Boris Likes A Lot Of Little Things To Kick!

I've never made it a secret that I am an enormous fanboy when it comes to Boris. So when I stumbled upon this footage, I just couldn't believe it. Never before have I seen any images, let alone footage of Boris from back when they were a four piece. We have a short haired Takeshi on a single bass (adorned with a sticker of a weed leaf), Atsuo handling only vocal duties (but already wearing flashy shirts) and the mysterious Nagata manning the drums while a long haired Wata is moving more than, well, a Wata (yes, that is an existing unit of measurement). She moves so much that I almost have trouble believing that this is the same Wata who stoically launches mind destroying riffs. Enjoy!

He was fond of potatoes...

Band: Mike IX Williams & The Southern Nihilism Front Presents

Album: That's What The Obituary Said/Ten Suicides 7"

Origin: U.S.A. (High Point, North Carolina)

Genre: Noise, Poetry

Year: 2009

As you might have noticed, things have slowed down to a glacial pace on this blog. This is mainly because The Whale has migrated to Antarctica in order to study for his exams. Still, I should try to post something once in a while, so let's try that out. Because I'm busy (and lazy) I'm just going to copy the label's information on this release. Enjoy!

"Mike Williams, vocalist for Eyehategod, Outlaw Order, Arson Anthem and author of "Cancer as a Social Activity: Affirmations of World's End" delivers anti-social misanthropic spoken word and power electronics on this limited edition 7". 

Side Zero: "Thats What the Obituary Said" a spoken prose piece with ambient backing by Ryan (The Guilt Of...) McKern, The other Side Zero: "Ten Suicides"' originally a Bloodyminded track with vocal by Mike IX Williams and now newly re-mixed by Mark Solotroff (Intrinsic Action/Bloodyminded)."

Mike IX Williams & The Southern Nihilism Front Presents - That's What The Obituary Said/Ten Suicides

Christmas Gift #3: To All Tomorrow's Parties

Band: Oneida

Album: The Ocropolis III: ATP Festival 2011

Origin: U.S.A. (New York City, New York)

Genre: Psychedelic Rock

Year: 2011

As my third and final 'gift', I present to you Oneida's seven hour jam session at ATP's I'll Be Your Mirror event (curated by Portishead) in a New Jersey bowling alley, of all places!

"The Ocropolis is Oneida's multidisciplinary studio/performance space in the basement of the Monster Island arts building, located in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Built by Oneida and their friends in 2005, this studio has become a renowned source of recordings by Black Dice, Growing, Sightings, Trans Am, Liturgy, White Hills, and (of course) Oneida. It has also played host to a number of intimate Oneida public performances over the past several years.

In the third installment of an ongoing collaboration between the band and All Tomorrow’s Parties, Oneida will present a special all-day installation in which the impetus, spirit and community of the Ocropolis will be transported to the festival grounds for a full day of improvisation, collaboration, and recording, open to all festival attendees. Numerous musicians and performers have participated in prior installments of this 12-hour nonstop event, including Boredoms, Flaming Lips, Deerhoof, the Dead C, Mike Watt, Akron/Family, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and many more.

The performance will encompass a full day of improvisation and collaboration that is intended to recreate the band's approach to recording and performing – an event usually restricted to the smallest audiences – and as always, projections, lights and visual improvisatory collaboration will be provided by the Secret Project Robot crew (fellow denizens of the Monster Island community). This performance will follow the June release of Absolute II, the final installment in the band’s Thank Your Parents series of recordings." (atpfestival.com)

The whole session has been recorded by NPR, split up in three parts which you can download and/or stream. They have also been so friendly to provide a timeline with a rough order of guest performers (members from Portishead, Boredoms, et al.).
Just cut yourself off from your family and space out for seven hours. Enjoy!

Oneida - The Ocropolis III

Christmas Gift #2: Hair Of The Dog

Band: Jesu

Album: Christmas EP

Origin: Great Britain (Birmingham)

Genre: Shoegaze, Ambient, Electronic, Drone

Year: 2010

By now you are probably nursing a hangover, and this 'gift' is a great companion to that. Although it's released as Jesu, the only artist on this release is the legendary Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Napalm Death, Techno Animal,...) himself. On it Justin Broadrick presents you a Christmas song as Jesu (his more shoegaze oriented project) which he than covers as Pale Sketcher (his electronic oriented project) and as Final (his more ambient oriented project). Enjoy!

Jesu - Christmas EP

Christmas Gift #1: The Darkness Ahead

Band: The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble

Album: Live - I Forsee The Dark Ahead, If I Stay

Origin: The Netherlands (Utrecht)

Genre: Jazz Noir, Experimental, Electronic, Ambient

Year: 2011

To make up for my absence (again), I'm going to do three days of Christmas gifts. Not that I really care much about the holidays, so regard these gifts as antidotes for the overdose of holiday happiness and everything that comes with it.

If you don't know The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, these are the basics. TDKE was founded by Jason Köhnen (Bong-Ra) and Gideon Kiers (Telcosystems) as a project to compose new music for existing silent movies (Nosferatu, Metropolis,...). It's a jazz band, but far from traditional, throwing in ambient and electronic music (calling it 'Mutant Jazz' themselves).

The band also has an alter ego in the form of The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, which focuses more on improvisation, darker drones and of course jazz.

They offer this live record for free on their bandcamp page, in different formats.You'll find this record to be the perfect counterpoint to the busy days ahead. Enjoy!

"I Forsee the Dark Ahead, If I Stay' is the first TKDE live album. A compilation of 9 live tracks recorded during the period of 2006 to 2011, from shows in The Netherlands, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain and Poland.
The download contains a little album/photo pdf cover for your archive. 

The album is available as free download (in exchange for your email) or a donation of your choice. 

Enjoy the album! x TKDE"

The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Live - I Foresee The Dark Ahead, If I Stay

The Electric Drone

For those who are interested and/or fans, this is a small (18 minutes) documentary about Sunn O))) made by a certain Gilles Paté. Enjoy!

Time to set this blog on fire

Band: Firestone

Album: Stonebeliever EP

Origin: Sweden (Örebro)

Genre: Stoner Rock

Year: 2002

This is the second EP of this great stoner 'n' roll band. They disbanded sadly enough, but that doesn't change the fact that they were awesome. If you like fuzzed out riffs (think Truckfighters, with whom they had a split) than this is what you've been craving for. Enjoy!

Firestone - Stonebelievers

Won't you come...

Band: The Heavy Friends

Album: Black Hall Sun

Origin: Japan (Tokyo)

Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Noise, Shoegaze

Year: 2011

I got to know this band through Trippy Jam and I absolutely love it. The Heavy Friends is, despite the name, a one man band from Tokyo and the man behind it, Takashi, is not afraid to show his influences on his sleeve. Let's just do some namedropping: Boris, Les Rallizes Dénudés, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, Jimi Hendrix, etc. Expect long jams with a repetitive rhythm section and noisy psychedelic guitar outbursts supported by some melancholic vocals. Since his name is taken from the first track on Heavy Rocks (Boris), I wonder if the title of this record comes from Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden). Not that it matters, this is the kind of awesome psychedelic noise rock one should indulge in. Enjoy!

P.S.: Since he offers this record and a lot more of his music for free, I decided to directly link to his blog.

The Heavy Friends - Black Hall Sun

Destination Tokyo!

I know I haven't kept my promise, but researching in dusty archives and libraries and writing papers has kept me very busy (expect some posts soon). On the flipside, I'm going to see Nisennenmondai play tonight! Enjoy!

The bandstand is a sacred place.

Band: Various Artists

Album: Invocation Of Sacred Resonance I

Origin: Various

Genre: Doom, Drone, Experimental, Black Metal, Sludge

Year: 2008

It's been a while, both life and laziness have kept me busy, but I'm back with another promise to be more active. So I start with another Southern Lord sampler. You know the deal by now. Enjoy!

1) Ascend - Ample Fire Within
2) Earth - Rise To Glory
3) Boris - You Were Holding An Umbrella (Live 10/16/07 At Echoplex, LA)
4) Wolves In The Throne Room - Dia Artio
5) Gore - Search & Love
6) Iceburn - Power Of The Lion Pt. 3 (Edit)
7) Pentemple - Pazuzu II
8) Lair Of The Minotaur - Horde Of Undead Vengeance
9) Thou - Chained
10) Lurker Of Chalice - Minions
11) Velvet Cacoon - P.S. Nautical

Various Artists - Invocation Of Sacred Resonance I

I can't see beyond the Black Sabbath...

Band: Snares

Album: Sabbath Dubs

Origin: Canada (Winnipeg, Manitoba)

Genre: Dubstep, Electronic

Year: 2007

It's time to expand this blog a bit more and add some more electronic music.
Snares is an alias of breakcore artist Venetian Snares, but instead of his usual style, he goes for dubstep on this release. This release, sadly enough, contains only two tracks. The first one is a cover of Black Sabbath, the second one a cover of Electric Funeral. The latter also contains vocal samples from an interview with Ozzy Osbourne where he says: "I always believed...it's never going to get any better than what is now...I can't see beyond the Black Sabbath, I can't see anything without the Black Sabbath."
Enjoy!

Snares - Sabbath Dubs

Mi aerodeslizador está lleno de anguilas.

Band: Corrupted

Album: Vasana/An Island Insane 7"

Origin: Japan (Osaka)

Genre: Sludge, Doom, Drone

Year: 2007

For those who don't know Corrupted, they're a japanese sludge/doom band (considered to be pioneers in their genre) who mostly sing in spanish (though sometimes in japanese and english as well). They also have a strict policy of not allowing interviews or promo photo shoots and are known for their reclusiveness.

Although they are famous for having a couple of one track records, it seemed a better idea to introduce them with two singles. Both are released on the same label (HG Fact) limited to a 1000 copies and with the same minimalistic black cover art. They also have the same name for both sides although the tracks are all different. Musically, Vasana has two brutal tracks while An Island Insane has a more spaced out sound (the second track being acoustic guitar mixed with a bunch of distortion). Enjoy!

Corrupted - Vasana + An Island Insane 7"

The sea has neither meaning nor pity.

Band: Ancestors

Album: Neptune With Fire

Origin: U.S.A. (Los Angeles, California)

Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Doom

Year: 2008

It's time for some Ancestors, so here's their first record. Ancestors is a five piece psychedelic band that seems to have found a perfect formula for combining heavy riffs with spaced out psychedelic jams. Neptune With Fire contains only two tracks, Orcus Avarice (16:48 minutes) and the title track (21:39 minutes), and in this humble whale's opinion, both conjure up images of sea wether it's a storm, or the calmness that precedes it.
Although it's their first record and their follow up material gets even better, this is still a great starting point. Enjoy!

Ancestors - Neptune With Fire

God I love Autumn

Band: Various Artists

Album: Paradigms Recordings - Autumn Sampler 2011

Origin: Various

Genre: Electronic, Drone, Noise, Experimental, Black Metal, Jazz, Psychedelic Folk, Metal

Year: 2011

I stumbled upon this free label sampler without ever having heard about the label and only knowing one of the artists, Aidan Baker (Nadja), and I have to say, there is quite some awesome stuff to discover on this compilation. Paradigms describes itself as 'a boutique record label based in London, England specializing in exclusive mailorder editions from the esoteric music underground'.
If you like experimental music, then this is definitely worth checking out. Enjoy!

...To launch this Autumn's carefully curated selection of upcoming releases, we're very pleased to unveil a FREE download sampler compilation today featuring one exclusive track from each of our new and upcoming releases this season...(Label Description)

1) Rashomon - Jigora
2) IXTAR - Amulet
3) Kinit Her - Mosaic Of The Hyacinths
4) Tele.S.Therion with Wilderness Perversion[Mortuary Drape] - Grimoire XIII
5) Aidan Baker - Loop Study Six
6) Owlfood - End Of Distance
7) Yr Iliad - Grow In
8) A Sending Service - Toward It's Ideal
9) Iron Forest - Wintermute
10) Höhlenmusik Ensemble - Xibal
11) The Slaves - Angel
12) Heinali And Matt Finney - Tinderbox

Paradigms Recordings - Autumn Sampler 2011

Destroying Angels

Band: Merzbow

Album: Protean World

Origin: Japan (Tokyo)

Genre: Noise

Year: 2008

When it comes to Merzbow, I'm mostly in to his collaborations (like with Boris or Porn). Having said that, I have to admit that I quite like this one. Now, as with most of his records, this is very loud free form noise. It's a massive 35 minute blast of noise (divided in two tracks), but the most interesting part is that it has live drumming (by Masami Akita himself). It's not an easy record, but if you like noise, you might just like this. Enjoy!

Merzbow - Protean World

The Fourth Drone

Band: Ginnungagap

Album: Return To Nothing: Live At The Flux Factory, Queens 10th March 2004

Origin: France (Paris)

Genre: Drone, Experimental

Year: 2004

Since Ginnungagap has only four releases, and I already posted three of them (here and here), I thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea to post the remaining one.
This time Stephen O'Malley, handling guitar duties, recruited Gerrit Wittmer (Misanthropic Agenda) on computer and Tim Wyskida(Khanate, Jodis) on percussion. As the title says, it's live from the Flux Factory in Queens, New York and it contains two tracks. The first (Return To Nothing) is a 28 minute live piece while the second (Nothing To Return) is a remix by Gerrit Wittmer. Enjoy!

Ginnungagap - Return To Nothing

Precious Sound Fantasies

Band: Various Artists 

Album: Tokyo Flashback 5

Origin: Japan (Tokyo)

Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Experimental

Year: 2005

I'm finally back, after exams, hangovers and other distractions. I decided to start with the fifth installment of P.S.F. records' fantastic series of compilations (you can find the previous four here). Enjoy!

"Fresh from the darkest depths of the Tokyo psychedelic underground, another crop of ten of the citys wildest sounds. The fifth volume in the modern psychedelic worlds most reliable compilation of out-of-nowhere urban mind liberation. As ever, Tokyo Flashback brings you some old faces alongside the hottest young gunslingers from the wrong side of the Tokyo tracks. Old favourites this time include White Heaven with a vintage track of live acid cool isolationism, Kyoaku no Intention burning down the barn with themselves inside, and Overhang Party ruminating on contemporary world affairs. Most surprising showing is the first track to be released of Keiji Hainos experimental DJ-ing sessions - full-on and unmistakeable Haino, with little fader action and no scratches. New names to juggle with are the dense and crushing tortured muzz of Aural Fit, hallucinatory analogue noise from the mysterious Kabemimi, dark and melancholic gloom from Suisho no Fune, and the beautiful and fractured late-night textures of Hisato Higuchi. 200% head-spinning action." (Alan Cummings)

1) Aural Fit - Behind 20, Beyond 20K
2) White Heaven - Mandrax Town (Live Version)
3) Kyoaku No Intention - Kyoaku No Blues II
4) Kabe Mimi - Green Pupil
5) Suishou No Fune - Black Phantom
6) D.J. Keiji Haino - 中心よりわずか２cmのところに打ち間違われた「・」
7) Hisato Higuchi - Cluster Of Lights
8) Tsuru No Ko - Mitai
9) Overhang Party - Prayer Of A Fool
10) Marble Sheep - Fla Fla Heaven

VA - Tokyo Flashback 5

...As He Wades Through The Buildings Toward The Center of Town...

Band: Dot [.]

Album: Stay Smoke, Stay Stone EP

Origin: Japan (Tokyo)

Genre: Sludge/Doom, Stoner Metal

Year: 2001

This is a repost in the sense that I originally posted this over at 99 Miles Of Bad Blogs! back when I was a contributor over there, and I've decided that it deserves to be on this blog as well.

Stay Smoke, Stay Stone is the first EP (limited to 332 copies) by Dot, featuring current and former members of Coffins (drummer You and guitarist/vocalist Uchino). They have both left Dot, and although I have nothing against Uchino, I still think it's cool that the guitar duties have been taken over by a tiny lady.
This release contains two long tracks and you can compare them to bands like Electric Wizard, Bongzilla and Weedeater. Enjoy!

Dot [.] - Stay Smoke, Stay Stone EP

Way, way, down...

I'm having exams again (yes, I'm a bad and very lazy student) so things are going even slower here, but I'll try to make a couple of posts soon. Here's a little thing for the meanwhile, it's a sort of poem that is supposed to be related to Thurston Moore (I have no idea whether he wrote it, or it's part of the artwork of a release or something). Enjoy!

Reasonably Miserable

Band: Ginnungagap

Album: 1000% Downer EP

Origin: France (Paris)

Genre: Drone, Experimental

Year: 2004

Another Ginnungagap release (more here). As described before, Ginnungagap is Stephen O'Malley's acoustic drone project, and each release features other collaborators. This time he recruited Steve Pittis (drones), Dawn Smithson (vocals) and Fritz Welch (field recordings). This EP contains 2 tracks (both around 9 minutes long) full of brooding drones and haunted vocals. Enjoy!

Ginnungagap - 1000% Downer EP

It's raining riffs...

Band: Various Artists

Album: The Power Of The Riff 2011 Mix Tape

Origin: Various

Genre: Metal, Punk, Black Metal, Sludge, Doom

Year: 2011

I think that the description, the package and the links say enough. Enjoy!

In preparation for THE POWER OF THE RIFF 2011, with five West Coast shows announced to take place later this month, Southern Lord is giving away a brutal 20-track mix tape featuring artists set to appear during the upcoming melee! The free download includes tracks from ALL PIGS MUST DIE, BAPTISTS, EYEHATEGOD, PENTAGRAM, BLACK COBRA, PELICAN, NOOTHGRUSH, WINTER, TRAP THEM and more, as well as a collection of flyers from all of the upcoming TPOTR shows.


GET IT HERE!


1) All Pigs Must Die - Pulverization
2) Baptists - Good Parenting
3) Eyehategod - Jack Ass In The Will Of God
4) Masakari - Trapped In The Mold
5) Alpinist - Hak Nam
6) Skin Like Iron - Consequences
7) Early Graves - Wraiths
8) Seven Sisters Of Sleep - Sundown
9) Pentagram - Call The Man
10) Black Breath - Children Of The Horn
11) Plagues - Breathing
12) Harassor - Glory Raped
13) Acephalix - Interminable Night
14) Black Cobra - Negative Reversal
15) Æges - Roaches
16) Slave - Rise Of Shame
17) Trap Them - Carnage Incarnate
18) Noothgrush - Oil Removed
19) Pelican - Strung Up From The Sky
20) Winter - Eternal Frost


The Power Of The Riff

Do what we can, summer will have its flies.

Band: Volume
Album: Requesting Permission To Land
Origin: U.S.A. (Los Angeles, California)
Genre: Stoner Rock
Year: 2002



Great record, recommended to any (stoner)rock fan, for the heat wave that I'm suffering through right now. The heat also gives me an excuse for laziness, so I stole the review for this record. Enjoy!

'My neighbor just appeared on his balcony nude. He was there for about a second, but that was a second too much. At least 275 lbs and if I was packing what he was, I wouldn't even appear in front of the mirror nude. Disturbing.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand - LA's Volume. That's right, Los Angeles DOES have a real live rock n' roll band aside from Smoke and whatever project Greg Anderson happens to be involved in.

Volume isn't afraid to wear the LSD n' lipstick stained banner from 1968. This thing screams names you've heard before when referring to the greats... Blue Cheer, MC5, even White Album - era Beatles. So yeah, it's got some retro flavor to it, but 'Acid Rock' is a much better description than the current favorite, 'Stoner Rock'. I mean listen to "Make Believe" and tell me that's not acid-inspired. Listen to last track "Headswim" and tell me that's not BAD acid inspired. The remainder of the album is more Wayne Kramer than Wayne Kramer these days - catchy, fuzz-drenched, and all feel-good. First track "Habit" rocks with a chorus that all addicts, horny humans and leeches of the state can relate to - 'Gimme, gimme all I want, gimme, gimme all I need'. Chances are you fall into one of those three categories. In essence, we can pretty much all relate.

Hats off to guitarist/vocalist Patrick Brink for not only the rock n' roll portion of the disc, but some brilliant cover artwork as well. Also, kudos to ex-Smile and current Fu Manchu skin slammer Scott Reeder for some very Keith Moon-ian drum work on Requesting Permission to Land.

A word of warning - I thought the disc was over after the first listen, so I took a lil' snoozer on the sofa next to my stereo. I was just about to doze off when Patrick's voice comes full blast out of the stereo saying "That's a wrap, momma!". Scared the piss out of me. Fucker. (Chris Barnes, Hellride music)

Volume - Requesting Permission To Land

Speed and vitriol

Band: Stupid Babies Go Mad

Album: Let's Go To The Off Limits

Origin: Japan (Shizuoka)

Genre: Punk

Year: 2006

Some more raw and sleazy garage punk from japan (I posted some SBGM material earlier). This album consists of 11 tracks with the first ten making up the first twenty minutes after which they end the record with the epic 14 minute Double Vision. The artwork is by Fangsanalsatan and it's produced by Atsuo (Boris) who also does some guests vocals/percussion/sounds. Enjoy!

Stupid Babies Go Mad - Let's Go To The Off Limits

Summertime, when the living is easy...

Band: Nebula

Album: Sun Creature

Origin: U.S.A. (California)

Genre: Stoner Rock

Year: 1999

This is the second EP by Nebula, released on the famous (but now defunct) Man's Ruin Records. It's the four track version (including Fly On) and it reminds me a lot of Fu Manchu. This is classic stoner rock and more than worthwhile to check out. Enjoy!

Nebula - Sun Creature

Panda, panda, panda, ...

I was going to make a post today, but I'm postponing it, because this whale is going to see Deerhoof. Enjoy!