Super-raw carnal energy is all over this album. Alarmist's sound is pretty thin but not for lack of punk energy, they just have minimal layers of sound and maybe when they recorded, only a handful of tracks to work with. There are certainly some small angular aspects of magic somewhere sprinkled in and all around this album. Its female singing is a little bit Exene Cervenka, a tiny bit Kim Gordon. One maintains a sense of danger when listening throughout though. Evil Works ends with a curious track: cats meowing meowing meowing and suddenly becoming an untamed human chorus of wild growls. Whoah. Recorded in Portland, OR at Smegma Studios by Mike Lastra of you guessed it, Smegma.
We're excited about this album for a few reasons: 1) it's the first release from a new imprint called Tyrant Syndicate, run by none other than Norwegian black metal godfathers Darkthrone themselves! 2) besides that, we were already fans of Aura Noir -- a band featuring members of Mayhem, Ved Buens Ende and Dodheimsgard. And oh, and most importantly, 3) it is a merciless (yes it is) blackened thrash attack, with a nasty grin and a death-grunt for every poser mowed down by their onslaught. Blazing guitars, thumping tubs, and a Darkthrone-approved n' authenticated old school attitude! Venomous.
After years of desperately trying to track down every cd-r and 7" and lathe cut lp by these underground Finnish forest psych folk weirdos, we're all about to be in Avarus heaven. Not only will Andee's tUMULt label be releasing a double cd compilation collecting all of those rare and impossible to find sonic artifacts next month, but right here we have a brand spanking new full length as good as anything these guys have ever done. So fans of all things clattery and pagan, foresty and folky, psychedelic and droney, krautrocky and hypnotic, DIG IN! Unlike the sometimes spare and sparse early recordings, that reminded us quite a bit of No Neck Blues Band, Sunburned Hand Of The Man and other like minded hippy pagan outsider free-folk tribes, this Avarus is definitely the most rocking. Intensely propulsive, fuzzy and murky, Finnish "krautrock" (huh) of the highest order. But fear not, all the misty mystery is still present. it's still like being lost in a Scandanavian forest, and stumbling across a strange pagan ritual, in some lost darkend glade. It's just that this ritual sometimes erupts into some serious rumbling drone rock. The muddy grooves, motorik rhythms, and creepy ambience definitely remind us of the recent AQ record of the week German Oak, so what else do you need? Finnish! NNCK! SHOTM! Krautrock! German Oak! C'mon!! Features members of other Finnish underground rock luminaries Kemialliset Ystevat and Anaksimandros.
Heeey Bassholes fans, time to get off yer (b)asses! 'Cuz there's a new collection of their old singles and unreleased stuff from the early '90s. Broke Chamber Music brings their unmistakable trashy nasty blues rawk right back to your front stoop. Still ripe and ready to chafe many a delicate ear, these are the raw gritty folk songs to play while you're chippin' the crud off your mud-caked boots with a termite-infested twig. Seriously fucked-up, slurred vocals that sound alternately like they're being sung by someone who's had his tongue cut out and sewn back in or some stunted teenager messing with the tape speed on his tape recorder. Very Ween-ish (or maybe it's the other way around). Includes a bang-up cover of Rodd Keith's delightful song-poem "Little Rug Bug"!
From the same label (The Ex's Terp label) that brought us the recent Konono No.1 live record, comes this amazing double cd release from legendary Eritrean singer Tsehaytu Beraki. Initially, the folks at Terp were just trying to help locate material for the Ethiopiques series, when people kept suggesting that someone should do something for Beraki, who was forced to flee from the turmoil of Eritrea and somehow ended up in Rotterdam. After some determined digging, Terrie from the Ex managed to track her down and began to discuss ideas for releasing a cd. It ended up that after years and years of performing and recording, very litte of Beraki's music had actually been recorded or released! So plans were made, and everything on these two discs was recorded in a modern state of the art studio with a handful of unlikely guests (free jazz drummer Han Bennink for one!) between 2000-2003. You'd be hard pressed to tell though, because the sound, the songs and Beraki's vocals are so perfectly timeless. Mostly performed on a krar (and occasionally a bass krar), a buzzing stringed instrument like a harp / banjo / sitar hybrid, these songs are gorgeous, with Beraki's warm, resonant vocals over a bed of buzzing strings, muted melodies, and a simple insistent and hypnotic rhythm. Every time we play this in the store someone comes up to find out what it is. Folks who dug the Ethiopiques series (especially Vol. 16) and the recent Konono No.1 will LOVE this. So beautiful.
If you'd like to champion a local San Francisco artist and you're a fan of the gruffy janglings of Tom Waits, this is your ticket! Boxcar Saints sound very much in the vein of Waits, though perhaps a little smoother. Very pretty melodies!
Aw heck, these two new Bright Eyes albums probably need no introduction... folks have been askin' for them for weeks! However, in case you've been snoozing, there are TWO new Bright Eyes full lengths. And for those of you raising your eyebrows wondering how each stands up, let's just say right up front that there's nary a bit of filler nor padding in sight. Mr. Conor Oberst has become one darn prolific and consistent music man. With two such solid offerings, let's watch the legions of B.E. fans grow and grow and grow!
As the title suggests, this Bright Eyes album encorporates instrumentation of the digital kind into his usually earthy acoustic folk pop assembly. And although the programmed drums can be a bit intrusive and jarring at times, they're tempered by the inclusion of a string quartet, as well as some harp and flute. Actually many of these songs sound more like they've been plucked from a recent Flaming Lips album than one you'd expect from Bright Eyes. Much like on his other current album I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, Conor Oberst's performance comes across as much more aggressive and empassioned than on past recordings... particularly on one of the album's highlights, the seventh song "I Believe In Symmetry". Guests include Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Jimmy Tamborello (Postal Service, Dntel), and Clark Baechle (The Faint).
NOTE: this has a street date of 1/25/05 so that means we can't sell it 'til Tuesday, but go ahead and order it now if you like.
Aw heck, these two new Bright Eyes albums probably need no introduction... folks have been askin' for them for weeks! However, in case you were snoozing, there are TWO new Bright Eyes full lengths. And for those of you raising your eyebrows wondering how each stands up, let's just say right up front that there's nary a bit of filler nor padding in sight. Mr. Conor Oberst has become one darn prolific and consistent music man. With two such solid offerings, watch the legions of B.E. fans grow and grow and grow.
The way this album starts -- with Oberst tellin' a story -- you'd almost think you were listening to an old King Missile album (not a bad thing, by the way!), his hesitant storytelling here resembles that of John S. Hall quite a bit.
Anyways, aside from that minor musing, the first thing we noticed when we gave this album a spin was just how robust and feisty Oberst's voice sounds. It's so much more so than we've come to expect, but never fear, his trademark brittle warble (that you may or may not know and love) is very much still present. Plus, he's got quite an assembly of skilled musicians backing him up. Together they weave super lush and often rollicking rootsy folk arrangements that somehow don't overshadow or crowd his voice. A surprising guest appearance on this album is that of Emmylou Harris (other guests include The Faint's Clark Baechle and My Morning Jacket's Jim James). She sings on three songs (with varying degrees of prominence) and we only wish she were on more! Her presence as well as Oberst's own growing performance composure and songwriting refinement push this album beyond the mopey indie borderlines that have bound Bright Eyes' past releases. In closing, we'd venture to say that this is the stronger of the two new albums. Recommended.
NOTE: this has a street date of 1/25/05 so that means we can't sell it 'til Tuesday, but go ahead and order it now if you like.
Weren't able to get enough of these in recently when we listed the other newly re-mastered Can reissues, but now we've got 'em...Ege Bamyasi! Can's fourth album features their second and a most fantastical vocalist, Damo Suzuki. Ege is one of our faves from Can, especially of Allan's, though we think he just envies Suzuki's amazing hair! Let us just say that if you don't own this already, what are you waiting for?? The reissues contain extra liner notes and candid photos. But unless you're totally obsessed with the band and are certain of your ability to appreciate the remastering note-for-note, there's not too much else about these reissues that's too terribly special. If you've happy with your older copies, you'd probably do well to just keep them and sleep soundly at night knowing that by not buying these reissues, you're not missing too much. If however, you'd like to spread some holiday cheer, Can's Ege Bamyasi is absolutely brilliant. Here's what we said about it when the vinyl was re-issued: Can of course were one of the most important 'krautrock' bands, along with Amon Duul II, Kraftwerk, Cluster, Faust and a few others. With Japanese singer Damo Suzuki at the mic on this he sings some of their best songs, like "Sing Swan Song" and "Vitamin C" and "I'm So Green". Actually EVERY song on here is wonderful. Languid and laidback, yet rhythmically insistent. Mellow and gorgeous and deep. Right on. Fans already know how good this is, everybody else should trust us and pick up one of these, you won't be sorry!
Like the Magnetic Hands cd on Viper that was released a couple three years back, this new double disc collection from OZit features live (and hence "rare") recordings of Captain Beefheart from performances throughout the UK between 1972 and 1980. Considering you get two discs for $23 instead of one for $20, it's a bargain. Like all the other live recordings of Captain Beefheart we've had here, the recording quality ranges from the fair to the not quite so fair. But what are you gonna do? This is way before the era of mini-discs and cheap portable electronics. Comes packaged in an oversized slip cover and includes six black and white postcards of Don Van Vliet on stage.
Originally released only on cd-r, Christina Carter's solo venturings while a member of Charalambides are put together here all in one proper go by Kranky. The equation is quite simple -- voice and guitar -- though Christina's musical sense is beautiful and touching. Not in a delicate cheesy way touching, but in an intelligent and innately spiritual way. As though Charalambides' combination of noise, gospel, folk, blues were all boiled down to super skeletal structures from which an ageless and naked sound forms. Christina keeps an evocative distance through simple chord changes and her overall beathless minimalism. But this distance is well balanced by an extra bit of tape hiss, adding a strange sense of presence to her songs. Recommended!
First off, love that cover. Pink is always nice and so are elephant trunks. Second...they know how to rock. Yup. Death From Above 1979 are a duo of bass/synth and drums and they're from Canada but we're sure being Canadian is not the only reason the Vice label signed 'em, 'cause as we said a second ago, this rocks. Noisily distorted and pogo-riffically catchy, maybe you can imagine this as being some kinda new wavy stoner rock? Like some sort of weird hybrid of Lightning Bolt and Queens of the Stone Age? I dunno, I'm sure there's been waaaaay more accurate comparisions made but that'll have to do. Anyway these guys prove that they have as much right as anyone to work up a sweat doing the "let's crank it up and rock" thing that so many young 'uns are doin' these days. It works for them. Y'know how it used to be (still is?) that boys start bands so they can get girls interested in them? Well we're guessing that classic motivation is part of the reason DFA1979 got together...and it might have done the trick. That's what this sounds like, anyway. C'mon, give 'em a chance to seduce you with their sweaty, noisy rock wiles.
Another gorgeous release from the Ex's Terp label, that brought us the amazing Konono No.1 live record and the Beraki double cd reviewed elsewhere on this list. Djibril Diabate is from Mali and is a master on the kora (a 21 string harp-lute) and the music he makes is unbelievably dreamy and otherworldy. Dense tangles of melodies, compex but smooth and soothing, minor key and super melodic. These are modern re-interpretations of traditional pieces, all instrumental, but based thematically on tales and stories that are centuries old. And sonically this could have been recorded 100 years ago (except for the crystal clear rcording of course). Hard to describe exactly what this sounds like, but it has a similar vibe to the recently reviewed Richard Crandell thumb piano cd. Swoonsome and twilighty, delicate but rich with harmonic overtones. It remided some of us of a little of Christmas carols, but only if you can imagine a Christmas carol stripped to its essence, a crystalline framework of melody amd delicate filligree. So so lovely. Another cd vying for the coveted position of perfect late night / going-to-sleep record!
Oh my goodness, please excuse me (Cup), but I have to admit that whenever this cd starts playing the first thing that pops to mind is that old TV commercial for Turtles chocolates (remember?). Don't know why I really needed to tell y'all that, but I'll add that both chocolate and the Ditty Bops make me plenty happy. Backed by a jubilant assembly of among other things acoustic guitar, banjo, ukelele, mandolin and piano, these charming ladies sweetly croon their songs which seem plucked from a bygone era -- definitely drawing on ragtime, bluegrass and swing influences. Also recommended for fans of Cat Power, White Magic and other deleriously dolorous indie folk! Delightful!
Massive double lp opus from this mysterious drone rock ensemble. Maybe drone rock is a bit misleading as there is very little rock to be found. So let's just say drone, shall we? After numerous cd-r's and limited lps the Double Leopards return with this gorgeous and expansive low end exploration. Rumbles and hums, shimmers and thrums, this is as perfect a piece of meditative, mesmeric drone as you're ever going to find. Like all great drone records, Halve Maen is a dense, thick nebula made up of layers and layers of sound slowly shifting and unravelling, revealing new sonic details on each listen. Murky wisps of rhythm, shimmering piano, distant chimes, warm reeds, and fuzzy static all surface occasionally. As the record progresses, the minimal spaciness intensifies, gets darker and gets louder, as the misty spectral instrumentation gathers steam and takes form, with propulsive rhythms and ghostly vocals emerging from the haze. So nice. Limited to 1000 copies. On nice thick vinyl in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve.
From the same label that brought you the godly Hatebeak ep, comes another crucial vinyl platter in the 7" format. While that band had perhaps the best vocals ever committed to wax (by a parrot), this Richmond, VA group features possibly the coolest packaging design for a 7" EVER with a die-cut wrist-slashing fold-over cover you're just gonna have to see up close to fully appreciate. The nice surprise though is, contrary to most bands that expel such energy in the presentation of their music -- the songs are fully ripping too. Think evil devastating metalcore like a possibly even more aggressive Converge, with serpentine odd-time guitar riffs crashing upon blasting drums. This band has (or had, it's hard to tell from their site) personnel from fellow Virginia hardcore and metal bands Cripus Attucks and ex-Enemy Soil alums The Index and the combination of all styles from grind and metal to straight-up hardcore mix brilliantly on four solid tracks. Get this or die!
Another great release from this truly dynamic duo! Following two awesome albums comes this collection of b-sides and unreleased tracks. Now for most other bands the phrase "b-sides and unreleased tracks" usually means "cast-offs and not-good-enoughs", but for the 'Furnaces it means nothing of the sort. Their consistent high standard carries through all of their releases including this one. With their broad palette of instruments and ideas they fly in the face of current trends. They thoroughly enchant, puzzle, and rock, adding a novel 'talky' electric guitar line, some beautiful waterfall piano melodies, or some bubbly blurbly synthesizer whenever the occasion calls for it. They shuttle through and blend styles with carefree glee -- barreling in one direction with full momentum and then turning completely on a dime. Eleanor Friedberger has one of the most expressive devil-may-care voices around, delivering her vocals with a knowing nod and a sly wink. Her brother Michael is sure no slouch either. However perhaps the thing that sets them apart the most from a lot of bands these days is their lyrical content. Theirs is true 'story rock'. Each song unfurls a whimsical yarn or intriguing tale, but the subject matter is seldom fluffy, hell, it's frequently downright dark and twisted. Great stuff!
Oh and please note that although it's titled "EP", it's not all that short... it actually has ten songs!
Jewelled Antler picnic-party The Franciscan Hobbies are certainly the biggest and vaguest, most free-form collective in the "collective". The Hobbies' albums are where Thujans and Muons and Blithe Sons and Skygreen Leopards and Child Readers and Buried Civilizations and all of 'em go to let it hang loose...or looser than usual. Even moreso than the other "bands" found under the umbrella of the San Francisco experimental-improv-folk-psych Jewelled Antler family, The Franciscan Hobbies have a indeterminate, open-ended membership, and make suitably organic, sprawling, abstract music... much of it quite as lovely as anything in the Jewelled Antler canon: dark and dreamy, with noise-textures and fragmented melodies played on acoustic and electric instruments both drifting in and out of these pieces like nature-sounds in the forest, in a manner perhaps akin to their Finnish brethren and sistren (?) Kemialliset Ystavat and Avarus and Uton. This new Hobbies cd, their fourth disc, was recorded over the past three years in various places with various persons participating -- among those persons, members of all the aforementioned groups. And AQ's own Allan even shows up singing on "Goat With The Dolphin Face", recorded in a wooden teepee on a beach up in Point Reyes. (Not that you can tell that it's him...or in a teepee.) And that's also got nothing to do with why we're going to tell you that this is highly recommended, particularily to those of you for whom the more abstract edges of the Jewelled Antler thing appeal. Intimate, hushed and full of quiet clankings and fragile drones...meandering, mesmerizing guitar-plucked lullabies...bowed strings and rustling sticks...indistinct vocalizations...all carefully edited and mixed by Glenn Donaldson (the track "Satan Crystals" by Loren Chasse). So nice.
In his one-man wrecking crew Guilty Connector, Kohei "The Fast" Nakagawa arms himself with homebuilt effects boxes that he physically attacks with metal pipes(!). Having previously presented us with jet-engine 'covers' of Black Sabbath and The Ramones as well as successful outings alongside Birchville Cat Motel and Zeni Geva's Tabata, Kohei takes his volatile Utsu / Shibaki electronics to the Ground Fault label, who ranked this album a III (loud) using their intensity of scale they employ to grade their releases. III is a polite way to describe the volatility of Cosmic Trigger / 2AM Visit, as Kohei blasts out of the gates with volcanic noise eruptions with all of the violence heard in the pre-digital Merzbow recordings from the mid-'90s. Mechanical grindings, claustrophobic scapings, train-wreck rhythms, and drum-kit pummelling all give the impression that like Burmese and Aufgehoben, there might actually be a band underneath all of the noise and cacophony; but in fact, there's only Kohei The Fast! Cosmic Trigger / 2AM Visit also features a guest appearance from Schimpfluch's Sudden Infant for one the more dadaist recordings on this album with its spastic squiggles of reel-to-reel tape warble punctuated by head-splitting noise. Listen on headphones at your own risk, this one can be pretty damn painful.
Five Songs is the debut release of this Bay Area moody rock band. What you first notice when you put this EP on for a spin is the contrast between the low, druggy female voice and the high pitched slinking guitar. The vocals and guitars sit prominently atop a bed of slow-boil bass guitar and drums. Shadowy, smoldering and more than a little bit gothy. Mixed by Doug Hilsinger (Waycross, Enorchestra).
The Lord Of The Noise? Well it's either Hijokaidan or Merzbow, innit? And this "best of" (greatest hits??) disc and dvd is a strong argument in Hijokaidan's favor. Though any fan of Japanese noise is probably a fan of both artists. And to purchase The Lord Of The Noise, you'd almost certainly have to be a fan, although, price aside, this actually might qualify as a good entry-album for novices. That's 'cause it brings together a 78+ minute, six track sampling of their most chaotic, noisy, mayhem from recordings spanning the years 1979 to 2004, including such ear-raping classics as "Before The Heat". And (in case you didn't know, or haven't figured out) chaos, noise and mayhem are what Hijokaidan are all about! Don't believe us? Well, check out the DVD disc. That's the real treat here for fans: four archival live performances in living color (mostly black), two from '81, one from '87 and the most recent from 2003. The earliest two have the most physical chaos and absurdity, but all of 'em are plenty noisy! Don't expect easy listening, or even easy viewing: the video footage is dark and grainy from the early years, and even the 2003 performance is a strobe-fueled apocalypse. In other words, utterly how it should be.
David Jackman originally released Edge Of Nothing on an untitled cassette back in 1983 through his own Aeroplane imprint. This cassette was a tiny edition of 5 copies and recycled the archaic C7 tapes used in some computing systems as a means of storage. All of those copies were sold through the Rough Trade Shop in London; and supposedly, one customer actually used the cassette for computer storage and destroyed the music. Later that year, Edge Of Nothing re-appeared on the Elephant Table Album compilation alongside Chris & Cosey, Nurse With Wound, SPK, Legendary Pink Dots, Coil, etc. Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound remarked that Jackman's enigmatic work was "a cherry on a pile of vomit." While that compilation is actually quite good, Jackman's dissonant composition is an eerie anomaly amidst the rest of the albums disjointed electronics and semantic inversions of power. All of the sounds from Edge Of Nothing came from a 14" splash cymbal that Jackman bowed, scraped, looped, and played back in reverse. Jackman admits that he found this cymbal in the street, and it had previously been used for BB-gun practice. Regardless, the slightly overblown multi-tracked sounds from that cymbal have been the basis for the best Jackman recordings, both solo and with his 'group' Organum.
Jump two decades, and find Jackman returning to that same material to sculpt two tracks of the exact same length (6'29"). Edge Of Nothing is so dense and so lacking in any recognizable signposts within the mass of buzzings and raspings that it's hard to say if in fact Jackman has simply put the same track on both side. If one is to believe Die Stadt, then the pieces are indeed different.
Here is Ms Kadet Kuhne's follow-up to Seismic, her fine IDM album from 2001. Since then she's relocated to LA, but she hasn't made any radical departures in her music. That's a good thing 'cause her past endeavors have been pretty darn great, wholly enveloping listens. Now, whether the "thin air" of the title is in reference to that which you might "vanish into" or that which you find at high altitudes, we do not know. But we can say that regardless, the title suits this album well. Some of her sounds can be fleeting and ghostly, while the more severe and imposing ones may leave listeners a wee bit out of sorts or short of breath. Characterized by swishy, cricket-y textures, gentle cloudy drones and rounded deep bass thuds, This Air is a considerably more subdued ambient affair overall than its kinetic, glitchy predecessor. Also, although these sounds were originally part of Sensorium, her audiovisual installation collaboration with Reto Schmid/testrun which showed in Switzerland, LA and here in SF, Thin Air may be best listened to on headphones in isolation. Nice!
kHz is the second collaboration between the globe trotting sonic bruitist Zbigniew Karkowski and Asphodel's inhouse engineer par excellence Xopher Davidson (aka Antimatter). Where so many Karkowski records push noise to the extremes of volume, pressure, density, and masculine expressivity, kHz follows Function Generator -- the 2001 collaboration with Antimatter -- in setting forth a composition of relatively soft, low-end rumblings from sinewave generators and analogue electronics (another detour for the increasingly digitally dependent Karkowski). Karkowski and Davidson coax a surprisingly gentle purr out of those machines; but never fear, the two eventually build up to a psychoacoustically antagonistic crescendo of noxious frequency pulses and white noise accumulations. Altogther, this stands as one of the most listenable Karkowski records in a very long time.
Not sure if you're a gore hound, horror movie obsessive or exploitation freek, but odds are, if you are, then like us, you spent a good chunk of your free time, 10 or 12 years ago trying to track down a copy of the film Nekromantik. The film itself wasn't all that great, the highlights being the female fucking a corpse with a condom covered screwdriver and the testicles in the fridge scenes. Eww. And at the time, we were so obsessed with the gross out factor and the blurred nudity that we barely even noticed the soundtrack. So here it is, over a decade later, and surprisingly enough, the soundtrack is really cool. And holds up quite well on its own. Super freaky instrumental squeals that ends with what can only be the sounds of a dead limb being hacked off, haunting almost atonal string quartet. like a slowed down, warped Balanescu Quartet, haunting Tom Waits-ish creepy clatter, with whining violing being transmitted through a crappy little transistor radio, with clanking slow motion rhythms, creepy underwater sound scapes of burbling and swooshing space sound effects, industrial buzz, with a distant mournful melody, all scratchy played over the top and even occasional full on synth heavy Goblin horrorscapes. Definitely cool stuff!
The first album from Italy's Larsen was shrouded in mystery, literally they would have had us believe, as it (Rever) came accompanied by the unlikely story that it was recorded with the band concealed behind a screen, producer Michael Gira never actually ever laying eyes on the bandmembers, as they played in concealment and he twiddled the knobs in the studio on his side of the screen. Probably not a true story, but a good one! This new disc comes with a (somewhat) more plausible narrative: apparently Larsen, in preparing for their next record, decided to improvise, just as an exercise, around a bunch of their favorite melodies from tracks by British glitchtronica masters Autechre. In doing so, they eventually came up with their own material, tracks that weren't literally "covers" or in any way direct interpretations of Autechre songs, but were nonetheless heavily influenced and inspired by Autechre's songwriting -- again, in terms of melodies, not the glitchy science of the Autechre duo's stuttering beats. But along with Autechre, their label also cites Einsturzende Neubauten, Six Organs of Admittance, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Godspeed You Black Emperor and Gira's Swans as possible influences, and those references seem equally likely to our ears, especially since Larsen's ritualistic, repetitive post-rock doesn't sound remotely like Autechre. Well wait a sec...it does...remotely. By casting such gentle "Autechre-ish" melodies in the context of such completely different instrumentation (guitar, drums, bass, harmonium, xylophone, accordion, keyboards, cello, violin...) and arrangement, Larsen's Play highlights just how melodic Autechre are, something perhaps obscured by the skittering electronic component of their own music. Autechre issues aside, Larsen sure do still sound mysterious. And Play perhaps surpasses what we thought was a pretty brilliant debut (an AQ record of the week, almost exactly three years ago). As with Rever, Play is a largely instrumental, slowly unfolding, mesmerizing, multi-part epic of both tranquility and power, anchored in hypnotic drum-grooves and bathed in delicate instrumental textures. However inspired, it's Larsen that has done the hard work here of constructing such a moody monument.
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We only have a dozen of these. We will NEVER get more. So this is one of those first come first served deals, quick on the buzzer, don't delay or you're shit out of luck. SERIOUSLY. Four black metal bands from all over the world. One 7". One track each. Grim and evil and cult and gone before you know it. Leviathan, Ad Hominem, Funeral Winds, Eternity. In a gorgous black on black gatefold sleeve. And as it says on the back of the record: "This piece of hate is limited." Indeed...but only in number.
Holy smokes, talk about potent reactions! We can hear the roar of dismay from Low fans miles away in response to this new album, but hang on a second folks, don't push it aside so swiftly, give it another listen... and another! Yes, The Great Destroyer does mark a change in direction (perhaps most noticeably in tempo and the presence of crunchier guitar dissonance) for the band. The first two songs, the synth and guitar laden "Monkey" and the great poppy "California" make that perfectly clear. What this album does is confirm what we already know, that is, just what great songcraftsmiths Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker and Zak Sally are. However, it also makes us realize and appreciate that they really could be doing any style they choose (and doing it exceedingly well), but because they've stuck to the slowcore for so many years and so many albums, they've in a sense produced a recognizable 'product' called Low that fans know and love... and do not want to change. So it's not surprising that after twelve years and six albums, a change in Low would draw some passionate (or maybe even irate) response from fans. For those folks, we'll just say cherish your Secret Name and Long Division, but maybe find a place in your heart for The Great Destroyer too.
A tip of the hat to the band for following their artistic muse and throwing a challenging curve ball rather than simply making more of what they themselves know they can already do, and more of what they surely know their fans want. No, this album doesn't offer their trademark blanket of hushed, lulling glacialness, but the heartaching lyrical impact and stunning arrangements are still more than present. Really, it's no exaggeration to say that some of these songs will floor you! The Great Destroyer is an emotionally expansive, deeply moving and fully rewarding album. It was co-produced with David Fridmann who also after years of unmistakable grand blown-out productions (Flaming Lips, Sparklehorse, Delgados) makes some changes to his approach, showing surprising restraint particularly on songs such as the more familiar 'old-Low' sounding songs "Silver Rider" and "Death Of A Salesman". Beautiful! Highly recommended... 'nuf said.
NOTE: this has a "street date" of 1/5/04 which means we can't sell it to ya 'til then, next Tuesday. But go ahead and order it now if you're a mailorder-er.
Under his moniker Lustmord, Brian Williams has authored a signature sound that has become the pinnacle of the dark ambient sub-genre, even if he is loathe to that accept that catagorization. Williams began recording in the early '80s with the seminal industrial project SPK for the Leichenschrei album. While often working with SPK live, Williams began trawling subterranean locations and coupling field recordings from those spaces with a scientific rigor into the very low frequencies that hovered just on the threshold of audibility but could clearly be felt if not heard. Paradise Disowned was the second Lustmord record originally released back in 1984. Working with John Murphy (best known for his contributions to early Current 93 recordings), Williams crafted eerie soundscapes from his field recordings of deep nuclear shelters, Welsh caves, French crypts, and slaughterhouses. The haunting wails of Tibetan horns and mysterious ritualistic incantations further darkens the mood, although some of the drum machine tracks toward the end of the record do more to date the record than add mechanical paranoia. Nevertheless, the concepts and recording methods for Paradise Disowned are in fact very similar to those found on Heresy, which is still Lustmord's masterpiece.
Perhaps following his Amalgamated Sons Of Rest cohort Will Oldham's multi-naming lead (y'know making music as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Palace Music/Brothers/Songs, etc) and to mark a new chapter in his musical travels, Jason Molina (aka Songs:Ohia) has assumed a new performance moniker. It is Magnolia Electric Co., and it was the title of his final album as Songs: Ohia. Aaah, a rose by any other name...! Anyways, your official introduction to M.E.C. is the hearty country rock of this live album which was recorded in Brussels in 2003 (psst, a studio album is set to be released in the spring!). Maybe to ease his fans through the name change, Molina mixes the old with the new, performing a bunch of new songs as well as a few Songs:Ohia tunes. Actually many of these songs also recall those good ol' days of AQ fave Uncle Tupelo -- not only is Molina's vocal delivery very often akin to Jay Farrar's, but the guitar tone, pacing and mood are quite similar as well -- particularly on fine songs such as "North Star". Fans take note, this cd release is a "limited" pressing of 10,000!
We previously heard from San Diego indie rural-psychsters Maquiladora on the Acid Mothers Temple n' friends 3cd compilation Do Whatever You Want a while back. Now here's a Japanese import cd featuring them jamming with the Acid Mothers Temple's number one guru, guitarist Kawabata Makoto (and also ex-AMTer Cotton Casino). Over these two discs is sprawlingly spread a lot of lovely, drifting, droning, gentle, largely instrumental cosmic bliss with a slight desert-sunset, country-psych feel (hints of Maquiladora's rootsy roots come through with some plantive home-on-the-range harmonica that appears alongside the less rustic instrumentation of analog synth, glissando guitar, Hammond organ, piano, vibraphone, etc.). Maybe it's due to Makoto's usual magic, but this is surely good enough that now we'll definitely have to check out Maquiladora's own couple of previous records! Real nice, mellow, moody.
As you may imagine, it's sometimes tough for us to keep up with all of Japanese noise master Merzbow's releases...in fact, we can't claim we do, although Jim did review the entire Merzbox once upon a time so that's something! Anyway, let's get to this one: what's billed as the follow-up to the much-liked Merzbeat, released by Important in 2002. As with that, this is about the beats...squelching, crunching, distorted beats, immersed in a howling vacuum-cleaner din! Probably only Kid606 would seriously consider this dance music, but as Merzbow albums go, I guess it is (there really are breakbeats on here). But we're pretty sure that if, say, the US Army got their hands on it, it'd be getting blasted at insurgents holed up in some mosque in Iraq. Repetitive, insistent, very dynamic stuff that fans of Wolf Eyes, Nautical Almanac and all that ilk will surely dig.
Chapter One: The Sandworm Cometh is one of two new My Morning Jacket collections of previously unreleased early tracks and rarities. We think we should forewarn you, with just one in-store play under its belt, this cd has already triggered some very hot and cold responses... and it's all hinging on how folks feel about MMJ's cover versions. It's apparent from these recordings (many of them recorded on a four-track) that even early on the MMJ sound was characterized by a drenching of abandoned ballroom/cathedral-esque reverb applied to Jim James' unstable, yelp-moaned vocals and the band's warm rootsy twang. That's all fine 'n' dandy, but this compilation is filled with many off-the-cuff covers of songs such as "White Rabbit" and "Rocket Man". Their renditions sorta seem like a more unkempt and countrified Flaming Lips that left some eyebrows raised and others furrowed around here. While we certainly wouldn't question the band's love for the songs, we wonder if their versions actually do the ol' Elton and the 'Airplane a disservice. Unfortunately the line's pretty blurred these days between a band playing a 'different-genred' song out of sincere joy and love of that song and a band simply covering it to be clever/ironic/weird. It sorta seems like MMJ tend to lean towards the latter. Okay, now that I'm done railing against their covers, allow me to say that if you can sidestep those, uh, boobytraps (that is, unless you don't wanna!), you might discover the best moments on this cd are the ones in which the band lightens up on the reverb a bit and lets their own achingly lovely songs shine through (check out "Weeks Go By Like Days" and "When Will They Come").
My Morning Jacket's covers cavalcade continues on Chapter Two: Learning, the second of their two new collections of old rarities and previously unreleased tracks. And once again, if you can make your way through their '80s kick, you'll be rewarded with their own wonderful originals.
This time they take a whack at Berlin's "Take My Breath Away". It's sorta like if the Flaming Lips got really drunk and got the not-so-bright idea to churn out a soggy, atonal rendition of the theme from Top Gun. Then they plug away at the Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls" followed by "Dream A Lil' Dream". Uh oh. On those songs, Jim James' droopy lilting voice is endearing for a little while, then it gradually verges on grating. Oddly, at some point late in the proceedings his voice shifts from sounding a lot like Wayne Coyne to sounding a lot like Will Oldham and the music follows suit. Once again, this release drew rather extreme feedback from those present while this was played in the store. Some folks groaned, some chuckled uncomfortably and some simply fell silent. Let's put it this way, if AQ was the Gong Show, we suspect the cover songs would've been gonged repeatedly already... and we think Jamie Farr, Arte Johnson and Jaye P. Morgan would probably agree. Much like on Chapter One, this compilation's high points are the band's own songs such as the thirteenth track "I Will Be There When You Die". Omigod, sooo fragile and heartbreakingly beautiful and well worth wading through MMJ's '80s selections to get to!
It goes without saying that the extent of death and destruction in Southeast and Sub-Continental Asia following the recent tsunami was catastrophic beyond measure, and to single out one death among many stands the potential of belittling the tragedy of others. But Nasum were and are one of my (Elliott's) all-time favorite bands, and this list is meant to inform of musical happenings. So in case fans of the genre haven't heard by now- Mieszko Talarczyk, singer, guitarist and co-founder of one the longest running and most influential grindcore bands in the world -- Sweden's Nasum-- was still missing and presumed dead in Ko Phi Phi, Thailand. It still seems unreal that a community as seemingly far removed from the quake's epicenter as the Scandinavian grindcore scene would be so gravely affected by the disaster, but perhaps this is as demonstrative as anything just how wide-spread was the destruction.
And so we are left with Shift. What was to be simply their fourth stunning full-length of unmatched aural ferocity is instead an inadvertent swan song and an elegy to the voice of its fury. Still setting new land-speed records in the genre they helped define, Nasum were newly a four-piece for the Shift sessions with a second guitarist from Regurgitate and a new bassist from the similarly brutal Sayyadina. Recorded only a year after 2003's masterly Helvete record, Shift features some of the strongest and most diverse songs yet from the band, with all four members contributing to the song-writing -- though of course the default speed of most every song is still set to FUCKING FAST. Blast beats careen nearly out of control until a surgically precise breakdown cuts in to let you know Nasum are never anything less than fully in control of the whirlwind maelstroms their songs evince. Comparable only to the band's own previous output, the sheer mastery of this relentless portrait of violent virtuosity is a constant painful reminder of how dearly Mieszko and his music will be missed by his fans worldwide, and of equivalent losses to thousands more worldwide.
Drunk With The Old Man Of The Mountains is a curious way to start reissuing all of the Nurse With Wound records again; but hey Nurse With Wound is not an outfit that adheres to the logic of market forces. As of the early months of 2005, only a handful of Nurse With Wound's amazing catalogue of psychic automatism and Dadaist strategies remain in print. Fortunately, the Canadian label Jhana (with help from Revolver Distribution) has begun the painstaking but necessary process of reissuing all of the albums that Nurse With Wound's former distributor World Serpent handled so poorly.
Originally released in 1987 as a very limited edition of 100 copies with original paintings by Nurse With Wound's Steven Stapleton, Drunk With The Old Man enjoyed a second vinyl pressing in 2004 with reproductions of some of Stapleton's paintings gracing the cover. Essentially, Drunk With The Old Man was one of the many Nurse With Wound compilations that pulled extremely rare tracks of NWW compilation appearances, singles, and even tracks from his proper albums. "Mourning Smile" (1985) opens Drunk With The Old Man and while having been later published as a bonus track for the CD of Spiral Insana, this track is one of two pieces that debuted on this album. A quintessential NWW collage, "Mourning Smile" crawls through eerie drones and ragtime piano ditties, broken up by comically majestic church organ swells. "Swamp Rat" (1987) was from a split 12" with Current 93 called Faith's Favourites and later appeared on the Sugar Fish Drink compilation. Stapleton sets forth a primitive rhythmic thud through which he laces reverberations from vocal chorales, distant guitar squiggliness, and a constant giggling, punctuated by Stapleton himself muttering the title of the track. "Sheela-Na-Gig" (1984) is the other track to debut on this compilation, although it later appeared on Large Ladies With Cake in the Oven. Here, female shrieks and cackles (possibly from Stapleton's then partner Diana Rogerson) have been pitchshifted into an electronically mangled version of Diamanda Galas. "Astral Dustbin Dirge" is from the classic album Homotopie For Marie (1983), splattered with cut-ups of a man snoring and a woman orgasming amidst hyperbolic post-Pierre Henry musique concrete techniques. And finally, "Shattering Man Falling" from Live At Bar Maldoror album (1984) is evidence of the very short spell in which Nurse With Wound performed live. While the Bar Maldoror was something of a fictional space, the resulting recordings (which in all likelihood had been treated by Stapleton after the fact) are chaotic improvisations with found objects and whirring tape manipulations.
Hopefully, Jhana will continue marching through the NWW catalogue, and Drunk With The Old Man should stand as a fantastic introduction to Steven Stapleton's twisted art.
Not only did Thuja's Loren Chasse so very recently grace us with a phenomenal full-length cd from his solo project Of (reviewed last list), he has also now just brought in a handful of these Of cd-rs he originally produced to sell on Thuja's December jaunt to a festival in Scotland. Maybe 12 bucks might seem just a little pricey for a 25 minute cd-r, but Loren's made 'em look really nice (each one with an individual leaf-rubbing and handwritten credits) and more importantly, the music makes it well worth it. The first, five minute track begins with some pleasantly harsh distortion before settling into a soothing drone, Chasse weaving together both field recordings and his own instrumental improvisations into one seamless, organic whole. This is but the warm-up for the other, twenty-minute track on here that's an exquisite late-night humid dreamscape that you won't want to wake up from, which makes hypnotic use of what I think could be frog croakings but also sound a lot like a ticking clock... Needless to say, any and all Of fans need this, and as well it's recommended to all of you into nocturnal, eternal nature-boy drone!
The Once And Future Herds brings together two overlapping Jewelled Antler duos: The Blithe Sons (Glenn Donaldson and Loren Chasse) and the Skygreen Leopards (Glenn Donaldson and Donovan Quinn). The material on this five song, 18-minute lil' 3" cd-r released by our friends PseudoArcana in New Zealand finds Glenn, Loren and Donovan relaxing back at the ranch (literally, this was recorded on a hillside out at Borges Ranch State Park) after a hard day of wrangling field recordings. As Jewelled Antler efforts go, this leans in a country-folk direction, more strummy and structured than is sometimes the case, with guit-fiddle to the fore and vocals that, at times, remind us of a muffled, mumbled Devendra Banhart. But all the weird, textural nature ambience you'd expect is also fully in the mix. It's really really nice and all you Jewelled Antler fanatics need to jump on it now, as we only have a dozen in stock of this limited release.
Yes. God created a new Oneida ep and it is GOOOOOD. Unearthly constructions of aural impairment deliver us once again unto the artfully murky and damaged realm of Ooooonnnneeeeiiiiiiiiiddddddaaaaaaaaaaaa. This ep psychedelically drones its way through guitar drawn melodies and distant, fuzzy, darkly dreamy vocals. "Hakuna Matata"'s 15 minutes is an entrancing ROCK monolith that forcably delivers the nearly signature-Oneida prog-psych-rock kick in the head we've grown to love. This is a must-have for all fans of this band of Oberliners and hopefully a teaser for the next full-length. Might even be the release to sway the many Oneida-doubters on the AQ staff...
Morgendammerung is another posthumous release form the drone ensemble Ora, which consisted of Darren Tate, Colin Potter, and Andrew Chalk with occasional contributions from Lol Coxhill, Jonathan Coleclough, mnortham, and Daisuke Suzuki. Both of the extended tracks from Morgendammerung originate from the long out of print cd-r New Movements In G, originally released on Darren Tate's own Gnome Records back in 1998. Vapor trails of cold watery field recordings nestle into the hushed sounds of Ora's enigmatic rituals of quiet gong and bell interplay. While Coxhill supposedly contributed some sax work on one of the two tracks, it's impossible to tell as Ora's trio of producers superbly abstracted all of the sounds into these monoliths of quivering drones. It should be noted that neither of these tracks had been reissued on the two Ora retrospectives Final and After The Rainfall. Limited to 400 copies.
A beautiful live document from the msyterious Origami Galaktika. Four extended tracks mixed into one 36 minute seamless whole. A rich, dense, lush, organic assemblege of ambient drones and droning ambience. Distant fog horn moans, chimes blowing in the wind, rumbling glitch flecked hum, getting more and more ambient, until scratchy white noise fuzz adds the sound of rain beating on a roof or a distant steam engine sort of thrum to the proceedings, that eventually morph into a sort of bass driven groove, albeit a super minimal and subtly pulsing one, with the sounds of occasional passing trains and other found sounds. So nice.
We've been a fan of French musique concrete composer, Bernard Parmegiani for awhile now. His sound engineer's background brings forth a stunningly unique view of music-making through which he combines improvisational intuition with an excellent sense of compositional form. JazzEx is a collection of four of his earliest works: "JazzEx" (1966), a composition for electronic tape and Jazz Quartet from the 1966 Festival de Royan; "Pop Eclectic" (1969), an electro-acoustique divertimento that mixes natural and synthetic sounds and was composed for the Peter Foldes movie; "Du Pop a l'Ane" (1969), a plunderphonics sound collage using pop and symphonic sounds; "Et Apres" (1973), an amazing electronic tango composition featuring Michel Portal on bandoneon. This is an important period of Parmegiani's work, noting his first major steps in this eclectic sound language. Highly recommended!
Along with composing the scores for some of Werner Herzog's greatest films, Florian Fricke was as much a musical pioneer as were his contemporaries Faust, Neu and Cluster. Unlike his contemporaries, Fricke's music is informed as much by music from arounds the world as it was rock and classical composition (in which he was schooled). Sitars, pan flutes and assorted ethnic percussion have as much a place in any given Popol Vuh album as moog synths, guitars, bass and drums. One only need look at his choice of a band name, taken from the title of a sacred Mayan text, to see where Fricke's affinities lay.
Popol Vuh's 1975 soundtrack to Herzog's Aguirre The Wrath Of God is a prime example of Fricke's multi-faceted musical aesthetic. At times the score is suitably bleak for the film's content. Most notably the main theme "Aguirre", which weaves in and out through the disc, is about as lonesome sounding as a tune -- which almost completely lacks melody -- can get. Around a slowly pulsing, sustained two notes played on guitar is a grainy mixed chorus. This is the music that's played during the long shot of people snaking their way down a mountain side and later on with the camera fixed on a turgid brown river. In striking contrast to this bleak theme are several pretty & mellow hippy guitar jams, a la Grateful Dead meets Mike Oldfield. As a bonus for this remastered edition SPV has included another mix of the theme "Aguirre" with additional throbbing ethnic percussion by Fricke and Co.
Along with composing the scores for some of Werner Herzog's greatest films, Florian Fricke was as much a musical pioneer as were his contemporaries Faust, Neu and Cluster. Unlike his contemporaries, Fricke's music is informed as much by music from arounds the world as it was rock and classical composition (in which he was schooled). Sitars, pan flutes and assorted ethnic percussion have as much a place in any given Popol Vuh album as moog synths, guitars, bass and drums. One only need look at his choice of a band name, taken from the title of a sacred Mayan text, to see where Fricke's affinities lay.
Recorded in 1971, In Den Garten Pharaos is Popol Vuh's second album. Like Affenstunde, it contains minimal arrangements -- in contrast to the film works Nosferatu and Aguirre -- and the compositions within are more centered around texture and timbre than melody. The album begins with creepy moog and organ drones, some of which would turn up on Aguirre the Wrath of God, evolving into semi-improvised chords and melodies played on rhodes piano along with hand drums. The second track features super heavy and dark church organ drones with cymbals and howling voices and more hand drums. Along with the original album tracks, this reissue comes with two previously unreleased ten minute tracks "Kha-White Structures" parts one and two which are solo moog improvisations by Fricke. All tracks are quite beautiful and haunting. Very nice!
Along with composing the scores for some of Werner Herzog's greatest films, Florian Fricke was as much a musical pioneer as were his contemporaries Faust, Neu and Cluster. Unlike his contemporaries, Fricke's music is informed as much by music from arounds the world as it was rock and classical composition (in which he was schooled). Sitars, pan flutes and assorted ethnic percussion have as much a place in any given Popol Vuh album as moog synths, guitars, bass and drums. One only need look at his choice of a band name, taken from the title of a sacred Mayan text, to see where Fricke's affinities lay.
Certainly Popol Vuh's most popular recording and certainly one of the greatest film scores by any measure, Nosferatu is a brilliant soundtrack. Bringing together elements from plainsong and renaissance music, with Indian sitar and tabla, piano, synth drones, mellow psychedelic rock jams, and folky acoustic guitar. As well, much of the music is suitably lonely and dark enough to accompany the movements of a 500 year old vampire. Like his theme for Aguirre, the opening tune here -- Bruder des Schattens -- features a pulsing two note drone, here sung by a male chorus that sounds distinctly Eastern European, that steadily builds to include wind instruments before inexplicably fading into a pleasant guitar tune. The killer though, has to be the recurring theme "Mantra", a beautiful and haunting piece that references the Dies Irae played on sitar and electric guitar, with progressing versions on the disc adding chorus. Spooky. Highly recommended.
Sounds like an odd pairing, but it works surprsingly well. Sage Francis, assembles a dark and dreamy Anticon-ish hiphop-scape, with Oldham supplying the main vocals in his trademark laconic drawl. You can almost imagine what a great palace song this would make if you sucked out all the groove. But that's precisely what makes it such a great hip hop track. It's just a great song. On the extended version Oldham And Francis are joined by Saul Williams which is super cool. The B side, is the track "Stuck" and features fellow whiney rapper, Atmosphere.
Solo record from the guitarist of death metal geniuses Nile. Not what you might be expecting. Think all the 'Asian/Eastern' interludes from Nile records, all new agey with some very questionable vocals/lyrics. Ugh. A bit cheesy. Not sure what Sanders (and Release/Relapse) was thinking. Definitely worth checking out for it's WTF value, but even diehard Nile obsessives will be hard pressed to find a reason for having this in their collection.
The Jewelled Antler circle of influence continues to grow as various bands and groups and indviduals of the Jewelled Antler ilk leave the JA nest and find themselves releasing records for different labels. The Skygreen Leopards, who occupy the poppier side of the JA spectrum, and who recently released a record on Soft Abuse, now find themselves on Jagjaguwar, with a brand new cd coming next month. But in the meantime, Jagjaguwar has released this super limited vinyl-only 12" to tide us all over. And like past Skygreen Leopards releases, it is indeed a gem. Sparkling avant folk collides with subtly psychedelic sort-of-pop, reverbed banjo and delicately strummed acoustic guitars, gorgeous breathy vocals, field recordings and all sorts of sonic filligree. Darkly delerious, sparkling and shimmery, and perfectly beautiful. VERY LIMITED so don't delay!
My oh my, here's some more Morr prettiness! The German label is positively overflowing with electronic pop treats these days. Yes, Solvent is totally for you if you've dug the recent gentle burst of soothing shimmery music from that label's stable of dreamy-tronica artists such as Styrofoam, Isan, The Go Find, et al. That said, unlike his Morr Music brethren who are predominantly Europe-based, Solvent aka Jason Amm is from Toronto, Canada. Solvent City is populated by plentiful well-crafted, light meringue-y IDM beats (and no, I don't mean "merengue"!) and frosty lacy melodies.
Yay! Yay! Yay! It's time again for some stylin' Euro fun 'cuz StereoTotal have just unleashed a new album. It's called Do The Bambi, baby! Careful tho' you might go into sugar shock from this sparkly kooky multilingual electro-pop explosion. Lead singer Francoise Cactus has perfected the pout in her coquettish '60s Ye Ye Girl vocals, while her ST partner Brezel Goring once again does his best Monsieur Gainsbourg. A whopping nineteen wonderfully silly and gleefully playful songs packed with lots of cheesy Casio-style beats... nay, Bontempi-style beats churned out by a vaguely named "rhythm machine". They close the festivities with a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Chelsea Girls". Party guests include Hawnay Troof and Felix Kubin. Yay!
NOTE: Again, there's a street date of 1/25/05 on this puppy, so we can't sell 'em 'til Tuesday...but you can go ahead and order it if you're doing mailorder.
