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Showing posts from August, 2016

The Body: The Myth Arc

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The Body specializes in misery. For their latest album, No One Deserves Happiness , the duo, members Chip King and Lee Buford , decided that their brand of bleak metal should be expanded or altered with unsettling dance rhythms and corrupted electro beats.  The group's latest single, "The Myth Arc," is, in some ways, kind of beautiful.  While a very loud series of echoing blasts of machined static drives the song, not to mention the droning riff that crumbles slowly after every stroke, vocalist Chrissy Wolpert , ( Assembly of Light ), exudes a calm and delicacy that's at odds with the horror beneath her, so much so that her promise that "I will find you" takes on a haunting level of foreboding.  It is genuinely chilling and not too far removed from the sonic mastery that Scott Walker and SunnO))) exhibited in 2014's Soused . You can check out the video below. All video and release information and links were provided by Thrill Jockey. Actor

Singles: Band Aparte, Girl Tears, Kishi Bashi, Douglas Dare, Fire to the Stars, Miss Lava, Purling Hiss, The Well, The Julie Ruin

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Band Aparte : "Cherry Chapstick" (via Force Field PR/ Noisey /Manifesto Records/Soundcloud) Girl Tears : "Sedated" (via Omnian Music Group / Sinderlyn /Soundcloud) Kishi Bashi : "Say Yeah" (via Joyful Noise Recordings /Soundcloud) Douglas Dare : "Doublethink" (via Erased Tapes / Stereogum /Soundcloud) Fire to the Stars : "Wholesale Slaughter" (via Fire to the Stars/Soundcloud) Miss Lava : "Another Beast is Born" (via Earsplit PR/YouTube) Purling Hiss : "Fever" (via mutante-inc./ Drag City /Soundcloud) Perpacity : "9725" (via Shameless Promotion/Bandcamp) Arise by Perpacity The Well : "Black Eyed Gods" (via Us-Them Group/ RidingEasy Records /Soundcloud) The Julie Ruin : "Mr. So and So" (via Hardly Art/ Paper Magazine /YouTube)   Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Over the Hill (plus 10): The Beatles' Revolver

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When The Beatles ' entire catalogue had been remastered in 2009, I penned a three-part review of the box set for No Ripcord.  For the band's 1966 release, Revolver , this is what I had to say : "In a way, Revolver is a bolder album than Pepper was, an experimental hybrid clashing symphonic string arrangements ('Eleanor Rigby'), rock n’ jolly 'Singin’ In The Rain'-styled ditties ('Good Day Sunshine'), kid-friendly sing-alongs about friendly aquatic transports ('Yellow Submarine'), Eastern influences ('Love You To') and the decade’s introduction to psychedelic rock n’ roll ('She Said She Said,' 'Tomorrow Never Knows'). An absolute plethora of influences and styles at work and they marry perfectly onto Revolver with nary a concept at work, nor a marching suit to hide behind.  Revolver is Beatlemania’s actual 'good riddance' and the very reason they couldn’t go on as a touring band. As a continually grow

I Heart Noise: Boris's Pink (Deluxe Edition)

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Boris Pink (Deluxe Edition) Sargent House Released: 7.8.16 Originally released: 2005 via Diwphalanx Records (Japan); 2006 via Southern Lord Recordings (U.S.) I Heart Noise review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez: "Running Away"

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Omar Rodriguez-Lopez ( The Mars Volta/At the Drive-In ) is at the start of a very heavy season of solo releases, which, with help from Ipecac Recordings, will carry through till year's end.  For the second installment of this series, a video for the track "Running Away," featured on the album Corazones , has surfaced and features cameos from Buzz Osborne ( Melvins ), Teri Gender-Bender ( Le Butcherettes ) and John Frusciante ( Red Hot Chili Peppers ) to name a few.  And they all inflict onto Rodriguez-Lopez physical harm.  Pitchfork premiered the video, which you can check out below.  A schedule of Rodriguez-Lopez's solo releases can be found below along with other information, all of which was provided by Speakeasy PR. OMAR RODRIGUEZ-LOPEZ PREMIERES “RUNNING AWAY” VIDEO VIA PITCHFORK https://youtu.be/YM-IjSQjruU CORAZONES , SECOND IN BI-WEEKLY SERIES OF FULL-LENGTH ALBUMS, AVAILABLE NOW Aug. 1, 2016, El Paso, Tex. – Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (At The Drive In/Mar