Notables:
The Game - The R.E.D. Album
There are very few fads in hip-hop that I really get into but for a while I could just not get enough of rapers repping the bloods and other gangs. Sadly, when Kreayshawn starts doing it, it's time to give it up.
Maybach Music Group - Self Made Vol. 1
I was worried when Officer Ricky signed Wale. But when you drop a dud like Attention Deficit you gotta do a lot to get the public eye again. Fortunately for the dc native, Pill (ATL), and Meek Mill, Rick Ross can do no wrong. The beats were obviously left over beats that Ricky didn't really want so he passed them to his team and layed down a hook for good measure.
Washed Out
The year of the fuck jam. Listen to "You and I" and try to not get wood or moist.
On to the countdown.
10. Kendrick Lamar - Section 80
Hate him or love him, Drake has paved the way for the (semi) conscious rapper to get more exposure than they could've gotten in the last 10+ years. See J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., and Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick's talent has been acknowledged by all of his fellow California peers. He has worked with Dr. Dre and The Game in the last year. Section 80 has a lot of conscious themes. Not too many rappers in the spotlight right now are willing to criticize the drug trade and talk about how it has hurt our generation. But just when you think he might be too high up on his soap box, you hear "Spiteful Chant" and "Ronald Regan Era"and it all balances out. "Rigamortus" is a straight banger.
9. Wiccans - Skullduggery
Let me start this out by saying I'm not a Katorga Works jocker. Friend rock is serious problem in hardcore today. So when I heard this LP I was very worried about how much I liked it. I really just a sucker for anything that sounds remotely like 86 Mentality.
8. Give - I Am Love 7"
I really wasn't a fan of Give for quite a while. I always enjoyed seeing them live but would go home and give them another try and be disappointed. So when I stumbled across this single I stoked to finally like them recorded. Some (Adam) say that the B-side, "Solid White", is better. Although I think that song is great, I think they (he) are (is) nuts. If it weren't for Total Control I'd say it's the catchiest punk song of the year.
7. Diamond - Don't Lose Your Cool
Marketing geniuses. Big twitter push by all bands associated with them (Trapped Under Ice, Down To Nothing) and friends made everyone that should know about this feel stupid for not already having it. On top of that its a completely solid 90s style Alt-Rock EP.
6. Creem - Good Riddance b/w I Hate You 7"
Upon writing this I realized that I might be suffering from friend rock but fuck it. This shit is banging. Pissed off, hard nosed hardcore. Did I mention I like things that sound even a little bit like 86? The new shit they've been playing and recently recorded is going to fuck you up. Most likely will make my list next year.
5. Holy Other - With U
I guess this is what the kids call witch house. Honestly, I don't give a shit what they call it. Some really chill dance music is what it is. Definitely sexy. Please give "Touch" a listen. I can't get enough.
4. ASAP Rocky - LiveLoveASAP
My favorite Hip-Hop release of the year. That's saying a lot because I think 2011 was a great year for hip-hop (except watch the throne, BARF). If this mixtape was instrumental it would still probably make my top 10. On top of those tasty beats comes an emcee from NY that draws heavy influence from Houston and Bone Thugs. Could I ask for more? Clams Casino bridges the gap between "witch house" and hip-hop flawlessly.
3. Total Control - Henge Beat
Mixing catchy punk with new wave jams. This record is perfect and infectious. These Australians need to get their asses back to the states. If you can deny "The Hammer" or "Love Performance" I don't want to know you.
2. War Hungry - Self Titled
A new song writer has transformed this band from some riffy ignorant as fuck hardcore to heavy ass metal. There are creepy samples, solos and synths all throughout. Fans of modern hardcore and Obituary need to get their ears fucked up by this.
1. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
Abel Tesfaye was music's most valuable player in 2011. Dropping 3 completely solid mixtapes of completely original music (except a cover of "Dirty Diana" by MJ that rivals the original). All 3 mixtapes could be on the list but that would just be too boring. I'd suggest getting them in the order that they came out. House of Balloons was the first and my favorite. It's the only one that has an actually single on it. Among the single "What You Need" highlights are the beginning of the titled track (a song that samples Siouxie and The Banshees. I wish he didn't try to rap at the end though), "The Morning" and "The Party & After Party". In all seriousness, this is mixtapes has no duds.
As I said, the year of fuck jams.
-Trey
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Forever Catching Up: My Favorite Records of 2011
As usual, I spent more time looking into old records rather than consistently staying up on new releases, but you should go into this post knowing that most of the new stuff I scoped was either in the shoegaze or oldschool-styled death metal realm. I also realized that I’m more and more into records that are 40 minutes or under.
Honorable Mentions
Angel Olsen - Strange Cacti
Recorded largely in one day, this lil’ tape EP is manages to sound mysterious and old-school despite being done up entirely in Garageband. Warbling, lo-fi folk from Chicago. I’m curious to see where Ms. Olsen goes with this project if she gets signed. I’m also hoping she’s alright with my posting this since, from what I can tell, the tape and LP are entirely sold out.
Download Here
Circle of Oroborus - Eleven Fingers
This Finnish duo mixes a lo-fi black metal aesthetic and vocal approach with an unabashed love for Joy Division. This record often sounds like one big song recorded underwater, as if their melancholy was audible but still just distant enough.
Still Corners - Creatures of An Hour
Whispery female vocals over quality instrumentation? You sold me.
Tamaryn - The Waves
I’m interested to see where this band goes. This record is way solid, but stops just short of that special spark. They were a blast to see live, and frontwoman/project visionary Tamaryn is well on her way to becoming a dream pop chanteuse-- she already has the dark presence of Nico and the just-hushed-enough delivery of all your favorite Creation Records ladies.
Top of Records of the Year
Drugs of Faith - Corroded
Richard Johnson is, to me, a fascinating individual. Routinely showing up to grind and punk gigs in a button-down shirt and Vibram Fivefingers, he’s about the last dude you’d see and think “ah, he probably played in Enemy Soil and now does vocals for Agoraphobic Nosebleed.” But Drugs of Faith are a different animal from both these endeavors as well as other big grind names, because they simply (in this writer’s opinion) know how to do songs. I love grindcore’s energy, but I want something that will stick in my ear. Sometimes that doesn’t even need to be a riff-- it can just be a scrapey guitar noise played for almost the entire song. Richard and DoF approach their catchiness very much from a “rock” perspective, but are just as likely to go straight into a blasting section or a little bout of weird, Voivodian chords. All the while, Ed Spode’s capable drums support Taryn Wilkinson’s carving basslines and Richard’s forceful guitar. The instruments are beautifully balanced in the mix, but all would be for naught if Richard’s vocals weren’t as honest, impassioned and completely intelligible as they are.
At 28 minutes, Corroded is also the perfect length-- a cohesive, precise record that’s so together you immediately want to throw it on again. I don’t know of any other album I heard this year that came together this well.
Buy Here
Raw Radar War - On A Field Of White 7"
Long before it happened, Trey called it years ago, and I’m ashamed I questioned it in the first place: “Entombedcore” is now a thing. But in a world where fans of underground heavy music are at once smitten with and hating on hardcore kids jamming oldschool death metal, cranking Boss HM-2s and trying to sound like Nails, Raw Radar War stands out. Not because that’s ICDT (read: Asa) favorite Jonah Jenkins on the mic-- his growls here are the antithesis of about 90% of his previously cleaner vocal approaches-- but because they’re exactly who they are: hardcore OGs who love Bolt Thrower, and have been demonstrating this love for a number of years. With five songs in eight-odd minutes, these vets get in, apply combat boot firmly to teeth, and get out.
Download Here
Buy Here
Whirr - June 7”
Two songs of the Norcal shoegazers’ newer, more outrightly “pop” direction. The effects use and dreaminess remain intact, but there’s a push in the A-side “Junebouvier” that the lauded Distressor EP only briefly hinted at. Having just signed with the resourceful but inconsistently-rostered TeePee records, not even a dumb name change will stop this sextet in 2012 .
Download Here
Yuck - S/T
A huge band this year, Yuck make fuzzed-out ‘90s tunes that are blatantly derivative but freshly executed. Who can fault them? This record is so good I jammed it something like six times in one day. The next record will be more telling as to their staying power, but these kids are unashamed to wear their influences on their sleeves and are doing a pretty good job emulating them.
Listen/Buy Here
40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
More than just trad-doom revival band Warning with a different drummer, 40 Watt Sun dropped an absolute opus this year with The Inside Room. Its five long-form songs may go at a steady trudge (this alone took me numerous playthroughs to get past), but the record simply reeks of honesty and heartbreak. To his immense merit, mainman Patrick Walker is channeling clear non-metal influences with aplomb-- when I saw them live, they opened with a Codeine cover, and his songwriting style has made his work just as palatable when played acoustically as they are in their full, distorted album versions. Hunt this one down and take the time to let it envelop you.
Buy Here
Absu - Abzu
Okay, so Absu’s subject matter-- intense, verbose occult and ancient mythology-- is inherently pretentious. The music is not, and has never been anything less than a tightly-honed mix of a handful of extreme influences headed straight for your throat like a spear. With that said, Absu don’t often slow down much in their songs, and after an hour-plus of this ferocity things can begin to blur together. Abzu remedies this swiftly from the opening scream. With just eight songs in 35 minutes, it’s a distillation of their best parts and, like the aforementioned Corroded, immediately demands repeat listens.
Broken Water - Peripheral Star EP
Olympia, WA, has always been a place of complete weirdness and great, original ideas, and if you don’t believe me you can scope one of the 10,000 house shows that occur there on a weekend basis or just read the first part of the Beat Happening entry in Our Band Could Be Your Life. As of late, bands like Milk Music and these guys keep the ‘80s and ‘90s musical preoccupations of their/our/my generation at the fore, but still manage to have enough of their own take. Now, to be controversial for a sec: I think the very talented ladies and dude in Broken Water write terrific songs, but not, as of yet, terrific records. There’s an absolute abundance of awesome on every damned one of their releases to date, but also a lack of togetherness tiying all the tunes together to form a cohesive whole. Peripheral Star is probably their best to date in remedying that. Here, “Heart Strings” bashes shit down and drives throughout, but then the album’s energy gets dialed down for the slow and creeping “Kansas.” It’s “Okane No” and “Stop Means Stop” that sound out of place here: the former has cool ideas but winds up overly repetitive, while the latter’s anti-rape focus is fantastic lyrically (“I’ve never known your privilege/You’ve never been without”) and but musically, it comes off as an odd punk shuffle on a record otherwise consisting of far more atmospheric songwriting approaches. Still, Broken Water have another LP on the horizon and I couldn’t be more stoked. They toured for like a month and a half straight in the summer/fall and I’m pretty sure not too many DIY bands can maintain that lifestyle if they’re shitty.
Download Here
Listen/Buy Here
Negative Plane - Stained Glass Revelations
Despite what this list might make you think, I’m less and less into metal these days. Negative Plane still get me jonesed, though, in spite of both this and my general distaste for black metal. They take the genre’s hellish riffage, add Mercyful Fate demoncy, horror film keyboard interludes, and drench the whole shebang in cold, distant reverb. Live, they’re also magnicifent-- no corny between-song banter, corpsepaint or gratuitous stage setup. Like Absu’s Abzu, Negative Plane brilliantly distill classic and new metal sounds into their own darkened atmospheres.
Buy Here
Vastum - Carnal Law
Three-fifths of Acephalix, a different drummer and the hyper-talented Leila Abdul-Raif (Saros, Amber Asylum, Hammers of Misfortune) bring the fucking death metal rugged and raw, but (thank goodness) put a slight twist on their Autopsy/Carcass/Bolt Thrower worship. They can swing like Chris Reifert and bend creepily like Bill Steer, but what aids this murky darkness is their sexual lyrical bent. This is no rapey Cannibal Corpse bullshit, but rather the subversive, psychosexual meditations of Georges Bataille.
Download Here
Buy LP Here
Buy Digital Here
Tycho - Dive
This fall, I was very bummed to show up to a Decibel Fest event to find out that dream-pop/electronica-blending wunderdude Ulrich Schnauss had to cancel his headlining spot at quite literally the last minute. My sticking around for his replacement, California’s Tycho, was unquestionably the right choice. Despite its obviously electronic origins, Dive seeps with an organic warmth as well as dude’s meticulous attention to detail. The word “chill” can be cheaply bandied about with any record that’s remotely subdued, but here Tycho’s output is more than deserving.
Listen/Buy Here
Meg Baird - Seasons on Earth
I was generously given this LP by a bandmate on my birthday and it’s quickly grown very close to my heart. I’m no folk scholar, but I feel that many newer artists hyperbolically hailed as “the new Nick Drake!” lack something their ‘70s predecessors had. I’m hesitant to label that thing as “soul” or “a spark,” but I can say this: Meg Baird (also of east coast freak-folkies Espers) has it in spades. Her unpretentious, gifted playing and warm, contemplative voice channel the perfect amount of dat feel from her yesteryear influences, but still leaves room aplenty for her own style. Neither a genre innovator nor a simple worshiper, she made one hell of an album in Seasons on Earth.
Listen/Buy Here
Soft Kill - An Open Door
I’m not here to address controversies, just music. Former Blessure Grave mainman Toby Chan aka Tobias Grave has made an excellent post-punk/goth record here, excellently channelling the minimalism of Joy Division and early Cure. Definitely a late addition to my list, but the level of songwriting quality on this album is consistently robust.
Download Here
Honorable Mentions
Angel Olsen - Strange Cacti
Recorded largely in one day, this lil’ tape EP is manages to sound mysterious and old-school despite being done up entirely in Garageband. Warbling, lo-fi folk from Chicago. I’m curious to see where Ms. Olsen goes with this project if she gets signed. I’m also hoping she’s alright with my posting this since, from what I can tell, the tape and LP are entirely sold out.
Download Here
Circle of Oroborus - Eleven Fingers
This Finnish duo mixes a lo-fi black metal aesthetic and vocal approach with an unabashed love for Joy Division. This record often sounds like one big song recorded underwater, as if their melancholy was audible but still just distant enough.
Still Corners - Creatures of An Hour
Whispery female vocals over quality instrumentation? You sold me.
Tamaryn - The Waves
I’m interested to see where this band goes. This record is way solid, but stops just short of that special spark. They were a blast to see live, and frontwoman/project visionary Tamaryn is well on her way to becoming a dream pop chanteuse-- she already has the dark presence of Nico and the just-hushed-enough delivery of all your favorite Creation Records ladies.
Top of Records of the Year
Drugs of Faith - Corroded
Richard Johnson is, to me, a fascinating individual. Routinely showing up to grind and punk gigs in a button-down shirt and Vibram Fivefingers, he’s about the last dude you’d see and think “ah, he probably played in Enemy Soil and now does vocals for Agoraphobic Nosebleed.” But Drugs of Faith are a different animal from both these endeavors as well as other big grind names, because they simply (in this writer’s opinion) know how to do songs. I love grindcore’s energy, but I want something that will stick in my ear. Sometimes that doesn’t even need to be a riff-- it can just be a scrapey guitar noise played for almost the entire song. Richard and DoF approach their catchiness very much from a “rock” perspective, but are just as likely to go straight into a blasting section or a little bout of weird, Voivodian chords. All the while, Ed Spode’s capable drums support Taryn Wilkinson’s carving basslines and Richard’s forceful guitar. The instruments are beautifully balanced in the mix, but all would be for naught if Richard’s vocals weren’t as honest, impassioned and completely intelligible as they are.
At 28 minutes, Corroded is also the perfect length-- a cohesive, precise record that’s so together you immediately want to throw it on again. I don’t know of any other album I heard this year that came together this well.
Buy Here
Raw Radar War - On A Field Of White 7"
Long before it happened, Trey called it years ago, and I’m ashamed I questioned it in the first place: “Entombedcore” is now a thing. But in a world where fans of underground heavy music are at once smitten with and hating on hardcore kids jamming oldschool death metal, cranking Boss HM-2s and trying to sound like Nails, Raw Radar War stands out. Not because that’s ICDT (read: Asa) favorite Jonah Jenkins on the mic-- his growls here are the antithesis of about 90% of his previously cleaner vocal approaches-- but because they’re exactly who they are: hardcore OGs who love Bolt Thrower, and have been demonstrating this love for a number of years. With five songs in eight-odd minutes, these vets get in, apply combat boot firmly to teeth, and get out.
Download Here
Buy Here
Whirr - June 7”
Two songs of the Norcal shoegazers’ newer, more outrightly “pop” direction. The effects use and dreaminess remain intact, but there’s a push in the A-side “Junebouvier” that the lauded Distressor EP only briefly hinted at. Having just signed with the resourceful but inconsistently-rostered TeePee records, not even a dumb name change will stop this sextet in 2012 .
Download Here
Yuck - S/T
A huge band this year, Yuck make fuzzed-out ‘90s tunes that are blatantly derivative but freshly executed. Who can fault them? This record is so good I jammed it something like six times in one day. The next record will be more telling as to their staying power, but these kids are unashamed to wear their influences on their sleeves and are doing a pretty good job emulating them.
Listen/Buy Here
40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
More than just trad-doom revival band Warning with a different drummer, 40 Watt Sun dropped an absolute opus this year with The Inside Room. Its five long-form songs may go at a steady trudge (this alone took me numerous playthroughs to get past), but the record simply reeks of honesty and heartbreak. To his immense merit, mainman Patrick Walker is channeling clear non-metal influences with aplomb-- when I saw them live, they opened with a Codeine cover, and his songwriting style has made his work just as palatable when played acoustically as they are in their full, distorted album versions. Hunt this one down and take the time to let it envelop you.
Buy Here
Absu - Abzu
Okay, so Absu’s subject matter-- intense, verbose occult and ancient mythology-- is inherently pretentious. The music is not, and has never been anything less than a tightly-honed mix of a handful of extreme influences headed straight for your throat like a spear. With that said, Absu don’t often slow down much in their songs, and after an hour-plus of this ferocity things can begin to blur together. Abzu remedies this swiftly from the opening scream. With just eight songs in 35 minutes, it’s a distillation of their best parts and, like the aforementioned Corroded, immediately demands repeat listens.
Broken Water - Peripheral Star EP
Olympia, WA, has always been a place of complete weirdness and great, original ideas, and if you don’t believe me you can scope one of the 10,000 house shows that occur there on a weekend basis or just read the first part of the Beat Happening entry in Our Band Could Be Your Life. As of late, bands like Milk Music and these guys keep the ‘80s and ‘90s musical preoccupations of their/our/my generation at the fore, but still manage to have enough of their own take. Now, to be controversial for a sec: I think the very talented ladies and dude in Broken Water write terrific songs, but not, as of yet, terrific records. There’s an absolute abundance of awesome on every damned one of their releases to date, but also a lack of togetherness tiying all the tunes together to form a cohesive whole. Peripheral Star is probably their best to date in remedying that. Here, “Heart Strings” bashes shit down and drives throughout, but then the album’s energy gets dialed down for the slow and creeping “Kansas.” It’s “Okane No” and “Stop Means Stop” that sound out of place here: the former has cool ideas but winds up overly repetitive, while the latter’s anti-rape focus is fantastic lyrically (“I’ve never known your privilege/You’ve never been without”) and but musically, it comes off as an odd punk shuffle on a record otherwise consisting of far more atmospheric songwriting approaches. Still, Broken Water have another LP on the horizon and I couldn’t be more stoked. They toured for like a month and a half straight in the summer/fall and I’m pretty sure not too many DIY bands can maintain that lifestyle if they’re shitty.
Download Here
Listen/Buy Here
Negative Plane - Stained Glass Revelations
Despite what this list might make you think, I’m less and less into metal these days. Negative Plane still get me jonesed, though, in spite of both this and my general distaste for black metal. They take the genre’s hellish riffage, add Mercyful Fate demoncy, horror film keyboard interludes, and drench the whole shebang in cold, distant reverb. Live, they’re also magnicifent-- no corny between-song banter, corpsepaint or gratuitous stage setup. Like Absu’s Abzu, Negative Plane brilliantly distill classic and new metal sounds into their own darkened atmospheres.
Buy Here
Vastum - Carnal Law
Three-fifths of Acephalix, a different drummer and the hyper-talented Leila Abdul-Raif (Saros, Amber Asylum, Hammers of Misfortune) bring the fucking death metal rugged and raw, but (thank goodness) put a slight twist on their Autopsy/Carcass/Bolt Thrower worship. They can swing like Chris Reifert and bend creepily like Bill Steer, but what aids this murky darkness is their sexual lyrical bent. This is no rapey Cannibal Corpse bullshit, but rather the subversive, psychosexual meditations of Georges Bataille.
Download Here
Buy LP Here
Buy Digital Here
Tycho - Dive
This fall, I was very bummed to show up to a Decibel Fest event to find out that dream-pop/electronica-blending wunderdude Ulrich Schnauss had to cancel his headlining spot at quite literally the last minute. My sticking around for his replacement, California’s Tycho, was unquestionably the right choice. Despite its obviously electronic origins, Dive seeps with an organic warmth as well as dude’s meticulous attention to detail. The word “chill” can be cheaply bandied about with any record that’s remotely subdued, but here Tycho’s output is more than deserving.
Listen/Buy Here
Meg Baird - Seasons on Earth
I was generously given this LP by a bandmate on my birthday and it’s quickly grown very close to my heart. I’m no folk scholar, but I feel that many newer artists hyperbolically hailed as “the new Nick Drake!” lack something their ‘70s predecessors had. I’m hesitant to label that thing as “soul” or “a spark,” but I can say this: Meg Baird (also of east coast freak-folkies Espers) has it in spades. Her unpretentious, gifted playing and warm, contemplative voice channel the perfect amount of dat feel from her yesteryear influences, but still leaves room aplenty for her own style. Neither a genre innovator nor a simple worshiper, she made one hell of an album in Seasons on Earth.
Listen/Buy Here
Soft Kill - An Open Door
I’m not here to address controversies, just music. Former Blessure Grave mainman Toby Chan aka Tobias Grave has made an excellent post-punk/goth record here, excellently channelling the minimalism of Joy Division and early Cure. Definitely a late addition to my list, but the level of songwriting quality on this album is consistently robust.
Download Here
Friday, January 27, 2012
Aghast - Blood Opinion
Artist: Aghast
Album: Opinion
Release: 2011
Album: Opinion
Release: 2011
Label: Distort Reality
Tracklist:
1. Blood Opinion
2. Dead Cities
3. Bring Us The Head (Of Joe Arpaio)
4. Dust
5. Fingerprints
6. The Wolf
7. Water Wars
8. 67 Dead
9. Rage
10. Incoming Raids
11. Revolt (Asocial)
To be honest, I used to not like Aghast at all. Granted, this was something like six years ago when I first heard them, a time when my ears weren't at all in-tune with the pre-noise-not-music sound that this crasher crust band has pushed and developed since then. That being said, I started to relisten to them a few years ago and realized that "hey, this band ain't so bad...they're pretty sick, actually!" (yes, I think like this, unfortunately).
It helps that the band is currently at its peak and Blood Opinion might be their best material yet. The recording is certainly incredibly noisy, but it's also not entirely lo-fi or unintelligible, which I think only enhances each song's strengths, such as the incredibly catchy leads that come in on songs like "Dead Cities" and "67 Dead." Still, I think my favorite part of the record is the drumming, which pushes these songs into mind-melting territory. Each time I put this record on, I end up spinning it at least two times.
Lebenden Toten gets all the love (and they do rule), but Aghast, baby. Aghast!
Download Here
To be honest, I used to not like Aghast at all. Granted, this was something like six years ago when I first heard them, a time when my ears weren't at all in-tune with the pre-noise-not-music sound that this crasher crust band has pushed and developed since then. That being said, I started to relisten to them a few years ago and realized that "hey, this band ain't so bad...they're pretty sick, actually!" (yes, I think like this, unfortunately).
It helps that the band is currently at its peak and Blood Opinion might be their best material yet. The recording is certainly incredibly noisy, but it's also not entirely lo-fi or unintelligible, which I think only enhances each song's strengths, such as the incredibly catchy leads that come in on songs like "Dead Cities" and "67 Dead." Still, I think my favorite part of the record is the drumming, which pushes these songs into mind-melting territory. Each time I put this record on, I end up spinning it at least two times.
Lebenden Toten gets all the love (and they do rule), but Aghast, baby. Aghast!
Download Here
-Adam
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Lilys - In The Presence Of Nothing
Artist: Lilys
Album: In The Presence Of Nothing
Release: 1992
Label: Slumberland/spinART
Tracklist:
1. There's No Such Thing As Black Orchids
Album: In The Presence Of Nothing
Release: 1992
Label: Slumberland/spinART
Tracklist:
1. There's No Such Thing As Black Orchids
2. Elizabeth Colour Wheel
3. Collider
4. Tone Bender
5. Periscope
6. It Does Nothing For Me
7. Snowblinder
8. The Way Snowflakes Fall
9. Threw A Day
10. Claire Hates Me
Man, where to start with this record. Well, you’ll read everywhere that’s it’s total My Bloody Valentine worship, or the follow-up to Loveless that they never got around to recording. The former, I think, is far more true than the latter, but if anything Kurt Heasley and company seem to be more focused on the songcraft of MBV than toying with rack units, tremelo arms and reverse reverb. Sure, opener “There’s No Such Thing As Black Orchids” hits with the same whoosh you might have felt when hearing your first MBV song, and “Collider” further cements that vibe, but the hook in “Tone Bender” is pretty darn heavy and “Threw A Day” has a jangliness you wouldn’t find in the Valentines’ catalog.”It Does Nothing for Me” also dials down the idolatry for a sec in the chorus...to introduce a guitar/bass figure that pretty much nails the Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins sound. “Claire Hates Me” has become one of my favorite ‘90s songs ever put to tape, and contains a musical tightness rarely heard in bands of a gazey nature.
The only thing, really, that stops In The Presence Of Nothing from being flawless is the 12-minute filler of “The Way Snowflakes Fall.” There is absolutely no reason for it to exist on a record of what is otherwise essentially phenomenal pop songs with the guitars layered and cranked up over the vocals. Why Heasley decided to attempt a long-form, repetitive ambient piece, I don’t know, but the mood I’m in when I want to hear Ambient 4: On Land is certainly not same as that of ITPON. If you’re willing to give it a shot, this is one of the most sought-after shoegaze gems of the genre’s initial heyday (way out of print), and while it’s easy to call it derivative, it’s also easy to enjoy.
Download Here
-Asa
Man, where to start with this record. Well, you’ll read everywhere that’s it’s total My Bloody Valentine worship, or the follow-up to Loveless that they never got around to recording. The former, I think, is far more true than the latter, but if anything Kurt Heasley and company seem to be more focused on the songcraft of MBV than toying with rack units, tremelo arms and reverse reverb. Sure, opener “There’s No Such Thing As Black Orchids” hits with the same whoosh you might have felt when hearing your first MBV song, and “Collider” further cements that vibe, but the hook in “Tone Bender” is pretty darn heavy and “Threw A Day” has a jangliness you wouldn’t find in the Valentines’ catalog.”It Does Nothing for Me” also dials down the idolatry for a sec in the chorus...to introduce a guitar/bass figure that pretty much nails the Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins sound. “Claire Hates Me” has become one of my favorite ‘90s songs ever put to tape, and contains a musical tightness rarely heard in bands of a gazey nature.
The only thing, really, that stops In The Presence Of Nothing from being flawless is the 12-minute filler of “The Way Snowflakes Fall.” There is absolutely no reason for it to exist on a record of what is otherwise essentially phenomenal pop songs with the guitars layered and cranked up over the vocals. Why Heasley decided to attempt a long-form, repetitive ambient piece, I don’t know, but the mood I’m in when I want to hear Ambient 4: On Land is certainly not same as that of ITPON. If you’re willing to give it a shot, this is one of the most sought-after shoegaze gems of the genre’s initial heyday (way out of print), and while it’s easy to call it derivative, it’s also easy to enjoy.
Download Here
-Asa
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Crust Never Sleeps TONIGHT:
Hey everyone, Adam from the blog will be appearing on the local NYC radio show "Crust Never Sleeps" to play some of his favorite non-NYC records of 2011. Here is what the host, Reed, has to say:
http://shithawkpunks.blogspot.com/2012/01/crust-never-sleeps-tonight.html
Tune in, dummy.
"Tonight on Crust Never Sleeps we have guest DJ Adam of the great Katorga Works NYC record label and icoulddietomorrow, the most viewed post-9/11 hardcore punk mp3 blog. Spinning "good songs of 2011." Tastemakers in the house. 10pm eastern Tuesday 1/24/12"
Post-911, eh? LOL. Tune in and hopefully no one is let down!
http://shithawkpunks.blogspot.com/2012/01/crust-never-sleeps-tonight.html
Tune in, dummy.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Nazi Dust - Wretched Hour 12"
Artist: Nazi Dust
Album: Wretched Hour 12"
Release: 2011
Album: Wretched Hour 12"
Release: 2011
Label: Vinyl Rites
Tracklist:
1. Suffering
2. Wretched Hour
3. Flourish/Voices
4. Static Art
5. Disease Of Flies
6. Doomed For A Loss
7. Empty Thoughtfuls
8. Self-Worth
9. Catharsis
10. Dull Regard
Just when everyone thought Nazi Dust was dead and gone, Tampa's most hated hardcore band returns with their definitive statement, a one-sided 12" (haha). Made to be economical, this 12" has no insert and features only music on the A-side, but it's still at 45rpm, so it's nice and loud. Oh, and the band can play their instruments now! The band takes their love for SSD and other fast, 80s Boston hardcore bands, strips the straight edge element from them, and introduces incredibly trebly and industrial-sounding guitars, which really reflects their roots in Tampa. Most importantly, though, the songs are just much better written and are far more memorably than their prior material; "Suffering" is one of the best hardcore songs I heard in 2011. Total banger status. But really, while I quite liked their demo and their 7", this is definitely the material I'll be revisiting the most often. You need to get this from Vinyl Rites.
Download Here
Download Here
-Adam
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