YELLOW SWANS - AT ALL ENDS (LOAD 096)

YELLOW SWANS ARE BACK ALREADY. I LIKE THAT ABOUT BEN/LOAD. I GOT THE FEELING IF HE LIKED YOU AND YOU DID WELL HE'D JUST STICK OUT YOUR NEXT THING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. AT ALL ENDS SEEMS SLIGHTLY MORE EXPENSIVELY RECORDED OR AT LEAST BETTER SEPARATED, WITH A LITTLE MORE USE OF GUITAR.

AGAIN IT IS YELLOW SWANS' MUSICALITY THAT SEES THEM SO FAR AHEAD OF THEIR CONTEMPORARIES. 'STRETCH THE SANDS' GAMBOLS ALONG WITH A RICH ECSTATIC DRONE, A HUGE COMPLEX CHORD COMPRESSED TO REPRESENT THE INFINITE, BUT THIS SPARSE BASS FIGURE UNDERNEATH HAUNTS THE TRACK, A PERSISTENT GROUNDING BACK TO EARTH. IT IS MELANCHOLIC. BITTERSWEET. COMPLEX NOTES LIKE A GOOD WINE.

IT'S NOT JUST THE MUSICALITY BUT THE SUBTLE CONTROL OF TONES. LIKE THE CHORD PATTERN THAT MASS MIRAGE OPENS WITH. THE SLOW ATTACK AND FX GIVES IT THIS ELEGIAC FEEL EVEN THOUGH AT HEART THIS MUSIC IS TWO SWEATY DUDES ATTACKING A LOAD OF GEAR. IT'S WAY LESS INDUSTRIAL AND AGGRO THAN PSYCHIC SECESSION, INDEED, AT TIMES IT SEEMS BECALMED AND SPECTRAL. THEY WORK REALLY WELL AT THIS END OF THE SPECTRUM TOO. I LIKED EVERYTHING HERE.

CERTIFIED: GOOD.

PAPER RAD - TRASH TALKIN DVD (LOAD 095)

THE PITCH PERFECT AESTHETIC OF THE POST-90S INTERNET FREE-FOR-ALL ABYSS WAS NOT INVENTED WHOLESALE BY TIM AND ERIC BUT WAS SOMETHING THAT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN SHARED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE IN A UNIQUELY AMERICAN CONTEXT (YOU SORT OF GET JAPANESE ITERATIONS OF THIS I SUPPOSE BUT THE LO-FI CRITIQUE IS VERY MUCH AMERICAN ART-PUNK). PAPER RAD SEEM LIKE THE SECOND WAVE OF PROVIDENCE PEOPLE, DAYGLO AND WEIRD, BUT LESS OF THE ATONAL AND PROVOCATIVE.

TRASH TALKING IS A 'FILM' COMPENDIUM OF VARIOUS ANIMATION AND MUSICAL EXCURSIONS TAKEN BY THE PAPER RAD COLLECTIVE, ALL OF WHICH SEEMING BOTH PARODIC AND ORIGINAL IN ONE FELL SWOOP. LIKE THE BARKLEY'S DVD IT FEATURES SOME TERRIBLE VOICE ACTING BUT IN THE BITS WHERE IMAGE AND MUSIC CONNECT IT FEELS LIKE PERFECT SYNCHRONICITY. THESE GUYS AND GIRLS HAVE TALENT AND YOU CAN SEE WHY THEY'D END UP MAKING PROPER MUSIC VIDEOS FOR LESSER TALENTS THAN THE ONES FEATURED ON THIS BLOG.

I MEAN FUCK IT, ENOUGH OF MY YAKKIN, IT'S ALL THERE FOR YOU. HAVE A LOOK AT IT.

GANG WIZARD - BYZANTINE HEADACHE (LOAD 094)

STRANGELY FOR A BAND WHOSE APPROACH IS INCREDIBLY CATHOLIC (IE GETTING THEIR SONS IN TO JAM, DIFFERENT FIDELITIES, NO REAL AGREED GENRE OR MODE) GANG WIZARD ARE A BAND WHO ARE IDENTIFIABLE FROM THE MOMENT YOU PRESS PLAY. THEY ARE AVATARS OF A FREE ROCK SCENE THAT COMPLETELY ESCHEWS THE POMPOSITY OF THE UK SCENE AND I EVEN HEARD THEY WERE CHRISTIANS WHICH I AM NOT SAYING WHETHER I AGREE WITH THAT, IT JUST STRIKES ME AS WEIRD.

THE FIRST TRACK HERE IS KIND OF LIKE DAMO SUZUKI GURGLING SEDUCTIVELY AS SOMEONE ATTACKS A DRUMKIT AND A CHILD FURTIVELY EXPLORES A KEYBOARD. OTHERS PRESENT A FAILURE TO COHERE IN VARIOUS DISMAL WAYS. ALL GANG WIZARD RECORDS PRESENT AN IMPROV/ROCK DIALECTIC BUT FOR ME THE BETTER ONES LEAN ON THE LATTER HARDER. THERE'S ONLY SO MANY TIMES I CAN HEAR YOU SCRAPE YOUR STRINGS SO IT SOUNDS LIKE AN INSECT. NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE.

I CONSIDER MYSELF IN THE WORLD'S TOP 1000 GANG WIZARD FANS IN 2020 BUT EVEN I HAVE TO ADMIT THIS ONE ISN'T AMONG THEIR BEST. I HAVE TOO MUCH LOVE AND RESPECT FOR THESE ODDBALLS TO SAY THIS IS RANCID - SOME OF IT RULES - BUT NOT ENOUGH OF IT.

LANDED - TIMES I DESPISE (LOAD 093)

THERE IS NO LOAD 092.

WHILST PREVIOUS LANDED RECORDS SOUNDED RATHER SPONTANEOUS AND BASICALLY A LOT OF MUD THROWN AT A WALL TO SEE WHAT STICKS, THIS ONE FEELS A LITTLE MORE CONSIDERED. IT'S RECORDED LIVE IN 2001 AND ONLY RELEASED IN 2006 AND I AM NOT SURE EXACTLY WHY BUT WHATEVER, LET'S GO WITH IT.

MAYBE IT IS SEMI-IMPROVISED. ON A SECOND LISTEN, THIS FEELS LIKE VAMPING OVER SOME SOLID B-TIER NOISE-ROCK RIFFS'N'RHYTHMS WHILE DAN ST. JACQUES FREEWHEELS OVER THE TOP. WHILST I WOULDN'T SAY ANYONE SHOULD RUN DOWN TO THEIR NEAREST EMPORIUM OF ROCK AND DEMAND THIS BE ORDERED IN IMMEDIATELY, IT IS STRIKING THAT HOW THESE GUYS CAN MAKE A BETTER ROCK RECORD THAN 95% OF MOST WHEN THEY JUST PLUG IN AND PLAY AND EXTEMPORISE THEIR LYRICS.

SOLID RECORD.

OvO - MIASTENIA (LOAD 091)

THE LOWER CASE v IN OvO'S NAME IS THE ONLY CONCESSION THIS BLOG WILL MAKE TO LOWER CASES HERE. OvO ARE AN ITALIAN NOISE-ROCK DUO IT SAYS HERE: ANOTHER BAND THAT I LIVED THROUGH (IN THE ACTIVE, BLOG-CHECKING SENSE) AND YET HAVE NO REAL MEMORY OF WHATSOEVER. THE GUY PLAYS DRUMS AND THE WOMAN SINGS INCREDIBLY THEATRICALLY AND DIVISIVELY (IT SOUNDS LIKE THE VOICE COMES OUT THROUGH A SLASH IN THE THROAT) AND WIELDS A GUITAR WITH A SLUDGEY MALICE.

THEY'RE ALSO TOTAL LIFERS AND STILL GOING WHICH IS KIND OF MAD (BUT ALSO WESTERN AND SOUTHERN MAINLINE EUROPE STILL HAS THIS WEIRD RESPECT FOR ARTISTS AND DOES THIS ODD THING OF SUPPORTING THEM? I KNOW! I KNOW! WILD!). ANYWAY THE FIRST THING THIS RECORD REMINDED ME OF WAS THE FIRST LIGHTING BOLT RECORD IN THE SLIGHTLY CRUST-LEVEL RECORDING AND ANTIC DRUMMING. IT DOESN'T STAY LIKE THAT, AND THE PUSHED-FORWARD FEMALE VOCALS TAKE YOU ON A COMPLETELY OTHER JOURNEY. THERE'S SOME EXPERIMENTAL TRACKS HERE THAT REMINDED ME OF A DIRECTION BJORK MIGHT HAVE TAKEN KUKL HAD SHE TAKEN OVER.

WHILE THE VOCALS WILL SEND 75% OF PEOPLE RUNNING FOR THE HILLS I THINK THIS RECORD IS PRETTY GOOD ACTUALLY. THE LOUD BANGERS DON'T REALLY WORK ON THE SAME RECORD AS THE BROODING SPARSE ONES BUT I LIKE BOTH! THE RECORD FINISHES WITH A 20 MINUTE DOOM TRACK THAT, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, DOESN'T QUITE SMASH ME OVER THE HEAD LIKE KHANATE DID. BUT IDK, I LIKE THIS. IT'S BETTER THAN THAT FUCKING COVER WOULD HAVE ME THINK.

YELLOW SWANS - PSYCHIC SECESSION (LOAD 090)

BY THE TIME OF THE RELEASE OF PSYCHIC SECESSION YELLOW SWANS WERE UP TO APPROXIMATELY THEIR THIRTIETH RELEASE. "YELLOW SWANS" WAS THE MONIKER APPLIED TO "PROPER" RELEASES IE ON "PROPER" LABELS WHILST THE REST WOULD BE CD-R RELEASES UNDER SLIGHTLY ALTERED NAMES LIKE "DRILL YELLOW SWANS". THE LARGELY IMPROVISATIONAL APPROACH AND THE FACT THAT A LOT OF THIS COMES FROM ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS MEANS THAT YOU CAN JUST DO THAT: RECORD YOUR SET, RECORD YOUR REHEARSAL, AND PUT IT OUT ON THE MERCH TABLE. I REALLY LIKE THAT. IT'S A FUCKING HEADACHE FOR ANY YELLOW SWANS FAN. BUT WHATEVER.

PSYCHIC SECESSION PRESENTS 4 TRACKS UNFOLDING LANGUIDLY OVER 50 MINUTES. IT'S A BIT "AMBIENT" AND NEW AGE-Y IN PARTS, OCCASIONALLY INDUSTRIAL, MAYBE EVEN ITALO, AND THEN AT SOME OTHERS MORE NAKEDLY AGGRESSIVE OR JUST HOSTILE WITH SOME HIGH TONES THAT DO THE OPPOSITE OF SOOTHING. BUT LOOK AT THAT PIC: THE USE OF MIXING DESK ON STAGE. TO ME THIS PUTS THEM IN THE SAME BALLPARK AS DUB. SHAPE-SHIFTING, AMNIOTIC, BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN SECTIONS. PERCUSSION DRIFTS IN AND OUT. IT'S LIKE A WEED REVERIE ON SOME CHEAP SHITTY STUFF AND IT'S ACTUALLY FREEZING FUCKING COLD OUT.

I ALWAYS FOUND YELLOW SWANS' MUSICALITY AND...NON-NIHILISM? ELEVATED THEM ABOVE A LOT OF THEIR NOISE AND ELECTRONIC CONTEMPORARIES IN THE 00S. THEY COULD GET AGGRO WITH THE BEST OF THEM BUT THEY WOULD ALWAYS PRESENT THESE LUDIC DIY ENO DREAMS OF AN ERA WHERE ALL DREAMS ARE DYING FROM TIME TO TIME.

CERTIFIED: GOOD.

BARKLEY'S BARNYARD CRITTERS - MYSTERY TAIL DVD (LOAD 089)

I AM REVIEWING THIS PARTLY FROM MEMORY AND PARTLY FROM THE SPORADIC CLIPS AVAILABLE FROM YOUTUBE. AN EX-GF BOUGHT ME THIS FOR MY BIRTHDAY IN 2005 AND I CANNOT FIND IT ANYWHERE. ALL I CAN SAY IS THIS BROUGHT ME A LOT OF JOY BACK THEN AND RE-VISITING CLIPS TO THIS DAY STILL DOES.

BARKLEY'S BARNYARD CRITTERS ARE A 'FICTIONAL' BAND ANIMATED/ACTED BY BRIAN GIBSON OF LIGHTNING BOLT WITH MYSTERY TAIL THE 53 MINUTE FILM OF THEIR RISE TO FAME. I DON'T THINK I AM THE BEST PERSON TO CRITIQUE THE VISUAL FLAIR BUT I THINK IT'S FUNNY AND IMAGINATIVE. I LIKE HOW THESE GUYS JUST GO WITH AN IDEA AND SEE IT OUT ON THEIR LIMITED MEANS RATHER THAN GOING TO SOME STUDIO TO HAVE IT WATERED DOWN.

AS I RECALL THE NARRATIVE WAS A BIT LONG-WINDED BUT I GUESS I JUST LIKED THE ENERGY AND SOME OF THE SONGS. WATCH THAT VIDEO ABOVE. IT'S AS GOOD A PASTICHE OF BEEFHEART AS THERE IS AND THE DRUMMING IS SICK.

THERE'S ALSO SOME LIVE FOOTAGE OF WIZARDZZ ON HERE TOO. I MIGHT HAVE TO GO AND BUY IT AGAIN. NOT QUITE GOING TO SAY THIS IS CERTIFIED GOOD BUT I THINK SOME PEOPLE OUT THERE WOULD ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS.

COUGHS - SECRET PASSAGE (LOAD 088)

THE FINAL ALBUM BY NO WAVE SEXTET COUGHS IS A BIT OF A SHIFT FROM THE FIERY-THROATED ANTAGONISM OF FRIGHT MAKES RIGHT. THE JOURNEY SEEMS A LITTLE MORE INWARD. SLOWER. CREEPIER. THE LAST ALBUM WASN'T EXACTLY A BOWL OF CHERRIES BUT YOU COULD IMAGINE THEM SUPPORTING A GROUP LIKE LIARS AND ABOUT 25% OF THE AUDIENCE SAYING "OK MIGHT CHECK THAT OUT". HERE THE NUMBER IS PROBABLY NEARER TO 5% AND THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO THINK THE HEADLINE ACT IS TOO POP THESE DAYS ANWAY.

THIS MODE SUITS THEM PERFECTLY. 'MATURE' ISN'T THE RIGHT WORD: IT'S STILL COMING FROM THE SAME PLACE WHERE IDEAS OF MATURITY DON'T EXIST TO BE HONEST. BUT THEY MATCH THE BLEAKNESS OF MINOR-KEY (THIS ISN'T THAT ATONAL TO BE HONEST) LOW-MID-TEMPO SONGCRAFT WITH A BROODING PERFORMANCE AESTHETIC. YOU COULD MAKE COMPARISONS TO AIDS WOLF AND XBXRX HERE BUT I THINK AS A FULL-LENGTH ALBUM THIS TRUMPS ANYTHING THOSE BANDS DID (AND I LIKE THEM!)

I IMAGINE MOST PEOPLE WOULD HEAR THIS AND THINK IT A LOAD OF NIHILIST NOISE BUT THERE'S A CRAFT HERE, A SKILL IN THE PLAYING AS A BAND. IT'S A SHAME THIS WAS THE END BECAUSE I THINK THEY PROBABLY HAD NEW ROADS TO TRAVEL. MAYBE THERE'S NO REAL HOOKS - THAT WOULD BE A FAIR CRITIQUE TO BE HONEST - IT'S A MOOD THAT YOU HAVE TO SINK INTO. FOR ME, THAT'S NOT HARD, AS THE RECORD RIPS.

CERTIFIED: GOOD

VARIOUS ARTISTS - FUN FROM NONE: LIVE FROM NO FUN FEST 2004 AND 2005 DVD (LOAD 087)

ALL THE WAY THROUGH THIS PROJECT I HAVE BEEN SUBTLY SUGGESTING THAT SOME OF THE STUFF HERE PROBABLY ONLY WORKS LIVE: LOAD SPECIALISE IN ANTIC MUSIC THAT FEELS LABOURED OVER THAT IS THE PRODUCT OF A DEEP SOCIAL SCENE. SO AS SOON AS YOU SEE THAT IN THE FLESH (OR AT LEAST ON DVD) IT BYPASSES SOME OF THE MORE REFINED IDEAS YOU HAVE ABOUT MUSIC AND YOU SEE IT ON A MORE VISCERAL LEVEL. THIS 2 X DVD SET IS PROOF OF THIS THEORY.

THIS IS SNATCHES OF 21 SETS FROM TWO EDITIONS OF THE NO FUN FEST IN BROOKLYN. IT ATTEMPTS AND SUCCEEDS IN LEGITIMISING THE NOISE/AVANT SCENE OF THE USA IN THE LATE 90S/EARLY 00S IN THE SAME WAY THAT URGH! A MUSIC WAR DID FOR POST-PUNK AND AVANT POP IN THE 80S. YOU SEE THE PERSONALITIES ATTACHED TO THE MUSIC. YOU SEE THE CONCEPTS FLESHED OUT. YOU SEE THAT THESE PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO PLAY AND THEY AREN'T JACKING OFF.

LIKE I THINK PRURIENT'S WHOLE CAREER HAS BEEN ENHANCED BY THINGS LIKE THIS. WE CAN SEE THAT THE PROVOCATION IN THE MUSIC IS IN HIM AS A PERSON. HE BRINGS IT LIVE. IT CROSSES THAT LINE BETWEEN BEDROOM GANGSTER AND REAL FORCE. THE WHOLE DVD IS LIKE THIS. IT'S A GREAT DOCUMENT OF A GREAT TIME. ON THE LEVEL OF MUSIC THIS IS ONLY SPORADICALLY OUTSTANDING BUT IT'S MORE THAN THAT. RECOMMENDED AND CERTIFIED: GOOD.

DISKAHOLICS - LIVE IN JAPAN VOL. 1 (LOAD 086)

POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS TERRITORY FOR LOAD RECORDS HERE AS THIS IS A BONAFIDE RELEASE BY A BUNCH OF DUDES WHO WERE ALREADY CELEBRITIES IN MUSIC AT THIS POINT. I CAN'T QUITE EXPLAIN WHY BUT THIS SORT OF TURNS LOAD INTO A BIG INDIE EVEN THOUGH THIS RECORD IS POINTEDLY AGAINST ALL THAT SORT OF EVENT RELEASE SHIT BY BEING A SPONTANEOUS GRAB OF SOUND FROM A SHOW.

DISKAHOLICS ARE SONIC YOUTHIST THURSTON MOORE, SAXOPHONIST MATS GUSTAFFSON, AND GENERAL MUSIC GUY JIM O'ROURKE. AND IF YOU'RE THINKING "THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE LINE-UP FROM A SONIC YOUTH SYR SERIES RECORD" THEN YOU'D BE NEARLY RIGHT AND ALSO NOT FAR OFF SOUND WISE. IT'S IMPROV EXPERIMENTAL NOISE WHERE BARELY ANY OF THE INSTRUMENTS SOUND LIKE THE EXPECTED TONE/TIMBRE/OUTPUT OF THAT PARTICULAR INSTRUMENT.

LIVE IN JAPAN JUST STUTTERS ALONG NOT REALLY EXPLORING ANY MOOD. IT'S AN INTRO WAITING TO GET TO AN ACTUAL JAM. IT IS NEGATIVE SPACE IN MUSIC INCARNATE. THERE ARE MORE OFFENSIVE RECORDS THAN THIS - IT IS ACTUALLY QUITE RESERVED - BUT CHRIST THE IDEA OF SPENDING MONEY ON THIS SEEMS ABSURD IN 2020. MAYBE WE HAVEN'T LOST AS MUCH AS I THOUGHT WE HAD.

RATED: RANCID.

THE USA IS A MONSTER - SUNSET AT THE END OF THE INDUSTRIAL AGE (LOAD 084)

THERE IS NO LOAD 083. DUNNO WHY. I'LL BE COVERING ONE OF THESE 'UNASSIGNED' NUMBERS LATER IN THE BLOG AS I HAVE INSIGHT ON WHY IT WAS 'UNASSIGNED'. BUT ONWARD.

A QUICK TURNAROUND FOR THE THIRD USAISAMONSTER RECORD ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THEIR LAST ONE WAS A SOLID HOUR PLUS OF MUSIC THAT TOOK QUITE A BIT OF WRITING (IE THIS WASN'T A HOSPITALS RECORD WHERE THEY IMPROVVED A GOOD 50% OF IT). SUNSET IS OF THE SAME APPROXIMATE MIND AS WOHAW BUT I THINK IT FEELS A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A CELEBRATION OF ENVIRO/NATIVIST THEMES RATHER THAN USING THEM AS A JUMPING-OFF POINT FOR CRITICISM.

 

WHILST THERE ARE SOME SHORT FORAYS INTO BIG + LOUD I THINK THIS RELAXED MODE SUITS THEM MORE THAN MOST WOULD CARE TO ACCEPT. EVEN IN THE MORE ANTIC SECTIONS OF THE 13 MIN PROG SUITE THAT MAKES UP THE TITLE TRACK I SENSE THIS BROAD PULSING CALM THAT EMINATES FROM THEIR PLAYING: IT COMES THROUGH THEM RATHER THAN THEM LABOURING TO PRODUCE IT. SERENITY NOW.

DUNNO IF YOU KNOW THE GROUP VOLCANO! BUT THEY SORT OF REMIND ME OF THEIR COUNTRIFIED BROTHERS IN MANY RESPECTS: INTELLIGENT AND RESTLESS OF MIND. BOTH CAPABLE OF WRITING BIG BANGERS AND FULFILLING FULL-LENGTH RECORDS. 'VOICES TO BE HEARD' IS A GREAT TUNE. 'OKEEPA CEREMONY' TOO. THIS IS PROBABLY BETTER THAN WOHAW BECAUSE OF THE ADDED VARIETY AND GENERALLY MORE AT-PEACE VIBE.

CERTIFIED: GOOD