Avante Garde Molests Indie Rock With A Sock Puppet

2006-06-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

Videos!Videos!Videos!

Some live stuff of bands I like. Enjoy

Les Savy Fav's amusing video for the rocking 'We'll Make A Lover Out Of You'

A short performance by the Liars who have recently released the record of the year 'Drum's Not Dead'

Mclusky's 'She Will Only Bring You Happiness' amusing stage banter and it's a fooking great song. Check out the recorded version the audio is muddy.

Mclusky again with the rocking 'To Hell With Good Intentions' pay attention to the 15 year old crowd, hilarious.

This is the Hot Snakes playing their old band (Drive Like Jehu) song 'Luau'.

Plot to blow up the Eiffel Tower are pretentious and rocking, they hate Modest Mouse.

Wolf Eyes playing a long but extremely interesting set

SunnO))) noise rock at it's loudest and scariest.

Mogwai, f00lz!, brilliant post rock band making brilliant music

Dinosaur Jr. Older than Cory but still rocking. Jay pulls out the massive solos, it's awesome.

Sonic Youth, again old but so fucking awesome.

And that's it, I hope you liked some of it... or hated it.

2006-05-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is emo:

The word is used to describe anything that is seen as emotional but for this is far too broad. Take for example a person who is crying a passer by might say, "That person is emo". The word exudes negative connotations and can be more precisely defined as omething or someone that or who is excessively emotional. But how can you possibly know who is truly emo? Obviously it's by the way the person is dressed, by what music they listen to, where they spend their leisure time. On the surface we are presented with a standard subculture.

So on the presumption that this is a stock standard subculture we can identify these people on the street by the mode of dress. These are emotional people so let's assume it will be dramatic. We can observe: Black eyeliner, Red Eyeshadow, Black Angular Hair Cuts, Piercings, Tight Black Skinny Leg Jeans, Converse Chuck Taylors, Studded Wrist Bands and Belts. Here are some of the typical fashion that is emo associated. But we run into a problem because other subcultures such as punk and goth have coined many elements of fashion years earlier. For the uninitiated (older people) it'd be easy to mistake one for another but they know who is who and what is what. So we are seeing a form of bricolage a merging of ideas and clothing and aesthetic from punk and goth.

As I previously mentioned Emo isn't really all that unique from any other subculture in terms of their distinct fashion style. However what is truly remarkable is the rejection by the subculture to collectively identify themselves. They dress the same, you see them demonstrating localisation in the city but just ask them and see the response you get. I'm not sure if anyone doing this assignment has penetrated the complexities of emo as a subculture.

First of all there is no collective emo like say 1970's punk. Instead there are 'crews' take for example the 'MVHC' which stands for the Moololabah Valley Hate Crew. Initially started by a group of friends it became like a mini society where members are adopted in favour of those being rotated. Of course there are the original and only true members of MVHC, those who started the group. They create an imaginary club the members dress a certain way creating a certain style borrowing from punk and gothic fashion and not before long there is an exclusivity born. It is major cultural capital to be a MVHC. There are multiple other crews around that each hold a position in this emoculture heirarchy.

It would be interesting to investigate the origins of the word crew in terms of modern subcultures. From what I know it'd be safe to assert that this idea was bowrrowed from hardcore which arose out practability. Areas of American would identify themselves and from that was create a scene and earlier on, a distinct sound. This can be seen in Queensland with North Coast Hardcore (the Sunshine Coast). Parkway Drive the forerunner of Australian hardcore were located here and through their success given exposure to the scene. So his has been adopted by MVHC a scene without the music. It's an exclusive club.

Emo has perhaps captured the imagination of a dislocated and alienated youth. It's more socially acceptable to be an emo because bands like 'The Used' and 'My Chemical Romance' have penetrated the mainstream. You want someone to blame it's MTV. I also think it's interesting that no one who another person would see is emo would ever admit to being emo.
When asked a typical response is "oh we just do our own thing" they see themselves as different but are so caught up being individuals. This is truly a subculture that recognises itself through dress, music but vehemently denies being 'emo'.

To be finished soonish on an ironic note I'm leaving home to spite my parents, love shan

2006-05-18T04:29:00.000-07:00

Here's some avante garde/noise core bands videos just copy and paste the links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwLMHSHt__s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSWvMEH2oz4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUhbgLJjZNI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkwRbvc_s5U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLICMtnjgA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctwzA55tm98

2006-05-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

Liars: Album and live review

So it's been three years since Liars first toured and much has changed. Angus Andrew (frontman) & Co moved to Berlin to record their new album 'Drum's not Dead' looking for inspiration (as if they needed it). Much has been made of the move and it's hard to know why considering that Aaron Hemphill was quoted in pitchfork saying,

"I like the cheapness of it, but I never really found a Berlin niche that felt good to me, that made me feel inspired. When a city is very cheap to live in, it doesn't really push you to try to do more"

A record label stunt? Maybe but crucial to 'Drum's not Dead' sound the studio used had the necessary acoustics that would turn out to be crucial in the drum sound. Liars have always seemed to to portray progression as in integral part of the band. Their debut album 'They Threw Us All in A Trench and Stuck A Monument On Top' whilst still pushing art punk delved into Avante-garde with the song 'Dust That nakes Mud' which is relying on loops and repetition.

liars opted for a more experimental sound rather than continuing the niche they had tapped into and in doing so lost any form of mainstream interest. Their second album 'They Were So Wrong So We Drowned' was a rejection of the sound they had forged instead opting to experiment in noisy avante-garde. Spin weren't so kind this time around giving the album the lowest possible mark (unsuprising considering they're still giving blowjobs to 'Franz Ferdinand') .

The album definitely dragged in some places but was a step in a more creative direction and let's face it who really gives a fuck what Spin thinks. 'Drum's Not Dead' is the 'Liars' masterwork. More concentrated than it's predecessor it offers an escape into another world. At times ethereal and foreboding and others frenetic and kind of spooky but there is such a consistency with this record which makes it so relistenable. I don't think many people would throw on 'They Were So Wrong...' and listen to it casually. It was an effort that was enjoyable but their seems to be an immense undertaking on doing so. But oddly enough with 'Drum's Not Dead' you can that's not say they've become more accessible because some people will just not get it.

Live review coming soon

2006-05-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Myspace Fags

www.myspace.com/sy_daydream_nation
www.myspace.com/liarshateliars
www.myspace.com/pavementsounds

2006-05-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

Sonic Youth Enthusiasts

So you want to play their tunes or steal "their" tunings go here:

http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/index.html

I'm pretty sure it's my favourite thing ever.

2006-05-15T04:35:00.000-07:00

2006-05-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

Radiohead suck...

At writing bad songs. Seriously they have really yet to write a stinker since the Bends (Pablo Honey might have filled up their quota of shite). Their latest album is set to be another brilliant rock venture. A few not so new songs have been available on youtube such as arpeggi and cymbal rush. Check out the full band version of Arpeggi here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC-AwONjhVA&eurl=

Enjoy boys and girls

2006-05-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Emo Vs Doof

As the emo I'm wearing black, cool.

2006-05-10T22:57:00.000-07:00

FREE MAYBE LEGAL MUSIC

That's right I'm so goddamn nice that I'm providing you with links to cool bands and songs so you can actually listen to the shit, I rant and rave constantly about.

http://www.regnyouth.com/
http://www.buddyhead.com/mp3blog
http://www.3hive.com/
http:///www.indieblogheaven.typepad.com/
http://www.elbo.ws/ mp3 blog aggregator
http://www.rbally.net
http://www.mockingmusic.blogspot.com
http://www.knkisser.blogspot.com

2006-05-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

Shoulda been the Shins.

I'm going to post what i find an intruiging article on indie pop band The Wrens:

"The wrens get a call in 1989 off their first demo asking if they want to open for comeback band - The Fixx. The catch is that they must sell 1000 tickets. The wrens fail to sell even 6 tickets and sadly, the Fixx cancel. The ‘80s draw to a close.
The wrens get a gig as the house band on the on Cape May/Delaware Ferry. The wrens later get fired after performing the Pixies’ “debaser” to the mostly senior citizen crowd.
The wrens move to a house in Secaucus, NJ. (The wrens will continue to live together and record at home for the next 10 years)
The wrens make their first 7”, Low (1993), and send a copy to Camille Sciara at Grass records/Dutch East India. She offers a deal over the phone, faxes a contract and they are signed in one day - becoming label mates and friends with Brainiac, Toadies and others....
The wrens issue first full length, Silver (1994), to surprising and wonderful critical acclaim.
The wrens’ first tour’s first show is in Omaha, Nebraska playing to an overwhelming five-person crowd that includes Robb, Conor, and Todd of the as-yet-unfounded Saddle Creek label/scene (Conor and Todd of Bright Eyes and the Faint respectively). The wrens and the creek become friends, and over the next few years play many shows together, have many sleepovers, and later issue a split 7" w/ Park Ave on their Saddle Creek label.
Wrens continue to tour domestically & in Europe through 1995 and begin work on follow-up lp.
Grass records is bought from Dutch East India by insane, grudge-bearing millionaire and Chinese food aficionado, Alan Melzter, to acquire the wrens - now the label’s flagship band. The wrens release their second full length, Secaucus (1996), for Meltzer’s revamped Grass to even more wonderful critical review.
Halfway into first tour supporting Secaucus, the wrens are told that if they do not sign their ‘big buck record contract’ all promotion for Secaucus will be stopped. The wrens, frowning on strong-arm tactics, do not re-sign and as promised, all promotion (including support for a pending tour of Europe with Brainiac) is pulled. The head of the record company, infuriated, commences layoffs of involved record company personnel and vows that “the next band to walk through that door will be made famous - at any cost”. The next band through the door is Creed. Grass Records becomes Wind Up Records. Creed becomes famous at any cost.
The Wrens ditch their really-way-too-big new york law firm representation and spend second half of 1996 and most of 1997 in hilarious courtship ritual with various labels through new attorney.
In the meantime, the wrens release an ep, Abbott 1135 (1997) for Camille’s new label, Ten 23, and more critical riches follow. The wren’s music is used in several MTV programs, some independent films and a handful of compilation cd’s. And in 1998, they are asked to perform opening night of 1998 World’s Fair, EXPO ‘98, in Lisbon, Portugal.
1998: Interscope Records A&R on hearing the Abbott 1135 ep, continues hilarious courtship ritual. Sadly, A&R gets laid off in ugly corporate merger before signing the wrens. Happily though, A&R later emerges at competitor label and signs the strokes.
1999: The wrens go into hiding to write/ record next record for friends, richard & stephanie reines’ Drive Thru Records. In 2000, Drive Thru cements distribution & money deal with MCA.
Spring 2002: the wrens emerge with a new full length, the Meadowlands. And wary of more involvement with another major, happily decide to release the Meadowlands in a partnership with good friend, Cory Brown’s Absolutely Kosher Records in the Spring of 2003.
July 2002: the wrens throw drunken hoe-down to celebrate final completion of the Meadowlands. Party highlights include erasure of all Meadowlands multi-track master tapes"

http://www.wrens.com/biography.html

It was more interesting the first time I read oh well. Anyway this band blow the Shins away.

2006-05-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

So are you sick of all the boring cliched rock hooks? Sick of 3 minutes of a self-assured wanker thinking that's he's God because some major gave him a record deal? If the answer is yes perhaps post-rock is for you. Well it should be for most who have an open mind to different music though there will be some (many) who will dislike it strongly but it's not my fault you have no taste, right? Now Sigur Ros seem to fall under this post rock umbrella but despite what cory tells you they're boring, dull and well just plain shite. Especially avoid Takk and arty titled ( ), deep guys. Their earlier work is alright though. Anyway I'm going to post some articles from all.music.com and pitchforkmedia.com. First on Allmusic's definition of post rock followed by biographies of Mogwai + Godspeed You ! Black Emperor. I'll post some other related links too.

What is Post Rock?

"Post-rock was the dominant form of experimental rock during the '90s, a loose movement that drew from greatly varied influences and nearly always combined standard rock instrumentation with electronics. Post-rock brought together a host of mostly experimental genres — Kraut-rock, ambient, prog-rock, space rock, math rock, tape music, minimalist classical, British IDM, jazz (both avant-garde and cool), and dub reggae, to name the most prevalent — with results that were largely based in rock, but didn't rock per se. Post-rock was hypnotic and often droning (especially the guitar-oriented bands), and the brighter-sounding groups were still cool and cerebral — overall, the antithesis of rock's visceral power. In fact, post-rock was something of a reaction against rock, particularly the mainstream's co-opting of alternative rock; much post-rock was united by a sense that rock & roll had lost its capacity for real rebellion, that it would never break away from tired formulas or empty, macho posturing. Thus, post-rock rejected (or subverted) any elements it associated with rock tradition. It was far more concerned with pure sound and texture than melodic hooks or song structure; it was also usually instrumental, and if it did employ vocals, they were often incidental to the overall effect. The musical foundation for post-rock crystallized in 1991, with the release of two very different landmarks: Talk Talk's Laughing Stock and Slint's Spiderland. Laughing Stock was the culmination of Talk Talk's move away from synth-pop toward a moody, delicate fusion of ambient, jazz, and minimalist chamber music; Spiderland, meanwhile, was full of deliberate, bass-driven grooves, mumbled poetry, oblique structures, and extreme volume shifts. While those two albums would influence many future post-rock bands, the term itself didn't appear until critic Simon Reynolds coined it as a way to describe the Talk Talk-inspired ambient experiments of Bark Psychosis. The term was later applied to everything from unclassifiable iconoclasts (Gastr del Sol, Cul de Sac, Main) to more tuneful indie-rock experimenters like Stereolab, Laika, and the Sea and Cake (not to mention a raft of Slint imitators). Post-rock came into its own as a recognizable trend with the Chicago band Tortoise's second album, 1996's Millions Now Living Will Never Die, perhaps the farthest-reaching fusion of post-rock's myriad touchstones. Suddenly there was a way for critics to classify artists as diverse as Labradford, Trans Am, Ui, Flying Saucer Attack, Mogwai, Jim O'Rourke, and their predecessors (though most hated the label). Post-rock quickly became an accepted, challenging cousin of indie rock, centered around the Thrill Jockey, Kranky, Drag City, and Too Pure labels. Ironically, by the end of the decade, post-rock had itself acquired a reputation for sameness; some found the style's dispassionate intellectuality boring, while others felt that its formerly radical fusions had become predictable, partly because many artists were offering only slight variations on their original ideas. However, even as the backlash set in, a newer wave of bands (the Dirty Three, Rachel's, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Sigur Rós) gained wider recognition for their distinctive sounds, suggesting that the style wasn't exhausted after all." www.allmusic.com

Mogwai:

"These days - when membership of the rock army can be symbolised by the simple purchase of a Ramones T-shirt - dedication has become a debased currency, subject to the hyper-inflationary dictates of fashion. Raw recruits sign up for the short term, soon surrendering their affections to whichever sexy "scene" might spring up next. Unswerving commitment to rock's righteous cause is rare; it demands a troop of seriously single-minded dudes with their collective heart and soul fixed on one goal - to bring the noise.Scottish five piece Mogwai formed in 1995 and debuted a year later with the single "Tuner/Lower", released on their own Rock Action label. They've since gone on to develop their distinctive style of apocalyptic, yet deeply humanised noise across four albums, establishing the transcendentally effective quiet-loud/quiet-loud dynamic as their very own and spawning a generation of imitators. Usually tagged a post-rock band because of their slow-build, instrumental workouts and the neo-classical majesty of their more ambitious songs, Mogwai are rather a bunch of a-rockers, drawn to whatever serves their cause - be it the stripped-down delicacy of Erik Satie or the boiling rage of Big Black. Mix light and dark together, Mogwai understand, and you make magic."Mr Beast" is the band's fifth studio album and, as the title suggests, sees them returning to their first, true love - Rock with a capital "R" - after using a softer palette with more varied instrumentation for album number three ("Rock Action") and delivering a balanced summary of their work to date with 2003's "Happy Songs For Happy People". Mogwai of course, make their own rules in order to break them, so, alongside huge blocks of thrillingly implacable guitar noise, "Mr Beast" features exquisitely poignant piano passages (most of them played by keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist Barry Burns) and great, limpid spaces.Guitarist/vocalist Stuart Braithwaite explains the album's impetus thus: "We consciously tried to have some louder music on this album, because we had begun to realise that there was a big difference between our live shows and our records, and there was no real reason for that. We wanted to make a record that we were going to enjoy playing live, because when we're on stage, we like the songs where we're really going for it more than the ones where we're just kind of plinking away. "The quiet-loud/quiet-loud formula that was our trademark became pretty clichéd," he adds, "and also a lot of other people started doing it, so we consciously tried to stop. Not that we invented it, but it got to the point where people thought that was all we did, plus we were getting tired of it ourselves. We'd taken it to extremes on songs like "Like Herod" [from 1997's Mogwai "Young Team"] and we thought there wasn't much further we could go with it. What we ended up doing then was being really quiet and minimal, but later we realised that we really missed making a lot of noise! Now felt like a good time to get back to that, because in a way, it's what started the band. Although only about 25 per cent of the new album is actually noise, that's the one thing we consciously had in mind when we set out." Recorded between April and October 2005 in the band's own Castle Of Doom studios in Glasgow, "Mr Beast" was produced by Tony Doogan, who also produced "Happy Songs. . ." and was the engineer on "Rock Action". It opens with "Auto Rock" - whose sweetly melancholic, central piano motif is gradually engulfed by a swell of fulsome guitars and pummelling drum beats - and closes with lurching, psych-rock behemoth "We're No Here" (sic). In between are eight future Mogwai classics, including the heads-down "Glasgow Mega-Snake", where what must surely be a dozen guitars swarm around a molten metal core like crazed killer bees, the drum machine-driven country gospel of "Acid Food," which features pedal-steel guitar, the wintry splendour of "Friend Of The Night" and the impossibly poignant "I Chose Horses," featuring guest vocalist Tetsuya Fukagawa (of Japanese hardcore band Envy) and a keyboard contribution from composer/arranger Craig Armstrong. Whether light and lean or dark and monstrous, however, these songs underline Mogwai's belief that to have meaning, rock needs both mass and monumentality. If "Mr Beast" has one thing, it's presence. "I like music that has weight," admits Braithwaite, "even if it's not sound weight. If I think of a really 'heavy' record, I think of 'Songs Of Love And Hate' by Leonard Cohen as much as I think of the latest record by Sunn O))). It is a bit weird when people think our music is depressing, because I find bad music depressing and we all think sad music is incredibly uplifting. Even if a piece of music is melancholic, if it makes you think, or has some weight to it, then I find that really uplifting. It's like seeing a beautiful painting - it makes your day a bit better." Of Mogwai's continued interest in pushing their own parameters, Braithwaite declares, "We didn't want to be a band that made a few good records and then made a series of increasingly shitty ones that were like fading photocopies of the earlier records. I've seen that happen a lot of times. The fact is, none of us can do anything else - it's not like we dropped out of architecture school and can go back to it one day! We knew we were in this for the long haul and we knew we wanted to be making worthwhile, important music until the day our hands stop working, so it serves our purpose to challenge ourselves, on every level." The beauty expressed by "Mr Beast" is the sound of those challenges being met - fearlessly. As to the noise, it's Mogwai's design for life. -- Sharon O'ConnellMogwai are: Stuart Braithwaite, Dominic Aitchinson, Martin Bulloch, Barry Burns, John Cummings

DISCOGRAPHY - ALBUMS:Ten Rapid (Collected Recordings 1996 - 1997) (ROCKACT05CD) April 1997Mogwai Young Team (CHEM018CD) October 1997Kicking A Dead Pig (CHEM057CD) May 1998Come On Die Young (CHEM033CD) (OLE-365) April 1999Rock Action (PAWCD1) (OLE-365) April 2001Happy Songs For Happy People (PIASX035CD) (OLE-567) June 2003Government Commissions (BBC Sessions 1996 - 2003) (PIASX051CD) (OLE-646) February 2005 Mr Beast (PIASX062CD) (OLE-681) March 2006 "

http://www.matadorrecords.com/mogwai/biography.html
Free Mp3's too!

Godspeed You Black Emperor:

"The instrumental, multimedia Montreal group Godspeed You Black Emperor! creates extended, repetition-oriented chamber rock. The minimal and patient builds-to-crescendo of the group's compositions result in a meditative and hypnotic listen that becomes almost narrative when combined with found-sound splices and the films of their visual collaborators. GYBE! formed in 1994, and that year self-released a limited-run (33 copies) cassette entitled All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling. The band's next recording, F#A#(Infinity), was initially a limited-run release of 550 LPs on the Canadian label Constellation, but was picked up by Kranky and released onto CD as well. Early 1999 brought the EP Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada (released by both labels) and increased recognition for a band intent on retaining anonymity. Nevertheless, interest in GYBE! only continued to grow among new music fans with much positive attention from The Wire magazine, the band's participation in the John Peel-produced Peel Session for the London BBC, and the group's consistently impressive live shows, including their performance at Quebec's 1999 new music festival FIMAV and the tour with Labradford later that year. GYBE! performances generally include at least nine or more musicians and a projectionist. The instrumentation consists of three guitars, two basses, French horn, violin, viola, cello, and percussion. 2000 brought about the release of Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, pushing their diverse orchestral rock sound even further into the universe."
www.allmusic.com

Review of Skinny Fists

"Jeremiah is Godspeed You Black Emperor!'s prophet. The Hebrew emblazoned in dirty copper on the cover of their Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada EP belongs to him: tohu-va-bohu, it reads: void and waste. The lengthy passage on the sleeve of that EP is lifted from his book. Blase Bailey Finnegan III, the Providence street preacher whose rantings appear on the two first Godspeed You Black Emperor! releases, is his avatar. The music of Godspeed, for all its bombast and lament, extends Jeremiah's ministry into a new millennium. Preaching in a vocabulary drawn from Boston hardcore, in a spidery array of radical leftist rhetoric, Godspeed You Black Emperor! have delivered a blistering (albeit politically imprecise) homily on the new world order.
That said, the Canadian nontet's Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven is a massive, achingly beautiful work, alternately elegiac and ferocious. However, Lift plays like an oddly transitional album: much of the first disc presents a refinement of the sound that crystallized on 1999's Slow Riot EP, while the second disc flirts with moments of vertiginous shoegazing, looser rock drumming and reckless crescendos of unalloyed noise. Succinctly, the first disc is easily continuous with their earlier work; the second disc might just be the future. The disparity is immediately striking.
This is not to suggest that the first disc is not wonderful-- it is, but mostly as a cultivation of ideas and sounds embedded in F#A#oo or Slow Riot. The waltz-like grace of the opening part of "Storm" (titled "Levez Vos Skinny Fists Comme Antennas to Heaven") is dominated by rising cello and violin which evolve, with the addition of guitars and martial drum taps, into a loud triumphal procession. Blaring trumpets seem to announce the advent of some head of state, and the whole affair proceeds with military discipline and measured effect. The violent explosion never comes: the parade merely approaches and recedes.
The second part, "Gathering Storm," begins in entwined guitars: one bowed, one screwdrivered, one gently plucked. With the entrance of the cello, violin and rumbling toms, the guitars begin to shriek in distortion. The effect is amped-up slowcore sludge that's all tension and no release, merely dissipation and noise reminiscent of Cale-era Velvet Underground performances. Seven minutes later, "Cancer Towers on the Holy Road Hi-Way" ends the track in crushing paranoia with locomotive percussion thundering toward breakdown. (It is also Jeremiah who predicted that destruction would come from the North.)
The second track, "Static," opens with a looped recording of a supermarket welcome message, giving way to indecipherable megaphone vitriol. Sparse piano and drone frames the static-drenched field recordings with mournful effect. "Chart #3" is treated guitar drone and distant buzzing similar to records released by the Fatalists or James Plotkin. Piercing static and high frequency ambient yields to the monologue of a fringe Christian preacher. "When you see the face of God," he intones, "you will die and there will be nothing left of you, except the god-man, the god-woman, the heavenly man, the heavenly women...," girded by skeletal string arrangements.
Near the end of the first disc, "World Police and Friendly Fires" initially reminds me of Erik Frielander's Watchman compositions, and his work with Greg Feldman on John Zorn's Bar Kokhba. Eventually, however, "World Police" erupts into thick, layered drone rock (think the Dirty Three, but less dispersed) that sounds like a heavy metal riff slowed to quarter-speed and suddenly accelerated into wailing guitars and slashing strings. It is, I think, the first disc's finest moment. The final part, "The Buildings They are Sleeping Now," is a quiet whoosh of fragmentary strings and deep noise. The disc simply falls apart; the last moments are so inaudible that you're never sure when the music has actually stopped.
Murray Ostril introduces the second disc with his reminiscing on the heyday of Coney Island. The sentiment is so politically and religiously neutral that it stands apart from other Godspeed field recordings: nostalgia for the good old days. Nothing more. The second part of "Sleep," "Monhein," is dominated by Efrim Menuck's wailing screwdriver-on-frets effect. From this plodding dirge comes an incredible air raid siren of sound, flagging and rising over the military percussion. But instead of the familiar tension and release, Godspeed opts for maddening sustain. When the drums die out, all that remains is the tremulous scream.
After a Labradford-like introduction of repetitive guitar and subtle chimes, "Broken Windows, Locks of Love Part III" erupts into sheets of noise somewhere between Loveless and Pangea. The advent of nimble, almost hip-hop drumming, is a shock, and a loose, raucous jam coalesces, recalling Cul de Sac's country-surf-kraut concoctions. Part of you will say: why can't it all be like this?
The final track, "Antennas to Heaven," begins with an old mountain folk tune, which is inevitably consumed in processed machine noise. Echoey chimes and looped glockenspiel reverberate through "Edgy Swingset Acid" while Francophone children dreamily play and sing. The playground, however, is weirdly menaced by liturgical organs that soon give way to a momentary burst of dense, jangly rock. On "She Dreamt She Was a Bulldozer She Dreamt She Was Alone in an Empty Field," guitars and bells tick-tock over delicate dark ambient, counting the moments as the instruments flare up on fire and descend like a sunset. Godspeed You Black Emperor! have apparently expanded their emotional repertoire of indignation and grief to include joy. But the appropriately titled "Deathkamp Drone" is ghostly electronic gloom. The track's final moments are a wash of humming synths, echoing guitars, and pins-and-needles noise that comes just a little too close to human screaming. By the time the piece ends, the tide is way out.
Real innovation in a leaderless nontet must be geologically slow. Lift Your Skinny Fists succeeds precisely because it utilizes Godspeed You Black Emperor!'s numbers in a way that previous works did not. Lift opens up its sound to various voices and influences within the collective, letting moments of pop/rock, ambient and even hip-hop blossom where once there was only gravelly symphonics and aural landscape. Those moments were, for me, nothing short of thrilling. This is why Lift shouldn't be accused of merely preaching to the converted fan who has long since accepted the grandiosity of their sound and the vague rhetoric of their dissent. They show signs of doing what they condemn the world for not doing: changing, evolving, experimenting with new approaches, growing. And that's why Godspeed You Black Emperor!-- along with Jeremiah, Blaise Finnegan and every other prophet of doom-- might all turn out to be wrong. Perhaps it does get better before it gets worse.
-Brent S. Sirota, October 26th, 2000"
www.pitchforkmedia.com

Godspeed's official site with really interesting interviews amongst other things
http://www.brainwashed.com/godspeed

Also check out this site it's a beautiful record label with some excellent bands on it.
Constellation: http://www.cstrecords.com/

2006-05-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well this initially was just going to be a blog but now at 4:16am it's my assignment pretty close to finished. And to think I was just going to take the penalty marks (who am I kidding I would of never got it done)... Well here it is on Noise-Rock, hope you like it if anyone reads it.

I'd like to write about the latest craze in music... Well it's been around for a while (infact longer than I first thought) but there seems to be a resurgence, well, at least in the underground scene. I’m talking about Noise-rock. According to the reliable allmusic.com “noise-rock bands concentrate on the ear-shattering sounds that can be produced by distorted electric guitars, some also use electronic” (www.allmusic.com). So we get the idea it’s loud, different and innovative. Many dismiss as pointless loud and abrasive, for lack of a better word, noise. Noise-rock instrumentation, whether as percussion or to add to the overall cacophony.” I will make an argument that there is homology in noise-rock focusing on the ideology that drives it (also paying attention to the history and artists) and briefly discuss other aspects of homology. I will then highlight how noise-rock exhibits bricolage through the artist’s music and of course the fans. Establishing these two core ideas I hope will establish noise-rock as a subculture.

The current noise-rock giants (hah!) are the likes of Boris, Merzbow, Lightning Bolt, Black Dice, Boredoms, Swans, Whitehouse, Growing, Wolf Eyes, Sun0))) etc. These bands at first glance seem to build their foundation of Indie rock forefathers Sonic Youth, taking their sound to extreme. I was thinking back to the noisy instrumental passages in Sonic Youth's songs however, I have discovered that noise-rock has a far greater and richer musical heritage dating all the way back the early 1900's. Sonic Youth are actually responsible for exposing noise-rock to a wider audience (www.allmusic.com). Within noise-rock there is a driving philosophy that can be traced back 1909. It began with the 'Italian Futurists'. Fillipo Tommaso Marinetti started this with the ‘Manifesto Le Futurisme’. The manifesto was a wake up call to his fellow artists who he said had been "wearing second hand clothes too long" it was time to make new art conceived out of speed and the glorification of war (). Listening to Sun0)))'s song FWTBT at this very moment it sounds exactly that: foreboding, violent, scary and well... just apocalyptic. Luigi Russolo a music artist of the Futurist movement also released a manifesto. He was inspired by noise around him not in the natural sense (a bird chirping for example) but more specifically industrial noise within this he could hear music. From this he encouraged people to turn this sound palette into music creating something entirely new. Today this way of thinking is evident in noise-rock for example if we listen to Black Dice & Wolf Eyes collaboration Chimes In Black Water you can literally hear that though one would say it's been replicated by uses of unique instruments again moody and atmospheric. Brand Stousy writes of Wolf Eyes album Slicer

“ Track two is a variation on the fuzzed-out cicada stomp I've grown to adore: six minutes of splayed horns, crackling tapes, spring-reverb, sputtering shards of salty glass door hinges and that standard high-end knob-twisting that approximates a reconstituted air-raid siren” (pitchforkmedia.com).

Also in Black Dice's song Cone Toaster there is distinct metallic sound with each instrument, it's hard to pinpoint what each instrument is. These modern day bands are clearly display Russolo’s and Marinetti’s ideologies.

The sonic experiments of the Italian futurists inspired a host of efforts to create new instruments and generally to bring new sounds to the musical arena. This is a primary aspect of Avante-Garde which noise-rock borrows from. Composers like Edgard Varese and Karlheinz Stockhausen, who were experimenting with primitive electronica. Bands who fall under this label often use more unconventional instruments usually of an electronica nature (see Merzbow & Boris – Sun Baked Snow Cave) whilst some artists like Sun:0))) opt to employ conventional instruments like guitars with extremely low tuning with massive walls of distortion. Another example Lightning Bolt use a bass (which let me tell you sounds nothing like a bass) and drums. The bands whilst sounding different still rely on this minimalist approach. The artists of the genre are clearly educated with their ideas pervading through music that can be traced back through experimental music’s history so we can see a clear homology between the bands (it’s not only through this ideology but the fact that the bands play with each other indicates a community).

To further my point take Merzbow the great Japanese noise rock artist. His real name Masami Akita studied arts and was strongly influenced by ideological and artistic period of Dadaism. His work also owes a lot to artist Salvidor Dali. This is perhaps typical of noise-rock musicians inspired by art taking minimalist approaches to their work but creating something new and fresh. This seems to be a constant theme in many noise-rock artists. Many have their interests in art and most definitely are minimalists creating a unified front.

The fans also display homology. We can assume that they (the fans) are educated by the mere fact they turn up to the shows because attending these shows almost always requires internet networking and some form of written communication and arguably intelligence. We can establish a lot by looking at the photographs of live shows. We can establish a general age group by observing photos of shows (www.laserbeast.com). For example at a Lightning Bolt most are in their late teenage years to late twenties. People whilst dressed differently all dressed in a casual manner very akin to the Indie-rock style of dress. We start to see a “face” for noise-rock.

The bands perform where they can. For example Wolf Eye’s upcoming tour of Australia stops of in Brisbane at Jamie’s Expresso Bar. This is a car park where Indie shows are held. It’s not just in Brisbane it is in Sydney where China Heights, an abandoned factory has been used as a space to see live music. One can safely assume that the same happens over the world. Looking at Lightning Bolt’s site we see them playing a date First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, July 21 2005 (www.laserbeast.com). Spaces that are or have been used for completely different purposes are utilised. It would be common to see these shows conducted in old warehouses, factories, churches, halls but you wouldn’t know it was going on. This is in itself another form of bricolage. The people that attend the shows are usually well versed with what they’re about to witness be it local or international acts. People go because they know it’s on. It might get mentioned in the local street press but then again there is a strong chance it won’t. However despite the lack of publicity, many people still attend. This can be attributed to a strong, communal network.

Hebdige defines Bricolage as “the process by which elements of style are appropriates from “mainstream” culture and use in a way unique to the subculture” (hebdige). The bands clearly demonstrate bricolage through their music. As mentioned before they have taken conventional attitudes to music and changed them uniquely in their own way. Musical instruments are butchered and altered all in the name of creating new sound with modification and general abuse (Sonic Youth liked to use drills a lot). Incorporating art into their work and using industrial sounds I would argue is also another form of bricolage (see masami akita using Slavidor Dali).

Given new media it would be safe to say that noise-rock can owe it’s recent growth to the Internet. A quick Google search brings up a myriad of pages all dedicated to noise-rock. Noiserock.org is self described “Music that is not for the masses” which is displayed an ominous warning to those thinking about delving into this music. Bands, which fall under this umbrella, are discussed in online magazine Pitchfork that is aimed at the indie/alternative/elitist minority that has reviews for many of these bands. I could not find a forum on any of the bands websites perhaps indicating a gap between the artists and the fans. What is certain that there is definite networking through the site myspace. Originally a networking site to meet new people it has become an easy way for music artists to find one another and discuss their work. For example the Grey Datura’s are linked to their Label Heathen Skulls which in turn are linked to all their bands which are linked to other record labels and so on. Of course these bands are never featured directly in the public eye rather they are hidden which means you have to know someone who is interested in this type of music, it’s very hard to stumble across.
Observing noise-rock we see a tight knit community bound by elements of homology and bricolage. To reiterate this is exhibited through the ideals that bind the bands and fans tight into a small subculture. Regretfully I wasn’t able to explore the Australian noise-rock community or perhaps the Japanese. In my future effort I will detail the relationship between Australian noise-rock and the Internet. I will be focusing on myspace and blogs. There will be ethnographic surveys and perhaps even interviews with the bands. I also will endeavour to analyse the music at an in-depth level that I hoped to go to with this essay.

2006-05-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

Today boys and girls we're going to learn about Shoegaze and 'Slowcore'. Now I guess by the UK press specifically NME it was called "The scene that celebrates itself" as bands would often go see others shows. So perhaps in a way it is similar to the vilification that Prog Rock received by the wider community (but let's face it, it got what it deserved). The term was once again named by the infamous NME for the simple reason that the band tended to look at their shoes a lot. As you can see from one of Slowdive's guitarist perhaps it was justified. The guitars are very loud and are there for more ambient effect rather than a 10 minute wank or a tight concise pop song. There is usally a strong melody so it's not as if this noisecore like Merzbow or Wolf Eyes (both great bands/artists).

The obvious influences were space rock greats Spaceman 3 (Get 'Perfect Prescrition' now!) and probably the Jesus & Mary Chain (who I detailed in my first blog). Many of the band originated out of the Thames Valley (Slowdive, Ride and Chapterhouse). The forerunner of the movement was of course My Bloody Valentine who released the shoegaze record that any other band remotely similiar will be compared with, Loveless.

It's cold and I should get to bed and er Cory if you read this for some odd reason here's that link to that shoegaze forum:

http://www.shoegaze.co.uk/shoegazeforum/

Oh yeah slowcore... crap. Check out Low they're also touring soon Like in June, go see them, they're awesome. Um oh yeah Codeine too. Fuck it I'm going to bed.

2006-05-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

Now as you know most of your music taste is a terrible thing. Like really awful now that also makes you terrible people. So I'll take it upon myself to enlighten the masses. We will start basic and move on.

Now since beginning there has been a minority of bands that are good and then there is the gluttony of mediocrity and the plain awful. You will undoubtedly argue that music is subjective and to a point yes it is but we all know that some bands just plain suck. So if you're willing to stay with the music you've been exposed to that's fine by me stop reading now but I'm sure there are those who would like to listen to something they haven't heard before and be rewarded and challanged by amazing music.

We will start off here:

You've all seen it right, that weird pop art genius Andy Warhol? An iconic image used by Velvet Underground on their self titled (+ Nico) album. Few people will dispute this bands greatness. Lou Reed's song considering the time it was released is astounding and paved new ground for rock n roll and has influenced a countless number of bands. If I were you I'd steer clear of the songs Nico sings on because let's face it she can't sing to save her life if only we could remove the vocal track. I will giver her the fact she could play a mean harmonium. Oh and Lou Reed spat in her face not too long ago.

Next band is Television a New York punk rock band in the mid 1970's. This is totally a band apart from the punk scene in the 70's. Whilst the Sex Pistols were off fighting the Queen and the system Television were making brilliant, innovative music. The guitars are so reminiscent of the new garage rock band revival (see The Strokes). Anyway Verlaine made urgent and at times epic music (see Marquee Moon 10:41 runtime) . Unique vocals and a tight rythmn section also added to the divine medley that was/is Television. They were also one of the first bands to play CBGB's (the famous punk rock club in New York).

Joy Division were the forerunners of the Manchester scene and were about to get some mainstream exposure when lead singer Ian Curtis hung himself due to depression. The band that pioneered the post punk movement which would influence bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and there impact is still clear on todays music (see Interpol, Editors etc). There are various best ofs out there (Permanent) and their most famous record is 'Unknown Pleasures'.

I think just about of us know Nirvana and most of us should know the Pixies. Kurt Cobain famously quoted that on Nevermind he basically just ripped of the Pixies. You'd think if that was the case he might of written some better songs. Anyway, fronted by Frank Black and essential indie girl Kim Deal (later formed the Breeders). This band are frenetic, fast paced and on many occasions masterful mix this with perfect pop. Everything is stripped back and totally lofi (but in a good way). Each instrument can become prominent at any time is distinct because this. Check this band our or die.

The coolest band ever (just about) is the Jesus & Mary Chain lucky for them they could write a decent song too. It is impossible to say just how many awesome bands they have influenced. Massive walls of distortion while still retaining a pop sensibility. Fucking brilliant. Buy Psychocandy now in the words of Jack Black "You don't own this record?! It's going to be okay" (says whilst stuffing the record into the customers hands).

Sonic Youth. This bands is totally underrated by the masses who instead, just to listen to Nirvana (seek spiritual enlightenment elsewhere guys and girls). Sonic Youth fused early punk with the experimental and avante garde. Guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo took to their guitars with drumsticks, screwdrivers and other objects all in the name of noise. Sonic Youth exposed alternate tunings to the indie rock scene. Shit, if I can't write something in standard tuning I'll just look up some sonic youth songs steal "their tunings" and write and awesome indie rock song. Kim Gordan bassist/guitarist for the band is an iconic figurehead for girls in indie rock and has inspired many. I'd suggest starting at either Daydream Nation or Dirty.

My Bloody Valentine are definitely not what you're thinking. One of the original shoegaze bands and one to avoid bad criticism and leader of the band Kevin Shields is syill involved in music today ( OST. Influenced terrific bands like Slowdive, Chapterhouse and Lush. Completely ethereal vocals and guitars played in a way rarely ventured to before.

Pavement the great slacker, indie rock band (what the fuck does that shit mean anyway?). Anyway their really good and if you don't know them go out and buy all their records now! Stephen Malkmus a songwriter of some kind of generation. He's a genius. Just go listen to them now. Like Now.

That kind of us bring us to now... so let's talk (I will continue to verbally masturbate) about what is currently good in the music world.

Er let's start with Liars. originally an dance-art punk outfit fronted by australian Angus Andrew. Their most well know track from 'They Threw Us All In A Trench and Stuck A Monument On Top' is 'Mr You're on Fire Mr' (that was a mouthful). Anyway after recording this album and achieving critical and underground fame they completely changed direction with their second album 'They Were Wrong So We Drowned' which is decidely more experimental and it is a concept album based on the stories of german witches...weird but it's a good fucking record. Their lates release Drum's Not Dead is based around percussion. More haunting and ethereal which perhaps harkens back to bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. An ambitious project that is most definitely successful. My second blog will be a detailed review of their performance in Sydney.

www.liarsliarsliars.com

Okay so let's have some fun with Les Savy Fav. Fast paced, clever indie rock. Armed with extrovert Tim Harington (who is the greatest showman alive) with angular riffs often draped in delay from the guitar and a more than competent rythmn section makes this band one of the most exciting bands today. They recently toured Brisbane which I was so fortunate to witness. Amazing music.

www.frenchkissrecords.com/bands_lesSavyFav.html

Two now recently defunct bands Hot Snakes and Mclusky made some amazing music in the past few years and it is such a shame to see two great bands come to an end. Mclusky provactive, clever and always challanging made some of the best rock in recent times (definitely in Wales anyway). Hot Snakes formed in the wake of Drive Like Jehu who are urgent, articulate indie punk rock.

www.mclusky.net
www.hotsnakes.com

Check out Brainiac too they're grand.