Show Worthy 6/1 - 6/7

Sometimes it's great to live in Boston. There is so much awesome shit going on this week that it's impossible to see it all. Fucking shame...



DJ Kat Fyte via
Monday, June 1
DJ Kat Fyte at Enormous Room (FREEEEEEE, 9:00, 21+)
Beat Research is doing their regular Monday night at Enormous Room with resident DJs Flack and Wayne & Wax except on June 1st, Kat Fyte will be there as well, spinning some sweet glitch hop, dubstep, grime, and all things electro for you to have a great fucking time. FYI, Kat Fyte is Max Pearl, the genius behind the now defunct Under 21 In Boston and the newly created Popular Influence. This guy's got serious skills. Fun is pretty much assured. Oh, and did I mention it's free?



Oneohtrix Point Never via
Tuesday, June 2
Oneohtrix Point Never, Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen, Brendan Murray, DJ Ning Nong at Piano Factory ($5-10, 8:00, all ages)
Semata Productions apparently are pretty reliable when it comes down to the wire. When one door closes, another always opens. This show is proof. Originally, Abelar Scout, Evan Miller, and Treetops were supposed to play. Which would have been amazing. Sadly, those guys had to cancel their tour but in their place, Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen will be collaborating again. If you've missed their last couple of shows, this is not something to keep slacking on. Together, they own the stage and make your ears weep for joy. Along with local hero Brendan Murray and ex-local still-hero Oneohtrix Point Never, with Ning Nong making sure you aren't bored in between sets, this show is going to be killer despite the last minute lineup change.



Vic Rawlings via
Tuesday, June 2
Vic Rawlings' Sound Fountain at Weirdo Records ($5, 8:00, all ages)
I couldn't tell you a thing about this Sound Fountain thing. Apparently it's been 3 years in the making and this is the debut. All I know is Vic Rawlings is the man and plays a mean electronically processed cello. I can imagine all sorts of crazy awesome things involving fountains and... sounds but your guess is as good as mine. My guess is EPIC.



Alva Noto & Byetone via
Thursday, June 4
Alva Noto, Byetone at Middlesex Lounge ($10, 9:30, 21+)
ALL HAIL NON-EVENT. They're bringing AlvamotherfuckingNoto and Byetone to Boston. They deserve, like, 5 gold medals for that. Not that you should need an introduction to either of these guys but Byetone is one of the brilliant founders of Raster-Noton and Alva Noto is, well, basically an electronic music prodigy.



Paul Metzger via
Thursday, June 4
Paul Metzger, Elaine Evans, Amen Dunes, Ernst Karel at Outpost 186 (donation, 8:00, all ages)
Man, it fucking sucks that this show is going on the same night as Alva Noto & Byetone because this show is going to be fucking awesome. Metzger plays a 21 string banjo. That right there sold me but I understand you might need a little more enticing. Evans does weird stuff with a pocket trumpet and a loop pedal. Amen Dunes has been getting a ton of buzz with his new album Dia out on Locust that's really really good. And Karel does analog electronic stuff. Seems like we're gonna have to make a pretty tough decision come Thursday night...



Gay Beast via
Saturday, June 6
Gay Beast, Neptune at Midway Cafe ($?, 9:00, 21+)
Gay Beast are a crazy noisethrashpunk band à la AIDS Wolf from Minneapolis and they're totally rad. I'm sure they put on a nasty live show but I can't say I know from experience. And Neptune is also playing which means it doesn't matter in the slightest who else is on the bill because the show is going to rock regardless.

Haiku Review: Banzai / Fiasco - Fabulous Bozo EP (self released, 2009)

Fiasco - Cutis Anserina


Banzai / Fiasco
Fabulous Bozo EP (download)
/a little math funk/
/some video game styled rock/
/two snuffy covers/

Hunted Creatures - Dusk (Different Lands, 2009)

Hunted Creatures - Side A (Red Satin / Endless Bounds And God's Ritual)


Hunted Creatures is Ryan Emmett from Pittsburgh. You might know him from the split he did with Ophibre that I reviewed a while back and because I went to the show he played at Church (also with Ophibre). Long story short, he's a drone guy. And he's awesome.

Dusk is a pretty short tape, about 20 minutes total but I assure you it is time well spent. No dilly-dallying (still can't believe that's a real word wtf), Emmet jumps right in with "Red Satin." The tinkling and buzzing reminds me of being drugged at the dentist, hearing that drill way off in the distance, but being so gone that it sounds beautiful instead of ominous. After what seems like no time at all, the next song comes starts up in all of it's organ glory. I swear I hear angels and doves in there somewhere. Totally gorgeous stuff.

The B side has just as much sky rocketing drone as the first. "Decension/Ascension" is a wicked short track, lasting about a minute, just long enough to impress me with it's compact intensity. "Spirit Decay" is the brain buster here, making me woozy and weak in the knees from being torn in two. Synths pushing you to the edge of your sanity while hypnotizing you with their soothing relentlessness. Complete mind fucklery. Absolutely amazing.

Sucks for you that Dusk is sold out at Different Lands. You might be able to grab a copy from Emmet himself via Myspace. Or Tomentosa might still have a few left. Definitely worth seeking out because it's cheap and it's insanely good.

Andrés Lewin-Richter / İlhan Mimaroğlu / Tzvi Avni / Walter Carlos - Electronic Music (Turnabout, 1965)

İlhan Mimaroğlu - Bowery Bum


This is another goody I found in the secret room at The Record Exchange. I picked it up for two reasons. 1: I've been very interested in early electronic music (pre-Moog) and this is definitely on the early side of things (1965) and 2: İlhan Mimaroğlu was on it and I knew he was the man that Keith Fullerton Whitman named his online record shop after so it had to be good.

Andrés Lewin-Richter gets the honor of the first track, although it's only a mere 3 and a half minute. It's kinda minimal stuff. Pops and clicks, echoes and jarring bleeps. Decent but nothing too special in my book.

Mimaroğlu takes the rest of the first side and it starts of with some wicked cool stuff that sounds like tape manipulation, high speed rewinding, that sorta thing. To make things really weird, he has a man reading a Stephane Mallarme poem mixed in with the rapid fire circuit bursting and stretched out robot whistling. Some bang clanking, kinda industrial sounding, very cool. His tracks alone are worth it and make me really want to check out some of his other work.

Tzvi Avni, along with being ridiculously difficult to pronounce, also made a creepy as shit song that used the vocals of his wife, Pnina. Seems like these early electro dudes were way into the "human/machine" juxtaposition. Which I have no problem with. Especially when they make songs like this that are super spastic and the vocals sound like the chorus of horror in Kubrick's 2001.

Here's some fun trivia. Walter Carlos, the guy that finishes off this split, actually had a sex change in 1972 and is now known as Wendy Carlos. Yeah, the same Wendy Carlos who did the soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange. The tracks on Electronic Music are some of the first she's ever done and they are fucking bizarre. "Variations For Flute And Electronic Sound" reminds me of some fucked up nightmare version of some things I used to be forced to listen to in music class in elementary school. And "Dialogues For Piano And Two Loudspeakers" is utter chaos. Nothing your family would ever consider music.

So I figured that, worst case scenario, I'd walk away from Electronic Music being a bit more familiar with the classical style of electronic music. Luckily for me (and you), all of the songs on here (Lewin-Richter excluded) are outstanding even disregarding the time frame. Definitely worth a listen, especially as an educational tool. If you are even slightly interested in contemporary electronic music, then consider this required listening.

I'm feeling generous today.

Ophibre / Brian Grainger - No. 3 (Mirror Universe, 2009)

Ophibre - The Ascending Torque Aura


Big <3 to both Ophibre and Grainger. These two guys know their shit and make some of the best drone out there right now. This is the newest split of theirs, not to be confused with either of the two before it that were released on CDs. No. 3 is a tape coming from Mirror Universe and it's a real beaut.

Ophibre's side (the "black side") is epic mind expanding doom drone. Seriously, this is some wicked evil shit. Dark and ominous. It totally reminds me of Hexxus from Ferngully. Like if Lucio Fulci remade it, this is the music that would be the prelude to Hexxus' release. It's the kind of music that has mind control powers and it makes you keep turning it up louder and louder every other minute until blood streams out your ears. Which is to say, this track fucking rules.

Flip the tape over to the blue side and you're treated to Brian Grainger's "The Descending Crystalline Hand" which is a beautifully appropriate title for such a fantastic song. Definitely a much lighter affair than Ophibre's blackness but it still retains some sort of foreboding. The static that fills the air seems like it's just the gentle wash of waves. The thick drone however is quite similar to Ophibre's except there are hints of loveliness that are absent on the black side. And at 20+ minutes long, it's epic, nay divine loveliness. An absolute majestic fire breather of glory.

I can't get enough of either of these guys. Thanks god they're so prolific. I'm glad I can get my fix whenever I need it. However, just because they release a lot of stuff doesn't degrade the quality of each individual release. Quite the contrary. As seems the be the case with every new Ophibre or Grainger release, this is some of their best work yet. Yeah, I say that a lot. But that doesn't make it not true. This is a special tape. Special because it's fucking awesome.

Navigator - Bad Children (Magic Goat, 2009)

Navigator - Promised Land


Whether as WYLD WYZRDZ, Navigator, or anything else, Braden McKenna always has some tricks up his sleeves. You never know what this guy's gonna do next. He's done the looped drone thing, he's paid homage to a brilliant Japanese director, and now he's gone and made the most lo-fi Navigator record yet with Bad Children. And you'll never guess who drums on a bunch of tracks. Garrick Biggs of Stag Hare. Don't even pretend like you saw that one coming.

McKenna's newest release is one of the most blown out affairs I've heard him produce. But like many other things out there at the moment, the foundation upon which the fuzz is laid is made of super catchy folk pop songs. And with McKenna's voice going to the extreme, it reminds me quite a bit of O'Death, if they decided to let go their desire of fidelity. Bad Children has a special old-timey feel to it, like it came straight from The Dust Bowl, especially with it's semi-religious themes. Throw in some classic '50s/'60s melodies and you got yourself a very unique record.

There's something special about the quality of recording on this album, too. It's not your average blown out lo-fi. No, it actually sounds like they recorded the songs properly but you're listening to it on the pair of headphones that came with your '92 Walkman. There are hints of clarity that make me question just how the fuck they recorded this.

Navigator has literally never released a bad record. This is the third and arguably best. Here's the clincher: it's free. You can download it right here. It will get a physical release in a few months, though. And trust me. This is one you'll want to grab when it gets printed up.

Mp3: Amps For Christ - Memmorial Immemorial (Revisited)

Amps For Christ - Memmorial Immemorial (Revisited)


I fucking hate Memorial Day working at a movie theater.

Show Worthy 5/25 - 5/31

Monday, May 25
Concord Ballet Orchestra Players, Mind Yeti, Atomfoam & Greg Sun at Charlie's Kitchen ($"cheap", 9:00, 21+)
I've still yet to see CBOP and it's a fuckin shame because I just keep hearing about how awesome they are. Mind Yeti features members of B.E.A.R.D. Atomfoam is Adam of Peace, Loving and he's playing with Greg Sun of Manners. Seems like Charlie's is becoming the place for unique once in a lifetime shows with this one and last week's show with Eli Keszler and Kate Village, etc.



Saw this on Ear Pwr's Myspace. I had to use it.
Tuesday, May 26
Big Digits, Fiasco, Shellshag, Ear Pwr, Thrust Lab at Church ($6, 8:00, 21+)
This right here is a killer fucking line up. The little people with big fan bases are coming out of the groundwork from here to NYC and Baltimore to put on a show that is guaranteed to make you dance like a madman. Lots of electro, lots of punk, sometimes all at once. Go to this show if you want to know what it's like to have a good time. It will be better than Tyvek at O'Brien's the same night. Promise.




Wednesday, May 27
Appleblim, Tanner Ross, C-Dubz at Goodlife ($5, 9:00, 21+)
Everyone needs a little bit of dubstep in their life. Appleblim is a founder of Skull Disco and will be throwing down some nice skittery dub beats for you to dance to. This is his first US tour and he's only hitting up about 10 cities so you should feel very special that you get a chance to party with him. Thank Bassic for bringing him to town.



Ouest at The Piano Factory 7-08 via
Thursday, May 28
Benny Nelson, Vic Rawlings & Bryan Eubanks, Ouest at Outpost 186 ($5/10, 8:00, all ages)
Benny Nelson is from Fire In The Head and Burn Ward. Kinda surprised that a guy like him is playing at the Outpost but hey. Whatever. He'll destroy whatever venue he plays. Rawlings does the cello/electronics thing and Eubanks does the sax/electronics thing. Ouest, who you should already know,
is Brendan Murray, Howard Selzer, and Jay Sullivan making amazing sparse/thick static air noise. These guys just fucking rule. Gonna be an awesome show.



Deflag Haemorrhage/Haien Kontra via
Friday, May 29
Deflag Haemorrhage/Haien Kontra, Theft Able Lak Duo, Cave Bears at 119 Gallery ($5, 8:00, all ages)
Deflag Haemorrhage/Haien Kontra is two crazy looking guys making crazy noise. Rare US tour, one of them (Mattin) played No Fun Fest and they're also playing at Gay Gardens (with Drunkdriver, Heathen Shame, & Mind Eraser) on the 30th if you can't check 'em out on Friday. But this show is going to be nuts. ID M Theft Able is collaborating with like-minded vocal weirdo Stephanie Lak. That alone will be worth it. And Cave Bears are some dudes from Turner Falls making nasty noise. Seriously, this show is going to kick so much ass.




Saturday, May 30
Split/Signal - Silent films scored live by The Books, Roger Miller, Cul de Sac, Caspian, more at The Armory ($25, 6:00, 21+)
Yes, it is a bit pricey. Is it worth it? Probably. A bunch of bands including The Books (!), Miller (of Mission Of Burma), Cul de Sac, and Caspian, will be performing new music to create a score for original films by Rich Remsberg, VJ Dziga, Handcranked Productions, Bryan Deblasio, Michael Maraden, and more. Lots of awesomeness happening. Very unique. Not something you'll be able to see again any time soon. Oh yeah. Free beer, too.

Haiku Review: Adamned.Age - Thousand Yard Stare EP (Halbsicht, 2009)

Adamned.Age - Thousand Year Stare


Adamned.Age
Thousand Yard Stare EP (download)
/alien dance tunes/
/recorded in a space cave/
/electro glitch wind/

Video: Christopher Tignor - Cathedral (Part 2)

This is a video that you, as a fan of Anti-Gravity Bunny, need to watch. Christopher Tignor is one of the leading members of the group Slow Six and he recently put out his debut solo album, Core Memory Unwound, on Western Vinyl. "Cathedral (Part 2)" is the closing track and it's an elegant ambient piano drone similar in sound to Eluvium or Stars Of The Lid (stfu I know they mostly use guitars). The video, directed by Alexander Turnquist, is the perfect visual companion to the song, very abstract, a study on color and line, with glimpses into recognizable real world scenes. Absolutely gorgeous.

Brian Grainger / German Shepherd / Millipede / MOTH - Traveling (Sunrise Acoustics / Imperfect Music, 2009)

Brian Grainger - Galivants Ferry


There's something about noise that seems very subjective. In fact, the first AGB post was about that very topic. But what I mean here is that if you are a noise artist and create music using a specific something as inspiration, there's a great chance that it won't come through to the listener. Not that I think that's a bad thing. Not at all. A musician needs inspiration and it shouldn't matter whether the listener knows about it. But I'd say on our end, it's little more than an aside, something to read in the liner notes and think "Oh hey, cool, this album was inspired by the work of Francis Bacon." Traveling is supposed to be created with the musicians keeping the idea of traveling in mind. Does that make it any better or worse? Nope. What makes this album ridiculously fucking awesome is the four dudes who are on it.

So, yeah, I almost fainted when I saw this split was coming out. Four ways are cool enough. And each of these individual guys are amazing all on their own. But holy fuck there's really an album out with Brian Grainger, German Shepherd, Millipede, and MOTH? Still kinda seems like a dream. This thing was going to be epic way before the music was even recorded.

The songs on Traveling are pretty exemplary of the respective artists. Each of them got 15 minutes worth of playtime and Grainger's 15 minutes sound like Grainger, Millipede's sound like Millipede, etc. But that shouldn't deter you, in fact just the opposite. It should leave you hell bent on grabbing a copy as what gets laid down here is some of everyone's finest work to date.

Grainger's 2 songs are some superb smoothed out gorgeous guitar drone that bring you closer to the sky. German Shepherd's takes the guitar drone in a different direction, focusing a bit more on physical notes that when contrasted with Grainger seem like straight up pop songs. And then Millipede forsakes his Zelda inspiration once again while still churning out thick rusty guitar noise with sweet hidden melodies that have you thinking Skullflower and Kevin Shields had a little baby prodigy. MOTH records multiple songs all onto one track, reminiscent of his youthful days spent listening to handfuls of tapes, forced to listen to the whole side, unable to instantly skip to a favorite song.

I kinda get the feeling that if they aren't already, the four of these guys would be best friends. They all seem to be pretty like-minded, especially when it comes to making music with a guitar. Maybe I should learn how to play guitar, too, so we can all hang out together and put out a 5 way split about how awesome we are at playing guitar.

Stillbirth / Persimmons Pomegranate Split (Jugular Forest, 2009)

Persimmons Pomegranate - Stagnant Before A Fall


Persimmons’ side is just as subtle and beautiful as Stillbirth’s, except the delicacy is forsaken and the volume is cranked up to 11.

Full review on diskant.

Niagara Falls - Sequence Of Prophets (Honeymoon Music, 2009)

Niagara Falls - Sequence Of Prophets Part 1


Philly's Niagara Falls have gone through some line-up changes and their third record, Sequence Of Prophets, finds the trio of Sam, Noah, and Norman supposedly departing from the band's previous sound. But if, like me, this is your introduction to these guys, then that doesn't mean too much. All you got is a name to go on, Niagara Falls. Well, their name is kind of descriptive, but not in the white noise waterfall kind of way. More in the "we're one with the Earth" kind of way.

Sequence Of Prophets opens with "Flatlands," a track that sounds like they just put a microphone in the rainforest, teeming with insects, wind, and flutes. Flutes aren't normally found in the rainforest, I know, but just imagine this is a special rainforest, OK? The kind where it's normal to hear twirly electronics and tribal drumming. But once that track is over, the overt nature sounds are given up for more abstract and subtle ones.

For the most part, Prophets is a dark synthy affair not unlike Popul Vuh. I keep imagining some awesome movie, like if David Lynch directed Ferngully. This isn't so much the soundtrack to that movie but more like the music that inspired Lynch to make it. It has an organic sound that is brings forth feelings of the supernatural and sinister. There are a couple of exceptions, however, such as "Goloka" and the second half of part one of the title track, which is super uplifting. The epic crescendos and cymbals crashes make it more like something you'd hear during one of Animal Collective's happier, more post-rocky moments.

Fuck. I was trying really hard to not mention that band that I don't even care about. The one that gets name dropped everywhere and people the world over cream themselves over when there's the slightest mention of a new song. Niagara Falls are not an Animal Collective rip-off. Maybe they occasionally share similar musical elements but shit that happens all the time. So do yourself a favor and forget I mentioned AC and head over to Honeymoon Music to drop 12 bucks on this sweet ass vinyl. It's completely fucking worth it.

Show Worthy 5/18 - 5/24

Monday, May 18
Night Moves, Eli Keszler, Kate Village, Dr. Oriental at Charlie's Kitchen ($5, 9:00, 21+)
You should know Eli 'cause I talk about him a lot. He does live stuff with Ashley Paul and he's one half of the ridiculously great Red Horse (whose new full length just came out). Kate Village is the guitarist from The Major Stars and Heathen Shame. Dr. Oriental is the Mike from Life Partners. Night Moves is a cover band that plays classic rock stuff, mostly Bob Seger, Steely Dan, The Band, etc. This is a very unique show. Lots of solo stuff that you probably won't ever see happen in the same room again.



Nmperign & Jason Lescalleet at Brainwaves '08
Wednesday, May 20
Nmperign, Tyler Wilcox & Paul Neidhardt at Outpost 186 ($donation, 8:00, all ages?)
Nmperign is Bhob Rainey and Greg Kelley. I loved Kelley's solo release, Self-Hate Index, and I got to see those two guys play together along with Jason Lescalleet at Brainwaves '08 and it was brilliant. Wilcox & Neidhardt seem to be two like-minded musicians who will collectively blow your mind, especially with a description for Wilcox reading "finding inspiration in the wind through cedars and lombardy poplars, rivers, melting glaciers." Um, yeah. Go to this show.



Mick Barr at PA's Lounge via
Thursday, May 21
Wolves In The Throne Room, A Storm Of Light, Krallice, Phantom Glue at Great Scott ($12, 9:00, 18+)
Wolves In The Throne Room is black metal for people who don't like black metal. And people who do like black metal. So it's a win/win situation. They're fucking amazing. A Storm Of Light are quite awesome as well, as I discovered when they put out a split with Nadja that I reviewed on diskant. Krallice is guitar shredder extraordinaire Mick Barr's (Orthrelm, Ocrilim, etc) new metal band. That alone should require you to go to this.



Mind Wheel at Oxfam Cafe
Friday, May 22
Mind Wheel, Selbyville, Graham, Dead Electrician at The Armory ($?, 8:00, all ages?)
I saw Mind Wheel open for Mountains at Oxfam Cafe and they were astounding. Selbyville looks to share at least one common member with Mind Wheel so that must mean good things. The rest of these guys are all local experimental awesomeness. This show gets the AGB Stamp Of Approval.



Neptune at The Middle East Upstairs
Saturday, May 23
Growing, Neptune, World Map, Long Knives at Church ($9, 8:00, 21+)
Growing puts on a super hypnotic drone noise show that you won't experience anywhere else. I've seen them multiple times and it gets better each time. Neptune is opening and if you live in Boston and haven't seen Neptune yet, wtf is wrong with you? Do it already. This is World Map's first show ever. Their Myspace doesn't even have any songs on it so your guess is as good as mine. Not sure about Long Knives, if that's even their real name...




Sunday, May 24
WizRock Iz Dead: A WizHop Blowout with Swish & Flick, Dumbledore, Big Whompy, MC Kreacher, DJFF, MC Remus & The Lupins, Griz-ed & Fiz-orge at The Middle East Upstairs ($10, 1:00 PM, all ages)
Harry & The Potters are putting on another one of their Wizard Rock shows except this time, as I'm sure you can tell, it's not rock, it's hip-hop. I'm pretty sure this is a once in a lifetime thing and I can pretty much guarantee it'll be fun as hell even if you're not a Harry Potter fan (like me). And it's a day show, so you'll still have time to do your regular Sunday night things like watch Adult Swim (or be a lame-o and go to bed early to get a good nights rest for Monday).

Haiku Review: Marilyn Roxie - Ermine EP (self released, 2009)

Marilyn Roxie - Sunset In A Breath


Marilyn Roxie
Ermine EP (download)
/eerie stringy synths/
/epic in all the right ways/
/not chill out music/