PRE – Epic Fits (Skin Graft)

outlier   10/25/2007   A Library, CD

London basement misfits bash out some gritty cold sweat manic breakout punk.?? This ain’t no knock off, this be the real thing, guitar-bass-drum-screamage.?? Unrelenting crashbeat without the mathy aftertaste topped off with some screamer messages that are undeciferable other than noting the ‘sopissedofficouldpuke’ or the ‘notcomingdownfor3hours’ feel.?? Beat your head against this wall, it will probably help your condition.?? Your neighbors will hate you for this.

3W:??Smash Grab Relapse??????????????????????????????????

Son of Gunnar, Ton of Shel – Son of Gunnar, Ton of Shel (Edgetone)

outlier   10/25/2007   A Library

Aram Shelton-sax, bs cl, tr, elec?? and Steine Gunnarson-elec, prepared gtr create stylish electro-saxospheric currents while you daydream about interstellar travel.?? Multilayered, polyphonic existential treatises on what music is or was.?? Playboy once reviewed a dinosaur band with “Jazzman Beware”, well this time around it’s “BEWARE THE JAZZMAN” for they bring the sounds that mark the coming apostasy.?? Edgetone has taken an adventurous path with this and the Ghost in the House releases.?? Shelton and Gunnarson??unleash a stunning complex of sound on unsuspecting listeners and they’ll be quite thankful for the release from the cold??black bars of musical conventions.?? What is discovered here is a useful artifact for expermental efforts in coming times.?? This is Jazz without a safety net, this is experimentalism without boundaries.

3W: DANGER LIVE WIRES

Telephone Jim Jesus – Anywhere Out of Everything (Anticon)

outlier   10/25/2007   A Library, CD

George Chadwick (you can call him Jim, Telephone Jim actually) goes orbital with support from Alias, Pedestrian, Doseone, Ped, Bomarr and Odd Nosdam as well as Subtle’s Alex Kort on his second release.?? At times an aural onslaught, TJJ tells sonic narratives of the Tubeway Army taking Tiger Mountain.???? Electric buzz beats and manic metro musicality work their way thru the expanse of ethereal wave formations.?? That trippy Anticon sound is punctuated with TJJ’s signature style of guerilla electronics.?? A duality of distraction and consciousness is resolved with a weaving, wading, wandering path through modern electronic eloquence.

3W: Manic Metro Megaplex

Ainotamenishis – Ainotamenishis Live’ 418 (Holy Mountain)

outlier   10/25/2007   12-inch, A Library

First release on vinyl from an extremely ltd cd-r.?? Just enough of that Japanese honor of the song to keep this from turning into a total fuckfest.?? 29rpm rip’n’riffage that builds up from the garage punk aesthetic to full-on Cleveland-worthy fuckedness.?? Unafraid of what awaits when the notes die, the sheer grit determination to take it one step beyond is what most concerns their friends and family.?? Ability to veer to the Maher Shalal Hash Baz universe is apparent.?? Take the 3/3 and run it thru your Hash Baz clothscreen and the kif of Ainotamenishis will make you strong as a thousand camels.??

3W: FUCKED, BEAUTIFUL…FUCKING BEAUTIFUL

XNOBBQX – Sunshine of Your Love (Siltbreeze)

outlier   10/25/2007   12-inch, A Library

Originally released on cassette in 2005.?? Billed as militant vegan hardcore from Sydney/Blue Mtn Australia, the sound is better revealed from their mainline influences, Mouthus and Harry Pussy.?? No Wave Thorzine Thrash with no particular conceptual direction, the pulse and raked string rampage are noteworthy in their anti-tonality.?? A calmness about this approach though, not quite deconstructed in a Dead C ampwave drift, a more cut-up inside your head type of technique.?? Scramble for your song, you won’t find it, it was never there. Connections to Antipan (with Sumu and Anthony Guerra) but nothing officially recognized due the unstable mindset of Matt (guitar) and Nick (drums).

3W:No Wave NetherCore??
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Berthiaume, Brzytwa – Bebe Donkey (Actuelle)

outlier   10/25/2007   A Library, CD

Antoine Berthiaume out of Montreal and Mary Clare Brzytwa from Mills College create a garden of delights for listeners looking to be challenged and soothed in the same spectrum.?? A first-order recording of flute, guitar and laptop voyages that could lead to an out of body experience.?? The space between drone and experimental soundscapes is the galaxy these partners in para-normal sounds traverse.?? A quiet revolution unfolds from the abandoned forms of composition, exploratory in purpose yet quite sensible in texture.????

Many laptop layer cakes collapse like souffle’ but Berthiaume and Brzytwa make it happen like master chefs having a chat while prepping decadent delicacies.?? Even the space between sounds takes on significant meaning and function, truly a magnificent and important contribution to the undomesticated sounds of experimetation.

Monument of Urns – Cruelty (Hand Hewn Timbre)

outlier   3/5/2007   A Library

Crushing lashes of guitar judgement are rendered??upon cathedral chants and screamed scorn.?? Ritual sacrifice rhythm, slow and hard with feedbackdraft.?? Each reprise brings a more burdensome weight, one that eventually crushes the will to resist its evil doctrine.?? The kiddies won’t know what to think or dream if you play this in the daytime.?? Try not to expose the disc to direct sunlight and wash your hands after playing.??

3W:?? Urning Maximum Rage?????????????????????????????????????? – Outlier

Mindflayer – Expedition to the Hairier Peaks (Corleone)

outlier   3/5/2007   A Library

Alien wavelength audio transmissions permeate the soft machine and recombinant rhythms undo the damage of commercial and commodified intent, healing your lobes like some superfuture micromachine technology.?? Supersonic symbolic shrines to the noise gods with shamanic jester dj action, bow to the squid gods now !?? Noisebeat mutations for the jaded tweakers !

3W: Voodoo Viper Venom???????????????????????????????????????? ??- Outlier

Talibam! – Hungry Hungry Hemispheres (self release)

outlier   3/5/2007   A Library

Free Garage ! Out there and unashamed of every wrong note, these Athens antagonists just get down and inside your head with unmitigated audio audacity and some bongfire storytelling.?? The whole thing could fall apart at any second but never does and that is the genius that is Talibam!.?? If you must have them, comparisons to Fuzzhead and Hollywood Squaretet but these boys really deserve their own little fucked up category.?? Having fun and seriously fucked up sounds have rarely been seamed together like this.?? If there were such a thing as 3D earplugs, you’d be wantin a pair for this action.??

3W: PLANET X NOW???????????????????????????????????????????????????? – Outlier

Ved Buens Ende – Written in Waters (Candlelight)

outlier   2/28/2007   A Library, CD

Carl Michael Eide is an artist whose achievements in audio art are legendary.?? Aura Noir and Ved Buens Ende are??two of??the better known projects but his contributions and influence reach far beyond.?? Serpentine and sinister vocals over a pounding rapture of precise percussion and power guitar progression.?? The theatric delivery of vocals in a madman’s voice is the trademark of VBE, a crying laughter or polyphonic quality found nowhere else.?? Thorzine thrash, slowed down to the point of a grooving swagger.?? Anthems for the dark knight dispatched to slay the dragon and a gentle piece with??male and female vocals that achieves a timeless beauty??that will never fade no matter how often it is heard.

3W:????BEAUTY AND BEASTLY?????????????? -Outlier

Mahogany Brain – Some Cocktail Suggestions (Fractal)

outlier   2/28/2007   12-inch, A Library

French underground legends Michel Bulteau and Patrick Geoffrois unleash??the gods’ stash of avant wisdom on the unknowing masses.?? Slightly deconstructed delicacies, fender flange at lightspeed and HIGH-end audio art is what these artists deal in.?? Bulteau throws down some inspired Burroughsian vocal stylings nested in nebulous and nefarious??experimental sound??sculptures.?? This is the 3rd lp from the group in 2005 following two releases in the early 70’s.

??

3W: MEMORIES HAVE MELTED??????????????????-Outlier

Marclay, Christian – Guitar Drag (Neon)

outlier   2/28/2007   12-inch, A Library

Recorded in San Antonio, TX, the soundtrack for this icon’s eye candy first shown at??London’s Hayward Gallery exhibition??’Sonic Boom’ in 2000.?? Fender stratocaster, rope and truck recreate barbaric punishment rituals in the Texas sun.?? Rambling rattling roughed up 14 minutes of guitar abuse producing an aggressively ambient flux.?? This could only be heard at installations until this release came out in 2005.

3W: Inconceivably Conceptually Fucked???????????? -Outlier

Eddie the Rat – Once Around the Butterfly Bush (Edgetone)

outlier   2/28/2007   A Library, CD

Altered upbeat enchanting chimes sound with a ‘Spires That In The Sunset Rise’ meets the Residents and take some psychotropics feel.??Complexly simple piano, voice and percussion transcend the jazz/pop/avant elements??in??this magical mix that approaches a Caroliner cabaret in the limit.?? A mesmerizing but sensibly evolving path wherein parts initially clash then fall slowly into perfect place with revolving pieces of the moving musical mobile.

3W: REVOLVING MUSICAL MOBILE?????????? -Outlier

Jackie O Motherfucker – America Mystica (New Friendly) 2xLP

outlier   2/28/2007   12-inch, A Library

Drifting dreamstate trance magic from Tom Greenwood and Brooke Crouser joined by Honey Owens, Alexander Tucker, Jeff Mooridian, Samara Lubelski and others.?? This Portland portal to the other side has once again busted our at another seam in the fabric of what is American music.?? Live recordings from Bristol, England and WFMU… Forest moments, trance seance and other minded outsounds from the group that knows no bounds.

3W: Trip Trance Troubadors???? -Outlier

Berio, Luciano – Differences Sequenza III & VII Due pezzi (Modern Music Series)

outlier   2/28/2007   12-inch, A Library

Early works from the Italian master composer ranging from 1951 to 1965.?? The use of magnetic tape on Differences is one of the most captivating experiences in modern music.?? You are floating along in a symphonic cloud of elegance and then….WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS ??? When the higher dimension is abandoned, returning to the atmosphere of classical aesthetics you realize that some dude in the 50’s transported your ass to the triposphere with the precise vision of composition not some electric guitar freakout.?? Surely God smiled when he found out about this.??

3W: THROUGH HEAVEN’S GATE?? – Outlier

Jesu – Conqueror (Hydra Head)

outlier   2/28/2007   A Library, CD

Justin Broadrick lays down some simple wisdom and sensible songs to rise through the fog of underwhelmed emotions in an overwhelming world.?? Pushed to the point of not caring but realizing the empty reward of detached reasoning, comfort is found in knowing that circumstances are beyond any one person’s struggle.?? Sounds that reflect the rays of sunlight breaking through rainclouds that have overstayed their welcome, surrendering to emotions while holding faith in recovery and return to better days. Chrystalized Movements may come to mind on some of these tracks

3W:Hear Feel Heal???? -Outlier

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Daryl Licht posted this review on 10/25/07:

On their latest release Justin Broadrick???s Jesu continues its evolution down the musical path illuminated on the ???Silver??? LP. Although this release contains the same basic sonic elements as all previous Jesu recordings (thick, ???wall of sound??? guitars, mechanical rhythms, layered, droning keyboards, and reverbed/delayed vocals) the emphasis continues to focus more on the pop spectrum. So, yeah, there???s still thick guitar feedback heaviness, but now it comes in waves, accompanied by dreamy keyboard dronescapes, instead of the precision pound and massive blocks of riffage featured on their self-titled double LP. Personal favorites include the fuzzy dream pop of ???Transfigure??? and the distorto pop dirge “Weightless And Horizontal”.

This special, Japanese-only issue also contains a bonus disc with the two lengthy tracks from the, as of yet, unreleased ???Sun Down / Sun Rise??? LP. The first of these two tracks,???Sun Down???, is another piece that sounds very much like an extended version of the material on the first disc. ???Sun Rise??? continues to feature similar elements of sound, as well, but lowers the level of sonic density considerably to create a more ambient piece that even includes some electronica informed touches. Personally, I thought these two tracks were among the better pieces on this two disc set.

While I must admit that I found this release, overall, to be quite enjoyable, I???m not sure how interested I???ll continue to be in future Jesu titles if Broadrick???s sonic evolution continues further down its current path. When the ???Sun Down / Sun Rise??? LP does come out, it (also containing only two lengthy tracks) will make a fitting bookend to the ???Heart Ache??? CD (still the best Jesu title, in my humble opinion!) and, perhaps, a good note on which to close out the Jesu phase of Broadrick???s career before he runs its good name and reputation into the ground of disrepute like he did with Godflesh.

I Am The Arm – Glory Bound (New Line)

outlier   2/28/2007   A Library, CD

A tight midwestern rambler sound (ala Jesus Lizard/Number None) with some metallic blues accents that belies their Portland origins. Finger-snapping skanked-out city rhythms and chiseled six-string scales setup the sassy vocal delivery that will remind of Richard Hell.?? Angry and aggressive with some bipolar moments, rock and roll hybrid sounds emanating from dub, black leather and a handfull of pills.?? The occasional voiceover drop-ins revisit the early 90’s sound without nostalgic aftertaste.??

3W: Wiseguys Out West?? – Outlier

Weasel Walter Quartet – Revolt Music (UgExplode)

outlier   2/28/2007   CD, Jazz

Smash and grab jazz with nothing but furious free sounds in mind.?? Artful pursuits of nothing in particular and everything in general, ambitious in assembly and unpretentious in delivery.?? This kind of session usually sails some rough waters but here all the waves are generated by mass voluntary response, all at once, without trying to govern the groove.?? The Weasel rips the space-time continuum and leaves a trace of sensibility in the wake of the group’s path. Standing on the shoulders of giants and pissing on the prissy penned prose of jazz critics dead or alive. Several tracks recorded at 21 Grand??

3W: WEASEL RIPPED MY EAR?? -Outlier

Cohran, Phillip and the Artistic Heritage Ensemble – The Malcolm X Memorial (Katalyst Entertainment)

outlier   2/28/2007   CD, Jazz

Inspirational ensemble depiction of Malcolm X’s life in four parts.?? Starting from bluesy beginnings then moving to a streetwise jazz demonstration the swing is hard and the swagger undeniable.?? Uplifting in tone and rhythm, sobering in overall sound, this is wake music for all time beyond the moments of Malcolm X.?? A monumental musical experience that honors its master with proud sounds from the roots the struggle to the funeral flowers.?? This definitely is a recording that reaches beyond its genre to a higher ground and inspired sound.??

3W: ANY MEANS NECESSARY?? -Outlier

Thrall, Ure – Arabian Knightmares (Tesco)

outlier   2/28/2007   A Library, CD

Donated by Mr. Hate so you know this serious. Deep sound collage explorations of depraved civilizations and the addiction of aggression.?? A style not unlike Phillip Jeck with a more purposeful message underlying the drift and dreamdrone currents.?? UT is a former Voice of Eye collaborator who is not afraid to offer commentary on the ongoing struggle of Arabic identity.?? One of the more interesting packages of sound as well, complete with postcards to piss off the imperialists.?? Find yourself questioning what the fuck is going on while the sounds enter your system and know that audio art makes a big fucking difference in the perceptions of whatever reality you live in.??

3W: KNIGHTMARE ON K STREET?? – Outlier