Noise Blog: Prurient - And Still, Wanting

Prurient (aka Dominick Fernow) is a pissed off mother fucker. Really, really pissed off. Over the last decade he has become one of the more visible artists in the noise/power electronics scene. He started Hospital Productions, the label/record shop in Manhattan. Dominick is uncompromising, seemingly interested in only the most abrasive, grating "music" known today. He releases and creates some of the harshest sounds in the power electronics scene. In addition to noise, he also is deeply into black metal. Fernow not only releases/carries grim and frostbitten sounds via hospital, he actually plays in at least five black metal projects, most notably Ash Pool and Vegas Martyrs (Who I hope to share here soon).

This particular album isn't a completely typical Prurient release from what I've had the chance to hear. This also isn't his best received work within the noise scene. That having been said, I happen to enjoy this release and think a few of you might as well. This is structured, as opposed to the free improvisation rampant in the scene. These are composed songs, not excerpts from extended jamming. Some of his interest in black metal bleeds into this release. I think a lot of you who may still be new to the genre might find this slightly more accessible then some other things. I don't mean that as an insult to the work, it captures a lot of what power electronics can be at its best. And to clarify, this is still, by no means, something your mom is going to approve of.

Two last things, while I mentioned that this particular album wasn't his best received within the community, Dominick's music and label are generally well respected within the said scene. Also, this album is more of a "studio" album. If you were to see a live Prurient set you probably wouldn't hear these songs. But, you should go if you get the chance. Dominick is known for having some of the more intense, confrontational live sets today. Its not entirely uncommon for there to be bloodshed and its generally quite a show regardless.




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Anal Cunt - Fuckin' A

You all know about Anal Cunt.

They have a new "cock rock" album out. Its pretty much what you'd expect.

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Buy here.

Soulja Boy on IC?

Believe it.
You probably are familiar with Soulja Boy from his 2007 hit single. I wasn't impressed with the song and more or less discounted the guy. That all changed when a friend showed me Da Album Before Da Album. This is insane, lo fi psych hip hop.


Preview:


Spark A blunt and play this album loud.

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Noise Blog: John Wiese & Merzbow - Multiplication

Alright you blogger nerds, you fucked up. You fucked up big time. And your going to have to be punished. Just remember, I do this because I love you.

The first post I made about noise featured John Wiese. This album features a collaboration between Wiese and another major noise artist, Merzbow.



Merzbow (Masami Akita) is an OG on the real. Dudes been releasing this sort of stuff since 1979(!). He is also a big fan of grindcore and deathmetal. Akita is incredibly prolific, he has over 350 solo recordings out to date and numerous collaborations as well. His process has changed a lot over the years, originally using "junk" and electronics and more recently using laptops. Heres an example of his earlier approach from a Korean tour in 1991...



Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Multiplication.


This album is brutal and unrelenting. Your ears are assaulted from every angle and you never get a chance to catch your breath. Its starts right in at a million miles an hour and only gains momentum. This is not for the faint at heart so you Elliot Smith listening, sweater wearing types best leave this one alone. But if you think you can handle this, give it a try, and find out how wrong you are...

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PS One of my favorite things to do is play this and Phobia or Visceral Bleeding at the same time. Go on try it, it'll give you a chance to meet those new neighbors who moved in upstairs.

Wold - Screech Owl

Remember that post I did on John Wiese a couple days ago? Sure you do. Are you, like, into black metal, bro? Ok, ok, of course you are. I'm sorry I even asked. Do you want to hear band that'll make you want to rip out your ear drums and light yourself on fire? Well why are we wasting time then? Check out one of the most fucked albums Ive had the "pleasure" of hearing.




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Noise Blog: John Wiese - Soft Punk

As promised, here is some fucked up music that's gonna make your ears bleed.

Let me break this down for all of you real quick. I thought it was sort of strange that so many metal heads respected classical music yet had almost no knowledge of it at all. I decided to experiment a little bit and post some composers along with their music. You guys/girls have made it clear that you are interested and receptive to that academic snobbish shit and that was exciting for me. Now I want to try something else...
Another thing I find odd is the small amount of cross over between the noise scene and the metal scene. I mean I get it, but still whats up with that? Are you all so concerned with who's got the most patches and biggest beard that you have become detached from the raw power and expression of anger that attracted you to this genre in the first place? I hope not. I know some of you know a little bit about it. Aesop has posted a lot of Yamataka Eye's early noise projects on his blog (Go check those out too). I want to try a couple albums out on you guys over the next few weeks and see what you think. Give this stuff a chance, you might find that its not all that unlistenable after all.



The first album I want you to try out is John Wiese's Soft Punk. Wiese is prolific and respected artist in the noise community. His style is spastic, filled with quick cuts and drastic changes. While he's moved toward a more "minimal" or "spacious" sound recently, his earlier records tend to have dense, abrassive textures.
John is promiscuous, collaborating with all sorts of people, including Cattle Decapitation on 2008's The Harvest Floor. He makes no secret about his interest in metal music, you'll hear blast beats and growls mixed in with static and feedback on Soft Punk. But you can hear all that and more below...





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Download here.

Classical Blog: Carlo Gesualdo (Possibly the Most Metal Composer of all Time.)

I mentioned in my last composer post that most western classical music written prior to the 20th century doesn't interest me. Carlo Gesualdo is one of the other exceptions. He was born in the middle of the 16th century and lived until 1613.
Gesualdo was an Italian prince and a musical enthusiast from early on. He shredded the axe which is sort of interesting to me since that instrument was considered to be of lesser value then, say, a violin.
Anyway lets get down to business. Carlo married in his twenties and everything went well, for the first four years at least. Around two years into the marriage his wife started having an affair with another nobleman. Apparently this affair was fairly public. Almost everyone knew about it, except Carlo. Finally, two years into this adulterous relationship, Gesualdo caught wind of it. He scheduled a trip and then doubled back once his wife's lover had arrived. He caught them in the act, and in a fit of rage murdered both of them. Wikipedia broke it down like this...

"Details on the murders are not lacking, as the depositions of witnesses to the magistrates have survived in full. While they disagree on some details, they agree on the principal points, and it is apparent that Gesualdo had help from his servants, who may have done most of the killing; however, Gesualdo certainly stabbed Maria multiple times, shouting as he did, "she's not dead yet!" The Duke of Andria was found slaughtered by numerous deep sword wounds, as well as by a shot through the head. When he was found, he was dressed in women's clothing (specifically, Maria's night dress). His own clothing was found piled up by the bedside, unbloodied." "Afterward, he left their mutilated bodies in front of the palace for all to see." Some accounts say that he also killed his second born son as well, since he doubted it was his.

Brutal. At that time his social status prevented him from any legal consequences. He was, however, susceptible to revenge from the families of the deceased. He fled to castle and hired a group of soldiers to protect him. He composed music often over the rest of his life. He composed primarily for vocalists. He published six books of madrigals in his lifetime. One of the most notable things about his music is that he composed chromatic music that didn't come into fashion until the 20th century. He was a good four-hundred years ahead of his time.
Many 20th century composers rediscovered his music and payed tribute to him in more recent years. If you don't have a real ear for it you may not notice it right away. This doesn't sound like Penderecki or Schönberg. Think more Wagner or Ives. What? We haven't talked about them yet? In good time dear reader, in good time. Subtly avant-garde or not these are really nice pieces of music. Easy on the ears you might say. You'll want this around to counter what I dump on you next...

There was a gap of roughly fifteen years between the first four books and the final two. Five and six are the most chromatic of all. I just so happened to include both. Your welcome.


Madrigal Book 5
Download here.

Madrigal Book 6
Download here.

Im having a hard time finding complete recordings of these books for sale but I did find a collection of the six books for under $10 here.

Trying to find a Special Lady...

Hey she bros, Ive been trying to find myself a new lady friend. Think you might fit the bill? Read my craigs list ad below...

Satanic Sexual Ritual

Date: 2009-06-18, 5:13PM
Looking for a woman with evil appetites.
We will have nasty, evil, sweaty, probably illegal sexual encounters in order to bring about the rise of Lucifer. (ie Satan)
Must be willing to do all styles of sexual positions, except Missionary. That is the Lord's Way, and we will have none of that. Besides, if we do it Missionary, Satan gets angry and a kitten dies. I like kittens.
Must be into anal. For that is Satan's Alley. Must like blow jobs (Swallowing Lucifer's Gravy) and Hand Jobs (Milking the Evil Goat)
Must be into slight S&M (Safe word: Pink Sock)
Must be into erotic and evil costumes and lingerie. Leather Thongs, spikes, boots, black and evil bras that accentuate your bosom, Boba Fett costumes.
Must be willing to deep throat. (So that my satanic appendage will be closer to your black soul)
Must be into strap-ons so that I may feel the "Power of Beezlebub" coursing thru my lower intestines.
The perfect encounter will be this:
Meeting you at one of our local eatery's. Plying you with ample alcoholic libations. Enjoying a nice piece of animal flesh. Tipping the waiter only 10% instead of 15 to 20% (Because we are EVIL!) Taking you back to my lair. Removing your Gothic Garb, laying you roughly upon my "Sacrifice Altar" (Twin size futon), and promptly begin to nibble on your Satanic Slit. (Please shave before the ritual, as it's hard to be evil when you got pubes stuck in your fillings) Whence you are all moist with the Power of The Dark Lord's Juices, I will remove my cape and trousers and proceed to fill you with the Sceptre of His Infernal Majesty. You will writhe in pleasure so deep, it will call forth the Evil One himself! After 4 to 7 minutes of the most intense sexual experience of your God Fearing life, we will perform a Satanic Snuggle, until you gently fall asleep in my powerful arms.

If this taps into the Primordial Jelly you have buried deep down in your Dark Soul, then contact me and we will make beautiful, agonizing "love" together. We will combine our desires and perform rituals so evil, it will awaken the Evil Ancient One from His Firey Nap! He will spill forth from the Bowels of Hell like so much premature Satanic Ejaculate!!
Hails to the Evil One!!




Location: Santa Barbara
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Original URL: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sba/1228602341.html

Edit: Im perfectly content with my current special lady.

Classical Blog: JS Bach

Ready for another dose of high minded, cultured snobbery?
Too bad you're going to have to deal with it anyway.

Personally I haven't got that into classical music that was written prior to 1900. For the most part it doesn't do much for me. There's a couple exceptions of course. And I'm sure I'll get into more at some point.
There is one pre-twentieth century composer that is nearly impossible to discount and pretty difficult to dislike (Unless your La Monte Young). He is chronologically the first of "The Three B's". His approach to writing music was the basis for what became standard practice in western classical music up until the twentieth century. His influence is still heard in most music made today, metal is no exception. Everything from commonly used chord progressions to the way instruments are tuned can be traced back to this funny lookin guy...



Not to confused with this chubby rocker...



But it didn't start that way...

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685 into a German family that was full of musicians. Bach's father was director of the town musicians and his uncles were all professional musicians as well. The Bach's were musicians for generations prior to Johann and continued to be for generations after. Johann's father taught him to play the violin and harpsichord and one of his uncles introduced him to the organ. He would go on to write this on the instrument...





In the 18th century being a musician was not an extremely lucrative career. You had to either work for some rich ass-hole in a castle or for the church. You didn't write the music you wanted to hear. You wrote the music your boss wanted to hear. You were more or less a servant. Bach worked for both the upper-class and the church throughout his life.
During Bach's lifetime he was known better for shredding on keyboards then writing music. He wasn't well known outside of Germany and after his death he slipped into obscurity. For a while at least. While his name was known by some composers it was almost one-hundred years after his death, in 1750, before he was widely recognized to be a genius. As a result many of his compositions were not preserved and have been lost. There are stories of Bach's scores being used to wrap meat at a market years after his death since he was considered an outdated composer and preserving his music was not a high priority.
He remained a relatively obscure composer, only known to a few other composers, until the 19th century when he became more widely recognized. He is now recognized by many as one of the greatest composers of all time. His melodic and harmonic tendencies are now taught as the "correct" way to compose. His scores are studied by kids all over the world in entry level music theory courses.

There are several pieces by Bach that you will most likely recognize. The first movement of his Cello Suite No. 1 is an example. This is performed by classical performer super star, Yo Yo Ma and features some of his legendary bow chugging (I had to work it in somewhere right?).

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I'm also including this disc of his early compositions for harpsichord. This is some face melting shreddage. Personally I think the instrument is pretty rad sounding as well.

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Purchase here.

A quick side note... Harmonia Mundi, the label who released the above, is excellent. If any of you are curious or getting interested in classical music, you can trust these guys. Classical music can be overwhelming. There are often several different recordings of any given piece and it can be hard to tell which to listen to. There are more then a few recordings of people butchering good music floating around. These guys hold a high standard for the performance, interpretation, and recording quality of everything they put out. There are very few labels that have such consistent quality so I thought it was worth mentioning.

Old Man Gloom - Christmas

Edit: I wrote this post a few months ago but I had some issues getting the tunes uploaded. Ive been pretty busy the last couple months but Im hoping to get you all some new jamz real soon. To bring you up to date, Im not on much of a "black metal kick" these days. Maybe its the warm weather but Ive been bumpin lots of grind and crust these days. Also my iPod got jacked a little while back. Another reason to despise southern California. That is all.

Last night I was skating around San Francisco listening to some sick jamz on my ipod. I've been on a black metal kick recently but I just wasn't feeling the grim necro blasts at the moment. As I was scrolling through the different artists I came across Old Man Gloom who I hadn't heard in quite some time. I used to listen to them all of the time a few years back and figured I'd throw it on for a healthy dose of nostalgia. I was quickly reminded why I fell in love with them in the first place.

Their music is half crusty hardcore (think a slightly cleaner, although not to clean, His Hero is Gone with a little more nad pumping) and half tripped out psychedelic soundscapes. Theres just something magickal about punx on drugs.

This is a super group of sorts. It was founded by Aaron Turner (of Isis, Lotus Eaters, House of Low Culture, etc. etc. etc.). He brought in a couple of his buddies from House of Low Culture, Luke Scarola and Jay Randall (who's also in Agoraphobic Nosebleed). He also got Santos Montano (also in Zozobra) to play drums and Nate Newton (of Converge and Doomriders) to share guitar duties with him. Caleb Scofield (of Cave In and Zozobra) handled the bass and some of the vocals.

Christmas is their last release and, in my opinion, their best. The heavy songs are phenomenal, Skullstorm being a stand out for me, and the experimental tracks are, like, trippy man.





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Ride The Lightning; Stoned.

Yo whats up you crispy critters.

Its Saturday, and if I know you, you've been getting hella stoned for, like, 5 hours or so by now (I'm looking at you Manslaughter). Probably using something like this...



Well I have something for your stoney weekend afternoon. Some brilliant son of a bitch out there decided to rip some Metal Licka at 33rpm. It instantly transforms the classic thrash record into a heavy psychedelic album of awesomeness. Dont take my word for it, check it out here.

Enjoy.

Aanal Beehemoth - Forest Paranoid

The other day I had some friends in town. One of them had never been to San Francisco before so I decided to show him around a little bit. We went crate diggin and ended up at the uber hip yet still excellent, Aquarius Records.







As I was scanning the shelves I saw this cover...




"In Nekro Satanik STEREO Paranoia Sound"? A black metal logo with the ransom note font? Stony green haze? Needless to say I was intrigued. When I flipped the CD over I saw the band.



They look more like some sort of ICP knockoff than a black metal band. I began to wonder if this was some sort of a joke. I made my way over to the computer to check out a preview of the album. I listened to several clips and was even further baffled. The music is filthy punk with dub production. Sloppy, simplistic, abrasive guitar, with black metal vocals, all drenched in reverb with a healthy dose of delay. Still confused I decided "joke or not, I'm taking this home." After a few listens I still don't really know what to make of it.

After a little research I found that these cartoonish characters are from Finland. They go by Crazy Bömber (or Krazy Aslak depending on where you look) who contributes "exorcism and strings" and Deathly Fightär who takes care of the "deathbeat and strings". Forest Paranoid is their first release, recorded on a four track in an apartment in true black metal fashion. They say that the album was recorded in one day and mostly improvised. It was available for free online and was picked up by Suffering Jesus who gave it an official release. They have only been a band for about three years and have a follow up in the works.

I found this interview via their myspace page. Pure excellence.

Ill leave you with this quote from the most recent blog entry on their myspace page... "Total praise for Satan's control on You. everything is one energy and not existing you dirty cunts. 666 existence. i & i reality control. total HELVEETE!!!!!!!
"


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Purchase here for $5!

Ayat - Six Years of Dormant Hatred

Ayat is pissed. Really, really, fucking pissed. And understandably so. They are one of the few active metal bands in the middle east, hailing from Beirut, Lebanon. The region is obviously plagued with violence. The strong presence of Islam is not very conducive to an outspoken, anti-religious band. Yet despite the environment, or likely because of it, Ayat plays some brutal, hate filled, rock n' roll. This isn't catchy, melodic, tap your toe to it rock n roll. This is what you listen to on a battlefield while firing a machine gun, watching peoples heads disappear in a red mist. Ayat plays raw, punk influenced, black metal. The lyrics are almost always understandable and always angry.

Ayat is largely a studio project, rarely playing live. There are two permanent members, Reverend Filthy Fuck behind the mic and Mullah Sadogoat playing guitar and bass. They use session drummers when recording. They formed ten years ago but only recently put out their first full length. They also have two EPs and several demos. While they do their fair share of blaspheming Allah, they were upset by the "anti-Islamic" tag they were receiving over seas. An official statement from the band... "We never described ourselves as Anti-Islamic Black Metal. We are against the religious establishment in all its forms and Islam is just one form of it."

You have to have a little respect for these guys for being so outspoken. Anyone can renounce religion and blaspheme in America. Theres nothing anyone can do about it. Ayat risks imprisonment or death when they speak out in Lebanon.



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Kvist - For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike

Lets see here. Grainy black and white photo, check. Corpse paint, check. Norwegian, check. From the 90's, check. Yep, this is some true necro kvlt shit right here. A legit band with street cred.

I recently came across this often overlooked gem a few months ago. Its been in heavy rotation ever since. Kvist was a short lived project which, like I mentioned, was based in Norway. They formed in 1993 and managed to put out a demo and one full length before splitting up a couple of years later.

Black metal has steadily gained popularity since its onslaught roughly twenty years ago, and most of the first and second wave bands are well known today. Kvist has remained under the radar simply because of their short career and limited discography. It doesn't help that they didn't commit suicide, murder anyone, or partake in cannibalism (which means less street cred). I mean its like helloooo guys. How do you expect anyone to hear about your band if you spend all your time playing good music and not committing heinous crimes? Pshh.

While they lacked the criminal element of their peers they wrote music that surpassed many of them. This is pretty straight forward black metal instrumentation; guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard. I'm pretty picky about keyboards in metal personally. Ive heard all to many black metal records ruined by a cheesy midi orchestra sound, way to high in the mix, played by someone who sounds like they had down's syndrome and mangled fingers. Luckily that is not the case here. The keyboard sound is acceptable, the level is reasonable, and the playing is respectable. It's one of the rare cases where the keyboards actually add something to the music.

Kvist leans toward the "melodic" side of things although not as far as Dissection.
This is a relatively short album, clocking under forty minutes. There is no filler here. This is pure quality from start to finish.

Most of the members of Kvist are active in other bands but at the time of this writing I haven't had a chance to check those out. I plan to in the near future and your recommendations are always welcome.



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Swarrrm - Nise Kyuseishu Domo (Thee Imitation Messiahs)

While Kobe, Japan's, Swarrrm has been making music for over ten years they remain relatively obscure. Trying to find info on them is like pulling teeth. The elusive band has released 3 full lengths, 3 EPs, and at least 13 splits.
Labeling this band grind would be inaccurate. While they are no stranger to playing at lightning speed, they're also not afraid to slow it down, lose the distortion, and play some fucked up meta-jazz on occasion. They also aren't afraid of exploring instrumentation outside of guitar, bass, and drums. Mandolin and piano both show up in this album. While they do use these instruments don't think that they're some noodley prog band. These guys are still raw and brutal. They are one of the few bands that are truly unique and difficult, if not impossible, to compare to anyone else.
While the music is great the vocals are outstanding.
While they have had different vocalists for nearly every release, they all seem to have the same concept. Rather then using lyrics they view the voice as an instrument which has many unexplored possibilities. This album features Hatada, perhaps one of the best to front Swarrrm so far. This guy screams, and sure its unsettling in a am-i-listening-to-a-singer-or-a-someone-being-raped-and-murdered type of a way, but he takes it further, coughing, choking, spitting, etc. This guy sounds like a legitimate psychopath. Its totally fucked up and unparalleled by anything I know of.
MF Japan. Always raising the bar.

Here is the first track from the album, while its closer to a straight grind song there is some sweet mandolin shredding going on...




Download here.
Note: I can't find this for sale anywhere. Its possible that its out of print. If someone knows where to find it let me know.

Composer Profile: Arvo Pärt

Most of the composers I've profiled up to this point wrote music that was either "heavy" (see Stravinsky, Shostakovich) or extremely dissonant i.e. "spooky" (see Penderecki, Schönberg).

Estonian born composer, Arvo Pärt, wrote his fair share of creepy, dissonant music early on but found the confines of serialism to be limiting. He opted to pursue more of a minimalist aesthetic and has continued to write in this way for 40 years. While he is sometimes compared to the minimalist composers, his music is distinct. Most music that is associated with minimalism is very rhythmic, that is to say there is a distinct pulse throughout it.
Pärt's music is closer to Gregorian chant than to African music (which minimalism music is often compared to). A lot of my favorite music by him is choral (written for a choir).
Arvo Pärt writes music inspired by the roots of the western classical tradition but reinterprets it, making it his own. Most of his compositions are very simple harmonically, using only one chord throughout an entire piece. He developed a style of composition called "Tintinnabuli" which he uses to write in this way. Don't think that this translates to boring music though. While it is peaceful and slow moving, it still is interesting to listen to. Its incredible how much he is able to do within the self imposed limitations.
Its possible you've heard some of Arvo's music before without realizing it. One of his better known pieces Spiegle im Spiegle (Mirror in the Mirror) has been used several times in movies and TV.

Here's another one of his well known pieces, Cantus in Memoriam of Benjamin Britten...



The above video is obviously instrumental. Check out some of his choral music below...



The above piece as well as the Berlin Mass are available for download here and purchase here.

Visceral Bleeding - Remnants of Deprivation

Visceral Bleeding is death metal at its finest. Its fast and technical without being too clean or masturbatory. While the music is top notch, I think Dennis Röndum's vocals are what really set it apart from the rest. They are over the top, at times he opts not to even use words but instead barks to the beat. Fucking raw bro. In addition to being an excellent vocalist, Röndum also plays drums on the album. This talented SOB went on to do the same combo for Spawn of Possession which you may remember from Shelbys write ups here, or here.
As far as I can tell hes not playing with anybody at the moment. He left Spawn of Possesion after recording Noctambulant in 2006. Hopefully this isn't the last we hear of him.

Check out a preview here...


Purchase here.
Download here.

Repugnant - Epitome of Darkness

If you read this blog your already familiar with Sweden's notoriety within the world of metal. If you have just stumbled across this blog and aren't familiar educate yourself real quick.
Repugnant is a lesser known band from the region. They were active from 1998-2004 releasing only one full length, postmortem, in 2006. I recently discovered this gem and have been listening to it obsessively ever since. The music is thrashy death metal with a healthy dose of sing along choruses.
The catchy At The Gates-esq melodies often associated with the metal of this region aren't as prevalent in this band. Dont think that means Repugnant isn't on par with the older bands from the area. This album is full of excellent riffage and memorable songs from start to finish.

Check out the first track...



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Purchase Here.

Madvillain - Madvillainy

While there have been a few hip-hop albums discussed on this blog you can't really say its a major focus of ours. Still I know at least a few members of the staff, and management, are into it.
Today, on my way into the office, I listened again to one of my favorite albums from the genre, Madvillainy by Madvillain. This project is a collaboration by two of the best in the game.



Madlib is one of the most eclectic and prolific producers in hip hop today. His albums sample sources ranging from bollywood and Brazilian music to jazz and reggae. He is a master of combining unlikely genres seamlessly. He is releasing one album per month in 2010.



MF Doom is one of the best known MCs in underground hip-hop today. His lyrics often are serious and insightful but he retains a sense of humor throughout. He never appears in public without a mask. He is a controversial figure in the scene. While generally respected as an excellent lyricist, his attitude towards live performance is, "unique". He has been caught sending other people out to perform posing as him, wearing his mask. He is unapologetic about this.
His alias is based on the comic book character Doom.



This album samples several artists familiar to this blog. Gentle Giant's self titled album is sampled in a song named for its source, Strange Ways. Steve Reich's trippy piece "Come Out" is sampled in America's Most Blunted. Clips of Sun Ra (featured here, here, and here) interviews are mixed with Quasimoto's (Madlib's pitch shifted alias) philosophical musings in Shadows of Tomorrow.

Even if your not a huge fan of hip-hop I recommend giving this album a shot. This is a little different then some other rap that you may have heard.

Unfortunately I can't attach a copy here. Stones Throw, the label who released this, is very aggressive about having their content removed from blogs. Rather then deal with that I am going to attach the two official music videos Madvillain made for this release. This album is readily available so if your interested at all you will be able to find it.

Accordion



All Caps (One of my favorite cuts from the album)


I noticed a couple other tracks from Madvillainy on youtube when I was getting these. If you want to hear more go check them out.

Classical Blog: Arnold Schönberg

Arnold Schönberg (September 13, 1874 – July 13, 1951) was and still is a controversial figure in classical music today. He broke away from the traditional approach of writing music that had been developed over several hundred years prior. He wrote some really unsettling music by developing techniques that have since surfaced in horror films.


Dude kind of looks like a slimmer Alfred Hitchcock to me...

Arnold Schönberg was born in 1874. He was an Austrian Jew, not a good combo in later years but lets not get ahead of ourselves. While his mother was a piano teacher, Arnold was largely self taught. He did take some lessons from his brother in law. Schönberg was intersted early on in breaking away from traditional harmony and tonality. The twentieth century was a difficult and interesting time in classical music. Post-Beethoven many composers felt that everything that was possible to do within the confines of western classical music, had already been done. In a sense it was true. Naturally composers began to ask "where do we go from here". Schönberg began to break some of the established rules of composition. He would later be referrd to as the "Emancicpator of Dissonance".

In the early 1900's Schönberg was teaching music, painting, and living a fairly domestic lifestyle. He was married, with children. During this time he met and befriended painter, Richard Gertsi. Gertsi and Schönberg grew close. Gertsi, in fact, became close with the entire Schönberg family. Especially Arnold's wife, Mathilde. In 1908 she left Arnold for the younger painter. The affair lasted several months. Eventually Mathilde decided to return to her family and left Gertsi. The painter was so destraut that he decided to burn all of his paintings and just about everything else flamable in his studio. To add to the dramatic display he then hung himself in front of a mirror and stabbed himself on top of it.

Schönberg's music went through a noticable change after this episode. He composed, Du lehnest Wider eine Silberweide (You Lean Against a Silver-Willow) during the time his wife was gone. This is his first piece that doesn't reference a specific key. The music is unsettling and uncomfortable to most people. There is no resolve. Schönberg would continue to explore this approach until the end of his life.

This exploration led to the development of the twelve-tone technique which wikipedia defines as "...a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded as often as one another in a piece of music while preventing the emphasis of any through the use of tone rows, an ordering of the 12 pitches. All 12 notes are thus given more or less equal importance, and the music avoids being in a key." This technique is what Schönberg is best known for today.

In 1933 Arnold was forced to leave home because of the growing anti-semitic sentiment of the nazi party. After a short stay in Paris, Schönberg relocated to America where he changed the spelling of his name to Schoenberg. He lived in Boston briefly then moved to Los Angeles where he would remain until his death.

Schoenberg experienced triskaidekaphobia (the fear of the number 13) throughout his life. He took his phobia very seriously. He actually changed the named of his opera, Moses und Aaron, to Moses und Aron after realizing the title had thirteen letters. Apparently there was some validity to his fear. On July 13, 1951 (a Friday) Schoenberg spent the whole day in bed, unwilling to leave. I should point out that he was 76 years old. 7+6=13. Woah, man. He was aware of this, of course, which led to his stay in bed. According to the story Schoenberg died that night at 11:45pm.

Arnold left a major impact on contemporary music. He raised many questions and caused just as many conflicts among music nerds world wide. Whats really important is that his music, at least in my opinion, is awesome. I particularly enjoy his string quartets which I'm including below.

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