[gig reviews] FAUST live at Teatro Maria Matos, 6th October 2010

FAUST, sometimes referred as the godfather of the krautrock, played in Lisbon on 6th October of 2010. I filmed the entire concert and you can see it live at our new youtube channel, a colab with Vai Uma Gasosa.
Here are some photos [Serotonin Sounds isn't the author of these, it's taken from the blog arte-factos10]:

Die Antwoord's new video for "Evil Boy"

I haven't got much time lately to update the blog: that doesn't mean I won't update it anymore or that I've stopped my musical journey.
This time I bring you south-african's most contemporary curious hip hop group, Die Antwoord. This time I bring you their most recent videoclip, for their song "Evil Boy". Pure genius. Oh, and did you know they did a live performance with Richard D. James? True story.
Their videoclip got banned both from Vimeo and Youtube, sorry. Check their song "Evil Boy" below:

[interview] Pictureplane

Fortunately, I could interview Pictureplane. Fusing house with psychedelic themes, transcending cliché acid house, this artist could easily make a tune that would be a hit in many discos, if people nowadays cared more about music when they go to a disco. He also makes magic with a Microkorg [how I envy him, I wish I could be that good with my synth].

Serotonin Sounds: What do you think of Witch House? I asked you this one because I see you use lots of "occult" related images, like the triangles and ourobouros, etc.

Pictureplane: dont think a lot of people know this, but i invented the term "witch house" ! the first time it was used was on my blog. my friend shams and i were joking around about a new style of occultish house music that we were making. and we called it witch house. it actually is supposed to be house music, not the slow stuff that is being called witch house. i dont know how it took off on the internet like it did, but it is really interesting.

SS: What are your influences?

PP:contemporary art, fashion, the future, mysticism, the occult, aliens, the "other", the hidden, mysteries, touch, sex, magic. oh , and other music.

SS: You seem to have a wide musical taste. You like Siouxsie and the Banshees and at the same time make your own music: with this I mean, why do you feel related with these more dark trends and at simultaneously make your music, which seems to be happier?

PP:there has always been a darker element to my music. a lot of my old lyrics were really violent and stuff. i always liked that juxtaposition. i love pop music. and my music is meant to be positive and optimistic. so that is why it sounds happy i think. music and art can look or sound a certain way but still carry different meanings. of course. i like to hide things within my songs. but at the same time, i have always been influenced by "dark" music.

SS:Are you the author of your artwork?

PP:of course. i went to school for painting actually. visual art is a huge part of my life.

SS:When playing live, you use a Microkorg, right? When producing, you still use the Microkorg? And do you use any other synths too while producing?

PP:i love my mikrokorg! i have had it for 6 years. it is covered in dirt and some keyes are missing. i am trying to get a new synth, but i am pretty poor and i am also a wizard with the korg. it is the only thing i use really.

SS:Would you like your music to be played at discos?

PP:more pictureplane at discos!

SS:Are you planning to sell some of your t-shirts online? [I want one, hehe]

PP:yes! HOPEFULLY THAT WEBSITE WILL BE UP SOON.

SS:Do you like Throbbing Gristle? If so, how have they affected your music?

PP:i am an extremely huge fan of throbbing gristle. more so for their concepts and theories about culture, the world, freedom and magik. i honestly never really "listen" to them, but i am constantly reading about them and studying them. i collect writings by genesis p. orridge, who is probably one of my biggest life inspirations. genesis forever.

SS:Choose one band / musical group you're enjoying lately and tell us why.

PP:future islands. i have loved this band for a while, but they have a new album and just performed at where i live in denver, rhinoceropolis. and they blew me away. they are one of the best live bands and their music is so emotional and beautiful. they are truly a special and rare band. not enough people know about them.


Thank you once again, Pictureplane.

[gig reviews] PAUS live at Fnac do Chiado in Lisbon, 21st June 2010

The gig started with an unforeseen situation: the band didn't have their EP there [the gig's aim was to present it], because Fnac had some problems and couldn't make it on time.
With that fact put aside, the gig went well. Joaquim and Hélio sure know how to play drums and are most of the time well synchronized. I also like the concept of the "siamese drums".
Makoto Yagyu played bass most of the time and on one or two occasions, he played synth. João "Shela" fills the air with his sort of "new age-ish" synths. The 4 band members make music that isn't very easily labeled.
However, most of the crowd enjoyed the gig and the band set the volume higher, to "provoke" Fnac, since they didn't behave very well.
Unfortunately, I didn't film because I left the camera's batteries at home [shame on me].
Here it is the band's myspace.

[gig reviews] Zeni Geva live at Galeria Zé dos Bois, 3rd May 2010

Zeni Geva played on 3rd May of 2010 at Galeria Zé dos Bois, in Lisbon, Portugal. It sure was a fine gig. KK Null talked japanese sometimes and kind of entertained the crowd. Tabata even jumped and played guitar in his own peculiar way. Yoshida was always well, he never failed, his drum skills are precise and stealthy.
The setlist was awesome; they played mostly songs from their most recent album. "Implosion" was a highlight. There was also some jamming along the songs, I believe; and it was always captivating.
Here are some videos of the gig:

The Sticks "The Sticks"

Released this year on Upset the Rhythm, this is a raw semi-garage rock compilation. Pretty good, although after hearing it too many times seems to start fading away. It's that kind of record you must hear only once in a while [and you recognize it then how good it is].
This info about the band is on Upset the Rhythm's official website:

THE STICKS are a stripped down garage party band from Brighton. They bash drums, sway on the bass and claw at guitar - often swapping over instruments between songs live - and yelp with melodic abandon and delight. The Sticks were recently dubbed as 'semi-amateur', this may be true. With cheap, unreliable equipment they manage to tease out a cacophony of crashing drums and raucous guitar melodies.

The key elements of the trio's sound are undoubtedly drawn from the rudimentary ideas found in the more inept efforts of mid-sixties teen bands such as The Chimney Sweeps and The Keggs, as well as their modern day equivalents The Black Lips, The Coachwhips or The Hospitals, say.


So, let's talk about the album. It excells in garage tunes, instrumental parts and has over 20 tracks.
The track list is the following:
01 - On The Run
02 - Don't Sit On The Porch
03 - Radio Song
04 - On The Sea
05 - Bored!
06 - Pongs
07 - One & The Same
08 - Interim
09 - Earshot
10 - Nothing Song
11 - I'm Wrong
12 - Messing Around
13 - Slam Party
14 - Honkey Time
15 - Got Me
16 - Regal Like
17 - Live In A Town
18 - Night Of Pleasure
19 - Morning-King
20 - Giant Strides

Read more about the band on their myspace or you can start by this interview on the Fader.

Throbbing Gristle "Gristleism"

I want it.
What is it? A small plastic sample box containing 13 samples of TG's sound, that you can play and detune. Absolutely useless, that's the reason why you'll need it!
More information on www.throbbing-gristle.com.

Nurse With Wound "Paranoia in Hi-Fi"

This is basically a Nurse With Wound track that compiles many of the fan's fav tunes (like a small part of Salt Marie Celeste, near the ending). It is difficult to hear, you have to give it some efforts and probably skip some parts. It includes many genres, like: easy listening, krautrock, spoken word (that to me, sounds like it has some hip hop beats, like if Stapleton is paying a tribute to Snoop Dogg's music, haha), experimental, drone, noise and many more...
Try listening a part around 19 minutes: it's jazzy, like an evil jazz you'd expect from Steven Stapleton's mind. It's strange.
Then again, it even has a small dose of Salt Marie Celeste (which we've reviewed before around Serotonin Sounds).
Here it is for free, Paranoia in Hi-Fi.

Below is the song "The Bottom Feeder" which can be found in Paranoia in Hi-Fi too:

Aquaparque "É isso aí"

Aquaparque are a kind of recent portuguese musical project (started around the year 2006). The band members are: Pedro Magina and André Abel. It's difficult to label this band, but I'd say their music is more on the experimental / pop side.
This CD was released last year. They received a considerable amount of positive criticism.
The track list is:
1.De dentro de uma baleia
2.Bem bom
3.Ver ao perto
4.Siga para bingo
5.Conte-os
6.Mais lento que a casa dos teus pais
7.Tom de amuo
8.Fantasma
9.Museu de Cera
10.Saúde

-Their main image on their myspace.

My favourite ones are: "De dentro de uma baleia" (which means "From inside of a whale"), "Bem bom" (which means "Really Good") and "Fantasma" (which means "Ghost").
You can get the album here. Its size is around 40 megabytes.


Below is the videoclip of the song "Fantasma":

fantasma from catarina lopes on Vimeo.

[interview] Dazzle Ships

I enjoyed Dazzle Ships music so much that some weeks ago I decided to interview them. Here it is the final product:

1. Why did you start making music?;

TYLER: Sheer boredom. I borrowed my sister's bass that she didn't play in like 6th grade, but didn't know how to play it. I would just make weird noises with the built in effects on the amp and put the pickups to the speaker making it feed back, I loved that shit. I eventually figured out how to route the amp into my sound card and record it. I had tons of recordings of me just talking with effects on my voice and weird shit like that. and that eventually turned into playing guitar and recording 15 second songs with drum machine and guitar. It wasn't until I started to play music with my friend Travis that I took it semi seriously. We started our first band when we were 15 and he's been in pretty much every band I've been in since. Actually I think Dazzle Ships is the only one he isn't a part of..
HATII: I feel like music was already in my blood because of my family. I started making music because I was constantly surrounded by family members doing some from of it. I grew up with all my brothers in several bands and at least a good 5 instruments just lying around the house. I feel like it really clicked with me when I was around 7. My brother was a huge fan of Led Zeppelin and constantly played Stairway to Heaven; I remember using one of his acoustic guitars and teaching myself the opening guitar part by ear. From then on music has been like a second habit, so far I've learned to play guitar, bass, trumpet, cello and am a beginner at piano and drums.

2. When did the band start (and is this your first band? if it isn't, please mention the bands you had before);
TYLER: The band started on December 27th, 2009. Hatii and I were bored one day and jammed and wrote a cool song and then recorded it. and that was that..

I've been in and currently in many bands. including Rapid Youth, Twin Lion, and Norse Horse.
HATII: Dazzle Ships is my first band, it's not my first attempt at making a band though. I've tried several times with friends who knew how to play at least one instrument or another. Nothing ever worked out though. Tyler is the first person who fits my style of playing so far.

3. What are your influences?; TYLER: I know that we both want to write energetic, dreamy, catchy, pop songs. But I'm not sure of direct influences, really. We both really like the Cocteau Twins, Atlas Sound, Broadcast, New Order stuff like that. Also bands like Felt, Talking Heads, Wire and a lot of kraut rock bands, guitar wise. We defiantly have a lot of electronic music influence too, there will definatly be a lot more keyboard heavy songs in the future. Hatii listens to a lot of classical music too, I really want her to play some cello on some of the new songs. I am not sure how she feels about that. HATII: When it comes to my vocals I am influenced by Faye Wong and Maaya Sakamoto. Both women have such delicate yet mature voices, and a style all their own. I aim to be somewhere near that category.

4. Have you considered your vocals a bit similar to The Only Ones' (in a good way, of course) ?;
I, honestly, haven't listened to enough of that band to tell you if we do or not...I have only heard the "another girl, another planet" song. I will have to look more into that band now, for sure.

5. Have you given many shows up to date?;
We haven't played any shows yet, there will be a bunch soon. We want our shows to be very visual also so we are still working out the technical aspect of that at the moment.

-Left: A band photo;
-Right: An image which seems to resemble a tunnel [found on their myspace too];

6. If you could choose a band/artist to tour with, who would it be?;
This is a tough question......David Bowie. He would have to play all the songs from the labyrinth and let us be his backing band, though.

7. Are you aiming to release an EP or album soon?;
Yeah we want to have an album out maybe before the end of this year. We need to find a label first, but we will defiantly have an album written.

8. What country would you like your band to play?;
Anywhere in Europe. We would love to play England, France, Spain, Belgium, all those wonderful countries we've never been to. Oh! and Ireland.

9. If you could pick a label which one would you pick?;
hmmm This is a tough question.....4AD.


Once again, thank you Dazzle Ships for your time! I'm anxious to hear your upcoming album.

The Atom Smashers "First Strike" LP

The Atom Smashers cannot be inserted into a single genre, I tell you. Monte Cazazza is included here, by the way: which only adds more pepper to this record. The other members here are Chris Warden and Joseph T. Jacobs.
Released in 1986 on Pathfinder Records.
The track list is the following:

A1	Birth Control
A2	"A" is for Atom ("B" is for Bomb)
A3	If Thoughts Could Kill
B1	Sex is No Emergency
B2	Dead Cats Don't Swing
B3	Mark of the Devil

My favourite tracks here are: "If Thoughts Could Kill", "Mark of the Devil" and "Birth Control". Kind of a nihilistic and sarcastic vibe, like you'd expect from Monte's works, these songs include sound collages, synthesizers and tribalesque percussion.
You can get it right here [48.6 megabytes]. Enjoy.

Below, "A" is for Atom ("B" is for Bomb)":

Nurse With Wound "Salt Marie Celeste"

As many have said, this is one of the most minimalistic musical works of Nurse With Wound... It consists of a drone that strenghtens for more than 1 hour. Steve Stapleton first introduces whispers... them you hear a drone that's hauntingly depressing.
More minutes and you start hearing the supposed ship Salt Marie Celest cracking... Then it seems a bug passes around... or is it a bicycle? It's surreal, as Steven Stapleton's desire makes it. It's just one track, yes. And it is entitled "Salt Marie Celeste".
Get it here, if you dare.

Here it is a video of NWW performing a song (in Auditório Serralves) that I find similar to Salt Marie Celeste:

[upcoming bands] Drum Eyes

Not quite an upcoming band, but a band that I think has been evolving a lot lately... Drum Eyes... Quite difficult to label. The band members currently are: Shige ∞ E-da San ∞ complitly dengerous ∞ Chris ∞ Kathy ∞ Alistair Crawley ∞ Tom Hanks (according to myspace). My bad, I don't how to decifer that so I'll say that it includes there DJ Scotch Egg, a drummer from Trencher [Liam], Eda from Boredoms and a girl from Comanechi.
Their music mixes 8bit with drums, heavily-distorted guitars. It's a unique mix, I'd say.
Check their myspace here or lastfm page here.

Here it's a video of Drum Eyes performing [courtesy of Last FM].

Wave Machines "Wave if you're really there"

Wave Machines started around 2007, in Liverpool. They've released this album since then, entitled "Wave if you're really there". Receiving good reviews, this work has got lots of great tracks to choose from, each of them, peculiar, but with Wave Machines' characteristics within it. They use synthesizers, samplers, drums, guitars, basses, vocals, blending them in their own way: the product is surely marvelous.
The tracks are:

1. You say the Stupidest Things
2.I go I go I go
3. Keep the Lights on
4. Punk Spirit
5. The Greatest Escape We Ever Made
6. Wave If You're Really There
7. The Line
8. I Joined a Union
9. Carry me Back to My Home
10. Dead Houses

The album's lenght is around 40 minutes, I believe. My favourite tracks are: "Punk Spirit", "You Say the Stupidest Things", "Dead Houses" and "Carry me Back to My Home".
To get this album, click here.

Below is "Punk Spirit"'s official videoclip:

[gig reviews] Scout Niblett at ZDB, 16th December of 2009

Last year, Emma [the singer's real name] played at the same place, which is Galeria Zé dos Bois, in Lisbon, Portugal. This time, she seemed more confident, however always giving herself, emotionally. Slow, but intense, is the best definition you can obtain from seeing Scout Niblett's gigs.
The setlist included various songs, including ones from her upcoming album, I think.
She played the song "My Beloved".
Below, I'll leave videos I recorded:

Here are the links to part 2, part 3 (the song "My Beloved") and part 4. I'll upload more as time passes by.

[Interview] Floating Colors

Yesterday I made an interview through myspace with Floating Colors. Their music seems to me intense and chaotic but still really appealing. I won't speak much about them, because all of this interview has got enough info to satisfy most of you:
Most of the interview, it was the band member Stephen Palke answering the questions.
The interview went like this:

1. How and when did the band form?
Floating Colors came out of the ashes of a now defunct band whose name I choose not to mention. This defunct band started out as a two-piece with me and a guy whose name I choose not to mention, we improvised ambient soundscapes with keyboards and guitar. Eventually, Chase, joined this defunct band as a drummer. We had a couple of good shows and good moments together. We played with some really cool acts like The Crypts, Head Molt, Religious Girls, and Leo Heinzel, who now goes by Flesh Control nowadays. Unforunately, general fuckery transpired, and my musical partner in this defunct band, and I went our seperate ways, and so the band broke up in early July of 09. Shortly after, Chase invited me to spend time with him and his wonderful family, at his late grandfather's farm not too far from Ocean City, Maryland. Chase and I spent two weeks there, watching good films, helping out at the farm, shooting targets, drinking shots of whiskey at night, going to the beach. We talked alot. We walked alot. We found that we really respected and trusted one another, and related to one another in a special way. Our friendship became really strong. This was the musical partnership that was suppose to happen. We were both excited about starting something new, with no baggage from the past. Eventually, we both settled on the name Floating Colors. We liked Floating Colors, because it didn't pin us to any genre, and that it would be more or less true to whatever evolution we undergo as a band in the future. Chris Vincent and Alex Forck joined our band soon after. It's been really good.

2. What are your influences and favourite genres?
Stephen Palke: Broken Social Scene, John Frusciante and Jim O'Rourke have always been favorites of mine. Lately, I've been listening to Grouper, Broadcast and Beach House alot lately.
Chase Gilbert: Influences- Frank Zappa, Bill Bruford, Les Claypool
Genres- Trip Hop, Progressive genres, and Jazz.
Chris Vincent: You already covered Claypool for me....definitely Tom Morello as far as guitar goes and Crimson...Radiohead, Portishead obviously...and genres are also trip hop, progressive, stoner rock, and electronica.

3. Do you prefer to produce music or to play live?
Playing live is the headspace we're more into. We improvise every show, so playing live is the focus rather than making recordings.

4. In the future, will your music change or will you keep an uniform direction in your evolution?
In a year or in a month, I could never say. Who knows how things could change.

5. What instruments do you use to create your music?
I play on a microkorg, some guitar, and found sounds. Chase plays on a Premier drum set. Chris plays on guitar. and Alex plays on bass guitar.

6. If your music could have an environment, what would it be like?
A really rough dive bar or a cathedral.

I have here some live recordings, courtesy of the band. Click here, to obtain them (it has around 70 megabytes - but is sure worth it!).
If you're more curious about Floating Colors, visit their myspace.
If you're more interest now in this band, send 6 dollars North America or 10 dollars via paypal to stephen_palke@yahoo.com to purchase albums, or for digital copies, go to floatingcolors.bandcamp.com.

[upcoming bands] Noiserv

Started playing in 2005, Noiserv is a solo project of David Santos. One of the promisses I see in Portuguese contemporary music, this artist blends many instruments together to create some dreamy melodies. He uses instruments such as: vocals, guitar, melodica, metallophone, bells, synths, acordeon, omnichord, megaphone, effects, toys, musicbox, stylophone and more. His style is certainly unique... alternative, folk, indie are the closest genres I can find similarities with Noiserv's work. He was on the [now dead] portuguese label Merzbau.
Check his myspace here.

-David, live.

Watch him perform live the song "Bullets on Parade":

Micachu "Jewellery"

This is one of my favourite albums this year, perhaps. "Jewellery"... what an awesome work it is! I love how they can be at the same time a lo-fi band and keep a classy touch constantly in their records. It's Micachu and her backing band, the Shapes... You got to love them! Even Björk loves them!
I first heard of them in 2008, thanks to the Patrick O'Dell's website. They started in August 2008 and released this album in March 9th 2009. This album received mainly excellent reviews. Check these reviews out: Metacritic's, Drowned in Sound's, The Guardian's, All Music's, BBC Music's, FACT Magazine's, The Times' and Pitchfork's. I also advise you to hear this album... It's the debut album of some distorted awkward pop, with some "punky energy" as many critics recall it. It has nothing cliché, it's a new own particular genre, that has made them a hype band with a relevant somewhat-underground indie cult behind them.
The track list of this album is the following:

1. "Vulture" (2:49)
2. "Lips" (1:21)
3. "Sweetheart" (0:53)
4. "Eat Your Heart" (2:20)
5. "Curly Teeth" (2:27)
6. "Golden Phone" (2:43)
7. "Ship" (1:59)
8. "Floor" (1:22)
9. "Just In Case" (2:46)
10. "Calculator" (3:09)
11. "Wrong" (3:35)
12. "Turn Me Well" (2:58)
13. "Guts" (3:12)
    • "Hardcore" (1:33) is an unlisted hidden track at the end of the record.

My favourite tracks are [not in a particular order]: "Golden Phone", "Sweetheart", Eat your heart", "Curly Teeth", "Wrong" and "Turn me Well". What, I just said I prefer almost half of the album? No wonder! It has lots of cool songs on it. The album's lenght is around 31 minutes and 57 seconds.
By the way, last Saturday, this is November 21st 2009, I saw Micachu and the Shapes live at the Loft, here in Lisbon (I also got the opportunity to see a bit of Jon Hopkins show next). It was awesome and what I find more peculiar, is that some of their songs are even more appealing live, like the song "Wrong" for example. I also got the chance to take a pic with them, along with my friends. I'd love to see them live again. Oh, their t-shirts are also original and worth the price! Go grab yourself a Micachu goody!
If you want to hear the album, click here. Hope you like this album.
PS:I'm going to post a live review about Micachu and Shape's performance at the Loft, when I have enough free time to do such thing.


Next, is the song "Golden Phone" which is about suicide, according what Mica said live:

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:

SPK "Zamie Lehmanni: Songs of Byzantine Flowers"

SPK formed in 1978 in Sydney, Australia, was a 1980s and early 1990s industrial music and noise music group. SPK stands for many names. Probably, the most important of them all, that influenced two members of the band, Graeme Revell and Neil Hill, was Sozialistisches Patientenkollektiv. This album that I'm reviewing is about the post-industrial SPK, more commercially oriented (however, I consider this album to be an exception, since it isn't as synthpop-ish as "Machine Age Voodoo", the previous album). This one is more about electronic orchestral work: it can also be labeled as contemporary classical ambient.
The track list is the following:

1. "Invocation (to Secular Heresies)" - 5:16
2. "Palms Crossed in Sorrow" - 5:05
3. "Romanz in Moll (Romance in a Minor Key)" - 4:15
4. "In the Dying Moments" - 6:41
5. "In Flagrante Delicto" - 7:31
6. "Alocasia Metallica" - 6:07
7. "Necropolis" - 5:29
8. "The Garden of Earthly Delights" - 3:18
9. "The Doctrine of Eternal Ice" - 4:25

My favourite tracks are: "In the Dying Moments", "In Flagrante Delicto", "Necropolis" and "The Garden of Earthly Delights". The album's lenght is 48 minutes and 10 seconds.
The song "In Flagrante Delicto" is marvelous and features angelic vocals, backed up by haunting and obscure dark ambient sounds.
You can get the album here.

As a preview to this album, try hearing "In Flagrante Delicto" below: