Suche:greg saunier

It's already hard to describe what Deerhoof sounds like. So we'll skip that part and say this sounds a lot like Deerhoof with a different singer. And in keeping with 30-year Hoofian tradition, melodies soar, big hit earwigs abound, harmonies are complex, and keys change frequently and unexpectedly. Arrangements are in a constant state of impatient agitation. Emotions run high but delivery is usually a falsetto deadpan. We Sang, Therefore We Were is grief delivered in code. Greg plays everything save for a few birds who join in singing now and again. He keeps the instrumentarium severely limited, the sound shambling and anti-slick. It turns out Greg is a really good bass player and guitar player, if a bit more rudimentary and slicing compared to his Deerhoof bandmates. He does play more angry guitar solos. But don't expect another Chippendale/Saunier speed-drum freakout; the songwriting is gorgeous and sophisticated, and drums are almost an afterthought. Here, song is Queen. The singing is high and whispery, tending towards the three-part harmony. What we're saying is: We Sang, Therefore We Were sounds a bit like Deerhoof fronted by The Andrews Sisters. This is a peek inside the mind of one of indie rock's most celebrated drummers, many of whose fans may not even realize the relentlessness of his musicianship and compositional prolificacy. Mozartian chords and sounds insinuate themselves here and there on this record, finally taking over in a big climax at the end, when the drums break off unexpectedly into a laugh-or-cry orchestral outpouring that ironically may be the rawest part of a very raw album. "Satomi, Ed, John and I were chatting between shows in Austin in early December. They encouraged me to make a record on my own. With no one to please but myself, it came together way faster than usual. It was basically done by the holidays. I had been excited by the announcement that the new Rolling Stones record was going to sound 'angry.' I thought, 'Yes, I'm angry too.' But Hackney Diamonds turned out more like cotton candy than punk rock. So I went back to Nirvana. I always loved the catchy melody over massive distortion, the way their songs refused to conform to simple major or minor scales, the dark sarcasm which still resonates in this age of phony blue-check-washing of fascism." The album cover is all text, penned by Greg on the familiar topic of interspecies absurdist operatic anti-Cartesian revolution. The songs' lyrics are all drawn from this epic poem. White House spokespersons are recast as The Queen of the Night from The Magic Flute, The Queen of the Night is recast as a mockingbird singing all night in a battle for survival, and ultimately the mockingbird is recast as a campy drag artist taking pleasure in her own aggressive, tireless music-making.

Heavyweight psychedelic improvisers EarthBall are back with their third and most monstrous record to date: ‘Outside Over There’, released on Upset The Rhythm (Nov 7th). Born from the haunted basements of Nanaimo, Canada, the quintet thrives on spontaneity, shaping improvisation into jagged hallucinations and ecstatic eruptions.
Recorded live-off-the-floor in 2024 in Jeremy, Izzy, and Kellen’s basement, and mixed by drummer John Brennan, ‘Outside Over There’ is an album that feels both summoned and inevitable. Each track lands with uncanny purpose, as if uncovered rather than written.
The opener, 100%, features a cameo from comedian and English icon Stewart Lee, who lent his blessing for the band to use a fragment of his stand-up. The album was mastered by John Dieterich (Deerhoof), with liner text contributed by longtime comrade John Olson (Wolf Eyes). Olson describes the album in his unmistakable style:
“This eight-track odyssey unfolds like a dreamscape, where whispered incantations brush against the shadowy fringes of the cosmos, and wild, Cézanne-inspired rock anthems erupt like geysers of color in the midst of a western warm and wet rain storm… culminating in the sprawling eleven minute masterpiece, ‘And The Music Shall Untune The Sky,’ aptly dubbed the Earth Crusher. A creation so utterly deconstructed and intertwined with the pulse of nature itself that if AI was called upon to conceive ‘Outside Over There’ anew, it would just spit back, “F.U. in Tree Font”. An enchanting invitation for even the flat-earthers to join the circle, if only just a little.”
EarthBall’s trajectory has been relentless. Their 2024 album ‘It’s Yours’ was praised by The Quietus as “fully aggressive and fully life-affirming,” and by The Wire as "a boisterous mind-melting album”. The band’s live double set LP ‘Actual Earth Music Vol. 1 & 2’ (2025) captured blistering performances: a performance opening for Wolf Eyes at the Fox Cabaret, and a Café OTO improvised throw-down featuring Chris Corsano and Steve Beresford. These releases on their own confirm them as one of Canada’s most vital experimental exports, not to mention the impressive self-released discography on their Bandcamp. The band’s reach has stretched far beyond their west coast roots with a UK tour May 2024, plus this past June, EarthBall closed Montreal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon. This November they will perform at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, with a European tour to follow (tour dates below). Outside of EarthBall, each member carries their own torch. Jeremy Van Wyck, founding member of the legendary Shearing Pinx, has toured extensively, released over 100 records, and has been a vital force in the Vancouver and West Coast underground for the past 25 years. He and Isabel Ford (Izzy) play together not only in EarthBall, but also in Psychedelic Dirt, Shearing Pinx, Behaviours, and Crotch.
John Brennan collaborates widely, including recently with Endlings (Raven Chacon and John Dieterich), Evichen (Victoria Shen), Francesco Fonassi, Plan Your Future (with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Brennan/Corsano duo and Physics with John Dieterich. Kellen Maclaughlin performs with KVMP and Ora Corgan, while saxophonist Liam Murphy is a west coast staple, playing with the best across Vancouver Island and the mainland. On three of the tracks of ‘Outside Over There’, the band is joined by their comrade Justin Patterson, who also plays with Brennan in the duo Modale. This cross-pollination fuels EarthBall’s sound - a collective improvisation, psychically overdriven, and grinding into bloom.
Outside Over There’ is more than an album though, it is a ritual, a gathering of sound at the forest’s edge; where feedback, saxophone screams, and ecstatic vocals dissolve the boundary between chaos and clarity. EarthBall invite you into their circle, to share in the joyful terror of spontaneous creation. ‘Outside Over There’ will be released on November 7th through Upset The Rhythm digitally and as a limited blue-in-black vinyl LP.

Heavyweight psychedelic improvisers EarthBall are back with their third and most monstrous record to date: ‘Outside Over There’, released on Upset The Rhythm (Nov 7th). Born from the haunted basements of Nanaimo, Canada, the quintet thrives on spontaneity, shaping improvisation into jagged hallucinations and ecstatic eruptions.
Recorded live-off-the-floor in 2024 in Jeremy, Izzy, and Kellen’s basement, and mixed by drummer John Brennan, ‘Outside Over There’ is an album that feels both summoned and inevitable. Each track lands with uncanny purpose, as if uncovered rather than written.
The opener, 100%, features a cameo from comedian and English icon Stewart Lee, who lent his blessing for the band to use a fragment of his stand-up. The album was mastered by John Dieterich (Deerhoof), with liner text contributed by longtime comrade John Olson (Wolf Eyes). Olson describes the album in his unmistakable style:
“This eight-track odyssey unfolds like a dreamscape, where whispered incantations brush against the shadowy fringes of the cosmos, and wild, Cézanne-inspired rock anthems erupt like geysers of color in the midst of a western warm and wet rain storm… culminating in the sprawling eleven minute masterpiece, ‘And The Music Shall Untune The Sky,’ aptly dubbed the Earth Crusher. A creation so utterly deconstructed and intertwined with the pulse of nature itself that if AI was called upon to conceive ‘Outside Over There’ anew, it would just spit back, “F.U. in Tree Font”. An enchanting invitation for even the flat-earthers to join the circle, if only just a little.”
EarthBall’s trajectory has been relentless. Their 2024 album ‘It’s Yours’ was praised by The Quietus as “fully aggressive and fully life-affirming,” and by The Wire as "a boisterous mind-melting album”. The band’s live double set LP ‘Actual Earth Music Vol. 1 & 2’ (2025) captured blistering performances: a performance opening for Wolf Eyes at the Fox Cabaret, and a Café OTO improvised throw-down featuring Chris Corsano and Steve Beresford. These releases on their own confirm them as one of Canada’s most vital experimental exports, not to mention the impressive self-released discography on their Bandcamp. The band’s reach has stretched far beyond their west coast roots with a UK tour May 2024, plus this past June, EarthBall closed Montreal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon. This November they will perform at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, with a European tour to follow (tour dates below). Outside of EarthBall, each member carries their own torch. Jeremy Van Wyck, founding member of the legendary Shearing Pinx, has toured extensively, released over 100 records, and has been a vital force in the Vancouver and West Coast underground for the past 25 years. He and Isabel Ford (Izzy) play together not only in EarthBall, but also in Psychedelic Dirt, Shearing Pinx, Behaviours, and Crotch.
John Brennan collaborates widely, including recently with Endlings (Raven Chacon and John Dieterich), Evichen (Victoria Shen), Francesco Fonassi, Plan Your Future (with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Brennan/Corsano duo and Physics with John Dieterich. Kellen Maclaughlin performs with KVMP and Ora Corgan, while saxophonist Liam Murphy is a west coast staple, playing with the best across Vancouver Island and the mainland. On three of the tracks of ‘Outside Over There’, the band is joined by their comrade Justin Patterson, who also plays with Brennan in the duo Modale. This cross-pollination fuels EarthBall’s sound - a collective improvisation, psychically overdriven, and grinding into bloom.
Outside Over There’ is more than an album though, it is a ritual, a gathering of sound at the forest’s edge; where feedback, saxophone screams, and ecstatic vocals dissolve the boundary between chaos and clarity. EarthBall invite you into their circle, to share in the joyful terror of spontaneous creation. ‘Outside Over There’ will be released on November 7th through Upset The Rhythm digitally and as a limited blue-in-black vinyl LP.

Später, in den Tagen der funkelnden weißen Overalls, erreichte Elvis einen Höhepunkt, als die Musik ihn so tief bewegte, ihn in solche Höhen hob, dass es nur noch eines zu tun gab: "die umgekehrte Klaue". Wenn Musik dich dazu bringt, ist das ein wirklich großartiges Gefühl. "Die umgekehrte Klaue" ist das, worum es bei Deerhoof geht. Ihre jubelnde Musik zieht dich in den Moment hinein, und dort freust du dich. Auf dem transzendenten Album ,Friend Opportunity" überrascht die Musik immer wieder: Songs wie ,Perfect Me" haben drei oder vier Abschnitte mit atemberaubenden Offenbarungen des Erhabenen; ,Matchbook Seeks Maniac" zieht in der Mitte einen ,99 Luftballoons"-Breakdown-Move durch, rockt ein Brahms-Intervall im pop-narkotischen Refrain, und die Beach Boys und The Who sind überall im Mix zu hören - es ist eines der glorreichsten Dinge, die man je hören wird. Auf früheren Alben war eine der Hauptwaffen von Deerhoof der negative Raum - die atemberaubenden Stille zwischen den Beats und Akkorden schlugen härter zu als jedes Klirren und Klirren von Gitarren und Becken. Deerhoof waren wie Maler, die leere Stellen auf der Leinwand ließen, um ihre Pinselstriche hervorzuheben; jetzt neigen sie dazu, jeden Quadratzentimeter auszufüllen und laden uns ein, jeden brillanten Winkel zu genießen. Und Songs wie ,Perfect Me", ,Believe in E.S.P." und ,Choco Fight" sind weitaus groove-orientierter - und ja, auch sexier - als alles, was sie bisher gemacht haben. Das alles ist in Gegenüberstellungen integriert, die eigentlich irritierend sein müssten, aber einfach nur erstaunlich klingen. ,Believe E.S.P." beginnt mit Deerhoofs Interpretation von funkiger Slinkopation, aber der nächste Abschnitt klingt wie etwas aus Palestrina; wie so viele dieser Songs ist es eine malerische Fahrt, die von einer erstaunlichen Aussicht zur nächsten führt, von weiten, schimmernden Wüsten über neblige Schluchten bis hin zu atemberaubenden, schneebedeckten Berggipfeln. Wie Mike Watt einmal über seine Band The Minutemen sagte, schreiben Deerhoof keine Songs, sondern Flüsse. Woher kommt dieses Zeug? Da ist das hoch aufragende, ungerade getaktete Gitarrenriffarama von Chavez, der Heavy-Metal-Donner von Strawinsky, die beschädigten Schnörkel von Gastr del Sol, der Klang und Stomp von Led Zeppelin, Japans illustre Reihe atemberaubend innovativer, von Frauen dominierter Bands wie Ex-Girl und Melt Banana. Und jetzt gibt es diese Mensch-Maschine-Beatbox-Rhythmen, bei denen der titanische Schlagzeuger Greg Saunier die Technologie übertrifft wie ein John Henry mit zwei Holzstiften in den Händen anstelle eines Vorschlaghammers. Manchmal erinnern sie an The Who - wie ,Underture" aus Tommy oder die großartige Live-Version von ,A Quick One", eine Rockband, die die Arbeit eines Orchesters leistet, fesselnde Träumereien im Wechsel mit kraftvollen Ausbrüchen gewundener Melodien, lyrischen Machtspielen und Inverted Claws, die überwältigende Freude hervorrufen. Aber es gibt noch eine weitere wichtige Quelle: Seit mindestens 20 Jahren hat der Hip-Hop die ausgefallenste und experimentellste Musik hervorgebracht, die die Popmusik je gesehen hat. Warum kann Rockmusik nicht das Gleiche tun, auf ihre eigene Weise? Während ,Friend Opportunity" also tangential den Hip-Hop (und verschiedene Epochen des Rock in seiner abenteuerlichsten Form) zitiert, wendet es meist nur die gleiche Denkweise an - was wäre, wenn wir einfach unserer Fantasie freien Lauf lassen würden? ,Friend Opportunity" ist eine Meisterleistung der Neuerfindung, die nur von Künstlern kommen konnte, die bereit waren, alles zu überdenken. ,Es ist, als wäre man wieder ein Kind", sagte Saunier einmal zu Pitchfork, ,denn das ist es, was Kinder die ganze Zeit tun. Jeden Tag lernen sie neue Dinge, von denen sie nicht wussten, dass sie sie tun können." Mann, wenn man von Sonic Youth spricht - Deerhoofs Frühling ist ewig. - Michael Azerrad

Heavyweight psychedelic improvisers EarthBall are back with their third and most monstrous record to date: ‘Outside Over There’, released on Upset The Rhythm (Nov 7th). Born from the haunted basements of Nanaimo, Canada, the quintet thrives on spontaneity, shaping improvisation into jagged hallucinations and ecstatic eruptions.
Recorded live-off-the-floor in 2024 in Jeremy, Izzy, and Kellen’s basement, and mixed by drummer John Brennan, ‘Outside Over There’ is an album that feels both summoned and inevitable. Each track lands with uncanny purpose, as if uncovered rather than written.
The opener, 100%, features a cameo from comedian and English icon Stewart Lee, who lent his blessing for the band to use a fragment of his stand-up. The album was mastered by John Dieterich (Deerhoof), with liner text contributed by longtime comrade John Olson (Wolf Eyes). Olson describes the album in his unmistakable style:
“This eight-track odyssey unfolds like a dreamscape, where whispered incantations brush against the shadowy fringes of the cosmos, and wild, Cézanne-inspired rock anthems erupt like geysers of color in the midst of a western warm and wet rain storm… culminating in the sprawling eleven minute masterpiece, ‘And The Music Shall Untune The Sky,’ aptly dubbed the Earth Crusher. A creation so utterly deconstructed and intertwined with the pulse of nature itself that if AI was called upon to conceive ‘Outside Over There’ anew, it would just spit back, “F.U. in Tree Font”. An enchanting invitation for even the flat-earthers to join the circle, if only just a little.”
EarthBall’s trajectory has been relentless. Their 2024 album ‘It’s Yours’ was praised by The Quietus as “fully aggressive and fully life-affirming,” and by The Wire as "a boisterous mind-melting album”. The band’s live double set LP ‘Actual Earth Music Vol. 1 & 2’ (2025) captured blistering performances: a performance opening for Wolf Eyes at the Fox Cabaret, and a Café OTO improvised throw-down featuring Chris Corsano and Steve Beresford. These releases on their own confirm them as one of Canada’s most vital experimental exports, not to mention the impressive self-released discography on their Bandcamp. The band’s reach has stretched far beyond their west coast roots with a UK tour May 2024, plus this past June, EarthBall closed Montreal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon. This November they will perform at Le Guess Who? Festival in Utrecht, with a European tour to follow (tour dates below). Outside of EarthBall, each member carries their own torch. Jeremy Van Wyck, founding member of the legendary Shearing Pinx, has toured extensively, released over 100 records, and has been a vital force in the Vancouver and West Coast underground for the past 25 years. He and Isabel Ford (Izzy) play together not only in EarthBall, but also in Psychedelic Dirt, Shearing Pinx, Behaviours, and Crotch.
John Brennan collaborates widely, including recently with Endlings (Raven Chacon and John Dieterich), Evichen (Victoria Shen), Francesco Fonassi, Plan Your Future (with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof), Brennan/Corsano duo and Physics with John Dieterich. Kellen Maclaughlin performs with KVMP and Ora Corgan, while saxophonist Liam Murphy is a west coast staple, playing with the best across Vancouver Island and the mainland. On three of the tracks of ‘Outside Over There’, the band is joined by their comrade Justin Patterson, who also plays with Brennan in the duo Modale. This cross-pollination fuels EarthBall’s sound - a collective improvisation, psychically overdriven, and grinding into bloom.
Outside Over There’ is more than an album though, it is a ritual, a gathering of sound at the forest’s edge; where feedback, saxophone screams, and ecstatic vocals dissolve the boundary between chaos and clarity. EarthBall invite you into their circle, to share in the joyful terror of spontaneous creation. ‘Outside Over There’ will be released on November 7th through Upset The Rhythm digitally and as a limited blue-in-black vinyl LP.

Die französische Sängerin, Multi-Instrumentalistin und Produzentin Halo Maud veröffentlicht ihr neues Album 'Celebrate'. Die zwölf Tracks bieten eine nahtlose Mischung aus Französisch und Englisch, analoger Elektronik, kratzigen Gitarren, verspielten Drums und Dream Pop-Elementen, aufgenommen zwischen Paris und Los Angeles.

Brussels-based power trio Don Kapot are set to release their rousing new album 'I Love Tempo' on the 15th of September via W.E.R.F. Records - NEWS distribution.

A lifeboat of free jazz, afrobeat and krautpunk sailed by Giotis Damianidis (bass), Viktor Perdieus (baritone saxophone) and Jakob Warmenbol (drums), the album follows the release of their critically acclaimed 2022 album 'Un Peu Live' recorded with Dutch multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer Fulco Ottervanger, and described by Bandcamp Daily as a 'very fun mix of modern jazz and krautrock.'

Don Kapot strike hard with their fourth album, mixed and co-produced by Greg Saunier (Deerhoof). Using a wide range of instruments, they evolve their sound into a solid complex rhythmic wave, shaken by demented samples and punk attitude.

From the vibrant, pounding rhythms of opening track 'Me Pig' to the off-kilter, whimsical beats of 'Macarona' and 'Terryble,' Don Kapot integrate new instruments and sounds into their repertoire, including keyboards and sampling. The groove remains a central element to the sound as the trio deliver a palpable blend of high tension and joyous energy where genres are demolished.

Elsewhere, the funk-heavy 'Bernadette' allows the magical, freestyle sax work of Perdieus take centre stage while 'Don Be No' is an urgent, flippant blast of vigour and zest before the album title track 'I Love Tempo' is an exhilarating and hypnotic journey that combines the freedom and verve of free jazz with the trance-like zeal of artists such as Tony Allen, Fela Kuti and Kologbo

Releasing their self-titled debut album in 2018 via Mr. Nakayasi Records, in 2021 they signed to Flemish record label W.E.R.F. Records and have released three albums under the label and have performed sold-out shows across Belgium and the Netherlands.

The players in Don Kapot also extend their musical adventures to other projects. Damianidis leads Punk Kong and has performed with Akira Sakata, Sakis Papadimitriou, Oghene Kologbo, Tony Allen, Baba Ani, Balasz Pandi and Gonzalo Almeida among others. Warmenbol was a member of The Unrevealed Society, Robbing Millions and M(h)ysteria. He also performs with Ruth Tafebe & the Afrosoul Messengers (with Giotis), Under The Reefs Orchestra and Monolithe Noir. Perdieus performs in Punk Kong and with Pompelmoes and The Milk Factory and took part in Ifa y Xango, Laia Arkestra, Bolhaerd, Nest and VVolk. He has also recorded and played with Andrew Cyrille (Bambi Pang Pang).

Perpetual Doom proudly presents the new album from Earl Vallie: Ghost Approaches. Brandishing a new moniker and a reenergized spirit, Vallie teams up with producer and drummer Greg Saunier of Deerhoof to deliver a collection of boldly weird and defiantly life-affirming songs. Earl Vallie cordially invites you on a journey into the depths of the working-class artist, the neon-sludge pit where workaday drudgery mixes with outsized desires and jumbotron dreams. Ghost Approaches is a cry of resilience, what opener “Ready to Die” calls a “blood-curdled promise to set things right.” That song kicks off the record with a Springsteen-esque howl, with charging guitars and an echoing wail. It’s an appropriate sentiment for a record that begun with Vallie’s move from Joshua Tree to LA and the pandemic-borne worry that music might be behind him. But just like the burst of synths that lifts the dancefloor love affair of “Hollow Skies,” Ghost Approaches ascends with a new, bolder sound. Together with Saunier, whose drumming gives the album a gritty pulse, Vallie adds new heft to his desert-lean tunes until even the album’s darkest moments (“Reap the Seeds of Love”) exhibit a bioluminescent glow. But behind it all is Vallie’s unmistakable voice. Ghost Approaches features a remarkable range of musical contributions, from the chilling sax at the end of “My Babys Broomstick” to background vocals of Val Glenn on “Hollow Skies” and Heidi Alexander on the doo-wop inflected “Prom.” “My only goal,” Earl says, “is to uplift people with sounds and melodies that are undeniably relatable and healing for all.” It may be a ghost approaching—but it’s a good one.

Auf Deerhoof ist Verlass: 2020 veröffentlichte die Band "Future Teenage Cave Artists" und überraschte mit dem Gratis-Album "Love-Lore" (auf dem sie 43 Songs in 35 Minuten coverten!), schon lassen die experimentellen Indie-Rocker bereits ihr nächstes Werk folgen. Mit "Actually, You Can", ihrem insgesamt 18. Studioalbum, beweisen Deerhoof, dass - von der kreativen Neuerfindung nach 25 Jahren Karriere bis zur Selbstverwirklichung inmitten einer globaler Umwälzung - alles möglich ist. Das Ergebnis ist Deerhoofs "Barock goes DIY"-LP, die von der Band selbst produziert wurde und mit nur nur zwei Gitarren, Bass, Schlagzeug und Gesang auskommt. Dabei nutzen Satomi Matsuzaki, Ed Rodriguez, John Dieterich und Greg Saunier ihren Witz und ihre Skurrilität, um eine neue gemeinsame Sprache der Revolution zu erschaffen. Eine, die von lyrischen Labyrinthen und thrashigen Melodien angetrieben wird. Das Album markiert außerdem Deerhoofs Rückkehr zu biblischen Referenzen, wie man sie von ihren früheren bahnbrechenden Noise-Rock-Werken kennt. Während das gefeierte "Future Teenage Cave Artists" märchenhafte Visionen der Post-Apokalypse und den Anti-Helden als Retter der Menschheit erforschte, schlägt die Band auf "Actually, You Can" optimistischere Töne an.

Auf Deerhoof ist Verlass: 2020 veröffentlichte die Band "Future Teenage Cave Artists" und überraschte mit dem Gratis-Album "Love-Lore" (auf dem sie 43 Songs in 35 Minuten coverten!), schon lassen die experimentellen Indie-Rocker bereits ihr nächstes Werk folgen. Mit "Actually, You Can", ihrem insgesamt 18. Studioalbum, beweisen Deerhoof, dass - von der kreativen Neuerfindung nach 25 Jahren Karriere bis zur Selbstverwirklichung inmitten einer globaler Umwälzung - alles möglich ist. Das Ergebnis ist Deerhoofs "Barock goes DIY"-LP, die von der Band selbst produziert wurde und mit nur nur zwei Gitarren, Bass, Schlagzeug und Gesang auskommt. Dabei nutzen Satomi Matsuzaki, Ed Rodriguez, John Dieterich und Greg Saunier ihren Witz und ihre Skurrilität, um eine neue gemeinsame Sprache der Revolution zu erschaffen. Eine, die von lyrischen Labyrinthen und thrashigen Melodien angetrieben wird. Das Album markiert außerdem Deerhoofs Rückkehr zu biblischen Referenzen, wie man sie von ihren früheren bahnbrechenden Noise-Rock-Werken kennt. Während das gefeierte "Future Teenage Cave Artists" märchenhafte Visionen der Post-Apokalypse und den Anti-Helden als Retter der Menschheit erforschte, schlägt die Band auf "Actually, You Can" optimistischere Töne an.

The album was produced by John Congleton (Blondie, Sigur Ros), Greg Saunier of Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu's own Angela Seo.

It features guest appearances by fabled minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine, L.A. Banjee Ball superstar commentator Enyce Smith, Swans guitar virtuoso Kristof Hahn and legendary drag artist and personal hero of Xiu Xiu, Vaginal Davis.

FORGET was recorded during a period of epic productivity for Xiu Xiu. While writing FORGET, they released the lauded Plays the Music of Twin Peaks, collaborated with Mitski on a song for an upcoming John Cameron Mitchell film, composed music for art installations by Danh Vo, recorded an album with Merzbow and scored an experimental reworking of the Mozart opera, The Magic Flute. All of this frantic, external activity lead to a softly damaged dreaminess and broadened intent that has not been heard before in other Xiu Xiu works.

Standout track, Wondering' is one of the catchiest boogie pop gems in the Xiu Xiu catalog, but like much of FORGET, it still bears an underlying tension that manifests differently in each piece. From the haunted guitar duet of "Petite", the hilariously fraught lyrics of "Get Up," the advanced industrial boxing match of "Jenny GoGo," or the experimental goth explosion of "Faith, Torn Apart", all the songs, in their own ways, build to a roiling boil of a fate in vanishing.

The calligraphy on the cover translates literally to "we forget." It bows to the universality of everything and everyone's inevitable decline and foggy disappearance. Regarding the album title, Xiu Xiu singer Jamie Stewart said, To forget uncontrollably embraces the duality of human frailty. It is a rebirth in blanked out renewal but it also drowns and mutilates our attempt to hold on to what is dear.' FORGET is both the palliative fade out of a traumatic's past but also the trampling pain of a beautiful one's decay.

Xiu Xiu is Shayna Dunkelman, Angela Seo and Jamie "Butch Jenny" Stewart.