CLXXVI. Cult Of Youth | Cult Of Youth

CULT OF YOUTH

Cult Of Youth

©Sacred Bones. US, 2011.

‟Al parecer Sacred Bones Records nos sigue la pista o se tratará de una gran coincidencia de gustos musicales, no lo sabemos, lo único cierto es que cada placa que editan llega como delicado agasajo hasta nuestro congelado refugio esquimal.
Ahora enfocados en mostrar la creación agreste del proyecto de Brooklyn, Cult Of Youth con Sean Ragon a la cabeza, aparecidos a fines de la década pasada se mueven por las honduras del Darkfolk y los ambientes Post-Industriales.

Desde un comienzo este trabajo nos lleva por la gris marcialidad sonora de Boyd Rice y sus NON mutados por la locura de The Pogues, en "New West" la voz de Ragon se acerca a la vibrante insanidad de Shane MacGowan, todo adornado por el violín de Christiana Key en una cabalgata de rumor After Punk.
Para este segundo album Cult Of Youth se ha transformado en un cuarteto, con una robusta base rítmica a cargo de Micki Pellerano en bajo y Glenn Maryansky en batería, lo que redunda en un sonido más definido y poderoso que el de sus anteriores entregas, ahora son un cuerpo sólido manifestando con propiedad esa lujuria siniestra que llevan en su centro canciones como "The Dead Sea" y "Monster", el traspaso desde Crisis a Death In June o una especie de Swans en anfetas.
Ya más instrospectivos en "Casting Thorn" sentimos la oratoria maldita de Ragon bajo una atmósfera percusiva machacante, de a poco van subiendo de intensidades a base de violines espectrales y una guitarra acústica rasgada con desenfreno, al final todo se transforma en un fatídico vómito del corazón negro. Otro tramo purificador es "Weary" oscuros viajantes en la aldea bucólica de los tiempos finales.

Eso es "Cult Of Youth" un álbum apocalíptico y violento, una ceremonia nefasta.‟

Raúl Cabrera H.

CLXXV. Autumnfair | 1986 - 1989

AUTUMNFAIR

1986 - 1989

©Mobilization. US, 2002.

‟Autumnfair is a side project formed in the mid 1980s by Savage Republic vocalist/guitarist/bass player Thom Fuhrmann along with british bassist/singer Val Haller (Wayne County). Autumnfair worked with several Los Angeles underground notables, including Savage Republic bassist Greg Grunke, Biff Sanders (Motiv Studios, Ethyl Meatplow), Scott Feemster (Halo) and Caroline Topalian (supplying transendent vocals).

Autumnfair has an expansive and dramatic "Factory Records/4AD" sound. The project mixes drum machines, live drums, multiple basses, reverberant soaring guitars and powerful, dramatic vocals. These beautiful songs are haunting, evocative and chilling.

The tracks are a mixture of vocal and instrumental. A 10" EP was released in the 1990s by Independent Project Records, entitled Glaciers and Gods.‟

Mobilization

CLXV. For Against | Echelons

FOR AGAINST

Echelons

©Words On Music. US, 2004.

‟Available for the first time on CD! Echelons is the debut album by Nebraska's For Against, first released in 1987 for Independent Project. The album blends Factory Records atmospherics with the aggressive jangle of early R.E.M., juxtaposed against the earnest and isolated voice of Jeffrey Runnings. These elements conjoin to set the definitive image of the depth, vastness, and loneliness of America's sparse heartland.

Several songs on Echelons ("Echelons," "Forget Who You Are," "Broke My Back") perfectly capture the dark colorings of early Factory Records. The title track is replete with jagged, rusty guitar chords, painting gray and black trails onto which Runnings travels while reiterating the cautiously optimistic refrain, "Someone somewhere waits for me." The finale "Broke My Back" is a 7-minute anthem with shadowy chords and Runnings' boldly minimalist bassline — creating an atmosphere so bleak and compelling you can almost picture Martin Hannett behind the mixing console.

"Autocrat" weaves guitarist Harry Dingman's Gang of Four-inspired choppy, but ingeniously precise feedback and chord stabs through drummer Greg Hill and bassist Runnings' punchy, but solid rhythm section. Runnings wryly captures the song's essence with a repetitive one-line vocal melody: "Yeah, that's right, that's the way it is."

Other material ("Shine," "Get On With It") asserts the janglier elements of early 80s Athens rock, led by Dingmans' Peter-Buck-with-a-reverb-box melodies and Hill's lightning-quick drum patterns. All nine songs are distinctly identified by Runnings' clear, gliding timbre — a striking counterpoint to the dimly lit music supporting him.

One of the definitive American post-punk albums, Echelons was celebrated with a Grammy nomination for its remarkable cover design by Bruce Licher (a shaft of wheat accompanied each record sleeve in its initial 1,000 copy letter press run). This re-release is remastered with a six-panel digipak design by Licher.‟

Words On Music

 

CLXIV. Joy Of Life | Enjoy / Hear The Children

JOY OF LIFE

Enjoy / Hear The Children

©Hyperium. Deutschland, 1992.

‟Joy Of Life were a London based post-punk four piece initially influenced by Joy Division and early New Order.
Their debut LP, Enjoy was released in 1985 on Death In June's New European Recording's label and produced by Douglas Pearce. At the time the band were seen as a DIJ copyist act although their sound was more conventional with considerably milder Germanic overtones.
Joy Of Life were never a neo-folk act like Death In June, but did suffer a great lack of credibility from their affiliations with the other bards of Woking.
Following flirtations with major labels, no actual recordings just presumably lots of tapes and discussion, Joy Of Life did not release the follow up album until 1988 on their own Cadre label. This was a much darker affair with Gothic overtones, though the bass line on opener Liberty sounds very familiar. The band split shortly afterwards, but have reformed several times since to play Goth Festivals in Germany.
Both albums were had very limited runs and are long deleted, though German label, Hyperium reissued them as a single CD and limited edition CD box in 1992 from which these tracks are ripped. Joy Of Life were never an important band and were never really a good band, nobody will really ever miss them, though 20 years on their output does make interesting hearing for those inquisitive enough to listen.‟

Norecordshopsleft

CLIX. Cabaret Voltaire | Mix-Up

CABARET VOLTAIRE

Mix-Up

©Rough Trade. UK, 1979.

‟Cabaret Voltaire were the grim Northern counterpart to Throbbing Gristle's London screech and squallor, and it is well known that these kindred spirits both birthed and pioneered the Industrial music genre.  Whereas TG were willfully repellent and menacing, the Cabs had a more seductive element to there menacing music, which seemed to slither with a subtle sexuality.

This was achieved mostly by their incorporating of funk and dub reggae, which would gradually move to the forefront of their sound as their career progressed.  Another influencial musical factor loomed much larger during this, the initial stages of their discography: German Krautrock.  They would willfully admit a heavy debt to both Can and Faust and the improvisational techniques both bands employed.

With these influences in mind, it's much easier to grasp the mindset and intent of their debut full-length Mix-Up.  What may sound like aimless experimentation for the sake of it, will reveal itself as hypnotic and instinctual, yet disciplined and thought out musical innovation.  This album takes multiple listens to penetrate, but after getting past the initial murk and haze, you'll discover:

1) Another stellar example of their knack for creating compelling cover versions of songs which are excitingly unrecognizable, or at least severally distorted from the original.  In this case it's done to The Seeds' "No Escape."

2) A completely engrossing and absolutely terrifying description of the LSD experience in the harrowing "Heaven and Hell."

3) One of their musical peaks and the only song on the album to feature live drumming, "On Every Other Street" is Cabaret Voltaire firing on all cylinders and engulfs the listener in a wave of lurching, trippy, robotic funk for the paranoid.

Ultimately, while this album does lull in some places and is not a masterpiece, it holds up extremely well when compared to all of their follow-ups and when taken as a whole, is quite an awesome experience.  A landmark of the Industrial and Post-Punk genres, as well as the legendary label Rough Trade, it is well worth seeking out and is also a good place to start with this band, if you aren't a fan of "best of" compilations.  It's also worth noting that Cabaret Voltaire released excellend singles and EPs and some of their best and most well-known material is not included on their studio albums.  So in addition, I would highly suggest tracking down the Living Legends compilation, which collects all the early singles and EPs.‟

Bennyshambles

CLIV. Killing Joke | The Peel Sessions 1979-1981

KILLING JOKE

The Peel Sessions 1979-1981

©Virgin, UK, 2008.

‟Killing Joke una de las bandas underground por excelencia de fines los 70′s y principios de los 80′s. Además de ser una de las bandas culpables de influenciar a diversas bandas de metal, punk, grunge, industrial y alternativas. Aquí nos muestra un compilado en la BBC de Londres con el Locutor de radio John Peel en una sesión que grabaron; además de traer como bonus track tres rolas hechas también para una sesión de la BBC entre 1979 – 1981 pero en este caso para otro locutor de radio como los es Richard Skinner.  Conteniendo clásicos como 'Pssyche', 'Wardance', 'Complication', 'The Fall Of Because', 'Tension' entre otros.‟

Conkeysound

 

CXLVII. Eyeless In Gaza | Drumming The Beating Heart

EYELESS IN GAZA

Drumming The Beating Heart

©Cherry Red. UK, 1982.

‟After this side one is left almost in ruins, and "Dreaming at Rain" can only really rake through the embers (it's an instrumental that harks back to the sounds on Pale Hands). Needless to say, for a duo Eyeless in Gaza shaped a huge sound and in certain key ways I think this LP (and "Photographs as Memories") are amongst the most unique from the time.   

Whilst this is admittedly a consequence of their songwriting it's also due to their choice of instrumentation. Like "Photographs as Memories", the arrangements on "Drumming the Beating Heart" are spare, sparse and manage to spear the heart accurately. One key texture that you won't find on Photographs however is the strange, emotive tremolo string sound that darkens every corner of "Drumming the Beating Heart". This comes from a keyboard called a Gem Europa. I only know this because I emailed Pete Becker and asked him! The tones created by this portable, late '70s organ were probably intended for quite other uses than furnishing the efforts of a duo positioned at the poetic end of post-punk. In their hands it sounds a little like a cross between a Mellotron and the synth used by Joy Division on Closer's Decades. In other words, it's a mournful, minor key piece of machinery that seems custom built for songs like "Picture the Day" and "One by One". Indeed, I doubt whether the band would've written them without it.

The more I think about it, the closer I come to concluding that the first side of "Drumming the Beating Heart" has one on the strongest openings of any LP. Those first four songs are perfectly sequenced and there's very little between them in terms of raw quality. Underpinned by a percussive, pulled bass line "Transience Blues" brings a set of cold atmospherics that are sustained throughout side one. True, I do have a something of a taste for songs about rain and night, particularly when they're as passionate as this! Its stormy reflections provide the perfect soundtrack to lonely winter evenings. Then track two, "Ill-Wind Blows", introduces a slight note of calm. It's the stillness before the real storm arrives, maybe. And "One by One" sustains this mood. With its vaguely menacing rhythms and cascading, candlelit organ chords (the Gem Europa again) it creates probably the most haunting song ever written by the band.‟  

Trevor Machine

CXXIX. Siouxsie And The Banshees | Kaleidoscope

SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES

Kaleidoscope

©Polydor. UK, 1980.

‟2 days into the tour supporting their 1979 album 'Join Hands', Siouxsie and the Banshees guitarist John McKay and drummer Kenny Morris walked out, leaving Siouxsie and bassist Steve Severin as a 2-piece.  The Cure's Robert Smith and former-The Slits/Big in Japan drummer Budgie were brought in to tour and promote the album.  While Smith left afterwards to return to The Cure, Budgie stayed in the fold and the 3 went to work on the follow-up, 'Kaleidoscope', with help from Magazine guitarist John McGeogh and Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones.

In terms of a lineup change, it was pretty spectacular, as there was a pretty noticeable change in sound, as well, as they took a pretty firm step away from punk rock and toward the dark goth-wave that would serve them so well over the next years of their career.   In particular the two singles, "Happy House" and "Christine", pointed directly toward the band's future.

There was still plenty of dust left to settle, however. On much of the album they sounded unsure of where they were headed, and tracks such as "Tenant", "Hybrid", "Clockface", and "Paradise Place" seem rather half-complete.  The end result is that the album and the band itself seem to be a work in progress.  A couple steps away from their earlier punk-styled sound, a couple steps away from the more refined unit they later turned out to be, and certainly a couple steps away from the goth band they were always accused of being.

But progressing they were, and with the next album, 'Juju', they would arrive. As for 'Kaleidoscope', they still weren't quite there, but they were soundly on their way.‟
 

Drakkar

 

CIX. Ekatarina Velika | Ljubav

EKATARINA VELIKA

Ljubav

©PGP RTB. Jugoslavija, 1987.

‟Here's where the things got interesting. Another drummer change (Žika Todorović, previously of Disciplina Kičme), a label change (switch to a more glamorous PGP RTB) and a new producer (Theodore Yanni) cleaned the slate clean, so EKV started the second stage of their career with a more mature, mystical approach. Inspired by the four basic earthly elements and the declining political situation in country, their songs started sounding more and more sombre ("Tonemo" might be the first sign of this), and their lyrics became more and more complex. Which is good, really, because Mladenović was not a working class poet, he had higher aspirations. "Zemlja", "Pored Mene", "Ljubav" and "Ljudi iz Gradova" are real standouts, but, simply put, there's hardly a weak track here.‟

Mairosu

CVII. Xmal Deutschland | Devils

XMAL DEUTSCHLAND

Devils

©Metronome. Deutschland, 1989.

‟Xmal Deutschland were formed in Hamburg in 1980 by five female musicians and debuted with the singles Schawarze Welt (Zick-Zack) and Incubus Succubus. Three of the original founders (Anja Huwe on vocals, Manuela Rickers on guitar, Fiona Sangster on keyboards) and two new recruits (Wolfgang Ellerbrock on bass and Manuela Zwingmann on drums) cut the album 'Fetisch' (4AD, 1983), which established them in the British circuit of gothic dance-music and dark-punk. Mixing those styles with the austere angst of expressionism, tracks such as Qual aimed at coining a new form of dance. After second album 'Tocsin' (1984), the singles 'Jahr um Jahr' (Xile, 1985) and 'Matador' (Xile, 1986), and third album 'Viva' (1987), the band members split, with Huwe and Ellerbrock recording as Palais Schaumburg the album 'Devils' (1989).‟

Scaruffi.

CIV. Modern Eon | Fiction Tales

MODERN EON

Fiction Tales

©Dindisc. UK, 1981.

‟I had been living in Plymouth for 3 weeks when I was given free-reign to spend £10 at the local Virgin Megastore in Armada Way. It was 1981 and I had a tenner burning a hole in my pocket and standing in, what seemed to me at the time, the largest record shop in the world. Having lived near Devizes in Wiltshire for the previous 3 years, Plymouth was already a huge city to me and wandering into the erstwhile Branson empire was a treat in itself. But I wasn't prepared for the choice and the range of lovely little 7" slices of plastic discs nestling on wire racks, clinging haphazardly to the walls behind the counter. I remember spotting "Procession" by New Order, "Burning Car" by John Foxx and "Euthenics" by Modern Eon. So I bought all 3 (and another pair of repressed Devo singles) and hurried home on the 42 bus to Manadon to my parents house to give them a spin.

30 minutes later, 10 songs later, 5 singles later - big smiles and the knowledge that i had found my nirvana. A scruffy big shop full of records with staff that smoked on the counter and a security guard who could make Hitler look like a childminder.

Modern Eon were a band I knew little about. They came from Liverpool and were signed to the Virgin offshoot Dindisc, home to OMD, Martha & The Muffins, Nash The Slash and Monochrome Set. They released one album and 5 singles and appeared on a few European collections including "Double Art". So why the attention? In short, it was down to mystery. They were rarely interviewed and didn't publish their pictures on their record sleeves. They also didn't get radio play too often although I did hear their singles occasionally spun on John Peel's show on Radio One. But they were a mystery. Maybe it was the vocals, all whispered and hoarsely delivered with atmospheric surroundings and no hint as to what was to come.‟

Pkrpmusic 

CII. Eva O | Past Time

EVA O

Past Time 

©Cleopatra. US, 1993.

‟Goth chanteuse Eva O. is perhaps best known for her contributions to the Rozz Williams version of Christian Death, though she also worked with several other bands and managed a solo career as well. Born Eva Ortiz, she grew up in a strongly Catholic military family, spending the majority of her childhood in Las Vegas. She had a troubled childhood and found solace in playing the guitar, eventually moving to Los Angeles to pursue rock & roll. In 1980, she founded a punky, all-female hard rock group called the Speed Queens, who were inspired in part by the Runaways. Wanting to take music more seriously than some of her bandmates, she soon left to form the Superheroines with bassist Jill Emery. This group earned a following on L.A.'s so-called death rock scene of the early '80s, which also included goth-flavored bands like .45 Grave and Christian Death. In fact, the Super Heroines made their recorded debut alongside those bands on 1981's Hell Comes to Your House compilation, and O. supplied the female backing vocals on Christian Death's debut album, Only Theatre of Pain.

The Super Heroines recorded two albums of their own, Cry for Help and Souls That Save, for the small local label Bemis Brain over 1982-1983. A third album was begun but never completed, and O. officially disbanded the Superheroines in 1987, when she married original (and, by this time, former) Christian Death singer Rozz Williams. The couple moved to San Francisco and started the goth rock outfit Shadow Project, moving the group back to Los Angeles in 1990. In the meantime, Williams -- who'd founded Christian Death but left in 1985 -- revived the name to compete with the current version of Christian Death, and made O. the guitarist and female vocalist.

Thanks to those two projects, O.'s recorded legacy expanded substantially in the early '90s. Shadow Project issued two studio albums (1991's Shadow Project and 1992's Dreams for the Dying) plus a live set, In Tuned Out; the Williams-led Christian Death, meanwhile, released an album of re-recordings of early material, The Iron Mask, plus two albums of new material, 1993's Path of Sorrows and 1994's The Rage of Angels. Around this time, O. grew interested in a solo career, and to help grease the skids, Cleopatra issued the 1993 career retrospective Past Time, which featured material from her days with the Speed Queens, the Super Heroines, and Christian Death, as well as three new solo songs.

Released in 1994, O.'s proper solo debut was a shocking revelation for many longtime fans: she had converted to Christianity, and crafted a born-again concept album titled Demons Fall for an Angel's Kiss. Credited to the Eva O. Halo Experience, it featured prominent musical support from producer Johnny Indovina. O. eventually divorced Rozz Williams, who had been battling heroin addiction, but the two remained close, and reunited as Shadow Project for the mostly acoustic album From the Heart in 1998; sadly, Williams committed suicide that April. The following year, O. issued her second proper solo album, Damnation, on the small Massacre label; it continued her Christian spiritual preoccupation.‟

Fields Of Haze

CI. Wall Of Voodoo | Dark Continent

WALL OF VOODOO

Dark Continent

©I.R.S. US, 1981.

‟They call it "minimal synth", but there's still enough going on to give me a piercing headache. It's just corny, and doesn't work to its aim of mixing spaghetti western soundtracks with synth pop. The result is something that hardly even works as a novelty (Stan Ridgeway has a ridiculous voice; I could see him singing Halloween-influenced novelty songs a la "The Monster Mash"), let alone a quality work of art.

At the very least, I thought I would enjoy the atmosphere. Dark Continent... a wide-open and eerie landscape. But it's more like The Hill Have Eyes, lost-in-the-middle-of-nowhere torture music. Basically, if I was driving somewhere and my car broke down, this would be the last thing I'd want to hear on the radio. This music is nothing but grapefruit in my open wounds; I set out to find more synth pop that was as awesome as OMD, but all I've found is disappointment (and murderous mutants) around every corner I've looked.

It could have been more offensively terrible than it is, but the fact of the matter is, it's still offensively terrible. They are to synth pop what Pearl Jam is to rock music. Just full of ugliness and auditory vomits that barely resemble songs.‟

Seattle Junkie Queen

 

XCVI. Skeletal Family | The Singles Plus 1983 - 85

SKELETAL FAMILY

The Singles Plus 1983 - 85

©Anagram. UK, 1994.

‟Skeletal Family es una banda inactiva de Gothic Rock sumamente subterranea. Nunca alcanzarón el exito comercial aún cualdo la calidad del grupo es indudable y aparecierón en una serie de compilatorios de grupos élite dentro de la escena underground. El grupo se formo en 1982 bajo la linea del rock clásico, el proto punk, el gothic rock y el post punk.

Skeletal Family, a pesar de su corta vida, permanece como uno de los grupos más representativos del rock gótico inglés. El peculiar color de voz de la cantante Anne-Marie Hurst dio la característica más destacable del grupo, característica que se perdió tras la marcha de ésta a Ghost Dance.

En este material se encuentran todos los sencillos que la banda publico en dos años 83-85, así como temas representativos en versiones demo.‟

Deicida69 

XCV. The Chameleons | Script Of The Bridge

THE CHAMELEONS

Script Of The Bridge

©Statik. UK, 1982.

‟Que la valoración de la música se basa casi por completo en apreciaciones subjetivas es algo que a estas alturas ya ni me atrevo a cuestionar. Sin embargo, los razonamientos por los cuales se encumbran bandas y se condena a otras al cajón del olvido son, a menudo, incomprensibles para mí.
Uno de los casos más lacerantes es el de este conjunto de Manchester, relegado a ser una nota a pie de página en la historia del rock, mientras que los que han explotado su legado casi rozando el plagio -Interpol, Coldplay- o coetáneos suyos con menos enjundia -Depeche Mode, U2- venden discos como churros o hacen que la gente duerma al raso para ir a un concierto suyo.

La comparación con estos últimos es de recibo. Las texturas ensoñadoras, el sonido de guitarra reverberante, el sentido de la solemnidad de las canciones, a veces rayando en la afectación y la pomposidad ... Incluso el timbre de voz de Mark Burguess es sorprendentemente parecido al de Bono. Todos estos elementos sitúan a the Chameleons en la misma liga que los irlandeses. El factor decisivo, en mi opinión, es que en la música de los de británicos hay mucha más honestidad, fuerza, tensión, riesgo y emoción pura que las que se pueden encontrar en The unforgettable fire, War o The Joshua tree.

"The script of the bridge" fue el primer acto de una corta pero intensa discografía. Nació de la grisura de la Inglaterra tatcheriana, así que lo que abunda en él son las expresiones de desolación y vacío existencial que acuciaban a cierta juventud de la época. La misma juventud que encontró un reflejo en las letanías de Joy Division o en la melancolía abúlica de The Smiths. Desde el cañonazo post-punk que abre el disco hasta el precioso epílogo que es "View from a hill", este disco es una referencia ineludible en su género y una obra de obligada escucha y sobredosis para los fans de la ola fría de principios de los ochenta (Echo and the Bunnymen, the Cure, Bauhaus, Teardrop Explodes,etc). A reivindicar.‟

 I Love Riots

LXXXVIII. Cranes | Self-Non-Self

 

CRANES

Self-Non-Self

©Bite Back!. UK, 1989.

‟After the extremely limited release of the "Fuse" cassette, Cranes, now expanded to a four-piece, put out "Self Non Self" in 1989. Originally only six tracks, including a dramatic, stronger re-recording of "Fuse" itself, Dedicated added a further two upon its re-release in 1992. The rough, spooky sonics from the band's earliest days were there in force, but evidence of the increased texturing and powerful arrangements started to surface as well.

Alison Shaw's singing is already fully in place as the lost, lonely voice later releases would make all the more familiar, though at times, as on 'Focus Breathe', she has surprisingly deeper tones in comparison. The re-release bonus tracks include a live song called 'Reach', a strong, surging piece, and 'Nothing in the Middle, Nothing in the End', a murky little number with a rough snare drum rhythm and doomy bass.‟

Dogs Body

LXXXII. Coil | Scatology

COIL

Scatology

©Force And Form. UK, 1984.

‟Coil signified the transition of industrial-rock to a more esoteric and traditional fusion of styles. If Peter Christopherson's previous band, Throbbing Gristle, conjured the vision of the death factory, Coil were inspired by the musical forms of the pounding march, the national anthem, the symphonic element, the ritual, and then magnified them in an industrial context, thus maximizing the psychological effect.

It started with the distorted waltz "Ubu Noir", which served only as an introduction. The album started proper with the bombastic industrial music-hall "Panic" (a la Foetus). The psychological landscape of "At The Heart Of It All" was far more effective, it's symphonic psychedelia gliding around a frozen and frightening ambience. This intriguing sound was further highlighted by the ritualistic waltz "Tenderness Of Wolves", featuring vocals by Gavin Friday (of Virgin Prunes fame).

The clanging paroxysm of "The Spoiler" got into Killing Joke (circa What's THIS For...!) territory, albeit in a more chilly and haunted setting. The more normal industrial-glam "Solar Lodge" followed, but it was "The Sewage-Workers Birthday Party" that stole the show, built around feedback distortions. The metallic anthem/ stomp "Godhead=Deathead" was even more intense, exhibiting the power of a fascist march. "Cathedral In Flames" was cut from the same cloth, but emphasized the ritualistic aspect, as if the twisted coronation of a dictator.‟

Ily

LXXIV. Have A Nice Life | Deathconsciousness

HAVE A NICE LIFE

Deathconsciuosness

©Enemies List. US, 2008.

‟Desde Middletown, Connecticut-Estados Unidos, aparece este engendro empeñado en desolar con un disco doble tan terrorífico como vital: oscuridad, espacio amurallado, golpeteo metálico y imaginería ocultista, convergen en una producción sólida y totalmente extraña para estos tiempos que corren.
Hay un ambiente post-punk sofocante que recorre los temas de "Deathconsciousness", podría haber sido grabado en la etapa de negrura dark a comienzos de los 80's junto a The Chameleons, Joy Division, And Also the Trees, y los Cure de "Pornography" y sería un clásico, pero no, es 2008 y eso queda de manifiesto en el ruidismo cavernoso de "The Big Gloom", ocho minutos de espesura extrema con voces en penumbra, puro doom noise con bases industriales, un manjar para los que gustan de la oscuridad sin fronteras, sin embargo queda un dejo de nostalgia sobre todo en la interpretación vocal, de donde vendrá no tengo la menor idea.

Dos discos que suman casi dos horas de desesperación, drone, ambientes tenebrosos e inspiración mortuoria, era necesario tanto, no lo sé, pero al parecer estos norteamericanos quieren que no tengas descanso en este dilatado trayecto por las masmorras del sonido oscurecido.
"Telephony" despierta las más profundas honduras del ser con una guitarra que baila por bordes de entendimiento, mientras las voces acarician junto al metal abrasivo de una percusión omnipresente, el resultado es hermoso de todas maneras.
Los han descrito como una mezcla entre My bloody valentine, Skinny Puppy, Sunn o))) y los bajos huracanados de Joy Division, yo creo que van más allá y de seguro tomará un tiempo el acostumbrarse a esta bestial resonancia.
El trabajo se acompaña de un librillo de 75 páginas, escrito por un historiador antiguo, que trata sobre simbología y la muerte, "On An Obscure Text" se llama.
Cuentan que se demoraron 5 años en terminar esta obra sonora maldita, quedará como legado o se desvanecerá, quién sabe. Desde ya deberías escucharla.‟

Raúl Cabrera H.

LXVII. Tuxedomoon | Desire

 

TUXEDOMOON

Desire

©Ralph. US, 1981.

‟La marginalidad como campo de acción y trabajo ha hecho que muchos artistas decidan voluntariamente alejarse de sus lugares de origen para buscar un público más acorde con sus intereses o sus propuestas. Es una constante de la historia de la humanidad, el de ir de un lado a otro, de estar moviendo el alma o la mente hacia otros horizontes. Y en el caso de Tuxedomoon, eso se vino a dar de pasar de San Francisco a Rótterdam, Bruselas y otras ciudades europeas entre 1980 y 1987.

Si bien San Francisco es una ciudad muy particular dentro del panorama artístico y social de Estados Unidos, la banda sentía que había cumplido su ciclo allí y que eran otras personas a las que debí dirigirse. Ya su paso por Ralph Records (de propiedad de The Residents) había encendido la chispa para que la banda arrancara a buscar un frente sonoro nuevo, que vino a darse con el naciente sello belga Crammed. Un subsello dedicado a sus producciones sonoras, llamado Crammed Boy hizo que los expatriados tuvieran ya un lugar preciso donde ser publicados y escuchados. El detonante de ese aprecio europeo por la marginalidad manifiesta que de su música hacía Tuxedomoon, se presenció con este disco de 1981.

Tuxedomoon, expandía su propuesta musical con su manera de unir rock, electrónica, jazz y formas de música contemporánea en este Desire. El homenaje sintetizado a la música para cine de In the name of talent (Italian western No 2), hace que pensemos en que no estábamos listos para todo aquello que se venía en aquel momento. Desire fuye un disco que conmovió al público europeo, que empezó a darse cuenta de quiénes eran estos norteamericanos que habían escogido este lugar en el mundo para componer y hacer sus cosas. Han pasado más de 25 años desde cuando este disco se lanzó, siendo nombrado frecuentemente por varias personas. Así como aquí sonaban al futuro, también retomaban sus raíces de banda desadaptada del circuito punk y new wave norteamericano.

No deja de ser reconfortarte reconocer la diferencia de Tuxedomoon, quienes desde los setenta enfocaron su obra hacia aquello que otros no se atrevieron a hacer o aquello que otros menospreciaron. Al fin de cuentas, Tuxedomoon cumplió 30 años de vida musical en el 2007 y este disco, ya casi cumplirá 30 años. No estamos viejos, no estamos jóvenes, simplemente no somos.‟

Owai

  

 

LXVI. The Sound | From The Lions Mouth

THE SOUND

From The Lions Mouth

©Korova. UK, 1981.

‟Aun recuerdo la primera vez que vi la portada. En casa de un compañero de la facultad. Viviamos los ochentas a pleno rendimiento. El tipo enloquecia con éstos y Japan. Con The Sound especialmente. Cuando sonaba este Lion's mouth, hacía que me fijara en sus movimientos, lanzando redobles invisibles, rasgados de guitarra y demás. Éramos jóvenes y queríamos algo nuevo a cada momento. La situación lo permitía. Sin tanto burbujeo como ahora, esperábamos la llegada del vinilo, lo que se anunciaba en las revista. El último grito. The Sound pasaron como un aliento, una respiración que se inicia y se apaga. Como tantos otros. Quizás un tanto tristones, quizás sus melodías se confundían con otras. Todas se parecían cuando dejabas caer la aguja en el vinilo. Necesitabas la aportación de un compañero que te lo escenificara y ni tan siquiera eso. Con los Japan, el tipo tuvo más suerte. Con estos me quedé con la hermosa portada y con esas camas de teclados que inspiraban el sueño. Años después, siguen adoleciendo de esa bisoñez y de esa impostura, aunque ahora oliendo a naftalina. No obstante, el poder de la evocación. Eso o nada. Según le vaya a uno el entierro.‟

Blackdecker