I've just stumbled upon this while casually browsing Facebook on the pooper: Matt Hill aka Umberto, one of my favorite synthwave musicians ever, has recently released a 7" on an obscure Franco-Japanese label. These two new tracks see Umberto going further down the path established in his latest LP, Confrontations. Hard-hitting distorted bass lines, elegant synths, unsettling drum beats and ominous vocal chants all work to conjure a dark, dystopian urban atmosphere. The songs evoke grim visions of a futuristic New Osaka where a totalitarian government is oppressing its citizens. The streets are overcrowded with miserable people; squalor and misery abound, but something's gotta give. Umberto paints a sorrowful landscape of urban decay and anguish and does so with flawless mastery of his means and instruments.
Once again, Umberto delivers the goods and retains his place as one of the most talented and criminally underrated electronic artists out there. If you're a fan of Perturbator and the bands from Aphasia Records, you must not miss out on this guy.
It's been a while since we've had some weird electronic music here and I've recently gotten way back into ambient, drone and psytrance thanks to the amazing Weed Temple blog, which you should all follow religiously. So, there's no putrid death metal or post-black-shoegaze music for today. Sorry, guys.
Instead, today is all about Merkaba, a mysterious electronic outfit from Australia who play some of the most insanely catchy and fascinating music I've ever heard. The tags from their bandcamp page read 'psytrance', 'progressive' and 'techno' and the music definitely sounds that way. You've got a weird mix of tribal atmospherics, futuristic sound effects, pulsating dance grooves and New Age-y feelings, along with some whispered female vocals. How does it all sound? AMAZING. It's trippy as hell but supremely danceable and it practically hypnotizes you into moving your head in time with the beat. The production is crystal clear and shiny and there's definitely some sick bass lines in here. Also, the songs are over 10 minutes long and constantly shift gears. Boredom be damned!
So what the hell are you still doing reading this? Shut off your blinds, turn on the disco ball and the neon lights, take off your socks, grab some glow sticks, crank the volume all the way to 11 and start blasting this while dancing furiously to all these delicious trance beats. THE TECHNOVIKING COMMANDS IT!
I've been a huge UMBERTO fan ever since I did that piece about carpentercore and I was super stoked to find out he would be performing live in the little corner of the world I live in right now. So last Friday, after spending the whole day eating souvlaki, drinking beer and chillin' in the sun, I put on a hipsterish shirt, my favorite jeans, grabbed my iPod and sailed off into the night, ready to live inside an old horror movie for a few hours.
I showed up at the venue at nine thirty, just like the poster said, only to find out the place was deserted. Turns out the tickets aren't ready yet or something, so yadda yadda yadda, come back later. I was a little bummed, but a small delay was better than having the show cancelled for whatever reason, which I had feared was the case.
So instead of waiting outside in the cold like an animal, I decided to check out a promising looking metal bar I had passed by on the way over, about 10 minutes away from the club. Its windows were covered in a sticky wallpaper featuring skulls so I wondered if maybe it was actually a tattoo parlor, but whatever, I tried the door anyway. As it opened, I saw a rather small rectangular room, with a long bar on the left side and the right wall covered in concert posters. Death metal was blasting out of every speaker and there was a painted Lemmy icon on the wall, so I knew I had come to the right place. Turns out, it was actually the bar/clubhouse of the local motorcycle gang and they were pretty cool guys. I had a nice Greek microbrewed beer (indie as fuck!) and chatted with the bartender about Rotting Christ and various concerts and festivals they have in Greece.
But alas, I didn't want to miss the show, so after about an hour, I bid the MC'ers farewell and made my way back to the venue, which got pretty crowded in the mean time. I barely had time to get a drink, because Matt Hill got on the stage, fired up the laptop and the video projector and started doing his thing. I was surprised, because I thought Umberto would be the headliner, not the opening act. I'm not sure the audience knew him very well, either, because for half of his set, I was the only guy standing right near the stage, taking in the whole experience. And what an experience it was! I already knew his music had that delicious vintage synth vibe I love, but the video collage that ran during the set really tied everything together. It blended together cool scenes from a ton of well-known campy 70s/80s horror and thriller movies - Halloween, Final Destination, The Thing, Re-Animator, Begotten, Silence of the Lambs are just a few of the movies featured in the ever-changing projection. It really added a new layer of flavor to Umberto's retro horror-inspired soundtracks and, needless to say, I enjoyed the set immensely. I even chatted a bit with Matt Hill after he finished and the subject of John Carpenter and his movies came up in literally 2 seconds. He's a cool guy.
I was tempted to go home after Umberto's set and skip Mechanimal's show (I had to get up extra early for school), but I decided to stay after he told me he liked them and that they were really good. I didn't know what to expect when the three members of Mechanimal took the stage behind a guitar, a microphone and a keyboard rack, respectively, but I was kind of excited. What followed was a mix of theatrical poetry reciting, expansive ambient guitar soundscapes, vintage drum beats and weird/disturbing visuals which confused me at first, but got me sort of dancing after a while. Their songs were pretty damn catchy and I really enjoyed the show, even though I got pretty upset because of all the circus training/torture footage shown during the set. I fucking hate the circus.
All in all, it was a fantastic night and I'm really glad I had the chance to experience Umberto's sounds in a live setting. Below you can find some relevant Bandcamp links and some footage I shot during the show. Peace out!
Kansas City time traveler Umberto is back with a new album. Seven tracks of delicious vintage sci-fi soundscapes perfect for exploring futuristic cities, flying your spaceship across barren asteroids, doing drugs in a space-brothel or taking part in laser-gun shoot-outs. Amazing atmosphere, just as I have come to expect from this master of retro sounds. You can stream Confrontations, as well as all of his other albums, on Umberto's bandcamp page. Prepare to be abducted!
When I bought my iPod, Chester taught me what was to become its main use: listening to music at night. No longer distracted by things on your screen or people on the street, you perceive the music at its full potential. Compositions that usually wouldn’t grab your attention shine with a new aura when you close your eyes and pull the blanket tighter around you. Sometimes when you fall asleep, the music seeps into your dreams, bringing them another layer of unreality.
I remember going to sleep once with Arvo Pärt’s Symphony no.4 (“Los Angeles”). Very chill stuff, consisting of only slow movements. However, the album ended with a fragment from Kanon Pokajainen, whose choral lines were a little stronger than the previous droning of the string orchestra. I was asleep when the chanting began. A sense of alarm overcame me, tainting the peaceful dream I was floating in. What was that noise? Did someone break in? I blinked and realized I fell out of bed, while the choir was still roaring in my earphones.
But that’s not what I wanted to write this guest post about.
A few weeks ago I was browsing the beautiful Ruthless Forums. There’s a fellow named Dimitri who rarely posts there, but when he does, he shares all kind of weird and hard to label music. I usually don’t know what to pick from the selection he posts. They all feel alien to me, so I tend to choose the ones with the most interesting covers. “Music for Thomas Carnacki” is one of those.
Who is this Thomas Carnacki and why does he need this bizarre music? Turns out he is a fictional character, a victorian Mulder who was solving supernatural mysteries involving ghosts and long forgotten rituals. The present album is actually the soundtrack to a radiophonic performance of one of the Carnacki stories.
I really don’t know how to analyse this record from a more technical point of view. I have no clue what musique concrête is and my experience with theremins and various “prepared” musical instruments is limited. What I can say is that the material on this album feels very heterogenous at a first listen. The tracks share a common eerie atmosphere, but tend to shift constantly in expression, making you check your player from time to time. I guess it’s normal for this kind of soundtrack.
Even if some parts may sound too weird to you, keep listening. You will be rewarded. The more experimental bits have grown on me after a few listens. I liked the protagonist’s three themes so much that one evening I decided to put the album to the bed test. I must have been tired, because I fell almost immediately into a pitch black slumber. It didn’t last long; when “The Samaa Ritual” began, it shook me to a state of half wakefulness. I squinted warily at my dark room and I froze. Upon the armchair’s back sat perched the hugest raven I have ever seen. It seemed to be staring right at me, playing a devious waiting game. I waited, too, but I didn’t last more than ten seconds. Out of my bed, I ran and turned the light on. My eyes fucking hurt, and there was no raven. Just the shirt I threw earlier on the armchair. Cool story bro.
So, uh, this thing came in the mail about a month ago. I've been putting off writing about it, but I feel like a total jerk and decided to JUST DO IT.
The reason why I've been having a hard time with this is because it's really difficult trying to describe this music. I'm not the most versed electronica-fan in the world, so this is just impossible for me. Anyway, Eyes and Teeth is the musical alter-ego of Matthew Jaworski. The music is some sort of weird, schizofrenic electronic mash-up of a buttload of different sounds, beats and vocal samples that doesn't really ever go anywhere. It's just sort of... there. It's like every song on this album is a microcosmos which you observe under the microscope. Every song is different than the last, yet they're somehow related. Warped out vocals move alongside keyboard notes and simple beats and nothing makes sense. It all sounds like a nightmarish fever dream - you know, the awful ones when you dream the same thing over and over again throughout the night.
The closest musical comparison I can make is the general idea of PUSSIUSIC - only without the pornographic samples - mixed with the paranoid dementia of Gigantic Brain. Except Eyes and Teeth doesn't deal with alien genocide and there is no hyperblasting to be found.
That's it, I'm done. I'm sorry, Matthew, but I don't know what else to say. I am so out of my element, it's crazy. Maybe this was the whole point - to confront me with something unimaginable, like some twisted musical version of Saw. If this is the case, then kudos to you. I feel lost and confused. Thanks for being a bro and for reading our blog, though.
Hey guys, wanna see how far fetched, obscure and specific my taste in music can get? Don't worry, as always, I'm here to enlighten you.
Before diving into the music, we gotta brush up on some history. The Ursari, more commonly known by you Western monarchs as those creepy guys who walk around with bears, are an important and widespread ethnical group in Eastern Europe. They're like your pikies ; always on the road, trading stuff and taming bears and shit.
Apparently, not all of them share the same activities. Tamango, Napoleon and Classic took a break from taming eldritch abominations and with the help of Romanian musicians Dj Vasile, Dan Handrabur (aka Dreamdoktor), Cristi Stanciu (aka Matze) and Vlaicu Golcea formed Shukar Collective (from the Romany word Shukar or Şucar, meaning "fine"). Purpose? Making music, of course!
And by music i mean synthesized household sounds combined with eerie vocals, dubstep and electronica. Spoons, forks, frying pans, mugs, cans, your drunken passed out father, you name it. It's a DIY attitude taken to an insane level. It makes me wonder what would've become of me as a musician if my father let me pound on his head way beyond the age of 4. I mean, hell, look at these guys, they've created music out of nothing. It's a full blown fuck you message to all Eric Clapton signed Fender wielding pseudomusicians who sing awful Wonderwall covers at street corners.
Being gipsies and all, the overall theme of the album ( made apparent by the song titles, 'cause it's really hard to understand the dialect in which Tamango sings) is... I don't now, that nomads can be rockstars too? Something like that. Somehow, I can't stop myself from picturing Khal Drogo among them, slicing throats and being a true badass. However, this album does a great job at describing the day to day routine of an honest group of nomadic gentlemen - gambling, traveling, family, romantic relationships, and it even goes further, discussing deep philosophical issues like life and death. I shit you not.
Although some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder makes me feel uncomfortable when not writing a lengthy review, there's really not much more to say about this album (this, or I'm not intelectually capable of analyzing it). It's an interesting experience and if you're open to new things, you should definitely give it a try.
John Carpenter - a name that's synonymous with horror, sci-fi and multiple orgasms. If you're reading this blog, you're probably among those that count Halloween, The Thing or They Live among their favorite movies. And you probably have a man-crush on Kurt Russel, which is totally understandable. Aaaand, your ear-pussy probably loves to be filled with the sweet sounds of Carpenter's distinct movie scores. So we're all on the same boat here. That's great, because today I wanted to bring to your attention some amazing musicians that take more than a few cues from John Carpenter's works. Some of this shit is pretty obscure, some of it is probably well known, some of it isn't really Carpenter-related, but it's good anyway. So get ready for another long post.
First up, here's the album that started it all for me. I stumbled upon this on a great blog focusing on obscure electronica artists - WEED TEMPLE - and I didn't even have to finish reading the dude's review on it that I KNEW I needed to listen to this as fast as possible. Matthew Akers has managed to capture the quintessential sounds of Carpenter's soundtracks: deep, pulsating synths, polished drumming with fake clapping, distorted guitar power chords - Akers has managed to masterfully combine these elements and craft something truly amazing. The Elders of New Detroit is a true blast from the past, enshrouding you in a retrofuturistic atmosphere that takes you back to the 80s, man! This tape is only three tracks long, but thankfully Matthew Akers has released another album called The Future Barbarians that carries on and offers even more sci-fi goodness. I've never seen a picture of this guy and I know nothing about him, except that I love him and I hope he keeps on making more music.
Zombie Zombie is a French indie electronic duo and A Land for Renegades is their first full-lenght album. This is purely electronic music with a great atmosphere that could easily be the soundtrack to a non-existent sci-fi movie. They also have an album called Zombie Zombie Plays John Carpenter, which features their reimaginations of several well-known John Carpenter theme songs, such as the ones from Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13 or The Thing, so you know these guys are legit. And if you're somehow still unconvinced of Zombie Zombie's love for JC, check out the clip below. It'll make your day. BAGUETTE!
Gatekeeper are a macabre electronic duo, as their last.fm page puts it. Their myspace is kinda deserted so I haven't been able to find much about the band (except that they have an album called Giza which is pretty sweet and maybe another called Exo, but I'm not sure) BUT there are lots of Gatekeeper videos on Youtube. And most of them are trippy as fuck.
See what I mean?
Next up, we have Lazerhawk, a one-man project from Austin, Texas. I've pretty much stumbled across this a minute ago, but shit sounds legit. Here's what sole member Garret Hays has to say about his music:
His outrun electro is robot pop mixed with dark synths and the occasional lyric. Reminiscent of everything that was good in the 80s including Stallone, the Countach, VHS, Diet Pepsi, Miami Vice, Neoliberal Economics, Back to the Future, Neon Lights and the Nintendo Entertainment System. Synthesizer jams with gargantuan leads, hard toms, spaced-out melody and the pains of being pure at heart. His style is a fusion of fast driven 80s music with an electro twist.
Well, I'm sold. Go to his bandcamp page and give his latest album, Visitors, a whirl. I approve of this. His indie label Rosso Corsa looks well worth a visit, too. It's packed with 80s throw-back electronic music.
You might as well give this a spin, too, so you can see John Carpenter's immense movie scoring chops for yourself. The main Halloween theme is one of my favorite pieces of music ever. It's tense, suspenseful and, at the same time, beautiful and mesmerizing. The first time I watched Halloween was at night while I was home alone. As soon as the theme started playing, I got scared and had to double check that the door was locked, the windows were closed and nobody was hiding behind the shower curtain.
Another essential Carpenter-related listen is The Thing soundtrack, scored by renowned Italian composer Ennio Morricone. What is there to say? The man is extremely talented and he has come up with a brilliant soundtrack for an equally brilliant movie. The music is dark and introspective and somewhat minimalist, perfectly capturing the movie's grim, cold atmosphere.
Moving on, I'd also like to talk about a few artists that are inspired by the Italian giallo cinema. The movies made by directors such as Dario Argento (Suspiria, Tenebre, Profondo Rosso) and Lucio Fulci (The Beyond, Zombi) and their soundtracks made their mark in the world and inspired countless artists.
Goblin were a progressive rock band from Italy and they're known for writing music for some ofDario Argento's most notable work, such as Suspiria, Profondo Rosso or Tenebre, as well as contributing songs to the soundtrack of George A. Romero's 1978 cult classic Dawn of the Dead. What can I say? These guys are legendary. Get your prog on!
Next up, we have Zombi.
Taking its name from Lucio Fulci's cult masterpiece, this Pittsburgh duo play a highly atmospheric mixture of progressive rock, krautrock and electronic music that sounds like a slightly up-to-date version of Goblin. Go to their bandcamp page and have fun!
FINALLY, here's Umberto, another one-man band that's sort of become a household name when it comes to music that could double as a horror movie soundtrack. Highly influenced by giallo cinema, Umberto conjures dark, proggy, melodic songs that evoke the atmosphere of 70s and 80s Italian horror/thriller movies. It's simultaneously ghoulish and groovy, with a penchant for occult keyboards and krautrock-inspired synth work. As the quote in From the Grave's description puts it, someone needs to make movies specifically with Umberto's music in mind.
As always, you can find Umberto's work on his bandcamp page, right here.
This about concludes my all-too-short exploration of John Carpenter/giallo-inspired music. I don't think this post even counts as scratching the surface, as I'm sure there's plenty more amazing artists to be found, if you look hard enough. But a nudge in the right direction is always welcome. So if anyone has any more recommendations, let me know. I've become hooked and I need more.
By now, dubstep has a pretty shitty reputation among people who actually care about this stuff, and the source of this hatred can probably be pinpointed to ϟƘƦƖןןΣx who single-handedly managed to bring the wrath of the electronica crowd (well, part of it, anyway) upon the genre. Sure, there are probably even worse offenders out there, but this guy is so big and famous that I have no problem blaming it all on him. He's a cunt and violent electronic music makes me nauseous.
It doesn't have to be this way, though, as renowned British producer Burial demonstrates with his 2006 self-titled debut. In all fairness, Burial's music is rooted in 2-step garage and tends to be considered more of a dubstep precursor and, as such, it has absolutely nothing to do with the modern, over-processed mess that dubstep has now become. No, this is closer to (dark) ambient as the artist is striving to create atmosphere.
The music is composed of all sorts of fragmented sound bites arranged in irregular, paranoid patterns that help create a sense of unease and nervousness. The main drum beats usually feature a kick on the first and third beat, with snares, claps and hi-hats coming in at unpredictable intervals - and it sounds nothing like a typical four-on-the-floor house or techno beat. The artist then adds various bits of clanking, mechanical noises and disembodied, echoed vocal samples to the mix while saturating the background with grave synth pads, thus creating a dense, brooding atmosphere that's simultaneously enthralling and anxiety-inducing. The ambiance is meant to evoke the loneliness of walking through an urban landscape by night. The towering concrete buildings, the shining street lights reflecting in puddles of water by the sidewalk, the eerie feeling of being alone in a dark, unfamiliar place, a solitary night bus moving silently on the streets - Burial recreates these sights and sounds through his intelligent, carefully planned rhythms.
While it's perfectly suitable as background music for when you're working or whatever, Burial truly shines when you're listening to it alone, at night, in your bed. It instantly hooks you and makes for a soothing journey towards REM sleep. Burial is an entirely different beast than his contemporary counterparts and, even after six years, the music bearing its name isn't straying from the original formula of deep, meditative sounds and unnerving drum programming. While the cool kids are popping pills and frantically dancing to that modern garbage, I'll be in my room, soaking in the atmosphere of one of Britain's most brilliant and influential producers.
If you're into ambient music, nevermind the dubstep label and give this a spin. Your nights will never be the same again.
I don't really know what to say about Count Nosferatu Kommado (they're actually called The Cosa Nostra Klub now, but Count Nosferatu Kommando sounds so much better) except that they're French, they play a weird hybridized electronic/symphonic/industrial/black metal kinda thing with machine gun drumming and lots of yelling and that this song might be the dumbest thing ever written, but goddamn it, I love it.
Şi dacă tot am zis de electronicăraie băşită, sunt mândru să prezint cel mai nou album Hunting&Gathering, intitulat Aliens F**k Off. Şapte piese scurte, repetitive, pline de synth-uri, voci de roboţi şi tobe programte (şi chiar şi un sample dintr-un film sci-fi, că nu se poate fără), având unele din cele mai cretine/awesome titluri ever, pe care o să le ascult cu o plăcere grotescă de acum şi până-n vecie.
Ăsta va fi cel mai probabil ultimul album Hunting&Gathering. Dacă o să mai fac muzică, va fi sub alt pseudonim şi probabil că o voi arde pe trance simplist. Până atunci, ALIENS F**K OFF!
Nu posed acelaşi fler al descrierilor precum proprietarii de label-uri centrate pe muzică electronică, probabil din cauză că nu ştiu absolut nimic despre trance şi alte de-astea, dar Alien Jesus s-a dovedit a fi fondul sonor ideal pentru o zi băşinoasă de făcut curăţenie prin casă. Poate că dau cu mopul pe hol în loc să fac ceva distractiv, dar măcar ascult nişte nişte psytrance ca lumea în timp ce fac asta! Plus că după ce termin, o să pot să fac un duş şi să stau fericit în curăţenie. Feels good man.
Pe vremuri, în the mid '00s, o ardeam obscur pe un forum penal care cică se ocupa de grafică digitală şi de-alea, dar în principal era un loc unde o grămadă de indivizi ciudaţi (cei mai mulţi din SUA) vorbeau despre adidaşi scumpi şi jocuri de Xbox 360. Printre numeroasele threaduri despre tricouri de firmă, filme exotice din Europa şi gif-uri bizare, îşi făcuse loc şi un "POAST UR MUZIK" thread, unde fiecare îşi împărtăşea eforturile muzicale. Nu erau prea mulţi participanţi la petrecere, dar unul din ei mi-a atras atenţia. Nu mai ştiu cum îşi zicea pe forum, dar mi-aduc aminte limpede de proiectul lui muzical intitulat PUSSIUSIC.
Evident că am fost intrigat la maxim de nume, aşa că am descărcat curios cele câteva piese pe care le urcase pe megaupload, am dat boxele mai tare şi am dat play. Imediat după aceea, a trebuit să le dau brusc mai încet, pentru a nu ridica suspiciuni asupra activităţilor mele din spatele uşii închise a camerei. Aparent, PUSSIUSIC înseamnă beat-uri hip-hop şi sample-uri din filme porno. Rezultatul este surprinzător de ambiental şi nici pe departe atât de ofensiv pe cât s-ar putea crede. Poate că n-am umblat eu pe unde trebuie, poate că s-a mai făcut de miliarde de ori lucrul ăsta înainte, dar nu mai auzisem până atunci (şi nici de atunci încolo, excepţie făcând poate The Sexorcist al lui Necro) o piesă ambientală drăguţică peste care au fost împrăştiate gemetele satisfăcute ale unui bărbat dezbrăcat sau zbieretele frenetice ale neesenţial cărei actriţe porno anonime. Cum spuneam, nu este atât de hardcore pe cât sună, iar piesele sunt foarte scurte, deci PUSSIUSIC este numai bun pentru o sesiune rapidă de ascultare, încheiată, cel mai probabil, printr-un "wtf" sec şi un replay.
Aveţi aici colecţia mea personală de PUSSIUSIC, adică cinci piese pe care le-am adunat cu mânuţa mea de pe forumul ăla. Nu ştiu dacă a făcut şi alte piese în afară de astea. Din câte ştiu eu, a renunţat destul de repede la proiect. Aparent, a început să ia muzica electronică mai în serios, astfel încât acum a devenit DJ, operând sub pseudonimul DSTRYD. Are şi un blog şi un soundcloud unde-şi postează chestiile recente.
Eurodance/Electronica/House obscur ca dracu (serios, are două plays pe last.fm) dar buuuuuuun. Super acid, plin de cybervocals şi hyperpumping - rahatul ăsta te face să-ţi iei nişte brăţări fosforescente şi să dansezi Futterwackenul cum n-ai mai făcut-o niciodată.
