- Graeme Rowland
- Albums and Singles
Opening with the 'Fog Detonator' sounding like ashort field recording of doomed chickens lte loose on a minefield, it'simmediately clear that this is going to be a bumpy ride. Thesecond track is a Coil mix / collaboration in homage to'Hobgoblins'. John Balance asked Mount Vernon Arts Lab to contribute toan as yet unreleased compilation (possibly the elusive "Star ShapedIndividual in Society"?) and in return Coil did this remix, ameandering quirky snakecharmer gothic synth melody over a simplemedieval squelching pulsebeat. At first it seemed quite slight but grewinto a more monstrous merry-go-round pervride as day became night. It'salso one of the two most conventionally tuneful tracks here. It'snot surprising that John Balance should like the Arts Lab, as anearlier release "Warminster" in cahoots with Portishead's Adrian Utleyactually sounded surprisingly reminiscent of Coil, and at the time Iwas playing it a lot followed by the elpH 20 to 2000' CD which itseemed to compliment very well. There's an excerpt from "Warminster" onhere, although I'm not sure why. Maybe the original's deleted now andit was too good to leave behind?
There's also a collaboration with Barry 7 of Add N to X on 'TheSubmariners Song', which is an eerie moonlit descent to the bubblingdepths of synth burble. It's a shame it's so short as the oxygen supplygets cut just as the vessel's penetrated the murky unexplored depths ofthe oceanic abyss.'The Mandrake Club' pitches Norman Blake's guitar playing into far moretempestuous expanses than Teenage Fanclub could envisage in AlexChilton's worst hungover nightmare. It sounds like heavy effects boxshenanigens slung over a stylus stuck in a run out groove. Maybe theyjust found the most interesting noise on a Teenage Fanclub record...There is also a member of twee popsters Belle & Sebastien involvedbut there's no need to leap off the nearest roof as it's not thesinger. Isobel Campbell's descending cello runs are showcased alongsidesome erratic harpsichord fills on 'The Black Drop'. This ode to theVictorian slang for opium brings fitting respite from the storm ragingaround it and seems to give the CD a structure like a tarnishedalternate universe reflection of Coil's first "Unnatural History"compilation. Cut to 'Sir Keith at Lambeth' presiding over a furiouslyimmolating satanic mindbrain noise generator, which continues it'sturbulent thrum 'While London Sleeps'. When the Arts Lab adds Coil to Xthere's Hell and Sebastian in Mean Rage Bang Pub!
'Dashwood's Reverie' is an earlier spot of bother, radar blipsindicating giant vampire lizards crawling up the beach by night. Theinfluence of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's groundbreaking soundtracksfor 'Dr Who' certainly pokes through on this eerie soiree! It'dbe very surprising if Mt Vernon hasn't heard and been heavilyinfluenced by the stunning Evan Parker Disinformation collaboration'London's Overthrow' that opened the second Ash Internationalcollection of Disinformation remixes "Al-Jabr". Evan Parker improvisedsome stellar sax over a repeating bludgeoning VLF radio recording. MtVernon must've thought it was a great idea because he pulls off a verysimilar trick on two tracks here, with Raymond MacDonald improvisingsax over thudding electronic noises. There's no techhead breakdown ofwhich device made what noise, so whether this is actually atmosphericelectromagnetic radio storms just like Disinformation or severelydistorted analog synthing remains a mystery, but Mullholland hasrevealed in interview that his gadgets are Moogs, a Synth VCS3, atheremin and a custom built Turbine Generator. Hats off to monocledmutineer 'Percy Topliss'! The tribute to the officer impersonator wholed an uprising against WWI insanity gets an emergency siren synthblast for the sax to wail over on full red alert. Raymond has a goodbash at Percy, however neither he nor the spookier 'Vauxhall Labyrinth'approach the intensity of Evan Parker, but what does?
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- Rob Devlin
- Albums and Singles
Now, almost twenty years after TheReplacements left Twin Tone and 11 years after they broke up, Vagrantannounced they had signed Paul Westerberg, and that his first solorelease on the label, "Stereo," would include this CD, "Mono," byWesterberg's alter-ego, Grandpaboy. They also claimed they could notconfirm the latest rumor, that Westerberg had recorded the album withsome or all of his former bandmates. Rabid fans demanded answers, somuch that it seems Vagrant decided to release the CD on its own in alimited pressing. So, are the Replacements recording again under thename Grandpaboy? Westerberg and his new label aren't saying, as allplayers listed in the liner notes are pseudonyms. But it's hard to denyon hearing the release that they may be there sporadically on sometracks. Here and there, the bass/backup vocals sound like TommyStinson, the drums could be Chris Mars or a reasonable substitute (JoshFreese, anyone?), and that "Superfluous Lead Guitar," as the linernotes say, might be Slim Dunlap. But who can say? And does it matter?Not really. True to its title, "Mono" was recorded in "Dynamic Mono,"which sounds far better than any other Mono recording I've heard. Andit is easily the best record Westerberg has recorded since the heydayof the 'Mats. A straight rock record in the best sense, there are noslow piano meanderings or ballads here. There are a few mid-temponumbers, bust mostly it swaggers right along. And there are missteps,as Grandpaboy admits in the liner notes, like songs starting or endingawkwardly, and a few weird passages, notably the break in the middle of'AAA.' The songs are worthy of merit, however, as they possess solidhooks, quirky lyrics, and that Westerberg wail, all true to 'Mats form.Who played it? Who cares. As the Grandpaboy says, "It feels right." Andthat's all that matters.
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- Jessica Tibbits
- Albums and Singles
The label changeover becomes most obvious with 'Glissceule''s lack ofthe striking artwork which graced the covers of the band's first tworecords, 'Bloweyelashwish' and 'Xuvetyn'. Musically much in the samevein as some of Darla's Bliss-Out series releases, the 17 tracks(spanning just over 77 minutes) have an airy, meditative quality andnot as much dirge as the album's predecessors. As a result,'Glissceule', though no less enchanting, is somewhat less dynamic(although it manages to avoid lapsing into homogeneity). In any case,Cortez's emotive, delicate, blanketed layers of guitar andArpin-Henry's soft, unintelligible siren vocals, electronicallymanipulated to the point of absolute unearthlieness, are still present.This is the first Lovesliescrushing release to utilize digitalprocessing (although the album was recorded using analogue means). Theeffect this has on 'Glissceule' seems to be that of an overallsmoothness in production that is not as evident in the band's previouswork. I am at a loss to explain why I so often see Lovesliescrushingget lumped along with other "shoegaze" bands, as they have always mademe think of what Main might sound like if they had a vocalist and putout a record on 4AD in 1985. As for 'Glissceule', it is not likely todisappoint the band's longtime fans, and will surely make some newones.
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- Terry Goughey
- Albums and Singles
"Life is but a dream" deftly turns mum-rock cliches into aseries of spooky metaphors that flit in and out of earshot over alooped heart-beat and barely-there guitars—a million miles away from"Feed the Tree". The single "The Storm" sounds like Patsy Cline crooning with Lambchop -it is, in fact, the weakest song here. "Moonbeam Monkey" seems to holdthe key to the album's heart: featuring the ghostly, disembodiedvocal's of Morphine's Mark Sandman—it segues directly into a recordingof her daughter playing a toy piano, succintly connecting life anddeath, loss and love, creating an aura of dazzled, but far from docile,satisfaction. Then she rocks out on "Wrap-around Skirt" and yourealise how watered-down Alanis, Tori and Dido actually are. Its justa shame we had to wait almost ten years for this (its been 10 yearssince TM's "The Real Ramona"!). Tanya might not have thesame contorted dynamics or righteous fury as Kristin Hersh, but she'sfound her voice and has proved herself to be just as valid andneccessary as her wayward half-sister.
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
The first track on the album, "Lure," sets the stage: percussive drumming that slowly increases in volume, the repetitive chanting of a monk (I'm a sucker for that), and deep, engaging atmospherics. A couple tracks are a little dull (that is, the ones that aren't as "ritualistic") but the good points more than make up for it. In fact, the album kinda leaves me wishing that more of the tracks were those wonderful ritual-drumming ones... but hey, I guess a balanace is nice. Definitely a worthy purchase for those into this style of music, and something you might want to give a try if you've never heard anything like it before.
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- Nate Smith
- Albums and Singles
This CD ispart of the Thirsty Ear "Blue Series," which Shipp curates, and theband is primarily made up of the regular crowd - Shipp on piano,William Parker on bass, Daniel Carter on reeds, and Guillermo E. Brownon drums. Also on board is co-producer FLAM on "synths andprogramming." The styles on the album run the jazz gamut, from thefusion funk of "Space Shipp" (there's also a "Rocket Shipp," howclever) to the 'I'm-gonna-sound-like-Monk' solo piano piece "ZX-1" tothe quiet moody jazz of the Carter/Parker duet "X-Ray." Everybody knowsthat Shipp and co. are all incredible instrumentalists, so of coursethese guys can play these pieces and make it work. But at their best,these songs sound like a pretty good house band at a hip lounge. Attheir worst, they sound like circa-1993 attempts at jazz-hop (though inShipp's defense, at least he didn't go so far as to hire a guestrapper). We are made to think that the presence of FLAM (yes, it'salways in all caps for some reason) on "programming" is going to takethese earlier idioms of jazz to some sort of new horizon (hence thetitle 'Nu-Bop'), but his contributions mostly add up to a bunch ofquirky squeaks and crunches mixed in with Brown's drumming. The mostridiculous FLAM contribution is "Select Mode 1," in which Shipp'splaying is looped over a cheesy dance beat for a minute and a half. Themost interesting part of the disc is the phasing between Shipp andBrown at the beginning of "Select Mode 2," ironically. This disc hasbeen widely praised recently, and I'm not sure why. It may be thatpeople think that if Shipp and co. made a more traditional album thenit must be good, considering their status as gods in the jazz worldtoday, but it's really not a very interesting listen and definitely nota high point for any of the musicians involved.
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- Richard SanFilippo
- Albums and Singles
Pardon thepun, but the sample is a good indication of the entire album, cold andstark, at times interrupted by dark fluctuating rumbles with theslightest hint of a beat. Intriguing vocal samples, like a Germandomestic argument in "The Arguement" and old recordings of secretagents in the title track, pop in and out of the recordings, allexpertly timed. The music glides effortlessly from electronic drone andnoise to what could very well be actual instruments such as organs andviolins, but are most likely sampled, and the album still manages toretain its penchant for peculiarity. Cruelty Campaign's strength liesin illustrating the oddness of the modern world. They distill soundsand noises that are part of the every day, and often taken for granted,and incorporate them into dark and gripping pieces best described as asoundtrack for the Earth of a parallel dimension. 'Distressed Signals'is without a doubt an exceptional postmodern pastiche as it cobblestogether numerous found sources, including the cd's artwork, into adocument that many electronic bands would do well to learn from.
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- Graeme Rowland
- Albums and Singles
There is certainlyenough guitar feedback screaming from this stunning Fat Cat Splinter toconvince most people that Xinlisupreme are familiar with at least onelevel of musical excess, which is appropriate considering that theirname could be shortened to xs. They consider their music to be tender,strange, spiritual and violent. It's also hypnotically mind altering.It's a rollercoaster ride drenched in headcleaning melodic feedbackthat'll very likely satisfy anyone who still hankers after a mythicalfollow up to My Bloody Valentine's benchmark 'Loveless'. There are alsonods to the dense freenoise of Sonic Youth's early rock, butXinlisupreme have distinctly over the top tendencies which somehowcould only have arisen in Japan. They often centre tracks on onemonstrous looping distorted guitar riff around which lighter rapidlyshifting sonic satellites spin. Stir in primitive hotwired drum machinerhythms, some deliciously discordant piano runs and occasional buriedmumbled vocals and you have a recipe for the most exciting popnoise ofthe first quarter of the year. The opening salvo 'Kyoro' sounds like a cousin of 'Death Valley '69'swamping an overloaded drum machine battling with an imaginary TV themefor the Feedback Olympics. 'Goodbye For All' slows the pace with amassive loping riff that drops out to two small repeated notes beforelurching back full on. Vocals appear for the first time on the fourthtrack, the yearning 'All You Need Is Love Was Not True' whichpreviously appeared on a 7" late last year and marks perhaps theirpoppiest tendencies. The album title comes from the only song withdecipherable lyrics, 'Amaryllis' which is relatively reflective, thecalm in the eye of the hurricane. The standout tracks emerge towardsthe end. Both open relatively calmly before big noise breaks out. Theeerily discordant 'You Died In The Sea' is only topped by the longesttrack, 'Fatal Sisters Opened Umbrella' which starts out dark and tiredwith submerged emotive vocals then lights a long fuse which ignitesskyward fireworks for the biggest noise eruption yet, a feedbackfairground bliss out. 'Nameless Song' winds out with sparse tablapercussion and some two tone wind instrument but nevertheless can'tresist a rush of guitar pyrotechnics latterly. The only new album I'veplayed as much as this so far this year is the Elders of Zion's "DawnRefuses to Rise". Both bands use very different means to the end ofrocking out big time minus cliché, and both embody very differentaspects of the apocalyptic.
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
The star of this compilation is Tarmvred, who contributes two excellent tracks: "Subsnow" and "Drifter," both of which are great tracks, but not as cool as those on Subfusc simply because they're shorter and SIDstation-less. Oh well... I was very pleasantly surprised by Antigen Shift, whose track "Epoch" was a nice electronic-tribal thingie which was very entertaining. Same with V.O.S., who contribute an excellent dark ambient skull-f*ck piece that, like all good dark ambient tracks, seems to just swallow you whole. Wilt's tracks are interesting, and sound somewhat like an intergalactic space-rat trying to nibble and claw its way through your bedroom walls. (No drugs were used in the listening of this album or the writing of this review.) I was disappointed, however, by Kreptkrept, Re:pro vs. Acclimate, and C2, who all contribute substandard beaty-industro-techno-type tracks that failed to catch my ear. A well-rounded compilation, however, and definitely something to keep an eye out for.
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- located at http://www.adnoiseam.net/label/mp3/mp3.htm
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- Rob Devlin
- Albums and Singles
Listening to "Songs," it's clearwhy Shibayama is so well-liked in his home country, and so worthy ofnotice here. The music of Nagisa Ni Te is often thrown in with thegenre called folk-psyche, and although I hate labels, it's a fittingone. Slow, languid guitar lines develop a firm structure, building to adramatic crescendo of voice, guitar, and drums. It's a productivepairing, Shibayama and his partner in Nagisa, Masako Takeda. The musicis soaring, powerful, and the vocals are haunting, though I can'tunderstand a word. The melodies are impressive, too, reminiscent ofAmerican post-rock music without copying or being derivative. TheHallelujahs, by comparison, are more psychedelic rock, but equally asaccomplished for the time they were recording (1985-88). The unreleasedtrack included here, 'I'll Follow Soon, No Matter Where You Are' is asurreal number, sounding like CSNY mixed with the theme to Top Gun, butstill a great little pop tune. A great introduction to those who havenever heard of Shibayama or his music, "Songs" is the kind of legacyany musician would be proud of, as well as a strong collection ofunreleased tracks for true fans.
samples:
- The True Sun (Live)
- I'll Follow Soon, No Matter Where You Are (The Hallelujahs)
- Far Cry
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
I'll get started by stating my basic problem with Somatic Responses: they never really change. After hearing their first album, 'Circumflex,' I eagerly picked up some earlier 12"s and such by the Healy brothers, and they all sort of blended together. Their sound is unique, but almost to a point where all their songs sound the same. However, I did say they managed to innovate, and that is a very good thing. Melodies and strings come into play, including a few beatless ambient bits, which help to break up the album. The beats tend to be a little bit harsher and more complex than before, and are as schizophrenic as ever. Beat-wise, these guys are impeccable. When it comes down to it, though, this album doesn't really present anything new. If you're a fan of Somatic Responses, you will adore this album; if you enjoy them but aren't fanatic enough to wolf up the entire discography, I'd recommend just sticking with 'Circumflex.' (P.S. - the entire album is available at http://c8.com/c8/tunes/tunes-misc.html - buy it if you like it!)
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