KNIFEHANDCHOP How I Left You (Tigerbeat6) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "Goin Back To Scarborough"
MPEG Stream: "Tizzy Tixbown Riddim"

KNIFEHANDCHOP Respect To All the Haters (Tigerbeat6) 12" 8.98
Yeow! The highly anticipated US debut (via Kid 606's Tigerbeat6 imprint) from twenty-year-old Canadian bootylicious whizkid Billy Pollard aka Knifehandchop! Seven new dancefloor scorchers - mashing hip hop, hardcore dancehall, gabba techno and straight up rave while incorporating and referencing mass pop culture (Outkast etc). Super catchy and poppy, though still hard and way ahead of the curve. Includes a revamped version of his DMX gabba remix from the Irritant Lo Fi Electronic Pop Music 10" and Tigerbeat6 Inc. comps released a while back. Vinyl only and limited, so don't miss out on this stunner!
RealAudio clip: "Knifehandchop Is My Favorite DMX Master"
RealAudio clip: "IM Sorry Miss Pollard"
RealAudio clip: "Not For Tha Ladies"
RealAudio clip: "2 Sexxxy Booty"

KNIFEHANDCHOP Rockstopper (Tigerbeat6) cd 13.98
Not sure what else to say about this crazy motherfucker. Another, fun and funny and funky splattery mashup of classic hip hop, caustic breakbeats, four-on-the-floor techno, booty bass, cut and paste chaos, goofy synths, and manic drum programming. But as we're all still crazy for dancehall around here, those are the tracks where this record really shines, with a brutal mix of toasting, classic pounding jungle beats buzzing rave-y techno and thick, wall-shaking bass synths. Another party-ruling dancefloor-filling masterpiece from Mr. Chop.
MPEG Stream: "Not For tha Ladies"

KNIFEHANDCHOP Techno-Gaiden (Tigerbeat6) 12" 8.98

KNIFEHANDCHOP TKO From Tokyo (Tigerbeat6) 12" 7.98
It's definitely a good thing that adulthood doesn't follow the bully / wimp social dichotomy of high school; but if it did, everybody on Tigerbeat 6 would have received a number of serious beatings by now, starting with the Kid, then Cex and followed by Canadian laptopper Billy Pollard aka Knifehandchop. "TKO From Tokyo" mashes up vocals from Dancehall toaster Bounty Killer and RZA's Bobby Digital persona on top of big dum-dum Rotterdam techno beats, and also features remixes from Venetian Snares, Kid 606, Noize Creator & DJ Aneurysm, and Joseph Nothing. Very stupid yet very infectuous.
RealAudio clip: "Taking The Soul Out Of Music Vs. Vertical"
RealAudio clip: "I Hate Your Fucking Face"

KNIFEHANDCHOP / DJ ANEURYSM Shotgun Wedding Vol 2 / Evil Doppleganger (Violent Turd) cd 10.98

KNIGHT SCHOOL Revenger (Make A Mess) lp 14.98
Earnest raw and rocking sounds from two Brooklyn kids. But fear not, this isn't just posturing hipster flavor of the day lo-fi garage bandwagoning. While there is a very lo-fi feel to these garage pop burners, we hear more of that classic fuzzy indie pop sound we'll always be in love with a la early Guided By Voices, Rocketship, Unrest, Sentridoh, Grifters, etc. Songs that sound so stripped down and primitive yet are filled with such a great sense of melody and jammed with total hooks that would hit you hard over the head had they been mega produced but instead seep into your veins just right as they are buried in the overall fuzzed out mix. We're also reminded of some of our favorite early K Records bands as there is a sincerity oozing from these bedroom recordings that has us totally smitten. A very impressive debut!

KNIGHTS OF THE NEW CRUSADE My God Is Alive! Sorry About Yours! (Crusade Now) cd 11.98

KNIT SEPARATES Love's True Cross (3 Acre Floor) lp 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A vinyl-only release from this new San Francisco "avant-indie-rock" band (with handmade, each-one-different covers). The Knit Separates, featuring members of Mirza/Thuja (including L. Chasse of id battery as well), create Romantically charged indie-pop melodies with hazy Phil Spectoral reverb soaking through the four-tracked material. But before you think this may lead to the mod revivalism of Belle & Sebastian or The Aislers Set, be aware that The Knit Separates perform their songs with an ambiguous indeterminancy, as if Chasse's percussion and Glenn Donaldson's post-Galaxie-500 guitar strum were enchanted by the poetic meanderings of vocalist Jason Honea. In keeping with our tradition of puzzling L. Chasse with our obscure references in comparision to his work, Jim suggests that this reminds him a lot of long-gone Michigan indie popsters Veronica Lake.

KNIT SEPARATES / ORANGE CAKE MIX Ghost Of A Ghost / Zenith Power Shell (3 Acre Floor) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A split LP between San Francisco's Knit Separates and Orange Cake Mix, both of whom exemplify the art of holing up in a bedroom and quickly banging out evocative, yet quirky 4-track psychedelic folk. The Knit Separates -- comprised of Jason Honea, Glenn Donaldson, and Loren Chasse -- offer a charmingly innocent homage to all of their childhood musical heros: Martyn Bates (who is clearly heard in Honea's soaring vocals), Nikki Sudden (especially his really fucked-up on heroin guitar strum), and the Durutti Column. Orange Cake Mix continues down the hazy path of 4-track indie-pop and electronica that has warranted him so many releases on the Darla label.

KNIVES OV RESISTANCE Prisca Sapientia (Aurora Borealis) cd 14.98
Back in stock!
Latest release from the UK's Aurora Borealis label, responsible for the KTL double lp elsewhere on this list, as well as records from Moss, Ginnungagap, Wolfmangler, Guapo, the Grails, even Crebain!
Knives Ov Resistance are a European ensemble who weave dense soundscapes of blissed out ambience and abstract guitar shimmer, Channeling the spirit of Popol Vuh, Spacemen 3, Godspeed, Jackie O Motherfucker, and other like minded sonic explorationists.
A lush blend of field recordings, glistening guitars, rumbling drones, warbling turntables, all woven into drifting sun dappled sonic tapestries of sound. An ambient post rock drift, that flits and flutters amidst the sounds of children laughing, the lush din of the forest, chittering birds, the sound of leaves and water, a dense and thick backdrop, rife with turntabled fragments of sound, bits of opera, soaring strings, muted squiggles, slowed down ambience, warm whirs, mixed in with simple percussion, everything smeared into fuzzy blurs, all beneath an abstract summery folk, that glimmers and drifts, gradually changing shape and color, texture and timbre. Epic and expansive, yet subtle and simple. Some sort of abstract avant ambient folk perhaps... really really nice.
Fans of the above mentioned bands will definitely dig this, as well as fans of new weird America, modern free folk, and all things Jewelled Antler.
Packaged in a thick vinyl pouch, housed in a cool textured paper sleeve that folds out into a poster.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"

KNIZAK, MILAN Broken Music (Ampersand) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Czech artist Milan Knizak began his art career without much success, getting himself thrown out of Pedagogic Uni Prague, Preliminary Art School Prague, and Art Academy Prague in quick succession. But during the mid '60s, Knizak affiliated himself with Fluxus and began experimenting with turntables, tape recorders, and the surfaces of vinyl in order to make a 'broken music,' predating the damaged turntable 'n' vinyl experiments of Christian Marclay by almost two decades! Originally he would just slow down and speed up his records to change to quality of the intrinsic music. But by 1965, he started to scratch the records, punch holes in them, sticking tape to the surfaces, dumping paint over whole record, burning them, literally cutting the records apart and gluing them back together. These would then be played on his turntable, and inevitably destroy the needle and often wreck the turntable itself! The collages that Knizak arrived at are nerve-wracking clattering works in which snippets of the original would emerge amidst erratic skips and asynchronous warbling. Certainly for those adventurous fans of Philip Jeck, "Metal Machine Music," and Marclay.
RealAudio clip: "Composition N. 1"
RealAudio clip: "Composition N. 3"

KNOC-TURN'AL The Way I Am (Elektra) cd 14.98

KNODEL Dawn Of The Butterfly (My Pal God) cd 12.98
The second album from this dorky (in a good way) electro-rock band. They play poppy, nerdy space-wave with emo undertones complete with alternating earnest boy vocals and vocoded robot voices over clunky early '80s synth lines. It's not unlike a lo-fi, Casio-laden version of early Man Or Astro-Man? minus the surf element. Or imagine Trans Am (their old college/tour buddies) doing silly Gary Numan impersonations. Knodel offer up plenty of self-referential lyrics, like "It's a Knodel world. Knodel's gonna take you home." That's what they say, but only you know if it's true for you. One clue: how do you feel about a synth-pop cover of "Kingdom Come" by epic metallers Manowar? 'Cause such a cover ends this album on a triumphant note. So dorky it's hard not to like.
RealAudio clip: "Dawn Of The Butterfly"
RealAudio clip: "Knodel Rocks"

KNODEL s/t (Little Army) cdep 9.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Old college chums and occasional tour mates of Trans Am, Knodel too, are part of the 'new wave' of post rock. Both have a similar affinity for the casio, lo-fi-indie-post-rock's weapon of choice. But while both owe quite a debt to Kraftwerk, Knodel mix in Devo and Depeche Mode instead of ZZ top and Grand Funk. Pretty cool, even if it is only 11 minutes long. Limited to 100.

KNODEL The White Hole (Spongebath) cd 13.98
Claiming Knodel as the geekier little brother of Trans Am wouldn't be far from the mark. Aside from being college chums and occasional tour mates, they also share an affinity for the casio keyboard - the electronerd / post-rock weapon of choice. Both owe quite a debt to Kraftwerk, but Knodel adds a distinct brand of silly theatricality mixing in more Devo and Depeche Mode than ZZ Top and Grand Funk Railroad. This *does* include the tracks from the short 11 minute cd-r that had been floating around for the past few years. Fun stuff.

KNOWN UNSOLDIER, THE (SAGE FRANCIS) Sick of Waging War (Sage Francis) cd 14.98

KNOX, CHRIS Almost (Dark Beloved Cloud) cd 8.98
This is an amazing collection of of material that just missed being included on older Chris Knox albums, stuff from the time spanning "Croaker", "Seizure", "Duck", and "Songs of You and Me". Breathtakingly simple and urgent pop gems recorded with the minimal instrumentation for acoustic guitar, omnichord, and Chris' voice... Too bad he called these tracks "too preachy", "too jazzy", "too cigarette-lighter-sway" to fit on the aforementioned albums.

KNOX, CHRIS Beat (Thirsty Ear) cd 14.98
The legendary Chris Knox returns with a new solo effort. Though it's been a while since we've heard from the AQ-beloved New Zealander, he's obviously spent the time carefully writing real honest to gosh Songs, as this record, while not as great as his "Seizure" album, comes quite close, and the first song "It's Love" ranks with one of Knox's best songs ever. If you've been hungering for the manic carefree energy and chiming guitar that Knox's outfit Tall Dwarfs typified, give this record a try.

KNOX, CHRIS Yes!! (Flying Nun) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With another fit-inducing, vibrating-color cover, here's Tall Dwarfs member's latest solo album, full of lurching synth beats and intenseley personal lyrics.

KNOXVILLE GIRLS In A Paper Suit (In The Red) cd 13.98
Second release from these ol' rock vets Jerry Teel (Chrome Cranks), Kid Congo Powers (Congo Norvell, Cramps, Nick Cave), Bob Bert (Pussy Galore, Sonic Youth) and company doing what they love best - playing the blues. Sliding from slow 'n' smoky to rambunctious 'n' rockin'. Guitars and vocals take turns swooping and twanging against the solid thud of the kickdrum. With covers of songs by Hasil Adkins and Hank Williams. Fourteen late night poker and whiskey tunes.

KNUT Alter (Hydra Head) cd 14.98
We've long been huge fans of Swiss Teutonic terrorists Knut. Their blend of super precise metallic pound and blown out epic majesty was like a perfect, seemingly impossible blend of Neurosis, the Young Gods and the Swans. Coming up with a distinctly mathy post rock /sludge metal hybrid LONG before the current crop of similarly minded rockers. However, -their- hybrid was a bit more mechanical, almost industrial at times, a furious machinelike pound, relentless and so gloriously heavy. Which lends itself surprisingly well to the dreaded remix record.
It's best to approach this as just a WAY weirder Knut record instead of some super star studded remix affair, because when you get right down to it, nothing here is SO WEIRD that it couldn't have found a home on a proper Knut record. 'Cuz those guys do have a pretty deft hand at crafting a weirdly chaotic off kilter metallic crush. But what it does do, is add some strange sonic variation that there sound does sometimes lack. Dalek, JK Broadrick, Mick Harris, Spectre, Francisco Lopez, Oren Ambarchi, KK Null, Asmus Tietchens, Dither and more. A list like that should already have most of you heavy/weird rock heads leaping for the buy button, and be assured you wouldn't regret it. Most of the 'versions' here, play with the rhythms and the texture more than the actual song structure. This is still a collection of massive sludgy pummel, relentlessly propulsive, like some huge metallic steamroller. Just with each remixer tweaking his track and creating a slightly twisted, more personalized take on the original, the way a remix is supposed to. It almost sounds less like a remix record and more like a glimpse into each of the remixer's heads, as if this is how they actually HEAR this music. Translated into sound so WE can hear what these guys hear in their heads. The Dither mix has the guitars piling up into an impossibly dense wall of metallic noise, Spectre takes the guitars and layers them into some super druggy dub, Broadrick's mix gives that track a very Jesu makeover, adding more space, pushing the guitars down in the mix, and letting the vocals float on top in a thick cloud or reverb. Elsewhere Mick Harris takes -just- the rhythm and turns his track into a dark and ominous techno skitter, while Ambarchi messes with the original mix of his track, changing speeds and pitch, fucking with the tape, some parts are thick corrosive white hot sheets of guitar throb, others are cut and paste drum and vocal splatter, and others are barely there drifting drones, Null turns his track into a murky crawl, before letting it explode into a blown out Merzbowian metallic dirge, not sure what Francisco Lopez does with his track, other than make it sound a little bit off kilter and make the guitars sound a little... well, weird. The other tracks run the gamut from muted electronic shuffle, to thick metal raga buzz, to tribal psychedelic freakout, to blissed out ambient drone.
So as much as we hate 'remix' records, Alter is definitely one of the best we've heard, due in no small part to how totally kick ass the original songs are, but when taken not as a remix record so much as a weird experimental metal record by some really mysterious, fucked up electronic metal band, it's pretty much untouchable.
MPEG Stream: "Deadverse Remix (Dalek)"
MPEG Stream: "H/Armless (JK Broadrick)"
MPEG Stream: "Psycopathic Engine (Spectre)"

KNUT Bastardiser (Hydra Head) cd 13.98
This record has been out for a while in Europe, but is only now being released in the U.S. by the folks at Hydrahead. Knut (pronounced like newt, not like nut) are a punishing metal core powerhouse from Switzerland, who play heavy downtuned midtempo metal (with a hardcore edge). Relentless and totally crushing, with the chug-chug and guttural howl of Sepultura and the tribal and percussive workouts of Neurosis. The songs have a weird indie rock vibe to them (as far as structure and arrangement), as if Knut were an indie rock band that heeded Andee and Allan's advice, and just went ahead and played metal.
RealAudio clip: "Crawling On All Fours"

KNUT Challenger (Hydra Head) cd 14.98
Switzerland hasn't exactly been known for their metallic output. You could probably count all the great Swiss metal bands on one hand (Celtic Frost, Coroner, uhhhh...Krokus....uh) but when they do metal, man do they do it right. This is album number two from Swiss metallers Knut (pronounced 'newt' not 'nut') and it's easily their best record yet. A crushing blend of super heavy post rock, screaming metalcore, crusty downtuned Neurosis-ish sludge and droning riffs that stretch into hypnotic loops while huge, pounding drums and agonised vocals are splattered throughout. Lots of stop/start song structures, extreme dynamics and intense aggression. Fans of Neurosis, Sepultura, and metalcore in general will be blown away. One of Andee's new favorites!
RealAudio clip: "Whacked Out"
RealAudio clip: "El Nino"
RealAudio clip: "Neon Gide"

KNUT Leftovers (Ronald Reagan Records) cd 12.98

KNUT Terraformer (Hydra Head ) cd 13.98

KNUT untitled (Hydra Head) cd 10.98
Knut are an intense Swiss metalcore band from Switzerland that seem to have found the perfect home on Hydra Head, their sound having much in common with Isis, Old Man Gloom and the like. This is their newest e.p. and teaser for their upcoming full length. Knut combine huge downtuned riffs, roaring vocals, pounding percussion all with a decidedly non-metal, almost indie rock feel to them. Makes the songs more interesting and infinitely more listenable. Dynamic and heavy but kind of melodic at the same time. Think Neurosis, Sepultura, Deadguy, Kiss It Goodbye. Big favorites around here! Allan and Andee like to think of Knut as one of those 'heavy indie rock bands' that heeded Andee and Allan's advice, and just went ahead and played metal. Great.
RealAudio clip: "Dissolve"

KNUT Wonder (Hydra Head) cd 14.98
It's been a while since we've heard from Swiss heavies Knut, who we've always loved, their sound a head caving hybrid of mathy crush and epic post metal majesty, they were exploring Neurosis / Isis slow burn big blowout metallic post rock territory long before it became the flavor du jour. But the real appeal was that they could craft these expansive dirgescapes and then explode into noise rock freakouts, or super complex mathy grooves, and if anything, on Wonder, it sounds like Knut have moved way further into mathy noise rock territory, which we're actually pretty psyched about, heck, the world has enough long songs that build slowly into epic metallic heaviness, and yeah, okay, maybe the world has enough gnarled grinding math metal juggernauts, but we think not.
And Knut are indeed masters, putting most other heavies to shame, really in the space of a single song. "Leet" explodes in a frenzy of churning riffage and pounding chaotic drumming, bellowed vox, a deft chugging stuttering lurching start stop convoluted mathy workout, but infused with little bits of melody, some super cool, weirdly obtuse breakdowns, a relentless math metal freeforall that practically out-Don-Caballero-s Don Cab themselves.
There are a few tracks, where the bands reel in their insane time signatures and frenzied riffing, letting their sound ooze and sprawl, droning and buzzing, where they unfurl epic brooding heaviness, much like the above mentioned post metal, but even those moments are peppered with little mathy bursts, little gnarled and convoluted twists, there are a few interludes too, more sort of droned out guitar ambience, before they finish off with the 8+ minute "Wonder/Daily Grind", the first half of which is a gorgeously lysergic dronescape of layered slow motion chords and thick psychedelic guitar smolder, it does eventually lurch into some lumbering chug and pound, but just as quickly it slips back into some minimal ambient buzz and drone.
Some seriously awesome heaviness.
MPEG Stream: "Leet"
MPEG Stream: "Damned Extroverts"
MPEG Stream: "Ultralight Backpacking"

KO-WRECK TECHNIQUE Ko-Wrecktion (Warp/Chocolate Industries) cd-ep 10.98
Combining the talents of Skam's push button objects and DMC world champion DJ Craze, Ko-Wreck Technique brings funky IDM abstraction and flashy turntable wizardry together. Plaid also does a remix.

KOBAYASHI Dasselbe In Grun (self-released) 7" picture disc 5.98
We get so much stuff to listen to. Literally hundreds of cds and lps and tapes every month. We do our best to listen to everything. And many all time AQ faves and big sellers came from the piles and piles of stuff folks send in. But every once in a while, we come across something that's been sitting forever, for ages, we finally listen to it and are blown the fuck away! In cases such as those we do our best to get in touch with the band or label and order a bunch for the store. Often they don't even remember sending them, but are psyched that we're finally ordering some. As much as we're psyched to be listing it, and probably kicking ourselves for waiting so long to discover it.
But in some cases, it's been so long, that maybe the piece of paper or the note that came with the records has disappeared or gotten lost, and then we end up digging around on the internet trying to track them down so we can get them for you all to check out. Lucky for us, the guys in Kobayashi took it upon themselves to send us a whole stack of their 7"s (not recommended generally by the way), however that was months and months ago and it was only a few days ago that we finally checked it out, and whattayaknow, it's pretty goddamn great. So if you're in the band, drop us a line! If you're not, by all means pick up one of these killer chunks of obtuse metallic grind.
The sound is tough to describe, it's definitely grindcore, classic sounding for sure, but with lots of slow dirgey bits, chunks of doom, weird angular riffing, spastic rhythms, jagged guitars, dual shrieking vocals, short and sharp, but not always fast and furious, sometimes just gnarled and chunky, but laced with bursts of furious buzz, chunks of churning low end, lurching tempos, and occasional blast beats. There's a bit of powerviolence, a bit of grind, some crustiness for sure, and a whole lot of metal, all tangled up into a pretty serious slab of grinding atonal, freaked out brutality. The packaging is amazing too. It's a picture disc, housed in a thick red vinyl sleeve, one side is the song titles over little black blocks, the other side a man's head, but pull the disc out, and the blocks turn into letters, the lyrics to the songs, and the man's head removed from the sleeve suddenly reveals the skeleton beneath the skin. A sort of 3-D style red and blue disappearing ink thing. Plus the band members have names like Tommyknocker and Ziggy Starfuck, and are credited with instruments like sticks of fatality, screams of brainstrain, frantic rhythms and immortal throat. What's not to love? Pretty cool stuff.

KOCHALKA, JAMES Carrot Boy the Beautiful (Sudden Shame) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

KODAMA Turning Leaf (Olde English Spelling Bee) lp 21.00

KODE 9 Black Sun (Hyperdub) 12" 12.98

KODE 9 Rinse 22 (Rinse) cd 16.98
It's hard to believe we're on volume 22 of this long running series of DJ mixes from the venerable UK radio station (online and terrestrial) Rinse FM. It might be even harder to believe that of those 22, we've only previously reviewed ONE, the recent Roska installment. Which is crazy, cuz we're all big fans of these mixes, and previous installments have featured a who's who of the modern electronic/garage/dubstep scene, including Skream, Skepta, Plastician and loads more. And while our favorites in the series were definitely heavy on the dubstep, that is after all the genesis of this series, the individual mixes are all over the map, mixing in everything from house music to techno, dub to electro. Obviously when we discovered the new one was curated by Hyperdub label head honcho Kode9, we knew we had to hear it. And we were not disappointed. Just a quick flit through the tracks here, jams by Burial, Kode9 himself, Theo Parrish, The Bug, Rustie, Terror Danjah, and even RP Boo (whose new full length on Planet Mu is reviewed elsewhere on this week's list). So yeah, heavy on the dubstep, and of course plenty of Hyperdub artists, past, present, and we're presuming future, not to mention some seriously rare dubplates and sneak peaks of new up and comers.
It starts off super string with Burial's "Turant", perfectly setting the mood with the murky slo-mo soul, sinister and skittery, but after that, pretty much all bets are off, playful super melodic house music collides with shimmery, prismatic electro pop, which bleeds right into some Kompakt style house-dub, which in turn leads into a killer dubstep groover, with rad sped up soul vocal samples, and a killer bass drop. And that's just the first 10 minutes. It's a DJ set after all, so similar sonics come in clumps, our favorite, of course are the Hyperdubby dubstep stretches, like the one that starts with Jam City's "Her", a dizzyingly stuttery hip hop dubstep mash up, which mutates into Kode9's ominous "Uh", or later when Faze Miyake weaves strange theremin like melodies, and what sounds like barking dogs into a sultry sprawl of dubbed out skitter and stutter, which blossoms into Cashmere Cat's weirdly Eastern synth heavy lurching stutter-groove "Aurora", big beats, and weird chooped vocals, like a revved up Burial sort of, but definitely wanna here more from him (her? them?).
Still later, we're treated to one of the best songs we've heard from Rustie, sick ribcage rattling bass, distorted and laced with siren like high end squiggles, a crunked out beat, and some epic almost M83 sounding flourishes. That launches a killer dubstep stretch, with Terror Danjah, S-type and Kode9 offering up variations of that low slung dubbed out groove we can't seem to get enough of.
The Bug pops up too with some of that supercharged dubbed out dancehall, and then some wildly funky and maddeningly repetitive footwork from RP Boo, a strangely perfect fit with some of the other dubstep jams here.
The last ten minutes or so is mostly DJ Rashad and friends, who spin a whirling web of revved up garage, stuttery techno-house breakdowns, sliced and diced vocals, recontextualized into twisted melodies, and stuttering free form vocal freakouts, draped over and wrapped around chaotic rhythmic skitter, swirling soft focus synth pads, some tracks slow burn electro-soul, some laced with little blurts of jungle, others stretched out into some seriously hypnotic dancefloor mesmer.
Bunch of killer stuff on this installment we'd never heard (or even heard of) before, here's hoping more of that stuff will be coming out on Hyperdub in the near future...
MPEG Stream: DVA "Chilli Burrito"
MPEG Stream: CHAMPION "Friday 13th"
MPEG Stream: JAM CITY "Her"
MPEG Stream: KODE9 "Uh"
MPEG Stream: FAZE MIYAKE "Burciaga"
MPEG Stream: THE BUG "Dirty"
MPEG Stream: RUSTIE "Triadzz"

KODE 9 & SPACEAPE Konfusion (Hyperdub) 12" 11.98

KODE 9 & THE SPACEAPE Black Sun (Hyperdub) cd 17.98
It's been YEARS, exactly FIVE in fact, since the last Kode 9 and Spaceape record, Memories Of The Future, which at the time was one of the darkest dubstep records we had heard yet, it was like a more grim, less soulful Burial, with Spaceape's growled slo-mo toasting adding a whole 'nother level of darkness. Slithery and sinister and haunting, it was exactly what we wanted from dubstep.
But much has changed in the last 5 years, so we were curious what this new record would sound like. We wouldn't have been disappointed at all if it was the same thing all over again. But while many of the elements are still present, much has changed here too. Most distinctly, the record is not nearly as dark. Beyond that, the dubsteppiness is not nearly so pronounced, and the sound and sounds are surprisingly varied, slipping from electro to house to dub, but still all wound together by Kode 9's distinctive production and of course Spaceape's vocals, which sound more sung this time around, less growled.
Opening track "Black Smoke" uses some Burial like dubstep as a stepping off point, but then adds all sorts of rhythmic skitter, not to mention swirling synths, and some soaring percolating 'choruses'. It's strange, but definitely cool. "Promises" is all backwards loops, and muted thrum, but then some shimmery synth sneaks in, and the beat, more like a pulse, with a looped vocal carrying the main melody, sounding a bit like How To Dress Well, with Spaceape toasting over the top. "Am I" sounds like it could have been an M.I.A. jam, but here, it's more stripped down and skeletal, but with some ominous synths, and clipped handclappy beats, and here Spaceape actually sings. "Love Is The Drug" is almost house-y, like some weird dark Kompakt jam, and so it goes. From slow motion soul, to clipped RnB skitter, minimal slice and dice dancehall, to hazy dubbed out electro, warped and woozy droned out synthscapes, to jittery reggae flecked techno, washed out electronic dreamdrift, to crackling cinematic synth heavy buzz ballad. Cool stuff for sure. Dubstep purists might be bummed out, but anyone whose been digging How To Dress Well, Dirty Beaches, Hype Williams and other left field electronica will dig this big time.
MPEG Stream: "Black Smoke"
MPEG Stream: "Love Is The Drug"
MPEG Stream: "The Cure"
MPEG Stream: "Bullet Against The Bone"

KODE 9 & THE SPACEAPE Black Sun (Hyperdub) 2lp 29.00
It's been YEARS, exactly FIVE in fact, since the last Kode 9 and Spaceape record, Memories Of The Future, which at the time was one of the darkest dubstep records we had heard yet, it was like a more grim, less soulful Burial, with Spaceape's growled slo-mo toasting adding a whole 'nother level of darkness. Slithery and sinister and haunting, it was exactly what we wanted from dubstep.
But much has changed in the last 5 years, so we were curious what this new record would sound like. We wouldn't have been disappointed at all if it was the same thing all over again. But while many of the elements are still present, much has changed here too. Most distinctly, the record is not nearly as dark. Beyond that, the dubsteppiness is not nearly so pronounced, and the sound and sounds are surprisingly varied, slipping from electro to house to dub, but still all wound together by Kode 9's distinctive production and of course Spaceape's vocals, which sound more sung this time around, less growled.
Opening track "Black Smoke" uses some Burial like dubstep as a stepping off point, but then adds all sorts of rhythmic skitter, not to mention swirling synths, and some soaring percolating 'choruses'. It's strange, but definitely cool. "Promises" is all backwards loops, and muted thrum, but then some shimmery synth sneaks in, and the beat, more like a pulse, with a looped vocal carrying the main melody, sounding a bit like How To Dress Well, with Spaceape toasting over the top. "Am I" sounds like it could have been an M.I.A. jam, but here, it's more stripped down and skeletal, but with some ominous synths, and clipped handclappy beats, and here Spaceape actually sings. "Love Is The Drug" is almost house-y, like some weird dark Kompakt jam, and so it goes. From slow motion soul, to clipped RnB skitter, minimal slice and dice dancehall, to hazy dubbed out electro, warped and woozy droned out synthscapes, to jittery reggae flecked techno, washed out electronic dreamdrift, to crackling cinematic synth heavy buzz ballad. Cool stuff for sure. Dubstep purists might be bummed out, but anyone whose been digging How To Dress Well, Dirty Beaches, Hype Williams and other left field electronica will dig this big time.
MPEG Stream: "Black Smoke"
MPEG Stream: "Love Is The Drug"
MPEG Stream: "The Cure"
MPEG Stream: "Bullet Against The Bone"

KODE 9 & THE SPACEAPE Memories Of The Future (Hyperdub) cd 16.98
A few lists back we made Burial record of the week. An incredibly dense, super spare black hole of blissed out utterly bleak dub. Creepy and queasy, a black rhythmic crawl under a midnight sun. Like Massive Attack or Portishead slowed way down, and with all the skin removed, leaving a gorgeously spare skeletal grimey dub.
Here we have release number two from the Hyperdub label, the first full length from label head Kode9, after a handful of legendary vinyl only eps. In fact, Memories Of The Future is actually more of a singles collection then a proper full length, collecting some of the early long out of print tracks as well as a few newer 12"s.
Kode9's sonic world is a seriously dark and dangerous place. A world of low end subterranean throb. A low slung mutant strain of modern dub. The rhythms slither through a thick haze of murk and grime. Bits of reggae guitar surface here and there, but jangle just once, and are then sent spinning off into oblivion. Basslines are like slow moving rivers of black tar, all wound up into a creeped out druggy droney dubscape, so fucked up and laid back it makes Spectre sound like C+C Music Factory.
Most tracks also feature the lugubrious haunted house flow of Spaceape, a seriously ominous, skin crawling, killer growled ragga toasting, like some dancehall DJ pitchshifted all the way dooooooown. A demonic flow that sounds like Tricky chopped and screwed. Some slow motion sound system rolling slowly through town, broadcasting through a set of 15 foot woofers, sending out seismic basswaves as the townspeople shutter up their houses and cower in terror.
Speaking of Tricky, we still remember the first time we heard Tricky way back in the day. It was still dance music, sort of, but it was so slow, so creeped out and ominous, so sexy and deep and dark. It was hard to imagine that that kind of music could ever get any scarier. This Kode9 disc makes us feel the same way. At some point, grime or dubstep or whatever, when slowed down and blissed out any further would just lose all of its rhythmic cohesion and break into pieces and drift away. Which only adds to the inherent musical tension.
A few tracks skitter into more grime territory, or dancehall, or a more cohesive digital dub, but the majority of Memories Of The Future is spent bathed in darkness, slithering through some pitch black wasteland, sparse rhythms spread out all the way to the horizon, an endless abstract framework, the bass throbs like thunder in the distance, pianos tinkling and glistening like nighttime rain drops, vocals drifting above it all like the ominous refrain of some fallen band of angels, a deliriously disembodied demonic dancehall growl slowed down to a mumbled murmur, the whole thing a blackhole glacier drifting in slow motion across a blackened dancefloor.
MPEG Stream: "Glass "
MPEG Stream: "Victims"
MPEG Stream: "Backwards"

KODE 9 / SPACEAPE Curious (Hyperdub) 10" 11.98

KODE 9 VS. BADAWI Den Of Drums / Crows (ROIR) 12" 7.98

KODE9 DJ Kicks (Studio K7) cd 14.98
By now most folks probably don't need to know much more than the fact that this is a DJ mix from aQ beloved dubstep producer Kode9, and not only features some of his own jams, but tracks by folks like The Bug, Zomby, Ikonika, Digital Mystikz, Terror Danjah, Ramadanman and loads more. And the fact that it rules. But fair warning, this is not at all a straight dubstep mix, there are some serious dubbed out jams, some thick bass warble, and all that jazz, but there's mostly plenty of seriously non dubstep stuff, that's just as cool. The first half of the mix is definitely more danceable and less dubby, the first two tracks are dreamy and housey and melodic, even Kode9's "Blood Orange" ditches dubstep for something more fuzzy and skittery, his "You Don't Wash (Dub)" is also more groovy and late night disco-y than dubby. It's not until the Ikonika track that things get dubby, but even there, it's almost more electro and 8-bit crunchy, Sticky's "Look Pon Me" is a driving, almost grime style groove, with some awesome female toasting, dramatic strings, an irresistible house-pulse, and some cool twisted production, in fact so far, this sounds more like something you'd here on Kompakt, albeit with more bass, and more synth buzz, and less of that 4 by 4 throb.
The second half starts off with a similarly weirdo vibe, Zomby's jam is an awesomely retro slab of video game skitter, swirling electronics, skeletal basslines, tripped out effects, which leads right into a short blast of Kode9 spaced out weirdness, which leads into some serious dubsteppery, Digital Mystikz unleash some super stripped down dubbed out crunch, Terror Danjah, chops up some vocals and adds some fragmented metal guitar, Zomby sprinkles the proceedings with some sparkly electronic fairy dust, before things slip right back into some pulsing grooves, and the mix continues on its curious electronic journey, again only dipping toes into dubstep instead opting for a more free form assemblage of modern electronic music, from house to electro to 2 step to garage, finishing off with a killer dubbed out dancehall jam from The Bug, all low slung bass, streaks of record crackle, spare minimal rhythms, woozy effected ambience and some fierce toasting from Flo Dan. Awesome stuff for sure, although dubsteppers and Kode9 fans should approach with caution, even though you'll probably dig this anyway... and anyone into recent joints from Zomby, Ikonika, Martyn, Ital Tek and other leftfield dubbed out electronic alchemists, grab this NOW!
MPEG Stream: KODE9 "Blood Orange"
MPEG Stream: GRIEVOUS ANGEL "Move Down Low"
MPEG Stream: STICKY "Jumeirah Riddim Sequel"
MPEG Stream: DVA "Natty"
MPEG Stream: TERROR DANJAH "Stiff"
MPEG Stream: THE BUG "Run (Featuring Flo Dan)"

KOENIG, GOTTFRIED MICHAEL s/t (Editions.RZ) 2cd 33.00
Gottfried Michael Koenig is a German-born composer who had spent a decade in the '50s and '60s working for the West German Radio (WDR) assisting the likes of Stockhausen and Ligetti. During this time, he became one of the pioneers of mid-century composition, showing the most panache for electronic composition, all the while maintaining a purist ethos for serialism and modernity as a whole. From the mid '60s until 1986, Koenig had also served as the director for the Institute of Sonology in The Netherlands. This 2cd compendium is an excellent overview of Koenig's work. Even if his compositions for piano and string quartets are slightly tedious, just skip those in favor of the electronic work, especially when Koenig pushes close to Xenakis territory on Terminus X (1967) with its growling electric tones and extended ruminations on static. Suite (1961) is a much more subtle piece with its minimal gestures of gurgling tone patterns coated in a plastic perfection.
MPEG Stream: "Suite"
MPEG Stream: "Terminus X "

KOENJIHYAKKEI 070531 (Magaibutsu) dvd 13.98
While we know Japanese drummer extraordinaire Tatsuya Yoshida best from his infamous prog-core duo Ruins, it would seem that he's putting most of his copious energy into a different band these days, Koenjihyakkei. Actually Koenjihyakkei have been around for a long time (their first album came out in 1994) but we've always thought of 'em as sort of a Ruins side project, one of many, not Yoshida's main thing. However, now they're up to album number four (2005's Angherr Shisspa) and have just released *another* live DVD (their third! however, the previous two are out of print now) on Yoshida's Magaibutsu label. So they've been busy lately. Meanwhile, it sadly seems like Ruins is on, at the very least, a major hiatus, with nothing heard from that duo since 2002's Tzomborgha.
Of course, Ruins fans are probably also Koenjihyakkei fans. Naturally, since the latter band takes the Ruins' obsession with all things Magma to another level, in part by including keyboards, guitar, operatic female vocals, and woodwinds... it's all very over the top and insane (like Ruins) but, with, like six or eight virtuosos not just two. And it's less "punk" than Ruins sometimes seem, with more prog polish.
Fans (or prospective fans) should be interested in this live dvd, documenting a show at Starpine's Cafe in Tokyo, on May 31st 2007 (hence the title). Besides Yoshida, the lineup includes Yamamoto Kyoko on vocals, Ishibashi Eiko (heard with Yoshida on their recent duo disc Slip Beneath The Distant Tree) on keyboards and flute, Sakamoto Kengo on bass, Komori Keiko on soprano sax and clarinet, and none other than Hoppy Kamiyama on keyboards and vocals. Plus, guests Tsuboy Akihisa on violin and Imahori Tsuneo (from Tipographica, and also the Imahori-Yoshida duo) on guitar. All of 'em of course pretty much slay on their respective instruments and vocal duties. As is made abundantly clear on this disc's first six cuts, which find these musicians improvising in various small groupings. It starts off already in a pretty darn full-on mode, with a herky-jerky Yoshida and equally physical Komori Keiko in a wild duet. Crazy stuff. The second half of the program switches to proper Koenjihyakkei compositions, and (in case you didn't know) we're talking some complex prog bizness here, the utmost in "Zeuhl" stylings, beginning with the title track from Angherr Shisspa. They do two more from that album, and two off of Nivraym, and then for their grand finale, the band do a lively version of "Sunna Zarioki" from the very first Koenjihyakkei album. It's played with a great deal of relish, and the Komori Keiko's rah-rah stage moves are quite cute. Hearing these songs on record is one thing, SEEING and hearing them rip through them live is even more impressive.
There's only one camera, which occasionally zooms in for a (medium) close-up of the action but mainly stays with a full-stage view, getting everybody in. 12 tracks, 100 minutes, all region NTSC.

KOENJIHYAKKEI Angherr Shisspa (Skin Graft) cd 14.98
As with previous Koenjihyakkei (aka Hundred Sights Of Koenji) and Ruins releases, this boasts a bunch of tough to say, impossible to understand titles/lyrics... apparently they're all written in a made up language that's part of band leader Tatsuya Yoshida's characteristic Magma worship ('cause the French proggers he and we love so much did the same thing). So we don't know if "Angherr Shisspa" really means anything or not. But one guess would be "Utterly Crazed". Or how 'bout "Complex Mania"? Or "Mind Boggling"? Something like that would be descriptive of this, the fourth album from the Ruins drummer's amazing Koenjihyakkei ensemble.
There's been some line-up changes this time around. Yoshida remains on drums naturally, and longtime bassist Sakamoto Kengo still holds down the bottom end. But there's a new person on keyboards and an additional new singer as well. And the guitar is totally gone now, replaced with a reed player, who adds a bit of chaotic free jazziness to the mix, though of course Koenjihyakkei's playing and arrangements remain totally tight and technical.
With all five band members credited with vocals, it almost sounds like this could some sort of operatic stage performance, everyone taking the part of a character in some (again, impossible to understand) story. Very dramatic and action-packed though! If you're in the mood for some excessive prog indulgence, just ask for "Angherr Shisspa".
MPEG Stream: "Tzhdall Raszhisst"
MPEG Stream: "Grahbem Jorgazz"

KOENJIHYAKKEI Hundred Sights of Koenji (Skin Graft) cd 14.98
At last!!! We knew we could count on the Skin Graft label. They've finally reissued the amazing, long-out-of-print debut album by Koenjihyakkei (aka Hundred Sights Of Koenji), a crucial "side project" of Japanese spazz-prog faves Ruins. Originally released by the Japanese God Mountain label back in 1994, this is one that any fan of Ruins, or heavy crazed Zeuhl-style prog rock action, MUST HEAR, NOW.
If you're familiar with the Magma-obssessed Tokyo bass and drums duo Ruins, imagine them becoming EVEN MORE Magma-obsessed and adding female vocalist/keyboardist and a guitar player (actually, adding a bass player, as the Ruins bass player nimbly switched to guitar for this). This uber-Ruins quartet then wrote a bunch of insane, gorgeous prog rock tunes (or, in one case, adapted a traditional Bulgarian one, on the track "Yagonahh", surely one of the most incredible reeling hoedowns ever recorded) and play them to dazzling perfection. The French '70s prog band we keep mentioning (Magma) are insane, but not quite this heavy or hyper. If you like Ruins and/or Magma and/or weird prog music, you want to get this if you haven't already. It's probably the best of Koenjikhyakkei's albums, which are all pretty cool... indeed if you've been following our updates and scanning our website, you probably have read our ravings about this band's other releases. And as good as they are, this is the one, that started it all. Sooooo bombastic, so energetic, so exotically catchy. You've likely never heard anything as majestically grandiose and yet as full of stop on a dime frenzies as opener "Ioss", ferinstance. And the whole album is full of that sort of thing. It makes us gleeful just to think about it. Definitely in the top two or three of of all Tatsuya Yoshida related non-Ruins releases sez our resident Japanophile, Allan (don't ask him what the others are though, he'll spend all day agonizing over it).
One kinda curious note to make about this reissue, though: mastermind Yoshida not only remixed it for this reish, but he apparently also RE-RECORDED all his drum tracks! We're pretty sure only he could tell the difference. We really wonder what inaudible-to-others flaws he felt he needed to correct! This new disc seems to be about 12 seconds longer than the original, too, but we couldn't tell ya where/why.
MPEG Stream: "Ioss"
MPEG Stream: "Zhess"
MPEG Stream: "Yagonahh"

KOENJIHYAKKEI II (God Mountain) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY. NOW AVAILABLE ON THE SKIN GRAFT LABEL DOMSTICALLY, THOUGH, SEE ELSEWHERE ON OUR SITE!
Sometimes hard-to-find, now finally restocked: The second (1996) album from drummer Tatsuya Yoshida's Koenji-Hyakkei unit (aka Hundred Sights Of Koenji). Yoshida, if Allan hasn't yet indoctrinated you on this truth, is Japan's answer to Christian Vander (French drummer/musical mastermind behind the '70s prog band Magma). Yoshida's well-known main band Ruins is a drum and bass duo that is heavily influenced by Vander's band, but those influences become even more apparent with this project. Keyboards, operatic male and female vocals, guitar, bass, and drums expand the Ruins palette into a realm of almost symphonic "death progressive" madness. Crazed instrumental prowess, mindboggling changes, utterly heavy and amazing. Both Hundred Sights of Koenji albums are essential to all fans of Ruins or Magma, and certainly surpass both in some select ways! Third album upcoming, at last.

KOENJIHYAKKEI Live at Doors (Magaibutsu) dvd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Live concert videos (or dvds) tend to be for fans of the band in question only, though we imagine that if you weren't familiar with operatic Japanese prog monsters Koenjihyakkei and happened to watch this dvd you'd possibly become curious enough to seek out their studio recordings (or not, as this band's brand of hyperactive bombast isn't going to be everyone's cup of extra-caffinated tea). If you're already a fan of Ruins and/or Koenjihyakkei, though, you know what you're getting into here and probably can't wait to watch this. Ruins mastermind Tatsuya Yoshida's heavily Magma influenced (well, he's -always- Magma influenced, but this is to the extreme) combo Koenjiyhyakkei is in fine form here on this dvd, documenting a show they performed at the Tokyo nightclub Doors in August of 2005. There's flashing colored lights and all, but they don't them to be dazzling! Two sets plus an encore, 16 songs/chapters including a medley, shot with two cameras, for a good look at this very tight and energetic band.
Er, is it a sexist comment to mention that we marvel at how Yoshida's managed to get so many cute girls on board to perform his crazy music?? There's a female vocalist, female keyboard player (she sings too), and a female clarinetist/saxophonist (instead of the guitar that this band used to have). Then you've got Yoshida running the show from the drumkit (also singing), and also holding down the bottom end, one of Yoshida's obligatory dexterous rhythm section partners on 5-string electric bass. It's the lineup from their last album Angherr Shisspa, from which a lot of these songs are drawn.

KOENJIHYAKKEI Live at Star Pine's Cafe (Magaibutsu) dvd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're pretty sure that anybody who owns any of Koenji Hyakkei's three studio albums is already sitting up and salivating at the prospect of acquiring this live DVD. They've never played outside of Japan as far as we know, so short of a trip to Tokyo this is about the only way you're likely to witness the masterful madness of this band live on stage. Lead by incredible drummer/composer Tatsuya Yoshida of cult Japanese spazz-prog-duo Ruins, Koenji Hyakkei are quite a bit like Ruins, but with an expanded line up -- not just bass and drums, but also (in this instance) including guitar, not one but two keyboardists, and three vocalists (female soprano, female alto, male tenor)! In this band, Yoshida and co. indulge their wildest '70s prog-rock fantasies, performing with over-the-top abandon and precision -- like an ultra-caffeinated amalgam of Magma, Area, ELP, Osanna, etc. at their most excessive. Koenji Hyakkei are insanely hyper, insanely tight, somehow combining superhuman technique with utterly catchy, complex arrangements -- and doing it live without a net. That's the thing with them, this music is simply EXCITING.
This DVD is shot with one camera, mostly framing the entire stage but with occasional close-ups. It might have been nice to have additional angles, but at least it's not MTV-style dizzy cuts, that would have been just a bit too much with this music being dizzying enough as it is. And the sound is great. The songs performed are drawn mainly from their most recent, third album, "Nivraym" and their second album, "II". The set closes with one song from their debut, too. Packaged, by the way, in a regular cd jewelcase, not a DVD box.

KOENJIHYAKKEI Nivraym (Magaibutsu) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've been waiting for this for a while (since 1996!) -- at long last, the third album from Japan's Koenjihyakkei (in English, Hundred Sights of Koenji), the massively Magma-minded side project of the almost-as-Magmoid bass and drums duo Ruins. Ruins leader Tatsuya Yoshida takes his '70s prog obsession to extremes with this one, and that's saying a lot, since almost everthing Yoshida does is 1) extreme and 2) '70s prog infused! The first two Koenjihyakkei discs are currently out of print (boo hoo) but "Nivraym" is here to (more or less) maintain their greatness. Perhaps this is not quite as hyper and heavy as its two predecessors, but it comes close, and that's pretty damn crazed! For those unfamilar with the wonders of Koenjihyakkei, well, imagine the Ruins with extra stuff: soprano female vocals, over-the-top keyboard madness, guitar soloing! (And if you're unfamilar with Ruins, well, may we suggest checking out "Stonehenge"?!) The line-up has changed a bit since their last disc, now someone named High Rider Jin plays guitar, and the keyboards and female vocals are no longer handled by the same person. But it's still total maniac prog, with perhaps even more emphasis on sizzling synth flourishes and witchy vocal babble than before. Limited quantity in stock.
RealAudio clip: "Vissqauell"
RealAudio clip: "Axall Hasck"
RealAudio clip: "Gasttrumm"

KOENJIHYAKKEI Nivraym (Skin Graft) cd 14.98
Skin Graft has been domestically reissuing some crucial discs from the discography of Japan's Koenjihyakkei, the other EVEN MORE insane technical prog band led by drummer/vocalist Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins fame. This one is their third album, originally from 2001. Here's a bit of what we said about the original, and now out of print, import version:
Tatsuya Yoshida takes his '70s prog obsession to extremes with this one, and that's saying a lot, since almost everything Yoshida does is 1) extreme and 2) '70s prog infused! Perhaps this is not quite as hyper and heavy as the first two Koenjihyakkei albums, but it comes close, and that's pretty damn crazed! For those unfamiliar with the wonders of Koenjihyakkei, well, imagine the Ruins with extra stuff: soprano female vocals, over-the-top keyboard madness, guitar soloing! The line-up has changed a bit since their previous disc, now someone named High Rider Jin plays guitar, and the keyboards and female vocals are no longer handled by the same person. But it's still total maniac prog, with perhaps even more emphasis on sizzling synth flourishes and witchy vocal babble than before.
Speaking of extra stuff, well, ever the prog perfectionist, of course mastermind Yoshida couldn't leave it alone when Skin Graft asked to re-release this, tinkering with it much like he did with their reissue of this band's first album (for which Yoshida apparently re-recorded all his drum tracks!). We're not sure if he did that here, but this is definitely remixed, some instruments seem more or less prominent than before, or simply sound different. For instance, the intro to the first track (the only one we did a direct back-to-back comparison) has less bass. Other portions seem untouched, though. The cd booklet does indicate that there was additional recording done in 2009 for this reissue, adding parts from Komori Keiko (sax, clarinet), Yabuki Taku (keys), and Ah (vocals), all presumably members of the current Koenjihyakkei lineup. Too much is never enough with this sort of over the top prog, after all! Yet, this Skin Graft disc is 20 seconds shorter than the 1st version on Magaibutsu, for whatever reason.
Without further analysis, we can't really say if this is any better (or worse), it's just slightly different... if you already have the album, you probably don't need to "upgrade" to Nirvaym version 2.0, but if you don't already have it, this one should do quite well, if you're got a need for more unhinged Magmoid prog action in your collection! Don't you?
MPEG Stream: "Blecttem Pollt"
MPEG Stream: "Axall Hasck"
MPEG Stream: "Maschtervoz"