just because some people said it, doesn't make it true

scul hazzards + let them sink

let them sink is the first proper full-length from former brisbane, australia now london based scul hazzards. after releasing a couple enticing ep’s through australian label valve in ’06 and ’07, let them sink came with high expectations on my end. released earlier this year through rejuvenation on vinyl, the album delivers mightily with an abrasive blast of noisy post-punk through twelve tracks. the guitars manage to slip between thick rumbling feedback and razor sharp trebly edge that at times sound like their rattling off the walls of a dimly lit cellar all the while being propelled by the repetitious thud of bass in the forefront.

for those that haven’t heard the band before, this should easily appeal to the amrep crowd or simply anyone that has or had even the slightest interest in unwound, jesus lizard, and big black. let them sink is the sort of uncompromising and rigidly paced album that i had in mind and hoped for when i first heard it. definitely one of the better noise-rock/post-punk related albums of the year.

from built on a weak spot

nikko + the warm side cd

“more rock, fuck post,” state nikko on their myspace page. why, i’m not sure. i can think of several counterpoints to their refusal to position themselves as post-rock. one, they’re so firmly lodged within the genre - without hyperbole, they’re worthy of being listed alongside international greats like mogwai and explosions in the sky - that to describe them as anything else would be misleading. two, there aren’t many national bands trying to stake a claim within these musical confines (aside from the recently decamped the dead sea and fellow brisbane natives castles sunk below the sea). third, since when is post-rock something to be ashamed of? fourth and most importantly, they do it well.

the warm side is nikko’s debut album, following their formation five years ago. fittingly, these nine songs have been subject to a long gestation process: the recordings were completed in august 2009, whereafter the band shopped it to labels before finding a home with sydney’s tenzenmen (scul hazzards, paint your golden face).

there are no corners cut here, and not a moment wasted. the quintet’s ambitions are best realised on the title track, which builds toward a crescendo via blair westbrook’s thunderous tom rolls, sam whiting’s rapidfire bass and adam cadell’s fraught violin shivers. ryan potter’s deep voice intones upon half of the tracks here. in a delivery that’s more spoken than sung, he enunciates each syllable with infinite patience. his voice grounds the music. it's the only human presence amid layers of soaring instrumentation.

there’s a sinister beauty to ‘wedding song’, while album closer ‘reflector’ revels in lyrical curiosities (“beneath perfect surface, the sharks attack/like your smile makes me nervous, like venus fly traps”), swarms of reverse tape-effected guitars and a sudden climax.

on the warm side, nikko oscillate between the subtle and the bombastic, while proving themselves as prime candidates for australia’s post-rock crown. whether or not they’re willing to accept it is something else entirely.

by andrew mcmillen for mess and noise

carsick cars + cd

varying from one side of your new wave record collection to the other, carsick cars fuse the polar opposites within art rock. tracks set off with the presence and gusto of something set to be in your head all day, but as the guitars rise there is a sense of a liars-esque, strung out, sonic youth vibe that comes through very strongly. this escalates until the barrage of guitar feedback and vocals is so gripping you find yourself needing to crank it up just that ever-increasing notch.

i was introduced to them by amelia, who discovered them during the production of issue 6 of the magazine. after first meeting them for an interview during her trip to beijing they were again reunited at atp festival earlier this year. to see them release their debut album, as well as play around the world, has therefore been quite a personal experience.

the undeniable stand out track on the album for me has to be ‘zhong nan hai’. the rolling jangle of guitar and sporadic theremin style interruptions sit perfectly alongside the fantastically dulcet repetition of ‘zhong nan hai’ to create a song that personifies this band. it also has a fantastic interlude of soundscape feedback that sends the listener into dismay, only to slowly be introduced back into some type of structure by the recurrence of the bass line.

perhaps it was a little naïve of me to single that track out, as the entire album works best as an entire body of work. it’s quite difficult to listen to just one or two tracks, as they all seem to lead on from one another. they really do fly the flag for china’s burgeoning music scene, and if i have to sum up this album i’d say it’s the most entertaining album i’ve heard since ‘mirrored’ by battles.

charles drakeford for  http://www.ameliasmagazine.com

nikko + the warm side cd

there is a risk that post rock as a genre will soon become irrelevant to modern music as the genre name is to the musical styles it encompasses. long gone are the glory years when bands like mogwai, godspeed you! black emperor, explosions in the sky and do make say think were at the forefront of a progressive and challenging genre. this could well be because the bar has been set very high over the past decade and a number of newer bands have failed to recreate the instrumental emotion many of the aforementioned bands managed to produce on a number of occasions. of course some these bands have a special place for me in my album rotation, but it is difficult not to eventually grow tired of every instrumental-based rock band building, bridging, mellowing and climaxing time and time again over 10 minutes. i’ve heard it all before and i think it’s time this style of music takes a different direction before its oversaturated, overdone and finally ruined for me.

that was a pretty brutal introduction considering the band i’m reviewing is essentially a post rock band, but i think it’s important for me to highlight my opinion on the genre, so i can express why i’m rather impressed by the debut album by brisbane’s nikko.

the warm side, just recently released, is certainly not a bad start to the decade: as a whole, it does a fine job of mixing heavy chord progressions with subtle ambience into a delicate, balanced production. well orchestrated string and brass instruments are interwoven amongst screaming, distorted guitars and driving drums to create some very epic tracks; very similar to much of explosions in the sky’s work bar one aspect: they are australian - very australian. of course nikko are by no means making a completely new sound, but i will say that it feels as if they’ve taken a lot of the good aspects of post rock we’ve heard in the past few years and added classic australianesque vocals, which is for me is ultimately very, very refreshing. songs such as ‘the minor’ and ‘fists’ bring a depressive, gritty, classically insular australian element that not only breaks up the album nicely, but makes the album more accessible to a wider audience.

tom pyle for bats magazine

nikko + the warm side cd

written over three years, the warm side is the long-awaited release from local experimental rockers nikko. for a debut album, it is pretty much as close to perfect as you can get. their brilliance doesn’t take you over in one hit though, but rather seeps in slowly as the album progresses. this isn’t your run-of-the-mill release. the lyrics are sparse, if there are any at all, and there are epic, godspeed you! black emperor- level instrumental jams in most of the songs. it’s amazing that, given all this, they still manage to sound introspective and unpretentious. the songs are moody yet melodic, with just the right peaks and lulls to take you on a musical journey without being excessive. every instrument and every note has been thoughtfully considered and has a reason to be there. the first single, wedding song, has dark vocals reminiscent of nick cave on a quiet day, with plenty of soaring guitar moments. the use of violins in title track the warm side creates unbelievable tension, which is built up more with subtle time changes and intelligent drumming, only to achieve welcome release in an abrupt ending. other highlights include off-beat guitar riffs and trickling piano notes in young liberal and the intense, swelling build-ups in the miner. overall, the whole album is filled with well-written songs that come together seamlessly. it might not be the most commercially-friendly venture, but who cares. nikko have created work of art that is best enjoyed all at once, leaving the listener feeling like they’ve just had an unexpected revelation.

tian zhang for rave magazine

ya aha + novelty cd

the novelty in question could be while even the band self-describe it as ‘pop music’, ya aha’s version of the word is more a start point, as songs often settle into a - sometimes stuttering, sometimes propulsive - rhythmic base, which the guitars of tom warren and zac armytage tangle and arc off each other while still serving the original idea.

it’s an approach that maybe owes to bands like my bloody valentine, or even our recently reincarnated crow - and can very easily fall to shards if the balance isn’t kept very right. thus, bassist dave fletcher and dan nash on drums – individually members of a half-dozen combos who’ve had their names in these pages’ gig guides – have the ability to make the underpinnings as solid or jagged as necessary. there might even be a reggae tinge in the opening stars & wrists.

warren’s words are sometimes distracted, or at the least disjointed, as the songs come together. at times they’re almost an afterthought. polaroids b&w is close to a sweeter singing – though again, there’s a feeling of not quite wanting to be there. christmas in summer almost swings. they are times they can drop the words altogether: monsters in a trans am, from title alone, perfect chase music for a roger corman b-movie.

there are times it sounds like a band still finding its way - perhaps they’re just finding new ways as they go. but the power which sometimes spikes through means there’s already some interesting rackets being made.

ross clelland for drum media

nikko + the warm side cd

writing the soundtrack to the ache of the modern world is no easy task. on the worn path, most bands you're likely to discover (especially in brisbane) prefer to consort, and win you over by exploring the more positive side of the musical coin. this is what makes nikko's debut album so good. opening tracks ‘wedding song’ and ‘fists’ show a level of self confidence in their post-murder-ballad-rock style that has been well worth the three years wait to be realised. seeing these songs performed live should be at the top of your to-do list.

jacob hicks for scene magazine

paint your golden face + cd

in the wake of viva computer's demise in 2008, jordan marson and jonathon mccarthy recollected their passion as paint your golden face and put together "he was run off the road by his amazing face", a three track single propelled by the sublime torrents of water subsumed their village. it cemented a basis for paint your golden face's ideas - minimalist, percussion-focussed rhythms overlaid with choir voices and any samples that fit into the mould. but at only 7 minutes, it was barely but a tease.

roughly a year and a half later, their debut self-titled album has been released by sydney label tenzenmen, finally appeasing any desire for more pygf. television is about pictures begins the record, setting up the thematic nature of the band. it features a build-up and layering of contents - from drums, to rhythmic vocals, to choir vocals, to hand claps, to a new drum pattern, and just as it reaches its crowded peak it all starts to peel back, until all we can hear is the choir singing about bath water. although i personally find it one of the less interesting tracks both musically and lyrically, it is an exemplar of the duo's intentions and experiments. construct from next-to-nothing, evolve it, then deconstruct it all again.

pedalling backwards to when only the first single was available, i remained curious how far marson and mccarthy could stretch their drum/vocal experiments. "paint your golden face" destroyed any fears of stagnation i previously held, succeeding in both variety and maintaining interest. the album is well paced and sequenced, and the rerecorded songs sit well in their new context. individually, torrents of water subsumed their villages feels more distilled than the previous incarnation, and is lacking that loveable glockenspiel, but these changes feel more natural inside the album. the guest choir (who could possibly make up half of the album's ownership) is diverse and appropriately used; the dominant female vocal on poppies is a welcome change to the lighter female vocals used in earlier tracks, for example. despite this, mccarthy's singing voice is both individual and compelling enough to make songs like submarine and sick kids with swords work.

their cover of submarine, originally from local native cat and piano-fiddler peter escott's solo album, is like a counter-point to the original, in the best possible way. it is markedly different yet still focuses on escott's brilliant lyrics, which in my opinion is his greatest skill, and one that makes his own solo and duo recordings so interesting. here, mccarthy's vocals sit front-and-centre, with the choir pushed to the back, giving escott's lyrics room for both emotion and consumption. it's a wonderful song in its own right, and this cover only exemplifies that fact.

lions love lions, the centrepiece of the album, can be seen as the culmination of pygf's current output. it makes the greatest use of their construction/deconstruction methodology, which then slides into a beautiful organ outro. punctuated vocals turn even the acapella affairs into rhythmic treats, and their brief staying time make these tracks highly listenable.

in the end, "paint your golden face" appears wholly original. the band has succeeded at creating a varied and cohesive record. maybe one day it'll get its own 'intelligent reissue with melbourne appeal'. if so, go forth and investigate, 2030's victorian music snobs: we have presents from the past.

source?

hira hira/little a + split cd

ah, kids and their punk rock attitude. scrape together some dollars for recording, get a buddy to do your artwork and voila! you have street cred (or maybe warehouse cred). the acts on this split could not be more different - from the jarring and visceral noise rock of hira hira, who channel twenty-something angst into an excellent mash of tinnitus causing punk-rock, to the fragile sound of singer/songwriter little a, who more often than not sounds like a child as she croons over fragile loops and synth sounds. the binding agent in this split is passion that both acts have poured into their songwriting, and while it's hard to think that these bands will be around forever, they have done a perfect job of capturing the very frightening reality of here and now.

by sayumi shimizu for blunt magazine

paint your golden face + cd

there’s something about the human voice en masse that is magical. while soloists either need training or such a distinctive character as to make them unique in order to sound good, throw a roomful of people together to sing and the massed imperfections simply add to the resonance, the bigness of the sound. if you’ve ever been enthralled by, say, a tongan choir you’ll understand exactly what i mean. the standout characteristic of the music of paint your golden face is this exact phenomenon. including the core duo of jonathon mccarthy and jordan marson, no fewer than 37 different voices are amassed on this album, many times sounding as if it could be a significant number of those at once. while certainly tuneful, this is no trained choir, and the effect is just as described above. often singing surreal or disjointed, single, repeated phrases (“caroline cuts hair for cider”, “i think this band is the one, and i think the front man will shoot himself into his face”, “she fell twenty-seven”), there is a primal beauty to their effect. as an aside, i was slightly disappointed to see the band at a recent sydney showcase and find that the choir was confined to an i-pod backing track – the visceral quality of all those embodied voices in one room would have been remarkable, logistics notwithstanding.

the other main feature of paint your golden face’s æsthetic is the primitive, repetitive and often sound-on-sound looped drumming of marson. this is particularly effective when he deliberately shifts the hit slightly each time around the loop, as he does at the climaxes of ‘he had the most beautiful voice, he could sing the birds out of the trees’ and ‘lions love lions’, creating a mass, phased flammed blur out of a single floor tom. there is a tendency to dryness, as can be imagined when an entire album is built around just voices and a limited number of drum tones. this is tempered by the use of harmonium on a few tracks such as ‘we keep cutting each other’s throats’ and ‘lions love lions’ and, most effectively, album closer ‘kicking a ball into powerlines’, creating ambient drones to contrast the aggression of other sections of the album. it just about succeeds. there’s always a difficult balance that artists attempt to maintain between creating a distinct, uniform sound and creating diversity to hold interest. i have to admit that i have struggled just a little to get through the entire album at times due to this tendency to the monochrome. but, having said that, i find that i’ve been continually drawn to putting the disc back on my player and listening to it (at least a handful of tracks) again. there is something going on here that is strangely compelling, no matter if it is sometimes difficult. to me, that’s a reasonable indication that the effort will be worth it and that paint your golden face is definitely deserving of ongoing scrutiny.

by adrian elmer for cyclic defrost

paint your golden face + cd

hobart duo paint your golden face make the most out of very little. jonathon mccarthy and jordan marson take a decidedly minimalist approach to making music, but the effect is extremely powerful. using layered vocal loops and chanted vocals as a rhythmic basis, they add just one or two other elements – some stripped-back percussion, hand claps, a single guitar chord or a couple of organ notes. the guts of the songs are in the vocals – as much as pygf are post-punk experimentalists, they are also storytellers.

like many tasmanian musicians, they can’t help being influenced by the circumstances of their geographical isolation, and there is a distinct sense of domesticity to the lyrics. the fact that they enlist a multitude of friends to contribute lyric lines and act as an ad hoc choir reinforces the communal nature of pygf’s music. but this is no tribal jam, or quirky party record. there is an urgency and undertone of frustration to many of the songs here. while thematically different, the lead vocal of ‘caroline cuts hair for cider’ is similar in tone to the political exasperation of the mekons’ classic a cappella howl ‘the building’. the narrative of ‘submarine’ tells of share houses and mid-youth crises.

despite the sparseness of their construction, each song paints a distinctive picture, culminating in the bleak masterpiece ‘i walk to work/kicking a ball into power lines’. the words consist of the kind of repetitive ruminations that go through a creative person’s head as they trudge through cold early morning to go to their menial job: “i have nothing to say/i want to get drunk/i want to have sex/i want some money/i want people to clap at me.” this leads into an ominous, siren-like organ note and explodes into an almost incoherently angry babble of enraged voices.

like their hobart contemporaries the native cats and ivy st, pygf manage to express something original about their lives and the place they live in, while simultaneously touching on universal themes. this makes them infinitely more interesting than the rock star clones that jostle for our attention every day.

by rené schaefer for mess and noise

paint your golden face + cd

australia is a place that offered a decent complement meinstriim and underground music in the last 30 years. its indiemuusika the sound was so familiar, an original. today, it demonstrates the special nature of kängurumaa new weird movement, which is distinguished by the diversity of all kinds põigete half-crosses. to verify this, i recommend listening to the five collections, australia, new weird (available free of charge), which gives a good overview of the green and the mainland folgist "folgist".

tasmania, the island's from pygf (jonathon mccarthy, jordan marson) debut booming drums, plates, frames lie, and the organ postpsühhedeelsed harmooniumiakordid, soigutakse sõnaridade hypnotic and monotonous singing, in which both the expediency than to forget himself. since the music is stored in 8-realise makiga, it's on the lindiloop diagrams are nicely observed, plus the natural magnificence salvestamiskeskkonna somewhere in brisbane's hotel. minimalism, as well as hipipop psühhfolk alternating crossing and leaving the epic memory trace.

review in estonia by kert semm (awesome google translation)

snapline + party is over, pornostar cd

with a challenge to "dance again on life's snapline," snapline burst out of the chaos of the chinese rock scene with their first album "party is over, porno star." while other bands fed on the decaying bodice of britpop, the band "danced" on the snapline of avant garde music and combined a unique mixture of colorless but urgent vocal, funky bassline, and eccentric guitar riffs with a steady pulse from the drum machine and a skillful use of mixer into a powerful marijuana of industrial rock. the messages uttered by the cold voice (and its artificial echoes) describe morbid tales of urban discontent. for example, in "single beat" the narrator has tied up someone, who is desperately asking for release; he refuses and rather "watches [the] bleeding." perhaps this song embodies an enmity toward authority by taking its own point of view in its restricting, as if with a "rope," the people's freedoms and watching them "bleed" out their rebel spirit. but probably more so this song attempts to break free of the repression of expression -- the psychological and the social phenomenon more than the political oppression -- associated with the new generations of materialistic youngsters. in order to test the boundaries of feeling and conscience, the narrator tortures somebody else; he waits to see if the "trembling" and "bleeding" of the victim invoke anything in him. the vocal starts calm and lax, paralleling the initial repression. then it grows louder and louder, perhaps trying to artificially create the sense of urgency and terror that should permeate the situation. but "it never happened." the sound then becomes hallucinogenic as an echo along with a backup of the vocal is added and the guitar moves up an octave and a background noise is introduced. the song then ends somewhat abruptly in middle of a pattern, and the repression seems to have triumphed.

likewise in other songs, snapline explores the boundary between feeling and unfeeling. the same theme appeared at the center of psychedelic rock in the late 1960s on the foreground of the vietnam war, luxurious, careless spending, the wide inequity between classes and races, and internal suspicion in the us. sound familiar, doesn't it? china has now one of the highest gaps between the rich and the poor. huge patches of land used for subsistence scatter throughout the country surrounding "beacons" of urbanization and cosmopolitan culture, which has increasingly centralized around "making money to make luxury." the "establishment" -- the oligarchical government, the "military-industrial" complex that swallows money at a rate second only to that of the us, the overwhelming "moneymaking" culture, and the "mindless pleasure" that is chinese pop -- stifles the political, social, and psychological freedoms of the new generation. while 40 years ago in the us the counterculture movement upheaved the entire system, we now have the chinese rock movement, headed by the likes of snapline, simmering with steam under the surface -- the surface will soon crack with heat, and then the wakeup call is due!
let the "holy comments" feed us!

from crocksimplication blog

truth from facts + predators dream 7"

there has been a surge in australian emo-ish type bands over the past few years, at least that's how it appears. maybe there has always been plenty, it's just that they didn't have such great distribution or internet sharing hadn't caught on back then. regardless of that, truth from facts is one of the more exciting emo-ish bands i have heard from australia. there are two tracks conjured up on this seven, and the band play a harsh, groove heavy kind of sound that brings to mind noiseniks like shotmaker and the red scare. there are two yellers in this band, one of them a little less harsh than the other, and it's a good combo. there are little moments of mathiness in the guitars, but for the most part, the music is full steam ahead, barrelling along at freight train pace. an unstoppable force. the tracks are kind of similar to each other which makes me wonder how it'd go down over an lp but in such a short, sustained burst, this all amounts to some righteous hardcore emo that is right up my alley, always a thrill to hear this kind of thing done well.

by andy malcolm for collective zine

hira hira/little a + split cd

sydney diy label tenzenmen has had a great run of releases lately from a diverse span of acts including scul hazzards, truth from facts and paint your golden face. this spilt ep from sydney natives hira hira and little a highlights tenzenmen’s ear for music made in suburban warehouses, and even though ostensibly these two acts are quite different, they share some similarities. at their heart these are pop songs with hooks and melody, but it’s pop with awkward angles.

following on from their raucous ep of last year, we. are. all. xray. pricks. no. talent. fuck. off, hira hira attempt a more contained sound with the four tracks they contribute to this ep. that might sound like a bad thing, but it’s actually refreshing to hear the quartet evolving into something more than just an ohana-esque punk band. they’re inviting melody into their sound, aligning themselves more closely with the post-hardcore styles of at the drive-in and les savy fav. listening to ‘all the kids in the basement are s.o.b.s’ is like being trapped in a washing machine, the jerky rhythms combining so effectively with the strung-out emotion of the song.

little a (aka amy wilson) feels less confident in her compositions than hira hira, but i’m pretty sure this is the first time she’s actually recorded something properly. like hira hira, her four tunes are essentially pop songs with a punk ethos, but she replaces the scratchy guitars with degraded synthesisers and 8-bit beats. ‘clock’ is the best song she has here. the droning synths, incessant snare and wilson’s slightly off-key vocals give it a palatable tension. it’s like hearing someone slowly going insane from isolation. “i’m so lonely when the stars come out,” she mewls. “my only friend is my radio.”

you can hear where the two outfit’s philosophies collude in their covers of each other. hira hira takes little a’s synth-punk and awkward energy and rackets it up, while little a does the complete opposite: she deconstructs hira hira’s ‘x-ray’ and strips everything away from it, leaving just wilson’s voice and that familiar sense of tension that pervades everything she does. to varying degrees, both hira hira and little a manage to capture the frustration and cultural isolation of suburbia on this excellent split ep.

by dom alessio for mess and noise

scul hazzards + landlord cd

brutal return for brisbane trio  many shed a tear when cathartic noise rock outfit scul hazzards departed our shores for london around two years ago. but now they’re back, and they’ve brought a fine second lp with them (with some badass cover art). you can’t go wrong with an opening track called slaughtered pigs, launching straight into a pummelling riff and aggressive drumming from leigh fischer. the descending post-punk grind of casualties matches up effectively with steven smith’s vocals and what they need has a surprisingly poppy structure buried beneath the jerky, buzzsaw riff. criminals feels relentlessly dense despite its sparse math-rock construction. tiffany milne’s bass chugs powerfully as landlord’s spiky backbone. closing track killing floor blues sees the rhythm section as the platform for a swirling maelstrom of guitar noise. landlord makes for a raw, purposeful and destructive record. scul hazzards left brisbane a great band, but they’ve returned an even better one.

michael pincott for rave magazine

zoo + trilogi peradaban cd

gloriously mad! hailing from indonesia, zoo combine the avant-punk of the ex with the stop/go rock-in-opposition of etron fou leloublan (or ruins) and the pluristylistic craziness of mr. bungle or sebkha-chott. loaded? you bet! 22 short pieces grouped into three movements, each track a one-two punch, yet no over-homogeneity issues – the music ranges from punk to tribal folk. quality musicianship, clear artistic vision, and an excellent reassesment of rock-in-opposition’s heritage. somewhere between melt banana and savage republic! i am thrilled after one listen. pay attention to these guys!

from monsieurdelire

zoo + trilogi peradaban cd

exciting stuff! a cd by indonesia's zoo called 'trilogi peradaban' is currently sodomising my ears, shitting bent, gibbering thrash-funk & ranting asylum-core out of our tired, whimpering speakers. they manage to make an albatross sound relatively conservative with their elastic jazz rhythms and insane vocal gymnastics giving the impression of early system of a down in a blender. although there's been comparisons to the legendary ruins & melt banana, i'm sure mr bungle fans would find something appealing in these thoroughly engaging & unhinged grooves. the vocals are unintentionally hilarious, intended as commentary on "the deterioration of cultural roots in modern civilization" - decipher them at your will. they mellow in intensity slightly over the course of the cd - which is separated into three movements - but the the feral "jungle" essence does not remotely dim: they remain utterly wild & compulsively deranged throughout. wicked!

from norman records

zoo + trilogi peradaban cd

what the jiminy do i know about indonesian music?! for all i know, an intellectually-impaired single mother in jakarta has just accidentally synthesized the mythical long-lost note of e sharp using nothing but a roll of old electrical cord and her teeth. perhaps some sinister and ancient cabal is sworn to protect the horrible secret of e sharp, and now it’s up to a sassy, effeminate hairdresser on the run from the law (or is he really only running from... himself?) to protect this young woman on her perilous trek to reach dr reginald q. oboe at the vladivostok conservatorium of music before the accursed note becomes self-aware and kills us all.

this would be my educated guess. fortunately, it’s safe for me to assume that you come from a position of relative ignorance as well. three in ten australians still think indonesia is the country most likely to invade us. australian tourism usually doesn’t progress beyond ed hardy-clad douchebags projectile vomiting en masse on the despoiled shore of kuta beach. clearly, this is not an environment conducive to meaningful cross-cultural exchange.

which is a shame, really. over the last decade, one thing above all others has gifted jakarta with a burgeoning diy music scene. firstly, the most easily accessible music media is mtv asia, a 24 hour channel hosted by an endless procession of bland, american-accented filipino girls introducing an endless procession of bland, american and east asian r&b artists. any casual watcher of mtv asia will be hard-pressed to find such an egregious use of autotune and such an abundance of prepubescent men in all-white beaver boys outfits anywhere else in the annals of human civilization. it’s a truism of modern music that whenever the music industry tries to enforce hegemonic tastes onto the public, the vanguard of common decency takes to the barricades with electric guitars in hand.

so it is with zoo’s album trilogi peradaban, a three part punk-rock “fuck you” to the stultifying blancmange that the failing business model of the major labels keep shitting out onto the airwaves and the narrow confines of the alternatives provided by indie and diy labels in the west. it would be easy for modern-day hipster gentry in the english-speaking world to write this sort of thing off, but some cultural perspective is necessary here – too often we forget that not everyone in the world was bowing down and praying towards seattle five times a day in the early nineties. trilogi peradban is part of the same musical renaissance that we went through twenty years ago – the purest expression of cobain’s old “punk rock should mean freedom...” line – and this defies the arctic monkeys-induced cynicism to which people my age have become accustomed.

indeed, there’s very little in this album that we’d recognise as “punk rock”, beyond the second part of cobain’s law – “...as long as it’s good and has passion”. passion is in abundance on this album: passion for indonesia’s heritage, passion for the country’s instruments, and passion for the local audience over foreign interlopers in tight jeans and asymmetrical haircuts. as the album’s trilogy progresses, whatever vestige of overseas influence gradually disappears as native instruments become more integral to the songs, and esoteric references to president sokarno’s icy relationship with malaysia in the 1960s and the aceh independence movement are sadly lost on anyone unfamiliar with the language. so much of it is discordant, the singer’s occasional similarities with mike patton after a red bull binge can be off-putting, sometimes it actually does sound like they’re trying to find the long-lost e sharp, but ultimately, this album is a forebear of great things to come from our northern neighbour.

written by sean gleeson for egotripping.com.au

zoo + trilogi peradaban cd

the little-known genre of zeuhl found its roots in france in the 1970s, spearheaded by the prolific and grandiose band/cult magma. a genre that somehow managed to combine free jazz, opera, blues shouting, progressive rock, heavy metal and chamber music, zeuhl made its impact on the avant-garde music scene by showcasing the duality between bombast and primitivism.

since the sound was forged in western europe, zeuhl has been flung far across the globe, with numerous bands springing up in parts of japan and, in the case of new-school zeuhl thrashers zoo, in yogyakarta, indonesia.

zoo pay homage to their zeuhl roots on trilogi peradaban (in english, “civilization triology”), the band’s latest release by australian experimental music labels dualplover and tenzenmen. the album tells a story of societal devolution through the medium of highly syncopated bursts of bass and drums, frenzied vocalizations and, at its most primitive, ritual drumming and minimalistic folk balladry. the entire album lasts only 40 minutes, but contains 22 tracks.

the first 16 tracks on trilogi peradaban are evocative of the thrashy zeuhl sound championed by japanese band ruins, one of the many projects of uber-prolific drummer yoshida tatsuya. there is also a great deal of avant-grindcore influence, bearing similarities to the work of melt banana and naked city. much of the album's sound is made up of snaking bass lines and syncopated drumming reminiscent of a (somehow) more caveman take on the early powerviolence of man is the bastard.

across the entirety of the album, zoo vocalist rully shabara herman stands apart from the rest of the band, shouting, chattering and operatically chanting over the thrash-and-grind of his bandmates. the final part of the album is meant to convey a return to primitivism through organic percussion and neo-folk-influenced acoustic guitar arrangements that bring a calm ending to an otherwise frenzied album.

trilogi peradaban is an excellent, operatic take on neo-tribalism that makes a provocative statement, melding grindcore, folk and contemporary zeuhl sounds to convey a theme of societal collapse into a primal state of simplicity.

aaron wilk for acrn.com

the gar + cd

this is the self-titled debut of beijing-based indie rock band the gar. formed in 2007 by ex-the naza singer zhan pan, the band's presence was felt almost immediately in the beijing scene. after 6 months of shows around china, the band entered the studio to begin work on their debut release for maybe mars records. in early 2009, over a year after they began recording, the album was finally released to widespread critical acclaim. recently the band have also toured with carsick cars and have begun to get some recognition from the press outside of their native china.

the beijing indie scene is now pretty firmly established, and alongside shanghai is the major music/art/culture capital of china. i've been listening to beijing indie rock stuff for a while now, and while a great deal of the bands are simply doing bland copies of western music, there are a few acts that really stand out. the gar definitely fall into the latter category. this record in particular straddles the barrier between densely textured shoegaze and melodic post-punk, while retaining a somewhat carefree vibe that seems to run through the album.

from welcome to the space world blog

scul hazzards + landlord cd

go outside! get some fresh air! don’t come back until you’ve sorted yourself out! Well, that’s not quite how things have worked for local trio scul hazzards. having decamped to london two years ago to get some soot in their lungs and a lot of mileage under their music, they’ve recently returned to their hometown, with this document of burgeoning disgust in tow – their postcard memento of their time away, i guess you could say.

landlord is a mangled assortment of sounds. scant on pleasantries, it’s the kind of love letter you’d expect from david yow. a serrated six-string noise comes from guitarist steven smith, scratching and scraping across the snarling low end of bassist tiffany milne. in most cases this would be enough to prick the ears of many an enthusiast of the 80s chicago underground (‘too late’) who wishes to hear those sounds born again and made anew. these 11 songs, however, aren’t a rehash of piss and vinegar from the past – with the nauseating and complex backbeat coming from the limbs of leigh fisher, scul hazzards really do wring the scrawny neck of noise rock and make it muscular once more (‘no resolve’)!

if landlord is what london and europe’s underbelly does to musicians, then more bands should decamp pronto. more likely though, it was nothing more than fortitude and close quarters that has allowed a promising band like this to now rear up and kick us in the teeth – it sure sounds like they never wanted their damn bond back anyway.

richard alverez for timeoff

when chimps attack + cd

there is something brilliantly anarchic about leftfield sydney hardcore ensemble when chimps attack. the band's entire profile seems to be stitched together from discarded rumours, idle conjecture and conscious myth-mongering while their music is equally scattershot in it's influences and ideals. when chimps attack is a prime example of the band's almost nonsensical approach to their artistry - randomly released on christmas day, containing live and studio recordings with footage recorded everywhere from studios to kitchens.

the truly satisfying aspect to the band's erratic work ethic is that, for some inexplicable reason, it has produced some seriously brilliant results. when chimps attack is easily one of the best hardcore-affiliated releases to emerge from the australian underground for a considerable amount of time. the band's songs - essentially jagged and abstract collages of off-kilter riffs with random blasts of vocal barks and fleeting stabs of melody - are deliciously violent and imminently enjoyable and the austere production of the record only serves to emphasise the appeal of the band's angular aggression. the taut nature of the band's musicianship, meanwhile, recalls similarly-minded melbourne post-punks my disco.

'michigan' recalls the stop-start dynamics and random noise blasts of genre kingpins the locust while the relatively protracted 'sick fucks' could easily have fallen off a steve albini record. when chimps attack don't do a great deal, all columns tallied, but what they do, they do astonishingly well. their debut basically has 'cult classic' tattooed all over it.

matt o'neill for drum media

when chimps attack + cd

in the 20th century, music underwent an interesting development. inspired by avant garde pioneers and new ideas in philosophy, musicians questioned and overturned previous notions of beauty and harmony in sound. simultaneously, the means of producing music became increasingly available to everybody, not just trained and privileged elites. rock’n’roll was the ultimate expression of this trend – music made by people with very little expertise or background in theory, but lots of dumb ideas.

having established itself as a unifying cultural force, rock’n’roll immediately started fracturing into hundreds of subcultures, opposing trends and movements both towards a commonality (the desire for sameness) and diversity (the assertion of difference). as a result, the wider framework of popular music allowed for exciting explorations of extremes as well as the emergence of the conservative mainstream.

it’s easy to guess what camp sydney quartet when chimps attack reside in. while bound up in the conventions of rock’n’roll, specifically punk and hardcore styles of the past 40 years, they make music that constantly strives to go further. it strains at the leash of convention in a way that exhibits both a celebration of its chosen genre and a desire to go beyond it; to transcend received forms and create new meanings from them.

sure, one can say this about any number of bands – all the best bands, in fact, try to do this – but not many have the ability to pull it off. when i listen to when chimps attack, i can hear a band with one foot in tradition and the other edging towards the unknown. that makes them exciting – even at this late stage of the rock’n’roll era. and it’s precisely because the rock’n’roll era is waning that bands like this are showing a way in which old forms can mutate and show us something new. when chimps attack may not have achieved this yet, but every note on this record speaks of this potential.

it’s there in the hyperactive playing, the indecipherable lyrics gushing forth, the clipped guitar chords, the atonal breakdowns, the confusion and profusion of ideas. it’s there because i probably couldn’t listen to this record regularly. it’s there because i get it and don’t get it at the same time. it’s there because i feel like i’ve heard it before and yet it still feels brand new. it’s there because it embrace its contradictions and cliches. it’s there because you can rock out to it, or analyse it, or do both at the same time – or nothing at all.

by rené schaefer for mess and noise

truth from facts + 2009 cd
 
truth from facts are a melbourne, australia based three piece that have opted to go without a bass and instead use two guitarists and a drummer. their reasoning was more so because that’s how it worked out rather than just making the choice. when you have a flow, i imagine you might as well stick with it and whatever flow truth from facts is in right now is most definitely working.

they passed along their recently released album titled 2009 through tenzenmen records not too long ago and it’s been a more than enjoyable throwback of math/post-hardcore tunes. despite the twin guitar and bass-less setup, their sound actually remains quite thick. in fact, it sounds better than a lot of bands that actually do employ a bass player. they are backed with a pretty good drummer as well, who does a fair amount of damage throughout this record and is most definitely a highlight.

a lot of the song structures and the bands overall sound reminds me a lot of that first thumbnail lp, as you could probably take 2009 and send it back in time to 1994 and it would fit in just fine alongside that record and many others. i don’t mean that in a bad way at all either, i actually wish more records did sound like that.

anyway, this is a pretty solid record that is actually a bit refreshing when compared to a lot of bands that try and recreate drive like jehu, etc.

from http://www.builtonaweakspot.com

truth from facts + 2009 cd

“possessing two guitars, drums, and no bass, truth from facts manage to pull a very deep and soulful sound with lush tones that still define themselves between restrained and aggressive. there is a grasp of dynamics that can only be derived from their minimalistic instrumental approach.

the vocals were a pleasant surprise as well, rather than soak their mature sound in the wet vocals of a heart broken teen, as so often happens in this niche of d.i.y punk/emo, the approach here is raw, rough, and husky.

as for their actual sound, there is definite homage here to some earlier my disco material, drive like jehu and hot snakes, as well as a nineties ebullition hardcore feel similar to portraits of past.

2009 is a very inspired, original and positive precursor for what is to come from truth from facts”

by ryan sim for blunt magazine

truth from facts + 2009 cd

does diy mathcore from melbourne sound interesting? or does it sound like something that is about 5 years or so behind the times? as much as this kind of thing was quite popular a while back and then died a very quiet death, it's good to hear a group rocking it with passion and technical ability.

everything about this band is stripped right down - the vocals are sparing and delivered with visceral urgnecy, the artwork is stark and the band really get a lot out of a few ideas per song, using dynamics rather than trite breakdowns to create a sense of heaviness.

sadly, as with many of these '90's influenced screamo bands, when things get quiet, the singers really need to learn to shut up or learn to sing, as yelling over a beautiful musical passage is really quite jarring, though one assumes that it is done for effect, so that makes it okay (we hope).

production-wise, the album keeps its stark tone, with the band sounding raw as the instruments blend into each other and the vocals struggle to climb over the top of the churning riffs. with this kind of stuff, you really couldn't ask the band to sound any other way - you need to feel as if you were at some warehouse party in marrickville drinking coopers green and talking (shouting?) about human rights.

by luke monks for drum media

truth from facts + 2009 cd

truth from facts are a band of friends who play ferocious and scarily tight post-hardcore math punk. more than that, they are also a political band in the best sense – they don’t preach their radical left-wing ideas and philosophy of creative autonomy, but try to inspire by example. they are the revolution you can dance to.

initially, guitarists alain and chris were inspired by both the music and the uncompromising stance of fugazi, but with the addition of powerhouse drummer blake they have forged their own style and idealistic approach to conducting themselves as a band. this means no rockstar turns; never playing down to an audience, either metaphorically or literally (the band prefers to play venues without a stage); and letting their music speak for itself. this is also evident in the decision not to include musicians’ credits on 2009 and the band’s insistence on being identified by their first names only in this review.

musically, truth from facts are a democracy, with all three members contributing equally to shaping the songs. blake’s breakneck drumming drives the tunes, negotiating sudden shifts in tempo and time signature with almost supernatural dexterity, while the guitars compensate for the lack of a bottom end by taking turns as rhythm and lead instruments. unlike a lot of math rock though, truth from facts’ songs are about musicality rather than precision, never sacrificing feel for the sake of technique.

alain writes and sings the majority of the lyrics. his approach to both is minimal. in the overall sonic picture, vocals are treated as another instrument, leaving the listener to discover the key to their meaning. they are aware that political lyrics can alienate audiences as much as galvanise them, so they prefer not to include a lyric sheet with the album, but rather publish them on their website.

alain’s writing style is as clipped and minimal as the music. lines often consist only of one or two words and overall the effect is allusive and poetic rather than didactic. inspiration for songs can be quite obscure and drawn from other media such as literature and film. it would require some prior knowledge, for example, to deduce that ‘greetings ancient ocean’ was inspired by a monologue in jean-luc godard’s 1967 movie weekend, which was intended as an indictment of the bourgeois culture of its time.

a song like ‘for diana oughton’ is easier to decode. oughton was a member of the weathermen, an american group of radical left-wing activists, who resorted to terrorist bombings. she was killed when an explosive device detonated prematurely in 1970. the lyrics to the song are derived from a poem published in her memory in a radical newspaper six months later: “sometimes there is only blood, bullets, bodies. but when I think of you, sister, and remember, i know what you would say now: you don't cry for me, but for yourselves. that's bullshit! why only talk of dying for revolution? live for it!"

by quoting this poem, alain expresses his conviction that it is necessary for revolutionaries to not only strive for future utopian ideals, but to think consciously and critically about how they conduct their lives in the present. that he does this without proselytising is what makes truth from facts effective as a political rock band. the politics never come first, but add an additional layer of meaning to a band that first and foremost provides a visceral experience. if it inspires listeners to explore those meanings that’s a bonus, but it’s certainly possible to appreciate truth from facts on a purely musical level. therein lies their genius.

by rené schaefer for mess and noise

wifey + salt sugar fat cdep

it's taken a while to pen a review of this ep, but salt, sugar, fat is a truly rollicking, joyous selection of music. it’s well-written and wonderfully-executed: maniacal drum-fills, strings, keys and andy calvert’s often frenetic vocals.

'homing' and 'charlie on the beaches' could start any party, while 'medicine' is a beautiful, grandiose ode led by kathryn brownhill's moaning, singing strings and calvert's (perhaps intentionally) lazy pronunciations. final track, ‘diamonds in the mine’ proves that leonard cohen had no excuse to be so boring, as wifey set the perverse genius of his words to their own brilliant tune. centred by kirsten morley's keys and again livened by brownhill's violin, it’s a rocking number that rolls nicely too. oddly enough, cohen's lyrics seem to fit this arrangement far better than his original, in terms of both metre and personality. and yet, who'd have ever thought they'd be dancing along to the line, “some very clever doctor went and sterilised the bitch”?

the highlight is the delightfully filthy ‘phoenix falling’, pertaining to the antics of the sydney music scene’s favourite sexual deviant matt phoenix, who in order to wank more successfully on stage during dos dedos gigs (google if you’re unenlightened) opted to take viagra. it was apparently a total failure: “there’s a hole in the sheath where there used to a sword/there’s a casio, where there used to be a korg/there’s a modal tonic, where there used to be a power chord/c'mon baby, you’re not even trying!” the track also contains what could, if given enough time, become one of the most enthusiastic repeated crowd sing-a-longs independent australian music has ever seen:

“how do you spell ‘fellatio’? you go f-e-l-l-a-t-i-o!

repeat the second line seven times, and you have a winner.

there's unquestionable talent and songwriting nous at play here, but it's paired with a sense of fun and wifey’s reticence to take themselves too seriously. they don't need to – everyone else soon will.

by a.h. cayley for mess and noise

p.k. 14 + city weather sailing cd

this is the second release out of china i have received in the last few months. the first by demerit was caustic street punk in look, style and sound, and the p.k. 14 could not be any further removed. citing influences such as fugazi, talking heads, bauhaus, fela kuti and woody guthrie, you have to wonder not only how on earth did they hear all of these bands, but how do they melt them all down to create their own sound? sung completely in their native tongue and featuring an eclectic array of sounds, the p.k. 14 certainly does recall the nyc post-punk scene but they also have some very lush arrangements as well. there are moments of wonderful orchestration that really fill out their otherwise indie sound, and they have that uncanny ability to shift gears mid-track without losing power. there is talk of a tour down-under and on the strength of this they will be seriously memorable shows, just as this is a seriously memorable cd.

by jeremy sheaffe for blunt

p.k. 14 + city weather sailing cd

two things become overwhelmingly clear reading the press release for 'city weather sailing' - the record company want you to know that the p.k. 14 are the next big band out of china and that they should be seen as a contemporary asian version of ny art-punkers television. add to that a list of influences which essentially includes all american music from 1950 onwards and an album cover that looks like a mars volta cast-off, and you could understand why i was somewhat dubious.

oh, how i love to be wrong. pop in the disc and you'll be greeted by i wait for you in nanjing's streets, and it couldn't sound less like television if it tried. a funereal, dirge-like piano wraps its way around a mournful vocal, whilst ominous synths sputter and whir in the background, peppered with spikes of guitar feedback. it's urban, contemporary, disquieting and utterly brilliant. after the slow burn start, the album builds tension with the epic wade the river, with it's existential lyric of "what is gonna happen/ his body turned around to ask another body /whatever happens is merely your illusion/ is the man's reply." light as a feather drums quickly give way to bursts of noise, while inventive bass playing holds the bottom end down as an eastern-tinged string section adds an additional layer of intrigue.

and that's just the start - amazingly, 'city weather sailing' manages a consistent pacing throughout. despite the presence of improvised musical 'interludes' (usually code for 'wank' or 'filler') which, against all odds, actually help hold the album together with a wonderful sense of cohesiveness. the band demonstrate a wonderfully polymathic sensibility too - hopping from sound to sound (check out the pop hooks of some surprises come too soon or the acoustic and synth driven how majestic is the night) whilst managing to remain defiantly themselves throughout.

this is far more than punk/ post-punk influenced music. instead, it borrows from some of the greatest music of the 20th century and recontextualises it, placing it in an irritable, urban, scratchy, paranoid and above all contemporary environment. in doing so, it no only manages to capture the zeitgeist, and forge strong bonds between eastern and western musical sensibilities in the 21st century, but it makes one bloody good record. miss it at your peril.

by patrick lang for db magazine

p.k. 14 + city weather sailing cd

punks like to think themselves tough, alternative and against the system. unfortunately, that shit gets a little disingenuous with equal access resources, uninhibited self-determination and the gentrification of city centres. nanjing post-punks p.k. 14 dodge that whole debate by being chinese. formed in 1997, not only do the band have lots of systemic abuses to complain about, but doing so is both anomalous and genuinely hazardous. yet the best thing about p.k. 14’s fourth studio album is that, for all the naming and finger-pointing they could rightly do, they don’t. instead the band tell beautifully cinematic stories of urban life with strong undercurrents of melancholy and chaos, which is ultimately a far more powerful message. that they sound like an oriental interpretation of television and talking heads certainly helps the four-piece. the production is regularly amazing, and the band’s willingness to experiment beyond their winning formula of jangly guitars and thumping rhythm section is thrilling. a host of instruments are utilised, including sparing string and horn arrangements, but also organs, synthesisers and layers of percussion. the esoteric sounds wrung from each device are quite cerebral at times, but never interrupt the songs in which they reside, nor indeed the overarching sonic narrative p.k. 14 have constructed on city weather sailing. count this is as a firm recommendation.

by jakeb smith for rave magazine

crux/pazahora + cd

diy spirit practically oozes out of this release like the excess glue stains all over the hand assembled cardboard cover. crustier than a paedo's undies after schools, this trans-pacific production (brought to you by three different labels!) see sydney's crux facing off against singapore touring pals pazahora. while both bands have fairly quaint production, if you were to compare the two pazahora seem to lack crux's killer punch. crux build on their doom laced hardcore legacy with five of their best tunes so far, while pazahora of for a more epic style across their five, added strings, pianos and all. they get an extra point because they have a guy and a girl doing vocals but i can't tell which is which, but unfortunately they also lose a point for not being able to tune their guitars properly in closer 'mandate'.

from unbelievably bad zine #9

carsick cars cd

in grade five, we were taught that china represented the longest continuous modern empire. in recent times, china's idiosyncratic hybrid of western economic theory and strictly defined parochial values resulted in it being recognised as the powerhouse of the current global economic environmnet.

in that historical and political context, it was only a matter of time before a chinese rock 'n' roll scene evolved beyond its tioghtly controlled national cultural boundaries. sydney label tenzenmen, in concert with chinese label maybe mars records, has taken upon itself to bring the fledgling chinese rock 'n' roll scene to australia. the latest cab off the rank is carsick cars, a trio who have already caught the keen eye of sonic youth, so much so that carsick cars joined the former on a recent tour of europe.

the association is more than coincidental - carsick cars are clearly fond of sonic youth's balance of extreme white nosie and simple rock rhythms. zhi yuan de ren - like dungen, it's refreshing to see a band that couldn't give a proverbial about english translations - nestles in on a slick riff that brings to mind lou reed fresh out of electric shock therapy, and pushing for a fight with the nascent rock 'n' roll establishment, while gun has an ethereal quality to it and, if your cultural appreciation is suitably superficial, might even incorporate a vague sino musical sensibility in its exploration of the new york no wave scene. zhong nan hai screams a classicly laconic thurston moore, or maybe glenn branca for the purists, while hou dao keeps a foot in the '80s punk scenes located on wither side of the atlantic, and never misses a beat. guang shang haunts liekthe ghost of a long lost art school community buried under the weight of lost commercial opportunities. re shen has the counter intuitive pop quality that john lydon thrust upon the world with public image ltd and he sheng must surely have recovered from the daydream nation recording sessions.

the united states contimues to chastise china for its wavering commitment to international trade treaty obligations. the us knows it has plaenty to fear from the modern chinese state - china does capitlism better than ben franklin could ever understand - and with carsick cars, it is apparent china can do new york punk as well as any precocious american art student.

by patrick emery for beat

carsick cars cd

it's not often you hear bands from china, it also seems like people from china don't often hear bands from china. when it comes to carsick cars though, it would be nigh on impossible not to hear their feedbacking sonic youthisms from the basements of beijing, to the correctional facilities of tibet. if you're from china and new york is your bag, then you're gonna want to think twice about walking in front of that tank from now on in. listen up, it's gonna be a helluva long time before you see president jintao strap on a fender jaguar. shit, it's gonna be eons before monks earn their rights to own the deluxe lp re-release of daydream nation. and you damn-well know it'll be yolks before 'march of the volunteers' is replaced by 'teenage riot' as national anthem, but carsick cars are working on it

rhys davies for unbelievably bad zine #9

carsick cars cd

second in the line of chinese underground releases from sydney label tenzenmen, carsick cars deliver some smooth tunes, albeit smooth tunes soaked in washy feedback a la sonic youth.

production-wise, this album has a nice, warm feeling of ambience. it feels as if they have just piled sound on sound until the whole stack was ready to collapse. thankfully, the songs maintain their structural integrity, even when they meander far into the realm of art rock. this is a group who knows when to expand on an idea or simply repeat a phrase to the point of excess (check out the cool refrain in mo gu).

while i am largely unsure of the lyrical content of this sprawling monstrosity, you get the feeling that this is music made to feed the flames of discontent in an alienated urban youth - yo can tell by the way that singer/guitarist zhang shouwang drones his words, even if you can't make out exactly what he is saying. zhong nan hai reminds of the cure's killing an arab and this dark, post-punk vibe carries on throughout the album.

the abrasive nature of the songwriting is largely softened by the fact that the songs blend seamlessly and the aforementioned warmth of the production. if you miss the late 80's and early 90's and don't mind having no clue what is going on in the singer's head, then this is most certainly for you.

by luke monks for drum media

demerit + bastards of the nation cd

originally formed in qingdao in 2004, beijing-based demerit are one of the more forward-thinking chinese punk bands, and their latest album "bastards of a nation (2008)" shows them mimicking the direction of the newly popular third (or fourth or fifth or sixth) generation of the oi / "streepunk" genre in the us -- diversified style and more complex song arrangements, but a return to the performing intensity of earlier hardcore and oi movements of the early 80s. and, of course, a return to the 70's uk punk uniform: leather g.b.h. jackets, dyed mohawks, ripped t-shirts, bullet belts, bondage pants, etc.

an earnest, anthemic, and hyper-political hardcore album, "bastards of a nation" is, on first listen, pretty much in the realm of the current representatives of hardcore to the masses in the us -- a global threat, the unseen, and the casualties. demerit keep it dense and heavy with metalish riff here and there, and break it up with melodic breaks, choral backing vocals, and even some clapping action in there ("fight your apathy"). the arrangements were well-conceived and varied, and the musicianship is great -- particularly the guitar work -- and there's some interesting changes throughout. while listening to the album i had the feeling that the guitarist learned his stuff doing iron maiden licks and then switched up when the singer lent him a choking victim album. i enjoyed it overall, and bits and pieces reminded me of leftover crack, particularity "tz generation," and "fuck the schemers." fans of that band's many variations -- indk et. al. -- and fans of the newer us east coast hardcore, won't be disappointed.

the standout tracks on the album are the title track "bastards of a nation," "bye bye my county," and "beijing is not my home." and this brings us to another interesting thing about demerit (besides the fact that they were interviewed by the washington post). they're currently on tour promoting this, their second album, but the rumor is that their lyrical content, presumably the three aforementioned songs, have forced a delay of the album because of their anti-government content. in "bastards of a nation" they sing, "why the fuck am i loyal to you / we don't wanna be your victim of greed / sick of you, no future for us / how many people die in famine," which seems pretty inflammatory to say the least. in "bye bye my country" they sing, "i can't believe the red sky. how much blood has been shed, in pursuit of freedom? / you can't stop, you kill for greed, money and pride let your children starve / is it worth the cost?"

the song "beijing is not my home" -- my favorite song on the album -- echoes the sentiments of displacement and marginalization many bands feel living in beijing (or so i hear) and is a really powerful answer to another punk band's song "come down to beijing" by brain failure.

morgan short for smartshanghai

demerit + bastards of the nation cd

sydney diy do-gooder tenzenmen is at it again, launching the maybe mars series to help provide some western exposure for a handful of china's choicest indie and punk bands including indie experimentalists carsick cars, post punk prodigies p.k.14 and spiky haired punk rockers demerit. with the chinese government creeping horribly close to fulfilling orwell's worst nightmare - media sources tightly monitored and politically sensitive content removed; freedom of speech, even freedom of thought, vigorously discouraged - the dudes in demerit are probably taking a huge risk walking the streets of beijing dressed like rancid, let alone playing politically aware street-punk with hardcore tendencies and titles like 'beijing is not my home' and 'fuck the schemers'. if hellcat doesn't snap 'em up their government surely will.

from unbelievably bad zine

demerit + bastards of the nation cd

this cd is so fucking awesome! the production values are fucking ridiculously pro, but the tunes are sugary street-punk anthems, not unlike the first defiance lp , crossed with some shitty radio-friendly pop punk a la anti-flag , but the whole thing has a really cool moodiness to it that you normally find in fist-pumping japcore bands, but not something your typical street-punk or pop punk bands would ever normally be able to accomplish. it's definitely super mainstream-accessible but actually, a lot of the elements have mucho in common with something like crude; high energy aggressive hardcore that sticks in your brain like a gluey mess. did i mention this band is from china? one of the best things I've heard in a while.

from maximum rock 'n' roll fanzine

hira hira + we. are. all. xray. pricks. no. talent. fuck. off cdr

the product of weekly post-hardcore bro-downs between members of yeah bears, call the medic, call the nurse!!, pockets and very much robot, this curt little number treads familiar waters but makes up for it with characteristic brashness. you cop as much from the title, a naughty little sentence that would have you thinking this was a fairly straightforward brat punk ep – and in many ways it is. there’s lots of “fucks” and general tomfoolery, but there’s just as much vitriol about “the system” and typically lockstep post-hardcore discipline. nothing can stop these young lads from being highly talented, and it's talent that beats you over the head repeatedly here, no matter the band’s best efforts to scream(o) it off the stage. chaos matched by intensity matched by control. nice.

by lawson fletcher for mess and noise

the night crash 12"

originally recorded three years ago, it’s taken until now for the night crash’s debut 12” to reach the public. for the most part instrumental, the brisbane two-piece strafe recklessly between and beyond extremes, exploiting every notch of dynamism inherent in the technical metal that influences them, while stifling any inclination towards gratuitous showmanship. the compact drums and guitar ensemble achieves a rather subtle, minimalist complexity, even when the sawing guitar is riding gratingly at the top of the neck.

the night crash’s approach is effective for one significant reason: the percussionist is liberated. in fact, the drummer practically runs this show, often trailblazing ahead, leaving the guitar sounding a bit befuddled or confused. sometimes the guitar appears to skid a few feet when brashly chasing the percussion around tight bends, losing precious time in the race to finish each song. the fact that it manages to snap back like some thick cumbersome elastic every time is impressive and lots of fun.

despite citing my disco as an influence, this band doesn’t play like the rhythmic arm of their forces need hold strict tenure of the melodic. there are occasional moments of song-like coherence – especially during the spiderland-centric third track – but for the most part the night crash seem determined to fit as much energy and chaos into the smallest sonic area possible. the results are raucously entertaining.

shaun prescott for mess and noise

pure evil trio + cd

this cd has it all, literally... everything sydney's pure evil trio have done so far on vinyl, as well as some new stuff to sweeten the deal. john, aaron and abel (apart from sharing some swell, biblical names) share a love for the infinite musical horizon, mixing hardcore with noise and jazz (not in a shitty, "dad's record collection" way) and sheer pissed-off-ness. if you are into by-numbers punk, this is going to do your head in. it twists and turns away from the comfort of that sort of common ground, retaining a lot of the spontaneous energy of their live shows. i'm not going to compare this to anything out of respect for the band and your intelligence. if you've witnessed these guys live, you'll buy this just hoping it'll floor you in the same way... and it will. the boutique packaging is done through the mighty dualplover and is a fitting wrapper for this weird-tasting lolly. give this cd to a stranger.

glenno + unbelievably bad

pure evil trio + cd

okey dokey, to start with, calling this collection of works an album would be something of a misnomer as this cd collects all of pure evil trio’s previously recorded material into one spiffy little package; the artwork on the digipack perfectly suits the crusty-improv-mess it snugly houses.

with a collection this broad – everything from demo tapes to noise collages and their latest offering the evolution of everyday strife, it’s a lot to take in, even though most of the ‘songs’ are quite short and those of you with musical add may find the repetitive nature of some of the works a little hard to take – it’s pretty unforgiving listening after a while, a mash up of grind, art and hardcore.

production is as varied as the actual collection of songs – it’s all in the minute differences - and can largely be brought into the housings of ‘raw’ at the best of times and ‘scratchy’ when things aren’t quite working out.

considering the band’s strong diy attitude, it’s commendable that the group have managed to stay together for the past six years or so and are obviously not interested in throwing themselves on the mercy of the scene point distributors lurking in the world where most sub-categories of music are smacked with the ‘core’ suffix.

this comprehensive release serves as not only a great introduction (for the newcomer) or retrospective (for the long time fan) but as an exclamation of separation from mainstream excess.

luke monks (drum media)

from suspect device

ni-hao! + red blue green

japanese frolics in the park giving us an all-girl trio stereotype just as expected (do you think they all smile cutely in quirky poses or look like fucked-up hardcase morons on the inserts? take a wild guess...). comprising dual bass guitars, electronics and drums, simple and sometimes effective songs, with fuzzy bass rumbles and little girl vocals, alternating between oo-oo-la-la and shouting at the cat. a theme of red, blue and green tracksuit tops gets stylistic points in the band photos. lots of writing in japanese, with some translation. although i think the japanese made more sense to me - "romantic scratch” and “i love smurfy” indeed. they didn't quite sustain my interest, but i liked their humour and i could see what they were trying to do. it may yet grow on me.

from suspect device

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #1

so here we have the first of a series of cds showcasing 3 bands each time, across as many tracks as they could be bothered to contribute by the looks of it.... hinterlandt made me smile straight away. how seriously can i take this? “chuck it out” indeed – a title like that is asking for trouble, but i'm sympathetic this evening. sound with a bit of instrument thrown in (literally), and then coming on like a ravaged depeche mode. what are you playing at? no really, what are you playing at? anyone? hello? zu impress with the opening song title (wait for it) “tom araya is our elvis”. and i hear they've supported joe lally on tour. aside from that, it's musical chunks and bit-part riffs to construct their 7 improvised jam-tracks. electronics, saxophones, bass and cello heading off in different directions over the hills and down the dales, sometimes meeting up for a pint of ale and a chat at ye olde musical interlude public house. some points of interest along the way, but otherwise head down and keep on walking. can can heads give us their 13 short cameo instrumentals. for the one minute or so that they can maintain their interest in each song, they do it well, holding on to that early minutemen feel, but lacking the romance and charisma of d. boon's vocals, and slightly less sophisticated musically. if you're struggling to work out whether i like this or not, then you'll be pleased to know that i am too.

from toinen vaihtoehto

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #1

"what's that sound?", p asked upon entering room. "this is the record raine gave me", a answered. "just don't make it any louder" p warned me. this short and revealing dialog was inspired by this compilation and especially the first band, hinterlandt, who seem to get lost within themselves while producing different kids of squeaking & screeching sounds. the band consists of german expatriate jochen gutsch from australia and his modus operandi seems to fluctuate between the ethereal and the disturbed. with drum machine producing the rhythms, hinterlandt travels through many kinds of moods. there are only three songs, but one of them is over 15 minutes long. to call this interesting might raise some questions? maybe this is original and strange but not very good? more and more questions arise, so I guess I'm just left bewildered. lost and found in light and sound and the balance of too much and not enough just float aimlessly with some edgy distortion thrown in. for some reason i want to put on black sabbath's solitude right after this. listen to that song and sonic youth, jefferson airplane and young gods and you will get something like hinterlandt.

zu from italy play free jazz, or something. saxophone is used ruthlessly. this sounds much more like improvised music than hinterlandt. works better in a dark club than in your living room. well, you could always turn off the lights… this is edgy, even menacing stuff. i really enjoyed the song anatomy of a lost battle. listening to that song, i kinda forget that i'm listening to jazz, thinking this might as well be no trend or flipper. well, "jazz". without looking at the cd-player an amateur in this field like me wouldn't even necessarily notice where one song ends and another starts. i was going to say that this isn't really my kinda music, but after putting on the headphones the music started to sound exciting. really, and i'm not saying this just to prove i can understand "art". really. i really mean it!

our own can can heads offer us total diy stuff. not just because it's rough, but it's original too. so what is this, you ask. not too many of you would call this music, i'm sorry to say. music it is tho, whether it's droning on and on with the same riff or being just plain unpredictable. there's roaring sax and crashing drums. truut-toot and kolkutikilikili. add some mumbling. improvised avantgarde rioting. once, when listening to the repetitive starpowerless someone made indefinite, banging sound just outside. it's very telling that first i didn't know if the noise was coming from the record or from somewhere else. anyway, it fit more than well. so maximize the experience. play this in an urban environment or near a construction site, let the hum of the cars passing by or hammers banging away add their own atmosphere to the sounds produced by can can heads.
the so-called end result: to access the universe these bands have created, you have listen to this compilation more than a couple times.

(arto hietikko/toinen vaihtoehto #176, translated by jmt)

dilettante´s digest #2

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #1

this is a compilation of three bands. the first one of them is hinterlandt, and they're completely worthless. they have drum machine, electronic effects, distorted guitars, lame vocals, etc, and the music changes between experimental electronic rhythmic stuff and crappy cyber-grind or something. their three overlong tracks take up more than a third of this 65-minute cd. seriously, one of the worst bands i've heard. that's an accomplishment, too.

then it's luckily time for something completely different: zu! they start with a track titled tom araya is our elvis, and with that it's impossible to go wrong. bass, drums, saxophone and cello intertwine together in a way that just has to be heard to believe it. it's heavy but still true to the spirit of (free) jazz - totally uncompromising stuff here. zu are definitely the most interesting of all the "punk jazz" bands around at the moment. their second track continues in the same vein with an addition of a sample of some psychiatrist guy talking about "subconscious manifesting itself in psycho- masturbation", "satanic tendencies" and other funky stuff. unfortunately the following zu tracks are not as good, they're a bit aimless and lack in heaviness of the first two and don't really bring anything else to replace it. they're still not bad, and it would be difficult to top the first two in any case. well, the last track is in the vein of the first two again, but it's still not as good as them.

the third band here is the finnish no-wave kings can can heads. they play altogether 13 tracks which are full of jerky, twitching rhythms, screeching guitar noise, occasional saxophones, retarded vocals, etc, and i'm loving it. all of their tracks aren't obviously masterpieces, and their whole is a bit too varied, but there are some real gems like double talkin' maybe (which ithink has been already released on some of their 7"s, but i'm not 100% sure - the title just sounds so familiar), the swivel spout's angle swings (my favourite and one of the band's very best, a real no-wave masterpiece), hilarious banana (with a guy talking about the price of bananas backed by freejazz), starpowerless (that does not sound like sonic youth but like motörhead who try to play funk but notice they don't know how and just rock out instead) and sawdust brain (which would make captain beefheart proud). if you didn't get the point already, this is definitely worth purchasing because of zu and cch.

from staalplaat

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #1

this is certainly one of the strangest compilations i have come across recently. i don't recall ever hearing can can heads, but i was aware of hinterlandt of course, and also zu i saw play live some time ago, and it is a strange combination to see them on a cd together.

but the cd opens with hinterlandt and that's a real surprise. i knew jochen plays around with the notions of popmusic, but the three cuts here are entirely sampled from death metal, pop and symphonic rock with just that tiny bit of experimental electronica. after 'poprekordt' maybe the thing to expect but i just dislike death metal and symphonic rock, also when they are sampled. i must admit though that hinterlandt does a fine job in what he does.

zu are free rock trio from italy of drums, guitar and saxophone. they play free rock or free jazz, you don't have to call it anything if any terms shocks you, but they play whatever they do with great power. seven relatively short cuts of intense playing. maybe the sort of thing i wouldn't play often, but their concert left me a good impression, so maybe i am positively influenced by that while enjoying this.

as said, i never heard of can can heads, who are a five piece band from finland, on guitars, drums, bass, vocals and saxophone. they also play free rock music, and this time it's a bit more traditional, less jazz and a bit more punk related. of the three bands, this is the one which i had much trouble with. too traditional for my taste to enjoy these free punk reputations too much. but the renewed connection with hinterlandt and zu made this well alright for me.

from allaboutjazz.com

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #1

primo episodio della saga eccentrics a cura della tenzenmen, neonata etichetta australiana. la raccolta, che in realt? sarebbe pi? indicato chiamare split a 3, va indubbiamente a soddisfare palati eterogenei pur avendo essenzialmente un'anima rock, almeno da quello che trapela ad un primo ascolto filato. quasi una versione su cddi un possibile - e auspicabile - concerto dal vivo.

si parte con hinterlandt, qui presente con tre tracce alquanto spiazzanti quanto a intenzioni e soprattutto per un uso accentuato del campionamento. diversi gli spunti interessanti comunque. "the balance of too much and not enough", nei suoi 15' e 33" di durata, pur manifestando talvolta umori non proprio esaltanti che guardano al rock sinfonico cos? come al deathelettropopmetal, offre un voriopinto sampling di suoni e suggestioni del progetto di jochen gutsch.

tocca poi ai romani zu, che macinano concerti e creano occasioni in quantit?, qui arricchiti dalla presenza del violoncellista fred lonberg-holm.
da "tom araya is our elvis" tributo al seminale bassista e cantante degli slayer a "every seagull snows" tutta la compattezza e la potenza del zu-sound viene confermata.

a chiudere, la formazione dei can can heads da kauhajoki, finlandia, con 12 ottimi brani dal periodo 1994-2004. come per hinterlandt anche qui gli anni 80' sono dietro l'angolo, questa volta per? si guarda alle prime pubblicazioni sst records come alla no wave di arto lindsay, tracce dalla breve durata a bassa (a volte bassissima) fedelt? che ci lasciano decisamente rinvigoriti.

valutazione: * * * *

from trust

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #1

was diese bands eint, ist dem untertitel zu entnehmen: drei acts, die auf ihre jeweils eigene weise ungewöhnliche musizierweisen vorfahren.

da wäre zum einen hinterlandt, mal ein vielköpfiges improvisationskollektiv, mal, wie hier, die ein-mann-und-sein-rechner-nummer. die kranlieder auf dieser cd sind ein ziehmlich bizarrer mix aus rock, pop, elektronik und deathmetal. die elemente - ein mascis-solo, ein spielzeugbeat, ein metal-riff, eine surfgitarre, you name it - stehen in den möglichsten und unmöglichsten kombinationen vor-, über- und nebeneinander, ohne je wirklich in das jeweils andere aufgelöst zu werden. die daraus resultierende spannung trägt auch über die 15 minuten von the balance of too much and not enough.

über die italienische jazz-free-core-band zu hattom an dieser stelle schon einiges geschrieben. sieben neue stücke - das erste heißt tom araya is our elvis - in denen zu, ergänzt um den cellisten fred lonberg-holm, in mahlender brachialität zu werke gehen. langsamer als auf früheren alben, gleichwohl meist von beeindruckender intensität.

can can heads aus finnland schließlich spielen einen grandios gestärten rock in flipper-manier, zuckend, verdreht und mit archaischem equipment aufgenommen.

stone

from suspect device

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #2

Following the format set in “Eccentrics 1”, 3 bands showcase: LIMITED EXPRESS (HAS GONE?) (I'm a big fan of bands with brackets) with a slightly less manic than Melt Banana feel, stop-starty party shrieks with delicate nice bits here and there. Songs within songs, it's difficult to know where things are heading next. My CD player says track 2, but I swear we're 5 songs in. Two parts Dawson, one part Guapo, one part Deerhoof, they were doing something right according to my ears. STALWART up next. Stoner recordings from beyond the sewer: minimal, hypnotic, repetitive riffage, with pounding rhythmic drums and occasional vocals. Some parts have a mid-period Dischord feel, but not enough to keep it interesting. Or put you off, depending on your point of view. PLATYPUS give us minimalist recordings of sounds that left me with pins and needles in my head. When you tire of music (whatever that is), put this on for a change.

from noise.fi

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #2

australian-based indie-label tenzenmen seems to have a thing for finnish underground music. this three-way split, released last november, is the second cd in the eccentrics series. the first release featured can can heads, the third one will contain more blue n' white rhythms in the form of astro can caravan and the cd at hand features no less than two finnish bands, stalwart and plat ypus. the main idea with the eccentrics series is that each band has 20 minutes of running time at their disposal. this slot they can fill any which way they see fit. each band has also given a title for their part on the cd.

limited express (has gone?) – leads you
limited express (has gone?) is true jap mayhem in the vein of melt banana and boredoms. for those not familiar with the term ”jap mayhem”, here's a description: a japanese woman screaming in a manic, high-pitched voice, noisy electric guitars and chaotic jazz-punk song patterns. anarchic with a capital a, irritating with a small i and nice with a big n. very cool. very japanese. sax bonus.

stalwart – digested floods and mutinies with well-rounded toleration
stalwart of pori surprises me yet again with another high quality, varied offering. the release history of stalwart isn't a very long one, but the members are experienced, having played in various finnish bands in the past. the seven new tracks on this aussie disc form a great set of stylistically individual, eclectic alternative rock. the members' past in circle doesn't shine through as strongly as on the band's debut effort torment non plus, but an element of hypnotic repetitiveness is present here as well.
during 20 unpredictable minutes, the trio explores the middle ground between hard rock and avant-garde weirdness. girl parade trainee includes surprisingly coherent, but nonetheless strange singing. in sickened by symbolism, stalwart goes for a high speed assault, harkimo moves features free form noise and zeitgeist of a loudmouth is a metallic rocker. wow! stalwart is rapidly developing into a brilliantly original rock-group.

plat ypus – black hand rising
i 'm aware of the existence of this band, and that pretty much is the extent of my knowledge of plat ypus. creating some sort of lo-fi minimalist noise soundscapes seems to be their thing. after two short, and very obscure tracks we get to the real deal as the noisy world of black hand rising unravels to the listener's bewilderment. the production sounds really primitive. it sounds like the whole thing was recorded in the cellar with a cassette radio. somewhere in the distance you can hear drums and guitar. above this a sporadically re-occuring, heavily effect-laden voice hovers hazily. i'm reminded of the countless sound experiments of läjä äijälä. there is a certain sympathetic home-made feel and an air of adventurousness in plat ypus' music, but the 14-minute title track is just too much.

from psychotropic zone psychedelic music club

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #2

ex-circle guitarist jyrki laiho (now in kuusumun profeetta, among other things) was friendly enough to sell me his archive copies of the first two circle vinyls, and in the same package he also sent me this weird three-band split release.

tenzenmen is apparently an australian label so far focused on releasing this kind of record. their web site says they are interested in all extreme, outrageous, amusing, adventurous, improvised etc. music. this cd is well in between those lines.

the album starts with six tracks by japanese limited express (has gone?), and I've never heard anything of them before. rather heavy, noisy, technical and fun stuff. the female singer's very high-pitched and theatrical voice is the thing that stands out. strange.

then it's time for a trio called stalwart formed by jyrki laiho, veli nuorsaari and janne peltomäki. their cd ep torment nonplus released a little while ago was a promising preview of their heavy and hypnotic rolling also present on this album. they have packed seven merciless assaults into twenty plus minutes. you can still hear some old circle in there, but there's a lot of other stuff, as well. jyrki also sings, especially in a track called "girl parade trainee". "sickened by symbolism" is a pretty fast track, phew! then follows some heavy, slow riffing, but cacophonic, psychedelic elements are always present, as well. this is rather experimental, heavy as hell and odd stuff. i'm a bit scared if the possibly pretty soon-to-be-released full length will also be this merciless head banging all the time, but this works like an evil kübel in 20 minutes long dosages. it would also be nice to get this band to play live, maybe with some reinforcements.

the last orchestra on this cd is also from finland and called plat ypus, and I'm ashamed to say that I don't really know much about them. a couple of shorter tracks were recorded already in 1997, the over 14 minutes long "black hand rising" in 2002. this quartet plays rather noisy and weird, obviously improvisation-based stuff. there are also some programming and sound college-like elements in there to give nice extra colour to their sound.

this is rather confusing compilation, but I'm sure this kind of stuff has plenty of listeners!

from suspect device

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #3

Familiar set up by now – EXPERIMENTAL DENTAL SCHOOL are first up with ringside circus-time tunes recalling the softer parts of Mr Bungle, Tomahawk and Fantomas, managing that bizarre shift between eerie and comical. Easier on the ears and less metal than Mike Patton's posses though, with jazzy guitar rumbles, and casio-inspired stop-start. I liked this lot, and something appealing about the song titles. SABOT commit a single tune, the title obviously Mary Poppins inspired. Opening grumbles on a downward slide, then hitting a creepy blues of four interwoven musical parts in ever decreasing circles, picking up and dropping the pace as they feel like it. The Leeds guys That Fucking Tank come to mind. It grew on me (like moss?) the more I listened to it. SABOT also give us a “video presentation” but it wouldn't show for me. Fuck 'em and fuck technology then. ASTRO CAN CARAVAN are a 16-piece orchestra giving us their version of a film soundtrack, “Suite Charukeshi” in 3 parts. At first fooling us into Tortoise-muzak for aspiring lounge lizards, kicking off with stretched orchestral notes punctuated with a low rattling snare. Then moving into Charlie Mingus/Miles Davis territory, before finishing up with a more manic Zorn/GOD 8-minute composition which gradually creeps its way towards a finale of screech saxophones, screechier keyboards, frantic drums. The back cover had already warned us of a bonus mystery track, and sure enough, after the last track and 31 3-second tracks of silence, we're treated to two 20-second trashy punk numbers, one instrumental. Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.

dilettante's digest, musically incorrect fanzine issue # 2

tenzenmen presents: eccentrics, issue #2

hey, more eccentrics just before the deadline! it’s three bands again, and the first one of them is limited express (has gone?). oh well, they´re japanese so i guess you can give them certain privileges with naming things and stuff like that. they also sound very japanese, being some kind of ”lite” version of melt-banana, boredoms and such. and godco too,definitely. it’s nice jerky rhythmic postmodern no-wave or something with crazy vocals and song structures. good stuff, but I guess that a longer whole than the ca. 20 minutes here would start getting on my nerves.

then it´s time for stalwart. compared to their earlier mcd (see below) the material here is perhaps a bit more experimental and less rocking and catchy. it´s still great though. minimalist heavy yet groovy music with enough talent and vision to separate them from the grey mass of millions of fucken krautrock clones/clowns out there. oh , their first track sounds almost exactly like alice in chains (anyone remember?) – stop smirking, at their best aic were great!

a nd to the last band: plat ypus. their first two tracks leave me scratching my head, being short collages of experimental electro, no-wave and such weirdness. luckily their last track, the epic ”black hand rising” (what a great title!!!) is sincere krautrock worshipping with lo-fi sounds, some great wah-guitar playing and amateurish-in-a-good-way approach to the whole thing. good stuff! i hope the future eccentrics will also be of this good quality. (pekka)

from fakejazz

kroko + rabia

rabia, the group's second disc, finds kroko as a duo, though ylikoski's still featured on a third of the album. it's more of the same, with rampaging prog, mellow tracks that, surprisingly, are still a welcome addition to the album, and trashy, noisy slabs of improv. the departure of ylikoski's bass isn't a huge factor for hissa and dassum, it seems, as their music shows no ill effects due to the loss. dassum's guitar is even more at the forefront of the music, with searing flurries of notes, and soaring arcs of flaming sound. as with the band's debut, much of rabia is made up of live recordings, this time made even more convoluted and clamorous with a stereo mix featuring different live performances of the track in each speaker (the twelfth track is actually split three ways). the music in the different channels, of course, isn't always in sync, though this little imperfection and the disorientation it can create are some of the album's best moments. "burning soul," one of the disc's few studio tracks, is the best of kroko's more relaxed material, though, as with all of rabia, it would fit well on the band's debut, as well. this second effort isn't too far a stretch from what kroko had accomplished on their introductory release, but kroko's compositional sense is varied enough that they still manage to cram more stylistic touches into one or two songs than many bands do in a whole career.

from suspect device

kroko + rabia

instrumental soundscapes with scraped together sounds, accompanied by occasional tunes and atmospherics. if you worked down a mine with a diamond drill vibrating inches from your face for most of the day, this could be your background music. recalls dawson and orthrelm.

from suspect device

limited express (has gone?) + live at 101 bar

no paperwork with this one, so the only thing I have to go on is the title and the music. the title explains itself quite neatly i think. so that leaves the music: 11 songs of relentless shouting, scratchy guitar and drumming from this japanese trio, these recordings drown out any interest i could possibly show them. having said that, i think it's a bit unfair to try to get to grips with a band from a live recording, and consequently i prefer the stuff that appeared on “eccentrics 2”. this however, left me cold. orchid versus deerhoof, if you're interested in a vague comparison.

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