Whitemare - Screamer

Whitemare play punky rock'n'roll with a touch of Minor

Threat meets Discharge but with a Ramones mentality.

This means that the abrasive, scuzzed out songs become

sing-a-long anthems to make you smile and jump up and down

a lot. Which as we all know is as cool as fuck.

Coming in at under 15 mins, the 7 tracks are sharp shocks

of distortion, insane riffing and shouted out vocals.

Dropping in some blues scales give a real rocky feel and use

of a single note piano riff - a'la "I Wanna Be Your Dog" makes

"Scene-agers" really stand out.

Put this on repeat and enjoy - very cool shit.

Band blurb:
Whitemare is a hardcore punk-rock 'n' roll band from Brighton, UK, formed in 2008. The group's line-up features ex-Architects vocalist Matt Johnson, ex-Johnny Truant guitarist Al Kilcullen and ex-Centurion drummer Eugene Economou. In 2009, Whitemare recorded a 5 track EP which was released through Small Town Records, with the band's style being described as a cross between hardcore punk, and southern rock.

In November 201, Whitemare released their debut full-length album Snider. It was recorded over the space of just two days with Gez Walton (ex-Ghost Of A Thousand) mixing and producing. The album followed in the footsteps of their debut release, with an almost unanimously positive reaction from the UK rock and metal media, being hailed as a sign of exciting things to come.

And so this year sees the band releasing the highly anticipated follow up to Snider. Teaming up with U.S label Riot House Records for the new 7 track EP "Screamer!". Recorded and mixed in April 2013 at Black Wookie Studios by Paul "Win" Winstanley and mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, NY. This record is the logical next step from Whitemare's previous works, sounding meaner, leaner, tighter and more intense than ever before.

Buy from Riot House Records

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Mantar - Death By Burning

Mantar are a Turkish/German duo who sound as heavy and loud 

as High on Fire playing live in your sitting room.

With no bass player! 

Just drums and guitar set for destruction. Forget about Rock 'n Roll.

Mantar play with destructive passion and produce solid walls of

unrelenting riffs that hurt.

Very much so! 

Flogging beats and blackened melodies meet feedback orgies 

and doom mayhem. Early Melvins, Motorhead, Darkthrone. You name it. 

Don't call it sludge though. Everything as black as possible. 

A soundtrack for the final battle.

Drums batter out propulsive, explosive beats and the guitar tone 

is brutalised through octave effects and distortion pedals.

Throat shredding vocals make sure that none of your senses

survive a battering. I am not always fond of this sort of aural

attack but this time, something here has grabbed me and I keep

on playing it. 

Great start for 2014 so far!

Svart Records will unleash the black 10 track attack on 

February 7th on CD, LP, tape and digital.

Bandcamp

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MC5 - LIVE AT THE GRANDE BALLROOM 1968

MC5 - LIVE AT THE GRANDE BALLROOM 1968

Released by Get Back (Italy) in 2007

  

Those of you that read my piece a while back on what has to be my favourite and most played album of all time, MC5 - Kick Out The Jams, will be aware of my love for all aspects of the career of these noisy gentlemen. If you missed it, here's a link to go straight to it.  Read me

This Italian release only came to my attention a year or so ago but was rather prohibitively priced...until now, when a very cheap copy was obtained online !

I'm always keen to add anything new (regardless of sound quality) to my MC5 collection so the fact that this contains 3 full fidelity numbers from the legendary recording sessions at the Grande for the "Live " album really made this a must have.

Proceedings kick off with a 2:54 Intro from the band's "spiritual advisor" Brother J.C. Crawford recorded at the Grande on 27th October 1968 during which he invites fans to come along to the upcoming free shows at that venue on 30/31st October so that they can be part of the recording for the band's debut album for Elektra Records. 

Motor City Is Burning from 30th or 31st Oct'68 4:28 - Nice to hear a different high quality version but to be brutally honest this is not as good as the official release....In particular the vocals haven't the same snap and definition, particularly illustrated by the rather lack lustre singing of "sireeeeeens". The playing is not quite as on the money either...Elektra made the right choice of "take" to put on the album in my opinion.

I Believe To My Soul from 30th or 31st Oct'68 3:00 -  Their unique take on a Ray Charles number which, for some reason, fades out just as it seems about to really take off ....perhaps it all went horribly wrong and the faders on the desk were pulled back...we may never know, but its a good example of the sort of covers that they used to sprinkle amongst their originals in the sets at the time. Vocals and playing are all "spot on"...just a shame its so short.

Rocket Reducer No.62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa) from 31st Oct'68 6:11 - Very much closer to the released version than "Motor City etc" and about a minute longer, but the ferocity and performance of the version with which we are all familiar is not surpassed here.

At this point we wave good-bye to the lovely sound quality and say "hello" to the low-fi which we have become all too accustomed to on all the previously released unofficial "live" albums. I don't want to sound ungrateful as we should count ourselves fortunate that some audio records survive of their immense live shows and to be honest, after repeat listenings the shortcomings of the recordings fade somewhat. I've found that listening to these recordings on "walkman" type headphones gives the best results and also gives those around you little cause for complaint !! Anyhow, I digress......onto the last 3 tracks on the cd which have all been available elsewhere for ages but do actually sound fractionally better here. This might actually be due to all my copies of unofficial live stuff being on cassette tape ?

I'm Mad Like Eldridge Cleaver from 27th Oct'68 18:53 - Even I have to admit that this song...after the first 2 or 3 minutes becomes a chore....a very very long 19 minutes chore !! I fully accept that this is the sort of thing that they did, experimentation was part of their way of doing things and I suppose live in the Grande Ballroom with the atmosphere and vibe of the time it was probably amazing. The fact that this is a very very low fidelity recording with poor instrument definition throughout doesn't help matters. Its nice to have but not something I can listen to more than once every couple of years !! 

Ice Pick Slim from 26th Oct'68 18:11 - Similar comments to those above really....slightly better quality and there is the basis of a song running through its sprawling 18 minutes. Infinitely more listenable to than "Cleaver etc"

....and finally to finish things off with a bang, the immense Black To Comm  7:19 - exact recording date at the Grande is unknown, although this is the same version as appeared on an MC5 compilation album entitled " Live, Studio and Rare Monsters" which gives a date of 1969 but no venue. Click here to listen to the version on this release:

According to the liner notes on the "'66 Breakout" cd this was "our room clearing device" !!! Fast furious and full on version which has the best sound quality of the 3 "low-fi" tracks....and leaves you with a big smile on your face...We have a really good quality version to listen to on the aforementioned " '66 Breakout" album  but it would be nice to have a similar quality one from later on in the 60's when they were really going full tilt at it as they do here.

A word of warning...not all versions of Black To Comm are as "rocking" as this....some, especially one they were somehow allowed to perform live on TV in the States in 1967, can only be described as experimental and quite disturbing to the unprepared listener/viewer. Its worth watching this clip of the last minute or so of the broadcast purely for the look on the presenter's face and his comments at the end !! Priceless !!

If all of this has made you want to find out more about this wonderful and iconic band than I must direct you to the best MC5 site out there "MC5 Gateway" to be found at Make My Day blog
Here you will be able to find out almost anything on what they did and when they did it ! You can also find the set lists for the Grande Ballroom "Elektra" gigs and imagine what a tremendous double live album they could have released.

Kick Out The Jams Motherfuckers !!

Doug E Dogg

(Awesome article, cheers ......tony)

Tyranny Is Tyranny - Video for "Down The K-Hole"

Last year, Tyranny Is Tyranny released their album
"Let It Come From Whom It May" which I quite rightly
described as the best noise rock album of 2013.

Read my review - Here

Hey, they have now made a video with guitars, beards and strange
camera-motion tracking. Watch it and know you are helping keep
free thinkers everywhere happy!

News - Centuries UK/Euro Tour 2014

CENTURIES ANNOUNCE UK/EURO TOUR DATES 

THIS FEBRUARY AND MARCH, WITH FJORT, ESOTERIC YOUTH 

AND BLANK ON SPECIFIC DATES

Ferocious Florida hardcore unit Centuries exploded into our consciousness and attacked our senses in August 2013 with their Southern Lord debut full length, Taedium Vitae. At the time of announcing this record, we did say that we hoped they would return to Europe in support of this record, having previously toured in 2012 with Poland's Drop Of Lies, today we are very pleased to announce that Centuries have confirmed a mammoth tour across continental Europe and the UK, with Fjort, Esoteric Youth and Blank on specific dates.

Here are the tour dates so far...

FEBRUARY AND MARCH TOUR 2014

13. Feb GER Potsdam Black Fleck +

14. Feb GER Braunschweig Nexus +

15. Feb PL Gdynia Klub Desdemona ^

16. Feb PL Warsaw Przychodnia Squat ^

18. Feb GER Berlin Tiefgrund ^

19. Feb GER Leipzig Zoro ^

20. Feb CZ Ostrava Plan B Hardcore Cafe ^

21. Feb HU Budapest Trafik ^

22. Feb IT Bologna Freakout Club ^

23. Feb IT Milano TBC ^

24. Feb AT Graz TBA ^

25. Feb AT Wien Ekhaus ^

26. Feb GER Köln Sonic Ballroom ^

27. Feb GER Bielefeld AJZ

28. Feb BEL Liege La Zone

01. Mar BEL Ieper Joc Ieper

02. Mar UK Brighton TBA **

03. Mar UK Hull O’reillys **

04. Mar UK Manchester/Leeds TBA **

05. Mar UK London TBA **

06. Mar FR Paris TBA **

07. Mar FR Clermont Ferrand Sprint Bar **

08. Mar FR Lyon TBA **

09. Mar GER Trier Exhaus **

10. Mar NL Leiden Sub071 **

11. Mar GER Giessen AK44 **

12. Mar GER Essen Emokeller **

13. Mar GER Münster  TBA **

14. Mar GER Nürnberg TBC **

15. Mar GER Darmstadt Oetinger Villa **

16. Mar GER Hamburg  TBA **

+with Blank

^with Fjort

**with Esoteric Youth

Robot(A) - No Kings

Robot(A) have a new single out and it is rather jolly good.

They say "Inspired by video games, loud bass, distorted 

guitar and creatures from other planets, ROBOT (A) have 

taken a refreshing approach to modern day punk rock. Armed with 

audio weaponry, such as guitar, bass, midi keyboard & laptop, the band are 

quickly becoming recognised as being at the forefront of this new 

wave of electronic punk music"

I say .........

CRUSH!

STOMP!

ROAR!!!!!!!!

Mechametal made by mutants, technopunk facemelt space-monkeys

jamming on untested drugs, fuelled by electronics and distortion. 

Get from Bandcamp

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Indian - From All Purity

With hearts of hate and a fistful of distortion pedals, Indian

are back with their 5th album - From All Purity.

Primitive doom and sludge explode from this collection

of twisted tracks and quite simply, stun you into submission.

If last years "Scorn" by Primitive Man gave us ugly music

for ugly people, 2014 kicks of the year with this album of

blackened noise terror.

The atmospherics are dark and brooding, helped by the

relentless riffs that are crashing out, creating a dense and

tension-filled collection of tracks that need to be listened

to in one sitting. You feel drained after playing this - you

don’t so much listen to this but experience it.

When the frantic, frenzied vocals emerge from deep within the 

mix, you realise how much depth and layering you are hearing, how

the dynamics have been thought out and most of all, just how

the searing riffs are in fact much more complex than realised

on your first listen.

Using fuzzed out riffs that register extremely low on the richter scale,

this is a solid slab of sludge with doom elements threaded throughout.

One of the strengths has to be the song writing. Hypnotic riffs

that latch into your head and tunes that have a purpose to them

bring direction and flow to all the tracks.

Bleak heaviness is the tone set but this does not mean unrelenting

misery for the listener. Careful use of electronic drones and 

textures carry across an atmosphere of denseness and

weight that somehow feels cleansing after the music stops.

Get from Relapse Records on 21st January Here

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Thanks to Becky at Pioneer for sending this.

MOTORHEAD - BLITZKRIEG ON BIRMINGHAM '77

This is a great reminder of what the sets were like in the early days of the
classic Motorhead  line up of Lemmy, Fast Eddie Clarke and Philthy Animal
Taylor before the release of their 2nd album "Overkill".

Here's the opening track...."Motorhead" ..... In the 36 years since I
 bought the 12" single on its initial release I've never tired of listening to it.

I won't go into any great lengths about the background to this
tremendous early live offering (lazy bastard......love from Tony) but would
direct you to this excellent overview which
includes a full track listing.

Bob and his mega "Head site

Without them and the influence that they had on the louder side of the
music world, much of what we listen to and love today may not have happened.

DOUG E DOGG

Goat - Live Ballroom Ritual

With only the 2012 release "World Music' under their belt,

why should you bother with this live album?

Because it is the voodoo spawn of the devil. 

This came out in December, too late for my best of the year list
but by the power of Greyskull, Goat should of been on there.

If you are after fuzzed out Psych Afro-beat crossed with Blue Cheer
and Santana, this is the place to come to.

African/Rock drumming drive the songs along with a hypnotic beat,
the rhythm becoming almost another instrument. The tracks are
stretched out and sound almost like a band on the verge of jamming
for the sheer joy of playing........ something I fully endorse!

Non-western musical scales are unleashed through distortion pedals
and wild wah-wah solos take this from blissed out trance music
to proto-Sabbath bursts of amp cranked mayhem.

The female vocals start off pretty identical to their studio recordings
but as the set progresses, they start to sound unhinged, unearthly
and just plain insane.

This is a groovetrip with power chords that make you dance
and head nod at the same time.

Music of excellence!

Get from Rocket Recordings

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Thanks to Rachel at Silver PR for sending this to me.

666 - Number of the Comp

Well, I have had a break and can now start sorting through

the dross this year has to offer and find the best of what is

out there for you. Doug has been trawling through his random

music player and has delved once more to past glories that are

getting his groove on.

The compilation has just had 666 downloads - an important figure

for the people who like to read things from that book about "god"

but of more significance, it means that the music we love is 

getting spread around. Good work people!