April 13, 2023 at 7:23 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Doormouse: Broken
On one of Doormouse’s highly active, meme-heavy social media accounts, he pointed out that the term breakcore had more Google searches last year than it had since the 2000s. Yet the newer generation seems to confuse breakcore with anything that has fast Amen breaks, a lot of which sounds more like atmospheric drum’n’bass. So
here’s Doormouse to once again bring back the gung gung and ridiculous samples. “Sax Me Hard” mangles Lisa Simpson samples and free jazz solos, as well as a Kenny G interview and a chiptune version of “Careless Whisper”. And lots of people shouting, and a
Helter Stupid sample. It’s also kind of a trick birthday candle, it keeps flaring back when you think it’s over and it lasts for 8 minutes. “Old Detestable Tripping Bastards” is two and half minutes of terrorcore beats slicing “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” apart. “Acid Americano” is what happens when a Godzilla-like monster takes a giant radioactive shit all over electroswing. “Cowboy Love” and “(Making Love To The Sound Of) The Gabber Kick Drum” share samples, so they seem like two parts of the same song. The first has whip cracks, the second has a bit of acid breaks, and they’re both hard crushers. I’ve posted before that I’m optimistic about the new breed of breakcore, I think it’s regressive for older scenesters to complain about what younger people are doing because the youth are supposed to be doing something different and distinct from what’s happened before. But there’s still nothing like a certified master doing it his way, and this is just loads of fun.
April 12, 2023 at 6:24 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Fashion Flesh: Rubber Mountain LP
Fashion Flesh is the solo project of John Talaga, a Michigan-based synth wizard and builder of electronics who used to be part of the mindbending Baroque chiptune act Super Madrigal Brothers.
This LP is a monstrously fun set of off-the-wall, off-the-grid synth jams loaded with strange, queasy effects. The first side has two hallucinogenic disco tracks with a slower, more haunted minimal synth cut sandwiched in between. I was kind of expecting murkier, creepier stuff like that on this record, so the dancey tracks are a nice surprise, but of course they’re also freaky and covered in mutagen ooze. “Free Air” is more of a new wave synth punk shuffle, and “Never Lie Again” has more zombified vocals over bouncy techno beats. Then there’s “Canopy Bed”, a 13-minute wasteland of bubbling synth effects constantly expanding past their limits, whipping the beats into an overdriven frenzy. This is just an enormously gleeful wigged-out synth record that keeps me grinning for as long as it’s playing.
April 11, 2023 at 6:50 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Drivetrain/Rennie Foster: Empress Enigma 12″ EP
Drivetrain (Derrick Thompson) is an unsung legend of the Detroit house scene who’s been releasing music through his own Soiree Records International since 1990. His side of this new split EP contains two versions of “It Can Never Be the Same”, the first being a reflective, slowly growing house track, and the second being a stripped-down, almost acoustic downtempo version with jazzy bass guitar soloing. Canada’s Rennie Foster, another house lifer who’s been at it since the ’90s and put out music on several Detroit labels, provides both tracks on the second side. “Guiding Light” is a propulsive deep house roller with percolating basslines and cymbals pitched up and down, giving a feeling of acceleration. “I Haven’t Forgotten” is a surprisingly sentimental tune with an echoing vocal sample, stirring string melodies, and acidic synths for a bit of an edge, and I think it’s actually the best song on the record.
April 9, 2023 at 3:50 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
v/a: Tape Excavation
First released on vinyl in 2020, this is an
extended CD edition of an album of rarities by various Bruce Licher projects, remastered by none other than Warren Defever. It goes in roughly chronological order, which means it starts out with primordial post-punk recordings by Project 197 and Bridge, bashed out at rehearsals or in a parking garage. Other than a handful of songs, all the tracks on this release are short, so they all kind of rush through as a haze of memories. There’s moments that stand out, like the fun, organ-driven mysteria of Final Republic’s “Chase”. Savage Republic’s “First Siege” is closer to a danceable post-punk rhythm, while “Assembly of the Dead” has the same energy but is more solemn and processional. Licher’s music started to have more of a dreamy sway during the ’90s, particularly with space rock band Scenic and projects like the bedroom recording duo Lemon Wedges. Exploratorium’s “The Atmosphere” is more of a dark soundscape that sounds like airplanes flying overead. Then “SF Cima Song” is just a gorgeous wash of lovely ethereal guitars. The Lanterna collaboration “B Minor” is moodier and progresses a bit more than other songs here. Later home demos like “Birthdaysong (7 x 7 is)” and “Mesopotamia” have strong, chiming rhythms and spacey textures, making an impressively grand sound for solo guitar tracks.
April 8, 2023 at 2:09 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
A Produce: The Clearing
Barry Craig called his music trance long before the term had any association with club music.
This is an expanded reissue of the first LP he released on his Trance Port label in 1988, a decade before Paul Oakenfold released his best-selling mix CD
Tranceport. A lot of A Produce’s music seems to be categorized as tribal ambient or new age, but this earlier release is a bit closer to minimal wave and even post-punk. These are mostly songs rather than extended bliss-outs, with rhythmic and melodic structures, sometimes even vocals. Some of it is more repetitive though, including tracks like “Tunnels”, which is a pretty great haunting movie scene. “Pulse” is a more Meredith Monk-type piece with vocalist and violist Josie Roth speaking in tongues. “October 1st” is a more haunting dark ambient drone, and “Ashes of Love” seems like it’s going to start that way, but then it ends up being a darkwave goth epic. “The Raw Silk, The Uncarved Block” begins as a smooth, clear as a bell piece for wind chimes, then segues into a Neu!-inspired drone-rock track propelled by a drum machine. “The Clearing”, the last track on the original LP, sounds closer to a Dead Can Dance instrumental without the traditional instrumentation. “Raga Riley” is very obviously inspired by minimalism, simply consisting of warm, cosmically minded organ patterns and a simple shaker-produced rhythm. “Erosion” is filled with a gale of noises in the background, starting out with reflective piano melodies over steady rock drums programmed on a drum machine (with plenty of fills), then it gains a more Satriani-esque guitar solo (kinda). “Dorian Imagination” is just guitars and effects, and it starts out with more cross-stitched rhythmic patterns before washing out in a rush later on. The last bonus track, “Industrial Edge”, is a deceptively simple piano and guitar instrumental twisted by some almost gleefully off-the-rails effects.
April 8, 2023 at 2:31 am | Posted in The Answer Is In The Beat | Leave a comment
12:01 AM Broadcast ~ Long Was the Year ~ Maida Vale Sessions ~ Warp Records ~ 2000
12:05 AM Jo Johnson ~ Orbit ~ The Wave Ahead ~ Mysteries of the Deep ~ 2023
12:12 AM Slowdive ~ In Mind ~ Cherry Stars Collide ~ Cherry Red ~ 1993
12:16 AM Yaeji ~ 1 Thing To Smash (feat. Loraine James) ~ With A Hammer ~ XL Recordings ~ 2023
12:19 AM Nondi_ ~ Sentimental Juke ~ Flood City Trax ~ Planet Mu ~ 2023
12:22 AM Earth Trax ~ Skin ~ Closer Now ~ Lapsus ~ 2023
12:28 AM VRIL ~ Unwelt ~ Animist ~ Delsin ~ 2023
12:33 AM Broadcast ~ Microtronics 09 ~ Microtronics, Vol. 1 & 2 ~ Warp Records ~ 2003
12:35 AM Desire Marea ~ Banzi ~ On the Romance of Being ~ Mute ~ 2023
12:45 AM Big Joanie ~ Count To 10 ~ Back Home ~ Daydream Library ~ 2022
12:47 AM Rahill ~ Fables (feat. Beck) ~ Flowers At Your Feet ~ Big Dada ~ 2023
12:52 AM Death And Vanilla ~ Looking Glass ~ Flicker ~ Fire Records ~ 2023
12:56 AM Shalom ~ Lighter ~ Sublimation ~ Saddle Creek ~ 2023
1:00 AM Rasmus Birk ~ Down and Baroque ~ Cult of Rasmus ~ Black Cottage ~ 2023
1:04 AM DEBBY FRIDAY ~ SAFE ~ GOOD LUCK ~ Sub Pop Records ~ 2023
1:09 AM Kelela ~ Closure ~ Raven ~ Warp Records ~ 2023
1:12 AM XV ~ Tasmanian Angels ~ On the Creekbeds on the Thrones ~ Ginkgo ~ 2023
1:15 AM Gabriella Isaac ~ live 12/20/19 ~ Performances ~ Gilgongo ~ 2023
1:24 AM The Gymslips ~ Dear Marje ~ Make More Noise! Women In Independent Music UK 1977-1987 ~ Cherry Red Records ~ 1983
1:26 AM Tyvek ~ Bicycle Fantasy 2 ~ Blunt Instrumentals ~ Ginkgo ~ 2009
1:28 AM The Aether Quartet ~ Oysters in Blue ~ The Aether Quartet ~ self-released ~ 2023
1:35 AM Scenic ~ Theme For Better Times ~ Tape Excavation (Special Expanded Edition) ~ Independent Project Records ~ late ’90s
1:39 AM A Produce ~ Raga Riley ~ The Clearing ~ Independent Project Records ~ 1988
1:44 AM Erik Hall ~ Canto Ostinato: Sections 56–73 ~ Simeon Ten Holt: Canto Ostinato ~ Western Vinyl ~ 2023
1:47 AM Sunroof ~ October ~ Electronic Music Improvisations Vol. 2 ~ Parallel Series ~ 2023
1:53 AM WILT ~ Hybrid Dreams (Metamorphosis Mix) ~ Crypt Gloom ~ No Part Of It ~ 2023
1:57 AM John Bence ~ Kamael, Archangel of Geburah ~ Archangels ~ Thrill Jockey Records ~ 2023
April 7, 2023 at 8:35 pm | Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment
James Fella & Gabriella Isaac: Performances LP
contains performances from Gilgongo’s 15th anniversary celebration in 2019, starting with a duo set and followed by solo sets. The first part of side A is James Fella & Gabriella Isaac together, using the six reference lacquers from their
CCTK Music album in order to make a live collage (similar to the B-side of that record). While the source material for the original recordings included a cymbal and a kalimba, this is a jagged maelstrom of harsh, violent feedback, sometimes speed-altered so that it turns into a surreal, hallucinatory noise experience. Isaac then performs a solo laptop noise set, starting out with controlled dispersions before erupting into multi-tracked digital chaos, ripping through several channels at unpredictable intervals. I tend to appreciate noise best when it’s finely tuned yet harsh and chaotic, rather than just a wall of static, so artists like John Wiese (who recorded and mastered this) stand out, and this is entirely in that space. The second side is just Fella, and it’s a longer piece primarily created using tape machines. It starts out with the whirring sounds of rewinding or fast-forwarding cartridges, then gradually piles on more rapid bursts of feedback and tape manipulations, sometimes sounding like smudged static, other times like hyperspeed classical piano. A dark, metallic fog sets in, and scraping steel sounds creep in from several angles, yet after a while it’s apparent that these are audio illusions, and they start to bend and fray. While nowhere near as noisy as the first side, it has its own way of disrupting reality.
April 6, 2023 at 7:53 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Mantra: Damaged EP
Mantra’s
first EP on Sneaker Social Club starts out with a track that brings hard, knocking garage beats, immediately commanding attention, partially because I wasn’t expecting it from the Rupture co-founder. “Murda” is exactly in the hard, rolling, ruff jungle wheelhouse, exactly what I ordered. “Victory Dance” has the choppage and hypnotic aura, and semi-obscured vocal samples, but it doesn’t go all out. “Ala” is a more low-key late night broken beat shuffler. The tracks are tightly produced and restrained when they need to be, but they bring the heat when played loud.
April 5, 2023 at 6:38 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Skins: Sauce Direct Vol. 1 EP
Searching this artist and title combo doesn’t pop up as many food-related results as I expected, it pretty much just displays links to info about
this record. Anyway, it’s pretty enjoyable atmospheric drum’n’bass. “Route R” has breaks that are intensely chopped without being abrasive and harsh. “Mind Expander” starts with tunneling Amens signaling some rough paths ahead, but it actually sails pretty smoothly after that. “Frostbite” is where the heavy, choppy Amens come in, but they’re clipped and sort of flexible instead of barreling down like a steamroller, so there’s some swing to them which makes the track a bit more fun.
April 1, 2023 at 10:20 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
XV: On the Creekbeds on the Thrones LP
Free punk trio
XV sound like a secret club that has its own codes and customs — rules don’t apply here. All of its recordings and performances are a glimpse into a strange alternate subset of reality, so it might take several listens or lots of reflection to adjust and make sense of it. Even still, there’s a lot of direct, isolated moments that say something as raw and plainly as possible, and it’s hard not to take notice of them. “Still Interested” is a vibey intro with Emily Roll’s echo-drenched vocals giving a mock dialogue attempting to explain that lack of current activity and socialization doesn’t mean lack of interest. Roll’s work as Haunted has touched on themes like this before, and I know I need to be more considerate when it feels like my friends don’t want to talk to me or hang out anymore. There’s other deeper, more contemplative tracks here, like “The Art”, but then others seem more about coming up with a clever or ear-catching idea and just going with it, like “Tasmanian Angels”. “Fresh Lettuce” starts off as a groove-driven appreciation of clean produce, then takes off as more echo and distortion covers everything and it becomes an excited, swooping dub-punk chant. “No Touching” is a more bassline-driven indie rock tune that repeats the statement “mornings are hard”. “Funkyconomy” is like no wave Shaggs, with a jagged bassline, wailing sax, crashing drums, and the repeated phrase “I wanna live in a funkyconomy” all united in their aggressive drive, but not aligned rhythmically. After “Pen” (“I need a pen to write things down”), the album returns to spoken word songs with the darker, Claire Cirocco-voiced “Cards” and then an appreciation for “Fruit” (especially apples) which actually seems to be more about telling someone to stop talking. “I Won’t Tell” is a loose burner which repeats its title (reinforcing the vibe of secrecy this band gives off), getting lost in a daze before bursting into noisy howling before the tape suddenly shuts off.
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