AIDS Wolf "Cities of Glass"

Alright, so I'm not quite on top of my new releases, but I have finally caught up with the new one from AIDS Wolf, who are proudly carrying the no-wave/bad-vibes-noise-rock torch right now. AIDS Wolf use loud, dissonant, non-chord guitar parts, flailing drums and the caterwauling of singer Chloe Lum to assault the listener. (All of these are good things in my book)

The first thing I notice is that they're not going to shake the Arab on Radar comparisons with this record, especially starting the first song off with that fluttery guitar sound that opens some Arab on Radar songs also ... but from there things take a turn for the more difficult. In fact, the first track, "M.T.I.," is probably the most "out" on the record, just barely holding together and sounding like maybe, just maybe, it was an inspired improvisation.

I went back and listened to AIDS Wolf's earlier "Lovvers LP" for comparison, and this one is much denser (both in terms of production values and playing) and more complex. "Lovvers" is similarly dissonant, but the song structures are rather straight forward. On "Cities of Glass" a clear effort has gone into deconstructing the music-making blueprints, not just the guitar sound and tuning. For example, on "Ch-ch-chatter" the guitars and drums sound ALMOST like they're going to lock into a groove, but all the players are counting different numbers of beats and it never completely synchronizes. Most of the songs work this way, at least partly. (I'm guessing AIDS Wolf want this album to be their "Sang Phat Editor")

For me, this makes for a much deeper and more fascinating listen. There may be some direct cues taken from the aforementioned Arab on Radar and U.S.Maple (it would be appropriate to name-drop Harry Pussy here too), but seriously, since all of those bands are defunct, how many current bands are trying to advance new music composition techniques? I don't mean trying to advance new combinations of effects pedals, but trying to reconstruct "rock" music from the DNA up. (If you want to take that as a reference to the band, DNA, that works too!) I'm not going to go quite so far as to put "Cities of Glass" on a level with U.S.Maple's "Sang Phat Editor" but right now AIDS Wolf largely have the field to themselves.*

One complaint, I wish Chloe's vocals were clean, without that distortion on them through every song. I think they'd be far more expressive.

CD & LP on Skin Graft. Killer live show too, touring the States in March!

AIDS Wolf page at Skin Graft Records
AIDS Wolf on last.fm
AIDS Wolf blog

* Correct me if I'm wrong! I always appreciate musical recommendations!

New SIX FINGER SATELLITE album is real?!?! "Half Control"

"I will believe it when I see it." That's what I've thought every time I've heard that there would be a new Six Finger Satellite album. Well, I haven't seen it but I have heard it. There is no physical album yet, but all the tracks can be heard HERE AT LAST.FM and the mp3s can be BOUGHT HERE. And it's GOOD.

Six Finger Satellite were one of my personal favorite bands back in the 90's, putting together Big Black guitars and Jesus Lizard rock with DEVO rhythms and synthesizers to create a sound that tons of bands are still just catching up to. They fell apart in 98 or so after releasing "Law of Ruins" - an album that was far more minimal and stretched out than any of their previous stuff. It definitely seemed like a "final album."

Then I think it was 2001 or so when I tried to see a "reunion" show in Brooklyn. They were touring with Landed, 2 members of which were now members of Six Finger Satellite. Except that 6FS didn't play, with no explanation. Then there were rumors of a new album, another reunion, etc. but years went by and nothing happened. Maybe a year or more ago a couple of the band members started an official MySpace page - with the usual claims of a reunion and new album in the works. By this point I was much too skeptical to believe it, but then they just recently posted the above links!

I tried to do some research by looking at the 6FS wikipedia entry and apparently this album was recorded back in 2001 (or partly recorded?). Maybe everyone was just waiting for a real stable line-up to come together so that there could be some shows around the release. I don't know if I can make sense of the membership over the last decade, but it seems that every incarnation, including the one which recorded this album and the current line-up, includes founding members J.Ryan and Rick Pelletier (also in Chinese Stars). Wikipedia claims that the current drummer is Jon Loper, member of Made In Mexico, which would be cool.

Anyway, here's the important information. This "new" album sounds like classic Six Finger Satellite. No one would be surprised by the sound or suspect a membership change if it came out right after "Paranormalized." The guitar has that characteristic shrill metallic feel and all the drums hit hard while always staying seriously off-kilter. The sci-fi synthesizer sounds are in place. Mostly fierce little rock songs, with just a few touches of the minimalism that filled "Law of Ruins," like maybe in the title track "Half Control." It's built mainly on a single lurching, pulsing rhythm but keeps the energy very high throughout. Only the last track stretches out enough to feel like a long song, but really, there is no filler and you get to the last track so fast that you'll want the album to be a little longer. The whole thing hits hard and fast. If you love Six Finger Satellite, you will love this record too.

Apparently the real thing will be released by Load Records - date unknown, but I now believe it may happen. No mention at the Load Records website site yet. There are shows in April listed - I'm less convinced those will happen, but let's hope!

Relevant links:
Six Finger Satellite on MySpace
MySpace page
The album on LAST.FM
Buy the mp3s from fina
Boomkat also sells FLAC files.

Various Artists "DIS-ADELPHIA"

I got this press release from Philadelphia label Badmaster Records specifically stating that this compilation would be released as a free download on Thursday, Feb.26th. So it only makes sense to post something about it on Feb.26th and see if we can overload their bandwidth.

If "it's free!" isn't enough of a reason to go download the comp, then here's why else it's cool. Philly has one of the best music scenes going on right now. All the current artists I know from there (and those I learned about on this comp) are totally DIY, unpretentious, sincere, hilarious, and good-natured. I mostly know about the noise/weirdness scene, but there's also plenty of bleed over into punk, indie, art-rock, etc. - which is also a reason that the scene is cool. And this comp covers some examples from all of the above mentioned genres. "Something for everyone" also means "not everything's for everyone" and there are a few tracks here which I'm not personally into, but I'm also not into doing negative reviews so I'll just mention some of the highlights for me. Besides, it's a free mp3 comp! Just delete the tracks you're not crazy about!

First of all, this is worth downloading for the new Mincemeat or Tenspeed track, which is a top-notch example of his stuff and has these bizarre melodies that crop up which you almost feel you could sing along to. Noise music you could sing to! A bunch of bands fall into the category of "noise-pop" which falls nicely (for me) on the noisy side, for example Hot Guts and U.S.Girls. (Hot Guts would probably be way too heavy for most to classify as noise-pop, but I call it like I hear it, and that's a pop hook!) Pretty much all the bands share some kind of element of noisiness or a lo-fi edge. The prog/noise-rock band Satanized does a cool cover of NON's "Total War." There are a handful of bands which fall into some kind of post-Unsane sludgy-noise-rock category, like Talk Me Off, The Blacks And The Blues, and Rawar. I might have believed someone if they told me that the Birds of Maya track was Guitar Wolf - except that guitar solo was a little too fancy. The track by Fun Dogs was a cool surprise, being really hard to pigeonhole with elements of metal, noise-rock and post-hardcore, with a strong melodic sense - closest thing I can think of might be Killing Joke. There's also something from a personal favorite, Drums Like Machine Guns, a weird little song by them which leans more heavily on electronic beats than noise. No Tickley Feather track, but we do get the Serpents of Wisdom, who lives in a similar foggy Casio-goth world.

There's more too, but hey, free download. Check it out for yourself. Go to the Badmaster website:

http://www.badmasterrecords.com

Oh yeah, and someone did a smart mastering job on the whole thing so that you don't have to hover over the volume control as you listen, which is much appreciated in a comp.

International Noise Conference 2009, Miami, Feb.12-14th

I'm not even going to attempt a proper "review" of this event. Not only would it inevitably overlook the majority of amazing acts, it would almost seem to contradict the spirit of this gathering. Each year, freak-noise godfather Rat Bastard puts on this 3-day festival in his hometown of Miami. No one is charged a cent, no one is payed a cent. By design, it is a showcase of bands who love making noise and acting like freaks for the pure love of it. There are really no genre restrictions and what ties all the performers together more than anything is a shared ideology.

This year may have actually been slightly less insane than last year - but you still get to see at least 30 of the best performances you'll see all year, inside 3 days. A number of acts seem to have dropped out, including some of the heavyweights, though I didn't really notice until I'd gotten a few nights' sleep back at home and started to think things like "Weren't Sword Heaven listed originally?" Perhaps the economy is to blame? I hope they (and some others who were missed) will return next year, but there was still way, way more great stuff than any one person could hope to catch. No one catches everything, except maybe Rat.

Here are some links to some INC2009 documentation that should keep you busy.

First of all, to see (almost) all the photos I took, click on this pic of some noise kids at the beach:

I also took a bunch of videos and stuck them on the NO-CORE YOUTUBE HERE - but there are far more and better videos that Breathmint Records got and put on Vimeo!


Laundry Room Squelchers - live during International Noise Conference at Churchill's - Miami, FL - 02-12-2009 from Breathmint on Vimeo.

Check out the rest, seriously.

There are also some great photos on Flickr from "That Bad Larry" like this one of Head Molt killing it:

Some more great ones from "Gold Pony" like this one of Noumena:

And perhaps best of all, the dudes who do Zradio (probably the best podcast and radio show in existence right now) were there and recorded a whole bunch of acts. When they got home they assembled a 3-hour podcast of what they got, which sounds great and provides a nice cross-section of the styles. (maybe leaning a bit toward the noise-rock?) The first recording, of Undrskor, sets the mood nicely and demonstrates what happens if you choose to let Nondor be your drummer. GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD IT. Notice also that the previous episode has a bunch of recordings from the Philadelphia pre-INC show.

Got more? Add a comment and share your link!

INC2009 - Day One

I am at the International Noise Conference in Miami right now. A more detailed write-up will follow, but I will share some photos and videos as I upload them. More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nocore and more videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/xNOCOREx

Lazy Magnet "Why Go On?" C20 cassette

Lazy Magnet is one of those "you never know what you're going to get" acts, but you can be assured that it will always be good stuff. This tape is mainly drone/mood music, with some curious twists.

The first side definitely drops you into heavy drone territory with what sounds like an infinite-sustain vibrato keyboard note and some hissing/whistling that sometimes sounds like a tea kettle or a distant jet plane gradually taking off. It's actually well-paced for the length of the side, building (or achieving lift-off) and then gently settling again just before the side is out. Then the piece starts to fade into some guitar strumming and vocals and I almost thought this was going to transition into some kind of moan-wave/new-weird-america/retro-hippie thing. But then the side abruptly ended.

Then strangely side 2 starts off sounding like it's rewound 30 seconds and you're still in the same drone, except instead of fading into some kind of meandering hippie jam, it (thankfully) transforms instead into what sounds an awful lots like a John Carpenter soundtrack. Gradually shifting and melodic plink-plonk 80's synthesizer notes keep the tension at a slow boil. The knobs get tweaked a bit here and there and everything gets a little Moogey until the piece fades out. Then as a final head-scratcher, there's some low, distant droning and what sound like the beginning of a new piece of music begins to fade in, but the tape ends before it becomes very audible.

This is definitely background or soundtrack music, though there's a slow constant shift to everything. The mysterious end of each side also makes me wonder if my tape got dubbed wrong. Is it just a fake out, or a genuine mistake? I guess if you get a copy of this tape I can't guarantee it will sound exactly the same as what I describe, but then that would be in keeping with the Lazy Magnet anti-aesthetic. You really do never know what you will get.


http://www.ijustlivehere.net
Lazy Magnet on MySpace

HEAD MOLT "Police Dhajaal" C22 cassette

This is a really enjoyable tape from Virginia’s scum-noise royalty Head Molt. Enjoyable that is, if you’re into exciting and dynamic noise music.

If you’ve seen Head Molt live, you know they’re a pretty ferocious act, with lots of rolling around, screaming, basically taking cues from the Cock ESP school of noise performance. So it’s pleasantly surprising that their recordings sound so planned and well-composed. “Police Dhajaal” starts out fierce with overblown fuzz noise and shrieked, almost black-metal-style vocals (something like the style both Wolf Eyes and Hair Police now employ), but from there it moves through a nice variety of crazy sounds. A synth bass-drop sound keeps things heavy with some BOOM… BOOM… Either some post-editing went into this material, or the four credited band members showed impressive restraint and organization because often all but one sound will drop out before new noises emerge.

The b-side is more restrained, or at least less dense. It’s just as loud, but walks a razor-thin line between tense drone and piercing harshness, tipping back and forth throughout. The track ends before the side is finished and there’s a long period of silence (or sounds too quiet to be heard while listening on headphones at the Laundromat) before a brief, fierce squall of noise closes out the side. (bonus track?) The whole tape makes for a nicely paced listen and feels like a complete album, despite the 22 minute length, some of which is silence.

This would make a perfect sample and introduction to Head Molt, in my opinion one of the most exciting and consistently rewarding bands making noise today. I am always surprised by how well their recordings hold my attention and reward repeat listens. Highly recommended for fans of early Hanatarash or Gerogerigegege (Perhaps a giveaway, one of the lead Head Molters, Gary, goes by Garygegege) as well as more "song-based" Wolf Eyes. The tape is on Gary’s anti-everything label and has nice rainbow-pop-vomit cover art.

Aww shoot, it's sold out! Don't sweat it, just grab some other Head Molt release, it's all quality. I guess in that case I can tell you that the "Police Dhajaal" track is a free download at their last.fm page! Grab it now!

http://www.last.fm/music/head+molt
http://ratward.blogspot.com

awesome noise video

Ignore the comments that appear at the bottom. This video is perfect as is.

Tickley Feather "Tickley Feather" LP

I know exactly what will launch one-woman-band Tickley Feather from her current level of buzzy sub-notoriety to national indie super-star. Someone just needs to slip a copy of this album to Sofia Coppola, who will realize that it would make the absolutely perfect soundtrack to her next dream-like film filled with achingly beautiful melancholy. In fact, this album even opens with “Buttshot,” just like Coppola’s “Lost in Translation!” (after a little droney intro that is) It’s a perfect match! The closing scene of this film, set to the song “The Daylight” or maybe “Keyboards is Drunk” will bring movie-goers to tears and send them immediately rushing to their nearest record store for a copy of this LP.

It’s a really hard mood to nail, so how does Tickley Feather do it? The formula seems pretty basic: lo-fi Casio keyboards, simple haunting tunes and lots of reverb. But the real Tickley Feather secret weapon is her voice, which is what really takes the mood and the beauty of the music over the top. It actually reminds me of Annie Lennox. It also makes the “lo-fi” really work, because everything has this diamond in the rough feel. Even a really great singer with pristine backing music recorded in a million-dollar studio would just sound like mundane blah. This, however, sounds really special. I seriously can’t deal with most music which is supposed to be “pretty” or “sweet” or “nice” but Tickley Feather’s stuff works because it’s got plenty of rough edges. This will appeal more to fans of Tom Waits than Tori Amos.

My only complaints with the record would be that I actually wish some clean singing would peek out of the fog now and then because it’s that good, and the album seems kind of short, with several songs being less developed than they could be. But, you know, changes to those qualities might just upset the delicate and perfect balance here.

I was kindly sent this nice LP by the folks at Badmaster Records, who asked that I point out that they still have vinyl copies available. The CD is out on Paw Tracks, but when you’re in your bedroom on a rainy day and you realize you need to listen to that Tickley Feather song because it’s exactly how you’re feeling at that moment, you’ll want to put a vinyl record on the turntable, won’t you?

Tickley Feather
Badmaster Records

SCISSOR SHOCK "Synonym for the Word Decay"

Scissor Shock is an interesting mix. It's mainly a one-man project (Adam Cooley is the man responsible) which on the one hand sounds almost like a laptop band. The drums sound synthetic and programmed, the vocals are usually effected, and there's some digital fuckery throughout. However, the playing style is closest to loose-knit multi-member ensembles who specialize in semi-improvised chaotic rock. Think of a digital version of Fat Worm of Error, or a Caroliner from the future instead of the past. It's not quite as tightly choreographed as U.S.Maple (I think!) but each song definitely has a plan.

Scissor Shock is really prolific and this full-length release follows right behind an equally full-length release which seems like it came out less than 6 months ago. From what I gather, Scissor Shock started out doing something more like the usual kid-with-a-laptop style of grindcore/8-bit. I'm glad that the project has evolved into this more challenging and interesting style.

The arrhythmic beats are accompanied by some equally off-balance guitar manglings, trombone, miscellaneous, and some Wicked Witch of the West vocals. There are also a couple of tracks to break things up with only some acoustic guitar noodling, which actually sounds quite skilled and even pretty. These tracks are called "Ghost Fahey" and "Fahey Ghost" and while I'm not really familiar with John Fahey's music, I'm guessing these tracks are some kind of homage. (maybe also an homage to the band Ghost?) I really respect that actually. If you're going to try to play like a favorite artist, just call it like it is, don't try to pass it off as your own invention. In the same vein, this album also includes a track titled "Blood Infinitive" and yeah, there's definitely a link between this and Royal Trux's "Twin Infinitives" too. Strangely, while being far more honest about who he's stealing from, Scissor Shock has also created music that is far more unique than most other bands.

P.S. Adam is also very generous about giving his music away online. Poke around a little bit and you can find plenty of Scissor Shock for free download, but you'll want to buy an album too!

"Synonym for the Word Decay" is to be released September 26th on Laser Seizure Records.

http://www.geocities.com/scissor_shock/

http://www.myspace.com/scissorshock