Friday, February 23, 2018

Music Review:
Linqua Franqa
"Model Minority"
(HHBTM)


http://hhbtm.com/item.php?item_id=649&category_id=5

Back in the 1990's when I was growing up I listened to a lot of hip-hop on cassette.   When I look back though, I notice there is a lot of women missing from the genre and in a lot of ways there still is.   Maybe the only mainstream woman in hip-hop worth noting is Nicki Minaj.   So what happens when Linqua Franqa comes out with music that not only easily distinguishes her from her peers by being the voice of the seemingly unheard but also because the music is like some of my favorite artists out there?  You're in for a real treat if you don't know about this one yet.

As much as you're going to get those stereotypical comparisons to other women in hip-hop: and I mean old school like Queen Latifah and Salt N Pepa (I literally love the episode of "Fresh Prince" with Queen Latifah on it) and they may seem valid, this has a lot other aspects to it as well, musically.   Right away I hear elements of Das Efx, Tribe and even Us3.  It's that hip-hop with soul, that bit of R&B/jazz fused into it.    It's not something you hear a lot of these days, unfortunately, and I really wish more rappers would go this route than whatever 99.9% of the radio is doing right now. 

Lyrically, I am impressed with the songs on "Model Minority" because they have a quality to them that not many other artists want to speak about.   They can talk about drugs in an illegal state but they also talk about drugs in a medicated way.   Much of the words can be fueled by mental health, such as lyrics about carving into her own wrist, thoughts of suicide, etc.   I think it's important to talk about these things because putting it out there just shows other people they're not alone and it sounds cheesy but we're all stronger together.

So you want to know what "Model Minority" means?  Is it because Linqua Franqa is a woman in a world dominated by mostly men?  Probably not because that seems to be an issue no matter what career path a woman chooses to take.  Is it because of her race?  Nah.  Is it because her music tends to be different from the stuff made by Drake and those who copy him?  I think that's part of it.   I think on the surface someone might think of Linqua Franqa as a minority because of her race or gender but really it's more about the style of music she flawlessly executes coupled with subject matter almost no one else wants to talk about these days.

Music Review:
My Name Is Rar-Rar / Xaddax
"Mr. Deer : Ripper"
(SKiN GRAFT Records)


https://skingraftrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mr-deer-ripper-cover-b-my-name-is-rar-rar

I've always been a fan of music that doesn't follow the traditional ways of doing things.   Right away, you can tell that My Name Is Rar-Rar and Xaddax are not going to be like other bands.   This album- "Mr. Deer : Ripper"- comes from SKiN GRAFT Records as both a compact disc and 7" record.   The thing is, as the 7" record you only get four songs but as a CD (or digitally) you get an entire album's worth of songs from My Name Is Rar-Rar and then the two songs from Xaddax.    My Name Is Rar-Rar is a band that used to be together in the early '00s and kind of went underappreciated.   Now they are having the majority of their songs released altogether here for the first time.   That's my understanding of it, but I'll let you read all about that yourself since you can on the Bandcamp page.   There are also two different covers- one for each artist- and I enjoy that aspect of this as well.

My Name Is Rar-Rar has this experimental, weirdo, outsider type of rock n roll sound.   At times it can remind me of more recent artists I've just reviewed such as Folie A Deux and R. Clown, but the thing of course you need to remember is that this music was created almost twenty years ago so back then... I was listening to emo and a lot of hardcore- like Victory Records and Equal Vision Records stuff, even The Militia Group.   But some time around 2005 I got to a point where I felt like new music didn't appeal as much to me and I kind of fell out of the scene.   I was in Houston, Texas at the time though, so I still got to hear a lot of great bands and I feel like My Name Is Rar-Rar could have come through at some point and played at Super Happy Fun Land, especially during their SXSW Overflow Fest.

This music is energetic.   It's somewhat punk, maybe art punk, and then it spazzes out just as well.  There are bits of video game sounds in it.   The vocals at times can sound like Golem while at other times sound high pitched as if the tape is being sped up.   Through it all though, the one thing I keep telling myself whenever I listen to this (And I've listened to it well more than once) is that despite all of the chaos and the way this just seems to be free of traditional song structure, when it comes down to it, there is still an incredible amount of musical talent in here.   The fact that these songs can be played at this pace, these starts and stops, this rhythmic grind, with such precision is a true testament to those playing them.   Not just anyone could pull this off and people might press play on this and think it's too weird for them but the musical talent involved is astounding.

After ten songs of My Name Is Rar-Rar (which is really worth the asking price) there are two songs from Xaddax which are distinctly different.    There is a creeping rock sound on "Ripper" while "Bug March" is more of an instrumental number though there are these beeps/lasers which remind me of bugs somehow.  (But maybe bees?)   I kind of wish there was more Xaddax on here to listen to and that would be my only complaint with this release: Not enough Xaddax.   But alas, what is it they say: always leave them wanting more.

At the 13th spot there is a song called "Break (Silent Bonus Track)" and it is literally eight minutes of silence.    It's rather interesting because I sit through it all every time even though I could just as easily skip over it or delete it from the playlist of the album.   I'm not sure why I keep listening to it.   Maybe I'm hoping to find something that isn't there.   The final track is worthy of its own review, really, and this is something that you need to fully capture in both vinyl and digital forms.

Music Review:
Massicot
"Morse"
(Mascarpone Discos)



https://mascarponediscos.bandcamp.com/album/morse

From what I could find on the Massicot Bandcamp page, "Morse" was actually released back in 2015 but Mascarpone Discos released it on cassette three years later.  I'm not sure why this is but I have no problem with music being released after the fact because this album sat on Bandcamp for three years without me knowing about it and now I do.

Now that I've listened to "Morse" several times my problem is that I do not know quite how to describe the weirdo/art rock/punk sounds going on here.   It's kind of like R. Clown, who I just recently reviewed, but given this was made three years ago it's ahead of its time for sure.   It's noisy.  The first song has this certain driving rhythm and then it kicks in with distortion like the car just hits this accelerated speed and can only be seen as a blur.

The vocals of Mara Krastina should be easily compared with a band like Birthing Hips, Great Grandpa and even Delta Dart as those are my go-to artists in this realm, but Massicot just doesn't sound that similar with any of them.    So I think "What if the singer was a man?  What would this sound like then?  What if it was instrumental*? Who could I compare it with?"  The answer is, I have no comparisons.   *"Tarte" is instrumental.

How do I write about something which I don't know how to describe?  It's loud.   It's a ton of energy.   It's chaotic but precise in its delivery.   And overall, aside from being one of the single best pieces of music I've heard (and I'm now browsing the entire Massicot catalog) it is unlike anything I've ever heard before which means you, my dear reader, will likely find it even more unattainable.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Music Review:
Francisco Meirino & Bruno Duplant
"Dedans / Dehors"
(Moving Furniture Records)


https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/dedans-dehors

For some reason, I've really been into duos lately.   Granted, you could look at an artist such as I Hate You Just Kidding and not realize based on their name that they are a duo, but I've really been listening to a lot of collaborative works which tend to be Artist 1 & Artist 2 in the way that they are written.    I'm not sure whether this is a good or a bad thing, but if you read all the reviews I think we can agree it is a good thing.

This album begins with the track "Dedans".   It has a field recording sound to it, where it appears to be people talking (and I always imagine situations like this as being in a coffee shop for some reason), they're laughing and on top of that is the ding of what could be a cash register but I assume is a triangle.   There is this brief sound like snoring and then these little squeals come in before it gets a little shakey.   The door creaks and the music begins to start beeping.   It grows rather intense before coming to a complete stop and the track is not even over yet.

Dings return as do the talking in the background.   There are some sharp/harsh static parts coming through as well.   It gets into these dark swirls with an ohm feel before it really feels like we're beginning to dredge through something.  It's a cross between sifting through sand and trying to escape quicksand.   I also enjoy how the sounds made by the artists themselves seem to overlap what I can only assume is the soundtrack of that previously mentioned coffee shop.   Though, it is entirely possible they are creating these sounds in front of people talking, in a live setting, but I find that line of thinking much more depressing.

Between the two song titles that are the album title comes a song called "Interstice".   It begins with applause and then there are footsteps.   Whispering and running water leads us back to the dings of the triangle.   It gets quiet and then sounds as if water is running from a faucet, much different than the earlier sounds of water.   Bell tones and bug zappers, spoken words and squeals which make me think of broken electronics: the way a television or radio might stop working for example and create a similar sound.

"Dehors" begins with this sort of haunted synth that you would expect to hear in some old monster movie.   It has elements of video games to it as well.   Laser shots are fired.   People begin talking again as there is this certain screen that could be a bird.   The people begin laughing and it sounds as if glasses are being tapped together.   So it is back to that sort of coffee shop feel but with some kind of baby bird (dinosaur?) making sounds as well.

Slow dings are out next with what sounds like a car door being closed.    There is this quieter winding, like an old fashioned watch, and then people can briefly be heard talking but it goes through a spell of minimal sound now.    It begins ringing through in waves which sound like a car horn before it becomes almost completely quiet.   A banging and singing can be heard in the distance.    Dark pianos now bring out what sound like lawn sprinklers.   I'm still not sure what this might be other than a candid soundtrack to a neighborhood in the suburbs. 

Within the talking, scuffling, dinosaur/bird chirping and even coughing there is this background pitch that is rather high and feel like could become a cause of tinnitus.   There are other sounds in here as well, scraping for example, but this one high frequency just seems to take over everything else.    Did you ever notice how when you listen to a sound such as this, when it is high pitched, once it stops it leaves this strange sensation in your ears?   I've always found that fascinating for some reason: the sound itself being one thing, but the after affects of it being another additional aspect.

Droid type beeps and whirrs come out with what could be the gentle pluck of some string and that background talking grows louder like at an airport.   A ringing such as a timer one would use for cooking comes in next and destroys all of the other aspects of this piece.   A soft piano plays in the background of it.    You can feel that this is the curtain call as soon as you hear it and this has been an interesting look into both the human mind and society as a whole.

Friday, February 16, 2018

Music Review:
Noose Rot
"The Creeping Unknown"
(Sentient Ruin)


https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/the-creeping-unknown

I will be the first to admit that I haven't listened to a lot of music that has been along the lines of metal because I enjoyed it at one point in time and then it seemed like every band that was making so-called metal would have to add in these little melodies and singing parts to please some unknown audience.   It became difficult for me to find that straight up metal sound and, you know, there are a lot of bands out there that do exist on labels and they seem to be straight forward in their metal delivery (no emo added in) but they tend to all blend together for me.

With metal guitar notes and deep singing, almost growling, Noose Rot has this pace that is grinding.   It becomes faster at times but for the most part it maintains this brooding pace about it.    It has certain breakdowns that any true metal fans will love and even at times can remind me of old school Pantera.    It's just pounding and cannot be imitated in terms of what this sounds like.

Somewhere between Dead to Fall (that era of Victory Records) and other bands like Unearth, Noose Rot has the sound that I wish more metal bands would embrace.   It's a heavier version of Monolord in a lot of ways and I love that about it.    What I think of most when listening to these songs though is that this isn't that bullet to the head sound a lot of bands want to force upon you.   This is more of- in a visual sense- tortuing someone, inflicting that slow and painful death upon them.    Though, in no way is listening to these songs a form of suffering because I enjoy every second of it.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Music Review: Japan Suicide "Santa Sangre" (Unknown Pleasures Records)


https://hivmusic1.bandcamp.com/album/santa-sangre-post-punk-upr-080-cd

I can tell I've been listening to this Japan Suicide album for a while because of two reasons: for one thing, I've found myself singing along with these songs, which is not something that would come easy because this isn't really pop.   But another thing is that my notes still say that this has a sound where I would enjoy seeing them perform live on New Year's Eve, so I've obviously been listening to this since late last year. 

The sounds of Japan Suicide could be placed into a number of different genres, but what it is important is not what those individual genres are but what happens when they all combine at their various levels.   There is a psychedelic quality to these songs and I think it's because the fuzzy distortion seems to paint this cloud around the music-- I imagine them performing live in a cloud of fog for some reason.

At the same time, there are pieces of a band like The Cure in here but in a more modern take as well.  I'd assume that goes into something sort of -gaze category, perhaps shoegaze but perhaps a subgenre of it as well.   Maybe dreamgaze, psychgaze or darkgaze (or all three?) depending upon if those are real or not and what they mean.

In addition to that there is a metal feel to this.   Sometimes it can remind me of A Perfect CIrcle and other times it can remind me of Far.    It's not something where if you don't like metal though ("That music is too loud for me!") you'll be turned off by this because that seems to be one of the smaller influences in these songs.

What you have to realize- the amazing part of "Santa Sangre"- is that these different genres don't change from song to song.   It's like "Oh yeah, this is their heavy song and then this one is their really trippy song".   These elements are blended together and come out in all of their songs. 

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Music Review:
Sharon Gal "Delicious Fish"
(Fractal Meat Cuts)


https://fractalmeat.bandcamp.com/album/delicious-fish

"Delicious Fish" begins with a sort of chorus of vocals.   As it begins, within the first few moments, all you will hear are harmonies made by vocals.   This type of concept has always been interesting to me.   I'm not the biggest fan of a band who wants to sing all of the instruments parts (The Bobs are real! Google them) but if it can have a more subtle approach to it, such as Sharon Gal displays here, then I'm all in.   There is this almost drone tone to it, but again, it is being made entirely with the human voice and as such I think it just stands out from everything else out there.   It grows a little alien-like and that dark ohm tone can be heard in the background as well.

The vocals turn into these "who" type of sounds which fall somewhere between an ape and an owl.   (I'm writing a book now called "An Ape And An Owl"-- I've got dibs!)   This turns into a deep, hollow type of feel of drone which is no longer being made by a human voice.    It sounds like it could be coming from a cave somehow.    Perhaps that could make this a little "Planet of the Apes"-like.     The sound grows lighter, a bit more towards the glass side as the ringing increases as well.    As the piece continues it feels more and more like we are being taken into an abyss. 

The voices briefly return- though perhaps it is just one voice- before I believe the first song on Side A comes to an end.    Through whirrs and howls come sounds like crying, not sobbing because you're sad but more like a pained animal-- my mind for some reason pictures a wolf caught in one of those traps that starts as a circle and then snaps in half and closes.     Heavy breathing is also in the background of this all which just leaves me confused more than anything.     Somewhere between a pained cry and the humming of a bird, perhaps some other note, this side comes to a close leaving me wondering how there can seemingly be so many different forms of drone.

Ringing guitar (I believe guitar) notes start things off on Side B for the third and final movement.     I can hear the distortion but definitely feel it to be more of a drone guitar piece as it has that Hendrix fuzz which can be more recently related to an artist such as BBJr.    While this can change to come out in waves it mostly just sounds like one long sweet, sweet layer of feedback.     I begin to question at times whether or not all these sounds are still being made by a guitar, but it is only because I had heard the guitar earlier I believe that they still are.

As this song goes on it does get a bit darker.    It can feel relaxing but at the same haunted.    Before it reaches the end it turns from something which can generate a feeling within you into something which can mostly focus on creating images in your mind.   I'm not sure how to describe what happens with the sound exactly other than to think of it as a car racing faster and faster.   Perhaps you can even think of it as someone hitting that button to send them into hyperdrive.   It seems fitting as well because that particular sound trails off at the very end.

What Sharon Gal does on "Delicious Fish" is push.    For the first two pieces your ideas of how drone sounds and should sound will come into question.   Not only will you marvel at what Sharon Gal has created here, you will wonder why no one has really thought of this before.    At the same time, on the third and final piece, your mind will be taken to a place where it feels like it is listening to a guitar (and not just because the title is "Guitar Music") and you will begin to question that and everything you know about guitars. 









Music Review: Aaron Martin "A Room Now Empty" (Preserved Sound)


https://preservedsound.bandcamp.com/album/a-room-now-empty

For what was the first time today in years I took the bus.  I actually debated several times whether or not I wanted to go to this "job fair".   My anxieties got the better of me when it was cold and bright out and I hid under my blankets.   But I knew I needed to do this and when I checked the time and it was only 8:45 am I said let's roll, got up, showered and caught the 10:15 bus. 

It amazes me that my bus pass hadn't been used in years but was still valid.   I went down streets that were filled with everything and nothing at the same time.   The "job fair" was mostly me filling out an application, handing it to someone and them saying they'd get back to me in seven to ten days if they were interested, no promised on the spot interviews unless that counted as an interview in which case it was rather lacking.

The whole time I was on the bus and then walking to where I needed to go by foot, I was listening to "A Room Now Empty".    When I'm out walking I try to listen to jazz or hip hop to keep me motivated but this was a different sound.   Yet somehow it worked though because what I saw out there was different than before.  Plazas where stores once were are now empty, more spaces for lease than ever before.   I remember this road as being such a hotspot in my youth and now it is so desolate. 

From dark violins to even darker cellos, the music Aaron Martin crafts is not quite for the apocalypse but somewhere close to it.   It isn't that the world has come to an end, but it is very close to end times and, well, some could say that is where we are right now anyway.   I know walking through what used to be flourishing areas and now seeing them literally dying is one of the best ways for me to describe these sounds that are symphonic, cinematic.   Somehow, it just worked out all too perfectly that this would be the soundtrack I selected for this particular journey.

Music Review:
Marina Stewart
"Dawn Raised With A Gesture Of Submission"
(attenuation circuit)



This begins rather quietly, a sort of sound of papers being shuffled around and I'm listening to it through earbuds because I had a feeling that was going to be the best way to experience this one.   A sort of drone tone comes out for a moment but then disappears.   The tone returns and while there are still other sounds in the background, the glowing sound of it becomes the entire portion of this piece.   A sort of fluttering comes into the background now. 

It gets a bit more solemn and then does this jumping thing which would sound great on cassette.   Glass tones become louder now with just the hum of bass behind them, all other sound is gone.  It's uplifting, as if one is rising up to Heaven.     This continues to glow and it just has an empowering way about it.   It is peaceful, soothing and just overall feels like something you'd experience with a lot of light.   In many ways, this has the sound of light which is odd to type because light doesn't really seem to make noise.

The sounds trail out as if the song is over but then as we approach the eleven minute mark bass comes out.  Vocals- which are spoken word but seem distorted, as if manipulated to sound deeper than perhaps they actually are- also come in as there is this ringing in the background with the bass notes here and there.   I quite enjoy how it turns from a fairly set in stone version of an ambient drone piece but turns into something much different, yet still equally as compelling.

Static like a record player and lighter, more cheerful tones like a musical toy for a baby make what could be considered the third movement in this piece and that is how it ends. 

Music Review:
Marriage + Cancer
"Marriage + Cancer"
(Self Sabotage Records)


https://selfsabotagerecords.bandcamp.com/album/marriage-cancer

To begin this review, I am going to be 100% completely honest and vulnerable with you.   By my saying this, I am opening up this contract of trust between us and so I hope this is something which you do not abuse in the future.    Confession: If a press person sends me a song or album and says that it sounds like "In Utero era Nirvana" I will, 100% of the time, listen to it.   This might be because I often times find myself referencing said album in reviews, but I think it's also just because I enjoy that album so much if I could find something else resembling it I'm immediately in.

Some time ago (it feels like months) I was submitted a single for "God Is Tan" via SoundCloud and I immediately fell in love with Marriage + Cancer.    They have what does sound like "In Utero" era Nirvana but they also have this "Attack On Memory" (Cloud Nothings) sound and even could be compared to a slowed down version of one of my favorite bands who never seems to get talked about much: Garrison.
The music on this album is slow yet fast at the same time.   Screams (but you can still make out the words) come through layers of distortion and it just has this overall powerful feel to it.   If you think of punk rock as being like a machine gun because it is fast paced, then Marriage + Cancer would undoubtedly be a blowtorch.   Nothing here really comes out in notes or bit and pieces; this is sheets of noise that most people will likely tell you is "too loud". 

This is not the only self-titled album by Marriage + Cancer.   Surprisingly, they have another one [Editor's NoteDiscogs and further listening to this album makes me believe it is not the same band] on a different label and, well, I don't know how to tell them apart when writing or talking about them other than with the labels they were released on, but I guess part of that is also what makes Marriage + Cancer so great (Aside from their name and overall sound of course).   I hear pieces of "In Utero" era Nirvana in artists, but perhaps never this much.   I really just wish there was an entire movement, a genre of music if you will, which sounded like Marriage + Cancer but until that time comes I will stick with this band.

Music Review:
Davko
"Davko"
(Hair Del.)



One thing I will always be a fan of when it comes to cassettes are those who choose to use the medium to be creative.    I've had this long running idea which never actually happened for a label called Collage Cassettes and you would have a series of, say, 9 cassettes and when you put them together 3x3 they would create this picture- like a puzzle- and then when pulled apart it would still look interesting but not be whole.  It was a nice idea of everyone who had a cassette being connected in some way and, I mean, honestly, someone needs to do this (but it won't be me, sadly)

For this self-titled Davko cassette there are fifteen different handmade covers and I mean when you have an edition of 15 and the time to do so, why not?  It makes each cassette feel special, even though it should also be about the music on it, but if you were going to do an edition of 100, yeah, mass produce that artwork.  But even on 25 maybe you could manage individual artwork and I appreciate that sort of thing when it comes to cassettes-- that personal touch.   I think that's why I love cassettes so much too: they feel so personal.  You couldn't make someone a mix on a record and even when people make mixes and put them on CD or just a digital playlist they still call them "mixtapes" (Though it annoys me to no end when an artist releases a mixtape and it's digital only.  That's a playlist!)

Davko starts things off with the sounds of soft, glass tones and a saxophone.   In the distance on the third song I can hear a cell phone ringing.    Definitely some glass work which recall glass bottles ala Jay Peele and then the jazz flute comes in.   And then percussion like bongos joins and even the sax comes back into the background.   Though there are experimental elements to this, overall I would put it under some sort of jazz banner.   But it's under that free jazz/noise jazz/weird jazz type of focus which I enjoy the most lately.

At the times the bass can be grinding while the pianos keep things moving faster.   It's got a smooth flow to it now but by the end of "Military Police" it begins to sound heavy, almost approaching what could be considered metal.      And there is another reason why I like this cassette so much: it takes what you know and what you think you know about music, specifically jazz, and isn't afraid to mix it up and let you hear something infused you might not have before.   I don't know what I expected going into this cassette- I knew nothing about it- but it is great in ways which I never could have imagined.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Music Review:
Suli Hyuga
"Nicole"
(Shikuramen Garden)


https://shikuramengarden.bandcamp.com/album/nicole

Back when I spent a lot more time writing about the music from Illuminated Paths, I began to think I knew what vaporwave was.   But, you see, the idea that I have in my mind for vaporwave is made up of sounds which have audio clips and music.   It's very chopped up and served as the artist sees fit, with singing sure but usually it's sampled.   On "Nicole", Suli Hyuga takes the idea of vaporwave to a whole new level. 

What was once thought of as being sampled as an audio clip now stands out as someone actually singing on the song.  It's nothing against the electronic nature of vaporwave (I love it) but this has that more organic sound to it, as if someone was making vaporwave but rather than sampling used real elements.   This has an R&B feel to it though there are also beats.   There are big beats, but again, I'd still say this is more about soul than to think of it as hp-hop.

I've also taken note of the length of the songs as other artists- closer to the mainstream- might have made these songs and put them at four minutes long.   That's one of the things which bothers me about modern music: no one seems to know when to stop.  It's like you get this idea in your head and think it's so great you just keep it going until by the end I'm sick of hearing it.  Or as Sage Francis would say: "You know the repetitive songs that keep playing".

Aside from always leaving them wanting more, Suli Hyuga have mastered that craft of writing a song which can both tug at your heart strings with lyrics like "I don't trust nobody / not even her" just as easily as the beat can make you want to get up and move.    From a mainstream perspective this type of music seems to be all style and no substance (In the sense that if you make it, you must dress a certain way, have a certain haircut, etc.) and Suli Hyuga is bringing all of the substance-- though that isn't to discredit any of the possible style because they do manage to make this look oh so good.

Music Review: La Terre Tremble !!! "Fauxbourdon" (Mascarpone Discos)



If you do not believe in fate, in the sense that everything happens for a reason, then I must question why you are alive.    A lot of things for me are just too coincidental to be just that.   I think everything happens for a reason.    In this case, I believe that I was introduced to the music of La Terre Tremble !!! via Mascarpone Discos because their first song is called "Henri & I".   Here is an odd fact most people don't know about me: Both of my grandfathers are named Henry and both of them have kids named Henry Jr.   Think about that for a moment, let that sink in.    I'd rather not get more into this story (I was going to but decided not to) but just want to say that this song, "Henri & I" has taken on a rather special and personal meaning for me.

Through dark electronics, La Terre Tremble !!! has a sound somewhere between Blue October and Nine Inch Nails.   The songs have this vibe like "Weird Science", you know, a band from the 1980's or early 1990's even but they have a darker sense about them.   It's almost gothic and as such could be found on "The Crow" soundtrack.   I would call it dark wave if I wanted a catch-all term for it, but these songs are really so much more.    It's quite original, a variety of influences combined to form something completely new. 

"Festina lente" has a mad scientist feel to it, which makes me think this could sound like We Are Scientists but who knows.    With electronics seemingly above all else, the pianos on "Ringroad continuum" make me feel like this is a score to some great old movie.   The beat just picks up and it turns into a wild ride of a song.   "Catch 2022" has a psych folk to it while "Sannaires Novels" is just plain weird (but in a good way)   A slower, acoustic number, a bit like Pink Floyd, ends this album with the line that will get stuck in your head: "As long as we're running out of time".

Without getting into it still, this album will always remind me of something very specific and for that it will be something I always cherish.   The music is actually really above and beyond what you might expect and what you could imagine because it's hard to find anything else which sounds quite like this.   Another great cassette release from Mascarpone Discos and I am seriously tempted to buy it physically.

Music Review: Awkward Geisha "Shadows of the Shepherds: A Brief Retrospective of 2017 Works" (attenuation circuit)


https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/shadows-of-the-shepherds-a-brief-retrospective-of-2017-works

For some reason when I go to the Attenuation Circuit Bandcamp page and click the "music" tab so it shows me all the artwork for the releases with their names and titles, this one doesn't come up.   But if you search Bandcamp it comes up and is linked under the Attenuation Circuit.   I mean, I don't feel like it's something where Attenuation Circuit hid it- I'm not sure if that's possible- I feel more like it is an error on the part of Bandcamp.

A collection of songs from 2017, "Long Winter Days" kicks things off with horns, drums and a bass line.   It's got a great jazz feel to it, though I kind of disagree with the title because the days are shorter in winter time.   Still, this is that jazz improv/free jazz type of feel that I've been listening to as much as possible lately (see: Odd Jazz via Mascarpone Discos) and just want to hear as much of as I can-- any and all artists who make music like this, send them to me! 

There are also guitar riffs in the first song and it just has that sound that as soon as I put it on I know I'm going to like the rest of this album.    The second song, "Iron Lung", has this spoken word over what feels like whispers in the background and then the guitar line kicks in.   At one point it becomes just words and whispers for a while, the guitar comes and goes, and I suppose it would be a more powerful track for me perhaps if I knew what was being said, but in this instance I just think of these words being in a language which I do not comprehend as being like any other musical instrument.     As we get even closer to the end, the spoken words fade out for a bit (though they do return eventually) and this just becomes a track of whispers. 

After "Iron Lung" we're back into that jazz style which started things off.    Though "Paper Wardrobe" does have crunchy guitar chords in it while the horns play, which is a nice touch.   (And it makes me want to buy an electric guitar for some reason)  "Deep Throat" is a song with synth intervals.   Vocals come out in the background as well.    The guitar notes come through all bendy and there is this sort of background whistling as well.    At the five minute marker, the song changes and the percussion comes in with a flurry.    "Endless Day" has deeper piano notes to start and then the trumpet joins in.   "Wasabi Turkey" has more of a blues guitar riff in it now. 

The drumming on "Forest Pines" is insane and it is joined by a trumpet while a dark drone laces the background.     The drumming just becomes drilling, so heavy, and this is one of my favorite songs on here.    "Trees" has this more acoustic sound to it, which is weird and feels somewhat out of place with the rest of these songs and so in that sense it does kind of work.   This is followed by a cover of Robert Johnson's "Hellhound on my Trail" and if you still don't know who Robert Johnson is get yourself familiar with him.    Awkward Geisha definitely provides a unique version of the song and I'd expect nothing less from them.

"Tower of London" is the final of these songs.  It has this bass line and cymbals that make you think it's cool, this real hepcat type of vibe.   But then there are these primal screams and grunts in it as well, like Frankgoshit.    While this album has been a somewhat diverse collection of songs the Bandcamp page says it could be viewed as a "Greatest Hits" and I like to think of it like that because all of these songs are just that good.     This is just something that I can't recommend highly enough and feel it needs a cassette release.   Who's in?

Music Review: MOLLUSC "MOLLUSC EP" (it records)


https://itrecordsmelb.bandcamp.com/album/mollusc-ep

Within the first few seconds of listening to something I can tell if I'm going to like it or not.   I usually will listen to the entire first song (at least) even if I don't think I'm going to like it but when I pressed play on this MOLLUSC EP there was no doubt in my mind I was in love.   I just didn't know how much I would like it.   On the surface, MOLLUSC has a sound like Nine Inch Nails only not.   It's like they are this inverted form of NIN somehow, which might not make sense unless you hear these songs.

These songs can be grinding but can also make you dance.   They remind me of that one song Garbage did for the "Romeo and Juliet" soundtrack.   Since they tend to be on the darker side as well, I could just as easily see them as being part of a soundtrack such as "The Crow".   There are not a lot of comparisons in terms of other musicians simply because MOLLUSC is unlike anything I've ever heard before.

When I think of these sort of electronic/synth based beats and rhythms that you'll hear from MOLLUSC, I tend to think of something more simple.   There is usually just one or two layers of sound- a bass line or drums and then synth or guitar and maybe vocals.   These songs have multiple layers of vocals and more instruments than any other artist in this genre.  I don't want to name names, but if you think of the electronic/synth based artists you are familiar with, just think of how their music can be somewhat one dimensional (Which is *not* a bad thing) and just imagine it being more complex and you'll have an idea of what MOLLUSC is about.

A song such as "Relief" has these great synth beats that would be more than enough for a basis of a song and then on top of that there are these killer guitar riffs.   It's just that addition- that extra step that these songs go to which others don't- that makes this so special because, and I can't stress this enough, other artists which MOLLUSC could be compared only to think of the others as "simple" is still not a bad thing.   MOLLUSC is just creating a more complex version of something I already enjoy (and you likely do as well) and as such that just makes it even better.

Friday, February 9, 2018

Cassette Review:
matt luczak
"Never Concrete"


I know Matt Luczak because I've reviewed a cassette of his before, a joint venture with Lucas Brode, and I've been paying rather close attention to both of them and what they've been doing in music since "Duo".    Those two particular artists actually have this fourway thing on Orb Tapes that you should check out.    Not coincidentally, Bullshit Market has a cassette on Orb Tapes, but then Bullshit Market also has this split with Dental Work on which is a song called "Our Apologies To Matt Luczak".

Right away, "Never Concrete" begins with the squeals of a modem and screams of man.   There is this heavy static which makes it feel windy and then these sort of humming tones come into play as well.   The tones are then mixed in with the static in a certain rhythm where they start and stop.   The tones can even begin to sound like a horn of some sort.   I can't quite place what it would be because it's not quite a saxophone or a trumpet but perhaps it could be an eletronic variation of one of those.

The music takes this electronic turn into what sounds almost like an Atari game and then it also has this overall feel of pinball glitch to it as well.    This forms back into the general sounds of tones and static being manipulated in various patterns and shapes to create a unique piece of music.   It's just something that has these whirrs in it too, so at times it feels like he's just turning nobs on a radio to get the signal to come in louder or softer-- you know, that search for a strong signal.   It also kind of reminds me of how when I was a kid I used to play with the settings in my Dad's car of the bass and treble while the radio on, which I don't think anyone would appreciate.

On the flip side, it rips into harsh tones and there is sharpness.   It seems to pick up where Side A left off and then it gets quiet and I hear this single blip and it appears to end.   At this point, I think I'm listening to dead air, as the piece only returned for a few minutes and the rest of Side B is left blank.  However, when I check the movement of the cassette itself I see it has stopped.  I believe we have reached the end but when I take it out, the tape is coming out of the shell.   The tape seems to have been eaten by the tape player, so I get a pencil and pick up where I left off.



Screeching and loud static bursts take us into what sounds like being sucked into a vacuum and I'm not sure if it's the way the music is intended now or the cassette itself from what previously happened to it, but either way it makes for a cool effect and I'm just reminded as to why I prefer cassettes over other forms of music playback.   Words are spoken somewhat clearly and so I know now that the cassette itself is not being effected and what I'm hearing is intentional.

Through harsh, sharp feedback there is maniacal laughing.  These laser lightbulb sounds bring out more screaming than laughing now and it begins to remind me of Frankgoshit.   It's got this buzzing of bees quality but is just as heavily distorted and hard on my neighbors' ears (for which I'm not sorry because they're drunk and always yelling)   Beeps come out like R2D2 but also like nob twists and turns.    The buzz hums while static crackles until it seemingly gets cut off and this time the cassette did stop so it wasn't on error.


Cassette Review:
Graham Repulski
"Negative Highlight Reel"


While I'm not always sure which is the cause and which is the effect, I must admit that since I started listening to more Graham Repulski (new to me cassettes of his) I have also been finding myself listening to a lot of Matthew Sweet.   So I don't know if listening to Graham Repulski reminded me of Matthew Sweet or what the influence is exactly, but I feel like it has to be something more than mere coincidence.

This loud rock on "Negative Highlight Reel" skips around.   It has this feel of something from the MPLS scene mixed with Alkaline Trio.    Even if I've said it before, it's not been said enough: Graham Repulski has this songwriting style where he can rhyme words and it's just something that you cannot teach-- you either have it or you don't.   Side A ends with this slower, instrumental acoustic number and nothing really surprises me anymore but it is interesting that these songs aren't all with lyrics.

On the flip side there are these muted vocals which almost sound as if they're coming out of a drive-thru speaker.    There is drumming at first though, so it is a song, but then it breaks down into just the vocals which now sound more like a whale than the drive-thru.   Lots of guitar notes come out in a darker way and on the whole you could think of the second side of this as being more of the "experimental rock" side because there aren't really any traditional songs which we have heard from Graham Repulski before and know he is capable of producing.

The only word at the bottom of this Bandcamp page in terms of a "description" or "credits" (I forget what goes there exactly, it's been so long since I've uploaded anything to Bandcamp) it simply says: "Goodbye".   I hope that this does not mean this is the final release from Graham Repulski.    The way he released all of this fuzzy rock but also the odd songs you didn't know how to place is rare right now, especially when cassettes come with the music.   So I'm holding out hope that this is not the end of Graham Repulski and you should support him so this might not really be the end.


$3 //
https://grahamrepulski.bandcamp.com/album/negative-highlight-reel //








Music Review:
Rotting Sky
"Sedation
(Sentient Ruin Laboratories)



I'm beginning to learn that if you're looking for music which is so heavy it can be somewhat frightening, then Sentient Ruin Laboratories is the place to go.   Rotting Sky has this heavily distorted sound, almost so to the point that you feel like the music in submersed underneath this cloud of it.   I imagine the band as playing from the back of the stage, a large fog in front of them to give the shield, the disassociation.

Through these rhythms there are some melodies.   It's got pianos in it and that reminds me of the Phantom of the Opera but if it was performed by something heavier than Darkest Hour.    The drumming is right on as well, that needs to be noted more.    The second track is actually shorter and instrumental, while then we go into a third that is nearly twelve and a half minutes.   This goes to show you Rotting Sky is quite deliberate in the execution of their music.   It's maniacal, but perhaps the most appropriate word for it is premeditated.

Somewhere between Backstabbers Inc and something I've never heard before, Rotting Sky is definitely a dark type of metal band that is not to be taken lightly.    I suppose you could take the name "Sedation" to be an ironic title but I think it's somehow fitting.   As abrasive as these songs may seem, there is a certain calm to them, a certain lull.   It has an almost lullaby feeling to it, you know, if you were able to sleep during the carnage.

Music Review:
Lea Bertucci
"Metal Aether"
(NNA Tapes)



When I was in fifth grade my parents decided I should join the school band and I took up the alto sax.   As I got older and went into high school I graduated into the baritone sax, of which I was one of two and before that I had been one of many.   Whenever I hear someone play the sax on any piece of music these days I wish I still had mine (Though it could be in my parents attic somewhere?) and I wonder if I could still play it.  I feel like I could and I feel like I should be doing something with my unharnessed potential from my youth.  I could even just be in a jazz ensemble.

Unlike me, Lea Bertucci is living up to her potential as she continues to play the sax and I can only imagine she also played it in the school band.   How many kids who played in their school bands though continued after high school?   How many took up instruments after high school and didn't have that formal training (I think I can still read sheet music, but I could almost definitely pick up the fingering again right quick, like riding a bike)

The first track- "Patterns for Alto"- has this frantic, "Flight of the Bumblebee" feel to it, while also at times feeling like it has a hip-hop sound because I hear a little bit of that "black and yellow" (or whatever colors they are) back and forth.    The second track is slower and closer to what would be considered drone.   I am actually hesitant to call it "saxodrone" but then I already went to the Frinkiac site and made a meme for it, so here you go:



Some squeaks come through in the background and the drone of the saxophone can begin to turn into waves.   It has this almost dark jazz/blues feel.   It definitely feels as if it could come from underneath a lonely streetlight, the rest of the city asleep as garbage blows down the road.    There is a rather somber feel to it.   Not a sense of peace though, it is rather unsettling.    The sound of water brings in screeches and it has this static skipping as well.   I feel as if the saxophone is playing a sad melody while the world around it is turning into nothing, the way a television can go from a clear picture to that black and white static.  

"Sustain and Dissolve" has two different tones forming a drone to start.     This maintains a sense of waves but also can add in other tones as well to sort of throw off what you're hearing at first.     Some sharp static with waves crashing and the boom of a gong build to what sound like field recordings and a much larger amount of harsh static.    The ocean waves are really heard now, the serious tones in the background adding to the idea of perhaps a burial at sea.   A few sax notes come out at the end to round out the track.

On the final track there are tones like a church bell with a decent amount of static, even to the point where it sometimes does that electric mice thing I like to think about.   There is this background noise as if someone is talking and then clapping as if someone is trying to get the attention of somebody else.    This then turns into something sharp, like I imagine Jay Peele would do.   The church bell type of tones slowly fade us out.

Music Review:
Chen I Pitcher I Van Nort
"One History of Troy"
(attenuation circuit)


"One History of Troy" begins with clanking around like pots and pans, bottles and cans.    This turns into acoustic guitar strums with a slow whistle in the background and breeze, like some kind of old western.    This turns into a decent amount of drumming with wild strings in the background and that initial sound of tumbleweed blowing around now sounds like a stampede of cowboys on horses are riding into town.    There are also these little pieces of sound which sound like a very quickly changing radio station.

Acoustic guitar strums return and there is this rhythm within it to end out the first song, which was really quite the journey.    We are back to the acoustic guitar strums, other such strings are in place as well and it just has this deeper sound to it now as if it is being transmitted from a cave.    A pounding sense of percussion brings about the scrapes and rush of sound which is somewhere between feedback and static.    Such energetic gentle beats, such delicate guitar strings purposefully placed. 

One of the first things you will hopefully take away when first listening to this album is that some of these notes are so intricate in the sense that they have this pattern to them that feels somewhat normal.   At the same time, there are other notes (and sounds) which exist along with them and do not share the same structure; they are more a vision born of chaos.    There can be fits of what sound like bells but also could just be lead pipes banging against each other or something of a similar material.

The third song begins with people talking to each other, a secret conversation I imagine and I've always kind of wanted to sit amongst a crowd of people and hit record on an app on my phone and see what comes of it.  Is that wrong?  Is that voyeuristic nature not inside all of us?   This feedback type of ringing comes through with the words and then a somewhat harsher tone which almost sounds like a saxophone but as I read the credits on Bandcamp I think this is the clarinet.   It also has this fairly Twilight Zone feel to it and who among us has not felt like we were in that show at some point while out in society?

What I once again believe to be that clarinet pushes out notes in a somewhat harsh manner while this thunderous bass trails from the distance.    This particular song feels as if it could end here but instead comes back with these primal blasts and it builds into something that crosses the line between being in a sci-fi realm and out in the jungle, in nature.   Glass bottles are also in play here ala Jay Peele. 

With the acoustic guitar notes and strums, other strings bring way to what sounds like a dialtone and then that feedback comes back in as well.   You must recognize that these acoustic guitar notes maintain their way throughout much of this album.    It's this solemn, quiet reminder of what you otherwise might hear as being less easy on the ears.    The music is just as much sci-fi/horror movie in its delivery as it is this droning, calming ambient feel.    Some banging and scrapes come out during "Northern White Pine" and I almost feel like it has this stretching quality to it I can't put my finger on.

Acute strings come out in distant spaces.    An acoustic guitar rattles.    A slight form of jingle-jangles before this song comes to an end as well.   The last song is the longest.   There is this carnival/circus type of sound to open up this last song before the acoustic guitar comes in with the dark string drones.   There is this suspenseful aura to this song now, as the strings somewhat sneak out from within the abyss.    About five minutes into this piece it just gets really dark and grinding.    Tones then come out which feel like a piano but are likely just higher pitched on the acoustic guitar.

Frantic strings and that still rumbling in the background as if a storm is off in the distance.   It's as if everything on this album has built to this one moment and past the seven minute marker, eight minutes into it now, and it just all keeps on growing, soon to explode.    By the end it sounds as if someone is singing while voices are also talking and it just takes you to this weird place where you feel like a planet should have been destroyed but rather it's more like we just awoke from some dream.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Music Review:
JGG
"START/FINISH"
(Discos Walden)


https://discoswalden.bandcamp.com/album/start-finish


If you do not feel like you fully get the experience on "START/FINISH" after your first listen, I completely understand.  I had to listen to this a couple of times before I could figure out exactly what was going on.   Some of these songs are shorter than others and when you hear the electronics mixed with percussion you might begin to think that it is simple, minimal even, but the way these simple sounds combine can become rather complex.

At times, these songs can feel like a video game.  Other times they can feel like a soundtrack to a gypsy cab.    I'm not sure why exactly, but the song "TI" feels a lot like baseball to me.    While there can be an island feel, a calypso, there is also some distorted bass and overall, this begins to feel as if it is like a carnival only underwater.   And then it hits me.   Then I make the connection as to what this reminds me of most.

In many ways, the songs on "START/FINISH" remind me of the animated series "Spongebob Squarepants".    Now, I don't mean that in the sense that the opening theme is rowdy and sing along, but I mean more like the score of the show.    When they show the title sequence for the episode, the end credits, or even just when they go from one location to another within an episode and have that little bit of music-- that's what this JGG album reminds me of most, which is definitely not a bad thing because it brings me a feeling of both comfort and nostalgia.

Music Review:
Federico Dal Pozzo
"Untitled_SaMeK"
(attenuation circuit)


https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/untitled-samek

While this starts off rather quietly, this slow shaking begins to be heard in the way one might walk with coins in their pocket that jingle.    This maintains a sense of quiet about it where I have to turn it up louder than other pieces of music I listen to also through earbuds and, yes, it is worth noting that this best experienced through earbuds/headphones in a personal feel not played out of speakers in a broader sense.  Some short blips of feedback come through the jingling. 

This rhythm is taken on by the jingles and there are creaks and other similar sounds in the background which are intriguing.    A scraping sound or perhaps glass bottle spinning on concrete makes way for these ominous tones that make me feel like this is some sort of haunted house vibe.    The sounds all come together as we approach the ten minute mark and while they never get too sharp they do have this way about them before bringing out what sound like church bells.

It seems now as if the music is taking to a place I am unsure of; we are lost in space, lost in some void somewhere unknown.    A deep bass can be faintly felt (not heard) ringing in the background.   A lot of the familiar sounds remain in place while this synth seems to be building us up towards something, the bottle still spinning on the concrete and that bass still in the distant background. 

A tapping sound now as if a cowbell is being hit.    Another tone is in here as well which could be a bell and then the two go back and forth as we near the 17:30 mark.    It is hypnotic in a way, yet I still feel as if we are being pulled into space.    The tones become a lot louder as there are more of them, it has this chorus of bells feel to it and yet it is still not loud enough for me to turn it down.    The tones and bells all form together now which has this percussion sound to it though I'm not sure how much percussion is actually being used.

After the twenty-five minute mark some harsher sounds come through, though I'm still not lowering the volume, and it has that way about it where it feels like you're using one of those detectors to find radioactive material or ghosts.     It almost sounds like a marble rolling around inside a glass bottle and then that shaking comes back as well.   It all kind of ends where it began and somehow I feel more lost and desolate in space than ever before. 

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Music Review:
Boogie Board
"Ferric Tape Noir"



https://boogieboardchi.bandcamp.com/album/ferric-tape-noir

The first time that I listened to "Ferric Tape Noir" I think I was surprised at how short it was.   I don't mean that in a "These songs should be longer!" way, but I mean that most of the songs on here seem to cut off rather than fade out in a traditional manner.   They're long enough so that they don't feel like fragments and do feel like actual songs, but then as I listen to this and sometimes just hear a guitar chord cut off I wonder about how anyone decides how to ever end a song.  Do you end it on a solid note or do you kind of let it drone out or do you let the bass line trail off... It's not something I want to face which is why I'm probably too much of a coward to be a musician myself.

The songs of Boogie Board, as the name Boogie Board would suggest, have a feel of surf rock to them overall.   I don't think that is a coincidence.   On one hand, I do feel like once you get that name Boogie Board in your head it might plant seeds where you go "Hey, this sounds like surf", but it is totally founded here because this isn't straight out Beach Boys or "Surfin' Bird" but it has elements of those related musical components.

With drum machines there are fast paced rock and this can even resemble The White Stripes or be garage at some point as well.   Though there are not only guitars in these songs the guitar is definitely the lead as these songs are rather guitar-heavy.     Another sort of garage/rock n roll influence I could hear in here is Priests but I don't know if anyone even knows them anymore.

One of these songs has vocals but only in the way that they sound more like syllables than actual words.   By the end there is a song with closer to sounding actual lyrics.   But overall these are instrumental and as I've already stated they are guitar-heavy so that seems to do a lot of the talking that lyrics otherwise might.   So for those who are fans of the guitar based pieces of rock n roll or if you just don't feel like you hear them enough (Or if you're like me and you feel like both apply to you) then this is an album you should be cranking, but I'm also hoping to gain a new perspective on this one when the sun is shining and it is summer.

Music Review:
Meus
"Meus"
(Discos Walden)



When you first press play on this self-titled album by Meus you will hear acoustic guitar strums in an instrumental way.   This is followed by a song which is both heavily distorted, faster paced and just overall loud.   These two songs- the first two songs- really set the pace for this album as they are representing the back and forth, the give and take, which is this album.

The songs have these experimental, instrumental parts at times while other songs have vocals and are just noisy.   It's the contrast between the two which makes this album so special.   At one point, you'll hear feedback being manipulated or electronic beeps.   But then there are also songs which could be somewhat punk, somewhere along the lines of Cheap Trick or Jimmy Eat World.

Perhaps my favorite song though is called "El Agujero (Morente)" and that is because it represents in many ways both sides of this album.   It has that raucous vibe to it but also remains instrumental so it kind of shows that the vocals don't always need to be in place for this one to kick down walls.   And not just in a physical sense could I imagine Meus kicking down walls (think of The Who) but also in the sense that this music might change your perception of rock n roll which is never a bad thing.

Music Review:
AustraliA
"Tascam Love"



https://australiaband.bandcamp.com/album/tascam-love

It's funny to me that this band is called AustraliA but they are from Italy.  You might think a band would be from the same place as their name but at the same time it doesn't really impact the music so does it even matter?

The songs on "Tascam Love" are like little albums in themselves.   It has that blue album by Weezer feel to it in that sense.  It can be really fuzzy and that reminds me of something I can't quite place.   It's parts Ok Go and Kings of Leon in a commercial sense but then it reminds me of an older band that is likely forgotten such as Reacharound.    The songs can be faster like punk or slower with drum machines like bedroom pop.   At times there is even a carnival sense to it all.

"My Light Is Shining" has a definite Jim Carroll vibe to it.   When I listen to this album I just think of something I can't quite put my finger on.   Something from back when country was being fused into rock music and bands like Halfacre Gunroom existed (This was some time in the early '00's)  But the fuzzy rock n roll can still have elements of something out there right now in an indie rock sense and that makes it awesome as well.

The last song is called "A Prayer To Accept Satan As My Lord And Savior" and it has that darker, NIN sort of synth based rock to it.   This is just an example that from start to finish you never really know what to expect on "Tascam Love" but the songs are all solid and flow together well on the whole.   It's one of these rare albums where you feel like you're listening to it for a long while but it goes by in no time at all.

Music Review:
lundi
"mostla tape"
(La Souterraine)




There is this crossover sound on "Mostla Tape" that has me not sure what to describe Lundi as exactly.   On one hand, there is this slower, groove rock but it's deep and dark.   It reminds me a bit of Lou Reed's "Wild Side".    The song "Idiots Idiots" has a great bass line.   Pianos come out eventually and give a solemn feel.   There is almost this folk feel before the end is reached with waves crashing and piano chords.

For one thing, I'm not really sure what to compare what I've heard with anything else.   It starts off as this sort of mellow rock that could be appealing, it could easily draw people in so they go "Oh yeah, I like this".   But eventually it turns into something that is perhaps less universal and it might turn some people off but I feel like it's just a natural progression for the album.

This music does what all music should do in the sense that it engages the listener initially.   Whether or not you enjoy this entire album after the first few songs is up to you, but I feel like it does become a bit further out there.   I enjoy it because it's different; it's something which I cannot place.   Hopefully you enjoy the unique qualities of it as well.

Music Review:
BAD GIRL
"live 171117"
(attenuation circuit)


https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/live-171117

The first time that I listened to this piece I was walking and it was great because it has this gradual incline to it that makes you feel like you've launched into space and then somehow manage to stay there as well.

What begins with a growing space whirr synth can also be a building drone.   It reminds me of hicksoncompactgroup in a lot of ways.   It becomes wavy and then synth laser shots are being fired as we blast off into space.   There are beats and then this also gets into this space odyssey territory which reminds me a bit of David Bowie.

Louder now, these sort of vocals come breaking through the frequencies but they aren't exactly vocals so you'll have to hear them for yourself to try and see if you can tell what they are (or how you'd describe them exactly).    Robotic type of voices are more distinct though, as they can be greeted with pulsating beats and laser shots fired.

A deep drone is joined by drum machine beats.   This also has other elements forming into it, such as piano keys and something I imagine as being perhaps a xylophone.   There is an X-Files feel to it, though that one drone persists throughout this part.    The drone keys change slightly by the end, but only ever so slightly, and then they just kind of fade off into space.