Friday 26 August 2011

Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity (1995)



This has been put up to celebrate my ticket to see
Monster Magnet play this album in November.

Thursday 25 August 2011

Dead Elephant - Thanatology (2011)



Dead Elephant give us their 3rd album. As good
as the 2nd one, "Lowest Shared Descent" was,
this just stomps all over it.

Sludge with dashes of doom come to the forefront
of things with a shuddering post-hardcore feel
mixed in.

Unusual layers of instrumentation which really give
a depth to an already textured sound stop this from
becoming overwhelming, with clean psychedelic
guitar drifting over some mellow, mournful horns
(which are samples from Italian funeral marches!).

The pounding sonic battering brings to mind Ufomammut,
Sabbath, Neurosis and The Melvins.

This is heavy, dense and challenging music that makes
you realise how one-dimensional and repetitive some
bands in this genre have become.

Post removed by request but check out this link Video

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Sly & Robbie - Reggae Greats / A Dub Experience (1984)



This is the best dub album ever.

Don't tell me about King Tubby or Prince Far I ....
this is my blog - I am right and you are wrong.

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Peopling - EP (2011)



Peopling is a noise-rock artist from Brooklyn, NY
and he sent me some info and tracks to review.

As you know, I do like a bit of noise-rock mixed
with my guitars but within reason - all the AmRep
and Brew bands are at my limits of tolerance but
the pure harsh white noise with no tunes - power
violence? - most of which seem to have been inflicted
upon me from Veins Dried Out - leave my brains
dribbling and a queasy feeling in my stomach.

So it was with some trepidation that I approached
this EP.

Hey, it's really good stuff. I know fuck all about IDM,
glitch, skronk and can only describe within the context
of music I know, so:

The 1st track starts off with white noise but is overlaid
with a keyboard swell before starting to pound away like
a Butthole Surfers song at their psychotic best.

The songs have a menacing feel to them and although
the electronic squalls are very much at the forefront of
things, the background is full of human touches, a piano
drifts in and out in one tune, giving it a unexpected haunting
feel, textures are heavily treated but always with an interesting
twist before the distorted guitars and vocals remind you that
this music is being performed and is not just a random
collection of Fruity Loops.

Being no longer than 17 minutes long means that just as you
are making sense of it all, it is over, leaving you with no choice
but to play again!

Monday 22 August 2011

Goes Cube - In Tides and Drifts (2011)



Goes Cube are a powerful trio who in 2009, produced
one of my best albums of the year - the brilliant
"Another Day Has Passed"

This is a explosive mix of post-metal meets hardcore
- the tremendous tribal drumming and ferocious guitar
lines make sure of this albums power.

A lot of bands, when releasing their second album, often
have a more polished sound or production but this sounds
even more raw and dangerous.

The deranged vocalist barks over the songs and at the same
time, his guitar throws out complex, distorted riffs throughout.

This never lets up the pace and although most songs clock in
at under the 3 minute mark, there is still time for many
twisted compositions that a lot of bands would take far
longer to play before the conclusion.

Friday 19 August 2011

The Fucking Hotlights - High Society Torture Party (2011)



Coming across like the bastard son of Acid Tiger &
Botch, this also has enough chaotic noise elements
thrown in to please any AmRep fan.

It has a looseness about it that I would imagine
replicates a live set but also gives it a fresh, urgent
feel.

The chaos is controlled, giving a destructive powerful
sound rooted in hardcore/punk but above all, it rocks
like an avalanche tearing it's way through all the mediocre
bands that litter this genre.

This is the good stuff.

Thursday 18 August 2011

Touche Amore - Parting The Sea Between Brightness & Me (2011)



There were a lot of expectations and pressure
to deliver with this second album but right from
the start, you can hear that Torche Amore have
risen to the challenge.

22 minutes of passionate hardcore/punk with
the racing guitars and complex melodies that
are their trademark sound come bursting out
of the speakers.

Some quieter parts help to emphasise the power
of this album when they go full throttle but the
memorable tunes that go hand-in-hand with the
raw shouted vocals build up each song with spine
tingling musical tension.

The straight forward, personal lyric writing has
drawn comparisons with reading out from a diary
entry but with lines such as:

"If actions speak louder than words
I'm the most deafening noise you've heard
I will be that ringing in your ears
That will stick around for years"

They do not need to worry - in a genre that is
overloaded with bands saying fuck all or full
of empty macho posturing, this is the real deal.



Monday 15 August 2011

Cosmonauts Day - Live Demos (EP) 2011



Band request from Russia.

Here is some epic instrumental Post-Rock with
lots of heavy Post-Metal flourishes which bring
the climaxes to a thundering finish.

These tracks have been recorded live in the studio -
not only is the musicianship excellent to pull this
off, seeing the band play live must be a real experience.

Heavy guitar riffs tie the whole thing together and
when the ambient passages are creating an atmospheric
and drifting feeling, the band powers up to send
everything crashing down.

The production stops everything become muddy -
every instrument retains its power and drive.

Download album free from Bandcamp

Thursday 11 August 2011

Mombu - Mombu (2011)



A self description of "Afro-grind" will give you some
idea of what to expect from Mombu.

This is a pairing of Zu's mental sax player and the
drummer from avant-jazz band, Neo.

Spastic grooves, African rhythms and explosive walls
of sound are a constant as well as the heaviness that
lurks behind every song.

The sax is double/triple - tracked and is of such aural
denseness that you kinda forget that there is no guitar
delivering these jazz, prog-hardcore freak-outs.

Monday 8 August 2011

My Fictions - I Want Nothing (2011)



This is the EP from My Fictions.

Some great hardcore here from a band that deal
more with personal lyrics, kinda in the same vein
as Torche Amore.

Excellent heavy sound on display, giving the tunes
a powerful feel to them. A dark atmosphere is
evident, helped by the slower and sometimes clean
guitar sound and there is a touch of the experimental
about the song structures which help to nudge things
into the noise-rock realms.

This is good shit - give it a listen.

The band have been cool enough to put this on Bandcamp
for a free download Here

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Tygers of Pan Tang - Wildcat (1980)



Ah, NWOBHM - never really got into this, too
much hair and spray on trousers which offended
my 100% punk view of music.

But ....... among all the dross that every record
company signed up in case they lost out on the
next big thing (there were some genuine contenders
that stood the test of time but also some dreadful
shit that managed to cling on to the tails of the
bandwagon) the Tygers of Pan Tang managed to
sink their claws into me...... (sink their claws into me -
did you see what I did there? Tigers have claws and in
a non-linear narrative, I alluded in musical terms that ....
......... oh, never mind.)

I did not like any of their other releases but the debut album
hit all the right buttons for me.

Great riffs, catchy tunes, no ballads, a vocalist that had
a punky voice - no screaming or high pitched wailing and
a guitar player who, when soloing, was clearly influenced by
the Motorhead "Fast" Eddie Clarke school of heavy, fast
blues playing circa "Overkill" and "Bomber".

Monday 1 August 2011

Patti Smith - Radio Ethiopia (1976)



This is the follow up album to "Horses".

Lenny Kaye is on fire here, his riffing and solos
giving these songs a heaviness that would not be
captured again until the 1996 "Gone Again".

The critics were divided in their opinions - it
ranged from "wonderful stripped down rock'n'roll"
to "self indulgent toss".

Luckily for you, I am here to tell you that I am right
and everyone else is wrong - just ignore 35 years of
reviews and listen to me.

The stripped down songs have a simplicity to them
that could of come from early VU albums and this is
the nearest any of her albums came to being a live set
captured in the studio.

Make your own mind up and listen.