Sounds from Innerspace

innerspaceboy · 02-01-2017, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

I'm honestly curious about what 1939 thought was everyday Hitler news.

Permit me to feed your curiosity. Adolf throws some serious shade FDR's way, bringing up such sore topics as the wars resulting from the States' rejection of the Treaty of Versailles and its treatment of the Sioux peoples.

I'm sorry I didn't extract the text while I had the access, but here are both pages of the NATIONAL AFFAIRS article.

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3

innerspaceboy · 02-05-2017, 02:50 PM

I took a trip out to my city's antique mall this afternoon for the first time this year. When I arrived I was surprised to find two They Might Be Giants singles featuring exclusive tracks which were only otherwise available on the 1997 oddities compilation, THEN: The Earlier Years. (The set is fantastic - an absolute essential tour of the duo's earliest recordings.)

But the greatest value of my trip was, as always, my conversation with my favorite vendor, Bob the Record Guy. He always knows what titles to pull for me. I chatted him up for his knowledge about the music scene between 1976 and 1984, particularly the better parts of new wave, essentials of no wave, post-punk, avant/art-pop, and gothic/ethereal wave classics. He was happy to make a number of recommendations and sent me home with a few albums to get me started.

I confess that many of the artists and albums listeners take it as read that I would know are entirely new to me at present. Born in '81, I was a touch too young for it all the first go-round and by the time I hit the age of history-combing musical discovery in college, the all-consuming craze was experimental electronic, ambient, and post-rock music. So while I'm well-versed in late 60s/early 70s synth music and 90s indie pop, my knowledge of that seminally developmental decade in between is limited to my memories of MTV flashback syndication and of dollar bin comp cassettes of 80s radio pop. (And damn it, I'm sick and tired of "Always Something There to Remind Me.")

Terrible cassette I purchased at a Lechmere department store in 1992.

From what Bob had immediately available, he sent me home with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's 1984 LP, Junk Culture, (with a startlingly-clearly labeled one-sided 7" single). While the band's first four LPs showcase OMD at the best, I was happy to pick up anything for starters.

But it was the next record I was given which became my favorite discovery of the day. While discussing no wave and other manic, atonal music of the 80s, Bob pulled out a copy of Lounge Lizards' Big Heart - Live in Tokyo (1986). He explained that, while the album is certainly a far cry from the aggressive dissonance of albums like No New York, that it might serve as a fitting introduction to 80s exercises in what Ornette Coleman termed, harmolodics.

For those unfamiliar, wiki says, "Harmolodics may loosely be defined as an expression of music in which harmony, movement of sound, and melody all share the same value..." resulting in music which "...achieves an immediately open expression, without being constrained by tonal limitations, rhythmic pre-determination, or harmonic rules." While I am well-acquainted with standards of free/avant-garde jazz, (I have many of the essentials in my record library), what I didn't realize was how this philosophy had been embraced by Sonny Sharrock and utilized in his composition of the theme to Adult Swim's Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Bob brought up the track as an example of harmolodics, and spun several tracks from Big Heart which sounded quite similar to the theme. While the first two selections from Big Heart fall a bit flat, those patient enough to go deeper into the record will find that it is arguably the best effort of their catalog.

Home from our outing, I'm surveying my finds of the day and looking forward to more discoveries of albums I should have listened to ages ago. Bob also recommended that I explore the cassette-only label, ROIR (Reachout International Records) founded in 1981 for more great music. Thanks, Bob!

OccultHawk · 02-05-2017, 09:15 PM

It was through ROIR that I first discovered Glenn Branca. I remember actually calling the label on the phone and they answered questions I had about Branca's music. That was back before you could just google everything.

ROIR and RRRecords were both so cool back then. So was this zine called Sound Choice that was focused on the cassette culture stuff of that era. There was also Cityzens for Non-Linear Futures.

innerspaceboy · 02-06-2017, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

It was through ROIR that I first discovered Glenn Branca. I remember actually calling the label on the phone and they answered questions I had about Branca's music. That was back before you could just google everything.

ROIR and RRRecords were both so cool back then. So was this zine called Sound Choice that was focused on the cassette culture stuff of that era. There was also Cityzens for Non-Linear Futures.

Wild, Hawk. Thanks for the comment!

innerspaceboy · 02-08-2017, 06:53 PM

I've just given a first-listen to Underworld's limited edition special single for the new edit of "Born Slippy.NUXX" which appears in Trainspotting 2. The single arrived in a die-cut jacket with no inserts or download codes, confirming that this mix and its b-side are exclusive to this single. NME reported the tracklist for the movie soundtrack which features the b-side with a parenthetical 'Spud’s Letter to Gail’ tagged onto the title, and a shorter edit of the a-side, "Long Slow Slippy" will appear as the album closer under the title, "Slow Slippy."

Side A is fairly cut and dry - it's just born slippy.NUXX slowed down a bit. Not remarkable in its own right but perhaps it will have greater significance when I see its use in the film. (Sadly TS2 has yet to hit the States and I'd like to see it proper in the theatre.) The same goes doubly-so for the b-side.

While there is nothing quite as slippy as the original .NUXX, I am fond of a few oddball/fringe mixes which have surfaced over the years. The first is the "Dictionaraoke Remix" by Stop Children, from around the time AVid's mixes were circulating. It's basically a Google Dictionary recitation of Karl's lyrics with the a canned backing beat. The mechanical delivery is really hilarious and worth checking out.

The other is "Born Sleepy", an ambient downtempo interpretation of .NUXX. Nice for a bit of a wind-down. I don't see it on YouTube at present but there are still copies kicking about.

But in my recollections of Slippy mixes past and present, there was a faint memory of Karl slowly speaking the lyrics in a measured, low-register tone - a track I hadn't spun in years and couldn't quite place. Thankfully, a bit of digging through my collection, (I have 16 hours of Slippy mixes, alone) produced the track in question - it was an official mix released exclusively on the Born Slippy remix CD [V2 ‎– V2CP 166] issued only in Japan. The track is called "Born Slippy (Down Version)" and features the aforementioned ultra-slow vocals by Karl which work perfectly for this edit. Track it down - it's really enjoyable.

Where it all began - The original Born Slippy .NUXX on Junior Boys Own, UK May 1st, 1995 and the WaxTrax!/TVT US CD maxi single from 1996.

innerspaceboy · 02-14-2017, 06:37 PM

This evening, Batty kindly recommended a few tracks as an introduction to black metal.

What follows are my initial impressions of each song.

Drudkh- Wind Of The Night Forest

From the very first seconds of the first selection’s introduction, it was instantly apparent that black metal has a strong focus on atmospheric elements. This hypothesis was confirmed by each of the tracks that followed. The vocals on “Wind of the Night Forest” are primarily guttural growling, but the low-fidelity mixing blends them awash into all of the instrumentation. I enjoyed it very much.

Agalloch - In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion

I’d anticipated a faster tempo to be the norm for the genre, but as UltimateGuitar.com contributor, Morgal notes in his Basics of Black Metal feature, there is quite a range of tempo in this genre. Morgal stated that it usually ranged between 140bpm (for bands such as Mayhem, Nargaroth, and Gorgoroth) up to 200+bpm (for Satyricon, Dark Funeral, and Dimmu Borgir). Coming from a position of preference as an ambient, modern classical, and downtempo electronic listener, I found the slower, instrumental selections Batlord shared to be perfectly enjoyable. Agalloch’s “In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion” was one of my favorites from his offering. It's dark but surprisingly melodic instrumentation and extended track length served for wonderful atmospheric sonic wallpaper to my research and writing this evening.

Dødheimsgard - Ion Storm

The third track, from Dødheimsgard was noticeably faster-paced, with relentlessly hammering percussion and a few noise elements which I could not place concretely but which definitely added intrigue to the selection. Despite the noise and clamor, there are still melodic characteristics which make the track approachable and palatable even for the novice.

Deathspell Omega - Abscission

Deathspell Omega was characteristically similar to the previous track, but with more coherent growling vocals which rise above the instrumentation instead of being soaked deep inside them. There is a more dissonant element to the composition here during the verse structure, which certainly piqued my interest. It’s always refreshing to hear a melodic structure depart from the traditional fixed musical phrases so overused in the 20th century.

Blut Aus Nord - The Choir of the Dead

“The Choir of the Dead” by Blut Aus Nord was by far the most punk-inspired of Batlord’s set. The track is stripped down to an ultra dirty, low-fi mix of mud and noise. Progressions are foregone and instead replaced with a few single notes moaning up and down in pitch. The percussion is aggressive and minimalist, keeping the high-energy and speed of the track as its focused strengths. But unlike its punk brethren, Blut Aus Nord carries the track for nearly seven minutes until the listener transitions from active listening to a nearly-passive and more atmospheric perception. I can see how this might be a definitive characteristic of the genre.

Katharsis - So Nail the Hearts

Batlord saved the greatest challenge for last. There is still a punk-inspired spirit to this closing recording, particularly in the relationship between the percussion and the guitar. About a minute into the track the vocals decay into indecipherable demon-like speech, as if a mic with a heavy echo chamber was placed ten feet from the vocalist and his shouting was left to be consumed by all the instrumentation between himself and the mic. Without a focus on lyrical content, the track, however abrasive, once again takes on an atmospheric property which I found captivating. Melody is entirely forsaken. And it sounds as if the band is performing from deep within a pit and the listener is standing, gazing down into the blackness from where the reverberated howling comes forth. And clocking in at over thirteen minutes, the track certainly has an exhausting impact on the listener, most apparent when the silence of the room return as suddenly as it was broken.

Thanks, Batlord - this was a most enjoyable experience!

The Batlord · 02-14-2017, 07:04 PM

I most certainly did not expect you to actually like (I assume) all the tracks. I guessed you'd hate all of them tbh. Not that I was trolling you, but I kinda expected you to not really like what you heard but maybe appreciate aspects of at least certain songs. But if you're ever interested in more, then I or many other people on this site I'm sure would be happy to rec you more. Black metal is one of this site's specialities.

Mondo Bungle · 02-14-2017, 07:32 PM

http://www.musicbanter.com/rock-meta...use-rules.html

innerspaceboy · 02-14-2017, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mondo Bungle

http://www.musicbanter.com/rock-meta...use-rules.html

Thanks! Your description of Fell Voices - Regnum Saturni is most intriguing. I'll have a listen!

The Batlord · 02-14-2017, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mondo Bungle

http://www.musicbanter.com/rock-meta...use-rules.html

Mondo has a taste for the more experimental forms of black metal, so this is an excellent resource. But just to give you a taste for the more "pure" forms of black metal (which I am somewhat dubious that you would like) then...

02-05-2017, 09:15 PM	#523 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,033	It was through ROIR that I first discovered Glenn Branca. I remember actually calling the label on the phone and they answered questions I had about Branca's music. That was back before you could just google everything. ROIR and RRRecords were both so cool back then. So was this zine called Sound Choice that was focused on the cassette culture stuff of that era. There was also Cityzens for Non-Linear Futures.