Millipede - Kotake
Brian Grainger - Skullkid
Hylian... isn't that the race of people in The Legend Of Zelda? Wasn't Link Hylian? You're goddamn right he was! Millipede is that amazing noise dude who did the album Hyrule I wrote about a few months ago. Well since then, he's put out a full length CD on Install called Death Mountain (fucking genius) and this little split tape with Brian Grainger on Milieu Music.
Neither Millipede nor Grainger play anything that sounds like your traditional Pete Seeger folk songs on this album. Instead they reinterpret the customary songs of the Hylian race as loud as fuck, ear bleeding, shoegaze jams (Millipede) or subtle, rumbly, fuzzy guitar melodies (Brian Grainger).
Millipede's side of Play Ancient Hylian Folks Songs is much like the rest of his work. Zelda inspired beauty noise. Take the sheets of guitar noise from Skullflower, mix in some end-of-their-career Yellow Swans and the most screeching moments of My Bloody Valentine and you're in the field of Millipede. The feedback he dispenses is so coarse it feels like it's scrubbing the inside of your ears. But rather than coming away with crystal clean hearing, you can't even hear yourself think. But the abrasion walks hand in hand with the elegance, serenading you with dreamy sweet lullabies. So so sooo awesome.
I discovered Brian Grainger through this split and thank god. Grainger's take on Hylian folk music is just as engaging as Millipede's. Millipede has an amazing contrast of delicate majesty but Grainger takes the middle road, making music that never quite makes it to either extreme while still retaining the qualities of both. He makes sure the foundation of his songs are covered in thick rumbling bass and then he goes to town on his guitar. It's neither loud nor quiet but it's both delicate and severe. I couldn't think of a better person to complement Millipede on this split.
As with Hyrule, the music on Play Ancient Hylian Folk Songs isn't inherently about Zelda, Link, Hyrule, or anything else related to the video game series. The songs are inspired by and spawned from themes, characters, and places found in The Legend Of Zelda and all of it's sequels. The only indication that anything on Folk Songs is Zelda related comes from the titles. "Skullkid," "Goron's Ruby," "Lost Woods," and obviously the album name all have their origins from the video games. Which is fucking awesome. But take all of that away and what are you left with? Some of the best noise music you've ever heard.
And for extra cool (geeky) points? Each side of the tape has words written in Modern Hylian Script, which I transcribed for you using this site as a translator. Millipede's side says Zuzejijizebegogego and Grainger's side says Gibezegade Jibegadejigobe. I like to think those are their names in Hylian. I fuckin love these guys.
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3 comments:
I dig the Grainger song a lot more than the Millipede track.
And for the record, I don't like Zelda.
Yeah, "Skullkid" is really amazing. The last song on Grainger's side is "Lost Woods," this really soft guitar loop that's not at all scary or noisy that I like a lot. I debated which song I should post but "Skullkid" was more indicative of the rest of Grainger's tracks. I definitely need to seek out more Brain Grainger stuff.
I used to be able to get to the dark world of A Link to the Past in under two hours, that was my greatest personal achievement until I won the high school ping pong tournament my junior year, which was then dethroned by my team's 2nd place finish (out of 118 teams) in BU co-ed intramural Broomball.
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