Zarko

Thanks guys... Will try to keep it interesting rather than review same ole' same ole'

Zarko

Hurtbreak Wonderland – World’s End Girlfriend (2007)


GENRES – Experimental, Electronic, Ambient, Post Rock

Wandering – 1:49
Birthday Resistance – 5:23
100 Years of Choke – 13:22
Grass Ark – 10:14
Ghost Of A Horse Under The Chandelier – 7:56
The Octuple Personality And Eleven Crows – 10:32
Breath Or Castle Ballad – 3:15
Bless Yourself Bleed – 10:32
Dance For Borderline Miscanthus – 4:39
River Was Filled With Stories – 10:13

I remember buying this album the first day it was available online after experiencing ‘Dream’s End Come True’ (2002) and just KNOWING it would be one that stuck with me. Sure enough, it is probably in my top 3-4 albums that have been released in the last few years. Its just special and different over the course of the album, something new to me, and underrated in the WEG discography. This album is definitely worth a 100 MB download, if not your hard earned dosh. WEG’s name behind the scenes is Katsuhiko Maeda.

Wandering as a slow introduction to the album, just a sample of what is to come. The sounds of babies crying and someone waking up and leaving in the morning signal the ‘beginning’ of some absolute quality. The piece is simple, but is meant to be listened in conjunction with ‘Birthday Resistance’, which carries over the ensemble of violinists and brass instrumentalists. Maeda comes out to shine with his mixing and production of the piece. Random spikes, glitches and alterations riddle the ensembles, as he mixes and matches sounds and samples. The electronic beats truly are a beaut, especially in conjunction with the post rock elements. Compared to his other albums, HW is quite accessible, and this isn’t a bad thing.

The true gold begins with ‘100 Years Of Choke’. It begins with calming sounds of nature, before Maeda introduces his classical composition to the piece. The light pluck of strings on the shamisen is quite a delight, before the string pieces enter the fray. Just alone this would make an amazing album, as layer upon layer is added, more string pieces, drums, cymbals, and guitars become prominent. It’s a beautifully relaxing start. As the central violin takes stage, the electronic mixing becomes more prominent; however it is yet to disturb this peace. As the pieces reach their end on the composition, it almost becomes lonely, yet maintains its beauty. As more instruments are substituted for others, such as guitars and flutes, it never loses its exquisiteness or calming influence. The classical composition part reaches its apex at ~7 minutes, and it makes you wish you were simply outside, in nature on a sunny day with birds chirping, before the bombastic electronics enter the mix at around 8-9 minutes. The change in pace particularly doesn’t discount from the song. Instead it adds another layer of depth, as electronics and electrical guitar become the basis. It still evokes a feeling of beauty, yet one much harder to attain. The song quietens down for a moment, with only vocal samples and distortion, before it explodes once again in a blaze of glory. It’s hard to explain what goes on from there. It must be experienced, as instruments are found here and there, but never consistently easy to identify over the chaotic electronics.

‘Grass Ark’, however, is the true standout of the album. The song is an amalgamation of cutting, mixing and beautiful sampling, done to the point of perfection in my opinion. The piece begins similarly in construct to ‘100 Years’, however, Maeda’s role is much more prominent much earlier, as random sounds and samples are cut over the piano and strings. The variation and chaos this brings to naturals sounds is amazing. The composition of the piece is amazing, as nature and machine collide. The quality of performance from the instrumentalists must also be noted. Though not the most terribly difficult composition, it is done extremely well. The piece slows down at about the 5 minute mark, only to introduce some maniacal laugh and sounds, which are great… It is a piece that MUST be experienced… I know I may use that term a lot, but its hard enough to describe such an artists work without being able to reference specific parts. Perhaps because the electronic elements are less ‘interfering’ than they are in ‘100 years’ but this is the standout song from the album. It just flows naturally and delightfully.

‘Ghost Of A Horse Under The Chandelier’ is almost a childish to begin with, reminding me of young children who simply hit random keys to try and make something sound good without wondering about depth. The song is built around these sharp notes and short constructs. The song as a whole, however, loses itself a bit along the way. There are parts that simply seem unnecessary, despite how good they sound at times. ‘The Octuple Personality And Eleven Crows’ is a more classical construct, reminiscent of home and family (feet running past, small touches like that) and has some of the nicest electronic beats and distortion on the album, and Maeda isn’t afraid to drag those beats over key parts of the song. The saxophone performance is quite a nice quality coming out of nowhere after a distortion. The flute is the same deal, coming into fruition after a glitch. Parts of the song later of seem a bit odd, and don’t really fit in well, but I guess that’s what WEG is trying to achieve. The song truly experiences the most cacophonic sounds from the album, though it does feel too long and dragged out.

‘Breath or Castle Ballad’ is a nice intermission from the overly eclectic, and at just over 3 minutes offers a nice change in time needed to devote yourself to the song. ‘Bless Yourself Bleed’ is an interesting piece in that a fairly important factor of the piece is vocal sampling. The piece is haunting, especially the repeating words of some female voice, who is prominent enough to be heard, but overshadowed by other instruments in the way. This is before its all stripped away to a single instrument, a piano, which sounds like those old music boxes, that start playing when you open the top. This enhanced the chilling feeling, simply because those types of music boxes are always adjoined to horror parts in movies and games. The song is probably his most interesting on the album. It has solid depth that requires attention, and the electronics glitches are used to brilliantly halfway through the song. It flows extremely well, which was required after the last few songs which can get lost at times.

‘Dance For Borderline Miscanthus’ sets a more solemn tone with a deep string ensemble and ‘scrounging’ sounds in the background… The electronics used are darker compared to the light and high pitch ones found elsewhere on the album. Maeda uses cuts to interrupt the album, never allowing the listener to get comfortable with the song, and is intermittent with laughing samples and other noises. The most aggressive piece on the album, it works well in the 4 minutes its given.

‘River Was Filled With Stories’ is a nice send off to the album, and feels like a real ending song, rather than just another song, which is all that’s really needed to cap a stellar album.

Whilst it may not be for everyone, it is a great change of pace for both worlds. I personally loved the simple classical composition, as well as the jazzy factors present throughout various parts of the album, and Maeda has a very good ‘knack’ at mixing and knowing when to change his electronic beats. The album isn’t always perfect. Some parts drag on, and some parts are simply unnecessary, but there is enough quality in enough of the songs to give a high score. On the personal level, I simply love it, and it was quite a difficult album to review, simply because its hard to describe.

TOTAL SCORE


– Bless Yourself Bleed
– Grass Ark

PS I’ll try to move out of electronics as a sub genre with the next batch

Bulldog

Put mildly, that Nils Petter Molvaer album sounds incredible judging by the videos. I'm really liking the post-rock/ambient vibe about World's End Girlfriend and Worrytrain. A real eye-opener of a thread this.

Excellent reviews, and I'll really be looking forward to some more from you.

Zarko

肉声 [Nikusei] – 友川かずき (1976)


GENRES – Folk, Acid Folk, Singer Songwriter

おじっちゃ (Ojiicha) - 4:31
冬は莫迦くへなあ (Fuyu Wa Bakakubenu) - 2:24
あめらんくゆらん (Ameran Kuyuran) - 3:36
だがつぐ (Dagazugu) - 2:48
似合った青春 (Niatta Seishun) - 3:26
歩道橋 (Hodokyo) - 6:19
春だなあ (Haru Dana) - 2:57
冷蔵庫 (Reizoko) - 0:51
木端微塵 (Koppamijin) - 3:13
トドを殺すな (Todo O Korosuna) - 2:51
ハーモニカ (Harmonica) - 4:25
ちいさな詩 (Chiisana Uta) - 3:30
石 (Ishi) - 3:11

Kazuki Tomokawa (友川かずき) began his career during the Japanese 70’s folk revival, which followed suit of the Americans bringing folk music back into the public spectrum. Tomokawa has always interested me, particularly with his singing style… Rather than sing naturally, he almost seems to try and force the vocals from deep within him, which creates a rather unique style. The closest description I can think of is Tom Waits, but Japanese. He screams his lyrics more than anything (Don’t confuse this with screamo though). Nikusei was the first album of his I found on vinyl and still the best. I must warn though, this won’t be for everyone. I will refer to the songs by their English variant just in case not everyone has Japanese characters enabled. (NOTE – My interpretation of the songs are all based on tone and pitch simply because I don’t speak Japanese. So I may be off the mark by a fair bit )

‘Ojiicha’ opens the album with a fast paced guitar riff, before Kazuki enters with his trademark vocals. The nature of his singings creates a sense of insanity and power. His singing is truly a marvel, as he seems to try and scream it, yet keeps it under some form of control. The backing guitar and drum add to the level of disorder as they seem to be doing their own thing with little regard to what Tomokawa is trying to perform. They all get lost in this aggressive little ditty, most definitely the most violent piece on the album. He really does sound like a madman in a fit of rage. The title of the song means ‘Uncle’ in English.

‘Fuyu Wa Bakakubenu’ is a more mellow yet still sad ballad, with Kazuki relying on normal vocals to produce the sound. He evokes feelings of loneliness and emptiness. The backing is fairly simple, with only a lone guitar and some light as well as some light keyboard. ‘Ameran Kuyuran’ follows on, with another quiet and solemn ballad more akin to traditional folk than his other pieces as of yet. The results are more upbeat, and its more a pleasant piece, creating an image of someone standing out over a landscape and breathing in the scenery.

‘Dagazugu’ is a return to hostile and melancholy form, with the guitar playing more violent, as well as Kazuki’s style. The chorus is introduced with some drumming, and he begins to evoke his demons from below. With each new chorus, he becomes angrier until he explodes with power and emotion. ‘Niatta Seishun’ begins as a more rock-folk piece, with the introduction of electric guitars and keyboards. The power is still present from the last track, however it is less violent and more solemn and foreboding, as he sings about lost time as we grow older. The use of electrical instruments offers a nice contrast to what has been offered so far, making this and the previous track two of my favourites from the album.

‘Hodokyo’ uses similar instrumentation to Niatta, however it is more reminiscent of classic rock blues, and Kazuki has calmed down as he belts out this beautiful but fearful ballad. He once again suggests loneliness as he calls out to something as he trudges through life. The track has a few electric guitar solos, intermittent with Kazuki performing some spoken word parts. These add to the depth of the song, making it more interesting. He gets more and more worked up and sounds like his soul is crying. Easily the best track on the album. It is pure emotion.

‘Haru Dana’ is more of a pop-folk song you would expect to hear on Japanese TV these days… It is entirely nothing special, but perhaps that’s because I have heard so many similar things. Its nice for what it is, but an entirely forgettable track overall. ‘Reizoko’ is another odd intermission which is pretty much just Kazuki speaking fast… He sounds especially nasally here. ‘Koppamijin’ is another slow ballad, a calming influence from the randomness surrounding it. The added keyboard and synth is a fairly interesting add, but nothing excessively special. It is simply a nicely constructed folk song.

‘Todo O Korosuna’ is another simply folk strumming session, Kazuki bringing back his gravelly, screaming vocals. He is screaming out in pain and anger, as someone important is destroyed or killed (Again those high school Japanese skills coming into play). He frantically searches for something to blame, but he can find no answer. ‘Harmonica’ has some interesting electric synth and distorted brass work along with the vocals and guitar. This is probably my favourite ‘calm’ song on the album, his best performance on the album as well.

‘Chiisana Uta’ is another nice piece, combining his sorrowful vocals with some more aggressive playing and pitch changes. Another strong and gloomy song, and despite being overall reminiscent to the album combined, it has some add additions, especially from some instrument I can’t identify. The final track, ‘Ishi’, ends the album on an interesting note, using synthesisers to a greater degree than found elsewhere to create a spacey sentiment as Kazuki finally seems to ‘accept’ his place. More of a spoken word song with interesting backing; it is a fantastic ending to the album.

My first foray into a Japanese folk album, it was a pretty difficult review, simply because I didn’t know what was being sung about most of the time. However, Tomokawa has such an amazing ability to transcend the language barrier and emit pure emotion through his singing. He displays such levels of melancholy, sadness and anger, that the occasional pop track doesn’t detract form the piece as a whole. Sometimes it feels all too familiar; however, this isn’t a bad thing. Hodokyo is an amazing song, as well as Harmonica and Ishi, provide their moments of brilliance.

If you think you can get over the foreign folk vocals, as well as the screaming, then it is definitely worth checking out. It might not be for everyone, but everyone SHOULD check it out. It definitely led me to some other great Japanese folk. I love it.

TOTAL SCORE

7.2/10

- Hodokyo (just click on the vid and get sent to Youtube)

Zarko

Arc Of The Testimony – Arcana (1997)


GENRES – Jazz, Free Jazz, Fusion

Gone Tomorrow - 9:39
Illuminator - 6:07
Into The Circle - 9:25
Returning - 4:29
Calling Out The Blue Light - 6:37
Circles Of Hell - 7:15
Wheeless On A Dark River - 4:27
The Earth Below - 5:28

Every single time someone asks me who my ‘dream band’ would consist of, I don’t ever have to dream… This is one of the most amazing super groups ever assembled in the same band, and the results are obvious from the get go. Arcana (Not the neoclassical band from Sweden) is the project of bassist Bill Laswell, one of the best experimental musicians of all time, whether it be dub, jazz, rock, electronics, he has put his hand into lot of different styles. As the leader, he gathered some amazing names to back him up. Jazz drummer Tony Williams performs on one of his last ever recordings, and it is a worthy send off for the jazz legend. Pharoah Sanders is also present, performing his free jazz saxophone as great as ever, and Bynard Lancaster, an underrated avant garde jazzist is along for the ride. One of the best additions is early Buckethead. Most who know of Buckethead’s history know that Laswell was one of his first motivators, so its not surprise in reality. They also perform together in PRAXIS I believe. Arc Of The Testimony stands up with these other performers to create one of the best jazz-rock fusion albums ever.

‘Gone Tomorrow’ is an remarkable opening, with a little bit present from everyone. Williams sets the piece in motion with a little ‘ra-ta-ta’ across the cymbals and ever present Laswell dubbing before Buckethead puts the bulk of the song into action. Sander’s enters the fray with a little bluesy sax. This is probably one of my favourite prog-jazz openings ever. Each instrument has its own little set, and its built up into pure fusion goodness. William’s drumming is standout and he delivers awesome free drumming to get the song to its apex. This introduces Sander’s wild side as he whips out aggressive line after line of free sax jazz. As the instruments build up, chaos reigns, but it never loses its underlining beauty, created by an awesome Laswell dub backing. Definitely one for the ages.

‘Illuminator’ is a more hard edge rock song, as obvious by the aggressive drumming and Buckethead’s more pronounced guitar riffs. William’s loses none of his bite, and Buckethead’s psychedelic lines are as good as ever. Laswell lets the Head reign for a while, and the pair really does an awesome job of changing the direction of the album a bit. It gets a bit lost, but that’s not a bad thing. Although I do prefer the jazzier tunes on the album, this at least offers some variety. Another one to go into William’s long term repertoire of ‘must listen to’s’. ‘Into The Circle’ is a darker and ethereal piece, as well as reaching out the psychedelic influences. There is plenty of melancholy, despite the hard edged drumming and saxophone playing; it really does act as a chilled, calm piece. The electronics are used to create a sense of haunting and unearthly beings; some of the mixing changed to sound like some far off screech from an unknown creature. This is assisted by some spacey soundscape’s used in the background. Again, you can’t fault the performance of the instrumentalists, as William’s and Buckethead again steal the show, with some wonderfully eclectic playing. The last additions by Sander’s, deep below a few other layers are also a treat, before he hits his solo territory. He’s trying his darndest to **** up your eardrums.

‘Returning’ reintroduces the raw rock sound. By this time, it doesn’t even feel like you have changed tracks, because is simply a quick and volatile re-offensive on the senses. This isn’t a bad thing by the way, the album flows amazingly well. This time its Buckethead’s turn to try and **** up your ears. Its a very violent track, but still containing some moments of brilliance, particularly when Buckethead breaks out the skills at around 2 and a half minutes. ‘Calling Out The Blue Light’ starts out as a quiet psychedelic calm, with the entire group following suite (Other than William’s of course). It is a lush song covered with layers of dubbing, light guitar riffs, some light saxophone work, that just works a treat. It almost makes me imagine being underwater, surrounded by a reef of colour, and never having to worry about coming up for air. Another track that is better to experience rather than be explained how it makes ME feel. It ends with a beautiful touch from Sanders.

‘Wheelless On A Dark River’ sounds almost ‘too far away’ to full experience, as if it isn’t intended to be fully heard to begin with. Maybe it’s the production or dubbing, I don’t know, but I like that little subtle touch. This is, of course Williams, Laswell and Buckethead go all avant garde on the song. Reminding me fully of a rock version of John Coltrane’s mess of Ascension, the two are all over the place, with little regard for one another. Of course that’s what makes FREE jazz great. Each section is to be marvelled separately, whether it’s the deep acoustic bass of Laswell or William’s aggro drumming. It is truly the freest jazz you’ll get on the album, without any Sanders either. ‘The Earth Below’ brings back the raw rock violence, to assist in the foreboding feeling set by the backing electronics and even just the name. William’s fast drumming is a wonder, I have no idea how he does it, but he continued to produce up until his much too early death. It’s the rock version of ‘Wheelless’ in that it delivers a lot of free aspects, just a bit more structured and a bit more spacey. Its pretty much a competition of who can outdo each other speed-wise between Buckethead and Williams.

The final track, ‘Circles Of Hell’ returns to the fusion sound heard early on the album. It is an amalgamation of a lot of other aspects found on the album. The song true William’s epitaph, a commemoration to his skill as a drummer and his influence on the jazz world. Everyone gets in on the act to make it something special.

Arc Of The Testimony is one of the most perfect prog-jazz albums I have found. It just suited my particular tastes, as it doesn’t attempt the screeching guitar sounds that are present through earlier fusion albums, and it really bites through all the crap that was being produced in the genre to create a true gem. Unfortunately, it is rather unknown. We’re it not for Williams’ untimely death, who knows what this group would go on to produce. Their first outing, ‘The Last Wave’ is more avant garde rock rather than jazz fusion, which makes each of them so special and unique in comparison to one another. The album doesn’t over extend itself either, resting at around 50 minutes; I found it was the prefect length without having to drag much along. I would recommend this album to people who are interested in prog-jazz-rock fusion; however, this would surely disappoint them, as they will never find a greater gem in the genre.

A true beauty that deserves a good few listens. It is a great ending to Williams’ amazing career, brimming with great improvisation and electronics.

TOTAL SCORE

9.3/10

– Gone Tomorrow
– Into The Circle
- Returning

Zarko

Unless anyone thinks otherwise, I will probably start cutting down on review length...

Zarko

NOTE - My supremely dodgy uploads are the ones that just have the titles at the start, and then a pic or two of the artist and the album cover... I am too lazy to make something elaborate, and thats not really the point is it?

Zarko

Dan Berglund’s Tonbruket - Dan Berglund’s Tonbruket


Jazz/Experimental

The Esbjorn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.) were a phenomenal piano jazz trio that ended in 2008 with Esbjorn Svensson’s death in mid-2008. The two remaining members, Dan Berglund and Magnus Ostrom, had to ask the question – Where to from here? Well, their decision isn’t one that will summon up memories of e.s.t.’s style. Here they’ve decided to infuse some jazz styling into other genres. It isn’t jazz as most people know it.

In a lot of tracks there is a particular dark tinge across the music – Never too overt as to make you actually think you’re listening to dark jazz, but there is a nice balance between the upbeat times, the downtempo times and their depth. Sometimes they group gets a bit proggy, but only in a way that a jazz quartet can. Definitely worth a listen. ATM it would be about an 8.5/10 with room for improvement on that rating.

Bulldog

Good to see you're still updating this thread, as it's definitely one of the best on the site. You've gotta let me know which blogs you visit one of these days, as each of the albums I've picked up from this journal have been anything from pretty decent all-round.

As for this bunch, can see what you mean by the dark tinge over the pieces. It's a kind of murky, dark nu jazz which is really up my street, and that I should really explore a bit further soon. All three of those tracks you posted are awesome, but I'd say that Sailor's Waltz one's impressed me the most - gotta love when that guitar kicks in at around 5 minutes!

Zarko

Random Picks
Method of discussion - Open Foobar -> Click random track buttom -> Get album chosen for me. Easy enough.

Shiyugosha - Equinoxe

From the album, "Equilibre"
Definitely an interesting pick. Shiyugosha sort of jumps between simple hip hop beats and simple post-rockish type melodies. Probably to the detriment of the album, neither side are fleshed out enough in my opinion. He creates simple, heavy stuff using his guitar and a few drum beats with some solid production every now and then to keep things interesting. It is definitely worth a check out, but it's pretty heavy, laden, slow stuff that's best reserved late at night. Has some subtle Asian-esque 70s samurai movie stylings, which is always a plus. Okay album, nothing amazing.




MRR-ADM - 009

Untitled release.
Winner winner. The real highlight here is Malcom Catto's drumming. Deceptively simple at times, and although this probably isn't the best song to highlight it, one of the foremost funk drummers going around. Love his stuff, and this album is no exception. Only 1000 vinyls pressed of this one, and nearly every track (Out of 6) is a killer. Got a very nice groove beat throughout the entire thing. Definitely recommend a try, even if only the youtube vids of all the tracks.




Third and last pick for the evening!

Gomma Workshop - My Heart The Spoon

Music made for his short animations. It really is quite an interesting album, made up of 1000s of different, random sounds. Despite what it was made for, it is extremely fluid and well developed either way.
More succinct information here