Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Geoff Mullen - Accidental Guitars LP - Rel Records
Geoff Mullen - Accidental Guitars LP - Rel Records
It's no surprise that Geoff Mullen's new record sounds chaotic on first listen -- the LP is made from the haphazard layering of a live set recorded to tape and two different improvised accompaniments to that set each recorded later to a different cassette deck. What's surprising is the way the record slowly takes shape, revealing passages of synchronicity and cohesion. Scattered, percussive guitar playing will ease into more meditative sounds, agitation give way to calm. Definitely not an easy listen, it is certainly thought-provoking and often mesmerizing.

$17, email eggyrecords@gmail.com to order it.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Robert Ridley-Shackleton - Shut Up Egg - Self-Released
Robert Ridley-Shackleton - Shut Up Egg - Self-released
Following up his recent tape on Goaty, Robert Ridley-Shackleton returns with Shut Up Egg in a self-released edition of 30. Bracingly unhinged, fans of Baronic Wall will be familiar with the territory but Ridley-Shackleton is certainly on his very own trip. Shut Up Egg is a concept album of sorts, documenting Robert's fury towards an egg-man he finds in his kitchen trying to kill his wife, and his feverish desire to inflict yolk-splattering violence against the intruder and his supermarket kin. It's not completely strict in its theme, however, and includes a track about a "silly little poochie" with big feet and ears and a blood-lust towards Robert and his family. A pleasant surprise of the tape comes in the form of the backing tracks and instrumental work, which is less Casio-centric than I remember the last tape being and more experimental in texture, filled with weird growls and industrial noises. Maybe it's because I was listening to him earlier today, but there something vaguely Hasil Adkins about Ridley-Shackleton's strange visions(I'm thinking obsession with killing an egg versus obsession with cutting a woman's head off). Anyway, insular and somewhat unsettling, well, no, straight up unsettling, Shut Up Egg is the product of a unique mind, and will certainly perplex and entertain.

You can listen to it here:
http://robertridley-shackleton.bandcamp.com/album/shut-up-egg

$6, email eggyrecords@gmail.com to order it.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Uhlaan Khol - La Catacomb - Soft Abuse
Ulaan Khol - La Catacomb - Soft Abuse
Pummeling in its poise, La Catacomb is a leveling slow burner of frayed guitar work that finds its peace in waves of distortion. Without thinking too much about it, the reference that comes to mind is Popul Vuh's soundtrack work for Herzog -- that sense of calm and unease somehow at the same time. Impeccable stuff. Honestly it's a little bit weird to me that this is only on tape, enough so that I spent some time looking for who had put out the vinyl version only to find that there was none. A little background info, Ulaan Khol is a project of Steven R. Smith, who first came to my attention in the early Aughts via his excellent work as Hala Strana, though he was also playing in Thuja at the time along side Loren Chasse and Glenn Donaldson. Which is to say he is a veteran of the Jewelled Antler scene and has been "doing it" for a while now. Really excellent tape, highly recommended!

$7, email eggyrecords@gmail.com to order it.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Laura Warholic - What Comes Before The Word?? - Faux Pas
Laura Warholic - What Comes Before The Word?? - Faux Pas
Solo tape from the boy-half of Angels In America -- despite all the horror movie posturing of that duo, What Comes Before The Word?? is a surprisingly unguarded take on downer bedroom pop. There's plenty of "creepiness" in the form of spoken word bits with squealing electronic sounds in the background but it seems less concerned with dead bodies in the corner and more with bumming oneself out on a lonely Friday night at home. I think Russian Tsarlag should get the nod for creating this genre. One track on the B-sides goes for full-on AIA mode, pairing an apocalyptic/Freudian short story with industrial beats but I'm not feeling it, for whatever reason. I am digging the combo of pop songs and artsy spoken bits, also digging the wider range of images, emotions and sounds covered here than on the AIA stuff I've heard. Maybe the group is going in this direction?

$6, email eggyrecords@gmail.com to order it.

PS. Volume levels go up and down from track to track on this tape, just a heads up if that kind of thing bothers you.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Noise Nomads - Menacing Bells - Faux Pas
Noise Nomads - Menacing Bells - Faux Pas
The keywords are "noise" and "menacing" -- the existence of bells must be taken on trust. Brutal mid-range cacophony like they do it in New England(the liner notes say a Vox amp is involved, to give you gear-heads an idea) emphasizing repetition, feedback and growling, rhythmic pulses and shying away from layering of sound or texture. Head clearing stuff, really gives the ears a ream. Says it was recorded at Lasagna Zone, which sounds like a place I'd like to visit someday.

$6, email eggyrecords@gmail.com to order it.