Wretched Wisdom By Krallice (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Black Metal)

Most of the music I post here is in the indierock/electronic vein, but let me tell you I have a major soft spot for trash and speedmetal circa 1985-1992. I admit it. After the Metallica black album, that soft spot hardened. Time passed. Then metal crossed over into indie. I really liked that first album by The Sword. I wanted to get into Mastodon when I first heard of them, but it never really took. I dig them when they come up on random on iTunes, but I never really seek them out.

Downloadables:
"Barael's Blade" (box.net mp3) by The Sword
"March Of The Fire Ants" (box.net mp3) by Mastodon

Then I started checking out instrumental postmetal (via thepunkguy, thanks Krist), e.g. Russian Circles and Pelican, kickass. I think I liked the instrumental part of the equation as I am not a big fan of the cookie monster vocals.

Downloadables:
"Station" (box.net mp3) by Russian Circles
"City of Echoes" (box.net mp3) by Pelican

When I was checking into that genre, one name kept popping up... Krallice.

They look like this:


This is not instrumental postmetal. This is the non-satanist American variant of Black Metal played by guys who have roots in the prog/jazz/post/tech-metal of Orthrelm and Behold...The Arctopus. This is less noodly and proggy. Nevertheless, this is a commitment. The shortest song is on the Krallice self-titled album is 6:08. The mp3 below clocks in at 10:17. Because the screamy vocals are very low in the mix, for me this is a new genre almostinstrumentalblackmetal. It is AWE-some (in the true meaning of the word). I wish someone told me about this when it came out in July last year.

Downloadable: "Wretched Wisdom" (box.net mp3) by Krallice

Am I going to be sucked in to an investigation of Black Metal? I had always rejected the genre as "too extreme," but maybe I just wasn't ready for it. We'll see.

Profound Lore is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Consider CLICKing
- Deerhunter side-proj, Lotus Plaza has a new new new mp3 available on Stereogum... here.

- Raven Sings The Blues brings you "two great female fronted doses of fuzzed pop." Check out the Blank Its and Golden Triangle... here. (Note: Methinks we'll see more of these bands around this here web presence).

The Krallice album

Off My Radar 2008, Part 1

I thought I would share a few tracks that I had not heard until I read about them on the copious year end lists of the blog-o-sphere. They were OFF MY RADAR. So, I present...



Downloadables:
"You Can Have A Cellphone That's OK But Not Me" by Jonathan Richman

"Red Herring" by Harlem

"Science Fiction" by French Miami

I have been doing some limited coverage of the best of 2008 lists in the Consider CLICKing. If you want comprehensive coverage, check out largehearted boy's post... here. Largehearted boy's own favorite albums of 2008 are... here.

And yes, I have started working on my own best of 2008 lists, but damn it I need more time.

Consider CLICKing
- Dodge posts The Soft Pack's justifications of the whole name change thing + live mp3s... here.

- Check out the monthly free mp3s at the Team Love library... here.

- Best of 2008: Songs from So Much Silence... here.

- Best of 2008: PTST songs continued... here (39-42) and here (35-38).

- Best of 2008: Said The Gramophone's best songs... here.

- Best of 2008: EAR FARM's Top Albums... here.

- Best of 2008: Ten Favorite Albums from Said The Gramophone... here.

- Best of 2008: Chunklet! Albums!... here (no mp3).

- Raven Sings The Blues about Blank Dogs... here. If you like, check out their excellent album, On Two Sides fer frees... here.

- Yes, I think Sugar does stand the test of time. So does PUKEKOS... here.

- Have you been looking for a "Bitter Radio Single" (fanatic mp3)?? Well the say hello to the Hospital Ships.

- Nothing But Green Lights posts an mp3 featuring the "laidback indie electronics" from Ghost Hunter... here. Get the whole album for free... here.

- The first Metallica vid I have liked since "One":

"All Nightmare Long"


Thanks Culture Bully!

All Remote And No Control By Eric Avery

Hey, listen to this: "All Remote And No Control" (box.net mp3) by Eric Avery

Some brief bio deets: Eric Avery is probably best know as the bassist for Jane's Addiction. After Jane's, along with Dave Navarro he recorded the Deconstruction album (which is freaking amazing... get it used here). Since then he has worked with Garbage, Smashing Pumpkins, and (gulp) Alanis Morissette. He tried out for Metallica (but wasn't picked), and was invited to join Tool (but declined). He also had his own band for a while (from 1995-2000), Polar Bear.

Now, he has a solo album entitled Help Wanted. It will be released on April 8th.

BONUS:
"Jig" (box.net mp3) by Polar Bear
"Untitled (Demo)" (box.net mp3) by Deconstruction
(source: some divers whistle)

Myspace page is here.
Dangerbird Records page is here.
Eric Avery's blog is here.
Preorder Help Wanted here.

Consider Clicking
- HOLY FUCK! (and I ain't talking about Canadian postrock) Le Loup are amazing live. See them. Maybe tonight? Listen: "We Are Gods! We Are Wolves!" (mp3). NOTE: they are less blippy and more swirly/wall of noise when they play live.

- The Walkmen record some Leonard Cohen covers for Daytrotter... here.

- VIDS VIDS VIDS: (1) Watch Yo La Tengo, Mika Miko, and Atlas Sound in Other Music's All Roads Lead to Austin best of... here. UPDATE: Watch Part 2 and Part 3. (2) Watch No Age interview each other AOL-style... here.

- So Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes and MGMT's Andrew VanWyngarden ARE Blikk Fang (not blikkfang), but those purevolume tracks are NOT album material and not album for a while, ok. This purevolume mp3 sounds a bit (just a bit) like Atom to me: "Nupital Eagles Sharpened (Misfits Cover with name changed to sound like an Of Montreal song title)" (box.net mp3)

- Listen to Blood On The Wall: "Lightning Song" (mp3)

- Chromewaves recaps some SXSW for you in sound and video... here and here and here and here.

- And thepunkguy loves a song that is 12 fucking minutes long and has no fucking climax... here. Me too.

Hang Them All By Tapes 'n Tapes

Provided this here wee blog is not your only source for music on the internets, you probably have already downloaded the following song by the blogtastic Tapes 'n Tapes (here or here or here or here or here or maybe somewhere else). BUT if not then make with the downloading.

Downloadables:
"Hang Them All" (mp3)
"Hang Them All" (zipped flac for audio snobs)

Myspace page is here.
Emusic page is here.

Consider Clicking
- thepunkguy posts some live Metallica from the In Justice tour. Download it at your peril... here.

- Shooting At Unarmed Men has a ?new? vid for YES! TINNITUS! track "Girl's Music"... here. AND the "new" SAUM album Triptych will finally come out on 3/31/08. Ugh. Finally.

- Raven Sings The Blues posts some new material from Drone/Doom-heads Boris... here.

- This is just weird.

- NPR's All Songs Considered has a new DJ... Thom Yorke... here.

- Anti-Pacman? Yep. You play the ghosts... here.

- GvsB has a selection of SXSW mp3s for your perusal... here. We here at GT will be mining the SXSW site for some choice/interesting cuts, so keep an eye out. Previously mined bands include:
The Crack Pipes,
Deerhunter,
Die! Die! Die!,
The Manhattan Love Suicides,
Night Of Pleasure,
These Arms Are Snakes, and
The Willowz... among others.