan Whigs' frontman Greg Dulli continues to explore his 'soul', this time it's the breezy, sometimes spacey soul of modern electronica (in fact, the record is produced by Fila Brazillia) instead of the Motown soul that pervaded the last couple of Afghan Whigs records. The results? Hard to tell. Dulli is certainly a good songwriter, and Fila Brazillia are competent in the studio, but it just doesn't feel like a match. Light and airy and kind of catchy. but lacking the immediate substance that oozes from Dulli's best work. Maybe more for fans of Fila Brazillia than Afghan Whigs.
Now available on vinyl!
Right up front, let me just say that the Afghan Whigs were one of my favorite bands on Sub Pop. Sure, Soundgarden were monlithic and heavy, channelling Blue Oyster Cult and Led Zeppelin, and Mudhoney were wild, scum rock stoners trying to be the Stooges, but what the fuck were the Afghan Whigs?! They were sort of jangly indie rock in a way, but the guitars were so brittle and keening, and the mood was so intense and uncomfortably miserable. And then there was Greg Dulli's tortured, miserable whine, spinning tales of drugs and women and misery. Weird and unlikely (especially on Sub Pop, this sure as hell wasn't 'grunge') but so utterly compelling. And they just kept getting better. Culminating in 1993's Gentlemen, the perfect distillation of Dulli's bitter, self loathing, relationship-phobic lyrics and the band's sweeping morose soundscapes, and minor key moody jangle. Unfortunately it was all down hill from there. The Whigs lost their edge and Dulli's R+B obsession turned their caustic rock into a bland, watered down indie rock. There were definitely moments, but for the most part it seemed like the spark was gone. Even the first glimpse of the Twilight Singers a few years back revealed more of the same Whigs' indie R+B whatever.
So this, THIS, is what we've been waiting for. The return of Greg Dulli, the cynical miserable bastard, willing to spill his guts over a gorgeous minor key tableau of moody claustrophobia and suffocating melancholia for all the world to see. Like Arab Strap if they were raised on blue eyed soul and had a little more outward pointing vitriol then self-loathing misery. Sonically reminiscent of the Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen, with sweeping arrangements (including horns, electronic beats, and breathy female backup vocals), intense and uncomfortable lyrics, mostly mumbled but occasionally belted out in anguished howls, and a brutally dark ambience that invades every shadowy corner of this gorgeous record. There are glimmers of hope, but it's that sort of hopeless hope, knowing she'll never come back, and you'll never get out, and it'll never get better, but maybe...if only...
Afghan Whigs / Dulli fans will rejoice with this return to form, but all the rest of you who are into dark and depressing rock ala American Music Club, Red House Painters, Arab Strap and the like should give the Twilight Singers a chance. You can always use a new record to drown your sorrows in.
Originally a side project of aQ beloved grunge combo the Afghan Whigs, and formed during some downtime because of a label dispute in the late nineties, The Twilight Singers, became Whigs frontman Greg Dulli's main musical vehicle after the Whigs breakup in 2001. And over the course of six full lengths, Dulli has continued to craft his dark thoughts and melancholy miserablism into haunting soulful grooves and vitriolic soul flecked indie rock. We had originally described the Twilight Singers as "Like Arab Strap if they were raised on blue eyed soul and had a little more outward pointing vitriol then self-loathing misery", and that still seems to hold true. This latest record, like ...Plays Blackberry Belle, our other favorite TS record, is a logical continuation of the sound of the Afghan Whigs circa Gentlemen. The music lush, and dark, and introspective, but still occasionally rocking and distorted and intense, and yeah, soulful. The finest moments are definitely the collaborations, specifically "Be Invited", where Dulli is joined by Mark Lanegan, whose whiskey soaked drawl is the perfect match for Dulli's emotive croon, especially when underpinned by super dramatic swoonsome strings and lush cinematic ambience. Had us sort of wishing the two had done the whole record together, but even sans Lanegan, the rest of the record is pretty dang great. Another killer (and surprising) collaboration is when Dulli is joined by Ani DiFranco, whose voice too is a gorgeous match for Dulli's, reminding us of Marcy Mays' (of Scrawl) lead vocal turn on the Whigs' "My Curse", and somehow again, subtly in this case, shining a light on Dulli's oft troubled dealings with the opposite sex, painfully and explicitly laid bare in most of his songs (a la Arab Strap).
Listening to this now, it wouldn't be hard to imagine this was a proper Afghan Whigs record, maybe the one that should have/could have come out right between Gentlemen and Black Love. Which is high praise indeed, as far as we're concerned. Needless to say, if you're already a Dulli fan, and/or dig and miss the Afghan Whigs, this will totally hit the spot. And if you're someone into dark, dramatic, emotionally charged, epic cathartic indie rock, and has yet to discover Greg Dulli and the Afghan Whigs, well, you're in for a serious surprise...
