lexi glass 9/18/2018 7-inch, A Library
2018 7” EP from Oakland post punk trio of Max Nordile on sax, Alejandra Alcala on bass, and Sam Lefebvre on drums. Four energetic tracks of logical chaos, wacky vox, rhythmic contortions. There’s nothing new about this no wave, but that’s quite alright – you can hear they’re having fun and it’s hard not to laugh along with them. From new local label Fine Concepts.
lexi glass 9/10/2018 7-inch, A Library
Pretty cool find – 7″ EP released sometime in the 80s from America’s Greatest Noise Artist himself, Emil Beaulieau (the alterego of Rrron Lessard of legendary label RRRecords, but you knew that). Four short tracks with all the trappings of power-drill-to-the-forehead harsh noise, but the experience of listening to this disc isn’t quite like that. Maybe it’s because within the clipped blasts are mysterious drones (T1), whistling melodies (T2), distorted guitar and whimpered vocals (T4) – you know, that velvet touch. Emil hopes you like it, but if not, well…
lexi glass 9/10/2018 7-inch, A Library
2007 7″ single from New Zealand experimental artist Campbell Kneale (see also Our Love Will Destroy the World and metal-influenced Black Boned Angel). One five minute track that tells a strange little tale, beginning with a noise collage of vibrating metallic sounds, like wire cables being wrapped, stretched and strained. But then the abstraction gives way to something more defined: a driving guitar and drum rhythm, a thick drone fog, and a monstrous swarm of chirping frogs. Together, the sounds paint a scene of headlights approaching in the dead of night.
Thurston Hunger 8/22/2018 7-inch, A Library
Hollow Sunshine “Cold Truth b/w I Wandered ” 45
2014 single from this Seattle duo that listen to their elders. Slow and
thick (not Earth slow but slow) more shoegaze that sludge. Anvil anthems,
Reuben Sawyer is drummasaurus and guitarist and all non-mouth things.
Bass vertabrae support that kind of Projekt fuzzed guitar. Morgan Enos
sings steady above the thrum. His phrasing on “I Wandered” leans over
the edge of the riffs nicely. Even better when Nina Chase chimes in
some harmony vocals about halfway through. Could see that cut being a
chest-rattler live. Lean to the pop and you could connect these guys
to Charles Brown Superstar, step to the heavy and you might find Thou.
And apparently we can thank Thou for delivering us this slab of
Hollow Sunshine. -Thurston Hunger
Lord Gravestench 8/16/2018 7-inch, A Library
Gloomy, necro Black Metal with an old skool pagan/NS sound (lyrical themes unknown). This is the solo project of one member of Bone Awl. Galloping Shadow, AKA He Who Gnashes Teeth, runs the Cinereous label also.
On this 2012 EP, neither side gets too fast, but there is a glowering aggression akin to Akitsa, early Graveland or perhaps Coldness from Portugal. Only this limited test pressing has the excellent cover art.
In terms of the classic 90s BM sound this is much more traditional than Bone Awl. Elite riffs both sides. The B side has a more aggressive vocal and a keyboard part. On the other hand, the A side has more pride and spite and it may be the better one.
Everything is rusty, broken, falling apart here. All that’s left is your honour. Must be time to kommit suicide in your bunker. Don’t forget to poison the kids first.
Louie Caliente 8/13/2018 7-inch, A Library
Ouch! Two quick hits of roaring blasting screaming screeching noise wall from A Fail Association (Gregory Babbitt) and The Cherry Point (Phil Blankenship). A single-sided 7″ released back in ’03 on Blankenship’s Tronix label. Only 178 were made.
I *think* it’s supposed to be played at 33, but to be honest I couldn’t tell much of a difference vs. 45. I also couldn’t tell much of a difference between the two tracks, but in a good way, since both are balls-to-the-wall take-it-to-eleven total aural scorchers.
Thurston Hunger 8/8/2018 7-inch, International
Something about the khene, that tall bamboo/harmonica
whatever you want to call it killer Thai instrument.
When I hear it it feels like a summons, and then the
chanting/singing that goes with it comes on like
an insistent invocation. If you squint your western
ears on this, you can hear a tropical foreshadowing
of Alan Vega with Suicide maybe? The slight reverb
on the male voice, side A is stately goes on long
enough to make me really wonder what they are saying.
I like it when Kane Dalao (internet says he’s a
National Artist for Molam style as recently as 2017)
I’m not sure when this 7″ is from. On the flipside
Wichian Nongthong, has a musical name and delivers
a peppier take, but still stripped down to the
power of voice and khene. The controlled wavering
of the voice, so skillful and compelling. This is
*not* on ZuDrangMa’s label but was found in their
store, I really should have got more information
(or found someone at work from Thailand) but hell
the music stands on its own just fine. Makes
we want to slap a speaker on my car and drive
around the Bay Area belting this out.
-Thurston Hunger
Thurston Hunger 8/8/2018 7-inch, A Library
More singles salvation from the last lost milennium. Set your
ears for 1994, when lo-fi was less an aesthetic choice than
a technical necessity (okay, maybe a little o’ both). Still
back when Garage Band was *two* words. This collection wears
its sonic sincerity on its sleeve (and with all the little
paper inserts for each band that have stayed along for the
ride like kids never leaving the nest).
Nik ‘l’ nip: US (?) singer with UK accent (always a winner),
wait for the pause on “…..hate you”. Ah angry youth
Stampled: Shrill feedback fest in front, guitar strumbles/stumbles
behind it and way back at the end of the hall, a female
sings her song. I see you.
Emmeline: Bassy + crawly + creepy + mumbly – my four favorite
forgotten dwarves on this waking beauty.
Bottlecap: Nasal-to-whistle ratio is high on this acoustic tune
that wants to defenestrate you.
: Probably part of the next number but it stands
alone, the sound of shoeing an ancient robot horse.
Shoebox Full of Love: Sweet pop gargling in tape hiss.
Ringfinger: If Juliana Hatfield were the real McCoy? Someone
should have married this song 20 years ago, and they
could teach their kids to cuss in a cute way.
This kind of damaged pop could make a comeback in my ears,
but it’s nice to listen back to it now nonetheless.
-Thurston Hunger
Thurston Hunger 8/8/2018 7-inch, A Library
Another one for KFJC’s 7″ sanctuary of singles, 1993
Minny tinny shimmy pop (no clear Kramer involvement
though). Four piece band a la mode (two guitars).
Title track is a feedback drenched ditty which loses
its way in my ears. But you may appreciate any form of
psych flashback (or an extra two minutes to cue up some
US Saucer.) “Orange Pants” fit a lot better ’round my
head and hits a kind of Blake Babies freeze frame on the
time line. I like the dizzy guitar interplay on the verses,
and Pamela Valfer’s voice rising above them high ringing
notes to boot. Her singing also was nice on “Spoonerism”
just got engulfed. “Half Man, Half Jerk” closes our
time capsule, Jed Kersten taking over the mic with a
Lee Ranaldo-esque talk-it-while-I-rock-it, on a song for
all the brother-in-flaws. Drummer Peter Anderson gets some
nice tom aplomb and hi-hat cooking. Is this what people
did before tweeting, record short songs with hooks as
emojis? Uhayunno? Mebbe….
-Thurston Hunger
Thurston Hunger 8/8/2018 7-inch, A Library
Rock with controlled anger and slippery slide guitar,
not full-on art damaged, but art-inflected. “Millions of
Transports” lurches in and out of gear, the singer (Pete
Ryan? it’s been a while, 1995 for this misfit single that
has found its sanctuary station). The song has heft and
a commuter breakdown, as whoever sings, mutters at the
end “We don’t talk enough….and we work too much.” So
the good news, your troubles in 2018 may not be so new.
On the flip side, I can almost file it as a Boston-based
answer to the UK’s Camberwell Now, high-praise and maybe
biased by the abby-Norman lyrics, and a conquest question?
It’s a puzzler, but not too proggy so fear not. You can
tap your toes safely, and you might even hear a little
violin strung-along behind the trenches of those slithery
guitars. Violinist Liz Tonne appears to have kept a hand
in sound game; even worked with Greg Kelley of nmperign
so she got weirder and maybe others did as well. Perhaps
posting this review will bring ’em out…or send us more
from the old Ratfish imprint, which seems to have had
some tasty treats back in the day nee milennium.
-Thurston Hunger
Kai Sync 7/12/2018 7-inch, Soul
Can’t go wrong with bongo drums and Farfisa organ for a soul warm-up party with bottom jeans and floral everything. This is actually Nasser Bouzida from Wales who has produced retro-soul material used for hip-hop and funk 45 DJs. A side Bongolian has some surprising echo chamber effects, B-side Farfisian is an organ jam fest. Can you dig it?
Naysayer 7/1/2018 7-inch, A Library
I think the reason I like writing reviews is that it allows me to really let out a part of the real me that I don’t show because few folks would get it. Also, no one reads them anyway so I can say whatever. Such is the case for reviewing this glorious little 45, this HOT little piece of vinyl. First, the title. Just say it slowly and let it roll off your tongue: “Electrocardiographs of a Cathode Ray Tube”. Oh. My. God. What a turn on. Electrocardiographs of a cathode ray tube: what the hell is that and YES PLEASE!!!! Stephen Cornford created this piece. Stephen is an… wait, let me sit down… Stephen is an “installation artist and experimental musician who works by reconfiguring consumer electronics.” Wait, there’s more: by “repurposing Walkmans, TVs and other scrap heap finds, Stephen Cornford’s work erase the boundaries between music and sculpture.” This is THE SHIT, Stephen and you’re my man. I love this stuff so much. So what is it, really? In a performance of this piece in Firenze, Cornford described it as two cathode ray tube TVs amplified with brain wave sensors. The ECG pick-ups are attached to the TVs to amplify them. An amplifier, or oscillator, is fed into the TVs video input where he then picks up the TV screens electromagnetic emissions. He’s recording the energy of the tubes and seeing if they have a brainwave, so to speak. Fascinating, really and truly. The two sides of the 45 are gentle, repeating electronic heartbeats of static and fuzz. Variations occur with every pulse even though the pattern may at times seem similar. As each piece progresses, the differences in sound are more apparent. Everything is alive. Cornford also runs Consumer Waste Records which puts out electronic and electroacoustic recordings. Bravo.
Thurston Hunger 6/30/2018 7-inch, A Library
We’re going to be tardy like it’s 1999. Maybe a Mitch
Lemay archival revival for local folks, dust to Duster,
ashes to the past and a shout-out to Streelight (grateful
that is still spinning in these digital daze.) Sang to
jangle with an old Merge feeling emerging. Bass slowly
rises as the guitar strum-strums-strums. Tears are
wiped away, perhaps by Jen helping out Keith with backup
vocals and a cashemere hug. “Subtance Abuse” never felt
sweeter, a sslow syrup poured into you, even if you are
cramping up in a fetal position. “Grasping for Reasons”
sounds like its sinking in the same sorrow boat, with
po’ ol’ cello typecast as the town crier going down
with the relationship. It’s a love song in decay, two
in the boat to start but by the end of the song,
they’ll be on different shores. Actually the cello
gets stronger and starts pushing him to safety.
Adding this, and the “Hero Zero” 7″ in 2018 shows
KFJC is a safe haven for long lost singles, at least of
the vinyl variety. Good luck to you and your ex in the
meantime.
Thurston Hunger
Thurston Hunger 6/30/2018 7-inch, A Library
For as long as I’ve known her, KFJC has had
a fondness for the raw, for the rough and not
yet ready. For bands that sound like they
just got their instruments a couple of hours
ago. Call it punk or DIY or outsider or
lo-fi, whether it was made in the bedroom
or garage or Auntie Agatha’s laundry room,
the value of passion over precision is hard
to argue with…for me at least. I had these
thoughts listening to this and was going to
apologize to the band, but on checking the
actual record I see this is from 1994. So
you see KFJC welcomes abandoned bands even
if they salmon-jumped out of the mainstream
decades ago. Hopefully the guys in the band
will be driving around with their kids, and
when the iPod battery gets low, they’ll
switch on the car radio and here this rough
jewel.
Electrified guitar ricochets around with a
hint of cowpunk (played with a cattle-prod?),
drums are great and enthusiastic and thin.
They kind of chase after the song, then the
song turns around and chases after them.
Side 1 ends with chatter about skittles and
nerds, the other side has a zero-calorie
track allegedly. Well hand-written mention
of a track “17G” but it exists outside of
space and time and groove and discogs.com.
Is the band name a ref to Schoolhouse
Rock, or some psychic/sonic connection to
Royal Trux.
Good stuff, better times. -Old Man Hunger
Max Level 6/12/2018 7-inch, A Library
Hell yes! Local ass kicking punk rock. The Screaming Bloody Marys were around in the 80s-90s, went on hiatus, and are back now playing shows and recording. This 7″ came out in 2017. Side A: Cranked up beat and big guitars. Johnny’s dead, too bad. Side B: Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” done with a march-flavored beat, a wall of guitar, and some wicked theremin by my new favorite vocalist Angelique, who belts it out like crazy on both sides. East Bay Ray is on here someplace.
Lord Gravestench 4/28/2018 7-inch, A Library
‘A Dark Symbiosis of Dead and Eternal Darkness’ split 2005.
Side A ‘Death’ – Elisabetha- Elisabetha (split 2008) were from Germany. They used to be Black Metal, but then they went full Neoclassical retard. It seems that this split has been released twice with the same Nachtmahr material on the other side— on the CD version it’s a bizarre black metal track on Elisabetha’s side but on this 7†version you get keyboards… is it “Dungeon Synth,†Renfield? Derision apart, the take on Darkwave, dedicated to E.A. Poe, is actually fairly apt. There’s a heartbeat in there too, and some spoken word in Deutsch. Are any of the instruments real?
Side B ‘Darkness’ – Nachtmahr- Two tracks from the now-inactive German project, founded 1996. Don’t get them confused with the Electro-Industrial project or the other Black Metal band from Germany! This is primitive symphonic BM with lyrics from Goethe (on the first track) and really cheap synth parts that sound strangely divorced from the other instruments, kind of like hearing two songs at once. A+ for the mindfuck, and perhaps they even meant for this to happen. They shot for Emperor/Enslaved epic Valhallan feels and got something a bit more ‘special.’ I will play this side.
Max Level 4/24/2018 7-inch, A Library
A Side: UK trio Henry Blacker offers a spare rocker built on a repeating descending guitar riff. Heavy bass and drums. Good and crunchy with inspired yelling replacing the calm vocals in a couple of places.
B Side: Portuguese trio Black Bombaim cranks out a high energy psyche-rocker with an alien-sounding guitar line commanding attention, as the rhythm section pounds away relentlessly. This side is instrumental.
Lord Gravestench 4/22/2018 7-inch, A Library
2006 split on a German label.
Eroded- German project from Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. “Old school DEATH METAL – no fucking compromises.” Indeed, they offer a dark, heavy take that’s tight in all the right places, worshiping at the altar of Incantation — “dulce et decorum est.†Well, I guess they aren’t reinventing the wheel, but who fucking cares, these two tracks make for an enjoyable ten minutes. The second one is called ‘The Goats of Heaven,’ which is pretty humorous.
Paganizer- more Death Metal, this time from Swedead. This prolific group was founded in 1998. Their sound here takes many cues from the D-Beat Hardcore of bands like Totalitar. No blasts, but it is fast and furious with a thickly Entombed guitar tone. With two songs clocking at about two minutes each, this side is less than half as long as Eroded’s, which by the way I preferred.
Lord Gravestench 4/22/2018 7-inch, A Library
2006 split on a German label from two German Black Metal bands, limited to 500 copies.
Formed in Thuringia in 2004, Wolfsshrei is the solo project of ‘Taaken,’ also of the great Odal. Make no mistake- this is the better side, with punishing drums, elegantly depressing riffage, and ferocious delivery. Unfortunately it’s only one track. This band is more Satanic than the one on the reverse. Wolfsshrei means ‘Wolf Scream’ in German.‘Leichentanz’ means corpse-dance.
Isaz – Germany, founded 1996, this trio didn’t record very much, splitting a few years prior to this split. These two tracks are raw and thrashy with real menace in the vocals at times, somewhat similar to Russia’s Nav’. The second one is perhaps the better of the two. Like a lot of German Pagan BM, they draw inspiration from the Germanic pagan reconstructionists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Isaz is a Proto-Germanic rune meaning ‘’ice.’
Max Level 4/10/2018 7-inch, A Library
A rockin’ 7″ from 1995. I couldn’t find much info on Gem other than one of the members is/was Doug Gillard who has connections to Guided By Voices and My Dad Is Dead. Side A “Sheep” is hard-charging and relentless and would probably have stirred up a mosh pit back in the day. I like the thick guitars all through the song. Side B “Smiling All The While” is an indie-pop type of thing with more in the way of arrangement than Side A. Shimmering guitars and a hard rhythm section. “Apartment Life”-ish I’d say. Solid.
KFJC 89.7FM