The sights, sounds and words of the week in noise.
NEWS
John Doran — the veteran UK music journalist who currently steers the ship at The Quietus — is set to publish his first book, Jolly Lad, a memoir that delves into his alcoholism, music writing, mental illness and breakdown. From the description: “Jolly Lad is about gentrification; being diagnosed bipolar; attending Alcoholics Anonymous; living in a block of flats on a housing estate in London; the psychological damage done by psychedelic drugs; depression; DJing; factory work; friendship; growing old; hallucinations; street violence and obsessive behaviour – especially regarding music and art.” Pre-orders are available now from Strange Attractor.
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RTRFM have finalised their line-up for this year’s edition of In The Pines. Felicity Groom, Thee Glold Blooms, Grim Fandango, SpaceManAntics, Eduardo Cossio Quartet and a reunited Rosemary Beads joining a lineup that already includes Husband, Lanark, Rachel Dease, Methyl Ethyl and a slew of other amazing Perth acts. It all takes place at the Somerville Auditorium at UWA on Sunday, April 19. More details over at RTRFM.com.au.
READ
The Road to Recovery with Slint’s David Pajo | The Thin Air
“I mentioned that it’s important to beware the ‘dangerous and completely untrue thoughts’ above. But there are quite a few things you can do. Don’t internalize your darkness: pull them out of your head and dump them on every person you can trust with your feelings! Yes, just drop it on them. When you’re bummed, you don’t want to burden anyone with your darkness so you keep it all inside. Fuck that. If they love you, it’s not a burden. Dump it out, lay your cards on the table with people who will react with compassion and not hold it against you. Do this all the time. If it’s in your head, let it out. It’s like releasing a valve, all that pressure starts releasing. Every little bit helps. Don’t hold back.”
Cvlt Nation interviews Emma Ruth Rundle | Cvlt Nation
“I love heavy music. The ways bands and scenes connect is something someone could write a paper about, or draw up a big family tree to illustrate the intricacies of connectivity between musicians. I can see how the association works in this case. I have NEVER once felt sexism present in the scene. The world of “heavy music” is one of the friendliest and most loyal I have experienced. The musicians and the listeners are (in my experience) the best people… and I often have the best times when we get paired up with a “heavy” band – Russian Circles for example. The only sexism I tend to experience in my musical life comes unexpectedly, and almost never from a fan or fellow musician. I once feared the “for a girl” mentality I know exists, but I never think of it anymore. I never feel it. There are many incredible women in and out of the heavy music world who can play technical and creative circles around some dudes – not to swoon too much (and I don’t want to play into any sex-based bullshit), but Helms Alee are one of the heaviest and most unique bands I’ve ever heard, two thirds of which are women. Good music is good. Who is playing it doesn’t seem to matter to me or to anyone else watching or listening.”
Meaningless Pain: An Interview With Full of Hell | The Quietus
“I just wanted things to be as extreme as possible, I didn’t want any middle ground at all, so bands like Discordance Axis and artists like Merzbow were just the greatest things I’d ever heard in my life because there was just no compromise at all, it was just seriously, seriously over the top. And it still felt like there was some kind of artistic expression involved, and that’s always been really important to me. And y’know, just in general I always felt that Hydra Head as a whole was offering real top quality; I knew I could trust anything they’d release even if I didn’t really know the band or artist. And it was totally my dream, ever since I had my first band, to someday put out a record on Hydra Head — unfortunately that will never happen though. Although, I kind of feel that Profound Lore — they label we’re with now — have sort of taken up the Hydra Head mantle. Which is great, they’ve put out some amazing records.”
LISTEN
Relapse Sampler
Relapse Records turns 25 this year, and they’ve been celebrating for the past month with a series of retrospectives features and releases, the pinnacle of which is this free, ridiculously extensive 184-track sampler. Highlights include cuts from Nothing, Neurosis, True Widow, Harvey Milk, Minsk… fuck, the whole thing’s full of highlights.
Space Bong — Deadwood to Worms
Speaking of heavy, Adelaide doom sextet Space Bong just released “Deadwood to Worms”, the first single on their new full-length due in September this year. At 14-and-a-half minutes, it’s a rollicking chunk of ugly, bottom-feeding doom with the perfect amount of riff idolatry.
Inventions — Maze of Woods
The always excellent Temporary Residence Ltd. label — whose catalog includes releases from Young Widows, Mono, My Disco and Watter — have just put out the latest effort from Inventions, the collaboration between Eluvium’s Matthew Cooper and Explosions in the Sky’s Mark T. Smith. Only half of the record is available for free streaming on Bandcamp, but the album’s first three tracks boast a wondrous array of sounds as Smith and Cooper play with trip-hop beats, ghostly textures and otherworldly ambience. Highly recommended.
