Been listening a lot to Christina Schneider lately. Current partner of Kevin from Of Montreal and one of the greatest talents to come off of OSR Tapes (along with Chris Weisman, Blanche Blanche Blanche and Palberta). Though her focus is currently on her band Locate S,1 I've been digging on her solo release from a few years back Violence Etcetera. It's a really enigmatic tascam 8 track album that channels a lot of 60's influence. Lots of comfort in danger here. The staccato, nearly dubby bass, is a persistent frenemy and the guitar here is this beautiful little swirl that has this Marc Ribot edge I cannot escape. Some highlights here include all of Click Hendrix ("he told me where to plug it in, I'm comfortable now" - one of those little moment stopping vocal whispers), the title track (promises of Violence never have seemed so fruitful) and Rebecca Rom Frank's poetic delivery on Oranges. For fans of The Raincoats and Mitski and Joni Mitchell.
Mannn that's a compliment. I wish, I do miss Keith, I was CubaZed but do not condone that era.
Cuba!!! No way! Welcome back, brother! Well, you have to participate in that Blondie Rank 'Em then!!! That's all pretty much in your honor! I don't do any fancy calculations though! lol
Personally, I actually find myself vibing with the Bay Area/Castle Face psychedelic garage rock offshoots for the majority of last decade more often than not. Lately though, when I hear something like the latest Oh Sees record I get a little sad on what could have been. I'm talking the lo-fi meth addled sounds that John Dwyer and co would create on the first two oh sees records (Sucks Blood and Cool Death of the Island Raiders) or even earlier (the ocs tapes). This isn't your royal trux shambles though, their approach at the time was making things as quiet and harmonious as possible. Think bay area garage rock perverted versions of early AnCo albums. Fascinating stuff to listen to and it's a shame no one really went back to this approach.
Enter Kamikaze Palm Tree, a recent project from Oakland that is white fence affiliated (but goddamn are they better than anything Tim Presley touches). They've brought a sense of wonder and refreshing enigmatic mystery to this sound by partially incorporating back these early oh sees sounds to the regional style. But they play with harsh pannings, triplet delay and samples like no one's business. From the opener, Toucan's Nose, with bouncing vocals, and choked out guitar that's throttled shut until the drums kick in, to the titular Good Boy, a lofi fingerstyle Fahey open tuning type beat farce on nice guys, to the closer Run Around that fast approaches Laura Palmer style screams. Highly recommended to those that have 27 minutes and want to see where garage rock is going, because with energy like this, the future is bright.
Lina Tullgren finally allowed guitar and fiddle to kiss on Free Cell or the album to play on the longest hot afternoon of your life. Here assisted by Simon Hanes (a very Italian romanticist style composer who used to be in Guerrilla Toss but now is in Tredici Bacci and a regular collaborator of John Zorn and JG Thirlwell), Tullgren’s compositions unfurl, lethargically at first but then Tullgren unleashes their fiddle with all the passion of Ravel (and sometimes paired with the claustrophobia of a jangly Marc Ribot solo). Especially on moments such as Golden Babyland where Tullgren’s boredom feels compressed and ready to lash out. But these compositions can unfurl and languish / practically hang in free time. The title track or the two soft glove’s for instance.
HEY! It's the sound of the beat friendship! Palberta. Yes Palberta. This riot grrl/no wave trio of female rockers from NYC have been making waves for the last seven years from a modest but very critically successful start on OSR Tapes to recently being singlehandedly picked by Kathleen Hanna to open for bikini kill on their revival tour. And that's not including their own successful solo projects. What I love about Palberta is that the three of them switch off on their instruments both live and on record and they all bring their own vibes and influences to the instruments they're on each creating a really dynamic experience to the album. Lily's got a cool dance punk/arthur russell approach, Ani's always on some Beefheart tin can shit, Nina on the polyrhythmic bendy grind. They're in the process of album rollout for their fifth record but that's still 4 or 5 months away and I want to talk about their absolute classic Roach Going Down now goddammit. It's Jittery and jumping around the floor is lava style. Not afraid to groove atonally with hammer ons on Ziddy, fill you with infectious hooks on Sound of The Beat, summon the spirits of The Raincoats for a Hall and Oates Rich Girl cover with all the pronoun and gender swapping you'd hope for or just be possessed with absolute masculine apathy on Come Again, which is about exactly what you think it is. That said, ask any member of Palberta what the songs are about and you’ll get a different answer everytime. Ask yourself what the songs mean after each listen and it’s a similar story. It’s a dancey schoolyard enigma with equal parts love and cliquey hate.
Well oh well BEA. Today I have been on the hunt for tapes unheard. Literally! As I had to unearth this one from a convoluted scavenger hunt. It's Smiling Beth's debut LP A Piano Walks Home Alone at Night
This is a timely release for them. Smiling Beth's been toiling away in the Los Angeles underground for a while and have recently been getting the notice they deserve after LA cultural institution Weirdo Night went national last month. As the featured musical guest, they were exposed to thousands of new people thanks to an aggressive social media campaign and great New York Mag writeup.
So what's it like inside? Well, we're wading through a lot of emotions here. There's the capitalist pastiche where an almost Debussy-ian piano driven odyssey builds out of the 800-588-2300 empire carpet cleaner jingle (this isn't hyperbole, front woman Jean Delkhaste is a classically trained virtuoso that leans into that sense of impressionism). Simmering female rage on the heartbreaking True Story which is catchy enough to get stuck in your head but if you let those lyrics sit with you, fuck, you'll be hit with little waves of shock throughout the day. And Manic Pixie Nightmare Noise through the delicious vocal processing on stuff like Bads 001 or Float into the Air. Others highlights include this smokey lounge New Orleans blues vibe that clings through the brass section on Purse on a Vacation. Or the Charlie Brown wah - wah representation of parents on O Happy Day (there's an argument to be made that this outro is muchhhhh longer than it needs to be but I say phooey, it commits to it and so should you!
Anyway the cover art is one of the prettiest covers I've seen all year and that title is a solid reference to one of the best horror films of last decade.
HEY! It's the sound of the beat friendship! Palberta. Yes Palberta. This riot grrl/no wave trio of female rockers from NYC have been making waves for the last seven years from a modest but very critically successful start on OSR Tapes to recently being singlehandedly picked by Kathleen Hanna to open for bikini kill on their revival tour. And that's not including their own successful solo projects. What I love about Palberta is that the three of them switch off on their instruments both live and on record and they all bring their own vibes and influences to the instruments they're on each creating a really dynamic experience to the album. Lily's got a cool dance punk/arthur russell approach, Ani's always on some Beefheart tin can shit, Nina on the polyrhythmic bendy grind. They're in the process of album rollout for their fifth record but that's still 4 or 5 months away and I want to talk about their absolute classic Roach Going Down now goddammit. It's Jittery and jumping around the floor is lava style. Not afraid to groove atonally with hammer ons on Ziddy, fill you with infectious hooks on Sound of The Beat, summon the spirits of The Raincoats for a Hall and Oates Rich Girl cover with all the pronoun and gender swapping you'd hope for or just be possessed with absolute masculine apathy on Come Again, which is about exactly what you think it is. That said, ask any member of Palberta what the songs are about and you’ll get a different answer everytime. Ask yourself what the songs mean after each listen and it’s a similar story. It’s a dancey schoolyard enigma with equal parts love and cliquey hate.
Well oh well BEA. Today I have been on the hunt for tapes unheard. Literally! As I had to unearth this one from a convoluted scavenger hunt. It's Smiling Beth's debut LP A Piano Walks Home Alone at Night
This is a timely release for them. Smiling Beth's been toiling away in the Los Angeles underground for a while and have recently been getting the notice they deserve after LA cultural institution Weirdo Night went national last month. As the featured musical guest, they were exposed to thousands of new people thanks to an aggressive social media campaign and great New York Mag writeup.
So what's it like inside? Well, we're wading through a lot of emotions here. There's the capitalist pastiche where an almost Debussy-ian piano driven odyssey builds out of the 800-588-2300 empire carpet cleaner jingle (this isn't hyperbole, front woman Jean Delkhaste is a classically trained virtuoso that leans into that sense of impressionism). Simmering female rage on the heartbreaking True Story which is catchy enough to get stuck in your head but if you let those lyrics sit with you, fuck, you'll be hit with little waves of shock throughout the day. And Manic Pixie Nightmare Noise through the delicious vocal processing on stuff like Bads 001 or Float into the Air. Others highlights include this smokey lounge New Orleans blues vibe that clings through the brass section on Purse on a Vacation. Or the Charlie Brown wah - wah representation of parents on O Happy Day (there's an argument to be made that this outro is muchhhhh longer than it needs to be but I say phooey, it commits to it and so should you!
Anyway the cover art is one of the prettiest covers I've seen all year and that title is a solid reference to one of the best horror films of last decade.
Well said mate. I'd be very interested in listening to the rest - I guess I need the tubes cuz just a bunch of singles on spotify.
Although Purse on Vacation - dig the vocals... not sure what to think of the production. In someways it sounds very live, DIY. Drums especially, yet they sound really good in some ways too, like that kick drum is room filling. Pretty rad arrangement and love the mix of horns... slides right in with almost not noticing... like that wall of sound - you don't hear it, you feel it.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
