Newsletter 01

I've been swamped with work these past few months so I've decided to experiment with the format and make a pseudo-newsletter. instead of just typing 5 or so random posts Perhaps first of many (or few).

Firstly I managed to reupload the one request that one dude asked for like two months ago.

It's for: 渥美マリ (Atsumi Mari) - 2003 - 夜のためいき+6

The link should be fine for the moment. Any other re-uploads you want me to do just tell me here (or in the post with the dead link) and I'll get to it this week.

- aside from that here are a few tidbits -

New music that I think is cool:

- Abigor / Nightbringer / Thy Darkened Shade / Mortuus split is fucking phenomenal and should absolutely not be missed. It's a very interesting concept both musically and lyrically. I was really fucking stoked for some new Abigor material (by the way check out their rerecording of the song Kingdom of Darkness) but all bands pretty much ripped the fabric of the universe with this split.

- new Nightbringer has some really intense songs. I think they're creatively dead at this point now though.

- Arkhtinn released another tape with pretty much the same formula as before. There's considerable hype around this band (at least in the places I frequent) and it's somewhat deserved at least. I think they're decent but they repeat the same thing on each album but with increasingly apt musicianship. Check them out if you want to lull your urge for new Paysage D'hiver.

- Inferno released a new album that might be my favorite of the black metal bunch at the moment. Regarding to this year at least. They're a Czech band that dabbled in the usual slavic/pagan themes for a few years with very mediocre results. Recently (past three or so albums) they discovered that Orthodox Satanism is all the rage so they started playing that. The latest album turned out really great and dare I say it somewhat unique. Loving the guitar work.

- Rude is one of those new old school death metal bands. This one follows more of that Florida sound and I find them really enjoyable. It's nothing new or groundbreaking, just really good death metal. The new album is pretty rad but so was their first one. Check both of those out.

I just realized I've been pretty much listening to nothing but black metal from this year.

Concerts:

Dead Congregation; managed to catch these guys in fucking Postojna of all places at a venue that looked like a village dance hall. It was fucking amazing. If you have the chance to see them live you really should consider it. They played almost all of their songs or at least it felt like that. The local support band had an obese vocalist with long hair that had a huge slice of pizza in one hand and beer in another throughout the show.

Swans: saw them for the third time but this time in my home town. At this point it's pretty useless to see them live in my opinion. They diluted their sound to an extreme. Gira used to be a great vocalist but this time he just moaned and screamed for the most part. The music was pretty samey all throughout without any impactful moments. The current era of Swans deservedly needs rest.

Mayhem: saw them playing with aforementioned Inferno and Dragged Into Sunlight. Inferno played first and tried to pump up the crowd by trying to get us to cheer or raise our hands. You're in a black metal band dude, stop trying to be a rockstar. Dragged Into Sunlight on the other hand completely stole the show in my opinion and were the best of the bunch that night. They came, screamed and thrashed with their backs turned to the crowd at all times and left immediately after the last song. Mayhem played their legendary first album in its fullest format. Eh it was alright, the sound was garbage at that point and it was too crowded for me to be able to focus fully.

Other:

Check out Ben Montero, he draws short comics with very vibrant colors and themes. They're really laid back, sincere and unpretentious.

Watched The Arrival a few days ago. It was alright. The visuals were really nice. The director did some really good movies before The Arrival so check those out. The only movie that shook me in the last year or so was Come And See.

Looking forward to find out if Deathspell Omega will release their EP this year. Before the hiatus they would release an EP a year after a full length. Fingers crossed that they do that this year. I really liked Molten Bones. Generally I find their discography to be flawless. I don't mind if they're pretentious. More bands need to take themselves seriously, music is losing its impact on life.

I went hiking. It was really nice. Try it out sometimes. Saw a lot of waterfalls. Kept thinking of that Alda album while I was hiking.

That's all the rambling I had in mind. See you around folks!

Kinoko Teikoku - 2012 - Uzuninaru

Kinoko Teikoku (or きのこ帝国) is a relatively new shoegaze band coming from Japan. They've been very diligent since 2012 releasing one album per year and they've landed a contract with EMI two years ago which should propel them even more into Japanese stardom at least. But back at the beginning they released Uzuninaru as their first proper album.

While their music isn't anything spectacularly new they merge the jrock sound with shoegaze very competently. The overall atmosphere is that unique melancholic feeling that Japanese bands often evoke. The solitary urban feeling oozes in all of the songs that are on this well written album. But despite the somewhat depressing atmosphere the album is paced pretty well. I could never zone out to it, every other song picks the pace after more slower cuts on the album. Never a dull moment and on top of it all the female vocals are implemented to great effect. And they're not high pitched, which is always a plus.

Definitely check this band out if you haven't already.

Get it here.

Miles Davis - 1958 - Live At Newport 1958

Miles Davis is famous for a lot of things and for a lot albums. From my anecdotal experiences on the internet people nowadays mostly get into his albums that are more electric, rock and roll or psychedelic. I personally like all of his eras but for some reason I didn't bother to check anything else he did after Kind Of Blue for a very long time. That's retarded and I'm very well aware of it but I didn't do it out of ignorance or elitism. I just thought the albums I have are plenty enough and I wasn't that much aware of his more adventurous outings later on in his career. Eventually I did realize that there's much more to his music than just modal or bebop jazz but I still hold his early "conventional" days closest to my heart and now that I'm familiar with most of his discography I'm not ashamed to admit that his "olden" days were still the best out of his lush career. At least to me.

Recently I've been digging through his live recordings, going chronologically to weed out the bad (as in badly recorded) and keep the good ones. Eventually I came upon this one which is a fresh new favorite of mine at the moment. Although the production isn't as stellar as it was in the studio it is more than serviceable but why I really like this record is because it is an interesting document of what is yet to come. This was recorded back when Miles had just formed his to be legendary group consisting of Coltrane, Cannonball, Evans, Chambers and  Cobb on drums. They're all here and they're all eager to lash out the fastest and the most intense jazz you'll ever hear. They came to prove themselves at Newport and it shows. The only disappointing thing on this record is that Bill Evans doesn't get to shine all that much and he does't really do justice to the Thelonious Monk composition featured on the album. Everything else though is top notch from one of the greatest groups in jazz at that point.

Get it here.

Rudolph Johnson - 1973 - The Second Coming

Here's another Coltrane inspired player. It's a standard quartet setup of drums (Douglas Sides), bass (Kent Brinkley), piano Kirk Lightsey) and saxophone (Rudolph Johnson). Although Rudolph Johnson possessed the talent and dedication required to achieve great heights in music he was relatively unknown for most of the time. According to discogs he only did two albums as leader, this being his second. It's a tragic affair as there certainly is something about his playing that divides him from the rest but unfortunately luck wasn't on his side. Or perhaps some other thing got in the way. What he left though is a remarkable love letter to Coltrane when he also operated in a tight and aggressive quartet format. The only difference is that this record sounds much more like a jam and less like a planned from start to finish recording but that does not detract from the enjoyment of this marvelous hidden gem. Recommended.

Get it here.

Kohsuke Mine Quintet - Daguri

The music Coltrane, Tyner and others did back in their prime made a sizable ripple in jazz. Many went on to emulate their style well after the originators either died or moved on. For the most part I find these emulator (or keepers of the flame, to be more polite) to be either alright or great. Kohsuke Mine Quintet is one of those greater ones. They're relatively obscure from what I gather, releasing only a few albums back in the 70s and a resurgence album in the 90s but their music is much more deserving of attention.

The moment you start this album you'll immediately notice how similar this is to that particular peak era of McCoy Tyner's solo career where he released albums like Sahara, Song For My Lady and so on. After a very expressive and intense 10 minute opener track the album shifts into a bit slower gear where their saxophonists have a more leisurely pace to do solos in the usual spiritual jazz crescendo way. But this only lasts for a short while, one song to be more specific, as the album quickly picks the pace up and does not let go for the most part until the album is finished.

In essence this album is nothing new, not even for then but it is a damn well put together quintet with great talent. And they definitely compensate their lack of adventure with their technical skills. If you're getting bored of the usual great post-bop/spiritual jazz albums give this one a few listens. You won't be disappointed.

Get it here.