Envenomist - The Helix
One of the most interesting realities of US dark ambient/death industrial scene, combining low-rumbling drones with extemporaneous noise bursts to create a pretty personal and recognizable sound.
Columbus, Ohio-based David Reed has been recording music under various monikers since the year 2000. He currently records under his own name and has two other active solo projects, Luasa Raelon and Envenomist. Envenomist is sourced solely using synthesiers to produce dark ambience heavily influenced by Maurizio Bianchi while bringing a lot of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze into the mix. He is also a member of Starlight Fleecing with Larry Marotta and Ryan Jewell. Other activities include playing in the Larry Marotta Group, the Avant Collective, and as part of the Rocco DiPietro Ensemble.
The Helix was recorded over the fall and winter of 2007. Using analogue synthesizers as the sound source, the intent was to create a series of transmissions from space. Not in the narrative sense, rather as a series of abstracted visions or moods from a lone traveler attempting to come to grips with the sublime.
FREE MP3: The 11th Hour
Ulterior - Kempers Heads
Formed in 2006 amidst a growing state of frustration at the surrounding mediocre music scene. Brothers Paul (vocals) and Benn (keys), together with Simmons (guitars) and Karl (bass), have garnered attention from all quarters through powerful and bracing live performances.Raw, electronic sounds, attacking drum machines and aggressive guitars compliment sloganeering lyrics. Their live reputation has helped cut a path through current UK scenes and gained them comparisons to JAMC, Big Black, early Manics and Suicide.
Kempers Heads combines songs from their first two UK-only 12" singles, Weapons and 15, adds some new tunes, and comes as an enhnaced content CD with music videos, remixes, and photos.
2 FREE M4Vs: 15 & Weapons
Aidan Baker & Thisquietarmy - A Picture of a Picture
Their first studio collaboration was the Orange EP which came out as a limited edition of 200 orange CDRs on thisquietarmy's own imprint. The tracks were recorded separately from their home, sent back and forth via postmail for months, and finally mixed and edited by Eric Quach. The release was quickly sold out, much to the dismay of the largely reputed Aquarius Records store who kept asking for more after having sold a large part of the run in a very short matter of time.
For their first full-length album, Baker & Quach have decided to do things differently by setting a simple rule beforehand: the record was to be played and recorded live together, adding a very minimal amount of overdubs if not any. The recording session took place in the fall of 2007, in Quach's own home studio TQA-HQ in Montreal. Because of their very busy schedule, it took about a year before the two artists decided to get together to work on these tracks again. This time, Baker finalized the mixes in his home studio, resulting again in four long movements, clocking at around an hour's length. Instead of the overall terror-ambient feel of their first collaboration, the first two tracks actually find both guitarists exploring the brighter side of their spectrum, evoking the hope and the beauty represented in Christy Romanick's photographs that were again used for the artwork, in conjunction with Quach's sketches.
FREE MP3: Imagistic Continuity
Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Lost In Reflections
Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words is the ghost by which Thomas Ekelund performs sonic exorcism, unleashing his bleak and twisted vision into the material world. Culling found sounds from his habitat, twisting in inspiration from 60's girl groups, and molding it together with the last gasps of vinyl noise, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words gives birth to what one might name concrete drone pop.
From bleak to bleaker, grimy sounds emanate from the sewer, while rays of hope sneak through the broken glass, reflecting on the blood stained shards on the street above.
Thomas Ekelund currently resides in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is a graphic designer, musician and visual artist. He has released music under a long line of guises both solo and in constellations such as The Skull Defekts, Dead Violets, Normal Music, Teeth, Kill Kill Kill For Inner Peace and Dub Industrial Sound System.
FREE MP3: This World Seems Empty Without You
Blood Money - Blood Brotherhood
The second full-length release from Blood Money was the first to be both conceived and recorded completely together. For this, the trio of Ken Ueno, Jon Whitney, and Tom Worster joined Dalek's producer/sound wizard Oktopus in the Deadverse Studios to commit to tape songs formed through dedicated rehearsals and perfected in their live performances.
In the three years since the debut, Axis of Blood, Ken Ueno has spent a year in Rome (winner of the 2006-2007 Rome Prize), had numerous orchestras perform his works worldwide, and has accepted the position of Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Tom and Jon remain in Boston and are now forced to collaborate over long distances.
Blood Brotherhood is notably more song-based yet stays very close to the heart of the group: the intensity of noise, the freedom granted through improvisation, the power of rhythm, and the humanity of introspection. While the introduction of a professional studio has granted them the ability to multitrack numerous layers the group has, for this recording, chosen to remain with its main instrumentation: vocals, Nord lead, and Roland 808, with very slight guitar added on one song.
FREE MP3: Horizon
Elsewhere in the Killer Pimp universe, A Place To Bury Strangers are finalizing a deal with a pretty damn awesome label for their second album. They're completing the recordings soon but have the following tour dates in Europe & the USA. They will be playing this year's Coachella Festival (along with Throbbing Gristle!)
3-5 New York, NY - Kimmel Center at NYU, New York, NY with Ra Ra Riot, Marnie Stern & Apache Beat
3-31 Dublin, Ireleand - Whelans
4-1 Glasgow, UK - Stereo
4-2 Manchester, UK - Ruby Lounge
4-3 Leeds, UK - Cockpit
4-5 Birmingham, UK - Barfly
4-6 London, UK - Kings College
4-10 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Motel Mozaique Festival
4-11 Cologne, Germany - Wekstatt
4-12 Stuttgart, Germany - Universum
4-13 Zurich, Switzerland - Abart
4-14 Munich, Germany - 59:1
4-15 Berlin, Germany - Knaack Klub
4-17 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Indio, CA
All The Saints's debut "Fire On Corridor X" is being taken over completely by Touch & Go worldwide. We'll sell our remaining stock direct but will no longer distribute to stores. Killer Pimp & Brainwashed is excited for them and wish them all the best. Check them out on the following dates throughout the USA:
02/22/09 - Marquis Theater, Denver, CO
02/24/09 - Jackpot Saloon, Lawrence, KS
02/25/09 - The Picador, Iowa City, IA
02/26/09 - Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis, MN
02/27/09 - Cactus Club, Milwaukee, WI
02/28/09 - Subterranean, Chicago, IL
03/01/09 - House Cafe, Dekalb, IL
03/02/09 - Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
03/03/09 - Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
03/04/09 - Soundlab, Buffalo, NY
03/05/09 - Middle East, Cambridge, MA
03/06/09 - The Polish Club, Poughkeepsie, NY
03/07/09 - Music Hall o Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
03/10/09 - The Barbary Coast, Philadelphia, PA
03/11/09 - Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
