Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity (1995)

This has been put up to celebrate my ticket to see

Monster Magnet play this album in November.

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

Band Info

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.

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!

Listen on Bandcamp

Buy from Bandcamp

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.

Band Info

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.

Buy from Bandcamp

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.

Buy from Deathwish records

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

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.

Band Info

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

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".

Band Info

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.