NEW.MUSIC.FRIDAY joins you in counting down to RSD DROP 2
and celebrating some new releases that will turn you every which way we can.
PACKS - Take The Cake [LP](Fire Talk/Redeye)
Madeline Link's writing for her Rock band finds a way to be biting when you are not expecting it. The Pretenders-ish "Silvertongue" gives the group a chance to burn hot while her double-tracked voice sings languidly above it. The way Link uses her pitch changes is also an immediate slayer. She brings in a Nirvana-ish rasp on "Blow By The Wind" before a weird chiming chorus and then returns to a Velvet-ish chug. With only her guitar to write with, Link must be dangerous. The Elliott Smith-ish "Two Hands" and the wild "Hold My Hand" ("Would you fly 3000 miles just to ...") mark some new territory being explored on "Take The Cake."
HORSE LORDS - Mixtape Volume 1 [LP](Improved Sequence ITA)
FLYING LUTTENBACHERS - Destructo Noise Explosion on WNUR 2.6.92 [LP](Improved Sequence ITA)
On this pair of very early recordings, the raw energy, and boundless ideas pour out of both of these very Avant-Garde Rock groups. Baltimore's Horse Lords, now signed to Northern Spy, have put out numerous records that both hit riffs and find their own drone-y patterns to space out on. In 2012, they were not quite ready to separate their improvisations into "songs" per se. So "Mixtape Volume 1" vaults from style to style mixing microtonal with motorik - yet always holding your attention.
Formed in December 1991, the "fun" Free Jazz of The Flying Luttenbachers was on full display for WNUR just three months later. Drummer Weasel Walter is the engine pounding away and furiously working every part of the drum kit behind the horns when they are both in and out of sequence with each other. "Destructo" has some dangerous moments especially on the pair of Albert Ayler cuts they wield. Haunting, mysterious, and almost like an incantation at times, Flying Luttenbachers play their free jazz with the same feeling that inspired them. Listening to the runs, races around the drumset, and their wild harmonies - one can only imagine this band growing more and more frenzied as time goes on.
IF THESE TREES COULD TALK - The Bones of A Dying World [LP](Metal Blade/The Orchard)
On this reissue of the Akron, OH group's third album, their Metallic/Post-Rock now seems to be ahead of its time. Songs like "Iron Glacier" possess these wave-crashing riffs, but remain rooted in their chorused guitar web to continue to mesmerize. Like Doom Metal, "Earth Crawler" rises up to its crushing riffs with each iteration building more and more force. Post-Rock through and through, in just five years their complex compositions (the odd-time opener "Solstice") now fit more into Metal.
PLEBB - Yes It Isn't It [LP](Sommor)
The vaults of Swedish Rock continue to open to us with this 1978/1979 record from Plebb. While the name comes from their first initial, their sound is near perfect formulation of AOR Radio and Prog Rock sentiment. "Psst" even gives you an acoustic piece to marvel at. However, before you arrive at their most sedate point, Plebb takes you through some funk ("Reaggie lib" with screaming guitar,) phased guitar work ("Push Box") and a grandiose suite ("Rockaria.") It is "Tanker Om Natten" that really stands out from the rest with its Blue Oyster Cult-ish boogie falling into an almost Boston-esque slow ballad build. For a bunch of 16-18-year-olds in '78, the recording is surprisingly good. With its first release only on 40 cassettes, "Yes It Isn't It" then lived on pressed to only 500 LPs. While it is not groundbreaking, it is an entertaining listen to hear these young kids enamored with the pure thrust of playing Rock N'Roll.
MATCHMAKERS - Bubblegum-A-Go-Go [LP](RPM/Sundazed)
Recorded in 1969 with producer Mark Wirtz (Keith West's "Teenage Opera") and Kris Ife (with members of his band "The Quiet Five,") this German-only Pop/Bubblegum confection was clearly envisioned as Europe's answer to the Archies. As Astronaut Alan & The Planets or The Guards, these songs saw light as singles. By the time an album was ready to be sprung upon the market, they had songs all over the world including Argentina. This album of tracks - never released in this market - veers into the sweetest Pop (“Cellophane Mary Jane,”) while even cranking out a little early Glam Rock (“Turn Me On.”)
WHISPERING SONS - Several Others [CD](PIAS)
On their second album, Brussels Synth-Rock/Post-Punk group Whispering Sons find a dark, tough place for their new music. Heavily percussive, ("Flood") everything on "Several Others" builds around our basest impulses. "(I Leave You) Wounded" and "Vision" are the closest to singles for the band. "Wounded" is a rich tale of desperation told with unsettling vocals, Nine Inch Nails-ian sounds, and a massive burst of a conclusion. "Vision" is slightly more friendly with its chiming guitars, but even it using John Carpenter-esque synths for a chilling counterpart. When they pump up the bass on "Surface," they drill one out like it is 1978 all over again. It is the dark embrace the band craves on "Several Others," but its construction and sound mixing will never let you go.
HANS JOACHIM ROEDELIUS AND ALEXANDER CZJZEK - Weites Land [LP](Bureau B/The Orchard)
Roedelius of Cluster and Harmonia has always been known for some very chill moods and music. Joining with saxophonist Czjzek in the Eighties on this recording, they blend a few Paul Winter-esque flights of fantasy with Roedelius on mainly piano. However, when you listen very deeply to how the production allows Czjzek's sax bouncebacks to sound more effects-laden, "Weites Land" reveals itself to be a natural study in drone and repetition."Weisst du noch?" builds quietly around the saxophone notes spinning around, while the hypnotic "Sonniger Morgen" flirts with Eastern harmonies and several dynamic changes in the undercurrent.
WILL VINSON/GILAD HEKSELMAN/ANTONIO SANCHEZ - Trio Grande [LP](Whirlwind Records)
With their downtown NYC Jazz sound, it would be easy for this new trio to play everything over the top. However, Trio Grande is always about the groove (check the Scofield-esque "Scoville") and what feels like a lot of restraint. Riffs like "Northbound" or the complex "Gocta" are found in the undercurrent. "Gocta" is a wild ride with percussionist Sanchez keeping the entire capacity of the rhythm in the air while Vinson plays some lovely long saxophone notes around it. Hekselman plays a wonderfully understated intro to "Will You Let It?" where Vinson joins him almost out of thin air as they blend into each other. Trio Grande is here to make a big noise - but it a cool, almost silent way.
DEAD BANDIT - From The Basement [LP](Quindi Records ITA)
From Chicago and Canada comes the instrumental duo Dead Bandit. Ellis Swan and James Schimpl take all the room necessary to experiment. Some songs approach the country lope and twang (“FF M,”) while others turn 180 degrees away with skittering EDM (“Valentine.”) “From The Basement” is a very live-sounding record (drums on “Child Ballads) but never look to interfere too much in its own soundscape (“I See Her There” could be Sonic Youth or Yo La Tengo" but Swan and Schimpl embrace their noise as much as their cool melodies.
Various - OZ ECHOES: DIY CASSETTES AND ARCHIVES 1980-1989 [LP](Efficient Space AUS)
The Eighties around the world were a period rife with technological experimentation. However, you needed no real studio - just a drum machine, synthesizer, and a few mics. So when artists like these brave adventurers starting making tapes, this handful of gear opened a world of possibility. Listening to “Oz Echoes” today, of course, it sounds primitive. However, deep beneath the skating drum patterns and beautifully artificial-sounding synths, you still hear life. “I Cried All Winter” from Shanghai Au Go-Go reminds you of the early Yaz records. The dark-into-light journey of Aeroplane Footsteps’ “Arabia” sounds like “Heart of Glass” turned inside out. Matt Mawson may be doing some early sampling. While the pair of dub cuts vault you from unnatural (“Zoom Dub” from Modern Jazz”) to more natural (“Ravi Dubbi” from Wrong Kind of Stone Age.) “Oz Echoes” is a journey into the past that confirms even with the same gear and inspirations, we were all making totally different music.
Well, we got that one all whittled down for you. The best of the best of the week! And more to come. Enjoy. Like. Comment. Share. Thank you so much.
On a final note, T-BONES would like you to know that Record Store Day is coming back for DROP 2 on July 17th. This list of exclusives, reissues, and just awesome products will be invading our time shared here for the next few weeks. However, it is just another guest at the party. There’s no slowing us down. Tell your friends about us.
Enjoy. Share. And check out the entire RSD list and even WISHLIST us if you like. RSD 21 with T-BONES
A mix of the NEW RELEASES and 25 select tracks from RSD DROP 2!
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