[2008] Daniel Levin Trio - Fuhuffah

By request... Daniel Levin in cello, Håker-Flaten (The Thing) in bass, Gerard Cleaver in drums.





Buy it directly from Clean Feed here.

[2011] Seven Sisters of Sleep - Seven Sisters of Sleep

Great debut album of this new hardcore/sludge band from California, and easily one of the best things I've heard coming from Southern Lord's new batch of hardcore/crust-punk bands. Short, heavy songs filled with hardcore madness and gloom brutality, gravitating towards the likes of Eyehategod and Thou, distancing themselves from these bands with their energetic, fast-paced delivery.




Buy it directly from Southern Lord here.

[2011] Horseback/Locrian - New Dominions

The new collaboration between Horseback and Locrian is here, released in no other label but Utech Records. Two tracks clocking around 20min in total; my favorite being Our Epitaph, focusing in building upon the song structure using a breathtaking layering, involving Locrian's ever present tremolo-picked chords and Horseback's galloping slow riffing, accompanied by sparse drumming turning the song in a heavy trip. The Gift goes the opposite way, setting an eerie mood with the slow, crashing guitars complementing the piano and layered harsh vocals. Short but compelling release.

Buy it directly from Utech Records here.

[2009] Chord - Flora

Chord is a collective of four guitar musicians formed in Illinois (among them Trevor De Brauw from Pelican), focusing their efforts into a stripped out, minimalist arrangement revolving around a single chord, distorted and reinterpreted as they please, keeping into account the overall tone and texture of each composition. Inspired in composers such as Tony Conrad and Glenn Branca (specially the latter, since his direct influence can be felt throughout the songs), Chord delivers satisfactory results with this album, their debut.




Buy it directly from Neurot Recordings here.

[2011] Larsen & Z'EV - In V.Tro

Half recorded during live sessions and another half recorded in studio, this collaboration was commissioned as a "soundtrack for micro-cinematic images on the study of cells", as a tribute to Giuseppe Levi, who researched and exploited the great potential of the in vitro technique, which gives name to this album. Aside from the interesting backstory, Larsen proves again that they shine in collaborative projects. Z'EV delivers his usual experimental approach to percussion to the mix, giving it a strong abstract feel while Larsen controls the mood of the album with its minimalist guitar and synth pair. Somewhat similar to their Nurse With Wound collaboration, Larsen sticks to their minimalistic post-rock side bordering in drone while Z'EV takes care of the bizarre background.

Download it here: [V0][FLAC]

Buy it directly from Important Records here.

[2010] Marcia Bassett/Jenny Gräf - Paradam

A female duo mapping the mysteries hidden beneath the empty cosmos and the tightly compressed stone crystal with their heavily layered and abrasive noise tapestry, making a clever use of brass instruments and subdued harmonies. Mastered by the veteran James Plotkin.

Download it here: [V0]


Buy it directly from Utech Records here.

[2011] The Haxan Cloak - The Haxan Cloak

One of the most interesting Aurora Borealis artists of this year, The Haxan Cloak have released a few live CDr EPs  independently through the years, this s/t being their first LP under a label. The music is composed of classical arrangements, electronically processed via free improvisation and combined with haunting field recordings, creating a very distinctive aura avoiding further descriptions. Another one of these introspective albums that fully reveal themselves after constant listens at high volumes.




Buy it directly from Aurora Borealis here (scroll down).

[2011] Daniel Levin - Inner Landscape

Inner Landscape is Daniel Levin's first solo album, released via Clean Feed as many of his trio/quartet works. Fully improvised, this album is a stripped out display of his cello skills that have been already evident in his ensemble works but in here we get to appreciate them in full form, exploring the wide range of possibilities the stringed instrument has to offer with a dynamic, precise and beautiful delivery.




Buy it directly from Clean Feed here.

[2011] Gregg Kowalsky - Battery Townsley

Recorded inside the WWII bunker that gives this release its name, using a similar method for his Tape Chants, in which he locates cassette players across a room creating stacked, ever-evolving loops with the output. One of the most interesting drone releases of this year from the ones I've seen.




Buy it directly from Kowalsky's Bigcartel site here.

[2011] Fire! with Jim O'Rourke - Unreleased?

After two years of their first album, Fire! teams up with Jim O'Rourke to release the follow-up, 4 new tracks pushing forward the abrasive, repetitive style of the trio with his piercing guitar blasts and clever sound experiments. Intense collaboration, it adds up to another successful Gustafsson-related project in which O'Rourke collaborates, and already in constant rotation for me. Thoroughly recommended.

Buy it directly from Rune Grammofon here.

[2007] Sunburned Circle - The Blaze Game

A very intense, live collaboration between two masters of psychedelic jams, Sunburned Hand of The Man (USA) and Circle (Finland). Together they delivered a long, almost non-stop show full of blissed out solos and slow building patterns, which reminds me of the best improvised moments in Amon Düül II, everything tightly layered,without a single quiet moment.

Download it here: [V0]


Buy it directly from Conspiracy Records here.

[2011] Master Musicians of Bukkake - Totem Three

Their latest release and the last from their Totem trilogy, this album is the perfect closure for an amazing series of albums that explored the occult, unknown places of the Earth with its array of sounds, influences and bizarre elements. Comparing bands is always unfair, but it seems to me that they've already gotten closer, if not surpassed, bands from the psychedelic krautrock era such as Agitation Free and Can (saving the distances of course), by combining the best of the psychedelic rock sound with strong eastern influences, and late 20th century's filmography. And on that note (while following the idea of their previous single), this album is a homage to John Carpenter's horror films, mimicking the vintage synths and dark atmosphere that characterized classics like The Thing and the Halloween series.




Buy it directly from Important Records here.

[2001] Noothgrush - Failing Early, Failing Often

Yet another compilation of Noothgrush's early material (splits and unreleased songs), this time the last one before splitting up. For those who don't know this influential sludge/hardcore band from California, the content of this compilation might be good enough to understand why this band is considered a classic within the genre, which also has ties with Graves at Sea (via their female drummer, Chiyo Nukaga). Pessimism, Isolation and Star Wars lyrics (featured in some movie samples) were their most familiar traits, along with a stripped out, low-endy riffing that puts them along the heaviest of the genre.

Download it here: [V0]


Currently unavailable.

[2003] Toadliquor - The Hortator's Lament

Toadliquor is one of the many influential sludge bands of the late decade, whose slow, devastating sound with drowned, hardcore vocals gave them a special place among the big acts from the beginning of the 00's. Having released only two official albums (Hortator's Lament being their last, and also the compilation of all their previous songs), they garnered instant cult status during Southern Lord's golden era. Easily one of my most inspiring, favorite bands.
Influential material, and recommended for whoever wants a good start in both doom and sludge metal.

Download it here: [V2][V0]


Buy it directly from Southern Lord here.

[2011] Grouper - A I A : Dream Loss

This is the second part of the latest 2xCD release by Grouper. Dream Loss starts on a similar way Alien Observer ended, with a slow, haunting note that will serve as an intro, before kicking in with a slow strummed guitar and drowned vocals akin to her previous album, less dark and more provocative and haunting.
Both discs complement each other nicely. Playing them together (which seems to be the main purpose) will create a really dense atmosphere, typical of her live shows. Awesome comeback album, 3 years waiting for something like this and Grouper delivered. Recommended for 2011.

Download it here: [V0]


Buy it directly from Boomkat here.

[2011] Grouper - A I A : Alien Observer

This is the first part of Grouper's (Liz Harris' monicker) first double CD and latest release 3 years after Dragging A Deer Up A Hill, her most famous work. Both CD's complement each other, this one heavily on the dark ambient side. The electronic elements make the manipulated guitar to be almost indiscernible, and instead drowned along with the vocals, giving it the unique ethereal style we're familiar with. Similar in vein to her earlier albums, with a stronger emphasis in the atmosphere and less in the guitar instrumentation.

Download it here: [V0]


Buy it directly from Boomkat here.

Utech Records Music Festival 2011

This summer in the state of Wisconsin, Utech Records (label whose releases I'm a faithful follower) will hold its first curated festival, in which 11 of their US-based bands and artists will perform a unique show, and some of the best underground music will be showcased. The label is also offering a sample for those not familiar with the bands that will perform (check the link below); so far the names included are the following: James Plotkin, Ural Umbo, Mamiffer, House of Low Culture, Horseback, GOG, Locrian, ITHI and Willian Fowler Collins. If you're in the area, you can't afford to miss this!

This festival is scheduled by June 11 at the Cactus Club, in Milwukee, Wisconsin.

More information about this Festival here.

[2007] Smegma - Nattering Naybobs of Negativity

Nattering Naybobs of Negativity is one of the most representative albums (aside from their debut, Glamour Girl 1941) of this band, which has influenced several experimental and improvisational acts during 4 decades, including (but not limited to) projects related to Stapleton in general, and many others with improvisational backgrounds. And indeed, its extensive use of sample manipulation and bizarre free jazz and tape looping predates plenty of artists from back then, without sounding dated or less out there than late, well known projects. In this album the Zappa influence is quite evident, with its cartoonish samples and crazed ramblings with the pervert humor present in Uncle Meat, but instead of delving further into progressive rock, it loses itself in a free jazz craze, which fits the style nicely.

This is a 2007 reissue of the original 1987 release, which includes Morass (cassette), released a year later.

Download it here: [320][V0]


Buy it directly from Forced Exposure here.

[2009] Laudanum - The Coronation

Hateful sludge/noise from Cali, comprised by members of Asunder and Graves At Sea, with an unusual approach, relying a lot in minimal outbursts of feedback and background noise combined with heavy, mid-paced sections of the best hardcore-laced doom the genre can offer. Two vocalists constantly swap parts in the songs, varying from high shrieks to deep grunts, but allowing the lyrics to be clearly heard.

Download it here: [V2][V0]

Buy it directly from 20 Buck Spin Records here.

[2009] Gregg Kowalsky - Tape Chants

While the previous efforts relied in purely electronic chain arrangements, Tape Chants was recorded incorporating tapes with specific tones, tuned and mixed to each other, placed in several locations within a room. The resulting effect, which is later arranged with oscillators to give a sense of rhythm, is one of the most interesting drone recordings I've had the chance of listening. Some other percussive instruments were used albeit subtly, to avoid disrupting the overbearing feeling infused by the oscillating drones.

Download it here: [320][V0]


Buy it directly from Kranky Records here.