::Robosexual::

Earthless - Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky

If you're wondering where I've been, let me tell you: I've been busy uploading this beast of a song for the last month of so. Well, not really, but you get what I'm saying. Only about 15 seconds short of being the longest song ever featured on Robosexual, this stoner-rock/psychedelia freakout is one of two 20-minute-plus instrumentals on Earthless' excellent album. It's a little daunting, but the music is just too awesome for you to be worrying about song lengths.

These guys (based in San Diego, I believe) have obviously got this whole psych-rock thing figured out. The mixing is great, and the drums and bass compete at just the right level with the ever-present guitar, which is apparently being wielded by some sort of musical Lance Armstrong who's able to maintain a level of solo intensity for 20 minutes that most bands only attempt for 30 seconds at a time.

Don't worry, I know what you're thinking. I thought it too. "This sounds a little exhausting. Don't you get tired of it after 7 or 8 minutes?" The answer is, well, no. I thought I would, but the hits keep coming and the songs keep mutating enough to hold your attention and in fact make you want more. "Godspeed" is like what would happen if you spiked Van Halen's pre-show snack with crystal meth. The guitar is chunky and hairy and the riffs are epic and dated. "Sonic Prayer" is more of a suite, complete with a drum-only section that reminds me of Psychic Ills' "I Knew My Name," complete with a total blowout at the end.

I'm not going to kid around here and say this is for everybody. But you should listen to this song all the way through once before deciding you're too weak for this sauce. This is one of the standout albums of this year along with the Psychic Paramount's release, and you need it in order to know the state of the rocking out union.

Here's "Sonic Prayer" by Earthless. Careful, it's 33 megabytes.

Doves - The Cedar Room

I would have gotten this in the glory days of Audiogalaxy, back in 2002, when The Last Broadcast was radio fare.  So it's not really new.  But I haven't found myself interested in Doves since Lost Souls; like many bands that make it big, the pressure of a wide listening audience ended up diluting their sound.  However, Lost Souls was a good album with a lot of great songs, the best by far being "The Cedar Room."  I say this with minimal effect from nostalgia; while I still hear many songs from that period through ruby-tinted speakers, including other Doves songs, this one really holds its own 5 years later.

The longest song on the album, it recalls the very best of brit-rock from the era.  And although saturated bass, layered guitars, and steady drumming sound sweet, they aren't especially memorable in and of themselves. It's the songwriting and melody that are fantastic - at more than seven minutes, every second passes pleasurably, and it's been playing regularly in my Winamp for half a decade.  This is one of those songs I think everyone should have, but probably a lot of people missed when it was just floating around as a single.  Definitely worth your time.

Here's "The Cedar Room," by Doves.

Grails - Burning Off Impurities

The last album I had by Grails was more of a compilation - the work of several years compressed into one excellent 45-minute journey.  I'm not sure what I was expecting from this album, but whatever it was, I have been pleasantly surprised.  The noodling, eclectic ephemera of Black Tar Prophecies has been replaced by a kind of Eastern European/old-school Kinski sound.  It's dark, it's loud, it's layered, and it's very good.  I feel that Grails now has the cred to stand on equal footing with such giants of the genre as Mogwai, Mono, Do Make Say Think, and hey why not, Godspeed.  Of course, Grails doesn't have nearly the discography under their belt as, well, any of those guys.  But given a little time, and given how much they have (in my opinion) improved and tightened their sound and songscaping abilities, I have faith that won't be a problem for too much longer.

The album opens slowly but strongly with "Soft Temple," introducing you to what is a theme throughout the album (and genre) - the building up of instruments, the slow twisting of dials towards that "10," and more specifically to Grails, a sort of foreboding bass section accented very well by the drums, which are played with tactful restraint.  The banjo, piano, bass and tambourine make for an sound that is hard to identify as one thing or another... and in the end, that it sounds "foreign" is all that can be concluded.  The album is well produced, and the soft beginning blends faultlessly into the ear-pounding crescendo without you even noticing.  "Silk Road" is placed in between two atmospheric tweener tracks I could probably do without, and is a sort of drawn-out spice-seeking caravan of a song, sounding like the background music for a scimitar fight.  "Outer banks" follows the mold as well, with a bouncing, insistent beat and concise drumming.  The title track is probably my favorite, mating an easy-listening intro to a fantastically well-paced blowup at the end.  It sounds to me like storm clouds gathering over the Gobi desert and just dumping rain and sleet on a bunch of insane monks.

This is an excellent album and even if the whole thing isn't for you, there are at least a couple songs that are pretty difficult not to like if you're even slightly into bands like those I mentioned above.  These guys have a well-crafted and unique sound, like Kinski crossed with Pelt, and I mean that in the most complimentary possible sense.  Give it a shot, you won't regret it.  And turn that fool volume up.

Here's "Burning Off Impurities," by Grails.

bonus! This album was released on Temporary Residence, my favorite label.  Go buy it!
 

Deerhunter - Deerhunter

Their debut album, this 30-minute LP was also known at the time as "Turn It Up Faggot," which was apparently a common taunt during their early shows.  Not surprisingly, the album is often referred to as their "self-titled debut."  I bought it at the Deerhunter/Ponys show because I'd never heard of it, and wanted to know what their early sound was.  Now let's be clear: this sounds nothing like Cryptograms.  I do not recommend this album to people who do not like noise rock.  It's abrasive, it's noisy, it's unpolished, and honestly if I heard it before Cryptograms, I would never have guessed it was the same band.  But still, it deserves a listen because while they don't sound as good as (or at all like) they would later, this album carves a relatively unique sound.  I don't listen to that much noise rock, but I can say that I'm reminded of some early Hot Snakes tracks, and maybe with some of the rawness and jarring atonality of something like Shellac.  It's hard to nail it down, but at the very least it's quite loud.  I've been listening to it in my car but now having ripped it to my hard drive, I can hear that it's actually pretty well recorded and clean.

If you're not paying attention, the tracks are going to run together; some are meant to, but they have common elements anyway: heavy bass, trashy and noisy guitars, and layered, distorted voice courtesy of the dangerously thin, sun-dress-wearing-dude of a singer.  While they tend to spoil the songs a bit by blowing them up into noisy climaxes instead of a logical, controlled conclusion, there are some excellent grooves that turn up, the first being "Adorno," largely due to the excellent bass and mantra-like vocals.  The band has gotten better lyrically since then, as there is a lot of repetition and use of the vocals as simply controlled noise on this album.  Some tracks, like "Ponds," have more complicated structures and change things up more, but for some reason that track isn't as compelling as the more sort of fundamentally good tracks like "Oceans" and "Basement," the latter of which actually begins to hint at their more psych-based offerings to come, though not nearly as well-done as newer tracks like, say, "Strange Lights."  The album closes with the deafening and terrifying "Death Drag," which takes the mantric vocal and noisy buildup approach to a whole new level.

It's a freaky album to be sure, and I really can't recommend it to people who don't either A: already like noise rock or B: already like Deerhunter.  If you're curious (as I was) that's good too, but be prepared for some weird, noisy stuff.

Here's "Adorno," and "Basement," by Deerhunter.

edit: corrected ... I do recommend it to SOME people

OLO - 011

I dare you to find anything substantial about this "band."  The closest thing I can find is this site, and even there I can find no record of this song.  I found it on another thing which apparently doesn't exist on the internet, a compilation called But It's Not Really Music... (A Post Rock Odyssey).  Go ahead, google "post rock odyssey" - there are four results.  Four!  But I found some cool music on it; if I knew where to buy it, I would.  This was just one track that stood out, a sort of synth-rock adventure, a cross between Macha and Black Moth Super Rainbow.  I had it stuck in my head for a few days before I even figured out what it was.  I'm going to see what else I can dig up, but in the meantime check this fun little track.

Here's "011," by OLO ... or at least, I think that's what it's/they're called.

Land of the Loops - Multi-Family Garage Sale

I've moved out of the loop genre for the most part, except when it's something a little weirder and heavier like The Psychic Paramount in the last post, but this track has a special place in my heart.  My brother had this CD and it was kind of an introduction to this type of music - lots of samples, loops, beats, but light-hearted and easy to like, not all serious and "chill" like so many DJs.  There's not much to say about it, this is just a fun little track that goes on my list of "songs that always make me smile" along with the Comas' "Moonrainbow," Architecture in Helsinki's "Spring 2008," and the Magnetic Fields' "Acoustic Guitar" among others.  Hope you enjoy it!

Here's "Multi-Family Garage Sale," by Land of the Loops.
p.s. I've always loved the cover art.

The Psychic Paramount - Origins and Primitives Vol's 1 and 2

It's hard to imagine what could have spawned the many-headed, fire-breathing monstrosity that is Gamelan Into The Mink Supernatural.  That album was so unexpected that I never thought to look up whether these guys had any earlier records.  The answer is apparently "no," from a perusal of their catalog at No Quarter Records, but they did release this compilation of home-recorded experiments, which cover a wide range of musical styles, but only hint at the power they would later be harnessing.  Although it sounds little like their other release, it's a great collection of music and one I can easily recommend for any fans of of, say, Fridge, Deerhunter, Eluvium, and other experimental yet accomplished artists.  However, if you are not a fan of loops or delay pedals, I suggest you turn around now and walk away.

To begin with, there is an alternative version of the furious Gamelan track "Echoh Air," which on this record is, like all the other tracks here, sans drums.  This version is a little slower and has more room for the guitar/bass interplay to show through.  "Microphone II," the longest track in the collection, is a meandering sonic landscape that, while slightly overlong, has a cool sound to it.  "E5" sounds like, if anything, like "Red Ink" or some other tweener track from Deerhunter's Cryptograms.  It's nice, showing an ear for texture.  "Dsinter Blues Recorder" is my favorite track on Origins - although it is somewhat repetitive, I love the layered and looped guitars and the sort of gestalt rhythm that form from them.  "Melancholy I" shows the band's unplugged and basic side, and similarly "Sorcerer" is a less processed version of "Dsinter Blues Recorder."  "The Perfect Request" uses the same layering of acoustic guitars, but also adds a sort of drone layer that eventually overpowers the chime of the guitars.

Basically, it's an interesting, and good, record but not particularly focused and certainly not as terrifying as Gamelan.  People looking for an atmospheric psych-out fix should definitely check this out - and if you were scared off by the other Psychic Paramount record, let this one be a gateway for you.

Here's "Dsinter Blues Recorder," by The Psychic Paramount.

Lichens - Ömns

I had Lichens' last release (I believe), "The Psychic Nature of Being," but somehow lost it.  I remember it being mysterious, calm, and pretty weird.  That's what I came in expecting with Ömns, and I think that's exactly what I got.  These chilled-out soundsmiths have an absolutely amazing control over the tone of their music, and however they managed to create these great textures and soundscapes (most likely trial and error), they sound great.

There are few artists that use the human voice truly as an instrument.  It's one of the things I seek out, so I have lots of examples in my library, but on the whole I find that the voice is just that, a voice.  It's recognizable and celebrated for what it is.  But I find Lichens and a few other bands (Howard Hello for one) use the voice as something more basic: basically, a string to be bowed.  The first song, "Vevor of Agassou," reminds me of parts of The Wind-Up Bird's Whips in the way it layers voices as Joseph Grimm layers strings.  It never reaches the saturated level of that artist's excellent release, but it has the same
strange power.  "Faeries" takes the voice-scape idea to another level, as the track contains almost entirely layered voice.  "Bune" reminds me, if anything, of the beautiful soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man," which is almost entirely solo guitar by Neil Young.  Lichens has absolutely nailed the tone of the guitar, and the track is nearly 9 minutes devoted to exploring its rich, strange sound.  "M St r ng W tchcr ft L v ng n Sp r t" is a little more traditional-sounding, if you don't count the 10-minute wilderness and birdsong solo at the end.  "Sighns" is a beautiful, beautiful track; its only flaw is its short runtime.  It's another tone experiment, and the closest thing I can come up with to compare is one of Sir Richard Bishop's older releases, recorded softly with a sort of sonic halo about the notes.  I imagine it's what the world sounds like after you've drowned.

So this is a weird album, but it's also beautiful, interesting and original.  It's calm but evocative, and certainly worth checking out.
Here is "Vevor of Agassou" and here's "Sighns," by Lichens.

Moody Blues - Go Now

I found this on one of my Mom's CD's.  When I think "Moody Blues" I think "soft rock," I think "Crosby."  But as it turns out, they burst onto the scene in 1964 with their version of this song, and it's awesome.  It's old-school brit-pop of the best sort, and I've been listening to it nonstop for the last week or so.  I doubt I'm unearthing a forgotten gem here; after all, it was a #1 single in the UK.  But I hadn't heard it, so maybe some of you haven't yet, either.  Enjoy, this post is mainly to add a little roughage to the next week or so's posts, which will contain almost entirely very long psychedelic rock.

Here's "Go Now" by the Moody Blues.

The Psychic Paramount - Gamelan Into The Mink Supernatural

I'm under the influence.  I'm not in my right mind.  Because right now I'm listening to this album for the fourth time in a row.  Even when I got Deerhunter's album, I wasn't as immediately crushed by the music so much that I had to hear it again to be sure it was that awesome.  Maybe when I first heard Don Caballero's "Sure We Had Knives Around" I had to rewind it a few times, but that was playful - this is deadly serious..  Maybe on Earthless' album, I had to check to make sure it really was two 20-minute guitar freakouts in a row, but neither of those tracks rival the balls-out intensity and chest-thumping power of this entire album.  I kind of hope these guys don't ever play in Seattle, because if they do, the City might burst into flame.  Again.

The album is entirely instrumental, and the band is made up of 3 guys.  One is playing 8,000 guitars, one has a bass strung with string theory, and then it's just Cthulhu on drums.  It opens with a sickening and disorientating blast of noise - it sounds exactly like the title, "Megatheion" - as if the music is a 10-mile monolith that has just sprung legs and crushed a suburb.  "Para5" is the track I am giving you.  It is as the players are actually on fire, and are trying to put out the fire by playing something as shocking and unbelievably awesome as possible.  It is divided into three parts, like the holy trinity, and I'm starting to wonder whether they're related.  "Echoh Air" comes on a little slower, but gets continually louder and more nuts until it fades into "X-Bisitations," which is less a guitar freakout than what appears to be an actual live recording of Hell (if Hell were awesome; I think not).  The title track starts with what sounds like a guitar loop, steadily building on it with more layers, drums, and bass, until at about 4 minutes or so you realize it has become quite loud, and by the time another few have gone by, it's positively deafening.

I think everybody should hear this album.  But it's pretty hard to prepare yourself.  I've listened to a lot of music and this is some of the most intense stuff I've heard in my life.  I'd like to congratulate The Psychic Paramount for creating some utterly punishing music that's also really, really good.

Here's "Para5," by The Psychic Paramount.

The Willowz - Cons and Tricks

A true one-song post - I've never heard another song by these guys, ever.  I heard this on the radio probably a year ago and it's as good now as it was then.  It's got a kind of spitting Sonic Youth spirit, but it's more poppy.  I can't say I enjoy the singer's enunciation (wrong = rahhh-ow-ong) but it works in the context of the song.  It's basically good straightforward noisy guitar rock, with a little twist of extra instrumentation.  Not much else to say; just give it a listen, eh?  I said, EH?
Here's "Cons and Tricks," by the Willowz.

Grails - Black Tar Prophecies Vol.'s 1, 2, and 3

It's trouble for the humble music reviewer when a band likens itself to nothing in recent memory.  The closest thing on the map is probably Cul De Sac, and those guys are pretty much off the map to begin with.  These people don't even have the common decency to pigeonhole themselves into something as vague as "post-rock"!  And with members hailing from Neurosis, Yellow Swans, and M. Ward, you can't even categorize them on origins, as Slint-based or Pumpkins-based bands can be.  Of course, in the end, no one really cares what box they check under "genre" - because their music is awesome, categorized or not.

The first two tracks are relatively easygoing, letting you into their weird, mystical little world with a little hand-holding.  "Belgian Wake-Up Drill" tricks you into thinking it's like that too, but just when you think you're listening to Colleen, Grails headbutts you in the kneecaps.  The laid-back Cuban stylings of "Smokey Room" soothe your aching joints, though.  The rest of the album is just as solid as the first half, and the undefinable antics of the remaining tracks are both entertaining and compelling.

I found this album very easy to like and surprisingly easy to listen to considering how variable and unorthodox the sound is.  Several times I've listened through the whole thing without realizing it, but not because it's wallpaper music, but because it's easy to get lost in, like Charalambides and other mystical-type music.  I really think people should give this a shot.  Furthermore, they're now releasing their new album on Temporary Residence, easily one of the best labels out there, so you know they have good taste.

Here's "Belgian Wake-Up Drill," and "Erosion Blues," by Grails.

Grizzly Bear - Horn of Plenty

(warning - I'm late to the party on this one)
It's another one of those albums where I had no idea what was coming.  Well, I had some idea, but it was buried so deep in my "music to get" txt file that I could barely remember.  Lo-fi pop, I think I thought.  Folk.  Well, I was almost right.  Grizzly Bear has a cool thing going on - their music is relatively simple, but subtle and very good.  They remind me of Parsley Sound first, in their hushed Simon and Garfunkel-esque vocals.  Then it's like a shot of the Shins' first album, but furry and de-jangled.  Lastly, there's a hint of the naive brilliance of Remora, whose simple melodies couldn't be called accomplished, but whose essential knowledge of making compelling music is unquestionable.  I might even throw a little Kallikak Family in there, just to make a sort of hipster four-play.

There's an experimental quality to the music as well; for example, "Alligator" has the distorted, unearthly sound of Black Moth Super Rainbow, and the vocals of "Disappearing Act" and "Showcase" tread where Elliot Smith only dabbled.  The songwriting is hit-and-miss, to be honest.  For every sure thing like "Don't Ask" there is a misstep like "Fix it," where you see where they were going but you can tell they didn't get there.  While I understand the members of the band to be pretty accomplished, the music is far from technically good.  The bulk of the harmony is created by multitracked vocals, which can be great but can't always create the right sound for a song.

In any case, since I'm so far behind the times, I look forward to stepping right into these guys' newer releases; perhaps they've smoothed out the hiccups in the last couple years.  I guess there is also a set of remixes out there, though I don't see this music lending itself too well to any new mixes.  Still, this is a great album and even if you don't like the whole thing, there are some songs that are too good to pass up.  Here are the first two.

Here's "Deep Sea Diver" and "Don't Ask," by Grizzly Bear.

Robosexual's Top 10 Album Openers

Funny story - I was on top of this medium-sized mountain in the middle east and tripped over these two big, flat rocks.  I turned back to curse them and saw they were covered in writing, so got my crayons out and did a rubbing.  I was going to give it to the scholars in that area, but as I was passing through this wonderful garden I heard a sibilant whisper in my ear: "Pooossssst it... posssst it!"  I was skeptical.  Who was this mystery benefactor who gave such unquestionably good advice?  I don't know - I didn't look, and they won't let me back in now to find out.  86'd from paradise!

So, then, here are Robosexual's Top 10 Album Openers.  This list is for those songs that come on right away, and for whatever reason immediately impress you.  All genres are allowed, except for the ones that suck (you know what I'm talking about).  The order is semi-arbitrary.  By the way, if an mp3 is weird or incomplete, tell me so.  The uploader was being shady.

10. The Beastie Boys - License To Ill - "Rhymin & Stealin"
I know - obvious, right?  But I guess the almighty G-D loves this album as much as everyone else.  He probably just wanted to get this out of the way.  Really, when your first track is a concept rap about sailing the seven seas, you get on the list.  I'm not uploading this song because... come on, you've probably got this in your cassette deck right now.  Admit it.  Well, HE knows.

9. Black Keys - Thickfreakness - Title track
This was the first song of theirs I ever heard, and it only took about 10 seconds for me to realize I'd been missing out on an incredible band.  The sound on this track in particular is great - chunkier than their debut but without losing any of the soul.  Their reliance on old-school technology paid off big time.  I still think The Big Come Up is a better album, though.

8. Alaska! - Emotions - "The Western Shore"
If there were a top 10 worst album names, Emotions would be a real contender.  Fortunately, it shines in the opening track, which is just one of the most straightforward and awesome post-OK Computer alternative rock songs, period.  Lots of qualifiers, but also lots of quality.  Shame the rest of the album didn't live up to the example, but this track sure made you believe it would.

7. Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space - Title track
Certainly one of the most beautiful songs recorded by these guys, this was more than just a first track, though - it was like getting getting dunked in reverb and multitracked by Jason Spaceman himself.  As far as I know, it's the only song in the world that sounds like ... whatever it sounds like, and it's fantastic.  Luckily, the rest of the album was as transcendent and skillfully made as this track.

6. Oval - Ovalcommers - Untitled (Track 1)
Robosexual veterans will be familiar with this charming little ditty.  Composed from, apparently, a thousand modems crying out at once, then being torn to pieces by wild routers, this absolutely stunning track resets my brain every time I hear it.  I can't concentrate, and it's not just because of the noise.  It's because nothing in the world sounds like Oval, and even if something did, it wouldn't be as good because Markus Popp simultaneously created the genre and the pinnacle of the genre.  This song is like a quasar going off in your ear, and you'll know within one second whether you like it - and the entire album.

5. The Crystal Method - Vegas - "Trip Like I Do"
Don't tease me.  If you don't like Vegas, you'll have to take it up with the Almighty Tetragrammaton who made this list.  Seriously.  It may be out of date, and these guys may only do Gap commercials now for all I know, but this album was the definition of techno, and the first track is the best techno song ever made.  It's an epic blast from the near past, when you could either listen to these guys, the Backstreet Boys, or Cake.  The choice was obvious, and even though I've moved on from The Crystal Method (and anyone like them, really), this song shines fluorescent green in my memory, a glowstick in history.

4. Howard Hello - S/T - "Television"
I've tricked a lot of people with this song.  Its soothing melody would attract a listener of any age or persuasion, and once it gets its hooks in you... it starts to twist.  This track seeks to ease you into the Howard Hello world, which it does beautifully, except for the traffic noises for the last 20 seconds.  Howard Hello's self-titled album remains a strange bird in my collection - it's not easily identifiable as any kind of music at all, and while it's wonderful to listen to throughout, you can never say it really reminds you of anything - so it stands apart as a sad but lovely little island.  Sadly, his second album was atrociously bad.  Don't Drink His Blood, indeed.

3. Comets On Fire - Avatar - "Dogwood Rust"
They should have issued a press release with this album: "Comets On Fire would like to inform the world that they have conceded to their fans' wishes, and reluctantly done what they always knew we were capable of: creating one of the best songs ever, in history, period.  Don't bug us any more and let us do our thing."  This song wastes no time on fussy intros like so many others on this list.  Instead, it plops you down, in media res, to be stunned by sheer virtuoso musicianship.  No one else could make a song like this, and in my eyes it is the standard to which all medium-length rock-ish songs are to be compared.  Everything is exactly perfect, and yet it sounds like they threw it together for a kick.  If anyone is ever skeptical that something outside the mainstream, or outside the indie mainstream or whatever, is worth listening to, this is what I play them.

2. godspeed you! black emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven - "Storm"
You knew they were going to end up on here.  The grand-daddies of post rock, what these guys accomplished with their first few albums is likely not to be equaled by any comers.  I considered "The Dead Flag Blues" as another contender, but honestly I like the monologue better than the song, and "Storm" is too good for people not to hear.  Sure, Yanqui U.X.O. was kind of stale, and the group has split up into about 12 side projects, but that can't do anything to tarnish the brilliance of this song or the others on the album.  The whole song gives you an impression of mastery and majesty - this is exactly what they had in their heads, and it's absolutely amazing.  CAUTION: This song is TWENTY MINUTES LONG.

1. Secret Machines - September 000 - "Marconi's Radio"
Ah yes.  In my opinion, this is the best opening track in my musical library.  Instead of describing it to you again, why don't you just take a look at it, or check out my lengthy review, most of which is about this song.

Here are some honorable mentions: Character, Hot Snakes, Red Sparowes, Radiohead, Portishead, Pink Floyd, Do Make Say Think, Set Fire To Flames, Shalabi Effect, Reigning Sound, Ratatat, Olivia Tremor Control, Matmos, Appleseed Cast... and lots of others.

So was YOUR favorite not listed?  Not surprising!  Mysterious ways, indeed.  Who knew the Lord was into Post Rock?  Anyway, why don't you share your opinion... below.

Bach - Violin Sonata in G, Andante (BWV 1027)

Don't worry, this isn't part of a plan to overhaul Robosexual into a classical site.  But I've had this song stuck in my head since I saw it played at a recital in London.  And you have to admit that no matter what your taste in music, it can always use a little more Bach.

At Benaroya the other day part of the program was a tribute to John Williams, the composer behind, well, most film scores.  The music was good but there must have been something like 35 instruments playing all at once, not to mention a 50-piece choral ensemble.  I had to run home and listen to this beautiful, straightforward piece for two instruments whose haunting melody pursued me all the way from the UK.

I love the harpsichord, which is part of it, but I also love how capricious the melody is, going from somber to uplifting in the space of a trill.  We'll be return to our normal programming shortly, but in the meantime hit the link and see if it tickles your fancy.

Here's Bach's "Sonata in G, Andante."

Russian Circles - Enter

Where can a guy get some good instrumental post-metal?  The last Red Sparowes album was slightly disappointing, mainly because the first one was so good.  Pelican is okay but spotty.  Mono and Don Cab have different styles going on.  Where can you get something new, chunky, and technical without those grating vocals?  Well, I'll give you a hint, it starts with an "R," and ends in "ussian Circles."  This is a relatively new band (their first EP was in 2004) from Chicago with, I guess, some pedigree due to their previous bands.  They play dynamic, well-planned instrumental metal, much like Red Sparowes and Pelican, but with their own flavor.

One bass, one guitar, and a drummer are all it takes to create their very full sound, but they also emphasize instruments, whether by solo or careful production.  They are also a fan of the soft-loud-soft thing, though not as all-out soft as Mono and Red Sparowes get at times.  There is also more of a quick, steady beat, unlike the slumbering giant of Mono or mind-breaking dynamism of Don Cabellero.  The album begins with some atmospherics and a mathy bass line broken by sibilant drums and chunky guitars - I was afraid they wouldn't differentiate themselves but they did shortly.  I just had to have a little faith - the robotic guitar peeping in around 4:30 is an excellent example of using an effect sparingly and well.  They're good at creating different sounds and combinations thereof - I found Pelican to be monotonous sometimes because their instruments were too well-defined, but here there are many different things to hear.  The same is basically true for the other tracks - they're constantly changing, and usually the new thi ng is well-timed and sounds good, although there are a few sour spots.  I haven't listened to the album enough to pick real favorites but there are no skipper tracks or really even parts that don't work for long enough that you notice.  This is a truly solid album.

So if you're jonesing for a little ear punishment, look no further.  This is a keeper, worthy of being put on your rack next to Under the Pipal Tree and At The Soundless Dawn.  Hope you enjoy it.

Here's "Carpe," by Russian Circles.
Uh, that file took like 5 years to upload due to shady wi-fi, so if there are any glitches in it let me know and I'll replace it.

A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Scribble Mural Comic Journal

This is a good album, and nothing like I expected from reading about it.  It's a little like listening to Gang Gang Dance, Yume Bitsu and Saturday Looks Good To Me at the same time... inside your dryer.  It's kind of disorientating, but occasionally sublime.  It's difficult to describe, so I'll keep this short.

The rhythm is steady, with a dance-y kick drum providing a sort of pulse almost constantly.  There are guitars with a lot - a lot - of reverb and phase on them making things sort of dreamy and strange.  The ghostly vocals echo around you maddeningly, and occasionally drop out to allow the occasional extended instrumental trip.  The general sound of the record is pretty constant; tracks are different, but not that different from one another.  Some are better than others: "5:15 Train" is almost inarguably the best song on the record, while the next track, "Lists, Plans" seems unfocused and unconcerned about melody.  An interesting exception is the atmospheric "Panic Attacks Are What Make Me 'Me,'" which sounds like a cross between Loscil and old Manitoba.  I understand one guy does the music and his sisters do the vocals, so this must be an example of his "solo material."  Well, good!  Make more!

This album is definitely worth taking a look at if you can handle the sort of sensory overload at which it excels.  Give these songs a shot and see what they're about.  Since I'm so late to the party with this band they probably have another album out by now, so check that one out too if it exists - and get back to me.

Here's "5:15 Train," and "Panic Attacks Are What Make Me "Me," by A Sunny Day In Glasgow.

Asobi Seksu - S/T

You've probably heard this New York band's newer album, Citrus, being played around.  I listened to that one, but it didn't really grab me.  However, I'm planning on giving it another chance after hearing their self-titled debut.  This album is like a smörgåsbord of delicious post-rock and shoegaze goodness, and god bless the spellchecker for putting the dots above the o and a in that word.  Under pressure, I'd say that the band sounds like a sort of poppier A Beautiful Machine, but that's reaching.  Still, there are many soaring, roaring, wall-of-guitar moments throughout the album, with the sort of overdriven, twisted sound A Beautiful Machine and other extremely distorted psych bands cultivate.  There's songwriting here, too, and while I can't say it's super good, it provides a welcome structure for the music, even though it gets a little too radio-friendly at times.

The singer often uses Japanese, which I'm more used to than most due to listening to things like The Pillows, though it still vexes me.  The cadence of the language doesn't work for me in this context, which is unfortunate but far from an insurmountable barrier.  The first couple songs are good, but not really memorable - the chorus guitar blasts catch your attention from time to time, but the verse sections are pretty mundane.  "Walk On The Moon" is more compelling, but overstays its welcome somewhat.  "Let Them Wait" is a great, concentrated little song with more guitar than you could even hope for.  "It's Too Late" is probably the highlight of the album - the longest song at over seven minutes, it's basically an example of soft-to-loud gone horribly right.  Like old Mogwai, it teases you for a while but really pays off in the end - the wail of the guitars during the climax is sublime, and the rest of the song is extremely good as well.  They could have spun it out longer, but it would sound stretched; they could have compressed it, but it would feel... well, compressed.  It sounds just right, moves just right, and is a fantastic song from tip to tail, which is why you'll find it below.  "Asobi Masho" is a fun little tweener track that would work great as a mix-CD opening track, and "Stay" is a sort of mini-"It's Too Late," good but less epic.

This is a surprisingly good album, solid all the way through with several standout tracks.  They've got a good sound going on, although I can't say original, and they have a good sense for how to make their songs work, long or short format.  It came out in 2004 so it should be pretty easy to find, and I highly recommend that you do that.

Here's "It's Too Late," by Asobi Seksu.

Jesu - Silver

I held off on Jesu for a long time.  Due to some bad information, I think I had them pegged in my mind as a cross between like Sleep and Drive Like Jehu - which is not only wrong, but makes no sense.  Fortunately, I bit the bullet one day and listened to their self-titled album.  It was awesome.  While I was listening, I kept thinking, "What the hell, music this heavy has no right to be this good."  But then I remembered how good stuff like Red Sparowes, heavy Mogwai, and other punched-in-the-ear bands can be so great, and I gave myself up to the crackling, ear-splitting roar that is Jesu.  The reason I'm not reviewing that album is because I tend to listen to it all the way through without thinking about it (like while I'm playing SNES games) and I fail to mark any particular songs that impress me individually.  But I've been listening to this EP/Short LP for a while now and, well, I felt like it.

The title song is the classic Jesu sound.  Crunchy guitar assailing you from both channels while slow drums and keyboards back it up.  A good amount of quiet-to-loud moments.  Good, abrasive times.  The second track doesn't fare nearly as well, mainly due to the emo vocals.  There are vocals in other songs, but they don't sound like Dashboard Confessional, so they don't bug me.  The instrumental parts are all right, but you're better off hitting >>.  "Wolves," the next track, sounds like it's going to be a retread of "Silver," but you're wrong - it's 23 seconds longer.  Okay, it is actually different, but it's the same structure with different words, chords, etc - but essentially it's the same.  Which is a good thing.  The final track, "Dead Eyes," is badass.  It's what Mogwai should be sounding like right about now, like Happy Songs For Happy People, but with more balls.  It also drops out completely right in the middle and gives way to a completely uncouth guitar part that sounds like it's being played by a guy with a goat mask on and a pentagram-shaped guitar.

Highly recommended for anyone into accessible noise rock.  And if you're already down with Jesu and haven't heard this EP, go for it, it's definitely worth it.

Here's that last track, "Dead Eyes," by Jesu.

Psychic Ills - Dins

Once again, another album the popularity of which I am not sure of.  I heard it in a coffee shop, but the girl who played it was also into some pretty random stuff, so maybe they're not so big as I think.  Regardless of how well-known the band is, however, they make some pretty awesome psych rock.  Like a cross between The Jesus & Mary Chain and Bardo Pond, they have a sound that is classic and easily placeable yet relatively distinctive.  I won't say original, I think, because they are treading ground well mapped by the likes of Spacemen 3, My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized, and any other psychedelic/space rock outfit you can think up.  Still, that just means that Psychic Ills have roots, like any other good band.

The album isn't very... well, songy.  I mean, there are songs, but they're more like distinctions between sections - mile markers along a single psychedelic road.  Opening with a sort of Far-East overture, then moving seamlessly into the next track, the first song doesn't really start for a few minutes, and if you weren't already convinced of the band's quality (as I was) it may try your patience.  Soon, though, the music starts in earnest.  As you might expect, there are phasers involved.  There is quite a bit of layering and hypnotic vibration in the guitars, which travel on their own, seeking a tonic which does not exist for that level of distortion.  The vocals are obscured by reverb and rendered somewhat androgynous, but they add a nice hazy layer to the music.  The bass and drums are more rhythmic more than musical, and most of the real music is done in the high end.

There are really only four songs on the album, with introductory/separating tracks of various length and nature.  The first two are more straightforward, but the last two are more enjoyable to me.  What's the point of an instrumental break if it's only 45 seconds long?  "I Knew My Name" addresses this question by beginning the song - this is after the 2-minute intro track, you understand, which was trippy enough - with a further 4 minutes of hot bass-on-drums action before breaking into the song proper.  This raises the question of whether it was in fact an instrumental break, or whether they are just having a vocal break from an instrumental song.  Lao Tzu pondered the same question.  Sort of.  Anyway, after another tweener track, you have the album-ending "Another Day Another Night," which is excellent but more fun than the other songs, which makes you feel weird.  Should you be having fun?  This is serious music!  Stop bobbing your knee!  Knit your brow!

I hear these guys are pretty nuts live, too, so if you see them posted on a wall somewhere, write down the date.  As good as this album is, I get the feeling it's only a shadow of what they're like live, improvising at full volume.

Here's "I Knew My Name," by Psychic Ills.
Well!  That file's definitely 16 megabytes... that'll take nice and long to download.  It's good though.

Hot Snakes - Hatchet Job

Hot Snakes' Suicide Invoice is one of my favorite albums.  In my music collection, I've got representatives from every genre, but a sound that's sorely lacking is rock.  Not classic rock, not psych rock, not rock n' roll, but just rock.  It's so hard to find a good band these days that just rocks.  Fortunately the Hot Snakes were ready for that complaint.  However, as good as that album was, I couldn't get into their next, Audit In Progress.  I thought they sped it up too much, didn't spend enough time writing, and just weren't feeling it enough.  Of course, it wasn't all bad - in the middle was a good stretch of tracks, the best of which was "Hatchet Job."

I won't waste time describing the sound too much to you - basically just awesome, tight playing on the bass and guitars front, with real rhythm guitar and melody guitar integration, part of what made Suicide Invoice so good.  The singer half sings, half barks the lyrics, just the way I liked it before (his vocals on Audit In Progress sound lackluster in general), and the song itself mutates and progresses, unlike its friends on the album, which went for a more punk-ish feel with less melody and travel.  In any case, it's a good addition to anyone's library, so give it a whirl and if you feel more charitable than I toward their newer sound, go get yourself the album.

Here's "Hatchet Job," by Hot Snakes.
I didn't already review this album, did I?  My memory is starting to go.

Eluvium - Copia

It's the new one!  If you're unfamiliar with Eluvium, check out the other Robosexual reviews.  His last full-length, Talk Amongst The Trees, was a far more atmospheric affair than his earlier piano-only work, and the newer EP When I Live By the Garden and the Sea was a mixture of both.  The feel of the latter is what pervades on Copia.  There's a little more orchestration, more instruments, but it's not the gauzy, narcotic drone of Talk Amongst The Trees.  I kind of miss that sound, but there's enough of it on that album to satisy.  So, if he began with a keyboard, moved on to his guitar and loopstation, Copia is where he seems to be experimenting with a more diverse instrumentation within each song and within the album itself.  Violins and oboes speak to one another on "Requiem for Frankfort Avenue," while many-stringed drones make up "Seeing You Off the Edges" and "After Nature," whiel the solo piano of "Radio Ballet" would feel very comfortable on An Accidental Memory In Case Of Death.  The long tracks are pretty and don't overstay their welcome, but they also don't have the strength of his older long format songs like "Taken" or "Behind Your Trouble" - the first of which gets better with time and the second of which is like a mini-EP.

To be honest, some of the tracks sound more like Max Richter than Eluvium, which is only bad if you don't like Max Richter.  I have always liked Eluvium's different sound, however, and while I like all the tracks, I'm concerned that his new instrument set is making his compositions less distinctive.  That sounds harsher than it is, because both artists are very skilful, and there are certainly enough tracks on Copia the likes of which you won't find anywhere else.

Here's "After Nature," and here's "Amreik," by Eluvium.

Growing - His Return

[Classic Robosexual. Updated with working mp3 link]
This is a pretty easy album to review.  Three tracks and no irritating long song names or movements, no maps to the music or divisions within tracks.  If you've listened to Growing before, you'll know vaguely what to expect (Here is the Robosexual review of The Soul Of The Rainbow And The Harmony Of Light), but if you haven't, let me break it down for you.  Growing makes a sort of noisy, droney music along the lines of a Windy & Carl with more distortion, or some random psychedelic band's instrumental break drawn out to album length.  It's music to live in and have take over your whole head.  It's thick, powerful, and well-done - and if you can imagine other songs as punctuated lines, chorus-verse-break etc, imagine Growing as a big, fat green brush stroke that encompasses your whole sonic field of view.  That's a little much, maybe.

The first track, "In the Shadow of the Mountain," which you will hear, is my favorite.  It begins with a shimmering, chopped up guitar that makes reappearances frequently, along with some kind of maraca. Then come the other guitars.  The big ones.  You think it's loud now?  Don't worry!  About 4 more layers of distortion are coming. Despite all the layers and samples, Growing still finds room to get some honest melodies in there.  They don't stray too far from the base, and it's mainly just augmenting the single chord that makes up the whole song, but damn, it sounds good.  The next track, a midget by Growing standards at 4 1/2 minutes long, is the only one in my mind that actually has vocals.  It throws me a little, but if you just consider the voice another instrument, it shouldn't distract you too much, and the rest of the song is great anyway.  "Wide Open" is a nice long track that doesn't pretend: what you hear is what you get, but it's going to get louder and louder until it cracks open and dies.  There is a little melody if you listen for it, and many layers to pay attention to, but don't expect a sudden change like they are wont to do sometimes.

It's great headphone music, and I love to read to it; the distortion doesn't distract me, somehow, and the melodies are pleasant enough that your mom might take a shine to them.  It's a nice album and if you like it they've got more... so quit reading, and start Growing!

Here's "In the Shadow of the Mountain," by Growing.

Deerhunter - Cryptograms

Sometimes you listen to an album and you think, "This... is an achievement."  You think about all the work that went into it and how the end result is as good as it is because of the planning and careful execution.  The Appleseed Cast's Low Level Owl is a great example of this.  But sometimes, you listen to an album that makes you think that music just flows naturally from some people and all they did was hit record.  Deerhunter's Cryptograms is one of these albums.  This music is exciting to me because I can feel about ten more good albums coming from these guys - because all they have to do is buy more tape.

This is a fantastic album, to begin with, but it sounds so natural, so effortless.  This is the sound of creative people in their stride.  It's also the sound of a band that doesn't care what you think.  Entire tracks are spent on abstract, meandering soundscapes you'd never even hear on college radio.  But then they spin around and in the space of a few beats have established an entire song before you realize what's happened.  They simultaneously channel and surpass The Kallikak Family, The Rapture, and Landing, and that's just on the first three tracks.  The Liars, The Shins, The Clientele, everyone ends up in the crosshairs and falls.  And yet it's totally their own sound.  The bass lines are strong and active, the drumming precise and catchy, and the guitars could cut diamond.  Many tracks blend seamlessly into each other, giving you the feeling of songs being part of a suite despite their wildly different styles.  Some other, less good-looking reviewers will tell you that the second half of the album is more accessible.  This is true, but misleading; the second half is more conventional.  It is more accessible, but it misses the sublime frenzy of the first half.  Throughout, though, they pay attention to details - little modulations of the pedals, extra sounds thrown in, guest instruments, and all that - it's all there, which may clue you in (though it failed to do so me) that this was in fact an album long in the making, with as much care as abandon.

This album reminds me of the Boredoms' Vision Creation Newsun.  Partly it's the spastic brilliance, the nonstop metamorphosis, but really it's the feel I described at the beginning of this review.  It's the sound of talented, creative people just opening the floodgates and letting the music pour out.  This is an album which no one who loves music can afford to miss.

Here's "Cryptograms," and here's "Octet," by Deerhunter.  Both awesome tracks.

note: the ID3 tag on "Octet" reads "Octet-Stream." I'm not sure why, but the former is the correct one.

The For Carnation

Slint is a well-known name for a good reason.  Spiderland is one of the earliest and most classic indie/post-rock albums, and the various members, with all their talents, moved on to play parts in many excellent bands.  Tortoise, Palace, Papa M/Aerial M, and a few more all featured a Slint member, and many more bands were seriously influenced by Slint's dark, elaborately constructed songwork.  The For Carnation is one of the splinter bands, formed by guitarist Brian McMahan.  When you press play, it's hard not to be surprised by the ... quietness of it.  But then, Slint's best songs featured a prominent quiet-to-loud component, and the quiet parts were just as well crafted as the loud.

Now, don't expect a Slint record - it's more like what Kepler would be like if the songwriter was evil instead of disaffected.  And I mean that in the best way.  The songs are very carefully done, the instrumentation is sparse but well-chosen, and the vocals, when they're there, are whisper-quiet but menacing and full of import.  The first track is a little slow to start, I'm afraid, but if you stick with it, it hits a nice groove.  "A Tribute To" is one of the best tracks, exemplifying the confident, restrained sound this album has.  "Being Held" is a sort of creepy instrumental led by a looped bell of some sort, good but not worth a mention outside this sentence.  "Snoother" put me off by its false start (sounds off-key) but it soon gets into beautiful territory, as does the final track, "Moonbeams," which grows slowly but nicely and was originally my favorite track.  I'm not sure what to think about "Tales (Live from the Crypt)" which has a totally different sound - well, not totally different, but using more twiddly knobs and a little vocoder.  It's still good, but I wonder if it shouldn't have been left on the cutting room floor.

In summary, this is an excellent album, but not for everybody.  It's great songwriting but it's pretty slow and might make your friends think you're depressed - or planning something.  Don't worry about them, though.  Just download this, it's a fantastic song from a great album.

Here's "A Tribute To," by The For Carnation.

p.s. it comes to my attention that The For Carnation has at least two other albums.  I'm definitely checking them out now, and you should too.

Mouse On Mars - Idiology

Electronic music - it certainly comes in all shapes and forms.  Sometimes you can't even tell whether it is or not.  That's kind of the best, because sometimes, you know, square waves can be distracting!  So, on the front line of semi-electronic music you have the obvious dudes like Four Tet and DNTEL (who I recently heard in a Cadillac commercial? Say it ain't so.), then you have somewhat lesser known outfits like Tape and Fonica.  Well, to be honest, I don't know where Mouse On Mars fits into that continuum.  But I am confident that they are on it somewheres-abouts.  In any case, this isn't even a new album so they could have risen to stardom or fallen into obscurity by now (someone tell me).  But all that is just fluff - what about the music?  Well, it's good.

The closest reference points I can think of are perhaps Daedalus and Minotaur Shock, whose Playing Parties and Maritime give me similar synthesized pleasure.  All three are playful in their songs while keeping an eye on the actual quality of the thing, and not letting the nonsense get out of hand, the way so many electronic artists do.  To be honest, there are plenty of spots I don't particularly like - for instance, the faux-hip-hop backbeat sound works all right on "Subsequence," but "Introduce" falls flat, lacking real substance.  The most interesting tracks are the ones with orchestral samples, like "The Illking" and "Fantastic Analysis," which use the orchestral swell to excellent and varied effect.  "Catching Butterflies With Hand" is sheer boppy joy, and even a weird little track like "Paradical" grows on you because of its unique, Oval-esque sound (if you wait around for about 45 seconds, anyhow).  So check this out, it's a great, weird little album with a fun, irreverent sound and a lot of genuinely original and enjoyable tracks.

Here's "Catching Butterflies With Hand," and "Paradical," by Mouse On Mars.

Lupine Howl - Sometimes

Yes!  It's another single-song post from the Audiogalaxy era.  This post will be short as I am totally ignorant of the artist and their discography.  All I know is that "Sometimes" is a great song.  Falling somewhere between Yume Bitsu and the Comas, this is some excellent, multi-layered space rock.  there are tons of guitars, effects and nonsense going on, but the overall sound is cohesive and sounds great.  Of course, there are 3 distinct sounds in this song - yes, it's one of those segmented songs, a sort of space-rock suite.  The first is laid-back and spacey, the second is faster and builds up a bit, the last is a sort of instrumental rock-out coda.  It's a really fun song, and although I remember reading a pretty damning review of their album (The Carnivorous Lunar Activities of Lupine Howl) this song makes me want to check it out anyway.  Their single "Vaporizer" was okay, but this song was too cool for school, I guess (or probably just too long), so you'd never have heard it on the radio when it was released in 2001.  Basically this is just a great space-rock song that you should all have.

Here's "Sometimes," by Lupine Howl.

Fursaxa - Lepidoptera

Fursaxa burst into prominence about a year and a half ago, I'd say, along with Devendra Banhart, Vashti Bunyan, Animal Collective and a few other so-called "freak-folk" acts.  Not that these people hadn't been around for a while - some for several decades - but the spotlight shone upon them as the genre of the month.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing - as always, these genre vogues work to introduce a lot of people to a lot of new music.  In my case I scored with Vashti Bunyan and Fursaxa, most of the others not being to my taste.  And now, gentle reader, if you don't have it already, I'm giving it to you.

There are a few bands I've recommended before that I say transport me.  This isn't necessarily a high compliment, it's just a description of the music.  I've said it about Charalambides and Espers, both part of the folk set (though by no means new).  The style of music is one you might expect at a gypsy witch doctor's (or something) - ethereal yet taut with content, deceptively complex though occasionally sounding simple to the ear.  If you let it, it will take you away - and sometimes even if you don't let it; Espers has a way of making me stop whatever I'm doing.  "Purple Fantasy" is the perfect example of this - jangling bells, an echoing flute, and a sound like a sea of bones command your attention although there is really no songwriting to speak of.  It's a sound that's original, foreign, and difficult to describe.

Other songs on the album have more structure - they sound like heathen singalongs, and you can almost hear the bonfire crackling.  When it is her intention to do so, Fursaxa is also capable of beautiful vocal harmonies, as evidenced by "Moonlight Sonata" and "Pyracantha."  Many tracks sound semi-improvised - wandering guitars, emotive wordless vocals, and no particular  starting or ending point.  "Poppy Opera" is the best of these, involving more sounds and more evolution within the song than the others.  The last two tracks highlight her drone-guitar abilities - they sound like Charalambides covering Growing, or vice versa.

So basically the album isn't your first choice for breaking into the recent folk-splosion - to be honest, I like Espers better across the board - but it's a good album nonetheless.  So if you like the sound of the two tracks here I'd go for the whole cookie because there's more wherefrom they came.  Enjoy...

Here is "Purple Fantasy" and here is "Pyracantha," by Fursaxa.

Shadow of the Colossus - Soundtrack

I don't know how many readers will be familiar with Shadow of the Colossus.  It's a game, for the Playstation 2 - and it's one of the best I've ever played.  I won't waste time describing or praising the game - you can read a review, or simply click on the picture there to get the gist of the game (here's a hint: you're not the big guy).  Among other ways, the game differed from many others in that it had a quality soundtrack by a real composer (Kow Otani - sure, it's not Chopin, but it sure ain't Nintendo music either).  Now, I'm not trying to say the entire soundtrack is solid gold here, but I downloaded it because I thought it'd be nice to hear a few of the tracks occasionally.  They're very evocative of the stark landscape you traverse during the game.  There are many themes, but the ones you'll be hearing the most (and the ones I enjoyed the most) were the opening theme and the music that happens as the colossi collapse.  I'm going to provide those here, but it seems you can get the whole soundtrack here if you're patient - there are ads and stuff but the content appears to be there.

If you haven't played the game, I'd say go get it now.  If you have, well, here you go!
Here's "Prologue - To The Ancient Land," and "The End Of The Battle," from the Shadow of the Colossus Soundtrack.

Amalgamated Sons of Rest

[Classic Robosexual, updated with a download]

So when people heard that Will Oldham (Palace Music), Alasdair Roberts (Appendix Out), and Jason Molina (Songs:Ohia) were getting together to make an album, their fans practically fainted.  These guys are each very accomplished in their own right, all in the field of sort of dark folk and songwriting.  The idea that they were going to form some kind of supergroup was shocking in its implications and people expected whatever resulted from the group would be some kind of century-defining, absolutely brilliant album, greater than the combined oeuvres of all three men and their contemporaries.  Of course, that didn't happen.  Instead, they released an EP of sea shanties.

Well, they aren't really sea shanties, but the topic at hand is whaling and seafaring, and there is a certain... salt air about the whole thing.  There are five songs officially and one secret track which I confess I have not heard.  I haven't spent much time peeling apart the writing credits and such, so I'm not sure who did what songs and such, and I think it's better that way.  There are obviously different styles at work here, and different voices, but it's hard to discern them when the sound of the record is so anachronistic and foreign.  These are the songs you might expect to hear sailors' lonesome wives singing to themselves as they hang up their laundry to dry in the wind, or perhaps a lone strummer in a darkened wharf bar is commanding all the old mates' attention with an old song they know by heart.  "Maa Bonny Lad" and "My Donal" seem more the former, and "The Last House" and "Major March" the latter.  Either way, they all have a very authentic feel to them - I find it hard to believe that the first two tracks aren't actually real mourning songs sung by those lonely wives, and the songwriting of the rest of the album is period-perfect, not breaking the spell either.  That said, I feel that "Gypsy He-Witch" is a bit of a misstep, sounding a little out of place among the longing and whale-oriented other tracks.  It sounds a little too much like regular Songs:Ohia.  That is not a bad thing in itself, but when listening to this I like to think I'm there in that dirty hovel, hearing some cracked-voiced local bard telling the story of his lost love whose bones are not buried facing west.

Here's "My Donal," by Amalgamated Sons of Rest.

Fred Astaire - Steppin' Out With My Baby

If you haven't heard of Fred Astaire, well, you have no indie cred, friend.  He's the hottest new thing out of Brooklyn, been getting a lot of buzz on the blogs, and I hear labels are lining up to produce and distribute the upcoming album.  Oh, wait - sike.

Anyway, this guy could dance, and he could sing, and while I'm actually quite ignorant of his history, discography, filmography, and so on, I know I have a few songs of his.  Whether they're from early 30s talkies or actual releases I don't know, but they have a great, warm sound and the guy has an absolutely classic voice.  I wish I had more music like this, and I wish you guys would tell me what to look up.  Feel free to leave any recommendations you have on other prewar piano jazz and dance masters.

Here are "Steppin' Out With My Baby" and "Putting On the Ritz," by Fred Astaire.
They're kind of low quality, but what did you expect?  These mp3s were encoded onto punch cards by Enigma machines in the 40's.  They didn't even have bytes then, they had to use stacks of bits.

[edit: thanks for the suggestions below - also check out "Footlight Parade" with James Cagney.  Got to see it on the big screen - more showtuney but still awesome]

Califone - Roots and Crowns

I believe this album may have already made the rounds in the blog scene, but it wouldn't be the first time I recommended something everyone already has.  In any case, if you've heard about it and are on the fence about picking it up, you can rest easy - it's a solid album.

For some reason, I've always gotten Califone confused in my head with Luna and some other band, which is ridiculous because they are apparently nothing alike and their names are totally different.  Anyway, I'm sorry I ignored the band for as long as I did, because they've got a great sound going on.  It's subtle but not sparse, and full-sounded without being dense.  I see them as a sort of cross between Wilco and Sin Ropas, which is certainly a compliment.  The instrumentation is interesting - you'll hear it from the first track: creative percussion, carefully tweaked guitars, and a layer of extra effects, electronic or otherwise, that add a lot of atmosphere to the tracks.  The sharp, noodling guitar providing a sort of call-and-response accompaniment to the verse on "Pink and Sour" is a great example - and when it's not there, there are keyboards or electronic samples buzzing around making the music bigger and more complex.  The singer has a relaxed drawl that works well with the music, and they are careful to make it work as a harmonic element as well - not like the Beach Boys or anything, mind, the guy's voice just works like a piano, softly accentuating but doing its own thing as well.

Now, I have to say that even if the rest of this album were garbage, I would still be making a single-song post about "Sunday Noises."  This is an absolutely stunning track.  The guitars sound great, playing around each other over sparse percussion and light organ, while the vocals stick in my head for days, and I can barely tell what the man is saying.  It's the best track on the album, in my opinion, but it's not the only good one by far.  The opener is great, and "The Eye You Lost In The Crusades" is practically like a Sin Ropas B-side.  "A Chinese Actor" shows a heavier side of the band, and they pull it off well, while other tracks make more use of electronic elements or whatever else they feel like doing.  It's a versatile album, but the sound is definitely recognizable on every track and even at their most experimental they're still doing solid songs.  There are little freakouts here and there, but with an ambitious, contemporary artist you have to expect that (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was studded with them) and anyhow they're perfectly enjoyable.

This is a great album, and worthy of the praise it's receiving in its many reviews.   It's mostly pretty laid-back, so it's not for party time, but it could be good for reading time or sexy time.  Do yourself a favor and pick it up, or at the very least check out these excellent highlights.

Here's "Sunday Noises," and here's "A Chinese Actor," by Califone.

Papa M - I Am Not Lonely With Cricket

Papa M's Live From A Shark Cage is an excellent instrumental post-rock landmark.  David Pajo, also of Aerial M and Slint among other bands, is a very skilled player as well as songwriter, and Live From A Shark Cage is probably my favorite of his albums.  It has a nice variety of stuff, from the menacing "Drunken Spree" to the beautiful "Arundel," and in between them is the mesmerizing and expansive "I Am Not Lonely With Cricket." I was never sure how it was made, but recently I'm of the opinion that a Loopstation or some handy delay pedal work puts this track right in the doable category for a single musician.  How much of it was improvised, and how much was planned, I'm still not sure, but whatever the proportion of each, the end result is the same: fantastic.  The guitar echoes and harmonizes endlessly - sometimes, as in the early portion of the song, its multiple loops and layers become dizzying. But my favorite part is around halfway through, where the key is rising, the melody is simpler, and it repeats hypnotically.  It's one of those clarion musical moments where you have to listen with your entire head - it doesn't last too long, but it's a standard to which I still compare songs to this day.  So clear your schedule, download this, and put on the visualizer - or maybe just close your eyes.

Here's "I Am Not Lonely With Cricket," by Papa M.

[Robo sez: glitchy... had to repost this.  Sorry to whoever got their comment nixed.]

Colleen - Everyone Alive Wants Answers

Colleen's The Golden Morning Breaks was a subtle affair.  Bells, music-boxes, a little organ and some light guitar were the main ingredients, resulting in a spare, but intensely dreamy 50 minutes.  Robosexual previously reviewed it here, and you should check it out if you haven't already.  Until a little while ago, I was under the impression that Everyone Alive Wants Answers was Colleen's new album, but it is in fact her old album - I made the same mistake with Castanets' What Kind of Cure, at least partially for the same reason.  This album doesn't feel older, or simpler - maybe a little more sparse, a little more focussed on loops, but it actually feels a little more cohesive than her newer one.  Maybe I'm just making that up.  In any case, it's great, and you should have it.

I couldn't tell you what instrument it is that starts off the album, but it has a very singular sound - it sounds kind of like piano wire, or maybe like a lyre or something?  Do lyres even exist any more?  Anyhow, it stutters beautifully in layers over bird noises and introduces the album well.  Next, "Ritournelle" lets a little repeating theme grow, vary, and fade away nicely, then "Carry-Cot" has a sort of Climax Golden Twins sound due to the scratchy recording of a child.  The next few tracks follow a theme, a sort of sample/loop base being twisted, added to and accompanied in different ways.  You get the feeling that Colleen falls in love with a single sound, and then structures an entire track around it.  It works because the songs are short and beautiful, but you can become conscious of the idea that they may become tiresome if they lingered for longer than 3 minutes.

Not the case, however, with the the stunning, simple "Babies," which uses this instrument (Colleen described it to me in an e-mail but which I can NEVER remember the name of) that sounds much like a music box but less metallic and more porcelain.  "A Swimming Pool Down the Railway Track" sounds like a drone-y Rachel's track, and is very pretty too.  The final track uses that music box again but the melody isn't as compelling this time around.  Different atmosphere, though, and it still sounds good.

I class Colleen in the same wide musical vein as Tape and to some extent Fridge - which is to say "organic electronica," a term as ugly-sounding as it is paradoxical, but there you go.  It's real instruments, real music, but arranged and tweaked to be more than it was - a sort of cyber-orchestra.  If you're not already experienced, check out those two as well, plus maybe Rachel's, Max Richter, and Eluvium for more excellent laptop chamber music.

Here's "Everyone Alive Wants Answers," and here's "Babies," by Colleen.

edit: Man, after almost 200 posts I finally forget to put up the album art on a review.  It's there now, obviously.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder

I believe we are watching the creation of a great band.  Unfortunately, I also believe they are in a larval stage at the moment.  Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's self titled debut was a fantastic album - incredibly solid, with an original sound yet with a catchy punch that made them nearly irresistible.  They deserved all the hype and fame they got, despite becoming a sort of punching bag for heartless indie-deniers who didn't want to admit they were having fun listening to "Is This Love?".  Well, the new album is here and I'm afraid it's nowhere as good.

The tracks on this album seem to be one of two things: too much like the old album, or too awkward a step in a different direction.  The "oldie" tracks are okay, but seem alien and isolated away from their natural habitat, the self-titled album.  As for the new sounds, well it's not that they're getting into trip-hop or anything - it's more of a tonal change - but it sounds wrong and, strangely, out of tune.  Whichever way they go, it sounds like a misstep; the drunken piano of "Love Song No. 7" sounds as out-of-place as the slightly dance-punk "Satan Said Dance,"  which overstays its welcome and has to be asked to leave.

No, this isn't their Kid A equivalent, nor is it their White Album, although the latter is a closer fit.  Some Loud Thunder's scatterbrained creativity is like adolescent experimentation, and while the results are not really bad, they seem like they're only half-baked, yeasty and moderately poisonous to consume.

So why am I hopeful?  Why do I think there is a great band twitching in this sophomore slump cocoon, waiting to burst into flight upon glorious platinum wings?  Well, their first album for one thing - but also, there are two songs that make me hold out hope here.  The first is "Emily Jean Stock," which has been available for a while, and the second is "Five Easy Pieces," the final track.  These tracks show not just experimentation, but growth - an understanding of their sound, their strengths, and what they can do with them.  But if you listen, they are unlike anything on the previous album.  Listen to the drum kit, the samples, the little flourishes... this is how it should be - new, different, and better.  I think this is reason for optimism. So go ahead and pick up the album, you can get it now at their site, but for your consideration, here are what I think are the two best songs on it.

Here's "Emily Jean Stock," and "Five Easy Pieces,"(fixed) by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Edit: Damn, my "Five Easy Pieces" was all messed up, and super big too!  I've repaired the file and it's ready for you to download now.  I should have noticed that, 15mb for a 6 1/2-minute song?

Mice Parade - Organic Reproduction Attempt

So!  This was one of Mice Parade's earliest releases, the ones till this point being quite limited; this EP, My Funny Friend Scott, is the first listed in Fat Cat's Mice Parade section.  This song, quite long by the artist's standards, is nonetheless a good introduction to the style of music Mice Parade represents.  As I so often complain, it's difficult to describe, and I resent any categorization of something this diverse.  I'd say it's sort of a groove-based instrumental organic electronica, but that's a mouthful in addition to being a completely awful description (sorry).  You'll have your own term by the end of the week.

The EP included two other songs - the title track and "A Dance By Any Other Name," which for some reason I can't find and subsequently can't describe.  Nevertheless, I know this track's the best, because it's great.  The loops, the bass, the little whispered noises, the fiddly drone, the multilayered percussion, it's all excellent.  It may be a little long, but to me it doesn't feel like it - it's the kind of music that disappears from your attention just enough that you know something good is happening to your ears but not so much that you forget it afterwards.  Enjoy!

Here's "Organic Reproduction Attempt," by Mice Parade.

Kinski - Be Gentle With the Warm Turtle

I just saw one of the guys in Kinski at a record store so I thought I'd write about them.  Kinski is a Seattle band that's been around for several years creating nice, loud music in what I suppose I'd call a psych-rock vein.  It should be noted, though, that I consider them to have gone downhill since the moment I started listening to them, their first album (this) being their best, and the subsequent albums decreasing in quality.  I say this, but they are also kind of a live band, good at improvisation and just generally making delightful noise.  I got to see them jam with Acid Mothers Temple about a year and a half ago and it was unholy.

This album is great, solid all the way through but in my opinion stronger at the beginning.  The opening trio of "Spacelaunch for Frenchie," "New India," and "Newport" is pretty much solid gold.  The warm, droning opener gently initiates you into their world, before crushing you with the enormous "New India," which sounds bigger than an elephant storm.  This second song starts out pretty loud, then it gets louder, then louder, and every time you think "how could they possibly be adding more guitars?  Are there this many guitars in the world?" and it's good, too!  "Newport" has a more songy sound, mainly because of the powerful drumming and the presence of a few lyrics.  It has some really raw sounding guitar parts, and manages to keep the steam going on full for its duration.   "One Ear in the Sun" sounds like a Yume Bitsu B-side (which is good), and  "That Helmut Poe Kid's Weird" is like newer Mogwai, though it predates Rock Action, its closest reference.

Anyway, it's a great album, I find as I listen to it again now that it's better than I remember even.  You'd do well to pick this up right away, I consider it a classic album in instrumental psych or post-rock, along with Do Make Say Think's Goodbye Enemy Airship, the Landlord Is Dead and Explosions In The Sky's first LP.

Here's "Newport," by Kinski.

Loscil - Submers

I got me some Loscil off Audiogalaxy back in the day.  The album, his first, was called Triple Point, after the thermodynamic concept of a point on a pressure/temperature plot where a substance would theoretically be solid, liquid, and gas all at once.  The music was claimed to be representative of those processes involved in thermochemistry, but that's not really my field.  In any case, it was cool, but somewhat monotonous if I remember correctly, and it was with some apprehension that I picked up his next album, Submers.

Fortunately for us, his sound had matured and complicated, and what I got was a heavier, more complicated affair, but still stark and original.  It's another concept album; each track on this one is named after a submarine, and while I can't say I recognize the sounds of these various plate-iron sea-unicorns, the overall effect is certainly one of submersion.  Muted and soft in general, with sharp percussion like the noise of parrot fish biting coral, and the occasional sonar blip (naturally), you really do get a nice deep blue marine feeling from the album.  The closest reference point I can come up with is Pan American, though that's much more jazzy.

If you like electronic music, you should certainly give this a shot - it's pretty low-key, but it's too experimental-sounding to fall under the "chill" category.  Basically, it's the perfect thing to listen to while reading "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea," which is exactly what I was doing when I decided to post this cool album up here.  Also, I misspelled every word in that book's title as I was typing it - "20,000 leauges uner teh seas" indeed!

Here's "Mute 3," by Loscil.

Days of Heaven - Soundtrack

I recommended Malick's "Days of Heaven" as one of the first posts on Robosexual, when I was attempting to cover music, film, games, books, and everything else under the sun.  It's an amazing movie, and it is accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack, done by none other than the man himself, Ennio Morricone.   The sound is very evocative of the movie, especially for the scenes which are marked by a lack of dialogue and only scored.  Morricone's trademark palette of strings, horns, and guitar is in full effect here, but it's much more subdued than, say, the theme to "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."

There isn't much of it, though, only 26 minutes, but it was a short movie and much of it was quiet anyway, with only the sound of wind blowing through grass or a weather vane creaking as it turns.  I'm giving you my favorite tracks,  one a recurring theme of the movie accompanying the harvest, and the other which occurs only one one occasion in the film and was instantly memorable to me.  If you haven't seen the movie, go get it, but also check out the soundtrack here.

Here's "Harvest," and here's "The Return", both by Ennio Morricone for "Days of Heaven."

Oval - Ovalcommers Track 1 (Untitled)

So I already covered the long-format Oval-description thing before (here) as well as his collaboration with Japanese artist Eriko Toyoda ("So," here).  But this is a single song post and this song is all we care about today.

The first track of this CD, which I listen to far more frequently than the rest of the album (you can only handle so much), is absolutely a masterpiece of abstract electronic music.  Now before you think, "Wow, what a dubious distinction," know that I am including Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada, and all sorts of noise bands as well as crossover acts like The Wind-Up Bird, Daedalus, Along and others.  It's actually quite a large field!  And Oval is a sort of black sheep/superstar in it.  His music (which he prefers to be referred to as "audio" - fair enough) is utterly unlike anything else and he deserves credit for that even if it weren't totally awesome.

Its initial, robotic stutter gives me shivers every time, and the nameless, processed instruments which accompany it are freaky and beautiful.  It starts abruptly and ends even more so, and it's hard to say whether the song would be better off being shorter or longer.  In any case, it's up to you to decide, and whichever you choose, know there's a whole album of stuff just as cool, even if even I don't listen to it that much.  It's good to know it's there, anyway.

Here's the first, untitled track from Oval's Ovalcommers.

Shalabi Effect - On The Bowery

This one didn't make it into Long Song Week for some reason.  Clocking in at 13 minutes long, "On The Bowery" is no lightweight, and it actually hails from the same album that has my longest song on it, Aural Florida - reviewed here for your convenience.  The title track is a stupefying epic, employing many instruments and people and from what I hear it was improvised as well.  Not quite the case with this song, I think - this, the last song on the album, is more like a funky lullaby that devolves into a sort of round-the-campfire extended ending, which then fades out and (spoiler alert) comes back in when you least expect it.

I find myself listening to this song a lot, as it is one of Shalabi Effect's most accessible songs and also just a great song in general.  You should get your hands on this album - it's a double CD but to be honest I only listen to "Aural Florida," its intro, and "On the Bowery."  Considering, though, that they comprise 50 minutes of music between them, I'd say I made a bargain purchase.  I even got a little note from Sam Shalabi in the package!  He's on Alien8 Recordings, which has a lot of other great bands too, and you can order his CD right from them.

Here's "On The Bowery," by Shalabi Effect.

Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You

[Uh, apparently I was tripping when I posted this, it's totally wrong.  My copy is the long one too, I think before I bought this album, I had an mp3 from maybe a single or radio cut?  I'm leaving the post up just in case anyone finds anything truthful in it, but feel free to skip it and go straight to the excellent track. -Robosexual]

The purpose of this post is not to turn you on to this album, although if you haven't listened to it already, it has my highest recommendation.  It is one of the original "post-punk" boundary-pushers and genre-benders, mixing chunky rock vibes with incredible, complex songcrafting and experimental instrumentation.  It's absolutely solid, and beat the trail for many of the acts going today.  No, I have a different reason to bring this album up.

See, the album kicks off with an series of unidentifiable noises, beginning with a twist and settling into a beautiful, layered harmony.  It turns out that it is an e-bow resting on a guitar, and the noise at the beginning is simply the recording track spinning up to speed.  Cool, huh?  It's a great sound, but it only goes for maybe 10 seconds and it's done - time for the track to start.  But in fact, the original track had this trance-inducing tone for about 2 full minutes, and for some reason or another they had to cut out most of it, possibly because it alienated casual listeners.  A few versions of the album went out with the long track, though, and I managed to get one (online - my hard copy is the short version).

So. I'm giving you guys this track so that you can augment your Leaves Turn Inside You and make it into the album it was meant to be.  It really is a great noise, and I think it improves the track and sort of prepares you for the avalanche of great music about to come your way.  Check it out.

Here's "We Invent You," by Unwound.

Mugison - Mugimama, Is This Monkey Music?

As usual, I am unaware of the amount of fame possessed by the artist I am recommending.  I think I saw a review on like the BBC, though, so it's possible you've heard of Mugison, and I understand they are quite popular in their native country - wherever that may be.  For my part, I got the album on a tip from a friend, listened to it once and promptly forgot about it.  A week ago I saw it in my playlist and decided to give it another chance after a few months cooling off period.  And it's great... and weird.

My best shot at summing it up is that it's like Menomena's I Am The Fun Blame Monster meets Tricky's Maxinquaye meets Cyann & Ben.  The style is different in each song, from almost Black Keys-ey blues-rock on the opening track to mind-unraveling spoken-word lap pop ("The Chicken Song") to plaintive, gossamer harmony ("2 Birds").  The songwriting is interesting - it's hard to say how serious it is at any particular moment, but there is a sense of humor throughout - consider the guy's girlfriend whispering with a sexy accent in "The Chicken Song": "See, the chicken is one of very few birds that never can flaaah...but even with his head chopped off, he'll still give it a hell of a traaah."  On the other hand, the songs themselves are very well-made so that is an indication of him being at least partially serious.

The sound varies immensely, as I've said.  Even when it's not a full band, though, it never seems bare - the guy is a great guitar player and fills the air with notes, especially on "Murr Murr," which is good except for its guitar break, which is fantastic and the only thing I remembered about the album after the first listen.  Aside from the traditionally instrumented tracks, you have a trip hop feel in "The Chicken Song," a full orchestra in "Salt," an occasional piano, and many miscellaneous pieces of sound thrown in for ambience.

I recommend this album to any parties interested in an extremely varied folk-rock album (for lack of a better term) or who are just bored.  It's very interesting and slightly strange, although songs like "Murr Murr" and "2 Birds" are solid enough to be appreciated by anybody.

Here's "2 Birds," and here's "murr Murr," by Mugison.

Glissandro 70 - S/T EP

It sometimes happens that there is an element of a band's music that really grates on you.  For me it's often the voice of the singer, which explains why I listen to so much instrumental music.  In some cases this problem is insurmountable, as is the case for me with Modest Mouse, Antony & the Johnsons, and most music from the 80s.  Sometimes, though, I can get over it and love it anyway, like with the Wrens (emo voice, gag me) and the Pillows (in Japanese, which is incredibly distracting).  Glissandro 70 manages to overcome its weak link, which happens to be an aggravating vocalist, never content to let the music speak for itself.  It's comparable to !!!, but instead of mumbling cliches, this guy or guys feel the need to voice the rhythm of the song, and usually it doesn't work out well.  If you have to make your voice comprise the body of the song, make it good, like Spiritualized's "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space."  Because otherwise people are going to laugh.

Aside from this crippling deformity, Glissandro 70's music is pretty good.  It's a first release and it's on Constellation, so you can't expect too much polish, but you can expect some originality and earnest experimentation.  The first track is a Volta Do Mar-esque, mathy and slightly discordant guitar theme that builds on itself and breaks into a nice little funky tune that is interesting if not catchy.  The next track is pretty much a skipper, take my advice and don't bother with it.  "Bolan Muppets" sounds shorter than it is, possibly because it's a really great song.  It has an insistent little rhythm guitar that gets built on for a while, and if you ignore the "EEEEYAAHHHHH....YOOOOLAAA" that starts in around the 2-minute mark you can sort of mentally transport yourself to the third and best part of the song.  Here someone sings sweet nonsense, and does it well - although I don't know the words and I'm sure they're insane, I find myself humming it constantly.  It has the kind of natural beat and rhythmic sound of a good poetic line, and it's a bit hypnotizing.  "Portugal Rua Rua," similarly, contains a bothersome and insistent vocal part, and although you tune it out after a bit, it would be better had it never existed at all.  The track improves, anyway, and becomes hypnotic and enjoyable once again.  The final track is more ambient, and while it contains most of the same components of the other tracks, it feels thinner and more spread out - less a song and more a 13-minute weirdo improvisation.

I can't in good conscience recommend this to everybody, but if you consider yourself a tolerant listener, this is a rewarding EP.  I think it has an original sound, which is great to hear these days, though I'd consider this EP more of an indication of good things to come than an accomplishment in itself.  Also consider that you're really only getting three solid tracks (out of only five, but still), so if you can find it used or in a bargain bin, that's your best bet.  In any case, check out this song and you'll get a better idea of the music than I can give you with my feeble descriptions.

Here's "Bolan Muppets," by Glissandro 70.
later: What the hell, 15 megabytes for a 7 minute song?  Time to check some settings.

Don Cabellero - World Class Listening Problem

What an awesome album.  I want to tell you how awesome this album is, but first we need to get the definition of "awesome" straight.  Dark Side of the Moon is not awesome, it's "amazing."  OK Computer is "incredible."  Antennas to Heaven is "unbelievable."  But none of those albums are awesome, except maybe for little bits.  Let me tell you what is awesome.  Starship Troopers is awesome.  Reigning Sound is awesome.  Metal Slug is awesome.  Awesome is where you are watching, listening, reading, and saying to yourself the whole time, "Man... this is awesome."  It's a special and specific sensation, awesomeness.  And Don Caballero nailed it with World Class Listening Problem - or at least most of it.

This band has been around for a long time, but the lineup in the early 90s was completely different than the current one; only the drummer remains, but that's a good thing in my opinion.  I got some of their tracks off Audiogalaxy maybe 7 years ago, and they were, as math-rock bands often are, baffling and disharmonious.  So I thought that it was a mistake when Mike told me the awesome song he was playing was Don Caballero.  Not a mistake at all - Don Caballero hadn't just gotten good, they'd gotten awesome.

The music makes a real impression - and you can't really figure it out at first.  But as it turns out, it's the drums.  They're fast, they're complex, and they're doing things you didn't think they could.  Hey, what's that time signature?  I don't know, I'm just a guy - but it sure sounds awesome.  The first track is a little noisy, but the second basically bites you in the solar plexus with how great it is: "Sure We Had Knives Around" changes course several times, making you think it's longer than it is - and by 2 and a half minutes it's already covered more space musically than the entire last Godspeed album, bless its anarchic little heart.  The next track starts out good, trips a little, but then catches itself and becomes awesome again all within 2 minutes.  The rule by which you should listen to this album is "just wait": songs usually salvage themselves if they drop into sludge or wankage.  I can say, though, that some songs are way better than others, mainly because they all have totally different sounds.  You'll swear you're listening to a Motown bassline in "Palm Trees in the Fecking Bahamas" and a Tool one in "I Agree... No! I Disagree!" and they're both awesome.  The final three tracks, by comparison, are pretty weak and sound more like the old, careless Don Cabellero than the new, awesome one.

Anyway, it's ridiculous to try to describe the music when you should just hear it.  I dare you not to furrow your brow and say "Dude" once.  Ha, good luck!

Here's "Sure We Had Knives Around," by Don Caballero.
Wow, that's a big file for a 5 minute song.  What the hell?

Eluvium - When I Live By the Garden and the Sea

Here's a nice new offering from your favorite modern-classical composer at Temporary Residence records. I immediately recognized the first song on this EP as one of his openers when I saw him play with Mono and Pelican earlier this year.  All the kids there to see Pelican didn't know what was happening - some guy was playing piano really loud, and then there's all this noise coming from his guitar, and what's that thing he's holding against the strings?!  That's an e-bow, kids.  You should get one.  But anyway, this little album seems like a set of B-sides from Talk Amongst the Trees, though they're almost certainly new.  They would fit in fine on that album, though - floating, swelling keyboards and distant guitars wrapped in reverb - it's that kind of record.

If you're not familiar with Eluvium, this is a good a place as any to start, really... though you might just go chronologically if you need a system.  Start with Lambent Material and don't freak out when An Accidental Memory In Case Of Death is only piano.  Stick with it, listen through "Taken" all the way on the next album, and before getting this one check out his contribution to the Travels in Constants series as well.  It's a solid discography and you'd be doing yourself a favor listening to all of it.

I'm giving you two tracks: the one I knew and the next one, a more shimmery affair with a clip from "The Burbs" at the beginning.  What the hell?

Here's "I Will Not Forget That I Have Forgotten" and "As I Drift Off," by Eluvium.

Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain

I wasn't familiar with Sparklehorse before this album - or rather, I knew there was a band so named, but I only had encountered it as a "featuring Sparklehorse" on a Radiohead b-side - a "Wish You Were Here" cover that's actually pretty good.  I never listened to their older album, which is supposed to be good, but I will.  In the meantime, I found this one.

I was in my usual cafe and I heard what sounded like a Labradford song playing - instrumental, airy, and tremolo-ey.  It kind of tripped me out because Labradford is one of my "private" bands - ones usually only I know about.  I asked the barista and he told me it was Sparklehorse.  It was good, so I got it - and although only one track is Labradford-esque, the rest of the album was impressive.  I guess it's a long-awaited effort, postponed by breakups, rehab, that sort of thing - kind of like every Spiritualized album.  I'm not into taking that kind of of context into consideration, so we'll just toss it right out the window and focus on the music.

Sparklehorse is a bit hard to nail down, apparently - from track to track the band varies from ephemeral, depressing folk - "Return To Me" and "Morning Hollow" - to tight, catchy pop-rock - "Ghost In The Sky," "It's Not So Hard" - to the final, title track, an extended and minimalistic dirge layering synth, ghostly guitar, and punctuated by a life-support beep.  So any attempt to categorize the band will fail.  Nevertheless, they are surely being listed as "indie rock" in Spin or something as I write, that catch-all term that describes everything from Sufjan Stevens to, apparently, the Killers.  In any case, forget about all that, and just listen to the music.  It's all high-quality, and if I heard correctly many tracks are collaborations with other musicians, including DJ Danger Mouse of all people.  The production is good and it's worth listening to on good headphones or speakers, because there are little additions and tweaks that would be lost otherwise.

Your best move is to either just get the album, because I can say with confidence that you'll at least like probably half of it, or get the tracks here and decide whether it's worth your time.  It's a good album, built to last and full of pleasant surprises.

Here's "Return To Me," and "Knives of Summertime," by Sparklehorse.
Also, in honor of long song week, here is the title track,
"Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain."

Tarentel - From Bone To Satellite

It would be ridiculous to do so, but I could really put up this whole album for long song week, since the five tracks range between 11 and 18 minutes each.  It's an excellent album - I reviewed it before, but removed the review when I couldn't find any way to put up one of those huge songs.  Well, I worry no longer, and I'm giving you my favorite Tarentel song.  "Ursa Minor, Ursa Major" is its name, and I think it epitomizes the "old Tarentel" sound.  Really, the entire record does, but this one more than its brothers and sisters.

All the tracks are long, instrumental, well played and planned-out.  They have a structure to them, a little more than a simple "grow and fade" - but not that much more.  The music is relatively simple technically but extremely good, like they tapped into a secret vein of goodness and poured a little into each song.  They're a hard band to describe (especially since their more recent offerings, which frankly baffle and sometimes frighten me) so I'll let the music do the talking.  Really, though, you should be getting the whole album.  You can get it for 12 bucks at their (excellent) label's site, Temporary Residence, and it's worth it.  They also have samples from Tarentel's other albums... so what are you waiting for?!

Here's "Ursa Minor, Ursa Major," by Tarentel.

Sir Richard Bishop - Howrah Station

When I reviewed Sir Richard Bishop's excellent album "Fingering the Devil," I wanted to give you this song.  But it's just so... long!  So what better time to bring it back than during Robosexual's official long song week?

Those of you who read my review and/or have listened to the songs I gave you will have a general idea of what to expect.  One man, one guitar, and probably like five cans of Red Bull from the sound of it.  Where the rest of the album was content to culminate in simply urgent or heartfelt strummings, "Howrah Station," the last track on the album, surpasses all of them by actually calling up a demon from the pit, who possesses Mr. Bishop and wears his fingers down to nubs playing those strings.  Well, not really, but this track is far more insane than any of the others, mainly toward the end, where I am honestly amazed that none of the strings on the guitar broke.  His lightning-fast gypsy-flamenco style (and much of it improvised, I understand) describes the same sort of melody throughout the track, but at the end he flips out.  I really don't understand how he can play so fast, I'd have to see him in person for my mind to wrap itself around the feat that is the final few minutes of this song.

Okay, I'm going to stop raving about this song and just give it to you.  I'm listening to it right now - and I think that probably you've never heard anything like this.  If you have, please tell me.  Because 14 minutes of it is not enough.

Here's "Howrah Station," by Sir Richard Bishop.
is that link OK?  It did something weird when I uploaded it.

Pelt - True Vine

I have a collection of Pelt tracks on my playlist, salvaged from the albums, which are incredibly spotty.  This was the lone survivor from the double album Ayahuasca, which apart from this song was, really, just a little too much for me.  The one exception is Pearls From the River, which is excellent all the way through (all three tracks).  It seems that Pelt is an outlet for Jack Rose's more abstract compositions and improvisations, while the more sober and structured songs go under his name as solo albums.  Pelt generally has a couple of instruments going on, and occasionally even percussion.  This particular song, though... sorry, none of that.  What we've got here is one of the creepiest songs I have ever heard.

Move over, Wolf Eyes, because Pelt's "True Vine" gives me more shivers than Dead Hills and Slicer put together.  Basically the first note you hear is the one you'll be hearing for the next 16 minutes, but it's so  good.  I know, you think I'm crazy, but listen first!  I class this song as "mystical" and "forbidden," alongside Charalambides' Internal Eternal and Espers' "Hearts and Daggers."  I once had it on as the background to the night scenes in the insect documentary Microcosmos and it was a revelatory experience... watching a baby mosquito emerge slowly from the water as this ungodly music raged in the background, my eyes were watering because I'd opened them so wide.

Look, this song is just freaky and awesome, and I fully guarantee it's unlike anything you've ever heard.  If it is, feel free to return it.  Oh, and better stock up on peyote.

Here's "True Vine," by Pelt.

P.S. If anyone finds better album art, drop me a line (what's above is what's on the label's site, I can't find anything bigger).  Shame cause it's a cool-looking cover.