The Golden Sores Reviewed

From A Future In Noise

Friday, June 12, 2009

Independent Music Discoveries, Issue #12

Another line-up of independent artists who are putting out brilliant music; this may very well be one of our best Independent Music Discoveries series posts yet. As per-usual, recommend your favourite indie artists in the comments!

The Golden Sores - Drone / Experimental / Noise - Illinois, USA
Every once and awhile, music arrives in my inbox (and in the case of the Golden Sores, in my mailbox, too!) that is exactly the kind of music I'm questing after. After becoming immersed in Natural Snow Buildings, I was recently investigating the music of La Monte Young and the Theatre of Eternal Music, and here come the Golden Sores, a duo comprised of Steve Fors and Chris Miller, who "utilizing a combination of electric and lap steel guitar, salvaged thrift store keyboards, pedals (both broken and boutique), obscure analogue synthesizers, and other obsolete noise-making esoterica...have forged deep into the realms of drone". Indeed- this is the very science of what drone is at work, the 'quintessence'. The six tracks of A Peaceable Kingdom (streamable in part on Last.fm and and Virb) may all be upwards of 5 minutes, though time just slips on by without notice throughout, from glittering surrealism ("Double Gyres"), what it might sound like if Wooden Shjips and Sun O))) collaborated on an instrumental track ("The Awful Rowing Toward God"), to channeling some nearly-spiritual energy ("We'll Wield Fire" and "Ondine")- very, very much recommended (see also BloodLust! album/ordering information for the Golden Sores)! Their previous release Ashdod to Ekron is available for free download in full on Last.fm (have a listen to "Arphaxad").

(And it was nice to see this followed by a review of Wierd family associate Tamaryn!)

Show Recap...

Thank you to everyone who came out to The Mopery... and thanks for the patience in regards to the late start and the PA issues. Josh and Shane pleaded with me not to fry the PA, as I sort of did at the TDS OGF/Suffering Bastard show at Mr. City, a while back. This time, it was not my fault! Unfortunately, some incorrect wiring/set-up meant that Bruce, Delina, and I had a "blow out" during our set. We tried to re-group and carry on, but things only lasted a short while after the system went back on. We never really got up to full-steam in our set, but I was pleased with the slow build-up that we managed to accomplish before things went bad... Luckily, there was alternate gear that could be set up for Josh, Naomi, and Shane, and they all played great and weird sets... Joshua Hydeman did an ultra-dark synth-based dark-ambient/death-industrial set with some blistering vocals that took things into a power-electronics direction and that suddenly made my heart nearly burst out of my chest. Naomi Elizabeth did her sex kitten synth-pop thing, awkwardly yet very cleverly sandwiched between the two dudes... And then Corephallism (Shane Broderick) also played a dark as hell death-industrial set... I am ressurecting the term DEATH AMBIENT for what Josh and Shane are up to right now. After a quick re-set on Shane's Little Boy Blue synth, Josh and I grabbed some microphones and we did a impromptu version of "Leak" - my new track with Cadaver in Drag. That helped me burn of a bit of anger... A short visit to Flat Iron then a backyard session until the birds started chirping loudly, the mosquitos began raging, and the rain started. A leisurely lunch at San Juan... and fuck, they better be in Milwaukee now...

Thanks to Blake for the snapshots:

Friday Night!

BloodLust! presents a night of ritualistic noise, synth-pop, death-industrial, power-electronics, and sexual ambition

The issue of how to approach pubescent teens enthralled by sex remains a challenging one for educators. There are certain fixed realities to contend with: hormones, the developmental transition away from parents toward peers, sensation-seeking consistent with the appeal of novel experience and the belief that pushing the envelope is an adolescent birthright. In addition there may be drugs, alcohol, and/or mood disorders fueling sexual fantasy and behavior. Importantly, there is also the sociocultural context at work; it drives sexual ambitions in both conscious and unconscious ways toward, not away from, risk taking. And it bathes both sexes in an increasingly sexually explicit and ubiquitous universe.

Friday June 12, 2009

9:00 PM
All Ages
Free

The Mopery
2734 N. Milwaukee Ave. (above Pearl Vision)
Chicago, IL 60647
http://themoperychicago.blogspot.com/

with

Joshua Hydeman
http://www.myspace.com/thejoshhydeman
(Member of Twodeadsluts Onegoodfuck)

Corephallism
http://www.myspace.com/technicalvirginity
(Member of Twodeadsluts Onegoodfuck)

Naomi Elizabeth
http://www.myspace.com/naomielizabet

Bruce Lamont + Delina Russell + Mark Solotroff
http://www.epicdecline.com/
http://bloodlust.blogspot.com/
(Members of Yakuza, Outer Space [Cleveland, OH], BLOODYMINDED)

Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/event/1070620

Noise + Metal Break

I am taking a brief break from listening to all of a intense recordings that I received over the weekend in order to hear the new album, "The Mirror Explodes," by The Warlocks. Their last album, "Heavy Deavy Skull Lover," which came out in late-2007, remains in my heavy rotation short-list. Will this one make it? We shall see. I just saw that they are doing a two-night stand at The Empty Bottle in early-August...



Oh, and the spectacular new Blacklist CD, "Midnight of the Century" (Wierd Records), helped me wake up this morning...

Anatomical Update

Just when it seems like we have set a song into stone, we seem to have a really interesting breakthrough. Last night's Anatomy of Habit practice was another such instance... distilling things down to their essence. One minute, I miss the way we had been playing a certain section, but soon after, I embrace the evolution... I cannot wait to get this beast on stage, on July 13th... We may also have a mid-August show lined-up now...

Mauthausen Airwaves

Here is a new playlist from A Bright and Shining Tomorrow, featuring the new Mauthausen Orchestra single:

http://abastradio.blogspot.com/2009/06/6909-playlist.html

Weekend Wrap-Up

I have been trying to gather my thoughts -- not to mention, catch up on some sleep -- for the last couple of days, after the insane -- and insanely long -- weekend.

Everyone has been asking what my highlights were at the Matchitehew Assembly... a pretty difficult task, as I thought through a list and it included over half of the acts... so those are not truly highlights, then, right? Maybe that is a testament to the generally solid curating/booking efforts of the organizers? If I had to list favorites, in no particular order (alphabetical, I suppose), I would say:

Air Conditioning
Bone Awl
Burial Hex
Dead Times
Locrian
Maledicere
Marblebog
Oakeater
Sword Heaven
Velnias

Quickly followed by:

Ashdautas
John Wiese
Silvum
Take Up Serpents
Volahn

Eeeech... I hate even having to make these sorts of lists -- they put one on the spot and they end up causing more trouble than they are worth, but I am still thinking the whole festival through, so maybe it will help... Fuck, I mean, there were only two acts that I wished had not even played. I have never played at, or attended, a multi-day event like this where I liked so much (read: MOST) of the music.

Surprises: Silvum with the drummer from Marblebog. It worked. Very well. Dead Times... having only heard some MySpace music, I was treated to a long-lost cousin to Redrot, maybe? Death-industrial meets lo-fi industrial-metal... something like that.

No surprise: Just how good Air Conditioning, Bone Awl, and Sword Heaven were. Three different flavors of brutality, monumentalism, darkness, aggression, perfection... I could go on and on. Robert from A.C.'s performance might have been my single favorite of the weekend. Dead serious. Sorry, Franco...

In a clinch: No surprise either that Wiese pulled of a great set even after having to re-configure his set, gear, frame of mind, etc., after Hive Mind cancelled.

Velnias were the best I have ever seen them. Tight as hell after their recent tour.

The Ashdautas and Volahn one-two punch was a touch awkward... transitionally, I mean... but once you got past the membership shuffle, it was clear that some distinctly different things were happening between the two configurations. I am listening to their recordings so that I can gain a bit more understanding, as I previously knew little about either band.

I totally enjoyed Marblebog. I have no clue why people were down on their sound. I thought that they sounded excellent, defying the odds of going on last on Friday, after a lot of people bailed out right after we finished -- also this being their first USA show and their first show with a full line-up. I really enjoyed hanging out with and speaking to Gabor, their bassist.

Krieg suffered a similar fate to Marblebog, headlining to a severely reduced audience. But I was glad to see a different take on black metal... glad to see some corpse paint... and it was fun (I mean, grim) to see Blake from Nachtmystium sitting in on bass, in said facial enhancement.

Maledicere was pure aggression and totally up my alley, with some primal Hellhammer-influenced aspects that added to the intensity.

Oakeater... maybe my favorite performance by them. Distilled to the most skin crawling, dark essence. Excellent! And a great "comeback" from Locrian after taking their maternity leave.

Other thoughts: As with festivals like this, it is always a blast to hang out with so many friends, and to meet lots of interesting people. I have a ton of new music to listen to, which I have started making my way through. It will take days... So, "thanks" to everyone who handed me all sorts of goodies! Friday and Saturday were loooooooooong days. Things definitely could have moved at a snappier pace. Damian the sound engineer was a nice guy but he seemed far too overprotective of his system -- to the point where the digital compression (which he confirmed) almost became an extra instrument in several groups' performances. It certainly made things difficult for us... well, for James, really... trying to coax feedback out of our mix, even at a pretty generously high volume, was a very odd experience. Overall, though, things went well for us. The recording that I made sounds really good. We were extremely pleased to have Jason from Cadaver In Drag do "Ten Suicides" with us again... it was a pretty epic (7-minute) version! While a lot of friends were there to support us <<<>>> there were definitely conspicuous absences from the noise scene. In some cases, I know why, and I can not fault those people, at all. In general, the turnout was really disappointing, which was a shame, considering the magnitude of this event. Still, the people that were there seemed really enthusiastic. The crowd was great during our set. And people were really generous in supporting us at the merch table. Thank you for that!

I had a smaller crew at the house than initially expected, so things were relatively comfortable. There was no shortage of birds chirping to remind us how late the nights were. Saturday included a long afternoon at Kuma's, with Air Conditioning, BLOODYMINDED, and Cadaver In Drag folks. ABC. Robert and Franco had to leave early-ish on Sunday, so they missed what will forever be known as SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY... Bloody Mary's made with some biting pitbull puppy mud... and killer ribs, which followed shortly after cocktails... that was an unexpected surprise! After Mr. Schuler was dropped off back at his van, James and I mustered up the last bit of energy possible in order to see Bokeh and The Golden Sores at Enemy, as it was the release show for the new CD by T.G.S. on BloodLust! Both bands played really great sets! I was on the verge off collapse -- in fact, I was nearly hallucinating at a key point during Chris and Steve's set -- and James had to drive back to Milwaukee -- so we bailed out before the out-of-towners played... so, my apologies for no being able to support all of the performers...

I am sure I will think of more, but that is all for now...

New BLOODYMINDED live song posted to MySpace

A new song was added to our MySpace profile:

"Ten Suicides (Live 06-05-09)" - from the Matchitehew Assembly - with guest vocals by Jason Schuler of Cadaver In Drag:

http://www.myspace.com/officialbloodyminded

BLOODYMINDED June 6 Set List

BLOODYMINDED
6 JUNE 09
MATCHITEHEW ASSEMBLY
CO-PROSPERITY SPHERE
CHICAGO, IL

Heber Burguete - Synth
James Moy - Live Mix + Synth + Vocals
Isidro Reyes - Synth + Vocals
Jason "Slim" Schuler (Cadaver In Drag) - Guest Vocals
Mark Solotroff - Vocals

01. LAKE STREET
02. TROPHY
03. HEAD
04. OUTSIDE THE GATE
05. GENITAL PANIC
06. ANGEL OF DARKNESS
07. PORN LORDS
08. A SONG FOR LISANNE, A YOUNG MODEL
09. MIND THE GAP
10. LEAK*
11. PRO-ANA
12. TWO DROPS OF BLOOD
13. VISITING AN EX-GIRLFRIEND IN THE HOSPITAL – AIDS WARD
14. GRAIN**
15. CHINATOWN
16. WITHIN THE WALLS
17. TEN SUICIDES***

* (From the new Cadaver In Drag "Abuse/Breathing Sewage" CD)
** (Originally by Animal Law)
*** (With Jason Schuler)

Another Five Years of Slaughter

A cheaper (to start with) copy of the rare Mauthausen Orchestra "Five Years of Slaughter" is up on eBay, in case anyone is interested. The seller has some other nice things, including original S.P.K. and Einsturzende Neubauten cassettes...

Status - 6/8

Recovery mode.
More words soon.

All outstanding paid orders were mailed out this afternoon.

TONIGHT: The Golden Sores CD Release

Please join us tonight to celebrate the release of the new BloodLust! CD - "A Peaceable Kingdom" - by The Golden Sores



Sudden Oak
http://www.myspace.com/suddenoak

SwanOx
http://grace.evergreen.edu/~nybnik10/cr/

Golden Sores
http://virb.com/goldensores

Bokeh
http://www.myspace.com/bokehblur

Doors 7:30 PM
Music 8:00 PM

$5.00 suggested donation

Enemy
1550 N. Milwaukee Ave., 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL
http://www.enemysound.com