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Kuvatud on postitused sildiga Year Zero. Kuva kõik postitused
Kuvatud on postitused sildiga Year Zero. Kuva kõik postitused

11/01/2020

Jane Buerk – "...sings Enculé and her other Hits" (2020)


  • Noise 
  • Avant-garde 
  • Abstract
  • Non-music 
  • Experimentalism 
  • Psycho-acoustic 
  • Electronic music

Naaseme taas plaadifirma Year Zero kogu manu. Seekord ei tule jutuks (eksperimentaalne) rokk, vaid esmapilgul kõike tühistav müramuusika. Müramuusika võib olla (ja sageli on) äärmuslik, samas pigem korrastatud, ent kõrvale ebasõbralikest helidest koosnev stiil. Stiil kui siil. Ära katsu, hoia distantsi! Selle taga võivad olla ebastabiilsed tüübid (tõepoolest – naisi on seal vähe, aga Jane Buerk on erand! ZOG`i liige), kes valavad oma isiklikku ja rahva ajaloolist ängi ja alandust välja (nt Japanoise). Hulluks muutub asi siis, kui ängist saab säng. Seda nimetatakse (vabatahtlikuks) paralüüsiks. Nii ängi kui ka müra taga hiilib tühjus – absoluutne tühjus. Tühjus on vaba kannatustest. Tõele au andes Jane Buerk`i teoses kohtab militarismi vähe – toda militaristlikku valget müra, mis muusikamängija kogu spektri maksimaalses ulatuses haarab kõige madalamatest kõrgeimate sagedusteni välja. Siin on pigem halli ja pruuni tooni, mis plärtsub ja vihiseb sünteka efektide najal. Kord kiiremini, kord aeglasemalt, kord inertselt, kord ergastatult – üks segane faasinihe kestab siin pidevalt. Müramuusikast enam tühistavam on dadaistlik lähenemine muusikale nagu seda on näiteks teinud plunderphonics`i (eesti keeles oleks ehk vasteks kaaperdamismuusika) artistid, kes on võtnud sämpleid ja sageli ehitanud üles kontekste moonutavaid teoseid. Või sageli naeruvääristanud peavoolu tõsise näoga tehtud asju (nagu need oleksid “päris”). Vaadates plaadi iseloomustust ja lugude pealkirju saab selgeks, et kaaperdamisega tegeletakse ka siin – Jane B. ja Serge G. on toodud ohvriks. Kes teab – võib-olla on see pigem tribuut arvestades Serge G. avatud meeli ja uuendusmeelsust.

10/31/2020

Phool – Phosphorus (2020)


  • Post-rock 
  • Ambient rock 
  • Lo-fi 
  • Avant-rock 
  • Art rock 
  • Indie rock 
  • Alternative rock 
  • DIY 
  • Improvised music 

Nagu näha plaadiümbrise paremas alumises nurgas –  "tuumaseen" püsti täies hiilguses – on käesolev üllitis osa Year Zero diskograafiast. Plaadifirma, mis on seotud Johnny Zchivago'ga, ainupostitajaga blogis Die or DIY, pakkudes seekord suhteliselt rahuliku meelelaadiga katsetusrokki Leicester'i triolt – külgnedes postroki, ämbiendi, elektroonika ja indiroki piirimail. Vahetevahel omandades tee-seda-ise (kaitse)kihi. Natuke improviseerimist-nupukruttimist. Ikka ja jälle on küsitud (kitarri)rokkmuusika tervise ja surma ja sellest rääkimise asjakohasuse järele käesoleval ajal (kas Elvis on surnud?). Kuulates Year Zero diskograafiat (ja käesolevat) üllitist, on teated vanakese enneaegsest surmast liialdatud. Pigem peaks rääkima popmuusika-levimuusika surmast, kuna vokoodrimasinat ja elektroonikat on sügavalt kuritarvitet, et toota maitsetuid meloodiate-harmooniateta poplaulukesi. Kunagi kiruti 80ndaid ja nüüd 90ndaid – justkui oleks siis suurt jama salvestatud – aga nimetet dekaadidest pärineb palju suuri albumeid ja suuri laule. Siinkirjutaja arvates on viimased 7-8 aastat popmuusikas olnud suhteliselt asjatud – midagi asjalikku (samas ennustan – ilmselt märkimisväärimatut ajaloolisel tasandil) on aeg-ajalt läbi tulnud, aga üldine pilt on (varju)surmas püsimine. Andergraund ja avangard – mida ma seostan peamiselt Bandcamp'iga – möllab omasoodu, kuigi ilmselgelt illusioonituna ja inertsist. Kasseti- ja netileibelid destilleerivad jätkuvalt midagi, aga ajaloolises plaanis ei ole see enam teema. Eks see käesolev seitsmelooline albumgi on mõnes mõttes teadlik paroodia – kesse ikke paneb projekti nimeks mõnuga Phool? Very phool.

10/28/2020

ZOG – Subvertebrates (2020)


  • Psychedelic 
  • Avant-rock
  • Psych-rock 
  • Avant-blues 
  • Experimental rock 
  • Improvised music 
  • Space rock
  • Art rock
 
Inglise kollektiiv ZOG meeldib mulle a priori seetõttu, et seal mängib Johnny Zchivago – siinkirjutaja lemmikblogija, kes on nii kriitiline kui irooniline enda blogis Die Or D.I.Y, tutvustades meinstriimist hälbivaid obskuursusi (žanriliselt seinast seina – provokatiivsest mittemuusikast kuni postpungini) kui valades tõrva muusikalistele dinosaurustele ja institutsioonidele. Ka poliitikat kaasab ta parajal määral – asja eest ja tagant saavad tema käest vastu pead parem- ja vasakpoolsed. Aeg-ajalt võtab ta vaatluse alla plaadifirma Year Zero loomingu (kahtlustan, et ta on sellega lähemalt seotud kui ainult muusikaliste projektide kaudu). Nagu varasemad ZOG'i albumid on ka see alumistele selgroolülidele (kuigi kaaneülesvõttel on terve lülisammas) tähelepanu juhtiv album justkui prooviruumis valmis küpsetatud. Mitte justkui – ilmselt ongi. Hulgaliselt kaja, trumme ja trummitaldrikuid, mis väänlevad tagasisidestatud kitarride ümber. Kitarrides on bluusilikku raginat ja kriipimist; seda robustset hingetäiust, mis ühendab omavahel erinevad ajavaimud. Kohavaim kõnetab ilmselt Mississippi deltas ja kõrbes, kus sündis Don Van Vliet – see selleks. Vahetevahel vürtsitatakse seda toorusest, roostest ja metalliläikest läbiimbunut inimhäälte ja elektroonikaga, aga need ei väära selle kuueloolise põhikurssi. Muusika, mis pidurdab selleks, et kiirendada. See vist ongi psühhedeelia.

4/29/2020

Son of ZOG – Son of ZOG (2019)



  • Improvised music 
  • Avant-rock 
  • Psychedelic 
  • Experimental rock 
  • Space rock 
  • Krautrock 
  • Psych-rock 
  • No Wave

Comment: if you would like to differentiate Son of ZOG from ZOG then the first one comes chronologically after the latter by providing frantic sax improvisations in the embodiment of Phil Allison, additionally to Christophe Medina (the drums), Jonny Zchivago (bass), and Nadine Aleman (electronics). Indeed, one and the only Jonny Zchivago, by far the most important (my favourite blogger, of course!) behind Die or D.I.Y is involved in these projects.
What to say about this 10-notch outing? It is as intense and voluptuous as a wedding act between an innumerable number of venomous snakes in spring. It spits poison, mud and semen to oil a conventional drum and guitar configuration into economically a scorching but artistically blossoming underground act. Otherwise, getting inspiration from acts being depicted at Die or D.I.Y blog the likes of Glenn Branca, CAN, nihilistic old school industrial projects, obscure post-punk and No Wave acts (of showing up frequently inclination toward any kind of aesthetical transgression). I don't guess the combo has knowingly followed any aforementioned or not mentioned group more detailedly yet one can inevitably find out some similarities because before that so immense amount of music has been produced to blow up the servers in future. Putting aside my smartass brouhaha just find time to listen to this untamed flow of instruments and perceive frantic states of mind on the bottom of it. The issue is a part of the discography of Year Zero Records.

8/09/2019

Scouts Of Uzbekistan – Aimless And Drifting (2018)




  • Kosmische Musik 
  • Plunderphonics 
  • Sampledelic 
  • Electronic music 
  • Avant-rock 
  • Krautrock 
  • Sound collage 
  • Noise rock 
  • Experimental rock 
  • Spoken word

Comment: it is another heavily synthesiser and an old Akai-driven transgressive album to get commented over there today yet it does have a little to do with the genre called synth-pop. Similarly to The Flaming Lips who used lots of uncanny electronic applications and synthesised stuff to create marvellous Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002), or Primal Scream's outstanding ones Vanishing Point (1997), and Evil Heat (2002). Two previous releases by Scouts of Uzbekistan (Mark Carolan, Johnny Zchivago) being represented earlier at RMH, the self-titled outing (2011), and Hate Is Our Religion (2016) were stylistically from a different section, however, with regard to their cutting-edge method and intention of course I don't dare to bet though. At times it chimes like an obscure example from the downright tape underground of the 80s, for instance, regarding such a combo as Big City Orchestra by turning the initial meaning of spoken word samples upside down by giving them an ambivalent meaning or emitting a disorienting madness. At times it rings like a Kosmische Musik tinged shuttle ready to start into a heavily iterative and blissful chaos of squeaky sounds and undulating space. Behind the chaos fractals start to appear as soon as one can digest this whole of 10 compositions (it does mean a listener must do at least a couple of revs across the enchanting orbit).The title track is about Lord, about its characteristics in human terms and then stepwise progressing into a creepy guitar-induced noise symphony. The mind-provoking release is a notch of the discography of Year Zero. A best one of 2018.

5/02/2017

Scouts Of Uzbekistan – Hate Is Our Religion (2016)



  • Post-punk 
  • Avant-rock 
  • Experimental rock 
  • Space rock 
  • Improvised music 
  • Doom rock 
  • Ambient

Comment: my choices regarding music commented at Recent Music Heroes are sporadic and with no specific intention. so I can admit the fact I am back again at the discography of Year Zero Records of which aim is to provide cutting edge sonic appearances of different predilections. And when it happens to you you can consider yourself a lucky you because it usually happens to be a mind-provoking experience. This time Scouts Of Uzbekistan provides guitar-based experiments through the glimpses in post-punk, space rock, improvised music/rock though it used to embrace elements of more styles in overall. Minor, glowering bass frequencies are intertwined with loose sounds of kit drums and other parts of the drums. At times one can perceive ill-omened, diabolical energy pouring quite invisibly from the restrained yet effect providing slots. In many cases the tracks are embellished with mutant vocals and eerie echoes wherein you can track down dormant anger and lurking flashbacks behind it. It is a sort of reversed psychedelic thing, it is blackened psychedelia. It is fairly sympathetic to enjoy rough yet honest sounds of the rehearsal room. Yet I Am The Alter-Destiny is a beatific ambient impression demonstrating the artist's ability to move in disparate directions. All in all get it into your soul. Get overwhelmed. Do not hesitate for asking it. That's the thing.

8/09/2016

Üwan - 4 (2015)




  • Experimental rock 
  • Avant-rock 
  • Psychedelic rock 
  • Hard rock 
  • Noise rock 
  • Post-rock 
  • Stoner rock 
  • Improvised music 
  • Doom rock


Comment: Üwan`s tracks are named in the following way: For, Fort, Fore, Four. All these compositions are lengthy ones, extending from 10 minutes to 16 minutes ultimately clocking in at a 52-minute. At the metadata of the album the case is tagged as free rock. I can admit it though it might say nothing of an issue. In general, it could be said the issue starts off and finish off in a similar way. In the meantime, the artist changes its path through quite minimal dodges though the listener can clearly perceive of how all the soundscape conjured up with a guitar, a bass guitar, and the drums used to cumulate slowly in an expressive way. If you like blood, sweat, and mud all these elements do appear prominently over there. By the way, one can hear no words and singing throughout the course. Stylistically the issue has elegantly usurped an interface between improvised music, doom-laden rock, hard rock, stoner rock, noise rock, and psychedelia. It includes a shitloads of guitar riffs but is not embedded in clichès but providing them with refreshing tones. In a nutshell, it could be an ideal issue for the tough rock man who is interested in more playfulness and colours in the classic rock-oriented scene. Get the gem. Get it by now. The issue is a part of the discography of the avant-garde music imprint Year Zero Records.

3/31/2016

Esmectatons – Bene Gesserit Science (2008)




  • Lo-fi
  • Noise
  • Experimentalism
  • Avant-garde
  • Psychedelic
  • Non-music
  • Dada music
  • Freeformfreakout
  • Electronic
  • Krautrock
  • Space rock
  • Avant-rock
  • Experimental rock
  • Psycho-acoustic

Comment: this outing consists of a couple of notches which in turn are divided into a numerous batch of subunits reflecting upon diverse themes most of them are titled funnily and surrealistically. Behind the project is Brazilian musician L. Borgia Rossetti with a little help by other musicians. Rossetti`s concept and therefore sonic endeavours trudge across diverse pathways, from uncanny post-classical music and electro-acoustic whirlpools to lo-fi inflected brown noise and warped psychedelic noise and stark outright sonic experiments to spaced-out rock and improvised krautrock madness which in the end chime mesmerizingly and formidably. Honestly, at times it sounds like the tape were streaked and hurt mechanically. By kindred souls it could be compared with the likes of Hawkwind, Isotope 217, CAN, Faust, Led Zeppelin, Borbetomagus. The issue is a part of an off-kilter imprint, Year Zero Records (business as usual it does not disappoint you).

2/24/2016

Thee Outside – Deaf Disco (1997/2010)




  • Drum and bass
  • Jungle
  • Experimental
  • Alternative dance
  • Breaks

Comment: this issue of 12 tracks was initially released in 1997 whereas the British music scene was virtually shook by a wave of Britpop which started off sometime in the mid of the 90s and on the other side there was up the club dance scene of drum and bass, jungle, speed garage and house music of becoming more apparent on the mainstream ground. Indeed, these styles of dance music come to provide something refreshing for more demanding music lovers. On the other side, some of those artists whose music had had a remarkable influence on the aforementioned styles decided to stand off or set their steps otherwise to continue stubbornly their very own idiosyncratic path. Such true pioneers as Aphex Twin, Mike Paradinas-led projects, Dryft, Luke Vibert, Venetian Snares, Squarepusher would go underground again. Thee Outside`s music in connection with artistic and aesthetic approach did have a similar, wide-ranging behaviour with regard to going beyond the boundaries of dnb/jungle music in a curious yet sapid way. Musically the artist used to loan from other adjacent styles yet exploiting deviant sonic effects in a great amount to the compound which appeared to be relatively uncommon then. All those details are accentuated and amplified in a truly poignant way. Although the nature of Deaf Disco is exquisitely experimental it might be as one of the most accessible notches in the discography of Year Zero. Let`s enjoy the dexterity of British people to generate poppy sounds for our pleasure. You should take time to concentrate and behave in the way it is repeated in a rhyme at Empty Mind - /empty your mind of all thoughts and distractions/you`ll lose yourself to become the music/. 

9/26/2015

Blind Man Walking - 36 Howden Road (2014)




/Improvised music, Ambient, Glitch, Freeformfreakout, Cool jazz, Kosmische Musik, Art music, Free jazz, Avant-garde, Experimentalism/

Comment: it might sound like muzak at times though it is not it by the artist`s intention though. Indeed, there are represented some smooth jazz progressions, however, those whiffs are generally put in such a pop music estranged context giving no possibility to understand it as an example of pop music. More concretely, there are up tightly foggy, glitched-out noises like a black hole sucking in the most sonic artefacts surrounding it. Concrete Lamppost Sure Tastes Good is another, more pop-oriented and Kosmische Music mixed composition with dreamy vibe and drowsy meandering. Made A Fag From Cabbage Leaves And A Newspaper sounds like a ghoul telling a story outside while being accompanied by an early, more post-punk-ish sound of Cocteau Twins chiming somewhere at a remote distance. It is a weird collage indeed. The Green River Joins Two Identical Worlds is an inventive turn through a cool jazz /post-bebop pad. However, the whole might be a sort of muzak though it is an uncanny sort of muzak in this case. Thereby it can be said it is provocative and challenging for those who do not like music while listening to AOR as a sonic tapestry because of feeling her/himself not being alone. In a word, let`s trying to hover with it.

9/22/2015

Prutsers - Prutsers Vol.1 (2012)




/Primitivism, Organcore, Post-punk, Lo-fi, DIY, Avant-garde, Experimentalism, Freeformfreakout, Non-music, Outsider music, Dada music, Covers/

Comment: these 18 tracks represented on this fabulous miscellany were recorded sometime in between 1983-1987 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The members of the group came from the old Rotterdam punk scene, however, the sonic result seems to be thousands steps further to be trudged with regard to an average exemplar of punk music. On the other side, their attitude is thoroughly (post)-punk-ish. Sonically their sound resembles more The Residents, Cromagnon, Big City Orchestra and other obscure US-based avant-garde groups. As one of the members of the group Henk Madrotter said they had improvised with all the instruments they could get their hands on. From toys to Commodore 64 sounds (the legendary music program thought to produce the so-called tracker/chiptune/8-bit sound). Indeed, the listener can hear droning toy instruments, cheesy rhythms conjured up from a synthesiser bought from the second hand shop to produce a simplistic oom-pah sound with beer drunken singing sometimes (Ochtend Humeur). Some electronic bleeps sound thoroughly futuristic. For instance, Ik Dank U Allen is an ultramodern stake on concrete sounds, spaced-out/dark ambient and spoken word drenched sounds. Despite of its deliberately obvious unrefined intention the project chimes very contemporary at times – its brass arrangements and droning organs remind of Beirut and other lo-fi and DIY scene inspired artists frequently (for instance, listen to Martha which is a wondrous composition with the assistance of a mandolin and droning organ). By the way, the whole involves a cover of the Beatles` Helter Skelter. Woordjes loans Joe Meek`s the most well-known production. It can be said they were proto-Ariel Pinks (in truth, an early Ariel Pink was a post-Prutsers). This sonic beast is a mandatory legacy for those who think music is the most important essence in human being`s life. By the way, recently Year Zero Records released Prutsers` vol.2

1/26/2015

Philip Johnson – 0714 (2015)




/Experimental pop, Primitive music, Industrial, Experimental electronica,  Avant-pop, Art pop, Dada music, Freeformfreakout, Non-music, Improvised music, Weird pop/

Comment: this the second entry of mine into the discography of Year Zero Records, an experimental label frequently promoted by such great blogspot as Die or D.I.Y?. Philip Johnson`s 30-minute long album consists of spastic electronic drifts, overdriven guitar noises and angular drumming reminding an early Cabaret Voltaire, for instance. However, all of it said above conveys almost nothing about the release because if you do not listen to it you cannot perceive this frantic dada-drenched attitude resulting in fairly weird sonic effects, bent words, spinning noises, elongated keys and uncanny classical music developments. Furthermore, it is simultaneously primitive (sometimes also mimicking minimalist music stances) and sophisticated (for instance, conveying feeling of social relevance to the listener at Just Like It Should). Johnson`s experiments with simplistic yet somewhat eerie electronic beeps remind me of such eccentric electronic music pioneers as Bruce Haack, and Raymond Scott. Very solid issue by any avant-garde measures.    

1/06/2015

Scouts of Uzbekistan ‎– The Scouts of Uzbekistan EP (2011)




/Avant-garde, Leftfield, Experimentalism, Space music, Neofolk, Avant-rock, Spoken word, Psychedelic rock/

Comment: one is very sure – it is not a pop release at all though there can be met some restrained moments juxtaposed to more hirsute and noisy bursts. More profoundly, this 4-track uncanny issue involves stylistically different sections extending from avant-rock and noise rock torrents to dreamy (neo)folk and hypnagogic spoken word centred insights. It might be easily these sounds come out of heads of the personnel of a space lab drifting along millions of miles away from the Earth. It is deep, it is charming, it is spaced-out, it is… . In spite of incisive sonic approach the listener can feel somewhat tongue-in-cheek feeling in these compositions (for instance, using the bluegrass based nexus in one composition). One of the songs used to depict the hell on its own. Eventually Mark Carolan and Nick d’Uzbekistan produced issue proves very expressively it is much more worth than most pop albums available right now around you. In a word, the gem and their record label Year Zero`s discography is fairly precise to be discovered right now. By kindred souls the can be drawn parallels upon the likes of The Hirundu, The Residents, Art Abscon(s), Death In June, for instance.