Electric Annihilation/Various Artists – Psyched Punch [DNT]

(FINALLY got this transcribed from my journal)
This is the debut issue of Electric Annihilation; a new zine edited and published by Tynan Krakoff, CEO of DNT Records…
Electric Annihilation has been a nice companion while riding the London Underground. The cover feature is an interview with Sun Araw who is of course blowing up right now and has been for awhile. I haven’t followed his music too much (though his side of the Predator Vision split is pretty rad) but the interview was interesting. Because of how decentralized the “underground” is, its cool to hear someone just chatting about what’s going on around them as Cam Stallones does here. It was interesting to learn Sun Araw was just kind of stumbled upon while Stallones was working on Magic Lantern stuff and then became equally as big a deal.
Shawn Reed (Night People/Raccoo-oo-oon) discusses how Wet Hair went from being a dark solo project before Ryan Garbes (also of Raccoo-oo-oon and the unreasonably awesome Trash Dog) hopped aboard somehow leading to their debatably tropical sound (Reed ain’t having it). There’s a close-up of his gear on the back page, so you too can sound just like Wet Hair kids! Their first DNT release, a VHS, is due this year.
There’s also an interview with John Olson, pictured sporting a rad American Tapes tee and Frankenstein monster of a sax. Olson discusses the small but fertile Michigan scene and laments the days when Wolf Eyes could play shows with White Stripes and Slumber Party without it seeming weird--I agree those were the days indeed.
Thurston Moore and Henry Rollins are asked about their thoughts on today’s underground. Moore compares it to the 80s “noise scene” and extols the sonic virtues of cassettes. The quick interview with Henry Rollins was interesting cause I had no idea he was into noise stuff. To be totally honest, I’ve never really understood why people are interested in him as a personality or why he has a show on IFC or why he randomly pops in movies playing SWAT personnel. Though he has occasionally dropped gems like “if I had the money, I’d pay Bono a million dollars a day to not make music.” Anyway, enough doggin’ on the guy, I have more respect for him after this interview. He discusses American Tapes, as Olson and Moore did—an obvious topic of interest for EA. Rollins asserts what noise is doing is what punk should have done. He’s not only impressed by the “zero interest in MTV” but compares its vision to bop. He ends the interview with another gem, “music survived the Reagan administration, Creed and Nickelback, so it can survive anything else thrown at it I reckon.”
Elsewhere in the issue, Nomen Dubium and Steve Hauschildt (of Emeralds) both discuss how they got to where they’re going musically. Although, the article I’ve found myself returning to the most is "The Last Man" by Jon Isaac (of Really Coastal tapes). It’s an engaging, if a bit unfocused, rumination on how listeners come to define and order sound. He moves through childhood anecdotes as well as pointing out examples in the current underground, particularly the vocabulary that small-press labels have developed to promote their merchandise. There is a pretty funny anecdote regarding Robedoor in there too. It was really great to have a non-interview article in the mix. Hopefully Jon Isaac continues to write for EA and maybe a few other writers join up to do other columns or whatever.
Another section I hope EA continues and expands is "Scene Reports." Sam Goldberg gives a rundown of some crazy shit goin’ down in Cleveland, Shawn Reed reps the new and old blood in Iowa City, and Matthias Andersson (of the Release the Bats label) gives a thorough, detailed portrait of everything rad going down in Gothenburg. I jotted down a bunch of Swedish names to check out, one of which, Attestupa, has a DNT LP on the way. Readers are encouraged to send in letters and scene reports, so everyone out there, get writing about your scene!
I enjoyed this issue and I think Electric Annihilation will only get better. Also it was a bold move not to include any reviews in the zine, the staple of every music mag. Its available from the DNT and Electric Annihilation websites and its also stocked by various record stores and distros.
DNT also put out the Psyched Punch double cassette comp that collects 3 sides of out of print DNT material and a side of new stuff to celebrate its 3 year anniversary (just a tad late.) The tape starts spooling with a vintage Robedoor track “Tribal Rites.” All militant, pounding drums, angsty wordless vocals and a whole lot of fuzz bleeding everywhere. Quite a good track that transports me back to 2006 when I first heard the band. Forbici is next with “Remote Concentrator.” Never heard of Forbici before but apparently they released something on DNT. This track is wiggly, directionless electronics—decent but not totally my speed. German makes the first of two appearances here with the minute long “Vein,” a surely grooving interlude. The Warmth/Yellow Swans 7inch (which was one of the earliest AuxOut reviews) is captured here in its entirety. Check the old review if you want more details but Warmth conjures a sonic bog and Yellow Swans are brighter than usual and as awesome as ever. Also, I finally learned what the Warmth track is called (“Demode”) cause the info is hidden behind a blotch of blue ink on the 7inch. German returns with “Neun,” a track of boisterous drumming and clanging, ghostly thumb piano. “Ironlung Wheeze” by Dead/Bird is the side’s finale. A bit like the Warmth joint but full of sputtering synthesizers and dying machines.
“Desert City Summer” by Nomen Dubium kicks off Side B in style. I remember a ND tape coming out a while ago on DNT a while back but I never checked it out and, man, I wish I had. This track is one of best of the comp. It’s incredibly lush and melodic and gorgeous. Really knocked my socks off when I first heard it. Wonderfully layered with some of the strata being soothing and other bits being of a more chugging nature but all blending beautifully. This cat has a VHS due later on DNT; I’m so there. UK crew Jazzfinger contributes a piece called “Birth of the Knife” and believe me it fucking sounds like the birth of a knife. Violent, sharp, searing, grinding, serrated, metallic—all belied by a lilting reed organ which as far as I can tell is the only sound source. Unassumingly but unflinchingly bloodthirsty. Plankton Wat contributes a track of winding reversed guitar called “Translucent Nights” and Acre closes the side doing his thing with unchanging walls of sound.
The final side of the reissued material begins with an untitled track by Mudboy. Since I’ve heard all DNT Mudboy releases save for Livish I can deduce this comes from that. The track features signature stacked organ lines and waves crashing in the background. A nice, borderline meditative track. Super Minerals make their first appearance with the title-track from The Piss, one of the most apocalyptic moments from the tape’s apocalyptic half-hour. Swollen sores of fuzz bear down on oppressive shrieks, creaks and rattling before they approach melody in the final moments. Quilts contribute the 15 minute “Pink Hotel” from their split with Quintana Roo way back from ’06 if I remember correctly. This comp is interesting cause it only looks back 3-4 years, but you can see how quickly the underground changes. Quilts, for instance, put out some cool stuff awhile back but have since dissipated (I guess) cause I haven’t heard or thought about them lately. Anyhow, “Pink Hotel” is a sweet track, if on the long side. There’s a lot of space in the piece, silence is poked through with plinking (toy?) piano, manipulated vocal slur and a static drone—all of which are run through delay pedals. By the end they have scraped together a subtle but persuasive melody.
Moving on the side of new material... The biggest surprise for me was the Blank Realm song “Cats on the Edge.” The bits and pieces I’d heard of Blank Realm was fine, folky free-psych stuff but it didn’t leave much of a mark. This track however is utterly slammin’. It’s nearly 8 minutes of mellow, ravin’ 60sish organ driven psych rock. This track is just the epitome of cool. The band constructs the song really well, perfectly balancing surfy spy guitar, heavy organ riffage, a solid rhythm section and a touch of wispy vox and keeping it all moving with chugging grooviness with effective dynamic shifts. Basically, I never want this track to end. It’s in a fist fight with Nomen Dubium for my favorite new discovery. Plankton Wat contributes another short track which weirdly enough has a lot of vocals in it in addition to the guitar. Super Minerals return with an awesome track “Purple Gravity Spindles.” It features the Minerals in total spirit summoning mode. After a bombastic opening, a good chunk is pretty quiet with a lonely flute until Phil and Will bring on heaps and heaps of lush, living sound. Really transcendent and frighteningly beautiful. I don’t know anything about Birdcatcher but they close with “Dusk.” It’s a good track similar to Super Minerals with murky flute loops (part of a complete breakfast) and bowed something-or-others creating a real doomy vibe.
The comp is already sold out (my bad for taking so long to actually get this online) but it’s limited to 100 so I’m sure a copy or two can still be found in distros. Good luck!

Shepherds – Bush Babies [DNT]/Gang Wizard – I Remember You From the Party in Long Beach [DNT]

7 inches are a reviewer’s dream in a lot of ways, well one major one: they’re short but still substantial (and usually rad—is that 3 ways?) Anyway, it’s not important to talk 7 inches in theory when you got a real one on yr turntable. Lucky me, I got two.
The first comes from Shepherds, which is Jeremy Earl (of Woods and Meneguar; who both know how to make awesome 7inchers in their own right) and G. Lucas Crane a.k.a. Nonhorse. Despite the greatness of the duo on paper I’ve always been a little on the fence about them but Bush Babies has firmly swung me to the pro-Shepherds side of aisle. I think I remember reading that this piece of primal aggression and beauty was supposed to be part of DNT’s split 3” cdr series but it was too long/awesome Tynan (DNT’s head honcho) rightly decided the world needed 700 copies of this sucker. “Side A” starts with a driving, tribal drum workout. I’m guessing this is Earl. When Crane’s contributions finally poke their heads out things go momentarily apeshit. There are friendlier smoother sounds clashing with rougher distorted ones with the drums in the eye of the storm. At one point a trumpet (99% sure) suddenly appears, I’m wondering if this is a sample from Crane’s bag of tapes or what cause it sounds live but there is definitely other manipulation and whatnot going on so I think it’s impossible. Meanwhile, Earl is just pounding the shit out of the drums and I’m loving it. Then on a dime, the drums sputter out and a morose wash of brass seeps in.
The b-sides takes up “Bush Babies” where the a-side left off, seeing the brass get more active/jazzy with the drums following suit. A nice little jam ensues, particularly nice for the appearance of a backbeat in the midst of the freejammin’. The track really hits its stride here, locking the listener into its hypnotics. I’m curious to know what exactly Crane was up to here (if it’s all tapes) because there is a grinding distorted violin-type sound amongst the spurts of brass and rounder keyboard-esque tones. A impressively broad mix of sounds while keeping up such a fiery improv attitude.
My next subject is Gang Wizard’s I Remember You From a Party in Long Beach—DNT’s second foray into the 7inch world. Beginning with the end of another song, lead off track “Lemonade Folly” easily, immediately stakes its claim as my favorite track here. With a super catchy, slippery/sloppy slide guitar riff leading the pack, the rest of the band gets the message and follows with their own ramshackle pounding and whirring, resulting in a deliciously pseudo-atonal, pseudo-arrhythmic treat. The title-track is a brasher affair. I’m digging the clanging guitarkeyboarddrum brew but the Magik Markers-esque female vocals kill my buzz a bit. The track doesn’t get very far before the cut but “I Remember You From the Party in Long Beach” continues with “I Remember You From the Party in Long Beach (cont)” on the b-side. There’s an excellent breakdown with sustaining feedback, plinking keyboard hits and a drum solo where things really come together for a while dissipating into extended coughing(??). However, things pickup again for the finale with another drum solo this time mainly dueling with a squealing oscillator.
So there you go, DNT has given you two options to feed your primal 7inchin' desires. The Shepherds one as mentioned earlier is limited to a generous 700 copies available on white vinyl and comes with a full-size insert. The Gang Wizard is packaged minimally with “Fang Wizard” stamped all over the orange label. There are only a few copies left apparently so jump on that if you’re interested. Both are available postpaid for the super low $4-5 price range i.e. get ‘em.

Plankton Wat - Dawn of the Golden Eternity [DNT]

First of all, I must note how beautiful this record looks. Dewey Mahood (Plankton Wat) contributed great artwork from the sleeve to the labels and DNT main man Tynan Krakoff put it all together beautifully with lovely ruby red marbled vinyl. Damn, I just couldn't believe my eyes when I opened it up.
Last I heard from Plankton Wat was last year's tape on DNT. It was a great psych slow burner but Mahood has tweaked his sound just a bit for this LP and topped himself in the process. The first of ten, "The Magic Citadel," caught me off guard as it's a total fist pumper. Glistening waves of guitar set in with raucous tambourine hits before Mahood just starts burning up the fretboard. It's probably only about a minute and a half but it gets your heart racing. The title track cools things down a bit with airy, looped layers of guitar and free drumming. The drums really control the dynamics of the track cause when they're mellow cymbal rolls it's a pretty piece but when they get hectic so does the whole track. "Song of Winter Death" features more great, and completely different, drumming. Hollow, thudding toms make a semi-hypnotic base for acoustic slide guitar and flute to do their thing. "Shrouded Path of Enchantment" reminds me a bit of that DNT tape with stark and brooding acoustic guitar arpeggios. There's a second guitar that provides subtle plucks of the root note occasionally and it creates a strange sensation, the sonic equivalent of an undertow. A single, skeletal melody is doubled by banjo and voice on "Occult Blues." It's short but pretty profoundly eerie. "The Exiled Wanderer" is an awesome rhythmically driven track. Each instrument is used to percussive ends but Mahood deftly weaves flickers of melody from mbira and other instruments within the tangled web of rhythms.
The second side kicks off with "Sphere within the Lotus" and I'm not sure if it's possible to give a song a more "psychedelic" name. It fits cause it's a squall of a song drenched in glorious, or copious, amounts of fuzz and wah, depending on your viewpoint. Mahood is even rocking wind chimes harder than they've ever been rocked before. Sadly, the piece is pretty short. "While the Clouds Gather" is a mellow number, and there's not too much to say other than it's supremely, if unassumingly, gorgeous. It sneaks up on you. "Other Realms" is the default epic of the side, marking the return of Mahood's wordless vocals paired this time with guitar. The track drifts for a while until a slamming groove comes out of nowhere making everything get real good real quick. "Voyage of the Night Pavilion" finds acoustic and electric guitars making a great team, the former handling the melody and the latter producing a fuzzy fog and chiming in on the melody when it feels like it. Its a perfect outro cause of the gently lilting vibe, though it heats up near the end with a melting guitar lead.
Dawn of the Golden Eternity is another great installment of Mahood's 4-track psych excursions. I like that he kept most tracks pretty short so he could cover a lot of ground, but I wish he'd given the openers of both sides a bit more time to jam it out. If you dig Mahood's stuff this definitely worth the pickup and if you don't know it, this is a fine place to start.
Still available.

Sean McCann - Chances are Staying [DNT]

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.

Favorites of 2008 (if anyone still gives a shit)

So now that we're into the second month of the new year here is my "best of" list. What a disgrace I am. I had some hindrances but it's still pretty pisspoor journalistic activity. Anyway, for anyone who finds this to be still relevant, I hope you dig this in all its mostly-written-in-December-but-posted-in-February glory...

Last year I was too burnt out (and not a big enough fan of "best of" lists to compensate for it) to make a list, but had I, I probably woulda said the best record of the year would be Kevin Shields' The Death of Patience or The Cherry Blossoms' LP with best track going to the Yellow Swans' side of their split 7inch with The Goslings. For some reason I feel a bit more up to doing one of these things and maybe it'll be lame but I'll never know if I don't try it out. I didn't want to do a hierarchal "Top 20" or anything but the first section are the records that just blew me away the most this year, while the second section is bunch of other great records I listened to a lot. All are worth hearing, and if I hadn't gotten sick of writing this there'd be a shit ton more records listed here.

Gang Wizard God-Time-Man Universal Continuum Calibration Disc (LP) [Green Tape/Lost Treasures of the Underworld/olfactory/Tanzprocesz]
What an album. This thing is a total monstrosity. Each of the three tracks here are brilliant but I can't not listen to this as a whole. It just doesn't feel complete otherwise. I don't know how it happened, but it feels like there some's divine hand guiding all the mayhem here. Whether intentional or not this sounds like the most meticulously constructed record I've heard all year. It's just perfect.


Night of Pleasure Night of Pleasure (7") [Columbus Discount]
So technically this came out last year but I didn't hear it until this year so... I don't give a shit, it is going on this list. This record can't be more than 6 or 7 minutes in total but I listened to these three songs (especially the b-side "Bitch Pitch") possibly more than any of other group of songs this year. I have a huge soft spot for basement scuzz rock and this 7inch is kind of a distillation of what's great about that style. It doesn't hurt that records has HOOKS (note the capitalization). It was still in print last time I checked and super cheap. Strongly recommended.

Blank Dogs Untitled (7") [Daggerman]
Probably could have put any of Blank Dogs output from this year on this list so I'll save some space by just putting my favorite. "In a Web" is an instant classic worth a million plays with it's euphoric detuned central riff and ominous baritone vocals. "They Said" and "Stuck Inside the World" aren't too shabby either. All hail 2008's darkest pop sorcerer.


Mudboy MUDMUX Vol. 1 (7") [DNT]
This 7inch is amazing on all fronts, great artwork, clear blue vinyl and most of all two equally sensational (but different) sides. Mudboy takes on two songs here and remuxes them, still not quite sure what that entails, but the final product is an absolute beauty, whether its the eerie, impossibly groovy jam on the first side or plaintive accordion ballad on backside. Just a phenomal single. When the hell do I get to hear Vol. 2 already??













Ducktails Untitled (7") [Breaking World]/Ducktails/Mudboy Summer of Saucers [DNT]
Maybe more than any other artist this, Ducktails has made waves in the underground and rightly so. These two pieces of the Ducktails saga seem the most essential to my ears. The 7inch features the supergroovy, sunshinin' cosmitropic Ducktails sound with four (or is it three) songs and the tape dials down the rhythmic factor creating a gorgeous 13 minute free floating, adventure through space that moves though a handful of movements concluding with a lonely but still smilin' acoustic guitar.

The Hospitals Hairdryer Peace (LP) [No Label]
I remember reading somewhere an enthusiastic listener calling this album "the best record of the past two years!" Now, I wouldn't go that far but it's probably one of them. Like that Gang Wizard LP this record really feels like an album. There are a couple songs here that are great by themselves ("Animals Act Natural"; "Dream Damage") but the 14 songs here sound their best within the context of the album. Complete with its recurring, national anthemic riff, this album absorbs you into its world; listening is almost like a trek through a noisy jungle. The Hospitals find total sonic synergy in this messy, ragged collision of cacophony and rock songs. I can imagine in the future, having kids and putting this one on the turntable and saying "take a seat, we're going to listen to a great album." It feels like one of those albums you don't forget.

Caldera Lakes Caldera Lakes (CD-r) [Sentient Recognition Archive]
Man oh man, I was not prepared for how good this Caldera Lakes shit is. Obviously, I knew it would be (or at least should be) because Eva Aguila is one of the most consistent artists around but Caldera Lakes (which is Aguila and Brittany Gould of Married in Berdichev) have unlocked a section of the sound spectrum no one new existed. All their releases deliver the same sublime, harsh/soothing beauty but this release in particular I really connected with maybe only because it was the first I heard. Though I will assert that "Tornado" is the finest kernel of sound they have yet produced: a mess of feedback, siren-like vocals and an amazing construction of loops. Whatever release it is, you need Caldera Lakes in your life.

Oneohtrix Point Never Ruined Lives (CS) [Young Tapes]
So when I initially noticed this project I read the name as "Oh-nee-oh-tricks", then "One-oh-tricks" and now I'm pretty sure it's "One-oh-tree" a little like Tweety Bird saying "103". If anyone has information on this matter don't hesitate to get in touch. Regardless of the pronunciation this may be the most stunning, beautiful tape I've heard this year and I'm really kicking myself I didn't jump on this guy's stuff earlier in the year. I respect the approach taken here because it's dreamy but not because it's drenched in reverb or obscured in any way. Instead, a cosmic new age palette is employed to it's fullest extent. The thing is though, even the great stuff from the cosmic new age style still has a quaint cheesiness to it and this tape is so genuine and moving that there is nothing quaint or cheesy about it. It's simply a lovely, brooding, lonely score to an imaginary space age romance. Or so my mind hears it. As soon as it ends, I flip it over and immediately play it again. Space has never sounded so lush.

Black Pus/Foot Village Split (LP) [Deathbomb Arc/DNT]
Brian Chippendale has outdone himself with his side here. Some of it was released awhile back as part of the DBA tape club but I never heard it then so it's all new to me. "Floatzilla" was my election night theme song as I have mentioned before. Relentlessly groovy, relentlessly great. Oozing with positive vibes and posessing your body with dance movements you never thought possible. "The Black Whole" is also brilliant synth only stuff that has a different feel than all other synth jammers I've heard. Synth dudes take note. The flipside contains Foot Village at their most furious and hilarious, worth hearing as well.

Ex-Cocaine/Yellow Swans Split (LP) [Not Not Fun]
I don't know what kinda stuff the DYSwans have in the vault but their side of this LP may as well be their swansong (pun realized but not intended). 15 minutes of hulking majestic blackened beauty. A perfect outro for the one of the greatest bands in history and the best live performers I've ever witnessed. Ex-Cocaine also contributes the best shit they've ever made including an awesome Meat Puppets cover.


Maths Balance Volumes Information is Pain (CS) [Taped Sounds]
Don't know much (read: anything) about these two(?) dudes(?) other then they live somewhere out in Minnesota. This tape, from what I think is the latest carnation of Lieven Marten's Belgian Bread & Animals label, is a potentially addictive substance. An unknowable combo of stewed tapes, guitar blues and slurred vocals--that's my guess anyway. Catchy and creepy; they do their thing like no one else.



Angel Snake/Monopoly Child Star Searchers Split (CS) [New Age Cassettes/Pacific City]
Of the thousands of Ferraro/Clark projects that come out every year, I guess it seems logical some would get lost in the shuffle but it's a bummer this one seemed to be. It's the first instance I've heard of Ferraro on one side and Clark on the other and I think works out great. The first part of Side A is one of my favorite things to come from Ferraro's brain or even the Skaters' collective brain. On the B-side contains the strongest overall Star Searchers release in my opinion; same style as the other releases but just done better for some reason. Typically zonked fold out full-sized paper cover.

Little Women Teeth (LP one-sided) [Gilgongo]
A supreme twenty minute scorcher with plenty of moments of beauty and plenty of anguish emanating from guitar, drums and dueling saxophones. This is virtuosity matched with inspiration. Not much more to say.

Du Hexen Hase Under the Clouds of Sleep (3" CD-r) [No Label]
This little disc is an anomaly to me because it's a pretty long piece at 17ish minutes and relatively little changes throughout its course but it's one of the most listenable, affecting pieces of music I've heard all year. Total bleakness but with an ever present glimmer of hope. If you weren't one of the lucky 47 to score a copy of this, I heard a rumor that it may be reissued as a split LP with Blue Sabbath Black Cheer which would be totally boss. Say your prayers for that.

Bulbs Light Ships (CD) [Freedom to Spend]
Unlike just about everything else that made it onto this favorites of 08 list, this album didn't get on here because I couldn't stop listening to it. I've listened to it a fair amount, sure, but this isn't quite ear candy in the way that most other stuff here is. Don't get the impression I don't like this, cause I do very much, but this is a record I really respect. One that challenges and amazes me every time I pull it out. It contains too many mysteries, and surprises that never fail to surprise, to not hear it. Very much worth the listening investment.

Vapor Gourds Dagger Magic (CS) [Yeay! Cassettes]
This tape has been trapped in my walkman since I got basically. I've always wanted to hear something like this, even trying and failing to create it myself. Lucky for me Vapor Gourds has succeeded. 30 minutes of short beats of all types, though the best are the ones with the hip hop stylee in my opinion. This tape makes me want to record some rhymes over it Grey Album-style (well Grey Album in reverse anyway). The finale is just impeccably classic too. Yeay! did a great job matching the the audio magic with visual magic, 4 or 5 color screenprinted cover and screenprinted tapes in a ghettofab/cartoonish font. Peep it and absorb it.

Radiant Husk Beyond the Endless Swale (CS) [Bezoar Formations]
Dudes, check this tape out. Even the casual reader probably knows how much I love the sax but the thing is it always seems kinda typecast despite being great (like Brian Cox). Enter Matthew Erickson's (Sudden Oak, Anenome Lodge) solo project Radiant Husk. The guy takes a saxophone (along a bit of electronics and keyboards and whatnot) and just paints the sky beautiful, ominous, static-y colors with it. Unique and transcendent and all sorts of synonyms for rad. I guess its kinda noisy and droney and psychedlic but none of those tags seem to capture it. Everytime I roll tape I'm continually amazed. Well worth the meager 5 bucks Bezoar is asking for. Bonus: acid trout collage on the back of the j-card.

Other pieces of the puzzle:
The Skaters Physicalities of the Sensibilites of Ingrediential Strairways (LP) [Eclipse]
Some people seemed to be down on this record, but I dig it. It's another solid platter of the sound only the Skaters can create.




Cheveu Cheveu (LP) [S-S]
Brilliant lo-fi French electro-punk from the sweetly pummeling "Superhero" to the utterly creepy but still kinda beautiful "Happiness"




Girl Talk Feed the Animals (CD) [Illegal Art]
Not the impeccably crafted masterwork that Night Ripper was but still a great pop record. I'm a sucker for this guy's stuff.




Nice Face Can I Fuck It (CS) [Jerkwave]
Don't know anything about this Nice Face guy other than he knows how to write a song. Check "Way it's Gotta Be" for proof. Fuzzed to the nuts (did I just write that?) with more hooks than a pirate ship. (wait did I just write that??) Extra points for putting this gem out on cassette rather than vinyl as most of his contemporaries do.


Nobunny Love Visions (LP) [Bubbledum]
Now that Nobunny has released this LP millions of people can throw away their anti-depressants and just put on "I am a Girlfriend" when they're feeling blue. It is literally impossible for me to listen to that song without getting up and dancing and loving life. The rest of the record is great too which is a total bonus cause it'd be worth having for that song alone.


The Pope Do You Wanna Boogie? (CS) [DNT]
Riotous, feedback stained shit rock. Totally great and so totally necessary to hear it on tape. Supposedly their last release (lame) R.I.P. the Pope







Black Orphan Circuits [UFO Dictator]/Black Orphan Video Kids [Hozac]
Don't know what it is about the midwest but it seems more, often than not, the best songs from this year came from there. "XX Spectrum" and "Video Kids" are utterly fantastic.

Traum Ecke Traum Ecke (CS) [Goaty Tapes]
I think this duo is guitar and keyboard and may have just been a one-off since I haven't seen anything else by them around. The first side is really ambient magic crystal drone stuff and the flip retains the floatiness with a nice subtle groove. Excellent packaging from Goaty as well with bitchingly bright yellow tapes.



Caldera Lakes Caldera Lakes (CS) [905 Tapes; Blackest Rainbow; Deathbomb Arc]
Each of these Caldera Lakes tapes is pretty evenly matched so I'm just putting all three on here. As mentioned before Caldera Lakes just have an amazing sound and any of these tapes will give you glimpse of it. I just happen to be extra nuts about that sound so I picked up every Caldera Lakes release I could find this year and I'm not even one of those completist types. The Blackest Rainbow one features fantastic artwork by Jake Blanchard too.

Kevin Shields/Droughter Split (CS) [Heavy Psych]
Probably most people that read this are aware by now how much I love Eva Aguila's Kevin Shields project so obviously I picked up this tape. To my surprise, and while the KS side is solid, I was really impressed with the B-side. Droughter brings it for 17 straight minutes never letting up and, here's the important part, never getting boring. One of the finest long form noise tracks I've heard this year.












Locrian Burying the Carnival/Exhuming the Carnival (CS) [No Label]/Locrian Rhetoric of Surfaces (CD) [Bloodlust!]
It seems like these guys have been around for a while and some how I missed 'em. Too bad for me. I remember hearing "Burying a Carnival" for the first time and thinking "Shit, how did I not know about these guys". Fantastic blackened noise/drone stuff that's up there with the greats of the genre.

Super Minerals The Piss (CS) [DNT]/Super Minerals The Thaw (CS) [Not Not Fun]
This duo is my personal favorite from the Magic Lantern web. I dig how The Piss sounds like it was recorded in some dank air pocket ten feet below the earth's surface. Never heard drones so dry and moldy before. The Thaw meanwhile has got to be biggest bang for your buck of the year, a c120 of the greatest hits of SM's own private stock.

Tricorn & Queue Tapestry Head Ban [Housecraft]
I'm sucker for a brilliant drone stuff which is why this is on the list. The first
piece, oh man, it's just beautiful as hell.







Do Tell Sewn to the Current [Housecraft]
I'm a sucker for brilliant drone pt. 2... The mastermind behind this 90 minute double cassette somehow manages to keep you floating for its whole duration.







Mincemeat or Tenspeed All Critters (LP) [Big Monies Tapes/Deathbomb Arc/Malleable]
So no computers, samplers, musical instruments... dude, what then??! Somehow this was created without any of those things, and fuck, what an impressive record it is. Gnarly techno-surf shit. Check it out.

Gay Beast Disrobics (LP) [DNT]
Gay Beast was actually supposed to be here on the 31st of Dec but sadly it appears to have fallen through but at least I have this LP to get me through. GB have a great sound visceral, angular and mathematically complex/precise which somehow makes it seem even more raw. Solid album and "Cock" and "Good Government" are two of the finest songs of '08

Lateral Hyetography Some Girlzzz (CS) [Really Coastal]
Not much to say about this cassingle other than it's a wonderfully epic pop number and I can't wait for more.






John Thill The Sluts (CS) [JK Tapes]
I can rarely understand a word this guy is singing when I do it's usually a bit creepy but this tape is the best folk/songwriter release I've heard this year I think. Dude, knows how to write a pretty song and a hilarious review.





Night of Pleasure/Day Creeper Split (7") [No Label]
Great self-released split from Columbus crews, Night of Pleasure and Day Creeper. More great messy NoP stuff is matched the more pop stylings of Day Creeper featuring the especially great bedroom bombast of "My Blue Screen".

Fag Cop Psychic Sickness (7") [Milk N Herpes]
My friend said that Fag Cop is scuzz rock. The more I think about it I'm inclined to agree. All songs are great but "Automatic Kansas" is the best of the gnarly, gnarled bunch. I may have found a reason to go to Kansas.

AFCGT AFCGT (10") [Dirty Knobby]
Local legends A Frames and Climax Golden Twins unite and make history. See them live, they will rattle your brain loose.





I also want to give a special mention to DNT records. I know I didn't hear everything that was released by every label last year but, for my money, DNT put on a better show than anyone else. Every release ranged from good to fucking classic, the artwork was always great etc. etc. and prices are CHEAP. I was impressed to no end and it looks like DNT has plans to top itself next year--look at the upcoming release schedule, it's stacked!