Betrayor sees Wolf Eyes members continuing to infect the CD-R marketvia another pseudonymous release, created by Nate Young. This, thefirst ever CD-R release on the infamous Fag Tapes cassette label, isapparently based on real instrumentation abuse rather thandeconstructing pure tones into scum sounds.
Hotter than July. This week's episode has plenty of fresh new music by Marie Davidson, Kim Gordon, Mabe Fratti, Guided By Voices, Holy Tongue meets Shackleton, Softcult, Terence Fixmer, Alan Licht, pigbaby, and Eiko Ishibashi, plus some vault goodies from Bombay S Jayashri and Pete Namlook & Richie Hawtin. Solstice moon in West Midlands, UK photo by James. Get involved: subscribe, review, rate, share with your friends, send images!
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Helping Hand is a tasteful album, Biyikli and Charrier have put enough into each track to make them exciting but don’t ever become overwhelming or overworked. They pace themselves and the album feels perfectly planned out to keep leading me on, letting me rest when I need to before grabbing me by the hand again. Despite this feeling of the album being laid out to keep the listener listening, the music still sounds entirely spontaneous and full of life.
Raving techno beat silliness still reigns supreme in the hearts of some, and thanks to Marijke Jorritsma and Gregory Zifcak it isn't hard to see why. With the help of some old synthesizers and other modified equipment, these two are breathing life back into the acid and ecstasy fuelled heart of dance music.
I listened to enough Frank Zappa and "experimental" music in the past to know that I typically hate bands that just talk or moan over their music. Even Captain Beefheart bugs me on that level, sometimes. Excepter, however, prove to be an exception to that rule. Paired down to a four piece, the group's sensitivity towards atmosphere and rhythmic dynamism prove to be more than winning qualities on Sunbomber and it was all recorded in just one hour.
This compilation is a showcase of contemporary French rock and roll. My first impression from it is that France has just discovered an up and coming band called The Stooges. All the bands featured play dirty, fuzzy garage rock to varying degrees of quality. The Kaiser Fucks the New French Rock demonstrates two things: the French are capable of rocking out and any band can play this style of music but only a few truly rock.
Contrary to what the title suggests, Jel's first solo full-length isn'tan overt political message (of any stripe), set to SP-1200instrumentation. While Soft Money isn't socially ignorant—it hits on anti-commercialism as well as theever-relevant war on terror—the Oakland-based producer instead letswhat he can do with the sampler take the stage. For most, it's a savvymove—there's plenty to occupy the right ears. But be warned: in thewrong hands Soft Money will be a snoozer.
Last year Richard James released eleven EPs over the course of a few months. The Analordseries was gimmicky marketing at its best. It looked like James wasspreading himself too thin, quantity over quality. This CD is acompilation of what James sees as the best cuts from the series. It’snot that inspiring and marks a step backwards for James.
There are no surprises here, but I don't suppose thelisteners of Growing are necessarily at the gates demanding precisely whatit is that the band's name teasingly implies: growth. This album could be The Sky's Run Into the Sea; it could be The Soul of the Rainbow andthe Harmony of Light. Up to this point, the realm of Elysian drones hasbeen well-trodden by this duo, but it doesn't hurt to retread some sweet-smelling fields or even lie down in the grass for a while.
If reckless enthusiasm and unabashed idealism in DIY ethics were a
college course, than the Mae-Shi would be its happy-go-lucky T.A. to
Fugazi’s stern, taskmaster professor. In a little over three years, the
L.A. quintet have put others to shame with their breathless recording
and touring schedule. And while it seems the band is laying low
following a second national tour and the release of the Heartbeeps EP
this past summer, the band has done their fan base a favor by releasing
another chunk of their spazzy, synapse addled spazz-pop, this time in
the form of a full DVD.
This Italian duo has recorded a good debut album but have cursed it with a terrible name. Judah are industrial journeymen, they aren’t setting the world on fire but at least they’re getting the job of writing enjoyable music done.
