Category Archives: Avant Garde/Noise
Axxonn – Let’s Get It Straight (Arlen)
Axxonn
Let’s Get It Straight
Arlen
Rating: 4 out of 5
Link: http://www.axxonnband.com/AXXONN.html
Tom Hall uses sound like a sketch pad. Emerging from various styles of music — from synth to doom to death metal to pop and back again — Hall has a way to warp the music into an eclectic sound of the strange and beautiful.
“Choc Milk Addiction” introduces his fourth release with an infectious tribal dance number under a timpani canopy that could make one reminisce to the Grotus days of San Francisco via German industrial but with more darkwave undertones. “Cod & Chips” develops it further while transcending “Choc Milk Addiction” into an electronic ambient daze. Don’t let the meditative moment fool you, “From Blacks Void” is highly flammable and explores frequencies your eardrums will blister from that explodes with apocalyptic guitar chaos.
He is quite the convincer, but I would keep one eye on him at all times because you never know what he will pull out of his sleeve. And like a master magician, he will allure you with the electro pop minimalistic title track, but will turn around and blind you with the power trip sound show of “Pardoe” that gives homage to the ‘80s experimental sound smiths who threw their guitars off the bridge.
The album not only does a great job at bringing us amazing sound compositions and gently reminds us of the days when Martin Dupont met the beast and Cabaret Voltaire was not telling us how much they want you, but Let’s Get It Straight is continued quality in the repertoire in Hall’s musical creativity.
Akron/Family – S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey Of Shinju TNT (Joyful Noise)
Akron/Family
S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey Of Shinju TNT
Joyful Noise
Rating: 5 out of 5
Link: http://akronfamily.com/
Remember those ‘70s driving songs? The feel-good tunes that if you had the top to put down, it was down and the wheels would spin love vibes warmed by the summer sun.
Akron/Family’s latest is a revitalization of the summer cruise music if it meant cruising around Mt. Fuji with Hokusai in mind.
S/T II for short, is a ritualistic celebration that bleeds elements of purist ‘70s power pop icons like The Raspberries or the Bay City Rollers (listen to any of these songs and any day will feel like Saturday night) with influences of Japanese noisecore and psychedelia. You can get just enough out of their music to have a mental image of the band freaking out to The Boredoms or The Flower Travellin’ Band.
Two things I really love about this album beyond the glowing aura that surrounds it. First, the way the album is laid out is flawless; the transitions impeccable. It’s like waking up and wanting to tell someone, “Hey man, I just had the most incredible dream!”
The second thing is that the album is difficult without being difficult. There is so much crazy and cool things going on that you could listen to it a thousand times and still be able to pick up on something new. But at the core of these songs, it can be deconstructed into simple pop songs that are catchy as hell.
It’s one of the greatest indie pop albums I have heard in a while.
Heinali – 67 Breaths (Arlen)
Heinali
67 Breaths
Arlen
Rating: 3.8 out of 5
Link: http://www.myspace.com/heinali
Kiev, Ukraine minimalist composer Heinali creates a soundscape that is equally barren as it is intriguing. Heinali is not shy to the performance art and film scene as he has been doing it since 2009, but for someone to have this much scope with more space than music in this little of time is impressive. Heinali is someone who can use what is not being played just as powerfully as what is being played.
67 Breaths takes us on a journey through abstract sound and chilled-out downtempo.
The album begins with the sound of the ocean and a swirling piano soundscape. Our portal into the beauty and mystery behind Heinali’s music. It can be chilling as “Tu Fantasma” creates a lonely distance between the piano which feels as haunting as staring into an empty room that was once filled with so many memories. “Million Light Yearning” is built around this cool groove of a beat, wheras the strings ponders about the fate of the song. That fate lies in the cellos brooding tonalities.
The album bounces back and forth between the contemplative (the title track) and the absolute (“Troubled Waters”). We get tossed about through quite remiss and controlled force. Either way, Heinali is very convincing.
Vin Du Select Qualitite Series (Music Review)
Matthew Mullane | Thurston Moore | Allen Karpinski
Vin du Select Qualitite Series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Vin Du Select Qualitite, the ambitious acoustic guitar series, curated by Steve Lowenthal of Swingset Magazine and Plastic Records, released three new albums of diversity and exploration in the unplugged musical genre. This series — which has thus far featured musicians like Joshua Blatchley, Mark McGuire, and Chris Brokaw — adds more prestigious names to its roster with the possibilities of many more to come.
Matthew Mullane has written a few impressive academic articles including one in particular about the aesthetics of sound and has recorded under various incarnations like Non Group and Fabric. His approach to the acoustic guitar is like having a dinner conversation with an old friend. The note-induced communication that is involved is impressive and comforting with a dominance of counter notes fluttering about in the distance to give the pieces depth.
You hear it on all three of his compositions: “Once Was It Once Again, Parts I and II” and “A Second Choir.” Mullane lets his songs spring to life by moving his pieces with a natural flow that you cannot help but sail along with. He uses space and stops with such ease that the song breathes and moves gracefully. Like a rollercoaster, Mullane dances with excitability just as graciously as he does with lento as if he’s giving the listener time for it all to sink in before sending us down that next hill. Either way, there is movement in concept and time to Mullane’s precise fingering.
Thurston Moore reacts with more random thought patterns. A collection of shorter pieces, Moore expresses himself through classic Moore disconcerting notes. You can expect his distinct style peppered throughout; a sense of harsh fantasy through mystical beauty. “Lord Chesterfield,” “Gouden Carolus,” and “De Ryck Arend Dubbel,” you are shoved around with angularity and harsh picking. An Alert Ayler for the fingers, Moore is one of the few musicians in this world who can take an acoustic guitar and send you on a wild ride by turning the traditional conceptions of music upside down.
Six Parts Seven member Allen Karpinski dives into his five-song collection by creating textured variations like splashing color on a canvas. His introspective musical nature is more meditative than it is directive. From the repetitious ambience of “High Altitude Headache,” Karpinski mimics what many try to do using electronics and layering. His layering effects cheat within the realm of acoustic construction by using background electric pedal effects. No one ever said this series is for acoustic purists. He satisfies those people soon enough with the sparse acoustic “Who To Ask Headache,” a contemplative number that slows the world down to a level of quiet ordain. You feel his shuttering under one lonely note and a natural order that sheds beauty without him blatantly trying to.
With the latest releases and the ones that have been released, Vin Du Select Qualitite has proven to be a substantial series in the realm of experimental and unplugged soundscapes and one to watch out for.
Alright The Captain – Snib (Music Review)
Alright The Captain
Snib
Field Records
Rating: 4 out of 5
Link: http://alrightthecaptain.bandcamp.com/
The late ‘90s and those conjunctive bands with their noise and angularity, stemming from all things Big Black. Sweep The Leg Johnny, Dianogah, Spanakorzo (although that borders more with Cerebus Shoal, but still taps the vein), June Of 44, the list goes on — I often miss the days when boisterous bands fell out of labels like Southern, Touch and Go or Jade Tree. Now I won’t be so melancholic thanks to a little band with a huge sound radiating halfway across the globe.
Alright The Captain stacks up the fury with a loud, sometimes obnoxious, sometimes disparate instrumental album that incorporates a little bit of all the above into a powerful package. Trust me, you will not know what hit you after you let the sound waves impact.
If the title “Soundtrack Your Death” does not explain it, then wait until the tidal wave wall of noise comes rushing in. There just might be about 20 pedals forming layer after layer of sound. But at least for the songs, they don’t just destroy your eardrums for 45 minutes. The balancing act between the intricate and the righteous rock is fair, even for a song like this.
“Rostov Could Get It” may be all about the Big Black knuckle thrust, “Honey Badger” is a total “what the fuck” moment. It has me fully convinced that these guys are total badasses, and they are fully aware of it.
Nothing is off limits, but Alright The Captain knows what to stay away from, making a concrete piece of artistic integrity that will make your eyes crossed and arms flapping about. Just listen to “Clamp,” and tell me that does not happen.
