Sun City Girls - You’re Never Alone With A Cigarette Volume 1 (Abduction) 2008

If you hadn’t already figured out by the number of spelling errors on this blog, I’m often drunk when I post. In the interests of raising the standards and the fact that I won’t be getting my own copy for a couple of weeks, I’ve invited Seth (a reader of this blog) to write up his thoughts on a pretty exciting re-release. I’m not sure if I’m right but like myself, I think Seth is new to this noise/avant stuff. There is only one comment I’d make in addition to Seth’s thoughts and that is the fact that this is titled Volume 1 is a pretty exciting teaser that there might be more Sun City Girls re-releases coming our way. Take it away Seth.

The Sun City Girls are a bunch of guys from Arizona with not much to do other than make strange noises with distorted guitars whilst releasing numerous albums that are incredibly difficult to find. Which is nice, if you’re into that sort of thing. “You’re Never Alone With A Cigarette” is a singles compilation consisting of six songs that were recorded during the sessions for their most well-known album, “Torch of the Mystics”, and three previously unreleased tracks that all sound like something from a spaghetti western soundtrack (although with a LOT more distortion on the guitars). All of the songs are instrumental, except for “The Beauty of Bengazi” which seems to be sung in a made-up language.

Since the only release by the Sun City Girls that I had heard prior to this was “Dante’s Disneyland Inferno”, I didn’t really have much idea of what to expect from this album, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the material contained on it. The first song, “100 Pounds of Black Olives” consists of a cacophony of distorted guitar and bass that gets faster and louder until the fuzz overwhelms your ears, before slowly burning out. It actually seemed very reminiscent of some of the material from Can’s “Tago Mago”, especially the improvised guitar parts from “Paperhouse”. “Sev Acher” is one of the three Morricone-esque songs, the other two being “Amazon One” and “Wide World of Animals”, all of which are all fantastic and probably the best songs on the album. The sheer skill of the musicians is also worth noting, with the hyperactive acoustic guitar twang on “The Beauty Of Benghazi” and the hypnotic riffs contained within “Wide World of Animals” being excellent testaments to the impressive skill of the Sun City Girls. The only song I’m not particularly fond of is “The Fine-Tuned Machines Of Lemuria”, which just drags on for too long and seems to be a bit self-indulgent. It does contain some nice trumpet parts, though.

In conclusion, this album is a great starting place if you have even the slightest interest in exploring the vast discography of the Sun City Girls. All of the songs are enjoyable and the production is top-notch. Check it out if you can find it (or just steal it!*).

*You probably shouldn’t actually steal it, you might get in trouble or something. Not that you have much chance of finding it, anyway.

Grey Daturas - Return to Disruption (Neurot) 2008

You know I only walked into my local record store to buy sunroof! but walked out with this as well.  The Grey Daturas are a trio from Melbourne who have been churning out their particular brand of antipodean  noise for a couple of years now. Some don’t regard what they do as noise, and I get the hesitation. For the most part the Grey Daturas churn out a wonderfully satisfying brand of heavy psychedelic guitar workout but they also allow a more experimental, and dare I say noisy, side to come to the fore. This is a very good record. It’s actually the first full length I’ve heard from them and it threw me in many ways. There are only seven tracks on Return to Disruption but they seem to cover a bundle of different noise style over the length of the album.

When I was listening to the first track I thought: Lightning Bolt but less arty farty and less annoying.   But if that’s the only thing I’d heard I would have developed a very wrong impression of this very impressive band. The second album titled track owes more to the kitchen-sink sound and drone experiments of Sandoz Lab Technicians. The third track starts off sounding like Lightning Bolt before taking an abrupt left turn into Birchville territory. A pure drone track was certainly not expected but considering that I’m a bit partial to droneI was pretty happy with its inclusion. I suppose the one major impression I get from listening to Return to Disruption is the heavy influence of The Dead C. Just like the Dead C, the Grey Daturas are not afraid to mix up their styles.

By the time we get half way through we’re firmly in the land of doom before descending into a psych-metal freakout. There is still time for another avant-garde Dead C-esque noise experiment before the whole thing is closed out by two psych metal melt downs (think Boris ). It’s a great album and well worth picking up if you’re interested at all in noise, drone, sludge psych and doom.

This was recorded in 2006 mixed last year and released a couple of weeks ago. Somehow I don’t think this band are going to be churning out a shit load of product any time soon.  Return To Disruption almost plays like a well thought out noise sampler and certainly puts Australian noise on the map even if it does remind me of a stack of bands from across the Tasman Sea.

Live in Oakland 2007

Girls Against Boys -Venus Luxure No.1 Baby (Touch and Go) 1994

There a couple of records that never leave my Top 10. Sister by Sonic Youth is a good example. One of the other ones is this, the mighty second record from Girls Against Boys. I remember buying this record in 1995. I’d just moved to a big city from my buttfuck, redneck, bullshit town and I knew no-one. Every Friday night on my way home from work I’d pop into my local indie record store and buy something for the weekend. One of my first purchases was this. Buying this record probably didn’t assist my isolation but it sure as shit made the bus rides to and from work alot more bearable.

Girls Against Boys really should have been a dischord band. Equal parts Fugazi, Shudder to Think and Nation of Ulysses (but somehow sounding a lot cooler than all of them), they were certainly one of the more unique bands coming out of the US in the mid-1990’s. They released three very good records, this, Cruise Yourself and Girls Against Boys before signing to a major label and releasing an absolute turd of an album Freak-on-ica. I still think the pick of them has to be Venus Luxure No.1 Baby, the songs are strong and the power of the twin bass guitar hammering away is very special indeed. Its the album that started their flirtation with lounge-noir. In fact I always thought of Girls Against Boys as the post-apocalyptic house band at some seedy martini joint. There are obviously limitations to their sound and I suppose Girls Against Boys are a great example of an excellent band that stayed around too long. If your only experience with this band is Freak-on-ica put that out of your mind and listen to this record. They really were one of the best things to come out of the US in the mid-1990’s and I only wish I’d seen them live.

This is the first single from the album, In Like Flynn, played live in 1993.

Polvo - Today’s Active Lifestyles (Merge) 1993

There are albums that I return to again and again. Today’s Active Lifetstyles is one of them. Before Battles reinvented Math Rock for the new millennium, Polvo were the most visible members of a rather small club of math rock artists that existed around the early to mid-1990’s. I have already posted on their third album Exploded Drawing and although I really like that record, Today’s Active Lifestyles works for me a little more. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a little rawer than Exploded or whether i find the tracks more evocative than it’s follow up.

The sheer joy of Polvo is the complexity and denseness of the music they create. I think this record really capture Polvo  at the height of their powers. It isn’t as sloppy and college rocky as their debut Cor Crane Secret and not as tediously dull as their final record Shapes. What you get is a sophisticated primer to math rock and probably one of my favourite records of all time.  This may be heresy to some but I think it’s way better than Spiderland and a much better may of spending your hard eared dollars.

The only thing I can find from Today’s … is a short exert of Kimino.

Thug - Everything is Beautiful in It’s Own Way (Universal) 2001

Lucas Abela (Justioce Yeldham) criticised me for not covering more Australian noise music so here’s one from the vaults.

Thug were a shotlived band from Sydney who released a cople of records in the late 1980’s on the avant rock label Black Eye. Besides also being the home of Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, Lubricated Goart and the Butcher Shop, the actual output of Black Eye was pretty limited. The mover and shaker behind Thug was the awesome TexPerkins who also fronted The Butcher Shop, Salamander Jim, The Beasts of Bourbon and later Cruel Sea. In Australia he is best know for his work with the Cruel Sea, a twangy pub rockband that actually won Best Band at Australia’s equivalent to the Grammys (an ARIA) ten years or so ago. When you consider his output in Thug (scroll down for a video snippet) you’ll understand that to those who remembered Tex from his early days his later success was a bit of a shock. For those overseas it’s the equivalent Aaron Dilloway from Wolf Eyes fronting up for an MTV award after forming a supergroup with Wilco.

Unfortunately the only thing I could of Thug’s short lived output is this hobbled together compilation released 13 years after the band folded. The fact that it this was released on Universal is an ongoing mystery to me. I mean, what the fuck were they thinking? It’s difficult to reconcile this with the full length albums they released but over its 28 tracks Everything … seems to cover the majority of their output.

The incredibly frustrating thing about this record is the complete lack of liner notes. Thug have an interesting history and their story deserves to be told. The tracks themselves span the gamit of experimental music. Some of their outputsounds like the intense noise fuck of Whitehouse, the frenetic cut and paste technique of John Wiese, the bonged out psychedelia of Butthole Surfers, the fart joke ambience of the early Boredoms records and a hunderd other strange and wacky bands through the ages. Although the compilation itself is disappointing due to the lack of info or context, Thug deserve to be heard by more people.

The excellent Dave from Lexicon Devil has a very good write up.

http://manwithoutshame.blogspot.com/2004/09/thug-mechanical-apeproud-idiots-parade.html

I’ve posted the first thing of Thug’s that I’d ever heard. This is from the excellent Carry on Disarming video released by the NME in 1988.

The National - Boxer (Beggars Banquet) 2007

For a blog that seems to concentrate on the tuneless and obscure many would find it suprising that I’m posting on this. Boxer was in a whole bunch of critics best of lists for 2007. I think that there is some justificatioin for that.

I first heard of this band through my mate Andrew and was somewhat skeptical when he raved about how good they were. Favourite band blah blah blah. Anyway I get a call from Andrew a couple of months ago, and he and his wife Sussanah have bought tickets and are flying 1500 km’s to see this band. Did I want to go with them? Why the fuck not I thought. Since the birth of my son I could count the number of times I’d been out at night on two fingers.

I went with no expectations. The opening band was some horrible local act that sounded remarkably like Drop Nineteens (that band were OK in 1993 but seriously it’s 2007 people). So The National start and fuck me if it isn’t one of the best live shows I’ve seen in some time. Each track they played ended with this wall of transcendent white noise which made me all funny. The band were tight and the singer has one of those voices which is equal parts bourbon, cough syrup and honey (think Tindersticks). They also had two little hobbit guitarists which was fun. But seriously his voice is something very special indeed and fuck me if he doesn’t write some of the best bitter love songs since David Gedge and the Wedding Present. Their stuff is all dark and evocative but they really know how to write a tune. And sometimes I really need to hear a tune. Not often but sometimes. Cheers Andrew for the ticket and yes I did buy their fucking album. It was like $12.00 on Fishpond but i would have paid more, honest. Sure there is a little it of crap on Boxer but when they get it right (see below) they fucking nail it.

Mistaken for Strangers

Gallon Drunk - Tonite … The Singles Bar (Clawfist) 1992

This was the first record by a band that made some very good records indeed. A sort of compilation of early singles, Tonite .. the Singles Bar is a fantastic homage to primitive, sleazy punk rock. Equal parts Gun Club, Birthday Party, Morphine and Tom Waits, their star shone very brighlyt for a couple of years as the NME flogged them to death in the early 1990’s. They were eventually picked up by a major label and nominated for the Mercury Music prize. Besides producing some vital swamp-billy music they also hosted James Byfield, the only professional maracas player since Bez from the Happy Mondays. I think that this early compilation really nailed their sound and although I own everything they’ve ever done, I don’t think that they ever bettered it. From The Heart of Town (their album from the following year) exhibits a less ramshackle (dare I say polished approach) and although the songs are strong it lacks the primal vitality of their early singles.

The lead singer James Johnstone has gone of to play with the Bad Seeds which seems in retrospect to be a natural destination for him. All the Gallon Drunk albums were re-released with extra tracks last year. The expanded version of this has some live versions of some stuff that appeared on later records. If I was to repurchase any of Gallon Drunk’s records it would be this one. They released a new record last year. I haven’t heard it but am curious. Anyone care to profer an opinion?

Town and Country Club 1991

Mouthus - Follow This House (Important) 2006

The thing I like about Mouthus is that rather than settle as a pure noise band they attempt to smash together  power electronics, a live drummer and a guitarist with oddly dissonant vocals to produce something thats combines noise, rock, avant-garde experimentation and drone. I think as a whole it works pretty well. The first track on Follow This House doesn’t really work for me but by the time I got to the second track Cameras, I realised just how good Mouthus can be when they are on form. For each of their tracks they don’t deviate from their original idea . They  beat it with a stick until it falls over and then move onto the next track. I’ve said before that the reason why a lot of this noise stuff appeals to me is the journey of discovery it takes you. With Mouthus its much more a straight up rock vibe (although like no other rock band you’ll ever hear. There is none of the extremity of Wolf Eyes or Skaters etc.  There is an improv feel to most of the tracks and it’s obvious there is some love of the Dead C happening here. I think Mouthus are a pretty unique example of the width of the noise genre.

Here is a live show they did this year:

Daniel Menche - Glass Forest (Important) 2008

I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d become a label whore again but Important are the most appropriately named record label out there. Not since the heydays of Blast First has a label released so many amazing records. The latest addition to this club is Daniel Menche’s Glass Forest. The album itself is comprised of three long pieces all named oddly enough Glass Forest. It is some of the most pure, transcedent drone I’ve ever heard. It’s both subtle and captivating, yet contains the odd shock here and there. In some ways it charts a similar course to some of Birchville Cat Motel’s blissed out drone epics. The difference with Glass Forest compared to say Seventh Ruined Hex, is that Menche actually goes somewhere with his noise. Its continually evolving and progressing, layers of field recordings are manipulated and layered on top. Occasionally a pulse finds its way into the mix. At other instances a more sinister beat takes control of proceedings. Static and hiss give way to tweaked frequencies before rejoining again. At time its like a long march through drone and noise with the odd attack and retreat thrown in for good measure. It’s noise penetrated by shards of light. The good thing is that this is now in my list of favourite noise records of all time. The bad thing is, my bank balance is going to suffer as I try to track down more of his past output. Very exciting stuff indeed. If you have a passing interest in drone or noise art for that matter, this may well be worth tracking down.

Here is a video I found on youtube. I think the CD is far better but it give s a taste of the drone.

Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing (ATP) 2008

Well this may be my pick for 2008 so far. The copy i bought last week had one of those helpful stickers on it with a blurb by some record shop hipster. It was described as a cross between Black Dice and Throbbing Gristle. (Why the fuck does everything get compared to Throbbing Gristle - have these people even heard that band?) What a very stupid comparison. I suppose in some ways I get the whole Black Dice comparison but Fuck Buttons are way better than that. Think of the most sublime electronica and then imagine what happens when evil comes to visit. Like a chill out session invaded by pure evil. Think The Knife crossed with Wolf Eyes. Yes that fucking cool. I can’t get enough of this at the moment. Seriously it is album of the year (and it’s only April). The experimental record to introduce your friends to.

Bright Tomorrow

Holy Fuck - LP (Young Turks) 2007

Many moons ago a mate introduced me to unrelenting rock-electronic of Trans Am. Like Kraftwerk for rock pigs, Trans Am were a particular favourite of mine for many years. Future World still works for me and every now and then gets a spin. Then of course they release an album called Ta which has to be one of the most pathetic follow-ups in recent history. Talk about disappointing. The same thing goes for !!!, so much promise yet so up themselves, once you tore back the hipster nonsense there was little substance left. These two examples have left me wary of all of this punk-funk electronic stuff. That is until the sheer unadulterated pleasure of Holy Fuck. This record works for me in so many ways it’s embarrassing. Bits of it remind me of !!! (but good), the Kraftwerk influence is in there (but not boring) and the whole thing made me nostalgic for Trans Am when they had a clue and were producing those great, early records. The Wire review of LP was pretty disparaging. They’re wrong. You know music is allowed to be fun sometimes.

Milkshake

Super Inuit (Live)

Merzbow - Merzbeat (Important) 2003

I have posted before on my difficulties in writing about noise as a genre. I think part of my battle is that whatever words I use, unless you experience the music yourself the entire exercise is pretty pointless.

I’ve been listening to Merzbeat pretty solidly for a fortnight and I know this may be getting boring, but the idea that Merzbow is a one trick pony is yet again put to rest with this record. This one here is for your inner raver. Think Chemical Brothers big beat but done Merzbow’s way. Merzbeat is the title and that’s exactly what you get. It’s extremely accessible and dare I say it, fun.

Now in my quest to get a better handle on this noise stuff I managed to get myself a copy of Paul Hegarty’s Noise/Music:A History and Brett Woodward’s fucking brilliant Merzbook.

Mr Woodward, besides being a pretty decent guy, has written a book that … well lets just say, he gets it. Part of the book comments on music criticism of Merzbow’s work and does a better job trying to articulate the thoughts I expressed in my post on 1930. Woodward also seems unimpressed with the pain/extremity references which constantly appear in reviews of Merzbow’s work. Although he doesn’t say it directly, Woodward got me thinking about the cult of Merzbow. Part of the appeal to many is the fact that Merbow’s work is “extreme” and only a few “twisted” individuals would put themselves through it. This idea of being a member of an exclusive club of die hard noise freaks is part of the charm of some of those who buy Merzbow’s work “Dude you’ll never get into this, it’s just so fucking extreme”, to which the response that is envisaged is “Man, That dude is so cool he listens to the most extreme stuff”. Is this my attempt to elevate myself above slobbering fanboy. The answer is no. I’ve liked every single one of the CD’s I’ve bought (although the split he did with Bastard Noise has a question mark over it at this stage). To me they all sound different and in my opinion anyone who says that all of his work is the same with minor tweaking isn’t paying the attention that this stuff deserves. I’m sure that I’m going to come across a Merzbow record I don’t like. I’m not quite there yet and for what its worth Merzbeat is just dandy!

However, what I am guilty of is being overly (as Woodward puts it) “concerned with recognisable, familiar and friendly musical mechanics and motifs” when tryi0ng to describe a Merzbow record. Fucking guilty as charged I’m afraid but I admit I’m just not bright enough to describe it any other way. Part of the reason I wanted to start this blog was my taste in music started to drift over to noise and avant rock, dark ambient, doom, drone and experimental electronica and a lot of the reviews I read had difficulty explaining just what these records sounded like. Now I know why.

By the way, if you see a copy of Woodward’s Merzbook and have an even passing interest in Merzbow just buy it. It is well written and informative and well worth the money.

This is my 100th post. I’d like to say thanks to all those who have left comments on this blog. I appreciate the support.

Pigbag - Dr Heckle and Mr Jive (2000) Camdem

For some strange reason I thought this was out of print. I suppose that impression may have come from the fact that The Pop Group’s Y was only re-released last year and seeing this was a band that members of Pop Group later joined so it sort of made sense that this would have been out of print as well. Well thanks to those nice people at Camdem this expanded version of Pigbag’s first album is readily available. It has four bonus tracks including Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag and Sunny Day, two early singles that never made their first full length (how very New Order of them).

Originally this record was released in 1982 on Y records and PigBag was one of the bands who along with The Pop Group infused post-punk with jazz, funk and ethno-beats.  Pigbag are more overtly funky than The Pop Group and miles away from most of the boring dross that made post-punk barely bearable. In fact Pigbag may have been post-punks greatest success considering Papa  … reached number 3 on the British Charts. I’m a sucker for this sound (think ESG, A Certain Ration and The Pop Group)  yet there are some really quite strange tracks on Dr Heckle. The fourth track Brian the Snail,  is ambient free jazz and supports the story in the liner notes about Pigbag moving away from the sound of the first big single to a more experimental place. In fact so incensed were PigBag that no one was taking their new direction seriously that they deleted Papa … for a while. It obviously didn’t work. The album didn’t sell well and Papa … has stood the test  of time as a Eurpoean techno sample and chant for football hooligans everywhere.

Enjoy

Moha! - Norwegianism (Rune Grammofon) 2007

There are a couple of reasons why I was interested in buying this record. The first is that this made The Wire’s avant rock best of list for 2007. The second reason is due to an interesting review I read somewhere or other comparing Moha to a fusion of Lightning Bolt and Wolf Eyes. A comparison like that has even the poorest noise-nerd reaching for their wallets. But after listening to Norwegianism a couple of times I really don’t get the Wolf Eyes comparison. To my ears there is bucket loads of Lightning Bolt but it’s much more choppy and glitchy, almost John Wiese-like in places. I think Lightning Bolt mixed with Black Dice would have been a better description.

I know nothing about this band other than they are a guitar and drum duo from Norway. They make a pretty exceptional racket. The opening track is like free jazz Lightning Bolt. It’s obvious that there is a fair amount of improvisation going on, almost in the spirit of early Boredoms in places. When you think that this record was recorded in a single day and then consider just how hard and fast the drummer is hitting his kit it’s almost enough too make you want to lie down. This is a long way away from the transcendent white noise of Merzbow or the drone of Birchville. This is a great big, fun slice of improv-avant-rock music. If you were partial to John Wiese’s Soft Punk you may want to check this out. It’s not a record you can have on in the background it’s a record that demands (and I might add, deserves) attention.

Live at Bent Crayon Cleveland

Merzbow - Merzbuddha (Important) 2005

I tell you what this Merzbow fellow is very clever indeed. I now have 13 of his records and each one is very different from the next. A case in point is Merzbuddha. Apparently Mr Akita was listening to a lot of dub before he went into the studio to produce the third of the “Merz” series. Horace Andy; all of that type of thing. But in classic Merzbow style I just don’t hear that at all. Sure there is a beat and some wonderful trance-like repetition which is kind of what you could expect when you title each of the three (very long) tracks Mantra. Merzbuddha is about as dub as Coldplay but, you know, way better. As I’ve opined before, my experience with noise is always going to be different to yours but I think Merzbuddha has a really industrial feel to it. Think Nitzer Ebb crossed with Yellow Swans and your only really half way there. The whole thing is an absolute gem. I’ll be honest I just can’t get enough of this stuff at the moment.

Astral Social Club - Neon Pibroch (Important) 2007

I first became aware of this band when The Wire did a “Invisible Jukebox” with Astral Social Club’s one member, Neil Campbell. Until recently he was a member of Vibracathedral Orchestra and I think this record is the second as Astral Social Club. I bought Neon Pibroch on a whim on Friday (I was looking for Grey Daturas but couldn’t find it) because it made The Wire’s best avant-rock list for 2007.

I wasn’t sure what to expect really. My journey through this noise stuff is still relatively new. This record delivers three lengthy tracks which can fairly and accurately be stuck in the drone category and what Neon Pibroch basically delivers is drone for those who like a beat. The first track had me thinking more of electronica that some of their drone contemporaries. It’s like Birchville Cat Motel playing Chi Vampires at a summer Sunday afternoon rave. I have to admit that I’m pretty impressed. It makes me want to start exploring Vibracathedral Orchestra. Does anyone know where you start with that band?

The Gun Club - Miami (IRS) 1982

The nice thing about this wordpress thing is that it has a really cool stats page which tells you how many people come to your blog and what they look at while they’re here. The post on Fire of Love has had the most hits of any post on this blog. The thing I find interesting about that is that the basic script is that the more obscure a record is the more hits it gets. I suppose there is a couple of reasons for this which I won’t bore you with. So it would indicate that there is a dirth of anyone writing about this great record. At the moment if you type in “Gun Club fire of love” in google, this blog turns up at number 11.

The funny thing about the Gun Club is that there are really only three records that you would bother with. Fire of Love obviously, Las Vegas Story and Miami. The rest of it is just not very good. I suppose Mother Juno at a stretch has it’s moments but nothing really compares to Fire of Love. In 1995 I picked up a copy of Lucky Jim. Don’t be fooled it is one of the most horrendous records I’ve owned. I sold it soon after I bought it but I suppose I was looking for the delta-gothic-blues of their debut. I tell you here and now Lucky Jim is just some fat guy with liver disease.

But this is a post about Miami and the question has to be asked. When your debut is as good as Fire of Love, where do you go? Well Mr Pierce decided to enlist the help of Blondie’s Chris Stein to help produce his follow-up opus. For the most part it is just great. The production is a little tinny but nothing to get too worried about. The same motives that propelled Fire of Love are here in spades. It’s creepy swamp music for you inner blues freak. If the Cramps liked blues more than rockabilly this is what they would have sounded like. Miami was never going to be as good as Fire of Love but you know that’s OK. It’s still a great record and well worth tracking down.

The Gun Club - Bad Indian

Seam - The Pace is Glacial (Touch and Go) 1998

Despite my recent descent into Merzbow-world I thought I’d post on a band that, to me anyway, never really got the credit they deserved. Out of all of the early 1990’s slacker/alt/college rock bands Seam would have to be one of my favourites. A band whose only constant member was Sooyoung Park, they travelled the line between the slacker spirit of Superchunk and the melancholy of Spent and Yo La Tengo. Chuck in a little Archers of Loaf and the spirit of flannel shirts and taking oneself far to seriously is revived.
The band started in Chapel Hill with Mac from superchunk and some guy from Bitch Magnet. By the time of their second record Mr Park had relocated to Chigago and recruited an entrirely new band for their follow up, The Problem With Me. Sooyoung Park knew how to write a decent pop song and the opener Big Chang Little City is an absolute cracker. For some reason the reviewer on allmusic.com was pretty disparaging of The Pace is Glacial which I think is unfair. I mean sure, by the time of this, their last album, they’d moved to a poppier sound and the Spent references are pretty apt but there are some great songs and great hooks on this record. Any Seam record is worth checking out. They are no worse of better than this. I just like this one a lot right now and I think Seam deserve another look.

Merzbow - Amlux (Important) 2002

When I stated in a previous post that all I’m listening to is Merzbow, I was not kidding (OK except for that new Earth album). I’ve turned into an obsessive bastard. I recently bought the split CD with Bastard Noise, Aqua Necromancer (see below)  Doors Open at 8pm, Collapse 12 Floors, Animal Magnetism, Merzbeat, Minzano Vol.1, Pulse Demon, Coma Bernices, Merzbudda and this.  That’s eleven Merzbow records in two weeks. I’m just glad my partner doesn’t read this blog because I am in big fucking trouble if she does. despite the imminent danger I face, I feel like I’m just scratching the surface.

Amlux is supposed to be his first purely digital recording and there is a tremendous Autechre/industrial feel to the four tracks. Merzbow analougue enthusiasts will hate it but for me it has to be up there with Merzzow and 1930 for sheer pleasure. There is just so much going on here. Mr akita even allows for some pretty solid beats before smashing them to pieces with blasts of extreme noise. The first track is just tremendous. If you ever want to find out what a plague of cockroaches would sound like if they were marching in your ear canal then I highly recommend the first two minutes. This is accessible as anything I’ve heard of his and is yet (and I know I’m repeating myself) another example of how thrilling this noise stuff is.

As an aside I’ve also recently shelled out for Paul Hegarty’s book Noise/Music A History. There is a chapter on Merzbow which is the whole reason I bought it. He makes a really good point while quoting the Wire’s Edwin Pouncey, “the fact is to understand, enjoy  and eventually reach noise nirvana through Masami Akits’s work you have to listen to a hell of a lot of it.” Unfortunately for my bank account I’m finding that statement very true.

Earth - Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull (Southern Lord) 2008

This is the follow-up to one of my favourite albums of all time Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method. That record was simply fanatstic. Bleak, pastoral doom which was both evocative and oddly beautiful. On Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull, Earth haven’t reinvented the wheel but it is still a progression. The pastoral country-gothic ambience that was flirted with on Hex is front and centre on Bees. It’s less bleak than Hex and there’s also a bit more of a prog rock feel to the whole thing and on one track Earth may have become as rock n’ roll as they dare.

It’s a pretty good record. I prefer Hex personally but there is a lot here to love. If Hex is 9/10 then this is and 8.

Here’s a snippet