Derek Piotr - Raj (2013)

After sending out the previously mentioned work-in-progress interviews, I found myself in somewhat of a slump as to what to write about next. Musically, I’m all over the place right now in my free time and I’m also currently working on another writing project which I’ll share sometimes soon, for those interested. So in the end, the good ol’ submission basket saved the day once again.

Derek Piotr - Raj (bandcamp)

Based in New England, US, this Polish-born composer/producer dropped into my view out of nowhere. Back in 2013, I wasn’t too deep into electronic music and noise, so in all honesty I was completely oblivious to his past work even though his repertoire up to that point contained a number of previously released albums. The main focus of his work is centered on samples of the human voice which are then used in various incarnations of electronics, ranging from noise, glitch, industrial and even something that would be considered dream poppy.

Immediately after the first tone of “Raj” kicked in, it grasped me fully. “Spine” manages to create a certain kind of mood within seconds, setting the tone for the rest of the record in a very direct and simplistic way. It easily gears you up for what is coming up ahead and, let me tell you, you should come prepared.

Compared to other electronic noise projects that I’ve listened to, “Raj” is not as dirty and harsh. Sure, even the opening track hosts a considerable amount of static waves and crackling walls of distortion, but it is all executed in a delicate way. In the midst of the noise, you get introduced to small oases of serenity. There’s a weird elegant swinging going on between the violence and the peacefulness, an almost naturally calculated ebb and flow. 

It feels like this edged precision is the main characteristic of the vocal section of “Raj”. One of the interesting things about Derek’s work in general is his previously mentioned focus on using and manipulating vocal samples. On this record specifically, those samples create a thin line which is continually pushing the aforementioned ebb and flow. You would assume that the vocals would bring a certain dose of calm into a noise project, but even though they are peaceful they are also quite eerie in a way, droning and almost mentally violent somehow. The way they are sampled, cut, used and looped, gives a nigh maddening feeling and it ends up seeming like the whole record has a ritualistic theme to it. These samples build such an image in your mind’s eye that they can go towards both ends of the spectrum, soothing and aggressive, but never quite tip over fully. The cacophony of it all is methodical, almost technically precise and even cerebral in many instances. It's an endless dance of contrasts and steep divergences.

Another flavor to all this, despite having this ritualistic and naturally flowing trait, the record seems cold and alien. There’s just something strangely robotic about the entire thing, as if “Raj” was a recorded diary of some rusted and malfunctioned android from an age long forgotten. And it demands that you listen to it.

When I listened to “Raj” a couple of times for this review I then decided to check out some other material from Derek.  There is a whole swarm of recorded material up on his bandcamp profile, so I seriously need some catching up to do. It sincerely warms my heart when I see artists so passionate and active after so many years of working on a project. All the best of luck to Derek in all his future endeavors and I hope all of you decide to give him a chance and check out his work. Thanks for reading!

Showcase: Ghone

"Ghone" live @Place by Manos Chrysovergis

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"Ghone" is a rather peculiar entity. It is a native of Athens, Greece, found in the dark corners of the city, brooding and composing its tunes in the shadows cast by the ancient temples of the Hellenic pantheon and high-rise buildings of the urban sprawl. It is an extraordinarily rare being, only one of its kind known to exist, currently residing in the body of a musical maestro known as John Kontandreopoulos. John has been a powerhouse for creating a mesmerizing concoction of experimentally ambient noise. Proof of this is that since 2011 he has amassed twelve releases under the “Ghone” tag and has no apparent intention to stop.
Personally, I was exposed to this music by mere accident back in 2012 when “Ghone” opened a show for “Nadja” and Aidan Baker in Novi Sad, Serbia. The epilogue of this concert was phenomenal and all of my thoughts about it back then were summarized in a gig review which I wrote here. I think I wasn’t as nearly as descriptive (edit: annoying) with describing the experience in that article, but the bottom line is that I was severely impressed, both from the audial and the visual perspective. It was stunning to see one person creating such a vast and abundant soundscape, especially considering that the way he performed was completely new to me. Using drumsticks as a tool for playing bass, what? Creating such a massive wall of sound with so little equipment? If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t believe it. Back then such creative insanity was a whole new dimension of music to me and I never saw someone play music live in such a way. All of this immediately made me want to delve deeper into the rest of the music made under the name of “Ghone”. However, in 2012 there was only one other record available on his bandcamp page.

“Luceum Sequimur”, recorded and released near the end of 2011, is  the “Ghone” first-born. Consisting of only one song (keep in mind that this is something you’ll notice to be a trend with this artist), a 17 minute long eerie ambient crawl, slowly sucking you in with droning vibrations and tubular resonances. It takes you on a space-like voyage filled with vastness and nostalgia, later on replaced with a much more claustrophobic sounds sprinkled with tiny sporadic tingling noises, as if you just landed on some strange alien planet. The song builds up towards a climactic anti-climax ending, which sounds like a paradox, but it makes sense in a strange way. On one hand, the aforementioned tingling kept hinting that there was going to be something horrific waiting at the end but finishes on such a note that it leaves you hanging and wanting more. Yet on the other hand, to me this represents the branching evolutionary path for future work, which can be visible as such once you view the entire discography as a whole. “Ghone” has just begun playing with your senses and this is simply saying that he will be back and more will follow.
Published as a 3’’ CDr, “Luceum Sequimur” was made to be a limited tour release and has been sold out since then. Worth noting is that it seems like the 3’’ medium has been a favorite of “Ghone”, something that I’m really loving actually, as I am a huge fan of these less popular formats.

A while after I attended the show in Novi Sad I went back to the bandcamp page and I was pleasantly surprised to see the gig recording offered to people as a proper release. Another surprise came in the form of more material, namely “Untitled”, recorded straight to a cassette without further editing. It consists of two songs, together ramping up to 40 minutes in duration. The first track immediately hooks you in with melancholic tones periodically layered with a distant spoken word. The monophonic synthesizer used to perform this provides such a fragile tune which leaves a strong impression on the listener. Some minutes into the song you get thrown into a whirlwind of crazy sounds being generated by a loop station. The whole mid-section of the song is so weirdly layered, sounding like a straight up LSD trip in a room full of twirling memories. Eventually it starts calming down, as if the trip is wearing off, and drifts off into a droning tone.
The second “Untitled” song is my favorite, as it manages to quickly set the overall mood and keeps it strong until the very end. Right from the start you’re faced with vibrating tones building up with intensity, so much so that you are feeling like they are going to lash out at you all of a sudden. The entire song keeps a steady momentum with one specific wave-length of sound, but then along the way it introduces a different pitch or a single note that completely changes the moment, as if you’re discovering a whole new chapter of some unknown story. I got some exceptionally strong cyberpunk vibes from this one, painting images of bleak, rain-soaked dystopian cities in my head.
This release came in an extremely limited physical format consisting of only 10 cassettes, each with a unique handmade collage cover. As you will see, stuff like this is a bit of a “Ghone” signature when it comes to physical releases, as it seems to me that most of them are true works of art by themselves.

To be absolutely honest, after this release I somewhat drifted away from “Ghone” and I failed to come back to it for quite some years. It is only now in 2019. while in the process of resuscitating the blog that I returned to it. During my hibernation “Ghone” was tireless, so once I came back there were nine (9!) new releases waiting for my ears, oh the pleasure!

I decided to listen chronologically, so “Amen.Ophis” was first on the list. Similarly to “Untitled”, this is another two song release and on this occasion it is on the shorter side as far as “Ghone” standards go, consisting of “only” 15-ish minutes of music. Let me tell you immediately, this one could very well be a soundtrack of a mind-bending horror movie.
The first song, “Amen” oozes with dread, a tension-filled composition which provides superb background ambiance for a persistent mantric singing sample. The way it builds up, it truly feels like you’re walking into a cave and stumbling upon an eldritch ritual performed by a cult worshiping some unknown entity. Add to this the fact that throughout the song you can periodically hear some kind of squeaky noise, as if made by a rocking chair, superbly adding eeriness to the already horrific scene.
“Ophis” does not lack in horror either, only this time it takes on a wholly different form, as if the sleeping god was successfully awakened by the previously mentioned ritual. There are these unexpected thumping and explosive electrical shocks which don’t fail to make you feel unnerved somehow. The squeaky noise is present again, this time in the final moments of the song, making the whole release somehow come full circle.
It was fascinating how some of these subtle tones weaved together manage to create certain images in your mind. Who knows what kind of image or inspiration was in John’s head while creating this and maybe I’m completely off with what the “aim” of his music is, but whatever the background and whatever the message, something manages to get across to the listener in a successful way.
To put it mildly, I was impressed. So immediately after I finished listening, I knew that it would be amazing to talk to the person behind “Ghone” and to help spread the word about the music via an interview.

While writing the initial message to get in touch, I put “10.6.2012” as background music. This release comes along with an interesting “one day” concept, meaning that the entire thing was written and recorded within a single day. It is an initiative from “Somehow Ecstatic Records” based in Greece, where they invite numerous artists to have a take on this recording concept. Most of these releases are available for free download on their bandcamp page found here, while the physical format is always limited to 30 hand-numbered copies. Give them a listen.
The contribution to this initiative done by “Ghone” are two surprisingly contrasting pieces. The first track is filled with calming noise, droning you into serenity. It starts off in an aggressive fashion and being exceptionally loud around the 4 minute mark, but the more the song goes on the more it shifts in dynamic and eventually it begins emitting a lulling bass tune. Even the buzzing and crackling of static near the end seems to be calming in a way and the vocal samples bursting through are somewhat assuring.
The second one, to me, was not so relaxing and is somehow a stark difference to the first part of the release. The whole song is infested with some sort of static-induced high pitched wail, which truly tickles the nerves. This crackling noise also permits a deeply low, rumbling growl to vibrate along, which in unity makes you feel like you’re standing in the midst of some lightning-charged electric maelstrom. It certainly gets its point across, whatever that point may be, but I feel like this is not pleasant for every day listening, or at least it isn’t as peaceful as its predecessor.
Ultimately, when you take into account that these two songs are roughly 40 minutes in length, the “one day” thing mentioned above becomes truly impressive.

“Varstatg Arre” is by far the shortest “Ghone” track, but the background is interesting. The song is actually a part of a compilation called “Protos Orofos - 4” which includes 13 artists in total. “First Floor”, as the two words translate from Greek, is a group of people who organize concerts for experimental bands, which take place at 1ος Όροφος (“on the first floor”), in Thessaloniki. And thus, a new compilation comes out each year (currently ramping up to issue #11), featuring artists who played the year before. I actually ended up picking the whole #4 compilation from a guy in Serbia and it is worth the listen for every single performer. Highly recommended that you check it out, you can easily find the CD on Discogs for cheap.
As far as “Ghone” goes, the contributed song is short and direct. A slow four minute long drive through static noise enhanced with deep rumbling wobbles and barely noticeable electric tingling.

A year long break followed for “Ghone” only for it to come back better than ever with “Imnissel Mill Dinja”, featuring an hour long monster of a song. The bandcamp page linked below actually has this track split in two, but the CD version features the original full-length. Worth mentioning is that this was recorded as part of a rehearsal for the first “Fresh Music Festival” in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
This release brings me back into “this should be a soundtrack” territory, as this is some unbelievably good ambiance work. “Part 1” features excellent usage of the electric double bass, at times sounding sophisticated and classical, yet at others it seems broken and mad. The deep vibrations of the instrument take you on a 19 minute voyage through some truly desolate soundscapes, pierced by high pitched screeching and feedback that could wake the dead.
“Part 2” continues with this same clash on a much grander scale and it is actually no surprise that these two parts were originally one song. It simply does not let you rest. Every tone produced here is at its maximum, be it in the form of the resonant moaning taking you to new ever-lower depths, of the bass feedback tormented to the point of screaming or even in the form of both these extremes clashing together to form a cacophony of sound.
This second part, at times, reminds me of the soundtrack (surprise, surprise) of the “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl” video game, as you continually feel unnerved and on edge during all these twists and turns. Especially near the end when certain smashing sounds are heard and you feel like it’s someone bashing on your door trying to murder you. Superb release and probably one of my favorites!

Half a year later we come to witness the birth of something very interesting. A new chapter of sorts in the history of “Ghone”, the start of collaborative split work with other musicians. Symbolically, the premier one is called “The First Harvest”, a split with Greek experimental post-rock act known as “The Dandelion Fields”. I won’t go too far into reviewing their part of the split, but in short they deliver a grim, bleak and even existentially nihilistic sound. For the most part the songs are peacefully brooding, yet deeply melancholic and sad, especially when you delve deeper into the lyrics.
On the other end of the spectrum, “Ghone” did an excellent job in following up with that specific tone set by the other collaborator. John opted to present a less noisy version of “Ghone”, focusing more on a compressed soundscape. The sounds burst towards you in a rippling motion, as if their full power is contained in an endlessly moving bubble and only snippets of volume come to attack your ears. For the most part it seems like the bubble you’re facing is filled with scratching noises or chains being dragged across a huge hallway made of metal. Near the end of the track there is a bass-infused rumbling sound, reminiscent of the one displayed in “10.6.2012”, but in a calmer tone and thus tying up with the melancholy created by “The Dandelion Fields” part.

Not even a full month after the split “Rushing for Coal” was released. I’m not a 100% sure why, but just by looking at the cover of this one I got excited and I had a clear feeling that this was going to be something different. Writing this now I can say that the feeling was weirdly accurate.
This release has been cut into three songs, all clocking out at around 30 minutes total.  “Somm” is the opening track and it perfectly sets the tone for the entire thing. A somber mix of gloomy synths and soft electrical currents produce a strange feeling of listening to some long forgotten voice message noise decaying in a loop stretched out to infinity. This is continued and expanded upon in “Naam”, which greatly expands the pensive mood, especially in moments when guitar tones are introduced. It paints such a bleak picture in your head, reminding me at times of some works produced by “Earth” on their more dark jazzy albums. The guitar creates excellent dark jazz/folk sounds, completely overtaking the song and taking it into its own direction. This mutates to a whole different level on the final song called “Ruum”, as the guitar takes an aggressive turn creating an echoing wall of distortion. This violent burst of sound is only brief and it seems like it was placed as a cutting point to let more calm notes back in. The synthesizer is back in the spotlight from this spot onward and it somehow takes the sounds from the first song and morphs them into a gentle, almost hopeful and cheery tune.

A hibernation period ensued and roughly two years passed until a new release appeared. Next in line was another split and this time a live one at that! Recorded live at Ypogeio, Thessaloniki on 21st May, 2017, when “Ghone” performed along/with “Six Steps Above The Earth”.
There’s a big contrast when comparing this and “The First Harvest” split. There we saw “The Dandelion Fields” opening and setting the tone which “Ghone” gradually took and morphed, while sticking to the mood previously established. Here, however, the roles swapped and it feels like “Ghone” is building the setting. Opening up with a sample of some beautiful music by Astrud Gilberto (the song “Trains and Boats and Planes”, to be exact), “Ghone” starts slowly piercing the melody with clean, sharp noises. He gradually adds more and more elements, the low growling bass, static showers, gentle folkish guitar tunes changing into resonant feedback. By the end of the 20 minute track you come to a conclusion that this seems like a perfectly condensed showcase of what “Ghone” is. This seems to be an excellent comeback piece after such a long wait.
The second song is actually an introductory jam between “Ghone” and “Six Steps Above The Earth”, which is a really eerie, yet madly entertaining track. They somehow layered the tones well, the former providing consistent shifting ambiance while the latter introduces creepy string plucking melodies. Great improvisational skills on all sides as you feel both contribute with their own tones, sounding broken and perfectly aligned at the same time.
The final part of the split/live is reserved for the split partner, who bring out a slow and noisy drone-inspired doom. A tongue twister for sure, but worth checking out, as I find them to be a solid stage partner for “Ghone”.

Our showcase artist goes to sleep for another two years and comes back with a new split release in 2017, this time with a project called “Modelbau”. Full name of the entire collaboration is “Zagtel Jaar Mileit / Pulse/Phases”.
“Ghone” has been absolutely superb on this one, simply because you can sense the evolution of the project which has been gifted by these yearly breaks. The titular song possesses a sublime note to it, presenting a clean cut amount of noise that is highly technical and accurate. He plays with only a handful of electrical notes, but the culmination of those is no longer a cacophony of harshness, but is instead a precise purring of a well-oiled machine. It oozes with a sense of minimalism that is rich with various elements at the same time.
Same can be said for “Modelbau”, the experimental electronic act of Frans De Waard. The seven tracks that make up “Pulse/Phases” are hitting the ceiling of minimalism with droning ambient tunes which are borderline meditative.

By now it is safe to say that this “two year hibernation” experiment has been an absolute benefit for “Ghone”, as all these releases have been some of my favorites. The same applies to the final addition called “Sram Schet” which saw the light of day in 2019 as a live recording of a show done in April of the same year.
We’re back in soundtrack land and I honestly believe that this is peak “Ghone” material in those regards. This brilliantly horrific track takes you on a 23 minute deep dive into a decaying rust-covered haunted (mad) house. Or post-apocalyptic ruins of a once vastly populated city. Or a thick, vast forest filled with shadows and moving eyes or whichever other scenario gets your spine tingling.  It’s creepy. It’s chilling. It gives you goosebumps. And it’s done perfectly. You hear how “Ghone” plays with sounds, keeping the overall mood at an edge, but adding layers, melding them together, breaking the pattern with unexpected high pitched samples and then putting it back together, but never stopping. It is times like these where I wish the tracks had lyrics, as I imagine that they would have quite a story to tell. Then again, the music paints a far better picture than words ever could.

There you have it ladies and gentlemen, “Ghone” in the smallest of nutshells. Each of the above listed releases is worthy of a longer, proper review. It feels like each of them successfully manages to transfer a unique feeling, which I think a lot of noise artists can’t always achieve.

To sum this whole showcase up, if I had to rank my top 3 “Ghone” releases, my list would look something like this:
#1 - Sram Schet
#2 - Rushing For Coal
#3 - Imnissel Mill Dinja
#honorable mention - split w/ Modelbau (as the #1 split release)

Overall, as mentioned at the start of the showcase, I’m impressed by “Ghone” and have been captivated by it ever since I heard the first tone. Objectively, there are areas where it excels at and some which might be room for improvement. Some tracks are intimidatingly long and they could be a bit shorter while still managing to get the feels across to the listener. This is why I would love to see John exploring some shorter song formats, as I think some of these already existing briefer tracks are surprisingly impactful. Similarly, at times I much more prefer “Ghone” in the clean cut, more minimalistic and technical incarnation, compared to the harsh noise variant simply because I feel like the cleaner ones manage to send a stronger message.
And yet, whatever kind of opinion you have regarding “Ghone”, one thing is for certain. It is a passion project in constant motion and evolution, ever-growing and forever changing. It is a machine fueled by creativity, a thing which it doesn’t seem to run out of, and thus you never truly know what will another release bring. “Ghone” can slow down, but it will never stop.
I hope these little snippets of my thoughts are enough to inspire you to check out this wondrous noise from Greece. You can find the entire discography up on bandcamp found here, some selected works on youtube here and you can also follow “Ghone” on the official facebook page found here.

As promised, this showcase will be shortly followed by an interview I did with John, which will be up on the blog this upcoming Thursday. Great conversation, truly can’t wait to share it with you all. Stay tuned!

Cutthroat Convention - Peeling the Sea (2011)

I planned to post something else today, but somewhere along the way I got severely sidetracked. Hopefully tomorrow, or otherwise as soon as possible, that post will come due to the fact that I find it rather important. In the meantime, here is another release review and I hope you find it enjoyable.

Not long after the "Ludovik Material" write-up, comes yet another out-of-the-ordinary band for this blog. "Cutthroat Convention", a UK-based quartet, began bringing weirdo noisy experimental tunes to the masses back in late 2008. Three releases later, "Peeling the Sea" came out in June 2011 in association with a label called "Doubledgescissor >8<". It is worth saying that the project didn't stop with this release, since while I'm writing this there are two more of their outlets floating around.

First of all, you have to keep in mind that this is in no way your everyday band and it definitely desires a specific type of mood. That doesn't mean the band is bad, on the contrary. Once you get there, this is something that is bound to twist your brainwaves in all sorts of crazy ways.

Okay, so grab your mixing pot and add the following ingredients: vocals, bass, drums, stir and spice it up with a score of various electronics, samples and effects. And a tiny violin decoration on top.
So where to begin with describing things? The human element, namely the vocals, consists out of a whole spectrum of audio shapes. There's anger, whining, screaming, talking, singing, something that I would label as squealing, frustration, fast reciting... you get the idea. The changes are subtle and flowing, so you basically don't realize that the style changed until it already did so like five times.
As for the violin, it managed to bring extreme amounts of eerie factors to the music backed up by the equally strange howling of the electronic section. Those two elements combined added several really creepy song moments. In contrast to that the bass playing bounces between being quite heavy, a la industrial noisy, and melodic in a (post)punk manner. It really stood out for me and in all forms it proved to be highly enjoyable.
Now I thought that the drums will be the only firm part of the band, but apparently I was severely wrong. Like every other piece of this band, drumming also comes with a score of surprises. Either through bouncing out of rhythm, sharply changing pace or just being inarticulate, the person holding the sticks definitely aided the maddening melody behind "Cutthroat Convention".
The tracks, in general, are almost impossible to describe due to the fact that it all seems like either a really wicked acid trip or a journey through the mind of a raving madman. Thus I'll try to focus and talk just about the song construction and composition. Like I mentioned above regarding the vocals, everything is constantly changing in some weird way, all too subtly. If we would mark the song progress with a line, then these tracks would have the shape of some illiterate doodles of a schizophrenic. Nothing makes sense, yet everything seems to be in order. Songs have wild ups and downs, they get slow and stretchy, then they become faster and spastic. At times things are peaceful, while in other moments you are faced with a nerve-wrecking wall of noise. Although you might feel like there is almost no consistency in this chaotic carnival, there is a fine layer of melody and mood crawling under it.

As mentioned above, this EP has been supported by "Doubledgescissor >8<", a diy label and promoter of experimental projects settled in London. I've received the "Cutthroat Convention" CD in a really cool self-made cardboard envelope which has the label logo spray-painted on the cover. The package looks so well that I decided to keep it as a part of the CD itself. Wrapped in a plastic bag, "Peeling the Sea" comes with a rather minimalist design, with a two page gatefold cover of sorts made of really thick paper. The disc is also spray-painted with both the band's and label's logos. Overall, quite simple, but effective and nice. Additionally, you can get this release, as well as their older and newer material, for free on the band's bandcamp page, found here.

Personally, I find this a really cool release. It is not my usual cup of tea and something completely out of the ordinary, but in the right mood I find it great. I am yet to take a listen to all of their previous and newer recordings, which makes me rather excited since I am curious how much their style fluctuates between releases. The band is still pretty much alive and active, as you can see on their facebook page found here. Definitely check them out, you're in for an eerie ride.

Ludovik Material - Passion For Red (2012)

These last couple of days I've been sorting out through all the submission I got in physical format, as well as finally replying to a bunch of late e-mails. I have also been writing and preparing a rather important post which I want to publish for quite some time now, since the need for it is pretty urgent. What makes me so slow at times is my overall perfectionism, so the blog always comes to a grinding halt until everything is done the way I imagined it in my head.

On today's repertoire we have something that is quite rare and out-of-the-box when it comes to genres  posted on this blog. "Ludovik Material", a trio from Slovenia, is a carrier of a strange mixture of sound. Add an ex-trance producer, a drummer, a female singer and what you get is a a weird experimental stew. The band is still very young, initially forming in May 2011, and they already have a turbulent biography. Quick tour of their home country, a demo and just one year later they managed to release nine songs in the form of "Passion For Red". 

Most probably I would never stumble upon this band by myself, but "Kapa Records" showed up once again to lead the way. In case you forgot, this label is responsible for two bands already featured on this blog, those being "The Canyon Observer" and "Coma Stereo". Both of those reviews you can read here and here.

What first came to mind while listening to this band was "The Animatrix" soundtrack, in the sense of having as much different sounds as there are songs. All three parts of the band twist and convulse throughout the nine featured tracks, ranging from being moody, slow, repetitive, heavy, inarticulate, exploding and everything in between. The intro song caught my attention instantly, lashing out with truly mesmerizing drum playing, gloomy electronics and rending, yet melancholic, strings. An excellently placed song, which as an opening lures you into the album with its near post rock feel. Soon enough comes track number two, which has the same name as the release itself, carrying a sort of tribal-like atmosphere that features interesting drumming and lots of crackles and noise. "Made In" comes third, lashing out with provocative vocals and savage electronic sounds, in general being aggressively catchy and body moving. And later on during the album you are faced with a song like "Come", a really slow and easy going tune with extremely gentle electronic work. So as you can see, song construction and the very style of execution varies with each song. Each song manages to stand out from the rest and, although this seems like a neat feature of an experimental album, in the midst of that variety resides a tiny flaw in my mind when I think about this band.
My one and only complaint would be the vocals, since I found a certain dose of inconsistency in that field. The spectrum of sounds produced goes from singing, screaming, wailing, talking and even moaning, which I think somewhat shatters the overall feel of the album. When the instrumental section is so diverse, the vocals need to be a strong chord which will bind the band together otherwise you end up being all over the place. I can absolutely see the desire to introduce extreme amounts of variety on the album, but there is also a need to tie it all in a solid package. Sadly, it fell on the vocals to be the wrapping paper, since the album viciously opens in an instrumental manner. At times I got myself lost into thinking that I'm listening to more than one band, which again makes me think of the above mentioned soundtrack. That being said, my preference goes toward the more coarse and aggressive form of the singing and screaming as heard on certain instances in "Made In" or the more plain, megaphone imbued talking style from "Almighty". This is more of a personal opinion and I stick to my guns, but I assume that the vastness of sounds coming from the throat will definitely find its crowd. 

"Passion For Red" comes in either digital download or CD format, both available on the bandcamp page found here. The CD has the standard plastic packaging, but it features a really nice and thick booklet with lyrics and artwork. Each right page is filled with lyrics while the left pages are decorated with appropriate drawings corresponding with the words. There's definitely nothing nicer than opening an album and finding lyrics and other information inside, so many thumbs up for this.

Once again Slovenia managed to spew out something interesting on the scene. If we put the small album inconsistency aside, which isn't a true flaw at all, this is a really catchy release and definitely something with which you can take a break from your other daily bands. The band is still pretty much alive, so maybe soon we will be able to hear something new coming from their practice room. Hope you enjoyed the read.

Coma Stereo - 1000 Mest (2012)

http://kaparecords.bandcamp.com/album/1000-mest

I have no idea what is the weather situation in the place where my readers live, but here it is so hot all of a sudden that I can barely think straight. Pity for all of those who have to go out today, so instead  that I recommend that you check out this review and hopefully you decide to enjoy a ride to the far corners of the galaxy with this band, definitely colder there than here.

Once again we meet with "Kapa Records", a label from Slovenia which was already indirectly mentioned on this blog. Namely, this record label has previously released "The Canyon Observer" album which was reviewed in November last year. In case you missed that write-up you can check it out here. What we have here in front of us now is the newest material coming from the four piece space rock band named "Coma Stereo". Yet another project coming from Slovenia, though this one has a fair bit of history behind it. The guys started playing way back in 2004 and, counting "1000 Mest", this is their third album. I have been really surprised by this band when the promoter contacted me about a review, mostly because they already have eight years behind them and I wasn't aware of their existence and then being surprised even further once I heard how amazing this band is. The band also has a really great number of shows in its resume, so how they eluded me is beyond my comprehension.

"1000 Mest" came out on February 18 this year in vinyl and download format. Andraž, promoter at "Kapa Records", was kind enough to send me the actual record copy of this album even before the material was released and I really have to apologize for my slow response, since I obviously took my time a bit too long. When he mentioned this project to me I immediately took a listen and was very much intrigued by what I heard. This release brings us ten songs and from start to finish it's just plain enjoyment and a really great ride. The opening track called "Črna jutra" manages to set your mood perfectly and opens the door to a superb space rock jam. "Coma Stereo" makes good use of electronic sound effects for that mood-setting, swinging between being eerie and grim to something highly epic and wonderful. While listening to this record, most of my time was spent analyzing the synthesizer sections which, although seeming same in tone, have a nice array of diversity in sound, ranging from sounding like heavy industrial machinery to tunes reminding me of old Nintendo or arcade games. The song composition also has a sort of duality, some parts are really cheery while others sound like there is nothing but dread and despair around the listener. There is one thing that I really have to praise about song structure and that is the band's ability to make a superb use of buildups. All songs have something that sounds like there is some growth in sound, either in the form of the pace being increased or slight changes of mood or even the very melodies becoming more and more complex each second. This is really hard to explain properly, but I presume that you will figure out what I wanted to say when you take a listen. Personally, this album made me sit on the edge of my chair nonstop and sensing that tension in music was excellent.

An interesting feature of "1000 Mest" is also the fact that there is a nice number of both instrumental tracks and those with vocals. It is worth noting that the songs, in general, have quite a deep tone with bass playing being in the spotlight a lot and everything has a sort of crackly, crude sound. In contrast to that, the vocal adds a completely new layer to a particular song since it is very gentle, melodic and almost sounding as if the singer is weeping. This really makes the entire album quite intriguing and you can listen to it multiple times in a row and continually discover new aspects of it.

As I said before, this band and this release in particular came to me as a huge surprise and I am extremely happy that I discovered their work. I am yet to take a listen to their work prior to "1000 Mest", but I am certain that talent and creativity is not lacking on those. As much as I saw on the band's website, located here, they have a couple of shows lined up and they are pretty much alive. Once again I would like to thank Andraž for both introducing me to "Coma Stereo" and for having loads of patience for me to finish this review. Definitely check out the page of "Kapa Records" found here, this is a label supporting some excellent projects. Hope you liked the review and enjoy the tunes!

Circle Takes The Square - Decompositions - Vol I. Chapter 1. Rites of Initiation (2011)

http://ctts.bandcamp.com/

Just a quick update on this nigh cataclysmic event, in case someone missed the news. After seven years of waiting, of rumors, of people losing hope that they will ever hear something from this band again, of some (undeserved) internet hate, the new material from "Circle Takes The Square" has finally grasped the light of day. Four new, incredible songs are being streamed on the band's bandcamp page, while the physical release will be out  in November. Until the entire release is out I will hold my thoughts for myself, but the important thing is that I consider this a release worthy of its predecessor. No words for now, just listen.

Animal Skins

http://animalskins.bandcamp.com/

I thought about writing the next gig review, actually a festival report from Fluff, but pondered that maybe it is better not to slam you all with yet another wall of text and add some interesting tunes in between to spice it all up. Plus, I am really infatuated by everything that I experienced on the said festival, so I really want to be in an inspired mood while writing about it. But enough about that, time for you to be introduced to an exquisite band.

"Animal Skins" is a quintet from Boise, Idaho, and that is probably the most information you are going to dig up about the band on first glance on the web. Thus far, the five piece has released two extended plays, the first one coming out on 25 January 2011. Named "A EP", the release brought five songs with sixteen something minutes of very interesting tunes. Just to note, despite their bandcamp page showing only four songs, five tracks are available once downloaded. Anyways, the thing you get to hear is a noise spiced mid tempo hardcore mixed with some psychedelic bits and pieces. Sounds weird and maybe randomly put together, but the thing that matters is that "A EP" is an extremely entertaining release and it provided much enjoyment for yours truly. While you listen to the songs, you get this interesting feeling as if sitting on needles, since the tunes hover in mid tempo, as mentioned before, yet at times start reaching toward a more faster speed though never getting too pissed off and wild. Basically you feel as though everything is about to go insane, but it never does, this really mustering a lot of tension while listening and it was exceptionally cool. Having two guitars in the band, most of the times one provides repetitive, but extremely catchy riffs, while the other is responsible for some noisy creations. The listener is constantly thrown between the two, with drums and bass providing just ambient support. Other times however, all instruments blend really well together and form just a massive noise amalgam and you just sense the beating upon your ears. The vocal performance is a complete contrast to the rest of the band, since it is just a constant raspy scream with almost no change in sound.  This is not a flaw however, since it creates the whirlwind effect, as if the vocal is just the only solid thing while the rest of the happenings are pure chaos and constant change. Rare are bands that manage to pull this off effectively and luckily "Animal Skins" jumps in that boat.
Following "A EP", July 2011 saw the release of "B EP" and a lot of changes for the band came in its wake. This time we are faced with four songs grasping us for almost twenty minutes and immediately we notice a drastic shift in their performance. First of all, the instruments became much more crunchy and noisy, which I love so much. Not only did the overall sound started being quite deeper, but the bass and drums don't provide just background tones anymore, this time I feel that they are also thrown into the spotlight on equal terms as the rest. The second thing almost instantly poking your ears is the change of style "Animal Skins" took. No longer slow going and psychedelic, now they carry a gloomy noise imbued hardcore. It was absolutely stunning listening to both releases in a row, expecting something similar and akin to the first one, yet being just completely slammed to the ground and beaten up by fast riffs filled with dread and sluggish behemoths waiting around the corner. The change in style took me by so much surprise that "B EP" just flew by me and left me pondering what the fuck just happened to my speakers.
The ultimate thing about "Animal Skins" is actually the fact that both of their releases are standing shoulder to shoulder with one another, both providing something highly interesting in their own way and right. Their evolution is really a sight to behold and I sincerely hope they won't stop with "B EP", since they certainly show what they are capable of as musicians and should definitely continue exploring their abilities. I honestly urge everyone to give them a try, listening to both of their records in one breath. You can get in touch with the band members over on their facebook page here. Enjoy!

Shat Shorts - Seersucker and Sundresses (2010)

http://shatshorts.bandcamp.com/

Woke up today and felt extremely charged and excited about doing some writing for the blog. Morning sleepiness, some coffee, my cat blocking half the screen and an extremely interesting band to top it all...small things make life fucking great.

"Shat Shorts" is a quintet hailing from Washington, DC, consisting of former members from quite a lot of past projects, including "Dawn Treader", "Mop Attack", "The Summer We Went West", "Bezout's Identity", "Hobis" and "Monument". The dudes got together in last April and by the following September they already recorded this six song tape. In the mail that Andrew from the band sent to me, he mentioned that they play hardcore/punk, but once I took a listen to their material I realized that it was so much more than just plain hc punk. My excitement about writing today was further increased once the tape ended, since there are all sorts of elements flying around in their music which really make "Shat Shorts" your atypical band.

"Amateur Hour" opens up first, comically starting with the whole band just playing some random (warming up) tunes. Drums get in line to get things serious, after which you are greeted with a deep, guitar screeching, evil melody, quite an eerie feel to it. After some time, drums go at it again and kinda separate the song into several repeated sections, a near start stop style if you please. By now you are are still in the so called hc/punk genre, but already drifting away from it, since now bass comes up front with a rather simple line which completely blew me away with how much it sounds great. Seconds later guitar comes above the bass, this repetitive melody going on for some time.

Ok, so I'll stop with the description here, hoping that you got my point. This is about half a song and as you can see there is so much going on. Not only are the melodies diverse, but the instruments sound vastly different from your standard hardcore. Call me crazy, but the bass has a sort of post punk tone to it, a bit distorted but quite solid at the same time. It really sounds great this way especially because it seems to both perfectly fit in with the rest of the band and to be extremely out of this world. The vocals are also raspy and you get a feeling like the singer is performing through a bunch of static, which exceptionally fits in with the overall chaos. Generally, the whole recording seems crunchy and raw, with a lot of crackles going on around in the air and it fits perfectly. My readers probably know how much I praise "clean" recordings, but this just blew my head from my shoulders, I instantly fell in love with this. One would think that this crunchiness would drag along some slow, sluggish tunes, but "Shat Shorts" just bursts with energy. Yes, they have some slower song sections, but there are also extremely fast and melodic parts which are just stunning.

The fact that I wrote this review in one breath, without turning back and after the initial listening gives quite a lot of praise to this band by itself. They really managed to impact hit me so fast and really left a mark in my head. There is really an interesting and unique experimental edge within their music and it grasps your full attention. I definitely recommend "Shat Shorts" to everyone, they are bound to attract your liking. If you are still uncertain whether to give them a try, you can read an interview with them which was done by "dcist" here or if you found my review retarded you can check out their one song being featured in a local city paper here. You can also get in touch and follow them on their tumblr page here. So, what are you waiting for? Go and just enjoy!

413 - Path to Hocma (2011)

413

I settled down with a cup of coffee today to write about one submission which came before this one, but as it turns out I'm having some internet troubles (I think), so mediafire isn't working quite properly. Hopefully that issue is gonna get fixed somehow, but until then here is something else quite interesting for you. I have to admit though that I am not really in the proper mood for writing now, so that may reflect on the writeup. Either way, hope you enjoy it.

Probably all of you know of this release by now, since it got a lot of coverage once it saw the light of day. "Path of Hocma" came out somewhere at the beginning of January and yeah again I am rather late with presenting it here. Anyway, this is the second release of the band "413" hailing from Spain...though the term "project" is much more fitting than "band". The thing is that "413" is actually done by just one man, the extremely talented David Pisabarro. Everything from writing, composition, production, mixing, mastering, interpretation, design, everything is done by David. As the story goes, he started out as a bass player in various local bands where he discovered his potential. After he released the first album "Reschith" under the name "413", he started further developing his skills which resulted in being a producer for a number of bands. He was also working with Eskil Lövstrom and Pelle Henricsson, producers associated with names such as "Cult of Luna" and "Refused".

Adding to his extreme ambition and commitment to music is the actual weird way in which "Path to Hocma" was recorded. It is best explained with a quote when David wrote to me about his music: "it was written with no amplifiers, no guitars, without a studio to call home, based only on an electric bass." I must admit that once I started reading about this project I really couldn't believe that it is basically a one man thing. One must really admire the creator of this on both his efforts and creativity.

So, what does "413" sound like? Well, if you take a quick stroll over the web you will see this tagged with everything, from post-metal and (post) hardcore to ambient and post-rock. But without a need for a thousand genre tags, I'd have to say that I would simply tag this as experimental. Basically, all the above mentioned genres could be applied to this project, but the very structure of the album suggests that it is a pure experiment, so to speak. Songs differ to one another in style and composition, one goes fast and aggressive with screaming and choir like vocals, while the next one is a weird slow track with a sort of tribal or even ritual like mood to it. And after that, you get hit by a song which literally manages to draw a scene of the American wild west in your head. Also there is variation in vocal performance, since you can listen to David's singing, as well as guest appearances from Urko Eizmendi ("Krilin"), Joseba Ruiz ("Dazein") and Rubén González ("Cohen"). There are ten songs on this release with somewhere around 50 minutes of tunes and every song has something unique to offer to the listener. "Path to Hocma" is quite an interesting ride and the hour that you spend listening to it rushes past you without you even noticing.

One thing I would also like to reflect upon is the design of the release. It is a cardboard case and a booklet, all thoroughly filled with drawings, lyrics and other info. The drawings and the overall design is excellent, pictures of landscapes and animals, looking like they were all done by pencil. Yeah this sounds retarded, but I don't know the correct art terminology to give you a specific description. Either way, the packaging looks great and it is done by the artist Leyre Otermin.

An important thing must be said is that "Path to Hocma" is available for free. Not only in digital format, but also as physical, which is how I actually got my copy. Of course, there is the option of donating some funds to the whole project, which I sadly couldn't do since I have no PayPal thanks to my shitty country. In any case, you should definitely check this out! This is an extremely ambitious project and there is nothing more to do than praise David's work and wish him the best of luck in his future creativity.

Saturday's Kids - s/t 7''

Ouch, long time since the last post. Well, as I already wrote in the screambox, my pc is broken at the moment, so now I'm using a laptop until I either fix my old pc or get a new one. Until then, I'm stuck with this and it sucks since I don't have any of my shit here, so I end up listening to music over youtube and whatnot. It's a shitty laptop, yeah. Ok, enough random rants, let's get this rolling.

"Saturday's Kids" hails from South Wales, UK and formed in 2008. I was contacted about posting his band here by Sion like a month ago and it was just yesterday that I managed to take a listen. He described the band as being "weirdo experimental punk" and to be honest, I took that with a raised eyebrow. I already discussed my thoughts on the "experimental" tag in one other post, so I held back my expectations about being amazed by this. Well, my mistake, since this band struck me completely off guard. And it struck hard and directly.
First of all, this 7'' brings three songs with nearly ten minutes of tunes. The thing that pokes your eyes almost instantly is a kind of uneven distribution of song length, already a hint that something crazy is happening here. "Three Days" kicks off with a sound which resembles a machine of some sort, followed by a guitar with an eerie tone to it. So you think "ok, cool, kinda atmospheric, I'm digging it", but you are so fooled since soon everything goes insane and you get pounded down by aggressive drumming, seconds after which bass also joins the fray. You get stuck in this tornado of sound and then out of nowhere vocals also jump at you. I don't know if it's just me, but the vocals remind me of Geoff Rickly from "Thursday", but a bit younger and a lot more aggressive. Don't know if the descripiton made sense, it does in my head at least. Anyway, as the song progresses, you realize that this projects is going to have a lot of aces up it's sleave. The first minute and a half is a repetitive, aggressive, fast tempo melody with a slight variation in sound being introduced somewhere around 1:40, which leads into the pinacle and crescendoe of it all with amazing drum playing. The next twenty or so seconds really did it for me, still quite fast, but a bit more flowing and with an amazing post punkish tone introduced by the bass. At this point when you take a listen, you will reallize why I am analyzing this so thoroughly. Due to excellent recording of this material, you are able to witness and enjoy a song's every milisecond and focus on anything you find attractive.
After the amazing bass line and again the repetitive section, everything just drops down and becomes something on the verge of slow and mid tempo, until it drifts away at the end. The five minute monster is over and you move onto "Spider's Legs", a fast one minute track with a sort of alternative, punk, rockish tone. Quite catchy and it really swings you up and around. In the end, "A Dirty Dream" is an absolute pleasure to listen to. The opening part is a stunning bass line with a pure post punk feel to it, so amazing. The rest of the band enters soon after and yes, a complete post punk wonder is in front of you. Despite the fact that there are sections of aggressive outbursts on this song, the track is generally gentle and slow.
In the end, this band pretty much blew me away. My thoughts proved correct with assuming that various song lenghts mean different playing styles and that trait of "Saturday's Kids" is what makes them enjoyable. You can find a lot in these ten minutes and everything that you do find is extremly good, especially with the top notch quality of recordings. That also is one of the great traits of this project.
I didn't upload this record since you can download everything on their bandcamp page, actually on the "Art of the Blind" page, which I presume is their label. Check them out there, as well as on their myspace page here.
http://artforblind.bandcamp.com/album/saturdays-kids-s-t-7

(aura) - Invisible Landscape (2010)

Download

Time for something fresh, new and overall unique (for both the blog and the world). I will try to keep this quite a short review, since this project is quite vast in both musical and conceptual terms and there would be now way for me to analyze it in just one post, so criticism and philosophy down to a minimum. As several times before, lack of words won't mean lack of quality, but quite the contrary.

Let's stay technical and begin with the standard approach. (aura) hails from Portugal, a solo music project of composer Andre Fernandes fusing a vast number of genres from ambient to classical, post rock and electronica, so it is free to say and classify this music as experimental. It would be very hard to describe the tunes present of "Invisible Landscape" since you can find anything dwelling inside. Overall the melodies are calm and gentle, though with a touch of several beats which remind me of industrial. The very tunes are almost picturesque and it is with a reason. The whole concept behind this project is focused on being an imaginary soundtrack for ten photographs done by Jose Ramos, a photographer from Portugal. The pictures are available at Last.Fm and listening to the music while looking at them everything is really circled into a whole.

To be honest, this 40 minute release wouldn't caught my attention generally, but it struck me in good timing. These last few weeks have been tiring for me because of my job (now jobS) and playing this really relaxes you and sets you into a specific mood. This definitely isn't everyday music (at least not for me), but when the time is right it really hits the spot. Excellent and interesting project, electronic music with a touch of nature which gives you an unexpected dose of emotion along the way. Very ambitious and completely worth your time.

Thanks to Shark Skirl for sending me the link. My Mediafire account is bugged today, I couldn't upload the album correctly.

Jakuzi's Attempt - III (2010)

Download

At the start, I would like to paste here a quote from "Jakuzi's Attempt" myspace page: "Jakuzi's Attempt can be described as an "apex infant prodigy" declaiming and screaming that bears resemblance to an opulent baroque Austrian monster, tourist could easily confuse with Mozart."

Sounds interesting, eh? Not only interesting, but promising. But usually a band description using cool words such as "apex" and "opulent" ends up being not so cool and the only true part that is left is the fact that they are Austrian. Well, this ain't no such band.

From the very opening featuring a jazzy yet maniacal guitar, to the closing screams and drums, "Jakuzi's Attempt" gives you a ride you don't forget so easily and in fact want to go at it again. Usually I frown at someone using the term "experimental", but I have to admit that I would use the said genre name here. Let me elaborate that a bit.

As it is written above, the jazz guitar on speed opens the first song and is soon followed by other instruments jumping in, accompanied with a "talking", higher pitched vocal. I describe it like that since it kinda sounds to me like he wants to scream or yell at someone but is close to falling to the floor and whining so he can't. It sounds great, worry not. Anyway, through the song the instruments build up the heaviness, much like the vocal does with its transformation into screaming. And then in the middle, when you expect that everything is going to explode, it all just falls down upon you in a wave of slow, sensitive, atmospheric and gentle humming-like singing and background music. Yet at the end it explodes again, like it's the last drop of strength the band has, which sounds amazing.

Then you move onto the second song, called "Freedom" where the explosive end of the first track continues and then drops into literally nothingness, distortion creating a passage for some impressive guitar and bass effect usage, background drums playing and a repetitive "I built myself a flying machine" by the singer, making this a really eerie song.

Now I won't describe the other two songs, let that be a discovery of your own, but you probably get the general picture. There are no boundaries for this band, not limiting themselves to a specific type of song structure or style, literally experimenting with what they can create, throwing everything they can at you, while doing so with top notch uniqueness. The amount of different emotions they invoke through their songs is incredible and at times you have a feeling that you are listening to several bands, not just one. They make atypical music, fusing various elements into an amalgam of excellence which is called "III".

Thus, it is completely "approved" for them having the written words from the begining of this post and not being pretentious and full of it in the process. A highly recommended band, give them support, they deserve it.