Joakim Nilsson: The first one is a reflection of life and "The Siren" is about a nightmare of Roky Erickson. They were composed at completely different periods.
"Hisingen Blues" from Hisingen Blues (2011)
Title track official video, and the cover art's pretty sweet as well...
[Cover image from open-source Flickr project Glitchbot]
Foreverything II / Astral Headspace, Vol. 6 (click to download) brings you more 30 tracks of that patented musical exploration. Once more at 2½ hours, it covers a lot of ground - with a bit more Metals than the previous installation.
Song titles, where linked, will take you to someplace you can check it out right now.
Foreverything II / Astral Headspace, Vol. 6 (2011)
1. "Shrunken Heads" - Zombi (co-#2, 2009) - Through closer, extended listening, I am warming up more and more to the new Zombi album, Escape Velocity. Available now from Relapse Records, with the preview track from Stereogum.
2. "Eos, The Dawn" - Jonas Reinhardt - Still on my to-do list, new record with awesome title Music for the Tactile Dome (2011). Mp3 from Altered Zones.
3. "Disco Party in the Castle of Love (Tonight)" - Emperor Penguin (#4, 2005) [live] - Just found a stash of a few Emperor Penguin mp3's available at Epitonic. Comedic synth/guitar duo, about which more info both before and later too.
4. "Dolemite" - Original Soundtrack Theme - Rudy Ray Moore was just the best! This mp3, weirdly enough, from Relapse Records.
5. "Mazes" - Moon Duo - I ran across this one at Altered Zones. I have no idea, but sounds pretty cool.
6. "Saturday" - Oneida - Kinda shocked there's no video or anything for this song, except the .mp3 courtesy of the very generous and excellent Jagjaguwar Records. I had an Oneida post brewing even before the new album dropped. Soon...
7. "Atlanta Brook" - Lumerians - I think the first band we saw at Austin Psych Fest. This is another file from Altered Zones (AZ). Here's a separate song from a different site...
8. "Sons of Stone" - The People's Temple - Similar to Moon Duo, I've never even heard of these people (or their temple). From Pitchfork's Playlist, and it sounds like hippies.
9. "Oars" - My Education [live] - I had heard quite a bit about My Education, but never followed up. They were really, really great opening for Maserati here. The mp3 comes through the band via their Official.fm page.
10. "Abyssal Odyssey" [edit] - Brainworlds - And the solo guitar/drone project of Maserati's newest touring guitarist, available at CoCoArt label.
11. "Up All Night" - Grails (#19, 2010) - You probably know how I dig Grails. This is a mellower, new-style tune from last year's new Black Tar Prophecies EP. Several Grails mp3's are (still) floating around at Brooklyn Vegan.
13. "The Epidural" - Gnod (co-#5, 2010) - It's from Abstehen Der Ohren & Live Birth (2007), one of a few early-days albums offered up free at their Tumbler. I think I have another Gnod post in me, with a new album en route from the U.K.
14. "Beatnik Life" - Thru Black Holes Band - It's from The Oracle of Space & Time (1992), one of many distributed freely by Aural Innovations. I continue to enjoy these albums whenever I grab a new one - still in 1992 now.
15. "Prophecy of the White Camel / Namoutarre" - Master Musicians of Bukkake (#37, 2010) - I was going to also include a Sublime Frequencies track for comparison, but didn't find any worth doing. This is not the real thing. Downloaded from A.Z. of course.
16. "13th Floor" [excerpt] - Mondo Generator - The QOTSA song "Tension Head" released by the singer's main band, at the time played by 3 Kyuss alumni (Oliveri-Homme-Bjork). Extended snippet from Southern Lord mp3 page.
17. "White Wings" - Minsk (co-#12, 2010) - Getting into the metal. I think Minsk considers themselves psychedelic metal. This one is definitely from Relapse Records.
18. "The Clearing" - Krallice (#13, Metal Next Ten 2009) - Got this from Brooklyn Vegan, because Krallice are the hipster-approved & reviewed urban melodic technical progressive Black Metal band...
19. "In Stable" - Ludicra - This is what I think of when I hear the term "Black & Roll," not sure if that is accurate though. This mp3 came from Stereogum.
20. "Devilution" - High on Fire [live] - Saw these guys a year or so back, and their raw heaviness reminds me of the mighty Motörhead. Another label sample from Relapse Records!
21. "Stack Collision with Heap" - ST 37 - ST 37 is related to My Education via one overlapping member. I've gone up and down with this band, but I've been on an upswing for awhile now. Downloaded from the Emperor Jones archives. Here's another song from that same album.
22. "WTT" - The Diamond Center [live] - Unfortunately missed them both with White Hills and at Austin Psych Fest - bad timing on my part. I did get this CD, and it's real cool. Mp3 from band's website.
23. "Serfer" - Woodsman - Lots of Woodsman mp3's grabbed from this Altered Zones band profile, in preparation for Austin Psych Fest - where they jammed it up!
24. "Swans" - Indian Jewelry - Houston. Represent!! Enigmatic but out-there band of the '00s. Check 'em out through the We Are Free label.
25. "Yellow Echoesz" - Cloudland Canyon (#30, 2010) - One of the better tracks from from last year's Fin Eaves, nabbed from this Altered Zones band profile. Too bad to be disappointed at Psych Fest live performance, but it was truly a mess...
26. "White Light" - Arp - Solo gig from a member of The Alps (#4, 2010). Mp3's available from Brooklyn Vegan.
27. "Zones without People" - Oneohtrix Point Never (#39, 2010) - This one was from The Village Voice, as far as I can tell. Don't have the complete evidence chain-of-custody documentation. Early last year, I went through OPN's trilogy collection, in case you missed that.
28. "Challenger Deep" - Zombi (#1, 2006) - Last one today from Relapse promos. Here's a massive video for another track off Surface to Air (2006).
29. "RW" [excerpt] - The Psychic Paramount - I'm leaning towards getting this one, the CD is at Sound Exchange. Mp3 promotion is doing its job!! File's from Brooklyn Vegan.
30. "Vilna" - Weidorje [full song] - Some actual Zeuhl from actual Europe from the actual '70s!! Last one today, from Altered Zones - a guest post from neo-Zeuhlers Ga'an.
Prog Archives gives their Zeuhl definition, with examples:
Zeuhl is an adjective in Kobaïan, the language written by Christian Vander, drummer and founder of the French band Magma.
Pronunciation: zEU(h)l, while the EU are like a French E with a slight U, and the (h) is a semi-silent letter which is an integrated part of the EU, totaling in a "syllable and a half".
The word means celestial, although many times it is misunderstood as meaning "celestial music", since the members of Magma describe the genre of their music as Zeuhl. Zeuhl Wortz, though, means Music of the universal might.
The genre is a mixture of musical genres like Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Modernism and Fusion. Common elements: oppressive or discipline-conveying feel, marching themes, throbbing bass, an ethereal piano or Rhodes piano, and brass instruments.
I hadn't been buying many actual Boris albums since Rainbow (#6, 2007). Just a 7" series, some live recording, and terrible collaborations (#49 of 50, 2010) - stuff like that...
Boris is notorious for being all over the place stylistically - at least on the heavy end of the spectrum. Beyond that apparently, on one of two recent simultaneous releases... But I'd always associated the previous album before Rainbow with its general shoegazing guitar-psychedelia style. So I finally picked up Pink (2005), and it's pretty significantly different. But hailed as a classic, it's worth checking out!
"Farewell" from Pink (2005)
The opener is quite similar to some material on Rainbow, and you might remember this one from the 2nd Astral .mp3 compilation. Perhaps? Ripping psychedelic drone-metal action.
"Pink" from Pink (2005)
The title track kicks off a trio of over-driven punksplosions, with somewhat diminishing returns. Through "Woman on the Screen" then "Nothing Special." They just seem to get faster and shorter... I like how Wata stands around posing in the official video until it's time for her to rip off the solo - that's funny!
"Blackout" from Pink (2005)
Here's the ascending psych spiral of tripped-out buzz that I was kind of looking for more of with this record.
"My Machine" [extended version] from Pink 2xLP (2005)
The cd version I have is just a couple of minutes long. This longer one is from the vinyl release - better! Mellow and different.
"Afterburner" from Pink (2005)
Although such a thing doesn't exist, this stoner-doom number would make a good "typical" Boris tune. The committed heaviosity of a band named after a Melvins song, the off-kilter playfulness of some Japanese underground, some metal, some drone, some pop-pyschedelic touches. Maybe a minute too long...
"Just Abondoned My-self" from Pink (2005)
Or maybe this all-hands-on-deck driving rock-out, which finishes up the album?
I am happy about Leyland Kirby's (#3 Drone/Ambient, 2009) revisiting his neglected identity as The Caretaker (#1, Drone/Ambient 2005). The higher ranking should indicate my preference for the haunted ballroom stylings of the latter.
"Bedded Deep In Long Term Memory" from An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011)
Altered Zones had this video made out of a tune on the new release, An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011). Back to manipulating early-20th century 78 rpms!! (I must admit that the looping and stereo separation treatment on that are a bit aggressive...)
"Mental Caverns Without Sunshine (edit)" [full] from An Empty Bliss... (2011)
The whole tune isn't much longer than the video edit, and the theme appears to be vinyl surface noise-plus, evocative of a fireside crackle. I'll pick out a couple more examples, but all tracks are here now.
"Tiny Gradations of Loss" from An Empty Bliss... (2011)
This one's available as an .mp3 download from a previous AZ post.
The Caretaker's program has always dealt with aspects of memory, and according to Altered Zones, this album deals "more specifically with the ability of Alzheimer's patients' to recall memories of songs from their past... There's a profound sadness in comparing the degradation of a sound source and the degradation of the mind's abilities to recall them."
"Camaraderie At Arms Length" from An Empty Bliss... (2011)
You can purchase on vinyl in the US at Forced Exposure. You can also buy digital at his label site, including the long-awaited 2xCD bonus version of 2009's Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was.
Check it out... that's NYC Taper's post today of the April 24th Grails show at The Knitting Factory. Excellent!
Seemingly 100% authorized by the artists that are taped, in NYC... My previous experiences with NYC Taper involved really high quality recordings, and sometimes limited times for downloading. So, seriously - download it now.
[Edit, 6/8: might as well insert this here:]
Their technical virtuosity never falters, and they absolutely fill the room with sound. This set drew on a range of the band’s records, not drawing too heavily from Deep Politics but still showing off its live charms, including the epic show opener, “Almost Grew My Hair.” In fact, the set was so compelling that the Knit’s sound engineer Rob - who sees an awful lot of shows in a month from behind the board - was prompted to exclaim “Wow, I sure hope you got a good recording of that. Those guys were amazing.” I have to agree...
According to KY Taper, Emil Amos told him that [unknown Track #6] in NYC was "Back to the Monastery." And I'm telling ya that [unknown Track #9] in NYC was "Origin-ing," and [unknown track #11 / encore] was "Reincarnation Blues" then "Silk Rd."
Also recently, this recent QOTSA show at Terminal 5 - March 25th. Another of the debut album shows previously mentioned here, I'm also looking forward to listening to this one.
Adult Swim loves Maserati. They make amazing instrumental pysch rock-ish jams and, like us, are based in Georgia. Their song "Pyramid of the Sun" (from their newest record of the same name) is a key jam, so we decided to make a video for it.
Maserati apparently played the Park It Place Lot in Albuquerque, NM - on April 4th. As part of Adult Swim's Rag Bag of Jollification events. (Best Coast played the Dixie Chicken's at A&M...)
"They'll No More Suffer from Hunger [live]" at Adult Swim Rag Bag of Jollification 2011 (Albuquerque, NM)
I've got quite a few album-oriented posts with a bunch of embedded videos, but nothing to say... So here.
Tom Carter rocked with The Mike Gunn (#5, 1993), then settled down folky with Charalambides (#5, 1996).
New album, All Ahead Now (2011), sounds like it's back to some rockin' out again. Root Strata calls it "metallic raga," and you can download Side A (or part) from their site.
Tom Carter Apex (???), posted in 2010 (???)
Solo, live, electric, radical!!
"Go Dig My Grave (Railroad Boy)" From the Great American Songbook (2008)
More folkishness, avant/free Americana, weirdo-beardo... From the Great American Songbook (#8, 2008), with Christian Kiefer.
And one my most early motion-based videos from the same album - I've always been real happy with this one:
"Camptown Races" From the Great American Songbook (2008)
Free Press Summer Fest this weekend, so further posting unlikely maybe...
Image courtesy of mrbungle.nl, whose Dutch language article on new Zombi album, Escape Velocity, contains links for the band, the DeLorean, Giorgio Moroder, and Jean-Michel Jarre. Plus a SoundCloud stream of the preview track, "Shrunken Heads."
Other than Anglicizing the links, can I really improve on that?!
"Shrunken Heads" from Escape Velocity (2011)
As one YouTube commenter summed it up, "oh noes its out of my narrowly confined boundaries of taste in music, therefore I can't like it!" Well, almost. I was prepared for a soft landing already - first by the Steve Moore remixes, then his solo stuff, then for sure by Miracle's Fluid Window (2011). When one Zombi and one Æthenor end up creating this, the times they are a-changing... And I bought that album!
So Zombi have moved on towards Italo disco for real. It's not like they hadn't explored even more explicitly dance-oriented music before. But I always figured that was just playing inside the club where some coke-hungry model was getting her eyes gouged out in the back alley in an obscure Dario Argento flick. And it was a B-side to a B-side! Plus the previous album had been heading to an even-more-'70s prog direction...
"Slow Oscillations" from Escape Velocity (2011)
Download component tracks of this tune for a remix competition over at Self-Titled Mag. And that's about half of the record... it's pretty short.
Anyway, I like the new album so far, and some parts of it a lot. But there were only a handful of artists that I'm into, doing what they did the best: synth-based high-grade horror soundtrack-inspired music... John Carpenter, the Italians, the art-house. That would be Zombi, Umberto (now heading into Jan Hammer territory), Giallos Flame (last seen doing the soundtrack to a fairly terrible blaxpoitation-sexploitation horror-comedy NSFW) - and that's about it.
"Time of Troubles" from Escape Velocity (2011)
That's the final track on the album and my initial favorite. Maybe it's just the calmer, more sinister pace.
The dark horse/hidden gem/sneak attack/sleeper hit might be "DE3," the longest song at about 9 minutes. It seems to be reaching for the transcendent repetition and release of Maserati, but needs some live bass guitar and more locked-groove (a la Fuchs) or baroque-intricate (typical AE Paterra) drumwork.
And since I originally started writing this, someone has finally posted that one!
"DE3" from Escape Velocity (2011)
Honestly, I could go either way. It's still early, so I'm not sure how much I will grow into this one. Or if it will slide in and out of rotation, or even drop off the radar. We'll see...
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