Albany Sonic Arts Collective – Experimental New Music (C)

Featuring Century Plants, Grab Ass Cowboys, Ghoul Poon, Bad Costume, and Bone Parade

After nearly a year of watching good shows pass me up at the Upstate Artists Guild down the street from my apartment in the lovely lands of Albany, I decided to brave the unseasonably warm February weather to see Century Plants for the second time. To seal the deal, I perused the myspaces of the other acts playing and started getting pretty psyched for Bone Parade and Bad Costume, as well. So, I headed down to the fabled UAG to see what all the fuss was about, grabbed myself a seat, and waited. For a long time. Apparently Grab Ass Cowboys were supposed to be the opening act and one of their members was running late, so the show was delayed for about an hour. Eventually Century Plants offered to go first, and first they did go.

I had high hopes for Century Plants, of course, after their smashing success with Sunburned Hand of the Man last year. Unsurprisingly, their set was entirely different than the one I had experienced before. Where the “Sunburned” set trafficked in drones and beauty, this one began in stark contrast. The drones from before were still there, but this time they were pierced, interrupted, and ushered by the furious and percussive abuse of the second guitar. The set’s steady progression from beginning to end, eventually switching from bowed soundscapes to more chaotic tremolo picking, was gorgeous. The set was a highlight of the night, and ended up being a fantastic starting place.

Grab Ass Cowboys were up next. They had a cool noise set with a decent drummer backing them. Unfortunately, the drums were mostly inaudible, but what I could hear was a cool addition. The most memorable aspect of the set was seeing a rather tall dude climb on top of a precarious stack of amps, lay his guitar down, and then climb on top of that as well - all to have what I can only describe as a personal adventure with his head up between the rafters of the gallery. The music that ensued was a good mix of noise and face-ripping guitar solos that would do Matt Pike proud. The only proper way to wind down music of this proportion was the unorthodox, and fun-to-watch method picked by our gallery-astronaut… And that would be to get off his guitar, and use it as a tool to unplug everything in sight one by one until there were no sounds left but the backing ambience and drums.

Ghoul Poon. Apparently they played too long, but I didn’t notice until somebody turned the lights on. I’ll admit I never really understood Ghoul Poon on record, I don’t know whether it’s just not my thing or if it’s because I’ve never heard anything like it before, but it just strikes me as kind of confusing… Their set was good, though. Much more centered and slow than I was expecting. It ended up being sort of drones with pulsing bass underneath. It did run a bit long, long enough for the pre-recorded projections to run once and a half, and there wasn’t much to watch, but the projections were well done and provided a good companion to the music.

Bad Costume were easily the highlight of the night. Their improvised set, half electronics and half drums, was nearly flawless. Hella-mad-dumb-wicked-stupid props go out to the drummer for being able to play so intensely for so long. Until that night, Sunburned’s drummer was my hero… And now I have two. His playing style was innovative, full of unique fills great rhythm changes, and musicality. The electronics aspect was various samples mixed with lots and lots of heavy synthesizer to create a whirlwind of sound that could be compared with noise, but in no way similar. The combination of such a powerful sonic experience with easily the best projector piece of the evening was mind-blowing.

Bone Parade were a great cap for the evening. Right before their set I picked up a t-shirt and an album (Along with some Century plants, and a free Ghoul Poon album since nobody else was selling merch… If only I could get my hands on something bad-costume-related!), and hunkered in for some great dark-ambient-ish-industrial-whatever. Bone Parade offered a great, if a little repetitive, set full of material that would fit right on Einsturzende Neubauten’s Silence is Sexy right between “Alles” and “Redukt”. The very full bass and drum machine sounds created a fantastically desolate atmosphere as a platform for some great operatic vocals. To top it off, they made the excellent selection of a largely high-contrast black and white video that added some excellent light play t the atmosphere. A+, I say. Very enjoyable in all respects.

The Albany Sonic Arts collective managed to gather a great and diverse group of artists for a fantastic show. I really do look forward to seeing many more in the future, and encourage those that have the opportunity to attend shows by any of these artists to do so without fail!

The Exciting Trio - In Chicago there is Willy (C)

This album was a birthday gift from my father and I had no idea what to expect from it. I decided to give ‘em a check out on their label website, where they received the eloquent description of “touching equally on jazz and post-rock” which immediately piqued my interest. From the get go, this album goes somewhere magical. It opens in a serene landscape full of bowed bass and quick arpeggiation on the guitar that bring to mind some cross of the orchestration on Venetian Snare’s Rossz Csillag Allat Született and Agalloch in their more tender moments. Of course, this isn’t good enough for the Exciting Trio, who are determined to break new and, of course, exciting grounds. Every carefully crafted piece is punctuated by a bit of classic jazz instrumentation, and free jazz dissonance that may seem unnecessary at a first glance. I think the highlights of this album are tracks like “Remembering Tokyo / The Last Alaskan” and “You’ve Got a Moustache and Everything” that feel as though Boris have re-composed Flood and accidentally left the manuscripts at the practice space of a jazz trio made up of members of Pelican who are making full use of Wes Montgomery’s spirit. The players on this album are phenomenal, making full use of their instruments as well as excellent use of effects to add many dimensions to the album. The composition is incredibly strong as well, though at times there are elements that seem unnecessary or out-of-place, and really packs a wallop. I highly recommend this album for anyone who is a fan of jazz, post-rock, experimental, or “new” music.

http://www.482music.com/albums/482-1023.html

Century Plants - Circular Spaces Volume 1 (C)

There’s a sort of chaotic beauty to this album that defies characterization. It starts off as a sort of psychedelic, earthy, tonal painting full of lively and bright colors. Aptly titled “Back Into the Bloom” the piece feels very warm, filled with cascading guitar licks. The following track is very similar, but instead takes on a more somber stance. The guitars trade thoughts throughout the track in a way that brings memories of the beach before a storm. Calm, a persistent breeze, waves crashing against the rocks. The final piece is very different from the other two. This piece is nearly indecipherable as far as any given instrument involved, and boiled down to various dissonances, some mysterious noises, and a very uncomfortable buzzing sound. The juxtaposition with the previous two pieces really makes it quite unnerving, and adds a lot to the emotion of the piece which only manages to climb and fall in an abstract way that forces you to sit and think. As the album roars to a near-deafening close, you finally start to realize the breadth of what you’ve just listened to. I, even after having seen Century Plants twice, am astounded by their flexibility. Each time I saw them live, they played something entirely new, and this proves that on record they can remain incredibly innovative and keep the magic and energy alive – a feat hard for most bands.

Highlights: “Back Into the Bloom"

Bone Parade - Bone Parade (C)

First, I’d like to throw a shout-out to some pretty sweet cover art on this album. I can’t explain what it is that I like so much about it, it’s just well-done and fitting to the CD inside. Bone Parade’s self-titled EP contains four tracks, two studio recordings, and two live recordings. The music is very minimal - steady drum beats overtop a grimy sounding bass, piano, and some chilling vocals. The intended impact of the music is very effective, conjuring images of a sort of a post-siege Rome through its lamentation. When I had first heard Bone Parade’s music I had been a bit skeptical of the vocals in combination with the music, but I almost immediately realized that this is how it had to be. Both singers bring equal amounts of depth to each song, committing themselves fully to the performance and energy needed. I love every piece on this album individually, but I also feel that the the major failing in this album is too much similarity in the structure at the core of most of the songs. With a bit more variation in the steady, war-drum-like bass & percussion combo (A great tool once, but it becomes gimmicky after a while), Bone parade could go from another interesting band to doing something really spectacular.

Highlight tracks: Harvester’s Hymn (Live)
http://www.myspace.com/boneparade

Sunn O))) - Domkirke (C)

Sunn O)))’s latest masterpiece, Domkirke, is marketed as a “live album”, it really is just an original studio album that happens to have been recorded in a church in Norway in front of a crowd of what sounds to be about 10 people (all of whom I assume are either involved in the band, trained sound technicians, or close friends invited to witness the momentous occasion) if the clapping at the beginning of the album is to be believed. After the tremendous display of clapping, Sunn choose to start off the only way they know… Slowly. Why Dost Thou Hide Thyself in Clouds is, for me, possibly one of the greatest things Sunn has produced in their entire career. The first five minutes of low feedback eventually gives into pipe organ and deep, Gregorian chants. As the sparse, but powerful backing (dominated by the church’s featured pipe organ) plods onwards, the vocals go for a dramatic tromp through Norway’s mountain ranges, belting like a Wagnerian epic only to reduce themselves to the rumbling valleys once again like a cascading avalanche. This song, in the end, is what made Domkirke a worthwhile purchase. It truly demonstrates that Sunn, for all the shit they get (refrigerator metal, no talent hacks, just lean your guitar against your amp, anyone can do it, etc.), truly do maintain the ability to take their entire history and improve upon it time after time, and turn something admittedly intrinsically stagnant into a refreshing and enjoyable piece. As for the rest of the album, Sunn take a few more steps forward by allowing their influences to shine through like elegant stained glass – Steve Moore provides trombone on some tracks that adds elements of newer Earth pieces, while retaining the noisy despair of Sunn. The songwriting really displays Sunn’s functional use of the church’s space, as well as paying homage to its past. Domkirke, is, in my opinion, while not necessarily going to be hailed as “THE BEST SUNN ALBUM EVER!” easily a marked improvement on Sunn’s material, and a great step forward for them. It is a solid album from start to finish.

Content Nullity - Rotting Walls of Decaying Sound (C)

Finally, Content Nullity material! After god knows how long of getting teasers, clips, and hearing ideas from the man who nearly got me into noise and industrial, he has finally released Rotting Walls of Decaying Sound through his label, Scrape Tapes (http://www.myspace.com/scrapetapes). This tiny mini-CD contains 20 minutes of dark insanity that starts like a wound, falls in a super-medicated spiral through hell, and then finishes with the death convulsions – displaying them in all their violence and grotesqueries. The real highlights of the album are the middle few tracks, which have a distinct style of layered drone and noise to create a truly chilling effect – worthy of a haunted house in true seasonal style – that turn the album from a great noise album to a true experience. I really cannot recommend this highly enough, I was blown away by it even having heard Content Nullity material before, it just wasn’t what I was quite expecting. Really a grade A album, get it now!

Buzzardstein - Live Demo (C)

Buzzardstein are a band that I had come across a couple times, hearing their name floating across the internet before I really understood what they “meant”. Then, one day the idea of Sludge really clicked for me, and of course I started searching out everything I could find. In a strange twist of fate, I found out that Buzzardstein’s bassist was around some of the same internet haunts that I was – and he had links to copies of Buzzardstein’s “live demo”, their only release so far. The link came with a thousand warnings of terrible audio quality, and being a general waste of time, so I braced myself for a recording that would make Varg Vikernes’s skin crawl. Unsurprisingly, the quality on the live demo is actually not that terrible. It certainly doesn’t sound like Steve Albini had anything to do with it, but it’s listenable, and adds to the sludgy effect overall. The live demo manages to jump from traditional Grief-style sludge to more Noothgrush-esque bluesy sludge that you find yourself unable not to tap your foot to, and somewhere in between in the span of three songs. The vocals are completely unintelligible, but provide amazing atmosphere for the crushing riffs that drive Buzzardstein down, down, down south. Though Buzzardstein may by no means be a big-name band that has the ability to tour often or far, or produce albums at every whim, I feel completely comfortable putting the live demo in my playlist right between Grief and Eyehategod.

Apostle of Solitude - Sincerest Misery (C)

Apostle of Solitude’s full length is a heavy-as-fuck slab of doom. Featuring the drumming power of The Gates of Slumber on guitar and vocals, Apostle manage to roll out exactly 9 great, memorable doom songs with Sincerest Misery. I, personally, would put this at the top of my 2008 list of Doom Metal albums, and even near my list of 2008 releases period. Every song has a degree of catchiness, a tinge of misery, and great solos. They remain unafraid to throw back to the likes of Candlemass, with distinct touches of Pagan Altar to create wholly unique pieces touched by emotion, but retaining their epic heaviness. Instead of just relying on doomy power chords, Apostle allow for more melodic sections, and trade off between many different styles. This combinations gives the album both a uniquely Doom flavor, as well as the aftertaste of several non-traditional styles such as touches of alternative rock. As a whole, the album fits in well with more classic traditional doom and provides both great contrast and harmony with other classic albums. A must-have for any doom fan, in my opinion.

Pitchfork Music Festival 2008 Chicago (C)

Friday 7/18 with All Tomorrow’s Parties “Don’t Look Back”

Mission of Burma/Pitchfork Begins
Rolling in from Albany to the lovely town of Chicago on Friday evening, it was somewhat up in the air whether I’d make it, or be up to even going to the official beginning of this year’s Pitchfork Music Fest. I purchased my 3-day pass off eBay for a reduced price from someone who was unable to attend, so the deal I got was pretty much equal to what I was about to pay for two individual one-day passes since two-days were sold out… But as luck would have it I rolled in right on time, showed up about 45 minutes before the gates were to open ready to rock and roll. I was greeted with some pretty welcoming rain that left me wondering why I hadn’t packed an umbrella, or prepared for such things in any way period, but I grabbed my trusty sweatshirt feeling that would leave me covered. As the clock struck 5:00, the rain cleared up serendipitously and the doors opened, and I wandered my way in, not really sure what to expect. The crowd was fairly sparse thus far, so I didn’t feel too rushed to grab my front row spot, which I eventually did get. I hung out about fifteen feet stage right of front and center until Mission of Burma eventually took the stage. I can’t confess to having known much about them, or anyone playing Pitchfork for that matter, beforehand, but from what I heard from the scary 50-something-year-old acne-scarred, white-haired radio DJ who couldn’t help but hit on the horrible scene boy standing behind me, I was getting pretty excited. Finally, after much waiting Mission of Burma took the stage to much cheering and applause and shouts and screams and general fanfare, did a tiny bit of sound checking, and then dove right into their “legendary album” Vs. “WELCOME TO THE BURMA DOME”, or something along those lines rattled over the PA after the announcement of the beginning of “Side 1” and some fake dusty-vinyl-crackle, and I was immediately pleasantly surprised by the barrage of post-punk assaulting me from left field. I couldn’t help but think from Clint Conley’s strange, nasally singing that “This is what the Sex Pistols would sound like if they were ever good?”, and new I was in for a treat when Miller broke not one, but two strings during their second song. Each song left me wanting more and more to listen to Vs., but at the same time not wanting to since listening to it recorded on album couldn’t possibly blow me away like it did live. Every song was power-charged, really really fucking loud, and tinged with humor, and the whole experience couldn’t help but leave you with an idiotic smile on your face, especially when Peter Prescott would let out barbaric jungle-yells in the midst of just about every other song. In the end, they were one of the highlights of the whole Pitchfork experience and really left me feeling great about the things to come.

Sebadoh
I can’t say Sebadoh got off to a great start in my book. I was flocked by about 12 girls, all of whom seemed to be girls my age accompanied by girls who were 28+ and claimed to be “long time Sebadoh fans”, and they blathered on and on about this and that and who was hottest and please shut up you all look and sound like idiots, thanks. Finally our Festival Patrons came on to announce Sebadoh’s start, with their little humorous quips and warnings not to get dehydrated, and reminders to buy this and that, and go to this tent to check out this sponsor etc. I feel bad, though, because the guy who looked a lot like a young Bill Murray had a complete ass made of himself when part of their banter included “Next up is… ‘SABADO’?” “Oh no, dewd, I always sed SEBUHDOHZ!”, which was of course later ridiculed horribly by the band on stage (“Wait, how do you say it? Pitchfuck? Alright, we’re Sebadoh and you will not be seeing us next year!” etc. Much lolz). Sebadoh then took the stage and after a little Mission of Burma worship, they played a few tracks (none of which I knew) before starting Bubble and Scrape (none of which I knew). What impressed me most about Sebadoh was the fact that during about every other song, each member of the band switched instruments so that by the end the band had been all sorts of combinations of so-and-so on such-and-such instrument. They were also really funny, nice guys. Unfortunately, the music didn’t hold me quite as much, and apparently not the guy behind me either who was stoned as fuck and obviously only there because his girlfriend was making him “Dude, they’re boring, can we go?” and then halfway through the set after about 4 switches “Dude the singer is playing bass! when did the singer start playing bass?” It’s almost embarrassing to say that I think the on-stage banter between songs was more entertaining than the music was… Though a few tracks got me into it. All in all, I might find myself inclined to check out Bubble and Scrape just to give some cools guys a second chance.

Public Enemy
Public Enemy started to cut off Sebadoh part way through their last two songs, to which Barlow started to shout “Two more songs! Two more songs! Oh my god there’s no stopping that set!” which I, personally, found to be really funny. After Sebadoh ended, I wasn’t too interested in seeing public enemy, so I took that time to wander the booths and such which I realized weren’t all set up yet for that day, so I missed out on good spots on Public Enemy. When I wandered back over, they were finally starting by showcasing the people who did the scratching, etc. behind them, which was some pretty entertaining stuff, but a little drawn out, and I wanted to see Flavor Flav of course. Finally Public Enemy started with a whole lot of talking about why It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back was groundbreaking and ttly th bst rap albem evr and a pretty cool intro bit with some marching soldiers and rapping and stuff. All and all I enjoyed that more than I thought I would… Then Flavor Flav showed up, and spent 30 minutes talking about why ITaNoMtHUB was the most important album ever, why Public Enemy were the best, and why we should watch his new TV show, which yielded some boos, to which he responded “WHEN YA BOOIN’ FLAV YA BOOIN’ YA OWN STYLE MAN!” Finally they started up again, and I decided it was time to go because I was a bit done with it all. By the time I left, they had done about two more numbers and hadn’t started the album yet.

Pitchfork day one
Music: 8.5/10
People: 1/10





Saturday 7/19

Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar

Day two was begun. I showed up early, got in line, and headed over to my stage of choice for the day, B stage. I had a feeling that the Orkestar, my first prospects for the day, were going to either be really great or kinda shitty. Luckily they were the former. Even when I showed up to claim my spot (roughly the same as the day before, only more centered since it was a smaller stage) the sound check left me impressed by the virtuosity of every player in the Orkestar, and the camaraderie and fun happening on stage. When the set began, I was nothing short of blown away. The dual dueled trumpet solos provided by Boban and Marko, the backing by the Orkestar, and everything was beautiful. The drummer was impressive as well, creating a very jazzy background to the folky craziness of everything else. I felt like dancing right up to the last piece.

A Hawk and a Hacksaw

A Hawk and a Hacksaw were really high on my list of bands that I was looking forward to seeing at Pitchfork and I had high hopes after seeing the Blogotheque “Take away concert” videos on Youtube. What first surprised me was that Barnes was both playing Accordion and also a strange set of hand drums and cymbals set up at his feet to be played with kick pedals. Some sound problems with the intense Bouzouki player and a general lack of the emotion I felt in the music other times I had heard left me a little bit bored and disappointed. It was still great to see them live, though, and they did some pretty cool stuff, not the least of which was Heather Trost taking a single hair from her bow and pulling it across a string to make some eerie sounds. She also used the largest noisemaker I’d ever seen, which was nothing short of beastly impressive.

Icy Demons

I wandered away for part of Icy Demons, but what I saw left me feeling, basically, that although their live sound wasn’t that good (A strange mix of jazz and electronic music?), they seemed as though they’d be quite impressive on CD. Killer bassist.

Fuck Buttons

Fuck Buttons were a band that had been pretty hyped for me by people around the fest, people I know, and just the few things I’d heard from them. Given that someone had described them as “Shoegaze”, I wasn’t really expecting two guys with a collection of pedals, keyboards, and probably circuit bent toys. At first I fell in to really disliking them for trying to make trendier noise (it’s trendy enough- just stop please), but once I got over those gut feelings I realized they were doing something more than that and was quickly pulled in to the music. I don’t know what I’d call it in the end stylistically, but it was a really overwhelming experience given that it was about three times louder than any other set at the B stage that day. The sounds were somewhat melodic, and more soothing than harsh, and occasionally droning and occasionally not. I really don’t know what to say, but they really were show stealers for me. Great, great stuff.

The Ruby Suns

The Ruby Suns were another group I was really looking forward to, again, after seeing the Blogotheque performances. I was pretty surprised when only two people arrived on stage… Rather than the four or five I was expecting. A bass and drums duo performing… Psych folk…? I guess it’s expensive to fly people from New Zealand. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work, but I quickly grasped that the answer was “well”. They used a complex series of samples on two or three samplers between them which, although seeming a bit cop-out-ish, was fine in my book. The result was a very percussion-focused jammy atmosphere that moved you to move. They performed the track I was most looking forward to, Tane Mahuta, which was even better than I could have imagined, featuring lots of really cool rhythmic improvisation that enhanced the singable tune. It was a really clever set from start to finish.

Elf Power
I didn’t intend to watch them. Boring, lame, same-y indie rock. The only advantage is that I ended up sticking around for…

Extra Golden

For some reason or another I didn’t end up finding anything about Extra Golden. What I ended up gathering is that they are African rock, not unlike Ali Farka Toure, which is a style I’ve more or less grown up listening to and hold pretty close to my heart. This was a pretty big surprise for me, and I could not have seen a more fun group of people. As much as I know bands move people to dance, I’ve never actually danced to live music until Extra Golden. They absolutely were my favorites of the day, and possibly would have been for the whole Festival was it not for Sunday. The singer spent most of the time dancing, and instructing people in the crowd to dance, and everybody on stage had great chemistry with the crowd. Unfortunately, The Hold Steady’s sound was too loud and carrying over from another stage which seemed to piss off one of the guitarists… But it didn’t bother anyone else. Everyone had a great time as Extra Golden performed great songs full of solos from just about everyone, and one song dedicated to Barack Obama. When their set ended I was left feeling pretty upset, but fulfilled.

Atlas Sound

Atlas Sound was a project I knew a bit a bout, but not much. I had an idea of what to expect, but not really. When Cox came out with his table of effects and epiphone acoustic guitar, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What he presented was a pretty surprisingly mellow ambient-esque guitar+voice working. Each song was serene and flowing and carried you right through to the end. Another highlight of the day for me, and inevitably left me feeling somewhat at a loss for words.

Animal Collective
I was nearly dying by the time Animal Collective started. My back was shot, my limbs were sore, I was tired and hungry, and needed something to energize me again. Animal Collective were just that. The effect might have been better had I gotten a better spot, but I’m not complaining. I couldn’t see much of what was happening on stage, and the LED screens weren’t really helping me since they kind of sucked. The lights show was wicked awesome though, and the music really kicked my ass. There was a really strange blend of noises, guitar, and percussion I couldn’t put my finger on happening that was magic. What I said about the lights show was true, too. Best lights show ever. Swooping purple beams, intense flashes from lights towers behind the band, and really awesome color usage all added to the whole experience. Unfortunately the music couldn’t quite keep me going so around “Peacebone” I decided to make my way out of the crowd and find someplace to sit. Luckily the next song was the last, so I didn’t miss much. Animal Collective’s live sound seemed in some way oddly detached from their studio sound, and yet eerily similar at the same time.

Pitchfork Day 2
Music – 9/10
People – 0/10*

*Funny story:
I had a horrible girl stalking me the whole time while her dad stared me down from behind her. It was awful. She was 12 or something and insisted we were in love. Plus side is I got her to hold my spot in the front while I got some delicious pulled pork from Wishbone. Delicious.

Sunday 7/20

Times New Viking

I’ll confess, I only watched because I needed front row spots for Boris. I didn’t really have any idea who they were, what they sounded like, or what to expect, but what I got was pretty cool. Times New Viking are a synth/drums/guitar rock trio that really owned the stage, even in spite of Boris’ massive, overwhelming presence behind them. They really drove the energy sky high on a day that was hot and sunny rather than cool and overcast, as the last two days had been. I enjoyed it, but was still a bit checked out in anticipation of…

Boris

Really, the only reason I had gotten tickets in the first place. The 3 day passes were just because I thought it’d be fun, and damn it was. I’ll confess I was worried – I had heard from a lot of people that Boris ranked among the best live shows they’d seen, so I already had high expectations… But on the other hand, I wasn’t a fan of Pink, or (until recently) Smile. I was worried that this moment would be the biggest disappointment of my life… Well, from the get go I knew it couldn’t possibly be. During the entire set-up, Wata’s daughter was running around stage trying to set up Takeshi’s and Wata’s pedals while a surprise guest, whose name was starting to ripple through the crowd, laughingly tried to help her. Somewhere right of me I heard someone say in a pretty comic stage whisper “Dude, is that Michio Kurihara?” Right there I got pretty excited, because it had to be, and who wouldn’t love to hear Rainbow material live? The set up and sound check took ages and I felt like I was going to die in the heat. During the sound check I realized that Atsuo is a complete bad ass, though, since he’s playing a pink drum set and wearing white gloves while he does so. As the band started, there were shouts from the crowd for “Flood!” “Absolutego!” “Rainbow!” And Boris kicked into high gear with Atsuo doing the weird baby-voice intro to Smile through some vocoder, and then the sonic punch-to-the-face riffs. Immediately the crowd came alive. The whole front section was moving in some sort of practical mosh pit… One kid got busted for body-surfing and thrown out. Boris ripped right through several songs from Smile which were amazing live, and a few tracks from Rainbow, and some I’d assume that were from Pink . There was great cheering as Atsuo got ready to play the tremendous gong behind him, and even more when he actually did… I will confess I got horribly pissed when I saw some of that disgusting finger wiggling in the crowd during a couple of the solos.** When the set finally ended, Atsuo of course knocked over his entire drum set, ran to the edge of the stage, and lept into the crowd. He body surfed his way all the way back onto stage, which seemed to vex the security, and I had the distinct pleasure of touching his butt (haha). Boris then left the stage amidst chants of “One more” which then flooded into “Boris! Boris!” for a good five minutes. I eventually left to make sure I could get myself a Boris shirt, which it turns out they weren’t even selling. That night I was left with horrible nightmares that after I left they played two more songs. It was terrible.

The Aftermath
After Boris, I felt like I didn’t need to see any more bands that day – like I had gotten my money’s worth. I had sacrificed any chance of a good spot at any stage, I was tired, hot, dehydrated, and still high from the Boris set. I considered staying for Dinosaur Jr., but that was still 5 or 6 hours away, and I wasn’t sure I’d last that long. I also figure since I’m not far from Northampton, I still have a chance of seeing them… Or Witch, whom I would rather see honestly. So I left as Le Savy Fav were getting underway. I did feel a bit bad to miss their set, which was great. The singer’s webcams being broadcast onto the screens as he jumped into the crowd and made it as far in as his wire would let him go. I didn’t feel cheated though. I felt like I had gotten my $60 worth, and had truly seen a lot of great stuff.

Pitchfork Day 3
Music: 10/10
People: 10/10

Pitchfork overall:
Music: 9/10
People: 2/10

Six Organs of Admittance - Days of Blood (C)

I picked up this album at the Century Plants/Sunburned Hand of the Man show I went to back in February but never really gave it a proper listen until now. I don't know much about Six Organs of admittance, and even less about the album. When I bought it I wasn't really sure what it was, it was a bootleg being sold by a member of Sunburned Hand of the Man who is also a member of Six Organs of Admittance… And that's about it. Well I was inclined to give the album a much-overdue listen after I finally got my turntable set up, and I must say I was quite upset that I waited so long. Now, I was a bit surprised since I was somewhat familiar with them via the split with Om, and knew that they were Psych Folk… But the album starts in a more straight forward acoustic piece which lasts for almost the entirety of the first side, with a brief foray into the world of those familiar psych-folk sonicscapes we're so familiar with. The second side is practically an inversion, with a bit of that acoustic folk giving way to nearly an entire side of psych-folk. The best part about the second side is the closing, however, which is a clear transition into a sort of bouncy unapologetic folk-rock with distinct 6OA flavor. The album really becomes a strange and varied voyage across the sea of psych folk, but not manages to remain a cool and calming voyage.

Just a few notes about the album however… I guess it's a live album, I'm not really sure. There's clapping at the end of the last track, but I didn't really notice anything else anywhere. The album came with a cool little interview booklet thing that alluded to a lot of obscure gigs and such I didn't really understand, but yeah. Definitely worth a check out any time.

Light - A Million Dead beneath the Ice (C)

Now here's an album that came to me by surprise. I was checking my usual blogs, and one of them had a review of this two-piece outfit from Iowa which ticked all the right boxes for me. I decided to give them a check out, and purchase a couple albums since I couldn't pass up on an album for which "All the CD cases are all handmade and numbered, and the CD itself is smeared with menstrual blood..." Well my blind-buy paid off and I managed to score a class album (Not that I was expecting any less). Light manage to put themselves somewhere between Worship and Skepticism on A Million Dead Beneath the Ice, plodding hopelessly towards droning destruction. The organ-tinted funeral doom creates a creepy apocalyptic atmosphere that perfectly fits titles such as "When the Green Midwestern Sky Comes Crashing Down", "When the Flood Waters come Rushing In" and "When Biting Winds Slice Across the Prairies, They Will Carry the Seeds of Death Upon Them". Each track is interspersed with very sparse percussion and vocals that manifest as shrieks, howls, moans, wails, and infernal growling which manage to tell a story of a world speeding steadily towards the end. And it must be said that though this album is choc-full of funeral doom and drone, it also contains slight hints here and there of plenty of other influences that come and go like a stranger's hand gently caressing your neck when you least expect it. This album may not be easy for everyone to digest, but is definitely recommended for fans of funeral doom, drone, and people into the outlook of crust-punk and bands like Sterbend or Silencer (Though certainly not terribly similar music-wise to the latter if you find that to be a turn-off.). This album comes highly recommended, and luckily for everyone it is also available for free on their myspace!

www.myspace.com/greenmidwesternsky

La Monte Young - Poem for Tables, Chairs, Benches etc. (C)

La Monte Young… Celebrated leader of the minimalist style, and well among the first. He has created a large number of interesting things throughout his rather expansive career. Poems for Tables, Chairs, Benches etc. warms up with a very simple and calming sort of eastern chant with a buzzing drone underneath that creates a completely soothing effect for nearly 40 minutes (Raga for Ravi). As the song progresses, a second voice and some percussion is added, creating a slow change and a personal catharsis. In a sort of sharp contrast, the title pieces "Poem for Tables, Chairs, Benches etc (Parts 1 and 2)" present a sort of early noisescape filled with the shrieks and howls of moving furniture. There's not too much variation and the repetition, again, creates a different sort of trance to engage yourself in as you plummet into the abyss. "Two Sounds" is a more barren collection of strange sounds, perhaps treated, and perhaps not. The asynchronous rhythm leaves the listener feeling lopsided and ill-at-ease, but again enthralled with the strange sounds presented to them. I highly recommend this collection for anyone new to Young' work.

Mark Solotroff/Stillbirth/Sharpwaist/Silvum/Karlheinz - The Enemy, Chicago, IL, 21/6/2008 (C)

I found out about this gig kind of on a whim. Updating the TIS (www.myspace.com/thoughtimagesound - CLICK HERE FOR HOT SINGLES IN YOUR AREA NOW) myspace one day I was looking at the bulletins and saw that one of the acts that I was friends with, or maybe the venue, or someone or something had posted a bulletin advertising it, and thought to myself "Well, gee, nothing else is working out while I'm in Chicago, I might as well try this out." I worked out heading down with Carter (and, as it turned out, my dad - a veteran of the old school performance art scene- for transportation's sake) and almost half expected us to be the only folks at the show. I wasn't too much off, other than the 6 people performing, during the first set, I'd say only about five other people were there, and the crowd built up to a strong fifteen to twenty people between sets.

The venue itself was pretty interesting. It was pretty much just a cleared-out space in a beat-up old studio apartment with some old furniture to make a small sitting area, and a pretty full kitchen /dining room. The sitting area/kitchen looked out onto a cold (-looking, it got pretty damn hot) concrete area which had the five set-ups in different areas and provided a great viewing space.

Against the rightmost "wall", which was a curtain covering up some sort of very large storage area, Mark started off the night with, as the flier described, "feedback using a clutch of microphones and his voice". Mark described his set as an Animal Law piece that he was still learning the melody to, but his performance was nothing short of striking. I can't honestly quite say I've ever really experienced anything quite like his set. The way Mark choreographed his every move to effect the shape of the feedback in the space was both sonically engaging and made me think more about the sound, making me take it for more than just its surface value. Every motion as small as creating a wall between two of the upright microphones with his hand created huge changes in the song that were somewhat surprising. I think the nicest part about the set was that from the description I was expecting more power-electronics-esque feedback-punching and screaming as frequently used in the other sets. It was much more enjoyable and interesting than I had thought it would be, and was definitely the most surprising of the night. Mark had the most tremendous presence of the performers that evening, performing with an ease that betrayed hours of practice, and years of performing.

Stillbirth came up next, assuming his spot at a small table near "center stage". His set began with him turning on a small table light, and the other lights in the venue being turned off. He presented what seemed to me to be relatively straightforward and very enjoyable power electronics. The lyrics were a bit clichéd in my mind: "genocide - tourniquet - genocide - killing women", but the effects he used to treat his voice were top notch. The performance aspect of the set were pretty good, the point where he fell on the floor and started moaning was a bit silly, but other than that - pretty good. The set was short and to the point, as it needed to be. In my mind the high point of the set was the image left in my mind of the lighting, and the ampeg cab pulsing with the rhythmic background noise, and so-and so standing eerily behind his effects table.

Sharpwaist seemed to be having some sort of issues that evening, but their piece was still great. It was nice to hear power electronics with a sort of lower droning in the beginning rather than the usual wall of white noise or pulsing stuff. It started off as somewhat generic power electronics, which I wasn't really too excited for and the main man spilled his beer on the floor and the guys from Silvum and Set 2 had to help clean it up while they continued to play. Eventually the second half of the duo kicked in and there was some great back and forth action. For a brief moment the main effects man dropped a distortion pedal into a metal crate along with a contact mic (or something along those lines) and shook the crate for just a few seconds, which created some great noise and spontaneity. This, for me, illustrated what the noisier acts were missing and was pretty cool to see. They also used a great series of back-and-forth screams that sounded awesome. In the end they were probably the best sounding of the noise sets.

Silvum in a way stole the show for me. Coming after two power electronics sets and presenting something wholly new compared to everyone else that had played, Silvum was nothing short of a breath of fresh air both in the context of the show and out of context. I don't recall quite specifically how it began, because I admit getting a bit lost in the experience, but what really matters is eventually Nick seamlessly took a piece of tape, measured it against his arm as if he'd done it a thousand times before, and then taped a microphone to his throat. The whole act was itself was very powerful to watch and was almost ritualistic as my dad described it later. The heartbeat worked perfectly into the music, running through some sort of delay and creating a kind of a train-sounding rhythm, and really brought the music forward on a lot of levels. The drone set proceeded with thought and created soundscapes that couldn't help but draw you in. The set wound down with the addition of… Breathing or vocals? I don't remember or couldn't tell. Either way, it sounded great. For the entirety of his set, except when using the mic, Nick stood almost completely still at his mixing console with a tremendous presence and sense of calm (though I might say his pulse might showed something else) which only enhanced the mood. Given my inclinations towards more minimal sorts of things, it's not surprising that this was, alongside the first, my favorite set of the evening. I talked to Nick afterwards and he was a very humble and nice guy, and seemed surprised when I asked to buy an album from him. Well the album was amazing as well, and is reviewed in this months Etherised, check it out.

Karlheinz finished up the night. Musically and performance-wise he was most forgettable. He had been the on-going "sound guy" for the night, and I didn't realize he would be performing so I was kind of excited. He performed three songs during his set, all of which were very much similar, and kind of generic. He screamed about some sort of angry things for two of them, and pointed at people in the crowd and ran around like you would expect him to, then performed an "instrumental" piece at the end which was referred to as the "Karlheinz Drone Set", which at first I took as a joke, then I kind of thought that was what he was doing… Then I just couldn't tell. I kind of felt bad when he raised his arms up above his head intending to swoop down and hit as many pedals as he could and unleash another huge wall of noise, but only managed to reduce the decibel level a bit and knock his pedals all over the place. I enjoyed his set anyway, and he seemed like an entertaining guy. Maybe if he hadn't looked so much like someone I knew, or worn that silly cop hat with the flashlight it would have been better. Oh well.

Over all, the show was great fun. I don't know that I would have picked a different venue to see this group of people, and the intimacy was very welcomed. Each performer brought something slightly different and they were each enjoyable in their own respects. The highlights of the night were definitely Mark, Silvum, and Act 2, all of whom made me think and were enjoyable to listen to.

The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave (C)

Well, let me preface this review with a story. I started listening to The Tallest Man on Earth in just about the last week of school or so. On a whim, a couple days after I moved back home from school I decided to look on The Tallest Man on Earth's myspace to see if he had any show dates. So I was cruisin' and lookin' and the second date or so on their tour space, which was a convenient very small US tour sponsored by friends of the artist, said "ALBANY, NEW YORK - LOSBSTERPALOOZA - WASHINGTON PARK 3:00pm". Immediately my mind shot to flashbacks of three days before at Baccalaureate, the night before moving out day, when my parents were joking around and telling everyone that we had to "Hurry home tomorrow because it's Lobsterpalooza across the street!". The next day I was all cranky and tired and didn't want to go to stupid-ass Lobsterpalooza, of course, because who in god's name that matters goes to Lobsterpalooza? Well, two days after Lobsterpalooza boy was I regretting that decision. "FUCK FUCK FUCK I COULD HAVE SEEN THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH ACROSS THE STREET FUCK I MISSED A ONCE IN A LIFE TIME CHANCE SHIT" was how I pissed and moaned for days after that. But, since I came home around 3:00 and I did hear some music playing, I tell people that I once heard about 2 minutes of a Tallest Man on Earth show, which is more than they'll ever hear.

The moral of the story? Always go to Lobsterpalooza.

Anyway, Shallow Graves is the debut album by Finland's The Tallest Man on Earth. The Tallest Man on Earth presents solo bluegrass that you wouldn't believe comes from outside of Kentucky, let alone outside of the country. It's also hard to believe that is the one making the music, with his tattoos and gauged piercings in his ears. On the other side of things, thought he also looks young, he comes across as both very aged and world-weary in a way that fits the gravel and emotiveness of his voice. His voice becomes in ways, dare I say it, Dylan-esque, and he masterfully takes on the bluegrass twang in a way that is both subtle and genuine. The lyrics put forth on the album are touching and poetic, often dealing with life and love as you would expect a country/bluegrass album to. 's mastery of the language is superb and I probably would not have guessed that English was not his first language. The lyrics often use bird imagery which sometimes gets a bit repetitive, but is still refreshing and used more craftfully than most lyricists could. Each song reflects the perfect campfire atmosphere, and invokes a richness and a warmth unparalleled by many recordings. Though the production quality changes several times throughout the album, it doesn't affect the experience at all, and enhances each song on an individual level. Highlights on the album include Where do My Bluebird Fly (a personal favorite), I won't be Found, Pistol Dreams, and The Sparrow and the Medicine. I also highly recommend looking up the video to "It Will Follow the Rain", a track which is not on the album but is easily one of his best.

Silvum - Fading Signals (C)

"Fading Signals" is a best-of album from Virginia's Silvum, AKA Nick Henry. Fading Signals presents a sort of ambient drone almost reminiscent of Stars of the Lid - only instead of the pristine crystallized beauty, it ranges a spectrum of beauty and the stuff of horror movies. Nick lovingly crafts pulsing soundscapes throughout the album that seep into your bones and grip you. Each track seems to come from a new direction, pulling you into an otherworldly collage of sounds. I can't begin to imagine how some of the great sounds have been created, since the piano credited on track four sounds very ethereal and unnatural. The album as a whole doesn't sound like a "best of", and flows naturally as though it were created to stand alone as an album. I highly recommend this for anyone looking into Silvum.

NTRLWRM - Intestinal Decay (C)

This is my third NTRLWRM release and this one, in my mind, stands out. It begins with the usual clipped and dirty digital noise, but slowly it works into what it eventually becomes - an assault of high frequency tones. Now, I might not be the best person to review this album since I have a significant degree of hearing loss in high frequency and low frequency ranges, but I'm sure I hear just enough of it to be fine. This isn't quite like anything I've necessarily heard before, but god damn does it give me a headache. The way that Ascaris has arranged the album, it almost feels like if you ripped some beats from Venetian Snares, and layered them over the album… They'd fit perfectly. Each track features a central barrage of unintelligible shit and noise, with faint whisperings of tones barely within the range of human hearing occasionally running overtop. Every now and then, Ascaris nudges things down back into the lower range to great effect, making tracks like Intestinal Decay Philtre the most effect of the group. In the end, the album effectively channels the anger which Ascaris has originally channeled into it, and the headache is really quite worth it.

Venetian Snares - Winnipeg is a Frozen Shithole (C)

Listen to the sounds of Winnipeg… Intense glitchin'sanity. I've never listened to more than the first track of this album before because the first track is so amazing. That's all I have to say for you to realize that you need to hear this, but if it's not then here you go. The first track (titled for the album) is basically literal insanity with a bass that makes you want to dance in traffic. But don't dance to it - because it's impossible. You'll probably actually die. It's one of the most intense songs that I've heard- only beating noise in intensity for the fact that it has the musical and beat-driven element that noise lacks. This is music to kick faces into. If you can listen to the first track, and not spend the whole time doing some sort of intense head-bob-bang-thing to it, then you're literally more insane than Aaron Funk. This track doesn't use breakbeats, it uses bullet beats. There's nothing faster. Nothing more filled with hatred for a place. Nothing more horrifyingly malicious.

Okay, now that I'm over that hump, the rest of the album keeps up the intensity. You can tell that Aaron Funk does NOT like Winni-glitch-Peg. This album is extremely clever, and extremely catchy. Each track reveals some new little trick of Funk's, as well as some new level of hatred he holds for his hometown. Some people shoot up schools; Aaron Funk lays down sickening beats. Winnipeg is a Frozen Shithole, and Vsnares in general is not for everyone, but if you're sad and like beer then this album is your lady.

Overall, I recommend that everyone at least check out both of these albums.

Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett (C)

This album by Vsnares happens to be one of my favorites. The album combines some classical-ambiance; some sampled Hungarian, Russian, and English classical; as well as those sick beats Vsnares is known for. Compared to Aaron Funk's other releases under the Venetian Snares name, this album certainly lacks the overall intensity of Winnipeg is a Frozen Shithole etc., but in no way lacking in intensity. Starting with a delightful piano piece (color tones? Atonal? Open Key? Too much heroin?), then shifting to a somewhat tense orchestral build up into some standard breakbeat-age, it all eventually gives way into a sort of drumsolo-madness. One of the highlights of the whole album is track 3, Öngyilkos Vasárnap (Literally "Gloomy Sunday"… Sound familiar?), a rather awe-inspiring remix/cover of Billie Holiday singing Gloomy Sunday, a song that on its own is one of my favorites, but as it is tactfully played with by Vsnares it becomes something more. The main beat of the song is simple in a way that fits the song well, but easily works into more drumorgasms throughout it. Almost giving you time to contemplate it is followed by another brief classical-esque piece, and then a very tense and chaotic piece more about the piano and the instruments than the beats, featuring a very sparse jazz-esque beat. The whole song is quite jazzy, featuring several "solos", most prominently for piano. Soon the beats take precedence again, and take the intensity to a new level. It all sets up the next few pieces (all very intense) very well, but before the storm begins, a brief calm sweeps through the album. The one thing that has always puzzled me was the choice of samples. The best track of the album begins with a somewhat odd sample regarding the concept of the album, the idea of being a pigeon at the Királyi Palota. The sample, practically bare except for some more pulsing strings, says "It's just a pigeon... Looking for its nest. It doesn't know that it's white. It doesn't know that it scares me. Why am I frightened so easily? Pigeon, why can you scare me? Am I not part of your life anymore? Am I not welcome anymore?" Almost immediately the chaos begins, starting as some simple fast-paced breakbeats, and slowly devolving into glitching insanity. Easily the next best track of the album, Masodik Galamb never ceases to amaze me with its strange choruses of pieces of the opening sample. This leads into the very glitch-heavy end of the album which is saturated with buzzing bass and some pretty high BPMs. Eventually it all winds down to a vaguely music-box ending.

Stars of the Lid - Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid (C)

Stars of the Lid. Where do I start? For one, this is how drone SHOULD be done. Stars of the Lid create ambient droning soundscapes that sound like nothing. They literally sound like nothing. The main bits certainly don't sound like the guitars they are, they're so effects-treated, and the few string and brass and piano parts are the only distinguishable parts of the music. Stars of the Lid are beauty. Pure, distilled beauty. Their music embodies aesthetic perfection in all its form. Simply stated, if you have not heard Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid, then you ought not to ever use the word "happiness." The soundscapes of Tired Sounds… are unencumbered by the drums and vocals so often added by other drone supergroups. This album is lying in the grass on a fair spring day, watching clouds passing overhead. It's the feeling of the sun on your face while you sit at the beach. It's lying cozily in your bed next to someone you care about on a cold winter night. Stars of the Lid have managed to concentrate emotion, add it to powdered landscape, and coat it over a perfect batch of chocolate chip fuzzy feelings. Sometimes I listen to this album and feel like I might cry (Which is okay, guys. Just let those tears out), and sometimes it makes me feel lonely and isolated, and other times it makes me feel warm and happy to be around so many wonderful people.

Stars of the Lid are a perfect dreamtime experiment. Spin Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid and get ready to start spinning.

Navicon Torture Technologies - I Fucking Hate You All and I Hope You All Fucking Die (C)

Navicon Torture Technologies is the dark ambient brainchild of Lee M. Batow, now on its way to a polite and quiet grave. I Fucking Hate You All and I Hope You All Fucking Die is a NTT masterpiece, bested possibly only by Dripping with the Power of Her Flesh. It starts out with a haunting repetitive keyboard line, and then dives straight into the refined cesspool of gritty noise backing a series of effected vocals (repeating the phrase "I want to hang myself, I want to die." and noisy swoops. The album itself is noisy, but not loud. It's truly "dark ambient" in its unique style of unobtrusive, yet compellingly haunting noisescapes.

After a couple similar gritty noise tracks, NTT eases into a very minimal, pulsing noise line, which is soon overtaken by a clean sample of a distraught-sounding girl saying over and over again "I love you, and I'm so sorry that I'm so awful to you. And I don't know, I don't know what to do or what to say. I hate this, and I hate myself…" Over the pulsing underline, a more traditional ambient cloud slowly fades in, adding to the morbid beauty, and striking one-two punch of the track. After Personal Apocalypse, there are a series of more non-noisy, psychedelic-esque sample tracks featuring tribal beats, and more traditional ambient elements, as well as a series of more in-your-face noisy tracks.

The real highlight of the album, however, is Personal Apocalypse II, featuring another sample of the same girl, with a similar backdrop. All in all, this album is one that can only be expelled from an extremely dark and disturbed psyche, and received well by a comparable one. I do not recommend it if you are depressed, alone, or breastfeeding.