Sunday, June 27, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The Rita - Womankind
New release on Survivalist in celebration of Blockade bringing The Rita back to Toronto (and Montreal for the first time.)
Low end crunch and decay with ghostly formants fighting for recognition. The sound of a dying species yelling into the roar of the universe.
Due to the wonderful G20 i'm unable to get to my tape duplication place until after the world conference of worthless parasites leaves my city.
(I'm also assuming that some misguided soul isn't going to burn down random businesses on the southern part of Bathurst during the inevitable rioting that will occur.)
Thus this tape will be first available at the two Bastard Noise/ Blockade/ The Rita shows on july 2nd and 3rd. E mail (it's in my profile) after then for availability. Tapes are $5 plus postage (which is hideously expensive in Canada)
Saturday, June 19, 2010
One from the vaults
Bastardizer was a short lived band i played in from (i think) 2003-2004. We probably only played six or seven shows before dissolving into nothing.
We managed to cough out a five song tape. The keen eyed among you will note that i clearly redrew the art for the film Le Notti Del Terrore for the cover.
I've uploaded all eight songs we managed to finish. I can't remember why the tape had three less than we actually recorded and i have absolutely zero recollection of what any of these songs are even called.
The Repulsion cover is obviously Slaughter of the Innocents (shame we never recorded our Autopsy or Celtic Frost covers) and the song that has a part lifted dirtectly from Motley Crue's Live Wire was called Thown to the Wolves. Other than that feel free to make them up.
We broke up because the band was pretty much evenly split between a faction that wanted to fit in with Tragedy and From Ashes Rise scene that was about to become huge and the other half (that i was firmly in) that wanted to sound like Dismember meets Discharge.
We had several posthumous offers to release this material on an LP. Some of the others seemed keen but i steadfastly refused to have any of this material be released in any form other than the original demo tape. I didn't feel the material was particularly essential; i wasn't all that enthused about the band in general to be honest and once i'd moved on i felt everyone should move on.
I can listen to this material now and i'm ok with it but for years i hated this stuff. Too frustrated that it didn't go more in the direction i was interested in following i guess.
I can listen to this material now and i'm ok with it but for years i hated this stuff. Too frustrated that it didn't go more in the direction i was interested in following i guess.
After we broke up Dave concentrated on Rammer and now sings in Slaughter Strike. Ben and myself carried on with The Endless Blockade full time (both bands existed concurrently) and we both ended up in Slaughter Strike (though Ben has since left). Josh formed Dirty Black Summer and they put out at least two 7"s on Slasher Records. Prior to Bastardizer Keith played drums in Ire and The Black Hand. I don't believe he's played drums sinced we broke up, but he frequently tours as the pyrotechnician for underground old school thrash revivalists Metallica and some guy called Paul McCartney.
Anyway, download it here and if you don't like it i pretty much agree with you
Friday, June 18, 2010
wrong time to be going on extended hiatus i guess
I'm torn between being extremely flattered and a semi-parental desire to asking leading questions in a vaguely disapproving tone.
Apparently there's someone out there with the Fenrir design tattooed on their skin as well.
Apparently there's someone out there with the Fenrir design tattooed on their skin as well.
Friday, June 11, 2010
the relevance of analogue media in the digital age
I was recently involved in a huge (as in more than two hours huge) discussion on the relevance of analogue media in the digital age for Crustcake. You can hear the edited version here, before the important part is some news and general bullshit about Isis, Nachtmystium, MDF and other stuff.
It's hard for me to say anything else about the subject after that much discussion, but essentially i don't actually feel that analogue media is all that important. I think what's important is what analogue media represents, which as i've talked about before in this blog is the cultural aspect. And when making money is not the central point of your artistic output, then it's usually born out of some kind of (intentionally not defined here) cultural aspiration.
In essence we use analogue media to connect to greater cultural influences; fanzines and vinyl as atavism if you will.
When people talk about a fetish for vinyl they often unconsciously mean "an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency" instead of "any object or nongenital part of the body that causes a habitual erotic response or fixation."
I think it was Douglas Rushkoff that said he was less enamoured with mp3 downloading not because the music industry lost money but because he fondly remembers that listening to a new LP was a communal experience where you invited your friends over to listen with you. I'm not really interested in the olde tyme nostalgic aspect of that point (and my own childhood listening experiences are the same), but the idea of coming together to experience music as a group is definitely something that seem's largely to have been lost. Outside of getting drunk (or not getting drunk) at concerts of course.
Anyway, if you have a two hour attention span for four people bullshitting it's there for you.
Reading:
The Butt - Will Self
The Art of the Nasty - Nigel Wingrove and Marc Morris
How the World was Made; the story of creation according to sacred geometry - John Michell and Allen Brown
Watching:
[rec 2]
A Bookshelf on top of the Sky: 12 stories about John Zorn
Listening:
The Vomit Arsonist - Wretch
Rammer - one sided 12"
Complications - s/t
It's hard for me to say anything else about the subject after that much discussion, but essentially i don't actually feel that analogue media is all that important. I think what's important is what analogue media represents, which as i've talked about before in this blog is the cultural aspect. And when making money is not the central point of your artistic output, then it's usually born out of some kind of (intentionally not defined here) cultural aspiration.
In essence we use analogue media to connect to greater cultural influences; fanzines and vinyl as atavism if you will.
When people talk about a fetish for vinyl they often unconsciously mean "an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency" instead of "any object or nongenital part of the body that causes a habitual erotic response or fixation."
I think it was Douglas Rushkoff that said he was less enamoured with mp3 downloading not because the music industry lost money but because he fondly remembers that listening to a new LP was a communal experience where you invited your friends over to listen with you. I'm not really interested in the olde tyme nostalgic aspect of that point (and my own childhood listening experiences are the same), but the idea of coming together to experience music as a group is definitely something that seem's largely to have been lost. Outside of getting drunk (or not getting drunk) at concerts of course.
Anyway, if you have a two hour attention span for four people bullshitting it's there for you.
Reading:
The Butt - Will Self
The Art of the Nasty - Nigel Wingrove and Marc Morris
How the World was Made; the story of creation according to sacred geometry - John Michell and Allen Brown
Watching:
[rec 2]
A Bookshelf on top of the Sky: 12 stories about John Zorn
Listening:
The Vomit Arsonist - Wretch
Rammer - one sided 12"
Complications - s/t
Thursday, June 10, 2010
I'm going to listen to Grief for about seven hours
last time i checked the internet was calling us experimental power violence
and not really related to anything but Devo's new CD is streaming here
File under "different metal"
I'd forgotten i'd done this one. Some slightly flippant answers, but that's what happens you answer interviews at work i guess.
Original can be found here
Hi guys, how is The Endless Blockade / Bastard Noise doing these days?
The Endless Blockade: We live.
Bastard Noise: Bastard Noise (now The Bastard Noise) is doing very well thank you but of course we always see room for improvement - we have Connell (man is the bastard) back in the drum throne and he has never sounded more progressive/heavy so things are great! We are getting ready to do a full US tour this summer and our brand new full length 12" LP/CD (with bass a.k.a. "four steel girders", drums, electronics and vocals) will be released before we leave in June. It is titled ‘A Culture Of Monsters’. The 12" LP version will be released by Deep Six Records here in California (www.deepsixrecords.com) and the compact disc version will be a "joint" release between the two Minneapolis, Minnesota-based labels Housepig Records (www.housepigrecords.com) and Hear More! (www.hearmorerecords.com) It came out totally sick and heavy!
This interview is going to be part of a Bastard Noise/The Endless Blockade split-interview: do you have anything to say to those guys?
The Endless Blockade: See you in July?
Bastard Noise: The Endless Blockade simply fucking rule both as people and as a band - they are progressive thinkers with a different angle every time they document their sound.
Can you tell me when you first heard Bastard Noise / The Endless Blockade and what your thoughts were?
The Endless Blockade: I first heard Bastard Noise as Man is the Bastard began to change into a different beast. Bastard Noise has several different periods that represent a continuous evolution, perhaps mirroring a desire for the human race to evolve along similar lines (as above so below). They’ve changed from their initial sound of primal yelling over primitive oscillations to incredibly complex and uniquely composed sound work that are always unmistakably their own. With the current and latest change they’ve left life in the ocean long behind, ascended Jacobs Ladder fully and challenged Metatron himself. Bastard Noise to me represents the struggle of the human spirit to overcome its surroundings; Bastard Noise is a survival of the fittest mentality applied to pure sound.
Bastard Noise: Quite a few years back now. I thought: "I need to hear much more!" I started writing Nolan (bass/support vocals) a while back as well and very quickly into that early relationship I he "got it". Carroll is one of my favourite vocalists and truly Ben and Eric fucking slay on guitar and drums!
The split turned out to be something completely different than we are used to from you guys, was this planned just for 'The Red List'?
The Endless Blockade: We write for each record specifically and the parameters shift consistently as we restrict certain ideas at the expense of others. Our primary musical goal of the last few years have been to condense our sound to its most basic building blocks; be as minimal as possible and just utilise as much as we can from the ideas we allow ourselves to use. I’m also keen on performing music that negates the role of the individual in its performance and can only largely be viewed as a whole, less a sum of its components. For example I have absolutely no interest in ever being considered a “good” or “interesting” bass player. If that happens in this band (unlikely) then I’ve failed. Our half of ‘The Red List’ is just the latest stop on this path.
Bastard Noise: No this was a "long term" plan to bring back the "four steel girders" and drums to the forefront of the skulls' expression. This was a permanent decision! We have a lot of music to get out! It has worked out great first with Danny Walker (Phobia / Intronaut / Murder Construct) for ‘The Red List’ sessions and now with Connell (M.I.T.B.) back in the line-up (Walker is extremely busy at this point in his life and need a more "grounded" member for BN which is where Connell came in) things are a real joy to say the least.
Did Bastard Noise / The Endless Blockade influence you in anyway for these recordings?
The Endless Blockade: Any band that claims power violence as one of its primary influences is by necessity influenced by at least one period of Eric Wood’s musical history. Eric Wood’s musical legacy is always intrinsically linked to Eric Wood as a human being (no disrespect to Walker or Nelson) and I see Bastard Noise as another emanation from him. He is a person truly linked to his creations.
Bastard Noise: By simply existing they influenced our writing. I knew these guys would "deliver the goods" big time and back in 2007 when Nolan and I first discussed the possibility of this happening we were fixed on the concept of a full length collaboration. It didn't work out that as we needed our own material to play "live" - one of the reasons it became a split full length instead. We hope to work with them again. T.E.B. are people we want to associate with for the long term.
Did you guys discuss the lyrical concept of the record as well? Do you guys have similar ideas about writing lyrics would you think?
The Endless Blockade: I think we both draw on similar primordial sources of inspiration; Bastard Noise seems simultaneously more misanthropic and more hopeful about the fate of our species. Perhaps we’re just more resigned?
Bastard Noise: I am not sure now if "lightly" discussed the lyrical issues when it was first going to a full length collaboration but by the time we decided (collectively) to have each band have a side( or half a compact disc), we essentially went our "own directions". It doesn't matter though as these guys know what is happening around them. I think this is their best effort to date both in sound and in compositional feel.
What do you think of the Bastard Noise / The Endless Blockade side of the album?
The Endless Blockade: It’s everything I hoped it and knew it would be.
Bastard Noise: It is a beautiful "journey" in sound and lyrical expression. Very powerful without losing sight of their trademark sound yet reaching farther (at least to me) than they ever have in the past.
Will there perhaps be another cooperation in the future?
The Endless Blockade: It’s not impossible to conceive of on going collaborative work in some shape or form between the members of Blockade and the members of Bastard Noise; we’ll see. There’s enough of a mutual respect and understanding between both units to make it a distinct possibility but time is everyone’s master.
Bastard Noise: We would be honoured to do so. Together as separate bands/entities, we have not discussed this yet however.
What are your immediate future plans?
The Endless Blockade: Our immediate plans are to finish mixing our split LP with Unearthly Trance and sneak over the border to do a week of shows with Hatred Surge. I’m starting to put ideas together for our next two records, Antinomian and Salvation. One of which will hopefully come out this year, the other sometime before 2012.
Bastard Noise: Immediate plans include preparing for the release of ‘A Culture Of Monsters’ and rehearsing our asses off for our US summer tour then upon return, negotiating flight costs to get to the UK and Europe with one years time. Also we are developing even newer material for next sound document yet untitled.
When will we be seeing you guys live in The Netherlands?
The Endless Blockade: No plans at present. If someone wants to pay for our airfares upfront we’ll be there much sooner though.
Bastard Noise: Hopefully with any luck by the end of 2010 or the middle 201! "The Skull" is coming!
Original can be found here
Hi guys, how is The Endless Blockade / Bastard Noise doing these days?
The Endless Blockade: We live.
Bastard Noise: Bastard Noise (now The Bastard Noise) is doing very well thank you but of course we always see room for improvement - we have Connell (man is the bastard) back in the drum throne and he has never sounded more progressive/heavy so things are great! We are getting ready to do a full US tour this summer and our brand new full length 12" LP/CD (with bass a.k.a. "four steel girders", drums, electronics and vocals) will be released before we leave in June. It is titled ‘A Culture Of Monsters’. The 12" LP version will be released by Deep Six Records here in California (www.deepsixrecords.com) and the compact disc version will be a "joint" release between the two Minneapolis, Minnesota-based labels Housepig Records (www.housepigrecords.com) and Hear More! (www.hearmorerecords.com) It came out totally sick and heavy!
This interview is going to be part of a Bastard Noise/The Endless Blockade split-interview: do you have anything to say to those guys?
The Endless Blockade: See you in July?
Bastard Noise: The Endless Blockade simply fucking rule both as people and as a band - they are progressive thinkers with a different angle every time they document their sound.
Can you tell me when you first heard Bastard Noise / The Endless Blockade and what your thoughts were?
The Endless Blockade: I first heard Bastard Noise as Man is the Bastard began to change into a different beast. Bastard Noise has several different periods that represent a continuous evolution, perhaps mirroring a desire for the human race to evolve along similar lines (as above so below). They’ve changed from their initial sound of primal yelling over primitive oscillations to incredibly complex and uniquely composed sound work that are always unmistakably their own. With the current and latest change they’ve left life in the ocean long behind, ascended Jacobs Ladder fully and challenged Metatron himself. Bastard Noise to me represents the struggle of the human spirit to overcome its surroundings; Bastard Noise is a survival of the fittest mentality applied to pure sound.
Bastard Noise: Quite a few years back now. I thought: "I need to hear much more!" I started writing Nolan (bass/support vocals) a while back as well and very quickly into that early relationship I he "got it". Carroll is one of my favourite vocalists and truly Ben and Eric fucking slay on guitar and drums!
The split turned out to be something completely different than we are used to from you guys, was this planned just for 'The Red List'?
The Endless Blockade: We write for each record specifically and the parameters shift consistently as we restrict certain ideas at the expense of others. Our primary musical goal of the last few years have been to condense our sound to its most basic building blocks; be as minimal as possible and just utilise as much as we can from the ideas we allow ourselves to use. I’m also keen on performing music that negates the role of the individual in its performance and can only largely be viewed as a whole, less a sum of its components. For example I have absolutely no interest in ever being considered a “good” or “interesting” bass player. If that happens in this band (unlikely) then I’ve failed. Our half of ‘The Red List’ is just the latest stop on this path.
Bastard Noise: No this was a "long term" plan to bring back the "four steel girders" and drums to the forefront of the skulls' expression. This was a permanent decision! We have a lot of music to get out! It has worked out great first with Danny Walker (Phobia / Intronaut / Murder Construct) for ‘The Red List’ sessions and now with Connell (M.I.T.B.) back in the line-up (Walker is extremely busy at this point in his life and need a more "grounded" member for BN which is where Connell came in) things are a real joy to say the least.
Did Bastard Noise / The Endless Blockade influence you in anyway for these recordings?
The Endless Blockade: Any band that claims power violence as one of its primary influences is by necessity influenced by at least one period of Eric Wood’s musical history. Eric Wood’s musical legacy is always intrinsically linked to Eric Wood as a human being (no disrespect to Walker or Nelson) and I see Bastard Noise as another emanation from him. He is a person truly linked to his creations.
Bastard Noise: By simply existing they influenced our writing. I knew these guys would "deliver the goods" big time and back in 2007 when Nolan and I first discussed the possibility of this happening we were fixed on the concept of a full length collaboration. It didn't work out that as we needed our own material to play "live" - one of the reasons it became a split full length instead. We hope to work with them again. T.E.B. are people we want to associate with for the long term.
Did you guys discuss the lyrical concept of the record as well? Do you guys have similar ideas about writing lyrics would you think?
The Endless Blockade: I think we both draw on similar primordial sources of inspiration; Bastard Noise seems simultaneously more misanthropic and more hopeful about the fate of our species. Perhaps we’re just more resigned?
Bastard Noise: I am not sure now if "lightly" discussed the lyrical issues when it was first going to a full length collaboration but by the time we decided (collectively) to have each band have a side( or half a compact disc), we essentially went our "own directions". It doesn't matter though as these guys know what is happening around them. I think this is their best effort to date both in sound and in compositional feel.
What do you think of the Bastard Noise / The Endless Blockade side of the album?
The Endless Blockade: It’s everything I hoped it and knew it would be.
Bastard Noise: It is a beautiful "journey" in sound and lyrical expression. Very powerful without losing sight of their trademark sound yet reaching farther (at least to me) than they ever have in the past.
Will there perhaps be another cooperation in the future?
The Endless Blockade: It’s not impossible to conceive of on going collaborative work in some shape or form between the members of Blockade and the members of Bastard Noise; we’ll see. There’s enough of a mutual respect and understanding between both units to make it a distinct possibility but time is everyone’s master.
Bastard Noise: We would be honoured to do so. Together as separate bands/entities, we have not discussed this yet however.
What are your immediate future plans?
The Endless Blockade: Our immediate plans are to finish mixing our split LP with Unearthly Trance and sneak over the border to do a week of shows with Hatred Surge. I’m starting to put ideas together for our next two records, Antinomian and Salvation. One of which will hopefully come out this year, the other sometime before 2012.
Bastard Noise: Immediate plans include preparing for the release of ‘A Culture Of Monsters’ and rehearsing our asses off for our US summer tour then upon return, negotiating flight costs to get to the UK and Europe with one years time. Also we are developing even newer material for next sound document yet untitled.
When will we be seeing you guys live in The Netherlands?
The Endless Blockade: No plans at present. If someone wants to pay for our airfares upfront we’ll be there much sooner though.
Bastard Noise: Hopefully with any luck by the end of 2010 or the middle 201! "The Skull" is coming!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Human Cargo
New noise release, five tracks from Minneapolis duo Juhyo and four from yours truly, out now on Housepig and Hear More.
Blockade and Juhyo have played together a few times now (twice i think) and each time we've been blown away by their meticulous attention to detail; this is not two dudes randomly turning on and off DOD death metal pedals and skronking the controls on their Behringer mixers as fast as they can.
Juhyo's sound on this release at times sounds like being slowly marched out of your house and into custody. Haunting stuff.
The theme for the release was loosely human trafficking. Juhyo probably get this across better than i managed. Though i did stand outside my local cash-for-handjobs-from-Eastern-Europeans-parlour and recorded the sounds of the night whilst out walking the dog for one track.
My material on the split presents the penultimate release in this style before i had a minor shift. The Inner Light CD that i'm going to go on good faith and hope is either currently at the plant or about to be sent to the plant will be the final release of mine in this style. The soon to be released split tape with Disgust on Small Doses and Between Two Fires C20 on Swim Harder are the first of the new approach (hint, it has vocals and bass on as well as the usual harsh noise and reappropriated enviromental recordings, pretty ground breaking stuff huh?).
Some of my side has me hitting the harsh noise like i'm 21 again and some is an altogether slower listen. I did a lot of field recordings and stealing of other peoples material for this one. Thrill to the sound of Nekrasov's first born, the soundtracks of Friday the 13th and Blade Runner, endless recordings of my dog, the above mentioned "massage" parlour, going to Blockade practice, being at Blockade practice, coming home from Blockade practice etc et fucking cetera.
Housepig just released the new Bastard Noise CD, so if you're going to buy that (and you probably should unless you're buying the LP version), pick this one up as well if it floats yer boat. Also much recommended from Housepig are the following:
Vennt - Vennt
Kelly Churko - The Confusion
Wilt - Scarecrow (in fact, if you're not familiar with Wilt, buy everything you can by them, some of the most interesting sounds of the last decade are coming from those two dudes)
and of the many Bastard Noise releases Bill's done my vote goes to the Brainstorming II collaboration with Christian Renou as being particularly worth investigating.
Hear More also released the excellent Pig Heart Transplant/ Juhyo split 7".
In other news this year i figured out how to go to MDF and not lose my mind. Autopsy and Portal were predictable highlights by a country mile and Watain, who i've always loved everything about except for their music were a revelation as well and the only band really put the Death into MDF.
Playlist:
Bizarre Uproar - Purity
Nominon - Monumentomb (unbelievably good, already my tip for best death metal album of the year)
Infinitum Obscure - Sub Atris Caelis
Mika Vainio - Black Telephone of Matter
Defeatist - Sixth Extinction
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
