[upcoming bands] Black Microwave

Although its myspace exists since 2 years ago, it's relatively recent. Black Microwave consist of a one-man musical project that struggles through many musical seas: experimental electronics, 8bit, [a slow] breakcore, etc. The person behind this project is also playing on the band Kimoameba.
The author has released 3 cd's until now. You can check them out on the myspace.
Here it is the myspace.

Boduf Songs "How Shadows Chase The Ballance"

Awesome artist. Quite difficult folk to hear. His name is Mathew Sweet. Minimalist, death aproaching musician, his works are intense and with a touch of doom in his "folk" music. This record is from 2008.
This is the tracklist:
1. (00:05:36) Boduf Songs – Mission Creep
2. (00:04:31) Boduf Songs – Things Not to be Done on the Sabbath
3. (00:05:52) Boduf Songs – I Can’t See a Thing in Here
4. (00:06:55) Boduf Songs – Quite When Group
5. (00:06:06) Boduf Songs – Pitiful Shadow Engulfed in Darkness
6. (00:06:19) Boduf Songs – A Spirit Harness
7. (00:07:06) Boduf Songs – Found on the Bodies of Fallen Whales
8. (00:05:20) Boduf Songs – Last Glimmer on a Hill at Dusk

Get it here. The password is soundwatching.blogspot.com

Info taken from Brain Washed:

On his second full length release, Mathew Sweet uses the same formula that he has employed previously; one microphone, one acoustic guitar, a few random instruments, a couple of field recordings, and a deft, understated touch with the mixing process. He locked himself away in his home studio (to be honest, his bedroom) and no one else heard a single note until he was finished.

This album is a further step away from the "folk" label, which never seemed all that appropriate to Mathew's work in any case. If you record solo with an acoustic guitar the description is somewhat inevitable. But the results might more rightly be construed as "acoustic death metal" considering the themes of death, alienation, fear, hatred and isolation that are his forte, as well as his affinity for gothic imagery.

Mathew states that the album was mostly recorded at night because there was less background noise to contend with in his neighborhood at that time of day. But if you listen closely you can still hears small bits of rain hitting the window, and cars sliding by on wet roads.

The final result is one of the most unassuming, and engaging recordings of the year. It is intimate, extremely personal, and spectral in presence.

The second full length release from this uk resident follows his Lion Devours the Sun album from late 2006 on kranky. A lot of artists are described as "outsiders" or "underground", but with Mathew Sweet this is actually an apt description as he belongs to no 'scene' and is working on the farthest fringes of the 'music business'.

press quotes for Lion Devours the Sun:

"Hauntingly beautiful music that is oft mistakenly labeled "folk." This is something darker, something much more sinister, and Mat Sweet's songwriting muse dives into the troubled waters of a tormented soul and the mysterious forests of the mind. This is the best record of the year, period." Mundane Sounds

"The spare use of his blurry instrumentation is the secret ingredient to the horror in these songs. Sweet packs a punch for such a quiet fellow, and his vortex is indeed a powerful one." Tiny Mix Tapes

"...the visions of human frailty channeled here are dry like a mouthful of dust and stirring in their haunted stillness." The Stranger

Below is a video for the song Pitiful Shadow Engulfed in Darkness:

Grouper "Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill"

One of the best things I've been hearing lately in the folk scene, Grouper is the solo project for electro-acoustic ambient/noise musician Liz Harris, of Portland, Oregon.
This album, released in 2008, is possibly one of the best albums in its genre. Take into consideration the first track: simply brilliant drone introduction, that blends into Liz Harris' sweet voice. The rest of the album is also assured to be good.
The tracklist is:
1. Diesengaged
2. Heavy Water / I'd Rather Be Sleeping
3. Stuck
4. When We Fall
5. Traveling Through A Sea
6. Fishing Bird (Empty Jutted In the Evening Breeze)
7. Invisible
8. I'm Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
9. A Cover Over
10. Wind And Snow
11. Tidal Wave
12. We've All Time To Sleep

My favourite ones are: "Diesengaged", "Heavy Water / I'd Rather Be Sleeping" and also "Invisible". The album's lenght is around 47 minutes. The album's size is 41.28 Megabytes.
You can get the album here. Also, if you're interested check her myspace. There's also a folk musician I've been hearing called Jana Hunter that's brilliant and kind of similar to Grouper.

Below is "Heavy Water / I'd Rather Be Sleeping":

Threshold Houseboys Choir "The Threshold Houseboys Choir Amulet Edition"

Do you like COIL? Do you like Throbbing Gristle? Do you like COUM Transmissions? Do you like Psychic TV? Do you like Soisong? Do you think I'm starting to get boring?
I asked you these questions because a former member of all these bands, Peter Christopherson, decided to create a new project after COIL's end. Threshold Houseboys Choir was the name chosen by Peter. It can be labeled as experimental electronic composition, along with some noise, oriental-ish sounds, etc. Wiki also entitles it as "Post-Industrial Exotica". When performing live, this project evolves to a different stage: videos of some rituals occuring in Thailand, morbid, gore and violent clips along and mind-warping at the same time are added to the performance of Threshold Houseboys Choir. THBC's myspace can be viewed by clicking here.
"The Threshold HouseBoys Choir is a musical guise for Peter Christopherson, announced in 2005 as a follow up endeavor to his former group Coil. Despite the name, it is a solo project which relies heavily on computer generated vocals, of which he is formally credited as the "director." The name was derived from a play on words, combining the terms houseboy, house of boys, boys' choir, and Threshold House.[1] THBC is stationed in Krung Thep, Thailand."

The Amulet Edition was sold on THBC's tour and now can be bought on the official merchandise website, here, or on eBay or Amazon at astonishingly high prices. It comes on a fine velvet pocket, I think, which over 3 cd's.
The track list is the following:
1.Be Happy 16: 12
2.Distonto 23: 16
3.Ikoreek 22: 15
4.The Hangman's Ball 19: 31
5.As X is to Geff 10: 20
6.Khun Cap Taxi 18: 03
7.Lowly Low 13: 42
8.There and Back 5:09
9.The Day Moon Died 15:51

Next, if you want to, you can hear some samples of the songs: "The Day the Moon Died", "The Hangman's Ball" and "Distonto". My favourite tracks are: "Be Happy", "Distonto", "Lowly Low" and "There and Back".
If you want to buy the album go to Threshold House's official website and find some THBC merchandise.
If you want to hear the part 1 (which features the first 4 songs) click here and/or the part 2 (which has the last tracks and the track from the 3rd CD, which is the last one) click here.


"Be happy" can be heard below:

Jellowaste "Jellowaste at Whiskey Fit"

According to this musician, Jellowaste, he got his looks due to: "...this transformation [due to the fact Tom Cruise injected him with Biotoxin 45 ~ a chemical that was supposed to kill him) was so incredible, the 10 foot radiotransformative aura emitted during the changes turned his car into a neon yellow Firebird ~ complete with a radiation symbol on the hood."

I got to know this artist thanks to Drop Dead Festival... I saw some info about his earlier D.D.F. shows and he sure knows how to entertain a crowd and produce eccentric [and simultaneously good] music / sounds.
The track list is the following:
1. Conveyorbelt Supremeincinerator 1:55
2. Dirtpires 2:40
3. Dokytrsle 2:50
4. Dump Slump 2:05
5. Jellybeanery FT The Zodworths 2:37
6. Sludgeplant 1:58
7. Steamengineering 3:03

My favourite songs are: "Dokytrsle", "Dump Slump" and also "Jellybeanery FT The Zodworths" (this one has a collab with one of the members of the band, that is now extinct, Din Glorious). The record's lenght is around 24 minutes and 55 seconds.
Jellowaste's myspace can be accessed here.
You can get it here (it has around 25 megabytes by the way).

"Dump Slump" song below:

[upcoming bands] Celan

Another great musical group, with members ranging from Einstürzende Neubauten [Ari] to Oxbow [Niko]. The band's members are the following: Chris Spencer (Unsane and also Cutthroats 9), Ari (from Einstürzende Neubauten), Niko (from Oxbow), Xavi (flu.ID) and Roeder (flu.ID). Check out Celan's myspace.
Their musical genre is hard to identify... it's original and intriguing. Like they said on their myspace: "a band you can pigeon-hole at your own risk and categorize as noise, rock, avant-hardcore or whatever you like to call it."Settled with frustration, anger, desperation and insanity perhaps, this supergroup promisses to shatter many ears for years. For now, they've released their debut album "Halo".

Check this live performance of the band:

No Age "Nouns"

Released in 2008, was nominated by many as one of the best albums of that year (SubPop are their label right now, I think). All Music guide gave them 4 stars out of 5; Blender gave them 3.5 stars out of 5; Drowned in Sound evaluated it as 9 stars out of 10 stars; NME gave them 7 stars out of 10 stars; Pitchfork gave them 9.2 stars out of 10 in total.
No Age's genesis occured in 2005 and the birthplace was Los Angeles. They are a Noise Pop / Nu Gaze / Indie rock band. They've also released an album in 2007, named "Weirdo Rippers".
Personally, I don't like that much this one. When I listen No Age I'm kind of seletive with their songs. There are some that I trully adore; there are others that I seriously hate.
However, I'd label them as a great band (which also made some pretty neat t-shirts).
The first song on this album, "Miner", is great (Altamont apparel, one of their sponsors, used this song on their skateboard short video documenting the skateboard team's tour to Paris). The second song, "Eraser" is their first single on this album: it has a soft start, that bursts into a supernova of original indie rock that reveal the band's irregular frenzy and catchy music. I could go on talking about the other 10 songs on this album (its lenght is 30 minutes and 35 seconds).
The link to Nouns is here or here or here.

You can hear "Eraser" here:

Fennesz "Black Sea"

(This is the cover of the album released in December 9 of 2008)

Fennesz released "Black Sea" actually in November 25 of 2008, but the CD I own has a different artwork which was released in December 9 of 2008. This album is a wave of white noise with Fennesz distinctive experimental class. Working again mainly with conventional instruments like guitars and computers, his album is great. It works as a collective of good dark ambient and drone musical pieces that brush and clean your ears. With me, this album has such a relaxing effect that I even fell asleep (I don't say this in a bad way, keep that in mind).
All the tracks featured on this album are fluid, being coherent when blending with the next songs. The album's lenght is about 52 minutes too.

(This is the front cover of the album that was released in November 25 of 2008)

You can try hearing this album by clicking here or otherwise, if you are really fond of these sounds, buy it.
But first, you should try eating the sounds of the self-titled track "Black sea". Watch the video that's located below these words: