speed, glue and music

THE BEST 17 REISSUES OF 2011

2012-01-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

I always end up listening to more old music than new these days, I would say since about 2005 I really started turning up the heat on discovering music from the past and some years help that along by reissuing old records that needed a remastering job or maybe it's an anniversary and a lot of times it's just because those awesome old albums had gone out of print and a new generation needs better access to them. So here is my list of official reissues that came out this year. The styles are varied and the sounds are all incredible, enjoy and take a trip through time to the best reissues of 2011

ART OF NOISE-WHO'S AFRAID OF THE ART OF NOISE?(1984)
RIYL: Musique Concrete with a lot of added fun, Sampledelica, 80s

BEACH BOYS-SMILE(1967)
RIYL: Sunny psych pop, the Beach Boys at their weirdest while still being great

BITCH MAGNET-SELF TITLED(1989-1993)
RIYL: Slint, Jesus Lizard and pretty much any other hard hitting touch and go band you can think of

CAN-TAGO MAGO(1971)
RIYL: Krautrock, Funk, Precisely amazingly made ahead of it's time music

DISCO INFERNO-THE 5 EPS(1991-1994)
RIYL: The seeds of Animal Collective, Fiery Furnaces and a whole bunch of other modern indie acts

GRANDADDY-THE SOPHTWARE SLUMP(2000)
RIYL: Grandiose epic indie rock robot concept albums

THE LEFT BANKE-WALK AWAY RENEE/TOO(1967/1968)
RIYL: Baroque Pop, 60s rock, 60s weirdness

THE LOUVIN BROTHERS-SATAN IS REAL(1959)
RIYL: Gospel and the best religious songs you will ever hear

PAUL MCCARTNEY-2(1980)
RIYL: Paul at his weirdest influenced by both goofy new wave and weird electronic workouts

MERCURY REV-DESERTER'S SONGS(1998)
RIYL: The Flaming Lips doing the Soft Bulletin but just beating them out by 1 year

MICKEY NEWBURY-AN AMERICAN TRILOGY(1969-1973)
RIYL: Contemplative and trippy country folk

OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL-DUSK AT CUBIST CASTLE/BLACK FOLIAGE(1996/1999)
RIYL: Tripped out 60s rock done by a bunch of drugged out college kids in the 90s

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE-SELF TITLED(1998)
RIYL: Awesome rawk!

SUPREME DICKS-BREATHING AND NOT BREATHING(1993-1996)
RIYL: Indie rock by way of experimentation and the midwest with ties to Sebadoh

TALK TALK-LAUGHING STOCK(1991)
RIYL: The most uplifting inspiring "adult-contemporaty" music ever made, oh yeah and they invented POST ROCK basically

ORCHESTRA PETER THOMAS-ORION 2000(1975)
RIYL: Space funk, Krautrock, Musique Concrete all rolled into one played in front of a crazy horn heavy orchestra

THROBBING GRISTLE-THE SECOND ANNUAL REPORT/D.O.A. THE THIRD AND FINAL REPORT/20 JAZZ FUNK GREATS(1977-1979)
RIYL: Early Electronic music that inspired a 1000 nightmares

TOP 29 ALBUMS OF 2011!!!

2012-01-06T17:00:00.001-08:00

So this year was a doozy and I was able to spend a lot of time focusing in on the music I listened to from this year. Now I like music that jumps out at you and this year wasn't short on any attention grabbing music and quite a few of those albums ended up on this list, but this year was all about focus. I focused on the sounds that weren't immediately there. I appreciated the space in between notes more, I appreciated a well honed craft vs. a quickly tossed off spazzy explosion. Maybe that's why there is hardly any metal on here this year, but that doesnt explain the hip hop...maybe hip hop really was just better this year(it sure felt like it). Back to that focus though. It made me dip into genres I really hadn't focused on. With a little help from RAW3 and Mark I felt I was able to understand and realize how great dark dub techno could be.

So yeah in short, there was no shortage of weird rock to be had. Hip Hop was up this year(i think we might need a guest list from one Mike Leisz). Metal was down for me(i know i know there was great shit but it either didnt hit me or i didnt hear it...but i did like that Chryst album). Techno was on the rise for me. I started listening to Hank3 and maybe it's the weed but I was all about blissed out sounds this year.

Here's a rundown of the best:

Album of the year: The Caretaker-An Empty Bliss Beyond This World

EP of the year: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti-Witchhunt Suite For World War 3

Song Of the Year: "Spread Eagles Across the Block"-Deathgrips

Single Of the Year: "Video Games"-Lana Del Rey

Hip Hop Album Of the Year: Danny Brown-XXX

Electronic Album Of the Year: Demdike Stare-Tryptych

Favorite New Genre Of the Year that I first heard: Juke/Chicago Footwork

The following are the best albums of 2011 in no numbered order. They are all pretty fucking amazing works of art and if you haven't heard some of em...GO CHECK EM OUT!

Alvarius B-Baroque Primavera(Poon Village)
RIYL: Weird ethnic tinged folk/rock, Sun City Girls

EMA-Past Life Martyred Saints(Soulterrain Transmissions)
RIYL: Shoegaze, Grunge, Super raw lyrical rock

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti-Witchhunt Suite For World War 3(Self Released)
RIYL: The best single piece of music of the year, the fruition of a genius at play

Bjork-Biophilia(Nonesuch)
RIYL: BJORK(duh), Kate Bush, New Age

Boots Electric-Honkey Kong(Downtown)
RIYL: Eagles Of Death Metal with a little more pop and the same amount of humor

Braids-Native Speaker(Kanine)
RIYL: Animal collective, Rilo Kiley, Cocteau Twins, Super focused spaced out bliss

Danny Brown-XXX(Fool's Gold)
RIYL: The best Cypress Hill you have ever heard, The best hip hop of the year

Anna Calvi-Self Titled(Domino)
RIYL: Lynchian or Tarentinoesque film music mixed with PJ Harvey

The Caretaker-An Empty Bliss Beyond This World(History Always Favors the Winners)
RIYL: Old records, Ghosthunters, Your grandma's old victrola.

Mikal Cronin-Self Titled(Trouble In Mind)
RIYL: All of that Ty Segall/No Age/Thee Oh Sees crap but way better

DeathGrips-Ex Military(Self Released)
RIYL: Drill sargent hip hop, yelling, Hella

Demdike Stare-Tryptych(Modern Love)
RIYL: Some of the best soundscapes you have ever heard, 70s horror soundtracks, DubTechno

Dirty Beaches-Badlands(Zoo)
RIYL: A little dub and noise with your Rockabilly

Fleet Foxes-Helplessness Blues(Sub Pop)
RIYL: Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby Stills & Nash, Really well done indie folk

Hanni El Khatib-Will the Guns Come Out(Innovative Leisure)
RIYL: The White Stripes, Garage Rock, Doo Wop, 50s Rock

John Maus-We Must Become Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves(Upset the Rhythm)
RIYL: 80s done well, New Order, OMD

The Men-Leave Home(Sacred Bones)
RIYL: Balls to the wall noise rock, Pissed Jeans, Spacemen 3

Mr. Dream-Trash Hit(Self Released)
RIYL: Nirvana, Pixies, Jesus Lizard

Ponytail-Do Whatever You Want All the Time(We Are Free)
RIYL: Where you wanted Deerhoof to go in sound...but they didn't, Tragic Rock, Prog, Can

Psychedelic Horseshit-Laced(FatCat)
RIYL: Anti-Chillwave, Anti-Wavves, The Frogs, Excepter and Ween

Rabbits-Lower Forms(Relapse)
RIYL: Noise rock, The Jesus Lizard, A great hybrid of noise rock and metal

Shabazz Palaces-Black Up(Sub Pop)
RIYL: Electronic influenced hip hop, Digable Planets but better

Andy Stott-Passed Me By EP/We Stay Together EP(Modern Love)
RIYL: Dark ambient Dub Techno

TuneYards-Whokill(4AD)
RIYL: Nina Simone, Vampire Weekend, Fela Kuti, Riot Grrl

Wagon Christ-Toomorrow(Ninja Tune)
RIYL: Maximalist sampledelic electronic music, Madlib, Luke Vibert

Hank3-Ghost to a Ghost/Guttertown(Self Released)
RIYL: Experimental free thinking country/psychobilly

Wise Blood-These Wings EP(Dovecote)
RIYL: Prince meets Panda Bear

Chelsea Wolfe-Apokalypsis(Pendu Sound)
RIYL: PJ Harvey, Dark pacific northwest indie rock, Portishead

Bjork-Biophilia (2011)

2011-10-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

Björk - Hollow (Original 7 Minute Version) - Japanese bonus by La 3e heure!

Ok so here goes. My history with Bjork; a brief discography overview. Debut-had promise never really got too into it. Post-Brilliant. Homogenic-Even more brilliant. Vespertine-Less brilliant but like a cold surgical knife it could due some beautiful damage. Medulla-pretty farty. Volta-Fucking garbage. There, that wasn't so bad was it?

Now onto the new album. This album is a beautiful, expansive, warm and cold album. The music on most of it is very minimal, lots of organs and harps and minimal electronic beats. She produced 90% of the album herself this time, which is a rarity for Bjork and you can kind of tell but not really since I have never heard her self production before. The album seems to want to envelop the listener in a warm blanket of repetition and I would have to say the highlight throughout the whole album is that of voice and atmosphere. This thing is thick with atmosphere and is downright creepy in parts. The choirs of Bjork's are creeptown but it also has a certain sense of familiarity.

Lyrically the album seems to be a lot about the creation of life in the universe and all these huge themes of things that are bigger than all of our petty problems as humans. It's as if she has given up being aggressive(Volta) and decided to look into and out of herself at the same time. She is seeing the beauty of the world even though at first glance it feels like the world is in a constant state of strife. So in a way this album to me represents escapism at it's best. At it's best because it's not true idiot escapism, it's escapism to the country or just into the beautiful places of your mind and finding a way to return to that in reality. She seems to be yearning to teach people to just chill the fuck out and to look at our ancestors and realize all their mistakes and accomplishments. I could be reading way too much into this but it really does feel like a plea for people to settle down and shut their mouths, it's very meditative.
The best tracks here are the "ballad" "Cosmogony" which is based on choir vocals and a soaring lead vocal and slight instrumentation. The number 1 highlight on the album by far though is the song "Hollow". It begins with a throbbing organ that is repeated faster and faster over and over again until Bjork kicks in. The whole thing feels like a dark demented Jon Brion production and you can feel the room these instruments are being recorded in. The whole song is basically voice and organ and it easily ranks as one of the best things she has ever recorded. It hits everything out of the park.
This album is completely indebted to 20th century modern classical music as well as voice music of the Avant Garde and just good ol fashioned Bjork perfection. I am ranking this album of hers probably just below Post in the greatness category. So lets recap Debut-B, Post-A, Homogenic-A+, Vespertine-B+, Medulla-C-, Volta-D, Biophilia-A-

go listen to this

oh and yeah this was released as an APP album with a bunch of extra shit but i dont own an Iphone or an Ipad and I dont give a fuck about Steve Jobs.....IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC

Hanni El Khatib-Will the Guns Come Out (2011)

2011-09-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Hanni El Khatib- Dead Wrong by davefranklin

Hanni El Khatib - "Build-Destroy-Rebuild" by brooklynvegan

Sad about the White Stripes breaking up? Even sadder that Dead Moon broke up in 2006? No need to fear Hanni El Khatib is here! If you need a nice shot of kick ass garage rock with a bit of a 50s twang then this is defintely not to be missed. It's like taking all those things mentioned and adding restraint where it is needed and letting the fuck loose when needed. These songs are not very complicated, they never needed to be. This is pure dirty, soulful classic rock n roll! This has punch and it is easily one of the most ass kicking debuts i have heard in years. Lyrically he is very direct, which perfectly matches the directness of the music. He curses when he needs to, cries when he wants to and lays down sick riff after sick riff, hell in the opening track he even throws down some weird ass experimental acapella shit. If you don't like this album you are probably dead downstairs. So far this is thee party record of 2011 and i hope to hear this blasting from peoples cars this fall(i know it wont happen). By some miracle I hope this guy takes off because he totally deserves it!

oh yeah and that cover art is fucking KILLER!

Dirty Beaches-Badlands (2011)

2011-09-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

What happens when you take rockabilly and boil it down to it's core? What happens if you add Elvis vocals to that kick ass Dymaxion album? What happens when you throw all that in a undersea canister and let it seep out slowly over time? Dirty Beaches is what you get. It's like the 50s on major amounts of opiates and it ends up coming out sounding like a lo-fi version of Suicide. Apparently this guy made this album for his parents because they weren't down with the weird stuff he was already doing. His parents were rockabilly parents in the 50s and 60s so he decided to put his own spin on the music they loved. This is the result. One of the best hangover albums I have ever heard. It is perfect for your brain if all your brain wants is to chill the fuck out. You don't have to put too much mental effort into enjoying this kind of thing but that's not to say it's dumb by any means. It just flows very well in a simplistic fashion, but I mean, an idiot isnt gonna sample Les Rallizes Dénudés anytime soon. So sit back and enjoy the wonderfully dark psychotic hangover sounds of Dirty Beaches and forget about your troubles.

Renaldo & The Loaf-The Elbow Is Taboo (1987)

2011-09-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

So I have been noticing a nice trend in music from present to past. The trend in question is that of "brother bands" or "brother" bands. The first is a band with either brothers in it or the members are only brothers. The second is bands that pretend to be brothers. Some examples of the first one are The Sun City girls and The Frogs. Examples of the second are bands like Ween, Barnes and Barnes and these guys right here...Renaldo and the Loaf. Now the common thread between all these bands is, they are weird. Something about them is off, whether it be their lyrical content, their music, or both. In the case of Renaldo and the Loaf it's definitely both. The story of Renaldo and the Loaf goes as such; they were making a lot of lo-fi 4 track recordings in Bristol, which is in the south coast of England. After making a few singles they got noticed by none other than The Residents! They were immediately signed to Ralph Records the record label run by The Residents. They gained some notoriety for being just as weird as The Residents and their mission in the music world seemed to be to alienate as many people as possible. There is always an awkward feeling to every song they have ever made. Yes it is annoying, yes it is weird, yes it doesnt make sense and believe it or not these are all positives to their cause. This music is not made for mass consumption and in the process they made some groundbreaking strides in the evolution of music and this album in question is their final and probably best album.
This album distills early electronic music, hip hopish beats, world music, world tunings, childlike humor and dark disturbing lyrics(sometimes not even real words but more like a madeup language). The songs are consistent and you can hear tons of other bands in the cracks these guys have made. This music is fun, disturbing and very very smart. It sounds a bit childish in parts but its all part of their package. These guys carry my so called "brother band" aesthetic perfectly and I think this stems from(when its blood brothers) a mutual understanding of letting your guard down and just being as fucked up as possible, because, that other brother will always be there in case of rejection. The same goes for the "brother" bands, most of these bands seem so connected in a best friend kind of way that they really dont care at all what the outside world thinks about their music or it gives them the strength to confront the world with some truly out their ideas. To me this is great and I try to have this flow through everything I have done musically to varying degrees of success. Anyways this band is not to be ignored, missed forgotten. Keep their legacy alive and listen to this shit on a daily basis. Sure most of it's ridiculous, but isn't life...so fuck it.

Winter Family-Red Sugar (2011)

2011-09-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

winter family - red sugar (album preview) by experimedia

Imagine for about an hour you are in some foreign land and you come across a temple/church/some type of place of worship. You are not religious. You are not searching for yourself. What is real is the organ music wafting through the front doors of this temple. It beckons you inside and when you walk inside you see people from all walks of life. no one turns their heads to greet you when you step inside. No ill will is found in this place. You take a seat and look forward just as a woman takes the pulpit and begins chanting in a language you cant recognize. This chanting and talking takes you out of the world and places you firmly in your seat in this darkened cathedral. Once that woman steps off the pulpit another woman takes her place. This time she is American and is telling a story of rape and self discovery. This doesnt depress you instead it fills you with a sense of your own purpose or something or other. Outside you can hear a political protest going on. It first starts civil then quickly devolves into a mob tearing at the walls and screaming for everyone inside to come out so they may either join or die. You have to make this choice. Not right now but soon.
Right now you are actually in your bedroom listening to Winter Family's Red Sugar and wondering where you went for the past hour hoping to get there once again and never again at the same time. Imagine if you will Nico fronting a peace rally in Israel. Then imagine it is the most uplifting and depressing thing you have heard all year. This is what great albums are made of.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - "Garden"

2011-08-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

really loving this one. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (TEED) is a sort of electronic danceable pop project by London, UK artist Orlando Higginbottom, though described by Orlando himself as "just dance music" with no genre associations (which as a sort of anti-genre person myself i can totally support). much of what i've heard online from his other EPs sounds more less like what you'll hear in "Garden", albeit a little weirder/less directly dancey and pop-oriented. "Garden" is really the standout track for me, and for many others as it's been generally received as such. it's that kind of track where you can just feel all the gears turning that an artist is trying to employ, the kind of track where it all just clicks. but really, i think what puts this track over the edge (compared to most of his other work) is the guest vocals by Luisa of Lulu and The Lampshades (a kind of funky-alt Micachu-esque indie-pop group). her voice is just beautiful. was really bummed when i realized she wasn't an actual member of TEED.

anyway, check it out. it's on Greco-Roman, a label i have yet to explore, but totally will after hearing this. oh and also, this and most of his other videos have great production values and a cool, vaguely avant-garde kind of style and feel to them. refreshing to see someone put some good work into music videos nowadays.

lumerians - transmalinnia (2011)

2011-08-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

Lumerians - Black Tusk by speedglueandmusic_aw
Lumerians - Hashshashin by speedglueandmusic_aw

Lumerians
Oakland, California, USA
Transmalinnia (Partisan, 2011)
http://www.myspace.com/lumerians
RIYL: Can, Wooden Shjips, Dead Meadow

Despite this being easily one of my favorite albums this year, I never got an simple handle on how to describe their sound and I never got around to writing a proper review of this. Lumerians' sound is usually referred to as "space rock" or "druid rock" in the reviews I've seen, and while neither of those terms are bad, I don't think that "space rock" really captures the groove and rhythm that Lumerians bring in their cosmic psychedelia. Taking psychedelic rock as a template, most songs on Transmalinnia are built around looping and catchy bass melodies with hypnotic, krautrock-inspired drumming. While your body is locked into the groove, the chiming guitars, squelchy keyboards, percussive flourishes and occasional dripping watery vocals hijack your brain and plot a course for alternate dimensions. There's a certain amount of funk and catchiness that 70's psych and krautrock bands possessed from their rock n' roll roots that many modern psych bands lack, and I think Lumerians bring this back more successfully than any of their contemporaries. It's the combination transporting your body and mind at the same time that makes Trasmalinnia such an exceptional record. Lumerians' live show (which adds projected visuals and sometimes costumes) is just as remarkable and captivating; when I saw them play at aQuarius Record's anniversary show last year, I went in with no expectations and ended up feeling that Lumerians blew all the other bands off the stage (including Date Palms, who upstaged Godspeed! You Black Emperor at Great American Music Hall later last year). While I think this album should certainly be a favorite of anyone who considers themselves a fan of psychedelic music, I also believe that this is rocking and catchy enough to appeal to even more mainstream music fans. I can't say if this band is going to blow up, but I think they've definitely got a sound and a live show that ought to bring them wide success. Definitely check out this record and see them live if you can.

Thunder and Lightning-Kangaroo Court (2011)

2011-08-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://thunderandlightning.bandcamp.com/track/i-held-her-hand-in-mine"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;I Held Her Hand In Mine by thunder &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; lightning&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://thunderandlightning.bandcamp.com/track/kangaroo-court"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Kangaroo Court by thunder &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; lightning&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

So this might be the dorkiest record I have ever heard. This, my friends, is a good thing. This album harkens back to a time when "Indie Rock" was still innocent. I would say pre-2005 before the shit got all tied up in pop and the mainstream. This album exudes a sense of innocence that I haven't heard in a while.
This is the drummer of a band I have never heard before called the Harlem Shakes, they came out with an album in 2009 and have since broken up. The drummer decided he would throw his hat into the ring and the results are pretty awesome. Now i must preface this by saying not everyone will like this album, hell I think most people would hate it these days. People might write it off as too cute or something but it really does have some teeth. The lyrics especially all tell little mini stories with tons of details that beg you to follow them. He sings about haunted places, girls, san francisco, love, loss, happiness, you know the staple indie pop shit but it's done with such a precise pen that you can but stand up and take notice.
Musically I would say the music is most similar to a blend of Quasi, They Might Be Giants, Ben Folds Five and the Ovens.
So fans of super nerdy piano based indie pop all done by one guy than this is definitely your bag. While this might not be for everyone I have to shed some notice on this record before the year is through just so people know the shit exists, no doubt this will go on some your year end lists

have some nerdy fun!

Braids-Native Speaker (2011)

2011-08-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

Braids - Lemonade by neontapedeck
BRAIDS - 'Plath Heart' by SpunkRecords

At first, for some reason or another, i wrote this band off as kind of a "Animal Collective with a girl" type scenario. While it does have elements of those guys I feel that this band is in fact definitely doing their own thing. The music is very warm and it feels like it is expansive yet also very intimate. This band has a lot in common with the overall Cocteau Twins sound, as well as a lot of the shoegaze bands from the 90s. This album though has less, less wall of sound, more sparse electronics, and above all the beautiful vocals carry this music from something average to something way above average.
If you are not a fan of somewhat new agey stuff or female vocalists like Elizabeth Frasier or Kate Bush, then this might not be your cup of tea, but for those of us that yearn for the shoegaze and dream pop days of yore, this is something you will want to consume immediately.

oh yeah and this came out i believe the first week of 2011 yet it perfectly fits the hot summer mood.

prurient - bermuda drain (2011)

2011-08-04T19:53:00.000-07:00

PRURIENT - A Meal Can Be Made by Hydra Head Records
PRURIENT - Palm Tree Corpse by Hydra Head Records

Prurient
New York City, New York, USA
Bermuda Drain (Hydra Head, 2011)
http://hospitalproductions.net/
RIYL: Genghis Tron, Xinlisupreme, Xiu Xiu

Every Prurient release I'd heard prior to this album was harsh, aggressive, dissonant, deeply in the red noise. Earlier this year I found out that the man behind Prurient, Dominic Fernow, had joined Cold Cave for their newest incarnation as boring synth goth rockers, and I was puzzled as to how someone known for such destructive noise could find a home in a very middle-of-the-road leather and sunglasses group. Add those two facts together, and somehow this very bizarre and schizophrenic newest Prurient album makes sense. Bermuda Drain sounds very much like the budget, equipment, and some of the melodicism of Cold Cave crossed with Prurient's deeply fucked up sonic assault. The tracks here are split between Fernow narrating disturbing and sometimes grotesquely sexual images over unsettling keyboard washes (the lyrics make the name Prurient seem all the more fitting), and more upbeat and rocking tracks that could almost pass for The Faint if it weren't for Fernow screaming his guts out over them. It sounds a lot like if Xiu Xiu were way more aggressive, and also obsessed with 80s synth horror soundtracks, or like if Genghis Tron were less metal but way more disturbing. Personally, I have a pretty low threshold for ear bleeding experimental noise, so this direction is way more interesting and a step up in my opinion. It is still a very bold and uneven album, and I wouldn't call it an unqualified success- but it is still one of the more interesting and original albums I've heard recently, and I'd say one of the better albums this year.

Shabazz Palaces-Black Up (2011)

2011-07-27T16:24:00.000-07:00

Shabazz Palaces - Swerve... by subpop

Shabazz Palaces - An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum by subpop

This year feels like it's really trying to have a good hip hop run. Some might be fooled with some of the subpar crap coming out that looks good on paper and in the press(odd future youngins im looking at you!) For the most part this year has some ok stuff coming out. Lil B came out with something decent, the Ghostface/Doom collaboration dropped their first single today and thats pretty solid. Death Grips made a very divisive album( i loved it). Then there is this. Shabazz Palaces feels like effort, it oozes creativity. It doesn't fall into the usual tropes most hip hop falls into. There is very little bravado present, very little cliche on this album. Thats just the words. The musical side of this album is even more dense and "new" sounding. There are twists and turns at every corner with new ideas cropping up here and there. A neat little trick they employ is that of completely changing the entire structure of a song in its final 2 minutes, they do this on more than half the album and it still feels like a surprise anytime. It kind of reminds me of way Skinny Puppy structured their album Last Rights on cd, where the beginning of the next track actually begins at the end of the track that precedes it. It creates a disorienting feeling that is addictive as hell.
This is a very solid hip hop release and so far the best thing hip hop has had to offer so far for 2011.
I guess it takes a veteran from Digible Planets to show all the new(and some of the old) cats how to do shit right.
Everyone should take note, this is the way to make a hip hop album, you know how they used to make em...

The Men-Leave Home (2011)

2011-07-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

01 If You Leave by sean.taylor106

It starts with a hum that is vaguely Middle Eastern in origin. The beginning of man. The beginning of The Men. Slowly building with tiny pieces of feedback from both the bass and guitar. Little electrical hums flicker about. Then shitty harmonics play above a feedback drenched bass line. Then the shit opens up, wide fucking open and now it sounds like Harvey Milk jamming with Spacemen 3. Who could ask for anything more?? It is beauty through chaos and then the drums come in and its a kick ass rock song and ladies and gentlemen we are no longer floating in space but now very grounded. "Die, I would die!" gets repeated over and over, and i would die to in a shallow grave in the middle of a seedy bar in downtown LA with these heavy notes and waves of distorted guitar, i could just die!
Back to Earth we are allowed to listen to these recorded sounds over and over, while wearing a pair of pissed jeans and remembering why you liked heavy music to begin with. This is the culmination of collections filled with amrep records, touch and go singles, and just that special amount of 80s weirdness. apparently this is hardcore but i beg to differ, this is just rock, rock at its most confrontational and cerebral. It's albums like these that remind me why i started listening to music in the first place.
Another modern masterpiece to place next to my Jesus Lizard and Big Black records.

LONG LIVE THE RAWK!!!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RIP brain dead dave, owner of force of habit records

2011-07-13T00:48:00.000-07:00

I woke up tonight trying to remember what 90's emo band we were talking about that time you came on my radio show, when we had been at the bar earlier and then on the radio you played a ("pre-nazi") Skrewdriver song and wouldn't stop cussing on air (I believe your parting words to the audience were something along the lines of "goodnight you motherfuckers!"). You were a funny guy, and one who cared deeply about music.

RIP.

mysterious black metal: mamaleek - kurdaitcha (2010) & murmuüre - murmuüre (2010)

2011-07-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Black metal is a genre becoming more and more crowded everyday, making the effort to find acts doing something interesting and original with the sound that much harder. Recent trends like an overt shoegaze influence were astonishing when they arrived, and have now become commonplace and BORING. The problem of searching for new sounds is compounded by the fact that trying new things is always risky, and the bands out there making genuine efforts to push black metal forward don't always succeed in making something that's actually good.

Mamaleek - The Hypocrite & The Concubine by speedglueandmusic_aw
Mamaleek - My Body Rock Long Fever by speedglueandmusic_aw

Kurdaitcha is Mamaleek's third album, but it is my first encounter with them. I first heard this album a few months ago, and have been trying and failing to put into words what it sounds like ever since. They are a pair of brothers from San Francisco, but beyond that not much is known about them. It USED to be standard practice for black metal musicians to be "mysterious" and not very press-savvy, but in recent times certain black metallers have embraced press coverage with open arms (hello LITURGY), so it's actually pretty refreshing that I'm not staring at glossy photos of these dudes while writing this. It makes it a lot easier to focus on the music, which is good since this music is AWESOME. Mamaleek's approach to black metal reminds me a lot of Lifelover or Joyless, in that they incorporate many disparate and unusual styles into an overal black metal vibe. On top of the black-metal-appropriate buzzing guitars and pounding drum machine, Mamaleek incorporate sampled pan flutes, unnerving disembodied voices and other unexpected elements. These unusual ingredients are not just garnishes on top of meat-and-potatoes black metal however, as Mamaleek's music is as much industrial, noise and shoegaze as it is black metal. I know I mentioned earlier that I thought shoegaze and black metal was a played-out combination, but it's done here in a less clumsy and more original way, so I don't feel like I'm listening to some trend-hoppers. In fact, despite the reckless mish-mash of genres happening on Kurdaitcha, the album is incredibly listenable. While it might not be sufficiently grim for black metal purists, and too harsh for those not open to metal, I imagine that there is a pretty sizable group of people like me who have been starving for something new that is as WEIRD and RAD as this record is.

Murmuüre - Amethyst by speedglueandmusic_aw
Murmuüre - Disincarnate by speedglueandmusic_aw

While Kurdaitcha is an album I've been turning over for months, attempting to unlock its secrets and mysteries, Murmuüre's debut self-titled album from last year is one that I've only recently come across (despite hearing some very high praise from the always reliable aQuarius records last year). Hailing from France, Murmuüre's approach to black metal is as bizarre, adventurous and psychedelic as Mamaleek, but the end result is very different. Murmuüre's music is more open-ended, mostly layers upon layers of thick and threatening atmosphere, only occasionally punctuated by a beat and a few howled vocals. Although not as immediately catchy as Mamaleek, Murmuüre have just as much happening on this album- it is a record both sonically busy yet also subdued. I admit that I haven't listened to too many dark ambient records, but this is probably the most appealing approach to that idea that I've come across, and I suspect I'll be continuing to find interesting and new details the more I listen to this.

2011 & 1/2

2011-06-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

2011 is now more than half over, and summer's finally arrived (although if you are in San Francisco you wouldn't know it from the rain). Any excuse to make a list of albums is a good excuse, but "2011 so far" is an extra good excuse. Here's lists from me (aw), destroythescene and R.A.Williams; MRT will be posting his list tomorrow.

These are the albums I've been digging the most so far this year- I took a few albums off the list at the last second (ducktails, tim cohen, a few others) because I wasn't sure if I liked them THAT much. The ones I like best are in bold.

battles - gloss drop (warp)

Battles - Inchworm by daftdreamy

black devil disco club - circus (lo)

Black Devil Disco Club - Distrust by FBi Radio

burzum - fallen (back on black)

Burzum - Jeg Faller (Fallen) by metalassault

clams casino - b-sides instrumental & remixes (self-released)

lumerians - transmalinnia (partisan)
Atlanta Brook by Lumerians

moon duo - mazes (sacred bones)

Moon Duo- Mazes by sacredbones

peaking lights - 936 (not not fun)

Peaking Lights - Tiger Eyes (Laid-Back) by tacking

vetiver - the errant charm (sub pop)

Vetiver - Worse For Wear by wattesnl

DestroytheScene:

These are in order from best to last

Psychedelic Horseshit - Laced (Fat Cat)

Psychedelic Horseshit - French Countryside by TheDiscoverialist

Ponytail - Do Whatever You Want All the Time (We Are Free)

Ponytail - Honey Touches by FBi Radio

Death Grips - Exmilitary (Self-released)

Death Grips - Exmilitary - 3 - Spread Eagle Cross the Block by deathgrips

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)

Fleet Foxes - Montezuma by gypsysphere

Tuneyards - Whokill (4AD)

Tune-Yards - Bizness by snipelondon

Akron Family - S/T II The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT (Dead Oceans)

Akron Family - Silly Bears by Pretty Much Amazing

Panda Bear - Tomboy (Paw Tracks)

Panda Bear - Last Night At The Jetty by bigasslens

Rabbits - Lower Forms (Relapse)

Rabbits - A Tale Of Tales (Lower Forms) by metalassault

Liturgy - Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey)

Liturgy - High Gold by deadcomedian

R.A.Williams:

tim hecker - ravedeath 1972 (kranky)

tim hecker 'hatred of music I' by kranky

egyptrixx - bible eyes (night slugs)

Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes - Chrysalis Records feat Trust (Night Slugs) by pdis_inpartmaint

clams casino - instrumental mixtape (self-released)

Motivation by clammyclams

asc - stutter/leviathan 12" (exit records)

ASC - Stutter - EXIT 029 - A by Exit Records UK

bok bok - southside ep (night slugs)

Bok Bok - Reminder by EC-Promo

Bon Iver-Bon Iver, Bon Iver(2011)

2011-06-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Bon Iver - "Calgary" by blatanti

NOPE.

THIS SUCKS.

WORST ALBUM OF THE YEAR SO FAR.

RIYL: Phil Collins' Genesis, Bad TV on the Radio, Circa 1999 Dave Matthews, Overblown Garbage.

also there is a really horrible song on this album, it's the closing song called "Beth/Rest" that is beyond words horrible, unfortuneatly due to Bon Iver's label or himself being a tight ass almost none of the songs are available anywhere on the internet legally. i will update this review if i find something though, but in the meantime download that shit if you want to make your ears bleed.

Cam Connor-Fitter Happiest(2011)

2011-06-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

03 Good a$$ Job by sean.taylor106

06 Indie Soap Opera (Feat. Jeremy P) by sean.taylor106

The art of sampling. I personally think it's brilliant, some people think it's shit but i think there is a great art to picking out samples, changing them or leaving them intact but arranging them in such a way where you create a brand new piece of art. Doing this takes time and effort and this Cam Connor person has succeeded in creating some new art.
Some of you may be rolling your eyes thinking this is gonna be just like girl talk, but the difference is this guy or girl doesnt give a shit about making dance tracks out of this music instead he creates a truly ridiculous mash up with interesting turns everywhere. A lot of this is somewhat blasphemous which is great because i feel a lot of people are wearing velvet gloves when they "approach the greats". This is ugly, awful, annoying but ultimately completely engaging.
I mean this is shitty but great at the same time. it is trash, it is disposable but it is also exciting as all hell. whether or not you see what i see is totally in your head but to me this is the sound of someone who cant decide what to play so they just play everything at once and never pick up an instrument aside from their trusty sampler.

ENJOY!

oh and i think this may be thom yorke

Death Grips-Exmilitary(2011)

2011-06-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

Death Grips - Exmilitary by deathgrips

So this is a bit of a weird one and to be honest kind of a great one. This project is a hip hop group from Sacramento. It involves Zach Hill and two other mystery people. I dont hear too much of Zach's drumming, but i suspect i am hearing his beats. He hinted at stuff like this throughout his solo career but until now his noise/pop sensibilities had never been paired with hip hop. I think it's a great mix and he isn't afraid to take risks with this music, a lot of it sounds like it's not going to work but i havent heard a misstep on this album.
The general mood of this album is very confrontational, aggressive yet at the same time really playful. There are a ton of 60s samples ranging from girl group to arthur brown and a bunch of other stuff, bowie gets a sample too. This truly is melting pot hip hop, pulling from many genres twisting them and then using them as a jumping off point to launch this music straight into your brain.
As far as i can tell, this stuff is still pretty "under the radar" and they are offering this mixtape for free on their website right here! http://thirdworlds.net/exmilitary.php

This kind of has a Odd Future feeling to it, but it feels more mature, maybe thats because it is made by an older crowd. It also has a heavy Food For Animals vibe but it's not as focused on abstract IDM, instead you could throw this on at a party and i think people would be down.
This is forward thinking hip hop that i hope turns some heads, this needs to be heard and at that price why not just give it a try it's fucking free!

a few notes: Mike Leisz turned me onto this one...thanks bud! and i highly recommend the songs guillotine and spread eagle across the block...but i mean just download the whole thing!

Fleet Foxes-Helplessness Blues(2011)

2011-06-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

Fleet Foxes - Montezuma by gypsysphere

02 - Bedouin Dress by chrisdeets

Sometimes i write off a band, sometimes it's for a good reason and i never want to listen to them ever again. Sometimes it's for a bad reason like the "scene" surrounding such music, people who like it, etc.. and i usually regret it sometimes. This one i am regretting bigtime. It's not like i am gonna run out and buy their first ep or album, but this, this thing right here i am listening to is making me regret writing them off.

This is pure indie folk/pop shit you would assume these days is a dime a dozen but the pure talent going into these songs cant be ignored. The harmonies alone could carry this band but underneath it lies a great sense of tension within the instrumentation. this band likes to ebb and flow and swell up and down just like a sea and the boat is carrying the melodies and harmonies. it all accompanies everything around it and back again. every song is a highlight and a joy to listen to.

the main touchstones i can find here are of course crosby stills and nash. but also, more importantly, and this might seem weird but the absolute best melodies from James Taylor. i hear a ton of him in this album, this album reminds me of an afternoon looking out on a beach and just not having shit to do and being able to totally appreciate the things around you. I'm normally not this sappy but this album makes me feel good, i cant really explain it but every element wrenches an emotional reaction from me and it's great.

who knew this would be the year of being blown away by simple well done indie releases, im diggin it

video: performances from "our band could be your life" tribute

2011-05-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

photo from pitchfork's facebook page

Our Band Could Be Your Life tribute at Bowery Ballroom (Stereogum review)
Our Concert Could Be Your Life (streaming on NPR)

When this show was first announced, my reaction was pretty negative (I think my exact words were "fuck everything about this"). It seemed like a personal affront to me that the man who had written a book about some my favorite bands, and some of the most important bands of the 80's, was putting on a tribute show featuring performances by bands that sounded NOTHING like the groups they were covering. How could it be showing respect to groups like Blag Flag, Big Black, Butthole Surfers and others by staging performances by bands that are not in any way connected to the sounds of those original bands? I understood that The Dirty Projectors had released an album that was at least conceptually connected to Black Flag, even if sonically it had virtually nothing to do with them. But the selection of St Vincent to cover Big Black I could not understand. Oh lord how it made me mad- I had visions in my head of her taking the stage, whipping out a violin, and winking and laughing through a set of ironic Big Black covers. In fact it was such an outrage to me that I tried my hardest to forget the whole thing was happening at all. But yesterday the show did happen, and today my blood pressure spiked when I saw reviews of it popping up on music websites. I almost decided to ignore the reviews for the sake of my happiness and mental health, not wanting to spend the rest of the day fuming about the desecration of music I hold dear. But I took the plunge and watched a few videos, and to my immense relief my expectations were totally wrong about this show. St Vincent's performance of Kerosene not cutesy or fake or ironic, its a performance that actually respects the original. And it's a shock to see the Dirty Projectors playing Black Flag songs not as Dirty Projector songs, but instead more like they originally sounded, with a now long-haired Dave Longstreth forgoing his vocal acrobatics for guttural barking. These were the two performances I was most personally interested in, so I can't really say if the rest of the show was as good as these two, but you can check out the whole concert streaming at NPR, or check out loopyvid's youtube channel for other performances from the show.

LA weekly interviews Steve Albini about food

2011-05-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Indie Rock Food Blogs: The Steve Albini Interview

Steve Albini's food blog, "Mario Batali Voice"

I love Steve Albini, I love food, and here he talks about cooking, as well as eating in LA. I don't really think anything more than that needs to be said really, other than that I'm kind of bummed he doesn't like Martha Stewart as much as I do.

tUnE-yArDs-w h o k i l l (2011)

2011-05-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

no more soundcloud...those fuckers have denied my uploads about 10 times in a row now, so fuck em, you tube "videos" instead

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Merril is performing at the..." and thats how the album begins and if that isn't a perfect rev up for an album I don't know what is. She really is performing "at the..." she is everywhere on this album. Combining elements of Indie Rock, African Music, synth pop, punk, and even soul(mostly in the vocals). This reminds me of what would happen if Nina Simone fronted a punk band. This album is somewhat hard for the explain. It's much better than the first one, which was recorded on a 4 track. This one is split between 4 track/field recordings/and a nice studio or two. She seems to thrive in this environment, employing her lo-fi aesthetic while also taking full advantage of the studio time. Every song here practically bursts with creativity. A lot of the creativity on display here can at times be awkward but that just adds to the excitement, she knows the perfect moment to be shitty to compliment the greatness. By making some parts dirty and somewhat stupid at times it gives the album a very up and down feel. It's like someone grabbing your hand and whipping you through a crowd without telling you where you are going.
This album is exciting, forward thinking, a bit annoying but you couldnt call yourself an adventurous music listener without acknowledging that something interesting is going on here. Oh and it definitely reminds me of that first Micachu album which is awesome!
I highly recommend this to pretty much anyone.

video: cold cave - villains of the moon

2011-05-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Some interesting facts about Cold Cave that you may not know (or maybe you do genius, jeez):
- Singer/songwriter Wesley Eisold was the vocalist for hardcore bands XO Skeletons and Some Girls (and on an unrelated but somewhat interesting sidenote, he has only one hand)
- The band used to feature Caralee McElroy of Xiu Xiu
- The band currently features Dominic Fernow of Prurient/Ash Pool and Jennifer Clavin of Mika Miko
- All of these facts should add up to an awesome band and yet somehow this, from their latest album, sucks really hard.

Their new album, "Cherish the Light Years", is full of songs with brainless hooks and high-school emotions like this one. At best, this comes off as an insincere "sell-out" ploy; at worst, it just makes them seem like terrible songwriters (you are free to reverse the "best" and "worst" in this scenario, but I'd rather think they are trying to "make it" rather than to believe they are just this awful of a band). I'll let this video review serve in lieu of an album review, because this is pretty representative of what the album is like and I don't have any interest in listening to it in its entirety again. I'm hopeful that they take their sound in a different direction, because there's way too much talent in this band to make music this fake and simplistic.

This, by the way, is what they sounded like on their last album, which to me sounds perfectly mainstream without sounding completely dumbed down:

video: liturgy - returner

2011-05-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

Liturgy are one of those bands that make it almost impossible to listen to the music without wondering what it all "means": in this case, the "meaning" at hand being the appropriation of outsider music (black metal) by clean-cut pretty boys in v-necks. However, questions about intentions, appropriateness and the legitimacy of the people behind the music should always come second to the music itself. Trying to put my reaction to concepts about black metal and indie "identities" is pretty difficult to do in this case, but I think Liturgy are doing something legitimately unique and sincere. It may come from a sincerely stupid philosophy, but again I feel like its an important personal challenge to reconcile good or interesting music made by people I find obnoxious or repulsive. If I can honestly appreciate Burzum without buying into his white supremacist ideology, I can certainly enjoy black metal made by poser douchebags right? And then, there's an undeniable humor to see black metallers reacting to these guys with the same self-righteous horror with which the cultural mainstream reacts to black metal. In the end, it wouldn't matter at all if the music wasn't any good, and here I think it is. I have yet to hear the new Liturgy album in its entirety, and what snippets I've heard I don't feel are as good as their previous work, but I'm hoping to go in to it with an open mind at the very least.

video: reality 86'd (Black Flag's last tour)

2011-05-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

Click here to go watch the movie

Filmmaker David Markey is so cool that he released his documentary about Black Flag's last tour for free for all to watch on Vimeo, yet strangely he is not cool enough to let me embed it here. Oh well, can't win them all I guess. I've gotta go eat crazy-ass Chinese food with my lil' bro so I don't have time to watch this right now, but maybe I'll add my thoughts tomorrow. Or maybe you should add yours in the comment section.

In the meantime, here's a Black Flag video that will actual embed!

Tyler, The Creator-Goblin(2011)

2011-05-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

1-01 Goblin by sean.taylor106

Oh Tyler, you have managed to write and record the most self aware, self conscience and schizophrenic albums I have ever heard. Most of the time this would be a good thing, hell even a great thing. Many artists have done this, especially in hip hop. I have liked albums by egotistical weirdos for a while, the most recent album in memory was the last Kanye album. That album was made by a self aware egotist and it turned out to be concise and expertly produced. Even though it was self aware it still kept the most important thing in the forefront, Kanye let the music seep through everything above all else, his message was a moot point when those choral vocals and crazy song arrangements poured through the headphones. It was good, pure and simple.

The difference between that album and this one, i find, is extreme immaturity. Tyler really seems extremely cautious of every word he laid down to tape. He knew this album could make or break him but he seems so concerned with this that it gets in the way of the album. It's as if he was looking over his shoulder at all times when writing these tracks, second guessing himself until he made this. What is this? One of the biggest convoluted messes of an album I have heard in years. The music resides somewhere between Anticon and Def Jux and somewhere between the years 2001 and 2004, except this is 2011 and Madvillain happened and mainstream hip hop stepped up to create equal pop/critical hits. The landscape changed and El-P already made Fantastic Damage. In fact, this album sounds like a sloppy codeine fueled version of that album. In my eyes that makes this album completely unnecessary for the times.
It's painful to listen to this for many reasons, it feels like I stumbled upon some angry teenagers livejournal from a few years back. It reminds me of the bullshit rebellion that I let go after age 18. It's ugly but it's calculated ugly, it's fine tuned to a disgusting degree, and we havent even touched the lyrical content yet.

Lyrically this album is both successful and a failure at the same time. It succeeds because it does "go there". It really is, on first listen, dangerous and full of menace but after a few spins it really shows that this is just the product of an angry young teenager who is so concerned with his self image that he ends up not having an image of his own and ends up becoming a cheap, immature version of what he wants to be; a true dark creative genius. He is not, not even close because he thinks about it too much. No amount of pitched down and up vocal techniques could save this album, no amount of minimal production could save this album. Instead, Tyler buries this album with his monumental ego and his desire to be loved and hated by everyone.

Oh well..."Yonkers" was alright.

Akron Family-S/T 2: The Cosmic Birth and Journey Of Shinju TNT (2011)

2011-05-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

01 Silly Bears by deef deeferson

03 A AAA O A WAY by deef deeferson

Opening with distorted drums and wordless chanting, there is a sense of menace and darkness with this new journey of Akron/Family's. All the distorted elements continue but like a flash of lightning crackling through the sky come the clear perfected haromonies. It's kind of what i feel Grizzly Bear would sound if they got a little crazy. This is the opener and it successfully gives a preview of the entire album to come. When i say album I mean this is meant to be listened to as a whole. No individual song downloading from Itunes, no "I've heard a couple songs and it's pretty good" bullshit. This is an album you sit and listen to it, it was constructed that way, just like a movie, things unfold and flow into each other. These things don't come with a casual listen. Though it isn't impossible to take it in chunks, I just recommend you give the album one full go through before you start picking favorites.
In terms of the inevitable comparison I do when reviewing, I would definitely say these guys are on some kind of Psyche Pop freakout tip. Early Mercury Rev is a damn good comparison, same with Feels era Animal Collective. The music is very earthy and hippieish yet always with a foot firmly planted in the future and an eye on the horizon.
This album is one of those rare examples where a disjointed style and sound actually ties the whole album together.
This is highly recommended and might be the album of the year so far. After years of toying around with their sound the varying degrees of success these dudes have come full circle to the imagination packed first self titled album they released. It's no wonder they titled this one "self titled-2".
Anyone who likes the forward thinking side of indie rock needs to go out and get this immediately!!!!!

phil manley - life coach (2011)

2011-05-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

01 FT2 Theme by philmanleylifecoach
04 Forest Opening Theme by philmanleylifecoach

Phil Manley
San Francisco, California, USA
Life Coach (Thrill Jockey, 2011)
http://www.philmanley.com
RIYL: Edgar Froese, Arp

Given today's news about Phil Manley engineering the new album from SF krautsters Wooden Shjips, and the fact that I'm gonna be seeing Phil Manley play live tomorrow with Santa Cruz's best psychedelic detonators Mammatus, I thought I'd take a moment to consider the debut solo album from this noted local guitarist and producer. Manley's longest running music project is Trans Am (he's also been a member of Oneida, The Fucking Champs, and most recently, Jonas Reinhardt), but in my opinion his work as an engineer tops his work as a musician- Alps, Arp, Mi Ami, Moon Duo and Wooden Shjips rank among my all-time favorite bands, and Manley has manned (heyyyyyy) the boards for all of them. Now frankly I don't really know enough about the production side of music to be able to tell you exactly what it is that Manley brings to the albums that he produces, but the fact that he is involved in so many amazing recordings makes me think that he must be doing something special. This is his first record under his own name, although I've seen this project referred to as "Phil Manley's Life Coach" or "Life Coach", rather than being an album titled "Life Coach" by Phil Manley. Confusing, but at any rate, it is Manley's first solo affair, and it definitely follows the path that his both his production work and previous musical output have set. Life Coach is a collection of propulsive kosmische stompers, patiently finger-picked guitar pieces, and humming drones. While none of the tracks on here are standouts in their respective genres, they are all very competent and enjoyable and showcase Manley's adeptedness at a multitude of styles. However, this impulse to work in a variety of genres is definitely this album's biggest weakness, because although individually each track here is worthwhile, the end result is a very scattered and unengaging album. I suspect that these songs were not written specifically for this album, and I don't think the tracks are sequenced here in a way that works very well. Because Phil Manley played the very first KUSF-in-Exile co-present a few months ago, and because his upcoming show with Mammatus is also a KUSF-in-Exile benefit, it made me think about what a perfect record this would have been for radio. The choice of tracks in different styles, Manley's history in the local music scene, and the individual strength of each track would have doubtlessly made this a very successful album on the KUSF airwaves. Had I first approached it from that angle- of playing a single track from it here and there- I might have had a much higher opinion of this album. But taken as a whole, the quality of the individual songs is obscured by the unfocused presentation on the album, and the end result is an album that is promising and yet disappointing at the same time. I'm looking forward to seeing how these songs play out in a live environment (and therefore hopefully in a different sequence), and hoping that any future full-length albums will be more cohesive.

Ponytail-Do Whatever You Want All the Time (2011)

2011-04-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

01 Easy Peasy by deef deeferson
05 AwayWay by deef deeferson

Ancient Aliens, for those who haven't watched the history channel series, is a theory put forth by a select few in the scientific community that states that we(the planet) have been visited before by an ancient race or races not of this planet. It is said that these "aliens" came down and introduced the human population to mathematics, various forms of art, various forms of architecture and many other means of cultural and intellect expanding areas. Basically it's said we didnt learn any of this alone, hell we might have not even contributed up to that point.

So in short, aliens came down, shot our brains full of abstract and scientific thought. Byproducts of this would have been advancements in all sorts of areas including most likely religion. We interpreted what we learned from these beings and translated it through our still developing cultures to come to what we know as common society.

Now taking root in this theory i firmly believe that some of these thoguht provoking aliens are still here, and we have seen em. or at least i believe i have seen em or at least for the purpose of this review HEARD THEM!

a list of possible musical aliens:
Frank Zappa
Tim Buckley
Joe Meek
Bruce Haack
All 4 members of Kraftwerk
Richard D. James
EyE from the Boredoms
This Heat
Kool Keith
Lil B
Ariel Pink
(feel free to disagree with me or add some to the list i may have left off)

Which brings me to my final point and my review:
Even though they reside in Baltimore i truly believe the members of Ponytail are direct decendents or long living ancient aliens from either the Incan or Mayan "education" and have firmly grabbed the controls of their spaceship and crash landed on the East Coast and well folks they formed a band because their spaceship crashed and the parts are too damn expensive to make the trip back home, so they are bored, and they decided to make a few records, including this one, possibly their finest yet.

Four aliens collective Boredoms equals another simple earthling's pleasure
and the first band made up entirely of Ancient Aliens.

Panda Bear-Tomboy (2011)

2011-04-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

05 Last Night At The Jetty by deef deeferson
04 Surfer's Hymn by deef deeferson

Oddly enough I don't have much to say about this album, I think it is pretty good right now, I think it will grow to be great. It is very understated, almost the complete opposite of Person Pitch, which isn't necessarily a good or bad thing. This record is just overall more sedate, perfect beach music, not beach party, just beach music. His melodies are as strong as ever since his voice is the main attraction here. He still is in great debt to the road Brian Wilson paved before him. His style isnt so much as a rip off but more of an extension of where Brian Wilson left off. The general consensus of this album is that of "meh" and i agree but i relish in the "meh" I like that he didn't create another colorful masterpiece. This is the album for self reflection, for chilling out and letting everything kind of melt away. It's an escapist album. It IS solid, it IS well thought out and this one is defintely a grower, so if you have this downloaded don't delete it, just let it seep into your brain and something will click.

DJ H▼∆D (+ bonus performance art from aids-3d)

2011-03-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Through random internet searching of something somewhat unrelated, I stumbled on an artist by the name of DJ HVAD. or as he spells it: DJ H▼∆D, on his myspace.

I'm not sure if there's a particular genre associated with this type of rap and beat-making, but it's very homegrown sounding beats, often with sped up vocals and a bunch of random samples and edits. I'd say that it's vaguely related to the chopped and screwed music side of hip-hop, but y'know, on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Either way, I considered it to be a pretty sweet find, a gem that has virtually no exposure in the US.. the biggest evidence of which is that it is hardly google-able. The hooks in the raps and the beats are surprisingly catchy and well constructed. The most information I could get out of his myspace was that he is on a label (equally as mysterious) called Bornwrong Records, and that he's from Denmark. and also that he likes to ordain his page his weird photos of black people, for whatever reason.

So on a whim, i sent him a message to ask him where I could buy his music, and to my amazement he responded by initially saying that I could send him some money through paypal for the tracks. I asked him how much and for which tracks and he replied by apologizing for trying to charge me, and told me that since I was from LA and he liked that town, he would send me the tracks for free. He also recommended a night in LA called GROWN at M Bar on temple st. which i am going to most certainly check out the next time i'm out there.

still waiting on the tracks (keepin' my fingers crossed), but in the meantime he provided me with his youtube and soundcloud accounts, which I am now providing for your enjoyment. so indeed, enjoy.

his youtube channel, interestingly enough is called 'listen to mogwai' and his soundcloud is under his other alias dj yungbukkake / WhyBe.

for a quick listen, here's a rip of one of his myspace tracks:

all in all, a pretty fascinating character. if i ever get those tracks they will most certainly be a SPEED GLUE AND MUSIC EXCLUSIVE.

oh and btw, I found this guy by coming across an event for (i'm assuming) Denmark arthouse aids-3D.

who also led me to this performance art piece by them called Network of Love:

i think it's pretty interesting, but i must warn you, it's probably very NSFW starting at 8 or 9 minute mark. but then again, why are you watching videos at work? GET BACK TO WORK

why am i not at work you ask? well maybe because this is my job!.. i'm a professional blogger, OBVIOUSLY

alright, i'm done. will return w/ updates, new fun things

tracks: lil b - various tracks

2011-03-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

via space age hustle

Lil B has been blowing up lately, but honestly it's a strange sort of success he's enjoying. I've been a fan of Lil B since his days in The Pack, and a few of his latest tracks (especially the ones on this mix) I think are some of the best rap tracks being produced today. Despite that, the fact remains that by almost any criteria you might want to use, Lil B is a terrible, terrible rapper. In fact, one of the first things that made me a fan of Lil B is that he is so bad at rapping. It's a debatable point I suppose, but if you look for cleverness, complexity, and actually rhyming in rap, Lil B is definitely awful. So what's with all of the hype then? Lil B's inability to construct actual raps are part of his larger persona, which is that of unpredictable weirdness. Its impossible to guess what Lil B will do or say next, much less guess if he's going to bother to construct a rhyme at the end of a verse, and that is what critics and fans love about him. That definitely makes it seem like the majority of the attention he is getting is from non-rap fans ironically enjoying a rapper for being strange, rather than for his music. Of course, the nature of hip-hop is such that persona is always at the forefront, so it's hard to be too disappointed in people focusing on the rapper and not on the rap, but I can't help but imagine this probably grates fans of actual rap music the wrong way. Personally I tend to focus more on production in rap than on actual mic skills, so it doesn't bother me much. And Lil B's persona is really entertaining, especially his goofy motivational self-help positivity side . But what I like best about Lil B is that he chooses to rap over unusual beats that you might not hear more conventional rappers utilize. The "Illusions of Grandeur (Remix)" at the top of this post is a great example of this; Lil B says virtually nothing of interest on the track but its got such a huge vibe that it succeeds in spite of his shortcomings as an MC.

Lil B-Base For Your Face (Ft. Jean Grae & Phonte) by EverythingSwagBased

This Lil B track on the other hand, produced by 9th Wonder and featuring talented word twisters Jean Grae and Phonte, takes the wrong tact. That's not to say it's a bad song, but there's pretty much no reason that Lil B should be on this track. It's a bad fit, and makes it seem as if the established rap world hasn't really figured out how to approach Lil B yet. Personally, I'm hoping that Lil B sticks with the more far-out style of beats.... and that some label or producer manages to step in and do some quality control so that we can get one really good Lil B album rather than dozens of mediocre ones.

Extra: A ridiculous and hilarious track-by-track review of the 676(!!!!!!) tracks Lil B has released over dozens of myspace pages.... it's EPIC.

Julianna Barwick-The Magic Place(2011)

2011-03-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

01 Envelop by deef deeferson
02 Keep Up The Good Work by deef deeferson

On the surface this album seems like it would be amazing. Woman with a great singing voice looping herself to infinity and using her voice as 90% of the instrumentation with the rest fleshed out with ambient soundscapes. I mean it sounds soothing, trance-like and meditative...which it is! It is also pretty boring. Boring seems to work with this album though and I feel a lot of people would love it and I like it to a certain degree as well. It is a great cd to zone out to and put on the background while you are reading or doing something else. The problem with this is, I personally don't like to ignore the music i am putting on my stereo, i want to be engaged by what I am listening to. I dont own a restaurant or library or yoga studio where this music would be exceptionally appropriate. I, instead have my living room and this cd has the rest of my cd collection to compete against for my attention and it is definitely losing.
This is by no means a "bad" album. It is well executed, thought out and complete. Just, in these times, I don't have time for it and don't think I ever will. Like I said, if i ever need to create a calming atmosphere through sound i definitely know which album to reach for until then this one will gather dust on my shelf.

p.s. According to writer MRT this sounds a lot like Grouper, but i don't really listen to Grouper too much so i cant be a judge of that.

For fans of dreamy, spaced out minimalist music i would say you should check this out.

video: geneva jacuzzi - clothes on the bed

2011-03-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Geneva Jacuzzi hails from the same lo-fi glamorous weirdness scene that birthed Ariel Pink and Nite Jewel, and she falls approximately square in between those artists: the bedroom disco chanteuse styling of Nite Jewel crossed with the rinky-dink keyboards and bizarro persona of Ariel Pink is a pretty close description of Geneva Jacuzzi's sound. Given Ariel Pink's skyrocketing popularity over the last year (and the tendency of sites like Pitchfork to find ways to unnecessarily drop his name at every opportunity... their recent description of Gary Wilson as a "proto-Ariel Pink" is just one of many examples), I'm pretty wary of any new artist that is seemingly hitching their cart to his success. Geneva Jacuzzi has been cranking out her lo-fi jams for years however, and her recent full-length "Lamaze" on Vinyl International collects songs from 2004-2009, well before popular acclaim caught up to the music Ariel Pink was inspiring. So despite the fact that this sounds a lot like Ariel Pink, and he mastered and guests on the album, at least she started doing this before it was cool to do so. Another point in her favor is that, despite the fashion and self-indulgence (which honestly I take as a given for any artist coming out of LA), Geneva Jacuzzi seems like a huge dork. The appeal of the lo-fi pop sound to me is that it seems more sincere and honest, due to its indifference (or perhaps inability) to replicate the gloss and sheen of the fake, vapid music it emulates. With the numerable glamor shots, costumes, and multiple videos, Geneva Jacuzzi seems like she is attempting to position herself as a diva, but the oddness of the music and overall low-budget aesthetic points to a more legitimate artistic statement than a simple attempt at pop success. Check out some of her other videos:

Bad Moods (Rough Edit) featuring Ariel Pink

Love Caboose

video: grouper on the experimental 1/2 hour show

2011-03-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

Experimental 1/2 Hour - Episode XI: Grouper from Experimental 1/2 Hour

I'm working on a round-up of various tracks and videos that have hit the net over the last few days, but here's one that's so substantial that I think it needs its own post. The Experimental 1/2 Hour is a Portland community access program that proves that community access television can be more than just City Hall meetings and drug casualty weirdos. This 30 minute set from Grouper closely approximates what it's like to see her in a live setting, but here she is unaccompanied by the nature footage that was projected behind her last time she performed here as part of the On Land Festival. She's not really the most dynamic stage performer, so without the film there's not much going here visually. Fortunately for those curious about her non-musical work, Grouper has released "Divide", a new book/DVD combo on Roots Strata (the book portion of it is really really awesome, but I've yet to watch the DVD). And then there's more music (two albums!) coming from Grouper in April, too: Dream Loss and Alien Observer. While I'm hoping her new records will be a little more engaging than this, this performance is nevertheless a patient and beautiful (and kinda terrifying at the end) ambient piece, and I'm pretty jealous that Portland gets such great community access TV.... who wants to try and get something like this going in SF?

PS - for extra experimental weirdness, check out this performance that launched the Experimental 1/2 Hour show (and was my introduction to the program)

the austerity program - backsliders and apostates will burn (2010)

2011-03-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

The Austerity Program - Song 25 by speedglueandmusic_aw
THE AUSTERITY PROGRAM // Song 27 by ourbandcanbeyourlife-77

The Austerity Program

New York City, New York, USA

Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn (Hydra Head, 2010) 

http://www.austerityprogram.com

RIYL: Big Black

Although I'd been planning to sit down and write this review for a few weeks now, THIS bumped writing this review up to the top of my list. If you didn't click that link, it's a news bit about how there is going to be a live tribute to the book "This Band Could Be Your Life", featuring the music of the classic bands from that book as performed by some of the fucking LAMEST modern indie bands who have NOTHING to do with the bands they are covering. In particular, I'm pissed that some jackass (seemingly Michael Azerrad, the author of "This Band..."???) thought it would be "cute" or "funny" or "ironic" if St Vincent covered Big Black. Ha ha, isn't that funny? Aren't you laughing? Its like, St Vincent is this twee folk indie chick, and like, Big Black are that seminal pissed-off noise rock group that basically personified seething hate and loathing? GET IT? THIS BAND COULD BE A JOKE HA HA HA OMG LIKE THAT'S SO FUNNY. Anyway, this is a review of an album, not just my raving about some boneheaded indie rock travesty. And the reason that said travesty prompted this review is because The Austerity Program are pretty much the closest modern equivalent to Big Black around. The relentless drum machine, the heavy bass driving the show, the snarky attitude, the intense energy of Big Black are nicely kept alive by The Austerity Program. On previous releases, Terra Nova and Black Madonna, The Austerity Program didn't quite manage to rise above the rank of "pretty good Big Black rip-offs". On last year's Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn EP, however, The Austerity Program have refined and focused their sound, becoming "pretty excellent Big Black rip-offs". While it's impossible for any Big Black fan to listen to this without hearing that band's influence, there are a few differences between them and The Austerity Program. While The Austerity Program's guitarist/vocalist Justin Foley often recites his lyrics in the same deadpan spoken style that Steve Albini used, Foley also stretches his vocal chords out further, reaching for melody far more than Albini ever did. This is one of the band's most notable qualities, because Foley is not a very good singer. However, I think that fact works to the band's advantage: Foley's caterwauling lends a sense of sincerity that makes his darkly humorous lyrics more interesting. And in terms of subject matter, although Foley visits the same kind of bleak subject matter that Albini covered, Foley seems more desperate and out-of-control than Albini did. While my repeated references to Big Black might seem dismissive of The Austerity Program, I think that there's more going on here than simply paying tribute to an older band. And even if they were, seeing as Big Black are better than 99% of any other band (then or now), being a Big Black clone still puts you ahead of the rest. Just don't ask me what I think of bands that "ironically pay tribute" to them...

Rabbits-Lower Forms (2011)

2011-03-11T09:44:00.001-08:00

01 Burn, Sun, Burn by deef deeferson
03 We Beat by deef deeferson

Two relapse reviews in 1 week, what are the odds!!!

These guys have been kicking it around various scenes for a few years, first with the hardcore/metalish band Angel Hair, then with the beloved synth punk band VSS(who even though from colorado were embraced by the late 90s San Diego scene) and most recently in the San Francisco based Pleasure Forever. All of those bands had distinctly different sounds and this one is no exception.
A little background on why i picked this up. I have been getting back into that old San Diego scene sound and had picked up two VSS albums in the clearance bin at Amoeba. i went to Aquarius and saw this album on their new release wall and the descriptive sleeve stated it was ex members from all 3 bands mentioned above, but the real sales pitch to me was there was an Aquarius review snippet that Relapse had used in the packaging stating the singer had a Yow like delivery and that the music was very indebted to Scratch Acid. This i would come to find out was pretty much bullshit. The singer sounds nothing like Yow in any capacity and the band really doesnt sound much like Scratch Acid either(i really dont know what Aquarius was thinking) but i am glad i bought it because this shit is awesome!
The vocals are like a less tough sounding Matt Pike mixed with Mastodon's Troy Sanders mixed with some familiar stuff i cant place right now.
The music is where it gets damn interesting. It's very hard to pinpoint though, the best i can say is it's like a sludge metal band getting hijacked by an experimental rock/post rock band. Which means its always hard but the melodies and rhythm structures are always all over the place and always interesting. It's like ADD sludge metal

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes Mastodon(pre ride the skye) High On fire and pretty much any interesting challenging hard rock.
This is what happens when veterans of the rock and punk scenes decide to do metal right!

oh yeah and for the love of god if you live in the bay area go see this band live at the knockout weds march 23rd, they are playing with vaz and burmese two other amazing bands!!!

horseback - the invisible mountain (2010)

2011-03-08T16:08:00.000-08:00

Tyrant Symmetry by RelapseRecords

The Invisible Mountain by RelapseRecords

Horseback

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA 

The Invisible Mountain (Relapse, 2010)

http://horseback.bandcamp.com/ 

RIYL: Grails, Om

Originally released in a limited run in 2009 on Utech, Horseback's four-song mini-album The Invisible Mountain was re-released in 2010 to wider audiences on Relapse, one of the biggest metal records in the US. You might expect that would mean that this is a metal album, and I guess if the presence of (rather subdued) scruffy black metal vocals is all it takes to make something metal, then this is. I was certainly expecting this to be metal, since I first heard about this album on Haunting the Chapel's best of 2010 list, where it broke the top 10 (besting Burzum even)! But apart from the raspy vox, this is pretty much a straight-forward neo-americana/post-rock album in the vein of Om, (modern era) Earth, Barn Owl, the soundtrack for Jonah Hex that Mastodon made, and most of all, Grails. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing- do you like those bands (and that OST)? There is a good chance that Horseback's trance-inducing basslines, mournful steel guitar, and patiently unfolding darkly Western soundscapes will appeal to you. One noteworthy aspect of this album is how natural the blend of traditional American instrumentation, post-rock structures and black metal tinges is. Horseback's sound, while not terribly groundbreaking, is definitely fully formed- when Horseback hit their stride, especially on "Tyrant Symmetry" and "The Invisible Mountain", the result is an compellingly heavy groove. And the album's final song (the vividly named "Hatecloud Dissolving into Nothing") stretches out over 16 minutes, abandoning the rhythm section in favor of slowly twisting and mutating shimmery guitars and strings, resulting in a very sorrowful and moving epic. That being said, although The Invisible Mountain is well crafted and enjoyable, Horseback have yet to really bring anything new to the post-metal table. I found the mileage I got out of this album to be inconsistent; sometimes I put it on and found myself engaged and taken by the grandiose songs, whereas other times I found myself wishing that there was something more original here. Perhaps most of all I think that this is a very promising start for Horseback, and I'm looking forward to see if they can solidify their place among the already established bands in this genre. However, if you consider yourself an post-metal-stoner-Americana enthusiast, this is definitely an album to check out.

Opal - Happy Nightmare Baby (1987)

2011-02-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

01 Rocket Machine by deef deeferson
02 Magick Power by deef deeferson

Man is it awesome when you find an older album that sounds completely fresh and current by today's standards! This album is a perfect slab of scuzzy drugged out plain and simple heavy slow rock. It predates Dead Meadow, The Kills, Moon Duo, Comets On Fire, you know all that kick ass leather jacket type rock. One major touchstone is definitely Royal Trux in both sound and construction.
This band was comprised of two major players in the Paisley Underground scene of the 80s. Now for those unfamiliar of the Paisley Underground, it was a micro scene that lasted roughly from 82-89 and consisted of quite a few bands going back to 60s bubblegum pop and byrdsian type rock and fusing it with the somewhat neo hippie fashion sense of floppy hats and bellbottoms. basically they loved the 60s and 20 years had gone by so it was time to revive.
The bands these two came from were The Rain Parade(David Roback, guitar) and the Dream Syndicate(Kendra Smith, bass and vocals). Both of these bands were huge in that scene. Guess what though....this album sounds nothing fucking like that shit!!!! at all! It seems like they tried very hard to distance themselves from their previous bands successes which works very well for this release.
There isnt too much i can say about this album except that it will hit the sweet spot for many of my friends, i mean i seriously cannot stress enough, if you are a fan of lazy kick ass rock complete with crazy solos and creepy organs this music is meant for you. Oh yeah this is for fans of T.Rex, if you ever wanted to hear t rex melodies within a comets on fire sound mixed with Royal Trux than this shit is yours!!!!!

aesahaettr - aesahaettr (2010)

2011-02-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

Aesahaettr - The Sundering Blade of Bolvangar by speedglueandmusic_aw
Aesahaettr - The Fury of the Panserbjorn by speedglueandmusic_aw

Black metal comes in a lot of different flavors. There's the raw, evil sound of early black metallers, all harshness and aggression. Or the slower, more melancholy style pioneered by Burzum, furthered by Weakling, and propagated by about a million modern black metal bands. There's industrial black metal, false & hard-rocking black metal, lo-fi & experimental black metal, shoegaze black metal ("depressive rock"), 8-bit black metal, wooden black metal, epic war black metal, folk black metal, noise black metal, orchestral black metal, etc etc etc ad infintum. It can get overwhelming, and so its something of a relief that Aesahaettr, a new one man black metal project from Montreal, doesn't add anything new to this pantheon of black metal offshoots- in fact, this is almost exactly what I would call the textbook definition of modern black metal. This is not a bad thing, because Aesahaettr do by-the-book black metal right. Side A of this, Aesahaettr's self-titled demo cassette, features black metal in the driving, upbeat, riffing style, all fast picking and programmed drums. I like the sound of drum machines and I like drum machines in black metal, so that was one thing that appealed off the bat. But what I am truly a sucker for (and what I think is the primary thing that sets Aesahaettr apart from other like-minded bands) is hooky, empowering riffs, and Aesahaettr brings some real fist-pumping-head-banging moments on Side A. I have to admit that I do feel somewhat conflicted about this, as black metal is meant to be dissonant, misanthropic, isolating, and basically the opposite of "catchy". But I guess that's why I'll never have trve grim kvlt black metal cred, and instead will spend my time listening to music that claims to be evil, yet sounds like the sort of speed metal used to soundtrack a Mega Man game. Side B of this tape fulfills Aesahaettr's obligation to the other main style of modern black metal, the Wolves in the Throne Room back-to-nature epic that takes at least 15 minutes and requires strings and live recordings of the outdoors- and Aesahaettr succeed in pulling this off. Basically, if you crave something new and different from contemporary black metal, look elsewhere. But while this may be more of the same, its more of the same done really well and should appeal to fans of meat-and-potatoes black metal.

The Dirtbombs - Party Store (2011)

2011-02-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

01 Cosmic Cars by deef deeferson
02 Sharevari by deef deeferson

So this is a very interesting one, in both concept and sound. First off, a few details about this album in concept: this is a Dirtbombs record with all the same members(plus 1 special guest i will mention later), it is a covers album(they have done this before), it's a covers album of 9 detroit techno songs made popular by the likes of Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, 2 Cybotron songs, and Derrick May to name just some of the original song authors.
Now in case you aren't familiar with the Dirtbombs music prior to this, they have always been a soulful garage rock band led by Mick Collins who used to front The Gories. They have always been consistent and pretty much awesome their entire existence.
This album is a whole different beast altogether.

Let's talk about sound.

One thing i can say is that the drum/guitar interplay catches my attention the most and it can come of as both equally amazing and boring. i say amazing because in order to pull off some of this stuff on actual instruments is hard as hell, i say boring because of that same reason these riffs can sound boring as all hell in their repetition on traditional rock instruments. Some songs sound fresh and moving due to their original author's sense of rhythm others sound bloated and repetitive because their isnt much of an earworm of a riff or pattern to it. To me this album was going to divide ears no matter who was listening, i just didnt think it would divide them so much within the album song to song, i thought this would be more of a "this album is amazing" vs "this album is garbage" kind of scenario.
The album is cheesy, cool, aggressive, playful, it basically is a long list of contradictions and this does bleed into the sound quite a lot, while i love the opener "cosmic cars" i kind of hate "good life" and so on. But above all the collaboration between the dirtbombs and Carl Craig on the 20 minute centerpiece "Bug in the Bass Bin" needs to be heard to be believed...and yes i did just say collaboration Craig plays analog synth on the track!

Now even though this album is a whole new concept i have never seen before, i have heard some of these sounds before. I hear a lot of Echoes period Rapture going on, i also hear a lot of the first OUTHUD album. There is a little bit of Soulwax in there as well.

This album is in no way a disappointment at all, i think the concept is very interesting and i feel the music matches up to the originals pretty well also. I think i would definitely recommend this album to a detroit techno fan over a fan of the dirtbombs because to be honest unless you have a real open mind or love detroit techno and you are a dirtbombs fan this will probably be your least favorite album of theirs. if you like adventure and weirdness and electronic music this will most likely be your favorite album of theirs.

so head on down to the party store and see what happens when a hero in one genre honors heroes of another.

video: C V L T S - "angel chromosome" (from C V L T S/Umberto Split 7" (2011))

2011-02-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

C V L T S - "ANGEL CHROMOSOME" from Zahid Jiwa on Vimeo.

L V S T, the self-released debut of Kansas' C V L T S, was an excellent assortment of simple yet engaging synthscapes. I'd been looking forward to new music from these guys, and "Angel Chromosome" from their upcoming split with Umberto (who uh I know nothing about) makes for an excellent (though unfortunately brief) reminder of why this group stands out in an increasingly crowded field of bedroom keyboard kids. Sounding retro without sounding stale, sounding epic without being overstuffed or pompous.... C V L T S definitely have a take on synthy drone that appeals to me. Much more than, say, Night Satan.

Bonus: C V L T S Mixtape: featuring your favorite experimental electronic weirdos The Skaters, Mark McGuire, Stellar OM Source, Matrix Metals, etc... plus Jan Hammer, and Peter Gabriel(!).

track review: moon duo - "mazes" (from mazes (2011))

2011-02-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

Moon Duo - Mazes by souterraintransmissions
One of my favorite San Francisco groups, Moon Duo, announced their newest release (and full-length debut) Mazes today. Like the bizarrely warm weather we've been experiencing here, this news makes me excited for the end of winter and the beginning of long months of sun- Moon Duo's previous EP releases of mellow-yet-propulsive hazy psych were the perfect jamming soundtrack for last summer (Mazes comes out just before the sunny season, on April 18th). The title track, released today as part of the announcement, promises that Mazes will mostly be the same Moon Duo we know and love. It features the same motorik beat, the sustained keyboards, the rising and falling outer-space guitar that carries the music through the cosmos.... but in a more energized form than Moon Duo's previous releases. The chords are a little brighter, a little more upbeat; the vocals are more clear, less hidden by reverb, than older Moon Duo tracks. However, these slight differences do not fundamentally change the overall vibe- I think this bodes well for their debut.

Night Satan-Midnight Laser Warrior (2010)

2011-02-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

01 Four Eyed Cyclops by deef deeferson
02 Death Chess 2000 by deef deeferson

hmmmmmmmmm so this is an interesting one and i still kind of dont know what to think about it. basically it's what i believe to be 3 guys from finland, and they have walls and walls of synths at their disposal. they also use electronic drums and have vocals for about 30 seconds on the first song. this stuff is like a weird cross between symphonic metal/cheesy 80s production/video game music(old school)/prog rock and some of the ambient/soundscapes of someone like tangerine dream or klaus schulze but all very new agey. On paper this must be sounding either awesome to some and like shit to most and that would be a correct assumption. I honestly cant tell if i am giving this album too much of a chance or if i am being blinded and it actually sucks.

there are a few things in its favor.
first, i have never heard an album like this(good thing and bad thing)
it does have quite a few amazing passages that evoke something like a futuristic goblin
i really love how they use the electronic drums, the programming is simple yet satisfying.
the album art is amazing!

the cons:
its cheesy as shit
its really really cheesy

i mean this shit is fucking dorky!!!!!!!!

but for the first time in one of my reviews i am completely offering up my authority and i want others to please tell me what they think of this thing
i am just posting the 1st 2 tracks
enjoy and get back to me!

burzum - fallen (2011)

2011-02-01T17:43:00.000-08:00

Burzum - Enhver Til Sitt by speedglueandmusic_aw
Burzum - Til Hel Og Tilbake Igjen by speedglueandmusic_aw

Proving that the Norwegian prison system works, Burzum has now released his second post-prison album, and has not yet been caught committing any hate crimes. His first post-prison work, Belus, surprised me with its focus and intensity, and exceeded my low expectations by far (and ended up at the #1 spot on my best of 2010 metal albums list). I had no idea he'd follow Belus up so quickly, but nevertheless I tentatively hoped Fallen would match the quality of it's predecessor. It definitely succeeds in doing so- if you liked Belus then you will likely be happy with this. It mostly follows the template set forth on Belus, but this time Varg spends a little more time crooning than before, and several of the songs feature a martial, mid-tempo near-motorik beat (as on "Enhver Til Sitt") that brings a hypnotic groove the record. While most of the album follows a particular formula, "Til Hel Og Tilbake Igjen" ends the album on an odd and spacey note- definitely weird in a good way, but hopefully not an indication that Varg is itching to get relive his ambient days. The biggest fault this album has is the thin production; I thought that Belus sounded thin but figured it might just be low-quality mp3s. Fallen also has a pretty wispy sound, but I found that turning the bass up on my sound system and listening to this at a higher volume improved the experience. Varg definitely seems to found a new sound that suits him well- if he keeps putting out albums of this quality, this period of his career may be regarded as highly as the Filosofem era.

Buke and Gass - Riposte (2010)

2011-02-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

03 Your Face Left Before You by deef deeferson
11 Bundletuck by deef deeferson

I had heard rumblings about this album a few months ago, i remember stereogum doing a feature on them and i believe dusted really liked it as well, but i sat on it. i think i heard 1 song that was pretty decent and just moved onto other things(not a very responsible music critic but oh well).
So what is this band's deal? well it's two people named Aron/Arone who made two instruments one is a bass ukelele(Buke) the other is a bass/guitar hybrid(Gass) and they play these on every song. Each song is backed by a few other various instruments and thudding loud as shit drumming that really doesnt go beyond the tom/kick combo played at the same time in alternating patterns.
This style to songwriting means that inherently all the songs will sound similar. They do but not in a bad way and they vary the melodies enough to not get stale instead of songs that sound the same you instead end up with an overall feeling to the album...which to me means consistency and an original sound they can ride for the duration.

Now where does this album stand in the musical evolution timeline and who do i feel they are influenced by? Well just think about every good strong female voice out there in the rock/indie rock world. there are touches of Marnie Stern, Sleater Kinney, Neko Case, Geraldine Fibbers, Fiona Apple, and the list could really go on and on. This is not to say that Arone is a rip off in her vocals at all instead she finds a nice niche in between all of these acts and calls on a voice all her own. At once operatic than turning into blistering rock wails to almost coy cutesy type stuff. Her voice carries this stuff beyond a normal indie rock act.

The music i havent been able to pinpoint as well, it's definitely got a caveman-like stomp to it and they are all about repetition in the way 20th century minimal composers were, but this isnt minimal in the slightest, there is a lot going on.

Some of you reading this might hate it for being to normal and indie rockish others will praise it for carrying on the traditions of the greats that have come before them. at any rate this should be an interesting listen for anyone clicking on those samples down there...and for the record if i had paid attention to this earlier it would have easily made my albums of 2010 list.

Kvelertak - Kvelertak (2010)

2011-01-30T18:56:00.000-08:00

Kvelertak - Ulvetid by speedglueandmusic_aw
Kvelertak - Mjød by speedglueandmusic_aw
RIYL: Turbonegro, Satyricon

What's an easy way to piss off a black metal fan? Tell them this was your favorite black metal album of 2010 (it wasn't my favorite, but I did decide to throw this into my top 10 at the last second). Heck, just the fact that I picked "metal - black" as the label for this entry seems debatable at the very least. If you haven't heard this yet, its basically an amalgamation of current-era Satyricon (somewhat) and Turbonegro (mostly): that is to say, major-label friendly black metal and cheesy modern hard rock that Scandinavians seem to love for reasons unknown to me. This album certainly caused its share of controversy when it came out last year; for some people, it was the funnest, hard-rockin'-est, black-metallin' riff-fest album of the year. Or so I hear anyway, because really all I ever saw were metal blogs saying "DAMMIT STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS SHITTY ALBUM". As it so happens though, I like current-era Satyricon and Turbonegro, so I think this album is pretty fun. I think this album would sound good in a bar, or when driving a car really fast. Or driving a car really fast to/from a bar. I can say that it doesn't really suit me as well when I am sitting in front of my computer listening to it, as you undoubtedly are (unless you are in a car or a bar and reading this- how are you doing that??). So anyway, if you think black metal is VERY VERY SERIOUS AND ALSO TRUE AND ALSO BLEAK you will probably HATE this and I won't blame you for that. If, however, you like "riffs" and don't really care if some bros from Sweden or wherever these guys are from are co-opting black metal sounds for their bro-rock fest, you might enjoy this. I guess the question is, can you enjoy music even if the people behind it are total douches? If you like black metal, isn't the answer to that pretty obvious? If you CAN get behind this concept, this album is pretty fun, although the songwriting is not terribly strong- most songs have inspired moments and then a lot of filler. But I'm always in favor of things that sound new and different, and I'd say this is a pretty good sound.

Ducktails- III: Arcade Dynamics (2011)

2011-01-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

So i have to admit i am a little late to the whole Ducktails game, i missed out on all the limited cassettes 7 inches and all that jazz, I was aware of this guy's existence i had just never sat down with one of his albums. From what i am led to believe is that this new album is a bit of a departure from his earlier work, apparently his early work is all drum machine/synth style stuff with lazy stoner singing over it...but then again i could be wrong.
What I am hearing now on this new album is pretty boring and bored sounding indie rock in the vein of something like Sebadoh or Pavement without any of the ambition. The sound isn't terrible it's just not terribly engaging, it sounds tossed off but not in a very good way, it just kind of comes off lazy.
Now this brings me to a big topic i have been throwing around regarding this new resurgence of "lo-fi" and "chillwave". To be honest i am pretty much over it and i never really was into it to begin with. There is something very opportunistic about a lot of these bands, they all have a similar template; usually 1 or 2 people grabbing a 4 track and making something vaguely indie rockish, somewhat shoegazy, all with this "stoner haze" blanketing it. it's indie pop dragged through the mud until it comes out a pretty thing covered in dirt and this mud makes everything sound the same. sure the melodies are different from one artist to the next but it all sounds like it was recorded in the same studio with the same engineer. The genre of music is so similar it just feels like i could grab a rod and cast out and come back with an idea of the whole scene just by listening to 1 band...to me that is awful. I need variety , i need umph some muscle or at least some real genuine weirdness. Once again let me state that this music is by no means bad or awful i just find it frustrating hearing all these 3rd rate Sebadoh's when there is so much more territory to explore.
So yeah this album is not an abomination and it's nothing amazing but to me the middle ground it occupies is the worst offense and this is something that has no place on my musical map of important and interesting things to listen to. this shit is stale, pleasant and stale....

02 Hamilton Road by deef deeferson
04 The Razor's Edge by deef deeferson

Deerhoof - Vs. Evil (2011)

2011-01-24T10:04:00.000-08:00

So I am going to start 2011 off with a review of a band that all the writers here at Speed Glue and Music are all very familiar with and some of us did and still love. Somewhat of a San Francisco legacy/tradition within the music scene. You could always turn to this band for some form of inventiveness and creativity, be it with their music, their live performances, their involvement with movie soundtracks, etc....These guys bring it, and this album is no exception. Now i have to say I was pretty disappointed with the last 2 albums(friend opportunity and Offend Maggie) the former for being too cutesy and a little too polished and the latter for feeling bloated and boring(especially since i was excited about the inclusion of ed rodriguez) but they have bounced back. They have kept most of the electronic flourishes adopted for Friend Opportunity but instead added a bit of a sense of dread and if not dread than just a little bit of darkness and grit. The album most closely resembles a mix between Milk Man and The Runners Four. There is a little touch of Apple O in the guitar tones but not much else is intact from their genius 2nd and 3rd albums.

There is pretty much only one addition to their sound(that i will include below) that i must make note of, i really like the addition of flamenco guitar on the song "no one asked to dance" other than that this is pretty much your standard Deerhoof album.

I would say for a fan of Deerhoof, this is a must buy. For a casual fan of Deerhoof or for someone who has fallen out of favor with Deerhoof, this is a must download and for anyone new to Deerhoof i recommend listening to anything from Reveille-The Runners Four.

This will please quite a bit of people i think and i find it a fitting intro into the year 2011 for speed glue and music!
enjoy!

also in the spirit of local music and the spirit of San Francisco(home to 1/2 of the members of this blog)

LONG LIVE KUSF YOU WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!

04 No One Asked to Dance by deef deeferson
03 The Merry Barracks by deef deeferson

A Look Back at the Music of 2010

2011-01-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

2010 was a continuation of a most successful run in the overall electronic scene. This seemingly sudden burst in creativity has been slowly building for years, most notably with the rise of dubstep, a term that is becoming increasingly hard to define as it evolves into different sub-genres. It's gotten to the point where people refer to it and all related genres as 'bass music', 'street bass', or something mildly ridiculous like 'future garage' (garage being a kind of 2-step UK electronic music). Either way the scene is definitely flourishing in really exciting ways and shows no real sign of stopping. 2011 will likely start off with a bang as super-awesome dubstep producer Joker releases his very first LP. Not to mention an LP by Egyptrixx, and quite possibly the king himself, Richard D. James. But i digress.. here's a list of my favorite albums/tracks/EPs/etc from this past year. The nature of this genre is such that it's not super LP friendly necessarily, so i'm chosing singles, tracks and EPs as well as albums. Hope you enjoy these as much as i did! happy 2010, looking forward to an amazing 2011.

Top 20 Releases of 2010 (in no particular order):

Actress - Splazsh LP

Actress has an amazingly special sound. Mostly based around straight-up techno, the way he approaches it is weird and interesting in a very subtle way. He adds little flourishes, pacing, vibe, and just random weird effects and textures to a relatively simple format, making his sound really unique. The overall effect is a strange mixture of sublime, brooding, contemplative and funky. Splazsh explores a nice range of sounds while still maintaining that special Actress touch, and that's quite a feat in itself for any artist. One of the most compelling releases of 2010, or any year for that matter. (review by MRT)

read the rest!

Andy Stott - Love Nothing/Tell Me Anything 12"

This is pure minimal house/techno at it's best. Completely dreamy swinging beats with just the right type of ambiance. I'd venture to say that even the average listener couldn't not be swayed by the undeniable groove of 'Tell Me Anything'. It's simple progression just too nice, too smooth. Generic to most maybe, but this is for techno-lovers only.

ASC - Certainties EP

ASC has at least one major thing going for him: a super distinctive sound. Existing somewhere between twitchy drum and bass and IDM, his sound is cold in the overall environment it creates. But that seemingly cold environment is home to some pretty epicly emotive and often warm sounds. 'Reality Check' (track review) off this particular EP is a perfect example of that. Well worth the nearly year-long wait between my first listen and the official release.

Autechre - Oversteps

With this, Autechre didn't just create an album, they created a little musical universe. traditionally their sound had almost exclusively consisted of intense, challenging, grating beats that would leave the average listener feeling pulverized, and maybe even a little worn out (in a good way though). This was a fairly sharp turn, and a very welcome one at that. It's beautifully ambient, while taking their intense IDM rhythms and putting them into a shiny crystalized form. The result is an album that shines exuberantly, and will in my mind at least be remembered as an all-time classic in this field of music. Whatever that may be... (review)

Balam Acab - See Birds EP

Upon first listen, my mind was blown by this EP. I was completely not expecting something so great, just looking up random artists on the Boomkat record site. It was a very pleasant surprise. The EP in it's entirety is very solid, but track that really stood out for me was 'See Birds (Moon)'. just the way the reverb on the snare hits, the keyboard effects come in and out of the background throughout, and the vocals dreamily float through the space they've created make for a completely magical experience. Brilliant. Looking forward to whatever their next release might have in store.

Breach - Fatherless 12"

Breach is a somewhat obscure artist out the post-dubstep/funky/uk electronic scene. Less obscure now after releasing the killer single 'Fatherless'. It possesses a nicely calibrated moody/vaguely sinister vibe, driving beat, tasteful and well-timed use of samples. Just an overall perfect club-killer production. The kind of track that will always get people's blood pumping in a live setting.

Deadboy - If U Want Me 12"

Continuing with the club-killer theme, here's another one from [same scene] artist Deadboy. Sounds more or less what Kode9 (great DJ, not greatest producer in my opinion) wishes he sounded like. A sweetly funky beat, a warm synth riding the groove, and the sample "if u want" repeated throughout with nicely timed delivery. Like all music from this scene, the beauty of it is that it's often catchy and infectious, but almost always has an interesting contemplative vibe riding somewhere in the background. It's what gives releases like this a bit of depth and ultimately makes the scene as a whole more worthwhile. I'm all for it.

Demdike Stare - Voices of Dust

Demdike Stare are pretty prolific for an artist that has basically just hit the scene, having released a trilogy of albums this past year (Symbiosis, Liberation Through Hearing, Voices of Dust). Voices of Dust is really what does it for me though. It kept true to their sound, but is more complete as an album than the other two releases. The usual brooding vibe was accompanied by an insane tribal-chant-laden mindfuck (appropriately titled 'Hashshashin Chant'), a creepy, seemingly Bug-influenced use of sub-bass ('Desert Ascetic'), but most notably.. a beautiful, ambient build of a track that peaks with a gentle warm synth line washing over you for minutes that frankly don't last long enough (the 11 minute 'Repository of Light'). Yet another release that captures an artist's sound very well and just sounds complete as an album. It's what modern classics are made of.

Egyptrixx - Battle For North America EP/The Only Way Up EP

Egyptrixx might just be my favorite artist of the year. He definitely showed promise in 2009, but this year just blew it out of the water. He's developed a really unique sound palette that is totally out of this world, and seems to have a really good ear for how to actually compose a track (not too long or over-indulgent) which is a lot to say in the current 'cult of the amateur'. The trademark characteristic in his music is a sort of stretched out alien synth, that at certain points is seemingly used vaguely as sort of a psychedelic voice effect. Time will tell if his sound progresses and evolves as excitingly as it has during his debut. But in the meantime, he's basically killing it in a very good way.

Games - Everything is Working EP

Games are one of the most pleasant surprises of 2010. I was already somewhat familiar with Oneohtrix Point Never (one half of Games' main project) and enjoy that quite a bit, but this is the one that really stuck with me. Sounding kind of liked 80's pop filtered through a computer on an acid high, they really found a way to set themselves apart in an age of relative mediocrity. The title track 'Everything is Working' is chock full of ideas and sounds busy and overloaded at times. But upon further listening, it becomes apparent that it all actually works together well, creating a dreamy, chimey, vaguely pop-y track with a nice little beat to boot. Actually forced to change their name due to legal issues, it'd be a blessing if this unit stayed intact and continued this level of output. A group to look out for.

Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX - 'NY is Killing Me'

An unlikely duo, these dudes put together a pretty perfect dub track in 'NY Is Killing Me'. Jamie XX is really making a name for himself aside from his role as the [mostly undetectable] beat jockey in the band The XX. Samples of Scott-Heron's voice are basically done perfectly. The dub-y beat flows along just as it should, with a little bit of future-funkiness added into the beat for good measure. Essential stuff. Beautiful little synth work at the end of the track as well. The full album of remixes is due next year.

GIRL UNIT - IRL EP/Wut 12"

GIRL UNIT has the formula for club-friendly bass music down pat. A member of the Night Slugs crew that are destroying audiences all over the UK electronic scene right now. Total bangers: 'Shade On' from the IRL EP, and 'Wut' are shiny, hyper-melodic, explosive tracks that would blow away any audience (and have, as witnessed by yours truly at a recent Mary Anne Hobbs gig in SF). Definitely someone to look out for in 2011 and beyond.

John Roberts - Glass Eights

I couldn't possibly put it better than fellow writer MRT did in his list of favorites (link), but John Roberts was a great example of techno done right in 2010. Characterized by restraint, a clean delivery, and just a good sensibility for delicate, tasteful melody. In my top 5 this year I'd say.

LA Vampires and Matrix Metals - So Unreal

The former Pocahaunted vocalist's collaboration with Zola Jesus was fantastic, but i think this one wins me over. The funky, warped guitar beats of Matrix Metals combined with her dreamy washed-out vocals just really do the trick and make for a great semi-lo-fi experience. Totally far-out dream-rock (somebody help me out on the actual genre here), one of my favorite [mostly] non-electronic releases of the year.

Milyoo - Dasien EP

One of the most unexpected releases of the year (hailing from Kentucky, WTF?), this guy has a slight James Blake element to his music, a bit of Raime, and maybe even a little bit of Silkie. But that's not even doing it justice. Just completely surprised at how well developed his sound is in this debut. Sounds like Actress on crack, James Blake with balls, and Silkie put through a warped effects filter. Just a great combination of styles put together in a very cohesive, professional way. There's no way this review/description is doing it justice.. just take a gander if you will.

Onra - 'Bonus Beat' [from The One EP (vinyl exclusive track)]

OK, I ACTUALLY BOUGHT A RECORD PLAYER AND THIS EP ON VINYL JUST SO I COULD HAVE THIS TRACK. Seriously, i could not find it anywhere in mp3 form and it's that good. Nothing too crazy experimental, just the best pop-y instrumental hip-hop-ish track i've heard in a very long time, if not ever. Most sweetly enjoyable track of the year. Feel-good music of the best variety.

Raime - Raime EP

These guys basically came out of nowhere. Yet another amazing debut. Dark, sparse, yet driving brooding beats with haunting vocals creeping their way in and out. Off a label that i'd most definitely like to look deeper into, Blackest Ever Black. These guys have the potential to open up a new genre of dark, minimal dub-influenced music. (review)

Redlight - 'MDMA'

Absolutely wicked track from drum and bass turned dubstep/funky artist Redlight. With a relatively simple beat with traditional claps as the rhythm markers, a ravey series of synth stabs, the title comes in with the 'rolling' effect that spins back and forth to amazing effect. Apparently created using a technique called sidechain compression, it makes for one the coolest, most enjoyable tracks i've heard all year. From the 'What You Talking About?' EP.

Suum Cuique - Midden

A varied and brilliant experimental ambient album off the Modern Love label. Kind of what you'd expect if you're familiar with said genre, but still great to have in 2010 nonetheless.

Shed - The Traveller

Hands down my favorite album of the year. Just a brilliant amalgamation of different techno and general electronic styles put together in such a beautifully succinct package. 'Leave Things' is an epic closer, with a pulsing amen appearing over a sentimental synth line. It's a perfect combination of reflective vibes and adrenaline. And that more or less sums up the album for me: the sweet melancholy of say, an Aphex Twin synth pad, combined with that gets-your-blood-pumping sense of rhythm and experimentation. Shed creates beautiful little worlds on this album. Little musical worlds that i'll be revisiting again and again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that's it for my musical experience this year, more or less. Aside from these amazing releases there were countless other tracks, mixes and various releases that rounded out the year in a very excellent way yet don't quite fit the end-of year list format. This doesn't really do the year as a whole justice. Just touches the surface of what will hopefully be an era of musical ingenuity that is sustained for the foreseeable future. Amen to that.

Best of 2010

2010-12-31T11:51:00.001-08:00

This year was weird to me with music i think it might have been better than last year but in my opinion i wasn't digging too much new stuff this year, i was too busy going backwards and picking up all the stuff i wanted to hear but never did. This was the year that i delved deep into reggae and deeper into 60s and 70s music, i also got into a bit of dark wave and 80s synth music. what i didnt do was listen to dubstep, chillwave and witch house. not to say these genres didnt have kick ass stuff to offer, i just felt the music world was oversaturated with them i couldnt even pick any because every week it seemed some hazy tripped out kid with a 4 track made some "masterpiece" i dunno what it was but i just didnt care and i wanted more punch to my music and felt this year was lacking in that department. but alas here is my list of what did kick me in the pants.

in no particular order except alphabetical:

Best Coast-Crazy for You
Lazy summer rock that recalls the best parts of LA in the summertime while being reminiscent of Patsy Cline and The Breeders, perfect for sipping some sweet tea chilling out in your backyard(if only i had one!) sure she rhymes "lazy" and "crazy" a bit too much but that's fine.

read the rest!

Big Boi-Sir Lucious Left Foot...The Son Of Chico Dusty
Full of ridiculous production and rapid fire rhyming and probably the best thing i have heard out of the entire Outkast camp, yes even better than Stankonia. This album is just super tight and really solid and i can easily compare it to one of my other favorite hip hop albums of all time...the good ol Boy in Da Corner.

The Body-All the Waters of the Earth Turn To Blood
Didnt listen to too much metal this year but this one sure as hell stuck out, maybe it was the 7 minutes of chopped up female choir, maybe it was the tuvan throat singing, perhaps the tortured as shit vocals or maybe its the way they chopped and screwed the last two and added a possessed preacher over the top of it and created a new metal/electronic sampling genre in one song, who knows but its crushing and good.

Dem Hunger-Caveman Smack
Fun with dark samples and 4 track recording, this album was all about cut and paste and i love doing that with music, it's nice to see someone weave a dark and twisted quilt out of such an array of samples these days, it kept me interested and had such focus i kept coming back

Earl Sweatshirt-Earl
This kid is 15 years old, he just got sent to boarding school supposedly, he is part of the Odd Future Crew, the beats are awesomely simple and very downtempo, the lyrics are a bit dark and bit un PC which in this day and age i am a huge fan of. Where Big Boi was like Dizzee this kid is more like a young verion of Madvillain, oh and the whole crews albums are FREE!!!!!!

Fol Chen-Part 2: The New December
This record is weird, because it's kind of not weird. it's very poppy and on the surface would seem like something i would hate but instead i kinda love it, basically they take normal indie pop stuff kinda like metric and enon but instead throw some weird samples and loops and build pop out of some odd instrumentation and it all works, the leadoff track might be my favorite song of the year.

Forest Swords-Dagger Paths
This has been a recent pick but i am sinking into it quite nicely, it's like instrumental simpler Panda Bear with a definite nod to dubstep, not much else to say about this one except its weird and a nice little change of pace for the olde english roster

Grinderman-2
I asked my brother a few days ago "what happened to hard music this year?" it seemed over the past few years people have stopped giving a shit about non metal aggressive music, i remember when lightning bolt and wolf eyes were held in the same regard as arcade fire and sufjan stevens, i had lost hope for this year until i heard this, it took a 50+ man to bring the aggression and bring the rock, this shit has face melting guitars and a possessed preacher in Nick Cave screaming at the kids to get up and rock the fuck out

Zach Hill-Face Tat
This was a nice little weird record and easily his most accessible and focused, the guest spots from No Age are the best stuff they did this year and to have a cameo of Devendra Banhart where i cant tell its him is a true gift from Zach Hill, this album is weird and intense and full of some of the best drumming of the year

Julian Lynch-Mare
This reminded me of an Arabic influenced Ween on downers. it's a crying shame everyone loved this upon release and then just forgot about it at the end of the year, he deserved more and it's better than Forest Swords(they share the same label). This is the stoner album of the year

MGMT-Congratulations
Ahhh....such a nice surprise. Somewhat cheesy indie pop band stops making earwormesque disposable pop and decides to make some real shit, they enlist Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 fame and Jennifer Herrema of Royal Trux and RTX fame and hole up in a malibu mansion and take tons of drugs and ended up writing an amazing ode to 60s and 70s psychedelica. A lot of their fans ran for the hills upon hearing this, I instead was converted.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti-Before Today
You can throw this album on at any point in any situation and that's what makes it great, it's what i wish Beck were doing these days, he made the best choice in genre regression, deciding not to mine "good" music of the past and instead opted to take everything shitty from 70s and 80s and turn it on it's head with his perfect sick sense of humor, this music was for everyone!

Sufjan Stevens-The Age of Adz
What can i say, he threw down the gauntlet much like MGMT did, threw out most of the preciousness of his old stuff for a more whacked out electronic sound to match the concept of outsider art and cult like religious imagery, this was the sound of Sufjan taking a step to the left of all the indie garbage out there and doing what he wanted.

Surfer Blood-Astro Coast
This has the same beachy feel as the Best Coast album, very summer fun times and laid back beach vibes. this is kind of like Vampire Weekend for the non-retarded. Kinda reminds me of that really kick ass Clearlake album that came out in 2002.

Avey Tare-Down There
Bass heavy murky stoner dream. great twists and turns within the repetitive loops and beats, to me it sounds like a dubbed out remix of Animal Collective.

Tobacco-Maniac Meat
Awesome analogue drum machines crashing with old farty ancient synths in a funk and hip hop influenced electronic soup all with cameos from Beck. This was some dirty bedroom music dark and dripping with demon sweat, Ween would be proud

Kanye West-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I have always hated Kanye, i still cant stand his earlier albums but the production and executon of this album cannot be ignored, it's good and he is crazy and an idiot but this is the work of someone who has lost their mind a bit

Wise Blood- '+' ep
Blatant samples of Zeppelin and Prince collide with a bunch of other samples i cant recognize all topped with RnB influenced white boy soul vocals, it's nerdy, it's short, it's free and all done by some supposed religious freak in the midwest somewhere i highly reccommend this.

---

2010-12-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

2010 Best of List:

My best of list is categorized into three main sections: favorite releases of the year, everything else I enjoyed listening to, and best reissues. I refuse to rank these albums in any particular order because none of them can be or are incontestably the best musical releases this past year had to offer. The only thing I musically regret is not having listened to enough of the never-ending flow of fantastic dance/electronic 12"s because too many were released, not enough were put on the internet as digital downloads, and I simply couldn't afford to buy most of them, vinyl or digital. Same goes for all the underground cassettes/CD-Rs too.

Favorite Releases of 2010:

1958-2009 - I, II, & III
Incredible drone/ambient project that has now been concluded with the release of the third cassette from the series. These tracks are some of the most gorgeous and devastating ambient pieces released this year not to mention the interesting concept of musically chronicling Michael Jackson's life and death.

read the rest!

Andrew Chalk - Ghost of Nakhodka
I know this one came out last year on cassette, and was reissued on CD this year, but it was only a run of 55 so most people couldn't hear it except via download. Andrew Chalk is not a new person in the Drone/Experimental Electronic music scene, but he still churns out achingly nostalgic drone tracks. With the specific sound of this release, Chalk made me think of what an album of purely beat-less, all ambient music by Boards of Canada might possibly sound like.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
Much has been said about this album so I will keep is short. Before Today is another consistently great Ariel Pink record full of ingeniously annoying songs and warped, nightmarish 1970s and 1980s funk recollections all topped off with his weird singing.

Astral Social Club - Happy Horse
Happy Horse is great for sounding like Boredoms mixed with the four-on-the-floor house beat used by GAS. Truly drugged out and optimistically lifting tracks that soar to the Sun. One of the best Dance/Electronic records of the year, and you could also consider this a distant cousin to the recent output of Campbell Kneale's Our Love Will Destroy the World. Absolutely Blissful.

The Dead C - Patience
Honestly I stopped paying attention to the Dead C a few years ago because, although consistently great, I thought they did not have much more to add to their sonic output. I guess I was wrong, or I don't care this time around because Patience reinstates the Dead C's greatness for crafting incredibly transfixing, yet simply constructed sonic dirges with incredibly lo-fi tendencies that they helped pioneer for noise rock. This album makes me want to go back and reassess their entire output from the 2000s decade because maybe I wrote them off a little too early and unfairly.

Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
The most brutal metal album I heard this year. Paracletus starts off running and doesn't really slow down as opposed to the two previous albums in this trilogy, both of which are structured more with contrasting slower sections and assaulting ones. Paracletus, instead, is Deathspell Omega at their most pummeling, with the closest resemblance to the straight-ahead Black Metal of Inquisitors of Satan mixed with their now defining Post-Rock meets Black Metal sound minus a lot of the presence of slower sections from earlier records in the Post-Rock style.

Flower-Corsano Duo - You Will Never Work In This Town Again
Although Flower-Corsano Duo have pretty much made the same exact record for the past couple of years just with slight variation, I couldn't care less because each one is so consistently unique and simultaneously pleasing to listen to. YWNWITTA is another solid effort because this duo do not sacrifice quality for technicality, which they are mind-blowing in terms of technicality. This record is for every aspiring guitarist and drummer, behold and let go.

Graham Lambkin / Jason Lescalleet - Air Supply
For America, Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet are among some of the best forces in field recording/sound collage music, right up there with Loren Chase and the whole Jeweled Antler Collective. Lambkin and Lescalleet are able to craft emotionally evocative aural sculptures out of mundane resources and often poorly recorded sounds of field recordings. I swear some of the sounds on this album, if listened to on headphones and with marijuana intoxication, pop out at you almost three dimensionally. Regardless though, the music contained within is hardly anything but simple drones awash with field recordings. Air Supply managed to be this year's equivalent of Brian Eno's On Land, a dark and foreboding minimal sonic experience. Yet, instead of sounding like some imagined alien terrain, Air Supply sounds like it came from your backyard.

Hype Williams - Untitled
Cheesy warped samples, horribly lo-fi but intriguing production, odd mainstream cultural references, and turning the Chillwave style on its end are but a few of the adjectives you could laud at the duo known as Hype Williams. These observations add to the allure of the music contained within here. Something like a blur or residue of a hip-hop or dub(?) party flushed down the toilet. The album art literally depicts what lies within. Good luck trying to find a copy of this on vinyl, but internet downloads are plentiful.

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Love Is A Stream
Love Is A Stream is an incredible, post My Bloody Valentine Shoegaze album because it removes the song structures and goes head on for the texture. Sure many bands have done this before, but Cantu-Ledesma inserts emotion where so many fail and thus as a result draws you into the burning, heavenly dream buried under the noise.

John Roberts - Glass Eights
Out of all the amazing dance/electronic albums released this year (Actress, Shed, ASC, Mount Kimbie, Pantha Du Prince, etc) I think John Roberts still impresses me the most. Sure many artists have done this too, but John Roberts takes minimal Tech-house and filters it through vinyl distortion. This is the best House record from 2010 because through simple execution of the Minimal/Dial records sound, John Roberts comes out sounding unique and not afraid to pull your emotional strings as well as your intellectual ones when it comes to making effective, intelligently executed dance music.

Keith Fullerton Whitman - Generator Cassette
Not sure why everyone is freaking out over the Disingenuity b/w Disingeniousness vinyl that came out a couple of months ago. Maybe it has to do with the readily available nature of the vinyl format and that Generator was only pressed as a batch of one hundred cassettes. Don't get me wrong, that record is fantastic, but I think what was shown there was an amalgamation of Keith Fullerton Whitman's 2010 music up to that point, which is probably why so many reviewers liked it. But I prefer the minimalist sounds and melodies of this humble cassette on Root Strata over that because the impact was greater for me. This came out earlier in the year and surprised me as the biggest change I have heard from KFW in the past couple of years since he decided to primarily go analog with his music and largely ditch MAX/MSP.

Kemialliset Ystävät - Ullakkopalo
Kemialliset Ystävät has it's detractors that do not like the bedroom quality and homemade instrument sounds conjured within Jan Anderzen's recordings, but if you are willing to ignore or better yet engage the strange quality present in Ullakkopalo you will see how inventive Jan Anderzen is with some of the shittiest means possible. Something akin to a more psychedelic, homemade folk version of Black Dice. This album will make bedroom musicians proud.

Kurt Weisman - Orange
I hadn't heard Orange until recently and I have been impressed by it primarily because Kurt Weisman is able to mix the imaginative impact of Van Dyke Parks, minus the orchestra, with a four track, lo-fi sound setup. Easily among the most interesting use of lo-fi sound within an indie/folk album this year with some of the most personally expressive songs I have heard all year.

Mark Fell - UL8
If you like SND you will like UL8. Mark Fell takes the SND aesthetic and pushes into more abstract areas here, which is fitting for Peter Rehberg's Editions Mego because UL8, unlike SND, eschews most of the underlying Minimal House styles SND are most known for. Repetition and stark Minimalism is key to Mark Fell's music and through repetition he is able to offer a transcendental state that locks you in place, well if you're willing to let these electronic, schizophrenic beats and noises take hold of you. What matters is what is in between the lines here, the textures created by beating you over the head consistently with repetitive beats and subtle changes that so many reviewers fail to realize/understand when reviewing Fell's or SND's music. Not wholly unlike Florian Hecker's Acid In the Style of David Tutor album from last year, also on Editions Mego, which UL8 shares a bit of Hecker's concept with on the Acid In the Style of Rian Treanor section. Best record this year for annoying the fuck out of your roommate if need be.

Mugstar - Lime
Lime is the second contender for my favorite Rock album from 2010. These tracks are slow burners fueled by a depressed, nightmarish sound recalling the darker leanings of 60s and 70s Krautrock and Psych Rock bands. Mugstar are some of the finest modern torch bearers of rock that uses a drugged out state of mind to craft music that takes the listener on a refreshingly forward journey without any intent of ever reaching the conclusion and without pointless noodling that sends you too far out into stagnant space.

Purling Hiss - Hissteria
I am glad musicians out there are still content with making records like Hissteria. This is Rock without anything holding it back. Not afraid to riff endlessly, but also not falling into often boring or contrived song structures of so many Indie Rock, Shoegaze, and Stoner Metal albums. Take the album name literally and you will be rewarded with a sound that resembles Comets On Fire mixed with every Classic 70s Rock, Shoegaze and Shitgaze band you know from Loop to the noisier side of Spacemen 3 to the Stooges to Pussy Galore to anything on Siltbreeze. My favorite rock album from this year and I love that album cover.

Scientist - Scientist Launches Dubstep Into Outer Space
I still can't believe the dudes at Tectonic were able to get Scientist to do this. If you have any respect for Dubstep you owe it to yourself to check this out, and you will probably realize it's fresher than most of the Dubstep you heard this year. This is the equivalent of taking Dubstep and turning it into true dub. Is it a regression? Not really because by applying traditionally older aesthetics to a genre, which relies on those aesthetics of old while trying to shed them, Scientist has crafted something out of step with everything around it. Not necessarily new or forward sounding, but also not stuck in past tradition.

Sightings - City of Straw
I am not sure why this band never makes anyone's year end lists. What will it take for people to give a fuck about this band? I mean they receive good reviews, but maybe it's the blatant negativity present in their sound, I don't know. What I do know is that Sightings are adept at crafting coherently composed songs that fluidly mesh pop aesthetics with noise and abrasive dynamics. Best rock record this year for Throbbing Gristle/Industrial fans.

Skullflower - Strange Keys To Untune Gods' Firmament
This is easily the best Noise record of 2010 because Matthew Bower has never been one to sacrifice his sound for anything but his own personal sonic agenda. Twelve tracks of some of the harshest, most insane noise you will ever hear. If you don't believe me just listen to City of Dis and hear Dante's Inferno come to life.

Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up A Row To The Sky
The new Swans is truly impressive because it really does not feel like retread for Michael Gira. Of course there is obvious influence from Angels of Light in the song writing throughout the album, but at least that sound is made more grim and dirgeful. The only drawback I noticed was the inclusion of an out-of-place Devendra on track five, and Devendra's blatant influence on Gira's singing style.

Zs - New Slaves
The opening track on New Slaves caught me off guard the first time I listened to it because I was not expecting something from this band to demand my attention so dramatically. From their past releases I have heard, Zs' music was interesting, but not as abrasive or challenging in it's obvious minimalist influence blended with Free Jazz and Rock Improvisation. But on New Slaves, they throw their sound at you, whether the abrasive often times barely held together pieces stick with you is entirely up to you to decide. Patience and tolerance are keys to reward in terms of understanding and appreciating what Zs are doing on this record.

Releases I enjoyed listening to in 2010:

Actress - Splazsh
Air Rings Vol.2 Cassettes
Alastair Galbraith - Mass
Alter Eagle - Mechanical Gardens
Alva Noto - For 2
ASC - Nothing Is Certain, Phobos/Oort Cloud/Manner of Time 12"
Ash Pool - For Which He Plies The Lash
Ashtray Navigations - Six Imaginary Scenes From the Life of Muhammad Al-Aqil
Autechre - Oversteps
Balam Acab - See Birds
Barn Owl - Ancestral Star
Ben Klock - Berghain 04
Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Birds of Maya - Ready To Howl
Blessure Grave - Judged By Twelve, Carried By Six
Borful Tang - Heard and Unheard
Bosse-de-nage - S/T
Caboladies - Live Anywhere
Chasing Voices - Acidbathory
Chris Weisman - Fresh Sip Cassette
Clair Cassis - S/T
Colored Mushroom and the Medicine Rocks - S/T
D-Bridge & Instra:mental Present Autonomic - FabricLive. 50
Date Palms - Of Psalms
Dem Hunger - Caveman Smack
Demdike Stare - Forest of Evil, Liberation Through Hearing, Voices of Dust
DJ Rashad - Itz Not Right
DJ Roc - The Crack Capone
DJ Stingray - Sphere of Influence/Sentiment 12"
Duane Pitre - Origin
Ducktails/Dracula Lewis - Split
Dylan Ettinger - Cutters
Efdemin - Chicago
Electric Wizard - Black Masses
ELEH - Location Momentum, Repose
Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here?
Ensemble Economique - Psychical
Evan Miller - Spool/Thread
Expo '70 - Where Does Your Mind Go?
Expressway Yo-yo Dieting - Bubblethug
Farben - Farben 12"
Failing Lights - S/T
Forest Swords - Dagger Paths
Furze - Reaper Subconscious Guide
Gary War - Police Water EP
Golden Retriever - S/T
Group Doueh - Beatte Harab
Harvey Milk - A Small Turn of Human Kindness
Heavy Winged - Sunspotted
Hell Militia - Last Station On the Road to Death
High Wolf - Ascension
How To Dress Well - Love Remains
Hrvatski/Keith Fullerton Whitman - Quickies b/w Butcher Shops
Imaginary Softwoods - S/T
Incursus - Eternal Funeral Trance
Indignant Senility - Plays Wagner
Jack Rose - Luck In the Valley
Joe - Claptrap/Level Crossing 12"
Joe Colley - Disasters of Self
Julian Lynch - Mare
Keith Fullerton Whitman - Disingenuity b/w Disingeniousness
Kinit Her - Divine Names
Koen Holtkamp - Gravity/Bees
Krieg - The Isolationist
Libiis Rouge - S/T
Locrian - The Crystal World
Lone - Emerald Fantasy Tracks
Lovesliescrushing - CRWTH (Chorus Redux)
Lunatik Sound System - The Heavy Minded Orchestra
Magic Lantern - Platoon
Mark Bradley - Godspeed
Mark Fell - Multistability
Martyn - Fabric 50
Michael Mayer - Immer 3
Mike Shiflet -Llanos
Millipede - Full Bloom
Mount Kimbie - Crooks & Lovers
Murmuüre - S/T
Night Control - Life Control
OFF! - First Four EPs
Omar Khorshid - Guitar El Chark
Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal
Oni Ayhun - OAR004
Optimo - Fabric 52
Our Love Will Destroy The World - I Hate Even Numbers, Ships Cloud Mascara
Outer Limits Recordings - Foxy Baby
Panda Bear - Tomboy 7", You Can Count On Me 7", Last Night At the Jetty 7"
Pantha Du Prince - Black Noise
Pete Swanson - Feelings In America
Pom Pom - 34
Pulse Emitter - Over Clouds, Cosmic Images
Pummice - S/T 10"
Radio People - S/T
Ramadanman - Fall Short/Work Them 12"
Rambutan - Broken Infinity
Rangers - Suburban Tours
Rene Hell - Porcelain Opera, Club Speed
Rene Hell/Pete Swanson - Waiting For The Ladies
Rick Wilhite - Presents: Vibes - New & Rare Music
Robin Fox - A Handful of Automation
Rockford Kabine - XERO OST
RV Paintings - Samoa Highway
Salem - King Night
Sandwell District - Sampler Singles One & Two
Scott Cortez - Twin Radiant Flux
Scott Tuma - Dandelion
Sean McCann - Open Resolve, Lower Decks
Shackleton - Fabric 55
Shed - The Traveller
Sistol - On The Bright Side
Solar Bears - She Was Colored In
Soundstream -All Night 12"
Stellar OM Source - Exises, Trilogy Select
Sun Araw - On Petrol
Sun Circle - Lessness
Surgeon - Fabric 53
T++ - Wireless
The Alps - Le Voyage
Theo Parrish - Sketches
Thomas Felhmann - Gute Luft
Toshimaru Nakamura - Egrets
Tyler, The Creator - Bastard
Umberto - Prophecy of the Black Widow
Urban Tribe - S/T
Vakula - Firecracker EP 5
Vegas Martyrs - Missing Vancouver Women
Vibracathedral Orchestra - The Secret Base, Smoke Song, Joka Baya
Walls - S/T
Watain - Lawless Darkness
William Fowler Collins - Enter the Host
Wolvserpent - Blood Seed
Women - Public Strain
Wood-land - Stone Circle
Wrath of the Weak - Solace
Xiphiidae - Sewn Within A Circle
Yellow Swans - Going Places

Best Reissues of 2010:
Anthony 'Shake' Shakir - Frictionalism 1994-2009
Anything on the Dug Out label
Anything on Mississippi Records
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Fast Forward,
Brast Burn
Charanjit Singh - Synthesizing Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat
Dadawah - Peace & Love
Daniel Bell - The Button Down Mind of Daniel Bell (Globius Mix Vol. 4)
DJ Sprinkles Presents Kami-Sakunobe House Explosion I, II, & III
Dwarr - Animals
Drexciya - Neptune's Lair, Harnessed the Storm
Earth - A Bureaucratic Desire For Extra-capsular Extraction
German Oak - S/T
Harvey Milk - S/T
Jeff Mills - Waveform Transmission Vol. 1
Kevin Drumm - S/T, Second, Necro Acoustic
Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Sound System Scratch
Lovesliescrushing - Girl. Echo. Suns. Veils.
Mandarinen Traume Compilation
Marc McGuire - Off In the Distance
Martin Campbell - Historical Tracks 1978-1981
Moebius & Beerbohm - Double Cut, Strange Music
Pesteg Dred - Years of Struggle Against the Lies, the Stupidity and the Cowardice
Recloose - Early Works
Rick Wilhite - The Godson & Soul Edge
Sabbath Assembly - Restored To the One
Sam Prekop - Old Punch Card
Saigon Rock & Soul: Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968-1974
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Surgeon - Force & Form vinyl
Thomas Köner - Nunatak Gongamur, Teimo, Permafrost
Virgo - S/T

2010: my favorite albums!

2010-12-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, so every year when I sit down to make my best-of the year list, I fall into this trap where I start wondering if the albums I'm picking are REALLY the INCONTESTABLE BEST ALBUMS of the year, and it's a pretty bad way to go about making a list. This year I'm trying to take it a little bit easier- this list is not what I'm saying are the BEST albums that will stand the test of time, just a bunch of albums I liked that happened to come out this year. In fact, only my top 6 records do I feel belong in any really top ranking- the rest of the list could have fallen in a completely different order, were I to assemble this list last month or next week or even right now. Anyway, I enjoyed all of these albums in different ways, so let me know what albums were your stand-outs this year!

read the rest!

30. The Alps - Le Voyage
29. Neil Young - Le Noise
28. Sun Araw - On Patrol
27. Danny Paul Grody - Fountain
26. Afrirampo - We Are Uchu No Ko
25. Arp - The Soft Wave
24. Pocahaunted - Make It Real
23. Abe Vigoda - Crush
22. Aboombong - Asynchronic
21. Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here?
20. Avey Tare - Down There
19. Zola Jesus - Stridulum
18. Ariel Pink With Added Pizzazz -Ariel Pink With Added Pizzazz
17. Nite Jewel - Am I Real?
16. Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
15. Nice Nice - Extra Wow
14. Julian Lynch - Mare
13. C V L T S - L V S T (review)
12. Salem - King Night
11. Nobunny - First Blood (review)

10. Die Antwoord - $O$
I think this is one of those things that if you are sick of the joke, you HATE IT. Some people were sick of the joke the second these guys came out. I still think its funny. I'm probably going to be embarrassed I picked this next year.

09. †‡† - CDR

Speaking about making picks that will be embarrassing next year.... witch house! This has all of the overwrought epicness of Salem without the incredibly shitty constant drum machine hand claps.

08. Sex Church - Six Songs By Sex Church
(review)
Now that I'm actually writing these blurbs, I can't really justify why I felt this album/EP needed to be ranked so high. I really dig the downer garage shoegaze schtick though.

07. Wild Nothing - Gemini
(review)
True, this album is super derivative, but it does it so well! I think 2011 might be the year that I decide I have too many shoegaze bands in my life, however.

06. V/A - Three Years Ahead: The Cloud Rap Tape
(review)
Not technically a proper album, but rather a mixtape made by a blog. But who cares, this would make the top 10 on the strength of the Lil B tracks alone (actually, it pretty much did).

05. How To Dress Well - Love Remains
(review)
I didn't really think I liked this album so much when I started listening to it, but the more I dug in the more I found I really enjoyed it. So damaged and pretty.

04. Beach House - Teen Dream

This album leaked last year! But it actually came out this year. It was a good way to start 2010. Such a warm and comfortable sound, for warm and comfortable times.

03. Moon Duo - Escape

Moon Duo are kind of like a rehash of Wooden Shjips (the band they share members with), except better. There needs to be more music from this group soon!

02. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

Amazing to me that Ariel Pink managed to pull this off so successfully- who is so joyfully catchy and head-scratchingly fucked up and weird at the same time?

01. LA Vampires & Zola Jesus - LA Vampires & Zola Jesus
(review)
Is this actually better than any of the other albums that came out this year? I don't know if I could defend that claim, but its definitely the album I feel the most excited about calling #1. The best thing either of these artists have produced! So effortlessly cool.

2010: my favorite metal albums!

2010-12-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

Here's part one of my best of 2010 lists, and frankly I think that this year was AMAZING for music- there was just so, so much good stuff that came out and it was impossible to stay on top of it all. This is definitely true for metal, and when reading other people's year end lists, I was overwhelmed by how much I had missed! So I'm not saying that these are the written-in-stone BEST metal albums of the year, but just the ones I like the most out of what I managed to hear!

read the rest!

ALBUMS I LIKED, but didn't have enough time to review to put on the list, or didn't like strongly enough to put on the list (in no particular order) 2010:

Shining - Blackjazz
Sigh - Scenes from Hell
Ludicra - The Tenant
Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit
Alcest - Écailles de Lune
The Body - All the Waters of the Earth Shall Turn to Blood
Bongripper - Satan Worshipping Doom
Dark Tranquillity - We Are the Void
Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
Deivos - Gospel of Maggots
Nutr - Unholy Inscriptions on A Tainted Wall
Skagos - Skagos/Panopticon Split
Panopticon - Skagos/Panopticon Split
Decrepit Birth - Polarity
The Secret - Solve Et Coagula
Thou - Summit
Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
Wrath of the Weak - Solace

MOST DISAPPOINTING ALBUMS THAT SHOULD HAVE RULED BUT DIDN'T FOR SOME CRAPPY REASON, 2010:

High on Fire - Snakes for the Divine
Harvey Milk - A Small Turn of Human Kindness
Daughters - S/T
Kylesa - Spiral Shadow

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010 BY WHICH I MEAN MY FAVORITES AND THE ONES I FOUND THE MOST INTERESTING:

9. Kvelertak - s/t

This has been making a bunch of journalist's best-of lists, and a lot of bloggers' and fans' worst-of lists. Sure, Kvelertak's blend of hardcore-influenced rock with black metal flourishes is glossy and hard to take seriously, but if you accept it for what it is then this album is pretty fun. This is to metal what Taco Bell is to Mexican food, but once in a while I like to get some Taco Bell, you know?

8. Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle pt II

I thought this album was pretty bad the first time I heard it, and I didn't think much better of it the second, or third, or fourth, or fifth time I listened to it.... Even though I think that (kind of like Kvelertak!) Nachtmystium are a little too hard-rock and not sufficiently kvlt, I kept listening to this album over and over again. I'm still not sure it's a good album but its got some kind of hook in me.

7. Triptykon - Shatter

It's a little weird that I picked the Triptykon EP instead of the full-length album it accompanies, but to be honest I didn't even realize there was a full-length until a few weeks ago, and I haven't had the mental space to sit down and process it yet. Actually, when I first heard this EP, I had no idea it was the new project from Celtic Frost's Tom G Warrior, and was impressed at what a fully-formed sound this new band had. In retrospect its less impressive since this is basically "Tom G Warrior's NEW Celtic Frost", but at least he had the decency to do it under a new name. There's a lot of silly gothiness going on here, but there is also some really convincingly evil vocals and an amazingly crushing guitar sound. I dig it.

6. Culted - Of Death & Ritual

Like Triptykon, newcomers Culted bridge the gap between doom and black metal, and much like Triptykon, the results are pure, awful evilness. I found the last track on this four-song EP to be pretty terrible, but other than that, this has a wonderfully vile atmosphere to it and I'm eager to see what this band does next.

5. Trap Them - Filth Rations

Nearly half of the releases on this list are EPs- I guess I had a short attention span this year. Or maybe, I just appreciate when a band manages to get the point done in an efficient manner. Trap Them don't waste any time on this EP, delivering vicious metal influenced hardcore in a Converge style.

4. Vit - -

This was a latecomer to my best-of list, sneaking in at the very end. I don't really know anything about this band, but they weave disparate sounds into their epic black metal in a way that I really enjoy. There's some post-rock going on, some weirdly warm and friendly guitar sounds, some back-porch banjo playing, yet it always somehow works. "Ascention Ritual" is a strong contender for my favorite metal track of this year.

3. Krieg - The Isolationist

My original review

This album definitely snuck up on me- at first I didn't think much of it, but its just a really solid black metal album. It doesn't really inspire me to say much about it, but I sure do enjoy listening to it.

2. Hayaino Daisuki - Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Fire Hell- or- Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki?

My original review

No other metal release this year had as much energy as this one did. This gets my fists pumping and head banging everytime.

1. Burzum - Belus

My original review

Did anyone think that Burzum would ever be relevant again? I definitely did not, but this is a testament to the fact that no matter how despicable he may be as a person, Burzum is definitely one of pillars of black metal.

nobunny - first blood (2010)

2010-11-30T14:33:00.000-08:00

RIYL: Jay Reatard, King Kahn & BBQ Show, The Exploding Hearts

When I first saw local act Nobunny a few years back, his bunny-masked garage rock seemed like just a joke, and I didn't feel inclined to keep up with his output. When I saw he had a new album out this year, I was pretty sure it was going to be another middle-of-the-road garage revival record- but I'm glad to say that I was way wrong about that. I have a soft spot for catchy, power pop & doo-wop influenced garage rock a la Jay Reatard/King Kahn/Exploding Hearts, and this exactly that, done right. Nobunny has a knack for catchy melodies, and he switches styles up often, making for a diverse and enjoyable set of songs that pretty much always hit their mark- "Breathe" is a slow-grooving T. Rex vamp, "Never Been Kissed" adds a frantically hammered piano into the mix, and "I Was On (The Bozo Show)" closes out the album with a take on the famous circus song "Entry of the Gladiators". The lyrics are clever too, frequently funny and surprisingly dirty. First Blood is so sunny and fun I almost forget that we are in the middle of a cold snap and I can see my breath inside of my house. The album's 11 songs are over in less than 25 minutes, but there's a lot of memorable hooks packed into that short play time.

BTW- Number of times I resisted making bunny-related puns in writing this review: 5

how to dress well - love remains (2010)

2010-11-23T14:12:00.000-08:00

RIYL: Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors

Forget how awful this band's name is.... I almost passed this up because the name was so dumb, but I'm glad I didn't because I think this is one of the better pop albums I've heard this year. Love Remains, How To Dress Well's debut album, is anchored by soft falsetto vocal aerobics akin to bands like fellow NYCers Grizzly Bear/The Dirty Projectors/Antony Hegarty, but hides the vocals behind layers of reverb and distortion, surrounded by lo-fi washes of keyboard and sparse percussion. In a more glossy presentation, I would probably be put off by the modern r'n'b influenced pop-style singing, but the simplicity of the sound makes it feel much more immediate and personal than it otherwise might. Most of the album is quietly atmospheric ballads, but there are the occasional uptempo rockers ("Walking This Dumb (Live)") or trip-hop forays ("Endless Rain"). The sequencing of the album is somewhat ramshackle, reflecting that this is a group still finding its sound, but I personally find the messiness appealing. Hopefully, How To Dress Well's future output will keep that quality intact.

krieg - the isolationist (2010)

2010-11-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

Although Krieg have been around in various forms since 1995, their newest album The Isolationist was my first experience listening to them. All I knew going in to this record was that I'd heard of the band here and there, knew there was a connection to black metal supergroup Twilight (who I actually haven't listened to yet), but never really felt compelled to seek this band out. I guess I'd never really seen or heard anyone declaring that Krieg was really good and important and I need to check them out, so I just never did. Upon listen to this, my first impression was that this was yr standard epic, sorrowful black metal; extremely well produced, and at times very compelling, but nothing that special. But quickly this album started getting... weirder. Not really obviously weird, not avant-garde experimental techno black metal with toy pianos or anything, but more like strange winding and dissonant chords, guitarless passages of reversed drums and wordless howls, a voracious static that devours all other sounds, or an unnaturally frantic quickening of the pace at the very end of a song. This is still pretty traditional black metal, but well-executed, and the occasional strangeness sets it above being just middle-of-the-road. When things really coalesce for Krieg, and I would say they do more often than not, this rivals the best black metal of the year (BURZUM). But there are enough moments too where things drag on just a little too long..... and I start zoning out. I admit that I tend to gravitate towards less orthodox styles of black metal, but although this album doesn't take too many risks, it nevertheless stands out among this years' black metal releases.

Sufjan Stevens - The Age Of Adz (2010)

2010-11-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

02 Too Much by deef deeferson
03 Age Of Adz by deef deeferson

So the deal with this album is that it's supposed to be "his weird one", which, to the uninitiated would seem absolutely appropriate but you see back in 2001 mr. Stevens released an instrumental all electronic album in the vein of Mouse on Mars called Enjoy Your Rabbit. So, in a sense he has already "been weird". To me this album isn't weird at all...it's damn awesome! The formula is simple and the results are complicated. The formula is him taking his background in abstract electronics and applying it to his grand sweeping orchestral pop, simple enough, but the results are intense. The songs basically all either take the old approach of his music and pepper it with very subtle studio tricks but the best tracks take the maximalist approach of throwing everything in and they come off as more electronic than organic. The closest comparison albums i can make to this one are definitely The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat and Radiohead's Kid A. It's this seamless blend of electronics and pop that make those albums along with their ridiculous sense of adventure. It seems here that Sufjan really wanted to make something huge and way more ridiculous than his previous "huge" sounding album and he succeeds completely. This record sounds like a mess, it sounds ugly yet it is graceful as well and very beautiful. The songs are longer, the ideas more ridiculous the evolution of music taking hold of a person and allowing them to be swallowed up by sound. This record is meant to be listened to loud and i thank Mr. Stevens for not giving a shit about what the indie community wants him to sound like and doing his own thing and rewarding all the people who honor innovation in music, not standing still and always pushing forward.

Oh and if this means he is abandoning the States Project than good i'll take more of this any day!

ASC - 'Reality Check'

2010-11-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

ASC is an artist that's basically associated with the Autonomic label, home to a sort of sparse, industrial, somewhat more drum and bass version of dubstep. The productions are usually really tight and controlled in their rhythms, and pretty minimal when it comes to how thick they lay on the synths. It's a pretty unique style. The artists that run Autonomic are Instra:mental, whose track 'Watching You' was on my list of best tracks for 2009. D-Bridge is also a big name on the label and compliments the overall vibe pretty nicely.

ASC still produces for Autonomic, but started his own label called Auxiliary to host his own works, and so far he's released some pretty brilliant stuff on it. The thing about the track 'Reality Check' for me is that I've been waiting almost exactly ten months to buy it. That's one of the pitfalls of the electronic scene, is that artists will hand their tracks over to someone putting together a mix wayyy in advance of the actual release. Sometimes upwards of a year, and sometimes will simply never release the track at all. It's insanely frustrating, but I guess pretty rewarding still in the end.

This particular track was definitely worth the wait. It's easily in my top few favorites of the year. It holds true to overall Autonomic sound. The bass and snares have sort of an industrial pump and push to them, the rhythm production is pretty tightly wound and controlled, and though the synthwork is relatively minimal, it's extremely lush and quite frankly, amazingly gorgeous. There are synth flourishes that completely open up the space of the track, leaving me awestruck. A vocal sample appears throughout to a sweetly mysterious effect, as an utterly beautiful chime-like melody blooms in the background. It's a very nicely layered composition. The rest of the Certainties EP that it comes from is also pretty interesting and certainly worth checking out. har har. but really though, this track is really something special.

ASC - Reality Check by speedglueandmusic_raw3

Halloween List 2010

2010-10-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well it is Halloween 2010, and I should have posted this earlier. Instead of picking a couple of Halloween albums to highlight, I have made a list for you to choose what to listen to at your own discrepancy. All of these, some old some new, are suitable for the darkest day of the year. Also, please add to the list in the quotes section if you want to recommend cool shit I have left out. Happy Halloween.

Portal-Outre' (Profound Lore 2007)

read the rest!

The Caretaker-Persistent Repetition Of Phrases (Install 2008)

Paysage D'Hiver-S/T (Kunsthall Produktionen 1999)

Ofermod-Mysterion Tes Anomias (Norma Evangelium Diaboli 2005)

Lustmord-The Place Where The Black Stars Hang (Side Effects 1994)

Kinit Her-Divine Names (Brave Mysteries 2010)

Katharsis-Kruzifixxion (Norma Evangelium Diaboli 2003)

Funeral Mist-Maranatha (Norma Evangelium Diaboli 2009)

Horna-Sanojesi Äärelle (Moribund Records 2008)

Dead Congregation-Grave Of The Archangels (Nuclear War Now! Productions 2008)

Deathspell Omega-Inquisitors Of Satan (Northern Heritage 2002)

Darkthrone-Transilvanian Hunger (Peaceville 1994)

Ramleh-Hole In The Heart (Dirter Promotions 2009)

Skullflower-Strange Keys To Untune Gods' Firmament (Neurot Recordings 2010)

Woe-A Spell For The Death Of Man (Stronghole Records 2008)

T.O.M.B.-Macabre Noize Royale (Todestrieb Records 2007)

Spectral Lore-I (Saturnine Society 2006)

Swans-Public Castration Is A Good Idea (Thirsty Ear 1999)

Thomas Köner-Permafrost (Barooni 1993)

Watain-Casus Luciferi (Drakkar Productions 2003)

Weakling-Dead As Dreams (tUMULt 2000)

Wold-Screech Owl (Profound Lore 2007)

Incursus-Eternal Funeral Trance (Forever Plagued Records 2009)

GZA-Liquid Swords (Geffens Records 1995)

Brainbombs-Urge To Kill (Load 1999)

Black Vomit-Jungle Death (Rusty Axe 2009)

Jute Gyte-Old Ways (Jeshimoth 2008)

Kevin Drumm-Imperial Distortion (Hospital Productions 2008)

Khnuth-Behind The Threshold Of Visions (Nomos Dei 2009)

Moss-Sub Templum (Candlelight USA 2008)

Nahvalr-Nahvalr (Enemies List Home Recording 2008)

Nihill-Grond (Hydra Head 2009)

Revenge-Infiltration.Downfall.Death (Osmose Productions 2008)

Robedoor-Rancor Keeper (Release The Bats 2007)

Locrian-Drenched Lands (Small Doses 2009)

Gnaw Their Tongues-Die Mutter Wählt Das Todtenkleidchen (Universal Consciousness 2009)

RST-Tomorrow's Void (Utech Records 2008)

Peter Wright-At Last A New Dawn (Students Of Decay 2007)

COIL-Horse Rotorvator (Force & Form 1986)

Shed - Shedding The Past (2008)

2010-10-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Shed seems to be an artist that exists somewhere in the nether-realm between Berlin/minimal techno and London dub sensibilities. Whatever you want to call it (I personally have a strong distaste for labels because I think they sometimes oversimplify the music), it's extremely well delivered. Shed is one of very few artists that I would put near the same category as Richard D. James, and that's really saying a lot if you know how absurdly obsessed with him I've been over the years. The main criteria for that is just originality of sound and delivery mostly and he excels in both those categories. And for the record, I'm also taking into account his newer release, The Traveller, which I'll review in the near future.

The album, Shedding The Past, does to some extent seem to live up to it's name, but in a kind of an ironic way. It gets back to the basics of good minimal techno, with a surface-level inclination towards driving, repetitive beats. But I suppose is 'shedding the past' by reinventing them in a what ends up being a truly current, original way. Nothing too radical, just the obvious subtle difference that comes with perspective on past works, and more advanced production tools at one's disposal. With that seemingly simple format though, he is able to express a great deal within it. To the average listener, some tracks might seem overly repetitive or simplistic. But that's kind of the point of techno anyway: a slow, hypnotic build that draws you in over time.

Either way, Shed demonstrates the awareness of someone that really put serious thought and care into what they were producing, and you can sense it in the results. Much like Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works, the tracks just feel right. And beyond any description of the qualities of a particular album, that feeling towards it is really what distinguishes greatness from something relatively forgettable. This one definitely belongs to the former.

Shed - The Lower Upside Down by speedglueandmusic_raw3

Shed - IHTAW by speedglueandmusic_raw3

sarcófago - rotting (1989)

2010-10-21T01:32:00.000-07:00

RIYL: Obituary, Possessed, Bulldozer

Brazil's Sarcófago are best known for being Brazil's first great metal band, and are frequently given credit for being the originators of the modern style of corpse paint. Their first album, INRI, is a fantastic (if comparatively straight-forward) thrash album, but I prefer their second album, Rotting. On this album, Sarcófago stretch their sound out- remember when I was talking about Bulldozer and metal bands that exist in between thrash, death and black metal? This album is firmly in that camp. What makes this album stand out however is the attention to songwriting beyond just all-out thrashing; Metallica would be a could comparison if Metallica were 1,000 times more pissed off and evil. "Alcoholic Coma" starts off as a raging speed metal song, but halfway through it slows down to sinister death metal riffage, before picking up again. The longer song lengths reflect the fact that Sarcófago are attempting something more progressive than their earlier work, but they still fit in a shorter full-speed thrash track in the form of "Sex, Drinks and Metal", which brings some life to the tail end of the album after some longer cuts. The fact that the album is only six tracks (one of which is the intro) and barely over half an hour long makes this feel like a glorified EP, but the band definitely manage to create something unique on this album.