At What Point Is Too Available...Well...Too Available?

Starting to write this, i feel like i'm 50 billionth...actually, being the person that reaches a round number makes it look like something special so no, i feel like i'm the 56 236 986 581 person to give this but i don't care, i need to say this.

The discussion is always there, the words always repeated; music is way too available to everybody in this day and age on the internet; want an album by a polka band from Russia? Get on Soulseek and you'll find thousands to choose from, Want a promo version of Kreator's next album? Just google it the right way and you'll score, Feeling like listening to Throbbing Gristle's pummeling TG24+ box set, or better yet to the infamous 50 disc behemoth that is the Merzbox? There's probably a well-seeded torrent to download from.

Yet all the geezers and the snobs point out regularly that having so much music made available to the public is making them cherish it less than back in the good ol' days when AIDS didn't ruin unsafe sex and skyscrappers were made of chocolate; everything is so disposable now, how can you love it?

I'll give it my take on all this.

I think it's bollocks that, if something's (relatively) easily available, then it's worthless; i've found many of my very favorite bands and artists, old and new, by downloading albums by them; if it wasn't for the internet, i probably would have never even hear about Loop since most of their shit is out of print, just to give you an example.

Back in the day (yes, i'm saying it with a straight face and can't believe it), if i wanted to check out a band i didn't know that was not on the radio in any form i had two options: a) i'd gamble my way in and buy the album in a store for literally 4 times de normal price (i live in a country where most albums i like aren't domestic) or b) i'd buy a pirate cassette copy of an album. Even buying a bootleg tape was difficult, you couldn't just waltz into a street corner and ask for the new Pavement joint, let alone, say, a Teengenerate record and forget it if you wanted to give Captain Beefheart a listen, it just didn't exist; locating a good pirate tape booth was difficult but not impossible, and once there, you had to make do with what they had; i remember getting an Earache sampler because it had TWO Brutal Truth songs and i desperately wanted Brutal Truth material to listen to, sure the tape also featured Godflesh, Carcass, Bolt Thrower, Entombed and Cathedral, but i really didn't like any of them (except for Entombed), i was only interested in Brutal Truth and that's all i could get then (years after, i learned to appreciate and love the other 4 bands in the comp).

Another method was taping shit yourself; a friend had something that you absolutely wanted to hear for yourself, so you asked him/her to borrow the tape/cd and then you'd make your copy, or maybe he/she made the copy for you; i had to actually build a cable, literally build a cable (with help from my mom) to record from my Walkman to the house stereo because it wasn't a double deck thing, i also used to xerox the covers and then color them myself, no matter if it was actual photographs. The only Stone Temple Pilots album i own in my tape collections is a very cartoonesque colored copy of Purple, while my Danzig's 4 booklet has the side lid completely drawn by my unsteady, 13-year old hand and is so black, you can't make of any of the printed lyrics...none more black indeed.

So, you'd think downloading has solved any of our harebrained schemes to actually listen to music that probably might make us orgasm to sleep at night and fuel our dreams in pursuit of everything's that amazing in life for us...but it hasn't. For many many people, downloading an album can be as tricky as freestyle rapping in french with only a beginners lesson under your belt; it's fucking unbelievable but people CAN'T GOOGLE, either they can't type and haven't even looked at how they spell their beloved band's name or they get lazy when looking at 500+ results and the first page of results don't have any direct links (refining a search is an alien concept to these people, it seems). Worse of all, people think they are entitled to have the album they are looking for for free, getting hostile over people and calling them "dix" and "azzzholez" because they dare make their lazy, cheap ass selves look harder for the mp3s they can probably easily buy.

I download a lot, a whole fucking lot in fact, but that doesn't affect my listening experience or my excitement over music; in fact, in a lot of circumstances, i have to look hard and suffer for my downloading. I listen to a lot of noise, improv, drone and such, shit that is released in micro-editions by closet labels that go out of print in seconds; sometimes i look for a release for weeks, and once i find it, i sometimes have to wait forever for it to download completely, not to mention many of these releases are done on tape and vinyl, which makes it not more difficult but a lot more tiring for the kind person who rips the material and uploads for the people; a few months ago, i struggled to find a clip of about 3 minutes of Jason Zeh's music that hardly represents his work, but it had to do to show someone more or less what he did. Currently, it's probably going to take me months to download every disc of SPK's box Vinyl On Demand put out this year, but you bet it will be sweet to finally listen to it once everything's in my hard drive, just as it was sweet to listen to the 10-disc Improvised Music From Japan box i downloaded a few months back, and that didn't take much effort to download, relatively speaking.

So, music is music, more people are listening to it and more people who are predisposed to not really care about it will not care about much, but they'll listen to it; for us who really live for this, things don't change, whether you're awaiting patiently for your mailorder or being queued to download all of Whitehouse's original Aktions, the moment those notes that really mean something to you will sound as sweet as they need to be, the morans and freeloaders be damned.

She's Like A Black Rainbow

Dead Luke
Box Set
Sacred Bones
OOOo

Gothic-y vocals and notes swarm around a cushony bed of electronics that are sorta dancy and fun; sounds like something that might not be that seemless, but it is, thanks to the overall rhythms that march on a deathrock roll. Very simplistic but it does the trick, like Crystal Castles wanting to play Christian Death’s Only Theater Of Pain and chuffing away all their filler material. A clear highlight is their appropiation of a Rolling Stones classic, converting it to “Jumping Jack Flash Drive”, dressed in bleeping synths and macabre vocal tones. The songs flow somwhere between goth rocking fare and more extended dancy, electronica numbers, mostly on the same songs, flowing in and out of each style, which is interesting and does for good grim dancefloor fodder; but it’s hardly super innovative shit. Tons of fun and danceable.

Dead Luke - Untitled.mp3

The First Star I See...

Originally, i wanted to write about Jimmy Eat World in general but, seeing as next year will mark the tenth anniversary of this album, i thought i would write more specifically about it; either way, most of the points don’t change if the subject of band and album are traded.

I encountered Jimmy Eat World in the late 90’s, while investigating on the sounds of the then-intriguing tag of “emo” that no one liked and is way more hated today; still, i didn’t listen to Jimmy until the early ‘00s when i downloaded two songs, “Opener” and the demo of “If You Don’t, Don’t” from the then forthcoming Bleed American album. I related to both songs and liked them.

Clarity, i found later on, while investigating further into the band’s career; funny enough, i don’t remember the first time i listened to it, i remember not thinking or feeling anything afterwards, which is odd. Now, it figures as one of my favorite albums ever, not because it’s groundbreaking musically (which isn’t, really) or lyrically, but it’s a collection of songs that are so well arranged, sequenced and played that, most importantly in my book, i can relate and makes me feel something (which is something that happens with most of my favorite albums, no matter if it’s Bardo Pond’s Lapsed, Boredoms’ Super AE, Wigrid’s Die Asche Eines Lebens or Merzbow’s Venereology).

The songs are all delivered with such sincerity without too much vagueness or too much specification, the music and imagery is balanced in such a way that they evoke something personal to you, while making you sing along to their songs; it’s a great album to wallow in your own misery or to scream along in excitement.

One of my favorite parts of the album is the continuity throughout, especially during the first part; “Believe In What You Want” could be a new section for “Your New Aesthetic” while “Crush”’s verse vocal melody is not that different from some found on the previous song, “A Sunday”, to the point where “Crush” seems like a more aggressive coda to the other song. Another thing that strikes me about this album is the use of strings that is so common to disposable pop these days, but it doesn’t sound cheap or corny, sounds like something that fills the sound, gives it something extra it might lack.

The rocking parts are passionate and loud, the quiet parts are melancholic and earnest, but nothing is what it seems; the aforementioned “Crush” might sound violent (by their standards) but it’s actually an euphoric number about feeling good and happy, while the sadder “A Sunday” talks about losing someone over bad decisions and drugs. Of course, the choruses of “Like a breath” and “As the haze clears from your eyes, on a sunday” might have a different interpretation for every listener, and that’s part of this album’s greatness, in a big way.

Undeniably, there’s a centerpiece in this album in the form of “Just Watch The Fireworks”, a song that begins fairly straight, both lyrically and musically, with arpeggios adorning the verses, a simple drum beat propelling the song and the lyrics all describing...well...watching fireworks, a promise of seeing them again with “you”; strings enter the picture but they are fairly unintrusive, as they have been on the album so far; the real meat of the song, comes on the bridge when Jim Adkins “said said said out loud over and over”, while the strings add to the song without making it a dumb power ballad moment, just giving the music enough strenght without relying on distortion to give it a more noble feeling, one which is reflected on the part where Jim sings after the aforementioned “loud over and over” part that he’ll “stop now, just enough so i can hear you; i’ll stay up as long as it takes” It turns the lyrics from a lonely person’s lament on missing an actual human into someone that might not be with us anymore, it comes from something completely specific (wishing a certain someone was watching the fireworks with you) to something more ambiguous, stopping now to hear a person there or someone in your memory? The way the rest of the song unfolds, it becomes both an emotional confession and a chant of celebration, “as long as it takes” is both a lament of sorrow to hold onto someone and a shout out of happiness to, somehow untangibly, be with that person and share the moment the fireworks go off. It’s not bittersweet, it’s bitter (or more like sad) and sweet.

My favorite line in the whole album is “The first star i see, may not be, a star”, a song that probably means the most to me now right now, “For Me This Is Heaven” contains some of the band’s most ambitious music compressed into a palatable song format, while it asks big questions for small people, it talks about the end of the time we have now, about how if he doesn’t let himself be happy, then when? And about still feeling the butterflies AND the last goodbye. Is this really heaven? Is it “the comfort of being sad” or is it about still feeling a sublime way about times gone and cherishing them, since we don’t know when our time will end? While i ask myself these questions (after all, i don’t care if it’s about something specific to Jim or anybody in the band; the song is about stuff i relate, that’s why they are important to me), i can’t stop feeling like there’s no need to answer these questions because i already feel what it is about. Whenever i listen to this song, i feel like it’s not only something i know and understand, but something about me.

I love all the songs in this album, but “Goodbye Sky Harbour” has a special place for me, because it proves how great artists Jimmy Eat World are; lyrically, it’s the shortest song on the album but musically, it’s the longest; the lyrics are far from under-realized, they are in fact, as good and expressive as the rest of the album, relying in simplier images and more ambiguity. The music continues with the rockier, Dischord-like angularity the mightier side of Clarity possess, but soon leaves it away for an odd timed, layered and repetitive instrumental, recalling a bit of Slint, Tortoise, Tristeza and early Mogwai, after which Jim adds layer after layer of non-wordly vocals, accumulating a big mass of them, with the band leaving and an IDM piece takes over, a track of dancey yet challenging electronica noodling that reminds of Autechre and the gentler side of Aphex Twin. An epic finish for an epic album.

This album is a very personal thing for me, i can't think about objectively much, but i guess it could be that way for everyone who likes it, by design. There's something oddly melancholic and warm about their songs, especially here, that makes it feel like something to play on a gloomy day during your teenage years, or whenever you think about someone you're not with, for a reason or another; perhaps if you turn the volume down for a bit, perhaps you'll hear her/him with you, perhaps all it takes to hear her/him is listening to these songs.

===============================================

Jimmy Eat World - Lucky Denver Mint.mp3
Jimmy Eat World - Crush.mp3
Jimmy Eat World - For Me This Is Heaven (live at La Scala, London 2002).mp3
Jimmy Eat World - Goodbye Sky Harbour (live al La Scala, London 2002).mp3

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Millions Now Living Will Feel Like Singing Along

Windsor For The Derby
How We Lost
Secrectly Canadian
OOO

Shoegazer indie pop has been all the rage for the past couple of years on semi-underground circles, but what about indie pop with tendencies towards atmospheric instrumental music? Sure, there’s tons of Mogwai lites everywhere, but they are hardly the stuff to sing along, is it? While Windsor For Derby’s music is obviously ambicious instrumentally, it’s not mathy enough to gain comparisons to Unwound and their ilk, and not minimalistic enough to gather some pompous name or place in the “heady, easily liked hipster headphone buzzer” category. Windsor remind me at their most profound of bands like Tortoise, Seefeel and the Kranky roster yet they are not afraid to have melodic vocals that make you sing along but are restrained enough to be cool about it, which isn’t that surprising considering they have released albums on both Trance Syndicate and Young God. The band also has the bravery to include a bunch of simplier, catchier and rockier songs to make you want to dance or jump or something in between; how to balance such desperate camps of direct reaction songwriting with the more cerebral stuff? Take a page from Stereolab’s approach, of course, making it fun and using a few tricks learned from Neu! albums; and, while the stuff is hardly as awesome as the ‘lab’s own material, and you can hear a sort of schism going around between the two camps of songs, write songs well enough not to give them such a hard time about it. More than anything, a fun, harmless listen.

Windsor For The Derby - Maladies.mp3
Windsor For The Derby - Good Things.mp3

Who Watches Them Indeed

Here's the trailer for the Watchmen movie:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/

I think it looks promising, especially since i thought 300 looked like crap and it's the same director and all, still this one looks like it could be a great movie, aside from some details. I'm also not sure if, since i know and love the story already, there's some sort of bias of my part towards this trailer; anyway, i do think it's good.

I read the graphic novel a few months ago and instantly turned me into a comic book fan, it's completely mindblowing; the story is amazing and merciless.

In fact, i was going to be Rorschach for Halloween, but didn't pan out.

Cathedral Of Devastating Wait

Sunn O)))
Dømkirke
Southern Lord
OOOO

It must be scary for the Grimmrobed ones to dare give a master to a pressing plant, or so is the way they are acting; after the almost unanimous acclaim they received for 2005´s (yes, three years ago, kids) Black One, attempting a new album that’s not twice as mindblowing would be considered shit in the eyes of the all knowing, all seeing dronefanhood, so they keep releasing stop gap records while they can. While last year’s Oracle was patchy at best, this year’s Dømkirke is a bit more flourished and developed, continuing to experiment with the drone metal formula borrowed from Earth but adding and substracting many elements, their m.o. for most of their career; opening with a grand organ dirge accompanied by Mayhem’s Attila Csihar’s pseudo-gregorian vocalizations, the band (playing here inside a massive Norwegian cathedral) goes to familiar, if quieter ground on the second side of the offering, with a trombone adding colour to the sustained guitar chords (yep, they have been listening to Robe.) while Attila and the organ re-enter the picture around halfway through. Side three, meanwhile continues with a little calmness over more sustained notes and feedback tones (and some sound processing thanks to noise wizard Lasse Marhaug) to scale into a murkier patch of sound that continues to the next side, letting go only to find Attila calming everything with his humming voice accompanied just by the organ to lull the visitors into it’s drone. With a journey that ebbs and flows like this, i’m not sure if it’s good or bad that Sunn O))) keep pushing expectations for their next studio album, considering the high quality of material like this

Sunn O))) - Cannon.mp3

"I Said 'Em-E-Aitch'"

So big fucking news, "meh", the popular demi-word that expresses apathetic reaction to situations or exclamations, is already a word by itself.

I can't remember but perhaps there was a time when including a word on the dictionary was something relevant and even exciting to some; on the pre-internet ages, language, no matter what language, was something completely serious and erudite even, learning the correct uses and spellings of words was a matter that separated the boys from the men, the men from the animals and so on; it was something very strict and even pompous to many. Now, and this has to do with my first reaction to this "news" item, nobody gives a crap about language, as long as a word is accepted massively, it's not only well viewed but also accepted. This is the case with "meh".

I'm not here to preach about the days of old (the ones i wasn't yet born to have witnessed) or to say how shitty people speak and write today, but rather about how easy it is for words to become not only part of our daily lives but also part of our sciences and practices. Like i said, i can't remember when and if it was actual news that a word got included in the dictionary, but it seems now that if a TV character or an internet fad (that may be taken by a TV character later on) gives us a misspelled, misappropiated or plainly a brand new vocalization of a sense or emotion into a word, then a year or two later it's in the dictionary. Why? Is this really progress? Is it the way to go?

On the one hand, words are nothing other than things that allow us to communicate with one another in the easiest way possible, if by using a word we explain ourselves better, be it gramatically correct or not or existant even, then it's probably a good thing; and if many people use the word (with, exponentially, more people receiving and using said word) and you can universally express something with less effort, then that's the use of language in itself, right there.

On the other hand, this reeks of catering to the masses, having a dictionary being sold with words the common man can digest and understand, that he/she can relate because he uses them on a regular basis. "New Improve DICTIONARY!!! Now, with 'Meh' and many other of your favorite words!!! Only $19.99". I'm not saying this is something of grave offense or anything, but not because something is popular means it's something good.

I think words, mostly, are irrelevant to communication; as long as the message is clear, words, grammar and all that can take a back seat. But ignorance is bad and can be very dangerous, and giving license to be ignorant to people is just not right. As i said, communication should be clear.

I use 'meh' a lot, but i think the power of the word (a very strong power, might i add) has been losing itself; i'm not sure if it's good or bad, that remains to be seen (although, if less people have the power of using words, then it's possible that the few who still know the art and use of it might use them to their own advantages and get better results). All i know is that the addition of words to the dictionary is nothing to get excited about anymore; or, simply put, M-E-H.

Selling Out A Heart Full Of Soul

The Yardbirds, or so do the almighty critics tell us, was the band that gave us the talent of some of the first guitar “virtuosos” in rock music, spawning no less than Eric Clapton (he of Cream, Derek and The Dominos and solo fame), Jeff Beck (he of...uh, the Jeff Beck Group fame and the main inspiration for Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel) and Jimmy Page (he of Led Zeppelin fame). Yet they are wrong if they think that’s all the Yardbirds were about.

Just listening to their music you get a feeling of exhilaration that few bands from that era gave, they possessed a sense of desperation and energy that made you smash your head to the wall or dance like a lunatic; sure, they had a very refined perfection to their playing but that counts for squat if it wasn’t for the way they played, like they meant it and with everything they had. No wonder most garage took upon their sound and it wasn’t until the slash-and-burn excesses of Blue Cheer, the Stooges and the MC5 that those levels of energy were exceded.

Not only were the guitar players excellent in this band, they were all a classic case of the “sum is better than the individual parts” that most great bands have; one of their greatest achievements was the so called rave up part of their songs, a section where they would concentrate into playing harder and more intense until the sound exploded just to go back to where they left off and finish the song (almost 30 years before Daydream Nation), Keith Relf sang with such bravado and intensity but hardly ever letting his voice get out of control, he was not just making the blues standards they used to cover jump, he made them scream! I call bollocks on the reason why Clapton left the Yardbirds, he wasn’t offended by them abandoning their purist roots since they would inject those pure blues numbers with so much adrenaline that they turned them into something else, something that was almost beyond rock back then, something original and all their fucking own.

But yes, the Yardbirds sold out.

Clapton, then nicknamed “Slow Hand” and a little later being the subject of many a “Eric Clapton Is God” graffittis, quit the band as they hit the charts with “For Your Love”. The reason i think Clapton quit is because of this song, namely a) the song’s lead instrument is not the guitar and b) it was a smash hit, unlike all the blues songs Clapton favored; but “For Your Love” is anything but a poppy bland attempt at mass comercial success; in fact, it’s one of the best damn songs to ever be recorded in this Earth; seriously, from the first chords of the harpsichord to the backing vocals to Relf’s delivery to the impossibly heavy breakdown in the middle to the grand last chorus, it retained the rave up quality of their blues adaptations but did it in a picture perfect song format.

Replacing Clapton wasn’t hard, since he recommended a friend of his, Jimmy Page who was then, a studio session player who enjoyed his job and had good pay so he preferred not to join them, instead telling them about his friend Jeff Beck, who had played in minor garage bands in which he experimented with feedback, noise and distortion, something that expanded the band’s sonic palette tenfold coupled with their new found song oriented material, gave the world such blazing recordings such as “Shape Of Things”, “You’re a Better Man Than I” and “Heart Full Of Soul” (the later’s riff originally intended to be played by a sitar), as well as more blues versions like the absolute expressway to their skulls climax of “I’m A Man” that always gives me the chills.

Bassist Paul Samwell-Smith left the band some time after, giving them an opportunity to invite Page again to the band, with the extremely underrated talents of Chris Dreja leaving the rhythm guitar for the four string to have room for Jeff and Jimmy to really let loose. Problem was, there was almost no time since Beck fell sick and was soon after being falsely diagnosed, he was fired while on the road, ending a truly magical era of music when rumours would fly about him slashing his speakers or loosening the tubes in his amp to get his distortion and when bands, sometimes spearheaded by the very own Yardbirds, would experiment with raga forms or gregorian chants.

The band went on to have minor hits with Page but they mostly exploited their experimental side, extending their songs and obliterating them to noise onstage, using the studio as an instrument and not caring about the results or having fear; Jimmy introduced the band to his freak folkish song “White Summer” and the prog noise metal of “Dazed & Confused”, developed by Relf and the rest of the band, although they wouldn’t last very long after.

Today i listen to this band with immortal melodies, daring ideas and incredibly exciting executions and i wonder about what would it have been to be around when they were around and perhaps watching them live with anyone of their brilliant lineups. Often, people look at me funny when i talk about Clapton and Beck and Page and assure them i positively despise Cream, don’t feel like listening to Led Zeppelin most of the time or that i’m not terribly excited to look into the instrumental work of Beck, rather i refer to their early to mid-60’s selves, as much as Bob Dylan felt old newspapers were more relevant in the sixties than the rags of the day; those were the days when a simple blues standard could make you want to slamdance before you could even think about stuff like that, it was music that makes you feel alive over under sideways down, i’m not sure if then but i’m completely positive that they do now, to me at the very least, with a sip of muddy waters, a fuzzed out sitar line and a heartful of soul to make me feel alive.

=====================================================

The Yardbirds - Too Much Monkey Business (Five Live Yardbirds).mp3
The Yardbirds - For Your Love.mp3
The Yardbirds - Heart Full Of Soul.mp3
The Yardbirds - The Train Kept A-Rollin'.mp3
The Yardbirds - I'm A Man (live 1968-Mar-30 Anderson Theater, NYC).mp3
The Yardbirds - Jeff's Boogie.mp3
The Yardbirds - Over Under Sideways Down (live 1968-Mar-30 Anderson Theater, NYC).mp3
The Yardbirds - Happening Ten Years Time Ago.mp3

======================================================

Gevecht #2

Denied

The Toluca gig got cancelled because of an issue not concerning the bands. Monosodic apologizes to everyone who was going to the gig and we hope to play Toluca some time soon.

Linsay Lohan Is Gay and Some Real News

Like most current celebrities, i don't find Lindsay Lohan attractive; she's mildly interesting though.



















Now, something that's real news (she's a lesbian? NO SHIT!!!); here's a new track by Monosodic that will be part of the GNO EP which, in case you haven't heard, will be released in three separate installments (two as part of netlabel compilations) with an extra song appearing on an other compilation; all the song titles are inspired by Miley Cyrus. Here's the first song from the set available for everyone to listen:

Monosodic - In The Shower With Her Clothes On.mp3 (right click-Save as)

This Month's Nocturna

I wrote articles about Acid Mothers Temple and Cannabis Corpse (Municipal Waste member's death metal side project, in case you don't know) for this issue.

There's tons more that's worth reading (if you can read spanish), you can find out about that here: www.myspace.com/revista_nocturna

Monosodic Thingy October

Friday October 10.
El Área Chica.
Villada and Gomez Farías
Centro, Toluca

Monosodic (DF): www.myspace.com/monosodic
Blindaje (Morelia): www.myspace.com/blindaje
Onirismo Automata (DF): www.myspace.com/onorismoautomata
Familia Eskeleto: www.myspace.com/familia_eskeleto

Presale: $35

Don't Go Away Mad, Gerard Cosloy

So the other day at the Sonic Youth Message Board, the discussion of the band signing to Matador started; now, i'm not really for or against any label, but i'm not into label worship or (undeserving) label hatred; that is, i don't love or hate labels, i like and dislike bands left and right, plus there's good years for any label and years that are not that good. People who automatically are into an artist because they are signed to a certain label seems myopic to me and it's something that gets on my nerves.

After someone pointed out that the label had released stuff by Cat Power, Bardo Pond, Cornelius, Guitar Wolf, Guided By Voices, Mission Of Burma, Pavement and Pussy Galore among others (pretty much all of which i agree are most excellent, i would also add Yo La Tengo and Belle & Sebastian), not to mention all the distro they do for smaller and/or international labels; i made the following remark:

Yeah, but they also have Love Of Diagrams, Lavender Diamond (granted, they only had an amazing EP i love dearly but the full lenght was awful), Mogwai who have gone pretty much downhill in my opinion since Rock Action, Brightback Smelly Hippie or whatever they're called, the New Pornographers, and i mean bands who are active.

The only one right now you mentioned that's still in the label is Cat Power (*of course, then i forgot to mention YLT, B&S, as well as Times New Viking).

Fuckers also dropped Bardo Pond (They didn't sell records, eh? NO SHIT!! You should have known that ever since you first listened to them!).

Anyhoo, independently of my personal feelings towards Matador, no label is god. Matador, Geffen, same shit for Sonic Youth.

(And don't get me the 'creative freedom' thing, Thurston is just goofing around as always...having released A Thousand Leaves, NYC Ghosts & Flowers and Murray Street on a major is pretty much the most freedom any band has enjoyed in a major since the 70's).

Now, this item was brought to my attention recently, and so to pinpoint it's relevance, i'll quote the part that concerns us:

We’ve been chit-chatting for a while now about adding a feature to the Matablog specifically devoted to a former Matador band and/or old moment from the label’s history, and such a move is long overdue. It just so happens this notion came up again a day or two after some rocket scientist posted on the Sonic Youth.com message board that Matador was a big heap o’ crud because we “dropped Bardo Pond.” Listen pal, unless your name is Darren Mock or Barry Hogan, you can fuck off. We put out 4 Bardo Pond albums and did the very best we could. Seriously, the web is Blame The Label Central. How about blaming some of the fans who aren’t interesting, attractive, charismatic or funny enough to get anyone to check out their favorite bands?*
...
(* - we do genuinely believe the majority of Matador record buyers are extremely interesting, attractive, charismatic and funny. Especially when they are giving us money. Even when they’re griping on message boards)

I never said that Matador was a crap label and that Sonic Youth shouldn’t sign with them, nor did i ever said that the big meanie label was destroying artists; that’s besides the point even.

Any full time label does decisions, good and bad, for it’s own sake of business survival, that’s a fact; that’s why, to the eyes of artists and fans, sometimes they make “bad choices” we don’t agree with, and there’s periods when rosters change and staff gets drafted and the label gets re-structured, and some feel the “sound” of said label is lost or that the quality of the bands has dropped (all relative as taste is personal), that’s why no label is perfect. Not SST, not Atlantic, not Motown, not Drag City.

Labels bring the business side to the music, they are the ones putting the money to produce the records and they are the ones who take them to the shops (or to another company that takes them to the shops); a label isn’t a creative entity by nature unless they actually participate in the creative process of the writing and recording of the sound material and, more often than not, when the label actually gets their hands in the way of this process, the results are bad. A label head could be an artist, but then he’s being creative as an artist, not as a label; artwork and graphic design is also not a function of the label but a part of it.

I’m not decrying “sellout” or indie/punk purity, labels have a very important purpose and, yes, it has to do with money, which is a good thing when done right. Yet labels aren’t to be followed or admired just as bands since they are a mean and not an end, that’s why i think label worship is stupid. I might admire the conviction of a label (Crass, Industrial and Dischord, to name a few), their business strategies and their rosters, but never to the point of buying a shirt or favour them over a band since it’s not a creative entity giving us feelings and sounds like artists do; labels are the way in which we receive those feelings and sounds.

Trying to do “the very best you could” to “help” Bardo Pond (or any band like that) is a defeating point for an independent label, since the whole point of independent and underground music is about having a way other than that of big business and mass culture. Artists like that are made to stay underground since they are not built for everyone to like; if not, i’m sure Bardo would be playing something more palatable and not long psychedelic dirges. There’s, of course, other artists who are playing music that can be liked by more people if they get a fair push, like you know quite well having Interpol, The New Pornographers and Cat Power on your label, to name a few. Making a band “as big as Interpol” isn’t the only meaning of “success” (by the way, why are you referring to Bardo Pond in past tense?).

So, i want to clarify:

1) I don't think Matador is "a big heap o’ crud", i also don't believe it is the absolute paradise of labels; no label is either, at least not forever if it's a real label and not a one-off part time operation or a boutique kind of deal.

2) Concerning Bardo Pond, it was great that you released four albums by them and backed them all the while they were on the label; my point was, they are not a radio band, not a singles band, not a band that sells tons of records; they weren't when you signed them and they didn't become one by their fourth album with you, you should have realized that. I (myself personally) think that a band like BP are more a band that has their fans who support them but won't become the next big indie craze leaders; i feel like Bardo Pond benefits from a label that supports them while not expecting sky-rocketing sales. Of course, businesswise, that might not have been possible and some decisions had to be made.

Gerard, while you invited me to "fuck off"; i, in turn, would like to interview you so you can explain to me and others how you have handled two very successful labels (i write for about four music publications here in Mexico plus another one from the UK, i'm sure any of them would be delighted to print the interview). You can contact me by sending me a private message through the SY Board if you like to or through here.

Sincerely,

Marcos Hassan.

Radio Oscillator #16

01. Motörhead - Rock Out
02. Thank You - Embryo Imbroglio
03. Tsuyama Atsushi - Rock N' Roll White House
04. Sonny Sharrock - Blind Willie
05. Vivian Girls - Going Insane
06. Carcass - Cadaveric Encubator Of Endoparasites (Peel Session)
07. Original Silence - A Sweeping Parade Of Optimism - Blood Streak (excerpt)
08. Gal Costa - Cinema Olympia
09. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - I See A Darkness
10. Usurp Synapse - When Good Pets Go Bad
11. Hank Williams - Your Cheatin' Heart
12. U.S. Girls - Mutate Machine
13. Nachtmystium - Your True Enemy
14. Ice Cube - Endangered Species (Tales From The Darkside) [Remix]
15. Los Llamarada - The Very Next Moment
16. Keith Fullerton Whitman - 21:30 For Acoustic Guitar, Part 2 (excerpt)
17. Mad River - Amphetamine Gazelle
18. Upsidedown Cross - Batallion Of Rats
19. Growing - Lens Around
20. Joy Division - She's Lost Control (Peel Session)

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Onscreen Autopsies And A Packed Meatlocker

Gig Review:
Carcass
September 16
Circo Volador

For starters, the venue was sold out, and this is a big place, mind you; totally amazing how packed it was. And Carcass hardly disappointed.

Billed to start at 7:30 (which i didn't know until way after the show) i arrived to the venue to find tons of people outside and inside already packing it on the ground floor which made me go to the top seated area where i found a place where i could see the stage and everything very well; the stage had two cloth-screens in each side in front of some amps with drawings of a slashed human torso, on top of the drums there was a screen that had the image of their third album, Necroticism. The crowd was conformed by tons of people representing the old guard as well as your usual metalheads.

At about 7:45, the lights went out, the screen changed it's image and an intro tape was played, a narration of some sorts after which a droning note started to fade into it; after a few minutes of this, the band came onstage and started things with "Inpropagation" followed by another album opener, "Buried Dreams" from their Heartwork album which informed most of the set. The crowd on the floor weren't moving too much on the accounts of there not being much space to move but there was some crowd surfing; the crowd's response, however, was enormous. On the third song, "Corporal Jigsore Quandary", one of the most well received ones of the set, the projection of the screen showed various body parts being dissected and ending with an eye being implanted on a brain.

The band looked good and dominated the stage with a balance of calm coolness and rocking still intensity with some movement to here and there, Jeff Walker was handling his Les Paul-like hollow-bodied bass with authority and a bit of struggle wearing a Rotten Sound shirt, while Michael Amott was playing a very big Dean Flying V, possing around the stage for a bit; at the other side of the stage, Bill Steer stood there like a guitarist straight out of the 70's, with slightly bell bottomed jeans, a tight brown shirt and his long blonde hair, extracting impossibly low ended heavy riffs of his very vintage looking Les Paul. The band sounded tight and clear (except for the vocals, the microphones were a bit muddy, soundwise), pretty much like the records and like if they never broke up or if they had a different drummer now.

The band played most of Heartwork and about half of Necroticism, they deviated from these albums to play "Reek Of Putrefaction" from their masterpiece (or one of their many masterpieces, anyway) Symphonies Of Sickness to follow it with "Keep On Rotting In The Free World" (complete with various symbols of many faiths on the screen) from their suicide attempt Swan Song, after which they went back to the very beginning of their career, playing "Genital Grinder" and "Psyosisified (Rotten To The Gore)" jointly to make it like one decent lenght song. I was pleasantly surprised to hear them switch from playing the more sophisticated side of their career to the more barebones and unpolished era with even more brutality, it was also great listening to Michael and Bill do some grunting live. After these, they left the stage, not an hour after they started their set.

When they came back, they played "Death Certificate" then the monstrous "Exhume To Consume" and left again; before they came back, Juan Brujo of Brujería came out to yell "Viva México Cabrones!!!" (on account that since the night before, we were celebrating the Independence Day) after which Jeff made a crack about him being his father, he then made a crack about them going backstage to inhale oxygen like Axl Rose or something; he actually made several jokes during the show but most were inaudible thanks to some microphone problems. He then introduced each member of the band, pointing out that Daniel Erlandsson was replacing their original drummer Ken Owen (i heard a section of the crowd chant "Owen, Owen!" earlier during the set) after which he made another joke, this time saying Erlansson owned eBay or something similar, right after which Daniel started pounding a slow beat which gave away the entrance of "Rupture In Purulence", Walker followed with the ultra heavy bassline and then the guitars kicked in, Jeff stood in front of the stage, past his mic stand and played a bit of the song without singing it after which a galloping twin guitar riff started and gave to a fast beat, that of the song "Heartwork"; easily the highlight for many people. The band finished the song, started a riff as a coda to it and ended it all, the screen started to show an autopsy from the first cuts to the body, while the band said their goodbyes to the crowd, throwing picks and drumsticks, with Jeff walking along the space between the barricade and the stage.

Personally, i have two complains, the first being that the show was very short, considering their back catalogue and that they hardly touched anything from their first two records, which brings me to complain number two, namely why the denial of most of Reek and Symphonies? To me and many others, this was the highlight of their career, their golden years and best albums; granted, i love Necroticism and Heartwork and i know those two are much more popular but come on!!! There's tons of amazing songs in both first records.

Thinking about what i am complaining, i seriously don't feel like it was a waste by any chance, it was more than a great concert, and i'm immensly happy for witnessing one of metal's best bands in action, as if they had never had any major lineup changes or had broken up. Everything was crushing, inspired and amazing; after all it's said and done, i can't complain.

Some pictures: http://flickr.com/photos/metaldragon/sets/72157607349083403/

Is It Progress When You Go From ‘Awful’ To ‘OK’? Or Initial Thoughts On Death Magnetic By Metallica.

I think this album is kinda good or ok, but, this being Metallica who haven't released a good album in 12 years (if we're generous and count Load as one), then this is fantastic news for fans.

The fact is that the album sounds like Metallica, like where they left off in between ...And Justice For All and the Black Album, but the fact is that it just sounds like them, it's not like the material is as good as anything they did in their first decade as a band; the main problem being the lack of memorable songs; the sounds might bring you back to the eighties but, in terms of pure songwriting skills, i think Load still edges Death Magnetic; whatever you think about their "grunge" sound or their haircuts or their lack of truly metal elements in there, Load has very well written and well put together songs.

Of course, i'd be an idiot if i expected anything of the quality of KillRideMasterJustice, that era is gone and years have passed since then, but i just want a good Metallica album all around, with good songs and good riffs. Perhaps a record similar to the Black Album, but of them right now.

I do feel, though, that perhaps this is the beginning of something new, perhaps they have learned to be themselves soundwise and, for their next album, maybe they can apply these riffs to better written, more memorable songs; songs you can scream along while blasting either at home or at concert, after which i would be more than happy to let them be and not care what they do afterwards.

I know they have a good album left in them, i just hope they get to record it and release it soon.

Nothing Is Cooler Than Old Men Headbanging

Niwemang (Half Moon)
2006, Iran

Haunted (as in cursed for most of it), funny when you’re not supposed to laugh and, ultimately, some heavy doom shit. Plus the music rules.

Grant Morrison is awesome

Radio Oscillator 11

After so long, it's finally here! A new episode!!

1. Devo - Mongoloid
2. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Colleen
3. Yoko Ono - Greenfield Morning I Pushed An EMpty Baby Carriage All Over The City
4. Caspar Brötzmann Massaker - Tempelhof
5. Dream/Aktion Unit - (Track 3)
6. Rotten Sound - Burden
7. Andrew Bird - Heretics
8. White Zombie - Shack Of Hate
9. Borbetomagus - One For Tram
10. Jazkamer - Friends Of Satan
11. King Crimson - 21th Century Schizoid Man (live bootleg 1969)
12. Reagan Youth - USA
13. Xasthur - The Eerie Bliss And Torture (Of Solitude)
14. Neurosis - Water Is Not Enough

Radio Oscillator 11.mp3

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