Animals as Leaders: Weightless (Prosthetic)

Animals as Leaders: "Odessa"

Begun as a solo project that highlighted guitarist Tosin Abasi’s unmistakable shredding, Animals as Leaders released its debut album in 2009, emitting progressive-metal instrumentals with tasteful ambient, electronic, and jazz undertones. Now a trio, Animals as Leaders has returned with Weightless, its first recording as an official band.

The album features more hyper-prolific finger-tapping on eight-string guitars, the instrument of choice for Abasi’s meticulously crafted material. Electronica intros and bridges play a large role, but Weightless — ironically — often is very, very heavy, more so than its predecessor, trudging into sludge territory for spells. Despite the insane technicality, there’s always an emphasis on melody and head-banging rhythms, but the music — endorsed by shred virtuoso Steve Vai — is just as suitable for those with short attention spans.

- Text by Scott Morrow & Jenn Beening.

David Lynch: Crazy Clown Time (Sunday Best / PIAS)

David Lynch: "Crazy Clown Time"

Filmmaker David Lynch, best known for surrealist works such as Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet, may forever be considered an artist first and a musician second. And true to these labels, his new musical effort, Crazy Clown Time, is heavy on the art and light on the music. Maybe this draws the lines too sharply, but it’s fair to say that what Lynch has created here is nearly all atmosphere. It’s still a pop album, but it’s a pop album that a filmmaker like Lynch would make.

With echoing guitars lifted by highly defined cymbal splashes that enliven water-logged beats, Crazy Clown Time could score a washed-out Italian western, Nick Cave’s deviant Death of Bunny Munro, or, not surprisingly, a David Lynch film. The strangest thing about the album is that despite the great ’80s bass riff of “Stone’s Gone Up” or the elliptical synths of the somewhat banal “Good Day Today,”­ Lynch never completely loses the atmosphere.

More than writing songs, what Lynch is really doing is creating characters. These characters then are the subjects of dark narratives, all of which feature a similar texture: perpetual dampness, heavy light, and the disembodied chill of film noir.

Accessibility has always been Lynch’s worst enemy, but even though some listeners will abandon the record after the first track, “Pinky’s Dream” — a charged nightmare featuring an incredible performance by Karen O — there are several entry points for pop listeners. And longtime fans will love it all, the electro-pop confessionals and the more cinematic vignettes.

- Text by Timothy S. Aames.

Trentemøller: Reworked/Remixed (In My Room / HFN Music)

Efterklang: "Raincoats" (Trentemøller remix)

Danish production guru Anders Trentemøller built his name in the mid-2000s as a dance-floor DJ with extensive remixes and studio credits. In 2010, however, he went “live” and released a sophomore album of chilling organic orchestrations, complemented by electronics but driven by tremolo-swollen guitar riffs.

With Reworked/Remixed, a new double-album release, listeners can hear both of these sides of Trentemøller. These 22 tracks include his remixes of other established artists (UNKLE, Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Mew, Efterklang), remixes of Trentemøller material by others, and self-remixes and instrumental outtakes. By its nature, it’s a little more oriented for the dance crowd, but Reworked/Remixed remains a compelling cross-section — and introduction to — Trentemøller’s catalog.

- Text by Scott Morrow.

And So I Watch You from Afar: Gangs (Sargent House / Richter Collective)

And So I Watch You from Afar: "Beautiful Universe Master Champion"

In March, the peerless Sargent House label gave American listeners a much-needed introduction to Adebisi Shank, an Irish instrumental trio that merges raging guitar harmonies with spasmodic electronics. Now Sargent House is at it again with Richter Collective, the DIY Irish label that counts Adebisi drummer Mick Roe as a co-founder, to provide American distribution for the sophomore release of And So I Watch You from Afar, a Belfast-based trio of mathy post-rockers from Northern Ireland.

Based on the other side of the Emerald Isle, And So I Watch You from Afar has a similar MO to Adebisi and sonic brethren such as Don Caballero, The Advantage, and Maps & Atlases. And like Don Cab, the band excels with a heavier rhythmic quality thanks to single-octave riffs, deep bass grooves, and mid-tempo breakdowns. At times, it seethes with a punk ferocity, but at others, it's content to charm listeners with clean-channel harmonies and wordless choruses (such as on the buoyant and glistening "7 Billion People All Alive at Once").

Over the course of its 44 minutes, Gangs delivers an unrelenting and celebratory riff fest. There's a dash of Fang Island here, a touch of Mogwai there, and a smidge of whatever math- or post-rock group fits any given passage. But when it's all said and done, ASIWYFA just sounds like itself — a band having a grand ol' time.

- Text by Scott Morrow.

Ralfe Band: Bunny and the Bull soundtrack (Warp Films / Ghost Ship)

Ralfe Band: "Bunny and the Bull Title Theme"

The world got its first taste of Ralfe Band's playful folk in 2004 thanks to BBC Radio1’s late and great DJ John Peel. Since that introduction, songwriter Oliver Ralfe, drummer Andrew Mitchell, and crew went on to release a pair of quirky singer-songwriter albums, but their soundtrack to the 2009 British comedy Bunny and the Bull portrayed a different side of the group. Ralfe, musically inspired by scores like Ennio Morricone's Once Upon a Time in the West, Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo, and Herbie Hancock's jazzy Blow-Up, embraced the opportunity to compose his own original soundtrack, and the result was an eclectic, flavorful set of mostly instrumental accompaniment.

Produced by Warp Films, Bunny and the Bull joins Stephen, a man disgruntled by his humdrum life, in his recollection of a humorously catastrophic odyssey through Europe with his lunatic friend Bunny. The instrumental diversity and tempo fluctuations on the score, occasionally appearing within a single track, perfectly suit the film's road-movie style. Whether or not you imagine the music in conjunction with the film, the score’s ditties vividly illustrate scenes of freewheeling, nomadic travel throughout Eastern Europe. Pianos, cowbells, accordions, triangles, flamenco guitars, ukuleles, and violas establish the whimsical nature of the music and bring the listener to atmospheres of French cabarets, Victorian England, Balkan folk dances, and bull-fighting Spain.

- Text by Lauren Zens.

Owen: Ghost Town (Polyvinyl)

Owen: "No Place Like Home"

Mike Kinsella has spent the better part of two decades playing in a bevy of Illinois-based indie-rock bands. Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc, Owls, American Football — each has shown a different side of Kinsella’s abilities. But Owen, his now decade-running solo project, has been the most multifaceted, and Ghost Town is more proof.

The album, as usual, is rooted in Kinsella’s delicate vocals and multi-instrumental prowess, but the timbres are as assorted as ever. Overdubbed acoustic and electric guitars, strings, piano, marimba, and glockenspiel complement the crux of each song, resulting in another heavily layered and highly melodic batch of tunes. Though Ghost Town won’t catch you off guard, its unassuming depth might surprise you.

- Text by Scott Morrow.

Slugabed: Sun Too Bright Turn it Off EP (Ninja Tune)

Slugabed: "Sun Too Bright Turn it Off"

Like many other UK cities, including Brighton and Bristol, London is on the forefront of current styles and approaches to beat-making. It’s also the residence of DJ and producer Slugabed, whose new EP, Sun Too Bright Turn it Off, sounds like the East London and Los Angeles beat scenes coming into one.

This new release marks back-to-back EPs for Slugabed, a.k.a. Greg Feldwick, as he makes a strong and steady buildup to his debut album for Ninja Tune. Parallel to the Moonbeam Rider EP, Sun Too Bright Turn it Off builds a spacey, multi-dimensional soundscape filled with chopped-and-screwed break beats, wobbly bass drops, and wild 8-bit synths.

But the two releases are unquestionably different in terms of spacing and pacing. Sun Too Bright is a substantially more down-tempo affair, which in fact better establishes Feldwick’s ability as a composer. Though his productions inherently lean toward dubstep and bass spatterings, Feldwick makes the transcontinental connection by unleashing Brainfeeder-textured melodies that thrust his music into a futuristic universe where genres are connected in unexpected ways.

- Text by Michael Nolledo. Read the full review here.

Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason: Sólaris (Bedroom Community)

Ben Frost & Daníel Bjarnason: "Reyja"

Last year, Mat Schulz, who started Poland’s Unsound Festival, asked composers Ben Frost and Daníel Bjarnason — each residents of Reykjavík, Iceland — to rework Andre Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Sólaris. For both Frost and Bjarnason, Music for Sólaris is a complete departure. Though Frost’s music is often labeled everything from dark industrial to classical minimalism, Bjarnason’s compositions are wildly extravagant yet controlled; together, it’s an inspired collaboration. Under their guidance, Sólaris achieves a delicate balance of the two personalities.

The soundtrack begins with “We Don’t Need Other Worlds, We Need Mirrors,” a subtle, almost piercing string arrangement that eases into the album’s steadily mounting tension. That tension reaches its summit in the latter half of the third track, “Simulacra II,” when restraint is dismissed for something more vivid and emotional.

As the soundtrack’s intensity waxes and wanes throughout, there also develops a clearer distinction between the two composers. In “Saccades,” one of the album’s closing tracks, Frost’s disturbing guitar-thumping creates an eerie discord against Bjarnason’s controlled piano, played one note at a time.

What began as an improvisation played to Sólaris resulted is something far from the original score. Nevertheless, it skillfully captures the haunting and beautifully fragmented quality of the film.

- Text by Meaghann Korbel.

Archaios: The Distant (Dark Canvas)

Archaios: "The Distant"

Dominican melodic-death-metal band Archaios has been at it since the mid-’90s, cranking out crushing, wailing riffs and blast beats. But due to the nation's lack of wealth, support, and proper metal production — not to mention its weighty presence of right-wing media — Archaios has only now been able to release The Distant, its second full-length album.

The album's release, however, is an accomplishment in itself, made even more impressive by the fact that it's the first Dominican metal album to be internationally released by a North American label. But Archaios' selection here is more than as mere novelty; its music, though drawing parallels to plenty of extreme-metal outfits, weaves together trademarks of black, prog, death, and electro metal to make one head-crushing blend.

Somehow, the tiny island nation with an equally miniature metal scene has produced a metal band that can hang with the best of them. With proper distribution and promotion, Archaios just might bring the metal spotlight to the Dominican Republic.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson and Scott Morrow.

Honorable Mentions

200 Years: s/t (Drag City)

Brian Eno & (the words of) Rick Holland: Panic of Looking (Warp)

Chris Connelly: Artificial Madness (Relapse)

Matthew Friedberger: Death-in-Life LP (Thrill Jockey)

Hubble: Hubble Drums (Northern Spy)

Lateef the Truthspeaker: Firewire (Quannum)

Cass McCombs: Humor Risk (Domino)

Marissa Nadler: Covers Volume II (Box of Cedar)

Oneohtrix Point Never: Replica (Software / Mexican Summer)

Polinski: Labyrinths (Monotreme)

The Skull Defekts f. Daniel Higgs and Zomes: 2013-3012 (Thrill Jockey)

Zs: 33 2×7” (Northern Spy)

[Chromatic, our 400-page exploration of musicians and color, is out now. Order here!]

Holy Fuck: "Latin America"

It’s already been established: Holy Fuck has a colorful name. And the electro-rock quartet is sick of talking about it. “Thank you for not asking me that question; I really, really appreciate it,” says Graham Walsh, one of the group's effects/keyboards manipulators. “Literally, everyone asks, ‘So how did you guys think up that name?’”

After six years of touring and three full-length records, the quartet can’t be blamed for tiring of the question, especially when it detracts attention from its music and intoxicating live sets, which often border between performance art and all-out rock show. Unsurprisingly, Holy Fuck’s music defies easy classification and genre stereotypes, though many have described its sound as indie electro created on analog instruments, or instrumental noise pop with dance-punk sensibilities. Regardless of what one decides, he or she will soon come to realize the vast difference between Holy Fuck’s music as it exists on a record and how it is experienced during a live set.

Formed by Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh in 2004 in Toronto, Holy Fuck rotated through a series of drummers and bassists as it recorded two records (s/t in 2005 and LP in 2007) and toured extensively throughout the USA and Europe, including stints at SXSW, Coachella, Lollapalooza, and the Glastonbury Festival, as well as opening slots for !!!, Wolf Parade, and Cornelius and its own headlining tours. In 2008, the group finally locked down its roster, with Brian and Graham manning a series of effects pedals and keyboards, Matt Schulz on drums, and Matt “Punchy” McQuaid on bass.

“For LP, we were kind of doing it in different studios, with different [musicians] on different songs,” Walsh explains. “But for the last couple of years, we've had those two guys (Schulz and McQuaid) on drums and bass, and it's been great having just a solid, consistent lineup where you know where everyone's coming from.”

But even with a more permanent lineup, writing and recording material for Latin, the band’s third record, proved challenging. “We've been touring pretty consistently since LP came out, so there isn't all that much downtime to sit around and write,” Walsh says. “[Work on Latin] wasn't necessarily done on the road, but it was done usually while we were touring.”

Released in May of 2010, Latin is perhaps the band’s strongest album to date, packed with the dense, layered instrumental walls of sound and frenetic, driving percussion that have anchored and defined the group’s earlier releases. But the record, as a whole, maintains an aural story arc throughout, with brooding, meditative tracks (“1MD”) that slowly make their way into gorgeous, shimmering melodies (“Stay Lit” and “Silva & Grimes”) before building into a crashing crescendo (“SHT MTN”). All told, it is a sound that borrows from the dramatic tendencies of Mogwai, the tightly honed pop sensibilities of Pell Mell, and LCD Soundsystem’s knack for crafting perfect dance beats.

The artwork for Latin, created by James Mejia and Bjorn Copeland, is also a huge step forward, delivering a striking, cohesive accompaniment to the music. On the cover, Holy Fuck’s name is spelled out in a colorful, all-caps drop shadow over a white background. Inside, the hint of pattern from the drop shadow is given space to breathe and stretches across the gatefold in all its polychromatic glory.

A visual nod to the band’s self-titled album is present in the black-and-white stripes, while the rest is a busy abstraction. It could easily stand on its own in a gallery, but it says a great deal about Holy Fuck’s aesthetic that it lurks just behind the visually restrained cover. As with its music, explosive moments of color reward those willing to look a bit closer.

Holy Fuck’s recorded work merely serves as a pale blueprint to its live shows, when the band works together as a well-oiled machine. Each song develops into an elaborately improvised and embellished version of itself, while Graham and Brian coax a glorious range of sounds from a complicated series of homemade effects pedals, thrift-store keyboards, and a 35mm film synchronizer.

“There’s no rules,” Walsh says, explaining the band’s live-performance (and instrument-shopping) philosophy. “Whatever's inspiring, whatever gets you excited. There's sort of a mandate behind our band: any instrument you want to play or anything that sounds interesting or can spark a creative idea, that's what we'll want to use. Say you go to the thrift store and find, like, My Barbie's First Drum Machine. Maybe it's malfunctioning or something and it makes a really awesome droning sound. Plug that into your set-up and run it through two distortion pedals and a delay pedal and it sounds awesome.”

Walsh pauses for a second. “I don't know,” he continues, “it could really be anything. I have a cool contact microphone that I made, and when you pound on it, it makes a really cool, clicky, knocking sound, and to be able to use that as a percussion element is pretty cool too. Different instruments all spark different creative ideas, and they all get sent through the same Holy Fuck machine, and we turn them into songs.”

That Holy Fuck machine continues to gain steam, with extensive US headlining tours and an exhausting series of American and European festival appearances. Playing larger venues and festival stages has also given the band a chance to experiment with adding visual elements to its stage show, beyond the band’s own antics, like wrestling a series of keyboards from a giant onstage case.
 

Video still from Holy Fuck's "Young Turks"

Video still from Holy Fuck's "Young Turks"

Video still from Holy Fuck's "Young Turks"

“There’s definitely room for creativity in the visuals aspect of playing live,” Walsh says. “As much as we want people to come to our shows for the music — the audio and the whole aural experience — there's definitely something that can be done with visuals, and we have been experimenting with that a little bit more lately. We've worked with a collective in Los Angeles that helped us develop a light show for our concerts. If you can find something that really works well, it can actually enhance the sound of the music in some ways and enhance your senses when you’re experiencing it. It makes the experience a lot more overwhelming and amazing for the audience, which is kind of epic.”

The band used its new light show while touring in support of Latin, performing under washes of intense reds, greens, and purples, interspersed with pulses and flashes synched to Schulz’s driving percussion. “We’re still tweaking it and trying out different things,” Walsh says. “Hopefully, it can morph and become a different thing every time, something we can build on and have fun with.”

KILLL: s/t CD/DVD (Fysisk Format)

KILLL: "194"

Synchronized light shows have come a long way at rock concerts, but few — if any — outfits have approached the sensory-overload intensity of Oslo's KILLL.

Comprised of members of JR Ewing, Jaga Jazzist, and Altaar — and including visual/sound artist Are Mokkelbost (featured in Chromatic) — KILLL is a live-only band that collides mechanical yet fervid noise metal with insane strobe and LED visuals.

Its concerts feature an enormous backdrop hung to form an open box around the band. Kyrre Karlsen, the band’s de-facto lighting technician, sets off an intense series of colors that are in perfect time with the music, creating a pulsating illusion of movement against the backdrop.

The video footage that was captured for this DVD is unable to recreate the optical phenomenon, so the music videos therein are collages of hyperactive video cuts, built in large part from third-party sources (audience members, show organizers, etc.). Witnessing KILLL's live show is the only true way to experience the band, but if you can't get to Scandinavia anytime soon, grab this dual CD/DVD release — and brace yourself.

- Text by Noah Davis and Scott Morrow.

*** WARNING! This video contains heavy strobe and LED effects. People with medical conditions should avoid viewing! ***

Das Racist: Relax (Greedhead)

Das Racist: "Michael Jackson"

With two free mixtapes under its belt, Brooklyn-based hip-hop trio Das Racist has cornered the market on hyper-literate slacker rap. Its sound is defined by above-average dance-hop beats (from the likes of El-P, Diplo, and Boi-1da) and an unmistakably blasé style laden with off-hand references to everything from philosophical texts to drunk texts.

On Relax, the group's debut album, its satirical nature is on full display, mixing repetitious refrains of frivolous topics with name-dropping nods to critical thinkers. This dichotomy often plays out in rapid succession, demonstrated from back-to-back tracks like "Girl" and "Shut Up, Man." The former is a tongue-in-cheek love rap about "what we came to do," and the latter (featuring production and a guest verse by El-P) references novelist Isabel Allende (a first cousin once removed of Salvador Allende) and 1960s counterculture figure Timothy Leary.

On the surface, it's easy to dismiss Das Racist's music as joke rap or hipster rap, but there is serious thought and effort behind the façade of carelessness. Just try to keep up as the razor-sharp wit and rapid-fire, stream-of-consciousness rhymes draw parallels between seemingly disparate ideas and challenge traditional, mindless rap bravado.

- Text by Kyle Gilkeson and Scott Morrow.

Primus: Green Naugahyde (ATO / Prawn Song)

Primus: "Tragedy's a'Comin"

The oddball rock trio known as Primus is one of those intermittent reminders that something different and strange can pierce the veil of mainstream radio every so infrequently.

Though Les Claypool's pet project has been active on and off in a touring capacity for most of the past decade, the group now is back with its first studio album since 1999. Green Naugahyde is quintessentially Primus on many levels, but it notably includes pre-Suck on This drummer Jay Lane, who has collaborated in some of Claypool's countless "solo" incarnations and who is credited for breathing new creative life into Primus.

Lane's kick-heavy beats keep things moving throughout the album. But first and foremost, of course, the album is carried by Claypool's funky bass distortions and quirky vocals and Larry LaLonde's psychedelic, funky, idiosyncratic guitar blurts.

Predictably, Green Naugahyde is full of more tales of weirdness and occasional sociopolitical commentary (such as "Eternal Consumption Engine," about America's bottomless consumerism, and "HOINFODAMAN," about selling out to the advertising world). The vocals are another dose of half-sung and faux-dramatic bizarreness, alternately doubled by deep and falsetto harmonies, that few can pull off well. In essence, it's everything that you'd want from a Primus album.

The Dirt Daubers: Wake Up, Sinners! (Colonel Knowledge / Thirty Tigers)

The Dirt Daubers: "Wake Up, Sinners!"

The Dirt Daubers is a slight change of pace for JD Wilkes, the wild front man for the raucous, rockabilly-inspired blues-punk band The Legendary Shack Shakers. Joined by his wife, Jessica Wilkes, and Shack Shakers bassist Mark Robertson, Wilkes has slowed down a bit to help craft ragtime-inspired country blues.

The trio's sophomore album, Wake Up, Sinners!, finds JD's gritty and rumbling vocals balanced by Jessica's rich tones and harmonies, floating over finger-picked banjo, bellowing blues harp, and thumpin' bull fiddle. The Southern gothic lyrics spin tales of traveling outsiders, a strong-willed woman, and the true tale of a misunderstood boogey man from the deep woods of Kentucky. The trio's toe-tappin' rhythms and earnest sincerity are apt ingredients for a slice of Americana.

- Text by Portia Medina. Read the Q&A here.

Vader: Welcome to the Morbid Reich (Nuclear Blast)

Vader: "Come and See My Sacrifice"

Vader holds a pronounced place in Polish metal, helping to usher extremity into the country's underground scene in the mid-1980s when Communist rule still reigned.

Welcome to the Morbid Reich is the band's ninth studio album and second for Nuclear Blast. Still led by guitarist/bassist/vocalist Piotr Wiwczarek, the band now features another new lineup (although drum tracks were laid down by the last drummer, Paweł "Paul" Jaroszewicz), and a few new members help to make their presences felt.

New second guitarist Marek "Spider" Pająk is credited for the music on four tracks, including a haunting symphonic interlude. Symphonic accents, in fact, are a little more pronounced here, but an extreme blend of trash and death metal still rules the roost. Over Jaroszewicz's jaw-dropping kick-drum prowess and impossibly fast blast beats, Wiwczarek and Pająk are left to run wild with speed riffs, chugging discordance, and eruptive solos.

Honorable Mentions

Anthrax: Worship Music (Megaforce)

Arabrot: Solar Anus (Fysisk Format)

Astronautalis: This is Our Science (Fake Four)

Barn Owl: Lost in the Glare (Thrill Jockey)

Mick Barr: Coiled Malescence (Safety Meeting)

Anomie Belle: The Crush

Big Harp: White Hat (Saddle Creek)

Blitzen Trapper: American Goldwing (Sub Pop)

Cymbals Eat Guitars: Lenses Alien (Barsuk)

Einjerher: Norrøn (Indie Recordings)

Glenn Jones: The Wanting (Thrill Jockey)

Ladytron: Gravity the Seducer (Nettwerk)

Lydia Loveless: Indestructible Machine (Bloodshot)

W.W. Lowman: Kumquat May (Atavistic)

Mates of State: Mountaintops (Barsuk)

Mogwai: Earth Division EP (Sub Pop)

Neon Indian: Era Extraña (Mom & Pop Music)

Novalima: Karimba (ESL Music)

Jack Oblivian: Rat City (Fat Possum)

Chuck Ragan: Covering Ground (SideOneDummy)

Shimmering Stars: Violent Hearts (Hardly Art)

Toddla T: Watch Me Dance (Ninja Tune)

Toro y Moi: Freaking Out EP (Carpark)

Wild Flag: s/t (Merge)

A Winged Victory for the Sullen: s/t (Kranky)

Wooden Shjips: West (Thrill Jockey)

A.Armada: "The Dam was Split but the City was Saved"

It’s a radiant Sunday morning in Athens, Georgia, but sharp December winds cut down Washington Street. Local post-rock maestros Bryant Williamson and Jeremy Harbin of A.Armada duck into Trapeze Pub to escape the painful sting of 30-degree weather against unaccustomed Southern skin.

Four years ago, when the four-piece played its first sets around town, the venue belonged to a 24-hour joint called Hot Corner Coffee — an after-show (or even between-set) essential for many because of its prime real estate 50 feet from the front door of the famous 40 Watt Club. But Athens breeds rapid change for businesses and musicians alike.

A.Armada is one of the town’s many intrastate transplants, with founding members Matt Nelson and Josh McCauly hailing from Columbus, Georgia, a small town in the shadow of US Army post Fort Benning. Harbin, also from Columbus, was recruited two years ago while home for the holiday season. Between pulls of Trapeze coffee, Harbin explains why South Georgia was not a particularly fertile environment for dynamic instrumental melodies in the vein of Explosions in the Sky.

“In Columbus, it’s more like there’s a scene of kids who want to drink and smoke, and they play at a park,” he says. “And then there’s a bizarro scene of Christian kids who go to a church — and form screamo bands.”

Before last year, A.Armada maintained an under-the-radar presence in Athens, struggling to make a name for itself in an already elbow-to-elbow, headstock-to-headstock scene. Following the release of a self-titled EP in 2006, the textures of the group’s nimble yet emotive sound resonated with then-unaffiliated Williamson. “I randomly heard A.Armada playing at [Athens music venue] DT, and I just heard great-sounding guitar tones,” Williamson says.
 

"Bryant had been the guy in town I talked to about our sound anyway, because I valued his opinion. He was kind of a dickhead, you know? So I knew that he’d be honest.”

His own noise-punk band, Cinemechanica, had founded Hello Sir Records, home to voracious, genre-detonating factions like We Versus the Shark, So Many Dynamos, and Maserati. After A.Armada began opening for these soon-to-be-peers, enthusiasm grew among label loyalists. Hello Sir released A.Armada’s EP, Anam Cara, in February of 2009, with early supporter Williamson on bass. Nelson, meanwhile, began playing bass guitar in Cinemechanica.

“When Bryant started playing with us, and I started playing with Cinemechanica, good stuff started happening as far as causing people to give our band a listen,” Nelson says. “We just kind of fed off each other. Bryant had been the guy in town I talked to about our sound anyway, because I valued his opinion. He was kind of a dickhead, you know? So I knew that he’d be honest.”

A.Armada’s dogged presence and openness to criticism has yielded a consistent and stirring debut on its new label. Whereas the group’s first effort held fast to conventional structures, sounding more like a post-punk album with optional lyrics left out, Anam Cara is unhindered without being ostentatious. The members’ technical aptitude is evident but restrained, evidenced in the escalating tremolo of “Fall Triumph,” which collects itself in a soft-rolling breather, like a mild Yo La Tengo track with a marching snare.

The following song, “Into Days & Nights & Years & Months,” transitions from a measured shimmer into billowing shoegaze echo, concluding with a dreamy blend of both. This EP is a precious standout in an over-saturated genre that should have fans of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai relishing its swales and zeniths.

Now in the process of writing their first full-length album, A.Armada’s members are adjusting to the newfound sense of belonging against the ever-evolving backdrop of their famous college town. “It took us so long — two years — before we were actually playing to anybody,” Nelson says. And although the band’s lineup and sound have diverged over the years, “We didn’t want to start all over, I guess,” Nelson says. “We never considered changing the name. A.Armada has always been Josh and me. It’s weird because we’re finally an Athens band.”

Atmosphere: The Family Sign (Rhymesayers, 4/12/11)

Atmosphere: "Just for Show"

The land of independent hip hop is a dangerous, inconstant place. Giants like Rawkus Records and Definitive Jux, once considered among the most vital sources of hip-hop innovation, have collapsed into footnotes. But Minnesota-based Rhymesayers Entertainment has managed to hold its place in the world of underground rap for more than 15 years, thanks in part to founders Slug and Ant’s flagship duo, Atmosphere.

Atmosphere’s previous album, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, broke into the Billboard top 10 — an impressive achievement for an underground hip-hop group, and, as a result, Atmosphere represents to the general public what underground hip hop is. Its latest album, The Family Sign, typifies all of the strengths and weaknesses of indie rap, but it’s unusual and accessible enough to be easily enjoyed. If the genre must have a face, it could do much worse than Atmosphere.

Ant’s usual synthesizer-heavy beats are nowhere to be found here, as he instead recruits guitarist Nate Collis and keyboardist Erick Anderson to provide live instrumentation over his arrangements.  On uptempo songs like “Just For Show,” the two musicians prove to be admirably funky, like a pared-down Roots.

Elsewhere, their restrained, subtle playing avoids stuffing up the tracks, lending negative sonic space that gives the songs an intimate feeling that's rarely encountered in rap. Collis’ acoustic work in “Who I’ll Never Be” is an intricate wonder that’s reminiscent of some of Led Zeppelin’s more low-key numbers, and the spidery, quiet-to-loud line on “Something So” recalls the post rock of Mogwai and its ilk.  Ant’s songwriting shines throughout, crafting tracks that sound alien to the rap genre save for their propulsive beats.

Slug’s flow, however, can be choppy. He tends to rely solely on end rhymes, and one stretch on “Became” finds him ending four consecutive lines with either “you” or “ya.” His lyrics occasionally eschew subtlety for excessive explanation; on the same song, he raps, “Your footprints grew further apart / I knew what that meant, and it was hurting my heart,” before immediately following it with “It meant you started to run.”

But aside from these minor miscues, Slug’s lyrical presence on the record is a welcome one. As the title suggests, The Family Sign is dominated by themes of family, connection, and interpersonal relationships, and Slug’s vaunted storytelling abilities come through in spades.

“If You Can Save Me Now” weaves a harrowing story of a man caught in a car crash, comforted by the memories of his girlfriend. “The Last To Say” is a son’s lament for his abused mother’s wasted life, featuring haunting lines such as “In fact, the biggest beating was the day that he died / 'cause now it’s too late for her to make a new life.” “Bad Bad Daddy” takes a comedic lens to the family theme. In a tale as disturbing as it is hilarious, Slug rhymes from the point of view of a negligent father who takes his nine children to the bar to celebrate his wife’s latest pregnancy.

The album reaches its most personal note on “Something So,” Slug’s ode to his two children. His story is surprisingly emotional, with insecurity, excitement, and love proudly on display. “Thank you for the branch you grew on this tree,” he says, later acknowledging his children’s births as the only two times in his life that he’s “stood in some sunshine.”

Honest, emotional subject matter, coupled with Ant and company’s evolving sound, signal a more mature Atmosphere. It appears as though Slug’s role as a father has eroded the selfishness that so many rappers share, and it has helped him to turn his eye onto more universal issues. It's a welcome change, and one that makes The Family Sign a worthwhile listen.

Mogwai: Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (Sub Pop)

Mogwai: "Rano Pano"

Mogwai, everyone’s favorite Glaswegian post-rock quintet, recently celebrated 15 years together, and during that span, its nearly unaltered lineup has been as consistent as its mid-tempo rock instrumentals. The band’s sound has changed along the way, including intermittent vocal activity, but by and large, fans know what to expect: reverberated guitar melodies, glimmering keyboard lines, steady beats, and lots of fuzz.

Along the way, the band has shifted a bit from hypnotic, repetitive guitar lines to have songs with more conventional rock leads, and a prime example is “How to Be a Werewolf” from its seventh and newest full-length album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Still, nothing here will take listeners by surprise. It’s another 10 tracks of roughly five-minute instrumentals, with a smattering of highlights – a ghostly guitar/keyboard line in triplicate, an upbeat rock track with a half-time breakdown, and a sunny yet sludgy bass melody.

Mophono: Cut Form Crush LP (CB Records)

Mophono: "Be Human Part One"

Another of the up-and-coming DJs/producers from San Francisco’s beat scene, Mophono (also known as DJ Centipede) has just released a neck-breaking full-length debut called Cut Form Crush.  It follows a handful of EPs and remixes that were scattered over the past six years, but outside of beat junkies, it likely is an introduction for most listeners.

Released on Mophono’s own CB Records, Cut Form Crush is an LP/digital-only release where Moog bleeps meet hard hip-hop beats, jazzy fills, heavy funk cuts, and fanatical synth hooks.  Though it features guest spots by Flying Lotus and MC Subverse, Mophono does all of the heavy lifting, splicing samples over boom-bap beats and spacey dubstep passages.

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra: World of Funk (Ubiquity)

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra: "Cairo Cairo"

A super-prolific and accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Shawn Lee has made a career of splicing disparate styles over his foundation of funk, soul, R&B, and more.  Now, just two months after the release of a dub-, funk-, and rock-infused album of classical covers, Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra is back with a world-driven collection of exceptionally funky jams.  It’s not old-school funk, of course, but a similar brand of Lee’s multifarious style – hip-hop and down-tempo beats, grooves galore, and layers upon layers of sounds.

Like usual, Lee employs a small music shop’s worth of instruments to achieve his diversity, this time tabbing sitar, kalimba, charango, bouzouki, tambura, steel drum, castanets, udu, and balafon among other choices.  It helps World of Funk make virtual visits to India, Egypt, the Mediterranean, and many other locales while adding Ethio-jazz, Latin psychedelia, and Eastern funk.  Guest singers also help to establish the global vibes, including some with Brazilian, Egyptian, and Cambodian heritage, with the latter coming from Dengue Fever frontwoman Chhom Nimol.

And with additional guest spots by mysterious beat-smith Clutchy Hopkins, multi-talented bandleader Michael Leonhart, and NOMO songwriter Elliot Bergman, World of Funk is a bona-fide melting pot of talent.

Total Fucking Destruction: Haters (Translation Loss)

Total Fucking Destruction: "Time Theft"

Formed after the first demise of Brutal Truth, Total Fucking Destruction has spent more than a decade presenting themes of nihilism, annihilation, and nonsense over grind, thrash, and punk rock.  Led by drummer/vocalist Richard Hoak of Brutal Truth, the band exists as a mocking assault on the global power structure, the inhumanity of homo sapiens, and mindless consumption.

Musically and vocally, the band has a very defiant vibe, and its new album, Hater, is no different.  There’s a punk-rock flair with overdubbed growls and gang vocals, and there’s the usual dose of rock-'n'-roll riffage, but the base of blast beats, double kick, and power chords remains the same.  Unlike a lot of grind bands, Total Fucking Destruction has plenty of tempo shifts, and though Hater isn’t as off the wall as previous albums have been, it might be the band’s most polished and cohesive release.

Sims: Bad Time Zoo (Doomtree)

Sims: "Burn It Down"

Headlined by Rhymesayers recording artist P.O.S, Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree has some up-front name recognition but also a roster full of talent.  That includes Andrew Sims, an MC and early member of Doomtree who has done his part to help cultivate independent rap.

Bad Time Zoo is Sims’ second and newest solo album, produced by Doomtree associate and DJ Lazerbeak.  There’s enough sociopolitical content – including the call to action of “One-Dimensional Man” – but there are personal themes along the way, such as the unabashed balladry of “Love My Girl” and “When It Rolls In.”

With horn, piano, and guitar samples, double-time hi-hats, and thumping bass and synth hits, Bad Time Zoo sets a head-nodding foundation for Sims’ steady (and often doubled) delivery.  P.O.S drops a guest verse on “Too Much,” but this is far from another group effort, standing on its own as Sims continues to define his style.

Shugo Tokumaru: Port Entropy (Polyvinyl)

Shugo Tokumaru: "Lahaha"

Port Entropy is the latest full-length from Shugo Tokumaru, a Japanese singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who performs or produces every sound on his records.  It’s his first US release on Polyvinyl Records, but Tokumaru has already achieved considerable commercial success in his native nation and abroad, including TV ads and a spot in the Japanese top 40.

With self-professed influences of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Japanese pop, Tokumaru wields an array of sounds behind his cheery, airy, harmonized vocals.  Guitar, glockenspiel, flute, banjo, and homemade percussion are just a handful of what one hears on an average album.  Some may feel overwhelmed by the layer upon layer of major-chord melody, but Port Entropy is another golden nugget of sunshine pop, with chops that aren’t too shabby either.

Honorable Mentions

Arbouretum: The Gathering (Thrill Jockey)

Beaten by Them: Invisible Origins (Logicpole)

Bright Eyes: The People's Key (Saddle Creek)

DC the MIDI Alien: Avengers Airwaves (Brick)

Elk: Let’s Get Married (Shape Up)

The Eternals: Approaching the Energy Field (Plustapes / Addenda)

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake (Vagrant)

Tim Hecker: Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky)

The Natural Yogurt Band: Tuck in With… (Now-Again)

Austin Peralta: Endless Planets (Brainfeeder)

Phaedra: The Sea (Rune Grammofon)

La Sera: s/t (Hardly Art)

The Skull Defekts: Peer Amid (Thrill Jockey)

Win Win: s/t (Vice)

Since the early 1990s,  D’Andrea has gradually become a staple in the West Coast music scene. Growing up, D’Andrea produced zines and fliers – generally in the DIY fashion of Xeroxing – for a variety of underground bands in the Oakland, California area. By the mid-'90s, the artist's work began to receive well-deserved attention: D’Andrea soon had a commission for an album cover.

David V. D'Andrea: Swans poster

These days, D’Andrea appreciates music from the 1960-'70s progressive-rock era, as well as current psych and “heavy” music – which is where his vivid illustrations are utilized most often. However, D’Andrea is adamant about mentioning his opposition towards genre and music classification in general.

“I simply try to align myself with bands and artists who aren’t stuck in a genre – either physically or mentally," he says. "Over the past few years, I’ve been extremely fortunate in this respect.” D’Andrea has recently produced commissioned work for artists as varied as Queens of the Stone Age, Mogwai, Swans, and OM, and even a poster for director Lars Von Trier’s genre-defining film Antichrist. Additionally, he has designed album artwork for Ulver, Witchcraft, and Wino, among others.

D’Andrea’s poster and album art are successful examples of the artist’s punctuated and mature style. The pieces – in terms of both layout and content – firmly hold their ground. His artwork is dark yet organic, heavy yet fantastic. His images weave together rich hues, dark tones, and exceptionally complex textures and details.

David V. D'Andrea: Antichrist poster

Moreover, the artwork is full of gothic undertones and surreal surroundings that create an ethereal quality within the imagery. The viewer is placed in a luscious, fantastical world – one that is endlessly dark and delicate. D’Andrea creates eerie scenes filled with stoic human figures, disillusioned faces, nature, and death. Depictions of trees, blossoming flowers, and tombstones are omnipresent, as are D’Andrea’s unusual textures – often reminiscent of reptile scales and bird feathers.

In the past, D’Andrea has worked closely with friend and artist Matt Parrillo, who founded the independent record label Life is Abuse and the printmaking studio Monolith Press – two projects with which D’Andrea was frequently involved. Although he recently relocated to Portland, Oregon, D’Andrea continues to produce work for both the Portland and Bay areas. His current endeavors include commissions for Godspeed You! Black Emperor, OM, and Agalloch, a collection of posters for the Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, Holland during April of 2011, and artwork for an upcoming gallery opening December 2 in San Francisco.

David D'Andrea: Mono poster

In the midst of all his projects, D’Andrea also hopes to find time to experiment with various printmaking techniques, beyond the screen-printing with which he is most familiar. For the indefinite future, however, D’Andrea’s schedule is crazy with assorted deadlines – but he’s not complaining.

“I truly believe in the notion that ‘anything goes’ in illustration," he says. "I want to look back on my body of work as something that has evolved and changed through time. This means that I need to remain open to borrowed images, found scraps, photography – absolutely anything and everything.”

Mark McGuire: Living with Yourself (Editions Mego, 10/12/10)

Mark McGuire: "Clouds Rolling In"

Hajduch: Living with Yourself is the most recent solo-guitar release of Mark McGuire, who also plays guitar in Emeralds. Much like Emeralds, McGuire's music spins a gradual yarn over a combination of picked arpeggios and buzzing drones, delayed and looped and layered into a hypnotic tapestry that has become impossible to ignore.

This is McGuire's first solo release for Editions Mego (which also released Emeralds' breakout Does It Look Like I'm Here?), meaning that it should make it into more hands than his usual cassette-only or limited-run vinyl releases. It's also his best, tightening up the song structure and adding audio from tapes of family conversations with his father and brother (and, briefly, dog) over the past decade.

Morrow: Also, we should clarify that this is not the über-'roided baseball slugger who desecrated the MLB home-run records.  Though that dude is multi-talented (at hitting baseballs as well as clamming up before Congress), I don't think that he creates swirling guitar loops that cascade from melodies to fuzz and back again.  But I could be wrong.

I'm relatively new to the Emeralds experience, so I don't have a long memory for comparing that to McGuire's solo stuff.  Both are complex yet ambient, and naturally, the Emeralds material presents other timbres (decades-old synth sounds, predominantly) thanks to the two other members.  And both McGuire and Emeralds release oodles of songs.

Parts of Living with Yourself, however, are structured much more as accessible guitar instrumentals.  Tracks such as "Around the Old Neighbourhood" and "Clear the Cobwebs" feel much closer to The Appleseed Cast or other late-'90s Deep Elm bands.

Hajduch: Both McGuire and Emeralds have followed similar progressions recently: away from long-form hiss and fuzz and towards straightforward, much more accessible melodic composition.  (McGuire's Tidings and Amethyst Waves tapes were both recently reissued — four tracks, each improvised and the length of a cassette side — and though it's noisy and buzzy and difficult, the material is absolutely gorgeous.)

There's great material on either side of the divide, but I think that the move towards simplicity suits McGuire well on this album.  The guitar melodies and the vocal samples from old home videos create a cozy, autumnal vibe.  Mark McGuire signed to an experimental label so that he could make a total "Cosby sweater" album, and it's phenomenal.

I'd hate to take away from the surprise, but the last track features drums, and it really, truly rocks, which most Emeralds/McGuire material doesn't really get around to doing.  His thick, multi-tracked guitar sounds more than a little like Mogwai, which I'm not usually a fan of, but here it works out great.

Morrow: Indeed, much like the last album that we covered, the final two tracks are my favorites — "Clear the Cobwebs" and "Brothers (for Matt)."

On a side note, I was glad yet unsurprised to find that Living with Yourself was mastered by James Plotkin, who also worked on the Tidings / Amethyst Waves combined reissue and who seems to be involved with every musical recording under the sun.  He just helped produce the Sailors with Wax Wings and White Moth albums by R. Loren that are out this month.  And I still need to get my hands on the Jodis album that he did with Aaron Turner (Isis) and Tim Wyskida (Khanate).  That guy needs to keep making music, period.

Anyway, fans of Emeralds should really dig McGuire's latest, but don't let a lack of familiarity with his main band prevent you from checking this out.  It sounds like we both strongly recommend this one.

It’s a chilly Sunday afternoon in December, and the members of Cougar are just waking up — in different parts of the country. “It’s 1:00 [p.m.] over here,” says David Henzie-Skogen, the group’s drummer/percussionist and self-appointed ringleader, conference phoning from Madison. “Is it 1:00 [p.m.] down there?” “Yeah, it’s 1:00 [p.m.] down here,” guitarist /synth player Aaron Sleator replies from Austin, where he is a student at the University of Texas School of Architecture. Bassist Todd Hill also is on the call from his home in Chicago.

Formed in 2003 when all five members lived in Madison, the band members now live in cities spanning thousands of miles; in addition to Henzie-Skogen, Sleator, and Hill, Cougar also includes guitarists Dan Venne, who lives in Brooklyn, and Trent Johnson, now in Milwaukee.

Cougar released its debut album, Law, in 2006 on Layered Music, Henzie-Skogen’s own imprint, and quickly caught the attention of American and European critics, who noted the band’s complex, instrumental melodies. Just don’t try calling them the “P word.” “The long and short of it is that we really don’t listen to many post-rock bands at all,” Henzie-Skogen says while laughing.

“People are like, ‘Yeah, [Cougar sounds like] late-period Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky,’ which we’ve all heard, and I think that’s all we can say about them — we’ve heard them. All of us personally enjoy stuff that’s really different, which I’m sure is why the band sounds like it does. Trent is really a through-and-through pop-music guy — music where the hook is the reason for the music, like Hall & Oates and Hendrix.

"I grew up playing a lot of Brazilian music, New Orleans music…Todd studied jazz and classical, and everybody else has played in all kinds of bands from reggae to whatever else, so it’s hard to say that there are specific influences. But it is easy to say that those influences don’t include the post-rock bands that people associate us with, [just] because our music happens to be instrumental music that features guitars.”

With Law, Cougar cultivated a small but enthusiastic audience across the Midwest and Europe. Three years later, the band members found themselves scattered across the country for work, school, or both. Cougar soon attracted the attention of esteemed London label Ninja Tune, which released its sophomore album, Patriot, in September of 2009.

“It’s kind of funny that we’re doing interviews over a conference call, because it feels like a band meeting,” Henzie-Skogen laughs. “For the first record,” Hill says, “we were around each other and basically would just meet in the morning. Everyone had pretty easy schedules at that point. But [Patriot] basically was almost entirely done as an Internet collaboration, as far as basic ideas of songs. We all have simple recording equipment and can record stuff, and Dave acted as the collector. Sometimes the guitar player would fly out to New York to record a guitar part there; it was very piecemeal.”

“It’s probably one of the things that contributed to making it a different record from the first record,” Henzie-Skogen adds. “We started banging our heads together in a room, with the best idea winning out, and we all got to sit there and listen to all these ideas, make all these edits, and argue over thousands of E-mails or occasionally conference calls about what a song should sound like.”

Though the entirety of the album was recorded before the band switched labels, the new Ninja Tune pedigree has already had a galvanizing effect on the band. “For me, it’s just really exciting to see the Ninja logo on the record,” Henzie-Skogen says.

“The most refreshing thing about Ninja is that they’re really honest. They’re not telling us, ‘We’re gonna make you stars’ or whatever. We trust their PR people, we trust what they do, and we like their artists.”

"We keep the music feeling naked as far as production is concerned — you hear all the notes that everybody plays. It makes it really fun and challenging to perform every night, because it’s almost like classical music."

In the summer of 2009, Cougar launched a 21-city European tour, providing the rare (albeit temporary) chance for all five band members to live, travel, jam, rehearse, and perform together. “It was the best, most successful tour yet,” Henzie-Skogen says.

“The band was playing better than we ever played. It was a nice surprise that people would show up at shows and kind of clap and hoot and holler at the beginning of the song that they liked. It was really refreshing that people had heard a little bit of the music before. We were getting used to playing to blank faces supporting larger bands that are nothing like us, like going out with a pop band like Maximo Park and hoping to win over the pop crowd.”

In addition to providing Cougar with insight into its growing fan base, the European tour also gave the band a chance to reflect on its image and fashion savvy (or lack thereof).

“The first gig of the European tour was in this place in London called the Hoxton right in the heart of this notoriously hip neighborhood,” Henzie-Skogen recalls with amusement. “And Todd had one of the best tour quotes ever while talking about all the kids with cool haircuts: ‘Their haircuts appear to be backwards.’ We’ve had a number of interesting fan encounters posted on the website. ‘If you guys just dressed better or had a singer…’

"But we’ve never been a kind of band that focused more on how we present ourselves, or [try to] look like [we] ought to be famous. We’re the kind of band that books a gig and gets on stage in the clothes that we wore when we got up at 3:00 a.m. in the morning. Maybe that’s a Midwest thing, you know? Why would you change clothes to play music?

“Especially because we’re instrumental, we try to do everything that we can to make sure that the full emphasis is on the aesthetic of the music and not that of us personally. We keep the music feeling naked as far as production is concerned — you hear all the notes that everybody plays, and it’s one of the things that makes it a little different from some other things out there, but it also makes it really fun and challenging to perform every night, because it’s almost like classical music. When you fuck up, everybody knows you’ve fucked up. It keeps it exciting for us.”