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Brainwashed | Saturday, 21 November 2009 |
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A new recording by Cyclobe, 'The Woods Are Alive with the Smell of His Coming' will be premiered at the Tate St. Ives in the United Kingdom on the 21st of November as part of an exhibition entitled 'The Dark Monarch - Magic and Modernity in British Art'. |
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New things this week are supposed to come out from Nurse With Wound, Annie, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Robin Guthrie while old things are due from Kraftwerk, Durutti Column, and Isolation Ward. |
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Podcast #206: November 11, 2009.
Music from Four Tet, Maserati, The Juan Maclean, Vic Chestnutt, Supersilent, Red Favorite, Black to Comm, Pelican, and Edward Ka-Spel.
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 Aranos has always been reliably unpredictable and this strange, disorienting, and difficult new album will do nothing to dispel that perception. It begins as a cerebral drone work, but Surrounded by Hermits gradually escalates (degenerates?) into Dadaist cabaret, absurdist noise, and mischievous buffoonery with characteristic anarchic glee. |
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 The only full-length album from this London based trio has been high on my needs-a-CD-reissue list for years. Originally released in 1988 on the Mute subsidiary Product Inc., this abrasive and unapologetic stew of noise rock, punk, and reggae is a vibrant and flawless classic that sounds as peerless now as it did 21 years ago. |
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 It was inevitable that my quest for truly outlandish music would lead me to the deranged audio landscapes of Caroliner. Where my quest will lead me after exploring the many records in their unhinged ouvre I do not know. As for now I content myself with the warped cognitive dissonance they provide. |
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 This vinyl only release is the work of Ann Matthews and it is a hazy mix of childlike experimentation, a far cry from her usual work with Ectogram. She discards any of the usual approaches from her day job and explores her methods of songwriting and musicianship from a very different angle. Although initially difficult to digest, the music here is a wonderful mix of disintegrated pop and primal improvisation. |
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 The concept of a "true mask" is quite an oxymoron, because what could be a "true" façade? I’m not entirely sure how that applies to this album, however, because while it is a very well done combination of black metal and power electronics/noise, neither of those seem like mutually exclusive genres. Regardless of that, the sound is a good mix of lo fi crunch and metal burn that might not be anything new, it’s something familiar done well. |
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 This collaboration between the English double bassist and one of my favorite drummers is superb. While Corsano rarely disappoints, when he is matched by a player who is equally as inventive and fluid then things heat up nicely. Edwards puts his immense experience to full use during this album, the two players sparking off each other to create music with enormous clout. Tsktsking is repeatedly brilliant, all four pieces showing that these two musicians are at the top of their respective games. |
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 Important Records describes this seventh(!) solo album by Grails/Om drummer Emil Amos as “going toe to toe with Roger Waters in the race to become the most bitter songwriter in the world”, but I don’t quite see it (too bad, as I love bitterness). Instead, it seems like an exuberant and odd (though sometimes surprisingly successful) collision between existentialist introversion and the virile extroversion of the best classic rock. |
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 I always hearing a label with a distinctive "sound" trying new things: while the Hymen/Ant-Zen axis has been mining the world of industrial and noise tinged electronica for years (without becoming stagnant), something completely out of character can be either a rousing success or utter failure. Thankfully, this disc falls completely into the former, with each track defying expectations and going even more “out there” than the one before. |
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 Spilling over with trembling strings and thunderous crescendos, "Coward" foreshadows the electric energy that is to be found throughout Vic Chesnutt's newest record. With members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mt. Zion, and Fugazi once again contributing, At the Cut is populated by giant melodies, quiet meditations, and intense studies on mortality and memory. But, for all its bombast, At the Cut is probably most notable for Chesnutt's unwavering honesty and cathartic power. Because of these qualities it has quickly become one of my favorite and most played records this year. |
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 Finding themselves a drummer down for their ninth release, Supersilent have this time approached their music from a completely different angle. Dispensing with their usual instrumentation, the remaining members have instead utilized Hammond organ exclusively for these four pieces. While the end result sounds nothing like their previous work, this is a thrilling and captivating album that is an unusual entry into an already curious catalogue. The music is cosmic, sacred and psychedelic in ways that have not previously been delved into by the group. |
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 I found this CD in a small shop full of musty vinyl, fanzines, crates of tapes, and neatly arranged homemade and self released CDRs on a recent trip to Portland, Maine. I had no idea what kind of music I would find on the disc, but liking the cover, I took a stab at it. I did remain skeptical knowing next to nothing about what I had just purchased. What I found was a very humble and unassuming album of non-pretentious lo-fi folk meanderings. On listening my attitude of skepticism quickly relaxed under the pastoral melodies Jeremy Pisani coaxed from his acoustic guitar. |
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 This self-titled album (not to be confused with their eponymous tape on Hanson from 2007) sees the Ohio trio further refine their cosmic sounds. A huge leap forward from their already impressive releases like Solar Bridge and What Happened, this LP confirms my belief that these guys are creating some of the most important music being made today. There are several moments during this LP that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, proving that Emeralds are tapping into something here that is truly extraordinary. |
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 On his fourth release for the venerable label, Niblock has produced three large scale compositions, based entirely around the use of stringed instruments. In the process, he brings out the most subtle of harmonics and creates an unraveling tapestry of microscopic change in layers of sound. And a slight Band of Susans reunion. |
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 Pelican's latest proves that you don't need a crooner to rock, and that you don't have to ramble on for a quarter of an hour just because your band doesn't have a singer, either. This is an album full of gritty, muscular songs that makes the case for hard rock bands releasing instrumental versions of their albums. |
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 Now reissued on CD after a very limited vinyl-only release in 2008, this fun and absurd compilation of not-quite-surf may very well be the last (and first?) word on the enigmatic Shadow Music scene that very briefly flourished in 1960s Thailand. This feat of DIY ethnomusicology contains some of the most improbable, strange, and obscure pop music that will reach Western ears this year. |
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 America's knowledge of African culture is quite minimal, but the tireless work of Alan Bishop and his Sublime Frequencies label has helped us come to a better understanding of some of the music and many folk rituals found across the greater African continent. The latest from Niger import Group Bombino provides another mind-altering picture of musical idioms from an ocean and a lifetime away. |
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More...
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Pumice, "Persevere"
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Black to Comm, "Alphabet 1968"
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Steve Roach, "Destination Beyond"
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The Revenge of the Paranoid Shellfish... IN SPACE!
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A Brief Exchange with Benoît Pioulard
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Simon Scott, "Navigare"
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Nurse With Wound, "Flawed Existence"
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Small Color, "In Light"
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This Immortal Coil, "The Dark Age of Love"
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Emily Jane White, "Dark Undercoat"
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OOIOO, "Armonico Hewa"
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Fjordne, "The Setting Sun"
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UnicaZürn, "Temporal Bends"
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The Black Box
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Mark McGuire, "Solo Guitar Volume Two"
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Bruce Gilbert, "Oblivio Agitatum"
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Maja S. K. Ratkje & Lasse Marhaug, “Music For Gardening”
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Shrinebuilder
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Michael Hurley, "Ida Con Snock"
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Steven R. Smith, "Cities"
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White Rainbow, "New Clouds"
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Caethua, "The Long Afternoon of Earth"
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"Tumbélé!: Biguine, Afro & Latin Sounds from the French Caribbean, 1963-74"
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"Siamese Soul: Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s-1980s Vol. 2"
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Nightmares
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Herb Diamante & Sun City Girls, "Mr. Lonely"
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Help Give Some Orphaned CDs a Home
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The Eye vol. 17!
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Killer Pimp announces first batch of 2009 releases
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Brainwashed Sponsorship Now Available
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