Signor Benedick The Moor Maiden Voyage Suite EP Released: 1.4.16 Signor Benedick The Moor ’s 11-plus minute “Maiden Voyage Suite” is a multi-tiered protest song, its topical stanzas and overall tone enhanced heavily by some venturesome instrumentation and production decisions.  As a virtual A-side of a two-track digital EP, Benedick’s efforts are comparable at times to the more creatively aspirational selections of Outkast ’s discography, his flow syllabically urgent overtop wiry guitar sounds and zippy synthesizer arpeggiation.  The rhythmically schizophrenic “12:00AM” features Jonathan Snipes and Daveed Diggs of clipping. , the track itself a prog-centric smattering of tonal and compositional liberty.  While the generative mood of the song is dark overall, the changes enable its performers to play a little with their delivery, showcasing well their versatility.  It also doesn’t hurt that they threw in a nice little Curtis Mayfield reference. You can s...

Bong We are, we were and we will have been Ritual Productions Released: 5.25.15 It's probably unnecessary to point out how enveloping Bong 's music can be, much in the same way that Acid Mother's Temple or Sunn O))) can fill any available space to the point of suffocation with endless sound.  For the band's fifth studio release, We are, we were and we will have been , Bong continues to package their music as drone prevalent and lengthy.  The album is two tracks, each clocking in at about 18 minutes apiece, so it's built for full listener immersion and, like any Bong album really, to grow sonically as if to inspire meditation.  And, there will be volume. The reverberating glaze that floats over each element in "Time Regained" dominates so heavily that when vocals appear, (which happens maybe 7 minutes into the track), it's surprising.  Its understated snare loop and airy plucked strings remain obscured beneath the mire as vocalist/guitaris...

Can Can Heads Can Can Heads is Ruining the Classics (self-released) Released: 2.14.15 Can Can Heads is a Finnish noise rock band that recently decided to take recognizable hit songs and reinterpret them in a manner less style conscious and reverentially accurate than sloppily aggro and fit to mock in the spirit of fun.  Targeted for inspiration are Survivor , Michael Jackson , Van Halen and The MC5 , the songs retitled for humor's sake, ("Peel It" for instance instead of "Beat It.") Released digitally on Valentine's Day, Can Can Heads is Ruining the Classics is available to purchase through Bandcamp along with one of the best album summations I've ever read: "Planning this 'release' took as long as it took to record them. Recorded in mono with one track tape recorder PA-Pak 07/02/2015." Can Can Heads is Ruining the Classics by Can Can Heads Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Aperiodic / Mala In Se / Joe 4 / Knife The Symphony Double-Split 7" Phratry Records Released: 5.14 If you'd like to know what Phratry Records is about, this isn't a bad place to start. The label's 42nd release, this 4-song double-split 7" features the bands Aperiodic , Mala In Se , Joe 4 and Knife The Symphony , a selection of bands that range from artful shapeless oddities to quick-and-to-the-point riff-motive noise rock.  And, since we are living in a digital world, an additional four songs are available with the accompanying download. If you need a quick and solid recommendation, I bought this after listening to it via Bandcamp .  Otherwise, here's what you'll find: Aperiodic — Synthesizers lather the unsteady arrhythmia of "Something That Satisfies Me," Aperiodic's queasy lack of symmetry presented like a drunk's litany of complaints complete with the irregular rattling in his head.  "Scene Crush" follows as s...

Oikos Vigilia Knockturne Records Released: 11.1.13 Over the last couple years, I've listened to Earth incorporate more folk and country into their repertoire and Sunn O))) thicken its ultra-bottom distortions with some symphonic additives. With that in mind, the tender guitar phrase introducing Vigilia , the newest offering from the now solo drone project, Oikos , wasn't too surprising. While drone and ambient pursuits seem to follow a more compositional approach lately, an album like Vigilia still remains devoted to the manipulation of sound, at its most ominous, meditative and gorgeous. A cassette only release from Knockturne Records, Vigilia is the soul creation of Rafael Femiano , now the lone presence behind Oikos. The project had been a duo initially, Femiano having worked with former member, David San Martin . While the gentle guitar strum of the title track is eventually lost beneath a mire of deep, undulated tones and sheets of metallic groan, the fol...

Stave Reform FSS Released: 8.6.13 Un-sleek and minimal despite his attempts at weighted programming, Jonathan Krohn 's Stave is about as Suicide as I've heard an electronic musician sound recently, though I'll admit that I may have missed an act or two.  With Reform , his first release as Stave, Krohn amasses percussive, electrified loops and deep, solitary drones to craft a very cold debut.  Not that it lacks character, but there's no warmth to be heard, its sounds bereft of humanity, though rhythmically dense. As calculated as it is absorbing, Krohn assembles beat articulations that talk over each other, creating these very unsettling and automated environs that either rapidly pulsate ("The Feat") or crowd in a nervous or phobic manner ("Gun Control").  "Tower9," its streams of fuzz delivered like a dysfunctional flatline, synthesizes its beat combinations into a deluge of pounded depth that's almost danceable.  The album...

Papier Tigre 7" Sick Room Records/Africantape Released: 4.1.13 Appealing to the math rocker raised on Slint or Shudder To Think , Papier Tigre 's upcoming single possesses the splintering chords, thudding low end and vocal harmonizing perfectly suited for 45 RPMs.  The militaristic tap dance of the A-side, "Personal Belongings," allows for interesting builds and retraction of volume, culminating in a chunky mass of fuzztone and a howling six-string. 7" by Papier Tigre   "The Difficult Age" opens up with a momentary shot of intensity and dials back into a slowed stream of low level guitar phrasing, melody at play before the song shifts into loose distortion.  Some of the chords employed recall Fugazi or Jawbox , those back and forth guitar swipes could either qualify as perfectly discontent or effectively out of tune.  It's an evocative release, but Papier Tigre puts a distinctive spin on it, (excuse the pun), crafting two very good s...

Machines Learning Success Has Many Fathers While Failure in an Orphan EP Machines Recording Records Released: 1.1.13 With crunchy chords that induce a dreamy gaze and generate heavy fields of sonic thrust, Machines Learning has taken cues from Billy Corgan and Kevin Shields and interprets these influences well.  Their new 3-song EP, Success Has Many Fathers While Failure is an Orphan , is immersed in a lush and serrated tone, texture and grace allowed to coexist. With Machines Learning, there is definitely an appeal to nostalgia for anyone pining for the days of flannel shirts and 120 Minutes , when Loveless was new and legitimate college radio won mainstream attention.  While "Strong Men Also Cry" opens the EP with an Explosions in the Sky styled post-rock instrumental that doesn't seem too out of character with the past decade or so, the following song, "The Island in the Hills," is an exercise in reminiscence: the drum sounds and stride, th...

Following the recuperative benefits of New Year's Day, the work week will begin with two drone/ambient/experimental projects I became aware of toward the end of 2012.  The first is Zev Died Orchestra , who released a limited run cassette in November called, I .  It's a two track album, both pieces clocking in at around 30 minutes each. That being said, it does require some endurance on the listener's part as ZDO's output is mostly comprised of unstructured soundscapes and found sounds, (at some point in the track " 140309 " there's the echoing bark of a dog and what sounds like the clattering of a subway train), but the environs are still interesting enough to garner attention.  The second track, " 050412 " is a bit more eerie and patiently diabolical.  I by zev died orchestra The second album is called Ghoul and it's a single close to 40 minute track from The Ocular Audio Experiment , which is more of a musical piece that's rid...

I've been getting some furious and rather viscous metal albums from Devouter Records, who clued me into Cultura Tres and Galvano .  I have permission to share their albums online, though I'll insist once you've listened to and agreed to what both bands have produced, you'll please spend your money and own these albums proper. All info, links and music is provided by Devouter Records.  CULTURA TRES: El Mal Del Bien Album Released Today Through Devouter Records. UK dates   El Mal Del Bien , the mind-bending sophomore album of the Venezuela's Cultura Tres, originally issued by the band in 2011, is being re-released today on CD by the UK based label Devouter Records. Devouter has recently released on vinyl debut albums by Make and Galvano and has some more intriguing offerings in the pipeline. El Mal Del Bien is a highly versatile trip filled with oppressive passages ...

Great Falls/Pink City Split (Tapes of a Neon God #7) Tapes of a Neon God Released:10.12 It's good to hear something violent and/or sullen from time to time.  The new split release from Great Falls and Pink City offers a healthy amount of rapid beat metalcore, Neurosis style post-metal noise revelry, Big Black informed pigfuckery and some electronically addled Joy Division post-punk with hints of Alan Vega .  Pink City is no stranger to Letters From A Tapehead, as I've discussed both the band's 2-song "Loop One/Service" single and their album, Designing Women . Expect something dark and loud for the very reasonable price of $5.  Links provided by Tapes of a Neon God. Great Falls greatfalls.bandcamp.com http://www.facebook.com/pages/Great-Falls/110748382297574 Pink City pinkcity.bandcamp.com http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pink-City/118911091519231 Tapes of a Neon God tapesofaneongod.com tapes.storenvy.com You can preorder the cassette...

Mike Patton/Luciano Berio Laborintus II Ipecac Recordings Released: 7.3.12 In 2010, along with the Brussels based Ictus Ensemble and the choral chamber choir, Nederlands Kamerkoor , Mike Patton acted as narrator for a live performance of Italian composer Luciano Berio ’s 1965 musical piece, Laborintus II . The performance was held at the Holland Festival, which also premiered Berio’s performance of Laborintus II for Dutch audiences in 1972. As further tribute, Patton has released the Ictus Ensemble/Nederlands Kamerkoor performance as a live album through Ipecac Recordings . Based on a poem by Edoardo Sanguineti , Berio’s own version renamed as the writing’s sequel, (which was also meant to acknowledge the 700th anniversary of Danté ’s birth), Labortinus II is delivered in three parts, which are apparently three separate voices. The majority of the piece is in Italian, (with maybe a sentence or two uttered in English), so I’m incapable of deciphering the narrative a...

ALARIC / ATRIARCH split LP 20 Buck Spin Released: 5.15.12 A new inclusion to my ever-expanding wishlist, the Alaric / Atriarch split LP, which will be out in the middle of May, is a fascinatingly dark and dimensionally charged rock album, each band complimenting the other with its own distinct and strange understanding of how to translate its influences. Alaric, in particular, is damn near post-punk, the band’s delivery allegiant to the likes of Joy Division or Bauhaus, if you could imagine either band being interpreted by Saint Vitus or even Flipper. Atriarch, their guitar solos cold and remarkably isolated or distant, carry an air of foreboding doom, their sound comprised of shrieking black metal and steady drones. The song selections are perfect for this type of release, demonstrative of what each band has to offer while unified in the effort’s presentation. Read up on the release and check out the videos, which have been provided by Earsplit PR.  Live dates p...

Yama Seaquake EP Mind Flare Media Released: 4.12 A few weeks ago, I received an email from Mind Flare Media in regards to an EP the label is releasing called Seaquake .  The band?  A Kyuss / Goatsnake -stoner-bred rock band from The Netherlands called Yama , who don't disappoint as far as expectations set by the genre's progenitors.  Riff and speed (or, lack thereof) are all there, tripping on the slow and steady THC rock motif that the band eschews halfway through the EP's title track.   Vocally, the band toys with reverb effects, playing on some studio-induced notion of expanse or isolation.  The music itself, though, is a tad too refined to capitalize on such a device, the idea of infinite space only somewhat successful.  The guitar solo in the song "Synergy" attempts this as well and it's almost drowned underneath the chugging rhythm section, which has more emphasis. Otherwise, Seaquake is an enjoyable three songs with enough head knock to ...

Jooklo Duo and Bill Nace Scratch Holidays Records Released:  3.20.12 Jooklo Duo and Bill Nace 's collaborative LP, Scratch, is for those already initiated and well-acquainted with tenor based free jazz. Jooklo Duo is an Italian avant duo ( Virginia Genta and David Vanzan ) and Bill Nace is an experimental guitarist.  Their efforts have spawned two sides of loud, free form noise that blends with improvisational guitar skree; a little over 18 minutes each. One track's called "Scratch Here," the other, "Scratch There." The album is available as a limited run (350), clear vinyl with multi-color spatter.     Here's a sample:    Jooklo Duo and Bill Nace: Scratch (excerpt) by Holidays Records Here's some info provided by Holidays Records: Two sides of ecstatic noise captured on tape by Jason Lafarge at Seizures Palace, Brooklyn, in occasion of the East Coast and Midwest Tour of the Italian psychedelic tenor sax and drums duo of ...

My inbox has become this overwhelming, virtual, time-sucking swamp of unanswered emails and updates. It’s become the place I go to feel bad about being one person with too much to do and too much to write about. In an effort to spotlight many of the unsigned or hopeful bands that I’ve heard and really liked, I’m going to try and target a couple groups a week. Today, I’d like to discuss Pink City and Neur , each of whom owe much of their output to the post-punk/independent underground of the mid-80s and early 90s math/post-hardcore. Pink City is especially Big Black -centric, industrially propulsive and similarly abrasive and aggressive. Their album, Designing Women , is available to stream and I really couldn’t recommend it more if you’re into Steve Albini -ian anti-melodies and chugging noise rock. Pink City is a two-man group that’s completely built online. The email I received from the band’s initials-only MM counterpart wrote that the two members live on different con...

Locrian “Dort Ist Der Weg b/w “Frozen In Ash” 7” FSS Released: 9.2011 Chicago’s very underground noise metal juggernaut Locrian has been progressing with every album, cassette, split single and 7” they’ve been churning out since 2009’s Drenched Lands . The band (whose buzz relies on the combined efforts of André Foisy , Terence Hannum and Steven Hess ) has been developing musically, not straying too faraway from their horror/freakshow environments but incorporating more and more composition into the framework. Their new 7,” “Dort Ist Der Weg”/”Frozen In Ash” confirms this development, but unexpectedly. The single begins with a cover of Popol Vuh ’s “Dort Ist Der Weg,” its treatment a very Melvins -percussive and artfully post-punk approach.  Lovely, near-droning vocals soften the band’s loose and jagged construct, which is set at a perfect trudge. “Frozen In Ash” takes the band’s expansive, sonic guitar loops and builds a rhythmic folk instrumental overtop. Acoustic s...

Northern Primitive s/t (Self-released) Released: 1.1.11 Matt Sajn wrote me around February asking me to give a listen to his band, Northern Primitive . I’ll blame the backlog I’ve managed to amass so far this year, (it’s impressive), for the lateness in my acknowledgement of his self-released and self-titled debut. Sajn is definitely in good company and my Inbox will be supplying Letters From A Tapehead a good amount to talk about as I try and play catch up throughout Spring. Northern Primitive reflects the early 90s ruggedness of college rock informed “alternative” music. The textured guitar assault of its first track, “Highway,” sounds like an evolved variation of post-punk groups like Wire and The Feelies , its fast and completely uninterrupted movement a base for layering guitar effects and riffs. The band benefits from a lack of polish and refinement. That’s not to say that they’re sloppy or that they lack discipline, but that their sound vanquishes ease of accessi...

Drugs Of Faith Corroded Selfmadegod Records Released: 2.22.11 Virginia’s Drugs Of Faith revel in grinding speeds and syncopation for their debut LP, Corroded . Consider its less than thirty minutes more of an attack than an album, songs like album opener “Grayed Out” and “Race to the End” quintessentially hardcore wrapped up in a metallic attempt at crossing over. Think D.R.I. , though “Hidden Costs” unpredictably hits on Jawbox -informed melody, suggesting an allegiance to D.C. post-hardcore as well. Lecherous Gaze Lecherous Gaze EP Tee Pee Records Released: 3.29.11 Thin Lizzy and Motörhead meets Danzig ? Yeah, actually. Though their home page unjustly boasts them, “The Future Of Rock N’ Roll,” there’s a dirty soul and punk bred spirit throughout the EP’s four tracks that’s at least admirable. Plenty of guts are on display throughout riffs in songs like “Phaze” and “Sold,” hearkening back to Sabotage -era FM. The slow and grimy “Graveyard” and MC5-tinged “R ‘n’...

Zu “Axion (Phantomsmasher remix)” b/w “Chthonian (James Plotkin remix)” 7” single Public Guilt Released: 3.21.11 This morning, I received a promo invitation for a new 7” from Zu : two remixed tracks from their 2009 album, Carboniferous . The remixes, created by one guy, ( James Plotkin ), two egos, (Plotkin, Phantomsmasher ), thankfully maintain the band’s heavy rhythm and experimental spirit. They’re enjoyable to listen to and interesting enough to consider. The “remix” tag almost always signifies lesser-than variations of original music featuring electro-pulse beats, or flimsy keyboard translations of the song’s familiar melody; overlay upon overlay of vocal snippets or dance music additives. It’s rare that remixologists, for lack of a better made-up term, come up with something other than an effects-laden reworking of a song. Instead you get knob-twisting self-indulgence that never sounds necessary or outdoes the original track. Plotkin doesn’t outdo Zu’s already idios...