#Prague Lounge Trio

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Pam Rabbit in Prague Lounge Trio: Next to Me (cover of Imagine Dragons: Next to Me) 2019, MV, dir. Luboš Konečný & Martina Kovářová IMDB - YT

[atcostmag]

At Cost Magazine - Diaries from The New East - #7 Samizdat

Photo: Yekaterinburg's POV Girl 

Taking its name from a form of underground publishing that existed during the time of the Soviet Union, “Samizdat” is a term that literally means “self-publishing”. While the samizdat of the previous era involved a certain aspect political intrigue, our feature takes a more literal meaning; aiming to feature unheard and independent voices. Featuring independent artists whose sound could largely be described as experimental, the only provocation behind “Samizdat” is a rejection and subversion of the usual narratives.

Artem Xio - Can’t Stop (EP) (Russia)

Curator of independent label SubUrbz and Wax Ninja, Moscow’s self-professed vinyl junkie Artyom “Xio” Malev presents his latest 4 track and a remix EP “Can’t Stop”. Focusing on a classic house sound, howling soul vocals resonate through the gentle slide of lounging emotion magnifying over bassy, percussive kicks. A notable mention goes to its fifth and last track, a remix from Russia’s standout house-pop act Cream Soda, which soaks in dreamy emotion before diving into a spin of pure drum and bass intensity:

Artem Xio · Artem Xio - Can't Stop Now EP (incl. Cream Soda Remix) / 12" WAXNINJA2

Disziplin - Caprice Fmaj (Music for the Generic Generation) (Russia)

The solo initiative EIMIC’s Max Fedorov, Disziplin channels the energy of his alma mater in his debut  “Caprice Fmaj“. Charged with an acidic grunge and maddening intensity, heaping electronica fizzles into a dizzy spiral of high-voltage and adrenaline-fueled dance floor energy. 

disziplin · Caprice Fmaj (Music for the Generic Generation)

EIMIC - Intro (Russia)

Creating grandiose cinematic textures through its racing electronic current, Everything is Made in China, carries with it the industrial immensity that goes along with its namesake. With “Introduction”, EIMIC speaks magnitudes as slow, percolating beats stack over the cosmos of its dark-ambient thrill 

Golan - Anima (Romania)

It would be an oversimplification to say that Romanian trio Golan create electronic music. Combining breathtaking music production putting thrilling visuals to sound, their latest single “Anima” is a prime example of how Golan work on such a grandiose scale. A stunning panorama of wide-screen captures to a peregrinating expanse of subtle yet grooving percussion, “Anima” echoes its dreamy sentiment through the gentle fan of its vocal textures: 

Krestovsky - Confirm (Russia)

A darkly cut from Moscow’s Valentin Krestovsky, “Confirm” is taken from his sprawling two-track single. Compensating for its longer length, the track is a non-stop pump of industrial, dance aggression as buzzing synths resonate to the track’s percolating depths:

Krestovsky (official) · Krestovsky - Confirm

POV Girl -  “On Se Voit/ May ‘20″  (Russia)

Part of what they call Yekaterinburg’s “glitter pop” phenomenon, POV Girl is vocalist Maria Kuzminova and producers Ilya Babin.  With their debut double release “On Se Voit/ May ‘20″, the trio brilliantly combine incongruent elements in gleaming harmony. With the sun-drenched organic of Maria’s vocals percolating through its electronic depths and the intermingling of French to Russia, POV Girl’s debut is a whimsical and wonderful contradiction of sound. 

POV GIRL · On Se Voit / May '20

Viewer - “Д.о.м” (Czech Republic/Russia)

Taking a cue from Canadian hip-hop and R&B fixtures like Drake, PARTYNEXTDOOR and The Weeknd, Viewer is Prague’s Viacheslav Kathanov. Fusing Russian-language lyrics to the oozing harmonics of its lounging electronica, Kathanov’s focus track “Д.о.м” is one that centers on dark, heady R&B:

Viewer · Д.о.м

[nuclearblastuk]

Like many of their black metal counterparts, Belphegor’s career has been filled with controversy over its nigh on quarter of a century span. Most of what has been said about them undoubtedly is myth. But one element of truth is the fact that they are one of the very few bands to actually be banned in their homeland, the usually liberal and open-minded Austria. Not only were their albums barred from sale (I found a double set of ‘The Last Supper’ and ‘Blutsabbath’ in a backstreet record store in Prague about ten years ago, with the word ‘BANNED!!!’ prominently across its cover) and they themselves forbidden to perform live, but they couldn’t even record, having to sneak over the border to Poland to do so and then smuggle the results back into the country to distribute via various underground black metal channels.

Thankfully, things have moved on in the intervening two and a bit decades, and Belphegor’s longevity, and sheer dogged determination, has won through, with the release of this, their 11th album: in black metal terms, that could be seen as a fairly prodigious work rate – one album every two and a bit years, where other acts seem to take an interminable age between recorded output. And, right from the off it is very obvious that Belphegor have lost none of their anger, hunger or passion: not content to edge (dis)gracefully into middle age, Helmuth, Serpenth and Bloodhammer have produced an epically brutal album of black metal destruction that once again demonstrates exactly why the trio are supreme, if criminally under-rated and overlooked, masters of their dark art.

‘Totenritual’ burns with a dark, raw and melancholic fury, while at the same time exhibiting the intricacy, sophistication and precision which the band have made their trademark over the past 24 years. Opener ‘Baphomet’ sets the tone beautifully (if such a description can be used in the context of this black metal masterpiece): an opening crescendo of bloodied blastbeats prelude a punishing bass riff and a starkly laconic guitar mien, before Helmuth’s distinctive razor-sharpened growl grabs your very soul and drags it out through your eardrums. It’s a fast and furious assault on all your senses – you can taste the blood rising in your throat as the intense rhythm hammers its way through your chest, pumping its way through your veins and then grabbing your neck muscles and forcing them to bang your head off the nearest hard surface.

Using the predictable movie soundbites to flavour the song openings, there is barely any relenting in the pace throughout the nine songs and 41 minutes that make up ‘Totenritual’. Yes, there are interludes, such as the acoustic guitar drop out at the end of ‘The Devil’s Son’ and the deceptive ‘Totenbeschwörer’, but these offer merely the briefest of opportunities to catch your breath before diving straight back into the thickness of this black metal feast, the blood dripping from both your lips and ears. Rich layers of sound are built up, then deconstructed and rebuilt, as the album is crafted with the precision of an artist applying the finest of details to his latest commission.

As I said, there remains an anger in Belphegor: a fire and desire to plough their own furrow, and maintain their integrity in a world where bands are under increasing pressure to sound like every other band in order to be successful. I can’t count how many press releases URHQ receives saying that a band is influenced by such-and-such bunch of overhyped populist wannabes, or are “FFO” someone who hasn’t been relevant for a million years. Belphegor are influenced by Belphegor, and don’t really give a flying fuck who else their fans listen to – as long as they’re listening to Belphegor: and so they fucking well should be, because Belphegor continue to lift a middle finger to everyone, establishment or anti-establishment (or even anti-disestablishment) and declare “We are Belphegor: if you don’t like us, then fuck off”.

I used the word “masterpiece” earlier. In black metal terms, ‘Totenritual’ is just that. If Da Vinci or Michaelangelo were alive today and playing music, they would be hanging up their instruments in jealous rages. Yes, this album is that damn good. Go buy it and prepare to be sacrificed quicker than an unsuspecting lamb (of God)!

‘Totenritual’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.

Belphegor tour the UK and Ireland next month:

Sunday 8 October – London, The Dome

Tuesday 10 October – Glasgow, Audio

Wednesday 11 October – Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, The Riverside

Thursday 12 October – Belfast, Limelight 2

Friday 13 October – Dublin, Voodoo Lounge

Support on all dates comes from Destroyer 666, Enthroned, Nervochaos and Nordjevel. Tickets are available from all usual outlets.

www.facebook.com/belphegor/

[timeawayfromhome]

Ups and Downs

After our semi-restful train sleep our train arrived early in Prague, Czech Republic. As soon as landing ourselves on the platform I made it very clear to everyone that the only way today would be a good day was if I started it with coffee. We walked our way over to the hostel, only getting lost once, and then I directed us to the nearest Starbucks to get what has become my usual order of a venti iced mocha. By the time we were back at the hostel there was a free walking tour leaving for a tour of Old Town Prague, we opted to join. On this tour we discovered the importance of defenestration to the city along with the impacts of the recent communist past. We also learned where to go, what to do and see, and most importantly, we learned about the traditional Czech foods. Our guide also taught us all the need-to-know words and phrases in Czech, such as please and thank you or yes I’ll have another beer. Once the city tour was over we found our way to a little panini shop and had lunch; resting our poor, tired feet. Prague was hot and sunny and we’d spent the morning walking for three hours straight on the tour. 

Per usual I got the only food on the menu that was vegetarian friendly, mildly irritated that I didn’t want this food but wasn’t going to complain enough to find my own “special” dining location, just a sacrifice I’ve had to adjust to making. There was, however, a whole slew of desserts available to me which I took full advantage of with a cappuccino cheesecake having heard that the cheesecake of Prague is gourmet. I was not disappointed, I am also not a harsh judge of desserts. 

When it came time to move on, which was almost three hours later, we headed back over towards the river, the river separated Old Town and Prague Castle. Over lunch we had decided that a river cruise tour sounded like an excellent idea, it would allow us to continue sitting while also site-seeing. Unlike the previous boat tour I had taken in Amsterdam, this one was a mild disappointment. The span of the river the cruise covered was so minimal and the voice giving us the history of everything along riverside was so bland and slow, certainly not designed for first language English speakers. Even with a let down of a boat tour the day had been good to us. When the cruise came to an end it was time to trek back to our hostel and rest in comfort before heading back out for dinner. 

For dinner we asked the front desk where a near-by traditional Czech restaurant might be and so that is where we went. Again, there was only one option for me. While the menu said risotto I felt a more appropriate name would have been small side of rice. I left as hungry as I was when I came in and that put a damper on my first night in Prague. 

The next morning we had our complimentary hostel breakfast and headed off. Today my roommate was leaving us, our evenly split group of four was to become a trio; this would be the first time either of us would be traveling without the other since our arrival in Dublin back in January. Before it was time to part ways all of us headed to the Old Town market where we were told to buy all our souvenirs by our tour guide the day before. A quick sweep around and many a souvenir later we headed off to the next market over where I was to try the traditional trdlo pastry, a spit cake log of sugared dough grilled on the fire. I had mine with ice cream inside and it was delicious. This little market also had a small petting zoo which I thoroughly enjoyed, making sure to photograph each and every animal and pet them, of course. 

After the market and a short lounge by the river we went back to the hostel and four became three as my roommate left to return to Ireland, her family visiting within the next couple days. The remaining trio ended up doing a tour of Prague Castle that afternoon. Much like in Krakow it would be easier to stop typing now as the day simply went downhill. Ironically, the tour was very much uphill. The took a bus to the top of the hill where the castle resides and were shown around the castle grounds, being given the history of the royalty who once resided there. We heard the story of two more defenestrations and how one of them even started a war, we saw the architectural failure that made up the castle; the reason I say this is because each ruler who resided as head of the castle changed something about the castle giving it the architectural stylings of four different time periods. The thing that made the day so negative at this point may sound contradictory but it was the beautiful weather. The beautiful, hot and sunny day was beating down on us as we walked for miles and miles on this tour and the longer the tour went on the more and more dehydrated I became. I started to feel more like a zombie than a human being at this point, just slowly drudging around from stop to stop on our tour, I didn’t care I didn’t want to be there, I didn’t even really feel like I was there, all that I felt was thirst. 

Eventually I managed to get a water as one of my travel companions was kind enough to buy me a liter of water, which I downed within 10 minutes of receiving. Feeling immensely better having water flow back into my system I could enjoy the last few moments of our tour at the John Lennon wall, which is really just a giant ever changing wall of graffiti that at one point in history was dedicated to Lennon after his death. 

By this point I was left with two individuals whom I would consider to be hangry. All three of us were cranky and snappy and wanted little to nothing to do with each other, the perfect travel buddies. For the first time on our journey through Eastern Europe I was being given the opportunity to get dinner at a vegan restaurant. However, the others couldn’t eat there for whatever reason so I got my food to go and we walked off to some pizza place, I was growing more and more annoyed as my food got colder and we were waiting for food I had nothing to do with. We were all still cranky. Eventually I was relieved from waiting in line with them and offered to go back to the hostel to eat my dinner. It was quality cool-down time for my tired and increasingly agitated self. They found where I was sat in the hostel and we sat around on our phones in a semi-tense silence until everyone had relaxed enough to apologize. Before we knew it it was time to catch our next overnight train to Budapest, Hungary. The journey to the train station was a nightmare in and of itself as it was down pouring and we were very lost in the dark with an approaching deadline for our trains arrival. Through high tension and aggravation we made it and got on board yet another overnight train. Wifi-less once again, this time not fooled by the novelty and charm of a sleeper train, I went to bed for the first time wishing I had just gone home. 

[sinceileftyoublog]

Grails Album Review: Chalice Hymnal

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Grails songs exist like overlapping story lines in the same musical universe. Even from one album to the next, songs seemingly continue where they left off on previous albums, all in parallel with other groups of songs. On their new album Chalice Hymnal, such connections are explicit. Even six years after releasing Deep Politics, Grails have provided a more hazy, less clear album that nonetheless relates. The new album is also similar in tone to 2008′s Doomsdayer’s Holiday, almost like a more accessible version of that album that still retains the complexities of Grails. That is to say that the compositions on Chalice Hymnal sound deliberate even when the trio makes a lot of noise, threatening to hit their groove before the plug is pulled. There are almost no nuggets of a beat, as the album is unpredictable, no one song sounding like the other, but you could still describe it as easy to listen to.

Among the songs on Chalice Hymnal that are simultaneously rough and chilled out, the trip hop “Tough Guy” is the best. With a main synth line surrounded by crossing arpeggio synth lines, its slow, grainy beat actually succeeds in establishing the gritty feel so much trip hop aspires to achieve. On the other end of the spectrum is “Rebecca”, a peaceful synth-laden song with a drum machine beat that’s a dead ringer for that of “In The Air Tonight”, that nonetheless has an ever-present eerie undercurrent. “Empty Chamber” is similar, in that it takes lounge music and subtly juxtaposes soft voices in the background with it to a strange effect.

The songs that syntactically connect to Deep Politics are “Deeper Politics” and “Deep Snow II”. The former displays a mix of piano, strings, and synths that’s unsettling, while the latter features a pulsating vibrating synth line, Middle Eastern guitar melodies, and a build up into a true rock song. Yet, despite the sequel song titles, it’s these rock and fuzzy moments that establish a connection to previous Grails material. From the sprawling “New Prague”’s sludgy riffs and clear snare hits to the warbling ambient bass and saxophone of “The Moth & The Flame”, Chalice Hymnal still is exemplary of Grails’ connection to progressive rock. It ends with the 10-minute "After The Funeral” which doesn’t display the wanking you usually associate with the genre. Piano and shaky strings make for a melancholy, grey timbre as the song drifts for its first half and dies down with 2 minutes left. After a short period of silence, it wakes back up with noises that sound hilariously similar to the Heptapods in Arrival. Their intention or not, it speaks to Grails’ ability to make songs you can associate with moods or specific, concrete entities, all the while doing it with a sense of both tongue-in-cheek wonder and strong craft.

7.3/10