Castanets bring us gentle slightly-jangly psych-country all the way from San Diego with, technically, their second album, Cathedral. Fans of the Gris Gris, The Dirty Three, and Six Organs of Admittance will love this. Castanets' leader, Ray Raposa, reigns in some of San Diego's favorites, members of Tristeza, Pinback and Rocket From The Crypt to create music that's pretty darn epic in its simplicity and sensitivity. We look forward to hear the first album, previously a cd-r only given out to friends and at live shows, which should be out on Asthmatic Kitty soon.
This one somehow slipped by us back in October... actually right around the same time that another seemingly likeminded album was haunting our ears - Dark Developments by Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power & Amorphous Strums. We're really sorry it did because it's a fine companion! If you've dug the recent collaborations that Mr. Chesnutt has been up to with various artists on the Constellation Records roster (aka Godspeed You Black Emperor, Hangedup, A Silver Mt. Zion, et al), the Castanets' latest full length will surely please! No, there's no sign of the Chesnutt, but main man Ray Raposa's vocal delivery is quite often a deadringer for him or maybe somewhere between that and Carla Bozulich whose Evangelista band is also very much a kin!
An overriding sense of despair permeated City Of Refuge. The lonesome ghostly twang and looming gloomy atmospheres offer a gravity unheard on any other Castanets recordings that have come before. An ultra bleak beauty!
Shhhh! The subdued hush of San Diego's Castanets' latest contemplative folk album can be ever so easily drowned out by the sounds of the city, but if you can find yourself a quiet time and place to listen to First Light's Freeze you'll be pleasantly rewarded. In songs such as "A Song Is Not The Song Of The World", the sensitive boy vocals at times bring to mind those of Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock, Built To Spill's Doug Martsch or Mountain Goats' John Darnielle. Now imagine those vocals atop some slightly off-kilter and psych-tinged which brings them into company with current abstract folk groups such as Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice. Nice!
Castanets' new album warms our cockles with its brothy aural stew. Soft bristling hazes of electrified dissonance and icy slide guitar drift across their woozily weaving acoustic melodies with the kind of mumble-murmurred woebegone emotive singing that lets flow once your defenses are down after a shot or two of hard liquor and weed. As In The Vines progresses it settled into a more traditional indie country twangy comfiness. A bit withered, a bit ghostly, a lot lovely!
Well, this is a weird one! A four-way split of Portland bands with two of the bands playing at the same time on each side(?!) You have to pan hard right or left to hear each band alone. I guess it sort of makes sense when all the bands seem to traffic in a kind of ramshackle mumbly Americana with a bent towards the freaky. It just builds an added layer of bizarre disorientation to the proceedings when you play them at the same time. Pretty cool but super weird and really limited!
Another Canadian delight! Imagine a meeting between Broken Social Scene, Built To Spill and Coldplay, and you just might discover The Castle Project. Their fine debut album Diaries Of A Broken Heart more than holds its own alongside the recent works of those mighty musical forces. Main man Ryan Ostiguy's richly emotive vocals slouch and soar in all the right places. He's struck a well executed balance of lush chamber pop stylings, gentle acoustic strummery and big rock guitars. Really gorgeous. Really good. Really recommended!
I've been a fan of Christina Billotte ever since her days in all-girl Dischord act Slant 6. Previous to that she was in Autoclave, and after that, Quix*o*tic. Now here she comes with a new project. The Casual Dots are a carefully quirky garage rock trio, playing sorta punkish '60s-ish pop, with clomping drums and two guitars -- one's twangy and surfy, the other all bumblebee fuzzed. And of course a big facet of their sound are the distinctive and (to my ears) enchanting vocals of Ms. Billotte, whose singing is showcased especially on the Etta James cover they do, "I'll Dry My Tears". '50s rock diva LaVern Baker also gets covered, while the rest are Dots originals, including an instrumental or two. Catchy, cool, retro fun.
Cat Power completists! Here's two lil' ditties from Ms Chan Marshall released by the UK wind of Matador Records (hence the slightly more hefty price tag). One is the languid "Could We" taken straight from her latest album The Greatest, and the other is a dreamy cover of the Everly Brothers' "All I Have To Do Is Dream" (mysteriously titled "Dreams" here). Sigh-inducing. but all too short! That's right Matador, just keep us wanting more...
Chan Marshall & co. give us -another- batch of cover songs from the Jukebox sessions on this special vinyl-only release. She interprets Otis, Aretha, Credence, Fairport Convention and The Pogues, some ("Fortunate Son") more convincingly than others ("It Ain't Fair"). The further she moves away from the song's original mood, it seems, the stronger the outcome. Those of you who have followed Chan's career to this point know that she has forgone the trappings of indie rock for what this reviewer would call "indie soul." None of these songs have quite the pull of, say, "Satisfaction" on the first covers record, but "Fortunate Son" comes close, due in no small part to Jim White's minimal drumming and the undeniable smoky appeal of Chan's voice.
Ms Chan Marshall's debut album!
It's easy to jump on the Cat Power backlash train but once you invest some time with the newer incarnation of Chan Marshall you start to really appreciate her new sound, which is a marked change from the visceral, emotive, heart on her sleeve Chan of old.
It's understandable to initially miss the outward intensity of her prior work, but she continues to prove herself one of those very special songwriters who understand a wide array of song styles and approaches. While some of us here were initially turned off by The Greatest, her last full length, eventually revealed itself as something very special with repeated listens. No longer was she grabbing us by the neck but instead seductively cradling us in her arms. The Greatest seemed to alienate some of her earlier steadfast "indie" fans in the same way that Dylan upset his folk followers when he decided to plug in and not subscribe to any one sound, style or doctrine.
Her first album of covers in 2000, a stunning and simple collection, was not only a fantastic record, but also helped open the gates for many others to jump on the covers record bandwagon. Those covers have become as much Marshall's as they were the original performers', again helping begin a movement in indie rock of covering old classics, and much like Devo before her, she managed to make the Stones' "Satisfaction" all her own.
Jukebox is kind of like the follow up to The Covers Record with another batch of Chan's favorite songs, songs she loves enough to want to take a stab at: Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell, James Brown, etc. She also radically reinterprets one of her own songs ("Metal Heart") and offers up one brand new original. We do kind of wish she had used the same old-time Memphis greats that backed her up on The Greatest, as her new band on Jukebox (featuring members of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Dirty Three, Chavez) can sound a bit bloated and not quite as smooth and soulful.
All that said this is still another fine chapter in the ever evolving and engaging musical odyssey of one of the most gifted singer / songwriters around today.
Oh and we think if you're going to get Jukebox, now is the time as the deluxe initial pressing comes with a 5 song bonus disc (feat. songs by the Hot Boys, Moby Grape, Nick Cave, Roberta Flack, and Patsy Cline) that we think we might even like more the record proper!
Perhaps her best (and definitely most beloved) full length to date, Chan Marshall's fourth album shows a definite maturation of her voice. This is not to say that there's not a distinct charm to hearing her voice crack on every other song, however, she is far more confident in her ability to generate the sad harmonies of her songs. Heavy on the beautiful heartbreak. As a bonus, Jim White and Mick Turner (both of the Dirty Three) are Chan's backing band on this album. Be prepared to get all misty-eyed.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
2 tracks, one previously released and the other a conflation of songs by Moby Grape's Skip Spence and Thurston Moore.
A Chan Marshall and Cat Power fan's super deluxe tandem treat!
The dvd contains four works by filmmaker Mark Borthwick: three short films set to Cat Power songs and a two hour long outdoor performance. If you've seen the You Are Free album art then you're already acquainted with the look and feel of some of this gent's work 'cause those are stills from the film shoot. This hazy, dreamy film was shot at a distance with a static camera. It's as if we the viewers were just taking a stroll through the forest, and heard some faint music drifting through the leaves. Drawn towards the voice and guitar, we stumble into a grassy clearing. Not wanting to disturb this wonderful impromptu performance, we stay many yards away, warmed gently by the sun and the song.
The cd contains one 18 minute long song... no, that is not a typo. We said EIGHTEEN MINUTES! Prior to hearing it we were guessing just how she could have a song thaaaat long. Perhaps she was gonna just repeat the chorus a few extra times or maybe hold some notes for a few extra bars. Anyways, the song does not disappoint. Co-written by Marshall and M. Ward, it keeps the listener enchanted from start to finish. It was recorded during the You Are Free sessions, and is definitely closeknit in mood and sound. A fine album epilogue.
This long-awaited new full-length from Chan Marshall aka Cat Power prompted the following exchange of messages on Facebook between a few aQ-staffers:
Irwin: Since Tuesday when the new Cat Power came out it's been in my ears all day every day, once again she gets to the CORE of it all, the ups downs & all arounds (the bonus track "Fire" gives me chills)... Chan4eva!
Scott: Please please please review it for aQ. Too "mom-rock" for me, or as Cliff calls it, "aunt-rock":)
So, we have a difference of opinion there.... Meanwhile, Nick here appreciates the fact Chan Marshall played all the instruments on the record herself, aside from a few tracks of drumming from Jim White and guitar work by Judah Bauer. He also thinks that, like Moon Pix and most of You Are Free, Chan sounds best with limited accompaniment. So, you can be the judge, we have the digipack cd and, while they last, the super duper deluxe limited vinyl package with bonus 7" record with 2 songs not on the cd (including the aforementioned "Fire") and full album mp3 download.
About as self-explanatory as you can get... Chan Marshall (sans backing band) sits in a dimly lit studio with a guitar or a piano and covers The Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Smog, Nina Simone, Moby Grape, Michael Hurley, Phil Philips, and even an older Cat Power song. Some have found this to be somewhat boring, while others have found it utterly beautiful and captivating... we'll leave it up to you.
First things first, be it known that the title does not mean that this is a Cat Power greatest hits album, nor do we think that it's really an adjective to be applied to the album itself. Okay, before all you Cat Power fans starts freakin' out on us for that comment, let us say that yes, The Greatest is a really good record, but (dare we say?) her last full length You Are Free and her earlier Moon Pix still occupy that place of honor in Chan Marshall's discography (in our opinion anyways!). Each of those two albums really captured a soaring height of Cat Power magic. Pretty hard to beat. Perhaps part of the distinction with this album lies in that while still wholly heartbaringly intimate in her songwriting, Chan Marshall's shed the endearing fragile timidness of her early recordings -- that quiver of youthful uncertainty replaced by a combination of defiance and vulnerability. Indeed, this is perhaps her most worldly and womanly album to date, and definitely one with a far broader appeal (perhaps adult contemporary even). You could *almost* imagine her taking the Lilith Fair stage! Although there's one concrete element in particular that definitely sets The Greatest apart from past Cat Power albums -- namely the addition of saxophone on a number of the songs -- there's something much more intangible that distinguishes it from those of her contemporaries. Precious few dare to come anywhere near capturing the pure, potent simplicity of her compositions. This is perhaps her greatest strength.
Been waiting with baited breath for the new Cat Power album? Yup, so have we! Psst, it's due out in late January. Her label, Matador Records have kindly presented us with a glimpse of what's to come... for less than a dollar... and if these two songs are any indication, it's gonna be an absolutely wonderful doozy. She's picked right up from where her achingly gorgeous last album You Are Free left off. Wow!
Simply gorgeous, and so well worth the nearly five year wait! Yes, it has been that long since the last Cat Power album (not including her Covers Record), but Chan Marshall's songwriting is so rich and lingering, that an album like 1998's Moon Pix just lasts and lasts. You certainly may have been craving more new CP songs, but at the same time found you were not yet done with what was on your plate. Timeless and deeply personal, hers is music you revisit again and again. So it comes as no surprise that You Are Free is no exception. Absolutely compelling and gorgeously assembled, this is an album that you could easily lose yourself in. Although it's as emotionally weighted as any of her past albums (or perhaps even more so), this doesn't solely focus (or dwell) on themes of sorrow and pain as those did. Introducing the earthy intimacy of the album, the lead off song trails offs with a handful of casual piano notes as if it were being performed in an impromptu setting - perhaps in front of just her closest friends. The third song "Good Woman" is a prime example of how strength, frailty, hope and despair are all entwined in Marshall's music. This deeply moving highlight of the album acutely conveys crushing heartbreak, survival and renewal. With backing vocals sung by two young girls and an enveloping string arrangement, you'll surely wish it continued past its four minutes. Marshall does kick up some dust on a few numbers, singing with such white-knuckled conviction on songs like "He War", only to return within her next breath to a ghostly whisper on "Fool". Quite something to behold. You Are Free comes to a close just as it began - subdued, yearning with just her voice and piano. Highly recommended.
... are brothers Jake and Josh Housh. Jake can also be heard in the band Moviola, while Josh can also be heard in Our Lady The Highway. They took some time out from their respective bands to get together for a little acoustic family gathering. The result? A baker's dozen of rough-hewn gentle twang tunes full of brotherly love. Very homespun, earthy and warm which extends to the packaging too - a delicately hand-printed white cardboard jacket. Oh and they thank they're folks and family in the liner notes too. Awww!
This killer slab of blown out noise rock ferocity, NOW ON CD!!
These guys must destroy live. Check out the picture on the sleeve, wild frenzied sweaty kids mid-mosh, a bloodied microphone, and then of course there's the music, a fucking skull crushing unholy post punk noise rock racket that manages to take all the stuff we loved about Sub Pop and AmRep and nineties noise rock and amp it all up two thousands style. A little bit of screamo, a bit of post hardcore, but really, these guys could have come straight out of 1995, cuz they just don't make shit like this anymore. Only, they do. Catalyst does, and it sounds as good as it ever did.
Heavy as fuck, catchy as fuck, wild tribal drumming, buzz drenched super distorted riffage, howled vocals, soaring choruses, plenty of mathy breakdowns, a little bit off groove, hooks galore, warped woozy guitar harmonies all tangled and melodic reminding us big time of Drive Like Jehu, and heck, they even have a song called "Lars Ulrich's 1986 Funeral (It Should Have Been You)".
We raved about their previous record Marianas Trench, which we still have a few copies of, but this one is even better, heavier, catchier... We often lament the lack of actual BANDS, y'know, bands that write songs, there's so much dronemusic, and experimental ambience, and free folk improv, and blackend buzz, and we do love all that, but sometimes nothing hits the spot like an actual rock band, pounding away on actual instruments, sweating, bleeding, leaping off the stage, rolling around on the floor, and spitting out actual songs. Of course it helps when the band is this bad ass and the songs rule this hard, so if you've been hankering for some seriously heavy post punk noise rock in your life, and who amongst us HASN'T? Well, then these guys should definitely hit the spot.
Killer one sided slab of crushing, heavy post hardcore stoner grunge screamo heaviness from these Richmond Virginia noisemakers. Grinding, pummeling, super distorted and angular post punk, but with some serious groove, and vocals that go from howled to screeched to crooned (well almost), killer riffs, filthy and heavy, pounding drums, mathy and chaotic, think Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid, Mudhoney, Halo Of Flies, the Melvins, lots of Amrep, some Sub Pop, and here and there, Nirvana at their noisiest and heaviest.�
Definitely old school, and can't help but remind us of the good old grunge days, but it's hyped up, and filtered through a more modern take on post screamo hardcore, some seriously heavy, hooky ass kicking stuff.�
Limited to 700 copies, these are on clear vinyl with the flipside sporting an awesome tripped out, psychedelic blue ink silkscreen. All housed in an amazing full color sleeve. Way recommended.�
We had the one sided 12" version of this here disc a while back, but now it's been reissued with those 4 songs, as well as a whopping 9 more from an earlier lp and a split with fellow noisemakers Mass Movement Of The Moth. So all you record impaired folks can finally dig in to this monstrously noisy slab of post punk rrroooaaar.
This is some seriously crushing, heavy, post hardcore stoner grunge screamo heaviness coming at you straight from Richmond Virginia. Grinding, pummeling, super distorted and angular post punk, but with some serious groove, and vocals that go from howled to screeched to crooned (well almost), killer riffs, filthy and heavy, pounding drums, mathy and chaotic, think Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid, Mudhoney, Halo Of Flies, the Melvins, lots of AmRep, some Sub Pop, and here and there, Nirvana at their noisiest and heaviest.�
Definitely old school, and can't help but remind us of the good old grunge days, but it's hyped up, and filtered through a more modern take on post screamo hardcore, some seriously heavy, hooky ass kicking stuff.�
Way recommended.
These guys must destroy live. Check out the picture on the sleeve, wild frenzied sweaty kids mid-mosh, a bloodied microphone, and then of course there's the music, a fucking skull crushing unholy post punk noise rock racket that manages to take all the stuff we loved about Sub Pop and AmRep and nineties noise rock and amp it all up two thousands style. A little bit of screamo, a bit of post hardcore, but really, these guys could have come straight out of 1995, cuz they just don't make shit like this anymore. Only, they do. Catalyst does, and it sounds as good as it ever did.
Heavy as fuck, catchy as fuck, wild tribal drumming, buzz drenched super distorted riffage, howled vocals, soaring choruses, plenty of mathy breakdowns, a little bit off groove, hooks galore, warped woozy guitar harmonies all tangled and melodic reminding us big time of Drive Like Jehu, and heck, they even have a song called "Lars Ulrich's 1986 Funeral (It Should Have Been You)".
We raved about their previous record Marianas Trench, which we still have a few copies of, but this one is even better, heavier, catchier... We often lament the lack of actual BANDS, y'know, bands that write songs, there's so much dronemusic, and experimental ambience, and free folk improv, and blackend buzz, and we do love all that, but sometimes nothing hits the spot like an actual rock band, pounding away on actual instruments, sweating, bleeding, leaping off the stage, rolling around on the floor, and spitting out actual songs. Of course it helps when the band is this bad ass and the songs rule this hard, so if you've been hankering for some seriously heavy post punk noise rock in your life, and who amongst us HASN'T? Well, then these guys should definitely hit the spot.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
The project of Kurt Ralske from old timey 4AD faves Ultravivid Scene. Pretty, clicky swoonscapes for fans of Main.
The UK's Cathedral, a band who first appeared back at the dawn of the nineties, should be well known to a lot of AQ customer types for their undisputed significance to the doom metal scene. Back when they first started dooming it up, doom metal wasn't exactly the happening subgenre it is today, and they were one of the proud few carrying on so blatantly the Black Sabbath tradition. While contemporaries Eyehategod (and before them, Saint Vitus) adapted a slowed-down version of the Sabbath sound and went in a more punk, feedback filled direction with it, Cathedral took Sabbath, slowed it down even more, but also progged it up (flute!) to make at least one majestic, melancholic masterpiece of slo-mo sludge, Forest Of Equilibrium, their debut full length. After that, their long career to date has seen 'em pass through a more commercial, stoner rockin' phase (with unfortunate extra lashings of '70s disco kitsch), several albums worth of that, after which they got a bit more serious and heavied it up for a couple comeback discs (Endtyme in particular) that sounded something like their earlier stuff, before again allowing their innate British silliness (and love of indulgent '70s progressive rock) to take over for the wonderfully WTF? album The Garden Of Unearthly Delights in 2005. At that point, it became clear that Cathedral had been around long enough to get to do indeed whatever the fuck they liked, and what they liked, and still like, is that aforementioned '70s prog! So now, five years later we have their newest opus, and in grand prog tradition it's a double album, that's right, two discs all a-sprawl with progged-out quasi doom eccentricity unlike ANYTHING else (not even Solar Anus). Aptly titled, The Guessing Game.
Disc one (dis) eases us into things with an intro instrumental entitled "Immaculate Misconception", all Hammer Horror Hammond organ, malevolent and pounding, heralding (along with the sounds of a crying baby) this latest Cathedral conundrum, the remaining tracks confusionally consisting of, among other things, herky jerky bits, sudden metal riff-storms, folky motifs, cowbell rockin', and characteristically curious vocals from the gruff gargley throat of mainman Lee Dorrian - probably the weak link here for some, his singing never really being Cathedral's strong suit anyway. No offense meant, he's the heart and soul of Cathedral as well as the excellent Rise Above label, but we'd imagine he doesn't ever win any karaoke contests. However, what you ALSO always get with Cathedral are heavy as heck guitars, and yes their axes are still wielded weightily and have THAT tone (recently borrowed by hotly tipped Finnish doomdeath act Hooded Menace, fellow fans of the '70s Spanish "Blind Dead" movies). And, in addition, they unfurl wild psych solos in quite satisfying fashion. So, amidst everything else, purist doom fans should enjoy the heaviosity of such cuts as "Painting In The Dark" and "Death Of An Anarchist", though they'll also have to deal with the headspinning circusy prog with which this album is rife, especially on tracks like "Funeral Of Dreams". Not to mention the almost post-punk-funk of "Cats, Incense, Candles & Wine"!! That'd be the first disc's most weird-ass one, wrapping up with acoustic guitar and whistling, believe it or not. Works for us, though. Forgetting that it's Cathedral you're listening to (not hard) might help, though that realization also adds to the insanity.
While we needn't go through it in detail, disc two is equally out there of course, another idiosyncratic melange, full of Sabbathisms and silliness, with surprises (?) ranging from King Crimson-y dramatics to to grinding doompunk to Goblin inspired hairy wah-funk. They get their groove on, all right, sometimes to taste-defying effect... Also we gotta mention the final track, "Journey Into Jade", with lyrics that recount Cathedral's own history/discography, discussing each album of theirs in turn! Even Darkthrone has never done that, yet. Though less open-minded listeners might not hear the forest (of equilibrium) for the trees, devoted Cathedral fans (those who like ALL their stuff, even the most outre) shouldn't be disappointed, and non-doom, non-metal prog peeps might want to give this a spin as well.
Doomsters, have ye heard the news? UK misery merchants Cathedral, one of doom and stoner metal's A-list acts, have decided it's time to hang it up. They're done with being doomed, after 23 years in the biz. But they also apparently didn't want 2010's The Guessing Game to be their epitaph. That double disc album, one of the weirdest and most indulgently prog-damaged in the whole Cathedral canon (all good things, we think, though!) isn't the last thing for which they wish to be remembered. So, for a final bow, they've come out with album number ten, their self-proclaimed swansong: The Last Spire. And it is definitely less eccentric and experimental than The Guessing Game, more representational of Cathedral across the years - super sludgey Sabbathy heaviosity, some prog twists, NWOBHM-riff-rockin parts, and an overall grim and gloomy vibe, albeit with some hidden humor - the doleful intro track, "Entrance To Hell", makes use of a classic Monty Python & The Holy Grail line: "Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!" but in such a way that it's actually pretty creepy and atmospheric (and it turns out the reference wasn't intentional AT ALL, according to an interview we read, the Cathedral guys got the idea from some '70s prog record and didn't realize 'til it was too late that everyone was gonna think Monty Python, whoops!).
There's even a song named after critically acclaimed Profound Lore doom act Pallbearer (what? oh, nothing to do with them? ok, sorry). That one, at twelve minutes the disc's longest song (but not by much!), complete with acoustic interlude, pretty much brings it all together, "Pallbearer" also boasting some guest female vocals from the singer for the next-big-thing in the female-fronted occult rock scene, Purson. Likewise, The Last Spire seems to have the best of Cathedral's characteristics, from the slow and low doooooom of their Forest Of Equilibrium debut to their latter day psych/prog explorations, without (fortunately) really any of the "stoner-disco" shenanigans they thought were clever once upon a time. In other words, it's Cathedral as most fans will be happy to remember 'em, utterly heavy and still a bit strange and psychedelic.
So now frontman Lee Dorrian can concentrate on running his excellent Rise Above label, the rest of the band can carry on with whatever their other projects or hobbies may be (collecting cuckoo clocks? gardening? vinyl digging? graverobbing?) and the world will have just a little less doom in it. In this case, a sad thing. RIP Cathedral, but at least this slipcased cd is a suitable send-off. Rather ironic that Cathedral's last ever album would come out before Black Sabbath's (due in June), we have a strong feeling that this one's likely to be the better of the two, too.
Record number three from these Northwestern grunge/punk rockers. We loved their last record and this one is just as good. Snarling, strutting, glammy, sloppy, druggy, sweaty, swaggering, foot stomping, head banging, fist pumping RAWK. An unholy union of the Stooges, Mudhoney, classic rock, punk rock and all stops in between. This is the kind of band that rocks so hard, that when they disappear with your girlfriend in the club's bathroom you almost don't even care. You do of course end up kicking their scrawny little rock and roll asses that night in the parking lot anyway, but you still listen to their whole record on the drive home 'cause it just KICKS SO MUCH ASS!
Falling somewhere between AQ faves the Burning Brides and other AQ faves the Electric Eels or Rocket From The tombs, the Catheters are about as close as anyone's come to being a modern day Stooges. Big praise, but this record smokes. It's heavy and noisy and
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Okay, they may not have a non-human vocalist, but they do have a gross animal name, and gross animal artwork and they do support animal rights, so we can't really think of another band more suited to take on the pitbull grindcore of Caninus than San Diego's Cattle Decapitation. For those of you unfamiliar with Caninus, imagine a furious grinding metalcore band, with two pitbulls on vocals. 'Cause that's exactly what this is, for real. Seems daft maybe but it works, Budgie and Basil growl and bark and make some seriously pants-shittingly scary sounds, way scarier than any death metal vocalist grunting and burping out his vocals. Maybe it's also just knowing that these two vocalists could literally rip you to shreds! Caninus's canine fronted death metal grind is matched perfectly by the new and improved Cattle Decapitation, whose new drummer and steady intake of black metal (especially Leviathan) has turned their death metal into an ultra technical blackened grind metal, impossibly complex and so so brutal.
Packaged in the most amazing die cut sleeve we've seen in a long time. Cartoonish and creepy and sick! Cool colored vinyl too!
Another quality release from Hydrahead, this time from Cattle Press whose brutal post-hardcore metal recalls the likes of Coalesce, Today Is The Day, and even the heavier elements of Refused. Cattle Press combine blazing grind with slower, heavier moments.
The eighties, aka a decade of shameful sounds and fashions (at least to people our age) continues to be mined for musical inspiration, the latest coming from Catwalk, who make no bones about where their inspiration lies, Big Country, Style Council, The Smiths, and especially, to these ears at least, Icicle Works (remember "Whisper To A Scream"?), Big strummed reverby guitars, a bit sunshiney, a little bit melancholy, held down by some loping fuzz bass, and the vocals drifting in clouds of echo and reverb over the top, both songs here super catchy, hooks galore, but more than that, effortlessly evoking that other era, even more so on the B side, which is slower and more broody and ballady and is laced with big dramatic Breakfast Club choruses. Pretty dang good. Even for those of us who grew up during the real thing.
It's so cool that Slumberland Records has been resurrected and is now based right across the bay in Oakland. We love so many of the seminal indie rock records they released over the years from bands like Boyracer, Aislers Set, Beatnik Film Stars, The Softies, Swirlies, etc. Now with bands like Crystal Stilts on their roster they're showing they still have a golden touch for catchy lo-fi greatness filled with irresistible pop hooks.
Cause Co-Motion! (exclamation point required!) fit with the label's new direction so perfectly. Borrowing heavily from the scrappier side of Beat Happening or the more lo-fi DIY sound of early Pastels. Short songs that sound like they're coming right out of a dusty garage, filled to the brim with catchy hooks, and played with reckless abandon. Fans of recent outings by folks like Vivian Girls, the aforementioned Crystal Stilts and the great Shop Assistants reissue we've been digging so much will find lots to love about Cause Co-Motion!
The mutant offspring of Devo's ironic neo-traditionalism and Dead Kennedys' dogmatic punk. Like hymns played by members of the Church of the Subgenius or better yet by Branch Davidians. Members of Man or Astroman!
Still sounding a lot like Built to Spill and Neil Young, Caustic Resin (who also hail from Boise, Idaho) expound on the epic density of the BTS sound with the bar-room schlock rock stylings of Estrus Records and ample cues from 70s stoner rock.
"Meaty stoner music" -- says our ADA rep Cory Loverboy Brown -- from sometime Built To Spill backup band.
If all you know about Caustic Resin is that some of their members were part of Built To Spill for a while, then get ready. The newest full length from these potsmokers finds them at their most Crazy Horse with excessive jamming and extended, melodic, seventies-style dirges. Neil Youngisms abound, burying themselves under a layer of feedback and skree.
Finally! Some new music from Chicago drone kraut post everything combo, Cave, whose now sadly out of print Hunt Like Devil record was one of favorite jams of the last however many years. The funny thing too, was that Cave was sort of an accidental discovery, as we were way into the related band Warhammer 48k, whose sound was a confusional crush of noise rock, space rock, and psych rock. So is really shouldn't have been that surprising that some of those guys would split to from another somewhat confusing, but no less appealing hybrid - Cave's sound a sort of post krautrock, looped guitars, tribal percussion, almost funky, definitely groovy, wild and energetic, mesmerizing and totally hypnotic, falling somewhere between the blown out swirl of Hawkwind, the looped mesmer of Circle, but with groovier, almost alien dancefloor vibe, or better yet, some cosmic ritual, like a spaced out drug drenched drum circle, but with heavy guitars.
For this ep, the band launch into action with the weird protofunk of "Butthash", a bouncy groover, with swirly synths, caffeinated rhythms, and buried vocals, a bit angular, a little new wave, equal parts krautrock, and spaced out shimmer, but all tangled up and kaleidoscopic, which leads directly into "Machines & Muscles" with its Circle-like guitar groove, some hand drums, very tribal and looped sounding, suspended in a field of space streakings and smears of soft effects in the background, the drums get a little more obtuse, a bit busier, but that main riff stays LOCKED in, until it begins to get ALL tripped out, distorted, effects drenched, swinging from speaker to speaker, dizzyingly tripped out, and then finally, the drums kick in proper, and we're in total hynorock bliss, little bits of keyboard pepper, the stuttery rhythm, the main riff staying solid and unwavering, while all around it various other sounds swoop and shimmer. Fucking awesome. Live they must stretch that out for ages, at least we hope so, in fact we sort of wish that this wasn't only a 7". Thankfully, it's NOT only a 7", as it comes with a cd-r, that includes the two tracks from the 7", and also an awesome even more blissed out version of "Machines & Muscles", the keyboards much more prominent, the vibe much more electronic and new wave, almost like Circle meets Stereolab, with plenty of buzz and glitch, lacing the propulsive groove. As well, there's a brief 85 second closer, that sounds like it was yanked from the middle of an hours-long live drug jam, with tripped out keyboards, buzzing bass, looped drums. Such a tease to only give us a 85 seconds!
And as if that weren't enough, the cd-r also includes a super abstract prismatic video / light show, to accompany, Cave's relentless space-y groove, all rainbowed blur and staticky colors, swirling and shimmery and a perfect visual complement.
Comes in a full color sleeve, pressed on swirled green vinyl, with a proper printed cd-r, and of course CRAZY LIMITED!!!!!
At first glance, it might be difficult to know what this record it all about. The sleeve is just a photo of trees and leaves, a dense overgrown forest. Pull out the cd, that too is cryptic, just some random letters on the disc, the sleeve, an old crinkled photo from some seventies porn mag of a topless cowgirl with a gun in her mouth. There's an insert, with a bunch of strange shapes, the word CAVE right at the top. But we know what it is. We've been waiting for this disc for ages. The debut recording from, wait for it� CAVE! Who just so happen to be the spacerock krautrock dronerock riff heavy jam band side project of one Warhammer 48K, who were already spacey and krauty and droney to begin with, so needless to say this is some seriously kick ass, aQ freakout worthy shit.
For the attention span impaired, howabout some Hawkwind, Can, Circle, Lightning Bolt, Pharaoh Overlord? Sounds good huh? Well, it's easy to hear bits and pieces of all of those bands in the sound of Cave, a dual drummer-ed riff heavy psych rock, that takes single riffs and hammers at them, pounding and pummeling, repetitive and mesmerizing, a sort of kraut flecked hypnorock, but with all sorts of strange twists and turns, bizarre arrangements, baffling breakdowns, but woven into longform jams that should have anyone into the above mentioned bands frothing at the mouth.
The opening track is a gorgeous little tangle of minor key melodies, looped and repeated, over a tense distant drone, thick swaths of keyboard whir over soft tangles of acoustic guitar and space-y backwards guitar swoops, but then the opening riff of the second track kicks in, and it's all fuzzy and feral, the greatest riff Pharoah Overlord never wrote, and they just hang on it, way longer than any normal band would, FOREVER, before the drums kick in, and they're off, a relentless and hooky groove, with brief blasts of super dynamic chaos, before slipping right back into it. Keyboards lay still more hypnotic melodies over the top, vocals, when there are any, are shouted way down in the mix, or are wordless falsetto la-la-la's, adding more texture and sonic complexity than anything. The dual drummers mix it up spitting out occasional tribal squalls, sometimes thick swirls of staticky fuzz wash over the proceedings, but their propulsive fortitude never falters. The first two tracks would almost be enough. Nearly 12 minutes of heavy freaked out space jam nirvana. You can practically feel the walls heaving and the sweat dripping through the speakers. You'll probably need a lie down afterwards. But there's no time, cuz hell, there's 6 more tracks to dig through. The sound is punk rock, lo-fi, but lush and epic, damaged and delirious, like garage rockers raised on Magma and Faust, there's plenty of Neu! in there, Stereolab too then, but it's way heavier than that, the guitars crunchy and thick, occasionally opening up into wailing psychrock blowouts, the drums getting more and more distorted and frenzied. Imagine an amphetamine fueled Circle or Can, but via the basement, the sound a sweat soaked drug drenched mostly instrumental kraut groove
Mathy, murky, like the fucked up younger brother of Yes, a Neanderthal krautrock, laced with awesome grinding space rock riffage, blown out squalls of ur-psych, flurries of percussive splatter, chanting cult vocals, bits of what the fuck vocoder (!), but for all the weirdness, the core sound of Cave is THE RIFF. Whether it's a warbly synth, or a superdistorted guitar, or tra-la-la vocals, they all align themselves with that riff, the mission, to entrance, to ensorcel, a heaving, pulsing, throbbing mass, the sound magnetic and irresistible. Endless jams that aren't really, but feel like they should be. Like they are anyway. Transcending the laws of time and space, dragging us kicking and screaming, bouncing and bobbing, into some blissed out basement at the end of the universe, where we subsist of nothing but riffs, drums and FX. We never want to leave.
Killer packaging, it's an lp AND a cd, same music on both, fold over full color sleeve, full color one sided cd sleeve (all described above) and a full color thick cardstock insert. And of course, limited, only 500 copies!
Along with the new Cave full length, which is one of this week's Records Of The Week, comes this super limited 7", which features maybe our favorite jam from Psychic Psummer, but more importantly, an exclusive and unreleased track on the flipside! And it's a doozy. Hard to figure out why the heck they left it off the record. Could be that it's a bit darker and heavier, which is always a good thing in our book.
Fuzzy, spaced out, murky, krautrocky, lysergic, druggy, lots of trippy effects laden psych guitar, a propulsive garagey groove, pounding metronomic drumming, WAY more Hawkwind and Monster Magnet and especially Loop than the full length proper. Think Heads and White Hills and other purveyors of hypno space rock, and this track will definitely push those very same buttons. Bad ass artwork too.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!!
The return of our favorite crew of psychedelic hypno krautrock worshippers, with another disc of cyclical, spaced out mesmer, a heady blend of Circle style single riff mantra-rock, classic krautrock stylings and modern minimal psychedelia, all woven into a sound that while reminiscent of much of what came before has definitely been fashioned over the last few records into something distinctly Cave-like.
We were actually immediately struck by how 'clean' this new record sound. Polished, produced, whatever you want to call it, these guys have come a long way from their ramshackle DIY beginnings, opener "WUJ" might be the best Cave jam yet, sounding at the outset almost like Stereolab, that same sort of clipped guitars, measured minimal drumming, all amidst soft swirls of faded effects and synthy shimmer, but the band add all sorts of killer melodies, and extra parts, the song overflowing with hooks, slipping from that chugging propulsive churn, to full on soaring pop majesty and back again. The song does eventually crank things up, the guitars distorted, the bass thick and driving, synths everywhere (maybe dragged over to Cave from frontman Cooper Crain's Bitchin Bajas side project) adding a sort of sun dappled new age shimmer, but the final chunk of the song is raw and urgent, the sound getting way more blown out and distorted, totally in-the-red, wild squalls of psychedelic leads, definitely slipping into White Hills, Heads, Hawkwind style heart of the sun space rock territory. The second track "This Is The Best" offers up the other side of Cave, a sprawling chunk of mellow krautrock rhythms, and hazy smoldering synth drones, sounding like some lost Faust jam (maybe from those sessions with Tony Conrad) or maybe Tortoise at their most abstract and tripped out. The Bitchin Bajas vibe is huge here too, when the synths swoop in, they spread out a skyful of kosmische thrum over that motorik beat, and the low slung bass line, which relentlessly drives the track, but c'mon, this is Cave, so about 4 minutes in, the song splinters and transforms into something else entirely, another chugging guitar heavy groove, this one cranking the tempo way up, easy to imagine the live shows, this must be where the crowd starts bouncing wildly and going nuts, cuz even listening to it on record, it's hard to resist the urge. The song explodes in a wild psychedelic climax, before winding down (for about 5 minutes), with a killer drum / synth mathkraut workout, that is one of the coolest jams we've ever heard.
And on it goes, the band unfurling epic swaths of looped rhythms, of swirling distorted keyboards, crunchy riffs, pounding drums, all woven into long stretches of hypno kraut bliss, culminating in the closer, "OJ", which almost sounds like a Moon Duo track gone haywire, the bass blown out and crumbling, the synths wildly fluctuating, all of the sounds swirling and shifting, while that main rhythm/groove remains locked tight, and the band chug and churn to the very end, finishing off in a blaze of twisted FX-ed psychguitar swirl.
Needless to say, this rules, and is absolutely essential listening!
Not one but TWO repeat Record Of The Week honorees, elsewhere, the latest from French alchemical post rockers Aluk Todolo, and this, the latest from Cave, whose recent instore performance totally blew us away. It says a lot about a band that can put together a totally improvised set, with limited gear and various members changing up instruments, and still sound better and tighter and catchier and more rocking than most bands playing their own songs on their proper gear NOT in a record store.
Born from the space drone psych outfit Warhammer 48K, these guys left Missouri, ended up in Chicago, added a whole bunch of new members and became Cave, a kick ass spaced out kraut-drone hypno rock collective, equal parts Circle, Can, Lightning Bolt, Wooden Shjips, and Hawkwind, but so much more. Their first record, Hunt Like Devil, was a glorious cacophony of circular riffage, frenetic drumming, woozy basslines, wild synths, and killer hooks, groovy, hypnotic, space-y, and while this record is more of the same, it's somehow transcends, taking everything we loved about the first record, and making it, well, MORE. We'd have probably loved it even if it was Hunt Like Devil part 2, but thankfully, Psychic Summer finds the band exploring some new territory, but dragging that old sound with them.
The opener begins with just a stripped down guitar, and some subtly noodly synth, before exploding in a sun dappled burst of super distorted, in-the-red psychedelia, before shifting again into a muted sunshiney krautrock groove, laced with some cool synths, and electronic filigree. The song locks into the groove and slowly builds to a triumphant climax, eventually slowing down to a sort of chiming jangly groove, which leads right into "Made In Malaysia" which might be the jam of the disc. Stuttering synths, stop start dynamics, chugging guitars, which gives way to a wild woozy twisted riffy bridge, with shouted vocals, and warble bended guitar notes, and an irresistable staccato groove, first just the synth, but then the drums, motorik and relentless, live it's not hard to imagine this track being stretched into a whole set. A single song, so hooky and loopy and mesmerizing. But it's Cave, so two seconds later, they're locked into a different kind of groove, a tribal rhythm, warm organ chords, underneath blooping effects, buried vocals, it's almost danceable, definitely groovy, like they just took one measure from some classic old school dance track and looped it into some space aged kraut disco space jam.
The other three tracks are just as mesmerizing, the muted space-y throb of "High, I Am", wrapped in a slithery bit of warped synthage, to the dense drum heavy "Requiem For John Sex", with some grinding mathy guitar and a bit of indie jangle all wound up in the tracks summery drift, before a wild super sped up free for all psych out finish, and "Machines And Muscles", which was originally released on the now out of print Butthash single, this seems to be a slightly different version, and is definitely another of the record's highlights, total hynorock bliss, little bits of keyboard pepper the stuttery rhythm, the main riff staying solid and unwavering, while all around it various other sounds swoop and shimmer, a Circle-like guitar groove, shuffling drums, very tribal and looped sounding, suspended in a field of space streakings, warm organ whir and smears of soft effects in the background, that main riff stays LOCKED in, until it begins to get a bit more tripped out, a little distorted, more effects, the synths skitter and stutter, and then finally, the song fades out in a blinding kaleidoscopic burst of warm sunshine-y synth.
And that's really the magic of Cave, we're all so partial to the dark and doomy, the buzzy and droney, that it's so exciting for a record to sound so heavy and tripped out and hypnotic, but at the same time so sunshiney, so Summery, so FUN. These guys totally rule, this record is fantastic, and if you can believe it, live they might be even better.
Chicago based rhythmic psychlords and unanimous aQ favorites Cave spark up another set of burners on this 3 song (long songs, we might add) vinyl-only ep, their first for the mighty Drag City imprint. It's great to see this band taking off, going further with each release and pretty much becoming a more focused, more realized version of themselves with each new record.
Opener "Hot Bricks" sounds a bit like a more fleshed out Moon Duo, and boy, we ain't complaining one bit. It moves with a nice organ pulse and a cool hazy groove. The vocals are in the same vein as Moon Duo / Wooden Shjips frontman Ripley Johnson, you know, kind of an Alan Vega styled bad ass croon. The song is steady and rocking but also melodic and dreamy. "Teenager" surprises us once again with a more upfront vocal presence, which we are digging quite a lot. Overall it helps Cave seem more focused AND more stoned, always a good thing, and it's clear that everyone is operating on the same psychic wavelength. The song makes great use of the spacious production complete with some vocal harmonies that sound, for a second at least, like a couple of Gregorian monks after a few bong rips. The band constructs a thick psychedelic haze with burly bass, tight ass drumming, and some incendiary riffage.
Taking up all of side 2 is "Brigitte's Trip", which starts life as a cool, compact jam with more empty space than usual. Over the course of the song, things pick up and head into a heavy midtempo groove with the rhythm section acting as the anchor while everyone goes crazy and takes things skyward. Things slow down again and sound a bit like Dead Meadow's mellower moments, leading us to wonder what these boys will cook up next. Whatever that may be, we're looking forward to it. Until then, we're going to sit back and bask in the glow of Pure Moods.
New vinyl only collection from these spaced out psychedelic kraut-punks, collecting a bunch of, as the title suggests, their singles from the last 6 or 7 years, a few we've already reviewed, so probably best to revisit those, which will no doubt give you an idea of what you're in for. Included is their single on Trensmat, which begins with the weird protofunk of "Butthash", a bouncy groover, with swirly synths, caffeinated rhythms, and buried vocals, a bit angular, a little new wave, equal parts krautrock, and spaced out shimmer, but all tangled up and kaleidoscopic, which leads directly into "Machines & Muscles" with its Circle-like guitar groove, some hand drums, very tribal and looped sounding, suspended in a field of space streakings and smears of soft effects in the background, the drums get a little more obtuse, a bit busier, but that main riff stays LOCKED in, until it begins to get ALL tripped out, distorted, effects drenched, swinging from speaker to speaker, dizzyingly tripped out, and then finally, the drums kick in proper, and we're in total hynorock bliss, little bits of keyboard pepper, the stuttery rhythm, the main riff staying solid and unwavering, while all around it various other sounds swoop and shimmer.
Also included is the B side from the Made In Malaysia 7" on Important, "Boneyard", fuzzy, spaced out, murky, krautrocky, lysergic, druggy, lots of trippy effects laden psych guitar, a propulsive garagey groove, pounding metronomic drumming, WAY more Hawkwind and Monster Magnet and especially Loop than the full length proper. Think Heads and White Hills and other purveyors of hypno space rock, and this track will definitely push those very same buttons.
Beyond that, the comp also tosses in a handful of jams from records we were never able to get, which was presumably true for some of you folks too, the tracks from their Static Caravan 7", two tracks from Giradiscos 7" and one unreleased track only available here. The Static Caravan tracks are on the more rocking side, the band winding their krautrocky synths around some seriously hard rocking space rock, again channeling the Heads and White Hills and of course Hawkwind, with the second, getting all proggy and weirdly space-funky, wild tribal drums over percolating synth melodies, like a Neu! track jacked up and spinning at 78rpm. The Giradiscos tracks are even cooler/stranger adding a sort of Ethiopian groove to the proceedings, the first track sounding like some lost slab of cosmic Ethiopian psych funk, while the second gets all blessed out and laid back, another groover, but this one sort of dashed and dreamy and druggy. And finally, the unreleased track, which might be the oddest of the bunch, adding actual vocals, almost jam band sounding, the music on its own is still pretty motorik and propulsive, but those vocals make it sound like some warped hyper-charged version of the Grateful Dead or something, which sounds weird, but we're guessing it's a comparison the band would dig a lot.
Sadly no download, but there is an insert, with some liner notes, and comes housed in a super minimal stickered jacket.
