by: Sam Farzin, KUCI Music Director
Dreamers!
It's true, I've got Monopoly on the mind. I actually bought it yesterday at Target (did you know there's a fancypants electronic version with debit cards now? One of the pieces is an LCD TV...) and played with a group of folks. A lucky chance card sent me straight to Boardwalk and for what I believe to be the first time in my life, I won the game. It was awesome. It was pretty neck-and-neck between me and Brian (Quon) but I (re: the dice) prevailed (re: was lucky).
FIRST: an experimental/jazz add:
The Peter Brotzmann Octet - Machine Gun [Atavistic]
This is the most abrasive, technical, everything-ever, album ever. Probably nothing I have ever heard is as simply insane, rough yet astonishingly listenable as this album. Sonic Youth, Lightning Bolt, et. al. across genres and time periods might not be a band if this wasn't happening in the 60s (the disc is a reissue). Listen to thisssssssssssss.
Okay here we go:
Black Mountain - In The Future [Jagjaguwar]
In the future, guitars will be tuned to 1970 and every song will be about halos and witches. This is rock music like flaming silver asteroids falling through space, like unfound demon-infested planets of molten lava, like the earth's core pulsating to a kick drum on the very edge of inevitable eruption and implosion. But it's also really purdy. Because there's a girl singer.
Fun fact: Matthew Camirand is credited as playing "The Bass Guitar."
WOELV - Dans La Forêt En Plein Jour, Avez-Vous Peur? [K]
If you've been digging that Watery Graves of Portland/Genevieve record, here is a +1 for you! This is Genevieve Castree playing under her WOELV moniker subtley issuing forth some real weirdo-pop- en-français. I know the little curly handwriting is a bitch to read, especially since it's in French but seriously this record is good. Try "Au Viol!" (track 6).
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music? [Rough Trade]
This band has such a cool name. It makes me think of the pirate Francis Drake, even though he wasn't really part of what you would refer to "British Sea Power," being a pirate and all. But he also sort of was for a little while in 1588. He was so cool. This band is also cool. They play really solid rock music. This blurb is awful, but Francis Drake is not.
Rafter - Sex Death Cassette [Asthmatic Kitty]
This album is really fun. It is colorful. The songs are short, trimmed with all sorts of sounds and noises: saxophones, feedback blasts, drums-a-la-the-microphones, sing-songy chants, electro-casios, shakers, etc. Don't be afraid of the short running times! Like, try "Casualty of BOC" (track 13). It's 1:06 long but it is totally cool and fun and awesome and it even has a slacker acoustic guitar solo. FUNNNNNN!
Scary Mansion - Every Joke Is Half The Truth [Zum]
This is a lot like The Microphones/Mt. Eerie but with a girl singing.
Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge [Domino]
Anyone remember Test Icicles? One of my first memories of KUCI is sitting in the music office opening mail, and pulling out that band's first single and not being amused by their name. Anyway, I'm not huge on this record but I feel like it's the kind of thing that other folks will like: it's one of the dudes from that band literally gone Saddle Creek. He went to Nebraska or whatever and hung out with Saddle Creekians and made a record where he gets to be foul-mouthed and funny (re: Test ..icles) but also include oboes, pedal steel guitar, harps, and a little mini-orchestre. Okay.
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead [Sub Pop]
This is an indie band that I have not listened to but I know a lot of people love a lot so here is their new record. I said this recently about the new Say Hi (To Your Mom) record and then no one played it so maybe I am wrong about people loving these bands or maybe people are just afraid of new music...
AND THE LATE ARRIVALS:
Times New Viking - Rip It Off [Matador]
This band RULES. Matador has a smart head on itself for grabbing them. This is their debut for said smarty-pants record label, and it also RULES. This band is about: lo-fi, boy-girl vocals, lo-fi, loudness, short songs, distilling emotion into blasts of melody, and being awesome. Their one-sheet for this record is a page long type-written rag appropriated to "WOJCIECH DEMJANJUK: Author/Creator of Pizza Juden; Ukraine BEST Rock Column." That's how much they rule. Play the sh*t out of this album guys pleaseeeeeeeeeeee. This band swears but sometimes you can't tell or hear so just check before playing and mark on the sticker should you come across something. The songs are short anyway. Newcomers start with the first killer track "Teen Drama." Or the second song, "(My Head)." Or any of the others!
The Parson Redheads - King Giraffe [Yukon]
This band is from Los Angeles and riffs like the Brian Jonestown Massacre without all the crazy weird sh*t. Check it. Okay I am tired.
Okay I am tired.
Okay I am tired.
I have a lot of homework to procrastinate on now, so I will head on out!
Blitzkrieg!
sam
Share
|
|
