Mystic Inane - Demo [2013]

At certain hardcore shows, the kids don't bother with shoving elbows or macho mosh ritual violence, preferring instead to fling and flop and squirm across the floor like a zombie being dragged by fishing line. I don't know what the shows are like in Louisiana (other than drunkenness and playing under bridges), but Mystic Inane seem like a band well-suited for this kind of unskilled herk-jerk "dancing."

Their demo has been sitting in my tape deck awhile since it came in the mail. Four songs, each hovering around two minutes, emitting sputtered beats and atonal guitar deviations in the vein of A-Frames (+ the various bands affiliated with them). To make an arbitrary Chicago connection, it reminds me of the Daily Void, but less apocalyptic and more juvie. What this stuff boils down to, though, is discomfortable, mid-to-fast besnotted punk -- tight but with just the right amount of looseness to get the listener unhinged. Highly recommended. It looks like they just played with Glue and Gas Rag in New Orleans, a lineup I imagine was pretty explosive. 

Stream it at their bandcamp, download here. Get yourself a copy: contact mysticinane (a) gmail, or send $5.00 ppd to 3111 Palmyra St, New Orleans, LA 70119.

The Ex - Aural Guerrilla [1988]

Been meaning to put this up for a while. The late '80s were a peak for the Ex. By then they'd honed a nimble, unconventional post-punk groove and on this record they throw some noisy weight behind it. These songs sound like machines the band built: lurching forward at a seemingly haphazard pace, but masterfully steered by drummer Katherina Bornefeld. At sharp turns the guitars spill feedback out over the sides, creaking and sputtering and screaming. Combined with Sok's defiant agitprop shoutspeak, which goes well beyond base sloganeering, the result sounds almost weaponlike, corny as it feels to say. Comes together real well on "Carcass," maybe my favorite tune on here. I don't feel like going on about it since in my mind the Ex need no introduction, but if you're not familiar with them, this is a pretty ideal place to start since it's relatively straightforward. If you dig this, see if you're up for their musique concrète double-album Joggers and Smoggers, released a year later.

theex.nl
everything is falling into place

re-up'd: End Result - Ward EP [1985]

Chicago punk in the '80s had its fair share of weirdos, but End Result in particular pushed the envelope of what people would tolerate hearing. Not quite as blatantly crass as, say, the Mentally Ill, but musically these Southside punks could really test your patience. Don't let the more-or-less straightforward opening track deceive you; the Ward EP quickly devolves into an unrighteous mess of horns, semi-competent guitar squall, and psychotically howled vocals. The bizarre rendition of Petula Clark's 'Don't Fall Asleep in the Subway' must be heard to be (dis)believed. 

from Maximumrocknroll #3

From Roctober:

Chicago's End Result was a multi racial experimental No Wave band born out of the early 80s hardcore scene. They managed to limp all the way to the end of the 80s with a rotating cast (at one point they advertised they were seeking a "singer with a hatred of music") built around guitarist [Alan] Jones. Perhaps their greatest legacy is that they paved the way for No Wave/artfuck bands presenting themselves to an all-ages, hardcore/punk audience, something that defined the Chicago underground of the 90s (Milk of Burgundy, Skingraft, etc.). Their odd songs (a straightforward tune about amputation wasn't atypical) were released on Articles Of Faith's Wasteland label, and on several important Midwestern hardcore/punk comps, resulting in fans of boundary-pushing gravitating towards them, including Steve Albini and Sonic Youth. No child of privilege, Jones lived in a mission for a while, and turned lemons into an odd tasting lemonade by briefly making the mission's basement a site for punk shows.

End Result fit into the Chicago punk puzzle somewhere between early Silver Abuse and ONO. Here's a video of them circa 1984:

I know it was my fault, but I'm gonna take it out on you

Hintergrund - Nemesis [2012]

Hintergrund is responsible for some of the haunting, art-damaged noises currently emanating from Columbus, Ohio. Undulating tones that drift along for light years, punctuated at times by more rapid cosmic radiation. This is some quality drone-y, noisy stuff utilizing loops, prepared saxophone, and circuit bending. No songs shorter than six minutes, titles like "As the Elk Lays Down to Die" (an eleven-minute séance with synths and gods-know-what-else overlaying each other to form chords that are simultaneously unnerving and musical) -- those of you who will like this probably already know who you are. For ambient music, though, it really does reward active listening as there is a well-executed sense of dynamics throughout. Compared to the dark, brooding mood intimated by the album title, for example, the galactic-scale disinterest of "Empty Space" or "Circuit" sounds practically joyful.

This would appeal to folks who are into stuff like Barn Owl or Hanetration. You can stream Nemesis on soundcloud, or snatch it here. Get comfy, pack the pipe, and prepare to explore the dark expanses of yr mind.

HURE - EP [2012]

I got an email some time ago from one of these maniacs asking to share their EP, so here you go. This is also from Berlin, but it couldn't possibly be more different from the Faurholt stuff I posted yesterday. Bludgeoning, relentless, hate-filled noise attack by dudes who wrap themselves in duct tape to play live:

So about three seconds of that video should give you an idea whether or not it's for you. Ever been to a show where a noise group comes on and half the room clears out? This is something like what we've got here. I like losing my mind to noise stuff like this, because i.) my ears have a masochistic streak; and ii.) after being subjected to screeching feedback gusts and blunt drum-machine beatings for an extended length of time, anything resembling 'conventional songs' sounds positively refreshing. Anyway I'm down with the madness that is Hure, and perhaps some of you are too.

You can hear the EP on Hure's soundcloud page, and order a copy of the EP on cassette here.

Harshist - Mythologies CS [2012]

This here is one of my favorite tapes of 2012, hands down. Truly I have waited too long to post it. Ten minutes of psych-punk tunes that reek of societal anguish. The music carries vibes shared by post-punk types like Shoppers or the Pop Group. I hear the latter band's influence especially on the last song, "Poison God," which opens up with a chord straight outta "She Is Beyond Good and Evil." Seriously can't recommend this band enough, and if they're any indication, there's some radical stuff happening Hawaii these days. Peep a couple of the songs in this live video from last summer:

Go to their bandcamp to listen to/buy Mythologies as well as an excellent radio set just released this month. Once you've heard the tape you'll need to hear the full set; the stretched-out noise passages really complement the groovy punk stuff. Do not sleep on this.

http://harshist.tumblr.com
http://diyhawaii.tumblr.com

Ø+yn - He resucitado en la montaña [2011]

I've sat on a lot of submissions over the past year, so over the next week I'll be trying to get them posted with some sort of regularity. The music that people have thought to send me in 2012 runs he gamut from downer bedroom pop to raging basement punk with much noise, electronics, and general freakiness in between. So without further ado:

Okay, so this one actually came out in late 2011, but it was sent to me back in August of 2012 so it fucking counts. Ø+yn (pronounce it 'Omasin') play music for you to get weird to in the Sierras de Córdoba. Combining acoustic instruments and percussion with electronic drones, these freaky Argentine folks conjure up Hindustani-influenced raga jams punctuated by the holy howls of their (and your) ancestors. The album has a globe-searching, improvisational vibe not unlike some of This Heat's stuff, but Ø+yn take it in wholly different directions. I especially dig the shamanistic interpretation of acoustic/electric violin, with its haunting melodies that dissolve into drifting feedback wisps. The songs are in the six- to eight-minute range, giving you plenty of time to explore. Drink some ayahuasca and get into this!

He resucitado en la montaña was released by Winebox Press, with some pretty-lookin' wood packaging. Get at them to see if they have any copies still available. Catch Ø+yn on soundcloud and bandcamp for more freak folk jams.

Murmullo de cascada abrasiva

Sexgender - Split w/ Baklavaa [2012]

Baltimore is home to a thriving radical queer community, members of which are up to all kinds of cool stuff. One such example is Sexgender. On this split EP they dig out some muddy noise terror with mid-tempo beats just right to get you dancin' (if you're as screwed in the head as me and find this kind of stuff danceable). The lyrics deal in personal politics that channel a special kind of fear and desperation, and beat you over the back of the neck with it. There's definitely some My War-era Black Flag sound in here, and the second to last song is a shit-caked (in a good way, of course) cover of Nirvana's "Negative Creep." As for Baklavaa's side, I haven't heard it. If you have, lemme know if it's any good?

You can listen/download (PWYW) on Sexgender's bandcamp. Physical copies don't appear to be avialable online (try emailing sexgenderband@gmail.com), but if you're in B-more check them out -- they're playing at Club K (2101 Maryland Ave.) tonight. They're playing two more East Coast shows this weekend:

Dec 8 - Philadelphia PA
At Motel Hell (Watts & Mckean Streets)

Dec 9 - Brooklyn NY
At Fitness (1196 Myrtle Ave)

Sexgender tumblr
Sexgender bigcartel

ONO - Albino [2012]

Since I mentioned these guys in my End Result post, I figured I should bring it to your attention that ONO released a new record on Halloween. It is a hell of a thing. But before I get into the record perhaps some introduction is in order:

Around 1979 or 1980 the two founding members of ONO, P. Michael and travis, started playing dirty R&B tunes at strip clubs, weddings, wherever else would have them. They were as likely to play stuff by King Crimson as Rufus Thomas or Bo Diddley. Eventually they found their way into the punk scene via queer bars like La Mere Vipere, O'Banions, and Medusa's (travis had been on shore leave from the Navy in time to be around for the Stonewall riots in NYC), freaking out the audiences at shows they played with Chicago bands like Naked Raygun, the Effigies, Algebra Suicide, and of course End Result. Actually their first gig in late 1980 was opening for Special Affect, which featured a pre-Ministry Al Jourgensen. Whenever out-of-towners like Lydia Lunch or Cabaret Voltaire would roll through, ONO would bring the noise.

During that first decade ONO released two LPs, 1983's Machines That Kill People and 1986's Ennui. Two slabs of true weirdness ... people were not particularly receptive to the industrial-noise-gospel-synth dirges contained on those albums, especially when confronted with the band members' outlandish stage attire and unsettling ritualistic behavior in live shows. Still, the band continued to perform through to 1990, appearing on compilations alongside Algebra Suicide, Portland weirdos Smegma, and a whole rabble of forgotten groups. For more info on the band's history, consult the writeup/interview in Roctober, always an authoritative source for Chicago punk and outsider musics.

There wasn't much noise from the ONO camp through the '90s, though travis and P. Michael kept themselves busy with other projects. Then, in the late aughts the world seemed to catch up to them, and ONO started gigging again at various DIY venues throughout Chicago. Which brings us to Albino: a haunting  summation of the dark magic the group have generated over the past three decades. I could tell you about "I Been Changed," with its gospel-tune lyrics of redemption sung over a Birthday Party-style blues-punk din, or the excellent cover of the VU's "All Tomorrow's Parties," but really my words can't do this album justice. Just hit play:

 

Albino is out now on Moniker Records in a pressing of 300. You can stream the album and purchase it on the label's bandcamp page.

Vice Versa - Rehearsal Tapes [2012]

 

If the blues stylings of the Chaw were a little too polished for your primitive ass, give these Russian mudslingers a listen. Instantly bringing to mind heavy Japanese sounds à la Blues Creation, High Rise/Mainliner, Leningrad Psychedelic Blues Machine, or American heads like Purling Hiss or an old Black Keys album mixed under the influence of cough syrup, Moscow's Vice Versa play the kind of feedback-drenched rock and roll that I should by all rights be sick of already, for all its simple premises. But bands like this keep dragging me back in. There are some really fine moments on this demo; at some points, like on the 10+ minute 'Stranger,' the racket reaches the stratosphere where you'd expect to find Les Rallizes Dénudés. During the less noisy passages Vice Versa sort of resemble the somberness of St. Petersburg's Sonic Death, but without the acoustic instruments. Highly recommended, especially if you're into the stuff mentioned.

This was released earlier this month and you can download it for free on bandcamp.

Sonny Sharrock - Space Ghost Coast to Coast [1994]

Sonny Sharrock is easily one of the coolest guitarists ever, and he stayed good to the very end. This, in fact, is what I believe to be his last recording. That's right, Sharrock fans, Sonny did the Space Ghost soundtrack, and Space Ghost fans, this is the name of the guy who plays your favorite theme song. Of course, some of you already knew this from episode 26, on which they played a bunch of these tunes:

Very loosely based on the original Hanna-Barbera Space Ghost series, Coast to Coast was aired in the early 90s as a light-hearted manifesto of post cold-war dadacidal humor, and could be seen as Cartoon Network's attempt to tap into the then emerging "alternative" nation of America. Anodinous, hilarious or plain weird, Coast to Coast reinvented the honorable fake-interview tradition by having pre-recorded conversations with "celebrities" and people like us rearranged by the nonchalant and ego-maniacal Space Ghost. In this very special episode, Thurston Moore incarnates one Fred Cracklin in a brief nonsensical cameo which is but a pretext to pay homage to the great avant-noise-jazz-blues guitar player Sonny Sharrock, who had recently expired. If the Coast to Coast series is bizarre for any standards of good TV conduct, the Sharrock episode is particularly strange in that its plot is a lame excuse to pay tribute to the musician and listen to several minutes of his ethereal noise-jazz guitar, thinly framed by some silly jokes between the Ghost and his adorable sidekicks.

There's plenty of free-kout to go around here, with some vamping on the main theme as well as forays into other sonic dimensions. If it seems like a novelty, it's really not, but as a 15-minute EP it makes for a great punk record. All I know is that Sonny Sharrock makes some of the most joyous and chaotic music I've ever heard, and that you should have this. Space Ghost, while being a brilliantly subversive kids' show in its own right, not to mention endlessly entertaining to re-view as an older child, is also responsible for planting Sonny in my six-year-old head (and, perhaps, many of yours).

WFMU blog entry on the Sharrock episode
And now, Zorak and the Original Way-outs (not to be confused with Chicago's Wayouts)

Meat Mist - SMUT LP [2012]

Saw these dirty punks play in Urbana tonight. Meat Mist hail from Kansas City, Missouri (which is evidently the place to be for raw noisy punk these days) and irrupt a raucous equalizing distort that dares you to listen to without earplugs. (My own young tinnitus is on its way and these guys helped it along.) I dunno what to tell ya -- it's gonna be pretty easy to decide whether you like this or not but I'm into it. I was sorta reminded of Homostupids, or perhaps a sloppier Big Black/Rapeman.

Meat Mist recently released the LP SMUT on the XO Press imprint, which deals in scummy Kansas City noise punk and black metal and the like, so check that out. A four-song digital preview of the 14-song LP is free + PWYW, and their previous releases are along the same line. Give 'em a listen, they won't disappoint. To nab a physical copy, get to a show on their 3.5-week US tour sharing stages/floors with a host of great bands (dates below).

MEAT MIST US TOUR SUMMER 2012
AUGUST 1 Lansing MI @ 4th Culture Studios w/ Texas Instruments, Borrowed Time, DSS
AUGUST 2 Cleveland OH !!!NEED HELP!!!
AUGUST 3 Syracuse NY @ Badlands w/ Death Camp, Flip Shit, Natural Selection
AUGUST 4 Allston MA @ w/ Districts, Matahari, Strike to Survive
AUGUST 5 NYC @ Charleston w/ My America
AUGUST 6 Philadelphia PA @ Underground Arts w/ Wiccans, Heavy Medical, Cop Problem, Britches (STL)
AUGUST 7 Atlantic City NJ @ Boneyard
AUGUST 8 Columbus OH @ Legion of Doom
AUGUST 9 Cincinnati OH @ Kirby House w/WHITE WALLS (12" release)
AUGUST 10 Indianapolis IN @ Skull Mannor
AUGUST 11 St. Louis MO @ No Coast Sk8 Shop w/ Shaved Women, Trauma Harness
AUGUST 12 Birmingham AL @ TBA w/ Japanese Women
AUGUST 13 New Orleans LA @ EUCLID Records
AUGUST 14 Houston TX @ SuperHappyFunLand w/ A N G S T
AUGUST 15 San Antonio TX @ Houseshow
AUGUST 16 Austin TX @ 29th Street Ballroom w/ Naw Dude, Bath Salts, Ghetto Girls
AUGUST 17 Denton TX @ Houseshow w/ Innards
AUGUST 18 Oklahoma City @ Bad Grannies w/ CHUD, GRG
AUGUST 19 Columbia MO @ Hair Hole w/ Gay Uncle, Coward 

Meat Mist bandcamp

Les Rallizes Dénudés - Electric Pure Land [1974]

Here's a quick Les Rallizes Dénudés post. If you know Rallizes, you know what you're getting here. If you don't know them, then this set is a great place to start, because it's not as long as most of their other releases.

Electric Pure Land starts out with the swirling, damaged repetition of  'The Last One' (normally it's not the First One) and continues from there. 'Enter the Mirror' shimmers with the brilliance of radio pop transmissions originating in another galaxy; 'Flames of Ice' stomps around and kicks psychedelic sparks into your face. What are you gonna do, step out the way? No, you ignoramus, you'll stay right there and enjoy your electrification. 'Voice of the Bird' is a beauteous electric folk ballad to help you lament your ensuing tinnitus. Finally, closer 'Angel' grooves with what sounds like a slowed-down Bauhaus bass riff below Mizutani's echoey crooning, interspersed with wild blasts of feedback.

Well, I didn't set out to do a song-by-song exposition, but there it is. Listen, this is a great recording, and if this scribbling doesn't convince you to download it, perhaps my other Rallizes post would.

氷の炎

mnttaB - Rocky 4​,​2 and 3 EP [2012]

Here is a submission from down in Melbourne, Australia. mnttaB (pronounce it 'Mount Tab') is a noisy synth-punk apocalypse that sounds kind of like what the cover art looks like -- i.e., a violent freak experiment of science and athletic training (and tattoos). They place special emphasis on infectious grooves, whether the drums are struck or programmed. Lots of yelling and general chaos that will make you want to jump around. This came out about two weeks ago, and is available for free on their bandcamp, along with their previous releases. All worth hearing.

There will be a European/US tour this summer, so keep an eye out for gig dates.

mnttaB bandcamp
mnttaB soundcloud

Raw Nerve - Everything I currently have by them [2009-2011]

So the last ever Raw Nerve show is tonight. Probably going on right now, actually. I'm stuck 130 miles from Chicago, so here's my way of seeing them off. I'm just glad I did get to see them a couple of times while they were around. At the moment I've got their music on blast -- hopefully it will sufficiently irritate my wannabe-fratboy neighbors.

For those who don't know, Raw Nerve has been one of the best hardcore bands around Chicago in the past few years. Lots of throat-shredding vocals and screaming feedback and all that. The drums are fine-tuned to generate the maximum amount of crowd movement. But they're hardly by-the-book hardcore. They've laid down some interesting coversongs -- including a gut-wrenching version of X-Ray Spex's "I Am a Cliche" -- and there are a few passages, especially on the self-titled LP, that suggest something "bigger than hardcore" going on, but never for long enough for the hardcore-or-die types to complain about it. What do you want me to say? This is punk rock -- it's fast and it's loud, and it's the easiest possible music to judge for yourself.

Raw Nerve has one final release, an EP entitled Every Problem Solved, that is being released right about now. You can hear one of the songs here:

Demo Tape [2009]

Teens in Heat 7" [2009]

Raw Nerve LP [2010]

Midnight EP [2011]

Buy Midnight (on white vinyl!) from Youth Attack

Nervous Habits CS [2011]

While you're downloading all this stuff for free, you should take a look at the long list of currently-available releases over at Youth Attack. Records, tapes, tshirts, razor blades, and all variety of other good stuff can be found there.

Youth Attack releases

re-up'd: Les Rallizes Dénudés - Heavier Than a Death in the Family [1977]

Les Rallizes Dénudés (「裸のラリーズ」"Naked Rallizes" in Japanese) are more or less a contrarian underground rock fan's wet dream: from Japan, gigged fairly steadily for three decades, released virtually no official material (but are extensively bootlegged), contains a lot of guitar noise, had a bass player commit some kind of radical leftist plane hijacking -- I could go on but it would belabor the point. With 'backstory' like this surrounding such a reclusive band, there are many who come in with expectations that are somehow not met by the music. So here's the straight dope on this band.

The sound concept is fairly simple -- repetitive rock and doo-wop bass mantras washed over by massive guitar surges, punctuated by Takashi Mizutani's vocal yelps and stretched out to 10 minute(+) sonic endeavors. The insanity is tempered by the electric folk balladry that formed the skeleton of the music when they came together in the late 1960s. Many of the songs were originally developed alongside experimental theater/performance pieces. The vibe is a combination of kosmische punk, dub, and soaring damaged pop greatness. Think of '67-'68 Velvets guitar supernovae out at the far corners of the universe, and the cosmic feedback that such cataclysms would emit. Mizutani's guitar makes the sound of the sky falling, only to rise through the stratosphere at the next moment.

Heavier Than a Death in the Family's tracks are mostly pulled from performances in 1977 (some of them appear on the Rallizes double-disc ur-text '77 Live), one of a number of high points in the band's existence. However, possibly the best piece on here is the ten-minute "People Can Choose," recorded in 1973. It's a powerful motorik beast. Also, for those hundreds of you who downloaded the Dirty Beaches album I posted in my end of 2011 post, you might like to know that this is the stuff that guy was channeling/sampling on "A Hundred Highways."

Basically everyone from Keiji Haino, to Asahito Nanjo (High Rise, Mainliner, etc.), to Acid Mothers Temple, to anyone who claims to play 'shoegaze' takes cues from these guys. It's not so much word-of-mouth as it is word-of-amp. And for some reason, a lot of people are into it. I'm personally hooked. I wouldn't expect everyone to like this -- but for those who do, this is a golden god of Rock.

Rallizes remain largely unacknowledged, both in and outside of Japan. The only people I ever met in Japan who knew of them were record store owners, and even they weren't aware of the recent vinyl reissues being put out in the UK and US. However, with the age of the internet upon us, they are being gradually introduced to the masses, lifted from the depths of the underground and into your auspicious ears.

Les Rallizes Denudes fan site (日本語だけ)
Alleged lyrics
Total cultural assault

Psychic Blood - Strain 7" [2011]

Psychic Blood are a group of noisy punks from Holyoke, Massachusetts. There is a lot of GUITARS on here. It sounds kind of Hüskers-ish -- right up my alley, and many of yours, I'm sure. The idea seems to be 'cram a folk melody under 30 tons of feedback,' and it sounds like flying down a highway at night with the windows down. Bands like this have a tendency to fall flat relying on the noise to cover their lack of songwriting. But that can't be said here. Thankfully, in Psychic Blood's case, the melody comes across pretty much intact, bringing with it all the cool additive chord voicings and resonance that it picked up in the feedback field. This stuff is really good.

Strain will be released as a 7" sometime soon, and Psychic Blood is in the process of finishing up their first full-length LP. In the meantime, put these guys in your hard drive and your ears. At Psychic Blood's soundcloud, you can also listen to their other two releases. All worth hearing.

Psychic Blood website
Strain

Drosofile - Mal [2011]

This is another submission, this time from a label all the way over in Paris! I know very little about the punk stuff going on in France (though I do dig this band The Anals, check them out). This single has a relentless sort of rhythm and austere melodies that evoke the death march of the daily commute, to a job you hate, for a boss you want to kill. I don't know French but the lyrics that are in English are appropriately dreary. Both songs play up the "dirge jam" aesthetic. I dig this a lot.

Check out the video for the a-side:

The folks at Permanent Records in Chicago said it better than I can:

The folks over at SDZ have pressed up a little gem of a single here in the form of Drosofile's first single. These two cuts sound like the result of habitually smoking weed outta coke cans and we can't get enough. Seriously, two songs of Drosofile is simply, not enough – but it’s all we got so here’s to hoping these duders are following this up soon with a full length. If you dig tasty guitar licks and primal drum thuds mixed with air raid siren keyboards and misanthropic French bellowing and are a fan of the Anals, DAF, Colour Buk or any of the La Grande Triple Alliance Internationale De L'est collective's projects than you should probably pick this one up pronto.

I won't post a mediafire link for this one, since it's streamable on the SDZ bandcamp (there's a jam of a 7"  from Dan Melchior and a sweet 20-song comp tape, plus more! -- browse it all). Both the digital purchase and vinyl are very reasonably priced, so buy it if you like it. The timing is good, what with the euro being so shite: the digital purchase of Mal comes out to less than three bucks. So get it now while it's cheaper for you. Besides that, the vinyl's being offered at a sale rate.

Thanks again to Nick at SDZ for bringing this stuff to my attention.

Streaming/digital download
Get a physical copy