Noteworthy Albums of No Renown: Avangard - Presently

'Presently'

Artist: Avangard
Album: Presently
Year: 2011
Label: Self Released

I stumbled upon this very eclectic progressive metal album months ago, and though it became lost in my never ending to-listen list, the quick impression it left on me lead me,  eventually, enthusiastically back.

I can find no information on this album outside of a single forum post on a Russian forum (Google it). It might be easier to find the album directly in the comments section, however.

I hate the band name, and while this album's innovative qualities may be debatable, 'Presently' is a pretty diverse metal-genre feature. As one big guitar feature, the primary guitarist - and I assume principle member - finds any and every excuse to shred over every style of metal he can think of. Progressive, heavy, technical, black, death, brutal black, brutal death - all conveniently tagged on the files for the album in advance just in case you were wondering. More succinctly, Avangard sounds like Sleep Terror after kicking its cocaine with Adderall habit and really finding a groove.

As I look over my previous paragraph, I realize how negative I'm sounding. This is a really good and long album (over 75 minutes). I have no idea where one could purchase this album and I know and can find nothing about the artist. So, until someone tells me otherwise, check the album out and let your friends know.

For fans of: Sleep Terror, Carcariass, Aeon of Horus, heavier melodic black metal.

Sound-Clip Dadaist Mash Ups

Here are two free albums of enjoyable, absurd, sound-clip mash ups for your lazy afternoon pleasure.

'Sprungfelt'

First is 'Sprungfelt' by Billy and the Beatniks released through the now dead synestheticmusic net label. All sounds on the album are ripped from episodes from The Simpsons. Witty and brief.

Download the album through Last.fm here.

'Macho', if you didn't get that already.

This next batch of radical strange sound comes from Animals Within Animals, a "a musical supergroup consisting of whoever wants to be in the band at the time." Their EP, 'Macho', is a musical tribute to the late professional wrestler 'Macho Man' Randy Savage. My favorite track is absolutely Beef + Spice.

Download the album from Bad Taste Music Exchange here.

Panasonic "Glider" Commercial, 1981

Noteworthy Albums of No Renown #4: Zelophilia - Lust, Loathing, and Love

Artist: Zelophilia
Album: Lust, Loathing, & Love
Year: 2011
Label: Noydian Records





The video above is the official press release from Noydian Records for Lust, Loathing, & Love. I appreciate a band that makes fun of themselves and their potential fans.

I don't remember where I came across Zelophilia for the first time (thank you unfortunately forgotten blog!), but they definitely rekindled my appreciation for Patton-esque metal a couple of months ago.

LL&L is full of raw frustration and angry, sexual energy.  Dancing in Bloody Leather is probably my favorite track on the release and is a great introduction to Zelophilia's sound. The breakdown at 1:30 in Deconstruction evokes an almost road-rage level of pent-up aggression. The Fornicator's Suicide Note is a fantastic display of the vocalists melodramatic flair and range, audibly representing the depressing consequences of uncontrollable human urge.

The general song and album structure of LL&L remains interesting, unexpected, and keeps the listener off-kilter without feeling forced - a common problem I find with bands that try to capture a sound like this. In addition, this album is also fantastically produced.

And remember: you can stream/download Lust, Loathing, & Love for free through Zelophilia's bandcamp site. The album is definitely worth tossing a few dollars at, however.

For fans of: Hunab Ku, Cephalic Carnage, and everyone else named in the promotional video.

Support Good Radio: My Castle of Quiet and In Place of Dreary Patterns

Being a former college radio DJ ('The Uncomfortable Hours' on the forever-overshadowed-by-KEXP Rainydawg Radio), I have a great appreciation for independently minded radio. The two shows below are fantastic examples of innovative, non-standard radio:

For any of you horror film and audio fanatics, I would highly recommend checking out Wm. Berger's blog and show "My Castle of Quiet" from WFMU in Jersey City, NJ. Host Wm. Berger (formerly of the band Uncle Wiggly) provides a great mix of dark, avant (black) metal and noise that never fails to introduce me to a handful of artists and projects. There are also special 'live performance' episodes, most recently involving the psychotically angry outfit Wretched Worst. You can catch the show live on Thursdays at 9:00PM Pacific time, or stream/download the past episodes. I would recommend the live show, however, as there is a live message board with each episode that can get pretty entertaining.

The next show is "In Place of Dreary Patterns" from the great KAOS radio in Olympia, WA. Host Josh Landry (an eclectic and interesting musician in his own right) explains the show best in his own words: "I play a mix of mind-expanding electronic music including ambient, industrial, chillout, unconventional dance music, avant garde and surrealism. I try to make it all flow as a complete experience and to be unified in mood, somehow. That mood can change from show to show." The show is on Monday's from 11:00PM to 1:00AM Pacific time, and though I can't seem to find any playlist charts, you can check out Landry's very interesting personal releases (free download) under many different monikers on the show's official site. I would personally recommend the recent release 'Encimers' under the name Nymphomania.

If you know of a radio show worth spreading, send me the information.

Follow Up: Ramblings on Music Videos / Black Mass Rising

I've been digging deeper into music video projects and discovered the Black Mass Rising Society - who create feature length, music compilation art films that are stylistically right up my ally. Everything about this project, from the bands to branding, exudes a foreboding enchantment that has completely won me over. 

I have not seen the full feature, but I will be putting my order in soon so updates to come.

Really Interesting Stuff: The Everyday Film

'The House I Used to Turn Into' by The Everyday Film

'Music for Maniacs' is currently hosting the first four albums by The Everyday Film.

You know that feeling you get when you're huffing paint thinner while driving your salvaged 1978 Eldorado down a deserted highway in the Texas Panhandle after murdering a family of five? Yeah, that sums The Everyday Film's sound up fairly well.

The vocals on these albums are from lost or blocked memories. Secrets whispered from within, obscured by reason and ignorance, and always seem spawned from a psychotically lonely state of mind. Music comes in lurching blips and segments - interwoven with static and minimalist noise. When music does seep through the bleak tension it often offers a confusing and contrasting beauty.

So, yeah - probably not for everyone. But if you like your despair as terrifying as possible, this is right up your ally. I would certainly be interested in what the mind(s) behind The Everyday Film would do with other artistic mediums.

Noteworthy Albums of No Renown #3: Old Ironsides - The Path of Madness

'The Path of Madness'

Artist: Old Ironsides
Album: The Path of Madness
Year: 2011
Label: Self Released

Preview all of the tracks and purchase on their CDBaby page. Listen much more extensively by visiting KeepGem.

There are no Youtube videos available for tracks from this album - and they only have 32 listeners on last.fm.

This is my favorite non-metal, progressive rock release since The Decemberists' The Hazards of Love. A driving, early-70s style psychedelic trip that makes me spontaneously air guitar and yell out words like "righteous!". All of the songs are fantastic (no filler tracks, really) - but the three March of War tracks (Rise, Fall, and Redemption) that end the album are absolutely medieval epic-fantasy battle ready. The solo at 2:48 in March of War: Rise hits a "harness your wyvern, we're going to fight some wizards on top of a volcano" level of grandiosity.

Seriously. I can barely contain my excitement.

For fans of: Deep Purple, The Mars Volta, Blue Oyster Cult, new bands with old sounds

Noteworthy Albums of No Renown #2: Golem - Dreamweaver

Artist: Golem
Album: Dreamweaver
Year: 2004
Label: Nuclear Blast



Faces from Golem's 2004 release 'Dreamweaver' absolutely pulverizes with one of my favorite metal openings and riffs (1:01). Reviewers complain of the album's overly produced nature, but I agree with Metal Archives reviewer Thamuz that the 'metalcore' polish on the album actually contributes to the cold, machine-like mood of 'Dreamweaver'. Thamuz, by the way, is one hell of an album reviewer and even though he hasn't been active on the site for a while he is a great read. In fact, after reading his review I'll just leave my review at that: if you like the opening and primary riffs from this track, you'll like the whole album. It is very consistent.

For fans of: Gojira, Amon Amarth (not thematically), Decapitated

Noteworthy Albums of No Renown #1: Wicked Innocence - Omnipotence

Note: I won't give complete reviews of these albums, as I've discovered people generally only read full reviews of albums they are already interested in - and I'm not above generalizations. In fact, most of these albums already have informative, comprehensive reviews you can find other places on the internet. So - I take a look at albums that will probably never get the notoriety I think they deserve one track at a time. Talking about individual parts and characteristics of a sound with particular examples readily available seems to get people more interested than complete reviews anyway. So, that's usually what I'll do. And, as always, support the artist and use yer Google to find the rest of the  album.

Artist: Wicked Innocence

Album: Omnipotence

Year: 1995

Label: Napalm Records

Surreal, nihilistic death metal from the mean streets of Salt Lake. Lead vocalist is an alien pig demon that has come to Earth to vomit forth prophecies of our race's demise. Or at least it seems that way. The chaos of Wicked Innocence's sound is barely contained. All instruments are played masterfully on the album (listen to the tone on that bass!), and the bands abstract song structure only adds to each songs' growing sense of uneasiness and dread. A great example of this is in the above track, Lines, that starts with lurching, funeral march riffing. The arrhythmic vocal pattern adds to a feeling of drugged, angry confusion and foreshadows the hallucinogenic build that begins at 0:54 in the video. The entire song gives me a strange, 'House on the Borderland' feeling of flying haphazardly through alien time and space.

For fans of: Mithras, Gigan, Demilich, the artist Virgil Finlay

Robert Boyle - Good Morning [EP]

'Good Morning' EP

Robert Boyle's 'Good Morning' EP is a minimal, synth heavy, dark ambient release from 2009. This album is unrefined, but Robert has some interesting ideas that reflect his general mood accurately. I haven't talked to him in a year or so, but we always intended on getting this out so I doubt he will mind.

We collaborated on this album in Robert's Seattle basement, and every time I spin it I can still smell mold and stale bong smoke. It is a sad and upset sound, and according to Robert he is taking inspiration from horror film scorers John Harrison, and Michael Perilstein. All four tracks are laced with a palpable depression and lack of motivation. 'Good Morning' puts the listener in a hole and never gives a rope to climb out or hang yourself with. His metaphor, not mine. I will add, however, the listener does get a glimpse of the sun from the top of the hole on occasion, but this juxtaposition kind of illuminates the hole just enough for you to realize how deep and dark it is.

Unfortunately, last I spoke to Robert he can't get a hold of the master tracks for the album - so these MP3s are as good as it gets. Luckily, the sound doesn't need to be too refined to be impacting.

Hope you enjoy it. Get it from Mediafire here.

Ramblings on Music Videos

I love music videos. They are a fantastic medium for artists to develop beyond their sound and live shows, and can ground an artist’s mood or message for the new or perplexed listener. In recent years they have certainly fallen out of favor with big media, and while I miss them being a staple of popular television I will not fool myself into thinking I would tune in nowadays to watch the latest Top 40 videos if they were more prevalent.

Like everyone of my generation and before, my first exposure to music videos was through MTV. When I think of MTV, I think of the Carson Daly TRL years – when millions of faux rebellious, nu-metal weirdoes (like I was) would tune in after school to see if Korn or Limp Bizkit beat out N’Sync or Brittney Spears for the number one video spot. This was also before the internet had taken over my life, so if I wanted to see the videos for the bands I liked this was my option. Well, I discovered one other option – waking up at 5:30AM before school to watch the early morning MTV video roll, hoping to catch ‘Freak on a Leash’ before I had to run for the bus. While I only watched TRL for one or two years tops and don’t look forward to the next Fred Durst release any longer, what I found on these early morning video rolls has stuck with me and exposed quite a few gateway-artists for me. These include:

•          Aphex Twin – Come to Daddy
•          Death in Vegas - Dirt
•          Radiohead – Karma Police
•          Reel Big Fish – Sell Out
•          Unsane – Scrape

Not especially ‘underground’, but being in an agricultural community in Central Washington with one top 40 radio station, this was a pretty out-there mix. In the case of the songs above, it was my first exposure to the artist.

I quit watching MTV almost entirely around 2002, but I still got my music video kick through other methods; mainly, p2p networks like Scour or Kazaa. I remember almost getting suspended for downloading Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Into the Void’ video during my high school typing class (what a trouble maker!). I would also buy complete video releases by artists (Marilyn Manson’s comes to mind) – but while I loved targeting videos for artists I already enjoyed, I did miss the random discovery aspect of watching early morning MTV.

I soon discovered a new source for music videos, and where all my part-time job money went: VHS compilations put together by record labels – especially the punk rock ‘Cinema Beer Nuts’ and ‘Cinema Beer Belly’ compilations from Hopeless Records. This was my first exposure to music videos that were not approved by MTV for content or capital - and the off-beat themes, DIY production, and riotous concert footage won my heart immediately. Below are a couple of my favorites from the Cinema Beer Nuts series:

•          AFI – He Who Laughs Last
•          Goober Patrol – The Biggest Joke
•          Horace Pinker – Pop Can Park
•          Lunachicks – Don’t Want You (more produced, still great)

And then I went to college. My tastes have certainly expanded, to nearly an eclectic-meets-schizophrenic extent, but with virtually no influence from music videos.

Recently, thanks to Youtube and unemployment, I have been digging for much more ‘new’ music than usual. I came upon the soulfully lo-fi How to Dress Well, and his spectacular video for ‘Ready for the World’ a couple of weeks ago and it has completely turned me back on to the effect a music video can have on a song. Another of my favorite recent discoveries, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti also really brings on the uncomfortable with their videos for ‘For Kate I Wait’ and ‘Politely Declined’. My greatest inspirations, however, have been fan videos like this one for the Sunn O))) track ‘Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia)’.

Two projects come to mind with this newfound interest in music videos. First, a basic compilation of fan produced or low budget videos based around certain genres/ themes. Not too innovative but possibly a fun collection.

The next idea is a bit more ambitious. I was thinking it would be interesting to put together a short or feature length film of artists collaborating over one theme or story. The songs would flow from artist to artist, song to song – but the story structure and form could be abstract or linear, depending on the project. One manifestation of this could be one artist finishes their song and part of the video and then passes it on to a different artist to elaborate upon. The new videos could be released periodically on a website, and the website could have a variety of themes. This could be a very interesting ‘living art’ project that could cross many genre and subject boundaries.

The other manifestation could be a completed film that is divided into parts for interested bands to interpret. This form would be most interesting to me with a more abstract theme/story, and would also probably require communication among the artists to achieve the best result.

Or, a combination of both ideas: short, serialized, soundless videos are produced and sent off to different interested parties to interpret musically. Either way, I'll look into my own fan video for something to recruit others for this project. We’ll see.