On this 5-song ep, Plus / Minus waste no time in getting down to business, and that business is crafting glorious dream pop. However, they prove they can shift gears with nary a blink of the eye going from the considerably amped up power pop of the second song "Trapped Under Ice Floes" straight into the ultra soothing "Far Into The Fields". Very graceful and very nice. Can't wait for more!
MPEG Download: "Trapped Under Ice Floes" [/audio/plusminustrapped.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Trapped Under Ice Floes" [/audio/plusminustrapped.m3u]
1349 was once an obscure Norwegian black metal entity with one ep featuring Satyricon's Frost as session drummer. It was really great, actually, but it's only now with their full-length debut that people are starting to pay attention. Frost judged 1349's merits well and has joined as a permanent member -- if that isn't recommendation enough to you, here's what black metal expert Wrest (of tUMULt label black metallers LEVIATHAN) had to contribute:
"15 or so years after the birth of the second black metal storm, most of the so called 'original' black metal bands have changed direction in an effort to evolve. These acts have chosen to add different elements (rave, techno, way too much synth, etc...) or go in directions of so-called 'growth'. Fortunately, this is not the case with 1349's Liberation. From start to finish, Liberation is Arctic blackened terror, rendered at hyper velocity. The production is appropriately raw and cacaphonous, which makes for a guitar tone like a sonic guillotine, headed for your face at eye-level. At first listen the drums sound like they must be sped up. NOBODY can play that fast! Not so. It is merely a new snare-drum sound for Frost (a man few can hope to match at any speed). Most impressive is 1349's mastery of what most 'black metal' bands choose to leave out: the METAL! Along with loathsome, Satanic lyrics there are tasteful shards of igneous thrash and true metals. This record is a death-threat to all the 'evolved' black metal acts, prancing about flamboyantly in their pathetic raver-existences. Not to be missed... if you like the real thing."
And as purely Metal as Wrest insists this is, we'd be remiss if we didn't also point out that the insanely fast drumming and the solid buzzing hiss of the guitars make this disc a trance-drone record capable of appealing also to open-minded avantgardists as well as Immortal and Dissection fans!
MPEG Download: "Riders Of The Apocalypse" [/audio/1349ridersofthe.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Riders Of The Apocalypse" [/audio/1349ridersofthe.m3u]
Jester strikes again! After quite a few stellar releases by the likes of When, Ulver, Bogus Blimp, Kare Joao, Single Unit and others, this time the unpredictable (except for being predictably good) Norwegian avant-garde label Jester brings us another unknown quantity: the debut cd from something called 1349 Rykkin. Initially, this seemed like an exercise in distorted clobbering noise electronics with percussive hits and crunkly rhythms, definitely for fans of recent Merzbow and Kevin Drumm. Aggro but also varied and interesting. But, there's more -- four tracks in, the destructo stuff gives way to urban field recordings (passing cars, street sounds) and some really pretty, melancholic acoustic guitar playing in the form of "Field With Flowers In Crazy Colors", revealing Brown Ring Of Fury's sensitive side. Then the noise returns, but always, as before, with some left-field component. The penultimate track, "Best Boy", is also the album's epic centerpiece, being over 25 minutes of noise-throb akin to some ominous mechanical heartbeat, augmented with washes of spacey synth and vicious drones. Merzbow/Aube/Space Machine Japanoise territory here for sure. After that, there's a recording of some blokes in a bar on holiday (it seems) that makes for a confusing/bizarre/silly coda. Funny.
Our research reveals that this disc is the work of one guy, Bard Erik Strand Torgersen, with help from a few friends (including Jester label boss Kristoffer Rygg, aka Garm of Ulver). 1349 refers to the year the Black Plague devastated Norway, and Rykkin is the suburb of Oslo where Torgersen grew up. Apparently he's a Norwegian techno pioneer who hasn't made music for years, this is a new direction for him and certainly far from "techno" as it's normally conceived!
MPEG Download: "Extreme Sunlight" [/audio/1349extreme.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Extreme Sunlight" [/audio/1349extreme.m3u]
This is some seriously fuzzy, muddy ass kicking ROCK. There's some sort of pedigree here (Brother JT and some other randomness) but it hardly prepares you for the rock and roll attack. This is basically all instrumental, 'classic' rock, but with some Fushitsusha style freakouts and some downright friendly melodies, swathed in feedback and tape hiss and all run through that lo-fi/low-brow Siltbreeze filter. Think Comets On Fire, Zen Guerilla, Musica Transonic, Van Halen, the MC5 all stripped down and fuzzed out, with nods to post rock, space rock, free rock and just a tiny hint of that Siltbreeze/noise-rock sheen. But mostly just ROCK!
MPEG Download: "Webbed Toes" [/audio/1929webbedtoes.mp3]
Split single from two AQ faves that by now, if you're a reader of this list you are quite familiar with. You get a burst of fuzzed out, spaced out extraterrestrial Japanese mayhem from AMT ("The Tombstone Phantom Drifter") and a blast of droning, hypnotic krautrock-inspired Finnish ur-rock from Circle ("Riemukaari"). Only a few in stock.
Is this highly anticipated Adult. full length: (a.) raw in an in-your-face punky fashion, or (b.) raw in an unfinished, half-assed state? It seems that folks have already begun taking sides. Either way if you haven't heard Adult. yet, this shouldn't be your introduction to the music of this Detroit duo. They've done so much better than this - namely their "Resuscitation" release. However, that wasn't an album proper; it was a lively collection of their assorted singles, and clearly that is where Adult. shine brightest. Despite their attempt at crafting a fully realized album, "Anxiety Always" just doesn't hold up to "Resuscitation." It seems obvious that Adult. has gotten frustrated with all of the hub-bub that has exploded around them in the electro-whatever crowd. "Anxiety Always" finds Adult. attempting to re-invent themselves, by emphasizing the punk snarl that was always lurking under that mechanical sheen of industrialized paranoia. Thus Nicola Kuperus' vocals jump to the foreground, spastically crashing into the electro-clash they've taken such care to craft. Furthermore, Adam Lee Miller picks up the bass on a couple of tracks to add a human touch to Adult.'s machinations, recalling the pre-Joy Division outfit Warsaw. At their best, Adult. also references the mutant sounds of Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire; but at the same time, their ability to flesh out their tracks into wholly realized, infectious songs isn't as precise as on "Resuscitation." The shrill and redundant cut "Turn Your Back" leaves little to the imagination, sounding like a mediocre, punk-grrrrl, electronic outfit on Kill Rock Stars. Yet the album picks up steam as it continues, highlighted by the ominous, electro-obliqueness of "People You Can Confuse."
If you must know, Cup, who had previously championed "Resuscitation" here at the store, is less convinced by this album; but Jim, who has enjoyed revisiting all of those old Hula records from the '80s, has become rather fond of this admittedly flawed release.
MPEG Download: "Turn Your Back" [/audio/adultturnyourback.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Turn Your Back" [/audio/adultturnyourback.m3u]
The first album from this indie rock super duo! Alaska's roster boasts the talents of Russ Pollard (Sebadoh, Folk Implosion) and Imaad Wasif (Lowercase, Folk Implosion). This is all soft'n'mellow pop prettiness with whispery male vocals over subdued jangly guitars, some cello and piano. The song "Sun Don't Shine" features '80s poptart Josie Cotton (!) singing backups. Have to say, this is sooo much better than the new album from the Folk Implosion on which these two fellows make up the new F.I. line-up (along with a gent known as Lou Barlow). Like early summer sun beams glinting through tree leaves, these songs glisten and lull you ever so warmly. Very very nice.
MPEG Download: "S.S." [/audio/alaskass.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "S.S." [/audio/alaskass.m3u]
Cerberus Shoal wrote a song. Alvarius B wrote a couple songs. All in all, three songs were written. between 1996 and 2002, Alvarius B, who is Alvin Bishop from the Sun City Girls, recorded his two songs and the Cerberus Shoal song and Cerberus Shoal, who do their droney folky collective thing with lots of instruments from all over the world way out there in Maine, recorded their song and the two Alvarius B songs. Ok, so that's the story of how this second installment in North East Indie's series of splits came to be (first was " The Whys and Hows of Herman Dune and Cerberus Shoal," upcoming splits in the series will include Magic Carpathians and Guapo). This pairing seems natural; past AQ reviews have compared Cerberus Shoal with Sun City Girls, and each person / group's style suits the songwriting of the other one very nicely. Alvarius B brings warm lo-fi acoustic guitar and vocals; Cerberus Shoal's musical universe, not so overtly "ethnic" here as on some of their other recordings, is populated by banjos, clattering typewriter percussiveness, and a uniquely droll vocal delivery.
Both Cerberus Shoal and Alvarius B contribute darkly surreal lyrical imagery, alternately plaintive and fucked-up, contributing to a psych-folk sound that manages to be simultaneously blackly comic and genuinely moving.
MPEG Download: CERBERUS SHOAL "The Real Ding" [/audio/cerberusshoalrealding.mp3]
MPEG Stream: CERBERUS SHOAL "The Real Ding" [/audio/cerberusshoalrealding.m3u]
The latest (number six) in Audiosphere's "Invisible Architecture" series of super-sized-jewel-cased collaborative cds brings together up-and-coming Austrialian experimentalist Oren Ambarchi, the veteran Swiss "cracked everyday electronics" duo Voice Crack, and well-known improv percussion/electronics specialist Gunter Muller. Muller and Voice Crack have worked together before, and their aesthetic of mostly quiet, abstract chaos meshes well with Ambarchi's Fennesz-ish guitar and electronics. Not that you can really tell for sure exactly who is making what noises on this recording. Always dense and occasionally building in volume, there's a lot of interesting "microsounds" to catch here. Four tracks, 41 minutes of carefully crackling drone squeak buzz thwump brrr crzz whhhh.
MPEG Download: "Walking Oysters" [/audio/ambarchiwalking.mp3]
Arab Strap return with another record of lurid relationship confessionals. Tales of love and fucking gone wrong are given a musical backing that mixes up warm strings and outdated drum machine dance beats, languorous guitar downer pop and funky bass. As always, tragic and ugly, a made-to-order soundtrack for bad sex, worse breakups and the corner pub where you drown your sorrows afterwards. It's all singing this time from Aidan (half of the Strap), but I kinda miss the spoken confessions of nastiness, betrayal and sorrow, all breathy gruffness barely covering the underlying heartbreak on previous records (but then I have a personal fondness for spoken vocals). Arab Strap's strength is getting away with hyper-personal, depressing sentiments without sounding totally self-indulgent or whiny (maybe it has something to do with their singer being a burly, drunken Scot and not some fey, barely post-pubescent midwestern college boy? or is it due to the honesty in singing about fucking other people over as often as gettting fucked over?) That strength is thoroughly apparent on "Monday At The Hug & Pint," a wrenching experience even if it's not as deliciously dirty as my personal fave Strap album "Philophobia."
MPEG Download: "Act Of War" [/audio/arabstrapactofwar.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Act Of War" [/audio/arabstrapactofwar.m3u]
MPEG Download: "Serenade" [/audio/arabstrapserenade.mp3]
This is one of three separate shards of electronic music history (Ashley, Neuhaus, and Palestine) recently unearthed by Italian audio archaeologists Alga Marghen.
"Wolfman" collects four pieces circa 1957-1964 by American original Robert Ashley, a composer known for his releases on Lovely Music. Noisy tape-music and electronics to accompany equally extreme vocal performances. Pretty wild, and hard to take, certainly pioneering stuff!
MPEG Download: "The Wolfman" [/audio/ashleywolfman.mp3]
As nervous as the die-hard Star Wars fans had been about the second prequel "Attack of the Clones," the beleaguered contributors to the IDM list echoed a hushed anxiety about Autechre's seventh full album "Draft 7.30." Would it, like its predecessor, be "unlistenable noise?" Well, the answer may come as a disappointment to those who hold Autechre's "Chiastic Slide" or "Amber" as the pinnacles of contemporary electronica; but at the same time, "Draft 7.30" isn't nearly as problematic as "Confeld." During the past decade or so, Autechre had built the instantly recognizable trademark sound of fragmented breakbeats and melodic fragments that flicker between paranoia and melancholia. This sound sparked a huge number of imitators which certainly out-number the already large catalogue of work from both Autechre and their alter-ego Gescom. While it's difficult to prove their intent, it seems less and less a coincidence that Autechre would choose to abandon their trademark when so many others are replicating their ideas. While "Confeld" had been a radical departure for Autechre as a sea-sick collage of digi-static vibrations with only a modicum of success, Autechre has returned to one of their strengths on "Draft 7.30" in aligning constantly fluctating rhythms along a continuous structure. Thus, fractured electro breaks and obtuse techno ploddings spiral out from a consistent center amidst cascades of digital fuzz which is the obvious result of bending downpitched samples into the ugly parameters of digital distortion. Unfortunately, Autechre offers another mixed bag in the name of re-invention.
MPEG Download: "Tapr" [/audio/autechretapr.mp3]
"Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe," something of a funk blues album, is Ayler's last studio recording. Many fans feel that after the death of John Coltrane in 1967, the two records ("New Grass" and "Music is the Healing Force") Ayler released were sell-outs, a dilution of his uncompromising (and for some, difficult) artistry in an attempt to reach a broader audience. Ayler believed that he was charged to carry the word of God to people through his music, and those two albums were attempts to do that. With decades of distance now separating listeners (who, when this recording was made, were still just beginning to reel from the freshness of Aylers free music innovation) from these recordings, this reissue serves to re-open the evaluation of the direction Ayler's music was beginning to take before his career was cut short by his still mysterious death. The tracks on "Music Is" fall into three separate categories; vocal tracks featuring the stylings of late-era Ayler collaborator / sweetheart Mary Maria as well as some crazy vocals (and bagpipes!) from Ayler himself, Coltrane-like instrumentals, and blues collaborations with Canned Heat guitarist Henry Vestine. Definitely not the stuff that earned Ayler his reputation as a free-jazz giant, but an interesting insight into the evolution of his music.
MPEG Download: "Masonic Inborn" [/audio/aylermasonicinborn.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Masonic Inborn" [/audio/aylermasonicinborn.m3u]
49 year-old German steel-string acoustic guitar talent Steffen Basho-Junghans returns with his third cd for Portland's Strange Attractors Audio House label. His other ones, which we liked a lot too, were of a more experimental bent, all minimalist and droney and weirdly tuned, but this one takes a more traditional path hewing closer to the music of his obvious hero, the great and eccentric Robbie Basho (and to many of Basho-Junghans' past import releases). Like his guru and adopted namesake, here Basho-Junghans deftly picks out some totally beautiful, meditative and damn impressive East-meets-West 6 & 12 string guitar. (But unlike his hero, he doesn't indulge in any singing!) If you're at all into the classic Takoma school of instrumental acoustic solo guitar -- Basho, Fahey, Kottke -- you'll dig this. Really nice.
MPEG Download: "Hear The Winds Coming" [/audio/bashohear.mp3]
Janet Bean formed the indie rock Eleventh Dream Day in Chicago oh so many years ago, then followed that great band with Freakwater, her country duo with Catherine Irwin -- their harmonies converted legions of fans to alternative country. Now, Bean has released an album under her own name, and it's really good. Barely any twang remains, which worried me at first, but instead she's presented us with a sort of singer-songwriter rock record, middle of the road but in the best way, as if she was inspired by Carole King, Bread, Nanci Griffith, etc. With backup singers crooning all gospel-like in the background, her voice's natural vibrato really shines. There's sweet lap steel, warm strummed guitar, and some awesome, smart piano playing sort of oblique notes that contrast with the sweetness instead of backing it up -- a nice touch. Recommended!
MPEG Download: "The Purple Heart" [/audio/janetbeanpurple.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "The Purple Heart" [/audio/janetbeanpurple.m3u]
These days, any band that uses improvisation with heavy doses of loose, opiated psychedelia, lazy comparisons will inevitably be drawn to the No Neck Blues Band. It has to be said that The Blithe Sons, who have warranted a number of such comparisons, sound ABSOLUTELY NOTHING like the No Neck Blues Band. And actually they are much better off because of it... The Blithe Sons, of course, are the Jewelled Antler Collective's most active members Loren Chasse (Thuja, Child Readers, Id Battery, Coelacanth, etc.) and Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Skygreen Leopards, Bird / Ivy / Olivetree, etc.), having literally embraced their philosophy that "making music should be a picnic." Thus, they've taken to hiking all across coastal California, recording their pastoral avant-folk songs and empathic minimalist actions in direct communion with the landscape around them. The two sites which are particular to the Sons' third album "We Walk The Young Earth" were a wooden bridge in San Gregorio and the concrete bunkers scattered throughout the Marin Headlands. The latter were sites that have played a large role in many of the textural amplifications that Chasse produced in Id Battery; however, Chasse doesn't return the Blithe Sons to the smoldering abrasions of Id Battery. Rather, "We Walked The Young Earth" turns their minimalist hymns and melancholic drones toward a space that is even quieter, more introspective than anything yet produced by the Jewelled Antler collective, as if they've become hypnotized by their own reverberating drones in the confines of the bunker. It's true that in these spaces, Chasse and Donaldson spend a considerable amount of time listening to the environment around them, and shaping sounds that are sympathetic to those spaces. That's something with which the No Neck Blues Band has never really ever succeeded, instead opting for more of a druggy improv stumble. A sleepy album for sure, "We Walk The Young Earth" is another gorgeous album from these perennial AQ staff favorites.
Now on cd! The Blood Brothers are from Seattle and play a sort of hardcore/avant garde punk. This is their major label debut. This is some crazy, rad, chaotic stuff. Their live shows are said to change one's life. Judging by this release, they are another example of a band signing to a major label yet retaining their dignity, style and control. I (Sadie) totally love this band, they know the history of punk and proudly deconstruct and destroy what's been done over and over. So good.
MPEG Download: "Burn" [/audio/bloodbroburn.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Burn" [/audio/bloodbroburn.m3u]
It's been a while, but Borbetomagus is back! This upstate New York sax/sax/guitar trio has been making ears bleed with their extreme free improv skronk for years, but haven't put out a record for a little while, so we all were eager to subject (what are now) our ear-nubs to this. Recorded live at The 13th Note in Glasgow and at The Spitz in London back in 1999, the three tracks on "Songs Our Mother Taught Us" are prime Borbeto. What do we mean? How 'bout the never-ending ecstatic death-cry of a million screaming meemies as they plunge into the abysssss...? Take any crazy, noisy free jazz you've heard (minus the drums, but with extra feedback), multiply it by a thousand, and voila. We dare you to turn it up. Saxophonists Jim Sauter and Don Dietrich lock horns (literally) while Donald Miller's guitar grinds away in the lower registers, the trio together manufacturing a dense wash of drone-skree that will pleasantly numb your brain, if you're partial to this kind of noise/jazz/noise. Beautiful.
MPEG Download: "Aftershock" [/audio/borbetomagusaftershock.mp3]
New single from AQ faves Boris. Paired on this split single with the Dudley Corporation, a band from the UK who apparently played some shows with Boris on their recent tour. which explains this otherwise rather unlikely pairing. Boris offer up a buzzing fuzzy slab of big riff rock and roll, very reminiscent of their most recent Heavy Rocks record. While the Dudley Corporation give us 2 tracks of jangly, minimal indie rock, pleasant enough, but no match for the crushing super rock of Boris.
It's rare when an underground music "zine" becomes so regular (and good!) that you can really look forward to an issue every few months, but that's the case with this international journal of psychedelic/drone/pop/folk/cosmic/etc. sounds. We mean it, it's always a pleasure to spend some time with the latest issue of Broken Face. As usual, editor Mats Gustafsson and his international cast of contributors seem to be pretty much on our musical wavelength, selecting quite a few Aquarius faves to feature in this ish, from Avarus to Steffen Basho Junghans to Sunburned Hand Of The Man to Mikami Kan (not an interview, but still an interesting article). There's even an in-depth interview with Djin Aquarian of the legendary band/commune Yahowah 13!! Wow. The Time Lag and Idea record labels get profiled as well, and of course there's also lotsa reviews, and more! Pretty much an essential read/resource if any of the above names rock your world (and a great way to get acquainted with any that may be unfamiliar, as long as that you're into that psychedelic/drone/pop/folk/cosmic/etc. realm).
We gotta hand it to Tigerbeat6 head honcho Miguel for giving this disc a domestic release and price. Released in the U.K. by Rephlex, "Pressure" is the second outing by Kevin Martin under the moniker of The Bug. While this guise may be a recent one for Mr. Martin, he's not a newcomer to the scene. You may already be familiar with his previous projects Techno Animal, Curse of the Golden Vampire, God and Ice (certainly not a curriculum vitae to be sneezed at). With The Bug though, Kevin attacks our lower intestinal tracts with some of the best hardcore dancehall we've heard in a long time. Residing somewhere between DJ Scud's pummelling gabber style Ambush! material and Timeblind's Three-Foot-Long Bong-Hit of a track "Rastabomba". It's exactly the dancehall cuts that what we here at Aquarius have been thirsting for. Whereas Scud's tracks, being instrumental, were totally insane over-the-top panacea style gabber, "Pressure" is primarily a true dancehall record, with toasting on every track. As such, Martin's rhythms tend to be stripped down more than Scud's. Which isn't to say they ain't hard. Under Wayne Lonesome's damaged toasting for "Fuck Y~Self" for instance is some busy as hell, noisy-assed rhythm that battles 10 rounds with Lonesome's growling. Along with Lonesome, toasters on this record include Daddy Freddy, Roger Robinson, Paul St. Hilaire, The Rootsman and more. A definite must for fans of Ward 21 and sundry other demented dancehall. Absolutely sick, absolutely essential!
This album sounds like it was snatched straight out of the late '90s. Textbook darktronica which is certainly pleasant enough, if somewhat faceless and uneven. The synth strings melodies on the 15th track "Shadenfreunde" sound as though they're being played through a factory pre-set patch, and being performed by a complete novice no less (or perhaps they were programmed quite messily)! As a result, the track comes off as clumsy... and the album as a whole? File under 'h' for Ho hum.
MPEG Download: "Shadenfreunde" [/audio/miracalixshaden.mp3]
A really nice surprise from the mysteriously monickered Campfire Songs. Featuring members of Avey Tare And Panda Bear (reviewed a few lists back) and the Animal Collective to which they apparently belong. Unlike the fractured electronic glitchery and damaged pop of Avey Tare and the costume rock buffoonery of many of their contemporaries, Campfire Songs is more akin to the murky Fahey-on-qualudes of World (Of Dreams) reviewed way back on list 81, or the dreamy, strummy ambient blur of Scott Tuma, but with a way more washed out, late night free-folk feel. Which makes sense since this was recorded late at night, live to three minidiscs, on a screened in porch in rural Maryland. Very repetitive and hypnotic, with lots of Sunroof!-ish shimmer and plaintive vocals, rhythmic strumming, and field recordings of the surrounding forest. Equal parts sixties hippy folk, nineties ambient free noise and deconstructed indie rock twang. Good stuff.
MPEG Download: "Doggy" [/audio/campfiresongsdoggy.mp3]
In the ongoing stream of releases, the Jewelled Antler collective continues to offer new facets to their signature of hazy, psychedelic improvisations; but of all of their productions, none are as risktaking as The Child Readers. The collaboration between Loren Chasse and Jason Honea, The Child Readers juxtaposes the detail oriented field recordings that Chasse brings to his numerous projects with Honea's idiosyncratic songs that center on Honea's fluttering falsetto. For those 'purists' in the field recording community, Honea's voice, uttering stream of consciousness lyrics of wide-eyed wonder and innocence, may be an irritation within the time-based narratives that Chasse builds though his seemless collages of crows, airplanes, and campfire cracklings. Yet, there is a strange logic that exists in The Child Readers, which seeks to reconcile Chasse's field recordings and Honea's voice by blurring everything into expressions of natural sound. The Child Readers cares little for semantic distinctions, preferring to concentrate on listening to each other and what they bring to the collaborative process and wandering wherever inspiration takes them. "Dark Laughter" is sloppy, obtuse, and occasionally stumbles; but even in those falterings, The Child Readers could be one of the more rewarding projects you will find.
MPEG Download: "Perfect Rainbow" [/audio/childreadersperfect.mp3]
Fast and furious as always, these Finnish metallers are the kings of over-the-top guitar and keyboards duels. They'd almost be "power metal" if it wasn't for the extreme black and death elements (the vocals, the attitude). This new record looks to be their biggest yet, with a commercial edge but not nu-metal. Think Judas Priest's "Painkiller" meets Pantera, but with a Swedish melodic death metal component (In Flames, Soilwork...), hopped up on Red Bull and Rock Star energy drink cocktails. Yep, "Hate Crew Deathroll" is a massive, heavy attack, crammed full of melodic leads, snarling vox, catchy choruses, unexpectedly doomy parts, Zakk Wylde style pick squeals, pop synth bits, brutal drumming, electronic frills, and Rammstein stomp. Shred guitar shrapnel explodes in all directions, in much the same way that these songs are all over the place, and in your face. Absurd, undeniable metal madness! It's all a bit relentless, but if you're metal enough you'll take it.
MPEG Download: "Sixpounder" [/audio/childrenofbodom6pound.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Sixpounder" [/audio/childrenofbodom6pound.m3u]
What is it about California that spawns such fury and hatred and musical malevolence? Must be the weather! Or its proximity to HELL! There's been a remarkable number of cold and frosty, cult black metal bands coming from the Golden state in the last few years, all of them worthy of inclusion in black metal's elite: SF's legendary Weakling, Ludicra, Leviathan, Xasthur, Draugar (coming soon on tUMULt) and now CREBAIN. Another one man project, Crebain is Ancalagon The Black, who handles "Majestic Hellcommand Of Kataklysmik Deathstrings, Nightmarish Throatshredding and Percussive Programming." This is classic black metal, hateful and misanthropic, buzzy and hypnotic, ala Burzum, Darkthrone, Judas Iscariot, and the like. Named for Sauron's huge black birds in Lord Of The Rings (what would black metal bands do for names without Tolkien??), Crebain exudes a similar malevolence on Night Of Stormcrow, replete with howling, guttural, hyper-distorted wails of anguish, hellish riffs, buzzing insect-swarm guitars and some masterful programming that thankfully turns the drum machine into a hellish instrument of evil. Less atmospheric than Xasthur, and less fucked up than Leviathan, but equally true and black, Crebain follows his own dark path straight to the pits of hell. And as Ancalagon states in the liner notes: "To all those who have dared to cross me, your time is coming. Eventually, I will kill you all." This cd-r is strictly limited to 66 copies and numbered in BLOOD!
MPEG Download: "Night Of The Stormcrow" [/audio/crebainnight.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Night Of The Stormcrow" [/audio/crebainnight.m3u]
This six-song ep is the latest cd offering from Las Vegas metalcore act Curlupanddie. Screaming, crushing metalcore a la Converge, Coalesce and old Cave In. A buncha crazy kids who we can always count on for great, A Minor Forest-esque song titles (e.g. "I Don't Give A Shit If I'm In Outer Darkness, I'll Make Friends") and swank graphic design along with their superior metalcore. This disc sports fake Chris Ware artwork (though Chris Ware does gets thanked, so maybe he approved of the, uh, emulation?), which is a bit puzzling. Much like the drum machine weirdness on the disc's final track... Like we said, crazy kids.
MPEG Download: "I Hate Almost Every Person I Come In Contact With" [/audio/curlupanddieihate.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "I Hate Almost Every Person I Come In Contact With" [/audio/curlupanddieihate.m3u]
A long lost Krautrock artifact? Perhaps not, as the distributor we got this from nudgingly noted that this had an April 1st release date. Actually the story (which itself may be suspect) is that this is a cd reissue (with 'bonus tracks') of a LP hoax originally perpetrated upon the record collectors of the world in 1989 by members of German experimentalists HNAS. And while the amazing collage cover art looks convincing, did they really think their false beards in the band photos were going to fool anyone? Plus the production doesn't really sound like something recorded back in 1971. But just 'cause it's fake Krautrock (actually, if it's HNAS its technically still is Krautrock in a way...) doesn't mean it's bad. In fact, this is a pretty cool record, full of freaked out sounds -- spacey, scary orgel, synthi, gitarre and effekte. Pretend or authentic, it doesn't really matter, it's still a droning psychedelic bad trip (with some nice droning pretty parts too) that krautheads and those into krautrock's modern equivalents will definitely enjoy. File this with the likes of German Oak, No Neck, Brainticket, Reynols, Sand, Angelblood, Acid Mothers Temple, those suspicious PsiFi "Unknown Deutschland" bands, and Tangerine Dream's "Electronic Meditation"...
MPEG Download: "Innovative Schwingungen" [/audio/damenbartinnovative.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Innovative Schwingungen" [/audio/damenbartinnovative.m3u]
Weird-folk musician Smolken is from Poland, lives in Texas (to be closer to Jandek?), and records prolifically under the name Dead Raven Choir. Following up January's "Armoured Wolves", this is his second release on San Francisco's Jewelled Antler cd-r label, who must really love DRC since they usually only draw from their own Collective ranks for releases. According to Jewelled Antler's Glenn Donaldson, this was originally supposed to have been a collaborative project between DRC and Furisubi's Kris Lapke. But before Smolken got his tracks to Kris (or while he was waiting for Kris to complete them, perhaps?) he happened to send 'em to Glenn, who immediately persuaded Smolken to release them on Jewelled Antler just as they were, without any additions. The resultant spaciousness of the songs (a direction DRC was heading in anyway) really works well, and in the liner notes these silences are dedicated to Kris Lapke, so Glenn's story holds up. Harsh acoustic guitar strum, tangled melodic picking, droning strings, tape hiss, sudden voids of sound, and Smolken's dark, dramatic, accented vocals (lyrics this time all taken from Rainer Maria Rilke) -- it all makes for a stark and beautiful listen, the sparseness making every sound all the more portentious. It's (old-)country avant garde poetic stuff with a spooky black metal spirit, perfect for the campfires of your imagination. Smoken's voice is sometimes multitracked, spoken, whispering, and not quite as "difficult" as on some past releases, but every bit as eerie. Very nice.
MPEG Download: "Comforting Of Elijah" [/audio/deadravencomforting.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Comforting Of Elijah" [/audio/deadravencomforting.m3u]
This thoroughly bizarre album from the obscure Russian duo Die Blutleuchte becomes even stranger once you realise it was released on the Finnish electronic label Sahko, which is known for the pristine techno minimalism of Mika Vainio's earliest monikers (Philus and ù�in particular). Conceptually, "Rus" -- Dis Blutleuschte's first and only album -- is a fictional soundtrack to specific moments in Russian military history, starting back in the 15th century with the invasion of Mongolian tribes into Russia and moving onto Peter The Great's war on Finland, both World Wars, the abduction of political dissidents to Siberia, and the development of contemporary Russia through the philosophies of Glasnost. Perhaps to those with an understanding of the Russian language, this might appear overly didactic and obvious with all of the vocal samples which appear in various patinas of distortion and megaphone production; however since we here at Aquarius do not possess such skills, "Rus" appears as an impressive abstraction of history as a collision between grandiose technologies and indigenous folk languages. For example, there would be the juxtaposition of sampled recordings of the clattering of horse drawn carts over cobblestoned roads (pointing to apocalyptic horsemen for one reference, Mongolian invaders for another) with obtusely morose folk songs for guitar, flute, and drums, not unlike the Dead Raven Choir with an oblique sense of timing and emotional bleakness. While the folk songs remain more or less consistent, the references to industry and technology take on more militant references with blasts of megaphone shrieks and harsh mechanical noise. Die Blutleuchte might warrant references in this synthesis of technology and folk to Laibach, Blood Axis, or Moon Lay Hidden Behind The Clouds; however, "Rus" is far weirder than any of those references. A very surprising record!
MPEG Download: "Track 09" [/audio/dieblutleuschte09.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Track 09" [/audio/dieblutleuschte09.m3u]
A couple of these singles came our way when Yellow Swans blew through town a while back. John Wiese is from Bastard Noise and Sissy Spacek; (Die/ Das/ Dance/ D.) Yellow Swans are from Portland and they use a table full of outdated electronics to make blisteringly distorted yet dancable noise punk, or sometimes simply blistering noise, depending on their mood. This record definitely falls into the latter category! Loud and crunchy.
Here is one third of a triple dose of bizarre that's just arrived at AQ! What's so bizarre? Well, first off, the pairing of buoyant sixties pop tunes featuring a young lad's sweet voice with the incongruous sepiatone vintage porn pics on the record sleeves. If we were to stop our description there, these would be pretty darn odd enough, but let's continue shall we? The almighty catch is that the voice in question just happens to be the one that would go on to sing for Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Dio! Yes, these singles are early sixties recordings by none other than Ronnie James Dio himself! We all know he's an old guy, and had heard rumours for years that his recording career began way back in 1957...well now we pretty much have the proof in the form of these three singles, reissues of tracks circa 1962 done by Dio and his teenage cronies. This is not just pre-Heavy Metal Dio, this is pre-Beatles! Poppy, doo-wop, sock hop styled stuff in the vein of Dion, Richie Valens, that sort of thing. These singles with their risque covers come randomly assorted between plain black and nice thick swirly colored vinyl. Quite a curio. And as you might imagine, we have only a few in stock!
Here is one third of a triple dose of bizarre that's just arrived at AQ! What's so bizarre? Well, first off, the pairing of buoyant sixties pop tunes featuring a young lad's sweet voice with the incongruous sepiatone vintage porn pics on the record sleeves. If we were to stop our description there, these would be pretty darn odd enough, but let's continue shall we? The almighty catch is that the voice in question just happens to be the one that would go on to sing for Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Dio! Yes, these singles are early sixties recordings by none other than Ronnie James Dio himself! We all know he's an old guy, and had heard rumours for years that his recording career began way back in 1957...well now we pretty much have the proof in the form of these three singles, reissues of tracks circa 1962 done by Dio and his teenage cronies. This is not just pre-Heavy Metal Dio, this is pre-Beatles! Poppy, doo-wop, sock hop styled stuff in the vein of Dion, Richie Valens, that sort of thing. These singles with their risque covers come randomly assorted between plain black and nice thick swirly colored vinyl. Quite a curio. And as you might imagine, we have only a few in stock!
Here is one third of a triple dose of bizarre that's just arrived at AQ! What's so bizarre? Well, first off, the pairing of buoyant sixties pop tunes featuring a young lad's sweet voice with the incongruous sepiatone vintage porn pics on the record sleeves. If we were to stop our description there, these would be pretty darn odd enough, but let's continue shall we? The almighty catch is that the voice in question just happens to be the one that would go on to sing for Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Dio! Yes, these singles are early sixties recordings by none other than Ronnie James Dio himself! We all know he's an old guy, and had heard rumours for years that his recording career began way back in 1957...well now we pretty much have the proof in the form of these three singles, reissues of tracks circa 1962 done by Dio and his teenage cronies. This is not just pre-Heavy Metal Dio, this is pre-Beatles! Poppy, doo-wop, sock hop styled stuff in the vein of Dion, Richie Valens, that sort of thing. These singles with their risque covers come randomly assorted between plain black and nice thick swirly colored vinyl. Quite a curio. And as you might imagine, we have only a few in stock!
When this album was first released back in '96, the limited pressing of 1000 copies was gone almost immediately. It's been highly sought ever since - so beloved is Julie Doiron in Canadian indie circles (and admiration for her on this side of the border continues to grow). This was her debut as a solo artist following the demise of her band Eric's Trip under the name Broken Girl, and it articulates softly all the yearning and emotional upheaval of separation. Regardless of moniker, she skillfully wove some of the most hushed, fragile, deeply moving music around, and she did so with little more than her lilting voice and acoustic guitar. Recorded and mixed in '94 by her fellow Eric's Tripper Rick White. As an added bonus this re-issue includes the songs from her first two 7"s which swells the song count to a bountiful nineteen. So achingly down to earth pretty. For fans of Rose Melberg or Barbara Manning.
MPEG Download: "Dance Music" [/audio/doirondancemusic.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Dance Music" [/audio/doirondancemusic.m3u]
No. This is not the disco diva Donna Summer. Far from it, this Donna Summer is the moniker for Brooklyn plunderphonician Jason Forrest, who has obliterated a variety of genres into an abrasive collage of jagged samples in much the same way that Wobbly did to hip hop on his epic "Wild Why" album. Prog rock, electroclash, '80s top 40 schlock, free jazz, hip-hop, metal, and much more has been run through a blender of arrhythmic drill 'n' bass breaks and digital disfiguration. With its spasmodic speed of clipped samples, "This Needs To Be Your Style" accelerates the need for attention deficit disorder that Kid 606 requires of his audience, as he is constantly switching up all of the samples just outside of any ability to recognize where the sample comes from. Thus, this album can be very difficult to listen to; however, once you can get through track 4 or so, the tracks become far more listenable. It's unclear whether this is due to Forrest actually making the tracks less irritating, or due to the logic of his constructions finally becoming apparant. Certainly worthwhile mash-ups for the very patient or the very caffeinated.
MPEG Download: "Prog's Not Dead" [/audio/donnasummerprogs.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Prog's Not Dead" [/audio/donnasummerprogs.m3u]
The Driving Stupid were naive, silly teenagers from New Jersey who, in the summer of 1966, decided to form a band, drive cross-country to Hollywood and become famous rock stars. Two out of three ain't bad. And apparently they did become minor celebrities on the Sunset Strip -- not from playing shows, but for cruising around always in barefeet and funny hats. They did manage to release one single, a deranged-sounding piece of nonsense called "Horror Asparagus Stories" (original title and sample lyric: "My Mother Was A Big Fat Pig") that quickly sank from sight but probably has been heard on Dr. Demento's show more than once since. The full album they recorded at the time was, not surprisingly, never released -- until now, courtesy of the weirdos over at Sundazed who apparently have nothing better to do. At long last, you can check out The Driving Stupid's complete ouevre of self-admittedly "incredibly stupid" songs (hence their name, actually, which also alluded to their "driving" beat). Such beyond-novelty numbers as "Hide The Lobsters", "The Reality of (Air) Fried Borsk" and "Green Things Have Entered My Skin, Gladys" were goofy garagey proto-punk numbers with some of the absurd humor of The Monks' 1966 "Black Monk Time" but none of their politics or malevolence. Ok, songs like "I'm Gonna Bash Your Brains In" sound scary but it's joke malevolence. All in all, this is assuredly silly stuff, that lives up to at least half of their motto "so stupid, it's fantastic!"
MPEG Download: "Hide The Lobsters" [/audio/drivingstupidhidethe.mp3]
Dump is, as he so clearly tongue in cheekly states in the first song, a One Man Band. Namely James McNew who also holds down bass duties in Yo La Tengo. McNew has been making solo records and singles as Dump for years now. This is basic bedroom indie rock, with McNew's bright tenor, just a bit fragile, just a bit steel, hovering over the sweet guitars and hummable melodies. As with most bedroom projects, there's drum machine, but it's thankfully not annoying. It's used in a deliberately lo-fi way similar to Tall Dwarfs' cobbled together appeal. A possible drawback of the album is that his choice of covers is so good! That's not a bad thing, in fact it makes for a much more interesting album as a whole, but I have to admit found myself listening to the Thin Lizzy and Gerald Levert covers over and over, which takes away just a bit from the pretty originals.
Cover art by the Sea and Cake's Archer Prewitt!!!
MPEG Download: "Sisters" [/audio/dumpsisters.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Sisters" [/audio/dumpsisters.m3u]
A little while ago we gave a thumbs (and pointy spikes) up review to an album called "Green Hell" by a French black metal band known as Mystic Forest. As we mentioned then, Mystic Forest's main guy, one Stefan Kozak, has another band called Eikenskaden ("Oaken Shield") which is almost *exactly* the same. The line-up is different, but the songwriting, production, and even the graphic design bear marked similarity. Apparently Eikenskaden is the project in which Kozak blows off steam and indulges even further in ridiculous black metal concepts, and it's true that of the two bands, this one is perhaps the best, though it's a close call. "The Last Danse" is Kozak's second Eikenskaden album, and is as amazing as anything else he's done -- totally frenzied, quirky, and Burzumic, more distorted yet more melodic than you could imagine.
I was listening to this at home the other night, and my housemate thought it sounded like two things playing at the same time. The very pretty, baroque sounding keyboard lines coexist bizarrely with a hellish wash of fuzz and distortion. Raw yet extremely melodic. You can hear in Eikenskaden (and Mystic Forest) the gothic black/doom "pop" of Katatonia, as well as the neo-classical shred of Windham Hell. It's a weird combo, maybe, but it works really well. Imagine Burzum or Khold possessed by Mozart or something, with Immortal/Popeye vocal growls too. Really, it's so insanely full of reverb and distortion it's crazy -- HSShshshhHZZHZZCH!!!
Also new in stock and recommended: Mystic Forest's third album, "Waltz In the Midst of Trees" ($13.98, see review elsewhere on this list/site).
Our friends in Finland are a prolific lot. From the label that just brought us that wonderful Magyar Posse album, comes another band, this time with some familiar faces -- it features members of Circle, Ektroverde, Pharaoh Overlord, Kirvasto and Keuhkot. Eturivi, however, have their own weird sound. Creaking, creepy stuff, with droning science fictional tool shop electronics and glitchy rhythms. Electric organ, rattling percussion, plinking guitars all make for a mysterious background to the equally mysterious voices you'll hear. This has what seems like a bit of a theatrical aspect, with dramatic vocals declaiming something in Finnish (we presume) over the junkyard folk music. It's kinda quiet (in a noisy way though), until the next to last track, "Lian Jaljilla", when chugging guitars kick in and Eturivi fully reveals their Circle lineage, dealing out distorted stabs of motorik spacerock. The prevalence of spoken foreign-language vocals might not make this as accessible as some of Jussi & co.'s other projects -- you do feel like you're missing something by not understanding the words -- but it's still one that lots of fans will want to add to their shelf-ful of Finnish weirdness.
MPEG Download: "Saavutus" [/audio/eturivisaavutus.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Saavutus" [/audio/eturivisaavutus.m3u]
Probably best known for their Public Enemy / Herb Alpert mash-up, years before the bootleg/remix craze, Evolution Control Comittee return with a brand new full length of cut and paste, steal and reappropriate madness on Negativland's Seeland label. Nothing totally groundbreaking, quite reminiscent of early Negativland / Tape-beatles but with way more of an emphasis on humor and goofiness, with the musical emphasis being on the hip hop / funk / R+B side of things. But it is fun and funky and really funny. The perfect mix-tape / party record. Childrens records over vintage funky soul breaks, a foul mouthed astronaut over luxurious Beach Boys harmonies, more chopped up Public Enemy and much more!! Everyone who dug the Bran Flakes record from a few lists back will totally love this!!
MPEG Download: "Star Spangled Bologna" [/audio/evolutionarycontrolstarspa.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Star Spangled Bologna" [/audio/evolutionarycontrolstarspa.m3u]
In theory, this DVD produced by Austrian electronic experimentalists Farmer's Manual consists of "every locatable live recording and more dating from 1995 until 2003." The press release goes on to describe that these performances were "about algorithms and their artifacts. Clicks and textural discontinuities were rampant. The demeanor of the performers was stoic: that of accountants working a spreadsheet program rather than artists expressing themselves. Despite the apparent detachment of the performers, the musical pace was extremely rapid, both in terms of events per second and the speed of textural change." Despite the claim of a total running time of whopping 03:21:38:03 (d:h:m:s), all that could be extracted from computers-as-DVD-players we rely on here at Aquarius was 17 minutes of footage of 3 guys aimlessly breaking through a cheaply constructed wall. But maybe it's just as well we didn't find three whole days of that! Caveat emptor.
If Adult. scored "Hedwig And The Angry Inch" or... if I Am Spoonbender went Broadway. If the cast from Fame played electro. Glammy and slick with many cool parts and sounds but unfortunately weak arrangements undermine Fischerspooner's drive for #1. And well, I really could do without the diva singer too. The second track on the album is a cover of Wire's "The 15th", and quite a great
A nice little ep from the Flaming Lips, whose last 2 records we have raved about (hell, we've loved everything they've ever done) and who continue to be one of the only major label bands that does everything right (taking full advantage of being bankrolled by a massive corporation), freaky videos, performing via radio signal to an audience all wearing receivers, boombox parking lot concerts, a quadruple disc to be played back on 4 cd players, a forthcoming movie about Christmas on Mars, and now this Flight Test ep. The best part of this release is that it had been selling for close to $50 on eBay as recently as a couple months ago. So unless you were one of the few folks who could afford a $50 radio promo cdep, now is the time to snap this up for only ten bucks! The main reason to pick this up is the covers, a gorgeously faithful version of Radiohead's Knives Out as well as Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out Of My Head, realised here as a lugubrious, slow motion pop song, all warbling vocals and ominous strings, a nice change from the hi-energy house music of the original. Also features some different versions of tracks from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, their most recent full length, as well as a few new songs: The Strange Design Of Conscience and the brilliantly titled Thank You Jack White (For The Fiver-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me).
MPEG Download: "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" [/audio/flaminglipscantget.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" [/audio/flaminglipscantget.m3u]
This is one of those albums that's neither new, nor even a recent reissue, but that we here at Aquarius decided, heck, let's list, it deserves it! (While this disc already appears on our website, it was never actually *listed* in any of our newsletters.) So while many might already know this album backwards and forwards, it has most certainly slipped through the cracks for too many others out there. Being a Japan-only import can't help. Allan wisely reordered some copies recently (when a customer special ordered it for themselves on-line) and Byram, unwittingly playing it in the store, found himself getting progressively more obsessed with the album (and the band)! It wasn't long before Jim and Marcy were also finding themselves hooked. Now almost any day you come into the store, you'll hear the Flower Travellin' Band blaring.
This is an album (and a band) that are not celebrated nearly enough -- possibly out of misguided notions of their being another bad psych knock-off among the many crowding the record racks in the early seventies. But Japan's Flower Travellin' Band were no mere cheesy imitators of occidental rock 'n roll, they were in actual fact a full-fledged, pioneering tour de force of psychedelic progressive hard rock, equalling the krautrock heavies of the era. FTB can be compared favorably to Amon Duul's better efforts with their experimental meandering (think Yeti), and the best trancey spaceouts from Can. Yet there's never a sense that FTB lose track of their compositions no matter how far out they take a track. Perhaps because even more than these experimental Krautrockers, FTB's heavy (fucking ominously heavy) sound points to a major Sabbath, Purple, and Crimson influence. Released in 1971, Satori is the band's second and arguably best album (all but the first album Anywhere have now been reissued by Warner Japan). From the first screech/howl at the beginning of track one -- "Satori Part I" (the tracks on the album are all "Satori", parts I-V) -- from vocalist Joe, who inhabits a zone somewhere between Can's Damo Suzuki and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, the album gets straight down to business. Joe's scream is followed by a foreboding bass, guitar and drum dirge that's straight up collision between Cream and Black Sabbath in which no one survives. It's got so much more teeth than either, it's not even funny, predating punk by a good many years. "Satori Part II" however is quintessential FTB Over a pounding tribal drumbeat, alternating between a buzzing sitar-esque guitar drone and a melody line that curls ripples and lilts like a plume of burning incense smoke, guitarist Hideki Ishima lays out one of the creepiest, coolest guitar leads ever. If that ain't enough, vocalist Joe's singing is like that of Axl Rose being channelled by the Sun City Girls! Even if the rest of the album were total shit -- which it ain't -- the cost of this cd would still be well worth it for this song alone! "Part III" -- an instrumental -- picks up where II leaves off but slows the tempo down to a deathly pace, which makes it even heavier. This is the Sabbath influence on FTB writ large. Replete with an improv freakout before returning to the original riff and building into a frenzied crescendo. Needless to say, if you weren't bobbing your head at the beginning of the song, you will be by its end. "Part IV" could be considered FTB's "blues" number, with Joe picking up the harmonica instead of singing. But instead of churning out the expected twelve bar formula, FTB truncate the form and construct a minimalist jam around a short riff instead. "Part V" shows yet another facet of FTB's seemingly infinite potential with Hideki (?) playing some kick ass, spooky koto-like guitar overdubbed on top of some heavy psych. Damn! They could have done ten fucking albums around this schtick alone and probably never lost our interest... sigh... but this (and the other two that are also available, look for reviews in future) will have to suffice for now. Absolutely, fucking recommended!!!!
MPEG Download: "Satori Part II" [/audio/flowersatori2.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part II" [/audio/flowersatori2.m3u]
Aquarius' favorite fluxus hillbilly intellectual returns with yet another collection avant-folk. We say 'returns' and yet, with the exception of one from 1976/2001, these tracks come from 1971 and 1978. Much of the goods here are similar to his last two releases on Locust ("Back Porch Hillbilly Blues Vols. 1 & 2"). For instance track one, "Violin Strobe", begins with slowly pulsing notes scratched out on violin which, through some tape device, begin to accumulate a hypnotizing tapestry under Flynt's playing. Hillbilly tape music indeed! Track two, "Guitar Rebop", is a duet for demented tremolo laden swamp guitar and sitar-like drone. Not all Flynt's tracks here are of the hillbilly variety though. For instance, two "Leather High" compositions in A and E (recorded in 1978 appropriately enough) sound like an erstwhile disco guitarist recovering from trauma. In both, a boogying disco rhythm guitar rapidly decays into a series of reverberant swells of guitar through a volume pedal. It's these two tracks, along with the 15 minute ending track "S&M Delerium" -- a continuation of "Leather High in E" -- which make up the bulk of the play time on this disc. It's too bad as, while they're fine tracks in moderation, it would be nicer if the earlier tracks like "Violin Strobe" (which lasts a mere 5 minutes) could be left to degenerate for another 10. Or 20!
MPEG Download: "Violin Strobe" [/audio/hflyntviolinstrobe.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Violin Strobe" [/audio/hflyntviolinstrobe.m3u]
The second album from Providence Rhode Island art darlings Forcefield (the band who knits sweaters that they sell in art galleries for thousands of dollars, apparently, and who also performed at the Whitney Biennial!) is the second Bulb release we've noticed after the Mind Flayer album bearing a logo saying "Bulb Underworld" and a crude drawing of a twenty-sided die. Allan's D&D senses are tingling. Thus the following conversation in our office...
Allan: Hey this new Forcefield is a pretty cool, textural electronic noise record! It sounds like angry rats, squeaky balloons and exploding synths. Very listenable though. Wasn't their other album a herky jerky arty rock punk kinda thing though?
Andee: Yeah, I think so.
Allan: Well, I like this album.
Andee: Uh, I think the world's seen enough noise records...
Allan: But this one's called Lord Of The Rings Modulator!!
MPEG Download: "track 2" [/audio/forcefieldlord2.mp3]
Chris Knox has already conquered the pop world with his wonderful albums as a solo artist and with Tall Dwarfs. So where's his head nowadays? Deep inside his G4, apparently, and this from a man who I seem to remember once expressed luddite-like glee to me at his not having email yet. Gotta love 'im, sweet Mr Knox. Anyway, armed with ProTools, a grant and lots of time, Knox has made an experimental musique concrete album that's as enjoyable in its (relative to other highbrow concretists) lo-fi humbleness as it is interesting in its methods of construction. On one piece, for example, inspired by experimental pianist Conlon Nancarrow he arranged the 88 piano key notes into visual patterns pleasing to the eye, and only then listened to see if they sounded good. (They do.) Other tracks feature fellow sound artist John Hudak's recordings of insects sped up into whirring mechanisms, stadium field recordings mixed with plastic rakes into tinkling swirls, ancient unearthed '70s tape manipuations re-mucked about with, etc. A fine album, both sonically and in its unintimidating, "friend"-ly approachability. Read about its making yourself here; witty Chris Knox always says it best himself: http://flyingnun.co.nz/viewartist.cfm?artistID=473
MPEG Download: "First Easy Piece" [/audio/friendfirst.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "First Easy Piece" [/audio/friendfirst.m3u]
Former members of AQ faves Califone and Orso prove the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree with their debut album Mouthfuls. Not nearly as experimental as either of their previous outfits, the Fruit Bats play a catchy, jangly, sweet and melancholy, rootsy sort of indie folk. Great harmonies and plenty of hooks. Sweet and easy and good for you ears. Fans of Calexico, Califone, the Shins, Modest Mouse and the like will dig this like crazy.
MPEG Download: "Rainbow Sign" [/audio/fruitbatsrainbow.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Rainbow Sign" [/audio/fruitbatsrainbow.m3u]
