Reviews on May 30th 2003:
(RRRecords;
CDR; 8 tracks (possibly 7 by Crank Sturgeaon and 1 by Due Process; 70 minutes
16 seconds)
(File
under : Noise manipulation-fest)
First this is my first exposition to both projects and the way the release is done don’t make me know more than what I’ll tell here about this release. The package is like a beautiful slipcase with RRR-style collage that in the end you see that the only info on this release is what’s handwritten. But that’s a pretty beautiful package. The first tracks should be the Crank Surgeon tracks as they sounds relatively the same. Crank Sturgeon are a veteran noise unit in the Massachusetts noise scene, they are around since 1992 and have a shitload of releases as we can see on their website. The tracks consist here of live stuff. What we can hear on this release consist I guess of the recording of live manipulation, like some loops here, some screeching sounds there with the impression that it was recorded in a wide space with a microphone. On track number 4 the sounds become more interesting with some sort of ambient sounds with the continuous manipulations that sounds like a 50’s sci-fi movie, that sounds goods. Well actually, I was expecting from this release to be big on heavy noise, but everything from this part of the split is a kind of the audio catching of manipulation of things that makes noise. But it actually sounds great. The problem I get with that kind of recordings is that I always feel that I missed 50% of the fun listening to it because I got the impression that these are better when you actually see what going out here since I got the impression that live performance of this band are nice. That’s the same impression that I got too when I listen to Cock ESP. But the atmosphere this recording put us in worth the listening. The track number 5 is like a weird collage of some industrial atmospheres, I guess more the album goes, the more the tracks are interesting. I guess I should check more of their release to know more about this project. Due Process are a kind of a RRR band too since they launch many records for the Lowell label as their co-splitters did too. This song is live too, it features some speech at the beginning, surprisingly the guy’s voice sounds like Sick Of It All’s Lou Kohler, anyway, it begins too with some manipulation that are nearly like a guy scratching a guitar chord followed by a kind of bee screeching and some kinds of manipulation followed sometimes be a deep thrashy wall of noise. Well like the other band on the split I feel like it should have been better if I was there or seeing it on video because it seems to be more of an artistic performance than a live music performance, that mean it’s not the best thing to hear on CD. Well after some amount of time, some electronics comes and go that makes it a way harsher than Crank Sturgeon. Like around 12 minutes it goes very harsh and very heavy, not just the hearing of manipulation. It makes the album harsher. Well in some way this records may interest noise purist or people who where there, but I personally really don’t see much more interest in that kind of release since there are possibly better audio release from both artists and from the RRR catalogue. These release being a part of a live DVD collection should be better…
Crank
Sturgeon http://www.muteantsounds.com/csfrntpg.htm
(Voltagestress*r;
CDR(limited to 18) 1 tracks; 61 minutes 45 seconds)
(File under : Sick filthy minimal office daily
job noise soundtrack)
Filthy Turd is the solo works of former (I guess) Sore Throat member Eeyow Karoom (which an interview with him should be poster here soon). The name of the album sounds a little bit silly to me as a promo flyer describe it as : “One track. 62 minutes of office worker sickness. Is it the ventilation? No let up.” So now you can see the kind of noise is that. Actually this sounds like a kind of very violent atmospheric noise, like not harsh, not ambient, just atmospheric and very noisy. Actually with this kind of release some may do very good job and dome other may do very boring jobs. Actually this Filthy Turd release is pretty much of an easy to tame records. This is not just of a boring sounds that remains for minutes and minutes, this is some kind of a lengthened dark pounded noise electronic manipulation that have some changes to another and left yourself in a very stressing attitude. The panning in the sounds and the abrupt introduction of sounds into just one speaker take by surprise and never left the recording to be a boring one. Well I’m not the kind to listen to long track but I feel that this is more of the kind of noise album that I feel secure and don’t give a damn playing so long. It’s more of a long succession of sounds and noise than a long boring sound. The album comes in a very minimal package with a transparent sleeve half painted with red paint and with a stick with the number of the release, the name of the band andof the releae and the catalogue number of the release. What can you have if you need more minimal package? I a way this is a good records for moody noise fans and I guess even harsher noise fanatics can goes to appreciate the sheer force of Filthy Turd. Two thumbs up for this one mister Eeyow Karoom.
(Victory; 14
tracks; 41 minutes 48 seconds)
(File under : Hardfuckincore, the fast and the
furious way and fuck Vin Diesel)
First I’d like to say that this album got a Sean Taggart cover, so, hardcore Taggart fans should have this one, at least that’s pretty much more of a beautiful drawing than last Awkward Thought records (that was maybe the best hardcore I heard since 1998). The drawing got a bunch of Taggart style skins’n’punks jumping and moshing in a boots-everywhere fest. The only problem that I got is that there is two people on the cover that got shoes instead of boots… Anyway, when I saw that cover, the automatic reaction of my brain was to play the initial riffing and shouting of Agnostic Front’s classic The Executioner. Well my mental intuition was good, this is a fucking solid hardcore records, maybe the only way I’m still able to listen often these times. I heard good from the Hoods for years, maybe since they released a seven inches on Back Ta Basic years ago, without actually having the chance to hear them, that maybe the similar thing that happened last year with Ankward Tough. Well actually both bands got a lot in commons, they are fast and furious, more than just posing small cars. Fuck Vin Diesel and let’s go for a beautiful (ugly should be a better term) hardcore demolition derby. Hoods play a kind of hardcore that goes out to satisfy the dorks like me who like me thinks the best Agnostic Front album is Liberty And Justice For all” and got nuts when all the bands in this line goes out. Actually the vocal for me is the most vicious piece of guttural works you can find this side of Rick Ta Life’s performance on Keeping It Real mixed with the classic pissed off vocals of a dude like Paul Bearer and with the standard antisocial lyrics. This violent performance is supported by a beat section that only know the word fast and violent matters. The guitar works are also devastating and may reminds of the most trashy parts of classic Agnostic Front. I mean if I haven’t convinced you to run as fast as this record is to buy this album, what else to say except that you’ll miss the hardcore event of 2003, get this album and the last Awkward Thought for a great hardcore party around your barbecue. These reminds me why hardcore are my roots and I still have fun after all these years listening to fierce and violent hardcore.
Hoods Http://www.sactohoods.com
Victory http://www.victoryrecords.com
(Fat Wreck
Chords; 14 tracks; 41 minutes 48 seconds)
(File under : Rocking pop punk)
New Lagwagon…Well I never really been into Lagwagon since their third album, Hoss. I don’t know why I left on listening to this band since it was one of the best epifat band around. They got one of these precision and melodies that no other bands got. I guess this come from a kind of fixation for 70’s corporate rock. Anyway, this album begins with a like gentle signed melody that goes to a fast punk rock beat and goes into a melody-fest with some unfinishing solos at the speed of light and turned out into what it supposed to be : a typical Lagwagon song. This album don’t goes to unknown path for Lagwagon fans, that a pretty nice album for the upcoming summer. This is a pretty decent and constant fast punk rock album. I guess that’s something missing these days a band that is always constant and damn where are these fast skate-punk bands that where legions seven or eight years ago, they all slowed down. So I like better a band like Lagwagon that are still releasing nice album than co-label and probably friends No Use For A Name that release only crap since their Making Friends album or all these young and cute corporate punk rock that have success like Sum Charlotte and Good 41. By the way, there’s a video part to go on the computer that got some live tracks like classic song Mr Coffee and pictures on the cover, yeah if you got a burned copy of the CD, you still can enjoy the nice photo of the cover, like singer Joey Cape is so cool in milkman outfit or the bassplayer as a teacher teaching warning sings about communists(long hair(men), short hair(women), beard, wear red, wears beret, own bongos…) … Just that worth the cost of the album. Old fans will like, young punk rock fans won’t because they are not as cute as Good Found 41 and not emo enough, but it’s a nice punk rock album for the 1995 nostalgic, well damn, it’s just 8 years ago, what happened to punk rock…
Fat Wreck http://www.fatwreck.com/
Lagwagon http://www.lagwagon.com/
(Les Disques
Victo; 1 track; 68 minutes 18 seconds)
(File under : Dark meeting, the god of noise vs
the kings of minimal, what else can that be…Insane)
First, what’s the name of this labum? V Insane I always knew that the poser of Merzbow fits in the power of the most important letter of the alphabet… I was so sad that I had to work last year the day of this show. That I was really impatient of the release of this record that I can hear what I miss. At least the picture on the booklet show me that I haven’t missed a lot visually… Like Masami looks like here chatting on Internet in front of his laptop or playing on-line game with the two guys of Pansonic who are caucusing for the perfect strategy to nuke Masami down… Yeah, for those who don’t know, this was a show that was held during the 2002’s edition of FIMAV (Festival International de Musiques Actuelles de Victoriaville) as the final concert of the festival. It was recorded by national French-Canadian radio and aired last fall (I missed it) and now release from the festival’s official record label. The cover of the album is like an oeuvre from a Quebec artist called André Clément and is supposed to be a fictive scenery… OK… Musically I guess this is one of the most solid album I heard for a while, not the harshest, not the most intense, but one of the most enjoyable noise record I heard for a while. It’s like a marriage between Masami’s wall of sound and some low processing. Masami’s wall of sounds are not like it was back like in 1993, but over the nice processing that Pansonic do, it sounds so marvellous to my ears… The Pansonic sounds are like really low loud frequencies that can be considered as beats, sorry for Pansonic purist, this is my initiation to them, but I should check them out since this marriage is so beautiful. The proof that it’s great, I really hate long track, I mean looooooong tracks like these and this seems to passes really fast. Well I really don’t know what else to say about this, since the name of the players I guess are a review of their own, I mean laptop Merzbow meeting Pansonic… Die hard analogue Merzbow fans will be deceived, but those who like ambience in their noise will appreciate this dangerous meeting and MUST own this record… Should turns out to be an ambient noise classic due to the nature of the meeting.
Victo http://www.victo.qc.ca
Merzbow http://hatomasamune.easter.ne.jp/merzbow/
(Epitaph; 12 tracks; 31 minutes 51 seconds)
(File under : Punk Rawk And Fukkin Roll )
Oh yeah! A new Randy album… I like that band so much that the 2 times they come in my town I missed them since I don’t wanna be deceived… I didn’t liked their two first albums, but since their awesome You can’t keep a good band Down I’m a pretty die hard fan. The second I put this CD on my player I knew I should have good time, well I know what I should expect from that band and hopefully this is better than what I expected. After the Elvis meet The Clash-garage fest Randy do a voyage through new wave and garage rock that can make them sounds like these bands that are so popular these days like The Hive and The Datsuns and The White Stripes, without being a copycat since Randy do it for so long that we know it comes from the heart. It’s always fast and groovy, not as some of the just mentioned band. Well I was searching something to compare them and we were drunk and one of my friend say “That’s slower Zeke.” I mean common, Zeke is the fastest band on Earth (grindcore and black metal included) and when you’re compared to them in my head you’re a good band, more than that, an awesome band. Yeah a Zeke/Randy tour should kicks the world’s ass. Anyway, the songs on this album are pretty much of a collection of intense really well written songs with fast rockin tempos and neckbreaking melodies. My favourite is the song “Kid With X-Rays” that should be made as a hit single, the Ramonesy sing along and catchy lyrics. There’s also the title track from last year’s G7 Welcoming Committee EP Cheater, which can give you an idea of how it sounds. Some songs got a Moog-like sounds that make the sounds really improved. Something that always impressed me too in Randy is the way they are doing their vocals harmonies, few bands can achieve so have that kind of vocal that you can hear both the fun they got playing and the professionalism in the sound that make them punk rock heavyweight. I don’t know ifthey will have a lot of success, but I hope that this garage rock trend should extend their crowd and they finally got the success they deserves since they are an intense band with amazing lyrics. The only problem is that it’s not long enough, IWANT MORE THAN A 31 MINUTES ALBUM… Randy rocks, so get the twist and rock you ass with them…
Randy http://www.against-time.com/randy/
Epitaph http://www.Epitaph.com
(Important Records; 13 tracks; 72 minutes 37 seconds I’d like to say that I only have the
promotional copy of that release, so this is like an half review since I have
just one CD of this 2CD set and due to the fact that I want the whole set, I’ll
finish this review when I’ll got the complete album…)
(File under : A tribute to a great personage in
contemporary music )
I guess Merzbow is really an important personage to mordern music. If it was not of him, noise music should have been just a kind of small under-underground type of music, at least more than it is now and avant-guardist musician who were influenced by him are more than legion outside the world of noise like from Mike Patton to Ulver to John Zorn, just to name a few (who are not part of this). How can you celebrate the God Of Noise other than a collection of remix with the order of not just recreating Merzbow, but taking his sounds as a source to play your style. That is a good way to mark the fact that Merzbow influence tons of even non-noise artists. This is made here with a very important brochette of diverse artists taking last year’s Important Records release Amlux as source. Opener song from DJ Spooky first hooked me to the diversity of the album. DJ Spooky is like a long hip-hop song with beats and some screechings that possibly come from Merzbow with some sampling, that’s a nice song to ride you car in town with some more cacophonic effects at the end. After the hearing of this tracks, it was official, I can expect everything from this CD. Second track is from a project called Plug, actually this is more of a fast beat techno track with incoherent beat like Aphex Twin also the song got samplers that come from outside Merzbow’s music, but the song is a killer of the genre, maybe I should listen more to that kind of music. Third track is from Alec Empire, an unknown guy from Germany that played in a ska band back in 1996 before turning into emo… Anyway, Empire’s track is a more low beats with ambiance than the previous tracks, that used more the noise sounds to make a dirty creation that the other one, right now at this moment of the album , you feel that it goes less and less clean for the sound. Alec Empire’s song is a killer one, the unlikely art of noise with beats… That’s his fine art of Digital Hardcore at it’s best. Nau-Zee-Aun are next for the gentle art of remodelling Merzbow. This is more of a noise beats than noise with beats, actually it got a nice scary sound that have to remind me of Nine Inch Nails atmosphere going noisier. More industrial than noise I guess, in some point you don’t have to search for difference. Mouse On Mars play a more than usual kind of noise track with some pretty nice noise barrage and some heavy fast electronics going into fast video game beats, pretty much of a good song too, sounds that only a kid from the 80’s can do… Sound collage legends Negativland are on this comp maybe to prove my theory that Merzbow influenced very important acts. The samplings about the attack toward the country are very funny and musically underplayed, followed and/or preceded by very tasteful noises. Funny and pretty damageous. Track number seven is supposedly a merzwaltz performed by Atom. Well actually the opening hissing sounds like a waltz then it’s followed by some beats up and there. Very repetitive yet enjoyable “techno-waltz” (?) the track finish with some drums and I guess that’s keyboard, not bad. Cornelius is the next on the set. Sounds like the ending of Raining Blood’s rain in the beginning and then some undersounds comes and some more electronics comes to oversounds the rains, and then the rain left and some metallic percussion loops takes on with some noise and manipulations and samplings. Bola’s song begins with some really nice ambient feedbacks and remain quite slow and ambient and keeps a very anguish atmosphere until some more obsessive beats hammer down the beats and continues with some aquatic ambience under and end up with this opening ambience. Seems like a project to discover. Then Acid Mothers Temple’s guru Kawabata Makoto goes out with a big monolithic hissing wall going with some more anxious deep sounds. If you liked the third CD of the triple AMT comp you should like this one, very minimal, very noisy, very vast. Nine minutes of pleasure. I don’t know but Makoto should work with Merzbow, this should be gives great results. Nobukazu Takemura rolls on with a more standard noise track with some more toy-like sounds. Abstinence goes more into the hardcore noisy beats operation with some more of a nice rhythmic touche. Jack Dangers finishes this long first CD with a song that begins with some vinyl-scratching meet fire sounds that goes to a more hissing and granular sounds with some loops and a kind of small deep ambient matters behind. Very noisy track but yet still musical in some way, very interesting succession of noise to finishes this CD in beauty. Well at least I should say that this part of the this release is very interesting, I can’t wait to get the other part since I really want more due to the high diversity of the players and the quality of them. The only bad point about that (except that this is a sampler) is the artwork, that’s a pretty ugly artwork, sound like the Important records dudes asked a friend to do it and were too shy to told him that the artwork is ugly. Sincerely, I know it represent the face of Masami Akita but do you think it can be done in a less juvenile way? I’ll pass on this one. But this is a records, check out the music and you’ll forget about the ugliness of the cover artwork. This proves that Merzbow is important and not only in the world of noise…
Important Records http://www.importantrecords.com/
Merzbow http://hatomasamune.easter.ne.jp/merzbow/
And by the way there’s another of this type of comp coming out on Misanthropic Agenda that should feature the likes of Never Presence Forever and Ulver, wow…