Cerca:lp

Two mavericks, out on the weekend, trying to make it pay...

"Maverick was the word that came to mind when I listened to this music. A slightly wayward independence of spirit and outlook. The word originally referred to an unbranded male calf that had become separated from the herd (because Texan rancher Sam Maverick was so negligent in his branding - ‘if it ain’t branded, it’s a Maverick’). But Sam’s grandson Maury Maverick gave it a different twist in his short but stormy Congressional career as the only liberal member of the Southern Democratic caucus. Maury was so out of step with his own folks that he not only voted in 1937 to make lynching a federal crime, he even addressed the House to condemn the practice as barbaric. His attempt to ban racist mob murder sadly failed, but it’s that refusal to march in step which distinguishes the two ‘mavericks’ who made this record.

Who would attempt to combine cunning ethnological forgery, Scottish folk songs, claw-hammer guitar, untutored horn-tootling, elastically relaxed drumming and garage electronic fuckery? Only Greg and Stefan, high on sea, sunshine and mis-judged micro-dosing – that’s who. ‘Don’t drown’ was offered as practical advice during the self-described ‘Yellow Submarine’ phase of making this record. And while they managed to avoid literally doing so (phew), they sound here like they got pretty ‘deep in’ to an Octopus’s sound world all their own. This surprisingly clear analogue recording has just enough Bikini Bottom grit to ensure traction. The tunes are inviting, and the sonic disruptions are too good-natured and goofy to upset even the most delicate digestion.

The sessions have had a couple of years to marinate, courtesy of some pandemic, and are here offered in that most Archducal of vinyl formats, the double ten inch. What are you waiting for, a side of Crabby Patties? Get your water-wings and dive in (unless you’re tripping)!" - Bruce Russell (The Dead C)


Pumice is the long-running, endlessly inventive project of New Zealand native Stefan Neville (1974), whose shambolic music is equally reminiscent of Kiwi pop groups such as The Clean and Tall Dwarfs as well as the country's experimental noise-rock bands like the Dead C. Largely recorded solo by himself on junky equipment, his songs typically feature blown-out guitars, wheezing chord organs, and vocals disguised by tape hiss and static.

Greg Malcolm (1965) is a guitarist from New Zealand who has played everywhere on the globe and with all most everyone, including Rosy Parlane, Toshimaru Nakamura, Tetuzi Akiyama and Bruce Russell, as well as solo releases on his own label, Corpus Hermeticum, Kraak and Celebrate Psi Phenomenon.

Intergenerational trio Dry Speed is one of the best-kept secrets of the Belgian free jazz and improvisation scene. Formed in the early 2000’s, trumpet player Joachim Devillé and saxophonist Thomas Olbrechts were in their twenties at that time, while drummer – their teacher at the art school in Brussels - Dirk Wauters was already in his fifties. Logically, twenty years later the first one are in their forties and the third one in his seventies. They only released a couple of CDs before “Indium” but never stopped to play, for themselves and for audiences, in concerts.

'Too often we describe music using classifications; genres like “jazz,” “experimental,” “avant- garde” are an easy shorthand to relay the rough parameters of the music to another person who may not have heard it. But these words are useful because they’re so vague, and they are most often used when the impression the music makes is equally vague. But when a group makes sounds that move the listener, these terms don’t hold up.

Dry Speed has released a record that is, at turns, futuristic and organic. It feels alien and new, like plastic or titanium, but at the same time as if it is shrouded in the natural, growing like moss or amplifying the sound of a great tree’s roots. ‘Indium’ gives the listener multiple entry points into the trio’s music: from a broad soundscape to a densely knitted series of minute and exacting musical gestures.'
- Nate Wooley

You know Krash Slaughta right? The man behind the recent wildly successful DOOM/Sugacubes mash-up LP Sugar-Coated DOOM, not to mention his unofficial remixes of the Wu’s K.R.E.A.M. and P.L.O. Style and collab. 45 with Phill Most Chill, Rebel Base? ‘Is he at it again?’ the monkey hears you ask. Yes, he is at it again, though the closest of the the three aforementioned releases to what he’s about to drop is the Wu remix 45. And what he’s about to drop is Diggin Deeper, not a single this time but a whole remix album of one of his (and the monkey’s!) all-time favourite hip-hop LPs – to wit, Niggamortis – more usually known as Six Feet Deep (especially in the U.S., though minus the best track under that name) by hip-hop supergroup Gravediggaz.

As many will know, this LP with its horror-movie fixated lyrics gave birth to a whole hip-hop sub-genre – that of ‘horrorcore.’ However, none of those who came after seemed to manage the lyrical humour of The RZArector, The Grym Reaper and The Gatekeeper (a.k.a. RZA, Poetic and Frukwan) and the only bit of production by The Undertaker (a.k.a. Prince Paul) that they seemed interested in was the sub-metal rap sludge of the shouty Bang Your Head – i.e. the LP’s one weak spot. But don’t worry, Krash isn’t interested in that sort of thing. Not only does he avoid rap-metal beats for Bang Your Head, he doesn’t use any on the LP at all – hurrah! What he does do is employ, arguably, as eclectic an array of sample sources as Prince Paul on the original – though with an entirely different end result. Bang Your Head with its apparently sixties garage band-derived beat for example is one of the standouts. The skeletal piano skank of 6 Feet Deep is another, while a beat featuring spaced-out eighties synths forms the new musical backdrop to Constant Elevation. Two more of the monkey’s favourites on this one are Here Comes The Gravediggaz, now underpinned by double-bass-led funk and the glorious inappropriately joyous bounce of Blood Brothers. The result? Your favourite cuts on this one might not be the same as your favourite cuts on the original. Two different versions of a much-loved LP, then; it’s why people remix hip-hop. All the vocal stems were created by Krash and the ultimate intention is to do a limited vinyl release. Cover art is by the Dead Residents’ Junior Disprol.

The debut LP from Italy's own Alex Fernet, just another taste of the italo renaissance.

Music and lyrics by Alex Fernet. All vocals, bass lines, synths and guitar parts performed by Alex Fernet

Recorded and mixed by Edoado "Dodi" Pellizzari at Overdrive Recording Studio, Castello di Godego

Drums and percussions by Diego Dal Bon

© 2023 Costello's (Milan) & People's Potential Unlimited (Washington DC)

Nice Coordinated Outfit is a journey through history to a time before the internet and social media and before inner city gentrification, when Fitzroy was the beating heart of Australia's avant-garde music and culture. Musically, it showcases the band's incredible range from deep minimal dub to bizarre electronica with elements of shoegaze and experimental noise.

Back then, High Pass Filter were the kings of the Fitzroy underground. Dark, weird improvisers who aimed for something new each performance. Whilst electric guitars and rock n roll dominated Australian airwaves and stages, High Pass Filter were pioneering a sonic revolution in the shadows. The band's indefinable sound saw them sharing lineups with artists from hardcore and punk luminaries like Fugazi and The Boredoms and to dub heavyweights such as Lee Scratch Perry and The Mad Professor.

For fans of psych rock, space rock, psych-prog, noise rock etc
Their journey started a long time ago, some say on Saturn, some say in the subconscious of the human psyche, coming out in different manners through the ages, channelled by mystics, witch doctors, shamans, free thinkers, free spirits. But we do know that what has become Codex Serafini travelled here from their home world on Enceladus in 2019 and crash landed into the music scene of Sussex.
Invoking many styles of psychedelic rock from the recent human musical history to open the minds of their human audience to the other world, and higher plane.

After releasing two EP’s, ‘Serpents of Enceladus’ in 2020 and ‘Invisible Landscape’ in 2021 Codex Serafini embarked on their most immersive journey so far creating what would become ‘The Imprecation Of Anima’ an exploration of the self, the duality of the human existence. The album is heavy, much heavier than their previous output and the albums longest song, ‘Animus in Decay’ is longer than either of the bands previous EP’s.

It snakes and weaves an epic motif through the wilderness of the sometimes barren lands of the unconsciousness, focusing the mind with it’s almost heavy metal mantra and using this to open up the third eye to the realisation of our mortal existence. The whole album is a pilgrimage into one's inner self and its relationship with its own shadow in its truest form, two parts coming together as a whole.

After the inevitable success of L'Hiver des crêtes (aka season 1 of their major new project celebrating 40 years of approximate punk), Ludwig Von 88 are back for new adventures in a second season entitled Le Printemps du Pogo. This second vinyl album (of the four planned this year) is this time illustrated by LauL (iconic graphic designer of the 80s - Bérurier Noir, Ludwig Von 88, Mylène Farmer, Patrick Topaloff).

Fourteen tracks packed with love, joy, shitty jobs, noisy neighbours, flowery pogos, fried chicken, unsanitary dungeons and a negative carbon footprint.

There are some good traditional Keupon numbers, but also ska, reggae, yodelling (Yodel to Hell), a universal anthem of destructive punk (Youplapunk), swing, the follow-up to Fistfuck Playa Club (New Club) and Kaliman (Kaliman saves the world), and the long-awaited conclusion, 38 years later, to their interstellar hit J'ai tué mon père (J'ai sauvé mon père). Or the hit Let it burn, which we'll probably be able to sing along to during the long hot days to come.

Thirteen of these songs have already been released on the internet (at a rate of one a week, because the Ludwigs like periodicity, and that's why they keep coming back and coming back) but the fourteenth track, Casques Rouges, is completely new to the galaxy.

So here's something to liven up the weeks of holiday that are just around the corner. On the beach, in the mountains or in the forest, approximate punk remains salvific and Ludwig Von 88 are its most faithful servants.

Youplapunk to you all!

Eli Escobar returns for his 9th full length LP. While his last few projects found him exploring downtempo beats, EBM and ambient in§uences, this latest offering of Eli's studio craftsmanship marks a return to the sound of his early releases like Up All Night and Happiness. Warm samples expertly woven into classic drum machine rhythms and searing synth lines, The Beach Album takes listeners on a journey through golden era hip hop beats, feel-good NYstyled house grooves into sweaty techno bangers. Similar to Eli's DJ sets, the 16 track long player has something for everyone. Created during the uncertainty of the pandemic when as Eli put it, "It didn't feel like the right time to release dance music," The Beach album celebrates the return of NY nightlife and optimism for the future.

Berlin-based dark electronic music duo NNHMN – creates moody, dark electronic dance music infected with haunted synth sounds, eerie ambiences and mysterious female vocals. NNHMN have built up a local following and has been appreciated by numerous alternative festival organizers. The night-infused, arps-driven production is undeniably entrancing.

The newest 8-track album titled – Circle Of Doom – mirrors the state of the world we are living in. The album encapsulates eight existential tracks for the modern body music lover – body music – for the contemporary listener that is not necessarily drowned in the faraway past only, who is aware of electronic music genres that are flourishing in the world right now.

Live expect smokey electro-pop, a gloomy but sexy atmosphere, trancey techno, the fever of dance peaks and vocals that might put you into happy hypnosis or nostalgic ecstasy.

Vier Jahre nach dem weltweit veröffentlichten und von der Kritik gefeierten Album "Nucleus" im Jahr 2019 (eine Neuaufnahme ihrer klassischen Hits mit englischen Texten) hat die führende japanische Heavy-Metal-Band ANTHEM die pandemische Auszeit klug genutzt und ist nun startklar, ihr brandneues Studioalbum "Crimson & Jet Black" zu veröffentlichen.
Alle Songs sind wieder in englischer Sprache, und das Album wird weltweit veröffentlicht werden.

Das Ziel von ANTHEM für das 21. Jahrhundert ist es, jedes ihre früheren Werke zu toppen, und mit diesem Album haben sie sich selbst noch einmal übertroffen!

"Crimson & Jet Black" ist unverkennbar "ANTHEM", klingt aber gleichzeitig frisch. Die Band hat wieder einmal bewiesen, dass sie eine der konkurrenzfähigsten Heavy Metal Bands der Welt ist und eine Kraft, mit der man rechnen muss. Verpassen Sie nicht ihr neues Kapitel, das gerade erst begonnen hat!!!

The Udacha label might have been away for a while but is now back with a vengeance. First up for this return is a new long player by the mighty fine Kurvenschreiber quarter, which is made up of Sergey Komarov, Vlad Dobrovolski, Ilya Sadovski and Alexey Grachev. These sound artists have been excelling in their field for some 10 years now and use synths as well as found sound objects to create their work. Magnetic tape loops, various instruments, pre-recorded loops, shortwave radios, transformers and much more give rise to this unique record which mixes up Boolean jazz, kurventronika and post-rock.