Aucourant Records, 2008

The latest release from this Turkish Electroacoustic artist is a journey through various frightening and amazing soundscapes. Erdem Helvacioglu manages to place the listener exactly where he wants to in his auditory world, where you just let go and let him guide you on this trip.

The album opener, “Below the Cold Ocean” drops you off as part of a diving team in some cold and remote part of the world scarcely seen by human eyes. The ancient glaciers cracking and shifting, the sounds of your gear. The wildlife distant and cautious. Erdem perfectly captures the aural sense of wonderment and the fear-inducing foreboding of the unknown. 

“Lead Crystal Marbles”, the middle track of Wounded Breath, is the strongest track on the album. Throughout the 17 minutes you are completely engrossed in the sounds around you. From the opening crash of all those marbles falling, it is obvious you are in for a treat. The moments of near silence are just as interesting as the stampede of marbles bouncing and rolling around you. 

Wounded Breath slows down a bit on the last two tracks. Where “Blank Mirror” is a little stale and doesn’t keep your interest as fully as the early tracks did.  ”Wounded Breath” is a slightly too chaotic and haphazard at times, and doesn’t feel nearly as cohesive as something like “Below the Cold Ocean”.  Not to say these are lackluster pieces of music at all.  They are both very well done, but coming after three very strong earlier tracks hurts them.

Overall Wounded Breath is a fantastic album and Erdem is a brilliant and talented musician. I look forward to experiencing more of his work in the future.

To purchase this album, visit: Aucourant Records

Over the past few of months we had a chance to think about the site and the direction we wanted to take it in. Over the next couple of weeks you will notice some new items being posted.  Yes, we will still keep up with our record reviews, but we will also be incorporating even more features.

We have a slight backlog of reviews and even some interviews that will be posted in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for them.  We are also working hard on getting our old reviews back up and live. A good amount of them are currently up, but we still have plenty to go.

With the new site, we also changed the links, so please update any links you have to us.

Apologies for the disappearance, but hopefully the new content and features we will be adding will make up for it all.

- the soundsect.com team

Jnana Records, 2008

As a longtime fan of Nurse With Wound, I was both eager and afraid to hear the latest effort by Steven Stapleton and crew, Huffin’ Rag Blues. Up until it’s release it was touted as a very lounge-inspired release with vocals that harkened back to Peggy Lee. Not really knowing what to expect I put the disc in the player and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

The short opening track, “Willy the Weeper,” begins with a whimsical tune that fades into a terrifying growl, letting you know that this is still clearly a NWW release. Between the droning, free-form jazz of “Thrill of Romance..?”, the lounge organ  of “Groove Grease (Hot Catz)”, and the piano of “Wash the Dust From My Heart” the setting of this album is created. A dingy, smoky subterranean club, pulled out of David Lynch film.

Where the album strays from the lounge concept is on the tracks “The Funktion of the Hairy Egg” and “Juice Head Crazy Lady”.  The nearly 14 minute long “Hairy Egg” is mostly a traditional Nurse With Wound track for the majority of it’s length. Vocals kick in around the 9 minute mark and the underlying noises morph into the tribal drumming and animal sounds of a rainforest cacophony.

One of the more interesting choices on Huffin’ Rag Blues is definitely “Black Teeth”. The vocals by Matt Waldron make this track sound like a Tom Waits inspired Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds outtake… not something you would expect to be said about a Nurse With Wound song, especially one that apes Sheena Easton lyrics.

The highlight of the album is the track “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’”, which has an equally great remix found on The Bacteria Magnet mini LP. Utilizing car horns, car radios and other auto related samples, it seems easily to be the track on Huffin’ Rag Blues that the most fun was had making.

Huffin’ Rag Blues could be difficult for a lot of Nurse With Wound fans to get into as it is somewhat of a departure and is, on the surface, one of Stapleton’s more accessible outings. After 30 years in the making music business, it is clear to me that Steven Stapleton is still being as experimental and innovative as he was when he first began Nurse With Wound.

Self-Released, 2008

To begin, I would like to state a few basic tenets I more or less adhere to in regard to the medium of appraising sound recordings, A.K.A albums.

1. ‘Albums’ are documents of recorded sound and should be held separate from the idea of ‘Music’ in so much as neither requires the other in order to exist. The art of capturing and manipulating sound, musical or otherwise is what makes an album. There is much more to it than the music itself just as there is much more to a painting than the subject depicted.
2. Time does not “pass’’, rather it accumulates. Judging an album based on its constituent parts (I.E. songs) rather than as a whole deprives the album of its fullness. A couple of great/poor tracks do not necessarily make or break an album so long as they are subsumed by the cumulative overall effect of the piece.
3. All albums are conceptual whether the artists involved are conscious of it or not.

Deathconsciousness materialized from the murk sometime in January. I discovered it while convalescing from some unidentifiable virus, drifting through a hazy fever dream that lies unsteadily between consciousness and unconsciousness. This seems to be precisely what this album is all about: a soundtrack to accompany the microcosmic drama that takes place during one form of illness or another.

Interestingly, Deathconsciousness plays out rather abstractly despite bearing strong song-based, post-punk influences. Hints of Joy Divison, early Cure and two Daniel Ash projects; Bauhaus and Love and Rockets, are prevalent throughout but are always tempered with an individual element that is none but the artists’ own. As with their influences, there is also a strong undercurrent of darkness bordering on flirtation with nihilism complete with all of the paradoxes that accompany such a fascination. Painting in dark, muted tones Have a Nice Life employ surface simplicity and shifting dynamics to weave an emotionally rich tapestry on the intriguingly titled opener “A Quick One Before the Eternal Worm Devours Connecticut”, before ripping it open with “Bloodhail”, a monumental expression of brooding intensity akin to the adrenal saturation of standing in a bell tower armed to the teeth. From there we shift restlessly again and again between laser focused purpose and fog-enveloped uncertainty sometimes within the same track, as on “Hunter“, the overall effect being one of disorientation and heightened alertness. “Telephony” is distant and alienated while “There is No Food” is grainy and remote. This distinction may seem null on paper but it becomes tangible in sonic form. “Waiting for Black Metal Records to Come in the Mail”, steeped in a dank Scandinavian underground ambiance and with a shredded aluminum guitar sound kick starts the second disc. Another dramatic transition, “Holy Fucking Shit - 40,000” begins with all the cracked optimism of a Flaming Lips’ outtake, giving way to a nervous breakdown at the midway point before finally returning to the jaunty happy-sad acoustic strumming. “Deep Deep” constructs vast marble columns of bass that support impossibly high spires of spindly treble, which “The Future” bulldozes in an inexorable yet somehow feeble industrial barrage. “I Don’t Love’s” oceanic pulse swallows up a lonely voice flailing futilely in the undertow yet in typically disorienting fashion the final track “Earthmover” is tinged with distorted hope, tiny corpuscles of light filtering through a shattered panel of stained glass.

The charges against Deathconsciousness are that it is overlong, inconsistent, and underdeveloped. I won’t argue any of these points but the failures of concision and focus conspire to create a most intriguing series of tensions and releases, and as stated above, the overall effect is what should be considered rather than the parts. On this front, the sprawling framework and tremulous waxing and waning lend an air of protracted despair occasionally punctured by glimmering shards of redemption through heightened intensity.

In Jacques-Louis David’s depiction of The Death of Marat which graces the cover of Deathconsciousness, Marat’s lifeless hand clings to a note that may as well read “resistance is futile…”. Have a Nice Life’s debut album shares with David’s painting an implied response of defiance to that statement: “…but we shall never cease trying”.

Sub Pop, 2008

Like Tenacious D, but considerably funnier, Flight of The Conchords are a comedy duo that balance their humor with their music. From a musical standpoint, their work is unremarkable, but solid. To a degree, the band has developed their own sound, but because they are working in parody, they are extremely limited in what they can do. To support their humor, Flight of the Conchords sacrifice art to exploit musical clichés. They do a song that is inspired by the French New Wave of the 1960s (“Foux Du Fafa”), they work in R&B (“Ladies Of The World”), they play the role of sensitive rockers doing a guitar ballad (“A Kiss Is Not A Contract”), and they even touch on World Rock (“Prince of Parties”). Their treatment of this is self-referential, and this makes the parodies even funnier. For example, in the song, “Boom,” a cheesy 80s Dub Pop song, McKenzie quickly commands, “I need my 1987 DJ-20 Casio Electric Guitar, set to mandolin”, immediately before the instrument is played.

The songs work on a basic level because of catchy choruses and addictive verses. Almost every song on the album is fun and hooky. Robots, with the infectious chorus of ”The humans are dead / the humans are dead” moves into a well-timed melodic bridge, (the ”binary solo”), before ending with an equally addictive ”robo-boogie” outro. The song will get stuck in the listeners head like a virus on a hard drive.

If the music is adequate, the comedy is outstanding. “Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenocerous”, one of the standout tracks on the album, introduces the artists under their Hip-Hop personas. Every line of this track is hilarious, and every lyric hits with tight delivery; “My rhymes are so potent that in this small segment / I made all of the ladies in the area pregnant. / yea, sometimes my lyrics are sexist / but you lovely bitches and hoes should know that I’m trying to correct this”

The wit and delivery makes this work as well as it does. The comedic timing of Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement is dead on. A Good example of this would be the opening line of “The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)” where the duo harmonize the line, “Looking on the room / I can tell that you / are the most beautiful girl in the /…room / (in the whole wide room)”. The line is strong, the delivery is impeccable.

The songs are good. The comedy is brilliant. The main problem with this release is that, aside from a few tweaks here and there, everything here has been heard before. And yet some of The Flight of The Conchords’ best material, like the poppy “If You’re Into It”, or the Beatles-esque ballad “Pencils in the Wind”, are absent.

In all likelihood, if you are a fan of the band, you have already purchased this album and it is already on your iPod. But if you are unfamiliar with The Flight of The Conchords, I would recommend starting with the DVD and then moving to the CD/Mp3.

Confined Media, 2008

Ryan Xristopher launches his Dregs EP with lovely layers of intersecting rhythms. The time changes are clear, but delicate, as groups of beats shift together in different directions. The first few movements of this first track, entitled “Shredded Head”, introduce this as an EP with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it is a potential that is never met. As various keys and guitars slide overtop this song’s rhythm, it is clear the melodies are as weak as the beats are strong. Somewhat generic and tired, notes chase one another in manner that is predictable, but not catchy.

Track two, ”Smoking on Newspaper”, suffers a similar casualty, but its injuries are much less severe. Once again, the beats far outwork the melodies. This time, however, bending notes and sonic manipulations play into the work, adding another level of detail. The note-bending, which is loose and organic, compliments the more mechanical approach to the beats.

After the third song, a fun, sample-heavy groove, the Dregs EP hits its most impressive peak. This fourth and final track, entitled “Lost A Day”, uses melodies in a more beat-like fashion. Quick notes hit in brief successive patterns and move in a way that better complements the rhythms. Underlined by synth washes and mushy bass, the tempo shift toward the end of the song increases the severity of the track as it propels it forward. The change is not abrupt or jarring, but it is intentionally obvious. And it keeps things from getting dull. The track is seven minutes of excellence.

There are some moments on this EP that are mundane and typical of the genre. There are other moments that are fresh and exciting. It averages out to be an okay listen, but it also promises of something much stronger from this artist in the future.

4AD, 2008

Black Francis and Kim Deal were the creative and spiritual Yin & Yang of the Pixies. While Frank Black Francis seems locked in a perpetual, unspoken contest with Robert Pollard and Ryan Adams to release the most material in a calendar year, Mountain Battles is only the fourth Breeders album in 18 years. One theory being akin to Stephen King putting out so many books that some of them have to be good: the other more in line with creating when there is something to create.

The Deal sisters return with the much of the same support staff used on their last album Title TK, unfortunately, the results are decidedly mixed. While the last effort was quirky, it was still mostly enjoyable.

Mountain Battles is lethargic even in its few attempts to rock out. “Overglazed” kicks things off with echo-laden vocals and persistent drums and guitars, but quickly grows tiresome with the repetition of “I can feel it” throughout the duration. “Bang On”, “Walk It Off” and “It’s The Love” round out the upbeat portion of the album. “German Studies” is sung in German and, while kind of cool in theory, is pretty horrible in practice. “Regalame Esta Noche” is sung in Spanish. Not the same revved up sort of tune found on Surfer Rosa, but a tepid ballad that is instantly forgettable.

The rest of the album is filled with melancholia that doesn’t add up to much of interest. The problem with Mountain Battles is that it sits so firmly between pretty good and somewhat terrible that it is difficult to develop any real feelings for it one way or the other. If you retain affection for Kim, then you might find enough in it to enjoy on an occasional visit. If not, it’s probably not worth your time.

Claire Records, 2007

Ifwhen veers from the sounds of multi-instrumentalist Merc’s previous band, All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors. That group, now disbanded, challenged the conventions of Shoegaze, Mathrock and Pop by moving past those genre’s musical boundaries. Ifwhen looks back at where All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors left off, and keeps going forward. Merc, along with bassist Kentaro and keyboardist Mary Macdowell, sludge their way through and intentionally nauseating sea of exploration and discovery.

“Fantastic Maneuver”, the album’s opening track, begins on a groovy baseline moving up and down through sticky keys. The beats skitter on underneath. Then, at 57 seconds into the song, the sound takes a dramatic and unexpected turn. Still murky, but now in different waters, instruments clash against each other as hollow vocals cling overtop. Those first 57 seconds into the album prepare the listener for what’s to come: a beautiful kind of motion sickness.

As all good Shoegazers do, Ifwhen creates an atmospheric wall of sound. With this band, however, that wall is unlike any other. It is impossibly thick and it is dizzyingly with movement. The ambience is purposely disrupted by abrupt, dramatic changes in motion and tone. These thin slivers of time-changes punctuate the noise and accent its ever-changing direction. The perpetual movement blurs the 10 tracks on We Will Gently Destroy You, causing parts of the album to sound slightly redundant. In spite of this, as each song trudges though its many changes in frequency, it still retains a sense of self.

It’s the separation of instruments, voice included, that really make this album work. On one side is the keys, guitar and voice, blurring together into a thick field of soupy sound. Meanwhile, a deep and flowering bass pulls itself away from the muck. As do the penetrating, almost obnoxious, drums. The instrumentation almost sounds as if the individual band members are playing different songs that somehow manage to occasionally align. The balance is well-realized and very well executed.

Lex Records, 2008

Almost.

Expanding on a failed experiment, “Do’s and Don’ts” from Boom Bip’s 2005 LP Blue Eyes in the Red Room, Bryan Hollon and Gruff Rhys, lead man of Super Furry Animals, team up for what amounts to a time-specific soundtrack to the life of John DeLorean. No to low expectations will reward the listener greatly. This is the album of the year. Almost.

To the uninitiated and/or ill-informed, it would be extremely difficult to date this album within the 21st century. Without hesitation, one would naturally and conservatively go with two decades ago. This speaks to the near flawless execution and chemistry by these men. When tackling a distinctive era of music, as 80’s pop epitomized, the ingredients have to be added so precisely as to not come off as mocking or paying homage to the sound.

Boom Bip unabashedly brings the best of the decade’s excess to the forefront and does so in such a manner that has you literally nodding along while tapping the beat on the steering wheel as opposed to grinning and cringing in the embarrassment you felt last time Corey Hart serenaded you about when he liked to wear his sunglasses and the hot chica at the stoplight caught you doing the duet.

Rhys almost frighteningly brings the songs to life with his airy approach to the subject matter. He lets loose over each and every verse a convincing yet wonderfully exaggerated wail that abandons his work with SFA just enough to pull in some of the best 80’s one-hit-wonder front men.

With all that said, nine of the tracks reach the level of brilliance in accomplishing their intent while one provides a brief synthy intro to the album. One-fourth of Stainless Steel, however, summons the old adage, “One of these things is not like the other”.

Littered into the magic are three hip-hop tracks loosely adhering to the theme. In one, “Luxury Pool”, Delorean is referred to as a “hustla” and in another, “Trick for Treat”, he had “bitches”. Whilst those may be true, there is no place on this album for hip-hop. The modern street slang and delivery completely distract from a perfectly executed 80’s synth-pop album. It is grating how horribly out-of-place these tracks are.

With Stainless Style, Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys have done DeLorean right and brought us an 80’s classic back from the future (ok, I had to get one of those in). In that respect, chalk this up as something extremely special and appreciate what it is. It has it all.

Almost.

Ad Noiseam, 2008

So I was scanning through the latest Ad Noiseam releases one day and I came upon a brand new one from Chevron, the main pseudonym of Jonathan Valentine. This 6 track, 12” vinyl was interesting with the initial note, but as I listened on through side A and then to Side B, it seemed that it was pushing me into a backwards direction; treading through grounds of an influential past. As with most early styles of music, it dies just to be reborn and remade.

The three tracks on Side A have the early-mid 90’s all over it. The opener, ‘Criticize’ could easily have been a rave anthem at that time. The groove is unmistakable and you will find yourself moving even if you are not into this type of music. The downside of this is that it may not appeal to fans of his earlier stuff, while others may think it is the highlight of the album. The song ‘Renegade Cherryade’ starts off with a blissful melody which turns into a bass line oriented drum n’ bass track, but stalls out and doesn’t seem to go anywhere. ‘Aisha Kathoon’, the last track on the front side, takes a page from the early drum n’ bass recordings that had you dancing in the clubs with intense interludes of quirky vocals that rings simultaneously over fast paced beats.

The inception of Side B shows a different period. We are moving up in time now. Y2K is creating panic amongst many in this technology ridden breeding ground of Earth. Hybrid cars are being commercially produced for the masses. Stem cell research flourishes under an illegal telescope. This is definitely a harsher style of electronic music.

‘Nigel Mansell’ speeds through a toxic pool of acidic backwash and noisy drum hits ala The Flashbulb’s Red Extensions of Me. ‘Burn down the Jungle’ is self-explanatory. A relatively slow and dull beginning becomes an ever growing jungle beat which eventually arises to a full blast stop-and-go programming style of breakcore mania that stops abruptly. The finale, ‘We Want Hardcore’ is a great, gabber infested recording that would be a great homage to Hellfish & Producer.

The music on Tuff Shite was more varied than most might expect and came up short to his past releases, but overall it’s a good record. Keep your eyes open for new output by Chevron in 2008 on Marguerita Recordings and his follow up to 2005’s full length debut Everything’s Exactly the Same named Lifeshake on Mike Paradinas’s Planet-Mu records.