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Joe lally’s Debut Album There to here, comes off like the work of a more geeky, nasally and up type Lou Reed. with lots and lots of bass heavy songs, Not surprising really since Lally was the bass player in punk cult band Fugazi. It sure does have some rewarding moments along the way, though one does feel a little bass tired by the end of it all.
Meek Warrior is a really mixed bag, both in musically style and I’m sad to say quality wise as well . When Akron Family shine they really do, everything fits into place and their music is an enjoyable place to be. But when they try to over stretch themselves and try too many things at once or attempt styles they clear only have vague notion of, it all goes wrong.
Moss & memory is knee-deep with dark ritual forest air, you can almost smell the due heavy pine tree, feel the moss carpet under you, feel the coarse bark against your hands. It’s all brought into ever-green existence with a mix of barren acoustic guitar work, epic almost post rock structures, dank ambience, funeral drones and all manner of darkly hazed folk instrumentation. All tipped with atmospheric bird and nature samples, making a truly spine tingling trip into the dark spirit of the forest.
Specification. Fifteen grows in shape and form slowly from silence, slowly the shape and definition the drones and electronics become clear, but never too defined. This is the real definition of ambient music, at normal stereo volume it just paints the rooms tone in soothing pastel colours, like autumnal first light just lighting the room.
Mono are a rather unique entity in that they hail from Japan yet play a form of metalized orchestral post rock. This unique status has garnered them with much attention over their short five year career. Their debut was released on John Zorns Tzadik label (A shock decision for a label more used to releasing the cream of the worlds avant-garde and Jazz music) Steve Albini produced their last album and takes the reigns again for this album the evocatively titled You are there.
They is a grating and burning, tone shifting beast of a noise release, Surprisingly coming from a females firey mind, giving prove positive that women can conjure up just tortures and dense take on noise as their male counterparts.
We very much take for granted our hearts and all the criss cross of network of veins that pump blood around our bodies, every second and every breath is decided by your blood flow. This is what Daniel Menche investigates on Jugularis, the rhythm and its many textures of pumping blood. It’s like you've been shrunk down, then injected into a body.You travel along, the many by ways of it’s arterially systems.
The title of Scene memory is very apt for this collection of guitar mood pieces, which dips into drifting and often melancholy sound scapes, literal linking a memory of a scene or event to one’s mind. Leo Abrahams has worked with Brian Eno among others, and this clearly has the air and quality of some of eno’s work, But Abrahams has managed to cast his own beautiful and poignant light upon these tracks .
Theme’s second album investigates nicely defined filmatic, ambient and drone textures. Utilizing electronics, sitar, Indian pipes, piano, violin etc. Making a album of pieces that conjures up vast often half-lit landscapes and strange uncharted lands, to loose ones self in.
Using Italian horror and zombie films and their soundtracks as an influence. Along with drone , folk,electronic, rock elements, to Conceive a wonderfully eerier and water bound concept album about a zombie attack on the high seas.
Saroos try and mesh together electro beat scarps with a hip hop vibe and indie Emo guitar melodies. Coming out on Notwist's Alien Transistor label that co released the Amazing 13 & god album with Anticon last year. Were 13 & god managed to meld these genres in a concise, well sculpted and edgy way, sadly Saroos too often miss the mark.
Indian Jewellery’s Debut album is a juddering, off kilter stew of careering lo-fi indie, come punked up guitars. Married to churning and grimy synthesizer work and crude electronics. Making a wonderfully shambolic and psychedelic incrusted masterpiece.
Agents at Midnight is the First release from this Jazz/ noise duo of : Ed Chang, who bends and frays and brutalises his saxophone and Ed Howard who is in charge of electronics and Harmonica abuse. All making a captervating and brutal mix of sounds, falling in improvised jazz sates some times and at other times in skin burning noise state, sometimes both at the same time.
This is my first experience with the wonderful dense and almost airless sound of To Live and shave in La. Their sound really is audio over load of the truest form- sounds, melody, voices and singing come at all angles, quite what it all means I’m unsure, but it certainly keeps one attention and works as great delirious audio acid trip.
Satisfy the dog seems to be the first depraved audio noise fruit of Two Assistant Deputy Ministers , All the work of it the work of Mr Jason Soddy. It’s a jerking and crashing trip into crushed audio partials, which are bonded into looped and rhythmic clusters, all with a rather morbid smile to the whole proceedings.
Human animal sees Wolf eyes taking a more atmospheric and dread filled take on their sound; making an album that’s full of shadowy shades and tints of blood reds. Where their last full length release on Sub pop Burned mind, felt like a brutal and crazed audio hammer attack with slight breathers. Human Animal feels like been caught in some hellish dungeon unsure what lies in wait for you or possible awaking tied to a table unsure how you got here and all you can smell is blood and decay.
Nuit Du Plomb is a fine slice of ambient electronic beats scapes, full of wonky melodies and hazy ambient drifts. Original conceived as a soundtrack to a reading of German expressionist writer's Hans Henny Jahnn novlet The Night of Lead, but don’t let this put you off this is not a deep concept album. It’s very approachable and consistent collection of tracks.
At its best moments Ceiling songs evokes a beautiful heady melodic wonder. Leaving the listener literal press at the ceiling of ones listing space, wanting to escape into the deep blue wonder and drift into cloud patterns.
Electrice is Christina Carter second album on Kranky, it’s a hypnotic,beautiful and haunted trip into a landscape of barren desert drone folk. All of the songs are played in the same key and using the same guitar tuning, giving the whole album a vast drifting melancholy landscape.
Live In Geneva Finds Merzbow working in a longer form than usual, with the near on hour long track taking up all of the runtime here. Building from sinister beginnings to a crash nerve- jangling walls of noise. With-in the hours playing time, he takes us lots of places texturally, so boredom never sets in.
Choking on Grave soil is Black Sand Desert (Detroit’s Greh Holger) first full cd release, though he has released a few cdrs and some vinyl before. The cd offers up two tie you’re self to ground, stand-storm ear- burning trips into audio torture.
Symphony #2 Elementalities is a very sleek hellish take on noise, built around endless layers of clattering percussive. Almost feeling like an audio painting of a descent into hell it’s self. Religious connection and feeling of damnation appear again in the apocalyptic bible like texts, in the 12 pages booklet that comes with the cd.
Chi L’ha Vista Morire? (Who Saw her Die?)is a wonderful lost Morricone Soundtrack that primal uses child choirs to beautiful and often chilling effect. The films a 1972 Aldo Lado Giallo thriller set in and played out around the unsettling filmed Labyrinth streets of Venice.
Worms of Sabnock Debut album offers a different turn of the whole black metal sound, Sure they utilize the common elements like grim riffing, demon growls, female vocals.But add to them some usual elements, like experimental turns, l clear vocals and more straight ahead rock moments , but the biggest surprise of all is: Flutes, yes Flutes. And they really work well, placed over the dark riffing and on the more darkly mellow moments.