don't stop looking down

Blown-out, dream-pop, bedroom 4-track explosion. Astrobrite was shown to me really recently by a fellow extreme 90's lover. If you were wondering whether staring at your shoes and crying, or writing lyrics in the margins of your high school textbook can be extreme: yes, it totally can. So can zines, but that was before the internet, if you recall. Anyway, Astrobrite most notably contains Scott Cortez (STAR/loveliescrushing), as well as a slew of other Midwest shoegaze fixtures. Much noisier than The Swirlies or My Bloody Valentine, but in that family. Just imagine that distorted, jangly guitar-pop mating with a project like Belong. TOTALLY FUCKING ESSENTIAL!

Astrobrite - "Crasher" - from Crush (2001)*

* actually a collection of sorts from earlier 90's cassette releases

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More in the bedroom pop direction, less in the blown-out region. Jesus and Mary Chain fans, listen up. I'm not sure exactly why this band popped into my head the other day, but I nearly completely forgot about Black Tambourine. It features Archie Moore (yes, from Velocity Girl, who are worthy of their own post for sure) and Mike Sculman (co-founder of their label, Slumberland Records). Totally fantastic early 90's dream-pop. This track was originally featured as the lead single on their By Tomorrow 7" in 1991.

Black Tambourine - "By Tomorrow" -- from Complete Recordings (1999)

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Overlooked shoegaze band? Maybe the biggest example, and most unfair, is Moose. If Hut Records could spark the career of The Verve, why couldn't they land Moose some airplay?! Maybe in the UK but not in the States, unless there was a particularly awesome college station near you. Maybe the ridiculous name? The regularly awful album art? I'm not sure. Speaking of ugly album art, I was searching for a decent image for this section of the post because of that, and my search led me to All Music Guide. They seemed to sum up exactly how I feel right in one line: "not so much underrated as unheard." Totally! This was a great band that sits perfectly between Slumberland (or even Pavement, a little) and My Bloody Valentine's handful of 12"s/EPs immediately after Isn't Anything -- a series of EPs criminally overshadowed by Loveless. Also, early Yo La Tengo or Stereolab? Check out Moose. This track was originally featured on the Reprise 12" in 1991.

Moose - "Last Night I Fell in Again" -- from Sonny & Sam,
collected early EPs (1991)

blackened something or other

Black metal was founded on hatred and youthful energy. Today, it's a different story altogether: sadness, suicide, despair. Of course, there are still misanthropes out there grinding their axes in hopes of nuclear war, but it's not really the direction in which metal is progressing. Today is about the bastard, crybaby children of Burzum. Anyway. If you are into bands like Hypothermia, Frail, Ameseours, etc, then Sieghetnar is your new band. Perhaps even a little less on the metal side and closer to ambiance and atmospherics. You might also notice that there aren't any vocals. If there are, they're buried pretty damn far in the mix. Either way, it's really an excellent record and worth investigating.

CLICK

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If you, like me, tend to gravitate toward doom bands like Graves at Sea or Asunder (as opposed to Isis or something), you NEED to check this band out. Sorry for yelling, but it's true. Mournful Congregation from Australia is absolutely worth checking out. Why these guys aren't the next hype band on Southern Lord is beyond me. Definitely indebted to death metal, but this is pure, glorious doom. Cinematic without being too self-serious. Heavy, beautiful glacial doom. Probably will end up being my favorite in this genre for the year. I can feel it.

CLICK

a year and a half

Lycia is a band from Arizona that's been around since the 80's, but never gotten any real attention outside of what amount to fairly gothic circles. And as much as their appeal within that scene makes perfect sense, it is completely confusing that fans of early 4AD releases and bands like Slowdive would pass this over.

As a side note, they toured opening for Type O Negative somewhere around 1995 - 96. Take that forwhat it's worth.

Here are two different tracks.

Lycia - "Fate" -- from Ionia (1991)
Lycia - "Bare" -- from Cold (1996)

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In celebration of the recent surge in interest surrounding cold wave, minimal wave, etc, I've decided to post two fairly good tracks in that vein. It's hard to call anything in such a micro-genre classic, but if you could then these tracks would qualify.



Deux - "Ministry of Love" -- from a recent compilation entitled Agglomerat (2006)
Martin Dupont - "Bent at the Window" -- from Inedits 81 - 83 (1985)

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Hours of Worship just finished both a remix of Wildildlife's "Nervous Buzzing" -- featured on XLR8R's website -- and a dj mix as a precursor to an upcoming release on Ekleroshock this Spring. Image used for the mix was provided by none other than Dwid Hellion from hardcore legends Integrity. Playlist is as follows:

Nature & Organization - Obsession Flowers as Torture
James T Cotton - Possessed Amplifier
Daily Fauli - Zoo 2 (edit)
Cold Cave - Always Someone
Martin Dupont - Bent at the Window
Der Blutharsch - Time is Thee Enemy XII
Wildildlife - Nervous Buzzing (Hours of Worship remix)
Dominik Eulberg - Haifischfl, gel
Alter Ego - Fuckingham Palace (Nerk and Derk Leyers remix)
Simon Baker - U
Basic Channel - Inversion
Burger / Voigt - Wand Aus Klang
Have a Nice Life - Telephony
Ova Looven - Power Windows
Necrofrost - Supreme Harvester of Eternal Void

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(also here is a re-posting of my year end list for 2008, which will eventually also be posted on the Aquarius Records website.)

--Albums (full lengths and cassettes)--
AFCGT - s/t (A-Frames and Climax Golden Twins collab)
Asbestoscape - s/t
Asva - What You Don't Know is Frontier
Blank Dogs - The Fields
Burning Star Core - Challenger
Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night
Deathrow/Moloch - Echoes of Eternity
Friccara Pacchu - Midnight Pyre
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness
Menace Ruine - The Die is Cast
Moss - Sub Templum
Monument of Urns - Absence
Smorzando - Smrad
Thou/Leech - We Pass Like Night, From Land to Land

--Comps (the first three are re-issues)
B9 Bis: Belgian Cold Wave 1979 - 1983
Bippp: French Synth Wave 1979 - 1985
Des Jeunes Gens Modernes (early 80's French Synth)
Juche (power electronics/industrial/noise)

--Reissues (albums, not comps)--
Cindytalk - Camoflage Heart
Cindytalk - In This World
Droids - Star Peace
La Dusseldorf - s/t
La Dusseldorf - Viva
Faust - IV
The Future - The Golden Hour of ... (pre-Human League synthpop-disco)
Robert Fripp and Brian Eno - No Pussyfooting
Guru Guru - UFO
Guru Guru - Hinten
Thomas Leer - Contradictions
Loop - Fade Out
Loop - Heaven's End
Paysage D'Hiver - Kristall & Isa
Vérmyapre Kommando - s/t (demo)
Watain - Casus Luciferi

--12"--
Belong - Colorloss
Cold Cave - Painted Nails
Lumerians - s/t

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(Given that I completely slacked off here in 2008, here is my 2007 list from the Aquarius Records website.)

Top 25 (I'm sure some things are being left out, oh, and this is alphabetical, obviously)
Boris wth Michio Kurihara ­ Rainbow (Drag City/Inoxia)
Circle of Ouroborus ­ Streams (True Face of Evil)
Cluster ­ Zuckerzeit (Lilith)
Efdemin ­ s/t (Dial)
Fennesz ­ Endless Summer (Editions Mego)
Fire Engines ­ Hungry Beat (Acute)
Harmonia ­ Live 1974 (Water)
Jeremy Jay ­ Airwalker EP (K Records)
Kluster ­ Zwei/Osterei
Eric Malmberg - Verklighet & Beat (Hapna)
John Maus ­ Love is Real (Upset! The Rhythm)
Monarch ­ Die Tonight (Throne)
No Age ­ Weirdo Rippers (Fat Cat)
Pantha Du Prince ­ This Bliss (Dial)
Pylon ­ Gyrate (DFA)
Sleeparchive ­ Papercup (Sleeparchive)
The Soft Machine ­ Volume Two (Water)
Sunn O))) ­ Oracle (Southern Lord)
A Sunny Day in Glasgow ­ Scribble Mural Comic Journal (Notenuf)
Throbbing Gristle ­ Part Two: The Endless Not (Mute)
Tunnels - Cluster of Rainbows for the Angel Who Announces the End of Time (JK)
v/a ­ Lipa Kodi Ya City Council
v/a ­ Expansion | Contraction (M_nus)
Valet ­ Naked Acid (Kranky)
White Rainbow ­ Prism of Eternal Now (Kranky/Marriage)

SPK - High Tension
Australian group Sozialistisches Patientenkollektiv (SPK) was named after a radical German Marxist group, not completely dissimilar from the Baader-Meinhoff Gang. This track is from one of their later releases and doesn't at all reflect the reasons that nerds across the globe revere the group. They were originally associated with the whole Industrial Records crew, and I'm sure that you can guess the rest. However, "High Tension" is a much more light-hearted affair with its electrofunk meets italo beats and head-nodding melodies. Think The Passions meets early Miami freestyle.

Marco Resmann - Gouache
Another track from Mobilee. There's not much I feel like saying about this except that it pleasantly fits within the label's roster. Resmann accounts for exactly one-third of Pan-Pot, and this piece certainly reflects the same sense of making white space work for you. In my estimation, this track should satisfy sound production fetishes and techno cravings alike.

Nadja - Stays Demons
I'll allow the XLR8R website to do the footwork for this one, given that I recently wrote a review about this for the print version and I can't really use that yet. And I'm far too lazy to write up anything else. Here goes: "Brutality has many faces, and Nadja is one of them. The Canadian duo thrives on feedback, strings, guitar distortion, and electronic drumming, which makes for some of the most atmospheric drone this side of Godflesh. Did we mention that this is heavy? Really heavy."

Harmonia 76 - Almost
This collaboration includes a cast of familiar characters: Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster), Michael Rother (Neu!), and Brian Eno. Recorded in 1976, released in 1997. Interesting then that it sounds like late 80s Eno works, water sounds high in the mix and with plenty of piano loops. This would be easy to pinpoint as an influence on groups like Slowdive, were it not a complete anachronism.

Others:
1. Eluvium - "New Animals from the Air"
2. Dominik Eulberg - "Adler"
3. The Passions - "I'm in Love with a German Film Star"
4. Windy & Carl - "The Eternal Struggle"
5. Sunn O))) - "Bp//simple"

The last few months at Mezzanine and XLR8R have been busier than I’d like to think about and in conjunction with the normal happenings, I’ve completely neglected this site. That's all set to change. A new look, some new tracks, and I’ve decided to take more than twenty minutes with posts. Let me know what you think.


Tractile - “Stay Out”
[file was apparently deleted by Easy Share]
Berlin-based Canadian techno duo Tractile (a.k.a. Adam Young and Joel Boychuk) are basically the same age as my little sister, but somehow I'm looking up to them. Their style is perfectly M_nus, although they bring a certain buzz and cut to their tracks in a way that reminds me of the Spaceships & Pings comp that came out last year. While it's true that the Items & Things label - who released the comp - is a complete M_nus affiliate, the tracks on there seem to bring a (Get) Physical bounce to the minimal scene. On "Stay Out," Tractile manage to insert a sort of tech-house feel, bouncing here and there and everywhere, while keeping things clean and focusing on sound production as much as Richie Hawtin ever has.

GummiHz - “Isolate”
- "Holy shit, dude. I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack. Are they still serving alcohol?"
- Friend nods in agreement only to reply, "No. It's like 4 in the morning, dude."
- "Ah, Shit."
- That's when the processed swirls run in and out in stereo. Mid-tempo bass rumbles through the dance floor, and suddenly you realize that you'd never personally play this track out ... but, shit, there's something about it. Go ahead, catch your breath, indulge in the sound, and start gyrating whenever you're ready.

Goslings - “No More Ribbon, No More Kite”
This group consists of two people, a husband and wife. All I really know is that they're from Florida, and that they've managed to succeed where bands like Xinlisupreme fail to bridge psychedelic rambling with a deeper appreciation of noise as something more, for lack of a better word, accessible. Like so many other genres, half of the importance of noise isn't that it's an end in itself, but it's that there are elements to be gleaned and reappropriated in other interesting contexts. Goslings have a firm grasp on that fact and in turn they present an industrial, noise, stoner, pop, whatever masterpiece.

Others:

1. Throbbing Gristle - Part Two: The Endless Not
2. Nadja - Touched
3. Lair of the Minotaur - "The Wolf"
4. Above the Ruins - "Waiting"
5. Antarctica - "Full Crescent Crusade"

2006 in Brief Review

Year end lists that I've seen and care about: TAPE, Chantilly Bass, and 20 Jazz Funk Greats. So, as a blogger, I'm equally obligated to list releases that really grabbed me this year. Of course there are plenty of other really great songs, but as the year comes to a close ... these are the tracks that made my year! Irrespective of any numbered count, here we go.

Also, HERE is a little ZIP file of things that I can't stop listening to during this holiday season. Is there a logical connection between any of these? You be the judge.

Year End List 2006

LP/EPs

- Alex Smoke – Paradolia
- Ellen Allien & Apparat – Orchestra of Bubbles
- Black Devil Disco Club – 28 After
- Boris/Sunn O))) – Altar
- Cat Power - The Greatest
- Nathan Fake – Drowning in a Sea of Love
- Marc Houle – Bay of Figs
- Jan Jelinek – Tierbeobachtungen
- Junior Boys – So This is Goodbye
- The Knife – Silent Shout
- Psychic Ills – Dins
- Sleeparchive – Radio Transmission
- TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain ... guilty :]
- Uusitalo – Tulenkantaja
- Wolf Eyes/Grey Daturas – The Black Plague
- Yellow Swans – Psychic Secession

Tracks

- Gabriel Ananda & Cio D’or – “Lauschgoldengel”
- Marek Bois - "You Got Good Ash (Gabriel Ananda Remix)"
- Martin Buttrich – “Full Clip”
- Cobblestone Jazz – “Dump Truck”
- Lindstrom – “Another Station (Todd Terje Remix)”
- Misc. – “B_Movie 6:00 AM”
- Daze Maxim – “Simply Driving Gold”
- Minilogue - "The Girl from Botany Bay"
- Padded Cell – “Konkorde Lafayette”
- Troy Pierce – “25 Bitches Vol. 2 (Marc Houle Remix)”
- Onur Ozer – “Twilight (Mathias Kaden Remix)”
- Pig & Dan – “On to the Beat”
- Radio Slave - "My Bleep"
- Shit Robot – “Wrong Galaxy”
- Sweet n Candy – “Tacky Wakeup (Dominik Eulberg Remix)”
- The Vulva String Quartet – “Out Of Sight (Farben Remix)”
- Wighnomy Bros. – “Dukktus”

Comps/Mixes

- Robot Hustle – “Disco Crush 1”
- Jena Paradies - "Latest Bits" (unreleased)
- V/A - min2MAX (M_nus)
- V/A - Spaceships and Pings (Items & Things)
- V/A – Superlongevity 4 (Perlon)