The Goslings-Grandeur of Hair (2006) aRCHIVE

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Innards

OK, kids, had to sneak in one more upload before I make my way down to the windy city for a week. Listening to the Sun Araw CD incessantly for a week, then comparing them to The Goslings (also here), got me thinking about their masterwork, Grandeur of Hair. I managed to nab this from the aRCHIVE site after reading several rave reviews across the net. I picked up several other of The Goslings releases over the next few months, but none came even close to pure fucked-up, over-the-topness of Grandeur. For the uninitiated, The Goslings are husband and wife team from Florida, and they have a rotating cast of drummers. She sings, they both play guitar. To keep this brief, the sound captured here (Grandeur was mastered by James Plotkin) is an incredibly fuzzed-out version of early Earth but much more melodic. Boris' sludgy doom releases, Absolutego and Flood come pretty close to the sound of this album as well. This is some raw shit. Burn it to CD and play this fucker LOUD. It is the only way to listen to it. Your computer speakers WILL NOT do it justice. This is highly recommended stuff here, folks.

I will hopefully have a few updates while i'm in Chicago, so ya'll check back now, ya hear?


boomp3.com

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Sun Araw-"The Phynx" CDR (2008) Edition of 155

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Sun Araw is the solo project of one Cameron Stallones, who is also a member of the Long Beach quintet, Magic Lantern. For those not in the know, Magic Lantern are riding the crest on the current wave of Californian psychedelic space-explorers. Sun Araw, on the other hand, is a more meandering beast, dwelling in a foggy delta and attacking only when the time is right.

The opener, Fog Wheels, is a 15 minute slow, shamanic tromp through that foggy delta, accompanied by chimes, vocals reverbed out of distinction, and the continuous drone of keyboards and guitars, eventually all of which ends in up in a cycling whorl of phased out drone that ends abruptly. Second track, Harken Sunshine, starts off as an overdriven blues riff before settling into a twangy hop-a-long via the warped vision of Spacemen 3/Loop, and is easily the most formal track on the disc. Hive Burner is the beast finally rearing it's ugly head. Ominous bass plucking coupled with random, searing guitar assaults inevitably pick up speed in the last few minutes, paralyzing the listener into sheer fear. The Phynx, the final 15+ minute jam is a slight continuation of the terror but with a nice, buzz-drone comedown. Fans of the buzzed-out side of The Goslings will definitely find themselves at home here. The Phynx is one of my favorite releases so far this year and a serious contender for the top 10. Also, if anyone is innarested, I actually have a few copies for sale. Not Not Fun is officially out of copies. Good news though, NNF will be issuing a full length on vinyl later this year.


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Shearing Pinx Homecoming Event @ Pub 340

This past Sunday's Shearing Pinx homecoming BBQ bash had a last minute venue change to Pub 340, which made the all day fest a 19+ event. Apparently, over 160 kids under 19 years old had RSVP'd the event. I feel incredibly sorry for all the kids that couldn't come out because our city has a problem with accommodating all ages events. Not sure what the exact details of why the venue was moved, but it appears to be another case of the No Fun City police throwing their archaic laws in the face of those who just want to have a good time.

I grew up in Aldergrove and attended many, many "coffee house" events there and in Langley where I was exposed to a wide variety of music and surrounded by people of all ages. These weekly events shaped my adolescent mind and pretty much turned me on to punk rock, which was the only outlet for such music in a small town like Aldergrove. It saddens me a bit when I think of all the great bands in this city that kids under 19 only know about through their older siblings or myspace, which is usually about as far removed from the essence of a band as you can get. I'm not sure what can be done about the situation but, clearly, something needs to change.

Anyways, enough with the ranting. I managed to catch almost every single band (sorry Ora) and even snapped a few pics, all in between consuming too many beers and putting my groove on the floor. Pub 340 never got all that full, but there was a good rotation of familiar faces through the afternoon and night. The event seemed to go off without incident and a good time was had by many. Let's hope that we can keep banding together to create events like this.

On with the shows...




i/i kicked off the event (got there just in time for their last song), which makes sense when I found out that the electric violinist in the band, Anju, had arranged the whole day. The jam I did catch was very similar to the blazing post-rock of their set at Music Waste. Can't wait for that Broadway to Boundary 7".


Kellarissa followed with a set of her slowly layered keyboard-pop. I caught Kellarissa several months back when she opened for Samara Lubelski, and I must say that her confidence and mastery of her equipment (she samples her vocals several times during a song and builds up thick, harmonious layers that she sings along with) has increased ten-fold. Obviously people are paying attention, Kellarissa has her Mint Records debut in September.


Pink Noise played a decent set of their post-riot grrl tunage which also included a Shearing Pinx cover! Their set started off a little sloppy but got progressively tighter as they went a long. I hadn't seen 'em before but I wouldn't mind seeing 'em again.



Stamina Mantis played their set in the old smoking room of Pub 340, which turned out to be one of the loudest sets of the night due to the incredibly small space that they were crammed into. This was actually my first time seeing the duo, and I was quite impressed. The duo is comprised of bass and drums but do not fit into any of the blues-informed or Lightning Bolt rip-offs that most bass and drum duos end up in. Instead, it was a mix between tightly wound punk rock and improvisational noise jams. Pretty good shit.


Empty Love played a great late afternoon set of ever-shifting drone that was as captivating as his set at Music Waste. The only thing missing was the Dream Machine, which must have been nixed due to the brightness of Pub 340 in the afternoon. Note to all drone-heads: Empty Love will be curating a Fake Jazz offshoot entitled Fake Sleep, and will be consisting of local drone artists. The first one will be on the 15th of July and features Magneticring and Ian Gregory James, who is also one half of Blouse. Unfortunately, my trip to Chicago coincides with this event so I will have to miss this one. You, on the other hand, have no excuse.


Modern Creatures, who get better every damn time I see them. They used to have a very Siouxsie and the Banshees-style vibe about them, but, now that the keyboards are gone, and they're a two bass assualt, Modern Creatures has morphed into a completely different beast. They have a much more punk-rock feel to them while still maintaining their dark appeal. A local favorite!



Taxes, whom I caught for the first time at the Sweatshop two weeks ago, played a magnificent set of their unique brand of post-hardcore (think Drive Like Jehu on speed). Singer Sean Orr was a maniac behind the mic, pouncing all over the stage and commanding the attention of the entire audience. Despite Sean's mesmerizing on-stage persona, I found the real force of the band was the drummer, who lead the assault with his incredibly driving and technical drumming, and was very reminiscent of the lead drumming of Don Caballero's Damon Che. This band is a real force and I hope they can squeeze out a proper release sometime soon.



Certain Breeds mesmerized me once again with a short set of gothic and hypnotic new wave. I simply can't say enough good things about these guys. Go see 'em soon.



Nu Sensae destroyed Pub 340 once again. The duo is soon to be on tour with Terror Bird (an offshoot of Modern Creatures) across the North American west coast.



Blouse (hey, where's the myspace page?) played an unannounced set that seemed to catch most of the crowd off guard. Despite a few false starts and a quibble with the soundguy, Blouse sounded awesome in Pub 340, whose sound system is quite superior to the ER's. Never noticed it much the first time around but occasionally Josh's vocals reminded me a lot of the slave-driving vocal style of Michael Gira in his early Swans days. The man on the left in the above pic will be playing solo drones at the inaugural Fake Sleep. Peep it.


V. Vecker wildly swung his guitar between several amps placed on the floor of Pub 340 and created a dense whirlwind of disorienting feedback. After several intense minutes, Justin from Mutators jumped on the drums and the two (the both of them are one half of Sex Negatives) put together a fantastic improv'd set.



Shearing Pinx ripped through a two-part set, the first half centering around their odd time-signatured post-punk songs and the second half consisting of freewheeling improv. Great to have 'em back.

My camera was accidentally taken home by my ladyfriend, so I don't have any photos of the last two bands.

The crowd was pretty thin after Shearing Pinx and only the faithful few stuck around for The Sorrow and the Pity and Twin Crystals. The Sorrow and the Pity are a duo of sax and drums that is similar to the punkish side of Naked City. They weren't bad but I just wasn't in the mood for them after almost 9 hours of music and drinking. Twin Crystals were well worth staying up for and provided the most dance-able music of the night (I apologize to anyone whose toes I may have stepped on). I guess it makes sense for the boys to be opening up for Girl Talk at the Commodore, which should be one of the bigger dance parties of the summer. I'm glad that they're are playing a gig at the Commodore but part of me also feels them slipping away into *gasp* mainstream credibility.


Hey, Vancouver, let's do this again sometime soon, eh?

Aja Rose + Gabriel Saloman-self released CDR (Edition of 50)

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Recently I was lucky enough to nab a copy of the first (?) release between Aja Rose and Gabriel Saloman, which was limited to 50 copies. For those not in the know, Gabriel Saloman was one half of Yellow Swans, who, earlier this year, called it quits. Rumor has it that Gabriel will actually be moving to Vancouver (at least for awhile) to be with one Aja Rose. Aja is a member of of the local experimental group In Flux as well as the associated Her Jazz Noise Collective, which are both based out of our lovely city. The release here is a collaboration between the two lovers and one of the more exciting experimental releases I have come across all year. Some of the tracks resemble some of the more recent Yellow Swans releases, so there is a beautiful blend of feedbacking guitars and fuzzy drone which all coalesce into peaking waves of bliss.

A few of the other tracks (there are 5 in total) feature tinkering music boxes, humming trumpet, tape manipulation, thumb piano and heavily effected vocals, among other unidentifiable instruments. The result is not as mismatched as one may think, in fact, especially with Aja's dreamy vocal effects, a few of these tracks come off like dreamy Pocahaunted or Grouper tracks. Fans of those last two bands, Yellow Swans and any other bliss-drone groups will find themselves quite happy here. Now let's hope that these 2 start playing some shows here...

The package is pretty amazing, featuring a thin black card sleeve with some silky fabric sewed to the innards. A few copies remain here.

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The Weekend Review

The ER was relatively quiet for a Saturday night, but that didn't stop the new project of one Josh Rose (aka Sick Buildings and head of local noise label, Rundownsun) and his partner in crime, Ian. The duo, named Blouse, rocked two synths and Josh helmed the vocals, which, when the occasion arose, were taken right into the audience's faces, literally. Josh barked heavily distorted vocals (think Whitehouse) while Ian's synth oscillated intensely, creating an intense/tense atmosphere that the faithful few could not look away from. The duo worked best when both were rockin' the Rolands and pulling out some cross-oscillating "rhythms" that had all the noise kids in the room nodding their heads like entranced zombies. My sincere feeling is that, with a few more shows under their belt, Blouse will become an unstoppable juggernaut in the Vancouver music scene.


Certain Breeds followed Blouse with a great set of their post-punk/goth-tinged rock, and, once again, they were fuckin' awesome (see my Music Waste review). The band played a much more up-tempo set than their slower, pulsing set at Music Waste, and had the quickly growing crowd dancing away. Never noticed it the first time around (too drunk?) but they had a few rockers that came off like a track off a recent Oneida album. Anyone else pick this vibe up? Nonetheless, Certain Breeds is shaping up to be one of my favorite bands in this city.


The Dozell Brothers came all the way from El Paso, Texas to play both Pub 340 and the ER in the same night. After the 340 gig, The Dozell Bros set up their minimal gear quickly and surprised the crowd (no one seemed to know a damn thing about them) with a short energetic set of bent circuit dance beats. Pretty similar to Crystal Castles but less erratic and much bouncier. In fact, the band had such a bouncy vibe that the singer was pogo-ing with the crowd the entire time. They were entertaining but not necessarily my thing. Though, that being said, I did pick up a tape of theirs that had a 3D cover that came equipped with 3D glasses. Zoinks!


Mutators were exceptional as usual, which is most likely due to the massive US tour that they had finished up just a few weeks ago. I think that more bands in this city could learn a thing or two from these folks (and these folks) by setting up their own tour and playing their heart out every night. Some may break up over such an exhaustive endeavor, but any band standing after months on the road can only benefit from the constant playing. The being said, Mutators have gotten far more rhythmically advanced while still maintaining their harsh edge, which is always a recipe for a sweaty display of human pinball! A fine finish to a fine night.

Troubadour

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Inner Sleeve

Sorry kids. I have zero info on this band. Not even sure I remember where I picked it up from (Aquarius, Mimarogalu??). There is zero info on the inter-google, and even the band's myspace isn't giving up much either. From what I gather, they are from Minnesota, have had a rotating cast of musicians and seem to have some loose ties with one of my favorite labels, Night People.One of the members, Grant Jackson, runs a label called Never Ender (also here) who seem to have decent looking/sounding releases from groups all within the midwest USA. The music within is 3 10 minute-ish tracks of twittering electronics, knuckle-dragging rhythms, squawking sax and meandering sonic explorations. Nothing too immediate comes to mind when I try to summon a comparison, so that can only be a good thing. Right? Anyone with info on this label or band should cough it up asap.

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AFCGT (A Frames + Climax Golden Twins)

Recently nabbed a copy of this ultra limited (50!) super session between the A Frames and Climax Golden Twins, and it has been kicking my ass. I caught the two groups play together earlier in the year when they opened up Spectrum (aka Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3) and they were pretty amazing, in fact, I thought they blew Spectrum off the stage. The show was a 3 guitar, 1 bass and 1 drummer lunar assault. Wailing guitars and a lumbering rhythm section all came together to create a monolithic reach for the stars. This release is a bit more restrained than that. Instead we have an unlikely collaboration of two bands, for lack of better words, feeling each other out on the astral plane of avant-rock. 10 tracks that range from Sun City Girls gamelan worship to sludgy space explorations. The band's myspace finds them in good company--Blank Dogs, Los Llamarada, Factums, Sun City Girls and Pink Reason are all high ranking friends and sonic touchstones for this unique group. Let's hope they press this one for keeps next time.

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Wolf Eyes-Nuisance and the Back to Attack Boxset

I picked up a few tour only items from Wolf Eyes when they came through town two weeks ago, and, as promised, I have uploaded the CD's. I also picked up a tape of their show that they had played the night before in Victoria with The Rita and Brutophilia. They were recording all of their West Coast shows and dubbing them on the road, all to be sold at the next destination. I don't have the ability to rip tapes into mp3s yet, so ya'll will just have to wait. These should tide you over until then.

NUISANCE

Nuisance features 4 tracks, including 2 two minute and 2 fifteen minute tracks. The opener is a quick, clunky beat jam that segues nicely into a fifteen minute funhouse from hell, which is very reminiscent of the first half of their set at Pats Pub two weeks ago. The third track is very similar to the other two minute clunker, and the final piece is an unspectacular rise to the surface. This is probably the only track that isn't as up to snuff as the rest of the material posted here. Apparently, according to Mike Connelly himself, the two short tracks on the disc are due to be revamped and recorded properly for their next full length album, due in the fall on Hospital, and has the working title of "Pretending Alive."

DOWNLOAD: Wolf Eyes-Nuisance

BACK TO ATTACK BOXSET

The first disc on the boxset is one 45 minute track that starts off slow and meandering but then quickly progresses into a beat-frenzied snarl fest. Ten minutes in, the track descends back into the basement for a twitching static dirge that peaks after about 5 minutes, only to descend back into the subterranean hell from which it sprang. The rest of the track pretty much follows this path of hellish peaks and frightening valleys. The whole track was played live, as evidenced by the cheering crowd that doesn't really show up on the recording until the end. Despite it being a live track, the fidelity is pretty amazing.
DOWNLOAD: Wolf Eyes Boxset Disc 1

The second disc is split into 3 parts. The first two tracks are high pitched journeys through a windy tunnel of electronic hiss and are probably the most frightening tracks on the whole set. Bed wetters be warned! The third and final track is along the same lines as the first two but a little more cinematic and ambient. Kinda like a long walk down a condemned insane asylum hallway. Not that I would know what that's like...

DOWNLOAD: Wolf Eyes boxset Disc 2

Soggy's Hard

Soggy is a long-lost (now found!) French rock group from the 1980s that is pretty identical to The Stooges, though with a much more metallic edge. The singer even looks like a cross between the shirtless, chest bleeding Iggy and the afro'd singer of MC5, Rob Tyner. And somewhere between these 2 bands you will find the sound of Soggy. Ok, so this isn't the most innovative rock ever pressed to wax, but watching the youtube clip posted below you'll realize that these guys are rockin' too hard to be written off so easily. The debt to Detroit rock is owed and paid back with a direct cover of I Wanna Be Your Dog. In fact, the debt is so obvious that the band has no choice but to cover The Stooges. All comparisons aside, the album is a punched-up hardrocker that should please all fans of classic metal, punk and garage rock.


The album is currently enjoying a deluxe vinyl pressing that you can get at Aquarius or from the French label that is re-issuing it, Memoire Neuve. The label did a fantastic job on this re-issue and gave it all the extras that make spending the $30+ worth it. It's a gatefold sleeve with the heavy vinyl in one pocket and a jumbo-size poster in the other. There is also an insert with a history of the band written in French, of course. My French is pretty weak but from what I gather they only released a 45 (this record appears to be a collection of recordings from 1980-82) and were supposed to open for Judas Priest on one of their early tours of France. The band broke up soon thereafter. This is the only current document of the band.

POSTER

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When Wolf Eyes Attack!

Sick Buildings, The Rita and Wolf Eyes absolutely destroyed Pat's Pub this last Wednesday. Got a couple decent shots of the "bands", but a full review will be forthcoming in the next issue of that infernal rag known as The Discorder.


Sick Bulidings played a controlled set of noise that involved half a dozen rape-whistle blowers ( I was one of the few) who, while scattered across the room, let blow while Josh hurtled an army of pre-sampled rape whistles back at the crowd.

The Rita shook the brains of the crowd with his unique brand of wall-of-volcanic noise. I actually felt my eyeballs vibrating in my head as he played. We'll assume that it was the brute force of The Rita that caused the photo to blur and not my shaky hands.

Wolf Eyes played a 2 part set, the first being a 20 minute horrorscape and the second was the assualtive side of the group. Just before Wolf Eyes were about to finish, some kid from the crown, obviously on something, decided to try and top Wolf Eyes' set by stage diving into a crowd of people that had no intention of catching him, which, of course, they didn't. The idiot actually managed to knock himself unconscious. The whole thing played out like a scene from a bad comedy.


I picked up several items from the Wolf Eyes merch table and will be uploading the CDr's here next week. Wait for 'em...