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

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

Ich möchte ein Eisbär sein im kalten Polar

Band: Kodiak/Nadja
Album: Self-titled Split
Origin: Germany/Canada (Toronto)
Genre: Doom, Drone, Shoegaze
Year: 2009


Finally something that isn't a single. This split is a perfect introduction to the two bands that are involved. First up is Kodiak, a German drone/doom outfit, with MCCCXLIX The Rising End, a bleak twenty minute piece starting off with some drones which culminate in to some heavy doom riffing. Remarkable is their simple use of a piano to set the mood in the beginning and at the end of the piece. The second track (also about twenty minutes), Kitsune Fox Drone, is by Canadian dronegazers (yup, just made that one up) Nadja. It's a lot less dark, mostly because it's more about fuzzy drones and swirling guitars than heavy riffs, which makes it perfect after Kodiak. Enjoy!


Kodiak Nadja Split

The Pheasant Has No Agenda!

Band: Various Artists
Album: "Phoning It In" A Hydra Head Digital Sampler
Origin: Various
Genre: Experimental, Metal, Punk, Drone, Shoegaze, Jazz, Black Metal
Year: 2010

My first (real) post since my exams ended and I decided to start with this awesome compilation that I discovered a couple of days ago. As it's from Hydra Head records, it contains some of the forerunners in experimental and/or heavy music. To download this sampler you need to:
1) add it to your cart
2) check out
3) give an email address
4) download it
5) and Enjoy!  

This is what the label wrote about it:

Regardless of the fact I/we shouldn't need to convince the public to download this sampler because... well... sampler = free, I/we plan on doing a little persuading... Please refer to list of reason for checking out the sampler below:

1. Free Jams!
2. 22 Free Jams!
3. Contains Some Unreleased Jams For Free!
4. Free Photos of the Lovely HHR Staff Having a Laugh and an Ice Creams!

Ok, so that seems like enough convincing...

Tracklisting:
1. Oxbow + Philippe Thiphaine - "Coalking" From Songs for the French (5:46)
2. Daughters - "The First Supper" From "s/t" (3:18)
3. Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - "Unkerich" From Dolores (5:31)
4. Knut - "Calamity" From Wonder (1:43)
5. The Austerity Program - "Song 27" From Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn (4:04)
6. Pyramids With Nadja - "Another War" From Pyramids With Nadja (15:27)
7. Helms Alee - "Lionize" From Lionize/Truly 7" (2:45)
8. Hayaino Daisuki - "Ghosts of Purgatory" From The Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Fire Hell, or Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki? (2:43)
9. Harvey Milk - "I Know This Is No Place For You" From A Small Turn of Human Kindness (5:07)
10. La Gritona - "Tony Alamo" From Demasiado Tonto Para Los Ninos Listos. Demasiado Listo Para Los Ninos Tontos (4:38)
11. Stephen Brodsky - "Here In Spirit" From Here's to the future (5:54)
12. Jodis - "Continents" From Secret House (7:27)
13. Nihill - "Mundus Subterreanus" From Krach (5:16)
14. Cave In - "Retina Sees Rewind" From Planets of Old (2:30)
15. Kayo Dot - "II. Whisper Ineffable" From Coyote (11:13)
16. Keelhaul - "THC for One" From Keelhaul's Triumphant Return to Obscurity (3:34)
17. Clouds - "New Bombs" From B Chuggas May Be Logging (2:08)
18. Xasthur - "UNTITLED 4/05" From 2005 Demo (7:02)
19. GridLink - "Amber Gray" From Amber Gray (1:06)
20. Greymachine - "Wasted" From Disconnected (8:43)
21. Bergraven - "Hunger" From Till Makabert Vasen (7:08)
22. Torche - "UFO" From Songs For Singles (2:01)

V/A - "Phoning It In" A Hydra Head Digital Sampler

We All Faulter

Band: Jesu

Album: Live at Roadburn 2008 Bootleg

Origin: Great Britain (Birmingham)

Genre: Shoegaze, Experimental, Drone

Year: 2008

Yes, I've been away too long again, but I have been trying to study (exams are coming up). This is another band that I would like to see next week at Roadburn. The quality of this bootleg is much better than the one from Boris, but it's sounds a little distant. I read somewhere that it was a solo set (only Justin Broadrick) though this year it's going to be a full band. Enjoy!

Set:
1) Sun Down
2) Brighteyes
3) Lifeline
4) You Wear Their Masks
5) The Playgrounds Are Empty

Jesu - Live at Roadburn 2008 Bootleg

The first empty bottle that makes me smile...

Band: Boris
Album: Live At Empty Bottle, Chicago, 20/07/08 Bootleg
Origin: Japan (Tokyo)
Genre: Metal, Punk, Drone, Shoegaze, Experimental
Year: 2008

This is a bootleg from Boris (with Michio Kurihara) after they played the Pitchfork Music Festival that very same day. They apparently succeeded in blowing out the power twice at the festival (and after the second time they just called it quits). The Empty Bottle luckily had the juice to support a Boris gig. The setlist is basically Smile with pink and rainbow thrown in. Enjoy!

Setlist:
1) Flower Sun Rain
2) Buzz-in
3) Laser Beam
4) Pink
5) Statement
6) Floorshaker
7) Rainbow
8) My Neighbor Satan
9) No One's Grieve
10) You Were Holding An Umbrella
11) [ ]

Boris - Live At Empty Bottle

Belief Is The Death Of Intelligence

Band: Nadja
Album: Base Fluid Single
Origin: Canada (Toronto)
Genre: Drone, Shoegaze, Doom
Year: 2007




I'm in the middle of my exams so here's a freebie. Enjoy!

"More Nadja, this time its free too, which can only be a good thing although the trouble with free stuff is that it can on occasion guarantee crapness in the musical department. Luckily, the two tracks here are not in that department and showcase more of the ambient doom drone we have come to expect from Aidan and Leah. With this release one track is new, one is old, yet both melt into each other perfectly. Opener Base Fluid is the newest of the two tracks and is slightly more ambient than anything else they have done recalling Aidan Bakers solo work at parts. Its got a killer opening and towards the end the tightness of the duo becomes very clear. The second track Numb is more of a chillout piece, at least for the first half anyway. At times almost reminiscent of Jesu at times, certainly much more in the ambient department than doom, with synths taking presence over full on heaviness, that's not to say this isn't loud and heavy, its just not depending on the trick of deafening people. Again, you can't really go wrong with Nadja, and these two tracks are totally free so you may as well have a listen, cant be that bad right?" (Nothingatall.net)

Nadja - Base Fluid Single

Back From The Dead...

Band: Boris
Album: Live At Progresja, Warsaw (20.06.2007) Bootleg
Origin: Japan (Tokyo)
Genre: Hard Rock, Shoegaze
Year: 2007

My exams are over, so I decided to start with a Boris bootleg. As you can see, it's from a show at the Progresja in Warsaw. It's not a big set but the quality is really great. And as always with Boris, it's a sonic attack aimed at destroying your brains. Enjoy!

1) Pink
2) Woman On The Screen
3) Korosu
4) Ibitsu
5) Flower, Sun, Rain
6) Just Abondoned My-Self

Boris Live In Poland

The Á Bao A Qu lived in the Tower of Victory in Chitor.

Band: Boris
Album: A Bao A Qu 7"
Origin: Japan
Genre: Experimental, Shoegaze
Year: 2005



This single by Boris was limited to 524 copies (SuperFi Records). It's an extended take of the version on Soundtrack From Film "Mabuta No Ura" and it is completely different from the version on The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked. The first side is the intro to the song and is completely instrumental. Slow and beautiful guitar work (like "Mabuta No Ura") with rainbow style solos. The second side is the actual song. The drums kick in as well as Takeshi his voice and some distorted guitar.

There is also a music video for "A Bao A Qu" based on this extended 7" version rather than the version on Soundtrack From Film "Mabuta no Ura" or the version on The Thing Which Solomon Overlooked.

Boris - A Bao A Qu 7"

It's A Free For All...

Band: Hen:ge
Album: Stationary/Crater EP
Origin: Germany
Genre: Experimental, Drone, Shoegaze
Year: 2008

I like it when bands use the internet to their advantage. I like it even more when they make good music, like Hen:ge.

Story:
Hen:ge is a three men group from Regensburg, Germany. Björn Schmitz and Tobias Zenger (Silent Duel) who both play in the band fire walk with me! and are members in the close nerd collective had the idea of moving some steps back to explore some more experimental droning and slower soundscapes. The original idea was making music just for personal catharsis. At that time they met Matthias Menath who had also the idea of creating hush. Finally they invested two hours for recording the Stationary / Crater EP.

Description:
Hen:ge's music can be described as movements of slow rhythms surrounded by hounting walls of guitar and explosive escapes into the static or even the epic. It shows a landscape of sound in which the atmosphere is mostly dark, lost and less plastic than vivid.

Stationary / Crater EP (Concept):
A lot which is neither worthy to live nor to die for. Proud men built it all up with their own perspiration. Now the people don't have the right any more to just close their eyes and let the tyrants do whatever they like. It's time for them to unite. The way to the enclosure must be paved. Don't be that foolish to confide in anyone blindly. No tyrants, no tears, not even a dust particle will outlive our nature. But on the horizon beyond the majestic mountains of dust beyond our own lies lays the visage of our own nightmares. The last bridge between desperation and aspiration. Deep under the sprawled ruins of ancient times, under the aspirations which were buried there in older days lurks arcane animosity which will resist the devastation. It draws the pain of the world to concentrate it like a magnet. Just like children they will grimly judge one below the other without any meaning of right and wrong till they recognize that in a final step the nature is above all things and everything they prayed for and wanted to die for... the lot is turning and... ...is now just a scar in the earth.

Hen:ge - Stationary/Crater EP