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Cool Objects that Poms Have Sex With: Mp3s from Richmond, Virginia

Speaking as a person who has consistently avoided living in places generally acknowledged as trendy, I'm always looking for exciting things coming from unexpected places.  If you tell me your band is from Austin, Portland or (God forbid) billyburg, I'll be hoping that your band sucks.  Your band probably does suck too.

So it was very refreshing to learn about the large amount of good music coming from Richmond, Virginia.  A lot of it seems to be amped up breakcore with a high tolerance for noise and general spazziness.  Jason from Richmond based CNP Records helped me put together this (by no means comprehensive) sampler of some of the town's more interesting exports.

Diamond Black Hearted Boy - Night One very interesting Richmond personality is Diamond Black Hearted Boy, a "post-hiphop artist who draws from the worlds of punk, hiphop, high art, disco, goth, industrial, and traditional african chant in his music and performance."  The myspace.  He's pictured below the fold in this article.

Narwhalz (of sound) - Pomeranian Redneck Snoopy Another of Richmond's most exciting artists is this pomeranian obsessed dude.  His noisy, gameboyed-out ADD beats glitch around faster than a gif animation on a myspace page.  He also runs a venue/gallery in town called Church of Crystal Light.  This dude is nuts, just look at his webpage and you'll see what I mean.  He also did the drawing to the right.

Hot Lava - Apple+Option+Fire I didn't know Hot Lava was from Richmond when I first heard them on Spleencoffin's Girlz of Noyz comp; all I knew was that I couldn't stop listening to their track, Ghosties, over and over!  Turns out they've got many more equally addictive songs.  Cutie indie-pop with psychy swirls, lyrics about video games and, most importantly, an endless supply of hooks!  Apple+Option+Fire is from the new LP Lavaology.  For those in NYC, Hot Lava will play Death By Audio in Brooklyn on January 10th.

Suppression - Maryanne Suppression's new collection of early records is out on CNP, but grind fans might also recognize them from releases on Noise Pollution, Slap-A-Ham, Pessimiser and Clean Plate.  Making this trash since 1992, Suppression continues to play primitive powerviolence but adds newer, noisier developments as well.  This particular track is a collab with harh noise freak Crank Sturgeon.  The extensive discog.

More excellent mp3s and a video below the fold...

Two Lumps of Coal for you Swine!

JK LOL, a truly blessed time to you and yours in this most special of seasons. OK, that just sounded sarcastic. Maybe I'm a bit bitter since this is the first Christmas I've EVER had to spend away from family and friends. But come to think of it, given my family, this might be a good thing. At least I'll be able to watch Lee Han Joo perform tonight. I guess he's a good replacement for the obligatory weird uncle in every family.

Regardless, it's true that these videos here are, technically speaking, lo-fi lumps of coal. On the left is a wild TV performance from Jagatara. I'm not really sure what's going on, but I do know that the punk rocker who seizes the mic and screams is none other than Sakevi of GISM fame. At first it seems like he's just rushing the stage, but the backup singers don't miss a beat so it's not really clear for a while whether the chaos is intentional. Definitely the sort of stage presence that deserves lo-fi tape quality though. On the right is a 1986 performance from German thrashers Kreator.

Next thursday look out for an mp3 laden scene report on Richmond, Virginia! But for now, more coal - a public access set with weird graphics from Government Issue, and trashed out footage of a No Comment set at Gilman Street.

Bring Me The Head of Butch Willis

Ah, so I just learned how Mike Patton performed "Inconsolable Widows in Search of Distraction" from the Adult Themes For Voice album (stream). It's so easy, he just taps his Adam's apple! It's more difficult but still possible to do a similar, more extreme thing without touching your throat. Or at least you can if you're as cool as I am.

I digress. Al Breon's very outsider "guitar voice" techniques in fact informed me about Patton's very insider experimental record. Whereas Patton's vocals are sophisticated and forward-thinking, however, Breon's wailing is totally inane and sounds nothing like a guitar anyway. And so he's perfect to join the band of a true giant of incorrect music, Butch Willis, whom you'll find below. On the left is Butch Willis and The Rocks in a really great performance that ends with a fog machine malfunction. On the right is a '96 solo performance at Galaxy Hut in Arlington, Virginia. I'd also recommend watching this performance of Willis' #1 hit, TVs from Outer Space. As with more than a few outsiders, Butch Willis has some rabid fans - accordingly, you can find a lengthy bio and interview here. Apparently Teenbeat Records is working on a documentary.

New Justice Yeldham Band: RICE屎CORPSE

For those unfamiliar with Justice Yeldham's work, let me just give a brief introduction - Justice Yeldham is a noise musician who plays amplified panes of broken glass with his face. Fans of Yeldham's shocking act will be excited to hear that he has a new project on the way, a band called RICE屎CORPSE (rice corpse being the literal translation of the Chinese word for shit). A recent grant allows Yeldham to live in Beijing, China, where he has recently begun playing shows with a drummer and pianist.

An awesome mp3 (30 minutes of chaos!) of the first live show is up on the myspace page, as well as a video of a practice session and older Yeldham projects. The band is just getting started but a CD release is planned. A live set at SXSW in Austin is possible. About the project, Yeldham says, "I've been rehearsing rice corpse over the last few days and its going great. Li zenghui plays piano and Yang Yang is on drums. The sound after two practices is beginning to resemble what i hoped for, with a jarring offbeat rhythm section accompanied by my free noise." Yeldham pictured left with Sato Yukie, NOT of Rice Corpse.

The Young And Elderly Bascom Lamar Lunsford With Other Old Timey Videos

I forget just how I stumbled upon David Hoffman's 1962 film Bluegrass Roots, which was the first authoritative documentary on the subject. Top left is a segment of the doc, which features plenty of clogging and old timey playin'. The documentary gives a lot of weight to the elderly "Appalachian Minstrel", Bascom Lamar Lunsford, whom you'll see dancing with his wife about four and half minutes in. Lunsford had already been filmed about 30 years earlier, however, in a scene featured in The Times Ain't Like They Used To Be, a too-good-to-be-true folk video compilation with performances from 1928 to 1935. The DVD is in print but if, as with these depression era performers, hard times have got you in a squeeze, all the contents are on youtube. Top right is that clip of Lunsford's band with a cool introduction in which Lunsford hilariously obsesses about gettin' first prize in some music contest.

It's so hard to choose another clip to showcase from The Times Ain't Like They Used To Be, but bottom left is inspired footage of Uncle John Scruggs performing the song Little Log Cabin In The Lane while his kids do the cutest dance you've ever seen! I'd also highly recommend watching Whistler's Jug Band, Bela Lamb, Estudiantina Invencibal and a version of Mary, Don't You Weep by some "Georgia Field Hands". At bottom right, I'm using this post as an excuse to show a great performance of Bayou Pon Pon from an episode of Sesame Street. Anybody know what band this is? P.S. Guess who just got Photoshop...

Thrash Videos of Varying Levels of Stupidity

I can't top that incredible Confessor video Brian posted a few weeks back.  But at least I can post something stupider.  Madness Reign (top left) is definitely the dumbest thing I've seen in a while and the finest example of bedroom metalhead parody I've heard.  From muttered "sound effects" and cheesy graphics to pointless chugging guitar and malinformed vocals, Madness Reign is like the road trip that Bruce Dickinson, Weird Al and Jandek took together last spring break.  I'm also a fan of this guy's dadaist stand up comedy bits - below is a sample.  I'd strongly recommend checking out the webpage - he's got 14 (!) albums out and a ton of music videos, all in the same vein and pretty hilarious.  Top right is Axemaster's "Slave To The Blade."  No explanation necessary.

Madness Reign - Les 26 Caracteres from "Les Divines Jokes Du Diable"

I mentioned this Dum Dum Bullet (bottom left) video before, but it's really hit me how awesome it is.  The guitarist is totally great, they've actually got a pretty unique sound and the singer keeps on showing up in different guises throughout the video!  The song title is "Hey Mum, Who's The Junk?"  Who indeed!  Purgatory (bottom right) is the sort of band that makes me wish I owned a car, just so I could blast this shit while driving over the speed limit.  Heavy midtempo thrash via Slayer with Iron Maideney fist pumping action.  Add a healthy amount of progressive time changes, a bit of falsetto vocals, occasional shredding guitar solo-age and you're JUST under the level of smartness required to be ACTUALLY good.  But this was only the beginning of a bright future: vocalist Jeff Hatrix went on to sing for seminal nu-metal giants Mushroomhead.  Now that's smarts.

Noraebangers, Vol. 1

I myself am usually too embarrassed to do karaoke. The last time I saw karaoke in a bowling alley in Santa Fe, my friend pulled me out by the arm, too pained to even sit in the same room as a 40 year old mustachioed Mexican singing 'She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy' in front of 5 other people. So I really think these Koreans have got it right with their Noraebang idea - a bunch of friends rent a private room together, drink too much soda beer (as Scott would say) and slaughter the classics without slaughtering the audience. These places are on like every other block too, people just love this shit here. Apparently some Noraebangs let you record, since my friend Ben found this tape on the street. It's simply labeled "sound" and WOW, it's a gem. Sounds like it was just a girl and a guy in the room, and the only thing worse than their singing is the quality of this grit covered tape. Actually, I take that back, the songs themselves are worse too. I mean, I would find these songs campy enough by themselves and what's better is this guy is SO feeling it and totally hogs the mic. I like to think that he is trying to impress this girl with his vocal prowess. I also like to think she found someone better real soon. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that at some point a friend showed up to rap. PERFECT. To add to the glory, the tape hisses, slows down, cuts out and generally adds appeal for your average ironically disposed noise geek.

Tape Cuts In | Awwwwwww Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh | Ooooooooo....Alright | This Is My Jam | Rap Cameo | No, I Mean THIS IS MY JAM | Another Crappy Song | Rap Cameo | Tape Craps Out | Tape Overdrives | Dude Tries To Rap and Decides To Sing a Ballad Instead | An Emotional Moment | Her Special Moment In The Sun

Will Somebody Out There Just Sign This Band Already???

I've been wondering for a while now about what this blog's readership might be like. I have a hunch it's mostly large dudes in their parents' basements, but this post is made in the hopes that a few small label owners might read. Rocket Surgery is a band I've been aware of for a few years and though I've always expected them to get big, they somehow still self release albums. Why should this be? Can't really be the music's fault. Poor marketing perhaps? Hopefully I can help a bit...

Rocket Surgery - Driving No Car

Rocket Surgery - Two More Dreams

These tracks are from Rocket Surgery's newish self titled CD, a marathon's worth of heavy progressive pop. Traces of country and grunge among other influences step in and out with deliberate baroque riffery, arabic modalities, barbershop harmonies and spacy experimental interludes. Reminds me a bit of that short lived band from a few years back, All Night Radio - sugary pop songs drenched in effect pedal tomfoolery. But whereas All Night Radio occupied some kind of easy-going slacker mindset, Rocket Surgery's mood is constantly angsty and tension filled. The band doesn't shy away from progressive rock's loftier ambitions either - listening to Rocket Surgery's CD feels like climbing K2 in a swirling storm. So it's not surprising that there'd be a 'suggested intermission' midway through the CD. Not that you weren't enjoying the music, it's just that the sheer drama becomes exhausting. This energy actually translates well in a live setting. I've seen Rocket Surgery play a few shows and they can rip through 80 minutes, keeping the energy up the whole time. The band is a two piece, with singer Joel Kennedy doubling up on guitar and keyboards. Joel recently released a split with fellow solo artist Moloq, who's got excellent pop sensibilities in his own right, not to mention wonderful production for a home recorder. Here's an mp3 from each side of the split...

Moloq - Caveman

Joel Kennedy - Disturbingly Well

Laundry Room Squelchers Live at INC Seoul

Had the chance to catch one of the dates on this year's International Noise Conference tour at Seoul experimental space Yogiga.  Headlining acts included Justice Yeldham and Laundry Room Squelchers, whom WFMU listeners may be more familiar with as members of To Live And Shave In LA (three live sets on Brian Turner's show).  Although members of Laundry Room Squelchers vary from performance to performance, this night featured INC organizer Rat Bastard on guitar (although he told me he would have played short wave radios if not for problems with power adaptors), Graham Moore, who played a box with 'gain and filter modules' and a one date only collab with Michael Oakley, a Seoul based musician - check out his project Master Musik here.  Also extremely extremely recommended are releases on Graham Moore's Blossoming Noise Records.  More photos from the event are available here. Thanks to the Squelchers for this mp3 of their set!  Many more live sets from the Squelchers are available here.  Photos by RJ.

Laundry Room Squelchers Live at INC Seoul, 9/20

"...And in the track of a hundred thousand years, out of the heart of dust, hope sprang again, like greenness"

Huma Bhabha's sculpture of this title was one of the most impressive works I saw at this year's Gwangju Biennale.  Though the name (a quote from an Omar Khayyam poem) suggests a kind of hopefulness, the sculpture itself seems entirely grim, a grotesque depiction of slow-moving ruin.  On the other hand, the phrase 'track of a hundred thousand years' seems applicable enough - the two oppositely facing figures posture as if decaying in an ancient sarcophagus.  Constructed of crudely scratched styrofoam, rusted chicken wire and other found objects, the totems straddle pagan ceremony and garbage dump.  At times blunt and blocky, at times delicately detailed, the statues walk many fine lines.  The base of the sculpture also features wonderful textures using extended paint techniques, tastefully placed found objects, crushed leaves and the occasional outjutting rusted pole.

Bhabha's style became a little more manifest to me when I learned that she is a RISD grad - her work is somewhat in line with a lot of the nasty trash art I associate with that school, although certainly in the highest eschelon of this tradition.  Originally from Pakistan, Huma Bhabha now lives and works in New York City.  She currently has work up at Salon 94 in NYC, and has a solo exhibition at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut.  A good full length article from '07 published in Art In America is up online here and photos of many other Bhabha sculptures are available here.

A Word or Two with Moroccan Radio Mavericks

It's no shock to anyone if I observe that radio is becoming increasingly homogenized and boring.  I'm sure this is one reason why you and I both find the truly anomalous WFMU so refreshing.  I recently became aware of another very cool outlier, Radio Apartment 22, an internet radio station based in Rabat, Morocco.  Established last year and run entirely by three dedicated staffers, the station serves largely as an outlet for international artists, documenting various art events through streaming audio and showcasing selected musical works.  Recently, the station provided excellent coverage of South Korea's Gwangju Biennale, including interviews with curators and artists as well as recordings of musical performances.  I was fortunate enough to attend the Biennale (read my article here), where I had the opportunity to speak with R22 staff.

Unique not just in comparison with blander internet radio stations, Radio Apartment 22 also serves an important local function; it is the only fine art oriented media organization in Morocco.  The project began in 2002 when Abdellah Karroum founded Apartment 22, one of the first fine art spaces in the area.  Initially he found little support from local artists or the government.  "There's not really a forum right now in Morocco for speaking about arts and culture in an in depth way, " said Emma Chubb, R22's Programming Coordinator.  "They've been building an art museum for years and years but it seems like it will never be finished"  Despite this, R22 proudly bears the mark of its locale - the station broadcasts in English, French, Arabic and Berber, among other languages.  For me, this is one of the more charming qualities of the station, a rare preference of local personality over what's become the near universal language of media: American.  On a personal note, I'm very relieved sometimes to be an expat...

Over the past five years, the station has found increasing support.  "For a long time, I did everything myself. After about three years, people started to become interested because I was working with young, international artists, doing workshops and not really worrying about what the government wanted me to do, " said Karroum. Last year, R22 was able to expand from art space to internet radio station.  Further expansion is planned as well; In October, R22 will provide video coverage of the Brussels Biennale.  As an internet TV station, R22 hopes to document workshops and art events of this kind and possibly include creative work by video artists.  What was once a small gallery in a loft is quickly turning into a fully fledged source of international fine art.  Thanks to Abdellah and Emma for taking the time to speak with me and James for setting me up.  Pictured from left to right are Pascal (R22's engineer/producer), Emma and Abdellah. Photos by Robert Johnson

Focus on Political Art at Gwangju Biennale '08

Although Gwangju Biennale curators resisted pinning down any one theme for the works selected for this year's event, a great deal of the works seemed politically charged.  It is not surprising that one of Korea's largest international events should take this form, since the Biennale is held in a city most famous for its history of revolt. In 1980, student demonstrations in Gwangju against a newly instated military government met violent suppression. These initially peaceful demonstrations erupted into full out insurrection as armed citizens forced troops out of Gwangju city limits. Although national military quickly regained control of the city, Gwangju is remembered today as "the shrine of Korean democracy".

Shades of this legacy were present in the often socially conscious artwork at 2008's Gwangju Biennale, which featured 127 artists from 36 countries. Entering the first room, an apocalyptic nightmare by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla set the tone for the event. Sediments, Sentiments (Figures of Speech), an intimidating grey mass constructed of foam and plaster, "was conceived of as a model of some future disaster - broken planes, masses of geological or rocklike forms, and subterranean tunnels suggest the aftermath of an explosion or a natural cataclysm." Inside these tunnels lay several singers, playing the roles of various world leaders and luminaries. Operatic in tenor and archaic in dialect, the words of each actor were unclear even from a short distance; the tunnels muffled the sound of each voice, which was competing with every other voice for attention. As a result, a single voice gained force only as part of a whole. Just as the disfigured sculpture groped confusedly out into space with no clear order or purpose, the voice of each individual singer was meaningless, gaining power only as part of one anxious, teeming mass.

(More on the Biennale below the fold)

How I Know Other People Exist: vcl;'xzkl vvkclxz; vckxlz;v;jfid os;jvkcxl; zklioewjfvxz nbiorjfop

This just in from Vice magazine: facial injuries sustained from police brutality are IN this fall.  In all seriousness though, the current issue of Vice contains an excellent article by Robert Johnson about Seoul's recent beef riots (internet article available here).  Although the Vice article stresses Johnson's participation in the riots, he is an excellent photographer as well.  And so I'm gonna go ahead and strongly recommend that you spend some quality time examining his Flikr galleries and website.  In particular, Johnson has a gift for portraits - he often finds a way to bring out nearly imperceptible subtlety in facial expressions.  These expressions mesh in surreal and absurd ways with the idiosyncrasies that seem to constantly surround him.  Below the fold are a few warped perspectives on Korean life.

Achim Reichel's Rattles, Wonderland and Machines

You missed the Getatchew Mekurya / Ex concert yesterday? For shame! For my part, I was reminded what an honor it is that I can participate even in a small way with an organization that can pull together such a beautiful event for such a beautiful crowd. And it was also a distinct pleasure after the music was finished to see 200 police cars in a row with lights flashing, followed by 200 yellow taxi cabs. Who but WFMU could orchestrate such a brilliant conceptual work? Anyway, here's my small submission to the common good for this week: Wonderland's very bizarre video for 'Love's A Murder'. Wonderland was a lesser known project of Achim Reichel, known primarily as the guitarist of the Rattles. Here's an earlier video from The Rattles and a later, much krauttier clip from Achim Reichel and The Machines. That's right, after Wonderland broke up, Achim Reichel continued on to make psychedelic prog, very heavy on guitar loops and slowly evolving kraut grooves. Especially recommended is Reichel's very out-there kraut trip, 1971's Die Grune Reise.

Noah Presents Brain Suck

Mysterious little artyfact originally released in 1969.  Can't really tell you anything more about this, Noah's only known LP called Brain Suck.  Somewhere near the cutting edge for that year though, this LP reaches all over the globe in terms of heavy psych and has plenty of (often) successful proggy explorations.  Right, like, lots of pentatonic jams by a would-be Hendrix.  You know you like it though.

Kudos to mysteryposter for the exhumation.

Why Should I Care?

Brain Suck/Goodbye Earth

We Wanna Be Free

I Wish I Knew My Name

The Other Side Medley

But then again, you're probably better off just listening to Downer Rock Genocide.

Minimal Synth Videos of Varying Levels of Absurdity

Last time I put the most absurd first and most talented last, so this time I'll put the clips I actually like first before we descend into the laughable.  Top left are the super catchy French duo, Deux.  I'd definitely recommend checking out more from this band, whether it be the recently issued discog, Agglomerate , or the recent BIPPP comp of obscure French synth wave.  At the very least, check out the myspace, won't you?  ps I have a crush on Cati.  She's so melancholy and hot, smoking her cigarette!  Top right is a more humorous clip from Belgian schizoids Arbeid Adelt!  Although the band has been active since the early 80s, I can't personally vouch for the quality of their music much beyond this early single, Pro Vita.  How the hell do you think up a video like this?

Now in all honesty, I could have chosen a less ridiculous clip by Los Iniciados (bottom left), who were a side project of the excellent Aviadar Dro.  Liz Berg wrote an article a while back on Aviadar Dro, who have a bunch more cool music videos up here.  Members of the band went on to form Esplendor Geometrico.  I hope to god no other projects emerged after Visitors (bottom right) released their single V-I-S-I-T-O-R-S, and I'm too frightened to look it up.  They are clearly ripping off Devo's Jocko Homo in a hundred different ways here, so it makes sense that in their weakness they would feel the need to groundlessly brag that they are 'number one space band'.  I wish they were in space so we couldn't hear this shit!  On a positive note, the keyboardist does a brilliant little harmonic substitution at 1:57.  And it's always a cool decision to have a drummer double as a singer.  He actually seems like he might be a cool guy, unlike the other douche in front who only sings the easy parts, doesn't play an instrument and makes stupid fucking faces every time the camera is on him.  Fuck that guy.  I really hate him.

Confuse - Spending Loud Night 7"

As with most other levels of extreme culture, Japan has a lot to offer grind fans.  Although hardcore didn't reach blinding speed until the early '90s, one of Japan's most intense hardcore bands came a few years earlier.  Confuse started out in 1984 and recorded not too many songs, all of which (to my knowledge) are collected in a 'fan club edition' CD.  Since any copy of that CD you'll find today is certainly a bootleg, I don't feel guilty about sharing the choice portion - 1987's Spending Loud Night 7".  The production is completely disgusting.  The trash can drum sound alone makes the record.  Add noisy, feedback saturated guitar solos and you've got a classic hardcore 7".  The most enigmatic track has got to be Merciless Game for its sudden edits and a sound that ranges from full out noise grind blitz to noisy Ramones to noisy pre-Dinosaur Jr. or something like that.  No joke.  Some pretty cool youtube footage is up too, although the live performance isn't really as intense as recordings would suggest.  And how come only the guitarist has a mohawk?!!

Confuse - Absolute Power Armaments of Old Man

Confuse - Hate War

Confuse - Merciless Game

Confuse - Spending Loud Night

Psychedelic Takes on Traditional Folk (videos)

Did I mention that all these bands are from Germany in the early 70s?  Yes, this is another one of those posts I always do with a few youtube picks from ______ country of ______ genre during ______ era.  Hopefully I'm the only one that feels my posts are becoming a stale parody of themselves.  It's been about a year since I started writing for WFMU and any of the steam that I had to vent initially is pretty much exhausted - I used to get excited about writing posts that addressed both philosophy and music but I find myself having little to say anymore.  Don't worry, you won't find anything controversial or worrisome here.  I'll just tread water with the best music scholarship I can muster.  I must sound like I'm in a bad mood.  Actually, I feel great right now.

Setting the paradigm at top left, Rufus Zuphall rips through Derroll Adams' Portland Town.  You'll find the band is often called Germany's Jethro Tull, but you'll also find more unpolished, rugged charm in the band's recordings.  I'm on the fence on whether the drummer's performance is over the top or not.  Top right is an early clip from Hölderlin, taking a very progressive approach to the folk tradition.  Like I said, I don't have much to say.  But it's good stuff, no?

Bottom left is the totally awesome Ougenweide.  Ougenweide has been ruling my stereo recently.  Just earlier tonight I enjoyed the rainstorm from my front porch while drinking a glass of wine and listening to the recently reissued All Die Weil Ich Mag.  What more did I need?  Bottom right is a very traditional performance from Witthuser and Westrupp.  Don't know if I'd call this particular track psychedelic for the most part, but it's still totally hilarious.  Other videos from this great duo are here and if you'd like some more clips to bide your time with, check out Broselmaschine, and, uh, well, that's all I got.

Danish Hippies out with the Trees, Grass and Stones

I couldn't have planned it out better - somehow more than a few of the Danish psych clips I've been looking through recently happen to be outdoor performances.  On a less serendipitous note, I've also been running into a lot of political kraut that I don't understand because I can't speak the language.  My guess is that this Skousen and Ingemann (top left) video would be a lot more interesting if I could translate, but all the same it's a fabulous slice of flower power at its peak (* Listener William kindly sent me a complete translation of this song - you can read it on the bottom fold of this post).  Savage Rose (top right) are outliers in this post not only because this particular song is more reminiscent of Phil Spector than it is of later psychedelia, but also because I've made a rare exception of posting a video that abruptly cuts out at the beginning and end.  Why'd I allow it?  Because I can't get this fuckin song out of my head and it totally rules my life right now!  Wow, beautiful vocals, beautiful piano solo, hooks hooks hooks, oh man oh man.  Most of Savage Rose's extensive discog doesn't match up to this single but oh man I mean really what a catchy song.

Gasolin' (bottom left) was one of Denmark's most popular acts throughout the seventies.  You wouldn't really be able to tell from the not so huge crowd however, since this 1971 performance caught them a bit before they blew up.  It's too bad a lot of the syncing isn't great in this Day Of Phoenix (bottom right) video because they've got an awesome drummer.  Can't tell you much more about this short lived band, but if you want to know more about this era in Denmark, here's a nice article for you to read from Tarkus magazine.  Also, you oughta check out cool footage of Burnin' Red Ivanhoe, Beefeaters, Pan, Thor's Hammer and part of some Danish documentary.

The Hazards of Sound: mp3s from the Tanzprocesz Label

Since I heard that Achwgha Ney Wodei record I've been especially attuned to the weirdness that lives in French sewers and alleys.  With ANW, I argued that the mp3 releases of their discography meant that their incredibly limited releases were no longer obscure.  What I realized I had neglected to highlight only after I made the post was that these releases included incredible limited artwork, which makes owning ANW releases worth seeking out and paying big bucks for.  I won't make that mistake with the Tanzprocesz label, which has been releasing crazy noise CDRs and tapes in super-limited quantities for about three years now, many of which go up for free online under the creative commons license after each CD sells out.  So, you know, buy up the new releases for the artwork (and to support the musicians, of course) and download the old ones you missed.  Posted below are a few of my favorite tracks released by Tanzprocesz. 

Patrick Lombe - Nuit Du 31 Décembre (exerpt) Great new release from this outsider.  Two drifting, Lynchy melodies float around eerie drones and slowed down tape loops.  This guy records the darkest, strangest pop song you've heard and then plays it backward.  Costs 5 Euros...however many dollars that is.  Contact info for ordering is here.  I've heard he makes cool drawings too, I'd love to see them.

Evolve - Lullaby Doldrums - Brand new release from this Cincinnati based MC. Tanzprocesz's first hip hop release...noisy, progressive beats further out than Dalek with intelligent, thesaurused lyrics in a Jux-like idiom that stray a bit from conventional rhythm and rhyme.  Again, costs 5 Euros.  He's also got releases out on Heresee and Realicide Youth Records. More samples available at the Myspace.

Smegma - Portland, '06 -  If you're not familiar, Smegma have been lurking in sewers and radioactive muck since 1973 and have collaborated with a lot of today's highest profiles in noise.  Tanzprocesz has two Smegma releases out, mostly live carnage, although this track was a studio recording.  This record is available here and the other is available here.  Now you know.

Hjuler / Baer - My Little Feelings - Sophisticated, expressive, atonal a capella from this German duo who explore the human voice from the whisper to the terrified scream to the orgasm.  Really nice use of small harmonic intervals too.  Fascinating. Sounds like the cover of the album looks - which is above in this article.  More about the release here.

I'll give you eight more mp3s if you continue reading...