The Valvewizard

It's been way too long since I last posted something up here. No one complained, which is kind of sad in its own way, but I wasn't expecting to have more than 7 readers anyways.

So for you 7(+/-5) faithful friends, here's your latest dose of Elephant Space Snowstorm. It's a triple feature, because that's how much I love you and all that internet shit.

PART I:

The Elephant Space Snowstorm's Been Busy As Fuck Mix - Volume I: 

1. Boxcar by Jawbreaker 
2. Transcendental Evisceration by Capricorns
3. Queen For A Day by The Jesus Lizard
4. Winder by Hum
5. Forest Of Fountains by Solar Bears
6. Melee by Russian Circles
7. Fuck Addict by Torche
8. Catastrophe And The Cure by Explosions In The Sky, Remixed by Four Tet
9. You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told) by The White Stripes
10. We Stood Transfixed in Blank Devotion as Our Leader Spoke to Us, Looking Down on Our Mute Faces with a Great, Raging, and Unseeing Eye by Red Sparrows
11. St. James Infirmary by The Gutter Twins
12. Rise / Set by Tjutjuna
13. Nice One by Jackie-O-Motherfucker

PART II: 

REVIEWS (FUCK YEAH)

Ok, I admit it, I was on Altered Zones a bit too much this summer. "Pitchfork ruling over indie blogs, blabla, boohoohoo, rabble rabble rabble"? Maybe, but I'm not going to complain, because they found some awesome shit on the internet and are sharing it with me. So thanks. 

First up on this list of Awesome Shit, Tjutjuna's self titled LP:

With seven songs and 35 minutes of synthesized space-inyourface-punk, these Colorado dudes have a debut album that sounds like Lemmy took over Hawkwind and made everyone take speed while dressing up as pirate-bikers. It's not just your usual synthyhawkyspacerocky ripoff (coughLitmuscoughcough), here Robert/James/Adam/Brian not only have mostly British names but also find the sought after balance between synth lines/drones, echofuzzed guitars and rhythms that could bring you to Mars and back. Effortlessly moving from keyboard riffing to full on guitars to noise section to laidback progressions, back into noise and the pleasures of analog delays, Tjutjuna has managed to make an album that's about as insanely awesome as the cover they came up for it. 

Second is Solar Bears' She Was Coloured In double LP: 

If Tjutjuna is the crazy aspect of Hawkwind, Solar Bears is its laid back, cool as hell equivalent. Warm sounds building immense soundscapes, always changing and evolving yet cohesive and driving from start to end, Solar Bears inscribes itself in a tradition of Irish electronic musicians who decided that U2 shouldn't be their country's main musical export (saying just export doesn't work because Guiness trumps all).

Building songs like some people make cakes (as in layer by layer, not from a pre-made mix), Solar Bears not only sport 2010's coolest band name but manage to evocate decades of electronic music history without sounding blatantly ambient or nostalgic - just epic. Sinoia Caves' The Enchanter Persuaded, although wonderful, had a "tribute" aspect that made it not quite as good as it could've been, especially if you're into a Tangerine Dream/Klaus Schulze/Cluster phase at the same time. That's not the case here - Solar Bears do a wonderful job of being evocative, but their references are numerous enough that you'll be thinking of a Guy Ritchie movie one second and of Boards of Canada the next. Of course, Berlin school electronic music inspirations come back more often than Age Of Empires soundtrack references, but ultimately all of it is relaxed/interesting enough that She Was Coloured In is an incredibly smooth, driving record (think of the gliding feeling you have when you listen to Kraftwerk's Autobahn. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're in for a treat). 

Not afraid to mix different techniques (tape editing techniques/loops, samples, acoustic instruments, synthesizers, or a combination of those), this Dublin duo makes songs that will make rest you, make you want to headbang and be more efficient at working, simultaneously.

I know, that sounds confusing. Just listen to the goddamn record, it's awesome and you'll get what I mean. 

Until next time (and god knows when that'll be), enjoy. And again, call your mom. She deserves it (probably).

JNCT

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Moutain Man: Made The Harbor / Lightning Reviews, Part III

Who threw a really heavy hula-hoop in the water? Who?

Made The Harbor by Mountain Man

Partisan Records (for the US), 2010

Three girls from Bennington, Vermont. Playing three-part harmonies with a guitar. Can't be half bad, can it? 

Well, there's a number of way it could, but Mountain Man definitely didn't chose from those. 

Going from ballads to playful tunes with a melody so beautifully catchy you'll end up singing at the supermarket, even if you never sing (watch out for "Buffalo" and "How'm I Doin'" in particular).

Describing their influences as" train engines mothers Redwoods Pines Oaks kale vegetables dogs breasts mountains ocean (seaweed) Wild West Colorado date orange scones Cora" there certainly is a timeless quality to their music that makes pointing out references unnecessary. It draws from a number of things, none of which I could accurately name, but I think that actually helps appreciate the record. Stopping the thinking, listening to the pastoral melodies, and letting them bring you this sense of calm, accepting friendliness.

There is some amount of old-style hum on this record, which probably has to do with the fact that they recorded Made The Harbor in an early 20th century ice cream truck (dixit Allmusic). Amidst the arpeggiated harmonies, this hardly noticeable roughness helps this record be more genuine. And even though these compositions are relatively silent, those artifacts become unnoticeable as soon as the song actually starts, because even though sparse, these composition command all your attention. In fact it's pretty hard to listen to it at the same time as writing about it. So excuse me, I'll go get my headphones and put it on repeat album for a while. 

please make the record a littletinybit longer next time!

Myspace (2 songs)

Partisan Records Moutain Man page
Serious Fucking Business Post (in french)

JNCT (human)

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Neurotic to the bone, no doubt about it - Lightning Review, Pt. II

You read that right. It's a line from Green Day's Basket Case, off of 1994's Dookie (Reprise Records):

And that's the album being reviewed here.

To those of you in the back already making disgusted faces, don't worry, it'll be quick.

Imagine a time where the 80's were still the recent past, where Gulf Wars were being dealt with by Bush Sr. and where Green Day actually made stuff that made you smile (in happiness). That stuff is Dookie.

I'll admit I was 3 when this record came out, but that's barely the point. Listening to the almost-40 minutes of California Sun encapsulated on this slab of polycarbonate and aluminum makes you imagine another time, when you thought you didn't give a shit and all you wanted was hang out with your buddies. Listening to Dookie.

Because Dookie is a record where melody works with energy, where bass breaks fit perfectly with power chord riffs, all in a joyful tongue-in-cheek atmosphere. It's nothing hard, nothing complicated, the lyrics probably aren't even that clever. But it's hard to beat the 4/4 head noodling joy these people used to make in this bright summer. Green Day never looked like they really hanged out in the sun (more likely some basement, padded with egg boxes, beer crates piled in the corner and instruments instead of couches), but their records sure were better when they sounded like it.

Welcome To Paradise.

JNCT

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Upside Down Clouds - Lightning Review, Part 1

 please stand in awe in front of this glorious, beautiful cover

Fang Island by Fang Island

Sargent House, 2010

Fang Island's debut is like a sandwich.

Start with a delicate slice of airy bread. Bite through some lettuce and juicy tomato, both tasty and refreshing. Then comes the meat and cheese. This analogy doesn't work with vegan subs, no, here the cheesiness / meatiness are of the utmost importance. Every song is a bite of this progressive pop metal sandwich, where animal guitars roar, childish synths oscillate, voices yell senseless hymns and the drums cheerily guide the whole procession. Dense, thick and rich passages veer down into glorious breaks/outros, in a mix of AC/DC bravado, Muse keyboard work and Amon Düül II nonsense.

The problem with eating a really good sandwich (and boy is this a delicious record) is that even if it's massive, you'll eat it fast (in 31:27, actually), and you'll end up wanting a second one.

This is where the sandwich comparison ends: if you'd have to buy another sandwich, the repeat button is free. Don't you wish we could eat music?

myspace 

Sargent House 

Fang Island Store 

JNCT

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