Alive and kicking

Ok, I'm back in business. With a fully restored internet connection in my room. Expect lots of golden musical nuggets to be coming your way imminently. Feel free to make any requests, recommendations, (random) comments and such like. Cheers.

Sorry but I'm not dead...

You may have noticed the updates have stopped. This is basically because the useless piece of shit that is the University network has ceased to function in my room so here I am informing you all via a scummy computer in the Biosciences library. See I do care...

Anyway, I hope to be back soon with more brilliant music (or not so brilliant music, depending on your point of view). Until then sit tight. Oh I saw Alexander Tucker and Fuck Buttons last night. I actually arrived early and was queuing and talking with Alex Tucker until the venue eventually let him and his small entourage in to start sound checking. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.

Glenn Branca - The Ascension

"Glenn Branca (born October 6, 1948 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) is a highly-influential avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternate tuned guitars, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series.

Glenn Branca's compositions center around multiple guitars — four or more, heavily amplified — augmented by a rock-based rhythm section of drums and bass. In later works, the composer began adding other instruments, including mallet guitar, keyboards, and occasionally a second drummer. Branca's minimalist compositions frequently require unusual guitar tunings — more recent works have them strung with two sets of three strings tuned an octave apart. Many of downtown New York City's more notable experimental guitarists have been a part of his ensemble, including Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo of the punk rock band Sonic Youth. Branca studied performing arts at Emerson College in Boston."

AMG: "If one chooses to categorize the music on this recording as "rock," this is surely one of the greatest rock albums ever made. But there's the rub. While sporting many of the trappings of the genre — the instrumentation (electric guitars), the rhythms, the volume, and, most certainly, the attitude — there is much about The Ascension that doesn't fit comfortably into the standard definition of the term. Not only does the structure of the compositions appear to owe more to certain classical traditions, including Romanticism, than the rock song form, but Branca's overarching concern is with the pure sound produced, particularly of the overtones created by massed, "out of tune," excited strings and the ecstatic quality that sound can engender in the listener. Though his prior performing experience was with post-punk, no-wave groups like the Static and Theoretical Girls, it could be argued that the true source of much of the music here lies in the sonic experimentation of deep-drone pioneers like La Monte Young and Phil Niblock. Happily, the music is accessible enough that one can jump right in, regardless of one's direction of approach. Branca's band, unlike some of his later enormous ensembles, is relatively modest (four guitars, bass guitar, and drums), so the sound is comparatively clear and each member's contributions may be easily discerned. The chiming notes that begin "The Spectacular Commodity" are allowed to hover in the air, awash in overtones, before being subsumed into a rolling groove that picks up more and more intensity as guitar chords cascade one atop another, threatening to, but never succeeding in, toppling the whole affair. "Structure" plays with sonic torque, whipsawing between two differently stressed voicings of the same theme, pulling them back and forth like taffy. But the title track is both the consummation of the record and the surest indication of Branca's direction in later years. It begins with a marvelously dense haze of ringing guitars, feedback, and percussion, with a foreboding bassline contributing to the strong sense of disorientation. Midway through, it abruptly shifts to harsh blocks of sound over a rapid rhythm, the blocks differing in texture but played in alternating sections, smacking into each other and further heightening the tension. These disparate sounds eventually coalesce into a pure, ringing tone that, over the last minute of the piece, explodes into a spectacular cacophony, a seism of bell tones, microtonal eruptions, and near orgasmic guitar bliss. An absolutely stunning, jaw-dropping performance. Branca's music has served as a major inspiration to many alternative rock bands that surfaced in the '80s and '90s, notably Sonic Youth; both Lee Ranaldo (who plays on this recording) and Thurston Moore were regularly members of his early ensembles. The Ascension, in addition to being an utterly superb album on its own merits, uniquely invites listening from both adventurous rock fans and aficionados of experimental electronic music. For years, the vinyl release on 99 Records, with its stunning cover illustration by Robert Longo, was a highly sought-after collector's item. It was finally issued to compact disc in 1999 by New Tone." 4.5/5

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/brancaunofficial

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?feitgwkhcbm

Sounds like... Terry Riley, Luc Ferrari

Tags: Experimental, Avant-garde, No Wave, Contemporary Classical

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - I See a Darkness

"Will Oldham, a.k.a. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (born 24 December 1970 in Louisville, Kentucky), is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Prior to adopting his current moniker, he performed and recorded under various permutations of the Palace name, including Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music (1993-1997). Will Oldham is known for his "do-it-yourself punk aesthetic and blunt honesty," and his music has been likened to Americana, folk, roots, country, punk, and indie rock, although Oldham is dissatisfied with these labels: "I don’t think it’s roots music, though it’s definitely influenced by Western popular music." He has been called an "Appalachian post-punk solipsist" and is notable for "his unique voice--a fragile sort-of warble frittering around haunted melodies in the American folk or country tradition."

AMG: "Bonnie "Prince" Billy's album I See a Darkness seems to pick up where Will Oldham's 1997 album Joya left off; a more melodic style than the veteran Palace listener might be used to. Oldham definitely hasn't abandoned his foundation of mordant lyrics and minimalist arrangements, but he has built a variety of different layers that make this album an emotional and pleasurable listening experience. In "Nomadic Revery," Oldham draws upon his classic Appalachian sound; it's the kind of song that begs you to join in. Oldham has always given the kind of energy to his character's voices that most people are afraid to relate to. This is all too evident in "Death to Everyone," Oldham punches out his bitter poetry in his most somber voice. The album takes its most surprising turn on "Madeleine-Mary," a Celtic-style folk song set to a Rastafarian guitar sound. "Today I Was an Evil One" introduces a horn section that drives home his morbid words in a strangely elegant manner. The album closes with a short and rare love song called "Raining in Darling"; Oldham stretches his voice to its most impressive limits, and the number is touching and hopeful." 5/5

Myspace: www.myspace.com/princebonniebilly
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?fgqq0zdwxja

Sounds like... Smog, Songs: Ohia

Tags: Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Alt-Country

Polvo - Today's Active Lifestyles

"Polvo are an influential indie noise rock band of the 1990s from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. The band was fronted by vocalist/guitarist Ash Bowie and guitarist Dave Brylawski. Eddie Watkins played drums, and Steve Popson played bass guitar. Polvo are considered one of the key proponents of a genre which came to be known as math rock. Their sound was defined by complex and dissonant guitar harmonies and driving rhythm, complementing Bowie's cryptic, often surrealist lyrics. So unpredictable and angular was their sound that the band's guitarists were often accused of failing to play with correctly-tuned guitars. Polvo's songs and artwork frequently featured Asian/"exotic" themes and references. The band's name means "dust" in Spanish; in Spain it also is a slang word for sex."

AMG: "Never a band to follow formulaic musical styles, Polvo once again shakes things up with its twisted song structures of multiple tempos and intricate, distorted guitars. Today's Active Lifestyles goes from the raucous "Thermal Treasure," with its tangled guitars, into the meandering "Lazy Comet," with its singsong, rhyming lyrics, to the spare, melancholy "My Kimono," which features a solo by guitarist Ash Bowie. And that's just the album's first three songs! The band experiments with several ideas throughout the album, and each concept is successful. The album ranges from cascading guitar solos in "Stinger (Five Wigs)" to the straightforward "Tilebreaker" to the catchy, rolling, keyboard-punctuated "Time Isn't on My Side." Overall, it's an excellent album with many layers. You can listen to it over and over again and still catch new things going on in every song." 4/5

Myspace: www.myspace.com/polvotheband

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?8amyd3tyjm4

Sounds like... June of 44, Slint, Drive Like Jehu

Tags: Math Rock, Alternative, Experimental

Merzbow - Metamorphism

"Merzbow (メルツバウ) is an extreme experimental music project created in Tokyo, Japan in 1979 under the direction of musician Masami Akita (秋田昌美) and is recognized as being one of the earliest projects in what has become known as the 'Japanese noise scene'. Highly prolific, Merzbow has released over 300 CDs, LPs and cassettes since 1979."



AMG: "There is no need to argue: Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music. The favorite moniker of Japanese Masami Akita appears on hundreds of albums. The name comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' famous work "Merzbau," which he also called "The Cathedral of Erotic Misery." Akita's choice reflects his fondness for junk art (through Schwitters' collage method) and his fascination with ritualized eroticism, namely in the form of fetishism and bondage. All these elements constitute the Merzbow persona. Akita was born in Tokyo in 1956. He grew up with psychedelic rock and began to play the guitar in progressive rock cover bands, in particular with drummer Kiyoshi Mizutani, who would remain a frequent collaborator. After high school, Akita studied literature and visual arts in college. There he discovered free jazz and studied seriously the ideas of Dada and the surrealists (Salvador Dali remained a big influence). Akita gradually withdrew himself from the rock scene and began experimenting in his basement with broken tape recorders and feedback."



Metamorphism was limited to 1000 copies with the first 500 being packaged in a heavy duty marble box. Metamorphism is a powerfully emotional, violently painful, and strangely ambient work. Fused from deep and loud pulses, Merzbow proceeds to wrap all sorts of whistling and buzzing, some abstract guitar strumming and chaotic sheets of static and ear-splitting metallic scrapes over the carefully constructed rhythm. 3/5



Myspace: www.myspace.com/merzbow

Download: http://www.badongo.com/file/7670485


Sounds like... Masonna, Goverment Alpha


Tags: Noise, Experimental

Chapterhouse - Whirlpool

"Five rail-thin longhairs from Reading, England, Chapterhouse was first linked to the space rock likes of Spacemen 3 and Loop — the connection with the former being inextricable during the band's youngest months, thanks in part to vocal support from Sonic Boom. Early on, the two bands also shared the same management and gigged together. As the years transpired, Chapterhouse would eventually be identified as a shoegaze band, thrown in with the so-called "Scene That Celebrates Itself ". Chapterhouse could switch from bliss to dread in an instant, with steady downpours of guitars and buried vocals that were either phased into haunting drones or ecstatic rushes of melodic noise."

AMG: "Victim of a double whammy — caught in the already building backlash to the shoegazer scene at home and completely ignored in the States, as was just about anything else British — once Nevermind and Ten hit the charts Chapterhouse's album debut could have, and should have, won a bigger name for itself. At once more dance-flirting and garage-punky than most recordings by other My Bloody Valentine obsessives that emerged in the early '90s, though suffering the same underplaying in the vocal department, Whirlpool builds nicely on the three earlier EP releases with a similar sense of "what the hey — if it works, try it." As an album, it doesn't per se connect as a unified piece — the final track listing comes from a variety of recording sessions with a large number of producers and remixers, including Robin Guthrie, Stephen Hague, John Fryer, and Ralph Jezzard. As a collection of mostly killer tracks, though, this is mighty fine. "Breather" kicks it off with a rushing shudder that mixes its acoustic and electric guitars well, while "Pearl" throws in trancey beats, John Bonham samples, and some fine art-glazed feedback riffs to create as perfect a nugget of the era as any. "Falling Down" has similar heavy-groove action to it, Madchester as played by Loop. Other highlights are more strictly rocky, like the slow-build/rave-up/freak-out/repeat "Autosleeper" and "April," with a big guitar wash up and out through the length of the song. A gentler version of early track "Something More" closes the album well; the overall effect is strong promise for whatever would come next." 4/5

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Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chapterhouseinmyspace

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?1e5m0xyitov

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Sounds like... Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver, Ride

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Tags: Shoegaze