Covering all the Music You Didn't Know About Since '96

Cascading loops with dark soundscapes and Latin-influences and velvety melodies, “Pequenas Canciones de Amor” reminds me of something off of Acuarela Discos out of Spain. Inflected indie rock noodles throughout this stirring experimental album. Exploring a variety of styles, O Paradis deploys a king’s ransom worth of diverse instrumentation. But the one all encompassing common denominator is heady vocals and a knack for crafty a finely tuned song. There’s seventeen tracks here that bridge the gap between Euro-pop, indie-pop, electronica, experimental, and abstract. I love it. Thank you Tourette Records!

Interesting remix of the original tracks from Species of Fishes albums “Songs of a Dumb World” and “Trip Trap” were utilized throughout this rather lengthy 56 minute jaunt into experimental music land. Muslimgauze is known for their Arabic influences and brooding electronica with an interesting mixing technique. They shed some of that here with shimmering electronic stabs and manic looping techniques that have sometimes only percolated in the backdrop of past endeavors. I found this remix album to be fantastic and totally fascinating. Worth a deep dive for the adventuresome music listener for sure.

This almost seems like a throw-back, back-to-the-basics album for the Deftones. “White Diamonds” features druggy and sludgy guitar tones that shred with stoner rock ferocity amid Chino Moreno’s trademark out-of-this-world lyrical content delivered via screechy screams, fast spitting almost-raps, and softly sung spoken words. Still as atmospheric as their past releases, each tune seems to build off of one another delivering a true ‘album’ feel that the iTunes geeks won’t understand unless their playlist is the entire album beginning to end. Love the low-end bass tone on this album too; which is a great nod towards Chi who suffered a debilitating brain injury who sadly was absent but everyone is pulling for him to have a full recovery. I almost think that losing one of their brethren for this long-standing band is what helped craft such a fun, enlightening, and engaging album. “Rocket Skates” sounds like it was just lifted from a b-side from “Around the Fur” with its chunky guitar riffs that are perfectly fit for Mastodon fans. “White Diamonds” is at once dreamy and steamy with sultry vocals whispered and crooned by Chino and then counters all of that with caustic screams and yelps of dismay amid churning guitar distortion, weird sample atmospherics from their turntablist, and crisp rhythms and crashing cymbals. It’s not what I was prepared to hear from one of my favorite bands who I thought were on an unfortunate downswing and yet again proved me wrong. Love it.

Two tracks written as a non-song but one long-form poem that is both spoken word and sung lyrics by Chris Connelly and his varied assembly of guests, “How This Ends” is the soundtrack to doom and melancholy. Featuring contributors such as Sugar Bullet’s Izi Coonagh, Tania Bowers of Via  Tania fame, Bill Rieflin known for his diverse work with bands such as R.E.M., Ministry, and Swans, and David Levine, “How This Ends” is a stark soundscape devoid of true composition but glowing red with the pulse of improvisation and controlled chaos. There is more than just harsh white noise and penetrating terror; indeed there are sinewy lines of piano, synth pads, and underlying rhythms. But it all centers around the poem, a flowing free-verse of intrigue and a glimpse inside the melting pot of Connelly’s genius and showcases him as a Renaissance Man and artist. Perfect for the left-of-center crowd who strives to find a unique gem out there.

Trangendered artist famous for paintings for Psychic TV album releases and more recently for her self-released lo-fi albums, Val Denham collaborates with Black Sun Productions for this brooding and dank experimental electronic excursion. Beginning the album is a spoken word reading of Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities” with a Coil-esque backdrop drone. No surprise on the Coil reference as Massimo and Pierce have their tight ties with Coil in the past. Sexual undertones perverse the soundtrack collapsing words into a separate entity that is both instrument and vision all at once. Industrialized rhythms dominate some of the tracks while the druggy green visions of “Absinthe” portend their influence with cooled keyboards and manipulated loops.

Young Livers evokes post-hardcore gritty dank guitars that drop bombs similar to seminal outfit Drive Like Jehu. “Of Misery and Toil” burns no bridges as they embark upon a steady diet of breakdowns, odd song structures, and tinkering with what we’ve all come to expect from post-indie rock outfits. Mid-range rhythms with some blasts of devastation that are few and far between remind me of a Far that doesn’t deploy a melodic singer (think Hot Water Music) and nods firmly in the direction of punk rock. Each song evokes an immediate attention span quadrant that scans the horizon looking for something better but comes up empty. I swear they are a few decades removed from the DC hardcore scene.

Astonishingly gripping dark ambient and noise that is filtered through brainy nuances of druggy soundscapes, Maurizio Bianchi’s latest on Tourette Records (I’ve never heard of a more fitting moniker for an experimental music record label). There’s a depth here yet an urgent sense of brevity that counterbalances each of the six tracks. Not to say that these are quick ballads of bright white noise; indeed the shortest is just a tad under 8 minutes in length. Instead each tune focuses on a sense of manic solitude wrapped in looping and manipulated electronic pulses and waves. Beautiful, sad, and emotional, “YNOHPMYS” will challenge everything you previously thought about experimental music living up to ‘symphony’ the backwards album title suggests.

Korn will headline this year’s version of the liquor’s nationwide tour. 2 Cents is opening for Korn along with a local Jägermeister sponsored band. Comedian Big Jay Oakerson will be the host of the concert.

Mar. 26, 27 – Anchorage, AK @ Dena’ina Convention Center
Mar. 29 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Mar. 31 – Calgary, AB @ Big Four Building
Apr. 1 – Edmonton, AB @ Shaw Conference Center
Apr. 2 – Regina, SK @ Agribition
Apr. 3 – Winnipeg, MB @ Convention Centre
Apr. 6 – Toronto, ON @ International Centre Arrow Hall
Apr. 7 – Utica, NY @ Utica Memorial Auditorium
May 2 – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
May 3 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
May 6 – Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights
May 7 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Casino Ballroom
May 8 – Lewiston, ME @ Colisee
May 10 – New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
May 12 – Scranton, PA @ Scranton Cultural Centre
May 15 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
May 18 – Fargo, ND @ The Venue
May 29 – San Antonio, TX @ Sunken Gardens Amphitheatre
May 30 – Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater
June 1 – Laredo, TX @ Laredo Entertainment Center
June 2 – Lubbock, TX @ The Pavilion
July 10 – Devore, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater
July 11 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
July 13 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
July 16 – Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
July 17 – Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
July 18 – Englewood, CO @ Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
July 20 – Maryland Heights, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 21 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
July 23 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
July 24 – Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre
July 25 – Montreal, QUE @ Parc Jean Drapeau
July 27 – Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center
July 28 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 30 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 31 – Noblesville, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
Aug. 1 – Atlanta, GA @ Aaron’s Amphitheatre
Aug. 4 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Aug. 6 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Aug. 7 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
Aug. 8 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
Aug. 10 – Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre at State Fairgrounds
Aug. 11 – West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
Aug. 13 – Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center
Aug. 14 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre

Massive Attack adds new dates on their upcoming tour in support of their latest release, “Heligoland“. Massive Attack’s latest album was released on Feb 9th on EMI’s Virgin Records and debuted at #46 on the Billboard 200, marking the highest U.S. chart position of the duo’s career.  An all star cast join founding members Robert Del Naja (3D) and Grand Marshall (Daddy G) on their first studio album in 7 years which includes Damon Albarn, Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird, Elbow’s Guy Garvey and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe.

5/7 Toronto, ON Sound Academy
5/9 Toronto, ON Sound Academy
5/11 NYC, NY Terminal 5
5/12 NYC, NY Terminal 5
5/18 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theater
5/19 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theater
5/25 San Francisco, CA Warfield Theater
5/27 San Francisco, CA Warfiled Theater
5/30 George, WA Sasquatch Festival

03/05/10 Rex Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
03/06/10 Kung-Fu Necktie – Philadlephia, PA
03/07/10 Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
03/08/10 Le Poisson Rouge – New York, NY
03/09/10 Middle East (Downstairs) – Boston, MA
03/10/10 Ii Motore – Montreal, QC
03/11/10 Wreck Room – Toronto, ON
03/12/10 Small’s Bar – Hamtramck, MI
03/13/10 Subterranean – Chicago, IL

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