Tag: album review

Swordfish Review of Inside The Kingdom Of Splendor And Madness

Posted by JUSTIN VELLUCCI on 

The cello weeps and sows and soars, and so it goes with Randall Holt and his Inside The Kingdom of Splendor and Madness, which gets the CD/cassette re-release treatment April 20 from Self Sabotage Records.

Holt, an accomplished cellist, traffics in the kind of moody, cinematic, classical soundscapes that oft define Godspeed You! Black Emperor, which is appropriate, given the fact that the Austin-ian has collaborated with the Montreal-based collective. But while GY!BE’s song-suites also depend on Efrim Menuck’s saw-buzzing guitars or epic, throttling crescendos, Holt’s compositions on Kingdom are trembling, naked things – cello snapshots where even the percussion, if it could be called that, is provided by strings.

Holt is no experimentalist, however, in the vein of Alder & Ash, whose addictive, pedal looped strings belie angst and penitence. Holt is mournful, somber, to a T – ethereal, funereal. His compositions would do justice to a black-and-white film exploring the underbelly of the open road, or an abandoned mill, or a scorched forest. His work is melancholy and steeped in a longing kind of nostalgia, with the occasional Romanticism giving way to the nuanced post-classical flourishes explored by the likes of the violist Christian Frederickson, whose work fits alongside this well.

The songs themselves show a great range of narratives, even if their palate is drawn from similar shapes and colors. “What Hope We Have, What Hope We Haven’t” is slow, meditative and struck with dread, and all-too-perfectly titled. “Labyrinths (and other writings),” on the other hand, has moments that are mathier, more Calculus-minded. Think the b/Bridges of High Plains and you’ll see what I mean.

The real gem on the nine-track disc, though, is most definitely its opener, the gray “I felt safe again and was at home,” which, in addition to swelling tides of timed, moaning cello, has a leading “solo” and harmonic language that are simply devastating. Like Schnittke’s string quartets, it speaks to the heart as much as the head, but, when it speaks to the heart, it simply destroys it. An excellent point of entry for an inviting journey, one I hope we travel together again. – Justin Vellucci, Popdose, April 11, 2018

Austin Chronicle Review of En Las Montanas de Excesos

Chris Cogburn/Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Bob Hoffnar/Henry Kaiser

En las Montañas de Excesos (Self Sabotage)

REVIEWED BY MICHAEL TOLAND, FRI., MAY 11, 2018

Texas Platters

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Contrary to popular belief, imaginative and virtuosic musicians elevate ad-libbed music beyond “jams.” Thus thrives En las Montañas de Excesos (In the Mountains of Excess), an improvisational collaboration between Austinites Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (the Thing, Young Mothers), Bob Hoffnar (Mood Illusion), and Chris Cogburn (No Idea Festival), and San Francisco great Henry Kaiser (Yo Miles!, French Frith Kaiser Thompson). Each player boasts extensive improvisational experience, with clear ability to follow another player’s nuances and nudge them in unexpected directions. Bassist Flaten and percussionist Cogburn keep the rhythms propulsive, remaining in the pocket without disrupting timekeeping. Guitarist Kaiser and steel guitarist Hoffnar mix and match a wide variety of textures, allowing melody to duel with dissonance sans violence. Noisy riff-mongering meets painterly ambience teeth-grinding pick scrapes cuddling with lush lyricism and everyone leaves as much space as they fill. A sense of humor provides the last piece of the puzzle, not only as a sudden twist that makes colleagues smile, but as a conceptual vision, like the nods to author H.P. Lovecraft in the titles (In the Mountains of Excess, “The Dream Quest of the Unknown Plethora”). These guys are having a ball, and it shows in the strength of the performances, the unity of purpose, and the sheer delight in spontaneous composition.

****

Raised By Gypsies Review of Randall Holt “Inside The Kingdom Of Splendor And Madness”

Cassette Review:
Randall Holt
“Inside the Kingdom of Splendor and Madness”
(Self Sabotage Records)

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Though there are musicians out there who play the cello, I’m not sure anyone plays it quite like Randall Holt.   While I often hear a cello accompany another instrument, it is somewhat unusual for it to be the only instrument for an entire cassette (Though I know there are cellists out there, they just seem to outnumber even rock bands for example)  Throughout this cassette, Randall Holt takes the music from deep, dark sadness to the movie score of something out of either “Lord Of The Rings” or the suspense of an Alfred Hitchcock movie but not at the same time.

In a lot of ways, you expect to hear this type of instrument with other instruments.   It wouldn’t be a surprise to see “Randall Holt (cellist) + Other Musician (flute or whatever)” somewhere down the line, but the fact is these songs stand so well on their own.  As listeners of music we can become conditioned to want to hear things louder, fuller and more powerful but even with a cello these qualities are all in these songs.  What I’m getting at is that you might think a cello would be boring or get that way after a while- by itself- but Randall Holt makes it work on this cassette and it’s amazing.

One of the aspects I find so fascinating here as well is that this has more of a true classical sound than most other cellists I can think of in a modern sense.   I feel like the artist usually takes the instrument and turns it in something weird, something like noise and so it can have this feeling where it doesn’t even sound like a string instrument anymore.  Randall Holt sticks to the roots of the cello though and it gives it that type of classical feel I believe even my dad would enjoy (And he really only listens to classical music, talk radio and Bob Dylan)

“Inside the Kingdom of Splendor and Madness” was originally released in 2016 but is just now getting released on cassette by Self Sabotage.   I think this speaks volumes towards both cassettes and music in general, in the sense that if this wasn’t given a cassette release some two years later I might have never heard of it and that would be a shame.   What’s more is that this album simply has the credit: “Randall Holt — cello”  That’s all.  No one else.  Nothing else.   When was the last time you saw something like that because I bet when you did it didn’t feel this powerful, this full of life.

Posted by at 9:35 AM 

Review of Rodenticide’s Debut Album By Bleg

RODENTICIDE-S/T LP:

 

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Oh wonderful! No! Truly! Sophisticated garbage core, prose in putrefaction. sounds like Shitnoise come cruddy Noisecore with improvised Jazz conjunction (blasty, random, tangential drums from Chris Pitsiokos), bad Albert Ayler antiphonics (cheap reads abuse from Isaiah Richardson ) & scratty ill-incongruence discord on guitar & bass courtesy of a Mr. Richard Lenz (reminiscent of Sharrock shred in some instances). Insalubrious, unpalatable, perturbed, unstable, badly besmirched. & the poisoned cherry on the fatal compound – vocalist Samantha Riot- dishing dollops of hyper-cynical emesis, rye, expecting the worst & plastered in cicatrix tissue from stewing in New Yorx multi-dimensional feculence over years. Pretty impressive- wracked, on the verge, melting-down, wearing away. Well-articulated, greatly acerbic & in a dramatic twist of juxtaposition – well composed & placid- despite the hysterical sentiments, subject & contrasting to the clarion from the three musicians quarter. It chimes as an abrasively emphatic renouncing & disparagement of NY, but also of the modern urban environ – it’s a somewhat blistering tirade & veteran vituperation. Funny yet again, cos’ the chick rends into the soft under-belly of the city with such savagery & disdain, but with the geographical distinction & unique lingo that only a native New Yorker could exhibit. So the city can take great pride in the manner it’s daughter goes about clawing it’s innards out in some kind of perverse circle of love hate. Honestly, to have someone so astutely talking about how much these great urban epicenters fucking suck & prey on their inhabitants is very pertinent. The assault & loss our cities inflict rarely permeates the gloss & pretense (certainly to this level) despite it’s expanse, volume & toll. Certainly a fine piece of work from this four-piece. Vocals aside, it’s residing destination is something like a strand of Noisecore (foreseeably bracketed as “Post Punk”) but I expect the crew have arrived at this mannerism without any exposure to the latter. A welcome objurgation of metropolitan malaise, dusted with sass, served on a fracas blatter of fighting stray-dogs.

Rekd: 2017?

Label: Self Sabotage Records

The Sludge Lord Reviews Marriage + Cancer Self-Titled Album

ALBUM REVIEW: Marriage + Cancer – “Marriage + Cancer”

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By: Charlie Butler


Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 09/02/2018
Label:  Self Sabotage Records

Jagged shards of searing guitar coupled with pleasantly deranged vocals, makes for an album full of obnoxious noise and simmering potential.
“Marriage + Cancer” DD//LP track listing:
 

01. Command + Comply

02. God is Tan
03. Honor, On Our Knees
04. Headache
05. Six Feet + a Box
06. Flora + Fauna
07. Gound
08. Thirteen Stairs
09. View From a Cross
 

The Review: 

 

Right from the opening seconds of Marriage + Cancer’s debut LP it seems that the band are no strangers to the Jesus Lizard’s back catalogue. While the Portland quartet may not be breaking any musical boundaries their distinct take on the noise rock giants of the past is a compelling racket.

“Command And Comply” begins with the bands rock-solid rhythm section laying down the kind of insistent rumble that invites carnage to follow. Jagged shards of searing guitar soon join the fray along with pleasantly deranged vocals riddled with an off-kilter queasiness. Marriage + Cancer’ssound is classic noise rock infused with the breathless post-hardcore of Drive Like Jehu but delivered in a sludgy, nasty style all of their own. “Headache” finds the band at their heaviest and most pummelling while “Gound” is like a twisted fusion of Hot Snakes and Sonic Youth.

The highlight of the album comes when Marriage + Cancer move away from driving punk rock territory and explore slower tempos. “God Is Tan” begins as a sickly, drunken lurch that steadily builds in spite and intensity into a furious cacophony of serrated guitar squall. The second half of album closer “View from a Cross” also benefits from a similar shift in volume and dynamics when it drops down to taut, spacious chords before launching into a raging climax. These passages of brooding menace heighten the impact of the glorious mayhem that surrounds them and it would be interesting to see the band develop this aspect of their sound on future releases.

Marriage + Cancer’s self-titled debut captures the raw power of a band in its formative stages, full of obnoxious noise and simmering potential.

“Marriage + Cancer” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

Sean Morales’ Call It In Reviewed by Austin Chronicle

Sean Morales

Call It In (Super Secret)

REVIEWED BY GREG BEETS, FRI., FEB. 2, 2018

Texas Platters

Fresh off the homegrown James Arthur’s Manhunt, Virginia-bred multi-instrumentalist Sean Morales’ solo debut prioritizes the right feel over high definition. The album’s rough veneer is indicative of its single-occupancy origins, but Morales’ rich songcraft and compelling arrangements exude a warm human scale that never veers into obscurity for its own sake. Leading with a cover burns in the less-traveled road at the outset, Chris Spedding’s “Video Life” crackling with heady effervescence. The title track flips the mood to dark noir with growling, flanged vocals and a menacing riff, and multiple songs start with acoustic blues before leaping in different directions. The contemplative country-blues of “Bring Me Home” evokes the troubled soul of Skip Spence. Utility guitarist and saxman Jonathan Horne of Young Mothers makes over Faust instrumental “Party 1” as a slow-building traffic jam to close.

***.5