week's roundup

Artist: Floor
Song: "Iron Well"
Source: Torche concert

Torche play heavy music with melody. I've discussed this before. They were here on monday and played a song I knew but couldn't place, turns out it was from the singer/rhythm guitartist's old band Floor. What stuck with me was the lyrics, specifically the phrase "let the bombs show us" which is delightfully, powerfully nihilistic and delightfully, powerfully satirical and fitting. After all what else have we been doing for the past 5 years but following the bombs, be they ours or someone elses? Thing is they didn't print lyrics on the album and a google search returns nothing so I can't say for certain what the song's about.

Few other quick notes: 1) its really odd to like a song whose lyrics are impervious to the power of google. 2) The music crushes. The songs "bombs" could also be a reference to Floor's (and Torche's) use of the "bombstring" a detuned string that doesn't really play a note, it just rumbles.

Artist: Hototogisu
Song: "ascend on blackened wings"
Source: the album with the green cover

Noise electronics over an ambient 2 chord drone. the drone gives the experience some structure, and the experience is like listening to some of the modal jazz coltrane (and others, I'm just less aware of them) did just before making the final free leap. Whats also interesting about this song and the others on this album is they start mid stream without any breaks or intros. They just plunge you in and let you splash about until you find your bearings, but typically give you something to latch on to.

Artist: the Ladies
Song: non-threatening
Source: They mean us

I spent sunday at Mayday, a very hippy event, and loved every minute of it. Still I can't help but appreciate Rob Crow quietly singing (over the gentlest use of a post-fugazi riff and a double-bass drum part I've ever heard) "I just want to say you can love whoever you want, love whatever you want. That doesn't make me a dirty hippy. Even though I was one in high school, I'm a hardcore punk rocker now." Just what I needed on tuesday night.

Artist: Skoal Kodiak
Live at a place that prefers to be not be mentioned by name in an electronic format

I'm at a loss at how to describe this. The drum and bass are driving and groovin' like a hard, mean, less sychopated funk combo. Then there's the other guy who triggers harsh but rocking miminalist loops and shouts through a heavily effected mic and plays a variety of homemade electronic noise makers, including something fashioned out of a clorox bottle.

I'm still not sure that captures the feeling, though... The music grooves in a away "noise" or "experiemental" bands rarely do. Instustrial music if you stripped away the goth overtones and they actually wanted you to dance? A lost Tom Waits/The Fall noise-disco collaboration? Check it out for yourself.

Honorable Mentions:
the Mountain Goats "Snow Owl", La Quiete - 12", Integrity - "Humanity is the Devil", Party of Helicopters - "Space... and How Sweet It Was"