pained seer c30
[2007, caligulan tapes]

whoa, caligulan tapes, who are you and where did you come from? the label site itself is pretty mysterious, just containing artist releases, prices and a contact email. anyway, the packaging for this tape is gorgeous. the cover is a high quality glossy photo, with cut-outs and stamping. it seems as though they put more thought into the complete experience than the average label you've never heard of before. when you factor in that their second release is los angeles' robedoor, things are looking pretty promising for this imprint.there's nothing wrong with your speakers during side a's acid collapse, all the audio's just been panned to the left. kids with mono tape decks are psyched (no such luck on side b, suckers!). acid collapse centers (figuratively, not literally) around a few pleasing layers of drone, i especially like the hypnotism of the undulating one. add to that some drum hits that are presented in a manner where they don't even sound like they emanate from a drum, but are rather, thunderous pounds from the far off distance. we also get some great psychedelic moaning vocals which dreamily weave between the rhythm and drones.

generally speaking, who the fuck knows what you're going to get out of robedoor with each release. well, there are a few constants: 1) it will have psychedelic leanings, in one way or another. 2) it'll be worth your time. both of those statements hold true here. from listening to the numerous releases that i have from alex and britt, i have noticed that their mood tends to be a bit bleak, and that's certainly accentuated by their more noisy releases (oak cult, sloths in thrones). pained seer is quite a bit removed from that. again, that psych aspect remains, but it's used in a more, optimistic way, i suppose. this is more mind lifting than soul crushing, sort of reaching a common ground with stoner reaper's title track.

i don't know if it's mostly due to the fact that we have audio in both channels for revenge vision, but this shit is nicccee. there's not as much (perceptible) layering going on here, it just sounds like one great rhythmically concerned guitar drone (read: there's more than one chord being used). the percussion seems even further away from us than it did on the a side, providing somewhat muted booms to keep you from falling into too much of a lull. the vocals play a key here, as well. where it seemed like there might actually be lyrics to acid collapse, the vocals here are purely textural, haunting revenge vision with wistful wails. sublime piece of music.
pained seer serves to remind me that i need to own more robedoor releases. i thought the same thing about manda's (and bethany's) pocahaunted project, and i went out and bought the split record with christina carter (great fucking album if you haven't heard it yet). so, that's my only new year's resolution, buy more robedoor. maybe update this site more often, too. that might be asking too much, though. for those of you who'd like to do the same (buy robedoor, not update my site), your best, and possibly only, bet would be to check with caligulan as it doesn't seem like they're sold out, and they're selling their stuff cheaper than the distros are.

Acid Collapse

robedoor in manchester

not drowning, but waving.

i've been slacking on a lot of shit lately, and this is certainly no exception. while it seems to have become a once a month thing, i'm making up for it with content. this one's 2 hours and fifteen minutes long. dang.

i'm shying away from the harsh noise with this episode. there's still some experimentation to be had, but it's more textured, less jarring. since i'm swinging the spotlight off of noise, it has to go somewhere else, right? right. the focus is more on garage / punk rock, since i spend more time listening to that anyway. plus, i've come across some really great shit that's new to me, so i thought that i'd pass that along to you.

also in the mix is a bit of folk, some bluesier tracks, noise rock, lo-fi trash (endearingly so), experimental noise and some folk. i really dig that congregacion, and that album is really fucking good; mellow and beautiful. i seem to have the hardest time finding really great hispanic music (with the exception of 70s psychedelia), so this find was a gem. hopefully someone else'll be into it, too.

i'm really digging this one. since rock was a central theme, it doesn't feel so disjointed. clearly i'm all for fucking around with different shit, not really caring how it will be perceived, but when you do a show that comes together real fucking nicely, nothing beats that. enjoy.

tan as fuck - spice clause
the hospitals - i'm invisible
mattress - i found my reason
clipd beaks - meltr
verdure - graveyard porchlight
delphine - la fermeture eclair
mr. airplane man - fallen
the lyres - don't give it up now
the clean - tally ho
francoise hardy - mon monde n'est pas vra
1/3 octave band - fading light from distant suns #4
muddy waters - she's alright
the blues magoos - tobacco road
nothing people - in the city
busy signals - love and dust
dmz - busy man
vktms - close but no cigar
milky ways - i don't need you girl
the celibate rifles - sentinel
aaron dilloway - infinite lucifer (excerpt)
anla courtis - si mismo
matt valentine - p.k. dick
tom waits - gun street girl
congregacion - arrebol
vertonen - shake
fatals - get out of my life
a feast of snakes - ghosts of you
ppg - zombies don't thrash
problematics - the kids all suck
the aesthetics - stereo
forbidden tigers - don't even get near me
dicks - lifetime problems
russian tsarlag - black stone bonnet
chrome cranks - love and sound
green monkey - vey vey
id battery - last blue before black #1
seht - chmnon



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