Reminder: Plague Bringer - Today at Reckless - Downtown

Saturday April 17, 2010
Record Store Day
Reckless Records
26 E. Madison Street
Chicago, IL 60602
312.795.0878
http://www.reckless.com/
1:00 PM
Free
All Ages
with:
Sweet Cobra
Plague Bringer (celebrating the release of their new "Burning Inside" CD-single box set on BloodLust!)
Love of Everything

Rare Comp with Intrinsic Action on eBay

There is a copy of the very rare compilation - "Exploration One" - with Intrinsic Action, Sshe Retina Stimulants, Sigillum S, Iugula-Thor, Brighter Death Now, Genocide Organ, MSBR, etc., currently listed on eBay

Los Heraldos Negros Tests Arrived

The test copies of the forthcoming Los Heraldos Negros "Vivir Mejor" CD have arrived and they are A-OK. This release will be ready to ship on or before May 1st. With any luck, I will have them with me next weekend at Heavy Focus...

Locrian in Pitchfork

A new Locrian interview has just been posted on Pitchfork's The Out Door column

BlackBerry Snapshots of Plague Bringer Box Set

After a marathon session last night, the Plague Bringer box sets are all assembled and they are being dropped off at the three Reckless Records stores today, in preparation for tomorrow's Record Store Day event, featuring Plague Bringer live at the downtown store. Here are some low-quality BlackBerry snapshots of what the boxes look like. This is definitely one of the most elaborate BloodLust! releases ever...

Slow, Deep & Hard

Well, I was never the biggest Type O Negative fan, nor did I ever have more than a casual interest in Carnivore. Before "Slow, Deep & Hard" came out, Pamela Lynch (ex-Intrinsic Action) was managing the Paris office of Roadrunner Records, so I got an advance copy of the album on cassette, which I played to death at the time. Upon learning of Pete Steele's death today, I had to put in on. It may not really hold up that well, but it does have its moments. I pretty much lost interest in the band after that, as I thought that their take on gothic-influenced metal was really heavy-handed. Still, it was a shocker, when John B. texted me this morning...

Rare Intrinsic Action 7-Inch Singles on eBay

It was just pointed out to me that there are several rare Intrinsic Action singles currently on eBay, ending on Sunday April 18:

"Dazed" 7-inch
"Manhattan Power Surge" 7-inch
"Adult Books and Video" 7-inch
"Groupies" 7-inch

Considering the awesome track record of I.A. on eBay, you should be able to scoop them up for a steal. Ha!



Not exactly well-done, but amusing...

Stereogum on Locrian "Territories"

A nice write-up by Brandon Stosuy in Stereogum - with a streaming/downloadable version of the track, “The Columnless Arcade”

Locrian’s Territories ends with the torrentially uplifting “The Columnless Arcade.” The Chicago duo of André Foisy and Terence Hannum still create plenty of dark, crumbling, murky washes and spacious Prurient-on-Loren Mazzacane Connors noisescapes, but since their last collection Drenched Lands (and a handful of shorter 2009 releases), they’ve added a rock layer to the bleak ambiance. The assistance comes via a well-curated cast of Chicago-area metal/extreme music regulars:

On the aforementioned closer and 11-minute mid-collection epic “Procession of Ancestral Brutalism,” the guys are joined by Nachtmystium’s Black Judd on guitars (plus vocals on “Procession”), Yakuza’s Bruce Lamont on saxophone, and Velnias‘ Andrew Scherer on drums. (Elsewhere, Bloodyminded’s Mark Solotroff shreds his vocal cords and affixes dense synth drone.) Last July I booked Locrian on an intentionally weirdo bill with three different kinds of grindcore groups (Anal Cunt, Fuck The Facts, and Compremesis) and a more straightforward progressive Opeth-style crew (Gwynbleidd). At time the time, Foisy and Hannum’s electric, spacious sheets of synthesized/looped noise and dense smoke machines created a gorgeous, religious-seeming swerve from the rest of the bill. A year later they’d still be the odd-men out, but they’d also be creating blackened anthems that’d give just about anyone a run for their blast beats. You get a bit of both worlds in “The Columnless Arcade.”

Territories is out now on LP via At War with False Noise, Basses Frequences, Bloodlust!, and Small Doses. (It takes a nation.) It’ll be out on CD in August. More details on that soon. In the meantime, make room on your year-end lists.

Blastitude on Locrian "Territories"

Here is a great new review from the latest Blastitude update:

LOCRIAN Territories (AT WAR WITH FALSE NOISE / BASSES FREQUENCIES / BLOODLUST! / SMALL DOSES) Showing a continued intent to develop and reinvent themselves, Locrian augment their duo lineup with various key guests from Chicago's metal, experimental, and experimental/metal scenes. The result is as solid and satisfying as all of Locrian's releases have been, but given several fresh twists, which we hear right off the bat on "Inverted Ruins," featuring Mark Solotroff of Bloodyminded doing a killer job singing bleak lyrics and Andrew Scherer of Velnias playing kit drums, I believe a first for Locrian. Other temporary members include Bruce Lamont of Yakuza on vocals and saxophone, and perhaps most notably Blake Judd of Nachtmystium on guitars and vocals. All four of these ringers appear throughout the album, in different combinations, but not on every track... though only one track ("Antediluvian Territory") is by the original Locrian duo lineup, there is also only one track ("Procession of Ancestral Brutalism") that features all six musicians. Not surprisingly, it explodes out of the middle of the album as the most raging and traditionally black metal sounding track on here, though I might prefer the nearly 10-minute Solotroff/Locrian trio cut "Ring Road."

New Maya "Helium" Video

The lovely Miss Maya H., friend to the BLOODYMINDED and Wierd worlds, has a beautiful new song - "Helium" - and the video should appeal to fans of Alejandro Jodorowsky and other symbolist/magical sorts of things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcGASvbtZb8

SFBG on Pieter, Wave, etc.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian recently published an extensive piece on minimal synth and cold wave, partially focusing on Pieter's party and label, as well as the SF scene, etc. It features a streaming introductory 22-minute mix from the recent "Wierd presents: Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics Vol 1" compilation on Angular Recording Corporation:

http://www.sfbg.com/2010/04/06/original-synth

Fader on Locrian "Territories"

Our friend Jamie Johns was kind enough to include a write-up of "Territories" in her latest Freak Scene column in Fader:

Locrian

Four labels from three different countries and four collaborators, including Mark Solotroff from Bloodyminded and Blake Judd from Nachtmystium, join Locrian on Territories. I wasn’t that familiar with Locrian before this but Territories is as good and engaging an introduction as any. I fall on the side of enjoying the spaced out bleak ambient tracks on this record over the more black metal infused tracks. It is not that metal tracks like “Procession of Ancestral Brutalism” aren’t good, they are – lots of pained screeches and riffing but the first two songs on Territories, “Inverted Ruins” and “Between Barrows,” create such an atmospheric and engaging tone for the whole album that I found myself turning back to those songs more. “Inverted Ruins” features Mark Solotroff from Bloodyminded on vocals and his growls complement the repetitive guitar and creaky synths of the song nicely, creating a trance inducing piece and proving that in the case of Locrian collaboration does something more than just fill up a press one sheet. Bloodlust is sold out of the record but it is available through Small Doses for US customers, get it HERE.

B!134 Mark Solotroff "Archive04" CD - Sneak Peek

Out May 1, 2010

B!153 Los Heraldos Negros "Vivir Mejor" CD - In Production

Awaiting test copies...

After Ringing Comes...

Well, I think that I reached a new level of deep ear damage today, due to a heavy-duty recording session that occurred this afternoon at the Plague Bringer/AoH space. Isidro and I joined in to raise one hell of a racket with Adam and Mike from Winters in Osaka, Mack from Koufar/Bachir Gemayal, Omar from Socially Retarded/Constrictions, and Rich Hoak from Brutal Truth/Total Fucking Destruction. With a small window of opportunity to meet up and play with Rich while he was in town, it was great to completely blast away, even if I will be feeling like I am underwater for a while. Rich (on drums) and Isidro (on bass+FX) locked into some really cool motorik passages, and the rest of us layered in acres of synth, feedback, noise, etc. It seemed like there were some extremely effective moments, particularly when we managed to pull back back a bit, allowing some completely unexpected combinations of sound to swell up. I am giving a listen to my recording of the session right now, as I transfer it to my computer, and aside from some frustrating MiniDisc glitches, there seems to be some nice material that we will be able to work with. I think that after some careful listening, thought, and editing, there could easily be some very releasable music here. Thanks to Rich for making the effort to play with us while he was back in town. Thanks to Adam for arranging everything. Thanks to Josh and Greg from Plague Bringer and my other band mates for making the space available to us today - and especially to Dylan for the use of his drum kit!