The Sun Dogs is the debut full length from this this Northwestern outfit, who weave Eastern tinged slow burn psych and brooding post metal smolder and fluttery sun dappled hippie folk into something dreamily druggy and pretty goddamn great. The opener is a slow burn drift of buzzing drones, dusky acoustic guitar shimmer, distant swirling synths, fluttering flute, all laced with some country-ish twang, and some super distinctive vox, a woozy seventies style psych folk that definitely pushes all our buttons. At this point we were still expecting the whole record to be sort of fuzzy and folky, but then the second track, "Native Dreams", unleashes some big drums, and some seriously thick fuzzed out guitars, not to mention more flutes, synths, and some sinewy low slung bass. Organs whirr psychedelically in the background, while over the top, Eastern snake charmer melodies shimmer and slither, the vocals high and keening, reminding us of Janes Addiction actually, which much of The Sun Dogs does, the heavier tracks here all have a sort of Janes Addiction vibe, albeit a bit folkier, with the flutes, and plenty of swirly sitar like buzz. Mix in some Psychic Ills, Dead Meadow or Black Mountain, and we're talking some heavy stoner psych folk bliss out for sure.
The slower/mellower tracks have a definite hippie folk feel, and hints of more modern retro beardo folk a la Fleet Foxes, but even then, the vocalists keening plaintive croon, and the sort of swaggery swing, sets Rose Windows apart from their bearded brethren. And it's that classic rock swagger, a little Zeppelin, a little Terry Reid (the vocals for sure) wedded to the more strummy, fluttery folkiness, that make Rose Windows a strange sonic hybrid. Check out "This Shroud", an organ driver slow psych groove, all tangled spidery leads over warm organ thrum, and steel string shimmer, those Perry Farrell like vocals, the Eastern melodies, the distorted buzz, the fuzzy riff, the big booming drums, and finally the flutes swooping in, for a seriously fierce hard rocking psychedelic heavy riffing finale that sounds like a heavier, more classic rocking Bardo Pond, which is not a bad thing at all.
A strange record for sure, but one we find ourselves listening to constantly, a definite new aQ fave for sure.
FYI it's on vinyl too but Sup Pop has to repress (soon) 'cause they were all warped!
NOW ON VINYL! Extra nice since the cd version of this great collection has been AWOL of late.
We can't deny we've been quite smitten with so many bands in the last couple years who have blasted onto the scene playing inspired, raw, wild and blown out garage rock. But it may take going back to Peru to the years 1964-1966 to find the most riveting and TRUE origins of garage proto-punk, done to perfection. The first time we ever heard Los Saicos we couldn't believe our ears, this was the kind of garage sound we had always imagined in our mind. Gritty, spirited, and filled with charm and soul. And some pretty gnarly vocals for the time. It's not overstating the case to say they make other '60s dirty garage peddlers like The Sonics or The Monks seem kind of tame. This is the kind of blood, guts and charisma that helped create bands latter on like The Cramps, The Mono Men, The Coachwhips, and Davilla 666. With a primitive surf undertone, and an undeniable tough and cool sensibility they really do have a sound so many bands in the decades to follow tried (and continue to try) to emulate. Los Saicos are like the Peruvian version of a gang of bad kids from a Luis Bunuel film, forming a band and creating electric energy together amongst the harsh realities of the streets they roam.
We're so so so thankful Munster has given Los Saicos the proper reissue and long overdue respect they so deserve. If you like rock n roll in any form, you NEED THIS!
Hot on the heels of their much revered debut Court in the Act, fresh-faced youngsters Satan have returned from the foggy English North to deliver another razor sharp slice of very regal, very classic, very BRITISH heavy metal!
Oh wait, did we mention that much revered debut actually came out 30 years ago?? That's right, it's been a LONG time coming, but Satan have reformed with their entire original line up intact (that never happens!) and have against all odds delivered one of the most potent and exhilarating heavy metal records of 2013. Life Sentence is buzzing with a youthful exuberance no one has any right to expect from a band well into its third decade - especially one that's been inactive for so long. The entire record is a blur of infectious riffs, confounding guitar leads and commanding vocals. Seeing as Satan originally emerged from the darker side of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, fans of bands like Angel Witch, Pagan Altar and Witchfynde are obviously going to find lots here to love. But there's something about the combination of Brian Ross' deep theatrical vocals layered over the band's unique brand of eccentric, dramatic heavy metal that also brings to mind Bay Area true metal stalwarts and long time aQ faves Brocas Helm, while some of the dizzying proto-thrash riffing and occasional piercing falsetto wails recall Mercyful Fate in their prime. Otherwise though, Life Sentence is a wholly British affair. Satan's approach to heavy metal feels historical and dignified with a sense of medieval dread running throughout (not unlike their also recently reformed NWOBHM peers Hell) with songs that might not sound out of place soundtracking a dreary English countryside besieged by plague, or perhaps a lively public execution by guillotine in the local town square! The production is appropriately understated and sparse to match, striking the perfect middle ground of a nice clean sound without ever sounding too modern or polished. Highly recommended for any traditional headbangers out there who prefer their metal a little bit dark and a little bit menacing, but still addictive and catchy as hell. Get this... lest ye be judged!
Last time, we listed a cool comp on the Pharaway Sounds label, good groovy fun stuff from the Persian hit parade circa the seventies, before the Islamic Revolution in '79 anyway. Little did we know that Pharaway Sounds had THIS up their sleeves next, something just a bit more rockin' and freaky from the same scene, and even more to our liking, naturally. A 'best of' collection from Iranian singer/songwriter/producer Shahram Shabpareh, twelve tracks total, each of 'em a treat. It's a wild ride, this disc packed with swirling Eastern melodies, rampaging rhythms, and fantastical mirror ball funk, plus some strange surprises. It's sort of thing that gets you staring at your stereo once in a while, like when the Moog synths get really goofy, or it seems like the conga player has forgotten when he's supposed to come in. Also, Sharhram was the drummer in one of Tehran's top (only?) garage rock bands in the sixties, The Rebels, which helps explain why you'll hear some garagey fuzz guitar here - including, on the track "Woman", an excellent repurposing of the "You Really Got Me" riff by The Kinks.
Shahram's music is all about the exotic bombast of his totally over the top arrangements, with horns, hand percussion, vocals and keyboards all vying for supremacy. There's moments that sound like Gershon Kingsley gone Bollywood, and some, like the stomping, storming "Hel Yo Sar", or the surefire hit "1975", that are a sort of psychedelic disco music to the max.
Comes with extensive liner notes, complete with vintage color pics, that tell the whole Shahram story (he lives in LA now, still makes music, and has a teenage daughter who's a cheerleader).
Full length number three from these Midwestern jangle poppers, whose fuzzy bubblegum garage pop has changed a lot since their 2009 debut. No band wants to hear how they've 'matured', but since these guys were barely out of high school when they released that first record, it's not surprising that 4 years, and 2 records later, that their sound would have blossomed into something more fully realized, Soft Will is sonically much more lush, and the songwriting this time around finds SW's taking classic popsongsmithery and making it their own. Just check out opener "3AM Spiritual" and see if you're not smitten. Cuz really if you're not, that pop music heart of yours must be shriveled and gnarled, cuz this might be some of the most perfect pop we've heard in ages. Lilting, super melodic, swathed in swirling synths, summery guitar strum, sweetly crooned vocals, busy but understated drumming, and then halfway through, the song blossoms into chiming, shimmering, softly psychedelic dream pop bliss out, suddenly cranked up, even louder, more full and lush, the gang vocals drifting over layered guitars, more synths, dreamily dramatic, with a cool lead guitar breakdown before swooping right back into it.
Which pretty much sets the template for the rest of the record, a killer collection of delightfully hook filled sun dappled jangle pop that's catchy crazy, liberally doused with streaks of fuzz guitars, subtle psychedelic swirls, lush almost orchestral swells, equal parts old school eighties new wave, classic power pop and more modern garage pop jangle.
Record number two from this UK outfit, and like their debut, Bad Penny, Sob Story is another collection of crazy catchy, psychedelic fuzz pop jangle, mainman Louis Jones' vocals even more Elvis Costello than ever, and while in our review of Bad Penny we mentioned Julian Casablancas as a comparison to Jones vocally, that Strokes comparison applies here too, but more in terms of the music, which has a similarly Strokes style minimalism, check out the opener "Let Me Cave In", which begins with some murky minor key guitar strum, all muddy and washed out, before the band kick in proper, immediately locking into a killer two part jangle jam that's peppered with cool blasts of distorto guitar crunch, but for the most part, cycles through a single progression, Jones crooning over the tranced out the jangle pop mesmer. Not all of Sob Story is that minimal, with tracks like "A Heartbeat Behind", getting all classic rock / new wave, adding some chiming shimmer and a little guitar twang, not to mention some handclap rhythms, or the title track, which adds even more twang, unfurling what is essentially a No Depression style country pop ballad, Jones crooning alongside warm slippery lap steel, which pops up again on the woozy softly psychedelic twang flecked dream pop ballad "Friend Zone", or the woozy warble lullaby-like "In A Bad Way". Our favorite track though might just be "Karaoke" a two plus minute groover, with a weirdly funky bassline, what sounds like bongos, and some amazing guitars, psychedelic and a little bit tangly, with a super catchy chorus, some super effected guitar licks that sound almost like organs, a cool bridge and some weird percussion, all woven into some practically perfect twangy jangle pop.
The crazy thing is, we don't remember Spectrals sound so twangy, but lots of Sob Story is downright country, and with Jones' super distinctive vocals, we're actually reminded of Robbie Fulks, which is not a bad thing AT ALL.
Latest full length from these SF psychedelic garage rockers, who unlike many of their more spaced out and droney compatriots, don't so much drift druggily as stomp bloozily, fusing modern day fuzzed out garage rock with classic sixties style jangle pop and seventies psychedelic blooz. In reviews of past records we mention the usual modern suspects, Wooden Shjips, Sleepy Sun, Moon Duo, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, and no doubt fans of any and all those groups are gonna still dig the Spyrals, but on Out of Sight, the band have pushed their already retro sound even further, again channeling the Stooges, the Doors, the Velvets, but now sounding like they could actually BE some lost sixties/seventies band, and like Out Of Sight could in fact be some obscure reissue, the sound echo-y and reverby, the guitars and drums simple and stripped down, the vibe a sort of groovy garagey stomp, with some cool psychedelic leads, lots of fuzz, even some harmonica!
Fans of the last self titled record will feel right at home, as it pretty much takes up right where that one left off.
Let's leap to the title track first, as it might be our favorite here, and it's easy to see why they chose that one to name the record, starting off like some vintage baroque pop, all backwards swirls and sitar like guitar buzz, the vibe promising an eventual blossoming into some early Bee Gees style lush pop majesty, but instead they get right back to rocking, more garagey fuzzy bliss, although throughout there's a definite Eastern vibe and that sitar like melody, which surface here and there, which helps make the track super distinctive. Crazy and catchy, and while this is the track we find ourselves returning the more we listen, the more new favorites emerge, "Now You Know What I Need", with its super fuzzed out main riff which sounds a bit like "Spirit In The Sky", or "Tell All The World" which sounds like some straight up skiffly sixties Beatles style rock, albeit with a bit of a noisier, garagier chorus. Then there's the slithery moody groove of "Down In The Hole", the twangy folkiness of "Easy Now", and "Such A Pain" which gets seriously Stones-y, with a gorgeous main riff, and some super emotive vox, not to mention a big fuzzed out crunchy chorus, and a heavy psych final almost-space jam outro, and garage rockers should definitely dig" Lying", probably the garagiest jam of the bunch, definitely one for the Ty Segall / Oh Sees set.
Killer stuff! Retro garage fuzz psychedelic jangle radness that we can't seem to get enough of!!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!! Pressed on red vinyl!!
Another fantastic, archival synth oddity rescued from the abyss by Oakland tape label Sanity Muffin, who on the last list, brought us two fantastic early eighties releases of kosmische synthscapery and darkly propulsive kraut-age psychedelia from Ron Berry, and this time around it's a lost lp from 1982 from a woman named Anna Pauline Strom, who hailed from right here in San Francisco. Blind and obese, Strom struggled greatly with her weight and sightlessness, until one day her doting husband purchased her an electric organ, with which the untrained Strom began to create incredible, beautiful, and relaxing sounds. Sounds that helped her transcend her physical form, to reach higher planes of existence, to eventually become the "Trans-Millenia Consort"!
From the original liner notes (reprinted in the cassette's J-Card: "I consider myself the "Trans-Millenia Consort", by which title I wish to be known. This to me is a personal declaration that I have been in previous lives, that I am in this life, and that I shall in future lives be a musical consort to time."
Strom goes on: "My music is a timeless entity, clothed in the mists of prehistory, beautifully sensitive to the tortured and joyous emotions of the present, rich and voluptuously full of the glory and anguish of future worlds. And so, as the "Trans-Millenia Consort", the living incarnation of this all-embracing entity of music, I endeavor through music to delve into all time spaces to tap resources of knowledge and power as ancient as the Universe and as young as unborn worlds, in the hope that I may bring a measure of peace and joy to emotional, spiritual, material and physical complexity that is humankind."
While it's unclear if her music did in fact impact humankind on such a massive scale, it most certainly did wonders for her personally, allowing her to find peace in the present, and to modern listeners, it's easy to get lost in her lush, lullaby-like synthscapes, simple lilting melodies, subtle sound effects (like the bathtub water splashes on the first track, the simulated animal sounds on the second), the arrangements often sounding like electric harps, fields of ethereal strums, dreamy and soft focus, blooping, bleeping pizzicato melodies, stretched out over the occasional weird sort-of groovy rhythm, Casio style handclap driven primitive drum machine beats, wreathed in prismatic swirls of blurred synth shimmer, all very very new age-y of course, very soundtracky and cinematic, like the music for old educational filmstrips, easy to imagine this having found it's way onto UK weirdo reissue label Trunk, had this been from some obscure British TV show. The new age blossoms into some serious kosmische drift here and there, the whole of Strom's sound though with a serious primitive, home brewed, outsider vibe. Apparently, Strom's quick mastery of that first organ, convinced her husband to create/invent/purchase new instruments and effects and gizmos for her to explore and experiment with, all of which she quickly mastered and wove into these dreamily drifty outsider new age bliss out soundscapes.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES! Each one hand numbered, with the original album's liner notes included inside the J-card!
Another issue of UK metal mag Terrorizer, always a good read for those who want to keep up with the latest in the world of metal. We've been reading it for years and always look forward to perusing every issue. This one's got Finland's Children Of Bodom on the cover, also inside you'll find pieces on Kylesa, Blood Ceremony, Dark Tranquility, Sodom, Arckanum, Evile, Age Of Taurus, and plenty more. All the usual reviews and news and whatnot, plus the free sampler cd stuck to the cover. Oh, and the back page "mix tape" feature this time reveals favorite tracks picked by Metatron of Meads Of Asphodel, that's gotta be interesting, he talks about song by Stiff Little Fingers, Sigh, and The Doors among others.
In the realm of doom metal, what could be more weird and cult and underground than Voci Dal Passato, the brilliantly bizarre DIY Goblin-meets-Vitus album by one-man-band Tony Tears that we made a Record Of The Week a few years ago?? Well the answer is obvious: Tony Tears' demos!! We we're pretty excited when we heard about this new release (dampened only by the fact that this turned out to be a cd-r, not a cd, though it's nicely done, pro-printed and everything) and we think everyone who became obsessed, like us, with Voci Dal Passato - which was quite popular - will want to check this out. Likewise with those who missed out on Tony Tears before 'cause that cd so sadly went out of print.
So, this is first official release of TT's debut demo from 2000, Fears And Sensations In The Claustrophobic Mirror, consisting of six tracks (the last an extended, 4 part suite lasting 15 minutes). Just like the Tony Tears album we made ROTW, it's a lo-fi morass of mesmeric doomed-out psychedelia, inspired by Paul Chain, Goblin, Black Hole, and other esoteric Italians, with wobbly keyboards, crude drum programming, chant-like and sometimes extremely distorted Italian-language vox, and of course heavy fuzzed out doom guitar riffage, the whole thing giving off uniquely eerie, eccentric vibes galore as each track slowly plods forth through a haze of hiss and murk.
We mentioned Umberto with Striborg-level production and performance in our review of Voci Dal Passato, and guess what, these earlier recordings are even MORE like that. It's a beautiful thing. Tracks like "The Return To The Underground Temple", mostly echo effected keyboards and weeping guitars over simple steady rhythms, have so much weird psychedelic atmosphere that Tony Tears should not be limited to a 'cult doom metal only' audience. Devoted dronologists should hear the quietly ominous "Forze Invisibli Bussano Al Cuore", the aforementioned four-part suite - it's pulsating electronic cosmic mystery that could be from some lost '70s krautrock lp or sinister soundtrack, at least until the super slowed down sludge part kicks in, with vocals and guitar sounding like they're recorded at quarter-speed or something, as if you're listening to it on a device with dying batteries.
Again, too bad this is just a limited cd-r, these are probably the only copies we'll be getting, and we have just under a dozen.
Over the past months, we've uncovered a handful of orginal issues of Unsound, San Francisco's seminal industrial / experimental / out-there / transgressive / what-the-fuck? zine from the '80s. This one though was the very final issue of Unsound, and they went out with a fucking bang with this one: the magazine itself is an oversized newsprint edition folded into a printed cardstock sleeve, which also includes two additional booklets of pertinent information at the time of all of the known mail order outlets, like-minded publications, and sympathetic art organizations. But the coup de grace is clearly the compilation tape with rare and exclusive tracks from Controlled Bleeding, Hunting Lodge, Die Todliche Doris, The Haters, P16.D4, Negativland, S.B.O.T.H.I., Psyclones, Smersh, Master/Save Relationship, Audio Leter, Torn Memory, Monochrome Bleu, Theme Park, Robert Bolman, Problemist, Blackhouse, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, No Music, Glorious Din, The Eberly Brothers, Kristine Ambrosia, Poison Gas Research / PGR, and Mother Country. The articles also feature interviews with the Hafler Trio (then doing what they could to keep up the ruse of Edward Moolenbeek's participation in the group along with the fictional sound research of Robert Sprigeon), Nick Zedd & Richard Kern, Organum, Blackhouse, PGR, the SELEKTION collective including P16.D4 and S.B.O.T.H.I., and Karen Finley. LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES!! Each one numbered, looooooooooong out of print.
What better way to celebrate the birth of our country (we're writing this on July 4th) than with this fantastic compilation of spiritual jazz, civil rights anthems and protest speeches from Bob Thiele's independent jazz label, Flying Dutchman. Spanning the years 1969-1974, Thiele began the Flying Dutchman label after years running ABC's modern jazz imprint Impulse records, where he produced John Coltrane and introduced free jazz to a wider audience. After a petty dispute with that label involving Thiele's choice to produce and release Louis Armstrong's last big hit, "What A Wonderful World" (which Thiele co-wrote under a pseudonym), Thiele made the move to be independent of big record labels in order to be able to release records he thought needed to be heard. His biggest star on Flying Dutchman was Gil Scott-Heron, whose "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" sets the tone for this release. Marked by black power anthems, cosmic spirituality and spoken word pieces by Angela Davis, H. Rap Brown, and Carl B. Stokes, the first elected black mayor of a large American city (Cleveland), Liberation Music speaks truth to power in incredible focus of one of the more exciting jazz labels of the sixties and seventies. For anyone who dug the Spiritual Jazz comps, this is essential!
How we love Rock Is Hell! This Austrian label has given us some seriously damaged and dementedly genius jams over the last few years. A list of some of our Rock Is Hell faves should say it all: Thee Oh Sees, Burmese, Dig That Body Up It's Alive, Total Shutdown, Octis, Nate Denver's Neck, XBXRX, Ocrilim, Reflector, Mark Deutrom, Shit And Shine and so many more! And as if that weren't enough, all the Rock is Hell releases are gorgeously packaged, usually in super swank hand screened sleeves or deluxe limited boxes.
So Rock is hell turns 50, not years old, but FIFTY RELEASES!! And what better way to celebrate than by releasing a super limited lp, with tons of super short tracks by mostly super obscure Austrian bands (to us at least), who according to Rock Is Hell are quite popular at least in Austria. On top of that, these aren't just regular tracks, as the insert explains: "This record contains loops. locked grooves, songs running inside out, find out and enjoy"! Which is exactly what this is, a dizzying collection of fractured sonic fragments and super tranced out loops, the needle moving backwards and forwards, the sounds surprisingly hypnotic and tranced out, from murky, glitchy electronics, to dirgey distortion drenched noise rock stomps, in fact while reviewing this, we'd occasionally forget these were loops and get totally lost in some killer churning riff out, or some creepy blurry drift.
That said, this record does require some work, as you either end up stuck in a single loop, or lost in the ether between loops, so this is active listening, pick up the needle and drop it anywhere, and you're treated to some mysterious noisy, rhythmic, textural weirdness, like musical Russian roulette, but with a musical bullet in every chamber!
Of all the bands we really only knew a few, aQ faves Reflector of course, Bulbul, who are super awesome, but have yet to make it onto the aQ list, and [[[ Altar:Thron ]]] whose Rock Is Hell lp from a while back as a monster. Some of the other outfits/groops/musicians/weirdos involved: NoOne, Maja Osojnik, Heimo Wallner, Lepenik, Flugfeld, Muscle Tomcat Machine, The Striggles, Tumido, Big D., The Pooka Boys, Rdeca Raketa, Hella Comet, Martin Zrost, Macaque Revue, Rokko Anal & The Coathangers, Mental Terror, Spring And The Land, Dr. Mad Fister, and we could go on. And as we mentioned before, it doesn't really matter if you know the bands are not, probably impossible to find an exact track anyway, but we spent a long time exploring the various track and loops, and they're all pretty goddamn great, a few are definitely on the pummeling side, but most are super hypnotic, be they heavy or dreamy, dense or atmospheric. A super interactive and fiendishly fun record, packed with sounds weird and wonderful. Here's to 50 more releases! Long Live ROCK IS HELL!!
LIMITED OF COURSE!!! Pressed on ultra heavy clear vinyl, and housed in a two color hand silkscreened jacket!
Finally, a remastered vinyl reissue of the Blade Runner score sees the light of day. It's funny that most people know the music of Chariots Of Fire far more than they know the actual movie, but with Vangelis's other big soundtrack, for an undoubtedly more famous film, the original score has been somewhat difficult to secure. It did not get an official release until 1994, 12 years after the film debuted, and over the years multiple versions have become available that either added to or subtracted from the original material. The movie itself has multiple versions, and with the 1992 Director's Cut arguably becoming the definitive version of the film, the Vangelis score finally became available as well, a version so intertwined with the film that it also includes snippets of dialogue from this futuristic noir masterpiece. The score, a mix of mystical exotica, dark electronic minimalism and sadly romantic themes, is marked by heavy electronic treatments and classical instrumentation evoking a hazy twilight dreaminess and melancholic longing that serves the film exquisitely. Easily a touchstone for a lot of modern day synth-worshippers, get this score on vinyl while you can, as it is already out of print awaiting a repress apparently. Like all limited things, eventually "all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain" (sorry, we had to fit that line in here somewhere!).
We were so into the self titled debut from these UK indie rockers, which was actually a sort of singles collection, so it was pretty goddamn catchy and tough to top, so when record number two dropped, essentially the group's first full length, it took us a little longer to warm up to it, but once we did, it got nearly as many spins as that singles comp. So much so that even one more track from the same sessions is cause for celebration for the pop nerds around aQ. Which brings us to this new single, which features the title track from their new lp on the A side, which if you haven't heard Veronica Falls before, is the sort of track that will win you over immediately. Fuzzy, jangly, crazy catchy, warm and lush with dreamy vocals, and of course a chorus that KILLS. Listen to the sound sample and prepare to have a new favorite pop band. But for the rest of us, who've played both full lengths to death, the real reason to grab this is for the EXCLUSIVE B side, which as you might expect, is another beauty, brief but seriously cool, starting off with some super druggy backwards guitars, draped over muted jangle, we're immediately hearing some strange hybrid of the Breeders and the Swirlies, shoegazey and psychedelic, the whole track laced with those trippy backwards guitars, no drums, just a dense layered wash of softly swirling guitars, more gorgeous vox, and a subtly catchy main hook that will stick in your head like crazy!
French prog from the seventies can move us in just the right ways, especially if it hits that sweet spot between Kosmiche new age and sublime Euro-jazz, yet still has that individually eccentric feel that you only get from the French. Patrick Vian's sole 1976 lp Bruits et Temps Analogues, famously included on the Nurse With Wound list, is just such a record. An amalgam of Michael Rother sky gliding electronic music and a mellower take on the "Superficial Music" of Bernard Szajner, Vian packs a lot of punch into his compositions, propelled forward by the hypnotic counterpoint of sunny guitar lines, analog Moog washes, flutes and all kinds of dazzling rhythmic instrumentation, such as kinetic jazz drumming, and deep vibraphones, the latter thanks to the help of Mino Cinelu (who had played with the likes of Gong, Weather Report and Miles Davis). There's also an exotica quality at play here especially on the track, "Orenock" which feels like we're on safari on some strange desolate planet, as well as some avant-garde tendencies, such as using tape manipulations of recordings of American sporting events on the musique concrete piece, "Tricentennial Drag". Vian began his musical career in the legendary French prog /free jazz band Red Noise, but the vibe on Bruits et Temps Analogues is way more serene and groovy. It lives up to its awesome cover painting. Originally released on the Egg / Barclay label, it's about time this stellar album got reissued. Thanks Staubgold! Highest Recommendation!!
Chances are you either love to hate him or you hate to love him, but whichever camp you fall in, one thing is for certain... there's no escaping Kanye! One more thing that's for certain? Yeezus is as abrasive, genre-bending and challenging as any record you'll hear this year, mainstream or otherwise. It explodes with the kind of schizophrenic disregard for convention that only the most obsessive and confrontational albums achieve. From the jarring industrial assault of opening track "On Sight" to the sparsely bittersweet soul loop of closer "Bound 2", 'Yeezus' constantly surprises and consistently refuses to compromise. Single "Black Skinhead" is an exhilarating tribal whirlwind built around a '70s glam rock drum stomp. "I Am A God" doesn't sound too far from something the Swans might have come up with circa The Great Annihilator while the menacing dub of "New Slaves" wouldn't sound out of place on a Scorn record. Elsewhere the album flutters between grimy harsh synths, dusty soul, monolithic cinematic orchestral blasts, ethereal ambiance - seemingly all in the span of one song! Vocally the album finds Kanye at his most unrestrained and unrefined, sometimes recalling the guttural stream of consciousness outbursts of Death Grips. Lyrically it's by far his angriest record, pulsing with frustration and rage, tackling everything from race to excess to (very, very graphic) sex. It's not an easy listen but an immensely rewarding one and sure to be one of the more divisive albums of the year. And in our opinion one of the best!
Back in 2011, we made Might Of The Planet Eater, the debut from weirdo minimal blackened power electronic one man band Will Over Matter our Record Of The Week. We initially discovered WOM via the fact that the 'one man' behind that one man band, was none other than Harald Mentor, mastermind of aQ beloved Finnish rhythmic black metal minimalists Ride For Revenge, who for some crazy reason, we just realized, have never nabbed Record Of The Week honors, cuz in retrospect, any/all of their previous records were more than deserving.
As we mentioned in our reviews of the other Will Over Matter records, if you thought Ride For Revenge were weird, then prepare theyself to be blown away, baffled, confused, frustrated, thrilled, unnerved, disturbed, most likely all of the above. Will Over Matter takes the dense rhythmic churn, already sort of spaced out and abstract, and replaces the bass and drums and traditional instruments, with what sounds like a battery of cobbled together electronics, home made machines and invented instruments, it's tough not to envision Mentor as some sort of mad scientist, in his murky musical laboratory, surrounded by walls of primitive electronics, old computers, blinking lights, blown speakers, a room full of towering obelisks of obsolete technology, harnessed into something otherworldly, and improbably next level. The sounds these machines emit glitchy and gristly, jagged and hiss-drenched, in some ways the template for WOM is the same as it was for Ride For Revenge, the 'band' locked into simple, lurching, lumbering motorik grooves, the 'beat' wrapped in dense sonic swirls, thick fields of static, everything glitched out and in-the-red. A head spinning sprawl of blackened kraut-noise synth-drone power-electronic minimalism, that RULES. Which brings us to the latest missive from Mentor, which is another psychedelic minimal electro-noise WTF doozy, the vocals kept to a minimum this time, the three lengthy tracks, spaced out and droney, slow shifting layers, constantly morphing textures, pulsing and pulsating, the sounds raw and gristly, the tracks maniacally repetitive and cyclical, in a way that to our ears is total tranced out bliss, but to less adventurous ears, might be just the opposite. The lack of 'song' and 'structure', not that there was that much of either on past WoM release, but even less so here, is precisely what makes Phenomenal Highways a whole different beast, at times, it's like past WoM records stripped down to their very skeletal essence, the opening track some sort of primitive kosmische ritual, a single synth locked and looped into a seemingly endless cycle of simple pulses, weirdly warbly and super distorted, a heartbeat like pulse wreathed in filthy, crusty synth squelch, that squirms and oozes, occasionally shaped into actual melodies, but more often than not droning and buzzing hypnotically, the final few minutes, finds the sounds transformed into weird lazer blast like blurts before suddenly blinking out.
The second track is even MORE minimal, a super spare soundscape that sounds like some mysteriously manipulated alien field recording, something you might here on Editions Mego, a field of crumpled low end crackle, muted and murky, peppered with little bits of percussion, the sound a weird bit of grinding muddy noise, it's not until 7 minutes in that the sound splinters, the background smoothing out into a whirring distorted drone, while Mentor delivers some demonic sermon over the top, his voice processed and doused in distortion, before the track explodes into a field of grinding electronics, tangled melodies, swirling tones, a robotic psych-noise freakout that manages to be more listenable than it has any right to be, a head spinning psychedelic churn that blossom into a final super blown out speaker shredding blowout, before oozing into the final track, a weird shuffling sprawl of rib cage rattling low end, dense subsonic tones delivered through what sounds like slow motion helicopter rotor wash, weirdly rhythmic and mesmeric, this minimal ooze and creep soon joined by strange curlicues of melody, the deep tone gathering all sorts of acoustic crunch as it goes, and once again, about seven minutes in, a super distorted blast of fractured blown out melody surfaces, giving the whole thing a seriously psychedelic vibe, those tones totally overtaking the rest of the sound, before fading out, and returning us to the slow-swell pulsations of the first half, only to fade out into a crackly sprawl of sculpted feedback, wreathed in hiss and hum, the sound smoldering and sinister, draped over a buried barely there rhythm, some echo drenched vocals in there too, everything sort of washed out and blurry, drifting beneath sheets of feedback and fields of staticky hum, all culminating in a final freaked out psych-noise squall, that does little to disguise the haunting melodic beauty that lurks within.
As always, amazing, bizarre and bafflingly brilliant, a dizzyingly abstract, twisted industrial psychedelic drone-noise masterpiece. That is of course also extremely limited...
Might as well start out by saying this is most definitely the prettiest Wolf Eyes record we've ever heard. And certainly the most listenable, but of course, both of those descriptors are pretty subjective, especially when applied to a group like Wolf Eyes, who are as capable of conjuring up sheets of face melting noise as they are blissed out industrial shimmer. But for No Answer-Lower Floors, it sounds like they've tried something entirely different. The vibe is droney, and darkly psychedelic, the noise elements are muted, or sculpted into melodies, the opener sounds like Wolf Eyes via Can, a sort of kraut-noise, a simpler rhythm, wreathed in strange bits of buzz and thrum, the occasional streak of high end skree, the vocals laid back and laconic, almost spoken, a sort of woozy croon, the vibe is a mellower Dead C, or a super abstract lo-fi This Heat, weirdly hypnotic and trancey, minimal and murky, it's almost a sort of chill out version of Wolf Eyes, and we dig it a lot.
There are some brief song fragments, interludes maybe, that find the group digging into their slightly noisier bag of tricks, one is a sort of pounding muted pop song, laced with wild malfunctioning FX and electronic squiggles, but retains the vibe of the opener. One is a weird collaged of fragmented voices and weird swirling clouds of high end bleeps, all chopped and layered, but then there's "Chattering Lead" which is even more mellow and trance-y than the opener, whirling organ shimmer, over a muted pulse, a skittery electro rhythm, all manner of chitter and bleep swirling in the background, more of those druggy disembodied vox, it's a gorgeously soporific sprawl of minimal creep-pop dirge, reminding us of our favorite Gate tracks, that same sort of sad boy indie rock slowed way down and blurred into a hazy drift. "Confession Of The Informer" is another minimal drifter, this one a bit more creepy and cinematic, lots of space, and ominous rumbles, strange minor key melodies, and soundtracky ambience, there's a pulse, a spaced out rhythm, over which a strange swirl of voices and sounds drift and shift, dark and minimal and moody, hushed and haunting.
Finally, the record finishes with another stretch of rhythmic post industrial dirgery, this one flecked with bursts of what sounds like buzzsaw electronics, beneath which, another minimal rhythm unfurls, a dark somnambulant lope, looped and cyclical, a sort of power electronics hypno-drift, and while that relentless blast of electronics is mildly harsh, somehow, it ends up being more soothing and mesmerizing, the whole thing like some caveman This Heat. Definitely our new favorite Wolf Eyes record, and very likely the sort of record that could convince unsuspecting innocents to finally decide they like 'noise music'...
Another killer chunk of dark brooding gloom prog post metal creep from this Los Angeles duo, with the A side, "Absurdities & Echo" sounding a bit like Godflesh via Pinkish Black, with a little This Heat going on too, which actually sorta describes their sound in general, killer mathy drumming, thick swaths of rumbling buzzing synths, the vibe super sinister and atmospheric, the vocals an ultra dramatic anguished howl, this is the sort of sound we imagine would have gone over gangbusters back in the hey day of the LA goth scene, not hard to imagine these guys playing at the Scream, a dense crowd of black clad kids swooning and tranced out, headbanging really slowly. Heavy as fuck, but with lots of space, the drumming driving things for sure, murky and moody, a tortured slab of gothic metallic downer-rock that reminds us once again why we dig these guys so much.
And while we often wonder why these guys ever got classified as black metal, it's tracks like the B side "Abhorrence", that reminds us that these guys can actually kick up a pretty serious black buzz, but of course even then, it's their twisted version, with flurries of drum splatter, swooning soaring synths (or are they guitars? Hard to tell...), the vokills a hellish rasp, the arrangement, like the A side weirdly mathy and proggy, with some cool stop / start breakdowns that ooze into thick tarpit trudges, before returning to the shrieking swirling howling blackness.
With a lineup including members of Leviathan, Twilight, Nachtmystium, Anatomy Of Habit and Yakuza, you could be forgiven for expecting this to be a buzzy blackened blast of metallic heaviness, and while there are moments of blackened heaviness here, in fact, You've Always Meant So Much To Me, is the latest composition / recording from long running experimental / ambient / avant classical project, Wreckmeister Harmonies, aka JR Robinson, who many aQ-ers might remember as the man responsible for that Vice documentary on one man black metal bands, but who has been performing and composing as Wreckmeister Harmonies since 2006, his compositions featuring an ever shifting cast of musicians and noisemakers, which in the past has included members of US Maple, the Jesus Lizard, Tortoise, and a handful of modern new jazz luminaries.
This time around, even with a heavy weight, primarily metal ensemble, You've Always Meant So Much To Me
is gorgeously minimal, a dark, droning, softly pulsing creep, something you might expect to be released on Miasmah or Type, a billowing black ambience, woven from softly layered chordal thrum, deep resonant low end rumbles, wheezing barely there horns, buried feedback, and disembodied vocalizations, all blurred into a lush expanse of slow moving sonic swells. Eventually, from within this droning drift, surfaces, little tangles of guitar melodies, sizzling arcs of keening high end, weird almost animal sounds, and then some haunting acoustic guitar, unfurling beneath the now dense ur-drone skree, before everything is enveloped in a cloud of sweeping, swirling strings, a darkly brooding, slow building majesty, that's aching and melancholic, the sound dense, and softly roiling, quickly growing darker and more dissonant, a blackness creeping in, the sounds atonal and angular, everything swaddled in a crumbling distortion, the collective's metal pedigree revealing itself as a blown out buzz, that splinters into a lurching, lumbering doom, downtuned and distorted, massive and pummeling, with harsh howled vokills, pounding and crushing and epic. But before you know it, the distortion fades, the drums disappear, leaving just swirling, buzzing sonic traces, creepy chant-like vocals, sheets of crumbling buzz, wrapped in more aching strings, blurred and bleary, a sort of black buzz drenched modern classical, all of which slowly fades, eventually leaving just a lush harmonium like drone, beneath soft spidery tendrils of acoustic guitar, the drone fading too, leaving just that lonely guitar, drift slowly and dreamily through a field of near silence.
Vinyl only, super limited (we got all we're gonna be able to get), pressed on virgin vinyl and packaged in a heavy old school tip-on style sleeve, with stunning cover art by Simon Fowler. Includes download.
With Love is full length number three from this aQ beloved outfit, following hot on the heels of Dedication, a record which found Zomby ditching much of the neon bright raviness, of his earlier record for something a bit darker and moodier, which some of us at aQ found infinitely appealing. We remarked that Dedication played like a Zomby come down record, which has us wondering what With Love might be, since it too, displays a much moodier disposition that the early Zomby jams, and in a way, might be even a bit darker than Dedication.
Spread out over two discs, and eighty minutes, With Love is a sprawling collection of short sonic snapshots, that vary greatly, and are all over the map sonically, touching on sounds both dark and light, but definitely leaning toward the shadowier side, with much of the record, heavier on the old dubstep Zomby sound, check out "Horrid", with it's clipped, echo drenched skeletal beat, its deep bass wobbles, and swirling psychedelic loops, or the string laced synth heavy electro-dub skitter of "Orion", but then the vibe/sound shifts on jams like "Isis" with moody piano, and layered, looped vocals, a sort of dark electro brood, which shifts once again on a track like "It's Time", with an old school breakbeat, beneath a flurry of skittery jazziness, all underneath another hazy looped vocal, woozily soulful and darkly funky, but then again, out of nowhere "Overdose" explodes in a flurry of old school jungle, right down to the revved up Amen break, which rules, and resurfaces throughout (again on the muddy, droned out drum and bass of "777"), but does raise the question, how exactly are all of these songs linked? In some ways, With Love feels more like a singles comp, a collection of odds and ends, as if maybe Zomby had some tracks left over from a handful of different releases and assembled them into With Love, cuz while there is a flow, and a pretty good one at that, it's not necessarily all that linear, and might be a little bit schizophrenic, how could it not be, 33 tracks, with most tracks sounding not at all like the song on either side of it, which is not a bad thing at all, but it does make it more of an 'active' listen, it's not the sort of late night chill out record you throw on and wind down with, although there are plenty of tracks that are perfect for that sort of listening, and it's not a nonstop dance party, even though there are plenty of jams like that, some are glistening and shimmering and dreamy, others dubbed out and minimal, still others beat heavy and dark, some of the record dips into Burial / Vessel style slo-mo soul, some gets all soundtracky and kosmische, it's definitely super varied, and while we'd be psyched if ANY of these tracks came blaring through the PA at some club, we're not sure your typical dancefloor would get it. Instead, consider With Love some seriously psychedelic headphone bliss out for electronic headz, which in case it's not obvious, means this comes HIGHly recommended.
