Every couple of years in electronica, there is a specific sound or a defined aesthetic that grabs the attention of the community as a whole. Even within the seemingly conceptually aloof parameters of glitch manipulation, mimesis and mimicry have been endemic, as numerous artists have mirrored the genre's figureheads -- Oval, Pole, Fennesz, and now Stephan Mathieu. As with his previous record "Hope That Lines Don't Cross," Canadian electron peddler Mitchell Akiyama has liberally appropriated the sounds of another. That former album used Vladislav Delay / Pole as his template, and "Temporary Music" seeks the sounds of Mathieu and Oval's "Diskont 94." As on Mathieu's Full Swing recordings, Akiyama centers on the digital fragment to craft an enveloping cloud of electro-drone bristling and densely packed shards of granular synthesis. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly a beautiful record to behold; but one that never strives for its own voice.
Released as a part of the new "Raster-Post" series housed in quite nice silkscreened, fold-out cardstock sleeve and bound with an elastic band.
Whoa... This, the second album from mysterious Brighton UK outfit Aufgehoben No Process, is some serious, distorted, noise-rock mayhem. And LOUD.
Led by Wire scribe Stephen Robinson, and consisting of one, maybe two drummers plus sampler and other indisclosed instrumentation, the Aufgehoben boys (apologies if there's girls in the band, but I'd be surprised, this has a very definite male energy!) are teamed here with (against?) improvising "stereo guitarist" Gary Smith (whom you might know from his heavy "fusion" bands Mass and Powerfield, and most recently the Glass Cage match-up with Hugh Hopper and Shoji Hano, along with other solo and collaborative efforts) for thirteen tracks of high-density heaviness. They indeed scale "magnetic mountains" of riff and noise, venturing also into a few moody valleys of equally-distorted, but quieter, improv fuckery. Mostly, though, this is fully in-the-red sonic assault of utter devastation, full of martial drum pummel, Smith's swooping stereo guitar skree, and beyond-metal instrumental intensity, the likes of which the UK hasn't heard since the glory days of early Skullflower or Kevin Martin's God (and without God's dumb vocals) -- and even then this is taking it up a notch. Heck, even the scariest grindcore metal bands from the early Earache label roster would be sent crying home to Satan upon hearing this. Along with the old Pathological bands like God and 16/17, you could compare this to the best of the current Japanese scene -- imagine the noisiest Japanese psychrockers (Mainliner, Musica Transonic, High Rise, Boris) with a healthy dose of Merzbow added in! So it makes a lot of sense that Aufgehoben No Process enlisted Gary Smith, 'cause he's previously played with High Rise's Nanjo Ashahito, and the rhythm section of his band Mass are former members of God, as well. But this Aufgehoben disc is even louder and noisier than any of that, they're kinda of the Anaal Nathrakh of improv noise rock! We were very impressed, and glad we managed to track some of these down for the store (we'll get their first cd in eventually too).
Ahhh. The Bangs are back with this cd ep of high energy, guitar riffin, punk rockin', high pitched yipping, sweet and sweaty Sleater Kinney-ish RAWK! The Bangs definitely sound like Olympia girl rock, big time. And Sleater Kinney comparisons are unavoidable; they also remind us of the Go-Go's but with a '70s rock edge. Cool stuff.
It seems that art world darlings Black Dice have abandoned their super spastic noise assaults in favor of a more subtle, spacious, psychedelic approach, a path not unlike the one the Boredoms followed on the way to making "Super ae" and "Vision Creation Newsun." What happened? It's like someone set those responsible for "Cold Hands" loose in the forest with some shrooms, a couple Amon Duul records and a mission to get in touch with their primal selves. However they got their inspiration, the results are a glorious realization of intensity achieved through built-up layers of evocative, tension filled sound rather than freak-punk pummelling. This is an affair of shimmery guitars, cascading oscillations, tinkling chimes, and even a new agey wind line, worrisome until it gets obliterated via sample manipulation. An element of tribalism pounds its way into Beaches & Canyons, both through hypnotic drumming and yelping "Ah oh ah oh oh ah ah oh YEW! YEW! YEW! YEW!" vocal outbursts. The whole thing teeters precariously on the edge of hippy-dippydom, but Black Dice manages to pull off the jams while avoiding wanton self indulgence. Expansive, unexpected and awesome.
Excellent! Now this is the sort of stuff Mo'Wax should be putting out, this is what those yuppie lounge bars should be playing instead of fuckin' Kruder and Dorfmeister. Boom Bip may be familiar to you through his Four Tet remix and collaborations with Dose One (Them, cloudDead), but you'd be forgiven for thinking he might be on Mo'Wax -- this record's got all the trademark spacious open wide sonic vistas, echoey breakbeats, movie dialog samples, hip hop reverence, and melody galore. A different take on the whole rock meets electronica thang that only a few bands can pull off well (Fridge, Tarwater, DJ Shadow when he's sampling guitars), Boom Bip mixes space rock with electronica absolutely perfectly, and grounds it with hip hop, lest the thing get too cerebral. There are slow breakbeats, sweet chamber strings, throbbing epic bass, dubby echo, unabashedly rock-based chord progressions, and eccentric scratching. Plus lots of dynamic changes -- the record never gets boring. There's even a finishing track that makes use of Felt-like or Durutti Column-ish tinny guitar. Now, it's not a "weird" record, not even ultra challenging, but it does what it does perfectly. I am very impressed!
Oh, it must also be said that this disc has got artwork we're fairly wetting our pants over -- brown coffee cup stains on neutral cardboard, with gold foil pressed graffiti logo, and a die cut thru which shows the barcode. And then the insert incorporates the barcode stripes into all these pretty loops spelling out Boom Bip. Wow.
Sharing just one track with Rick Buckner's upcoming full length, Impasse-ette is a li'l ole pre-album teaser (albeit not with a li'l pricetag). Buckner, as you may already know, is a big fave here at AQ. His big, juicy, impossibly dextrous and emotive voice is pretty irresistible, especially when accompanied by chiming chords strummed on acoustic guitar. No, he's not just another singer/songwriter -- Buckner's good. In addition to his trademark dusty bittersweet sound, there's a track here that combines a private press recording of a woman discussing prayer, heavy with sincerity and laced with record static.
Reissue of the 'Blind Eye Sees All' video featuring amazing vintage footage of the Buttholes at their stumbling, drunken, high on LSD, crowd baiting best, recorded live in 1985 in detroit.
Tons of AMAZING live footage, as well as some ridiculous interviews, pontificating by Gibby, nudity, tons of rare photos, a live bonus track, and BUTTHOLES KARAOKE!! This rules. Buy it.
Originally released on the Cassingle label, the debut album from AQ fave one-man band Casiotone For The Painfully Alone now happily gets reissued on Tomlab (also home to his dreamy, sweet second full length "Pocket Symphonies For the Lonesome Subway Cars"). What can we say? It still gives us the warm fuzzies. If you require a more in depth description... here's what we said the first time around: Owen Ashworth has set his ruminations on the awkwardness of crushes and infatuation with rock stars to music. With just a couple of casio keyboards, a distortion pedal or two, and a 4-track, Owen's Casiotone for the Painfully Alone somehow succeeds, teetering between affected bedroom-rock naivete, and excerpts from a musical diary never meant for strangers' probing eyes. A recommended album for fans of early Sebadoh and Magnetic Fields, and especially the legendary early Mountain Goats cassettes.
Hot on the heels of Cattle Decap's first full length getting its cd release earlier this year (on Three One G, the San Diego based label run by Justin Pearson of The Locust) comes this, their Metal Blade Records debut... and the heavy duty mayhem and cannibalistic carnage continues unabated. Features former Locust drummer David Astor and present Locust drummer (former guitarist) Gabe Serbian. As grinding death metal goes, this is just peachy: awesomely guttural phlegm-filled vocals, squealing rollercoaster guitars, pounding drums, completely energetic, adrenalized and convolutedly catchy songwriting (in the paradoxically monotonous 4/4 way that works for so much death metal). Gross, gore-filled ditties like "I Eat Your Skin", "Colonic Villus Biopsy Performed On The Gastro-intestinally Incapable", and "Hypogastric Combustion By C-4 Plastique" might merge into a boring blur for some, but fans of the form will find their inner 14-year old fully satiated.
It's hard to imagine that a bunch of semi-pro pot-smokers could motivate themselves to produce music this technical, fierce, and over-the-top insane, but they did. This ain't your typical "stoner rock" that's for sure -- although there are some weighty breakdowns of riffed-out doom, Cephalic Carnage's general modus operandi puts 'em at the top of the fast n' tricky league with the likes of Dillinger Escape Plan, Coalesce, Meshuggah. Heavy metalcore mayhem w/ grunting death metal vocals, hypnotic fusion-esque guitar figures, post-rock dynamics, random electronic noises, major drum beat-downs, cryptic samples, and hyper-shred musicanship. (And some surprises we won't mention.) Anyone into metal that's avant-garde in its complexity and brutal in its execution -- the above mentioned, and also Mastodon, Gorguts, Dying Fetus, Wicked Innocence, Cryptopsy, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, etc. -- probably already knows about these guys, but if you don't, you'll be glad to get to know 'em! Metal cluttered with lyrical references to the cannabis leaf might not seem so brainy, but with this, their third and best full-length album, Cephalic Carnage prove they're possibly the geniuses of the genre. They're kinda the anti-Electric Wizard, if you know what we mean, though of course we love the even-heavier Wizard's much simpler, slow n' low odes to the leaf as well -- and both bands transcend the cannabis-connection to hook those of us just interested in the music, anyway.
According to Raster-Noton who first released this album back in 1999, "Mask Of Birth" was the debut recording for Coh, the Russian born programmer Ivan Pavlov. Originally, this was a vinyl only release published by Raster-Noton, who made a point of stating that they had a difficult time cutting the frequencies of these recordings onto wax. A mere three years later, Mego has taken up the task of re-issuing this album on CD, a medium more appropriate for dynamic frequencies. Despite his origins with Raster's pristine electronics, Coh has continued to present himself as a post-techno reincarnation of the bleak industrial arpeggiations from the early-'80s, sharing the common urgency of early Cabaret Voltaire, Coil, Fad Gadget, Konstruktivitis, Skinny Puppy and the like. He's just been using much more high tech gear than abused samplers and overblown drum machines. After his recent collaborations with Coil on the "Love Uncut" EP, the revisitation to his first productions draws the same conclusion of his historical citations. The darkened loops, tremolo vibrations, and static pulsations have similar tonalities to his peers on Raster (Noto, Mika Vainio, and Komet), but the structure of the his music is fixed back in time on those aforementioned references. As many of those bands have been forgotten, marginalized, or dismissed, Coh's electronica revisionism is certainly welcome!
Quite happy in releasing sporadic productions in painfully small pressings, Jonathan Coleclough has been one of Aquarius' favorite dronologist / deep listening composers and one who deserves a place in the experimental ambient pantheon that glorifies the work
While he may have permanently dropped his industrialist moniker Crawl Unit, Joe Colley continues to impress with his ominous compositions of mistreated electronics, tonally pleasing feedback mantras, and abrasive physicality. "Anthem: Static For Empty Life" lifts itself out of deep rumblings with streaming, cold gray ribbons of electrical fizzings that subtly phase across the stereo field. These physically active drones build up to a sublime chorus of electrical field hummings, which abruptly jump-cut to throbbing mechanical stabs of low-bit-rate noise. Often alluding to less specific metaphors of urban decay or social collapse, Colley's aesthetic choices are just as strong as work by John Duncan or Francisco Lopez. It's a bit of shame that it's 18 minutes long, but it does make for a great ride!
Click, zap, bleep. Japanese miminalist electronic experimental music alert! The lovely cover art of this disc conceals some mighty difficult music. "Tears" consists of three long tracks from the duo of Sachiko M and Ami Yoshida. Sachiko M's "empty" tone generating sampler you've heard before, wreaking havoc (in a pure, Zen-like way) both solo and in collaboration with others, quite often with Otomo Yoshihide in such outfits as I.S.O., Filament, and Ground Zero. She's also a member of the electronic avant-pop trio Hoahio. In Cosmos, she's teamed up with Ami Yoshida, another Otomo collaborator, whose instrument is more ancient: her own voice. Of course, these are some quite abstract vocalizations indeed, rivaling the extremity of sound that Sachiko coaxes from the pulsing, piercing sine-waves of her electronics. Track one starts in with the fluttering, dog-whistle sampler sounds of Sachiko, in a strange duet with the kissy-kissy squeals and dying, whispery retching of Yoshida. Random machine bleeps punctuate the slowly unfolding action. It's like something's gone very very wrong in the hospital ward. The noise isn't enough to attract the doctors, however. By track two, you're wondering if Yoshida isn't actually employing a rubber balloon to make all her bizarre noises. But maybe that's Sachiko, who on this track is experimenting with contact mics. Track three was our favorite, with Sachiko's Ryoji Ikeda -like purrs and pulses coming to the fore, in a crinkly, calm cacophony of clicks and silence. Well, it might seem quiet, but try turning it up, we dare you.
From this legend who's had songs recorded by everyone from Aretha Franklin to the Rolling Stones, comes this soulful southern blues, both in the form of haunting dirges and plenty of rollickin' uptempo numbers. Originally issued in 1969.
"Got Live If You Want It" (or maybe "If Yo Want It", which appears on the spine) is a surprise live release from a band with only two studio albums to their credit. Now, in the past we've given good reviews to Dead Meadow, really liking their retro stoner rock sound, heavy psychedelia derived from Blue Cheer and other past masters, along with tinges of their modern-day indie rock lineage. But we've always made one caveat: the singer's whiny voice simply sucks. One would hope that live, his nasal drone would be helpfully drowned out by the band's massive amp-abuse. But, on this recording at least, such is not the case. However, like their studio albums, much of this is instrumental anyway, and if you're already a fan, you can deal with this -- you either actually like the vocals (good god!) or have learned to tune 'em out (as I did) and will certainly enjoy wallowing in the spacey, jammed-out, lopingly heavy live Dead Meadow live experience as presented here: over 45 minutes (eight tracks total) of well-recorded versions songs from both of Dead Meadow's LPs, plus two we don't recognize (new tunes perhaps), all as performed live in Hoboken in the winter of 2002. Not much more needs to be said. Those new to the band would be better advised to start with either of their two albums on Tolotta: "Dead Meadow" and/or "Howls From The Hills" -- see elsewhere on our website for reviews. Or, wait 'til next year when they're scheduled to release a new album on Matador! (Where they'll fit in well with the likes of Bardo Pond).
Earlier this year, Chris Degiere presented a surprisingly comedic / theatrical performance at the "Six String Object" show for guitars tricked out with laptop processing. Degiere had rigged up his PDA to register the scribbling of stylus upon its face as its electro-acoustic equivalent. Matched with his permanently goofy grin and some crowd pleasing, uptempo IDM abstractions, Degiere's gimmickery did what few have been able to do -- make a laptop concert an event that was entertaining to watch. As he has also claimed allegiance to generative music and compositional indeterminancy, Degiere seemed poised for something interesting. His debut recording, while pleasant in its own right, is somewhat lacking in those sensationalist applications of electronics he alluded to earlier. This 10" on lovely blue vinyl is full of ambient-techno pleasantries with soupy stoner electronics and thickly rounded basslines topping post-Boards of Canada rhythmic preciousness. Compositional indetereminancy? Do you really want to hear that with your Boards of Canada wistfulness? Probably not.
This is the second full length from this band, not new really but worth bringing to your attention. They really do live in Detroit, they don't tour much, but when they do they put on a kick ass show, see them if you get a chance. As I (Sadie) wrote in my review of Mink Rat or Rabbit, they formed back in 1994, and two albums, 3 singles, and several personnel changes later, they are still kickin' serious garage ass!!! Sure, they -are- a cover band: they cover mostly old Stax / Motown songs, but the ones they pick, and and the fire and fury and sexiness and funkiness that they add is what makes them so special. Lead singer Rachel has the deepest sexiest voice ever. EVER! Fans of old soul and garage, especially the Nuggets and Pebbles comps definitely need to check these cats out!!
More live Ani.
Those of you who missed out on the most recent DNTEL full length should really be kicking yourselves. Or at least trying to remedy the situation by running out and picking it up pronto. Probably the most fully realised melding of bittersweet perfect pop and buzzing, staticky, glitchy electronica. This single features a handful of different versions (including the original) of what most of us consider to be the best track, with AQ faves Death Cab For Cutie's Benjamin Gibbard providing the lyrics and vocals. A totally heartbreaking, slice of wistful, whiny-boy-pining-for-unattainable-girl, emo pop, but slathered in a thick coat of hissing static and stuttering gzzzzzzzzzt. Just gorgeous. This single, while a fine introduction for those of you I was admonishing at the beginning of the review, is actually quite worth the ten bucks for those of you who have the full length too, 'cause God knows, how could you ever have enough of this song?!?!? The track that makes this the keeper is definitely the mix by Barbara Morgenstern. She keeps much of the original intact, maybe adding some extra space, but sings the first verse herself, later joined by Gibbard in a totally sexy sad duet. So perfect. This is some serious mixtape material!!!! The other tracks are no slouches either. Safety Scissors, add their own West coast Kid606/Lesser/Kit Clayton glitchy techno vibe with deadpan vocals by Erlend Ore of Kings Of Convenience. Superpitcher turn it into a 4/4 German dancefloor classic with that instantly recognizable Kompakt sound. And AQ faves Lali Puna turn it into a swelling, dreamy electronic post rock excursion. Plus one unreleased track called 'Your Hill.' Good stuff.
Here's an interesting new single from Drunkhorse, that SF/Oakland crew of '70s lovin', hard rockin' stoner dudes who are smarter than you think they are. As the purported volume two in a series of "Unearthed Gems" releases, it features Drunkhorse covering two way rare, obscure tunes by their rock n' roll forebears: "The Weed Elf" by Sri Lankan '80s metallers Zilla, and "Pismo", by late '70s Cali bar-rockers Andy Sherman And The Sherms. Yes, we said obscure...maybe suspiciously so... Liner notes by Dr. Armando "Mondo" Johnson of Great Crates! Magazine (which, we must confess, we've never heard of either...) provide more info, in copious detail (Zilla's lone album was called "Heavy Yeti"...believe it, or not).
The Zilla tune, which in the hands of Drunkhorse comes across like a cover of something by Slough Feg, is a NWOBHM styled romp with jaunty, folky Thin Lizzyish guitars and Dio-esque lyrics. It's like Drunkhorse crossed with their pals the Fucking Champs. On the flip, the Andy Sherman and the Sherms composition is revealed to be a good-times, summer-time, all-the-time rocker, an ode to Pismo Beach were one can "relax and play hackysack".
Here's to Drunkhorse for digging up these "gems" and giving them such loving treatment -- hopefully we'll see these influences shine through on their next album of originals.
More reissued vinyl from the metal mavens at Earache, who've been delving into their classic, early '90s back catalog to bring these blasting blasts from the past out again in LP format, on colored wax no less! Here's the debut from Sweden's Entombed, from before they invented "death n' roll" and were merely (ha) one of the meanest, most brutalizing death metal bands on the planet. Essential. Still available on cd of course for the turntable-impaired.
Slightly underwhelming reunion disc from the Scroggins sisters of ESG, whose best-of compilation A South Bronx Story, containing all their classic trax, is still the best way to get into this band. Step Off at first left me bored and wistful for the old days, but after a few more listens on the headphones, the more the new record makes sense. In other words, don't look for this record to completely funkify your life; that's not what ESG are about. And yes, the new songs are slower and sometimes even, well, less kickassedly raw than their groundbreaking older material, but ESG is still the best at leaving OUT elements of dance music that lesser, more self-indulgent musicmakers always always always overdo. For example, this album's got a track that's only Renee singing and a bass hook. Oh there's a beat all right, but they don't make a sound: you're hearing it *in your head*, and it sounds better than they coulda played it. Every song on this record is a marvel of restraint. (Which, come to think of it, invites remixing -- let's hope they pick decent remixers). Recommended, but only if you already have A South Bronx Story.
Only the second album from this Godspeed You Black Emperor side project who've been around in some shape or form since the mid-'90s. Perhaps darker and more morosely droning than their self-titled debut. Layers of bass drones slowly shift, swell and dissipate. Occasional sparse rhythms flutter in and out along with strange electronic squidge'n'sputter that at times quite resembles ominous voices. No flippancy intended, but I really thought this would make a great haunted house soundtrack - oh so very sinister and gloomful.
The Swedish sound artist B.J. Nilsen has been recording as Hazard since 1996 as a means of investigating the physical and psychological effects that natural sounds hold upon the human body. The pursuits of sonic research are refinements of Nilsen's Industrial heritage which began with a handful of epistomologically grim albums as Morthond for Cold Meat Industries and has continued with the Janitor collaboration with Baby Doll Lima of Deutch Nepal. Unlike those projects, Hazard engages a stronger poetic sensibility in the digital processing of field recordings from snow, ice, water, wind, etc. The resultant cold, cold, cold drones dappled with rich, textured detailing always imply a malevolence within natural phenonemona.
As on the Hazard album with its self-evident title "Wind," "Land" finds Nilsen collaborating with respected field recordist Chris Watson to capture source material worthy to be run through the Hazard bank of DSP patches. Again, it's wind that Nilsen is after, transforming the violent whippings of Arctic winds into huge rumblings of low frequencies that burst into climatic squalls of rushing drones crackling with a rough-hewn digital grit. As the album progresses, the sense of foreboding and dread which opens the album dissipates and reveals brighter tonalities that are worthy of comparison to Eno's ambient recordings.
All of these tracks on "Land" have been treated from live recordings made over the past year through Hazard's numerous performances across Europe. Another great album from Hazard!
A couple of brief outbursts of precision mayhem from Hella, featuring their trademark maniacally dense drumming and head splitting guitar riffery.
AQ-pal Sasha Frere Jones on A Certain Ratio, !!!, El-P, Sightings, Cex, DAT Politics, Radio 4, lotsa reviews. Chris Ryan (smart smart smart) on hip hop.
Sixth full length from one of San Francisco's treasures: Sonya Hunter. Sonya is a singer songwriter whose music is like a cool drink of water. Her calm, unhurried, super melodic style reminds me of Aimee Mann, her phrasing and slight melancholy is similar to fellow SF gal-with-guitar Barbara Manning, and her clear, unblinking strength brings to mind Linda Thompson and folk/rock singers of the '60s. Includes a lovely Buffy Saint Marie cover. Nice.
Founding member of the Kitchen Motors arts organization in Reykjavik, Johann Johannsson has been at the forefront of adventurous music in Iceland, performing with the Apparat Organ Ensemble and working with some of the more acclaimed Icelandic exports (i.e. members of Sigur Ros, Mum, Stilluppsteypa, Halfer Trio, etc.). "Englaborn" is the first album for Johannsson, who reconstructed this album from the score he wrote for the stage play by Havar Sigurjonsson. Johannsson stated that "The play is extremely violent and disturbing; and basically, when faced with the script, I decided to work against it as much as possible and just try to write the most beautiful music I could." While we do not have the benefit of witnessing the play itself or any images for that matter (beautiful Jon Wozencroft photographs of the sea grace the cover of this album), Johannsson invokes a profound sadness through his descending chord progressions for the Epos Spring Quartet which he augments with spartan use of percussion, electronics, piano, computerized voices, and harmonium. Where Sigur Ros has crafted grandiose operas of Icelandic melancholia, Johann Johannsson simplifies his scores into poignant short stories that nevertheless resonate with those emotions.
Daptone Records has been putting out some of the hardest, heaviest funk 45s this side of 1969 since emerging from Desco (responsible for the awesome afrobeat of the Daktaris) a couple years ago. This is the debut full length from Daptone staples Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Raised in the south on a diet of James Brown and singing in gospel choirs, Miss Jones is the real thing-- her voice overflows with "pure soul exitement," as per Daptone's mission. The Dap Kings recreation of a bygone era of funk is incredibly well executed and hits you right in the hips with infectious danceability, although the intentional anachronism is taken to pretty extreme levels. You won't find any release date on the album- and a Daptone magazine ad cheekily placed the release date in 1972. That aside, this is a great record regardless of era. "Dap-dippin'" pulls of feats such as infusing a cover of Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately" with a super-sized dose of bad ass soul- nice! Definitely one juicy bit of funk.
Here it is, the much-anticipated second full length from these four Euro-cats! Behold more pleasingly groovy, unbarbed club pop that's definitely not experimental nor groundbreaking although they've been frequently touted thusly by the media. Prepare yourself to see their name in even more electro-clash / '80s discussion-group threads! Yes, many have yet to forgive them for their shameless facsimile of Kraftwerk's "The Model" ("He Took Her To A Movie") and their general recreation of the '80s new wave dance sound, but seldom do you hear as loud an outcry about any of the recent guitar-based revivals and regurgitations. Hmmm, seems to be just a given that guitars - both acoustic and electric - are a mainstay, whereas synthesizers are somehow still viewed as novel and effortless button-pushing. Clearly it's what you do with your chosen instrument that's key, and you can do quite a lot with a guitar, but you can also do quite a lot, if not more, with a synthesizer. That said, this album does find the foursome venturing out a little further, and honing their songwriting and production skills. "Nuhorizons" and "Re:Agents" are prime examples of this. A little more complex and a little less fluffy. Yet overall, Ladytron still overflows with bubbly programmed beats and repetitive, uncomplicated arpeggiated melodies (the synthesized 'strings' sounds are put to rather abundant use). Their distinct soft'n'wispy versus droll'n'deadpan dual female vocals are much more effected and integrated into the mix, making the lyrics less decipherable than those on 604, and making the album, as a whole, less pop. Sadly however, there aren't any tracks that immediately made their presence known by locking their hooks in the way that "Playgirl" or "Paco!" did. Andee did remark however that "Turn It On" sounded like it could easily be "Axel's Theme Part Two" from Beverly Hills Cop. Whether this is a good or bad thing... dunno! Regardless, if you like sleek, stylish and playful night music, Ladytron is for you.
As we mentioned on the last list, our friend Adam runs the super cool Crucial Blast label, and has, for over 6 years now, been quietly (and not so quietly) putting out some of the coolest shit around. From crusty Finnish metal to droning electronica to sparse folk to brutal power electronics. This new series of cd-r's, limited to 100 copies and nicely packaged in oversized DVD cases will only be available via Aquarius records (unless you get them directly from Crucial Blast). So don't blow it...
This is volume THREE in Marax's 'For The Love Of Death' series of super limited cd-r's (LIMITED TO 25) thematically focused on death and dying. Where the first volume was slow burning drones ala Lustmord or Organum, and the second volume was griity and granular like a Philip Jeck record, Voulme three pulls it back a little toward a much more ambient excursion. Distant rumbles like passing traffic heard from underwater, with barely audible digital skitter and analog hiss, and occasional far-away feedback. Super minimal, but quite nice. This one would definitely appeal to fans of Bernhard Gunter and John Hudak.
As we mentioned before, I'm sure we can get Adam at Crucial Blast to hook you up with all 12. But let us know quick.
As we mentioned on the last list, our friend Adam runs the super cool Crucial Blast label, and has, for over 6 years now, been quietly (and not so quietly) putting out some of the coolest shit around. From crusty Finnish metal to droning electronica to sparse folk to brutal power electronics. This new series of cd-r's, limited to 100 copies and nicely packaged in oversized DVD cases will only be available via Aquarius records (unless you get them directly from Crucial Blast). So don't blow it...
This is volume FOUR in Marax's 'For The Love Of Death' series of super limited cd-r's (LIMITED TO 25) thematically focused on death and dying. Volume four is quite similar to volume three, with distant rumbles and faraway shimmers, gently panning from speaker to speaker, a hypnotic slow motion pulse, that is joined for the last ten minutes by what sounds like a train crossing signal way off in the distance. Another hyper minimal and very appealing installment in this awesome series (all this one clocks in at a quite short 16 minutes, good thing it's only 5.98).
As we mentioned before, I'm sure we can get Adam at Crucial Blast to hook you up with all 12. But let us know quick.
One of our very favorite electronica glitch artists here bestows another pretty display of his trademarked fluttery tones of delicately coaxed digital processing. "Die Entdeckrung Des Wetters" appears to be a collection of tracks commissioned for various art installations: "Touch" being for a glass exhibition in th Berliner Townhall (where Mathieu created a wonderous digitized vibration from what sounds like ringing glass tones and breathy rushes of air) and the title track being a permanent installation for the Cultural Heritage Voelklinger Huette, an artspace housed in a 19th Century iron foundery. For the latter installation, Mathieu was asked to design a sound installation for the old cokery, where coal was distilled into the far more potent fuelsource coke by burning coal at extreme temperatures. While the furnace invokes rather malevolent metaphors, Mathieu keeps this track within his typically airy aesthetic. Another track on this compilation is an extraction from Mathieu's Full Swing album "Edits," in particular the Yo La Tengo remix "Love."
Knowing full well that the average art observer spends less than 8 seconds with any piece of art, Mathieu composed all of these pieces as a repetitive series of loops; thus, this collection isn't as action packed as some of the other Mathieu releases, but holds some exceptional digitized tones.
The Mekons have been around for 25 years now. In that time, they morphed from punk rockers to country twangers, putting out one of the first "alt.country" albums ("Fear & Whiskey") in 1985, and continuing through today to release this very nice collection of songs. While sweet country lamentation is the primary component of "Oooh! Out Of Our Heads," their collectivist songwriting also makes room for the influence of down home gospel, eastern tinged violins, Irish reels, relevant although not didactic political commentary, and a bit of anarchic punk approach. A more than apt silver anniversary celebration.
"Reissued" on the trusty digital format after a brief (did anyone notice?) absence. The second (internationally distributed and widely available) recording from everyone's favorite dada-hardcore-spazz-grind-wave crossover band from Tokyo, MELT-BANANA! Recorded in 1995 by you-know-who in Chicago during one of their many travels across the U.S., this follow-up to the jaw dropping Speak Squeak Creak made the Melt-Banana threat official to the world. Suddenly they blew up, they were everywhere. Every band across America and beyond split a 7" with them. And who wouldn't want to? What with the absurdist cut and paste lyricism and high pitched commanding yelps of Yasuko O; the grounded yet frenzied all-over bass stylings of Rika mm'; the tight-as-shit drumming of Sudoh (sadly departed, check him out now in Thermo!); and of course, the massively intense and inventive hybrid of grinding metal, no wave skitter and all out noise of guitarist Agata! He single handedly brought back the whammy pedal! [*see below] Not to mention an experimental bent to hardcore that still resonates in many newer bands today. All the showstoppers are here, "Disposable Weathercock", "Ten Dollars A Pile", "Iguana In Trouble", "Rough Dogs Have Bumps", "Contortion Out Of Confusion" -- twenty-two tracks in thirty-two minutes! Listening to this album in retrospect, it becomes clear that these songs -- though captured beautifully on tape -- seem too perfect and self-conscious for their own good. The songs are fucking great, the recording is absolutely fine. But something seems to be missing, leaving me thirsty for more. Experiencing this amazing live band in action rewarded me with an energy and power all too rare in many live acts these days. It's not until their subsequent lp (following a shitload of singles), Charlie, that their dynamic is done justice in a studio recording. That personal note aside, this is a fucking amazing and totally essential record from one of the planet's most undeniably incredible hardcore bands!
[*Agata uses a Digitech Whammy pedal, it drastically alters the octave of whatever is being filtered through it by way of a variable sustain-like pedal. It's how he gets those alien-like siren-esque wails. The pitch can also be altered by foot in real time, unlike the Boss Octave. Digitech stopped production of the pedals sometime in the mid-nineties and since about 1999 they've been back in production. Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt uses one or two of them in addition to a fixed range Octave pedal. That's how he goes from super low and heavy to high pitched tinny sounds, or both at the same time... Agata had to improvise without the Whammy on tour when it broke and he couldn't buy a new one, so he found a bunch of second hand ones (supposedly). Digitech was probably gonna come out with another one eventually, but I like to think MB had something to do with it.]
Ah, another Merzbow disc. I'm expecting a good hour's worth of sheer audio fuckery from the king of noise Masami Akita, a.k.a. Merzbow. But what's this? MerzBEAT? And... is that really a Kid606 plug on the cover sticker? Hmm. I'm sure I can't be blamed for having been a little worried about what this was going to sound like. Fortunately it's *really* good. There's all the typical Merzbow-isms here -- cascading sheets of sonic screeches, shimmering metallic flutters, gritty distortion -- but he's gone a little percussion-happy and anchored each track with just awesomely satisfying muscular drumming that sounds like he's pounding on trash cans and sheet metal. Unpredictable and yet, strangely, one of his most accessible releases due to the grounding nature of the drums, reminding us, naturally, of Akita's countryfolk, the Boredoms who too know the power of the drum. Those of y'all diggin' the angular noise core of hipper than jesus duos like Lightning Bolt, Pink & Brown, etc. oughta give this a try. Loose yet right on target aggression.
The hidden track, a remix by Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto, isn't quite so hidden since it appears right here in the track listing, but nonetheless it's the most punishing 8 minutes on the album. Oh, and it must also be mentioned that track one is a (totally unrecognizable, natch) cover of "Promotion Man," by obscure proto-metal hard rockers Highway Robbery. (Geez, that's like an Allan wet dream!)
Another member of the Tigerbeat6 family. Whimsical laptop glitchery making use of beeping toy sounds. Not sure what else to say. Nice, cute, catchy and fun.
Finally! The first CD release from Mirror, the AQ-favorite duo of Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann (nope, no Jim O'Rourke or Andreas Martin on this album) whose previous recordings had been all been vinyl only releases! As was hinted in their last album "Die Spiegelmanufaktur," Mirror express themselves on "Solaris" less through the quest for the drone supreme of unidentifiable tonal fluctuations and more through the delicate interplay of slowly evolving improvisations sounding not unlike recent AMM swimming in the murk of drainage-ditch reverberation. Similarly, the instrumentation has shifted more towards the free-improv territory, centered around prepared piano and clarinet with plenty of drone processing. Neither instrument come across as being typically employed, as the woodwind emits breathy rushes of sound at times and at others haunted bleats resonating like Tibetan thigh-bone horns that had been so prevalent with the early Current 93 and Lustmord recordings. Slightly more conventional in its use, the prepared piano comes across as delicate plucks of the piano's strings and muffled clusters of notes hovering throughout the spatial plane. Nicely done.
In the aftermath of the drone/ambient sound project Ora's breakup a couple of years back, all of the principle voices from that loose British collective have been producing an amazing array of translations of the drone through a variety of improvisations, field recordings, and electronic synthesis. Monos is the project of Darren Tate and Colin Potter, both of whom worked extensively in Ora as Tate collected field recordings for the group and Potter provided his engineering prowess which has also been employed by Nurse With Wound and Current 93. While the two have produced about a half dozen or so super limited CD-Rs as Monos and Dada Lives, "Nighfall Sunshine" is only the second proper CD release for the duo; and is the furthest the two have ventured into pure electronic synthesis. If the field recording is the source material for this album, Tate and Potter have almost completely eradicated the references to natural sounds with only a few instances of bird songs, night-time crickets, and rustling leaves emerging on the album. It's more likely that "Nightfall Sunshine" is the work of Tate and Potter tinkering with the huge arsenal of electronic gear that Potter has been storing up in his York studio for years. The resultant fluttering mirages of electronic warbling, sweeping parametric filtering, tremolo percolations, and atonal clusters make for a cold album of paranoid, sci-fi references not unlike the bleakest computer music from the '60s.
Oh man, why isn't Nightmares on Wax totally famous? This is the most "radio ready" of NOW's albums thus far, which in lesser hands could be a turnoff or a disaster... yet I find this record utterly entrancing. It's just so good, a nicely executed take on KMEL-style R&B, albeit *super* stripped down but still complete with diva vocals, hip hop flavor, and a slowed up pace. Super pretty, hook-filled chord progressions -- articulated via pastoral basslines and blunted, easygoing beats -- dominate practically every song here. Occasional excursions into dub and 'trip hop' are similarly well-handled. It's all very accessible and unassuming, with no weird juxtapositions or noisiness to interrupt the reverie you'll fall into while listening. And that's a good thing, mind you -- this isn't sonic wallpaper. I can't remember the last time I liked a "downtempo" record, with no 'difficult' IDM affectations, this much! Maybe that Kid Loco album, A Grand Love Story... Highly recommended!!!
The first 10,000 copies have a free extra disc which features Mr Nightmares on Wax himself, George Evelyn, a.k.a. E.A.S.E., mixing older NoW tracks.
Freaked out Japanese hard rock supergroup, a '70s inspired power trio featuring the talents of million-notes-per-second, whammy-bar-crazy guitarist Kawabata Makoto (of Acid Mothers Temple, Musica Transonic, Mainliner, Toho Sara, etc. etc.),
First appearance on cd, methinks, for this winsome Athens, GA quartet who made music between '81 and '84. Led by Lynda Stipe (yep, Michael's sister), Oh-OK employed singsong two-girl vocals, minimal yet interesting drumming, Lynda's rubbery, super catchy bass lines bouncing along at a cheerful pace, and a simple, off-the-cuff stripped down sound. Way ahead of their time, they should properly be mentioned in the same breath as their contemporaries The Pastels, Young Marble Giants, The Raincoats, etc. (They were quite a bit sweeter than YMG and Raincoats, mind you.) Features their entire recorded output -- a mere two EPs -- plus a whopping 13 extra live tracks of songs they never got around to recording (including Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer", which they remake in their own 'girls in the garage' style). All in all a nice, overdue package, with liner notes by Christgau, clippings 'n reviews, and produced by AQ fave customer and Perfect Sound Forever editor Jason Gross.
Through his DeepSkin imprint, the hermetic New Zealander Clinton Williams has released dozens of cassettes as Omit, housed in his obtuse artwork of bizzare post-Dali monsterisms and awkward geometric shapes. Due to the absence of Williams' artwork on this CD-R production of "Rejector," SySecular doesn't apppear to be the CD-R extention of the Deep Skin cassette catalogue. As Omit's work for haunted synth / loop constructions are incredibly well-executed and sublimely creepy, it's a shame that "Rejector" has only received CD-R status; regardless it's a more accessible format than the nearly-obsolete cassette. Omit's work has clear predecessors in '70s Kraut synthesists like Conrad Schnitzler, Kluster, and early Tangerine Dream; yet his apparently sinister intentions and sci-fi isolationism push his productions closer to the sounds of mid '80s Nurse With Wound (i.e. "Homotopy To Marie") and Zoviet France (i.e. "Mohnomische"). His work uses some amazingly simple techniques of counterpointed tape loops (crackling wood, creaking doors, down-pitched tape splice clicks, etc.) that warble in and out of phase with each other, while dark synth drones swell in and out of the mix to form slowly developed two or three note melodies. As with all of the Omit recordings, "Rejector" comes highly recommended! Super limited too, so don't dawdle.
In the year of the Strokes and the Vines and the Hives, here is our own local 'where the hell did they come from' wonders. They played the Reading festival, are huge in Europe and are on the lips of all in the hipster retro know. They have that 70's New York / Detroit sleaze rock sound, with the snotty vocals and the relatively rad guitar sound. Apparently influenced by Richard Hell, The Stooges etc. but with a soul flare. All veterans of rock, coming from the likes of The Peechees (vocalist Christopher), Talk Is Poison (drummer Jim), Saint James Infirmary (guitarist Jason), Nuisance (guitarist Andy) and The Cuts. Cool.
We got a handful of this handmade, limited edtion Pimmon CD-R from Paul Gough himself, who has packaged it in two pieces of printed cardstock mounted together with two oversized circles of soft foam. An unusual design solution, but an effective one, nonetheless. Musically, "I Left My Heart" finds Pimmon deliberately contrasting elegant digital looped constructions with the ugliness of spluttering noise and sonic errata. The glitch is certainly present within Pimmon's work, but its application is more of the negation of sound rather than its textural addition as thousands of miniature drop-outs degraded Pimmon's chunked samples. Pimmon densely packs his computerized compositions with overlapping layers of sound, giving the impression that his music is a digitized kaleidoscope with harshly fractalized patterns and sublime rhythmic pulses moving in a complexly choreographed motion with each layer travelling at algorithmically variable speeds. It's possible that we might be able to get a couple more of these, but in all likelihood when these few copies are gone... they're gone!
Everyone's favorite Austrian guitar-gone-electronica experimentalist Christian Fennesz again shows up on a release wherein he dabbles in the European free improv scene. So if you are buying this album simply because Fennesz is involved, you might be in for a surprise, as his contribution in collaborating with the New Music / Improv Jazz ensemble Polwechsel is only part of the whole, and it's hard to tell who's doing what -- Fennesz isn't the only one on hand operating electronics, computer, or a guitar. Polwechsel is the quartet of John Butcher (saxophone), Werner Dafeldecker (double bass, guitar, computer), Michael Moser (cello, computer), and Burkard Stangl (guitar, electronics) who have been exploring free improvisation and composition based around the European models of jazz for nearly a decade now. Fennesz, with computer, synth, and acoustic guitar, joined this quartet for a three day recording session in January of 2002. The results: a quiet, slow evolution of sound within the tonal parameters of the instruments in question, with bits of granular synthesis and timestretched, glitchy samples situated in the background. The dynamics of this album come from the spartan 'solos' taken by each of the players. These are not freak-outs by any mean, but delicate scrapes across the stringed instruments or a bleak tentative bleats from the saxophones. Quite subtle, and nice.
The kids love this energetic San Francisco trio, who have recently been seen touring about with Erase Errata and Sleater Kinney. And Sleater-Kinney comparisons, while sometimes arising out of a reviewer's lack of familiarity with a broad range of female oriented post punk sounds, are relevant here to describe The Quails girl-girl-boy vocal interchanges. At points, the heavily affected vocal stylings make us here put our hands over our collective ears, although "Atmosphere" is definitely not as ouch! as their testicle liberation opera "Bon Soir." If you do dig the vocals, or at least don't mind them, you'll have a great time getting down to their highly accessible, poppy take on the arty punk thang.
The debut record from one of my (Andee) all time favorite bands. This record is soooo great. For lots of different reasons, not the least being that they were all of 13 or 14 years old when they recorded it. Damn. When I was 13, I was watching cartoons and eating mac and cheese, not tearing up the Sunset Strip and playing in a kick ass punk rock band. And punk rock this is. While there are hints of the pop geniuses they were to become, 'Born Innocent' is mostly trashy, glammy, noise-y, bratty fun. And boy is it fun! From the almost punk rock jig of 'Pseudo Intellectual', to the shredding 'Linda Blair', the McDonald brothers prove that even at 13 they could rock with the big boys!
For some reason, this 'real' cd Reynols disc is cheaper than the cd-r albums of theirs we listed not long ago. Maybe 'cause it's domestic, not an Argentine import? No matter what, you're always getting a deal, 'cause we're convinced that this Reynols stuff is in fact priceless. Now, there's essentially two types of Reynols records: the 'rock' albums (like "------" and the Reynols/No Reynols double cd) and the conceptual ones (like "Blank Tapes" and the "10,000 Chickens" 7"). This new disc falls into the 'rock' camp, such as it is: damaged, monomaniacal drumming, psychedelic, noisy guitar jamming, and of course Reynols' frontman Miguel Tomasin's otherworldy, shamanistic vocals. Good stuff, in other words.
As the first track of this 50-minute journey begins, you're lost somewhere, in a tunnel or cavern. There's an ambient rumbling sound, and some haunting, echoed cries from Miguel. Then, with track two the distorted rock n' roll drone kicks in, all heavy-like, building in noisy intensity until track 3 interrupts the storm with a calmer, mantric mood, only to be interrupted itself with more fierce feedback guitar at the four and a half minute mark. Other songs feature Hare Krishna -worthy warbling chant, acoustic strum, and rattling hand percussion, as well as more of their primitive psych rock dementia. From simple, vocal-led tracks of trancey emptiness to guitar-based fuzzed-out chaos, the results are only enhanced by the raw, reverby production. Reynols is always strange, and strangely compelling, appealing to us in sort of the same way that much of the music of Keiji Haino does. Listening to Reynols isn't just about enjoying some weird songs, it's about taking a trip into their world and trying to see and hear things the way Miguel and his compatriots do. These are field recordings from inside their minds.
