Thursday, November 15, 2007
sword heaven
live at little brothers
[2007, cut hands]
columbus, ohio's aaron hibbs and mark van fleet will get the noisy experimentation out of the way in the early going of this two track, thirty-one minute set. there's a very light drone serving as a foundation for mark's junk metal scraping dissonance. hibbs is playing his part, too, off
ering up some screams and shouts. after a few minutes, an additional layer of ambient electronic drone also joins the fray. once they move past the metallic fuckery it'll start to get more electronically involved with stuttering noises which are soon paired with random drumming and more frantic yelling. all of which serves as a segue to the main attraction, the seven and a half minutes of tongues. this right here is sword heaven just bein' sword heaven. that means loud (high low-end) rhythmic drum pummeling by aaron. the percussion almost manages to drown everything out, but there's a little bit of static along with a great fucking screeching noise in the background, which will repeat throughout the duration. i really tend to hone in that a lot. after a few minutes of the initial rhythm, they'll slow the pace waaay down to a wasted on cough syrup crawl. i was digging that, but when aaron returns to his original drum pattern, that's rad. radder still? the relentless drum work that starts at the twelve minute mark. funny moment? someone from the crowd shouting "you're fucking crazy!" at the song's conclusion. good times.
faceless nameless... this one's tripping me out a little. there's a total of eight people credited as being "additionally on" this song. it also lists their instruments, and four of them supposedly played drums. this might lead one to believe that this is an epic fucking wanky drum circle. not the case. the percussion is pretty simple and sparse throughout 85% of the seventeen minute track, so yeah, i don't know what the hell was going on here. the end results (once i stop trying to figure out how and where they squeezed all these extra dudes) are killer. it'll start out wicked droney with a few different people offering up varied tones, mark's wailing guitar in the back is a high point. i love the clarinet, too. at around three minutes is when shit starts coming together. enter the simple pounding drums, no cymbals this time, but a nice snare hit. what's really amazing is what happens in between the drumming; this catchy, but fingernails on a chalkboardesque screechy sound, that i think is coming from an amplified clarinet, but i'm probably wrong. the dynamic between that noise, the drums and all of the background drones is glorious. once they get past six minutes, the dynamic will shift as the drumming is more forceful (and now includes cymbal crashing) and hurried and everything just seems to increase in volume. a few minutes later and i can pick up a nice sax contribution from mark fredo. it's almost a blink and you'll miss it kind of deal. assuming, of course, that blinking caused you to momentarily not hear. after carrying on in the same manner, but slightly changing things up every so often, they'll end it with virulent percussion (and that sax again!). here's where i can see how ten people might all be drumming at once. mighty fine ending.
i haven't been this stoked on something sword heaven's done since we of the fucking mountains, which coincidentally is the one of the first things that i heard from them (it's on the split twelve inch with 16 bitch pile-up). on a related note, aaron hibbs has got some rad solo stuff out there which also deserves some attention: carrot bike and companding. you can find carrot bike at a bunch of different mp3 sites and it'll probably cost you about two bucks. companding might require more nefarious methods on your part in order to obtain it.
Faceless Nameless
sword heaven in columbus 10/17/06
[2007, cut hands]
columbus, ohio's aaron hibbs and mark van fleet will get the noisy experimentation out of the way in the early going of this two track, thirty-one minute set. there's a very light drone serving as a foundation for mark's junk metal scraping dissonance. hibbs is playing his part, too, off
ering up some screams and shouts. after a few minutes, an additional layer of ambient electronic drone also joins the fray. once they move past the metallic fuckery it'll start to get more electronically involved with stuttering noises which are soon paired with random drumming and more frantic yelling. all of which serves as a segue to the main attraction, the seven and a half minutes of tongues. this right here is sword heaven just bein' sword heaven. that means loud (high low-end) rhythmic drum pummeling by aaron. the percussion almost manages to drown everything out, but there's a little bit of static along with a great fucking screeching noise in the background, which will repeat throughout the duration. i really tend to hone in that a lot. after a few minutes of the initial rhythm, they'll slow the pace waaay down to a wasted on cough syrup crawl. i was digging that, but when aaron returns to his original drum pattern, that's rad. radder still? the relentless drum work that starts at the twelve minute mark. funny moment? someone from the crowd shouting "you're fucking crazy!" at the song's conclusion. good times.faceless nameless... this one's tripping me out a little. there's a total of eight people credited as being "additionally on" this song. it also lists their instruments, and four of them supposedly played drums. this might lead one to believe that this is an epic fucking wanky drum circle. not the case. the percussion is pretty simple and sparse throughout 85% of the seventeen minute track, so yeah, i don't know what the hell was going on here. the end results (once i stop trying to figure out how and where they squeezed all these extra dudes) are killer. it'll start out wicked droney with a few different people offering up varied tones, mark's wailing guitar in the back is a high point. i love the clarinet, too. at around three minutes is when shit starts coming together. enter the simple pounding drums, no cymbals this time, but a nice snare hit. what's really amazing is what happens in between the drumming; this catchy, but fingernails on a chalkboardesque screechy sound, that i think is coming from an amplified clarinet, but i'm probably wrong. the dynamic between that noise, the drums and all of the background drones is glorious. once they get past six minutes, the dynamic will shift as the drumming is more forceful (and now includes cymbal crashing) and hurried and everything just seems to increase in volume. a few minutes later and i can pick up a nice sax contribution from mark fredo. it's almost a blink and you'll miss it kind of deal. assuming, of course, that blinking caused you to momentarily not hear. after carrying on in the same manner, but slightly changing things up every so often, they'll end it with virulent percussion (and that sax again!). here's where i can see how ten people might all be drumming at once. mighty fine ending.
i haven't been this stoked on something sword heaven's done since we of the fucking mountains, which coincidentally is the one of the first things that i heard from them (it's on the split twelve inch with 16 bitch pile-up). on a related note, aaron hibbs has got some rad solo stuff out there which also deserves some attention: carrot bike and companding. you can find carrot bike at a bunch of different mp3 sites and it'll probably cost you about two bucks. companding might require more nefarious methods on your part in order to obtain it.Faceless Nameless
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
black monk
flowstone 12"
[2007, arbor / not not fun]
los angeles' roy tatum and his accomplice (can't find out who it is) are demonstrating a clear understanding of how to make droney and atmospheric music that won't just drift on out into nothingness. while musical talent certainly plays a large part in this, the other part is their approach, which greatly differs from roy's other solo gig, changeling. that project is a lot warmer and celestial sounding, and something that i'd be more apt to call ambient. if you're looking for a point of comparison to some of tatum's other work, it seems like the untitled cd-r that quintana roo put out last year is as close as you'll get. the main difference is in the sound of the drumming.
speaking of which, flowstone really puts its best foot forward with murmur. the juxtaposition between the rapider percussion and cymbal clanging (sounding like they were being played at the bottom of the grand canyon, and recorded by someone in a helicopter, high overhead) along with a fantastic, slow, repetitious guitar drone is outstanding. there's also a slight, swirling atmosphere to bolster those drones.
the second track, titled untitled, relinquishes the musical control to pretty much, straight up atmosphere. it works, really well, actually. i can't pick up on any organic instrumentation this time out, just a couple of great synthetic layers. the creeping musical vibe is heightened by desolate howls in the background and catchy, low-toned, synth vacillations. the combination of those two layers are utterly perfect by themselves and thankfully, the third (and lone) dynamic synth layer will sputter about innocuously; occasionally fleshing out untitled in its more forceful moments.
side b's flowstone isn't so much a departure, since each of the previous tracks has differed from each other, but, rather, an amalgamation. the colder backdrop of untitled is in place along with the drumming from murmur, this time, though, the drums are the show. amidst droning howls, someone is giving their kit a pleasing workout. granted, fifteen minutes of that might not be your bag, but at least the drumming, initially structured, will taper off into fills, rolls and sporadic hits as it goes along, providing variation.
i really enjoyed the last quintana roo tape that i bought, but i'm going to be so bold as to say that this is my favorite thing that tatum's been involved in. chalk it up to being seasonally affected, but the cold undertones and memorable droning really struck a chord with me.
Untitled
[2007, arbor / not not fun]
los angeles' roy tatum and his accomplice (can't find out who it is) are demonstrating a clear understanding of how to make droney and atmospheric music that won't just drift on out into nothingness. while musical talent certainly plays a large part in this, the other part is their approach, which greatly differs from roy's other solo gig, changeling. that project is a lot warmer and celestial sounding, and something that i'd be more apt to call ambient. if you're looking for a point of comparison to some of tatum's other work, it seems like the untitled cd-r that quintana roo put out last year is as close as you'll get. the main difference is in the sound of the drumming.
speaking of which, flowstone really puts its best foot forward with murmur. the juxtaposition between the rapider percussion and cymbal clanging (sounding like they were being played at the bottom of the grand canyon, and recorded by someone in a helicopter, high overhead) along with a fantastic, slow, repetitious guitar drone is outstanding. there's also a slight, swirling atmosphere to bolster those drones.
the second track, titled untitled, relinquishes the musical control to pretty much, straight up atmosphere. it works, really well, actually. i can't pick up on any organic instrumentation this time out, just a couple of great synthetic layers. the creeping musical vibe is heightened by desolate howls in the background and catchy, low-toned, synth vacillations. the combination of those two layers are utterly perfect by themselves and thankfully, the third (and lone) dynamic synth layer will sputter about innocuously; occasionally fleshing out untitled in its more forceful moments.
side b's flowstone isn't so much a departure, since each of the previous tracks has differed from each other, but, rather, an amalgamation. the colder backdrop of untitled is in place along with the drumming from murmur, this time, though, the drums are the show. amidst droning howls, someone is giving their kit a pleasing workout. granted, fifteen minutes of that might not be your bag, but at least the drumming, initially structured, will taper off into fills, rolls and sporadic hits as it goes along, providing variation.
i really enjoyed the last quintana roo tape that i bought, but i'm going to be so bold as to say that this is my favorite thing that tatum's been involved in. chalk it up to being seasonally affected, but the cold undertones and memorable droning really struck a chord with me.
Untitled
Monday, November 12, 2007
podcasts #6 and #7
alright, over the past few days i haven't just been slacking, but i've been working on what was initially going to just be one big podcast, but i came to my senses and broke it up into two separate shows. i feel like this should just about catch me up to speed.
essay #6
by design, i wanted to get a little bit of variety within the two podcasts. this first one is less experimentally inclined. it starts out with a bluesy vibe and then gets into rock and psych. there is a little bit of experimentation before going out with noisy lo-fi rock and punk.
lightnin' hopkins - tim moore's farm
tetuzi akiyama - blues for dirty hunter
screamin' jay hawkins - whistling past the graveyard
scott h. biram - been down too long
haunted george - the devil's canyon
coachwhips - brains out
annie gosfield - mentryville
little claw - lake crescent freeway
t.i.t.s. - strong arms
the meta-matics - solar seduction
white savage - destroy your style
meth teeth - bus rides
the poppy family - there's no blood in bone
charalambides - what you do for money
the haunting - hallways #3
chris cooper-bill nace duo - confessions of a digestive system (excerpt)
lau nau - pyha vuorl
treetops - is camoflauge a colour?
s.i.d.s. - 6ft tall wind-up doll
yukhonic - weren't you in an emo band 10 minutes ago?
leper print - phobia
catholic boys - dead ball
bags - prowlers in the night
essay #7
this one has the noise on it. with the exception of the kylie minoise track, which is pretty straight forward, i tried to throw together some more interesting pieces of noise music. after the noise there's some older french and sumatran pop, garage rock and sam the sham and donovan. just felt right... i dunno. the latter set is folk-based, for the most part.
t/r - broken paths, wayward travels (0:00 - 9:07)
man//beast - the end is the answer (9:08 - 11:40)
t.e.f. - symptomatic harbinger #1 (11:41 - 14:08)
smell & quim - tampax women (14:09 - 19:05)
small cruel party - seminal brainpan (19:06 - 24:11)
kylie minoise - very pretty, very pretty! (24:12 - 27:11)
sir richard bishop - zurvan (excerpt) (27:36 - 31:49)
caterina valente - tout l'amour (31:50 - 34:09)
sublime frequencies - folk and pop sounds of sumatra, vol. 1 #2 (34:10 - 37:07)
marie laforet - marie douceur, marie colere (37:08 - 39:53)
dirtbombs - brand new game (39:54 - 43:04)
thee headcoats - tub's twist (43:05 - 45:31)
sam the sham & the pharoahs - lil' red riding hood (45:32 - 48:11)
donovan - season of the witch (48:12 - 53:06)
peonies - polooo (53:36 - 57:03)
san francisco water cooler - birtha roetgen's left hand ring (57:04 - 61:15)
imperfect masters - grab some pine, meat (61:16 - 65:10)
mountains & rainbows - lester's way (65:11 - 70:02)
back to the reviews tomorrow.
essay #6
by design, i wanted to get a little bit of variety within the two podcasts. this first one is less experimentally inclined. it starts out with a bluesy vibe and then gets into rock and psych. there is a little bit of experimentation before going out with noisy lo-fi rock and punk.
lightnin' hopkins - tim moore's farm
tetuzi akiyama - blues for dirty hunter
screamin' jay hawkins - whistling past the graveyard
scott h. biram - been down too long
haunted george - the devil's canyon
coachwhips - brains out
annie gosfield - mentryville
little claw - lake crescent freeway
t.i.t.s. - strong arms
the meta-matics - solar seduction
white savage - destroy your style
meth teeth - bus rides
the poppy family - there's no blood in bone
charalambides - what you do for money
the haunting - hallways #3
chris cooper-bill nace duo - confessions of a digestive system (excerpt)
lau nau - pyha vuorl
treetops - is camoflauge a colour?
s.i.d.s. - 6ft tall wind-up doll
yukhonic - weren't you in an emo band 10 minutes ago?
leper print - phobia
catholic boys - dead ball
bags - prowlers in the night
essay #7
this one has the noise on it. with the exception of the kylie minoise track, which is pretty straight forward, i tried to throw together some more interesting pieces of noise music. after the noise there's some older french and sumatran pop, garage rock and sam the sham and donovan. just felt right... i dunno. the latter set is folk-based, for the most part.
t/r - broken paths, wayward travels (0:00 - 9:07)
man//beast - the end is the answer (9:08 - 11:40)
t.e.f. - symptomatic harbinger #1 (11:41 - 14:08)
smell & quim - tampax women (14:09 - 19:05)
small cruel party - seminal brainpan (19:06 - 24:11)
kylie minoise - very pretty, very pretty! (24:12 - 27:11)
sir richard bishop - zurvan (excerpt) (27:36 - 31:49)
caterina valente - tout l'amour (31:50 - 34:09)
sublime frequencies - folk and pop sounds of sumatra, vol. 1 #2 (34:10 - 37:07)
marie laforet - marie douceur, marie colere (37:08 - 39:53)
dirtbombs - brand new game (39:54 - 43:04)
thee headcoats - tub's twist (43:05 - 45:31)
sam the sham & the pharoahs - lil' red riding hood (45:32 - 48:11)
donovan - season of the witch (48:12 - 53:06)
peonies - polooo (53:36 - 57:03)
san francisco water cooler - birtha roetgen's left hand ring (57:04 - 61:15)
imperfect masters - grab some pine, meat (61:16 - 65:10)
mountains & rainbows - lester's way (65:11 - 70:02)
back to the reviews tomorrow.