Straight Outta Stockholm

Something a little different-sounding from my usual posts - and tough to actually describe. While their bandcamp handle is "dvaladoom" don't be fooled, this Swedish 5-piece plays a pleasantly unique smorgasbord of post punk, lo-fi and croony, arty indie rock (they evidently posit themselves after 80's Swede alt rockers Broder Daniel whom I've never heard so the reference is completely lost on me). I present their 2013 release Vanföreställningar (Delusions), a 4-song EP that skirts across a large chunk of the musical spectrum. Most of the songs have two separate parts, one somewhat gloomy and bluesy followed by a more traditional R 'n' R finale. Guess which part I like better. If I have one complaint it's having no idea what the vocalist is wailing in any of the songs (à la watching a foreign movie without subtitles) but I can't really point too much of a finger since most of the music I listen to is abject screaming and gurgles anyway. The band appears to still be active (and poised to drop a full-length LP) via the usual social media pages so check 'em out (fb/bc).

Harborside

Basement Split

Here is a curious little item courtesy of Argentina's Chainfuck Records. Two obscure Córdoba bands doing their best to keep the DIY lo-fi spirit going with an mp3-only split release. Starting this one off is a lo-fi grind/noise project (I assume it's just one guy) named Bisected. While the first track is pretty much a throwaway, I found myself really digging the second, "Kommandant Orgy." I can't remember what song it's completely derivative of (maybe something by Slayer?) but it still has a cool groove and kept me interested for the 46 seconds it runs. Aileen Wuornos is a self-described one-man "crust-grind-metal-lofi-cyber" project but I found his material wallowing more in the sludge/drone genre. A waaaay overused sample from Peter Jackson's Bad Taste opens the feedback-laden cacophony of howls - nothing too special but perfectly listenable. I actually enjoyed some of his other releases (particularly "Sonic Pressure") - check out another one here here and enjoy.

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Low Slow Ragnarök-core

Yep, another heartwarming compilation CDr of abominable lo-fi sludgecore straight from the icy republic of Finland. Opening the aural assault is GranG, a brutal three-piece playing wretchedly distorted sludge with so much overdrive it almost degrades into an inaudible wall of noise. Awesome stuff for purveyors of Loinen, Stumm and their miserable ilk. Phenylketonuria follows with an epic half hour of trippy sludgy funeral doom which has its moments and is much better then most offerings in a genre that I don't really like anyway. The warm hum of blazing amp tubes adds a unique layer on this surreal melodic ode to destroying the world - it's surprisingly hypnotic and almost sounds like something Ween could have done had they gone into darker places with The Pod. Wrapping up F.F.13.1970 (named for the release date of Black Sabbath's debut record) is the aforementioned Loinen and their abject composition "Lapamato" ("Tapeworm"). Imagine summoning the worst memories of your life and condensing them into a agonizingly bleak 16-minute opus and you get an idea of what to expect. Truly one of their best recordings (in the feedback-laden cassette-deck lo-fi style of Muta Core) from a band who constantly amazes me with their unrepentant self-loathing. Speaking of whom, I just discovered a webpage apparently written by one of the band members which showcases their entire discography, lyrics and song history - cool stuff. Enjoy.

Hail The Klaan Of The Anal Witch!

ボリス

To be honest, once I got over my fleeting fascination with experimental drone and noise a few years ago, there wasn't a lot in Boris' extensive discography that kept me interested. Nothing particularly against their style, just very little of theirs that I would ever consider giving repeated listens to. When I eventually came across 2002's Heavy Rocks and found it their best work, excellent lo-fi hardcore/stoner/sludge in the vein of Men Of Porn or Church Of Misery. "Dyna-Sour" is my favorite - a fuzz-laden rocker with shades of Budgie's "Breadfan". Yeah there's some ambient-ish instrumental stuff sprinkled in between but it isn't overpowering and fits rather well. And the epic "鐘" really makes me wish I fucking knew how to speak Japanese. Enjoy.

ダウンロード

Look Out Fresno

First off, I fucking hate country music. That being said, it's been far too long since I have seen a decent rip of this seminal lo-fi classic anywhere so I decided it was time to grit my teeth and reintroduce Jon Wayne's half-assed attempt to cut a C&W record to the world. And who am I fucking kidding, the album absolutely rules. A Texas ('natch) friend of mine enlightened me to its existence - according to Austin urban legend the band is actually the Butthole Surfers drunk as fuck in a recording studio playing some improv material. And if you listen closely... it's not too far-fetched imagining a drunken Gibby slurring his way through the setlist and the picture on the back cover kinda looks like Gibby as well. Yet, I've heard from someone who actually saw the band play live definitively state that it was in no way the Surfers, although "I wouldn't put it past those guys to hire a bunch of half-assed musicians to play for them while they stood in the crowd and had a laugh." And shit - there's been a couple live vids on YouTube since then to snuff out all the mythology as well. Regardless, sit back and prepare yourself for a strange trip down a tired, dusty, whiskey-soaked road of off-key, out-of-tune, primitive cunt-ry music that only gets better as the band gets drunker. I'm amazed the pissed-off engineer (who bitches at the band the whole fucking time) actually saw this one through. "Texas Wine" is easily the standout but nearly every track holds its own - the title track, "Mr. Egyptian," "I've Got Texas"... an amazing 50 minutes. Just don't let your truck end up in the drink... Yip.

No Go Diggie Die

Murder Murder Suicide

After years of searching I was happy to finally find Loinen's evasive split CDr with fellow countrymen MurhaMurhaItsemurha. Was it worth the wait? Well, yes and no. Loinen's opener, "God Of Plague" is a raging sixty-second blast of screaming sludgecore - wonderfully lo-fi in extremis. Brilliant shades of their early material. The second track, "Plant" is a strange, quasi-industrial (?) loop-heavy dirge with lots of samples and screams that left me feeling a bit empty. Oh well, making up for it is the hilarous noise/tardcore awaiting on the flip side. MurhaMurhaItsemurha sound like a even more retarded Sockeye and are just as entertaining. Lots of weird screaming, experimentation and nonsense - one track, "Epätietoisuus Eläimistä" (loosely Google translated into "Uncertainty About Animals") is simply the sound of someone eating. Solid stuff. Enjoy.

Shoot Me Too

Грязь поколений

The few and far-between bands that actually get in touch are easily the best thing about doing a blog. I was happy to find in my inbox the other day an email from the sludge Russian 2-piece Electricjezus. Influenced by all the bands that matter, the two guys just put the finishing touches on their debut album Mud Of Generations. Recorded entirely live on analog equipment from different years and countries (old Soviet synthesizers, pianos, used ride cymbals, broken crash cymbals, pieces of metal for hi-hats, old microphones, etc etc). All work together to give the album a welcome fuzzy, lo-fi tape hiss kind of ambience; that is when lead vocalist Ruslan Frolov isn't screaming his guts out. Awesome shit - not only worth a listen but a few of your hard-earned bucks. Check 'em out here and enjoy.

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Currently listening to: Guns 'N' Roses GN'R Lies

No, not that kind of porn

This is actually the first album I ever bought off the Internet. Way back in those hazy days of 1999, surfing on towerrecords.com (I was too computer-retarded back then to realize I could have got the stuff off Napster for free), and searching for anything related to Anal Cunt. Somehow this came up in the search results, to this day I'm still looking for the connection. Regardless, Porn's debut album is incredible. Lo-fi downtuned sludgey fuzz that sounds like it was recorded in a warehouse in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon while everyone is finishing their first 12-pack of the day. Thick, groovy riffs and a cigarette-chewing vocalist make this required listening for anyone who thinks music is getting too polished. Sort of redneck, sort of junkie, sort of homeless, completely alcoholic. The band has changed its name a couple of times from Porn (The Men Of) to now just Men Of Porn and they have released a bunch of other albums (including a collaboration with Merzbow). Although all of their stuff is solid, there's nothing like American Style - I don't know how I ever ended up with it but I can't imagine being without it.

Teabag