WOLF PARADE - Expo 86 (Sub Pop)

Full disclosure: Wolf Parade are one of my favorite bands in existence. Not like an all time thing, but of the bands currently making music today Wolf Parade are in my top five...tied at number four to be exact along with Slayer, following Sunn 0))), Radiohead and Belle & Sebastian. Since their fantastic debut "Apologies to the Queen Mary," I have been constantly frustrated and amazed that they haven't gained the recognition that some of their less worthy peers have received. Whereas MGMT can sell out a club in a matter of minutes, Wolf Parade ends up only filling half the club with their small but dedicated following. Nothing against MGMT, but they aren't Wolf Parade.

Part of the reason for this is that unlike MGMT and others, Wolf Parade never had that one indie rockstar making hit. They never produced a dance pop track like "Kids," or that moment-in-time defining album like fellow Canadians Arcade Fire. To a large degree this is because the band is, for the most part, immune to the ever changing musical trends going on around them. There is no one else who really sounds like Wolf Parade, because Wolf Parade doesn't really sound like anyone else - or at least any contemporaneous artists. That uniqueness is part of Wolf Parade's strength, but it is also what isolates them from the unwashed indie masses. You have to love music, in particular rock music, to love Wolf Parade, not just follow the musical trends of the moment.

What is so great about Wolf Parade other than the fact that they stick out like a sore thumb in a class of kids who look the same and sound the same? Well, they play with the energy of the Clash, sound like the indie-rock damaged love child of Springsteen and Bowie, and most importantly they rock. Really really rock. Not in a heavy metal sort of way, but in a jump up and down, scream, hoot and holler after each song kind of way. When so few bands know how to rock any more, Wolf Parade pull no punches when it comes to bashing out fist pumping anthems. If that wasn't enough, the band constantly ups the ante by incorporating layers and layers of melodies, counter melodies and prog-inspired bits of experimentation into their songs to constantly keep listeners on their toes. As a result, the band crafts songs that are both viscerally satisfying and challenging at the same time. Take a song like "Language City," from "At Mount Zoomer." It begins as a straightforward rocker on its way toward a dizzying climax, but not before the band seamlessly switches melodies and dynamics no less than three times. Wolf Parade often accomplishes more in one song than most bands do in their entire careers.

So, as a caveat, I review this album as a huge fan, which is why it pains me to say that of the band's three works, "Expo 86" is my least favorite. Notice, I am not saying it is a bad album, cause it isn't. It's actually really pretty good. It just doesn't change my world like "Queen Mary" and "Mount Zoomer" did.

This time out the band cuts out the epic prog elements of "Zoomer" and tempers the hard-edged approach of "Queen Mary" to meet somewhere in the middle. To their credit they have produced their most straightforward and consistent release to date. The band consciously set out to make a more upbeat album than "Zoomer," and in that regard they should count "Expo 86" as a success. I just kind of miss those darker, more bizarre, pieces like "An Animal in Your Cage," and "Kissing the Beehive."

With the exception of vocals, "Expo 86" was recorded live with very few overdubs. Given that Wolf Parade are one of the best live bands working today, this approach serves them well. As a result, the album sounds less staged than anything they have produced before. In the past an obvious divide existed between songs based on which of the group's primary writers - Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner - wrote the track. "Expo 86" closes that gap significantly, featuring songs that Krug and Boeckner fleshed out together. The album sounds much more cohesive and collaborative than previous records.

"Expo 86" hits the ground running with "Cloud Shadow on the Mountains." Krug said in an interview that he wanted this record to sound like the music he imagined was playing at school dances in the Archie comics, and certainly if Archie was set post-1977 "Cloud Shadow" could very well be that music. It's an upbeat punk basher that features Krug's distinctive keyboards sounding a bit like a ska workout reflected in a funhouse mirror. Boekner and guitarist Dante DeCaro, in the meantime, cultivate a darker guitar pattern that eventually diverges with the melody, leading the band into a breakdown before returning to Krug's Archie dance party. "Palm Road" follows and offers up a classic Boekner song. It's one of those songs that makes you feel like you should be driving 100 mph away from somewhere, and like all great Boekner songs it goes through numerous costume changes before coming to rest at the edge of a precipice. What is immediately noticeable about both "Cloud Shadow" and "Palm Road" is that they look like Wolf Parade songs, they feel like Wolf Parade songs, and they sound like Wolf Parade songs, but something is off, something is different here. Both songs contain shifts in dynamics and melody, both songs rock, I mean really rock, but something is just not the same. What is different is that the changes in direction are shorter lived, more concise and the songs barely stop to take a breath, speeding by the listener. The end result is that while "Expo 86" is more immediate than any of the band's other albums, the songs are not as distinguishable initially. It takes a lot more time to unpack these songs and make them into favorites than previously. Even though they are immediate, These songs are dense and it takes repeated listens to fully grasp everything that is going on, in part because they come at you so fast.

Two songs that defy everything I just wrote are "What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)" and "Little Golden Age." "What Did My Lover Say" finds the band turning in one of their more ponderous songs over a dance beat punctuated by smash and bash bridges and point counterpoint guitar workouts. It shouldn't be, but it is, one of the cleanest songs on the album and one of the most effective. Plus for the Wolf Parade geeks it features the line "I don't think I should be sorry for things that I did in dreams, some people live like they are falling, some people die in their sleep," which recalls "Shine A Light's" "some people float, some are buried alive" refrain. "Little Golden Age," on the other hand, is a rock anthem writ large. It's the kind of shit that made Springsteen the Boss, and it's more than worthy of the comparison.

The rest of the album takes a little longer to get to the bottom of, but in the end songs like "In the Direction of the Moon," and "Ghost Pressure" get their hooks in you and worm their way into you brain. Spend a little time with these songs and you'll find yourself humming them throughout the day. "Pobody's Nerfect" starts out all brash and in your face before receding into a hybrid of "Golden Age"-styled anthem and straightforward WP rocker. It's another album highlight. There are a couple of tracks toward the end that are easily forgettable. "Two Men in New Tuxedos" doesn't do too much, while "Oh You, Old Thing" eventually does, but takes too long to get there. "Yulia" and "Cave-o-Sapian" close out the album nicely revisiting both sides of the Wolf Parade coin; Boekner's 80s-s inspired anthematic rock and Krug's keyboard-driven punkpop. What binds these songs together more than ever before is that both sound like they could be played at Archie's school dance by the same band without missing a beat. That cohesion is what eventually distinguishes "Expo 86" the most, and, in the end, makes for another great Wolf Parade album. Even if it didn't change my life like "Queen Mary" and "Mount Zoomer," it's an album that will find its way onto my turntable time and time again, especially when I feel the need to rock it out with the likes of Betty and Veronica.

Wheeler says: "Fuck yeah!!! This makes me want to slam dance!"

"Little Golden Age"


"What Did My Lover Say"


"Cloud Shadow On The Mountain" live


"Ghost Pressure" live


"Palm Road" live

Editor's Note

For as long as I have been with my girlfriend she has deflated the music that I am listening to with her single sentence summations of what is on the stereo. Often not impressed with the latest hot shit that all the hipsters are into at the moment, or the metal that I often love, her single sentence reviews often infuriate me, not because they are ill-informed, but because her visceral take on things are so directly on the mark, making me realize I am just as caught up in all the trend hopping bullshit that every other blogger and wanna be tastemaker out there is. Anyway, as a balance to my bloviating I am going to be including her single sentence reviews at the end of my own, starting with Tame Impala, which she actually liked amazingly enough.

TAME IMPALA - Innerspeaker (Modular Recordings)

What made the Beatles great wasn't just their ability to write classic pop songs, nor was it their ability to experiment and get "arty." What made the Beatles great was that they did both things at once. Take "Strawberry Fields Forever." What makes that song so perfect, so legendary is that it is mindblowingly experimental AND catchy as hell. Their untouched ability to craft seamless art-pop is what made the Beatles the Beatles. Ever since "Revolver" was unleashed on the world some of the most successful and critically acclaimed bands have followed in the fab four's footsteps crafting songs that combine experimentation with pop hooks, and consequently creating some of the most hailed recordings of all time. It's a winning approach, after all, because it makes experimentation, and the implicit danger therein, digestible, pushing listeners briefly outside of their comfort zone, (and, it should be noted, setting more than a few on a path toward increasingly abstract music), while also elevating pop songs above their rote verse chorus verse pattern. It's why "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" is a classic album, and why "Sky Blue Sky" blows. It's also why Radiohead are one of the most popular bands on earth.

Tame Impala are certainly not the Beatles or Radiohead or classic-era Wilco, but their debut "Innerspeaker," shows plenty of promise, and proves that they know how to seamlessly combine art with pop. The band takes the sound of "Revolver"-era Beatles (a comparison egged on by Kevin Parker's nasal-inflected vocals that call to mind John Lennon) and combines it with elements of "Madchester" bands like the Stone Roses and krautrock. Parker describes the band as "a steady flowing psychedelic groove rock band that emphasizes dream-like melody." That's pretty accurate, but it doesn't really get at how great the songs that comprise "Innerspeak" really are, which is pretty damn great.

Kicking off the album with the spacious and somewhat downbeat "It Is Not Meant To Be," Tame Impala immediately grab the listener with both the familiar and adventurous. Parker's inviting voice soars over a pulsating quasi-shoegaze number that will sound comforting to any fan of 90s britpop. In the background, though, guitars and effects float in and out of the stereo channels rewarding attentive listeners with a cacophony of sound, while the band's secret weapon - drummer Jay Watson - tosses off beats, rolls and fills like they were rain from the sky. Let me state up front that Watson makes this record. Period. His textured beat-driven playing isn't just the band's backbone, it is another instrument entirely.

The band switches things up with the rocking "Desire Be, Desire Go." Fuzzed out guitars matched by Watson's pounding drums give way to a trippy chorus of spiraling fills and reverbed vocals. An instrumental break finds the band going into overdrive as Watson lays down a krautrock beat while the Parker offers up a psyche-damaged guitar solo. Clearly the band is indebted to 70's European psychedelia, but unlike, say Can or Harvester, they never indulge in lengthy experimental workouts, instead keeping all of their songs crisp and succinct. "Desire Be, Desire Go," is a prime example of the band's ability to create heady psychedelia and pack it into perfectly digestible pop nuggets.

Once the listener absorbs these first couple of tracks and connects with the band's addictive hooks and rhythms, the songs start flying by; not because they are fleeting, but because they are as enjoyable and they are hypnotic. Songs like "Alter Ego," "Lucidity," and "Solitude is Bliss," find the band in such a captivating groove that you can't help but "turn off your mind, relax and float down stream." Even instrumental "Jeremy's Storm" will have you swaying your head from side to side while your foot taps out the beat.

Even though the band bury a couple of weaker tracks toward the end of the album, it's very easy to hit repeat on "Innerspeaker" and begin the whole trip over again. For a band just getting started Tame Impala more than impresses. Give them a chance and they'll give you a summer soundtrack of addictive pop-rock songs that actually have depth, which is no small thing.

Wheeler says: "What's this? This I can actually handle."

"Solitude is Bliss"


"Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind"


"Desire Be, Desire Go" w/ "It Is Not Meant to Be" intro live


"Alter Ego"

NACHTMYSTIUM - Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. II (Century Media/Candlelight)

There is nothing safe about black metal. It is easily the most extreme form of music ever. It's history is shot through with suicides, murders, satanism and other extremist ideologies from both the left and right. The only other genre with this much controversy and blood on its hands, ironically enough, is hip hop. The difference is that hip hop is a mainstream musical commodity that has made its biggest players, and the record companies behind them, rich and famous. Not so with black metal. Black metal remained underground for so long because the music was just as extreme as the musicians. Incomprehensible shrieked vocals, blast beats and blizzards of buzzing guitars coated in a lo-fi grim insured that either only the most adventurous, or mentally disturbed, would find solace in the bosom of the black metal beast.

Over the last few years, though, a very odd and unexpected thing has happened - black metal has gone overground. Initially this appeared to have little to do with any change in the artists' approach. Instead, it was more of a product of safer experimental artists finding inspiration in the extreme musical form and incorporating elements of it into their own music, while singing its praises in interviews. Arguably the watershed moment came with Sunn 0)))'s "Black One," which combined black metal with Sunn 0)))'s signature earth cracking doom. To illustrate how far that album brought black metal to the indie masses, consider that it ended up at number 28 on Pitchfork's year end list for 2005. Since then, black metal has increasingly enjoyed acceptance in indie culture. Sites like Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan and even Pitchfork regularly highlight black metal artists. Inevitably "boutique", or hipster, black metal bands like Malkuth, Krallice and Liturgy sprang up in Brooklyn playing extreme music, but with personal backgrounds that had very little to do with black metal culture. As a result, these bands became the closest thing the genre has ever had to "safe." Nachtmystium is not one of those bands. Nachtmystium is, in fact, one of the least safe bands in American black metal, or USBM.

Founded by sole constant Blake Judd, initially the band played in the style of classic Norwegian black metal defined by bands like Burzum and Darkthrone. After a couple of grim black metal albums Judd began to expand the band's sound with "Instinct: Decay," which mixed psychedelia into the band's traditional approach. The band went further with the groundbreaking "Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1." The album kind of sounded like what would happen if Pink Floyd made a black metal record. It was undeniably excellent, and made Nachtmystium one of the genre's brightest rising stars, even if purists argued that the band was no longer black metal (not that Judd would have disagreed or cared). Unfortunately the band's background was very much indeed still black metal, and a past association with a NSBM (National Socialist Black Metal) label who had distributed the band's debut album back in 2002 caught up with them causing them to be kicked off of the bill of the much hailed Scion Rock Festival in 2008, just as the band was growing in popularity. Judd fought back releasing a statement that the band was not a nazi band or racist (and certainly nothing in the band's music indicates such beliefs, and Judd's own association with musicians of different ethnic and racial backgrounds would indicate that white power is not something he has any interest in).

The controversy surrounding Nachtmystium was inevitable. As the form of music they played became more popular, and their approach to it became more accessible, a bigger and brighter spotlight was going to shine on what was once a deeply underground movement and band. To Judd's credit he offers no apologies from where the band came from and where they are now. His interview with Pitchfork recently offered insight into the man, who is clearly self-aware, and the extreme background that many black metal bands are born of. Nachtmystium's history, and the controversy surrounding them, is one example, among many, of why black metal cannot be sanitized, and its history cannot be revised, unlike, say, hip hop. Ultimately when you are dealing with an extreme music whose raison d'être is to explore, revel in and (hopefully for the healthier fans among us) purge an individual's darkest emotions, particularly hatred, you are going to bump up against the darkest corners of humanity, and often the darkest corners of your own consciousness. What lies there may not be pretty, but it is real. That is, for better or worse, what gives black metal so much of its power and to pretend otherwise is a lie. This is still an unsafe music, and Nachtmystium are still an unsafe band.

Today, though, the band's danger derives not from their association with the uglier corners of the black metal underground, but from their ability to challenge listeners' prejudices and preconceptions as to what black metal is, or, better yet, what heavy metal itself is. Their danger also lies in their ability to craft harrowing visions of reality and life lived in the margins, rather than the tales of mythical realms - whether it be Valhalla or Hell - peddled by so many of their black metal brethren. That danger is no more palpable than on the band's superb new album "Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. II."

The album begins with the doom-ridden lead-in "Cry For Help," which quickly gives way to the in the red "High On Hate." "High on Hate" is one of the album's most interesting songs. Close to being a traditional black metal throwback the piece begins as a manifesto of black metal's allegiance to hate as a driving force. Judd describes the intoxicating power of the emotion as well as the inherent divisiveness of any movement based on it. "We are not your leaders, we are not your friends," he screams, echoing a sentiment expressed time and again by black metal musicians who care little about how anybody perceives or accepts them or their music. This is a form of art that seemingly could care less if anyone was listening. It is, in some ways, the purest form of self expression. Yet, that ever so pure form of insularity is undercut by the song's final words "still in control, down in this hole." It's one example, among many, in Judd's work and life where he simply calls bullshit. Ultimately the hate that fuels black metal exists because of fear - fear of death, fear of the other, fear of a world completely fucked by greed, war and environmental catastrophe. A lone individual can't control these things, and when you fear what you can't control you draw a circle tighter and tighter around yourself, fearing and despising everything outside of it. Inside of that circle you can fashion and escape into your own little world with your own little rules and reign over it like a king. Such is the reality of the underunderground of black metal. It's a reality that Judd knows all too well, being called every name in the book since he took Nachtmystium overground by those who dwell down in the hole of pure "kvlt" black metal. "High on Hate," is in many ways, Judd calling bullshit on the scene. And if they don't get the message, he spends the whole rest of the album ensuring that they do, eschewing blast beats for 4/4 straight forward rhythms and buzzing blizzards of guitars for chords and melodic solos. Even the vocals are subverted. Sure they sound harsh and processed, but it's clear Judd wants you to hear every word he is screaming, since he enunciates like a student in a public speaking class. His vocals bring to mind Wax Trax luminaries Skinny Puppy and Ministry more than they do Varg Vikernes.

Along with guitarist Jeff Wilson, Judd enlists the aid of Wolves in the Throne Room's Will Lindsay on bass, Minsk's Sanford Parker on synthesizers and USBM legend Jeff "Wrest" Whitehead, a/k/a Leviathan, on drums. Following "High on Hate," the band immediately finds their groove with "Nightfall," an industrial goth-metal banger. The song calls to mind Sisters of Mercy or Fields of the Nephilim in a good way. Next up is the dizzyingly awesome "No Funeral." Driven by a Parker's dark wave keyboard arpeggios the song couldn't be less black metal. Hell, it's an inch away from being a dance track sounding more like Cold Cave than Mayhem. By now it is clear Judd is poking his finger straight into the eye of black metal, even more so than he did with "Assassins." While that move in and of itself might be worth something, what truly elevates the album is not just the experimentation, but how goddamn good these songs really are. Once you get over the shock of Nachtmystium's new new direction, you will find that you are gifting your ears with 10 of the best songs, heavy or not, of the year.

Things turn darker with the behemoth sounding "Then Fires," which musically wouldn't have been out of place on the latest Twilight album, an album that shares the talents of Whitehead, Judd and Parker. The track also sets into full gear the album's thematic narrative surrounding addiction. Lyrically Judd spends the rest of the album painting a harrowing picture of addiction without moralizing. "Then Fires" explores the lose of anything resembling a normal day to day existence as a result of drug use. The song describes a reality where junkies burn through the night, scalding their skin, loving their stench and destroying their days. "Another night inside, another day denied," Judd screams with the voice of a man who knows what it is like to lose entire days because of abuse. The gambit of drugs and their toll are addressed - from heroin ("The End is Eternal" and "Blood Trance Fusion") to crack ("Then Fires") to alcohol ("Ever Last Drop") each, in the end, leading that much closer to Death, who on "Addicts," Judd describes as walking in his shadow drawing closer. If it is not Death that awaits the addict, then it is, for sure, destroyed relationships, as the one described on "Ruined Life Continuum."

Certainly the narrative Judd crafts on "Addicts" is not a pleasing one. There is nothing romantic about the grim descriptions of an addict attempting to escape his demons with various legal and illegal substances. At the same time there is no salvation, no sobriety in sight, only more decay and destruction. That is, in part, the album's power. It's a cautionary tale, yet one that dares not to preach, only describe. It never says 'don't do this,' rather instead it offers the bleak reality that anyone faces when travelling the path of abuse, one that all of us, conscious addicts included, know you would have to be mad to choose. Mad, or, as more likely the case, in search of self annihilation.

Judd's no bullshit approach to addiction gives the album a weight that other albums dealing with the same subject matter simply lack. "Master of Puppets" is camp compared to "Addicts." It's a serious subject dealt with in a serious manner by a man clearly familiar with the issue, but who refuses to draw any resolution. Instead, Judd focuses on the reasons why anyone would turn to drug abuse in the first place and the inevitable outcome of that addiction. That coupled with the power of "Addicts" incredible boundary-pushing music makes this not only one of the best albums of this year, but also one of the most unique. It has something to say and says it in a straightforward manner while at the same time once again breaking new ground musically. Nothing sounds like Nachtmystium, and even though you can trace influences from Killing Joke to Pink Floyd throughout "Addicts," neither descriptor approximates the wholly unique creation that Judd has crafted. Judd is redefining heavy and challenging fans at every turn, and that, along with his narrative of real life hell, still makes Nachtmystium one of the most dangerous bands in America.

"High On Hate" live


"No Funeral"


"Then Fires"


"Every Last Drop"

ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER - Returnal (Editions Mego)

When a massive wave of Merzbow-like noise comes blaring out of your speakers once the needle hits the record on "Returnal," the new Oneohtrix Point Never, you wouldn't be blamed for checking the label to make sure that what you were listening to was indeed OPN. Did Editions Mego fuck up distribution and accidentally put some new Kevin Drumm or Prurient release in the packaging? What the hell is going on here?

Five minutes after the initial blast of "Nil Admirari" and what is likely the utter confusion of unsuspecting listeners, familiar sounds begin to emerge. Spacious 70s- infected drones replace brutal sound terrorism in what has to be the most jarring juxtaposition of experimental styles this year. Last year OPN released three albums ("Betrayed In The Octagon," "Zones Without People," and "Russian Mind") of electronic soundscapes heavily inspired by 70s progressive electronic artists ranging from Tangerine Dream and Cluster to horror soundtrack maestros Goblin and John Carpenter. What set OPN apart from similar retro-electronic artist was the humanity and intelligence of the music. These were albums that easily could have acted as an alternate soundtrack for Andrei Tarkovsky films.

"Returnal" finds OPN, a/k/a Daniel Lopatin, looking beyond 70s and 80s retro-futurism to other forms of experimental music for inspiration. While tracks "Describing Bodies" and "Stress Waves" sound similar to OPN's earlier work, lulling listeners into thinking "Nil Admirari" was some sort of fluke, or a statement about noise as a genre, title track "Returnal" provides yet another unexpected turn - vocals. Yet, it isn't even the addition of vocals that draws attention to the titular track, instead it is the pitch perfect combination of ambient IDM with processed harmonized vocals (which bring to mind Fever Ray) that propels the track to the foreground. This is a song that threatens to become a single. All it is really missing is a beat.

"Pelham Island Road" also eschews 70s experimental music in favor of late 90s/early 00s IDM. The piece sounds like the best Boards of Canada song never made. Lopatin has discussed his love of early Warp artist like Aphex Twin, but that influence has never been as apparent as it is on "Pelham Island." Yet, like any OPN song, while there are obvious points of reference at work throughout the music, Lopatin's own talent and personality individualizes each track, making them much more than a sum of their influences. In many ways the strength of OPN's music is that it actually is what you always wanted the artists who have influenced him to sound like, but never did.

"Where Does Time Go" is the first song that really combines a lot of the varying influences and styles at work on "Returnal." Its synthesizer arpeggio is reminiscent of 70s Kosmische music, but the steady drones throughout call to mind the more graceful moments of Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works." It's a wonderful piece of music and one that even with a six-minute running time leaves you wanting more. "Ouroboros" is the album's most delicate piece. Gentle waves of sound call to mind dust particles caught in sunlight. The track is the album's shortest, but stands out due to it's beauty. "Preyouandi" brings the album to a close with another surprise turn. The piece sounds like Wolfgang Voigt's Gas project sped up. Percussive effects phase in and out of the track, including a breakbeat. Yeah, a goddamned breakbeat. It's yet another WTF? moment on an album full of them.

"Returnal" is, in many ways, a transition album for OPN. Unlike previous records there is not one consistent sound at play here. This is Lopatin trying on different hats and seeing what fits best. For the most part he succeeds in drawing together so many disparate forms of experimental music under one roof, but admittedly some of his adventures in sound work better than others. I'm not sure he is cut out for noise or anything involving break beats, but his mixture of Kosmische with ambient IDM is definitely a winning combination and one that Lopatin pours heart and soul into. In the end, as satisfying as "Returnal" is, it feels a bit like a sampling of bigger and better things to come.

"Returnal"


"Pelham Island Road"


"Where Does Time Go"

KONONO No. 1 - Assume Crash Position (Crammed Discs)

Who would have thought that a band from the Congo who have existed in some form or another since the late 60's, and whose primary instruments consist of likembes constructed out of scraps from second hand car part markets, would become a modern indie rock sensation? In 2005, Crammed Discs released Konono No. 1's official debut album "Congotronics," and almost immediately set the indie world ablaze with the band's joyous, but gritty sound. The band rocked like no other world musicians before, in part because of their homemade approach to amplification, that matched their approach to instrumentation. The band utilized a wooden microphone that included a magnet from an automobile alternator, and a megaphone converted into an amplifier which gave the band's music a dirty fuzz that appealed to ears fine-tuned to buzz of lo-fi. Another element of the band's success were their compositions that found members thumbing out infectious melodies on their likembes while percussion and bass players pounded out propulsive rhythms not unlike the krautrock rhythms that were enjoying an impressive revival throughout the aughts. Following the huge critical and popular reception of "Congotronics" the band began to tour the States and Europe to sold out crowds, found themselves on split releases with the likes of Dead C and even backed up Bjork on "Volta." Given that the band's sound was cultivated and perfected in the streets of the Congo, in the most DIY manner possible, there was a fear that once the band achieved the level of recognition and success they were enjoying that a recording in a professional studio with professional instruments would be just around the corner, likely ruining the rawness that made their music so captivating. Thankfully those fears have proven to be unfounded.

Yes, "Assume Crash Position" was recorded in a professional studio, and yes there is a professional bass guitar keeping the backbeat now, but for the most part the band brought their homemade instruments, as well as their insanely joyous performances, into the studio. If there is any difference between the sound quality of this album and "Congotronics" it is that there is a greater separation of sound between the instruments, allowing for more of the incredible overtones and undertones of the band's music to come out. If anything, "Assume Crash Position" actually sounds MORE organic than "Congotronics" as a result of the spatial separation of sound afforded by studio production.

"Assume Crash Position" also offers more variety between the band's compositions than previously. When it came down to it the bulk of "Congotronics" were variations on a theme - granted it was an awesome theme, but much of the music was based around the same melodies, with variations in rhythm, speed and volume. Not so this time around. The band offers up traditional tribal music alongside and interspersed with the band's polyrhythmic innovations which made them so popular to begin with. Songs like "Makembe" and "Wumbanzanga" flawless combine the band's modern sounds with traditional call and response tribal workouts. "Thin Legs," in particular, recalls ritual music more than anything in the krautrock canon.

The band's best excursions come in the album's latter half. "Fula Fula" is a slow burning electro-fried march. Anchored by a pulsating backbeat, melodies and alternating pounding rhythms explode throughout the piece, making for one of the most viral Konono tracks to date. Walk down the street with this song on the earbuds, and you'll likely end up strutting like a king rooster, whether you want to or not. The band speeds things up with "Guiyome," which offers an sunny lyrical break that acts as a prelude to the album's best track, the epic "Konono Wa Wa Wa." The piece is an amalgam of nearly everything that makes Konono No. 1 the phenomenon they are. An early call and response turns into an energetic polyrhythmic workout. A nearly psychedelic likembe solo follows before another call and response that is eventually overtaken by an even more furious rhythm attack full of captivating permutations. You could easily see this song stretching on into the horizon with crowds dancing away their cares and worries until they exist no more.

That final impression - of both immense joy and trance-like enthrallment of the complexity at work in the band's music is exactly why this previously little known band, lead by a 70 some year-old former truck driver is now one of the most beloved musical ensembles on earth. Their music is no less involved than Steve Reich or Philip Glass, but it is hella lot more fun and life affirming than either. With "Assume Crash Position," the band has given us all another reason to stop what they are doing, put down our burdens, turn up the volume and let the music swallow us whole.

CORRECTION: I received a message from the producer of "Assume Crash Position," Vincent Kenis, concerning the recording of the album at what I called a "professional studio." I apologize for any mischaracterization:

"Assume Crash Position was not done in a "professional studio". In fact the conditions of the recording were pretty much the same as with their first album Congotronics: half of the songs were recorded at Halle de la Gombe, a big stage in the open under a giant corrugated iron roof. The rest was recorded in various bars and hotel rooms in Kinshasa. The mixes were done in a room of 12 m2 aka XXL Studio, using only two Genelec 1030 monitors and a MacBook Pro"

A live sample of Konono No. 1 at work


Konono No. 1 on Gilles Peterson


"Fula Fula"

ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI - Before Today (4AD)

I have always wanted to be an Ariel Pink fan. As a fan of lo-fi weirdo rock, Ariel always seemed like a perfect fit for my tastes. In the early-aughts he spearheaded a return to lo-fi aesthetics, when nearly everyone else sounded shiny and new, even noise bands, and well before the massive lo-fi movement of the last few years. His outsider approach to performance and presentation also jibbed well with my proclivities. When it came down to it though, I just couldn't get into his music as much as I tried. I remember seeing him open for Animal Collective some years back and having such high expectations, only to be drastically let down. His monotone performance gave the impression that his tossed-off attitude wasn't ironic or studied at all, it was just tossed-off, and, I figured, if he didn't give a shit about his music, then neither did I. I also kind of figured he would disappear as fast as the early hype that surrounded him would.

Much to my surprise, Ariel didn't disappear, instead he formed a more cohesive touring and studio unit behind him, dubbed "Haunted Graffiti," and now with "Before Today" has finally started to live up to the promise of actually being Ariel Pink.

The album begins with what sounds like a krautrock jam between Can and Neu! until Ariel launches into a homage to Eddie Murphy's James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub skit. It's a small grin-inducing thing, but also indicative of what is to come - which are superb pop nuggets on the experimental tip undercut by Ariel's cockeyed sense of humor. There have been a lot of people who have noted the influence of various 70s and 80s artists at play here, but there is no greater influence throughout "Before Today" than Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. Upfront, the band delivers the most overtly Zappaesque moment with "L'estat (Acc. To The Widow's Maid)." The weirdo tale of a jealous upper class widow combines mind-boggling song progressions with 60s pop influences and bizzaro little flourishes, similar to classic-era Zappa. Things continue to stay strange with the casiotone-damaged "Fright Night." The song sounds like it was composed by a bunch of amateurs for a late night local cable horror movie showcase at first, but grows increasingly brilliant on repeated listens.

Another major influence on the album's sound is 70s lite rock. Songs like "Round and Round" and "Beverly Kills" somehow manage to channel schmaltz into a couple of incredibly fine pop songs. Sometimes the band goes too deep into the rabbit hole on songs like "Can't Hear My Eyes," and "Reminiscences," both of which highlight all that was bad about popular 70s music, of which there was plenty.

Album centerpieces "Butt-House Blondies" and "Little Wig" rock the hardest and make for the best songs as well. Opening with a guitar squall reminiscent of either the Scorpions, Husker Du or the Butthole Surfers (depending on your frame of reference), "Butt-House Blondies" tells the tale of a 16 year old girl who had no business entering parenthood but gets knocked up anyway. The lyrics are acidic and the song rocks, what more you need is beyond me. "Little Wig," the tale of an over-privileged underachiever, calls to mind Bowie at his most coke fueled and finds the band showing off their chops across the board. The song twists and turns with a dramatic fury lacking from the rest of the album.

The album loses steam toward the end. The final four tracks are simply forgettable, stopping Ariel just short of the greatness that has always alluded him. Nevertheless, "Before Today," is a huge step in the right direction and one that puts Ariel back in the game. What he does next is anyone's guess, but if this album is any indication, it will be worth while to pay attention once again to Pink and his Haunted Graffiti.

"L'estat (Acc. To The Widow's Maid)" live


"Round & Round" stripped down live version


"Bright Lit Blue Skies" live

Oren Ambarchi, Jim O'Rourke, Keiji Haino - Tima Formosa (Black Truffle)

Many have already called this trio an experimental supergroup, and if this were a conscious collaborative studio release, I'd be inclined to agree. "Timo Formosa" is not that kind of project, though, instead it is a recording of a live improvisation by three of the avant-garde's brightest stars recorded in 2009 in Japan. This is more of a superpower summit than it is a supergroup. As with all such summits though, a satisfactory result is not necessarily a done deal. There is many an album collection littered with experimental pairings that sounded amazing on paper, but less so when it came time to deliver the goods. More than a few times listeners have been left with a muddled drone that includes a noisy section just to give the impression that somebody did something other than set their laptop on autopilot.

Thankfully, "Timo Formosa" is not one of those albums. It isn't anything revelatory necessarily, but it is a solid piece of improvisation that complements everyone involved. Broken into three pieces, the album is an exercise in restraint and an example of what happens when three musical geniuses, whose respective resumes contains a history of successful collaborations, have reached a point in their careers where playing well with others comes naturally.

The first piece beings with a mid-range drone beset by Ambarchi's distinctive tones and percussive effects played out on strings, cymbals, bells and what sounds like chains at one point. Haino's harrowing voice eventually enters into the frame, but only inasmuch as another effect added to the soundscape. What makes the performance so effective is that there is a ton going on between Ambarchi, O'Rourke and Haino, but not one of the performers overtakes the others and the music itself remains subdued, drawing the listener in to discover the incredibly rich field of sound these guys create. Toward the end, the percussive effects drop out and Haino steps to the foreground while O'Rourke's pulsating drone and Ambarchi's tones increase their volume before it all collides and then gently subsides. The effect of everyone's personality finally coming to the fore only adds to the piece by creating a depth of field and separation that previously had not existed. Even with each musician's contributions clearly shining through, the group sounds in tune with one other, with an equal give and take creating a real collaboration; the kind that does sounds like something you expect from such a supergroup, and something that so few of these kind of experiments produce.

The second piece is the shortest and features Haino's ghostly vocals over a steadily oscillating drone by Ambarchi and a disquieting piano motif by O'Rourke that sounds somewhat like icicles forming. It's the most immediately striking and straightforward of the works, and is served well by the short play time.

The third and final offering is the most challenging, as well as the noisiest. The first third of the thirty minute piece is reminiscent of famed Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu's work, who combined traditional Japanese music with avant garde composition influenced by John Cage. Shrill spectral whistles, scraped and plucked strings, atonal piano and arrhythmic percussion marks the foreground, while a steady pulsating drone lurks below the surface. The piece takes a turn when the drone comes to the foreground and the percussion falls into a consistent frantic rhythm. As the piece progresses, Haino reemerges with a perfectly timed processed scream that once again only adds to the strength of the music. Electronic effects, bowed cymbals and pulsating percussion start to pile up making for some of the most superbly executed and controlled chaos that has been heard in a while. The piece ends with the most haunting and beautiful passage on the album. Single piano chords play over receding drones and either bowed percussion or effects that give the impression of a leviathan submerging into the depths of the darkest corners of the ocean.

What could have been a phoned-in performance by three giants who don't really need yet another excellent collab under their belt to maintain their credibility, ends up being a dynamic and exhilarating performance, the likes of which are rare among experimental improvisation releases. That night in Japan in 2009 was an avant superpower summit to say the least, and one that lived up to its promise. Thankfully we are left with a recorded document of that powerful meeting of minds and talent.

EMERALDS - Does It Look Like I'm Here? (Editions Mego)

Emeralds have been a presence on the avant-ambient scene for a while. Since their inception five years ago, the Cleveland trio have produced numerous cd-rs and cassettes along with the critically lauded albums "Solar Bridge" and "What Happened."

While the band has enjoyed a dedicated fan base and critical praise, I have always found that as solid as it may be, the band's work sorely lacks in the originality department. "Solar Bridge" kind of sounded like Stars of the Lid performed by a 70s avant artist, and "What Happened" featured extended workouts heavily influenced by German kosmische music. Now the band has returned for their fourth major release and first for the esteemed Editions Mego label. "Does It Look Like I'm Here?" finds the band offering up another round of komische revivalism this time in smaller, more concise packages. In many ways it feels and sounds like one of Tangerine Dream's groundbreaking soundtracks, except that it isn't groundbreaking anymore.

Ultimately your love of this album is going to directly parallel your love of 70s avant artists like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Jean Michel Jarre and Fripp & Eno. Many of the tracks here sound like an artifact from that time. Songs like "Double Helix," and album centerpiece "Genetic," could have been made in a vacuum circa 1978. Listening to these tracks, its as if time has stood still, since there is nary a single influence or idea in either piece that exists past the heady experimentalism of the 70s. In some regard it is quite an accomplishment to be able to disregard over thirty years of sounds to replicate that eras music. At the same time, the songs sound as instantly dated as any album by the aforementioned artists.

Where the band succeeds is when they stray from the pre-ordained script, loosen up their sound and inject some of their own personality into the music. Album opener "Candy Shoope" clearly wears its influences on its sleeve, but it also sounds warm, fresh and invigorating. The piece builds and cascades organically in a manner similar to ambient music from the past decade, and unlike anything from the 1970s. "The Cycle of Abuse," calls to mind Labradford more than it does German kosmische. It's these type of tracks that find me returning to "Does It Look Like I'm Here" in spite of the band's overly respectful homages to 70s experimentalism.

The real treasures are to be found in the album's second half. "Summerdata" with its shimmering drones, the Terry Riley infected "Shade," the hauntingly beautiful electro-acoustic closers "Now You See Me," and "Access Granted" find the band at their peak, both creatively and emotionally. The tracks save the album from becoming a clinical recitation of the band's influences. By injecting a beating heart into these songs which pay tribute, without simply repeating what has already been done, Emeralds saves "Does It Look Like I'm Here?" from becoming the museum piece it threatens to be.

"Candy Shoope"


"Now You See Me"


"Genetic" Pt. 1


"Genetic" Pt. 2

BLACK TUSK - Taste The Sin (Relapse)

Over the past decade heavy metal has enjoyed one of the largest resurgence in popularity and critical acclaim in the genre's history. Since it's inception with bands like Black Sabbath and Pentagram, metal has come and gone in waves. Following in Sabbath's wake, a slew of lesser bands watered down their original devil's blues, until the New Wave of British Heavy Metal at the end of the 70s and early 80s revitalized and helped reshape the genre. Bands like Motorhead, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest introduced speed and melody into metal. Once again, though, lesser bands took to the field, dumbed down the product and eventually cast the mid-80s into the dark ages of hair metal. The devil horns up beast was far from finished. Almost to spite CC Deville, it came back as ferocious as ever with the advent of thrash at the end of the 80s. The unholy trinity of Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth stormed the debauched castles of bands like Motley Crue and Poison, laying waste to everything. Marrying punk with metal, nothing had ever sounded as brutal, evil, or wonderful as thrash. Fast forward a few years and Metallica had sold out, Megadeth had sobered and softened up, and Slayer? Well, Slayer remained Slayer, but even they hit a rough patch with a few weak albums in the 90s, before their glorious rebirth in the aughts.

Metal appeared once again banished to the underground. But metal has always feed in the shadows and throughout the 90s, while grunge became the new hair metal, the genre was mutating and changing in increasingly extreme permutations. Doom, Stoner, Grindcore and Black Metal, most of which began in the late 80s, flourished in the 90s underground, and laid the groundwork for what was to become, thus far, metal's longest and most successful overground campaign lasting throughout the aughts.

Arguably beginning with the highly lauded critical reception of Sunn 0))) in the early aughts, metal slowly but surely began working its way toward a respectable position in the independent music world. In Sunn 0)))'s wake bands like Boris and Earth found their place in record collections across the country rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sonic Youth and Arcade Fire. It certainly wasn't due to lack of heaviness that a band like Sunn 0))), who are - bar-none - the heaviest band to have ever produced music, were able to enjoy acceptance from Belle & Sebastian fans; if anything it was exactly the opposite. There was a pure and unadorned quality about the band's sound, as well as a deep intelligence that informed the band's art. Furthermore, the aughts found the world plunged into dark times economically, politically and environmentally. It was little surprise that even twee poppers needed something heavier now and then to get them through the day. As a result, metal once again seemed viable, and not just any metal, but extreme metal. The rise of Noise and United States Black Metal capped things off by bringing the ugliest, scariest and most brutal sounds yet into the light of popular independent culture.

Yet, while noise terrorists dressed in robes, corpsepaint or skinny jeans were shattering ear drums, another more traditional band of metal heads were making inroads as well. Bands like High on Fire, Mastodon, and more recently Baroness and Black Cobra combined so many of the genre's elements into a wholly original sound that can only be described simply, once again, as heavy metal. These bands' sound is not doom, not thrash, not black, not stoner, but something acknowledging all of those subgenres, while forging a middle path for the next wave of pure fucking metal.

In the wake of this wave now stands Black Tusk. Hailing from Savannah, Georgia the band has been fine tuning their sound since their inception in 2005, growing increasingly precise and stronger with each release. "Taste the Sin," is their second full length, and first for metal powerhouse Relapse Records, who has housed bands like High on Fire, Mastodon and Baroness. With "Taste the Sin," Black Tusk prove themselves more than worthy to stand in the shadow of those powerhouses.

With 10 songs clocking in at under thirty-five minutes, Black Tusk have crafted an album that calls to mind one of the most hallowed metal albums of all time: Slayer's "Reign In Blood." Before anyone loses their shit over what I just said, please hear me out. Like "Reign" "Taste the Sin," contains 10 tracks of punk-infused metal that barely goes over the half hour mark. It hits hard and it hits fast and packs more into the time it takes to watch a crappy sit-com than most double or triple albums. Furthermore, guitarist/vocalist Andrew Fidler's bark is reminiscent of Tom Araya's vocals at times, and the band's hairpin stops and starts bare more than a striking resemblance to Slayer's razor sharp precision. Still, this isn't a thrash album, and it is nowhere as dark and evil as "Reign." Instead the band infuse their punk-thrash with a little swamp boogie, similar to the southern fried feeling of Baroness at times, as well as the viking rock of High on Fire. It makes for a mean mix, and one that sets Black Tusk apart from their contemporaries, because unlike High on Fire and Baroness, these guys get their thrash lessons from Kerry King, not Lemmy, making them just a tad more furious at times than either High on Fire or Baroness.

Songs like "Embrace the Madness" and "Red Eye, Black Skies," combine the anarchy of punk with the brutality of hardcore and thrash creating a juggernaut of sonic violence. "Snake Charmer," on the other hand, introduces complex song structures, with twists and turns throughout. "Unleash the Wrath" finds the band at their most High on Fire moment with a mid-tempo burner that will have listeners beating their brains against their skulls. That is just the first half of the album. The second half rocks even more. The final four pieces "Redline," "The Take Off," "The Ride" and "The Crash" are all parts of a song suite titled "Double Clutchin (In Four Chapters)" and sound as furious and insane as the blacktop death ride those titles invoke. It's dizzying how good this is.

Black Tusk are yet another reminder of why metal continues to enjoy its longest reign of popular (at least in indie terms) and critical acceptance yet. Following in the wake of High on Fire, Mastodon and Baroness the band take those bands' pure metal sound and spice it up with an even heavier thrash influence, creating the most exciting balls to the wall heavy metal album of the year. These guys may not have the years and stature yet of those aforementioned bands, but just wait - they will.

"Embrace the Madness"


"Snake Charmer" live

SLEIGH BELLS - Treats (Mom & Pop)

During the height of High School Musical's popularity, South Park's Matt Stone and Trey Parker took on the phenomenon in typical smart-ass fashion, creating an episode that spoofed the runaway hit. In the episode, the character of Eric Cartman views a High School Musical film for the first time to try to understand why it is so popular. Looking like a stunned bunny, Eric finally says "This is COOL? THIS is cool?...Well, I'm out guys. If this is what's cool now, I think I am done. I no longer have any connection to this world, I'm going to go home and kill myself, goodbye friends." Cartman's response may be funny, but it is also an entirely reasonable response when finally coming face to face with something that is as overwhelmingly bad as it is popular. My own initial reaction to Sleigh Bells was pretty similar to Cartman's reaction to High School Musical. Internet murmurs about the band that began last winter had built into a deafening hype on the eve of the band's debut album "Treats." Reading some previews you couldn't help but think that musical salvation awaited listeners once they cracked open the case on "Treats." Everyone and their mother, it seemed, loved the Sleigh Bells, and if you didn't, well then, you just didn't get it. Because, as one critic has even claimed, this is just like "Kid A," man. Yeah that was something different and unique and maybe it was hard to grasp at first, but in the end it was classic. Right!? Right!?

Well guess what? I got "Kid A" on the first listen and it was an instant classic, and one that I happily return to on any given day some nearly ten years later. The Sleigh Bells, on the other hand, are nothing more than a white hipster crunk rip-off who make cotton candy for music and whose success has been solely determinate on critics and fans trying to maintain their street cred by proving that they are cool enough to "get" it. Yeah well, I get it. I get that the emperor wears no clothes.

That hasn't stopped reviewers from bloggers to the LA Times talking about how the Sleigh Bells are both amazingly accessible and difficult at the same time, hailing that alone as an accomplishment, Or how the band is really original and no one else sounds like them, and, oh yes, how complex it all really is. I am not sure what album those critics are talking about, but if there is one thing the Sleigh Bells are not it is complex. They also aren't original. They sound pretty much like crunk with some Chemical Brother's styled effects laid over the top of the beats and cooed female vocals. It kind of reminds me of M.I.A. at times. Really they sound a lot like the picture on the cover of their album - cheerleaders with a bit of distortion. Wow, revelatory.

Admittedly, "Treats" isn't the worst thing I have ever heard (that would have to be Neon Indian). A couple of tracks actually grab my attention and, as they used to say on American Bandstand, "it has a good beat, and you can dance to it." "Riot Rhythm" and "Straight A's" are indeed a lot of fun. "Tell 'Em" and "Kids" worm their way into your ear after a while, even if you don't really want them to. I can see this stuff being nothing but shits and giggles live. Hell, I might even go see them when they play here later this summer, or check them out at Pitchfork. The problem is just that once again the internet hype does not match reality.

This isn't going to be an album that people "get" over time, as with "Kid A." You either like it or you don't. It is shallow ear candy, and that is alright. Sometimes we need something this sickly sweet, but let's not pretend that this has the sustenance of a seven course meal. If you are looking for some light summer time bangers, Sleigh Bells may have what you need, but if you are looking for something that is going to change your life and change music as we know it, don't even think about wasting your time here. Of course, I realize that no matter what I say, it won't matter. Right now the indie nation is caught in a Sleigh Bells frenzy, and people are going to buy this shit right up based on the hype. All I ask is that once you pack this album away in the storage space of your basement a couple of years from now, just remember this review and think of me saying "I told you so."

"Tell 'Em" live with an intro of Slayer's "South of Heaven"


"Infinity Guitar" live


"Crown On the Ground" live