The Answer Is In The Beat

Membranes: Inner Space/Outer Space (Louder Than War, 2016)

January 27, 2017 at 10:37 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

The Membranes are a post-punk band who formed in the early ’80s, went on hiatus in 1990, and reformed in 2009. They played an ATP festival at the request of My Bloody Valentine, released some EPs, and then scientifically-minded album Dark Matter/Dark Energy in 2015. This is its remix album. It ventures into dub, industrial, and dark trip-hop, among other styles. Think late ’90s/early ’00s Primal Scream, but only occasionally as angry or noisy. The first 2 tracks are dark and lush, then “Do The Supernova (Phillip Boa Remix)” is more of an industrial rock rave-up. Soundtrack composer (and Pop Will Eat Itself founder) Clint Mansell turns “The Universe Explodes Into A Billion Photons Of Pure White Light” into a suspenseful, solemn orchestral piece… with distant airhorns! “21st Century Man” gets a heavy as fuck, sludgy, noisy mix by the almighty Godflesh. Easily the highlight of the disc for me. “Space Junk (Reverend And The Makers Remix)” is straight up DMZ-style dubstep with melodica. Keith Leven’s take on “Space Junk” is a spacey, drummy, exploratory instrumental. Youth’s mix of “Hail to the Lovers” is kind of a Balearic dub track, with big echoey drums and crazy echo effects, occasionally flaring up into drum’n’bass-like rhythms. “5776 (The Breathing Song) (Die Fliedermaus Remix)” is a slow, sax-heavy version of a song about how all the stars you see shining in the night sky have probably died millions of years ago. The other take on “Space Junk” is a slow, kinda rusty mix by Mark Stewart. “In the Graveyard” gets a heavy dub mix by Carter Tutti (aka Chris & Cosey). “Magic Eye (To See The Sky)” is remixed by Iranian band Barfak, and it blends Arabic instruments and vocals with sparse downtempo beats and vocoders. Therapy?’s mix of “Hail to the Lovers” is slow and kinda stompy, and the vocals and guitars eventually get shattered and erode away at the end. The last tracks are slower and more sloth-like (and “The Hum Of The Universe (Alexander Hacke Remix)” ends with a mantra).

Tropical Skinbyrds: Hedonism II 7″ EP (self-released, 2015/reissued by Wharf Cat, 2017)

January 22, 2017 at 2:21 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Originally self-released as a tape in 2015, the debut EP by this Providence trio is now making its way to vinyl. Nightmarish, claustrophobic psych-punk trapped inside a damaged, paranoid mind. Loud and intense, and while it could technically be heavier and noisier, the drowning-in-echo shrieked vocals and lyrics (what you can make out of them, at least) push this to the level of frightening. The singer begs you to stick a knife in her on opener “Venus In Fury”, saying “your pain is my pleasure and it’s all that I need.” “Cut If Off” is a demand to use a razor blade in order to remove something. “Library Lounge” describes the everyday terror of living in a suburban hellhole. “The Lawn” has a slightly more upbeat guitar riff, but the singer yells “stay away from me!” and it gets more chaotic and crushing during the chorus, as the group seems to be warding off danger. After this, the record dives right into the toilet bowl with “Mondo Trasho”, which surrounds samples from the John Waters film of the same name (also sampled in a WCBN legal ID) in spiraling guitar riffs and hallucinatory echo and tape effects.

Urochromes: Night Bully 7″ EP (Wharf Cat, 2017)

January 22, 2017 at 1:48 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Searing, pulverizing industrial punk from Western Massachussetts. Most of their songs are around a minute or two each, but they pack in a few tempo change-ups and minor curveballs. It’s all high-velocity and compressed for maximum impact, but there’s still room here and there for slightly looser rhythms, particularly on opener “My Dickies.” Vocals are almost entirely shouted and covered in trippy echo. The B-side is more electronic, with synths pulsing through the clenched-teeth distorted vocals and snaking guitar of “Night Bully”. The EP ends with a remix of “Night Bully” by darkwave duo Boy Harsher, and it replaces most of the guitar noise with cold synths and gloomy vocals, and it sounds absolutely glorious.

Room Thirteen: Roccopulco LP (Elestial Sound, 2016)

January 21, 2017 at 8:29 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

New Orleans band doing a slightly hazy sort of indie-lounge-pop. Sounds sort of like ’80s Everything But The Girl meets Wild Belle or Saturday Looks Good To Me. The songs are pretty retro and smooth but there’s some weird lo-fi production touches to it. Calm and swinging, with a touch of surf and sand; dusky sax and touches of twangy guitars. There’s also a hint of something sinister to it, like the strange distorted voices at the end of the opening title track, or the just-enough-to-be-kinda-noisy use of echo and delay. “Crayz From the Heat” folds a few layers of dreamy, tremolo-ized voices into something just different enough to be strange and trippy. Not all of it is purely pop songs, “Rat Rod” is an instrumental with a decent amount of grooving organ, and ambient instrumental “Volando de Noche” ends the album on a calm, somewhat bittersweet note.

MrDougDoug: These Magical Numbers tape (self-released, 2016) + SOS Forks Al REM tape (Hausu Mountain, 2016)

January 21, 2017 at 7:55 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

On election day, Doug Kaplan (Good Willsmith, Hausu Mountain) released this tape containing dozens of renditions of the American national anthem played off YouTube in real time. For over half an hour. It is an overwhelming monstrosity of pure patriotism. It is completely nauseating, obnoxious, horrifying, hilarious, and completely appropriate for everything that’s happening right now. Everyone should be forced to listen to this. But then, everyone is basically being force-fed this already. This Is America. The best parts are whenever the airhorns show up near the end. After this, there’s another track dealing more specifically with the subject of lizard people. Specifically those who talk really fast at the same time and keep repeating themselves and tell you to shut up. You knew damn well I was a snake.
If this all seems too heavy, too apocalyptic, too real, there’s another MrDougDoug tape that’s much cheerier, and even more ambitious. SOS Forks Al REM is an hour of mostly short fragmentary tracks, usually around a minute each, consisting of manipulated MIDI files. The tones themselves are generally familiar (light, chirpy, plastic), but they’re modified to play intense, high-speed compositions and then pulled around a bit more with crunchy, scrunchy effects. It’s like sitcom grindcore or the most over-caffeinated Mario Paint session of all time. Each track generally feels like a really intense, manic cartoon character pecking at your face for a minute at a time, then suddenly disappearing and being replaced by another one. The last few tracks are a lot longer and sometimes aren’t quite so frenetic, such as “Sedan Remnant 20-10”, which feels like a series of delayed responses. The two longest tracks are more tranquil and patient, but the 15-minute “SOS Forks Al REM 33” still feels like waterfalls and rainbows, while “The Filmy Rig 15” is more like walking around a familiar, generally well-lit park at night. A little spooky but it’s safe, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Graham Repulski: I’m Even Younger Now tape (Shorter Recordings, 2017)

January 16, 2017 at 11:55 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Coming a few months after an incredible triple cassette box, one of his best works to date, Pennsylvania-based lo-fi alchemist Graham Repulski returns with another album of deconstructed art-pop. On this tape, the first side focuses on more fleshed-out, proper length songs, while the second is filled with more fragmentary pieces. The longer songs on here are some of the punchiest, toughest songs he’s recorded yet. There’s still plenty of backwards trickery and gigantic doses of noise slathered on everything. “Sad Legs (‘Sorry’, For Robot)” is particularly riddled with screeching tape noise and feedback, and then there’s a fluttery coda which abruptly cuts into the rhythmic noise pulse of “Drier World (Room Is Heavy)”. “Typhoon Reform” has a catchy extended chorus which fades into a bit of acoustic guitar plucking and background noise. “No Title #3” is one of Repulski’s most urgent songs yet (and the source of the album’s title), and then it’s followed by the succession of brief, sometimes frightening (“Forgettable Acid Trip”) tracks. Another fantastic set of strange songs which challenge the very conventions of songcraft. All copies of this tape have unique artwork.