Worrytrain – Fog Dance, My Moth Kingdom (Own Records) 2007

Here’s a review from a lastFM friend dx_xb. Worrytrain is the name of an artist called Neil Geissler another fantastic Chicago musician who I knew nothing about until this review got sent to me. Amazingly beautiful stuff. I might go and track me some of this stuff down. Thanks for the review dx_xb.

Fog Dance, My Moth Kingdom is a sophisticated album drenched in melancholy, and punctuated with bouts of paranoia and unease, which is appropriate for an album with song titles like “For Auschwitz” and “White Phosphorus Angels.”

Effective use of leitmotifs makes the album sound cohesive and propels the story forward. The main leitmotifs being: simple piano melodies, dissonant strings, and emotional violin flourishes. The tracks do not necessarily flow into one another, but there is never that “whiplash feeling” you get with some albums.

The first track of the album, Prelude for Piano and Malaria, a simplistic, cautiously played piano melody, evokes a somber, innocence that contrasts nicely with the noisier songs on the album. I can imagine this arrangement playing during a movie on WWII while on the screen bombs go off and villagers run for their lives.

Track 4, Thundertrance Interlude, is by far the noisiest track of the album. Starting with a low hum of instruments and dissonant strings that give way to a wave electronic distortion that would make Masami Akita proud. The low hum of instruments can still be heard, albeit barely, underneath the distortion.

Track 5, Achtung, God, sounds rich and full thanks to strings and a bit of electronic manipulation that give this piece a feeling of urgency. This song somewhat reminds me of something off of Blood Inside by Ulver. Around the 1:35 mark the first, and one of the few, instances of guitars on this album can be heard.

Track 10, Saturniidae, the second noisiest track on the album, starts with a repetitive violin melody which is interrupted by drums and cymbals. After 2 minutes, this gives way to something that reminds me of the Anthony Braxton and Wolf Eyes collaboration. The song ends with organ playing that reminds me of Lustmord.

There is just the right amount of restraint on this album. There’s so many different sounds and styles on the album, that the risk of sounding like an ADD-riddled mess is quite high; yet, Worrytrain has managed to find a balance.

Crunt – Crunt (Trance Syndicate) 1994

I’m currently trolling through my CD’s in an attempt to offload some stuff on ebay and look what I came across. Now if you haven’t heard this need to get yourself over to Amazon right now and get yourself a copy. This is one of the most unappreciated gems of the early 1990’s and many be one of the  best sleazy, garage punk records ever produced. Crunt were a super group of Stu Spasm of Lubricated Goat, Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toylands and Spasm’s then wife and Russel Simms from John Spencer Blues Explosion. Stu does most of the singing and, well, watch the video below to get an idea of just how good Spasm was. Not sure what he or Kat are doing now. Seems a pity that Boss Hog were the band that got most of the press  because Crunt were way better.  This is now out  of print so the only place you will find it is on ebay or Amazon. It’s fucking cheap and you should get a copy before it becomes rare and the price starts to skyrocket.

Death in June – Lesson 1: Misanthropy (Solielmoon) 2009

Fuck this mob are dodgy. The arguments about whether Death In June are facsists or not seem to rage on fan forums and  in various other media. Do I think they’re fascists. Not sure but their celebration of european unity certainly creates a place for the comparisons to be made. Their facsist imagery is unquestionable and the argument about them using extreme material to make a point is quite frankly bullshit and if their not fascists then the use of the imagery is pathetic and childish. I have a similar view of Whitehouse. Those dudes are creeps, getting off on shock value. And there is something creepy about Death in June, maybe even unsettling. While I was looking around for videos to attach to this post there are some appalling fan videos using imageery of death camps. The apologia for fascist nostalgia sticks to Death in June like a fly to shit.

But this is where my dilemma comes in, I really like the music of Death in June. Especially this re-release of a compilation of the first incarnation of the band prior to 1986. This record has  some of the tracks form Burial, out of print cassettes and  The Guilty Have No Pride and unlike The Phoenix has Risen, the tracks are complimented by some very good production which makes the early 1980’s industrial, gothic vibe much more special. The version I’ve got has a nifty DVD and a patch which would look nice sewn on a jacket at the next skinhead rally. This is may better than their latter day incarnation as a dark-folk band but I doubt I’ve ever been conflicted about a band before on my life. And this comes from the mass going Catholic who has a rather spiffy collection of black metal.

Emeralds – Solar Bridge (Hanson) 2008

Here’s another excellent review from Miles.

I got into Emeralds a little bit after the release of the overwhelmingly beautiful What Happened. Its ambient buzzing and shimmering synths made me a fan just as I realized they were playing a festival 2 hours away from me in New York that had just sold out. After kicking myself in the ass I decided to check out some more of their catalog. These 3 guys realized their potential on What Happened, but it’s on the earlier album Solar Bridge you can hear a band with a tremendous amount of potential building towards something grand.     For anyone wanting to look further into Emeralds, looking back on their discography can be daunting considering how prolific they’ve been, but this is a great place to start. It is difficult to describe such formless music, but the best way I can describe Solar Bridge is it is an album that sounds exactly like the images its title brings to mind. It’s the musical equivalent of staring at the sun. It consists of two tracks that are some of the best and most absorbing drone pieces I’ve heard. It is an album that completely envelopes you in its blurry warmth, and its brevity keeps the album concise and strong, there is not a wasted moment to be found.    The earliest albums I’ve heard by Emeralds such as Allegory of Allergies tend to be more ambient, but this album is where they begin adding more dynamics to create a more ambitious sound that expanded even more onWhat Happened. The second half of “Magic” is wonderful with its synths bubbling away over the drone. “The Quaking Mess” is my favorite track of the two beginning innocently as the gentle guitar wafts through the gorgeous haze; it eventually builds and builds into a blissful blast of noise. Solar Bridge is a tremendous album, and with a pair of headphones one that you can get lost in.

Current 93 – Jesus As Black Moth (Castle) 2005

People with good taste like Current 93. Hipsters love them, journalists love them, underground noise fans love them  blah blah blah. Me? I think they’re OK. I mean the guy can write a tune but it’s his bloody ghastly voice which has me holding off on labelling myself a fan. There is just something a bit to contrived, a bit too cabaret for want of a better word, about his spoken, theatrical delivery which can give me a dose of the shits. If I’m in the right mood Current 93 rocks my world, when not, I find the whole aural experience lame and pointless. A case in point is the track All the Pretty Horses. It’s a cracker of a tune and to hear Nick Cave and Shirley Collins sing on two versions contained in this compilation, I realise just what a good song writer David Tibet is. But after hearing Nick bust out the croon machine for his version I couldn’t help wonder how good the rest of the songs would be if it was Nick’s voice rather than Tibet’s. Tibet’s voice is a really limited vehicle and the reason why I decided to post on this record, an out of print compilation of all things, is because I doubt I’ll be lining up for any more records barring some of the very early records like Blood Dogs Rising and Nature Unveiled. This compilation goes back as far as 1990 and up to the mighty Black Ships Ate the Sky, the only other Current 93 record I own. In fact that record also proves my point about the limitations of  Tibet’s voice. Black Ships has numerous versions of Idumea, a lovely traditional hymn.  Baby Dee, Antony, Will Oldham, Marc Almond all provide versions of Idumea and oddly enough they are the best things on the record, each of them wedged between slices of Tibet’s dramatic monotone.

This compilation is labelled  the companion record to Nurse with Wound’s Livin’ Fear of James Last and there certainly seems ot be this connection between the two bands and it is also common for people to love both bands. Well I’m not  one of them. I like Current 93 but I fucking love Nurse with Wound. If you can track Jesus as a Black Moth down you would be wise to pick it up. It includes tracks from all of the important Current 93 releases which are either out of print of prohibitively expensive. As compilations go it is excellent and many of the  tracks, even with Tibet’s voice are absolute crackers. And lets face it, every music collection needs some avant garde, gothic, folk cabaret. Even yours.

Wolves in the Throne Room – Black Cascade (Southern Lord) 2009

I don’t get Black Metal. Never have. Yet I really like this. I’m just not sure whether I’m supposed to laugh or paint my face white and fuck a corpse. I mean it’s just so fucking camp, singing in those demon guttural howls about norse gods and such nonsense. Laugh? I nearly wet myself. But I love this record, probably for all the wrong reasons but it pushes all my buttons.  It’s chock full off ooga-booga, screamy vocals over a soundtrack of gothic post-rock metal. Can’t get enough of this at the moment. I mean I just can’t compare it to other black metal because its a genre I don’t really listen to it. I’ve got a crap load of Sunn O))) records but some of those are generally frightening and I think doom kinda took over from this melody friendly black metal. Maybe a better term would be post metal. Then we can throw in Pelican and Isis in with this bunch to describe a frightening intelligent and melodic form of -rock heaviness. Fun.

Merzbow – Kamo: 13 Japanese Birds Part.6 (Important) 2009

I figured I’ve been writing my posts on the Japanese Birds series by comparing them to each other, which is fine if you are following them but if you didn’t sign up for the subscription and were looking for some advice on which ones to buy my  posts probably aren’t helping much. Well I can say with some certainty to stay the fuck away from this one. It is the most boring of the series yet. It contains the best titles though. Track one is titled “Bird killer Governor Ishihara deserves to die”, which, you know is cheery. But the tracks themselves are shit dull. Lots of gonzo, nutso drumming, mountains of scree and pulse and oscillations but nothing that would interest even a casual listener, no variety, no texture,. Fuck all really. If you are keen to dabble I think you should go for Part 2. It is still the absolute fucking  pick of them. Part.3 and 4 are also mighty fine but seriously go for Part 2. Jesus, I’ve got another seven of these buggers coming and I pray that Part 6 was a glitch rather than  trend.

Derek Rogers – Color Shield (Last Exit Recordings) 2009

Today I’ve noticed that the Dead C fans are hitting this blog more than they have for some time. I look back on the posts I’ve done on that band and I think many of them really don’t do the band justice but hey this isn’t really a review blog, it’s more a “holy crap you need to hear this” type of thing. So in that vein I introduce you to the mighty Derek Rogers an avant garde musician from that hot bed of conservatism Austin, Texas. Derek has an excellent myspace page that you should check out and while you’re there throw him a couple of bucks for Color Shield because it, quite simply, is on my favourite records I’m playing right now. Although the music of the  Dead C might be difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t heard it, once you do you know instantly what a unique  and defining racket they make. Derek certainly hearlds the Dead C as an influence which is awesome to hear because the only other band that gives me that Dead C vibe is late period Mouthus. But Derek also manages to squeeze  a bit of a Vibracathedral Orchestra vibe into Color Shield’s amalgam  of  drones, lo-fi antipodean punk, noise and  kitchen sink-improv clatter. My listening preferences seem to have solidified on drone and Merzbow in recent months and Derek’s work has slapped me back into getting those Dead C records back out for another play. If I was writing for the Wire I might try to make parallels between the social conservatism of Austin and Dunedin but it’s late and frankly I’m drunk. If you’re lucky enough to live in California, Derek is touring and you’d be silly to miss it.

Merzbow – Senmaida (Blossoming Noise) 2005

I did a bit of a count of my Merzbow records the other day and I got to 44. By the end of the year I’ll have over 50 given the 13 Japanese Birds subscription I signed up for. Once I reach 50 I think I should get a telegram or something but know that I’ll probably contact my insurer and increase my contents cover. I don’t know how I managed to get that many Merzbow CD’s but fuck me if I didn’t find myself the other day trolling the Blossoming Noise website looking for a copy of Zophorus (thanks to EvolKween’s recommendation)  and while I was there I thought I’d shell out for the mighty Dust of Dreams and Senmaida as well. Now I’d always steered clear of this one. I knew it existed but just going on the cover alone I thought it was going to be one of those more visceral Merzbow releases. But how wrong was  I. This is Merzbow at his most cuddly and beat happy as opposed to his more recent gonzo drum-fests. .

Blossoming Noise are not kidding when they say that this is the record which should have followed up Merzbeat. It is one of the most accessible Merzbow releases I have and is in the same category at Doors Open, Merzbuddha and Merzzow.  Senmaida is three sticky and woozy slabs of  beat centred, electronica friendly noise. Sure, there are moments of malevolence but far less that you normally get on a Merzbow record. This is one of those Merzbow records where I actually get a little disappointed when the music ends. A very, very  good starting point for beginners and a source  of great fun for everyone else.

The Golden Sores – A Peaceable Kingdom (Bloodlust!) 2009

Sometimes the problem with many drone records is that there can be a lack of, well, much at all really. Take Birchville Cat Motel’s Seventh ruined Hex. That CD almost stood still there was so little going on. When drone is done right it is a pretty awesome thing to behold. So here I introduce you to the Golden Sores, a duo of Chicago drone scenesters and mates of the better known Locrian. What The Golden Sores have done on A Peaceable Kingdom is to make drone not only transcendent but also remarkably interesting. There is a fair bit crammed into the repetitive drone landscapes that the duo create. My particular favourite is the awesome We’ll Wield Fire which is founded on a bedrock of droning noise much akin to a cello being played by a robot but made somehow beautiful. But is is also the top layer of the music which sets Golden Sores apart from many thinking they do this stuff well. There is texture in the sound created by several layers of drone effects and compositional tweaks. I mean this is just awesome and if you have been a sucker for Kevin Drumm’s unbelievably majestic Imperial Distortion (I’ll post on that soon) then I suggest that you would  be wise to track this down. We all need beauty in our lives and although the Golden Sores may be the most inappropriately named band I’ve heard of in some time, they certainly create beuatiful music. I’m not sure if it is readily available yet but A Peaceable Kingdom can be ordered  from Bloodlust!.

Merzbow – Uzura: 13 Japanese Birds Pt.5 (Important) 2009

The intent behind Uzura is a bit different to his earlier four releases in his series. The titles of the  three tracks is Requiem for the 259000 quails culled at a farm in Toyohashu Part 1-3, so I suppose this release is firmly in the vein of Merzbow’s other angry message albums like Bloody Sea, Peace for Animals and Mizano. Except this, like its previous albums in the 13 Bird series, follows a similar formula. Thingskick off with the mad drumming overlaid with Merzbow’s patented scree and hiss. I’ve heard it before and while it is fine for what it is , I’m was looking forward to something a bit fresher. The odd thing about these Birds records is the fact that on each of them the final two tracks are the ones which are truly interesting. The second track starts off as a generic Merzbow track before almost stopping dead half way through and re-emerging beat-filled and full of light before it gradually becomes denser. Its bang on full of those swirling textures and surprises that make Merzbow ’s work so exciting. The final track starts off with some subtle mad drumming and a sound that is something akin to an oboe and what initially sounds like human wailing quickly becomes a different oboe-type noise before sounding again like something almost mournful and human. Shit it’s good. Almost like free-jazz, goth Merzbow but quiet and restrained.  It of course quickens, slows down, adds some retro synth noodling and that siren effect he uses so well.  This is another great addition to the series. Can he keep it up is the question.

GAS – Nah Und Fern (Kompakt) 2008

There were some great compilations I managed to track down last year and this, by far, is the best of them. GAS were a german ambient-minimalist techno group doing their thing in the late 1990’s. I first became aware of them as I guess many did when head Kompakt honcho Wolfgang Voight made it on to the cover of The Wire. I dismissed ever listening to GAS at the time because if I’m honest Voight just had one of those dodgy Euro-track haircuts that screamed that his thing probably wasn’t going to be my thing. But fast forward six months and I’ve become a sucker for minimalist techno and I decided to track it down.  I don’t know why it it works for me so well because as music it’s almost barely there but when I turn it off I realise that my whole space has been awash with the most sublime  beats that their absence is as noticeable as turning off Merzbow mid scree. Nah Und fern is a compilation of all four albums they produced but which had iunfortunately gone out of print. The four albums in question are GAS, Zauberberg, Konigsforest and Pop. I don’t have a favourite between them but if you have any desire to hear techno as art then you should get this. 

Hospitals – Hairdryer Peace (Self-released) 2008

Now this record made it all the way to number 3 on The Wire’s best of 2008.  From the  reviews I read this was the record I was most excited to hear of those I missed last year. My bubble was burst when I found out it was vinyl only and was pretty tricky to track down. So after resigning myself to never hearing this someone had the good sense to releases it on CD this year. Fucking yay is all I’ve got to say on the subject because this album is terrific. Now it still appears to be self released by the band and I hazard a guess that it won’t stay in print long so, you know, act quick if this has any appeal for you.

Hospitals have released a couple of previous records that I’ve never heard but I had heard of the band in the same breath as many other noise-rock bands but they’d never registered enough for me to actually track down their stuff. What Hospitals do on this record is produce a no-fi variation on noise/rock/pop/psychedelic stoner rock overlayed with a blanket of fuzz. Think No Age crossed with Mouthus if you like although way more Mouthusy. In fact Hairdryer Peace is all over the place in terms of reference points and genres. Yet in saying that there is no doubt that this is noise-rock at its best. Its a record that rewards repeated listens and I can’t wait for their next one.

Sunn O))) – Monoliths and Dimensions (Southern Lord) 2009

I’ve been hanging out for this for some time because nothing says happiness like a slab of doom laden black metal. This is their first proper album in yonks, since I think Black One if I’m not mistaken (I don’t think  you can count Oracle because that was tracks developed for an art piece rather than an album proper). I was actually going into my local record store to buy Isis’s Oceanic and fuck me if this wasn’t sitting in the rack below. It made my week and after a couple of spins its time to post on it.

You know its Sunn O))) so it’s bound to be good but I wasn’t expecting this. There are four tracks in all. The first and third are your typical Sunn O))) power riffs and the first one had Atilla talking about some underground city or such nonsense in his best creepy voice. They haven’t been this much fun since My Wall on White 1. Fun but sinister of you know what I mean. Maybe it is a bit vaudeville for many tastes but I’m  a sucker for this type of thing so bring it on I say. The second track is called Big Church and it features a choir, a fucking CHOIR I tell you. More Gorecki Misere than Mormon Tabernacle if you are worried that the sound of a choir is completely lame. Totally different to anything they’ve done before I reckon but the final expectation destroying clusterfuck happens on the final track. It starts off as a typical doom track and then fuck me! a fucking trumpet wails and suddenly your listening to jazz. I thought my ipod had fucked up but seriously the most divine jazz track I’ve heard in some time (which isn’t that profound because the only jazz I listen to is The Necks) leaks our of my headphones. To say that Sunn O))) don’t do the same thing twice might be the fucking understatement of the year. If you’re looking for the windswept-tundra-in-hell vibe of Black One you are certainly not going to find it here. Sunn O))) let the light in and it’s a cracking good listen.

Merzbow – Venereology (Release) 1994

 

Here is a picture of my kid. He turned three the other day and the increase in his age has also seen his taste in music increase somewhat. He is addicted to The Bug’s London Zoo and requests it every time we get in the car. Villalobos is a firm favourite as is early 1990’s hardcore band Mule and early 1980’s Boston group The Lyres. 

Tonight he asked to listen to what was in my headphones which incidentally was Venereology. I adjusted the volume and he put the headphones on his ears for about  twenty seconds and grinned. Holy shit! I thought to myself this is a bit disturbing but I remembered that bloke from Astral Social Club saying in an interview that his 3 year old  was a fan of Wolf Eyes. The fact that my kid did not throw the headphones off immediately was kind of surprising because the kid just cannot abide bands like Sonic Youth. After those twenty seconds the kid hands me back the headphones and tells me that it’s “bit noisy Daddy.”  I told him that was kind of the point but he just smiled and headed off to his room. Had I known that he wasn’t adverse to a bit of Merzbow I would have started him off with Merzbeat or one of the  Japanese Birds records but you know, the  moment has passed and I’ll try again next weekend. 

Venereology itself is one of those earlier harsh analogue recordings that are just so full on that it’s taken me a while to post on it. But yet like Tombo I quite like it. The noise is unrelenting. In fact it starts with what sounds like a jackhammer on crystal meth and doesn’t stop for breath over its four tracks. Yet in saying that there is texture, variations in rate of change, clever little nuances and other such bits and pieces which people who can get into Pulse Demon, Bariken or Tauromachine will be familiar with. Certainly this is towards the more extreme end of the 30 or so Merzbow albums I own but at the same time it rewards patience. If you are looking for the instantaneous pleasure of Merzzow or Merzbuddha, Venereology is probably not your record.

Merzbow – Doors Open at 8 am (Alien8 Recordings) 2000

I haven’t had a guest reviewer for a while and Miles, one of my lastfm friends,  was good enough to jot down his thoughts on Merzbow’s awesome Doors Open….. It’s a great album and one which I’ve never got around to posting on myself. In fact all of the Alein8 Merzbow releases are pretty essential. Cheers Miles, great review.

On Alien8’s website they dedicate Door Open At 8 AM to all Merzbow “non-believers,” which I found very fitting. This (along with Keio Line) is one of the albums I play for people when trying to turn them on to Merzbow. What makes this album such a good release is that it’s tied so well together by its theme, which is essentially Akita’s take on jazz.  Merzbow has other very rhythmic albums, but he doesn’t go in the electronica direction of albums like Merzbeat or Merzbird, instead filling these seven tracks will various samples of piano, bass, guitar, and of course fantastic jazz drum loops. It makes for the perfect album to point to in defiance when people accuse Merzbow of being repetitive.  “Tony Williams Deathspace” is a genuinely catchy two minutes, but the real highlights of this album are “Jimmy Elvins in Traffic” and “Lyons Wake.” These take the idea of “Merzjazz” and do it just right, each starting with very distinct jazz motifs and returning to them throughout. I can’t review this album without mentioning “Africa Brass.” Supposedly a Coltrane cover, (though Africa Brass was an album, not an actual song.) I think it is good, but it doesn’t work as well as the two I already mentioned, or even the fantastic closer “Metro and Bus.” What truly makes this album so good though is that while you can recognize it as Merzbow at any time, it really sounds like a jazz album. Highly recommended.

Excepter – Alternation (Paw Tracks) 2006

God I’m fucking loving this band right now. I stayed away from Excepter for some time for a reason that now escapes me. Perhaps it was their delightfully corny early 80’s metal name that put me off, fuck knows. They reappeared on my radar earlier this year when I stumbled across this for a very good price at Rockinghorse.   Rockinghorse label them as avant garde and stock Excepter in the  same section as Merzbow and Wolf Eyes. Although Excepter are note even close to being a noise band in the traditional sense they are decidedly odd and anyone who hears their schtick understands the problem in trying to either define their sound. Excepter began when one of the  dudes form No-Neck Blues Band teamed up with a couple of New York DJ’s earlier this decade. To me they sound like a dub-soaked  Animal Collective exploring a world of post-electronica weirdness. The dub is what hits me the most when I listen to Alternation and it is precisely this element that separates them from other New York weirdos like Gang Gang Dance. They’re worth checking out and they’re certainly a shit load more fun than No-Neck Blues Band.

Emeralds – What Happened (No Fun Productions) 2009

There were a few records in The Wire’s Top 50 of 2008 that I really wanted to check out. One of them was Emeralds Solar Bridge. By the time I knew it existed the fucking thing seemed to have been deleted and it was only last week that hat I managed to track down a copy. In the interim I noticed that Mr Giffoni’s No Fun Productions released a new Emeralds record and although I held off for a while, I ordered it off the No Fun website and it arrived a couple of weeks ago. When I went back to buy the new John Wiese record I noticed that this one has now sold out as well. You should still be able to track down copies of What Happened around the place but I wouldn’t fuck about because if you miss hearing this then you might just miss hearing an important record from a very young but amazing talented band. Emeralds produce waves and waves of transcendent, celestial drone. I kind of wasn’t expecting to hear something so beautiful. When you release records on labels like Aaron Dilloway’s Hanson and No Fun it’s fair to say that many in noise-land would be expecting something a little more noisy and visceral. There are some great drone records being released at he moment and you would be smart to put this at the top of the list. Best album of 2009 so far?

Chord – Flora (Neurot) 2009

One of the  strange things about having this blog is that from time to time people send me stuff to listen to. Some of the records I get are OK, some mind bendingly awful and some absolutely rock my world. I don’t post on the ones I think suck or are OK because this blog is mainly about records I like and I’m sure people don’t send me crap so I can slag off their hard work. If I’m not a fan of a record that’s been sent to me I usually  send a note to the person telling them it just wasn’t my thing. 99% of the records I post on here I’ve paid for. I don’t believe in downloading because quite frankly I think artists and musicians deserve to be paid for their efforts. 

So anyway a couple of weeks ago a bloke called Phil emailed me and said that he’d like to send me a copy of his new record and hey, I’m keen to hear different things so gladly accepted his offer. From past experience I’m never particularly hopeful I’m going to like what’s being sent but fuck me if this record hasn’t floored me. Flora is absolute fucking godhead. Chord are a quartet of musicians floating around the Chicago scene. Probably the best know of them is Trevor de Brauw of doom metal/postrock powerhouses Pelican. To explain what Chord does I lifted this from the Neurot website:

CHORD performances consist of each player being assigned one note from a pre-selected chord. They are then expected to consider all ranges of flexibility concerning octave, rhythm, playing style and effect treatments. The overall effect CHORD generates is that of a single note being rendered into an unsolvable riddle – a harmonic Gordian knot that creates an almost pastoral feel of being blinded by the sun. The rejection of melody and structure in favor of sweeping and epic tones inspires a sense of rousing apprehension. Shrouded in the individual tunings of each player the pieces never become diluted, instead finding resolution in collective dissonance and consonance. To be in the presence of chord achieved is transcendent.  

So there you go. I might add that Chord is every drone nerd’s wet dream. Not simply because of that transcendent buzz we all get off on, but because Chord seem to have developed a graceful tension between Doom metal, drone and a more ambient space without ever descending into the cheese that defines most current post-rock. Every time I listen to this I’m kind of sad that it has to end.  Beautiful, sad, blissful and at times, menacing. If you’ve enjoyed Emeralds,  Daniel Menche  or the more ambient ends of doom, Chord may well be your new favourite band. 

John Wiese – Circle Snare (No Fun Productions) 2009

One of my favourite noise artists going around right now has to be John Wiese. Whether he is collaborating with Yeh or Merzbow, doing his thing as Sissy Spacek or releasing stuff under his own name, Wiese doesn’t seem comfortable in doing the same thing twice. Wiese is turning into one of the most prolific and talented noise artists of right now and  Circle Snare, his latest release on Carlos Giffoni’s No Fun Productions, shows just how good he can be. This record was recorded whilst on his European tour last year. He used his basic set up and reinterpreted what it produces to make a sound that I’ve only heard hints of in some of his Sissy Spacek records. Gone are the Merzbow-esque power electronics of Black Magic Pond so too the hyperactive, cut and paste of Soft Punk. Now I really liked Soft Punk but my experience with it was almost physical. Soft Punk was a record that simply overwhelmed me. I have never been able to listen to it in one sitting. When I try to, I can usually get to Track 4 before my brain feels like it is no longer capable of independent thought and if my experience is anything to go by, the US could use repeated listens at volume as an enhanced interrogation. Circle Snare is a very different beast.  For one thing it is a much more minimal affair and in some ways also one of his more powerful works. The noise itself seems to be produced on two separate planes in much the same way Giffoni does and Merzbow can produce in his best works. Yet in saying this Wiese has produced something completely unique. Sometimes less is more and if you have any interest in Wiese I recommend you pick this up.