Spacedog - Juice For The Baby

Link to Spacedog Bandcamp page

A disused and dismal music hall provides the setting for a music hall act that is playing to an audience of one. The audience member may have found they are present by sheer coincidence, or indeed, they may be present against their own free will. Each act that softly takes the stage has a story to tell. Each story is accompanied by the unearthly sound of the theremin, saw, recorder, handbell, glockenspiel and vibraphone. A young girl’s voice narrates a tale and an English gentleman tells another. Yet another passionate story unfolds sung in the sweetest of tones. Amid the darkest of long forgotten and misheard folk tales, a familiar tune by the French chanteur Jacques Brel, barely recognisable, breaks through into the dusty room. A variety of broken and long since forgotten about toys and discarded scenery provide the landscape, as each piece makes way for the next. The solitary listener, at first wary of the display unfolding before them, has, over the duration of the first few numbers, acclimatised themselves as each piece becomes more and more familiar.

Surrounded by the spectre of Edwardian music hall, the listener finally becomes at ease with their surroundings and is certainly unprepared for the violent repositioning of time that is “Ekranoplan”. The listener is temporarily transported to what they believe to be an East German bed sit in the mid to late 1960’s. The listener is most rightly confused, but has nowhere obvious to escape. The deeply troubling mood returns as passages from Benjamin Britten’s “Four Sea Interludes” are read aloud, and the listener cannot help but sense they are in some way contained by a play depicting a nanny at once soothing, at once disquieting their charge. The morbid, yet strangely alluring sound of the saw during “Hypnotist” unnerves the listener, who looks around the auditorium anxiously. The final act of the performance depicts the demise of the much loved, and much misunderstood English comedian Tommy Cooper, whose death on stage during one of his performances was misinterpreted as being part of his routine. The illustrious magician provides some degree of authenticity to the tale.

The listener, now realising they are free to leave this most unsettling of experiences, moves unhurriedly to the light at the rear of the auditorium, considering as they leave, their relationship to the spectacle. Hauntology has been argued to be the place where we can interrogate our relationship with the dead, examine the intangible identities of the living and explore the boundaries between thought and the unthought-of. The ghost, in these terms, becomes the focus for competing moral and epistemological deliberation. The spirit present throughout the duration of “Juice for the Baby” is Spacedog.

Eric Chenaux - Guitar & Voice review

In 2010 Toronto based musician Eric Chenaux (Phleg Camp, The Reveries, The Draperies and The Lifelikeweeds) released “Warm Weather” with Ryan Driver (Deep Dark United, The Silt, The Fake New Age Music band and mutant jazz outfit The Ryan Driver Quartet).  Since then Chenaux has been uncharacteristically quiet in terms of solo albums. This latest venture Guitar and Voice is precisely that, and yet a lot more. Nine tunes, many, featuring the plaintive, almost wraithlike, voice of Chenaux, accompanied by solo guitar, some, simple poignant instrumentals. Not to say that one should expect any ordinary album of guitar and voice based verse, Guitar And Voice features playing that is at once delicate and complimentary to the voice, the next searing tangentially into dissonance.

The opening track “Amazing Backgrounds” features vocals brimming with despair and melancholia, resting upon guitar lines that wrench any essence of romanticism from the piece, and leave the listener curious and slightly unnerved.  “Simple/Frontal” is an instrumental piece that despite displaying no obvious sense of melody uses the guitar to create a soundscape of unfinished, and in some way, not quite yet fashioned tunes. Whereas again “Dull Light (White or Grey)” is a more or less straightforward tune that still somehow manages to display the unique characteristics of Chenaux’s playing. There is a sense that the guitar lines throughout may be improvised, and the very strings themselves are coming to life and creating music of their very own.

“Sliabh Aughty” opens with sustained guitar lines that are distorted, bent and mutated and may be familiar to the connoisseur of improvised or avant guard guitar.  But again Chenaux makes these simple lines his own which should be regarded as a remarkable feat in itself. The lines gradually increase in intensity and distortion to finally envelop the listener who is still willing to pay attention. “Put in Music” has all the characteristics of the improvised guitar playing of Derek Bailey with scratched, bowed and scraped strings, alongside distant vocals that somehow successfully manage to complement the cacophony that those guitar phrases create. On pieces such as “However Wildly We Dream” those never ending, yet never really begun melodies are somehow immersed into the song as a whole, and it is not until one is prepared to deconstruct the song, that one realises how these should not be capable of being fused together. The great strength of this collection is that these disparate elements do combine to create some truly original and inspirational pieces.

Poison Idea - Darby Crash Rides Again: The Early Years review

Poison Idea were formed in 1980 in Portland, Oregon, essentially by vocalist Jerry A. Lang. Their music at the time was very much informed by hardcore bands such as The Germs and Black Flag, whilst their motivation and drive was very much influenced by the work of bands such as Discharge. Their anger and energy pushed the speed limits of contemporary punk to a level which, for the time, was refreshingly original.  2012 sees Southern Lord release a number of Poison Idea titles, including “Darby Crash Rides Again: The Early Years”. Most of the material that covers the 29 short tracks, is either previously unissued or long being out of print. Essentially the album comprises Boner’s Kitchen Demo from 1981, Darby Crash Rides Again demo from 1982, a 1983 KBOO radio show and outtakes from the sessions that made up “Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes”. The songs that come together to make up the Boners Kitchen Demo provide a fascinating document as to where the band were, and how the music was allowed to develop and mutate. The recording is one continuous piece that includes band conversation and mistakes. The tunes are satisfyingly brutal and immediate, and although not note perfect, give the listener access to an archive of material that is vital to any history of American hardcore in the early 1980’s.

The KBOO radio benefit show is remarkable, not only for the quality of the live recording, but again, for the opportunity to experience some of the between song dialogue which at times is rather tongue in cheek, “…if you don’t call in, we’re going to keep playing this fucking noise, until we drive you crazy”. Indeed. A number of tunes appear more than once over the duration of the set, including their insane cover of Hawkwind’s “Motorhead”, which gives Lemmy’s tune their characteristic hardcore pummelling.

Sadly, Poison Idea guitarist “Pig Champion” died in 2006 and drummer Steve Hanford was arrested in 2008 for a number of alleged pharmacy robberies. That Southern Lord are releasing these artefacts now is testament to their support of the hardcore scene and the need to make these recordings available as an oral history of the development of the scene over the past 30 years.

Earth - Angels of Darkness Demons of Light II review for This Is Not A Scene webzine

Review


“Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II”, recorded in the same two week session in 2011 as the first instalment, sees Seattle’s Earth delving further into the realms of folklore, and music that has at its essence the acid folk generation.

The album itself opens with ‘Sigil of Brass,’ a gently meandering interplay of delicate guitar lines that ushers the listener into ‘His Teeth Did Brightly Shine,’ where the interplay between the sparse sounding instrumentation moves onto another level. The tone is profoundly mesmerising and leaves the listener curious as to where these changes are leading. The pace of the piece builds laboriously over the next six or seven minutes, until finally ‘Multiplicity of Doors’ introduces percussion and cello to baleful effect. This is not to say that the momentum of the album is in any way fractured or non-linear, as each piece flows effortlessly throughout.

There is a striking sense of improvisational communication between the participating musicians which lends “Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II” a strong sense that as each track passes, the whole is being developed organically.

The line up on the album, together with Dylan Carson is complemented by a remarkably diverse array of musicians including Adrienne Davies on percussion, Lori Goldston on cello (who has worked artists as divergent as David Byrne and Nirvana) and Karl Blau on bass. ‘The Corascene Dog’ follows on in the same vein of intelligent contemplative progression, and a common thread develops in that despite being the work of a particular mind, the pieces are now very closely informed by the participating musicians.

In many ways the album has brought together elements that have characterised Earth’s body of work over the years, from the lumbering, howling, distorted guitar lines that were such a feature of “Earth 2” we now have those similar lines again, but in a more restrained and subdued form. The familiar lengthy, repetitive lines are apparent, but whereas in previous incarnations those lines would have beaten the listener into submission with sheer volume and presence, those lines are now delivered with poise and grace and cagoule the listener into quiet contemplation.

The final track ‘The Rakehell’ adds yet another layer to the experience and, although still moving carefully forward, has a somewhat more tuneful, lounge jazz feel. Again, this is not to be derogative of the compositions on “Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II”, but to suggest a dramatic leap forward for the second incarnation of Earth, who forge ahead in style and content and should be thought of as an example of the creative spirit in progress.

"Apollo: For All Mankind" Icebreaker with guest B J Cole live review

Link to Opera North blog version

Apollo: For All Mankind

Icebreaker with guest B J Cole

Howard Assembly Room Friday 20^th January 2012

Formed by James Poke and John Godfrey in 1989, Icebreaker have grown to be one of the country’s leading exponents of contemporary music, performing and recording works by artists such as Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, Philip Glass and Brian Eno. The unique array of instrumentation that Icebreaker employ assure them of their distinctive character in the field of contemporary music interpretation. B J Cole is a familiar name to anyone interested in music in general and may be considered as the pedal steel players’ pedal steel player. He can be heard on recordings from artists as disparate as Sting, Elton John on “Tiny Dancer”, Scott Walker, Joan Armatrading on “Down to Zero” and David Sylvian. After the interval at this evening’s performance, Cole explained how, through hearing the pedal steel playing by Daniel Lanois on the original album and soundtrack version of “Apollo: For All Mankind” he was inspired to release the instrument from the domain of country and western music and encompass the field of ambient and experimental avant garde music. Collaborations with artists such as Luke Vibert, Harold Budd and John Cale have proved his credentials in this arena.

This evening’s performance at the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds, rapidly becoming one of the crucial spaces in the city for left field and experimental projects, began with Terry Riley’s “In C”. Anyone familiar with the history and development of minimalist music will be aware of the importance of this piece, which in many ways could be argued to be the template for the development of this type of approach to music. Essentially, “In C” is a series of 53 short musical phrases which are repeated by each individual player as often as they like, at any tempo or in any particular order. The piece itself develops organically allowing each participant the freedom to improvise within the given margins. The performance this evening which was built up of flute, pan pipe, keyboards, saxophones, clarinet, electric violin and cello, percussion, guitar, bass guitar and pedal steel guitar, perfectly illustrated how, through an almost telepathic sense of the occasion, Riley’s piece could simultaneously hold onto the attention of the audience whilst transporting them on a journey through the network of developing phrases.

2009 was the 40^th anniversary of the first moon landing, and to help recognise this occasion Tim Boon, Head of Research and Public History at the Science Museum in London, suggested the idea of producing a live version of Al Reinert’s film “For All Mankind”. The film in essence is compiled from archive footage of the Apollo missions, and was originally sound tracked by Brian Eno, his brother Roger and guitarist Daniel Lanois. The subtle blend of ambient sound scapes and pedal steel guitar was inspired by the knowledge that many of the astronauts took recordings of country music with them for recreation on the space missions. Woojun Lee was, apparently, personally selected by Brian Eno to transcribe the original soundtrack for live performance. This project was premiered in 2009 at the IMAX Cinema at the Science Museum by Icebreaker. The performance this evening, which made up the second part of the programme, by Icebreaker and B J Cole, synchronised with an edited version of the original film, proved just how perfectly the two media can come together to produce an experience of such sublime beauty. The take off sequences in particular were at once tense and heart warming, whilst the images of the astronauts walking on the moon’s surface and repeatedly falling, gave the piece a sense of humanity. The music perfectly reflected the sense of occasion and poignancy of the film and its narrative, and should be regarded as a template itself for how multimedia performances can achieve success. The Howard Assembly Room itself is a space which has both intimacy and a sense of grandeur and is the perfect location for this and, hopefully, future projects of this nature.

Coloured Lines - Machines for the New Dawn review for Alternative Matter webzine

http://alternativematter.net/reviews/coloured-lines-machines-for-the-new-dawn


Coloured Lines is the alter ego of Adam Greenhead, and in his own words, “Machines For The New Dawn” is a “…personal reflection of the current political and economic situation that the world has drove itself towards”. The album opens with a soundscape of minimalistic electronic patterns woven together with the vague disembodied female voice which puts the listener in the frame of mind of the confused paranoid citizen, bombarded with words and sentences they are unable to make sense of and anxious in the modern dystopia. “Scavengers” continues that theme with mournful vocal interspersed with the disembodied voices, over sparse drum, bass and keyboard patterns. The final line, “you’re not the only one”, repeats harrowingly into the subconscious. Some of the tracks, such as “Phobophobia”, are more upbeat in essence but are no less menacing and political in their vocal delivery and content, “maybe you should harm yourself, your filth clenches to my nostrils”, contradicts the vocal style to remarkable effect.

The feeling of paranoia and urban seclusion returns with “Feed Me to the Vulture”, again minimalistic, gossamer thin keyboard lines form the background to words that are barely attainable. The title track “Machines For The New Dawn” and “I Heart Guns” follow a similar theme, this time with a more obvious rhythm track which breaks the mood but not the message. “Happy Meal” is a lesson in consumerism for us all, “I’m so lost, but I’ll cling to my Happy Meal, Festering, I feel the filth”. The most upbeat and candidly funky track on the album “The Wire”, still manages to retain that feeling of menace and bewilderment that by now has come to be the thread running throughout “Machines for the New Dawn”.

It would be deceitful to make direct comparisons to the influences that are cited; Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Cinematic Orchestra and Radiohead. But there is confirmation throughout this release that techniques of layering uncomplicated, delicate passages, and gradually building each composition up to realisation, are evident in abundance, and credit must be given for creating a work of such originality from those elements. The album is available to download from the Coloured Lines Bandcamp site on a pay what you like basis, with a minimum of £4. In this respect too, Coloured Lines are at the forefront of a new model of music distribution for the twenty first century.

The DRX - The Deepening Hole review for Alternative Matter webzine

http://alternativematter.net/reviews/the-drx-the-deepening-hole


It has to be said that there are very few albums or EP’s that come to the listener as a genuine surprise in that they display that essence of originality. “The Deepening Hole” by the DRX, essentially the brainchild of Dan Romans, has that essence of surprise from the opening few minutes of “Love Has Lost the Meaning It Once Had”. Opening with roaring waves of abrasive guitar and guttural, barked vocal, one gets the feeling that this is another pedestrian post-rock symphony. Surprise then, when the track veers off into jazz-like passages with keyboard and horn sections that support a now clean, straight forward vocal style which, on paper, appears untidy and directionless, but in reality works well together to form a unique listening experience.

The second piece on this EP, “The Deepening Hole” is a mellow, yet harrowing song sung straight with nothing but lush instrumentation to support some frankly naked vocal emotion, which is what one might come to suppose as regards a song dealing with the subject of publicly disembowelling oneself. The final track, “Episode V”, seems to display elements of both its’ predecessors in that there are certainly passages of intricate riffing in complex time signatures, sliced through with aggressive and desperate, yet more confident, vocal.The piece ends with another turn of events as the pace is slowed right down to a dirge which ends the EP with some demonic vocal wailing, which, again, academically would not work, but in reality is perfectly in keeping with the mood and the tone of “The Deepening Hole”.

Dan Romans has a background in post-rock (Izzi Creo), post-hardcore (Faello Nor) and jazz, and these disparate elements help to inform the sound of the DRX. The variety of classical and electronic instrumentation involved in piecing together the songs and the complexity and diversity of styles present gives some indication that any future full length release from the DRX will be opportunity for further welcome surprises.