This recent compilation by the Strategic Tape Reserve is a daunting release, so I decided to break it down track by track. Nicholas Langley – Prelude One Very pretty sounding instrumental with nice synth work. It builds up nicely and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Elizabeth Joan Kelly – What Penumbras Song starts off with…
“Biblical” in the both senses of the word. This is an immense, inspiring, frightening, absorbing genre-defying meisterwerk (yep, I’m going down the rabbit hole, be warned). The traces of classical, opera, industrial, Black Metal, medieval and choral music in these eleven astonishing pieces are all melded together in service of Hayter’s incredible vocal range. From…
Naukeag has a comforting old school indie rock vibe to it. On his second album, Steep Leans (Jeffrey Gray Somers) creates a lovely atmosphere that brings to mind earlier Wilco and The Replacements. The music is original but those are my reference points for Steep Leans’ sound and why I enjoyed this record so much.…
Typically a prospect of listening and describing extra-long tracks/jams fills me with dread - an hour of unvaried harsh noise, anyone? Not so much in the case of this peculiarly named New Jersey trio - information on the band is minimal and this self-titled LP might well end up being their first and last recording,…
Don't take your technical abilities for granted or you will lose them at the snap of the neck. It's as fitting as it is sobering that Dax had to open his set with this very message bent and chopped to his will. After all, the thing about a life-changing injury is that you don't really…
The moment The Doll's LIVE album begins, I had one thought: the sound of that squeaky noise is fucking terrible. I can feel it in my teeth, and I haven't grinded on them yet! Soon enough, more sounds not only start to come in but all of them swirl into a bouillabaisse of noises till…
