Category: Sound
The band responsible for one of my favourite SST albums have returned with two newly recorded songs after their recent live reunion and reissue campaign. I'm pretty sure these are their first studio recordings in more than 20 years. And yep, sounds like BL'AST! alright. #video
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Meant to blog this weeks ago, oops! Plus a reminder of my own interview with the band, which doesn't feel like it was two years ago. #link
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The two-bass power sludge combo were smart enough to pick the Minutemen's best album (no it's not Double Nickels) so I'll give 'em the time of day. #link
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This is amazing! But it doesn't work in Chrome. Hmmm. #link
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My favourite heavy record of 2015 so far. #link
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My thoughts on an evening of non-Euclidean music by two fine improvisers. #link
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Or, a concise history of guitar amplification. #link
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Jesus, do people really send such terrible pitches? I need to get my arse in gear. #link
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"It’s all beauty in song drifting on the river between joy and fear." My first album review in ages, rejoice! #link
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There's going through the motions (which can be fine, there are sets of expectations and marks to hit; being a wrestling fan I do that all the time when I suspend my disbelief) and there's spirituality and transcendence (Swans, Boredoms, Sunn O))), etc) and then there's ritual. And Freeman (my editor at Burning Ambulance) argues that actual, religiously inspired ritual is a rare thing in music, particularly in metal. #link
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Just goes to show that sound design is one of the more important elements when building a believable world on screen [c/o Alexis Madrigal's newsletter]. #link
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More than 30 years after it was supposed to come out on New Alliance, a long-lost San Pedro post-punk gem finally gets a vinyl/download release. #link
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The latest instalment of my very irregular heavy music column for Thumped; 3,500 words on 50-something releases I was acquainted with over the past 12 months. Let's see if I can get the next one done before summer. #link
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A Christmas present from everyone's favourite 'heavy jazz' duo Dead Neanderthals. #link
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Well said, Jonathan Dick, well said. #link
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Justin Snow says pretty much everything I wanted to say about Drew Daniel's point-missing Baker's Dozen for The Quietus. #link
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It totally, totally sucks that there's no mp3 player option for listeners like me who want to take all their music with them wherever they go. We're back to where we were over a decade ago, when disk space was the only limitation; now we're being limited by corporately contrived and dictated habits. Fuck that shit. #link
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This fucking thing has been shared to death, so instead here's an interview Albini did earlier this year with Maureen Herman of Babes in Toyland. It's good. #link
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Harsh grinding metallic noise from Birmingham. Probably what Black Sabbath would sound like if they started today. Kim Kelly said they reminded her of Burmese so that was enough for me. #link
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Free jazz meets free rock as Nick Millevoi tussles with George Draguns and Kevin Shea. #link
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Robert Rubsam writes for Backlit about the neo-folk-centred music and arts festival, its blind spot where it comes to those with National Socialist tendencies, and how easy it is for good intentions to get mired in bullshit. It's something that was on my mind earlier this year with regards to the Bölzer 'controversy' (tl;dr version: dude has tattoos that could be construed as crypto-Nazi, in a band with songs that make some hay of the are-they-aren't-they angle) and I considered hashing it out here, but decided in the end it would be more trouble than it's worth. (FWIW I did reach out to the man in question, who declined to comment, which is his prerogative.) #link
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An academic essay on Derrida and Al Johnson's inimitable vocal style -- and idiosyncratic voice notation. Any excuse to post something on the amazing US Maple. #link
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These Irish lads done good with their latest platter. #link
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The Slits guitarist and long-time filmmaker talks her autobiography published earlier this year, which is very good and you should read it now. #link
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Another one for the wish list. Hint, hint. #link
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David Grubbs (Gastr Del Sol et al) talks with Marc Masters about the vitality of performed over recorded music, a notion I totally get -- but I still feel like the documenting is important, for manifold reasons. #link
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The moral of the story? Never go 'legit'. #link
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A nice chat with the band on the release of their fourth album. Which I meant to review for Thumped months ago and, ah well. It's good, though. Much better than the last one, which was very disappointing to me. #link
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The DxAx/GridLink screamer shares his technique and talks his musical history with Invisible Oranges. #link
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A rough edit of footage from part one of Jef Merten's documentary on the legendary noise-jazz trio. The kind of band best seen live and unleashed rather than tamed on record, I reckon. Still, hopefully the finished film will have less talking, more playing. #link
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Bet you didn't know Zambia had its own version of proto-metal called Zamrock. I know I didn't. #link
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Covering two new releases from the insanely good Dutch jazz-grind-turned-jazz-noise attack unit. #link
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My first music review for Thumped in a while. #link
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The web is a visual medium first and foremost. Audio on its own is great for long form -- podcasts and the like -- but when we listen we always listen with intent. It's not like glancing and smiling at a cat macro. #link
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I've tried with Harry Pussy (on paper I should love them, but I can't get with it) but Bill Orcutt's solo music is astounding. I shook his hand and thanked him for coming when he played here in Dublin last year; maybe that was weird for him, I don't know, but I meant it. #link
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You might not think you've heard these guys, whether as a band or individually, but you have. #link
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He's no shrinking violet, that King Buzzo. #link
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AKA Kottke goes drone. #link
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Has Mould softened a bit since his autobiography came out? He seems a lot more gregarious here, talking about the records that inspire him. (Also, kinda hilarious that one of his faves is a record by the Foo Fighters, who are basically the world's most successful latter-day Hüsker Dü cover band.) #link
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A different take on the matter than Simon Price's piece but similarly thought-provoking. Myself, I try to approach things as a fan first and foremost, and go with my head where my gut leads me; it helps me avoid the kind of 'decision fatigue' Rumaan Alam writes about in The Firehose of Certainty. #link
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Some creative inspiration, care of the Minutemen -- live circa June 1985. #video
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A great essay on my favourite band. Read it. #link
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Music like this is still inscrutable to me; it's really a mystery how these sounds are manipulated so. Is it live? Looped? Analogue or digital? Improvised or composed? What equipment? What software? How could I, if I wanted to, even begin to make something like it myself? #link
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Filing this here for future reference. #link
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Five months since my last reviews update here and it’s been a bit of a drought from me to be honest, especially when it comes to the heavy stuff. Expect that to change as spring gets going.
In the meantime (and ICYMI) check out my takes for Thumped on new/recent ones from Melt-Banana, The Necks, Chrome and GridLink, not to mention my interview with Coilguns before their short Irish tour last October, my verdict on Shellac’s gig at Whelan’s in November, and my second Noises On! column where I rounded up a few months’ worth of all sorts. I should do those more often; blurbing is fun.
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A chat with the erstwhile US Maple frontman. #link
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Over-intellectualising anything can be problematic, but does that preclude metal from serious academic engagement? Of course not. Some good thoughts on the subject here. #link
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The drummer shoots the breeze with Steel for Brains. I'm glad they enjoyed making their new album Tres Cabrones, even if I didn't really like the results. #link
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In case you're ever stuck for an introduction. #link
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"Ultimately, Spotify is fantastic for major labels and acts with large audiences. Most pop/major acts sell to casual audiences, audiences that aren’t too interested in paying for their music anyway. So Spotify helps monetise the casual listener who would have just listened to the radio beforehand." For everyone else, there's Bandcamp. Really. I mean, I do use Spotify occasionally, or even YouTube, but I don't kid myself thinking it's any better than downloading at the end of the spectrum where my tastes lie. That's where Bandcamp and similar come in; they are so much better for independent artists and labels alike. #link
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