WANG WEN - Painful Clown & Ninja Tiger

Wow. Allerspätestens jetzt, wo ich die CD in Händen halte, kann ich mir kaum noch vorstellen, dass mich der erste Teaser vom neuen Album meiner Lieblingspostrockchinesen Wang Wen zunächst tatsächlich abgeschreckt hatte!

Vielleicht hat es damit zu tun, dass mit zwischenzeitlich die Taiwanesen Cold Dew wesentlich "schlimmeren" Gesang schmackhaft gemacht haben. Oder - und das ist evtl. sogar noch wahrscheinlicher - ich bin einfach manchmal ein ignoranter Idiot.

WANG WEN - Painful Clown & Ninja Tiger (CD) (2023)

Ja, ein Novum - welches eigentlich keines ist - heißt Gesang. Wobei es auf früheren Alben tatsächlich ja durchaus den einen oder anderen Track mit Stimmeinsatz gegeben hat. Und auch nun sind es nur ein paar Stücke, in denen gesungen wird. Es ist allerdings diesmal weder Gebrüll noch Magma-Hommage oder verfremdeter Robotergesang, sondern naja... ganz normaler cleaner Gesang in Strophe-Refrain-Schemata eigentlich - an den ich mich zugegebenermaßen z.B. in "回声图书馆 Gone Library" erst einmal gewöhnen musste. In Wirklichkeit ist das was Gitarrist Xie Yugang hier abliefert aber sehr solide und stimmig geraten. So richtig unverzichtbar finde ich dieses Element allerdings nur im (zweiten) Titelsong "壬寅 Ninja Tiger" und dem balladesken Albumabschluss "野火 Wild Fire".

Der Hauptdarsteller in dieser Band bleibt aber ganz klar die erneut sensationell klar und kraftvoll produzierte Musik, welche wie immer auf erhabenem Postrock basiert, welcher sich allein durch Horn und Trompete und natürlich den Einfluss fernöstlicher Melodieführungen vom Einerlei absetzt. Die schiere spielerische Klasse und die Bereitschaft, jederzeit subtile Abstecher in andere Klangwelten wie Blues, Progrock, Achtziger Synthpop zu unternehmen, katapultiert die Gruppe aber auch auf diesem Werk wie gewohnt in noch höhere Sphären.
Schon der den Hörer mit seinem langen spannungsgeladenem Aufbau einsaugende Opener "凿壁寻光 Light Behind the Wall" lässt dies deutlich erahnen und ist doch nur buchstäblich der Anfang.
Was gegen Ende zwischen Jazz Fusion, Ambient, hymnischen Bläsern und Doom-Metal-Heaviness alles in das Highlight "奥林匹克广场 There's a Walmart Underneath the Olympic Square" hineinspielt, muss man sich im Grunde schon aktiv bewusst machen, weil Wang Wen diese stilistischen Metamorphosen mit solcher songdienlichen Selbstverständlichkeit vollziehen.

Alles in allem bleibt im Grunde alles bei Alten. Dazu gehört wohl auch der in der Übersetzung etwas kauzig klingende Albumtitel mit erklärungsbedürftigen chinesischem Kulturbezug.
Aber im Ernst: Wang Wen sind körperlich wie kreativ scheinbar einfach nicht in der Lage zu enttäuschen und liefern wieder einmal wunderbar erhebende, zugängliche und entrückende Musik zwischen zivilisatorischer Melancholie und elementarer Weltflucht auf meisterlichen Niveau ab. Traumhaft!

MUSIC 2021: TOP 21 albums

Yes, in anticipation of the coming year (20+22=42) all signs are on silly numerology here. So after my 7 favorite live shows, 7 favorite live albums and 7 favorite non-album releases, it's only consequent to present my top 21 albums of the year now, to make the number which explains everything, 42, full again. But since 21 really isn't that much for this category, I've coupled each position with one more or less fitting extra recommendation. So yeah baby, we got 42 again.

The general rules are: This is my own fucking personal ranking, so no whining is allowed. It's only about albums which I already own in some form. It does not include reissues (my favorites are the first vinyl version of Brian Ellis's "Quipo" and the 25th Anniversary Edition of "Relaxing With..." The Heads), unless there hasn't been a physical release before. Following that logic also all releases, where I'm still waiting for my copy (I'm looking at you, Rostro Del Sol, Zaäar, The Lovecraft Sextet...) aren't considered until next year.
And of course there's also stuff still coming in now, which is just too late to the game.

As always - and most important: Music shouldn't be a competition anyway, so after the first couple of places the order really doesn't matter much and could be different on any day depending on my mood. So with all that being said, here are my...

TOP 21 ALBUMS 2021:

1. AD NAUSEAM - Imperative Imperceptible Impulse
   
   
   
   It's already hard to be more death metal than the Italians Ad Nauseam. But it's close to impossible to push the genre into more unique, unheard territories of dissonant avant-garde than they do on "Imperative Imperceptible Impulse". Armed with their very own tuning, tons of dynamics and brutal virtuosity they created a sick masterpiece that makes most other metal albums look like elevator music in comparison. Listening to this double album might risk your sanity, but I prefer to imagine that it rather stimulates my cerebral receptiveness. A gift that keeps giving!
   
   
   
   
   
   One other boundless, yet in its loyalty to the core idea of the genre still somehow astonishingly pure death metal release of comparable magnitude is "Poison Palinopsia" by Qrixkuor. It consists of just two mammoth-tracks, over twenty-four minutes each, which fly by like a swarm of puking winged demons.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. SENYAWA - Alkisah
   
   
   
   Rooted in folklore, drone and unbridled experimentalism, amplified by self-build string, percussion and noise instruments and the exceptional vocal presence of Rully Shabara, the Indonesian duo Senyawa conjures a timeless spirituality and primal heaviness. While this music couldn't be more singular, its distribution is manifold, as "Alkisah" has been released in dozens of alternative versions by various labels all around the globe. The CN Edition by WV Sorcerer Productions, which includes a bonus CD with well-made remixes is a perfect package inside and outside.
   
   
   
   
   
   Senyawa also recently released their second (so far only digital) album of 2021. "Membaladakan Keselamatan (Ballads for the Survivors)" features acoustic reinterpretations of songs from previous albums and proves that even reduced to only acoustic guitar and voice the band's music is still incredible impactful, heavy, amazing.
   
   
   
   
   
3. LINGUA IGNOTA - Sinner Get Ready
   
   
   
   The day has yet to come, when I will write something about Lingua Ignota and feel that I have done Kristin Hayter's art any justice. Even after dialing the obvious noise and brutality from "Caligula" down on her new wrath opus "Sinner Get Ready" and replacing it with a more naturalistic, folkloristic sound that sometimes even includes pure, pristine beauty, the way she channels heaviest themes and personal experience into profound, emotionally touching (if not even oppressing) art, is just one of a kind. A mercilessly uncompromising and unforgiving gospel that cannot leave you indifferent.
   
   
   
   
   

   Fans of Lingua Ignota should also check out "Mausoleum" by the Latvian trio Pamirt, whose singer Kristiāna Kārkliņa does not only remind of Hayter, but also takes notes from Jarboe, Anna von Hausswolff and Chelsea Wolfe. Their debut is rather short, but a grand and theatrical work of art nonetheless.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. ÅRABROT - Norwegian Gothic
   
   
   
   Kjetil Nernes, Karin Park and their family are living in an old church (which also works as recording studio and photo / video location) in the Swedish countryside. Rock'n'roll is their religion. On "Norwegian Gothic" their band Årabrot is redeeming everything this premise promises - and more. Recruiting help from members of Motorpsycho, Zu and Jaga Jazzists, as well as cellist extraordinaire Jo Quail they created nothing short of a dark noise rock / post punk masterpiece, filled with hits and creative surprises -  a carnival of the 80s, 90s and ultimately timeless rebellion.
   
   
   
   
   
   Oh well, fuck my no re-issues rule! There's no way of honouring "Norwegian Gothic" without uttering Karin Park's last solo album in the same breath. "Church Of Imagination" is equally as sprawling and intriguing, while speaking a different musical language of artistic pop with chamber, gospel and alternative rock elements. With "Omens To Come" it even features the original version of Årabrot's "Feel It On".
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. SONS OF KEMET - Black To The Future
   
   
   
   They have done it again - the Sons Of Kemet are absolutely on fire! Fueled by the ongoing oppression and injustice people of colour keep facing "Black To The Future" is burning with urgency. Armed with two drumkits, tuba and saxophone, the Sons and guests like Moor Mother and Joshua Idehen continue their fight against the pain of the African diaspora and explore Black identity with a spectacular mix of bebop, funk, hip hop, Carribean and tribal music. Especially when the vocals halt for most of the second half of the double album, the musical storytelling gets spectacularly strong.
   
   
   
   
   
   A much more traditional, yet still vivid and exciting take on jazz can be heard on "The Space Where The Uncontrollable Unknown Resides, Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises" by Work Money Death. The two longtracks "Dusk" and "Dawn" are perfect homages to the spiritual masters Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra and John and Alice Coltrane.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. EMMA RUTH RUNDLE - Engine Of Hell
   
   
   
   You can call the instruments of Emma Ruth Rundle's minimalistic acoustic album piano and guitar, but in truth she's playing directly on our heartstrings. Mostly recorded in complete live takes "Engine Of Hell" is her most vulnerable, purest and bravest album to date. No other album on this list has captivated me inside a repeat loop and made me neclect the rest of my collection for weeks like this channeling of Emma's inner Tori Amos.
   
   
   
   
   
   Speaking of Tori, whose impact on my taste cannot be overstated, since there are at least four albums noticeably influenced by her on this list alone: with "Ocean To Ocean" she added a wonderful new gem - which in comparison to Emma's album is rather maximalist - to her now sixteen studio albums strong discography. Outstanding as ever!
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. CYNIC - Ascension Codes
   
   
   
   After the passing of both Sean Reinert and Sean Malone it seems like Paul Masvidal pulled off an almost impossible miracle with this new Cynic album. While "Ascension Codes" surely carries the sentiment of tribute, eulogy and solace, the new age / alien genesis themed concept work doesn't bind itself to the past at all, but instead bravely thinks forward and explores new territories within and beyond the band's established cosmos. Just like Cynic has always done. But in a scope - filled with just so incredibly much music - noone could have ever dreamed  of. Rest in peace, Sean and Sean!
   
   
   
   
   
   Albeit I haven't come across anything even remotely similar to Cynic, I feel that this is the right place to point at the also very progressive, genre-defying and spiritually charged masterpiece "Har" from the Romanians Dordeduh, who have widened their palette of influences far beyond black metal and folk into all thinkable directions.
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. KING WOMAN - Celestial Blues
   
   
   
   Doom metal album of the year? Thanks to Kristina Esfandiari that's an unusually easy choice for me. Not only due to her stunning vocal performance, which seems more rooted in grunge and shoegaze than in metal, King Woman's "Celestial Blues" has a luring quality which makes you voluntarily follow her Lightbringer / outcast Eve persona to the darkest pits of the underworld. In a very relative way by the standards of the genre every track on this crushing album is a compact, downright radio-friendly hit, an unheard yet still eerily familiar hymn of doom and gloom.
   
   
   
   
   
   It takes two bands to come close to King Woman's addictiveness. So dial up the oppressive riff power and let your ears be blasted by Jon Davis' (Conan) other, equally devestating Ungraven and the  masters of shared doom split releases, Slomatics, who present themselves in the most epic Khemmis shape here, on their mighty as fuck untitled split album!
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. WANG WEN - 100,000 Whys
   
   
   
   How are Wang Wen doing this? You're always thinking that the Chinese almost-instrumental band has already reached post rock perfection, but then they keep proving that there's still room to grow with every album. The morriconisms of the guitar and keyboard licks and the glorious horns, trumpets and flutes alone are the stuff of dreams. Dipping into prog, jazz, latin influence, shamanistic chants and whatever they please at any given moment, but always keeping accessibility and a coherent uplifting spirit in focus, they finally recorded their perfectly wonderful, ultimate masterpiece with "1000,000 Whys". Well, at least for now, I guess.
   
   
   
   
   
   If you know my post rock monumentalism favorites, it won't surprise you that I can't say Wang Wen without also gushing about their better known Japanese half siblings Mono, who followed up an career-encapsulating live album with a studio release ("Pilgrimage Of The Soul"), that shows that they still have some new tricks up their sleeve, while never once loosening their special grip on your primal emotions.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. 夢遊病者 - Noč Na Krayu Sveta
    
    
    
    "This is Alice Coltrane and Toby Driver having a raging black metal baby. This is Mansur torturing Mono in hell. This is ambitious and beautiful, a piercing bliss so bright, it burns the eyes out of your skull." I doubt that I could summarize this chaotic thunderstorm of infinite instruments and styles under the umbrella of ritualistic black metal any better than I already did. Even though "Noč Na Krayu Sveta" is a rather short border case between EP and full album, the Russian/Japanese/American project 夢遊病者 proves itself as one of the most creative forces in (and far beyond) metal today.
    
    
    
    
    
    Sentient Ruin Laboratories released more than one other album deserving to be recommended here, but the most important one is probably "Abominion" by the US blackened industrial death doom metal war machine Abstracter. This relentless, destructive, pessimistic onslaught develops a vortical atmosphere which pulverizes you and inescabably sucks the remaining particles into the void.
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. JÜ - III
    
    
    
    The third album of the Hungarian trio Jü has a truly complex premise, as it interprets traditional music from Eastern Europe, Northern Africa and Southeast Asia by drawing lines from psychedelic prog and math rock to experimental jazz fusion, from phase "Red" King Crimson over Mr. Bungle to Javanese gamelan music. And that doesn't even describe half of the experience, which also includes enchanting and insane guest vocals and electronic ambient noises. Few albums of 2021 blow over faster than "III" - and even less are a purer joy to spin.
    
    
    
    
    
    If especially the atmosphere of Jü's opening and closing tracks speak to you, you should immerse yourself in the already third album from The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation mastermind Jason Köhnen's trio Mansur. The improvisations on "Minotaurus" drone with a foundation of bass and electronic sounds, over which oud and Martina Horváth's voice levitate to the furthermost mystical heights.
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. MOTORPSYCHO - Kingdom of Oblivion
    
    
    

    I've stopped trying to fathom how Motorpsycho are doing it a long time ago. The Norwegians are putting out these huge sprawling subgenre-defying rock (double) albums so fast that there's just no other way than to feature the band in these rankings almost every single year. And "Kingdom of Oblivion" is a complete work in all respects: Music, lyrics, artwork, gatefold design, quality of the transparent disc... everything about this double album is just as top class as their "Gulvåg" trilogy.
    
    
    
    

    

    If you dig Motorpsycho and love instrumental rock, you should also check out "Ding Dong, You're Dead!" by their fellow Norwegian country(wo)men Hedvig Mollestad Trio. It's an explosive mix of jazz, prog, funk, metal, experimentalism and hard rock that is guaranteed to kick your ass and brain!
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. NICK HUDSON - Font Of Human Fractures
    
    
    
    "The Quiet Earth" by The Academy Of Sun was one of the greatest albums of 2020, but that's obviously no reason for Nick Hudson to rest on his laurels, as his solo album impressively proves. Between experimental synth pop, post punk, chamber sounds and grand piano art rock "Font Of Human Fractures" glistens in new facettes on each track, among which especially the multi-layered epic "Ballad of K69996 Roma", the glorious Exuma cover "Dambala" and "Come Back When There's Nothing Left" with Nick's transatlantic buddy Toby Driver as guest vocalist stand out.
    
    
    
    
    
    Speaking of Driver: His band Kayo Dot has also released a fantastic new album. "Moss Grew On The Swords And Plowshares Alike" was recorded by the line-up of the predeccessing group Maudlin Of The Well and is a sentimental throwback both within his autarkic musical cosmos and the bigger picture of the genre. Yet of course it's still as unparalleled and  forward-thinking as any piece of avant-garde gothic death ambient black etcetera metal could ever wish to be. 
    
    
    
    
    
    
14. MONG TONG 夢東 - 台灣謎景 Music from Taiwan Mystery
    
    
    
    One of the most enigmatic albums of this year weaves Taiwanese folk and field recordings together with ambient drones and noises, experimental electronic music and a pinch of psychedelic rock. The interplay of modernism, tradition and anachronism which builds the mosaic of "Music from Taiwan Mystery" is utterly fascinating. A strange story, which I don't even come close to deciphering, yet it still transfixes me from beginning to end.
    
    
    
    
    
    Mong Tong have released a second album in 2021, but since my physical copy hasn't arrived yet, I'm using this space to highlight another outstanding WV Sorcerer release: "Míng Míng" by Otay:onii (aka Lane Otayonii, singer of the shoegaze band Elizabeth Colour Wheel) is an impressive and thrilling artistic statement between Björk and Dead Can Dance, brutal electro noise and Chinese tradition.
    
    
    
    
    
    
15. LANA DEL REY - Chemtrails Over The Country Club
    
    
    
    Yes, the pop music slot on this list is reserved for Lana Del Rey once again. The songwriting, instrumentation, production... all the creative decisions which had to be made and on top of everything of course the absolutely flawless vocal performance are all pretty much perfect on "Chemtrails Over the Country Club". Even the featured guests hit the nail on the head again, so I'm actually more convinced now than back in April that the organic, dreamy, nostalgic folk ballad appeal of this is once again a perfect summation of how great pop music can actally be.
    
    
    
    
    
    Even though her albums never suffer from too short playing time, Lana Del Rey had enough stuff up her sleeve to release a full second album with "Blue Banisters". It sounds more deliberately washed-out (like "Ultraviolence"), sees more daring experiments and and at the same time feels even more nostalgic than "Chemtrails", because the lyrics are more autobiographic and several of its songs had been written years ago, but didn't find the proper place to be released before.
    
    
    
    
    
    
16. BIG|BRAVE - Vital
    
    
    
    How do you break down music to its most minimalistic and brutal core while still keeping it engaging? Big|Brave are amongst those bands who have found and perfected the formula. The Canadian drone rock trio smashes you with guitar noises which can only just be called riffs at all, demonstrating an ever-growing mastership in the application of pauses and sounds - and still finding room for subtleties in this confined space. Robin Wattie multiplies the impact of "Vital" with a devastatingly emotional, raw vocal performance and heavy personal lyrics.
    
    
    
    
    
    Big|Brave also released a collaborative record with The Body this year, and surprisingly it's not the complete eardrum obliteration one could expect from this constellation. Instead "Leaving None But Small Birds" is their very intense and sincere take on English / American folk and country traditionals. In my mind this album completes a triumvirate, whose other parts are the ranks 3 (Lingua Ignotas) and 6 (Emma Ruth Rundle) of this list.
    
    
    
    
    
    
17. NAOKO SAKATA - Dancing Spirits
    
    
    
    Ok, technically speaking, especially in a world which unvoluntarily questions the parameters defining a live show,  you could also count Naoko Sakata's "Dancing Spirits" as a live album, since it's just the Japanese pianist purely improvising seven pieces, recorded inside a church in Gothenburg. The profound moods, ideas and virtuosity flowing out of her fingertips into swirling, rousing, moving pictures beyond the parting lines between contemporary classical music, jazz and whatever drives her in the moment, make this records one of the most stunning  experiences of the year. I keep discovering something new every time I immerse in it.
    
    
    
    
    
    Since I don't have anywhere else to go from "Dancing Spirits", the only link to this recommendation is the common ground of improvisation. And the Danish freeform fusion rock ecstatics Mythic Sunship are exceptionally, explosively good at it. More krautish than ever, again sporting Søren Lyhne Skov's power saxophone, "Wildfire" does its title more than justice.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
18. NADJA - Luminous Rot
    
    
    
    There's a good handful of drone albums, which would rightfully deserve to be featured here, but since I'm feeling that I've neclected metal in this whole thing a little too much, I'm just going with the most metal one. Besides Nadja's "Luminous Rot" is also actually the most magnetic monster of that bunch. A formidably crushing beast of droning sludge / drum computer industrial metal and shoegaze, which cites from basically all phases Godflesh and Jesu have ever been through and adds a strong influence of the last White Hills albums. I strongly recommend the Japanese CD version, which features a worthwhile bonus longtrack.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Ok, since we're already in the business of referencing industrial-ish greats, let's not omit the odd fact that this list is missing some Laibach, who sadly didn't get any of their recently promised studio works ready yet. Their metal countrymen Noctiferia (plus guests like Attila Csihar and David Vincent) however released an appropriately reconstructive cover album called "Reforma - Tribute To Laibach", which is pretty damn awesome.
    
    
    
    
    
    
19. KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - Butterfly 3000
    
    
    
    Does anyone still count how many albums König Muskelmagen und der Eidechse Zauberer (their name on my German version of "Schmetterling 3000") have put out at this point? Among the shapeshifting catalogue of the psych madmen from Down Under this one stands out with a very specific - and over its whole runtime very consistent - sound. Weird time signature psych rock meets sugary dream pop meets synth loop electronics. The result is dunked in almost obscene sweetness, but oh it's so fucking good! Addictive.
    
    
    
    
    
    Of course "Butterfly 3000" is not the only King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard work of 2021! "L.W." is equally as great and only doesn't get the spot in the ranking, because the successor of 2020's "K.G." is just not as completely original, being already the third full album of their microtonal explorations. It is however arguably the the most diverse and ultimately best one of that lot.
    
    
    
    
    
    
20. SULA BASSANA - CV Sessions
    
    
    
    In current times recording a bedroom album while being stuck at home isn't exactly a unique selling point. Luckily Dave Schmidt's "CV Sessions" - even though they reflect the zeitgeist with a lot of ominous and brooding atmospheres - can confidently stand on their own without the context of the outer circumstances. The golden thread of this double album of elektrokraut jams is the use of modular synthesizer loops - which are connected via CV cables. The result is much more varied than the concept suggests and even in its darker moods developes soothing hypnotic qualities.
    
    
    
    
    
    One double album is something, two double albums in one year are certainly something more. "Loop Station Drones" is the spiritual sister of "CV Sessions" with a similar idea, but the subtle difference that these improvisations are based on effect loops. The quality of both is pretty much on par.
    
    
    
    
    
    
21. AGUSA - En Annan Värld
    
    
    
    Once again the gorgeously extravagant psychedelic prog rock of the Swedish intrumental band Agusa just brings a big happy smile onto my face. Even though some darkness has crept into the two 20+ minutes longtracks, it's still a gloom which remains part of the big escapist fairytale, through which organ, guitar and the wonderful unmistakable flute are leading us. This music just let's me feel like a little round-eyed, big-eared child discovering everything in the world for the very first time again. And like that small boy deep down I know only one convincing explanation for what I'm experiencing here: magic!
    
    
    
    
    
    There are certainly a lot more deserving albums of both the psychedelic and the progressive kind out there, but I feel that the most exciting work to conclude this with is the gathering of Conny Ochs, Sicker Man and Kiki Bohemia under the moniker Trialogos. On their adventurous debut "Stroh Zu Gold" every single track explores a different flavour of kraut, while also wandering beyond that realm. Even though you should eat neither straw nor gold, this couldn't be more delicious!
    
    

So that's a wrap! 2021. Of course I feel bad for a bazillion albums that didn't make it, but this already too long as it is, haha. Here are the previous parts:

MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 live shows

MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 live albums

MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 non-album releases

And here's a YouTube playlist with most of all that stuff:

MONO - Pilgrimage Of The Soul / WANG WEN 惘闻 - 100,000 Whys

My favorite post rock band is dropping a new album in September!

Since I cannot for the life of me decide which group I am actually referring to with that statement, I am glad that Pelagic Records made it true for both bands at choice:

On September 17th Mono, one of the most epic and important live bands of the present - as recently proven on "Beyond The Past" - will be releasing a new double record.

On September 24th finally follows the physical release of  Wang Wen's "100,000 Whys".
The follow-up of the sensational "Invisible City" has already been around on Bandcamp since October 2020, yet I bravely withstood the temptation to immerse myself in it until a vinyl version was on the horizon.

With both groups (and this label) it's almost a no-brainer that you got to have it as a 12", since you can always expect an exceptionally beautiful packaging, which perfectly compliments the music.
So you can for sure expect me to show off my copies of both albums in a future post.

Now however let's turn one ear to Japan and the other to China and focus on what we can hear!

MONO - Pilgrimage Of The Soul (2021)

First of all a bit of advice I wish I could take to heart more consequently myself for anyone reviewing music: Just don't fucking read the promotional texts! In case of this album it could make you search for influences which - if they are even there at all - are present to a much smaller degree than suggested.
It is true that Mono are incorporating more electronic elements, but to talk of "faster tempos that are clearly influenced by disco and techno" seems like a sensationalistic exaggeration to me.

I'm not saying you shouldn't dance to the beat of "Imperfect Things", but at its core this is all still very much at home in post rock. So instead of Zement abducting you into the 90's Berlin club scene it's actually rather a closer approximation to Wang Wen's style of recent years which you can witness on "Pilgrimage Of The Soul".

Where I will definitely agree with the promo is that this album may indeed be the most dynamic and diverse the Japanese intrumentalists have ever done. Which in itself already is quite an accomplishment, when you already have over twenty years and ten albums worth of some of the most monumental escapism soundtracks under your belly.

The amazing changes between breathingly light and devastatingly heavy are all still there, just as the larger than life guitar layers and occasional glockenspiel, strings and grand pianos. The new grooves and synthetic textures which are around for maybe a quarter of the total playing time, only add to the scope and colour palette of the album's grandiosity in a fresh way.

With Mono's previous studio album "Nowhere Now Here" as well as their last two EPs having reached a level of production quality, which seems impossible to improve, just as there is no further cumulation of pure classical orchestral elements in the cards than on the latest live album, this broadening of the palette undoubtly is a logical creative decision.

And boy how it pays off! Because as much as it doesn't even seem believable at this point, the quartet may very well have outdone themselves yet again. The enormous climax and epilogue of "Innocence" or the incredibly deep, moving, hopeful and melancholic double finale of the all-trademarks-on-board epic "Hold Infinity In The Palm Of Your Hand" and the piano and strings ballad "And Eternity In An Hour" alone catapults "Pilgrimage Of The Soul" into spheres most artist will never even come close to.

Of course this won't become everyone's favorite Mono work - and it's too early for me to put it into perspective with everything else I know from them either -, but it will surely and rightfully win them new fans and cement the observation that you should always expect the pinnacle of outstanding post rock mastery from this band.

Ultimately there's not much more to say, but all the more to just feel, while Mono lead you through a larger world inside of yourself. And if you think you've already grown accustomed to their special powerful grip of your primal emotions, "Pilgrimage Of The Sould" might still - even without actual oomphoomphoomph techno - very much surprise you!

Maybe you've caught it somewhere between the lines:

If you seriously want to make my jaw drop to the floor and then nail it there for good, just record an album, which not only keeps up with Mono's "Pilgrimage Of The Soul", but which also immediately captures all my senses in an even more profound way. Enter Wang Wen!  

WANG WEN 惘闻 - 100,000 Whys (2020/2021)

Of course it isn't and shouldn't be a competition, yet while their live performances don't reach that same level of swansy, sheer sonic intensity their labelmates from Japan are often pushing into, the sound spectrum and compositonal variety of Wang Wen's music has often been a couple of steps ahead the successful Mono formula.

While the base of their sound could easily be described as post rock closely related to Mono, but with not only Chinese instead of Japanese, yet also much more prominent traditional influences in it, there is still more to them. And as tempting as it still is for me to compare the two bands, it has probably never been as appearant as on "100,000 Whys" that Wang Wen have developed a completely independent identy.

Not only is the interplay of often morriconesque guitars and keyboards, with carefully dosed, albeit still irrestistibly addictive horn, trumpet or flute melodies elevating the traditional post rock game to a league of its own, but it's also part of a larger toolset, with which Wang Wen can surprise you with exotic sounds and effects or entirely stir away into any musical direction of their choosing whenever they want.
Subtle mood changes through alterations from acoustic to artificial percussions or a much more sudden full-on electronic extravaganza? A jazzy bassline here, a venture into prog rock there? Latin sketches or ominous vocal incantations?
It's all game, yet it's never too much or distracting from the very coherent, eminently hopeful and uplifting spirit of this album.

"100,000 Whys" is definitely easier accessible than "Eight Horses" and probably also than "Sweet Home, Go!" or "Invisible City", but that doesn't mean it's any less sophisticated.
Even though the music sometimes disguises itself as pure entertainment without a double bottom of deeper aspiration, going so far as calling one track just "Shut Up And Play", it's of course always a display of fantastic compositional thought and craftsmanship, realized with everyone playing the exact right thing at the right time to make it work.

It's an album that allows you to just lean back and let yourself be flooded by its magic, but also caters to you when you're in a more proactive listening mode, ready to detect all kinds of impressive, but never show-offy (in terms of technical wankery) way.

Everything about this is just so delicately balanced. The production is once again powerful, super clean and perfectionist, but never sterile. It just all works together so incredibly well.
How good is this going to become once I hold the actual vinyl artwork in my hands?

I don't even need to love this more than I already do.

Right now for me the only imaginable possibility of Wang Wen not having delivered the post rock masterpiece of the year would be if you counted "100,000 Whys" by its digital premiere as a 2020 release. But yeah... no... I love this band way too much to do so.

MUSIC 2020: TOP 5 reissues

And here's the next installment of my look back on music in 2020! After the TOP 7 cancelled live shows, stream recommendations and favorite downloads, and my TOP 7 EPs plus TOP 6 live albums this was supposed to be the post about all the rest of categories before I get to the big one, the studio albums.

But then I saw that I had neither purchased enough singles nor splits or whatever to justify a respective list. Last category standing was my favorite cassettes. But realizing that most of those tapes would eventually be mentioned among my favorite albums anyway, I ditched that too.

So now there are only my favorite re-releases left. Good for you I guess, because it's less shit to read, right?

TOP 5 reissues 2020:

1. LAIBACH - Laibach
   
   
   
   Of course. What else did you expect here? Alongside the long awaited revisited versions of their early 1980s' Slovenian classics and a live record, which both are previously unreleased elements of it, the core of the monumental "Laibach Revisited" 5 LP box is this ultimate remaster of their 1985 debut album, which includes several bonus (and thus a total of twenty) tracks. Presented in a sound which can rival any production of the following decades, "Laibach" remains an industrial music essential and a feral, demonic, historic, yet still burning relevant experience.
   Yet since this remaster is exclusively available in this quite pricy package, anyone who's only interested in the debut might rightfully consider sticking to the thirteen tracks of the last re-release from 1999 though.
   
   
   
   
2. WINTER - Into Darkness / Eternal Frost
   
   
   
   With its weird yet certainly somehow effective production choices and a bleakness unknown to metal at the time of its first release in 1990, Winter's "Into Darkness" has become a cult classic especially among fans of mean doom death ever since. Even though I think there would have been enough space for lyrics in the booklet, Svart Records' two LP release, which also contains the "Eternal Frost" demo, does this cold, harsh and slooow masterpiece justice. Definitely one of the metal albums I listened to the most this year.
   
   
   
   
3. THE MOUNT FUJI DOOMJAZZ CORPORATION - Succubus
   
   
   
   Denovali Records has done a whole series of reissues (and will probably continue to do so in 2021) of the Dutch doomjazz collective The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble and its darker, more improvisational alter ego The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation. Six double albums so far, yet I must admit I haven't listened to them all yet, as the two latest ones ("Here Be Dragons" and "Anthropomorphic") are due to delivery in January. Since these coloured vinyl variants all look and sound great so far, I'm just leaving it at my recent personal favorite from each alias in this list.
   Clearly my number one among those is "Succubus". With its dark seductive trombones and guitars is the ultimate soundtrack to a film noire in slow motion. If you ever get asked what doomjazz is, this work from 2009 might be one of the best possible answers.
   
   
   
4. THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE - I Foresee The Dark Ahead, If I Stay
   
   
   
   Technically not a "real" album, but rather a compilation of previous work plus some unreleased extras "I Foresee The Dark Ahead, If I Stay" is a surprisingly cohesive listening experience while showcasing the full stylistic spectrum of the Ensemble. Between light swing and elegiac winds of doom, from electronic ambient to Jason Köhnen's heavily distorted bass this is a potentially worthwhile release for anyone with interest in smooth jazz fusion, neoclassical music, post and psychedelic rock and droning experimentalism.
   
   
   
5. WANG WEN - 0.7
   
   
   

   My favorite Chinese post rock band has put out a new album this year, which I have admittedly only given little attention so far, because it hasn't been released in physical form yet. And Wang Wen always have these beautiful vinyl packages! Just look at this new edition of "0.7", originally released in 2012, with its gorgeous art booklet - and above all listen to how the fantastic compositions of this amazing album combine epic post rock with strings, prog, jazz and many other elements! I just love this group.