tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74023350212653957312024-03-13T05:54:06.175+01:00Weed TempleAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.comBlogger496125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-54409022958369391812012-01-08T12:56:00.001+01:002012-01-08T12:57:32.678+01:00New Weed Temple<div style="text-align: justify;">
2012 marks some changes, including probably the biggest change in Weed Temple since its inception in 2008, that is moving the blog to a new platform. From now on Weed Temple will be on Tumblr - as <b><a href="http://weedtemple.tumblr.com/">weedtemple.tumblr.com</a></b> . This might be a controversial (and slightly unpopular decision), but I'm sure the readers will get over it. I find Tumblr easier to use and customize than Blogger, and while it may be missing a few options, like ability to comment (which I will fix as soon as possible by installing Disqus comment system on the site), it's generally more "forward" than Blogger.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This blog will stay here with all downloads and reviews intact. It's still up to me to decide whether I'll move Weed Temple operations to Tumblr permanently or it will be a disappointment and I'll go back to good ol' Blogger. Time will show. In the meantime, go to the new address and check out some hot new albums! </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com110tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-59606794925080278422012-01-01T17:57:00.003+01:002012-01-01T17:57:39.911+01:00røb - røb<div style="text-align: justify;">
Harsh and heavy drones from the former Christchurch, New Zealand resident <b>Robert Martelli</b> created as the aftermath of the 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch. The ghost of Roy Montgomery hovers above this mini-EP, albeit much more tectonic and palpatable, closer to Torlesse Super Group than his solo work. Here's the commentary from the e-mail about the event and the explanation of the track titles:</div>
<i>"A post-earthquake doom-heart thrums through the city’s caverns; the partially collapsed cathedrals and the empty roads at <strong>DAWN</strong>. Despite the openness, there is a kind of claustrophobia here, an asphyxiating feeling. It’s the swamp, it’ll suck you down.
</i><br />
<i>The hard edges of the <strong>DAY</strong> push against the skin. All
the airconditioner sweat and the black coffee vitriol and the coins
across the counter. Hollowed out, sunken-eyed, desperation triggers a
yearning to return to the tall grass and big sky of childhood.</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>Every part of this body groans slowly, feeling too old while still being young. This is a kind of <strong>DEATH</strong>.
In need of revivification, follow the desire to sit still on a
mountainside. Hear only the wind in the ears, become a receptacle for
the sun’s silent rays. Be reverberant and reverent. Await the fade to
white."</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/98/88/98881658-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/98/88/98881658-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://rroobb.bandcamp.com/">røb </a><i><br /></i></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-34822670300288307802011-12-31T15:48:00.001+01:002011-12-31T15:48:43.679+01:00Review: Köhn - Stay Away From the Towers (Sloow Tapes, 2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SrZjs5wtfWI/Tto5RHg3xQI/AAAAAAAAAS8/EIDYR1yPs6w/s1600/kohn_cvr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SrZjs5wtfWI/Tto5RHg3xQI/AAAAAAAAAS8/EIDYR1yPs6w/s400/kohn_cvr.jpg" width="247" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small; line-height: 150%;">One
thing I was wrong about when reviewing M. Geddes Gengras’ massive <i>The Empty Space</i> was the assumption that
the whole lot was recorded during one or two live performances. It was not, and
as Ged Gengras himself jokingly noted on his Facebook, if that cassette was a
documentary of one performance, he probably wouldn’t have left the venue alive.
The case is different with Belgium’s synthesist Jurgen de Blonge, who’s been
crafting electronic soundscapes since the 1990’s. <i>Stay Away From the Towers</i> is a documentary of two live performances
conducted in clubs in Belgium and the Netherlands. No edits, no overdubs, no
post-production. Final destination.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small; line-height: 150%;"> The comparison between MGG and Kohn
is not accidental: both tapes are equally massive and stunning – both clock at
around 90 minutes and both take quite liberal cues at the previous eras of
electronic music. While for Ged Gengras it was the raw, glitchy electronics of
Morton Subotnick, Fifty Foot Hose (minus the psych rock element) or even
Karlheinz Stockhausen, Jurgen de Blonde looks at the Berlin School era and
progressive electronic masters of the 1970’s and the 1980’s. Each side of the
red, unlabeled tape is a lengthy, ever-changing jam of rhythmic electronics and
snakelike melodies treated with a pinch of outsider synth weirdness. De Blonde
crafts intense cosmic voyages of the best kind: the ones in which the listener
gets truly lost and loses the track of time, where seconds stretch into hours
and hours into seconds, where the change in the ever-flowing rhythm or melody
can be noticed only after several minutes, where one gets zoned out even with
deeply focused listening. Once one gets over the slightly abrasive drones that
de Blonde likes to put in certain places of the recordings, the world of
emotions, images and scenes unfolds as a reward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small; line-height: 150%;"> One of the best elements of this
cassette (apart from its head-spinning length) is the perfect balance de Blonde
keeps between the Berlin School worship and the more abrasive, abstract
experimentation. The melodic, progressive parts and the reverbed hiss, crackles
and drones are kept in equal proportions, serving as interludes or, in a great
prog fashion, “movements” of one track. I can almost imagine a projection screen
behind Jurgen while giving performances with various animations as he enters
different phases: abstract, psychedelic animations of non-defined shapes or
oscilloscope going haywire during the non-melodic sonic bricolage and fragments
of films like “Fantastic Planet” or “The Holy Mountain” during the melodic,
proggy parts. A great record of two great performances by a somewhat overlooked
European synth wizard.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: small; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://sloowtapes.blogspot.com/">Copies still available at Sloow Tapes, but knowing their stuff is all killer no filler, they might be gone in no time. Be quick! </a></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-14541699456764049102011-12-31T15:25:00.002+01:002012-01-01T11:58:40.297+01:00Review: Tharpa Jigme - Nada Tarangini (Rocket Machine, 2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yPqqA8Rn_78/Top5sgNeBLI/AAAAAAAAAp8/sx6IqJ72OZw/s1600/RM05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yPqqA8Rn_78/Top5sgNeBLI/AAAAAAAAAp8/sx6IqJ72OZw/s400/RM05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Until lately, Netherlands’ Robert Kroos has been more
known to the noise aficionados for his “bleak ultra noise” project Torture
Corpse, which served as a creative output for bone-shredding outbursts of sonic
energy. This extreme and brutal music, however, is just one side of Robert’s
work as a musician. Tharpa Jigme is his another project, where he goes into the
exactly opposite side of the spectrum, replacing nihilist noise with blissful,
meditative synthesizer drones. Those are not your simple synth drones, however.
What sets Tharpa Jigme apart from the countless other “floaty ambient” projects
is his fascination with classical Indian (Hindustani) music and traditional
Indian instruments. On the j-card of the cassette Robert lists Nada Tarangini,
Sitar and Swarmandal and his voice apart from the usual suspects (synthesizers).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Side A’s “Nada Tarangini (Outward)” is the more
extroverted side, layering one exhilarating drone upon another while the sacred
sitar strums tirelessly throughout the entire length of the track, resulting in
a sort of droning mass of light reminiscent of Sitaar Tah! or the less looping
moments of Kawabata Makoto. While the opening drone seems impossibly heavy, it
manages to get even heavier and more intense as the track progresses, becoming
an immense monolith which somehow manages to stay incredibly light and
meditative instead of crushing with its heaviness. Towards the end of the side,
the massive, massive theme gradually fades out, marking the end of the more
ecstatic, louder meditation and preparing the listener for the more
introspective, quieter side B, “Nada Tarangini (Inward)”. The second track hits
the darker, more mysterious areas. The energy and intensity of side A is gone,
being replaced instead with sparse sitar strumming and almost dark ambient
synthesizer swells, exploring the deeper, often more sinister sides of the
psyche, the ones we prefer to keep well hidden, pushed as far back as possible.
And while the “Outward” side was loud and seemingly designed for listening
through loudspeakers at highest possible volume – so that the sound can come
out freely to bounce between the walls and even to stream outside, through the
open window and into the world; the quiet ambience of “Inward” is a
specifically headphone listening, especially the very last part of the
cassette, where the music becomes a barely audible drone fadeout.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Nada
Tarangini</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> is yet another indication that the musicians are
looking for more genres and inspirations to add to the basic drone. The
classical Indian instruments are a wonderful addition, and even if their
presence on side B is not very noticeable, they CREATE the sound of side A,
without which maybe it wouldn’t be half as impressive. We can only hope for
more sitar-infused immersive drones in the future. Great job, Robert Kroos.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="http://rocketmachinetapes.blogspot.com/2011/10/rm05-rm06-hi-there-again-people.html">The tape's still available at Rocket Machine. It's limited to 50 copies so it may be gone fast! Also, there's the entire side A available for stream from Soundcloud.</a></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-15294593244213719482011-12-31T13:00:00.003+01:002011-12-31T13:00:33.288+01:00No Mind Meditation - Malaise 1 & 2<div style="text-align: justify;">
Two soothing ambient soundscapes from No Mind Meditation, the entity behind the Chicago label <a href="http://www.goldtimerstapes.com/">Goldtimers Tapes</a>. 20 minutes of layered, psychedelicized droning experimentation, which can work as a soundtrack to forming new year's resolution or simply as a cure for new year's hangover.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AsY4f60xwXE/Tv0Dgc_j-9I/AAAAAAAAAUk/SDLplsjh5hA/s400/No+Mind+Meditation+Malaise+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AsY4f60xwXE/Tv0Dgc_j-9I/AAAAAAAAAUk/SDLplsjh5hA/s320/No+Mind+Meditation+Malaise+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pi11Y9O_nu4/Tv0Dk7OkRWI/AAAAAAAAAUw/FByFLDPZWxc/s1600/No+Mind+Meditation+Malaise+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pi11Y9O_nu4/Tv0Dk7OkRWI/AAAAAAAAAUw/FByFLDPZWxc/s320/No+Mind+Meditation+Malaise+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?0bu6ueluoo0twng">Malaise 1 & 2</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-91250940060951002822011-12-28T12:29:00.005+01:002011-12-28T12:29:50.464+01:00East-Ra<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>East-Ra</b> are a self-proclaimed "psychedelic lo-fi rock" band from Croatia. Usually straying away from the "free form freak-out" territory to the more song-oriented, briefer format, the band creates rather toned down, quiet form of psych heavily inspired by 60's and early 70's songwriters such as <b>Nick Drake</b> or <b>Syd Barrett</b>, musical dadaists such as <b>Captain Beefheart</b> of free-flowing commune spirit of Germany's krautrockers like <b>Amon Düül II</b> or <b>Agitation Free</b>. The band retains a lovely garage/basement quality to their tracks, somewhat enhancing the authenticity of their music and intimacy with the listener. Two of their albums, <i>Cold Summer</i> and <i>Substitute 3</i> are sung in English, while <i>Sutra</i> is written entirely in a local dialect. <b>Recommended!</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j390/osamedia/acover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j390/osamedia/acover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?c0dd2trij0fnkn3">Cold Summer</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j390/osamedia/Eastra/rsz_1cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j390/osamedia/Eastra/rsz_1cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?wfpiim0kihrot8k">Sutra</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j390/osamedia/Eastra/rsz_acover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j390/osamedia/Eastra/rsz_acover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?oa5m280b5plim29">Substitute 3</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-32868534788996198622011-12-28T11:42:00.003+01:002011-12-28T11:44:55.932+01:00Good Amount - Power<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now that the Christmass laziness is officially over, it's about time to get back to posting. The first album after the break is <i>Power</i>, a cassette by <a href="http://holypage.org/">Holy Page Records</a> founder <b>Christiano Filardo</b> using the moniker <b>Good Amount</b>. I think the term "good amount" might mean the good amount of creative energy, because what we get here is quite a healthy, not-so-short collection of semi-lo-fi synthesizer dreamscapes created entirely during meditation. Might need a few repeated listens to finally click, but once it clicks, you just can't get enough. Reminds me of Lee Noble's early dusted drones, but without his penchant for downer atmospheres and melancholy and with a more New Age-y worldview. Also, totally digging the somewhat kitschy, rainbowy computer gfx aesthetic Holy Page have for many of their cassettes, including this one.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/40/05/4005369233-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/40/05/4005369233-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://holypagerecords.bandcamp.com/album/power">Power</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-76513845665816663422011-12-20T20:24:00.000+01:002011-12-20T20:26:35.473+01:00Review: Nicoffeine - Lighthealer Stalking Flashplayer (bluNoise, 2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K0q-3iZM-lw/TvDfpZHYZSI/AAAAAAAAAkw/Yhw1WE6fce8/s1600/lighthealer+stalking+flashplayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K0q-3iZM-lw/TvDfpZHYZSI/AAAAAAAAAkw/Yhw1WE6fce8/s320/lighthealer+stalking+flashplayer.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Lighthealer
Stalking Flashplayer</span></i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: small;">, the newest LP from the German noise rock trio
Nicoffeine is a disorienting, amphetamine-fueled black mass followed by the
world’s hardest coming down. Any sort of gentle introduction is an alien concept
to these guys. There is no quiet guitar part, no gradual intensification or at
least a fade-in. The very first track, “Holy Hell of a Himmel” throws the
listener into the ultra-distorted, breakdown-filled mental breakdown of highest
order, changing pitches and shifts with mathematical precision, obscuring the
guitar tones to the point it becomes a thunderous bass propelled, sludgy
shoegaze. Free noise units such as Gravitar, Heavy Winged or pre-<i>Boss</i> era Magik Markers might be used as
points of reference, but while for most of the time there were elements of
post-rock, free improv or straight-down psychedelic beauty hidden under walls
of feedback and distortion those bands so abundantly use (or used), there is
none of that in Nicoffeine’s music. The Germans’ music is infused with a sort
of nihilist, hardcore punk or maybe even grindcore negativity, which they
cleverly deconstruct and re-shape for their needs.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: small;"> It
takes a few listens to notice that most of the tracks are actually constructed
and well thought out compositions and not just carnage for the sake of carnage.
Once we get over the incredibly overdriven, high-pitched guitar destruction, one
can notice how tight the bass is with the brutal, fast notes and the seemingly
anarchist drumming isn’t all that anarchist after all and the only thing
keeping the album from becoming a possible noise punk gem is the length of the
tracks and the lack of vocals. The shorter, 3-4 minute tracks share space with
three monsters, each well over 10 minutes long, with the very last track, the
16-minute noise/drone behemoth “I Always Shine When You Say Nein” devolving
into a monstrous, cavernous amplifier hangover not far away from The Dead C’s “Bury
(Refutatio Omnium Haeresium)” off their <i>Trapdoor
Fucking Exit.</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: small;"> The
brutal and chaotic music of Nicoffeine is accompanied with a simple, yet
effective packaging: what you see above is not the actual LP cover, but rather
one of two inserts containing
information about the tracks, the record label and a few photos of the band.
The cover itself is black on both sides, with a white vinyl inside. The pure
blackness of the cover reflects the pure blackness of the sound and the white
vinyl signifies the amphetamine craze of the music on the format, echoing
Velvet Underground’s <i>White Light/White
Heat</i>, which indeed was a hymn to the white powder. The possible VU
inspirations are further reflected by the track titles, which often allude to
the darker/more twisted sides of the human sexual psyche, cleverly referencing
fetishes (“Milf & Honey”, “Handjobs & Runaways”, or “Motocrossdress”
off their <i>Admiring Those Artholes</i>
LP). Nicoffeine is something to be watched and heard – the ferocity of their
sound really puts them somewhere above most of their contemporaries in a scene
where it’s hard to be harsher, louder and noisier.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.eyetm.com/download/Nicoffeine_-_Lighthealer_Stalking_Flashplayer.rar"><b>Nicoffeine - <i>Lighthealer Stalking Flashplayer</i></b></a> (link via <a href="http://elementaryrevolt.blogspot.com/">The Elementary Revolt</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.nicoffeine.com/fileadmin/DOWNLOADS/Nicoffeine_-_Admiring_Those_Artholes.rar"><b>Nicoffeine - <i>Admiring Those Artholes</i> </b></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.nicoffeine.com/releases.html">Buy <i>Lighthealer Stalking Flashplayer</i></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/Nicoffeine">Nicoffeine on Facebook</a></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-31069177797831626962011-12-17T15:50:00.003+01:002011-12-17T15:56:26.517+01:00Miles Dyson Spheres - Cosmic Schmuck Entries<div style="text-align: justify;">
A MASSIVE collection of six-string madness by <b>Paul Stella</b>, proprietor of the <a href="http://obsidianobelisk.info/">Obsidian Obelisk</a> blog. 19 compositions, with some reaching over 20 minutes. Endlessly soloing, soaring fuzzed-out electric guitar over maniacally looping, droning basslines. Reaching a point when psychedelic rock becomes ambient. Sublime. And by the way - I love the guy's moniker - Miles Dyson, one of the creators of SkyNet in Terminator 2 and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere">Dyson Sphere</a>, a hypothetical megastructure with solar power satellites encompassing a star in order to gain energy from it. There is also another album in the works, entitled <a href="http://milesdysonsphere.bandcamp.com/album/formless-forms"><i>Formless Forms</i></a>, which will be just as massive and which will be available for download in February. So far it can only be streamed on Bandcamp.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/27/22/2722208308-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/27/22/2722208308-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://milesdysonsphere.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-schmuck-entries">Cosmic Schmuck Entries</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-75356430587654852462011-12-15T22:15:00.002+01:002011-12-15T22:15:11.387+01:00Old Age - This Land Stays With Me<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you think <b>Connor Waldman</b>'s Old Age project is yet another drifting, dreamy ambient project like many others, think again. While the first track stays tightly within the ambient territory with a sound between the artists of Sunshine Ltd. label and the massive drones of early Emeralds, the second track abrubtly cuts the heavenly drone zones with a steady, bassy, folktronica beat with female vocals. The sound is brooding and full of light at the same time. The songs on the album are an amalgam of trip hop beats, surupy krautrock aesthetics at times and echoed vocals adding to the synthesizer background ambience with glitched-out electronics on top. The sound of <b>Old Age</b> is difficult to categorize, costantly shifting between introverted folk and vast ambient mindscapes, reflecting the changing moods of the artist during the creative process. Sometimes melancholic, sometimes uplifting. Also make sure to check out Connor's earlier release, Minnesota and David Lynch inspired ambient trip <i><a href="http://oldage.bandcamp.com/album/lutsen">Lutsen</a>.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/13/57/1357432104-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/13/57/1357432104-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://oldage.bandcamp.com/album/this-land-stays-with-me">The Land Stays With Me</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-32604011351241983872011-12-12T23:17:00.001+01:002011-12-12T23:17:32.515+01:00Thug Entrancer<div style="text-align: justify;">
If I wasn't so much in the minimal/techno/dance zone right now, I would've probably ignored this guy, but as I am devouring almost everything with a steady beat right now, this guy fell just into the right place. Inspired heavily by juke dance tradition, analog synthesizers, noise, musique concrete and southern rap, Chicago-based <b>Ryan McRyhew </b>(originally 1/2 of Denver duo Hideous Men) cranks out zonked-out club killerz. Leave your floaty drone tapes for a moment and go dance a little. It will do you good.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/12/12/1212359863-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/12/12/1212359863-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://thugentrancer.bandcamp.com/album/tropics-mind-vol-1">Tropics Mind Vol. 1</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/13/82/1382685887-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/13/82/1382685887-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://thugentrancer.bandcamp.com/album/tropics-mind-vol-2">Tropics Mind Vol. 2</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-25858857474635302692011-12-12T22:38:00.002+01:002011-12-12T22:42:36.816+01:00Nocow - Ruins Tape<div style="text-align: justify;">
Brilliant tape released by Russian UK garage apostle <b>Alexey Nikitin</b>, a.k.a. <b>Nocow</b> through Gimme5 Tapes together with Sweat Lodge Guru, with which move they [SLG] managed to smuggle some future garage/dubstep beats to the unexpecting drone/psych head crowd (some of whom [including me until not long ago] perceiving "dubstep", or anything related to dubstep as in-your-face brutal bass boosts by brostep hacks like Skrillex). 12 tracks of ambient-inflused bliss balancing between deep, focused headphone listening and after-hours dancefloor meditations. On a side note, I <i>really</i> need to get into this scene more.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/41/51/415190569-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/41/51/415190569-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://gimme5.bandcamp.com/album/g5tape01-ruins-tape">Ruins Tape</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-26469051022615052011-12-12T22:22:00.003+01:002011-12-12T22:24:59.100+01:00Range Rover - All is Bliss<div style="text-align: justify;">
I first heard about the San Diego unit <b>Range Rover</b> (consisting of <b>Austin Caesar, John Warlick & Cody de la Vara)</b> when reading about the new batch of cassettes from Sweat Lodge Guru (their most diverse batch to date, including the Russian future garage explorer Nocow, about whom I'm gonna write in a moment). Not paying much attention to it, I just passed by it mistaking it for just another woozy, hazy drone cassette, like many others. How surprised I was when some time I later I discovered Range Rover on Bandcamp! It's still woozy and hazy, yes, but it's really far away from the narcoleptic, soothing trappings of drone. In fact, what we're getting here is hypnotic, lo-fi ambient/dub techno not very far from the dark forest soundscapes of <b>Gas, </b>the dreamy zones of beat-driven <b>Loscil</b> or the minimalism of <b>Plastikman</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">.</i> Sprawling, nocturnal bass lines and toned down beats for the night drivers. <b>Highly recommended.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/15/78/1578912091-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/15/78/1578912091-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://rangerover.bandcamp.com/album/all-is-bliss">All is Bliss</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-52492066944558647492011-12-10T22:14:00.001+01:002011-12-10T22:18:47.427+01:00Review: Preslav Literary School - La Réflexion Du Tir (Full of Nothing, 2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/29/84/2984582284-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/29/84/2984582284-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Preslav Literary
School is the artistic pseudonym of UK’s Adam Thomas, who specialized in making
sprawling and boundless ambient music with the usage of cassettes, which he
manipulates and processes to the point where the original source of sound is
almost unrecognizable and instead replaced with sometimes haunting, often
dreamy wall of sound which is meant to completely envelope the listener. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La Reflexion Du Tir</i>, released on Russian
up-and-coming label Full of Nothing, collects two of those lengthy collages,
giving us one of the most soothing tapes of the year.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">I always like to pay
attention to the relation between the album’s artwork and the music contained
on the cassette, the vinyl or the CD. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La
Reflection Du Tir</i> does the job: the front cover show the cutaway of a
gothic cathedral, including the spaces right below the roof. Preslav Literary
School’s music is a bit like exploring the space right under the roof of an old
cathedral: it’s dark, mysterious and somewhat “abandoned”, in a way that it
occupies an area very few dare to explore, just like very few would dare to
explore the forgotten space between the nave and the church roof. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Just like many
abstract/experimental cassette releases, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La
Reflexion Du Tir</i> has two tracks which occupy the entire sides of the cassette.
Side A’s “Francis Servain Mirkovic” begins with warped loops of what appears to
be faint remnants of what once could be a rock tape – the snippets of electric
guitar soon dissolve into a massive, heavenly drone which could only be
compared to the side A of Bee Mask’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hyperborean
Trenchtown</i>, minus the bells. This is ambient at its most minimal, changing
texture at a glacial pace, with the listener barely noticing the shifts in real
time. Skip the tape or the mp3 a few times – one can notice the changes. Listen
to it in real time – no way. Like the tapes erased and smoothened in the
process of creating new tracks, the music listens like a record of memories
erased in transformed to make way for new memories.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Side B’s track,
entitled “Yvan Deroy”, follows the similar path, but somehow achieves at being
even more minimal and haunting, reaching almost dark ambient areas with
smeared, distant moans (or at least synthesizer/processed tape that sounds like
moaning) and deep bass rumble, which occasionally dies away to give way for
more soothing, calmer ambience. The whole track is a constant struggle between
the relaxation and meditation and an unsettling, pulsing soundscape, changing
places at a glacial place and falling into each other without much notice –
like on side A, it takes a few minutes to notice that the deep bass rumble is
finally gone.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Or maybe it’s never
really gone? The premise of Preslav Literary School’s music is precisely this:
distorting the lines between the haunting and the beatific, confusing the
listener about the nature of his music, the intentions behind the lengthy sounds
contained within the cassette, the deconstruction of the line between the
benevolent and the malevolent. Preslav Literary School makes music to get lost
in, and he wants the listener to get lost in both universes at once; in an
almost fetishistic way he wants the listener to be blissful about his sonic
discomfort. Brilliant.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="http://preslavliteraryschool.bandcamp.com/album/la-r-flexion-du-tir">Stream and buy at Bandcamp</a></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.fono.tihiiomut.ru/index.html">Buy at Full of Nothing website</a></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-81036610728252296862011-12-10T15:06:00.001+01:002011-12-10T15:09:07.007+01:00Review: Christopher Merritt - Crown Heights (Digitalis Ltd., 2010)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.digitalisindustries.com/images/cmerritt_lrg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="http://www.digitalisindustries.com/images/cmerritt_lrg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Christopher Merritt’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crown Heights</i>, despite falling under the
general “ambient” category, cannot be regarded as being merely “wallpaper music”
that exists somewhere in the background without distracting the listener much
while he/she is doing something else. In terms of composition and density, his
music falls closer to the likes of Sean McCann (at his least drifty and most “busy”)
and maybe even Tim Hecker, in a way (not as much digitalized maybe, but still
somewhat heavy in terms of sound alone).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Crown Heights</span></i><span lang="EN-US">,
being his debut release, sets the stakes high: it is 25 minutes of intense,
almost disorienting sound collages which combine thick layers of strings and
violins, processed found sounds and shimmering, pulsing electronics in the vein
of Sunroof! or beatless Astral Social Club. Two side-long compositions start
and end abruptly, often changing into a whole different mindset with a violent shift,
going in a second from full-blast noisy psychedelic bliss into barely audible
remnants of melodies. The sound is bombast, heavy and flat out abrasive at
times, yet it has nothing to do with noise music or its ideals – instead of
cutting itself from any possibility of dialogue and providing sonic distress,
Christopher Merritt sculpts demanding and slightly chaotic, yet rewarding and
peaceful music, like an ADHD take on tape ambient music, using a dozen sources
of sound at once, blending minimalist traditions of string-driven drone a’la
Tony Conrad, processed and impossible-to-locate field recordings of Loren
Chasse and Chris Watson and glitchy laptop folk of Greg Davis (pre New New Age
era) and Christian Fennesz.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Christopher Merritt is a man to be
watched. Digitalis Ltd. understood that we might be dealing with an unpolished
diamond, a raw talent that only waits to be harnessed and trained and put into
more constrained categories. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crown
Heights</i> is a document of raw ideas that might be a gateway to something
grand if correctly applied and directed.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.discriminatemusic.com/christophermerritt.php">Copies still available at Discriminate Music. </a></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-65107174751547415392011-12-06T00:38:00.001+01:002011-12-06T00:40:49.377+01:00Review: Plankton Wat / Super Minerals - Split (Stunned, 2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://theradiantnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/folder7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://theradiantnow.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/folder7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:HyphenationZone>21</w:HyphenationZone>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>PL</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:Standardowy;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It turns out that the Portland based
Stunned Records still had one last surprise up their sleeves before they ceased
to function; some “save it for the final moment” material that just waited to
be released into the public. The ultimate Stunned release is the split between
the Portland’s own Dewey Mahood (who also shreds in caveman kraut unit Eternal
Tapestry), known as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Plankton Wat</b> and
Magic Lantern’s own William Giacchi and Phil French, a.k.a. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Super Minerals</b>, this time backed up by
Caitlin C. Mitchell and M. Geddes Gengras himself. The split between the two
projects may be read as a psychedelic tribute to the West Coast, with Plankton
Wat side recorded in Portland and the Super Minerals side recorded in Los
Angeles. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Side A, despite Plankton Wat’s more
northern origins, presents the warmer, sunnier side of psychedelia in a series
of shimmering, relaxing guitar meditations ranging from shamanic folk, where
the phased wordless moans sound like the ultimate deconstruction of the
singer/songwriter format (“The Path Obscured”) to beach head dubby reverbations
in the vein of his Edibles project (“Borneo Canopy”) with stealthy wah-wahed
guitar barely, yet noticeably making presence within the abstract, non-rhythmic
drumming. Mahood goes for a shorter, song-oriented format which sounds almost
poppy compared to the flipside’s lengthy, cavernous explorations. Despite
making some more experiments, his trademark style of instrumental, bassy guitar
strumming stays – “Dark Temple” and “Still Lake Reflects” are the example of
this, being the mystical invocations much in the vein of this year’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In Magical Light</i>, released on a UK label
Reverb Worship (highly recommended, both the label and the album itself).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Super Minerals’ side consists of
only 2 tracks, which are more abstract and slightly darker, while exploring
more “oriental” areas. Gone is the lo-fi musique concrete of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hoax</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Contacteer</i>. Super Minerals redefine themselves once again, this
time going for complex, multi-layered psychedelic folk compositions with a
touch of sustained guitar dark ambience from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Pelagics</i> and the liberal use of heavy, bassy moans. The
cascading, aquatic guitars and the chaotic pipes and flutes sound like the
calmer moments of Magic Lantern, devoid of much structure and stretched out in
time to create a thick, psychedelic ambient soup which sounds like a
more-cohesive, hi-fi descendant of the ultra-weirdos The Skaters. Additional
drumming by MGG and Caitlin C. Mitchell provides a ritualistic, rhythmical
atmosphere and further adds to the rich sonic tapestry of Super Minerals’ side.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stunned Records ended their career
with a bang; both parties present their own, unique take on the vast and
multi-faceted genre of psychedelic folk. Plankton Wat is the more conservative
side, with distinctive guitar tones and relatively simple style, putting focus
on melody and an easy flow. Super Minerals go in the opposite, much more
liberal direction, often blurring the line between traditional instruments and
electronics, rising confusion about the source of sound, blending everything
into an abstract, mapless and shapeless jam without dissolving into unnecessary
chaos. What also makes Super Minerals one of the most exciting bands on the
psychedelic scene right now is their ability to effortlessly change their sound
and ideology on each album. One can only wait what new ideas and styles the
future brings for the Minerals (who I hope will last longer than the gone-too-soon
tropical psych rock outfit Magic Lantern).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?8b7n3l77qcpj1t4">Plankton Wat / Super Minerals Split</a> (link via <a href="http://theradiantnow.wordpress.com/">The Radiant Now</a>) </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.discriminatemusic.com/planktonwat.php">Buy the cassette at Discriminate Music!</a></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-40895624220769478802011-12-04T00:34:00.001+01:002011-12-04T11:21:21.201+01:00Sugarm - Songs About Guns<div style="text-align: justify;">
One day, I received a mysterious package in the mail. In the great DIY fashion it was an ordinary looking CD wrapped in an ordinary sheet of paper containing an excerpt from a book (or a lenghty essay) on communism, capitalism and insurrection ("Depose autorities at a local level", the header of one of the paragraphs says). The sheet of paper is inscribed only with the name of the album, the track list and the e-mail address for contact purposes. A bit of an Internet research has led me to gain some scarce information about Sugarm: his real name is mike, and he's a 21-yr old New Yorker who makes drone and ambient music for (self)therapeutic purposes. I was <i>absolutely shocked</i> to find out that he's not using any guitars in recordings, only keyboards and samples. Because the opening 11-minute monolith "Two-Winged Dove" will make you think of the loop-and-delay guitar masters with its sustained, ominous notes much in the vein of Super Minerals' "Hadal". There are more influences to be heard on this bedroom masterpiece, like the multi-layered, noisy ambient of "Cockfighter" and "Belt Pkwy Mama", which sound like b-sides from Tim Hecker's <i>Radio Amor</i> or the fluctuating minimalism of "Leaving the Sandbox", channeling Christian Fennesz and his <i>Venice</i>. Music like Sugarm's <i>Songs About Guns</i> makes me love my "job" as a blogger more and more, because not only I get to hear some amazing music I wouldn't have known otherwise, but also share it with others. Great, great ambient music, not as "wallpaper music", but more as a deep, focused listening.<br />
<br />
<b>EDIT: Actually, Mark contacted me after I've published this post and corrected me about the guitars - in fact, they're all over this album. Sorry for the confusion, everyone and thanks for correcting me, Sugarm! Enjoy the album!</b> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/38/27/3827362311-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/38/27/3827362311-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://sugarm.bandcamp.com/"> Songs About Guns</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-3800485393537414812011-12-03T16:58:00.001+01:002011-12-03T17:27:37.098+01:00The Kurws - Dziura w Getcie<div style="text-align: justify;">
Debut album from the Wrocław-based quartet <b>The Kurws</b> (which can be roughly translated as "The Whors"), which apparently formed in "May of 2008 as a spontaneous consequence of a ping-pong session" (from the <a href="http://kurws.com/bio">band's own website</a>). Somehow I'm not surprised, considering the nature of their music. <i>Dziura w Getcie</i> ("A Hole in the Ghetto") documents the band's development of their own brand of spastic, energetic math post-punk spanning the <b>Shellac</b>-worshipping guitar and bass interplay, relentless drumming and occasional presence of aggressive, free improv inspired saxophone. The Kurws became the true masters at "controlled chaos", with all their compositions sounding as if they were about to fall apart and become a free-form, enveloping mess, Magik Markers-style, yet are kept within very tight constraints by hard bass slaps and robotic, krautrockish percussion. <b>My favorite Polish act right now. Highly recommended! </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2oPsD-N1vXM/TqmRRJ1g0qI/AAAAAAAAC0g/3TyjcNLS3Ao/s1600/kurwskaseta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2oPsD-N1vXM/TqmRRJ1g0qI/AAAAAAAAC0g/3TyjcNLS3Ao/s320/kurwskaseta.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.filesonic.pl/file/3839249655/The_Kurws__Dziura_W_Getcie_2011_empetrojki_blogspot_com.rar">Dziura w Getcie (Filesonic)</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.fileserve.com/file/zMxhUHK/The_Kurws__Dziura_W_Getcie_2011_empetrojki_blogspot_com.rar">Dziura w Getcie (Fileserve)</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_299073692">Stream at The Kurws' Bandcamp</a><a href="http://kurws.bandcamp.com/album/dziura-w-getcie-a-hole-in-the-ghetto"> (and buy their shit, too!)</a><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O8BJFdVmuyM" width="420"></iframe>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-74298126015056846442011-12-01T17:50:00.001+01:002011-12-03T16:45:35.372+01:00Merkabah - Lyonesse<div style="text-align: justify;">
Are you afraid of the avant-garde? I hope not, because this Polish avant-prog-jazz-psych-noise-math unit is sure to fill all your needs regarding lenghty, tightly-composed and complex compositions. On three tracks, ranging from 7 to 11 minutes, the boys show a wide spectrum of influences and inpsirations, ranging from John Zorn (probably the most prominent influence on the album, with ominous sax snaking its way through heavy prog), King Crimson, Grails, Acid Mothers Temple, Secret Chiefs 3 and Psychic Paramount... The <i>Lyonesse</i> EP is just the prelude to the band's debut studio album, which hopefully will soon find the right label to be released on. This EP has been released on a small, yet always reliable independent Polish label <a href="http://assonancerecords.wordpress.com/">Assonance Records</a> in a hand-made, elegant carboard packaging in three color versions. Download the album first and support the label (and the guys from Merkabah, too) and buy the album, if you enjoy it!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/46/44/464401747-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/46/44/464401747-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://merkabahpl.bandcamp.com/album/lyonesse">Lyonesse</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-9082909062537038652011-12-01T15:04:00.001+01:002011-12-01T15:17:12.419+01:00Storm Shelter - Storm Shelter<div style="text-align: justify;">
Debut minuscule EP (or maybe even a cassingle?) from an all-female psychedelic garage rock (or, as Monofonus Press website describes their sound, "sludge pop") quartet <b>Storm Shelter</b>. Judging from the cover, featuring all members standing topless wearing jeans next to a pig head on a stick, their main inspirations might be the funeral folk imagery of Belgian weirdos Silvester Anfang and William Golding's <i>Lord of the Flies</i>. Three lo-fi, fuzzy songs with thumping, propulsive, somewhat doomy feel which fuse stonery guitar noodling with gently rising and falling vocals (often more than one at once), which sound like a twisted, shamanized take on 1960's pop hooks and ultra-catchy choruses. You'll find yourself stomping your feet and nodding your head to almost 3-minute long "Crones" in no time. Bleak and poppy at the same time. I really, REALLY hope these girls release more stuff soon. <b>Highly recommended. </b>Buy the cassette version for $5 only at <a href="http://monofonuspress.com/store/storm-shelter">Monofonus Press</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://monofonuspress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Stormshelter-jCard-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://monofonuspress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Stormshelter-jCard-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?t8aexkd5z81c6ar"><b> </b>Storm Shelter</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-62899717496862765472011-11-29T17:59:00.000+01:002011-11-29T18:16:58.833+01:00OMM - █▄▄█<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here's the set up: one day I was checking my e-mails (as usual), sifting through countless bullshit indie newsletters, when I saw a message signed as "<span class="gD">● ▲▲ ▲▲". My reaction was something along the lines of "Oh God, someone didn't get the memo regarding triangles and weird symbols" and "I <i>really</i> shouldn't be clicking this". A few days later, however, I was searching my inbox, looking for bands and projects I might have overlooked to make up for the neglect of my blog. Reluctantly, I clicked the link to the Bandcamp page, where I was greeted by even more impossible to write, let alone pronounce track titles. Despite all this, I clicked the play button and instead of witch house, I was greeted with disastrous, ultra-fuzzy, post-apoc guitar noise with clear signs of raw black metal worship, recalling my brief infatuation with <b>Striborg</b> in late 2007. <b>OMM</b> (also written as <b>O /\/\ /\/\</b> - I wonder if it's a reference to the improv ensemble AMM?) is a solo project of Slovakian experimentalist </span><b>Jozef Tušan</b>, whose speciality is the creation of deafening and/or unettling soundscapes using mostly his guitar. Not your usual relaxation music, but one can find certain transcendence in the waves of flesh-tearing noise.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/24/42/2442516118-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/24/42/2442516118-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ommsound.bandcamp.com/album/-">█▄▄█</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-79479117701939216632011-11-29T17:19:00.001+01:002011-11-29T17:40:36.001+01:00Mohave Triangles - Eternal Light of the Desert Plateaus<div style="text-align: justify;">
A photograph of Macchu Picchu adorns the cover of <b>Mohave Triangles</b>' newest cassette, and it's not just aesthetics. The artwork of <b>Robert Thompson</b>'s newest album (released on Georgia's killer Hooker Vision label) goes beyond being merely a "old NatGeo pictures collage" to become a true reflection of Robert's inspirations behind his music. Imagery of old, forgotten civilizations from both North and South America (before the Europeans came), shamanism and the temptation of believing those civilizations had actual contact with extraterrestial beings is a staple of Mohave Triangles. On <i>Eternal Light of the Desert Plateaus</i>, Thompson stays in the drone area, but doesn't limit himself to drone only. Both sides of the cassette begin with a cavernous, almost dark-ambient passages, but gradually transform into windswept, scorched guitar invocations somewhere between the desert doom of <b>Barn Owl</b> and folky primitivism of <b>Six Organs of Admittance </b>(sans the vocals). It's great to see the scene's up-and-coming artists evolving beyond the area of pure drone, which, let's face it, is slowly beginning to eat its own tail. <b>Recommended. </b>Cassette version available at <a href="http://hookervision.blogspot.com/p/store.html">Hooker Vision</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e2Xbu8Ky8-Y/TtUKGG8MGPI/AAAAAAAAAkY/LeD---NqvNE/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e2Xbu8Ky8-Y/TtUKGG8MGPI/AAAAAAAAAkY/LeD---NqvNE/s400/cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://mohavetriangles.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-light-of-the-desert-plateaus-c32">Eternal Light of the Desert Plateaus</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-17157104412382088062011-11-29T16:50:00.001+01:002011-12-04T00:50:04.880+01:00Neon Pulse - Field Recordings From the Heart Station<div style="text-align: justify;">
Oxford's dronesmith <b>Neon Pulse</b> describes his music as "emo" or "emotronic". But it's not used in a pejorative, degrading way we all got so much used to in the last few years (because I'm sure many, or maybe even most Weed Temple readers know about the original emo movement of late 80's and early 90's, not those whiny teen attention whoring fucks fueled by sensation-seeking pulp media) - Neon Pulse's music fits the term very well, but here we find him switching guitars to synthesizers and creating nearly 2 hours of enveloping, cosmic ambience with two, maybe even three sides: sometimes it's smooth "wallpaper music", at other times it's filled with sandpaper textures in the vein of Infinite Body or Stitched Vision and occasionally the music even kicks into the ambient techno territory ("Love Plume"). But the emotional package characteristic for the genre masters stays, only now it seems harnessed, digitalized and lenghtened into a series of meditations, sometimes sad, sometimes wide-eyed. A truly immense and immersive album, <b>highly recommended</b> for all ambient lovers, especially at this time of the year. Let your heart station open. The double cassette is still available at <a href="http://lutek.papamobile.strefa.pl/sangoplasmo/sango010.html">Sangoplasmo Records</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kJlWfLHzlc8/TtUCTDO7hOI/AAAAAAAAAkI/rUo1lNhAG9k/s1600/front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kJlWfLHzlc8/TtUCTDO7hOI/AAAAAAAAAkI/rUo1lNhAG9k/s400/front.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1jPxy7QrZ3s/TtUCkF9sszI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/0-8fNNzzRyU/s1600/back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1jPxy7QrZ3s/TtUCkF9sszI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/0-8fNNzzRyU/s400/back.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://neonpulse.bandcamp.com/">Field Recordings From the Heart Station</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-49285786217163861402011-11-24T23:34:00.001+01:002011-11-24T23:43:46.556+01:00Tygerstrype - Lackadaisical Daisy<div style="text-align: justify;">
A slowly unfolding psychedelic pop journey from Philadelphia's <b>Gabriel Guerrero</b> (vocals, production) and <b>Alden Towler</b> (guitar). Swells of ethereal ambience and upbeat sequencers set to economically, yet effectively used beats and Guerrero's crystal clear, powerful vocals and Towler's funky guitar licks. For fans of <i>Merriweather Post Pavilion</i>-era Animal Collective.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/17/50/1750545377-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/17/50/1750545377-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://tygerstrype.bandcamp.com/">Lackadaisical Daisy</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7402335021265395731.post-71955469693272128352011-11-22T22:31:00.001+01:002011-11-22T22:51:11.548+01:00EYE - Center of the Sun<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here's a treat to the fans of the more "classical" psychedelia: a proggy space rock journey with hard rock and early heavy metal elements in the style of Hawkwind, Blue Cheer or early Black Sabbath from a Columbus based power trio of Matt Auxier (guitars, vocals), Matt Bailey (bass) and Brandon Smith (bass, vocals), supplemented by Adam Smith playing all sorts of classic old-school electronics: Mellotron, ARP 2600 and the Moog. The result is a trippy, yet tight and thoroughly planned album. Without resorting to creating a chaotic, disorienting mass of sound EYE manage to take the listeners into new worlds AND kick ass at the same time - while most modern bands are more into the "psychedelic" part of "psychedelic rock", these guys are the "rock" part of the equation. <b>Recommended!</b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/37/85/3785253062-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://f0.bcbits.com/z/37/85/3785253062-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> </b><a href="http://eyemusic.bandcamp.com/">Center of the Sun</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10943787708889291471noreply@blogger.com2