The Answer Is In The Beat

Mamaleek: Via Dolorosa LP (The Flenser, 2015)

September 30, 2015 at 10:34 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The Flenser has been releasing plenty of great metal/not-metal in the past few years, and this album is another eye-opener. Boundary-pushing metal which sounds like it could have been recorded in a Transylvanian dungeon as well as a seedy New Orleans jazz club or a Crooklyn basement circa ’97 with Scotty Hard on the console. There’s harsh growling, but instead of being drowned out by walls of guitar noise or blastbeats, there’s damaged lo-fi rock, trippy beats or crunchy drums, restrained jazz guitar, and static-covered piano. It really, truly does not sound like any other record I’ve ever heard, and it’s awesome. I’m guessing this the only illbient jazz metal band in the world, but I am totally open to being proven wrong on that one. (Edit: Now that I think of it, that description reminds me of Praxis and a few other Bill Laswell projects, but this sounds leagues away from any of them to be honest. Anyway, just listen to it!)

Marianne Nowottny and the Sensorium Saxophone Orchestra: “Tomorrow Never Knows” b/w “Strawberry Fields Forever” 7″ single (Abaton Book Company, 2015)

September 26, 2015 at 2:28 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Veteran experimental pop artist goes to Ypsilanti and records faithful yet fresh-sounding covers of 2 of the trippiest Beatles songs, backed by an ensemble of saxophone and percussion players lead by Ben Miller, formerly of Destroy All Monsters. You may think you never need to hear another Beatles cover in your life, and you may be right, but these covers are both truly fantastic. The songs themselves are both obviously masterpieces, but the saxophones are arranged creatively, with some backwards effects and all manners of panning and dynamic control. And the thundering drums on “Strawberry Fields Forever”. And is she saying “I buried Paul” at the end? Awesome.

Ahleuchatistas: Arrebato (International Anthem Recording Co., 2015)

September 19, 2015 at 6:06 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Ahleuchatistas have been around for over a decade, releasing albums on Cuneiform and Tzadik as well as several smaller labels, and generally being sort of a well-kept secret in the noise-rock/math-rock underground. Once a trio, the group is now just the duo of Ryan Oslance (drums) and Shane Parish (guitar). This album is surprisingly more accessible and clean-sounding than anything else I’ve heard by them. There’s not as much harsh, thundering drums or complicated riffs or time signatures. “Rincon Pio Sound” is short, sweet, and positively heart-tugging. Other tracks are shimmering and repetitive, building sounds and excitedly splashing them into each other. “La Faena” features springing guitar effects which often sound like keyboards rather than guitars, and the 10-minute track takes a long time to end, hitting one big chord, letting it ring all the way out, and then hitting it again, several times over the last few minutes of the song. The album’s second half is a little rougher and more angular than the more melodic first half. “Shelter in Place” gets a little more furious and rumbling, and gets a bit woozy during the last couple minutes. “Erosion” seems to scramble and careen, never quite getting up on two legs and moving straightforward.

Magic Castles: Starflower (A Recordings, 2015)

September 19, 2015 at 5:34 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Pretty decent droney psych-pop from Minneapolis. Male/female vocal harmonies and layers of pleasantly fuzzy guitars and keyboards. Sort of like Beach House but with more of a bite to it. “Lost in Space” is a really great spacey drum machine and echo track in the vein of Suicide’s softer moments like “Cheree”. The band clearly has a preoccupation with the moon, sky, and space, not just evident in the song titles but in the spacey, skygazing feel of the music. They also get points for brevity; the entire album is under a half hour, and none of the songs exceed five minutes. Not that there’s anything wrong with a psych band zoning out for long periods of time, but their songs tend to establish a mood and not really move beyond them, so they sound pleasant enough for their lengths. Most of the songs have a variation on the guitar/keyboard midtempo psych haze, except for the aforementioned “Lost in Space” which is more electronic, and the slower, more electronic instrumental “Samara”. “See You Shining” ends the album with a slow, dreamy ode to the stars.

Hakobune: Love Knows Where tape (Constellation Tatsu, 2015)

September 11, 2015 at 10:43 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Impossibly serene ambient. Like Kyle Bobby Dunn, this guy isn’t reinventing the wheel at all, but he’s incredibly good at what he does, so it’s not hard to see why he’s so beloved. KBD is fairly prolific, often releasing multi-disc albums, but Hakobune is too prolific to keep up with, with over 50 releases listed on Discogs, not including collaborations/side projects. The three pieces on this album are calm and engrossing, but get gradually darker, playing out like a transition from day to evening to night. “Rapids” is the more soothing A-side, “Curtains Far Seen” is like a gorgeous sunset, and the title track is like a cloudy (but not stormy), slightly chilly night. Absolutely perfect for the turning-into-fall weather right now.