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Freak Folk. A designation I have never been particularly fond of. I mean, aren't there countless entities that are far freakier in their approach of folk than the bands and artists that are generally lumped into the category? I think so. Nevertheless, I have followed the paths of Animal Collective, Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart (overhyped, but a good musician) and the likes with a lot of interest. Freak Folk, apocryphal in name only, has produced a slew of good, even great albums that frequently made it to my yearlists.
John Eric Kaada makes beautiful modern instrumental work, that leans towards the soundtrack side of things. Here he uses a 22 strong orchestra, among other instrumentation and voices , creating an album full of charming ear catching melodies, and lush sound valleys to get lost in.
Sadly in the past Whale sounds have been the reserve of dodgy new age mediation/ relaxation cds . This new project/ compilation from Important records redressers the balance, seventeen artist utilizing Whale sounds (along with other deep sea sounds) in provocative, interesting and varied ways.
The Beekeepers dream offers up a selection of quirky, laid back airy and often oddly charming songs, twinkling with pop elements. All of the songs are performed and played by Freek Kinkelaar, he uses a well thought out and gentle mix of piano, synthesizer, guitars etc. To make an album to sooth and relax, ones weary souls.
Black Vomit gives us the first official release of last year collaboration between legendary Jazz improviser Anthony Braxton and Us Noise rock manglers Wolf eyes. Recorded live at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville.
The Gersch are grim and grimy sludgy doom with bitter hardcore elements, with a more punky take on Ozzy Osborne for vocals, this is down and dirt metal, taste of the desert and sand burnt eyes and terminal hangovers. And it’s a rather enjoyable rough and ready metal trip.
This great two-disk set brings together three soundtracks which Stelvio Cipriani wrote in the 1970's for Italian horror maestro Mario Bava. One of the soundtracks having its world premier here, it's from Bava's film Rabid Dogs, originally planned for release 1974 but that fell through.
Minazo Vol 1 finds Merzbow in a more contemplative, sad and haunting mood, than usual. He mangers to coax out some breathing taking beautiful sound swirls, from his noise tapestry, possible some of the most emotional sounds, he’s ever created.
Black Witchery brings together a trilogy of limited edition 3” cd releases from 2004. Celebrating all things darkly ocultic with three bloody slabs of seething walls of noise, that often ooze out more atmospherics and eerier filmatic creepy scapes.
This Heat were truly a one off, born from the punk/new wave era but seemly had little to connect them with their peers. They mixed surprising and bizarre rhythmic and instrumental twists and turns, falling some where between improvised and very much controlled musical form. Melding ambient, electronics, discordant guitar, jazz and modern classical elements into a form that’s been unseen since, sadly they only lasted six years as a project, but this wonderfully lush box set brings together six CD's along with a 40 page booklet, covering the recordings they made in their lifetime.
Jesu new ep Silver is a great mix of heaviness and lite memorable melodies. On paper one wonder how this can work as both seem the opposition, but trust me it works. The tunes will get stuck limpet like inside your mind, but it still has the crushing blows of the led like riffling.
So do you fancy dieing, odd question I know when we don’t know each other, but do you? .The reason I asked is if you do, The Golding Institute maybe able to help you out, with their self help/ hypnotic suggestion cd The Final relaxation. So does it work, you may ask? Bizarre item it is.
Sacred Eternal Ellipse is a low fi, avant punky take on doom, with some nice creepy guitar harmonics mixed in. The tracks for the most part fairly shortly by doom standards, clocking in at four to eighty minutes mainly, making a very approachable proposition for relative quick hits of murky and surprising tuneful grim song craft.
This is a welcome reissue of Popol Vuh’s soundtrack for the Werner Herzog Film Cobra Verde. It’s a breath taking mix of panoramic snthy dronescapes, chanted African voices, strummed folk guitar lushness. Simply some of the most beautiful music your likely to hear. All of it dwelling in aching feelings of loss, and disappointment.
Tooth and Claw starts off as a chaotic muddle of sound with bird sounds, noise, off kilter guitars, and odd vocals. As the album goes on it grows into a beautiful swan, though still a little shaky on the swimming tranquily, but never the less enchanting.
Lucifer Songs is a mix of industrialized doom, dark ambient with prog touches, and liberal splashes of samples here and there. The album comes both in its audio form and visual form in the shape of a DVD with visual dark psychedelics interpretation of the tracks.
Un’ Ombra Nell’Ombra ( Ring of Darkness) is the soundtrack from Italian 1979 demonic horror movie. It has more than a whiff of the mighty Goblin to it, and it’s not surprising as it features Claudio Simonetti from Goblin on keyboards. This is the first time it’s been been released in it’s full form, with extra tracks, and what an atmospheric synthesizer prog rock treat it is.
In the maybe world is Lisa Germano’s first release on Michael Gira’s Young God label, though she has released several albums through Capitol and 4AD.Young God records seems the perfect home for her material, that mixers honest, heart felt lyrics that move through heart break and dream worlds. But often she has a steel hand in a silken glove, tendency to her songs, slipping out some bitter truths with her soothing tone. The musical side is a wonderful mixed of laid back smudged piano melodies, lightly hazed guitar and touches of Melancholy childhood, run down carnival sadness.
The label and the background of the members of this band may be misleading, except the current band of keyboardplayer Kevin Moore, which is Chroma Key. The band of guitarist Jim Matheos has a dedicated following but is also the victim of pigeonholing and therefore I’m not going to mention it just because this band deserves a fair chance with people who aren’t necessarily interested in Matheos’ own band or Moore’s former band. Not to mention drummer Mike Portnoy, who is often taken off the job in favour of the drumcomputer.
This really is the true relizalation of Punk noise , forget Digital hardcore, that’s a gentle walk in park compaired with this. Sissy Spacek literally rip your head off and shit down your neck, with fiery discontent. 78 track in 22 minutes, of mass digital over load, rhythmic burns, sounds they may once have been vocals, ripping burn holes in your head, there’s so many ideas and so much nastiness in these 22 minutes, it’s difficult to comprehend.
Anoice are a original and beautiful mix of post rock, instrumental music and ambience. The songs are constructed with what’s best for the atmosphere, it doesn’t feel the need to build up and explode like a lot of post rock, and it doggedly avoids most of the clichés associated with the genre leaving an album full of lush melodies and cinematic wonder.
One Second Bridge’s debut is a mix of shoe gazing indie with mumbled vocals, electronics tending towards a glicthy air, and time locked pretty melodic flows woven by guitar and piano. Making an evocative and airy album, full with memorable, lulling tunes.
Troniks have always been know for high quality noise and sound releasers, here they have resurrected a two disk album by Aube (Akifumi Nakajima ) from the late 90’s, disk one users ice as it’s source material. Disk tow space, as it’s source material, it makes for a hypnotic and varied journey, into a more ambient and rthymic take on noise.
The Dying Submariner enchantingly submerges the listener in underwater landscapes, that drifting with dead bodies, and lost ships. But also of mystical cities of coral and pearl in the deeperist cannons of the sea, never before seen by human eyes.