Plenty of new music to be had this week from Laetitia Sadier and Storefront Church, Six Organs of Admittance, Able Noise, Yui Onodera, SML, Clinic Stars, Austyn Wohlers, Build Buildings, Zelienople, and Lea Thomas, plus some older tunes by Farah, Guy Blakeslee, Jessica Bailiff, and Richard H. Kirk.
Lake in Girdwood, Alaska by Johnny.
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Robot For any NWW or Mirror fan who has yet to own anything from Organum, orcurious onlookers who saved their money from expensive eBay auctions ofthese two limited CDs the first time around, now's your chance tofinally get a piece of what made Organum so damned cool andcollectable. Both discs center around the material originally releasedby L.A.Y.L.A.H. and United Dairies from 1985 through 1987, where DavidJackman pretty much started releasing full albums'-worth pieces ofmusic as Organum. Long before software was making noise, Jackman (andpossible yet unnoted other members) would construct evil, abrasive, yetgorgeous noise symphonies from abusing objects and mis-playinginstruments, stretching vocal noises and crating a myriad of soundeffects, not entirely unlike a number of his contemporaries. Jackman,however, would weave the noises into a long, droning tapestry ratherthan shuffle through numbers of instruments like what the NWW camp wasdoing. Perhaps it is through this type of influence that Stapletonbegan to evolve from the choppy early cut ups and experiment more withlong soundscapes, as is heard on NWW's "A Missing Sense" (which was theother side of "Rasa", included here on Volume One).
Some of these lengthy pieces also unsurprisingly serves as an excellentprecursor to much of the non-new age drone music created by some of thevarious members involved. Jackman is joined by members of The NewBlockaders for the super-abrasive "Valley of Worms" from 'In Extremis',whose tracks straddle both releases while Andrew Chalk (Mirror, Ora,solo) teamed up with Jackman for the recording of the tame, hauntinglysubtle, yet no less intense "Horii" (on Volume Two). Appropriatelyconcluding the two-disc set is "Ich Reiste Weil,..." which, althoughfrom 1989, uses a number of similar elements as the earlierL.A.Y.L.A.H. recordings. The artwork is untampered from the 2000releases of these discs, however, at a basic black, none of theoriginal artwork from the 1980s remains, but hey, they're not going for$18 any more! Once again, however, these releases are limited, withoutany assurance of a re-press. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Spiritualized mastermind Jason "Spaceman" Pierce was all too public about firing essentially all of his bandmates after the tour that produced the Live at Albert Hall album (he wisely kept Coil co-conspirator Thighpaulsandra, though). However, instead of letting it get them down too much, the crew struck back and reformed under the moniker of Lupine Howl. "Vaporizer," the latest single from their Carnivorous Lunar Activities album sounds more like a forced attempt to recreate the Britpop funk of Shaun Ryder's Black Grape than the beautiful noise of Spiritualized.Vinyl Hiss
While a bit too reminiscent of Ryder's kidney-swapping-for-crack anthem for my tastes, the single stays in your head just long enough to stick. Massive Attack's own 3D remixes the track without changing the flow of it all that much, which is disappointing considering the potential it could have had. The b-side "You Get Inside Me" is a muddy little hunk of garage band glitz, swapping cleaner atmospheric verses with dirgey choruses. I can't imagine myself listening to this single nearly as much as their cinematic work in Spiritualized, but they do deserve credit for not just trying to imitate Pierce's bizarre and unique vision. Rather than allowing themselves to fade into obscurity, Lupine Howl has settled for something a little better than mediocrity.
Warp Released to coincide with Warp's recent European label tour, 'Magic BusTracks' is a collection of exclusive and rare cuts from its currentroster, as well as tracks from related artists like Luke Vibert andHecker. However, it is important to keep in mind that "exclusive" and"rare" songs tend not to make it onto full-length artist albums for areason. That being said, 'Magic Bus Tracks' is a widely lacklustereffort from a label that hasn't been consistent in terms of qualityreleases lately. Part of this stems from many of the "new breed" ofWarp acts, whose releases have failed to impress me. Richard Devine isone such culprit, and his rather monotonous "Mov Macros 7" reflectsthat accurately, with a bland rhythmic pattern that inevitably degradesinto DSP fuckery. The same goes for Mira Calix, whose "Simple" is inline with the rest of her uninteresting back catalog. But undoubtedly,the worst thing here has to be Russell Haswell's three minute pisstake,apparently taken from a live gig. The recording quality is crap, butthat's pretty irrelevant since "03:01:21 2002 Schirn KunsthalleFrankfurt" is just pointless and dull. There are a few tracks that savethis collection from being a total waste. Former Skint Records artistReq both shows and proves on the previously released "Soul Plot," acut-up hip-hop track sprinkled with vocal snippets and just the rightamount of sampled funk. Chris Clark surprises with a post-electro jamentitled "Spinning Spines (Aldi Edit)" that comes off like aFunkstorung outtake. Rephlex's new great white hope, Astrobotnia opensthe album with a catchy Satanic ditty, but sadly sets a highexpectation that the remainder of the compilation never delivers.Considering how enjoyable Warp's previous compilations have been, I wasdefinitely let down by 'Magic Bus Tracks'.
EE Tapes Cor Gout is no unknown Person in the Dutch leftfield arts & musicscene due his main job as singer, lyricist & composer withTrespassers W, a unfortunately often overlooked outfit when it comes toremarkable independent music. Here, various sidesteps are compiledcarefully - some live, some studio, most are sung in Dutch but a fewalso in English. The recordings, made between the late 80's and thelate 90's, are all remastered and mostly remixed for this limitededition of 200 CD-Rs and packed neatly in an oversized artprint folder. This nearly one hour-long compilation offers a wide range of musicalstyles: CG + Dodo Band offer nearly cabaret like jazz, CG + de R:IPdrop the cabaret part, CG + Dull Schicksal dive with "Singalong Song"into the guitar pop realms of the early Monochrome Set, CG + Wim Oudik(ex- Trespasser W.) and CG + Frank van den Bos (still- Trespassers W.)tend to jump into altered chansons, CG + Luc Houtkamp do a nearlyspoken word piece originally recorded for a radio show, CG + AlainNeffe (Insane Music, Belgium) get a little bit creepy, not very faraway from The Legendary Pink Dots, and the final piece "Gemobiliseerd"with Moebius & Haks & De Joode is a live excerpt that evolvesnearly into a dancefloor track, with contra bass set against akeyboarder and drum programmer. More Contributors are involved but I guess I'll stop for now andrecommend this release to anyone who likes true alternative music waybeyond any marketing targets and stylistic limitations. Get hold of itif you can.
souRce research recordings Further exploring theories behind the track of the same name on souRceresearch recordings 2000 compilation 'Emre [Dark Matter]', 'Netmörk'the disc expands the piece to a 34+ minute movement in three parts. COHponders what might be hiding within the intricate infrastructure of thetelephone network. What becomes of the digitally encoded emotionalresidue? Perhaps there's an accumulation of energy yet to revealitself? Conceptually it's very intriguing right from the start. Partone asks the fundamental question is it "dark inside the telephonewire?" It might be but there's certainly a lot of life in the organizedchaos of the system. COH's signature tone-drones and other laptopgenerated gestures seem to perfectly imitate electromagnetic energies.Part two, "Love as Hate" approximates the aftermath of a concludedconversation. At first the touch tones at the tail end of part onesimply carry over then slowly morph into beautiful, elongated chimes.By the seventh minute a loping digital dirge sets in and later, nearthe end, the chimes return accompanied by a cute rhythmic march. Therumbling pulse of part three, "materialize: m=E/c^2" (dedicated toproducer Giorgio Moroder and the Khari Kelvin character of "Solaris")gathers and dissipates energy as it ripples through time and space.Then, with an abrupt sputter, it suddenly ceases to be. The final track"Undercosm" fills out the near 40 minutes of the disc. Sound wavesreminiscent of a lift-off and distant transmissions are befitting ofthe MIR space station to which it is dedicated. Up next from COH is aremastered reissue (with bonus tracks) of 2000's 'Mask of Birth' LP onCD courtesy of Mego.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. David Marhana, known for his work with his brother Andre as the duoOsso Exotico, here presents a new composition that seems equally asinformed by Swans and Godspeed You Black Emporer! as by minimalistclassical music. Throughout the "Lullaby"s hour (nearly) of music,several patterns cycle over and around each other. The content of eachis taken from (melo?)dramatic rock music; a steady bass drum kick,three succinct high-hat hits, a peel of guitar feedback. There's nomistaking the oppressive death-rock gloom that hangs over the work,with rhythmic bass thud anchoring it to an unchanging pace. Images ofguitar distortion pedals (most notably a DOD pedal, conspicuouslymarked "Heavy Metal"), 1/4" guitar cables and a snare drum serve tohammer home the RAWK connotations. Yet, despite the many references towhat might be percieved as an energetic or cathartic genre, the musicdoes not evolve or build to any climactic noise; rather, all of theelements present at its beginning of the CD make appearances severaltimes, and then "Noe's Lullaby" simply ends. The composer includes thephrase "to play LOUD" (caps are his) in the sleeve text, but the musicisn't loud-sounding at all. So volume doesn't seem to affect the musicvery much (I resent a composer telling me how to listen to his or hermusic, anyway). Neither is it particularly narcotic, as its titleimplies. I tried going to sleep to it, but the threat of a big loudclimax, while never actually arriving, seemed possible at every moment.
EE Tapes Cor Gout is no unknown Person in the Dutch leftfield arts & musicscene due his main job as singer, lyricist & composer withTrespassers W, a unfortunately often overlooked outfit when it comes toremarkable independent music. Here, various sidesteps are compiledcarefully - some live, some studio, most are sung in Dutch but a fewalso in English. The recordings, made between the late 80's and thelate 90's, are all remastered and mostly remixed for this limitededition of 200 CD-Rs and packed neatly in an oversized artprint folder. This nearly one hour-long compilation offers a wide range of musicalstyles: CG + Dodo Band offer nearly cabaret like jazz, CG + de R:IPdrop the cabaret part, CG + Dull Schicksal dive with "Singalong Song"into the guitar pop realms of the early Monochrome Set, CG + Wim Oudik(ex- Trespasser W.) and CG + Frank van den Bos (still- Trespassers W.)tend to jump into altered chansons, CG + Luc Houtkamp do a nearlyspoken word piece originally recorded for a radio show, CG + AlainNeffe (Insane Music, Belgium) get a little bit creepy, not very faraway from The Legendary Pink Dots, and the final piece "Gemobiliseerd"with Moebius & Haks & De Joode is a live excerpt that evolvesnearly into a dancefloor track, with contra bass set against akeyboarder and drum programmer. More Contributors are involved but I guess I'll stop for now andrecommend this release to anyone who likes true alternative music waybeyond any marketing targets and stylistic limitations. Get hold of itif you can.
Orthlong Musork / Tigerbeat6 If Cex is the laptop incarnate of Kool Keith, then Gold Chains must bethe equivalent of Sisqo. The first I heard from San Franciscan TopherLafata (the brains behind the chains) was "Burn Babylon" from theTigerbeat6 Inc. compilation last year. It featured sung vocals from amiss Nina Oppenheim and actually had no rap on it. However, theundeniable sass pulsing from that fat, pumpin' jam made me long formore. If that's your only exposure, do not expect a similar club smashon the first two EP releases from Gold Chains, do expect that rawkusattitude and some phenomenal programming. On the self-titled EP, Topheris accompanied by the production assitance from Joshua Kit Clayton,scratching from DJ Bre-Ad (who's credits include work with Mick Harris)and the occasional backing female vocalist. The result is far moredense than any Kit Clayton records and the rhymes are witty,entertaining and after a number of listens become drilled in the head,busting out when singing along. From the thunderous opener, "I ComeFrom San Francisco," to the closing nod to Stereolab, "Rock the Parti",there isn't a weak moment. With each listen, there's actually somethingnew to discover: "Did he say ebonic karate?" Jessica asked me during"The Wonderful Girls of Hypno" before the bombastic chorus sounds in,"San Francisco USA / to Berlin in Germany / Tokyo to Paris France /Hypno babes rule my pants". The self-titled EP came out last Octoberand is a bit of a task to locate but it's well worth it.
Less than a year later, a second EP has surfaced from Tigerbeat6.Coming from such a strong, stunning debut, this release seems somewhatanti-climactic. The rhythms and tunes here are produced entirely byTofer this time around and, while the songs are still punchy andenergetic, are somewhat flattened by the lack of content. There's farless rap, and more repetitious vocals this time around. The sex anddrug obsessions are way more explicit than the other EP, with trackslike "Mountains of Coke" and "I Treat Your Cootchie Like a Maze" ("Lickthat cootchie, lick that cootchie, lick that cootchie,..." —okay, weget the point). The titles seem more promising but maybe I wasexpecting a little more meat. 'Straight from Your Radio' isn't terribleby any means, and can still provide an entertaining 25 minutes, but isnowhere near as over-the-top as the eponymous debut. Slap all 11 tracks(and "Burn Babylon") onto one CD and you've still got a pretty strongfull-length albm!
Fez Dispenser Fez Dispenser is Matt Thorne, one of two brothers that make up PsychicEnemies Network. With this project he dissolves the darkness andartfully expands upon the eclecticism already found in PEN's work.Fifteen instrumentals freely juxtapose played and programmed genreelements within tracks and track to track. But in the slick guitarriffs, vibes and grooves a jazz influence represents throughout. Thorneseems to be striving for songs that mix things up so much as to defyall pigeonholing and, more importantly, are just plain fun to play andlisten to. Drum and bass backdrops the busy jammin' of "Thank YouWould've Done Nicely" while horn-y dub and hazy dub make up "CastillianFennel Dub" and "Really I Do", respectively. "Smoothin'" slips intooverdriven overdrive with a stompin' spy thriller theme and "Watch forFalling Doors" percussively jazzes it up, both reminding me of BarryAdamson's recent imaginary soundtracks. Hip Hop beats and breaks addflava here and there, especially in "Everything Works", while the titletrack sets up camp near Muslimgauze territories. "He Speaks" dips intoelectronic whimsy a la The Orb with cute samples of helpful Englishphrases. "Lake Placidyl" offers a short-term treatment for insomniawith a slow moving quasi-psychedelic lullaby. And just to makeabsolutely sure I walk away happy, the lovely Stars of the Lid-like"And Fade" conjures up similar tired sounds as a finale. A little bitof everything goes a long way.
Merge Radar Brothers create slo-core guitar music with almost saccharinevocals and harmonies on top, songs that explore a variety of subjectswith aplomb and spirit. Members Jim Putnam, Senon Williams, and SteveGoodfriend have been in or worked with bands as diverse as Medicine,The For Carnation, Matmos and Maids of Gravity, and the music theycreate now makes them out to be a modern version of The Band.Everything is rooted in a melancholy beauty, but everything has a hopeor dignity to it that breaks through and keeps you warm. In otherwords, these songs are not full of complicated arrangements or densesubject matter that will be lost on you. So the trick is to not borethe hell out of the listener, and to not sound entirely formulaic.Radar Brothers do this admirably on this, their third full-length andfirst for Merge, sounding familiar but not like they're copyingsomeone, and making the most of their slight sound. Keyboards are addedfor effect, guitars fuzz and wail, and all while the music just lopesalong. They do manage to be pretty chilling here, as well, as at leasttwo songs deal with murder or savage killing: "They've been missing fora week/but here the weapon looks clean/too bad the older sisters aretaking it home" on 'Sisters' and "for you are still evil in my swordyou'll be caught" on 'Still Evil'. It's very cohesive, mostly quaint,and beautifully executed music from a band that has no business beingbased in Los Angeles. It is worth your time, I assure you.
Important Records Some of you may have Merzbow fans pegged as masochists. Sure, serfsloyal to the noise king may find his prodigious output hard on both theeardrums and the wallet. And true, he has played with S&M themes onseveral of his releases — the 18 CD Merzbox is wrapped in kinky blackrubber, for crying out loud. But the pleasure of Merzbow is not justthe extreme volume and frequency with which he attacks—but the varietyof sounds he sets his cat o' nine tails to. To the casual listener, thecollective work of Merzbow may sound like a solid block of steel wool.I admit there are a couple of Brillo's in the pile, but no singleMerzbow release can represent the whole catalog. Take Amlux, forexample. While the trademark violent squall is still here, much of thisalbum has a more gradual pace, built heavily on samples and loops."Takemitsu" starts off as a ride inside a phonograph needle across ascratchy jackhammer lock-groove, while someone shovels snow in thebackground. It ultimately gets sucked through a jumbo jet engine, whichproceeds to jam up and disintegrate. The warm tar guitar lines of"Looping Jane" get whipped by sharp digital wires into a driving rockfrenzy. "Cow Cow" is Satan on CB Radio squelch through a teapotwhistle. The final track, "Luxurious Automobile," pits swirling loopsagainst chain rhythms, crickets, Star Trek consoles and Asteroids fuzz.It's almost danceable. If I had to pick out a good starting point forthe uninitiated, I might very well recommend Amlux.