Listening with an open mind. Writing about what I hear. Do you have something interesting you'd like to share? Write Mick at thasoundblog@gmail.com. Twitter @thasoundblog
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| Image courtesy of the artist |
Talked with Angel of the Orange County straight-edge and hardcore band DARE ahead of the release of their debut LP Against All Odds out on Revelation Records this week. You can read the transcript from our chat over at New Noise at the links below:
Interview: https://newnoisemagazine.com/interview-dare-to-live-in-a-hostile-world/
Buy Against All Odds: https://revhq.com/collections/dare
I wrote a review of the smashing new double single from Massachusetts's oldsoul. Big-hearted emo that you won't be able to put down. Check out what I had to say about it over on New Noise at the links below:
Review: https://newnoisemagazine.com/column/bandcamp-of-the-day-oldsoul/
Buy the record: https://counterintuitiverecords.com/products/oldsoul-high-on-yourself-pre-order
I've decided that I'm over the album cycle routine. I really do not care about staying on trend with releases. Instead, I'm just going to use this blog to write about whatever I find interesting while prioritizing music that has dropped within the past ten years. To that end, I want to talk about Sekou Bah. Sekou is a Malian multi-instrumentalist whose background in jazz informs his 2018 album Soukabbe Mali, a voyage into the lapping tides of afrobeat and Caribean music, combining more traditional aspects of Malian folk music into more popular, global styles to unleash their universalist appeal and convey a message of cross-cultural, and cross-generational respect. It’s a pretty relaxing sonic expose that is perfect for a summer night when the moon is full and the air is still and warm. Throughout the entire album, Sekou sings in his native tongue, which does nothing to obscure the content of his clandestine, communiqué of comradery. There are hip wiggling groves paired with sensual melodies on “Dogon Oulon," while funk guitars give life to a plaintive ballad on “Nge Mounkila," and soulful riffs and interjecting bass-heavy percussion (with the odd, propulsive, semi-blast-beat... really) guide the title track “Soukabbe Mali.” The infectious rhythm of “Wari Tigui” has a danceable pull, and the plucky, jazzy guitar riffs which tango with call and response vocals form the bedrock of “Fifi.” The album is partially dedicated to Sekou’s bassist, Amadou Keita, who tragically died in an automobile accident just weeks after recording the album. Soukabbe Mali is an album about struggle, sure, but also peace and kindness, and it might sound corny, but god damn do we need more to both these days.
I'm not a "deathgaze" expert- but I don't think I have to be in order to relish Detriot's Vazum. To clarify, the band, Vazum, consists of the delinquent duo Zach Pliska and Emily Sturm, and they describe their synthesis of industrial influenced post-punk, alternative metal, and death rock as deathgaze. Prior to encountering their most recent LP V+, I was familiar with the term "deathgaze," but only as it was used by another band- the theatrical Japanese goth-metal group, Deathgaze.
I only know about the Deathgaze because I had a crush on a girl who was really into visual kei back in college, and in spending time with her, I ended up absorbing some of her weird passion for the genre. Deathgaze has nothing to do with Vazum, and they sound radically different. While Deathgaze's Ai could approximate the authentic and insensate croon of a vampire drifting in your bedroom window, Zach and Emily don't sound nearly as bloodless. That's actually what's caught my ear about V+ in the first place- the passion of Zach and Emily bring to the project is irrepressible. They really can't help but throw themselves into their offerings.
No matter how obsequiously they may bow before the altar of Bauhaus on tracks like the darkly stirring "Haunted House" or the gothic, guillotine blade glide of "Razor Smile," they don't seem capable of detaching themselves from the subject matter of their songs, or the expression of their performances the way Peter Murphy and his monster squad always managed to. But, I personally think this is a good thing. If I ever had a complaint about Bauhaus, it was that they could sometimes sound TOO disinterested and aloof. Vazum gets directly in your face and it changes everything. The tempos are hot, the grooves slice and gauge like a company of demonically enchanted knights attacking the stone walls of a defenseless medieval church, and the vocals smolder and entwine like a pair of dessert eagle wielding co-ed assassins, locking lips and hips as they defend themselves in the center of a bloodied gymnasium against the advancing hoard of their zombified former classmates.
As an added bonus, V+ is a very danceable album. The shadowy guitar work helps build up a sensual atmosphere while the throbbing beat resuscitates the animal in you that society has shamed into hibernation. The repetition of each of these songs's structure aids in the design as well, ensuring that you can find your groove in each before it sunsets. Vazum might call this deathgaze, I just call it a good time.
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| Image courtesy of the artist |
I had the chance to interview Billy of Karaboudjan for the CHIRP Radio blog this week. Billy is a very dedicated and talented guy, who started out in the world of post-hardcore, eventually found his way into electronic and dance music, and now has a solo light funk album on the way under the name Karaboudjan called IMAGO. Dude is one to watch! Check out our conversation at the links below:
UK's Underdark are making an interesting variety of blackgaze that, to my ears at least, is synthesizing inspiration from various metal and punk subgenres in a way that delivers on the promises of Sunbather in ways that Deafheaven has yet to. Controversial statement, I know. I'm trying to keep you folks on your toes. Check out what I had to say about Underdark's Our Bodies Burned Bright on Re-Entry over on New Noise. Links below:
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| Image courtesy of Hate Club |
I wrote a review about that enigmatic new record from Celestial Blues for New Noise today. Lots of people have portrayed the Devil in song and film. Very few have been as believable in the role as Kristina Esfandiari. Links below:
Creepoid may be dead but the wife and hubs that formed that band's core have moved on to better, daygloier pastures. Imo, Anna and Patrick Troxell sound more comfortable on their Lovelorn debut What’s Yr Damage. It really seems to suit them. Read what I had to say about the album over on New Noise at the links below:
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I had the chance to interview Chicago hip hop entrepreneur L.H. on the eve of the release of his new album XXXibition. L.H. has a fun and gritty style and I'm happy to be able to shine a light on his project. You can check out our conversation over on the CHIRP Radio Blog here, and listen to his new album below:
I wrote a little something for the debut EP from Codded Marking for New Noise today. It's a really simple album but one that completely smashed my expectations. Links below:
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| Image courtesy of Chiminyo |
I had the pleasure of interviewing London-based percussionist and electronic producer Tim Doyle aka Chiminyo a little while back. He released his debut LP not that long ago called I Am Panda. It's a phenomenal mix of electronic dance, house, R'nB, and jazz, that sets the stage for extraordinary explorations of mood and deep pools of emotion. He's a one-man sound studio, where his kit is the mixing board. I was initially interested in talking with Tim because of his technique, which revolves around sounds and pre-programmed sequences that are triggered by his percussion... but then I found out that he's just a really cool guy, and my goal for the interview became to just try and get him to talk about himself. Which worked out pretty well, imho.
Check out my conversation with Chiminyo below:
Wrote a review of the final release from Swedish alternative pop and rock musician ShitKid for new Noise today. I'm pretty sure ShitKid's name is an idiosyncratic translation of a Swedish word that means 'brat.' I have no way of confirming this though, and it has nothing to do with my review. It's just something that crossed my mind today. Link to review is below:
I like death metal. I like electronic music. I like when musicians cross boundaries and blend genres unexpectedly. And I really dig the new LP from AntiMozdeBeast, The Ritual. It's an album with a simple enough concept- what if you took acid house, ran all the bass parts through a filter to make them sound like ghosts trapped in a florescent lightbulb, and then layered vicious death vocals on top? Well, I'll tell you, you'd get The Ritual- an album that sounds like an afterparty social in the Cenobite's dimension from Hellraiser II. I've always liked the bleached and boney quality that acid house can acquire with the right gear, but I never thought it could compliment the carnivorous cry of a death howl quite so well. "Masquerade of Death" literally sounds like you are attempting to climb over a heap of bones to escape a subterranean den, as a pack of demonically possessed hyenas fight and bawl in the dark, just beyond your line of sight. "Sins of The Muse" is introduced with an industrial grind beat that subsides in order to force you to lumber on foot through a series of gothic vignettes guided by the rotten tether of a grim organ melody. Most satisfyingly, though, opener "Time is Our Enemy, Time is God" has a really tight rhythm and sense of timing, aspects that aid in cultivating a deliciously anxious mood, feeling the climax of a rave that had been tensely awaiting the arrival of the Mask of the Red Death, who proceeds to reduce all the revealers in attendance to inverted pools of bubbling, fermenting human flavored jelly. I think AntiMozdeBeast has the potential to do more with the raw materials put to use on The Ritual than what we see here, but for what's it's worth, this is really working for me.
I did an interview with one of the best named heavy metal labels in the US for New Noise today. Mike Juliano finds some of the grosses and weirdest death and black metal around and I'm very appreciative of his efforts. Read the interview at the links below:
Wrote a review for New Noise about the new collection of Thank songs called Thankology. It's a bit a of a tasting platter for their upcoming LP. Check out what I had to say about it via the link below:
Squarepusher's bro has dropped a new record. It's called Box Steady and it's really freakin' good. Andy Jenkinson usually records and performs under the name Ceephax Acid Crew (he has other aliases though, like Ceephax), and has come a long way from the basic but sturdy acid house and drum and bass of his early records. While he has made a home for himself in the worlds of ambient (see, Cro Magnox) and chiptune music (see, United Acid Emirates) over the decades, he's never really lost his sense for melody, something that is very evident on Box Steady. Andy's done a really good job of demarcating transitions between tracks on this record. Allowing each to flourish and find its own sense of purpose before letting it ride out on its own terms. Even though the majority of these tracks slot into his classic acid beat style, they still feel like they each have a distinct and individual persona- almost like they were written by different people, with the intent of them flowing together into a single DJ set. "Amigo" sounds like it was composed by a mad scientist who has programmed a Phuture simulation to run on a SNES sound card, while "Waltzacid" has a suitably slinky fusion jazz vibe to its comet surfing club crush. "Fossil Funk" rides a frisky, house piano pulse that successfully piques one's desire to rotate their hips and mingle their way across the dancefloor, and his cover of John Berry's "Capsule in Space" gives the original soundtrack piece an eerie sci-fi twist, with the addition of mischievous synths waves, deep-space plundering bass lines, and a cosmic-frontier piercing oscillation. Box Steady pops out of the package, ready to go. Plug and play, and get that party started!
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| Image thanks to Gabacho |
I had a really fun conversation with Chicago local soft-psyche and surf rock artist Gabacho for CHIRP Radio's Artist Interview Series. We talked about the origins of his name and his work with Dromedarios Mágicos. You can check out the video for the song ("Los Feels") that we talked about here.
Check out the interview on CHIRP's site here, or below:
It can be interesting how long talented musicians will wait to release a record under their own name. It gets you thinking about the artist's personality, interiority and history. Are they the type of person who understands music as a collaborative exercise, or do they not feel that their individual voice and talents are worthy of specific recognition? Do they prefer to support others in making their vision a reality, or are they just simply terrified of the limelight themselves? I've presented these questions as dichotomies, even though they're not. An artist could be all or none of these things to differing degrees. Whatever the reason, Brazillian singer, songwriter, and master percussionist Índio da Cuíca waited until he was nearly 70 to release his first solo record, Malandro 5 Estrelas (5 Star Trickster in English).
I don't want to make too big of a deal out of Índio's age. When it comes to grown adults, your age really isn't anything but a number. So long as you are healthy and willing, you should continue to do what you love until the day die. Kick it until you can't anymore. And if someone tells you differently, it's only because you make them nervous. And if they're younger than you, then they should be nervous. Because they're going to be in your shoes someday, and they're not likely to have half as much to show for their efforts as you do now.
What is worth talking about when it comes to Indio and Malandro 5 Estrelas is the music itself. It is lovely. It is miraculously developed and initiated. And it some how feels familiar and yet singularly novel. At this point, I think most people who listen to popular music are pretty familiar with how samba is supposed to sound. Or at least they're aware that Caribean music and African-inspired rhythms work their way into pop music on a regular basis. Nothing you'll hear on the radio today will prepare you for what is on this record, though. It's affectionately disarming, while providing a universalist rhythm and cast of melodies that we can all share in the delight of in order to cast our cares away. Its coursing flow will fill your lungs with convivial air, and the atmosphere of hospitality it exudes is without rival. You'll half expect Índio to come to sit by you between numbers to share a joke and a smoke before gliding back on stage and into another ebullient chorus. A serious of transition he makes with the smooth, stealthy elegance of a river otter entering a forest stream.
Most of the pieces here, composed in partnership with Latin Grammy winner Gabriel de Aquino, are impeccably performed, and simply need to be heard and indulged in order to be fully appreciated. However, there is one last thing I want to mention before wrapping this up. The cuica on Malandro 5 Estrelas is phenominal. There is a reason why Índio is depicted as holding one on the cover of this album. Indio expresses such an impressive vocabulary with the instrument that it is almost like he's engaging in a full-blown conversation with it, complete with counterpoints and conclusions, and curses and compliments. What's even more interesting is the number of times that the cuica upstages the rest of the band with its squeaky, hyperventilating hoot. It's almost a member of his crew in its own right and there were times that I entirely forgot that there was a human hand inside of it, manipulating its performance.
Malandro 5 Estrelas is a pure delight. Don't deny yourself the good things life has to offer you. Give this one a spin.
You can get a copy of Malandro 5 Estrela from QTV Seal here.
Bandcamp Fridays. They are a thing, AGAIN! I've written a variation of this sentence multiple times over the past year because the company keeps suspending them. It's like they don't like doing them or something... I'm not going to read into it more than that. Also, I don't care. I do not care about BC skullduggery. What I do care about is listening to great music, sharing that music with people, and encouraging people to support artists. To further the second two of these goals, I compiled a list of recs for you to check out for New Noise. Get in there and root around. Get a whiff of some new tunes and go buck wild! Any day when you discover a new band is a good day. Happy Friday!
BLK JKS's Abantu / Before Humans is a record that I think a lot of people did not expect to see made. The Johannesburg-based, and self-styled African punk band, first broke on the scene in the late '00s, garnering immediate international attention. Their sensational overnight assent lead to some enviable press coverage and professional connections, which in tern enabled them to record an EP at Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, followed by a laudable debut LP, After Robots.
Unfortunately, the band found that all this attention put significant strain on their internal relationships, leading to the band almost breaking up. Thankfully, the tempests that ravaged their relations eventually subsided, only losing one original member in the fallout. Eventually, the remaining members would regroup with a new fourth and head back into the studio to record their second LP. A funny thing happened, though. At some point during the recording processes, the studio was robbed and the master tapes were stolen (Lady Luck be like, "New phone, who this?"). BLK JKS eventually regrouped, redoubled their efforts, re-recording the album and released it under the title, Abantu / Before Humans.
Now I don't think most people would label Abantu / Before Humans a punk record. At least not sonically. And at least not at first blush. If you wanted to make the case though, I think you easily could. The most important evidence in the pro column being BLK JKS's discernably defiant attitude. A predilection they demonstrate on the rebellious anthem "Yoyo!," where a simple toy is used as a metaphor for resisting state oppression and racial prejudice through the use of tug-and-shove grooves comprised of weaving horn melodies, chiseling guitar solos, and slapping role of fanatical percussion.
What's more, the way BLK JKS combines the elements of their vertical and inspired sound- drawn mainly from African horn traditions, whiplash funk, party music like kwaito, and star-hopping psychedelia- is transgressive at its core. Even downtempo tracks like "Harare" exhibit a fundamental tension of form that registers at a gut level, and manage to train your attention with the same dedication as groovier and more self-consciously twisted tracks like "Running," even when the latter sounds like the Mars Volta skirmishing with an Afro-Caribbean band's brass section. Fast or slow. Soothing or searing. BLK JKS do it all! Agitating their enemies, while consoling their friends.
While the brass melodies are often the most immediate component to these songs, the unsong (no pun intended) hero of Abantu / Before Humans is the guitar work. Rippling, arpeggiated chords form the backbone of most of these tracks. Providing not only grit and character, but a subtle series of looping sonics that chains together the more wild stylistic choices the band makes. Only rarely does the guitar work take the spotlight itself, most notably erupting into the foreground on the mix on the Tuareg psyche-inspired "Maiga Mali Mansa Musa," featuring Malian guitar guru Vieux Farka Tour. All that said, it's pretty refreshing to encounter a veritable rock record that doesn't prioritize guitar melodies as the leading aspect of its sound. The fact that the guitars can kind of take a back seat, but still come off as extremely cool, should clue you into how dynamic this record really is.
So is Abantu / Before Humans a punk record? Debatable. I could see an argument being made. Is it an awesome and imaginative rock record? Fuck yeah! And that's all that counts at the end of the day.
I wrote a review about Philly devil punk Zorn's most recent album, Hardcore Zorn. It fucks. It fucks hard. Read my review over on New Noise at the link below:
Listening to the fourth album, Cosmorama, from Lisbon, Portuga's Beautify Junkyards is like being in the center of a spiritual awakening, housed in the diminutive temple of a rotating shadow lantern. Phantoms with hazy boarders, but discernably delicate features, dance around your perimeter in a diverting procession of illusions, serving as points of fixation for your meditative gaze. For an album that trades in the ephemeral, Cosmorama is a fairly concrete and wholly descriptive title for the album. A cosmorama is an exhibition of images, that through the careful employment of lights, mirrors, and other manipulations, creates a vivid and unexpectedly deep experience of a distant place. Beautify Junkyards' Cosmorama, accomplishes something similar, only with sound. Instead of transporting you to the Chateau Versailles, the album opens a spiral staircase, that loops around the vertebrae and ridges of your spine, as if it were running along the interior wall of a great tower, leading you to the keep of a fluctuating realm of technicolor visas, where the sky curls in on itself in a patterned, nautilus like spiral, and the ground is a pliable gum, like the vulnerable membrane of jellyfish flesh. The creatures you will meet there are odd and obsequious. The fruit on the vine ripens at your touch. And each breath of air has a spicey curl to its flavor, as if you are drawing smoke from a hooka, an experience that is some how not taxing on your lungs, and further appears to improve oxygen flow to your brain. The subtle electricity of Beautify Junkyards on Cosmorama is sure to recharge the core of your being and deliver a dispursed shock of energy throughout your system- Comparable to having outfitted your chakra with solar panels.
Stand Still is an emo and hardcore band out of Long Island who has turned in one of the better EPs this year. I really don't like ranking albums, but if A Practice in Patience is not already on your "Best Of" list for 2021, or sin;t at least in the top 10 for EPs you're doing it wrong. What are you doing? Stop now. Start over.
Read what I had to say about A Practice in Patience over at New Noise at the link below:
Emerging from the phoenix fire of the deceased druid-witch Spellcaster, the Silver Talon is the flash, insurgent sibling of Idle Hands (now Unto Others). Their members may have split from the same mystic cascade but these two bands could not be more different. Idel Hands has an indisputable new romantic bent which causes them to raise the specter of The Church, as well as like-minded goths seeking out the burn of a heated guitar lead. Silver Talon on the other hand, would more easily be placed in the trad-metal camp- if it weren't for just how straight-up wild they sound on their debut LP, Decadence and Decay. Utilizing galloping, menacing grooves, forged and tempered in the furnace of Judas Priest's keep, they combine these tried and dependable guitar melodies with clean slicing guitar tones and taught, meticulously drawn patterns, to construct compositions that sound like they have the power to realign the stars, or cause the sky to collapse into the void beyond. In fact, Silver Talon is very concerned with the eternal struggles of humanity- its pain to know itself and taste freedom through inquiry. So much so, that they've declared in a recent interview that the Decadence and Decay's represents an act of "gnostic rebellion." If that's not epic enough for you, then you need to reevaluate your standards.
