Sixteens ~ Into The Gold Wave of Future Non Rip-Off! A-Library CD {Hungry Eye}

Kristo Bal (a.k.a. Kristen Louise , a.k.a. Louise Gas) & Veuve Pauli (Aaron) still scorch as a dynamic ab-synth duo outta San Francisco!?? Their Fendi EP served as a cloaked warm up to this supercharged gold wave sound experience.?? Obviously, Casio pop presets & new wavish synth-post punk saturation still applies, but this is so fuckin??? fresh!?? Kristen???s electric voice carries such tremendous catchy current & Aaron???s perturbed scratchy lethargic tone is such a killer juxtaposition.?? Some really weird experimental cuts allow some depth & diversion before diving back into Sixteens uber spooky six-minute dance rhythms.?? Way cool & first heard live on KFJC in the Pit during the Hungry Eye Records Special!?? Undying thanks to Ophelia Necro & Morris Minor for that shit!???????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? LANGUAGE : #9

Black Ice ~ Myopia A-Library CD {Hungry Eye}

Myopia follows the flight pattern Black Ice???s debut, Terrible Birds though hardly nearsighted as this name suggests.?? Dense gothic gloom seeping steadily from Ch-Oakland city streets.???? Sluggish creepy synths, villainous violins, drearily delayed guitar sustain, as well as eerie plodding percussion & binding drowsy bass aid the casting of this wicked spell. ??Miss Kel???s obscure rasping cellophane raven caws & nightingale whispers mourn & chill this more experimental atmosphere.?? This is dark & well crafted but far more subdued than previous Black Ice outings.?? Entrancing & oh so spooky.

Epsilons- “Killed ‘em Deader ‘N A Six Card Poker Hand”- (Retard Disco) CD

Sophomore effort from this foursome fresh out of Laguna Beach High School. Guitar, vox, keys, bass & drums. This release further exemplifies their garage rock roots. Rock and Roll recorded at The Distillery, engineered by Mike McHugh (Melvins, Lightning Bolt, etc.) 14 tracks including an enjoyable cover of “Stronger Than Dirt” (Jay and the Techniques, the Mummies) and one instrumental (5). These guys started out using walkie talkies to record the vocals. On this release, the vocals have a very live lo-fi sound. 60s/70s surf and garage elements (especially the keys) with maybe some Lemmy inspired licks thrown in here and there (track 2). Short and sweet the longest track (7) runs 2m 49s, the shortest track (9*) runs 1m 48s. These are simple, fun songs you can clap along with and groove to while rocking out on a Saturday night (or maybe even on a Sunday).

*LANGUAUGE ON TRACK 9!

Loto Ball Show

The newest project from Oaklander transplanted to Chicago, Loto Ball
(aka Hopeless, aka Ryan Shuq) former frontman of The Phantom Limbs.
A five piece featuring “Loto Ball” on keys, trumpet & vox, Brandon Davis
on guitar, Dan Browning on drums, David Smith on sax and Max Gomberg
(Centimeters) on bass. Debut EP of 5 songs, beginning with a 6m 05s
track about a fun game involving driving with eyes closed…creepy lyrics
that aptly paint a gruesome picture. Nice saxaphone work. Track 2,
“Poseidon Waltz is a 5m 45s carnivalesque instrumental, envision
drunken clowns stumbling through the bigtop, a trapeze artist dangling by
a foot, in the corner a monkey eats cotton candy…Track 3 “I Saw Your
Lines” runs 3m 38s has a groovey bass feel with saxaphone work remniscent
of James Chance. Track 4 is a 32s with MC Kenny giving words of intro-
duction and advice (perhaps this track would be more appropriate as an
opening track for this reason.) The EP ends with a 3m18s track “Dead Kiss”
which could be about a dying relationship, once again props to the horns.
Great stuff from the Loto Ball Show. No Language.

OPHELIA NECRO

La Otracina - “Tonal Eclipse of The One ” - [Holy Mountain]

Formed in 2003 and heavy on the psychedelia, this
Brooklyn trio trips out. Sounds reminiscent of
Acid
Mothers Temple, Psychic Paramount, Guru Guru, Neu
and
all the krauty-space cadets in between! At times
flowing and toe-tapping riding high to your peak
and
then chaos happens and you’re coming down,
free-jazzing your way to experimental jam outs.
Far
out, man! All instrumental.

Hentai - “Toy Factory, The ” - [Vital Records]

Hentai, Jakob Nybo from Denmark, is often described as a brutal mixture of sinister minimalistic noise blended with soundscapes and audio torture. He apparently takes all his anger and frustrations and unleashes it in destructive electronic brain noise.
Not quite as painful as Merzbow, but certainly no picnic. This album reminds me of a few D-movie cheesy puppet horror flicks I’ve spent valuable time watching. Great to fantasize your bloody Cabbage Patch doll axing your brothers Teddy Ruxpin bear!
Some tracks complete with evil toy sounds! Hentai also writes articles and reviews on Japanese extreme cinema. -cinderaura

Farmacia - ???Crucial Sky In The Land of Premonitions???..??? (Psychopath)

The Buenos Aires trio Farmacia create intriguing experimental electronics with an old skool feel and obvious (to me at least) Throbbing Gristle influence (or the like). This ranges from quirky experimental electronics and random wierdness (3, 6, 7, 8, 11) to disco-y beats (5), a soundscape (1) some loveliness (10, 12) to some excellent beat-y rhythm tracks (2, 4, 9).
Excellent stuff do not pass this up!!!
Enjoy!!
Belladonna

Terminal Sound System - ???Compressor??? (Extreme)

Terminal Sound System is Australian Drum n??? Bass artist Skye Klein. But don???t write this off as just another Drum n??? Bass project! Klein got his start in metal bands and was in the hybrid doom band ???Halo??? so this has a lot of heft to it. This is heavy and I mean HEAVY!! Percussive beats with lots of low frequency ocillation to blow your speakers out. This stuff kicks ass! In between some of the heavy tracks are a few glitchy ones in the Richard Devine variety, no wimpy stuff here!! Check this out, this has the balls to please even the pickiest of DJs.
Enjoy!!
Belladonna

La Fin Du Monde - “Life As It Should Be ” - [End of The World]

Imagine an alternate universe - one where prog never imploded, but instead - perish the thought - progressed! Consider what would happen as it absorbed the guitar focus of the eighties, soaked up some mellowness in the nineties, and got in tune with the imprecision of the naughties.

Of course, you can’t just pop in and out of another universe. You need to use tachyons to get there, and tachyoffs to get back, and who really wants to go anywhere in such a tachy outfit?

Not that there’d be any point to going. The universe exists, yes, but there our world has ended. Yes, just like it says on the cover. Can’t you read French? Merde! That world has ended, perhaps indicating that prog had to die for our salvation. Yes, it was a noble sacrifice, all those glitter capes and silk pantaloons - not to mention the lovely, perfectly tuned instruments.

But this is “progressive” in the “chord progression” sense, so it may or may not be what you call “progressive”, or what Wikipedia calls “progressive”, but, labels aside, there are elements that strongly evoke that old prog feeling. It’s like a friend you bump into after twenty years, and discover that there’s no need to talk about what’s happened in the intervening time. Just hang out and enjoy the good company friend.

Back to my wondrous story - the alternate Earth came to an untimely end, but our scientists were able to open a portal to that universe and record this, the last transmissions from a radio station in the foreign quarter of Free Tibet. Listen, and comtemplate what might have been.

With track titles like “The Brutal Chicken Divine” and “Nascar Santa Claus”, it’s clear that these musicians don’t take themselves too seriously, yet they do take their music seriously, and the tracks are all well crafted and engaging. My favorite is the extra-proggy “We Don’t Necessarily Like Paul”, but I’d rather just play the disc end to end.

Warm, fuzzy, and deep, this a discful of refreshing all instrumental ponderings - “Tales from Topiary Puddles”, and it’s not to be missed!

Awon Ojise Olorun [coll] - [Savannahphone]

[coll] Awon Ojise Olorun International

The Yoruba tribe of Africa has resided in Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Togo for over a thousand years. Their percussion and group call-and-response singing style are the bedrock for more contemporary African styles like Juju, Apala, and eventually Fela???s Afrobeat. The examples here, spanning the period 1931-1952, are largely percussion-driven, although acoustic guitars show up here and there, and an Islamically-influenced style called ???sakara??? adds a one-stringed fiddle to the palette. The song topics run the range from religious invocations, to wildlife stories, to the merchandising of Kola nuts. English translations are provided for all tracks.

Frasca, Dominic - “Deviations ” - [Cantaloupe Music]

Dominic Frasca ???Deviations??? A Library

Solo guitar music from a minimalist perspective???intricate, precisely-plucked single notes, piling up on themselves in a circular fashion. Percussive tapping sometimes adds a rhythmic counterpoint to the picking. There???s also some pretty advanced fret tapping techniques here. At times the production suggests the arid, Nordic sonics of early ECM releases by players like Ralph Towner (see #3), while other tracks have fat delays, stereo ping-ponging, and other spatial effects, although the instrument is played in real time without any looping. #6 is a Philip Glass composition, and clearly Glass is an influence for Frasca and his writing partner Marc Mellits.

Out of Context - “One Inch Equals 25 Miles ” - [Burning Books]

J.A. Deane and his instrumental/vocal ensemble OOC perform a musical interpretation of avant-garde writer Sumner Carnahan???s 2001 book. Vocals, woodwinds and horns, various stringed instruments, percussion, and electronics are on the menu. Samplers also play a big part, adding odd sounds and effected versions of voices and instruments. Deane conducts the group, using an arcane system of gestures and such. The result is a loose, multi-layered sound that appears to have some sort of logic, but as listeners we don???t really know what it is. Carnahan???s words don???t clear anything up; they???re important to the work of course, but can???t be followed in any conventional, linear sense. The prose drifts in and out of the picture, sometimes making a big racket. I have to say that I can???t really grasp what any of this is about, and that being the case I know I???m not doing it justice. However, I can also say that there is real intelligence at work here, and this is an artful and challenging listening experience.

Corwood Variations, The [coll] - [Corwood Industries]

The ever elusive Texan, Sterling Richard Smith (better known as Jandek), started recording in 1978 and has some 50 albums under his belt, but has only given two interviews in that time, and didn???t perform live until 2004. With such mystery surrounding him, he has garnered quite a cult following. Enter Eric Schlittler of Summersteps Records, who has released 3 Jandek tribute CD???s, including this one, ???The Corwood Variations???, which is meant as a companion (not as a third volume) to the first two, as these are leftovers and outtakes. Personally, I think this is the best of the three releases, with some real gems to be found.

Not to be missed is the four part suite that is ???Painted My Teeth??? (#18) . Part sampling and part live performance, it is simply brilliant in its incongruousness and sense of humor.

Other standout tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 19, 23.

ALL CLEAN.

–Jawbone

Fucked Up - “Year of The Pig EP ” - [What’s Your Rupture]

Truly, not as fucked up as I expected.

Though on a new label (What’s Your Rupture?), FU continues to release albums 2 songs at a time.

The 18-minute title track, a twisted punk waltz, is the meat of the release. A girly doll voice alternates with lead singer’s throaty warble for dominance of a gentle 6/8 waltz. The 6/8 signature gives them the standard room to play with hemiolas (cross-rhythms, for those of you who skipped music appreciation in high school). the singer wants so badly to have one of those soulless hardcore rasps but is really too chained to the melody to succeed at fully alienating. The juxtaposition of innocent female & corrupting male vox builds to a frenzy, where the tension is ratcheted by diminution (two- or more-fold reduction in speed, for those of you who skipped music appreciation in high school; a favorite technique of Brahms and Philip Glass). From the slowdown they close out the last half mostly instrumentally in some 4/4 chords.

There’s no fancy guitar work - just pounding chords and drums. So why release this? I think it has to do with the lyrics, which I can’t understand too well. If you pay close attention you can figure them, but I doubt they’re pleasant. My best guess is that the evil guy wants to skin and roast the innocent girl. There are some bad words: “whore” early on, “shit” near the end.

The 4-minute 2nd track, “the Black Hat” is more straight ahead common time rock. A “bitch” is let out about 10 seconds before the pieces fades out — just fade early if you’re afraid of the b-word.

*Fucked Up plays the Hemlock Tavern on July 4th*

-Cujo, KFJC, June 2007

Big Blood - “Big Blood Bank - An Imaginary Compilation ” - [dontrustheruin]

They’ve stood shoulder to Cerberus Shoal-der, they are united
in musical matrimony as man and wife (and wife and wife.)
This imaginary collection is actually releases 3 thru 7 from
their homegrown label. Caleb Mulkerin and Colleen Kinsella
are the Big Blood quartet, with Colleen being three women in
one person (she harmonizes quite well with herselves too check
out “Slumber Me”)) I’m not yet sure which persona is on which
tracks, but she ranges from a long lost 1930’s radio siren on
“A Quiet Lousy Roar” to a super-shrieker out shrieking Damo
Suzuki on a fantastic cover of “Vitamin C” to might maternal
soothing. Caleb contributes vocals too that blend in well is
that him going up and through the falsetto turnstiles on
“Sovereignty You Bitch?” Sheesh they cover Satie and a cut
from Sublime Frequency’s Sumatran release. They can sound
like Swill Radio in parts, or be equally comfortable with
the New Old Weird America crowd. Fits with Steven R. Smith,
Faun Fables, Wooden Wand, Danielson…really is a comfortable
release. Instrumentation includes, guitars, melodica, banjo,
tibetan gongs hell maybe even tibetan harmonica?? At times it
sounds like it was recorded in a Maine lighthouse, Big Blood
rise up and serve as powerful beacon. Weird enough for KFJC,
sweet (and sweetly sour) singing, the mark of a mantra is
often on each song, pop like repetition but wrapped in a soft
gauze of strangitude. Getting all discs at once is akin to
discovering a lost civilization, with tracks to their young
daughter, and to their label… Discovery!!

-Thurston Hunger

Chacon, Raven - “Beesh Naalnishi ” - [Dineyazhe]

Look this youngster up and see what others have found to say about him (member of the Navajo Nation), his projects (Kleptones?), and his pedigree (Tenney, Subotnick, Mosko?); his own information, including this disc, is cryptic if not cryptographic (symbols? white-out? hand-written?).

This is woodwind-driven chamber noise, extra heavy on the flutes. Most of all, this is all very stop-and-go. Instruments play, pause, play, pause in varying degrees of purposefulness. One aleatorish extreme is on track 2, the other mechanical extreme is on track 5, which is like someone turning the volume dial rapidly on and off on a Charlemagne Palestine-like string quartet drone. Except I think it???s conducted/performed that way, not dialed.

This is a unique vision indeed, and I’m still rassling with myself as to whether I enjoy it. Certainly it’s deserving of our library. Those seeking to clear out the room of normal life should turn to track 5.

1. Solo alto. Possible flute doubling
2. Solo flute with supporting players
3. Cymbals and tamtams showpiece. No voices actually, as indicated by the title.
4. The whole chamber ensemble stops and gos.
5. Nails on a chalkboard.
6. The flute???s back! Multiple false endings.
7. Longer chamber group, with a little more direction.

-Cujo, KFJC, June 2007

Nono, Luigi - “20 Jahre Inventionen V ” - [Edition Rz]

If the wealth of recent KFJC library acquisitions (Guaccero, Berio, Maderna, Scelsi, Patrucco, etc and further back to Casavola and his futurist ilk) hasn???t convinced you yet that writing for the female voice is an innate ability for Italians, this one will. Don’t forget that 100+ years ago, their females ruled the airwaves: Verdi, Mascagni, Puccini… And don???t you forget that it was the Italians that started the whole fad of dramaticizing human conflict through singing (especially by women!) in the first place ??? point your browsers to Monteverdi and the Concerto delle donne. I proudly present another phenomenal disc of Luigi Nono???s music mostly featuring the female voice.

Quando Stanno Morendo (diario polacco no.2) (37:25): ???When They???re Dying (Polish Diary #2)??? for five female voices, bass flute, cello, and live electronics. A protest piece from 1981 reworking the first polish diary from 1969. Divine singing eventually yields to instrumental and electronic rustling.
Canciones a Guiomar (9:47): for solo soprano, 6-voice female choir, and instruments. More radio-friendly, but only for reasons of length.
Omaggio a Emilio Vedova (4:53): Nono’s first purely electronic composition, realized in 1960 at Milan’s Studio Fonologica (founded by Berio & Maderna). A fine listen, one that lets you appreciate how masterfully Nono would come to combine electronics with instruments and protests in the 1980s.

The singing overall is of a fuller quality than the Voices Of Protest Nono disc, but just as engaging, unsettling, and ultimately enrapturing. All other instruments, tape sounds, and electronic manipulations fade seamlessly and purposefully in an out like the best character actors.

-Cujo, KFJC, June 2007

Zorn, John ??? Moonchild A-Library CD {Tzadik}

Unleashed is this superbly scathing moonlit score conceived, composed, arranged & conducted by legendary avant-jazz saxo-freaky composer & thorny improviser John Zorn, also released on his own upstart Tzadik label.?? The Moonchildren acting out this aurally odd opus include Mike Patton on vocals, Trevor Dunn on bass and Joey Barron on drums.?? This snazzy spazzy, rock ???em sock???em, scary query into madness is shrieky freaky, ooky spooky, topsy turvey & oofti-magoofti.?? Thrashing rock rampages grind & lambaste using hardcore tenacity, uncanny incantations & theatric execution.?? Super fuckin??? cool & potently powerful!

Dagha ??? Object in Motion Hip Hop CD {Last Arc}

The Electric Bostonian Dagha a.k.a. Dwayne Simmons is not only the shady counterpart to Cloke-n-Dagha he is also one of the Massdasuvdauniverz, part of the Maysun Project and a noble of the Knights of the Roundtable.?? His solo debut Object in Motion gestures the groovy end production talents laid down by DJ Real & Martian Gang as well as Insight who alongside Al-Jabra lends his M-I-C skills.?? Some nice jazzy piano samples & vibes, dusky fuzz bass boom, & bumpin??? beats get you bouncin??? though some stellar standouts eclipse cuts that seem to fall flat.?? Several grooves combine interludes towards their outro.?? Dagha???s intelligently impassioned rhymes & strong MC skills don???t grip characteristically like Edan, Mr. Lif, or Busdriver though he still spits some pretty creative verses.?? Fun stuff. LANGUAGE: 1, 3, 5, 12, 13??????

Shemale - “Beyond The North Wind ” - [Clone Records (holland)]

Shemale- Beyond the North Wind/ Bunker

This is the second release from shemale off the bunker label. It is a 6- track mini disc, and the music here is as mysterious as it’s creator. It is slow electronic grooves that are dark and take you from the graveyard to outerspace, or perhaps to a graveyard in outerspace. I loved this! It is creepy, but in a goooood way, truly ??? There are some distored vocals, but really the dark synth beats and spacey electronic grooves carry the album. My only complaint is that it is too short. great stuff.

-cadillac margarita