#chameleon sea bass

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #669

Yellow-edged lyretail!

The fish has many names, like chameleon sea bass, fairy cod, or yellow-edged coronation cod/trout/grouper. Rejecting continental shores, it prefers a habitat near islands and offshore reefs where it lives the life of a solitary predator.

[spookierz]

whos up thinking about aardvarks, african painted dogs, alligators, alpacas, anacondas, angler fish, anteaters, ants, apes, arctic foxes, armadillos, atlas moths, axolotls, bald eagles, banana slugs, barnacles, barn owls, bats, bearded dragons, bees, beetles, beluga whales, betta fish, bison, black bears, blackbirds, black widows, blow whales, bluejay, blue whales, boars, bobcats, botflies, box turtles, brown bears, brown recluse, budgies, buffalos, bulls, bumble bees, bunnies, butterflies, camels, canary, capybaras, caribou, cats, caterpillars, chameleons, cheetahs, chickadees, chickens, chimpanzees, chinchillas, chipmunks, cobras, cockroaches, cod, coelacanth, condors, cougars, cows, coyotes, crabs, cranes, crocodile, crows, cuttlefish, deer, dingoes, dogs, dolphins, donkeys, doves, ducks, eagles, earthworms, elephants, elks, emus, ferrets, finchs, fireflies, fish, fishers, fishing cats, flamingos, flatworm, flies, foxes, frogs, garter snakes, gazelles, gerbils, giant isopods, giraffes, goats, goldfish, geese, gophers, gorrilas, gray jays, great white sharks, grey catbirds, groundhogs, guinea pigs, guppies, hammerhead sharks, hamsters, hares, hartebeests, hawks, heartworms, hedgehogs, herons, hippopotamus, honey badgers, honey bees, horses, hummingbirds, hyenas, ibex, ibises, iguanas, inchworms, jackrabbits, jellyfish, jumping spiders, kangaroos, kiwi birds, koalas, komodo dragons, lady bugs, large brown bats, lemurs, leopards, lice, lions, lionfish, lizards, llamas, lobsters, locusts, luna moths, lynxes, macaws, maggots, magpies, manta rays, millipedes, moles, monarch butterflies,  monkeys, moose, mosquitoes, moths, mountain goats, mice, mules, naked mole rats, octopi, opossums, orcas, orioles, ostriches, otters, owls, oxen, pandas, pangolins, panthers, parrots, pelicans, penguins, pigeons, pigs, plankton, platypuses, polar bears, ponies, porcupines, possums, pufferfish, puffins, pumas, pygmy owls, pythons, raccoons, rams, rats, rattlesnakes, ravens, red snappers, red tailed foxes, red tailed hawks, rhinoceroses, river bass, roadrunners, robins, roly polys, rosy maple moths, salamanders, salmon, sea bass, seals, sea sponges, sea turtles, sheep, shrew, shrimp, silk moths, skunks, sloths, slugs, small brown bats, snails, snakes, snapping turtles, snowy owls, spiders, spongy moths, squids, squirrels, starfish, steller's jays, stick bugs, stingrays, stink bugs, swans, tanuki, tapeworms, tapirs, tarantulas, tawny owls, tetras, ticks, tigers, toads, toucans, turkeys, turkey vultures, turtles, vampire bats, vultures, walruses, warthogs, wasps, weevils, whale sharks, whip-poor-wills, wolverines, wolves, wombats, woodchucks, yaks, yellow jackets, zebra, and zebra-fish?

[decsrice]

Whats dec's hair colour it looks brown ke black sometimes honestly that man is different breed I want to see his parents what did they feed him to become a chameleon different eye colour different beard(closer to ginger colour) and different hair

haha it’s the sea bass and rice clearly 😩 i cannot believe he eats that even if he’s playing at 12:30 like what.

tbh i don’t really get the different eye color thing. i’ve seen people say that but i’ve only ever seen blue

ginger beard my beloved 💖

[kynky]

STRICTLY BASS... MARCH 2021 update

Tracklisting

Above Human – Not The Father

Abyss – The Maker, Rider Shafique

AETHER - Hex Cougar Remix – Baauer, Hex Cougar

Air Raid – Axel Boy

Alarm – Fahjah

Alchemy – Jiqui

Apollo – Monty, T-Man

Arcane – Dion Timmer

Babylon Bill – Caspa

Banyan – Pushloop

Blasters – Shanghai Doom, Toadface

Blast Like - SIPPY & Doctor Werewolf VIP – Bear Grillz, SIPPY, Doctor Werewolf

Blindspot - Beatcore Remix – Nurko, Devon Baldwin, Beatcore

Blood Moon – VAMPA

Blur – ESAI

Born for Greatness - Cymek Remix – Papa Roach, Cymek

Cernunnos – Clouds

Chameleon - Munchii Remix – Kermode, Munchii

Chocolate – BROHUG

Claim The Night – Dr. Ozi, Vania

Close To Hell – KUURO, Goja

Coffin – Stallion

Coma - Sharks Remix – Ace Aura, Sharks

Concentrate – Somnium Sound

Crown – So Dope

Cut That – Caspa

Death Note – Blaize, Daze OFF

Delirious – Axel Boy, Mila Falls

Desire – The Brig, iFeature

Down Lo – Shizz Lo, GHOSTER

Drifter – Goldish

DROPSHOT – TRAWMA

Ease Your Mind – GRiZ, Ganja White Night

End of Slaphouse – VIZE, ALOTT

Enough – Trinergy, MIDNIGHT CVLT, joegarratt

Family – Wuki, Softest Hard

Feel Something – Badklaat

Feel The Weight – Stickybuds, K+Lab

First Light – Sleepnet

FROGKIND – SNAILS

FROM THE GRAVE - So Juice Remix – Riot Shift, So Juice

Game Over – Bailo, Dabow, Jon Casey

Geeked Up – UBUR

Get Money – Doctor P

Get Out (feat. BLUPILL & Dopeboylo) – Riot Ten, STARX, BLUPILL, Dopeboylo

Get Right – Lunice

Gets Me High – Jon Doe

Get To U - Viperactive Remix – Spag Heddy, Viperactive

Give Ya – alllone

Grotbucket – KONTENT

Happy Cup – Veer

Here We Go – EH!DE

HIGH VIBRATIONS – LSDREAM

Honda – 1997

Huhhh [VIP] – QUIX

I Am Back – Tripp St.

ID - Biicla Remix – Deathpact, Biicla

Illegal Rave – ParisienHash

Illumination – UUMD

Jump – René LaVice, Stanton Warriors, Knytro, Deadly

Kawaii 808 – Yellow Claw, Crisis Era, Ramengvrl

The Legend – Volt

Lemon Nades – Wavedash, Noon

Lost My Way - Mal Madson Remix – Modestep, Mal Madson

Lunatic – Abstrakt Sonance, D Double E

Met Her At A Dance In Leicester - Sticky Remix – High Contrast, Uk Apache, Ady Suleiman, Sticky

Mindf*ck – SWACQ

Mind Hack – Tryple, Nextars

Motion – Dr. Ozi, Chime, Trinergy

My Little Unicorn – Karyuu

Outbreak – Arkasia

Pop Off – RAZR, Vastive

Poppin (feat. Krystall Poppin) – Riot Ten, CHRMNDRS, Krystall Poppin

RDT – Big Dope P, DJ Jayhood

Reginald – Truth

Represent – Hotfire

Revival – chromonicci, capshun

The Road – CANDL

Rudeboy – Korsain

Rumor – Moore Kismet, WYN

Run Around – Lunice

Sad B*tch (Tisoki Remix) – Borgore, Tima Dee, Tisoki

Sea Shanty – Aweminus

Self-Sabotage - Chime x Trinergy Remix – Ace Aura, Millennial Trash, Chime, Trinergy

Shadow People – Eptic

Sick Head – Trampa

Snake – Gl0bal, So Sus

SPECTRA – Mr. Bill

Spirit Bomb – Karnage

Take Me Away – Stonebank, EMEL

TERROR – INF1N1TE

Trippin' – Jessica Audiffred, ARTIX!

Vendetta For Cupid – Moore Kismet, TYGKO

Vibe Check – GRiZ

Vibe Inside – Average Citizens, Dread MC

Wanna Love – Chime, Franky Nuts, Oliverse

Way to You – Doctor P, Dani Senior

Weeble Wobble VIP – Barely Alive

Where Does Love Go – Synymata, Elle Vee

Witch Doctor - Nolephant Remix – Ronny Berna, Nolephant

ARCHIVED PLAYLIST for any of you who see this after an update.

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 315: Inre Kretsen Grupp

Sea-soaked guitars wavering in moonlight, basslines bouncing through playful echo panoramas, marimbas and vibraphones sparkling amidst tropical cloudforms, woodwinds calling out towards a spiritual sunrise, and skeletal rhythms moving between slow-motion dream funk, balearic boogie, exotic jazz, and dopamine dub…this is Dorisk Ordning, the debut 12” from Inre Kretsen Grupp. Though minimal and dominated by spacious, almost ghostly mixing, the music here is deeply transportive...the kind of immersive sonics that carry the mind towards sunset beach rituals, rainforest dance ceremonials, and cabana lounges on some hidden island. And given how cinematic and multi-colored everything is, you’d be forgiven for thinking Inre Kretsen Grupp is actually an ensemble. But despite the name, every sound here is sourced by a single soul named Martin Blomberg…a multi-instrumentalist from Mälmo with a deft command of that illusive balearic vibe. As well, Dorisk Ordning marks the welcome return of Fasaan Recordings, a chameleonic label working through the more outsider realms of dance music and deep listening that has featured such favorites as Prins Emanual, Golden Ivy, Free Arts Band, and Bufiman.

Inre Kretsen Grupp - Dorisk Ordning (Fasaan Recordings, 2019) “Loggia” sees cymbals tapping and reverb-soaked bass guitars slapping through funk motions while vibraphones fade in like morning mist. Kick drums and snare give the beat momentary shape before everything cuts away and in the remaining silence, pan-pipes blow spiritual ocean spells while mallet instruments lock into sparse yet affecting chord cascades...as if each hit is splashing through a tide pool haze. When the drums return their slow motion boogie glide, a dazzling melodic progression spreads out across multiple instruments, with pan-pipes leading to slap bass leading to sea-spray marimba chords…all while tremolo picked guitars fade in and out like some ghostly ether. There are moments where the rhythms cut away, resulting in witchy moonlight ceremonials of beatless funk ambiance. And towards the end, silvery streaks of string synthesis waft through the mix…these starshine tracers repeating like a siren. In “Campo Santo,” hi-hats tick and hand drums pop as howling winds carry laser-generated birdsong. Basslines sounding like a contrabass from another dimension bounce through drunken delays and soon after the track begins, the rhythms fade away in favor of mystical humming tones, virtualized jungle sounds, and lonely guitar meanderings, with sliding echo riffs reminding me of Fabror Resande Mac. Swaying chords waft in as the drums return to their tropical bop…a sort of moonlit dance of jazz exotica with ethnological percussion flashing all around the mix…and during another bass and drum fade out, these incredible orchestrations diffuse through the stereo field…with woodwinds and strings playing a bewitching sunrise incantation amidst ritualized vocal drones and Hawaiin guitar reveries. Then, as we morph majestically back into the beachside hypno-groove, fusion-colored organs alight on equatorial dream journeys. 

The title track opens side B with distorted bass pulses working through lullaby motions amidst a multi-layered panorama of sundown guitar riffing, with interlocking licks generating meditative polyrhythms and waves of deep earthen warmth. Kick drums keep a rural pulse and lead guitars play themes for spaghetti western vistas and surf rock sunrises as the music brings my mind to the work of Douglas McCombs and Pablo Color. Deep in the mix, psychosonic electronics filter wildly, though their effect is barely perceptible, and some of the guitar fx are so naturalistic…almost vocal…creating the effect of someone blues scatting through layers of crystalline guitar fog. Elsewhere, we devolve into weirdo bass sequencing, stick clicks, and typewriter mutations…a strange passage of ambient abstraction before building back towards folksy psych-guitar majesty. True to its name, “Dubbad Dougong” presents Blomberg’s vision of dub, starting with gemstone arps and hand percussion leading a romantic intro groove through a cloud of reverberating sea-foam. Lofi riddims of kick, snare, and hissing hats diffuse in as synthetic trumpets soar over brassy e-piano percolations. During a sharp cutaway, guitars and angel pads sing together and big woozy basslines start grooving through delirium delays while starshine dubchords echo into the void. As the rhythms resume a dubwise skank, the body sways on currents of psychotropic groove transcendence while basslines slip and slide through time-shifting fx tapestries. Elsewhere, the kaleidoscopic dub jam devolves into spiritual ambiance, with guitars and mermaid choirs intertwining and reggae stabs breathing white noise into the mix. And as the track builds back towards an ever-shifting dub riddim zone out, synthesizers tuned like melodicas sing sea-shanty folk songs.

(images from my personal copy)

[screamingforyears]

BEST OF 2017: TOP TEN

The TOP TEN, a collection of my 10 favorite albums of the year. These were the albums that demanded the most of me and the ones I found myself repeatedly going back to again & again…

CIVIL LUST

‘CONSTITUTIONS’

SELF-RELEASED

CIVIL LUST combine, then blend, all the aesthetic pleasures that make a great Goth Pop record on their debut LP ‘CONSTITUTIONS.’

The Salt Lake City based duo (Christian Riley and Isaiah Michael) are masters of their craft, who nail the details to a tee. 'Constitutions’is an exercise in classic post-punk tropes, but ones that have been further refined by years of study and more than capable craftsmanship.

The Cure bass lines, the Ian Curtisian vocals, to the Tears for Fears exuberance, Civil Lust create art that is sinewy yet soft (take one listen to “Receive” and tell me I’m wrong).

“Even Further” literally pulls you further into Civil Lust’s majestic ways with an echoed drum machine beat, tingled guitar lines, and Riley’s longing while the slow groove of the sensual “A Man You Will” is the type of sound the group perfect. The devil’s in the detail.

‘Constitutions’ and its able bodied creators construct a seamless 7 track album and further enrich an already fertile modern goth landscape...

DEATH BELLS

‘STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD’

BURNING ROSE / FUNERAL PARTY

DEATH BELLS, the Sydney based group of: Maurice Santiago (Bass), William Canning (Vocals), Aron Postolovic (Guitar), Rimas Veselis (Guitar), David Gauci (Synth), and Luca Watson (Percussion) seem to understand the power of gloomy guitar based indie, the kind that held court throughout the genre’s most influential decade and like many of the amazing groups mining these fields, they seem to understand the importance of detail and the need to move beyond mere homage.

DB’s beautifully bleached William Canning is a frontman to be reckoned with, as he parlays the looks, voice, words, and bravado into a force that demands attention, but not at the expense of working as an important cog to his band’s sturdy wheel. A singer is only as good as the foundation that surrounds him, so luckily for us the rest of the Bells are a top-notch unit.

‘STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD’ is a pure guitar record through and through, one that borrows equally from paisley jangle, arena reaching grandness, and moody post-punk while being executed with aplomb by Veselis & Postolovic’s dual attack. 

“Only You” finds guitars loudly pinging over a steady rhythm section, allowing the coldly effervescent vocals to take center stage. The group hold court and have once again presented a lively, yet somber piece of buttoned up pop with “Only You.”

Death Bells sound hopeful yet weary on their engaging debut album, coming together as a cohesive & bold unit unafraid to reach big while retaining all the detached cool of their forebears...

DRAB MAJESTY

‘THE DEMONSTRATION’

DAIS

DRAB MAJESTY, the project created and fronted by premiere goth alien Deb Demure, returned in 2017 with their second proper LP.

‘THE DEMONSTRATION’ sees Drab Majesty doubling down on what they do so well, finely tuned new wave goth, but better. Demure’s former LA based bedroom experiment (which has morphed into a two-man group with the addition of Mona D) has seen its profile & popularity rise, after successful tours supporting the likes of King Dude and Cold Cave.

Drab Majesty are the torchbearers for a certain strain of Goth, where the dark wave crashes full on into brooding Reagan era new wave pop. Demure captures a specific sound, whereas every production trick is precise and aesthetic rules the land. This attention to detail, along with Deb’s unique and heavily treated guitar style, is what sets Drab apart from the sea of Goth indebted groups.

The guitar tones captured throughout the album are phenomenal, as witnessed on the sci-fi waltz of “Not Just A Name.” Reminiscent of Duran Duran’s more subdued moments, only way fucking spacier.

Drab Majesty are masters of ethereal Goth, steeped in dated production tricks, while literally reaching towards the cold vastness of space. What was once a solo affair has morphed into a full fledged entity, and as the popularity grows, so to does the quality of the Drab output....

FEARING

‘A LIFE OF NONE / BLACK SAND’

FUNERAL PARTY

The kind of dark, brooding, and equally booming rock music that FEARING create on their EPs ‘A LIFE OF NONE’ & ‘BLACK SAND’ has been sorely missing in recent years. 

Fearing are exactly what I look for in a great gothic rock band, they capture a mood & essence that rings true while blowing past any attempts at modesty. And while I enjoy when things are minimal & low-key, I can’t help but gush when a band, especially one steeped in gloom, comes along sounding all huge. Which is precisely how fearing Fearing operate, they create big sounding rock songs that take elements from post-punk, 90′s Alt-Rock, and deathrock and combine them into one brutalist take on Goth.

“Beyond Light” sticks to the aggressively dark template of chiming guitars, thick bass, and wallowed out vocals while “Other Life” opens up with big thunderous drums, rolling bass, and moody synths before linking with a pinging guitar and layered vocals. “Other Life” shows a growth in Fearing’s songwriting, with sprinkles of piano notes adding new depth and has easily become one of the finest entry’s in the group’s catalog.  

The EP format is surely the way to go in our modern times and the Oaklanders have taken full advantage of our attention-deficits by breaking us off a nice four track stretch, as they satisfy our itch and keep us wanting more….. 

GRIZZLY BEAR

‘PAINTED RUINS’

RCA

Grizzly Bear, survivors of: the Brooklyn Sonic Boom, side projects, Indie Rock’s halcyon days, expectations, New York Magazine spreads, NYC itself, personal turmoil, indie labels, adulting, Taylor Swift, and most improbably…..themselves, have triumphantly returned with their first album in 5 years titled ‘Painted Ruins.’

‘Painted Ruins’ shows the no-longer-in-one place based group of Ed Droste, Daniel Rossen, and the two Chris combo of Taylor & Bear expanding on their already impressive sonic palette, while turning the focus inward. Grizzly Bear is the perfect example of “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” and for a group consisting of 4 very distinct musicians/personalities it’s really saying something. As corny as it sounds, when these four get together in a room, something special happens.

Album standout “Mourning Sound” is the straight ahead rocker we’ve been waiting for, a no BS thumper filled with gorgeous guitar work per Rossen. Truly one of the best things the group has ever penned as it manages to combine wistful regret (”I made a mistake….”) with a thick groove while deploying a goosebump inducing twinkle of synth.

Like most great albums, ‘Painted Ruins’ is a grower, with each subsequent listen revealing a new hidden nugget. The foursome known as Grizzly Bear have ended their 5 year absence with something meaningful, powerful, and refreshing…

HUMAN LEATHER 

‘LAZY KARAOKE’

CERCLE SOCIAL 

HUMAN LEATHER, comprised of Adam Klopp (Choir Boy) & Chaz Costello (Sculpture Club), are a self described “shitty version of Tears for Fears mixed with Depeche Mode,” but don’t let the humble self-deprecation fool you, because the duo tap into something so pure and unfettered that you simply have no choice but to succumb. 

And I hate to be the bearer of bad news to those who feel the need to cling onto originality, but everything’s been done already, so get the fuck over it and stop missing out on some truly great modern acts.

The Salt Lake City duo aim to break your fucking heart on their debut LP ‘LAZY KARAOKE’ which is chocked full of Reagan era bangers and aesthetically dripping odes that nail every aesthetic detail. 

“Ugly Sister” is a pure synth-pop ditty cloaked in the aforementioned Tears for Fears (who at this point are impacting this generation on some Joy Division type levels) influence. The devil is in the detail, something Klopp & Costello clearly understand, as the intricate production alongside the airy & emotive vocal courtesy of Adum (who recalls Wild Beasts’ Hayden Thorpe) is something to behold.

‘Lazy Karaoke’ was easily the most talked about album within the goth/post-punk community and with good reason.  

“Everything is fucking scary……”

JOHN  MAUS

‘SCREEN MEMORIES’

RIBBON MUSIC

  Well……..the wait is officially ended as JOHN fucking MAUS returned in 2017 with the long awaited album ‘SCREEN MEMORIES.’

The Minnesota (by way of the the World) based project never ceases to capture the imagination and does this by creating unfuckable with Goth Pop. Maus is the undisputed master of the deconstructed gem, and will remain so by adding the aesthetically pleasing extra mile in everything he touches.

‘Screen Memories’ is a fluid & fantastic listen proving that Maus hasn’t lost a single step since we last heard from him years ago. Maus, ever the pop-deconstructionist, is so well adept at creating nuanced pop songs, steeped in goth, that you almost take him for granted at this point.

While a melancholic crop of songs litter the album, the taut “Walls of Silence” allows Maus’ reverb drenched chant to roam free atop a bed of driving bass, eerie synths, and compressed snare snap. Limber, yet driving, this slice of gothic minimalism benefits from not only its creators expertise, but gains so much power from its brief 2 minute and 23 second run-time. 

If you’ve been sleeping on Maus, well shame on you, it’s time for you to wake the fuck up, press play, and soak up his mile-a-minute brilliance…

NEW TODAY

‘BETTER THAN DEATH’

SELF-RELEASED

Goth comes in many shapes and sizes, from cold wave to guitar driven gloom rock and everything in between. NEW TODAY, the under the radar post-punk duo of Dante Palomba (Casuistry) & Daniel Srungaram (Two One Six), fall into the latter camp with their latest LP ‘BETTER THAN DEATH.’

The group bring the big 80’s post-punk ala the Sound, the Chameleons, and Love & Rockets, while pairing it with minimalist detail. Taking Interpol-like guitar work, which at its best has always been minimal yet evocative, while juxtaposing it with substantial movements and huge vocals that take their place in the front. Dante Palomba’s voice is a viable instrument and the group treat it as such, which is exactly why New Today fall into the Romance/Trad Goth grouping.

All the preceding beauty culminates on “The Years” in the form of an icy synth that reaches for the ether, while being reminiscent of Interpol’s slower moments (which is basically how the XX got paid) but with far greater feeling and veiled optimism. “The Years” is an emotionally moving piece, the kind that builds yet sustains, and revels in its stark beauty.

At an even 10 tracks, New Today seem to know that leaving us wanting more is the key and ‘Better Than Death’ is one of the most fully realized and expertly executed albums I’ve heard in quite awhile.

It’s good to be goth….

PROTOMARTYR

‘RELATIVES IN DESCENT’

DOMINO

PROTOMARTYR triumphantly returned in 2017 with a new Long Player titled ‘RELATIVES IN DESCENT.’

This is a guitar rock record, which I know sounds like an oxy moron, but holy fuck the standard 4-piece is done proud throughout‘Relatives in Descent.’ This is the sound of an already great band furthering their footing and flexing their well defined muscle. Each member is in supreme control of their respected instrument: from the sharp lyrical prowess and spot on vocal take of Joe Casey, to the skeletal guitar riffs that blot entire song stretches via Greg Ahee, down to the powerful rhythm section courtesy of Scott Davidson’s driving bass and the chaotic (beyond time keeping) pace of Alex Leonard’s thunderous drums.  

The groggy “My Children” takes its time with a slow build of doomed kinetic energy, before opening up and falling into a rangy Proto groove of guitars, rhythm, and wordsmith diatribes. “My Children” builds and builds into a melee of guitars/drums/bass until the clouds part and the song opens up offering a chill inducing moment while Casey commands the room. The track’s guitar work in the final third is awe inspiring and note worthy.

By doubling down on what’s made them so great, while stepping out of their comfort zone, ‘Relatives In Descent’ finds Protomartyr at their finest, proving once again that the sons of Detroit are in it for the long haul....

SEXTILE

‘ALBEIT LIVING’

FELTE

The Los Angeles based death-squad known as SEXTILE have triumphantly returned with the pristinely raw ‘ALBEIT LIVING.’

Sextile are the teeth, the brute truth, the harsh reality, the gritty glitz, and the creators of the mad mad world party record we need. The harbingers of bleached catharsis, consisting of the ridiculously attractive & stylish group of: Brady Keehn (vox/guitar/synth) Melissa Scaduto (drums), LA Eddie Wuebben (synths), and the newest addition Cameron Michel (guitar/bass), are trending upwards and with great reason.

That primal drive comes from Melissa Scaduto, not only through the floor shaking beats, but through her guidance, visual appeal, and aesthetic vision. Simply put, she’s the beating heart of the group, one that’s rounded out by Brady Keehn’s Cobra Kai-like bad-boy charisma, and Eddie Wuebben’s art damaged cool.

“Sterilized” is sinisterly delightful. A manic & breathy beast, where deathrock and new wave meet late at night to perform unspeakable acts upon one another. I found myself demonstrably head bobbing upon every listen (“can’t shake it”) while looking for the nearest dance floor thanks to the boogie down bass & drums. “Sterilized”allows Keehn to do what he does so well, that uptick coda (think “Can’t Take It.”), the melody of which is so fucking strong that I find myself walking around panting “Come on and sterilize me.”

Sextile have raised the bar for everyone on ‘Albeit Living’ as they establish themselves as Felte’s flagship group through hometown-hero sincerity and a cohesive album that never overstays its welcome...

***BONUS***

DEATH OF LOVERS

‘THE ACROBAT’

DAIS

2017 closed out with a tender aesthetic bang thanks to DEATH OF LOVERS’ ‘THE ACROBAT.’

The New York based group, boasting no less than three members of the emotional-gaze band Nothing and keyboardist CC Loo, create timeless New Wave ran through a gothic dream-pop portal. It’s not a disservice or slight to say that Death of Lovers created the long lost John Hughes soundtrack that we’ve been waiting on, it’s simply that good, that infectious, and that sugary. 

“The Absolute” exudes a feeling of warm nostalgia, yet teeters with an anxiety inducing nervousness that’s coyly deployed over an upbeat arrangement of giddiness. The compressed echo beat, airy synths, and razor sharp guitar lines create a solid foundation for Domenic Palermo’s up in the clouds vocal (with a harmonious assist from drummer Kyle Kimball). 

Death of Lovers are keen architects of the smooth delight, as “The Absolute” is five minutes of pure stylized bliss and that’s long before the sound of an aesthetically pleasing saxophone buries it’s reedy goodness into your brain which slides in well next to yearning moody bummers like “The Lowly People” and “Divine Song.”

This is what it sounds like when Hardcore vets find their inner New Romantic (take notes Head Automatica).

Seriously, that sax tho….

[soundspotting]

Trentemøller - The Last Resort

Trentemøller’s music is a revelation to me, he’s one of those artists who master their art gracefully and solemnly and who work persistently at improving their skills and at pushing the boundaries of their art. His finely crafted cinematic sound, intricate and eclectic, rightfully bears the mark of Scandinavian authenticity, while remaining in a timeless global and essentially human form of cathartic expression. His music folds and enfolds like the North Sea waves. His ethos permeates everything, from composition to choosing vocals, to album art, to his mind-blowing live performances.

Trentemøller’s debut album, The Last Resort was released 12 years ago, but ever since I discovered it maybe 9 years ago, it remained one of my favourite albums. As Trentemøller himself recounted in an interview, the album’s release followed a time of self-doubt and then of reinvention, and I feel this personal trajectory is truthfully pieced together into the sound journey that is this album, a beautiful blend of natural and industrial, of organic, mineral and metal. A contrast of light and dark, of sweet and bitter, of gentle innocence and harsh realities. Thrill and discipline balanced carefully by the minimalist touch of the Copenhagen born musician.

The Last Resort begins unassumingly, in a stream of consciousness style. An 80s synth pop line progresses with elements which announce Trentemøller’s style on this album: dark cello and violin notes, feminine moans and whispers, building up like a flurry of butterflies in a rainforest clearing, to drop, anti-climactic, into a minimalist beat, clean and elegant like the smooth lines of Danish architecture. Western-like guitar riffs, natural sounds and mellow bells mark Take Me Into Your Skin and this album. In a calculated step, you’re taken into the depths, under the sea, to the real beats beneath your skin, the ones your very cells vibrate to and even deeper. You’re then brought back up gently, to a cityscape with lights slowly fading and bells swaying in the early morning wind.

This album has been my shaman through the struggles and perils of writing my master thesis a few years back, and Vamp is one song that really helped me get those thoughts in line. It’s a dark, but more upbeat melody, maintained by a catchy bass line, joined gradually by jazzy soft rock lines in almost imperceptible crescendos and decrescendos, while the bass line grows stronger and stronger. There’s an element of surprise that’s a gift unravelling itself to your ears and your mind. Crank up the volume, wiggle in your chair, bob your head in your cubicle, whatever works. Let your hair down metaphorically for a few bars, then go back to the basics.

It’s midnight in the forest, your heart is pounding in your ears. The darkness is teeming with life, screeching, crawling, creaking. The city and its restlessness fading into the background, you dare delve deeper into the Unknown. There is something raw, primordial about this Evil Dub, ignited as it is by tribal drum beats refined in the long nights of the northern latitudes.

When you listen, when you really really listen, you discover layer after layer of sound like soft peels of translucent smoke that Trentemoller carefully weaved along the path of this misty journey. To go further means to turn your steps inwards and let the music flow through layers upon layers of perception, down to the root of your being.

Along this inner track, you’re lullabied by Always Something Better into an exploration of a sort that takes you back to Orbital, Daft Punk and Little People all at once. The drop is well worth the industrial, thorny track through the abandoned building site leading to it. Albeit a well-calculated, disciplined drop, coming from a skilled, self-aware touch.

While The Cold Winter Waiting  follows naturally from the previous piece, just like the seasons succeed each other in nature. Trentemøller skillfully paints through his music bleak, cold mornings in the midst of the Danish winter. Days of dappled seaborne clouds, when the trees seem to retreat into a mineral state, leafless and dark, taking that journey back to the source of life, appearing lifeless only for a while. As a counterpoint, beautifully interwoven amongst the empty mornings, are the warm evenings indoors, candles lit, passions tempered, hopes held close and nurtured. Within the bleakness, there is a spark, a hope, a seed. We are the pain and also the way out of the pain. Breathe in, feel, breathe out, relax, merge with the cold waves and surrender to the enveloping warmth.

‘Music is a big prayer’. Time for the Nightwalker, a reference perhaps to the character from Japanese mythology so wonderfully and magically depicted in Studio Ghibli’s classic ‘Princess Mononoke’, the dark and ruthless but equally beautiful and fragile face of the Forest Spirit. The mystery of the god that is both good and evil. The light in the dark – the hope, the fire in the middle of winter. Placed almost at the middle of the album, Nightwalker is an exquisite musical metaphor for the time of the year when sunlight is at its lowest in the Northern hemisphere and perhaps introspection at its deepest. One of my favourite pieces on this album.

At this point along the path, the haze of melancholy and reverie wearing out, you may find at the core of this album the pain of separation. Thunder drums and cymbals sound out a bad omen, the cello mourns an empty space. In style and feel, Like Two Strangers takes me back to Unsaid of Little People, another beautiful bittersweet recount of personal memories through the impersonal filter of samples.

The Very Last Resort washes over the remnants of these memories with its entrancing acoustic guitar picking. A lyrical depiction of the wonders of the human brain, able to fuse past memories with present regret and melancholy as if no time has passed at all. Sounds, wounds, voices become muffled. It’s as if you’re witnessing the memory of a couple’s argument fished out of Dumbledore’s Pensieve. The argument, the melancholy, the regret reverberate through the mind, blurring and stretching images and sounds, like reflections in a distorting mirror. An overarching sense of finality lingers. The beat returns just in time and brings you back to the present. In the end it all fades into the dark pool of forgetfulness.

Onto story laden scar tissue fall delicate sounds, some close and clear, some faint and muffled, like winter’s first snow fall that begins slowly, shyly, covering the noise of abstract rush. Pause, look, feel, admire, let your eyes be amazed, let your heart and your ears follow the soft intermingling of chimes and drums. And be prepared to welcome The Beat into your musical veins. Snowflake is a nine minute conversation with the snow fall, in which the almost frantic discourse of the main line, like an interior flow of consciousness, comes up against the quiet evanescence of the ice crystals, making their way to the ground.

From snow covered ground to deep sea water, you’re taken on a dive way below into the ocean rifts, into the realm of the plankton and bioluminescent sea worms. Your heart pounding in your ears, you’re dazzled by the richness and rhythm of fluorescent life. There’s a growing ominous presence sinuously whirling around you, just that bit out of reach, like a hidden Kraken of sorts, or the mother of sandworms on Dune, a sort of mythical Chameleon.

Once you’ve grabbed that chance to get close to that elusive Chameleon, you can now carry this chance home, back through the forest. The emotions welling up towards this point receive their well-deserved relief. Into The Trees unravels the tension through an upbeat house vibe, while blending perfectly in the larger painting that is this album, such that it all becomes a continuous ebb and flow of the same exuberant story.

As if to help bring you back to your usual more mundane endeavors, Moan starts out with a symphony of echoes and fragments of everyday life, which converge towards the main line of the song. It’s a gentle, touching, yet powerful melody telling of woes, wonders and past events. It ends in a classical manner, with an almost imperceptible wisp of wind blowing across sand.

From this fine touch of sand grains on the skin emerges Miss You – with subtle touches of pan drums, with soft piano and sobbing violin. It’s one of the most beautiful bittersweet pieces of electronic music I’ve listened to, full of both elation and sadness, so much like the feeling of longing - the pain of the separation mixed in with the warmth of the memory of closeness.

[This is just the piece for a soulful flowing dance such as a bunch of artists have put together here (In fact if any of you know who made this video/where the footage comes from, please write in your comments so I can credit them properly, I haven’t been able to work this one out). 

The mash up of Miss You by Trentemøller and Teardrop by Massive Attack is a fantastic example of a skillful blend of dedicated artists, classic beats and beautiful movements, a meta mix through decades of electronic music. The sinuous body movements, the faceless dancers covered in silky sheets, resembling characters in Magritte’s paintings and the beats in Teardrop perfectly complement the pan drums and the softness in Miss You.]

The Last Resort is masterfully complete with this last piece. The album is rounded and rich in experience and in feelings, and it’s intricate like an impressionist oil painting. What’s more, by being the best version of itself, it’s infinitely delightful and inspiring (even the album cover art left such an imprint onto my subconscious that one day I painted [this], at the time consciously unaware of the source of my inspiration). A fine balance of melancholy and burning spirit permeates The Last Resort, transforming the cold impersonal feel of electronic instruments into natural, organic sounds which give Trentemøller’s music life, warmth and character.

[souslejaune]

Folio 2: Listen to All my Words

“Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me” – Job 42:3 i 

  The changes came slowly. I was the same incurably curious boy, same over-loud voice, same stamping laugh, but I felt a shadow over me. 

It started with a stabbing pain in my chest the night after GeeMaa spoke to me in the kitchen, a woodpecker drilling into the forest of my being. I woke up, clutching my left breast and screaming. My father burst into the room; he arrived in his half-closed dressing gown, his penis dangling in the pale light streaming in from the corridor. My mother trailed in after him, a tie-and-dye cloth wrapped expertly around her chest. She fixed the belt on my father’s gown for him. Naana was already by my side, holding my hand, wide-eyed and trembling. 

“What’s wrong?” My father’s voice was deeper than it was during the day. 

“I’ve had a heart attack.” 

“Ebo,” he glanced at my mother, who had taken Naana’s place beside me and put my head in her lap, “you can’t have a heart attack. You’re ten…” 

“What happened?” 

Everyone turned. GeeMaa stood at the door in a faded green and orange cloth tied round her body and knotted behind her neck. One of her arms was rested against the doorframe. The now-flaccid flesh from her triceps was made sharp again by the light in the corridor behind her. 

My father responded. “Ma, he said he’s had a heart attack, but…” 

“It’s OK, Kojo.” She waved my mother and father towards the door, but my mother didn’t move. Her grip on me tightened. 

“Sarah, I’ve seen this before. I’ll look after him.” 

My mother caressed my forehead. My father stopped near GeeMaa and said my mother’s name softly. 

“Sarah…” 

I felt her look up, heard her inhale. 

“Sarah, she’s a nurse.” 

My mother exhaled the breath she had taken, smoothed my cheek with the back of her hand and eased my head back onto my pillow. I still had a hand on my chest but I could no longer feel any pain. I watched my father put his arm around my mother’s waist and rub her side like a good luck charm as they went back to their room. 

GeeMaa turned to my sister. “Naana, please get me some hot water from the kitchen.” 

“Yes, GeeMaa.” 

I shifted to lie on my side and looked up at GeeMaa. 

She leaned over, rubbed my back and started talking. “Oh, mi bi, did it hurt badly?” 

I nodded. 

She sat where my mother had been and looked around the room. Nobody had thought of turning on the light so the room was in half-darkness. The ceiling fan hovered like a bored watchman. My mounted spider was a stain on the wall. 

GeeMaa started humming then stopped. “Sometimes you can stand in a storm but it won’t rain until you notice the clouds.” 

I shifted my head to peer at her. My eyelids felt like clay. 

GeeMaa made another statement. “Sometimes you make a new friend and then begin to run into them everywhere you go.” 

I latched onto the familiarity of this new observation. “Yes, that’s how it was with Ato Table. After I played football with him for the first time I started seeing him at the plantain seller’s and Auntie Aba’s, even on his way to school. Then I found out we lived on the same road.” I paused. “GeeMaa?” 

“Hmm?” 

“GeeMaa, what’s wrong with me?” I put my right hand on my left breast. My mother had warned me several times about leaving the fan on and not wearing a shirt, but I wasn't wearing one. GeeMaa took my hand away and put hers there. I heard the kettle's whistle in the kitchen. 

“There’s nothing wrong with you; your uncle Narteh had this before he started working, then it stopped.”

I peered into the shimmer of GeeMaa’s pale brown eyes, confused. “Who is Uncle Narteh?” 

“One of my cousins’ sons. In the mountains.” She sighed and held my face, her fingers below my chin. “Did it hurt badly, mi bi?” 

“Yes, GeeMaa.” 

“Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have told you…” 

Naana arrived with a bucket of hot water. GeeMaa didn’t speak after my sister returned. Naana stood by the blue plastic bucket, framed by the corridor's rectangled glow, until GeeMaa waved her to her bed. She wrapped her covers around her and watched us. A grating sound cut the silence as GeeMaa pulled the bucket closer. She reached into its depths, with her back turned to me, until her elbows were covered. She stayed hunched over the heat for a while without flinching, then took her hands out and turned me onto my front. Naana sneezed. 

GeeMaa turned to her. “Naana, lie down. You’ll catch a cold sitting like that under the fan.” 

Naana burrowed into her bed and GeeMaa placed her hand on my back. Under the coaxing of GeeMaa’s hot palms I hovered on the borders of sleep. She massaged the area between my shoulder blades slow and hard, so that, although it was comforting, it was impossible to fall asleep. She hummed as she briefly placed her hands back in the bucket to warm them, then kneaded my lower back and the area of my back directly behind my left breast. Her arms were heavy, her hands nimble. A floating image of my heart appeared beneath my eyelids and I drifted into a mild slumber. I saw a self-lucent ferruginous diamond of pain eject from my heart in slow motion and parachute its way down. I followed it by flying with my mind until I got caught in a tree awash with webs and red ants. I started screaming. 

GeeMaa slapped my back, waking me. She put her finger to her lips and inclined her head towards Naana who was curled up like a chameleon’s tail, snoring softly. GeeMaa turned me onto my back again and put her hands in the blue bucket. I expected the water to be cold, but when she laid her hands on my chest they were hot. I shrank into the mattress in surprise. GeeMaa shook her head and smiled. Her teeth shone. In the murkiness of the room the glow from her ivory hair looked like it was suspended in air. Her eyes were drugged fireflies. Outside, an owl hooted and I tuned into a wealth of nightlife I had never explored: the muted beats of dogs prowling the street seeking challenge, chickens sleeping beneath bushes and on low branches, cockroaches scouring kitchens, trees swaying, worms and snakes sliding across the earth, tides in, fishermen out to sea. Everything was alive and vital, assaulting my ears and skin. I felt like I was dreaming again, but GeeMaa was right there in front of me holding my eyes with hers. She removed her hands from my chest, and the night turned quiet again. 

She stood up, held out her arms, then reached across with her left hand to pinch the flesh under her right arm. 

My right arm jerked and I winced in pain. I looked at GeeMaa, puzzled. 

She approached my bed again, leaned over, hugged me and whispered. “Remember, your father is my son; he is also your mother's husband.” 

I frowned, uncomprehending. 

“Tomorrow, when you go to pass water there’ll be some blood. Don’t worry.” She straightened up and left. 

I woke up disoriented and hungry. Sunlight had invaded my room from the windows on the side wall and through the open door. For a while I looked around me, seeing nothing. Eventually, the pale blue expanse of wall above Naana’s bed gained definition. The periodic table she had stuck on it when she moved in became a clear block with individual squares. Naana’s bed looked as though a pack of dogs had ran through it. I heard her voice from the kitchen, singing, If you leave me I go die oh, in harmony with GeeMaa, trying to drown out my father’s Sunday jazz record, which was all horns, bass, keys and drums. I knew without moving that this was not one of the Sundays when we went to church. 

On church Sundays, my mother shook sleep out of us with firm hands and hounded us with toothbrushes and spoons. We brushed our teeth with the enthusiasm of zombies and sat at table to eat our rice or maize porridge with two thick slices of sugar bread. We rushed to the bathroom – Naana first because she spent more time picking clothes – then got dressed and piled into the car. By 7.40 am the Datsun was on the road, streaking a navy blue gleam across the streets of Accra to Adabraka, where the church was. There was no banter, no cross-house battles. There was no music – for the tuneless singing of the Methodist old ladies could not be called music – and no dancing. 

I preferred the no-church Sundays, when my father got up early to clean the inside of his car and then went to turn on his jazz. Head bopping, he jived to the kitchen to make freshly squeezed orange juice for my mother who emerged on cue, waved good morning to my father, then went to the toilet to urinate. She returned to hug him, jive with him to the living room where he handed her the juice and sat beside her with his eyes closed. Then GeeMaa, Naana and I woke up and the music battles began. 

Of course, it wasn’t always like that. Sometimes my misdeeds were uncovered. Like the time when my father decided to have a brandy while listening to jazz and found the bottle’s contents to be lower than his last mark. That Sunday I got a resounding beating from a father who claimed he was doing the Lord’s work for him. 

But this Sunday was fine. I could tell by the intensity of the sun that it was about 10 am, and no one seemed rushed. I stretched and swung my legs out of the bed. I reached for the yellow T-shirt I had dumped on the little table between Naana’s bed and mine and headed for the living room. I didn’t wear the T-shirt; I just held it. 

The living room was small. A black three-seater cane settee and two small matching armchairs on a woven raffia carpet. My father’s record player was to the right of the door by a bookcase and a drinks cabinet. The armchairs faced the door and there were three sheepskin cushions that lay at random on the floor beside them. The settee was to the left. That’s where my parents sat, holding hands in stillness. 

“Morning Dad, morning Mum.” 

“Morning Son.” 

“Are you feeling better?” 

“Yes, Mum, GeeMaa gave me a massage. I feel fine now.” 

“Your eyes are red again.” 

“I’m OK. I feel fine.” 

My father hadn’t opened his eyes. A Yusuf Lateef sleeve lay on a coffee table beside him. I stood for a moment as a sign of respect; so he wouldn’t think I didn’t appreciate his music. But I was famished so I couldn’t hold on for long. He spoke as I turned to go, his eyes still closed. 

“So, no more heart attacks?” 

I smiled and kept walking. I heard him chuckling as I went. My mother slapped his arm. He turned the music up as Naana and GeeMaa broke into a new song. 

I headed outside, towards the orange tree, where I offloaded the rose urine GeeMaa had warned me about. I stood watching the pool gather at my feet wondering what it all meant.

—–

continued >> here <<… | start from beginning? | current projects: The City Will Love You and a collection of poems, The Geez

[ponanoblockguide]

NBC-001-225 Mini Collection

·        NBC

NBC-001 Emperor Penguin

NBC-002 Clown Fish

NBC-003 Bottlenose Dolphin

NBC-004 Budgerigar

NBC-005 Hokkaido Dog

NBC-006 Giraffe

NBC-007 Japanese Tree Frog

NBC-008 Alpaca

NBC-009 Cockatiel

NBC-010 Dachshund

NBC-012 Polar Bear

NBC-013 Pig

NBC-014 Sika Deer

NBC-015 French Bulldog – Black

NBC-016 Budgerigar

NBC-017 Grand Piano (Black)

NBC-018 Violin

NBC-019 Giant Panda

NBC-020 Koala

NBC-021 Duck

NBC-022 Meerkat 

NBC-023 Electric Guitar

NBC-024 Drum Set

NBC-025 Jack-O-Lantern 2010

NBC-026 Santa Claus 2010

NBC-027 Snowman 2010

NBC-030 Rabbit

NBC-031 Maneki Neko

NBC-032 American Shorthair

NBC-033 Red-eared Slider

NBC-034 Red-and-green Macaw

NBC-035 African Elephant

NBC-036 Horse

NBC-037 Electric Guitar-Red

NBC-038 Synthesizer

NBC-040 Jack-O-Lantern 2011

NBC-041 Santa Claus 2011

NBC-042 Snowman 2011

NBC-043 Xmas Tree 2011

NBC-044 Dragon

NBC-046 Daruma

NBC-048 Berkshire

NBC-049 Hippopotamus

NBC-050 French Bulldog

NBC-051 Electric Bass

NBC-052 DJ Set

NBC-053 Grand Piano (White)

NBC-054 Sheep

NBC-055 Greater Flamingo

NBC-056 White Tiger

NBC-057 Lion

NBC-058 Nile Crocodile

NBC-059 Eurasian Eagle Owl

NBC-060 Toy Poodle

NBC-061 Mallard

NBC-062 Jack-O-Lantern 2012

NBC-063 Santa Claus 2012

NBC-064 Snowman 2012

NBC-065 X’mas Tree

NBC-066 White Snake

NBC-067 Maneki-neko Black

NBC-068 Magellanic Penguin

NBC-071 Christmas wreath 2012 George’s Ltd.

NBC-072 Christmas Tree 2012 George’s Ltd

NBC-073 Christmas Boots 2012 George’s Ltd

NBC-074 Christmas Teddy 2012 George’s Ltd

NBC-075 Cockatiel Soramachi     Limited

NBC-076 Fox

NBC-079 Alpaca Cream

NBC-080 Red Panda

NBC-081 Green Sea Turtle

NBC-082 Great White Shark

NBC-083 Manta Ray

NBC-084 Giant Squid

NBC-085 Green Spotted Puffer

NBC-086 Fiddler Crab

NBC-087 Moon Jellyfish

NBC-088 Spotted & Splendid Garden Eels

NBC-089 Chipmunk

NBC-090 Oarfish

NBC-092 Kangaroo

NBC-094 Giraffe (New version)

NBC-097 Jack-O-Lantern 2013

NBC-098 Santa Claus & Reindeer 2013

NBC-099 Santa Claus & X’mas Tree 2013

NBC-100 Snowman & X’mas Tree 2013

NBC-101 White Horse

NBC-102 Fukusuke

NBC-103 Hina Doll

NBC-104 Bengal Tiger

NBC-105 Zebra

NBC-107 Koinobori

NBC-108 Whale Shark (Osaka Aquarium)

NBC-109 King Penguin (Osaka Aquarium)

NBC-110 Sea Otter (Osaka Aquarium)

NBC-111 Tyrannosaurus

NBC-112 Triceratops

NBC-113 Stegosaurus

NBC-114 Brachiosaurus (skeleton model)

NBC-116 Bluefin Tuna (Japan Aquarium = JA)

NBC-117 Bottlenose Dolphin (JA)

NBC-118 Clownfish & Palette Surgeonfish (JA)

NBC-119 Small-clawed Otter (JA)

NBC-120 Schnauzer

NBC-121 Chihuahua

NBC-122 Sloth

NBC-123 Drum set – Red

NBC-124 Jack-O-lantern 2014

NBC-125 Java Sparrow

NBC-126 Santa Claus on bike 2014

NBC-127 Santa Claus chimney 2014

NBC-128 Sheep 2015

NBC-129 Shishimai (Lion Dance)

NBC-130 Hina Doll 2015

NBC-131 Koi no bori 2015

NBC-132 Capybara

NBC-133 Spotted Seal

NBC-134 Common Octopus

NBC-135 Rockhopper Penguin

NBC-136 Orca

NBC-137 Hammerhead Shark

NBC-138 Bald Eagle

NBC-139 Camel

NBC-140 Cockatoo

NBC-141 Cow

NBC-142 Peacock

NBC-143 Chameleon

NBC-144 Grey Wolf

NBC-145 Hedgehog

NBC-146 Grand Piano

NBC-147 Electric Guitar Ivory

NBC-148 E Organ

NBC-149 Contrabass

NBC-150 Frankenstein’s Monster

NBC-151 Giant Isopod

NBC-152 Whale Shark clear

NBC-153 Surfing Santa Claus

NBC-154 Snowman 2015

NBC-155 X’Mas Tree 2015

NBC-156 Santa Claus in the Bathroom

NBC-157 Santa Clause Fishing

NBC-158 Giraffe

NBC-159 Giant Panda

NBC-160 Alpaca

NBC-161 Tree Frog

NBC-162 Mother & Baby Monkey

NBC-163 Ebisu

NBC-164 White Tiger

NBC-165 Geoffrey ToysRUs

NBC-166 Ring-tailed Lemur

NBC-167 Budgerigar Green Opaline

NBC-168 Golden Retriever

NBC-169 Old English Sheepdog

NBC-170 Lion

NBC-171 Electric Guitar Red

NBC-172 Drum Set Blue

NBC-173 Dragon

NBC-174 Unicorn

NBC-175 Phoenix

NBC-176 Pegasus

NBC-177 ? (please let me know if you know this one)

NBC-178 Squirrel

NBC-179 Rabbit

NBC-180 Pelican

NBC-181 Bengal Tiger

NBC-182 Dinonix

NBC-183 Pteranodon

NBC-184 Allosaurus

NBC-185 T-Rex Skeleton

NBC-186 Mammoth

NBC-187 Irish Elk

NBC-188 Dodo

NBC-189 Anomalocaris

NBC-190 Great White Shark

NBC-191 Pacific White-Sided Dolphin

NBC-192 Nautilus

NBC-193 Coelicanth

NBC-194 Red Panda

NBC-195 Chimpanzee

NBC-196 Kangaroo

NBC-197 French Bulldog pied

NBC-198 Astronaut

NBC-199 Orbiting Solar Observatory

NBC-200 Santa Claus

NBC-201 Christmas Bear

NBC-202 Sanada Yukimura

NBC-203 Meerkat

NBC-204 Flamingo

NBC-205 Electric Bass White

NBC-206 Ukelele

NBC-207 Rooster

NBC-208 Daruma Red

NBC-209 Daruma White

NBC-210 Kokeshi Doll

NBC-211 Japanese Pancake Devilfish

NBC-212 Spotted Jelly

NBC-213 California Sea Lion

NBC-214 Beluga

NBC-215 Ragdoll

NBC-216 Hamster

NBC-217 Hamburger

NBC-218 Hot Dog

NBC-219 Birthday Cake

NBC-220 Sushi

NBC-221 Pony

NBC-222 Grizzly Bear

NBC-223 Wakin Goldfish Red

NBC-224 Wakin Goldfish Black

NBC-225 Popeyed Goldfish Red

[thepatricktreestump]

Pretty Odd. (ask challenge)

PRETTY ODD. ASK CHALLENGE Tagged by @emoxxtrash my beloved fren

WE’RE SO STARVING: LAST THING YOU ATE? I went to Starbucks and had a Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiato and a sugar cookie NINE IN THE AFTERNOON: WHEN DO YOU USUALLY SLEEP/WAKE UP? Well I have insomnia so I go to bed anywhere from midnight to four a.m. it just depends. This week I’ve been going to bed around two in the morning. And I wake up at six a.m. to seven a.m. but on weekends I usually pull all nighters lol. SHE’S A HANDSOME WOMAN: WHAT FAMOUS PERSON DO YOU FIND THE MOST AESTHETICALLY PLEASING? A lot of people come to mind but mainly: Johnny Depp, Carrie Underwood, Tim Burton, Lady Gaga DO YOU SEE WHAT I’M SEEING?: DESCRIBE THE WEATHER WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW Well we just had a fucking tornado a couple days ago where I’m at lol so uh lots of rain and gray skies. THAT GREEN GENTLEMAN (THINGS HAVE CHANGED): HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT FROM HOW YOU WERE TWO YEARS AGO? Um two years ago I was in a super dark place in my life, I had extremely bad depression, self-harm issues, an eating disorder, it was just very bad. I’ve gotten a lot better since then. I’ve also gained a lot more confidence and have better friends. I HAVE FRIENDS IN HOLY SPACES: HAVE YOU MET ANY FAMOUS PEOPLE? WHO? I don’t know if any of you watch Dancing With The Stars, but I came super fucking close to touching Val Chmerkovskiy and I was freaking the fuck out I was like five feet away from him. I know I’ve like DMed conversations with Riley Bria (American Idol) and Anthony Amorim (Youtuber) so yeah idk if that counts. NORTHERN DOWNPOUR: WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I was watching Moana yesterday and yeah, Disney movies got me with all the feels and emotions. WHEN THE DAY MET THE NIGHT: DO YOU PREFER SUNSET OR SUNRISE? I love the sunset! Where I live there’s lot of trees and forests and lakes and the sun filters through the branches and reflects on the water and it looks so pretty and the skies turn yellow to orange to pink to purple and it’s so gorgeous I take so many pictures. PAS DE CHEVAL: IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY ANIMAL FOR A PET, WHAT WOULD YOU PICK? I want that little chameleon from Tangled, that little dude Pascal, like he’d be pretty swaggy to just carry around in my pocket or someshit like that. I’d love that. THE PIANO KNOWS SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW: DO YOU PLAY ANY INSTRUMENTS? I play acoustic and electric guitar and I dabble in the bass. BEHIND THE SEA: WHAT WAS YOUR LAST DREAM? So um, I have this thing, it actually exists and a lot of insomniacs actually have it. It’s called Nightmare Disorder and so I have really bad dreams at night. Last dream was being trapped inside this auditorium and being held hostage by a terrorist organization and having some of my friends tortured in front of me in order to get information. Um, you can ask @ani001011 my dreams are like weird apocalypse, horror, thriller, adventure movies or something like that and they often scare the shit outta me. It’s not really the monsters or “bad guys” that scare me, but it’s the thought of losing or hurting the people I love that terrify me the most. FOLKIN’ AROUND: DO YOU HAVE A REGIONAL ACCENT? IF SO, WHAT KIND? Nope I’m just an American SHE HAD THE WORLD: IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, IN ANY TIME PERIOD, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? Idk I really like the European Renaissance or Medieval Era, but I also adore the American 60’s and that kind of stuff, but honestly I’d just want to go a couple years back and be able to attend the Twenty One Pilots, Panic! at the Disco, and Fall Out Boy concert from the Save Rock and Roll era FROM A MOUNTAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CABINS: EVER BEEN CAMPING? DID YOU LIKE IT? Yeah we go camping every year and it’s always great, there’s a hella ton of people and we stay up all night all week long and just cause trouble and run around and just, it’s amazing. Especially when my best friend comes. MAD AS RABBITS: WHAT DOES “REINVENT LOVE” MEAN TO YOU? Actually lol my soulmate/bestfriend and I are going to get matching tattoos of “reinvent love.” I think the phrase is beautiful and personally I think of it as saying that each one of us see the world try to sell us this concept of perfect love and a lot of times, it’s not what we perceive it as. It’s not perfect body, love at first sight, cliché coffee dates and valentine day presents, no fairy tale prince charming or princess, not a romantic chick flick high school sweetheart, nothing like that. Our own love is personal and defined only by ourselves and that other person. It’s unique, it’s different, it’s not standard. We break our own hearts searching for what we’ve been told all our lives and driving ourselves crazy trying to find what we’ve been told the definition of love is, but we need to first understand to push those concepts aside and recreate our own version, in order to truly find the person that our heart belongs to. We must “reinvent love” in order to find our own. If that makes any sense.

*okay this was fun! Rollercoaster ride :) I’m going to tag @chubbybrendon because she’s a fucking Panic! queen and she basically owns pretty odd soooooo

[fishihavecaught]

2017 Year in Review

Continuing my year in review series from 2014, 2015, and 2016 I have kept track of every fish caught by day and location. I have compiled and crunched the numbers are here are the results.

372 total fish 83 different species 57 new species 52 saltwater species 31 freshwater species Month with most fish - February (119) Month with least fish - January & June (0) Fished 34 different locations Caught fish on 38 different days Total days fishing - somewhere around 40 Fished off personal boat – 0 Fished off pier – 3 Fished off party boats – 1 Fished off private charter – 2 Countries fished - 3 (Mexico, Costa Rica, United States) States fished - 3 (Florida, Georgia, California)

My numbers are down again this year, but it was an epic year of adventure and I finally crossed 200 species with a record 57 new species. Highlights of the year, not necessarily in any order.

1. All the different people I got to fish with this year. I got to fish with Ben in Mexico and in California, Pierce twice in Orlando, Bryan from Washington state while he was here for the AFS, Dirk - species hunter from the Netherlands, and even got to fish with Pat again as the year was closing out. Of course my primary fishing partner was Meghan but we are going to have to work on her numbers haha.

Ben and I on the shores of Lake Chapala, Mexico.

2. Our expedition to Mexico with Dr. Lyons across multiple Mexican states was epic and involved many highlights within the trip itself. Highlights of the trip include:

Breaking down and riding in the van on top of the tow truck. 

Fishing at over 10,000 ft elevation.

All of our roadside food and drink stops. 

Guachimontones prehistoric site.

Fishing in our restaurant 

2 days of fishing in Acapulco.

The Acapulco Crew.

3. Costa Rica fishing. It wasn’t a fishing trip and I didn't get my rooster, but I did get a chance to get some new species, including the strangest fish I have ever caught - the Foureye Rockskipper.

4. Clown hunting in Delray Beach. I finally got my Clown Knifefish - this fish has been on my dream list for a long time. Meghan, of course, caught one right after I did.

5. California Fishing. Cool little trip I took out to San Diego with Ben as my guide. It was very interesting to learn how the other coast fishes and to rack up some new species. We had quite the fish taco feast after a great day of rock-fishing. I also caught my first ray!

San Diego at night

It was a good year and I actually broke my goal of 225 species with a total of 240 for the year. Setting my goal for next year at 275 - with an eye towards 300.

Species Count

Pigfish 5 Gulf Toadfish 1 Southern Puffer 1 Pinfish 17 Lane Snapper 5 Convict Cichlid 1 Two-spot Livebearer 16 Jeweled Splitfin 2 Blackfin Goodea 2 Picotee Splitfin 4 Barred Splitfin 1 Butterfly Splitfin 12 Blue Tilapia 17 Cuitzeo Splitfin 2 Yellow Shiner 1 Acapulco Damselfish 4 Beaubrummel 4 Chameleon Wrasse 2 Finescale Triggerfish 7 Calico Lizardfish 1 Spotted Cabrilla 1 Pacific Red Snapper 18 Panama Graysby 2 Banded Wrasse 1 Cortez Rainbow Wrasse 2 Longnose Puffer 1 Panamic Sergeant Major 1 Mexican Night Sergeant 1 Tinsel Squirrelfish 1 Pacific Jack Crevalle 6 Black Skipjack 1 Spotted Sunfish 8 Coastal Shiner 3 Eastern Mosquitofish 17 Sheepshead Minnow 1 Largemouth Bass 13 Butterfly Peacock Bass 4 Clown Featherback 1 Atlantic Needlefish 1 Brown Bullhead 1 Golden Topminnow 16 Dimerus Cichlid 6 Warmouth 2 Yellow Bullhead 2 Redear Sunfish 1 Seminole Killifish 3 Bluegill 24 Redbreast Sunfish 21 Southern Studfish 3 Spotted Tilapia 2 Mayan Cichlid 1 Jewel Cichlid 2 Jaguar Cichlid 6 White Grunt 8 Spottail Pinfish 1 Panamic Frillfin 1 Foureye Rockskipper 3 Green Jack 4 Rivulated Mutton Hamlet 1 Golden Snapper 3 Spotted Rose Snapper 3 Spottail Grunt 1 Mahi-Mahi 1 Bigeye Trevally 2 Chili Sea Catfish 5 Tomtate 12 Hardhead Catfish 1 Walking Catfish 1 California Scorpionfish 1 Pacific Chub Mackere l8 Opaleye 15 Yellowfin Croaker 1 Spotted Sand Bass 2 Diamond Turbot 1 Barred Sand Bass 1 Rockpool Blenny 2 Calico Rockfish 2 Vermilion Rockfish 5 Squarespot Rockfish 3 Halfbanded Rockfish 3 Flag Rockfish 1 Largemouth Blenny 1 Haller's Round Ray 1

[mattsunflower]

Tagged by: @queeniwaizumi and @yeahaba omg thank you <33

Rules: Tag 9 people you would like to get to know better.

Relationship status: I’ve been with my goof of a boyfriend for 3 years now!

Favorite color(s): I love the colour green. Especially the darker shades!!! But I also really love yellow and orange 

Pets: I have a floofy cat named patches and I love her with all my heart 

Last song listened to: Teenaged Rebel - Chameleon Circuit (i was feeling nostalgic for doctor who)

Favorite TV show: I don’t really have a favourite current tv show right now (not since anime consumed my soul) but I really liked Grey’s Anatomy, The 100, Dexter, Doctor Who,,,,,

First fandom: Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter.

Hobbies: I play Ultimate Frisbee!! I also play bass and am learning sign language (if that counts as a hobby?)

Book(s) : The last book I read was The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson. It was HILARIOUS and really easy to relate to. I highly recommend it!

I’m tagging these nerd~ @matsinko, @goddamnyuzuru, @novocaine-sea, @spaceboiiii, @babechouu, @burningocean

[noiseartists]

PREMIERE: Shoegazers REV REV REV's new Album 'KYKEON'

Italogazers Rev Rev Rev are one of our favorite band. We collaborated with them in October 2018 to present the band and their music. You can read this very detailed piece at the following Link. They are now coming back with a second Album and they honored Noise Artists with the premiere. Thanks guys.

Following a recent trip to the US for a run of shows at SXSW and the announcement that they’d signed to London-based label Fuzz Club, Italy’s shoegazing noise-rockers Rev Rev Rev are now gearing up to release their highly-anticipated third album, Kykeon – the follow-up to 2016’s Des Fleurs Magiques Bourdonnaient.

Due for release September 20th, the band say of the new record: “Kykeon is about exploring the obscure. It’s a ritual descent into the underworld, but also a flight through the cold spaces amid the stars. There’s stripped-back song structures, trance-like drumming, fuzzy reverberated guitars, abrasive atonal sounds and tonnes of feedback.” In support of the album, this October Rev Rev Rev will set off on a run of dates around the UK and Europe. The tour-dates can be found below.

Kicking off the album with a relentless torrent of noise is ‘Waiting For Gödel’ and ‘Clutching The Blade’: two cuts of blistering psychedelic noise-rock that take no prisoners. The band say of the latter: “Clutching The Blade’ is a good snapshot of our sonic virulence. Among the new songs, it’s the one that truly conveys the energy of our live show. The song itself is about being trapped in the quicksand of a certain situation and the appalling feeling that the more you struggle, the faster you sink.” This sense of danger and losing control runs throughout the album, manifested perfectly in the claustrophobic noise-rock of ‘Sealand’ and ‘Egocandy’: primal and piercing, both tracks are dominated by screeching feedback and

slabs of unforgiving fuzzed-out guitars that are more than capable of blowing both amplifiers and eardrums.

Kykeon isn’t always quite such an intense affair though. Tracks like ‘Summer Clouds’ and ‘Adrift In The Chaosmos’ deal in a sublime Loveless-esque shoegaze sound; Laura Iacuzio’s shadowy, ethereal vocals emerging through all-consuming walls-of-noise. Then there’s the murky, ritualistic drone-rock found on ‘Gate Of The Dark Female’ and ‘One Illusion Is Very Much Like Another’ which keep hold of the band’s trademark fuzz onslaughts but gear them more towards explorations into repetition and texture. ‘One Illusion…’, especially, is bolstered by modular synths, DIY guitar pedals built by guitarist Sebastian Lugli and the use of a tanpura, a stringed drone instrument originating from India: “We like the listener to be conveyed to a hypnotic flow so we work by subtraction, minimising centrifugal elements such as harmony and rhythmic variations, instead playing with the sonic texture.”

Since the release of their self-titled debut album back in 2013, Rev Rev Rev – based in Modena, Italy – have repeatedly been hailed as one of the finest proponents of the modern shoegaze revival. They’ve clocked up airtime and praise from 6 Music, Drowned In Sound, Clash Magazine and Bandcamp Daily and wound up taking their notorious live shows across the UK, Europe and, now, the US; sharing the stage with the likes of The Jesus and Mary Chain, the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Ringo Deathstarr along the way. Their finest work yet, Kykeon proves that Rev Rev Rev are without a doubt one of the finest bands today to be carrying the torch for shoegazers far and wide, old and new. Rev Rev Rev is comprised of Laura Iacuzio (guitar/vocals), Sebastian Lugli (guitar), Andrea Dall’Omo (bass) and Greta Benatti (drums).

UPCOMING SHOWS

Oct 17th - Bremgarten (CH) @ KuZeb

Oct 18th - Paris (FR) @ Supersonic

Oct 21st - Southend-on-Sea @ Railway Hotel

Oct 22nd - Bristol (UK) @ The Lanes

Oct 23rd - Hull (UK) @ New Adelphi

Oct 24th - Northampton (UK) @ Garibaldi Hotel

Oct 25th - Nottingham (UK) @ The Chameleon

Oct 26th - London (UK) @ The Waiting Room

Nov 23rd - Madrid (ES) @ Moby Dick Club

REV REV REV LINKS

Facebook

Website

Twitter

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 238: Jura Soundsystem

Last year, Isle of Jura’s Kevin Griffiths spun off a new imprint called Temples of Jura in order to focus on contemporary and original artist material. The label’s first release was Dear Adrian / Udaberri Blues, an incredible 12” that featured Len Leise paying tribute to Adrian Sherwood with a glacial riddim excursion and Griffiths unveiling his Jura Soundsystem production moniker with a tripped out spacedub adventure spread across three different versions. In the time since, Temples of Jura also released In the Senses by Filmico, an album from balearic bass funk wizard Fernando Pulichino that swapped out his usual tropical groove euphorics for faded cinematic vistas, hazy VHS dreamscapes, and synth-prog fantasias generated by bleary pad layers, downtempo beat hypnotics, and occasional kisses of Badalamenti-style noir jazz. And now for the label’s third release, we return once more to the sonic environments of Jura Soundsystem with Monster Skies, which sees Griffith’s building on the cosmic hypnotics and seaside psychedelics of “Udaberri Blues” while also spreading out in every direction, resulting in a diverse and adventurous journey encompassing heatwave boogie motions, old skool house jams, hand drum ceremonials, Yoruba creation myths, breakbeat exotics, fuzz guitar aquatics, Afro-folk dreamspells, amorphous cosmic collages, dub hallucinogenics, and layers of immersive jungle ambiance.

Jura Soundsystem - Monster Skies (Temples of Jura, 2019) “Carafe Denim” starts with a tubular bassline jacking beneath hand percussion layers, cushiony kicks, and finger cymbal sparkles. A voice speaks a Yoruba creation myth, detailing how Oduduwa was sent by his father, the Great God of the Sky Olorun, to a primordial Earth covered in water…all while barely there synth vapors waver, shimmer, and intertwine with muted tribal chants. As Oduduwa spreads sand upon the surface and uses a chameleon to test its firmness, the background pad layers erupt into full view…like whispers growing into aquatic wave fronts while cosmic oscillations swirl all around. At some point the bassline cuts out while squawking electronics evoke Oduduwa’s hen, who in the overlying narrative flings about dark earth to create the Great Continent of Africa. And as the word “Africa” is narcotically looped, Griffith’s smoothly drops the bassline back in, resulting in a hands-in-the-air zone out accented by roaring lions, quivering pad atmospherics, echo-morphing claps, and squiggling space liquids that at times sound like underwater turntable scratches. At the other end of the side sits “Monster Skies,” which also basks in African sunshine while colorful birds flutter and sing all throughout the mix. Sweltering blasts of mirage synthesis drift in on warbling delay currents while a beautiful and shambolic kalimba melody weaves a sunrise lullaby. A human voice hums peaceful dream incantations, though everything is delay shrouded…as if beamed in from another dimension. And as the folk singing and kalimba cut away, we are left in a glorious expanse of rainforest ambiance and kosmische radiance. 

The irresistible balearica of “Mamma Capes” sees skittering breakbeats surrounded by a jungle of light, with bird chatter and interstellar oscillation trails intertwining while neon fluids snake through vines and palm frond layers. Clipped conga rhythms flow into the mix as Mike Burn’s blissed out fuzz chords melt down from the sky, with infinite delay feedback carrying the tones towards an eternal ocean horizon. A joyous bubble chime cascade descends then miraculously splits into two divergent strands of pearlescent echo magic that repeatedly shoot up each side of the stereo field and things really take off into a world of slow burn dub psychedelia once Duncan Grey enters with a heady three note bass guitar riff…his methodical cosmos-grooves sitting alongside breaky kicks and snares, choppy hi-hat patterns, finger-rolling hand percussion, and off-beat tambourines. Single note guitar pulsations evoke rainbow puffs of gas before giving way to anthemic fuzz wails, which then miraculously transform into backwards flowing currents of aquamarine haze. It feels like time is moving in reverse as the spirit is enveloped by shimmering clouds of sea-spray spiritualism and in that way, I’m strongly reminded of the work of Steven Wray Lobdell and his Davis Redford Triad. There’s a passage where the rhythms back down into tapping cymbals, panning tambourines, and outerspace debris layers that rocket through dub-echo chains and as we move towards the end, the vibed out rhythms add in muted cowbell taps while gliding within bird of paradise dreamwebs.

The centerpiece of the B-side is “Parrot Rhythmic Space Jam,” which is about as well named as any track could possibly be. Kick drums flow through breaky patterns and skittering shakers, hissing machine hats, and bopping hand drums lock into otherworldly polyrhythms while floating on housey sub-bass hypnotics. Interstellar rainbow sequences ride in on bubble clouds…these hovering arpeggiations that filter-morph and echo-modulate through neon liquid landscapes. Griffiths again employs a psychoactive stereo effect that sees simple melodic patterns splitting into several divergent strands that bounce all around the mix and he constantly manipulates attack and decay, so that the sequences and arpeggios continuously transition between long-form blurs and staccato light trails. Elsewhere, delay-soaked dreamtime melodies are woven from Afro-folk synthetics…like some sort of shimmering paean to the sun that sharply drops into low slung synth bass and skipping breakbeat heat. Sometimes, silvery chime strands blow in a warm tropical breeze as the track transitions into an extended ambient nod out, the basslines having dropped away as the drums smack and crack through sea-spray layers and sci-fi soundworlds wherein alien pulsations and spacey LSD sequences dazzle the mind with synthesized tracers and ever-evolving webs of threaded color.

Preceding “Parrot Rhythmic Space Jam” is “Boogie Tune,” which states its intentions outright as kick and dub-echo clap patterns bring boogie break dancelfoor heat. Double time cymbals are intercut by open hi-hat sizzles and electro-toms converse across the spectrum while fat-bottomed bass synths slide through body moving progressions and electro-funk motions. As smoldering dial-tone synths trace funk spirals in the air, I’m reminded of the freaked out boogie futurisms of Mystic Jungle…just pure confidence and euphoric minimalism uniting together for stretches of cosmic club heat. At some points, the sexual squelch melodies give way to Roland cowbell dances and crystalline cymbal taps and there’s a rhythmic drop in the middle where big chewy bass waves flutter and float above double-time hat shuffles and hand drum percolations. After cutting back to the electrofunk jam out, psychedelic sequences snap through the sky with reverb and echo trails carrying through each ear…the whole thing coming together for a magical stretch of star-surface breakdance ecstasy. Closing out the set is “The Lantern Story,” which features looping freak folk abstractions constructed from swelling cymbal hazes, drunken arps, clacking metals, and disjointed acoustic guitar riffs. Vaporous synthesizers weave fragile prog majesties through a desolate sky while snippets of muted trumpet swell over shaker rhythms. Extra-terrestrial cave liquids drip sideways, wood flutes moan, and screeching drone clouds pan rapidly as the track floats in a hallucinatory dream state and eventually, everything is washed away by radiophonic feedback flutters.

(images from my personal copy)

[wildwaxshows]

FEVER B (USA) will support MASKED INTRUDER (USA) & THE HAWAIIANS (D) on 20/07 at Molotow, Hamburg - presented by WILDWAX SHOWS!!!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1076872735831765/

Präsentiert von Ox, Livegigs.de, SLAM Magazine und Wild Wax Shows Straight outa Rikers. Straight outa Cook County, straight outa that prison in Louisiana that everyone says is horrible, but I can’t be bothered to Google, it’s MASKED INTRUDER, four melodious felons in ski masks with rap sheets, matching converse and some of the catchiest tunes this side of Johnny Cash, Live in Folsom Prison, and they’re coming at you with their second full length, the semi eponymously titled M.I., scheduled to break out on Fat Wreck Chords on May 27, 2014.! Some say they hail from Wisconsin, some say their accents on stage betray a New Jersey heritage and some people think they’re just Chixdiggit in disguise, but one thing’s for sure, Blue and the gang have been crafting some of the sweetest pop-punk gems about breaking and entering, stalking, and muggings that you’ve ever heard. Not many grown men in ski masks can claim to be the very favorite band of Fat Mike’s daughter, for example (not many men in ski masks should be around children at all) but that’s what makes Masked Intruder so special. They’re more than a gimmick. They’ve got chops. They’re weird, kinda arty, fairly goofy, vaguely dumb, relentlessly smart and they appeal to pretty much everyone, from their fellow hardened criminals to little girls and everyone in between.! Now, they’re back on the lam in support of M.I., featuring thirteen tracks of broken hearts, broken promises and breaking and entering. Recorded by Matt Alison at Atlas Studios in Chicago (Alkaline Trio, Lawrence Arms, Menzingers), M.I. boasts the Intruders at their toe tapping, jewelry stealing best. I mean, if there’s a better title for a love song than Don’t Run Away, I sure as hell haven’t heard it.! In support of M.I., and in order to stay a step ahead of their parole officers, the Intruder duders are hitting the road nonstop, traversing the globe, from Europe to Australia to the US of A, with bands like the Dwarves, Face To Face and more, bringing their heart-stealing songs to the people, all while merch dude, stage security and exquisitely mustached lawman Officer Bradford makes sure that hearts are the only things Masked Intruder steals. Officer Bradford may not wear a smile during a Masked Intruder show, but everyone else in the house sure is, and you can bet your ass that whether live or on record, the boys in Masked Intruder are sure to have you singing along and looking for your wallet. Oh, that prison in Louisiana is called Angola. Score one for memory. Take that, Google. The Hawaiians are back!!! Nach einem musikalischen Beitrag zur amerikanischen TV-Serie Hawaii Five-0 im Jahr 2017 sind die Westerkappelner Surf-Punks endlich mit der neuen Single "Four-Headed Shark Attack" (Kamikaze Records) am Start. Drei Akkorde, die primitiven Gitarren der Ramones und ganz viel 50's Rock n' Roll sind nach wie vor die Rezeptur des hawaiianischen Party Cocktails, der am 20. Juli auch im Vorprogramm von MASKED INTRUDER konsumiert werden darf. FEVER B (USA)    Brian Hermosillo a.k.a. Fever B has been a part of the underground San Francisco music scene since the 90s. The world famous Purple Onion and Chameleon bar were his home away from home for awhile as a member first of the Retardos and then the Fevers. Since the Retardos were Superteem label mates with The Donnas who labeled themselves “Donna A.”, “Donna R.” etc... on their records he decided when the Fevers got their record deal with Tina Lucchesi’s Lipstick Records,as a tribute to old label mates,to label his band on the 45 sleeve in the same way and so he became “Fever B”. Brian moved to Minneapolis a few years later to escape the dot com invasion and save the Fevers who’s drummer had quit to move to Los Angeles by working with a drummer friend who lived in Minnesota. The Fevers recorded two Lps for the German label Alien Snatch there in MLPS with the new drummer and toured Europe. Brian came back to Europe with his Minnesota band Skipper(Chocolate Covered Records) playing mostly in Italy a few years after that version of the Fevers had also ended. Brian moved back to California and the Fevers soon returned to Europe with the original lineup(Fever G,Fever K,and Fever B)a few years after Skipper. He also flew to The Netherlands for an extended weekend to record a 45 as The Sweet Faces in Utrecht with local indie pop legend Michel Van Der Woude on drums sandwiched between those two Fevers tours somewhere. One weekend in Saint Paul,Mn. in between all this excitement, Brian got snowed in. A wall of snow blocked the doors and windows and trapped him in his apartment! Of course he could dig his way out or call somebody -but he didn’t. He had beer,cold pizza, drums and guitars, and an 8-track reel to reel set up in the living room so he decided to stay inside and make a one man band style recording. He recorded five songs. A Burger records tour featuring their own band Thee Makeout Party came through town soon after. They are long time friends of Brian’s and came to visit his apartment and see his home studio. He gave them a cassette of his recordings just for fun and never thinking it would be released. They listened on their way back to California and decided it should be released on vinyl. It was an honor since Burger had mostly done cassette only releases at the time . Some folks in Milwaukee who were fans of the Fevers began calling Brian “Fever B!” at some point -which was by now an obscure reference- when he came to their town and whenever they came to Minneapolis and the name stuck with him. So he decided to call his solo release on Burger Records “Fever B”. The record was more successful than Brian imagined it could be. 90s mainstream power pop star Matthew Sweet even recently covered the song This Sea Is My Life from the EP! Crazy. The original version of the Fevers still plays every now and then. Brian plays most regularly with Fever B and the Sea. A band he put together to play songs from the Burger 12” and other songs he has written over the years including lots of new ones he’s hoping to record with his band the Sea. They play around the Bay Area including a recent show at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley. The Sea is Lyndsey Hawkinson(Hondettes/Sweet Haughts ) on drums ,and a life long friend Tim Tsuda(sometimes member of Colossal Yes) on bass.    -John Denery of the Hi-Fives saw Fever B and The Sea at a club in San Francisco recently and said they sounded like the great garage pop side of K Records with a guitar hero twist!

[doomedandstoned]

Elder Druid, Barbarian Hermit, Satlan, and Slowbro Play Coventry

~By Reek of STOOM~

Photos by Luke Orchard

Friday, November 29th, at The Phoenix in Coventry, England

On the coldest night of the year so far, we ventured into the frost and made our way to the well-renowned Phoenix venue in the heart of Coventry to witness a four-band spectacle organised by Heathen Mirth Promotions out of London, UK. The venue itself is impressive and inviting: traditional pub downstairs with the live area above and an expansive beer garden.

SLOWBRO

Split (With Those Amongst Us Are Wolves) by Slowbro

First up on the bill were SLOWBRO, a three-piece local band who I hadn't encountered before and who surprised us with their dexterity and musicianship: A Stoner/Doom/Progressive crossover with heaps of energy and enthusiasm that won over the small but rapidly-filling room. After their set, I caught up with the members, James, Sam and Zeke for a quick chat.

Hi guys, you're new to the Doomed & Stoned radar, please tell us a little about yourselves.

Sam (guitars): "Well, James & I knew each other from the area and we both had guitars gathering dust in our rooms, so we decided to do something with them. We met up in a practice room once every two months or so, found a slot on a gig, came up with a name and just took it from there."

James (guitars) pipes in: "People started asking us to come back. We kept telling them no, but..." and laughs.

So why have you kept such a low profile on social media?

Zeke (drums) replied: "These guys just like to go abroad for three years or so" and laughs. "We're not trying to be the next big thing, just going about it and seeing what happens".

You had a split release out last year. Are there any other releases?

Sam: "Yes we had a full album out in 2018 called 'Nothings,' recorded locally and released on a small local label Creature Lab Records."

Are you signed to a label now?

James: "We're not tied to anyone long-term yet, we're just hoping to make our next album and see if it gets any interest."

Looking ahead to 2020, what plans do you have?

Zeke: "To play outside Coventry."

James: "We want to get our next album recorded - just get back into the studio and put down all the new stuff we've been working on."

You really impressed me with your style, Who are your influences?

Sam: "Sleep, Kyuss, Electric Wizard, first 2 Black Sabbath albums.." James interjects; "Christina Aguilera" and the three of them collapse, laughing. "Old School riffing, classic stuff, you know?"

What's your long-term ambition?

James: "Just to give people something good to listen to and get them to come out and see us."

Final question: What was the last piece of equipment you had to kick to get working again?

Sam creases: "The amp we borrow from Steven Bennett for every gig. We DO take care of it, honest!"

James: "We want to thank you and Doomed and Stoned for all your support. It means a lot."

No problem guys, thanks for talking to me and good luck for next year.

SATLAN

Next up on the bill were SATLAN, a four-piece outfit based in London and fronted by erstwhile Dead Witches vocalist Soozi Chameleone. The band are seriously tight and their drummer is a superstar. Soozi herself was having an off night, but still delivered a powerful performance despite not feeling at her best. Musically, a combination of Dead Witches and Alunah in style, but Satlan have a distinct Sabbath-esque motif generated by guitarist Roy Nadel. I caught up with Roy and bassist Alex after the set.

Firstly, the name Satlan, where did that come from?

Roy: "It's actually Hebrew slang for 'Stoner', someone who is too lazy - it fits our style."

Are you originally an Israeli band?

Alex: "No, we're from all over the place. Roy is Israeli, I'm Russian and Jake (drums) is Malaysian. We all got together in London and just started jamming, so we're an International mix. Roy and I have known each other since we were 16, playing in various bands together in Israel's Punk scene - Roy was actually a drummer in one of our bands! Our current drummer, Jake we found playing in thrash metal band THE BLEEDING and we knew straight away we wanted to work with him. I remember saying I wanna work with this guy!"

Do you have any recordings planned in the near future?

Roy: "We've just recorded an album. it's in the mixing stage right now and it'll be ready sometime in the next couple of months. We also have a gig with Church of the Cosmic Skull coming up in February and we're planning a UK tour, including a few dates in Scotland around April."

Final question: what was the last thing you kicked to get working?

Alex: "My cat." They both laugh.

Roy: "No animals were harmed really - we both have cats and we love them."

BARBARIAN HERMIT

Solitude And Savagery by Barbarian Hermit

BARBARIAN HERMIT are no strangers to us, having been included on our recent England compilation. Manchester's finest took to the stage around 10pm and proceeded to blast the eardrums out of the room with their signature Stoner/Sludge crossover. Compelling frontman Ed Campbell is a madman on stage and the most heroic poser since Bruce Dickinson! The dual guitar assaults from Mike 'Big Daddy Reeg' Reagan and Rob 'Spadge Fafner' Sutcliffe are ferocious and tighter than drainpipe jeans. After a blinding set, I caught up with the lads in the pub's pool room.

Thanks for attending the interview, tell me - how did you hear about the job?

Ed: "Well we had an email from a guy saying he was gonna pay us from a Somali bank account if we played. He said he wasn't a pirate. Seriously though, Heathen Mirth Promotions got us onto this and we've really enjoyed sharing a stage with everybody."

Since the Doomed and Stoned in England appearance, what's been happening?

Mike: "We opened for Bloodstock during the summer, that was a great laugh and we had a mini-tour in Edinburgh, Carlisle and the north with Widows and Drudge in October, then joined up with this lot for the dates we're doing now."

You guys have a new release coming out soon and a new tour next year. In hindsight, is there anything you'd have changed about the process?

Rob: "Phew, fair question that. Working on the details, in a studio when you've got a deadline in the studio and label commitments like "How's it sounding?" and y'know, general pressure to get it finished; it's all in those final little details."

Ed: "At the same time we did some of our greatest work under pressure. My personal favourite on the album is the one we put together right at the last minute, well, not the LAST minute but near."

It's normally always the way. When the pressure's on, some bands do their best stuff.

Mike: "We find that even though been playing these songs for about a year, you pick up little things and think, “Wish I'd done it like that instead,” but it's been great to get people in like Ten Foot Wizard and Boss Keloid to help us out."

ELDER DRUID

Golgotha by Elder Druid

At just after 11pm the monstrous apparition called ELDER DRUID took to the stage and detonated. Massive waves of Doom flood out from the barely-intact cabs as frontman Greg conjures spooky sounds from the Theremin, ghosting over a sea of intense riffing. Mass worship ensued as the congregation got down and dirty at the Druid's altar, the dual guitar assault of Jake and Mikey crushing everything in its wake.

Devastatingly heavy, Elder Druid came to preach The Old Religion and the flock lapped it up like manna from the heavens...pure class! I caught up with them before their set:

Good evening gentlemen. First question: what brought you to Coventry on a freezing cold night?

Greg: "Soozi from Heathen Mirth contacted us and got us onto the bill. We played a different venue last time we were in Coventry, but we heard that The Phoenix was the #1 place so we just had to be here."

Moving on to the new album. You're in the finishing stages now and it's due for release on 17th January. How have you found the recording?

Jake: "Yeah it's been great. Last time we had an engineer record and mix us but this time we've done it entirely by ourselves so it's good to have that freedom so we can get everything organised properly before we went in to record. you get to do it on your own timescale. Then it's good having the time to get all the details together, tinkering as it were."

There's a danger of "over-tinkering," though. Did you fall foul of it?

Mikey: "100% yeah, there is risk of being too critical, but I think we got it right this time. There's a few surprises on the album, Electric Piano and the Theremin to name a couple."

Is there anything you would have changed given the chance?

Greg: "The whole band" and laughs.

Dale (bass): "Better equipment would be nice. When you have the best gear etc it makes a big difference to the sound and inevitably it would be nicer to work with, but what's come out the other end we're really happy with it."

You can always ask Slomatics if you could borrow some of theirs?

Mikey: "Yeah, like can we borrow a riff off you please?" they all crack up.

What's the plan for 2020?

Brien (drums): "The launch day gig will be @ Voodoo in Belfast on the 17th Jan and the day after @ Fibber McGee's in Dublin then we're playing a festival in May over in Antrim, then we're heading over to play at Stonebaked Festival in Leeds, (Formerly BOOM fest) which we're really up for."

What was the last piece of equipment you had to kick to get working?

Mikey: "Greg."

Jake: "Funny you should say that...one of the amps blew up last night, but I managed to sell it on eBay." (laughs)

Any message for the fans?

Brien: "We don't have fans."

Greg:" Anyone out there who likes what we do, thank you!"

Thanks guys, it's been a pleasure!

Jake: "Thank you and thanks to Billy and Doomed and Stoned for looking after us."