KFJC 89.7FM

Music Reviews

Hatespirit – “Ageless Wilderness” – [Altare Productions]

whngr   6/29/2022   12-inch, A Library

Shivering Northern Declamation

Highly adept, if not terribly unique, Black cum War Metal, recorded and mixed proficiently that fully captures the vehemence, violence, and venom of its creators. No quarter is given on this devastating assault, barring the first track which is a brief electronic drone affair, the pace is relentless; absolute carnage. However there is enough variation in structure and execution to highlight the abilities of this impressive release from Finland.

Thematically Hatespirit embraces the ouvre of their Scandinavian counterparts noting death, darkness, misery, misanthropy, and nature mysticism on their Metallum profile but further reading will unveil that the founding member and drummer, Woewrb (Serpenfyre) flirts with forbidden ethos citing an apolitical stance and an unapologetic devotion and respect for Northern ancestry. It isn’t difficult for this miserable volunteer to relate to, and be slightly jealous of, these perspectives as the trickle of Nordic blood in my veins longs for those frozen climes, filled with trolls, fjords, and forests. Regretfully, it is impossible for me to truly connect with my heritage, as my bloodline is so muddled and impure, the connection to my homeland so tenuous, and the society that I inhabit so utterly enthralled with inclusion and misconceived virtue that I must relinquish the truth. I belong nowhere. Unlike this fine album which belongs squarely in our library henceforth to spew vitriolic rage and a veneration of the withering natural world at our listeners until the end of civilization which, given the current social and political climate, seems to point to early in 2023.

Oulu – 2018

Genogeist “Genogeist” [Black Water]

atavist   6/29/2022   12-inch, A Library

Fast, furious, crusty thrash metal. Definite hardcore element as well. Quick tracks that drop in fast and get right to the pummeling. Old-school, grimly focused on the proper expression of hatred for the machinery of control. An older form of sonic fury pressed into service to fit our current moment of inexorable decline. The excellent recording captures what I imagine to be a ferocious live sound. There’s an FCC in Gridlocked but you’ll be hard-pressed to make it out.

Spunt, Dean / Weise, John – “Echoing Shell, The” – [Drag City]

Mister S   6/29/2022   12-inch, A Library

Released 2022.

Musique Concrete, Experimental, electronic freakout for the adventurous. Go down this rabbit hole of noise cut-up wildness and hang on to the handrail and do not let go. Wonderful heavyweight vinyl for the connoisseur of the black crack. Fans of Framework radio and industrial sounds will be in heaven, or perhaps hell. YMMV. Beware of what additives you choose for your listening experience and consciousness expansion.

Interracial Sex / Bacillus – “Tropics: Modern Methodologies, The” – [Fusty Cunt]

abacus   6/25/2022   12-inch, A Library

inevitable collaboration between PNW power electronicists bring us a brief study in postcolonial epidemiology: spread and origins. enveloped in humidity ideal for festering, lingering, mutating; dense with vicious feedback and jagged edged noise; rife with geographic exploitation and exclusion. both artists’ portfolios pose hopeless charges for the human condition and its kismet: mankind as the nemesis of its own annihilation: race and disease as its weapons: this is the soundtrack of the plagued scourge and roar of slow extinction

Weaver, Jane – “Flock” – [Fire Records]

puplaif   6/22/2022   12-inch, A Library

Do you look at yourself and find nothing? Jane Weaver ponders this, and other existential queries on her 11th album Flock. 

My ears gravitated towards the album’s whimsical and blissful sounds. The lyrical content is, at times, difficult to decipher among the mix, though that didn’t stop me from singing along! Weaver’s airy vocals mimic the songs of the various birds in her flock. It’s as if she’s summoning them through each song, awaiting their return as depicted on the album cover’s artwork, which features a portrait of Jane seated in a peacock chair, surrounded by a fortress of colorful birdhouses. The overall sound is dreamy, poppy, and a little bit funky. Touches of chimes, flute, and guitar intermingle with space age laser beam synths and drum machine loops. 

Pressed on buttercream vinyl. 

BeNe GeSSeRiT – “Fashion Is a Dirty Word” – [Domani Sounds]

Thurston Hunger   6/21/2022   12-inch, A Library

A completely tweaked treat from 1987 Belgium via Alain Neffe. Here Alain is “Benedict G” synthing his way around and besides his wife Nadine Bal (aka “B. Ghola”). Things start with a mirror world take on G-L-O-R-I-A but the whole album is glorious with some songs taking longer to read their titles than to actually listen to them. Check out #2 like a shot of la-la-las in a bar from Blade Runner. Nadine’s imbalanced vox are so perfect, often in a kind of clipped and buzzed English. Insane Music for Insane People is not just an appropriate assessment, it was the title for Neffe’s series of collections in the 80’s. Kookoo keyboards, drum machines with dimples, occasional sax/clarinet squalls, brief processional guitar. But mostly the analog keys carry the sound for art-inflected minimal music, which is not afraid to
be catchy at times. Or to be imitation Chinese or an Xmas carol in exile. “You Can Dance If You Want To” is like the Waitresses meet the Kinks. Things are definitely kinky strange through-out, but less red-light district and far more playful wonder for your inner child bouncing on a trampoline of reverb.
Forget fear, Fun is the mind-liberator.
-Thurston Hunger
PS KFJC has a Feeding Tube Bennie & the G lp for further frolic

Kungens Man – “Kungens Ljud & Bild”

carsonstreet   6/19/2022   12-inch, A Library

Kungens Män (The Kings Man) started out in 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden. Always new sounds and improvisations, different guest musicians, different happenings. Kungens Män are rooted in the psychedelic/drone rock tradition of bands such as Träd, Gräs & Stenar, but also add influences from krautrock, shoegaze, noise rock and free jazz. On bandcamp Kungens Män describes themselves: “What started out with the sole purpose of hanging out as friends, occasionally with instruments in tow, has resulted in records on several labels and numerous European tours. The fundamental idea has never changed though – to get immersed in sound, and let the drone be the main trail taking the band to inner space – may it be through folkish melodies, noise, shoegaze sheets, free jazz outbursts, motorik beats or just good old head melting rock. And of course, it’s all improvised on the spot.” I have included English translations on the sleeve and in spidey. Highly encourage using the translations unless your Swedish is very good.

Black Arkives [coll] – [Justice League]

Mister S   6/17/2022   12-inch, Reggae

Recorded at The Black Ark in Kingston, Jamaica and produced by Lee “Scratch” Perry in the period between 1973 and late 1975.

On The Black Arkives Lee “Scratch” Perry explores the possibilities of his equipment, trying to get the sounds in his head onto tape and ultimately emerge from our speakers. This period is thought to be some of his most personal creations. Sonic euphoria.

Mamiffer “The Brilliant Tabernacle” [Sige Records]

atavist   6/15/2022   12-inch, A Library

The KFJC library currently has a handful of Mamiffer tracks on splits and collaborations. These are spare, almost austere compositions built around keyboards/piano with a light touch of additional instrumentation, exploring spaces of loss. In contrast, “The Brilliant Tabernacle” is a collection of gentle songs about new life, the experience of parenthood, seeking a spiritual mooring in a new world created from the ruins of the old. Primary collaborators Faith Coloccia and Aaron Turner had their first child during the album’s approximately six year development period, and the album’s title came to Coloccia in a dream. This work provides a further exploration into the Mamiffer sound, operating in spare composition, with folk instruments folded in. The sound is anchored around Collocia’s vocals and keyboards. There are at times loud things, pounding drums and distorted guitar, that seethe below the surface. The group wants this played loudly so that the dynamic range Randall Dunn created can be fully experienced. Beautiful and at times ethereal and haunting.

die Angel – “Live in Austin” – [Erototox Decodings]

Max Level   6/15/2022   12-inch, A Library

Two side-long drone pieces, recorded in Austin TX in 2019. This long-running duo (Ilpo Vaisanen of Pan Sonic and Dirk Dresselhaus of Schneider TM) use electronics, prepared guitar, and effects to create their mildly tense ‘instant compositions.’ Side A has a slightly rough, buzzing quality and Side B is somewhat the same except it has a subdued electronic beat layer during most of it. Nice.

Studio One DJ Party [coll] – [Soul Jazz Records]

Mister S   6/13/2022   12-inch, Reggae

This double album gatefold is a great place to enter into the world of Dancehall DJ’s. Included in the gatefold sleeve are not left over roaches, seeds or shake but fantastic liner notes about the various founders of the genre for those seeking entry into a wonderful world of reggae music. Roll a spliff of less than quality ganja utilizing the gatefold, perfect for filtering away the seeds. Recline comfortable and take a listen both on your headphones and also your speaker system when you can play at maximum volume. Studio One is a classic provider of reggae of all genres, this in particular features some of the greats of Dancehall.

CIA Debutante – “Dust” – [Siltbreeze]

Mister S   6/13/2022   12-inch, A Library

Gloomy Lofi low BPM electronica. Almost deadpan spoken word vocals remind me of Lady Godiva‘s operation by the Velvet Underground. Imagine the Sleaford mods on drugs that make you very slow. Simple synth sounds hark back to 80s electronica. Oddly interesting and somewhat disturbed sounding. Could be layered in with another track playing simultaneously by the adventurous dj. Definitely worth at least a few listens if you are into a gloomier sounding electronica experience. 33 rpm but try pitching down further or pitching higher as well as playing at 45rpm.

Clint Eastwood – “African Youth” – [Radiation Roots]

Mister S   6/4/2022   12-inch, Reggae

Do you like the dub? Do you like the reggae sound? Then you’ll dig this fantastic fantastic 12” vinyl by Clint Eastwood. On this album vocalist Clint Eastwood is backed by the Aggrovators (Sly and Robbie with Earl Smith on Guitar). Engineered by King Tubby. Produced and arranged by Bunny Lee. Listen on your speakers and also on your headphones so that you can discern the subtle nuance of sound. Take a taste. Enjoy an adult beverage. Roll and smoke. Eat and ingest or imbibe via the aural senses alone and you will be back for more.

Coll: Home Schooled – “The ABCs Of Kid Soul”- [Numero Group]

Mister S   6/4/2022   12-inch, Soul

A collection of child bands that sought to follow on the success of the Jackson 5. Check out the liner notes of this double LP gatefold for an interesting history of the recordings. A collection of adult promoters who in some instances are altruistic and others exploitive taking advantage of commercial opportunity. Musically if you’re a fan of RL Burnside, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, early Jackson 5, and Motown recordings you will be enthralled by this collection. Tight rhythm sections. Delicious wah guitar and twisty vocals by young unknown vocalists. Not one but two  dynamic LP’s.

Massage – “Still Life” – [Bobo Integral Mountain St. Mtn]

humana   6/2/2022   12-inch, A Library

Think of how good you feel during a massage, and you’ll come close to the amazing feeling you’ll have as you listen to the songs on this release–nary a track that isn’t upbeat, pure pop joy. The vocals are smooth, the lyrics are sweet, the drums keep the guitars, keyboards, and bass in line. “Somersaults and summer days” (from A3) is about as good a descriptor as any for this entirely enjoyable album. There is really nothing still about the way it makes you feel.

Fisher, Mark & Barton, Justin – “On Vanishing Land” – [Flatlines]

humana   6/2/2022   12-inch, A Library

Fisher (RIP) and Barton took a walk along England’s Suffolk coast one day, and this album, which is really more of a docu-fictional aural experience, is the result. Barton’s narration of the walk is interspersed with interviews with people encountered on the walk, and all of this spoken word is set into music composed by ambient artists who are listed on the album. It is nearly impossible to figure out exactly whose music is accompanying the different narrations, but this is not of great consequence. The atmospheres are alternately eerie (very appropriate since Fisher, a cultural theorist specializing in hauntology) and calming. Read the liner notes and listen to the “dream within a dream,” and figure out what the sound is that comes back when the radar clicks mentioned at the end of Side B are sent out into the unknown. The land may be vanishing, but are we?

Cryptae “Nightmare Traversal” [Sentient Ruin Laboratories]

atavist   5/31/2022   12-inch, A Library

Riffs with machine-like rhythms. Growling guitar sound that never roars, with a surprising amount of depth. Cryptae exhibit discipline and even some restraint. This is weird metal, doom leavened with an almost math-rock element. Simple patterns repeat and continuously evolve. The effect, in tracks like Oubliette, can swerve into the mesmerizing. Simply a guitarist and a drummer from the Netherlands, with deathy vokills buried in the mix. Maybe they used some other stuff in the studio, some synths maybe. The drummer is Rene Aquarius, current drummer for Dead Neanderthals, who also appeared on Coffin Lurker’s “Foul and Defiled” and Plague Organ’s “Orphan”, a 39 minute masterwork of menacing beauty within frenzied repetition. We also have one of his solo pieces in the library. Aquarius’s work helps contextualize Cryptae in the mathy and strange but starkly and uncompromisingly heavy terrain, here paired with relative newcomer Kees Peerdeman on guitars. Submit to the machine.

Weather Report – “Heavy Weather”

carsonstreet   5/31/2022   12-inch, Jazz

Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band started as a free improvising jazz group with avant-garde and experimental electronic leanings and then moved to a funky, edgy sound incorporating elements of R&B and world music. Joe Zawinul used the latest developments in synthesizer technology and took advantage of a large variety of sounds and tone colors to make the band stand out. During the first half of their career, Weather Report were seen as one of the defining acts in modern jazz, winning the DownBeat “best album award” five times in a row. Heavy Weather is Weather Report’s eighth album was a commercial hit thanks to “Birdland,” a catchy change of pace for FM radio and a nice unification with older jazz styles. Austrian leader and keyboardist Joe Zawinul and saxophonist Wayne Shorter were the only original members left. After their introduction on 1976’s Black Market, Florida bassist Jaco Pastorius, Peruvian drummer Alex Acuña and Puerto Rican percussionist Manolo Badrena were promoted to full-time players on Heavy Weather.

Centre El Muusa – “Purple Stones”

carsonstreet   5/31/2022   12-inch, A Library

Centre El Muusa is an Estonian psychedelic rock quartet founded in 2018 (previously named Centre Electronique Muusa). The project, which started as an avant-garde electronic duo of Panfilov and Brodsky in 2015, developed into a rock band, when it was joined by Erdman and Semenihhin. Gradually, the band transformed their sound from uncompromising garage krautrock to more spacious psychedelia with noticeable elements of ambient and country-rock, while maintaining their signature lo-fi approach to recording and not avoiding risks. Another great release from Sulatron Records.The cover art is Peter Max and Yellow Submarine on an extra tab.

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