fredag 1. april 2011
mandag 28. mars 2011
Chestnut Thornback Tar on VINYL
onsdag 26. januar 2011
onsdag 12. januar 2011
Jazkamer: Hair Stylistics CD review
Jazkamer - Cover By Hair Stylistics [Pica Disc]
I have been hearing this band's name for quite a while now. I never took the time to check them out, but I was intrigued when I read about their monthly CD series on a message board somewhere. Apparently, they put out a CD every month for a year on Pica Disk and this is the July edition. I didn't know what their other material sounded like before my first few listens, but I did hear that they always made very different-sounding records and have had a wide variety of styles. It seems that I am reviewing the blown out, grind/punk, improv noisecore style that they so feverishly dabble in.
At first, I wasn't sure what these guys were going for. Because "noise rock" or "noisecore" isn't really my thing, I find it annoying when a drummer, guitarist and vocalist set up and just fidget, slam, blast, scream and feedback with absolutely no direction, purpose, rhyme or reason. I know a lot of noise fanatics will disagree with me and say that sort of thing is what makes noise what it is, and what makes it great. This just sounded so amateur to me. At first, anyway.
By the time I managed to reach the end of this recording, I found myself wanting to play it again out of fascination and interest rather than enjoyment. After several more repeats, I became extremely appreciative of the completely nihilistic, raw, barely-rehearsed "full band" aesthetic. And by barely-rehearsed, I mean that it seems that there was some forethought in some of these tracks where some discussion of loose structure might have taken place.
It is almost as if these guys just set up a mic in a small room, got really drunk and just started whaling, screaming, bending strings and pounding drums for hours, then not-so-carefully cut up the recordings into 129 pieces, distorted it and then had some terrible marker drawings made for the artwork. To some people, that's all entirely silly. And it is. But it's fucking punk. I wish I could have seen this live. I would have rather have seen this live than listened to it on a CD.
After listening to this CD a few more times, I briefly scanned through other Jazkamer releases in this monthly series. The artwork and sounds are all so diverse. I started to appreciate this release even more because I found that they are a talented and diverse group covering a lot of territory. Hearing some of their other material gave me a better perspective on the nature of this release specifically. All in a noisy and "non-musical" way, they've done metal, blues, jazz, collaborated with Government Alpha and John Weise, etc. I know I am here to review this album and not to give a Jazkamer biography, but I just feel that being well-rounded on Jazkamer history can make one understand and appreciate any given Jazkamer album a lot more considering their relentless evolution in sound.
The aggression and nihilism is more than apparent on this disc. If this were a show, I could see myself staying clear of the stage for fear of having alcohol slung onto me or being stabbed in the eye by a piece of broken cymbal flying from the drum set. I picture a lot of falling over or falling into each other. This performance is hostile, provocative, threatening and totally meaningless. And it's meaninglessness is what gives it such a profound meaning.
Because this is not a style of noise that I resonate with on a deeply personal level (because I more so enjoy noise of the electronic nature), it is hard for me to say that this record is perfect. I appreciate it more than I enjoy it. I do, however, expect any improv noisecore fans to worship this album. Even some fans of more "contained" noise punk like Cult Ritual and Slavescene as well as fans of bands like The Hospitals will probably enjoy this thoroughly as a broadening of their already established horizons
torsdag 9. desember 2010
Bangkok report
http://www.scandasia.com/viewNews.php?coun_code=th&news_id=7932
Norway’s Kings of Noise Bombed Bangkok
09 December 2010 | news Andrew J. West | photos Andrew J. West
With the thunderous noise of Thor’s chariot rumbling through the falling sky, the kings of Norwegian noise Lasse Marhaug and John Hegre – collectively known as Jazkamer – have announced their riotous arrival in Bangkok as part of a mini-tour of Southeast Asia that also includes Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
Performing their ‘SO::ON – Machines’ show at avant-garde Nospace Gallery located in the entertainment hub of Royal City Avenue (RCA), the duo played in Bangkok for one night only on December 3, deafening local noiseophiles with their in your ear mix of experimentalism and manic pandemonium.
Nospace Gallery, which is surrounded by clubs playing the greatest hits and latest commercial releases for the offspring of Thailand’s hi-so’s or hi-so wannbes, seemed an improbable but somehow appropriate place to drop their anarchic bombshell in Bangkok.
The performance began timidly enough. Lasse Marhaug, with his head hung low, began fiddling with his desk of little boxes. John Hegre, standing with his guitar, began cutting the strings with a knifelike piece of metal. Had the performance begun, or was this a sound check?
The noise, already booming, intensified further. Most of the audience began to cover their ears with hands that remained affixed like those of the Wise Monkey who hears no evil. But there was to be no such salvation as the inexorable resonations began passing through the body in tumultuous waves.
After half an hour – or was it longer? Time, overwhelmed by sound, lost all meaning – of increasing animated twitches and writhes, John Hegre began bashing his guitar on the ground. What was happening?
He began smashing it harder and harder until he broke its neck then, in spasmodic bouts of a crazed delirium, he gradually pulverised it, each of its death throes amplified by microphones implanted inside the wooden instrument. The performance only ended when the last of the microphones had been destroyed.
The crowd went wild.
“We had a foot massage before performing. I wish we could get that in Norway before we performed,” said Lasse, smiling coolly after the show.
“We’re only in Bangkok for two days, so we’ve been making the most of it, eating and visiting Chinatown to buy Chinese tea,” comments John, streaming with sweat.
“We’re Chinese Tea connoisseurs, it’s a passion, like other people love wine,” adds Lasse, still smiling. “Our favourite is oolong.”
In 2010 Jazkamer released a CD album every month, a phenomenal effort by any measure, nearly doubling the number of its releases to 25 albums (available from www.discogs.com/artist/Jazkamer).
“The idea is to keep things exciting all the way, so in keeping with our eclectic tradition of making very different sounding records, each monthly album will cover the wide (non-) musical range Jazkamer has become known for since we started in 1998,” said Lasse.
“We are currently touring our ‘Failed State of Mind’ album, which was released on Pica Disk in October. The material we play in these gigs is from that album, although we improvise a lot around the themes,” he said.
“We’re visiting Thailand to perform at Nospace, which is run by our friend Koichi Shimizu. Before that was one night in KL and a week in Singapore playing at the Norwegian Seaman’s Church, and one show at Lasalle College of the Arts. The students like our boxes of weird stuff as they wonder what we are doing. It’s good they can see it for themselves because we don’t know what we are doing either. It’s kinda confusing.”
Norway’s Kings of Noise Bombed Bangkok
09 December 2010 | news Andrew J. West | photos Andrew J. West
With the thunderous noise of Thor’s chariot rumbling through the falling sky, the kings of Norwegian noise Lasse Marhaug and John Hegre – collectively known as Jazkamer – have announced their riotous arrival in Bangkok as part of a mini-tour of Southeast Asia that also includes Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
Performing their ‘SO::ON – Machines’ show at avant-garde Nospace Gallery located in the entertainment hub of Royal City Avenue (RCA), the duo played in Bangkok for one night only on December 3, deafening local noiseophiles with their in your ear mix of experimentalism and manic pandemonium.
Nospace Gallery, which is surrounded by clubs playing the greatest hits and latest commercial releases for the offspring of Thailand’s hi-so’s or hi-so wannbes, seemed an improbable but somehow appropriate place to drop their anarchic bombshell in Bangkok.
The performance began timidly enough. Lasse Marhaug, with his head hung low, began fiddling with his desk of little boxes. John Hegre, standing with his guitar, began cutting the strings with a knifelike piece of metal. Had the performance begun, or was this a sound check?
The noise, already booming, intensified further. Most of the audience began to cover their ears with hands that remained affixed like those of the Wise Monkey who hears no evil. But there was to be no such salvation as the inexorable resonations began passing through the body in tumultuous waves.
After half an hour – or was it longer? Time, overwhelmed by sound, lost all meaning – of increasing animated twitches and writhes, John Hegre began bashing his guitar on the ground. What was happening?
He began smashing it harder and harder until he broke its neck then, in spasmodic bouts of a crazed delirium, he gradually pulverised it, each of its death throes amplified by microphones implanted inside the wooden instrument. The performance only ended when the last of the microphones had been destroyed.
The crowd went wild.
“We had a foot massage before performing. I wish we could get that in Norway before we performed,” said Lasse, smiling coolly after the show.
“We’re only in Bangkok for two days, so we’ve been making the most of it, eating and visiting Chinatown to buy Chinese tea,” comments John, streaming with sweat.
“We’re Chinese Tea connoisseurs, it’s a passion, like other people love wine,” adds Lasse, still smiling. “Our favourite is oolong.”
In 2010 Jazkamer released a CD album every month, a phenomenal effort by any measure, nearly doubling the number of its releases to 25 albums (available from www.discogs.com/artist/Jazkamer).
“The idea is to keep things exciting all the way, so in keeping with our eclectic tradition of making very different sounding records, each monthly album will cover the wide (non-) musical range Jazkamer has become known for since we started in 1998,” said Lasse.
“We are currently touring our ‘Failed State of Mind’ album, which was released on Pica Disk in October. The material we play in these gigs is from that album, although we improvise a lot around the themes,” he said.
“We’re visiting Thailand to perform at Nospace, which is run by our friend Koichi Shimizu. Before that was one night in KL and a week in Singapore playing at the Norwegian Seaman’s Church, and one show at Lasalle College of the Arts. The students like our boxes of weird stuff as they wonder what we are doing. It’s good they can see it for themselves because we don’t know what we are doing either. It’s kinda confusing.”
tirsdag 7. desember 2010
fredag 26. november 2010
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