Moby - “Animal Rights” (Mute 1996) 

Did you know that Moby did stuff before he was MTV’s darling electronic music poster boy?  You know, he was the guy that showed off his book collection on MTV Cribs?  Then he made a second appearance on MTV Cribs and had the really sweet house in upstate NY?  Yeah I don’t remember him either. 

I love Moby, particularly ”Play” the record that made him famous.  I had heard he did stuff that was edgier prior to that record, but it eluded until recently when I scored a copy of this record.  This is drastically different from the poppy ambient electronic music we all know and love Moby for.  While that stuff is on here, this record is a hardcore record.  Like this sounds like 108 with electronic drums with just a hint of Nine Inch Nails. There are some ambient electronic parts and alternative rock stuff on here that sound kind of dated, but yeah, all I could think of while listening to this was 108.  I was pleasantly surprised and definitely like Moby even more now.  

-Log.  

JK Flesh/Prurient - “Worship The Cleansing Of Imagination” (Hydra Head Records 2013)

So this is the final release from the illustrious and amazing Hydra Head Records.  I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t think of a better combination of artists or a better release to send off the label.

JK Flesh is one of Justin K Broadrick’s 8 billion projects.  If you don’t know who he is, kindly educate yourself, because while I don’t think I’ve reviewed any of his projects, every single one of them is excellent, and three of them are some of the most influential bands of the last 25 or so years. JK Flesh is sort an amalgamation of his later work with Godflesh and Final, the result is truly satisfying.  The three tracks on here are ambient electronic tracks, with heavy distorted guitars playing doom riffs.  I’ve honestly never really heard anything quite like this before, everything that tries to sound like this falls short and sounds cheesy.  Mr. Broadrick pulls this off masterfully; this is definitely something that requires multiple listens to dissect every nuance and truly appreciate the musical genius presented.

Let’s flip this over.

Prurient has quite the task to live up to the previous side, but I don’t think it’s possible for Dominick Fernow to disappoint (well me at least).  Prurient takes a different approach then his previous Hydra Head releases, which mostly revolved around synths and beats.  These three tracks rely more heavily on ambient electronics and atmosphere rather than keyboards.  The final track does have a synth lead, but brutal electronics slowly come in and take center stage while the synth becomes an afterthought.  

All in all an excellent record.  Do yourself a favor and buy this.

-Log. 

Hey everyone.  You might remember a few months back I was talking about my band, Grampa.  Well we finally finished mixing and all the other fun stuff for our first album.  We have a bandcamp page where it’s available for download.  Also I have it on micro SD cards which is limited to 14 copies; if you want one email me.  I haven’t decided if I want to do a tape release yet or not.  

Grampa play a mix of dark ambient/drone/noise/other weird stuff.  Every track has different instrumentation ranging from banjo to throat singing to homemade oscillators.  Check it out!

Grampa - download here!

It’s pay what you want, but don’t feel bad if you pay nothing! I just want people to hear it, we worked hard on the record.  If you download it, give me feedback!

thanks!

-Log. 

Christian Cosmos - “The Sharp Lines That Delineate His Robes” (Bed Of Nails 2012)

GUYS THIS RECORD IS LIKE REALLY AWESOME.  ITS LIKE DARK AMBIENT AND INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONIC MUSIC.  SHITS LIKE IF BOYD RICE WAS IN APHEX TWIN, YEAH ITS THAT AWESOME.  LMFAO I LISTENED TO IT AT 33RPM FIRST AND THEN I LOOKED AT THE LABELS AND IT SAID 45RPM AND I LISTENED TO IT AGAIN AND ITS REALLY GOOD EITHER WAY.  AND LOOK AT THE COLOR OF THE RECORD ITS LIKE A NEON GRIMACE FROM MCDONALDS AND SHIT. 

-Log.

PS: This is the last review I write like this. Maybe.  

Genesis P-Orridge & Stan Bingo - “What’s History” (Dais Records 2012)

So this record is awesome.  It’s one of those records that I wasn’t going to even post about, but then in the middle of listening to it I was like, “Fuck. This is good.”

Basically the record is a free improvisation from 1981 when Genesis was trying out some new equipment (sounds like a new synth or something), and Mr. Bingo was there with a vibraphone.  At first the track sounds like the two were just doing whatever, but eventually they just click, and the results are awesome.  Over the two sides (basically it’s all one track, but you have to flip the record at one point) the listener is taken on a journey that is both dreamy and terrifying, but all the while relaxing.  It’s really hard to describe, but I love it.  The best part of the record, to me at least, is when GP’s dog starts barking, and rather than turning the tape off they just keep going.  What would normally ruin a recording, the dog seems to be joining in on the session, barking in time with what the performers are doing.  It’s the sort of thing that could never be recreated, and to me really sold me on this record.  Love it. 

-Log. 

Silent Servant - “Negative Fascination” (Hospital Productions 2012)

I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I’ve been really enjoying the latest rash of releases coming out on Hospital Productions and their sister label Bed Of Nails that are primarily ambient electronic music.  As a big fan of IDM and ambient music, all these releases lately have been a breath of fresh air for me, because as much as I love Aphex Twin (and the hordes of acts he’s inspired), his (their) records are a bit overwhelming to listen to sometimes.

Silent Servant is just the right mix of complexity and simplicity that makes for techno that pines for multiple spins; not just for picking apart of tracks, but also because it’s so fucking excellent!  Silent Servant employees what seems to be a generous arsenal of analog synths to create hypnotic dark beats, mostly revolving around thumping electronic bass tones, with repetitive drum loops, heavily distorted samples, and cold synth harmonies and waves which tie everything together masterfully.  

Right now the northern East Coast of the USA (which is where I call home) is currently being overtaken by a Nor’easter, and this record is the perfect soundtrack to it.  Even better than Immortal would be; listening to this record feels like I should be stuck in an ice cavern being haunted by some unseen force.  Or something.  Great shit.

-Log.

Fontanelle - “Vitamin F” (Southern Lord Records 2012)

Well, I’m back.  

Remember how I always complain about buying all the new hardcore records that Southern Lord has been putting out and being completely disappointed by them and cursing myself for continuing to buy everything the label puts out?  This record is a perfect example of why I started following the label to begin with, and why I buy everything they put out.  

Fontanelle (at least on this album) are an experimental jazz-funk combo based out of Portland, Oregon, USA, who’s members (according to the sticker on the polybag the record came in) also play in fellow Southern Lord acts sunnO))), Earth, and Eagle Twin.  Musically I can say this is one of the most interesting things that Southern Lord has EVER put out, not just because it’s a huge departure from the labels normal output (metal/hardcore), which also isn’t strange for the label to do (see Jesse Sykes And The Sweet Hereafter), it’s just a very interesting take on the genre.  While I may not be an expert on psychedelic jazz-funk, I have heard a few albums in my day, and really what sets this apart from the genre is this is fucking HEAVY.  Not heavy in a sense that this is metal in any way, more that the whole thing just grooves so much; but the band takes time with their grooves. These are all (for the most part) much more downtempo jams that let you take in everything that is going on, rather then pound you over the head with a million things at once like Parliment/Funkadelic, or solo after solo like so much avant-garde jazz likes to do.  That and liberal use of fuzz bass makes for this a very heavy listening experience indeed.  

Such a great and rewarding listen, I do suggest you all check this out.  

-Log.  

Nekrasov/Aderlating - split (Chrome Leaf 2010)

I’m still alive.  That so much is true.  THough I’ve been buried in boxes of records that I got mailed to me this week.  SO much sick black metal vinyl to spin that I don’t even know where to start.  So I’ll start with this split LP between Australia’s favorite noisy black metal dude Nekrasov and The Netherlands very own black ambient Aderlating.  

I had never heard of Aderlating before this, but after a bit of research, the internet has informed me that Aderlating is the dark ambient project of black noise psychopath Maurice De Jong, better known as the brain behind Gnaw Their Tongues, a project I am fully aware of and a huge fan of.  Aderlating is the opposite side of the record from Gnaw Their Tongues (record humor) in terms of sound.  While Gnaw Their Tongues is brutal black metal blasts infused with noise and even classical arrangements (but not in a Dimmu Borgir way) Aderlating is a calm foreboding trip into the mind of a deranged psycho.  Not to say De Jong is a psycho, but he certainly sounds like it.  Though I make stuff like this and I’m not a psycho.  Whatever.  The last track on his side is more akin to Gnaw Their Tongues because it is definitely a black metal song.  However, the song is like in the background of a foggy ambient drone, almost as if there were a black metal band playing inside a building while you were wandering around outside fucked up on Robitussin and Old Crow.  Such a good side.  Let’s flip this bad boy over.

You never know what you are gonna get when you put on a Nekrasov record.  Unless you’ve listened to it before.  But if you are like me and buy a lot of records, most stuff you listen to is new to you.  Anyway, I’ve heard Nekrasov records that range from black metal to HNW, but this one is a new beast entirely.  It continues with Aderlating’s side and is one long evil as fuck dark ambient track.  It’s quiet and disturbing, with bits of back masked sounds and eerie synth drones.  I love the fact that everything Nekrasov does sounds different and yet he chooses to use the same name for everything since he’s alone.  First off it makes it easier to track down stuff he plays on, secondly it’s all the same person so why should different genres be different artist names (Aderlating I’m looking at you)?  I don’t know.  If he was collaborating with different people each time I could see having a new band name for each record, but for now I’m glad he sticks to Nekrasov.  Another top notch track from him, and a proud addition to my collection.

Let’s also take a moment to relish is the beauty of this record.  It look black with grey splatter in the pic, but its actually dark green.  But if you hold it up to the light its yellow/green.  So sexy.  Vinyl boner. 

-Log. 

Just reorganizing my tapes.  No big deal.  

Exhumed Corpse - “Mortem Obire” (Robert & Leopold 2011)

I wasn’t going to review this, I just wanted to listen to it, but it as it has been lately, this tape is fucking incredible and the world needs to know about it.  Exhumed Corpse is Sam Wagner, a dude I don’t know anything about, he looks really familiar.  The tape is just what I needed this morning.  Two long, evil, dark ambient soundscapes.  There is a distant keyboard somewhere in there, buried beneath years of delay and reverb; as well as a thick layer of manipulated synth.  Great tape.

-Log. 

So this is what has been keeping me from my reviewing duties (partially), my new ambient/drone band Grampa.  Check out our temporary site, which has our first recorded output (which is to large to upload on here).  

Grampa

Check it out and give me feedback you jabronis.  

-Log. 

Growing - “His Return” (Troubleman Unlimited 2005)

Man I love Growing.  I saw them a handful of times, and every time they were opening for Boris.  I have a few of their records, and every single one of them is different.  They were one of the bands that got me into spacey, ambient, non rock psychedelic music.  After seeing what a band can do live with a mess load of pedals and some ingenuity I was totally sold.  

This explores possibilites of synth and vocals within Growing’s guitar driven drone psychedelics.  Seriously, its really doing it for me, when shit like this will usually ruin a record for me.  Well vocals at least; I loves me some delicious synthesizers if you haven’t guessed already at this point in my blog.  

The three tracks on here fly by even though the shortest one is just about 9 minutes long. The b-side takes up the entire side of the 12” and it feels like its 2 minutes long.  Love this.  One lame  thing is that I bought this new and sealed and the record is slightly warped.  Worst thing ever. 

-Log. 

Viodre - “Interpol Alchemi” (Hospital Productions 2011)

I wasn’t going to review this, but seriously you all have to listen to this CD.   Viodre is a noise band, who after a lazy google search, I’m not sure where Viodre hails from, but it really doesn’t matter.  What matters is this album, a rich rewarding experience in the world of collage sound.  Fuck I don’t even know how to describe this accurately.  But I must say this record hits so many different worlds of noise its almost kind of scary.  I think the point that really sold me is after an epic 18 minute opening track of subdued collage noise consisting of field samples and gentle analog waves of static, it busts into a completely overblown jam of noisecore sludge.  Then Viodre continues on his journey. 

There are several tracks of more cut up sounds like John Wiese’s “Soft Punk” album, but much more thought out sounding and concise.  At one point you get another noisecore jam that bleeds into a ambient IDM sort of track which also introduces more collage techniques then a barrage of brutal noise kicks in.  This record is so fucking genius.  I seriously can’t get enough of it.  I can’t really compare it to anything, but if you if you like stuff like Jason Crumer or John Wiese’s collage noise, or some of Prurient’s collage noise you will definitely love this.  But trust me when I say it’s better than any other collage noise records I’ve heard.  Fuck buy this now. 

-Log. 

Sujo/Korperschwache - split (Inam Records 2011)

A few weeks ago I posted a review of an Austin Noise comp and I spoke about liking Korperschwache’s stuff on there;  a few days later RKF of Korperschwache contacted me and we traded some stuff.  I sent out a few of my projects releases and he sent me a ton of Korperschwache material! I love trading material, it’s probably the best part about being  in a noise band and kinda/sorta running a label. 

Anyway, Both bands on here offer up 3 epic tracks.  Sujo, a band I had never heard of prior to receiving this CDr (limited to 70 by the way, if you didn’t notice from the pic) and I must say they fucking blew my mind.  Seriously though, they are ambient, heavy as fuck, and psychedelic all at the same time.  Super slow drums set the pace for waves of drone-like guitars to wash over sheets of hazy electronics.  I can’t get enough of stuff like this.  It really sends me into another world, one where I’m the king of awesomeness, and I watch over everything that is awesome.  Yeah. Seriously this reminds me a lot of my band, Wicked King Wicker, which is a lame way of comparing, but we should do a split!

Korperschwache is a different beast all together on this release.  The opening track “The Golden Hammer” is a slow burning quiet guitar jam; kinda shoegazy, almost like a Cocteau Twins track or something.  The next track, “Divine Teeth” is a slow heavy, track with evil vocals.  Its kind of like an old gothed out band that decided to bring some riffs into their lives.  Great, hypnotic shit.  The last track, “The Healing Power Of Xanax”, is a doomier slow jam.  

All in all this is an amazing split, and I’m totally pumped to own one of the few copies.