Review: Mega Post Pt 1
I haven't posted much of late, what with work commitments, legal stuff and all the political shenanigans over here. There is so much great stuff out there that I've decided to cram as much as I can into two posts. Hopefully I'll have more time to spend on the blog now and so these posts will bring me pretty much bang up to speed!
What better way to start than with a new one from The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol! They are, without doubt, one of my favourite bands recording today - their output is consistently strong and always of the highest calibre. 'Do Not Stack Flat' is a digital only release, which has probably pissed off the 'music can only be good if on vinyl' brigade, but great music is great music, whatever the format. Ever the masters of improvised music, the album was recorded live with no overdubs etc in 2015 (with the exception of the last track which dates back to 2013.)
Musically, the album is a great example of what free psych/kraut should sound like; from the more chilled opener 'Bittere Frucht' via the motorik rhythms of 'Incredulous Conceptions' and the awesome 'God II (the smokey haze)' every track shines with the collective wisdom and chops of a bunch of guys who have been around the block a few times and REALLY know their music. It's nigh on impossible to pick standout tracks as they all are, but for what it's worth 'Bulbous Decoy Blues' with its raw vocals (gotta be a first for TBWNIAS) and the huge final track (29 minutes +) 'Smoked Pakora With Jam and Jazz Cigarettes 2013 Parts 1-4' really hit the spot, with the latter rich in eastern notes and grows into a monster....it's life affirming stuff!
'Do Not Stack Flat' is an essential for any psych lover (well, all of TBWNIAS output is essential) and for those poor souls who are unfamiliar with the band this is the perfect introduction to their improvised and heartfelt psychedelia/krautrock. the one thing that always strikes me about the band is their authenticity...such is their wizardry that the songs could have come straight from another age.....but, as I mentioned, these guys know their music and are steeped in both the classics and the obscure. You NEED this! It can be streamed, or better yet, bought from the bands Bandcamp site here.
Moving swiftly on from one of my fave bands to one of my fave labels. Tonzonen are going from strength to strength this year, the variety and depth of their releases are impressive to say the least, and the latest release from Barrows only adds to an already impressive catalogue. Until this release, I was totally unaware of Barrows - never even heard the name and so 'Obsidion' came as a bit of a revelation.
'Obsidion' "depicts the experience of a man who is abducted from earth and brought to "Obsidion", a place where dimension is indefinable and the boundaries of human consciousness cease to exist." ...heavy stuff, musically as well as conceptually. The album generally takes a post-rock stance but artfully combines it with krautrock and the occasional flourish of prog...but it is doing them a disservice to try and categorise them..it is a unique and clever album full of deep, circular riffs, crashing rhythms and periods of almost kosmische ambience. It all comes together to form a brilliant whole. Standout tracks are the title track which resonates with power but always controlled and focused and 'Cocoon', a krautrock based track which is dripping in atmosphere and dread and would provide the ideal score for a dystopian sci-fi movie. As a whole, the album flows nicely and holds the attention from first note to last. The more I've listened to this, the more I've fallen in love with it..brilliant stuff that is inventive and intelligent. It is available as a double vinyl LP from the Tonzonen webshop here.
Now this is a bit fucking special. Sometime ago I was perusing the Sky Lantern Records site and saw this release from Snakes Don't Belong In Alaska, gave it a listen and was blown away. Unfortunately the ridiculously high postage from the States to here precluded a purchase of the tape but, joy of joys, I was recently contacted by a friend who drew my attention to the fact that the tape is now available in the UK courtesy of Infinity Mirror. Happy days!!
'Mountain Rituals' comprises just the two tracks, both of which break the 15 minute mark. The first, 'Mountain Void' is staggeringly good - a 21 minute study in psychedelic jamming that recalls the soundscapes conjured by The Myrrors but with the the same intense, swirling riffs of Blown Out, but it is so much more than that....you can hear Acid Mothers Temple in there as well as bits of some of the Krautrock greats. It is, in short, fucking excellent! 'Mountain Mirror' opens with some melancholic drones and things gradually grow; some echoey guitar and throbbing bassline lull the listener into a false sense of security but before you know it is has evolved into another monster track. More spacey than the first track but no less powerful, it is full of the same heavy, wah-wah riffs and evocative atmospheres. This is superlative stuff! The tape is available from Infinity Mirror Bandcamp site here or, if your in the US, Sky Lantern have some.
This is something a bit different for this blog - Angelo Sindaco and Carli Moretti are prominent figures in the Italian techno scene but they have come together to create an album that owes as much to hauntology, dark ambient, Italian Occult Psychedelia and early seventies electronica pioneers as it does to techno. 'Grandi Successi' also sees appearances by Valentina Magaletti from Raime/Tomaga, Soft Moon's Matteo Vallicelli and Jonathan Clancy.
Over the span of 14 tracks we are treated to post-industrial dystopian landscapes ('Era Meglio Vuoto', 'La Notte Come Una Belva'), the electronic soundtrack to something nightmarish ('Citta Dalle Notti Rosse'), cosmic explorations ('Ripensamento'), homages to early electronica ('Carillion Del Delore') and some genuine genius pieces of more abstract electronica ('Prospettiva Niente' with the Starfuckers). There are some tracks in which the duo fall back into their more familiar techno background but it's always techno with a twist. I really enjoyed this album (I've always been a closet techno fan) with its mix of the familiar and the more abstract. It's an album with a solid, beats driven backbone but with enough space for invention and the playing around with themes. It is released very soon on Angelo's own OTO Casa imprint (some available via their Discogs page here) but will distributed via Kompakt and comes as 2x12” and C100 cassette.
This one's gonna be a biggie! The Radiation Flowers grew from the ashes of the great Powder Blue and since then have been plying their trade of psychedelic shoegaze and garnering a whole load of plaudits and new admirers along the way. 'Summer Loop' is their new vinyl LP that is being jointly released by Sunmask and Cardinal Fuzz.....and it's a bit good!
I've always been a bit wary of using 'shoegaze' as a description, but it serves a purpose in that most people connect the word with a certain music, namely fuzzy, effects-driven guitars and dream-like vocals. The Radiation Flowers certainly fit that description but, and it's a big but, their music is not as one-dimensional as a lot of shoegaze albums. The twin guitars of Shelby Gaudet and Christopher Laramee veer from all-out, headlong psych ('Dancing In Flames') to something closer to psych-folk ('Colours') and back to that warm, fuzzy shoegaze ('Sunrise' has a guitar line that is incredibly redolent of The Monkees 'Last Train To Clarksville' which, as we all know, is one the greatest songs ever recorded!.) Every track is taken to dreamy territory by the gorgeously ethereal vocals of Shelby while the guitars are ably accompanied by Amber Ross on drums, Jay Allen on bass and new member Lucas Goetz on keyboards. In all, it is damned good album and a perfectly timed July 9th release date sees it land just in time for summer. It will be available from Cardinal Fuzz (UK/Europe) and Sunmask (North America). No media is available yet so here's an older track from the band.
What better way to start than with a new one from The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol! They are, without doubt, one of my favourite bands recording today - their output is consistently strong and always of the highest calibre. 'Do Not Stack Flat' is a digital only release, which has probably pissed off the 'music can only be good if on vinyl' brigade, but great music is great music, whatever the format. Ever the masters of improvised music, the album was recorded live with no overdubs etc in 2015 (with the exception of the last track which dates back to 2013.)
Musically, the album is a great example of what free psych/kraut should sound like; from the more chilled opener 'Bittere Frucht' via the motorik rhythms of 'Incredulous Conceptions' and the awesome 'God II (the smokey haze)' every track shines with the collective wisdom and chops of a bunch of guys who have been around the block a few times and REALLY know their music. It's nigh on impossible to pick standout tracks as they all are, but for what it's worth 'Bulbous Decoy Blues' with its raw vocals (gotta be a first for TBWNIAS) and the huge final track (29 minutes +) 'Smoked Pakora With Jam and Jazz Cigarettes 2013 Parts 1-4' really hit the spot, with the latter rich in eastern notes and grows into a monster....it's life affirming stuff!
'Do Not Stack Flat' is an essential for any psych lover (well, all of TBWNIAS output is essential) and for those poor souls who are unfamiliar with the band this is the perfect introduction to their improvised and heartfelt psychedelia/krautrock. the one thing that always strikes me about the band is their authenticity...such is their wizardry that the songs could have come straight from another age.....but, as I mentioned, these guys know their music and are steeped in both the classics and the obscure. You NEED this! It can be streamed, or better yet, bought from the bands Bandcamp site here.
Moving swiftly on from one of my fave bands to one of my fave labels. Tonzonen are going from strength to strength this year, the variety and depth of their releases are impressive to say the least, and the latest release from Barrows only adds to an already impressive catalogue. Until this release, I was totally unaware of Barrows - never even heard the name and so 'Obsidion' came as a bit of a revelation.
'Obsidion' "depicts the experience of a man who is abducted from earth and brought to "Obsidion", a place where dimension is indefinable and the boundaries of human consciousness cease to exist." ...heavy stuff, musically as well as conceptually. The album generally takes a post-rock stance but artfully combines it with krautrock and the occasional flourish of prog...but it is doing them a disservice to try and categorise them..it is a unique and clever album full of deep, circular riffs, crashing rhythms and periods of almost kosmische ambience. It all comes together to form a brilliant whole. Standout tracks are the title track which resonates with power but always controlled and focused and 'Cocoon', a krautrock based track which is dripping in atmosphere and dread and would provide the ideal score for a dystopian sci-fi movie. As a whole, the album flows nicely and holds the attention from first note to last. The more I've listened to this, the more I've fallen in love with it..brilliant stuff that is inventive and intelligent. It is available as a double vinyl LP from the Tonzonen webshop here.
Now this is a bit fucking special. Sometime ago I was perusing the Sky Lantern Records site and saw this release from Snakes Don't Belong In Alaska, gave it a listen and was blown away. Unfortunately the ridiculously high postage from the States to here precluded a purchase of the tape but, joy of joys, I was recently contacted by a friend who drew my attention to the fact that the tape is now available in the UK courtesy of Infinity Mirror. Happy days!!
'Mountain Rituals' comprises just the two tracks, both of which break the 15 minute mark. The first, 'Mountain Void' is staggeringly good - a 21 minute study in psychedelic jamming that recalls the soundscapes conjured by The Myrrors but with the the same intense, swirling riffs of Blown Out, but it is so much more than that....you can hear Acid Mothers Temple in there as well as bits of some of the Krautrock greats. It is, in short, fucking excellent! 'Mountain Mirror' opens with some melancholic drones and things gradually grow; some echoey guitar and throbbing bassline lull the listener into a false sense of security but before you know it is has evolved into another monster track. More spacey than the first track but no less powerful, it is full of the same heavy, wah-wah riffs and evocative atmospheres. This is superlative stuff! The tape is available from Infinity Mirror Bandcamp site here or, if your in the US, Sky Lantern have some.
This is something a bit different for this blog - Angelo Sindaco and Carli Moretti are prominent figures in the Italian techno scene but they have come together to create an album that owes as much to hauntology, dark ambient, Italian Occult Psychedelia and early seventies electronica pioneers as it does to techno. 'Grandi Successi' also sees appearances by Valentina Magaletti from Raime/Tomaga, Soft Moon's Matteo Vallicelli and Jonathan Clancy.
Over the span of 14 tracks we are treated to post-industrial dystopian landscapes ('Era Meglio Vuoto', 'La Notte Come Una Belva'), the electronic soundtrack to something nightmarish ('Citta Dalle Notti Rosse'), cosmic explorations ('Ripensamento'), homages to early electronica ('Carillion Del Delore') and some genuine genius pieces of more abstract electronica ('Prospettiva Niente' with the Starfuckers). There are some tracks in which the duo fall back into their more familiar techno background but it's always techno with a twist. I really enjoyed this album (I've always been a closet techno fan) with its mix of the familiar and the more abstract. It's an album with a solid, beats driven backbone but with enough space for invention and the playing around with themes. It is released very soon on Angelo's own OTO Casa imprint (some available via their Discogs page here) but will distributed via Kompakt and comes as 2x12” and C100 cassette.
This one's gonna be a biggie! The Radiation Flowers grew from the ashes of the great Powder Blue and since then have been plying their trade of psychedelic shoegaze and garnering a whole load of plaudits and new admirers along the way. 'Summer Loop' is their new vinyl LP that is being jointly released by Sunmask and Cardinal Fuzz.....and it's a bit good!
I've always been a bit wary of using 'shoegaze' as a description, but it serves a purpose in that most people connect the word with a certain music, namely fuzzy, effects-driven guitars and dream-like vocals. The Radiation Flowers certainly fit that description but, and it's a big but, their music is not as one-dimensional as a lot of shoegaze albums. The twin guitars of Shelby Gaudet and Christopher Laramee veer from all-out, headlong psych ('Dancing In Flames') to something closer to psych-folk ('Colours') and back to that warm, fuzzy shoegaze ('Sunrise' has a guitar line that is incredibly redolent of The Monkees 'Last Train To Clarksville' which, as we all know, is one the greatest songs ever recorded!.) Every track is taken to dreamy territory by the gorgeously ethereal vocals of Shelby while the guitars are ably accompanied by Amber Ross on drums, Jay Allen on bass and new member Lucas Goetz on keyboards. In all, it is damned good album and a perfectly timed July 9th release date sees it land just in time for summer. It will be available from Cardinal Fuzz (UK/Europe) and Sunmask (North America). No media is available yet so here's an older track from the band.
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