Mixtape #02 - Noise Rock

Work is dragging me down, it's almost summer but it rains everyday, and I haven't had a drink in a week. No wonder I'm in a mood for some angry music. So there we have it, a mixtape fully dedicated to some of the most aggravating, cathartic music around.

This mixtape features bands that are usually associated with Noise Rock, which - to be honest - I don't consider to be a musical style per se, at least in a sense of being a well established musical expression that falls within a defined set of conventions. That said, I do think it's a valid way to describe most of these bands, as they all use Rock as a foundation to put forth some of the most violent, fierce and unorthodox music made today. 

I tried it to keep the compilation short and simple, and hopefully varied enough to hold your interest. If you like what you hear, support the bands. They're just a google search away. Here's the setlist:

01 - ZA! - Buggamaistah, Spazzfrica Ehd; Papa Dupau vs. Ceausescu
02 - Melt Banana - A Dreamer Who Is Too Weak To Face Up To
03 - Kong - Leather Penny
04 - Young Widows - Lucky And Hardheaded
05 - Mayyors - The Crawl
06 - KEN mode - The Ugliest Happy You've Ever Seen
07 - Todd - Eagle And Child
08 - Today Is The Day - High As The Sky
09 - Zeni Geva - Dead Sun Rising
10 - NoMeansNo - Oh No! Bruno!
11 - Pissed Jeans - False Jesii Part 2
12 - 5ive - Kettle Cove
13 - Hebosagil - Ovet auki

Zeke - Punk Fury

People will seek motivation just about anywhere to overcome the lack of will to do such mundane, everyday tasks. Hard drugs, going to church, self-help audio books (ugh), and so on. Most of the time, I turn to music for a pick-me-up, especially the hard-hitting stuff. Fast and furious will do fine. ZEKE will do better.

Here's a bunch of fellows that don't like to beat around the bush, 2 seconds in and you'll know exactly what they're aiming at: to entertain your primitive self by playing some nasty, gritty, capital letters ROCK. They sound like they've been on a steady diet of Motörhead and amphetamines for years. Vocalist/guitarrist "Blind" Marky rasps like an angry Lemmy Kilmister gone full punk, the riffs sound like they were spewed out by the Dwarves and the rhythm section of Jeff "The Kid" Matz (bass) and Donny "Paycheck" (drums) would make Discharge proud. Hell, even their aliases cry out Rock n' Roll.

Music nowadays needs bands like ZEKE, who remind us of the urgency that defined the early stages of punk and hardcore and that should have never gone out of style (thanks a lot, Green Day). Their booze-drenched tunes pack enough punch to make you want to hit the road, literally. This stuff reeks of cheap fuel and burned rubber. Kings of the road indeed.

So, the next time you're in the mood for some "Ace of Spades", tune in some Zeke. If all the name-dropping made you the least curious, chances are you're going to like it. Go grab their latest output, Till The Living End, play it loud and antagonize your neighbours. Next time a cup of joe just isn't enough to get you through the day, you know where to turn to.

Mixtape #01 - Raw Punk/Hardcore

My love of music materialized in the early stages of the digital era. Tape-trading was still pretty strong at the time, but eventually the battle was lost to p2p. Though it was a short-lived event in my life, it was essential for my formative years as a music fan. The pleasure of sharing music has not subsided, and to this day, mixtaping is still one of my favourite hobbies.

So, to spring some life back into the blog, I decided to start sharing some home-made compilations. They'll be arranged by theme, mood, genre, whatever, into what hopefully will be a cohesive flow of songs. I'll try to make them fun and short. Most of it will probably feature low-profile bands, after all the point it's to show you new music.

For this first round, I went for some raw punk and hardcore bands, mainly because I've been listening to the stuff like crazy in the past weeks. You have some "classic" acts, as well some new bands who keep the style going. So, if you like what you hear, support the bands. They're just a google search away. Here's the setlist:

01 - Leather - Inanna Altar
02 - Citizens Arrest - In The Distance
03 - Nazi Dust - Disease Of Flies
04 - Comets On Fire - The Way Down
05 - Creem - I Hate You
06 - Brown Sugar - Total Fucking Garbage
07 - The Men - ( )
08 - Siege - Starvation
09 - Cult Ritual - Nailed
10 - Nuclear Spring - Real Freedom
11 - Bone Awl - Show Me

Boredoms - Aggravate your senses

Japan: land of karaoke madness, weird porn fetishes and ludicrously violent movies. I'm guessing Japanese culture has a lot more to offer other than this triad of seemingly ill-conceived concepts but as far as personal experience goes, I really don't know any better. Nevertheless, the extravagant nature of these is evidence enough of the cultural distance between us, civilized keep-it-on-the-safe-side-of-things westerners and those crazy what-the-fuck-were-they-thinking Japanese.

So, I guess it comes to no surprise that Japan is the go-to destination for enthusiasts of eccentric music (because weird just sounds mean).

Introducing Yamatanka Eye, one of Japan's foremost music experimentalists. Hanatarash was an early project, set on spreading terror-inducing noise while putting at risk the lives of those brave enough to attend their shows. In one particular gig, he actually ran a bulldozer into the audience. It just goes to show the fine line between art and attempted murder.

Later on, Eye founded Boredoms, an ever-mutating musical outfit that has suffered several line-up changes and that has been renovating its sound since their early stages. From noise-rock to full blown psychedelia with incursion through African music, they have tampered with many sounds, leaving a long and confusing discography along the way.

Not exactly comfort music. It's noisy, confusing, a bit aggravating? All those shrieks and blips coupled over those inane riffs. It's sounds disjointed and convoluted, bearing no ties to any particular style of music. But it sticks to you. The incessant drumming, the weird vocal mantra, the off-kilter melodies, all gaining momentum, expanding in every direction, coalescing into a bewildering piece of music.
So it dawns on you that there's actually something to this, that it's more than just wild experimentation for weirdness sake. And maybe - hopefully - you'll even think that it's good. And if that moment comes, you'll have a hard time going back to your comfort music.

Radio Moscow - Rock n' Roll Revival

"Fashion goes through cycles"- a statement that gets thrown around pretty often. It hints at one of the basal points for art as a whole (and music in particular), the reclamation of past works as a template for new works. 

Too many bands try to walk in the footsteps of those who blazed the trail as a guideline for their own path but fail to reach anywhere worth staying, unable to pay their influences due justice and incapable to stand out in the crowd.

So, when it comes to classic rock, is there any point of venturing further than the bands that defined the genre? Cue Radio Moscow.

After missing their 2009 European tour, last month I had a chance to redeem myself. The crowd gathered at the venue was an interesting sight. Hippie-looking geezers, hard-liner stereotype metalheads, fresh-out-of-work business men and the ever-present hipster crowd. Such wide range of diversity within the audience serves an indicator of the band's wide appeal as well as proof that to these days, classic rock is still something that many hold close to their heart, even if they were not around when it first happened.

Radio Moscow are a testament to that passion. Still in their early twenties, the band serves as a living tribute to the olden days. With a strong blues-influenced sound, they cut straight to the point with their brand of orthodox and pretty-much "heard-it-all-before" rock while being completely unapologetic about it. However, they've managed not to do the same mistakes of those that influenced them. They don't overplay the riffs they've learnt to hone nor do they sacrifice groove for experimentation sake. One can find great balance in their songs, between psych-laden tunes and more urgent, fast pacing rhythms. Dynamics are key.

So, even if they sound like they're stuck on a acid trip circa 1972, they don't sound updated. That's more than The Rolling Stones can say these days. All in all, Radio Moscow proves that old-fashion, balls-out, straight-up rock and roll is still a force to be reckoned with these days. And that, in itself, is a victory.

Radio Moscow @ Saint des Seins, Toulouse.

Prologue

Another music blog, go figure.