Tag: experimental rock

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Existential Howl of Stockholm Sweden’s Black Dough

Since their formation in 2013, and the release of their debut EP first punch! the Stockholm Sweden-based quartet Black Dough — comprised of Miranda Raeder (vocals, guitar and primary songwriter/composer), William Soovik (drums), Elias Hällqvist (bass) and Erik Borman (guitar, saxophone, synth, noise) — have developed a reputation across Scandinavia and the European Union for a genre-defying sound that has been described by several critics and media outlets as voodoo rock, jazz punk and skronk jazz with a punk rock energy and aesthetic and evoking PJ Harvey tinged with Bjork, but with the Swedish quartet’s soon-to-be released full-length effort Freaky Family, the band’s frontwoman and primary songwriter has openly decided to describe their sound as experimental rock. Regardless of how exactly you describe their sound, Freaky Family’s latest single, the slow-burning and atmospheric “Here We Go” will cement the Swedish quartet’s growing reputation for being uncompromisingly difficult to pigeonhole; however, the song reveals a streamlined, almost minimalist approach in which it’s made apparent that the band is drawing from psych rock art rock, noise rock and alt rock in a way that’s reminiscent of The Church’s Priest = Aura, Forget Yourself and Untitled #23 but with an aching vulnerability underneath its dissonant sound.

The recently released video for the song features a similarly minimalist approach as it features the band’s Raeder with her face in silver paint, shot in an extreme, almost uneasy close up in a sparsely lit room, full of smoke machine singing the song. Seemingly meant to evoke an existential howl into the void, the video also forces the viewer into the same emotional space of the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Gresham Cash (vocals, guitar), Wes Gregory (drummer) and Connor Sabula (bass), the Athens, GA-based indie rock/psych rock trio Oak House formed in 2014 and since their formation they’ve developed a growing reputation for a sound that possesses elements of melodic indie rock, grunge rock, psych rock and prog rock paired with contemplative and visceral lyrics that explore and investigate life’s inevitable conflicts — and for high energy live shows.

The Athens, GA-based trio’s forthcoming sophomore full-length album Hot or Mood was recorded at Chase Park Transduction with Drew Vandenberg, who’s worked with of Montreal, Toro y Moi, Kishi Bashi, Deerhunter and Mothers and the album reportedly represents a cohesive sample of their live sound — a sound that has been described as tumultuous, melodic, raucous infectious and immersive.  The album’s latest single “Cut That Out” is rapidly shifting and angular song with propulsive, rolling drumming, droning synths, buzzing guitar chords and a throbbing bass line that seems to capture the narrator’s rapidly vacillating thoughts and emotions, and with an unshakable anxiousness. As the band’s Gresham Cash explains in press notes ” I wanted to craft a picture of dreams by using frenetic, shifting imagery with a blend of hopeful nostalgia muddied by sadness, depression, suicidal thoughts, etc. Also, I felt that anxiety, depression and suicide are things that not only influence us directly, but also, those around us; hence, the chorus, ‘We’re all responsible for someone else.’ The ending is the feeling of the dream unraveling combined with the feeling that you are living within someone else’s dream: unsettling to say the least. Your only defense against the confusion and discomfort is like swatting at an irksome fly that keeps buzzing in your ears: ‘Cut that out.’”

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Akira Kawasaki and Atushi Kiyota, who were both members of influential, underground Japanese band Nine Days Wonder, and Daisuke Niitome, who has drummed and composed music for a number of jazz, funk and hip-hop acts, the Tokyo, Japan-based instrumental trio mouse on the keys has developed a reputation for a unique sound that bridges jazz, math rock, hip-hop, minimalist electronica and avant garde jazz as their compositions feature two minimally phrased pianos, two keyboards and dynamic drumming as you’ll hear on the swaggering and gorgeous “Earache,” a prog rock-leaning single off their recently released Out of Body EP which consists of twinkling keys, moodily swirling electronics, buzzing synths and stuttering, off-kilter percussion. And while being an angular and heady composition, it also manages to possesses an accessible and funky swagger.

The Tokyo-based trio will be embarking on a month-long tour of Canada and the US with renowned Japanese act LITE to support Out of Body and it’ll include a NYC area stop at Le Poisson Rouge on March 18. Check out the tour dates below.

TOUR DATES
# = w/ LITE

Feb 16 – Saint-Hyacinthe, QC @ Le Zaricot
Feb 17 – Sherbrooke, QC @ Center Culturel De L’universite
Feb 22 – Jonquière, QC @ Cafe Theatre Cote Cour
Feb 23 – Québec, QC @ Le Circle
Feb 24 – Shawinigan, QC @ Maison de la Culture Francis-Brisson
Feb 25 – Trois-Rivières, QC @ Centre Culturel Pauline-Julien
Mar 01 – Rimouski, QC @ Cabaret Espace-scène/salle Desjardins-telus
Mar 02 – Carleton-sur-Mer, QC @ Quai des Arts
Mar 04 – Cap-aux-Meules, QC @ Pas Perdus
Mar 07 – Saint Catharines, ON @ FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
Mar 08 – Toronto, ON @ Harbourfront Centre Theatre
Mar 09 – Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox
Mar 10 – Montreal, QC @ L’Astral
Mar 11 – Joliette, QC @ La Mitaine
Mar 13 – Detroit, MI @ The Loving Touch #
Mar 14 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall #
Mar 16 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage #
Mar 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle #
Mar 18 – New York, NY @ (Le) Poisson Rouge #
Mar 19 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair #

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

While currently comprised of founder and primary member Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo and Shayna Dunkelman, indie rock trio Xiu Xiu have throughout the course of their history developed a reputation for restless experimentation and lately for a period of extraordinary diverse prolificacy — earlier this year, they released their critically applauded album Plays the Music of Twin Peaks, collaborated with renowned indie pop artist Mitski on a song that will appear on a forthcoming John Cameron Mitchell film, collaborated with Merzbow on an album, composed music for several art installations by renowned artist Danh Vo, wrote the score for an experimental reworking of Mozart’s The Magic Flute — and then they found time to write and record the material that comprises their forthcoming 11th full-length effort FORGET, which Polyvinyl Records will release on February 24, 2017.

Co-produced by John Congleton, who has worked with Blondie and Sigur Ros; Deerhoof‘s Greg Saunier and Xiu Xiu’s Angela Seo, the album features guest appearances by minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine, Los Angeles Banjee Ball commentator Enyce Smith, Swans‘ Kristof Hahn and renowned drag artist Vaginal Davis. And as the band’s Jamie Stewart explains of both of the album’s title and its overarching theme, “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 past but also the trampling pain of a beautiful one’s decay.”

“Wondering,” FORGET’s first single is a propulsive  dance floor-friendly single in which the band pairs layers of scuzzy, angular guitar chords with undulating synths, stuttering and skittering beats, brief bursts of twinkling keys and Stewart’s plaintive crooning with a swooning and anthemic hook — and while the equally shimmering and murky single sonically nods at Stevie Nicks‘ “Stand Back” and others, the song possesses and underlying tension between the known and unknown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Dates

Mar. 16th – Los Angeles, CA – Union

Mar. 17th – Escondido, CA – A Ship in The Woods

Mar. 19th – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel

Mar. 21st – Seattle, WA – Kremwork

Mar. 22nd – Portland, OR – Holocene

Mar 23rd – 26th – Knoxville, TN – Big Ears Festival

Mar. 30th – Detroit, MI – El Club

Mar. 31st – Chicago, IL – The Empty Bottle

Apr. 1st – Jacksonville, FL – The Sleeping Giant Film Festival

Apr. 6th – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bazaar

Apr. 7th – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle

Apr. 8th – Harrisburg, PA – Cathedral Room at Der Maennerchor

Apr. 9th – Baltimore, MD – The Wind-Up Space

Apr. 11th – Jersey City, NJ – Monty Hall

Apr.12th – New Haven, CT – Bar

Apr. 13th – Providence, RI – Colombus Theatre

Apr. 14th – Portsmouth, NH – 3SArtspace

Apr. 15th – Boston, MA – Cambridge Elks Lodge / Hardcore Stadium

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Introducing the Arena Rock-Friendly Prog Rock of California’s Strawberry Girls

With the release of their 2015 release American Graffiti, the California-based instrumental trio received a growing national profile as the effort landed at #22 on Billboard’s New Artist charts, and they followed that with a busy live show schedule that included touring with Dance Gavin Dance and CHON. Adding to a busy schedule, the members of the band managed to begin work on their forthcoming effort Italian Ghosts, which is slated for a February 17, 2017 release. And as the band’s Ben Rossett says in press notes “Italian Ghosts is a testament to how much we’ve grown as a band, and what we believe is our best sounding experience as of yet.” The album’s first single “Vanilla Rainforest,” as the band’s Zac Garren explains “pulls from lots of different influences, like dub reggae, hip hop, electronic and progressive rock;” and while being an arena rock friendly, headbanger, the song also possesses a jazz fusion-like sense of improvisation, as the song feels as though it captures three musicians in complete simpatico jamming as hard as possible.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Twin Limb’s Ethereal and Sensual, Shoegazer Cover of Can’s “Yoo Doo Right”

Interestingly, to celebrate the release of their full-length effort, the trio of Bender, Ratterman and Guthrie released a swaggering, moody, sensual and shoegazer rock-leaning cover of the legendary German experimental rock/prog rock cover of Can’s “You Doo Right” that the Louisville, KY-based trio recorded live in their studio — and as you can hear, their cover possesses a towering yet cool, self-assuredness.

As the band’s Kevin Ratterman explained to the folks at CLRVYNT: “When I was building my recording studio, La La Land, Can was one of the constant soundtracks blazing through the speakers day in and out. The meditative, flowing, ever-changing rhythms and melodies were a perfect backdrop for [not only] the monotony of construction, but the excitement of building something where so much creativity was about to be captured. When Twin Limb was a duo before I joined the band, they came in to La La Land to record an album not long after construction was finished. Through working on their record, I most excitedly joined the band and I immediately heard similarities between Maryliz [Bender]’s tribal drum style and the song ‘Yoo Doo Right’ once we started working on their album. I had a fantasy of us doing a cover of that song, and was so excited to hear both their voices together singing it; Michael Karoli’s guitar playing has always been an influence on me, and [I] was so excited to play those anthemic guitar hooks. It’s scary to cover a song by a band that carries so much integrity among some of the most influential experimental musicians of our time, but the first time we played that song, it was so apparent it was going to be so free and fun to play live, especially in a small room packed to the gills of sweaty human creature people.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Led by its Berlin, Germany-based founding member and bassist Sash and featuring Boston, MA-based saxophonist Dana Colley, best known as a former member of Morphine and their latest member, the Belfast, Northern Ireland-based vocalist Vadim Zeberg, the members of indie act The Deltahorse have managed throughout their few years of existence to create a sound that feels and sounds lived in and created live with all three members playing in a studio, despite the fact that because of the distance between each member, they can’t perform together, and reportedly have rarely seen each other face-to-face. As result, the members of the band have never had the experience of playing in a room and picking up on the physical and visual cues that musicians can pick up on that allow them to easily play off and riff off one another. And yet when the trio does write and record, the sessions are treated as though they were impromptu jam sessions with each member adding their individual musical talents and tendencies to create a swaggering and uniquely genre-defying sound.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site for some time, you’re most likely familiar with The Deltahorse in some fashion or another — and you’d know that earlier this month I wrote about “Happy Heart (Can Go For Miles),” the first single off the act’s long-anticipated and soon-to-be released, full-length debut Transatlantic. “Happy Heart” consisted of Colley’s swaggering and sultry electric baritone saxophone passages, stuttering drumming and drum programming, Sash’s propulsive bass lines with Vadim’s plaintive vocals signing lyrics about how a happy heart can endure almost everything; however, just under the surface was an underlying bitter irony. The album’s second and latest single “Call It A Day” is a cinematic and forceful single consisting of slashing, staccato piano chords, boom bap drum programming, Colley’s swaggering and strutting electric baritone sax skronking, subtly ominous and swirling guitar and bass chords, propulsive percussion and Zeberg’s coolly ironic vocals singing lyrics that hint at the desire to continually move forward and physical desire while beginning to cement their reputation for crafting material with deep, danceable grooves paired with a literate, cinematic sound.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: JEFF The Brotherhood Performing “Roachin”

Over the summer, I had written quite a bit about Nashville, TN-based sibling duo JEFF The Brotherhood and the first three singles off their latest effort, Zone, an experimental rock album that is the third and final part of a spiritual trilogy of albums that includes 2009’s Heavy Days and 2011’s critically applauded We Are The Champions. The most recent single I wrote about “Roachin” featured Bully‘s Alicia Bognano on vocals in a scorching, power-chord heavy dirge that sounds deeply indebted to 90s alt rock — in particular, the Melvins — as the song structurally consists of alternating quiet and loud sections, and an anthemic hook that you can picture kids moshing out to in a sweaty club. And much like “Punishment” and “Idiot” the single will cement the sibling duo’s reputation for crafting trippy, weed and beer inspired anthems full of enormous power chords and rousing anthemic hooks.
Just as the Nashville, TN-based sibling duo are about to embark on an East Coast tour, which will include a September 27 stop at the Market Hotel, they released live footage of themselves performing “Roachin” — without Bognano — and it should give everyone a sense of their incredible live show.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Dreamy and Hypnotic Sounds and Visuals of Magnetic Ghost’s “Vanish/Vanishing”

Larson’s forthcoming Magnetic Ghost album, Loss Molecules was recorded with renowned indie rock producer Neil Weir at Blue Bell Knoll and by Larson at Magnetic Manson and the effort is slated for a November 18, 2016 release. “Vanish/Vanishing,” Loss Molecules’ latest single has Larson pairing layers of plaintive and ethereal vocals with moody and hypnotic instrumentation consisting of layers of droning and shimmering guitars, a propulsive bass line and stuttering drumming. Sonically speaking, the song reminds me quite a bit of the Silber Records roster.

The recently released video for the song features cinematic and widescreen shot footage of natural phenomenon — i.e., the sun rising in the horizon from the distance, as cars whir past, wind blowing through fields of grain, ice floes in the Arctic, smoke billowing from smokestacks, and so on. It looks like the sort of footage you’d stumble across while watching National Geographic specials — and as a result, it emphasizes the slow-burning, dreamy feel of the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Led by its Berlin, Germany-based founder and bassist Sash and featuring Boston, MA-based saxophonist Dana Colley, best known as a former member of Morphine and their newest member, the Belfast, Northern Ireland-based vocalist Vadim Zeberg, the members of indie act The Deltahorse have managed throughout their existence to create a sound that feels and sounds lived in and created live with all three members playing in a studio, despite the fact of the distance between each member, they can’t perform together, and reportedly have rarely seen each other face-to-face and as a result have never quite had the experience of picking up on physical and visual cues musicians pick up on that allow them to easily play off and riff off one another. And yet when the trio does write and record, the sessions are treated as though they were impromptu jam sessions with each member adding their individual musical talents and tendencies to create a swaggering and uniquely genre-defying sound.

Now if you’ve been frequenting this site for some time, you’re most likely familiar with The Deltahorse in some fashion or another. The band’s long-anticipated full-length debut Transatlantic is slated for a September 30, 2016 and the album’s first single “Happy Heart (Can Go For Miles)” consists of Colley’s swaggering and sultry electric baritone saxophone passages, stuttering drumming and drum programming, Sash’s propulsive bass lines with Vadim’s plaintive vocals singing lyrics about how a happy heart can endure almost everything — with an underlying bitter irony. And while further cementing the act’s reputation for a highly sophisticated and almost literate sound, it also reflects a great deal of artistic growth, as the song may arguably possess the deepest groove they’ve yet to release, while being the most accessible.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Trippy Sounds and Visuals of WL’s “Feeling Down”

“Feeling Down” the latest single off the Portland-based trio’s forthcoming sophomore effort Light Years is a trippy yet strangely funky song that pairs layers of cascading and droning keys, four-on-the-floor drumming, Misty Mary’s ethereal and aching vocals singing a repetitive, mantra-like refrain with blasts of saxophone to create a song that’s moody and feels as though it evokes the enveloping and overwhelming fog that depression can feel like.

Directed by Zach Erickson and featuring art by Souther Salazer, the video for “Feeling Down” featuring a black and white, newspaper cut out of the band’s Misty Mary moving in and out of focus, superimposed over an oceanic blue background in which concentric, psychedelic shapes appear both in the background and eventually overtake her and everything around her. Certainly, the video is as equally trippy as the song while evoking a sense of being overwhelmed — by everything.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Brooklyn-born and based co-founding members Joe Salgo and Ross Procaccio and John Santiago, the Brooklyn-based indie rock/prog rock trio Of Clocks and Clouds have developed a reputation for standing far apart from most of their contemporaries as their sound is equally influenced by the likes of The Black Keys, Pink Floyd, Beck, Queens of the Stone Age, Rush and TV on the Radio — or in other words they adeptly mesh classic rock, prog rock and contemporary rock in a way that sounds both familiar and yet very different. Now, the band released their self-produced and self-released full-length effort Better Off earlier this year; however, the trio recently released a deceptively straightforward cover of TV on the Radio’s “Young Liars” that actually adds an incredibly subtle breeziness and a proggy psych rock feel to a gorgeous, slow-burning and brooding song.

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their first three albums in five years –2011’s Shoot! , 2013’s All Of Them Witches and 2014’s Enfant Terrible — The Hedvig Mollestad Trio have managed to receive praise and attention internationally from both jazz and rock critics across the blogosphere and major media outlets, including Rolling Stone‘s senior editor David Fricke and veteran writer Richard Williams among others for a sound that meshes elements acid jazz, free jazz, jazz fusion, but heavy metal, psych rock, stoner rock and prog rock in a way that to my ears reminds me quite a bit of Ecstatic Vision, Hawkwind, Rush, and others. And as a result, the band has placed themselves on a growing list of Norwegian avant jazz ‘n’ rock/free metal/free jazz acts that have received attention across their homeland, Scandinavia and elsewhere that includes Elephant9, Grand General, Bushman’s Revenge, Krokofant and Scorch, the renowned act led by Finnish guitarist Raoul Björkenheim, who have been long considered as the forefront of the movement.

The trio comprised of Hedvig Mollestad (guitar), Ellen Brekken (bass) and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad (drums) just released their latest effort Black Stabat Mater yesterday and reportedly, the material on the album is heavily indebted to the newfound confidence and self-assuredness the members of the band found during an intense touring schedule; but also revealing a band that has expanded upon the sound that initially won them international attention. In fact, Black Stabat Mater‘s four compositions still manage to possess the improvised feel of jazz fusion and free jazz but while arguably being the most prog rock/stoner rock/heavy metal leaning material they’ve released to date, essentially crafting an album that effortlessly blurs the lines of jazz, metal, stoner rock and prog rock — and in a way that nods to the jazz fusion experiments of the 70s while being remarkably contemporary.

Considered the effort’s first two tracks “Approaching: On Arrival” is an expansive, twisting and turning composition that begins with Bjørnstad’s jazz-like syncopation, Brekken’s sinuous yet propulsive bass lines and Mollestad’s bluesy guitar chords during the composition’s lengthy introduction before quickly morphing into a stoner rock and prog rock stomp, complete with some serious guitar pyrotechnics. At the 7:15 mark the composition becomes a wildly free-flowing and kaleidoscopic array of feedback, thundering drumming, blistering guitar playing reminiscent of John Coltrane‘s late, experimental work — and in a similar fashion, the composition possesses a mind and conscious-altering quality. “In The Court Of The Trolls” is composition comprised of alternating sludgy, prog rock/stoner rock and trippy psychedelic, acid jazz sections and while much like the preceding track feels completely loose and improvised, also reveals a band that’s incredibly tight; in fact, there’s the sense that one musician puts an idea down and the rest will follow, knowing exactly where and when to take it. Track 4 “-40 is a gorgeous and contemplative composition featuring gently swirling and undulating feedback with a gorgeous guitar solo while album closing track “Somebody Else Should Be On That Bus” begins with a heavy, Charles Mingus-styled bass introduction before turning into a sludgy, power chord-heavy composition that sounds as though it were inspired by Queens of the Stone Age and others.

So far, 2016 has bee a mixed year for me as far as album-length releases but I may have stumbled across one of my favorite releases this year, as the Norwegian trio specialize in an uncompromising and exciting genre meshing and genre defying sound. But I think that the album should also reveal that Hedvig Mollestad is arguably one of the best guitarists that everyone should know right now.