Haiku Review: Tussle - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever Vol 2 (Geographic North, 2009)

Tussle - Animal Cop
Link removed.

Tussle
You Can't Hide Your Love Forever Vol. 2
/quite repetitive/
/polyester and afros/
/serious bass groove/

Haiku Review: A Sunny Day In Glasgow - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever Vol. 1 (Geographic North, 2009)

A Sunny Day In Glasgow - (Cult of) The Cemetery Flowers (Mandolins version)


A Sunny Day In Glasgow
You Can't Hide Your Love Forever Vol 1
/lightest weight shoegaze/
/wtf is she saying?/
/i just wanna dance/

MP3: A Broken Consort - The Elder Lie

A Broken Consort - The Elder Lie


A Broken Consort is a man from the UK by the name of Richard Skelton. I know what you're probably thinking. "Oooh, a one man band on AGB. This is either gonna be a some crazy noise or a guy making lots of guitar loops." Well, you're wrong. For the most part. I guess A Broken Consort might be leaning towards the latter. Yes, a guitar is used (I think), but there's also strings. Lots and lots of strings. I get the feeling that A Broken Consort listens to a lot of Stars Of The Lid, Hauschka, Max Richter, and Lichens. This is a thickly layered minimal drone affair that's absolutely fucking gorgeous. The layers and layers of strings are mesmerizing, flowing seamlessly into one another, making it feel like it's all one instrument being played. "The Elder Lie" will be on Box Of Birch, which will be available April 28th digitally and on CD & vinyl from Tompkins Square.

MP3: Dinosaur Feathers - Know Your Own Strength

Dinosaur Feathers - Know Your Own Strength


A few dudes from Brooklyn named Dinosaur Feathers are releasing their debut single "Know Your Own Strength" on April 7th on Family Records. It's a solid song that sounds kinda like a mix between The Dodos and Many Mansions. But instead of a band reference, how about a cartoon one? It's got the tropical, underwater, light-heartedness vibe that makes it almost impossible for me to not think of The Snorks every time I hear it. I guarantee Allstar Seaworthy and Casey Kelp spin Dinosaur Feathers at every party.

The B side, "History Lessons," is just as tight and can be streamed (and purchased) right here.

They're coming to town on April 23rd, playing O'Brien's with Pearl & The Beard. Take the chance to see Dinosaur Feathers at a little club before they're playing The House Of Blues alongside Animal Collective.

The Golden Sores - Ashdod To Ekron (Drone Cowboy, 2008)

The Golden Sores - Arphaxad


Ashdod To Ekron is an hour long densely layered drone epic that travels to all the right places and consistently takes your breath away.

Full review on diskant.


I think I'm developing a new policy here on AGB. If something is out of print or generally unavailable to the average person, I see no reason not to share. And I'm pretty sure all 100 copies of Ashdod To Ekron are sold out so...

Check yo'self

Audrey Chen - Glacial (self released, 2009)

Audrey Chen - Glacial


I totally dropped the ball yesterday. My sincerest apologies to Ada Lovelace as yesterday belonged to her and even though I knew it, I couldn't come up with anything to honor her. Thanks to zed=zee, I learned that March 24th was Ada Lovelace Day and the idea was to post something that would "draw attention to women excelling in technology" (loosely interpreting technology as music). My problem was thinking of a solo female musician that A) I was familiar enough to talk about (which eliminated Colleen) and B) didn't already have tons of exposure (which eliminated Grouper, sort of). Then I remembered I picked up one of Audrey Chen's CDs back when I saw her live collab with ID M Theftable and if there's any woman in music that's a pioneer it's Chen. So everything clicked... a day late.

So there is like zero information about Glacial on the internet. All I'm going on is what I'm hearing on the album and what I saw when she performed live. The basis of Chen's music is her cello and voice but after that, anything goes. She's taking the cello to the next level using it in ways I doubt anyone has thought of before. Like I'm pretty sure she's the first to use one of those neon 4-legged electric back massagers on the body of her cello. And while there have been plenty of people who experiment with their voice in extreme ways, Chen has a very unique "inhale screeching" that, even after seeing it in person, I'm still not convinced it's actually human. I haven't heard it elsewhere and would be able to identify it in a heartbeat.

The music on Glacial is minimal and experimental, noise but not noisey. At 20 minutes, it goes from glitchy whirlwinds to ape like whale songs all while generally creeping you the fuck out. In other words: totally boss. I think Chen's music is best experienced live but for most of you, that's unlikely to happen very often. So here's Glacial, the quick fix for your crazy cellist addiction.

Medroxy Progesterone Acetate - Church Of Mandrax (Sentient Recognition Archive, 2009)

Medroxy Progesterone Acetate - Church Of Mandrax


Here's a noisey dude that apparently has been around for a motherfucking decade doing shit like opening for John Wiese and occasionally dabbling in the tragically under-appreciated Number None. Best of all? He's got an East Coast tour in the works. But alas, I'm getting ahead of myself. Wtf is this Church Of Mandrax all about?

Throw on your shitty pair of boots, cross the murky swamp, hang a right at the split tree, go until you find the two tailed turtle, then listen veeerry closely. You should hear some scary noises. Follow those sounds and you'll reach the rusted shack they call the Church of Mandrax where Medroxy Progesterone Acetate is conjuring fucked up sounds from his mostly dead electronics.

The noise on this record is fucking incredible. On the surface, it's a lot of buzzing and droning that would probably scare most of your relatives (except for that one cool cousin who really looks up you and listens to every mix tape you give him). However there isn't any seizure inducing power electronics on Mandrax (well, maybe a little, like on "Trying To Sell Some Broken Amps" which actually sounds like it was recorded using some broken amps). For the most part, it sounds like distant band saws, fog horns, church bells, and whatever kind of strange reptiles you'd find in a swamp, with swarms of gnats whirring around your head.

Some of my favorite noise records are the ones that are so deeply layered that a hundred listens still wouldn't reveal all of the beautiful and delicate intricacies. Church Of Mandrax is one of those records. Sheet upon sheet of dirty & spaced out electronics that are half snowy lullaby, half drugged nightmare.

How MPA has slipped below my radar for so long I'll never know. But I sure am glad I discovered him before he toured, otherwise I might have missed him in Boston and that would have been a fucking catastrophe. Also of note, Church Of Mandrax is on the newish DIY label Sentient Recognition Archive (aka SRA) who I will also have to keep my eye on seeing as they've put out stuff by Ophibre, Caldera Lakes, and Machinefabriek among others. Machinefabriek, people! That automatically gives them credibility (as if they needed it after putting out Mandrax).

Indian Jewelry

Indian Jewelry - Cutthroat


I discovered an Indian Jewelry album I didn't know existed (Fake & Cheap) and that just sent me on an IJ kick. All I've listened to today is 4 of their albums in a row. And as utterly fantastic as Free Gold is, I still hold We Are The Wild Beast as the numero uno. That record is fucking tops.

And not for nothin' but these guys haven't hit it nearly as big as they should. They should be as big as fucking Deerhunter or something. They're fuzzy, loopy, psychedelic, tribal, dark and weird as fuck and everything else that's cool right now. I mean, they're like Wavves but better and doing it for longer. So my question to you is... WTF?

Haiku Review: Gtuk - Herzschlag

Gtuk - Verfall


Gtuk
Herzschlag (download)
/can 8-bit metal/
/be more than just novelty?/
/yes yes yes who cares/

Haiku Review: Team Teamwork - The Ocarina Of Rhyme (self released, 2009)

Team Teamwork - Edan - Fumbling Over Words (Battle)


Team Teamwork
The Ocarina Of Rhyme (download)
/zelda + hip hop/
/good idea in theory/
/still, mostly awesome/

MP3: Pipedream - Passing Trains

Pipedream - Passing Trains


This is an old song but something tells me you probably haven't heard it before. "Passing Trains" came out in 1996 on The Journey From Hamburg To Iceland Begins by Pipedream, a little known post rock band from Canada. This is the shortest track from the record and it's also the best. Not only is it the best song from Journey, it's also one of the best (and probably only) songs I've ever heard that I would use the words "prog," "kraut," and "vocoder" to describe. It's spacey & droney, rocking & epic, and yes, the singer used a vocoder. But forget all of those descriptors and just listen to the song. Let it take you back to 1996 (or further) and remind you why you used to love this stuff and maybe why you should start listening to it again.

P.S. If I lived in Hamburg, I'm pretty sure I would also journey to Iceland. 'Cause I like ice.

Coralcola - 747 EP (self released, 2009)

Coralcola - Stag Highway


An "EP" that's 37 minutes long? Check. Released on tape? Check. Local electronic music that's really fucking tight? Check.

Coralcola reign from Worcester, MA, which isn't as cool as Boston but much cooler than Springfield and kinda falls right in the middle of them geographically. How a place like Worcester birthed a tape like the 747 EP I'll never know but I think we're all the better for it.

747 is almost exclusively electronic but each song has it's own style. Coralcola and I must be fucking meant for each other or something because I don't think there are many people that would throw all of these different tunes onto one album. "Ouch" is a straightforward dance number that would make the kids go crazy in the club. But that's followed immediately by "Stag Highway" which is a glitchy ambient IDM piece. "It's Always Sunny In Boston" while obviously not true takes it back to the danciness of "Ouch" although this time they added a bit more techno. Don't worry, that's a good thing. And then they finish things off with "Sleep Is For Dreamers" which, if you couldn't guess, is some wonderful soaring drone.

I give Coralcola mad props for being brave enough for being able to make a varied record like the 747 EP while still keeping it consistent. There's only 100 of these babies out there and they're $7. If you're an analog-aphobe, they come with free MP3s (and a button). But if you're feeling like a cheap bastard (and who isn't these days?) you can download this sweet bitch right here.

Bit.Trip Beat

Wellll fuck. There goes my idea. Aksys developed a game that Gaijin published and it's pretty much EXACTLY WHAT I WOULD HAVE MADE IF I EVER MADE VIDEO GAMES. But I guess since I don't make video games, it's best that Aksys made Bit.Trip Beat.

Here's the gist, which is very simple. 8 bit music + rhythm game + Pong = Bit.Trip Beat. Little blocks float from right to left and you bounce them off your little rectangle (controlled by rotating the Wii remote) in time with the beat. Super simple, super genius, super fucking awesome.

The game looks & sounds amazing. The music is ace and the visuals are a total eye fuck which helps make the game a bit (heh) more challenging. The crazy meteors and comets flying through the background make the beat blocks more difficult to see and add to the general sense of spaciness.

The game is available only on the Wii as a download from WiiWare. It's 6 bucks and if you have a Wii, you suck if you don't buy this. And if you don't have a Wii? Well, now you have every reason in the world to buy one. Check out the videos below of me playing through the first level and as far as I can get into the second. There's only 3 levels which is a little weak but if I can't get through the second then I guess it's not too much of a problem.

Level 1


Level 2

MP3: Rose For Bohdan - Pocahontas' Boyfriend

Rose For Bohdan - Pocahontas' Boyfriend


During the usual meandering around the internet labyrinth, I stumbled upon Rose For Bohdan, a band I didn't know existed (even though they appeared on a compilation I have from GSL). Sadly, I discovered them a bit too late as their last show ever was in 2007. However you can still hear some new material on their last album ever which they just put out called There It Is, The Creeping Moral Decay Of The Past Thousand Years (download for free on Deathbomb Arc). "Pocahontas' Boyfriend" is the choice track and it starts the album off with some intense spazzy noise punk riffage. Pretty sweet stuff, especially the female screecher. I really dig it. Even though I'm not that into the rest of the album, this song is totally boss.

A Storm Of Light / Nadja - Primitive North (Robotic Empire, 2009)

A Storm Of Light - Brother


Nadja - I Make From Your Eyes The Sun


This is the kind of metal that makes you bang your fist into your thigh with your eyes closed tight, trying not to cry because you’re fucking metal dammit.

Full review on diskant.