MUSIC 2022: TOP 5 reissues

T'is the season again! Time to start with those dreaded end of the year lists! I'm trying to keep them short, even though it always pains me to leave out so much worthy stuff.

Today I'm starting with one of the "B categories" that doesn't need much explanation: just my personal favorite reissues which came out in 2022. So here we go!

TOP 5 REISSUES:

1. DOLPO - Inner Himalayas
   
   
   
   Seriously? A tape with a not really convenient packaging wins against several vinyl releases including a box set? Of course the value-for-money ratio plays a little bit into that, right?
   Yes, it does. But this WV Sorcerer Productions reissue of Dolpo's 2019 album, wrapped in cloth, with a rice paper credits sheet and a cone of Tibetian ritual insense, also looks cool. But most importantly this very raw cosmic drone doom experience, enriched with authentic Himalayan field recordings and traditional Asian instruments is just a phenomenal intersection of Bong, Bell Witch and Saba Alizadeh. With this run of cassettes long gone I still recommend anyone who digs the merging of doom with ethnic influences (think Rinuwat or SteppenDoom) to give the digital version a listen!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. BLUT AUS NORD - 777 (Sect(s) / The Desanctification / Cosmosophy)
   
   
   
   This box is not perfect (one poster mix-up and why no downloads for that price?), but it comes pretty damn close. The three albums in beautiful colour pressings and gatefold cover plus the slipmat, which is still rotating on my turntable, don't give me any regrets buying Blut Aus Nord's complete "777" trilogy, which was originally released in 2011 and 2012. Musically these avantgarde black metal meets industrial, doom and even French hip hop classics are a class of their own anyway. Enormous! 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. MAGMA - Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh
   
   
   
   This reissue from Music On Vinyl is pretty straight-forward. The album from 1973 is far from being an unearthed obscurity, but an absolutely legendary, genre-defining (the genre of course being Zeuhl) masterpiece. The quality pressing is gold, the cover artwork of the gatefold shines gold, too. Oh sorry, it's not gold, but "copper". Well who cares? It looks and sounds great. No fancy extras beyond that needed. Beautiful edition of an untouchable work of the century.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. KONSTRUKT & PETER BRÖTZMANN -  Dolunay
   
   
   
   This one looks even less spectacular: Just two black records in a single sleeve, a card, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less. But I'm in it for the music and this wild free jazz gathering of Turkish quartet Konstrukt and saxophone giant Peter Brötzmann from 2008 is a fantastic slice of exciting chaotic manic fun. Further proof that Konstrukt and Karlrecords are always a worthwhile combination.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. SINISTRO - Hóspedes Silenciosos
   
   
   
   The doom band from Portugal re-released three demos from 2012 on one CD. Over one hour of cineastic (apart from a couple of rather textural primal screams) instrumental sludge enriched with samples, slightly Mediterranean clean guitars, post rock, synthie scores and trip hop beats. Huge and heavy, deep and visonary emotional music. And of course a perfect reminder that Sinistro were already great before they had a certain fantastic lead singer for a couple of years and releases.
   
   

Weltuntergang revisited: Reissues von KONSTRUKT & PETER BRÖTZMANN und ELECTRIC MOON

Ich dachte mir, ich müsste doch mal wieder ein langes Sammelreview zu aktuellen Wiederveröffentlichungen in meiner Sammlung schreiben. Aber da Kassetten hier ja ihre eigene Rubrik haben, habe ich jetzt tatsächlich nur zwei davon zusammengezählt. Macht aber nichts, denn diese beiden Doppelalben schaffen zusammen ja schon so einiges.

KONSTRUKT & PETER BRÖTZMANN - Dolunay (2LP) (2008/2022)

Es ist schon wieder eine gute Weile her, dass ich mir eine kollaborative Scheibe der türkischen Freejazzer Konstrukt gegönnt habe. Da kommt mir dieser Zeitsprung von Karlrecords ins Jahr 2008 gerade recht. Im Vergleich zu den späteren mir bekannten Alben mit Keiji Haino, Ken Vandermark und Otomo Yoshihide ist das Instrumentarium auf den sechs Improvisationsexplosionen von "Dolunay" noch etwas sparsamer, was zusammen mit Saxophonriesen Peter Brötzmann zu einer Konstellation führt, in welcher der Bassfrequenzbereich nicht gezielt einer Verantwortung überlassen wird, sondern von allen fünf Spielern an Drums, Percussion, Gitarre und zwei mal Chaotengebläse irgendwie gemeinsam nebenbei erledigt werden muss.
Die meiste Zeit über finden hier parallel gleich zwei wilde Tänze oder Schlachten statt: zum einen wirbeln Özün Ueta und Korhan Argüden um- und durcheinander als ob es kein Morgen gibt, und natürlich ist das Zusammenspeil der Bläser von Korhan Futaci und Brötzmann alles andere als eine sanfte Bootsfahrt in den Sonnenuntergang, sondern ein herrlich manisches Inferno.
Dass dabei mitunter tatsächlich auch mal tiefe, dichte Atmosphäre entstehen kann, ist rational kaum zu erklären und muss wohl einfach hingenommen werden. Besonders im minimalistischen Abgang der D-Seite "Nokta" entstehen hier interessante Spannungsfelder. Im Schnitt regiert in diesem Treffen allerdings die hirnschüttelnde Achterbahn. So macht Jazz Spaß! - Natürlich nicht nur so, aber so halt besonders.

ELECTRIC MOON - Doomsday Machine (remastered 11 years anniversary edition 2LP) (2011/2022)

Songtitel sind Schall und Rauch. Das gilt zumindest für einige Genres, zu denen jamorientierte Rauschmusik sicherlich zu zählen ist, relativ häufig. Von daher würde mich nicht wundern, wenn die Tracknamen auf der elfjährigen Jubiläumsausgabe von Electric Moons "The Doomsday Machine" absichtlich weggelassen wurden. Und falls ihre Abstinenz doch der Tagträumerei beim Layouten geschuldet sein sollte - egal. Vor allem wenn dadurch noch mehr Raum für das tolle Artwork des Gatefolds entstanden sein sollte. Dass die hierfür verwendeten Kohle-Gemälde in den 1970er Jahren von Bassistin/Effektspielerin/Gelegenheitssängerin Komet Lulus Vater Ulrich Mahn geschaffen wurden, ist natürlich auch eine schöne Geschichte.

Und was ist mit der Musik? Ja, die ist auch da.
Bis auf den Opener und Titelsong (Drums: Alex) alle in der klassischen SulaPabloLulu-Besetzung entstanden, taugt dieses Album zweifellos als Blaupause für vieles, was die Band ausmacht und gehört nicht umsonst zum gefragtesten Rillengold in ihrer Diskographie. Vor allem gehört es aber auch zum heaviesten und düstersten Material der Band. Nix verträumtes Weltraumyoga! Nein, einen derart dreckigen Basston packt Madame Neudeck nicht alle Tage aus. Selbst im streckenweise etwas runtergeschalteten längsten Stück "Stardust Service", welches auch auf der Compilation "Phase" vertreten war, ranzt es noch gehörig. Zusammen mit der effektbesessenen Gitarre entsteht hier mitunter eine durchdringend dröhnende Melange, welche das Remaster aus dem Institut für angewandten Krach hervorragend zur Geltung bringt.

Wenn Weltuntergang sich so anhört, dann Hachgottchen, was warten wir überhaupt noch groß? Doomsday olé!

MUSIC 2020: my favorite live albums and EPs

Oh no, yet another end-of-the-year list category which makes me cry inside! Well, let's be grateful that at least we have the conserved memories of times when music was performed live in front of an audience, ok?

I've already covered quite a bunch of live releases in my recommended streams and favorite downloads, but now it's time to get physical with some actually touchable records.

But first let's warm up with a ranking of the best short albums / long singles (or whatever your preferred definition of an EP is) of 2020!

TOP 7 EPs:

1. VOIVOD - The End Of Dormancy
   
   
   

   With two recordings of a modified version of an already known song (studio and live) plus the live performance of a "Nothingface" classic that's been played at most shows of the last thirty years, this EP clearly doesn't win this ranking by quantity of new original material. But the vintage movie style brass treatment of "The End of Dormancy" from "The Wake", which is already one of the greatest musical journeys in Voivod's history is just just too perfectly executed. More of that jazz please!
   
   
   
2. -S- - Zabijanie Czasu I
   
   
   

   This I, Voidhanger Records release could already have been included in my favorite downloads, but since a CD version of this EP exists, I'm letting it co-lead the field here. Sporting bass, drums, vocals and clarinet this Polish group calls its style "Dark Occvult Funk", which is an astonishingly apt description of the weird mix of jazz, contemporary classic, punk, post rock and extreme metal on display on this twenty-six-minutes-track. Sick shit!
     
   
   
3. ZEAL AND ARDOR - Wake Of A Nation
   
   
   
   Powerful. That's the description you get if you want to sum up the whole message, concept and musical realization of this EP in just one word. While the songwriting and performances of Manuel Gagneux' black metal meets blues meets gospel meets electronic etc. project keeps getting more refined and mature with each release, "Wake Of A Nation" also dials up the honesty and urgency by stepping away from the alternative history of its predecessors and reacting directly to racist police violence and the direct thematization of events concerning the Black Experience like the syphilis experiments of Tuskegee.
   
   
   
4. MONO & A.A.WILLIAMS - Exit In Darkness
   
   
   

   Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. Just wonderful.
   The combination of singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist A.A. Williams and Japanese post rock monumentalists Mono proved to be a meeting of minds and souls that could hardly have resulted in something more beautiful than this 10" EP. The calm patience and deep substantial emotion of these two tracks is a peaceful dream we didn't know we would need so badly, back in January, when "Exit In Darkness" came out.
   
   
   
5. THE END - Nedresa
   
   
   

   Even being a little bit more accessible and straightforward than on their debut album, The End keep establishing themselves as an extra-weird, unique brand of avant-garde jazz/prog/noise fusion on this two-track 10" EP. While almost guaranteed by the involvement of saxophon animal Mats Gustafsson, it's mostly due to Sofia Jernberg's as eclectic as technically impressive vocal performance that the Swedish quintet's music explodes with delightful insanity.  
   
   
   
6. FRA DET ONDE - feat. the Legendary Emil Nikolaisen
   
   
   

   Is this a blizzard or a firestorm? One thing's for sure: Whatever this Norwegian electric free jazz fusion trio unleashes with drums, bass and trumpet here, is guaranteed  to kick you out of your shoes if you don't brace yourself. Yet another proof that the psych and kraut label El Paraiso Records always kills the most, when its releases are going full jazz.
   
   
   
   
7. LOUISE LEMÓN - Devil
   
   
   

   Within 2020's turmoil the gothic-ish soul of Louise Lemón somehow feels like a blissful caring hug, probably even in moments when it's not even supposed to do that. But the Swedish singer's warm voice and the seemingly simple beauty of her songs is just a too irresistable island for the heart to rest a while. Most times I listen to this I immediately repeat the whole EP at least once.
   
   
   
   
   

TOP 6 LIVE ALBUMS:

1. TRIPTYKON with the METROPOLE ORKEST - Requiem (Live At Roadburn 2019)
   
   
   
   "What Triptykon have achieved here is highly remarkable and should be the universally accepted benchmark for artistic integrity and adventurous courage in any future metal / orchestra production from whoever, regardless of budget or subgenre." 
   This conclusion of my review still stands. It was a long journey from Celtic Frost's "Into The Pandemonium" to the completion of this piece for Roadburn Festival 2019, but there's no doubt that it was entirely worth the wait. In my book this is one of the most essential live recordings ever made from any metal band. Definitely worth the deluxe artbook version with vinyl, CD, DVD, bonus 7" and more extras. 
   
   
   
2. LAIBACH - Bremenmarsch: Live at Schlachthof 12.10.1987
   
   
   
   There are already plenty of Laibach live bootlegs and a couple of official releases from the 1980s around, so one could have assumed that the market for that is pretty much saturated. But who would have thought that a performance from the golden "Opus Dei" / "Macbeth" times of this phenomenal sound quality could be unearthed from the Radio Bremen archives?
   But not only the production is great here. The  show itself - with extra musicians from a theater performance the day before - is punishingly ferocious and at the same time creative and playful as fuck. Essential!
   
   

   

   Also very much worth to be honorably mentioned here is another Laibach live album, which digs even deeper into the Slovenians' past. As far as I know "Underground", a special Vier Personen performance of early years classics like "Boji", Siemens" or "Smrt Za Smrt" inside a mining tunnel in 2012, isn't available on its own though, but remains one of several good reasons to purchase the gargantuan "Laibach Revisited" box. 
   
   
   
3. ZOLA JESUS - Live At Roadburn 2018
   
   
   
   Capturing one of the most significant shows of the in my book probably strongest Roadburn edition so far and pressed on some of the most beautiful vinyl editions of 2020, this double album is a treasure inside and outside.
   Even if me experiencing it in the flesh from the center of the first row might make me a bit biased, I dare to say that the special energy of this performance for both audience and Zola Jesus herself can be felt in every moment of "Live At Roadburn 2018".
   
   
   
   
4. SENYAWA & STEPHEN O'MALLEY - Bima Makti
   
   
   
   Does this fully count as a live album? Because I suppose it's based on a live show and improved with overdubs afterwards? But who truly cares about these technicalities, when there is such a stunning gathering of ethnic and metallic drone mastership? With flutes, elements of Gamelan music and the weird vocal wanderings of Rully Shabara the Indonesian duo and the Sunn O))) guitarist  find a unique, rich, storytelling and spiritually deep tone that makes "Bima Sakti" a timeless genre masterpiece.
   
   
   
   
5. MYTHIC SUNSHIP - Changing Shapes - Live At Roadburn
   
   
   

   Recorded not only at the same festival, but also at the exact same time as Triptykon's "Requiem" the only thing the two performances clearly have in common is that they could both be descrived as monolithic in their own distinct ways. Danish fuzz wizards Mythic Sunship teamed up with "Another Shape Of Psychedelic Music" guest saxophonist Søren Skov again to recreate the feeling of said double album without sticking to the script of its songs - and boy, recreate they did! A seemless fusion of heavy psych rock with free jazz elements. 
   
   
   
   
6. KONSTRUKT & OTOMO YOSHIHIDE - Eastern Saga: Live At Tusk
   
   
   
   I think by now it's safe to say that any cooperative record the Turkish experimental free jazzers Konstrukt unleash into the wild via Karlrecords can be expected to kill it.
   This time it's a festival show they played together with Japanese guitarist Otomo Yoshihide in the UK in 2018, which shows no willingness to let either your body nor your mind rest. With two six-string players and two drummers the oriental and blatantly jazzier aspects are sometimes forced to take a backseat in favor of raw noise rock power, but as a whole these two improvisations make a very cohesive - and with all its inherent craziness still relatively accessible - avant-garde music record.
   
   
   

BANDCAMP DAY August 2020 mit LINGUA IGNOTA, KONSTRUKT & OTOMO YOSHIHIDE und PHURPA

Während ich mich, wie anderswo im Netz festgehalten, nach wie vor an den inzwischen eingetrudelten, vor einem Monat am Bandcamp Day abgegriffenen Vinylschätzen von A.A. Williams und Esben And The Witch erfreue, hat sich die Plattform entschieden, es doch noch nicht das letzte Mal gewesen sein zu lassen, dass den Künstlern 100% ihrer Gewinne (inklusive der Provision von BC selbst) überlassen wird. Die Tradition des Bandcamp Day am ersten Freitag des Monats wird also auf unbestimmte Zeit fortgesetzt.

Dieses Mal (also gestern) bin ich gar nicht dazu gekommen, mich groß mit dem Angebot zu beschäftigen, doch zwei Tonträger und einen Einzeltrack haben sich dann doch in meinen Einkaufskorb gedrängelt.

Bevor ich auf diese eingehe, empfehle ich aber noch dringend, bei Yazz Ahmed vorbeizuschauen, da die Jazztrompeterin die Exklusivveröffentlichungen vergangener Bandcamp Fridays für dieses Wochenende noch einmal zugänglich gemacht hat!

LINGUA IGNOTA - Wicked Game (download) (2020)

Wiederholungstäterin Kristin Hayter aka Lingua Ignota schlägt erneut mit einem Einzeltrack zu. Wie schon mit "Jolene" handelt es sich um ein Coverstück in ihrem einzigartig verzweifelt düsteren Stil.

Zumal ich persönlich mit Chris Isaaks "Wicked Game" auch Erinnerungen an ein eigenes Unplugged-Konzert verbinde (eine der liebsten Fremdkompositionen, die ich je live gesungen und gespielt habe), gab es natürlich gar keinen Zweifel, dass ich auf diese - natürlich vollkommen anders dekonstruierte - Version nicht verzichten konnte.

Ergreifend intensiv.

KONSTRUKT & OTOMO YOSHIHIDE - Eastern Saga: Live At Tusk (LP) (2020)

Das vierte Album in der auf Karlrecords erscheinenenden Reihe von Kooperationen der türkischen Experimentalfreejazzer Konstrukt mit anderen Künstlern (zwei davon bisher mit Keiji Haino, eines mit Ken Vandermark) hätte für mich auch ohne Aktionstag Priorität gehabt.

"Eastern Saga" ist eine Livaaufnahme vom Tusk Festival 2018, auf der die Gruppe in Fünferbesetzung - zwei Drummer, Kontrabass und zwei Multiinstrumentalisten, die sich um Gitarre, Saxophon, Flöten und Elektronik kümmern - aufspielt und sich dazu mit dem japanischen Experimentalmusiker Otomo Yoshihide an Gitarre und Turntables verstärkt.

Das Resultat sind die zwei abenteuerlichen Longtracks "Fire Dance" und "The Myth", deren exzellente Mischung aus exzessivem Free Jazz mit leicht orientalischer Note und wildem Noiserock absolut großartig in den Hohlraum zwischen den Synapsen hämmert. Wer genauso auf Bill Laswell wie die letztjährige Zusammenarbeit von Keiji Haino mit Sumac steht, der wird hier eine Menge Freudenschweiß ausstinken.

PHURPA - Hymns Of Gyer (Tape) (2020)

Die Gerüchte stimmen: Ich habe mir tatsächlich wieder ein kleines Kassettenabspielgerät an die Anlage angeschlossen und mir vorgenommen, mir ab und zu mal ein Tape nicht nur als Regalschmuck, sondern tatsächlich zum Hören zu gönnen.

Den Anfang macht ein Livealbum des russischen Obertongesangkollektivs Phurpa.

Selbst wenn man die Gruppe schon einmal live erlebt hat, bleibt es beinahe unfassbar, dass dieser über einstündige Drone/Dark Ambient-Sog nur ducrh drei Kehlköpfe und zwei Klangschalen erzeugt wird

Ein Portal in andere Dimensionen. Oder zumindest der Wegweiser zu höheren Leveln des eigenen Bewusstseins.

In jedem Fall nicht von dieser Welt.

KONSTRUKT + KEN VANDERMARK - Kozmik Bazaar

Der Kenner sieht schon am Cover, welches große Ähnlichkeit mit den beiden identisch betitelten Werken "A Philosophy Warping, Little By Little That Way Lies A Quagmire" hat, dass sich hier eine weitere Kooperation der die türkischen experimentellen Freejazzer Konstrukt mit einem anderen Künstler ankündigt.

Diesmal ist es aber nicht der japanische Noiserocker Keiji Haino, sondern Ken Vandermark, wichtiger Player der Jazzszene Chicagos, der mit Tenorsaxophon und Klarinette dazustößt - und zum Glück des Rezensenten kein Faible für ultra-lange, komplizierte Bandwurmsong- und albumtitel hat.

KONSTRUKT + KEN VANDERMARK - Kozmik Bazaar (LP) (2019)

Dieses neue Album, das sei gleich gesagt, ist nicht so radikal abgefahren wie die beiden genannten Vorgänger, d.h. es kommt in handlichen Stücken, die sich zumindest in sich selbst weitgehend auf einen Stil und eine Stimmung konzentrieren.

Aus der Sicht eines "Vanilla" Jazz- oder Rockfans mag das indes nicht allzu viel bedeuten. Denn ein recht weites Feld wird hier im Lauf der relativ kurzen Gesamtspielzeit schon beackert.

Konstrukt sind an sich schon eine Truppe, die gerne mit vielen unterschiedlichen Sounds experimentiert, und so finden hier bereits ohne Vandermark neben der Basis aus Saxophon, Bass und Schlagzeug auch elektronische Percussion, spanische Flöten, afrikanische Lauten und verzerrte Gitarren. Von arabisch rockender Fusion, über sanft atmosphärisch dröhnende Psych-Stücke bis zum aus allen Rohren trötenden Freejazz-Freakout lässt dieser "kosmische Basar", wie ich den Albumtitel jetzt mal ganz mutig ohne Faktencheck übersetze, den Hörer eine Vielzahl von Sinneseindrücken einsammeln. Eben wie wenn man auf einem orientalischen Markt von einem exotischen Duft zum nächsten stolpert.

*pling* Ein Euro in die Kasse für billige Analogien!

Und dadurch, dass wirklich jeder der sechs Tracks eine neue Gasse des "Kozmik Bazaar" erforscht und sich die leichtere mit der avantgardistisch schwereren Kost ganz gut abwechselt, vergeht dieser Marktbesuch auch wie im Fluge. Der erlebnisorientierte Jazztourist in mir wird kurzweilig unterhalten und ist begeistert.

Ja, mir gefällt die natürliche Chemie der fünf Musiker sehr. Konstrukt bleiben als sie selbst erkennbar und klingen doch im Zusammenspiel mit unterschiedlichen Partnern deutlich anders.

Eine spannende Albenreihe ist es, die Karl Records uns hier präsentiert. Und so gilt hier wie für die beiden Vorgängerwerke das uneingeschränkte Prädikat: Bammm! Großartig!

MUSIC 2018: top EP, live recordings, reissue

It's end-of-the-year list season. The "big one" with my favorite albums and concerts of 2018 is already done, so here comes the appendix with the best of other musical stuff.

While compiling it I realized that it really was an album-centric year for me. I obtained so few 7" or 10" records, split releases or download-only stuff, that it would be silly to make lists of any of those categories. So the whole thing is a rather short one this time.

To compensate I've thought about reviving the cheerful disappointments section, but despite being the longest text here that actually didn't generate too much solid content either.

The final part of this post is just a look back on what little my own experimental duo was doing this year.

TOP EP:

 

 

DARK BUDDHA RISING - II

   
Droning. Mystical. Colossal. Judging from the playing time this work may count as an EP, but the sonic reality is that Dark Buddha Rising rolls over your senses like a cosmic giant.

TOP 3 live recordings:

 

1. BELL WITCH - Live At Roadburn 2015
   
   

   
   Watching Bell Witch open Roadburn 2015 with their genius duet take on funeral doom still counts as one my most imprinting concert experiences in recent years. So to finally get this show as a crushing record is the best addition to the two special 2018 Roadburn shows I could ever imagine - and another worthy tribute to the late Adrian Guerra. Worship the shit out of this!
     
   
   
2. KONSTRUKT & KEIJI HAINO - A Philosophy Warping, Little By Little That Way Lies A Quagmire (Live)
   
   

   
   Yes, the music is as insane as the title. This Turkish / Japanese free jazz / noise rock cooperation is definitely among this year's most borderline crazy advantgarde shit releases. Also - to make things even weirder -, don't confuse this with previous year's studio album of the same name, which is comprised of totally different compositions!
     
   
   
3. CULT OF LUNA and JULIE CHRISTMAS - Mariner: Live At De Kreun - Belgium
       
   
   
   Even though I already own the studio album and have witnessed the very last of those rare shows for it at Roadburn, I still got my fingers on this live album, which once again features the stellar collaboration of Swedish post metal force Cult Of Luna and Julie Christmas. Some vocal arrangements may remain unperformable, but the live setting adds so much energy and so many layers at other places, that it has become my most listened-to version of "Mariner".
    

TOP reissue:

EARTH - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull

While the first-time vinyl release of Swans' "Die Tür Ist Zu" may be of more exclusive content, I have to go with this 10 year anniversary reissue of Earth's already timeless and legendary masterpiece here. I had this on CD, but not only for the bonus track the vinyl is an upgrade. So much fuller and richer... It's almost like discovering a whole new record for me.

When has western psychedelic desert doom ever sounded cooler?

  

 

 

Disappointments 2018?

 

I don't know about any huge disappointments... Has any band or artist fucked it up big time? Nothing severe comes to mind.

Of course bands are disbanding. Norway's advantgarde metal specialists Virus are a huge loss that comes to mind immediately.

And then there's the never-ending "Laibach Revisited" story. The release has grown into a big, extremely promising box set, which I already have pre-ordered and payed for, but it has been postponed from September to spring 2019. While it is a bit annoying, the reason is that they are still adding additional stuff like a whole extra album. So that's fine with me.
I'm significantly more pissed that my vinyl copy of "The Sound Of Music" still hasn't found its way to me. Fucking Christmas.

Bruce Dickinsson outing himself as a Brexiteer, that was a shame. Well, he's rich. But yeah, that's not really music-related. And if we're going in that direction, the world has become way too absurd to do it justice here.

I guess my major general complaint is that the year goes by so fast, with so many albums which I still haven't bought or listened to yet. I mean, you still need some time to process all of it, right?

Of course I cannot blame Dead Can Dance, Florence + The Machine, Obscura, Sons Of Kemet etc. for me not having purchased their albums yet.

On the other hand just a little pinch of scepticism about the musical direction can hold me back for a long time - as seen with Khemmis, who after two great works are now maybe too traditional metal / hard rock for me? Don't know, I should really take a listen.

Same goes for Janelle Monae, who has finally delivered a successor to 2015's "The Electric Lady", but ditched her Cindi Mayweather persona. "Dirty Computer" has at least some good tracks on it, I know, but I'm having a hard time adjusting to the aesthetics of those modern pop royalty productions... The same thing made me avoid previous year's Kendrick Lamar album.

Damn.

 

 

  

 

DRUTURUM activities:

And finally a brief look back on my personal activities with Druturum.

Due to the concept of exclusive shows itself and occasional difficulties to find rehearsal time, our tour schedule will always be easy to oversee, that's for sure. At the moment we're patiently working on "Druturum V: Wayfarer", but it will still take a while until we can confirm a date and location.

This year in May we've played two very different shows. For more background information follow the links to the respective bandcamp pages (english) or posts in this blog (german)!

(stream/download/liner notes on bandcamp /blog post HERE!)

(stream/download/liner notes on bandcamp / blog post HERE!)

KONSTRUKT & KEIJI HAINO - A Philosophy Warping, Little By Little That Way Lies A Quagmire / A Philosophy Warping, Little By Little That Way Lies A Quagmire (Live)

We all know those people who are stuck in some musical past (mostly the soundtrack of their own teenage years) and persistently claim that there is no more good music today. Every after Pink Floyd / Rolling Stones / Nirvana / Frank Sinatra etc. sucks.
And I always tell those guys the same thing: There has never been so much great music of all kinds out there - and it has never been so easy to discover it. If you are a too lazy creature of habit to look beyond what the music industry pushes into some charts - it's your fault alone.

I constantly find myself discovering more rabbit holes leading to all kinds of musical worlds than I can ever process in this one lifetime.

The following pair of album reviews is a good example of finding shit by following one of the million paths the internet provides. Just read Bandcamp Daily from time to time and you'll detect the weirdest, most obscure and exciting stuff.

Back in June they had this article "Devil Horns: Metal Bands Who Use Brass And Woodwinds". I mainly wanted to read the text about the Kayo Dot classic "Choirs Of The Eye", but then I saw that my beloved old John Zorn project Painkiller from the early 1990s was also featured there, but with their third album "Execution Ground", which I had never heard. It really is the band's masterpiece - and it was re-released on vinyl in 2016, by a german advantgarde label called Karlrecords (named after Karl Marx).

I got the double record, I love it. And I had Karlrecords in the back of my head now.

So when two weeks ago I received an email informing me about the label being featured on Bandcamp Daily again, that led me to Konstrukt and Keiji Haino - both names which didn't ring any bell for me before - and their two collaborative records.

KONSTRUKT & KEIJI HAINO - A Philosophy Warping, Little By Little That Way Lies A Quagmire (LP) (2017)

Yes, that album title is quite a mouthful, and even more so are the song titles on this thing. Luckily there are just two of those monstrous brainfuckers, even though there are six tracks on the records. But well, in the end that stuff is just a quirky sidenote anyway.

What do we have here musically? If I had to describe it only using the content of my blog as a source of reference, I would that the closest I could get would be a mixture of Black Cube Marriage's "Astral Cube" and the whole body of work of the Dead Neanderthals. And that would cover about sixty percent of what this album has to offer - max.

So let's take a look at the parties at play here:

Konstrukt are a quartet, as much routed in the traditional Coleman / Coltrane free jazz approach and its advantgardistic offsprings, as in their turkish heritage, which is unmistakenly represented by the heavy use of folk percussions and mediterranian wind instruments. Imagine the Sun Ra Arkestra with oriental folk instead of afrofuturism. (And they have even played together with Sun Ra bandleader Marshall Allen in the past!)
On top of that they are also using analog synthesizers, tape echo looping effects and other electronic stuff. So maybe I could have also cited the Köhnen Pandi Duo above.
But what Konstrukt are bringing to the table is its very own beast. And it goes fucking berserk in all the best ways. With the broad range of instrumentation it's impossible to pinpoint every ingredient which gives this over the top inferno its special flavour. But even as the saxophone afficionado I am, there is no doubt that one instrument which particularly stands out in an almost unnerving, but absolutely brilliant way is the zurna. There hasn't been such a zurna overload in my record collection since King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's "Flying Microtonal Banana".

Konstrukt have teamed up with Keiji Haino, who happens to be a japanese noise rock legend. And since his main contributions are wild guitars and the occasional insane shit screaming, there is no way I can keep my advantgarde free jazz noise rock grindcore whatever go-to-reference Naked City out of this. He also provides additional percussion and air synthesizers. If you haven't heard of those yet - you should definitely do a search on Youtube. Sick stuff.

If you are now assuming that all this can only add up to an unlistenable mess, you are probably right concerning your personal perception. If you hate free jazz and experimental improvisatory excess, this album surely won't turn you around.

But if you are receptive to the styles combined on "A Philosophy Warping", this record truly is a goldmine which bleeds instrumental skill and atmospheric instinct to a rich listening experience, which unlocks new details every time you spin it.

Highlights: All Things Will Be Reduced To Equal D お Tっっ3 BBRc MMM あ元 Part 1 - 3, The Darkness Of +​(​plus) And The Paleness Of –​(​minus) Drag Each To An Identical Distance And Reanalyse Blending In Some Pain Part 1- 3 - which is the whole album, because seriously: you either hate every bit of this or you love it all. There is no middleground here.

When your first record has such a catchy title, why not just use it again?

There you go...

KONSTRUKT & KEIJI HAINO - A Philosophy Warping, Little By Little That Way Lies A Quagmire (Live) (LP) (2018)

At least the colour scheme of the cover artwork is different. Those paintings look really great as the real physical thing by the way.

Ok, there are other differences as well:
This time it's a live album, recorded with an audience. And it's not a performance of the older album, but completely new material.

The song titles are... something... again, but this time there is no bothering dividing the record sides into parts, even though there technically are some breaks, where the band starts fresh. But it's all presented as two twenty minutes+ tracks.

Stylistically it doesn't fall too far from the first record, but there is a distinct emphasis on some elements. The first side finds the band more guitar-driven than before, while the B-side focusses more on the saxophony jazz sound. And on both sides the traditional turkish influences are dialed back.
Those statements don't go for every minute of each respective side, but at at least you can say that there is a tendency you can feel.

It surely pruduces a vibe which overall is a little different than on the 2017 album. Maybe it's just the musicians knowing each other better by now, but this records feels closer to live albums like "Dark Magus" or "Agharta" from Miles Davis (maybe with temporary Herbie Hancock sidekick and synth pioneer Patrick Gleeson in the mix) than its predecessor.

Plus the japanese vocal madness of course. Let's not forget that.

Highlights: Into A Trap Surely So Elaborately Laid Air Has Entered And A Splendid Beautiful Monster Now Swims, Excess + Analysis / Courage = (Yes, that's the album again.)

I really can't settle for a favorite between these two albums. Because just as they are equally named, they are both equally as impressive, rewarding  and out there. So it really makes sense to listen to these both albums as different sides of the same coin.

As of now there are not too many LPs left. And the high quality pressing undoubtly does the music justice. So if you think you might be interested in more than a digital download, you'd better act fast.

It might be too early to say something like that, but in the world of extreme experimental jazz "A Philosophy Warping, Little By Little That Way Lies A Quagmire" and "A Philosophy Warping, Little By Little That Way Lies A Quagmire (Live)" have pretty good chances to reside among my all-time favorites.