Ether 07 Queen Elizabeth Hall London 3rd March 2007 Christoph Heeman opens proceedings as special guest at the debut London performance of Nurse With Wound as part of the Ether 07 festival. His solo presence onstage, lit by sweeping blue light projections, is not the most engaging of performances visually, but the drones and surges of electronic tones he coaxes from a small assortment of devices soon swell […]
Label: Domino Format: 3CD Remember when it was all the rage for everyone to do an Eno and describe their music as being soundtracks for movies that didn’t exist? (Barry Adamson, In The Nursery – I’m looking at YOU). Not sure if The Third Eye Foundation (aka Matt Elliott) ever made the same claim for his music, but if he didn’t, then I will, and will go further […]
Label: Mute Format: CD/Ltd. ed. CD + hardback book As far as I know, no-one since Stockhausen has attempted a major re-interpretation of the national anthems of the world, and anyone but Laibach would be foolish to try it. There’s little sign here of the triumphalist bombast of “The Final Countdown”, “Jesus Christ Superstar” or “Leben Heisst Leben”, which is surprising given that some of the most notorious imperial […]
Label: 13th Moon Format: CD Alien Sex Fiend were always a strange beast. A lo-fi Electro-Goth Punk band fronted by a demented Alice Cooper obsessive with a scatological sense of humour, they were a bit of a pie (probably a poo pie) in the face to the Goths’ sucky-cheeked solemnity, but still they lapped it up. Odd, yet strangely exhilarating, and quite unforgettable as a live experience, though […]
Label: Mute Format: CD,2LP As purposely obscure and enigmatic as ever, Laibach‘s return to the world of record releases and live shows steps up the pressure they bring to bear upon the listener’s expectations of what this most uncompromising of groups might actually intend and ultimately mean. Presented in German, English and occasionally Serbo-Croat to thumping beats of an orchestral Techno bent, WAT kicks off with one of […]
– Iranair Inflight Magazine – Red Madrassa – Jebel Tariq Label: Muslimim Format: CD – Arabbox Label: Soleilmoon Format: CD –In Search Of Ahmad Shah Masood Label: Nexsound Format: CD Recent months have seen the continuing flow of Muslimgauze releases slow down considerably – given that it is now five years since Bryn Jones‘ untimely death, this is hardly surprising, but that it has taken this long is […]
Faust Pages, paperback 208pp A labour of love from start to finish, this book is both a personal and theoretical analysis of Faust‘s music in their classic era. Andy Wilson‘s detailed track-by-track commentary for each album and assorted other releases are insightful and rarely dry. Instead, he riffs on the music as much in an emotional and political context while clearly outlining the group’s sometimes larger than life […]
The Ralfe Band; The Destroyers; Guillemot; The Paetbog Faeries; Salsa Celtica; Sild; Cheltenham, UK 2nd-4th June 2006 Lying in the green heart of the Cotswold valleys is the small town of Cheltenham, where the remains of the emerald giant Wychwood Forest stands. This had been a site for forest gatherings and folk ceremonies until the 1850s when the land was sold to the Navy, so there is special […]
London 29 May 2006 Drones, reedy and thin, waft out in layers of rolling minimal bliss. They increase dutifully in number and density until the Empire is suffused with them, Alexander Tucker switching pedals and setting up loops of harmonic intensity, nodding like a monk at prayer into his devotional music. The huge bass tone which emanates from his acoustic guitar is a wonder to behold, though from […]
The Garage, London 18th May 2006 In a Garage not exactly rammed to gills for a sold-out gig, Lightning Bolt – positioned as ever in a corner on the floor instead of taking to the stage – open their set with a looped low fidelity rhythm which soon wavers into loudness sliced by stabs of tuning-up sounds. An emergent chug struggles foal-like into unco-ordinated yet groovesome earshot, and […]
The Spitz, London 21st April 2006 Akron/Family are not from Ohio, nor are they apparently related to each other. They are also sometimes Michael Gira‘s band Angels Of Light. Tonight at The Spitz they might be themselves, though along the way they play up a storm of other identities, genres and musical forms. The band are also somewhat hirsute, though not at this stage in their UK tour […]
Sunrise Label: Ektro Format: CD Alotus Label: Klangbad Format: CD Operating at the junction between hard rocking metal and psychedelic space exploration groove melodramas, Circle‘s sound is certainly enveloping in a total manner with nods to the Kosmische sounds seeping across the other side of the Baltic Sea to their native Finland for the last three decades or so as well as the leather-clad tomfoolery of Judas Priestand the single-minded starship thrum of Hawkwind. Alotus opens and closes […]
The Others, London 12th November 2005 Saturday night and The Others is jam-packed- what was a freezing, damp, stone-walled building scant minutes earlier has become a furnace, as the great and the good of Stoke Newington come together to celebrate the launch of the debut single from local heroes Morning Bride. As well as the paying punters, also helping them celebrate are the magnificent Owls, whose blend of […]
Label: Threshold House Format: CD The last Coil album proper, The Ape Of Naples marks a tragic end point, a conclusion to one of the more remarkable groups to grace the annals of electronic and deviant music. Completed under the direction of his longtime collaborator Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and bringing together tracks recorded in many locations over the last decade or more, this album marks the last such […]
Label: FatCat Format: 2LP,CD Sometimes there are groups who are so off the wall that it’s a bit of a trip just hearing them for the first time. With Animal Collective, it’s fair to say that their oddness continues for the second, third and pretty much every listen, and Feels is one of their strangest and most compelling releases to date. Fortunately, it’s also one which is so […]
Label: Mayan Format: CD So Bush got in again. Fuck. Well, look on the bright side, at least it means Al Jourgensen still has something to be angry about. Small comfort I know, but you take this shit where you can find it, I guess. I mean, a better world would obviously be great to live in, but I’m not sure my mind could cope with the ontological dissonance that would come with […]
Label: Probe Plus Format: CD And they’re back. Nigel Blackwell‘s lads are here to give anyone, and anything, they think worthy a damn good kicking. And they’ll do it catchily too, and with some great jokes. Quite some expectation, and opener “Restless Legs”, while funny, seems remarkable targetless. After this breezy opening, though, we get one of the two most acerbic tracks on the album, “CORGI Registered Friends”, […]
Label: Skull Disco Format: 12″ The debut release from the Skull Disco label, this double A side 12″ shows there’s lots of promise lurking between the drumming and dancing skeletons which are sure to become a sought after signature design characteristic of the label. Neither track references dub as a chilled out dope-nodding groove, instead distancing the bass and drum sounds, such as they are, from the body […]