Funereal Presence

I swear.  Lately, not one day goes by...not one, that i don't hear another black metal band that just shakes me to my core at what the genre is capable of when it embraces an eclectic aesthetic of sounds and influences, and breaks its own rigid rules every once in awhile.  New York's Funereal Presence is the latest to creep up on me, a brutal mix of screaming guitars, organ, church bells, and reverb, all the while tipping the hat to what came before them.  Listen to "The Tower Falls" below and get "The Archer Takes Aim" from The Ajna Offensive.

Pinkish Black

Opening for Goblin last night was Fort Worth's Pinkish Black, a heavy metal band i heard a couple of years ago, but kind of forgot about.  The duo put out their second album, "Razed to the Ground," last year on Century Media, and going on that album, and the band's performance last night, they were the perfect fit for a Goblin tour.  Sinister prog rock for the masses.  Listen to "Ashtray Eyes" below.

Some Goblin pics

Last night's Goblin performance at Mohawk was pretty damn great.  A bunch of old Italian prog rockers (and Steve Moore from Zombi) laying waste to a horde of horror nerds.  Well done.  Here's a few pics.

Goblin!!!

I get to go see the legendary Goblin tonight (with Zombi's Steve Moore sitting in on keyboards)!  I am beyond ecstatic.  In celebration, listen to the band's theme for "Profondo Rosso" below.

Lowercase Noises

Lowercase Noises is the music project of Albuquerque's Andy Othling.  New album "This Is for Our Sins" is a sprawling mix of post rock, ambience, and classical music.  It's sprawling, and breathtaking, and beautiful, and cinematic in scope.  "Famine and the Death of a Mother" is somber and quiet, but hints at grandiosity just over the horizon.  Listen below and pre-order the album here.

Slasher Dave

Halloween is still a long way off, but that doesn't mean that spooky, horror movie inspired music has to wait til Autumn to blast into my ear holes.  Slasher Dave's 2013 album "Spookhouse" is perfect blend of Carpenter and Goblin, and an excellent soundtrack to whatever nefarious goings-on you may have planned for your day...and night.  Listen to album opener "Dusk" below, and then grab the album digitally here, or on vinyl over at Bellyache Records.

Zig Zags

As it starts to get hotter here in central Texas, it's nice to have some stoned, blistering rock and roll to fall back on.  It goes wonderfully with the heat.  LA's Zig Zags latest "Brainded Warrior" finds the group of trouble makers working with Ty Segall on the boards, and the result is noisy, stoner bliss.  Listen below and look for the 7" on In the Red.

Cluster Buster

Our longing for a return to simpler times, a return to when things were exciting and new, a return to childhood manifests itself in strange...and sometimes wonderful ways.  In the case of throwback synth band Cluster Buster and their complete and utter admiration for all things 80's horror sci-fi, that longing comes in the form of "Maniac 1980," a pretend soundtrack to an awesome movie that never existed.  There seem to be more and more of these creeping up on us every other day, and that just makes me giddy.  I love it.  Check out Future 80's Records, and then go and grab a digital copy of the album here and listen to "OCP Crime Prevention Unit 001" below.

Gonga and Beth Gibbons cover Black Sabbath

UK metal band Gonga just offered up a pretty terrific and faithful cover to Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath," featuring amazing vocals from Portishead's Beth Gibbons.  The track has been dubbed "Black Sabbeth," and the video below is full of scenes from Mario Bava's 1963 film..."Black Sabbath."  Watch it below.

Thou - Milk It

I know i just posted a blistering Nirvana cover by Baton Rouge sludge metal band Thou the other day, but they supplied another for the "In Utero" tribute that came out on Record Store Day...and it's just cave-your-head-in awesome.  Listen to "Milk It" below and quiver.  You should be able to order a standard edition from Robotic Empire Records.

Twin Shadow - To The Top

I cannot help but be hooked to Twin Shadow's latest single "To The Top," which may or may not be on an upcoming new album.  The song is dramatic, climactic 80's perfection, like something that would play through the big ending of a John Hughes movie.  I just want to put my fist in the air.  Listen below.

Ex-Cult

Somehow on Saturday, i managed to overlook a new 7" release from Ex-Cult on Goner Records.  The record features a different version of the track "Ties You Up" than what appears on the band's forthcoming album "Midnight Passenger."  This version was recorded by Ty Segall and is appropriately raucous.  There's also a sax in there...and i love the sax.  Listen below.

The Snow

The Snow is a Captured Tracks "super group" of sorts.  The band features members of Beach Fossils, Wild Nothing, and Holograms, and their vibe is a distinctly early 80's Cure or Smiths.  Good, chilled music for a Sunday afternoon.  The 7" came out yesterday and may very well be sold out, but you can listen to the A-side "Memory Loss" below.

Liars remixed by Silent Servant

Well, Record Store Day blew in this morning like a tempest and has left my wallet and my heart dried up.  I was able to procure pretty much everything i was looking for, minus a few odds and ends, and alas, the Liars "Mess on a Mission" 12" with yard in the vinyl eluded me.  It's a bummer too, because it included the really awesome droney and darkwave remix of the track by Silent Servant.  Listen below.

There's always ebay.

Alan Licht and Brian Chase

Here's an echoed and cavernous ambient number from Alan Licht and Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) from the duo's upcoming album "We Thought We Could Do Anything" on New Images.  "Immediate Release" feels sprawling but somehow contracting at the same time.  It's beautiful, haunting fuzz.  Listen below and look for the album next month.

Only Lovers Left Alive

When i first heard about the upcoming vampire film "Only Lovers Left Alive," i didn't think much of it.  But then i heard that Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton were the leads, and my interest was piqued.  Then i heard that Jim Jarmusch was directing, and i was generally excited.  Then i heard the creeping, menacing, sinister and sexy soundtrack by Jozef Van Wissem and SQURL, and now i'm a full fledged fan...even though i haven't even seen the film yet.  Get the record from All Tomorrow's Parties and listen to "The Taste of Blood" below.

Swans - Oxygen

Here's another track from Swans' upcoming new album "To Be Kind."  "Oxygen" is frantic, noisy, and discordant, and shows off just how awesome the pairing of producer John Congleton (The Paper Chase) on the boards with Swans front man Michael Gira truly is.  This record is going to make my head explode.  Listen below and get the album on Young God next month.

Thou - I Hate Myself and I Want to Die

I've been really, really into "Heathen," the latest LP from Baton Rouge's brutal metal act Thou, and lo and behold the prolific sludge dirge purveyors are gracing us with another release, "The Sacrifice" EP on Robotic Empire.  The songs were recorded at the same time as "Heathen," but are a little more up-tempo...and there's an excellent cover of Nirvana's "I Hate Myself and I Want to Die" to close the thing.  It's pretty raucous and fantastic.  Listen below and grab the record here.

Triathalon

Here's a nice little piece of warped, surf rock-tinged psych pop for a sunny afternoon from Savannah, Georgia's Triathalon.  Good pop before dinner, i always say.  (I never say that.)  Take a listen to "Swells" below and grab the 7" here.

Odonis Odonis

Canadian post punk noise rock band Odonis Odonis' album "Hard Boiled Soft Boiled" came out last week, and it's a brilliant way to shred your eardrums and warp your already perverse mind.  Get it from Buzz Records and listen to "Angus Mountain" below.

King Dude

Gothic folk rockabilly troubadour King Dude has a new full length album out next month on his own Not Just Religious Music label.  "Fear" finds the dude taking a far more aggressive and sinister approach to his brand of dark Americana.  Take a listen to "Fear Is All You Know" below and tremble.

Shadow Shadow

A long while back (2012 maybe?) i came across a wonderful piece of dreamy synth-pop bliss from Sweden's Shadow Shadow.  "Riviera" was both haunting and gorgeous, airy and wistful.  And now finally, we're seeing the release of the "Riviera" LP from the band.  Hooray!  Get it here and listen to "A Thousand Lost Golf Balls" below.

Fear of Men

UK act Fear of Men are finally set to release a proper debut album of their sweet, melancholy, dreamy, and fuzzy pop, the perfect soundtrack for holding hands in the springtime.  Listen to "Descent" below and get the "Loom" LP next week via Kanine (or get a deluxe version early on Saturday for Record Store Day).

Black Monolith

One man black metal-tinged records seem to be coming out of the shadows all over the world, each a seething, dark ode to all things ugly and macabre, or beautiful and awed.  Oakland's Black Monolith is no different, the project of occasional Deafheaven touring guitarist Gary Bettencourt.  "Passenger," which comes out later this month on All Black Recording Company is a raw and powerful mix of screaming metal, atmospherics, and crusty, dirty punk rock, a nonstop assault on the senses.  And it's not polished.  It's like listening to people make glorious noise in the garage.  Listen to the album climactic, instrumental finale "Eris" below.

Crater

Here's a head-nodding, foot-thumping sleek and sexy synth pop jam from Seattle's Crater called "Crater Head."  And that's all i know.  Listen below.

Arcade Fire at COTA

We caught Arcade Fire at the Circuit of the Americas last night.  Watching concerts in a venue that big is normally not my thing, but the Montreal group put on a lovely and massive show as they usually do...confetti, dance parties, giant paper mache heads.  You know?  The usual.  Here are a few pics below.

Kid Koala

Arcade Fire

Regine singing in the crowd.

Confetti!

WIFE

Cold and bleak atmospherics are something one would expect from a black metal band side project.  What one might not expect is how calm and still the whole thing can be.  Such is the work of WIFE, the new project from former Altar of Plagues front man James Kelly.  WIFE finds the Irish artist experimenting with electronic and industrial sounds, a droning, ambient work that crawls and haunts.  Listen to "Heart is a Far Light" below and get the "What's Between" LP in June on Tri Angle.

Pharmakon covers Nancy Sinatra

Every year on Record Store Day, Sacred Bones Records releases a compilation album of rare or unused tracks from their artists called "Todo Muere"...and every year it totally kicks ass.  2014 looks to be no different.  One of the highlights has to be this haunting cover of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang" from experimental noise/drone artist Pharmakon.  Pharmakon was one of the more interesting acts to surface last year and i love,love, love Nancy Sinatra, so this is right up my alley.  Take a listen below and be sure to grab the record on April 19th.

BORIS

And day i can post about sometimes experimental, sometimes heavy metal Japanese band BORIS is a great day indeed.  On new album "Noise," out in June on Sargent House, the band stomps and yells and socks you in the mouth over and over again, but those pop hooks keep you asking for more.  Listen to "Quicksilver" below.  Hooray!

EMA

EMA's second album "The Future's Void" comes out tomorrow on Matador, and from what i've heard, it appears to be a beast, a flashing and mature mix of punk, goth, and 90's alt-rock bravado.  Erika M. Anderson crams an unnatural lifetime's worth of stage presence, confidence, and swagger into her music, and it shows in spades.  Watch the video for first single "Satellites" below.

Tala

I don't know much about London electronic artist/producer Tala, but "The Duchess," the title track and first smooth and smokey, late-night come-down jam from her upcoming EP is a hazy dream.  Listen below and be on the lookout for said EP on Aesop Label.

Temples & Jagwar Ma

Two of the hipper psych rock acts to emerge in the last year are teaming up for a split single release for Record Store Day from Heavenly Recordings.  The UK's Temples will remix Australian act Jagwar Ma's "Man I Need," while Jagwar Ma provide a remix of Temples' "Shelter Song."  You can listen to both below, but you'll only be able to grab the record in the UK (booooo).

Lower

Danish post-punk band Lower have a new album coming out in June on Matador.  Listen to the sneering, atmospheric first single "Lost Weight, Perfect Skin" below and pre-order "Seek Warmer Climate" here.

Officer!

Though it was recorded almost 20 years ago, "Dead Unique," an album by British art rock band Officer! is finally seeing its first release on Blackest Ever Black.  Prog, jazz, folk, pop, and raw rock swirl and bend around each other in complex and fascinating ways, reminding me of fellow avant-pop artists like Robert Wyatt and R. Stevie Moore.  It's abstract.  It's confounding.  It's art.  It's one of the most interesting albums we've been graced with in a long, long while.  Pre-order the album here (and read more about it), and listen to "V.I.M." below.

Jack White - High Ball Stepper

Jack White has a new album called "Lazaretto" coming out in June on Third Man.  The first taste is "High Ball Stepper," a very Jack White sounding instrumental.  Watch the video below.

Inventions

Inventions is the new ambient side project from Matthew Cooper (Eluvium) and Mark T. Smith (Explosions in the Sky), an echo chamber of serene tone and drone to send you off to the next life.  Beautiful, entrancing stuff.  Get the self-titled album now on Temporary Residence and listen to "Entity" below.

Afterhours

LA's Afterhours serve up post-raver, come-down conga jams to sip your last martini to.  Late night/early morning affairs to straighten yourself out of the haze you plummeted yourself into.  Turn the lights low, get yourself a cocktail, and listen to "Lovesick" below, then grab the "Lowlife" LP from Not Not Fun.