Seiichi Yamamoto & Fushigi Robot - Mind Game OST (2004)

It wasn't too long ago I saw this movie. It was something I had kept aside for a rainy day I suppose, as I looked in my collection only to find this title that was totally obscured to me. Immediately I fell in love; it was a touching, bold, and brilliantly charming work about, in as plain of words as I can find, the experience of life. The animation was carefully experimental, shifting between normal anime styles into rotoscoping of the actors faces onto their characters faces and bright segments of action and art, the characters themselves were defined and likable in their idiosyncrasies, and, what brings us here, the music cast a brilliant mood and even within itself was quite likable. Because of this I went out searching, only to find out that, not only did I already have the soundtrack (not listened to yet), but it's likely why I found the film. And that's all because of one of the names in the title.

Co-founder and seminal member of Boredoms, Seiichi Yamamoto has left footprints of himself all around Japan's numerous music scenes, which is evident by taking a look at his dizzying discography. Even with his wide range of acts, there are several attributes that seem to follow him: lucid, surrealistic music, a significant focus on percussion, abnormal instrumentation. Seeing as that doesn't change here, any fan of the Boredoms or Rovo or Omoide Hatoba or any other Japanese band it seems my find a treat in this (I can even recall saying at one point that the music sounded very much like something Seiichi would do).

It starts with a spastic drum track brilliantly titled "Startin'" which abruptly cuts out into a charming synth piece before finally hitting the poppy, arabesque main theme. Among these is the theme... rapidly changing moods and themes. Among charming pop numbers like the title track or Atarashii Hito (not performed by Seiichi Yamamoto) are janky anti-pop pieces like No Chaser or Big Unit and ambient pieces and drum pieces and jazz pieces and even a nice sort of mash-up classical arrangement by frequent anime composer Yoko Kanno. It's a dizzy collection within itself, but carefully eclectic. There's a steady charm within it, and even without the movie there seems to be a story sliding throughout the moods.

But I definitely recommend the movie.

Try it

Buy it... please tell me if you find a place

Buy the movie

VIRUS - The Agent That Shapes The Desert

Brief apology for the downtime. We aren't dead yet.

First of all, I love Ved Buens Ende. Written In Waters is easily a top ten album, and if there's one band that upsets me more than any other for a lack of output... well that's a debate but they are up there. Because of this, my relationship with VIRUS, czral's creation after VBE, an admitted departure from their sound, is a bit wish-washy. But even with the slight departure and coincidentally, my slight disappointment, I can't stay mad. Abandoning the slight black metal tinge of VBE, VIRUS becomes the janky post-punk/progressive sound that countered it expanded into it's own, previously shown on 2003's Carheart and 2008's The Black Flux.

If you've heard those, this isn't much different. It's an avantgarde rock sound somewhere inbetween Vivoid and The Pop Group with the same sort of funky groove as Talking Heads or Discipline-era King Crimson. The atmosphere is otherworldly as the guitars twinge out in the ether while Czral croons his surreal lyrics over the top of jazzy, syncopated drum patterns. It's another one of those dissonant, janky albums that still manages to be overly catchy and "poppy".

download

buy

Cardiacs

This band is relatively new to me (although I have known about them for some time). I Picked up their album Sing To God out of pure curiosity. I have never listened to an album so many times in such a short amount as I have with Sing To God, it really is quite the unique experience and would encourage everyone to at least give it a listen.

Cardiacs music is noted as a balance of the raw energy of punk music, all the while adding the technical aspects of prog. They have established their own sound very well and essentially created their own genre known as 'pronk' (although Tim Smith seems to reject the term). But that's not the end of the list of genres they borrow influences, not gonna go all into detail about that but you get the idea. The music magazine Organ once commented saying that "one Cardiacs song contains more ideas than most other musicians' entire careers."

Sing To God (download) -highly recommend for first listen of this band

A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window (download)

On The Land and In The Sea (download)

Sing To God (buy)

A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window (buy)

On The Land and In The Sea (buy)

Sunroof! - Cloudz (2003)

I planned to post this a while ago, but better to post it now than never. Sunroof! is Matthew Bower from England; he's been active for 25 years and has released over 60 albums under a variety of names. This happens to be the best release he's had in my opinion, as his genre is hard to pin down considering that he also works in the post-punk and noise scenes.

There's a lot to enjoy here. "Machine" is a beautiful opening to the 70-minute album. "Zero" is expectional. "Primavera" is fantastic fuzzed-out noise/experimental rock. This is nine tracks and 70 minutes long and it's hard to find a single minute that isn't worthy of repeated listens.

Try it
Buy it

(editor's note: you'll get several posts from me today; I'll attempt to stop being lazy)

Sleepmakeswaves - In Today Already Walks Tomorrow (2008)

Sleepmakeswaves are a little known instrumental post-rock band from Sydney, Australia. Like most post-rock bands, they combine slow melodies with crescendos and intense climaxes. But their variation comes from use of multi-instruments and hints of genre-bending, from powerful metal-like drum sequences to ambient electronic bridges. Their debut album In Today Already Walks Tomorrow displays the band's range of style and sound.

Opening track 'I Will Write Peace On Your Wings and You Will Fly Over the World' Starts off unusually for a post-rock song, as it begins with a climax-like intensity, then simmering down only to build right back up again. The instrumentals here are top-notch, creating a range of intensities that make the song exciting. 'One Day You Will Teach Me to Let Go of My Fears' climaxes in the middle, combining a nice build-up with a smooth, easing tempo into a quiet finish. 'It's dark, It's cold, It's winter' is just really nice, simple ambient music.

In Today Already Walks Tomorrow is a great post-rock album and I highly recommend it to any fan of the genre. Also check out their self-titled EP, they're both free.

Free download

Stellar OM Source - Trilogy Select (2010)

Short review since I'm in a hurry, but what you're looking at is more excellent drone/electronic/experimental in the style of Oneohtrix Point Never. Christelle Gualdi makes nice soundscapes under this handle, using four selections each from three albums of hers released in 2009. Very 80s nostalgic-like. "Rites of Fusion" is a collab with Daniel Lopatin/Oneohtrix Point Never. "Island Best" has this really awesome video.

Try it
Buy it (ctrl + F "trilogy select")
MySpace

Black Vomit - Jungle Death (2009)

It starts with a premonition. A Premonition of Inevitable Doom; the title track as well as a literary signal. It's enough to clue you in to what's going on, and listening to it makes it more apparent. A thick fuzz, a synthy drone submerged within and mystical sounding samples echo in and out of the foreground. And as soon as premonition sounds, it blends right into the doom. That deep bass fuzz turns into an incredibly sharp guitar and madness spews from the constant clang of symbols and snares with incredibly tense blasts.

But even if you don't start the album, there are plenty of signals from even the album cover alone. Much like the Amocoma cover, a black border contains all. Seemingly a gesture at that same fuzz and atmosphere that permeates nearly all contained with the album. It's a dirty beast within. The font, remeniscent of Bathory, cues a medieval feel. Deep in the dungeons and that. And beyond those the few keywords we get do their own.

"Black" is an easy one. Fuzz is everywhere, pounding drums are everywhere, much of this album is a bleak nightmare. "Vomit" comes at a much more abstract view, however. It comes as one of the trademarks of this sound, though, the "True Sheffield Black Psychedelia" scene. Vomit, as an amalgamation of what has come to one before, does work somewhat well in regards to this sound. Despite what I have said before, this isn't all black. Thrown in with those long dungeon walks, are small shafts of light. Dispersed with the fuzz are bright synthy passages, reminiscent of something the "Aguirre" soundtrack. But even in the blackness cues some amalgamation. The drums aren't always typical blasts, sometimes they reveal more as tribal war drums, sometimes revealing more as wild, somewhat linear assaults, coming off as more of a "man-made" breakcore. And within even that, sampling is prevalent. In context it sounds more of the inner ramblings of a schizophrenic. Ramblings of preachers, doctors, and lovers, perhaps whirling through a distraught mind, cutting in and out and constantly warped it some manner.

"Jungle Death" as well seems to have some meaning through all this. Death should be as obvious as "black" by now. There's a menacing demeanor behind much of this. The jungle is obscure, though. Possibly read in terms of the drumming, going into it's breakcore, DnB sort of flair, recalling the genre of music called "jungle". Or perhaps it's a part of the atmosphere itself. An uninviting den with beasts roaming.

Lastly the picture. DMT crystals. Not only a heavy psychedelic, but also speculated to be the cause of the Near-Death Experience phenomena, it's a perfect compliment to the music themselves. Even in just the three songs set from Repositioning Chrome to Dark Beloved Cloud, you get an almost rockish psychedelic sound, leading to a strings and choral arrangement in "Konna Yume Wo Mite (Such Dreams I Have Dreamed)", which falls into a pure aural assault of flailing drums, thick fuzz and an assortment of mutated samples. This album is certainly a trip.

Buy (also, I think you can buy it here, which also has a small sample from Dark Beloved Cloud... you might want to turn your speakers down)

Download

Sun City Girls - "Funeral Mariachi" (2010)

The final studio album from Sun City Girls. For those not familiar with the band, the Girls formed by brothers Alan and Richard Bishop in 1979 in Phoenix, Arizona, who formally disbanded in 2007 after the untimely death of drummer Charles Gocher. During their nearly three decades together they released a dizzying array of some of the most unique and challenging experimental music to come out of America. Combining influences ranging from surf rock, punk, movie soundtracks, freejaz, traditional Middle Eastern and African music, spoken word, and free improv (as well as having borderline performance art live shows) the group may seem absolutely impenetrable from the outset, especially if you don't know where to start.

Well, "Funeral Mariachi" is a pretty good place to begin. While most SCG albums are seemingly entirely idiosyncratic and chock-full of unpredictable weirdness, this album has probably the most coherent number of actual "songs" in their catalogue, while still remaining unmistakably Sun City Girls. This is very obvious from the first few moments of the opening track "Ben's Radio" which eventually gives way to a spaghetti western vibe which is densely prominent throughout the majority of the album. There is heavy Ennio Morricone influence here, especially in the second half of the album (including a cover of Morricone's "Come Maddelena"). The standout track for me is "The Imam" combining Middle Eastern instrumentation and chanting with SCG flair (I swear I hear a rubber ducky as part of the percussion). While tracks like "Black Orchid" and "Blue West" are straight out of 60s Italian Westerns.

"Funeral Mariachi" is a wonderful final record to one of the most mysterious, engaging, and challenging bands of the 20th century.

Buy Here (CD)

Download Here

Tera Melos - Tera Melos (2005)

I really can't put my thoughts about this CD into words. I love experimental music and I love this CD but I honestly don't know what to say to convince you that it's a good album, and I've spent a few days trying to think of something to say about it. Each song is great, except for Melody 8 which is 30 minutes of pure noise so it's pretty much a novelty track but 1-7 are quality math rock songs, and definitely worth a listen or 2.

Last.fm | Buy | Try

Track of the Day, 2010 October 12

World's End Girlfriend - TEEN AGE ZIGGY?

Leave a comment on whether or not I should do a write up about the album I guess

also, I suppose a bonus track from the same album because we haven't had a track of the day for a while

Les Enfants du Paradis

Track of the Day - October 7th 2010

It's finally on its way. Avey Tare, arguably the principle genius behind Animal Collective, is releasing his debut solo album, Down There, in 3 weeks. Brace yourself for unpleasant Person Pitch comparisons for months to come.

Lucky 1

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (2010)

Maintaining the shoegaze-inspired style that made up Microcastle, Deerhunter's latest album Halcyon Digest expands their vast sound even further, with distinct influence from 60s pop, psychedelia and folk-rock combining to create that experimental rock/pop edge that has garnered their reputation. Although coming across as a generally wistful, gloomy record, Halycon Digest creates that rebuttal feeling of hope and contentment through nostalgia and beauty.

In contrast with the distorted guitar strum and cymbal crash that begins Microcastle, Halcyon Digest begins with a quiet tap/open-tap of a hi-hat. This immediately sets up the feeling of distance in sound and scope from the two albums. Halcyon Digest is very different from Microcastle in that it is less consistent, not in quality (certainly not), but in layout. Where Microcastle has a distinct, flowing sound to it, Halcyon Digest is much more varied in its structural order, which adds to the brilliant of the album. The shorter songs on the album, 'Don't Cry', 'Revival', 'Memory Boy' and 'Fountain Stairs' are some of the most brilliant, quirky post-Beatles pop music I've heard in a long time. In contrast, the mellow, folky low-key longer songs such as opener 'Earthquake' and closer 'He Would Have Laughed' seem to connect in a way that makes the album feel so complete. And they've still displayed some of the shoegaze influences from their previous album, with 'Desire Lines' having a minute-long reverb outro, and single 'Helicopter' incorporating psychedelic influences while illustrating that dreamy sound that is so familiarized with the genre.

Halcyon Digest is an example of how a band can vastly expand or change their sound with a new album without losing their touch or songwriting quality. It's an exciting and unpredictable record, with the ability to change tempo suddenly but in a way that doesn't seem unnecessary. Emotional at times, while at other moments carefree, Halycon Digest is at heart a well-crafted pop album, but it can be seen as so much more.

Try it
Buy it
Wiki

Sun Araw - Off Duty EP + Boat Trip EP (2010)

Cameron Stallones wasn't finished when he released his fourth LP titled "On Patrol" back in March. Continuing the police theme with these releases, this EP titled "Off Duty" is more fantastic work by Stallones.

"Last Chants" is high-quality and so is the rest of the EP. I'll shut up and let you listen to it.

By the way, am I the only one in thinking that this cover and the cover for "On Patrol" are two of the best in 2010?

Try it (if it doesn't work, let me know!)
Buy it
MySpace

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - Wormed By Leonard (1988)

Forming music as strange as its genesis, the San Fransisco-based band comprised mostly of Iowans, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 showcased what is likely a reflection of that cross-American migration with their debut cassette, Wormed By Leonard. What comes through is a charming, very poppy example of the experimental "indie" rock that gained notoriety from, most famously, bands like Sun City Girls.

Which is why it's no surprise that TFUL282 later joined them on the San Francisco-based Amarillo records as well as nationwide tours. On here we get the comparison often. From the intro we're introduced to the mentality that groups them in that brand of post-punk. It's Seven is an abrasive little piece, not really accomplishing much outside of an impression of the members making an album just to put mind to matter.

And that's much like this entire album. One gets a real sense of a band making music for their own enjoyment. Little bits of humor and personality jump in and out of their broken pop hits, which is first highlighted right out of the gate, with the soft sounding and sweetly named, "Hell Rules" (which was included with it's own cheeky art, which is in the sample I'll include).

And that mostly punk attitude is a very attractive aspect of this band, shown with tons of catchy melodies, a nonsense approach to art and living, and a general lack of regard for what they're "expected to play". Not to say it's serious about that, either. Everything about this is tongue-in-cheek to the point that it's a surprise they find time to project their uber-silly lyrics, like in their epic about walking a deceivingly fierce dog, Nipper.

A remarkable aspect of this music I may have just glanced over is how catchy it is. Throwing in "Western" themes (such as Narlus Spectre's very involved "wild west" rhythms) with the California "outsider" music (not to be confused with the Californina Outside Music Association, which isn't too far away musically) they create a sound that is really quite hard to convey. I suppose that I can only say that the melodies are so natural, it's hard to imagine music this original is this original.

You're likely to hear people exclaim that something like Mother of All Saints or Stranger Than The Universe (or any other of their albums) is the band's best work, but I can't agree. I would never say that they don't deserve the title, but there is an atmosphere about this album that is wholly inviting. It's a charming album that is an output of a band playing music, and not necessarily making an album, if that makes sense. Mostly, Wormed seems like their most personal output, although I'd hate to count the other albums off as "manufactured", as they are far from such. TFUL282 could make a collection of Spice Girl covers and never once come off as impersonal and unnatural. They bleed through their music.

Sample

Note: This is the 1995 reissue with 5 extra songs, including the delicious "If I Were In A Shoe" and "Not In The Popply Dimension"

Buy

Download

official site

Steaming Coils - Never Creak (1987)

An album that 1queer recommended to me a while back and is still one of my favorite albums. In the world of strange music there is the likes of Captain Beefheart and The Residents, which are responsible for some of the most brilliantly bent music ever created. But be as that may Steaming Coils are are a very creative band that are responsible for musical madness of the same likeness of the above mentioned, but without the mainstream success that they had.

Plus the album cover is awesome.

Download
Buy

Jyoji Sawada - Base of Fiction (1994)

Blogs been up for a while, so I figured I'd give a special treat of the greatest album of all time.

To start, it's probably important to consider the "state of Japanese independent music" at the time of release. A huge style was the sort of "neo-zeuhl", rio-influenced kind of music largely championed by bands like Bondage Fruit, Koenjihyakkei, and a number of other greats. Heavy use of classical stringed instruments, largely technical music, operatic vocals, and other outrageous sounds highlight the genre. Along side that we had the "noise rockers": Ruins, Ground Zero, High Rise, etc. Anyone vaguely knowledgeable of the sort of "experimental" movements within Japan will know of this style. Thirdly, "Japanoise". Exhibited by Merzbow and Masonna, this brand of free noise has become largely acknowledged as some very "outside" music. And floating in and out of all of that, we have the avant-garde and generally humorous stylings that seem to be present in anything that comes out of Japan.

Enter Jyoji Sawada, a self taught bassist that builds himself off of classical composition, film soundtracks, and even a fair bit of Brazilian and Indonesian influence. After some experience with jazz improv and some work with Choro Club, he set off to combine his large vocabulary of sounds into wild, avant-garde compositions for a solo career. And as wide as influences are, Jyoji seems to want to condense the entire state of Japanese Independent music with his debut, Base of Fiction.

But for this seemingly defining piece, it isn't really a solo project. Although all is settled with Jyoji's vision, he combines his talents with some of the largest figures of Japanese music, including: Yoshida Tatsuya drumming on several tracks, the incomparable Otomo Yoshihide appears a few times, Seiichi Yamamoto lends his guitar, and the album is produced by the God Mountain head, Hoppy Kamiyama. This is almost more of a collaboration of Japanese music as a whole than it is Jyoji's band, although it's execution should be attributed significantly the the man that composed all but the first track.

That execution, you ask? Brilliant. Sonic insanity from the beginning to the end, with those previously mentioned styles all making appearences in one way or another. Largely dominated by Jyoji's obscure atmosphere, created from a mixture of a chambered string section and an overall menacing figure that looms from the noise and ferocity of his more rockish elements, this album takes us in and out of "reality", which Jyoji himself notes in the title for the 9th track (trans.) "Between strangeness and the reality of daily life" [please inform me if this is incorrect]. Schoenberg-esque, "spechstimme" comes in and out from female vocals, strings shift from dense soundscapes to more technical passages, maybe recalling Glass and his use of arpeggio (as in Einstein on the Beach), sampling is frequent and jarring (Jyoji explores the wide range of electronic expression) and even toy instruments make an appearance as we are left either frustrated or impressed (or both) and most certainly confused by the inner workings of Jyoji Sawada's mind.

To dissect this album is futile. At any given second, there is too much to consider, and at the next moment, you're taken to a completely different realm without warning. It's best to let this album wash over you, let it jerk you back in forth between signature changes, let it turn your mind into putty and watch the abstract figures that form as it splatters on the wall.

Buy.... good luck. Out of print. I was able to get a used copy (for a hefty amount that I will not disclose so easily), but it's a tough find, for sure

Download V0 | FLAC

official site | Myspace (The samples of music on here recall his more contemporary classical/ soundtrack styles that he explores on his later albums and film scores. Don't expect to find such warmness on this one)

Swans-My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (2010)

After a 13 year absence Michael Gira has once again started up his project known as Swans. In the past they have released some of the most unique music out there and some of my personal favorite albums.

This album is defiantly a good start for them especially after having such a long absence in the music scene. While this album is not as great as some of their former work such as The Great Annihilator, White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity, and Body To Body Job To Job. It's still stands up to be one of my favorite albums released so far this year and hopefully is a preview of more to come from this band.

Download(320)
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O.A.D. - Daytona (1995)

Not exactly sure where to even begin with this one. From a number of Japanese musicians, including appearances from the ever-present experimentalists Otomo Yoshihide and Atsushi Tsuyama comes one of the most throughly freaked-out, deservedly experimental packages I've heard. While tipping in between different styles, this album rests upon the backbone of constant electronic wankery, although it is the most distorted backbone one could imagine. Throughout the album, production shifts to and fro, squeals wiggle inbetween frequencies, and harsh fuzz pounds in and out of the foreground, while guitars and saxophones fight to stay within beat. And upon this idea, those instruments throw some wild ideas. While mostly contained within that famous Japanese style of noise rock, they throw in cheeky versions of lounge jazz, a little funk, a little more of just about anything you could think of that would counteract the harshness of their electronics. The end result comes out as a musical equivalent of a creature straight out of David Cronenberg's head.

Not much info out there on this mutant of a music project. However, you could try the label this album released on, as they encourage you to "do an email"

download

last.fm | japan improv

Current 93 - Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain (2009)

Through his musical project, Current 93, David Tibet has become known over the years for his visionary songs of the apocalypse. Perhaps inspired by his split-EP with Om, Tibet has embraced a much heavier sound than his previous work, echoing both the genres of doom metal and stoner metal. This new direction that Tibet has taken his band in has also created their most unique, unpredictable, and powerful release yet. Tibet sings of Aleph (an Adam-like character), murder, and destruction as a huge cast of musicians and vocalists create a backdrop worthy of his vision.

The lineup for this album proves to be one of the best yet for the band . Layers and layers of guitars, feedback, and distorted vocals play while Bill Breeze’s viola and John Contreras’ cello sound almost regal amidst the grinding fuzz that the rest of the group are pouring out. Doom metal riffs and face-melting blasts of guitar solos take center stage later in the album. This is probably the first time I've felt like air guitaring to a Current 93 song. Intense, exhausting, and filled with emotion, Tibet proves his genius once again with Aleph.

Try it

Ecstatic Sunshine - Freckle Wars (2006)

Ecstatic Sunshine is a creative outlet for guitarist Matthew Papich. What originally began as a duo (with Dustin Wong), it has now become a solo project for Papich. Freckle Wars was recorded when ES was still a duo, which makes this album different from the other albums in ES' discography.

From the beginning of this album until the end, the album make the listener really pay attention, as the music is a canvas for something so much better. While listening to the music, your mind is free to wander and wonder during each song. Some songs may take you back to your childhood, while others make one think about their future. I think this is why I beginning to love instrumental music more and more. You know what the song is about, and no one else. This album is also very happy album, which makes it all the more beautiful. The actual music on this album is some of the finest guitar work I've ever heard. The guitars also have a fantastic tone, which sets the mood for what you are listening to. I feel like taking this to some of my friends who think guitarists who shred are good, and say "This is what real guitar playing is like!" The guitars also have a fantastic tone, which sets the mood for what you are listening to.

Freckle Wars is an amazing album, the best in ES' catalog, and serves as a canvas for who ever is listening to it's mind to be free and have a fantastic time (being high while listening to this is great too!).

Try It.

Buy It.