Cannibal Frequencies - Untitled

Cannibal Frequencies - Untitled 2


This was supposed to be one of those "mysterious" tapes. The kind of thing that, for whatever reason, has an obviously fake story about it's origins. Label Gods Of Tundra said, "I found this master buried underneath the dirt in the woods next to my building. It was covered in mud and mostly rotted. Turns out Mike Shiflet recorded this, dug a hole and threw it in there 2 years ago. Now its been unearthed and its time to for the rot to soak into your stereos." So, yeah, this is a tape by Mike Shiflet under the moniker Cannibal Frequencies and it's fucking brutal.

Two sides, 15 minutes each, both consisting of an almost totally unwavering static buzz. They're absolutely relentless. I had two co-workers come in and hear this tape and they ended up being spot on with their descriptions. One of them side of the A side, "This sounds like something from Close Encounters, you know with the UFO." I kind of doubt a real spacecraft would sound like this, but a Hollywood UFO? Definitely. I think this is more like what the radio would sound like if a UFO was flying by, disrupting the frequencies.

The other friend said the B side sounded like "the stampede of a thousand horses." So true. If you just close your eyes and imagine yourself trapped in a canyon with a herd of horses (bulls might be a more appropriate animal), I'm pretty sure this is what you'd hear. Completely static, the sound only wavering as much as a stampede would. Amazing.

This isn't really the kind of stuff I'd recommend listening to at work. My colleagues seemed a bit weirded out by it, giving me some strange looks, but they were for the most part OK with it. My guess is not all people would be as forgiving. Most might ask you to turn it off. And in this particular case, you probably don't have a really good case for keeping it on.

sBACH - sBACH

sBACH - Untitled 5


I love when shit like this happens. You take a guitarist from one amazingly ridiculous band (Spencer Seim of Hella), give him an Atari, and let him go crazy. What you end up with is sBACH (like from Star Trek, get it?).

sBACH is noisy, catchy, 8-bit math rawk. But Seim didn't forsake traditional instruments on this record and that's what makes it so great. He's in fine form and does triple+ duty with drums, guitar, electronics, and who knows what else and it comes out sounding like gold.

It really has to be heard to understand, because I don't think anyone else is really doing anything like this right now. Yeah there's rock bands that incorporate the 8 bit (Anamanguchi, The Depreciation Guild) but it's nothing like this. They're more straight up rock with 8 bit elements. sBACH is like Hella decided to add 3 dudes who's sole purpose was to make video game sounds. We got electronics everywhere, melody, rhythm, and wherever they aren't, real instruments fill in the gaps.

Everything is wicked stuttery, going from full out hyper blast to muddy slow jam and back again within a single song. Some of the songs are fucking epic ("Untitled 5") and some are kinda creepy ("Untitled 9" and "Untitled 13") but they're all awesome and should be played at full volume. If you ever wished Hella and Kid 606 had an 8 bit baby so you could get your dance on, your dreams have come true. Lets hope sBACH isn't just a one-off deal and Seim has enough time to do Hella, The Advantage, sBACH, and whatever else he feels like dipping his hands in.

And here's the video for "Untitled 2" where Seim is in a junkyard, taking apart cars and stuff. Pretty cool.

Seht & Stelzer - Exactly What You Lost

Seht & Stelzer - Untitled 2


I swear, I get scared every time I put this CD on, like I don't know what's coming or something. The first track is some seriously angry shit. That first note just hits you like a needle in the ear but you get used to it after a couple of seconds. It doesn't let up, it's the same notes, just not as startling. You endure the abrasion for almost 3 minutes to be rewarded with some soothing drones afterwards. But that first track is important. It sets the tone. You see, both Stephen Clover (Seht) and Howard Stelzer (Stelzer, duh) had just gone through arduous times with their significant others and decided to do a tape collaboration through the mail (Clover lives in New Zealand and Stelzer in Boston) to make some music indicative of their emotions. So naturally, when you break up with someone, at first you're fucking pissed, hence the nastiness on track 1. And then most people get sad, and that's what follows on the rest of Exactly What You Lost. (See? It helps to know some background info to give the music context. Don't listen to those New Critics. Otherwise that first song would seem really out of place.)

Normally I equate beauty with happiness. You see or hear something beautiful and it usually makes you happy. That's why I think aesthetically pleasing things are so important. But sometimes beauty is also found in sadness. The most immediate thing to come to mind would be William Basinski's Disintegration Loops. Depressing as fuck but still beautiful, right? Well here, on Exactly What You Lost, sadness is abound and track 2 is like a "Disintegration Loop" in reverse. Slow and burning, but instead of decaying into nothingness, it builds, into something both gorgeous and mournful. It's somewhat disorienting, hearing music that makes you sad but sounds so wonderful.

I'm not sure it would do Exactly What You Lost justice to try to describe the music any further. It's something that should be experienced rather than read about. This is a piece that produces strong emotions and is probably best listened to in the company of someone dear to you. That way, you can enjoy the music without getting too depressed. Or maybe you're single, post-breakup, and looking to wallow alone in your bedroom. Well then, my friend, this is exactly what you need.

Exactly What You Lost is out now via Intransitive Recordings (which just so happens to be run by Mr. Stelzer himself). Check out this page for more info on how the music was actually created and to order a copy of the CD.