Like A Moth, the follow-up to SF singer/songwriter Garret Pierce's debut, reveals fresh development and depth. He's made good on the promising-ness of his self-titled cd-r, honing his songcraft into something considerably more focused, as well as fleshing out his palette of instruments. Simply check out the easygoing confidence in "Northern Stare" and "The Fireworks Were Fish Exploding". It definitely makes for a lusher, more fully realized overall picture. Warm and comfortingly familiar.
A punk record for people who haven't bought a punk record in a while. It's not a retro exercise, but still something about this young Pennsylvania band brings back memories of '80s hardcore, Black Flag or Flipper back in the day, nasty punk scuzz with lots of badass guitar distortion and feedback, shambolic rock n' roll with rabid bite. The lyrics are sadsack smartass dumb, yowled over the band's noisy, catchy trashcan stomp, the vocalist really letting it all (down-and-)out on such songs as "I'm Sick," "Boring Girls", "Ashamed Of My Cum", and "I Broke My Own Heart." Can you feel sorry for someone who's wallowing in it? Doesn't matter, just enjoy the careening chaotic entertainment that results. The packaging features cool cartoon graphics of surburan banality.
This out of print AQ fave (soon to be reissued on cd) is resurrected in the analog form of a super limited deluxe gatefold double lp!
What are the odds of two different bands picking the same name? Pretty good we'd imagine, but what if that name was Nagelfar? A bit more unlikely we think. So you've got two metal bands, both calling themselves Nagelfar (each spelled slightly differently, one with an E, one without), we obviously just assumed that Nagelfar must be from Lord of The Rings, but as far as we can tell, it's not. In fact, a brief Google search tells us that Nagelfar is either german for enamel, or finger nail polish, or slang for having sex ("to fix with a nail", huh?) Anyway, we're getting off track. Of the two Nagelfar's, we were always partial to the one with the E (the 'good' Nagelfar, not to be confused with the Swedish E-less Naglfar), a German black metal horde responsible for one of the best BM records ever, Virus West. With the dissolution of Nagelfar came the formation of the even more mysterious Ruins Of Beverast and their self described "oppressive black metal". Oppressive indeed, but most certainly depressive as well. And while this may indeed be black metal, it's as doomy as it is black, and as ambient as it is doomy. There's only a few tracks that are full on blazing buzzing black metal, and those most definitely sound quite a bit like Virus West, but the majority of Unlock The Shrine is slow and dirgey, droney and dark, midtempo Burzumic buzz, fuzzed out riffs over plodding sea sick rhythms, everything wrapped in swirling swaths of thick keyboard, all twisted into some strangely off kilter, relentlessly propulsive black metal dronerock. But that's just the basic framework, every song is rife with weird little elements, unlikely and very un- black metal sonic weirdness. A ridiculously catchy guitar melody dropped into a fierce black metal dirge, drifting abstract soundscapes punctuated by ominous almost cartoonish piano, industrial percussion and howling winds, even what sounds like gunshots and car alarms. All struggling in a churning sea of howling pounding guitar fuzz and suffocating blackened ambience. So gloriously bleak and beautifully miserable.
After being out of print for WAY too long, this amazing live document finally sees the light of day once more. Or more appropriately maybe, the dark of night. Even more appropriately, the star flecked deep dark night, viewed through the dense canopy above the deep dark swamps of the South. This is 16 Horsepower after all, southern fried, revivalist, back woods countrified gothic stomp. Bleak tales of salvation and damnation. And what better way to experience the fire and fury of 16HP than live, beneath the ol' patched up tent, set up on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere, pouring rain, with mudcaked boots and huddled townsfolk jostling for a chance to be saved, a night of testifyin' for sure, live and sweaty and fearsomely intense, fierce as fuck, but still moody and dark and really, really creepy. Sort of like Deliverance:The Musical or something. Squeezebox, acoustic guitar and drums never sounded so good. Or so menacing. Those of you who know 16HP know exactly what this disc has in store for you. For those of you who have yet to discover the dark joy of 16 Horsepower (now sadly defunct) you just might just find your musical souls saved. Or damned. Either way, a treacherously brilliant musical path lies ahead, numerous 16HP releases all amazing, two Lilium records (2/3 of 16HP), as well as several Woven Hand records (the even MORE Biblically brutal and emotionally menacing post-16HP efforts by mainman David Eugene Edwards).
A handful of covers get the 16HP makeover. John Fogerty, Gun Club, and Joy Division all have their tunes somehow made even darker and more bleak.
Fans of Nick Cave, who were disappointed with his new shinier direction of late, and who still yearn for that misanthropic gloom, might find just what they're looking for with 16 Horsepower. And of course essential for fans of all things dark and swampy, who want their music steeped in fire and brimstone, confusion and misery, death and misery and the long hard road to salvation and the inevitable fall into damnation!
Wow! Of course Horses is a classic album but what's most striking about this 30th Anniversary edition of Horses is the 2nd disc which is a live recording of Patti Smith performing Horses in its entirety in London in 2005. Sometimes the act of artists revisiting their past and playing live shows of the records you love ends up making you feel embarrassed for them and just detracts from the magic they once created. But this is NOT the case with this performance. This is an amazing example of an artist getting to show the relevance and staying power of songs and spirit that hold as true today as they did 30 years before. Armed with a band including Tom Verlaine, Jay Dee Daughtery, Lenny Kaye, and Flea, you can immediately sense the intensity on stage and in the room as the opening seconds of Gloria begin. Not often does a live recording translate the goosbumps that were had by those who got to be there for real but this one does! After taking us through all the different peaks and valleys of Horses she ends with her classic cover of "My Generation" where she laments that "our generation gave the world George W. Bush...next generation rise up, rise up!" A battle cry to leave us with after we've gotten to experience once again the beauty of her raw passion. Happy 30th Horses...may you live on forever!
Thunk! Another issue of the UK's The Sound Projector just landed on my desk, obliterating any loose items and also obliterating my free time, as now all I want to do is read, read, read. Weighing in at 172 pages of musical criticism and appreciation, this handsome as usual new edition of one of our favorite "zines" is pretty much a must have for any dedicated AQ list reader! True, these aren't cheap (due to the exchange rate and the expense of shipping such a hefty tome) but it'll keep you busy for hours reading the gizillions of reviews of stuff new and old by The Sound Projector's capable and very opinionated crew of reviewers... and along with the reviews, there's in-depth interviews/features on Ashtray Navigations, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Jazzfinger, Harry Partch, The Shadow Ring, and more...
The Sound Projector has aways broken its reviews down into various taxonomic catagories, from drones to noise to ethnic music to field recordings to urban pop music, even. This issue's no exception, and in addition to such sections of AQ-approved-interest as "Music From Japan" and "Finnish Folk And Psych" we find editor Ed Pinsent's assessment of a variety of "Metal Men" (wherein he gives a plug to Aquarius, thanks Ed) like Converge, Boris, Burzum and SUNNO))), and also longtime SP contributor Jennifer Hor's "Pandaemonium!" chapter devoted to black metal: Xasthur, Striborg, Blut Aus Nord, Taake, Leviathan, Forest, Deathspell Omega, etc. Very cool. Where else are you going to find reviews of, say, Konono No.1, Velvet Cacoon, and Lula Cortes e Ze Ramalho all under the same covers? Well, besides our own website, of course. You can see why we like this. And the SP reviewers call 'em like they see 'em, beholden to no notions of common hipster consensus. They even criticize stuff we love. So it's refreshing to get their perpective (even if sometimes their tendency towards British smartarsedness runs away with them). Another chunk of this issue that we really enjoyed was Pinsent's evaluations of various random used records he picked up on a trip to the States and on eBay ("Vinyl Viands"). I'll have to email him with some suggestions for further Thin Lizzy purchases...
NOW AVAILABLE ON CD!!! Here's some of what what we wrote about this way back when it first came out as a vinyl release:
It's hard to believe this is real. In fact, it took a lot to convince Andee, who was sure this was some sort of elaborate prank. But it's one of those things that just makes you proud / embarassed to be an American. Elizabeth Clare Prophet purchased 24,000 acres in Paradise Valley, Montana and started The Church Universal and Triumphant, a creepy new age doomsday cult in which Prophet channeled spirits such as Jesus, Buddha, K-17, Morya, Quan Yin, Afra, Hercules, Mighty Victory, Astrea, Shiva, Pope John XXIII, and more. (Sort of like J.Z. Knight of Yelm, Washington and her channelling of "Ramtha" except even more scary.) Prophet and her husband stockpiled arms, built giant bomb shelters, and coerced their devotees to purchase their own survival equipment at exorbitant prices. Throughout its existence various members of CUT were indicted for kidnapping, lost custody of the children who belonged to the church and were investigated for tax exempt status and firearms violations. In 1995 former member Joeseph Pietrangelo Jr wrote a book condemning CUT entitled "Lambs to Slaughter: My Fourteen Years with Elizabeth Clare Prophet and Church Universal Triumphant".
But the thing that really puts CUT on the map for us is their way of conducting their religious services. The tapes of these services have been floating around for years already. Those of you familiar with Negativland's 1989 album "Escape From Noise" will already be familiar with an excerpt of one of the tracks on this album, as they used it for the track "Michael Jackson", and Steve Fisk has been using these tapes for years as well. This record features live recordings of Clare Prophet 'speaking' out against the evils of rock music. She sounds perfectly normal as she introduces her 'psalms' or 'songs' or 'speeches' or whatever they are. But when she gets going, it's amazing. And so goddamn insane sounding. Her rapid fire high pitched testifying sounds a bit like an impossible mix of an auctioneer, a yodeller, the guy who sings the directions at a square dance, Neil Hamburger huffing helium and variations of baseball's 'hey batter batter' chant only faster. It's like that sound you make when you sort of hum/breathe out and move your finger up and down between your lips making a sort of 'bebubebubebubebubebubebubebubebu' sound. It's one of the most amazing things we've ever heard! A must for all cult fanatics, new age withdrawal victims, seekers of the truly strange, and fans of extended, trancelike vocal techniques. Ever so highly recommended! We'd almost have made this cd edition our Record of the Week if we weren't certain that it would probably bug the heck out of more people than (like us) would love it!!
The four ladies of the Norwegian group Spunk know about the possibilities of playful improvisation done right. Since their formation in 1999 they have been experimenting with the combination of the instruments they are well trained on like cello, trumpet, french horn ands mixing those with toys, electronics, percussion and the distinct voice as instrument that Maje Ratke provides. This album finds them in top form. Going from manic outbursts to dreamlike elegance at the drop of a hat. While so much of what bills itself as "free jazz" is actually so far away from actually being free or original, Spunk tap into the right kind of improvisational spirit. You could imagine playing this after early Matmos, Don Cherry's "Mu" and then Bjork's most experimental instrumentation. For seekers of adventurous spirit, once again Spunk have got your fix.
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Back in the spring we received a mysterious email that read as follows:
"We would like to introduce to the most radical band in Humboldt county and maybe North America---Starving Weirdos. You're probably pretty busy but we have TEN full length albums recorded and they are fucking good. So we figured what the hell, maybe you could listen to 1 or 2."
I have to say we were a bit impressed with these guys' moxie! Ten full lengths, all fucking good? So, we bit. Told them to go ahead and send a couple for us to check out. A few days later we received a big ol' box in the mail with ALL TEN full length cd-rs with a note explaining that they couldn't decide which two were the best since they were all so good. Well, alright. Must admit we were a bit skeptical based soley on the name, a little goofy, but Andee decided to go for it and listen to all ten (actually all FOURTEEN, as they sent a second batch a few weeks later!). And you know what, they WERE all fucking good. Fucking great in fact. But ten discs is a bit much for most folks to swallow, so the 'Weirdos put together this three track cd-r with their favorite tracks just for sale at AQ. So what's it sound like? It's gorgeous and droney, abstract and extremely actively ambient. Maybe somewhere between Sunroof!, the Dead C, Fflint Central, and Avarus. They would be right at home on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, or Pseudoarcana, or any of the other killer cd-r labels everyone freaks out about. In fact if any of you cd-r label types are reading this, get in touch and help these guys get all their records into the ears of people who need them! The first track sounds a little like Sunroof and Birchville Cat Motel playing live in a gymnasium DURING basketball practice. Extended peals of feeding back guitars, streaks of white hot upper register shimmer, wheezing toy instruments, reverberating high end scrape and squeal, with random abstract rhythms constructed from heavily reverbed slaps and whaps, like foot stomps and rubber ball bouncing. The whole thing wrapped in gauzy reverb and all warm and thick and creeping along like a big fuzzy caterpillar in the noonday sun. Track two is a similarly abstract and spacious soundscape, but less sun drenched and a little bit more claustrophobic, a dense swirl of blurred vocals, and rumbling machinery, and tinkling chiming percussion that sounds like a railroad crossing gate gone haywire, and that over the course of its twelve minutes manages to become simultaneously more and more epic, and more and more dark and dismal. The final track is a twenty minute free noise, tribal ambient workout, reminiscent of No Neck Blues Band, Anaksimandros, Avarus and Sunburned Hand Of The Man. A slow shifting framework of super distorted chiming plucked guitars, that on closer listening could instead be a blown out recording of some ramshackle gamelans, random and clattery, but all warm and fuzzy, with haunting high end melodies, cobbled together from various whistles and wheezes, tweets and trills. About halfway through the track shifts abruptly into a more subdued soundfield: subtly shifting layers of high end buzz, swoop and slip over and under each other, a constantly moving high pitched drone, pulsing and fluctuating, completely mesmerizing.
Absolutely essential listening for fans of Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Birchville Cat Motel, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, No Neck Blues Band, Avarus. Burning Star Core, Double Leopards, Hwyl Nofio, MCMS and all things CPsiP, Pseudoarcana, Rhizome, Lal Lal Lal, Last Visible Dog and the like.
And if you find yourself particularly smitten by the Starving Weirdos and decide you need all 14 of their cd-r's, drop us a line and we can probably put you in touch with those guys.
The '60s/'70s psych reissue label Akarma comes through once again with this gem! England's Steamhammer had a heavy name and lotsa chops, but never really made the big time. Their first three albums were British blues rock incarnate, real good at that but not our cup of tea really. THEN came "Speech", their swansong. Something happened (lots of drugs, maybe?) -- it was real different. This is an unusual album for sure. Probably not what Steamhammer fans at the time were expecting: Psychedelic doomy prog-tastic epic instrumental slaying, with fuzz fx, jazzy percussion, and emotive vox. It's not metal but it's got a lot of what we like about metal that's for sure, and kicks ass on most of what came out in '72. Fans of some of the real heavy underground bands from the era like the Groundhogs, Lucifer's Friend, Socrates Drank The Conium, even Il Balleto Di Bronzo ought to check this out for sure! Unfamiliar with those obscurites? Well just imagine Led Zep gone off the rails. Creative, deftly timed/structured songs full of psychedelic atmosphere. From quasi-religious 20th century avantgarde interludes to manic guitar rippage, from gorgeous vocal lamentations to jammy improv spaciness, this is AQ-approved prog weirdness for sure. The 22 minute "Penumbra" that opens the record erupts from a spooky three minute intro into sheer pulse-pounding rock trio shred, then dives into a bass-heavy dirge from which a vocal chorus emerges...and on they go. Everytime we play this for someone who we think *might* like it, boy, they *really* like it. This gets a big thumbs up from all the heavy/psych/prog heads here at AQ!!!
From the same deep dark part of Colorado (umm... Denver!) that brought us the dark swampy dirge folk of the mighty Sixteen Horsepower, comes the mysterious and lovely Tarantella. Featuring an unlikely pedigree (Slim Cessna's Auto Club, Blood Axis) Tarantella, are equal parts Calexico's desert mariachi twang, 16HP's creepy Biblical swampfolk with a bit of bolero, a touch of tango and just a pinch of that Decemberists-y Victrorian shuffle. A dark and swoonsome swirl of mournful strings, shuffling rhythms, warm washed out guitars, plenty of twang and the torch song vocals of Kal Cahoone, who you might recognize from her contributions to the gorgeous Short Stories record, from 16HP side project Lilium, her vocals a raw mix of PJ Harvey swagger and Cat Power moody mumble. Here, her vocals are the focal point, rich and warm and dripping with emotion, occasionally singing in Spanish, a deep sultry croon, wrapping you in its deliriously dangerous embrace. Definitely for fans of Calexico, Howe Gelb, Friends Of Dean Martinez, 16 Horsepower, M. Ward, Cat Power, PJ Harvey and all that smolders and twangs.
For the first collaborative effort between venerable British dronescapists Darren Tate (Monos, Ora, etc.) and Andrew Liles (a recent collaborator with Steven Stapleton in the live presentations of Salt Marie Celeste), Liles identifies himself as the Conductor with Tate providing improvisations and field recordings. On the first couple of tracks, the division of labor also equates to a dualism between the menacing minimalism which Liles has been producing with frightening success as of late and the rather charming sounds of Tate's field recordings, consisting of numerous birds twittering around his Northern English garden. But later on, Without Season spirals into a blur of asynchronous loopings, creepy minor key piano progressions, dissonant swells from an accordion (played by Tate's 79-year old neighbor Kathleen Vance), complex chorales for filigree feedback, and post-Jewelled Antler communions with nature. It would make sense if Liles controlled the outcome of Without Season through his claim as the Conductor, as the album's overall feel resembles his unnerving sleights of hand and eerie ambience as opposed to the impressionist dreary dreaminess of either Monos or Ora. Liles' sensibility provide subtle hints at something horrific creeping throughout the charged ether collided with earthen crackle; and it's these occasional reflections of something unsettling that sets this record apart. Exceptional.
Polyphonic vocal blasts in the long-standing tradition of Central Sardinia. The four singers in the Italian quartet Tenores Di Bitti take you away with their dead on acapella, singing in one of the oldest musical traditions from the Mediterranean. Much like recent AQ faves Konono No.1, this is an ensemble that has been making totally unique and striking sounds for the last three decades but it hasn't been until recently that they've been getting more notice here in the states. Collaborations with Ornette Coleman and Lester Bowie (Art Ensemble of Chicago) have helped gain them attention in this part of the globe. Each song finds one of the vocalists on lead while the other three back him up with rhythmic pronunciation of syllables. Guttural and primitive in its history and delivery, these are songs that tell the story of the solitude of shepherds and their tie to nature. This new release was recently in rotation at KUSF where the phone lines would ring almost every time it was played. The kind of record that could bridge the gab between opera fans and experimental music zealots, that sounds like nothing you have heard before, cantorial vocal delivery that will puzzle and please you at the same time.
In their ongoing series of Asmus Tietchens reissues, Die Stadt presents Seuchengebiete, an album which originally came out on A-Mission Records back in 1985. For this album, Tietchens used recordings of water as the sole source material in composing this album of electro-acoustic minimalism, predating the reductivist methodology espoused by current dronescapists such as Aube, Jonathan Coleclough, and Paul Bradley. Judging from the rudimentary diagram included alongside the liner notes, Tietchens positioned several hydrophones in a sink basin with a contact microphone on the drainage pipe below and recorded the fluid motion of water spiralling through the sink. As commonplace as the source material is, Tiecthens renders these metallic drips, klangs, and aquatic surges into throughly alien soundscapes thanks to his deft application of ring modulation, delay, and reverb. On "Hydrophonie 2" (actually the first track on this album), Tietchens sets up his aquatic parameters and lets them do their own thing, allowing the tactile sounds to plink and plonk within the web of electronic effects. Yet on "Hydrophonie 5" and especially on the bonus track "Hydrophone 4," Tietchens extracts choice moments from these recordings out of which he clinically orchestrates repetitive surges of watery tones. Well done!
You might recognize Tomo if you're in the Bay Area and have seen the dance party Hey Willpower. He's their boogie woogie trackmeister. Prior to that, he was in the angstful post-punk SF band The Boy Explodes. It might be said that both of those groups brought out the wild side of this quiet, unassuming fellow. His solo work on the other hand strikes quite a different chord. Whereas his other projects are right at home cutting loose in a bar or basement rec room, this seems like it'd be more at home in a science lab (perhaps inspired by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop?). Definitely much more controlled, methodical and brainy, For Many Birthdays is his second glitchy electronica album. Whereas his self-titled debut was a light effervescent affair, this is still quite woozy and bloopy, but darker and occasionally more abrasive -- revealing yet another facet of Tomo! Very cool!
It's a bit hard to concentrate with the huge spinning eye at the center of this gorgeous picture disc watching me, though gazing into the swirling eye has a strikingly similar affect to listening to the music on side one of Ajin, a propulsive, sort-of-industrial dronescape, a bit removed from the thick swaths of layered guitar we've come to expect from this German duo. The drones are not static or slow shifting, no they are a swirling, active whirl of abstract melody and subtle sonic swoops, a background blur underpinning the propulsive krautrock rhythms that are the focal point here. Imagine a snippet of Can, or a brief snatch of classic Faust, chopped and looped into a totally mesmerizing sonic mantra. The rhythm shifts subtly, from murky to crystal clear, but never wavers, a rhythmic trip to the outer reaches of the universe or the inner reaches of the soul. The other side (the artwork is subtly and appropriately altered so that now the eyes is closed) is more of Troum's classic minimal whir, the first track, a rumbling slow moving flow of muted guitar and teutonic thrum, dark and thick and ominously tranquil. The final track sounds almost like chamber music Troum, sweetly mournful melodies swoon and keen, haunting and darkly romantic. So lovely.
Gorgeously packaged and designed, ultra thick vinyl picture disc, with the eye image and all manner of design filigree, in a heavy guage plastic sleeve, sealed with a full color sticker, and includes a full color numbered insert.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES WORLDWIDE!!!
Besides being a totally astounding 'out-there' music maker himself, Joe Meek was also quite a whip-smart producer back in the '60s. This compilation gathers together the proof in the toe-tappin', finger-snappin' pudding. It dusts off twenty peppy, poppy cuts from long-gone (but now happily not forgotten) combos such as The Syndicats (check out their terrific organ-laden "What To Do"), The Puppets (there's a mean snarky boy vocal performance on Leiber & Stoller's "Poison Ivy"), Tony Dangerfield & The Thrills, The Blue Rondos and Bobby Rio & The Revelles. Includes lengthy liner notes and lots of photos of the bands' members and memorabilia from back in the day.
From the formidable Bay Area music collective known as Entartete Kunst comes this potent compilation which in their words is "a radical assault on the mediocrity of our everyday lives, state government and corporate fascism". It features nineteen tracks by over a dozen outspoken underground artists from around the globe. Styles run the gamut including hip hop, grime and dub. Standouts include Monkeytribe and E.K. Collective.
Note: If you've got the vinyl version, you should be alerted to the fact that this cd contains new mixes and other exclusive material not on the LP.
Fans of The Steps, Ho: Roady Music From Vietnam and fans of instrumental exotica weirdness take note. We are happy to have chanced upon this brand new collection of gems from the cracks of music history. According to the notes on the back of the case, the
LEVIATHAN ALERT!!! EXCLUSIVE UNRELEASED LEVIATHAN TRACK ALERT!!! LEVIATHAN COVERING BLACK FLAG ALERT!!! What the fuck? It's true though. More on that in a second. We all dig skating (although most of us are not to good at it), and love to watch crazy skaters around town, often fucking themselves up in the process. Who doesn't? But typically skate rock has often been, well, not really that interesting. Okay, so maybe most skate rock sucks. But this Thrasher Skate Rock disc has a lot going for it, not the least of which is an unreleased Leviathan track, "The Third Blind Wound"! Most Leviathan obsessives will most definitely find this one track enough reason to pick this up, but there's some other killer stuff on here too. Exclusive tracks from a bunch of other bands including locals Hightower, and the always kick ass S.T.R.E.E.T.S. (an acronym for 'skating totally rules, everything else totally sucks') as well as some killer DVD footage including a documentary about skating in the 80's and 90's and a live performance from Norway's Turbonegro.
This is one of those dualdisc thingies, that won't play on some stereos so be warned!
You can always count on Soul Jazz for a beautifully packaged and well thought out compilation. This time out it's a trip to late '60s early '70s Brazil for the suave sounds of the founders of tropicalia. Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze, Gal Costa, Jorgen Ben, Gilberto Gil, and of course ultimate AQ faves Os Mutantes. With a sound that mixes elements of psychedelic rock, samba, funk, soul and avant-garde aesthetics like tape loops and delays. Crazy to think that during the dictatorial political atmosphere in Brazil at the time many of these artists were seen as dangerous because of the revolutionary sounds they were creating. Veloso and Gil were even arrested and deported. What they began was a sound and style that's been picked up by new generations across the globe. Just listen to records by Beck, Olivia Tremor Control (listen to the Veloso sound sample, an OTC dead ringer!), Sam Prekop, David Byrne and many others and you can hear how these sounds have shaped some of the smartest pop music of the last quarter-century.
Oooh, why would we wanna keep this one quiet?! Quite an impressive debut for this Boulder, CO band (now transplanted to Oakland, CA). Its title translated into English is basically "Dying Is Easy", and while that statement may spur many a lengthy late night deep discussion, we can say that the dynamic sounds contained within are mighty easy on the ears. We can certainly see this band's music easily appealing to fans of Interpol, but they're by no means a simple soundalike. Although there is a breathy angstful resemblance in the vocal department, they've definitely got a sound of their own. No, it's in their rich sense of somber mood and shadowy atmosphere where more of the similarities lie. As well, their dark, shoegazer-y and lovely guitar washes bring to mind the glistening waves of M83. If you've a penchant for the abovementioned bands and/or opulent, lush rock in general, please make haste to The Very Hush Hush!
C.M. von Hausswolff ventured to Chicago in 2003 at the behest of the arts organizations Lampo and Whitehalls, who had commissioned the Swedish conceptualist for several pieces. There Are No Crows Flying Around The Hancock Building was one of the commissions and, as one should ascertain from the title, was inspired by the lack of avian activity found at the observatory deck of one of Chicago's highest buildings. For Hausswolff, the lack of crows was unacceptable as a building of such grandeur must have some kind of bird population; and he composed this album to remedy this lack. Given that crows and ravens enjoy a mixed bag of cultural references as harbingers of death, mischieveous pranksters, and creatures of profound intellect, Hausswolff's fictional birds are quite grim in nature. Working with recordings of electrical field disturbances, wind, and the tourists wandering around that very same obervation deck, Hausswolff extracts a churning oscillation of electric sound whose slow-motion spikes and pulsations recall some of Pan Sonic's rhythmic experiments with raw electricity. Gradaully, the rhythmic motion flattens into a flatlined drone of saw-tooth noises occasionally broken by electrical chirpings. It's impossible not to anthropomorphize Hausswolff's sounds into a cacophony of vocalizations and flapping wings. Even so, Hausswolff doesn't entirely make it clear whether his ghost birds are guardians of the Hancock Building in their vigilant surveillance or if they are forecasting something dreadful on the horizon. Hausswolff has always done well in realizing his conceptual strategies, and this album is no different.
Some fresh blood arrives at the dance party already in full swing with the likes of The Faint, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers and Bloc Party. Well, we can say one thing, they can play the style really well -- heck, as shown above, there's already been plenty of bands to prep the genre's template of thumpin' kickdrum, jangly rock guitar and affected angst boy vocals. That said, their lyrics are pretty darn painful, but maybe you can somehow turn a deaf ear to the actual words being sung and just enjoy the punchy, catchiness of With Love And Squalor.
It's that time again! Another issue of everybody's favorite new music magazine. MC /producer Edan is on the cover, inside we've got Battles, invisible jukebox with Steve Reid, Bardo Pond, a tribute to Derek Bailey (R.I.P.), the usual load of reviews, books, records, shows and otherwise. Peep the Inner Sleeve section inside, who would have thought you'd ever see a Team Dresch record in the Wire? Alright!
Link Wray, the mortal being, may have passed away late last year at the age of 76, but Link Wray, the legend, lives on in his body of groundbreaking music and its incredible influence on the music world as a whole. Seriously, anyone and everyone who straps on an electric guitar owes this man EVERYTHING. We're talkin' The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, The Cramps, Jimmy Page, The Who... they all bow down in deep reverence. Please see our reviews of his other releases that we've carried for more glowing words. This cd compiles fifteen demo tracks from a very very early recording session for Swan Records and includes raw renditions of some of his most renowned songs ("Rumble", "Deuces Wild", "Ace Of Spades"). This is rock at its most blistering and wild.
Despite the jarring loudness suggested by this release's title, Corbi Wright's music is utterly hushed and contemplative. Her voice swoops from a withery whisper to a raw PJ Harvey-esque emotiveness. The loose weave of her barebones, unstructured folk sits well alongside the recent likes of Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice or The Alps. We know this to be true 'cause we've played them back to back a few times, and it made for a very enjoyable listen that flowed exceptionally well. So there. And to tie things neatly together, AQ pal Mr. Jefre Cantu (member of The Alps, Tarentel among many others) assisted Ms Wright in the recording of these songs. Very nice.
Back in stock!!! Last list's RotW...
We normally don't make "now available on cd" releases Record Of The Week. But there are plenty of reasons to do just that with this one! First off, C'MON! It's LEVIATHAN and XASTHUR! On the same disc! Two of the most important, and musically creative black metal one-man-hordes in the new wave of west coast black metal (NWOWCBM?) teamed up for the ultimate NWOWCBM one two punch. Singlehandedly (doublehandedly?) putting USBM back on the black metal map, and completely redefining the genre, grim and brutal and black for sure, but also totally bizarre and avant and experimental. Plus even you folks who picked up the vinyl versions will need this, as there are 4 bonus tracks, three of them are from Xasthur, a brand new unreleased track, a rehearsal track from 2004, and a Katatonia cover! The other bonus track is Leviathan's amazing version of Judas Iscariot's "Where The Winter Beals Incessant"! But even without the bonus tracks, this clash of the black titans is totally essential, some of the most beautifully blackened and furiously fucked up black metal you are ever likely to hear. Xasthur from Southern California and Leviathan from right here in SF are blackened brothers, both exploring similar themes of hate and misery, darkness and death, but coming at 'em from completely different sonic angles. Xasthur is more about mood and atmosphere, with thick swaths of fuzzy riffery, galloping drums, rumbling bass and agonised howls of despair, all dense and dark and claustrophobic. Leviathan is much more technical and a lot weirder, but no less moody, with ultra complex and bizarrely arranged parts, insane drumming, buzzing riffery, and hints of doom and progrock mixed into his bleak and blackened metalscapes. ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL!!
Late 2003's Life Through One Speaker, the last album from this Vancouver pop combo was graced with one of Cup's favoritest songs of the year ("Herculean Bellboy" -- sooo good!), While we can't say yet if any of the songs on Panic When You Find It have reached that pinnacle of soaring pop splendidness, we can say that the album's still filled with plenty of well-crafted dreaminess to charm and sooth even the most frayed of nerves and the hardest of hearts. The band has gone through some line-up changes recently, but its core members singer Lucy Brain and main songwriter / guitarist Paul Pittman have ensured a smooth transition. For one thing, their characteristically strong interplay between heart-swelling boy / girl vocal harmonies and sparkling picked guitar lines remains fully intact. Unlike their past recordings though which took more meandering, restless routes, Panic When You Find It seems to calmly funnel all of their various influences together into a more singular, direct path. As a result, it is perhaps their most even-keeled and self-assured work to date. Lovely.
Props to Brian Turner at WFMU for re-introducing us to this band. We always sort of dug Zu, a pretty cool weird sort-of jazz outfit from Italy. But hearing Zu's "Tom Araya Is Our Elvis" on the radio knocked our blocks off. Woah! What kind of jazz group could come up with a track like that. A skronking sludgy punch to the guts. Hypnotically repetitive and alright, we'll say it, HEAVY! Since when was it okay for a jazz group to channel Slayer and just CRUSH? Who cares! Zu is our 'heavy jazz' drug of choice now. And the title of the track that got us hooked? Perfect! Because Tom Araya IS our Elvis. This whole record is a dense tangled blast of downtuned artmetal deathjazz. Imagine Morphine, on, er, well, morphine. Dark and druggy, stumbling, convoluted and complex, a stuttering staggering drums, bass and horns battle royale. But this is not about skree as much as it is about the slithery lowslung skronk, liberally peppered with subtle scrabbly scattery percussive shuffle and moaning droning cello. So fucking great!
