circus of fools

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2006-10-13T10:45:00.000Z

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2006-10-13T10:40:00.000Z

bzzt

2006-10-13T10:39:00.000Z

bzzt

I wish I still had my Sabrina LP

2005-08-19T12:58:00.000Z

Why isn't Luomo's 'Smiling Off' mix leaking?
Cos Murphy is probably sitting on it with his fat ass. Somebody steal his iPod.

Afrirampo - 'I Did Are'
Ok I get it, cute Japanese chicks who rock the fuck out. But what, please tell me, is so appealing about these Japanese sisters and what do they have that Deerhoof has not? Apart from this rifftastic wreckage it just won't hit me in the face like it should.

Mt. Eerie - 'Uh Oh It's Morning Time Again'
Very charming guy, I never knew until I saw him perform. He comes across as the shy intelligent kid but once he starts joking, it's on. No Flashback dissapointed me, as well. As it does to so many other Microphones devotees probably. This tune is from his forthcoming Singers album and jesus this is 100 x better. Sounds like he's sitting around a campfire with friends and an electric guitar. Believe it or not; the tracktitle is the hook. Uh oh!

Odd Nosdam ft. Jessica Bailiff - 'Untitled Three'
Oh Jessica! See, Odd gets it right here, he backs off and lets Jessica do the magic. Throws in a modest beat, static droning on, picture perfect. It's a shame he doesn't give her this kind of space on the rest of the e.p.

But whatever, get that new Pelt album, it's huge!

Shine like an '84 jheri curl

2005-08-17T16:25:00.000Z

Boards of Canada - 'Chromakey Dreamcoat'
Biiiiig metallic synths, shuffling beats, all turning into big clouds of brooding atmosphere. Like a hot and foggy summer day. I can't really remember what seasons MHTRTC or Geogaddi evoked but Campfire Headphase has summer written all over it.

Boards of Canada - ''84 Pontiac Dream'
This sounds really Fennesz-y. Like cathedrals of static caving in slowly while creating gorgeous dust clouds. It's pretty much a chill out track, like a slowmotion beachwalk.

Goldfrapp - 'U Never Know'
I'm not impressed by 'Oh La La' at all. To me Goldfrapp has to seduce me and not lay some kind of party track right in my face. This is more like it. Alison croons her way through a sentimental little vibe. It's more like a mix between Felt Mountain and that one that came out last year or whatever...

Everybody a pimp

2005-08-16T09:53:00.000Z

Devendra Banhart & CocoRosie - 'Little Monkey/Step in the Name of Love' RENEWED pt. 2
Bianca told me she turned Devendra onto hiphop again. Dude sure looks like a gypsy pimp. He nicks a small cut of R. Kelly's 'Step in the Name of Love' and makes it something entirely of his own. Yeah, those lyrics are so universal, man.

Max Richter - 'Sarajevo'
Goosebumps. Goosebumps. Goosebumps. Goosebumps. Goosebumps. Goosebumps. Goosebumps.

Bloc Party - 'The Pioneers (M83 remix)'
Kele's dramatic voice really goes well with the haunting strings spiralling up and down. This is just trademark M83 stuff, those bombastic washes, like aural waterfalls rumbling through your ears.

edit: I've just put a new ysi of devendra steppin in the name of love on
edit 2: re-upped again

Lowtones 0.01

2005-08-12T09:40:00.000Z

My first attempt at mixing, ever. Maybe an assemblage is more appropriate. I've stuffed some avantronics up front, sliding into techtrancy stuff by way of Colder and Ciaraaaaaaahhhhh.

Gimme thumbs up if you like it, or take me down if you don't.

1. Todd Dockstader – ‘Aw’
2. Alva Noto / Ruychi Sakamoto – ‘Morning’
3. Amina – ‘Hemipode’
4. Reuber – ‘Überlandweg’
5. Colder – ‘Wrong Baby’
6. Ciara ft. Ludacris – ‘Oh’
7. Studio Pankow – ‘Zitadelle’
8. Ferenc – ‘Diplodocus’
9. Baxendale – ‘I Built This City’ (Michael Mayer remix)
10. Marc Houle – ‘East to West’
11. The Psychonauts – ‘World Keeps Turning’ (Highfish & Zander remix)
12. Superpitcher – ‘Tell Me About It’
13. Holden & Thompson – ‘Come to Me’ (last version)
14. Isolée – Pillowtalk

Download here (74:00 192 kbs)

Chirp motherfucker

2005-08-10T20:06:00.000Z

Animal Collective - 'Grass'
Ok. This destroys everything. Just when you began wondering how they were gonna evolve from Sung Tongs they blow your brains out with this over the top psychedelic little piece of ruckus. By far the most Here Comes the Indian-like track on the new album. Insanity, yo!

CocoRosie - 'Tekno Love Song'
Hey, at least they admit to being gimmicky. Yeah that's right, playboy, they use hiphopslang in weird folksongs. They paint moustaches on their lips, don't shave their armpits and remain sexy at the same time. Not even Ciara can pull that off. 'Tekno Love Song' is an ode to their past as ravers, being happy hardcore fans. Yeah, wtf. Can't really hear that in the song either. Crunchy acoustic guitar chords sounding like coming out of clockradio speakers dribble by. Intimate. Sierra nails it here with her breezy soprano, can't really compare it to anything. Billie Holliday sure ain't as freaky!

Devendra Banhart - 'Heard Somebody Say'
This is a million miles away from the answering machine tapes he recorded Oh My Oh My on. Pacing along with a candy coated piano melody and sweet haa haa haaaa's. Sounds like Devendra doing an impression of a Magnetic Fields song. Really though, his world is so colourful. Even when he keeps it simple it's gorgeous, this is not simple, imagine the beauty.

Represent from midnight to high noon

2005-08-05T00:06:00.000Z

With two amazing compilations already in this year 2005 is shaping up to be the year the free spirited end of music is proving it's longevity. By The Fruits You Shall Know The Roots (3CD) (a collaboration between Time Lag and Eclipse) and The Tone of the Universe (= The Tone of the Earth) (2CD)on Pseudo Arcana (buy that shit) represent the best of everything otherwordly.

The Skaters - 'Between Land and Cloud Galloping Through Her'
Going by their name you'd expect punkpop anthems on skipping classes, late night skating sprees through shopping malls or whatever the fuck more. Not these Italian guys though, here they weave vocal loops into a cute and compact four minutes. Should've really been longer. I'm very curious to hear how their approach evolves on a complete album.
On The Tone of the Universe (= The Tone of the Earth)

Birchville Cat Motel - 'I Am But Dust'
I'd imagine the land of The Ring to sound like this. New Zealand's Birchville Cat Motel craft drones that buzz like a swarm of entranced bees. In the distance a steady drumbeat creates a surreal backbone, like there's nothing special going on it keeps a steady pace while in the foreground drones build up to an ecstatic heaven where Loveless quietly enjoys it's influence.
On The Tone of the Universe (= The Tone of the Earth)

Six Organs of Admittance - 'If There's Time, Sing! Sing! Sing!'
You could give Ben Chasny a few broken strings and he'd still be able to hypnotize you with them. This eightteen minute long epic shimmers with acoustic hums and strums while never losing focus and inbetween he sticks an actual song or three. Beautiful stuff.
On By The Fruits You Shall Know The Roots

Deep Covers

2005-07-31T22:36:00.000Z

dead raven choir - 'first we take manhattan'
It doesn't get any grimmer than this and when i say grim i mean grimmer than Dizzee's grimmest hour, ever. Maybe Simon R.'s grime needs to be redefined, maybe this is what grime should sound like. Maybe Darkthrone should be called the main grime family instead of Roll Deep. Or maybe not, doesn't matter in the end cos when Dead Raven Choir light up their acoustic flame it all goes up in smoke anyway. This cover of Leonard Cohen's classic gets smothered in acoustic rumblings (the group insists they only used acoustic instruments on their insanely dark album, Sturmfuckinglieder) while the singer (Polish, the whole band is) groans with a deep Eastern European accent about first taking Manhattan and then Berlin. Next to him, Cohen sounds like a twee boyscout.

spacemen 3 - 'starship'
Spacemen took a lot of shit during their first years and it only started to come together for them commercially when they imploded on personal levels. The great sonic cues they got from bands like MC5 and Stooges were their driving force, majestic swells of feedback and fx building up to a thick groove that just drones on and on and on and on. On their version of MC5's 'Starship' they loose all the gospel baggage and let it rip for a full on five minutes.

my bloody valentine - 'map ref 41°n 93°w'
For Wire, 'Map Ref 41°N 93°W' was an entrance into pop territory, for Kevin Shields it was just another challenging plate of sounds to get off on. Layering the distorion thickley over the staccato postpunkmelodies it transforms in a transcendent piece of postpunk fantasy, a bonding of the miraculous late '70's postpunk with the sophisticated New Romantic aura and the thick fog of his shoegaze kingdom.

nu day

2005-07-27T12:26:00.000Z

Gonna stizzart with a new formula sometime this, or next week. Only the most OUTTHERE stuff is gonna feature here so beware of exploding brains and melting hearts when you go here

2005-05-30T11:53:00.000Z

suspended until further notice

continue here

Magik Markers - I Trust My Guitar etc. (Ecstatic Peace)

2005-05-02T18:58:00.000Z

No wave was what punk should've been. A nihlistic view on music based on a deep believe in anti art as a form of rebellion. As a hidden reverse for England's blossoming postpunk scene no wave only thrived for a short period of time, frantically making it's appearance with it's wall of terror it deceased as soon the major labels started brewing marketing plans for it's anti-heroes, Lydia Lunch and James Chance. Now, with the greedy plundering of everything postpunk it's only a a matter of time someone would delve into the sounds of the Lower East Side.

While they admit to recently starting to like no wave outfits like Teenage Jesus and Red Transistor what they, in their minds, are trying to convey is a mixture bewteen Bad Brains, Cro Mags and Black Flag. Seems only logical when your abilities are slightly lacking you end up at the no wave clubhouse. I Trust My Guitar, Etc. is their first proper album having released a string of cd-r's with selfmade packaging. This hit me fresh in the face after seeing them perform live at the Belgian K-RAA-K festival in March. Singer/shouter/provoker Elisa managed to come across destructive and charming at the same time which grabbed the attention of everyone in the public, while some might question it's authenticity it's virtually impossible to escape her energetic drive. On record she maintains this frantic rebellion, rather ranting than singing while drummer Pete Nolan pounds the drums with metronomic tribal force. The first side of the LP and the first five tracks of the album are it's songbased core. The part that connects them to the whole no wave era. The titletrack kickstarts the party with atonal guitarbursts that are more rhythmically constructed than melodically. On 'Morris House' Nolan maintains a monotone beat that steadily speeds up, Elisa's vocals occassionally come out of the thick mist laid down by walls of spacious, metallic feedback unleashed by guitarist Leah.

The album's second part consists of only one 22-minute track that sounds like a clash of broken riffs involving Bardo Pond, Shellac and Keiji Haino. Starting with grotesque industrial clatter it slowly manoeuvres itself into a locked groove orientated around more or less semi improvised and effect laden guitar riffs. Not your traditional rock record, I Trust My Guitar Etc. is refreshing, daring and bravely seeking a niche for itself and while it keeps on punctuating my soul I hardly felt this satisfied after hearing a record.

Autechre - Untilted (Warp)

2005-04-18T20:25:00.000Z

I like this albumtitle. They might have won albumtitle of the year already. Autechre and funny, man, who would've known. Those geeky kids twiddling with selfmade software, squeezing hardcore mathematics inbetween beats. They fuck up logic and rape rationality. It's pretty much unsellable music. Hey, you like to play flippergames, that's Autechre right there for you! People don't buy that. As for me, I don't want to know about essence, I don't care for electronic equipment, architecture built my house, I'm kind of stuck there. What I do care for are the abstract characteristics of emotion and feeling. Feelings you can't predict, the feeling that gives you the most fucked up depression often morph into huge revelations on a personal level resulting in the most beautiful moments in life; change is a likely result and a healthy one as well. Art, musically or otherwise, gives you moments in time to look back upon your emotional history. The way you perceive art is the way you experience life.

Untilted is the most fucked up of Escher drawings. You trick yourself into thinking you 'get' it but you know you don't. You climb those swirling stairs and climb and climb and climb. Where's the end? Where the hell is the start? On Untilted it starts with 'LCC', they give you that, a start but once it's started it's gone, it's no longer in the hands of human rationality. Until you hear a sound that captivates you, makes you think you 'get' it. And just when you start thinking about getting comfortable it's gone, an echo might be the only proof it ever existed.

Also: headphones. You need to listen to this album on headphones, when played in a room it loses much of it's density, ideas get lost in mid-air. On 'LCC' the round 'n' rolling beats intertwine with s&m like whipping effects. Starting off at high speed, slowing down in the middle to make room for an actual kind of melody that gently floats in the background like a young butterfly in spring. They've backed away from the scientific approach they've embraced so much starting with Tri Repetae++ to Draft 7.30. It's much more about fun, at times even sounding like a twee-d down (or up?) version of their harsher, earlier efforts.

This shows on 'Ipacial Section' which isn't so much of a departure from Draft 7.30 but it's vibe is much more playful. Like getting stuck in a nightmarish videogame with Lee Perry on the controls. As 'Ipacial Section' progresses more ideas get tossed in until it struggles to regain it's composure, only to use that renewed sense of vitality to come up with a different stucture that is based on a background of stuttering beats and clicks. Much more than on Confield and Draft, the spaces on Untilted serve a function. They heighten tension, stimulate fantasy. ie. the last two-something minutes of 'Pro Radii', most of 'Augmatic Disport'. They no longer want to examine the architecture of the playground but still, they are, rightfully, very hestitant about the idea of playfullness. Somehow though, it seeps through the pores of Untilted's most rewardig moments. The whole of 'Sublimit' gets it exactly right. Watching AE through a clear lens mess with a fucked up discovibe is truly exhilarating and makes for Autechre's finest moment to date.

2005-04-10T14:19:00.000Z

Magik Markers - 'I Trust My Guitar, etc'

Maybe not the freshest thing out there today but certainly one of the most exciting bands to rise from the ashes of late 70's / early 80's NYC. Magik Markers are two girls that, er, sing and play guitar and one guy drumming. Young band, too. Normally I'm no fan of girlfronted rockbands but this is another category, this is 'blaow in your face, big daddy, take my foot up your ass and watch me steal the show'. I know, cos I saw them live last month and they rocked so hard it hurt, so good. The screamy female is totally mad on stage and the album kind of captures it, which is really suprising. Lots of bass, heavy distortion, fuck melody.

British Seapower - Open Season (Rough Trade)

2005-04-04T00:30:00.000Z

In general I get more aroused by a fresh tuna sandwich than by the latest and greatest rocksensation. I'm a fan of the eighties gloom 'n' doompop and hardly a sentimental moaner but there's a difference in between the context bands (not acts) as Gang of Four, The Slits, Pere Ubu, the Pop Group et al played their musics as opposed to the acts (not bands) from today who use the foundation their forefathers layed down, as a gimmick. Bloc Party not included because some bands (Franz Ferdinand not included) just hit the right spot and with a song like 'Price of Gasoline' they actually make a mark about today's society. Strokes, Killers and The Rapture all, boldly spoken, steal their stance from their infamous ancesters. Ironically they take their sport even more serious than the people back then and the haircut that Bravery singer is so proud of wasn't even funny when Morrissy rocked it back in the eighties. Time will kill trends and al but a few will not live to see their names in a Simon Reynolds book.

No clue on how British Seapower will do in a book about retropostpunk but what these young chaps presented on their racuous debut album, The Decline Of..., was and still is very fascinating. Joy Divison comparisons still ring round their names but today that only seems an easy cliche. Open Season is far from a Decline Of Pt. II nor does it compare in any way to Curtis' gang. It's a drastic change from a rusty and quirky postpunksound to a cerebral and luscious popalbum. It's the album that I will time and again return to when I want some pretty music to sing along too. That's a valuable characteristic, in fact, every year needs an album like that. Last year The Dears seemed to have taken the job. And while Bloc Party recently delivered a more than decent debut it doesn't often encourage me to put it on and press play. Open Season on the other hand has been more in than out of my cdplayer. A fallback album I can trust. It has space, it has charisma, it has joy, it has fear, it has, well, it has it all to be honest.

The dramatic and joyeus single 'It Ended On An Oily Stage' sets it straight from the start; they've polished their shoes and their sound. An epic rockanthem like 'Be Gone' settles itself in your mind as soon as it starts off it's sweeping guitarmelody, all in all not too far distanced from the exotic guitarmelodies Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr used to come up with. Lyrically they still hit topics unknown to rockmusic since Morrissey sang about vicars in tutu's. 'Larsen B' even addresses the state of the Antarctic as it's slowly creeping up on us ("desalinate the barren sea").

Singer Yan's hushy and breathy voice might be a little awkward at first in a genre where articulation seems a big key to succes but after a while of course this becomes so tied with the music you can't imagine it any other way. Especially on the quiter parts of Open Season he sings like he's sitting next to you, talking softly about birds, rural scenes and "the coastal regions of his mind". Ballads like 'Like A Honeycomb', 'North Hanging Rock' and 'The Land Beyond' sound so overtly romantic and cosy I can't see any reason to not hit the repeat button again and again.

Sunn O))) - The Grimmrobe Demo's (Southern Lord)

2005-03-27T18:59:00.000Z

Need a work out? A Sunn live performance combined with a klysma will do juuuuust fucking fine. After one and a half hours and the rush of the klysma working like it should and you're as healthy as a shiny, green apple. Saw them live last week and goddamn, it was the best thing ever. I'm not that much of a concert kinda guy nor do I wear a klysma but I'm ready to hunt these guys down to see them again and, as ODB would say, feel the earth tremble under my balls once or twice more. Even the great, great Arcade Fire gig in Amsterdam two weeks ago doesn't top this. Even seeing Smegma for their first ever European show was no contest. Driving back for one and a half hours, my mouth was still open and my balls were slowly crawling back to were they belong.

Sunn plays bodymusic, you can feel it, you have to feel it. You have to crank the volume open to the maximum. It almost becomes a religious experience cos you can't do this everyday, at every time of day. Unless you live on a farm with your neighbours at least two miles away, you have to carefully select your Sunn sessions. Lay down, close your eyes and get carried away by the huge waves of feedback. It was surprising how good Enter the 36 Chambers held up during my trip home. That's pretty heavy on bass too. Fascinated I always was by the Sunn. Now, I'm possessed and these early sessions satisfy my needs at this moment like no crack could ever satisfy them. No, hypothetically speaking, of course.

There's so little difference in all three tracks that once you go down you stay down. The trance kicks in and, if concentrated, only wears off as the last seconds of the album tick away. That's the power and also the weakness of course. Patience. Got that and your in for a hell of a ride. The tracks presented on these early demo's are the foundation of Earth inspired Sunn, the concrete on which they would build impressive offerings like White1 and White2. There's nothing shifty or hidden on this disc, it's all in your face and ready to slowly tear your intestants apart. How's that for a metal cliché? This time it's truth.

Dirt sez

2005-03-27T15:21:00.000Z

ODB's last interview in The Village Voice.

"This is Dirt McGirt and you all know me and I don't like answering no fucking questions. You know what I'm saying. You know how we get down and we've been doing this for years so let's continue doing this."

Sunburned Hand of the Man - No Magic Man (Bastet)

2005-03-15T23:42:00.000Z

Whatever I said in the post below; forget it. This record seems to take place on a different planet anyway, or at least on a place on this earth where hardly any sunlight comes through. The flora and fauna there hasn't even been discovered. It's dark and foggy, swamps infested with algae bubble under the hazy shine of the moon. This, is where No Magic Man celebrates it's land, reigns and eventually unleashes it's tentacles around a number of crazed enthusiastics who are willing to be carried away by it's moans and groans (me, some other guy and a few others perhaps).

The no magic man opens up the gates to his realm with lost ghosts chanting over his shoulder. The intro, 'Every Direction' is the unfolding of his kingdom. "[...]I open the eyes of all / that they might see / my right eye is the day / my left eye is the night".
Than no magic man's tribe start it's hedonistic rituals with 'The 1st Degree'. While peaceful at first, the flutes and organdrones soon enough initiate an atmosphere that most people would run away from instantly. Menacing percussion shakes the earth and human screams dissapear into the depths of, dunno, something very deep. No, even deeper than that, deeper, still deeper. Okay, you're getting there now.

Everything is somewhat held together by the rough lines of buzzing krautrockstructures. Around this fluid core effects twirl around, men speak of vague matters and cymbals crash in the distance. The monotone voice that makes up almost everything of 'The Air Itself' creates a trancelike state, expecting a never ocurring breakdown in chaos everytime a sentence ends. Instead the voice of the speaking man seems to hold down anything chaotic about to happen. It's only an interlude, a plus six minute interlude to the centerpiece, the core of this hidden world. The titletrack. 'No Magic Man' never speeds up or breaks down, a constant pace is kept, the only sound interfearing is that of clatter of various origin and the occasional appearing of underworldly sounding and deformed vocal samples. All these elements combined make for a very exciting listen, you get thrown in the middle of shamanistic rituals in a circle of painted faces jumping up and down.

It's the recognizable flute drone that is present throughout No Magic Man that makes this release far more appealing than previous efforts. There actually is a structure (mostly in the spiralling flutesound) of some sort, a guidinglight for the listener to unconsciously focus on. A looping guitarmelody messes with everything that seems chaotic in being the opposite, refined and ever present. On top, the clatter of hitting on pots and pans give the whole a chaotic semi-improvised vibe. And then it ends, it ends for a a stretched minute with a serene but disturbing female voice eventually transforming into a voice of the counter sex. It messes with your head without you even realizing it. Again, it's an intro, this time to the most dark and organic piece of the album, 'Yer Own Eyes and the Number One'. A rough guitarmelody again takes care of the structural pace, voices scream bewildered on top while a gong, cymbals and other folk-inspired instruments colour the track with heavy psychedelic paint. It's No Magic Man at it's most intense, unpredictable, getting deeper and deeper in a trancelike state while horrific trumpetsounds frolic in the background. As if possessed, until 'Nile High' quietly comes in with its peaceful ending, the gates are closing. The no magic man gave you a peek and left you craving for more.

No Magic Man is one of the defining albums of the spiritual psychedelia known to Wire readers as the new weird america. If ever, music was made to satisfy the Gods, this is not it. This isn't music for the devil either, these are the sounds Darwin must have heard while writing The Origin of Species. Earth coming to life, feeling it's breath whilst being mystified forevermore. When I'm intrigued, I'm living.

prelude to the sunburned hand of the man review that's coming up

2005-03-14T21:36:00.000Z

fuck, i had this planned for today but I got mixed up in my own thoughts....so I'll just leave this sitting here and write the actual review in another entry. forgive me for my thoughts...

so..uh..here goes what's been in my head for the past 15 minutes:
What is experimental music? This is a righteous question, far too many bands are lazily lumped in in the broad context of the word experimental. This sounds different! Let's tag it experimental! Oh yeah, that's deep man. Really, and I've been doing it myself maybe (don't really know) but in general the biggest part of music labelled as experimental has it's legs kneedeep in the conservative roots of traditional sounds. Okay, there is something to say for the argument that if you take a traditional sound and twist it a little you are experimenting. To me, at this point that's not my take on what experimental music should be. It should be truly innovative and as much otherworldy sounding as possible. And, to get into my cd collection, it has to be awesome, of course ;-). So if we narrow down the experimental music scene to my standards who can we lump in? I can't leave Varese out, although he'd hate it if he read this, the man was fantasizing about electronic sounds that weren't even born yet so bad that he solely energized a whole movement of pioneers who eventually gave birth to the whole electronic scene. That's like the core of all that's experimental. That's the definition right there. I might as well stop here. Although Sun City Girls, Miles Davis, Smegma (saw them last weekend, those old bastards still reign supremely!) can be counted as well. I can't even consider lumping in Wolf Eyes for what they create is just the evolution of what the Sun City Girls and Smegma laid the foundations for. So with this as the general thought of this piece, not much can be lumped in my take on experimental music and as the sane person I am, this is way too strict a definition. Doesn't mean you don't have to contemplate over this, after all, lazy journalism is the worst kind. So, blablabla.. ;-)

2005-03-14T15:35:00.000Z

please stay tuned; i got stuff coming up. reading the wu tang manual now, truly fascinating...

actually, i gotta review the Sunburned Hand of the Man album here, it's definately their best yet and I doubt they will ever surpass this. So coming up: review of No Magic Man. Somewhere....like...soon or something

Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Allat (Planet Mu)

2005-03-04T02:19:00.000Z

Although I wish I was, I'm not an expert on classical music. I know it's out there waiting for me and once I get in I probably won't be back for a very, very long time. But there's so much good music already out there. I can't afford to drown in the classical swamps just yet. I'll regret it but whatever, first things first. What I do appreciate is that some musicians pick out the very best parts that make classical music so appealing to me and involve them in their own music. Godspeed etc. does that in creating enormous layers of orchestral sounds that wash down on the people that long for sounds to wash down (like me). Rachel's subtlety comes close to the most achingly beautiful and minimal Satie pieces (yes, I do know some folks y'know). Max Richter's Blue Notebooks, no explanation needed here.

Add to that list the most unexpected of artists to be involved in classical serenity: Aaron Funk aka Venetian Snares. No need to rub your eyes, it is indeed that insane fucker of a breakbeatguy. Who would've thought he had a masterpiece up his sleeve so strangely beautiful it hurts your ears as much as it caresses them. Funk mixes a huge amount of samples of classical pieces, which I don't recognize indeed, with his typical sped up breakbeat style. It's fascinating how well the two styles as similar as a prada dress and a garbage bag actually blend together in a somewhat disrupted but majestic suite.

'Sczerencsétlen' (damn his obsession with Hungary), starts things off exciting with a the kind of music Woody Woodpecker gets chased by. When the breakbeat kicks in it's hardly confronting as earlier Venetian Snares work often was and is. It's well balanced, almost easy and compromising. The real challenge lays in the balancing of the beats with the doom impending classical sounds. Funk not only uses your typical Mozart-esque classical but also went through those old and rusty recordcollections at fleamarkets. For 'Öngyilkos Vasárnap' he dives into ghostly territory. The lovely Billie Holliday sings:

"Little white flowers
Will never awaken you
Not where the black coach
Of sorrow has taken you
Angels have no thoughts
Of ever returning you
Would they be angry
If I thought of joining you?"

These are the lyrics for the infamous 'Gloomy Sunday'. A track composed by Rezsô Seress, an Hungarian musician who, in 1968, committed suicide by jumping off a flat. It's said that the lyrics and the haunting melody caused a sudden increase in suicides after people heard the song. Creepy but it doesn't do the trick with me though, still alive and kicking here. Radiostations all over the world banned the song eventually.

Rossz.. is extremely haunting but in a good, hide behind your pillow kind of way. The threatening violin that introduces 'Fellbomlasztott Mentökosci' with it's droning atmosphere slowly unfolds it's tentacles and suffocates it's own self. The violin is a common theme that fits perfectly well alongside the rather fluent and jazzy hi-hat breakbeats of 'Hajnal'. Somewhat more confronting but never too much is the chaotic 'Második Galamb', the most typical Snares track present on this album. As picked up by that track the theme gets darker and more tangled up in spacious breakbeats. It gets even more impressive when an opera voice gets sampled by da Funk on 'Szamár Madár'. And even more impressive when it sounds like it does, perfectly in place and at ease with it's cathartic, breakbeat surroundings.

Funk's a warrior, he chooses the challenge, he picks fights and rarely backs down. This time though, he chooses a charming approach in letting two styles come together and melt into eachother with succes. It'll take a lot for people to come up with something as impressive as this this year. Really, snatch your mom's purse and go buy this now.

planet mu website

2005-03-01T04:06:00.000Z

You could make a very good porn version of 'A Means To An End'. Or is that inapropriate?

Babelfisherman praises ze smiffs

2005-02-28T00:13:00.000Z

This has to be the best forum post on The Smiths ever:

I have lately been listening to the Smiths recently. What I can say? My hammers of the sock oscillate. Morrissey is best vocalist and encounter its attempts in the company/signature on things very amused and heartrendering. I have bought most of its albums. I have bought "meat I am murder", "the queen is dead", "Strangeways we come here", and "Hatful of the hollow". My favourite song must be "sky knows that I am displeased now". The good thing is that it watches as now I have all the essential Smiths! You, my ventilators, loves the Smiths like amors of a boy of the fat its perfumed empanada of the apple?

Reccomend I you go to your store record store and goes obtains the "meat is murder" immediately if you have not heard speak of smiths!

totally OTM though...

Stop bothering M.I.A. (beech!)

2005-02-24T14:48:00.000Z

I kind of enjoy the semi backlash M.I.A. is getting at places. Looking at the way Britney's arrival at the pop stage ('Baby One More Time') was smashed, how fake she was, how she couldn't be a virgin (when she portrayed herself that way) and seeing how many people were digging last year's 'Toxic' it seems hypocritical to dismiss M.I.A. instantly as a fake product of music marketing. But, it's part of the process and it'll do M.I.A. good there's talk about her, her (fake or not) issues and in the end, hopefully, the music. Because in a few years when M.I.A. rules the charts duetting with Britney I know all you haters have that song as your number 1 single of the year. TELLING YA!

by the way, How far can you go with the fake or not statement? Is it right for a white middle class American/Brit to analyze grime/hiphop for it's value and origins?

what u playin' fool?!

2005-02-22T19:30:00.000Z

here's some early 2005 gems for you:

Marsen Jules - Herbstlaub [city center offices]
German Martin Juhls creates some of the warmest drones to invade your ears. Less cut up than Basinski's Disintegration Loops but similar in melancholic sweetness.

Red Sparrowes - At The Soundless Dawn [neurot]
I know some people really digged Isis' Panopticon but were a little put off by Turner's raw vocals. This right here is what you're looking for then. Members of Isis, Neurosis and Halifax Pier team up to deliver a chiming and rattling soundscape full of mighty crescendo's and aggressively built up climaxes.

Built Like Alaska - Autumnland [sweat of the alps]
I'm a sucker for the playful melancholy Grandaddy showcases on their albums. The bearded drummer put together this fine group of Grandaddy soundalikes. Quirky keyboardmelodies, vocals that linger between sad and happy and pretty big guitarexplosions. Not as instant hitting as Grandaddy tunes but more than satisfying.

Doves - Some Cities [capitol]
Unexpectedly I'm really liking this. Doves have a knack for creating dark and brooding melodies full of cinematic atmosphere. The first half of the album would be Top of the Pops material if the world made the slightest bit of sense. The rest drifts off towards hazy dreamgrounds.

2005-02-20T20:28:00.000Z

Also, I badly wanna hear this. I'm ready to indulge in the black pools of black/death/doom and trashmetal again, it's been a while, yes indeed. Last week I picked up Burning Witch's Crippled Lucifer album by Stephen O'Malley and friends. Amazing over the top blackness which got me truly excited. I think I'll skip the burning down churches thing for now but intrigued and somewhat fascinated I am for sure.

2005-02-20T20:16:00.000Z

Kind of really look forward to this!

Boris, Microphones, Caroliner and more.

Especially excited about seeing Boris and Microphones, haven't heard much of the rest. Except for the excellent Sung Tongy Skygreen Leopards

Tales of Life

2005-02-14T20:10:00.000Z

There's a red line traceable throughout my musical voyage for some 10+ years now. It's the art of storytelling that always struck me as fascinating. I won't get into albums that I discovered after their highlight (Queen Is Dead, Daydream Nation, Unknown Pleasures etc.) but along that line there are some definite standouts that I frequently listen back to and be in awe of, again and again. I think Master of Puppets is the first example on which I was truly amazed by the perfect synthesis of music and lyrics. Dealing with heavy stuff as the emotional traumas of being put away in a mental hospital, the ignorance on part of the ever lurking world domination by armed forces of all kinds and the social blisters like hypocritical religion and drug addiction. It all was perfectly in sync with the epic, heavy music which I absorbed religiously (but never hypocritical) during my teenage years.

Next up was Raekwon's Built For Cuban Linx, I bought that and didn't leave my room for the next two weeks, spinning it endlessly. Around that time I was heavily into the Wu saga. After being numbed by the raw power of the eponymous Wu debut 36 Chambers, the laced in smoke Tical by prime Wu member Method Man it was Raekwon's time to shine. Ghetto mafia tales, completely awe inspiring reality (well for them, obviously) illustrated by Rae's urgent flow. As if that wasn't convincing enough GZA released Liquid Swords, a grim tale of ghetto survival. GZA's flow is one of the most striking in the whole game, can none match his up to this day. Oh go away 50 Cent.

After that [pause] I sought my relief in cheesy ass trance and, well just partied a lot. I came to my senses again with OK Computer. Listening back now I can see why people regard it as pretentious but when it came to me I couldn't ask for a better companion throughout my late teens/early twenties. Dealing with the claustrophobia of being awkward with society's norms and values, Yorke's wailing falsetto's and the cinematic soundscapes, it all added up to becoming my favourite record for a long time. And from that there's an even longer blank, I'm still searching for the next lyrical movie to accompany me during my late twenties. I do hope to give my view on all of these albums on Circus of Fools though, I simply have to I'm afraid as these records are part of what I am today. So maybe, if very irregular, I'll give my story on all those records, including Outkast's ATLiens cos I forgot that one.

Ah..maybe, if you will, you decide which I do first....the indecisive person I am.

Six Organs of Admittance - School of the Flower (Drag City)

2005-02-12T18:48:00.000Z

It's kind of funny how I like this whole acidfolk thing when people constantly refer to it as incense drenched and freaky. Considering how much I hate the smell of incense and how biased I am towards those hippie types that walk on sandals day in and day out. Not my kind of thing really. That's probably why I don't play my own acoustic guitar in some park underneath a big ol' tree with sticks of incense laying around. I prefer to take this album in on the couch, eyes closed, legs stretched and mind set on meditation (oh!). It's modern day society's little extra that we, music lovers, can drown ourselves in this vast variety of different musics. We can dabble in all types of ambient, get our rocks off to some good old rock 'n' retro, put our g's up and ho's down to quality hiphop and grime and get our necks twisted, headbanging to terrific metal like that from the Haunted and Pig Destroyer. And that's not all. You have your weird stuff like the magnicificent Excepter, Black Dice, Sightings, Gang Gang Dance and the unconscious singsongs of Animal Collective.

Last year marked the rise and rise of a new folk movement spearheaded by Devendra Banhart. Around that movement in which Joanna Newsom, CocoRosie and others blossomed, a diversity of experimental chapters circled endlessly along droning acoustics and distant mantra-like singing. Those chapters are everywhere, in every style of music and it's right in the middle of that clouded sky that I hope to find new and glorious sounds on which I am trying to eloborate on this spot right here, in the periphery of the worldwide blogosphere.

When I came across Six Organs of Admittance last year I wasn't immediately flabbergasted or in awe of his freefolkish noodlings. That started to change when I stumbled upon The Manifestation. Two twenty plus minute tracks which are saturated in thick hypnotic ambience. You can hear Chasny's keen on Fahey like guitarplaying. He adds layers of bells, droning vocal moments and eastern percussion to it which makes the whole of The Manifestation an otherworldly, meditional experience.

This doesn't really resemble Chasny's latest output, School of the Flower, though. While The Manifestation is much more of a floating matter, School of the Flower drifts just above ground level, exploring popstructures alongside more experimental urges. The drumming intro of 'Eight Cognition/All You've Left' developes a Can like groove while Chasny turns up the volume on his guitar a little before releasing a delicate and sweet melody that, together with Chasny's soothing vocals, make up the rest of the track. The first half of the album consists mostly of relatively normal songstructures sometimes even resembling the semi-traditional folk stuff of Banhart and Co. ('Words For Two').

When signing to Drag City Chasny told the label he wanted to explore songstructures but he also made clear he wanted "the freedom to do some experimental stuff" and as 'Saint Cloud' progresses he moves into more and more obscure territory. The simple and reflective guitarnoodling changes into a web of droning feedback and in the distant there are floating mantra's, that, as far as I'm concerned, could have been going on and on and on and on and , you know, forever. It could be the soundtrack to an afternoon of puffin' on a waterpipe in a small Moroccan teahouse somewhere in the Atlas mountains. 'Procession of Cherry Blossomed Spirits' drifts further into meditational fingerpicking guitarwork, more or less sounding like Bardo Pond if they plugged out their instruments, which is funny cos in 'Home' Chasny actually plugs in his guitar and unleashes some offkey screeches throughout a furthermore sweet and folky song. Underneath it all lies a basic body of virtually unrecognizable percussion paterns by occasional Sunburned Hand of the Man contributor Chris Corsano.

Centerpiece of this work is the 13 minute title track. Here Chasny lays down a simple guitarmelody that multiplies several times, Corsano's free jazz drumming here is very recognizable and a big part in the way the track evolves with Chasny, eventually plugging in his guitar again and submitting some suffocating electric solo's out of his guitar. As the centerpiece (but not exactly) it takes up too much energy for the rest of the record to be as engaging as the first part. However, 'Thicker Than Smokey' develops as a nice come down. Originally recorded by an obscure folky called Gary Higgins (on Red Hash, 1973), a sweet and sour little folk song that seems made for this new folk era. The closing track 'Lisboa' is nothing more than that, a cleancut acoustic melody that fades into not much at all. It's this all in all weak ending that takes away a little of the magic from the first part but nonetheless School of the Flower is a stunning trip through Mid-Eastern valleys clouded with a thick of summery dawn.

My next and urgent mission now is to find that Gary Higgins record. Red Hash people, anyone?

...

2005-02-12T16:08:00.000Z

I just wish we could forget about The Bravery already.

diggin'

2005-02-10T23:37:00.000Z

I don't really dig The Blues that much, it might be too straightforward and perhaps too workingclass for my ears. Not that I have anything against the workingclass as I am part of it myself but when I listen to musics I generally search for stuff that picks me up and drops me off on a cloud high above reality. I am liking that folk stuff a lot since last year. Psychedelic like that new and very pretty Six Organs Of Admittance album, School of the Flower (maybe more on this one later) or the cryptical semi-nonsense beardfolk of Devendra & Friends. I guess music has to tickle my fantasy and create this subconscious reality that I can dwell in for as long as I want to. No need to tell me straight up how blue life can be. If you give it to me in a cynical and ironic/sarcastic way though, I'm right with you. Let's laugh at our troubles and twist those facts to make them look slightly funnier. And yeah, School of the Flower is right up there. Ben Chasny plays those delicate strings of life Fahey style, how I wish he was still alive to, at some point, jam along with this Chasny guy. pling-plong-pling

Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now

2005-02-07T20:32:00.000Z

At the start of last year I discovered the raw beauty of the sisters Cocorosie. Their startling record, La Maison De Mon Reve, had me longing for French fields packed with sunflowers. The ones I so often enjoyed while gazing out of the car window when on holidays as a kid. Somewhen last year the opportunity to interview them came up and I gladly took it. By phone but still, not only are the sisters pretty, their music raises some interesting questions that could spawn even more interesting answers. A nice conversation it was but funnily enough the two things that I remember most of that talk is Bianca's mention of Antony & The Johnsons when I asked her what she was excited about musically.

After I hung up the phone I did a Google search for Antony & The Johnsons. Not much later I found out about his selftitled debut, originally released on Current 93's Durtro label in 2000. It was gonna be released worldwide through Secretly Canadian. The intensity of that album slapped me right in the face. I can take some melodrama and I am fairly charmed by singers with typical voices. Antony's voice was something entirely else though. By the end of 2004 I got a chance to see Cocorosie at Paradiso. Not only that, the girls brought Antony with them. And not only that, I even got the opportunity to interview them, both. I didn't know what to expect but to find out this theatrical and melodramatic performer was very charming and full of jokes wasn't exactly what I had in mind. The show was sparse, just him, his piano and his amazing voice. It cut through the hearts of the dozens of goths that were attracted to Antony through his friendship with David Tibet. Sierra 'Cocorosie' Casady eventually joined him on stage for a mesmerizing duet.

After the gig he chatted with some fans for as long as they would like to. The guy is a friend to all who gives him attention. And he likes the attention, that's what he lives for when the day is done. After the fans were gone we sat down in the bunkers of Paradiso, it was a nice chat although the presence of Bianca Casady made him less serious and slightly too witty.

Now there's I Am A Bird Now and Antony is ready to spread his wings to reach a bigger (and brighter) audience. The album is less orchestrated than his debut but there's still a lot of soothing sounds that will tickle your belly. At his best the man becomes one with his pianoplay, intense, haunting and mysterious at times. The climax in the middle of 'Hope There's Someone' illustrates that as he lifts his voice over mountains snowed with brooding falsetto's. His tenor vocals hit the highest notes at times and when caught up in his own tales he's relentless and won't back down for anyone. Not even for his idol and likeminded spirit Boy George or his guiding light and great friend Lou Reed.

He invites both to play a tune with him on I Am A Bird Now but he always manages to surpass them with his engaging vocal style.
Boy George turns up in the appropriately titled 'You Are My Sister', his vocals are much more subtle than Antony's, he seemingly keeps him self low key and let's Antony shine in a world they both share. The music here is kept to minimal pianoplay, chambermusic if you will although that tag doesn't come close to covering the emotional depths of the song.

Reed returns Antony's favour, Antony appeared on Reed's Raven album, in 'Fistful Of Love'. A swirling and lightly jazzy singsong, Lou Reed takes care of the spoken intro as Antony unwinds and the songs hits new highs with soaring trumpetplay. This track stands out in a way that it sounds more positive and even festive. A beautiful highlight which shows Antony at his best is 'Man Is The Baby'. A mysterious piece that takes place in the twilight zone of the man's mixed up soul. The pianoplay is haunting and perfectly in tune with Antony's brooding vocals. Same goes for 'Spiralling' that twists and turns over magic violinplay and playful piano.

What goes on in Antony's mind is our guess but the way he showcases his doubts and feelings on I Am A Bird Now are revealing mixed up emotions. Judging from the way I've seen him behave on stage and in person I'd say he's a terrific actor who is able to pull off a Waitslike play on his albums and in his shows. Nevertheless, his stories and tales are closer to most of us than you'd imagine and in Antony's case, he's living his songs everyday. No matter how forceful an actor he seems, he draws on experience and his heart can be found at the core of every single song.

In essence, this is nowhere near indie music, this is Soul Music. Antony could sit down at the dock of the bay together with one of his heroes, he'd ashamed to be there but Otis would be proud as hell.

2000-2009

2005-02-07T10:49:00.000Z

BEST ALBUMS OF 2000 - 2009

why wait in vain i'd say

M83 - Before The Dawn Heals Us

2005-01-31T18:41:00.000Z

The new M83 album makes me wanna get up and fly away across waves as tall as skyscrapers. Wings sugarcoated, eyes piercing blue and determined to look the sun in the eye. Drops of sweat turn into the clearest chrystal and every drop that touches ground births an orchid as colourful as mirrored prisma's. Cruisin' in mid air, lifted by the warm, angelic current of 'Moonchild' a trip starts. The kind of trip you read about in fairytales, just perfect, without any real danger as long as the music keeps playing.
This is what I look for in an electronic album, not the static robotplays that daft punk along similar rigid structures for every song. No depth, just flat horizons with robots moving in lines at the same pace in the same movement. Where's the excitement in that? I need my electronics to be oozing with melancholic stares and ecstatic smiles at the same time, through valleys and over high martian mountaintops. Supernova's exploding, inhaling stardust, through milkyways and back. That's Before The Dawn Heals Us, that's soul, that's blood, that's heart and that's what the world needs now.

2005-01-27T15:54:00.000Z

gonna enjoy a little time out for a long weekend. pretty excited to see ariel pink and panda bear perform in gent tomorrow too. more after the weekend probably. excuse my slowmo postingmanners, i'll promise it won't be like this very long.

2000-2004

2005-01-25T21:52:00.000Z

MU | Out Of Breach (Manchester's Revenge)

2005-01-19T16:36:00.000Z

To walk the thin line between provocation and irony on one side and irritation, frustration and boredom on the other requires a huge amount of talent, determination and bravery. Not that many artists dare to even look at said line let alone walk it with succesful arrogance. Of course, you have the Bono's and Chris Martin's of this world who walk around with an overdose of selfrighteousness in their veins pretending to make a difference while not even aware of the irony that surrounds their acts. Personally I could do without them and at times when i get sick of titles like How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb I crave for the amusent MU stands for. But, in all fairness, the thing that sets MU apart from the average Skihut compilation is a vast resource of musical knowledge and creativity, located in the brain of America-born producer Maurice Fulton.

Lovestory: Fulton meets his future wife Japan-born Mutsumi Kanamori in a Manchester club, hooks up with her and eventually slides a ring down her finger. At a day, now presumably described by Fulton as: "the most beautiful day in my life".

The inevitable question which now arises after hearing Out Of Breach, is, how the hell can you marry a woman that shrieks like her womb is being pulled out by a dozen hungry chickens? I would consider skipping that part if it weren't for the fact that it's too present in MU's music to not talk about. Yes, Mutsumi's vocals are the opposite of Mariah's and no that's not praising Mariah for her beautiful voice, it's acknowledging that the quality of the vocal doesn't always have to be degrading when used with the purpose that MU has in mind. Mind, MU does not try to provocate in the political sense. MU doesn't care about discussion.

It's all about discouraging the lazy type of listener. Think of New York at the time Eno mixed his compilation No New York (1978), a definite body of work that paved the way for numerous noise groups like Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers and Big Black to blossom and be influential themselves. A revolution no one dared to televise. Pure anarchy seeping out of filthy NYC cellars. It was provocation in it's purest form catalyzed by Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, D.N.A. and James Chance. Born out of an apparent necessity, an inevitable dissapointment in the punk movement that couldn't have been less 'punk' in the way it exploited itself. Punk in the late 70's was as mainstream as it gets. Getting structural national airplay (especially in Britain) punk was never the underdog it wanted to be. Eno recognized the revolution bubbling underneath the surface and put most available no wave acts together on a document that means more to innovating music than a zillion punkcompilations ever did.

The luxury we now have is to capture that spirit and play with it. With time the opportunity to put things in perspective arises. The raw energy and the experimental take on dance music that MU displays bears similarities to the exciting no wave methods. The main difference being that the no wave don's were audio-rebelling against the hypocritical punkestablishment. MU rebels against pretty much anything that comes to mind. 'Stop Bothering Michael Jackson' explains its content by itself, 'Tigerbastard' is directed at MU's previous recordlabel Tigersushi and 'Paris Hilton' is obviously about, indeed.

In essence, the effect that MU's sound has, is closer to, say, Lydia Lunch's Teenage Jesus & The Jerks than to any contempary dance act. The difference and the advantage that Fulton has over that period of time is that his means are more developed and refined. In feeling the beatinjected no wave has the same effect on disbelievers, pure no wave had in the late 70's.

Things start off screechy with 'Haters' with Mutsumi bragging "Welcome to the Mu world, beetch!" while treating to "kungfu" all haters. Fulton lays down an eerie highpitched sample that resembles a 70's horror flick soundtrack. 'Out Of Breach' pulsates around a dirty basseffect and vocals that seem to come directly out of Lucifer's gut. Fulton's multilayered acidpunk effects reach instenser levels every ten seconds. Adding funky cymbalperussion and tomtom's. The schizo percussion that starts off 'Stop Bothering Michael Jackson' evolves into a massive technoanthem underneath Mutsumi's bizarre vocals.

Mu doesn't stay away from personal squabbles and use every opportunity to strike back. "He has no respect / of what I do / talk down to me / he's mean / he's a player / very very evil man" she belches out in 'Tigerbastard'. Highlight in the sonic avanger that Out Of Breach is, is 'We Love Guys Named Luke', a track dedicated to The Rapture singer Luke Jenner. A maelstrom of sped up percussion invaded by a massive acidwhirlwind that gradually calms down with the sound resembling the programming of the Starship Enterprise to move into enemy territory. Than it speeds up again which causes Mutsumi to eventually throw up in the next track while Fulton massages the drumpads to throw out a prickly little beat. Absurdism on top of an off kilter beat in 'So Weak People'. Fulton creates a web of effects that get stuck behind and tangled in eachother.

Single 'Paris Hilton' starts off unusually clean. Mutsumi's chicken imitation resorts here and I'm telling you, dancefloors all over the world are waiting to hear this, the track bubbles with ironic takes on all types of dancemusic, metallic handclaps being the most recognizable. Any little kid will be tricked into following MU "like a little beetch" with the circuslike effects that make up most of 'Like A Little Bitch' . This record can't be a huge succes in commercial terms due to its abbrasive nature but when you seriously consider putting experimental and fun in the same sentence, MU is the way to go. Unlike Afro Finger And Gel, which had it's moments of sheer brilliance, Out Of Breach is the sound of MU stabilizing into a fierce act challenging some serious musical values.

Ready for take off

2005-01-18T05:23:00.000Z

An idea I've been pondering on for many months now. Starting an English blog offers some advantages that seem worth it to give it a shot. First off, since music is the universal language, the personal ideas that come with it which I like to write about should be explained to eventual readers in the second universal language, which undoubtedly is English. Second, when I read about music, it's about 60% in English. Therefore, all the metaphores/references English writers use invade my head and trick my mind into believing that writing about music in English is far more fun than writing about it in my own language. How's that for manipulation huh? I love writing in Dutch but still, I must try it in English simply because I must, I must, must must must, yeah. It's fun to play with the Dutch language and that's what I will keep doing on Lowtones, KindaMuzik, Gonzo and Zeenz but the urge to write in English never dissapears. I plan on doing a lot of reviews on new albums that maybe turn out to be this year's highlights (that way my best of 2005 will hopefully be a lot less work than my 2004 list) and I hope to do some pretentious, longass essays on old albums, hah! Do keep in mind, writing about music is still a hobby and only that, I work a regular office job on the side (yes, on the side ;)), so it might lead up to long blogsilences due to my regular work and the work i put in for the variety of voluntarily sustained magazines. To be honest, all my voluntarily writing takes up a lot of my time which I used to spend on social activities. How much of a writing junk am I? Yes indeed, it might be considered sad, too much, way too much or even what the hell are you doing too much. But, since the blogosphere is without limits, we're off to rock 'n' roll. Circus Of Fools, ready for take off.
Starting off with a review of MU's album Out Of Breach (Manchester's Revenge) tomorrow.