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The Peppermints are ugly, mean and messy. That’s what they play punk music and blaspheme our Lord Jesus, and the Holy, oh so Holy Bible.
Last year I went to a liveshow by this Hungarian band and there they finally won me over. I knew their two CD’s and I liked those, but music like this not really designed to be canned, it’s a pale shadow of the real thing. Although here in Holland chances are small you get the full flavour of a Hungarian gypsyparty although there always will be a few immigrants that come from the country that the band is from and who’ll burst into dance.
It’s been five long years since Esoteric released their last album Metamorphogenesis. In that time many acts have come and tried to dethrone them from the top of the Funeral doom pile, Void of silence, Shape of despair, Evoken. But none have been able to match the vast, epic apocalypse of sound that Esoteric are capable of producing. This their fifth album, the first to get a full international release, through Seasons of mist is a return of sorts to the more introspective and bleak atmospheres of their classic third album Pernicious Enigma. The sound is full, clear and awesomely powerful, but as opposed to the vast landscapes of Metamorphogenesis, this album has a far more internalised rage.
Akuma no Uta is part of the Rock side of Boris’ music. Because of that, it’s not the western fans’ most favoured record. A shame, because it rocks like few albums have rocked in recent years.
In the world of contemporary music, hypes follow each other faster than Europe can say "No!" to thenew constitution. I would not be surprised if, following hot on the heals of the stoner rock hype,the interest of the general public would be shifting towards doom metal. The recent success of Sunn O))) concerts in Belgium and The Netherlands surely hints at this. As with all hypes, one has to look at the originators to find fresh, new ideas - leaders, not followers. In this respect, ASVA scoresmuch better than a lot of bands who will follow in their wake, for one of ASVA's founding members is Stuart Dahlquist of Sunn O))) and Burning Witch fame. Dahlquist has brought in some otherluminaries, like John Schuller (Master Musicians of Bukkake), B.R.A.D. (Burning Witch), andTrey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle).
It’s always very nice to hear from good friends after a long period with no news. They tell you everything is fine with them, maybe that they have had a baby or something. After quite a while, Ill-Bosstino from everyone’s favourite Japanese hiphop act Tha Blue Herb gave me such news with the new compilation of his label.
As I pointed out in my review of Electrelane's sophomore album The Power Out elsewhereon this site, I did not think that the band had fully realized their potential at that time yet.This raised the stakes considerably for this, their third release. My expectations have only beenheightened because The Power Out has grown to become a favorite around the house, and has beenpretty much on constant rotation since I wrote that review last December.
Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins have collaborated on numerous projects, including John Zorns The Bribe and Mori’s B Side soundtrack CD. This however is the first full collaboration between these two new music pioneers. Parkins making her name being one of if not the only electric harpist around and Mori with her unique and highly requested drum machine and electronics style.
I’ve always been a sucker for horror influenced metal, and when it’s done well it can be great creepy fun. Necrophagia have always been about fusion of extreme metal and Horror and here they’re at the top of the game.
Death Ambient is another one of these improvising new music groups that the artists on Tzadik have a habit of forming. This one consists of Kata Hideki on bass, Fred Frith on Guitar and Ikue Mori on her customary drum machines and electronics.
Thanks to compilations of Turkish beat and garage music called Turkish Delights and Hava Narghile I was put on the trail of the Turkish progrock of the seventies. Barış Manço reportedly has a legendary status in his homeland and has been making music since his 15th in 1958. In 1975 he released this gem, a futuristic progressive rock album where the odd meters aren’t odd, but firmly rooted in the tradition.
Raging Speedhorn, they look like a bunch of small-time thugs, local hooligans who should not be able of much more than unashamed brutality. If you think that way, well, guess what… You’re right.
When a name like this one is associated with a musical project rather than with some new chemical medication, you probably expect a rather robotic kind of electronic music, some very cold techno influenced ambiences.
Few acts of today love repetition as much as Pharaoh Overlord. It’s like the band had been brought together to form a new cult to the God “Moreiwantmoreofthesameriff” (Mesopotamian divinity).
Music for airports. Music for lovers. Music for the stations before and after sleep. Music for funerals. Music for children.
Luc Ferrari is one of the most influential figures in contemporary music today and one of the pioneers of Musique Concrete. His unique approach to this sometimes overly academic field of music is primarily artistic rather than research based. Much of his electronic work is centred around the concept of the audio photograph, using concrete and musical sounds to create a storytelling, cinematic approach that takes the listener on journeys to real and imaginary landscapes.
From the eternal source of new music that is the Tzadik label comes Mephista, an all girl improvising super group consisting of Sylvie Courvoisier on Piano, Susie Ibarra on percussion and Ikue Mori with her distinctive powerbook electronics. The results are a fascinating blend of bewildering electronics driven excursions and piano / percussion led improvisations.
Robert Ashley’s Automatic writing is one of the most influential pieces of electronic music. It’s structure, theory and execution are all of a mind blowing standard. Virtually unclassifiable when it was released in 1979, today it has lost none of it’s mystique.
From it’s beginnings as Thomas Weber one man’s thing, Kammerflimmer Kollektief has evolved a lot. First, he started to ask people to come and join him. They recorded Cicadae, a brilliant albeit too cold album. With Absencen, KK has become a band, a real one. They give warmth and greatness. They are alone in their own league. Good stuff.
The Tuna Helpers are three fair maidens from a far away kingdom who debut on the Mimicry with an album that I wasn’t sure what to think when I heard the samples. Hearing the full CD I must say that the samples once again fell short in representing what these ladies are about.
Morr Music expands! They invade the realms of hiphop and downtempo. And it’s not like it was a good idea.
Originally a duo from Argentina, Languis relocated in California more than ten years ago. The four walls is their fifth album.
Black metal is like metal on a miniature scale: it has its peak periods, alternating with periods during which the scene appears to be stagnant, and critics proclaim the imminent death of the genre. In the late 1990s, black metal was moving ever further away fromits stated principles, as bands either began to move towards the commercial banalityof mainstream acts like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, or were desparatelytrying to incorporate elements that had before been absent from the genre (electronics, drum computers, etc.), with varying results.
Since James Rutledge released his first album two years ago, folksy hiphop / electronica has gotten more and more popular. It’s now time to realise that under his Pedro moniker, he was one of the pioneers.