Fight Test

of Montreal- Skeletal Lamping

2008-08-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

God, how long I've been waiting for this album to leak.

Absolutely great. And a lot less cryptic than Hissing Fauna...

For Kevin Barnes sake... no leak for you! Find it..

David Byrne & Brian Eno- Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

2008-08-17T23:16:00.001-07:00

DTrash Records

2008-06-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

DTrash Records is a record label that focuses on extreme electronic music (which encompasses Digital Hardcore and Breakcore, among other subgenres).

Not only does this label have some releases by some great electronic musicians (The Secret Life of Teenage Girls, Cutting Pink With Knives, Schizoid (label founder), F_Noise, Hansel, Stuntrock (who has also released on Cock Rock Disco), Noize Punishment, etc.), but they also provide almost all of their releases for free (although they're only 160kbps MP3 files).

If you are into noise, punk, hardcore, or are just looking to check out something new, check out DTrash Records.

I'm so happy that more and more are trying to put this distribution model to work. Support your independent artists!!!

Checking in with a hot little news story (Crystal Castles)

2008-05-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to a lot of music lately but not writing much. Still listening to a lot of new stuff, but also relistening to a lot of old stuff with my girlfriend that I hadn't heard in a while.

I'm really enjoying the Nat Baldwin's (of Dirty Projectors) album Most Valuable Player. If you enjoyed the Dirty Projectors album Rise Above then I highly recommend this. Maybe I'll throw together a new "year-end list" to keep everyone up to date on what I'm enjoying.

ANYWAYS. Crystal Castles recently got a little bit of a buzz because of some artwork they stole and were planning on using for their album. The graphic is the same Madonna graphic that was used on their T-Shirts until they started doing the Crimewave shirts.

You can read about that story in multiple places including here and here.

Well, it turns out that they've done a bit more theft than that. Crystal Castles recently posted a track on a secondary myspace page; the track in question was originally titled "Insecticon." Dispys, a member of 8bitcollective, posted a message regarding this song stealing from a Lo-Bat track. It turns out that the track really is a Lo-Bat song-- "My Little Droid Needs a Hand". Crystal Castles did little more to the track than add an additional drum beat and vocals over the track.

The part I find most disconcerting about this is that Lo-Bat's Creative Commons license allows for it to be remixed, sampled, and used freely as long as the use is non-commercial (which "Insecticon" essentially currently is, since it is unreleased), attributed back to him (Lo-Bat), and posted with the same Creative Commons license. Crystal Castles management literally felt they weren't in the wrong by posting what is essentially a Lo-Bat song (it was not sampled, it was used in its entirety) under the name of Crystal Castles. The management later changed the track title of "Insecticon" to "Crystal Castles vs. Lo-Bat (Unreleased Demo)" but they are still pretending like they owe Lo-Bat nothing (which they continue to do with Trevor Brown, the artist behind the Madonna art they stole).

This really does not change the fact that I enjoy Crystal Castles music, but some of the bullshit that has come out of their mouth during interviews and the way that their management handles situations is really starting to sour their music for me... and I've been listening to them for far too long to have it go out like this. Please CC, redeem yourselves somehow! Fire your management, drop Last Gang Records, acknowledge that your image is a facade (everybody wants to play a rockstar, I understand!), and just start pumping out your own tunes. If Crystal Castles can't do this, I hope they lose more fans (although I doubt they will; after seeing CC fans at a show... well, they're huge hits with the pre-teen scene girls).

If you're feeling bored and/or adventurous, I'd advise checking out the thread devoted to this on 8bc's forums. They're very resourceful people who know their shit.

The Future of the Music Industry

2008-04-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Alphabasic Records

DJ Donna Summer- Panther Tracks

2008-04-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Jason Forrest has put out a new album under his DJ Donna Summer alias (well, previously it was just Donna Summer) on his Cock Rock Disco label. The new album is titled Panther Tracks. While not as full of pop-sensibility as Shamelessly Exciting, Panther Tracks still contains all the infectious dance-floor cut-ups and glitchiness that Forrest and Cock Rock Disco are known for.

This might prove to be one of the most infectious albums of the year (barring the release of the much awaited new Girl Talk album). I'd definitely recommend it to fans of Girl Talk and Dan Deacon.

DJ Donna Summer- Panther Tracks (CROCK018)

Released along with this, as an mp3 only release, is an exclusive Cock Rock Disco remix album. One of the names mentioned as giving DJ Donna Summer the remix treatment is Nero's Day At Disneyland. For the Cock Rock remixes of the opening track of Panther Tracks ("Rock Rock Rock"), click here or go to the label page.

P.S. If you're not a fan of Gregg Gillis (aka Girl Talk), don't fret; it's just the easiest comparison I could come up with; Girl Talk is much more "ADHD" than Jason Forrest. I could throw out Kid606 among others, but once you get down to it, they all have their own immediate style so it's pointless to throw out, more niche, breakcore people (note: Girl Talk does mash-ups, not breakcore).

Ellen Allien- SOOL

2008-04-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

Ellen Allien's career has been nothing but explosive. From the ass-shaking intensity of her debut, Stadtkind, to the subdued, under-the-surface rumble of Orchestra of Bubbles, her 2006 collaboration with Apparat. Taking more cues from IDM than Techno or House, Ellen Allien always manages to build a beautiful, complex, dance song. The world's formal album intro to Ms. Allien, through Stadtkind, provided us with a "Homotopy to Marie on ecstacy". It's a dancey affair, for sure, but there's a hell of a lot of industrial tension boiling. Her sophomore album, Berlinette, is where you can hear Allien getting really comfortable with her sound. Berlinette was much less intense while still managing to sound big and aggressive. And while Berlinette is what broke her to the "mainstream," Thrills and Orchestra of Bubbles saw Ellen Allien reaching out to do things she hadn't done before. On Thrills she went for a more typical techno sound, more classic; on Orchestra of Bubbles Apparat and Allien explore a bit of House and work a lot more with the atmosphere of the album-- yet you can still here the minute flourishes that act as a signature: this is Allien's sound.

Not ever able to stay in one place, probably because she nails down tracks no matter what direction she takes her music in, Ellen Allien has returned with a full-blown look into the atmosphere of an album. Numerous times SOOL, Ellen Allien's Fifth studio album, gets called "minimal" in the press release. Wait, minimal? When asked what she meant by "minimal," Ellen Allien responded "Minimal is just there.... A whiff of positive, but nevertheless abysmal energy creates room for the ears. For yours and mine." While you could possibly get away with calling Orchestra of Bubbles minimal, Allien's definition certainly applies to SOOL. If there is one way to sum up her latest endeavor, "room for the ears" is definitely it. Not thick, gauzy like previous Allien releases, SOOL sounds as if Ellen Allien built a track up then removed layers one by one until she achieved her desired sound. This sounds most logical on the track "Bim" which sounds so bare that it is almost haunting; atmosphere is something truly achieved by SOOL, and it is achieved in a much different way than Orchestra of Bubbles.

Ellen sums SOOL up perfectly in her own words:
"SOOL is everything, everyone and none – SOOL is a phantasm, a creation, which reflects the album's atmosphere, and also my person... And, SOOL is curiosity, room, and architecture. Sketches; drawing; adhering."

Haunting, bare, meticulously crafted, and beautiful-- this is SOOL.

Lymbyc Systym spring tour

2008-04-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Spring Tour 2008

SAT APR 19 - PHOENIX AZ @ MODIFIED ARTS
WED APR 23 - LOS ANGELES CA @ TROUBADOUR
THU APR 24 - SAN FRANCISCO CA @ BOTTOM OF THE HILL
FRI APR 25 - PIEDMONT CA @ BAYNVC BENEFIT SHOW
SAT APR 26 - PORTLAND OR @ DOUG FIR LOUNGE
SUN APR 27 - SEATTLE WA @ HIGH DIVE
TUE APR 29 - SALT LAKE CITY UT @ SLOWTRAIN
WED APR 30 - DENVER CO @ BENDERS
THU MAY 01 - OMAHA NE @ SLOWDOWN
FRI MAY 02 - DES MOINES IA @ VAUDEVILLE MEWS
SAT MAY 03 - MADISON WI @ MEMORIAL UNION TERRACE
MON MAY 05 - CHICAGO IL @ EMPTY BOTTLE
TUE MAY 06 - BLOOMINGTON IN @ ART HOSPITAL
WED MAY 07 - FORT WAYNE IN @ FORT WAYNE MUSEUM OF ART
THU MAY 08 - PITTSBURGH PA @ GARFIELD ARTWORKS
FRI MAY 09 - BROOKLYN NY @ DEATH BY AUDIO
SAT MAY 10 - NEW YORK NY @ KNITTING FACTORY
SUN MAY 11 - BOSTON MA @ MIDDLE EAST UPSTAIRS
TUE MAY 13 - MONTREAL QC @ ZOOBIZARRE
THU MAY 15 - TORONTO ON @ SILVER DOLLAR
SUN MAY 18 - FREDERICKSBURG VA @ FATTY J'S
THU MAY 22 - FORT WORTH TX @ LOLAS
FRI MAY 23 - AUSTIN TX @ STUBBS
SAT MAY 24 - HOUSTON TX @ VENUE TBA

lymbycsystym.com

The Long Blondes- "Couples"

2008-04-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I'm a Long Blondes fanboy but it would still be wrong of me to go through this review without mentioning this love of mine. My obsession began with the release of Someone To Drive You Home, The Long Blondes debut album, in 2006. I enjoyed the album a lot and upon a messy break-up with a longtime girlfriend, I found Someone To Drive... to be a fine album for my broken heart (/emo). I eventually grew to love the album so much that it not only was my favorite album of 2006 (at the time.. it may be a few spots back at this point), but I continue to listen to The Long Blondes debut to this day. The Long Blondes' style is one of the most highly tuned and meticulously perfected sounds I've heard in a very long time. The shiny, polished surface of their sound only functions to hide the broken and bruised internal layers. This aspect of their sound, their anchor, has not changed at all in the progression from debut to sophomore album. This was an incredibly intelligent move on The Long Blondes' part.

Funky guitar riffs coupled with brooding vocals, driving Liars-esque bass lines, blissful synthpop synth lines, and piano-driven melody-- all can be found on The Long Blondes sophomore release. "Couples" seems the perfect fit for a new Rough Trade release. Having released eclectic classics by Cabaret Voltaire, Pussy Galore, Delta 5, Young Marble Giants, Kleeenex/Liliput, The Pop Group, This Heat, Pere Ubu, etc. (how can Rough Trade not be one of the greatest labels of all time??), The Long Blondes fit right in with Rough Trade's sound. While not post-punk or experimental to the point of any of those bands, the pop approach to post-punk styled music makes for a fun, wonderful, and completely down-to-earth album. Starting out with a fuzzy synth line and Kate Jackson's voice soaring over the track, "Century" is The Long Blondes touching on Disco. While Disco is apparently the current hot style to approach, never once does this Sheffield band seem to be forcing their sound. This is not the only curveball that "Couples" throws; the album is full of those little style changes that help to differentiate their sophomore from their debut.

In lyrics and music, The Long Blondes have managed to put out a sophomore album just as addictive and catchy as their debut Someone To Drive You Home. Seeming like a logical continuation in sound and theme, but not to the point of being labeled "Someone to Drive You Home: Part 2", "Couples" allows for a conclusion to the ongoing relationship drama that was presented on The Long Blondes debut. Although the saga might not be completely concluded (that's up for The Long Blondes to decide, of course), "Couples" offers fans of The Long Blondes' audio-drama closure and presents those new to the band with another opportunity to get addicted.

Naked On the Vague- Blood Pressure Sessions

2008-03-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

I regularly rant about the use of the term Post-Punk. Whenever I get into one of these rants, it is almost always about what is not Post-Punk and No Wave. The term is thrown around so often these days that it's really tough to even take myself seriously when I attempt to use these classifications to label a band. But, it is my duty as an album reviewer to take myself completely seriously (kidding) and continue to make assertions on what is and isn't said genres.

Lesson #2: No Wave; an example.
Naked On the Vague serve as a perfect example of what it takes to make a successful No Wave album in the current state of musical affairs. Although their sound is bleak and apocalyptic, almost making for a perfect soundtrack for Eraserhead, they don't try to pull off jacking DNA's sound; doing so is a big no-no. Due to the spirit of No Wave, a spirit based on creativity and challenge, the cardinal rule is to always have your own sound. Even while comparing Naked On the Vague to Teenage Jesus, or to my newfound favorite related groups Your Funeral and Jeri Rossi (who was the lead singer for Your Funeral), the comparison is really very unfounded. Those are the initial comparisons I make based upon singer's voice and mood of an album, but not on composition and actual style after multiple listens.

Another smart move made on Blood Pressure Sessions is not sticking to a single sound. Although they might not sound too different at first, No Wave bands have almost always worked best in a Singles and Live setting because of the differing sounds and various shades of black in their sound. Naked On the Vague manage to pull together a cohesive, solid album that moves from thick, suffocating layers to sparse drum and bass compositions. Sometimes spiraling out of control with heavy layers of reverb and distortion, making a psychedelic frenzy ( i.e. "The Beach Pt. 2 (Black Sun)"), the track is always reeled back in through a countering song. At times the beat is thick enough to inspire a dance, but do not expect any Liars "dance-punk;" even the coked-up drum machine on "Mother's Footsteps" is balanced out by plenty of shrieks, feedback squeals, and distorted noise.

Naked On the Vague's Blood Pressure Sessions has proved to me once and for all that genres don't die, even ones based less on a sound and more on principles/situations. Although many bands tagged as No Wave sympathizers will never actually hold a candle to their heroes, I feel confident asserting that if this was released 30 years ago, it would be studied and discussed with fervor just as other No Wave classics are getting treated today.

Why did Be Your Own Pet have tracks removed?

2008-03-25T04:28:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't heard, Be Your Own Pet's sophomore album Get Awkward has had a little treatment. This is why I hate major labels.

So, if you can only get the album in this format, missing the tracks, just let me know.. I'd be happy to upload the album for you complete.

Douchebags.

So, my review I did was obviously of the album still with these tracks. Oh well. What's funny is they removed the best songs on the album... way to fuck a band.

Boo and Boo Too- s/t EP (2007)

2008-03-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

It is really hard for me to review an album that I'm in the middle of the road on. I don't want to come off as hating an album that isn't bad, although generally I feel that's how I come off. Mediocrity just really, really annoys me. Mediocrity that is a failed attempt at being edgy is far worse.

With that in mind, Boo and Boo Too's self-titled EP really really bothers me. They show promise as a band, they really do; the sound they are going for can turn into a huge success when done correctly (see: A Place To Bury Strangers, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Liars, HEALTH, etc.) but Boo and Boo Too just do not seem to understand their sound. Background guitar whines and drones aren't added to a track if they are intended "to sound cool" and that's their only purpose. When My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Jimi Hendrix, and Glenn Branca created feedback drenched pieces, they had a specific feeling or mood they intended to create in the listener. I feel that this is often overlooked by people today; they hear the sound and say "whoa, that sounds cool!" but don't bother to actually listen and let it create the intended emotion. When people who do this start a band, the result is something along the lines of the Boo and Boo Too EP.

I'm going to take the track "Couch On Fire" as an example. This track is six minutes long, the longest on the album. It's actually not that bad of a song, but it is essentially a pop song trying to blend in with the post-punk crowd. It starts out with a very Sonic Youth-y guitar sound that 15 seconds in turns into a thin whine. All the instruments except for said guitar, a tambourine and some hand claps fall out so that the chorus can be yelled by a crowd of three or four in a sing-songy fashion. Everything comes back in, proceeds in verse-chorus-verse format... and what are we left with? A pop song with a guitar pulling many overdone sounds (yet generally the results are better than in Boo and Boo Too's case).

I would actually recommend this album to anyone who needs a step between The Strokes Is This It and a Sonic Youth album; Boo and Boo Too EP can work as a greater primer into noisy music, it just isn't as effective as its much more challenging peers/legends.

www.booandbootoo.com
www.myspace.com/booandbootoo

HEALTH interview (3/16/08)

2008-03-20T01:15:00.000-07:00

After an amazing show featuring Faux Fox, HEALTH, and Crystal Castles (see: Three Incredible Shows) I had the opportunity to interview HEALTH's bassist John Famiglietti. John's outgoing stage presence is not just an act. John is hilarious, talkative, and really forthcoming. I mean, this is the same dude that gave a girl a kiss (and completely made her night) at the merch table. HEALTH is not your typical band.

I really dislike doing interviews because they are often boring, stuffy, and awkward; this was not the case with John. While I didn't get to ask all the questions I intended, I was trying to keep the interview as organic and as comfortable as possible. I still feel I learned a lot about HEALTH. Hopefully this interview sparks (or renews) your interest and inspires you to pick up their debut and see them live. HEALTH are one of the best up-and-coming bands currently (what else are to you expect from a Lovepump band?), so they are completely worth checking out.

Here's the conversation that ensued on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 in HEALTH's tour van outside of Hailey's while everyone else was having fun with Alice Glass (my sister who is in Crystal Castles*):

Fight Test: How's the tour been so far?
John: The tour has been fucking awesome; like, especially the.. well, ok-- we toured after CC [Crystal Castles, duh] and that was awesome and then the tour with CC was like the greatest tour of my life until Alice [Glass] broke her fuckin' ribs, haha. Then it was like the most bizarre, weird west-coast tour down to Austin ever.
FT: Did you guys headline or----?
JF: Well we did but the shows were already canceled--they were announced as canceled but then the promoters and the booking agency wanted us to play the shows... still. So we were like "fuck, we're gonna do it because we're in the middle of fucking Canada and we need to get home" and we also needed money to get to South By [Southwest] and we're gonna continue this tour. So, Ethan, from Crystal Castles, he just drove and hung out with us. He was gonna do DJ sets but a lot of the venues weren't down with that for some reason so we played-- and the shows were actually not that bad! A lot of them were pretty good, only one or two sucked.. the rest actually, were all awesome. And then we got to fuckin' Austin. Austin was some crazy shit.
FT: Why'd the shows suck?
JF: Well, sold out show in Vancouver and then it was like, "Oh, well if you wanna go see the opener and some bands we throw on the bill, go ahead!" Vancouver was the only show like that but in the cities where they actually know us it was pretty rad.
FT: Well you guys aren't really a small band anymore, you just released your LP in November? November 16th?
JF: Well, yeah yeah-- actually it was September 18th.
FT: September? Oh, I thought it was later!
JF: Well, it took a while for the album to catch on really...
FT: Yeah..
JF: It was like a traditional, took a while... it was like a Kill 'Em All, y'know, the first Metallica album? When that dropped it didn't really make a spark, it took a while! Just like Kill 'Em All...
FT: Too bad it's the only good Metallica album**... well, in my opinion [laughing]
JF: What?! Dude... Ride The Lightning is the best!
FT: Nah, I'm sorry...
JF: You don't like Ride the Lightning?!
FT: They were.. no, they lost their mojo!
JF: You mean the punk, rock n' roll edge?
FT: Yeah, exactly. I kinda liked the whole..
JF: That's the thing, they became the total metal experience! They got the whole fantasy, mystical lyrics...the fuckin' "Fade To Black", dude! Ride the Lightning is the best one!
FT: I'll take some Death over Metallica any day, but that's different..
JF:...that's different though! That's a specialized taste.. but we're not gonna get into this [laughing]
FT: Yeah, ANYWAYS! [laughs]
JF: RIDE THE LIGHNING!
[laughing]
FT: What's the relationship you guys have developed with Crystal Castles like? Have you guys actually developed a relationship?
JF: Yeah, we've really had a relationship.. it was an internet relationship but it was just like a mutual, really sincere kinda love for each other's music. They're like our favorite band and we're constantly in awe and so... so into their music. There was just this thing, we did the split [Crystal Castles / HEALTH - split 7" - Lovepump United Records] and the remix [Crystal Castles Vs HEALTH - Crimewave - Trouble Records 2007] at around the same time as the album and we'd just been talking more and more... we had only gotten to play with them a handful of times. We played with them in London and at last year's SXSW, then it was like-- their doing their first headlining US Tour and they want us to open. It was like "Fuck yeah!"
FT: Hell yeah! You're opening for your favorite band! So, your songs at the beginning of the album-- "Heaven" starts out and it's kinda melodic, blissful, but the rest of your album is bleak as shit, dude. What was it like when you were recording, was it bringin' you guys down or were you having a good time?
JF: No, recording fucking sucked ass. Are you kidding? We were recording in the Smell-- it's shitty and humid and dark and there are crackheads wandering in all day because you can't lock the door. There's rats running across the floors and there's a bar bumping reggaeton at 4am and it'd fuck up all the recordings and their were shows every night. We got there at four in the morning with a shit-ton of gear, it'd take us two or three hours to get set up, another two hours recording and then there's Jim [Smith, one of the founders] showing up at around 8pm because there's a show. So we had to get all of our shit out of there since there's a show that night. It was not fun recording the album at all; it fucking sucked.
FT: Do you guys have any plans to put out another live album? Because you had the cassette from The Smell [HEALTH - Live - DNT Records (DNT009)]...
JF: Yeah, We really wanna do another live album, we're just basically on tour for another six months-- the rest of the year, essentially. We'd love to put out another live album, one a year, it'd be really nice. Maybe just a cassette, but we need somewhere to record it and we need to coordinate this shit. But we'd really like to keep doing live releases in small batches, small runs. Y'know, just for collectors; we're already doing stuff for collectors like the remix twelves.
FT: You guys are obviously touring a lot right now... Jobs? What do you guys do when you're not well, HEALTH.
JF: Well, for better or worse, this was a couple years ago, on our first tour, we had only been a band for like four months and we had a DIY tour booked by this other band we were touring with for our first 7". For that tour we only had like... eight shows on a really criss-crossed, badly booked west-coast tour and I quit my job for that. I pretty much haven't had a job since that despite doing really like, non-lucrative DIY tours. I just kept not getting a job, I was living off unemployment from my previous job for a long time then that ran out and I didn't get a job and the only job I've worked during the entire time of the band existing-- as in our tour existence-- was I worked a high paying temp job for about 2 months before our last US tour, the album tour. I haven't been working, it's not very intelligent! But I haven't been working. The other guys have been taking some random jobs here and there but we've all quit everything because it seems like we're on tour forever right now.
FT: That means that if you had a lucrative internship then, well, what's your education? You must've gone to college...
JF: Well, actually, I didn't go to college. All the other guys are, well BJ dropped out, but the other two, they're college educated. I'm the youngest and I never went to college. I went to one year of film school, kinda a crash course, shite film school adn then I was working industry jobs. That's what I quit for the first tour and I haven't really worked since in the past three years [laughs]
FT: Your guys sound, you're all over the place you know? You could be called No Wave, you could be called Noise, y'know anything in that spectrum, punk; your myspace lists all sorts of bands that influenced you. How did they play a role in your sound? You guys have Kraftwerk and..
JF: A lot of that was...
FT: Just bands that you like?
JF: Well, bands that we like and bands that we were like.. these are our influences but maybe not direct influence in terms of sound. But also we were starting a myspace so we were like "hey, if we lists bands that we like people will be searching for this band and they'll check out our myspace!" And we haven't really updated it since. However, all of those bands are actual serious influences whether they came out as direct influences on the sound or not. We put the first as Ex-Models and that was a really direct, defining influence. When we started we were playing really traditional songs that we were not down with and we were like "Fuck! We suck!" and Ex-Models was like the band that we thought "This band fucking rules!" So we were like "let's start thinkin' about shit this way and start doing it a little different." Ex-Models was like the catalyst but there were a bunch of bands that were really big. Animal Collective was really big.
FT: Animal Collective is a large indie band but they still do a lot for music right now.
JF: Feels, Here Comes the Indian, y'know.. both of those album are really, really important for this decade and they're an incredible band.
FT: What would you describe your sound as? If you had to put a term to you guys?
JF: In our "magic mind world" we were like "ok, there's this thing, this new noise thing, we're part of it, we're gonna take this next step, do this next thing" but a lot of this genre stuff is very tricky nowadays. There's this big Noise/Experimental scene that we're a part of and we were like, we're noise. The noise guys were like "no, you're a fuckin' rock band.. you play songs." We were like "Fuck! Alright we're not noise," which is like the coolest name ever "so we're noise-rock." We thought noise-rock was stuff like Arab On Radar and Ex-Models.
FT: [I point to my shirt] Melt-Banana!
JF: Exactly, Melt-Banana! It makes perfect sense... we're noise-rock! And then people were like "no, you're not really noise-rock" so I don't really fucking know. We were like "we're a modern, relevant rock band, what should we sound like now? What's actually entertaining now?" You know, punk, metal, all that shit's fuckin' dead as disco. What's a modern rock band now; what's an intense or heavy band now?
FT: yeah, in order to be metal you have to be "black metal" or in order to be punk now you have to be "noise-punk". There's no more "I'm metal".
JF: Genres have killed themselves and you can't really define yourself with a genre anymore; the shit's become really corrupt. Also, if you play Black Metal or not even Black Metal, fuckin' Death Metal or whatever, you're mom's like fuckin' "devil horns". They know that shit, it's old as shit. And your posing, you're pretending like "I'm so fucking punk" and doing this thing that's like, older than your fucking parents! And it's just like "yeah you guys are so punk;" it's a fucking joke.
FT: You guys played with Clipd Beaks recently; I'm a huge Clipd Beaks fan.
JF: Really? They're our buddies.
FT: They were actually, I think, my #2 album [note: actually my #4]... you guys were my #11. I'm sorry! But, what's it like playing with Clipd Beaks?
JF: Clipd Beaks are really good friends of ours; we're both on Lovepump. Also, they're just really fuckin' cool guys. We just really get along well so we just hang out and they always want us to do mushrooms and crazy shit. They're fun dudes... it's a good time! [laughs] Yeah, Clipd Beaks on our last tour out to SXSW, before both of us were on Lovepump, we were both kinda talking to Lovepump. We both got signed at that SXSW-- last year's SXSW. [Clipd Beaks] were campaigning for mushrooms and white sand in New Mexico. We were like, "Dudes, we gotta drive like two days! Fuckin' shit balls! We'll do it some other time." [laughing]
FT: What's it like working with Lovepump? Are they organized? How do they deal with you guys?
JF: Lovepump is extremely professional and the greatest... the greatest label. They are fucking awesome-- Jake Friedman and Mookie Singerman. Especially Jake because Mookie is so busy with Genghis Tron. Jake Friedman is a fucking incredible intellect and human being and they really run the label extremely well. At this point it's not just a label; Jake is now pretty much our band manager.
FT: Yeah, that works. What are your guys plans for future albums? Live we've already discussed, but do you guys have any plans? Working on songs or anything like that?
JF: Yeah! The songwriting process has been kinda fucked up by the constant touring. Umm.... we only have a handful of new songs. We're going to desperately write as many as we can once we get back. For the next record we're gonna do, like immediately, this mega-long tour and the remix album is coming out in May.
FT: Remix album? I hadn't even heard about a remix album...
JF: Oh! Oh really? We've had a ton of remixes done; putting out DJ 12" and limited 7" and giving them away for free on the internet to blogs. Lovepump wanted to do it-- we're gonna do a solid CD album and then another 12" and another 7" coming out.
FT: Are you guys remixing other bands or....
JF: No, it's others doing remixes of us.
FT: That's pretty cool, it's like the remix myspace [HEALTH//disco] you guys have, kinda like that.
JF: Exactly. It's HEALTH//Disco The Album but not just a remix album. We're taking it really seriously like it's a separate artist and all the remixes are done by people we're a fan of because we thought it'd be a good collaboration.
FT: Tour stories, dude. Got any good tour stories?
JF: Well, oh yeah.... fun stuff happens but I don't want to sound like a dick. [laughs] So we were in Santa Fe at High Maintenance, a really awesome DIY venue out there, and shit got really bad really quick after our show. It lead to this this dude getting his face kicked in on the floor by a bunch of people and escalated. His friends were gonna get a gun; cinder blocks started getting thrown through the windows. We got shoved in the back by the people who were trying to protect everyone, trying to board up all the doors. The cops came, they pepper sprayed the guy, [he was] just hysterical. it was a total madhouse. One guy there just turned; I guess he was just recently off of parole. He just started attacking! He charged like sixteen people and it turned into a big brawl, then his friends got involved. It was really, really bizarre. For fear of gang related retaliation, because I think that's what they were, we left that night. We just stayed at someone else's house in Santa Fe that night. But... it wasn't our fault! Our drummer [BJ] rather heroically tried to stop the and lead the guy [that was getting stomped] out and it got really bad. I'm not really sure what the hell happened even. There was just a lot of bloody fighting crap and violent shit then the cops finally came out. It was pretty bizarre.
FT: Yeah, damn dude. [pause] Well.... I was talking to Ben, Benjamin... what does he like to go by? Ben the drummer...
JF: Oh! BJ, the Beej!
FT: Alright, that works. [laughs] I talked to him a little bit earlier while you were selling merch and he said that you like to do interviews by yourself because they "might ruin your mojo." Was he just fuckin' around or do you have a dominant personality, or....?
JF: No, nothing like that. We just have a shitload of interviews and a shitload of requests and everyone was getting worn out. I was like "I'll do it." The interviews would just sit in the email forever because we had to get everyone together and everyone was just like "fuck, I don't care." [Me doing it] is just a million times easier, especially for phone interviews and one-on-ones. The other guys just get tired.
FT: That's understandable.
JF: I'm just... the talker or whatever. I'm definitely plenty able to do interviews.
FT: I just hate email interviews, I refuse to do them now [laughs]. So, any side projects?
JF: No, we've been asked that a lot this tour which is kinda weird. We have no side projects. [HEALTH] is a lot of work so none of us have any side projects or solo aspirations at all. I don't want anyone diverting creative ideas or taking anything away from the band for some other shit. So that's the way we'd like to keep it. We're all a team and we're putting our all into this, so no.
FT: You mentioned the "songwriting process" earlier; do you guys jam or is it more concrete? How do you throw around ideas?
JF: We have a few. We all have a different style, everyone is writing and contributing. Nothing is done without everybody; it's a real team thing. I write diagrams on paper and sometimes the other guys do that. Sometimes things happen more organically, evolving from BJ's drum beat. Very often songs are like a concept like "we're going to do a song like this." I draw diagrams, shit with arrows and shit like that.
FT: That's kinda avant-garde/experimental style [laughs]
JF: Well, it's not that fancy, it's just the only way we can figure out how to do what we wanna do. Other songs have been built more like a regular song where we go from BJ's drums and we can sorta map out certain parts to try to get to things that we're gonna get to. Songs like that that feel more organic; "Heaven" is like that, "Crimewave" is like that. Those songs that are a lot more natural. Both approaches work too. We've got other processes too, but whatever. [laughs]
FT: How'd you guys come together?
JF: It's really not very interesting at all. Jake and Jupiter went to college together. Previously they played a lot more... not crazy band music. They hadn't really been in a real band, they didn't really take it that seriously. They wanted to make a band getting out of college, they were kind of jamming when I met Jake. We worked at Guitar Center Hollywood, which is like the flagship; it was pretty awful. We were just like "Hey you're not a douche! You wanna play with me?" So I went and played with them. It wasn't really gelling at all, but personality-wise these were the kind of guys we'd want to be in a band with. It wasn't really working. We got BJ off Craigslist "Casual Encounters"...
FT: Wait, you guys got him from Craigslist? [laughs]
JF: Yeah! He showed up and we were like "this guy's really fuckin' good!" Y'know? And then we made the band. It took us a while to find our footing. We didn't even know our sound until the album was done. We were just doing this thing where we'd be like "is this good?" I think now we're very confident, we know what our sound is and we have a little more control.
FT: Where's this come from? From your perspective, leading up to the band making music. How'd you start playing instruments? You don't need to go life story, but... [laughs]
JF: We're just all really into music, really into Rock n' Roll. Jake and I both had this kinda punk rock life-changing experience. Jupiter was totally a fucking metal kid, like... he was in a Black Metal band in high school called The Corticaid. The one thing we all have is this total Classic Rock, Led Zeppelin boner. That was total Beej, his high school had like, 20 minute drum solos and shit. So that's the thing, we all have a total rock background. Like, you wanna be in a rock band, play an instrument and then we got into a lot of newer music. The desire to do something new; you know, if you jump out there with power chords and riffs you look like a fuckin' dweeb. Like, "oh, I'm so punk, I'm so edgy." It's totally not relevant and it's so old. You better put some fucking twist on it, a mean twist at this point.
FT: Gotta be extreme. [laughs] Well dude, I think we're good!
JF: YEAH! [laughs] Jackson Glass, you know Alice Glass [of Crystal Castles]. I think you might be related.
FT: I've been wondering about that actually!
JF: Is your real last name Glass?
FT: Yeah. And she's a badass.
JF: She's a total badass.
FT: Thanks a lot man!
JF: Thank you!

*Just kidding. I hope she's not my sister... I salivate all over myself when I see her. She's a total babe.
**Time for the hate mail...

www.myspace.com/healthmusic <----HEALTH myspace www.myspace.com/healthdisco <----HEALTH//DISCO myspace (remixes) www.lpurecords.com <---Lovepump United site

Faux Fetus

2008-03-19T02:18:00.000-07:00

I'd like to draw everyone's attention to a great lil net label by the name Faux Fetus. You know how everyone keeps talking about the death of the record label as we know it? And you know how everyone keeps saying that online downloads are the way of the future? And you know how the RIAA keeps suing people for downloading music? Well, the way of the future is at hand:

Here's a very fine specimen indeed. Featuring a binch of great bands (one of which, Black Pus, includes the drummer from the great band Lightning Bolt). Although their album are offered in mp3 format @ 128kbps-192kbps, it's still a start.

They're setting a great example so please check out these bands, by their albums, and most of all:
DONATE SO THEY CAN KEEP UP WITH SERVER COSTS. It'd suck to lose such beautiful thing because we're all greedy/poor bastards.

http://www.fauxfetus.net/
http://www.myspace.com/fauxfetuscollective

Three Incredible Shows

2008-03-19T00:39:00.001-07:00

This past week I've had the fortune to see God Is An Astronaut, HEALTH, Crystal Castles, Danava and Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. making the move to Denton all the more worth it (I've already really enjoyed it here).

I'm too exhausted to write up real live reviews, so I'll just copy what I wrote on my favorite forum (metacritic)!:

God Is An Astronaut:
I saw God Is An Astronaut with a couple friends and the show was killer. So much raw energy, incredible expressions of emotion, and some excellently created visuals. It felt like I was inside an avant-garde film. The crowd loved their show and they actually played two encores. I could tell that they were ecstatic at their reception; their faces were covered by huge, goofy grins.

If you have the chance to see them, get on it. They were flawless as far as I could tell.

HEALTH and Crystal Castles:

Last night was a huge dance party. Seriously... from the opener (Faux Fox) to Crystal Castles' closing, nobody stopped dancing. I don't dance at shows, but from the very first song I couldn't help myself. Even HEALTH's noise made great music to dance to because of the strong rhythmic patterns.

HEALTH themselves were fucking insane. They were all over the place; you can tell they grew up going to punk and metal shows because they had the whole crazy stage presence and massive amounts of energy thing down.

After the show I interviewed John (the bassist) from HEALTH (which went excellently, great dude) then I went to a house show. I had missed all but one group, the insane Sludge/Experimental metal group White Mice. They were also incredible but I wish I wouldn't have missed Sightings and a few of the other groups that went on before.

Danava and AMT:
I saw Danava and Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso UFO. Danava were really good, sounded a lot like they do on album. They were a lot of fun... but there's no way they couldn't be completely overshadowed by AMT. Makoto shred the fuck out of his guitar and had some insane antics... the very last song played was a slow, slow build; starting with a gorgeous melody that repeated for a good 5 or 10 minutes, and building, building, building until it spiraled absolutely out of control. Mitsuru was amazing on the bass as well with Koji providing some excellent, hypnotizing beats. At the very end of the last song Makoto kept acting as if he was gonna smash his guitar, then doing all sorts of crazy trick-playing, then acting like he was gonna smash it, then he hung his guitar off of a lighting cord and made it gyrate while he messed with pedals, creating some crazy feedback until the guitar fell to the ground. Makoto threw his guitar the ground, everything stopped...and they walked off the stage; everyone's face was stuck in a shocked expression, my mind wasn't the only one blown.

I have to work early tomorrow :(
I was too lazy/exhausted from St. Patty's day to transcribe my HEALTH interview. I'll get on it asap peeps.

For your enjoyment, here are some pics I managed to get from a girl (Lorena G.) who was at the HEALTH show:
John on bass (and the back of my head.. I'm the blonde with short hair)
(I'm also in this one! I'm wearing the glasses..)
(HEALTH having fun with the "zoothorn")
(questionable mic positioning)
(Yaaayyyyy for crazy drumming zoothorn funness!!!)

Christopher Bissonnette- In Between Words

2008-03-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Tension is a strain on anyone. Although it may be easily accomplished in daily life by a simple joke at the wrong time, letting out an S.B.D. (Silent but Deadly, duh) in church, calling a person by the wrong name or completely forgetting a name, and on and on, Tension is not so easily created in music. Musicians have a challenge, especially those that deal only in sounds and textures rather than having lyrical accompaniment.

My day job (yes, even excellent album reviewers generally have those too) is waiting tables at a chain Mexican restaurant. Since our food is decent and not a "TexMex" place, we get a lot of customers who only speak spanish. Since I'm a gringo who knows about as much Spanish as most Fifth Graders,* my job gets slightly more complicated when this language barrier comes into play. My script that I tend to use gets thrown out the window and becomes a mixture of pointing, awkward laughs, confusion, and scrambling to make some sort of connection-- this is how I imagine it feels to be a Sound Artist.**

Back to Tension, remember how I started this review by mentioning Tension? Well, Christopher Bissonnette is a master at creating Tension. I'm not sure how he does it, but his latest album In Between Words slides between the raw emotion of daily life to a building, suffocating Tension. Starting on "Provenance" with a beautiful sound that reminds me of the hum of an idle tube amp, gradually growing and layering into a light, but sharp, static-sound, not unlike like the sound of a bad radio signal. While "Provenance" might end on a slightly harrowing note, it leads perfectly into "A Touch of Heartbreak". Although the title makes it sound downtrodden, "A Touch of Heartbreak" starts off with a joyous, almost heavenly drone which grows progressively louder until it becomes a vortex of drones swirling and colliding.

Not all drone, Bissonnette makes use of field recordings from urban streets; for example, the beginning of "Orffyreus Wheel" sounds like a recording of rain falling on concrete. Although there is often times a lot going on in each track, Bissonnette expertly blends all the sounds to create a beautifully crafted landscape-- the same could be said of the album as a whole. This may be one of the most beautiful ambient albums I have heard; I swear that statement was not hyperbolic.

*I refuse to do an "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" joke.
**Yes, I did just make that term up. I like it. It sounds professional. If I made Ambient/Noise/Avant-Garde/Experimental music, I'd be snooty and have people refer to me as a Sound Artist.

TBR by Kranky Records on 4/14/08
Christopher Bissonnette: myspace.com/christopherbissonnette

God Is An Astronaut, Steak and BJs

2008-03-15T00:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I intended to post this earlier in light of Steak and BJ Day (the male equivelant of Valentine's Day) but I went straight from work to a show at Rubber Gloves.

For your listening pleasure:

This track is by a French band named Cheveu. I don't know much about Cheveu. I do know that their new album is self-titled and that you're going to have a really hard time getting it outside Europe. I'd describe Cheveu as a stripped down electro group, stripped down to the point of being Bluesy. I could also flip it and say that they're a souped up Blues group who add a bit of an electro flourish. But since their music is neither Blues nor Electro, they pretty much do their own thing. Maybe Big Black? But instead of punk they use Blues? Eh, I'll stop trying....

________

In other news, I went with a couple friends and saw God Is An Astronaut. God damn am I glad I went to that show. The intensity and beauty of that band live astounds me. Everything was perfect, the visuals synced up beautifully with the sound, they played and played and played and it never got boring, and the crowd was completely down with their sound and psyched to see them. The show went so well that they played two encores and commented that Denton was their favorite place they've played so far on their (first) US tour (and I completely believe it).

Go see God Is An Astronaut:
Mar 16 2008 The Mad Hatter Covington, Kentucky
Mar 18 2008 The Ottobar Baltimore, Maryland
Mar 19 2008 Middle East Upstairs Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mar 20 2008 Maxwell’s Hoboken, New Jersey
Mar 21 2008 Knitting Factory Tap Bar New York, New York
Apr 12 2008 Dunk! Festival Zottegem, Belgium
Apr 17 2008 Hoxton Bar and Kitchen London, U.K.
Apr 18 2008 Norwich Arts Centre Norwich, U.K.
Apr 19 2008 Brudenell Social Club Leeds, U.K.
Apr 27 2008 B1 Moscow, Russia
May 24 2008 The Academy Dublin, Ireland

Blikk Fang- Aveh Tiger Roma (of Montreal and MGMT)

2008-03-14T02:05:00.000-07:00

This album doesn't appear to be officially announced but has been showing up in various places. Rumor has it that it's to be released in August '08 in anticipation of Skeletal Lamping and others say that these tracks are from old EPs. Either way, it's definite that Blikk Fang is composed of Andrew (from MGMT) and Kevin Barnes.

Not sure if this helps a little too.

___________________

Honestly, can you really review any work where Kevin Barnes is involved? How do you begin to discuss textures, emotion, concepts, etc. etc. etc. when this man has his say? I might start by telling you that when you spell "Aveh Tiger Roma" backwards ("Heva Regit Amor") it translates to "love rules Eve" (latin). The problem is that I didn't really know that until I searched google (I pulled that fact from a NYT article on New York's blossoming literary community) and I haven't really figured out in what way it pertains to the album. I should probably also let you know that one of the dudes from MGMT is also involved (Andrew VanWyngarden), but I'm honestly not a fan of MGMT so I don't really know much about the guy. So, Blikk Fang were previously known as Ocelot Fang (than you of Montreal wiki!) and is composed of the two musicians previously mentioned.

Alright, you know how earlier on in the year (or the end of '07?) Kevin Barnes mentioned how he had really expanded the sound he was going for with Skeletal Lamping? Well take Aveh Tiger Roma as an introduction to various sounds Kevin is trying out (while partnered with Mr. Andrew VW). If you want to get an idea of the sound:

Listen to a very extensive catalog of 80s music.

Seriously though, that's the best description I can give, and I'm generally very flowery with my speech when describing an album. I just cannot do it when Kevin Barnes throws me a curveball. To illustrate my point: my #1 album of the year for 2007 was Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? but I never wrote a real review of it. It felt so odd for me to not be able to give any sort of critique, review, or even share a feeling on such an incredible album. Not to say Aveh Tiger Roma is incredible, but it is still just that hard to pin down. Who knows if this will just turn into a kooky departure taken by of Montreal fanatics or actually embraced by the community? It's over the top-- which is saying a lot considering Kevin Barnes previous departures (Coquelicot Asleep In the Poppies anyone?).

P.S. On "Witter Before Wicked" Kevin purrs "I'm just a black shemale and I don't know what you people are all about." Sound familiar? Kevin Barnes gave p4k a rundown of the main character developed in Skeletal Lamping:

The character's name is Georgie Fruit, and he's in his late forties, a black man who has been through multiple sex changes. He's been a man and a woman, and then back to a man.

That should be enough reason to check Blikk Fang out.

EDIT: Kevin Barnes recently reported that this EP is bogus but idk... it seems legit to me. Only time will tell...

Various Artists- Local Anesthetic

2008-03-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

Punk will always hold a place in my heart. It was the very first genre that opened my eyes to the fact that you can find music on your own without the guidance of the radio. I was in sixth when I first realized that there is a lot more music out there than Clear Channel would have you believe. This revelation is still clear to me, probably one of the most clear memories I have. I was skating back to my (best) friend Tommy's house from a stair set at a church when we started talking about punk bands-- I considered Good Charlotte to be punk then. He started talking about The Circle Jerks, Adicts, Black Flag, and I was amazed. I asked him how he had heard of the bands if they weren't on the radio; I don't remember Tommy's response, but I know it's nothing like how I respond today when I'm asked that question. We were younger so the question didn't seem insane-- and, well, Tommy has just never been the pompous ass that I always have been. From then on I started finding all sorts of new bands and styles that I might have never enjoyed if my buddy hadn't introduced me to Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, Group Sex (on vinyl even), Damaged, etc. Lately I've been revisiting these classics and discovering a bunch of other punk albums. It started out of nostalgia but it progressed into me really appreciating a genre that I had "grown out of" in high school.

It was perfectly timed for me to receive Local Anesthetic, a new compilation comprised of ten Denver punk bands from the late 70s and early 80s. One of the challenges with compilations is that they generally cover a specific genre, time period, and/or place so sometimes they will get really stale really fast. Local Anesthetic actually manages to hold itself together throughout. To be completely honest, this album has not left my car stereo since I received it almost two weeks ago. One of the best things about the album (besides several stellar standalone tracks) is that it covers hardcore punk, the classic "rock n' roll rehash" punk sound, post-punk, No Wave-ish style punk, and even can border on New Wave at times.

I really can't believe that these bands and tracks didn't make it bigger in the punk scene. Hell, I had no clue that Denver had even had a thriving punk scene at any time. Local Anesthetic starts off with "My Dad's A Fucking Alcoholic" by Frantix. It's a pretty straight-forward, slowed down punk song. The thing that sets it apart is the way that the pace seems to be dragging rather than moving fluidly making "My Dad's A Fucking Alcoholic" take on an almost drunken feel. A few tracks later come "I Wanna Be You" by Your Funeral. "I Wanna Be You" blows me away every time because of its demented nuggets sound; jangly guitars wrapped in a thick haze, wah-wah bass, moaning, wailing vocals-- a pop song in a drug-addled state. Jeri Rossi brings an even more chilling sound on Your Funeral's "The Abyss". The most well-known name on Local Anesthetic is Allen Ginsberg who contributed two tracks with band The Gluons. Allen Ginsberg and The Gluons deliver two great tracks that are a commentary on world politics ("Birdbrain") and the family unit ("Sue Your Parents"). Although The Gluons tracks are great and very witty, they still can not even touch the tracks that are tied for my favorite tracks.

When I listen to Local Anesthetic I look forward to three tracks far more than any of the (many) other wonderful songs on this compilation-- Young Weasels' "Twist & Burn," Jeri Rossi's "It's A Mans Mans Mans World," and Nails' "Big Star." I think the reason why these three tracks stick out so much to me is because they are not only infectious but also completely unique. I could compare Young Weasels to Joy Division, Jeri Rossi to Mars, and Nails to... well, I have no clue who to even try with nails, but making connections to those bands still just does not seem right. It's useless trying to pin down an influence to these three bands because they have their own sound and their sound is really, really, really, damn good. Good enough to land these three tracks into my "best songs of all time" list (which I've never actually sat down to make).

Local Anesthetic accomplishes what most compilations aim for but often just can't achieve. Various Artist disk generally try to function as a "best of" and, even though there is usually plenty of material to put to use, most can not even accomplish this. Not only do Local Anesthetic's songs never fail to impress on their own but also as an album. Throughout its entirety, Local Anesthetic manages to hold a remarkably fluid transition through many styles and subjects.

I will be posting streams of my three favorite tracks here once they finish uploading. Enjoy.

Visit Smooch Records' website to pick-up a copy:
http://www.smoochrecords.com/releases.html#smooch018

Death Becomes Even the Maiden- Arrangement EP

2008-02-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

Alright, I have had it. Seriously. This pisses me off. There's one thing that can piss me off more than any other: mis-categorization of bands who are claimed to be post-punk. So, HISTORY TIME!!

There are a few genres out there that share that genre tag based not on sound, but on the time period. One of these genres was post-punk! Chances are pretty damn good that if you listen to 10 post-punk bands they will share very few characteristics. From around 1978 through 1984 is when most of the post-punk bands were in their prime-- taking the DIY aspect of punk and applying it to avant-garde music (and sometimes prog, punk, dub reggae, etc.). The label post-punk applies to This Heat, The Normal, Joy Division, Public Image Ltd., Pere Ubu, Gang of Four, The Slits, The Pop Group, Wire, and Jeri Rossi.

Now, I use it as a descriptor for newer albums, but the term applies to a band that would fit in during this period rather than a band who sounds like they're ripping off one of the aforementioned bands.

Alright, now that I have that out there, nothing about Death Becomes Even the Maiden are enticing to me. I may have started off nervous because of the press kit comparing them to My Bloody Valentine, Trans Am, The Police, Nirvana, Mission of Burma, Battles, and Fugazi. But nothing about it is "neo-post-punk" like they claim (what does that mean, anyways?). After reading the press quotes accompanying their Arrangement EP, I now even wonder if most people who write about music even bother listening to the album they're critiquing. The comparisons they make are ridiculous-- and straight off the press sheet's band comparison I listed previously. Death Becomes Even the Maiden is generic like the majority of bands recently to be regarded as post-punk, stuff like The Faint, Bloc Party, Interpol, The Rapture (who I love), and Liars (who I love and who puts on a beastly show).

Essentially what it comes down to is this:

When you're stealing a sound from a band who watered down a style, you're going the wrong direction. Try again, sorry.

V/A- Obsession (Bully Records)

2008-02-18T04:10:00.000-08:00

This album is a compilation of rare psychedelic sounds from around '69-'74. The tracks come from all over the place, including Turkey, Uruguay, and Peru. Also, it was compiled by Stoner Rock connoisseur Mike Davis.

This compilation is truly magnificent, anyone remotely interested in Nuggets should be buying this asap. These are some of the best psych jams I've heard in a long time.

One of the most curious tracks to me is Suely E Os Kantikus' "Esperanto" which I'm curious if The Fiery Furnaces have had the luck to have heard prior to this compilation. Blueberry Boat sounds remarkably similar... If anyone is interested I can post the track.

Buy it here: http://www.truehiphop.com/al/?id=1654

Liars and No Age

2008-02-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

Alright, so No Age were pretty killer.

But Liars fucking killed it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but holy crap. That show was incredible. I don't even know what to say.

Luckily I was on the guest list or I would've gotten kicked out halfway through No Age's set (long story). That would've sucked.

Be Your Own Pet- Get Awkward (2008)

2008-02-12T14:57:00.000-08:00

It's hard to know what to expect when going into Be Your Own Pet's new album, Get Awkward. I wasn't expecting them to all of a sudden pull out an acoustic or turn into an avant-garde group, I didn't expect them to change at all to tell the truth. I was wrong, they didn't make any mind blowing changes, but they tweaked and perfected. They still have a ton of fun, a few of the songs have intros or outros that are just hilarious or insane. I would not be surprised to find that recording in the studio with them is quite the Rock n' Roll experience.

Be Your Own Pet's self-titled debut was a hell of a lot of fun, but it isn't an album you expect to last. But, some really simple, really fun things have staying power-- this isn't only true when it comes to the hoola-hoop, yo-yo, and slinky. When I'm driving around I have a few albums that are staples, and their debut became one of those albums after an extended hiatus. Catchy choruses full of ferocity, a strong, harsh, garage-ish guitar sound, simple teenage lyrics that still manage to be witty.

Get Awkward is mostly more of the same but with more hooks, more wit, and a hell of a lot more emotion. If I was to pick a motto for each album, Be Your Own Pet would be "I'm wicked and rad and I'm here to take away your virginity" (from "Bunk Trunk Skunk") but on Get Awkward it'd probably be "If only what you wrote in my yearbook was true/ I wouldn't be stuck in Cell Block 2" (from "Becky") or any lyric from "Twisted Nerve". On the s/t, lead singer Jemina Pearl seems to be heartless, or maybe hurt to the point where she comes off as apathetic. On Be Your Own Pet's sophomore effort she shows a lot more expression and anger when she's singing on tracks like "You're A Waste" (my favorite track along with "Twisted Nerve")-- with lyrics like "Now I'm glad you've got a broken heart, cuz I've been trying to fix mine from the start," you can't really get off not wearing your heart on your sleeve. BYOP could pull off apathy easily on their debut when the focus was almost purely Sex, Drugs, and Punk; part of growing up are those times when a relationship fails and you have to acknowledge it-- Get Awkward does this well. Instrumentally they've matured also, although it's still based off of the same garage/punk simplicity and swagger. The percussion has become a little more complex (for the style, at least) and they throw some curveballs with surf guitar, mini-solos and various other noodling.

Jemina sums up Get Awkward perfectly when she states "I'm not the girl that I was before" on "Creepy Crawl"; the music falls into place behind her. This is exactly how I'd have pop-punk sound, catchy with pop sensibility and edgy with punk's attitude.

John Clyde-Evans

2008-02-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

When Ravi Shankar's sitar styles were popularized in America, India was still resisting Industrialization, preferring to focus it's energy on services and domestic goods. But with China's "one child" policy making families increasingly smaller, the Industrial market has begun to transfer elsewhere. John Deere and LG have built factories in villages whose primary mode of transportation is the camel. Steel manufacturers who create beams for high-rises have set-up shop in towns still trying to resist the cultural depression which our western world is shoving on them. While spending a year in the Punjab republic of India, a place not only of high political tension but of large interest to foreign corporations, John Clyde-Evans began making music under his Sikh name- Tirath Singh Nirmala. His output under this name was generally considered "pastoral," "beautiful," and described by Gordon Isnor of Left Hip magazine as "ecstatic eastern-tinged avant-drones with a heavy dose of mysticism". Changing back to recording under his birth name is not the only change John Clyde-Evans makes for his latest, apetall thunderfall.

Soaked in tension, murky and unapologetic, John Clyde-Evans presents an industrial album, much like Nurse With Wound's classic Homotopy to Marie, for a nation who is starting to slowly embrace, or at least accept, everything that comes with said industrialization. The foreground of his work, which is made up of three tracks functioning as one, are harsh screeches, clanks and banging, music for a new world. In the background are all of the pieces of culture that is being clung to, still apparent, but blending and molding, being surrounded by the industrial sounds. Birds chirping, soft twitters, and almost psychedelic noises seem almost eerie when enveloped by the confrontational sounds on apetall thunderfall. Whether John Clyde-Evans is making a statement about our society suffocating something beautiful, or showing that you need to embrace change while remembering where you came from, I really don't know. He may not be trying to make a statement; this may just be how he perceived India, his own ode to impressionism.

While it is beautiful, Evans' apetall thunderfall is very harsh at times, and sometimes impossible to listen to. I had the album sitting on my desk for two months, every time I came to it I was stumped on how I could approach the review. The last time I put this record on I turned it off within three minutes out of disgust; now, two weeks later, I have it on repeat. Like with any noise album, give it some time, give it some space, approach it in various moods and settings and you might find that this album hits you just right.

apetall thunderfall can be purchased from Digitalis Industries at their website.