Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Circle/Charles Bradley/Megasus/Pharaoh Overlord/Strain


Hello all, thanks for all the great posts and finds so far.  Props to Boss for getting this going.  I have been  in and out of internets for the last few weeks so I'm still actually digesting a lot of previous posts and I'll toss some comments up soon.  In the meantime, it's my turn to dump a load of listenables so here it is.

Circle - Prospekt (1998)


 One of my very favourite bands and hailing practically from Martin's backyard, Finland, Circle has an immense and sometimes difficult catalogue.  They have been pounding out records, often several per year, since the mid -90s and in that time have incorporated flavours ranging from krautrock, acid folk, ambient/drone and NWOBHM (more appropriately NWOFHM really) into their unique, often tongue-in-cheek, often improv driven sonic platters.  Given the diversity of territory traversed by Circle it is probably not possible to give an adequate representation of the band with a selection from only one album.  That said, here is a cut from an early record that is still one of my fav's.  A word of advice: I believe that this track only works if you listen to it straight through without fast forwarding or dropping the proverbial needle midway in.  Thematic material tends to emerge gradually out of a very repetitive (some would say monotonous) substructure.  It is probably worth noting that the bass player once said that this was his favourite Circle record because it was their most boring.

Check out Dedofiktion:


Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming (2011)



This is a truly amazing soul record from a group of cats who seem to have made the best use of the benefit of hindsight.  Basically this record is sort of like the ideal forgotten mid-60s soul album that exists only in the minds of collectors as a sort of phantasmal composite of great soul albums.  Only this record is widely in print for cheap and was produced about a year ago.  It is put out by the stone solid folks at Daptone (if you missed Daptone check them out now, almost everything on that label is worthwhile) and features a 63 year old line cook who's been trying unsuccessfully to carve out a singing career his whole life.  His story includes the usual soul musician bouts of homelessness, under-appreciation, poverty and shit jobs but with the twist that instead of coming after a hit or two in the '60s this cat is just starting to get his due in his '60s.  Anyway, no time for 'splainin'.  If you like soul at all, you'll like this.

Testify Brother Charles:



Megasus - Megasus (2009)



Did anybody catch this record when it came out?  I love it.  Dan's excellent Lightning Bolt post reminded me of this record because the bassist from Lightning Bolt plays drums here.  A bit of dirty thrash, sloppy doom, teenage-bedroom-fantasy-comic kitsch combined with a heavy dose of self-consciousness and  probably the best band name of all time (with the possible exception of David's Basses Loaded).  All this makes for one hell of an entertaining record.  Also dig the gorgeous and evocative cover art.  I believe that is the Megasus istself rising from a blood volcano, am I right?  So rad.  By the way, the record comes with a huge poster of this inspiring scene for your teenage-bedroom wall.

Fellow bangers, check out Swords:

 


 Pharaoh Overlord - Lunar Jetman (2012)



Following the post above of Circle, here is one of a few Circle-related bands.  This particular incarnation of Pharaoh Overlord includes several Circle members as well as Hans Joachim Irmler of Faust.  I have been listening to a lot of electric Miles Davis lately and that always makes me yearn for thick, long form, obnoxiously repetitive listening experiences.  So, I often turn to this sort of thing which is not to suggest that this sounds anything at all like Miles...because it doesn't...anyway...

Rodent:


Also check out the track Black Horse.  I couldn't find a full version (should be 14:31 long) but I suspect there are those reading this who are more internet savvy than myself.  Also, a cursory youtube search will reveal that Pharaoh Overlord played Roadburn a couple years ago both with and without Circle.  The performance in question seems to highlight the NWOFHM side of the band (pretty much every other record is either krauty as above or staright up NWOFHM, go figure).  Unfortunately, I didn't feel the videos represetned the best of the band but you may check them out if you are interested.


Vancouver Hardcore Part 2 - Strain



To finish off, here's another installment of the Vancouver hardcore miniseries.  This time I want to check out Strain. There are no surprises here, just brutal, jud-jud hardcore seemingly lifted from a textbook about how to make largely male, totally sweaty groups nod heads and fist-pump together.  These guys were and probably remain my personal favourite band from this scene.  Strain was active throughout most of the '90s playing alongside Sparkmarker and other Vancouver superstars.  Somewhat embarrssingly, I don't know that much about what they have been up to lately.  They have been patchily active recently including at least one recent tour.  On a personal note, the guitar player who played with them on said recent tour has been working to produce my drummer's music recently and seems likely to record our band's first record sometime in the new year.  I'm quite excited about even this rather oblique connection as the 7" presented below was in heavy rotation throughout my youth.

Strain - Cataract


That's all.  Sorry for the tardy post.


Larman Clamor

One more from the B to the O to the Z.

A lil' something to tide you over till Kris' internet troubles are over.

Got this record on a whim and just gave it a spin. Fun!




He's the German illustrator for Wo-Fat's album covers and does this swamp-stomp project as well.

German Tom Waits waiting for you in Louisiana at night in a rusty boat?

L to the U to the V,
-APB

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Two More for T-Day

Bros and Wife,

Happy T-Day!

Even if you aren't living in the land of milk 'n honey, take a minute to think about how righteous your life is. I think we've all got some pretty killer things going on.

 Here's two more for you:

 Gyuto Monks:

Throat singing is pretty much the most awesome thing ever. And these guys are pretty awesome at it. Inevitably I will listen to about an hour of this every time I'm on a plane (read: all the damn time). It's the best.

Lords of Bastard:

Another bandcamp find that I've been listening to more and more. Terrible name.
Melvins riffs + Chick Corea/Return to Forever keyboards?

Enjoy,
-APB

Monday, November 19, 2012

Fela/Lightnin' + Howlin'/Soulsavers/Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats/Like Rats

OK!

So, we've made a first round. Pretty cool! I just wanted to say thanks to you all for contributing. I can't tell you how stoked I am every week for the small bit of connection/discovery our corner of cyber-space (do people still use that term?) offers us.

So, to celebrate, let's kick things off with a little somethin' somethin' from our distinguished African friend Mr. Kuti:

(Important Note: Please play at maximum volume, preferably with headphones or through big speakers. Your computer speakers can't handle a groove this wide and until you give this it's due you will develop a total-body sensation not unlike having to urinate really badly. Trust me. I just want what's best for us all.)


Martin's GOAT post inspired me to get back to listening to some more Afro-funk. This album (featuring Ginger Baker of CREAM fame) rules. But so does a lot of Fela's stuff. I love the way Fela introduces a tune: "Let's start what we have come in to the room to do....". You know he's talkin' 'bout S-E-X (shhhh...you momma's listening).  And no matter how many times I've heard it, the intro/outro groove kicks so hard it makes me giddy.  Anyway the whole album kicks, birth-place-of-humanity style.

Kris can probably offer a better starting point if you're unfamiliar with the Afro-funk Force of Nature that is/was Fela Kuti. His catalogue can be a bit daunting....


Moving right along. Two records that are in constant rotation at the ol' Bozman homestead are:

Lightnin' Hopkins' "Double Blues"

And Howlin' Wolf's "Blues From Hell"

**Side note: I understand that often compilations are frowned upon, but, especially in Howlin's case, these are "Career Retrospectives / Compendiums". It says so right on the box. I know I feel better about myself...**

No matter what mood I am in these are exactly what I want to listen to. I will never get sick of these records and they probably get more play in the house on a weekly basis than anything else I own. My personal favorites are:

"I'm a crawlin' Black Snake" from Lightnin', and

"I asked for water, she brought me Gasoline" from the Wolf.

I want to be a really old black dude when I grow up. In a suit.


Last up while we're in Pseudo-Blues Territory is the "SoulSavers" album "Broken" (sorry no pic, I couldn't find the CD).

While not really Blues at all, but certainly not absent of Blues influence, these guys are a bit strange:

Two British electronica artists that write mostly gospel-inspired old Americana with guest artists like Mark Lanegan handling most of the vocals. I've gifted a few albums to my friend James over the years and he claims this as his favorite because "it makes me (James) feel like I'm the last man on Earth when I listen to it". Sweet.





Next on the block is a band that is just plain ol' fun. Take one part low-fi, one part old Italian horror movie, add in a dash of zesty satanism/occult worship and you've got Uncle Acid + the Deadbeats.

I ran across these guys about a year ago on some lame music blog, downloaded their promo album for free (right before leaving for Australia) and didn't think much of it. Passed over them on the ol' portable electronic music device during a trans-continental flight with an "oh yeah, I downloaded that...let's give it a listen" and that was it: I couldn't stop awhile! Highly habit forming. I then promptly tried to order their CD only to find out that they had developed a ravenous mini-following and I was out o luck. Luckily, they decided to step it up with a vinyl re-release some months later and now I'm a happy camper.

Check out "Ritual Knife" to know everything you need to know about this band.


To finish it off, I've got to give a "shout out" (do people still do those anymore? In Cyber space, no less?) to an acquaintance's band "Like Rats" from Chicago.


I know their guitar player Todd through the ever-growing CrossFit universe and he sent me their just-finished self titled album. Lots of classic 90s metal themes here with some pretty brutal tone. Not bad! This may restore Ross' faith in metal from the current generation...

I like the gutteral opening grunt of "Fire", but you guys can check out the whole deal here:
God Bless you, Bandcamp

Alright. I'm done. How're we all doing with the weekly rotation? Everybody still in it? Leave some comments and let me know what you think of some of these sonic-slices.

Yours,
-APB



Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Notes from San Francisco, standard issues and tangent lines

My apologies at the late arrival Lady and Gentleman's, I've been moving for the last two weeks and do not have internet at my new place. It also has taken me a week to figure out how to post videos to blogger, so any way... So if you only come away with one band from this post being added to your down load(or if your old fashioned like me, CD/Vinyl) wish list, let it please be the Coachwhips. This is in my mind the best Rock and Roll/Garage outfit to come out of SF in the last 20 years. I thought it fitting to open and focus this post with them because their sister band, the psychadelic-fuzz-fi Oh Cees seem to be an across the boards fav on the Sonic Divide. The Coachwhips and the Oh Cees are really just one guy playing with different groups of friends, that one guy, a Rhode Island transplant, is Jon Dwyer. JD is a musical assembly line heading various live acts playing multiple gigs a week in the area. His list of bands I am familiar with goes like this, Pink and Brown-noise/fuzz/fast/loud as fuck garage, The Hospitals-noise/fuzz/fast/loud as fuck punk, The Coachwhips-noise/fuzz/fast/loud as fuck rock and roll, Drums- two guys playing drums one of them sings-see previous descriptions, Sword and Sandals- A free Jazz outfit-Dwyer plays the drums(probably his coolest group), and of course the Oh Cees lo/fuzz/pop/fi(sounds like a soriety). While most of these bands claim to be retired or disbanded one-off comebacks are frequent, and on any given night you may see old Jon as an opening act at some shit hole venue playing under a moniker like Jampires. With out further adieu, here is the music: Coachwhips off their LP Double Death: Here is a clip of the Hospitals playing live, fast forward to 1:18 when a fist fight breaks out between the drummer and an unhappy concert goer, then watch Dwyer at 1:41 jump off the base Drum and guitar smash the bastard: His first group in SF was Pink and Brown, their Double Disc Shame Fantasy is worth a listen, here is "Messy Bessy, Get Undressy": Pink and Brown was a guitar and drums foil to the band Lightning Bolt who are a bass and drum duo out of Rhode Island. Lightning Bolt haul serious ass. They are definitely worth a listen, and then a down load. Here they are with 2 Towers off the Wonderful Rainbow Lp: to be continued tomorrow when I have more internet time...