August 14, 2016 at 8:11 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
The Space Where She Was: PDX tape
Best known for creating an astonishing amount of breakcore and industrial techno as Bombardier, the 13th Hour, Kamphetamine, and many other names, this is Jason Snell’s venture into sparse, spacious ambient and downtempo. A little bit of a surprise considering how dark and pummeling (and often dense) most of his work is, but what isn’t really a surprise is how incredible it sounds. It equally embraces dark and light, hope and sadness. Some of it could almost fit on a Kompakt Pop Ambient compilation, but it might be the bleakest track on there. And yet it’s nothing like “dark ambient”. Whatever it is, it’s a stunning meditation on loss. (Happy birthday Jason!)
August 14, 2016 at 4:29 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Wether: Perception Shifts tape
I reviewed a Wether tape for Foxy Digitalis a long time ago, and I think it remember it being pretty noisy. This isn’t really noise at all, it’s some form of synth exploration. Both sides are 15 minutes of continuous audio. It sort of ripples into rhythms, but it’s more of a controlled flow than anything close to a beat. Likewise, it’s sort of melodic, but it also seems to hint at melodies rather than explicitly playing them. It’s kind of like being inside some cool sort of Enterprise-like spaceship, and it’s under attack, but you’re too distracted by all the shiny, futuristic things inside to really be concerned. Just when it starts to get really heavy and chaotic, it switches to a slowed-down soul party. Available on
Bandcamp.
August 12, 2016 at 9:17 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Dominic Coppola/Fred Thomas: split tour tape
Very limited tour tape which seems to end before it begins. Dominic Coppola has graced several shows in houses and small venues here in Michigan, and his presence is always very welcome. His track here is called “Clarice”, and it’s very simple and lovely. It seems to slowly drift from one note to another, and there’s no reason for it to do anything more than what it does. The Fred Thomas side is a song called “House Show, Late December”, and by the title I was expecting a recording of a very short noise set or something, as he’s posted things like that on Soundcloud before. Instead, this is a song about a noise show at a house, and getting through a tough year. It’s a little similar lyrically to the most recent FT solo album, but the music is kind of an urgent guitar ambient cloud which slowly gets filled with more abrasive noise as the poetic lyrics keep coming. It’s incredibly powerful. Might still be a few copies left at
Life Like.
August 12, 2016 at 8:40 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Shocking Pinks: Wake Up Children tape
So this is how lame I am about getting around to reviewing things sometimes. Crash Symbols sent me this tape when it came out almost a year ago and I just never got around to listening to it for the longest time. Shocking Pinks played at a show at my friend’s house (and this band is from New Zealand, mind you, it’s not like they come by here that often) and I had to skip it because my dad was visiting or something. I kept putting off listening to this tape because I wanted to get around to listening to this band’s actual music first. They’ve released albums on Flying Nun and DFA so they’re a pretty big deal, it seems like. I haven’t heard their actual music yet, to this day. I did finally get around to listening to this remix tape, and I feel really dumb because it’s astonishingly good. Some top-notch indie-house, plus an absolutely killer juke/jungle mix by someone named
Totems. A few other tracks have a definite footwork influence as well. And then there’s a completely bonkers mix by
Career Girls which smashes up jungle breaks and keeps shifting the tempo up and down. Guitars and drums and vocals end up getting diced and looped, so the source material is still present, and it clearly sounds like a remix album of a rock group, but it’s way more fresh and exciting than that description would indicate. The tape’s sold out but you can still listen at
Bandcamp.
August 12, 2016 at 7:38 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
BLÆRG: Solace Vertex EP
Minneapolis-based BLÆRG never fails to amaze with his incredibly intricate digital constructions. This new EP is short and isn’t quite as hardcore or overwhelming as some of his older releases, but it’s still sharp and fascinating. The tempos are a little slower, and it’s relatively sparser, but there’s still so much going on here, and a lot of the micro-chopped sounds still fly by your head faster than you can process them. Seems somewhat more melancholy than his usual work also. It’s a free download from the always-incredible
naboamusic. If you haven’t heard his older stuff, start with
Sesquipedalia, then check out everything else on his
Bandcamp.
August 7, 2016 at 6:43 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Rat Paws: How To Influence People And Talk Dirty tape
The sole member of Rat Paws used to have a much-missed show on WCBN and also used to be in a “new rock alternative” band called Hot Boss. She’s returned (probably permanently) to her home city of Montreal, so we don’t hear much of her in Ann Abor anymore, but this very short limited-edition-of-25 tape managed to squeak out. There’s only five songs plus two alternate takes, and a lot of them cut out after a few seconds and then crash into the next one. Aside from some drums by Fred Thomas on one of the versions of “Astrology Sux”, it’s all vocals and guitar. The slow songs are sparse and longer and awkward and the faster ones end before you know it. The whole thing couldn’t possibly be more raw and lo-fi. Would this tape possibly make any sense to anyone who doesn’t already know Rat Paws? It’s hard to tell, but if anyone else in the world is interested, there might be a few copies left via the
Life Life.
August 7, 2016 at 5:56 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Saturday Looks Good To Me: April 22, 2013 Ann Arbor District Library tape
SLGTM haven’t released too many live recordings, but I’m glad this concert was preserved. This was a free gig they did in the basement of the main branch of the Ann Arbor library, which is possibly the best library in the entire world. It ended being an unofficial release show for
One Kiss Ends It All because they had copies for sale even though it was before the official release date. It has a lot of the same musicians as the album, as well as a couple guests, including Josh Bay (Raw Honey, Known Moons) and Autumn Wetli (Bad Indians, Rebel Kind). It’s not quite unplugged, but it’s certainly hushed and polite for the library crowd, with maybe more of a chamber pop sound than their usual performances. On the recording, most of the applause is edited out, so you probably can’t hear my clapping and cheering. Most of the songs are from their then-new album, but there’s a decent number of All Your Summer Songs classics and the first ever performance of “Everyday”, which has always been one of my favorite SLGTM songs. There’s no telling if Fred Thomas will decide to reactivate SLGTM again, it seemed like there wasn’t much of a response to their last album and he always has a ton of other projects that he’s concentrating on at any given moment, but this is a good flashback to when the moment had returned, and it’s worth revisiting. Also this show happened the same week I first started talking to my best friend so there’s certainly some personal significance to that. Anyway, not sure if the tape is still available anywhere but it’s available digitally on
Bandcamp.
August 5, 2016 at 11:12 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Wrangler: Sparked – Modular Remix Project
I haven’t heard any of Wrangler’s original material, but they’re a modular synth group doing the early electro/industrial thing. On this album, they approached some electronic musicians they admire, invited them to remix a track from their debut album, and sent them some stems. They also told the remixers to use a modular synth for their remixes. The result is a pretty wide range of styles, from spooky electro-techno to synth-pop to cinematic ambient. Of both takes on “Mus IC”, Abul Mogard’s is ominous and beatless, with detached vocals surfacing in rhythm; David Burraston’s version adds a beat to the voices and is otherwise pretty sparse. Mute Records founder Daniel Miller’s “Theme From Wrangler” essentially sounds like a lost Underworld track. Steve Moore’s “Harder” sounds closer to his Miracle project than any of his other projects, but it sounds like Nine Inch Nails more than anything else. Scanner’s “La Spark” is fairly relaxed bleepy techno, but Chris Carter’s “Lava Land” is a dark, ominous monster filled with unsettling noises and a throbbing, grisly kick drum which keeps orbiting between the backward and the foreground. Dean Honer’s “Space Ace” is a trippy acid lounge tune, while Alessandro Cortini’s “Modern World” is a brief lunar expedition in the form of a bassy ambient drone. Benge’s “Peace & Love” feels fractured and circuit bent, but it sticks to a repetitive beat. Solvent’s take on “Harder” is sparser than Moore’s, but it’s darker and dubbier. Wrangler end the disc themselves with “Theme Meme”, a 14-minute techno track which has at least 3 or 4 distinct sections connected by a bit of hummed vocals cloaked in effects.
August 5, 2016 at 9:52 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Mueran Humanos: Miseress
A few years ago I reviewed a previous Mueran Humanos release which consisted of two really long, repetitive industrial psych-ish tracks. This one is more focused on songs, and it’s a much less exhausting listen than the previous EP. It’s sort of a mix between Helado Negro-esque trippy Latin electronic pop, Factory Floor-style post-punk industrial dance, and hypnotic psychedelia heavy on the guitar effects. The opening title track is one of the album’s quieter, prettier songs, and “Un Lugar Ideal” is a steady, percussive dance number with distorted guitars. “Mi Auto” is faster and more Krautrock-y, but with swarms of piercing guitars and exuberant vocals. “El Circulo” calms things down a bit but sticks to a steady, hypnotic tempo for its 8 minutes as it cycles through more shaky vocals and guitar effects. “El Vino de las Orgias” is a warped, sideways new wave disco while “Guerrero de la Gloria Negativa” is more of an industrial dirge drowning in fuzz. “La Torre de la Hora” goes to the outer orbits with sparse pulsing bass, disarming delay and sudden crashes, and murky vocals. I wouldn’t have known what to expect from this group even after hearing their previous EP but this ended up going beyond any expectations I would’ve had.
August 5, 2016 at 9:10 pm | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment
Heaters: Baptistina
Second album from a Grand Rapids-based band doing the noisy surf-y psych-rock thing. This is exactly the type of band that seems tailor made for Austin Psych Fest/Levitation. Some of the tracks are more straightforward psych-rock tunes, some are more drifty, some are longer and go through different sections. “Elephant Turner” has a tiny bit of a “Jump Into the Fire” groove to it, while “Dali” has a bit of an “I Am the Walrus” bite to the vocals. “Seafoam” is appropriately the surfiest one. Pretty good overall, definitely sounds like the mitten state’s equivalent of Holy Wave or the Black Angels.
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The Answer Is In The Beat 