Gig #124: Of late 33: Dabrye, Efrim Manuel Menuck, E Ruscha, JPEGMAFIA, Howling Sycamore, King Vision Ultra, Profligate, Belong, Gary War, The Skull Defekts, Jean-Luc Guionnet & Daichi Yoshikawa, Cabal, High Rise, Go-Kart Mozart

Dabrye
Efrim Manuel Menuck
E Ruscha
JPEGMAFIA
Howling Sycamore
King Vision Ultra
Profligate
Belong
Gary War
The Skull Defekts
Jean-Luc Guionnet & Daichi Yoshikawa
Cabal
High Rise
Go-Kart Mozart

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Dabrye Dr. Shroomen
‘In a world where dance beats have been thoroughly embraced by mainstream rappers and Jay Dee acolytes run labels and headline stadiums, the question that looms over Three/Three is whether Mullinix’s once-futuristic productions still sound innovative. “Never affected by new sellers,” gruff-voiced Stones Throw mainstay Guilty Simpson vows on opening track “Tunnel Vision,” an affirmation that could easily double as Dabrye’s own mission statement. Instead of bowing to current trends, he burrows further into gritty ’90s boom-bap and proto-electronic influences (you can hear traces of Daphne Oram, Mort Garson, and Morton Subotnick), weaving internationally-sourced samples into his intricately layered compositions.’ — Max Mertens

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Efrim Manuel Menuck A Lamb In The Land Of Payday Loans
‘Although Menuck has always kept himself busy during Godspeed’s fallow periods with projects like Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, something about their activity seems to inspire a need to create independently of a collective. And evidently, this flurry of output hasn’t diluted the quality or dulled the potency of the resulting work: Pissing Stars is a fever dream whose central tensions feel all too real.’ — Bekki Bemrose

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E Ruscha Who Are You
‘Making sense of LA takes a lifetime. Ed Ruscha channels the city’s endless freeways, hazy light and bewildering energy through his synthesizers. Though he’s just released his first album under his given name—which he shares with his father, the acclaimed artist—Ruscha first gained an audience in the early ’90s as a member of the shoegaze band Medicine. Since then, his output has moved in multiple directions, mirroring LA’s endless sprawl. He’s been a resident at the weekly Dub Club event, founded a dub-punk band called Future Pigeon and collaborated with the likes of Suzanne Kraft (as Blasé), Willie Burns, Thomas Bullock and, most recently, the cult British act Woo. All the while, he’s been combing the city’s garage sales and thrift stores, collecting gear, clothing, records, books, art and ephemera in his studio, which is situated close to Dublab, where he hosts a monthly radio show. While many of Ruscha’s solo hardware experiments have come out under the name Secret Circuit, the move to release an album under his birth name feels appropriate. Who Are You is a culmination of his work to date: fuzz guitars, cosmic synths and dubbed-out basslines march towards the sunset at a motorik pace.’ — Resident Advisor

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JPEGMAFIA I Cannot Fucking Wait Until Morrissey Dies (live)
‘What does it mean to be provocative in 2018? JPEGMAFIA has been answering that question for years, draped in a confederate flag. This year’s breakout project Veteran is just the latest installment in JPEG’s impressive catalogue. Stylistically diverse, JPEG’s projects are united by his rage at the forces of oppression, contempt at the hypocrisy of those who claim to be in opposition, and a compulsion to alienate as many casual listeners as possible. Rednecks, the alt-right, and the forces of imperialism JPEG served under during a tour of Iraq are lined up against the same wall as Brooklyn gentrifiers and the diet-woke allies who wear struggle like an accessory.’ — Jordan Darville

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Howling Sycamore Obstinate Pace
‘From the ashes of an abandoned project, Davide Tiso, best known for his Ephal Duath project, created Howling Sycamore into its own formidable beast. Combing the technical, extreme drumming of Hannes Grossmann (Obscura, Blotted Science) with his own guitar, and bass work Tiso formed the basis of the band. Opting for traditional prog metal vocals (rather than the harsh vocals usually associated with the style of music) Tiso brought in ex-Watchtower vocalist Jason McMaster to finish the core of the band. Rounding off the lineup for the album are guest musicians Kevin Hufnagel (Dysrhythmia, Gorguts) and, Fester (Burials, Humorous) on guitars, and perhaps more importantly for the overall sound, Bruce Lamont (Yakuza, Brain Tentacles) on baritone saxophone. The lineup complete they set out to record the heavy, often schizophrenic music that Tiso had written.’ — Metal Wani

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King Vision Ultra Grey
‘King Vision Ultra – aka PTP founder Geng – will release their debut album Pain Of Mind via Ascetic House in early 2018. Geng describes the album as “a rugged medley informed both by interlude-filled, classic hiphop albums I grew up with (ie those by Public Enemy, Wu Tang, Gravediggaz, Beastie Boys, Gang Starr, etc) and the emotional heft of doom metal. It kinda plays out like a radio drama”.’ — The Wire

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Profligate Lose A Little
‘It’s rare for a song to capture both the volatility and bliss of love. Profligate—the experimental pop duo of Philly noise musician Noah Anthony and L.A. poet Elaine Kahn—do just that with “Lose a Little.” A highlight from their new record, Somewhere Else, it’s restless and emotional: cold and hot all at once, with an ever-changing palette of darkwave synthesizer tones, sultry bass plucks, and dour drum lines. The only anchors in this sea of noise are Anthony’s foggy baritone and Kahn’s soft soprano, which swirl around each other as they deliver opaque lines about a romance consisting of “staring at the sun” and frigid “January winds.” Their spooky tones and the constant motion of the song make “Lose a Little” feel almost nightmarish: It progresses in fits and starts, like a person drifting in and out of a feverish sleep. Finally, the song settles down, all the moving noise dissolving into a smoky buzz and Kahn’s placid recitations: “There are no little echoes/And I leap into the sea.” From the desperate start to this serene end, on “Lose a Little,” Profligate offer something that’s as complex and engrossing as a sordid affair.’ — Kevin Lozano

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Belong October Language
‘Since it’s release in early 2006, Belongs debut masterpiece has accumulated a dedicated cult following, with comparisons to the work of Christian Fennesz and Gas, with some claims that it plays like My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless” sans the songs. While these comparisons are useful for filing this album into a particular bin in the record shop, time has proven that “October Language” is a unique album which remains unmatched by its contemporaries.’ — Spectrum Spools

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Gary War Home Address
‘While it sheds the lo-fi fog that characterized previous releases, Gaz Forth retains the sense of homebrew weirdness. Gar War’s vocals still sound like they were recorded in a submersion tank, wobbly and bobbing on and off the note, and there are still giallo synths aplenty. The difference is that those elements never fully swallow up the songs. It all adds up to the most focused and digestible Gary War album to date, a perfect balance of Paisley Underground jangle and West Coast psychedelia, as refracted through Dalton’s oddball prism.’ — Tristan Bath

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The Skull Defekts A Message from The Skull Defekts
‘This album is a career highpoint for Sweden’s Skull Defekts, a group who have already paid their dues and then some in the field of strafing psychedelic noiserock. Readers who enjoy acts from Sonic Youth to Factory Floor to Gnod ought to be all over The Skull Defekts. Does it matter that this is not only their best album but also their last, since founder member Joachim Nordwall decided to break the band up when recording began in 2016? Mind, even when/if The Skull Defekts are an instrumental band, they can still lock you in their zone. ‘A Brief History Of Rhythm, Dub, Life And Death’, understated title and all, opens the album with a freight-train clatter down the railroad that runs parallel to the autobahn, which is a faffy way of saying it’s on a big This Heat tip. ‘A Message From The Skull Defekts’, its penultimate flourish, is a maximalist frazzler that wraps up in under five minutes but feels, in the best way, like a psychedelic epic.’ — Noel Gardner

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Jean-Luc Guionnet & Daichi Yoshikawa 2
‘A collaboration between alto saxophonist Jean-Luc Guionnet and electroacoustic feedback artist Daichi Yoshikawa, Intervivos sees Guionnet conjuring an extended alto saxophone technique to embark, along with Yoshikawa’s electronic feedback systems, upon a series of four improvisations. Recorded over a week-long residency at Hong Kong’s Empty Gallery (and released via that space’s very own publishing imprint Empty Editions), the resultant record strikes an unlikely balance between elliptical, open-ended ambience and a desiccated, corroded sonic brutality that registers most immediately at the affective level of dread, which gives way and blooms into its antecedents: the suppressed, unutterable, traumatized materials where nameless bad affect grows.’ — Nick Henderson

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Cabal False Light
‘This is a deathcore record and this is a deathcore band. Anyone who might shy away from the phrase are not for this band and though the group may dislike the pigeonholing, that is essentially where Mark of Rot lives (though it does certainly contain characteristics of djent, black and death metal particularly). Anyway, onto the record. The one thing that became apparent on the first few listens was its need to be digested slowly. The subtleties and the nuances of the album definitely require several listens to be truly appreciated, despite the straight-forward nature of the music. Its first impression, more likely than not will be that it feels like 90% beatdown. Bruising while cruising if you will.’ — Max Southall

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High Rise Wipe Out
‘High Rise officially came together in 1982, centered around bassist and vocalist Asahito Nanjo and guitarist Munehiro Narita. Both grew up listening to imported Western music—Nanjo obsessed with any soundtrack he could find, Narita exposed to the Doors, Pink Floyd and Wilson Pickett among others via an uncle—before venturing into even more eclectic territory, developing a playing style heavily shaped by groups like Grand Funk Railroad and Blue Cheer. Punk, free jazz, and no wave caught both of their attention, as did domestic projects such as early Keiji Haino outfit Lost Aaraaff and the band Friction (featuring Reck, an early member of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks). The pair found themselves briefly playing in the same shadowy psych band, Kosokuya, but soon grew restless. “I decided to do something ‘hard’ with the people I got on best with,” Nanjo said in an interview.’ — Patrick St. Michel

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Go-Kart Mozart When You’re Depressed
‘Well, here it is. Seventeen slabs of Lawrence absurdity, clasped in a gorgeously garish sleeve, effectively mirroring the eccentricities herein. From a distance, I have followed Lawrence of Belgravia, through staple guises – Felt, Denim and several outings for Go-Kart Mozart. But even the kind of uber-fans that Lawrence has always attracted must admit something here. This, without question, is the most effervescent and creative album of his extraordinary career. The songs zing past with outrageous velocity. No second is lost to aesthetic introversion. Furthermore, and given the record’s lo-fi status this is the most remarkable fact of all, his command of simplistic, beguiling pop melody bulges from every single song.’ — Mick Middles

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p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Ha ha. I saw Liza in concert once. I think at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Probably in the early 80s? I think I remember thinking it was really razzle-dazzle. ** Joey Grantham, Hi, Joey. Oh, great thank you so much! I’ll send you my mailing address as soon as I finish this. Enjoy Lynne, and I’m pretty sure you will. Give her a big hi from me if you talk with her and feel like it. ** Nick Toti, Hey there, Nick! Ooh, ‘Small Moons’ is very nice. Thank you. I wish that had popped up in my searching. I’m glad you liked the Craig Baldwin film. Anti-Banality Union … no, I don’t think I know them or their work. Naturally I will rectify that absence right away. Thanks again, man. How is everything with you and yours? ** Liquoredgoat, Hey, D. Yeah, that seems to be this cold’s story. An international unpleasant phenom. Mine just keeps fucking with me in this almost mellow but not enough way. Let’s rise above. Power of collective whatever. Yeah, SCAB is a great project. Dora, its boss, is fantastic. Take care, buddy. ** Wolf, Ha ha, I don’t know what that is, but I’m happy to be a master of it. Yeah, right? I thought so too. Very eerie sort of pre-CGI meets quasi-CGI thing going on. The Murata thing is crazy. Jesus, I want to see it with my good olde old own eyes. With the gif stuff, I try really hard not to use gifs that are art on their own. I try to use gifs that seem kind of half-assed or weird or inadequate by themselves. Like strays. Like, ‘Oh, you poor thing, why did someone make you? Let me give you a good home’. Or like the gif equivalent of ‘the’, not that ‘the’ is a bad, weak word. Me too, one billion percent I prefer Q&A interviews over that kind where the journalist uses interview quotes to glue his or her own thoughts together or something, but magazines seem to like those better. It’s weird. I love reading Q&As. It’s a beautiful form. But you’re so charming when you’re in Grumpy Old Lady form. Well, most of the time, ha ha. How’s London? One of these days I’m going ‘get’ London and like it. Big up smothered in vegetarian love, Dennis. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. You know Ryan Gander’s work? That was the first thing of his that I’ve seen. It made me interested to see more. I like the look of that Andrew Logan piece. Niki de Saint Phalle, what a weirdo. In the best sense. Happy day ahead for you, I hope. ** Steve Erickson, Hi. Same with me on Q&As, although editors haven’t always agreed with my sense of their unvarnished beauty. Q&As are the only non-fiction form I still think I’d be interested in doing, or interested enough to propose doing. I just listened to a couple of tracks off that Moodie Black album yesterday and thought they were very interesting. I know, the Space Replay piece is kind of nagging in a seductive way. Or at least the documentation vid is. I respect Zadie Smith, but I don’t read her much. She’s been very supportive of my work, which isn’t very common among big authors. I did not know about her brother, and, yes, intriguing. Noted. Thanks! ** Misanthrope, Interesting. About your spheres/circles over squares/rectangles thing. Seems like that must be meaningful and revealing about you, but, lucky for you, I have not the slightest idea what it reveals. Well, I hope your cold doesn’t last for weeks and weeks like mine has, although its continual almost mildness is something of a welcome booby prize. His girlfriend is named Antifa? That’s a conversation starter du jour. Don’t know ‘Big Mouth’ ‘cos I basically don’t know TV, or American TV. Sounds kind of wicked. Wicked is good. If I were to take all the movies currently in theaters and rank them according to how likely I am to see them, ‘Love, Simon’ would down at the bottom just north of, uh, ‘The Leisure Seeker’ and, uh, ‘Fifty Shades Freed’. But enlighten me about it, please. Jeez, bureaucracy, who invented that shit? ** Keytun, Lil Hans, you got it, man. It’s yours. Own it. Nation, right. I don’t think I’ve ever been there. No, no, I exited the metro there once by mistake. It was impressive. I think I thought the Hostel movies were a good idea that had be waiting to happen and that he made it happen. ** Right. I made one of my gigs of things I’ve been listening to and interested by for you today, and, as always, I suppose I am suggesting you forage through it and find out if our tastes align in any instances. See you tomorrow.