Richard James jumps into the dancehall fray, or jumps on the dancehall bandwagon, whichever you prefer. Either way, this single kicks serious ass. 'Run The Place Red' is a remix of a track from the amazing Bug record from a few lists past, and while James adds a bit more skitter and drill and rapidfire drum and bass, and does a little slice and dice, it would have fit perfectly on that Bug record. Dancehall just the way we like it, pounding and crushing and a little fucked up. The other two tracks are full-on speaker shredding noise. Weird and brutal and pretty tough to listen to. Definitely a quick fix for those of you who don't like how 'soft' and dynamic and un-Merzbow-like Merzbow has become lately. All three tracks are pretty darn great, but get it mostly for the dancehall track. Wicked.
Starting things off with lengthy cycle of a lil' drum beat and an off kilter organ melody, this new American Analog Set album sounds not unlike an indie, lo-fi Stereolab. Add some soft male and female vocals, a tambourine along with some electric guitars and the familiar AAS sound comes a little bit more into focus. However the next song stirs thoughts of Pinback and Portastatic. Perhaps it's because Promise Of Love is definitely one of AAS's most fleshed out albums. No great departures from past efforts, just positively brimming with mellow lushness. So pretty pretty pretty!
Who is this gathering called The Animal Collective?
Why it's noneother than these fine artists Geologist, Deaken, and -- perhaps most familiar to AQ customers -- Avey Tare and Panda Bear.
With the help of Carpark Records, they've started up their own label on which this very album appears. Animal Collective throw everything into their sonic cauldron: prog, jazz, techno, noise, krautrock, punk rock and psych -- making for some intriguing ramshackle dissonance. Sometimes you'll get one, sometimes you'll get all at once. Faint melodies barely take shape and drift away. Raw percussive clatterings start and stop. Almost gutteral chants and barks materialize to keep time with the rhythms. This is some very 'out-there', unpredictable music... perhaps not for everyone, but we certainly dig it!
We raved about the last Armpit record (they were known then by the more regal monicker Thee Armpit) which demonstrated the Armpit as being one of the few outfits boldly and successfully carrying on the rich NZ noise rock tradition of bands like the Dead C and Gate.
This record continues in the same vein, mining the past for reusable noise artifacts while giving things their own unique spin. Murky, dirty rumbling riffs, spread out all thick and nasty like hot tar on toast, with yelped indecipherable vocals, bound and gagged by filthy sheets of white noise, droning amp buzz, ominous soundscapes dotted with scattered percussion and obscured sheets of wild feedback WAY in the distance, slow motion sort-of-garage-rock with hardly-there melodies and impossible-to-tap-your-foot-to rhythms, gritty crackle and hum with gutteral frog-like vocals, and warm walls of thrum and fuzzz, like a more lo-fi Sunroof! So nice.
A single track, recorded live during Birchville Cat Motel's last European tour, in January, at a place called The Church in Copenhagen, Denmark. Things start off with what sounds like someone sliding the pews (if it is indeed a real church) over the rough stone floor, before those sounds are joined by tinlking, chiming clatter and a distant whir of compressed melody that slowly and subtly shifts and shimmers, hums and glistens, turning the jarring opening into dreamy, sleepy droning warmth.
Our hyper prolific buddy Campbell Kneale returns with another piece in the puzzle that is Birchville Cat Motel. Three extended tracks, over 50 minutes! The first track displays the harsher side of our normally mild mannered noisenik, with warm white noise that slowly gets its jagged edges smoothed off until the raw spiky skree becomes a warm muted roar. Track two finds us in much more familiar territory. 30 minutes of what sounds like bells and chimes, that are stretched into a warm wash of overtones and reverberations, with occasional clatter and buzz bobbing to the surface. Gorgeously meditative. Track three sounds like an indie rock band caught in Kneale's sticky web, trying desperately to pick out notes on their guitars, struggling against the thick, unyielding pull of oblivion. Shimmering feedback and rumbling drones occasionally let a stray note or chord make it to the surface, but those are quickly swallowed up by the murky morass.
This new cd from SF's one man band Blanketship compiles three of his cd-r and cassette eps (hence the title, get it?) from the last couple of years. In chronological order, they are: L'Homme Invisible, Captain Assure, and Willow Bend. However, the tracks -- 25 in all -- have been jumbled together into an all new running order. It flows very well, making for a delightful full length. Maybe Cup's gone a little bit nutty, but she thought she heard lil' kitties mewing throughout this cd (particularly on the track "Dwarfism"). Then again maybe it was all due to the fact that just moments earlier we were listening to the plentiful meowing on the Cats & Kittens cd. Nonetheless, this is not a bad thing! The sounds, whether they are indeed meows or not, totally complemented the overall soft 'n' soothing atmosphere. On each track, Blanketship craftily arranges a soundscape of electronic melodies, sampled sounds, programmed rhythms among other things resulting in an airy collage. Sometimes a bit ghostly, sometimes a bit '60s British mystery movie-esque, sometimes a bit like a kranky ol' videogame, quite often playful and novel. Nice!
Judging from the amount of folks who ask about this record and the crazy amount of press they seem to be getting, there's a good chance this might be the next big thing. But does it live up to the hype? I didn't think so at first, but on repeated listens I'm beginning to think it actually does. Part of they hype is based on the fact that Broken Social Scene is a pop band, but a pop band made up of underground experimental luminaries from the Godspeed You Black Emperor/Silver Mount Zion/Molasses/etc. scene, and you *can* tell once in a while, when certain parts turn into stretched out epics and others devolve into cinematic ambience. While those parts do help make the record unique, a pop record is not a pop record without hooks, and thankfully there are plenty of hooks to be found. Their sound is all over the map, from propulsive, heavily affected rhythms, shuffling and overlapping (a la late era Boredoms) to driving three chord NYC skinny tie rave-ups (track 4 sounds SO much like the Strokes) to sort of beat-inspired jazziness to loungy ambience with skittery electronic percussion. Mumbly indie boy vocals slip into warbly falsettos, Nick Drake-ish acoustic guitars lay warm and comfy under lush harmonies, melancholy melodies are obfuscated by really cool weird production, and it all sounds so damn pretty. I hear so many different bands in BSS: Built To Spill, The Strokes, Polyphonic Spree, Trackstar, Muse, Sea And Cake (especially the vocals), Tortoise, The Flaming Lips and even U2. Especially U2 on some parts! With the occasional Chicago-ish horns. Sounds like a mess? Well, it sort of is. But it works.
Can't go too wrong with early '70s JB funk, now can you? This compilation of unreleased (live and studio) tracks circa 1967-1973 was first issued in 1988, now it's been reissued with 2 bonus cuts. Though these 13 tracks didn't make it to wax back in the day, that's only 'cause the Godfather was so prolific, and like it says in the liner notes: "he sometimes released forgettable recordings and forgot releasable tracks". Tracks here include a live "There It Is" from the Apollo, 1972, a nine-minute extended version of "People Get Up And Drive Your Funky Soul" from the 1973 soundtrack to Slaughter's Big Rip-Off, also the full-length version of single-only cut "I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want To Dance"), and a couple instrumentals, one untitled, certainly funky but with uncertain personnel, and eight others. James Brown fans may recognize vamps and lyrics used elsewhere in the JB canon, as Brown was often re-recording, re-using, re-arranging, re-forging the funk, so that a 1956 composition, radically altered, could become a 1974 hit, that sort of thing. For instance, the bonus track "You've Changed" (1969) uses the words to "What Do I Have To Do To Prove My Love To You" as previously sung by Brown diva Marva Whitney. This collection IS definitely a motherlode (stress on the word mother) of unearthed funk. Get down and check it out.
If you're already jonesing for some more Bug tracks, here's one more song for you. Well, a vocal and a dub, so almost two songs. This one features Cutty Ranks on the a-side. Yeah, it sucks that it's almost ten bucks for so little playtime, but then again it's a heavy fucking single; as good as any of the DJ Scud Ambush! 7"s.
Beggars has just reissued the Cocteau Twins catalog. We're gonna try to list 'em all, one by one...starting (why not?) with this one. Heaven Or Las Vegas was originally released in 1990. Their music swoops and floats as if conjured by the wings of the most lovely and magical deepsea birds. Somehow it's at once immensely majestic, deeply comforting and sweetly infectious. Robin Guthrie's glistening guitars and Elizabeth Fraser's voice spiral together effortlessly while Simon Raymonde forms waves of regal bass lines that anchor the proceedings. Features the beloved Cocteau Twins' hit "Iceblink Luck".
After a much too long three year recording hiatus, the Crooked Jades return with 23 new tracks. Like their previous releases, volume 2 of The Unfortunate Rake is a mix of both arrangements of traditional tunes and original compositions. For those who still haven't heard them yet, the Crooked Jades play a seamless blend of American roots music that absorbs bluegrass, country, and early string band styles with remarkable fluidity. Like their previous releases, heart rending ballads, superb vocal harmonies and high powered fiddle tunes abound here. As much as the Jades -- possibly the hardest working roots music band in the Bay Area -- excel in what's expected of a great string band (excellent instrumental breaks & vocal harmonies), it's their arrangements and choice of instrumentation that puts them over the edge. With judicious inclusion of hammond organ and piano to their growing arsenal of ukuleles, Hawaiian slide guitars, dobros, myriad banjos (tenor, banjo-uke, etc) and pedal-steel as well as the usual suspects (fiddle, guitar, string bass, mandolin), the Jades have developed a sound that's far more rich and interesting than the "olde-timey" groups they're unfortunately often lumped in with. There's even a soundtracky instrumental composed by leader Jeff Kazor which is nicely reminiscent of Penguin Cafe Orchestra's better moments -- Yellow Mercury No. 2 -- featuring Jeff on dulcimer accompanied by Richard Buckner (who again plays all over this new album as well as being credited as co-producer) on piano & ukulele and Michael Ismerio on fiddle. Highly recommended! And for those who still don't have them, we still stock the Jades first two records.
Ipecac unleashes the latest chapter in the saga of the Curse Of The Golden Vampire -- otherwise known as Alec Empire and Techno Animal (Justin Broadrick and Kevin Martin). The last CotGV was a crushing super distorted dub/breakbeat/jungle free for all that we all pretty much dug. The new one is too, sort of. It's a much sloppier and noisier affair, which could be a good thing I suppose. But for me, it's lacking the huge beats that made the first one so appealing. Well, they're still there, but they're buried under so much nosie and skree and shkkkkgghhhhhhh that the whole thing sometimes veers closer to Japanoise territory than their DHR lineage would have you expecting. So, if you need a noise fix, and like your noise with some beats, this may be just what you need.
Recorded "live" in the studio, this recording expands on the "rock" side of Deerhoof-- those moments from "Reveille" that reminded us of the Who, with drummer Greg pounding mercilessly on his stripped down kit behind power chord outbursts. Those bits were sandwiched between more experimental fuckery, the whole thing rendered somewhat surreal by singer Satomi's high-pitched little-girl-on-acid vocals. On "Apple O," the damaged noise has been toned down somewhat to make way for the aforementioned rock, but there are also some very sweet, gentle and even romantic numbers, with acoustic guitar strum and a bit of lovely fragile falsetto from Greg. They even get jazzy for a minute (damaged Beefheart lounge jazzy, that is). Even amidst romantic sweetness, Deerhoof still retain a sense of the bizzarre, albeit an awfully cute kind of bizzarre. It's their balancing act between fucked-up noise and twisted yet adorable pop, crazy huge rock n' roll and vulnerable beauty that make Deerhoof the best band in San Francisco (at least in Marcy's opinion!). "Apple O" isn't as mind-bendingly amazing as "Reveille," but then it's difficult to repeat perfection. It's still super-awesome, and growing on me with every listen.
Is it just me or would more rock bands be better served by either a) becoming an instrumental band, or c) singing in another language other than English? Certainly part of this wish is born out of a desire to be spared the painfully bad lyrics often penned by would-be poets, but also because it's often so much nicer to hear singing for singing's sake, and to hear the wonderful inflections of vowels and consonants as they're treated through the mouth of a completely different vocal tradition. I always imagined that had Sonic Youth employed a Vietnamese singer they'd have been my favorite band -- at least for the first several years of their career. And I'm sure that one of the main reasons people, myself included, love the Cambodian Rocks compilation (and alternately why the mainstream public probably don't) is due to the vocals. Yeah, it's some great stripped down garage rock. But what puts that album over the top are the vocals. So it was pretty exciting to hear that a group had formed in honor of that venerable collection of Cambodian garage classics. While the instrumental backbone of Dengue Fever is truly an all-star cast of musicians, including Senon Williams of the Radar Brothers on bass, Zac Holtzman of Dieselhed on guitar, David Rallick of Beck on saxophone, Ethan Holtzman on farfisa and Paul Smith on drums, without their vocalist Chhom Nimol they'd really be a rocket without fuel. Nimol, the princess, is the real star of the show. Born and raised in Cambodia, Nimol was a pop star there before emigrating to Orange County several years ago. To give you an idea of her status back home, Nimol regularly performed for the king and queen of Cambodia. That's right, the king & queen! And now she's essentially slumming it with a bunch of indie rockers. But the pairing couldn't be better, and I highly recommend that the next time the group is even remotely near your town that you go see them play, because you won't regret it. Until that day comes, you'll get a very good consolation prize in Dengue Fever's new studio recording released on Trey Spruance's (Mr. Bungle) Web of Mimicry label. While the group began by simply covering the Cambodian Rocks album wholesale, their repertoire has grown to include several originals -- included here -- and a cover of Mulatu Astatke's "Yegelle Tezeta" (from Ethiopiques Volume 4), which blends quite nicely with the Cambodian pop material. And what the group may lack in the raw spontaneity of those original tapes, they make up in spades with full arrangements and sensuous fidelity. Nimol's beautiful voice comes out wonderfully prisitine so that you can hear every minute inflection, and it's a voice so beautiful you won't need to see her to fall instantly in love. Highly recommended!
Dungen's "Stadsvandringar" is Allan's new favorite cd (favorite new cd?). After a couple listens, he was well and truly hooked. Dungen is a Swedish band and what they play is Swedish retro psych-pop. Really really good Swedish retro psych-pop! This disc is, apparently, Dungen's second album after a vinyl-only effort that started a buzz. It looks and sounds perfectly '60s (or early '70s) with a front cover photo-collage in which wunderkind bandleader/singer/guitarist/songwriter Gustav Ejstes could be a dead ringer for a long-haired Owen Wilson. Musically, it sure casts a spell that that's definitely not-of-our-era... with sugary vocal refrains, wild fuzz guitars, Hammond B-3 organ riffing, lush arrangements, and some quite lovely flute bits (gettin' a bit proggy there, nothing wrong with that). Hints of trad Swedish folk music show up as well, not unlike that Arbete Och Fritid reissue we reviewed not long ago, one of Dungen's Svenska psych-prog-folk forefathers. The vocals are all in Swedish, and are sorta nasal, but good. Overall, this disc is just magical, convincingly retro yet standing on its own songwriting-wise. Melodically it's just as irresistable as the latest from Dungen's pal Bjorn Olsson, also reviewed here recently, but of course Dungen is more of a psychedelic rock thing. Imagine, maybe, if you can, something somewhere between the Kinks and Caravan, circa '69, with Swedish singing... Or just take Allan's word for it, this is great! We can only wonder why Dungen's retro-inclined Swedish labelmates like the Caesars and the Soundtrack Of Our Lives have gotten domestic US release and lots of attention, while this even better band is still only an import. Ah well, at least it's worth the higher import price!
NB. we should warn you that there's that annoying copy control technology on this cd (which means that 2 of the 11 songs aren't on Allan's iPod, boo hoo).
Over the course of Essential Logic's brief existence, this seminal UK post-punk ensemble led by Lora Logic traversed a mightily broad spectrum from sax-laced, herky-jerk propulsion to angelic dream pop. We're pleased to report that the "Fanfare In The Garden" 2cd anthology captures the Essential Logic oeuvre quite wonderfully and also features four previously unreleased songs!
Essential Logic came to be in 1978 after Lora Logic, who'd spent some time playing sax for the X-Ray Spex and The Stranglers, decided to assemble her own challengingly, off-kilter punk band. Throughout Essential Logic's history, Lora Logic surrounded herself with some extrordinary members of the UK post-punk / art-rock community, including a young guitarist named William Bennett who later went on to form the confrontationalist power electronics outfit Whitehouse, Charles Hayward of This Heat, and DNA / Pere Ubu bassist Tim Wright.
Yet throughout the constant turnover of members, Essential Logic always centered around Lora Logic's vocals which jumped about erratically from howls to shouts to throaty croons. Confrontational, outspoken, and energetic, Essential Logic is one of the cornerstones of the female vision of punk, bringing to mind the likes of the Raincoats, X-Ray Spex, Liliput / Kleenex, and even Yoko Ono.
Even though Jay Farrar was the better songwriter in Uncle Tupelo, and had THE VOICE that defined their sound, all whiskey soaked and gravelly, he has been totally eclipsed post-Uncle Tupelo by his ex-band mate Jeff Tweedy and his band Wilco, who have been critical darlings since day one, and over the last year or two have managed to win over the public as well, selling tons of records and having the tale of their label swapping debacle and their subsequent artistic and commercial triumph told time and time again. And actually it makes a lot of sense, as Tweedy's songwirting really blossomed once he was on his own and out from under Farrar's formidable songwriting shadow. While Farrar's work in Son Volt and on his solo records has lacked the spark that made his work in UT so intense. And unfortunately that continues to be kinda true...
Now, the sound is there. It always has been. Drifting and plaintive and melancholy with that gruff gorgeous voice. Unfortunately, there are no songs. And that's the problem. If you can get it into your head that this is not a pop record of actual songs, but an extended assembly of sounds, then it may be more satisfying for you. Slippery slide guitars pick out warbly melodies, alongside thick rich acoustic guitars and warm reverberant cellos. And again, there's that voice. And this release boasts some interesting production as well as a six part suite of spacy, experimental instrumental interludes scattered throughout, but all that just doesn't quite make up for the lack of CATCHY songs. But like I said, it does *sound* SO GOOD. I just desperately want Farrar to knock one out of the park the way Tweedy did with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I know it'll happen. And I'm willing to wait, 'cause I know it'll be worth it.
Before we launch into what's gonna be relatively long-winded review, let's just state up front that this has the best album cover EVER: the band themselves cruising down a rural highway on choppers wearing nothing but their birthday suits!! And this version sees the orginal gatefold recreated for the cd-era, mini-LP sleeve style. But if that's not enough to get you to buy this, read on...
Not long ago we gave a big thumbs up to the album "Satori", the masterpiece from Japanese '70s psych rockers the Flower Travellin' Band (note: we're still waiting to get more of those in stock, they're backordered at our distributor!). Now, however, we've got a brand new reissue of the Flower Travellin' Band's debut album, "Anywhere". It certainly doesn't scale the heights of "Satori" but it'll help you to understand how they got there. Along with a great take on "House Of The Rising Sun" (a nod to Frijid Pink?), this album also explicitly demonstrates, via covers, these Japanese freaks' radical recognition of the genius of two of their Western contemporaries, Black Sabbath and King Crimson. Like many other great artists, with humble beginnings Japan's Flower Travellin' Band cut their teeth on the material of their mentors. Though "Anywhere" -- released in 1970 -- is primarily a covers album, it's also quite a testament to both the band's veracity in their reproductions and their creativity in realigning the building blocks of rock & roll. Their cover of Black Sabbath's self-titled track was actually recorded in the same year as the original and their version of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" only a year after its release. And they aren't merely content to play only the "Schizoid Man" opening riff, like so many other bands that have attempted to cover it, but take on the entire piece in all its schizophrenic freaked out glory, getting waaay into the improv element of the mid-section. The same is true for "Black Sabbath" and you have to appreciate singer Joe's take on the unique Ozzy voice. The most interesting track on the record though has to be their attempt at straight-up blues rock -- while their "Louisiana Blues" starts and finishes almost pedestrianly enough on the "Minglewood Blues" riff by Gus Cannon (of Cannon's Jug Stompers) that was popularized in the rock scene by the likes of The Grateful Dead and Captain Beefheart, the interior of the song is a complete departure of sorts. Not only devoid of the original progression, it's not even "bluesy" at all. Here in the extended jam that makes up the meat of this musical sandwich, the Flower Travellin' Band's Eastern roots surface a bit. It's a precursor to the sound of their later albums "Satori" and "Made In Japan" (another great one which we'll be reviewing in the future if we can ever get any stock of it in quantity).
I just realised we have never listed any Pond records. Which is a crying shame as they are responsible for two of my favorite records EVER, having slowly mutated from a dirgy grungy (they were on Sub Pop after all) sludgy rock band, to a gorgeously lush and quirky pop band, making one of the greatest pop records ever, Rock Collection. That major label debut disappeared from the radar without even a blip, most likely resulting in the end of the band. We'll remedy the Pond situation on some later list, but for now, we can talk about the new album from Pond mainman Charlie Campbell, and his new band Goldcard, which is essentially Pond (it features one of the other two Pond guys) as well as Quasi frontman Sam Coomes and a bunch of other folks. This is gorgeously quirky, super catchy really really strange indie pop, but the strangeness in no way interferes with the pop-ness, in fact it only serves to make it sound miles more original than any of the other folks reaping greater rewards than the way more deserving Campbell and his Goldcard. Campbell has an unbelievable knack for interesting arrangements/instrumentation and unlikely melodies, so unlikely in fact, that they stick in your head like bubble gum on hot asphalt. Seriously. And the lyrics are absure and surreal, about bunnies and cars and random weirdness, but are somehow achingly perfect in capturing moods and emotions, without resorting to actually talking about them. A rare gift indeed. Goldcard almost sounds like a much more intimate, stripped down Pond record, with less emphasis on the rock, and more on arrangements, and moods and experimenting, which is a good thing. The record starts off with this weird shimmering guitar part (which was all over the last Pond record), that Campbell talks about in the liner notes, realising that he didn't in fact invent it but inadvertently stole it from the Flaming Lips. All the songs have extensive notes that only tangentially relate to the songs themselves and are really funny! Once again, when I'm faced with a record that I am digging SO MUCH and listening to non-stop, I feel like no matter what or how much I write I can't do it justice or explain just why it's so good. And it is SO GOOD! Fans of the Flaming Lips, Grandaddy, Pond obviously, Built To Spill, Quasi, Modest Mouse and all that plaintive, moody, catchy indie pop will be rewarded greatly and maybe have a new treasure trove of perfect mixtape material!
First things first, let it be known that this is a total driving-with-the-top-down-in-the-summer kind of album. So go find yourselves a convertible!
One dozen super sunkissed pop songs reminding us of the Radar Brothers, Flaming Lips, Trackstar, John Lennon, and even the Alan "Eye In The Sky" Parsons Project. Especially the Alan Parsons Project.
Totally timeless melodies that sound readymade for FM radio, settled all snug right between the Eagles and Steve Miller, Alan Parsons and Bread. Grandaddy sound like they could be Pavement's country cousins, exploring the indie rock big city for the first time all wide eyed and full of wonder. Pavement's jaded irony and uber-cool hipness, replaced by earnest melodies and genuine catchiness, as well as a simple and heartfelt lyrical bent. Muffled guitars and mumbly almost-falsetto vocals mark out the verses until the choruses comes crashing down with hooks everywhere, big guitars and subtly bleeping/blooping synths. Vocal harmonies, unexpected melodies and a super lush, warm production just seal the deal. One of the nicest pop records this year!
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. Khanate return with a two song teaser from our pals at Load to hold us all over until their upcoming Southern Lord full length. Khanate, for those who don't already know, are sloooooow and looooooow and heavy as fuck. Featuring two members of the late great O.L.D. (Alan Dubin, and James Plotkin), Stephen O'Malley from Sunn 0))) and Burning Witch and the drummer from Blind Idiot God, you get just what you'd expect with a pedigree like that. "Dead" is a black hole of crushing, oppressive doom metal. Trudging along at a glacial pace, decimating everything in their path, taking THE RIFF and slowing it way down, stretching it way out, laying a thick, rotting blanket of dismal sound over out heads, filling our ears with filth and muck, and slowly suffocating us. But it's soooo good. "No Joy" is a track from Khanate's first record, and here gets the remix treatment from James Plotkin. Still doomy, but way more spacious and spare, the guitar becomes less of an unstoppable force, and more of a tattered curtain, casting sinister shadows over the proceedings while the stripped down skeleton of the song is supported by a slow motion drum and bass cadence and tortured, demonic howls. Definitely the most evil thing on Load yet!
This swank double cd reissues the 1972 third album from Canada's craziest new music/psychedelic rock collective, the anarchic L'Infonie which flourished from '67-'74. (Giving you some clue about their methodical madness, their other LPs were titled "Vol. 3", "Vol. 33", and "Vol. 3333", of which only the first has also been reissued on cd as yet -- we recommended it here back in '01.) Hailing from Montreal, Quebec these academic avant-garde freaks mixed classical chamber music, acid fuzz rock, weird warbling vocal babble, jazzy groove, free improv, musique concrete, prog overload, etc. etc. into a confusing, chaotic, comedic happening that should appeal equally to Terry Riley and Zappa fans. I know sometimes mentioning Zappa is the kiss of death, so don't take it the wrong way. Let's mention some other stuff this reminds us of, in part: Soft Machine Goblin New Trolls Univers Zero Faust Mahogany Brain Art Zoyd Nurse With Wound. This is pretty darn cool and weird and original, bizarrely funny sometimes and simply strange and beautiful on other occasions. Disc one is more "rock", disc two more "classical." What it all means, I don't know -- there's lotsa liner notes, but useful only to the francophones among us.
Despite being on a label called "Sweden Rock Records" these guys aren't Swedish. They're Americans, from the doom capital of the world, Maryland. (You didn't know Maryland was the doom capital of the world? well now you do!) And they're veterans of several of Maryland's legion of doom acts, including former Hellhound label act The Wretched. Obvious influences, as illustrated by their t-shirt choices, include MD doom/stoner legends The Obsessed and Spirit Caravan (along with, it goes without saying, the usual Sabbath/'70s spectrum of heaviness). Heavy and very groovy with smooth rawk vocals that might conjure bad grunge flashbacks for some of you. Wino-worship with hints of The Cult? Actually they worship someone else too -- like Place of Skulls, they happen to be Christians, but we know that's not necessarily a strike against doom-oriented bands. And they do rock like pros, so stoner/doom fanatics in the mood for some Maryland doom groove, waiting on the new Wino (his new band Hidden Hand is coming out on Meteor City this summer) should check 'em out.
Who would have thought that The Locust and Tom Waits would ever be on the same label? And that that label would be run by the guy from Bad Religion? Certainly not me. But it's true. San Diego's The Locust (the 'the' is mandatory) find their new home on Anti, part of the mighty punk rock label Epitaph, and have thankfully made the always daunting major label leap with their stupid/funny song titles, camoflage bug-boy costumes, and grinding new wave hyperblast pummel intact. Twenty three songs, averaging about 55 seconds each, all with song titles like "Identity Exchange Program Rectum Return Policy", "Earwax Halo Manufactured For The Champion In All Of Us", and "Late For A Double Date With A Pile Of Atoms In The Water Closet." The Locust are a crushing grindcore juggernaut, that somehow ended up with new wave keyboards, that bloop and bleep and fart over everything, turning what could have been run of the mill grind into a wild circus-y funhouse of splattery blast beats, riffs that slither from metal to no wave and back again in the span of seconds, and rumbling, fuzzed out synths that make the whole thing sound like Adult or Fischerspooner having the shit beat out of them by Agoraphobic Nosebleed. If only!!
A while back someone (Adam from Spaceboy, maybe) told me about a new band called Loincloth that featured ex-members of Breadwinner (guitarist Pen Rollings) and Confessor (drummer Steve Shelton). And now it has come to pass that said band has released a 7" single bearing the Southern Lord stamp of approval (and heaviness). First off, isn't Loincloth a great name for a metal band? Secondly, Breadwinner and Confessor?!?!? Whoo-hoo! All the mathy metal chops that made those bands so great are present in this all-instrumental four piece -- two guitarists, with Pen in the left channel and another dude on the right -- that's technical and complex yet heavy and metal. With just two songs here, it's a bit more difficult to fully get into this than we feel a whole album would be, so we look forward to a full-length release at some point soon -- perhaps on the Swami label, 'cause you'll find another Loincloth track on the Swami label comp recently reviewed here (for which we made an audio sample if you want to get a further idea of their sound).
Seeming galaxies away from their former band At The Drive-In, Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez have crafted a most artful and expansive major label debut which surges forth beautifully from their 2002 "Tremulant" 3-song EP. Bixler's vocals take untethered flight into the upper stratosphere bringing to mind the highly affecting vocal acrobatics of forefathers Jon Anderson of Yes or Rush's Geddy Lee. Actually at some points, Bixler's voice soars to near-Bjork heights of emotionality. Rodriguez's songwriting moves even further into mind-spinning prog, psych and jazz-imbued complexities.
The Mars Volta stampedes unrelenting through most of this album only occasionally slowing things somewhat to draw the listener through mysterious subterranean drones and pulses. Looming like the most foreboding of thunderheads, and coming down in taut, torrential downpours, the stirring tech-rock maneuvers are precise and skillfully executed.
This release will undoubtably receive much attention for the band members' lineage as well as the notable individual playing bass -- Flea! -- however this is by no means the Flea Hour. His playing fits seamlessly, but it's the chemistry between the five core players which is the dynamic key. The two fellows were joined once again by Jon Theodore, Ikey Owens, and the late Jeremy Ward. Produced by Rodriguez and Rick Rubin. A most challenging and rewarding listen. An additional note: Cover design by Hipgnosis mainman Storm Thorgerson and Coil's Peter Christopherson.
British avant-garde "stereo" guitarist Gary Smith unleashes the third release from his power trio Mass, wherein he's joined by the equally out there and extreme rhythm section of Gary Jeff and Lou Ciccotelli. You might know these guys from their contributions to projects like God and Aufgehoben No Process. Mass is a bit less oppressive than those bands, closer to "jazz" but not what most people think of as jazz, of course. Yessir, their electronics, improv moves, and rock-derived power combine for another satisfying head-bender.
Elsewhere on the list you'll find a review of Sleep's Dopesmoker demo reissue. One track, 60+ minutes, and slooooow. Well this here Minor Threat demo re-issue is pretty much the exact opposite. Eight tracks in 9 minutes. And faaaaast. It would be even shorter if they took out the before song banter/studio talk. No new tracks, just demo versions of those amazing songs that started it all! 'Minor Threat', 'Stand Up', 'Seeing Red', 'Bottled Violence', 'Small Man, Big Mouth', 'Straight Edge', 'Guilty Of Being White', and 'I Don't Want To Hear It'. Also available on 7"...
I haven't really been all that moved by Mogwai since they basically reinvented indie rock / post rock years ago with their seminal Young Team record. On Young Team, Mogwai took the loud/quiet dynamics of Slint and added a My Bloody Valentine wall of guitars and the results were nothing short of breathtaking. Millions of bands who were already trying to sound like Slint now had a new, even less attainable goal. The two records after Young Team, Rock Action and Come On Die Young, were okay, just not as inspired sounding, especially with all of us comparing them to their mighty breakthrough YT. So it's really exciting that this new record is so great! And it sounds totally fresh, even though the sound is so reminiscent of eighties college radio indie rock! The dynamics are gone now (although the tattered remains of their loud/soft past surface once in a while), not surprisingly. Mogwai had obviously been slowly shuffling down some sort of entropic path, not knowing where they'd end up and sort of feeling their way tentatively. Happy Songs is like that, meandering, filled with tension and emotion, that slowly disipates as the songs wind down and run their course. Shimmery and shuffling and summery and hypnotic. Sinister, but only slightly so. Smoky and loping, propulsive but only lazily so. There is an urgency, but it is displayed in Mogwai's restraint now, instead of the more obvious bombast of their early years. Galaxie 500 is the band that comes to mind most, especially when there are vocals, heavily reverbed, over ultra simple guitar lines, achingly plaintive lyrics, and simple spare rhythms. Codeine and Slint are other obvious comparisons. As is Godspeed (with all the random samples). Lugubrious and glacial, lazy and hazy, the perfect wandering the streets on a sweltering summer night music, or driving aimlessly sad and confused music, all minor key and melancholy but with a weird sort of hopefulness under the surface.
What would happen if the Shaggs had found god before recording their seminal LP? We've found the answer and it is The New Creation. Recorded in 1970, a year after the Shaggs' "Philosphy of the World" was released, one wonders if the group may have been inspired by the Shaggs D.I.Y. attitude. Hailing from Vancouver, B.C. The New Creation were the most unlikely blend of Christian evangelism with a flower-power hippy outlook which propelled their unique vision through an extremely off-kilter musical vehicle pieced together with leftover body parts: the Velvet Underground taped to the side of the Shaggs chassis with a rebuilt Pat Boone engine under the hood. Ramshackle and tentative, but so earnest and heartfelt and surprisingly catchy. And the lyrics aren't as positive as the music and the presentation might lead you to believe, focusing more on damnation, and fire and brimstone and b
Biblical tales of God's might and power. The biggest surprise is the opening track 'Countdown To Revolution', an epic, acid fried, unstructured freak out with strange effects, 'trippy' reverb, and all manner of TESTIFYIN'!! Creepy but cool!
From the same folks who brought us the amazing Teen Dance Music From China And Malaysia compilation.
Third in the series of singles Papa M (aka Dave Pajo) has been releasing this year. There's one original, a cover of Little Feat's "Truckstop Girl", and a version of "Wild Mountain Thyme", which The Byrds also popularized. Methinks this is the most 'traditional' sounding of the series thus far, and also the best. Recommended if'n you're in the mood for a nice slice of pastoral indie folkrock.
Legendary doomsters Pentagram have followed a bizarre and convoluted "career-path" to say the least. Though they've been around for at least 30 years (!) they've put out more stuff in the last four years than they did in their first decade, we're pretty sure, including both new albums and archival releases. The Pentagram cult grows. So here's another entry in their catalog, something from the vaults that's really for the true fans, being a 1978 live show from a club called The Keg in DC. So don't expect perfect sound -- yet it's not as bad as you might think either. The vocals are mixed a little low, but that's better than the opposite extreme that you often get from soundboard recordings. What's particularily interesting is that this comes from a period of Pentagram's history when they had boasted two guitarists, long since gone from the band, though you will hear the drumming of a young (18 year old) Joe Hasselvander, who probably never thought that he and singer Bobby Liebling would still be Pentagram in 2003! Tracks include Penta-classics like "20 Buck Spin" and "Review Your Choices". Diehard Pentagram heads will be familar with all these songs, but these versions are definitely different in parts. Plus, the live energy is quite exciting (making up for whatever this lacks in sonic fidelity). Tacked on at the end are the singles tracks recorded by this lineup, studio cuts of "When The Screams Come" and "Living In A Rams Head" different from the ones found on either First Days Here (their 1972-76 collection) or their later albums. All in all, nicely done: hardcore 'ram fans won't be disappointed.
Take every review that you've read about Avril Lavigne, replace the words "Avril Lavigne" with Liz Phair, and you'll have a perfectly good description of what this album is going for: an impressively produced, commercially viable modern-rock album, complete with insipid lyrics and baby-faced pouting. A bizarre turn of events for the songwriter who delivered an album as gleefully profane as "Exile In Guyville."
The best radio station in the world, WFMU, turned us on to young Mr. Phizmiz, a multi instrumentalist, writer, inventor, musician and all around crazy guy who makes some really weird cool music. Only 23, Ergo has already written several operas, recorded 20 albums, almost all of them unreleased, invented tons of musical instruments, created a 12 hour multi media project, done radio programs for Resonance FM and WFMU, recorded tons of soundtracks for TV and the stage as well as made hundreds of animated films and numerous sculptures and installations. Phew. So here it is. The first of those 20 albums to see the light of day. It's weird -- that's the first thing you'll notice. The opening track is a demented toy instrument cabaret, with mumbling vocals buried in the mix, wailing kazoos, warbling music box melodies and lots of maniacal shouting! The record unfolds a little more subtly after that, shifting from stuttery, hiccupping rhythms under toy xylophones and programmed beats to moody, almost Boards Of Canada-ish melancholy electronica to creepy crawly Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones-esque late night loungy murk, to strummy, whispery Brit rock balladeering. Weird but quite cool.
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When I found out we were getting this record, I (Allan) just about flipped. Psychomania!? THE Psychomania?!? The soundtrack -- never before released, as it turns out -- to the creepy British zombie biker horror flick that has haunted my nightmares for years and years, ever since I saw it on TV, unsupervised by my parents I have to assume, when I was a little kid in the early '70s! Actually for a long time growing up I never knew it was an actual film, I kinda thought all these weird freaky mental images of maniac hippie bikers with British accents were my own imaginings from some bad dream but then as a teenager I found out the truth about my childhood trauma when I ran across the Psychomania VHS tape at a local video shop -- "Hey! That's the film I must have seen!" Perhaps you've seen it too, maybe even under similar circumstances (several people I've described it to have had long-buried memories come to the surface, and in fact one of the people who contributed liner notes mentions a similar experience to mine!).
As near as I can remember/surmise, it was about a gang of bikers who commit suicide and come back from the dead to terrorize innocents. Hence the cover tag line "Seven Suicides - and they roared back as The Living Dead!" But I also think that maybe someone gets turned into a frog? Or the bikers worship a frog, maybe? (Their must be a significant frog in the film, anyway, 'cause I remember one and there's a track called "The Frog" on here -- also the studio musicians on this soundtrack are billed as a band called Frog!)... Definitely some weird witchy LSD biker 'sploitation happenin's. A unique formula for a grade-Z flick to be sure. Released in 1972, this film about a cult has itself become a cult film, resulting a last in this release of composer John Cameron's soundtrack music.
While I can't really comment on the merits of the film (I still haven't seen it again since way back when, and while I'm tempted to find it and rent it now, I doubt it could compare to that initial experience!), it turns out that the soundtrack is KILLER. Yes indeedy. From the first track to the last, exploitation film scores don't get much better. It's got it all -- total Morricone/Goblin/Carpenter horror flick spookiness, interludes of suitably weird dialogue from the film (someone's mother telling him she's worried the police will arrest him and his delinquent friends gets the response: "the word, mother, is fuzz...the word, mother, is busted"), and lashings of evil acid rock/funk to further pander to and/or corrupt the long-haired kids to whom this must have been marketed. Repeatedly, you'll hear the band (that'd be "Frog") vamping on a simple but effective fuzz riff, presented slightly differently on every occasion. You can't argue with it, it's good. Oh, and let's not forget the folk-pop biker ballad "Riding Free" as sung by Harvey Andrews. Then it's back to the scary music and effects (was that a croaking frog?).
John Cameron explains in his liner notes that this was recorded before synths were in common use, so "every trick was used: Musser vibes through phase and wah-wah pedals, phased bowed bass, drumsticks inside a grand piano, electric harpsichord through a compressor, Hammond organ fed through a phase unit and Leslie speakers, and wordless solo voice." Thus, experimental ominous psychedelic bizarroid film music that gets our highest recommendation. And everyone we've played it for has been equally enthused. (We wouldn't make this Record Of The Week *just* 'cause of some repressed childhood memory...) Rev up your bikes and ride for the FROG. (Vinyl coming next week, for those who want even more of an authentic '70s experience.)
Fire! Fire! Fire!! Sorry, couldn't help it. This new disc, a mini-album of exactly 20 minutes in length, is what happens when the surreal Argentine experimental rock band Reynols starts playing with matches. It's just recordings of the sound of fire, processed into what in Reynols' universe might be another element entirely. Crackling, popping, flickering, droning, sizzling, insectoid mutter. They've done this sort of thing with blank tapes, grass growing, and 10,000 chickens -- so this fire concept is almost mundane in comparison. What's gotten into 'em? You know a band is weird when a recording of *just fire* seems too "normal" for them!! Anyway, it's nicely done, though the packaging is minimal to say the least: aside from the fire photo on the cd itself, there's no booklet or cover or anything, just a cd in a slimline jewelcase.
Legendary SF DJ Cheb I Sabbah returns with a DJ mix drawing from Asia, Arabia and Africa -- or tracks at least influenced by music from those parts of the world. Included are cuts by Asian Dub Foundation, Najma, Trilok Gurtu along with remixes by Sabbah of Don Cherry, Paul Horn and Solace.
ATTENTION SHADOW FANS! You know you need this! Two massive mixes (2+ hours) and a brand new track! Not sure how long we'll have these so act fast. Disc one is a massive 80 minute mix that was originally aired on BBC Radio-1 on March 29th 2003 and is a seemles, fun and funky mix of obscure old school (and old school sounding) hip hop. So good. Summer-time-top-down-booming-system mix of the year! Disc two has a 40 minute mix that is more sort of soul and R+B and croon-y weirdness, and features the brand new Shadow track 'War Is Hell', that sounds like an Endtroducing outtake, but with chugging metal riffs!!! Like we said, not sure how long these will be available so first come first serve.
The now-defunct San Francisco stoner/doom band Sleep has sure gotten a lot of mileage out of this record! Dopesmoker is the original Billy Anderson-recorded (and latterly, re-mastered) demo version of their final statement, the infamous one-song-long Jerusalem. Originally slated for release by major label London, they were dropped and the album was shelved, released only as a promo with no art. Then it got bootlegged (by the band themselves?), before at last seeing a legit release via The Music Cartel. The boot and the TMC versions had different artwork, naturally, so some Sleep aficionados had to have both... Now Tee Pee brings us the same record again, under its originally intended title, Dopesmoker. And it's a different, demo recording, with rougher, more Melvinsy vocals, the whole thing sounding actually dronier and dirtier and dirgier than the Jerusalem you're already used to -- and longer too! 64 minutes vs. just 52. The twelve extra minutes aren't due to additional "parts" though, as near as we can tell, it's just 'cause the everything's played slightly slower and/or more relentlessly repeated. Not sure why they cut it down for Jerusalem -- you'd think if you're gonna do a one-song, super long album of maximum riff-repetition you might as well make it as long as possible. Did London insist that they prune it down for radio play? Ha. Anyway, Sleep fans who find High On Fire just a little too fast for them may want to indulge in the tarpit Sabbath-sludge of Dopesmoker/Jerusalem once again with this release. For further fan-temptation we should note that there's actually another (bonus) track on the cd, a live recording the singer identfies as "Sonic Titan", nine more minutes of what sounds like Dopesmoker part 2. Comes in a digipack (or gatefold LP sleeve for the vinyl) with art by Arik Moonhawk Roper.
If angels started a pop band, they wouldn't sound like Built To Spill. They wouldn't sound like the Polyphonic Spree. They wouldn't sound like Grandaddy. They wouldn't sound like Elliott Smith. They would sound like Slow Reader. Although they would have to be angels that had broken hearts and who didn't know how to talk to that one girl, and who remember that one summer, and who are lonely and misunderstood, and whosit at home on their cloud writing perfect little pop songs, who even thogh they are angels sound sort of 'emo', who sing in perfect falsettos in perfect harmony and who sing about amputees and lost loves and drugs and stuff.
Slow Reader take elements of all of the above bands and mix them into a perfect, dreamy sweetpop confection. Not to intimate that this is light in any way. This is just as melancholy and dark as anything, it's just that the darkness is wrapped up all snug and tight in a radiant, delicate pure white cloud of rapturous sound, all pure and angelic, etherial and heavenly (to stretch this allusion to its breaking point). Heavily strummed acoustic guitars, pianos that tinkle and drop notes around your ears like spring showers, warm and rich organs that wrap everything in a dreamy haze, peculiar rhythms that range from super processed, heavily affected drums that sound almost electronic to "We Will Rock You" style handclap/footstomp percussion. But it's the vocals that really get me. Gorgeous and drenched in reverb, with a whispery urgency like Elliott Smith, capable of turning misanthropic tales of amputees into daydreamy lullabies. Outside of the Goldcard record reviewed elsewhere on this list, this is almost all I've been listening to. Fans of any of the bands mentioned NEED this.
Random note: Not sure what it is, but Slow Reader are the second brilliant pop band in recent memory to be born from weird punk/ska band roots (the first being The Stereo, who we've repeatedly raved about in the past). Not sure if it means anything, but it just seemed interesting.
Not a new (re)release, but newly in stock here at AQ. Another one for all you fans of '70s proto-metal hard rock, one of Allan's faves (hence, we got some in when we got the chance). Socrates Drank The Conium were a Greek band, and "On The Wings" was their third album, originally issued in 1973. Psychedelic hard blues rock with ragged, rough-edged English vocals, and -- this is key -- UTTERLY RIPPING twin electric guitar. Definitely an early milestone in heavy acid rock guitar shred. Vangelis later joined this band, but you'd never guess there was any New Age connection from this kick ass album. The songs twist and snake around, with rockin' and doomy riffs, dual guitar harmonies, and crazy leads -- both guitarists playing entirely different, complex licks that somehow meld perfectly. Brilliant stuff. Kinda progressive and utterly powerful. None other than Julian Cope has described this as sounding "a lot like SABBATH VOLUME 4 with Family's Roger Chapman singing". So, if past AQ-reviews of bands like Night Sun, Toad, Wishbone Ash, Flower Travellin' Band, I Teoremi, Tractor, etc. have resulted in successful music purchase/listening experiences for you, then you certainly might want to give this Socrates Drank The Conium album a try. Of course, we only have a few in stock, so please be ready to be patient if/when we run out...
A-side is the Sun City Girls uber-lo-fi punk rock freak out of the same name (a version of which appears also on "Libyan Dream" in the Carnival Folklore Series). The B-side is a field recording of someone getting their hair cut by a barber named "Carl". True story.
Don't let the embittered scowls, anguished winces and brooding stares of the front cover art dissuade you. Each Tindersticks album finds its way into your heart and mind -- creeping in ever so gradually and deeply -- and this one is no exception. On this their fifth full length, multi-faceted member Dickon Hinchliffe takes on more of a vocal presence. The contrast between his thoughtful, mellow delivery and main vocalist Stuart Staples' deeeep smoky velvet near-spoken word brings a touch of ambered light to the usually all-consuming trademark Tindersticks shadowy gravity. At the beginning of the fourth song "4.48 Psychosis" a voice asks "What do you offer your friends to make them so supportive?" In the Tindersticks case, it's maintaining a consistently grand body of work steeped with immense drama and glistening beauty. Wonderfully somber elegance.
Nearly a decade ago, Sasha Frere-Jones began what has amounted to a prolific career as a music critic for The Village Voice and The Wire, often providing insight into the slippery logic of the groove whether that be about his childhood love of Liquid Liquid and ESG or recent musings on the newest Missy Elliott record. During this time, Frere-Jones has been actualizing his own boogie machine with the sporadically active Ui, which centers on Frere-Jones playing bass alongside percussionist Clem Waldmann and a supporting cast of multi-instrumentalists. "Answers" is just Ui's third album, and is a far cry from the current strain of mutant disco from bands like The Rapture or Tussle which boast a similiar lineage dating back to the golden era of Arthur Baker productions and Gang of Four punked out grooviness. No, Ui would never be caught wearing hotpants or delving into the facile behavior of Fischerspooner; rather, Ui's take on the groove is based upon complexity and willfull angularity, paralleling much of the organic composition found on Tortoise's "Millions Now Living Will Never Die," any of the Minutemen's albums, and the perpetually obscure prog-punk band the Embarrassment. "Answers" is a series of intellectual explorations of the interplay between two basses, drums, and a number of quirky flourishes which counterpoint the mathematically challenging times and herky-jerky chord progressions. This is a solid recapitulation of where post-rock might have gone, if it didn't devolve into banal jazz-fusion pretense.
These days, the phrase 'electronica compilation' sends shivers down our spines. And not in a good way. Especially when it's the same people, doing the same thing for the umpteenth time. So we were pleasantly surprised by this particular electronic compilation, even though it features many of the same folks -- they've all decided to put us to sleep. On purpose this time! (Ha, just kidding.) This is a gorgeous collection of warm and gauzy, wispy, dreamy, electronic minimalism. Soothing and droney, thick and lush, beautifully late night sounding. And I actually HAVE listened to this going to sleep and it's perfect! Features the ubiquitous Kid606 as well as Stephan Mathieu, Kurt Ralske, Electric Company, Main, Pimmon, Tim Hecker, and Oren Ambarchi. Both discs also feature movies playable on your computer by Kurt Ralske, Electric Company and Pimmon. Our favorite Tigerbeat6 release in a while!
WE HAVE VERY FEW OF THESE (SIX TO BE EXACT) AND WE CAN'T GET MORE SO ACT FAST.
This is a great compilation of modern electronica/experimental/free rock/ambient/bliss-out weirdness that was only available for 2 days at the Brudnell Social Club in Leeds UK to coincide with two days of music. Features AQ faves Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra and Birchville Cat Motel as well as lesser known but equally appealing noisemakers Toss, Benjamin Franklin and Kohn.
One of the guys in the Jimmy Cake (see past lists for gushing reviews of both their full lengths) hooked us up with a few copies of this compilation that one of his bandmates released and it's really pretty great. Features a live track from the Jimmy Cake, a droning buzzing ambient minimalist epic, as well as a new Nurse With Wound track that is a gorgeous burbling, slowly modulating low end rumble. Also features the Tycho Brahe (Cocktails meets Arab Strap with female vocals), Daniel Figgis (glitchy Oval-esque soundscape), Artificial Memory Trace (barren and cinematic, minimal and haunting), King Camera Meets Volcano The Bear (quirky, rhythmic electronic weirdness, with horns!), Aranos (jaunty, creepy gypsy folk) and more!
We've loved pretty much everything on Anticon, the East Bay hip hop label that has been turning hip hop upside down with their arty, bizarre production and their whiny whiteboy emcees. And this new Why? record takes the production even farther out, so much so that this almost sounds like a quirky indie rock record rather than a hip hop record. But the vocals are really tough to take. I love the whiny, rapid fire delivery, the lyrical surrealism, but here, THAT, combined with the un-hip hop production, makes Why? sound a little too much like Atom And His Package or some other annoying joke band. And the thing is I LOVE Atom And His Package. But I'm sorry, Why? is just no Atom.
Another high-concept item here, with a quite self-explanatory title. Yep indeedy, it's music made from the sampled sounds of copiers. Kinda not that much different from the dot matrix printer symphonies of The User reviewed here not long ago (though the copiers can't perform live via network and ascii "instructions" like the printers can). The fellow behind Xerophonics, one Dr. Stefan Helmrich PhD., made field recordings of copier machines in action, then sampled and re-assembled 'em via computer into these 13 tracks of manipulated, looping, layered machine rhythms. Clacking parts and melodic electronic blips too. Sometimes it's like a room full of shuddering copiers approximating current cutting-edge electronic dance music -- a copier rave if you will. You can imagine that they provide their own light show as their copying plates flash. There's plenty of weird noises and "notes" that are exceedingly hard to believe came from a copier, but they must have somehow. I mean, some of this gets really scary -- maybe it should have been the soundtrack to that new Terminator movie, "Rise of the Machines" I think it's called. Terminator office machinery!
Pretty cool. Deep thinkers might find more going on here, as part of the motivation for this project involves artistic commentary based on the additional meaning inherent in the sampling of sounds of COPIERS. Geddit, copiers. After all, it's on Negativland's Seeland label. Furthermore, Helmrich's "xerophonic" manipulations are based on aural analogs to the work of xerographic artists: mirroring, resizing, motion-distorting, multiple copy degeneration. Hmm. Regardless, definitely one for fans of the aforementioned The User!
