The Pavilion of Dreams

Sloath

2010-05-30T14:39:00.028+02:00

Sloath are the new addition to the roster of British underground label Riot Season. This five-piece sludge metal band from Brighton was formed in the summer of 2007, and two years later went on to record their self-titled debut, that came out last week.

Title: Sloath

Label: Riot Season

Release date: May 24th 2010

Recording date: 2009

Tracklist: 1. Black Hole 11:02 2. Cane Trader 11:00 3. Please Maintain 21:59

The super-heavy and distorted sound of this epic 44-minute monster instantly reveals Sloath's major influences: the ultra-(s)low monolithic doom of Earth, the repetitive blues dirges of Sleep, and, ultimately, the heavy riffing of genre-patriarchs Black Sabbath. The album contains just three tracks. The 11-minute "Black Hole" opens the proceedings, boasting terrifying, agonized screams over an extremely decadent, endlessly repeated blues riff. And the 11-minute "Cane Trader" (check the Myspace link above for an audio stream) is a hellish stoner nightmare that features the heaviest riff on the album, which is repeated for five minutes before the track is very gradually torn down towards a complete stand-still in the closing minute. The 22-minute monolith "Please Maintain" that closes the album, starts on a very calm and melodic note, painstakingly building up tension until after nine minutes the volume and distortion levels are cranked up explosively and the track soon erupts into a full-on sonic assault and a howling guitar solo hovers over it. After seventeen minutes the storm subsides, leaving us with five more minutes of slow, desolate riffing. Although the ideas here may not be extremely original, they are flawlessly implemented, to harrowing effect.

8.2/10 (I admit, my rating is probably somewhat biased: I simply have a sweet tooth for this sort of stuff!)

Here is a clip of a live performance in Spain, september 2009.

Reactions are always very welcome!

Cop Shoot Cop

2010-04-28T15:50:00.004+02:00

Though fairly short-lived, Cop Shoot Cop's was one of the most significant sounds of their generation. It was loud, anarchic, and cynical, but most of all it was just plain ugly. They drew inspiration from early industrial bands like Throbbing Gristle and Einstürzende Neubauten, as well as New York's No Wave-scene and Australian industrial composer Foetus. The band was founded in New York by Tod Ashley, usually referred to as Tod A. (bass & vocals; with fork on the photo), Phil Puleo (drums and "metal" (he incorporated various found objectes into his drum set); in white on the photo), and David Ouimet (keyboards, samplers; not on the photo). Ashley had previously played with Jon Spencer in Shithaus, and knew Puleo from his next band, Dig Dat Hole.

Title: Headkick Facsimile

Label: Supernatural Organization

Release date: 1989

Recording date: October 1988

Tracklist: 1. Shine on Elizabeth 2:43 2. Mistake 3:43 3. Smash Retro 1:41 4. Triumphal Theme 2:47 5. Lie 2:47 6. Fire in the Hole 3:14

The trio debuted with the 12'' EP Headkick Facsimile. "Shine On Elizabeth" (video below) is dominated by Ashley's ugly bass lines and Puleo's metallic percussion, brilliantly introducing their post-industrial fury. And the same can be said for the agonizing industrial parade of "Mistake", highlighting Ashley's talent for disillusioned, spiteful vocals. "Smash Retro" is a fast-paced distorted percussive whirlwind pierced by hateful anti-hippie lyrics. On "Triumphal Theme", featuring the band name in its lyrics, Ashley's spitting vocals, Puleo's machinal drumming and Ouimet's eerie synths manage very well to intimidate the listener. The mechanical march of "Lie" steadily gains momentum, to harrowing effect. And the closer "Fire in the Hole" is another display of Puleo's innovative "metallic" drumming. A highly creative and impressive debut EP.

8.1/10

Cop Shoot Cop - "Shine On Elizabeth"

Title: Piece Man

Label: Vertical

Release date: 1989

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. Rbt. Tilton Handjob 3:29 2. Disconnected 666 2:43 3. Eggs For Rib (Speedway) 5:11

The 7'' EP Piece Man, featuring cover art sprayed with genuine pig's blood, saw the group expanded to five, adding Jack "Natz" Nantz (bass; left on the photo) and Jim "Filer" Coleman (samplers, tapes, piano; middle on the photo). "Rbt. Tilton Handjob" is bookended by samples of an exorcism, and in between are various other samples that are chaotically played over a fierce industrial march that eventually spins completely out of control. "Disconnected 666" is their first avant-gardist sample collage, of which they would make quite a few more during their career. It superposes various telephone tones, automatic messages and a scared woman on the phone, to disquieting effect. The closing "Eggs for Rib (Speedway)" is a devilish rollercoaster of sordid vocals, sinister synths, and pounding drums over an endlessly repeated bass riff (inspired by "The Girl from Ipanema").

7.1/10

Title: Consumer Revolt

Label: Circuit

Release date: 1990

Recording date: October 1989

Tracklist: 1. Low. Com. Denom. 2:21 2. She's Like A Shot 3:46 3. Waiting For The Punchline 3:46 4. Disconnected 666 2:18 5. Smash Retro! 1:42 6. Burn Your Bridges 5:01 7. Consume 1:09 8. Fire In The Hole 3:15 9. Pity The Bastard 4:11 10. Down Come The Mickey 3:26 11. Hurt Me Baby 1:46 12. System Test 2:33 13. Eggs For Rib 5:03

The band's fury was unleashed in its full glory on their proper debut album, Consumer Revolt, a brutal fresco of urban neurosis. They depicted New York at its worst, with music to match. The double bass (Natz on low-end and Ashley on high-end)/double sampler attack gave the album an even uglier sound (if possible), while their frenzy seemed to reach its zenith. On the opener "Low. Com. Denom." (video below), Ashley sounds like a rabid dog while delivering their quintessential lyrics "I'm gonna hurt you / I'm gonna hit you like a bomb". "She's Like a Shot", a serious contestant for the title "least romantic love song in music history", is propelled by sinister bass lines and disenchanted vocals, while Coleman's organ recalls the magniloquence of Foetus' industrial symphonies. "Waiting for the Punchline" is a brilliant claustrophobic nightmare that skilfully builds up great dramatic tension. Yet another masterpiece is "Burn Your Bridges", the perfect showcase for Puleo's virtuoso percussive skills. It starts with eerie drumming and ominous bass lines, and soon erupts into a rumbling horror soundtrack. The band's formidable ability to create scary atmospheres is once more on display in "Pity the Bastard", whose coda again invokes Foetus' bombastic sound. "Down Come the Mickey" is exemplary of their style throughout the album: the rhythm is for the most part completely anti-rhythmic, just as nearly all of their songs flow like crude oil. They sound like a machine in desperate need of lubricant, providing their music with an asphyxiating quality. "Consume" and "Hurt Me Baby" are a pair of thoroughly discomforting sound collages, while "System Test" is undoubtedly the most extreme piece on the album, drowning robotic vocals in a deafening vortex of percussive mayhem and distasteful sound effects. This album is a near-nauseating experience, a grotesque and repugnant deconstruction of musical conventions, holding up a mirror for mankind to glance at its hideous, deformed face. ["Smash Retro" and "Fire in the Hole" were previously released on Headkick Facsimile; "Disconnected 666" and "Eggs for Rib" were previously released on Piece Man, but re-recorded for the album.]

8.9/10

Cop Shoot Cop - "Low.Com.Denom."

After the debut album, Ouimet left the band to start Motherhead Bug, but he has appeared as a guest musician on nearly all of their following recordings.

Title: White Noise

Label: Big Cat

Release date: October 1st 1991

Recording date: June 1991

Tracklist: 1. Discount Rebellion 2:23 2. Traitor / Martyr 4:43 3. Coldest Day of the Year 4:56 4. Feel Good 3:21 5. Relief 2:53 6. Empires Collapse 2:58 7. Corporate Protopop 1:19 8. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose 2:44 9. Chameleon Man 5:08 10. Where's the Money? 0:58 11. If Tommorow Ever Comes 5:24 12. Hung Again 3:10

The follow-up White Noise was a more controlled affair, though hardly less shocking. What the band lost in sheer aural terror, it gained in compositional skill. The imposing military march "Chameleon Man" and the industrial opera of "Empires Collapse" highlight C$C's ability to infuse compositional subtlety and complexity into their terrifying soundscapes to achieve maximum emotional impact. Their transgression from the uncontrolled bacchanals of their debut towards a more musical territory is well exemplified by the intricate compositions of "The Coldest Day of the Year" and "If Tomorrow Ever Comes" (video below), two of their finest creations. "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" is another highlight, coupling a scorching bass line with violent screams to set the tone for a perfect little masterpiece of terror. "Relief" is a disquieting collage of sirens and vocal samples over a machine gun rhythm. "Feel Good" is one of the fiercest tracks, with Ashley at his most hostile while the band maintains breack-neck speed throughout the track. The album also offers an alarming vision of a society ruled by mindless consumerism, mainly through the spot-on lyrics of the frantic opener "Discount Rebellion" and the brilliant commercial spoof "Corporate Protopop" (co-written by Jim "Foetus" Thirlwell, who mixed part of the album):

"Sit back! Relax! Allow yourself to believe ... Conformity is sexy and productivity rules. Decision-making can be so taxing; why not let us express your feelings? Everything has been designed for your comfort and convenience!"

- "Discount Rebellion"

"The products you buy, the programs you watch, the car you drive, your job. These are the things that define you as an individual. Without them you have no identity, no purpose, no reason to exist. Greed! Hatred! They're not just good ideas, they're the precepts this country was founded on. They will keep you right where you are. And we'd like to keep it that way!"

- "Corporate Protopop"

The album ends on a light note with the off-beat, Doors-infected coda "Hung Again". This is truly an impeccable album, not as scary as its predecessor, but more consistent and definitely a lot more musical. It is hard to tell which is the better of the two.

8.8/10

Cop Shoot Cop - "If Tomorrow Ever Comes"

Title: Suck City

Label: Interscope

Release date: 1992

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. Nowhere 4:34 2. Days Will Pass 4:00 3. We Shall Be Changed 4:57 4. Suck City (Here We Come) 2:25

The 12'' EP Suck City starts with the fast-paced frenzy of "Nowhere", nicely juxtaposed to the languid theatrics of "Days Will Pass", reminiscent of Nick Cave's apocalyptic visions. "We Shall Be Changed" is a gothic landscape of industrial sounds and eerie vocal samples that pays hommage to Ministry. The EP is closed by the short and chaotic title track. All in all, this a far cry from the standard one has come to expect from the band. For fans only.

6.2/10

Title: Ask Questions Later

Label: Interscope

Release date: March 30th 1993

Recording date: November 1992

Tracklist: 1. Surprise, Surprise 4:55 2. Room 429 5:07 3. Nowhere 4:08 4. Migration 1:23 5. Cut To The Chase 4:04 6. $10 Bill 3:42 7. Seattle 1:34 8. Furnace 4:54 9. Israeli Dig 2:06 10. Cause And Effect 3:12 11. Got No Soul 5:14 12. Everybody Loves You (When You're Dead) 2:32 13. All The Clocks Are Broken 4:17 14. Untitled 2:09

Ask Questions Later was instead a stylish continuation of the band's mission, opened in grand style by "Surprise, Surprise", a terrifying indictment of the American government that expertly builds up tension into a highly dramatic finale. The single "Room 429", on the other hand, could almost be called pop music according to their standards, featuring one of their catchiest refrains. And the same goes for the other single, "$10 Bill", that opens with an icy scream before Puleo cuts into a cool marching rhythm and the song is dressed up with a full-fledged horn section (Ouimet fronting his Motherhead Horns). But the ultimate proof that their sound is getting ever more accessible, is "Everybody Loves You", that already sounds like Ashley's much ear-friendlier next project Firewater. However, the album also features some of their trademark avantgarde detours: "Migration" sounds like a grotesque procession of mechanical jesters, "Seattle" is a rather aimless series of vocal samples, and "Israeli Dig" is a brief, ominous ambient piece. Unfortunately they are not as captivating as usual. "Cut to the Chase" is a an Eastern-tinged track featuring a lovely violin melody rising over Puleo's fast drumming. The best part of the industrial blues of "Cause and Effect" is its ending, in which it drowns itself in a chaotic whirlpool of noisy bass guitars, dramatic keyboards and percussive mayhem. Two of the stand-outs are "Furnace", propelled by a ceaseless groovy bass riff, and "Got No Soul", filled with metallic sounds, augmented by Ouimet's horn section, and dominated by a constantly repeated voice sample. These are prime examples of C$C's talent for fusing ugliness and accessibility. Somehow their compositions are so musically well conceived that, even after infusing all of their usual unpleasant sounds, they remain utterly listenable. "All the Clocks Are Broken" closes the album in style, Ashley delivering his final thoughts over a galloping gothic soundscape. Overall, Ask Questions Later is not as accomplished as their first two albums (even though it is quite similar in style to White Noise), the main problem being that the material is just not as strong and intriguing. But nevertheless, it still makes for an imposing work of art. ["Nowhere" from the Suck City EP was re-recorded for the album.]

7.9/10

Title: Release

Label: Interscope

Release date: September 13th 1994

Recording date: March 1994

Tracklist: 1. Interference 4:15 2. It Only Hurts When I Breathe 3:39 3. Last Legs 3:47 4. Two At A Time 4:03 5. Slackjaw 3:41 6. Lullaby 3:51 7. Any Day Now 3:40 8. Swimming In Circles 4:19 9. Turning Inside Out 3:52 10. Ambulance Song 4:23 11. Suckerpunch 3:39 12. The Divorce 4:18 13. Money-Drunk 3:04

Continuing the tradition of releasing ever more streamlined albums, and adding a guitarist to their line-up for the first time in their career (Steve McMillen, also on trumpet; right on the photo), Release, veered towards an even more accessible sound and by now it had surrendered quite a lot of the uncompromising power and intensity that had set them apart in the first place. Tracks like "It Only Hurts When I Breathe" and "One Of These Days" are downright catchy and tracks like "Interference" and "Two at a Time" still carry the C$C-watermark, but are nearly devoid of their customary dramatic decorations. "Slackjaw", "Swimming in Circles" and "Suckerpunch" are hardly revolutionary and would have been cut-outs on any of their previous albums. The stand-outs are elsewhere: the ominous "Last Legs", with a leading role for Ouimet on trombone, a gripping post-industrial workout featuring a martial rhythm and incendiary horn crescendoes; "Ambulance Song", one of their moodiest creations, achieves a ghostly atmosphere mainly through Puleo's percussive drumming, the guitar's eerie staccato notes and Ashley's apt lyrics: "When your heart is full of winter / and your days become like living in a lie / and the clouds outside your bedroom windowpane / resemble crippled children limping slowly 'cross the sky"; and "The Divorce" is actually just as atmospheric, even more dramatic, as Ashley tells the tragic, hopeless story of a hooker on her first day after the break-up with her pimp. Overall though, as their compositions became more and more basic and stripped bare, they also became less and less emotionally gripping. But given their pretty linear evolution towards a more mainstream sound, this was hardly a big disappointment, since it never really came as a surprise.

6.5/10

Not much later, the band called it a day, which was probably a sensible decision, since the band was slowly turning into a negation of their original aesthetic. Tod A. went on to form Firewater with David Ouimet, Jesus Lizard's guitarist Duane Denison, Soul Coughing's percussionist Yuval Gabay and Laughing Hyenas' drummer Jim Kimball. The rest of the band formed the Red Expendables to finish some songs that were still on the shelf. Jim Coleman also had a career in industrial ambience with his one-man-project Phylr.

Best albums:

1. Consumer Revolt 8.9/10

2. White Noise 8.8/10

3. Ask Questions Later 7.9/10

4. Release 6.5/10

Reactions are always very welcome!

Peter Walker

2010-03-23T11:36:00.015+01:00

Overshadowed by artists like John Fahey, Sandy Bull, and Robbie Basho, Peter Walker is one of the lesser-known instrumental folk guitarists of the 60's, though he may well have been one of the most significant. By the time he debuted, he had already studied flamenco in Spain, Indian raga with Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan on the West Coast, and had played regularly with Sandy Bull in Cambridge.

Title: Rainy Day Raga

Label: Vanguard

Release date: April 1967

Recording date: 1966

Tracklist: 1. Morning Joy 3:46 2. Norwegian Wood 4:16 3. White Wind 7:40 4. Bianca 3:07 5. Spring 2:59 6. Sunshine 3:26 7. Rainy Day Raga 6:25 8. Road to Marscota 5:47 9. April in Cambridge 3:12 10. River 5:12

Therefore, it is no wonder that Rainy Day Raga is an impeccable fusion of American primitivism, Indian raga, and flamenco. By this time, the East-West fusion was not new any more, as Sandy Bull had already composed a 20-minute folk raga back in 1963, but Walker's infusion of flamenco-style guitar picking was all his own. Aided by Monte Dunn on second acoustic guitar, Bruce Langhorne (Dylan's guitar sideman on Bringing It All Back Home) on percussion, and Jeremy Steig on flute, Walker eloquently combined gentle finger picking and passionate strumming, creating some of the most evocative instrumental guitar music on record. His style at the guitar is quite his own, effortlessly moving from tender melancholia to passionate exultation. His dynamic range is impressive: Walker's gentle carress of the strings is as subtle as you will ever hear, but he is equally proficient at playing very forcefully. "Morning Joy" is very aptly titled, with Langhorne's tambourines, Steig's flute, and Walker's gleeful strumming evoking the dawn of a beautiful day in spring. "Norwegian Wood", the sitar-infused "Bianca" and "Spring", with Steig in great form, are mesmerizingly emotive guitar ballads full of tender melancholia. And so is the 8-minute "White Wind" (video available below), that halfway through speeds up in a wonderful crescendo, gently subsiding in the final minute. Other standouts are the delightful 6-minute title track (on which one can clearly hear Langhorne's Turkish frame drum with jingling bells that inspired the lyrics for Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man") and "River", the gorgeous album closer. This is unique music, sophisticated and transcendental, capable of truly transfixing and hypnotizing the listener.

8.7/10

Peter Walker - "White Wind"

Title: Second Poem to Karmela; or, Gypsies Are Important

Label: Vanguard

Release date: 1968

Recording date: 1968

Tracklist: 1. Second Song 5:22 2. I & Thou 3:24 3. Southwind 6:34 4. Tear 3:00 5. Barefoot 5:22 6. Gypsy Song 3:47 7. Circus Day 5:24 8. Blake Street 1:20 9. Socco Chico 6:01 10. Mixture 7:42

On the follow-up, Second Poem to Karmela; or, Gypsies Are Important, Walker chose a more elaborate orchestration, employing flute, violin, sarod, coral sitar, organ, tablas, ondioline, and tamboura to accompany his acoustic guitar. The texture of the album is therefore much thicker, at times even chaotic, like in the opener "Second Song". The frivolous and colourful playing of the violin and the flute give the album a much livelier atmosphere. Unfortunately though, the album is also quite unfocused, moving haphazardly from solo flamenco workouts like "Tear" and "Blake Street", through Indian-tinged tracks like "Barefoot" and "Socco Chico", all the way to the lengthy closing avant-garde piece for organ, ondioline and violin, "Mixture". Still, this is a very decent album, but it simply lacks the emotional profundity and mysticism that exuded from his debut.

6.7/10

Walker completely disappeared from the music scene in 1970 and did not reappear until the tribute album A Raga For Peter Walker (Tompkins Square, 2006) was released, featuring contributions by contemporary guitar heroes such as Steffen Basho-Junghans, James Blackshaw and Jack Rose. Surprised by the renewed interest for his work, Walker started playing for audiences again and even released several new albums, though mostly comprised of old recordings. Here is a link to a 33-minute session he played for Dutch radio on March 30th 2009.

Reactions are always very welcome!

Shit and Shine

2010-03-04T03:03:00.026+01:00

British-American noise terrorists Shit & Shine became an underground sensation for their deafening, single-track, single-riff, live performances employing up to fifteen drummers simultaneously bludgeoning their kits in raptures of monotonous rhythm. Below is a prime example of their hypnotic noise-art, a 5-minute excerpt of their show at Corsica Studios, London in May 2008.

Title: You're Lucky to Have Friends Like Us

Label: Riot Season

Release date: April 5th 2004

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. The Trees Shall Mourn 1:26 2. Don't Look at Me Don't Leave Me 1:17 3. Recommencons 2:23 4. Spider 1:43 5. L'oubli 2:34 6. Tavern Snacks 1:43 7. Bridge of the Nose Nape of the Neck 6:26 8. I Could Make You Be a Woman 3:51 9. Calling Them In 0:56 10. A to Z of Boy Singers 3:04 11. Maybe I'm Right Maybe I'm Wrong 1:07 12. Fishermans Jumper 3:23 13. Witte Kat 2:04 14. Liberty Wallpaper 3:08 15. Life Like a Life 1:38

Their debut, You're Lucky to Have Friends Like Us, is one uncompromising mess of an album, which defines the band's aesthetic. This incoherent batch of sonic debris can hardly be called music, and none of these fifteen tracks really come close to resembling actual songs (not even half exceeding two minutes in length, and only one being longer than four minutes). Basically, they sound like a huge pile of nuclear waste radiating its ugly static in all musical directions, creating a very noisy and distorted mishmash of found sounds, demented vocal samples, and bizarre humour played over a deconstruction of various musical genres, from French chansons to boogie, and from metal to disco. No matter how unlistenable one might like to call this, it is nevertheless an impressive manifesto of non-music, like supermarket muzak gone through a meat grinder, making it too loud not to listen to. And believe it or not: it grows on you!

7.0/10

Title: Ladybird

Label: Latitudes

Release date: August 22nd 2005

Recording date: November 27th 2004

Tracklist: 1. Ladybird 41:43

Their sophomore album, Ladybird, showed the band adopting a completely different approach: the short, messy tracks of their debut were replaced by a single 42-minute monster track. All of a sudden, the band was actually making music: terrifying music. As the album insert states: "4 drummers + 2 bassists + 1 toy keyboard = 1 riff × 42 minutes = evil fun!". The album is a steaming cesspool of incessantly pounding motorik drums, a single heavily distorted bass riff, and demonic vocals, appropriately topped off by a raging torrent of radio static and white noise. It is a horrifying, extremely psychedelic fusion of minimalism, stoner-rock, and doom-metal. It is the stream of consciousness of a psychopath on a bad trip. It is the musical equivalent of a volcano on the verge of eruption, boiling hot magma on a disc. It is evil disguised as sound. It is quite simply awe-inspiring, and probably one of the greatest albums of the decade.

9.5/10

Shit and Shine - "Ladybird" (Sorry for the bad quality)

Title: Jealous of Shit and Shine

Label: Riot Season

Release date: October 23rd 2006

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. Here Come the Vikings 2:03 2. When Extreme Dogs Go Wrong 5:13 3. Unchained Ladies Shopper 3:18 4. No Darling, Its a Pentagram 4:18 5. There Are 2 Bakers Now 7:20 6. Practicing to Be a Doctor 30:33 7. Hot Vodka 2:44 8. Kitten Mask 4:26 9. Seeing Life Through a Young Mans Eyes 1:37

Jealous of Shit and Shine is a fusion of the band's first two albums. Besides several noisy shorter tracks, it contains another jaw-dropping 30-minute juggernaut (an extended cover of the Strangulated Beatoffs' song "Practicing To Be a Doctor"). The noise tracks are longer than on their debut, ranging from two, up to seven minutes. "Here Come the Vikings" is pure aural anarchy, two minutes of brutal distorted mayhem. "When Extreme Dogs Go Wrong" features indiscernible vocal samples over a steady pile-driving rhythm. "No Darling, It's a Pentagram" contains ridiculous amounts of distortion, a statement supported by its death-metal screams being hardly noticeable, and well buried under the dense cloud of monster-fuzz. "Unchained Ladies Shopper" is as aimless a track as one could ever find, combining a thoroughly uneventful rhythm, meandering guitar picking, and mumbling vocal samples. Correction, "There Are 2 Bakers Now" is probably even more aimless. One cannot help but wonder what is going on in the twisted minds of these guys. I strongly urge Top 40 music enthusiasts to stay clear of this stuff. Then it's time for the aforementioned monster track, "Practicing To Be a Doctor". The riff is probably even more brutal and distorted than that of Ladybird, though undoubtedly less dark and sinister. It is another masterpiece of tribal fury and extreme riffage, a glorious celebration (or culmination) of twenty years of noise-rock. This is what they do best. "Kitten Mask" is their take on Nintendo-core, while "Hot Vodka" is another demented noise/voice-stomp. The comic ditty of "Seeing Life Through a Young Man's Eyes" is the album's playful coda, and the closest thing here to an actual song. [The limited 2CD initial pressing contains a CD-version of the out of print debut LP You're Lucky To Have Friends Like Us, including two (short) extra tracks].

7.8/10

Title: Toilet Door Tits/The Biggest Cock in Christendom

Label: Conspiracy

Release date: November 9th 2006

Recording date: ?

Tracklist:

1. Toilet door Tits 14:49 2. The Biggest Cock in Christendom 15:48

Toilet Door Tits/The Biggest Cock in Christendom contains two 15-minute tracks. Just like Jealous of Shit and Shine, "Toilet Door Tits" is a fusion of the band's first two albums, only this time the merger is achieved within one track, simultaneously applying deafening distortion, minimalistic riff repetition, noisy electronics, indiscernible vocals and pummeling drums. It is probably the quintessential Shit and Shine track. "The Biggest Cock in Christendom" is a much more relaxed affair, radiating a distorted but laid-back rhythmic ambience, never climaxing, simply abiding instead.

7.2/10

Title: Cunts with Roses

Label: Noisestar

Release date: May 4th 2007

Recording date: August 29th 2006

Tracklist: 1. Cunts with Roses 28:09

Cunts with Roses is a spectacular 28-minute live jam. Boasting exquisite, to-the-point cover art, it is one of their most primal excursions yet. Now if I am counting right, this track is in 6/4 and it simply repeats one single bar all-the-way through (apart from a slight guitar pause in the middle, probably just to give extra attention to the multi-drum madness, like in "Practicing To Be a Doctor"). It lacks any form of subtlety, and keeps pointing its middle finger straight at you from start to finish. Fully understanding the journalistic importance of remaining relatively objective and unbiased, I nevertheless feel I am not succeeding. All hail Shit and Shine!

8.5/10

Title: Cherry

Label: Riot Season

Release date: January 28th 2008

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. Creepy Ballerina 1:08 2. Am I A Nice Guy ? 7:58 3. Honestly Don't 1:54 4. Danielle 1:44 5. Charm And Counter Charm 5:16 6. If You Knew Susie 1:12 7. Flower Petal Sword 2:11 8. Prize Winning 3:26 9. Sharlade 2:10 10. Cigarette Sequence 5:23 11. Cherry 5:02 12. Shockwave 1:18 13. High Brooms 14:52 14. The Rabbit Song 20:33

Cherry was a disappointing follow-up. Most of the tracks still qualify as non-music, but alas, they also qualify as non-interesting. "Am I a Nice Guy?" is quite an embarrassing rhythmic spoken word track, stretching out to an anti-climactic eight minutes. Tracks like"Danielle", "If You Knew Susie", "Flower Petal Sword", and "Prize Winning" inject nothing new into the formula. "Charm and Countercharm" is their languid, mutated take on disco and funk music. Fortunately the album is somewhat salvaged by the final tracks: "Cigarette Sequence" is a terrifying kammerspiel; "Cherry" evokes the Melvins with its slow, dark and morbid soundscape; the 14-minute "High Brooms" boasts an agonizing and distorted drone, and the 20-minute "The Rabbit Song" is a fairly decent yet quite disappointing continuation of the "Ladybird" tradition. This band is in desperate need of a renovation. [The CD version contains a 35-minute live DVD recorded at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, London]

5.3/10

Title: Küss Mich Meine Liebe

Label: Load

Release date: June 10th 2008

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. Biggest Cock In The Christendom 15:47 2. Taking Robe Off 1:02 3. The Germans Call It A Swimming Head 4:39 4. The Side Of The Road 3:25 5. Mr. And Mrs. Gingerbread Hawaii 1:14 6. Toilet Door Tits 14:40 7. Preventions Arise 10:38 8. Küss Mich, Meine Liebe 5:16

Küss Mich Meine Liebe reissues "Toilet Door Tits" and "The Biggest Cock in Christendom", augmented by several typical noisy S&S creations (occasionally approaching Dillinger Escape Plan-ish sonic intensity), and the 10-minute ambient spoken word track "Preventions Arise". It is nice for fans, but a reissue of the Conspiracy album would have sufficed.

Title: 229 2299: Girls Against Shit

Label: Riot Season

Release date: August 3rd 2009

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. Have You Really Thought About Your Presentation? 9:14 2. Penthouse Is A Must 3:21 3. 20 Years Of Caring For The Nations Eyes 4:14 4. USA/MEXICO 2:19 5. Yes 9 10! 3:18 6. The Cusp Of Innocence, Prettily 2:04 7. Girls Against Shit 10:15 8. Shit No! 2:40 9. Pissing On A Shed 2:17 10. Roberts Church Problems 11:24 11. I'm MAKING My LUNCH!! 1:43 12. Kolchak The Night Stalker 2:14 13. Hotel Denmark (You 3 Ass, Pussy, Blow) 4:56 14. Friseur Nelson 6:43 15. Kings Heath Shit & Shine Appreciation Society 4:47 16. People Like You...REALLY! 6:10 17. Goodbye And Good Gardening 1:48

229 2299: Girls Against Shit is highlighted by its four longest compositions: "Have You Really Thought About Your Presentation?" (a brutal piledriver of a track), "Girls Against Shit" (featuring the Practicing To Be a Doctor drum rhythm), "Roberts Church Problems" (probably the standout; the freshest, longest, loudest and most exhilarating track on the album) and "Friseur Nelson" (captivating rhythm and sinister mood). The other, shorter tracks are some of their loudest yet, though I doubt anyone will stilll believe me at the end of this article.

6.9/10

If any band could be associated with John Cage's motto "Anything can be music", Shit and Shine might well be the most deserving. They have successfully transferred the nihilistic aesthetics of the no-wave movement into the musical vocabulary of the 21st century.

Best albums:

1. Ladybird 9.5/10

2. Cunts with Roses 8.5/10

3. Jealous of Shit and Shine 7.8/10

4. Toilet Door Tits/The Biggest Cock in Christendom 7.2/10
5. You're Lucky To Have Friends Like Us 7.0/10

Reactions are always very welcome!

Morphine

2010-02-07T15:45:00.025+01:00

One of the most distinctive voices to emerge from the early 90's rock scene was Morphine, a bass/sax/drums-trio hailing from Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded by bassist/singer Mark Sandman (left), saxophonist Dana Colley (middle), and drummer Jerome Deupree. Sandman had cut his teeth in the 80s playing in David Champagne's blues-rock outfit Treat Her Right, a band that tentatively laid the foundations for Morphine's unique sound: a slick, dark and atmospheric fusion of blues, jazz and rock music whose most characteristic facet is something that is actually not there: a guitar.

Title: Good
Label: Accurate
Release date: September 8th 1992
Recording date: ?
Tracklist:
1. Good 2:36 2. The Saddest Song 2:50 3. Claire 3:07 4. Have A Lucky Day 3:24 5. You Speak My Language 3:25 6. You Look Like Rain 3:42 7. Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave 3:21 8. Lisa 0:43 9. The Only One 2:42 10. Test-Tube Baby/Shoot'm Down 3:11 11. The Other Side 3:50 12. I Know You (Part I) 2:17 13. I Know You (Part II) 2:45

Good is the powerful manifesto of their "low rock" (as the band labeled it). It is an impressive display of impeccable songwriting and cool instrumental prowess. The title track is a masterpiece of noir ambience, completely built on their trademark ingredients: Sandman's gloomy slide bass riff and sensual crooning, Deupree's simple, to-the-point drumming, and Colley's nonchalant saxophone lines. This magical combination (in particular the interplay between Sandman's bass and Colley's saxophone) would remain the basis of their artistic success throughout their career, although it would never again be at the root of each composition as much as it is here. They would never create such an atmospherically cohesive work again, fluently juxtaposing languid nonchalance (the laid-back "You Look Like Rain" and "The Only One") with dramatic tension (the fast-paced "You Speak My Language" and "Test-Tube Baby/Shoot 'm Down"). With several other masterpieces, notably the moody sermon of "Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave", the dark metaphysical tale of "The Other Side" and the atmospheric closing diptych "I Know You", the album actually has no weak points, which is a rare feat, especially for a debut.

9.5/10

Title: Cure for Pain

Label: Rykodisc

Release date: September 14th 1993

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. Dawna 0:44 2. Buena 3:19 3. I'm Free Now 3:24 4. All Wrong 3:40 5. Candy 3:14 6. A Head With Wings 3:39 7. In Spite Of Me 2:34 8. Thursday 3:26 9. Cure For Pain 3:13 10. Mary Won't You Call My Name? 2:29 11. Let's Take A Trip Together 2:59 12. Sheila 2:49 13. Miles Davis' Funeral 1:41

The follow-up Cure for Pain is a much livelier (and catchier) affair. It trades in some of the subdued mood of Good for a bigger sound, as showcased by the sprightly exuberance of "Buena", that opens the proceedings after a brief saxophone intro, and "All Wrong". Both are consummate examples of the wonderful interplay achieved between bass and saxophone. The "poppy" side of the band is on display in the mid-tempo melodies of "I'm Free Now", "Candy", and "Cure for Pain". The album is more stylistically diverse than its predecessor: the thundering single "Thursday" steals the show, but the band also finds room for the gorgeous melancholy ode to a lost lover, "In Spite of Me", the sexually laden jazz ballad "Let's Take a Trip Together", and the amazingly subtle and pensive ambience of the album's instrumental coda "Miles Davis' Funeral". The overall impact of this album might not be quite as big as their debut's "noir magic", but nevertheless it is an amazing work that is thoroughly enjoyable and might perhaps best serve as an introduction to the band's oeuvre.

8.5/10

Morphine - "Buena"

Title: Yes

Label: Rykodisc

Release date: March 21st 1995

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. Honey White 3:06 2. Scratch 3:13 3. Radar3:28 4. Whisper 3:28 5. Yes 2:01 6. All Your Way 3:02 7. Super Sex 3:53 8. I Had My Chance 3:05 9. The Jury 2:08 10. Sharks 2:22 11. Free Love 4:11 12. Gone For Good 2:55

On Yes Deupree was replaced by ex-Treat Her Right drummer Billy Conway (right on the band photo above), who had already played drums on a few tracks on their first two albums. The album gets off to a great start with "Honey White", one of their most upbeat creations, instantly fueled by Colley's ominous tremolo and followed shortly by the hyperkinetic sax theme. "Radar" and "All Your Way" are perfectly crafted songs that have that unmistakable quality to them that no other band could have created. Sandman's songwriting is no doubt one of the most distinctive and instantly recognizable in the business. "Whisper", a ballad full of sexual innuendo, and the romantic leitmotiv of "Scratch" are excellent examples of his prowess at the slide bass, and we can hear Colley agilely "sliding" along with him on the latter. On "Super Sex", one of the standouts, Sandman indulges in impressionistic, seemingly random lyrics, while Colley mildly abuses his saxophone. "The Jury" is a creepy little experiment, with its ominous bass sounds and slightly dissonant saxophone meanderings undermining Sandman's anemic recital. "I Had My Chance" is a somber song about regrets, but the gravest atmosphere is found in "Free Love", with the saxophone exploring its lower tone and upper volume registers, constantly on the verge of going out of control, and Sandman singing at his most disillusioned. The album is closed with the tender farewell song "Gone For Good". This album, especially its second half, is darker in mood, but the songwriting is definitely on par with Cure for Pain, probably even slightly more adventurous. Having delivered a masterpiece yet again it was time to start wondering whether and when Sandman's inspiration would run out.

8.5/10

Title: Like Swimming

Label: DreamWorks

Release date: March 11th 1997

Recording date: ?

Tracklist: 1. Lilah (Instrumental) 1:00 2. Potion 2:00 3. I Know You (Pt. III) 3:31 4. Early To Bed 2:57 5. Wishing Well 3:32 6. Like Swimming 4:00 7. Murder For The Money 3:34 8. French Fries With Pepper 2:53 9. Empty Box 3:54 10. Eleven O'Clock 3:19 11. Hanging On A Curtain 3:48 12. Swing It Low 3:16

The answer to that question came a little sooner than one would have liked, as Like Swimming, their first major label release, failed to live up to expectations. The class is still there, but most songs are simply not up to their standards. Some are still great though: the atmospheric instrumental intro "Lilah", the short and swinging "Potion", the excellent "I Know You, Pt. 3" (a more lively continuation of Good's final tracks), the dreamy title track and the classy trip-hoppish closer "Swing It Low" are worthy additions to their canon. However, tracks like "Early To Bed" (that contains loud poppy synths that one would much earlier expect on a Prince album), the wobbly cascading basslines of "Wishing Well" and the raucous "Murder for the Money" and "Eleven O'Clock" do little to excite the audience. Like Swimming is not a bad album, but it does feel a little redundant when compared to the previous ones.

6.3/10

Title: The Night

Label: DreamWorks

Release date: February 1st 2000

Recording date: June 1999

Tracklist: 1. The Night 4:48 2. So Many Ways 4:01 3. Souvenir 4:40 4. Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer 5:43 5. Like A Mirror 5:26 6. A Good Woman Is Hard To Find 4:14 7. Rope On Fire 5:36 8. I'm Yours, You're Mine 3:46 9. The Way We Met 2:59 10. Slow Numbers 3:58 11. Take Me With You 4:53

The Night unintentionally became their swan song, when shortly after the recording sessions Sandman (46) died of a heart attack during a live show in Italy. The album boasts a much broader array of instruments, employing cello, viola, upright bass, organ, and even oud, making it sound richer and fuller than ever. The title track, one of their greatest creations, is an intense, dreamy meditation overflowing with sadness. By the time Colley's solo kicks in, it is likely to send shivers down your spine. "So Many Ways" is a masterpiece of arrangement, rhythm, and mood, putting the spotlight on Sandman's brilliant songwriting skills. Morphine's songs never sounded this polished and complete. "Souvenir" is another one of their ghostly nightmares, nicely juxtaposed to the sprightly "Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer", a funky party track if the band ever made one. "Like a Mirror" is one of their bleakest and gloomiest songs, with Sandman nearly whispering his lyrics over a slow, rarefied percussive rhythm. An oud embellishes the seductive Middle Eastern-tinged ballad "Rope on Fire", while rumbling saxophones and a distorted bass propel "I'm Yours, You're Mine". The album is closed by the tantalizing "Slow Numbers", one of their most languid compositions, and the beautiful romantic string ballad "Take Me With You When You Go". Surprisingly, this is probably their most solid effort since their debut. The band makes each song count and as far as swan songs go, this is about as good as it gets.

9.0/10

With their fluent, sophisticated mixture of blues, jazz, and rock Morphine coined one of the most atmospheric and evocative sounds in recent memory, and have, despite Sandman's untimely death, managed to distill it into four albums of a quality that most bands never attain in their entire career. They could have done worse.

Best albums:

1. Good 9.5/10

2. The Night 9.0/10

3. Yes 8.5/10

3. Cure for Pain 8.5/10

5. Like Swimming 6.3/10

Reactions are always very welcome!

DM Stith

2010-02-01T13:28:00.013+01:00

Probably one of last year's best albums was made by David Michael Stith, a design student who quite accidentally got signed to Sufjan Stevens' Asthmatic Kitty label after designing some artwork for My Brightest Diamond. Stith seems to have inherited Andrew Bird's flair for unpredictabe yet elegant songwriting and classy arrangements, though Stith's music is undeniably less playful and more gloomy, even epic at times.

Title: Curtain Speech

Label: Asthmatic Kitty

Release date: December 9th 2008

Recording date: 2007-8

Tracklist: 1. Around The Lion Legs 3:39 2. Curtain Speech 1:39 3. Just Once 7:34 4. Hoarse Sorrows And The Whole Blind Earth... 2:48 5. Abraham's Song (Firebird) 1:49

He debuted at 28 with the EP Curtain Speech, a small batch of outtakes from the sessions that would also produce his first full-length Heavy Ghost, released three months later. These tracks are not by any means inferior to the ones on the album; they just did not quite fit on there. His unique style and his haunting, wavering falsetto voice are already on display in "Around the Lion Legs", deftly employing a choir of ethereal voices, and in the 8-minute stand-out "Just Once", which moves from a gentle gloomy guitar lullaby into an epic whirlwind of emotions in a matter of minutes. The title track is a perfect little gem, with a cloud of soaring vocals hovering over a gentle piano pattern. "Hoarse Sorrows And The Whole Blind Earth..." is another moody instrumental piece, this time featuring metallic percussion and David whistling instead of singing. The charming little aphorism "Abraham's Song (Firebird)" closes the EP on a melancholy yet hopeful note with Stith's pointillistic lyrics joined by gentle guitar strumming.

7.8/10

Title: Heavy Ghost

Label: Asthmatic Kitty

Release date: March 10th 2009

Recording date: 2007-8

Tracklist: 1. Isaac's Song 1:38 2. Pity Dance 4:21 3. Creekmouth 4:10 4. Pigs 4:53 5. Spirit Parade 2:23 6. BMB 2:43 7. Thanksgiving Moon 3:59 8. Fire Of Birds 5:13 9. Morning Glory Cloud 3:55 10. GMS 2:35 11. Braid Of Voices 5:26 12. Wig 2:34

The short "Isaac's Song" opens Heavy Ghost quite chaotically, as Stith impersonates the mad vocal genius of Pere Ubu's David Thomas while the piano and drums conjure up a storm. Having gained the listener's full attention, Stith strikes gold with "Pity Dance" (available for download here), that starts as a lovely little mariachi-tinged waltz but shifts gear into a soaring maelstrom of instruments, all brilliantly augmenting Stith's confessional lyrics. After "Creekmouth", an infectious romp of tribal drumming, glockenspiel, and overdubbed falsetto vocals, "Pigs" again showcases Stith's unique compositional style, boasting ghostly background vocals and unusual staccato guitar strumming. After a deceptively romantic beginning, "BMB" gradually turns into a dissonant avantgarde piece with piercing, Pendereckian strings. "Spirit Parade" sounds like an Indian ritual invocation or exorcism, with freaky vocals and percussion over a steady rhythm. "Thanksgiving Moon" (the earliest song here, dating back to 2005) puts the spotlight on his melodic talent, as it is one of the most straightforward songs on the album, featuring a lovely brass section that slowly emerges halfway through the song. The tender opening of "Fire of Birds" (one of the highlights) soon transforms into a galloping, exuberant celebration dance. "Morning Glory Cloud" is a simple yet sublimely beautiful song, featuring one of his most memorable melodies, before hammered piano chords and pounding drums derail it. After the atmospheric instrumental track "GMS", "Braid of Voices" brings the album to its logical conclusion, purging the emotional tension that had been built up. This is an incredibly intense and yet very sophisticated work, taking the listener on a rollercoaster through the artist's whimsical states of mind: wistfulness, despair, hope, pain and joy (among others) are all felt deeply on this recording.

8.3/10

DM Stith - "Pity dance" (Solo acoustic version)

DM Stith - "Thanksgiving moon" (Solo acoustic version)

The elegance, intensity and strange immediate appeal of Stith's atypical compositions are mesmerizing. It is refreshing to see that an artist using such orthodox instrumentation can still sound this fresh and creative.

Reactions are always very welcome!

Acid Mothers Temple

2010-01-20T14:37:00.012+01:00

Without a doubt one of the most prolific and eccentric acts of the past decade, Kawabata Makoto's Acid Mothers Temple have flooded the underground music scene with countless psychedelic freakouts (five or six releases a year are more rule than exception). In the meantime, they somehow find enough time to impress audiences around the world with their famed live shows as well. Centered around Kawabata, this multifarious "soul collective", comprised of around thirty members, is active under many guises, their most famous one, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. (standing for Underground Freak Out), being just one of their numerous incarnations. Drawing inspiration from 60's psychedelia, Krautrock, 70's hard rock and trippy progressive acts like Daevid Allen's Gong (alluding to historic underground acts in practically each of their song titles), the AMT have coined a unique synthesis of all of these styles over the years, and their oeuvre has become a veritable encyclopedia of underground rock music.

Title: Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O.
Label: PSF
Release date: 1997
Recording date: June 1996-April 1997
Tracklist:
1. Acid Mothers Prayer 0:28 2. Speed Guru 18:09 3. From the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. I 2:08 4. The Top Head Pixies 1:06 5. Zen Feedbacker 2:31 6. Coloradoughnut 2:52 7. From the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. II 2:57 8. Amphetamine a Go Go 5:13 9. Pink Lady Lemonade 8:22 10. Satori LSD 6:09 11. Hawaiian Brownie 1:14 12. Acid Mothers Temple for All! 1:58

They debuted with Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. (PSF, 1997 [recorded June 1996-April 1997]), whose centerpiece is the 18-minute "Speed Guru", the ultimate manifesto of their psychedelic madness. It is a jaw-dropping rollercoaster at light speed featuring ceaseless, frantic drumming, deafening synth noises and a wildly distorted howling guitar. "Amphetamine A Go Go" starts as a very loud blues-rocker, featuring a wild guitar solo, but the guitar and drums end up being completely overpowered by Higashi Hiroshi's highly distorted synthesizers and other assorted electronic mayhem. "Pink Lady Lemonade", which would become one of their trademark songs (sometimes stretched to over an hour during live shows, but featured here in a compact 8-minute version), is instead a very calm and mellow track, a welcome little peace and quiet amid the deluge of sound. "Satori LSD" ups the ante on the term "loud", employing ridiculous amounts of distortion, quite comically juxtaposed to the "swinging" rhythm that the band is playing underneath the thick cloud of noise. Many of the shorter tracks on the album (only four of twelve exceed the 3-minute mark) are trippy recitals accompanied by strange psychedelic noises. The closing "Acid Mothers Temple For All!" is (quite aptly, one would almost say) two minutes of uncomfortable, piercing high-frequency noise.
7.3/10

Title: Pataphisical Freak Out MU!!
Label: PSF
Release date: 1999
Recording date: September 1998-January 1999
Tracklist:
1. Cosmic Audrey / Acid Takion 11:31 2. White Summer of Love / Third Eye of the Whole World 5:52 3. Golden Bat Blues Dead / Mr. Hardy Guidey Man / Magic Aum LSD / Astrological Overdrive 16:12 4. Right About Rainbow I / You're My Only Super Sunshine / Right About Rainbow II 8:49 5. Blue Velvet Blues 25:41

Their second album, Pataphisical Freak Out MU!!, opens with three minutes of a French female voice on "Cosmic Audrey", after which "Acid Takion" takes the listener on a wild 9-minute ride of Hendrix-ian guitar acrobatics. "White Summer of Love" is a much gentler piece of acoustic, folkish psychedelia, followed by "Third Eye of the Whole World", probably one of the most straightforward poppy songs in their entire repertoire. "Golden Bat Blues Dead" is instead a very slow blues featuring dissonant, rather aimless guitar rambling by Kawabata, followed by the brief hurdy-gurdy song "Mr. Hardy Guidey Man", the short, obligatory voice/noise-piece "Magic Aum LSD", and the offbeat acid-pop of "Astrological Overdrive" (all packed into a single track). Bookended by the brief acoustic recitals of "Right About Rainbow I & II", the 7-minute "You're My Only Super Sunshine" is a very noisy guitar workout, and probably the piece that comes closest to reviving the full-on mayhem of the debut's heaviest moments. The closing 25-minute "Blue Velvet Blues" is a tormented, nocturnal blues that, without the agonizing distorted guitar wails, would have probably fit neatly on a Bohren & Der Club of Gore album.
6.9/10

Title: Troubadours from Another Heavenly World
Label: PSF
Release date: 2000
Recording date: December 1999-April 2000
Tracklist:
1. Heroin Heroine's Heritage 20:59 2. She Is a Rainbow in Curved Air 5:46 3. Acid Heart Mother 32:27

The psychedelic storm had subsided even further on Troubadours from Another Heavenly World, giving way to the slow, dilated acid-rock on display in the 21-minute "Heroin Heroine's Heritage", boasting gently psychedelic guitar strumming reminiscent of Hash Jar Tempo's most subdued jams. "She is a Rainbow in Curved Air" is a tender hymn for acoustic guitar, droning violin and female vocals. The 32-minute "Acid Heart Mother" is another trippy excursion, this time featuring a more enunciated rhythm section. The piece ebbs and flows, with the guitar moving back and forth from laid-back reverberating twang to noisy distorted wailing. It ends uncharacteristically in an apocalyptic 7-minute crescendo of utter chaos.
6.6/10

Title: La Nòvia
Label: Eclipse
Release date: 2000
Recording date: May 2000
Tracklist: 1. La Nòvia 40:40

The single, 41-minute track of La Nòvia (Eclipse, 2000 [recorded May 2000]), based on a traditional Occitan folk song (the title translates as "The Bride"), opens with five minutes of buddhist chanting, before the guitar takes the stage and soon the epic leitmotiv is sounded for the first time. After the jam gathers momentum it is propelled by traditional percussion, rhythm guitar, bouzouki, violin, and assorted electronic psychedelia, all in perfect synergy, and to a truly hypnotic effect. About thirteen minutes into the piece, there is a moment of relative calm, after which the jam continues, this time with more distorted guitars, but with the same ceaseless, hypnotic rhythm. After twenty minutes, the piece is briefly transformed into a gentle lullaby for acoustic guitar, flute, and female vocals, before electric instruments and percussion reinstate the theme once again, this time building itself up in a mesmerizing crescendo, until after twenty-eight minutes the piece is slowly derailed by off-beat drumming, random guitar notes, and a fluttering flute. These are no doubt the strangest minutes of the piece, close to a free-form freakout, until the majestic theme is brought back once more for three more minutes of culminating hypnotic bliss, after which a gentle acoustic guitar coda closes the piece on a melancholy note. [The CD-reissue contains two more tracks, the short, unusually pretty "Bois-Tu de la Bière?" and the 17-minute "Bon Voyage au LSD", a spaced-out track that goes through seven minutes of cosmic ambience before it starts to pick up speed, ending in a loud and powerful crescendo.]

8.5/10

A considerably shortened 12-minute live version of "La Nòvia", recorded in Dublin 2007, is available below.

Title: New Geocentric World of Acid Mothers Temple
Label: Squealer
Release date: 2001
Recording date: ?
Tracklist:
1. Psycho Buddha 21:27 2. Space Age Ballad 4:00 3. You're Still Now Near Me Everytime 10:44 4. Universe of Romance 5:21 5. Occie Lady 8:31 6. Mellow Hollow Love 4:39 7. What Do I Want to Know (Like Heavenly Kisses Part II) 15:06

New Geocentric World of Acid Mothers Temple (Squealer, 2001 [recorded ?]), their fourth album, immediately blasts off into the ferocious 21-minute bacchanal of "Psycho Buddha", a breathless, hyperkinetic rave-up of hard-hitting drums, dizzying electronic noises, and instrumental chaos. The three shortest pieces on the album (all lasting 4-5 minutes) are moody collages of spaced-out vocals, assorted noises, and harmonium ("Space Age Ballad"), bouzouki ("Universe of Romance"), and analog synths ("Mellow Hollow Love"). The 11-minute "You're Still Now Near Me Everytime" draws back to the languid acid-rock style employed on Troubadours. "Occie Lady" is instead a heavily distorted piece of smudgy space-rock with cosmic sound effects, and in the fifteen minutes of "What Do I Want to Know (Like Heavenly Kisses Part II)" the band concocts an imposing droning symphony of sorts, that after eight minutes finds its peace in a majestic, blissful ambience. The album is a stylistic hodgepodge; the two longest tracks are great contributions to their repertoire.
6.7/10

Title: Absolutely Freak Out "Zap Your Mind!"
Label: Static Caravan
Release date: February 2001
Recording date: May-July 2000
Tracklist:
1. Supernatural Infinite Space / Waikiki Easy Meat 19:09 2. Grapefruit March / Virgin U.F.O. / Let's Have A Ball / Pagan Nova 20:19 3. The Incipient Light Of The Echoes 12:15 4. Magic Aum Rock / Mercurical Megatronic Meninx 7:39 5. The Kiss That Took A Trip / Magic Aum Rock Again / Love Is Overborne / Fly High 19:25

The double album Absolutely Freak Out "Zap Your Mind!" starts with the 14-minute drone-fest of "Supernal Infinite Space", a glorious mash-up of Faust's "Krautrock" and LaMonte Young's droning symphonies. The track flows fluently into the demented space-jazz of "Waikiki Easy Meat". "Grapefluit March" is an utterly insane psychedelic march song that even Daevid Allen could not have concocted; and "Let's Have a Ball" is its wild, screeching counterpart, preceded by the female vocal recital of "Virgin U.F.O.". The 10-minute "Pagan Nova" boasts distant meandering guitar lines over the usual psychedelic sound effects, the track becoming louder and more distorted each minute, until the deafening ending that sounds somewhat like a runaway concrete saw. "The Incipient Light of the Echoes" is their version of Steve Reich's and Terry Riley's minimalism. "Magic Aum Rock" quotes the Trashmen's masterpiece "Surfin' Bird" before launching into a full-on assault of very loud space-rock. "Mercurial Megatronic Meminx" is one of their many voice/noise-collages, as is the 6-minute "The Kiss That Took a Trip", though this time one of the Gong-variety. The 4-minute "Love is Overborne" slowly floods a lonely mellow guitar with a multitude of electronic effects. The piece leads fluently into the gentle 8-minute closer "Fly High", an eastern-tinged lullaby with a droning tambura accompanying Cotton Casino's vocals. [The CD-reissue adds forty-five minutes of extra tracks, including the 16-minute "Stone Stoner" and the 24-minute triptych "Children Of The Drab/Surfin' Paris-Texas/Virgin U.F.O. Feed Back"].
6.4/10

Title: 41st Century Splendid Man
Label: tUMULt
Release date: 2002
Recording date: 1997-8
Tracklist:
1. 41st Century Splendid Man 14:13 2. The Creation of the Human Race / Genesis of Humanity (Amoebea - Volcanoes - Dinosaurs - Humanity - Civilization - War - Extinction - Robots) 8:57 3. Dalai Gama 4:25

The mini-album 41st Century Splendid Man, recorded several years before its release in 2002, boasts the eerie 14-minute title track, a piece of ghostly ambience featuring metallic percussion and employing various exotic instruments (Tibetan trumpet, sitar, sarangi, etc.) outside of their usual musical surroundings. The 9-minute "The Creation of the Human Race" is a confused slab of jazz-rock culminating in a chaotic free-form freakout. On the brief "Dalai Gama", the guitar impersonates animal shrieks before the piece closes in a cloud of cosmic ambience. This album is one of their most commanding, avantgardist works. It is impressive to see Kawabata adopt new genres successfully, continually expanding the project's vast stylistic universe.

6.5/10

Title: Univers Zen ou de Zéro à Zéro
Label: Fractal
Release date: 2002
Recording date: ?
Tracklist:
1. Electric Love Machine 10:34 2. Ange Mécanique de Saturne 10:31 3. Blues Pour Bible Noire 21:40 4. Trinité Orphique 2:31 5. Soleil de Cristal et D'argent 22:26 6. God Bless AMT 3:43

Univers Zen ou de Zéro à Zéro is only their sixth official album (The others being the three PSF releases, New Geocentric World and Absolutely Freak Out), even though by this time the project already had some twenty releases to their name (all others considered by Kawabata to be "special concept releases"). It is inaugurated by "Electric Love Machine", one of their trademark ferocious space-rock excursions in the best Hawkwind tradition. The 10-minute "Ange Mécanique de Saturne" is a gorgeous lullaby initially sung by Cotton Casino's childlike soprano, but ending in seven minutes of mesmerizing acoustic guitar playing and gentle spacy electronic noises. The real treats however, are the two 22-minute juggernauts: "Blues Pour Bible Noire" and "Soleil de Cristal et Lune d'Argent". The former is a titanic slow-moving nocturnal blues dominated by two heavily distorted guitars on an anguished, hopeless odyssey for redemption. The latter starts like a medieval litany, with Cotton Casino's stately vocals intoning a ritualistic invocation, until after six minutes the track is caught in a mesmerizing 8-minute instrumental crescendo. After the smoke clears all that is left is an ominous void of bass, drums, and sparse noises until the medieval theme returns, this time with more instrumental verve. The album closes with the 4-minute a cappella freakout of "God Bless AMT", sounding like an insane version of Meredith Monk's voice experiments. Undoubtedly one of their greatest achievements, this album is an impeccable survey of AMT's encyclopedic psychedelic madness.
7.5/10

The 3CD box set Do Whatever You Want, Don't Do Whatever You Don't Want (Earworm, 2002) contains one of their greatest jams, an hour-long studio version of their classic "Pink Lady Lemonade". A somewhat shorter 31-minute live version, recorded in Dublin, 2007 is available below.

Title: Electric Heavyland
Label: Alien8
Release date: October 6th 2002
Recording date: May 2002
Tracklist:
1. Atomic Rotary Grinding God / Quicksilver Machine Head
15:43 2. Loved and Confused 17:02 3. Phantom of Galactic Magnum 18:58

Electric Heavyland, their seventh official album (though it was recorded even before their fifth; 2002 was a very productive year for the band), is aptly titled, for it contains three of the band's heaviest, most powerful excursions, all clocking in between 15-20 minutes. The outrageously loud jams by Mainliner (a band which, not surprisingly, features Kawabata too) are perhaps the closest points of reference here. They really make a noisy mess of things in the opener "Atomic Rotary Grinding God/Quicksilver Machine Head", a delirious, fast-paced maelstrom of ugly noise that after 8 minutes briefly turns into an eerie female voice collage in the vein of Tim Buckley's "Starsailor", before the mayhem continues, and soon a frantic guitar solo towers over it. "Loved and Confused" opens with one of those ultra-heavy, ultra-distorted panzer blues-riffs that defined the Mainliner-sound, before shifting into overdrive, being ripped apart by pummeling drums, agonizing guitar shrieks, and outrageous sound effects. The album is crowned by the uncontrolled bacchanal of "Phantom of Galactic Magnum", a piece overloaded with the most far-out synths and noises, rapidly spinning out of control into a delirious frenzy of deafening noise. There is no doubt that this is their most catastrophic, apocalyptic album yet, likely to leave even the most experienced listeners in a state of bewilderment.

8.0/10

Title: Iao Chant from the Cosmic Inferno
Label: Ace Fu
Release date: September 20th 2005
Recording date: March-May 2005
Tracklist: 1. OM Riff from the Cosmic Inferno 51:25

Iao Chant from the Cosmic Inferno, credited to Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno, contains only a single track, the colossal 51-minute "OM Riff from the Cosmic Inferno". The opening of the track sounds an awful lot like an upbeat version of Flying Teapot-era Gong (no wonder the liner notes give special thanks to Daevid Allen); a brilliant, hallucinogenic flight of imagination. As the quirky vocals subside, the turbulent jam stretches on with spaced-out synthesizers, incessant drumming, and a wonderfully meandering guitar. After about nineteen minutes the track moves into an eerie, surreal ambience, only to be resurrected five minutes later into a slow-moving blues, Kawabata's anguished guitar howling like a wounded animal. After half an hour, the track picks up speed again until it reaches the same locomotive speed of the opening theme. Four minutes later the track shifts gears once more when the band intones a buddhist chant before bringing back the Gong-progression, this time stretched out to an amazing 15-minute space jam (featuring terrific guitar work by Kawabata) which steadily spins out of control in the last five minutes until it finally burns out.

7.5/10

Title: Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo
Label: Ace Fu
Release date: June 19th 2007
Recording date: December 2006-January 2007
Tracklist: 1. Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo 65:15

The 65-minute colossus of Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo (Ace Fu, June 19th 2007 [recorded December 2006-January 2007]) is centered around the ancient Buddhist chant of the title. Gongs introduce the chant, sung in a monotonous trance-inducing register and with a monotonous trance-inducing rhythm for ten minutes. Then an acoustic guitar intones a mildly ominous theme, vaguely reminiscent of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, soon accompanied by Kawabata's hurdy-gurdy and glockenspiel, while the band members join in all kinds of weird vocals, barking and bawling, groaning and growling, whimpering and weeping. After seventeen minutes, the stately procession of the chant recovers, but this time the guitar is the protagonist, soloing for over eight minutes until the track shifts gears into a fast-paced ritual dance of sorts. After thirty-six minutes, the acoustic guitar returns, its gentle strumming complementing a new, more melodic chant, growing ever more psychedelic and offbeat, ten minutes later the ritual procession is once more reinstated, followed again by the acoustic guitar/hurdy-gurdy/glockenspiel theme until a delirious free-jazz frenzy appears from out of nowhere, leaving behind a cosmic void of electronic noises. To make sure we do not take them too seriously (or think that they might take themselves too seriously) the last minute is taken up by a satirical a cappella version of the chant ("La la la la la la la la, nam myo ho ren ge kyo").
6.9/10

Going through AMT's vast discography, one can't help but wonder about the masterpieces that they could have made using a less prolific recording ethos, more carefully separating the wheat from the chaff. On the other hand, perhaps it is just this immoderate, spontaneous attitude that made so many of their undertakings a success. Either way, it is amazing to see how many terrific albums they have still been able to pull off.

Best albums:

1. La Nòvia 8.5/10
2. Electric Heavyland 8.0/10
3. Univers Zen ou de Zéro à Zéro 7.5/10
3. Iao Chant from the Cosmic Inferno 7.5/10
5. Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. 7.3/10

Reactions are always very welcome!

James Blackshaw

2010-01-12T19:57:00.011+01:00

Over the past decade the great tradition of instrumental solo acoustic guitar music pioneered in the 60s by the likes of John Fahey, Sandy Bull, Peter Walker and Robbie Basho has been revived by an increasing number of artists. To name some of the booming scene's greatest recent contributors, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Pelt's Jack Rose (who died of a heart attack last month, aged 38), Six Organs of Admittance's Ben Chasny, Sun City Girls's Sir Richard Bishop, and Harris Newman have each pushed the genre into new directions. Though his career is still very young, it is hardly controversial to claim that the same goes for 28-year-old James Blackshaw, who over the past six years has built up an impressive body of work.

Title: Celeste

Label: Celebrate Psi Phenomenon

Release date: August 2004

Recording date: December 11th 2003

Tracklist: 1. Celeste, Part 1 14:44 2. Celeste, Part 2 13:45

He debuted with Celeste, a 28-minute composition for 12-string guitar, divided into two parts. It was first released in an edition of 80 CDrs on Campbell Kneale's Celebrate Psi Phenomenon label. The first part reveals a natural heir to John Fahey's metaphysical fingerpicking suites, weaving a mesmerizing lattice of fast-flowing melodies. The second part opens with four minutes of otherworldly shimmering tones and drones before delving into a solemn concluding 10-minute solo, gradually picking up pace and intensity as it moves towards its stately final moments.

8.3/10

Title: Lost Prayers and Motionless Dances

Label: Digitalis

Release date: December 2004

Recording date: October 13th 2004

Tracklist: 1. Lost Prayers and Motionless Dances 34:32

The lone 34-minute track of Lost Prayers and Motionless Dances, his second album, is a different beast altogether, employing a harmonium, whose melody gradually turns into a single droning tone, before it is joined by the guitar, unfolding a plethora of raga patterns while the harmonium retains the piece's hypnotic quality. After twenty-one minutes, the harmonium and guitar are replaced by a hissing radio, bells, a cymbal, and a floor tom, temporarily moving the piece into more avant-garde territory. The final movement reinstates the guitar and harmonium for five minutes of forceful exulted counterpoint.

7.5/10

Title: Sunshrine

Label: Digitalis

Release date: November 2005

Recording date: February 16th 2005

Tracklist: 1. Sunshrine 26:28 2. Skylark Herald's Dawn 3:21

He then returned to the style of his first album with the title track of Sunshrine, another lengthy composition for solo 12-string guitar. The 26-minute piece is opened by a multitude of cattle bells, invoking a pastoral landscape before the guitar takes over, at first employing sparse, dilated chords but soon displaying a gentle and effervescent fingerpicking technique. As the piece evolves, the mood becomes less playful and ever more meditative and brooding, until after about thirteen minutes it has transformed into a song of sorrow and existential anguish, only to find redemption several minutes later when a jubilant crescendo is intoned, taking the piece to its conclusion with the return of the cattle bells, which are this time around joined by an ominous, intensifying drone. The album is closed by the brief impressionistic vignette "Skylark Herald's Dawn".

8.0/10

Title: O True Believers

Label: Important

Release date: February 28th 2006

Recording date: September 2005

Tracklist: 1. Transient Life In Twilight 11:38 2. The Elk With Jade Eyes 18:15 3. Spiralling Skeleton Memorial 7:33 4. O True Believers 5:46

O True Believers marks a change in compositional style, as Blackshaw abandons his 30-minute juggernaut policy in favor of four medium-length compostions, ranging from six to eighteen minutes. Another novelty is found in the exotic arrangement of "The Elk with Jade Eyes", the album's longest, most rewarding composition, adding Indian tambura (a fretless sitar-like instrument tuned in a higher register) and cymbala (a type of dulcimer) to its instrumentation. In the final seven minutes of this piece, these two team up for an otherworldly psychedelic duet. The 11-minute "Transient Life in Twilight" is a pensive, slow-moving piece that occasionally gains momentum as it unfurls in a typical Fahey-ian country crescendo. The other two tracks are quite short by Blackshaw's standards, the title track probably being his most accessible yet, combining guitar and harmonium in soothing, joyful counterpoint.

6.8/10

Title: The Cloud of Unknowing

Label: Tompkins Square

Release date: June 5th 2007

Recording date: August 2006

Tracklist: 1. The Cloud Of Unknowing 10:55 2. Running To The Ghost 6:16 3. Clouds Collapse 3:56 4. The Mirror Speaks 6:31 5. Stained Glass Windows 15:03

The Cloud of Unknowing boasts two of his best compositions. The 11-minute title track opens the proceedings on a dreamy note, gently lulling the listener into oblivion with its majestic, cascading soundscape of fluttering notes. And the 15-minute closer "Stained Glass Windows" is perhaps even better, patiently laying the scene with gently climbing and declining arcs of sound, before gathering momentum and delving into a wave of continuously flowing fingerpicking patterns, eventually revealing a slow and gorgeous melancholy melody. The last five minutes are taken up by noise. The album also contains three shorter tracks: "Running to the Ghost" adds glockenspiel and violin to the equation and, despite being quite a straightforward track, its sheer contrapuntal beauty and elegance unveils that Blackshaw's music still has a lot of new directions to explore in terms of arrangement. Next up is "Clouds Collapse", a little avantgarde piece consisting of dissonant musique concrète. "The Mirror Speaks", finally, is an intense, fast-paced guitar workout, gradually coming to a halt in its final minute.

7.5/10

Title: Litany of Echoes

Label: Tompkins Square

Release date: June 17th 2008

Recording date: December 2007

Tracklist: 1. Gate Of Ivory 5:20 2. Past Has Not Passed 12:38 3. Echo And Abyss 12:10 4. Infinite Circle 5:54 5. Shroud 11:44 6. Gate Of Horn 5:21

On Litany of Echoes, Blackshaw introduces the piano into his music: the album is bookended by two nearly identical 5-minute minimalist piano tracks, revealing the influences of Steve Reich and Charlemagne Palestine. Moreover, Fran Bury's violin and viola, already briefly present on the previous album, are employed on a broader scale here (She is featured on four of the six tracks). The viola's lower register is most often used in stretched harmonics, functioning as a drone to accompany the guitar (or piano), not unlike the harmonium has been employed on Blackshaw's earlier recordings. The violin's higher register is used to create ever rising and falling arcs, a few minutes into "Past Has Not Passed", a stunning piece that later on aptly fuses the pretty melody of the 12-string with the wavering and soaring sounds of the strings. "Echo and Abyss" and "Shroud", the two solo guitar tracks, both clocking in around the 12-minute mark, are classic Blackshaw, displaying virtuoso fingerpicking, emotional depth, and moments of pure aural bliss. "Infinite Circle" is the shortest and most straightforward piece, but nevertheless abounds in beauty, well augmented by the strings.

6.8/10

Title: The Glass Bead Game

Label: Young God

Release date: May 26th 2009

Recording date: November 2008

Tracklist: 1. Cross 8:38 2. Bled 10:26 3. Fix 5:39 4. Key 6:03 5. Arc 18:49

The Glass Bead Game shows an artist continually probing new directions. The (rather uneventful) 6-minute "Fix" is veritable chamber music for piano and cello. And "Cross" (of which a shorter solo version is featured in the video below) even employs female vocals (though used in a merely instrumental way). "Bled" and "Key" are the solo guitar pieces, which sadly do more to display Blackshaw's skills than to stimulate the listener either emotionally or aesthetically. The opening of "Arc", eighteen minutes long, is reminiscent of Brian Eno's Music for Airports, employing languid, repetitive piano notes before plunging into a long dense cloud of cascading tones, as if Blackshaw were actually fingerpicking his piano. Here we can clearly hear the mindset of a guitarist transposed into piano music.

5.8/10

James Blackshaw - "Cross" (From his 2009 album The Glass Bead Game)

Having trimmed down the size of his 12-string reveries in recent years, it becomes ever clearer that the lengthy meditation is still the best vehicle for his art to truly shine. Turning his attention to new arrangements, techniques and experiments, Blackshaw sometimes seems to have forgotten how to achieve the emotional depth of outpourings such as Celeste and Sunshrine.

Title: All Is Falling
Label: Young God
Release date: August 24th 2010
Recording date: December 2009-January 2010
Tracklist: 1. Part 1 4:13 2. Part 2 5:18 3. Part 3 4:45 4. Part 4 4:30 5. Part 5 3:09 6. Part 6 2:43 7. Part 7 11:51 8. Part 8 8:19

Blackshaw returned with an ambitious 45-minute suite in eight parts, continuing his transition from humble solo-guitarist to full-fledged ensemble composer. Not only has he replaced his acoustic 12-string for an electric one, but its role in the proceedings is also less dominant, giving leeway for his chamber ensemble to truly shine. For example, on the longest track, "Part 7", Blackshaw contents himself with very basic supporting guitar work, allowing the strings to delve into a whirlpool of sonic bliss, until after eight minutes they gradually tear the piece down in ever descending scales. The 8-minute "Part 8" is a cryptic coda of reverberating guitar-feedback. This is definitely a very aesthetically pleasing work (the finale of "Part 3" actually sounds like it came straight off a Yann Tiersen soundtrack), though his quest for formal perfection in his contrapuntal fantasias tends to diminish the emotional impact.

7.0/10

Best albums:

1. Celeste 8.3/10

2. Sunshrine 8.0/10

3. Lost Prayers & Motionless Dances 7.5/10

3. The Cloud of Unknowing 7.5/10

Reactions are always very welcome!

A Music Blog

2010-01-12T16:35:00.002+01:00

Hello, and welcome to my humble little blog, a place where I intend to share with you some of my thoughts about and, particularly, reviews of music (I might occasionally review some cinema and/or literature, too). I'm not really sure where this will go, since this is my first blog, but I guess I will be writing about which albums (/films/books) or artists in general I have been listening to (/viewing/reading), especially the ones that made a big impression. My interests are quite diverse, so you can expect a broad range of artworks to be tackled.

The title of this blog is taken from Harold Budd's amazing 1976 recording, a work which exemplifies very well the devastating beauty that music is capable of. The current banner (probably subject to change) was taken from a still from Ingmar Bergman's Det Sjunde Inseglet, one of my favorite films.