DROWNED IN SOUND
Split singles work best when the sides are complimentary, at the very least share some aesthetic similarities. Good news here then – both duo Male and trio King Alexander exhibit post-punkah minimalism laced up with brewing black magic. Male are the cackling witches: two wailing ladies singing “woohoo / woohoowoohoohoo” with little joy and much menace. A teutonic chill surrounds each little statement; “It’s fish and cheese for dinner” begins to sound like a recipe for a death potion. Male are razor sharp. Male have precision. Male can stab you with words.
King Alexander take up the reins with 'His Nibs', tempo-swapping and group shouting. One moment they're proclaiming they are “thrifty and nimble / stealthy and wise”, the next dropping slabs of guitar thunder followed by a bass-line breakdown. As with Male, a cutting simplicity is the real attraction. All four tracks could be sneaked right onto a Rough Trade post-punk compilation without any suspicions being aroused. Even slotted between the Rogers Sisters, the Slits and Wire, these songs would stand their own distinct, serrated ground.
This is the first set from the slightly tweaked Beach Fuzz line-up with Fliss Horrocks now playing guitar alongside Tom Settle and Nick Mitchell. Seven tracks of clattering drums, chugging and wailing guitars, screaming keyboards, mellow, lilting pastoral improv and moaned vocals.
Pay by Paypal to goldenlabrecordings@hotmail.co.uk
It seems a lot of people are leaving Myspace so I've set up a bunch of other music-based profiles... if you want to keep track of what I'm up to you can follow me or fan me or whatever it is those sites encourage. Come and say hi!
I'll still be here too of course, if this is your social networking venue of preference.
xNoBBQx Skewer 10" LP (Ltd to 300 copies) - Out May 12th
We first came across xNoBBQx (just call them No Barbeque, I guess) in Piccadilly Records last year when the Siltbreeze vinyl reissue of their first CD-r appeared on its shelves. The Siltbreeze label being a bastion of all that is great in terms of dirgy, lo-fi, transcendental unmusicality, we were thus intrigued to hear this slab. And, we have to say, it was one of the greatest shop-listening experiences of all time. Here was a duo, probably of fully grown men, bashing away at their instruments in a manner that suggested they had never really learned any 'proper' technique. We later read a review, in fact, that put it thus:
"So what exactly is the difference between an xNoBBQx recording and a couple of 14 year olds bashing instruments in the garage with record pressed down on one of their mum’s old tape recorders? Probably not a whole lot, actually, but I get the feeling that’s precisely the point. " (Cyclic Defrost)
Well, yes, that does largely seem to be the point. But it's a helluva point. The Australian duo, in spite of their unabashed simplicity, manage to create sounds that are warm as an old-fashioned blanket, each piece having the ability to induce a state of complete, dribbling mental stasis. It's disjointed, scratchy and 'difficult', yes. But it also manages to be completely absorbing. If you like your rock deconstructed to the nth degree, we highly recommend you dig this.
xNoBBQx will be touring the UK from 10th May 2009. We'll be putting them on in Manchester on 12th May (venue TBC), so keep yr eyes on this page.
We've never been able to quite pin down exactly how the The Hunter Gracchus are going to play on any given occasion, which is a wonderful thing. A shifting unit with Syed Kamran Ali, Fiona Marshall and Jon Marshall at the core, they have recently settled into a fairly stable unit of six, but it's hard to know how long that'll last. Still, while it does, it's producing all manner of magical and highly unexpected performances. The one captured here was recorded at the band's practice room cum gig space, Fagin's Hideout/The Furniture Makers and is a less blistering freakout than some of their recent output, preferring to quietly explore every nook of tonal space. It simmers rather than erupts and, the longer you become immersed in it, the less aware you become of the passage of time. It's a recording that feels like it should go on forever and, when it does come to a close, the silence is shocking. In a time when it's all too easy for a group of improvisers to just go full-tilt in some euphoric pursuit, the Hunter Gracchus provides us with a glowing alternative that draws us slowly in and drowns our senses. This is truly awesome.
Ltd to 80 copies, sleeves printed on recycled card w/soya based ink, no less
This beautiful super-heavyweight LP, which comes packaged in a sweet full-colour sleeve reunites the UK's premier free drummer Alex Neilson, who's played, amongst others, with Motor Ghost, Directing Hand, Trembling Bells, Tight Meat Duo, Josephine Foster, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Jandek, MV&EE, Richard Youngs, Baby Dee and Alastair Galbraith, with Nmperign member Greg Kelley, whose reinvention of the trumpet is as crucial now as Anthony Braxton's reinvention of the sax was 30 years ago. A screeching, soaring, scattergun array of noises come maniacally out of Greg's horn, unlike anything we've ever heard and, with the addition of random stabs of electronics, he successfully straddles no wave, concrete and free jazz in a way that makes those genres seem like trite pigeonholes.
Buy your copy now from www. myspace. com/goldenlabrecords
A duo between two of the worlds Free Improvisation/Free Jazz greats! The Pauls have a long association though the incredible improvising quartet Mujician and have played just about everywhere with just about everyone! For me this promises to be one of the outstanding improvisation gigs of 2009!
sat 14 feb : 6pm-11pm : HUSBANDS WINSTON ECHO VILE VILE CREATURES COREY ORBISON JELAS TEA + TOAST BAND CHAPS live at : THE JUNCTION : 51 stokes croft, bristol BS1 3PQ
sun 15 feb : 4pm-10pm : DRUNK GRANNY HEADFALL THE MIDDLE ONES TCKI TKCY DRUMMERS MAT RIVIERE THE PHYSICISTS JAM ON BREAD ROSEANNE BARRR live at : SECRET WAREHOUSE SITUATION : see tickets for directions
handmade tickets are available now, only at here shop & gallery unfold the ticket to reveal all the band times and the secret location of the sunday show
tickets for saturday or sunday are £5 each, or get a weekend ticket for just £8
BELLAFEA (North Carolina USA, Southern Records) discordant indie rock, wildly swerving between sublime, melodic, jarring and cacophonous "you don't see a stage presence like heather mcentire's more than a few times in your life" "perhaps it's the fact that bellafea is better in one tiny ep than most bands will ever be in their careers" myspace. com/bellafea
BLAKFISH (UK, Big Scary Monsters) high energy stop-start post hardcore from "Birmingham's new favourite sons" myspace. com/blakfish
ADEBISI SHANK (Ireland, Richter Collective) technically awesome math-fueled noise-rock "musically manages to skirt every cliche in the book and head out into the clear waters of genius" myspace. com/adebisishank
GREAT ESKIMO HOAX "grandiose atmospherics from Birmingham's finest purveyors of folktronica and sparkling space odysseys" myspace. com/greateskimohoax
plus guests
@ The Rainbow 160 Digbeth High St (Deritend), Birmingham. B12 0LD. Doors: 8pm. Cost: £5. Facebook Event // Last. fm Event
Connect Four: Magic 8 Ball is approaching. Its on the 9th October, check the flier below for the lineup. The BIG news is that Connect Four is now completely FREE OF CHARGE.
xxx
