All right! It's about time this legendary slice of South American psych got a not-inordinately-expensive cd reissue we could stock. We've been into this band/album ever since a REALLY expensive but beautiful (and now long-gone) vinyl reissue came out on Shadoks some years ago. Now World In Sound makes it available on cd in a fancy thick triple-fold sleeve that preserves the great psychedelic gatefold art from the original LP -- art that Acid Mothers Temple would die for! There's a 14-page booklet with notes and photos as well. This is definitely one for all you '70s heavy psych freaks! Super fuzz wah guitar and organ jamming stoner psych-prog from Brazil, circa 1970. Nine tracks packed with sinewy jams, trippy fx, weighty grooves... definitely appealing to the same head-space as contemporaries like Iron Butterfly, Dug Dug's, Captain Beyond, Speed Glue & Shinki, Hendrix, Flower Travellin' Band, etc. And we're pretty certain that current South American stoner rock faves Los Natas must be into this album too... Also, you may in fact have heard one track from this before, on the ever-recommended Love, Peace & Poetry: Latin American Psychedelic Music comp also on Shadoks, but that track only hints at how cool this album is. (They also have a track on the LP&P Brazilian volume too.)
Here's a quote from one of the band members, the organist, that ought to give some flavor of what they were all about: "The music of Modulo 1000 had its own appeal to an audience that wanted a heavy, raw, experimental, psychedelic sound. Our kind of music did not make it to the radio stations. It was too wild. The distribution of the record was done in a very limited way. The record label directors, which probably didn't understand or even didn't like our music, did zero promotion for the LP." Thus, one darn heavy, weird, and utterly rare record!
This reish also includes seven bonus tracks (from where/when is left unexplained) some of which are freaky enough to fit with the actual record itelf, but just aren't as heavy -- more Latin groovy.
Shhhhh... This cd arrived quietly with very little fanfare, but that's totally in line with its unassuming, hushed dream pop sounds. If you dig the airy, acoustic prettiness of bands such as Scotland's Camera Obscura and Belle And Sebastian, Monster Movie might be next on your list o' UK sweethearts. Actually if you look a little bit closer, you might spy a familiar face in this 'Movie's cast from an old beloved band. Who? What? Why, it's noneother than Slowdive's Christian Savill who along with Sean Hewson and Austin, TX based vocalist Rachel Staggs form the current line-up (actually the band's been around in some shape or form since way back in '89). Released on Graveface Records, home to some other fine bands we've been diggin of late -- namely Dreamend and Spires That In The Sunset Rise.
Over the past couple of years we've listed, and recommended, a half-dozen or so titles from German one-man-black-metal-band mainstay Kanwulf aka Nargaroth, including his most recent effort, Prosatanica Shooting Angels, just this last December. But we've never had enough stock of this most essential Nargaroth title to stock -and list- until now! No Colours has repressed this, Kanwulf's seminal third No Colours release from 2001, and we've got 'em. And you should get one too. If you're into the real raw necro black metal that is! And if you've got any Nargaroth, you need this too, and if you don't have any, this is the one to start with!
Subtitled "A Dedication Monument", this seems to be an album of black metal *about* black metal. The song titles indicate as much, from the title track to such cuts as "The Day Burzum Killed Mayhem" and "Possessed By Black Fucking Metal". Hard to resist, eh? And it's very clear the black metal he worships is the cult necro stuff, not "nowadays" black metal as he puts it. None of that gothy commerical keyboard black metal here -- not to say WE don't like that stuff too. But we do understand how undergroundier efforts like this MEAN more. Y'know? Somehow a guy obsessed with Burzum and Mayhem and the length of the spikes on his leather arm-brace sometimes (like in the case of Nargaroth) just makes THE most intense, weird, blackest of black metal. It's that sound we can't ever get enough of. Endlessly droning riffs, lengthy and hypnotic arrangements, buzzing Burzumic melodies stumbling galloping rhythms and of course Kanwulf's demonic demon screech. A spiky, scratchy grim black cloak of cult black fuzz.
Nagaroth IS Kanwulf, but on Black Metal Ist Krieg he's aided by guest musicians from Maniac Butcher and BM legends Moonblood.
Have you been missing Sleep? No, not your forty winks, we mean the mighty stoner metal behemoth that was San Francisco's Sabbath n' sweet leaf worshippers Sleep. The endlessly repetitive riffs, the swinging molasses sludge jams, the massive, mantric starscapes of drugged-out space rock drone and dirge? Yeah, we've been missing Sleep too. They broke up after their magnum opus, the one-hour/one-song album Jerusalem (aka Dopesmoker), members eventally resurfacing in The Sabians and High On Fire. And now Om, the closest thing to the Jerusalem of olde! So if High On Fire's loud and speedy Motorheaded heaviness hasn't quite been giving you that same Sleepy feeling, then here's -another- post-Sleep outfit that might just do the trick.
First get rid of the guitars ('cause this is just Sleep's rhythm section, bassist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Hakius). All they really need is a drum kit, a bass guitar and about 10,000 watts of amplification. Then set the controls for the heart of the sun, and ride all the way there seemingly on a single churning, hypnotic mesmerizing riff, stretched over three long tracks. A super distorted, fuzzed out magic carpet ride into oblivion. The main difference between Sleep and Om (besides the lack of guitar) are the vocals by Al Cisneros. Lots of vocals. And not screaming or growly, we're talking clean, chanting, trance-like vocals, WAY up in the mix. Well, they do sound a bit like the singing in Sleep, just way more prominent. It may be the single thing that keeps folks from getting into Om. But the vocals definitely grow on you, and the laconic sort of slurry sing song-y delivery just further enhances Om's druggy mesmerism. Al's stiffly delivered, endless nasal incantations are in fact now being imitated by the staffers here at Aquarius in our everyday conversations. They definitely give the whole thing a definite Hawkwind / Pink Floyd vibe, which is a VERY good thing. This is most definitely not 'metal', although metalheads will probably dig it. Electric Wizard fans especially! This is relentlessly riff heavy, ultra repetitive, simple, spaced out, hippy drug rock of the highest order. Musically it almost sounds like a Lightning Bolt record played at 16rpm, that effortless bass / drum interplay slowed down to a loping lumber, a slow motion slither, a creepy crawl. Head nodding music for head bangers. A swirling, fuzzy, spacy, mesmerizing, drone rock trip! No wonder ol' Julian Cope wrote it up as a record of the month on his great Head Heritage website...
After two previous outings of cello laced electronica (including the marvellous heroin house album The Science of Breath), Polmo Polpo covers "Kiss Me Again and Again" by Arthur Russell's avant-disco-funk thing Dinosaur L back from 1981. This 22 minute track opens quite akwardly with a basic disco groove and some jittery-junk-jive guitar riff that begins like an out-of-tune Marc Ribot chicken scratch. But slowly, the guitars mellow their contortionist twisting and open into a rather attractive disco jangle. File next to LCD Soundsystem in late '70s / early '80s disco-punk worship.
Sub Pop continue their recent string of cd and 12" singles that's threatening to become sort of the unofficial descendent of their old Sub Pop Singles Club. Okay, maybe we're jumpin' the gun, but this is already the third one for Postal Service. The title track is once again drawn from their full length Give Up, and is accompanied by a suitably dreamy new song "Be Still My Heart" as well as two remixes (by Styrofoam and Matthew Dear). Oh such sweetness just in time for Valentine's Day!
Ah, happy day. Time to kick back with the thirty FIFTH fine issue of the Ptolemaic Terrascope. As always, lots between these covers, many narrow columns of text pertaining to psychedelic, folky, spacey sorts both old and new: Movietone, SF boys Tarentel, Jack Rose, Steve MacKay, In Gowan Ring, Sharon Kraus, Nick Nicely and much more. Plus reviews galore, interestin' ads even, and let's not forget the bonus cd compilation, this time, with several of the aforementioned plus Bevis Frond (natch), Green Pajamas, The One Ensemble Of Daniel Padden, and others!
Philosopher's Walk is like a sonic dissertation using sound structures based on filter improvs and field recordings? Intellectual and academic, musically dense and seemingly clinical. But closer examination and further listens reveal a subtly deft use of layers and layers of filters and digital processing, occasionally broken into by piano, drums, organs, found sounds and synthesizers, creating a gorgeously creepy, haunting alien ambientscape. Fans of Godspeed and A Silver Mt. Zion will not be disappointed.
An old drum kit. Homemade amps. A dented old trombone. A bucket and a handful of firecrackers. The Reeks make a sound that is otherworldly. Dark and stumbling, folk-flecked basement blues. A mix of woozy slide guitar, swampy trombone, sparse and erratic percussion, tape hiss, amp buzz, shortwave interference and dark doomy brilliance. Like a ghostly, indie rock New Orleans funeral jazz band or Roland S. Howard fronting the Dead C. Haunting, mesmerizing, gorgeously raucous, dreamily creepy and absolutely unlike anything you have ever heard.
For years the Reeks played all up and down the West Coast, in basements, back porches, living rooms, pizza parlours, with only a 12" record and a battered old suitcase full of hand dubbed cassettes to their name, spreading their warm cloak of pulsing, droning creepy crawly throb over anyone lucky enough to be packed into the same sweaty space. At once jubilant and danceable, but at the same time, dark and lugubrious, ominous and somnabulent. Lovers of weird music couldn't get enough, but eventually, even dyed in the wool indie rockers began to embrace the Reeks, having perhaps found something that still smacked of their beloved indie rock, but was a little darker and a whole lot weirder than they were used to. But by then it was too late.
The release of Knife Hits is truly bittersweet. After years of recording and re-recording, mixing and remixing, when Knife Hits was finally ready to be released, and the rest of the world would finally get to hear the Reeks' amazing off kilter avant indie funeral folk, tragedy struck. Orion Satushek, Reeks mainman, guitar player, instrument builder and one of the nicest guys ever, was hit and killed by a drunk driver. The personal loss, is indescribable, a deep sting everytime we think about him, his band, his music, his friendship. And the loss to music, to the music community, is immeasurable. Years of playing, and practicing and rocking and sweating in tiny cramped basements and doing with a crappy old drum kit and a couple of homemade amps what most bands can't do with all the equipment in the world is somehow all crammed onto this single disc. These ten songs. The passion, the playfulness, the dark moodiness, the spaced out droniness, the wild sweaty chaos, the sheer joy of making an unholy racket. This record is not only a totally unique chunk of damaged outsider rock brilliance, but it's also a fitting tribute to the loss of a very special friend.
We miss you, Orion.
There's actually a goodly number of black and/or death metal releases on this week's list, and they wouldn't be here if we didn't like 'em. But if what you're looking for is something that's *really* evil-sounding, shredded, distorted, blackened, and fucked up, well, like they say: dude, Revenge is sweet. (Forget about the best served cold part, though.) Seriously, Canada's Revenge sure as heck here have made one of the noisiest, nastiest black metal records we've heard in a long time. Their second full-length, Victory.Intolerance.Mastery (how's that for an album title?) is, uh, extremely extreme. Utterly so. Roaring, rumbling, raw. Not for those concerned with such sophisticated niceties as polished production, or melody, or even, well, music. Nope, this is purely over-the-top hellish thrashing mayhem. Clattering drums, belching vocals, screaming guitars, all recorded past-the-point-of-pain. Really, we thought that Aufgehoben No Process was the Anaal Nathrakh of noise-rock...but now we think that Revenge are the Aufgehoben No Process of black metal...does that make sense? Truly cult stuff. What else to say? Well, this blasting brutality boasts the, ah, talents of bass warrior Pete Helmcamp (Angelcorpse, Order From Chaos), whom along with the other guy in the band (one J. Read on "bloodhammers" and "actrocity commands") is one of the reasons that our pal Drew from Matmos just came in and bought this disc -- he thinks these guys are cute! Bet that's the only time someone purchases this cd for the cuteness factor. Another selling point: Revenge have such a nice, spikey, negative-space logo.
In 2002, Rotten Sound released what will undoubtedly go down as one of the absolute highlights of the grindcore genre, the unsurpassable Murderworks. Topping the relentless speed and complexity (and yet catchiness as well) of that monumental album seemed a futile effort but these fearsome Finns have come damn close with this equally punishing new record. There is a clinical precision to the playing on this disc that should impress even the most non-metally inclined amongst you, in particular the near inhuman drum skills of Kai Hahto, who turns in yet another tour de force. Each new album finds Hahto somehow increasing the dial of his internal metronome a few notches faster but it's the technicality of the breaks he throws in at will amongst the fury that is truly stunning. OK, yes we are major drum nerds, but seriously you gotta hear this guy play! The rest of the band fills in more than ably, with some seriously vicious vocal attacks plus that classically huge buzzing Scandinavian death/grind guitar sound a la Entombed and Nasum -- the late Mieszko Talarczyk of Nasum even recorded this. Definitely a necessity for fans of Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Discordance Axis, Pig Destroyer, anything on Relapse and anything insanely fast!
Sage Francis has always been the best lyricist of the bunch, the bunch in question being the Anticon collective (Dose One, Sole, Alias, etc...), but until now it was ALL about the lyrics, the music being just background for Francis's nimble flow. A Healthy Distrust finds Francis on fire, spitting some of the most biting, brutal and brutally funny lyrics EVER, sometimes in a purposefully unfunky drawl, sometimes sung in a goofy sing song, and sometimes sprayed in an impossible series of tongue twisting turns of phrase. And unlike Atmosphere and some other hyped white rappers, Francis manages to flow effortlessly, incorporating his white boy idosycracies into his lyrics and delivery instead of letting them define him as an artist.
And finally, for once, the music is just as impressive, dense and emotional, hard and heavy, but not heavy in that incongruous-metal-riff / metal-meets-hip-hop nu-metal way that most rap groups try at least once (and regret it), but in the way only perfectly crafted beats and thick evocative atmospheres can be. Intense and aggressive, melodic and strangely haunting and melancholy with minor key melodies and creepy sad loops. Thanks to a seriously impressive line up of beatmakers and producers: Danger Mouse, Alias, Sixtoo, Controller 7, Daddy Kev and more, A healthy Distrust would be just as good a record even if it was instrumental, with its dark deep Shadow-scapes, weird lumbering funk, skittering electronica, organic instrumentation and lots of wicked beats. So when you mix in Francis's Eminem-meets-MC Serch flow, you've got a contender for hip hop record of the year.
A lot of the attention has focused on the track "Sea Lion", a collaboration between Francis and Will Oldham. And rightfully so. A subtle shuffling drum and bass rhythm, over plaintive mournful guitar and Oldham's cracked moan of a vocal line. Definitely an unlikely mmatch up that works perfectly. Another standout is the anti gangsta diatribe "Gunz Yo!" that had us laughing out loud:
"Straight to the grill like a homophobic rapper unaware of the graphic nature of phallic symbols, tragically ironic, sucking off each other's gats and pistols, I've got more back issues than Guns n' Ammo, cuz my uzi weighs a ton and i never let go of the handle. Hanging onto mommy's pant leg...double fisted. Knee deep in shells, kicking ballistics. This dick is a detatchable penis. An extension of my manhood, positioned like a fetus. An introvenous hook up feeds bullets to my magazine. Nevermind the Bullocks, my pistol is a sex machine!"
and:
"I've got another gun, I keep it in my briefcase. It keeps me safe at my workplace. Cubicle gangster who's in need of his personal space. Angster of love who's unable to look girls in their face."
In fact, this is one of the few hip hop records that actually had us dropping everything we were doing to actually listen closely to the rhymes, even reading along in the cd booklet. And again, the lyrics had us cracking up, and occasionally even getting all choked up. They're that right on. Here's a few favorites:
"Now it's whistle blower versus the pistol holder. Case Dismissed. They'll lock you up and throw away the key witness. Justice is the whim of a judge. Check his chest density. It leaves much room for error, and the rest is left to density. The West Memphis 3 lost paradise. Now it's death penalty vs. Suicidal Tendencies. All I wanted was a fucking Pepsi. 'Making you think you're ugly is a million dollar industry.' Corrina Bain. If they could sell sanity in a bottle, they'd be charging for compressed air. They're marketing health care. They demonized welfare. Middle class eliminated. The rich get richer til the poor get educated."
"Let em freestyle, Winner takes all. When the music's dead I'll have Ted Nugent's head hanging on my wall. Kill one of ours...and we'll kill one of yours with some 'friendly fire.' That's a funny term...like 'civil war'."
"In a world where girl's got retro tattoos, and all I've got is a gut and velcro black shoes."
It's all in the the delivery though, and the above lines are so deftly woven in to the music, that it's hard to imagine them on their own as they are above, but just listen to the sound samples! For hip hop, 2004 may have been the year of MF Doom and Madvillain, but this year (so far) it's all about Sage Francis!
You might want to keep an old rag next to your turntable for this one, to wipe the grit and grime and goo off your needle when you're done listening to this slab of sonic what-the-fuck. A confuional mix of buzzy, damaged psych rock spaceout, Buttholes style tribal weirdness, straight up icepick in the ear noise rock, speaker melting sludge and some very unlikely pop filigree. Instrumentation includes multiple drummers, multiple lawnmowers (?) and lots of guitar all melded into a pummelling wall of grindsludgepopnoisepsych. White vinyl with a hand scibbled insert in a thick plastic sleeve. Limited to 500 copies.
Now all serious connoisseurs of depression, death, doom and utter grimness have reason to celebrate. No, we're certainly not talking about G.W. Bush's second-term inauguration! It's music we're going on about, and for fans of that brand of heavy, doomful drone that we know so many of you AQ-customers are, this IS good news: the re-release of the debut album from not-so-dynamic doom duo SUNNO)))! Yes! So log off of eBay, save your ninety bucks (that's what Southern Lord says the original cd was going for) and thank 'em for at last reissuing this disc, previously out on Hydrahead subsidary HH Noise Industries back in 2000. Now this classic comes packaged in a jewel case, instead of a spray painted hefty bag sleeve. And yes, there's a BONUS TRACK. Sixteen minutes and forty seconds of bonus track entitled "Grimm & Bear It"...those jokers. That brings this album to over 72 minutes in length, perfect for enjoying your own mini-coma in its ambient embrace. Of all the SUNNO))) cds since, this remains perhaps the closest to the original template of worshipping Earth II to a T.
For some "historical" perspective (and for any who are puzzled, to explain that last comment), let's revist our original review of this disc, upon its first release:
"Whoa, an Earth tribute band! Y'know, Earth, the slower than slow, heavier than heavy Sub Pop combo from a few years back, the band that took the Melvins molasses drone riffing over the edge. They're not around anymore (and weren't that great toward the end anyway) but this project (featuring members of Burning Witch/Goatsnake/Engine Kid) revisits Earth's genius genesis (back when Kurt Cobain used to play with 'em), for some long long tracks of primordial dirge. One track is even named after Earth leader Dylan Carlson. And of course the band name Sunn is derived from the amps of choice for both outfits, appropriately so 'cause it's the amps more than the guitars that you hear here. They're not covering Earth tunes, but are essentially following the same formula towards drone metal godhead. Essential for all devotees of the ultra-heavy!"
Back in stock! Limited cd-r document to commemorate Sunroof!'s recent first foray to American soil! More of everything you already love about Matthew Bower's Sunroof! Snatches of rock and roll are crushed and smeared into a swirling sonic cloud of scattershot percussion and thick distorted throb, guitars are scraped and scratched eliciting random melodies over a sweetly gauzy melodious backdrop, glitchy electronic percussion underpins huge rolling swells of throbbing fuzz, and guitars squirm and slither all over the place amking this a pretty noisy record for Sunroof!, with definite nods to Bower's other heavier projects Skullflower and Total. Packaged in a cool hand made, cardboard sleeve. And of course limited.
Such a fantastic complement (and compliment) to David Sylvian's last album Blemish (which you may or may not know was a particular fave of Andee's)! You almost wouldn't think it possible, but on many of the remixes on The Only Daughter, Sylvian's chosen remixers have stripped down the tracks to an even more stark and austere state than that of the originals -- at times giving the impression that Sylvian has gone beat poet or is having intimate tete-a-tetes with a petulant piano or lonely horn. One of the best moments on this remix collection is Readymade FC's work on "A Fire In The Forest" with its gentle crunch-crackle-chime of an old neglected musicbox. Beautiful. The impressive list of participants also includes Ryoji Ikeda, Burnt Friedman, Yoshihiro Hanno, Tatsuhiko Asano, Jan Bang, Erik Honore, Sweet Billy Pilgrim, and Akira Rabelais -- all of whom have treated Sylvian's material with the utmost respect and furthered the haunting moods and atmospheres of Blemish in a most fitting manner.
The Anti Group has existed sporadically as a research and development project concentrating on specific ideas in numerous media and a fluctuating line-ups reflecting ideas of an egoless collective. It was initially founded back in 1978 by Clock DVA's Adi Newton and Stephen Turner, although very little has been heard from either Clock DVA or The Anti Group (who often abbreviate their name as TAGC -- with the C referencing 'corporation'). Psychoegoautocratical is the first output from TAGC in more than a decade and actually doesn't appear to feature any of the founding members; rather fellow Clock DVA technician Robert Baker joins M. Hogg, and Andrew McKenzie (best known as the mastermind of The Hafler Trio). Unfortunately, the trio only provides us with a 17 minute EP as their return to the public domain. It begins very quietly with some barely audible electric fluctuations that slowly increase in volume to resemble some of the hypnotic repetitions of William Basinski's epic Disintegration Loops. As hauntingly beautiful as these passages are, TAGC continue to press forward on the volume increase up to rather painful extremes with a brazen crescendo of digital aggression.
First things first, we're sure he won't mind us tellin' ya that this album comes with a hearty thumbs up from our pal Adam Pfahler (Jawbreaker, Lost Weekend Video) and our Ms Cup concurs. In a better world, these gals would be the ones sitting atop the Canadian teen pop throne currently occupied by Avril. Tegan and Sara have always exuded a remarkable level of confidence, composure and songcraft (particularly in their vocal arrangements) for their age, but now on their third full length, it's matched by more fully fleshed out instrumentation and production. Overall, So Jealous is quite a striking departure from their past earthier folk-focused releases. At times it's downright sleek, punchy pop -- imagine if Gwen Stefani had twin younger sisters... well, sorta! Co-produced by Tegan, Sara, New Pornographer John Collins and his JC/DC Studio partner Dave Carswell.
About time we listed this, people have been raving about this North African band for a while, and this new domestic cd came out last fall...we've been selling 'em pretty steadily but our review slipped thru the cracks until now. So here's the lowdown if you haven't yet heard about these folks. The members of Tinariwen are Taureg, nomadic people from the borderlands of Libya, Algeria and Tunesia. Formed in 1982, the group can probably boast the most interesting circumstances under which they met: in a rebel training camp of Colonel Ghadaffi's while fighting in an insurgency against the Malian government! So it may or may not seem odd that the most distinctive sound they share with another is the lilting electric guitar of Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure. After 22 years Tinariwen have fused shades of Taureg music with Bo Diddley like rhythms and traditional instruments with electric bass, guitar and drums. Andee thinks the rhythm they keep returning to throughout the album sounds a lot like 50 Cent's "In The Club"!
An awesome artifact from the apparently now defunct Total. Total was another amazing project of Matthew Bower from Sunroof! and Skullflower. And the sound of Total fell somewhere between the droning crush of SF and the dreamy hum of SR! Recorded in 1996,
Another lovingly produced and beautifully packaged cd-r from the only folks that manage to make us like cd-r's! And of course, limited.
We reviewed the totally amazing metal-pop-punk of Fallout Boy last list and casually mentioned one of the bonus tracks, a super revved up metallic version of the Police's "Roxanne" not knowing that right around the corner was this compilation of even more Police covers by other of-the-moment emo / metallic pop punk / indie rock outifts. With compilations like this, there is so much potential for suck, but thankfully this here disc is about 90 percent cream. It helps that the Police were an amazing band, and wrote totally brilliant songs. So it's nice to hear different (some drastically) versions of some of those classics. Obviously Fallout Boy's "Roxanne" is a killer, souped up and WAY heavier, but there's also Limbeck's gorgeous and twangy countrified version of "So Lonely", a killer version of "Truth Hits Everybody" by Motion City Soundtrack, and probably the coolest weirdest track on here, Maxeen doing the classic Police b-side "Murder By Numbers", turning it into a creepy new wave epic, with fuzzy synths, high Shellac like guitar parts, and lots of weird dynamics. So good. The rest of the comp is rounded out by bands doing fairly faithful renditions (usually a bit heavier or faster) with only a few cringeworthy 'ballads' to speak of. Been listening to this non stop. As good as it is, it did have us pulling out our old Police records too!
This is another limited cd-r from the mighty VHF, and once again they do it up right. No chintzy photocopied, thrown together bullshit. This cd-r comes in a gorgeous cardboard gatefold with full color images (of a whimsical frog) pasted on the front and
With the fires just now settling over the fervor for the reissues "Flesh of My Skin, Blood of My Blood" and "Playing It Cool & Playing It Right" from Keith Hudson's final years, it's just about the perfect time for Trojan to release this 55 track retrospective of Hudson productions from his lengthy, successful and controversial career. Laid out chronologically and spanning the years 1969 to 1975, The Hudson Affair shows the broad resume of a brilliant producer. This is the man who gave both U Roy and Dennis Alcapone their big breaks. The man who snuck a Honda S90 motorcycle into a recording studio so that he could record it revving up for a track he cut with Big Youth (included here), who took as many musical cues from US funk and soul as he did from what his fellow Jamaican producers were doing. As varied as all his tracks are through his long career, there's a brooding, rootsy and intensely personal thread that runs throughout; from the oldest to the latest. One look no further than his "Satan Side Version (aka Kiss 14)" with Augustus Pablo to hear this. Paralleling Pablo's minor key melodica musings are some of the most brutal and crunchy organ poundings ever committed to tape. It sounds like someone trying to smash the keyboard. Definitely a must for all those who enjoyed the Basic Replay reissues from last year, and also for anyone else who may have been scared off by Hudson's voicings on those albums. Most of the tracks here are voiced by others including: Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Delroy Wilson, Horace Andy, I Roy, Johnny Clarke, the afformentioned U Roy & Dennis Alcapone among others. Includes several pages of liner notes by Dave Hendley.
FYI: This cd is subtitled "A DJ Mix Of Indie Rock And Hip Hop That's All Whirlwind Heat And Flash. By Matt Loomis And Aye Jay. Hosted By Fred Armisen Of SNL". Whoa, heat and flash... and Fred?! Who can resist that combo? If you're one of the few who require more cajoling, we can tell you that this mix disc comes from those folks who brought you the Indie Rock Connect The Dots Book as well as the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book. Here's a rundown of the artists whose material Loomis encorporated into his mash-ups. match-ups and scratch-ups: Steve Albini, Elliott Smith, Charizma, Peanut Butter Wolf, The Roots, Violent Femmes, Jeru The Damaja, Jay-Z, David Cross, Sonic Youth, Dead Prez, Pavement, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Newcleus, The Rapture, Christopher Walken, !!!, Sir Mix A Lot, Har Mar Superstar, Beat Happening, Modest Mouse, DJ Shadow, Flaming Lips, Fog and MF Doom. As you can see music worlds collide in this mix -- the indie hipsters and the hiphopsters. Many of the combos here may be more cause for head scratchin' than vinyl scratchin'! Seven tracks plus a not so "hidden" track for only six buckeroos. Nice.
As a rule, we're usually not so keen on live albums (from rock bands, that is -- jazz is another matter). Who needs to hear a bunch of crowd noise and clapping? Live albums are notorious for time-wasting drum solos, cliched stage banter, poor sound, bad mixes, and unwanted cover versions ("Hound Dog", y'know, that sort of thing). Plus half the time they're faked. Of course, that doesn't mean some aren't classics: Kick Out The Jams, Lights Out, Live At Last, Tokyo Tapes, Band Of Gypsies...
And while we're NOT suggesting that this particular recording by this late-'70s Greek hard rock outfit is as good as any of those, it is still pretty good for a live album from a band we've never even heard of before! And, it's also the only way you're gonna get to hear 'em since the Vavoura Band never made a studio album back then. And if you're into heavy '70s hard rock proto-metal action, you probably DO want to hear 'em. Heavy, bluesy, a little proggy, with some some ethnic folk influences, these guys (who were apparently famous for trashing their equipment a la The Who) manage to remind us of both Hawkwind and Black Sabbath at various points on this record. They also remind us of a really freaky longhaired '70s bar band in full guitar-splooge mode -- 'cause that's what they are, basically. Pretty cool. 12 tracks, 11 live, 1 studio, recorded mostly circa '77-'79 with one track from '81. English vocals for the most part.
This is a limited cd-r live document of AQ faves the Vibracathedral Orchestra recorded in 1999 at shows in Leed, Glasgow and Manchester as a five piece. But before we get to the music, let's just talk for a minute about Bill at VHF and how much care and
1. Tinkling chimes and buzzing metallic grit pierce a monstrous wall of hum.
2. Seriously intense washes or warbles and roars and thrum, with a simple one-drum rhythm holding the whole thing together. Epileptic percussion and waves of cymbal/gong wash give way to squealing horns and a drum corp gone haywire.
3. An almost-folk song constructed from looped guitars/synths, shakers, bells and cymbals.
4. Spaced out meditative ur-drone. This time complemented by the sonic crush of a church organ. The sound of the apocalypse. Think: Nitsch jammng with Skullflower, or better yet, don't think at all, just sit back and give up....
5. Noisy chaotic out-rock drone. Sounds like a rock band, loosed of any sort of ties to 'the proper way of playing' (which it sort of is) and just letting the instruments do what they want. Thick and relentless, layers upon layers of electrified fury that eventually dissipates into tranquil dreaminess.
Live is definitely where the VCO come into their own, stretching and exploring the sonic possibilities of 'rock and roll', and coming up with some of the most gorgeous and transendentally intense droning free-rock we've heard! So recommended! And as you might have guessed, limited.
We saw Watain in the last issue of Oaken Throne 'zine complaining about how this, their first cd, was put out in such a limited edition that no-one could get it anymore except on eBay, and how sucky that was so they were gonna make sure that their new album (Casus Luciferi, reviewed on AQ list #203) wouldn't be at all limited. Well guess what? We actually DO have Rabid Death's Curse in stock, but haven't been able to get more Casus Luciferis for some time now. Huh, can't make sense of it. But we'd recommend you get this now, if you want one, 'cause they'll probably be gone again soon too! And you should want one if you're a true black metal fiend, Watain being one of the best bands (along with, for instance, Funeral Mist and Leviathan) truly dedicated to keeping the flickering flame of black metal burning black. Utterly cult and underground yet undeniably skilled and intelligent. And religiously Satanic.
So how does Rabid Death's Curse compare to the masterful Casus Luciferi? Watain's debut album is pretty great, and definitely an indication of even greater greatness to come. It's feral, fast, frenzied and ferocious. FFFF! Not the sound of a band you'd want to mess with. Look at 'em wrong and you can bet they'd pound the love of God out of you, literally.
A limited lp reissue of a long out of print cd-r released on Wolf Eyes' own American Tapes label, Fuck The Old Miami contains an entire live show on one side, a haunting and creepy and of course NOISY balst of throbs and rumbles, crackle and splatter, surprisingly restrained for these noiseniks, and a bit more 'listenable' than their recent Sub Pop record, and on the other side, a needle shredding series of hand cut grooves, cut on the bands own record lathe (and playable "at your own risk") cut right over a hand carved etching. Cool. Playable but very noisy and chaotic from all the random grooves. Not sure which side we like better!
What would a record exploring the worlds of magick and alchemy sound like? Well, if you're John Zorn, it apparently sounds like really intense horror movie soundtrack music. "Necronomicon" is a gorgeously anxious and frighteningly jagged piece for string quartet, that lulls you into a brooding, contemplative languor one moment, and sticks a knife in your back and sends you careening down the stairs into a zombie filled basement the next. Five movements of menacing moans, maniacal screeching and creepy pizzicato plinking that is as angular and aggressive as it is pensive and pretty. The final track "Sortilege", for two bass clarinets, sounds a bit like Peter And The Wolf (sort of unavoidable with TWO clarinets) but is a little more hyper and atonal, with didgeridoo like rumblings and rapid-fire bursts of shriek and skree.
