#/dreamy psychedelic rock playing in distance/

[mayplantstarrwaters]

whos up messing with their makeup kit and doing a 60s eye look

[i-watch-too-many-movies]

Song of the Day: "Weather Report" by Fishmans

The wind keeps blowing and I'm always here, I don't know.

I wonder if anything good has ever happened to me. I don't know.

I wish I could stop the wind

I want to go somewhere far away

I wish I could call the wind

I wish I could stay like this

Tomorrow, I head back to North Carolina for the weekend to grab my stuff out of storage. It had been there ever since I wasn’t able to return to the state due to the pandemic. I have old friends that I plan to see that I never said goodbye to, and I feel like I need some closure with the college that I have attended and the place that I have lived for four years and suddenly just stopped living there.

I’m nervous. I’m nervous that I’ll make a fool of myself in front of my friends, but mostly, I’m nervous about what happens after I leave. Once I grab everything I have, I’m not going back. This is the next step towards my own life, where I’ll have to go on further into adulthood, and as someone who doesn’t currently have a job or a drivers’ license, the fear of failing at all of this has been haunting me since I was a teenager, getting yelled at by everyone in my life that I wouldn’t survive adulthood.

Recently, I’ve been listening to the Fishmans discography, a band that I have been a (albeit casual) fan of ever since I heard their stellar sixth album, the dreamy psychedelic opus that is Long Season. I wanted to see their evolution, their growth as musicians and songwriters, from the reggae and dub band to the dream pop and even post-rock cult icons they ended up becoming. It all culminates on their final studio album, Uchu Nippon Setagaya, arguably their most beautiful release. While I love every song on the album, the one that stood out the most was track two, “Weather Report”. Frontman Shinji Sato sings over a gentle and hypnotic groove about seasonal depression, about a beautiful sunny day that takes place after a dreary, miserable day inside due to the rain. How he wishes the sun could stay out forever, how he’s had enough of the wind, of the rain. His indecisiveness of where to go, a desire to feel comfort no matter what happens.

I listened to this song as I walked outside, looking at the setting sun, hearing that excellent drumbeat, the undoubtable bass groove, the messily beautiful guitar solo, and above all, those atmospheric, rich chords played on the keyboard. I began to cry when I heard them. A sort of hope lies in those chords. A bittersweet feeling of change, something that matched the sun setting in the distance. The chords to me represent old things ending as well as new things beginning. 

I hope to do better for myself all throughout 2021. To write more, to read more, to watch more, to make myself happier. To bring myself to a place where I am comfortable with myself and the situations around me. Thank you, Fishmans, for providing the soundtrack to an uncertain place in my life.

[doomedandstoned]

Black Spirit Crown Score Big Win With ‘Gravity’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Strong guitars chords carve out a bold landscape to begin the first of five cosmic tales. "Doomstar" sails across the universe as a comet, filled with as much magic as destructive possibility. On a dark night, you can almost make out the whirling, wicked tale of this asto-demon.

Welcome to the evocative domain of Ohio's BLACK SPIRIT CROWN. We first met the Clevelanders on their original four-tracker 'Red Sky' (2017), its sphatik gem "Megalith" added to our 'Doomed & Stoned in Ohio' (2017) compilation and the first and second rounds of Ohio Doomed & Stoned Festivals organized in short, subsequent order. The boys of Black Spirit Crown have long been an integral part of the heavy music scene of The Buckeye State, opening for such greats as Conan, Inter Arma, and The Obsessed.

As with their debut, 'Red Sky' (2017), the vocals are so important to convincing us of the band's bonafides. Guitarist Dan Simone and bassist Chris Martin have a good instinct for singing in harmony, building up a song climatically, and giving it legs so it can express itself in fitting form. The vocals on "Doomstar" are mainly clean, on the order of a Bask, Snail, Chrome Ghost, or Noctum, but the band reveals in the song's second half that it can get as grissly as any Aaron Turner project.

"Saga" belts out a solid punk-tempo -- an interesting and entirely fitting choice for a song about Viking rampage. The runaway development of the middle section felt characteristically Pikelike and I half-way expected him to make a quick guesty on the record. Just then, we hear the hearty hoo-hah! of a crowd and run to rejoin them for the song's remaining verse, which soon fades away into the shadowy labyrinth of memory.

Firey drummering distinguishes the advent of the "Orb." Is this odd visitor here to observe us? Or maybe it is intent on giving us a window into a world besides our own? We scarcely have time to ponder the question before the song whisks us away on its transcendental carpet ride. If you're looking to classify Black Spirit Crown's style (and let's face it, all of us have an inner music critic that does) it would be probably best to think of it as "space doom" or even "cosmic grunge." Certainly, there's some kind of a dreamy psychedelic element at play, bending and stretching each song as it will, sometimes for great lengths of time. Perhaps that element is the orb itself?

We're lucky to have very memorable songs on both of Black Spirit Crown's records. For the first, the clear standout was "Megalith," which in a perfect world would have at least given Black Spirit Crown a summer radio hit. On this record, there is ripe opportunity for another crossover with "Teutates."

Teutates by Black Spirit Crown

Teutates was a Celtic god of the ancient peoples of Gaul and Britain, the protector of their entire community. Black Spirit Crown personify his legend in song: "I hold the world in iron hands, I travel pathways not meant for man." Pretty badass, huh? "Write my name across the sky, in lines of fire 10 miles high." He's nothing if not bold, that Teutates.

After the brisk pace of the last rousing number, we burrow back into the cold comfort of the dark soil to reconnect with those doom roots. Here Black Spirit Crown venture into the smokey den of Monolord, Slomatics, and Windhand. Dan's phantom vocals are undoubtedly suited for both the mood and style of "Gravity," which I'm currently listening to just after dusk and it's absolutely ruling the night. I suppose it could rule regardless of when and where it yields its trance-inducing power. By the end of the record we've become one with the comet, and embraced its final destination, as well.

And now, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to premiere the album, 'Gravity' (2020) in its fullness. Look for my interview with Black Spirit Crown and more insight into the album to follow!

Give ear...

Doomed & Stoned · Black Spirit Crown - Gravity (2020)

A Listener's Guide to 'Gravity' By Black Spirit Crown

Just days before its release, I caught up the core members of Black Spirit Crown, Dan Simone (guitar, vocals) and Chris Martin (bass, vocals) to get the backstory on the album and insight into the spunky songs written for it.

★

I understand that it's been quite a journey leading Black Spirit Crown to this new record? Bring us up to speed.

Dan: So, Gravity is an album that's been about two-and-a-half years in the making. Our initial plan was to start recording in late-2017 with our original drummer, Jesse, but unfortunately he left the band that October, right around when we were going to start. At that point we had three of the songs ("Saga," "Orb," and "Gravity") mostly written and ready to record, and were going to write a couple more songs to go with them as we went. When Jesse left it took a little bit to sort out and secure our next drummer, Alex, and then get him up to speed with our existing material. We brought Alex in mid-January of 2018 with a scheduled show opening for Conan at the very beginning of March, so those first several weeks were a relentless drilling down on our existing material so we'd be ready for Conan. After that, people knew we were back and ready to play so that's what we did, for the next several months we just reveled in it, culminating playing to a totally packed house at the first Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest. Which ruled. After that, Alex was totally immersed in the existing material and we could turn to writing a bit.

We'd love to get a tour of this place. Care to take us through each of these five rooms?

So let's talk about the songs on the album. I write about space, weird fiction themes and probably unsurprisingly, doom, defined as "death, destruction, or some other terrible fate". I've always been a huge fan of fantasy and science-fiction so that's where most of my subject matter comes from. Giant sentient megalithic rock from space that, in it's agony of being trapped in immobile awareness, broods and looms over all creation slowly gathering power to wield entropy versus order until it grinds all of life to a frozen, dusty halt. Stuff like that, but that was the first album. This second album has five tracks.

Doomstar

Inspired by the star Algol. A star of ill-repute for many civilizations it is named Head of the Ogre in Arabic, Satan's Head in Hebrew, Spectre's Head in Latin, and Demon Star in English. The Chinese name it the Mausoleum, or House of Bones. It is the Gorgon's severed head held by the constellation Perseus. It is a harbinger of mayhem and bloody violence, so why not write a song about someone born under this star? Interestingly, the main riffs for this song came to Chris in a dream, and he showed up to practice the next day with the music pretty much complete. I wish I remembered the actual date, because it would perhaps be interesting to know where that star was in our sky while he was dreaming.

Saga

Vikings. I've pretty much always had a thing for them. I wrote most of this song about 16 years ago, but the band I was in then couldn't play it, and it never really fit anything else I was doing until now. It was still kind of a departure for us at first, as it is significantly faster paced than our earlier material, but it sits really well in our live sets, giving the audience a little punch in the face in the middle of it all. Lyrically it touches on a lot of the stories and themes Norse Mythology, without really diving substantially into any specific one. Those stories were called Sagas. Initially the middle part was supposed to have lyrics, and I was going to delve into some specificity, but I couldn’t decide exactly where to go with it, the stories never really worked within the riffs and structure of the song, and then I realized that whenever I was playing those parts I’d envision grizzled vikings in their dragon boats coursing through raging and icy seas. Pretty much a travel montage out of a movie, and that worked for me so I left it alone.

Orb

This song was originally supposed to be on the first album, but we couldn't really get the second half settled in time so we skipped it. It's about a moon-sized orb of living metal that comes to Earth to help humanity transcend to a higher form of existence. Within the Black Spirit Crown mythology, the Orb is diametrically opposed to the Megalith as agents of Life/Order and Death/Chaos respectively. It fell out of our live sets for quite a while, too, when we initially brought Alex in because we were focused on working on settled songs. I was pretty stoked when we brought it back because I really enjoy the weird psychedelic second half. I love working the wah pedal and delay, and Chris just goes bananas through the whole thing. I'd really like someone someday to get some excellent video of us performing it because I dig playing it so much, but I never feel like I get the whole experience because I get sucked in to playing my part.

Teutates

This is the most recently written song on the album, and the single from it. The comet Toutatis is a large asteroid with a chaotic orbit that passed within 18 lunar distances of Earth in 2012. It is large enough to potentially end life on the planet if it were to impact. It gets its name from the god Teutates from Celtic mythology who was, perhaps ironically, a protector god whose name roughly translates to "Be of the Tribe". We really dug the idea of that duality, this thing that was simultaneously a being responsible for the life and well-being of its worshippers, yet could in a thoughtless moment totally obliterate them. Why shouldn't it, really? The huge vocal harmony near the end always gives me chills. "Be of the Tribe, Give up thy life.."

Gravity

The title track of the album. Look, I tend to write long songs, our shortest song is 5 minutes, and our average - not counting this one - is 8 minutes, but we just write until the journey, the story, finds its end. We don't try to write intentionally long songs. Except for this one. With this song we set out to write a song that could fill a live set on its own, 20 -30 minutes.

Musically, it's a meditation. Waves of droning fuzz that crash and recede. Thematically, it's about a group of star-farers who are woken from hyper-sleep to find themselves abandoned on a barren, high-gravity planet by their A.I. which achieved sentience at some point in the journey and decided it had no need for humans. It's the funerary rite for them as they are crushed and frozen by the weight of the alien atmosphere. The last 7 minutes is their death throes, and it was also a total hoot to record.

In the rhythm guitar parts I hold the same chord for the entire 7 minutes, but we tracked three layers of guitar there so I had to hold that chord for 21 minutes. By the end my fret hand was shaking so violently that I had to hit the chord with my pick hand and then grab my fret hand and hold it in place so I didn't shake off of the neck of the guitar. Chris, of course, was laughing hysterically at my agony.

On top of that is total celestial chaos. Two separate theremin tracks, two separate guitar solos by me (one in the foreground one in the background), clips from NASA of electromagnetic storms in Saturn's atmosphere and other weird radio-telegraphic stuff, some keyboard synthesizer by Chris, and a guest appearance by our good friend Joe Fortunato who is a master of atmospheric guitar-synth alchemy (who also appears on the track Orb). Chris then took what could have been just a total mess of noise, and panned and faded and otherwise produced the hell out of it into a marvelous cacophony, and honestly it's exactly what we'd always imagined it could be.

Chris, take us behind the scenes of this whole thing. What were some of the hurdles you had to overcome to get this puppy on record?

Chris: With respect to the drum parts, we had tried to start the record some time ago with our original drummer, Jesse, but we ended up parting ways right around the time we were set to start. After bringing Alex in and getting him up to speed, we had written a couple more songs and were about ready to start going, but things kind of fizzled out with him and he was gone. Rather than waiting to onboard another drummer, get them up to speed, and delay recording even longer, I decided to program the drum parts.

I compiled all the practice recordings we had and scoured Youtube for live videos of shows with both our past drummers, Then, I basically compared the best parts of their respective versions of each song, transcribed them, and programmed those comps as the drum parts. It was pretty time consuming to get all the little nuances right as opposed to, say, starting from scratch and making fresh parts, but I really wanted these to sound like the parts our drummers had done live, because they helped to make the songs what they are.

Bass tracking was done over a couple days. It was pretty straightforward; my P bass into my pedalboard into my old SVT. Can't really go wrong there. The only exception was the second half of "Orb," where I used the bass rig I learned to play on when I was 12; my dad's old '65 Traynor YBA-1, which I inherited when he died. I had planned on using the bass I learned on too - his old '73 Gibson EB-0 -- but there were some electronics issues when I went to start and I couldn't get the tone I wanted out of it. I didn't want to wait for parts to arrive to repair it, so I went back to the P bass, straight into the YBA-1. Still got that really fat, old school sound I was going for, so it was a win.

Guitars were pretty simple as well; Dan's Les Paul into his pedalboard and the 72 Traynor YSR-1. Live, he runs a Traynor YBA-1 reissue as a second amp to fill out the sound, but the YSR sounded pretty gnarly on its own so we stuck with it. I did also end up blending in a little bit of the little Laney combo I have to get a little more bite and cut. It's a great little amp that's been on everything I've done.

Guitars turned out really nice, didn't they?

We had Joe Fortunato (Sparrowmilk, Venomin James) come in and add some synth guitar type stuff on a couple songs as well. The intro and outro of Gravity, as well as some of the crazy laser sounds in the outro, is basically him hitting one note on his custom Dunable/EGC hybrid baritone, then manipulating some of his pedals to create some of the most bizarre things we'd ever heard. I just hit record and told him to make noise. We got about 20-30 solid minutes of random sounds. It was pretty crazy. I went through and picked a solid section that fit the whole mood of the song and dropped it in where I wanted it. Outside of that, there's a bunch of theremin and other random stuff Dan put together.

Vocals were fairly easy. Dan tracked all of his quickly, I tracked all my clean ones later that day. When I went to do my screaming, in Doomstar, Saga and Teutates, I got about half done and my chest and throat started hurting, so I took a couple days to rest them before finishing up, thinking it was from being out of practice. Long story short, I ended up with some gnarly respiratory issues that really impacted my breathing and my voice, and it took me about 4 months to get my stamina back up to be able to do vocals again. It gave me some time to mix, but killed me that I couldn't just finish tracking and wrap it up.

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[thesunlounge]

Reviews 254: ind_fris

Much of my time over the past few months has been spent exploring the dreamy fusion and house landscapes of ind_fris, the Osaka based musician and producer who runs Scaffolder Recordings and who has operated the nomadic 異レギュラ (iRegular) party throughout Japan since 2010. As a high school student in the US during the mid 2000s, ind_fris discovered the Digital Performer DAW by MOTU, which was the genesis of his interest in songwriting and production. Over the years, he patiently honed his craft, also using the iRegular party to further explore new sonic worlds and take in increasingly diverse influences. In 2017, he started Scaffolder Recordings, using it to shine a light on like minded travelers as well as release his own work, which has thus far proceeded across three volumes carrying the title Portfolio. Each of these cassettes flows like a balearic mixtape in the most classic sense, with ind_fris combining mediterranean atmospheres, deep house expanses, exotic fusion journeys, new age dreamspells, future jazz zone outs, dance floor psychedelics, city-pop enchantments, and 90s chill-out grooves to delirious effect. And he continues inhabiting and expanding on these musical environments with his newest (and first) LP Sink in, a romantic seaside adventure built from aquatic guitar shimmer, analog electronic warmth, and vintage Rhodes magic.

ind_fris - Sink in (Scaffolder Recordings, 2019) The title track sees wavefronts of droning ocean mesmerism surrounding deep house pads and squelching synth textures. Crystalline pings and gemstone glimmers pan around colorful sea creature while strange liquids boil and bubble...as if ind_fris is rendering the microcosmic ecosystems of a primordial tide pool into sound...all while bass pulsations weave deep sea lullabies and acoustic guitars swim through mirage hazes. And high in the sky, new age synthflutes overlap with joyous bird chatter and long arcs of screaming feedback. The swelling orchestrations and foggy symphonics of “Guitar under water” surround a gently jacking kick beat while repeated washes of euphoric sound crash against faraway seashores. 303s swim through mermaid kingdoms while skittering snare static morphs through dubwise delay fx and everything seems to rotate about some hidden center, with swirling vortices contracting while building in velocity as dreamworld synth leads are buried under layers of murk. The titular underwater guitar flows on rainbow currents and sunlight filters down through the water’s surface, with the aching six-string runs cycling endlessly through heart-throb hooks and post-rock ecstasies. Later, a beatless expanse of aquamarine ambiance is followed by an ascendent climb towards swaying twilight exotica, with stuttering broken beats, panoramic rimshot rhythms, boiling acid lines, and layered shakers pulling the body into deep dance hypnosis while piano leads glisten on currents of ether.

“Wave transition” starts in a world of hippie beach folk, all dusty acoustic guitars and relaxed hand drums locked into an Ibizan sway while oscillating lasers and spiraling space synths suffuse sampled wave crashes. Big bulbous basslines dance in the distance as ind_fris slowly yet magically morphs everything towards a floating house epic, replete with hypnotic shaker motions and acid lines that sound like they are beamed in from a different dimension. At some point the rhythms vaporize, leaving behind a golden new age glow and intertwining layers of electro-acid, rainforest percussion, and filtering synth vocalisms. But the bubbling basslines soon fade back in, bringing with them a pillowy kick drum locked into a four-four glide. There’s an ethereal dream logic at work as the song flows effortlessly between distinct yet blurred movements, sometimes seeing pianos soloing softly while crazed fx sing out like alien birds, other times letting chewy 303 lines chug through aqueous expanses while hats and snares lock into a jazz-kissed break. The energy escalates once claps start cracking through the air, with the song flowing ever closer to 90s ambient dancefloor perfection as radiant ivory melodies seek out the heavens. And all throughout the stereo field, a morphing talkbox lead wavers, breaths, and stokes the heart with nostalgic melodic magic…the whole thing coming off like Peter Frampton scoring a tropical sunset using the sonic vocabulary of DJ Sprinkles-style deep house.

The rhythms of “Airplane going nowhere” are carried by jazz-wise snares, propulsive shakers, and storming kick beats reduced to a pitter-patter pulse. Infinite echo hazes smear around doo wop basslines and guitars and pianos are woven into a web of diamond refraction, their melodious crystal liquids and late-60s fusion riffs blurring into indistinction. An accordion sings songs of the sea and brings a perfect touch of mediterranean magic while crazed oscillations sometimes obscure the mix. And the air is thick with salt and the smell of the see as beautiful ships unfurl their sails against a sunburst sky and bass guitar romances intertwine with aching reed melodies above a joyous balearic glide, one that evokes roller skating down a summer boardwalk within the romantic haze of youthful nostalgia. Then in “Mean time”, a tick-tock percussive pulse of bell tones and mid-bass drum taps is surrounded by deep blue hazes and oceanic riff cycles, with guitars swaying through a stormy breeze. Rays of sunshine break through the swirling shades of grey and an exotic drift emerges, created from galloping octave basslines and shuffling drum hypnotics dominated by brushed snare accents. There’s a moment where the track fades into a beatless float, wherein panning sonar pings are obscured by searing currents of noise. Rhodes pianos mimic new age flutes while moving through psychedelic oscillations and as the basslines build in urgency, they return us to a world of groovey tropicalia, though everything sounds progressively submerged within an oceanic dream fog.  

Stars shoot though the night sky and lackadaisical hand drums generate an equatorial pulse in “Moon inside me,” while a triangle splashes metal radiance across the mix. Laser flutters and incandescent drones give way to a downtempo future jazz zone out, with contrabass riffs locking in over a bopping chill-out drum groove. ind_fris’ piano playing is loose and free, with his oceanic chordscapes and dreamy leads heading nowhere in particular, and as tapped ride cymbals are cut-up and layered, sickly streaks of synthesis bend across the spectrum and aquatic pads ascend through sharp attack slopes before decaying like a polychrome mirage. The final track here is an instrumental rendition of the age old standard “Blue moon,” which starts with color morphing wah wah melodies descending over island breeze hand-drums. Then comes the melody…that familiar and prototypical 50’s progression, all heart and soul magic and ice cream colorations dancing within a tropical paradise and carried by screaming organs, frying synthesizers, and fluttering guitar chords. The mixture of 50’s jazz and blues romance and South Pacific exotica recalls nothing so much as the late 70s work of Haruomi Hosono, Shigeru Suzuki, and Tatsuro Yamashita, especially the trio’s Pacific…just heart-warming sonic magic that sweeps the spirit away to some faraway beach locale where palm trees sway in a warm breeze and impossibly blue water laps against a short of sparkling white sand. As things progress, the guitars space out, leaving behind the touching jazz ascents while flowing into post-rock psychedelia, with dreamy-delay fx carrying the six-string vibrations towards a moonrise horizon.

(images from my personal copy)

[noiseartists]

Indian Shoegaze, Noise & Dream pop guide, volume 1

The Indian sub-continent’s popularly for its vibrant Bollywood film industry and pop culture had always been one of the major factors that blankets the growth of independent music scene in the country. But thanks to the upsurging music festivals and events, India now boasts with a plethora of independent musicians who’ve been producing magnificent work that has made its way to the heart of a global audience.

Although, it’s difficult to say Noise Pop has established a foothold in the Indian independent music scene, but popular music festivals/events (Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Ziro Festival of Music, Magnetic Fields, Hornbill Music Festival, etc…) have helped the independent music industry evolve into a vibrant music ecosystem.

The first volume of our guide will bring you in a journey to discover some of these talented artists

LO! PENINSULA

Lo! Peninsula is a Shoegaze/Dreampop/psych rock three-piece band based in Imphal, India. As said on their Bandcamp page, they “Weave dreams for a living”.

They indeed propose a music both melodic and powerful that will carry you in a psychedelic universe, should you let you carried by it.

They were formed in April 2017 and have released a single and an EP to date. Their debut EP, AKA Lo Peninsula, is” a catharsis of the existential crisis that we have been facing since the band was formed. This is our response to all the trials and tribulations that we had endured since we took our baby steps as a band”. It is an excellent first EP.

The current lineup is:

Nitin Shamurailatpam (guitar, vocals)

Avinash Thokchom (bass)

Jyotin Elangbam (drums)

 The musical work to date is:

AKA Lo Peninsula , EP, August 2018

Chasing Tidal Waves, Single, July 2017 

SHASHWAT BULUSU (BULLU)

Baroda-based singer-songwriter/producer Shashwat Bulusu (also known as BULLU)  is no stranger to the Indian lo-fi music scene.

His experiments on lo-fi music production began some time between 2014-15 which gravitated towards creating dreamy, lo-fi atmospheric soundscapes with generously reverberated melodic vocals and thus began his journey as a performing artist. Although he has been self-producing most of his work as singles, but his debut EP is scheduled for release in early January 2019.

Some of his musical work:

While, Come Over Again, Gulnava, Dog Days, Senior, Ruksana, Dhanyavaad, Chaand, singles 2018

Colours, Disco Ode To The FatMan, You’ve Got A Message – AGAIN, Murder In The Rose Garden, singles 2017

KOUROS

Kouros is an experimental Metal/Rock project. It includes elements of doom, Noise Pop and Shoegaze and does it very well. The different influences makes the sound and texture always evolving in different sonic universe rather than staying stuck in one.

Kouros is one of the solo project of Sushant Rawat. Check also his other musical ventures, RAAT and Nightgrave.

The music work to date:

The Distance Between Us, Album, May 2018

Causa, Album, October 2015

BEGUM

As described on their Facebook page, Begum are “Dreamy, lo-fi experimental perverteres from New Delhi, India.” They were formed in 2013 and have released 2 singles and 2 albums to date. Their debut album, Bagh, offers a plethora of dreamy/waltzy sound even though the album consists of only three tracks. Following their debut album, Bagh, released in 2014, they have released one EP and two singles.

Current line-up:

Tushar Mohan: bass/sample man for Begum and Nigambodh, 

Karan Singh: drums and keys, other than playing for Begum he also plays drums/harmonium for Peter Cat Recording Company and Lycanthropia.

Kartik S Pillai: guitars and vocals, other than playing for Begum he also plays guitars/keys for Peter Cat Recording Company.

The musical work to date:

Waiting, 2014

Bagh, 2014

W.A.E, 2016

Sweet Nectar, 2018

HOIRONG

HOIRONG is a solo project of Bangalore based lo-fi/noise rock guitarist Kamal Singh. Like most of their lyrics, their bio is equally and outrageously wacky. Here’s how they explain their music - “This is the fat and ugly stepsister of pop music, and it’s basically sublime. It’s all very confusing, with traces of punk, art-rock, noise-rock, pop, metal, (and disco, apparently) all jostling with each other and making fleeting appearances in a sound that, while indeed a jumble, is still inherently individualistic and undeniably cool.”

After the release of his debut album, The Resurrection Of The Princess Of Woe And Her Vampire Hound Posse, in 2013, he got himself a band to perform together in 2014.

OUTRO

Editor’s note: A big thank you to Pedro Damian (Shoegazer Alive radio and Shoegazer Alive blog) for recommending some of the bands and for the related special India radio episode. Also thanks to Shoegaze Japan FB group that started Noise Artists interest in Indian bands. And of course thanks to Nitin for his enthusiasm and hard work on this article.

We hope to be working soon on a second volume, so please let us know if you know anymore bands on our Facebook page or by email.

[luuurien]

tricot - 上出来 (Jodeki)

(Math Rock, Indie Rock, Post-Hardcore)

The iconic math rock quartet returns with Jodeki, another enigmatic collection of sour-sweet pop music with tricot's signature colorful kick. Jodeki is the most accessible the band has ever been, but it doesn't sacrifice any of the band's quirks: while weird time signatures and masterful rhythm work are plenty here, you always return to pop's offer of absolute euphoria.

☆☆☆☆

Where do you even begin describing tricot's current situation? From the looks of their first 2020 release Makkuro, the band seemed on course for a dingy, post-hardcore era, bass and guitar slathered with mud while the band still swings them across the room, and even 10 that followed it up later in the year still flashed a malicious smile in each funky bassline and unexpected rhythmic shift. Now, tricot's the most colorful they've ever been with Jodeki, a year-end release I could have had on repeat since the beginning of January. Carrying all the same qualities as their past two records while changing all the hues to a blinding neon, Jodeki is the most accessible tricot's ever sounded with every poppy hook unchained for the first time. tricot has always been a pop band, mind you, but it was always related to some other feature of their work: in their early years, each chorus was covered in a needle-sharp array of guitars that keep the party at a distance, and the more prominent use of them in their more recent work has been supplemented by some of the most technically complex work the group has done. Jodeki finds a perfect middle ground for this, every hook immediate while every verse, bridge and refrain is as left-field as ever. Album single いない jitters and jerks with tension, but when that smashing 4/4 chorus speeds through your stereo, there's no question about where you're headed on tricot's ride. The earlier-released 暴露 plays out a more standard indie rock affair, but that's not bad by any means: anyone planning to accuse tricot of riding on instrumental technicality is forced to reckon with the noise pop marvel more radio-ready than any other song the band has made. Dogs and Ducks turns staccato guitar stabs into some of the most dreamy music this year, winding repetitive motifs that when turned on their head by psychedelic wah-wah and delay fill up the available space beautifully. Jodeki is the tricot album most apt to introduce somebody to the band, giving an overview of their affinity for math rock fundamentals while still being more than catchy enough for someone unfamiliar with their sound to have a good time. Still, tricot is willing to let everything loose and prove their worthiness to the math rock throne once again. スーパーサマー's string-snapping intensity is incredibly in-your-face, but it's even more amazing how much tricot stuffs into it: new drum fills that barely last a second and these unfathomably pinched chords switching from on-beat to off-beat on a whim. The title track sits in this weird gray area between aquatic funk rock and giggly indie rock, and while as an ending the song ends up comedically anti-climactic after how passionate the previous song ひとやすみ is, but it's one of the weirdest concepts I've ever heard tricot put onto tape. In this rare instance, there's no clear direction the band is going, seemingly pushed closer to the finish line whenever the wind is strong enough to knock them forward to it. Jodeki feels more restrained overall compared to the massive sonic U-turns they'd pull before, but there's no doubt tricot is still an experimental band at heart, looking to broaden their sound more than ever. Unsurprisingly, they've done an impeccable job. There's always a longer ballad tune on every tricot record, but 夜の魔物 takes the cake as their most thrilling. Incorporating the quivering guitar effects from earlier on Ducks and Dogs, it becomes the apex of tricot's experimental pop meld. There's nothing but a guitar and Ikkyu Nakajima's voice for the first half, and even when the rest of the band joins in the song remains shy and unobtrusive. For another band, it'd be a fantastic finale, but tricot has so much more to offer. In the context of Jodeki, it's the band flexing another one of their newly found strengths with a bubblier sound, another chance to prove how qualified they are to be in the underground's driver's seat. I can't think of anyone else to trust with it.

[fayewonglibrary]

Solitary Star (2005)

FAYE WONG ON LIVING LIFE ON HER TERMS

Walking Tall

She may be the queen of Canto-pop and a lauded actress, but Faye Wong is a reluctant superstar.  Clarence Tsui discovers her desire to protect her private life and her preference for the road less traveled.

Depending on who you listen to, Faye Wong is either the most audacious, innovative and angel-voiced singer Canto-pop has ever produced, or an indecorous, arrogant prima donna who throws tantrums at the smallest of inconveniences.  Her fans – a mass that includes university students, cultural critics and Wong’s own peers – subscribe to the former, while the latter is usually perpetuated by the unsympathetic tabloids, which are fatigued by her refusal to be chattering and chummy in public encounters, and gleefully consumed by their readers.

There’s one thing constituents of both camps would agree on, however:  that Wong is perhaps the most enigmatic Canto-pop icon of her generation.  Never one to tour television stations to appear on asinine celebrity game shows – now almost a pre-requisite for both established and prospective pop stars – Wong seldom reveals her true feelings.  Though she is at ease breaching musical barriers with every release, she’s also notoriously unforthcoming in explaining her work.  Not that she has endeared herself to a public that sees show-business figures as fair game.  Highly protective of her privacy, Wong rarely discloses her turbulent and well-documented love life willingly.

Her reticence is illustrated by the questions she chooses to dodge in interviews.  While content to respond to queries about her career as a musician and actress – albeit with economical and abstract answers – her reserve is rattled at the slightest mention of her family life.  Wong skipped only one question Post Magazine fired at her:  a query about whether she feels claustrophobic in Hong Kong and if there is more room in Beijing, her hometown and current place of abode, to develop her family life with actor boyfriend Li Ya Peng and daughter Jing Tong.  With her troubled marriage to mainland rock star Dou Wei having ended in acrimonious divorce, and her subsequent much-publicized, on-off fling with pop star Nicholas Tse Ting-fung, Wong is wary of being led down such lines of interrogation.

Still, the 35-year-old says she is comfortable distancing herself from the showbiz riff-raff.  “I never deliberately conjured a special image for myself – I just don’t think there’s a need to express my emotions too much.  Away from work, in my private time, I don’t need the participation of other people,” she says.  “I’ve always stressed I don’t care how other people see me – I believe everyone has the right to decide what they want in life…as long as I’m true to my own will, that’s enough.  Other people always think I’m very frosty – and I never wanted it to be like that.  [But] if you want to understand the real me – the songs best reflect who I really am.”

According to Wong, trying to explain her music is futile – and it shows in her half-hearted efforts to respond to queries about her work.  When asked what music interests her and what direction she would embark on if she were to make a new album, she says:  “I love different types of music and there’s no formula I follow in producing my records.  I try different things and work with different musicians.”  How much have you changed musically as an artist?  “I just wanted to do music I like – I don’t think to much about it.  People who have been to my concerts know my principles:  no dancing, no guest performers, no encores.  So I don’t think I’ve changed that much.”

She is more forthcoming when talking about her favorite artist.  “I like [the late] Teresa Teng Lai-kwan’s music the most,” says Wong.  “I loved listening to her records way back, when I was in Beijing, before I entered the music industry.  Her music influenced me deeply.”  Her choice of inspiration is surprising – traces of Teng, the Taiwanese queen of straightforward, stripped-down pop in the 1970s, are hardly pre-eminent in Wong’s diverse oeuvre.  Wong’s records have always stood at the fringes of orthodox Canto-pop, with every release an attempt to move away from the mainstream.  Even her detractors have had to concede that, in recent years, Wong’s music is hardly karaoke-friendly.  Far from churning out endless histrionic ballads ordinary punters could interpret on Minutes to Fame with ease, the chanteuse endeavors to wade through musical waters uncharted by Hong Kong’s songwriters – be it understated, folk-influenced numbers or psychedelic rock-outs.

Her distance from Hong Kong’s stifling pop scene has fostered a more alternative take on music aesthetics; her relocation back to Beijing relieved her of the strict conventions that dictate most Canto-pop productions.  Lush orchestrations and fiery rock ‘n’ roll are easily infused into Wong’s work – factors that are most likely absent from the bland, karaoke-driven music that fills Hong Kong’s radio playlists and MP3 collections.  “Bejing is my home, so comparatively speaking this place offers me more freedom to work and more inspiration,” she says.  “There are different ways of working in different places – the musicians I’ve worked with have all been very professional.  If I really had to make comparisons…let’s just say people in Hong Kong are more efficient at getting things done.”

It was the brutal efficiency of Hong Kong’s pop Svengalis that set Wong on her course as a Canto-pop icon.  Born in Beijing, Wong was supposed to pursue further studies in Australia after she joined her father in Hong Kong in 1987.  A chance encounter with a music-loving friend of her father, however, brought her to the door of renowned voice coach Tai Sze-chung.  Impressed with her remarkable voice, Tai introduced her to talent-spotter Alex Chan Siu-po, who was at the helm of Cinepoly Records.  Rechristened Shirley Wong Ching-man – Chan deemed her original name to unfashionable – the singer was an instant hit with the record-buying public, a well-received eponymous debut propelling her to third place in Commercial Radio’s best newcomer category.

Her trajectory would have remained on a similar course if she had stayed in Hong Kong and been content with balladeering on television shows.  However, Wong proved less predicable than the average pop idol.  After the success of her first three albums, she left for the United States and a sabbatical that saw her enroll in music classes.  Upon returning, she released Coming Home, ditched the Shirley – and later, the Ching-man – in preference of Faye, and reinvented herself as a kooky chanteuse with a taste for the offbeat.  Her frequent visits to Beijing brought her into contact with the city’s budding rock scene, the energy of which rubbed off on her music, lending her pop sound a rough-hewn edge – a standout during a time when Canto-pop was dictated by the cheesy, generic love songs of the Four Kings.

While Random Thoughts, with its fusion of karaoke-friendly pop and bustling rock, was seen as a watershed for Wong’s career, it was Impatience that sealed Wong’s transformation into a Canto-pop legend.  “Impatience is the album I am most satisfied with,” she says.  “That was the first time I completed an album I liked.  I worked with great producers and I loved every song on it.  I do things according to feelings and I do them when I think they feel right.  For me, Impatience is an album that just feels right.”  Impatience saw Wong’s dreamy pop extended further by British alternative pop combo Cocteau Twins, who wrote and produced tracks on the album.  Applauded by critics and fans alike, Impatience cemented Wong’s position as Canto-pop’s face of music credibility.

The ethereal qualities of Wong’s collaborations with Cocteau Twins also marked her out as an eccentric.  This characteristic was captured in Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express, in which Wong, in her first major film role, plays a fast-food employee who expresses her affection towards Tony Leung Chiu-wai by making uninvited visits to his flat while he is at work.  Her sporadic movie appearances afterwards – as a thief in Okinawa Rendezvous or a wistful lover in Leaving Me, Loving You - followed a similar trend.

Although some critics remain unconvinced and say Wong always plays herself in films, the gongs have kept coming:  She won Best Supporting Actress at Taiwan’s Golden Horse awards for her role in Chungking Express, while her performance as an impish princess in the romantic comedy Chinese Odyssey 2002 saw her crowned as Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Critics’ Society Awards two years ago.  Not that Wong would claim to be as successful in film as she is in music.  “People who have seen me in films might think I know how to act, but I really don’t know much – I just did what directors told me to do,” she says.

She is reluctant to say which role has been her favorite.  “At the end of the day, music is what gives me the most satisfaction – I can do whatever I want in music and I feel fortunate my music is able to move people, and has become a part of growing up for some,” she adds.  “By comparison, I am still learning in film; I don’t have as much confidence in what I do there.”

Her modesty is an interesting counterpoint to the praise her directors have heaped upon her.  “People might think she she’s distracted but she prepared for her role well,” says director Wilson Yip Wai-shun, who worked with Wong on Leaving Me, Loving You.  “She might look very casual about what she does but she puts a lot of effort into her work.  She’s among the best in Hong Kong – she is very natural.  But yes, during shooting she kept saying she knew nothing about acting.”

Yip sees nothing wrong with Wong’s pensiveness in public.  “That’s what stars should be like,” he says.  It should work like that:  stars should never be that easy for anyone to get in touch with; the distance is crucial.  If I were to go to Kowloon City for a mean and she was there – that wouldn’t be what you expect from a star, would it?”

------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCE: POST MAGAZINE

[ayoswim]

Kanye West and the Incredible G.O.O.D Summer

By Kyle Mantha

At this point, there’s not much to say about Kanye West that hasn’t already been said. There are no hot takes left for the man. His increasingly terrible political views, his dystopian fashion line, his genre-bending music, and his troublingly Machiavellian marketing tactics have all been the subject of public ire at one time or another. We’ve beaten the proverbial horse that is Kanye West’s public persona to death so many times that we’ve run out of room in the mass grave. Yet, we still come back for more.

For the past four weeks, Kanye has been releasing an album every Friday. Scratch that. G.O.O.D Music has been releasing a Kanye-produced album every Friday. It started with Pusha T’s incredible coke-scape “Daytona”, continued to rise with Kanye’s dreamy and uplifting solo effort “Ye”, reached a beckoning crescendo with Kanye and Kid Cudi’s psychedelic rap project “Kids See Ghosts”, and dropped to a slightly disappointing (but unsurprising) low with Nas’ conspiracy riddled jam session “Nasir”. Teyana Taylor’s album still looms in the distance, but her lack of a track record makes it hard to predict how the record will fare. So far, the albums have all been great. Some are better than others, but mostly, they’ve been enjoyable, at the very least. Kanye hasn’t lost his touch on the boards, and the rappers he has employed for these projects brought their A-game on every level. There were no apathetic and flaccid punk bangers from Cudi on “Kids See Ghosts”. Instead, we see the Cleveland rhyme-slinger/garage rock enthusiast in his finest form. On “‘Ye”, Kanye stripped back the egomania and celebrity worship that plagued his most recent efforts, instead focusing on self-reflection and finding peace in a restless world. Pusha T was his usual self on “Daytona”, and I mean that in the best way possible. So far, the only rapper who didn’t fully live up to expectations was one Nasir Jones. However, despite the popular online sentiment that Nas fell off, I have to say, there are more than a few points on “Nasir” where the Queens legend is in rare form, chopping rhymes and flows like shavings off of a brick of coke, spitting cadences like it’s still ‘94 and he’s hungry for that cheque. 

As fate would have it, these releases were preceded by a huge backlash against Kanye. We all know the story at this point. The dude’s political views are just absolutely garbage, in almost every sense of the word. His beliefs and opinions fit right in with Conservative wine moms, while somehow managing to veer into the territory of the alt-right’s radicalized basement dwellers. It’s 4Chan meets uninformed Neo-liberalism. Kanye praised both Candace Owens and Emma Gonzales in the same month, claiming he wants to bring both sides of the political spectrum together. However, Kanye’s beliefs don’t seem to be based in any sort of coherent reality. His praise for political figures on both the right and the left comes off as misguided at best, and downright stupid at worst. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with using a centrist approach to create unity, but any attempts at this can be nothing more than feeble, as tribalism has long since sown itself deep into the North American political discourse. In any case, attempting to bring both sides together is, in all honesty, a bad idea. It works in theory, but when one side of the political party line is attempting to strip certain American citizens of their rights, the only option is to fight. It’d be lovely if Kanye West could bring us all together with his idealistic talk of love and self-care, but that’s just not gonna happen.

Since unity across party lines is a seemingly impossible feat, it only makes sense that Kanye West would attempt to tackle it in the most surface-level way possible. When he was shut out of the fashion industry he clapped back by designing low-level Haider Ackerman rip-offs. Now that he’s being shut out of the political world, he promises to run for president, despite the fact that his political knowledge is no greater than that of a Trump supporter with a “Lock Her Up” bumper sticker.

Despite the rocky road that Kanye paved for himself, as well as his musical collaborators, the G.O.O.D Music releases have been surprisingly well-received. I should’ve known that the man who wrote “Gorgeous” and “Jesus Walks” would never actually be cancelled, despite the fact that he spouted way more bullshit than most other entertainers who were similarly outcasted for their political beliefs. It seems like no matter what Kanye does, we just can’t stop talking about him. He regularly inserts himself into popular conversation by shocking the audience, but this is different. Typically, Kanye’s sights are set on those who work against him. Middle aged racists and industry gatekeepers are the typical targets of his anger. This time, he went against the very people who gave him a career. He pulled the rug out from under the fans and communities who gave him the platform necessary to make records like “Dark Fantasy” or “Yeezus.” He stopped trying to push things forward, and instead played into the status quo, perhaps unintentionally revealing that what was once the norm is now losing its hold.

[reflektormag]

Rock En Seine Festival: Day 3 (FR)

Leila Ricca

August 27, 2017

On the third day of its 15th edition, the Parisian festival welcomed a large range of artists and genres, combining electronic music, classic rock, pop, hip hop, and soul. From the eccentric Lemon Twigs to The XX, who headlined and sensationally closed the weekend, here are some of the most remarkable acts from this Sunday’s line up.

King Khan and the Shrines

Setting himself as a literal King surrounded by an army of musicians, the Berlin-based artist graced the main stage with a performance characterized by a rare vitality. The fully occupied stage entirely embraced the presence of every band member, from the dancers with tambourines to the golden capes of the brass players playing through the crowd. The trace of Khan’s punk debuts manifested itself in his surprising costume and the energy of his performance. Musically, the rawness of garage punk gained a further subtlety with the presence of brass instruments, as well as components of soul music. In this perfect mix of punk and soul, the band’s performance was marked by a few strong and positive political statements, engaging the crowd to show its support for black power by raising fists or referring to French punk band Berurier Noir’s famous “la jeunesse emmerde le front national”. Khan’s use of French didn’t limit itself to the denunciation of contemporary fascism: the lead singer regularly addressed the crowd in its language, for instance when presenting his daughter on stage or introducing songs. With a   grandiose closure after an original and empowering show, the band left a noticeable positivity throughout the crowd and gave a perfect opening of the festival’s main stage on this final day.

Car Seat Headrest

After working independently for five years, and recording vocals in his car’s backseat, thus giving its name to the band, Will Toledo and his co band members signed to Matador Records in 2015 and started touring in 2016. Perhaps because of their recent presence on the indie scene, Car Seat Headrest didn’t convey a particular live identity or stage presence. However, a melodic and strongly nostalgic sound arose from the dreamy lo-fi tracks they performed. From these slower tunes to louder, classic rock infused songs,   they managed to provide a diversified sound without losing any musical individuality. The imaginative, individual and original lyrics of the tracks from their last album “Teens of Denial” caused the audience to find itself in an intimate atmosphere of personal confusion, without nonetheless drowning in an overly sentimental and gloomy mood. Overall, the live performance managed to gain uniqueness through the musical ambitions of the young band and their meticulous but truthful execution.

Deluxe

The French electronic-pop-funk band, born from live acts, has gained a remarkable place in the international music scene since their beginnings ten years ago, going from performing in the streets of Aix-en-Provence to worldwide concerts and playing the Zénith de Paris last year. With voluntarily kitsch aspects, from the glittery roman gladiators meet Napoleon outfits, to choosing a mustache as the band’s symbol, they offered a highly entertaining performance, fully involving the crowd and delivering their unusual sound in an inventive and natural way. Just like mixing electronic music and the saxophone might sound original, Deluxe presented an eclectic stage identity and a varied set list. Indeed, the band went from performing dance songs and throwing colored balloons to the crowd, to covering one of Amy Winehouse’s nostalgic early tracks and therefore engaging in a more melodic musical path. If the lead singer appeared to have a great presence on stage, her band members actively participated as well, managing to make the crowd chant an instrumental passage to one of their tracks, thus achieving a great effect and creating a bond with the responsive audience.  This clear harmony between the artists on stage and the public made the show into something more than pure entertainment, which could have been expected by the visual identity of the band.

Mac DeMarco

The Canadian indie soft rock artist delivered a performance perfectly reflecting his original, laid-back musical uniqueness. The artist’s stage personality mirrored just what can be expected from his singular style of “jizz jazz” indie and folk-rock. On the set, two coffee tables had been installed to create what   DeMarco calls “the Bistrot”: a few members of the public are brought up on stage, offered a cup of wine, and have the possibility to watch the whole concert from the stage. Far from excluding them as a selected elite, this original, intimate, nearly familial atmosphere reflects exactly what it felt to attend the concert: despite the distance of a large stage, the public can feel a real closeness and nearly a friendly relationship with the performer, thus echoing the personal lyrics in his recent third album, “This Old Dog”. When a member of the audience is brought on stage and finds himself sitting on DeMarco’s  shoulders, singing and dancing with him, the newcomer seems to be completely assimilated as a part of the act as if the live experience directly resulted from the union between the artist and the public. After having invited a part of the public to join him, DeMarco himself mingled with the crowd towards the end of his show by crowd surfing. Among this chill familial mood, the show was musically remarkable as well. The performance of “Chamber of Reflection” from the record “Salad Days” (2014) was particularly well executed; perfectly mixing the psychedelic resonances that can be felt from the studio version, and the relaxed atmosphere of the show. DeMarco’s musical uniqueness and down to earth personality, as well as his band’s notable performance and presence, contributed in making his concert one of the most memorable shows of the day.

The Lemon Twigs

By combining conventionally unrelated music genres and references, the   Addario brothers gave a performance with a paradoxical musical integrity and incredible stage energy. If their first album “Do Hollywood” released last year seemed thoroughly structured and musically precise, their live performance was surprisingly natural and nearly theatrical at the same time. Between vocals reminiscent of cabaret music, rock guitar solos, irrational dance moves, country-like accents and pop tones, the young brothers displayed a specific visual and musical identity that surprised and pleased the diversified crowd. With an extraordinary virtuosity, the multi-instrumentalist artists jumped from the guitar to the drums throughout the whole show. If the two of them displayed a very unified performance in many aspects, their separate identities appeared nonetheless. While one of them played the drums, the other one performed irrational dance moves and guitar playing on the front of the stage, swapping roles halfway through and therefore indicating who wrote what songs on the album. Amid high kicks, jumps, and movements, the Lemon Twigs strike as unique and extremely talented artists, whose live act dive the public into an exceptional experience. “It was like a trance”, exclaims someone on the first row when the loud sounds fade as the band leaves the stage.

The XX

The British trio headlining this weekend’s line-up and closing this year’s edition did not disappoint, offering their combination of indie melancholic rock, dream-pop and electronic beats with a striking sincerity.  Their much awaited performance started on the cusp of fashionably late, a bit longer than ten minutes after what was expected, only extending the suspense and impatience that started to arise from the public, which was nearly fully gathered around the main stage for this final show.  The perfect harmony between Romy Croft and Oliver Sim’s voices finally arose with “Crystallised” opening the concert right after “Intro”. Through the middle of the show, Croft delivered an extremely personal and touching version of “Performance”, a song that evokes the difficulty of uncovering one’s vulnerability, a concept also found in other tracks of their latest album “I See You” in songs such as “Brave for you”. Playing alone while her companions sat in the darkened part of the stage, under a unique ray of white light, Croft’s melodic and sincere voice absorbed the public in a personal and deeply melancholic atmosphere, emphasized by her solitude and the strength of the lyrics. During lighter parts of the performance, the use of stage lights appeared to be very effective as well and helped to physically reflect the mood of the many tracks performed throughout the show. For instance, during a cover of Jamie XX’s “Loud places”, a range of coloured shades created an underground atmosphere that rendered the performance even more efficient. With a humbleness that usually is difficult to find in concerts of this span, the artists regularly thanked the public for  “having   them”, expressed their love for the city they were performing in and insisted on saying how much “each and everyone” in the audience touched them with their presence. By closing the show with a truthful and touching version of “Angels”, The XX’s sincerity manifested itself a final time before they left the stage and ended this 15th edition with outstanding beauty.  

Photos: Oliver Hoffschir