KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - Chunky Shrapnel (live)

Klar! Natürlich haben King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard dieses Jahr schon ein paar Alben veröffentlicht. Ich hänge nur etwas hinterher. Aber wer tut das nicht?

Gerade gestern haben die bekloppten Australier nach dem Vorbild des komplett verschenkten "Polygondwanaland" das Material für satte acht (!) Alben (einige Livekonzerte, sowie früheste Aufnahmen der Band und Demos) für Bootlegger bereitgestellt.

Bereits früher im Jahr veröffentlichte man mit "Chunky Shrapnel", dem Soundtrack zum gleichnamigen, für ein paar Tage gestreamten Konzertfilm ein offizielles Livealbum.

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - Chunky Shrapnel (live) (gold vinyl 2LP) (2020)

Die Kernbotschaft, welche dieses Doppelalbum vermittelt, ist sonnenklar: Stu Mackenzie und seine Jungs sind verrückte Hunde Dingos.

Während einer Show können King Gizzard dich von santanaesk jazzigem Psychrock über Garagennoiserock zu Thrashmetal, arabisch mikrotonalem Prog bis zu Eastern-meets-Western-Eskapaden peitschen, ohne dass Du irgendwo einen logischen Bruch empfinden würdest. Geinsam ist allem was sie tun die ungestüm nach vorne treibende Energie in Verbindung mit beinahe naiv jungenhafter Freude an der Sache.

So ein Gizzard-Konzert ist ein wilder, dich auspowernder, aber glücklich machender Ritt.

Und somit ist das einzige, was "Chunky Shrapnel" daran hindert, zu den Spitzen-Livealben des Jahres gezählt zu werden, eigentlich nur, dass es eben kein komplettes Konzert am Stück abbildet, sondern sich als Soundtrack zum auf der gesamten letzten Europatour gedrehten Film aus verschiedenen Quellen speist.
Dazu enthält die Tracklist auch ein paar neue, im Zusammenhang mit der Dokumentation sicherlich als Zwischenspiele mehr Sinn ergebende Studiotracks, die aus dem Album so ein bisschen den Fluss herausnehmen. Auch die auf Seite D zusammengeflickte "Brief History Of Planet Earth" entwickelt ohne bewegte Bilder schon ein paar Längen.

Also, nicht dass mich jemand falsch versteht: Was die band hier auch anpackt, ist für sich alles königlich fetzender Psychscheiß. Irgendwie wirkt es als Album aber ein bisschen fragmentarisch.

Ein Mangel, den die kommenden, in 10.000 Varianten zu erwartenden Bootleg-Aufnahmen sicher aufheben können, befinden sich darunter doch die vollständigen Versionen einiger der auf "Chunky Shrapnel" zitierten Shows.

Trotzdem ist die unterm Strich schon eine geile Veröffentlichung, die mit viel gold im Spiel auch nett anzuschauen ist.

IDRIS ACKAMOOR & THE PYRAMIDS - Shaman!

Neben dem neuen Studioalbum des Sun Ra Arekstras hat das Strut-Label uns dieses Jahr noch ein weiteres ganz riesiges Jazzhighlight spendiert.

Schon wenn man das in Tradition von Miles' "Bitches Brew" oder Herbies "Sextant" zu stehen scheinende Coverartwork sieht, ahnt (und hofft) man, dass Bruce Baker aka Idris Ackamoor und seine Pyramids hier einen möglichen Klassiker der Zukunft in die magische Rille beschworen haben.

IDRIS ACKAMOOR & THE PYRAMIDS - Shaman! (2LP) (2020)

Angeführt vom eindeutigen Chef im Ring an Saxophon, lead vocals, spoken words und der sonst heutzutage auch im Kreis von Kamasi Washington im Jazzkontext gesehenen Keytar, spielt sich Ackamoors arschtightes Ensemble (Geige, Flöten, Gitarre, Bass, Congas und Schlagzeug) auf diesem Doppelalbum eigentlich durch zwei Arten von Stücken, deren Ausrichtung sich vor allem nach der Wahl des Basses (Kontrabass oder elektrisch) und den daraus resultierenden Grooves zu richten scheint.

Allen gemeinsam ist der Hang zur weltmusikalischen Rhythmik zwischen Latin und Afro-Beat und die u.a. natürlich an Sun Ra oder auch Alice Coltrane erinnernden Ägyptizismen, welche in den Kontrabass-Tracks eher im schaukelnden Jazzkarawanentakt des Arkestras durch die Wüste schwimmen, während die E-Bass-Songs vor Funk - und teilweise auch Soul - regelrecht explodieren.

Allein der Opener/Titeltrack "Shaman!" brennt ein reinigendes Feuer ab, dessen Glut noch weiter lodert, wenn die acht folgenden acht Stücke schon längst verklungen sind.

Der größte "Hit" unter jenen dürfte das eindringliche, so treffend Ängste unserer Zeit aufgreifende "When Will I See You Again?" sein. Doch auch im überwiegend eher instrumental orientierten Rest des Albums sind beim bösesten Willen keine Schwachpunkte zu finden.

Die Produktion des Ganzen ist vielleicht teilweise schon fast zu perfekt, aber klar, was großartig gespielt ist, darf natürlich auch so klingen.

Ob inspiriert von südafrikanischen Erzählungen, dem letzten nach Amerika aufbrechenden Sklavenschiff, modernem Terror oder dem 2018 verstorbenen Jazzpianisten Cecil Taylor - thematisch ist "Shaman!" durchweg schwer fundiert, dreht es sich doch vor allem um Verlust und Tod.

Dennoch schaffen Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids es ganz unaufgesetzt, dass das Album vor Hoffnung und positiver Fusionsenergie sprudelt.

Und genau das ist wohl die Magie, die Werke wie dieses gerade heute so wichtig und wertvoll machen. 

MOLASSESS - Through The Hollow

Is it just me being out of touch or is there really not nearly enough hype surrounding the debut album of Molassess? (Now with one S more in the name.) 

Maybe it's too occult for parts of the krautrock crowd, yet still too psych for many metal fans?

Maybe it's just the involuntary lack of promotion through live shows?

I mean, with the involvement of Farida Lemouchi this band is by far the closest and most rightful heir to the legacy of The Devil's Blood.

MOLASSESS - Through The Hollow (purple and red mixed vinyl 2LP) (2020)

Originally commissioned on initiative of Walter Houijmakers for an exclusive Roadburn Festival performance, this project soon became much more and gave an intriguing glimpse of its ambitions on the first EP "Mourning Haze / Drops Of Sunlight".

"Through The Hollow" now successfully builds on the promise of that release with nine tracks of magnetic, hypnotic and psychedelic hard rock, which doesn't hide that it sets off where the last recordings of The Devil's Blood and even more so Selim Lemouchi & His Enemies left.
The guitar chord sounds, the layered leads biting themselves in the tail, the unmistakable midtempo grooves, it's all there.

And it's not just the pure stylistic influence. With "The Devil Lives" Molassess actually found themselves in a confident enough place to take an unfinished song from Fardida's late brother and bring it into glorious  fruition.

Speaking of Farida: It's crystal clear that despite all its fantastic instrumental performances, this album stands and falls with her unique charismatic voice. And since you can feel her passion for singing in a band again at every given moment, she constantly outdoes herself at sending welcome chills down the listener's spine. This means that "Through The Hollow" neither stands or falls at all, but flies from start to finish - and beyond.

Of course there are also elements which don't scream Selim. Especially the ridiculously good lead guitars and the keyboards bring their own original flavor. 

It's close to futile to single out any highlights of this double album, because each and every song is absolutely on fire and distinct enough from the rest of the bunch to justify its existence. In the end these are just around sixty-five minutes of pure earwormy bliss by seasoned artists bringing their creative A-game.


The artwork of the gatefold sleeve (I got the exclusice Ván Records edition) surprised me by being more interesting than expected, mostly by the strange concept of printing the lyrics on circular sheets. The red/purple vinyl colour is also quite beautiful.

Conclusion: I love everything about this masterpiece. And it's a shame that it took me so lang to find the time to praise it here.

MUSIC 2020: a cyberspace odyssey - recommended streams & favorite downloads

Back in March/April I was still playing with the thought of ranking my favorite live streams, but for several reasons I soon gave up on that. Even though I've seen some great live stream performances, it is just not the same as being there in the flesh, and the formats and possibilities in which artists do them are just as different and unfair to compare as my personal attention span while watching stuff happening on the screen.

Some bands are low-fi broadcasting from their rehearsal rooms or just doing unplugged sessions from their kitchen, others have high quality production values with multiple cameras and shit, others just have one angle, while they are playing in empty concert venues.

Many live streams aren't really live, but prepared recordings. Which is all fine, but just makes it impossible to put them in a list. And then I also happened to stumble over some good stuff, which I couldn't include, because I don't remember the artist's name...

So here's just a couple of recommendations of streams, which are still available online right now!

And while we're already here in the internet, below that this post also contains my TOP 10 downloads, as in: music releases of all shapes and sizes, which where mainly or even exclusively available in digital form.

ORANSSI PAZUZU performs "Mestarin Kynsi"

One of the best live bands in metal right now playing one of the best metal albums of the year in full. Consequently all that could go wrong in this stream was the production, but hell no: Sound, direction, effects and camera work (all shifting a little from track to track) are almost ridiculously awesome, matching the flawless performance of the Finnish psychedelic black metal masters. What a maelstrom!

ELECTRIC MOON live at Vortex Surfer Musikclub Siegen

This was one of those live streams where the band just plays on the stage of an empty live club with a couple of cameras filming. This concept often feels sad, especially when the musicians are used to rock in energetic exchange with huge crowds.
Luckily jam-based krautrock like Electric Moon is among those styles of music which lend themselves to session situations with just the performers on their own anyway. With a special four-piece lineup due to pandemic seperation from their regular drummer, half of the band had never actually played together before, which gives this show an extra boost of adventurous exploration.

VILE CREATURE performs "Glory! Glory! Apathy Took Helm!" 

This duo (with guest musicians) is long overdue to receive some praise here, not only because their sludgy doom is the shit, but also because they don't take themselves too serious in a refreshing way. When this full performance of their recent album went live, you could enjoy it as a full music club simulation by choosing between multiple camera angles. Those included a balcony view, the merch booth, backstage (cuddling with cats) and most hilariously "tall guy in front of you", which basically meant there was one guy filming the band from the empty floor and another dude standing behind him to film his back for the whole show. Apart from some canned applause the still available master cut doesn't include all those shenanigans, but it's still one of my favorite streams I've seen this year.

CENTRE EL MUUSA - sunrise concert in Aidu windmill park

So far I haven't seen any band taking social distancing further than Estonian krautrockers Centre El Muusa on this recently released live video, which shows them jamming it out from darkness to dawn in the giant scenery of a wind energy park. Cut with drone views of the environment this video is pretty breathtaking, which makes it easy for me to forgive that some passages of the music are - while not bad at all - a bit too one-dimensional for my taste.

AMANDA PALMER live in Hawke's Bay, Aotearoa NZ

Not as thematically heavy as her ginormous "There Will Be No Intermission" programme, this show found Amanda Palmer in a different place. Quite literally indeed, since after being stranded there during lockdown, she spend most of the year in New Zealand, which is probably one of the safest places to be during pandemic times. So this stream from an opera house in November actually features a real, even maskless audience. And of course this a brilliant, heartfelt and humorous tearjerker. To say it with one of her finest songs: It's a ride.

Chaos Theory livestream music show feat. ÅRABROT, JO QUAIL and COMA WALL

You want it even more talkative between songs than Amanda Palmer? Well, this stream was basically an interview show with three groups / artists and prepared clips of special acoustic quarantine performances.
If you don't have two hours of time on your hands you can skip over all the other stuff though and just enjoy the music, which is quite a left-field, but above all extremely beautiful and cohesive gathering. Be it Årabrot with their dramatic post punk gothic country charme, cellist Jo Quail going fully classical, yet remaining as exciting as ever, or the enchanting vocal harmonies in the doomy grunge of the revived Coma Wall (aka the acoustic side of Undersmile) - this is all amazing stuff reminding me of why I fucking love music. 

ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF - "All Thoughts Fly" release concert in Örgryte New Church

"All Thoughts Fly" is a special, magical album and seeing it played live in the church and on the pipe organ of its recording adds another dimension to it. It's quite interesting to realize how much this is actually a band performance, even though everyone's just playing (or processing the sounds of) that one huge instrument. Of all streams here (except the following of course) I have watched this one by far the most. Despite two of the three cameras showing almost no perceptible action. Mighty!

DRUTURUM - "Druturum VI: Tightrope Walkers on the Junction of Memory, Dream and Oblivion"

Yes! Despite all obstacles of this year DruturuM is finally releasing a new live session on December 26th.
Of course I'm going write a post entirely devoted to this one later, but forgive me that I also have to plug it here! If you like Anna von Hausswolff, Earth, psychedelic rock and doomjazz, but performed in a very stripped-down fashion, including the use of toy instruments and a pinch of dilettantism mixed with great emotions, we've got you covered. Definitely our most calm and introspective work so far and we're quite proud of it. (Watch a trailer HERE!)

TOP 10 DOWNLOADS:

1. TOBY DRIVER & NICK HUDSON - Black Feather Under Your Tongue
   
   
   

   An early favorite from the distant "before times" (=February) this collection of  four avant-garde duet improvisations by Toby Driver (Kayo Dot) and Nick Hudson (The Academy Of Sun) is a true testament to the musical chemistry of these musicians and never ceased  to mesmerize me as a calming yet still stirring companion through all the troubled times this year had to offer. Piano, guitar and vocals formed to a piece of art that has a good place on Bandcamp, but would rightfully deserve to be pressed on vinyl by a label like Denovali or RareNoiseRecords.  
   
   
   
   
2. ZOZOBURN: OLD MAN GLOOM + ZOZOBRA live at Fiesta Roadburn



Always such a shame what phenomenal shows you miss at every Roadburn! This 2019 live recording from the mighty Old Man Gloom and their alter ego Zozobra is absolutely killing it, as the hardcore/sludge/doom apes Aaron Turner, Nate Newton, Stephen Brodsky and Santos Montano were totally levelling the 013 venue to the ground. Brutal and punishing, but also quite versatile and just plain fucking fun, this makes being screamed and punched in the face an addictive joy.     



3. ARCHIVE - 25 Live
   
   
   

   I must admit that I haven't really felt a great interest in the physical releases of Archive's 25th anniversary year yet. Which probably is a little ungrateful from my side, given that the band gave us this free download for a couple of weeks in February/March. It's a high-quality compilation of a whopping twenty live recordings, including several long epics like "Lights", "Again", Controlling Crowds" and "Dangervisit". Enormous!
   
   
   
4. THE YAZZ AHMED QUINTET - When We Were Live
   
   
   
   The "high priestess of psychedelic Arabic Jazz", composer / trumpet and horn player Yazz Ahmed released a couple of Bandcamp Friday things, among which this live recording from the summer of 2018, including tunes from "La Saboteuse" and "Polyhymnia" is my clear favorite. One of the most important contemporary jazz fusion artists killing it with a phenomenal quintet. What more do I have to say?
   
   
   
5. DOOLHOF - Doolhof
   
   

   

   Yet another Roadburn live album, probably the hardest release to listen to on this list - and without a doubt the one with the laziest cover artwork. After this experimental electronic ambient and drone plus vocal weirdness trio of Dennis Tyfus, Will Brooks (Dälek) and once again Aaron Turner (Sumac, Old Man Gloom) had cleared the audience at Roadburn 2019, I knew that I wanted to re-experience their performance as a live album. Finally here it is and it's fantastic unsettling shit! 
   
   
   
6. LINGUA IGNOTA - various tracks / The Caligula Demos

   
   

   

   Kristin Hayter was also busy unleashing several Bandcamp Friday tracks, and as always it's all emotionally hard-hitting material. From a new recording of her known Dolly Parton cover "Jolene" over her deconstructions of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and Eminem's "Kim" to her own mighty "O Ruthless Great Divine Director" and the very uncomfortable experimental collage "Failed Forest // Golden Grid" - what Lingua Ignota touches is great oppressive and painful art.
   
   

   

   And of course shortly after I had written this paragraph there was the final Bandcamp Friday of 2020 and the artist not only shared one more track, but twelve of those, being "The Caligula Demos" whech led to the later album, "fragments, motifs, repetition, cuts, warts and all". Similar but also quite distinct from what it became later, this material is already extremely fascinating and mesmerizing on its own.

   
   
   
7. DARK SKY BURIAL - De Omnibus Dubitandum Est
   
   
   
   I know, I know, I don't have that new Napalm Death album yet, even though what I've heard from it so far is awesome. But speaking of awesome, ND bassist Shane Embury's experimental electronic ambient/industrial solo project Dark Sky Burial more than makes up for this shortage in my collection with a debut album overflowing with creative eclecticism. Definitely among the most fitting soundtracks to the overall mood of this year.
   
   
   
8. EMMA RUTH RUNDLE - Staying Power
   
   
   

   The only reason this is not higher up in this list is the lack of quantity, as "Staying Power" is just one single song with a regular four minutes length. But boy, what a song it is!
   Well, it is a previously unreleased track from the "On Dark Horses" sessions, and just like everything on that album Emma Ruth Rundle's performance on voice and guitar is deeply moving, strong and vulnerable in her unique beautiful way.
   
   
   
   
9. NITELIGHT - Nitelight plays: Death's Symbolic / Zombie Ritual
   
   

   

   Yeah, what this Italian duo does is pretty much on the nose and it sounds exactly like the best imaginable version of what the cover artwork promises. Chuck Schuldiner goes instrumental synthwave, as Nitelight cover the whole "Symbolic" album and in translating it into a totally different musical language prove once again, just how good these compositions are.



Unsurpringly if you dig this you also can't possibly say no to the single Helloween bonus track "Zombie Ritual", which sees the "Scream Bloody Gore" Death classic get the same irresistable Carpenter Brut style danceable makeover.




10. ESOCTRILIHUM - F'htansg
    
    
    
    Speaking of Helloweeen, that was also the occasion for French avant-garde black metal working animal Asthâghul aka Esoctrilihum to drop this three-track EP.
    And just like on his full albums so much is happening during the (in this case) twenty minutes that you're tricked into thinking the actual playing time is much longer. I called this the "Altars Of Madness" effect - which is also a good stylistic reference, especially for the final track "Lugalugkuh". All in all "F`htansg" is a great nice little demonic black/death inferno and probably a good entry point into the cosmos of this project. 
    
    
    

regarding TAU CROSS

I've already written a little something about it quite a while ago, but since my Tau Cross reviews keep getting clicks, I think it's time for a little update of how I feel about the band with Rob Miller being lost to conspiracy nutjobism.

First of all: I have double standards for these kind of things.
Judging the art by the flaws of its creators is not always a simple task with universally valid rules.

We probably all have those double standards. For example everyone knows that Miles Davis or James Brown were pretty shitty persons, but it doesn't really affect the relevance of their musical legacy.
Gary Glitter however has been completely canceled, which is not only the right thing to do, but also easy, because in his case the art just isn't that relevant.

So were do I stand with Tau Cross now?

I still think the name should be history and I still like to think that Miller's descend is a rather recent thing, so I can still enjoy the memories of two great shows of this band.

I still enjoy the music of the first two albums when a song pops up during shuffle play, but do I actively seek them out to listen to them? So far not. In fact I just sold my vinyl copies on Discogs.

The limited Roadburn 2016 poster, as great as it looks, was not something to look at daily anymore, so I replaced it with another Costin Chioreanu artwork for Grave Miasma with a similar colour palette.


Yeah, so that's it.

Still got that poster, if anyone's interested. It has been rolled up and is now folded, so it needs to be straightened, but overall it's in a decent condition.

KARKARA - Nowhere Land

Karkara's debut album "Crystal Gazer" had been one of my favorite psych releases of 2019, and I still feel a little bad not having bought it in any physical format yet.

But the French trio obviously didn't wait for me to catch up and already followed it up with their second work. This time I ordered a copy, in one of three limited cassette spices.

KARKARA - Nowhere Land (pumpkin orange cassette) (2020)

One thing's for sure: If you enjoyed the first album you most likely won't hate this one. Indeed most points in my description of Karkara's style still stand, as the main formula remains the mixture of fuzzy psychedelic rock with Arabic elements.

Especially in faster tempo this often (more often than on "Crystal Gazer") makes them sound like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard with straighter beats.

The combination of ferocity (this shit is raw!) and space still very much reminds me of Libido Fuzz, but even more of their other countrymen Slift's masterpiece "Ummon". I also still feel some connenctions to the sound of Bone Man, mostly during the grungy mid-tempo of the final track "Witch".

All in all "Nowhere Land" strays into fewer directions than its predecessor and seems a little more focussed in comparison. Which makes it less adventurous on first listen, but lets it grow into a just as pleasant banger. 

No, there's no rocket science to unpack on this album. It's just a dirty, crunchy, ass-kicking Fuzzkraut Morgana.

The tape edition features a nice alternative artwork and looks beautiful as long as you don't try to read the credits, which might evoke headaches, since the font really is ridiculously small.

Other than that though everything is perfectly fine. Karkara has nailed it again! 

LINGUA IGNOTA - The Caligula Demos

Gestern war wieder einer dieser körperlich und seelisch zermürbenden Scheißtage, von denen es in den letzten Wochen schon zu viele gab, die ich aber in absehbarer Zukunft nicht weniger werden sehe. Ich erlebe gerade einen Scheißdreck, den ich mir vorher nur in schlechtem Fernsehen hätte vorstellen können.

Von daher war der gestrige Bandcamp-Freitag diesmal wirklich nur eine Randnotiz, mit der ich mich gar nicht weiter auseinandersetzen mochte.

Heute morgen (Zeitzonen und so) habe ich mir schließlich doch noch ein Album vorbestellt, auf welches ich jetzt gerade gar nicht so heiß bin, aber in ein paar Monaten, wenn es erscheint, hoffentlich doch wieder.

Davon abgesehen habe ich gestern Abend aber nur bei der mich emotional gerade eher abholenden Veröffentlichung von Kristin Hayter zugeschlagen:

LINGUA IGNOTA - The Caligula Demos (download) (2020)

Lingua Ignotas epochaler Exorzismus "Caligula" war ja ganz klar eines der größten Alben des Jahres 2019.

Mit den "Caligula Demos" erhalten wir nun einen Einblick in die Evolution des Albums, hören frühe, hauptsächlich aus Klavier/Keyboard und Gesang bestehende Aufnahmen der Songs, bzw. der Ideen und Fragmente, die sich dazu entwickelt haben.

Dabei muss man feststellen, dass das meiste Material der Demos (gerade wenn man die Kenntnis des Albums mal ausklammert) in all seiner Rohheit durchaus schon sehr fertig arrangiert und vollwertig wirkt. Musikalisch sind einige Teile sofort wiederzuerkennen, andere wurden melodisch und textlich später in andere Richtungen gedrängt oder scheinen ganz verworfen worden zu sein.

Gesanglich geht Hayter hier noch nicht ganz so in die unbequemen, hässlichen Übertreibungen, ihre Stimme bleibt - abgesehen von den extremen quasi-blackmetallischen Passagen - klarer und "gefälliger", was angesichts der dargebrachten exzentrisch-expressiven Theatralik natürlich relativ zu verstehen ist.

Durch die größere Reduktion auf Tasten und Stimme erinnert mich ein großer Teil der Demos noch weitaus mehr an Amanda Palmer  als es das Album tut. 

Auf jeden Fall ist dies ziemlich interessantes bis großartiges Zeug, welches sich trotz der nahen Verwandtschaft deutlich genug vom späteren Album emanzipiert, um seine Veröffentlichung zu rechtfertigen.

Mit dem Download kommen neben den zwölf Tracks auch noch eine Reihe Portraits und Stillleben aus den Fotosessions zum Artwork von "Caligula".

MUSIC 2020 - TOP 7 canceled live shows

End-of-the-year ranking season has begun, and as always I'm going to cover it in several installments. Which will probably take longer than usual, because many other pressing matters have taken priority over this hobby right now. And where at this time I used to have like 80 percent of my texts done in previous years, I barely have anything yet.

The first part however has already been sitting inside my drawer for a while. It obviously is the most 2020 one, as it is dedicated to live events which I was going to attend.

So here without further ado are my... *drumroll* ...

TOP 7 canceled live shows 2020:

1. CHELSEA WOLFE - Gruenspan, Hamburg
   
   
   Chelsea Wolfe, who was hit by the shutdown in the middle of her European solo tour in March, wins this ranking, because it's the first completely canceled show of the lot, which never even had a rescheduled date in 2021.
   
   
   
   
2. SWANS - Uebel & Gefährlich, Hamburg
   
   
   This took a couple of months longer than Chelsea to be completely canceled, since for a while there had been a new date in 2021. But now Micheal Gira has cleared his whole live schedule for the time being. Arguably this could also deserve the number one spot, since it's the only canceled show so far, where I actually already got my money back. 
   
   
   
   
3. ROADBURN FESTIVAL - Tilburg
   
   
   Of course Roadburn Festival being canceled just weeks before it should have happened, was brutal for many fans. For me personally it didn't hurt at the time, because I could have never gone there anyway due to my personal health. So the festival being postponed to 2021 gave me the chance to not miss it. Or so I believed at the time...
   
   
   
   
4. BJÖRK - Waldbühne, Berlin
   
   
   Bucket list material! Being a Björk fan for decades I finally got myself a ticket to see her perform live - even with an orchestra. The show has been moved to 2021, but at the moment I don't expect an event this big to happen at that new date yet. And if it does, do I feel safe going there?
   
   
   
   
5. LOUISE LEMÓN - Nochtwache, Hamburg
   
   
   Ok, this doesn't really belong on this list, because I didn't have a ticket for the show yet. I was 90+% determined to go there though.
   
   
   
   
6. BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE - Kampnagel, Hamburg
   
   
   On a ranking of canceled shows the doomjazz pioneers don't have a chance to win, because even though it would have probably been safer to cancel it, this was actually among the last shows still happening before the pandemic hit.
   I was hospitalzed at the time though, so I couldn't attend and gave my ticket away to my brother.
   
   
   
   
7. TWIN TEMPLE + HEXVESSEL - Bahnhof Pauli, Hamburg
   
   
   
   This show on February 1st naturally is the taillight of this list, because not only did it happen, but I was also there, making it my first and last and only concert of 2020.
   At least it was fucking good! But damn, this already feels like ten years ago.
    

SAMUTEK - Omamy

Hey, ihr ambitionierten Nachwuchsfilmregisseure im Bereich des phantasmagorischen Horrors!

Ihr träumt davon ein in Malaysia spielendes Remake von "The Blairwitch Project" mit der Ästhetik von "Mandy" zu drehen? Ihr habt Glück, denn in Polen hockt ein Klangkünstler, der euch genau dafür bereits den maßgeschneiderten Soundtrack geschustert hat!

SAMUTEK - Omamy (Tape) (2020)

Glocken, Gongs, Flöten, field recordings, Klanginstallationen. Dark Ambient und Dröhnen. Wehklagen und Geisterstimmen. Jóhann Jóhannson in sternenloser Dschungelnacht. Die Elemente im Sog des Paranormalen.

Samuteks "Omany" ist ein faszinierendes Spiel mit der Schönheit des Grauens, welches atmosphärisch dichter nicht sein könnte. Zutiefst ungemütlich und doch hypnotisch wunderbar.

Von Costin Chioreanus "The Quest For A Morning Star" über die düsterste Laibach-Ursuppe bis zur Kooperation von Senyawa und Stephen O'Malley, von Glenn Danzigs "Black Aria" zu Avantgarde und Doomjazz - dieses Album appelliert an weitaus mehr meiner musikalischen Vorlieben, als ich hier spontan aufzählen könnte.

Und die auf 100 Stück limitierte physische Version in Kassettenform macht mit schmucker Banderole und mich an Kamasi Washingtons "Harmony Of Difference" erinnerndes Miniaturbooklet mit Kunstwerken zu jedem Track auf jeden Fall auch was her.

Großartige Veröffentlichung - und garantiert komplett 2020-kompatibel.

A.A. WILLIAMS - Forever Blue

All this doesn't mean anything.

Yet at the same time it has never been of more profound importance.

What could be a general statement about the state of music and art in light of the colossally fucked year 2020, very much also applies to my personal life, which during the previous weeks (and still ongoing with absolutely unknown open end) has been shaken by an unprecedented and exhausting terror, which I would have only deemed possible in bad movies until now.  

In a time when both your intertwined work and family lifes are overflowing with stress (I lost several kilos of weight because of that) and an ever-growing mountain of work and problems beyond comprehension, it is easy to dismiss the role of music, especially since I don't even remotely find the time and peace for it like I used to. But I do find it, because I have to.
Worrying all day without distractions and at least some moments of catharsis is definitely not healthy and even when the horizon seems to overflow with work from one end to the other, you just have to stop when you are physically and mentally too drained to do it without mistakes.

In light of this I have never found rehearsing with my band (which is the duo of my brother and me) more therapeutic than now. And even in shuffling through my music collection on random I feel the vital healing power of sound in all its shapes to be something I cannot for the life of me imagine to miss.

And just like the last time a personal crisis (which continued to plague me for several months but seems dwarfish in comparison now) caused me to stay absent from writing on this blog in March, I now return with a review of a certain A.A. Williams, an artist whose output so far couldn't embody the quality of being soul-soothing more. 

A.A. WILLIAMS - Forever Blue (silver vinyl LP) (2020)

After her collaborative EP with Japanese post rock masters Mono and her first self-titled solo EP "Forever Blue" now finds the singer and multi-instrumentalist delivering a debut album which almost sounds too grown and mature to be just that. And it's hard to judge whether the artist even had to sweat much to achieve that.

I'm not implying that she doesn't work on her craft, hell no,  but boy, some people just have that natural artistic gift within them, and A.A. Williams unmistakingly sparkles with it.

This album just grabs you by the feels on all levels, the most obvious being her voice. Not only is there a very distinct calm in it as she sings about overcoming self-doubt and pain, but also an amazing steadiness and precision in her pronounciation. No matter how slow she sings, she doesn't fall into the common habit of free vocalizing to bridge syllables and words, but always stays exactly on her lyrics, which very effectivly amplifies their meaning.

But apart from those lyrics an their representation let's not forget that A.A. Williams is also responsible for the whole songwriting and arrangement of this album, which includes her playing piano, keyboards, guitars and cello - or to put it shorter: everything except bass and drums.

"Forever Blue" at its peaks is definitely a heavier release then the preceding EP and underlines that the collaboration with Mono has been no coincidence.
Because basically the formula of her music is playing singer/songwriter ballads with the tools of epic post rock. And that includes all the dynamics from ambient breathers during which you can hear a needle drop to the big heavy crescendos, most notably on the track "Fearless", which turns into a duet with the harsh screams of Johannes Persson from Cult Of Luna.

There are two more tracks featuring guest vocalists, yet in those she utilizes them in a more traditional way as smooth lower backdrops behind her own voice.

I could go into some more specifics of the eight tracks, but unfortunately I still have work to do on this Sunday night. And also: What is the point?
At the end of the day everything on this album is beautifully written, crafted with attention to every detail and pouring with emotion. It's strong, it's vulnerable, it's an album not only I, but surely many of us need right now.

If I try really hard to find something to grouse about, it would be that the vinyl version "Forever Blue", despite being only one LP, comes in one of those unnecessary gatefolds, which isn't justified by the artwork. It looks good (as does the silver vinyl), but it could also have been done with a regular slim sleeve. 

You see, I'm trying hard. This album is wonderful.

BANDCAMP DAY November 2020 mit NITELIGHT, ZOMBI und ESOCTRILIHUM

Uuuund es war schon wieder Bandcamp-Freitag! Abgesehen von einem physischen Tonträger, den ich später gesondert besprechen werde, war es für mich diesmal ganz klar ein Helloween-Special, da alle drei folgenden Veröffentlichungen zu jenem Anlass erschienen sind:

NITELIGHT - Zombie Ritual (download) (2020)

Déjà vu! Die italienischen Synthwaver Nitelight spielen schon wieder Chuck Schuldiner. Diesmal ist es allerdings kein komplettes Death-Album, das gecovert wird, sondern allein der Track "Zombie Ritual".

Das fetzt allerdings genauso großartig (und helloweenbedingt mit deutlich mehr Anleihen an Horrorfilmgespenstigkeit) wie die Neuinterpretation von "Symbolic" und gehört für mich deshalb als Bonustrack unbedingt dazu.

ZOMBI - Evans City (download) (2020)

Vom Zombieritual ist es nicht weit zum nächsten Synthwave-Duo namens Zombi, welche uns hier die teils auf dem Score zu "Night Of The Living Dead" basierende Musik für eine Live-Skriptlesung eben jenes Films präsentieren.
Im Vergleich zum metallischeren Album "2020" sind die Herren Moore und Pattera hier wieder sehr viel oldschooliger unterwegs und ganz auf bedrohlichen Synthiehorrorsoundtrack gebügelt.

Merkwürdig dicht am Puls der Zeit sind sie dennoch unterwegs, liegt "Evans City" doch genau wie Pittsburgh, die Heimat des Duos, ausgerechnet im den Sack gegen 45 dicht machenden Staat Pennsylvania. Und jene Grusellesung war eine Benefizveranstaltung für den Wahlkampf von Biden und Harris. Hui, da hat der Lasst-die-Politik-aus-der-Musik-raus-Mob ja wieder Grund zum Heulen.

Und wer geradeaus denken kann und zudem auf carpentersche Soundtrackmusik steht, der hat besseres zu tun und genießt einfach aus vollem Herzen diese sieben Instrumemtaltracks.

ESOCTRILIHUM - F'htansg (download) (2020)

Für Musiker, die sich ohnehin den ganzen Tag vollkommen alleine in ihrer kalten Gruft verkriechen, um menschenfeindlichen, Advantgardeschwarzmetall mit zehn Hirnkollapsen pro Track aus der Hölle aus jenseitigen Dämonensphären heraufzubeschwören, ist das Pandemiescheißdreckjahr 2020 vielleicht gar nicht dramatisch anders als der übliche Tag im Büro.

Fast schon wundert man sich eher, dass der Franzose Asthâghul aka Esoctrilihum nach den überwältigenden Brocken "The Telluric Ashes Of The Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods" und "Eternity Of Shaog" hier tatsächlich nur eine Drei-Track-EP von knapp über zwanzig Minuten in unsere sterblichen Gehörgänge jagt.

Doch keine Sorge, in dieser Zeit passiert auf die bekannt überfordernd überbordende Art wieder so viel, dass man tatsächlich glaubt, es mit einem sehr viel längeren Album zu tun zu haben. Der gute alte "Altars Of Madness"-Effekt halt. Tatsächlich steckt in dem super garstigen, kratzigen, rauschenden Black Metal und insbesondere im letzten Stück "Lugalugkuh" eine Menge Morbid Angel drin. Mit Keyboards könnte man wohl auch Nocturnus sagen.
Daneben blitzen natürlich zahlreiche andere Stilmerkmale auf. Besonders aus dem dauerbösen Fratzengeballer herausstechend ist der Schluss von "Sustutgrielh L'ays", bei dem das Geblaste plötzlich sphärisch schwebt wie bei Botanist.

Insgesamt ist "F'htansg" ein herrliches Inferno und vielleicht gerade für traditioneller orientierte Schwarz- und Todesbleifans ein etwas einfacherer Einstieg in den esoctrilihumschen Kosmos als die einschüchternd riesigen Alben.

FRA DET ONDE - feat. the Legendary Emil Nikolaisen

Shortly after (or in my case purchased together with) the Martin Rude & Jakob Skøtt Duo's wild melange of jazz, kraut rock, folk and electro on "The Discipline Of Assent" El Paraiso Records follows up with another session recording, which is absolutely on fire.

It's a rather short affair spinning on 45 rpm, but fuck yeah, what a jam...

FRA DET ONDE - feat. the Legendary Emil Nikolaisen (LP) (2020)

At first it seems almost unbelievable that aforementioned fire was lit surrounded by a truly Norwegian outer temperature of minus sixteen degrees Celsius.
On the other hand thinking about it a little bit longer, the need to shake off the bone-chilling cold could be a critical explanation for the relentless drive of this recording.

But don't let yourself be fooled by the powerful rawness of the drums and the thickly snarling Rickenbacker bass sound into believing that this EP has a rock music ratio even remotely comparable to the Rude / Skøtt release!

No, at it's core ninety percent of this is pure jazz! Or electric free jazz, if you want to be more specific.

And the trio of Olaf Olsen (drums), Rune Nergaard (bass) and trumpeter Erik Kimestad Pedersen plays it hard and fast and passionate, but without stepping over into hard rock territory, even though the musical backgrounds to pull that off are there. Fra Det Onde however stay very much true to the spirit of the later, "harder accessible" works of the John Coltrane Quartet and its music-historical spawn.

The production is extremely hands-on in openly affecting the music through excentric mixing choices and tickling the equipment to resound and moan. It's hard to grasp what exactly is happening here, but it is of such important that producer Emil Nikolaisen's name is in the freaking title of the EP.

The overall result at the same time exudes a traditional familiarity and an adventurous modern excitement. I can easily see myself spinning this gem back to back with the likes of Miles' "Dark Magus" oder Trane's "Meditations" without being let down in the slightest.

Or in other words: This free jazz fusion blizzard is a complete ripper!

MARTIN RUDE & JAKOB SKØTT DUO - The Discipline Of Assent

Jazzjazzjazzjazz... Ich habe immer noch das Gefühl, dass zwischen der Häufigkeit dieses Begriffs in diesem Blog und meiner tatsächlichen Fachkompetenz eine grandcanyonale Lücke klafft. Anderseits wächst meine Jazzsammlung durchaus ständig. So habe ich gerade zum Spottpreis von nicht einmal drei Euro fünfzig pro neuem(!) Tonträger ein überraschend amtlich gepresstes Vinyl-Überraschungspaket bekommen, zu dem u.a. Hammer wie Eric Dolphys "Out To Lunch", Art Blakeys "Drum Suite", Wayne Shorters "Speak No Evil" und Duke Ellingtons "Money Jungle" gehören.
Glücklicherweise waren tatsächlich nur zwei Alben dabei, welche ich bereits vorher besaß. Wäre ich YouTuber, dann hätte es sicherlich ein schlimmes Haul-Video gegeben.

Bei so viel legendärer Old-School-Beschallung muss ich glatt aufpassen, dass ich die kontemporären Neueingänge nicht vernachlässige. Zu jenen gehört ein Album aus dem Stall von El Paraiso, welches sich stilistisch wohl zu jeweils einem Drittel in Jazz, Psychedelic Rock und "sonstiges" einteilt. Eine Mischung, der ich aus diesem Hause immer schwer widerstehen kann.

Dass ich damit nicht alleine bin, bewies sich, als ich trotz Vorbestellung kein Exemplar der Erstpressung abbekommen konnte und auf die unmittelbar hinterhergeschobene Zweitpressung auf transparentem Vinyl warten musste.
Jede unterscheidet sich auch durch einen Promo-Streifen, den ich allerdings noch gar nicht genauer unter die Lupe genommen habe, weil ich es meistens vermeide, Reviews zu lesen, bevor ich meinen eigenen Senf formuliert habe.

MARTIN RUDE & JAKOB SKØTT DUO - The Discipline Of Assent (milky white vinyl LP) (2020)

"The Discipline Of Assent" basiert auf einer Session von Causa Sui-Drummer Jakob Skøtt mit Bassist/Gitarrist Martin Rude. Das spontan improvisierte Rohmaterial wurde später editiert und um einige elektronische Finessen erweitert.

Die stilistischen Schwerpunkte der neun Tracks scheinen sich dabei vor allem durch die Wahl des Saiteninstruments ergeben zu haben.

Die jazzigsten Stücke sind jene, bei denen Rude zum zumeist sehr rhythmisch gespielten Kontrabass greift. Im Grunde klingt das Duo hier oftmals beinahe wie ein ganz traditionelles Jazztrio. Da für ein solches natürlich das Leadinstrument fehlt, geben die Drums umso mehr Gas. Skøtt zollt hier ganz klar dem energetischen Spiel von Elvin Jones und den Größen aus Fusion (einschließlich der elektrischen Phase von Miles Davis) und Spiritual Jazz Tribut.
Allerdings setzt er auch mal gerade im Zusammenhang mit den später hinzugefügten Synthies beinahe breakbeathafte Akzente. Und der vierte Track "Setenta y Tres" strahlt so starke Jazz/Hip Hop-Crossover-Vibes aus, dass ich es mir tatsächlich gut mit einem darüber freestylenden Rapper vorstellen könnte.

Dem Gegenüber stehen die ebenso stark vertretenen Bariton-Gitarren-Stücke, welche eher in die ganz labeltypisch schwebende Psychedelic-Rock-Richtung gehen.

Das schon durch seine elfminütige Länge klar herausstechende Finale "Mountain Montage" bringt schließlich noch die akustische Gitarre und mit ihren einen starken Folkeinfluss (sowohl Western als auch Eastern) ins Spiel.

Dies alles passiert sehr natürlich und bewahrt sich trotz nachträglicher Optimierung seinen spontanen Charme, was die instrumentale Chemie nur noch beeindruckender erscheinen lässt.

"The Discipline Of Assent" ist ein spannendes, abwechslungsreiches, sehr kurzweiliges und mit erfrischender Leichtigkeit auf Kategorisierungen scheißendes Kleinod, welches die El Paraiso-Sektion meines Plattenregals in jeder Form enorm bereichert.
Und dafür kann man die eingangs erwähnten überlebensgroßen Klassiker auch durchaus mal auf spätere Rotation vertrösten.