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When you think of it, it was only logical that Jarboe and Neurosis would work together one day. For if there was one band that could be considered as a 21st century Swans, it is Neurosis. Maybe not entirely true when you take into account purely musical criteria, but much more one point when you think about the atmosphere that both bands manage(d) to create.
Two years after a widely acclaimed debut release on Klangrieg, The Kat Cosm are back with Knightboat, a mini album featuring four new tracks and three remixes. A very cute mix of electronic and pastoral folk/pop.
Immense come from Bristol but thankfully they don’t play some generic trip-hop : they favour their own kind of experimental alt-rock. Hidden between sleeves is their second album. Their first was released on Fat Cat.
If there's one heavy rockband that deserves more fame and respect, it must be Swedish four-man formation The Quill. I got to know this excellent band last year, trough their third album Voodoo Caravan. Suffice to say, before the third track had ended I was already quite impressed by the band's passionate, stoner-like branch of heavy rock. Finally a follow-up to the previous album has been released, and I can only say that this new album really highlights The Quill's talent and relevance.
Hello ladies and gentlemen, make way for the most beautiful guitar music of 2003! Make way for Australasia, Pelican’s second instalment. Make way for the majestic bird!
Ghislain Poirier. The name in itself is not as striking as P.Diddy, Timbaland or even Chad Hugo. Where I live, it would be the perfect name for the local loser. But in Quebec, or at least in music, Poirier means great, mostly instrumental, hiphop.
On ambient godfather David Toop’s latest album, one piece is inspired by Henri Michaux; this fact sheds light on several aspects of the album as a whole. Michaux was a Walloon writer and painter who was inspired by surrealism and wrote extravagant, mystical imaginary journeys and hermetic poetry, taking drugs as Baudelaire did to reach an artificial paradise. Incidentally, three of his poems were put to music by Witold £utos³awski in the early sixties. On Black chamber Toop, also an accomplished journalist and writer of the key works Ocean of sound and Exotica (and, less to the point here, Rap attack), does not use any specific texts or paintings; rather, he takes the listener on a trip through dense jungles, undiscovered tribes and the bustling streets of a Chinese town.
Some tracks presented on On Air With Guests have previously been released on Live in 1998, on which the tracks were played almost for the first time. Since then the band had grown and the tunes changed a bit. The opportunity arose to invite guests these sessions are presented here. The first versions of these tracks were pretty amazing already but this time they are insane!
Early on in my quest to explore the not quite so transparent folk genre, I stumbled across an album called The Glinting Spade, by the interestingly named band In Gowan Ring. Up to that moment I had only known the raw, compact variety of folk (street folk?), so I was kind of surprised to find out that the music of In Gowan Ring has very little in common with the kind of folk I was familiar with. In fact, In Gowan Ring exists in a totally different musical dimension.
A few months after having released an album by Sun, Staubgold releases another Australian pop gem featuring some well known scenesters.
The Soil Bleeds Black first saw the light of day in '92, as a result of brothers Michael and Mark Riddick's need to express their love for medieval folklore in sound. After two years of experimentation and having endured what can almost be referred to as an identity crisis,
Welcome ladies and gentlemen. How about a bit of good old Las Vegas style Lounge- and big band music? If you are like me you would probably run away as fast as you can. But perhaps it's worth to stick around for the golden voice of mister Richard Cheese and his Lounge against the machine.
In the last book of his Politeia (Republic), Plato tells the tale of Er the Pamphylian, who is slain in battle, and whose body is found ten days later without a trace of decay. On the twelfth day, as he is lying on the pyre, he awakens back into life and recounts what he has seen on the other side.
The kings and queens of all things speed/ noise/ grind/ punk/ pop are back with their fifth studio album, sounding better than ever. And if you’ve been lucky enough to witness one of their live performances of their recent American and European tours, you know that, after 10 years, there is still a lot of fuel in the tank…
Legendary Japanese Experimentalist KK Null releases Atomik Disorder (on Neurot), his 7th full-length of the year. Be careful, it’s going to hurt…
One of the unsung heroes (or lightweight soldiers, depends on how you see it) of Ninja Tune, DJ Luv claims some more exposure with his second full-length, this time under The dorkestra moniker.
It’s Bucketheadland’s 13th anniversary! In the second anniversary year we get to visit Bucketheadland again. By melting guns and tanks and using the metal for building new rides and attractions we get to see a lot of new stuff!
Vicnet is the project of a young french designer who indulges in retro electro-pop. 80’s revival again, but at least not as annoying as electro-clash.
Four studio rats from Switzerland get together and record an album under the name of Monno. An interesting clash between abstract experimental music and punk. However, the end result is quite tepid.
Once upon a dream. A man came to me and said “you shall listen to math-rock”. From his worn-out leather bag, he took a few CD’s and put them on the floor. When I woke up, all sweaty and stinky, the presents were still around. Written on the covers were unfathomable names such as Don Caballero, King Crimson, Slint, Cheval de frise. And when I listened to the CD’s one after the other, I got scared… Weird structures, endless time signature changes… Aaaaargggh! Aaaaarrrgggghhhhh!
The tektonic doom-unit Khanate drops their second album and you can only stand in awe of the immense power that this quartet generates. As slow and destructive as drifting ice the album completely crushes everything on its way.
These days, Russia means imprisoned oligarch, war in Chechnya, Vladimir Putin, very rich people, extremely poor people. But there is more to it: Russia has its fair share of talented musicians. Roman Belousov is one of them. He has just released his fourth full-length under his Novel23 alias.
Second album for the swedish band, featuring 10 tracks of nice and catchy power pop.
Ulver have always had a soft spot for conceptual works. In that respect, their latest ep is their most conceptually rigorous release ever.