Here's the soundtrack to 8 mile, Em's new hit, semiautobiographical movie. I have yet to see it, but even our pickiest friends liked it and it made something crazy like 54 million the first weekend at the boxoffice. Eminem donated three new songs to this soundtrack, Lose Yourself is the first on the disc and is already all over the radio, a totally great song. He also produced much of the album, which includes Gang Starr, Jay-Z, Rakim, Nas, Xzibit, D12 and Macy Gray. Em's Shady Records signees 50 Cent and Obie Trice are featured throughout. Obie was on Eminem's song "Drips," from The Eminem Show album. 50 cent is a New York artist who Dr. Dre and Eminem co signed to their labels. He's been self promoting with mix tapes, and apparently has cred in NY. Eminem says he wrote these three songs through his character "Rabbit's" voice. Comes with Shady / Aftermath artist sampler.
Here's another digital document to add to your sagging shelf of Acid Mothers Temple releases! Kawabata Makoto & co.'s brand of Japanese psychedelic hippy freak rock excess is presented here live (i.e. totally in their element) with great sound. Wild and wooly rockin', featuring two drummers for maximum pounding overdrive. The air the drummers churn up teems with spacey sci-fi synth phaser sound fx, acid flashback guitar riffage and some cosmic vocalizations. Monks with bells seem to enter the stage at one point, before AMT kicks into a fuzzed out Blue Cheerish monster jam...this actually occurs a couple times during the 40+ minutes of the disc's final, third track "La Novia ~ Speed Guru". They also do live fave "In E" (track 2) and a kinda mellow eight minute intro (track 1). Wish we'd been there, but this is the next best thing. Originally released as a limited cd-r on the Acid Mothers Temple's own label, now reissued in the States by Eclipse in probably equally limited numbers. We've only got a few...
Hurrah! The beloved Aislers Set return with this 3-song 12". It contains two versions of the title song (sung in English and Spanish) as well as "I'm So Glad To See You Go". Super splendid pop once again from Amy, Wyatt, Yoshi, and Alicia. Slinky'n'jangly guitar, low-key organ, a vibrant horn section and the always welcome vocal pairing of Amy's unmistakable sweet, drowsy lilt and Wyatt's gentle, boyish charm. Sooo good. And this is just a little hint of what's to come in their third full length due in February - certainly cause for celebration. Can't wait!
I think the Champs toured with these guys and loved 'em. At least, I know Josh from the Champs raved about them to me once. All Night are retro rock n' rollers from North Carolina, doing the seventies guitar rawk thing with rare authenticity. Bluesy, swaggering, Stonesy, drawling, kick ass stuff a la Cherry Valence, The Want, Gorilla and few others today. The kind of band you hope will be playing in the next bar you go in. They sound more '70s than the last dozen "stoner rock" bands you ever heard. Boogie!
In-store listens of this new Badly Drawn Boy album have drawn more vocal comparisons to the intelligent, tweaked pop of Robyn Hitchcock than to the sentimental, boyish heartbreak of Elliott Smith (to whom he formerly bore more than a striking vocal resemblance). Yet, this also seems to be his most accessible work to date. Whereas Hour Of Bewilderbeast was lovely, melancholic, and flowing, this is much more saturated, eccentric, and lively (much like Hitchcock or more recently Destroyer's Dan Bejar). Actually Damon Gough's recent soundtrack to About A Boy seemed a much more logical full length successor to his debut! However, this album does still shine with the sharp, detailed songcraft (often very reminiscent of Lennon and McCartney) and soaring grandeur of his previous works, not to mention the deeply romantic heart, but he's incorporated more classic '60s/'70s pop rock elements (y'know, lots of piano, a fine variety of backing vocals!) into the arrangements. A little different, yes, but pretty great in a grow-on-you-with-every-listen kind of way.
Alternative country / Indie rock. Mr. Bobby Bare Jr. is the son of country musician Bobby Bare (singer of such classics as "Detroit City, "Miller's Cave," and "500 Miles Away From Home" and 56 other Top 40 country hits), Lil' Bobby was nominated for a Grammy for a duet with his father at the age of 5. He even sang on the Ryman stage on its closing night.. Bare Jr.'s sound has been described as Nirvana meets Lynyrd Skynyrd and well, he does certainly possess a very Cobain-esque, hoarsely pleading, on the verge of cracking yelp of a voice. Combine it with the deeper, more low-key backing vocals and this is much more reminiscent of the beloved Uncle Tupelo. He does a cover of "What Difference Does it Make" by the Smiths, and his version brings all new meaning to the words.
Sebastien Meissner, aka Bizz Circuits, has also released albums as Random_Inc and Open_Source, among other names. Here, he plunders his record collection for samples that are recontextualized in a pretty much unrecognizable way, allowing the resultant electronic fuzz to take on meanings completely separate from their sources, which (according to Meissner) include everything from Ornette Coleman to Metallica to other contemporary electronic and micro-sound artitsts. Apparently, the package relates to Meissner's childhood pop obsessions, referenced by titles such as "Blinded With Science" and "Can't Get No Satisfaction (Thank God)." An interesing, pleasant puzzle to be enjoyed by appreciators of the Mille Plateaux aesthetic.
Bountiful new, rare and previously unreleased Bjork! Six cds totalling 35 tracks in all - five mini 3" cds and one full size - stunningly packaged in a cool pink tupperware-ish box with an embossed white slipcover. The first two discs are named "Roots". They exemplify how she drew from the Icelandic cultural and natural environment. Containing five tracks each including "Cover Me" and "Joga (Strings and Vocals)". The third "Beats" features four cuts of her experiments with electronic rhythms. The fourth and fifth are grouped together as "Strings" and contain nine tracks including alternate versions of "Cover Me", "Hunter" and "Bachelorette". The sixth is her "Greatest Hits" as selected by Ms Gudmundsdottir herself - not to be confused with the concurrently released single cd "Greatest Hits" which was compiled by fan vote on Bjork.com. In the process of assembling this extensive retrospective package, Bjork spent six months revisiting works from her past. The results are remarkable, revealing her awesome artistic evolution and leaving the listener eager to discover her next pursuits.
A guy came into the store the other day, pointed at this cd and said "How's this Bjork cd?" Uhhhh. What more can be said other than that it's her greatest hits - well, at least fifteen of 'em as chosen by her adoring masses (via a vote on her website)! Dedicated fans must already own all of the albums from which these songs originated, but in case you need the highlights all neatly gathered on one disc, this is for you. Needless to say, this is a truly luminous and fanciful array.
A super bonus treat is the final, previously unreleased track "It's In Our Hands"! Prior to its appearance on this cd, the song was only exposed to the world at her live performances.
Special note: a very different greatest hits collection is included in her 6cd boxset that was released simultaneously. How is it different? Well, the selection was chosen by Bjork herself.
Tigerbeat 6 brings you a new ep from hardcore to freaky ambient turncoats Black Dice. Featuring sounds processed and tweaked with oudated electronics, ungrounded electrical buzz, and showcasing a big ol' tribal drum circle (uh oh). After an extended intro of floating tones, the second track brings us some of the fucked up noise rock that was conspicuously absent from a recent show here in SF. What will become of Black Dice? Will the youthful fashionistas learn to love the new Black Dice, or will they turn their backs? This 3" is one teeny piece of the continuing saga.
Bloodbath might sound like a generic death metal name, and that's kind of the idea. They're actually a Swedish metal supergroup paying tribute to the late 80's/early '90s death metal that they loved in their youth. Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Entombed, that kind of thing... Gory, grinding, blasting DEATH.
Bloodbath is made up of vocalist Michael Akerfeldt (mastermind of gods Opeth*), guitarist Anders Nystrom and bassist Jonas Renkse (both of AQ-faves Katatonia), and drummer Dan Swano (Dan Swano! he's been in a zillion bands, but we'll mention our favorites, Pan-thy-monium and Karaboudjan). They did a three-song ep a few years back, as a lark, and we never really expected a follow-up due to these dudes' busy schedules in their full-time outfits. But apparently the pleasures of unadulterated death metal beckoned irresistibly to them, and this "Resurrection" was thankfully at last spawned. And with this sort of musical braintrust, you know that Bloodbath isn't going to disappoint. Indeed they don't. Doomy, intricate, brutal, produced to perfection, and catchy in the blood-letting way that really only makes sense to death metal fans. Thanks guys!
*who have just released their eagerly anticipated new album, "Deliverance" (see nearby for our review) and we don't doubt the timing was coincidental...clever record company.
"Black Earth" is the dark as night new album from an old AQ fave. Is it the heaviest album on this list? It is if you understand Bohren's concept of "quiet heaviness", using their self-described "horror jazz" instrumentation of subtly-brushed drums, down-tuned double bass, sparse piano, Fender Rhodes, mellotron, and melancholic saxophone to create an atmosphere of heaviness "which is otherwise only achieved using distorted guitars and lots of noise."
Our appetite was whetted for his release by an email from Bjoern Eichstaedt (of Caacrinolas), our German friend who originally introduced us to Bohren. He described a recent Bohren concert in which the band played in a cubic room, the walls painted completely black, on a black stage, without light -- all wearing black suits. Live, they used two basses for maximum bottom end. He spoke to them afterwards and learned that black metal is their main influence, noticing also that they were all wearing t-shirts from such bands as Immortal. Yet Bohren's music is far from loud and fast. Metallic or not, it's certainly DOOM. Creeping, plodding, yet gorgeously, sleepily melodic. Each note played on the piano, each hit of the snare, carries great weight, and beauty. Their music falls like thick drops of liquid into a still, dark, black pool, rippling the surface with unknown echoes. Foreboding, and entrancing. Certainly more than deserving of this disc's black on black, skull embossed packaging.
The sultry, smoky saxophone introduced on their previous album "Sunset Mission" is still in evidence, though not so much as before. When it's present, it only adds to the noir-ish vibe, great for wandering the rainy streets of night-time San Francisco with this playing in your Walkman, let me tell you. And compared to "Sunset Mission", this new album definitely extends Bohren's methods to further extremes: slower, moodier, dronier, lovelier: "heavier". Quite quietly heavy, indeed.
Alex McManus -- longtime member of Lambchop, musical collaborator with Vic Chesnutt, and touring member of Bright Eyes -- releases a second solo album under the moniker The Bruces. Super sincere, quiet, singer-songwriter material in the vein of the aforementioned acts, plus Wilco. McManus' voice has depth, somewhere between Jay Farrar and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
During the past 15 years, Chicago's experimental ensemble Illusion of Safety has revolved around the activitities of Dan Burke and a rotating core of like-minded avant-garde musicians including Jim O'Rourke, Thymme Jones, Kurt Griesch, and dozens more. Yet during a tour across Europe collaborating with Kevin Drumm (who is effectively the doppelganger of O'Rourke's non-pop aesthetic), Burke and Drumm have chosen not to invoke the IOS moniker. This is strange only in the fact that the Burke / Drumm contribution to the Mort Aux Vaches series (which have all been commissioned for VPRO radio in the Netherlands) is not far removed from some of the Illusion of Safety albums (in particular the early '90s album "Probe"). The Burke / Drumm "Mort Aux Vaches" is a very well constructed electro-acoustic improvisation that opens with tiny microscopic events and upper register frequencies. These erratic squiggles steadily flesh themselves out into ominous drones, bristling with toxic white noise. Nicely done.
Johnny Cash has done a pretty great job of both remaining relevant and making consistently great music. This album is pretty wonderful. It's got a healthy mix of Cash originals (indeed "The Man Comes Around", based on the Book of Revelations, is one of the best songs he's ever written, IMO) and covers of such unlikely sources as Nine Inch Nails, Paul Simon, Sting, Depeche Mode, the Eagles, etc. To Cash, if a given song is exceptionally well-written and suited to his stylistic interpretation, then he'll do it. No genre snobbery here. He infuses all the songs with an epic, anthemic tone some of them didn't know they had in 'em! (There are only a couple duds -- a stiff "Danny Boy" and an ill-chosen Beatles tune.)
The guest musicians are also unlikely, and as much as I hate random celeb-littered projects, believe me they're not annoying at all. Guests include Fiona Apple, John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), the legendary Billy Preston on piano, Roger Manning Jr (Jellyfish), etc. This is a really nice record, classic and modern and smart at the same time. Recommended!
Cathedral. No, don't think light and airy, magnificent house of God. Think massive, weighty, and ancient -- lair of gargoyles, temple to superstition. Despite debuting with one of the heaviest slabs of doom metal heard in 1990 ("Forest Of Equilibrium", which melded slowed-down Sabbath riffage, depressed prog-folk flutes, and gravelly vocals), the blokes in Cathedral soon took a tongue-in-cheek "stoner rock disco" detour for most of their career, only to regain their relevance with last year's seriously doomy comeback "Endtyme". Now, "VIIth Coming" fortunately demonstrates that "Endtyme" was only a new beginning for the band. Straight out of the gate, opener "Phoenix Rising" gives notice that these guys mean business, that business is good, and that their business is, as you may have guessed, killing. The next cut, "Resisting The Ghost", is even faster (for them) and more furious. They still do slow, though, as the following track "Skullflower" demonstrates. It's monolithic '70s riffing and ultra-heavy doom groove all the way, pretty much the formula for the whole album. Sure, the keyboards and spoken-singing of "Aphrodite's Winter" come as a departure, but Cathedral for the most part walk the straight and narrow (left-hand) path here, avoiding the overt silliness and intentional kitsch of past Cathedral travesties. Compared to "Endtyme", this does swing Sabbath-like a bit more, but without reverting to taking the piss like they did for so many years. No, they're now taking seriously their own talent for achieving atmospheres of heaviness and despair (even whilst rockin' the cowbell). Thank you Cathedral, for making it possible for an old fan to like you once again!
A fantastic burst of heavy pop from formerly metalcore band Cave In -- their last blast on Hydrahead as prelude to their eventual major label debut full-length. They're like a heavier Radiohead, less anguished and more into rocking. The melodies are epic and heartrending, the guitars are clean and bright, and the songwriting is excellent -- it's like you can trust them, they don't let you down with experimental bull that's best left to a Thom Yorke solo album or something. They continue to polish and refine their own developing sound, which ambles nearer pop with every release. And yet, the more 'produced', polished, or whatever that they get, the better they sound! The title track, I swear, sounds like Rufus Wainwright with bigger balls crossed with Queen. So good! Fans of the other heavy rock bands with pop leanings that're getting mainstream press -- like Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age -- should definitely give this a listen!
Not surprisingly, the follow-up to the C.D.s' very well-received debut "Ringworm Interiors" has arrived swiftly. Why unsurprisingly? Well, because the man behind this group is none other than the more-than-prolific Robert Pollard. Revealing once again a wonderfully strange and trippy side with shades of Pere Ubu, Pink Floyd and Captain Beefheart, this is much less poppy and more off-kilter, noisy and eccentric. Mr. Pollard and brothers Todd and Tim Tobias take you by tha hand and lead you on their bizarre, psychedelic trek scattered with, among other things, wheezing church organs, watery pianos, and bristly guitars. Listening to Circus Devils can be quite akin to finding yourself in an altered state -chemically or otherwise induced. Sounds and voices are slightly tweaked and distorted, time is skewed, and you'll find these 44 minutes are over all too soon. Recommended.
A listenin' delight from two electronica artists with strong ties to the Bay Area (Clayton lives in San Francisco, and Safety Scissor's Matthew Curry used to run the exceptional Static weekly club before moving to Berlin). This EP, keeping true to its namesake, is super light, playful, "popcorn"-esque and anything but static. Within the continuous mix across 36 tracks, but a extra brief 18 minutes, "Ping Pong" ricochets throughout the spectrum of silly, ironic electronics that at times recalls Dick Hyman moog albums with a chorus line of tap dancers as the rhythm section, and at others clunky fusions between house and '50 circus music.
For his contribution to the "Mort Aux Vaches" series of radio broadcasts commissioned by VPRO radio, Coh (the Russian laptop technician Ivan Pavlov) continues in his electronic revisionism which defined the successes on his albums "Mask Of Birth" and "Enter Tinnitus." Again, Coh offers a constant fluctuation of arpeggiated patterns that are post-techno recapitulations of '80s new wave. Be forewarned, the buzz and blurp breakdowns may trigger visions of a bathing robot (not necessarily a bad thing!) - sonic splashing and bubbling, submersion and resurfacing throughout this 38 minute track. Seemingly straightforward techno beats emerge, but as in this track's mid-stretch of whirring, sawing rhythm, before you know it Coh has drenched it in hiss and rumble until it dissolves into something altogether different. Quite pleasant reminders of Fad Gadget, Konstruktivitis, and Giorgio Moroder with all of the kitsch elements filtered out. Limited to 1000 copies and packaged in a silkscreened piece of folded woodpanel-patterned plastic.
"The Golden Hare With A Voice Of Silver" collects all of the tracks that been previously released on two Russian compilations, essentially documenting the history of the transgressive British group Coil. Throughout their 20 year career, Coil has defined the pinnacles of both Industrial Culture as well as contemporary electronica through an evolving use of electronics as the vehicle for pagan rituals, apocalyptic languages, plunges into the abject, and celebrations of their homosexuality. While "The Golden Hare" would make for an excellent introduction into the work of Coil as it samples from all of the major periods ("Scatology," "Horse Rotovator," "Love's Secret Domain," "Moon's Milk," "Musick To Listen To In The Dark," etc.), die-hard Coil fans should be intrigued to know that 2 of the tracks ('A Cold Cell' and 'A.Y.O.R.') are rumored to be cuts from their ill-fated 'Backwards' album, which has been long slated for release on Nothing Records since the mid-'90s.
Excellent reissue! Out of print since its release in 1972 when it went almost completely unnoticed, this album is finally available in special 30th anniversary boxed double disc format! A shorter version of it was available briefly in 1993 but this features a whole other disc of extra material.
It wasn't until after playing and performing for over ten years that the now-legendary experimental violinist Tony Conrad finally put his music down on wax. This was after his tenure as an integral member of the Theater of Eternal Music's Dream Syndicate with Lamonte Young, Marian Zazeela, John Cale, and Angus MacLise (NB: the latter two being founding members of the Velvet Underground, which got its band name from a paperback Conrad found lying in the street.) The Dream Syndicate's raison d'etre was exploring the sonic depth, meaning and sound of the almighty DRONE. A chance meeting with producer Uwe Nettelbeck resulted in an intense three-day recording session at Faust's secluded farm slash studio and it was here that Conrad finally got to breathe life into his own take on the drone. The Faust fellows supply a warm, insistent drum beat and a just as unstoppable bass throb. Both the bass *and the drum* are 'tuned' to specific notes over which Conrad lays his droning violin. And that's it. For half an hour. So great! Not boring at all -- your ears quickly become attuned to the waverings, harmonies, and other minute changes amongst the three elements. Fans of Neu, Can, Kraftwerk, and of course Faust NEED this. As does anyone into hypnotic droning rock ala AQ faves Circle, Highly recommended, definitely seminal album by one of the pioneers of drone.
Funny that. We hardly ever get any comedy records to review (unless you count Sounds of American Doomsday Cults a comedy record), and on this list we've commited to two. But, unlike the Neil Hamburger record that appears a little later on in this list, Mr. Cross is actually funny. In the real, HA HA HA, as opposed to "HA HA HA" kind of funny. Though most well known for his part in the HBO series Mr. Show with Bob Odenkirk, Cross has been working hard to make people laugh / piss people off since his early days as a writer for the Ben Stiller show way back in 1992. It seems like ages since I've purchased an honest to goodness comedy album. I think the last I purchased was either Eddie Murphy's first, or the Bob & Doug McKenzie "Great White North" album. But what instantly stands out as a difference between the earlier greats and David Cross is that, where the former are cold, calculated comedy, the latter is off the cuff and loaded with improvised material. Cross, apparently in jest, remarks on the liner notes to the album that his physician requires him to get sufficiently wasted before, during and after his set. But I don't think it's entirely, if at all, in jest. I really think Cross does get snuckered before a gig. But whether he does or not, you can distinctly tell from his delivery that he hasn't worked his routine to death before hitting the stage. Which is impressive when you consider the dangers of crashing and burning on stage when you lose your focus. I won't pretend there aren't any stuttered deliveries here, or that David Cross' professionalism keeps him above the realms of sloppiness. No, there's plenty of that here. And what's more, you realize while listening to David weigh in on the Catholic Church (molesting preachers), George W. Bush, and even his native south -- he's a fucking angry man. He doesn't approach these subjects lightly, he goes in swinging his wit around like a chainsaw. Needless to say, those who are easily offended should probably pass this up. But for anyone who's enjoyed Mr. Show, this should be required listening.
Here's the second album from the London IDM / electronica duo Crunch, who had previously sent Michael Fakesch of Funkstorung an anonymous demo, which struck him so much that he released it despite Fakesch's claim that Crunch refused to communicate beyond that aforementioned demo. One can imagine that the radio silence treatment has ended for Crunch, as they've hired several like-minded IDM beatbreakers to remix their work (Funkstorung, Lusine ICL, Skoptic, and Bit_Meddler). As before, Crunch patterns themself after the 'classic' Autechre sound of "Chiastic Slide" and "LP5," where repetitions of minor-key, reverb soaked melodies (which could just be looped samples from snippets of a randomly generated slew of tones) intertwine with sputtering breakbeats. As Autechre's last couple of releases ("Confield" and "Gantz Graf") have expressed a stronger desire for generative randomness and non-structural rhythms, Crunch makes for a fine substitute for those looking for that specific IDM template.
We just got in this brand new release from Vital Records, hot off the presses. (As a disclaimer: though it may seem as if we're obsessed with Balinese Gamelan, it's actually just that a majority of the excellent recordings of Javanese gamelan are currently not in print, but come January we expect a few re-issues from the Nonesuch Explorer series that you can look forward to hearing about.) This release is actually quite exciting in that Gamelan Cudamani represents yet another revolutionary step in the ever changing state of gamelan in Bali. Ironically, it is the very thing that makes this gamelan (and others like it that are being built throughout Bali) new and revolutionary is also the thing that is connecting Balinese gamelan with its past. What makes Cudamani so special is the addition of a mere two pitches to its scale. In truth, those pitches are not a new thing, but contemporary gamelan in Bali since the 1920s have been built with only five (some, a bit less common forms, with only 4.) When the Balinese court dissipated at the turn of the 20th century and many gamelan melted down into modern sets, the repertoire disappeared as well. Lost with those two pitches were the various pentatonic subsets that were capable of being played only on a gamelan with all 7 pitches. I guess you could look at it as if you took all the black keys off your piano, which would severely limit your choice of keys in which you could play. With the music of the Balinese court however, different modes had very different and very strong associations to particular moods. So while all seven tones are rarely used within any given section -- or even composition -- the addition of those two notes opens up the possibilities for playing a huge repertoire of music and creating vast new ones. While this new (re)development has brought the present in closer connection with the past, it has also enabled an unprecedented level of innovation. On the first two pieces of this disc -- both composed by one of Cudamani's founding members -- all seven tones are used, with melodies being immediately recast in other modes and even played on top of one another in a bizarre sort of harmony. Another track included on this collection is a recording of the seminal kebyar piece Teruna Jaya -- as if to bring things full circle once more -- performed as it had originally been performed, including rarely heard sections that are not oft performed anymore. If the instruments and repertoire of Cudamani isn't impressive enough, the family centered group that performs on it is equally so. Though a private organization, the Cudamani is decidedly non-commercial and performs primarily for temple ceremonies and religious festivals. In addition, the Cudamani provides education in performance and dance for youth and adults alike. Cudamani is actually comprised of several performance groups, including the original founding members, there's an all female ensemble and several children's ensembles. The history of the group and very detailed descriptions of the gamelan and the music are included on 15 pages of liner notes.
At long last Destroyer (aka Dan Bejar and co.) receives some well-deserved widespread distribution, thanks to the wonderful Merge Records. The previous three albums (Thief, City Of Daughters and Streethawk) were released on small indies, and as a result probably haven't reached as many hungry ears as they deserve. For those unfamiliar, apart from his fine solo efforts Mr. Bejar was also a significant songwriting force along with Carl Newman for the New Pornographers' Mass Romantic album, lending his distinct, slightly more eccentric lyrical twists to their pop magic. But shortly thereafter, he took to the road, travelling from Vancouver to Montreal, Spain, New York, and who knows where else. Somewhere in there he found time to write and record these fifteen songs. A modern day roaming minstrel? He's joined on this album by Fisher Rose (former NP drummer), Chris Frey and Nicolas Bragg. This Night is full of his oft-obtuse, yet deeply poetic writings, and is perhaps his most fleshed out, lush and consistent album to date. Swimming against the current flood of singer/songwriter folk-inflected melancholia, Bejar's songs do more than tug at the heartstrings or play with the emotions. This is not the music of a quick fix although his sweet jangly pop hooks do surface every so often ("Here Comes The Night"). Almost seeming from a different time, the first three songs alone will sweep you up into his world - keeping you on your toes with tempo shifts and his particular vocal inflections - and draw you back again with each listen. Recommended.
What a very strange strange sonic stew DFI have made! This self-titled album on Lance J Church' s label offers up stretches of hardcore and metal heaviness (lots of guitar riffage a la Fucking Champs), cyclical post-rock patterns and some prog-ish moments too. Tempos and styles change at the whims of this one man band, as does the sound quality -- a bit murky at times -- which may be attributed more to the fact that these fifteen songs were recorded at six different locations. Punkish shred-metal silliness that totally keeps the listener on his/her toes to the very last track -- a cover of Norwegian black metal act Ulver's "Wolf And Passion"! The track before that: a drum-machine & guitar version of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight Of The Bumblebee"! Bonus points, also, for the cool Devo "New Traditionalists" inspired artwork on the inside of the cd insert.
Dark, epic, doom (duh) metal from Italy. "Our fate is written: Sword and shield, born to die on the battlefield" is their motto, and their songs thus focus on tales of ancient Viking and Celtic warfare. Heavy and atmospheric, with decent clean vocals and grand, morose melodies. For fans of the likes of Candlemass, Cirith Ungol, Manowar, Manilla Road, and Solstice. Despite the inherent silliness you might attribute to heavy metal songs of swords and battle, there's something about this just seems very SERIOUS. They've created a vibe quite far from the happy fantasy power metal of countrymen Rhapsody, that's for sure!
I like this record so much but I can't for the life of me think of how to describe them. Of course they sound A LOT like The Thinking Fellers, as every review will tell you, but I doubt they would deny that. It's when I go to describe the music I'm at a loss. It's rich and creepy, sounds like demented nursery rhymes. The vocals are unique to say the least. Ranging from little girl eeriness, whispering in your ear to booming and indecipherable. Most of the songs are groovy meandering numbers, with odd scraping, sliding, creeping sounds. and there are some carnivalesqe songs that give you the chills like a good horror movie. Odd instrumentation recorded with expertise by Tim Green at Louder Studios. Art rock that will scare you.
It's a new Godspeed record, and it's got all you've come to know and love about them. Yanqui U.X.O. shows their epic cinematic post-rock gestures getting perhaps even more sweeping and grandiose. The various samples making pointed social criticiscms that appeared throughout Lift Your Skinny Fists... are absent this time around, much to the relief of several AQ staffers who found the politics heavy handed. That doesn't neccesarily mean this record is apolitical-- the taut, tension filled sounds still feel like the soundtrack to a revolution, and the back cover diagram explicates connections between various major labels and weapons manufacturers. GYBE are not going to give up resisting Yanqui neo-imperialism just because they're an instrumental band. The irony of resisting the capitalist war machine by selling a product is not lost on the band, but then again, you might just want to close your eyes and let the warm sheets of Godspeed sound wash over you, and not think about any of that political stuff, right? Well allright. Cryptic message from the liner notes: "& hope still, a little resistance always maybe stubborntiny lights vs. clustering darkness foreverok? thankslovegodspeedyou!blackemperorbyexoxoxox"
Here is the second disc from local all stars The Graves Brothers Deluxe. made up of former members of Thin White Rope, Granfaloon Bus, Dingle and Lunchbox. An eclectic record with moods ranging from loungy and crooning to psychedelic-rockabilly to jazzy, quirky, and experimental. There is an instrumental, very soundtrack-like number, and some crazy Zappa or Mr. Bunglesqe moments. Impressive instrumentation done by talented musicians, but a bit too wacky and all over the place for my taste. I think fans of previous endeavours will like some of the songs but I doubt many will like all of them.
What can I say? America's favorite worst comedian has released yet another album. It's been eight years since Neil Hamburger, a.k.a. Gregg Turkington, released his first 7" on Amarillo Records and with this release now has a roster of 6 full length albums and three 7" singles. This time round, along with the occasional 'audience' harassment routines, Mr. Hamburger even sings a couple of songs. Though many may feel that the 'joke' has gotten a bit old and that maybe Turkington should retire his zipper schtick, Drag City is sure that you'll enjoy yet another release of Neil Hamburger.
Here's what some Aquarius folk say about this new CD:
"Fucking horrible!" -Sadie
"Byram, is that it or did you just get fed up and take the CD off?" - Jim
Personally, I'd like to see Greg reissue some of that classic Bean Church material. Hey Gregg, when you gonna put out "Night of a Thousand R's" on CD?
Raw fucked up garage / punk by these Portland punks. Totally hectic and noisy. Their live shows are legendary for being wild and you can feel it when you listen to this. Draws comparison to Pussy Galore and the Saints. They even do a cover of the Electric Eels song "Accident", which is utter crazy noise. It's all total chaos. Not unlike their label mates The Horrors.
Upon a first listen of this album, you might be taken aback, this is certainly not the slow dreamy melancholia that we've come to know and love from Ida. But hang on a sec... There's a good reason for this different approach. This is no ordinary release -- You Are My Flower is a CHILDREN'S ALBUM! And a very pretty, down to earth one at that. Two members of that soft twang New York pop group, namely Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton, present an acoustic country-tinged collection of childhood sing-songs including versions of old classics like "This Little Light Of Mine", "Shoo-Fly", "Jingle Bells" (!). Mitchell and Littleton sing sweetly and are backed by a pair of guitars, a wood flute (played by Warren Defever), some piano and shaker. All lovingly recorded by Defever (His Name Is Alive) at his home in Livonia, MI. Just shy of 25 minutes which is perfect for the tots' short attention spans.
After a small break comes yet another record in the massive avalanche of tUMULt releases headed our way in the next few weeks (Iran, Painted Black, Leviathan, OCS, Diamatregon, Worms). This is the second missive from San Francisco's premier NOISEPOP band, not 'noise pop' in the jangly-pop-punk-San-Francisco-festival-Creeper-Lagoon-Overwhelming-Colorfast-Fastbacks sense but the gorgeous-pop-songs-buried-under-a-thick-splattery-wall-of-buzz-hum-whir-skree-guitars-set-on-self-destruct-Beatles-flitered-through-Skullflower sense. Like Sebadoh or Pavement being backed up by Throbbing Gristle or Whitehouse. Or Nurse With Wound fronted by Elliott Smith. If you get our drift. For record number two, Iran has scaled back the noise just a bit and let the pop shine through. And shine it does. Gorgeous, heart-breaking, voice-cracking lo-fi love (and un-love) songs, delivered in a wavery falsetto, over gentle guitars, naive drumming and strange but wonderful backgrounds woven from vocals, amp hum, guitar buzz, as well as rumbling low end and squealing feedback. When the noise does kick in, it's not noise for noise sake, Iran handle the squirming serpent with a deft hand, molding gorgeous sonic squalls and speaker shredding skree from overdriven amps and detuned guitars, with buried melodies and strange and mysterious rhythms laying beneath the storm, like looking through a murky pond at the secret life below. Adventurous indie rockers could very well be looking at their new favorite band, and experimetal/avant garde-niks may just find themselves developing a sweet tooth, cause everyone know the sugar goes down easier with a mouthful of medicine.
The resilience, strength and determination of Lance Hahn of pop-punk vets J Church are unquestionable. He's soldiered forth in the face of much adversity - health problems and a fire that consumed his home and Honey Bear Records headquarters. This new collection follows their Meaty, Beaty, Shitty Sounding (2001) and their great One Mississippi (2000), but actually was intended as a follow-up to 1996's Drama Of Alienation which preceded One Mississippi. Still with me? Needless to say, JC's Lance Hahn is super prolific, a tireless songwriter and road warrior. This cd displays his honest, no-frills, capture-the-moment recording processes. It was recorded whenever and wherever worked for them - both budget and timewise. In fact, many of these recordings were done years ago, and due to a number of obstacles, are only now seeing their release. That said, there are some rough spots, unfixable flaws, and downright murky moments in these recordings, but fans of J Church know full well what the band's all about, and that's doing the best with what's at hand and maintaining a sense of immediacy. Lance's lyrics address both the personal and political. Thus, to further encourage the grassroots exchange of ideas, he also includes a suggested reading list along with the lyric sheet in the liner notes. That list includes works by Nagisa Oshima, Hans Richter, Paul Avrich among others.
"Viny'l'isten" documents another live performance from British turntablist Philip Jeck, this time performing with likeminded German turntablist Claus Van Bebber. Here, Jeck and Van Bebber each have produced two solo pieces and one extended collaboration. Upon first (second and third) listens, Jeck and Van Bebber have remarkably similar techniques, treating the turntable and the vinyl medium like Dadaist readymades, from which they conjure texturally rich collages clattering with looped samples, locked grooves, and plenty of surface noise. Everything adds up into dense layers of antiquity, that peel back to reveal repeated melodies from ballroom waltzes or '70s rock anthems, swimming together in murky, slow motion atmospheres. The differences between the two artists primarily emerge in their respective preferences for effects, as Van Bebber uses guitar pedals like wah-wah and distortion, while Jeck uses only an echo box and a toy sampler. Both apart and together, Jeck and Van Bebber recall Jeck's masterpiece "Stoke" and his "Vinyl Coda" series at least in terms of technique and content, although not quite measuring up to those in composition and context.
Although we might be tempted to join some sort of Kawabata Makoto backlash movement on general principles, the fact remains that the uber-prolific leader of Japan's Acid Mothers Temple has maintained a fairly high level of quality in his constant, cosmic output of music. This here release (one of FOUR Makoto-related discs we've received this WEEK) is indeed pretty worthwhile, so we're not ready to ask him to cease and desist quite yet. Utilizing electric organ, electric harpsichord, violin, tambura, percussion and electronics, Kawabata (with a little help from guest vocalist Audrey Ginestet, the bass player of French psych band Ueh) is in the dream-zone on this one, far from the distorto-rock loudness of the Acid Mothers Temple recent "Electric Heavyland", for instance. With high-pitched tones swirling about, this is spacey, droney stuff in a psychedelic Terry Riley/Steve Reich repetitive minimalist vein, that originally spread over the two sides of a limited edition LP released last year on Eclipse. (So limited, that we never saw it.) But this cd reissue appends a 15 minute bonus track anyway, so we're all good. In a word, lovely.
See our review of Kawabata's "I'm In Your Inner Most" for the obligatory *I can't believe it's yet another Kawabata Makoto/Acid Mothers Temple release but it's actually pretty good so why complain* comments, they apply to this cd-r (a reissue of an out-of-print cd-r on the AMT label) as well, even though "Electric Guitars" is quite a bit different from "Inner Most" -- Kawabata and collaborator Miyamoto Naoaki (MNS) dial up the feedback, noise, and distortion on this one. A bliss-out trip only for those who like their dreams cranked to 11. Nightmares are more like it. As the title suggests, the duo's weapons of choice are electric guitars, there's nothing else on here. They wrangle their guitars over three long, probably fully improvised tracks, one of 'em creating a droning, evil atmosphere while the other picks out non-melodic note-shards, and vice versa. Psychedelic skree that's just restrained enough to be listenable when in the mood for this moodiness (rather than being sheer noise terror in the Merzbow or Solmania vein). Not just a collector's item, but a cheap fix courtesy of Last Visible Dog for those into the darker side of Kawabata Makoto's ouevre.
The NY-based hiphop trio Dalek contributed rhymes to that excellent Techno Animal track "Dead Man's Curse", so it makes sense that Techno Anim's Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick introduced Dalek to our own local darling Kid606. Thus, this excellent collaboration. As I've enthused in other reviews, Dalek's epic, incantatory vocal stylings are pushed right up against apocalyptic, doom-laden instrumentation: high pitched squealing feedback that sounds like air raid sirens, abandoned machine bleeps, paranoid dub-heavy beats, crashing cymbals and other live drumming, shimmering guitar. They are an apt match with Kid 606 and his bad boy I'll-mess-with-anything-and-make-it-kick-yr-ass style.
So, as if the original "Ruin It" track that appears here isn't great enough -- all glitchy fuzzed out broken buried melody courtesy Kid606 -- then Dalek ups and makes it even more intense and dramatic and spooky. Really good, some of the best material from either artists I've heard yet. In addition to the two title tracks here, there's even a slow sort of My Bloody Valentine-ish slice of melancholia here, laden with murk and record static. That piece appears only on the cd ep, as does the closer track "satans hard drive" which Dalek constructed spontaneously from one of the Kid's busted hard disks. Yeah, it's noisy!
"The King Crimson Collectors Club" (god, what's gotten into them?) presents: "Ladies of the Road", a double cd of live Crimson from 1971-72. While oddly enough it doesn't actually have their song "Ladies of the Road" on it, it's a powerful document of Crimson's unique insane math-rock jazz-prog from an underrated, underdocumented era and lineup of Crimson (circa their album "Islands" and the recently reissued live disc "Earthbound") that was definitely being influenced by American R&B and jazz, moreso than the classical elements prominent in the original Crim of 69-70.
Did we get the word jazz in there? This is VERY jazz, with lots of Mel Collins' saxophone all over the place, along with of course Robert Fripp's unmistakable guitar genius. The songs and improvs presented here are in part and together gorgeous, heavy, pretty, crazed, gentle, funky (!), psychedelic, smooth, noisy, intense, and (of course) schizophrenic. Speaking of which, the second disc in this set, entitled "Schizoid Men", is a mammoth edited-together collection of NOTHING BUT THE GUITAR AND SAX SOLOS from a whole bunch of live performances of "21st Century Schizoid Man"! Yes, fifty-some energetic minutes worth. As Fripp says in the liner notes: "King Crimson has often been accused of a capital offence in the annals of Prog Crime: the endless guitar solo. Who cares that prosecutors had not listened to the band? Schizoid Men is one approach to offering a plea of guilty, on the basis of manipulated evidence long after the events. Extended soloing by Mel Collins is not, in my book, any kind of crime at all. Rather, an instruction in performance by a young master." Not to mention, humble man he is, his own extended soloing... Pretty cool, actually, really way out there. We were playing it in the store, and one of our more avant-garde and drunken customers, who claims not to like Crimson, even felt compelled to buy it.
So, after last list's panning of the new 2002 Crimson effort, here's a nice (sad too, I suppose) reminder of how great (and different) they once were. Maybe Fripp ought to take a close listen... By the way, this has really good live sound, not like a shitty bootleg!
Compact disc reissue of super rare 1970 psych LP.
Remember this band's great song "People" from the Love, Peace & Poetry: Latin Amercian Psychedelia compilation? Well, that's the first track on here, followed by more bluesy jungle psych rock made by wandering Yankee hippy Stephen Scott (bass/vocals) and a group of fellow freak musicians he met in Venezuela. Although mostly full of fuzz geeetar, pounding garage-rawk energy, and wild harp blowing, there are also some moments of melancholic folk-rock gentleness.
It's obviously mastered from one of the rare vinyl copies, 'cause the sound is just a bit scratchy, but that's not particularily detrimental -- after all, this is an album with musique concrete elements that of course include the sound of a flushing toilet as the first thing you hear!
More frantic punk disco from the Liars. As we mentioned before, these boys wear their post-punk influences on their sleeve (Pop Group, ESG and the like), but they perform with such a raw, visceral intensity that they rise above mere redundancy. These three new tough, sweatily sexy tracks definitely hit the spot.
An all too brief seven tracks of delightfully collaged samples, guitar, vocals and digital gleeps 'n' meeps from this SF gentleman. Light and playful, they alternately take a sip of lounge-iness, dip their toes in glitch-y, down tempo electronics, and venture gently into other soundscape terrain. A wee detail I found a bit disappointing was the disc's abrupt end, the final cut just stops. It was like being jarred out of a 12 minute daydream. Nonetheless, this is a very very warm and pleasing introduction to Liquid Cop!
The second full length from Loscil (aka Scott Morgan) doesn't sonically stray from the dreamy, hypnotic path he began with his debut, Triplepoint, but it does come with a theme - submarines. Apart from the song titles which are the names of submarines (eg. Kursk, Triton, and Argonaut), there is definitely a languid deepsea feel to his music. Slowly swellling and enveloping sometimes to the edge of claustrophobic, the layers of echoing pulses, translucent drone washes and subtle hints at melody combine for an overall serene listening experience. Close your eyes and visions of such antiquated colossal vessels drifting through the shadowy depths easily emerge. Lovely!
It's been a while since Fat Cat offered anything from their outstanding series of split 12" singles, and the much ballyhooed release from laptop-guitarists Main and Fennesz has been well worth the wait. Main -- now solely under the propriety of Robert Hampson -- offers an exceptionally well done set of granular synthesis applied to the source material purported to be guitar drones, bowed cymbals, and homebuilt stringed instruments. Little of the textural sounds of the original remains within Hampson's compositions, which become sterile investigations of microscopic sounds fluctuating with digital crackle. Similarly, Fennesz relies upon digital manipulation to reveal trace elements of guitar driven avant-pop amidst the dominant masses of warm buzzings and electric fractures.
Mmmmm. This album is perfect for the lazy autumn-yet-still-summery-sunshine days that we're enjoying here in SF. Methinks you'll find it welcome no matter what time of the year, though. Doug Martsch, leader of Boise's Built to Spill, one of the only bands we can think of that *always* delivers incandescently glowing, gorgeous albums, has made a great solo album. Mostly Martsch on a twangy steel-stringed acoustic guitar that gives it a sunbaked, folksy backporch feel, he's occasionally accompanied by cello, simple snare drumming, delicate bass. Compared to the gloriously filled-out sound of the BTS records, the sound here is much more stripped down, but even though all of these tracks would have been great as proper BTS rock songs, they are just fine -- in fact, exquisite -- performed this way. Same minor key melodies, plaintively-voiced lyrics, and super emotional guitar solos that just leave ones heart aching.
"There isn't a way of deciding / which half of life's less inviting. / Awake or a dream. / 'Cos both of them lead you to suffer. / You wade from one into the other / twice a day."
The album is quietly dedicated to the recently-passed Chris Takino, head of Up Records, who'd always released the BTS vinyl versions. Highly recommended!
