Blu (feat. R.A. The Rugged Man + Tristate) – “Thelonius King” – [Fat Beats]

Surprisingly rugged new single from the usually subdued and introspective Blu. The production by Bombay (never heard of him before but hope to hear more like this) is almost industrial, grungy savage, distorted all levels blocked out in the red, the sound wave of the entire track probably looks like a brick thru the window of Wells Fargo. Blu is joined by legendary undergrounder and NY boxing aficionado RA the Rugged Man and Tri-State of the new Alchemist-produced group Durag Dynasty. Blu and Tri-state are MC killers for sure who play the bread nicely with well above par verses, but RA is the butcher in between who really strips the flesh from the corpse with the illest endeavor; he says, “In a world of murderers and rapists, and children with exposed ribcages, organ damage from famine, flies on their faces, blood thirsty baby killers and mental cases, gun-totin’ cops born racist, school districts preaching hatred, angels with black wings holdin’ automatic guns like gatlins, bodies blown to bits, bloody torsos that lack limbs.” The b-side is the same beat, but it only has Blu on the solo tip with 3 verses (1 is his original and 2 alternates), but I wish it was the instrumental because this beat is so large it should stand on its own. If you dug Gangrene you’ll dig this chaos too. Plays at 45. Mann the General.

Six Organs of Admittance – “Parsons’ Blues” – [Drag City]

Ben Chasny on guitar leads these noisy, repetitive, psych-y tracks with lots of heavy bass and drums in addition to a second guitar and organ. Mission Abort has a bit more momentum; Blues For Jack Parsons is more on the somber side. Nice EP from this KFJC favorite.

Van Allen Belt, The – “Songs” – [Self-released]

The lollipop purple vinyl of this 7″ matches the upbeat nature of these songs, sung in a woman’s rich voice (sometimes in layers), set atop synth and other instrumentation. There’s a gentle, mellow, folksy pop feel to this, epitomized by the following lyric on A1: “I only do right ’cause it feels good.” You will feel good after listening to this.

Ramble Tamble – “Secret Museum of Kind Men Vol. 2″ – [Casual Acid Tea]

Again kudos to Matt Clark and his Casual Acid Tea label for taking
the dip/trip into Pat Conte’s amazing collections. But right off the
bat, KFJC’s got a problem here as we do NOT appear to own the original
Secret Museum Of Mankind Vol. 3: Ethnic Music Classics: 1925-48.
We’ll get somebody on that, but let’s drop the needle here now.
This time kind men were found in the “band” Ramble Tamble which is
Turner Williams, Jr.??and friends, whether in NYC or down in Alabam’.
First up: From Epirus with epilove, “Ta Magia Sto Pegadi” has Ramble
Tamble swapping out the Balkan flights of clarinet for fiddle
flourishes and laser light pitch wheel synth dervishes. Under the
mix, drums kick up dust and Turner Williams, Jr grinds out some grit
on his Electric Shahi Baaja. That song sort of breaks into two,
an initial somewhat dour descending melody that hits a pause
and Adam Markiewicz slings his bow and the tune into a rising
kind of arpeggiated spin. To me the winner was Tunisia on the
flip side, “Raks Fazani” where Williams and Casey Glover now
on piano get the magic carpet flying like a santur dreaming
of a shooting star. On the 7″ inner seal, both tracks say
as “interpreted” by Ramble Tamble, so the sounds are intentionally
more citified and trade vocals for licks and maybe even tumble
the tunes a bit. Still good for soul.

-Thurston Hunger

Alter Echo & E3 – “Kufic Dub” – [ZamZam Sounds]

Following in the footsteps of dub luminaries Lee Perry and Scientist (AE&E3 have collaborated with both), these former BSI label-heads stay devoted to the true essence of dub even when they get out there in a modern way. They flatter with their imitations of traditional predecessors, but balance this fanboy inspiration with nuances that bring new characteristics to the dub-iverse. Echo-delay vocals are potted up naturally and don’t sound like samples, while sudden key riffing and tempo jumps/drops show that these are not loops; what starts as a sacrifice to the old gods mutates into the scribbles of the new electronic scripture that actually lives when the lasers start firing and the 2″ tape starts whirring in the back ground. Both are slow and stoney and play at 45. Mann the General

Wire Werewolves – “Frigid Soil” – [Aagoo]

L.A. group I’m gonna call industrial black metal. This one-sided 7″ single (yes, a black metal single!) from 2008 is intended for Abacus Finch’s 2013 Mayhem special on Aagoo Records. Galloping drum machine, screaming and slightly mathy riffs. Sonic influences may include Vrolok, Black Funeral, Mutiilation or Krieg, as well as the noisegrind of other L.A. acts like Sissy Spacek. Sutekh Hexen might be fans of these guys. I have no idea what the lyrics are about. The second half’s a bit doomy. If I were a total black metal purist I’d hate this, but I’m not and I don’t.

Profit, Ethel – “Ethel Profit” – [Mississippi Records]

Ethel Profit is a woman with a voice to make your heart bleed. Her smokey voice is accompanied by the blusiest of solo blues guitar.. teetering on the fringe of gospel with the tracks Death is Not the End and Life is a Battle, both uplifting and somehow melancholic…lonesome. The nature of this old recording gives it a natural sort of overdrive, you can hear the sound peaking and crackling when Ethel really starts to wail…and does she ever. Simple and soulful, dug up from the depths of Mississippi Records’ unbelievable sonic archives. -Surfer Rosa

Lucky Dragons – “Music For No Reason” – [Aagoo]

Spacy, dreamy ambient trance on this 7″ single from Lucky Dragons. Very light and beautiful, shimmering electronics from the experimental duo – I wish it was a full album. Reminiscent of the more ambient side of Orbital.

Black Scorpio Underground, The / Vomit Arsonist, The [coll] – [Hate Mail Records]

The BSU self-described:

HARSH NOISE,INDUSTRIAL PORN GORE POWER ELECTRONICS OUTFIT FROM LONG BEACH CALIFORNIA.FORMED IN 2009 WITH A REVOLVING LINE UP INCLUDING CORE MEMBERS- THEE SLUGLORD, MS. 45 & THULSA DOOM. I don’t think this really reaches the precision harsh levels of say Merzbow and Actuary (though they released a split cassette with Actuary two years ago, so ya that so cal scene). It reminds me more of sloppy movie-score power-noise like Mutant Video’s Head-Scan tapes on the Iron Lung record label minus the Yamaha DX7 and plus distant construction site hollering of confusion and despondency. And I hear and see no porn on here so that part of their description is incongruent for this release anyway. The flip with The Vomit Arsonist is more of the same smolder and tin-ripping with quite a bit more vocals in the dehydrated demon extracting from the human host style. Word. Plays at 33 but flipping it on 45 makes the vocals sound like baby wraiths throwing fits in feces, which is pretty cool too. Good for the seamless confluence of on-air noise mixtures and layerings. Mann The General.

Gustafsson, Mats; Vandermark, Ken; Baars, Ab, Nilssen-Love, – “Abet?!” – [Terp Records]

Trio side-Ab Baars-Clarinet; Ken Vandermark-Tenor Sax; Paal Nilssen-Love- Drums. Recorded- 2009 Addis Adeba this improvisational trio starts fast and furious with Nilssen-Love setting the time, enter Baars Clarinet squealing fire and flying high with Vandermark supporting. Vandermark takes over with blazing solo work with drums keeping live audience on edge of seat. This 4 minute improv doesn’t let up from start to finish. Solo Side- Recorded 2011 Addis Adeba. Mats Gustafsson reaches deep and long releasing animalistic guttural magnitude. Very soulful packed 4 minute solo. Both sides of this 7″ are peak high energy sessions that will leave you gasping for air.

Rongwrong – “epiphany obvers epiphany revers” – [Obuh Records]

Recorded live in Poland 1993. Rongwrong is a Polish experimental underground trio creating their art through voice/unvoice tapes. Mood is dark and textured taking the listener on a ride though the thick tarry muck of the underworld. A1-Take a deliberately slow, sleepless haunting trip through the fog encrusted haze of the netherworld, ends in locked groove. B1- Ghostly voices haunt the lonesome traveler albeit with barely there beats to plod along to. B2- Meet your brethren seeping out along the way ensuring this is what you once feared and will continue into eternity.

La Luz – “La Luz” – [Water Wing Records]

This Seattle band consists of four lovely ladies who, on Side A, offer smooth, sultry vox, organs, and guitars in a well-paced, mellow song. Side B has slow, easy-going guitars, organ, and tambourine. Both songs have a retro late-60s feel and feature a cute chorus of a wah-ooh nature. Perfectly suited to Maybelline’s Girl Version.

Spectral Park/Happy Jawbone Family Band [coll] – [Mexican Summer]

The A side of this split contains the Spectral Park debut album song whose name translates into “the name of the emptiness.” There’s organ and interesting lyrics. Side B has a track from the Happy Jawbone Family Band’s 2009 album, and it is a raucous psych rock ditty. For both bands, the jaunty mood of the music belies the lyrics and song titles. Give them a try.

Invisible Hands, The – “Insect Dilemma/disallowed” – [Abduction]

Hang onto this one because these tracks are not found on any album. Male vox (Alvarius B) on A (which is an orchestrated version of a track from a Sun City Girls’ album), female on B (sung in Arabic by Aya Hemeda). Both recorded in Cairo in October of 2012. Not too risky–inject some Moroccan folk (B) into your set.

Hecks, The – “Trust and Order B/w The Time I Played With My Puppy” – [Moniker Records]

This newly formed duo out of Chicago bring home the bacon with two ingeniously infectious tunes.. Garagey overdrive sounds and riffage to write home to your mother about.. sooo tasty. Side A or Trust and Order is catchier of the two, with a sticky yet simple, repetitive guitar riff, gluing things together while the drums tip their hats to a head bang. Heavily processed indecipherable vocals come mummbling in about half way through. Simply satisfying is a loopy kind of way. Like frolicking through a meadow of daisies after frying your brain on a bucket of whippits. Side B is an impaired love song written for this guy’s puppy. My personal favorite and weirder of the two. Kicks off with a grinning acoustic guitar riff accompanied by feedback sounds and high pitched tinkerings. Reverby, echoed out vocals give praise to puppies and the whole thing simmers and spasms for a short minute until all that’s left are these crackly oscillations fading into gurgley noise.. the kind of noise my puppy would make.. if I had one.. -Surfer Rosa

Psychic Ills/Moon Duo [coll] – [Sacred Bones Records]

A split 7 inch with Psychic Ills and Moon Duo. Though both bands are supposedly good friends, this is presented as their first release together.

Psychic Ills: “Take Me With You” Gone are the long electronic synth trance repetitions. This is slow stoner psych blues rock. How’s that for a list of adjectives? It’s like a slow train chug chug chugging with a classic rock beat, echoey guitar, a simple organ line melody in the background all filled in by Tres Warren’s lazy, subtle vocals. Singing about taking him with you when you leave. Definitely a transition piece between the psych rock of the “Hazed Dreams” LP and the more straight ahead rock heard on the most current LP “One Track Mind”. Listening to this I see the color amber.

Moon Duo: “Zoned” Alan Vega’s love children. Continuing in the fuzzy, psych, caught in a loop sound, with maracas, this is harder sounding and a bit faster than the flip side. Drone rock, psych rock, space rock, call it what you want. It gets under your skin. Incessant drum beat, synth/organ, buzzy guitar, sort of indecipherable lyrics. Just be sure not to bump into the turntable when you get caught twirling in the studio.

Victim’s Family – “Have a Nice Day” – [Alternative Tentacles]

“We’re going to kick you in the head and beat you till you have a nice day.” It’s going to be all I can muster to avoid busting out with this catchy phrase when I’m done ringing up customers. This is a great refresher to any set, but I prefer Side B with its change-up of music from punk to funk and back again, as well as its sentiment of “Let’s Cancel the Future.” I mean, who doesn’t want to cancel the future sometimes? The band, formed in 1984 in Santa Rosa, has undergone various incarnations, but its essential flame is still sending out a spark. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Father Murphy – Two Views [coll] – [Aagoo]

Some may know Father Murphy, the sinister psychedelic pop group out of Italy that seem to be descending deeper into the dark side. Well here we have part of a set of remixes Aagoo Records are putting together of their last album, Anyway Your Children will Deny it, featuring here pieces by??Indian Jewelry and Philippe Petit. The Indian Jewelry side does a pretty loyal rendition with wind organ setting a raspy, repetitive hearbeat that layers on drones as it progresses. The track drops out to an airy breeze of wind that’s barely audible for the last minute or so. Philippe Petit’s side is a brooding cello drone that plods on while adding unsettling smatterings of subtle found sounds. Both tracks work great for somber or nefarious transitions, mic beds or mixing. A CD release to come contains more remixes from the album, surely more treats.

Cheap Curls – “S/t” – [Art Fag Recordings]

You can almost hear the wind rushing through Jackie Oh’s silk-scarved hair as she speeds along the coast in her sky-blue Buick convertible. This pop rock blast from the 60s past is energizing and fast paced, with guitars, drums, and Katie Serbian’s vocals adding the perfect feminine touch. Side B is a slightly slower love song that rollicks along. It’s all like cracking open a can of ice-cold Coke–you feel refreshed and young again.

Subklinik – “Pt I : Pt II” – [Waggletone Records]

Ritualistic dark ambient from American multi-instrumentalist Chad Davis, erstwhile member of metal bands Demoncy, Father Befouled, U.S. Christmas et al. As the title suggests, this 1996 EP is one track split across two sides. Side one is a gradually building drone, distant clanking and a throat-singing sound that may or not be coming from a human. Side two introduces some slightly more rhythmic touches, with occasional bells and/or gongs added to the mix. Echoes of Michael Northam, Coil, and later SPK, as well as Asian monastic music… well, you know the score, it’s one dark ambient piece among a great many in this style, but I enjoyed its expansive, vaulted mix, which has lots of room to explore. Imagine you are spelunking and have stumbled upon an abandoned cathedral hewn from solid rock.