REVIEWS

vishnuAcid Mother's Temple have one of the most carefully constructed images in all of rock. Photographs of the band give off the vibe of a spooky commune as the musicians, in a variety of strange garb,  gaze with dazed expressions towards the camera. Album titles reference freak favourites such as Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd. This is unashamedly music to take drugs to, or at least to imagine you're on drugs when you listen to it. AMT have put out an awful lot of albums and can occasionally suffer from a lack of quality control, nevertheless they have put together an impressive, obsessional body of work. There are just three tracks on The Lord of the Underground: the first is 'Elecking the Clay' a 14-minute heady brew of dreamy and repetitive guitar riffs, spacey keyboards and random vocal interjections. The music drifts from section to section with everything bound together by an overall mood of retro craziness. In the middle is 'Sorcerer's Stone of the Magi' which is a short folky palette cleanser with more spacey keyboards, bird noises and sitar-like accompaniment before the monster 25-minute 'Vishnu and the Magic Elixir'. This last track features more strung-out atmosphere as more-or-less random string plucks and synth noises gradually build until drums and some great bass playing begin to give the track some momentum about five minutes in. Eventually, what sounds like someone singing through a kazoo emerges over the slow, steady beat. The guitar begins to make some bluesy textures while the kazoo provides a sarcastic commentary. About half way through, things start to speed up, driven by a pumping bass line with more keyboards and other noises are added to the mix. Things continue getting faster over the second half of the track as harsher, more abrasive sounds are gradually layered in until the various elements begin to meander out in the last couple of minutes. Acid Mother's Temple seem focussed creating an atmosphere rather than providing structural, rhythmic, harmonic or even melodic points of interest. Not necessarily a bad thing, if you like this kind of atmosphere. If you already know Acid Mother's Temple, this is a solid effort but nothing mind-blowing. If you haven't encountered them yet and enjoy retro-styled psychedelia, this could be as good a place to start as any. -- nick ilott.

:: Acid Mothers Temple/Lord Of The Underground: Vishnu - Alien8/Cargo.

in the countryIn The Country’s third album "Whiteout" for Norwegian label Rune Grammofon is their most ambitious offering to date. The album was written after band leader Morten Qvenild was awarded Kongsberg Jazzfestival’s prestigious musician award and it displays his innovative craft for composition, timing structures and melody. Qvenild takes care of piano and synth duties for the album and is ably accompanied by Roger Artnzen on double bass, Pal Hausken on drums and Andreas Mjos on guitars, vibes and programming. Rune Grammofon is a label synonymous with the experimental jazz scene in Norway and is best known of course for their close connections with Supersilent. However, ‘Whiteout’ situates itself more towards the Bill Evans coffee-table style. Tracks like ‘Dead Water’ place sporadic piano chords and elaborate modal figures over decadent drum rudiments that return with pendulum like regularity to a softly swung theme. The album is really devoid from any over indulgences that in my opinion can sour this kind of music. The core of the tracks are based on very simple chord structures which are arranged and presented in beautiful ways and the tracks are all given ample time to develop. At times I found myself waiting for something a little more dynamic but in short it’s a very easy work that you cant really fault. -- simon harris.

:: In The Country/Whiteout - rune grammofon/cargo. 

insects awakenSinger Kim West's hyperactive screaming vocals, half playground chant and half psychiatric meltdown, hit you in the face from the first few seconds in. There is a garish cartoon-like quality to the music throughout, with rapid and unexpected changes in volume, aggression level and texture in evidence through out. Frenetic drum rhythms form the core of Death Sentence: Panda!'s sound with clarinet squeaks, fragments of flute, blasts of distortion, xylophone tinkles and electronic textures sprinkled throughout like particularly toxic-coloured cake decorations. Despite the abrasive first impressions, there are moments of melody and even a lushness of texture to be detected in the barrage of ideas presented here. The lengthly 'Village Host' ends in a long section of silence, in sharp contrast to the frenetic barrage of mostly-less-than-two-minute long songs that proceeds it. If you can imagine the High Places covering Napalm Death or a more self-consciously avant garde take on MIA's last  album,  you're getting close to the sound here. This is energetic, hard edged, magpie music that gets better with each listen. -- nick ilott. 

:: Death Sentence: Panda! /Insects Awaken - Upset the Rhythm

vsnaresThe Aaron Funk (s)hit factory plots a collision course with acid rave. He is known as one of the most prolific producers of breakcore styles with his albums usually taking slightly differing accompaniments to the mainstay amen break. ‘Filth’ is infested with 303 basslines and acid squelch, with his trademark spannerd beats firing off like party poppers around the stereo field. His work sounds utterly uncontrollable, as if the synths and drum machines were fed 50 cans of red bulls and are experiencing some kind of caffeine-induced hyper-fit. But at the same time you have to appreciate the meticulous and highly skilled programming in his work, it’s easily as brilliant as it is maniacal. It’s exhausting to listen to but, as Snares fans will already know, his work never tires, is always unpredictable and has the same invigorating effect as plugging your fingers into the mains socket. Exceptionally retarded music. -- simon harris.

:: Venetian Snares/Filth - Planet Mu/NTT. 

spunkSpunk is a Norwegian quartet who focus on improvisation. Their various backgrounds, classical through jazz and techno to country, keep the sound from settling in one genre. It transcends the usual habit of categorisation to bring us a sound common only to itself. Kristin Andersen (trumpet), Hild Sofie Tafjord (French horn), Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (vocals, electronics) and Lene Grenager (cello) have been together since 1995 and Kantarell is their fourth album. Kantarell includes both acoustic and electronic elements. There is little melody and the rhythm is sporadic. It opens with 'Tremble' – a piece with an uneasy atmosphere dominated by, well, trembling drums highlighted by insect like noises which climax towards a more restful coda. Later, in 'Quadralogue', we hear more clearly the full range of sounds the four accomplished musicians are able to produce. It is the most acoustic of the tracks and pulsating form takes us from complete abstraction to a sound close to jazz. It is rougher and has a more open sound than the other tracks. Some pieces rouse ideas or atmospheres. For example: 'The Lake' evokes images of mosquitoes, old creaking boats and crickets breaking the calm of a lake at sunset. 'Ankomst' sounds like an answer to 'who can make the most hideous noise for the longest period of time? And let's all play at once' There is no winner. 'Ute' has undertones of the Far East in a way that reminds us how far away it really is. Improvisation such as this is not for everyone. The listener needs patience, among other things, to find an appreciation for it. A style without a genre, it is both innovative and interesting, but also gives the impression of sounds searching for something more. -- anna johnston

:: Spunk/Kantarell - spunkmusic.com/Rune Grammofon/Cargo. 

39 clocksThis retrospective collection of recordings, created between 1981 and 1987, drips with attitude from the first note. The influence of New York precursors such as The Velvet Underground and Suicide on this duo from Hannover are clear enough, but the commitment and aggression of the performances channel the recycled riffs and poses into something new. 'Fast Cars' is built around a Velvets-style guitar line with a vocal that manages somehow to sound both numbed and angry simultaneously. These songs are stripped bare of any sheen or taint of 'professionalism', instead they tap into the kind of energy that made rock and roll so exciting when it emerged in the 1950s: the kind of crazed, horny and desperate posing that fired up Little Richard and later The Cramps. It would be easy for this kind of music to slip into pastiche or irony, but the way 39 Clocks throw themselves onto these performances it is impossible to hear them as anything but deadly serious, even when they sound like they are crawling around the studio throwing stuff at imaginary iguanas. The most atonal and demented sounds here are as far from dull, academic 'experimentation' as it's possible to get even while cardboard cut outs of Stravinsky and Damo Suzuki cast distorted shadows and Charlemagne Palestine swings from the lampshade clutching a giant glass of brandy. The music here is abrasive, but never unapproachable, Christian Henjes and Juergen Gleue never forget the power of a study hook to drag an unsuspecting listener through all manner of strange and intimidating foliage. This is the sort of disc that wears leather, chews gum and writes something obscene on the inside of your stereo, grab it while you can. -- nick ilott

:: 39 Clocks/Zoned - De Stijl/Cargo. 

dj oliveTriage is the third part of DJ Olive’s series of sleeping pill albums composed to act as audible company on sleepless nights for those of you who suffer with insomniac tendencies. In contrast to the previous two albums for Australian imprint Room 40 (‘Buoy’ and the appropriately titled ‘Sleep’) this work utilizes more complex structures augmented by the collaborating musicians that most prominently includes additional processing and production from Christian Fennesz. It was originally presented in installation format at the 2008 Whitney Biennial but the soundtrack version works equally well as in album format. The hour-long excursion is relentlessly still, drifting along at pedestrian pace. The soft, smokey soundscapes blend in with your surroundings as you listen, working at an almost subconscious level. The low volume mix certainly enhances this experience and the wave like motions of suspended tones, instrumental suggestions and at times sounds that suggest real world space and place will gradually drag you down into their sub-aquatic audio whirlpool. Fans of William Basinski’s much lauded ‘Disintegration Loops’ series will find a close reference point for DJ Olive’s style. After 60 engrossingly slow minutes that evoke the haziest of imagery, you’ll find yourself ready for the most sleepy of slumbers. -- simon harris

:: DJ Olive/Triage - Room 40/A-Musik

von bondiesThis is a polished, occasionally anthemic, slice of 'indie' music cut from the cookie cutter template established in the mid-90s. The guitars are shiny and precise, the vocal chants have half an eye on the big stadiums, the drums are tight and energetic, the bass lines have that classic picked sound that's been around since the Pixies. The record overall reminds me a little of the Dandy Warhols, with its 'bohemian' poses and slick shiny surfaces. It is a sound that was getting old 10 years ago and now it's just so totally boring. There's no hint of a performance or feel of a group playing together in these polished tracks, everything is carefully placed and the moments of 'emotion' are so choreographed that they utterly fail at having any kind of impact. The tropes of 'indie' music are now so mainstream it's amazing that anyone still sees the point of copying the Velvets, the Pixies, REM or Nirvana (please no)? If bands do insist on copying this sound, they should at least have the balls to make it messy and exciting. Otherwise let's just leave it to Avril Lavigne. -- nick ilott

:: The Von Bondies/Love, Hate and Then There's You - Fierce Panda/Cargo

more moondogMoondog, otherwise occasionally known as the 'The Viking of 6th Avenue' is one of the most famous 'street musicians' of all time. For around 20 years he played his music on the streets of New York dressed in an elaborate costume including a horned helmet. His fans and musical acquaintances included: Charlie Parker, Igor Stravinsky, Steve Reich, Janis Joplin and Frank Zappa. Moondog invented and built an number of instruments specifically for his compositions including the 'trimba' a triangular percussion instrument and the 'oo' a kind of triangular harp. With this incredible backstory and the sense of theatre provided by Moondog's appearance and pronouncements it is difficult to approach his music with an open mind. Luckily, Moondog's music turns out to be as magical and confounding as the context that surrounds it. It is easy to hear the kinship composers such as Steve Reich or Philip Glass would have felt to Moondog's creations. The melodic lines here are clean, tonal and simple. Most compositions have a driving rhythmic feel and the overall impression is eccentrically modern. With a different kind of production, many of these pieces wouldn't sound out of place on a contemporary electronica compilation. The percussion is occasionally redolent of non-Western music, but there is a orderliness, a four-squareness, to the performance that somehow keeps things grounded in the streets of New York. The Moondog Monologue', with its rambling proto-hippyish spoken word associations ('I have just uttered a generalisation ... there is no such thing as up or down'), seems somewhat out of place among the carefully-crafted and short instrumental tracks that make up the majority of this disc, but does allow the listener a broader insight into Moondog's universe than otherwise would have been provided. Moondog's music is beautiful, strange and utterly essential. -- nick ilott

:: Moondog/More Moondog  - Honest Jons/Indigo

thomas belHolding the digi-pack of Toulouse's Thomas Bel debut didn't look too promising. The design looks a bit worn-out, like some neo-classical bullshit. The first sounds didn't push too much farther either, loops laying on each other, reminds me a bit of MAIM old stuff. hmm, something is not working here. BUT - and that's the greatness of this album, is that as long as you keep on listening, you getting sucked in. Like a Bella Tarr movie, it slowly developed, but strongly built, so it hunts you, and makes you play it again. And again. Bel use variety of loops, field reccordings, and acoustic instruments (guitar, cello) and create a minimalistic, floaty late-night haze. This body of work sounds like a combination between William Basinski's melancholic minimalism and Vincent Gallo's ascetic midnight songs. There is a nice contrast between the trimmed samples and the lingering of the live instruments, the hum of the amplifier and the vibration of the strings. For example on the Les Vagues track, a repetitive guitar pluck reverbing slowly through the track back and forth while shakers & crackers samples joining alongside, almost taking over. Through the middle of the records his vocals appears, increasing this melancholic nocturne, making this release a personal and intimate piece. --omer schwartz

:: Thoma Bel - The Birds are still the Monarchs - Annexia CD 07