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Self-released
This is their first official album to be released but not the first album they made. Their first album was a collection of demos that wasn’t allowed past the Iranian. So for their self titled debut, Ahoora have gone the home recording and DIY distribution route. The production has suffered because of this, although I must make the disclaimer that all they could make available to me at the time were 128kb mp3s. However it sounds like the guitars didn’t get the most polished recording, the distortion is very tinny. I have to say, for many artists this would put me off but I’m willing to make an exception here because I don’t imagine it being easy, even recording at home, to crank up a load of tube amps in Iran without drawing unwanted attention to yourself.
The opener, “Spiritual Creator,” doesn’t sound too promising at first but Ahoora find their feet quickly. There’s a strong hint of Iron Maiden and Iced Earth here. I’m a fan of the former but not the latter; luckily Ahoora can pull it off. The album goes up a notch with the next song, “Beyond the Reasonable Doubt of a Lunatic,” which then goes through peaks and troughs of quality through its twelve minutes. It does contain a quality solo about four minutes from the end which segues into the rest of the song beautifully. I must admit I plugged in my air guitar for it.
The album gets better as it goes on with the songs “Flock” and “Tale of the Crimson Path” taking centre stage. Both are metal in its most unadulterated form which, although far from innovative, they are well executed. This sort of by the book metal fits with the band’s name, Ahoora is roughly translated as “purest pure” and it strikes me that Ahoora have set out to play anything more than pure metal. Anyone who doesn’t have a love of all things leather and studded will have a hard time digging this but for me this is a nice break from all the doom and black metal that is so popular these days.
With any luck, Ahoora will be able to make available better quality copies of this album via downloads or at least in the future be able to make better quality recordings as it is one of the main things holding them back. Their songs are well written and performed but are sometimes too derivative. With a little more development of their sound, even with the rough recording, they could be a formidable band as they’ve got the fire to play in spades.
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Don't get me wrong. I have much love for Dubblestandart as well as Collision, the Echo Beach imprint whose burgeoning catalogue includes contributions from such quality artists as Africa United, Dub Syndicate, and Keith LeBlanc. Yet I question whether the band's latest two-disc effort quite meets the challenge of producing what one could call "outsider dub" in the 21st century. Much like kindred spirit George Evelyn's Nightmares On Wax did with mixed end-results on 2002's Mind Elevation, Dubblestandart here veers into poppier territory. Judging from the material, they might have done better to journey towards Kingston instead of Vienna.
Nowhere is this Achilles' heel syndrome more apparent than in the group's selection of vocalists, most of whom are woefully detached from the spirit of the music, to say nothing of its roots. Noa More and major label singer Gudrun reach for the radio dial on their four respective tracks, doing a disservice to the groovy bass, guitar, drum, and synth arrangements that zealously toil below their voices. The lackadaisical G. Rizo seems far more at home on electroclash throwaways (she has recorded for Gigolo) than on "The Rhythm," as evidenced by her seemingly disinterested take. Thankfully, Ari-Up, an infamous performer who has previously impressed with her work in New Age Steppers and seminal act The Slits, unsurprisingly represents well, albeit minimally, on her sole contribution, "Island Girl Dub."
Although technically a remix album, Heavy Heavy Monster Dub shone a spotlight on the band's capabilities, and fortunately there are cuts on Are You Experienced that similarly display that strength. "Everything Is Go" has a classic vibe to it, while the dub of "Heights Of Paranoia" reaches cosmic levels, with the players jamming freely while maintaining listenability, a testament to their undeniable talent.
The spacey "Star Spangled Dub" closes the album out with uncharacteristic beatless brevity, a strange segue into the "bonus" second disc of generally unecessary and, at times, redundant remixes of previous material. It's good to have the two mixes of "Return From Planet Egalica" on CD, but was it really necessary to include previously released cuts like Keith Leblanc's take on "Terrarists and Inhalers" and the Sounds From The Ground remix of "Evil Empire" again? In a perfect world, I would've been thrilled over such an extensive package of new Dubblestandart material and remixes, yet taking into account all of these flaws I can't help but wonder whether the band has lost its way.
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Battle Kommand
The self-titled EP opens with “Mons Venus” which starts off less than excitingly. The vocals sound like they came from a completely different recording session to the music. They sound too clinical (in a growling sort of way) for them to fit properly with the rest of the song. Musically I can’t fault it; the playing is tight, heavy and pushes all the right buttons at the right time. Had the vocals been better mixed then it would be a much stronger piece but as it stands it doesn’t pummel me into oblivion like the later pieces do.
As the CD goes on, it gets better and better. “Bullwhip” increases the tempo and the rhythm that forms is substantial and straightforward. The vocalist relies less on growling and more on singing (while keeping a healthy dose of gravel in his throat) which fits better with the music. Slowing down again, “Honey and Salt” is a huge, full guitar and bass refrain that suggests to me that this is only the tip of the iceberg with Zoroaster. They’re not rewriting the rules of doom but with this song they at least show that they are more than capable of keeping up with the giants that have gone before.
Zoroaster finishes with “Defile” (well there’s a short secret track but it is of little consequence compared to this). Here Zoroaster peak as everything falls into place. The failed vocal style from the first song returns but this time it works far better. The music is less dependent on one or two repeating riffs; the greater variety means that the band explodes from the speakers again and again over the eleven minutes giving a constant barrage of powerful riffing.
The half an hour of doom presented here by Zoroaster has whetted my appetite for more. Their forthcoming album with Battle Kommand will be the true test; if they continue with songs like “Defile” and “Honey and Salt” then I’m sure it will be the dog’s bollocks. If they become formulaic and just another doom band then at least I still have this EP to fall back on.
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Polyvinyl Records has been releasing unobjectionable indie rock for some time now. The first time I ever laid my hand on one of their releases was when I was living in Chicago and trying to put together an eclectic d.i.y. show on the south side. We already had some grindcore bands like Charles Bronson and MK-Ultra signed up, but needed some more fodder. Someone suggested Rainer Maria from Wisconsin and I picked up their first EP with its oppressively white, pink, and purple cover. It looked like a sunset gone wrong and the music itself was almost a collection of odes to sunsets, relationships, summers, and all of that good stuff you want in your songs. Needless to say, they didn't quite fit with the tenor of the show, but Polyvinyl has continued to release likeminded indie rock which flows from the overly saccharine to the slightly edgy. I hadn't paid much attention to the label for a while since my interests had strayed elsewhere, but the new(ish) releases by Headlights have reawakened me to the label.
The band started last year's debut EP with the whimsical "Tokyo," a less-than-high-speed journey through what could be trials of endless touring (the band has played over seventy shows this year already) or simply long-distance yearning. Though you can hear the exhaustion as the bass and guitars slide off into silence with each punctuating verse, the song never feels weary or enervated. Instead, the band keeps pushing onwards, meeting every deceleration with spontaneous energy to continue on. Erin Fein's vocals are purely harmonizing tools for the first two songs on the EP, dancing playfully around Brett Sanderson's. Fein and Sanderson split vocal duties on "Everyone Needs a Fence to Lean On" and suddenly you realize that Fein has this perfectly-formed, lollipop voice that is easier to swallow than a sugar-coated Advil. In the middle refrain of the song, her voice delicately evaporates into the swell of the music but leaves such a strong, seamless, and sweet resonance. It's a delectable aftertaste and one you should long for.
Between tours and in the advent of their upcoming (late August) full-length, Headlights have released a split 7" single with The Most Serene Republic. Resist all the hype going around about the Arts and Crafts label and how infectious Broken Social Scene is and all that other malarkey and give the Headlights side the first listen. (Actually, the Serene Republic song is pretty good, but that's not my concern here.) Plodding piano, lusciously exasperated vocals, Humpty Dumpty motifs, and a deliberately building climax grace all four minutes of this gem. When that song gets you hooked, go find a sample MP3 of the Headlights' song "TV" from the upcoming album. It will be your unpretentious summer anthem.
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The "alternate version" of Relevee has been edited down from the 13 1/2 minute version on last year's Days of Mars release to a more concise seven minute version. Additionally, it adds a subtle kick drum and clap just to make it slightly more accessible, but this version will probably only ever be used in dancefloor mixes and rarely played on its own.
The DFA crew unsurprisingly punch up the beats with disco drums, congas, handclaps, and a slight rearrangement of the melody (see their remixes of Black Dice and Delia and Gavin's "Rise": at least they're consistent). Additional keyboards and a thumping bassline sound great, but I'm not sure how I feel about the vocals, as subtle as they are I'm not so certain they actually belong or not. Otherwise it is a disco gem.
While techno master Carl Craig's 11 minute is pretty decadent, his version goes on for seemingly too long (over three minutes) before anything drastic is done to the tune. The basic 808 kick, open hi-hat, and clap sounds are quantized gracefully to a Delia and Gavin's original sequencer interplay, only fattened by various effects. A digital conga and live piano interplay is neat but kinda short and not as engaging as the other stuff. I guess I'm a sucker for the cheap tricks.
Baby Ford doesn't take the melody anywhere new but enhances things with extreme low end. In all honesty, this remix could have made its point at about 1/3 of the length. As hypnotizing as it is, nothing much happens for its 10+ minutes.
The video they made for this single is a complete trip—see the scene pictured on the cover—where Delia and Gavin dance backwards in slow motion while colored neon lights blaze behind them in various sequences. The camera doesn't move, the lights are hypnotic, but the dancing is absolutely silly. It's completely inaccessible for MTV or just about every other pop video outlet imaginable but it is the perfect visual for their music, and I've expected nothing less. Definitely look for it at a music video night I VJ at near you!
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Sub Rosa
Son Mémorisé includes an unreleased piece from his “Presque Rien” series of recordings. “Presque Rien #4: La Remontée du Village” is a processed and edited recording of a day split across two tracks. It is everyday life condensed into the space of around 16 minutes (and worked on for over nine years!). It doesn’t sound like all the recordings are crammed in, but instead sounds like Ferrari is walking through a bustling area of a town. It’s very natural sounding apart from the moments of heavily treated and chopped up recordings. It is a masterful piece of audio documentation where I can almost smell and feel the surroundings that I am hearing.
The middle section of the album is a recording of Ferrari’s visit to Algeria in the late seventies. “Promenade Symphonique dans un Paysage Musical…” is broken up into morning, afternoon and evening with different events occurring at each time of day. The market sounds are rich in texture but somewhat boring. The wedding is far more exciting, the music and sounds of joy rocked by what appears to be celebratory gunshots (which take my ears off when listening on headphones).
The final half hour of Son Mémorisé is a more recent piece entitled “Saliceburry Cocktail.” It is a collection of sounds recorded throughout the nineties and assembled into the piece found here in 2002. Ferrari writes in the sleevenotes about how he was hiding sounds he didn’t like with other sounds he didn’t like. I can hear what he means; there are a few queasy sounds (such as the creepy laughter on the second track of the piece). Unlike the previous pieces which although in places were slightly manipulated, “Saliceburry Cocktail” his heavily shaped by Ferrari. This is much more unnatural and chaotic. Parts of it are amazing sounding and parts of it are aggravating to listen to.
While Son Mémorisé isn’t consistently good, there are enough exceptional moments to justify its release. The parts I don’t like will most likely grow on me over the next few months, Ferrari isn’t someone that I can just pick up and instantly appreciate. Importantly, this is not a collection of pieces that are only getting thrown out into public view now that Ferrari is gone; it is a worthy addition to his canon.
samples:
- Presque Rien #4: "La Remontée du Village"
- Promenade Symphonique dans un Paysage Musical...
- Saliceburry Cocktail
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Having made their mark on several Sugar Minnott recordings, vocalists Clive Davis and Christopher Harvey birthed Jezzreel for this 1980 Wackies record. Supported by Jah Scotty's New Breed Band with arrangement and mixing by label head Lloyd Barnes and Prince Douglas, the well-sung lyrical content is strictly the meat and potatoes or, rather, the more appropriately ital dietary equivalent, of roots reggae. Opening with a brief solo piano melody that strangely never reappears, the record's theme immediately takes shape, as "Love Of My Life" quickly shifts into a sentimental Rastafarian ode set to a skanking beat.
As is the standard for showcase albums, all of the remaining tracks transition from full vocal takes to dubwise versions. Of these, "Sun Will Shine" stands out as a clear highlight for me, spotlighting Jezzreel's herbal blend of hooky repetitive chorus harmonies and bass-driven riddims. The devotional prayer of the title track calls out for spiritual guidance from above, doing so in a manner that would compel listeners religious and non-religious alike to sing along. No "conscious" album from this period would be complete without at least one song dedicated to the struggles of the poor, and the unambiguously titled "Living In The Ghetto" fulfills that requirement more than adequately.
Not exactly a lost classic, Great Jah Jah comes across as rather short when compared to today's standard CD lengths and some cash-strapped consumers might balk at paying full import price for under 40 minutes of music. Still, all six sublime songs featured here rightfully belong in Basic Channel's ongoing Wackies reissue campaign.
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As disco continues to enjoy a prolonged revival thanks in part to hot artists like Metro Area and Lindstrom & Prins-Thomas, UK label Soul Jazz eagerly jumps on the bandwagon with this double disc set of '70s mixes from one of the genre's godfathers.
Although these aforementioned nu-disco super troupers might be quicker to cite Giorgio Moroder or maybe Patrick Cowley as a primary influence, Tom Moulton's impact on music then and now cannot be overlooked. After all, it is he, not P. Diddy, who is credited as having invented the remix and the 12" single, dance music requisites that have unquestionably dominated our culture ever since. These days, to tweak Frank Sinatra's famous lyric, you're nobody 'til somebody remixes you.
Unlike many of the compilations that litter the racks at mega-sized retail chains and collect dust in the bargain bins of used CD shops, A Tom Moulton Mix exists outside of the norm, effortlessly eschewing colossal cuts now sanitized by Bar Mitzvahs and office Christmas parties for something more to the liking of crate diggers and those who foolhardily wish to intellectualize this strictly hedonistic sound. And while Soul Jazz is culpable of participating in the latter revisionist offense here, it doesn't matter since many of the fortuitously unmixed selections themselves are really quite good.
After two minutes of funk-flavored build-up, Temptations alumnus Eddie Kendricks' falsetto kicks off this collection unabashedly with "Keep On Truckin." Also of note are groovy, flamboyant numbers from seminal figures such as Grace Jones alongside since-forgotten groups like Detroit Emeralds, Orlando Riva Sound, and South Shore Commission, all exhibiting Moulton's touch. Unless you spent most of the past several decades trapped in a P.O.W. camp—or even if you did—you've undoubtedly heard Andrea True Connection's instantly recognizable "More More More," or at least that Canadian one-hit wonder Len's sucktastic "Steal My Sunshine" which samples one of its bridges.
It probably comes as at least a mock surprise of most people that Isaac Hayes actually penned more than the "Theme to Shaft" and "Chocolate Salty Balls," and the smooth propositioning of "Moonlight Loving" will initiate those primarily familiar with his Chef caricature. Irrespective of his quasi-scandalous Scientological foibles, the man was singing about threesomes—and convincing foxy ladies to participate—before most Brainwashed readers ever saw a girl naked.
Disco is notoriously well-known for its excesses on and off the dancefloor, and history hasn't exactly been kind by demoting most of its defining elements to camp instead of cool. (You can practically see the Indian headdresses while listening to BT Express' "Peace Pipe.") Not for the casual listener, only those eager to venture beyond the Donna Summer and Chic hits overplayed by the Clear Channel monolith and its less massive imitators should bother to inform themselves with A Tom Moulton Mix. Additionally, savvy DJs sentimentally snorting lines and vigilantly gobbling up the current load of nu-disco productions may want to snag the simultaneously available 2x12" vinyl version and benefit from having these extended mixes in their record bag of tricks.
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Since the debut Akron/Family album came out in March ’05 they’ve
played hundreds (and hundreds) of shows across the known world,
recorded / released and toured for a split album with Angels of Light
(also serving as backing band in the latter, both in studio and on
tour), recorded a few home brewed albums they sell on the road, and
have generally worked themselves to death, or at least into a new
entity they themselves maybe don’t even recognize. And now this: a
new “special” album that has been blaring in my office constantly,
obsessively, for weeks now and that once again shows them morphing
into something simultaneously unfamiliar, wild, gentle, raging,
hilarious, elated and meditative - riddled with chaos and sonic
contradiction, and sometimes just simply beautiful – the song “Gone
Beyond” is the sort of palliative hymn I want to hear while suddenly
finding myself drifting through the universe having unexpectedly
jettisoned the meat-grinder of earthly existence - where perhaps
songs like “Blessing Force” , played repeatedly at full volume, have
pummeled me into hapless insensibility. All of this ultimately gets
sorted out and makes for a stunning document, in my opinion. At the
time of this writing they’re ensconced in the mountains somewhere on
a much-needed recuperative retreat. Good thing, because this fall and
winter they’ll be touring again and also recording another new album
for YGR, to be released early next year, when they’ll tour again, and
on to infinity... I hope you enjoy the music! - Michael Gira/Young
God Records
Here’s what Seth has to say about making this recording: “These songs
were written about a year ago by individual band members and then
hashed out as a band together on the road in hotels and in the van
the few weeks prior to the studio time in Chicago, while we were all
freezing in the winter hinterlands of Canada, wheezing with
bronchitis…The recording in Chicago was nuts. We played in Iowa City
Monday night. Then drove all that night, slept 2 hours on the corner
of 23rd and Michigan in Chicago outside the studio in the van. Then
started setting up to record at 10:00 am and recorded until 8:00 pm.
Then we headed straight to Urbana Illinois to play that same night.
Then drove back to Chicago that same night after the show, started
recording that next morning at 10:00 am, recorded all day again, and
then left again at 8;00 pm to play that same night in Milwaukee. It
was extremely crazy, and i can't remember if we have ever been more
disoriented and tired before…We recorded at Shape Shoppe in Chicago
and it was engineered by Griffin Rodriguez…Griffin also plays upright
bass on track 4, no Space in this realm…The big emphasis on doing
this recording was the chance to record two days in Chicago with our
favorite free jazz master drummer Hamid Drake. He has played on
hundreds of records with jazz luminaries Peter Brotzmann, Don Cherry,
Pharaoh Sanders, William Parker, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark -
the list goes on … We did an additional day of recording with the Do
Make Say Think/ Broken Social Scene guys in Toronto, two days with
Jason La Farge at Seizure’s Palace in Brooklyn, and countless mind
droning moments in my (Seth's) apartment. Mixed and mastered with
Doug Henderson. Production was Akron/Family and Michael Gira. We
recorded ourselves in Chicago and then a day in Toronto, and then we
went back to NY and did two more studio days and mixing with
Michael.”
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Their nervous energy is apparent from the beginning with songs like “A+ Cannibal” and “Toffee Coffee.” Drums race forward while the vocals spew raw and vitriolic. As elsewhere on the album, the flute and clarinet come across like jagged spurts of free jazz that retain their shape just shy of chaos. But they have other uses, too, like on “Boomer,” in which they form a demented march. Drums often burst from unexpected places, and the vocals are frequently confrontational. Anarchy never seems too far away, lending the album the impression that it could implode at any moment. Thankfully, it never does.
It’s only fitting that such an uncommon configuration would have a unique sound, and Death Sentence: Panda!'s sound is only heightened by an aversion to anything resembling typical songwriting. Although it’s hard for me to guess how long such an unconventional arrangement can last, especially considering that the group breezes through eight songs in just 11 minutes on this record, I certainly hope their creativity continues to flourish like it does on this excellent debut.
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