Auxiliary Out

Steve Baczkowski - Tone Arm [Cae-sur-a]

2011-09-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here's the deal, Cory Card known for his Foxy Digitalis scribin' and his Stone Baby vibin' launched a cassette label earlier in the year christened Cae-sur-a. They've been rollin' right along droppin' a bunch of cool tapes all over the sonic map. Some killer noise from York Factory Complaint, perhaps even more killer drones from Hering und Siene Sieben and Pine Smoke Lodge and even some rock bands are in there. However, the crown jewel in my estimation fits firmly in the "other" category.

The inside flap describes Tone Arm as "a solo improvisation for turntables, prepared records, tone arm, bells, implements, flutes, vibratube, baritone sax ..." Wow, I shudder to think what that ellipsis implies. In case you didn't glean it from the tape's own description, Tone Arm is bonkers! I'd never heard any of Steve Baczkowski's work before this. I know he did a record on baritone sax with Bill Nace that I should track down but otherwise, the guy's a mystery to me. How representative is Tone Arm of his repertoire? No idea. Does this guy crank out madness such as Tone Arm with the ease in which others eat breakfast? That's a scary thought indeed.

I give up, this is too difficult to pin down; I'm sitting here at my keyboard trying to catch as catch can with little success. Um, where can I start? Where's a foothold? I think there might be some bird calls in here. Maybe? But then again they could be sounds that only sound like bird calls. After an initial trial by fire--wild speed manipulation scree--at the outset, the first side settles into a nice little abstract riverboat trip. The aforementioned birds are chirping, a slo-mo record creates the ebb and flow of the swampy current; it makes for some pleasant traveling, observing the exotic locale. That is until Baczkowski pops his lid. There's an explosion of sound, among it violently clattered bells and a severely trash'd and slash'd old timey song--could be a TV show theme for all I know. All the fragmented non-music cues are subsidized by flute pieces and other more "recognizably" musical elements, perhaps wisely. No one without a taste for the bizarre will probably dig this but to Baczkowski's credit, this is pretty accessible for being so far off the deep end. Tone Arm sounds like it was recorded/created in real time, and considering how well paced and composed it sounds this Baczkowski seems like a real proficient mind warper.

There's a pause as the tape reverses course but the second side brings back the energy instantly. A series of percussive loops lope along in hypnotized cave man bliss while Bacz regurgitates all sorts of movie monster moans and twisted whistle sound mess. The side gets more and more discombobulated as it moves forward, concussing itself, slipping itself into its own coma. Oddly enough, out of this fog of uncertainty Baczkowski winds up these strange, dare I say, catchy loops and lets 'em fly. He's obviously digging it; he grabs his baritone and wails away over his makeshift backing band until pressing stop.

This cassette is really wild and I'm not at all sure how to succinctly describe it. It's plunderphonic, sure, but that's far from its defining trait. It has some of the left-field, psychedelic sample-clutter feel that Tomutonttu has pioneered, and then there's guitar "players" like Nace and Brian Ruryk that share the penchant for dynamic use of noise. Of course I can't leave out West Mass weird fucks like Chris Cooper and ID M Theft Able in my spaghetti-throw. Are any of these sticking? Well, regardless, this tape is sticking in my deck because for a mere 20 minutes Baczkowski covers miles of too-little-if-ever-seen territory.

As these things go, the good ones are always gone, so hit the distros to track down a copy of this son of a bitch. Cae-sur-a is still stocked with a bunch of other good tapes of all stripes, so I recommend giving the site a peep.

Idaho Joe Windslow - Smoke Your Fear [Psychic Sound]

2011-08-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

This record came out of nowhere. It is almost like some spirit out there guided it into my unknowingly open arms.

Armed with a bevy of gear including a home-made "gongtar" along with tabla machine, lehara machine, "Arabic Casio SK8-A," Pakistani Bul Bul, Tibetan creaking drum and more, Windslow integrates each element of his sound perfectly. His droning, metallic gongtar, the trippy grooves of his tabla and lehara machines, his deep voiced, lethargic delivery of lyrics about ghosts and out-of-body experiences.

Lead off track "Out of Body Experience" is still probably my favorite as it's such a perfect nutshell of what Idaho Joe does and does so well. A seriously infectious melody emanates from the lehara machine (I think) while Joe wields all sorts of creaks and glistening grind from his gongtar. His beyond sloshed vocals lay out the LPs main aim as he petitions you to "experience an out-of-body experience." This really is a track you gotta hear, gotta feel as words don't do justice to its trifecta of creepiness, trippiness and catchiness.

"Arabic Casio (Sk8-A) Sampling Function" is an instrumental interlude showcasing the, you guessed it, Arabic Casio's sampling function. Joe throws his metallic gongtar daggers over a tight match-up of tabla and lehara machines in "When Fear Overflows Into Ecstasy". He sings about fear making you feel warm and fuzzy but this song sure doesn't make me feel that way. Dude's gonna hurt someone with that gongtar.

After the 45-second warbly drum solo of "Ektar Solo," another album standout called "My Own Ghost" wraps the first side. I had never thought of "Hey this guy has a pretty good life" being a catchy refrain but man it is here. The gongtar sounds jangly rather than grisly here too which certainly contributes to its sing-along quality.

The second side opens with a fantastic piece of analog electric tamboura called "Analog Electric Tamboura." It's highly evocative, so much so I think it could be fleshed out into a film score. It makes for a perfect midpoint in the record.

"Poltergeist" brings the tabla machine hard and heavy (you may recognize it from Punch-Drunk Love) as Windslow waxes about feeling spirits around you. "Sk8-A with Distortion" makes for a surprisingly weird little interlude. I tend to have a set idea of what can be done with a Casio but Windslow wrings out some weird and squirming sounds from it.

The lehara machine crawls a lot slower on "Great Great Grand Brother." The gongtar drones come long and slow as well. I love that it ends with "you feel like the entire youniverse"

"Heaven's a Booby Trap" details what to do if you see a light at the end of the tunnel. Windslow's advice? "Don't go. Heaven's a booby trap." Windslow sounds most convicted on this track. Perhaps it's because the Casio beat and gongtar stay far enough in the distance that Windslow's voice twists comparatively naked in the wind.

This is a seriously bitchin' record. Nothing else like it my collection. Definitely do what you can track this down.

Psychic Sound did a great job putting this package together: multi-layer screenprinted front and back covers, thick vinyl, sweet labels, and very informative insert with lyrics and instrument listing for each song. Contact Psychic Sound and berate them until they repress this spooked out monster.

Parashi - The Wine is Safer than the Water. [Skell]

2011-08-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

Parashi is the project of NY-based Mike Griffin who I gather, based on a couple of CDrs from his Skell imprint, is a righteous dude. (He also dropped a tape on the famed Stunned imprint this year that I somehow missed out on.) Griffin also collaborates with Ray Hare (Fossils From the Sun, Century Plants etc.) which is a match-made in heaven if I've ever heard one. Need I continue?

On The Wine is Safer than the Water. which Griffin "recorded live using synthesizers, metal objects, contact microphones and various percussive devices" is a killer little disc. Namely what's so killer about it is the restrained presence of the synthesizer. Now, I love synths as much as the next guy but it's really exciting to hear someone, such as Griffin here, working with such dynamic sounds and minimal, reasoned structures rather than flooding a tape with synth sustain.

The top jam, "And the People are Often Drunk" unfurls itself over the course of 7 minutes. Ever so slightly, the once small clicks, clacks and crackles become agitated, and begin to burgeon and swell sucking up the formerly plentiful amounts of space. From manipulated percussive clatter at the front of the track to the grinding machinery at the end, Griffin plans a well thought-out route and then navigates and paces the trip wonderfully. "This Results in an Increase" begins somewhere around where "Often Drunk" ends. A low rattle gnaws away, wisps of sounds scrape by occasionally. Midway through, a synth tone becomes discernible but is quickly plucked apart, tendon by tendon, cannibalized by its own sonic surroundings. "In Their Pronounced Tendency" over multiple layers of sputtering machinery, the synth gets another shot and sirens away gently, relatively unharmed. That is until a rabid a hyena gets into the circuit boards. The cackling and screeching are offset by a deep, smoothly throbbing basstone that makes the whole affair all the more queasy. "Toward Violence" cuts its length to under for 4 minutes for a more distilled kernel-ing of the ideas that preceded. Various percussive sounds trip and stumble, emanating through delay pedals keeping slurred, synth washes at bay throughout the duration. The most radio-ready track of the bunch! Nice!

The ever reliable Eric Hardiman wasn't blowing any smoke when he praised this guy. With this CDr, Griffin shows a much appreciated sense of adventure and a sheer knack for complex, thoroughly engaging compositions/performances. We may have a real talent on our hands, folks.

Edition of 50, Skell looks like it may still have some copies.

Froe Char - A New Swan's Death [Free Loving Anarchists]

2011-08-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

This was a good lesson to never judge a tape by it's cover. There was a picture of a super goth'd woman on the inside who I gather is Froe Char, the title A New Swan's Death was not givin' me good vibes (perhaps because I really hated that fuckin' Black Swan movie which was fresh in my mind at the time) and I really had no clue what Froe Char meant or how I was supposed to pronounce it. I guess that goes a long way to expose my prejudices of goth-looking album photos, the word "swan" used in conjuction with "black" or "death" and, of course, band names that confuse me. You know what showed me the error of my ways? Actually listening to the tape. It's a brief one but pretty dang good too.

Released by Texan label Free Loving Anarchists, Froe Char drops 8 songs in 20 or so minutes. Each is steeped in reverb but never really sounds spacey or euphoric to its credit.

"Morning Rax" pounds away on a rudimentary acoustic guitar with multi-tracked voice, practically drowned out by all the echoes surrounding them. "In Waste" rolls along on a two-chord guitar progression, sloshed vox and minimal drum machine taps with a fantastically subtle counter-melody appearing midway through that really sells me on the jam. For as simple as the song is, Froe Char did a hell of a job creating a ton of depth and texture in the arrangement. This has slowly become one of my favorites on the tape. The following track, "Seppuku," which may or may not be about samurai, I can't tell, was the instant stand-out my first time through. It really hustles. Sharp organ tones and a relentless drum machine keep the energy jacked from the get go and from there the artist has a lot of fun arranging soft, melting vocals and other subtle, nearly subliminal instrument parts. Not too much fun though, as the track feels like it only lasts for a minute. The title track seals up the first side. Plenty of flanged whooshes fly through track which is built around a basic acoustic arpeggio.

I can almost understand the lyrics in "Saying Again" which is a first for the tape. It's a very pretty ballad, with all the instrumentation blending into an almost effervescent coating. "The Arsonist" is another favorite. A sizzling, uptempo drum machine pump-pump-pumps underneath an excellent bassy guitar riff. Aside from multi-tracked vocals, that's the extent of the arrangement but, damn if it's not a potent combination. "Resume" cools it down a notch with a keyboard beat, round organ tones and slurred, spoken lyrics. "The Burial Song" is a great choice to close on. The most open sounding guitar on the tape appears, strummed gently with a really great (and a little bit eerie) keyboard melody leading the way.

All in all, this is a really cool tape. There are certainly some standouts but the more important quality to note is there are no duds. Froe Char has a great sound (I hesitate to make a comparison to Grouper or someone of that ilk since Froe Char seems to approach her music with a more energetic viewpoint) but most importantly there are some great ideas underneath the reverb. A promising voice in the blandscape of hushed, reverb-buried songwriters.

It looks like Free Loving Anarchists still has a few copies of the tape on sale for a fiver. Edition of 80 copies.

Sunflare - Sunflare [Cubic Pyramid]

2011-07-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

This raw debut tape by Sunflare on the up & coming Portuguese label Cubic Pyramid is two sides of fun. Earlier in the year, I reviewed another psych tape by dUAsSEMIcOLCHEIASiNVERTIDAS also on a young Portuguese label A Giant Fern, where the group experimented with different styles and instrumentation; that is not the case with Sunflare, the trio know exactly what competition they're participating in and they go for the gold.

You will be able to decide if you like the first side "On the Red" literally from the opening seconds. There are three elements: 1) relentless, swinging drums 2) a chunky, clutch bassline 3) a free-wheeling, wah-soaked six-string burning rubber all over the goddam place. That right there is all you need to know really. Not into that? No need to bother.

Sunflare goes at it with gusto which I really appreciate. Too many psych bands out there don't have enough balls for me. If I'm gonna listen to your 15 minute jam you had better not waste my fucking time.

The last couple minutes get really good when the dude with the ax really starts to shred and eventually just settles into slammin' out power chords before opening up for some more shredding. The rhythm section is rock solid to the core until they eventually call it quits as the tape runs out.

The second side is titled "Into the City (Night Vision)" and the name is fitting as its much chillier despite still being completely fuzz drenched. After the gutsy energy of the first side it's nice to transition into moodier territory. There's a healthy dose of reverb and whammy bar providing Twin Peaks-esque dark surf moves every so often. The rhythm section kicks in and the jam is in motion all of a sudden retaining the chiaroscuro lighting of the intro. The guitarist goes way off in his own world, leaving it to the bassist to navigate the track through it's various movements and eventually guide the ship home. The back half of the track mellows things out in a really effective manner, building tension before laying on some burned-out psych wreckage before pulling the plug.

The group has a raw knack for this kind of stuff and I think there's a lot of potential to be developed by the trio. They aren't afraid to get wild and really go for it, and that's a quality that can never be valued highly enough.

Cubic Pyramid has since released a 12" by Sunflare but this tape is still available it looks like and it comes with cool paper and vellum overlay artwork. Psych-heads take note

Che Chen - Che Chen [Pilgrim Talk]/Bridesmaid/Sunsplitter - Split [Bastard Sloth]

2011-07-26T06:54:00.000-07:00

I'm pairing up these two 7inches for review for two vague reasons. They both have ties to Illinois and their covers look vaguely similar and alien to me. Otherwise, I'm not sure these have anything else in common whatsoever other than their size.

I'd never heard of Che Chen before but record features a complex system of "violin, sine wave generators, feedback and tape delay" which definitely got me excited and I always expect Nick Hoffman's Pilgrim Talk label to offer something interesting. I like violin quite a bit and it's rare I get to hear it in a solo or semi-solo context such as this. The first side "Pulaski Wave (Violin Halo)" features a beautiful pairing of overdubbed violins. They teeter back and forth between drones, half melodies and skronky aggression. The sine wave generator provides a round, near-constant hum which, while subtle, fills out the lower end of the spectrum to complement the sharper violin notes. I think the oscillators are somehow rigged to interact with the violin, though that whole business flies way over my head. Overall, the side is really tastefully considered. The range of sounds available from a violin are employed while keeping within the mellow context dictated by the sine wave generator.

The second side "Newtown Creek Mirror Lag" features tape delay in addition. It's more melodic that it's predecessor without sacrificing any edge or interest in the less "pleasant" sounds violins have to offer. There's a jaunty beat created via the electronics manipulation of the violin. I'm reminded of Cajun violin when the player's feet are constantly tapping a rhythm along with his action on the strings. Here, with the help of tape in the form of delay and overdubbing Chen applies this principle in a more integrated fashion, where the rhythm is derived directing from the instrument its supporting.

This is a great little record and I'll have to be on the lookout for Chen's name now. The artwork is super-minimal but the record comes with awesome blue labels which feature detailed diagrams of the systems used for each track. My favorite detail, on the second side, is "Violin Tuning: ?"

This split from the Bastard Sloth label is a small slice of metal.

I've never heard of Bridesmaid before but it's a double bass and drums trio. Something that's kind of funny to me is the two bassists play exactly the same thing almost the entire track. I am guessing they have no pretensions about doing some kind of dueling bass thing, they're just trying to sound fucking heavy. Who can't get down with a band that wants to sound really heavy?

The band's totally in sync; since it's one big rhythm section the drums follow pretty closely to what the basses are doing. The first half of the track "Vilkin' it for All it's Worth" plays around with a heavy lurch & groove riff, with sort of an ebb and flow to the rhythm eventually transitioning to a tighter arrangement. The band kicks into the next gear in the second half of the track which I really dig. They launch into "pummel" mode, with a surprisingly melodic touch. There's not a lot to report, just that Bridesmaid is rollin' hard and heavy, riding the riff to the end groove. Not too shabby.

I have a full length Sunsplitter tape on Land of Decay that I still need to give the review treatment but the band's offering here is probably the best track I've heard from them. On "Plum Blossom" (a pretty metal title if I do say so myself) you notice instantly that instead of basses SS has two guitars. In fact neither band shares an instrument. It's almost like a 6-person metal band split in half and put out a 7 inch. The guitars duke it out with their own slo-mo riffs while the vocalist sings and delivers swathes of noise and loops. A. Dunn's vocals are a good match for this sort of thing, they are low and sort of lethargic (only word I can make out is "flower") and they exist inside the mix rather than on top of it. Minimal drum programming occasionally kicks into full-on double-bass drum mode but it's the guitars that do the heavy lifting here from every angle. They really hold down the rhythm, the melody and control the dynamics of the song. Sometimes content to pound away at a measured pace other times delivering twisty leads. All in all, it's a pretty badass track with a lot going for it. The more I listen, the bigger the fan I become.

I dig the vibe of these guys because they retain a certain "classic-ness" but they aren't afraid to tuck vocals into just a single section of a song, or use a drum machine or smear acrid coats of noise over their arrangements at times. Also props to Bridesmaid for doing their own thing as well. And there's no cookie monster vox on either side; I'm in metal heaven.

Both records are available from their respective labels. The Bridesmaid/Sunsplitter record is also available in gold which is pretty sweet. Pilgrim Talk put out the Che Chen record in an uncharacteristically large edition of 300 so you can definitely get your hands on a copy and grab the deeply strange Psychophagi LP while you're at it.

Remnants - Vision Being [Imminent Frequencies]

2011-07-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

Got a lovely-looking noise tape from Remnants to discuss from the Imminent Frequencies label. I dig the whole visual vibe of this thing; top notch inspiration, design and execution.

This is the only release I've heard from Remnants but based on the sounds on display here, it's a quite a fitting name. The feel of the tape is noisy but at a distance. Either it was recorded in a large space or more likely there are a few reverb pedals in the effects chain. Short, constant delay drives the side as waves of feedback ebb, flow and crash. Apparently, the only sound sources on the tape were a pair of contact mics. The aim of the tape is interesting because despite the basis in noise electronics it's also trying for some of that resonant temple drone feel (that goal is confirmed by the artwork.)

The first side is a good deal stronger than the second. It begins with copious amounts of decayed, blurry feedback, but a little ways in the piece settles into a deeper, darker place. The feedback crust is wiped away somewhat, and vocals and other noises are able to come through. Vocals create a nice melody sounding almost like an incredibly bassy pipe organ. I'm definitely feeling this section of the tape; it sounds much richer and infinitely more expansive. The tape begins to rupture towards the end; stuttering, crackling in danger of getting torn from the face of the earth.

I think in seem some ways all the reverb does a disservice to the second side because it smooths out the dynamics so much. You can do a lot of interesting things with contact mics but all the sounds get kind of flattened out here. Furthermore, the first side doesn't really have much of an arc to me. A side doesn't have to have an arc necessarily but on the other hand it doesn't really hit that deep drone sweet spot either.

Imminent Frequencies has been trucking along quite well it seems dropping tapes from the likes of famous "C" names: C. Spencer Yeh, Chapels and an upcoming one from Collapsed Arc that should be good. Based on the high-quality production value and the variety of sounds emanating from it, IF could be a label to watch.

Joe Kile - So Many Nights [Unread]

2011-07-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

It's not too often I end up with a tape like Joe Kile's in hand. I mean the cassette world of raging noise, euphoric tones, grimey rock & roll, 70s analog synth revivalists, wingnut instrument abusers etc. is awesome and I love all those sounds. But you know what? Sometimes there's nothing better than popping in a tape of sweetly classic folk tunes.

I mean there's not really an angle to take on Joe Kile. He's not a certified outsider weirdo, or at least his music doesn't give me that impression. He doesn't bury his songs in lo-fidelity scuzz or howl demented lyrics. He just writes some good songs.

Released on Baltimore's Unread label, Kile crams 20 tracks onto a c32. The lead off "title track" features a far away thump-crash rhythm and the occasional six string embellishment. Proving to be a defining characteristic throughout the album, Kile's voice and its gentle twang is the center of the action with perfect, subtle accompaniment from the instrumentation. "Feeling So Tired" has a nice organ procession as a weary Kile hums "I'm so tired of feeling so tired." "Heat of Misery" is absolutely my favorite. It's one of the most "country" tunes and it's quite an elegant, understated ballad about the death of a relationship. Kile is at his best lyrically, speaking as an omniscient narrator delivering poetic commentary and even manages to squeeze a guitar and banjo solo in there too. The gently warbling organ of "Feeling So Tired" appears on "I Heard it When You Called Me" but the whole thing cut offs after a half minute. "Living on Mars" changes things up considerably with a super crunchy electric guitar that practically drowns out Kile's voice.

Kile cuts through the next bunch of tracks quickly. "Balloon" is brief and nearly an a capella. "Firey Red" in addition to a dirty guitar, muffles Kile's drawl in fuzz. "Glass Bulb" is one of the bigger head turners as all of a sudden you're dropped into a crispy disco beat louder than both the guitar and voice. Just as quickly you're yanked out for "You n' Me" a plaintive ballad about "doin' some honkin' tonkin' just like old times" which features quite a pretty piano/organ arrangement in the outro. The instrumental "Bad Time" is an odd guitar/organ pastiche and closes the side.
The second side opens with "Bend and Peel" which is an a.m. radio pop tune basically. Jaunty strums, jaunty drum machine and even jauntier organ stabs make for an incredibly buoyant pick-me-up that contrasts well with Kile's typical mellow, wearied style. One of the finer tunes on the tape. A dose of warbly strings make their presence known on the brief "Takin' Off". "Southern Heat" ought to be climbing the charts with its timely topic; "You can't beat Southern heat" is a refrain many would agree with. "North Brook" features a searing little riff which Kile cools down with his soft coo. "Old Tom" vacillates between fragmented strings and becoming a rising stomper. The closer, "Sometimes All the Words Come Out Wrong" is another good one. It's one of the more layered arrangements on the tape with multiple guitars and organ cascading and subsiding, and it's all the better for it.

The criticism I have to level at So Many Nights, is it's put together pretty roughly and cramming so many songs into a short amount of time causes some to bleed together. Maybe that's the idea, bleeding together like memories from so many nights. Either way, a significant amount of songs don't hit (or barely hit) the minute mark so quite a few feel underdeveloped. There's certainly a gap between the best, most developed songs and less developed ones. The fact that songs are often cut off a tad prematurely due to the dubbing causes things to be a occasionally jarring as well. Those points said, they are small complaints. I am glad I have this tape and have been introduced to Kile's work, perhaps he's the sort that puts out more polished records and then scrappy, rough-hewn tapes like this.
It's hard to pinpoint a good reference point because Kile's style is so classic and steeped in tradition; he sounds like everyone, in a good way. I'm thinking his music is maybe a little like Pumice but thoroughly inspired by Americana? I may just be reaching for a comparison there but Kile is a voice worth hearing if you like classic Western song forms on cassette. Unread seems to be quite a neat little label as well. Check 'em both out!

Clay Man in the Well - Kupe's Sail [Peasant Magik]

2011-07-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

This warbly, hissing mess is one Antony Milton's latest works, and amongst his finest.

The first of many untitled racks is a highlight with it's backwards noises, unintelligible vocals, and a killer guitar/drums combo that drops in in the second half. Milton follows that up with some loose guitarin' , augmented by shards of feedback and melted organ tones. It's a really great track that has revealed itself more on repeated listens. Changing gears, the third track spotlights a couple of layers of organ (AM dropped a whole record of chord organ so you know he's into the instrument.)

One of the best things about the tape is that its looseness is a defining factor and strength. Milton makes the listener feel at home in his musical wanderings, the steady stream of new approaches is never jarring. The fourth piece for instance features a sizable build-up. In fact, almost the entire track is a build-up, basically a journey-not-the-destination sort of thing. Milton does change directions though, delivering a fantastic resolution without resorting to providing answers. The piece is a gorgeous little number with a fractured, faraway melody. There's a warmth certainly , but with forlorn trappings. I imagine it soundtracking a vacated farmhouse, the emptiness consequent of tragedy. Really just utterly gorgeous. Milton provides soft vocals but wisely leaves the focus on the central melody allowing his voice to fade into the track's ether. The final piece works in AM radio trance mode. It almost sounds like Milton's version of "Dream On" but I think he's just borrowing the phrase. It turns out to be a rather epic jam with a nice organ-led coda following it up.

The second side opens with a fragile little folksy tune. Wispy voice, intertwined guitar and piano lines and footsteps keeping time. What begins as fragile feels convicted by its end. Nice work. The track that follows is a weird one. Plinking piano keys are featured upfront as Milton delivers speedy, rather incomprehensible spoken word. A lot of feedback and scuzz takes over, rumbling along on a deep bit of drumming. Hot string bends fall all over each other as Milton whips out ragged riff after riff. Milton's brief vocals are barely detectable under the racket but I really like that they make it in, you get a true sense of how heavy the din is. The next piece is quite nice. An unwound, just out-of-tune ballad of guitar, voice, field recordings and a sawed violin. The mellow vibes perfectly follow up the previous wreckage. Slipping into something a little more warbly, multi-tracked acoustic arpeggios vie for control over manipulated field recordings until a new guitar takes the lead with a stomper. Some violin shreddin' and a great vocal melody from AM bring the track home. One his best quieter tunes on the tape. A shiny, ramshackle folk thing is stretched out with soft, bowed drones and organ tones and various guitar melodies making for a fantastic send off. The second side doesn't offer as many high points but it's still incredibly consistent throughout.

The tape is a really cool little journey but seems to have flown under the radar a bit. It's got that rustic, cassette-coated guitar wanderer vibe of Ignatz records but with a penchant for noise rock. Not a bad combo in the least, give this thing a look.

[GUEST REVIEW] Camis - Cats Kils [No Label]

2011-06-14T19:37:00.000-07:00

This is the first of its kind, a guest review on Auxiliary Out, written by Arvo Zylo. Enjoy!

Cammisa Forrest seems to have an affinity for spray paint. When I saw the band that she was in, Miami Beach, who apparently reunited for a performance at Chicago's Neon Marshmallow Fest in August 2010, she was running around gleefully behind some kind of barricade made of plastic wrap in front of the stage, coating the translucent sheen with a fog of different colored spray paint. The flimsy cellophane wall fell down, and she flailed around with it like some kind of glue sniffing fairy lady, while Matt Kimmel babbled, chanted, coughed, and hacked into a heavily delayed swatch of effects. Everybody in the room probably left with a headache or a “contact high” (if that is appropriate for fumes), and I'm not sure if I liked it or if I was just light-headed. In person, Cammisa is definitely mellow and peaceable, certainly a free spirit if there ever was one, which is still refreshing to me even in the art/noise/experimental scene. There was a discussion between Dominick Dufner (Sigulda), myself, and her, which led to trades. With no surprise, what I bartered for was packaged in thick paper sewn together, covered in gold spray paint, with a CDR also spray painted (caked with spray paint). Apparently it was limited to 20 copies and thrown together in honor of the fest.
Cammisa or Camis, which seems to be the official artist name, is definitely young, but just how young I don't know. Either way, the CDr Cats Kils to me is an excellent piece of work, not that it boasts expensive vintage synthesizers, has any studied techniques, or worships any particular necrophile genre, it doesn't even hold much of an affiliation to the concept of “outsider music”. What does it for me in a lot of cases is when a person's personality is shown in what I would consider a pure form, and when someone creates a world that I can visualize, I haven't caught on to that as succinctly as I did with Cats Kils in a long time. In this case, there are layers of lo-fi drones, simple toy keyboard phrases, lots of reversed vocals, and (dare I say) charmingly half-baked acoustic bedroom songs. At one point, there is someone novicing at a piano and in the background, birds whistle, people walk around, Camissa continues to play while occasionally making talk with a barking/growling dog. Later on, something that sounds like a plodding reverse accordion tap weaves around sparsely with distant spaced out wa wa wa singing, acoustic guitar and maybe a ukulele, a squeak doll, and some kind of plastic percussion instrument, and this track goes absolutely nowhere, which is good for an ending. At other points it sounds like layers of Soundgarden and Fionna Apple in reverse, and ultimately, what drives it home is where Cammisa is sort of meandering with her voice reverbed out over a sitar loop, when someone apparently comes in during the recording and says stuff like “you said you were going to go to clean your room 4 hours ago, you said you were going to go to sleep one hour ago, I need you to quiet down, I can't sleep through these pornophonics” etc. It sounds more like a roommate than a parent and either way, the chant defiantly keeps going.
I can't help but to imagine a person (not necessarily Cammisa) sitting anxiously in front of a television or at a dinner table during autumn, after getting back from school, annoyed that the sun is going down earlier and earlier, unsure of their identity, unsure of their future, and feeling a sort of optimism that comes with so many options; a desire to have more horizons coupled with the feeling of being trapped, the absolute refusal to accept some dreadful idea of hatching into a real grown up who packs their lunch and hurries through futile, clotted traffic over and over. I see a person unintentionally disregarding consensus reality in baby steps, a willful naivete, an insular yet familiar chaos coupled with a peaceful disruption that irks people who can't let loose, and an unwillingness to commit to anything but the moment. This little disc comes off as not particularly rebellious, not deliberately contrary per se, yet both abstruse and autonomous, and refreshing in how effectively peculiar it is.
I don't really know Cammisa, she could be an accountant for all I know, and I don't intend to project these ideas as her motivations for the release; I'm sure they were different, but either way Cats Kils was an unexpected surprise. It's hard to explain, I feel strange because I'm confident that this is something that is not simply a fleeting point of interest in my personal history as a listener, but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to return to this thing in 5 years, regardless of my personal sound palette is at this time, although only time will tell if the spray paint hasn't eroded the disc by then!

Charlie McAlister - Country Creme/Victorian Fog [Feeding Tube]

2011-06-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

Last year Feeding Tube records out in Massachusetts dropped what was unequivocally the best, most essential reissue/archival release of the year, and maybe even the best release of 2010 period. That record is Pimania. I cannot stress strongly enough how essential that record is, the less you know the better, but it is worth every penny.

Feeding Tube is not folk that like to waste time so on 1/1/11 (as you can see this review is quite tardy, sorry!) they entered this year's competitor for best archival release and it once again has blown me clean away.

Charlie McAlister was a mysterious figure I'd heard a lot about yet never actually heard. I have a friend who put out tapes by him in the 90s from whom I've heard a few stories and I've read plenty of web-ink on the guy as well. When I first heard this record I was not disappointed in the least, in fact I instantly understood why people talk so much about him. His songwriting is immediately compelling; it's at once pleasantly classic and ardently strange.

The recordings on this Country Creme/Victorian Fog LP were recorded between 1998 and 1999 but they seem to feel older like a rustic old curio no one knows about but you. All of the tape warble and manipulation certainly situates the music within a certain era, but the sound McAlister conjures transcends any era and it ultimately sounds timeless. Steeped in hissy, fizzy, buzzy fidelity, his nimble arrangements, generally consisting of acoustic guitar and voice plus a melody by a violin or harmonica or additional banjo plucks, are skuffed up revealing the diamond-hard hooks at the center of his songs. But for what most would probably categorize as a folk record, this thing is noisy. Kevin Taylor is credited with "noise machine" in the outro of "Depths of Confusion" and "Desperate Plea" features a feedback-ridden harmonica and various tape snags throughout. McAllister occasionally drops into demented passages of found tape samples, which get their own track in the form of "Fried Sandwich Play" which, I'll be honest, I skip sometimes when I'm not in the mood for such befuddlement. It's inclusion is enlightening, showing an example of the range of McAllister's work but it's somewhat ill-fitting in the context of this particular record.

McAlister is quite a spectacular lyricist as well. Kicking off with "I am Staying Here" McAlister delivers a timeless phrase I'm sure many can relate to: "Because of my friends and the beer/I am staying here." "Vision/Rage/Irish Girl" sounds like McAlister might even be making up the story as he goes over jaunty guitar and seething tin can clatter.

"Fake Country Music" is a weirdly lucid self-reflection on McAlister's music:

"Fake country music is what I like to play/Fake country music, okay/I'm playing the fiddle with a rusty key/I make country music for you and me/I'm shrieking and screaming and knocking down the walls/I'm the hideous creature in the [Fall? fog?]"

McAllister delivers a killer fiddle solo/skree to finish it off.

There's a ton of classic shit on Country Creme but the Victorian Fog side is even stronger. Starting with what is now gonna be my go-to when college football comes back in September, "Hair/Wind/Football." McAlister paints a picture of the school band playing in a fog while the players play a rough game of football over a jaunty rhythm while laying into waxy violin drones. It's a modest, mellow intro which belies the intensity of its subject matter. The instrumental "March #16" is paired perfectly with it, lead by an enterprising young glockenspiel. From there McAlister ambles down to the "Plantation of Pain," McAlister's response to confederate songs. It's another entirely infectious little ditty--McAlister is just unstoppable on this record.

The absolute pinnacle of the LP (and one of the greatest songs I've come across in a while) is "Bog Man." First of all, it's about a bog man, which I am fortunate to have seen two of in Dublin, so that's pretty badass to me. Furthermore though, McAlister re-envisions the bog man as a 1930s Universal monster movie. A man's body is thrown in a bog and 10,000 years later he is discovered, put on display and comes back to life, wreaking havoc on the townspeople in the process. In my eyes, this is quintessential McAlister; he's never better lyrically or as a songwriter and arranger on the record. I really could gush for pages and pages about this single song and at the end of the day my words would be woefully inadequate in expressing the magic of this tune; so I'll spare you on the condition that you buy this record or do whatever you have to experience the song for yourself.

Following is a wild and untitled instrumental, full of militant snare drum, tangled webs of chimes and whirring organ-tape-machine-whathaveyou--my guess is this is the "parade." Probably my second favorite song on the record is "After the Parade" as it features McAlister's most affecting vocal delivery. The gentle quiver in his voice is strangely gripping and imbues his portrait of the carcass of a parade with a strangely undefinable sensation. How do we take his couplet "It's time to go for a ride/I can't remember what we did last night"? Is it nostalgia? Is it panic? Something else entirely? Ultimately, the song closes with McAlister sawing out his most lovely melody on his fiddle. The song is so brief yet it features so much depth and rich ambiguity.

"Sinking Ship" details just that. Though McAlister's account of such terrors is met with an upbeat cyclical melody. "Song X" is another instrumental from a similar cloth of the prior instrumentals on the side.

A spate of short songs conclude the record. "Go to Hell" matches a whimsical chiming melody with garbled tape manipulation and feisty lyrics, "Pale Light" plonks along on a detuned six-string and squealing slide guitar lead and "The Big 'Parade'" oddly enough details society circa-World War 1 .

Reaching for some kind of phrase to capture the feel of this record, I'd offer up "This is old timey music for the weirdo underground." But really it's much more than that. What you need to know is this: Charlie McAlister's voice, as an artist not just a singer, is honest and inimitable. Whether you ultimately like his music or not, McAlister is someone you must hear for yourself and Feeding Tube, having done a beautiful job curating this LP, has done all the legwork for you. All you need to do is listen.

Dead Neanderthals - The V-Shaped Position [No Label]

2011-06-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

The Dutch duo Dead Neanderthals are back with another 3" disc of destruction. Their last was some intense grindcore jazzin' and they are back with more effects on the sax, more reverb on the drums, a few slower tempos and some probably even faster if you can believe it.

"Asterisk" sets the tone of relentless grindcore drumming and distorted baritone sax. Dude can wail like a banshee, dude can smack the skins like a bastard. The 35 second "The Bleaching" one-ups the previous track in intensity. "Drinking Mercury" develops itself past the minute mark with clattering drumming and boisterous sax. Parts of it actually sound like it could be covering another "Dead" band, the Kennedys that is. It sounds like fierce loopy punk transcribed for sax and drums. Out of nowhere a heavily effected sax dirge takes over "Hemisphere" providing a bit of a breather between the two assaults bookending the piece. "Rabbit" similarly, slows things down in the back half with a cymbal wash outro. "Rotten Teeth/Tooth Decay" despite a brief almost 8-bit sounding NES-soundtrack breakdown, brings the raw and nasty stuff. As does the shortest track on the disc, "Speed of the Cobra."

The default epic at 5 and a half minutes, nearly half the album's runtime, the title track builds tension with a long intro of measured, pounding drums and looped sax drones. When the duo finally reveals their cards halfway through there's a legit melody (surprise!) Though the melody is quite tense and spectacular, the Neanderthals don't rest on such laurels. They slide into a long (in their world) breakdown/sax solo before coming to a halt. With less than 90 seconds to go, they pounce back with a fury, delivering inescapable, Wasteland Jazz Unit-levels of carnage. Yee-ikes!

The disc comes with a sticker and a mini-poster of a gynecological illustration, not sure if that was necessary. You can get the disc from the crew directly.

Toning - Pitch the Drone [Stunned]

2011-05-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Pitch the Drone is a recent tape by Portlander Cody Brant a.k.a. Toning, issued earlier in the year on the inimitable Stunned label.

All I really know about Brant is that he's been involved with Smegma; to what degree, I'm not sure. His solo project Toning speaks on its own terms though.

Considering I'm a big cinema person, I love that Brant lists the soundmakers on the recording "in order of appearance." He's joined by the colorful cast of characters of Kelsey McCurdy, Blaze Freely, Dunja Jankovic, Shaela, Josie and Ocean; no more info is given other than the names which is characteristic of the mysterious sounds that emanate from the from the cassette.

Running through 9 tracks in a half hour, "Melt" brings the tape to life. A gently swelling synth loop is matched with a few layers of sine waves and crackle. An uneven drum loop adds a (ar)rhythmic element making for a pleasantly mellow intro. "New Life, Dead End" lines up what sounds like percussive, muted guitar strings over a guttural drone loop and a hazy vocal-esque keyboard loop. Slowly I realize there's a rhythmic stomp behind it and then, boom, whisked away to a strangely abstract and awesome approximation of tribal music. Looped hand drum, odd jangling, a bevy of odd slurping, chirping swooping oscillations and loops. Killer! There's a ton of complexity if you want to pick it apart or you can just shut up and groove. A fast-paced bass and bells loop pushes along underneath an unintelligible looped vocal part on "There's No Hiding," changing up but continuing the high groove quotient. "Scuffed Lips" slows things way down with a devoutly mid-tempo drum machine. Usurped by some kind of looped reverse bass and effected guitar loop, the track doesn't gel quite as well as the others but it's no chore to sit through either. "Something Simple" is anything but. Thick, wet, drippy synth is slathered all over the piece seeping into all the little cracks left between the polyrhythmic loop cluster eventually vacating, letting a single looped vocal part conclude the side.

"As You" is real thick and goopy with a drum machine trudging through the swamp of molasses keyboards and creepy children's coos. A totally trippy, slo-mo dirge. Adequately named considering it's the longest journey of the cassette, "Secret Trip" drops some filtered feedback for the opening 30, slowly augmenting it until its almost a drone piece. A sloooow bass throb rolls underneath the scratchy upper crust eventually unveiling an abstract, groovy little techno beat. Mix in the horn breaks, sprinkle some wind chimes on top and the recipe's complete. Well, not nearly, Brant shifts things up with a killer sub-bass loop that catches my attention immediately. Brant rightly lets it rule the rest of the track adding shards of static and oscillations around the edges and slowly letting them blanket over. A definite favorite is "Good Going" which features a great 4-note keyboard loop, some barely present acoustic six-string noodling and slowly forming layers of static. It doesn't move beyond that yet it's one of the most memorable numbers on the tape. "Patient Returns" closes things up with some prickly chimes and pitch bends until Brant flips the script and drops the best, most mellow and catchy segment of the tape. Damn, I wish it lasted longer than 30 seconds! Yr killin' me Cody!

The tape is a must for anyone into dense, loop-based miniatures, and seriously who isn't into that? Toning's definitely one of the most promising new projects I've come across recently. Looking forward to hearing more from this guy.

Long gone from Stunned so hit the distros!

Family Underground - Demon Parade [DNT]

2011-05-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

I feel like it's been a while since Danish drone hounds Family Underground dropped a record and considering Demon Parade is one of their best, I'm wondering if they've been holding out on us. What other sounds do they have locked up in the vault?

"Son of the Morning" features what I consider to be the classic Fam Underground sound. Jagged electronic drones, agitation situated within stagnation and slow-motion. Some tones stay static, serrating at an even pace while another tone is gradually jostled back and forth between pitches. There's a dose of unintelligible vocal muck in the midst of it all. You know I've been thinking it was vocals but it may be a horn of some sort, really can't say. The more I listen, the less I know. A strange, plink-plonk melody emerges barely towards the end of the track lending a rigid, rhythmic sway. This track should keep all the fans satisfied but it's the following tracks that I found the most interesting. "The Spectral Janitor" (killer title by the way) is heavy on the violin drones which I am all about. The Family keeps the piece in the pocket, not too abrasive but not too smooth or pretty either. With strange permutations from each sound source occurring throughout, the piece evolves very subtly, with an array of sounds constantly shifting within a certain framework. Nice work.

The second side is two tracks merged as one, "Singly Lost, Eternally Gained Part One and Two." Dark as hell, the thing rolls to a start with a bowed drone, a barren bass pound every 10 seconds and what sounds like a noisy recording of a boxcar. Gradually the plot thickens, more sounds enter and the affair gets noisier but no less bleak. When "Part One" reaches its breaking point and shuffles off into darkness, "Part Two" appears with a slightly more optimistic tone. Whaaa? Are these guys actually going to end on an upbeat note? The distorted oscillations are still present but so is a chiming keyboard part, synth squelch and even some vague axe moves. I'll take it. That's not as surprising as what happens next. Out of the cacophony comes a totally bizarre groove. Like Excepter doing trip hop, maybe? A little? I don't know man, cause it isn't some accidental thing. There's a bass line, a heavily effected percussion track and then a totally sloshed voice comes into focus. Yes, this has happened. Family Underground have made a disco record. Fuck. Yes. Please excuse me while I board this soul train and ride it to the end of the groove. All aboard!

Considering the past couple Family Underground LPs and that Attestupa record, DNT is really holding it down when it comes to dark-ass Scandinavian sounds. Keep 'em comin'. Demon Parade may even be the best of 'em though it's hard to turn down the plague-ridden rage of that Attestupa record.

Sparse and ambiguously great artwork from DNT completes the package. Check this bastard out.

Trent Fox & the Tenants - Mess Around EP [Kind Turkey]/Two Tears - Eat People [Kind Turkey]

2011-05-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

As promised I'm venturing on through my stack of 7inches. Wisconsin label Kind Turkey sent it's two most recent releases by Trent Fox & the Tenants and Two Tears. That's a lot of Ts.

This Trent Fox & the Tenants record is pure fun. Nothing you haven't heard before most likely but as I said, pure fun, which goes a long way in my ears. The title track is a slightly ska-infused jaunt, which plays it pretty cool with "yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" backing vocals on the chorus. "Outta My Mind" mines the same 50s/60s pop touchstones that Nobunny has been doing so successfully. The Tenants make a good show of it too. Once again some killer backing vocals on the chorus and just the right amount of jangle is dialed in. "Jokes" has a touch of twang despite being the most jaggedly fierce song on the record. It features a pretty bitchin' bridge too as well as a shuffling breakdown.

The first side is totally solid but the flip garners the most plays on my table. "Old Lady" takes its foot off the gas a little before dropping a tried and true, bombastic minor key chorus. Always a classic (and welcome) move. The rolling bassline is ace, the backup vox are on point once again. It's pretty archetypal but they nail it and considering how many people fuck this kind of thing up, I appreciate when someone does pop right. Cause pop is fuckin' hard. "Sounds Fine to Me" will speak to anyone of you who likes records and liquor. "I sit at home with my records on/I sit at home and play my favorite song/Maybe I'll go to the local bar, the one right down the street/Maybe I'll go to the local bar and see what people I meet" goes one verse. It's a punchy little number that will cut right to the core of anyone who likes to sit on the porch and have a drink. My most spun track for sure.

Cool record, sure to garner plenty of spins by anyone who has a pulse. Although, one word of advice, dudes, drop the "Trent Fox" and just go with The Tenants.

Two Tears is Kerry Davis (formerly of Red Aunts and The Screws) and she delivers three minimal post-punk tunes. The lead-off title-track has a quite a bluesy stomp. Davis writes really sparse, skeletal arrangements. Totally unadorned, no frills but with swagger to spare. "I want a man/With nothing wrong" is her lead-off line and she maintains the assertive tone through the whole record. FYI, she wants a man "who's kinda big and kinda tall" not because of love or lovin' or anything stupid like that. It's because she wants to eat him.

"Heisse Hexe" is a pop-addled brain controlling a a punk body. Despite Davis's snotty sneer and the aggressive guitarwork on the bridge, the track is total ear candy. I dare you to walk away not repeating "Heisse! Hexe! In love" or whatever it is she's singing.

Once again, I think the B-side probably garners the most plays from me. "Senso Unico" slows things way down. There are no collaborators listed for this track so I am gonna guess this is all Davis. There are four elements in the track: tambourine hits, tremolo'd guitar, a synth providing killer counter melodies and Davis's voice which alternately wails on lines like "I hate my life!" and pouts on lines like"Sen-so ooh-nee-co." The track rules. Davis cuts down everything to its bare essentials so each element has something vital to contribute. It's an unlikely number to get stuck in my head but, man, it does. By the way, it sounds killer at 33rpm too (bonus!)

I don't know what you call this kind of stuff. Post-riot grrl or something lame like that? Whatever, it doesn't need a label. It's raw, it's minimal, it's catchy. What other boxes need she check?

This is a nice pair of 7inches from Kind Turkey and considering I'd never heard of either of these artists, props to them for enlightening me. Labels always get big points when they introduce me to someone new. They are both available from Kind Turkey.

Dave Smolen/hair_loss - Split [_bruxist/Injections Limited]

2011-05-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

Yeah baby, this split LP is a hearty slab of Philly electro-noise. Dave Smolen, governor of Malleable Records, takes the A and hair_loss (no caps when you spell the man's name,) also a perpetrator of sonic terror in noise-rock duo Snowstorm, takes the flip.

From the outset I will say this record looks awesome; clear, green, thick and Joe Lentini did one hell of a job mastering this son of a bitch. It sounds killer. Smolen starts ravin' from the word go. "Bionisensitivity" bumps hard underneath a looped guitar or keyboard melody. From there he layers on copious amounts of cut-up freak noise over the steady stomp. Actually it's not a stretch whatsoever to spin this at a club. Smolen always keeps things pumpin' even when he's throwing curves. The track has a lengthy deceleration process. Like that slasher that refuses to die, you think the sucker's on the ropes but it somehow gathers enough energy to come at you again. When Smolen does pull the plug it's in favor of the icy stabs of "Stitchglide." After lulling you into a trance, Smolen rips the thing wide open with a machine-gun marching drum machine and squelching synth-bass. Nice. Smolen manages quite a tightrope act here, balancing fierce throbs and chilled out keyboard bleeps and coos. Don't ask me how but he pulls it off; he just does. "Manual Control (III)" concludes his side. It seems a good deal shorter than the previous tracks and is focused much more on percussive sounds. It amounts more or less to a thumping drum machine solo over a filtered synth-loop. My least favorite piece on the side but I'm a melody guy so that figures.

I like the choice in sequencing for this LP, Smolen takes you to the club (a forward-thinking club, granted) and then hair_loss burns the fuckin' thing to the ground. "Eyes up to the Glass Bottom" throws all sorts of sounds at you but not too intensely, it doesn't want to scare you away, it's chill, it ain't gonna freak on you... not. Mr. _loss gives you a taste of whats to come with an explosive jump into highly groovin' but still midtempo territory. "Hair Dryer Funk" though, dang homie, that track is slammin'. Uppin' the ante with a super punchy and fuzzy bassline and then goin' all in with a stuttering percusssssive loop, the track's like a minute long but it will get you movin' in no time. hair_loss's work is so frenetic with sounds accosting you from every angle, it's pretty bizarre that it manages to still feel like a club record. "Borrowing Sugar" is a good example of this, sounds sourced from who knows where originally all throwdown in this abstract lockstep. Totally complex, totally weird and totally bangin'. Despite getting thrown off course a time or two they find their way back home into the enchanted forest of beats. "Window Over Yellow" throws a big curve, with nothing but a looped drone to start out on. A clicking drum track crops up at one point and gets it's filter settings molested. Playing 'em close to the chest, it's not clear until later just where the track is headed, which oddly enough is the mellow place it started at. Mr. Smolen gets in on the action for the final track titled simply "B." It crashes to a start with bursts of noise shredding up every potential shot at a beat. A super messy dancefloor smasher finally pulls itself together and things go off. Fuck splits these guy gotta do a whole record together! You hear both brains in play here, hair_loss in all his zany, sound-crazed glory and Smolen comin' through with the strong, much-enjoyed, ass-shaking groove underneath. Hell of a closer.

If you're into Philly's unique form of noise, this is a no-brainer. If your unfamiliar with said noise, well here's your shot to get two of the sharpest minds in the game on one slab of wax.

Limited to only 100 copies (yikes!) and at 12 bucks postpaid I doubt there's many left. You can get the record here but there's also mp3s of the record available on Amazon released through Injections Limited if you don't have a turntable (though what a sad life that would be...)

dUAsSEMIcOLCHEIASiNVERTIDAS - SADITREVNiSAIEHCLOcIMEsSAUd [A Giant Fern]

2011-05-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

Armed with perhaps the most unwieldy band name I've ever encountered, Portuguese psych unit dUAsSEMIcOLCHEIASiNVERTIDAS (which I gather from minutes of internet research translates roughly to "tWOHALFiNVERTEDeIGHTHNOTES") drop a burner of a c30 housed in a plywood box thanks to enterprising labelhead Carlos Costa of brand new imprint A Giant Fern.
The first jam, "Amnesia," teases a little bit with scattered notes here and there and no real form. You can sense something is coming though. Fragments of riffs are leaked out, a rhythm section slowly take shape amidst oscillations. Then all of a sudden, it smacks you in the face, the moment you've been waiting for. A killlller 3-note bass riff hits real smooth. Now that I'm expecting the band to blow the jam wide open they opt to end it (what's the deal?) I might be a little miffed but they get back to it on "Anagrama" which sounds much cleaner with another relentess 3-note riff tripled on bass, organ and guitar. A saxophone wails away as the rest of the band veers back and forth between mellow vibes and aggressive buzzsaw modifications to the main riff. If The Jesus Lizard was a psych band, you'd probably get something like this. Sweet. Finishing out the side with much chiller vibes is "Apneia." Bouncing from "Anagrama" to this track is like seeing these guys play at a basement punk show and then at some mellow late-night club. Previous track gets you up on your feet and this gently pushes you back into your seat.
The album's default epic, "13:13," on the second side, is pretty sparse and definitely free at first. Each member drops their own strange sounds. So suddenly that it almost seems like an accident, all the stars align and the band is grooving as one. Ever so slowly they build to a cascading peak before exploding into this weird disco/jazz/psych hybrid. That's one of the most striking qualities of the band, that they bring so many different influences in comfortably under the psych umbrella. Noisy art-rock, disco/funk, improv, a little dub, a touch of hip hop and a hefty dose of jazz. These guys sound like they love playing; even in the moments where they're "cooling off" you can feel the adrenaline still pulsing through them and the sweat pouring from their collective brow. "13:13" is like an unkillable beast, it may back off temporarily but that's only because it's prepping to come back at you even more fiercely. By the end of the jam, the band is so turned around they finish the tape with "Intro" which is just like it sounds. Heavy chiming, gentle guitar and synth mangling, you get the idea.
The tape is a lot of fun. It plays more like a collection of various jams than an album, but that's pretty characteristic of the psych-jammin' genre in my experience. The band has a lot of raw energy, a sense of adventure and a weird-ass name (at least to those not from the Mediterranean) how can they lose?
Getting back to the coolest thing about this release, the tape comes housed in a plywood box, cut and nailed together in a super-professional manner. There's a perfect circle cut in the front to let your choice of two picture cards show through and then on the back "AGF1" is etched mechanically on the back in big capital letters. Amazing little package! The label's called "A Giant Fern" how can it not rule as well??
The Fern edition, that is the plywood box version, is limited to 45 but there's also the fantastically titled Kayak Tour edition that comes in a jewel case limited to 105. I recommend the box but it'd be pretty badass to have the "Kayak Tour" edition of anything.
Hit up the label if you are interested.

Grasshopper - Calling All Creeps [Prison Tatt]/Grasshopper & Wether - Delaware Dreamin [Baked Tapes]/Grasshopper - Classic Jazz Moods [Pizza Night]

2011-05-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Man, I have been needing to take some time to reflect on one of the absolute greatest bands going today. The duo of Jesse DeRosa and Josh Millrod have been blowing craters in the earth's crust for some time now with their apocalyptic trumpet/electronics rippage. Two trumpets, two pairs of hands and one highly evolved super-brain--Grasshopper lays waste to just about every other band currently making music. I know I wouldn't want to follow them on a bill.
Every release they dropped last year was top notch but I have picked three of the most interesting, their vinyl debut, their most "classical" cassette yet and their stellar collabo with Wether. Time to dive in.
Calling All Creeps (yes! title rules,) also, the debut release of an enterprising young label Prison Tatt. Built on a synth-y, swelling two-note loop, the piece is overcome by electric cricket chirping and velvety blankets of noise as Millrod and DeRosa start shoveling in the dirt to your early grave. Through the mountainous peaks of sound, a beautiful unadorned trumpet solo barely peeks out. It is an intense moment. Heavy, oppressive throbs of electronics try to get squelch out the trumpet, but someone's lungs keep providing air before inevitably collapsing. It feels like the electronics have won, the track pulses harder, the sound spectrum grows ever nastier and then, shit, the trumpet is back. Maybe a little wounded, but the fucker ain't giving up which is all that counts. Through all the lurch and crunch, the regal horn seems to gain the upper hand, fending of massive electric squalls. The two forces lock horns, grinding each other to a pulp. After the carnage, both sides are obliterated but the lone trumpet staggers forth with a prayer for its fallen comrades. But does the ambiguous mechanical exhalation just before the runoff groove signal the death of the machines or an inevitable rise to power once again? These guys always end with a cliffhanger.
Better move your ass Hollywood, snap up the rights to Calling All Creeps: Story of an Underdog while you still can; it's a surefire winner!
I'm probably being too reductive trying to fit this record into a post-apocalyptic narrative but I can't really help it. This record rips so hard that it really makes me want to go out and battle some motherfuckers.
The only bad thing I have to say about Calling All Creeps is that it's one-sided. Though I hear that the Hoppers are prepping a proper two-sider for release this year. Hallelujah!
To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this Wether/Grasshopper collaboration. Both artists rule on on their own but sometimes collabs can be less than the sum of their parts. Holy shit were my reservations stupid. Delaware Dreamin on De Rosa's Baked Tapes imprint is some of the best work either party has done. Period. Mike Haley plugs right into DeRosa's and Millrod's super-brain and the trio delivers twenty minutes of utterly gorgeous trumpet and electronics damage. This doesn't sound like a one-off "collaboration," watching one person's style interact with another person's; they sound like they've been playing with each other for years. The first side is a beautiful whirlwind at sunset. Sure, it might be ravaging everything in its path but it looks elegant from afar. The trio creates a vast canvas of grainy fuzz drenched sounds but with unmistakable beauty flourishing underneath, particularly at the end of the side. Maybe the dynamic that has emerged is that Haley holds down the electronics angle and the trumpeters therefore are allowed a little more freedom to develop lovely, vaguely intertwining melodies such as these. That's the just first side.
The second side opens with a bulldozer of an electronic rumble, bristling with rattle and squelch. Stormy wether for sure. Gradually glistening waves of brass spread across the arrangement making for an unbelievably gorgeous composition. The piece soldiers on with Haley delivering some heavy duty noise destruction against the alluring trumpet tones. By far the most elegant bout of noise I've experienced in some time. The relationship between the various elements of the track is purely organic, the harshness and the smoothness both properties of one fabric. Completely stunning work.
Classic Jazz Moods on Sam Goldberg's Pizza Night label is only a semi-tongue-in-cheek title; this is the cleanest sounding Grasshopper recording yet. There's a minimum of distortion and electronics, and what happens when you strip all that away? Grasshopper is probably even more impressive. "Looming Clouds Rain Gold and Frankincense" begins with Patton-esque heavily delayed trumpet calls. More interesting is a somber undercurrent unfurling just audibly underneath the cool, bright bleats. This trumpet grows and grows, moving from background looming to front and center with a heart-wrenchingly mournful elegy. All the while a subtle pulse of electronics takes shape with a deep, sub-bass undertow. This really is some high-minded composition. The cassette goes beyond noise or psych or drone; Millrod's and DeRosa's classical training shines bright but heavily imbued with the glorious ambiguities cultivated in the finest psych, drone and noise recordings. Their trenchant compositional style comes to complete fruition on this piece. I don't know if I've ever heard anything this eloquent on a small-run cassette before. A spiritual partner to "Looming Clouds," "A Gift Committed to Flesh" fills out the rest of the side. Brass gently wavers in the wind as this piece expands fully to cinematic scope. More hopeful, and eventually more cacophonous, than "Looming Clouds," "Gift" is just as masterful and articulate.
"Strength and Sanity (A Mournful Apparition Shrouded in Blood Mist)" takes the entirety of the second side. Gently quivering electronic tones seem to dominate at first but the trumpets bide their time before making their play. They set the trap, stalking slowly before completely swallowing up the piece. Thick melodic swells overlap and, just... at some point you realize for the past few minutes you've been slowly drowning in heavenly beauty. I know that sounds hyperbolic but I guarantee you it is not.
Everyone of these releases is utterly essential. If you can't get all three, get two. If you can't get two, get one. If can't get one, well, you have none of my pity because you just aren't trying hard enough.
I'll close how I began, Josh Millrod and Jesse DeRosa are one of the absolute greatest bands going today. All hail Grasshopper.

Sacred Harp - Apparitions at the Kenmore Plantation [No Label]

2011-05-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

Despite borrowing its name from one of the finest vocal musics the world has ever heard, Sacred Harp is the project Virginia-based guitarist Daniel Bachman. This self-released debut LP consists of six guitar-centric compositions. Right up my alley.
"Feast of the Green Corn" announces the beginning of the record with a pair of alternating laconic phrases and a bit of silence before bursting forth in fertile, rapid finger-picking and swelling electric tones. It's quite a beautiful, perhaps even a little cinematic, piece, with plenty of energy pulsing through its veins. Bachman isn't really exploring any uncharted territory on this piece but, man, it is a joy to listen to. "Brother Green" shifts things from bright, acoustic fingerpicking to swollen, raga-like electric tones and voice. Voice, rather than guitar, is actually the focus of the track. I can't tell if Bachman has lyrics or not but his drawn out exhalations come off as wordless either way. The latter part of the piece sees the spotlight shined back on a patient, echo-laden guitar solo. It's an abrupt shift in style from the first track and manages to work out okay, but despite being a good piece it feels a little amiss amongst the other material of the record. The final track of the side "Rappahannock (Jr)" (one of the counties in Virginia where this was recorded) shifts right back into the style of the opener. It actually probably one-ups the opener. It's another speedy, rather old-timey and richly melodic piece. There's a particularly phenomenal minor-key passage that marks one of my favorite moments of the record.
The track that garners the most needle drops from me is "Ditch Duets" which opens the second side. Scraping off the sweetness of the previous side, Bachman attacks a detuned acoustic guitar with aplomb. Perhaps with a similar intent to but separate style from Bill Orcutt, Bachman acts real rough 'n atonal throughout, sometimes purely and purposefully percussive and other times drooling out twisted lead lines. I'm pretty positive there is only a single guitar track on this piece i.e. no overdubbing and Bachman does quite a job pulling a number of sounds from his axe simultaneously. It buzzes, knocks heads, whines like it's got multiple personalities or something. Some damn interesting stuff, here's to hoping he's got more of this magic in his fingertips.
"Dogwood" follows instantly becoming another standout. Bachman imbues the templates of "Green Corn" and "Rappahannock" with the gutsy, rough and tumble nature of "Ditch Duets." The son of a bitch just jets along, mowing down everything in it's path. It's the shortest piece and there's probably not a lot I can say about it other than it rocks. After an interlude of strange detuned warbles, "Make for Me a Way" brings back the raga vibe of the first side with a sitar or similar instrument situated front and center. The sympathetic strings drone, there's a hi-pitched hiss coming from somewhere and Bachman wanders down the road with sitar in tow. What's odd is after an intial "cool down" period, Bachman suddenly heats up, applying the speedy fingerpicking of his other pieces to this Eastern set-up. I don't recall ever hearing somebody play sitar this fast and it's an unexpected but welcome extension of Bachman's style into a vastly different musical territory.
Apparitions at the Kenmore Plantation is a cool little record, and a very promising debut. The guy is still young and possesses some serious raw talent; I'm really interested to see how he develops it. Bachman has presented more than a few reasons to get excited about his future.
Bachman has distributed free mp3s of the record widely across the blogosphere but if you'd like to hear it on wax, you can hit up Mr. Bachman directly at danilbachman[at]gmail[dot]com.

Wasteland Jazz Unit/Tiger Hatchery - Split [Gilgongo]/AG Davis & Jamison Williams - May 6, 1937 [Skrot Up]

2011-05-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, got a trio of jazz demolition experts on today's small plate specials.

Tempe, AZ's Gilgongo label dropped a monster of a 7inch betwixt two of the finest jazzin' roughnecks around, Wasteland Jazz Unit take the A and Tiger Hatchery take the B. As usual Jon (Lorenz, saxophone) and John (Rich, clarinet) melt your face off from the get-go but the brutalism on display in "Coma Flares in a Razor's Coil" seems, well, extra-brutal. Listening to this is probably akin to a lethal factory accident during the industrial revolution. Gears ripping flesh at relentless speeds, the lurching crack of bones snapping like twigs. This is more an end times holocaust than it is a wasteland or, especially, jazz. This would rival Celine Dion as a torture instrument at Gitmo. I don't see how someone could walk out alive after 24 hours of exposure to this side. Rough, rough stuff. The mastering is insanely loud too, props.

When I don't feel like having WJU mug me in the back alley, I call up the friendlier jazz gang in town, Tiger Hatchery, on the other side and they're downright neighborly by comparison. Their track "Sour Star" is a pretty slammin' 5 minutes of free jazz. Totally dynamic and bristling with energy. The trio of Ben Billington (who also records as Quicksails) on percussion, Andrew Scott Young on upright (who dropped a stellar cassette on Catholic Tapes) and Mike Forbes on tenor sax delivers a slab of epic sweetness. Things start fairly cordially but Billington's cymbals and Forbes's horn get into a pretty heated lover's spat. How heated? One of them pulls the car over and starts just chuckin' every CD it can get it's hands on out the window, even that expensive Ornette boxed set! Young's bass has to act as the voice of reason, calming down the argument enough to provide a little stage for a percussive click-clacking solo of its own. What continues to amaze me after countless listens is the amount of territory covered in such a short amount of time. It doesn't feel rushed or scatterbrained like they're trying to cram a bunch of things in before their time runs out. "Sour Star" just naturally navigates a lot of terrain from thunderous brush-fires to rocky, open plains in about as much time as it took me to conjure such vividly clichéd nature imagery. It's the only the thing I've heard by these guys but it won me over instantly. The crew is hittin' Seattle soon, and they're even playing my neighborhood (bonus!) I am there.

This state of Florida collaboration between between madman AG Davis and madman Jamison Williams is typically madmannish. The duo is loosely similar to Wasteland Jazz Unit in that they integrate jazz and noise culture. Side A of this 45, titled May 6, 1937 by the way, in loving memory of the Hindenburg disaster, features Williams on a particularly feral alto saxophone and Davis screaming his brains out with unintelligible syllables and most likely smearing feces all over the walls of his padded cell. I really love Williams's playing on this, he has a unique style where he can deliver these slippery clusters of split second quips along with long bleats. There's an incredible energy between the two and Williams is definitely playing off of Davis's mental patient antics but, Davis's incessant vomiting can be too distracting of a calamity.

However, on the flipside Davis switches over to electronics and that's where the real sweet stuff resides. Williams takes no prisoners with his sax and Davis plays off him in all sorts of weird ways, sometimes delivering chirping electronic tones and pulses and sometimes deeper, oft-kilter loops. Occasionally he drops out completely only to return with pointed synthetic squiggles. He has no dearth of ideas when it comes to sparring with Williams's firebreathing. I really dig the sound the duo is developing on the B-side, here's to hoping there's a longer tape or LP in the works!

Both releases are still in print and Gilgongo (which is offering the WJU/Hatchery record for 5 bucks postpaid--a steal) has another 7inch by Davis and Williams currently in the works. Funny how the world works sometimes, huh? You know "interconnectivity" and shit.

Occasional Detroit - Occasional Bomb [I Just Live Here/Human Conduct]/Form a Log - Digital Duck [Spleen Coffin]

2011-05-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

I was understandably psyched to find this single at a record swap last year, considering a) it rules and b) it was released all the way back in 2007. Occasional Detroit is the probably the most badass hip hop crew rolling right now and this record is a testament to that.

Ostensibly titled Occasional Bomb due to Gaybomb's work on the single, I don't see it written anywhere on here but I'll trust the internet just this once. The first side is a stone cold motherfuckin' classic. It's a blitzkrieg of turntable scratches, violin/synth-horn/xylophone samples, and random cluttered beats. When the track gets moving, it's on a harpsichord lick! Heavy bass crunches, horn throbs, serious DJ skills all combine for the most frenetic, catchy beat possible. Then the verse drops, Demeat spits knowledge on the workingman's dilemma, "Gotta get that payday/Workin' 9 to 5 just to stay alive" and my favorite comes later "You know you want that promotion!" over Beyababa's thick, noisy drum patterns and Gaybomb's hoarse saxophone; O-D's motto holds true: Different Yet Able to Relate. There's a killer breakdown with more horns and an eerie almost Eastern keyboard melody before the whole thing turns into reggaeton stomp, with a hefty dose of Flintstones-style sound effects. The flipside features an instrumental heavy on the drum programming and cut & paste grandfather clock/power tools samples. There's an almost classic rock-style sample buried way down there but things start moving a little closer to 90s UK rave type stuff as well as dropping in some Middle Eastern sitar-esque samples. Keep in mind this is all backing up noisy, manipulated vocal fragments.

Totally sick 7inch, essential if you can find it. The internet has your back if you can't though.

Moving from a record on Ren Schofield's (God Willing, Container) label I Just Live Here comes an even more wacky release from one of his latest projects. Form a Log, a trio on 4-track tape recorders featuring members of Social Junk and The New Flesh, deliver a logic-defying party single here titled Digital Duck.

"Digital Duck" features a looped synthetic quack which provides an unorthodox rhythmic base along with another sample of cartoon "quacks" and yet another sample of "dig-it-tal-duck" repeated ad nauseum. Before long the trio starts up a pumping house beat underneath. Thinks just weirder and wilder from there. The rhythmic arrangement is robust and relentless letting the trio go duckwild with various forms sample manipulation and noise production. I'm digging the heavily filtered electro-cowbell in the second half of the track. Weird shit.

The second side holds "Digital Duck RMX." Which may or may not be more bizarre than the original. The "digital duck" sample is cut-up and messed with over a loop of AOR guitar/drums blandness. Fuzzy synth tones swoop in and out amongst unintelligible chatter and nearly unrecognizable slowed down vocals. It gets stranger as the piece is left to bump along on a single slowed down guitar solo. The closest analog I can think of to this piece is Tim Sheldon's (Fat Worm of Error) National Felt tape.

Digital Duck is of those records that is somehow awesome even though you're not totally sure it's good. It comes with a rad illustration by Lance Simmons screen-printed on a paper bag slipcase with an insert and nonsensical "short story." Available for 4 bucks from Spleen Coffin.

Isa Christ/Cruudeuces - Human Error [Idiot Underground/Ghetto Naturalist Series]

2011-05-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

There's been a little stack of 7inches building up recently and its high time they get reviewed (expect some more 7inchers to make appearances in the coming weeks.

We start things off in dark territory with a 45rpm split noise single by Northeasterners Isa Christ and Cruudeuces.

This is my first encounter with Isa Christ (proprietor of Idiot Underground) and his side "Ruin Song" is a straight up harsh-ass rager. From the moment the needle drops, you're subsumed into thick, grainy crunch. Mr. Christ flicks in a few warbly hi-pitched tones, sounding like he's cutting up a recording of a construction site. Jackhammers pounding, heavy machinery lurching, the cathartic clang of metal caving in on itself. The side is pretty good; it's relentlessly active. But on the other hand, after all the times I've listened to it, it has never proven to be particularly memorable. But if you're looking for 100 mile per hour drive to the harsh side, uh, you don't have to look any more.

The proprietor of Ghetto Naturalist Series, Nathaniel Brennan's tapes/clarinet murk project Cruudeuces delivers some nice work on the flipside. "Gull Slang" opens up with just that. Brennan's clarinet is relaying some conversation in which seagulls are hurling insults at each other at the top of their lungs. Over a burly bass tone, Brennan lets loose a shitstorm of feedback-drenched reedwork. The piece is especially nice when he lightens up and you just get quiet intimations of clarinet intermixed with all the other throbbing tones crawling all over each other. The track feels too short (yet it still hits the 4 1/2 minute mark) but Brennan's signature strength is on display here: texture, texture, texture. Even though everything is looped and delayed to hell, he always has a handle on everything and navigates his piece with a sure hand.

Still in print so hit up the labels.

Amateur Childbirth - Brighter Futures Dialysis [Wet Nurse Directory]

2011-05-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

I came into contact with this guy Ivan Matthew Hicks through slsk one time and he sent me a couple CD-rs of murky organ and tapes weirdness from Australia. Then last Fall he got in touch again wanting to send a new CD he was putting out (like a real, professionally manufactured CD.) I said "Sure, man" expecting something along the same lines but boy were my expectations subverted.
Opener "Womb Envy" is a burst of rapidly strummed nylon strings and syllables, setting the tone for the album. Brighter Futures Dialysis, which clocks in around a half hour, feels like a blur. The ten songs fly by, in part, because they're so quickly paced and catchy in their own strange way but also the record is so well put together that moving from song to song seems so natural that you don't realize how far you've traveled until you look back when the silence hits.
One of Hicks's immediate signatures is how he crams words where they don't want to go, particularly on "Cat Power's Armpits." Simultaneously raw and verbose, whether delivering apocalyptic love visions on one of many standouts "Venus on Fire" or the metaphorical environmental descriptions in "Winter is My Favourite Airport" Hicks is never short on bizarre syntax or chunky guitar chords. In "I Just Wanna Be Noticed" Hicks adopts the voice of an egotistical, bigamist, possibly anarchist politician. "I just wanna be noticed/I wanna be the one in charge/Just want to be the guy with my finger on the button" goes the refrain, the most memorable description contributing to the portrait of a rather sociopathic and despicable character.
Nothing is sacred in Hicks's vocabulary, not in the sense that his lyrics are offensive but because no words are off-limits. On "Cat Power's Armpits," "dandruff," "diarrhea," and "herpes" all show up in the same phrase; yet, it doesn't seem like the words are chosen for shock value. Who knows, maybe they are but it doesn't matter because they don't seem like it. Those words are nestled alongside clever declarations like "take control of your own opinion polls" and the delivery is so mild, matter of fact and quick that no single word or phrase is dwelled upon. There really are quite a few words crammed in this thing. Very little space on the record is not accompanied by voice.
The employment solely of a "$40 acoustic guitar" is quite an inspired and fitting choice of accompaniment. It's sparse and unadorned, letting the spotlight shine on Hicks's voice, but it's presence is sturdy enough to provide a very important, and much needed harmonic base. That said Hicks's Australian-accented cadence does actually deliver on the melodic front; he's not shy about belting it out and the record is all the better for it. His vocals are not the most skilled but they're uniquely effective and his delivery of such outlandish lyrics is pitch-perfect.
Brighter Futures Dialysis is an unusual and fantastic record. It's scope is specific--it's as much a product of its limitations as it is pushing the envelope--but oddly enough it's rare when I listen to it only one time through (I usually spin it in twos and threes) and I never listen to just one song. The more I digest, the more I want. There is a much more brilliant and clever authorial hand guiding the record than is noticed your first few times through.
Since I really don't think this review did a particularly good job capturing the feel of the record I recommend just listening to it. It's real good.
Though the record is available for free streaming and download at the above link, it's also available as a pro-pressed CD in an edition of 500. It comes with this totally weird booklet documenting a correspondence between Archwire & Partners Youth & Family Services and someone named Xavier. They write to tell him he owes $230 dollars in cancellation fees and not to miss anymore his government-ordered appointments and he writes them back with a multi-page scree to fuck right off, hand-scrawled over every square centimeter of notebook paper. Just another enigma to add to the package.

Radiant Husk - Points and Lines [Bezoar Formations]/Sogol - Miniature Orbits [Bezoar Formations]

2011-04-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

I really love Matthew Erickson's projects, dude's gotta be one of the more under-appreciated guys going today in my opinion, and this pair of tapes from Radiant Husk (Erickson's solo mainstay) and Sogol which I'm guessing is a one-off project by Erickson as well are two more entries that will continue to spread the gospel of Matthew. Erickson's Bezoar Formations imprint dropped these sometime last year and it looks like the label is gearing up to drop another batch soon.

Side A is christened as "Thermal Beings." It starts with waves of Erickson's signature reeds, which are accompanied by tapes, keys and wave machine on this recording. Erickson also jams it in the killer guitar/sax duo Sudden Oak, but where SO has a rough, evershifting sound, Radiant Husk slowly puts together these gorgeous little miniatures. The project doesn't generally work in the long form but develops a series of episodes through course of a side. Erickson's work here is so deliberate and in tune; he gradually builds these little hills before letting the sea in to erode them away. Then a solitary saxophone will often take the lead once more. Radiant Husk features one of the more unique saxophone voices out there, it's not really jazz and it's not your average basement reedage either. Erickson creates a complex field of sound with it; you could almost dive in. One of my favorite moments happens later on the side where Erickson tries to squeal through the lively swamp of loops he created. The other element at work here that has to be mentioned is the place of rhythm in the project. Rather than just looping sustained blasts of sax over and over (nothing wrong with that FYI) Erickson often creates these gentle, rhythmically complex and highly contagious tapestries.

The second side "Lines 1-7" begins with a single echoing saxophone grunting away in the silence. From the single sax it mushrooms into a sheet of sound before getting stomped out by a deep ominous reed growl. Over a cyclical set of loops Erickson delivers a brief solo before promptly moving into the next section, an almost tribal amalgam. This passage is shortlived as well and segues into a beautiful bit of filtered sax. The tape keeps moving, rapidly hopping from section to section. Quiet nudges of sound shift to cavernous reed squeaks and that's all folks.

I'm pretty sure this Sogol tape is Erickson as well. It's focused on keyboards but it still bears his stamp. Miniature Orbits is a perfect title for this tape as it's a pastiche of beautiful, stand alone miniatures. It's difficult to properly describe but the sections range from a minute or so to seconds long. They tend to be very minimal, some only featuring a few notes. There's some pause button stitchwork in here too, so if you're down with other keyboard/cassette combos out I'm sure you'd climb aboard here with no trouble. Some sections could be the sound track of a UFO hovering over San Francisco, others are more full, new agey and soothing. It's wonderful little tape, each nutshelled idea contributing to the whole.

The second side is much like the first moving between floaters and more grounded minimal bee-boop experiments. There's a rather long passage on the B-side that stumbles through echoing single key plonks, pitter-pattering around, dodging trebly pitch swells.

Pretty much everything with the Bezoar tag will be ace but these two both come highly recommended. It looks like there are still a couple copies of the Rad Husk tape kicking around Bezoar Formations but you'll have to seek the Sogol tape at the distros.

Arklight/Dead Gum - Split [Phase]

2011-04-23T22:33:00.001-07:00

Dang, Greeks love Arklight. The country is reliably pumping out Arklight releases even after the whole bottoming out of the economy. Thank you for your continued service Greece.
This one (from the Phase label) is special because a) it’s a tape and b) Dead Gum is on the other side. I’d never heard Dead Gum before this and I can’t say the name lead to high expectations but they were a pleasant surprise. The tape is wound on their side right now so I’ll start the review there.
“Knock Your Head on the Tablet” starts things off with lots of distorted echoing guitars. I don’t know what the band line-up is or if it’s just one person but I’m pretty sure everyone who is actually in the band is playing guitar. The track amounts to a rough, glistening wall of shimmer; shoegaze with balls. “Let Me Show You Around” features rigid marching guitar strums courtesy of a delay pedal. From there the track gets gradually messier as the delays fold back on themselves. This one has a lot more space in it leading me to think Dead Gum is probably the result of a single pair of hands. Unintelligible vocals near the end are a welcome addition as it sort of feels like a bonafide song in its closing minutes. As one chapter ends another begins, Dead Gum segues into the track’s finale edging toward psychedelic territory with a slightly more upbeat and groovy feel. This shifts directly to the stark, jangling strings of “Secret Love.” “Rat of Tide” changes the vibe considerably as it’s a very loose, jangly guitar and voice song. It’s got plenty of prickly points all over but stands apartment from the layers of distortion at the outset of the side. The finale, “Six Packs of Everything,” inadvertently caused me to wonder how many things do really come in six packs, beer/soda, abs, crayons, I don’t think that many things do. Anyway, that tangent has nothing whatsoever to do with the music. The side’s finale is even looser, with some zonked vocals and rustling guitar strings.
This tape sounds awesome with the volume knob up. Not necessarily anything new I guess, but its tried and true cascading guitar fuzz and loner six-stringin’ that never gets old. I’d like to see where Dead Gum goes from here; maybe they’ll imbue their sound with a little more form next time around?
Arklight’s side opens with “Radonitsa.” A garbled weather report on the radio, needling guitars, a thunderous loop of bass feedback or something or other. I think there’s a live hi-hat in here too. Typical of Arklight, it’s an atypical arrangement. The jam stays locked into it’s groove, builds tension until distortion starts spreading like a virus through the track slowly eclipsing everything in static. I always enjoy it when Arklight brings the grooves, and “Russian Ark” flirts with that very idea. A spaced guitar melody slowly loops against unspecified percussive bumps, clicks, steps, scratches, whathaveyous. The piece is relatively unchanging; it almost feels like a Buddha box or something. “Like Light Night” jams on a single guitar a little like parts of the Dead Gum side. Much like some of the Dead Gum side as well, it lapses into a blurry, fuzzed out mess. The closer “Captain General” hits hard and heavy right off the bat with big distorted thumping toms. A guitar that sounds like it’s being molested by a violin bow is panned back forth as the rhythm section thrusts and rumbles on. The drums drop out for a fantastic breakdown, atmospheric guitar touches and especially a clutch bassline totally nail it, making it the stand out moment of the track before the drums return. The track as a whole has an elusive vibe I’m really digging. My favorite jam on the tape, hands down.
Phase did a nice job with screen-printed artwork. 65 copies, still in print. Hit up the label.

Garrincha & the Stolen Elk - We Were Wyoming [Stunned]/Garrincha & the Stolen Elk - Black Sambo/White Mamba [905 Tapes]

2011-04-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

I picked up the oddly named Garrincha & the Stolen Elk's 905 tape a while back. It was a lo-fi trip into outer space guitar/sax/synth jams (which I'll get to in a bit.) I definitely wasn't prepped for what came on the new Stunned tape though. The duo of Davy Bui and Matt Kretzmann are joined by the stellar rhythm section of Karlos Ayala (bass) and Kevin Corcoran (drums.) Don't know if the expansion is gonna be permanent or not but I wouldn't mind it.

We Were Wyoming certainly starts on the right foot, "I Can Only Paint with One Emotional Tone/Acqueduct Flux." A solid, repetitive bass riff anchors the piece along with rumbling, almost funky, drums. Bui and Kretzmann deliver vocals back and forth over the stoic rhythm section before erupting into a mountainous spasm of sax, guitar and moog. The duo is really drawing on no wave and the entirety of Dischord's output (Fugazi through Black Eyes.) The "Aqueduct Flux" portion goes through an extended mellow bridge of guitar and drums before ramping up the energy with an angular riff. It's Bui's sax passage that really solidifies the piece though. "Tut" adds a little more Touch & Go to the mix, David Yow-meets-Guy Piccioto vocal delivery over an alternately loosey-goosey and heavy rhythm section. The moog and sax strategically push the track off the edge at key moments.

The instrumental "Crushed (Once)" delivers a great guitar riff from the get-go with a jumpy rhythm section pumping behind. That particular riff absolutely towers over everything that goes on in the rest of the track so it's return midway through is like a shot of adrenaline to the heart. "Staccato Lights" is structured around repeated jabs of sax, synth and guitar and raspy vocals but settles into a nice swing by the end. Ultimately though, the crew just jams it into submission. "II" is just an outro of sorts--a heavily effected, stream of generally unintelligible insults.

I totally lived on this kind of shit when I was in high school and it's great hear someone go at it with fresh energy. And it's nice to hear it on tape! Totally unexpected but entirely welcome. More please.

Black Sambo/White Mamba starts out with "Black Sambo" and an intergalactic lurchfest. Electronic crunch, ray gun-style synth manipulation, cosmic sax bleats. Not too shabby. The noise just seems to hurtle through space on its own patient engine. This sounds way grimier than the Stunned tape. Even the "quieter" passages have plenty of grit in the atmosphere. "Octopussy" is a straight ahead guitar/sax duet. Kretzmann on the palm mutes and Bui on the sax runs. Oddly enough, it turns out to be a tender little piece.

The duo heads off side b with "Deserted" and I think they may both be on guitar. Heavily delayed strings move from loner blues into squalling shimmers. It's nice enough but I am feeling the other title track "White Mamba" much more. Someone's got their keyboard set to the "bossanova" setting and the whole thing swings with a killer tropical melody from the sax. The guitar is onto some radar jamming shit though, trying to cover up the whole affair in feedback. The jam devolves into a street brawl between Kretzmann's sledgehammer and Bui's blowtorch. A real cool killer.

Nice pair of tapes. I'm feeling the Stunned one more but that's no slag on the 905. The duo have a lot going for them so I'm looking to see where they'll take us next. These are probably gone from the labels (never hurts to ask though) so it's probably time to hit the distros if you're interested.

J. Hanson - New Ruined Maps (Collected 2009-2010) [DRAFT]

2011-04-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Here is some top-shelf Northwest collaboration, which you know I am always behind. Seattle's DRAFT is a new synth-centric offshoot of Gift Tapes, and among their first few cassettes DRAFT has chosen to release this album by Portlandic synth master Josh Hanson and his Blacet Modular Synthesizer.

"Sawjig" opens. Meaty analog synth vibes with a hint of folksy (Celtic perhaps) influence underneath. It's a very patient and engaging piece for the first couple minutes, limiting itself to a few components. This changes when a percussive track turns up and the keys get more active indulging in that lightly Celtic feel I mentioned earlier. Hanson transitions quite nicely into "Summer Oscillations" and its minimal but definitely groovy, up-tempo opening. The first section is short lived; evaporating into bird calls from where the next portion takes over. The piece almost seems to be on pause, it stagnates in mellow tones, numbing you almost. And then Hanson drops a series of groovy pitter-pattering synth grooves jolt you out of your slumber. "Astoria" immediately catches your attention with puttering loops and slightly seasick melody. Hanson rightly doesn't stay far from this base. Washes of cymbal-like tones and caffeinated, chattering robots make their presences known, but that methodical, loping melody remains the center. "A Patch of Shade" is a little similar to "Astoria" but major key. It's lively and almost into "feelgood" territory. It makes you wanna nod your head, look brightly to future and all that positive stuff. Nice way to end the side.

Hanson flips the theme as we flip the tape. "Mountain by Lake" is gunnin' to unsettle the listener just a little bit. This recalls the Celtic influence again, although this time it amounts to more of an aliens-composing-for-bagpipes feel. It's a great, extended piece of work that continually expands in a number of directions while still keeping its foot planted in the origins of the piece. "Jets to How-Here" is literally about 15 or 20 seconds of Hanson emulating jets on his modular. "Traffic in the Mission" is another favorite of mine. Hanson really lets himself go in the melody department piling on a number of synth gestures on top of one another and I love it. Like a few of the other tracks on here, Hanson anchors the piece with a fantastic stuttering melodic progression. He doesn't cut it short either which I like; he just lets it flow. "2:35 AM" closes the tape. I can't tell if this has anything to do former Portlander Elliott Smith's "2:35" but no matter. Hanson smartly puts it at the end as it wraps the tape up perfectly. It's not too long and it encapsulates the work that came earlier but it also feels different. There's a longing, mournful feel to it which is something the tape hasn't exhibited until now. It's a little bewitching and, as I said, a perfect ending to this here story.

New Ruined Maps is an excellent half-hour of analog synth architecture. Hanson approaches the instrument more subtly than many of his contemporaries which is refreshing. DRAFT lovingly the produced this release and the pro-dubbed tape sounds warm and fantastic. It's a perfect pairing of artist and label. DRAFT also dropped 150 copies of this so you can actually get your hands on one! It's worth checking for sure.

Scissor Shock - Psychic Existentialism [For Noise's Sake]/Expensive Shit - ATX Ghosts + Flowers [For Noise's Sake]

2011-03-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

As you've likely noticed, ain't been too many reviews poppin' out of these Auxiliary Out tubes lately. There has been no shortage of great stuff comin' in the doors here; it's just been that time has been incredibly elusive this year. Although, to quoteth Galaxy Quest, never give up, never surrender. I am chipping away steadily, if glacially, at the stack of patient submissions here. Well, I just caught a few minutes of Madrid on Globe Trekker yesterday, I figure it's a sign to give these transmissions from Madrid's For Noise's Sake the review treatment.

Scissor Shock is the work of insanely active, insanely motivated and insanely nice guy Adam Cooley. I use "insanely" purposefully there because a few things about Adam are a little insane, probably most of all is his music.

"Psychic Existentialist" breathes life into the record and actually isn't that crazy at first. Sure, a little scatterbrained maybe, but not crazy. Chopped up samples (ranging from vibes to children's programming) mingle with "free" drum programming. There actually is nearly a jazzy feel at parts but Cooley is much too eager to stop and go at a whim, trading in mellow grooves for skittering melodies like it's nobody's business (it isn't.) At 6 minutes, it's the second longest of like 13 tracks. Most wrap-up in a little over a minute such as "Cat Planet Woman" which features a similar vibe to the opening track but daresay it sounds much more focused? "Ghost with Shit Electronics" flips the script with a lonesome guitar intro before launching headfirst into a spastic showcase of stitched together guitar and drum programming. If sheet music shoved into a food processor made a sound, this record might not be too far from it. I don't want to cheapen the music with hyperbole because what makes the record is not the split-second editing; it's that Cooley will end the frantic, hi-speed collision of the aforementioned "Ghost" with a detuned guitar and vocal ditty. So there is Jungle in here as well as shredmasters but there's this weirdo sensibility as well. It seems like when Cooley eases up on the gas a little he reveals great little moments. Sometimes it's a strung out acoustic guitar. Sometimes it's a lingering, aural tone. Though, the record can still sound pretty good when the pedal's to the metal. The 9 minute title track works like a plunderphonic punk/hardcore track. Breaking down and mashing up the various signatures of punk and hardcore music along with spurts outsides genres. Unexpectedly, the piece drifts out on a few minutes of mild, psychedelic drone while the next track "Sunset Dream of Codeine Eyeball" is a few plucked guitar notes. "Bring Back the Guillotine" stands out because of how it begins. It's more or less a rock song, albeit an extremely debilitated rock song. The track doesn't necessarily continue in that same fashion, but it does seem to choose melodies over tropes which I am in complete support of. "Man of the Graveyard Man" does straight-up morph into a one-man DC hardcore track that's pretty rad while it lasts. "Tearing Wings Off of a Pigeon" continues the string of hits. It's actually a song with vocals and a melody all the way through. The final 23 seconds (titled "Johnny Merzbow Psychic Contact") are pretty badass, so badass in fact need a little more than 23 seconds, Adam. C'mon! Don't leave a guy hanging.

How much you really enjoy Cooley's music probably depends mostly on how chopped-up you like your audio. Though I'm not a big fan of that generally, Cooley imbues all the cuts and splices with the overarching character of his music. He's obviously fond of chopping the shit out of everything which I can respect (especially because I know my lazy ass would never have the patience nor perseverance to make music like that) but as I alluded to earlier, it's all things that don't jump up and down, demanding your attention that make the record interesting.

This Expensive Shit CD-r had a couple things going for it before I even listened to it. First of all, I like this gang's name. Second, the cover (intentionally?) evokes Rampage one of the most badass arcade games around. Third, there's the winking nod to Pitchfork media's most hated Sonic Youth album.

The disc consists of a single 19 and a half minute rager. The thing is so blown out, so gnarled, so ravaged that my agitated girlfriend asked me to plug in the headphones.

There's some semblance of "music" here. Expensive Shit is definitely a "band" just one that plays furious 19.5 minute-long, improv'd disasterpieces. Every so often the drummer takes the lead, with the rest of the band following his torch through the cave of clang.

The second half, much like the first half, of the track features a lot pounding, thudding, crashing, slashing but also some weird harmonic licks in there too. It may be the most developed section of the track, which ambles along from bit to bit fluidly if a little languorously sometimes. By the end of the set, though, they are really grooving like a mid-period Six Finger Satellite but caked with dirt, rust and oxidation rather than basking in radioactivity. For full band free noise-rock, these guys aren't a bad source. They will certainly beat the fuck out your face if you let them out of yr sight.

I'm curious to hear more from Expensive Shit, or hear them develop rather. These guys got the sound down, but I wouldn't mind hearing a few songs driving all the volatility next time. I highly doubt these guys take requests though.

Hit up For Noise's Sake for the discs.

York Factory Complaint - Remorse of Conscience [House of Alchemy]

2011-03-15T22:39:00.000-07:00

Adam Richards's House of Alchemy seems to be on the road to becoming a full time cassette pusher, Amen to that. This one by York Factory Complaint came along in a batch with a Chris Dadge solo percussion tape (which I will speak on at a later date) as well as an expansive split/collab double tape between Richards's Chapels project, Sleepwalkers Local and The Circle and the Point.
Never heard of this duo before the tape, though I've seen the name around a couple places since. The tape is kinda weird to write about because it keeps me at a distance. I don't really know how to get close to it or into it. Maybe the fact that it's an antisocial junkbag could be part of the problem.
The cassette starts out with some motherfuckin' rumble. As the side (titled "Asleep in the Arms of an Ocean" as if anyone could confuse this racket for a lullaby) moves forward it sounds like that some of this noise could be originating from percussion or guitar bashing rather than just inbred circuits. The tape is weirdly "musical." There aren't any melodies or discernibly intentional rhythms so maybe it really is just two dudes trying to peel the paint from the walls but there's a lively physicality to it buried underneath not found in all noise music.
York Factory Complaint are absolutely trafficking in no-fi, recorded-in-a-dumpster audio-garbage so the sound doesn't get anymore detailed when you crank the volume. Like it or not, the Complaint are giving you big, broad, abstract strokes like playing mud on your turntable. Their brand of impressionist noise obscures its artist, along with everything else really.
"Marked" is my preferred side, if only for the sharper, trebly bite it has. Various sources of feedback, forced to mingle, unwillingly breed making for bastards and bastards of bastards all clamoring over each other in forbidden instinct. The side isn't any less caked with shit than the previous (it might even be a little more unstable) but the claustrophobia of "Ocean" is gone leaving the sounds to exist in a strangely open territory. The funny thing is for all the "crumbliness" of it, the piece sort of seems in a vacuum. I'll throw some oxymoronical buzz words at it: infinite destruction. How can something be destroyed if its infinite? I don't know, talk to these guys...
York Factory Complaint, in my estimation, are somewhere between junk noise brethren like the Fossils family and other thicker, electronics-based harsh noise artists. Does that sound appetizing (or, more likely, vomit-inducing?) Well, come to the stable and let the House of Alchemy feed you until you burst.

Alex Barnett - Section 4 [Pizza Night]

2011-03-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

This is the fourth installment of the killer Section series by Chicago-based analog synth maestro Alex Barnett. The previous installment featured "Try Harder" a bad ass John Carpenter-ish jam of epic proportions, which is still the pinnacle of Barnett's work for me, though Section 4 is pretty solid all the way through.
"Bad Omens" comes to life like a re-animated body, a pulse first that gradually builds into the actions of an agitated malformed nervous system. The piece moves forward with scientific precision yet a woozy rage seems to bubble underneath. Halfway through Barnett flips the script, whipping out a speedy arpeggio and dueling counterpoint melody. It's a sizzling, banshee-like scree that pushes the piece over the top though. Slipping into dirge territory the ephemeral melody emerges again as an even eerier figure. Tough act to follow. "Day Dreams" finishes out the side. It works well in conjuction with "Bad Omens" because there is a certain wooziness as well as toughness. But overall, the piece comes off as brighter and simpler with an auto-panned synthesizer aura.
"Streams" wastes no time getting the next side moving. It emphasizes Barnett's playing more as there are no overdubs making for a nice introduction to the side. "Cavernous Places" really changes things up as it veers closer to noise territory. Percussive noises scrape around and writhe on the floor leading into "Foldover" and its zippy, percussive arpeggio over which Barnett tears into his oscillator. It is a simple piece, but the 3 or so components prove to hit the right marks, amounting collectively to an effective piece of work. The closer, "The Best Day of Your Life" features the same rough-edged synthesizers but is a little sweeter at heart. Glistening waves of keys chime in over a couple looped arpeggios.
This set of pieces feels a little looser, with Barnett often laying out a simple theme and then improvising and exploring the piece from there. He keeps the works tastefully short though so they never end up in meandering territory. That's characteristic of the series as a whole; one of the strengths of Sections is Barnett keeps each installment to 20 minutes so each new tape finds him probing the areas of synth composition a little more but in a manageable fashion. Every tape is considered rather than a series where artist says "here is everything I have been up to lately" and drops hours of material at your feet.
Check Pizza Night for copies or hit the distros.

Tad - Path to the Dutchie [DNT]/Al Qaeda/Demonologists - Split [Teen Action]

2011-02-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

Got a pair of recent cassingles here, each with their own specific genre influences.
Tad (not the local grunge mofos) is the musical moniker of Tynan Krakoff, perhaps better known as the CEO of DNT Records. His debut Path to the Dutchie is dub through and through. And I don't been "dubby," lots of bands are that but this tape is creatively and faithfully dub.
The first side is the title track which blinks to a start with synth blips and some groovy-ass organ. Krakoff unleashes one of the most monster motherfucking grooves I've heard in a while. The melody is straight-up infectious and Krakoff couches it in an ever-shifting sound world of heavily effected keyboards, guitar and drum programming and also plenty of oddities (I swear there is a sample from NFL Blitz in here.) It's flat out amazing and gets out of yr hair quickly. This would be sad except the flip side "Version" is probably an even better rendition. Making good use of a reverb-laden melodica, this side takes the previous side's infectious melody and turns it inside out. While the melody holds down the jam, Krakoff sets about, in true dub fashion, to live delay pedal knob twiddling of percussion samples, trumpeting elephants, cackling dolphins and, I don't know, some insane monkeys or something. Totally out of left field and yet totally loveable.
This thing is about the perfect cassingle. Not just because the music is great but because the two tracks sound so great looped back to back over and over. Vinyl ain't gonna do that for you. Having to flip the record over constantly would make it a chore, and I'm pretty sure Tad would come out fiercely against chores. This tape has been out for two months and I ain't sick of this bad boy yet; I am starting to doubt I ever will be. Absolutely recommended.
Switching gears drastically, Al Qaeda and Demonologists are reportedly finding their black metal roots with this cassingle. I figure Bad Brains put reggae and hardcore hand and hand so why can't I do that with black metal and dub for this review? I haven't heard either of these crews so this makes for a quick get-to-know-ya.
Al Qaeda makes the jumpoff with the trio delivering 5 tracks in like 4 minutes. I was probably expecting 45 second raging metal tunes but AQ got something more abstract brewing. Starting out with "Battle Fuck" (a name so ridiculous it just might work) percussive bass throbs and wind blows before some obliterated vocal cord shredding bares its teeth against a weird looped keyboard. End track 1. "Bottom Feeder" actually features a rock band set-up pounding away on a rhythmic riff and the track plays out like an intro to an unmade album. "Shitting Gold" features warbly keyboard against distorted backwards tape loops or something of the like. "Lepper Cuss" opens with a scream and shuffles along heavy on the groove and light on the fidelity. Possibly the tape's standout. It shifts abruptly into "Veritable" which sounds a little too clean to be "black." Nearly glistening tones are sustained all the way through along with some bizarre brushing-your-teeth noises.
Passing to the other side, Demonologists deliver a single sidelong track, "The Bastard Curse." The jam is immediately heavy on the crunch. This is some Oops, All Berries crunch. I can't tell what the fuck is going on underneath all the distortion on this thing. Vocals? Guitar? Keyboard? Drums? There are a few sustained tones near the end but that might just be feedback. I figure if this was made with a combustion engine that runs on goat's blood, I'd get a press release letting me know, right? Then again maybe not...
Both tapes are available from the labels. The Tad tape comes shrinkwrapped with sweet prehistoric artwork. The AQ/Demonologists cassette features awesomely bleak xeroxography. A pair of handsome fellers don't ya think?

Terence Hannum - La Repitition [Peasant Magik]

2011-02-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

Philly label Peasant Magik dropped an insanely big batch of tapes, 15 to be exact (is there a larger batch on record anywhere?) and I'm very slowly working my through them, with a number of heavy hitters still on deck. This solo release by Locrian's Terence Hannum marks the second tape in the batch with some French cinema inspiration (I wrote up the other one here.)

I haven't seen La Repitition (directed by Bertrand Duma) so I have no frame of reference for this cassette but apparently Hannum has composed a soundtrack to the film. Eight pieces for guitar and accordion are spread out evenly across the two sides. The first side "I-IV" has an effortless flow to it but slight undertones of melancholy and decay. Both the guitar and accordion are smeared together, so unified they're nearly inseparable at times. After the first piece streaks the sky grey, the second (or possibly third) movement finds a guitar in a duet with silence, inching forth a note at a time. Hannum gradually introduces other sounds and melodies which curl around the edges, never breaking the concentration of the central guitar's three note meditation.
The fifth piece that opens up the second side "V-VIII" is quite pretty, made up of alternately looming and luminous accordion tones which eventually becomes susceptible to waves of rushing static. Rolling guitar drones materialize at some point prodding the piece in a more musical direction with spiraling guitar tones embedded in the fuzz. The movements are so fluid, I never notice any marked changes. The side just seems to tumble on by, moving forth, capturing your attention and consequently receding back into the tape hiss before you even realize it.

La Repitition is resigned, forlorn, desolate and empty. Don't know what the movie's about but I'll be surprised if it's a comedy. I think fans of Locrian would definitely enjoy this but Hannum's work here is pretty fragmentary and evocative, a little different than the metal formalism that Locrian is currently interested in. It is fun to hear what other kinds of sounds Hannum has going on up there in his noggin.

The tape is dressed with the utmost professionalism and care as is customary with Peasant Magik. This tape is still in print at the label along with plenty of other great ones so take a gander.

Atlantic at Pacific - Weddings [Alchemist]/I and I - The Hardest Part [Alchemist]

2011-02-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

A pair of tapes from the relatively young Alchemist label here.
First up is Atlantic at Pacific, the nom de plume of Santa Cruz dude Austin Wood. Wood gets the endorphins flowing right off at the bat with hazy bedroom electro-pop jam (and album standout) "Hallucinations." It's a very simple piece but sturdily constructed with unassuming but still HUGE synth hooks littering the track all over the place. I've never actually timed how long the track is but, damn, I always know that it's way too short. "On We Go" starts out a touch chillier but thaws out over its duration. Initially entering with an almost trip hop drum track, it's almost into DJ Shadow territory when the track reaches full bloom. "Drifting" whirls around on a woozy arpeggio with a drum machine pumping along faithfully before jumping ship for the keyboard solo. Upon its return the piece becomes more focused leaving the fog behind. The brief "50" certainly brings back the hip hop influence, collaging a handful of beats in more misty reverb. The title track stomps steadily underneath a luminous 3 chord synth progression which is given a moment to shine on it's own before Wood expands the piece to full force, including an infectious tinkling counter-melody. It's another piece that could have lasted longer not that it's especially short. And really I should probably be praising Wood's brevity as its a quality too few artists have. "The Sun Melt the Sky" is a rather swirly piece lead by stark a piano melody. That is before it morphs into a late-night downbeat raver. The side wraps with "The Lonely Ocean," an aquatic head-nodder I can envision MF Doom dropping a verse over.
Side number two kicks off with "For the Record," a thoroughly breezy just-go-with-it jam. "Tired" features burly keyboard chords and just a hint of early 90s videogame soundtracks. It's hard to pin down the mood of the track, a touch too intense and rhythmically involved to be somber but not light or uptempo enough to be a peppy pop number. The grey area works for it. "Intentional Pt. 1" is an unusual one for the cassette. There's a zonked monotone vocal drone, a synth snare at an almost punk tempo and bright keyboard melodies. "Summer Nights" is ponderous with a plodding synth progression and chiming counter-melody while the sunnier "I Know You Know" follows it up with a rattling drum track and fuzzy chords. The closer "Who Are We" spreads massively echoing vocals across the track with a sparse keyboard melody plinking away in the ether.
Wood doesn't create the most unique textures out there but his songwriting is pretty fucking solid making for an incredibly pleasant listen for a variety of moods. For fans of takin'-it-easy music.
Alchemist label head Adam Sarmiento is I and I (or i and i as he seems to prefer to have it written) which causes me to ask is that a Bad Brains reference? If it is, you probably wouldn't be able to tell from the music contained on this tape. The Hardest Part is more or less a cassingle but of the "12 inch single" variety, i.e. it lasts more than 7 minutes and it features the single version of the title track as well as two remixes and then an additional track ("Pocahontas.") "The Hardest Part (single version)" has a bit of a similar vibe to that Atlantic at Pacific tape but minus the haze. The vocal presence is much stronger as well (it actually has discernible lyrics) in fact the vocals are the focus. The rest of the elements are kept pretty minimal for the most part, crisp drum programming, fuzzy electro bass and stark piano notes. I think how a listener responds to Sarmiento's voice will probably dictate how he/she feels about the track. I am a bit on the fence regarding that matter myself. Sarmiento doesn't have a bad voice but it feels a little ill-fitting for the production. Or maybe more accurately its the production that doesn't suit his voice the best. "The Hardest Part (Radio! remix)" which I think was done by Austin Wood takes the opposite route of the original. Pushing fragments of the track through loads of effects and minimizing the vocal presence by comparison. It's pretty darned sloshed and, while still using the original as it's source, it refashions the original into a far more "electronic" track.
The second side brings the Nassau Caledonian remix of the title track. It retains the mellow vibe of the original and keeps many of the elements intact but really ups the "club" quotient with big splashy drum tracks and sequenced synth at points. There's some nice synthesized strings at the end too moving the piece briefly into a different realm. The ironic thing about this tape is that the "b-side" is actually far more interesting and my favorite track. "Pocahontas" feels a bit grittier, with wobbly drum programming and an ambling synth melody. There's a cool fuzz organ solo in there too. Again, Sarmiento's voice seems slightly out of place but as more elements enter throughout the song it seems to fit more and more. There's a brilliant little counter-melody with stabs of keyboard notes that is worth it's weight in gold. The song takes an unusual path moving from a slightly abstract, ramshackle drum and synth duet into a fully (de)formed pop ballad forgoing most of the rules along the way. It's vaguely similar to something like Dragging an Ox Through Water, where there's a real solid pop song core but the way it is ultimately outfitted is more than a little unexpected. This little nugget makes me curious about just what Sarmiento can do. I think he may be onto something with this "Pocahontas" thing.
Both releases are available in cassette, compact disc and downloadable formats from the label. Your call but you know the right decision is tape. You can also stream both releases from the Alchemist website too which is pretty sweet.

Sord - Endless Muselike Visions [Faux-Pas]

2011-01-29T13:51:00.000-08:00

A long while back I reviewed Sord's tape Rebuking the Despoiler which was all over the place and and all the more flippin' awesome for it. With Endless Muselike Visions (released on Sam Gas Can's Faux-Pas imprint) the band has morphed into what I would more or less call a pop band but while keeping the bizarre brainwaves of the last tape flowin' strong. I don't know much about Sord's membership other than Zach Phillips (Horse Boys, Nals Goring) is involved. That alone is enough to get me excited but there are a lot more twisted minds at work here than just Phillips'. Enough of the intro...
"Racer Boys" kicks things off with heavy tape damage, speedy bass piano arpeggios and a breakneck narrative (I think?) about racer boys. "Dada" (as in papa) is a pretty skewed attempt at a barbershop quartet couched in plenty of clutter. "Not the Woman" is their take on the tender, heart bearing ballad and it's pretty darn good ("How many times have I told you/I am not the woman that you thought I was"). There's a pretty excellent, smoky nightclub jazz piano solo in there too that gets roughed up by a snagged tape. "Life is a Plant" is half piano pop and rambling harsh noise vocals. "Nature Identical Rose" has Chris Cooper's name attached, perhaps he provided the cluster of chattering, sci-fi blip-bloops that dominate the track. "Onion Rings" is actually about onion rings and eating them with a girl over fuzzy, frenetic keyboard melodies. You would guess that "The Way She Moves" would be another pop track but instead it's the noiseiest yet, with loads of fuzz, feedback and garbled tape. Unlike the weirder non-music "Palestine," "Lebanon" is a bouncin' song about Lebanon. Although, the phrase "My home town, it's Lebanon!" is making me wonder if it's about Lebanon, Oregon or another Lebanon in the USA instead. "Chancing" is an anything goes, everyone's junk on the floor piece which segues into the fuzzed out lullaby of Dave Berry cover "Stranger."
The second side is especially good, starting off with "Cameron," an angular piece with a bit stronger guitar presence to go with the tinkling ivories and the multitude of distorted off-key voices. "Bad Ass Shoes" is a pretty sweet a capella interlude about some bad ass shoes ("he won them in a contest!") "Kill You" is a standout track. Imagine Beat Happening, then imagine them having fun and your in the area code of this track. It's got the best lyrics on the tape too, the infectious chorus goes "I'm gonna kill you!/And your family too!/I'm gonna kill you!/And all of your friends!" "Tyler Toys" is a great interlude of sped-up "jazz," possibly a keyboard demo or something. The most beautiful melody of the tape comes on the oddly titled piece "Skit." It features some sublime keyboard work which I'm assuming is coming from the fingertips of Mr. Phillips. "I Don't Want Your Fucking Head" is straight up D.C.-style thrash that doesn't even make it to the half-minute mark. "Neumonia" is another speedy piano track about driving somewhere fast, still not quite sure what it's about. There are some skronky ("Know What"), rockin' ("Dog Trena") and silly ("Doo the Right Thing") interludes leading up to another favorite "Rold Gold" which is an incredibly catchy two minute noise pop tour-de-force. The funny thing about this tape is that my favorite track is one that I'm fairly certain Sord had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with. "Goodby Goodnight" is a fantastically bitching Asian big band pop song from I-don't-when. Sooooooo goooooood. You can't help but just groove to it.
Tearing through 24 tracks in under 30 minutes the tape is a totally excellent ride and there's no way to get bored. It makes for a good cure to those drone doldrums we all experience sometimes. The tape is still in print at the label for a very sweet price of 5 bucks.

Caldera Lakes - Caldera Lakes [Død Univers]

2011-01-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

Caldera Lakes are back! It has been a little while since the duo dropped 3 great tapes on Deathbomb Arc, 905 Tapes and Blackest Rainbow and an even better CDr on Sentient Recognition Archive. Fine young upstart, Død Univers, did a nice job enshrining the tape in a package that's translucent through and through.

The first of two pieces on the first side is "Contained Etherealness." It's a clunky title to be sure but, on the other hand, it's pretty darn accurate. What has always made Caldera Lakes so interesting is the interplay between harshness, presumably supplied by Eva Aguila (who operates as Kevin Shields, the finest harsh noise artist around,) and trippy beauty which I am assuming comes from Brittany Gould's (a.k.a. Married in Berdichev) end of the bench. The piece shivers and quivers, with Aguila's trademark blips and shudders gliding ominously underneath, but it is really the glowing tones of Gould's voice that dominate, glistening and cascading across the piece. Rainsticks and reversed guitar hang around, but it really is all about the voice flowing into every nook and cranny and then how Aguila tastefully provides more confrontational counterpoints throughout. It's a piece that grows more and more gorgeous each time I listen to it. Though Aguila played things pretty soft on "Contained Etherealness," she gets her revenge on "Undefined." Heavy static rips through speakers initially, before Aguila fights to peel it back revealing Gould's mystic vocal melody and patient chiming bell. The noise teeters back and forth trying to contain its rage and frustration, grinding thunderously like the stuck ignition of a hurricane. Gould is up for it and attempts to sing above the din but carnage already has this song in it's back pocket and ain't giving it up.

"The Rune Escape" expands over the duration of side B. A series of bells jangle continually against soft but uneasy tones and unstable crackles. The duo keeps us in suspense, do we have another "Undefined" on our hands or a "Contained Etherealness"? Or something different altogether? Probably the last option, I'd say. The duo is built around aural texture but this seems more textural than usual. Or maybe it's that there are just a lot more textures at work at once in the piece. There are no vocals for a long time. It's clatter headed from two opposing arenas, acoustic and electric, somehow bonded together. As Gould's voice enters, she doesn't sing so much as speak and far to hazily to be intelligible. Aguila's electronics exhibit signs that something just isn't quite right on this spacecraft providing split second signal interruptions that seem to cause the rest of the sounds to hold their breath. And the Lakes go 3 for 3!

Caldera Lakes have definitely developed since I last heard them. Past releases featured two opposing aural personalities that wrestled constantly and dynamically and I loved it. This release finds the two integrating tenuously and I love it. Gould and Aguila continue to do no wrong, and more importantly, they continue to do something that no one else can.

This tape is absolutely worth grabbing, particularly if you've never heard this duo at work. This being it's second release, Død Univers has made a statement, putting a lot into creating this unusually fitting package for these otherworldly sounds. I'm looking forward to what both Caldera Lakes and Død Univers throw at us next.

Aaron Zarzutzki & Nick Hoffman - Psychophagi [Pilgrim Talk]

2011-01-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

This is the first full length from this Chicago duo (a cassingle was released simultaneously.) Nick Hoffman is a very busy man, running the Pilgrim Talk, Ghost & Son and Scissor Death labels as well as recording solo as Katchmare. Hoffman's work in duos is often some his best such as in Veyou or Back Magic but his teaming up with Mr. Zarzutzki is certainly his strangest and probably finest to date.
What I like about Psychophagi is it pulls no punches. I don't mean that in the typical aggressive/violent manner, but that the sounds delivered are immediate, tactile and incredibly detailed. There is no added murk or misty blankets of effects here. Just pure (whatever that means) sound.
Zarzutzki's weapon of choice is a turntable appropriated as a grinding wheel of sorts. Hoffman's tool chest is kept a little vaguer as an assortment of electric and acoustic objects. The first piece, "(Grotesque 1)," which takes the entirety of the first side, begins with something resembling an oscillator but with a more organic timbre. Another sound which could potentially be a horn of some sort, though I doubt it, joins briefly. The aforementioned grinding 'oscillator' sound, which I am going to guess is Zarzutzki's turntable, is the focus as it weaves a range of sounds over a mild mechanical hum. A few pieces of metal clatter cut through with sharp clangs and the turntable appears to get switched off, dimming the piece momentarily into silence. Skittering percussive noises break the silence and something that sounds akin to a few people whistling acts as a counterpoint.
The material on this LP was culled from a live performance and it feels like it. There is a patience at work; the pieces move forward naturally as they may not have with editing or overdubs. The piece continues to crawl forward on strangled tones; there were definitely many objects under duress during the making of the record. It is kind of interesting to hear how these mostly "non-musical" objects end up capturing the sound of a drum roll or, as previously mentioned, a oscillator or whining trumpet, to see the relationship instruments and "non-instruments." That even though the sounds produced are relatively similar, the method of production drastically changes the dynamics and compositional nature of a piece of music. The first side culminates with a thicker palette of sound which builds somewhat like a crescendo before ending on a squeak and silence.
I might as well say this now before I write any further. This record is for people who love sound, not just "music," but the phenomena of sound. If you fit into that category than this record should be pleasure to listen to.
The second side begins slightly more aggressively with some loud cling-clang. A mild but persistent sine-wave feedback tone hangs around with a loop that manages to fit somewhere between melody and rhythm. This second track "(Grotesque 2)" is much more rhythmically inclined, disseminating strange little grooves throughout its duration. Insistent blares of bowed metal litter the piece as well, continuing to carry it forward in all its unsettling, prickly glory. Underneath the louder swells is a continuous hi-pitched tone, sounding like a violin section slowly dragging 500 ft bows across an open string. A new bassier tone joins up and the pair has a nice little duet. It's the strongest, most “stand alone” piece on the LP; it seems most confident in where it’s heading. "(Grotesque 3)" wraps the record up. At the outset it’s much more percussive until settling in with a quiet tone sounding halfway between a free sax solo and a Furby. From there, the record moves into one of my favorite passages which is nearly silent. A sine tone just this side of existence hangs in the ether and every so often a sharp percussive hit shatters the near-silence. It's hard to explain what exactly makes that section so arresting but after having the record demand so much attention, you are listening so hard that it is a tad surreal to feel like you are hearing silence. The rest of the piece brings in deep groans and plaintive, nearly melodic electro-acoustic drones ending on a relatively pleasant note.
This is a very elusive, enigmatic record. It will probably captivate some and be met with disinterest from others. I’m certainly in the former camp and I hope there's plenty more to come from this duo. It isn’t the most brilliant record I’ve heard but it's one that I still haven’t been able to put my finger on, and that quality will keep me listening for a long time.
The record is outfitted with killer artwork (as usual) by Nick Hoffman. It's a very nice package all together. It's still available, in an edition of 118, and at 12 bucks postpaid that's a darn good price for such high quality visuals and audio.

Plastic Boner Band - The Way of All Flesh [Power Silence]

2011-01-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

Not really sure what to make of this project's chosen moniker. It doesn't sound "plastic" or like a "band" and, well, putting "boner" in there is just silly. The music is not though.

The Way of All Flesh is out for blood from the get go; the first of four untitled tracks unleashes an in your face, prickly static swarm, like someone let the angry hive loose underneath yr beekeepers mask. There's plenty of crushing rumbles in there too. The track attacks from all sides really. The feel of the record is vehemently bleak. Imagine an iron maiden (the torture device) crammed with a thousand sewing needles. You haven't got a shot in hell to catch your breath. The only "relief" you might find is when the hi-end harshness dies out for a couple seconds. Calling this "noise" is the fucking truth. There's not so much as a hint of melody here; all malice all the time. The second track lingers in limbo, droning in a mid-rangy sphere still with all the brittle fizz intact. The track will send you back to all the nightmares you've ever had in the dentist chair. A choir of tiny drills, chipping away a flurry of enamel. You finally get a chance to let the blood pressure mellow out with the next track. I've got a bit of a head cold as I'm reviewing this and man this bit of peace is much appreciated. A pulsing synth tone enters and exits in a cycle while a gust of wind blows. More loops creep in ever so patiently. Moving from the extreme minimalism of the first half into the slightly more, though still sparsely, populated second half, what sounds like a crusty locked groove grinds endlessly against quivering, barely-there drones. A hypnotic little rhythm develops almost making me forget the record's anguished first 20 minutes. The final track brings back the bristling noise but also manages to retain traces of the groove that was established in the previous track. The piece stomps forward with an irreverent melody. The signals are still steeped in saturation but this track has a trace of humanity to it. The modest melody struggles forward against the blizzard, sometimes just trying to hold its ground. It's the little engine that could for the noise set. Locking in with what could viably be an impending meltdown alarm, the track begins to hypnotize until shifting the gears, slowing the loop down a little. Nearing the halfway point the beat briefly cuts through the feedback fog. In spite of the still oppressive presence of unstoppable white, black, pink, green (etc.) noise this track comes off as slightly friendlier as there are flashes of melody, rhythms and general warbliness as opposed to the gridlocked brain attack of the first two. There is more of an evolution to the piece. And I always find squirrelier noise freak outs to be a warmer and more fuzzy experience than having a static warhead slowly crammed down my ear canal.

Despite the noticeably more "pleasant" second half, the first two tracks are a relentless, heavy duty ear cleaning; you like it or you don't. The tracks could probably put the scare in anyone, the question is will you embrace the fear?

The disc is apparently a CDr but everything about it (shrink wrap included) seems pro-pressed so good work there.

Hammer of Hathor - Vroom Psycho [Field Hymns]

2011-01-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

Following up the last review of tapes on Field Studies, is another sterling young label, this time outta Portland OR, called Field Hymns. Hammer of Hathor, also from Portland, is the subject of this review, the duo of Mark Kaylor and Heather Vergotis doing their terse, veiny improvmpositons with electric guitars, drums, trombone, tenor sax, analog synths, 1/4" tape loops and live tape processing. The only other release I've heard from HoH was their tape on Stunned which had some good stuff, but they're sounding sharper and leaner (and maybe a little bit meaner) on Vroom Psycho.

"Mt. Tabor" kicks off with tapped cymbals and a repeated guitar phrase. The track seems to be stuck in first gear, building towards something. When the levy breaks, it's modest but still a little cathartic. The drums give in to the groove and guitar begins to lay into its riff a bit more. When all's said and done though, it comes out like an 8 minute intro. An exercise in hypnosis. A bit like that Ex Models' Chrome Panthers record minus the copious amounts of octave fuzz, ring mod and nervous energy. This stuff sounds way more strung out than hopped up. "Alice and John" (a tribute to the Coltranes?) is a strange piece of trombone and sax. Each moves in short bursts, sometimes they seem to align and at others they don't seem to notice the other horn in the room. It features a similar approach to "Mt. Tabor" where repetition is pretty key but HoH go in a different direction not making their playing painstakingly exact, instead letting it wander drunkenly. "Air Pain" features a loopy, atonal guitar. Two of them actually. After a skronky conversation they lock into a seasick melody, sliding back and forth, back and forth. It is interesting how HoH dismantle the idea of the brief, repetitive riff over the course of the side ultimately descending into dual free guitar gibberish. You know how much I love guitar duos, so you know I'm on board with this track. Lunging between detuned primitivism and what are more or less riffs, the track as a cool vibe. The band obviously has interests broader than just the guitar, but they have a really unique dynamic as a guitar duo that I wouldn't mind seeing explored and developed further.

Side B kicks off with "Invincible Armour" which in my opinion is the most smokin' track on the tape by far. I don't mean to disparage the rest of the tape at all but simply share the straight-up "killerness" of this bastard. A guitar leftover from the previous track skronks around for a bit and another six string shows up quietly playing a simple riff. It gets louder little by little until BOOM, the drums enter out of nowhere and blow the track wide open. It's so damn grooving and heavy and dead-eyed and tough as nails. The track's relentlessly minimal rock 'n roll stylings could beat the masters themselves, A Frames, into a coma. Gnarly genius at work here. "For Guylene" closes out the tape. Commencing with offset loops of stuttered hi-pitched melodies and continuing with them too, the prickly tones simmer for around 8 and a half minutes repeating in slight permutations. At that length it's not the most engaging jam on the tape, particularly after following up the fireworks of "Invincible Armour," but I guess once you get your fill you can always fast forward to the end and start over on the A side. Or am I violating the cassette code of ethics in suggesting that?

There's some great stuff here, it's not totally cohesive as an"album" but I'm not really sure Hammer of Hathor is too interested in that sort of idea anyway. They have their style and they'd rather explore it through a number of instrumental avenues on a piece by piece basis.

Excellent(!) artwork all over for the tape, totally Vertigo-era Saul Bass-gone-futuristic stuff. Much adulation to Field Hymns. The tape is pro-dubbed and comes with a download code. Still in print.

56k - VR42C-1 [Field Studies]/White Prism - Vertical Trace [Field Studies]

2011-01-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

These two tapes are some of the first releases from a very promising young label out of Chicago called Field Studies. Each of these projects involve Josh Burke too, so Field Studies ain't doin' too bad for themselves.

56k is yet another moniker for Mr. Burke in solo mode. He keeps things pretty brief here moving though 6 pieces of exploratory synth work in 20 minutes. "Calls in the Night" fades in with a nice groove, insistent yet unhurried. Stringy, filtered synths weave their way around, getting tangled in the beat. The piece doesn't really get developed at all, but it doesn't really need to be either. "The Monitor" spikes the new-new age vein versus the cyborg cruisin' of the first piece. Chilly keyboards flutter like seagulls and pretty soon we're onto the placid "One Life" which absolutely feels like something DJ Shadow might have sampled for Endtroducing... if, you know, it had existed back then and he was into limited edition tapes. Gleaming globules of synth merge and spread coating the inside of the skull like cigarette smoke coats yr lungs. "Vibrations" continues along the same path, but it somehow has more of a twinkle in its eye as it soars along on its magnetic strip.

The next side kicks off with the aptly titled "Software Mind" which sounds a little thicker and more expansive than the last bunch of tracks. A bubbly sequencer percolates through the ultraglide synths crashing the party with a curveball. Well, "crash" is an overstatement, it's more just like it hangs around in the bushes outside the party. Either way, it's a nice piece. Kind of like the first side, my favorite track is the odd man out. "Create" is the best cut of the tape, a cascading, shining shrine of keyboard effervescence. Lovely melodies tumble into themselves endlessly making the wishing well deeper and more magical by the second. Great call to make it the finale.

White Prism finds Burke joined by Ben Billington, drummer in the killer free jazz trio Tiger Hatchery. As far as his work outside TH goes, I've heard his gnarly, exhausting 92 minute drum solo as part of the Brave Grave series on 905 Tapes but I've yet to hear Quicksails, a synth/percussion project of sorts that I'm guessing has more in common with White Prism than Billington's work elsewhere.

Vertical Trace is more elongated that the 56k tape as it spreads 3 pieces over a half hour. Otherwise it has a very similar feel to that tape, muted blue-grey sustain as the cover art implies buffered by spacey but tasteful textures. Where I think White Prism maybe takes a little bit of an edge over VR42C-1, and this may just be do to having an additional brain at work, is that there's a little more depth and subtle details that reveal themselves after multiple listens. (That said I think 56k may be my pick between the two.) "Paramnesia"the first piece is very soothing, managing to be weightless without letting itself get too adrift and aimless. Over the side long duration, the piece covers a good amount without straying too far from the signpost they initially started at. Coming out of the misty keyboard dew, the track slides out on a sequenced synth melody.

"Above the Dream Grid" picks up where Side A left off eventually leveling off into placid keyboard ruminations. The piece does settle into an impeccably lovely lilting melody which seems to float just out of reach until cleanly evaporating. One the best moments of the tape to be sure. "Shadowcrest" is the most robust piece here and the darkest as well. While the others aimed close to the ethereal bullseye, "Shadowcrest" allows itself to get enveloped in darker, nearly hissing synth tones. Who would have thought White Prism would end in a black hole.

Both tapes are pro-dubbed, in nice packages with a good dose of geometric shapes, planes and lines. Each is still in print and limited to 100. If this is yr steez, get a move on.

GDC - Jours Avec Jennie [No Label]/Horse Boys - III/IV [Feeding Tube]

2011-01-04T23:11:00.000-08:00

I am ashamed that it has taken me this long to write about this GDC cassette. Vermont pop genius Zach Phillips (Horse Boys, Sord, Nals Goring, OSR Tapes etc.) has delivered unto us a motherfuckin' faux-French masterpiece and I've been sleeping on the review for months! The fact that I received the tape literally a week after he finished recording it(!) makes it only that much worse, though on the day I got it I did listen to the tape 5 or 6 times in a row in my walkman as I walked around in the sun for a few hours. So here I am to ask forgiveness and shower the copious amounts of praise on this tape that it deserves.
After "Les Regles" a half minute opener of pounding synth chords, a refrain of "I don't make the rules, I just make them" and background "Hoo! Hah!"s Phillips brings the heaviest hitter. "Leur Heure" is one of the best songs of the year an absolutely gorgeous mid-tempo number featuring French lyrics and too many wonderful synth and vocal melodies to count. It is an incredible specimen of pop craftsmanship, the song takes unexpected turn after turn growing more and more infectious and lovely. Serious masterwork as far as 2 minute pop songs go. "Why Did You Reste" fills its 52 seconds with a catchy walking bass line and vocal melody to go along with its Sega Genesis-style synths. "D'une Journee" is another wondrous track featuring a bevy of keyboards all chiming in with their own unique melodies and voices. Though the tape has a very modest and warm feel, there is some serious ambition here with the staggering amounts of synths and melodies (even copping one briefly from "Poker Face") and multi-tracked vocals. I'm happy to report that Phillips' ambition is fully realized as well. I'm reminded of the mouth organ in Huysmans' À Rebours where each new melody and voice is a new and surprising flavor on the palette. "Les Histoires" changes things up beginning in a jaunty, vigorously strummed acoustic guitar in addition to the keyboards, adding a touch of rawness to the thoughtfully composed nature of the tape. "Flow Vait" comes off as rather minimal in the midst of the other songs here considering it only employs a few keyboards and vocal tracks. "Statues Francais #1-3" is the first of a series of instrumental interludes featuring piano; they make for very nice changes in pace as they still have the same heart but the stripped down dynamic breaks up the album in an effective way. The interlude leads into "Haut Contre Bas" probably the second finest piece on the tape. It kicks off a seriously infectious melody and light-footed French lyrics that skip through the song. There's an uptempo hi-hat via an unseen drum machine which pumps up the energy as well as Phillips delivers some soaring solos and choruses. Really brilliant. "Statues Francais #4" features a bit of vocals over warbly, rolling piano making for a nice lead into "Comment J'ai Aime Une Fille" which is a grand 30 second piece brimming with 18th century classical extravagance and a bit of sports arena excitement. Great way to end the side.
The next side opens with the jittery grooves of "Statues Francais #4" and continues on with the title track, an unabashed piano ballad. "Reverser Temps" is another standout in an album filled with priceless moments. It features one the prettiest melodies on the tape, and thankfully Phillips takes time to even give it a solo spot in middle of the piece. "Time Time Time Time" features dueling piano and synth formed into a boney ballad. "Couer de Lion" unexpectedly moves in between stately ballad and ambling doo wop and both are good with me. "Idiomes" is another fantastic selection. Over a relentless, pulsing bass synth riff, Phillips himself carries the melody delivering some of his best vocal work on the tape. I only wish the piece was developed past a minute and fifteen seconds. "PPPPP" is a cute little song with a slight circus feel in the melody. "Statues Francais #7-13" is a nearly 3 minute pastiche of various piano works. "Hotels D'Aeroport" barely makes it over a minute which is a damn shame as its the peppiest, most feel good thing on the cassette. Seriously great composition, I am amazed at how much Phillips packs into a minute. "Statues Francais #13" wraps things up unassumingly with more piano fragments.
One the best cassettes of the year and hands down the best pop record I have heard this year. This is a must hear!

Also along for the ride is III/IV, Phillips's first tape on Feeding Tube under his Horse Boys moniker.

The first side, known also as III, is probably the weirdest thing I've ever heard come out of the Horse Boys mouth. It's a half-hour scatterbrained blitz of upright piano pieces, plunderphonic shenanigans and tape mulch. It's such a clusterfuck that there's an accompanying list of the 20 "tracks" denoting from which second to which second they last. Even with such a detailed map it's easy to get turned around in the madness.

Beginning with two intros, "Intro to Bundt" is brief, part TV static, tape crunch and pretty piano. "Intro to Jim" revs into motion a chugging bass piano melody before splintering into piano improvisations. "Bill Wells Data" features more piano sketches but ends with a nice duo piece with a horn. "Intro to Blintz" has a cool eerie organ that duels a little with the piano which eventually takes over with Thelonious Monk-on-speed melodies. "Xmas + Easter" is the first track to hit the 3 minute mark and starts out with a shambling trio arrangement of piano, guitar and tambourine. Surprisingly, their jam lasts nearly two minutes before being interrupted by a conversation of two flamboyant males, which is in turn interrupted by barking dogs and lo-fi ivory tinkling. Phillips is built for speed on "TV Tour" tearing though the keyboard before getting cut off by pause button play, next comes a really beautiful melody again cut off by the pause button and the track moves forward in the same fashion. "Intro to Kings" features more cut-up banter with the occasional piano flourish. This continues into "How the West" which is probably even weirder, squeaky stutters (tape manipulation?) and sparse piano notes. "House Call" brings in a synth to duet with piano and they make for a very nice team for about 30 seconds. "Birds Toucans" is one of my favorites as it delivers an unusual multi-tracked piano piece and strangely enough, Phillips lets it run for almost the duration of the track before cutting it off! 'TV Tour" is just weird with frenetic pitter patter and icy, brittle piano notes. Organ turns up in the middle of the piece and it's a very welcome addition. Phillips stitches together more pretty piano fragments and found-sound conversations for the rest of the track. "Lessons" opens with a cyclical piano melody that slowly morphs over the course of a minute or so before it jumps ship and another multi-tracked piano piece steps in. There is then a flash back to the trio piece that cropped up earlier. The side is a very odd piece of patchwork, pretty difficult to get a handle on even after multiple listens but there are certainly some treasures littered throughout.

The flip side IV is an interesting transitional work between Phillips's Horse Boys style work and his work on the GDC tape. Beginning with a standout, the stumbling pop song of "Lime." Despite how many great melodies Phillips throws at you, he manages to keep you off balance through the piece so you can never quite nestle in like it seems you will on first glance. "PD Jeep" sees a few pianos and keyboards dueling it out with a random drum machine, making for an unusual jazz-pop morsel. "Friendship Rd" is a friendly pop ditty that might as well be a children's song "Friendship road, my friend/There is no other road" with a jaunty, jiving piano to match. "IV" is another very good pop song caught in a whirlwind of 4-track experimentation. There's a little of everything in here it seems, hearty doses of piano, keyboard and voice but also some bongo drums(?) and sound manipulation. "Cole" is a short piano instrumental which segues into "Days on Earth" which may be the best track on the tape. It's hard to describe the relentlessly buoyant nature of the track, even with all the unexpected left turns Phillips throws in over its 4 minutes. The song fits somewhere in between old timey, new wave and 60s psych pop. It's strange but, man, will I take it! "IX" is a very elegant 18 seconds and "Tin" flirts with being a high-energy rave-up but decides to keep things plowing at a more manageable level, saving the real wackiness for loopy synth solos. "D" is a good one that lets the vocals carry the melody for a change and "Kanabala" and "Peach" segue into the longest cut on the tape. "E Key" puffs its chest out with a striding lead off melody, occasionally changing things up with some lo-fi drum programming on the chorus before ever so slowly bowing out. Phillips sends the tape off with "Make the Call," a vaguely Beach Boys-inspired piano pop piece complete with a whistled outro. A perfect tune to go out on.

In my estimation IV is the stronger of the two sides but, hey, I got a pop heart so what do you expect? The tape doesn't top the first Horse Boys cassette on OSR Tapes but since the fine folks at Feeding Tube have put this out in an edition of 200, unlike that first tape, you actually have a good chance at snagging one of these.

Basically, what you should take away from this review is grab anything Zach Phillips gets his fingerprints on!

Various Artists - A Fundamental Experiment [No Label]

2011-01-01T20:05:00.000-08:00

A Fundamental Experiment is a compilation LP curated by Matt Erickson (Sudden Oak, Radiant Husk, the Bezoar Formations label) as a benefit for his bandmate in guitar/sax duo Sudden Oak who miraculously survived a fall from the roof of a three story building. You can get the full story here, but needless to say it's a good cause and all proceeds from the sale of this record go to it.

As far as the music goes, Erickson has assembled a who's who of the current psych scene along with a few names unknown to me. The record exists entirely of Neil Young covers, though I am not clear on how that came about I will take it. Julian Lynch kicks off with "Sedan Delivery" delivering a shambling, auto-wah'd ditty brimming with filtered vocals and tambourine. Metal Rouge contributes "Helpless" steeped in more fuzz than I almost thought possible. The vocals are obscured to the point of unintelligibility and the lead guitar ripples and scratches in static. The only thing coming through semi-clearly being the lethargic thud and crash of the drums. Good track. Sam Goldberg flips the script and brings a straight-up ambient cover of "Transformer Man" turning the electro/new wave jam into an atmospheric composition. Swanox comes next with "Thrasher." There's a minimal approach here like the Goldberg track except Swanox retains the "songness" of the original with just a voice and a vigorously strummed, fuzzed out guitar. On what has to be my favorite cut of the record, Sun Araw infiltrates "Barstool Blues" with his sleepy eyed hippie-chic for a match made in heaven. Generous helpings of fuzz and wah, great guitar leads, relentlessly mellow conga and fantastically buried falsetto vocals little the track. So, so jammable. I love it.

Side B opens with Stag Hare doing "Cortez the Killer." Layering sheets of echoing guitar on lackadaisical drums and topping it all off with soft, effected vocals, Stag Hare delivers a real nice, almost breezy rendition. Laurentide Ice Sheet, the first of three names unknown to me, changes things up with a relatively faithful cover of "Southern Man." Or at least about as faithful as a synth & drum machine cover can be. Anguished vox and octave-fuzz-laden guitar leads pave the way though. Another one of my favorites here. Trevor Healy brings an acoustic guitar (or perhaps a banjo) along for the ride on "Round and Round" which is the first of the record I think. He keeps with the overall vibe of the record supplying enough reverb to smooth out all of the corners. " Avocet is the last of the new names and their cover of "Expecting to Fly" is pretty darn good. Beginning sparsely with vocals and a lonely thumb piano, the track recalls Larkin Grimm and other such minimal folk artists. Matt Mondanile sheds the Ducktails moniker for his very capable and unadorned cover of "Look Out for My Love." Sticking strictly to voice and acoustic guitar Mondanile really just lets the quality of the song shine through. Very good track, another favorite.

This a good collection of material and the Neil Young aspect of it unites the record in an interesting way. If you like any of the artists involved here (including Neil Young) you should definitely pick up a copy of this seeing as your money would be going to a very worthy cause. Edition of 300 with silk-screened jackets and insert, though apparently Matt is down to less than a hundred copies. Get the record here.

Oh, and check out Sudden Oak too if you haven't, they rule.

Rats - Rats [No Label]

2010-12-05T21:20:00.000-08:00

When it comes to jazz, I don't typically go for the smooth stuff or the soft stuff or cool stuff. I prefer things fiery, plenty of wrong notes to go with the right ones and well, you get the idea.

Enter new LA trio Rats whose music fits into the former camp much more than the latter and, inexplicably, I love this record. I don't know if this is "jazz" exactly, at least not how it's often conceptualized. It certainly isn't "soft jazz" or "cool" or any of the styles I mentioned earlier. Maybe it's "post-jazz" or something, but I don't really understand what that's supposed to mean. Anyway, screw genre labels and all that cause this is some great stuff and I'm just gonna go ahead call it jazz and be done with it.

Now that unnecessary intro/tirade is over, Rats is a trio of Eric Kiersnowski on baritone guitar, Jonathan Silber on tenor sax and Kelly Kawar on bass guitar. Eric and Jonathan both played in Godzik Pink, a somewhat similar but much more hyper and skronky combo, which was one of my favorite discoveries as a 14 or 15 year old. Anyhow, not really why I am sharing so much of myself here, onto the sounds.

The first of 11 tracks, "Milan Slaw" is a mellow introduction to the record. Guitar and bass strings intertwine as Silber contributes a gentle, fuzzy sax solo. They all break into a fantastic arpeggiated melody that is far too brief before allowing the rest of the piece to languish lazily in the warm sun. Silber delivers another great solo as Kawar and Kiersnowski pick out an accompanying melody with precision. The record is so consonant and well-put together that I figure it has to be largely composed; if I found out this was completely improvised my head would explode. The dexterous trio still certainly allows for improvised touches, such as in "Curly's Notebook", but to be honest it's actually pretty refreshing to hear someone take the jazz vernacular and move in a slightly different direction, creating something incredibly beautiful without sacrificing any compositional complexity whatsoever. There definitely seems to be an emotional component to Rats' music but it's never sentimental. They are certainly unafraid to throw in a jarring note so when they deliver a sweetly melodic line it's almost breathtaking. Plus, they tend to drop a gem and simply move on to another, rarely repeating themselves.
"Raunchy Fax" flirts with raucousness with a phenomenal, frantic little heat-up before slipping into an elegant, yearning melody and then jettisoning back into the clattering guitar and sax bleats of the first half of the track. I mentioned that Rats rarely repeat themselves, well they indulge me in what is absolutely the most gorgeous, untouchable piece on an album of winners. I'm counting the days before some smart director selects "It's Lonely at the Top" to score the pivotal scene in his or her film. It doesn't matter what the scene is, whether actors can act or if the cinematography is shit; this song is so powerful and heartbreaking, it will choke you up. Lead by a perfect, lilting saxophone melody, the guitarists provide subtle backing before slowly unfurling some lovely lead lines of their own the saxophone gently hums. Unspeakably magical. "Sentimentally Titled" is jauntier thanks to the "rhythm section" of Kawar and Kiersnowski but its another melodically rich piece that evolves persistently throughout its two minutes and eighteen seconds. "Bee Charming" mostly plays it cool with flashes of urgent sax pushing their way in. "Squirrels Gone Wild" features an especially complex web of notes as each instrument weaves in and out of each other adding a bright, bubbly melody to finish it off.

I like the first 2:15 of "Pumping Irony" fine but man, the melody that comes at the last minute and a half is some of Rats' best work on the record. It's a fleeting 20 seconds and I am perpetually hitting the rewind button but it also marks a wonderful shift in the piece.

"Wasabi Break," at six minutes, is the longest cut on the record (most fit snugly between 2 to 4 minutes.) Rats use the extra time for an extended breakdown which sees an ascending melody dissipate into a ruminating string (can't tell whether it's coming from the bass or guitar) that comes off a bit like a vibraphone. It's an interesting moment in the record, hearing only that string vibrate in solitude for a second before the rest of the band slowly crawls back in. "Ghost Gang" is another quick one that comes right to the point, juxtaposing an initial pleasant melody with a loose, skonk-lite section with things getting even stranger from there as the band tries to marry the two approaches. "Teriyaki Milkshake" is the finale and it's a good one. I hear Ornette Coleman and his slippery, elliptical but melodic style of play in the first half but Rats morph the piece into another one of their signature mournful, melodically rich passages. It's a perfect way to end a beautiful record.

Rats is an immensely enjoyable listen and a pretty damn fine record overall. The pro-pressed CD is self-released as far as I can tell so hit up the band's website for a copy. Recommended.

Giancarlo Bracchi - Silicon Immortality [Circuit Torçat]

2010-11-20T08:33:00.000-08:00

Silicon Immortality is a nice half-hour tape by NY synth artist Giancarlo Bracchi, released on Barcelona sound artist Juan Matos Capote's excellent Circuit Torçat label.

The tape finds Bracchi creating two side-long pieces with a Roland Juno-6 synthesizer and a theremin. The first side features smooth circular tones, almost like playing wine glasses, which Bracchi jumpstarts a delayed synth melody over the top of. Bracchi layers further, adding a synthetic clicking/ringing tone as well as plenty of theremin and synth swoops. The piece gets better as the rhythmic synth figure gets pushed back a touch and the theremin's warbling coos and synth manipulations take over. It's a total jam, the initial figure is explored and improvised on through the entire piece. Around halfway though, Bracchi introduces a really nice melody. It only manages to peek through at certain points but man, I love it. The melody is able to shine through later though Bracchi navigates his Juno into rougher territory whipping up some rumbling noise. In a surprising move, everything drops out except that initial synth figure. Bracchi goes wild on either his Juno or theremin, I can't quite tell, making for a clusterfuck of delayed tones. The melody that I love so much does return to send the track off in its final seconds. Bracchi knows when he has a good thing.

The second side kicks off with an immediately more ethereal vibe. There's heavy delay creating a cascading melody that continues before being phased out for a more skeletal, echoing arpeggio. It's actually pretty groovy, Bracchi moves heavily filtered tones through a jaunty set of delay pedals making for a surprisingly buoyant riff. Bracchi gradually adds subtle layers in the final minutes, slowly expanding the simple but elegant piece. He still squeezes a minor Juno freakout in the final minutes, unwilling to go down completely like a spoonful of sugar. At the end of the piece he seems ready to go all over again, with a melody standing tall by its lonesome.

Overall, this is a cool tape, definitely worth a look from all the synth heads out there. I probably prefer the first side as it reminds me a bit of synthesizer film scores from the 70s and 80s. But I love to hear all analog set-ups and you know I'm always psyched to hear the underused theremin back in action!

Limited to 50, with great artwork and matching color case per Circuit Torçat's typically classy aesthetic. Check it out and pick up the other killer Torçat tapes while yr at it.

Black Eagle Child - "Born Underwater" b/w "The Arquebus" [Avant Archive]/Knit Prism - Growing [Avant Archive]

2010-11-17T18:27:00.000-08:00

Avant Archive is a brand new label, only a few releases old, run by Mr. Black Eagle Child himself, Michael Jantz. These two tapes by Black Eagle Child and Knit Prism are catalog numbers AA001 and AA002, respectively.

First of all, it's cool Avant Archive has emerged with a fully formed aesthetic, a rigid, rectangular format with matching white cases. This Black Eagle Child cassette features material dating back to 2008. Jantz makes a vague note in the label's description that these recordings come before BEC developed its "compositional process." I'm not really familiar with Black Eagle Child's ouvre, so I can't comment on any differences to later work, but I can say I dig this tape.

Side A, "Born Underwater," starts out with a wonky synth whose slow skronk is reduced to a crackle upon the entrance of keyboard ether and distant field recordings. Further down the road Jantz brings in a music-box-styled melody making for a very odd but definitely delectable arrangement of noises. They flitter along as a looming, fuzzy bass synth drops an authoritative tone. Near the end Jantz digs up a keyboard melody augmented by rubbery synth swoops. From there though, Jantz switchs things up putting all tones into a consonant line with a flood of atmospheric, though not completely soft, drones. Overall, what I love about the piece is the perplexing contradiction it presents; how is it so mellow, so tranquil and so prickly and incongruous?
As the title notes, "Born Underwater" is backed with "The Arquebus" which also starts out just as weird, probably weirder, with a woozy, percussive, pitch-shifted and cut-up guitar. There's some very subtle synth resting in the background but Jantz really pushes the wacky guitar mangling to the forefront. You feel the floor slowly begin to give way as a deep deep deep bass undertow lies just below the surface slowly swollerin' you up. Other than a touch of keyboard/guitar here or there, (always left just outside the frame) that's the bulk of the piece. The side covers less ground than the first but it gets higher points in the sustained mood category. Definitely some focused, furrowed brow, what-is-going-on business here. I am down for sure.
This is the first I've heard of Knit Prism, a project of Mike Pouw who runs the stellar House of Sun label. This tape pulls mellow guitar moves over two sides in under a half hour. The first side "Crooked Drifts" is a dizzy wanderer. Multiple layers of guitar slowly jangle over one another which make for a steady stream of blissful confusion. The strings are all a smoke screen letting a few strong notes harmonically punch through. Some birds cackle at one point but before long we move into the side's second part, a bassier drone fills the spectrum with a few melodic touches trying to squeeze their way in. The fidelity is so smudgy it's hard to tell what's going on but the piece gets nicer and more melodic as it goes on. It gets really nice. There are some lovely melodies which are so far removed yet their essence shines through and colors the thick drones in a wonderful manner.
The flip side is titled "Sentimental Elevations" is more lo-fi guitar ruminations with birds creaking in the background. Before long the tape rattles and warbles and the piece shifts into clearer, intertwining guitar melodies. The melodies grow and grow interlocking and joining up with each other as birdcalls snake through the gaps. The confidence of that section soon disappears into a quieter melody matched up against what sounds like flowing water. Weird rumbles pop up intermittenly, never allowing you to get too comfortable with the gently humming strings.
Avant Archive doesn't do limited editions which is pretty cool, that said though, these are both in stock with a few other tapes. It looks to be a sweet label in the making, check it out.

Xiphiidae - Pisces Muse [Stunned]

2010-11-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

Now I've only heard a small chunk of Jeff Astin's considerable output as Xiphiidae but damn if I don't feel like Pisces Muse is the best thing he's ever done, as Xiphiidae or with any other project for that matter.

To try to communicate the sound of the tape to you the only "sounds-like" card I can really play is that it's somewhat similar to Spencer Clark's stuff as Monopoly Child or Black Joker. The tape however is so much more dense, dynamic and environmental. Clark has done some great work under those guises but you're also locked in a single frame of mind when you listen to those records. Astin's work here is exceedingly dimensional; it puts you in a trance, it puts you in a zone but it also puts you in a whole new mental locale. You get whisked around in an abstract, psycho-geographical travel tape. Leaves crunch, water drips, occasionally people murmur but simultaneously and continuously Astin is rocking your body with relentlessly catchy, organic micro-beats. I don't know for sure what Astin had at his disposal here, but it sounds like at least a hand drum, tapes, a thumb piano and keyboard too.

Coming to life in mucky tape warble, the jams rolls on a 1-2-3-4 drumbeat against a heavy forest of thunder and trail life. Changing up to a speedy jaunt of elliptical loops, it's a race between the trickling creek, jittery thumb piano and thump-thump-thumping hand drum. And the jam pumps along teeming with life. It's particularly interesting at the piece's end when Astin gradually peels back the layers revealing the pulsing tendons underneath.

The next one slows up the tempo a tad, giving the listener a deeper look into the sinewy tendrils of the beat. The editing and pacing here are both fantastic. There's a handful of pieces across the forty-ish minute runtime, but within a "piece" Astin will often change things up, for instance introducing outside recordings of garbled speech and whatnot then seamlessly re-mold the beat for the new environment. I actually really dig the last set of rhythms on Side A as they're much more direct, offsetting the effusive, abstract sound collage.

Most of the beats move at a swift clip, remaining chill but consciously very active. Though the tape seems to be about an effortless flow Astin, doesn't mind jarring you back into reality with a bit of tape abuse at the end of the first side.

The next side seems to raise the bar even more. A strange, repeated groan and burbling, hyperactive percussion lead off the piece making for what is possibly the most tangled area in the tape. From that extra-jittery, jangled piece, Astin moves into a beat constructed from tape mulch and bird calls, while a repeating keyboard swell lulls and locks you into a serious hypno-coma. A hand drum enters gradually at some point, but only to lend a helping hand not to take over. It drops out soon and the piece subsists on the single keyboard motif until a violent bit of tape warble puts it down. I'd say it's one of the finest compositions here, rather than just grooving on the beat (which I'm perfectly fine with) there's more of an ebb and flow here. Sounds show up and disappear and the piece evolves with each new change. Later, the drum nearly takes a backseat to the aquatic splashes and drops, as the keyboard hums a relentless two-note tune. Halfway through Astin flips the script, imploding the beat a little, leaving a frantic stammering drum and a mellow, strung-out keyboard mussed with static tape blurs. The final piece is way shorter than the others but still very good despite it's comparative brevity. Astin seems to have trouble getting his Walkman working as the piece begins with whirs attempting to get the piece rolling. After a few moments, it takes off on its own, constituting the most laidback piece of the tape culminating in keyboarded windchimes.

It seems like about every month or so Stunned has been dropping something essential this year. Here's your next installment. Grab this.

Sekstett - Gjerstad, Skaset, Grenager, Tatjord, Molstad, Moe [Conrad Sound]/Bay/Oslo Mirror Trio - Bay/Oslo Mirror Trio [Conrad Sound]

2010-11-12T09:35:00.000-08:00

A pair of great jazz/ improv CDs here from Norwegian label Conrad Sound.

Sekstett is just that. It features six players on clarinet, guitar, cello, double bass, as well as french horn and tuba! The first piece "6.1" is the shortest at 5 minutes and its a very nice, spacious piece. There isn't a consistent melody throughout but despite the occasional passage that lets a single instrument ruminate, it's overall fairly mellow and melodic due to the bassist's work. As the piece travels the sextet moves into stranger, more dissonant territory. The upright bass sits in as a percussionist and the cellist saws away like a violinist high up on the fingerboard. The following piece "6.2" picks up in bizarre territory. It's hard to describe the frightening things going on in the headphones now, the wind instruments literally sound like wind whistling through the forest. The cello sounds like it's being rubbed with sand paper and the bass and possibly guitar too are producing guttural animal-like groans. It's not much more comforting when the six join together for a droning passage. The clarinetist improvises a nice little melody which is a bit of a surprise but before long it's back to the creep and crackle. You think the piece is winding down but it's a fake out. The group gets jittery and rhythmic in the last four minutes or so, balancing slaps, scratches, squeaks and bleats. I love how tactile and dynamic the record sounds; it has this strange ambiance, a light natural reverb to the instruments lending an amazingly tactile feel to the record. I wonder what kind of space this was recorded in, as it was the perfect choice for this heady exercise in friction. "6.3" lets the wind instruments loose. They don't get particularly wild but the rumbling string section permits them to wax melodic over top rather than having to swallow their notes like in other tracks. The tuba provides an ominous, bowel-curdling dirge taking the piece in an oddly dark and gelatinous direction. "6.4" has a great opening, with pitter-pattering muted guitar and cello, the bass and tuba back the track with slow, subterranean swells. The other wind instruments get in on it too making for a very tense push/pull between random sputtering clacks and a slow slow slow motion throb. With around 4 minutes to go, one of the wind instruments breaks everything up with a piercing cry and it's a cautious comeback as the group gradually reconvenes. When they do, they somehow create bizarre UFO transmission/cooing gremlin textures. This is probably the most out there track, and it might be the best because of it. The final piece "6.5" features heavy bowing from the bass which the other members rally around. The result is seasick slo-mo jazz with various solos happening at once while the arrangement sways queasily forward. It's easily the most active track here as all players seem to be getting agitated and jumpy, spurting forth ideas with a variety approaches. All in all though, the group impressively keeps everything together, united in their dissonance. The breakdown with 3 minutes to go, the first point that introduces some semblance of structure, is excellent with a repeated string pluck and wary drones surrounding it. I don't know anything about these players so I don't know how long they've have been at this game but there's a pretty stunning maturity here paired with a hunger for the strange and challenging. No one overplays; there's an incredible, nearly telepathic, chemistry present here which is staggering considering there's six individual minds and 12 sets of hands at work here.

Both artists are sextets but the Bay/Oslo Mirror Trio try to trick you. The explanation behind the name is that three members Guro Skumsenes Moe, Havard Skaset and Kyrre Laastad (on double bass, guitar and drums respectively) hail from Oslo. The other three Tony Dryer, Ava Mendoza and Jacob Felix Heule (Ettrick) also on double bass, guitar and drums, hail from the bay area in California. So you got the Bay/Oslo thing, and since they are two trios with mirrored instrumentation they decided to put it all together as Bay/Oslo Mirror Trio.

"V1" is the first of 11 tracks, beginning with a lot of silence and only an occasional thump of bass or drums, there's some swelling e-bowed guitars later before it comes to a close. The latter continues in the second piece "H1" but it's the basses that really add the most dimension here. The glistening cymbals and gently buzzing guitars highlight the see-sawing grey clouds of the uprights. "V2" switches things up moving into certified skronk territory. I can't decide whether I like the Trio better in their controlled mode or when they throw caution to the wind and let loose completely as they do here. Lots of squiggly lines, coming mainly from the guitars, but the rhythm section(s) do a great job navigating between freak out and a keeping of the beat. "V3" continues to groove in that direction. The basses are rubbed raw over lightly jangling drum kits and wildly pitch-manipulated guitar smears. "H2" is all rattle, rustle and crackle quietly drifting by. "H3" drags by rather than drifts. I mean that literally, it sounds like the sextet is dragging tin cans, bicycles and other junk down the street. A continuous 4 minute scrape. "V/H1" (VH1??) is a little more in line with the kind of stuff on the Sekstett disc, an atmospheric, slowly clattering creep-jazz affair indulging in silence almost as much as sound. The next piece, "V/H2," retains the vibe but takes a more maximal approach with each player filling his/her respective space. The sextet always creates an interesting array of textures, somehow managing to reconcile strange electronic ones from the guitars with that of the drums and double basses. "V4" even dabbles a little in 50s sci-fi soundtracks which is fun to hear all mixed up in this improv/jazz blender. "H4" showcases the guitars a bit more as the two provide loopy lines over a dim, rumbling percussion section. The first 10 pieces range from 2-4 minutes, but the finale "V5" nearly hits the 10 minute mark. Starting slowly, each instrument contributes a sound here or there to an overall fractured rhythm. It's interesting hearing the Trio in a long form piece after 10 brief segments. They definitely use the space, the nervous energies often present in their shorter pieces are still present here but manifest themselves in a tenser fashion. The jitters are now a constant, mild but debilitating presence rather than violent unexpected spasms. The piece's wind down at the end is excellent as the group locks into a lurching cyclical rhythm before pulling the plug.
Both discs are great, I probably lean a little toward Sekstett because of the fascinating instrumentation and I dig that it's entirely acoustic but you really can't go wrong with either. It looks like Conrad Sound only has a handful of releases to its name so far but it definitely appears to have its finger on the pulse. I'll have to keep an eye on it. Check these out.

Skin Graft/Dim Dusk Moving Gloom - Split [Rainbow Bridge]

2010-11-10T19:16:00.000-08:00

This is a heavy duty noise tape from the curiously Care Bears-y titled, outside-of-Baltimore label Rainbow Bridge.

Skin Graft is an artist that I've heard of for a while now but this is the first time any sounds have met my ears. SG fills the side with a single piece, "You Victim." It's sort of buttoned-down harsh noise. There's a persistent static rumble, upon which Mr. or Ms. Graft drops more splashes of guttermouthed, feedback squirms. It doesn't sound pained, just unhealthy. The artist seems to really be opposing cleanliness here, this sounds like licking the dust and grime in the corners of window frames. The piece morphs into this weird sputtering, throbbing version of itself, most likely the result of one too many crossbreeding experiments. It's actually kinda groovy in about the most ungroovy manner possible. The chorus of stuck engines putter for a while before Skin Graft brings the heat and lays on the static real thick-like. That is until the signal dies a slow, Jiffypop-sounding death.
Things are even more morbid on the flipside. Dim Dusk Moving Gloom delivers the blistering "The Gnashing of Teeth" unto your lily-white ears. There's a hefty dose of noise here but it's the gliding organ tones glimmering underneath that really give me the willies. Justin Marc Lloyd, Rainbow Bridge label head and architect behind the project (whose moniker has since been changed to Pregnant Spore), delivers an excellently constructed piece here. The new agey, holy tabneracle choir thing is perfectly balanced with an insanely active harsh-free-noise bludgeoning. Lloyd doesn't just coat the piece in 12 DOD Death Metal pedals, it sound like the guys is actually ripping up speakers, crushing circuit boards and probably spilling a little virgin blood on the altar for good measure. The piece is eerie, transcendent and relentless; Lloyd gradually dials down the noise over the duration of the piece but it somehow becomes more intense as it gets more calm. This is the creepiest misty pipe organ this side of Carnival of Souls by the way. One motherfucker of a side, I'm tellin' ya.

Pretty darn solid tape overall. The second side is obviously my favorite but Skin Graft has some good stuff to offer too. It comes with disgusting artwork as you can see but don't let that deter you. Still in print in a run of 50

You can check out some of Dim Dusk Moving Gloom's side on the Bourbon County Seattle Halloween Special

Rambutan - Narrow Sky [Ghetto Naturalist Series]

2010-11-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

Rambutan a.k.a. Eric Hardiman, proprietor of the smokin' Tape Drift label and member of upstate NY psych crews Burnt Hills and Century Plants, is a very busy man. The guy drops tapes like its nobody's business on labels across this wonderful nation and beyond, and defying all logic, the numerous releases he continually fires out are all really good. This one, released on Ghetto Naturalist Series (run in part by Nathaniel Brennan/Cruudeuces) is absolutely some of the finest work Hardiman has done.

Narrow Sky kicks off with "Half Circle," an unusually aquatic zone for Mr. Hardiman. This isn't deep sea diving mind you, more like swamp trudging. Mellow, melodic tones burble over clanging bells and a brief slice of clarinet. Maybe the swamp trudging was a bad call, the piece is probably a bit more akin to floating down a river in the middle of a jungle. Sounds exist in all directions seemingly random and insulated yet organized in a grand musical fabric. Straight up beautiful piece. "Trailing Moss" finishes out the side and changes up the tone straight away. Distorted tones pulse wildly, I think with a clarinet underneath at the heart of it maybe. I suppose it could be guitar, but it sounds more guttural and reedy. Hardiman moves through the dusklight at a decent clip despite no clear percussive pulse. The piece looms along like a dark grey cloud jetting across the sky. Towards the end, it seems like there may be a bass drum pumping along underneath. I don't know man. It's big, it's dark, it sounds great. What more do you need to know? I also dig how Hardiman is still busting out melodies through the thunderstorm. Needless to say, great side. Now onto the next.

"The Rising Path" takes the whole of the B and it's pretty damn great as well. Opening with a fantastic, deep fuzzy lick and what sounds like a little vinyl crackle. I don't know what instrument Hardiman is employing here as it sounds too deep to be clarinet, too smooth to be a guitar, too organic to be a keyboard. I don't really know. After a patch of silence and I think a bit of snare drum, the piece moves on with the arrangement thickened up significantly. It gets even darker than "Trailing Moss" and it does so pretty quickly. On the other hand though, Hardiman also throws in a few curveballs too, such a distorted tribal-ish drum pattern that appears briefly. Hardiman does a great job arranging the piece here as he manages to retain its spaciousness while filling the piece with a menagerie of sounds and odd melodies. He's really in the zone on this one. "Path" continues to gain momentum, the crashing waves of sound get bigger and louder until they roar across the stereo spectrum. Hardiman never loses a melodic base either, by the side's final minutes there's a melody coming though loud and clear even though it's buried under two tons of fuzz. Phenomenal work here.

I'm a little miffed at Ghetto Naturalist Series for only running 35 copies of this, as it deserves far more. The best Rambutan work that has met my ears. Definitely recommended if you can find it.

Tidal - Fractal Empire [Sacred Phrases]

2010-11-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Sacred Phrases is a solid, young label specializing in dreamy tones. I'm unfamiliar with a lot of its artists, such as Tidal, but man do the unknowns hold it down.

Tidal is a one J. Billingham, and with Fractal Empire he delivers over an hour of compositions for synth and tape hiss. The first of six pieces, "Taken" starts out with probably the most cynical-sounding atmospheric synth piece I've heard. Nothing about it sounds particularly light or airy despite its drifting tones. On the other hand, it doesn't sound dark or gloomy either. The tone is very dry and hard-bitten, making for a very unusual experience in musical synthesis. Billingham drops in some unintelligible radio recordings later in the piece which certainly don't do anything to lighten the mood. "The Hypnopomp" totally changes things around. Billingham lays down quite a few layers of sparkly melodies that remain far enough in the distance to be a little blurry. It's a great piece, managing to be rhythmic and completely fluid at the same time. It doesn't change a ton over its course but its a real hypnotizer. "Pearl" features slow glistening keyboard swells nestled amongst far off electrical storms. The piece features a slow come down that's quite a bit longer than the piece itself. "Silver Halide Memories" is immediately more tense with a few fairly quiet sounds grappling for control. Once in a while there's a sharp, loud jab of noise to keep you from slipping into the deep zone. It sounds like Billingham might even be playing guitar or something here as there's a badass staccato tone coming from somewhere. The piece isn't incredibly long but it feels pretty epic. Billingham does a great job slowly splintering the piece apart near the end, using more grainy speech samples to pry apart his arrangement. It sounds like there's violin in here, or maybe a synth emulating a violin, either way it really works and adds an awesome punch at the end.

Side B is split into just two pieces, the first of which is the epic "Cascade Interval." Rigid synth tones, stutter and mutter over each other making for an uneasy quilt of melodies. I dig this piece because its forever changing. It retains the same vibe throughout, but melodies and keyboard settings drop in and out over the duration of the piece. A little ways in, Billingham settles into a nice melody but even that doesn't stick around. There's a flute-like keyboard on its lonesome for a stretch of time before being augmented by thicker, jet streams of synth. The ever-evolving nature is what's key here, as Billingham is able to mine a number of different territories while remaining fluid in his navigation. Maybe the best piece of the tape, aside from "Silver Halide Memories." The second part manages to be more lush and more spacious than anything else on the tape, finding Billingham moving freely in between thick, swelling melodies and near silence. He continues to do a good job helming the track without giving any indication where it will go until its smeared conclusion. "Mist" by comparison, is pretty simple. An uncertain rumble abounds next to a cautious keyboard melody. Gradually though it becomes apparent which direction the piece is moving in. The keyboard finds its confidence and skitters along without a look back while drones grumble and groan underneath. Billingham breaks everything off momentarily for a soundbite ("He really is from another world") before bringing the music back briefly and ending on another "(Game's over. You win.")

The tape is probably too long (it could have used a sharper editing eye) but there's some real talent on display here. I think we could be hearing lots of brilliant things from this guy in the future.

The tape is still available from Sacred Phrases along some other cool tapes (I also dig the Sundrips one, which will get a review at a later date). Anyone into the whole cosmic synth thing should definitely give the label a look.

M. Mucci - Time Lost [The Tall House]

2010-11-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

Any regular reader here should know I really love solo guitar. A lot of times I end up praising all the wild men like Chris Cooper, Bill Nace, Brian Ruryk, Bill Orcutt etc. but you know what? I also dig guitar in the more conventional mode. This LP right here by M. Mucci is one of the best in that vein I've heard in sometime. Actually, it's one the best guitar records of any "vein" that I've heard in recent memory.

Laying out 8 tracks, 4 per side, Mucci goes to town armed without much more than his six-string. As far as I can tell, there is no improvisation here. Everything is composed and performed to a tee, and beautifully I might add.

"Small Triumphs" features robust arpeggios and a kiss of steel guitar as well. Two of Mucci's greatest strengths are his use of dynamics and pacing. He's not afraid to employ silence but he doesn't overuse it either. He uses it here to build momentum between melodies but before long the piece can just coast on its own supple energy. Mucci plays with tempo and volume particularly well, there's a moment where he appears to be winding down before thrusting forth with a new bombastic melody and stereo-panned cymbal swells to back it up. Taking around half of the side, "Small Triumphs" is a winding journey but its the following track "The View from Here" that's my absolute favorite. From the get-go its an uptempo piece with a jaunty, thumb-plucked bass part to go with the glimmering fingerpicked melodies. The piece builds and builds occasionally sliding into the minor key before unleashing a wonderful two-note progression. This is difficult to write about as all I can really say is "this is a great melody" "Mucci plays it extremely well" so all I can ask is that you just believe me. Mucci makes an unexpected divergence in the final part, with an extended breakdown of sorts into the final seconds. "The Culprits" has the faintest hint of Morricone, with sparse guitar plucks and a quiet but tense tone ringing relentlessly just within earshot. From there, Mucci is back to his hypnotic fingerpicking, cranking out a masterful old-timey minor key jammer. Despite the record being consonant overall Mucci isn't afraid to incorporate atonality occasionally here or surprisingly savage slide work either. "Apri L'occhi Pt. 1" is a much too brief and mournful little coda for side A that reminds me of glimmers of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's masterpiece F# A# ∞. Very nice and too short!

Side B opens with "Chase Down Alice St." which would be the perfect choice for a playful montage of a bandit quietly outsmarting the authorities. Rob Cappelletto contributes subtle but stomping drums, imbuing the piece with a touch more energy but without overriding the fabric Mucci weaves. There's a lovely, atmospheric slide breakdown as well. "Moments Between" changes the vibe considerably, with a sparser, darker set of arpeggios that slowly twist along to their conclusion. "A Day Like Any Other" is another favorite. Initially it sounds like a more expanded version of "Moments Between." It simmers, slowly revealing a more complex scheme in brief flickers. New melodies weave their way in amongst the old, which refuse to totally relinquish their grasp. The last couple minutes of the piece are rather beautiful, the notes continue to cycle over a light frost of melodica and Mucci stirs a handful of equally lovely melodies into one big pot. And then it hits, a 3 note phrase on the E-string cuts deep and pulls the rug out. It's a shame that Mucci fades the piece out as soon as that riff shows up, although I suppose that adds more punch to the end of the travels. "Apri L'occhi Pt. 2" is another short coda for the side, and this time the record too. I wouldn't mind hearing Mucci flesh out more works in this cloudy, drifting style.

So the guy's chops and exactness are impeccable, but importantly this record is ridiculously listenable. It really is one of those you can throw on any time. Before work, after work, before bed and any time in between.

It's a hell of a record and The Tall House (which I think might be Mucci's imprint) did a fine job dressing it up as well. Recommended.

Locrian - Territories [At War With False Noise/Basses Frequences/Bloodlust!/Small Doses]/Locrian - The Crystal World [Utech]

2010-10-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

In this post-Yellow Swans world of ours, Locrian has always been one of the most consistent and musical of the noise brethren. I'm sure buckets of sweat went into it, but it seems Andre Foisy and Terrence Hannum just have this special chemistry. There must be an explanation, like they're telepathically linked or Siamese twins separated at birth now reuniting as one mind or some comic book shit like that. I don't know how it got be that way but it is, and there's hours of evidence and thousands of witnesses to prove it.

Bringing in the concept of collaboration to an already perfect union is a funny proposition. Collaborations, particularly in an improvisatory environment, are always risky but are always interesting as well. You never know if the unknown volatility of collaboration will lead to an explosive re-imagining of the participating parties' sounds or will it just sort of fizzle out.

In all honesty, I was initially a little resistant to this Territories LP. One of the main things that I absolutely love about Locrian is the singular chemistry shared between its members. I felt like adding collaborators would dilute the magic. But truth be told, once I nestled up to it a bit, I noticed that there' s a lot of damn fine shit on this record.

Opener, "Inverted Ruins," is a good choice to bat first as its opening seconds are phenomenal. A thin wave of feedback lingers as an echoing synth trots out a simple melody and what a great pair they make. From there the piece morphs into an actual song with loping drums, Mark Solotroff (Bloodyminded, the Bloodlust! label) growling through some effects, and a number of instruments being pushed into unstable territory. Its yet another great example of sustained tension, a feat that Locrian performs probably better than anyone else. There doesn't seem to be a lot happening; each performer is incredibly restrained. Yet! By the end, the track is just quaking and you have no idea how it got to be. The next piece is my favorite from the record and one my favorite Locrian pieces period. "Between Barrows" stews in a boggy single note synth for a while, augmented by tasteful cymbal rolls. And then it happens. Channeling, whether directly or indirectly, Basil Poledouris's magnificent opening titles for RoboCop, the piece flowers into the most beautiful of Locrian's career. Bruce Lamont contributes lilting saxophone to Foisy's and Hannum's brooding guitar and organ. It's hard to adequately put this into words. The piece is so simple but its blackened elegance is breathtaking. A must hear. "Procession of Ancestral Brutalism" is the default epic, totaling 11 minutes with 4 additional players in tow. After the near silent two minute intro, a guitar slams out a pretty rockin' progression and synth seethes along with it. From there the double bass drum kicks and the track gets a shot of heavy metal adrenaline in the heart. I'm not the biggest metal fan on the planet, so I don't totally connect to this one. It's pretty good but, in my opinion at least, it lacks a lot of the texture and detail that made the previous piece so brilliant. It does feature a pretty sweet outro though, as everything but a sole guitar falls away. "Ring Road" is another long one featuring Solotroff on vox and synth. The whole affair is a heavy throb of multiple synths and bass guitar. It's a muscular arrangement but Hannum (I think) is still working hypnotic bell-like melodies within the humid terrain of bass and synth. Tremors pulse underneath until crumbling into feedback and a melody via slide bass (again, I think.) "Antediluvian Territory" is the sole piece made only by Foisy and Hannum. The latter brings out the organ and tapes, while Foisy contributes clean-toned guitar harmonics. It's a nice piece, certainly in line with the darkness surrounding it on the album but its a touch brighter and a little more airy. Minor key organ still looms ready to swallow up the bright harmonics, but said harmonics manage to get out unscathed. The finale "The Columnless Arcade" is really great. It's dense and gritty and there's a certain looseness to it that isn't present elsewhere on this very tight record. Sounds intermingle and disappear into each other. That's the first part of the piece. There's an abrupt shift into a full band affair with pummeling drums and so forth. The shift is jarring at first but the guitarists (Foisy, Hannum and B. Judd) whip out some excellent guitar leads before the piece subsides in a brief glistening organ outro.

It's not a totally cohesive record but it was an interesting experiment and all personnel involved produced some great material.

The Crystal World, Locrian's latest studio effort, also changes up personnel with the addition of Steven Hess (Pan American) on percussion and electronics for the whole album. The record is inspired by JG Ballard's novel The Crystal World about an African jungle that is slowly crystallizing. Opening track, "Triumph of Elimination" introduces the feel of the record. It sounds like a jungle, the tinkling guitar could be any number of creatures. But it doesn't sound like your typical, red-blooded jungle full of life. It's ominous and strangely empty. The tinkling guitar motif carries over to the second track "At Night's End" as Locrian further expands on this dim portraiture of a fading jungle. Hess's drums drop in the song's back half. Foisy contributes many excellent guitar leads as Hannum moans, probably prostrated over his organ. The piece features Locrian's signature polyphonic approach to audio hypnosis, inculcating Hess's drumwork seamlessly into their sound. The title track, throbs on a lone sub-bass synthesizer before Foisy introduces an arpeggio made more complex through a hall-of-mirrors use of delay. I think Hannum might even be wedging a few piano notes in there too(?) A soaring distorted guitar tone lingers with swelling synths and sporadic drum hits. "Pathogens" is the first of two 11 minute monsters. Starting out real slowly with a barely noticeable taped key and a few ruminations of guitar, it isn't until halfway though Locrian comes out of their shell. The drums pound with a nearly jazzy swing as the strings and keys strain themselves around the drums, pushing themselves into corners they're afraid to go. I think its the most unusual arrangement Locrian has yet come up with, neither guitar, synth or vocals are the main focus but twitch and fret at the fringes of the piece allowing Hess to fill in his primal ferocity. "Obsidian Facades" changes the tone with a scream and an ominous two-note pulse. Pouring on copious amounts of fuzz and feedback, the piece trudges along; too heavy to be ghostly but much too chilling to be anything but. In the final minute or so, an ascending/descending guitar melody emerges so lovely you have no idea how to process it amidst the murky horror. A marvelous piece, which segues into the epic finale "Elevations and Depths." Opening with stark acoustic guitar strums and Rosemary's Baby-esque vocals by Erica Burgner, the trio launches into a full-on dirge 3 minutes in. The Burgner's coos are replaced with Hannum's distant shrieks and thick fuzz is exchanged for the acoustic guitar. Maybe my favorite element at work here is the zoned out surf guitar accents, pulling all the right things out of Badalamenti's work in Twin Peaks. It doesn't end there though, Locrian shift gears again into a fantastically beautiful arrangement of acoustic guitar, violin by Gretchen Koehler and I believe multi-tracked accordion by Hannum. It's just an incredible, incredible arrangement, worthy of accompanying the climax of a feature-length film adaptation of The Crystal World, if there ever is one. Really brilliant work.

Without doubt The Crystal World is Locrian's most cohesive full-length yet, though I don't know if I should make the claim that it's my favorite as I do really like Drenched Lands a lot. Needless to say, there's some gorgeous and powerful stuff here and anything with the Locrian seal should probably be in your collection.

Territories is available is you haven't already grabbed that one but the The Crystal World is still nearly a month away (it drops 11/27/10) so in the meantime you may want to grab Locrian's new split LP with Century Plants on Tape Drift as that is sure to be a monster as well.

M. Geddes Gengras - Pink Trails/Deep Moon Time [Stunned]

2010-10-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

So I've always liked Mr. Gengras's stuff, and his side on the split with AM Shiner at the end of last year was pretty damn slammin' but this right here, this Pink Trails/Deep Moon Time, his expansive new double cassette on Stunned, is some serious fucking business I was not prepared for.

MGG rips the first tape hard unleashing some Yellow Swans-ish zen-through-grime action. Initially hitting your ears with a manipulated tape of hand drums, Gengras lies you down in a coffin in no time and starts shoveling on dank fuzz and synth. This first side is really incredible, so gnarly and throbbing but still so beautifully melodic. A layer of snowy feedback is caked on everything. Some deep sub-bass synth lurches and grinds making be think maybe there really is that underground volcano ready to swallow up LA. Powerful and heavy as hell yet scrappy and detailed too. It's a fighter without a weak point. More and more elements surface Gengras eventually singing something but there's no way to tell for sure what, or even guess, due to the racket. Seriously brilliant piece. The second section of the side manages to come off as even more unstable with speaker cabinets buckling under their power and shriveling up against weird taped clatter. Raging feedback and a lilting melody hit back simultaneously. Going all rock tumbler on us, he's grinding down grit to gleaming gems. Then, Gengras, whips out some tabla amidst the noise and a Moog with the one-way ticket to hell. And we coast out on some raucous hand drum action. So Side 1 down, mind blown. 3 to go.

The second side opens up with the same tabla as feedback begins to work its way back under your fingernails coloring them a grody brown. MGG tries to keep your mind clean with a fantastic, soaring synth melody buried under the gunk. Subterranean tremors start crumbling the interior of this here temple Gengras has built and all the ghosts and ghouls are set free. The voices join for a decayed symphony as the damned march to the gallows, while Mr. MGG is over there in the corner just fuckin' one-finger jammin' on his Korg. He then pulls out the Sun Ra chops he's been hiding, molesting the keyboard and wringing out a devilish extended solo. The synthesizer dies off ever so slowly, bedded in rattles, clangs and rumbling, speaker-ripping bouts of feedback leading to a lonesome melody coming from either a guitar or a keyboard (I can't tell!) At that point, the side seems to launch into a new section with polyphonic organ tones and a random instrument being strummed to death. Before long the competing melodies begin tear each other limb from limb. Gengras beckons you to experience the aural cannibalism.

It's a nasty mess and this is worth picking up for the first tape alone. I know usually save this for the end of the review, but fuck it, Recommended.

The second tape Deep Moon Time finds Gengras taking it easy for all us sinners. Gone are the feedback doused arrangements and putrid audio infections. Beginning with two dueling clean-toned synth melodies, the piece is immediately more relaxing than the previous half hour. However, MGG hasn't lost his edge, massive sub-bass swells push their way in turning the piece into a thoroughly ominous affair. It's now just a matter of time to see what evil thing will happen. The section segues into a new set of sustained tones, really the first place the tape goes a little drone. From there Gengras constructs melodies out of the ether. Slowly but surely he molds the melodies, eventually whipping them into an improvised synth solo. Gengras just keeps riffing away, against the foggy bass, until the piece drifts away.

The final side continues the vibe of dense, packed bass and single note melodies. An echoing melodic figure treads water before being swept away by the current of other swelling tones. Literally unstable bass rumbles turn up nearly shaking the piece off its hinges. The crashes get louder and sharper moving at a relentless, metered pace for a while before sputtering out. The next piece hits instantly with tangled, thicker-than-usual melodies. And when MGG pulls out the late 70s film score synth lines, man oh man, it's too much. It's a beautiful polyphony that's way too short. The next track attacks you with the sharpest, most brittle synth tone west of the Mississippi. A saturated bass throb hits hard and heavy and we appear to be moving full circle back into the grime of the album's beginning. Cycling on two-note bass waves, a melody cuts its path puncturing the monolith with quick stabs, gradually tearing it away to reveal a beautiful, shining chorus from heaven underneath. This is an epic, epic event.

Gengras has found a luscious and muggy middle ground between analog synth composition and the improvised noise sphere and I can't get enough. Headphones are a must!

Chock another "one of the best of year!"s on the Stunned Records 2010 scoreboard. What are they at now 6 or 7? Great artwork, chunky "butterfly" 2xCS case, seriously massive tunes. There's no reason not to snatch it up except, well, it's almost sold-out so hurry.

You Are Not All Boring - Pixelated Getaway [Boring Tapes]

2010-10-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

Pixelated Getaway is the debut release for both You Are Not All Boring, a project of Jason Boyko, and the label Boring Tapes. Boyko provides nine instrumentals that mostly throwback to 80s new wave mixed in with a hefty love of ska and reggae as well.

"Riding Mowers" kicks off with a mechanical buzz and some birdcalls before launching into a no-holds-barred cheeseball synth/snare/bongo ditty. It's not until a theremin-esque keyboard lead enters that the jam really hits its stride. The jams rolls along in that mode for a while before leaving that theremin lead by its lonesome, ending things on an eerie note. "Lagging" recalls an old video game soundtrack (a la Streets of Rage) by way of Miami Vice and Duran Duran. Serious forward momentum based on a circular melody, heavy synth toms and some cool lead lines. One of the better songs on display. "Miles" continues the vibe with a mellow laidback groove. At least until a fluttering sequenced melody kicks in. "Island" takes the tempo up another notch with repeated synth-bass line and dubby organ stabs. And then the track goes OFF with this wiggling, warbly synth-xylophone solo! Totally rad. (Also really dig the rustling drum machine backing it up as well.) Then Boyko takes it up another notch doubling the long, sinewy melody with organ. The drum machine gets thicker and the jam grows more and more bad ass. Great piece of work, good use of dynamics, instrumentation and just a real sweet melody too. "Evil Electronics" closes out the side, with another xylophone melody and a crunk snare and clap pattern. An ominous bass throb earns the track its title. Halfway between the score of an 80s horror movie and a club groove. It would be great piece to accompany one of those bad-trip-in-the-dance-club scenes. Way too short dude.

Side B starts off with "Physical Dimension" flips the script with a 4-on-the-floor disco jam. Focused on an excellent clipped vocal melody, almost more akin to a siren, it hits all the classic disco marks continually ramping up the energy. Boyko even drops in the syncopated synth stabs at the end, wearing his dub influence on his sleeve. "Cruiser" is another favorite, a super cheesy dub ditty. My mind is flooded with memories of the early 90s, Ace of Base, the rainy, trashy beach stage of the aforementioned Streets of Rage video game and so on. There are a handful of fantastic synth melodies all intermingling making for another bout of excellent listening. "Ska Synthesizer" is similar but sped-up almost to a vaguely country rhythm. After Boyko launches the main keyboard melody all thoughts of country music dissipate as he layers on more slot machine synth. "Last Light" wraps the tape up. It's another good one incorporating all the elements you've come to know and love throughout the tape, heavy dub rhythms, creepy theremin-styled tones, a long stringy melody all played with a light, carefree touch. A perfect way to end the tape.

Overall, it's a pretty darn fun tape if maybe a touch on the long side. You do have to be a person who can stomach plastic-y instrumentation to appreciate it, but there's lots to love and groove to in this collection. And though lots of people are starting to get back into 80s dance grooves, Mr. Boyko is carving his own niche with that serious ska obsession.

The tape is limited to a scant 25 copies, though it looks to still be in print. Ch-ch-check it out.

R. Sawyer - I Burn [Bridgetown]/Kevin Greenspon - Corridor [Bridgetown]

2010-10-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

Couple of short discs here from Kevin Greenspon's Bridgetown label. The first is by R. Sawyer formerly Timeload Fowl and the second by Greenspon himself.

Timeload Fowl contributed a great side to the Gilgongo LP he split with James Fella and Sawyer delivers more good if also more mellow stuff here. Kicking things off with "Constricting Realities I," which amounts to a single soothing drone for most of its duration. Sawyer layers a few more light drones, adding some harmonic divergences but maintaining a focused, subtle touch throughout. "Amaryllis" is similar but hints at a little chaos brewing inside as opposed to the arctic inner calm of the first piece. The piece is more complex than it seems at first glance, due again to Sawyer's extremely subtle hand. Things open up a little near the end before merging into "Constricting Realities II." This piece is much more expansive than the first "Constricting Realities" with slight, rhythmic pulses gliding underneath. The title-track "I Burn" immediately introduces the listener to a noisier palette. It's certainly not noisy in the way his work on the aforementioned Gilgongo LP was but there's a constant, if distant, rumble for the smooth guitar tones to contend with. After a few minutes everything breaks up save for a recording of children playing and a smidge of static. From there Sawyer commences a chilly slowburn of melodic guitar swells. "Blood Bright Star" features the most tension anywhere else on the disc, making for the best listening as well. Fuzzy guitars jet along in a vacuum, hi-pitched notes provide flickers of melody along with percussive elements. The track gives itself a makeover halfway through into a rather beautiful glistening, melodic chorus. Overall, the disc is a well-played hand of guitar atmospherics.

With Corridor, Mr. Greenspon delivers a disc of his brand of "actual songs not improvs" using guitar, electronics, tapes and emphatically no synths. "Once by Chance," the opener, is literally just a taster, introducing many elements without developing them. "Sinking" features a revolving set of distorted, trembling notes that bleed more and more as the clock ticks. Augmented by breaking waves, the guitar eventually tapers and dissolves into them. "Drift Away" comes next, which is an interesting placement as the guitar here seems to be emulating the crashing waves that came before. Greenspon even manages to work in a mellow guitar lead amidst the mist. "Alarming Return" is just that, loud, scraping cassette shards which shatter the placid rays of guitar. After the final crash, the piece drifts off on a multi-tracked melody. "Eyes Forward Still" features more conventional guitar playing as Greenspon spins a lovely blue-grey guitar melody in, what may be, the finest piece on the record. "Unbearable Keepsake" seals up the record with speedy guitar playing submerged in a serious bog of noise and feedback. The track devolves into chunky noise before doin' a 180 into more relaxed guitar swells. A nifty little disc when you add it up

Both are still in print, the Sawyer disc is in it's first edition of 50 and Greenspon's disc is in a second edition of 50 after an initial run of 75 (and 100 copies of a cassette version on Nautical Leftist Antiques) so they are each available for you to gulp down. Greenspon has been particularly busy as of late, touring and dropping releases left and right so you may want to lend an ear in that direction as well.

(D)(B)(H) - Bleach is the Color of My True Love's Hair [Lighten Up Sounds]/Neon Sea - Fading Light [Lighten Up Sounds]

2010-10-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

I've finally found some time to discuss these tasty, beautifully packaged morsels from Matthew Himes's Lighten Up Sounds label.

Starting off with cult crew in the making Damaged Bachelor Hood better known as (D)(B)(H), a project headed up by Justin Rhody featuring the talents of a staggeringly large list of other people. The first piece on the tape, the title track, features some excellent drumming from Matt Shuff (who also plays melodica, guitar and trumpet on the recording) and Kray Fanny weighs in on guitar, radio, percussion and, uh, foot massager while the main man Rhody himself clatters away on paper, vacuum, violin, cymbal, metal and trumpet. Knowing the instrumentation is definitely necessary to envision this stuff if you've never heard it. DBH's music is definitely "improv" but it gets a little more hairy labeling it beyond that. I personally don't think calling it "jazz" is that far off but that might not put the right image in some people minds. The set moves through junky, heavily percussive passages (even on the instruments not generally deemed to be "percussive") while also delving into some near-drone excursions with some pulsing electronics (the foot massager?) The trio does a good job navigating between the various sections somehow making all their bizarre activities makes sense in the context of the piece. My favorite parts are definitely the percussion-oriented ones; coming off of the drone-y section the trio whips into a fantastic all-percussion bit with drums, various objects and what sounds a little like a cash register bell. Totally free and very detailed, the piece certainly goes out on a high note. Well technically it goes out on a few seconds of trumpet and a DJ announcing "You just heard DBH here on DBX. Yeah, I know. Dumb pun." Really cool set.

The second piece of the side "To Me, It Seemed Obvious" features TABOO, who I'm guessing is a band rather than an individual. TABOO contributes vocals, bass and drums while Matthew Himes plays guitar and finger cymbals and Rhody focuses his attentions solely on trumpet. It's a strange track made even stranger due to following that long free set that came before. Over a simple 4/4 beat a low voice grumbles semi-inaudibly with the only phrase I can really pick out being "you're alone." Trumpet and guitar sort of dither around along with someone whistling but the main focus is on the chugging, lo-fi weirdness coming from TABOO.

The taking up the second side is "Creating an Atmosphere in Which God Will Speak" which is another trio formation of Rhody (guitar, violin, feedback, cymbal), Himes (percussion, electronics) and Tyler Larson on drums and guitar. This set was recorded in a live environment so the recording quality is murkier and the piece comes out a lot more jumbled. Instruments randomly pop out at you, temporarily escaping from the lo-fidelity bog, meanwhile people are laughing and cheering making me wonder what was actually going on during this sweat. Did someone turn the game on? Does DBH regularly play sports bars? Or was DBH doing some kind of interactive doing some kind of interactive live performance? There are some cool bits that sound almost like organ, but I'm not sure what is actually behind those noises. Guitar probably. There's some cool violin work in the back half too that I'm enjoying. I just wish the recording quality were a little better on this piece; the murk gives it a curious vibe but I miss the dynamics and detail of the title track. I'm guessing at least part of the goal of the piece is just to (re)create the live environment of the band playing and the crowd discussing "the NBA All-Stars." Odd, to say the least.

Neon Sea is a new project to me, consisting of Oakland-based Dan Kaufman on accordion, bass, drums, tape manipulation and "vocal rasps." Unlike the electro-acoustic clatter of DBH, Neon Sea works with sweeping drones/tones. There's a fine static to the proceedings, perhaps some accordion wheeze had a hand in that, while various effects pulse and sputter, stepping in time. All forward thrust, bouncing along on stuttering, clipped loops. Drums make their appearance with a bit of interplay with bursts of heavy electronics. The drums are a nice presence as they don't overwhelm the electronics but provide significant rhythmic backbone to hang the freaked out electronic signals on. Those signals get real freaked 2/3rds through "Side A" where the monolithic electronics dissipate into frantic warbles. From there they try to at least bundle all their nerves together so they continue as the drums trudge along. Before long though, the drums say "fuck it, I'm out" and the side wraps up in a storm of feedback.

The flipside is real sweet; there's a lot more space and it feels a bit creepier. There's a quiet relentlessly pummeling loop underneath, small swells of feedback and a wealth of eerie creeping creaks. Kaufman bashes away on cymbals like there's no tomorrow though the drums are pretty buried in the mix for the most part. Hissing static envelopes everything for a little while before the pieces settles into a brooding, ominous bass note. Kaufman does a great job molding the other sounds around the monolith. Really rad, I've added this to my list of upcoming Halloween listening. There's a second piece on the side that is noticeably brighter. Not necessarily any happier, but brighter. The bass eventually begins to flow through a swamp of sine wave hiss and chime and I really wish it lasted longer as it seemed to be headed somewhere real cool.

The other thing I must mention here is what a great job Lighten Up Sounds did presenting this pair of cassettes. The packaging on the DBH tape is stellar, great Beatles/wood grain wrap-around slip-on cover which when removed reveals a cover depicting the full set of auxiliary DBH band members George, Paul, John and Ringo. On the inside there's a mini-booklet with matching wood grain cover, with track/personnel info, badly xeroxed photo and bonus Donald Barthelme poem. Fading Light also features a wrap around slip-on cover with double-sided j-card and what I personally love, the Cotton Candy flavor Bubble Yum-inspired pink and blue tape.

Both tapes are still available in editions of 50. And I'd probably advise you to keep an eye on the label as its got plenty more in the works including a Caethua/Shep and Me LP and a pair of tapes I'm personally very curious about by Soaking Rasps and Mole Hole.

The Extraordinary Pigeons - Journal of Graphic Noise: Issue One [Pigeon Coup]

2010-09-25T16:06:00.001-07:00

Journal of Graphic Noise is a new art zine from Seattle act Extraordinary Pigeons. The 20-some pages of artwork are accompanied by a lathe cut, cut rectangularly to size to slip inside the pages of the zine. The concept here though is the audio on the lathe was "created by converting the zine's images into sound with reverse spectrogram technology." Reverse spectrogram technology? Sounds like a made-up something from one of those 50s sci-fi movies I love but I'll take the Pigeons at their word that it exists.

The artwork in the zine was created by the members of Extraordinary Pigeons and I don't know how many members there are but it seems like there are 3 hands at work. The first set of images are a grey-scale, topography-gone-psychedelic affair. They look they were made on a 20 year old computer, mapping diagrams of microscopic bacteria. Next up are 4 bizarre ink/colored pencil drawings of faces with strange features and creatures popping out of them. Gruesome teeth, skeleton/Swamp Thing hybrids, some sort of rabbit/beetle/larvae thing. Weird shit. The last section, probably my least favorite, continues the WTFs with a centerfold of two cats doin' it and computer manipulated photos of children and boy scouts.

Now for the audio portion. The small, weirdly cut lathe makes my automatic turntable flip out. It refused to play it for a while until I outsmarted to the stupid machine. The sound of the images via that "reverse spectrogram technology" is strictly harsh noise. Heavy crunching static crackles and rips in surprisingly dynamic fashion. I'm assuming there has to be some human organization here as I'm guessing the images themselves don't indicate any temporal instructions to the audio conversion. I don't know if the Pigeons scan the images live and sculpt the output from there or if this is all put together on a computer. Either way, it's a pretty good shot of harsh noise and the lathe ends on a groovy, crackling locked groove.

This certainly an interesting release and the first time I've ever come across something like it. If you are interested I recommend heading over to Extraordinary Pigeons' awesome website ("we are a band, this is our fucking webpage.")

The Douglas Firs - Haunting Through [No Label]

2010-09-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

The Douglas Firs is a project of Neil Insh of Aberdeen, Scotland and this CD-r Haunting Through is supposed to be a taster for a forthcoming full-length, most likely to be released on cassette.
Apparently the material on this disc was recorded over a six year period and its separated into four songs, two in the 3-4 minute range and two in the 6-7 range. "The Quickening" begins with footsteps crunching through leaves and an unidentified rumble that slowly comes into focus as slightly ritualistic tom toms. A melody tinkles along with a chattering crowd and Insh drops in a folksy violin with multiple voices singing and on a dime the track turns into a pop tune. Petering out into crowd noise, the song resets itself to a lovely waltz with echoing piano, humming violin and loping drums. Insh's voice carries the tune to its next passage, a duet with a female counterpart over puffs of accordion. The folk-dance feel earlier in the piece returns before dissapating into an a capella choral interlude. When you think it might go out on a big crescendo, Insh subverts expectations as the piece slips away on abstract field recordings and a lone synth. The song perfectly introduces Mr. Insh's style, at least how I see it. Insh is working largely with traditional or conventional folk and pop influences but chooses to weave them into an elaborate, unconventional fabric over the course of a piece. So rather than delivering something standard like your average indie pop band, his songs feel a little more alive, as they take you somewhere. "Future State," the shortest at nearly 3 minutes, is woozier with a lovely melody and a swelling chorus of voices, recalling some of my favorite Spiritualized moments. Second half of the piece is an interlude of subtle tones. "Grow Old and Go Home" finds Insh and his female counterpart whose name I sadly do not know singing over a sparse piano arrangement until synthetic and acoustic percussion kick in. An array of brass provide a fantastic segue to a more grooving version of the song with shakers and a walking bass line. This doesn't last for long as the final minute or so features a quiet organ and recordings of dogs barking in the distance. The final track, "Soporific" may be the strongest. After an extended intro of ambient synthesizer, Insh's carries a sparse arrangement into a new movement that hints at getting a little more rockin'. The reason I feel this is probably the best piece is simply that the melodies and all the "pop" elements are stronger here than anywhere else on the disc, and there's a bit more grit courtesy of some guitar fuzz. From the rocking middle section, the song tapers off into just voice and piano atmospherics.
This disc has definitely piqued my interest; The Douglas Firs show a lot promise. There's a bunch of great ideas and melodies here, and Insh is certainly approaching pop music from a more interesting perspective than most. I'm looking forward to hearing the Firs on a longer record that will allow them to unfurl their limbs a bit as well. Not to mention, it'll be great to hear 'em on tape.
I really have no idea how to find a copy of this as I don't think The Douglas Firs have a myspace or anything. I guess hit the ol' Google now if you're interested, besides your job just got a lot easier with this new Google Instant thing.

Debacle Records Round-up

2010-09-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

For those involved in the Seattle noise/drone scene you know Sam Melancon from Debacle Records nearly props the scene up singlehandedly, the guy is crazily active both with his label which focuses exclusively on Seattle-area artists and with Debacle Fest a multi-day festival which he curates. This year's Debacle Fest is coming up quick, starting tomorrow night and running through Sunday (Sept. 17-19) and features the likes of Pete Swanson, Rene Hell, John Wiese, Chrome Wings, Stag Hare as well as local/Debacle favorites Dull Knife, Du Hexen Hase, Physical Demon, Wind Swept Plains and Megabats, among many others.
Anyhow, a long while back Sam handed me a hefty stack of Debacle discs and I'm sad to say I've only taken the time to review a few of them so I'm playing catch up now.
Various Artists - Bleak|Beauty
Since I was just mentioning the curatorial capabilities of Mr. Melancon. I figure a compilation is a good one to start out on. Culling artists from across the Debacle catalog and beyond, there's hearty doses of noise from Slates and Pig Heart Transplant and gritty, occasionally groovy, malfunctioning machinations from Summon Thrull and Physical Demon among many other sounds. The opening track, Slates's "Rainscatter" is all jagged, serrated edges; a relentless 7 minute rumble in the gutter. Certainly a brave way to kick off the disc. Meanwhile, later in the disc Pig Heart Transplant give the listener a quick run through the wringer with "How to Survive in the Woods." What I really like about the track is how succinct the pummeling is. They drop in and 3 and a half minutes later your skull is pulverized. Thunder Grey Pilgrim and KRGA both turn in some really nice drones as well. TGP's track "Breathe Eons Breadth" does a great job balancing melodic elements while sustaining atmoshere. There's some sparse, ringing Western-ish guitar notes near the end which you know I love.
Although the disc is solid on the drone and noise fronts, it's often the oddballs that catch my attention here. Walrus Machine delivers a great, idiosyncratic jazz track "Attic Stains" which stumbles around at a quick pace like a drunken man chasing the bus. Red Squirrels make an excellent raga-ish contribution "My Bike is a Sailboat" that definitely stands-out amongst its company. Forrest Friends are probably the weirdest band in Seattle and their track makes that very clear. A four minute menagerie of literally thrift store instrumentation. Cheap acoustic guitars, weird metal chimes, yelping, hand drums, toy accordion, you name it. Wind Swept Plains challenges them for weirdest here though with a loping, detuned, weirdly voiced "folk" ditty. Megabats shifts things into a heavy fog with sequenced melodies and drum machine barely peeking through, very nice.
Overall, it's quite a good compilation as it features a lot of quality work that covers a lot of area on the sonic spectrum. Perhaps a good place to start if you've never heard any Debacle material before. There's plenty of artists here I hope to hear more from.
Megabats - In/Out
Megabats is Sam Melancon's music project along with somebody named Riley. There's next to no info on the disc so I'm gonna guess this is predominantly keyboards, electronics and possibly a guitar. The disc veers back and forth between dronier selections and rather vibrant keyboard-driven pieces. "Meek Attack," the opener for instance, finds Megabats gradually building in volume over the course of 7 minutes. Grey-blue drones dominate but it's slowly apparent there's a synth melody burbling underneath. The next track "Battleground Sky" totally flips it around. There's pretty much no reverb, just multi-tracked, quivering synth. A stomping bass drum is a nice touch that really slingshots the melodies on their way, upping the energy of the track. The melodies slowly become more complex as does the drumming. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear live drumming on this track as well. Since they're trafficking in such boldly in electronic textures, the live drumming gives the piece a wonderful balance between the electronic and the organic. Nice choice boys! "Bag Lady," the only short track, is another good one, delivering a heavily murked out two minutes of looped melodies. "Clever Teeth" twinkles, lopes and glimmers over its seven minutes while "Jarritos" slightly echoes "Battleground Sky." Its got a murkier feel than "Sky" but its got a boatload of keyboard melodies all locked arms and skipping down the street. Megabats kick in the distortion for the default epic, the 13 minute closer "Canopy Fire." Spitting sequenced synth melodies through static distortion, the duo straddles the noise and electronic music realms without actually sounding like either.
Hemingway - The Mansions in Heaven are Empty
First of all, love the title of this disc. Now that that's outta the way, Hemingway will be playing Debacle Fest in their two-man heavy metal riffin' guise Great Falls. On this disc though, a single 22 minute track, they use space very well. Panning spacey, percussive bass notes while a guitar crackles and feeds back, the piece moves through peaks and valleys. Just when you think a crescendo may be on the rise they push everything back leaving only a few deliberate sounds. This disc is all I've heard of Hemingway but from where I'm sitting they are at their best when they are the most restrained. They really know how to hone in a few potent sounds and garnishing them with a few noises around the frayed edges. The duo mostly moves back and forth between a simmer and pummeling, as occasionally they like to drop some in-the-red rumbles on you. The back half of the track continues the peaks and valleys trajectory but also works around a loose guitar progression leading to a modest but satisfying finale.
Slates - Street of Dreams
Here's another single-track CD-r but this one's twice the length. Yikes! I'm guessing there's a concept here but there's practically no info to back me up. If you look at the cover which is a really wonderful piece of photography, you'll notice the house burning amongst the beautiful flowers and otherwise quiet neighborhood. The cover folds out to show the rest of the photo a crowd of neighbors grouped in the street, some craning their necks out windows, all attention focused on the fire. The flip-side of the booklet thing shows the fire from another perspective, raging even further, with the group of neighbors still captivated by the smoke and flames, with one man caught in the act of photographing the fire on his cell phone. I'm guessing that this piece is attempting to capture the experience on these onlookers. I may be way off base here but I'm goin' with it anyway. What's my evidence? Slates's track sounds like a fuckin' fire! It crackles and grumbles incessantly and grows, very slowly, more massive, more intrusive and more violent. There's a hypnotic aspect too as you see with the onlooking crowd. (May I also cite those DVDs of nothing but footage of a crackling fireplace to warm the homes of those without chimneys?) You can't keep each crackle, crunch and pop straight and, for better or worse, you get lost in the noise. Some people will appreciate the experience of this 44 minute arson-steeped piece, others won't, but it's gonna keep burning whether you like it or not.
Anyway, Debacle Fest will be kicking around The Josephine and The Black Lodge here in Seattle over the next three days. Hit up the Debacle myspace for full info

Flower Man/Carl Calm - The Breslin Wayside Rotary/The Sag [DNT]

2010-09-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of an upcoming Caboladies LP, DNT Records CEO Tynan Krakoff has prepared this double cassette of the two Caboladies solo projects. Flower Man and Carl Calm each contribute a succinct, twenty minute tape to the release though on slightly divergent paths.
Flower Man's tape is marked DNT053A so I'll start with that one first. Cramming in 10 pieces, Flower Man is apparently a bit of a wildman. He's all over the map here with his electronic squiggles, acoustic percussion and weirdo birdcalls on the opening title track. It's somehow frantic and mellow at the same time, don't ask me how. "Away Outdoors" could be an m83 outtake or something, a buoyant synth arpeggio recycles itself and chiming tones hammer out a melody. Very nice piece. "Yayenna Airplane" is a bunch of spacey oscillator manipulations a la Forbidden Planet. "The Quoclo Zoom" sounds like an old video game score with a marching drum machine and stressed synth tones warning of the ghosts, neon boulders and other dangers lying ahead, waiting to befall you. Wrapping up the side, "A Ripple Near the Sun" rests on a looped group of synth plinks with animal-like oscillator manipulations groaning and squealing over top.
Flipping it over "Fostered by a Latch" (ha!) burbles and rumbles to a start. It's another weird one with an array of percussive electronic noises and I think briefly a voiced couched in radio static. "Resurfacing" resembles the title track but features a number of glistening keyboards nestled uncomfortably next to each other over what I think is the same percussion loop from the first piece. "The General Effect of Science" is a collage of random electronic beeps, swoops and whirs similar to "Yayenna Airplane," do I detect a pattern here? "To Be/Wildlife" is a very nice synth number with a mellow, smooth arpeggio and a grumbling oscillator. "Seagull Pill Box" closes out the tape with more animal-like noises, like recreating an aural jungle habitat using nothing but a synthesizer. I know I'm repeating myself but this is some wild stuff, if a little underdeveloped.
Carl Calm flips the script with what is more or less an electronic/dance project. Contributing 5 tracks and one alternate mix... "Acayucan Cacique (Orchestral Mix)" flickers to a start with stuttering organ backed by almost choral keys. It's a great introduction to the tape; its rather a modest arrangement but still with an epic touch. "Crocs Time" gets the beats rattling and shaking, they tick away in a vacuum so to speak until the synthline drops and everything suddenly makes sense. The spacey arpeggiated melodies take over while the beat smashes away in the background. Mister Calm keeps piling on more keyboard melodies and subtle funk guitar stabs among other sounds. Very cool groove. Almost makes me wanna go out and buy a pair of those ugly ass Crocs shoes outta respect. "Bone Destined" takes the tape into a more abstract zone, with many, many layers crashing into each other. Although, they start communicating and making friends as the track progresses with a slowly pumping drum track, materializing along with hints of melody.
"A Royal Hole in the Sky" is built upon a series of short loops, I think from a bass or guitar. Carl does a good job jostling through and splicing the series of loops while the drum track clicks away. "Broad Jaunt" is actually not much of a jaunt. It's by far the most chilled out piece on the tape. Unfurling cosmic keyboards with scattered drum machine coming along for the glide. The tape is bookended with "Acayucan Cacique (Hype Mix)" a much more upbeat version of the track. A drum machine marches along with disembodied singing and scrappy keyboard melodies which I'm really digging. After a breakdown into a solo section of said melodies, the track comes back a little heavier before settling back into the song's main passage.
It's a cool little set as you definitely get a bit of a yin and yang vibe, Carl Calm's intricate sound structures and Flower Man's talent for concocting exotic textures. When DNT drops that Caboladies LP I'm gonna try applying this little decoder ring to see how the two members' styles fit together.
This has been sold-out for a while now, so check the distros for copies...

David Russell - Architecture [Pilgrim Talk]

2010-09-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

So here we are. I have another awesome looking lathe cut from Pilgrim Talk on my hands; this one's a clear 33rpm 7incher, and it is very, very good. David Russell is an artist I have never encountered before and I am wondering why. Apparently, Architecture is a "greatest hits" of Russell's best loops as chosen by Nick Hoffman at Pilgrim Talk, reissuing some out of print stuff as well as new material. There are 11 tracks over the two sides and at least as many loops if not more.
This stuff is really wild and really replayable as well. I don't know what Russell used to create these (except that "Erie" is created from recordings from Lake Erie!) but I imagine its quite a range of materials. The scathing, blistering bluster of the unironically titled "Shriek!" scares the fuck out of you right as you drop the needle. It's a very unfriendly little scalawag. Flipping the switch to "Fiddler" Russell gets the train a-movin'. There's the implication that a fiddle is involved here but hell if I can figure out how. It sounds more like a heavily botched/manipulated trumpet melody to me, with a snare or something providing some sharp crackle and pops. "Snap Dragon" is a sexy telephone party gone haywire, with them all cradling each others' receivers and ringing excitedly. "Who Dunnit? Loop" is short, all murk and grind. "Jerk Loop" is one my favorites, a seriously fucked dancefloor stomper. Don't even know how to describe it, very playful, very groovy. Very cool. "Swagger Loop" keeps the energy high with a much more ominous point of view. Mechanical shuffling with a relentless whining sine melody. "L W P" is also a neat one and totally changes styles. It appears to be all piano at work here and its creates a ghostly but surprisingly uptempo little creepout to end the side on.
The second side allows its four tracks to stretch out just a tad more. "Tremor" is a hyper-ventilating little groove. It's the kind of stuff I imagine all the weirdos out in Western Mass and Antwerp dance to all night long. "Loop of Guilt" is another favorite. Totally not getting the name here as this one just makes me wanna jump and jive. It's an expertly crafted beat from various vocal samples and a few raw drum hits. It sounds like something a very adventurous party DJ might have spun back in the early 90s. The aforementioned "Erie" is another anomaly in a record full of them. Apparently created from recordings of Lake Erie, this thing seems way too rhythmic for that to be so. There's definitely a submerged feel but there's gotsta be some drums on here somewhere! Anyhow, "Slighted" returns to the vibe of "Swagger Loop" but develops it much further. Plenty of distortion, lots of sounds all sputtering for your attention. It really feels like its building to something but alas its just a loop (or more accurately a collage of them). This is a case where its definitely about the journey though.
Some seriously excellent stuff here, possibly my favorite Pilgrim Talk release. What I love about Russell's work here is that most of these are simply just a single loop, but he constructs them to have a lot of depth as well as to throw you off guard slightly so the loop never feels too familiar or repetitive. Great work.
Limited to 50 copies but happily still available. The artwork/packaging is very nice as is typical of Pilgrim Talk's output.

Angst Hase Pfeffer Nase - Seashard [No Label]/Rack Rash - National Felt [No Label]

2010-09-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

So apparently Chris Cooper (Buddies/Chris Cooper Bill Nace Duo, Fat Worm of Error) is in a techno band now and this tape Seashard, the latest from his solo guise Angst Hase Pfeffer Nase, is his him in that "techno" mindset. I'm gonna guess that this tape has, at its center, guitar, as that's the instrument Cooper generally performs his wizardry on, but it's very possible I am way off on that as there must be at least a sampler or something everything that is channeled through. The sounds have gone completely ballistic here, all sorts of weird bloops, squirts, crackles, scratches, pops, cowbell hits? tear through you like shrapnel at a mind-boggling rate. I haven't been able to discern a coherent rhythm here but everything flies by so fast it wouldn't have been missed anyway. At one point, Cooper shifts into hyper drive with ascending synth tones follow by pitter-pattering snare and long, agitated bow-scrapes on guitar or bass. There's a cool "glitch" section, which makes me think "wow, glitch music would actually be pretty cool if it wasn't always made on fucking computers." You may have noticed that I'm just clutching at anything to write about for this review. This is because, well, how do you describe this? Hopefully, I'm giving you general idea of it (maybe? [shrug]) but this thing is on its own orbit. There's some beats here but they either creep up on you or just straight up hide. Near the end of the first side Cooper brings out some strange melodies and the tape develops some forward momentum before mellowing out on the comedown.
The second side is even a bit better I think. Beginning with a weird collage barrage of laboratory beeps, racecar-like sound effects, percussion plunks etc. From there it jumps off the deep end into 50s sci-fi sound effects (back when they made them with oscillators and circuits and such) but in a strictly non-cheesy way. Strange little melodies pulsate, either butting heads or jumping in each others beds. Receding into a softened squirm and scrape affair, with a drum machine puttering along underneath, it launches into a gnarly, cut-up, hard-panned freakout. These are probably the most "normal" moments of the tape as there's a steady if subtle beat and it slows down just enough you can start getting a hang of all the sounds going on. The most upfront beat of the tape turns up later still skittering away like the drummer in a 60s jazz quartet on a solo. Slowing down even further, the tape concludes with a handful of sounds conversing across the left and right channels, birthing melodic bastard children until muttering "Fuck, I'm tired. I'm outta here." This is the most thoroughly inventive cacophony I've heard in a long time.
Who knows if Cooper himself can wrap his mind around this incredible piece of confusion he's created. This is the uncharted, intergalactic intersection of techno, free music, weirdo music, jazz, avant-guitar and probably a bunch of other shit but its way more wild and fresh and exciting than any of that implies. Absolute jaw dropper, I highly recommend seeking out a copy of this as I doubt you've ever heard anything quite like it. I haven't at least.
So now that 3-D is all the rage (again) everyone's jumping on the band wagon and Fat Worm of Error's Tim Sheldon is right there along with everybody else. Check out the packaging on this thing! It's like the smokestack is coming right at you (it is!) Sheldon somehow found time to hand carve the title into the tape shells too. Anyway, so the presentation's awesome and this tape also helped me get a step closer to hearing all the Fat Worm members in solo form. Only one more to go; Donny, I'm comin' for you next. This tape is another perplexercise you'd expect from the crew but probably not in the way you'd expect. National Felt is all slowed-down samples of what sounds like various pop-rock songs from the early 90s. I'm sad to say I don't recognize any of the samples but they got me singin' "bay-buh!" in a slow-mo, Tears for Fears-sounding voice. The tape hops from sample to sample sometimes looping them or slicing and splicing them up. Along with that, Sheldon lays down some grrrrzzz's and oscillator squeals, static blurts and sounds of random shit getting knocked around in between and overtop the samples. It's quite a cool piece of music (probably about 10 minutes in length) that seems to cover a lot of ground in that time while also being paced rather quickly. It's unexpectedly listenable in a really great way.
I believe the b-side is just a repeat but for some reason it never sounds identical to the side that came before. I guess that's a testament to the elusiveness and wonder of the tape. Or maybe I'm right and it's not identical. Or maybe Mr. Sheldon is just fuckin' with my head. I'm okay with all three possibilities.
Both tapes are self-released so I guess try tracking down the artist, or getting them at a show. Some distro out there may have a copy(??) Anyway, maybe try Cooper at angsthasepfeffernase[at]gmail[dot]com and the Rack Rash myspace

3" CD-r Round-up

2010-08-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Every so often I collect a bunch of examples of my favorite digital format to make one big party review. And it's that time again.
First up from the Netherlands is Dead Neanderthals - Dead Neanderthals [No Label]. When this little disc showed up I thought I was in for some black metal or something of a similar ilk. I was immediately inundated with plenty skull (and bone) imagery and titles like "Cannibal Ambush," "Rat on a Stick" and "Napalm Death Trap." Anyhow, do you remember Ettrick from a couple years back? I know that's ancient history in small-press land but that's probably the closest comparison I can make to the Neaderthals even though neither really sounds that much like the other. The key is that Ettrick was a black metal duo on saxophone and drums. There's no personnel listing on the Dead Neanderthals CD-r, and the first couple listens left me in such a perplexed state, I had a hell of time trying to figure out how many people were in the band, sometimes it sounded like two, sometimes four, sometimes in between (3.5??). I checked myspace, the keeper of all secrets, and it turns out its a saxophone/drums "grind-core" duo with the ominious monikers of O and R. Whereas Ettrick indulged in 15 or 20 minute single pieces on their 3inches, Dead Neanderthals tear through 10 tracks in as many minutes, rattling your skull harder and harder each time through and giving you no time to collect yourself. "Idiot Runt" pelts you with squealing baritone sax and thud-thud-thud drumming as if you're the idiot runt in question with these two neanderthals pounding you into a pulp. "Fire From the Sky" uses a lot of effects on the sax making it sound like an otherworldly synth while overdubbed deep bass sax parts drive the piece. "Rat on a Stick" is all machine gun drumming against a killer(!!) solo evoking all sorts of apocalyptic urban decay. "Bloodied Knees" is "Rat"'s song-like counterpart that continues the vibe but with a more melodically-minded approach. "Cubic Aesthetics" is the longest at 1:48. It features a number of overdubbed, interplaying sax-lines that O twists and mangles until out of breath while R huffs and puffs relentlessly on his drumkit. "Sneak Attack" stands out as the most "jazzy" in a spastic Zorn way. There's even a touch of blown-out Wasteland Jazz sax at the end too. "Demonic" rips a screaming solo (that sounds a lot like trumpet even) over a juggernaut bari-arpeggio. "Cannibal Ambush" begins with a scream and then turns into what I'd say is the most fun track on the disc, very boisterous and with a big grin plastered across its face. The finale, "Metal Totem" totally rules, as its basically one long decrescendo as the band splinters apart leaving a brief but excellent solo sax moment at the end. This thing is a lot of fun and it hasn't gotten any less fun after a bunch of listens. I also dig that the band doesn't really sound too much like jazz or metal or this, that and the other. They aren't doing something completely unheard of but they definitely synthesize all their influences into something with their own vibe. Can't wait to hear more from this crew, now just get working on something for an analog format, ok guys? It's a self-released disc so check the myspace if your interested. It comes with a sticker too.
Fossils From the Sun - Lights [Kimberly Dawn]
I've been totally out of the loop on Ray Hare's Fossils From the Sun project. Last time I heard him he was making minimal electronics experiments with his guitar. Now hearing this disc, he has totally revamped his sound into a bleak, post-Suicide world. One that removes any of the few pop elements Suicide had. Over a repeating arpeggio (sounds like a synth, could be a guitar) Hare gets into Frankie Teardrop-mode muttering and snarling about flashlights, greenlights, stoplights and "everybody's dead" in a dubby, mental patient haze while the machines occasionally malfunction around him. Super-minimal and ten minutes long, the song is still entirely captivating. It's lack of "progression" actually works in its favor as you sort of enter into this black hole where the beginning sounds like the end and when you exit you wonder where the hell your mind has just been these last 10 minutes. The 3" sort sort of works like an extended cassingle or 12" single as it gives you the "b-side" a longer, louder, less minimal live rendition of "Lights." It is interesting as the track is a basic approximation of previous track but I think the melody is only similar and not the same. Hare shrieks a bit more here and he's got an extra instrument around providing both squalls and a surprising and rather pretty mid-section of swelling tones. This lulls you into a false sense of security before Hare burns the place down in crazed, ring-modulated fury. Despite ending on whispers of "don't be afraid," I remain uncomforted, Ray, thanks anyway. Totally chilling and great. We need more people de-constructing song-forms into... well, this. Check out Baronic Wall for similarly excellent, paranoid vehemence. Sold-out at source. Check distros or with the artist.
Interstates Etc. - Sanctuary of Memories [Kimberly Dawn]
Another one from Frank Baugh's (a.k.a. Sparkling Wide Pressure) Kimberly Dawn 3" CD-r label, which is one of the big players in keeping 3inchers (and consequently these round-ups) in business. This one is by Brandon Greter who runs the Dream Root label and also operates this great new project. I think this release might be better than the tape I reviewed a few months ago. The phenomenal first track "Inescapable Rain in Yoshiwara" sets things off down the right track as Greter rustles all sorts of junk and clatter together over a brooding, infectious barely-there melody that twinges of Twin Peaks to me. It's a really unified track despite lots of bizarre sounds constantly smacking you in the face. That Greter maintains the uneasy, mournful mood over the seven minutes is a feat in itself. "Fog at Toluca Lake" changes things up with a coventional-sounding guitar starting things off. It takes a few slowly plucked notes and twists them a little with various effects, never deviating too far from the original melody. Greter keeps things pretty minimal save for some more guitar fuzz near the end. "White Claudia" is a fuzzy guitar piece that Greter fucks with a whole bunch, I'm guessing in post-production. Unless its a loop and all the fuckery is live. Anyway, it's a nice wandering melody and Greter balls it up and uncrumples it with all sorts of stutters, bloops and spoonfuls of saturated fuzz circuits. Around halfway through a beat picks up in the back which helps complete the arrangement. It amounts to some kind of sleepy, guitar-fuzz-laden two-step, which, hey, that's perfectly fine by me. Dude's all over the place but definitely does it with his own style, it'll probably be a good move to keep your eye on this guy. Sold-out at source. Check distros or with the artist.
Extra Sexes - Muted Collar [412Recordings]
AG Davis is back with his heavily fucked up, garbled electronics/objects/tape+software edit creepjunksplattercrunchmayhem. The last Extra Sexes tape had some weirdo basement dance grooves mixed in with the brain assaults. Not so, here. This 16 minute beast, in two parts, goes for the psychic jugular. The sound sources Davis is drawing on around this time seem to range far wider than anything else I heard from him. Furthermore, he picks and chooses his times to pummel you rather than just making it an all out gorefest. There's a new sense of restraint and thoughtful use and embrace of patchs of silence. Though the first minute of "Part 2" may give you whiplash it morphs into a weird spaced out siren/bell tower passage. After which, Davis pulls out all the stops with a great, spluttering battle-ram of a showdown. Culling bits and pieces of too many machines on the verge of breakdown to name, its a well-played card before receding into silence, bell tolls and trickling creeks punctuated by severe spikes of distortion. Going out in a blaze of gore, Davis presses detonate and launches a decimating, harsh breakcore explosion. Dare I call this Davis's most mature and detailed slice & splice freak out yet? I hope this disc is a taste of what's to come on his upcoming LP. Still available.
Mesa Ritual - Voltaic Processions [SickSickSick]
Like the Extra Sexes disc, this 3inch comes in an oversized (i.e. regular sized) jewel case but does it one better with invisible artwork I don't get to see often enough. Mesa Ritual is SickSickSick head honcho Raven Chacon and William Fowler Collins, and they offer a 20 minute slab of thick ass, mastered-by-Pete-Swanson noise. The track isn't especially aggressive, it's just grimey. Seriously grimey. It's pure caked-on grit, you can't see what's what. I don't know what was at Chacon's and Collins's disposal here so I'm gonna go with the age-old catch all: electronics. What sounds like a hefty stack of machines sputter and crumble and whistle and stumble as the piece gradually gets louder and louder. Definitely an exercise in "monolithicism." Oh! But wait! Out of nowhere in the middle of the piece, still caked in dirt mind you, is a beautiful, heavily buried melody. Is there a way out of this bog after all? The melody vanishes after moments so I'm guessing the answere is no. It's back to slogging through the dense, disease-laden terrain. Mosquitos keep buzzing in my ears and chewing up my flesh and I can feel the earth shifting and lurching under my feet. Something that sounds like electronic windchimes creeps up behind me before turning to a swarm of angry wasps. There's an end in sight, but I'm already a swollen, malaria-infected, and utterly broken man by the time it arrives so who cares. Sold-out at source. Check distros.

Jeremy Kelly - Shortwaves [Sweat Lodge Guru]/Andreas Brandal - Into Thin Air [Sweat Lodge Guru]

2010-08-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

Sweat Lodge Guru is a pretty new label and I was instantly impressed when I held these tapes for the first time. SLG definitely puts a lot of effort in their packaging which is nice to see right out of the gate. The Brandal tape's J-card is printed on sparkly silver paper and the Jeremy Kelly cassette shell has rad semi-invisible imprinting you have to flutter in the light to see. I like shiny things what can I say. Especially when they come with nice sounds.
I feel each new Jeremy Kelly tape I hear gets progressively weirder. This one starts out with the title track "Shortwaves" which is static, oscillator noise and an alien voice giving some kind of argument on the nature of individuality. The track rolls along, fueled by confusion, before, lo and behold, I hear some drums. What will I hear next? Will J Kelly turn this skiff around and launch into a song? Nope, Kelly just rips into drum solo/assault. Some people play drums along to Led Zeppelin for fun; not this guy, it's only static-drenched, sputteringly spouted philosophies really make this dude wanna rock out. "Projection" shows up with dark synth swells, traces of wordless vocals and other sounds. There's a bit of drums swirling around too but it's mostly electronic signals making swooping birdcalls, thick crunching surges and other noises. A slow slide into bad-acid-trip-in-the-desert territory. Will you find your way out alive? The forecast doesn't look so good, man.
"Swallowed by the Sea" picks up on the b-side with more crackles and squeezed-out synth tones. Plenty more bad vibes and drums at work here. Seasick synthesizer bobs and weaves like a drunk failing a breathalizer test. The electronics are agitated and Kelly over there on the drum kit is annoyed they won't just play a song with him. "Asahara" is an attempt at friendlier zones, a melody is played on some bizarre concoction that sounds like a cross between three keyboards, a dulcimer and a bongo drum. I've heard the guy makes his own instruments maybe this is one? There's a hint of an Eastern-vibe to the melody that is until it gets picked apart by jealous electronic gadgets. The final track "Recursion/Dream Theatre," which I'm assuming is a taunt at crappy prog-rock, takes over with what sounds like a fuzzy reversed guitar playing a little loopy melody. Since when did this guy get all lovey-dovey? Kelly just riffs over it with all sorts of mellow, octavia-style leads. It's a great few moments. Rest assured long-haired dudes out there, Kelly hasn't gone completely soft as he returns with a scrambled drum barrage and even turns out some straight Van Halen-style guitar licks. This is a good little tape, lots of cool ideas and it moves along at a rapid clip; worth a listen for sure.
I've been hearing a lot about Norwegian musician Andreas Brandal as he's had releases on such illustrious labels as Stunned and Tape Drift among others, and now I finally get to hear him. The multi-tracked guitar affair of the title track kicks off the tape. The track has a dark shimmer like the artwork. It's harmonious though not particularly melody-driven but Brandal does a good job creating atmosphere with a relatively standard mode of guitar playing (muted strumming and single-note lines.) It ends on a cool rattling rhythm too. "The Whispering Gallery" plucks bass notes over a continuous, though shifting, guitar drones. There's a nice interplay between the drones and melody, as the piece gently veers back and forth between tonality and strained semi-atonality. Like the piece before it, it ends on an interesting loop of a cricket-sounding device among other things. "Invisible Green" has great rustic piano-playing and various sounds of jingling chimes, brittle leaves crunching underfoot and somebody rustling around an attic. Brandal's guitar playing is very nice but it's this stuff that really gets me going, as these sounds are so pungent, and dripping with natural atmosphere that the subtle drones lying dormant aren't even necessary. "Shadow" is all ghostly harmonics and hushed, hollow metal clinks. "A Midnight Visitor" has a great, wheezy organ which stumbles around in a stupor, most likely after having too much fun on the devil's day. Mechanized burblings occur in the background before dropping out allowing a lovely, but ominous, string part (cello I think) to lead the piece to an impeccable end. The organ returns for the b-side on "Room Number 3." Drones rise and cut off sharply, in a thickly woody atmosphere. There's a short melody that sounds like an organ coughing, or choking maybe, that's rather interesting in the piece's stark environment. "The Seven of Hearts" sounds like it might have a bit of effected banjo though I s'pose it could just be guitar. What sounds like a recording of footsteps (or maybe people playing basketball) creates a cool little underlying rhythm while the banjo/guitar/whatever continues its arpeggio. The piece shifts into a pretty bed of organ drones where it finally lays itself to rest. "A Premonition" changes up the pace considerably with what's more or less an electronic beat and a bit of synth action. The piece still fits into the quilt of the album but alters the color palette a little bit. Closer, "It Walks By Night" moves further down this path with unsubtle synth sweeps and siren-like oscillations. The piece develops into some kind Romero zombie movie-esque score, maybe not literally as I haven't seen one in years but that's what is coming to mind. Heavy synthetic swirls, haunting melody, you get the idea. The tape is a nice little suite moving from guitar to organ to synth. Brandal has been making music for a while now and you can tell, his hand is very sure and the tape has a very mature feel.
Both tapes are still available from Sweat Lodge Guru, which looks to be a label to keep your eye on.

Deep Magic - Soul Vibration [DNT]

2010-08-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

The last batch of DNT jewels had a lot of big names in it but it was this unassuming gem that really wowed me during my first survey of all the materials. Just when I think I'm out of the neo-new age, "psychy haze vibe zones" (as a friend recently put it) they pull me back in.
The gorgeous first twenty minutes of the tape by Alex Gray (Dreamcolour) are, well, gorgeous. It's complete sonic anesthesia. You could give me a root canal and I'd be fine as long as this was pumpin' in my Walkman. It's keyboards and stuff but what Gray used to make this isn't really important. It's the effortless melodies he creates and the lovely, indelible arrangement of the piece. It evolves slowly but never releases its core melody that entranced you in the first place. Have you ever seen the film For All Mankind? (you should if you haven't) This piece totally reminds me of that, witnessing pure, inescapable, indescribable, otherworldly beauty for an extended period of time. You close your eyes while listening and you'll either melt or just glide for eternity. Deep relaxation music for sure, just a brilliant piece of work. No joke, it's seriously therapeutic. I love this.
The rest of the side is filled out by a nice piece lead by atmospheric echoey guitar, backed by liquid keyboards. It doesn't match the unspeakable genius of the first piece but it holds it own. I particularly like these deep bassy bass throbs that occur in the second half of the track. The real key here is that Gray manages to make music that's weightless and still substantive.
The tape starts up again on the B-side with some placid hand drum action and smooth tones. There's all sorts of new-agey talk about "energy" and endless reflections and "laughter in the universe" and "peaceful vibrations of the soul" on the j-card, and this piece seems to have no other goal than to emit easygoing vibes. The track doesn't develop much, just keeps takin' it easy. The last track resembles the second one a little bit. Heavy shroud of delay amongst others things. I think there could be some sax buried in here too as this is the murkiest piece on the tape. Not dark or dank just cloudy and all smeared together. The second half of the piece mellows slightly, running on synth fumes, before coming to a complete stop.
This is the first I've heard of Gray's work as a solo artist but I was thoroughly impressed particularly with the first piece. The tape's been sold-out for a little while so check the distros or wait for Gray to drop another atomic bliss bomb.

Marinos Koutsomichalis - Malfunctions [Agxivatein]

2010-08-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

It's no accident Greek artist Marinos Koutsomichalis named this CD-r Malfunctions. There's a lengthy artist statement included with the disc which ends with Koutsomichalis stating the goal of the release was to "listen to all those sounds that were not meant-to-be."
The first of seven untitled tracks is a very minimal drone affair using synthetic tones that sound pretty normal to me. Though I guess I may have a skewed sense of "normal" compared to most other people. That seems to be the point Koutsomichalis is trying to make though, that what are perceived as malfunctions are not limitations inherent to the machine but limitations projected by the person using or experiencing the object. The second track is a lot louder and thicker. Electronics spit a variety of "malfunctions," spluttering tones, white noise, jittery, crunchy loops. It's a very dimensional piece of work and Koutsomichalis definitely put a lot of work into the mixing and arranging of the piece. All the interweaving layers, enter at different volume levels, drop in volume or out completely to return later. There's a very methodical use of dynamics, despite the constant changes, Koutsomichalis develops a complete continuity to the piece and its rhythms. The third track is a single tone percussively stuttering and sputtering in a haphazard way. I really can't tell if there is any manipulation here or if Koutsomichalis is just leaving the tone to its own devices. I'm gonna go with the former but it could go either way. Koutsomichalis seems to be most at home with a lot of sounds as the next track is an excellently dense and noisy trip. The thing just throbs, sick with static, incinerating everything in site. It maintains this constant heaviness while still throwing plenty of curve balls, but ultimately all of the malfunctioning electronics are whipped right back into shape. What really surprises me about the piece, and one of the reasons why its so great, is that for a bunch of malfunctioning sounds this piece is really melodic. There isn't a melody per se, but Koutsomichalis organizes the piece in a very consonant way letting the piece move smoothly despite the seriously jagged texture. Damn fine work. The next track continues the minimal/maximal pattern with a minimal piece of snaps, crackles and pops. This one gains a simple polyrhythm after a while based on one machine making something akin to the tick tock of a pocketwatch. The next track is another noisy one, which also the first place on the record to engage in loopy, squiggly hi-pitched frequencies. The eight minute finale looms along in a constant state of agitated, prickly static. There's vague movement underneath, but you only get intimations of it which draws you deeper and deeper into the piece. It doesn't change a whole lot, but its mystery never fades either. It's a great note to go out on.
Though the minimal experiments aren't as strong, Koutsomichalis is a fantastically adept "noise artist;" he knows how to sculpt/carve/whatever with pure noise and make it compelling. That's not something I can say about many people.
Edition of 72, available from Koutsomichalis's label, Agxivatein.

Ultra Bonbon - North American Family Bond [Tanzprocesz]/Ultra Bonbon - Tapehisssabysss [Bonbon Bruises]/Ultra Bonbon - Paradise Vol. 2 [No Label]

2010-08-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

For the past couple years I've taken notice of Dan Milanese's Ultra Bonbon project as one of the more interesting and overlooked noise artists out there. I was happy to see France's Tanzprocesz label put something out by Ultra Bonbon as the two seemed a match made in purgatory. The very nice looking North American Family Bond cassette shows those "Europeans" a thing or two about how to raise happy, close-knit families North American-style. How does Milanese do this? With noise, silly. The title track is actually rather friendly as the tones are little smoother than the usual Bonbon outing. There are plenty of fuzzy blips squiggling and crunching around over some polyphonic, pulsing Q-chord type sound. I'm pretty sure this is guitar-less but every once in a while Danny rips out a thick, fuzzy riff that I'd have liked to see repeated. "Fog of Magog" gets shifts up into harsh mode real quick with an explosion of feedback and vocal junk. It's actually probably the moments after the crescendos that are most interesting as you can feel the residual seething angst still but the machines are caught between calm hums, swoops and twirls and on-edge, grainy feedback bogs. I like that Milanese engineered a brighter sounding set, as the normal route for any harsh tape seems to be hide in the darkness. A stepping keyboard melody starts up near the end which is continually shifted down while Danny shreds his throat.
The second side is a single track, "Gods Bubbles." I don't really know what God's bubbles are like but Danny's got plenty of his own bubbles here. I sort of imagine this as a field recording of some Wonka-esque bubble bath machine. This is Blobs (aquatic Orphan Fairytale & Dolphins into the Future collabo) for the noise set. Ultra Bonbon is always fun to listen to cause there's plenty of movement in the tracks. They never get to a point of manic freakouts but they're never slow going either. Milanese engages in a range of sounds from mild pitter patter to obnoxious oscillator bleats. But what I really love is when he whips up a melody out of nowhere as he does halfway through the side. The screamy vocals don't even bother me so much because of the killer 3-note dirge backing him up. Tones are beaten and strangled to death but the track keeps dragging it's bloody corpse along. Some excellent, complex work for sure.
This Tapehisssabysss is one of the most interesting Bonbon works. At a half hour it's about 3 times the length of the typical Bonbon release, which has a lot to do with it. Milanese has plenty o' room to comfortably stretch out his limbs and ideas. He almost takes the opposite route as North American Family Bond where that was very bright, volatile and one of the harshest releases with the Bonbon tag, Tapehisssabysss is murkier and paced more slowly. Shaped around a looped keyboard melody, Milanese plants a bed of chirps and sweeps and even a few drones. It's a placid side overall, one where you can just sit back and zone out even if he throws a spicier tone in at the end. It's maybe a bit on the repetitive side but its a nice one to chill to.
The second side is great with an awesome wobbly melody and what seriously sounds like muted trumpet. There's a variety of synth whooshes and tape mutation here. Every once in a while you get a pretty big blast of noise, as all the other elements try to hypnotize you into a vulnerable state. It's a really twisted and fantastic track. There's a wild hodgepodge of sounds here, the horns, electronics, weird tape fuckery all brewed into this mucky little stew with a delicious but still kinda funky taste. The piece seems to get crankier as it winds down, like its tired of keeping the creepy train going, before it grumbles to an abrupt halt.
A lot of people were rightfully confused last year when Ultra Bonbon dropped Paradise Vol. 1 and Paradise Vol. 3 without the supposed Paradise Vol. 2 in the middle. Well here it is, a bit late to the table. The funny thing is, this is closer to "paradise" than the others. At least in my opinion it is, as its much easier on the ears, and really what weirdo truly wants to be stranded on a desert island with only a Prurient/Wolf Eyes tape to keep him company? Anyway, "Resplendent City" is a pretty mellow listen. It still has plenty of grit and grime in its joints but there's a shiny oscillator tone leading the way with half melodies amongst little crackles. And at five minutes its just the right length. The second side's piece actually titled "Paradise" is on the weirder end of things. It's really garbled and cut up and pretty difficult to identify what it is you're actually hearing. There's some tense tones buried down a little and this actually one of the more dense, "composed"--for a lack of a better term--pieces from the Bonbon. No real crescendo just the hint of one and then it's back to the A-side. It's about the journey, man...
All three of these tapes are really showing Milanese is a man with a plan; he's definitely expanding his sound in a number of directions and judging from these he's been successful at it. I'm looking forward to the next batch he cooks up.
North American Family Bond is available from Tanzprocesz still but Paradise Vol. 2 and Tapehisssabysss are in editions of 20 and 12, respectively, so good fucking luck!

Fat Worm of Error - Fat Worm of Error [Brazilian Wax]

2010-08-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Having watched Fat Worm of Error completely rule Seattle last night, it hit me that Fat Worm may be the next, or I guess, current evolution of rock & roll. How they sound/are so spontaneous and yet sound so perfectly synchronized is unfathomable. Cause they do play songs, but within the structure of the songs the quintet are the freest souls for a thousand miles. It's a fantastic conundrum. Jess is wailing in her constantly changing wardrobe of home-made costumes, Donny is continually breaking every string on his bass, Tim is physically playing his guitar with a guitar pedal, Neil is busy making mongoloid faces behind the drum kit and whatever sampler/clatter mess he's got back there and Chris is just doing all the unnameable shit that Chris does. Their records are good but they don't fully capture the volume nor the absolutely possessed rock & roll attitude.
This brand new 7inch (literally, UPS delivered it to them yesterday) inches just slightly closer to capturing the live feel of a Fat Worm set. Chris described it as them being a dumb punk band that puts out 7inch singles with really bad artwork. And well, you know Fat Worm of Error is the smartest dumb punk band around so I don't have to tell you that this is good.
The a-side is "Double-Headed Baby" which I'm guessing gives you a clue to deciphering the alien blob on the front. Jess is playing an unusually pretty melody (which my girlfriend has identified as a variation on a piece of music from The NeverEnding Story) on her casio amongst all the buzz 'n junk clatter. The pleasant melody and its skronky backing are actually a really great match and the rest of the song sees the two ends trying to meet in the middle leading into this weird but awesome dirge-like first half before splitting to a groovier refrain of "double-headed baby" with excellent rubberband bass and some cowbell-laden drumming. Things get even denser as the needle rolls along with guitars flipping out into various manners of atonal attack with some sweet stereo-panned effects in there too. In the punk tradition, it's a pretty short song but, man, it's like an entire punk album packed into 2 and a half minutes; a dense, tightly coiled spring of fun and fury.
The flipside "Anglo Sox" is solid too. It throws you right into a rumbling cowbell/bass/2xGuitar prog nightmare before Jess comes in and opens up the track. The track is a big tug o' war between nothing and everything. The song gets splintered into all its separate elements and quickly krazy glued back together then splintered then put back together then... well you get the idea. Unlike the first side, this track is definitely on a closed loop veering back and forth to either extreme. It sounds like there may be a clarinet or bassoon chirping along with all the strings too but don't hold me to it. The vocal refrain of "hysterical wizards!" gets a little tiresome after being repeated ad nauseum but with Fat Worm of Error nausea always comes with the territory.
Anyway go see these guys as they travel the nation(!!) and buy this and all the tapes too. They're good.

The Seven Vowels of Nature - Vol. I and E [Sacred Phrases]

2010-08-12T22:37:00.001-07:00

I reviewed a tape by Kevin Salyers a while back under his Streetworker moniker. It was prickly but pleasant drone stuff and now he's back with a different name The Seven Vowels of Nature... wait, A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y. 7? What the fuck's the seventh?
These sounds are a lot smoother than Streetwalker's but it doesn't quite resign itself to the euphoric side of things. On "I," deep, round, slowly undulating waves are met with a distant delayed siren. Less sullen, pulsing keyboards fill in the middle and the track is untied and set adrift. It doesn't give away too much, keeping his cards close to his chest, Salyers establishes polyphony without clearly delineating one sound too much from the other, and all the while somehow avoiding murkiness. Definitely a balancing act, and well balanced at that.
"E" reminds me a little more of Salyers's Streetwork; a buzzier, slightly metallic tone trembles away mostly dominating the track and a few other static synth tones act as foils. Eventually a watery synthesizer wins out, stealing the spotlight for a short solo bit. The piece of the side, is very similar. Maybe a second take on the same idea? Salyers seems to be working with the same set of sounds but the pace seems to be a bit quicker. Tones glisten with an intently minimalist style. The piece isn't so much minimalist in sound as in composition. Salyers can't be using more than a handful notes here. The sounds harmonize but never make the full transition into melodies.
Overall, the music is perhaps a little too ephemeral for its own good as it doesn't really stick in the memory long but its a well put-together and pleasant 20 minutes.
The tape is available from Sacred Phrases in an edition of 48 copies.

Warm Climate - Camouflage on the River Wretched [Stunned]

2010-08-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

Anyone who heard Warm Climate's previous opus Edible Homes can't be expecting anything less than perfection from its follow-up Camouflage on the River Wretched. And, man, it really delivers, probably even surpassing Edible Homes.
The only aspect where Camouflage doesn't quite match Edible Homes is atmosphere. That's not a criticism in the least though. The pervasive chilliness of the cavernous free-glam-creep-out of Homes is more or less unbeatable but Camouflage hits hard is the songs. "Saltwater Simplified" launches things off with a fuzzy, stumbling synth-bass line. After a few echoing shrieks the song hits full force with groovy, loping drums and thick grinding organ. Seth Kasselman, who masterminds Warm Climate, is singing in his signature glam-falsetto, struggling to be heard above the racket. It's a short song but immediately sets the tone for what's to come. "Trespassing" shifts into the more avant-garde Warm Climate mode, with sample manipulation, eerie drones from guitar and keys floating pretty freely. Then Kasselman's voice enters out of nowhere and all of a sudden this loose arrangement becomes some futuristic ballad. Bass backs up the vocals while a wah-wah'd guitar sets about squirming. Things get more and more twisted with matter-of-fact female narration about a fat man, and a basement, while brass supplied by Cailin C. Mitchell lets out some elephant roars. The track totally works but its amazing it does. How Kasselman envisions this and then keeps it together is beyond me. The track wears so many hats, it's mind boggling. Balmy ballad, cinematic soundtrack, dark jazz/drone session, placid keyboard piece all in one. "We Wish You Rain" may be my favorite track. It begins with a fantastic foreign-sounding rhythmic jaunt and then just fucking lays into it with copious amounts of bad vibes. Multi-tracked vocals, thick thick thick bass, keyboards and effects-laden guitar squalls. All this with a relentless, organic dance groove behind it. The track just gets more and more unhinged drifting off to any idea that gets in its head. "More Wretched" kicks off almost like MF Doom beat, vaguely hip hop-styled drum machine and weird collage of instruments/sounds. It's a pretty short but it's a nice interlude seguing to the next side.
"Voice Over Headlights" features a murky beat akin to quick foot steps. There's a brief intimation of a gospel-blues vibe amongst scratchy crackles but the track eventually settles into some gargling vocal drones. Jangling chimes, guitar fuzz, a slow bass throb and something like walkie-talkie feedback lead into Kasselman riffing on his clarinet. The dry, woody tones seem unusually at home in their crusty surroundings and clarinet is just awesome period, I'll think it sounds great anywhere. This section is one of my favorite parts on the album as its a great solo and a really nice, somber break from the album's constant cacophony. A bit hotter playing from trumpet and drums takes over before launching into the "song" portion. Which is excellent. Chunky bass, operatic keyboards and multi-tracked vocals over a great guitar line. It gets interrupted much too early by garbled noise. The final section recalls some of the eerie minimalism of the last tape, and for the first time on the record Kasselman's voice doesn't face any competition to be heard. It's him singing over a low bass rumble and airy keyboards. Seriously epic jam! It's a well-placed retreat to calmness, in conjuction with the brief swirl of keys, guitar, bass and voice in "Two Stones", before moving into the gutsy finale "Blue Metro." Kasselman is in unabashed rock & roll mode here, screaming about something being "blue on the metro" over crunchy drums and bass and plenty of thick guitar distortion caked on as well. It feels great going out on the rawest note.
Well, what an album. I'm impressed. Stunned claims they were recently christened the best band in LA and I'm not gonna disagree. Kasselman just keeps barreling on down the street with no signs of slowing down, doing his thing like nobody else. Either climb aboard, or get your ass run the fuck over.
Stunned is down to it's final copies so paypal that shit right away!
Oh and there's fantastic color-pencil(!) artwork by Phil French all over this thing. I love it!

Duck Dive/Edibles - Split [Stunned]

2010-08-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

Alright, so this cassette was supposed to be part of the Alberorovesciato review, but that became its own beast and I figured it'd be better to split 'em up. Anyhow, the tape collects Stunned Records's two main interests, Portland acts (Edibles) and international acts (Duck Dive). Edibles is the home-made dub alter-ego of Dewey Mahood (Plankton Wat, Eternal Tapestry) while Duck Dive is a project from Indonesia totally unknown to me 'til now.
Duck Dive takes the first side with the cut "Equatopia" which was made with a synth, a handful effects and a multi-tracker. It seems like there's a few influences at work here, there's a bit of the vibe of Sean McCann's kaleidoscopic electronic experiments and older Skaters stuff if you can imagine it without all the vocal fuzz plus whatever synth-centric influences there are. The dude behind this goes by the name of Gonzo, whether he's a Hunter Thompson or Muppets fan is your guess. Anyhow, those influences are around but what this guy really wants to do is just jam. He creates a thick bed of sounds, with a number of intertwining synth parts and then just riffs over them. Other than some loops of bird calls this side is Gonzo being a synth traveler, traversing the landscape of his own design, marching along, playing ditties for himself as he crosses the next hill. He's credited here for composing and improvising which makes sense as each movement of the piece has a framework but within that framework he just lets himself go to it, feeling his way through until satisfied. It creates a nice vibe as this music sounds very electronic but it really doesn't feel rigid at all, it's very warm and organic sounding despite being made 100% from machines. In the final movement Gonzo whips out some stellar chops and he flies all over the keyboard, jammin' hard and heavy with some virtuoso action. I dig this stuff, real lively and fun to throw on in any occasion.
Mahood kicks his overdubbed dub into gear on the b-side with "Hangin' Out." I feel like there's a touch of a tongue-in-cheek vibe here. I do not mean that this is a joke or anything, Mahood seems really into this. I just mean that he really goes for it, everything is filtered and phased half to hell and the grooves are generally pretty thick and relentless. Like Mahood is saying to the listener "now I'm really gonna get your head a-nodding!" The tracks are only semi-distinguishable from each other, which kinda just the case with dub but it's a fun side. I like "Dubtrip" a lot as the groove is especially cutting and focused, "Invader" which follows is looser and has its charm but for me the more tightly coiled the Edibles the better. "Tracers" probably sounds most "vintage" of the six tracks to my ears. A classic bassline, echoing vox and plenty of guitar stabs. "Chill Wave" isn't really chillwave, but it is one of the more lethargic pieces on here. "Synthscape" is actually a fairly relevant title for the finale as it matches a minimal echoing dub rhythm section with glistening synthesizer streaking across on the sky. I'm sort of missing the point picking out track from track as this is really about chilling out the whole side through. I hear there's supposed to be an LP on DNT sometime next year, I'll be curious to see how Mahood develops the Edibles sound for that.
Long sold-out now, so hit up the distros I suppose as it's a darn cool tape.

Alberorovesciato - Crown, Mineral & Sacred Well (The Skorpio Tape) [Stunned]

2010-08-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

Arrrrrrre... youuuuuu... rrrreadddyyyyy? ["YEAH!"] Alberorovesciato is BACK! [The crowd goes wild.]

* * *

I don't write memoirs very often or anything but that's an excerpt from my latest piece of autobiographical fiction I'm working on titled "That Time I Heard Alberorovesciato had a New Tape Out." You may think that I embellished a little (I didn't) but that's why I'm covering my ass with the "autobiographical fiction" tag. I know I don't want Oprah on my back again; that's the last thing I need right now.
So why am I opening a review of a band I really respect with such an idiotic intro? I don't know, maybe cause I'm too stupefied to have any better ideas. I asked the question, you answer it.
After a great disc on Singing Knives, the Berlin boys from Italy are finally following up their previous Stunned cassette (one of my favs from '09.) And here it is: absolute freedom in a compact audio format.
First of all, if you have not heard these guys buy/download/youtube whatever you can. They're brilliant. With a vast ark of instruments, pots, pans, objects, etc. in front of them, the duo commune with and occasionally attack the objects with sticks, mallets, giant tree branches (no shit) and whatever else they feel like. And that right there is the essence of the tape. They do whatever it is that feel like and, this is the important part, it rules. This is the product of completely liberated artisans and impeccable talent and taste. The duo is as complex and percussion-focused as ever but this tape finds them occasionally reaching for a melodic instrument. They still play it like an idiophone generally but that small melodic presence adds a fascinating coloring (and contrast to) the raw surroundings.
I think I maybe mentioned this when I reviewed their other tape, but this stuff is so difficult (impossible?!) to properly write about because Alberorovesciato is getting at some form of communication way beyond a learned language. They run the gamut of naturally occurring sound; their music is a continual (non-scientific) exploration of what texture "material x" creates when "technique Y" is used to draw sound from it. All sorts of scrapes, rattles, and melodic chiming are at work amongst pings and crashes of metal and hollow thuds of drums.
Recorded immaculately, the album sounds wonderfully clear and warm on these pro-dubbed tapes. The mic picks up all the nooks and crannies of their sounds while also capturing the feel of the room. I haven't been lucky enough to see these guys play yet but I don't feel gypped having only heard their releases. Their energy always seems to fully translate, and if it doesn't, well, my noggin will be blown when I hear the real thing. I feel witness to an amazing creation-in-action, listening to these guys unravel whatever puzzles they set out for themselves into perfect sonic tapestries that follow no rules. This music breathes. It's unmistakably and purely alive; and I'm not sure of a better way to compliment it. Hear this.
The tape is sold-out at source but there's bound to be some of the 111 copies still available. You have your quest, now go forth and find Skorpio.

Gasoline Gathers Hands, Gathers Friends - Tail Light Fever Forever [House of Sun]/Xiphiidae - Slowing Atrium [House of Sun]

2010-08-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Got two more installments from the great Canadian label House of Sun. The last tapes I heard from them were total dreamers (Tuluum Shimmering and Charlatan) and so I was suprised to find these to be such a pair of murky guitar lurkers.
The first up is by a band I'd never heard of before. Gasoline Gathers Hands, Gathers Friends is a bizarrely christened wandering murk affair. I was just listening to my Maths Balance Volumes LP the other day and now that I'm listening to this, GGHGF definitely reminds me of them so it makes sense why I always dug Tail Light Fever Forever. They seem to move with dronier, more extended brushstrokes than MBV though. The first side is a totally warbling affair with some dude howling in garbled angst while blurry guitars pick and strum around him. I like how they start with a conventional base (a song) and stretch it and contort it into something strange and mysterious. There's a really pretty instrumental passage in the middle of the side. It drifts along in the same awkward fog but sticks to a melodic framework making it a nice oasis in the sea of alienated loner muzak. Once the strangled vocals show up its back to creepdom though. I think there's some tape manipulation towards the end as the jam seems to get more and more feral and loopy. The second side is immediately more placid and well adjusted. Sounds like some organ, moaning vox and guitar all in a thick, reverb-laden din. A lovely little guitar arpeggio emerges with relative, but surprising, clarity. The sound shifts to slightly Grouper-esque on this side which you know I'm behind. More or less wordless vocals accompany the guitar with faint fragments of sound floating about too. I can't quite tell how many people are behind this; it's pretty minimal so it could be one person or perhaps as many as three all sitting tranced out, cross-legged, focused intently on the single element they are contributing. The piece turns into quite a pretty song with plenty of vocals a-swirl; it's an unusually upbeat ending even if its still in shades a grey. This seems like a cool project, I'll be keeping my ears out for 'em.
From an unknown project (to me anyway) comes a well-known one from Jeff Astin. Laying down the law in 20 minutes flat, Slowing Atrium reminds me of Astin's tape last year on Cabin Floor Esoterica under the Abolicao tag. This is much less rustic sounding, which I liked about the Abolicao tape, but I'm not gonna hold that against it. On the first side, there are dual guitars spinning their cobwebs in separate channels with a thick coating of crusty field recordings. I swear there's a few keyboard stabs floating around but maybe its just guitar, as the guitar also makes a time of imitating chimes. Guitar gradually becomes less of a focus as the drones seep into the murky tapes of Astin's favorite hikes or whatever. Sticking with the whole hiking idea, this is a nice little "ramble" in the woods which is big praise coming from me, a confessed hater of "rambles." Maybe I like this ramble because I can do it from the comfort of my own home or maybe its just because it's, you know, music.
"Side B" separates itself from the first side and all the various images of forest fungi that litter the case by delivering an ultra-sparse guitar-centric piece. The two main elements here are guitar strings and silence. It sounds like there might be some tapes or something else present too but its not much more than a whisper. A guitar figure repeats in various permutations, widely spaced out. Around halfway, a tape of a creek gently trickles with faint windchimes as well. Stuttering half-melodies appear at the very end making it the loveliest part of the track. The side is definitely a meditative piece and a very good palette cleanser; I hadn't heard Xiphiidae in some time and I like the direction its headed.
The Xiphiidae tape is still in print, but it seems like Gasoline Gathers Hands, Gathers Friends is all gone from the label. Check the distros, I suppose. Both come in recycled cardboard arigato packs for cassettes, so you can save the environment while jammin' some sweet tunes.

Sean McCann - Chances are Staying [DNT]

2010-08-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this is the first time Sean McCann has ever been on vinyl? I mean the guy has released roughly 620 tapes and CDrs all of which range from being pretty damn good to pretty damn amazing. He's one of the most consistent players on the field so give ol' DNT a hand for finally moving McCann up to the big leagues.
The first side contains the side-long piece "Labyrinth" which seems to be drawing maybe a little inspiration from Steve Reich and that kind of sound while remaining unmistakably "McCann." There's a phantom pulse buried way down deep and McCann populates the piece by stacking flowing synthetic frequencies, glistening strings and ghostly vocal/guitar/electronics(?) muck. The piece just seems to wander without much arc but goes down real easy anyway. This guy is just a master of composition; he has complete control of every sound creates, yet he makes it seem effortlessly organic, as if its the music of a forest that always seems to just exist. The final few minutes are spectacularly beautiful. When McCann begins to change things up, he introduces the radiant, buzzing synths and mournful string melodies with so much grace you forget there's a human hand behind this. Probably more than anyone else in the underground, McCann's music really makes me feel something deep inside. My experience with his music goes far beyond "I like this. This guy is really good." (which is absolutely true.) But there's so much heart and passion in his music and he imbues it with such unmistakable beauty that I can't help but get a little choked up sometimes.
3 pieces fill out the b-side, the first of which is "County Heirlooms." The swirling jam adds drums, banjo, reeds and sloshed vocals to the mix and the piece flits in between loping country rhythms to loping reggae-ish rhythms. "County Heirlooms" is a pretty fitting title as the vibe I get from this is a total nostalgia flashback. And I don't mean nostalgia in the artificial way that's so popular right now; this piece sounds like listening to a whirlwind of memories. Sounds rush by ephemerally, only able to snatch glimpses before they're gone, never gaining a complete experience of their presence. But the larger sense you get from the piece is not confusion, just a contented, sunny smile. "Stasis" is only about 2 and a half minutes and its a nice little keyboard piece but its basically just a respite between the more robust "Heirlooms" and "The World He Left Behind." There's some fantastic moments on this album for sure but I think as far as an entire track is concerned my favorite is the finale. "The World He Left Behind" is less subtle with the synths and it sounds really great in the headphones. There's such a perfect melodic shifting that goes on almost subliminally in the bass frequencies that all the little bells and whistles he throws on top are merely icing on the cake. There's a bevy of chimes, strings and lots of keyboard melodies. It's the most dense piece on the LP, really leaving it in the listeners hands to take the plunge and explore everything it has to offer.
This is yet another excellent record from Sean. Surprise, surprise. I probably wouldn't call it my favorite McCann but its definitely up there on the top tier with the best of them and there are certainly many moments on here that belong in McCann's hall of fame. Everytime I listen to it I appreciate it more and more so maybe as time passes it may become my favorite, but by then who knows what other portals McCann will have opened. Regardless of my personal placement of it though this is a phenonmenal record from a true artist and at 400 copies you actually have a chance of physically owning the next essential piece of McCann's discography. Take the chance, as this record is staying. (It seemed right to me to end on a terrifying pun, deal with it.)
Available from DNT and now is a perfect time to buy as the DNT mailorder is opening back up this month. It'll be 12 bucks well-spent.

Alex Barnett - Section 3 [Nihilist]/Alex Barnett - Section 2 [Chronic Boom]

2010-07-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

I've been really digging this pair of tapes from Alex Barnett, a Chicago-based synth artist. Section 2 & 3 follow up Section 1 on Catholic Tapes which I missed out on (shit.) Anyhow, the DL Hughley on this guy is it's a synth project but a) it's all analog and b) it seems to be drawing a lot of influence from 70s and early 80s synth scores a la John Carpenter or Moroder, among other influences of course. This isn't new agey featherweight stuff, this is gutsy, punchy synth composition at its finest.
Section 3 kicks off with, what is still the crown jewel of Barnett's works in my mind, "Try Harder." This one definitely has a Carpenter vibe to me, like a less minimal envisioning of the theme from Assault on Precinct 13. Thick gritty synth throbs lay down the law while an old drum machine flickers and pulses away. You know something big is on the horizon and Barnett drops it, an absolutely relentless arpeggio that jettisons the piece into full-on groove mode. Barnett still manages to balance gritty rhythms with lush, mournful synth parts. The track just keeps on rolling; heavy synthetic toms, juicy, slo-strobe swells of synth, man, it gets better and better. Seriously incredible piece of music. You gotta hear this! I like "Tunnels" cause it helps me envision what Mozart might have been like in the synth age, at least if he was composing 1950s space alien haunted organ soundtracks. The piece of music itself seems very much in the vein of 17th or 18th century composition with a lovely bit of fluttering keyboard flair. The rest of it is minimal synthetic crickets and crackle with a deep synth tone making occasional contributions. On the second side, "On the Ice Sheet" starts off with a fairly percussive synth melody and knocks along to it with heavily tremolo'd tones over top. "Focus Wind" brings back the drum machine for a loping beat backing a long, hovering synth sweep. The piece takes a slightly more sinister tone when the melody is introduced. Well, maybe not sinister, but grave. The finale, "Night Passage," takes over with another rhythmic synth loop. Hi-pitched synths whistle along never finding a comfortable place to nestle in, though I don't know if they're really trying that hard.
Section 2 comes to life with "Enter the Badlands" which starts with this weird pumping, pseudo-reggae bit. Neon jet streams are streaked across for some while but its that bouncing keyboard stabs that Barnett seems most enamored with as he slams them harder and harder as the piece moves along until the extended breakdown outro. Echoing keyboard hits provide a shifting bed for smooth synth melodies before passing the baton to "Instruments of Fate." A robust filtered synth melody gets things rolling while high notes continually swell and cease. A crystalline counter-melody covers the piece like ice slowly freezing. I would have loved to see the track launch into a big grooving set-piece but Barnett decides to play it cool. However, flip the tape over and you got the speedy, muscular insectoid bass line of "Metallic Hawks Approaching." Uneasy synth swells counter the fast-paced thuds keeping it in check for most of the piece. At the end though, Barnett pulls a little FIFA98 move, twiddling a nice filter sweep, punching the arpeggio up even more. "Walled Cities" is the most heavy on the rhythm of this tape. It's mainly a manipulated drum track and a bunch of strange percussive sounds, at least some of which are traceable as coming from a synthesizer. A three note melody glues the track together allowing Barnett to follow all his flights of fancy. The final piece, "Fallout," is pretty short. It is basically just a big distorted squall of synth.
Both tapes are good but there's a good amount of growth on Section 3 in my opinion, the pieces seem more full developed, which makes me real excited for Section 4 and 5 and however many Barnett has in him. 2 is available from Chronic Boom and 3 is available from Nihilist. Check 'em.

Clive Tanaka y su Orquesta - Jet Set Siempre 1º [Tall Corn]

2010-07-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

This tape arrived in its beautiful aqua shell with zero info. Who is Clive Tanaka? Where is he from? Etc. etc. All questions I have no answers for. It took me a little while to figure what label it's on too as its printed pretty small.
So, anyway, when I first popped this in I was at my old job doing some brain numbing data entry and I'll be damned if that wasn't the most fun I've ever had crunching numbers. I've got no idea whether Clive Tanaka is being sincere or tongue-in-cheek here but the first side of this tape is the cheesiest, most amazing dance-pop I've heard in some time. The first side, subtitled "For Dance", consists of four tracks. Opener "All Night, All Right" is a great example as he pulls out all the fucking stops! More fucking vocoder than necessary including some sort of guttural "funky clav" setting, piano melodies sit along side the bevy of synths, the rhythms are relentlessly buoyant. It's just nuts. Tanaka seems to be synthesizing dance music of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s into something specially designed for the year 2010, and beyond. "I Want You (So Bad)" is probably the best but its hard say. Again this thing is just fucking dripping with synth melodies, filtered guitar fills, I hear Daft Punk in this; I hear "Love is a Battlefield" in this; I hear Boney M in this and its all so goddamn awesome! Tanaka out-Ettingers Dylan Ettinger with a stinging guitar solo evoking an image of Miami Vice so rich you can feel the fucking stubble. When he pulls out the congas for the breakdown and borrows the synth melody from Ja Rule's "New York" it's just too much man. The track just keeps going and going as Tanaka spins gold out of thin air with every new bridge and breakdown. This guy has to be OCD with the insane detail and complexity he weaves into this. It's staggering. "Neu Chicago" is a more breezy jam, total island flavor. All sorts of conch shell xylophone synths, killer reversed guitar solo, male/female vocal duet and big, bold drums. Evoking a vintage Madonna vibe at first, "Brack Lain" comes alive with soft, chilly synths before pulling some kind of Oakenfold action movie bass line and then shifting gears again to an excellent neo-disco stomp with occasional flashes of that second Dr. Octagon album. Tanaka even whips out an Asian flute at one point; this guy puts no boundaries on himself but it never feels like overkill which is pretty crazy. Every new melody, every instrument just heightens the excitement.
I'm less crazy about the second side, subtitled "For Romance." "Skinjob" is another mellow island jam with upright bass and echoing organ and guitar. "International Heartbreaker" has a nice string and brass section among other things but its feels a bit aimless at times without an energetic beat behind it. "The Fourth Magi" is the weakest here as it sounds bland when placed in such illustrious, imaginative company as the album's other tracks. "Lonely for the High Scrapers" echoes the first side while retaining the mellow vibe of the second. It has vocals which, though a simple addition, helps the music move forward rather than feeling stagnant in its repetition. This side is really just less my speed, I think. The songs are chilled out, which is fine but they don't have the snappiness, crazed desire or inventiveness of the tracks on the first side. They're still well-put together but they fade from memory fairly quickly unlike the first side's jams.
Even though I wasn't that taken with the second side, the first is good enough to warrant a recommendation. If this sounds at all interesting to you, by all means, grab a copy before this guy is going on world tours and lining his hallway with platinum records.

Mister Fuckhead - 333 [No Label]

2010-07-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

A while back I reviewed a hulking 93 minute beast by Mister Fuckhead and Company, where Arvo Zylo and a series of collaborators ran the gamut from forming live junk noise brigades to 7 or 8 piece meat locker brass sections. Zylo a.k.a. Fuckhead (though he recently dropped the moniker and now plays as just Arvo Zylo) is back but this time solo, apparently with only a sequencer in tow, with 333, with a cassette seven years in the making.
Zylo is up to something very different here, it's still a beast at 3 tracks spread over a c66 but Zylo throws plenty of curveballs. For instance, the first side, "Quicksand Eggs of a Beaten Pathos" rolls to a start with surprisingly mellow looped toms. If he wanted to head in a powwow direction he could have, but instead he launches this queasy synth beat and furthermore throws barroom piano over that! The beat lurches/grinds/limps along in a bizarre mess of a beat. Flaming barrages of noise drop in and things get harsh. Heavy torrents of feedback all but subsume voice and the deep throb of the drum programming. The tape continues to singe your eyebrows for a long while with screaming frequencies. It drifts out of the cloud enough for some heavy piano and drum hits though. Sequenced synth tones spread like an infection and morph into an electric organ bit. There's some thunderous crushing drum hits quickly after before slowing into a mid-tempo beat with oscillators puttering all around. The beat gets syncopated and lurches forward. Zylo breaks it down mixing up the beat with a programmed drum solo constructed from live drum samples I think. Around halfway through, the carnage seems to cease. A quiet drum pounds slowly in an empty room until corroded by pervasive scratchy static, atonal panned piano slams, hyperactive squelches and what sounds like a cut-up keyboard demo that morphs into a weird house rave-up. A new agey synth makes a surprising but welcome appearance as the piece jettisons deeper into its technicolor nightmare. My favorite beat from the side emerges pretty late in the game and it's fleeting too as it gets slowed down pretty quickly. The tape lurches and grooves relatively "un-noisily" for the rest of the jam until it evaporates in a cymbal crash. It's a dense and burly side to be sure.
Following it is the first track on the second side, "Deadbeat Deluxe," which continues the onslaught of noisy beats. All manners of bzzsh's, krshff's, and mhmffm's make their way along plenty of loopy electronics into a cyberpunk thrill ride. Fast drum machines, heavy reverbed thumps, repetitive synth parts; no one would mistake this as being uncomposed but it still hangs together by a thread. Zylo keeps piling on more and more sounds/parts/whatever until it makes up a cacophonous layer cake of destruction. The track achieves an interesting feat in that it's totally assaulting music without actually relinquishing the conventional rules of what music should be. The piece breaks down into a section of rare sparseness and Zylo marches along with a beat that sounds like a whip being cracked along with an array of strange noises. The beats kick back in with a bit of a vintage video game vibe. The soundtrack of Mario getting his ass tortured to death in Bowser's dungeon? Don't know what the inspiration was here, but I suppose that's as good a guess as any. The frequencies continue to heave, the jam gets progressively noisier and more confrontational. The steam engine continues to roll until its yanked out by the neck and replaced by a new beat that quickly peters out. The final and shortest track "Plasma/Asthma" is by far the noisiest jam, and I mean that literally cause of how saturated, blown out and grainy it sounds. The sound doesn't lose any definition because of it though which is amazing. Kudos to the masterer, Clayton Counts. Underneath the six feet of fuzz are pounding percussive loops like a muck raking hip hopera from hell about a factory workers' uprising. Gears grind, seize, stop and lurch forward again in bizarre poly(a)rhythms. Shifting into a machine gun synth melody, things get progressively zanier. In what, in all likelihood, is my favorite part of the tape, Zylo launches into a heady haunted organ jam. It's excellently composed with various layers of melodies and manages an absolutely seamless transition from all the head smashing that came before. The whole tone of the piece is difficult to describe as it manages to be a little uplifting but in a very unsettling way. It's perplexing, but I'm gonna take the sublime whenever I can get it.
This is a hefty hour of music, and not everyone will be down with it, but whether someone is or not shouldn't cause the listener to hold back any respect for Zylo's painstakingly put together and singular vision. Fuckhead and Company will probably end up getting more plays in my deck, but 333 takes you on a journey that the former can't match.
The packaging is cool as is typical with Zylo's releases, 333 has a purple vellum cover with a double-sided, fold-out color j-card on the inside. The tape is still available from the artist and there is also a pro-duplicated, shrinkwrapped CD-r edition too if that's your preference.