Tips Zum Selbstmord

I only keep up with Mats Gustafsson's discography intermittently, mostly when he collaborates with someone I like, which happens pretty much once a year anyway. Never listened to his band Fire! but this is apparently their sixth release? "Darkjazz" is not a genre, more of a descriptor, and if it had a home and a sound it would maybe be Rune Grammofon and Supersilent, so this slots in decently, doesn't even really sound like jazz so much. It's slow and drone-y and has lots in common with Sleep or Black Sabbath or the Melvins even. But also with traces of some of Gustafsson's other bands like The Thing and Two Bands and a Legend. Overall it's pretty cool, definitely different than what I expected, not a home run but a pretty cool record nonetheless.

Major late-career entry for the legend Alvin Lucier here, released on Oren Ambarchi's Black Truffle. "Criss-Cross" is Lucier's first composition for guitar and written for performers Ambarchi and Stephen O'Malley. Ambarchi in the left channel, O'Malley on the right, and they "improvise on a single semitone" producing a woozy and pulverizing tone falling in and out of sync, increasing and decreasing speeds, I hate to say stuff like this but you can almost hear other sounds being conjured up by the thick drone, just around the edges, although at least one of them is the disorienting sound of e-bows on strings. Quite something; to be played loud. "Hanover" features Ambarchi and O'Malley on guitars again, joined by a variety of players on alto and tenor sax, violin, piano and bowed vibraphone. The piece is inspired by Lucier's father (appearing on the cover) and a reimagining of that ghostly departed band. It's slow, heavy on spect...

A first-ever pairing of Japanese jazz giants Akira Sakata and Masahiko Satoh with the Chikamorachi duo of Darin Gray and Chris Corsano facilitating. Sakata is on alto and clarinet (and vox), Satoh on piano, Gray on up right bass and percussion and Corsano thrashing the kit, sounding 72 feet tall here. Just a monster session, swinging between deep-listening improv and all-out aggression. Beauty. Somehow I missed the joint Family Vineyard put out with Sakata, Chikamorachi, Jim O'Rourke and Merzbow, I'll have to right that wrong. But meanwhile - this set is HEAVY.

I've listened to a bunch of Dedekind Cut now an always come away with the same feeling - nice enough, but that's all. I don't exactly get too hyped up on ambient anything (or rather it takes a lot to) and I feel like his music is close enough to get there, and could get there, but so far just hasn't crossed the threshold for me. "Tahoe" starts off very ambient, picks up steam with its most interesting tracks in the middle, especially "MMIX", but overall doesn't do a ton for me. Had a lot of hopes pinned on the 12-minute "Hollow Earth" and it has some nice, rich, ambient and field recording/sfx moves, but eh. Maybe the next one is the one.

New series on Moving Furniture called "Eliane Tapes" which you may surmise is indeed dedicated to and/or inspired by the works of Eliane Radigue. Kassel Jaeger aka Francois Bonnet. 4 pieces of "Aerial Feedbacks" - controlled, non-controlled, and a processed version of each. Neither piece did much for me, at least nothing seized me in the way Radigue's best works have seized me. Overall just kind of boring and meh.

Let the record reflect - not an ACTUAL imaginary soundtrack to a Brazilian Western. That's simply the descripto somebody used to describe Camarao's brand of Forro. Camarao (meaning "shrimp") wails on the accordion, there's vocals every now and then, and all the tracks have a kind of groovy, kind of samey sound. I thought it was kinda cool but overall nothing too exciting.

Comp celebrating DBA's 20 years, as if you couldn't tell. Cool mix of brand new tracks & collabs, wonderful & weird as you know the label to be. Highlights inc. Miguel Mendez & Jonathan Snipes' "Blowing Away", Slowcoach & Scrolls' "Grinding Sun", Orlando Kennedy's "Sometimes Love" and Signor Benedick the Moor & Slowcoach's "How Can We Make Love at a Time Like This?".

You may be familiar with the hype surrounding Legend of the Seagullmen, mostly because of the involvement of Danny Carey (Tool) and Brent Hinds (Mastodon). I wasn't expecting much but these were key bands of my youth, so I gave it a whirl, and it's whatever. It sounds kind of like a more rock/less metal version of Mastodon, maybe a less punk-y Turbonegro, a touch of Melvins (minus all the inventiveness), with horribly stupid lyrics and power rock moves like anthemic choruses and extreme guitar soloing. It's not as bad as the first track "We Are the Seagullmen", a real piece of shit, threatens, but it's not much better. It's a concept album that takes itself only semi-seriously...with the marriage of technical skill and tongue in cheek humor it's along the lines of a Green Jello, Tenacious D or a Les Claypool sideproject. But musically there's nothing here of interest, give it a skip.

Galcher Lustwerk's final album under his Road Hog moniker - it seems weird that ever since Galcher blew up Road Hog has already outproduced his "main" project - and it's his best. I was always kind of lukewarm on Road Hog, the instrumental EP-length beats he was putting out were nice enough but not totally gripping. The tracks on "Spares" are a little more boisterous if you will, certainly engaging. As a final salvo, it couldn't have been done better. What's next?

Is it me or do a couple of the tracks just cut off? Can't find any longer track times listed online so idk?? It's a mini-album, track titles are on point ("Purple is the Color of My True Love's Bruise", "Never Innocent, Frequently Not Guilty"). Not quite the revelation that 'Rocky' was but if you're into APL's brand of spikey-toned, wordy black metal (er, purple metal) you'll like this too.

Cool set of two MV/EE tunes they've been playing on live dates lately, a 10 minute jam called "Tea Devil" and a half-hour medley of "Shit's Creek", "No $" and "Environments" played in their homeland. Lots of kids running around in the background it sounds like too. Joined by a couple of Golden Road friends. You know the drill, spacey acoustic psychfolk fuzz. If you like em, you'll like it.

Soundtracks are soundtracks, and I like the idea of one working just as well as a standalone project. Having Kendrick helm the thing is a pretty good way to ensure success. No, it's not as good as a solo Kendrick album, and it's a bit spotty (as most soundtracks tend to be) but it's solid at the very least with some great cuts - "King's Dead" obviously with that roster of talent, Vince Staples delivers (natch) with "Opps", okay "All the Stars" is pretty flabby but the other radio-ready pop cut "Pray for Me" (w/The Weeknd) is undeniable. Overall it hits more than misses, and I'll come back to it.

Bandcamp grab. Also from Finland. I gave it a hem, then a haw, finally I was roped in by the band name + album name + album art. OK + Finns. It's sludge. Dirty, grimy and angry sludge but otherwise pretty nondescript. Didn't leave a mark on me but if you can't get enough of this stuff, here's more.

A Bandcamp find, two Finnish dudes getting together to make magickal sounds. Kinda boring though, has kind of a dark ambient vibe than a free improve/New Weird vibe. It's dark and scrape-y but otherwise not terribly interesting.