Review: A reissue of 2022's covers single, Alvarius B's 'Karaoke' gets a second run via Unrock. A titan of the US underground singer-songwriter scene, Alan Bishop is best known as a co-founder of Sun City Girls and owner of the labels Abduction and Sublime Frequencies. His less-known alias Alvarius B has nonetheless seen an extended panhandle of releases at least since 1994, and plays host to a string of 'characters' and sub-pseudonyms. One such 'charakter', as he calls them, is Karaoke, whose forte is covers of noir cinematic rock classics. Here we've got two dark rundowns; on the A, a dark rundown of Ennie Morricone's 'Solo Nostalgia' from the film Comandamenti per un Gangster, and on the B, a version of Indonesia's finest Koes Plus' 'Tiba-Tiba Ku Menangis', whom Bishop had already interpreted as part of the band Koes Barat. Both detail Bishop's talent as a rarely-performed alter-ego, a cosmopolite solo-entertainer.
Review: Not a lot sounds like The Amorphous Androgynous, which is a relief because with a name like that you really do need to back it up with something experiential. A quick search online can tell anyone the duo - better known as Future Sound of London - have a strange relationship with Noel Gallagher, having recorded with him only to then be told by the Manchester man the outcome was shit so he destroyed the masters. Apparently these then turned up in a sock circa 2018 and you could almost be forgiven at least one of the tracks is here.
Actually, The World Is Full of Plankton comprises three tracks from 2005's album Alice in Ultraland, but the wailing, trippy, spaced out vocals that float in and out of dominance on the title number almost sound like the old Oasis lad. It's a deep and very operatic affair, which contrasts the exotic spatiality of 'All Is Harvest' and the prog rock piano stepper, 'The Emptiness of Nothingness'. Amazing stuff.
Review: Hull and Leeds-based band bdrmm finally follow up their acclaimed debut album Bedroom - which was instantly passed as a modern day shoegaze classic - with a new EP. It features the recent single 'Port' as well as fresh remixes by the ever more essential Daniel Avery, plus Working Men's Club, A Place To Bury Strangers and others. That single, 'Port,' took the band in a new direction with a darker sound fun of distorted drones and beats, with howls of anguish and manic guitar frenzies. That is carried over into the rest of the EP next to some radical reworks.
Review: Argentina born producer and DJ Born has been serving up some fresh sonic treats for three or four years now and here makes the natural next step of starting his own label. Desencanto will become a place to hear Sebastian Rosas Bruno's freshest tackle as exemplified by this first 12" which collides techno, new wave, electro and new beat. Text with the tunes says the EP is the first of many that will "deal with the disillusions of today's world: political, social, economic and also those left by old loves." Concept aside, these are innovative and impactful cuts.
Review: The DFA debut of longstanding member Jayson Green also signals the revival of the classic DFA twelve-inch format, so you might playfully suggest it stands for Dying Formats Always. Jay has lent his vocals to various bands such as Panthers, Violent Bullshit, Cheeseburger, and the renowned hardcore group Orchid, always showcasing his wit and humor without veering into cynicism. Assuming a bandleader role, he presents a classic A-side here with the low slung funk of 'Local Jerk,' which was recorded during a lively party. It has tight disco drums, resounding claps and a groove-inducing bassline with big horns. On the B-side, 'I Need Love' unfolds as a darkly humorous nightlife satire.
Review: Heartworms are brand new outfit releasing under Speedy Wunderground - one of the few contemporary imprints giving fresh faces a fighting chance. Their debut EP 'A Comforting Notion' embeds the dystopian vision of one Jojo Orme into our minds - the frontwoman is a grandiose performer, giving tired tropes of delicate female bandleaders a run for its money through means like gritty post-punk and dark synth instrumentation, and a macabre sense of humour. The band's name references a heart-defecting parasite that is commonly found in dogs and is spread through mosquito bites - but don't worry, this EP will make your heart feel nothing but joy (permitting, at least, that you're a fan of bleak music!)
Review: A collaborative new single by sampletronic master Kieran Hebden (aka. Four Tet) and guitarist and composer William Tyler, two acclaimed musicians and both longstanding friends. Part of a recent spewing-forth of Hebden-adjacent material to hit the shelves after the artist's oft-reported-upon "agent of chaos" phase, these two tracks, pressed to a furtive 12", provide a neat counterpoint to that assessment. Rather than a pair of riddim bangers, the record flaunts Hebden's signature electronic textures and Tyler's guitar into a hypnotic, nominally dark soundwhirl, reminiscent of the earliest days of Text, but with a unique edge - a sonic corner never quite scoured before by either artist.
Yeah X 3 (Sonic Boom & Panda Bear Reset remix instrumental)
Yeah X 3 (The Vendetta Suite Reason To Drift mix)
Yeah X 3 (The Vendetta Suite Reason To live mix)
Review: Yeah X 3, the latest single from David Holmes and Raven Violet's album Blind On A Galloping Horse, diverges from the overtly political themes of the record, instead offering a personal revelation. Featuring remixes by Panda Bear and Sonic Boom, as well as The Vendetta Suite's Gary Irwin, the single showcases diverse experimental approaches. For the A-side, the remixes are atmospheric and heady, creating a euphoric feeling with your head in the clouds. The second remix being the more beat forward version. For the B-side, massive amounts of sound heavily affected the remixes processing. The first being more of an ambient version while the last version is more straightforward and radio friendly. If you like the original song, then these versions will sit alongside them very well.
Review: If indie-rock did fantasy football then this is a championship-winning supergroup that hipsters would have wet dreams about. Minnesota slowcore sorts Low joined forces with Aussie meditative atypical post-rock group Dirty Three for a one-off EP. That's Dirty Three of Warren Ellis fame (the beardy Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds band member). There were tight parameters to encourage experimentation: The EP, originally released in 2001, was part of the Fishtank sessions where artists handpicked by the Konkurrent label make a record in Amsterdam in only two days.
The gamble seemingly paid off. It's remarkable that they sound as if they've been living out of each other's pockets for years, with seamless musical understanding, despite the short amount of time they were given. There's tear-jerking tenderness in hearing Mimi Parker's voice on the opening track, 'I Hear Goodnight'. Parker founded Low along with her husband Alan Spearhawk, but sadly passed away in 2022. Meanwhile, other highlights include a superb slow-motion cover of Neil Young's 'Down By The River', which doesn't feel too constrained by the original and showcases the group's experimental tendencies. The vocal take here makes you wish for an entire album of them performing Neil Young covers. Elsewhere, 'When I Called Upon Your Seed' is an Americana masterpiece with gorgeous droning instrumentals freckled with guitar plucking and long-held vocal notes.
Something that appears to have made this session a success is the uncomplicatedness of the recording, which stays away from adding too many lines of instrumentation, and gives the spotlight to the individual talent of people who can truly play. The rewards are countless, but it would be amiss to not note Warren Ellis' violin performance throughout the record. That alone is enough to make you wish you persevered and kept up with those violin lessons as a kid. Enough listens to this, though, and perhaps you'll think it's not too late to go back. Truly inspiring stuff.
Review: Few conversations or analyses surrounding doom metal can begin without mentioning the integral Sleep and their genre-defining opus Dopesmoker. That same analytical discussion cannot be rounded up without OM coming into the fray, as the duo of bassist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Haikus originally worked together as Sleep's rhythm section. The hypnotic 'Gebel Barkal' single would serve as the final recording from the pair following the 2007 full-length Pilgrimage, before 2009's God Is Good would welcome the arrival of current drummer Emil Amos and signal the group's continued expansion into an eventual three-piece.
Review: The Tetine trio started writing and composing together in the lockdowns of 2020 - no doubt observing all the arcane rules about hands, face and space as they did so. They have an intuitive style that now translates to this record which was written for cello, voice, piano, organ and electronics and was born as "a respiratory, meditative, and improvisatory piece of DIY tropical-mutant-punk "chamber music". They have succeeded in their mission to subvert here with plenty of subtle background sounds bleeding in from the nearby street as themes such as hearing loss, menopause, pollution and respiration all come up.
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