This Portland, Oregon group alternates between folk songs and quasi-mystical drones on its fourth album and performs both styles fairly well. Yet they're at their best when they combine the two, which is something they don't do nearly enough here. Still, this album has several transcendent moments of note.
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8305 Hits
Alcorn's pedal steel music has always seemed to be more part of a journey rather than a recording career. Lauded by fellow Houston luminaries Charalambides and Heather Leigh Murray, she delves into the forests of possibility between jazz, improv and her own interpretations/transcriptions of choral work. Alongside other experimental players Alcorn is helping to prising the blackened fingers of Country music’s stranglehold on the Pedal steel.
Olde English Spelling Bee
Olde English Spelling Bee
9150 Hits
The latest release from Norway's hungriest noise composers is comparatively a more subdued affair, and it is much more subtle than its boisterous title would have one to believe. John Hegre and Lasse Marhaug present a noteworthy combination of heavily controlled guitar feedback and studio treatments characterize the work as a whole, but each piece is very different from the next.
8411 Hits
Released with the help of United Dairies and Jnana Records, Freida Abtan's music is a strange cinematography of metaphysical conundrums and invisible events. Contained herein is time frozen, inspected, and unwoven into infinite threads of unusual shapes and proportions. Abtan's subtle flourishes are impressive, sometimes simultaneously fantastic and terrifying, but they do not add up to a wholly consistent album.
13834 Hits
Another bewitching album to waltz from the Vortex Vault, this one evokes cinematic imagery if only because there is less of a focus on vocals here and more emphasis on atmosphere. One of the best things about Liles' music is how it sparks the imagination beyond the scope of intention, and Black Market is no exception.
5474 Hits
One of the pioneering noise projects of the genre's early 1980s heyday has returned with a new disc that manages to both push the brutal aspect of their discography to its natural limits while still maintaining an ear for subtlety and depth that tends to be lacking in the realms of harsh electronics.
8475 Hits
There are few, if actually any, musical series’ at the moment as interesting as Jandek’s chronological live releases. With his twenty five year old ‘Texan loner’ tag finally being shed, his live releases are revealing a whole experience to fans of his disturbingly bare vocal/guitar confessions. After the indifferent Austin Sunday release, Jandek seems to have taken some wise soul’s advice, getting players with improvisational chops in instead of local backroom bums.
9780 Hits
Scuttlebutt around the intertubes is that no, this is not the product of one "Karen Tregaskin" discovered via a Myspace site, but actually good ol' Richard D. James. Regardless of its pedigree, it's a nice slab of throwback electro that is as fascinating for nostalgic reasons as it is for its overall listening value.
9209 Hits
This is a decent, if standard, double-A side 7" of noise. Neither side is particularly interesting but there is nothing inherently wrong with Axe Magnitude/Altered Beast. While I wouldn't call it recommended listening for the general public, it might be worth checking out for those with an ear for harsh sounds and an eye for nice screen printed sleeves.
8173 Hits
This set marks the end of Tim Bracy and Shannon McArdles' marriage and musical collaboration. 30 Year Low is a terrific document of the death of love, the inevitability of aging, and is proof positive that in all musical genres, quality matters more than anything else.
9727 Hits
Some 27 years into their notorious career, Whitehouse deserves credit for trying new things. However, don't be mislead by cover artwork: the difference between this and their last album is so small that this one could have probably been called Asceticists 2007.
23750 Hits
Daniel Menche is one of the most prolific and diverse noise artists currently active in the United States. Never being one to stick with a single theme or style, he has always been apt to try new instrumentation or approaches, and the output can either be scorchingly violent explosions, or subtle, meditative works. Kevin Drumm may not be quite as notorious, but has been steadily carving out his own niche in avant and improvisational circles, often based around his unique playing style on tabletop guitar. So the concept of these two working together is a daunting, yet satisfying one.
14788 Hits
Neal Campbell continues his strong run of releases as Astral Social Club. This album should satisfy fans of his impressive back catalogue, but the music here is good enough to deserve separate treatment and should not be caged in by references to the past.
14566 Hits
Vogel Musik is the sort of album you prepare for listening to instead of being in the mood for. It is a challenging listen: the entire album, from the dense and dramatic music right down to the elegant sleeve (painted by Christoph Heemann), is an amazing piece of work that is full of wonderful and intriguing sounds.
9304 Hits
My biggest criticism of this duo's first CD for the considerably waning NovaMute sublabel was its lack of cohesion as an album, an all-too common pitfall that techno artists fall into when signed based on their dancefloor prowess. Upon receiving this in my mailbox, I had hoped that Mr. No and Bryan Black would use their second shot on plastic to accomplish something better, to learn from their influences instead of just impersonating them. I should have known better.
10118 Hits
Creating new compositions by sampling from popular music has been going on longer than I have been alive. Yet, this debut, perhaps one of the most important albums ever to appear on Kompakt, showcases the work of an exceptional musician operating in and redefining this proud yet still controversial tradition.
8983 Hits
The title claims that Bower and company have created a new form of beauty. Instead they explore the rather conventional aim (for them) of bludgeoning the listener to submission.
11601 Hits
Matt Bower chooses to use his Sunroof! moniker to release music which is more of a fire breathing trail than an exercise in cosmic liberation.
9698 Hits
Having been lucky enough to have heard this track live, my appetite for a recorded version was finally sated when "Ornithology" arrived on the arse-end of a compilation's otherwise appalling attempt to show of the best of the North East's new talent. Armed only with an acoustic guitar, light fingered percussion and a sweetly coarse growl, Richard Dawson shines through the lumpen singer-songwriter tag.
10168 Hits
This gorgeous package from the the Leaf Label contains eight songs showcasing a new collaboration between Jeremy and Heather of AHAAH, playing with a group of seasoned Hungarian musicians. Rounding out the cast are a few members of Beirut. What results is a brief but exhilarating extra-geographical jaunt through Hungarian, Serbian, Romanian and klezmer forms, as only AHAAH can produce.
10445 Hits
