uSSSy - Karpet Birch

bandcampfree last.fm dl
Noise-rock with a hella tribal vibe. (src)

This is the greatest thing I have heard in FOR. FUCKING. EVER. uSSSy is a noise rock duo from Moscow, Russia with intense folk and traditional music influences. As far as I can tell, through my amazing researching skills,  they use quite a number of folk instruments to create their sound. Posted on their facebook is evidence of instruments such as the tanbur, a long plucked instrument originating in Persia, as well as the daf drum, also used in Persian music. Check out their tumblr (link below) if you're so inclined, they post almost exclusively old/ancient instruments from Central Asia/the Middle East, which might tell you a little bit about how interesting they are as musicians. So, if you have a good ears, maybe you'll pick up on these sounds and more in the album. Who knows, it's all incredibly cool.

My favorite track is currently the first, "oi tam na gori," but I've been loving every song on here. This isn't the most informative write-up, but the music really speaks for itself. I encourage you all to give to this band whatever you have or are willing to, especially through their bandcamp, as well as partake in their wonderful music-making.

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Confessions (告白, Kokuhaku) OST

 2010; 19 tracks  Here is the soundtrack to Japanese drama film Confessions (告白, Kokuhaku), directed by Tetsuya Nakashima and released in 2010.

This is one of the greatest soundtracks I have ever had a chance to listen to. It is a beautiful and sad mix of songs of all genres. The Boris and Radiohead track(s) are my favorites.

01 渋谷 毅 (Shibuya Tekishi; arranged by Gabriele Roberto) - Milk
02 Radiohead - Last Flowers
03 Boris - 虹が始まるとき
04 cokiyu - Gloomy
05 渋谷慶一郎 (Shibuya Keiichiro) - Piano Concerto No. 5(J. S. Bach)
06 Boris - My Machine
07 AKB48 - RIVER
08 Boris - 斷片-Bit-
09 PoPoyans - When the owl sleeps
10 やくしまるえつこ&永井聖一 (Yakushimaru Etsuko & Nagai Seiichi) - The Meeting Place
11 ザ・エックス・エックス (The xx) - Fantasy
12 Boris - にじむ殘像
13 cokiyu - See the sun
14 Curly Giraffe - Peculiarities
15 Y.S.& The Sunshine Band - That's The Way (I Like It)
16 Boris - Feedbacker
17 choir - Long long Ago
18 Boris - 決別
19 渋谷慶一郎 (Shibuya Keiichiro) - Largo (G. Handel)

Now come inside me
Let me drink you all up

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Love is a Stream

 2010; 12 tracks  Rough-edged bliss. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is a Californian multi-instrumentalist associated with the label Root Strata (home to artists such as Oneohtrix Point Never, Grouper, and Barn Owl) and the band Tarantel. Love is a Stream is his third full-length, among a variety of other electronic and drone/ambient releases. I love the texture of this album, it is both soft and rough. Static-filled and dreamy. Recommended if you enjoy the music of Aidan Baker and Tim Hecker.

where you end and i begin

Misha Mishajashvili - 2012

 i am in love...  bandcamp
download

Part Chimp - Thriller

 2009; 9 tracks  Thriller was the third album by the fairly new London noise rock band Part Chimp. Think Hey Colossus, Boris - Heavy Friends, Karp. Maybe even Electric Wizard. Think heavy, colossal, and drenched in space. download / buy

White Suns - Waking in the Reservoir

2011; 7 tracks
White Suns is a Brooklyn, NY-based noise trio. Theirs is a chaotic, angry, yet uplifting noise. Holy and untouchable, or something. On their last.fm, one person says, "Lightning Bolt meets Slint?"

Here is a quote by Kevin Barry, guitarist and vocalist in White Suns:

"I don't identify with the shut-your-eyes-and-pretend-nothing-is-happening mindset, like the chillwave bullshit going on right now. We live in NYC, where there's homeless people facing tough times making ends meet, and the economy is shitty. For someone to sit in their room and make bedroom pop music that isn't about anything outside of some girl who doesn't like them, I think that's irresponsible when you have a large audience."
bandcamp
download

Mix No. 17 - why won't you let me eat you?

01 Les Rallizes Dénudés - 恋の物語 02 Odd Nosdam - 11th Ave. Freakout Pt. 2 03 Fu Manchu - Strolling Astronomer 04 p.Wrecks & Xrin Arms - Narcoleptic Scene (feat. Guttah Face) 05 Wipers - No Fair 06 Karp - We Ate Sand 07 DJ Clent - Forever Mane 08 Nisennenmondai - Ikkkyokume 09 Dinosaur Jr. - Quest
Download.
NOTES

- Les Rallizes Dénudés track taken from France Demo Tape, 88-89. This is all of the information I have regarding the track title: 恋の物語 88 win-89 spr : ST, meaning it was recorded 3/29/89 in the studio.
- p.Wrecks & Xrin Arms taken from here, which I highly recommend you check out.

- DJ Clent track taken from here.
- Dinosaur Jr. track taken from Get Me EP (1992).

The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa - Pigment EP

1991; 4 tracks

This is too goddamn good for me not to post.

The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa was a Czech shoegaze band formed in 1990 who released a number of albums until a few years ago, but I've heard that their latest stuff is pretty horrible. Disregarding that, this is one of the most perfect EPs in existence.

"Honeyrain" is heaven.

Download.

Naked on the Vague - Sad Sun

2007; 5 tracks

This cover you see here is what happens when you try to extract more information from less information, for better or for worse.

Naked on the Vague is a mysterious Australian two-piece band who make mostly minimalist noisy new wave music with the occasional art rock elements. The singer is also a girl with a really low voice, so I'd say this is very similar to HTRK.

Sad Sun was one of Naked on the Vague's first releases, and in the past 4 years they have released a number of other EPs and full-lengths (two EPs came out last year). Theirs is a ritualistic and depressive yet sexy and rhythmic noise, and for those reasons I was hooked.


Download.

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - Pink

1979; 7 tracks

I'm having a lot of trouble believing this came out in 1979. Nothing comes even close to the sheer corrosiveness of their sound. I am really in love, and I don't care how many times I say that.

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks was a post-punk/new wave/experimental noise band from New York active during the last few years of the 70s, founded by James Chance and Lydia Lunch.

Pink, or the band's self-titled EP, combines material from two of their preceding EPs: Orphans (1978), and Baby Doll (1979) with two tracks from a live recording of the band in the fall of 1977 (now to be found on the release Live At Max's Kansas City 1977).

It's all very, very short. Their entire discography is a little over 18 minutes. I like it that way, however. Succinct brutality is the sweetest.

gnaw my ankles and gnaw my bones

The Body - 2008 Tour CD-R

 2008; 4 tracks Here is a self-released compilation of 4 live covers done by the Providence, Rhode Island doom metal/sludge band, The Body. I love the first and last tracks a whole lot.

01 Do They Owe Us a Living? (Crass)
02 Tired of Being Alive (Danzig)
03 Police Story (Black Flag)
04 Black Boys on Mopeds (Sinnead O'Connor)

Download.

Duran Duran Duran - Very Pleasure

2005; 10 tracks

Formed in 1999 and based in Philadelphia, Duran Duran Duran is the solo breakcore project of Ed Flis. Very Pleasure was his first album under this name, but he's been making electronic music since as early as 1995 and has been active in various hardcore/punk bands.

This is one of the finest and most intense breakcore/noise albums I've ever heard. Darkness and perversion permeate every corner of this genius' artistic output, but it never gets old. He's just very good at what he does.

i love the sea

Limited Express (has gone?) - Makes You Dance!

 2004; 13 tracks  Groovy and schizophrenic music in the likes of Afrirampo and Melt-Banana (maybe even some DODDODO too). It has some lovely poppy moments and plenty of noise rock elements, which is why I can never be bored listening to Makes You Dance! Limited Express (has gone?) was a Japanese experimental/noise pop duo formed in 1998 who toured worldwide and made three albums and a mini-album. This is their second album.

HOPPING

Psychic Teens - Teen

2011; 7 tracks

I know next to nothing about this band (except that they are from Philadelphia), but I do know that they leave me feeling pleasantly cold inside.

One person says they "ride the 80's goth/darkwave era hard, but with a bit more added noise and distortion that will likely draw mentions of influence from shoegaze, etc. The singer especially seems to really be following the Joy Division line of approach, with cold monotone echoed out vocals."

"The seven-song record channels their communal taste for Sonic Youth's dissonance and Joy Division's brooding new wave/punk."

In an interview, the singer-guitarist Larry Ragone says, "I think if there was a character who was the star of all of the songs, it'd be some angry kid. He's probably wearing a black sweatshirt and kicking rocks while he walks down the street mad at the world, mad at girls. It's sort of dark, but that's OK — it has to match the music."

Hopefully you can gain a sense of what this band is like. I'm reminded of the gothic/psychobilly flair of Calabrese, but that's only because I don't listen to music of this sort as often as I should.


Bandcamp / Purchase

Kylie Minoise - Psychedelic Satanism! EP

2006; 7 tracks

Kylie Minoise is the solo project of Lea Cummings, an English noise artist currently residing in Glasgow. Psychedelic Satanism!, while not his first release, is his first EP. The first 6 tracks are all under 2 minutes in length, while the final track is nearly 7 minutes. Truthfully, the last track, titled simply "!," is one of the most gorgeous noise tracks to ever be composed.

!!!!!!!
!!!!!!
!!!!!
!!!!
!!!
!!
!

Big Black - Songs About Fucking

1987; 14 tracks

I feel a little behind, but even if I found out how incredible Songs About Fucking is today or in 500 years the effect would still be the same: this is incredible.

Big Black was a noise rock/post-punk band from Illinois founded in the early 80s by guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Steve Albini, who you might also know from Shellac (I suggest reading more about their background here). Along with his work with his bands, Albini has also engineered hundreds of albums and recording projects, all of which are top-notch releases - check out the full list here. It is clear why so many people see him as the father of the independent noise and post-punk scenes.

It is a very brutal album, surely, but Songs About Fucking is essential listening.

got a headache like a pillow

HTRK - Work (Work, Work) / Eat Yr Heart ♥ Sweetheart

2011; 10 tracks
Listen. *


2011; 2 tracks
Listen. *

The Australia-based group HTRK's two most recent works are incredible perfection. I know I was raving about Marry Me Tonight earlier, and I'm still unsure whether I like these new works better or just the same, but it really shouldn't matter. Starting with the full-length, Work (Work, Work), there is an incredible sense of rhythm associated with it - cold atmospheres and pure, unfaltering pulsations. At odds with each other, groovy, club-like beats accompany the sexy vocals of Jonnine. Eat Yr Heart ♥ Sweetheart is three tracks ("Eat Yr Heart" also appears on Work) of a same, piercing quality. "Eva" is eerie, and "Sweetheart" is a masterpiece (it is a cover of the song by Suicide). Ugh I can't explain how much these two releases rule. Favorite tracks: "Bendin'" off of Work (Work, Work), and "Sweetheart" off of Eat Yr Heart ♥ Sweetheart.

* Download links taken down upon request.

HTRK - Marry Me Tonight

2009; 9 tracks

This. This is seriously the most amazing thing that has ever reached my ears. It will pound in your head and you'll never want it to stop. I was unsure of it at first, but no more. This is the best no-wave/experimental/noise album I've heard in nearly 18 years.

Where is my sun to keep me warm? *

* Download link taken down upon request.

70 Gwen Party - John Peel Sessions 1, 2, 3 & 4

1995; 19 tracks



Politically charged underground industrial duo from Britian. last.fm



Download.

Rah Bras - Ruy Blas!

2001; 12 tracks

Ruy Blas! is one of the most lovely, strange albums I've ever had the chance to listen to. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I am insanely infatuated with it.

Rah Bras was a trio from Virginia consisting of brothers Boo and Jean Rah and Isabellarah Rubella that disbanded in 2007, but plan to return to the music scene in 2037. B. and Jean Rah were also members of Men's Recovery Project at one point.

They are noisy and nonsensical. While listening I couldn't help myself but think of their overwhelming similarity to The Residents, even though it is clear they are two totally separate entities after all. With mysterious changes in mood and atmosphere, Ruy Blas! rarely meanders in the direction you expect it to. Isabellarah's voice is very beautiful and foreign-sounding, and I especially love her part in "Civic" (and how she says the word "hummingbird"). From a techno-infused, neon-lit night club, one might be swept instantly to, I don't know, a marketplace on some alien planet where noisy bees accompany even the most James Bond-like melodies. That probably made no sense. Truthfully, though, this is an incredible album of experimental electronoise, I guess you could call it. "Hardvard" and "Bitchin Fissure" are probably my favorite songs.

"Consisting of a gigantic keyboard, bass, and drums, Rah Bras layer provocative vocals over tight little riffs and throbbing tempos. Ruy Blas! is an audacious concoction of pop presence and electronic abrasives that gallops the gamut from gamelan to garish."

Download.