COLIN LANGENUS

 

One Side: A multi-instrumental freak out captured live in 2007.

Another Side: A collection of improvisations collected by Colin Langenus between 2005 and 2008 and manipulated to create.....this.

SON OF BEETHOVEN // HIGH AS HELL

HIGH AS HELL

MISTER BARCLAY 505

 

Look....if you're paying attention at all, then it's very difficult to feel normal right now. It's very difficult to imagine a return to anything even close to normal, or how challenging the path to that return might be. Feeling helpless is fine; feeling helpless is normal. So while you're feeling helpless, here are some innocent lo-fi home recordings from a relatively nice looking fellow from Albuquerque. When I got this tape, it kinda felt like everything was more or less okay (even if it wasn't). So it's kinda pleasant to take a minute and listen to the sounds of DAVID ISAAC BARCLAY now and think about that time and rage cry for a bit before returning to the bitter and very very real knowledge that even if things do return to a kind of normal....you won't be alive to see it. FUCK DHS. FUCK ICE. FUCK MAGA. 

ULTRA LO-FI DEMO

S L E E P D E A T H

 

A stunning journey through thought and sound, S L E E P D E A T H created something truly special with 2013's Reality. Sounds found and manipulated, ancient synths resurrected. Emotions manifested as sound. It would be a disservice to describe Reality as a soundtrack to an imaginary film, though it would be easy to do (and perhaps that film should exist). These sounds deserve to be experienced solitarily, in the world that they have constructed. This release will consume a solid hour, and if you're listening properly then you will be enriched by that hour even though you will never get it back. It won't be time lost, but it will be time spent. And enrichment takes time. It's worth it. 

REALITY

HEDIA

 

The answer to yesterday's post is New Mexico's HEDIA. They are so simple and honest, so sonically straightforward, so....so real. There's no description necessary, this tape is little more than a collection of sounds presented as deliberate individual thoughts. This tape is patience and understanding. This tape is telling you it's okay to do the wrong thing, even if you already did the thing. HEDIA is...patience. I don't think I have ever described a recording as patient before today....HEDIA is patient. Patience. It's okay. You'll be okay, I think.

TO QUIET, CAUSE SLEEP OR REST

•••

GOOD NIGHT

LAMENTATIONS OF THE ASHEN

 

Posted Libertine Cyst a few months back, and was pleased to snag a copy more from LAMENTATIONS OF THE ASHEN at Longhair this past spring. Disparate and beautifully determined atmospheric black metal from New Mexico - this was the first full length following a couple of criminally limited run releases near the end of the aughts. It listens like an invitation, a request for your time. But what In The Burden Of The Heart's Plaint offers in return is...worth that time. "...In Dreams Painted Red" is perhaps the most traditional track on this 2010 cassette, but it's one that brings the entire recording together, and one than I can listen to repeatedly. I look forward to finding and devouring the rest, but I appreciate taking my time with them as they come to me. 

IN THE BURDEN OF THE HEART'S PLAINT

DEATH CONVENTION SINGERS

Nothing sounds like DEATH CONVENTION SINGERS...nothing. A free jazz psychedelic harsh noise collective from New Mexico who deliver...nay, conjure....sounds from another plane. Glenn Branca rebirthed in the unforgiving SouthWest. These are sounds that transport you to there. To their place. 

A THREAD, A BRAID

 

AE EPIASOL

 

I spent a couple of hours this morning listening to the What Is Music? comp that Sound Noise Music put out in 1992 and....just made me really appreciate different aspects of and approaches to sound presentation, whether musical or not. And it made me really appreciate this Albuquerque gem I picked up last week on recommendation from the Longhair folks. Tripped out sample laden ambiance with subtle hints of damaged hip hop...one of the rare releases that sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. And that's why I was listening to What Is Music? earlier...because I wanted to remember what else was possible. The answer is simple.....anything.

XYLEM AND PHLOEM CACOPHONIES OF BLACK BOTANISTS AND ARBORISTS

SOMNO PROFUNDANTE

 

Fucking other worldly synth from New Mexico - there might not be a better night driving soundtrack this side of PHARAOH OVERLORD's III. Something like S U R V I V E at their most primitive on a serious I See Good Spirits bender, this tape transmits heavy ethereal electronics that are at one with the organic form....they positively breathe. And I can't think of a better title than Mortal Feel.

MORTAL FEEL

 

ADVERSARY

 

As much as regional DIY punk and hardcore are a driving force in my quest for sound, regional DIY metal has always felt a bit more elusive. It's rarely my primary focus when I'm on the hunt so there's no real mystery there, but metal bands are (were?) more likely focused on hooking up with a label or some other commercial construct and artifacts from the DIY world are somewhat more elusive. At first glance, ADVERSARY's 1990 debut Side Effects as a "pro" release - the whole tiny inset cover art, lots of copyrights and all rights reserved and everything, but I was in Albuquerque and I'm not going to leave a slab of New Mexico death metal sitting in a store if I can help it, so Side Effects came home with me. It was the right choice. Look at that art...and know that ADVERSARY sounds like that crude drawing in the best possible way. Raw, thrashing, primitive old school death/thrash. Shit is blown out like a rehearsal demo (or a NWN reissue) and the sound is like a hybrid of Florida DM and '80s Colombian ultra metal - settling into the recording is like reacquainting yourself with an old friend. No non-bangers, no filler, but the choice cut is absolutely "Process Of Deterioration." The hunt continues.

SIDE EFFECTS

UNLIMITED BANDWIDTH

 

So I'm in Albuquerque, New Mexico a few weeks ago, digging for tapes in this record store. I grab a few I'm stoked about, a couple I'm curious about, and a $2 cassette that looked like it might have some weird religious chants or some shit. As the store owner is adding everything up, he picks up a copy of Results Oriented and says "Some guy brings these tapes in occasionally - plastic bags with little slips of paper inside. You interested?" And I replied, "Interested? Of course I am. Thank you." I settled up and thought as I was leaving "I feel at home here. They know me."

RESULTED ORIENTED

LAMENTATIONS OF THE ASHEN

 

A friend from New York told me the other day that he "could never hear a new black metal song in my life" and have no complaints. I figure there are just two acceptable justifications for that statement - either he's listening to too much black metal (he isn't) or he's listening to the wrong black metal. And if he's trying to use the first excuse, then I'm just going to direct him to the second excuse. Of course, an advantage to not delving too terribly deep into a particular subgenre is that you avoid being jaded by the sometimes derivative trappings that are endemic in anything that could even be classified as a "subgenre." I remember someone scoffing when I was blasting KVIST because they were supposedly generic. When I was 18, a coworker noted that I shouldn't dig on CANNONBALL ADDERLEY until I studied up on JAZZ MESSENGERS and COLTRANE. What about the crust youth who discovered TRAGEDY through FALL OF EFRAFA? Or discovered WOLFPACK through TRAGEDY? My point (poorly made) is...if it's good, then who gives a fuck? And if you like it, then really who gives a fuck?! Enter LAMENTATION OF THE ASHEN. New Mexico bl/e/ak metal filtered through atmospheric doomcrust, possibly derivative but absolutely unique...and definitely awesome. I suppose my friend from New York might not be bothered - I also suppose that's his loss. 

LIBERTINE CYST

ANGELO HARMSWORTH // EDWARD PITTS

 

Corpus Arts was a great space. A queer centered info center, book/zine shop and performance space just a couple of blocks removed from the bars and commercial venues that dominate downtown Albuquerque - you were outside of the 'other' world when you were there, and it felt as if you were physically in another realm. That feeling translated to the performers, and you could feel that too...tangible freedom is a hard thing to manifest, and it's often most powerful and expressive when it's fleeting. There are more cassettes in this series of live recordings from performances at Corpus Arts and I should have just snagged them all when Jessica pointed them out, but I don't always do what I should do so I present Third Mind #3. Three pieces spread over one (almost) hour from two accomplished manipulators of sound. Haunting and distant ambient noise, culminating in a series of subtly chaotic monotonous drones that march to a steady stream of far away beats that never grow any closer or any clearer. I've come back and listened to this one many times, using sound to transport to a place. You can go there too, even if you've never been. 

THIRD MIND #3

ARTSPACE QUARTERLY

 

An extremely interesting collection of performances recorded live in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1986. From Scott Kinson's "Dialogue For Oboe And Piano" and a subtle (yet experimental) modern composition from Lori Schoenfeld to the expanded upright bass solo from Alan Lewine to primitive/experimental electronic pieces from Manny Rettinger and Tom McVeety, this tape captures true innovators honing their craft out of the field of vision. True innovators you've likely never heard of...which is precisely the point. 

ARTSPACE NEW MUSIC CONCERT

JERRY'S KIDZ

The Noise Addiction blog shared this shared sometime in the last decade (with song titles - which are still up there if you're inclined to do some digging and editing), but that was like three hardcore generations ago. So how juiced was I when I pulled out a tape of an AVENGERS set from '79 and saw the JERRY'S KIDZ demo on the same tape? ADOLESCENTS radio set from '81 too...all praise tape traders...but it's this dose of unhinged New Mexico hardcore that made me pop the tape in, and I promptly lost my shit just like I did the first time I heard "Social Drinker." Completely damaged, fast as shit sun baked USHC - raised on a diet of MDC, early-FLAG in the shadows of the Sandia Mountains. No clue if there was ever a "proper" release or any artwork associated with this 1983 recording, but it pops up on trade lists throughout the decade, and rightly so. I don't even think I listened to the AVENGERS set that day...just hit rewind and listened to this shit again. 

JERRY'S KIDZ

FACEDOWN

Another dose of lost '90s melodic DIY punk, this time from Santa Fe, New Mexico. While I'm almost certain that there was a copy of Chesterfield King in each member's collection, FACEDOWN venture off on their own path often enough to make these 1995 studio recordings (and four faster, rougher practice space tracks) sound like their own. It's all here: the "heartfelt" and gruff "emotive" vocals, the spots where the guitar drops out and the bass/drums take you into a refrain, the phrasing (and phrases) that stick in your head all day....."it's our last time - there won't be another one."

FACEDOWN

LUNAR TIDES

A crushing and powerful 40+ minute offering from one half of LIŁITH. Heather's approach to soundscape is enveloping and fills every crevice with a sonic haze - electronics mingle with manufacture sounds and lament filled howls to become one pure expression. LUNAR TIDES is not to be experienced casually, and I share it today as an opportunity to cleanse your aural palate and your consciousness. 

ABRACADABRA

PERFUME-V

You know how sometimes things that start out as "projects" end up being way more popular than the responsible "artists" intended, or could have predicted? I recall the time I was in Aquarius (RIP) talking to Andee shortly after the release of the first WHN? single (ok - this is just weird, who does this?) and he casually commented that WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? would have more of a lasting impact than any of our previous or (then) current projects. And a year after that when I was buying the WEAKLING record, I told Andee that I thought it would likely be the most sought after record that tUMULt would release. I mean...that BLACK BUG record is sick and very weird, but you get my point - and neither of us were wrong. Why am I telling you this? Because PERFUME-V is apparently a side project; an outlet for someone more recognizable (for now) for other things....but this thing is going to be the thing. PERFUME-V is also perfectly executed melancholic alt/pop of the highest and most endearing order. I'll mention TEENAGE FANCLUB and SUPERCHUNK in an effort to not just compare them to JAWBREAKER, even though this collection really does present as a perfect combination of that brand of '90s melodic punk and late '80s alt/indie college radio stuffs. And then there are the vocals...they are never right. I can't even imagine being this close for this long (27 minutes in this case, give or take) and never nailing it, but he never does. And that's why Bless Bless Bless Bless is so good. Because it's real. 

BLESS BLESS BLESS BLESS

23 MORE MINUTES

It was a different time, and your punk rules about how things were supposed to be? They didn't matter in general, and they certainly didn't matter in Glorieta, New Mexico. Most people probably know them from the split LP with LOGICAL NONSENSE (essential listening for fans of early US DIY punk, and fans of good music in general), but this 1990 demo is a fukkn timeless artifact...vocals are gruff and tuneful, songs have hooks but they are filthy and determined in a way that predates weirdly objectionable "region" rock by at least a decade. Also, three song titles start with the word "things" and nine of the twelve songs here start with Keith's bass. For context, this is what US punks were doing just a few years after MINOR THREAT called it quits....in other words: they were doing whatever they wanted. And it was awesome. 

30 GOLDEN YEARS OF COUNTRY

JOHNNY POPE

I don't know man...sometimes you just need to hear a dude from New Mexico singing modern country tunes about rodeos. Fuck rodeos, by the way, in every way imaginable, but still....a good jam is a good jam. And to hear Pope sing "she's a liberated woman // she's a breed of her own" - well I'm almost able to believe that he's a progressive cowboy and not just singing about a horse. I'm thinking Johnny listened to more than a few Marty Robbins records, and I would suggest that those listens served him well. Enjoy.

RODEO: WINNING AND A LOSING

MERV AYLESBURY

There must be innumerable MERV AYLESBURYs languishing in cut-out bins around the United States. Over produced schmaltzy country pop with horribly dated keyboards and processed drums, the absolute worst that would-be-radio-rock had to offer in 1986. So....why do we like it? We say that we like to make fun of it...but we keep listening, don't we? There's the arbitrary hard rockin' "Angel Looking For A Place To Fall" (what you doin' here if desire hasn't called?) with its unnecessarily ever present guitar and cornball tracks like "My Kind Of Woman" that would make Christopher Cross ashamed for what he did to pop music (sometimes she's less than a lady // sometimes she talks like a saint). There's a glimmer lyrical hope on "Two Against The Night," but when Merv slows down on "We Can't Do This To Love," any dreams of finding even a historical justification for these sounds are finally crushed. But still we listen...because the 25¢ bins just keep on giving.

I CAN LEAD YOU TO LOVE