Quarantine times are crazy times. I have been reflecting on many aspects of my life and am extremely grateful for a lot. My family, my friends, clean drinking water, and my record collection to name a few. A lot of quality time has been spent spinning vinyl and hanging with my wife and daughter.
Investing in music is important to me. What are you going to do if the streaming services all crash? Also, we need to support the people that are creating the art that we love to listen to so much. Even more so in these uncertain economic times. If you have the means please buy some music from bands you like.
The purpose of this (hopefully monthly) feature is to promote music investment and assist with some music discovery.
SMASH THAT PRE-ORDER
Cauldron Black Ram – Slaver
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Release: 5/22/2020
I have fond memories of sitting in the back of the theater watching Mournful Congregation at the inaugural Migration Festival in Olympia, WA (put on by 20 Buck Spin and Gilead Media). The music was massive, epic and long. It is pretty and I don’t interpret it as angry or aggressive. I remember the band saying “we have one more song for you” and then the crowd moaning with displeasure. Then they followed that up with “…it’s 30 minutes long…” and the crowd released some cheers but mostly laughter. So when I heard about Cauldron Black Ram and it having members from Mournful Congregation I knew I had to check it out. What I was not expecting was this fantastically disgusting metal that attacked my ears. In terms of yin and yang, Cauldron Black Ram is most definitely the yin. Pick up a copy of this beast to prepare for summer. Dark disgusting metal always sounds better in the sunshine!
Digital: HERE
Physical: HERE
FRESH LIST (released within the last month)
BlackLab – Abyss
Label: Cargo Records
Release: 5/8/2020
A friend put me on to this band recently. They describe themselves as a dark witch doom duo and they are from Osaka, Japan. At first listen I thought they had multiple vocalists but in reality all those sounds are coming from the mouth of Yuko. She can go from the style of cool slacker Kim Gordan to raw and intimidating Megan Osztrosits screaming within seconds. And it sounds excellent. The drums are ever-churning and changing thanks to Chia. Listening to Abyss is like someone smashed a piñata full of fuzz, riffs and magic spells. I like how the bandcamp page describes the name BlackLab coming from “Black Sabbath” and “Stereolab”. Haven’t considered those bands in the same breath before but after stepping into Abyss it totally makes sense. This is one of my favorite records to come out so far in 2020.
Digital: HERE
Physical: HERE
The Physics House Band – METROPOLIS
Label: Unearthly Vision
Release: 5/8/2020
Admittedly, this is the only music I have heard from The Physics House Band. METROPOLIS is a live album and is over 50 minutes in duration. I deeply miss going to concerts and being blown away by an opener. Going to the merch booth and walking home a fan of a new band that I had no idea I was going to love. Listening to METROPOLIS is the closest I have come to that feeling since the COVID-19 outbreak. After streaming the album on their bandcamp page I promptly went to their “merch booth” and purchased a digital copy. The Physics House Band put on a gripping performance full of jazzy experimentation and psychedelia that I would venture to guess Omar Rodriguez-Lopez would be a fan of. If you like live music performances that absorb your being do yourself a favor and check out METROPOLIS.
Digital and Physical: HERE
MAYBE YOU MISSED? (put out within the last few years)
Raspberry Bulbs – Before The Age Of Mirrors
Label: Relapse
Release: 2/21/2020
A lot of the press I have seen for this release confirms that I suck at classifying music based on genres. It seems to be tagged as lo-fi black metal. To me this is badass noiserock. It sounds like Deadkill and Maximum Mad are the meat in a Whores sandwich dipped in some Bay Area fuzzy garage rock. One of my favorite aspects of this record are the interludes. That might sound weird but throughout the record there are four interludes that serve an important purpose of the listening experience. Raspberry Bulbs pummel you with intense songs that can make it feel like the walls are coming in on you. These interludes offer space. Allow you to take some breaths and command the walls to retreat, if only for a few minutes. Sick record!
Digital: HERE
Physical: HERE
LATE BUT WORTH THE WAIT! (not new but new to me!)
Half Japanese – Greatest Hits
Label: Safe House
Release: 3/12/1995
A lot of music discovery for me comes thanks to Twitter. At least that site has something positive to come out of it! I follow Leah Callahan from the wonderful Turkish Delight ( @noonyTD ) and she was having a conversation with someone a while back about how revolutionary this band Half Japanese was for her. I had never heard of them so I wanted to check them out. Went down to Everyday Music in downtown Bellingham, WA and picked up a used CD copy of Greatest Hits. Now for a band I have never heard of I was surprised to see this was a double CD with 69 songs on it. I guess that is kind of the point of this band. They didn’t really have hits. But that double CD stayed in my car for a few months straight. Quirky lyrics. Vocals that will no doubt remind you of Violent Femmes. Sometimes noisy blasts and sometimes sunny pop. They are really all over the place. I don’t normally recommend Greatest Hits but I absolutely loved exploring the decades of music crammed into this compilation. If you have a long commute I would absolutely recommend finding a used copy of this and putting it in the car for a while.
For purchasing I am sure you can find online somewhere. But maybe keep this one in the back of your mind for whenever music stores are safe to reopen and find a used copy!
I hope someone out there finds one of these albums appealing. Invest in music. Support musicians.
