28.4.11

My Dad is Dead - Chopping Down the Family Tree


1991; 12 tracks


My Dad is Dead is the recording project of American musician Mark Edwards (of the Cleveland-based band Riot Architecture), and since 1985 has released 11 full-length albums.

Chopping Down the Family Tree is Edwards' 7th album, and fully awe-inspiring. Its opening track, "Cool Rain," which is steeped in a heavier indie/punk sound, sets a very gritty and dark tone for the album. After the first half of the album, however, the tracks become increasingly cheerful (and increasingly enjoyable). The instrumentation of Chopping Down the Family Tree is astounding - bright guitars, exciting vocal harmonies and a great sense of variation and movement throughout. When you listen you will be surprised at the variety of music styles Edwards employs to convey his thoughts. Amazing tracks that transcend perfection: "Without a Doubt," "Cool Rain," and "Chopping Down the Family Tree."

"My Dad Is Dead, most of whose songs were indeed inspired by the loss of Edwards' father, makes music whose appeal lies largely in its matter-of-fact handling of trauma. Growing steadily in fluency and confidence, Edwards, who writes, plays and sings with instrumental and vocal help from a floating gene pool of Cleveland musicians (Prisonshake's Chris Burgess has also produced the bulk of his recordings), makes records that are as comforting as they are harrowing.

Chopping Down the Family Tree boasts its fair share of Edwards' familiar lyrics and dense, metallic instrumentation, but the fog hovering over his head has lifted a little further."

The strength of the family can be an illusion when built on control and based on collusion.

Download / Buy

27.4.11

Hammock - Raising Your Voice... Trying to Stop an Echo


2006; 18 tracks


This is an utterly gorgeous and perfect album. Hammock create beautiful, flowing post-rock ambience. 18 songs and not one moment of filler - not many can pull that off.

Download.

26.4.11

Simply Saucer - Cyborgs Revisited


2003 (original - 1989); 18 tracks


This is an incredible "posthostumous" album of psychedelic proto-punk (a sort of precursor to punk rock) released 10 years after the band split up. Simply Saucer was a rock band from Canada active in the '70s that relased one "7 in their time together. Cyborgs Revisited was a compilation of a lost recording session from 1974 and a June 28, 1975 concert performance on the roof of Jackson Square, and was re-released in 2003 with 9 bonus tracks (including the original 1978 single). These tracks really are a different brand of rock music. An early punk-sound seems to influence much of the the riffs and lyrics, and the psychedelic (sometimes bordering on surf-rock, others electronic and spacey) elements are audible as well, and very complementary to the fun, upbeat music. With these dissimilarities from the more popular rock-and-roll acts of the '70s, Simply Saucer's sound is still as accessible as anything, if not more inventive and engaging. Edgar Breau's vocals are one of the greatest aspect of Simply Saucer - never overdone, and not nearly as annoying and screechy as many rock bands of that era. I, for one, and am extremely grateful for the non-irritating vocals here. A thoroughly enjoyable trip. My personal favorite tracks are "Nazi Apocalypse" (this sounds exactly like Michael Gira!) and "I Can Change My Mind."

I'm cyanide over you.

21.4.11

The Chameleons - What Does Anything Mean? Basically


1985; 12 tracks


Here is the second album (preceded by the stunning Script of the Bridge) by English post-punk/new wave group The Chameleons. I never thought I'd say this, but... I might like this more than Script. I mean, I can't really put my finger on it (can anyone?), but this album is one of the most surreal and encompassing albums you will ever hear. It is quite literally impossible to describe it in words, but put simply - I think The Chameleons, on this record, have become even more vague in every way, and in that, more incredible. Who can tell the exact meaning of music like this? Who could ever divine an answer to the frantic, ecstatic rush of The Chameleons? I'm not sure anyone could, apart from the band members themselves, but there is hardly anything worth more of a listen than this. Listening to this album made me feel as if I were living in a Camus novel, like The Stranger. Wavy lines, a complete world of grey, an absence of time.

Download.

20.4.11

Modified Toy Orchestra - Toygopop


2006; 12 tracks
 
Perfect description by weirdbrother:


Rare beastie. Electronica album sans midi, sampling, synthesisers, and laptops. Point of fact: no conventional instruments whatsoever. Five years in the making - two years stripping, tweaking, rebuilding and learning to play kids' toys; three years unearthing sound collages and musical phrases. Brian Duffy, Modified Toy Orchestra mainman, sees the process as "collaborating with the third mind of the machine." Whether viewed as exploring the hidden potential and surplus value latent inside redundant technology or more straightforwardly as pissing about with car boot sale cast off tech-toys (think Speak and Spell - danke Kraftwerk - Happy Farm Chorus, Play School Saxophone and the Melotone Electronic Jazz Drum), prepare for an accessible, sometimes funny, sometimes moving, sometimes dark and disturbing listen.

Eschewing novelty despite being obviously novel. Play away.

17.4.11

Sickness of Snakes / Current 93 - Nightmare Culture



1985; 4 tracks


Split between Current 93 and Sickness Of Snakes (aka Coil collaborating with Boyd Rice). The Current 93 track (track 1) was later appended to the CD reissue of In Menstrual Night and is dedicated to James Low.

TIME FOR TEA AND FEED THE THING
I SLEPT WITH FAITH AND WOKE UP WITH A CORPSE IN MY ARMS

"Brékkek Kékkek kékkek Kékkek! Koáx Koáx Koáx! Ualu Ualu Ualu! Quaouauh!"

Download.

14.4.11

Kittens - Tiger Comet


1995; 12 tracks


Kittens was a three-piece noise rock group from Canada that produced some very high quality output from 1992-1998. Tiger Comet is the band's sixth album, and I absolutely fell in love with it upon the first listen. It one of the most satisfactory noise rock albums I have ever heard - the vocals, every riff, and the non-stop energy are all purposeful and completely amazing-sounding. It reminds me a lot of Cherubs, The Melvins (but maybe 100% more psychotic), and Slint (vocal-wise). Just PLEASE give this a try, it is a noisy, upbeat gift from above.

Download.

12.4.11

Zeni Geva - Total Castration


1991; 8 tracks


Just another enjoyable noise rock album? Perhaps... but with the blistering first track, "I Want You," I was admittedly hooked. Zeni Geva is a Japanese noise/post-hardcore band, led by singer and guitarist KK Null.

"Zeni Geva [has an] ability to mangle a metal riff into submission, and choke out their listeners with a claustrophobic vitriol rarely seen this side of Osaka. You got all that right?
So, there's no point in mentioning that this was recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini? You got that too huh?
And, I would be repeating myself to mention that K.K. Null's lyrics seem destined to hurt your feelings, wouldn't I?
And far be it from me to remind you of the scathing death/hardcore/industrial scraping you're about to embark on. That'd be a waste of time right?
Enjoy."

Download.

11.4.11

Bodychoke - Cold River Songs


2009 (re-issue); 9 tracks


Bodychoke's final album is such, such an incredible work. I'm no good at writing right now, here are some thoughts that echoed my own:

"These sinister, spacious efforts create the perfect union between gothic atmospheres and tastefully grating, pulsing noise rock. The bulk of the compositions center around throbbing basslines and crisp drumming alongside short, simple vocal lines that are delivered through everything from hushed whispers to intense shouts/shrieks – accented by surprisingly frequent (and efficient) appearances of cello, while the guitars tend much more towards noisy textures and waves as opposed to tangible riffs. This re-issue also includes three outstanding bonus tracks taken from the odds and ends collection CD-R Completion that the band released posthumously, which I believe were recorded around the same time as the sessions for the album, thus making for about an hour's worth of music across nine songs total."

As a more fully-realized and sophisticated industrial/noise album (think Swans' Children of God), Cold River Songs is the epitome of Bodychoke's talent and also a fitting end...

Download.

10.4.11

Fairy World II


 
2005; 17 tracks


Here is the second in a collection of compilation records by French label Prikosnovénie. The subtitle is an understatement of what you can find on this, "a collection of delicate & spiritual music." Each track is special and a nice introduction to the label. It's a fine compilation of beautiful songs, so check it ouuuut.
Download.

7.4.11

Naphini - Get Your Pretense On


2006; 15 tracks


Ahhh, Naphini. This album was one of the first that I downloaded completely off of Last.fm, when I was like 14. Listening to it again brings back all these memories of me dancing to the BEST ALBUM ELECTRONIC ALBUM I'VE EVER HEARD.

Naphini is "an artist based in Minneapolis that writes, performs, engineers, produces, and masters his own music which generally fits into some subgenre of electronic." Yes, it is definitely electronic. But it's a little something more than that, I think. This music is just intelligent, and engages you like nothing else can. Purely mathematical, and layered with classical, idm, techno, and trip-hop, Get Your Pretense On is always pulsing with midnight energy. I mean, could you ever in a million years find a better song in the universe than "Bohemian Poetry"? Or "Drip Dance"? No. This is a true work of electronic genius.

Download.

6.4.11

Ludwig van Beethoven - Complete 32 Piano Sonatas


Volume I

Piano Sonatas 1-3, 16 tracks

Download.


Volume II

Piano Sonatas 4-6, 10 tracks

Download.


Volume III

Piano Sonatas 7-10, 13 tracks

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Volume IV

Piano Sonatas 11-14, 15 tracks

Download.


Volume V

Piano Sonatas 15-17, 10 tracks

Download.


Volume VI

Piano Sonatas 18-22, 13 tracks

Download.


Volume VII

Piano Sonatas 23-27, 12 tracks

Download.


Volume VIII

Piano Sonatas 28-29, 7 tracks

Download.


Volume IX

Piano Sonatas 30-32, 9 tracks

Download.


Maria Grinberg's legendary recordings of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas, recorded between 1964-1967, were the first done by a Russian pianist. Click here for scans of the inserts.

"We encountered a protean outstanding interpreter of Beethoven's sonatas, Maria Grinberg (USSR). The great art of this pianist is happily combined with penetrative spirituality and mature realization of form. Her rendering of music is clear, transparent, full of passionate temper and virile force, but sometimes it is tender, lyrical, contemplative, evoking moods, which touch hearts of the audience."
- Alfred Tipe, Dresden, 1963

As we all know, Ludwig van Beethoven was a titanic composer of Romantic music and a pioneer in the expansion of the piano's potential sound. The liner notes found in the set (written by Samuel Feinberg) provide more information:

"In piano works of Beethoven, first of all, in his remarkable cycle of 32 piano sonatas, there is something important, central for his whole legacy. They are linked to all his other musical compositions in many different ways. A multi-part sonata formm, which has been designed for implementation of dramatic contents, with its manifold powerful devices fit to development of contrasting themes, became for Beethoven a main area for realization of his artistic concepts. Besides piano, violin and cello sonatas the composer wrote in this form all his symphonies, quartets, trios, all his concertos, in a word, almost all of his best output."

I have never really liked Beethoven, just out of personal preference, but these sonatas are enough to really sweep you away. I believe Maria Grinberg does a fine job, although her sound can get a little heavy at times... Being obsessed with the Soviet Union I just find it interesting to listen to the music of one of the most famous composers ever interpreted by a classically trained Soviet pianist (and a WOMAN, omg).

5.4.11

Michel Legrand - Une femme est une femme





1961; 24 tracks


Here is the soundtrack to Jean-Luc Godard's new-wave film Une femme est une femme, a very charming movie that I saw MOST of, but not the whole thing. I will have to change that.

Michel Legrand is a renowned Franco-Armenian composer of film scores, as well as a conductor and pianist. Despite his extensive career and countless works, Legrand's soundtrack to Une femme est une femme is far from a long, cohesive piece of music one might expect. It consists of, instead, small bursts of dialogue, big band, jazz, musicals, and other variations of 60s French music. The work is is certainly interesting to listen to, if only for the sake of immersion in a lost time.


Download.

4.4.11

Isis - Celestial + SGNL>05


2000; 11 tracks



2001; 5 tracks


I am firmly convinced that there is a hardly more adept band (at least of this genre) than Isis when it comes to an essential part of music - story-telling. Listening to these 16 tracks in succession, however, is a slightly different experience than gathering around a fire to hear ancient tales be told. No, this is a journey, through deserts of blistering heat and jungles of abandoned construction equipment. A sea of wires and ends that will never meet, Celestial, along with SGNL>05, combine the basest of emotions stripped bare and the rawest forms of post-metal in such a way that it is, frankly, haunting. They are both brutally poetic, at times, but thoroughly beautiful... see "Celestial (Fills the Void)" from the EP (remixed by Justin Broadrick, whose influence is clear throughout much of Isis' music).

I love the entire discography of Isis. They are a truly gifted band and albums like Oceanic and Panopticon (and Wavering Radiant) are just... breathtaking. With these two releases, however, some of the band's early heavy sound can be heard. Celestial is the band's first full-length album, and SGNL>05 is an extension of the album released as an EP less than a year later. I love love love listening to these together - Isis is a band from whom I can never turn myself away.

In the words of one review (it's a great one, here):

"God, it’s beautiful to come across a group that is as driven by the desire to level as they are by the desire to create an interesting, layered, lasting piece of art that appeals to so many different senses and faculties. Listening to Celestial is an all-consuming experience, one that satisfies every part of the animal brain."

Do you ever get that feeling that you're sinking?
I do.