03/08/12: Fucked Up - Hidden World (2006)

03/08/12: Fucked Up - Hidden World (2006)

1. Crusades
2. David Comes to Life
3. Invisible Leader
4. Carried Out to the Sea
5. Baiting the Public
6. Fate of Fates
7. Two Snakes
8. Hidden World
9. Manqueller Man
10. Blaze of Glory
11. Triumph of Life
12. Jacobs Ladder
13. Vivian Girls

     I reviewed "The Chemistry of Common Life" by Fucked Up earlier in this project and it did not disappoint. "Hidden World" is their first full-length but they released a long steady stream of 7" singles and E.P.s before this. I picked up a couple compilations of their many early releases and will be reviewing them later. After flipping through some of their earlier tracks I half-expected that "Hidden World" would be drastically different and not nearly as interesting as their later releases. I was very wrong.
     Fucked Up now accounts for 3 of my favorite "hardcore" records of all time. As with their other albums, it is epic in length for a hardcore punk album at over 70 minutes. That's whats so amazing about their music; They vary their style and throw enough musical surprises at you that the songs never get boring. There is more of a straightforward punk and hardcore feel to some of these songs than on the later record's more anthem rock feel but that is to be expected from their first album. They were just starting to shed and manipulate what was expected from their music scene. This album surprised me with musical devices like a small string interlude or a whistle solo.
     The album's lyrics are quite religious but it was just to fit with the theme of the real world vs the hidden world. The lyrics are ridiculously poetic and I only say ridiculously because of the juxtaposition of these lyrics being sung by a hardcore singer. The music is unique and familiar at the same time. the lyrics are awesome and intense and this album is a great listen. You need to check out all 3 of their full-lengths because they are all spectacular. (068)

03/07/12: Boris - Pink (2005)

03/07/12: Boris - Pink (2005)

1. Farewell
2. Pink
3. Woman on the Screen
4. Nothing Special
5. Blackout
6. Electric
7. Pseudo-Bread
8. Afterburner
9. Six, Three Times
10. My Machine
11. Just Abondoned My-Self

     I heard of Boris through Henry Rollins' Twitter and then when I asked oksentaminen if I should be listening to Boris his reaction that now evades me caused these guys to be on my list. I had flipped through a few tracks on a couple albums. They sounded rad but I haven't had a chance to listen to an album until now. I did a bit of research and Pink seemed to be a favorite of a lot of Boris Fans but I am aware that Boris make music across a broad range of genres from album to album. They came from the Japanese hardcore punk scene but of the music I've flipped through there seems to be a drone or sludge metal basis on a lot of their albums. But I have also noticed much noisier tracks and even really poppy stuff
     Pink was definitely a great introduction to these guys. I loved pretty much every track which is funny because the first track got boring. They are just an awesome rock band. The Drone Metal, Sludge Metal and Harcore Punk influences were all clearly present but this album pretty much does a bit of everything in the terms of rock music. Slow almost ambient tracks bookended by a punk track and a straight up Rock and roll song. The album closes with an 18 minute sludge rock epic that was an even more impressive conclusion to an extremely impressive album. Definitely plan to visit more Boris albums in this project. (067)

Women in Tragedy - My Favourite Actress

Crayon Angels

#72) Women in Tragedy - My Favourite Actress (2009)

 1. Stephanie 1
 2. xo
 3. The Urge
 4. Crayon Angels
 5. xox
 6. Infinite Space.L
 7. xoxo
 8. Gems.L
 9. xoxox
 10. Blindness
 11. xoxoxo
 12. Stephanie 2

so after my last post i decided to actually do some research about WIT and i found out, through the Plasticrane site no less, that WIT has actually released somewhere around 30 albums and that the 3 on Plasticrane are just a series of albums he recorded in the same time period. here's what the site says:

The Canadian Bob McCully is principally known for his project Women In Tragedy. With this moniker, he released more than thirty albums, splits and collaborations in compilations since 2006 till now (yes, more than thirty), always in very limited editions by small, honest, brave music labels. Anyhow, the music quality isn’t affected by the quantity of music recorded. The few releases that I had the luck to hear can be described as a sort of electro-pop music with a psychedelic attitude filtered with lo-fi garage and post-everything experiences, but the judgement on Women In Tragedy musical genos (γένος) varies from listener to listener. But in the end, all you have to know about Bob McCully’s Women in Tragedy is that you’re gonna like the music.
Some weeks ago, I was reading Women In Tragedy myspace. Bob will surely understand if I quote here his words:
Since my last post, which was in June, I have finished three albums:
Dead Actress
Dead End Trails
My Favourite Actress

The first, I’ve sent out to labels, to friends, to see what happens.
Ditto to the second, although it is more of a shorter EP and was originally intended to come out on cassette on a label who has to go on hiatus.
The third is an album exclusively made for my girlfriend Stephanie Carpanini for her birthday. Who knows though, maybe it’ll be available one day, but I’m focusing on getting the first two out.

I took contact with Bob and I’ve asked him to release these albums via Plasticrane, and he has been enthusiast since the beginning with this idea. He wrote me:

You’re welcome to release all three albums, because they were all recorded around the same time, I feel like they could work well together as Vol. 1, 2, and 3 of a series. Especially since Dead End Trails is 4 songs, much like an EP, and Dead Actress is 6 songs and quite a bit longer. My Favourite Actress is actually 14 songs and very long, it contains a lot of ambient interludes as well as some really cute pop songs. So they all are quite different albums but I recorded them all at my last apartment, which was a very dark and lonely basement, so you could even call all three albums the Basement Sessions, Vol. 1,2 & 3.



anyway, this was another cool lo-fi album and well worth checking out. head over to Plasticrane to do so.

Women in Tragedy - Dead End Trails

Mask Of Truth

#71) Women in Tragedy - Dead End Trails (2009)

 1. White Sun
 2. Old Dog
 3. Mask of Truth
 4. Black Moon

so a few posts ago i talked about Women in Tragedy's 4th album Medusa and how the previous 3 albums were solo psych-noise records. this is the 2nd of those solo records. all 3 records were put out by Plasticrane, unfortunately there seems to be a problem with the 1st record so i'm starting at 2.
i was hoping it was going to be a little nosier and more experimental but i dug it. this is one of those projects where the DIY lo-fi sound actually works in favor of the music rather than against it. all in all i'd say if you're into this kind of sound it's worth heading over to Plasticrane and checking it out.

Kill Jesus Kill - EP#2

Song For The Filthy Bastards

#70) Kill Jesus Kill - EP#2 (2010)

 1. Mind Grater
 2. Fake Lounge
 3. Las Vegas
 4. Ballast
 5. Song for the Filthy Bastards
 6. G T A
 7. Off the Moon

the year between their 1st and 2nd EPs seems to have been well spent as Kill Jesus Kill's 2nd album is just an all around better album. everything sounds better and the songs are more varied, more experimental, heavier and nosier. while it's still not the greatest instrumental rock ever, it was an enjoyable album and i'm glad i gave it a chance. pick it up at Plasticrane

Kill Jesus Kill - EP

Evil God

#69) Kill Jesus Kill - EP (2009)

 1. Single Service Friend
 2. Troubles & Lies
 3. Evil God
 4. Believe in What?!

another find off Plasticrane's site, this is Kill Jesus Kill's first EP. i'm not gonna lie, i pretty much picked this up just based on the name and didn't even read the artist description. what i got was a 2 man instrumental lo-fi rock band. one dude playing drums, the other playing guitar. overall i'm not a huge fan of instrumental rock. i don't hate it and there are a lot of bands that do it well, but too often i find that most bands will either be too repetitive and/or will just write songs that sound like they're missing vocals. this wasn't a bad album and some of songs had some really cool parts but overall they fell somewhere between the 2 previously mentioned categories. i liked it enough that i picked up their 2nd album (also available on Plasticrane)