Jarboe: "The House Of Void"

It’s mid-August, and it’s cold in Denver. It’s been raining for something like 34 hours straight. I spent the bulk of that time locked in my condo, listening to Jarboe and her myriad projects, incarnations, and collaborations with buddies and underground metal all-stars such as Swans, Justin K. Broadrick of Jesu, and Neurosis.

My mood has been affected accordingly. The creaks in my house have taken on a menacing air; there’s intelligence in the light around me; I’m seeing colors; I’m remote-viewing back to weird, old-world landscapes; I just awoke from a dream about choking, and I’m deep in the throes of a particularly penetrating sweat. I need to get out of here. I think that my neighbors will be the largest beneficiaries of that move; my walls are thick, but they’re not Jarboe thick.

Following this kind of strangeness, it helps to think on some touchstones that are grounded in the commonality of it all. It’s 2008, and the Olympics are on; the Democratic National Convention will be rolling into town soon; war is not yet obsolete; mankind is still uncovering new ways to hate our differences with medieval aplomb; Jarboe is right back in the thick of a wicked, resurgent metal scene.

The avant-garde songstress says, with palpable excitement in her voice, that “throwing myself into the void, pushing myself hard, pushing myself to exhaustion — that’s what drives me. That’s why I like loud, aggressive music. That’s how I’m wired!”

She is a woman who seems hyperactively aware of those moment-to-moment changes that shape her consciousness, which extend past her art and music. She is straight-edge, practices extreme boxing, and her hands are callused from carrying her own equipment. She has refused to accept the role of novelty act in the very masculine world of metal.

"My artistic base is grounded in Swans. It’s how I was refined; it’s how I adjusted; it’s how I developed. It was such a big part of my life. I could never turn my back on that.”

But perhaps most telling are the actions that led her into the grips of the early ’80s New York no-wave scene. Upon hearing Michael Gira’s band, Swans, she set out for New York City with the sole intention of joining the band. Gira started her off on bass, but she was quickly recognized as an artistic force, and with vocal, keyboard, and songwriting contributions, she helped to shape the unique, heavy sound in one of that era’s most important underground metal acts.

Gira and Jarboe closed shop on Swans over a decade ago, but Jarboe remains lightning-eyed and howling. Her sounds are best not described from any clinical standpoint, as one could get lost in a string of descriptive words that don’t necessarily do justice to the tactility of her work (Old Testament-informed post-industrial dirge, a cross between yodeling and church-worship chorusing, etc.).

Jarboe’s works are temporal, as heavily influenced by current experience as they are informed by her Swans days. As such, it’s better to swoop in from above with general ideas about what she’s doing in the present that continues to drive her towards the extreme ends of multimedia art and music.

The physical representation of her sound is a good place to start; Jarboe has a history of intense cover art and intimidating album names. Her 2004 release, Anhedoniac, featured edgy, limited-edition, Wal-Mart-repellent nudes taken by Richard Kern. The most accessible of these depicts her naked and devoid of pigment, holed up in a cell and clawing at the bars on a window. As she explains, “It’s what I’ve done as a performance artist that led to my work with audio experimentations, feedback, and multi-track delays. It cracked me open to hear sounds in a different way; it shifted things to where I didn’t need a traditional melody.”

Her second release of 2008, Mahakali (following J2, a collaboration with Broadrick), continues in this vein, although the concept contributes heavily to the depth of the album. The cover is an animation-enhanced photo of Jarboe posing in a particularly threatening portrayal of the Hindu goddess Mahakali. Though traditional portraits show the goddess with a lolling tongue, Jarboe assured me that every muscle in her head contributed to the considerable tongue length in that shot, quipping through her faded Southern drawl that “it definitely gives you a greater appreciation for the talents of Gene Simmons.”

Mahakali herself lends a weighty contextual element to the sound of the album. The goddess is associated with the dichotomies of annihilation and creation, time and change. For Jarboe, this is an apt symbol for the state of the planet — politically, environmentally, and otherwise. It’s alternately a tragic concession of what needs to happen to move forward and a condemnation of those events that got us here. The goddess is often depicted as having many faces — a concept that flows volcanically through Jarboe’s work and life.

She uses the term “flexible reality” to describe the different phases, faces, and personas of her post-Swans act as The Living Jarboe. Sonically, she seems to toe the line of every diagnosable personality disorder as she weaves easily digested harmonies, Swans-esque industrial churn, a string section, and most notably, an arc of rangy vocals into her unique vision of black metal (“rangy” is perhaps not the word here, but I defy you to tell me what that word is).

Like some Wiccan version of Tom Waits, she uses her voice as an instrument that can be bent across the full spectrum of sound and style. The opening track on Mahakali, “Mahakali, of Terrifying Countenance,” has a techno-erotic paganism that bares no resemblance to the smoky sound that opens “The House of Void.” Somewhere in that track, her voice cuts sharply through the fog, only to become indistinguishable from what could be either a squealing guitar or her own manic shriek.

This awareness of her multifaceted personae is a condition that might explain her propensity to collaborate. As a serial collaborator, her sound tends to ricochet as it bumps up against the experiences of other artists. On Mahakali, Jarboe has recruited an impressive roster of talent to help shape the different faces of the album.

In a manner completely opposite of the across-the-ocean, file-sharing collaboration with Broadrick, she brought into the studio members of Dysrhythmia, Neurosis, Antony and the Johnsons (not Antony), Unsane, Amber Asylum, former Swans drummer Vinny Signorelli, Attila Csihar of Mayhem, and most strikingly, Phil Anselmo of Pantera.

She had the idea to insert Anselmo into an environment that is seemingly caustic to his black-metal personae. It works. His vocals on “Overthrown” are the howling, emotional core of the album. Anselmo’s voice here is as raw as red meat, but a cello is layered underneath, and a soulful harmony surfaces from beneath his otherwise tough sound. Backed by some aggressive acoustic bullying, the track is a rugged, Southern-gothic roar.

For all her faces, Jarboe remains existentially rooted in those days spent pioneering with Swans. In fact, Child of Swans was the working title for this new album. “The Swans were my education,” she says. “It altered the way I hear sound permanently. My artistic base is grounded in Swans. It’s how I was refined; it’s how I adjusted; it’s how I developed. It was such a big part of my life. I could never turn my back on that.”

Man Man: Life Fantastic (Anti-)

Man Man: "Knuckle Down"

When we last left Man Man, the quirky and peerless pop five-piece was drawing high marks for Rabbit Habits, an album that better refined its oddball melodies and gruff balladry while retaining the range of sounds and styles that listeners love.

With stronger musical chops and a greater feel for melody and structure, the album helped to expand the band's critical reach.  Now Man Man has hit new heights with Life Fantastic, its fourth album and second for Anti-.

This new batch is the band's first recording to feature a professional producer, and it shows.  Though the compositions themselves are Man Man's best to date — punctuated by twisting melodies and off-the-wall lyrics — Life Fantastic gets a boost from string arrangements by Bright Eyes multi-instrumentalist Nate Walcott.  His resonant accompaniments and pizzicato plucks give the album a new element and infuse it with even more life.

On top of the accordion and tropical-horn additions to the lounge-tinted "Haute Tropique," there's also a heavy dose of squiggly synthesizers this time around to pair with the band's zany mixture of marimba, whammy guitar, piano, horns, and woodwinds.

Rabbit Habits was a huge step forward from its predecessor.  But Life Fantastic achieves equal progress, and it easily takes the mantle as Man Man's best album.

Spindrift: Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1 (Xemu)

Spindrift: "When I Was Free"

Mixing influences from Italian-western composers like Ennio Morricone with elements of psychedelic rock, Spindrift has pioneered its own brand of western music. Its style is manifested through a diversity of sounds, including guitar, organ, pedal steel, flute, autoharp, sitar, tabla, and bass, but its musical résumé is more than merely instruments.

The band's latest, Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1, is an album of unreleased movie themes and new material that captures its eclectic nature and cinematic tendencies.  From the trippy tones of "Theme from Confusion Range" to the otherworldly aura of "Space Vixens Theme," each track visits a new land or tells a new tale.  The twangy, reverberated, psych-effected guitars are a staple in nearly every sonic journey, but with the assorted accents — glockenspiel, Theremin, quasi-Cambodian backing vocals, and even howling wolves — you never feel like you've quite been there before.

- Text by Jenn Beening. Read the Spindrift Q&A here.

Liturgy: Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey)

Liturgy: "Returner"

Since its debut full-length in 2009, Brooklyn-based quartet Liturgy has helped to steer black metal into a bold new direction.

On Aesthethica, the group's sophomore effort, Liturgy comes armed once more with Hunter Hunt-Hendrix’s mostly indecipherable howl and quasi-anthemic guitar lines blasted with co-pilot Bernard Gann, both positioned over Greg Fox’s machine-gun drumming and Tyler Dusenbury’s frenetic bass lines.

Odd-pattern tremolo picking gives “Tragic Laurel” a progressive feel that leaves the door open for the sucker punch of its main section, and “True Will” stacks layers of screams over a seesaw chord progression, interrupted only by a skipping-CD breakdown.  Between brief moments of ambience and hypnotic chanting, the music hits with full force, as with the out-of-left-field sludge of “Veins Of God” or the persistent “Returner.”

Aesthethica, however, also can be taxing due to its unconventionality, notably on tracks such as on the seven-minute, one-riff “Generation,” a song that plays with rhythmic dynamics.  But with its special emphasis on unorthodox instrument application (the static opening on “High Gold” or the waterfall effect of so many guitars on “Glory Bronze”), it gradually becomes apparent that Liturgy, despite its upside-down-cross artwork and full-metal sound, really stands closer to Sonic Youth or The Boredoms than to Black Breath.

- Text by Andrew Reilly. Read the full review here.

Other Lives: Tamer Animals (TBD)

Other Lives: "For 12"

After releasing one album under the name Kunek in 2006, Oklahoma quintet Other Lives changed names and presented a striking "debut" that landed somewhere between indie folk and chamber pop.  It was both melancholy and melodic, sparse and dense — and it was a portent of greatness to come.

Tamer Animals, the group's sequel on TBD Records, is a profound advancement.  Whereas the group's previous album placed a greater emphasis on singer-songwriter song structures, this collection intersperses more moments of instrumental prowess between the verses and choruses, giving the vocals more room to breathe and resulting in elongated intros, outros, and bridges.

The album is replete with vocal harmonies (some evoking classics like The Beatles' "Because"), and it's just as packed with instrumental timbres — quickly twitching and slowly sliding string clusters, tinkling piano flourishes, acoustic guitar strums, western guitar licks, vibraphone accents, neoclassical woodwind repetitions, and many others.  Though the band is roughly placed in the "indie rock" category, Other Lives proves to be much more, and Tamer Animals demonstrates a mastery of melody, harmony, and balance.

Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres (Constellation)

Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter One excerpt

Chicago native and New York / Montreal resident Matana Roberts has spent much of her career exploring the outer limits of free jazz, offering her alto-sax talents in collaboration with legends such as Fred Anderson and contemporary greats such as Jeff Parker, Vijay Iyer, and Nicole Mitchell.  She also has worked with experimental rock darlings such as Godspeed! You Black Emperor and TV on the Radio, providing an extra layer of musical dexterity.

As for her own projects, Roberts carries a belief that her music should comment on the world's many inequalities, and her latest is no exception.  Coin Coin, her newest effort as a bandleader, is an ongoing narrative that's based on the history of a dynamic black woman who went from being a slave to an established businesswoman, giving refuge to people of color such as Roberts' great grandfather.  For the project, Roberts uses the trajectory of its namesake — Marie Thérèse Coincoin — as a starting point for a live music piece that's fused with performance art.

The first chapter, which has been performed around the USA for a few years, now sees release as a live disc.  With the help of an expanded ensemble, the music is all over the map, from somber to noisy to radiant and from ragtime to bebop to modern.  But no matter where it goes, it's tied together by the narrative, a moving fictionalization that reminds us how despicable humankind can be — and that great strength can manifest in the face of oppression.

Zombi: Escape Velocity (Relapse)

Zombi: "Shrunken Heads"

Channeling the horror-infused synth vibes of Goblin and John Carpenter, space-rock duo Zombi has made a commendable career of 1970s nostalgia — but with a bit more punch and dance-ability.

Escape Velocity, the band's fourth full-length album, pulls back a bit from the epic melodies and distorted low end of Spirit Animal, its 2009 release that preceded a split LP with Maserati.  With fewer dramatics and atmospherics, this album gets straight to work building grooves.

Just like its predecessors, Escape Velocity is five tracks of long-form synth-rock jams, but it's significantly shorter overall.  At 33 minutes, it's roughly 2/3 the length of an average Zombi full-length, but ironically, this may be a benefit; the songs feel more concise and don't ramble quite as long.

Honorable Mentions

Africa Hitech: 93 Million Miles (Warp)

Bill Gould & Jared Blum: The Talking Book (Koolarrow)

Le Butcherettes: Sin Sin Sin (Rodriguez Lopez Productions)

Chrissy Murderbot: Women’s Studies (Planet Mu)

Empty Space Orchestra: s/t (self-released)

Helado Negro: Canta Lechuza (Asthmatic Kitty)

Horseback: The Gorgon Tongue: Impale Golden Horn + Forbidden Planet (Relapse)

Jesu: Ascension (Caldo Verde)

Mexicans with Guns: Ceremony (Innovative Leisure / Friends of Friends)

Rene Hell: The Terminal Symphony (Type)

Mountains: Air Museum (Thrill Jockey)

Okkervil River: I Am Very Far (Jagjaguwar)

Oxbow: King of the Jews (Hydra Head)

The Sea and Cake: The Moonlight Butterfly (Thrill Jockey)

Ben Sollee: Inclusions (Thirty Tigers)

Majeure: Timespan (9/14/2010, Temporary Residence Limited)

Majeure: "Teleforce"

Majeuere is the side project of A.E. Paterra, drummer and one half of Pittsburgh-based electronic prog-rock duo Zombi. Much like the Lovelock moniker of bandmate Steve Moore, Majeure doesn’t stray too far from Zombi’s glimmering, cinematic, sci-fi synths, stabbing analog Moog lines, and minimalist Krautrock grooves. But for Paterra’s debut release, Timespan, the drummer brings a whole new meaning to the long player. The album is a grand, three-track journey through the nebulous ocean of space — an ambient and energetic sci-fi rock record in a musical universe where the Solaris and Bladerunner soundtracks merge into one.

Temporary Residence recently re-released the record — which became available in October of 2009 exclusively in a double-vinyl package — in a new, deluxe double-CD format. The re-release contains remixes of the entire album from Steve Moore and Justin K. Broadrick as well as a chilled-out, almost 20-minute remix of “The Dresden Codex” by Black Strobe.

Listening to Timespan feels like floating in space, with Paterra’s live drumming providing a loosely stabilizing tether. Each song has a tendency to fade into itself. The title track itself takes a good four minutes of atmospheric moon dusting until the relentless synth appears. But when it does, it’s a scenic ride through post-apocalyptic '80s futurism. “Timespan” is evocative in its analog-synth layering and ability to start before it ends, and Paterra keeps the music moving even though he’s slowed everything down half-speed.

“The Dresden Codex” works in the same manner.  All of the arpeggiated synth and laser-beam-like synth action seems like it could get old really fast, but Majeure champions a “slow and steady wins the race” attitude, and for those patient enough, a deeply grooved electronic soundscape is the reward.   When the track begins to swell, it swells tenfold.  Paterra unleashes some stiff, rocking drum fills while different synth textures and sounds fly from every direction.

But for those who have already listened to the album, it’s all about those remixes.  Moore cuts down the title track to just under seven minutes. It’s a dreadful and haunting kind of introduction, taking the track's darker moments and condensing them onto one layer to transform the song into a good fit for an '80s horror flick. Jesu brainchild Broadrick takes care of the “Teleforce” remix, seemingly stretching out the synth lines vertically rather than horizontally. The result is vertiginous; it's as dizzying as it is mystifying. By mid-remix, the vertigo takes a back seat to a deep bass and industrial snare kit, and everything slowly trails off into a dark abyss.

The three original compositions found on Timespan are epic in scope and stunning in technicality. The supplementary remixes are equal in depth and profundity. In a genre where technological possibilities are endless, Majeure’s minimalist take is refreshing. Though sci-fi '70s and '80s-laden terminology is best used to describe Majeure’s musical vision, this might very well be one of the future tangents that electro-rock music is destined to be.

Download the podcast for This Week’s Best Albums: November 16, 2010 and subscribe to This Week’s Best Albums for free with iTunes.

Stream the podcast for This Week's Best Albums: November 16, 2010.

Black Francis: The Golem

Black Francis: "Miriam and Florian"

In 2008, the iconic Pixies frontman Black Francis — a.k.a. Frank Black — was invited by the San Francisco International Film Festival to write a score for The Golem: How He Came into the World, the classic 1920 silent film and prequel to the 1915 film The Golem.  Black took the challenge, performing an hour-and-a-half of material as a live accompaniment, and earlier this year, he released a limited edition of the music alongside a DVD.

Now the quirky singer/songwriter is self-releasing most of the music individually, reordering it, and billing it as a rock opera.  Most of the material remains unaltered from its earlier recorded forms — the biggest difference, largely, is that this pairs down the reprises and extra song versions.

The music is easily recognized as Black Francis, but it establishes a playful, campy vibe thanks to harpsichord, saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute parts as well as string melodies that are played in reverse.  The challenge, ultimately, was a success, and The Golem shows a new side to an already multifaceted musician.

Jesu: Heart Ache & Dethroned (Hydra Head)

Jesu: "Annul"

Multi-instrumentalist Justin K. Broadrick has been involved in many boundary-crossing industrial, metal, and electronic bands — including Godflesh, Techno Animal, and Final — but these days, he's best known for his post-metal/shoe-gaze work as Jesu (and its electronic offshoot, Pale Sketcher).

Jesu's debut came back in 2004 with the Heart Ache EP, which presented two behemoth 20-minute tracks that were slow and doomy yet covered a lot of sonic territory.  Now Hydra Head Records has re-released Heart Ache and packaged it with a new EP of unreleased material, called Dethroned.

Much of the Dethroned EP was written and recorded in 2004, but Broadrick didn’t complete it until this year, and it better resembles the newer Jesu material – more concise, with seven-minute tracks instead of those 20-minute beasts.  The stylistic changes on Dethroned are a little more self-contained within each song, and though it still has heavy, occasionally chugging riffs, Broadrick’s vocals are more pronounced and airier, at times sounding vocoded.

Though Jesu only has three full-length albums since 2004, Broadrick's output under this name is expansive, and this is just the latest in a lengthy series of EPs.  Jesu fans already know the story, but because this is now packaged with Heart Ache, it presents a good starting point for the uninitiated.

Harmonious Bec: Her Strange Dreams (Monotreme)

Harmonious Bec: "Progress"

With members who go by ZaMaRoo and From Vapor to Water, Harmonious Bec is a relatively mysterious Japanese duo that makes exotic, far-reaching IDM.  Her Strange Dreams is the duo's debut, and it's a marvelous first effort.

The material is packed with hyperactive melodies, glitchy cut-ups, atmospheric effects, and sporadic dissonance.  Everything is cohesive, but from track to track, Her Strange Dreams is liable to take sharp turns.  "Funny Hierophant" combines massive drum-and-bass beats with glockenspiel and a harp-like instrument; "Shunrai" adds a quivering sample over a pretty piano line and a hip-hop beat; "Solitary Bonze Prayer" is a senses-altering journey through chopped-up vocal clips.

When put together, it channels more than a dozen electronic sub-genres — it builds upon some of the best genre-smashing artists that electronic music has to offer, such as Aphex Twin.  Undoubtedly, Her Strange Dreams is one of the best electronic releases of the year.

Serengeti & Polyphonic: Bells and a Floating World (Anticon)

Most known around their home base of Chicago, Serengeti and Polyphonic are a pair of unorthodox indie hip-hoppers who jumped to Anticon with their second LP, Terradactyl, in 2009.

Each has his hands in many forward-thinking releases.  Serengeti is particularly prolific, with too many projects and characters to list here.  (One such character, a sports-loving super fan, will be reprised on a forthcoming release with Anticon's Jel and Odd Nosdam.)

Bells and a Floating World, essentially, is a pair of combined EPs — six tracks of new material and six remixes featuring Why?, Jel, Son Lux, and others.  In the new material, Polyphonic's electro-classical style is every bit as vital as Serengeti's spoken-word musings and off-beat rhymes.

There are many great entry points to discover either artist, and listeners interested in this collaboration should start with Terradactyl.  After that, however, get this extra dose of strangeness and hear a few older tracks in a new way.

TOMO: Butterfly Dream and Other Guitar Works (Subvalent)

TOMO: "Carnival in Full Bloom"

TOMO – an acronym for Transcendental Organic Magical Objective — is a multi-instrumentalist and native of Japan who spent his late teens in Missouri, where he learned a bunch of folk-based styles of music (including blues, country, bluegrass, ragtime, and Dixieland jazz).  In addition to the guitar, he became proficient in the oud, saz, sitar, banjo, violin, hurdy gurdy, and more, and he later returned to Tokyo, where he picked up Middle Eastern and Indian techniques.

And if that weren't enough, he also is proficient with the saxophone, his instrument of choice in psychedelic improv trio Tetragrammaton.

Butterfly Dream and Other Guitar Works is TOMO's newest solo album.  There are scores of beautiful folk melodies, often care of super-fast finger-picking, and many tracks contain Eastern undertones as well as the hazy drone of the hurdy gurdy.  Ranging from slide-guitar blues to an Indian raga to a European waltz, the material is beautiful, intricate, and multicultural.

Soviet League: s/t (Angel Oven)

Soviet League: "Shylight"

Singer/songwriters Ben Eshbach and Matthew Kelly have a history in the LA underground, respectively fronting indie-rock bands The Sugarplastic and The Autumns.  By combining forces a few years ago, however, the two may have created something even better than what they've done individually — leading to a dense and masterful indie opus.

With the help of countless guest musicians, their new project, Soviet League, presents 12 meticulously crafted tracks, tapping into orch-pop, electronica, and Western music.  There are oodles of pretty guitar tones, big bass tones, and overabundant harmonies.  With the guest instruments, the music routinely crosses into baroque pop; there’s plenty of pizzicato strings, horns, marimba, glockenspiel, organ, and whistling.

Certain tracks, naturally, are denser than others.  "Row," the album's opener, is a lighthearted rock romp, whereas "All the Sailors Wave Goodbye" is a complex exhibition of classical technique.  Most of the album falls somewhere between these ends of the spectrum, and the music will appeal to both casual and hardcore music lovers.

The Soviet League debut threatens to be one of the best indie-rock albums of 2010.  No matter your tastes, if you love pop music, you’ll love this.

Honorable Mentions

Ranjit Barot: Bada Boom (Abstract Logix)

Ches Smith & These Arches: Finally Out of My Hands (Skirl)

Norah Jones: …Featuring Norah Jones (Blue Note)

Lavinia: There is Light Between Us (The Mylene Sheath)

Stereolab: Not Music (Drag City)

Bjørn Torske: Kokning (Smalltown Supersound)

Tristan Perich: 1-Bit Symphony (Cantaloupe)

In 2004, contemporary composer Tristan Perich first created his unorthodox (yet old-school) means of delivering minimalist electronic creations — by programming different bleeps and buzzes onto a microcomputer, which was built into a circuit (with a headphone jack) and placed in a jewel case.

The result — 1-Bit Music — ranged, in Perich's words, from "drum and bass to minimalism to electronic noise," and it was fascinating for the direct relationship that it established between listener and music, with the music being performed anew each time that the "on" switch was flipped.

Now Perich is back with 1-Bit Symphony, using the same means of delivery but presenting a formal electronic work.  Over five movements, 1-Bit Symphony shifts through harmonized sine waves and dot-matrix sounds.

Though a diversity of sounds cannot be attained, the piece does its best to achieve different moods, reflecting Perich's abilities as a composer.  (He has commissioned pieces for Bang on a Can, Dither Quartet, and others.)

The total package is impressive, but you don't realize just how meticulously and painstakingly 1-Bit Symphony is programmed until you see the "liner notes" — the full programming code, with notes and rests dictated over a massive script.  If you're looking for something special in a jewel case, pick this up.

Tristan Perich: 1-Bit Symphony (Part 1: Overview) from Tristan Perich on Vimeo.

Dave Douglas & Keystone: Spark of Being: Expand (Greenleaf)

Composer/trumpeter Dave Douglas has led and performed with dozens of ensembles, traversing terrain both accessible and treacherous for more than 20 years, but he's never done anything quite like this.

Spark of Being is Douglas' collaboration with experimental filmmaker Bill Morrison, who has re-imagined the Frankenstein story with different pieces of stock/archival film and effects.

The film's music — a slightly rock- and electronic-touched jazz affair — is being released in three parts and as a three-piece box set.  The proper soundtrack (simply titled Spark of Being: Soundtrack) was released back in June, but Expand presents the themes as wholes, not as they were rearranged for the visuals.

Naturally, because of this, Expand works as a standalone release. With the aid of his Keystone ensemble, Douglas presents a groove-heavy collection, and much of the music is powered by the beats of Gene Lake, the Fender Rhodes of Adam Benjamin, and the turntables/laptop of DJ Olive.

Expand fits Douglas' catalog, but it goes a little further than usual, and there's even a moment or two that sounds like a twisted video-game or circus (like the end of "Observer").  And with no shortage of hard beats and head-nodding potential, Expand should especially appeal to fans of jazz fusion and acid jazz.

Dave Douglas & Keystone: "Tree Ring Circus"

Pale Sketcher: Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed (Ghostly International)

Nowadays, Justin Broadrick is best known for his ambient-metal project Jesu.  This noisy yet emotive project was a step removed from his days in Napalm Death and Godflesh, and now his new project — Pale Sketcher — is another full step in the direction of electronics.

Broadrick's 2007 release as Jesu, titled Pale Sketches, explored unfamiliar terrain for the Jesu brand, pushing into synth-driven, beat-based territory.  Now, to flesh out those works (or, as the title suggests, to de-flesh them), he has reworked all eight tracks from Pale Sketches for Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed.

Though it still figured in Pale Sketches' sound, Broadrick's distorted, droning guitar is absent here.  Instead, there is a greater emphasis on down-tempo electro beats, thick synth lines, and glistening atmospherics.

Broadrick is no stranger to electronica — he has collaborated in Techno Animal since 1990 — but it's a new side of his solo career.  Judging by this first impression, he should have a lot to offer.

Pale Sketcher: "Can I Go Now (Gone Version)"

James Blackshaw: All is Falling (Young God)

James Blackshaw seems like one of those guitarists who just never stops practicing.  Exceptional on the 12-string model and proficient on the piano as well, Blackshaw doesn't possess guitar-phenom, wunderkind-like abilities — but he has damn well mastered a complex instrument.

Hailing from London, Blackshaw recently leaped to Young God Records, the veritable label that Swans leader Michael Gira runs. All is Falling, Blackshaw's second Young God release, is his 8th studio album since 2004, reflecting the prolific nature of a man who seemingly never puts down his guitar.

All is Falling is his first release to feature an electric 12-string guitar, and it's accented by his own performance on glockenspiel, piano, and percussion as well as guest spots of violin, cello, flute, and more.  This combination helps Blackshaw expand his sound while staying true to what he does best.

Blackshaw has talent oozing out of him, but his classical sense of melody is what makes him a remarkable musician.  Whether or not you're already a fan, All is Falling is worth picking up.

James Blackshaw: "Part 7" (edit)

The Sword: Warp Riders (Kemado)

Over its first two albums, The Sword has delivered a shredding brand of stoner metal that has equally appealed to head-bangers and edgy sci-fi geeks.

Other than a semi-deceptive opening track, Warp Riders — the band's third full-length — doesn't stray from the path.  There are plenty of guitar duels, chug riffs, and bluesy, Southern, dropped-tuning power-chord progressions.

As with previous albums, however, Warp Riders is more than a technical display.  The band never opts to sacrifice songwriting for slick licks, and each song stands as its own easily digested piece.

Warp Riders doesn't take The Sword far beyond where it has been, but it doesn't particularly need to.

The Sword: "Tres Brujas"

Imbogodom: The Metallic Year LP (Thrill Jockey)

Recording for the first time under the name Imbogodom, cross-continental friends Alexander Tucker (of the UK) and Daniel Beban (of New Zealand) create haunted paintings of sound that are composed of loops, assorted instruments, warped vocals, and sampled sounds.

When fully assembled, the pieces are weird, dark, and trippy, like a dreamy/nightmarish journey through an industrial park or an abandoned amusement park.  The tracks are somewhere between sound collage and manipulated organics, and any given sound is likely to have indecipherable origins.

Fans of ambient, drone, and experimental music will love The Metallic Year, which is a limited release of 1,000 vinyl copies (with free MP3 downloads).

Imbogodom: "Unseen Ticket"

Honorable Mentions

!!!: Strange Weather, Isn’t It? (Warp)

Barb: s/t (Yep Roc)

S. Carey: All We Grow (Jagjaguwar)

Gabriele Coen: Awakening (Tzadik)

Coil Sea: s/t (Thrill Jockey)

Eels: Tomorrow Morning (E Works)

Fennesz/Daniell/Buck: Knoxville (Thrill Jockey)

Fitz and the Tantrums: Pickin' Up the Pieces (Dangerbird)

John Scofield & Metropole Orkest: 54 (Emarcy)

Brad Laner: Natural Selections (Hometapes)

Jon Langford & Skull Orchard: Old Devils (Bloodshot)

Malevolent Creation: Invidious Dominion (Nuclear Blast)

Marty Ehrlich & Hankus Netsky: Fables (Tzadik)

Brian Wilson: Reimagines Gershwin (Disney)

John Zorn: Filmworks XXIV: The Nobel Prizewinner (Tzadik)

Drone-doom poster duo Sunn O))) will curate the 2011 festival, guaranteeing another exceptional lineup.  The two official members (Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley) have participated in various past Roadburns, and they will follow curators David Tibet and Neurosis from past years.  Specifically, the group will choose the events of Friday, April 15, personally selecting bands to play before headlining the event.

Last year’s stellar roster included Shining (Norway), Russian Circles, Earthless, Kylesa, Enslaved, Master Musicians of Bukkake, Jesu, Bohren Und Der Club of Gore, Nachtmystiuim, and Shrinebuilder.  The 2011 festival will take place on April 14-17 in Tilburg, Holland.

If a trip to the Netherlands is out of your budget, or if you simply cannot wait until April to see Greg and Stephen, you can get your Sunn O))) fix in September during their collaboration project with Boris (ALTAR), performing at ATP New York and Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple.

The debut self-titled album is due for release on September 28, via Angel Oven Records, and the project has premiered the song "And Clash and Clash of Hoof and Heel"with accompanying video.

In the works since June of 2009, this Stephen Crane-inspired project was co-produced and mixed by Colin Marston, and mastered by seasoned guitarist / electro maestro James Plotkin (Khanate, Phantomsmasher, OLD).  The playfully batik-esque cover art was done by David Tibet of Current 93, while design/layout was charged by Faith Coloccia of Mamiffer.

The track list:

1.  “Soft Gardens Near The Sun, Keep Your Distant Beauty”
2. “There Came a Drooping Maid With Violets”
3. “If I Should Cast Off This Tattered Coat”
4. “And Clash and Clash of Hoof and Heel”
5. “Yes, I Have a Thousand Tongues, and Nine and Ninety-Nine Lie”
6. “God Fashioned the Ship of The World Carefully”
7. “There Was One Who Sought a New Road”
8. “Strange That I Should Have Grown So Suddenly Blind”

The artists:

R. Loren- vocals / textures
J. Leah- vocals
Ted Parsons (Swans, Jesu, Godflesh) – drums
Simon Scott (Slowdive) – electronics
Aidan Baker (Nadja) – guitar
Colin Marston (Krallice) – guitar
Vern Rumsey (Unwound) – bass
Prurient (Dominick Fernow of Hospital Productions, Cold Cave, etc.) – noise / electronics
James Blackshaw (Young God Records solo artist, Current 93) – piano
Hildur Gudnadottir (Touch Records) – cello
Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride) – vocals
Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) – vocals
Marissa Nadler (Kemado Records solo artist, appears on Xasthur’s latest record) – vocals
David Tibet (Current 93) – cover art
Faith Coloccia (Mamiffer) – design, layout, painting, collage

The record will be released in a limited-edition run of 250 copies (125 in transparent red and 125 in black). The exclusive, hand-numbered packaging comes from Interrobang Letterpress and features alternative album art by M. Repasch Nieves. If you don't have a record player or can't get your hands on a copy, If Tomorrow The War will be available from all major digital stores.

Tour dates with City Of Ships:

08.07.10 – Burlington, VT Monkey House w. Mose Giganticus
08.08.10 – Allston, MA Great Scott w. Mose Giganticus
08.09.10 – Portland, ME Geno's
08.10.10 – Wallingford, CT Cherry Street Station
08.11.10 – Providence, RI The 201
08.12.10 – TBA NJ
08.13.10 – Philadelphia, PA The Khyber w. Mose Giganticus
08.14.10 – New York, NY The Acheron

Pre-order the album now and get the digital files on August 13 (vinyl will ship on or around September 7).

Heavy Trash: Midnight Soul Serenade (Fat Possum)

As Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray unleash their third disc of old-school roots rock and rockabilly as Heavy Trash, the duo collaborates with a bona fide cast of contributors to create some of its finest tunes on a disc that expands its repertoire.

Accompanying organ is spread throughout Midnight Soul Serenade, an album that also contains splashes of piano on "Gee, I Really Love You," vocal gentleness and female vocal backings on "Good Man," vocal eccentricities on "Bumble Bee," Southwestern guitar and baritone harmonies on "Pimento," and low tones and acid flair on "The Pill," a tune evocative of Twin Peaks that tells its own psychedelic tale.

Top-end players Simon Chardiet, Sam Baker, Powersolo, Mickey Finn, Daniel Collas, and Those Darlins lend their good graces. If this kind of music piques your interest, pick this up.

Themselves: CrownsDown (Anticon)

After six years of silence (spent on countless other projects, many with each other), no-nonsense rap duo Themselves — Adam "Doseone" Drucker and Jeffrey "Jel" Logan — returned with a free "mixtape" earlier this year. Now the two have released their proper third album, CrownsDown, a sample-driven album that is both experimental and traditional.

The gritty, nasally intonation and rapid-fire delivery of Jel are slathered up and down the disc, which is based on hip-hop and dance beats and patchwork samples. Subtle founder Dax Pierson and 13 & God bandmates Jordan Dalrymple and Markus Acher make cameos.

Minamo: Kuroi Kawa: Black River (Tzadik)

Avant-violinist extraordinaire Carla Kihlstedt (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, 2 Foot Yard, The Book of Knots) and prolific classical pianist Satoko Fujii (Satoko Fujii Orchestra) spend much of their time on the outskirts of musical convention, combining their desired genres in whichever ways that they see fit.

Here the two create two worlds on two discs: one of dutifully recorded compositions and one of live, stream-of-conscious improvisations. Fans of experimental chamber music should dig this.

Honorable mentions:

Dave Douglas: A Single Sky (Greenleaf)
Jesu: Opiate Sun (Caldo Verde)
Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things: About Us (482 Music)
Jessica Pavone: Songs of Synastry & Solitude (Tzadik)
Pyramids with Nadja: s/t (Hydra Head)
Rupa & The April Fishes: Este Mundo (Cumbancha)
The Squirrel Nut Zippers: Lost at Sea
John Zorn: Femina (Tzadik)