Water Damage – But the Rat was Very Smart

Ok, serious mong time.

Two tracks, extremely repetitive, with an insane guitarist making noise over it, and I mean noise. I assume it’s a guitarist. Could be anything, really, with all the tech these days. I’m only assuming it’s guitar as I can make similarly insane noises when I want to, and it’s fun. They could also be labelled a super-group if you wanted to do that (ok, you’ve made your point – ed). Also, two bass players and three drummers? I just looked at the line up. There’s synth involved too. I have also made insane noises via synth. They too are fun. Anywho, it works.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I may be mildly catatonic. This sort of music certainly makes me glassy eyed, but I happen to really like that sensation. Or maybe it’s just the music that does it. And spreadsheets. They never fail.

Haress – Ghosts

Haress are a bit good. Their wonderful debut album has been a regular on the Soundbergs Stereo since I bought it at the beginning of the pandemic so I was very pleased when they decided to be one of those bands that do more than one album. Even better, it’s all paranormal and shit; at least, the stories they tell of its recording are. Not really listened to the lyrics that closely yet.

As someone who likes well written words and even tries to write them well at times, I oddly don’t pay much attention to lyrics. Not initially, anyway. It might be because my favourite music is all about transportation of the spirit, so I get lost in transporting my spirit with the music. Haress are really good at making music that aids that thing.

Here’s hoping they decide to be one of those bands that make a third album.

The entire Nest Egg discography

I’ve been meaning to post their new(ish) album Dislocation since I got the mailout from t’Cardinal, but just, y’know, not got round to it. And the tab has been sat there waiting for me to do that thing. and I didn’t do it.

So what I did instead was listen to the other albums they had on their bandcamp, and it turns out they is all good, really good. Hypnotic and trancey with a fondness for also bringing the noise.

Of course, they aren’t aiming this music at me, despite the obvious disguise in dressing it up in so many of my favourite musical traits, the bastards. But they actually say this is for nihilists, and I am not a nihilist. Nothing is impossible (there’s a double meaning there, people; a clue that has been with us all along). So we’ll have to agree to disagree, philosophically, and just dig the music.

There’s more, too. But I’ll not post them all. Go and have a listen.

 

 

 

Dragontears – Turn On Tune In Fuck Off!!

Because literally everything is merely coincidence and chance, it logically follows that there is no such thing as causality.

I first discovered Dragontears back in 2010. I’d just had my then current PC for recording music die on me, and had a 9 month period without any means of recording music as the PC that was available laboured mightily with just the merest of tasks, and it was often all I could do to persuade it to let me at least surf the net a bit whilst I listened to music.

Just for the record, the album I’d just finished was Luna Takes Asylum.

During the last few weeks I’ve found myself listening to Dragontears’ three albums again, and remarking on just how bloody wonderful they are. I even found myself wondering what made me forget these albums even existed; it must be a good 6 or 7 years since I’ve listened to them. I realise that this sort of thing happens, I mean, how can it not when you have a sizeable collection of music and yet you still go looking for more? But still, this re-visit has this music really resonating with me this time, probably more so than when I first discovered them.

Just for the record, Luna Takes Asylum is now the album I wish it was back in 2010. It was also accompanied by the last rites for a PC, completely coincidentally.

So the other two Dragontears albums are 2000 Micrograms From Home (below) and Tambourine Freak Machine. I cannot recommend them enough.

 

Public Animal – Palace Arms

the flipbats in earshot were hassling me not in the slightest, however, there was something of an error in the report, which somebody, somewhere, instantly dismissed as worthy of nuts. Dangernuts, to be precise. well, I had to send the farcical  popsicle home to be de-nnoyed, and it was a roaring success, but the side effects were tremendously tremulous, seeking only a form of chaos known to man as the sliding scale, which has also been translated succinctly into alpha monkey wonderland as the profit margin, and that’s what they are actually hitting you with when you watch Strictly Come Dancing.

Thoughts are like sentences, only less visible, and you can always deny having had them.

I bring only gifts of the unwanted variety

How many journeys make up a lifetime?

Just how big is now?

 

One Dog Clapping – Alternarratives

It is 9/9/18, and 9.09 pm (BST) when I click the publish button on Bandcamp. We have entered the time of the new moon. Fittingly, I have ‘Ritual‘ by Fire! Orchestra playing.

Alternarratives is the third album in the ‘Meeting The Changing Landscape’ Series, and the halfway point. It is about, broadly speaking, telling ourselves better stories so that we can head towards the Hills to Die On.

The next album in the series takes a turn back into the void as these better stories wrestle with the demons that would have them remain unspoken, and will be called Internal Route Fury.

 

Timothy J. Fairplay -Mindfighter EP

On a bridge on a plain senorita sing again as the angels learn to fly they’re oblivious, delirious [] once upon a time certain words became a rhyme and although the meaning changed they’re oblivious, delirious [] the air is an idea and contains a gateway here and there are stories that I tell but they’re oblivious, delirious [] I’m electric don’t you know I’m magnetic full of flow and I try t tell the world but they’re oblivious, delirious [] scratching at the door even though you came before weren’t you desperate to get out? But you’re oblivious delirious [] there’s no welcome back there’s no room within this shack they’d rather you weren’t here but they’re oblivious delirious [] and it all still looks the same because you think a plain’s a plain you should see it underneath but you’re oblivious
delirious

There’s not a glimmer of fire in the eyes
not an ember to smoulder
but something’s going tick tock
and it’s loud enough to move
as a casual wave
and I am at your mercy

I burnt from my mistakes

Fanatism – The Future Past

The universe is a perpetual perceptual feedback loop

I’m preaching to the diverted

You cross the line when you play the game

The shape of things to come? Or the things that shapes become?

Work hard play dead

Make sure the opposing possibility has a crossover point, or it’ll be a waste of saturation

Smile for the countdown

You have a fire inside you? Poor thing! How do you concentrate?

If you must have an obsession, do try to have more than one. It’ll make you so much more interesting at parties.

 

Jjuujjuu – Zionic Mud

Imagine a jigsaw, a round, huge, perhaps even infinite, where all the pieces are unique, and make for a beautiful whole when observed from without, as is quite possible for anyone with the requisite spiritual training. So, then, let us immediately zoom in on a small piece roughly to the left of the hypothetical centre, a bit above and less to the top, capable of movement. It’s sad. It saw something about one of the other pieces over on the right, and it wants to be like the piece on the right, but the piece on the right is different, different shape for a start. So our piece, with a tremendous effort of will, gradually alters his shape, trying to be the same shape as his idol. Unfortunately, he can’t quite get to the right shape, though he keeps trying, because he thinks he just needs to persevere because some idiot wrote that if you persevere, you will get everything you want. The problem was, the effort at remaining in the wrong shape, and the continuous striving to perfect this other shape was an enormous strain, emotionally, and eventually, physically, which took its toll not just on our little piece, but on those around it too, and eventually, on the whole picture. Because those around it suddenly found that they weren’t fitting as comfortably as before, and so they thought there was something missing in what they had begun to think of as themselves. This led to a growing communal sense of dissatisfaction, the solutions to which seemed to be in following the first of the shapeshifters, who, due to a bizarre irony, was now seen as something of a pioneer and so they started trying to imitate him, and then others came up with what seemed like an original take, but was in fact their limitations making it impossible to become an exact copy, so they therefore seemed original enough for others to try and copy, all failing, of course. So the continuing result is a jigsaw of pieces where very few fit – those who have kept their original shape are now regarded as psychologically deficient in some way.

The Telescopes – Hungry Audio Tapes

Life contains an inherent unpredictability field, one of the most vital building blocks if I may be forgiven that clumsy analogy, although all the blocks are vitally important for Gestaltic reasons. But this Unpredictability Field is often – nay, always – overlooked. This is where the creative spirit comes from, those who seem more creative have a stronger manifestation of this field. One effect of this is that being with them makes life more unpredictable! Obviously.  An example here is weather forecasts. Somebody with a strong field will believe that weather forecasters are charlatans because all the predictions seem to be little better than chance added to easily observable patterns that anybody coulld work out given two functioning eyes.

An important distinction must be made here: unpredictability is not the same thing as randomness.

This is why attempts to build life are going so badly; those attempting to build are not accounting for unpredictability as it cannot be reduced to a detailed description. It has no atoms or its equivalents.