grindy

I have quite a big musical collection and while I do listen to a lot of it, there are some releases I have which are basically unknown to me.
Here I will review randomly selected albums from artists and bands whose names tell me nothing at all at first glance.
While I always check out music before adding it to my collection, I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of mediocre and even outright crappy stuff, that I kept out of some hipsterish fascination with the obscure or because some musician I like plays two notes on the last track. Or I might simply dislike something nowadays because my tastes have changed since I got it.
But I'm also sure that I'll discover some real treasures.
Lost treasure or rightfully forgotten crap, I'll review both and everything in between.

Stay tuned.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

grindy

Fosa Común ‎– Fosa Común



Genre: AvantProg

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/Fosa-Com%C3%B...elease/5628072

Not a great release, but surely an enjoyable one.
This mexican trio plays avantprog reminiscent of the greats of the genre like Present and Univers Zero, but without quite reaching the level of energy and complexity those bands displayed in their best releases.
The most prominent instrument here is the bass, which sounds deliciously crunchy and displays a lot of technical skill. The drums are well played and there is the rhythmical complexity inherent to the genre, but they don't really stand out and are somewhat low in the mix. The drummer also plays some guitar on the third track, which is well played and a nice addition, but nothing to get too excited about. What makes this EP quite special is the extensive use of the bassoon, a seldom used instrument I really like. Sadly the bassoon is also a little low in the mix and the sound and lines played are not as exciting as I'd like them to be. It does go quite wild in a free-jazzy way on the last track though, something which I'd enjoy hearing more.
Overall this EP is quite cool and fun to listen to. I imagine that the strength of the compositions wouldn't be sufficient for a whole album, but because of the brevity it works well.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

Pet_Sounds

I've subbed and will be reading.

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

Trollheart

Nice one. Welcome!
Just a point: your album sleeve is not coming up because you put in the "jpg" tag twice...

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

grindy

Glad to hear that. Hope you'll find something of interest.

Thanks.
Discogs seems to store their pics in a weird way (this was the actual link), so now I've just reuploaded it.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

grindy

Shut Up ‎– Hell In A Handbasket



Genre: Post Punk(?)

Discogs: http://http://www.discogs.com/Shut-U...release/900826

"Shut Up" play that type of weirdo music that is sometimes labeled as post punk, although it is not really categorizable.
Despite being a pretty obscure album there is actually a semi-famous bandmember, the guitarist Glenn Jones, who played with post-rockers Cul De Sac and has released several solo albums featuring his fingerpicked acoustic guitar stylings.
There are several "songs" on this album, which consist of a mostly steady beat, over which weird synth sounds (think Pere Ubu's Allen Ravenstine) and even weirder moaned, screamed, mumbled vocals (sometimes male, sometimes female) soar. The guitar is mostly played in a noisy, no wave-ish manner, but is pretty low in the mix. There is also some synth bass, which isn't particularly noticeable though. One of the songs is a cover of "Hey Joe" which wouldn't be out of place on a Residents release, with its electronically tweaked vocals and overall humorously creepy atmosphere.
Actually The Residents come to mind often when listening to this album.
Apart from the "songs" there are some even weirder tracks. "Pass From View" is a slow creeping number, the beat sounds like a heartbeat, over which the vocals are first being slowly articulated, gradually evolving into hysteric screaming towards the end.
"Fear Of Sounding Pretty", an instrumental and the longest track on the album, starts of with some abstract sounds until after about three and a half minutes a pulse and then a beat is developed, overlayed with noises of synths and guitar.
This is a fun album for people who like The Residents, although it's not a clone and has some character of its own. It's a little inconsistent and "Fear Of Sounding Pretty" is too long, but I'm glad that I rediscovered it and will be giving it a listen from time to time.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

Mondo Bungle

This is what always comes to mind as my forgotten music, I bet you know this one.

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grindy

I somehow don't, although this is very much in the vein.
Thanks for the tip!

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.