Hard to believe it sometimes, but I Heart Noise is now 12 years old! It was on February 8, 2008 that we published our first post and who would’ve thought that we’ll make it through MySpace era and Vine era and…

And now low lets back at the guest mixes that were sent to us throughout years and new music from US that we uncovered as part of our Post-Independence Marathon. Both of those come with a list of new releases – dive in!

And don’t forget to subscribe via email to get our new posts into your inbox. You can also visit our forum to read some micro-reviews, introduce yourself or just browse around and look at all the pictures of gear our followers posted.

Guest Mixes

Vol. 1 – featuring Tread, Skyjelly, Solilians, J Moss / The Modern Folk, Andrew Weathers, Incentive

Vol. 2 – featuring Vinita Joshi / Rocket Girl, Jason Sebastian Russo, Shane Parish, Metz, Thou

Post-Independence Marathon / New Music from US

Vol. 1 – featuring Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California

Vol. 2 – featuring Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia

The post 12 Years of I Heart Noise: Recap 1 appeared first on I Heart Noise.

Hard to believe sometimes, but I Heart Noise is now 12 years old! It was on February 8, 2008 that we published our first post and who would’ve thought that we’ll make it through MySpace era and Vine era and…

Time to ask…what was happening in July on IHN back in the day? Lets take a look (we also provided links to an archive for each year in case anyone feels like taking a deep dive).

And don’t forget – we also archives of guest mixes (vol. 1 here and vol. 2 here) + music from all over the US aka Post-Independence Marathon (vol. 1 here and vol. 2 here).

2008

We profiled the following Amphetamine Reptile bands

Boss Hog / Bushpig / Calvin Krime / Casus Belli / Chokebore / Cosmic Psychos / Cows / Crows / Feedtime / Freedom Fighters / Gaunt

Some of the things that came out on Amphetamine Reptile in 2019/2020…

Melvins / Mudhoney – White Lazy Boy

Well, well. It looks like we’ve got some new material here that we’re pretty excited about. (The) Melvins have a new 4-track album & what’s this, Mudhoney is joining them too? Once you get’cher mitts on White Lazy Boy, fire up that CD player & let the hootenanny commence!

Seawhores – The Last Temptation of Supper

First release of new material for the new decade with a the latest from the Seawhores with their new 12″, The Last Temptation of Supper.

The” Big White Trash Can Commie Troll Fake Jesus in his Multi-Colored Labia Robe” folded sleeve is designed by HAZE XXL & is printed by Boxy Mouse.

King Buzzo – Six Pack

(Melvins frontman) King Buzzo is back with his first solo album release on AmRep since 2014’s This Machine Kills Artists 10″. His latest is Six Pack & is joined by Trevor Dunn of Mr. Bungle/Fantomas/Tomahawk/Melvins Lite.

If you guessed the title of the album would be a clue to how many tracks there were, you nailed & they are…

Melvins + ShitKid ‎– Bangers

Next in line of new material for 2019, is (the) Melvins & ShitKid’s Bangers album.
4 tracks on this 10″ EP-length album with both bands on all of ’em.
Each cover is a 4-ink silkscreen on brown chipboard sleeve on the front cover art by HAZE XXL (& the back is 3-color.)

2009

Some of the bands we discussed

Psychic Ills / The Grizzly Owls (see Fawns of Love) / Hella /  Subarachnoid Space / Laughing Hyenas / Oneida / Beequeen / Wolf Eyes / Bohren & Der Club of Gore

Some of the records/releases that came out  in July 2009

Jackie O Motherfucker – Ballads of the Revolution (Fire Records)

Superchunk – Crossed Wires / Blinders (Merge Records)

Merzbow – 13 Japanese Birds, Vol. 7 (Important Records)

Nebula – Heavy Psych (Tee Pee Records)

Zs – Music Of The Modern White (Social Registry)

Reading / Interviews

Zach Hill (Hella / Death Grips / Goon Moon etc – h/t Sargent House)

Dark Metal // Old School Drum’n’Bass Mix by Greg Fox (Zs / Ex Eye etc)

Interview with Kid Millions (Oneida) + Oneida favorites picked by our readers

 New / Recent Releases

Hepa.Titus – Night Goat / Bobwire (Rock is Hell Records)

Hepa.Titus is Kevin Rutmanis from Cows + Paul Christensen (Qui) and Sterling Riley (Orphan Goggles). Night Goat is a Melvins cover and Bobwire is a new song/original.

See also – Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends Tour Playlisting

Psychic Ills – Never Learn Not to Love / Cease to Exist (Sacred Bones)

Over the tenure of this blog Psychic Ills seem like such a load-bearing staple that its hard to believe that songwriter Tres Warren has passed. While its bittersweet to know that there was yet another album in the making that may never reach our ears, this double sided ode to the relationship between Dennis Wilson and Charles Manson is a lovely curio of remembrance. – Raven Sings the Blues

Lou Barlow / Oneida / Bobby Matador / The Low Anthem – Rarities Vol. 3 (Joyful Noise Recordings)

JNR Rarities began in 2019 as a VIP Exclusive 7″ series which shines a light on our favorite unheard gems from our artists’ histories. Each 7″ features four different artists. Released as a one-time pressing of 500 copies on black vinyl with the traditional large hole, and packaged in a custom die-cut jacket.

Bohren & Der Club of Gore – Patchouli Blue (Ipecac Recordings / PIAS)

Companionship in solitude, nobody pulling on yer sleeve and making noisy chit chat, it’s all existential brooding on life’s mystery in here. If you’re coming to it cold then what Patchouli Blue most sounds like is Angelo Badalamenti’s dark jazz mood music for Twin Peaks. Only slowed down and left to wander the woods. It’s what’s playing on the jukebox in Audrey Horne’s coma. – Echoes & Dust

Wolf Eyes – Volume Three: Dance of the Weeping Babe (Lower Floor)

On Volume Three: Dance Of The Weeping Babe, Nate Young strips out pretty much everything bar the rhythm and the noise. This is a collection of slow, unsettling beat tracks, the roots of which lie in minimal wave, industrial music and the ‘freakbeat’ sound currently being pioneered by Black Dice’s Eric Copeland. The loping tempo of Dance Of The Weeping Babe, and the fact that the numbers here do not vary much, means that Dance Of The Weeping Babe sounds like it’s been conceived to soundtrack someone wading through a tar pit.

Fawns Of Love ‎– Someday (Robin Guthrie Version) (Kingfisher Bluez)

If the original version of “Someday” leaned new wave, then the latest version has plunged headfirst into coldwave. There is no trace of the original’s drum machine, where Guthrie has instead opted for broad strokes of murky synth melodies. However you want to categorize the individual iterations, Fawns of Love as a whole have claimed a significant portion of the post-punk. Permanent spills over with movements on their prized Moog, and “Never Sing for Joy,” the b-side to the new single, further tightens their grip on the genre, right down to its nihilist message. – Grimy Goods

Trance – Fatal Blow / Abyss / The Beaten Track / Purity (Self Released)

A string of reissues from ex-Subarachnoid Space guitarist / founder of Charnel House label Mason Jones.

Okay, starting a reissue campaign that will take a while. My first cassette under the name Trance, from 1988, remastered (somewhat) and on Bandcamp now. Enjoy the proto-industrial-rock soundz (or don’t, that’s fine too)

Laughing Hyenas – Crawl / Hard Times (Third Man Records / Touch & Go)

In partnership with Touch and Go Records, Third Man Records is re-issuing the full discography of punishing Michigan hardcore punk blues band Laughing Hyenas for the first time in over 25 years.

With their roots firmly planted in Detroit’s Cass Corridor punk rock and hardcore scene of the early 80s, John Brannon (Negative Approach) and Larissa Strickland (L-Seven), along with the locked-in rhythm section of Kevin Strickland and Jim Kimball, the Laughing Hyenas took it to a completely different plane. Taking pointers from The Birthday Party and Funhouse-era Stooges as well as early blues and jazz artists, the Laughing Hyenas were a fierce, sulfuric blast of noise.

Gareth Davis & Merzbow – Broken Landscapes (Moving Furniture Records)

Following on from their 2016 Moving Furniture release, Atsusaku, Broken Landscapes is a new collaboration between Gareth Davis (Oiseaux Tempete, Scanner, Elliott Sharp, Machinefabriek) and Merzbow, Japanese noise mastermind Masami Akita.

Nebula – Holy Shit (Heavy Psych Records)

22 years after their first release and 10 years after their last album, Nebula are back. And you’re thinking “Holy shit!” right now, you pretty much nailed it.

Holy Shit is Nebula’s first LP since 2009’s Heavy Psych, and it quickly puts to rest the question that’s loomed since guitarist/vocalist Eddie Glass, bassist Tom Davies and drummer Michael Amster announced the band’s reformation in 2017. Nebula are still Nebula.

Zs – Noth (Social Noise)

Noth was recorded live at Cafe Oto in London in April 2017 and, in their usual maximalist (un)convention, features Sam Hillmer on tenor sax, Patrick Higgins on guitar and electronics, Greg Fox on drums and electronics, and Michael Beharie on electronics. Frenetic, impassioned, intentional and above-all connective improv explorations intended to cause neuron rapid-fire and unpreventable hair-raising.

Jackie O Motherfucker – Bloom (Textile Records / Futurological Records)

Bloom is the band 11th studio record, 7 years after their highly acclaimed “ballad of the revolution” album and is the culmination of 20 years spent defining their unique take on american music.

Bloom is a patiently crafted record that tells its story through shifting emotional and sonic environments, starting in a vacant lot in far west Oakland, where the freeway meets the edge of the city. The lot was a storage area for the 50 ft. long and 8 ft. high steel pipes that would become the footings for the new Bay Bridge, sunken into the floor of the San Francisco Bay.

The post 12 Years of I Heart Noise // July Archives (Vol. 1) appeared first on I Heart Noise.

Hard to believe sometimes, but I Heart Noise is now 12 years old! It was on February 8, 2008 that we published our first post and who would’ve thought that we’ll make it through MySpace era and Vine era and…

So lets take another trip down the memory lane, shall we? This time we’re going to cover indie music from different corners/states of America – the more obscure, the better! Once you’re done reading don’t forget to check out Vol. 1  that covers music from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas and California. 

Music of Colorado

Featuring Seal Eggs, Midwife/Sister Grotto, Yawpers, Television Generation, C. Reider, Seafoam, Gasoline Lollipops, Chesty Vulva and more. 

Music of Connecticut

Featuring Mercy Choir, Clones of Clarence, Landing, Ourselves Alone, Ceschi, Intercourse, Waveform, Evan Anderson and more.  

Music of Delaware

Featuring Chuck n Lock, Grace Vonderkuhn, The Psychedelic Puppets, Purpan, The Sky Drops, Wojtek, Mean Lady, Less Than Five and more. 

Music of Florida

Featuring Sales, Rusty Cage, The Mercury Program, Wrong, H.R. Gertner, Dan Mason, Tohnstartssbandht and more. 

Music of Georgia 

Featuring Pylon Reenactment Society, Richard Devine, Shouldies, Lonnie Holley, The Purkinje Shift and more. 

New Releases

Midwife – Forever (Flenser Records)

The Yawpers – Human Question (Bloodshot Records) 

Television Generation – Cassum (Self Released) 

Senator Bongwater vs. Seafoam (Lemak Records) 

Dressy Bessy – Fast Faster Disaster (Yep Roc Records) 

Rotten Reputation – BDSM – Aftercare (Self Released) 

Plasma Canvas – Killer Majestic (Sideonedummy Records) 

Entrancer – Decline Vol. 4 (Self Released)

Primitive Man – Immersion (Relapse Records)

Mercy Choir – Corinthian (Self Released) 

Clones of Clarence – Thoughts from 507 (Self Released)

Landing / Headroom Split (Red Scroll Records) 

Intercourse / Gaytheist Split (Learning Curve Records) 

Mary Halvorson / John Dieterich – A Tangle of Stars (New Amsterdam Records) 

Waveform – Shooting Star (Funnybone Records) 

Chuck N Lock – Strictly For My Grandson (Self Released) 

Purpan – eternality. (Self Released) 

Wojtek/Gezora Split (Self Released) 

Less Than Five – Facing Phases / Phasing Faces (Self Released)

Parson Hex – Gut Muffin (Self Released) 

96 Sitars – In Our Garden Volume One (Self Released)

Gouge Away – Consider / Wave of Mutilation 7″ (Deathwish)

Dan Mason – Forever Nothing (100% Electronica) 

Mick Gordon, Fredrik Thordendal, Richard Devine, Casey Edwards ‎– Wolfenstein – The New Order & The Old Blood (Original Soundtrack) (Laced Records) 

The Flashbulb – Our Simulacra (Alphabasic) 

Orchid Mantis – Long Division (Z Tapes) 

Omni – Networker (Sub Pop)

The post 12 Years of I Heart Noise // Post-Independence Marathon: Vol. 2 appeared first on I Heart Noise.

FP is our sister record label run by Petridisch. Follow Petri/FP on Twitter. 

Releases

Nelories – 1990 Demo EP 

Herky-Jerky extreme accordion rock n’ roll!

Cryostasium – The Possessor 

Barbara Morgenstern – Enter the Partyzone

Lida Husik – motheroceanmorning

Barbara Morgenstern – Unschuld und Verwüstung

The post Fish Prints appeared first on I Heart Noise.

John Coulthart – linked to an interview with Dylan Carlson (Earth) 

Blogs

A Little Bit of Sol 

The Music Mermaid

Obscure Sound

Musings from Boston

Lost in a Sea of Sound

Records I Like

The Metaphorical Boat

Clean, Nice Quiet

Record Labels

Strategic Tape Reserve

Verses Records

The post Thank You: A List (Pt. 2) appeared first on I Heart Noise.

Binarysweets – linked to Guest Mix #3 by Incentive

No Rent Records – linked to Guest Mix by Andrew Weathers

12K – linked to a review of Mt. Carmel by M. Grig (written by Sam Wade)

The Fall online – linked to Mark E Smith Tribute (written by Scott Creney)

Blogs

Faster and Louder

Microphones in the Trees

When the Sun Hits

Buffalo Tones

Smashin’ Transistors

Shiny Grey Monotone

The post Thank You: A List appeared first on I Heart Noise.

Hard to believe sometimes, but I Heart Noise is now 12 years old! It was on February 8, 2008 that we published our first post and who would’ve thought that we’ll make it through MySpace era and Vine era and…

Just like Nas we’re taking a trip down the memory lane and inviting you to follow us along.  Previously we did a roundup of our guest mixes and this time we’ll go over the post-independence marathon, ongoing series in which we explore new indie music from the US, both on our own and with help from various contributors.

Music of Alabama

The Yellowhammer State, The Heart of Dixie, and The Cotton State

Featuring Willem Maker, Pace House, The Superelevators, Stoned Cobra, Hexxus, El Chupa Cobras, Nerves Baddington, Holly Waxwing, Calques and more.

Music of Alaska

The Last Frontier

Featuring James Church (Lucidstatic / Pandora’s Black Book), Sophia Street, The Wagner Logic, Dutchess, The High Pets, Misandr, Cliff and Ivy and more.

Music of Arizona

The Grand Canyon State, The Copper State and The Valentine State

Featuring Koleżanka, Rabbit Snare / The Order of Rabbit’s Foot, Alison’s Halo, The Darts, Draa, The Myrrors, Lenguas Largas and more.

Music of Arkansas

The Natural State

Featuring Benadrill, Plvto, Landrest, Okay Crawdad, I Was Afraid, Host/Haunted Disco, The Wirms, Liquid Skulls, Prahnas and more.

Music of California

Take 1 (via Diego Aguilar-C)

featuring 404 Not Found, Julia Mazawa, Greg Gorlen, Bonus Beast, Las Sucias, The Noriegas, Crank Sturgeon and more.

Take 2 – featuring Bob Villain, Wandering Lake, The Jefferson Park Boys, Everyone is Dirty, Sextile, Sway, Sudan Archives and more.

Recent Releases

Willem Maker – The Driving Ones, Vol. 1 (Makerworks Recordings)

Glories – Distant After (Self Released)

Llarks – Luvia (Humanhood Recordings)

Calques – Old Man (To Live a Lie)

Schizos – S/T (Self Released)

Harriers of Discord / Daikaiju Split (Ding Dong Records)

The Pine Hill Haints – Satchel Paige Blues / Whiskey in the Jar (Arkam Records)

The Wagner Logic – Heart is Dark (Self Released)

The High Pets – Burn Forever (Self Released)

Cliff and Ivy – The Best of Cliff and Ivy (Self Released)

Dawn Tuesday – White Torture (Self Released)

Dewith – Wintertime Stuff (Self Released)

koleżanka – Revisited (Self Released)

Rabbit Snare – My Body is A Temple of Pain (version) (Self Released)

The Darts (US) – I Like You But Not Like That (Alternative Tentacles)

Curved Entrances – S/T (Cardinal Fuzz)

ocnotes – Every Man For Himself No One Leaves Alive AKA Everybody Got The Virus (Self Released)

Benadriil – Shark Week (Self Released)

Haunted Disco – Commodore (Self Released)

Prahnas – Start Walking West Until You Find Water (Self Released)

Witchsister – Post Toasty (Self Released)

404 Not Found – Spiritual Drug Party (Orbit’s Spell)

Bob Villain – Pochek (Self Released)

Everyone Is Dirty – Father Figure (Self Released)

R. Beny – Echo’s Verse (Dauw)

El Ten Eleven – Tautology (Joyful Noise Recordings)

The post 12 Years of I Heart Noise // Post-Independence Marathon: Vol. 1 appeared first on I Heart Noise.

Words: John Elliott

We’re dropping 8 releases, some previously released, some rare, some unheard etc.

I wrote about a few of them!

Allegory of Allergies

originally released on Gods of Tundra in 2007

We recorded “Allegory of Allergies” pretty early on. Like a lot of Emeralds music from that era, I can’t really recall the processes of making the music so much. I remember mainly that it was recorded live to 2-track DAT tape. It was recorded from December 2006 through January of 2007. At the time we had been going to Michigan to play shows pretty often, and we ended up befriending Mike Connelly who runs the legendary Gods Of Tunda label.

I think we proposed the concept of a c120 before we actually started working on it, but I could be wrong about that. I do remember that “long tracks” were a theme. It’s got a nice blend of our early “all vocal” style combined with the later-era of having more guitar and electronics. Many people consider this one to be one of our very best. The version we’re dropping for our Bandcamp launch is a bit of a hybrid version.

The original cassette came out pretty low-fi and the 2xLP that appeared on Weird Forest has shorter versions of some of the tracks and is also missing a few. it’s not quite 120 minutes long, but its definitely longer than the 2xLP and in the best fidelity yet. I think this new version is my favorite of them all.

Planetarium

originally released on Tapeworm Tapes in 2008

Discogs says this came out in February of 2008, which means we probably recorded this sometime in mid to late 2007. After reviewing the tracks we decided collectively that it was a bit better than we had remembered. It’s quite different from most Emeralds music from that era as well, with the first track being quite “ambient” in some parts. Sounds very reverb-y but I’m not sure any of us had a reverb pedal at the time. This type of situation is very on-brand for Emeralds. It’s really nice to finally have these recordings digitized and remastered as they reveal some things you may not hear on cassette.

I also really enjoyed the artwork for this release as well, and we were excited to do a cassette on Tapeworm because they were (and still are!) some of the best looking tapes from that era. This is on the OG Tapeworm Tapes from Michigan, the one that doesn’t shrink wrap their wares. Quality label and still releasing Evenings music, I think.

Emeralds

originally released on Wagon/Gneiss Things & Hanson Records 2009

Our self-titled album was designed to be our follow-up to Solar Bridge. I’m pretty sure we didn’t consider “What Happened” to be an album as much as it was a “collection”. So, this self-titled album was a concise display of what we we’re working on at that time. We consider this an important piece of the puzzle and wanted to include it in our Bandcamp launch.

A lot of these tracks are a bit of a pre-cursor to the “Does It Look Like I’m Here?” sound, albeit a little more abstract. At the time however, and in the community of Noise music of which we were a part of, this music seemed both organized and musical. You have to understand that in this mid-2000s era Noise music was ruling the roost in the Midwestern USA. Integrating musical ideas was quite frowned upon in the Noise scene. In hindsight it was incredibly conservative and tense. We’d play these shows and hit a single note, or like, Mark would strum a chord and these people would be looking at us like we just landed a UFO in there, all confused and freaked out.

But it was also a strange predicament because we certainly couldn’t play on indie rock bills or even sign with an indie rock label, while the noise community was becoming increasingly alienated by our sound. We were kind of lost in the middle somewhere which was maybe always our best and worst asset.

No More Spirits Over the Lake

originally released on Wagon in 2006

This recording is in my top 5 favorite Emeralds recordings. It seems like most people are mainly familiar with the eMego Emeralds albums. Emeralds existed in many different phases. “No More Spirits Over the Lake”, to me, marked the beginning of a new and exciting era. It felt like our “sound” was starting to reveal itself to us. The first track was recorded by an early champion of Emeralds named Ralph Haussmann.

The recording is live, which is different in that almost all other Emeralds music was recorded “direct input” style. So you can hear the room in the track, which we utilized by mixing in concrete elements like dropped objects and sparse percussion instruments. It has a strange and ominous tension, but it’s not really “dark” sounding. The second cut, “Train Tracks” is as classic as it gets for Emeralds music.

I remember when we were recording the track, toward the end Mark brings in this distorted riff that was unlike anything he had done before. It was so beautiful sounding that I felt like I was having a panic attack. I also remember worrying that whatever unreliable technology we had at the time was failing us, and I was anxious that for some reason the recording got corrupted or that it was lost. This remastered version is definitive, Steve did a nice job on this one.

We made made about 50 or 60 of these cd-rs, and gave them really cool packaging. I remember we brought them to a local show one night and gave them away to whoever we were hanging with that night. At the end of the night, I remember collecting them off the tables and chairs at the venue since nobody took them.

Other Emeralds reissues available on Bandcamp – Fresh Air / Grass Ceiling / Live II / What Happened

Emeralds is John Elliott, Steve Hauschildt & Mark McGuire.

The post Emeralds Bandcamp Primer appeared first on I Heart Noise.

2018 Favorites – based on readers poll conducted via FB
Featuring Mouse on Mars, Bruce Lamont, Not Of, Wizard Apprentice and more.

Label Mixes
Rusted Tone Recordings / Arachnidiscs – featuring Heavy Moon, International Debris, Moonwood, Building Castles Out of Matchsticks, SALTINGS and more.
Beyond Beyond is Beyond / Riot Season – featuring Kiki Pau, Heaters, Garcia Peoples, The Myrrors, Prana Crafter and more.
Wharf Cat Records / Alrealon Musique – featuring John 3:16, Rapoon, Gong Gong Gong, Bambara, The Sediment Club and more.
Aurawire – featuring VHS Midnight Style, Sangam, Oneohtrix Point Never, Sour Gout and more.
Illuminated Paths (+ Modern Folk Picks His Favorites) – featuring Elkhorn, Buck Curran, C. Reider, Whettman Chelmets and more.

The post Recap: Around 2018 in 12 Weeks – Pt. 4 appeared first on I Heart Noise.

Staff Picks! via Petridisch, Sam Wade and Chris Bynes

Featuring Spartan Jet-Plex, Gudrun Gut, Elizabeth Owens, serpentwithfeet, Tierra Whack, Ladytron and more.

More Favorite Albums From Outside US/UK! via various followers/readers

Featuring Stringmodulator, Skysketch, The Ex, Bart de Paepe, Mount Shrine, Felicia Atkinson and more.

Best of 2018 mix by Andrew Weathers

Featuring Kali Malone, Catherine Christine Hennix, Kyle Gann, Primitive Fiction and more.

Retrospective Label Mix via Burning Witches Records

Featuring Phantoms vs Fire, Daniel Davies, Xander Harris, Deadly Avenger, Cory Kilduff and more.

Retrospective Label Mix via Bricolage

Featuring Fragile X, Devras Plexi, Anonymous3, Justin Case, All Buttons In, Dark Fidelity Hi Fi and more.

10 Favorites by Dying for Bad Music

Featuring The Fossil Lickers, The Modern Folk, Jacco Gardner, Gwenifer Raymond and more.

The post Recap: Around 2018 in 12 Weeks – Pt. 3 appeared first on I Heart Noise.