the blunt pain of pseudo redemption! (2013)

Less about just strictly the bummed out/predetermined/fixed match held between love and our era of ephemerality(movement but constant loss)/superficial connections(post...)/information than it is an observation of the former under the latter's conditions- the picture is just how we're doomed to hurt, how we've always been doomed to hurt, and what that means now, experientially. Less insights like "Thank god for mum and dad for sticking through together 'cause we don't know how," (from the undisputed masterpiece of modern-romance-is-a-joke pop concept albums), and more specific thoughts and phrases, repeated in places where they can take on new meanings- something someone said to our narrator burns itself into his head and haunts him, or when he says it it's a memory and when she says it it's a cry for help. It works because the specificity of its scope actually makes for a generalized or universalized vision of hurt, not a thesis. In fact, the state of not knowing rather than saying anything real clear is recurrent and assists in its affective impact. Last year's 'scariest of the album of the year' was the initial hurt, its rage exaggerated, its structure broken and tangential. This one's the nausea- the pain subsides and is replaced by a confusion and longing, the danger of hope, improvement, and redemption. Its joys, epiphanies, and sadnesses are not lost (in a 'surprisingly musical' blur), but undercut by this confusion- we're never fully sold on any of it because we're constantly distracted. That one's the breakup, this one's the (never really) getting over it.

A-

alt / (:)/:0) / make it real

Sun City Girls - Torch of the Mystics (1990)

Sun City Girls belong to a fictional school of weirdo rockers I just invented called the 'post-Troutmask, post-Locust Abortion school of weirdos,' where they specialize in unpredictability, blending influences, and destroying rock and roll. Torch of the Mystics is a special record because it has the band blending psychedelic rock, 'world' music, punk, exotica, and folk without trying too hard to crack jokes, piss the listener off, or destroy any of the aforementioned influences. In fact, it's all pretty straightforward in its kaleidoscopic insanity. Space Prophet Dogon transcends their weirdness and lo-fi sensibilities because it's so beautiful. Burial in the Sky moves past 'world' appropriations and avant-garde intensity because in 38 minutes they earn genuine catharsis. All the weirdness of a band who looked back at Troutmask Replica's disemboweled rock through the scope of Locust Abortion Technician's new-psych mindfuckery, Torch of the Mystics is also as mysterious, exotic, and moving as the sources they assemble.

A+

here

Ben Frost - Steel Wound

Ben Frost's debut - haunting, drone-heavy guitar experimentation with a melancholic core.  Great ambient record.

Steel Wound

Moderat - Moderat

1. A New Error

2. Rusty Nails

3. Seamonkey

4. Slow Match

5. 3 Minutes Of

6. Nasty Silence

7. Sick With It

8. Porc#1

9. Porc #2

10. Les Grandes Marches

11. Berlin

12. Nr. 22

13. Out Of Sight

Bonus Tracks

14. BeatsWaySick

15. Rusty Nails (Shackleton Remix)

Moderat is a collaboration between Berlin artists Apparat and Modeselektor. They sound like a perfect mix of house, dubstep, electro, experimental, and trip-hop resulting in some of the most creative yet catchy dance tracks I have heard. This album is diverse with slow paced, brooding tracks such as opener A New Error which contrasts hard hitting euphoric tracks such as Les Grandes Marches. Despite this diversity, a track selection that is well paced along with incredible production keeps this album cohesive while engaging. In some ways Moderat reminds me of Fuck Buttons or Burial, but is far more suited toward a club setting. Nevertheless, this album sounds great on headphones (or a nice stereo), and with a number of elements and layers to keep things interesting it's a good listen in solitude as well.

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Purchase

Femme Fatale - From The Abundance Of The Heart, The Mouth Speaks

Femme Fatale is the solo project of Jesse F. Keeler of Death From Above 1979 and MSTRKRFT, all of which I love. Before these groups JFK was involved in a number of 31G-style punk bands, and in many ways Femme Fatale fits this sound also. Stylistically, Femme Fatale is similar to DFA1979 but noisier, heavier, and faster (and with the addition of guitars). Despite their frenetic sound, these songs still retain the dance punk style that characterizes DFA1979 and many other 31G groups underpinned by electronic interludes and samples. This EP is Femme Fatale's third and in my opinion best, although they are all great - apparently there is a fourth recorded long ago which Jesse is sitting on - who knows if it'll ever be released. If you enjoy DFA1979, The Blood Brothers, The Locust, etc. check this EP out.

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Purchase

Pelt - Empty Bell Ringing in the Sky (1999)

1. Ghosts are Never Forgiven

2. Empty Bell Ringing in the Sky No. 2

3. Empty Bell Ringing in the Sky No. 5

4. Ghost Galaxies

Is drone / experimental or whatever still cool? There is always a dingy bar in some city where painful bands will play on and on thinking that if they try to overwhelm you they will persuade you with the sheer force of their "soundscapes." Maybe that is why it is no longer cool in Auckland at least.

But you will always find a Pelt or La Monte Young to make you realise that there is actually an art to drone music. In the same way Duchamp and Picasso could paint in a pretty accomplished formal style, the members of Pelt bring a certain formal skill to this cold butterscotch aural drenching. These lads can play. Jack Rose is dead though, goddammit.

Max: I am free this week, let's listen to drone with Belgian beer as a way to toast the continuation of your blog.

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