Load
Was it hard to guess which direction the Load roster was headed? Afterchasing metal through a gauntlet of spastic duos with cracked guitarsand rack-less (gasp!) drums, the label sets its sights on the secondscourge of white suburbia: progressive rock. East-coastersUSAISAMONSTER are a guitar/drums duo with an affinity for the tight,noisy, and epic-length songs of labelmates like Lightning Bolt, butmade over with an arty, even jazzist take on guitar skronk and anelaborate, narrative approach to songwriting. Tasheyana Compost,their third and most mature full length, is a concept album dealingwith colonialism and the ravaged American landscape. One song's lyricsare taken from Chief Joseph's words; elsewhere declarations like "thisprogress looks like cancer cells to me" add a preachy element that issurprisingly welcome in the wake of so many noise rockers with nothingto say. The band compensates for any lyrical heavy-handedness withmock-poignant tales of highway adventure and humorous free associationsections. Likewise, the music oscillates between full-on noise blitzand more tongue-in-cheek bits where cheap keyboard sounds and stylizedcrooning appear. Blowout metal riffs mix freely with choppy acousticplaying, and strained screaming bleeds into the elfin chanting ofwoeful vagabonds. The stripped-down nature of the music prevents itsslipping into a mathy or studied sound, and the lyrical wit coveringevery track adds a proud, human quality. The whole is neatly nuanced,and while repetitious at times (especially the noisy parts), the albumsurvives on sheer exuberance. There's nothing fashionable here; thoughsome may fail to look beyond its raucous exterior, Tasheyana Compost is rich with blood of its own design, progressive rock stripped of all mysticism, carefully pessimistic, and damn fun.
Was it hard to guess which direction the Load roster was headed? Afterchasing metal through a gauntlet of spastic duos with cracked guitarsand rack-less (gasp!) drums, the label sets its sights on the secondscourge of white suburbia: progressive rock. East-coastersUSAISAMONSTER are a guitar/drums duo with an affinity for the tight,noisy, and epic-length songs of labelmates like Lightning Bolt, butmade over with an arty, even jazzist take on guitar skronk and anelaborate, narrative approach to songwriting. Tasheyana Compost,their third and most mature full length, is a concept album dealingwith colonialism and the ravaged American landscape. One song's lyricsare taken from Chief Joseph's words; elsewhere declarations like "thisprogress looks like cancer cells to me" add a preachy element that issurprisingly welcome in the wake of so many noise rockers with nothingto say. The band compensates for any lyrical heavy-handedness withmock-poignant tales of highway adventure and humorous free associationsections. Likewise, the music oscillates between full-on noise blitzand more tongue-in-cheek bits where cheap keyboard sounds and stylizedcrooning appear. Blowout metal riffs mix freely with choppy acousticplaying, and strained screaming bleeds into the elfin chanting ofwoeful vagabonds. The stripped-down nature of the music prevents itsslipping into a mathy or studied sound, and the lyrical wit coveringevery track adds a proud, human quality. The whole is neatly nuanced,and while repetitious at times (especially the noisy parts), the albumsurvives on sheer exuberance. There's nothing fashionable here; thoughsome may fail to look beyond its raucous exterior, Tasheyana Compost is rich with blood of its own design, progressive rock stripped of all mysticism, carefully pessimistic, and damn fun. 
One of my first encounters with techno came in the form of afull-length cassette released on Wax Trax! Records by an artist calledF.U.S.E. From the first time I heard the classic "Train Tracs," I knewthere was something about this music (and the producer, Richie Hawtin)that I needed to explore further. Though at the time I was heavy intoindustrial music, I viewed that cassette as a unique gem in my musiccollection, one I would refer back to regularly. Fast forward to thepresent: Hawtin is now one of the most in-demand DJs in the world andcertainly one of my favorites. Finally, after several years of nearsilence as a musician, he has pulled together Closer,a new album of material under his most well known moniker—Plastikman.Taking cues from his previous work as well as injecting elements ofdark ambient and industrial music in the mix, the ten songs presentedhere are some of the bleakest and most atmospheric tracks Hawtin hasever produced. Building up the minimal aesthetic of his Consumedalbum to something far less bare, Hawtin fuses together razor sharpbeats, snarling bass tones, microscopic melodies, unrecognizable 303manipulations, and, at times, spoken word poetry. The crisp 4/4 rhythmsof "Headcase," though never quite delivering the anticipated punch,erratically lose their way among the clutter of quirky bleeps. "PingPong" and "I Don't Know" (the latter treating us to some classicchillour acid around the 6:00 mark) follow a similar experimental routebut has a heavier clubby feel ideal for open-minded dancefloors. "Lost"deviates from the formula a bit with a prominent string sequencegliding over the gutteral rumbles and de-tuned stabs that fill thisbeatless space. Of course, this serves as a proper introduction to thealbum's first single "Disconnect," a menacing yet groovy vocal track.Be forewarned: those of you who've endured countless goth bands intheir lives will cringe at the dismally low quality of Hawtin's prose.Still, I urge you to look past this one indulgence as the solitary flawon an otherwise perfect release. Headphone use is strongly encouraged. 
I have been waiting for Markus Popp to make a record like this for so long! His appearance on Gastr Del Sol's Camofleurgave me taste of what Popp would do when faced with a singer-songwritercollaboration, but while that contribution was effective, it was purelysupplemental. Popp's variety of remixes show the artist closer to hisunique Oval-shaped niche, but often fail to evoke anything more than apicture of Popp's struggle to fit the original song to his own unsuiteddevices. So, Popp's collaboration with Japanese chanteuse Eri Toyoda,is a lot like the Oval remix canon in that every bit of sound bends,and eventually breaks, under the pressure of Popp's established style.The difference, however, is that Toyoda's songs lend themselves sogracefully to her bandmate's fractured aesthetic that the result isboth different, and on par with anything Popp has produced so far.Toyoda's soothing guitar, vocals, and organ weave their autumnal motifsthrough familiar rolling static and panes of gleaming digital noisewith the weightlessness and relaxed flow of improvisation; they help tosoften the pointed bursts and taut clusters of recent Oval withoutlosing Popp's unique tension and mystique. CD skips are nowhere to befound, replaced by a rich, organic palette and warm low-end. Thelistening experience's great pleasure comes in the impossibility oflocating the origins of many of the sounds. Toyoda's vocals proveremarkably adaptable to the complexities of each track and are oftendifficult to locate among the layered warbling and whistling soundsthat appear throughout. Though the subtle beauty and fresh melodicachievements of this record may not surprise fans of Microstoria andearly Oval, it would be hard stay unimpressed by the level ofintegration achieved. So is the sound of truly singular artistsengaged in a tender, meticulous, and fruitful dialogue with predictablygorgeous results.
Real sensuality and breathtaking eroticism do not spontaneously combustinto existence: both are difficult and intricate structures thatrequire careful study. Mandy Cousins and Michael Turner shape huge andsprawling spaces out of the most profane and sacred sounds; the resultis a stream of voluptuous and melting music bordering on the heavenly.Listening to Titaniafor the first time reminded me of rolling hills and fine mists,decaying architecture and ivy. The combination of Cousins' fine voicewith Turner's fluent orchestration creates an atmosphere that is nearlyholy: distant bells ring in towers somewhere beyond the horizon,guitars echo through long and decorated hallways, and fires burn onlonely mountain tops covered with snow. The music is epic and bloomingand I can literally feel it grow around and over me every time I listento it. With time I've come to realize just how sensuous the music isand the means by which it attains that sensuality is absolutelycunning. There's a void that permeates the whole of the recording; it'ssomehow present even in when the keyboards are ringing as if I were inthe midst of a grand cathedral. Slowly, over the course of the album,the music gets inside my blood and leaves me floating; it slowly peelsoff every common notion I have until I am stripped to nothingness.Songs like "Digitaria" and "Postscript" are like knives that cut deepand leave the strangest and most pleasurable numbness throughout mybody. In short, there's a strange play between the sacred and theerotic flourishing throughout every note of every song. It's a tangibleand all-consuming tension that manages to put butterflies in my stomachevery time. The strange psychadelia of "Tinsel Starred" all the way tothe ominous and hesitant "Blue Iris Eternal" keeps me suspended in avoid, in a constant struggle between peace and relaxation and theanxiety of chance. 
After hearing Titania,I was eager to know what Michael Turner could do by himself. Angelmarkis his solo project that consists of various electronic flourishes, sixand twelve-string guitars, both electric and acoustic, piano, andpercussive elements. Angelmark is produced so that the aura of the album has the same infinite feeling as Titania,the instrumentation, movements, and attitude are unique. Many of thesongs are pastoral sounding and recall the beauty of a sun-struckprairie while others emit a cool glow that paints a full moon above thecold air interrupted only be the tops of the tallest and most jaggedtrees. The most stunning moments on the album manage to mix somber andhopeful themes together without being overwhelming, but there are othermoments when the music feels like a funeral procession. Some of thesongs, such as "Wave Upon Wave" sound as if they are lacking somethingand the thought springs to mind that perhaps Mandy Cousins could'vedone something with these songs that Turner cannot do alone. Withouther voice, some of these tracks sound a bit too synthetic and they losesome of their emotional appeal. On the other hand there are tracks like"Light-Splintered Eye" and "Like Places We've Been" that manage to walkthat blurred line between a funeral shroud and the brilliance of thesun. The latter is a particularly haunting duel between acoustic guitarand a horn-like synthesizer part that seeps and crawls through thecracks in the walls as if it were after something very important andvery hidden. The swirling of guitars and keyboards meshes in someplaces and at other times borders a bit on the predictable. Angelmarkdoesn't quite hit the same soft-spot that Turner's other project did,but there are some undeniably fine songs to be heard on this disc.
Another piece of the art-rock puzzle is uncovered with the release ofthis three-disc box set containing the entire recorded output ofMexican progressive band Decibel. Part of the Rock In Opposition (RIO)— a South American political movement utilizing art and music asaesthetic protest — Decibel never gained the recognition of theirEuropean art-rock contemporaries. Considering the band's exclusivelyMexican membership, Decibel's sound is surprisingly informed solely bytheir European counterparts, namely bands like Art Bears, Art Zoyd andMagma. It's a shame that the influences of indigenous Mexican cultureand music haven't seeped into Decibel's intellectual Euro-prog in anyrecognizable form, as this would easily set them apart from theirpredecessors. But who am I to question their aesthetic choices? Thefirst disc contains their first LP El Poeta del Ruido(The Poet of Noise), and it's quite an impressive debut. The firsttrack lands right in the middle of some overly familiar jazz-rockterritory: guitars, drums, keyboards and saxophone running aimlesslythrough high-velocity, complex chord changes, showing off theirinstrumental virtuosity. It's all technically impressive but not veryemotionally resonant, the same criticism that could be easily leveledagainst a lot of late-70s art-prog. Quickly and quite unexpectedly,however, the band ushers us the two-track song suite "OrgonPatafisico," a tribute to the Orgone theories of Wilhelm Reich thatbegins with a demented music box melody and soon gives way to a dark,psychedelic soundscape populated by eerie synthesizer swoops andskeletal guitar deconstructions. It's a beautifully realized track,holding the same fascination as early Nurse With Wound material. Infact, if Steven Stapleton had heard this album back in 1979, I'm quitecertain Decibel would have been on the infamous NWW influence listright between Decayes and Dedalus. The rest of the album is similarlyunhinged, proficiently played jazz passages floating around in strangecosmic byways and dark catacombs. "Terapia de Fakirato" is a standouttrack, beginning with an achingly fragile piano refrain before the restof the band join in, transforming the track into a hauntingly beautifuldirge. The rhythm section of Decibel deserves special credit,delivering the propulsive backbone upon which the players bounce andswerve. "Manati" is pure ensemble insanity, a dense jungle swamppopulated by strange birds and pygmies tripping on yage. The rest ofthe first disc is taken up with live material from their early period,proving that Decibel knew how to recreate their studio magic in aconcert setting. Lap dissolve to 12 years later, it's 1992 and Decibelhave reformed and recorded a new LP Fortuna Virilis, which isworthy, but never really recaptures the enigmatic brilliance of theirearlier material. Still, it's hard not to appreciate "Maldoror,"Decibel's ode to Isidore Ducasse's surreal masterwork, a slowlysimmering track decorated with the random squeals of an infant. Discthree consists of live material from a 2000 concert, which begins ingrandiose Magma style before morphing into the future-primitive improvsof "Suite Safari." The rest of disc three contains demos from as earlyas 1977. These are poorly recorded but allow us to hear songs from the PoetaLP in their nascent form. It should also be noted that this box set isbeautifully packaged, containing all of the Goya-esque corpse portraitsthat adorned Decibel's original sleeves, along with informative linernotes. Taken together, Fiat Lux: The Complete Recordings is an impressive listen, and the definitive career retrospective of this unjustly obscure band.
Listening to Hung By The Dick, it doesn't take very long to figure out that Costes is a bigoted, phallocentric, scatological Frenchman with a misanthropic hatred for every institution imaginable. The scrawl on the back cover says it all: "I hate my race, I hate myself, but I like my dick."
Eric Aldea and Ivan Chiossone originally intended Narcophony to be an adaptation of Nurse With Wound's classic 1986 work Spiral Insanafor strings. As the project evolved beyond its original genesis, theydecided instead to create a work that was inspired and suggested by theSteven Stapleton masterwork, rather than a true adaptation. What hasresulted is an album of quiet intensity and true beauty. Spiral Insanastands as Nurse With Wound's most emotionally affecting work; the oneinstance where Stapleton abandoned the clinical distance with which heusually approaches his soundscapes. Narcophony is a similarlyaffecting work; a five-part chamber symphony that envelops the listenerin a spectral wasteland of dread and beauty. Using an ensemble of threeviolins, a viola, a clarinet, a bass and a flute, and Aldea on acousticguitar and "machines," these two artists have created a compellingorchestral work that is all the more amazing for its intense subtlety.The first track places the listener into the moody ambience of a darkforest at night, the distant echoing cries of a sad bird, the pregnanttwilight pushing down on the soul of a lone wanderer. A chorus ofghostly creatures cry out, desperately attempting to push their wayinto cohesion. Their cries fade into the distance. Extinguishedbonfires curl and billow fragrant smoke. The slick surface of wetbranches appear shiny in the moonlight. The forest is a dead museum. Iam reminded of the hauntingly spectral sound design and darksynthscapes that accompanied the night scenes in David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.By the time I reach the third track, I am absolutely transfixed by thisquiet drama; the flutes and synthesizers are sculpting nonsensicalheiroglyphs into my brain. The synthesizer arpeggiations and chirpstake precedence on track four, before being jaggedly torn from the pageand replaced by a series of bubbling electronic swells. After thefive-part song suite of "Petit Buddha," there are two additional songson the disc: "Leo," a lovely ethnic-inflected excursion by IvanChiossone and "Hasmig," another collaboration that highlights Aldea'sguitar and swooping string arrangements. The fragile and sonorous musicmade by Aldea and Chiossone's chamber ensemble is remarkable for itsincredible poise, deep passion and enigmatic resonance. Narcophony is the sound of mystery in motion.
Austin's own Knife in the Water craft an interesting mix of a variety of musical styles into haunting, purposeful dirges that can scourge the light into non-existence. One of the first signings to the new Aspyr label — an off-shoot of the popular software company — the band is re-releasing all their previous recordings along with this album of new material. This is not the same music that was voted into Spin's Top 20 of 2000, but it is the same band all grown up and grown into their relationship.
I had to suppress my hatred of shape-CDs and my distaste for artistswho name themselves mockingly after other artists in order to give thisdisc its proper due. I had expected another insubstantialpost-Pluderphonics parody fest. Instead I got one very substantialnoise piece that, at 20 minutes, never wears out its welcome and evenbears repeating. Playback Device is turntable music recorded live atMego hangout Bar Rhiz this February. The most prominent sounds in thepiece are distorted or already painfully noisy records in the processof deceleration, spaced by heavily cut-up and layered human screams. Tothis intimidating background, Empire adds bits of laughing, childrentalking, punk-ish German singing, creaking door sounds, and hummingmotor noise. Submerged breakbeats, death metal guitar, and ten secondsof bouncy dub all enter the mix. Empire is on his toes for theduration, constantly throwing new records into the mix and bringing themass to precarious stops. Though the piece never gets boring and ismore likely to send the listener into his or her own screaming fit, itdoes have a few highpoints. The first is the rather enlightening momentwhen one voice (perhaps Empire's own) rises above the fray to yell"Fuck You" a dozen times, and the second is the track's closingsection. At around 19 minutes the noise drops out, replaced by atwisted, naïvely-styled ditty with a vocalist intent on communicatinghow happy his life was until his mommy and daddy were murdered inAuschwitz. Playback Deviceends with this singer, whose gruff voice sounds live from behind thedecks, screaming "Nazis!" repeatedly. And I thought it was going to befunny! All things considered, this disc is still more pleasant thansome Mego fair, and certainly less intellectual, a good thing (justthis once). 
