Good evening! Tonight, some specials on a number of very special artists.
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I’ll get to Foetus in a minute – started with one of a number of amazing tracks from his new album.
But first off, I was very sad indeed to learn this week of the death of Peter Moskalyk, main guy behind breakcore emo-pop band belladonnakillz. I’ve been a fan since before the first album came out, and considered him a huge musical talent. With hilariously (if now ominously) nihilistic lyrics, brilliant breakcore programming and unreasonably catchy melodies, he’ll always have a place in my heart. I hope you enjoyed the tunes tonight.
So, JG Thirlwell, aka Clint Ruin, You’ve Got Foetus On Your Breath, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel, just plain Foetus, and more recently Manorexia and Steroid Maximus. And let’s face it, a bewildering array of more monikers. I think of his early work as pioneering industrial music, from way back at the start of the 1980s. There’s no doubt he was a bit influence on Nine Inch Nails and others at the other end of the decade. He also played with totalitarian imagery and pretty extreme lyrics, in keeping with the punk/no wave attitude. But along with the abrasive personality, which comes out in the vocals as well as the percussive music, there’s always been a desire to create bombastic, fully-orchestrated classical music, soundtracks, big band pieces and more. And these days he can be found scoring the Adult Swim cartoon The Ventura Bros and composing for the Kronos Quartet.
So while I love (really love) the weirdass instrumental mayhem, it’s nice to have a new album from Foetus proper. I went back to the ’80s stuff, with 1983’s “I’ll Meet You In Poland” featuring confronting (if perhaps hyperbolic) lyrics, drum machines, sampled and looped vocals. We also had one remix each from his two remix albums, very different and very UFog I should think.
He’s a one-of-a-kind artist and well worthy of your attention.
After all that masculine energy, it’s time for another special, on the very awesome Gail Priest from Sydney. As well as having written Experimental music: audio explorations in Australia, Priest has released a number of wondrous recordings, and her new album is out right now. It will be launched this coming Saturday, 6th of Nov, at Hardware Gallery, 263 Enmore Rd, Enmore.
Her music combines electronics with processed and multi-tracked vocals and other sounds. It can be beautiful and scary, and is always highly evocative.
Also rather wild and free is the solo music of Avey Tare, of Animal Collective. I really love the track from 2008’s Living Bridge compilation — I still think it’s unequalled by anything on the new album, with its gorgeous piano lines, pitch-shifted vocal samples and great poise; but still, there’s some ultra-catchy stuff on the album. I also do love the way the second-last track runs into the familiar (FBi-)radio hit “Lucky 1”.
Next special of many tonight is Benoît Pioulard, musical pseudonym of Thomas Meluch, who also has a new album out. It’s more of the same, but with a sound as beguiling and hard to pin down as Pioulard, that’s a great thing. You’ve got abstract drone/noise works and beautiful indie-pop ditties, all in a lo-fi vein. Fans will rejoice.
Of Happenstance I don’t know many details, but I do know it’s a duo featuring Chris Stewart, who also releases wonderful folktronica as need more sources, as well as contributing vocals (at least) to many releases by the boats. The Happenstance 3” is the last releases on the mobeer sub-label of moteer. I always loved the concept of 3” CDs attached to beautifully-designed beer mats, but I guess it’s a labour of love, not finance, as ever. The music is subtle and awfully pretty. Do whatever you can to track these three releases down — the third being a mini-album by needs more sources released on the always-insanely-limited cotton goods.
Brief neo-classical detour via prepared pianist Hauschka, whose new album exhibits more of the lovely chamber arrangements as well as his piano playing.
And then a few analogue synth concoctions. From noise artist Rene Hell, something surprisingly lovely and sensitive (also highly limited).
Then Ben Vida collaborates with UFog favourite Greg Davis; much of this album is very abstract in its bleeps and blurps but this particular track is gorgeous. And penultimately, Mark McGuire from psychedelic electronic band Emeralds has a mostly-guitar-based album of similar minimalism out.
Final bonus track is the only track I like from the new Owen Pallett EP — perhaps surprisingly, since I’m a fairly rabid fan. I think it’s a bit of a throw-away release, but this one track has his usual flurries of strings and lyrics.
Foetus – O Putrid Sun (for Yuko) [Ectopic Ents]
belladonnakillz – Kill Bella Donna [dross:tik]
belladonnakillz – gRrLy JuNgLe [dross:tik]
Belladonnakillz – the man [Sublight]
Belladonnakillz – neverever [Sublight]
belladonnakillz – my dream [dross:tik]
Scraping Foetus off the Wheel – Theme From Pigdom Come [Some Bizarre]
Scraping Foetus off the Wheel – I’ll Meet You in Poland, Baby [Some Bizarre]
Foetus – Cirrhosis of the Heart (Amon Tobin remix) [Thirsty Ear]
Manorexia – Ataxia [Ectopic Ents]
Foetus – Shrunken Man (cover of The The) [Nothing, now available on a compilation on Ectopic Ents]
Foetus – Pareidolia (Fennesz remix) [Ectopic Ents]
Foetus – Oilfields [Ectopic Ents]
Gail Priest – Vocal Mould [Endgame Records]
Gail Priest – dreamwinch [Metal Bitch Recordings]
Gail Priest – Phantoms [get from Bandcamp!]
Gail Priest – A Surface Dwelling Race [Endgame Records]
Avey Tare – Laughing Hieroglyphic [Paw Tracks]
Avey Tare – I’m Your Eagle Kisser [Rare Book Room]
Avey Tare – Heather In The Hospital/Lucky 1 [Paw Tracks]
benoît pioulard – ragged tint [kranky]
benoît pioulard – purse discusses [kranky]
benoît pioulard – la guerre de sept ans [kranky]
benoît pioulard – tie [kranky]
Happenstance – Big do’s and Little don’ts.. [mobeer]
need more sources – sheds in the spring [moteer]
need more sources – doastheydo notastheysay [cotton goods]
Happenstance – The One Eyed King [mobeer]
Hauschka – iron shoes [130701]
Rene Hell – Walking In Tune [self-released with Pete Swanson]
Ben Vida & Greg Davis – Hazy [autumn records]
Mark McGuire – Clouds Rolling In [Editions Mego]
Owen Pallett – Scandal at the parkade [Domino]
Listen again — ~ 170MB
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