Guano Padano - Guano Padano

Label: Important Records

Released: 2009

Style: Jazz, Rock, Western

"This band is tight but they are comfortable enough in each other’s playing to not sound formulaic or over-rehearsed. The music flows in a way that brings to mind the rougher side of surf music, leaving The Beach Boys out in the sun while unkempt youths play their guitars in the shade. The guitar playing of Dick Dale ghosts through this album as the ragged but precise fretwork from Alessandro Stefana provides a treat for the ears. “Epiphany” puts a film noir spin on their music, sounding like Fantômas’ mutilation of Morricone’s “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion” (Stefana has worked with Mike Patton in the past).

The echoes of Morricone are more than just an influence, “El Divino” and “Bull Buster” feature the whistling talents of Alessandro Alessandroni who is responsible for those whistles in the Sergio Leone films. It is impossible not to think of these Guano Padano tracks as out-takes from the Spaghetti Western soundtracks as the group have created a very authentic sounding Morricone-tribute (“El Divino” may as well have a writing credit for Morricone beside it, so perfect does it sound). Another famous guest pops up on “A Country Concept,” namely Gary Lucas (formerly of The Magic Band and guitarist for countless other artists). Here Lucas plays a resonator guitar to add a more authentic Wild West feel to Guano Padano’s music; his bluesy ambience giving the impression that a gunfight is about to go down.

Yet another strand of influence runs through the album as Guano Padano appear to be as serious about American country music as they are about their other passions. A cover of Hank Williams’ “Rambling Man” makes an appearance later in the album, Guano Padano bringing fresh life to the song. Bobby Solo’s vocals are especially evocative; rich with years of experience, his vocals are like grit being blown against the corrugated steel roof of Stefana’s guitar. It is too bad that Solo only appears on this one song, an entire album like this would be something else.

Recently I have been getting more into surf music thanks to exposure to things like Neil Young’s early group The Squires and having a listen to an old tape copy of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. However, this renewed interest aside, Guano Padano would have struck a chord with me in any case as they are fantastic on their own. Granted their music is not exactly original but it is refreshing in its whole-hearted embrace of styles usually picked apart by modern bands in search of something new hidden in their corpses." - Brainwashed

Tracklisting:

1 Guano Padano (3:40)

2 A Country Concept (6:38)

3 El Divino (4:36)

4 Epiphany (4:40)

5 Bull Buster (3:28)

6 Ramblin Man (3:37)

7 Jack Frost (5:33)

8 Del Rey (4:21)

9 Danny Boy (5:45)

10 Tromp Valley (3:38)

11 El Divino (Alternate Version) (4:37)

Link

Earth - Hibernaculum

Label: Southern Lord

Released: 2007

Style: Experimental, Avant Garde

"'Hibernaculum'is the next chapter in Earth's revitalised story, and interestingly it sees the band (fronted by founding member Dylan Carlson) re-visting some of their old classics and bringing them bang up to date with the fresh 'Hex' style. Fittingly, the opening track is a rendition of 'Ouroboros is Broken' which first appeared on the band's 1991 debut album 'Extra Capsular Extraction' and broke fans into Earth's droning manifesto. Originally almost twenty minutes in length this track showed the world that heavy rock music could take a few pointers from La Monte Young (one of Carlson's heroes and primary influences) and still retain everything that made rock music so appealing in the first place, and here Carlson has truncated the track to a mere eight minutes yet retained all the glory. This is almost a pop version of the original tremblingly heavy piece but for some reason, beneath the country-flecked riffs and simple, pounding percussion the drone is intact and the power is carried absolutely. This sentiment is carried into the second track, 'Coda Maestoso in F (Flat) Minor' a track that some of you might remember was reworked by none other than Autechre on Earth's fantastic remix record. One of their most recognisable moments, the classic distorted riffs are taken down a notch or two to become perfect, chiming plucked strings accompanied by piano and Hammond organ for that extra bar-room sound. The best rendition is saved for last though, a version of the lesser known 'Dissolution II : Miami Coming Down' from an early Ash International compilation, this shows Earth's sensitive side with the piano taking centre stage as Carlson gently plucks over the top. Possibly Earth's most restrained track to date this finds the band capable of mastering two warring sides and coming out the better for it. As if all this isn't enough, Southern Lord have bundled these tracks up with a new version of the phenomenal 'Plague of Angels' which was released on the 'Angel Coma' split 12' with Sunn O))) which some of us managed to grab on the recent tour ' a breathtaking piece, this is sixteen minutes of narcoleptic bliss. It doesn't stop here either, this is a two disc set with the second being a documentary (filmed by Seldon Hunt) combining live footage and interviews with Dylan Carlson which give a surprising amount of insight into the reasons why Earth are so important right now. Carlson talks openly about his influences, his likes and dislikes in modern music, and we get to see highlights from the tour. I don't think there's any way you can miss out on this stunning package - it's got everything you could want and is the perfect stop-gap before the imminent next album proper. Essential Purchase." - Boomkat

Tracklisting:

1 Ouroboros Is Broken (8:17)

2 Coda Maestoso In F (Flat) Minor (6:52)

3 Miami Morning Coming Down (5:15)

4 A Plague Of Angels (16:21)

Link

Animal Hospital - Memory

Label: Barge Recordings

Released: 2009

Style: Abstract, Rock, Post-Rock, Experimental

"The people behind Brooklyn's Barge imprint have clearly spent the last six months trying to work out how to follow up last year's jaw-dropping "Baby, It's Cold Inside" album from the oddly monikered 'The Fun Years', one of the most satisfying and immersive releases of the year. Their response? Why they've only gone and produced this astonishing, multi-layered epic from Kevin Micka, aka Animal Hospital. "Memory" is a record that engages with familiar techniques and proceeds to completely f*ck with the programme. The album starts with a shimmering duet for music box and guitar, laying the foundations for what's to follow. Except things don't quite develop in the manner you might expect if you're into this sort of delicate, engrossing home listening, "His Belly Burst" is up next and slowly evolves from the sound of a mournful, solitary Cello (beautifully played by Jonah Sacks), to a rumbling, droney, sometimes distorted mass of sound that brings to mind the post-post-rock of, say, the Constellation label, or Mogwai's quiet/loud blueprints but with a completely unfamiliar backbone shaped by electronic, experimental and classical traditions. By the time "2nd Anniversary" sweeps in it becomes hard to really identify what sort of album you're listening to, finding yourself in the presence of distilled, affected guitar noises that lie somewhere between late, treated John Fahey and Neil Young's amazing soundtrack for the film "Dead Man" - the dissonance at once jarring and deeply moving. In turn, "A Safe Place" sounds like a cross between Oval, Tortoise, Mika Vainio and Radiohead, rearranging and rewiring human sounds inside reverberating bass and malfunctioning electronics before Micka's voice resonates through the sparse elements to ground the music in a deep, mournful clearing. Fuelled by coffee and heartache and recorded in an old bank, an antiquated movie theater lobby, and various apartments around Virginia and Cape Cod, It's left to the 17 minute title track to close the album with perhaps its most astonishing and heart-wrenching segement. The opening once again seems indebted to Tortoise, but the unusual, wordless vocal layering introduces entirely different dimensions. 8 minutes in and things become quietly colossal, merging sweeping strings, twangy, edgy drops with extraordinary arrangements that keep you at once transfixed and disturbed. And that's the thing about this amazing album - it has all these different, wildly incompatible ideas that somehow come together and merge into eachother, making use of electronic devices, shelves of effects, delay units, as well as shiny guitar tones, vocal washes, and dramatic build-ups that create a unique sound you're unlikely to come across again despite all the familiar elements squeezed in. It's the realisation of one man's messed up vision, held together by things that shouldnt work but somehow really do. Just awesome." - Boomkat

Tracklisting:

1 Good Times (2:25)

2 His Belly Burst (17:31)

3 2nd Anniversary (4:28)

4 ...And Ever (12:33)

5 A Safe Place (4:43)

6 Nostalgia (1:42)

7 Memory (16:50)

Link

Ilyas Ahmed - Goner

Label: Root Strata
Released: 2009
Style: Lo-Fi, Folk

"Portland, OR. bedroom wanderer Ilyas Ahmed emerges from the shadows and offers up his first new batch of songs in some time. Over a year in the making, 'Goner' sees Ahmed telescoping his previous acoustic wanderings into fuzzed out rockers and a hypnotic set of beautifully tight knit nocturnes. The kick off of 'Earn Your Blood' is probably the most amped up and stoned out Ahmed has ever sounded, a heavy blown out thump of hiss & electric strum. From there 'Goner' really gets lost. Loner howls, model hypnosis, desolate vamps... it's all here. The comedown into 'Exit Twilight' with Grouper on vocals is as haunting a broadcast you'll hear all year, for sure to knock around in your skull for days." - Label

Tracklisting:

1 Earn Your Blood (5:22)
2 Love After Love (4:32)
3 Some Of None (7:03)
4 Enter A Shadow (9:36)
5 Out Again (5:59)
6 As Another (4:16)
7 Two Breaths (6:51)
8 Exit Twilight (5:45)

Link