Ferocity of Practical Life

FFA474 Orange - Cosmic Collisions (2010)

2010-12-02T08:35:00.002-03:00

| Electronica | Noise | Ambient |

Independent music never sounded so fresh. New ideas flow, and old ideas are recycled. Truth is, no matter how rushed a musical genre may be, it never fails to surprise and be inspiring once again. FFA474 Orange, F.O for short, is one of those artists that sound nothing but 'fresh'. It's nostalgic in a perfect dose and comes with new views of old moves and old use of new and meaningful musical ideas. In a certain manner, this album is simple. It doesn't seem that pieces were put together, but it's as if they were thrown into each other. It takes a little bit of randomness to simulate the randomness that is the universe and make it collide into itself. But, still, it moves in a predictably way. Perhaps not in fact "predictably", but it's like your mind could feel it. And follow its path.

I don't even know what the fuck I'm talking about up there, but this music is great. Nostalgic like old sci-fi, abstract like a telescopic picture of a black hole. It bends in and out with a antagonistic blend of noise and ambient that we all like so much. Try it, and let yourself be 'sucked into' it.

Catalog: VB-32 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Gay Vomit Sex - A Primer On Illegalism (2010)

2010-12-02T08:22:00.002-03:00

| Harsh Noise|

A follow up to Antithesis, this album leads GVS back into the funny territory it previously explored within noise music. Adorned with samples that vary from ironic to simply idiotic, this little (only 13min long) EP is remarkably full of quality. A quality not simply found anywhere else, but one that's funnily hateful and lovely disturbing. An amazing harsh noise collection, with a perfect pitch of sarcasm and boredom. I mean, inspiration. THIS is Gay Vomit Sex.

Dedicated to Michel Foucault.

Catalog: VB-33 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Majutsu No Niwa ( 魔術の庭 ) - At The End Of Summer (2008)

2010-11-26T14:16:00.007-03:00

| Psychedelic Rock | Noise Rock |

It's been a quiet long time since I've last listened to Majutsu's debut, and it didn't fail to impress me over once again. Recorded live, taking two months of concerts and summarizing it into 8 tracks, At the End of Summer is a soulful follow up to the Overhang Party's legacy. It kicks in in a punk-noise feeling, with shredding guitars and cymbal rushes everywhere. The good humor, freedom of spirit and connection within the band members says one more thing besides "Hey, we're doing great shit here", it's that Majutsu No Niwa came to stay. Which, fortunately, is a great thing for us.

At The End Of Summer is far more than just a promising debut. It's a big kaleidoscope of the band's imagination. It has its punk moments (as in the opener "Magikal Garden"), its melodic pieces ("Grand Okeanos"), and even hard rocking ones ("Desolate Seashore－ At The End Of Summer"). All, of course, with that pour of Psychedelic-Noise Rock that everyone loves and that makes it so special. A great debut, may the next great albums come in!
Funny Fact: "Whither" seems funnily similar to a song I bet everyone will recognize.

Catalog: TRCD-MA004 (There)
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Gay Vomit Sex - Antithesis (2010)

2010-08-20T22:58:00.002-03:00

| Harsh Noise |

A short, fast and tasty new album by the dada-est musician around, Antithesis (which may be considered his debut, even though he has recorded and released a few others by himself) is a more "musical" adaptation of earlier GVS. It carries less nihilism than its precedents, focusing on harsh noise alone. Yet, it's the most consistent of all his works.

The album works almost like one big track, even though it's "split" (and each "part" was recorded separately). It kickstarts in a haste that is kept through its entirety. Loud, ferocious and somewhat funny (even though it's GVS less humoured work so far), there are really few moments of relief amidst the spiked improvisations of Antithesis. Very recommended for those willing to have more gay music in their library, and vomit in their breakfast. Unfortunately, it has the opposite effect on sex...

Catalog: VB-31 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Mario Diaz de Leon - Enter Houses Of (2009)

2010-07-29T10:10:00.005-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Contemporary Classical | Electroacoustic |

"The album is sealed by “Gated Eclipse”. The pedestrian dulcis in fundo commonplace would be appropriate enough, hadn’t the excellence of the preceding material already alerted about this man’s potential. A complex combination of effective sharpness and poignant stability is generated by a magnificent sextet – flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin and cello – tuning the music to impenetrable auras while leaving us catch a vague glimpse of superior levels of understanding."
-Touching Extremes

".....this disc has especially stood out for me in the way it fires my imagination and how frequently I replay it. Sure, the compositions are fascinating, painting in big aural strokes and melding major electronic ideas and acoustic performances with an assured hand. And the musicians—all ICE players—turn in the kind of technically and artistically daring performances on which the ensemble built its reputation. But there is something elusive in the "man and machine" conversation inside this music that digs its claws deep into the ear and invites repeat visits."
-New Music Box

"exquisite, arresting....an extraordinarily visceral experience, a statement of all the tonal and atonal possibilities of sound that still go untapped by the majority of other modern composers. Diaz de Leon's work, in contrast, is bracing and invigorating, a study in harsh beauty that broadens the horizons of classical composition."
-Impose Magazine

Catalog: #8065 (Tzadik)

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John Zorn - The Bribe (1998)

2010-07-27T12:32:00.002-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Experimental Rock | Avant-Jazz |
| Post-Bop | Fusion Jazz |

John Zorn's Bribe is a continuation and extension of his album Spillane. Like its predecessor, this album features almost the same lineup of extraordinary NYC improvisers including pianist Anthony Coleman, drummer Bobby Previte, organist Wayne Horvitz, turntablist Christian Marclay, and harpists Zeena Parkins and Carol Emanuel. Unlike the fast-spliced pace of Spillane, which functioned as its own narrative, the music on Bribe is allowed to stretch and develop because it was composed as a background for the dialogue in three 30-minute radio plays by Terry O'Reilly (it was later adapted to a stage production). O'Reilly described his creation as "low art; " along the lines of little respected categories such as pulp fiction and B-movies. Zorn then constructed appropriate music, continually switching styles and filling it with pop references.

The overall mood of Bribe is also different from Spillane and much of Zorn's work (excluding Film Works, Vol. 7), in that it maintains a light-hearted approach, weaving music box chimes and carnival sounds into the music. A nicer mood pervades this release, yet given its kaleidoscopic and slightly demented tone, it certainly can't be described as relaxed. Then again, maybe "relaxed" isn't too far off, after all -- perhaps by playing a supporting role to the production's cast instead of driving the concept, the musicians were able to enjoy themselves a little more.

Catalog: TZ 7320 (Tzadik)
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John Zorn - Godard/Spillane (1999)

2010-07-27T12:25:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Experimental | Avant-Jazz |Post-Bop|
| Experimental Rock | Musique Concrètre |

"Godard" and "Spillane" were the two first (and purest) examples of the "file card" composition technique developed by John Zorn and inspired by theater director Richard Foreman. The compositions were constructed from independent scraps of music inscribed on file cards; the two principal works here called for assembly of the cards ("Spillane" used 60 cards within roughly 25 minutes) to create compositions within the conceptual frame of work by Mickey Spillane and Jean-Luc Godard. The goal was to translate imagery from Godard's films and Spillane's crime novels (and probably the films based on those novels) into unified compositions. Bits of text weave through musical fragments including gentle lounge piano, spacy electronic music, violent sonic crashes, and dive-bar jazz. Ironically, "Godard" and "Spillane" both work as unified compositions because they are made of fragments. The ideas of the filmmaker and the writer would have been too complex to be tackled by an overblown, operatic score; such a work could only scratch the surface of a few of their ideas without seeming disjointed. But Zorn's file card snippets bounce around like thoughts, overlapping and intruding on each other, reversing direction like a changed mind. Careful selection and arrangement make all the snippets seem essential and irreplaceable, despite their remarkable diversity.

This album's execution is aided by a truly impressive cast of supporting musicians, whose close relationships with Zorn made it possible for the musical nuances to be communicated through interpersonal interaction. As a result, every piece sounds like a pure fragment of its genre instead of mere imitation. Perhaps most impressive were the contributions of Anthony Coleman and Bill Frisell, both of whom wrenched an amazing variety of sounds from their instruments. This collection, issued by Tzadik in 1999, also contains a delightful Christmas song, "Blues Noël," which applies the file card method in a much shorter, but charming, piece.

Catalog: TZ 7324 (Tzadik)
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John Zorn - Music Romance Vol.2: Taboo And Exile (1999)

2010-07-26T07:11:00.006-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Jazz Fusion | Chamber Jazz |
| Avant-Classical | Experimental Rock | Avant-Jazz |

Like the first volume of the series, Music Romance, Volume Two: Taboo and Exile deals with issues of lost innocence. The first of the Music Romance series had more overt references to childhood, with lengthy literary references and a title which gave it all away: Music for Children. Here the images are a little bit more subtle and a lot darker. The outer sleeve is black, with ritual objects represented in the fiery colors of orange and red. The liner notes contain a photo of poppies as well as more ritual objects, including one which seems to be bathed in blood. The front of the booklet has a photograph of a naked young girl that presents her in a way that is half sexualized, half innocent. There is just one piece of text this time, "A white room with white curtains hides the face of a sleeping child, barely a child, barely asleep, leaving nothing but an image, the sky's double, to rediscover one's innocence."

All of this is mere packaging -- a name, some images, some words, but they prime the listener for the experience of the music, for understanding what this recording is all about. And what it is all about is that painful moment between innocence and experience, that blood-filled time where the world cracks and reforms itself, when a line has been or is being crossed. The music itself is achingly beautiful -- the first track, "In the Temple of Hadjarim" sets a hypnotic mood for the rest of the album, with the sensual piano playing of Jamie Saft wrapped up in the atmospheric strings of Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, and Greg Cohen. By the second track, things have turned discordant, aided by Fred Frith, Dave Lombardo, and Bill Laswell. Indeed, the list of talented musicians on this project is enormous, which lends itself both to quality and diversity of sound. This is not a piece of classical movements; rather, it is like a film with constantly changing scenes. Before the end of the album, images are evoked of slow, metered tribal ritual, escape on an open road, cabaret, desert and dance. This is one of Zorn's most complex and beautiful pieces, showing that he is still constantly evolving as a composer.

Catalog: TZ 7325 (Tzadik)
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John Zorn - IAO (2002)

2010-07-26T06:13:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Experimental | Avant-Classical |
| Minimalist | Death Metal |

This album, a studio suite, is wrapped in mysticism. The four cards that serve as a booklet feature cabalistic signs, esoteric diagrams, a quote from Alaister Crowley and a dedication to esoteric filmmaker Kenneth Anger. A short note by John Zorn establishing a parallel between the tools and craft of musical composition and magic is the only given explanation. The aura of mystery invites an analysis of the constituents and structures of the work, for better or worse -- and in any case it's fun to do on your own, so this reviewer will not expose his personal conclusions on the subject.

The musicians involved are Cyro Baptista, Jennifer Charles, Greg Cohen, Beth Hatton, Bill Laswell, Rebecca Moore, Mike Patton, Jim Pugliese, and Jamie Saft. They appear only one, two or three at a time. Each of the seven movements is based on a specific, non-reoccurring instrumentation, and explores a form of meditation, trance or anything possibly leading to spiritual revelation. "Invocation" is a delicate piece based on organ drones, while the 13-minute "Sex Magick" takes the form of a tribal percussion mantra. The piano melody in "Sacred Rites of the Left Hand Path" provides the most soothing moments and together with the first track is reminiscent of the level of writing found in Duras. "Lucifer Rising" is made of overdubbed sensual female vocals, while "Leviathan" serves up an ear-splitting slab of death metal (which can be a source of trance too, you know). "Mysteries" completes the circle with electric piano and light percussion. "Leviathan" aside, I.A.O. makes a calm, enjoyable listen and beyond its mystical claims, it includes some strong compositions.

Catalog: TZ 7338 (Tzadik)
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John Zorn - Music Romance Vol.1: Music For Children (1998)

2010-07-23T03:20:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Experimental Rock | Jazzcore |
| Avant-Classical | Experimental | Electro-Acoustic |

There has never been a CD quite like Music For Children. The first installment of Zorn’s challenging and controversial Music Romance trilogy (that includes Taboo and Exile and The Gift) it is easily one of the most eclectic CDs ever made. The Music Romance trilogy is a kind of ecletic mixture of unusual genres for the lovers of music in all its mutations.

The music in the first volume includes three short Torture Garden compositions performed by Zorn with the scorching hardcore band Prelapse; a soulful piece of Masada exotica; a virtuosic classical chamber piece for violin, piano and percussion; a poly-rhythmic etude for voice and percussion and a charming nostalgic lullaby for music box. The highlight of this re-release is a revised version of Zorn's infamously epic ear-bender Cycles du Nord, which takes on new intensity through overdubbed bass drums and a newly recorded noise guitar track by none other than the master of feedback himself—Lou Reed! Intensely intriguing, Music For Children is an unbelievable musical roller coast ride that takes you from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again in sixty jam-packed minutes.

Catalog: TZ 7321b (Tzadik)
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Gorguts - Obscura (1998)

2010-07-21T15:03:00.003-03:00

| Technical Death Metal | Avant-Metal |

What's in a name? In the case of "Gorguts," not much -- at least by this stage in the game -- save for some preconceptions about what a band with "gore" and "guts" in its name should sound like. Obscura comes much closer to the mark, as this is simply one of the most challenging, difficult albums ever released within the metal genre. In terms of its towering complexity and unprecedented strangeness, Obscura has a lot more in common with Captain Beefheart's avant-rock monstrosity Trout Mask Replica than it does the latest Cannibal Corpse release. Not that Obscura isn't recognizably metal -- the guitar distortion, the double-bass drumming, and the blasting snare beats are all firmly rooted in death metal. What makes this album different is exactly how far Gorguts pushes this death metal foundation. The guitar/bass harmonies are extremely discordant, the guitar leads are full of alien harmonic squeals and other foreign noises (the title track, for example, features a recurring, legitimately atonal melody played via fingertapping), and the drums change tempos and time signatures in spastic, whiplash-inducing fashion. Frontman Luc Lemay's vocals are not standard death metal fare, either: he sounds like he's being put through a torture session, gasping and wheezing as he screams at the top of his lungs. The most agonizing track is the near ten-minute "Clouded," which crawls at a Melvins/Swans pace and has absolutely guttural bass playing to go along with the aforementioned dissonant guitars and painful vocals. As ugly and off-putting as Obscura may initially seem, though, it possesses an underlying sense of logic and structure that does reveal itself upon repeat listens. A number of memorable, if strange, guitar melodies emerge throughout the album and help provide a sense of order and thematic unity amidst the apparent chaos; "Earthly Love" and "Nostalgia" are especially strong examples of this. Obscura's appeal may not ultimately reach far beyond an underground niche audience, but those with the patience and curiosity to tackle this record will be rewarded with a work of great depth and vision.

Catalog: 008 633 129-2 (Olympic)

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Naked City - Grand Guignol (1992)

2010-07-21T14:36:00.012-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Jazzcore | Experimental Rock |

| Avant-Classical |

"Unlike some of Naked City's other albums, this could hardly be qualified as a rock or jazz album. In the liner notes Zorn talks about how humanity has a dark side, symbolized by the Grand Guignol, a Parisian theatre that "served up torture, incest, blood lust, insanity, mutilation and death to generations of fervid spectators." The album is Zorn's exploration of our fascination with evil.

The album opens with a series of eloquent and sinister classical pieces. The first, Zorn's "Grand Guignol" is a series of avant-garde vignettes, drums and tortured guitars against a backdrop of silence. It is similar to "American Pyscho" on Radio, except it lacks the cultural references to rock and pop. The rest of the pieces drift along, subtle and dark classical covers performed by a rock quintet. Frisell's eloquent reverby guitar is used to good effect here, as is Fred Frith's use of the volume pedal to float his electric bass in and out of the song. This is some of the most understated and beautiful playing Naked City has ever done.

They are sharply contrasted by the onslaught of tracks 9-41. These tracks make up the other half of Torture Garden, the first half released on Naked City's debut album. They are a brutal, in your face assault of genres augmented by Yamatsuka Eye's ferocious screams, yells and grunts. The material is, in a word, insanity.

This is one of my favorite Naked City albums. It is both dark and contemplative and upbeat and disturbing. This album should appeal to anyone interested in new ways of structuring music who doesn't mind some pretty insane sound. It should also appeal to anyone who enjoys thrash or hardcore music.

PS: This is the remastered version of the album, which includes "Grand Guignol (Vocal Version)", with awesome vocals by the genius Mike Patton!

Catalog: Avan 002 (Avant)
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John Zorn - Rituals (2005)

2010-07-12T14:51:00.003-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Contemporary Classical |
| Experimental |

Owls, Windmachines, Gravedigging and Ritual Magick, Zorn’s strange and mystical monodrama for mezzo soprano and ten instruments is presented here in a beautiful new studio recording. Composed for the Bayreuth Opera Festival in 1998, the Rituals premiere was a bit of a scandal, with the audience split down the middle…half outraged detractors, stomping out, whistling and jeering and half cheering supporters. Performed here by a stellar group of Zorn regulars and some very special guests, Rituals is opera at its virtuosic and intimate best. Five movements of magic and alchemy from the crucible of an uncompromising and unpredictable musical maverick.

This album is a total YES, from beginning to end. The music, full of druidism and wizardry, is another of Zorn's classical compositions exploring the magic of sound. This one is less dark and frightening than Magick, yet it goes way further on the path; having ten instruments and opera singers makes Rituals a completely new statement in Zorn's catalogue. The "rituals" are five short pieces, from 7 to 4 minutes. They are little melodic, since they will is to deep-explore the magic connection between each instrument's sound (instead of simply "connecting" them). Yet, the compositions here are really stunning. In a certain way, if Magick was black magic, Rituals is druid's alchemy!

Catalog: TZ 8011 (Tzadik)
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John Zorn - Redbird (1995)

2010-07-12T14:38:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Contemporary Classical |
| Chamber Jazz | Minimalist | Experimental Ambient |

A kinder and gentler Zorn, exploring a sound world not unlike those pioneered by composers Giacinto Scelsi, Morton Feldman and Olivier Messiaen. Acoustic, minimal/ambient music of unusual subtlety and beauty, inspired by, and dedicated to the work of artist Agnes Martin. "Redbird," a hypnotic work for harp, violin, cello and percussion mirrors the detailed and complex painting for which it is named, as a series of chords are ordered and reordered, creating a play of memory and surprise that will leave the listener in a sensual reverie. It's difficult to believe that "Dark River" for four bass drums is actually acoustic music; the interplay of sonorities reminds one more of tape manipulation or the electronic beating of underwater sonar.

Both pieces are extremely minimalist, as the work of Agnes Martin itself. Yet, the simple arrangements retain an extremely hipnotic power. Once the album is on, time seems to shrink as imagination gives its way through thoughts against the music - and when you least expect, 50min of minimalist classical music has just pass through like it was only 10. The album atmosphere is pretty dark, even though its form is gentle and passionate. Redbird is, doubtelessly, one of Zorn's most remarkable works ever. Completely recommended!

Catalog: TZ 7008
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John Zorn - Magick (2004)

2010-07-12T14:17:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Contemporary Classical |
| Experimental |

Further explorations into the worlds of Magick and Alchemy, here featuring the long awaited premiere recording of Zorn's new string quartet. Necronomicon is a transcendent five movement work of unparalleled ensemble virtuosity and formal beauty, brilliantly played by the Crowley Quartet. Also included is an astounding piece of witchcraft and sorcery for two bass clarinets, one of the most difficult yet written for the instrument, performed with passion and precision by two of the greatest players in the world.

Necronomicon is probably my favourite classical work by Zorn. Terrifying strings running in despair and horror, contrasting in both fast and wild arrangements and calm, moody pieces. The work is always dark, but not in a standard way. It's not like an evil night with nightmares, it's more like entering a medieval world full of them. The front cover expresses well either the state of horror and the black wizardry of Necronomicon. It's so damn amazing! Sortilège, the final piece (for two bass clarinets), mostly retains the same atmosphere. It basically sounds like a Necronomicon played on wind instruments. Both pieces don't retain a melodic path, they are more headed to explore each instrument's sound and the magical connection between them.

Catalog: TZ 8006 (Tzadik)
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John Zorn - The Circle Maker (1998)

2010-07-09T15:26:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Classical | Chamber Jazz | Post-Bop |
| Jazz Fusion |

This two-disc release captures beautiful and refined music that makes full use of two ensembles' extraordinary musicianship. Drawing from John Zorn's Masada songbook are the Masada String Trio and the Bar Kokhba Sextet. Each ensemble fills one CD with beautiful chamber jazz woven around a heart of Jewish melodies. Zorn skeptics will find the superb and elegant music on The Circle Maker surprisingly stable and accessible. This is a fitting successor to the other Masada works that Zorn doesn't actually perform on — the first Masada chamber project, Bar Kokhba, and Film Works, Vol. 8, whose recording session wrapped up weeks before this weekend date of December 1997. Issachar is the name of the disc on which bassist Greg Cohen, cellist Erik Friedlander, and violinist Mark Feldman perform. Zevulun features the Bar Kokhba Sextet: the Masada String Trio plus drummer Joey Baron, percussionist Cyro Baptista, and guitarist Marc Ribot. All of these musicians are accomplished in jazz and improvised music, and have performed extensively in world and/or classical settings as well. The Circle Maker is a very necessary recording for all appreciators of chamber jazz, new Jewish music, or any of these stellar musicians.

The first disc - Isaachar, featuring Masada String Trio - is my favourite on the set. It resembles a lot the Masada quartet works, with the rhythmic session (bass) and two soloists (violin and cello). It's also one of Zorn's best works ever; the emotion captured by the string arrangements and the sharp-edge improvisation makes this disc a beautiful collection of jazz tunes, flirting with classical and jewish music. Chamber Jazz never sounded so tasty!

Zevulun, disc two, is a little bit weaker. It has more variety, with moments hitting close to Fusion and Surf Jazz, but it doesn't capture the emotional power of the first disc. It also differs a lot from the Masada quartet sound; having a guitar and double percussion on the band gives a totally new tonality to the Masada book tunes. Zevulun is a great disc, in its own way - it just doesn't catch up with the awesomeness of the Isaachar.

Catalog: TZ 7122 (Tzadik)
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Naked City - Absinthe (1993)

2010-07-06T17:39:00.012-03:00

Naked City saved the best for last, and the darkest. After they had barrel-rolled through avant-rock, jazz, grindcore, cartoon music, contemporary classical, film music, drone doom, gritty free improvisation and much more, they decided to release their strangest album, Absinthe. A concept album about the drink of the same name, the song names reference various places, people, and things that have to do with Absinthe. I imagine the music is supposed to represent a really bad night in a dark cathedral after drinking a whole lotta Absinthe, and this cathedral is full of Hans Bellmer's deformed dolls, hiding in every corner.

Onto the music. The first track, Val de Travers, shows you exactly what Absinthe is about: it starts of with some disgustingly dissonant chords strummed on an de-tuned guitar (which appears throughout the album). Soon some strange electronic and percussive sounds come in and add to the terror. Une Corresponance is a different beast. You hear machine-like noise repeated in a pattern, with some variations. It repeats for awhile then it all stops and this high-pitched horn-like instrument comes in (not sax) and seems like the most vicious battle cry you would ever hear, it's one of the most scariest moments on the album. Again the album goes in a different direction with La Fee Verte. There is ambiance, water sounds, sampled vocal drones, strange sounds, and a melodic-in-a-darkly-dissonant-way guitar part, implying the music is all composed. All the while there's a steady beat in the distance, which sounds like somebody hitting their knees or something. Fleurs du Mal is really low, and you have to turn the volume up to hear it. This is the most genius point in the album. it's just this droning low pitch... so you turn your volume up, and finally the song is over and suddenly the next song, Artemisia Absinthium, blasts into your ears, a loud, high pitched noise, what sounds like strange insect noises and machinery. The whole song is like this, and is some of the most frightening music you will hear. Notre Dame de L'Oubli is a nice break from the rest of the album, being darkly melodic, and sounding similar to the classical pieces on Grand Guignol, just darker.

Finally we have Verlaine. Part one starts out with a repeated electronic part, with strange percussion behind it, and some neat piano that leads into THE most terror-inducing music I have ever heard: here John Zorn himself provides disturbing high pitched singing that sounds more Basilisk than human, while these female vocal samples phase in and out. The tones are so extremely dark, as the voices, that it is extremely affective, and literally makes me shiver with true fear. The song goes onto a sorta funky beat with a sorta funky bass, and completely un-funky discordant guitar strums. Part two, La Bleue, continues the ambience of Notre Dame de L'Oubli, just more dark sounding. Then, ...Rend Fou, the last moment of Naked City: six minutes of weird electronic static noise, which is actually Frisell and Frith running their guitar jacks over their guitar inputs. What a way to end Naked City.

Catalog: Avan 004 (Avant)
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John Zorn - Dictée/Liber Novus (2010)

2010-07-05T10:21:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Experimental | Electronic | Jazz |
| Musique Concrète | Ambient |

Radical in both conception and execution, Zorn’s studio compositions are among his most personal and unique creations. Owing as much to film as to any musical model, these evocative postmodern tone poems have been described as cinema for your ears. This CD presents two exciting new pieces. The first, Dictée, is a ritualistic homage to Korean/American writer and conceptual artist Theresa Hak-Kyung Cha, whose brilliant work about loss, memory, language and identity is finally receiving due respect. The second piece, Liber Novus is a mythic psychodrama inspired by the legendary Red Book of Carl Jung; scored for keyboards, percussion and sound effects, this is truly Zorn at his best. Two outrageous, intense and poetically beautiful pieces filled with dynamic moments of sonic drama and experimental lyricism on one CD.

Catalog: TZ 7382 (Tzadik)
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John Zorn - The Goddess - Music for the Ancient of Days (2010)

2010-07-03T23:07:00.006-03:00

| Cool Jazz | Avant-Classical |

Hey, look, John Zorn just released another masterpiece! What a surprise, how many has he released already this year, last year, and every year before it? You'd have to know exactly how many albums he's released to know that.

Anyways, the Goddess is the third in a series of piano trio albums Zorn's been releasing, the first two being Alhambra Love Songs and In Search of the Mirculous. Miraculous blew Alhambra out of water, and the Goddess does the same to Miraculous. Now we have our good friend Marc Ribot on guitar, doing his signature reverb-drenched playing style, and it definitely adds to the Alhambra Trio's sound. Stylistically the rhythms are more complex then on the first two albums, and the melodies are sort of a balance between the exotic sound of Alhambra and the mystical sound of Miraculous. Anyone who liked the two first albums, the Rain Horse, or generally any of Zorn's "soft" music will totally dig this!

Catalog: TZ 7383 (Tzadik)
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Ìncubi - Les Catacombes Mortes (2010)

2010-07-03T16:41:00.010-03:00

In mid-2009, I- John Wight -recorded a dark ambient album named Weltzraghassor. It was my first proper "dark ambient" release, inspired by the film Eraserhead. It was a big step at the time, and had strong Lychian atmospheres, but there were some major flaws. Basically, Les Catacombes Mortes is a completely new creation, yet it fixes all of the flaws of Weltzraghassor and incorporates new sounds and ideas.

The best way to describe this album would be noisy, discordant dark ambient with screeching electronics. It is obvious from the get-go that it is influenced by Naked City's Absinthe. The themes of the music are grotesque living puppets, dark cathedrals and catacombs, industrial wastelands, and surreal atmospheric chaos.

Catalog: VB-28 (Velvet Blue Records)
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John Zorn - Six Litanies for Heliogabalus (2007)

2010-07-03T09:19:00.003-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Noise Rock | Avant-Metal |
| Experimental Rock |

In 2006, John Zorn issued two recordings that were the first two volumes in the realization of a project that, as he put it in his notes to the second volume, a methodology "combining the hypnotic intensity of ritual (composition) the spontaneity of magic (improvisation) in a modern musical format (rock)." Those two efforts, Moonchild and Astronome, used the same trio: vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn, and drummer Joey Baron. Zorn supervised and produced both discs; he conducted them as well. In the third edition of this project -- which is dedicated as the others were to French poet and dramatist Antonin Artaud, magician and occult philosopher Aleister Crowley, and composer Edgard Varèse -- Zorn ups the musical ante: in addition to the aforementioned musicians, he includes himself on alto saxophone, Jamie Saft on organ, and Ikue Mori on electronics. As if this weren't exotic enough, Zorn also utilizes a chorus consisting of Abby Fischer, Kirsten Sollek and Martha Cluver. Clocking in at 44-and-a-half minutes, these six pieces are the boldest, most exotic, and perhaps most extreme in the entire envelope thus far.

The expansion of textures grants many new possibilities, but it also requires more order and discipline (of which Zorn has plenty). These pieces contain plenty of improvisation, particularly by Patton who is, in his own way, more extreme than Yamantaka Eye of the Boredoms, (the latter collaborated with Zorn in Naked City, Pain Killer, and other projects), but it is the structuring of these "litanies" that is most compelling. The dynamics from piece to piece shift and transform themselves into something other than sheer range and force; they move not merely from loud to soft and back, but through all the gray areas in between, without necessarily doing so in a discernible order. There is a logic at work here, one that may or may not be mathematical, but it is not merely chaos and rock & roll force either. This is music equal parts classical, heavy metal, hardcore thrash, free jazz, and structured improvisation simultaneously.

The mapping out of this remarkable work is no better served than in "Litany III," where the slow drift of Saft's organ, Patton's most extreme hyperactive inhuman noise-making, Dunn's burning metallic basslines that threaten your bass cones, and silence are all woven into whispered and chanted voices, electronic ambient sounds and noises, samples, and Zorn's skronking alto playing different roles in erecting what amounts to a burning pyre of music, an offering of sound that will not be bound by either convention or mere construction, but pushes by its very design at Zorn's own limits of compositions. These elements either coexist side by side in the mash-up, or are revealed as solos or as an entire ensemble. The order of determination is difficult to discern, and makes for a burning, wicked good time in listening. "Litany I V" is a completely solo vocal work in which Patton displays just how extreme he can be -- all with a pronounced rhythmic intensity and flair. Likewise, that rhythmic thing, as opposed to the space in "Litany III," is revealed to funky grand design on "Litany V," with Baron and Dunn playing point, counterpoint, and overdrive until Saft and the chorus emerge in the middle rather suddenly. Then all bets are off: the rhythmic orgy begins but with Zorn soloing over the top. Yet these are mere examples in a work that cannot either be defined in conventional ways, or taken apart from the work as a whole. In this way, Six Litanies for Heliogabalus is a crowning achievement in this series so far because it doesn't allow the ensemble to dictate the part of the individual within it, yet neither does it allow the individual to create something apart from the ensemble -- even in "Litany IV." Patton's solo is dictated by what came before, and is responsible for what immediately follows. The next work in this project is entitled "The Crucible." It certainly has a lot to live up to.

Catalog: TZ 7361 (Tzadik)
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John Zorn - The Crucible (2008)

2010-06-19T13:06:00.003-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Noise Rock | Avant-Metal |
| Experimental Rock |

The legendary Moonchild trio returns for another intense journey into the worlds of magic, alchemy and witchcraft. Following one of Zorn’s true masterpieces "Six Litanies for Heliogabalus", this fourth volume streamlines and simplifies the music with new melodic elements bringing Zorn’s sax and the lyricism of Masada into the power and structural complexity of the patented Moonchild sound. With Patton using his versatile voice to sing melodies in addition to his preverbal screams and howls, The Crucible is another bold step from mad alchemist John Zorn. Including special guest guitarist Marc Ribot on one Led Zeppelin influenced track ("9x9"), this is a rocking new installment to the Moonchild-Astronome-Heliogabalus legacy.

Catalog: TZ 7372 (Tzadik)
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Neuss Noise - Hangars And Graveyards (2009)

2010-06-19T00:37:00.003-03:00

| Dark Ambient | Drone |

Hangars and Graveyards. I couldn't think about a better name to describe this album's landscapes. Dark, vast, lonely, frightening... The thorned drone of Neuss Noise crawls through the pinch-black wilderness in a decayed mood for breathless half-hour. The gnarled melodies are stretched until it reaches the timeless void in which the subconsciousness inhabits. The huge and eerie "Evaporated Purple" struggles in dense and yet airy notes while clutches the floor with its horrorful growls. And talking about that, you just can't wait: "Hangars And Graveyards" and "Dark Hall" uses samples from Keiji Haino's "A Challenge to Fate" and "Tenshi No Gijinka". That's right, what already sounds wicked, now sounds even more fearful. Imagine Keiji rumbling and screaming while a dark melody expunges the mind-balance. Fans of Keiji and Dark Ambient music will just love this - which means, fuck, this is awesome!

Catalog: VB-27 (Velvet Blue Records)
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John Micah Rapp - M(((O)))(((O)))N (2010)

2010-06-14T01:38:00.002-03:00

| Stoner Rock | Drone Metal | Doom Metal |

John Micah Rapp is one adventurous musician. Since January, he's been producing one song per day, and one album per month. His Fantômas-ish journey has given lots of good harvests - and a big part of it is collected in this alb(((um))).

Kicking in with the ominous low-tuned Drone Doom summoning, John Micah Rapp's M(((O)))(((O)))N swims into an enigmatic mist of soundscapes. Slowly marching through the ears and into the deep of the conciousness, the heavy and repetitive riffs never fail to vibrate every single part of my eardrums. This oceanic album features weighty drums+bass metal songs ("Trudge, Trudge", "Heavy Shaman") and even epic-er drone giants ("M(((O)))(((O)))N"). There's also the experimental side of the record, which includes tracks like "Tibetan Singing Bowls" - with its beatiful and stunning chants -, "Satanic Worship, Suicide and Animal Sacrifice" and its samples, and "Some Things Just Aren't Meant to Be" - with its mix of tribal rhythms and spacial echoes.
The music flows naturally throughout the record, and besides its weight, it always achieve to sooth my thoughts. The mixing is neat, producing a 'soft-to-heavy' ambience that totally fits the instrumentals. Fascinating enough, the doomy atmosphere combined with a perfect dose of psychedelia makes M(((O)))(((O)))N one of the most accessible and yet intriguing albums in the whole world of Stoner and Drone metal.

Catalog: VB-26 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Ghost - Second Time Around (1992)

2010-06-13T13:17:00.002-03:00

| Psychedelic Rock | Experimental Rock | Folk Rock |
| Progressive Rock |

Ghost's second album, released one year after their self-titled debut, saw a slight shift in the lineup, with Krishna replaced by Iwao Yamazaki on percussion. Guest performer Kazuo Ogino also became permanent, introduced with his Celtic harp on the opening "People Get Freedom," while multi-instrumentalist Takizawa and bassist/singer Kohji Nishino remain from Ghost's debut. As always, Batoh remained the center around which everyone revolved, with even more eerily beautiful and powerful music than before. All members were credited with a large number of percussion instruments, from bell tree and Tibetan bells to "some nameless bells and stones," further intensifying the aura of ancient and mysterious rites that hangs through Ghost's music. The blend of influences both Western and Eastern results in a series of fine syntheses, perhaps even stronger than on Ghost. "Higher Power," with oboe and finger cymbals among other things, and "First Drop of the Sea," which could almost be a calmer Scott Walker number from the late '60s, both capture this sense of broad listening to grand effect. Batoh can be as straightforward as he chooses, as on the title track. He almost sounds a bit like Bowie in lighter cabaret mode (an approach he generally maintains throughout the record) even while the acid folk atmosphere gently kicks along, sometimes with quiet drama in the arrangements. When the band fully kicks in, as on the rolling "Forthcoming from the Inside," everything achieves powerful heights as a result. His lyrics throughout are often quite striking -- his images are ceremonious, seeking the spiritual amid the mundane, and more often than not, make a lot more sense than the fuzzier hoo-hah coming from his West Coast psych/Krautrock forebears.

Catalog: PSFD-25 (P.S.F. Records)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Ghost - In Stormy Nights (2007)

2010-06-10T06:18:00.002-03:00

| Psychedelic Rock | Experimental Rock | Folk Rock |
| Progressive Rock | Stoner Rock |

Japan's Ghost has always been a truly enigmatic kind of rock band. From the beginning, they've only recorded when they felt it was necessary, and only when they had something utterly new to say. In other words, there isn't a set Ghost sound. They turn themselves inside out on each recording, and no two sound the same. In Stormy Nights is no exception. It is as different from 2004's Hypnotic Underworld as it was from 1999's Snuffbox Immanence and its completely separate companion album released on the same day. Ghost can play everything from strange mystical folk music -- notice the gorgeous Celtic-Asian flavor of "Motherly Bluster" that opens this set -- to flipped out, spaced out psychedelic rock; give a listen to the cover of "Caledonia" by freak noise rockers Cromagnon, and get your head ripped open. The centerpiece of this set is the completely genre exploding "Hemicyclic Anthelion," clocking in at over 28 minutes. This cut was taken from numerous live performances and edited together by Ghost's spiritual leader and guitarist Masaki Batoh, who has spearheaded Ghost's direction since 1984. It is a series of sonic universes showcasing all the elements of Ghost's sound from folk to noise to free improv, feedback drone, and psych terrorism, and never loses its momentum despite its utter self-indulgence. Merzbow, John Zorn, the Holy River Family Band and Derek Bailey would all be proud. The sheer staccato piano, guitar, synth and drum workout that follows it in "Water Door Yellow Gate" is, conversely, a tautly scored song, where the riff is monotonous, played as a simple set of chords carved from the lower eight keys of the piano. With numerous layered typmpanis washing out middling noise textures and roiling, razored electric guitars played by Michio Kurihara haunting the background, a chorus of backing vocals underscore Batoh's voice like an opera choir in a horror film while a constantly throbbing and pulsing bassline by Takuyuki Moriya wrenches up the tension. Conversely "Gareki No Toshi" is the piece's mirror image. No less a formalist construct, its shouted -- not sung -- vocals are relegated to the background and are distorted, almost buried under waves of seductive synth wash (courtesy of Kazuo Ogino), guitar feedback, bashed drums (Junzo Tateiwa) and a syntactical cadence that inverts the entire sequence in another key. It's remarkable how seamlessly the two pieces fit. The album closes with the gentle medieval sounding folk that is "Grisalle." A crystal clear acoustic guitar played by Batoh and his voice in its lower register is supported by Taishi Takizawa's flutes, Kurihara, and sonic atmospheres courtesy of the rest of the band with beautiful muted tympani pacing the verse; it's as gorgeous a psychedelic folk ballad as one is likely to hear and sends the entire thing out on a cracked, spacious wail as Kurihara's guitar and Ogino's analog synth carry it out. The rest of the band checks in -- especially that deep contrabass of Moriya's -- to make sure the thing stays on the earth. In Stormy Nights is another step. It walks out further than before, and yet, its melodic sensibilities, harmonic invention, and sonic exploration are utterly accessible to any listener willing to approach it with an open mind. Since Ghost has no set sound, there can be no "best" Ghost recording; they all appeal differently. This one is no exception, but it is a work of absolute beauty, chaos, seductive darkness and cosmic light.

Catalog: DC313CD (Drag City)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Velvet Blue Records Economical Store!

2010-06-04T17:34:00.003-03:00

Due to the high prices for mailing the CDs, VBrecords has decided to start a new economical method for distributing the releases. This consists on mailing only the prints (covers and the cd sticker - as seen on the photo above).
So, what's the good thing about this?
By mailing only the prints, we are able to send them as a regular letter. That makes the prices REALLY cheaper (check below).
Then, what's the bad thing about it?
You'd need to provide the CDr's and cases by yourself. But c'mon, that kind of costs less than U$1.
The prices are the following: (remembering this is just the postal costs, since we do not charge anything like production costs or stuff)

World: U$3 for 2 albums
Brazil: R$2 for 1 album

Well, that's it. Any doubts or orders, just mail me at stjerneheimen@gmail.com :)
Also, we're still working in the old way. Just check the store for the standard full-package prices.
For more photos and the available catalogue, just check the store.
Thanks for your time.

Also, this:

Knead - This Melting Happiness - I Want You To Realize That It Is Another Trap (2003)

2010-06-03T13:30:00.008-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Free-Jazz | Noise Rock |

Knead is the free-jazz colective of Keiji Haino with Tatsuya Yoshida and Hisashi Sasaki (drummer and bassist from Ruins). This Melting Happiness, released as a LP limited to 500 copies, is a live recording and one of the only two albums by the band. Their skeletal music consists of call-and-response compositions, mostly lead by Haino and often by Yoshida, which mix the adventurous prog-rock of Ruins and Fushitsusha's avant-rock with Derek Bailey's inspired free-improvisation. Don't expect some Fushitsusha or Ruins-like rock though, Knead is far from what these guys used to play. It sounds more like an earlier "Haino+Tatsuya" thing, but less experimental. Songs also lack a base, since the three of them just keep jamming around. But the spiritual unity of their instrumentals gives enough support for the structures the grow from paced jazz to furious noise strikes as naturally as the time passes. There's also some mad vocals provided by Haino and Yoshida thrown at some points, which just add more chaos to the uncontrollable band. The greatest thing about this is that, besides the huge mess they make, the listener is always able to touch their music. No matter how abstract they can get, their sound is so soulful that it always manages to be truthful. It's really rare to find this kind of authentic improvisation around. Overall, Knead is a must-have to every fan of Haino, Ruins and adventurous free-jazz.

Catalog: Fractal023 (Fractal Records)
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Ghost - Ghost (1990)

2010-06-03T01:05:00.003-03:00

| Psychedelic Rock | Experimental Rock | Folk Rock |
| Progressive Rock |

Give points to Ghost for defying expectations right from the start of their first album, at least if one is coming in merely expecting a drifty, new age type of experience. "Sun Is Tangging" may start off fairly quietly, but then it explodes in a noise fest and then returns to a calmer acoustic serenity throughout. With that as a fine surprise starting point, Masaki Batoh and company enter fully into their fascinating acid-folk-jam world with a strong number of songs. The group and its many guests -- no less than 11 -- explore everything from droning mysticism that sounds like it was recorded in mist-shrouded jungle temples to heavy-duty percussion-led songs that will make any Amon Düül fan smile in happiness. Given this wide range, Batoh's particular vision feels not merely like a tribute to his musical forebears but a striking new synthesis, while his main collaborators at this point match his dreams well. Mu Krishna, the chief percussion player, does a particularly fine job on his own or with various guests throughout, also contributing "whisper," as the credits name it. One moment where Batoh gets to step fully to the fore is the lovely "I've Been Flying," where his soft acoustic playing and understated but still strong singing float above a lovely electric guitar solo from then guest performer Kurihara. The immediately following "Ballad of Summer Rounder" is just as grand, Batoh's tender, evocative singing and playing accompanied about four minutes in by Takizawa's flute and guest drummer Shigeru Konno's steady, restrained percussion. It eventually ends in a classic jam, Takizawa switching to sax and going off over the head-nodding beat as Batoh seems almost to be speaking in tongues or mantras. "Rakshu" wraps up this quite fine debut with an intoxicating, hushed blend of percussion -- gongs, bells, blocks -- and Batoh's prayerful singing.

Catalog: PSFD-9 (P.S.F. Records)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Sunn O))) - Flight Of The Behemoth (2002)

2010-05-31T23:06:00.004-03:00

| Drone Metal | Dark Ambient | Doom Metal |
| Experimental |

Sunn's first two discs, The Grimmrobe Demos and 00 Void, established the group's droning, bass-heavy "power ambient" doom style and showed that the bandmembers had spent plenty of time listening to and learning from their Earth records. With Flight of the Behemoth, they begin with that same basic foundation (in fact, the first two tracks are impossible to distinguish from ones on their earlier albums), but for the first time also branch out to create something new, something that goes beyond any sort of mere Earth worship. This is partially true of the last track, "F.W.T.B.T.," which employs a drummer and a vocalist for the first time on any Sunn recording, but more so on the third and fourth ones, "O))) Bow 1" and "O))) Bow 2." Given the once-over by special guest mixer/legendary noise artist Merzbow, Sunn's hypnotic, slow-as-molasses feedback drones slowly evolve into a wall of distorted, swirling (although not completely overdriven) noise on these tracks, creating the sensation of being slowly sucked into a black hole while a symphony of chain saws plays in the background. Sound like fun? Well, needless to say, this music is not for everybody, but this collaboration has yielded something truly immense and frightening, bridging the gaps between dark ambient/drone music and electronic noise, between doom metal and avant-garde electro-acoustic sound. This is a remarkable album, recommended for brave connoisseurs of any of the above genres.

Catalog: SUNN15 (Southern Lord)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions (2008)

2010-05-29T00:12:00.004-03:00

| Drone Metal | Doom Metal | Dark Ambient |
| Experimental | Black Metal |

Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley began their career as an Earth cover band, and explored the extremes of the low-tuned electric's guitar's drone capability at maximum volume on The Grimmrobe Demos. Later albums, such as 2005's Black One, showed the duo expanding its sonic extremes, engaging a deep love of black metal by adding shrieking, growling vocals by Wrest, as well as additional instruments (like drums) by Oren Ambarchi. Altar, their collaboration with Japanese rockers Boris, provided them with a wider textural and ambient canvas to explore. Their vinyl-only release Dømkirke, recorded in a 100-year-old cathedral in Norway, utilized the building itself as an instrument, where its nooks and crannies echoed back microtones of the band's own high-powered drones on tape. That said, nothing could have prepared listeners for the wide-ranging adventure that is Monoliths and Dimensions. This 53-minute set contains four tracks. O'Malley and Anderson utilize more guests and collaborators than ever before, including vocalist Attila Csihar, who gives his greatest performance since Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas; Ambarchi; Earth's Dylan Carlson; trombonists such as jazzman Julian Priester and the Deep Listening Band's Stuart Dempster; trumpeter Cuong Vu; multi-instrumentalist Steve Moore; male and female choirs; other reed and wind players; and violist Eyvind Kang as an arranger. While Sunn O))) sound exactly like themselves, they seem to approach the music of composers such as Arvo Pärt and John Cage; they utilize the former's tintinnabuli (three bells) theory as well as engage the latter's notion of silence as a process.

If all this sounds pretentious, think again about who we're talking about: the kings of wearing black hooded robes to perform. The set begins with "Aghartha," full of power drone low-tuned guitars, as one might expect. Slow and plodding for five and a half minutes, it pummels on until Csihar enters in a lower than low yet barely audible voice speaking a long poem about the creation of a new Earth. Priester later enters playing a conch shell, two acoustic double bassists come in on the low end, Ambarchi plays a second electric guitar and effects, a piano sparingly adds both chord and single-note lines, and other horns and reeds flit about the background even as the piece remains unchanging in its focus. "Big Church" is the biggest shock. Commencing with an a cappella female choir, it's soon intruded upon by four electric guitars; Csihar eventually enters in throat-singing overtone mode, as does a synth, and the tension becomes unbearable before the tune stops in dead silence. Then, bells, an organ, Kang's viola, and trombone all find their way through the immense space provided by the slow droning yet extremely heavy riffs. Feedback screams in and then the bells enter again before power riffs crush them out. A "man choir" participates on "Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia)," with percussion, a huge Moog Voyager, electric tamboura, and horns amid the droning guitar mayhem slowly penetrating the listener's skull like a giant worm. By the time the set ends with "Alice," featuring a trio of trombones, woodwinds, reeds, ambient sounds, enormous guitars, and oscillators, the effect is complete. Monoliths and Dimensions succeeds because it is the sound of a new music formed from the ashen forge of drone, rock, and black metal. In its seemingly impenetrable, slow, spacious, heavy sonic darkness, this is the new way forward for not only Sunn O))), but for extreme rock music and possibly even what's left of the avant-garde. Brilliant.

Catalog: SUNN100 (Southern Lord)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Ghost - Hypnotic Underworld (2005)

2010-05-28T22:58:00.006-03:00

| Psychedelic Rock | Experimental Rock | Folk Rock |
| Progressive Rock | Stoner Rock |

A collective of psychedelic-minded Japanese musicians headed by guitarist Masaki Batoh, Ghost records commune-minded free-range psychedelia with equal debts to the Can/Amon Düül axis of Krautrock, as well as West Coast psych units like Blue Cheer and Jefferson Airplane. Batoh grew up in Kyoto, where he attended a private school well-geared to spark his interest in rock music, from Dylan and Pink Floyd to the Velvet Underground. Later, he formed Ghost with a large and varying lineup, centered around contributors such as Michio Kurihara, Kazuo Ogino, and Taishi Takizawa. According to reports, the group lived a nomadic existence, drifting from ruins of ancient temples to disused subway stations around the Tokyo area.

Five years after releasing both Snuffbox Immanence and Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet, Ghost returned with Hypnotic Underworld, and there were some changes in the band. Cellist Hiromichi Sakamoto and percussionist Setsuko Furuya (whose marimba gave those albums such a distinct sound) are gone, replaced by a great young rhythm section of Takuyuki Moriya (bass, conta bass, cello) and Junzo Tateiwa (drums, tabla, percussion). Also, Ghost co-founder Taishi Takizawa continues as producer but rejoins the group as a musician as well (he has served only as producer since the mid-'90s). Of course, Masaki Batoh is still here, along with longtime keyboard player Kazuo Ogino and guitar hero Michio Kurihara. With a brief U.S. tour (October 2002) under its belt, the band really jelled, and with Hypnotic Underworld, Ghost have released their most expansive set yet. The four-part title track starts somewhere near the Heliocentric Worlds, with Takizawa's sax playing over the sparest of bass figures and percussion as wisps of electronic ether float in and out. This morphs into a fuzzbass-led groove with great soprano sax that leads into a hard rock movement with a choir adding to Batoh's vocals and an ending so surprising I'll leave it for the listener. This epic track is followed by a glorious cover of Earth & Fire's "Hazy Paradise." The production here is amazing, with harpsichords, Mellotron, and sitar melting into each other and a majestic Kurihara guitar solo at the end. "Kiseichukan Nite" features a very pretty Celtic harp and recorder over a simple bass ostinato and Batoh speaking in Japanese with little washes of electronic treatment creeping in. This album is all over the place stylistically, yet it all sounds like Ghost, even with the electronic treatments and almost prog rock keyboards that hadn't been present on their prior albums. They turn in a version of Syd Barrett's "Dominoes" that is so completely personalized as to be virtually unrecognizable. "Piper" is a rocker featuring some blistering guitar work, and "Ganagmanag" is a classic Ghost-style instrumental trance jam, highlighted by Takizawa's flute and amazing production work. Batoh's vocals have never been stronger, and Ogino's various keyboards add a new dimension to the Ghost sound. Kurihara, as mentioned, is brilliant on electric guitar. The sound achieved by Takizawa and the band is a stunning mixture of ancient acoustic, hard electric, and electronic that Jimmy Page should be envious of. Hypnotic Underworld is a new high-water mark from one of rock's most interesting bands. Highly recommended.

Catalog: DC249CD (Drag City)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Track 08 - Ganagmanag (fix for people who downloaded from the old link)

Sunn O))) - Dømkirke (2008)

2010-05-24T15:30:00.004-03:00

| Drone Metal | Dark Ambient |

When ambient drone overlords Sunn 0))) were commissioned to create a musical piece to be performed at the thousand-year-old Dømkirken Cathedral, in Bergen, Norway (aka the black metal capital of the world, where things really do go bump in the night), they were asked to take into account the sort of brooding, deliberate, low-pitched melodies typical of the Gregorian chants, which had echoed within the same walls back in the days when the Black Death was ravaging all of Europe. To which one can only imagine their response went something like: "Easy. Done. When should we show up?" After all, much Sunn 0)))'s output over the years already resembled a new millennium equivalent of Gregorian chanting, so it's quite possible that the dynamic duo of Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley had several works in hand, ready to be adapted to this very task. So after rounding up a few well-suited collaborators like Hungarian-born vocalist Attila Csihar (he of Mayhem and general black metal legend), local electronics wiz Lasse Marnhaug, and Earth keyboardist Steve Moore (who would man the cathedral's pipe organ), the expanded Sunn 0))) not only provided a momentous grand finale for the 2007 Borealis Festival, but also captured the unique occasion for posterity, via the following year's Dømkirke release. Ah, but there's more: as a final twist (and no, we're not talking about the group's coordinated hooded monks' cloaks), it was decided that the "purity" of the event should be preserved by releasing Dømkirke only on vinyl -- not a single digital format. And without getting into the many debatable pros and cons surrounding this decision from a consumer standpoint, the fact is that a commemorative, 180-gram double-vinyl package certainly works for presenting each of the performance's four, 15-plus-minute movements, one to a side.

All that said, what of the music then? Well: the first piece, entitled "Why Dost Thou Hide Thyself in Clouds?" showcases Csihar alternating between wild operatic cries and more controlled guttural croaks, above the predominantly peaceful reverie produced by Moore's sweeping organ chords; and it's not until the second piece -- named "Cannon," possibly to signify Sunn 0)))'s corruption of the canon structure for their own, perverse devices -- that Anderson and O'Malley make their entrance via characteristically earth-shaking power chords, occasionally spiked with almost horn-like electronic interjections from Marnhaug, sparse organs, and whispered/sung incantations from Csihar. Movement number three, "Cymatics," demonstrates the abrupt decay of these various elements into a throbbing mass of feedback, haunted by Csihar's petrifying howls and shrieks (sounding somewhat like dying birds of prey); and then the concluding "Masks of the Atmospheres" sees the ensemble wrestling their willful, shapeshifting sound-beast back into submission for an another powerful display of sonic seismic activities, culminating in a deafening, sustained climax. Only then, as the pulsing waves of sound gradually give way to silence, the assembled audience finally, almost begrudgingly reacts, as though snapped free, en mass, of a temporary state of hypnosis caused by Sunn 0)))'s devastating onslaught. Not bad for a one-off performance! And perhaps it is best, after all, that Dømkirke was produced in limited quantities and only on vinyl, as its contents truly work best when absorbed as a one of a kind event, than allotted alongside the natural evolution of Sunn 0)))'s discography.

Catalog: SUNN94 (Southern Lord)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Sunn O))) - Black One (2005)

2010-05-23T03:51:00.003-03:00

| Drone Metal | Doom Metal | Black Metal |
| Dark Ambient |

The self-described "power ambient" duo Sunn 0))) (pronounced "Sun") were formed in the mid-'90s by guitarists Stephen O'Malley (Khanate, Burning Witch) and Greg Anderson (Goatsnake, Thorr's Hammer). Known for its drone-heavy blend of black metal, dark ambient, and low-tuned noise rock, the band took inspiration from the early works of the Melvins and Earth, the latter of whom inspired some of the group's song titles -- Sunn 0))) began as an Earth tribute band in Los Angeles and originally played music under the related name of Mars. Sunn 0)))'s basic approach (droning guitars, feedback, distorted bass, and other sound effects) was laid down on their first two releases, The Grimmrobe Demos (recorded in 1998 but not released until 2000) and 00 Void (recorded and released in 2000), both of which were the first two releases on the Hydra Head Records subsidiary Double H Noise Industries.

Although claiming that Black One is the darkest Sunn 0))) album yet may be a little overzealous on their label's part (unless, of course, its meant as a not-so-subtle play on most recent predecessors White1 and 2), there's certainly a good chance that it's their most diverse. Whether that's a simple case of there being more and shorter songs present (all of seven, and only shorter by these guys' standards, mind you), or an unprecedented volume of outside collaborators (mostly underground black metal buddies lending their vocals), Black One experiments with a number of new tricks to go with the by now expected ultra-droning aspects of Sunn 0)))'s sound. For example, both "Orthodox Caveman" and "Cry for the Weeper" drink from the same old, Earth-derived dead-water pool that inspired Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley to start melting their amps in tribute to begin with; while the improbably brief "It Took the Night to Believe" (featuring blood-curdling shrieks and croaks by Wrest) may well be Sunn 0)))'s most unapologetically black metal moment ever, taking a page from Burzum's bloody book with its spooky loop of buzz-picked guitar melodies to go with a reliably subterranean foundation. Keeping with the black metal mindset, the pair then proceed to deconstruct Immortal's "Cursed Realms (Of the Winterdemons)" into a barely recognizable primordial soup of tonal thrumming, before calling Xasthur's Malefic down to the basement to supply additional screams for the splendidly named "Candlegoat" and megalithic closer, "Báthory Erzsébet." (For the latter, in fact, he was supposedly locked inside a coffin, microphone and all, so as to inspire a suitably suffocating feeling of horror -- proving that extreme sounds sometimes truly do demand extreme measures.) In other words, Black One is a cautious but unquestionable departure from Sunn 0)))'s pre-established m.o., and arguably their most accessible effort to date, in the bargain. But even though there'll always be those purists looking for a bone to pick, its difficult to imagine too many original fans not embracing these still remarkably blackened sounds.

Catalog: SUNN50 (Southern Lord)
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Les Rallizes Dénudés - Black Rainbow (2005)

2010-05-22T14:26:00.002-03:00

Joy Division - Closer (1980)

2010-05-19T19:42:00.004-03:00

| Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Gothic Rock |

If Unknown Pleasures was Joy Division at their most obsessively, carefully focused, ten songs yet of a piece, Closer was the sprawl, the chaotic explosion that went every direction at once. Who knows what the next path would have been had Ian Curtis not chosen his end? But steer away from the rereading of his every lyric after that date; treat Closer as what everyone else thought it was at first — simply the next album — and Joy Division's power just seems to have grown. Martin Hannett was still producing, but seems to have taken as many chances as the band itself throughout — differing mixes, differing atmospheres, new twists and turns define the entirety of Closer, songs suddenly returned in chopped-up, crumpled form, ending on hiss and random notes. Opener "Atrocity Exhibition" was arguably the most fractured thing the band had yet recorded, Bernard Sumner's teeth-grinding guitar and Stephen Morris' Can-on-speed drumming making for one heck of a strange start. Keyboards also took the fore more so than ever — the drowned pianos underpinning Curtis' shadowy moan on "The Eternal," the squirrelly lead synth on the energetic but scared-out-of-its-wits "Isolation," and above all else "Decades," the album ender of album enders. A long slow crawl down and out, Curtis' portrait of lost youth inevitably applied to himself soon after, its sepulchral string-synths are practically a requiem. Songs like "Heart and Soul" and especially the jaw-dropping, wrenching "Twenty Four Hours," as perfect a demonstration of the tension/release or soft/loud approach as will ever be heard, simply intensify the experience. Joy Division were at the height of their powers on Closer, equaling and arguably bettering the astonishing Unknown Pleasures, that's how accomplished the four members were. Rock, however defined, rarely seems and sounds so important, so vital, and so impossible to resist or ignore as here.

Catalog: FACT 25 (Factory)
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Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (1979)

2010-05-19T00:25:00.003-03:00

| Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Punk Rock |

Formed in the wake of the punk explosion in England, Joy Division became the first band in the post-punk movement by later emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy alternative music in the '80s. Though the group's raw initial sides fit the bill for any punk band, Joy Division later incorporated synthesizers (taboo in the low-tech world of '70s punk) and more haunting melodies, emphasized by the isolated, tortured lyrics of its lead vocalist, Ian Curtis. While the British punk movement shocked the world during the late '70s, Joy Division's quiet storm of musical restraint and emotive power proved to be just as important to independent music in the 1980s.

It even looks like something classic, beyond its time or place of origin even as it was a clear product of both -- one of Peter Saville's earliest and best designs, a transcription of a signal showing a star going nova, on a black embossed sleeve. If that were all Unknown Pleasures was, it wouldn't be discussed so much, but the ten songs inside, quite simply, are stone-cold landmarks, the whole album a monument to passion, energy, and cathartic despair. The quantum leap from the earliest thrashy singles to Unknown Pleasures can be heard through every note, with Martin Hannett's deservedly famous production -- emphasizing space in the most revelatory way since the dawn of dub -- as much a hallmark as the music itself. Songs fade in behind furtive noises of motion and activity, glass breaks with the force and clarity of doom, minimal keyboard lines add to an air of looming disaster -- something, somehow, seems to wait or lurk beyond the edge of hearing. But even though this is Hannett's album as much as anyone's, the songs and performances are the true key. Bernard Sumner redefined heavy metal sludge as chilling feedback fear and explosive energy, Peter Hook's instantly recognizable bass work at once warm and forbidding, Stephen Morris' drumming smacking through the speakers above all else. Ian Curtis synthesizes and purifies every last impulse, his voice shot through with the desire first and foremost to connect, only connect -- as "Candidate" plaintively states, "I tried to get to you/You treat me like this." Pick any song: the nervous death dance of "She's Lost Control"; the harrowing call for release "New Dawn Fades," all four members in perfect sync; the romance in hell of "Shadowplay"; "Insight" and its nervous drive toward some sort of apocalypse. All visceral, all emotional, all theatrical, all perfect -- one of the best albums ever.

Catalog: FACT 10 (Factory)
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John Zorn - Astronome (2006)

2010-05-18T05:27:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Noise Rock | Avant-Metal |
| Experimental Rock |

John Zorn's utter fascination with and envelopment in the mystical occult and outsider art of the 19th and 20th centuries continues on Astronome. Dedicated to the same three figures who informed Moonchild (also released in 2006): magician and philosopher Aleister Crowley, poet and dramatic Antonin Artaud, and composer Edgard Varèse. Drummer Joey Baron, bassist Trevor Dunn and vocalist Mike Patton take on three lengthy compositions by Zorn, all of which were inspired by the success of the original song cycle. Zorn not only wrote, but arranged and conducted what essentially comes off as an aural three-act play, or "pocket opera" covering seven scenes. In his liner notes, Zorn speaks of his title as the imagined continuation of a collaboration that actually took place between Varèse and Artaud. It was titled "Astronome," but was never finished. Zorn using his methodology of "combining the hypnotic intensity of ritual (composition) the spontaneity of magick (improvisation) and in a modern musical format (rock)," and with it actually transcends rock, classical, jazz and free improv. What is woven together here is a tight piece of work. It sprawls through mood, style, dynamic, and texture, but ultimately is revealed to be a work of intense musicality, physicality that comes out of noise and some free improvisation. The second scene that bridges the work reveals all of these elements and makes sense of their order. It uses thematic material from the previous scene and extends it all the way to scene three. This music is violent, spacious, full of shocks and surprises and an intensity beyond what one is used to listening to, even from this composer. It is possible that what appears on this disc will be regarded one day as actually quite beautiful and moving, especially when Patton seems to be incanting in the lower registers of his voice. Packaged like a fetish object, Astronome is contained in a two-part, glossy white box with four full-color -- yet minimal -- panels of the art of the Zodiac circle. There is printing on all sides of the box. There are also two glossies within the set loaded with photographs of the three spiritual guides who hover throughout this gorgeous monstrosity of a work; scenic sepia-toned plates, the occasional quotation, and text by Zorn. The sound on this baby -- thanks to engineer Robert Musso and the mixing sensitivity of Bill Laswell -- is simply amazing. Astronome cannot be explained or even commented upon with conventional written-language technology; that said, each true fan of Zorn should make the effort to try and take this work in.
It's a masterpiece.

Catalog: TZ 7359 (Tzadik)
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High Rise - Psychedelic Speed Freaks '84-'85 (1997)

2010-05-18T05:10:00.003-03:00

| Noise Rock | Psychedelic Rock | Garage Rock |

PSF '84-'85 is, as the name suggests, a collection of early songs (not to be confounded with HR's first album, Psychedelic Speed Freaks). This is also their harshest and fastest album (which, by High Rise's standards, already says a LOT). Sounds like they've recorded this stuff using Merzbow's laptop and then put it twice faster. It must be nearly impossible for psychedelic rock to be louder or quicker than this. PSF '84-'85 makes harsh noise and speedcore bands sound like Jonas Brothers. The recording is visceral and psychotic as hell, and would exhaust even the most hyperactive kid in the block. Needless to say, run far away from this if you can't take massive destruction into your ears.

Catalog: Bomb-48 (Time Bomb Records)
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Earth - Sunn Amps And Smashed Guitars (2001)

2010-05-18T04:37:00.003-03:00

| Drone Metal | Doom Metal |

Sunn Amps And Smashed Guitars is a kind of compilation, featuring a live performance and a handful of early demos. Ripped On Facist Ideas (live) is probably Earth's most noisy and abstract performance registered so far. For 30 long minutes, Dylan, joined by Ian Dickson, leave their instruments ringing alone in order to literally PLAY the amplifiers. Stretching, bending, flowing feedback bounces on the walls and crashes through the eardrums. Violent waves of noise contrast with long passages of atmospheric humming. Some occasional guitar is thrown in, which just adds more tension to the sound.

After the Drone assault, the album enters into a more riff-oriented territory. Songs like Geometry Of Murder and German Dental Work are extremely slow and heavy versions of Black Sabbath's riffage. Divine And Bright is the most catchy tune on the disc: Some melancholic, yet massive, guitar strums its way through illumination, followed by guests Kurt Cobain and Kelly Canary on vocals. Dissolution 1 is another riff-drone track, but this time they play a little more with the amp's power and less with the instruments themselves.

The Album also features one of the firsts Earth's releases: two tracks extracted from the Bureaucratic Desire For Revenge VHS (the self-titled and Ouroboros Is Broken). Both tracks are heavier than the rest of the album together, and at the same time, lots atmospheric. Sunn amps at their maximum and smashed guitars closing this classic CD. Highly recommended.

Catalog: NQR001 (No Quarter)
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Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull (2008)

2010-05-17T16:00:00.003-03:00

| Post-Rock | Stoner Rock | Drone Metal |

What a long strange trip it's been indeed. When Earth -- basically Dylan Carlson -- disappeared from the music scene after Pentastar: In the Style of Demons, he'd become a black sheep to virtually everyone. Lost in the swirl of drug addiction, and having bought the gun that Kurt Cobain used in his suicide, it took years for Carlson to come to grips with his own evil spirits. While interest in the band never completely waned, it took the likes of Sunn 0))) and other big feedbacking drone worshipers to bring it to fruition. In 2005, Carlson's new Earth returned with Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method, a record that was less deafening, but strangely and hypnotically beautiful nonetheless, taking as a primary inspiration the spaghetti Western soundtracks of Ennio Morricone as a cue to create a new minimal soundscape that was sun-bleached, bone-dry, and more mysterious than anything they'd done before. Issued by Stephen O'Malley's Southern Lord label, 2008's The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull has a package that is something to behold, with a black textured slipcase, the band name and title embossed in gold, and a booklet featuring a perfect illustration of the title by Arik Roper in four-color glossy glorious art. The title of the album comes from the Old Testament of the Bible in the narrative of Samson and Delilah. Other than Carlson on guitars (and amplifiers), Earth also include drummer Adrienne Davies, Steve Moore on acoustic and Wurlitzer pianos and Hammond B-3, and bassist Don McGreevy (both electric and upright). Guitarist Bill Frisell helps out on three cuts as well, and Randall Dunn produced the set. Fans of the heavier, more ear-shattering version of the group will find themselves drawn to this more than Hex or the live Hibernaculum set; that said, The Bees Made Honey should also attract more recent listeners. Big guitars abound, but they're musical; they're as informed by a much more ringing brand of country sound that can be heard on records ranging from those of Lee Hazlewood to Thin White Rope's Tucson-drenched sonic six-string wind-downs. But in true Earth fashion, the long droning form is back, albeit tempered by minimal repetitive melodies that are simple in structure but hold great power.

The set begins with "Omens and Portents I: The Driver." It's nine minutes of controlled crawl. Carlson's guitar and wah-wah pedal are colored by the high ringing tone of Frisell's trademark sound -- albeit it far less ornamental than listeners are used to hearing him. Davies' drums, so easy to overlook, are perfect in their minimal, muted tom-tom pace; they help to register the tension in this gradually unfolding melody. Reverb, controlled feedback, detuned drone, and high-pitched whine all gradually flood the foreground while the bass and drums hold the line and simultaneously make the tempo nearly unbearable. The Wurlitzer paints the ground between the front-line instruments and the rhythm section, and hints of a lyric statement emerge, fade, disappear, and mutate into others -- very, very slowly. It's dark, powerful, forbidding music. "Rise to Glory," while still heavy despite the restraint in volume, is somewhat brighter. Carlson uses big chords, a slowly evolving riff, and a high-twang country ring in his attack, and the drums walk a middle ground between pulse and actual time signature. The acoustic piano that creeps and asserts itself between the guitar sounds is painterly, and feels like some kind of arrival from the wasteland. Frisell is more immediately present and noticeable on "Miami Morning Coming Down II (Shine)," which has almost a nursery rhyme melody, but its gradual pacing cleanses the palette of sentimentality and instead evolves into something resembling movement toward a much richer sonic landscape. With large B-sharp washes, off-rhythm single beats, and a droning bassline, this is as close to a song as Carlson has ever composed. The front-line complexity reaches its zenith in the middle of the record on "Engine of Ruin," where Frisell gets to work his magic in concert with Carlson playing an octave apart. The ringing open tone of his guitar and the low-slung harshness of the latter are complex, dynamically rich, and beautifully textural. Elements of the blues, big-riffing '70s rock (albeit tempered by the wonderful separation and clarity of the sound), and rockist sway make this one of the album's highlights.

The darkness returns on the latter half of the record, more pronounced with less actual articulation on the second part of the opening theme, introduced by a rumbling acoustic piano, knotty harmonics, and a framed melodic statement that is more complex and slightly faster, but still s-l-o-o-o-o-w; think of the flow of raw honey as it emerges from the cone. The final two cuts, "Hung from the Moon" and the title track, are so deeply atmospheric and beautifully arrayed that they need to be heard rather than discussed -- except to say that the latter is actually Earth's attempt at a shuffle, but in a time signature and dynamic manner that is all their own. The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull is more musical and adventurous than anything Earth have ever issued. It's a record that gets inside your body as well as your head and won't let go. It's rich and adventurous, and still contains the kind of restraint that allows for the spaces between sounds to accommodate their own voices. If Carlson and Earth don't get real soundtrack work for this brand of monumentally cinematic rock, there is no justice. It's odd to think that a band around this long is finally reaching its peak rather than trying to hold on to past glories.

Catalog: SUNN90 (Southern Lord)
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Earth - Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version (1993)

2010-05-14T05:13:00.002-03:00

| Drone Metal | Doom Metal |

Earth isn't just the pioneers of Drone metal (a very repetitive and minimalist form of Doom Metal), they are also probably the best band in the whole genre. And all this because of this album. Earth 2 (which is their debut LP) is undoubtedly the heaviest album ever made. Composed by three long tracks and with more than 70min, 2 is an incomparable epic journey. Chords as low-tuned as possible and amplifiers louder than humanly bearable, guitarist and leader Dylan Carlson with bassist Dave Harwell produce probably one of the most repetitive Drone albums (which already says a lot), and at the same time, one of the most intriguing, textured, challenging and labyrinthine. Earth 2 dedicates itself to the proposition that there's no such thing as too loud, trudging, or doom-laden.

Earth 2 starts with the blacksabbath-ish Seven Angels. Even around all the humming chaos that surrounds the record from head to tail, things are still based around riffs (riffs, which, endlessly repeat and flows through the ground). And Seven Angels has the best riffage (if one could call it that) in the album. Massively slow and low-tuned, the guitar and the bass intertwine and reiterate infinitely, as the amps create a dense and tectonic atmosphere. Even the muted chords are powerful enough to blow the speakers and rupture the eardrums. As the record progress, the droning gets louder and the riffs gets longer. Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine takes over with no pause, and crawls the album's longitudeness restlessly. The notes get even more distorted and stretched, until the music becomes sort of ambient-ish. But when you give it attention, for one second even, you simply get helplessly dragged by it. The timeless notes and the eternal fuzz forcefully carries you into the melodic damnation. When you feel like you can't hold it anymore, Like Gold And Faceted comes to finish it. "Finish it", since it is even longer, louder and more powerful and destructive. The riffs now are so slow that even its notes are unrecognisably lacerated, and the impact becomes extended to the eternal pain. The slow-motion massive eruption's heath is solar hot, and yet, feels quietly warm. When you finally gets involved and absorbed by the drone, your mind gets bounded to the amplifier's endless walk. A tectonic and oceanic percussion leads the final way to glory, as the war rages to an end. An end that never seems to come.

Catalog: SP 185b (Sub Pop Records)
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Otomo Yoshihide ( 大友良英 ) - The Night Before The Death Of The Sampling Virus (1993)

2010-05-10T23:10:00.003-03:00

| Experimental Electronics | Noise | Glitch |

If I had only a few words to describe this album, it'd be "random experimental electronics". On the liner note, it's written: "Application. Contained here is a total of 77 viruses. When you play this CD, you should be sure to utilize your CD player to it's maximum ability. This may be to set it on random play mode to shuffle its contents, or to adjust a given track on repeat mode and play it over and over, or to listen to it on fastforwarding... All ideas are acceptable. What is important to remember is that the user is the one to decide how they are to be utilized. And, of course, how they are to be executed (killed). Playing this CD through as regular music may cause the virus to perish or change in quality." As it's been said, the objective in here is to make the music as random as possible, as this factor is important for the enjoyment. The music consists of 77 short tracks of electronic work - including lots of vocal works (most of them delivered by Yamatsuka Eye and Tenko) -, which spawns from simple collage of samples from television advertisements (a characteristic in most of Otomo's works, and as seen in Ground-Zero), some "standard" Glitch music and, as expected, some Noise tracks. Overall, it's a very, very interesting album. Also, the songs are funnily titled with the name of big corps: Nintendo, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Sony, Sega, Toshiba, and a bunch of others.

Catalog: XCD 024 (Extreme)
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Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (1992)

2010-05-10T02:57:00.000-03:00

| IDM | Electronica | Ambient Techno |
| Experimental Electronics |

Techno in general, is a test of one's endurance to repetition. For me it's about finding a balance between the trance state of the music and the overall composition of the song: rhythm, texture... etc. And what to say about Ambient? Before AFX, Ambient music was almost completely following the ground laid by Brian Eno and minimalist composers like Philip Glass, without many enhancements.
Both are based upon endless loops. Ambient tried to reach one's subconsciousness, but usually lacked of complex structures and/or catchy rhythms, what techno might had tried to accomplish, but failed upon giving the music a feeling as deep as in ambient music. That's where Richard D. James's, with the Aphex Twin monicker, geniality kicks in.

A landmarking album, Selected Ambient Works 85-92 sounds different from everything that precedes it. It takes the best aspects in both Ambient and Techno music and enhances them into a whole new level of musicianship. Its influence is highly visible in both the later sounds of electronic and minimalist music, and also fronting the IDM movement. If I had to pick one album of electronica, it'd be SAW.

As the name sugests, SAW is a collection of songs produced by the early period of Richard's musical life (obviously, from '85-'92). As for being a collection of songs, instead of a proper album, SAW lacks a little bit when it comes to cohesiveness (specially on the later half of it). Still, the songs are so strong individually that the lack works positively here, enhancing the individual power of each composition and giving the album a higher 'replay value'.

When it comes to the sound aspect, SAW 85-92 is mostly filled with a dark atmosphere. The aspects of ambient music are perfectly blended with the electronica style, each song being a otherworldly trip into the deep of the mind (yeah, that 'close your eyes and enjoy' stuff). Furthermore, the songs are beat-oriented - which, despite being quiet complex sometimes, feels really fragile and delicate. The album is also highly and desperately sparse, thin percussion and several haunted-synth lines are the only components on most songs. Besides, the album's whole sounding is pretty unique, due in large part to the effects James managed to wrangle from his supply of home-manufactured contraptions.

It's impossible to pick 'highlights' in such a perfect record, but my favourite tracks are Xtal, Pulsewidth and Ageispolis. Tha, We Are The Music Makers, Green Calx and Heliosphan are also among the strongest and catchiest. Overall, Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is pretty much an example of a flawless album. It always gives me a hard to describe feeling, which I don't even know if is good or bad, but which I love profoundly.

Catalog: AMB 3922 CD (Apollo)
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akaaka - Anatomy (2010)

2010-05-08T00:41:00.004-03:00

| Psychedelic Noise | Experimental Electronics |
| Tape Music |

Only a few noise albums are remarkable at one-listen, and only a fewer are strong enough to keep being puzzled and interesting after many plays. And that's the starting point of why do I love this album. Anatomy also differs itself from standard noise music by the method of its production. The album's skeleton is a collection of almost-musique concrete songs, supplied by field-recordings, tape loops and self-built electronic instruments. Then you add the muscles: the touch of electronica music, with added ambient-like synths; and the skin: the post-produced and modifier noise. Lots of layers of noise. Stripped down, Anatomy would sound like a 50s avant-electronics recording. But fully armoured, it stands strong as a huge monster of experimental noise. An extremely well-produced and excellently crafted album, Anatomy is one of the most innovative and avantgardist albums to come out from Brazil, when it comes to electronic music.

Embryological and Anatomy are as massive as Merzbow's best stuff. Lumen starts off as an affair of musique concrete with ambient music, before entering in a shrieking reign of abstract pain. Centers of Vomiting and Rash are collections of sonorous puzzles, which will mostly like blow your mind off before you put the pieces into place. And the intro, Ribcage Introduction, holds a funny story within: It's a recording, with post-production, of course, of an acoustic guitar burning in flames.

Catalog: VB-20 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Die Like A Dog Quartet - Fragments Of Music, Life And Death Of Albert Ayler (1994)

2010-05-08T00:34:00.003-03:00

| Avant-Garde Jazz | Free-Jazz |

This first recording of the Die Like a Dog Quartet is fittingly subtitled Fragments of Music, Life and Death of Albert Ayler. In the liner notes (in both German and English), Peter Brötzmann writes of his passionate empathy for a musician whom he considers a kindred spirit; Brötzmann feels a link with Ayler since each were doing a similar thing "at the same point in time" although neither musician had heard the other. And so, lightly scattered throughout this first meeting of the Die Like a Dog Quartet are fragments of quotes from Ayler's Bells, "Ghosts," "Prophet," and more. In August 1993 Brötzmann was joined for a live concert in Berlin by legendary free jazz trumpeter Toshinori Kondo (who also occasionally utilizes electronics effects) and the wondrous rhythm section (although they are no straight time-keepers) of bassist William Parker and percussionist Hamid Drake. And so here, on one recording, you get four musicians who, whenever they're playing, play with every ounce of their attention, passion, and ability. Add to this each musician's great ability on his respective instrument and you get music that is alternately moving, invigorating, and astonishing. The dynamics range from rattles, long, low breaths, and short staccato blurts to the kind of exploding intensity and energy that is usually associated with Brötzmann. There are also two takes (one, just over a minute long) on the standard "Saint James Infirmary" that come at the beginning and end of the three-part "No. 2."

Catalog: FMP CD 64 (FMP)
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Die Like A Dog Quartet - Little Birds Have Fast Hearts No.2 (1999)

2010-05-07T23:22:00.002-03:00

| Avant-Garde Jazz | Free-Jazz |

This second installment of the Die Like a Dog Quartet's live performances at the 30th Total Music Meeting in Berlin picks up right where the first volume (with two long cuts, "Part 1" and "Part 2") left off, with a first track entitled "Part 3." Leader Peter Brotzmann signals the beginning with a clarinet call, soon answered by trumpeter Toshinori Kondo (who often utilizes electronic effects), and it's not too long before bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake come rolling in. The quartet warms up slowly during this opening number, giving themselves plenty of space between the colors and shading for the first many minutes before things start to heat up and really get going for a few minutes until the quartet drops back into an unhurried, exploratory mode. The second half of this 20-minute improvisation finds them intensifying, with solos from both Kondo and Brotzmann (still on clarinet) during the tail end. "Part 4" matches the first track in both length and dynamics, finds Brotzmann on tarogato and tenor sax, and includes two brief sections where Parker and Drake go it alone. "Part 5" actually opens with a fragment of a bluesy melody from Kondo and Parker has his bow in hand for this number that stays, for the most part, whispery and abstract. The short "Part 6" is a finale during which the quartet plays full force. Little Birds Have Fast Hearts, No. 2 complements the first volume, including more of this quartet's excellent interplay and self-feeding energy.

Catalog: FMP CD 101 (FMP)
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Keiji Haino & Sitaar Tah! - Animamima (2006)

2010-05-04T23:52:00.002-03:00

Animamima–or Aunt Jemima as I like to call it–is a sprawling two-disc set of spectacular drone ‘n’ tussle from a huge all-star ensemble, including Keiji Haino on electric hurdy gurdy, electric sruthi-box, electric tanbur, flute, rhythm box and voice; Yoshida Daikiti on sitar; Sitaar Tah! manning 20 more of the things; and Fuyuki Yamakawa offering up some throat singing and igill–whatever the hell that is. Brought to you by the same label, recording and mastering folks that foisted Haino’s Reveal’d to None as Yet 2-CD upon the world, the whole thing is beautifully packaged beyond the call of duty in one of the nicest fold-out cards this side of Hallmark. We’re talking a deluxe die-cut job with intricate folds and ornate borders that lusciously frame photos of Haino and Sitaar Tah! in action. So, of course, I had to drop mine and crease the corner!

As the CDs twirl on, some saltine-raspy throat singing supports Haino’s own loud wailing, as he pilots his drone instruments and a heavily reverbed flute over an army of nicely monotonous sitars. Coated in the maximum amount of reverb possible, this whole aural contraption coalesces into layers of knocking, buzzing and low-pitched chugging to create a super shrill storm over a massive coastal bay with occasional rays of sunshine peeking through the dense fog. Needless to say, I highly recommend Aunt Jemima to fans of any and all minimal drone music…and a short stack of pancakes.

Catalog: archive22+23 (aRCHIVE)
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Evan Parker & Keith Rowe - Dark Rags (2000)

2010-04-29T22:28:00.002-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Free-Jazz | Experimental | Drone |

Evan Parker is, of course, ever productive, his inventiveness and breath seemingly in infinite supply. Keith Rowe, far more active outside of AMM than he has been in ages, appears to be enjoying a creative renaissance. Twin pillars of European Free Improvisation, and infrequent collaborators by way of Supersession, Parker and Rowe have been overdue for a summit. Just such a meeting played out on the cusp of the Millennium, in separate concerts staged in Nantes, France on 12-31-99 and 1-1-2000. An originator and champion of prepared-guitar and horizontal ("table-top") guitar techniques, Rowe is a formidable foil for Parker's expressive tenor aerobatics. As "Dark Rag #1" opens, the musicians share anxious space within a time-suspended vacuum of tone. The kinetic potential here is clearly enormous. Like sprinters stealing hungry glances at the starting line, Parker and Rowe exchange gestures-a fretboard creak, a trill pregnant with anticipation-and take off. Though at first as patient as Parker is euphoric, Rowe responds to the saxophonist's hyperbolic flights in turn. While Rowe scrapes, strokes, and scours strings to spur Parker's impassioned response, electronic treatments broaden the attack, acting upon deliquescent drones and rhythms like a solvent wash. During quieter sections, Rowe's short-wave radio asserts itself, and Parker plays as if to commune with the murmur of indiscernible voices. At the climax, Rowe engages Parker with quicksilver trickles of electro-acoustic guitar tone, challenging the saxophonist--a bundle of nervous energy throughout--to match this magmatic flow. Parker obliges, but only briefly. He breaks the moment of mutual reflection with a spectacularly elaborate solo. Rowe's guitar responds to Parker's pointed provocation with irascible growls, maintaining a pricklier, almost quarrelsome presence through the remainder of the performance. Whether it's amiable argy-bargy or genuine tension, such antagonism heightens Dark Rags' appeal. It also leaves one wondering whether "Dark Rag #2," which opens in groggy dissonance, is the product of the ultimate New Year's Day drinking binge or the fallout from the first set's spat. Rowe needles Parker with shrill pitches; the saxophonist's slurred retort sounds queasy. Cartoonishly vivid bass-bulge and dry, heaving noises give away the joke. It's a hangover, improvised in nauseating Technicolour. Cute. A skittering, jazz-skewed Parker salvo signals the return to serious improv. Rowe pursues a more turbulent tack, providing an inconstant anchor that shifts and groans beneath Parker's blustery phrases. After much lurching and pitching, the harrowing section subsides. Parker plays the passing of the storm in spacious measures, exhibiting a rare vulnerability. Approaching the halfway mark of the 40:25 piece, Rowe tapers off the guitar noise to lulling near-nothingness, leaving a foreign short-wave song to underscore the saxophone. As Parker's solo continues, Rowe conceives a backdrop of metallic shimmers and eerie echoes. The two soundstreams merge beautifully, sustaining the sensitive interplay of these two superb musicians, while carrying the disc to its riveting conclusion.

Catalog: P200 (Potlatch)
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Achromatic Cold - Existence, Interwoven (2010)

2010-04-25T03:42:00.002-03:00

| Dark Ambient | Noise | Drone |

I don't know if I have reached the darkest bottom I'm able to, but I must be close to. Existence, Interwoven is another of my conceptual works on music, and my third full-length album. It relies mostly on emotional compositions, instead of the harsh brutality shown previously. This lugubrious atmosphere, wherein songs try to reach the deep of the emotional subconsciousness, grants the album a wearying feeling. The excess of short yet repetitive gloomy-ambient tracks makes the listening experience exhausting to the mind. In a good way, though. There are few ambient-based albums that have drained me the way this one does, which is somewhat comfortingly warm. Feels like giving all of you to the music and being embraced in return. The recording sessions were also the hardest ones I've been in. Some songs, despite being shorter than 2min, were so morbid that I almost felt like immersing in sleep. Also, all songs where recorded on sessions from 2am to 4am (which may explains why it felt so tiring...).

If I had to describe the album in a few words, I'd say it's like a big and bloody drop of oversaturated black ink, viscidly flowing through the paper's borders. May sound overpoetic, but at least that's what it is supposed to be. Tracks like All Souls Interwoven And The Endless One displays a fluid and dense droning, filled with all that abstract feeling. Ones like Desolation are basic piano compositions, but the dismal ambience around it and its slow pacing makes it feel utterly dispirited. The abrasive softness of Tears Under The Cold Storm which buries a haunted and blizzardly growling melody, the grotesquely hollow Dreary Arms and Fate, and the guard from a few noise tracks (the beat-based The Pain And The Agony and the beautiful and spiritual The Angel And The Last) and a few other enigmas completes this morbid soundtrack. While it works perfectly to listen to it as a whole unity, a more careful listening shall reveal lots of small details in each composition (like the high-pitched eerie screams from The Angel And The Last, buried under all the upper noise layers, the side-sounds from Become One or the breath accompaniment from Drowning, Gasping).

All songs were recorded live (as most of my works). The Pain And The Agony uses real-time loops. The painting on the cover is by Zdzisław Beksiński. Finally, as I said, it's a conceptual album. But if I told you from where I took the concept, you'd shit bricks (or lol). So just try to figure somekind of story by yourselves.

Catalog: VB-25 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Kaoru Abe ( 阿部薫 ) - Winter 1972 (2004)

2010-04-24T12:27:00.002-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Free-Jazz |

The long-awaited official reissue of the rarest of all recordings by mercurial, live fast and die young alto hero Kaoru Abe. Originally released sometime in 1973 or 1974 on the Sound Works label out of Osaka, this was a bootleg LP of Abe in full-flowing solo action. The records came in a plain white sleeve, the label makes no mention of Abe's name, and they came with a very high price tag for the time. Needless to say, this has since become a laughably rare record, unseen by even the most dedicated of Abe collectors. Rarity aside, this is an utterly thrilling missive from Abe's most uncompromising and satisfying period. As yet untrammelled by self-abuse, his utterly distinctive voice on alto rings swift, clear and true, scattering diamond shards of light in its wake. Stunningly concentrated and sure-footed - it needs to be heard.

Catalog: PSFD-158 (P.S.F. Records)
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Kaoru Abe ( 阿部薫 ) - Gloomy Sunday (1997)

2010-04-24T12:19:00.002-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Free-Jazz | Noise |

To some listeners, this avant-garde Japanese player from the ’70s wins the sweepstakes for the most abrasive saxophone sound in history, an important competition indeed in this genre. With some saxophonists claiming their tone can remove coats of varnish from antiques, cook a 20-pound goose in one hour, or even wound a small rodent at 200 feet, there is no denying the impact of Kaoru Abe (阿部薫) on alto sax; and on clarinet, he hardly harbored ambitions to be the new Artie Shaw. Unfortunately, his premature death meant he never lived to see the heyday of Japanese avant-garde music, nor enjoy the prestige his type of abilities on saxophone might have garnered him as the interest in free jazz increased in the ’90s. He also never held at least half of his releases in his hands, since some of the best material from this player was only released in the years after his death. The entire CD format, allowing the expansive playing time required to properly document his unfolding energy discourse, was also not something he lived to enjoy. Several small labels have practically created cottage industries out of his posthumous releases, pumping out an annual multiple-CD set for several years running. Fans of his playing tend to count backwards from the date of his death to the recording date, the higher the resulting number basically indicating the greater possibility of genius contained within. There are several explanations of this, one rooted in debauchery, and the other in perhaps a worse curse, multi-instrumentalism.

At any rate, this performer’s lifestyle is said to have been soaked with liquor, stuffed with drugs, and sniffing with loneliness and tragedy. It had enough of these elements to inspire a movie treatment, nonetheless, so fans of Japanese free jazz have the option of searching for the film Endless Waltz, which supposedly tells the tale of his marriage to the writer Suzuki Izumi — who had even more problems than he did, if the screenplay is to be believed. In the decade that he didn’t quite finish out, the ’70s, some fans feel his talents sizzled with the inevitability of a roaring fire that is repeatedly doused with filthy water. If this was the case, he certainly shouldn’t be blamed personally for following a lifestyle that many believe to be required for such a career. Dexter Gordon performed brilliantly after drinking entire bottles of vodka, and several acknowledged free jazz masterpieces were recorded by players whipped out of their minds on LSD.

Some of the lack of appeal of Abe’s later material has got to come not from the perception that he is out of it but from his introduction of other instruments, including the dreaded harmonica and crudely played guitar. Historically, there are few known cases of saxophonists being praised for adding other instruments into their arsenal, so any critical about-face on this issue can be considered an important development in itself. Other Japanese music scholars have praised the later-Abe material and his use of diverse instruments, but even they seem to feel his work on the alto saxophone has never been equalled. One thing is for sure, no matter how extremely noisy the Japanese music scene has gotten, it has yet to produce another reed player as good as this one.

Catalog: TKCA-71096 (Wax Records)
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Shoji Hano & Keiji Haino - The Strange Face (2000)

2010-04-21T13:35:00.003-03:00

| Noise Rock | Psychedelic Rock |

The Strange Face is a continuation of sorts to Shoji Hano’s 1991 Tayhei Nippon percussion CD, two tracks of which Haino played guitar on. Well, here we are again a decade later, but with Haino and his axe more up front. Clearly and loudly recorded in Asagaya Studio and released in 2000, this CD is filled with plenty of high guitar keens, sweet vocals with percussion tinkles, dissonant rockings, growling vocal exorcisms, jaunty workouts, light percussion patter with distant guitar shimmers and much more that you may and may not expect. The all-black booklet comes complete with Japanese liner notes and photos of the musicians. The cover shot of both of ’em together is really nice, although it looks like it may have been Photoshopped together.

Catalog: GEL CD 01 (Ultra Hard Gel)
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Musica Transonic with Keiji Haino - Incubation (1998)

2010-04-20T22:21:00.003-03:00

| Noise Rock | Psychedelic Rock | Free-Jazz |

Musica Transonic shares members with High Rise, Acid Mother’s Temple and Ruins, so I guess you know what that means: volume and feedback grit that really hurt the VU meter’s feelings. When I first heard of this collaboration, I was a bit concerned it might turn out to be a long slab of undecipherable noise density. Boy, was I wrong. This CD is a pleasant surprise, as it’s only 32 minutes long and broken up into seven tracks. With Haino leading the way on vocals and guitars, there is actually quite a bit of dynamic (non-garden) variety. Lots of sudden time changes and shifts of attention occur—from the expected thick sound bushes to more subdued sections of hearable guitar milkweed and actual singing.

With Asahito Nanjo from High Rise on bass, Kawabata Makoto from the awesome Acid Mother’s Temple and Toho Sara on guitar, and hyper drumming by Yoshida Tatsuya from Ruins. As usual for the PSF label, the cover artwork is amazing and features dozens of small, shooting stars swirling out from a black vortex right toward your face.

Catalog: PSFD-98 (P.S.F. Records)
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Eyvind Kang - Virginal Co Ordinates (2003)

2010-04-19T21:44:00.005-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Contemporary Classical |
| Experimental | Dream Pop |

Commissioned by the Angelica, Festival Internazionale di Musica in Bologna, Virginal Co-ordinates ranks paradoxically among Eyvind Kang's most ambitious and accessible works. The piece is scored for a large ensemble (the 16-piece ensemble Playground) and six extra musicians: singer Mike Patton, guitarist Tim Young, once Sun Ra violinist Michael White, Kang himself, and engineers Tucker Martine and Evan Schiller, who are responsible for the sound diffusion and live processing. Fans of Kang will recognize the spiritual yearning found in some of his NADE pieces. The 73-minute work takes the form of a suite of themes that draw from Indian classical music and American minimalism, with flourishes of impressionistic and big-band arrangements. Often a marimba will lead the group into a repetitive motif reminiscent of Steve Reich's percussion works, or of simplified gamelan music. The longer movements are built over trance-like repetition and melodic development akin to a raga, especially in "Doorway to the Sun." "Innocent Eye, Crystal See," with its luminously elevating chant (which shows the excellency of Patton's works on vocals. And yes, he's the only credited singer.), brings to mind Nana Vasconcelos' musical illuminations. Two shorter tracks take the form of songs: "I Am the Dead" and the closing "Marriage of Days," both interpreted with grace by an unrecognizable Patton -- as close to a choir boy as he'll ever sound. In fact, the latter is led by a flute melody and builds to an angelic finale your mother (or grandmother) would love! Once more Kang has managed to deceive expectations and come up with a brilliant album. But this one is so virginal white that some listeners might find it a bit too clean.

Catalog: IDA 016 (I Dischi Di Angelica)
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Peter Brötzmann, Keiji Haino & Shoji Hano - Shadows (2000)

2010-04-18T21:13:00.003-03:00

| Free-Jazz | Noise Rock | Psychedelic Rock |

This CD contains nearly an hour’s worth of live performances recorded at the Schlachthof in Wels, Austria on March 31, 2000 during a Spring concert tour of Europe. Featuring Peter Brotzmann on clarinet and tenor sax, Keiji Haino on electric guitar and vocals, and Shoji Hano on bamboo horn and drums, this clearly-recorded thang aggressively wrangles its way through the jungles of hair covering your your head, your ears—hell, your entire body! Once inside your brain, this heapin’ helpin’ of scaldin’ soul-scour will quickly erase all memories of servitude that you’ve ever amassed. Haino’s vocal shrieking with Brotzmann’s acoustic squealing—all held-up by Hano’s faithful tub work—should clear out your ailin’ head better than a continual administration of nitrous oxide on the deck of a Caribbean-bound luxury boat. Brotzmann even momentarily shows that he’s still not afraid of a tune. The cover shows off a nicer layout than usual: tangled trees inked on the front cover, plus liner notes by Shoji Hano and pics of the participants inside.

Catalog: DIW-938 (DIW Records)
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Keiji Haino & Derek Bailey - Songs (2000)

2010-04-18T21:02:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Free-Jazz | Noise Rock |

Released in 2000, this CD was recorded back in November 1996 at Moat Studios in London during the same sessions which begat some of the Tokuma releases of yore, if I’m not mistaken. With the Incus label at the helm, you can never really expect your cruise to be one of smooth sailing. The father of improv guitar, Derek Bailey, and Japan’s longtime sound wanderer, Keiji Haino, spontaneously mesh together many merging / clashing, guitar / vocal sound patterns here with as much displeasure as expected. Featuring Derek on electric guitar only and Haino on vocals only, who sounds for all the world as if he were strapped into the dentist’s chair for the duration and getting root canals in every one of his teeth with no anesthesia. A nice, squirrelly, abstract Haino drawing adorns the cover.

Catalog: CD 040 (Incus Records)
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Doo-Dooettes with Keiji Haino & Rick Potts - Free Rock (2002)

2010-04-18T20:49:00.002-03:00

| Noise Rock | Free-Jazz | Psychedelic Rock |

Free Rock is a 2001 CD issue of a recently discovered, previously unreleased, archive recording dating from two decades earlier–August 3, 1982, to be exact–during Keiji Haino’s first visit to the Unites States. For this session, Tokyo’s all black clothes-wearin’ sunglassed man found himself sharing the stereo microphone in a sweltering garage with Los Angeles Free Music Society stalwarts the Doo-Dooettes–featuring Tom Recchion on mock cello and strungaphone, Fredrik Nilsen on bass and Dennis Duck on drums–and Rick Potts of Human Hands fame. The disc blasts out a solid 35 minutes of fantastic, vivid free skronk and slop rock that never fails to kick up a hell of a ruckus! Simultaneously, it sheds some much welcome light on one of Keiji Haino’s least documented periods. Another obscure piece of the puzzle is now in place. “A beautiful fusion of free jazz, modern music and psychedelia.”–PSF. Includes two beautiful fold-out booklets of notes and drawings. (The cubist portrait on the front is especially nice.) Highly reccomended!

Catalog: PSFD-131 (P.S.F. Records)
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Woah!

2010-04-17T03:09:00.003-03:00

finally put things together
http://www.last.fm/user/Fareday/journal/2010/04/17/3kjyuk_the_blue_store

11bit - Abandoned Functional Human Factory (2008)

2010-04-15T20:49:00.002-03:00

| IDM | Glitch | Electronic |

11bit is a more than 5 years old IDM project, based in Brazil. Abandoned Functional Human Factory is a collection featuring the best of the best of his early works (mostly from 2008). Although they are not as experimental or complex as his latter works, the album already displays a inherent capability to build ever-changing beats upon synthlines, which spawn from delicate ambient-ish repetitive riffs and Glitch sounds to techno-like lines and even some harsh shots (specially the saw-like synths on the title-track). The fractured rhythm is omnipresent, and 11bit manages to break-beat even at the most simple and repetitive tracks. I can tell you, after the first track kicks in, there's no way your brain stay still.

The highlights go for the album opener, Dust%. Probably his best-known early track, which even appeared around some IDM internet-compilations. Although it's close to sound ambient-techno like, with all the background atmospheric synths, the short loops and the quick movability - not to mention again, the beats -, punches your brain into the tangled rhythms, instead of carrying it into a subconscious trip. Tiny Story, fux0ring and The Hall sequence is also the strong arm in here, varying from vicious and acid drum-loops to delicate piano and string lines.

Catalog: VB-23 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Die Like A Dog Quartet - Little Birds Have Fast Hearts No.1 (1998)

2010-04-14T13:58:00.004-03:00

| Free-Jazz | Avant-Garde Jazz |

The Die Like a Dog Quartet came together four years after recording their first album for the 30th Total Music Meeting festival in Berlin that took place in November 1997. The sets that the quartet performed over the course of the three day festival were subsequently released by the FMP label in two volumes entitled Little Birds Have Fast Hearts. Peter Brötzmann plays tenor, of course, as well as some tarogato and clarinet, and he is joined by bassist Wiliam Parker, drummer Hamid Drake, and trumpeter Toshinori Kondo who occasionally utilizes electronic effects. On this first volume, the quartet is in it for the long run; there are just two parts, totaling over an hours' worth of music. They go long, but not without pause, for there are definite let-ups over the course of "Part 1" (which remains engaging and varied throughout its 45 minutes), and "Part 2" is a relatively low-key piece. But "calm" and "low-key" for this group are still strongly out; there is no "casual" mode, there is no collapsing into old forms, this is a work-out, and all four musicians give 100 percent as they are known to do. This is not music for people wanting to hear some nice jazz, some hum-along-able standards; this is music for listeners who want to take a journey and are willing to let this quartet steer. The Die Like a Dog Quartet is not improvising for an audience, they are improvising because. Because that is how you find music. Little Birds Have Fast Hearts, No. 1 is a great example of why that is important.

Catalog: FMP CD 97 (FMP)
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Aeolian String Ensemble - Eclipse (2004)

2010-04-13T22:19:00.002-03:00

| Ambient | Experimental | Drone |

Listening to Eclipse (44'15") by The Aeolian String Ensemble with the knowledge that a windharp is its sound source may make some difference to the listener. This instrument, typically positioned outdoors, frames a series of taut strings that are "played" by whatever wind, breeze or gale which might find its way over them. The resulting sound varies depending on the harp's positioning and location as well as the surroundings and weather conditions. The drones mingle with the ambiance of the environment in most interesting ways, which makes it difficult to point out precisely what makes this work so profound. The three tracks are a combination of recordings made in the field and studio manipulations of these recordings. The first two act as a prelude to the third and final piece, which is the title track. "Eclipse" (16'48") was realized within the shadow of a total solar eclipse. Although this work is the most minimal, subtle and least active of the three ambient pieces on this album, it is surely the most powerful. Layers of sustaining warm tones slowly gather, build and recede in a lulling and harmonious infinite moment. This work is a fascinating portrayal of stillness, yet it was created during the one celestial event where we as humans can sense the movement of the earth through space.

Catalog: RR-32 (Robot Records)
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Peter Brötzmann & Keiji Haino - Evolving Blush Or Driving Original Sin (1996)

2010-04-13T20:29:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Free-Jazz | Noise Rock |

A set of duos for saxophone and vocals that sets the standard for improvisational chaos eruptions and all-acoustic shard exploration. Intricate voice / breath / horn interchanges that are sometimes thin as treacle, and at other times explode like pea soup ’n’ asphalt mixed together on the side of an Arizona highway in midsummer at noon. An extremely original work: I’ve never heard anything quite like this before and most likely won’t again.

Catalog: PSFD-79 (P.S.F. Records)
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Keiji Haino ( 灰野敬二 ) & Tatsuya Yoshida ( 吉田達也 ) - Hauenfiomiume (2008)

2010-04-07T22:06:00.002-03:00

Hauenfiomiume? Wow. I dare you to say that really fast one time, let alone 10. Betcha can’t. This is the third album from the duo of Keiji Haino + Tatsuya Yoshida, following Until Water Grasps Flame in 2002 and New Rap in 2006. It’s also part one of a projected two-part release (with Uhrfasudhasdd). My, how ambitious!

Quite different from this duo’s previous output, Hauenfiomiume is exceedingly odd, quirky, and chock full of a wide variety of tracks that can and will turn on a dime. The sounds veer so suddenly! From classical acoustic guitar bathed in reverb to quiet, moaning, forlorn vocals to maniacally-paced distorted electric guitar and drums to weirdly sped-up interludes with screaming vocals to repetitive, dry guitar and drum riffs to strange, slow, echoing drum rhythms to somewhat straightforward rock to whispered vocals with electric reverb guitar supported by a steady kick drum beat to more classical guitar and keyboard tangles with vocals from Yoshida to a New Rap-style electric guitar and drum kit attack with hyperactive explosions to complex riffs with spoken vocals and backup singing to distorted feedback riffs to a quiet flute and drum interlude to rapid-fire stop ‘n’ start garble to fractured acoustic guitar rhythms with buried singing to upbeat, distorted rock to frantically chopped-up weirdness to heavily edited, ultra dry, distorted, stabbing rhythms with garbled vocals to clouds of blurry chaos to a strange baroque dream and back to the classical guitar that started it all.

It’s good to hear Yoshida on bass and keyboards as well as the usual drums, and his singing in particular melds nicely with Haino’s and helps set these sessions apart. Plus, Yoshida’s taut, heavily edited production takes Haino to places he’d never go alone. It also makes this variety show sound like a consistent collection. If you’re a private in the Army, don’t worry about blasting Hauenfiomiume in the barracks, because if your sargeant makes an unexpected appearance, he’ll be able to bounce a dime off of this music, no problem. All in all, this is a fresh, vital work from both artists. And it comes appropriately housed in an ultra-luxurious, three-panel mini-LP jacket festooned with colorful(!) artwork from both Haino and Yoshida prominently displayed under heavy gloss. This one’s a keeper.

Catalog: MGC-34 (Magaibutsu)
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Keiji Haino ( 灰野敬二 ) & Tatsuya Yoshida ( 吉田達也 ) - Until Water Grasps Flame (2002)

2010-04-07T06:11:00.002-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Experimental Rock | Free-Jazz |
| Noise Rock | Free-Prog |

This disc is a recording of a live performance from April 2000. All 12 tracks are duets, but the instrumentation on each track varies, with Haino playing guitar, sarode, gyumbari, gothan, esraj and darbouka. Yoshida plays drums, Korg X5D and darbouka. (Track 10 is a darbouka duet, whatever a darbouka is—some sort of percussion.) Most of the tracks are purely instrumental. Only two actually have a little bit of Haino singing, and only one of those is really a song designed around Haino’s voice. The rest are freely-improvised instrumentals. Some of the songs–especially the electric guitar and drums duets–are dense and heavy-sounding improvisations a la Ruins. In fact, the guitar and drums duets really bring to mind the Derek Bailey / Ruins collaborations like Tohjinbo on Paratactile and Saisoro on Tzadik. But, about half the songs have Haino on a variety of ethnic (for lack of a more accurate term) instruments. These improvisations are mellower. When two longtime improvisers get together, you expect seamless improvisation and that is just what is captured on this CD. Calling it improvisation almost seems like cheating. No one expecting these sorts of results will be disappointed. This is not a rock album—expectations of such will not be met. Too good.

Catalog: NAIM12CD (Noise Asia)
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Keiji Haino ( 灰野敬二 ) & Tatsuya Yoshida ( 吉田達也 ) - New Rap (2006)

2010-04-07T04:47:00.002-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Experimental Rock | Free-Jazz |
| Noise Rock | Free-Prog |

When I first encountered the title of this album, I half-jokingly feared that Keiji Haino may be heading off into a new (for him) musical direction. You know the stereotype, rudely and rhythmically boasting about his “ice” and “rims,” and barking a slew of profane abuse at all of his “bitches.” But, of course, that’s not the case at all. What we have here is a lively (to say the least) set of short duets for electric guitar, vocals and drums. Haino dons his axe, grabs his mic and compleletly goes off his rocker with Ruins drummer Tatsuya Yoshida for a solid 48 minutes. A wide variety of squealing, snarling, gargling vocals sprayed all over loads of homely guitar plucking and dissonant feedback clouds–all propped up by the most manic, hyper-active, start ‘n’ stop drumming ever-make New Rap anything but.

Catalog: TZ 7262 (Tzadik)
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Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959) [2010 Full HD Remaster]

2010-04-05T20:33:00.003-03:00

| Modal Jazz | Cool Jazz |

Throughout a professional career lasting 50 years, Miles Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective, and melodic style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more personal and intimate. But if his approach to his instrument was constant, his approach to jazz was dazzlingly protean. To examine his career is to examine the history of jazz from the mid-'40s to the early '90s, since he was in the thick of almost every important innovation and stylistic development in the music during that period, and he often led the way in those changes, both with his own performances and recordings and by choosing sidemen and collaborators who forged new directions. It can even be argued that jazz stopped evolving when Davis wasn't there to push it forward.

Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue posses such a mystique? Perhaps because this music never flaunts its genius. It lures listeners in with the slow, luxurious bassline and gentle piano chords of "So What." From that moment on, the record never really changes pace — each tune has a similar relaxed feel, as the music flows easily. Yet Kind of Blue is more than easy listening. It's the pinnacle of modal jazz — tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality. All of this doesn't quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after they've memorized every nuance. They return because this is an exceptional band — Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb — one of the greatest in history, playing at the peak of its power. As Evans said in the original liner notes for the record, the band did not play through any of these pieces prior to recording. Davis laid out the themes before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised. The end results were wondrous and still crackle with vitality. Kind of Blue works on many different levels. It can be played as background music, yet it amply rewards close listening. It is advanced music that is extraordinarily enjoyable. It may be a stretch to say that if you don't like Kind of Blue, you don't like jazz — but it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection.

Catalog: B00314UNQI (Techniche Label OMP)
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Peter Brötzmann - Machine Gun (1968)

2010-04-05T19:32:00.005-03:00

| Avant-Garde Jazz | Free-Jazz |

Nearly four decades after his death, the legacy of Albert Ayler is plain -- a plethora of reed-biting aural contortionists bent on exploiting the saxophone's propensity for making sounds that resemble a human scream. Many such players, unable to play anything resembling a coherent melody, rely instead on the extreme manifestations of the Ayler technique; their playing is more often than not a randomly executed wall of energy and emotion-driven white noise. Peter Brötzmann, on the other hand, is the rare Ayler-influenced saxophonist capable (like Ayler) of producing improvised lines of depth and sensitivity while informing them with enough raw power to make a lesser saxophonist wilt. Brötzmann's playing has little of the arbitrariness one associates with other similar tenor saxophonists like Charles Gayle or Ivo Perelman; Brötzmann possesses a surety of tone and a melodic center characteristic of a focused musical conception. While there's no lack of spontaneity in his music, Brötzmann's concern with motivic and melodic reiteration gives his playing a palpable sense of direction. Indeed, Brötzmann's obsession often serves as a pivot upon which an ensemble turns, making him a consummate team player, in addition to being an affecting soloist.

This historic free jazz album is a heavy-impact sonic assault so aggressive it still knocks listeners back on their heels decades later. Recorded in May 1968, Machine Gun captures some top European improvisers at the beginning of their influential careers, and is regarded by some as the first European -- not just German or British -- jazz recording. Originally self-released by Peter Brötzmann, the album eventually came out on the FMP label, and set a new high-water mark for free jazz and "energy music" that few have approached since. Brötzmann is joined on sax by British stalwart Evan Parker and Dutch reedsman Willem Breuker (before Breuker moved away from free music, his lungs were as powerful as Brötzmann's). The rest of the group consists of drummers Han Bennink (Dutch) and Sven-Åke Johansson (Swedish), Belgian pianist Fred van Hove, and bassists Peter Kowald (German) and Buschi Niebergall (Swiss). Brötzmann leads this octet in a notoriously concentrated dose of the relentless hard blowing so often characteristic of his music. While Brötzmann has played this powerfully on albums since, never again is it with a group of this size playing just as hard with him. The players declare and exercise their right to bellow and wail all they want; they both send up the stereotype of free playing as simply screaming, and unapologetically revel in it. The sound of Machine Gun is just as aggressive and battering as its namesake, blowing apart all that's timid, immovable, or proper with an unrepentant and furious finality. The years have not managed to temper this fiery furnace blast from hell; it's just as relentless and shocking an assault now as it was then. Even stout-hearted listeners will nearly be sent into hiding -- much like standing outside during a violent storm, withstanding this kind of fierce energy is a primal thrill.

Catalog: FMP CD 24 (FMP)
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C.C.C.C. - Rocket Shrine (1997)

2010-04-04T10:58:00.002-03:00

| Harsh Noise |

C.C.C.C. is a noise band from Japan, alongside such bands as Merzbow and Incapacitants. The core line up of this band consisted of Hiroshi Hasegawa (also of the bands Astro & Mortal Vision) and former bondage-porn star Mayuko Hino. Hino would occasionally during live shows reprise this element of her past into her performances by engaging in such acts as onstage stripteases. Other members were occasionally and variably brought in for work on singular albums, but had no permanent membership in the band.

Aesthetically, the band, and Mayuko Hino in particular, advocated a very emotive and cathartic approach to noise music as opposed the conceptual and intellectual approaches advocated by many European noise musicians, most notably within the “power electronics” subgenre. Mayuko Hino believes that Noise, when done emotionally rather than intellectually, not only creates more interesting sounds, but reveals much about the personality of the noisemaker. Sonically, C.C.C.C.’s first release, “Cosmic Coincidence Control Center” was much quieter and much less distorted than most “Japanese noise” releases, bordering on being experimental ambient. Later releases, such as “Rocket Shrine” and “Love and Noise”, however, took the psychedelic ambiance and oddball sounds of early C.C.C.C., but amplified the volume and distortion levels to easily be as loud, and harsh as other Japanese noise bands, if not more so. The band’s later releases rank among the more sonically diverse of noise albums, exploring an incredible variety of sonic dissonances, while still maintaining a consistently ear-splitting loudness.

Rocket Shrine is one of C.C.C.C.'s harshest and deepest works. Most of the "noise-wall" stuff around end up being pretty boring and mostly lacking of "moving" or "intensity-changes". That's not the case with C.C.C.C., nor with Rocket Shrine. This is probably the hugest wave of destruction I've ever heard, being side to side with Hijokaidan's Romance, but it still maintains the variety of emotions and sounds found on Psychedelic Noise's stuff. A really good try for people who like really extreme noise. Highlights go for the second and third track!

Catalog: CMDD 00061 (Creativeman Disc.)
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Derek Bailey, Jamaaladeen Tacuma & Calvin Weston - Mirakle (2000)

2010-04-04T09:30:00.005-03:00

| Free-Funk | Noise Funk | Free-Jazz |

Harmolodic Noise Funk for the 21st Century. The godfather of improvisation Derek in a freewheeling trio with the legendary Philly rhythm section of Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston, friends for over thirty years and veterans of Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time, John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards and various Blood Ulmer projects. Noise has never sounded so in tune, funk has never sounded so fucked up. You’ve never heard a meeting like this before, nor are you likely to again. Intense, fascinating and howlingly funny. Simply one of the bests examples of chaos and passion turned into FUNK music.

Catalog: TZ 7603 (Tzadik)
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Stjerneheimen - I (2010)

2010-04-02T11:53:00.003-03:00

| Stoner Rock | Drone Doom | Doom Metal |

"I" is a 20min EP from the Brazillian Stjerneheimen. Featuring an extremely LOUD and fuzzed bass-guitar doing a droning and repetitive riffage over a handful of 'folkish' instruments, like flutes, horns and strings, and some keyboard accompaniment (don't expect some folk-metal stuff, though. It's too explosive for that, and these instruments work mostly as the background for the Bass onslaught). The first part of the album is loud and heavy, and though the songs are short and have a slow atmosphere, they run fast through the album, one riff after the other, almost non-stoping. On the second part, at the end of the album, we have a slow and smooth bass - which contrasts with the first's strong and loud -, playing some melancholic riffs before vanishing in complete abandonment.

Catalog: VB-17 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Up-Tight - Five Psychedelic Pieces (2004)

2010-04-02T11:15:00.004-03:00

| Psychedelic Rock | Space Rock | Noise Rock |

This is Up-Tight's second full-length album. It features more straight-forward compositions than in other releases, and it's much less noisy than their other works. Overall, it's an album of five psychedelic-rock pieces, what is kind of obvious. Still, they manage to create a full "ambience" in here, and the album sounds pretty concise, a thing that they haven't fully achieved in other recordings. "At 2:00AM, I Am Waiting For Someone" is a simple ballad full of reverb and chorus, and "Visions Of Key Of A" is a spacerock-ish song on half its speed that grows into a dizzy improvisation with distant vocals, cymbal rushes, and a characteristic full-of-delay-and-flanges guitar, which is present in the whole album. "Falling In Love" is my favorite in here; a pretty, lo-fi and down-tempo sentimental song. Overall, it's a good album, the songs are either good or fine, although it simply doesn't match the awesomeness of their first album.

Catalog: Static 9 (Static Records)
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Yodaka ( よだか ) - Yodaka (2001)

2010-04-02T10:41:00.003-03:00

| Post-Rock | Psychedelic Rock | Electronica |

Yodaka was a short-living Post-Rock band, formed by the guitarist Kashiwa Daisuke - who now has his own solo project. This killer bootleg displays a powerful band mixing the bests elements of Psychedelic rock and Electronica music. Songs that grow from lonely guitar sounds to powerful blasts of electronic+acoustic drums and noisy overdriven guitars shredding, filled with lots of loud synths, in a way that I've rarely seen before. The female voices synths and the acid/dancing beats makes it even more amazing. Too bad it's their only release available, although it's awesome enough to totally put this as one of my favourite Post-Rock albums ever.

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Darkspace - Dark Space III (2008)

2010-03-27T22:18:00.004-03:00

| Atmospheric Black Metal | Drone Doom |
| Dark Ambient |

What happens when you mix the best of Drone Doom with Black Metal music? The answer could vary from "awesomeness" to "mind-blowingness", or simply "Darkspace". One of the most unique and impressive Black Metal bands from the 00's, Darkspace's style is characterized by heavy, slow and powerfully saturated walls of overdriven guitars, epic eerie synthlines and drummings, and occasional howls and abyssal screams, mixed into a gigantic hazy atmosphere. The music's ambience is totally dark and cloudy, like a heavy storm during a solar eclipse, with all the abrasiveness from Black Metal, the weight from Drone Doom and the haunted atmosphere from Dark Ambient music. Reading a review like this, you might be totally thinking "fuck, that looks like some pretty massive stuff". Hell, it totally is.

Dark Space III is, guess what, their third album. A masterpiece of cosmic darkness, the III combines the elements from the previous ones, the chaotic and striking riffs from I and the slow and dense sounding of II, creating their magnum opus. At their peak and full strength, this sounds nothing less than soul-crushing. From the epic opener until the fifth track, the album is all powerful. But, on the final two tracks is where it really goes absolutely epic. From the evil synths, shrieking guitars and spoken words from 3.16 and through the heavy drumming, the dense riffage and the high-pitched guitar screams, the epic chants of synths and angst vocals of 3.17, these two tracks alone simply destroy everything you'd known about heavy and atmospheric music. Prepare your ears, this is some pretty massive stuff.

Catalog: AV-102 (Avantgarde Music)
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The Birthday Party - Hee-Haw (1988)

2010-03-27T14:02:00.002-03:00

| Gothic Rock | Post-Punk | Noise Rock | Deathrock |

The initial tracks on Hee-Haw come from two of their earliest proper Birthday Party singles, "Mr. Clarinet" and "The Friend Catcher." Three other tracks included on the 1980 self-titled American-only compilation, the squealing sax and raunch of "Hats on Wrong," the slightly more straightforward punch and thrash of "Guilt Parade," and "Riddle House," surface as well. All showcase the violent, thrashing energy of the Party of legend perfectly; even the organ on "Mr. Clarinet" sounds like it's being strangled as much as being played. Cave may be in utterly hyperdramatic mode throughout, spitting out barks on "Happy Birthday" and braying out the title call on the slow, brilliant burn of "The Friend Catcher," but the band aren't holding back either; Howard's spindly, aggro guitar work complements Calvert's drum punch nicely, balancing nerves and body slam, while Pew and Harvey flesh out everything else in the same spirit. Things aren't quite on the level of sheer sonic pain of later releases, but with the help of engineer Tony Cohen, who brings out the overall performances well, the fivesome is already well on its curious way. The last five songs come from the original Hee-Haw EP, which was also the final Boys Next Door release. While not quite as frazzled as what the group would soon fully mutate into, the tracks do have a more pushing, discordant air than the earlier Boys tracks, Cave still hesitant at points but starting to let go a bit elsewhere. "Faint Heart" has a great breakdown into random vocal mumblings and instrumental nuttiness, especially on piano, while "The Hair Shirt" especially is already the Birthday Party in anything but name.

Catalog: CAD 307 CD (4AD)
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Albert Ayler - The Hilversum Session (1964) [2007]

2010-03-27T11:39:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde Jazz | Free-Jazz |

The Hilversum Session by Albert Ayler is one of those legendary recordings in free jazz. It was recorded in a Netherlands radio studio in front of a small invited audience, at the end of the Ayler Quartet's European tour on November 9, 1964. The band -- Ayler, Don Cherry, Gary Peacock, and Sunny Murray -- had been playing Ayler's tunes for months and were uncanny in their ability to hear one another and improvise together at that point. It was also the last time the group would record together under Ayler's name as a quartet, and they went out at a peak. The recording itself remained unissued until 1980 when it appeared on an LP on the long-defunct Osmosis label. It made a brief appearance on CD on the Coppens imprint before the most recent edition -- and likely its final home on the ESP-Disc label (which has also acquired the rights to the Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962-70) box set originally released by Revenant). Most of the tunes were, and remain, fairly common Ayler creations. "Ghosts" was recorded numerous times in 1964, and "Spirits" first appeared on Witches & Devils but also appeared on a record with the same title; both appeared on Spiritual Unity; while the tune "C.A.C," is actually the original title for the cut "The Wizard," also from Spiritual Unity. According to the liner notes, the closing number "No Name" was added as a coda to the infamous "Bells," issued in 1965, and in its relatively melodic beauty reveals another dimension to the fierce but inspiring improvisation by this quartet, who would take Ayler's skeletal melodies and move them to the margins of musical language itself. "Infant Happiness," by Cherry, is the only piece not authored by Ayler. The saxophonist kicks it off before he is joined by the trumpeter near the end of bar four in a knotty but wonderfully nursery rhyme-like melody that is reminiscent of the music Cherry had played with his former and future boss Ornette Coleman. This set is a defining moment, not just historically, but musically. The intense listening and interplay that goes on here is inspiring. Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray may have played better elsewhere, but they never played with the kind of deep communication they enjoyed together as a rhythm section and with other front-line players than they do here. Ayler is no longer striving to find the outer limits of spiritual expression in his music; it's all on display here, and Cherry, the inveterate and outrageously talented listener/musician is in full bloom, untethered as a soloist, yet, like the other three, remaining an inextricable part of a band. These cats play together with the kind of intuition and foresight only a seasoned group can; they understand the nuances of the language they are speaking and know how to offer those to the listener emotionally, musically, and even culturally. Finally, as for the sound of the recording, it has never been better. The remastering job is excellent, providing excellent fidelity and balance -- not always the case on the ESP-Disc offerings in the past. Included in the package are fine liner notes by Russ Musto, and a neat poster of Ayler.

Catalog: ESP 4035 (ESP Disk)
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Masayoshi Urabe ( 浦邊雅祥 ) - Ware Wa Seidai No Kyōjyō Zo ( 我は聖代の狂生ぞ ) (2003)

2010-03-25T22:04:00.003-03:00

| Experimental | Free-Jazz | Ambient | Noise |

Masayoshi Urabe is a well-known japanese master of avant-garde jazz. Specialized on playing abstract alto-saxophone, he has worked together with a lot of other musicians, including the band Kousokuya. Before start the talking about Ware Wa Seidai, I got to point that this is one of the most abstract music I've heard. Urabe is found here playing a big variety of non-standard instruments and standard instruments in a non-standard way. Metal joins, glasses, chains, blades... he uses every kind of unusual material to create a frenetically insane atmosphere. On the first track, you can hear him knocking, throwing, breaking, crashing, hitting, coughing, whistling... the list of sounds found here go on infinitely. On the 4th track, you can hear he performing altogether with lots of field-sounds (cars driving by, the wind, ambulance's sirens, breathing sounds, etc). The music is so abstract that its meaning is almost intangible, besides being weirdly beautiful. When he uses standard instruments, like sax, harmonicas, guitars, he almost always produce a strange combination of non-melodic sounds. With a totally out-of-tune sax, you can barely hear any note, but only his mouth blowing the wind through the metal. The guitars are thrown in and out to produce the most shrieking noise possible, and a casual harmonica can be found, gently chanting some sparse notes. Overall, this music is sparse, with only some noisy moments, and totally confusing. It reminds me well of Keiji Haino's Global Ancient Atmosphere, Keith Rowe's and Roscoe Mitchell's experimentations, which is a good thing. A great album for those willing to explore the skirts of the musical dimension.

Catalog: PSFD-147 (P.S.F. Records)
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Boredoms - Super æ (1998)

2010-03-25T21:00:00.003-03:00

| Experimental Rock | Psychedelic Rock | Space Rock |
| Progressive Rock | Krautrock | Noise Rock |

Surfacing again with an American release after a couple years of absence, the Boredoms showed themselves to still be truly a unique proposition with Super Ae. Taking some more of the prog/Kraut influences that crept into earlier efforts while still firing up the amps all around, Eye and his cohorts (forming a core quintet this time around) once again become the most out-there band in the world. "Super You" is a simply fantastic way to start, with initial whizzing stereo-to-stereo sounds leading into a wonderful collection of slow, ponderous death rock riffs that sound like all the Black Sabbath wannabes of the world gathered to create one massive opening fanfare via guitars. Logically the Boredoms spike the punch by interrupting things with sped-up tape sounds and pitch changes, making the proceedings all the more fun. From there, Super Ae continues along to something close to a concept album; each track feels like a perfect lead in to the rest, while the whole sense is of one long, mantra-like piece, faster or slower as the band feels like it. The big change is that the volume is not so much used to stun as it is to maintain a general atmosphere while the rhythm section cranks along in semi-motorik style, a bit like Can with some even freer spirits at play. Not everything is total destruction in the Boredoms scheme of things, admittedly -- "Super Coming", maybe the best in the whole album, has some hilarious cartoony vocals from all participants, a extremely catchy psych-melody and a incredible usage of synths and drumming. "Super Are" begins with a serene keyboard performance and chanting background vocals before turning into a psych/acid folk drum/singing jam session á la Amon Düül or fellow countrymen Ghost. Needless to say, though, the amps and monster sludge kick in soon enough, and quite well at that! "Super Good," the album closer, also has a nicely calm way about it.

Catalog: BMR-019 (Birdman Records)
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Knead - Knead (2002)

2010-03-25T04:06:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Experimental Rock | Noise Rock |
| Free-Prog |

Keiji Haino meets The Ruins. Superficially, Knead sounds like a faster, hyper, prog-like Fushitsusha. But, of course, the spare, skeletal rhythm section of Fushitsusha is very unique and important to that band and no guitar-based creation on Earth can match their supreme density and abstract beauty. But, Knead doesn’t need to. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) This new trio happily launches Haino into territory that he has never really operated in before. We’re talking complex mathematics here, folks, and it’s well-known The Ruins practice it in spades. Crazed precision drumming and bass playing that meticulously teases each and every fret offer plenty of melding support for Haino’s crunchy feedback explosions and searing peak wail. There’s some quiet, spacey moments here and there and the “no overdubs” man even throws in some real-time vocal loops and other special effects. It’s nothing less than an entire CD filled with ultra intensity—so much music, it’ll leave even the most hardened fan tuckered. Pretty dang impressive.

Catalog: PSFD-128 (P.S.F. Records)
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Futons - A Good Friend (2010)

2010-03-20T16:29:00.004-03:00

| Post-Rock | Indie Rock | Dream Pop |

This is the second musical output by Futons, and while the Smoker EP was a folkish/ambient album, in A Good Friend he drops the acoustic guitar and gives a leap forward. Impressively structuring songs with real-time loops (he uses no overdubs in the whole album), this 30min LP displays his works on piano, on indie rock-ish songs with electric guitar and electronic beats, and even on post-rock-influenced guitar trips. The album sounds immature sometimes, but that's exactly why it's so awesome - the songs really have a warm-cold feeling and a dreaming atmosphere, and the lack of fancy musical pretentiousness and the real-time-recording makes this album feels like an living creation, instead of a "sculptured-in-marble" maturely boring cd.

The album opens with Phlogiston Theory, maybe the most impressive track in the whole. A dreaming-ish non-stop piano runs and dances around a wonderfully catchy and beautiful melody. The outlet. This is where my mood, this table, my biles sink and that I would end. (hell, gotta love this title) kicks in with some dissonant and reverbful guitar sounds, and shows a skilled using of real-time loops while grows into a post-rock-ish blending of rhythms and riffs. Get It Together follows the same post-rock-ish vein, but featuring a more static structure and lots of guitar-loops that follows each other interlaced by the loud electronic-beat dancing. A Good Friend starts with a muted guitar riff and jumps into another melodic and non-stoppable song (like a Phlogiston Theory, but on guitar instead of piano), and Burrito Wizard sounds like a warm folkish song played on a high-pitched electric guitar. The album then closes with My Machine, a reinterpretation of a Boris song, featuring a reverberant and droning guitar.

Catalog: VB-18 (Velvet Blue Records)
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The Birthday Party - Mutiny/The Bad Seed (1989)

2010-03-20T15:34:00.003-03:00

| Gothic Rock | Post-Punk | Noise Rock | Deathrock |

Collecting the two EPs onto one disc, this release also includes two rough mixes from the Mutiny sessions as a bonus. "The Six Strings That Drew Blood," also later recorded by Cave's Bad Seeds, is a quick brawler like many a past Party classic, Cave hitting a strangled falsetto at points as the group rips along. "Pleasure Avalanche" works on the slow grind trip; Cave husks his vocals over a nicely creepy arrangement from the rest, calling for the titular situation in question with increasing desperation.

Mostly featuring songs written by Cave and Harvey together, The Bad Seed forecasts the imminent future of Cave as a solo artist and Harvey as his right-hand man in more than just title. Now down to a four-piece following the departure of Calvert, the Party weren't any less confrontational than before; the opening sounds one hears is Cave yelling, "Hands up, who wants to die?!" Sound overall is a touch crisper than on other studio tracks, with Cave even more front and center than before. "Sonny's Burning" is a quick, brisk thrash, Cave's voice cracking more than once as the music builds to a series of climaxes throughout. "Wildworld" takes a bluesy tearjerker turn, Howard's death-rattle guitar perfectly suiting the song and setting the atmosphere. "Fears of Gun" builds up a tense energy over a favored lyrical subject for Cave (crime, insanity, and romance), with Pew and Harvey's tight rhythm matched by Howard's scratchy feedback. "Deep in the Woods" ends in all on a perfectly outrageous note, with Cave at his most sepulchral conjuring up a rural scene of devastation. The delivery and lyrics redefine the phrase "over the top,'" but the slow pound of the drums and Howard's downbeat, echoed plucking somehow makes everything work in spite of itself.

The final Party studio release, Mutiny, has the band thrashing to its conclusion. Given that the various projects that rose in its wake -- Cave's solo career, Harvey and Howard's work with Crime and the City Solution, Howard's own solo efforts -- all sound like logical extensions of the Party's sound; artistic dissatisfaction can't explain what brought the Party to an end. Whatever went down, though, the group bowed out with artistic extremism intact, if not always exploding all over the place as in years past. "Jennifers Veil" sounds like a slightly lighter -- but only just -- cousin to Bad Seed's "Deep in the Woods," Cave singing more than intoning, calling to mind the burned romantic of his later years more than once. "Say a Spell" runs at about the same pace but with more feedback to burn, a good torchy blues with a fine howl or two to recommend it. "Swampland" turns up the energy level all around, a crunchy romp through the low and mean places, sonically and lyrically, the Party made their own. "Mutiny in Heaven" closes it all off with a final, worthy blast of fire. Blixa Bargeld guests from Einsturzende Neubaten, foreshadowing his role as key guitarist for Cave's Bad Seeds, with sudden edits and a roaring central refrain from Cave, when not otherwise detailing a world turned upside down with all the fire of a travelling evangelist.

Catalog: CAD 301 CD (4AD)
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Gaseneta ( ガセネタ ) - Sooner or Later (1991)

2010-03-19T12:56:00.003-03:00

| Noise Rock | Punk Rock | Garage Rock |

More-than-legendary, peerless garage punk band from the late 70's who can rival Les Rallizes Denudes in terms of having the most influence on the current Japanese underground. Along with Les Rallizes Denudes Gaseneta were one of the first Japanese groups to establish their own unique sound that took a huge step away from just emulating Western acts. Their frightening speed, flesh-melting, acid edge and total chaos were the original blueprint for High Rise (who clearly show their indebtedness by playing with Gaseneta's members on a La Musica cassette) and a handful of others. Hamano Jun (guitar), Yamazaki Harumi (vocals), Osato Toshiharo (bass) - all were involved in many other minor-related underground projects at the time that helped shape a huge part of the current Japanese psych scene. This 1978 recording is Gaseneta's only widely available release that captures the group in full-blistering flow. Highly Recommended.

Catalog: PSFD-17 (P.S.F. Records)
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High Rise - Psychedelic Speed Freaks (1984)

2010-03-18T02:15:00.004-03:00

| Psychedelic Rock | Noise Rock | Garage Rock |

This is the first release ever by either High Rise and the P.S.F. label, and it's pretty much exactly what you expect. High Rise's is pretty known for its mindblowing noisy, fast and loud rock - and all these piece are here. But there's something more in the puzzle this time; there's the Lo-Fi recording. The sound is melting everywhere, and the bloody-bass lines are simply burying all the other instruments. The furious, shrieking, motorcycle-ish guitar is notably trying to escape from the dense blackhole that Asahito's bass has become, and from which both the vocals and drums have been caught. The drumming is so buried under the bass that every cymbal crash sounds like it's been distorted by a fuzz pedal. The vocals are very likely to the other records - lots of reverb and all that well known Asahito's singing -, but the lo-fi really gives it a "something more" touch - as on the whole album. I really find this one of the most interesting albums not only from HR's discography, but from the whole underground japanese scene. The highlight is doubtlessly "Take a Trip", one of those 10min long psych-guitar trips that High Rise does so well, and, of course, "Psychedelic Speed Freaks".

Catalog: PSF-1 (P.S.F. Records)
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John Zorn - Femina (2009)

2010-03-17T19:47:00.003-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Experimental | Electronic | Jazz |
| Chamber Music | Folk | Ambient |

Femina is the triumphant return to Zorn's experimentations at mixing different ideas into one ideal. Made as a tribute album to all the women, Femina features Zorn followed by a whole band of experimental musicians - female musicians. Conceptually, the album really captures the delicate aura, the sensual moves and the gently colourful sounds - which resembles the eyes, the voice, the curves and the touches of a woman. Structurally, the album is a huge mess of genres. Blending all influences it can found without any barriers, Femina features pieces of Avant-Garde Jazz, Ambient and folkish music, Electro-acoustic experimentations, noise, and of course, chamber/classical music. Sonically, the album is a big win. Moving through all its different genres as softly as a ballet dancer, Femina's breathtaking precision and peculiar logic makes this album a unique piece of experimental music. Delicate pianos and harps, aural violins and cellos, intriguing noise collages and electronic experimentations, Femina is a magistral record at Zorn's extensive discography.

Catalog: TZ 7377 (Tzadik)
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Monks of the Balhill - Lost and Hide Side (2009)

2010-03-17T14:03:00.003-03:00

| Psychedelic Drone | Free-Jazz | Experimental |
| Ambient |

An abstract album of psychedelic ambient music. Filled with a pretty cool jazzy saxophone, some electronic noises and a heavy and slow synth, Monks of the Balhill provides one of the most trippy music I've ever heard. The atmosphere is pretty slow and somewhat pretty colourful - like watching a supersaturated surreal movie in slowmotion -, and each song gives me the feeling of getting my laid-down body slowly lifted by the winds. The album might feel boring though, depending on your state of spirit. The first time I listened to it, I really didn't think it was great thing. But on the second time, laid on my bed with my headphones at max and a fucking headache, Lost and Hide Side sounded like heaven's music. My favourite tracks are Wings of Rain, Monomonks (maybe the best on the album) and Ocapulca.

Catalog: housecraft no. 76 (Housecraft Records)
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The Birthday Party - Live 81-82 (1999)

2010-03-14T17:13:00.004-03:00

| Gothic Rock | Post-Punk | Noise Rock | Deathrock |

Though various live releases had emerged over the course of the band's existence, no full-length capturing of the Party's particular bacchanalia approved by the group had officially emerged until this release. Stitching together tracks from a London date in 1981 and a German show in 1982 (plus a ringer cut from Athens, Greece -- a version of the Stooges' "Funhouse" with Jim Thirwell aka Foetus on sax)), Live threatens at all points to leap from the speakers and throttle innocent bystanders. Clear sound on the first ten songs, all from the London date, makes resistance even harder. Given the sometimes (though intentionally) unclear or unexpected mixing of Party songs in studio, hearing everything via in-your-face stun methods brings out the abilities of the band all the more, especially Pew and his vicious bass work. Songs like "The Dim Locator" and "King Ink" cut all the more closer to the bone as a result. "Nick the Stripper," amazingly, is even more viciously sleazy than the original, which is saying something and a half; Cave sounds like he's summoning his voice from his shoes on up. The German date's sound is only slightly less thorough than the London's, and the performances no less wired. "Big-Jesus-Trash-Can" thrashes around like there's no tomorrow, Pew's bass again shooting through the mix, while "The Friend Catcher" seethes with a creepy, frigid energy. Harvey takes over on drums for the last two German tracks and the "Funhouse" cover, but even down to four people the band still generates more noise and activity than most other acts could hope to achieve. Definite bonus points have to go to Cave for his occasional, softly spoken between-song asides -- "Thank you, I love your haircuts as well." Awesome to the bones.

Catalog: CAD 9005 CD (4AD)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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The Birthday Party - Prayers on Fire (1981)

2010-03-14T13:00:00.007-03:00

| Gothic Rock | Post-Punk | Noise Rock | Deathrock |

The Birthday Party were one of the darkest and most challenging post-punk groups to emerge in the early '80s, creating bleak and noisy soundscapes that provided the perfect setting for vocalist Nick Cave's difficult, disturbing stories of religion, violence, and perversity. Under the direction of Cave and guitarist Rowland S. Howard, the band tore through reams of blues and rockabilly licks, spitting out hellacious feedback and noise at an unrelenting pace. As the Birthday Party's career progressed, Cave's vision got darker and the band's songs alternated between dirges to blistering sonic assaults.

It should come as no surprise that there is an album in Nick Cave's oeuvre called Prayers on Fire; a fascination with the dark, (self-)destructive side of religion is more than evident in his later work with the Bad Seeds. While there might not be any of the explicit Biblical imagery on Prayers on Fire that Cave would later ejaculate, the title of the album is apt, and its aptness is revealed almost immediately. Over the tribal thud of floor toms, shards of trebly guitar, the throb of an organ, and even a creepily out-of-place trumpet come the possessed, chant-like vocals -- not an incantation to any god, but to "Zoo-Music Girl." It's the religion of depraved sexuality, bestial urges, and sadomasochism. "We spend our lives in a box full of dirt/I murder her dress till it hurts/I murder her dress and she loves it," howls Cave, echoing Leonard Cohen and finally concluding with the berserk plea, "Oh! God! Please let me die beneath her fists." Meanwhile, Cave sounds like he's actually being assaulted by the music, emitting horrific gasps and primitive grunts. And this is only the first track. On the next two tracks, language itself is violated and found inadequate. Words collapse upon themselves in "Cry," with Cave tossing out self-annihilating binaries like "space/no space," "fish/no fish," "clothes/no clothes," and "flesh/no flesh." On "Capers," penned by Genevieve McGuckin, semantics are made into sausage -- words are chewed up and regurgitated as warped neologisms: "gloomloom," "clocklock," "paperparrent," "diehood." The lyrics for "Figure of Fun" aren't even printed in the booklet; instead, merely "obsessive, deadpan, moribund, seasick, etc." And perhaps that best sums up Prayers on Fire's graveyard poetry. The rest of the album is a subterranean labyrinth full of "sand and soot and dust and dirt," peopled by bizarre characters like Nick the Stripper and King Ink, and replete with images of murder, decay, blood, and Kafka-esque insects. Then, of course, there's Cave himself, the literate ghoul with an impressive vocal range who just stepped out of a B horror flick, trying to parry the intensity of the music like an Iggy Pop wasted on goth pills. But be careful not to overlook his subtle sense of humor and his awareness of the camp -- there are also chickens to be counted, nuns inside his head, and Fats Domino on the radio. With Mick Harvey being the only future Bad Seed on hand (Anita Lane also contributed one set of lyrics), the music here foreshadows Cave's later work without quite resembling it (with the exception of his first album). The Birthday Party are closer to Joy Division (only more theatrical), the Pop Group (only spookier), or Pere Ubu (only more percussive). Though present on most of the tracks, the moody piano that would dominate much of Cave's solo work is never really prominent here. Instead it's the squiggles of Rowland Howard's guitar dodging the blows of the furious rhythm section that distinguishes the Birthday Party. Oppressive and unrelenting, Prayers on Fire is highly recommended for those aspiring to advanced states of dementia.

Catalog: CAD 104 (4AD)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Swans - White Light from the Mouth of Infinity (1991)

2010-03-14T11:51:00.008-03:00

| Post-Punk | Experimental Rock | Industrial |
| Neofolk | Noise Rock |

The opening track "Better Than You" almost says it all: Starting with the wail of an infant, then suddenly crashing into surging music that mixes quick, energetic drums with bells and other instruments, the song turns into a dramatic acoustic guitar/percussion piece with Gira's brooding voice and Jarboe's haunting backing; after some re-developments of the themes, it ends with a beautiful restatement of the sung section with additional guitar and bell sounds. At once incredibly destructive and astoundingly life-affirming -- and worth the entire Burning World album several times over -- "Better Than You" demonstrates that Swans had emerged from their major-label fiasco even more powerful and artistic than before, aiming for an awesome, all-encompassing majesty in their music that the admittedly hypnotic earlier versions of the band, in their brute forcefulness, simply could not have achieved. Interestingly, a number of players from Burning World and other Bill Laswell associates participate on White Light, but here Gira as sole producer marshals everyone's collective efforts to heights that Laswell either was unwilling or unable to do. Also notably, Westberg is all but absent on guitar, with new arrival Clinton Steele taking the fore as the major instrumentalist after Gira and Jarboe themselves. Picking out all the highlights from such a stunning disc is practically impossible, but three of the flat-out classic marvels here are: "You Know Nothing," with its simply lovely introduction and Gira's commanding singing; "Song for Dead Time," a gentle Jarboe-sung number filled out by a simple but effective string-synth arrangement; and "Failure," carried by a buried guitar strum, Gira's Sisyphean lyric, and brief, lush choruses. Simply put, this is out and out brilliant as the clear starting point for the second half of Swans' unique career.

Catalog: YGCD 3 (Young God Records)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Swans - Children of God (1987)

2010-03-10T19:28:00.003-03:00

| Post-Punk | Experimental Rock | Industrial |
| Dark Ambient | Noise Rock |

Kicking off with "New Mind" -- which, while having the same general pace of most earlier Swans songs, also sounds distinctly different with its clearer, inventive arrangement, call-and-response vocals, and Gira's declamatory but not screamed lead vocal -- Children of God finds the band making their own particular great leap forward. The simmering changes that were apparent in the albums just before this one's release fully come to the fore, as Swans take the courage to explore both their huge-sounding, bombastic side and gentle, if often still disturbing, delicacy (due credit especially to Westberg, Kizys, and Parsons, possibly the best musical lineup Swans ever had until the final years). The results are fascinating, ranging from the spare piano melting into ambient feedback of "In My Garden" and the twisted gospel blues of "Our Love Lies" to the acoustic guitar and organ on "You're Not Real, Girl" and the raging pounder "Beautiful Child." Equally importantly, if not more so, Jarboe now assumes a full role with Gira as co-leader of the band; while all lyrics are still Gira's, the two share lead vocal duties (though aside from the title track, no duets) throughout the album. The weary, evocative croon which Gira developed into his major vocal trademark here emerges to full effect (though he can still roar with the best of them at points) while Jarboe's cool, rich tones are simply astounding, as evidenced on an even more compelling version of "Blackmail," originally from the A Screw EP. Though Children is dedicated without any apparent irony to Jesus Christ, Gira's words remain as irreverent, challenging, and obsessed with overarching issues of religion, power, sex, love, and control as before, but with an ever-increasing depth and beauty to match the lusher musical textures. With flute, oboe, and strings adding further texturing to the often quite lovely songs created by the band, Children remains perhaps the key album of Swans' career -- the clear signpost towards their ever-more ambitious albums in the future.

Catalog: CAR 01346-2 (Caroline Records)
Album overview on Allmusic
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Futons - Smoker EP (2009)

2010-03-08T14:49:00.003-03:00

| Indie Folk | Ambient |

Futons is a one-man band from Australia. Playing a perfect fusion of Folk and Ambient music, his songs are deeply sentimental and nostalgic. The lo-fi production grants the music a warm atmosphere and the gentle sound of his guitar seems to float around the eardrums, softly cuddling the mind. I totally feel like the little man on the cover while I listen to it. Blackie Young stands out for its charming melody and The Depressive Teacup is the perfect song for a warm cup of milk during a cold rainy day. Smoker EP is THE album for anyone who feels just too tired of the world's loud and bright dizziness. Lay below a tree and let this hearty music close your eyes.

Catalog: VB-16 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Some Cool News about Velvet Blue Records

2010-03-07T08:20:00.009-03:00

Ok, this post is not about some album. but it's pretty cool, you should totally take a read at it.
First, for the ones who don't know yet, Velvet Blue Records is the label I'm currently running with a friend. We're based in Brazil, and blablabla... cutting off the bullshit, I got some news to bring to you guys. But first, a picture says more than a thousand words. So:

Yeah, that's right. We're now making physical copies of our catalogue! You all shall be able to get your own copy, and know what's the best? They are totally Free. Yep, that's right, We're not into selling our music, it's fucking completely free. The production of each album costs about U$2,50 - a price that we, the label, can afford. So you can get your own copy for only U$0,00. BUT (I know, "but"'s sucks ): ), we can't afford the postage costs... So, if you want to get your own copy, You'll have to pay for the postage (but only for the postage, the albums itselves are totally costless. We, the label, are not - in any way - monetarily profiting. On the opposite, we're kind of losing money!). The postage prices are the following:
- Canada, USA, etc: U$16
- Germany, England, France, etc: U$17
- Japan, Norway, Sweden, etc: U$20
You can get up to 5 albums for that price above (which gets about U$3-4 per album!).
For the ones who live in Brazil, the postage price is the following:
- R$1,50 [U$0,80] (for 1 cd), R$2,30 [U$1,25] (for 2cds) and R$4,70 [U$2,60] (for up to 5 cds) - Plus R$1,80 [U$1,00] for the special package (the one used to send cds via mail).

All the albums are professionally printed, hand-made and each copy comes numbered.
All the versions shown here are "test version"s, printed at home and using common paper (but Despair, which is already the final version with Pro-printing.). The final version, professionally printed, looks way better :)

Well, that's it! I hope you liked the news! If anyone is interested or has any question, you can easily contact we at stjerneheimen@gmail.com . We can even discuss a discount at the postage prices :) and remember, if you're an independent musician/band, the label can totally work with you! (specially if you make shit music, lol)
Thanks for your attention! I'm so excited with all this!
The whole catalog is available! (new link with photos!)

Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind (1996)

2010-03-06T14:14:00.003-03:00

| Experimental Rock | Industrial | Post-Punk |
| Dark Ambient | Post-Rock | Neofolk | Noise Rock |

Choosing to extinguish the band name under which Gira and Jarboe had worked together for so long must not have been an easy step, but when they decided to end Swans with one last studio release as a prelude to a farewell tour, they did so with what turned out to be their biggest and best album ever. Interestingly, the double-disc, two-and-a-half-hour long Soundtracks makes no pretensions at being a uniform creation like The White Album or Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness; Gira's own notes indicate the song sources as being from "hand-held cassette recordings to found sounds, to samples, to loops, to finished multitrack recordings," recorded with ten different musicians. Everything from raging electric music in extreme to the gentlest of acoustic strums can be found here, ultimately being a perfect encapsulation of Swans' sound -- as much as any greatest-hits anthology could ever have been. "The Helpless Child," the epic-length Gira-sung piece previewed on Die Tür ist Zu, amazingly gets an even more brilliant revision here, while another similarly lengthy track, "The Sound," at once roars and whispers over its length in a way that early Swans -- much less many other bands -- could never have done. Other tracks continue Swans' then-recent practice of mixing random taped conversations with exquisitely arranged performances: "I Was a Prisoner in Your Skull" is especially noteworthy as the clear forerunner of Godspeed you Black Emperor!'s entire musical approach. Jarboe's own tracks are all winners, from the fractured, tempo-shifting techno of "Volcano" to the howling live version of a solo album track from Sacrificial Cake, "Yum-Yab Killers." Ending on the unexpected yet appropriate "Surrogate Drone," Soundtracks lets Swans bow out from recording on the highest note possible.

Catalog: YGCD 10 (Young God Records)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Swans - The Great Annihilator (1994)

2010-03-06T11:10:00.003-03:00

| Experimental Rock | Industrial | Post-Punk |
| Dark Ambient | Post-Rock | Noise Rock |

Crawling out of the same noisy, arty New York underground that sired Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch, Swans created a dark, abrasive, murky, slowed-down noise rock that served as a starting point for their ruminations about alienation, depression, depravity, and the disturbing side of human nature. Singers Michael Gira and Jarboe have been the group's only constants over the years; Gira has taken the group from its early confrontational shock tactics to a more varied, mature attack. The band first appeared on record in 1982 with a self-titled EP, and these early releases document their search for the musical vocabulary to express their ideas effectively. Female singer Jarboe joined the group for 1986's Holy Money and brought a gentler, more relaxed dimension to Swans' sound. The band entered its creative peak with 1987's Children of God and the follow-up, Feel Good Now, and secured a deal with MCA through a cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," which became an indie hit in the U.K. Their first MCA album, The Burning World, came the closest to mainstream rock of anything they had done up to that point, and 1991's White Light From the Mouth of Infinity continued that trend. Swans are highly regarded as one of the most influential bands from that time, anticipating the born of genres such as Post-Rock.

After a three-year break occasioned in part by wrangles with the Sky label, Swans returned in 1995 with a vengeance, as always pursuing their unique muse of dramatic, ever-more textured music. Gira and Jarboe work with a fantastic core band this time out, including returning veteran Westberg, who trades off guitar duties with Steele, at points playing together with him, a magnificent combination. Other returning musicians include Kizys and Parsons, while newer players like drummer Bill Rieflin from the Chicago Wax Trax! circle join as well. As is par for the course by now, Swans seem incapable of producing a bad album, Annihilator being crammed full of astonishing songs to prove it. Everything's a little more stripped-down here, possibly due to having a central band, but it's still all very lushly arranged and created, perfectly balancing force and restraint. Leadoff single "Celebrity Lifestyle" is one of the catchiest things the band has ever done, but it's still uniquely Swans -- a minimal, throbbing song matched with a sharp lyric on starlust and what it might mean. "I Am the Sun" pounds as hard as any early Swans track, but the use of careful space between blasts, Gira's heavily echoed, out-of-nowhere vocal (accentuated by equally vivid background vocals from Jarboe), and tempo shifts clearly demonstrates the constantly evolving nature of Swans music; the band is never content to simply repeat the past. Jarboe's own standout tracks include "Mother/Father," a brawling number showcasing both her and the band at their full-on best, and "My Buried Child," with her softly husked take on a terrifying Gira lyric, which is carried by a roiling rhythm. This is followed immediately by the sweeping, cinematic "Warm," where she contributes wordless vocals. Once again, Swans have created an epic, incredible work of art.

Catalog: YGCD 009 (Young God Records)
Album Overview at Allmusic
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Edgard Varèse - The Complete Works (1998)

2010-03-04T18:54:00.004-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Musique Concrète | Experimental |
| Modern Classical | Chamber Music | Orchestral |

Despite his output of only slightly more than a dozen compositions, Edgard Varèse is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century. His concept of "organized sound" led to many experiments in form and texture. He was constantly on the lookout for new sound sources (working throughout his life with engineers, scientists and instrument builders), and was one of the first to extensively explore percussion, electronics, and taped sounds. He was, as Henry Miller called him, "The stratospheric Colossus of Sound."

Varèse spent his early childhood in Paris and Burgundy. His father wanted him to study math and engineering in preparation for a career in business. However, Varèse pursued music, studying at the Schola Cantorum with Albert Roussel and Vincent d'Indy and at the Paris Conservatoire with Charles Marie Widor. Varèse moved to Berlin in 1907, in part to meet Ferruccio Busoni; Varèse had been impressed with Busoni's Sketch for a New Aesthetic in Music (1907), which anticipated many of Varèse's own later explorations. Unfortunately, of the music Varèse wrote during that time, only one song survives. The other manuscripts were destroyed in a warehouse fire.

Unable to find regular work, Varèse moved to the United States in 1915, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1926. The first work he completed after the emigration is in fact titled Amériques, an extroverted celebration of his new life. In addition to composing, Varèse promoted new music through the establishment of his New Symphony Orchestra in 1919, the International Composers' Guild in 1921, and the Pan American Society in 1926. He continued to have difficulty making money, though, and spent some time as a piano salesman; he also made a brief appearance in a 1918 John Barrymore film.

Varèse maintained his connection with Europe, and had an extended stay in Paris between 1928 and 1933 during which he continued his sonic explorations and heard many of his works performed. In 1931 he completed Ionisation, a notorious piece for thirteen percussionists playing about forty different instruments. Back in the U.S., he attempted to get Bell Telephone and others interested in creating a center for electric instrument research. The failure of that project led to an extended depression. Over the next ten-plus years, Varèse completed only one work, Density 21.5 for solo flute, spending the time teaching (at Santa Fe's Arsuna School of Fine Arts, Columbia University, and Darmstadt) and thinking about what new direction his music should take.

The anonymous gift of an Ampex tape recorder in 1953 was the motivation Varèse needed. He set to work on the tape portion of his work Déserts, which was premiered in Paris in 1954 in a concert which was broadcast live in stereo, the first stereo music broadcast ever in France. He was involved with several film projects, writing music for documentaries on Léger and Joan Miró. He also wrote the Poème électronique for tape for Le Corbusier's pavilion at the 1958 Brussels exhibition, where Varèse's music was heard through more than 400 loudspeakers, accompanied by Le Corbusier's visuals.

Varèse and his music received much attention in the 1960s. His works were widely performed, recorded and published, and he received honors from the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the Royal Swedish Academy. He also won the first Koussevitzky International Recording Award in 1963. But Varèse wrote little music during these last years. His final work, the unfinished Nocturnal (with text by Anaïs Nin), was performed at a tribute concert in 1961 and completed years later by composer Chou Wen-chung.

Catalog: 460 208-2 (Decca)
Biography at Allmusic
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The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland (1987) [2006 - remastered]

2010-03-01T14:57:00.003-03:00

| Post-Punk | Gothic Rock |

One of England's leading "goth" bands of the 1980s, the Sisters of Mercy play a slow, gloomy, ponderous hybrid of metal and psychedelia, often incorporating dance beats; the one constant in the band's career has been deep-voiced singer Andrew Eldritch. While the goth scene in England was picking up commercial steam in the mid-'80s, the Sisters of Mercy may have seemed quiet, but they roared back with 1987's Floodland. Opening with the driving two-part hymn "Dominion/Mother Russia," Sisters leader Andrew Eldritch (along with bassist Patricia Morrison) creates a black soundscape that is majestic and vast. While the earlier Sisters releases were noisy, sometimes harsh affairs, Floodland is filled with lush production (thanks to Meat Loaf writer/producer Jim Steinman and the New York Choral Society) and lyric imagery that is both scary and glorious. The slower tracks, like "Flood" and "1959," are some of the best ethereal sounds goth has to offer, and the downright regal "This Corrosion" and "Lucretia My Reflection" are one of the best songs of the genre. A definite milestone.

Catalog: 5101-17580-2 (Rhino)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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John Zorn - Locus Solus (1983)

2010-03-01T11:11:00.005-03:00

| Avant-Garde | Avant-Jazz | Experimental Rock |

This captures over an hour's worth of John Zorn's search for the improvised song form. Several lineups from 1983 are documented here. The first eight tracks feature Zorn with Christian Marclay spinning and Peter Blegvad speaking. The text is unremarkable (for example, Honey-Cab's "...tell her everything I know/ In ink as black as carbon/ On paper white as snow"), but Blegvad's sonorous delivery works well with the chaos that the other two musicians spit and spin out, combining into tides of noisy mischief. Tracks 9-15 find Zorn with Arto Lindsay providing lyrics and guitar, and Anton Fier on drums. Zorn squawks and spurts an array of sounds, from birdcall to babydoll. M.E. Miller replaces Fier on drums for the next set, which features a driving rock beat. This is followed by eight pieces from Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, and Ikue Mori. The final fifth of the album captures the walloping interplay of Zorn, Miller, and turntablist Whiz Kid. Overall, an album of short, angular, experimental energy tracks.
All tracks are live, real-time improvisations except side D (tracks 31-38) which was produced through overdubbing.

Catalog: RIFT 7 (Rift) / TZ 7303 (Tzadik)
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Achromatic Cold - Transcendental Dispel of Spirit (2010)

2010-02-28T14:47:00.003-03:00

| Ethereal | Noise Wall |

Imagine yourself in another dimension. In a place where nothing seems to make sense to the mind nor the thoughts, but in the deep your spirit feels light and comfortable. A place where no images make sense, where no colour is recognizable, where all memories gather in a single moment - where time doesn't seem to exist. Imagine yourself in the centre of it, in the living core. Imagine that core communicating with you - you don't seem to understand, but your soul can feel. You hear your heart beating, and that's the only thing that makes sense. Then you hear it, the translation of that dimension, the translation of the lost senses, a mantra of strange sounds. You try to reach one of them, but then it's gone. And all the others come, one stranger than the other and one more intense than the other. Soon, you can see yourself drowning into all those sounds like an vast and deep ocean. A living and pulsating ocean.

That was the little contemplation I thought about before this presentation, and that was exactly the feeling I wanted to transmit to the others. This live recording consists of one track - 20 huge minutes of the weirdest haino-ish guitar sounds I was able to produce - divided in six parts. Close you eyes, feel it physically and enjoy. I hope you can feel that too.

Catalog: VB-14 (Velvet Blue Records)
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Melt-Banana - Cell-Scape (2003)

2010-02-27T10:27:00.003-03:00

| Noise Rock | Punk Rock | Experimental Rock |

Has Melt Banana gone electronica? Though this is likely the question fans will be asking themselves during the electronically-oriented, almost Curve-like opening refrains of Cell-Scape, the answer is an emphatic and enthusiastic "no" -- they are, in fact, more tightly focused in their remarkably controlled fury than ever. From the grinding opening of "Shield for Your Eyes, A Beast in the Well..." on, this is undoubtedly the Melt Banana that listeners have marveled at for nearly a decade. The only difference between their older material and Cell-Scape is that with their latest effort the band has mastered the art of slowly building the intensity of a song before unleashing a barely contained rage that has come to define their unmistakable sound. If fans question their motives in the opening moments of this release -- the joke is most certainly on them, for the middle section of Cell-Scape shows the band's songwriting skills maturing impressively without any sacrifice to intensity or speed. Any band that has been around as long as Melt Banana and possesses such a unique sound needs to mature in some manner lest they risk the boredom of repetition in the eyes of fans, and the manner in which chirping lead squeaker YaSuKo O. and company has couldn't be more satisfying. Their undeniably unique sound is now more relevant than ever, perhaps even more so, resulting in an increasingly infectious sonic assault that will please longtime fans and peak curiosity in the uninitiated.

Catalog: AZCD-0005 (A-Zap Records)
Album Overview on Allmusic
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Boredoms - Wow 2 (1993)

2010-02-27T02:51:00.003-03:00

| Noise Rock | Experimental Rock | Punk Rock |

Released on Avant, run by Yamatsuka Eye's Naked City bandmate John Zorn, and recorded by him with help from Martin Bisi, Wow 2 surfaced around the same time that Pop Tatari made its initial Japanese bow on Warner Bros. Saying the first album is more experimental and uncommercial than the second is pushing it -- it's not like the Boredoms were going to release catchy pop ditties all of a sudden. Rather, Wow 2 is just another wiggy slice of what makes the Boredoms' sound such a great, unpredictable experience. If anything, this release is actually more straightforward than Pop Tatari. The overall sound of the album feels a bit hollow; there's a lot of echo at points, especially noticeable on the scraps of unaccompanied vocals. Still, it's presumably intentional, as is the feeling that everything was recorded in single takes without overdubbing. Eye is the predominant vocalist throughout, and compared to the near Bomb Squad levels of musical interplay on Soul Discharge, the songs here are blunter and much more direct, with crunching lead riffs quite obvious at points. Various flute and sax noises crop up in the usual tumult of sound; whether it's Zorn having fun is left unclear in the liner notes, but it's equally likely that the Boredoms simply tackle wind instruments the same way they do electric: with gusto. "Pop Can" deserves mention for its remarkably restrained feel, with an ominous call-and-response feel to it; even when things start freaking out a bit, the plodding drum/bass combination keeps grinding along while the guitar plays a few high notes rather than launching into more slabs of feedback. The spacy guitar on "Rydeen!!" also sounds great -- a nice indication of the semi-prog sense that creeps further into their music on later releases.

Catalog: Avan 026 (Avant)
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Boredoms - Pop Tatari (1992)

2010-02-27T01:34:00.004-03:00

| Noise Rock | Experimental Rock | Punk Rock |

Appearing in America after an initial Japanese release, and with a revamped track listing and song titles to boot ("Bocabola" is called that here only because somebody somewhere was worried about what a certain soft drink company might think of the original title), Pop Tatari definitely holds the crown as being one of the strangest things to surface under a major label's auspices. Starting off with "Noise Ramones," which consists solely of various high-pitched tones like those of the Emergency Broadcast System, Tatari contains some nearly conventional bits. Yet even the semi-lounge smoothness of "Nice B-O-R-E Guy Boyoyo Touch" collapses just enough, while elsewhere the screaming lunacy of fullthrottle Boremania rampages unchecked. Songs shudder to stops, launch into roaring mania and deathstomp rattle, and crunch more quickly and unexpectedly than those of just about anybody else -- no real change there, then! Add dashes of heavy funk mania ("Bo Go" would do early Funkadelic proud) along with whatever logic operates inside the band members' skulls, and the result is more cockeyed genius. Yamatsuka Eye rants above the whole mess like a man possessed, trading off with other band members in ways that practically redefine call and response. Singling out all the highlights would take forever, but "Bore Now Bore" feels like a mid-'60s frug played by berserk aliens, with some random electronics to boot, while a cover of the old Peggy Lee standard "Fever," retitled "Heeba," keeps the central riff but abandons just about everything else; the lyrics sound like they're slurred through cotton and various thrashy instrumental breaks. Concluding with the multigenre purée of "Cory & the Mandara Suicide Pyramid Action or Gas Satori," Tatari kicks out the jams eight different ways at once.

Catalog: 9 45416-2 (Reprise Records)
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