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This Week’s Album Rundown

November 14, 2012 by A.S. Van Dorston

There are a ton of new interesting releases this week, at least thirteen worth noting. At a time of year that’s normally focused on greatest hits and boxed set compilations for the holidaze, some major releases have come out that are in danger of being overlooked on some year-end lists, as major magazines often have the lists nailed down by this time of the month. On the other hand, it won’t really affect the music covered here, as it’s mostly ignored by mainstream publications.

At the top of this week’s heap are the debut album from Golden Void and the fourth album from Wo Fat, The Black Code. Follow the links for the feature reviews.

Vinyl Williams, Lemniscate (Salonislam/No Pain in Pop)
Like the grotesquely surreal art of Lemniscate’s album cover, 22 year-old Lionel Williams’ music subverts conventional beauty by distorting it into something strange, yet still alluring. The grandson of conductor/composer John Williams, Vinyl’s art pop is unsurprisingly cinematic in its own gauzy way. But the constant flow of sonic twists, kaleidoscopic musical ideas and imagery is more inspiring than similar stuff that dabbles with ambience and threatens to blend with the wallpaper. There is plenty of opportunity for growth, but this debut shows a lot of promise in this young artist.

Clinic, Free Reign (Domino)
It’s been easy to take Clinic for granted, as they’ve essentially failed to match the excitement of their early EPs and debut album, Internal Wrangler (Domino, 2000) over the course of five albums in the following decade.  Beyond those who eat up every album of garage psych and Krautrock rhythms much like fans of Stereolab, more people might be interested in Free Reign for its sleeker approach that resembles the more hypnotic early electronica of Harmonia, making for more enjoyable repeated listens along the lines of Stereolab’s rejuvenated sound on Chemical Chords (2008). Highlights include the hypnotic “Miss You” and “You.”

Oneida, A List of the Burning Mountains (Jagjaguwar)
Since debuting in 1997, Oneida has become one of the most prolific bands dealing in garage punk/psych, Krautrock and avant rock. Between 2008 and 2011 they released a trilogy called Thank Your Parents where the middle segment, Rated O (2009) was itself a triple album! Their 12th or 13th album, A List of the Burning Mountains continues their long-winded trend with two tracks nearing 20 minutes each. The band is without a doubt ambitious in that each album generally takes a radical musical detour, rarely repeating themselves. One of the few discerning connections that make them recognizable as Oneida is the propulsive drumming of Kid Millions. The two tracks here cover plenty of territory ranging from doom-like drones to free jazz fusions. It’s enough to keep longtime fans involved, but newbies may want to start with Each One Teach One (2002) as a good representation of their stylistic range, then dig into Rated O and this one if they crave more.

Eternal Tapestry, A World Out Of Time (Thrill Jockey)
Eternal Tapestry were formed in Portland in 2006 when Nick Bindeman (Jackie-O Motherfucker) and Dewey Mahood (Plankton Wat), came together with a mutual appreciation of motorik Kosmische rockers Neu! and jazz fusion guitarist Sonny Sharrock. Nick’s brother Jed joined to complete the trio. Including last year’s collaboration with Sun Araw on Night Gallery, this is their seventh album of freewheeling psychedelic jams. That’s an intimidating amount of music, and the new one is as good as a point as any to dip in. The sound is fairly raw, and at times seems live, the jangly guitar sounds almost like early outtakes of The Velvet Underground at their most experimental or an impromptu Amon Düül style hootenany. This album is supposedly more focused than their albums, but compared to Dawn in 2 Dimensions from earlier this year and Beyond the 4th Door (2011), I can’t really tell much difference. I’m pretty sure though that repeated listens will open up all sorts of new insights, such as the bizarre copping of the melody from The Isley Brothers’ “Summer Breeze” on “Apocalypse Troll.”

Bell Witch, Longing (Profound Lore)
Dylan Desmond is on quite a roll, having already released the highly regarded Reverence To Stone earlier this year with Samothrace. Bell Witch is just him on bass and Adrian Guerra on drums, trading off between profoundly forlorn vocals and gutteral gargles. The sum is more impressive than the parts suggest if you’re inclined to enjoy glacier-paced funereal doom metal that occupies similar emotional scorched earth wasteland as 40 Watt Sun and Pallbearer. Those patient enough to navigate the 67 plus minutes of depressiveness will be rewarded with some small innovative touches of psychedelia and a sample of Vincent Price from 1964’s “The Masque of the Red Death.”

Soundgarden, King Animal (Universal Republic)
News of Soundgarden’s impending reunion album as been a long time coming since they first reunited for some shows over a couple years ago. I’ve had mixed feelings about this, even though I’ve been a fan of the band. Their work has always been pretty inconsistent, with the wildly popular Superunknown (1994) representing to me a distinct decline in quality from their peak of Badmotorfinger (1991). On the other hand, I felt Down On The Upside (1996) was a bit underrated, and they had more good music left in them. King Animal pretty much picks up where they left off, sounding like it could have easily come out in 1998 as if the band never broke up. The question is whether sounding like it’s 1998 is an appealing prospect or not. Their sound hasn’t evolved that much, and frankly if they’re going to go for a don’t-fix-what-ain’t-broken model, I’d have preferred they revisited their heavy, psychedelic peak form of 1991. There’s some pretty boring clunkers on the album which don’t measure up to the quality of their last album. On the other hand, “Been Away Too Long” is pretty good, Chris Cornell is sounding (and looking) better than he has in years, and Kim Thayill is still a fucking badass. As long as they trim the duds from the live show, I’ll totally be there.

Deftones, Koi No Yokan (Reprise)
Perhaps it’s because I associated the Deftones with the rancid turn-of-the century trend of nu-metal, or “spice metal,” I could never get into them. I recognized that some people with good taste rated them, and I listened to all their albums repeatedly to try to get a handle on their appeal. My problem with their brand of alt-metal is not that they took their influences from Rage Against The Machine, Tool and Faith No More, all bands I like well enough. But despite their thoroughly muscular, respectable musicianship, Deftones seemed to focus on the most tediously boring, tuneless aspects of those bands. Some say the new album is their best, surpassing Diamond Eyes (2010) and White Pony (2000). I couldn’t tell you, as I don’t like those albums either. It’s taken me several attempts to get through it, because I just get sick of it. That’s okay, they don’t need my help. Sales are projected to be around 65,000 the first week, which will likely make it the #1 album on Billboard next week unless Soundgarden steals it. More power to them and their devoted fans.

I was vaguely aware that Guided By Voices have reunited, and it’s taken their third album this year alone to grab my attention. The Bears For Lunch (GVB) is pretty decent, as usual it could stand to have some filler trimmed. I imagine the best songs cherry picked from the three albums could result in a really great album. I haven’t exactly been craving new Guided By Voices but if the urge strikes, I’ll know what to do. Crystal Castles released some pretty fun lo-res electronica on their first two albums in 2008 and 2010. The latest installment, (III) sees them running low on gas and ideas. It’s not exactly bad, but recommended for fans only. Bush Tetras were a vital part of the New York post-punk scene, releasing their first 7″ on 99 Records in 1980 and playing alongside peers like Liquid Liquid and ESG. Happy is only their second album, and was recorded with Don Fleming back in 1998 and was never released until today. It’s more of interest to hardcore fans and genre scholars. Everyone else should check out their compilation Boom In The Night.

Along with the brilliant new Graveyard album, there were some other notable releases last week worth mentioning.

Owl, First Album (Magick Hermit/Lummox)
Another extremely promising debut from a Bay Area (Oakland) band, Owl consists of three brothers (Clint on drums, Alex vocals, and guitar prodigy Axell who was supposedly only 13 when they first formed in 2009) and bassist Melanie Burkett of Dalton. Their impressive 2010 demo laid out their M.O. right from the start, heavy rock and metal with roots in NWOBHM and 70s proto-metal with some raggedy bits of thrash and prog tossed in. The epic “Glaurung” stretches out to 12:28 on the demo, and is trimmed to 10:29 on the album, with the awesome 13:57 “Thunder In The Sea” taking the spot as the longest jam at the album’s close.  I hear Di’Anno-era Iron Maiden in the vocals, and just piles of killer leads, riffs and solos.   Remember when great guitar playing was unfashionable in the 90s? Turns out one of the future greats was just bein’ born!

Groan, The Divine Right Of Kings (Soulseller)
This UK rock ‘n’ doom band sound like they’re having a blast with their second full length. Just like the gaudy, colorful album art, the music is cartoonish fun, along the lines of Glitter Wizard. We need more bands like this. While “Magic Man,” “Gods Of Fire” and “Let’s All Have a Pint at The Crooked Cock” are good for some laughs, poking fun at themselves and their favorite genre in Spinal Tap fashion, that doesn’t mean the music is throwaway. They take their craft seriously, with the meticulously arranged “Atomic Prophets” and “How Black Was Our Sabbath” sounding like a worthy Master Of Reality outtake despite the jokey title.

Fontanelle’s Vitamin F (Southern Lord) features some great post-rock, jazz fusion and prog influenced heavily by Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. On Widowmaker’s Dragged Into Sunlight (Prosthetic) the mask-wearing Brits take on blackened death doom in a gleefully baleful manner. German electronica singer-songwriter B. Fleischmann came out with I’m Not Ready for the Grave Yet (Morr), his most engaging collection of songs since Welcome Tourist (Morr, 2003). Italy’s metalcore The Secret released Agnus Dei, their followup to the acclaimed Solve et Coagula (2010). While it sounds even more savagely angry, the songs don’t quite grab me like the predecessor. Post-rock and electronica seem to merge into a very similar feel if not sound on the albums by Emeralds, Just to Feel Anything (Mego) and Errors, New Relics (Rock Action). Emeralds came out on top as more engaging. Savannah, Georgia’s The Casket Girls have their own take on post-goth pop on Sleepwalking (Graveface). What would normally be middle of the road dream pop is made slightly more interesting with creepily intruiging lyrics like  “I’ve got a secret / I won’t tell / I’ll take it to the grave / I’m a casket girl.” Yikes! Cut Hands released their followup to the acclaimed Afro Noise, Vols. 1 & 2 with Black Mamba. To be honest, one album of Afro rhythms and industrial noise was really enough. Maybe if William Bennett learned how to write songs it would hold more interest.

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