Snow And The Random Sea Meet Under The Blackest Rainbow

I am growing to adore Blackest Rainbow more and more as each day passes. In the past little while they have brought to my attention the ace Gnod/A Middle Sex split EP plus the eloquent Black Eagle Child/Donato Epiro split - check those out here and here respectively. And they have plenty more where that came from - whilst I wait (and wait) on Paul's re-emergence, Ill delve into one of them.

Natural Snow Buildings are French duo Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte, who over a bevy of releases have really demonstrated how droning, avant-garde post-rock can be masterfully done. It would appear that they are quite illustrious - with countless (usually in very limited release) CD-R's and cassettes, plus some epic album releases - the last album was a triple LP set, before that was Daughter Of Darkness which was spread over 5 full length cassettes! All I have though is their latest - Waves Of The Random Sea - and it is quite unlike anything I have heard before. I have had a lot of drone-oriented content this week - Winter Drones, The Skull Defects, Daughters Of The Sun - and they amazingly have their own unique sound. But what Natural Snow Buildings do is carve out tracks that are individualistic mini-albums in themselves. There is a kind of Gallic folk infused with field recordings and ingenious use of noise and the tropes of drone rock, all mashed up with a mixer slash purifier. Finished results is ambiance with a vast amount of spirit, verve and imagination. Im not really doing this album, or this band, justice. Suffice it to say that this album was impressive from the first listen, but was mindblowing on the second. More things come to light the more you listen to it, and in the way you listen to it - isnt it strange when different speakers/headphones accentuate different things? Add to that the amount of care and attention Solange puts into the art work, and that Blackest Rainbow puts into its releases, and this is one of the best releases of the year. What a hectic week!

You can buy Waves Of The Random Sea here.

Natural Snow Buildings - This Ice Fortress

Gnodding Off With The Middle Sex

Gnod, sonic representatives of the Salfordian Republic of Psych, have done it again. They have been busy sparring with the likes of Bong and White Hills, plus gracing the Not Not Fun stables, but their ever-expanding notion of mindtripping domination has just reached its next phase.

I have to say that this spilt LP with A Middle Sex (put out by Blackest Rainbow) is grand. One track on either side by the two self flagellating sonic marauders. Gnod opens proceedings with 'Why Dont You Smile Like The Other Children?', and its twenty minutes of a manipulated groove that is eked out into a tunnel of psychedelic bliss - pretty much what you'd expect from them, really... Then comes A Middle Sex's 'Polytheism', which at seventeen minutes may be Gnod's junior, but punches above its weight with its short swirling intro that gives way to ten minutes of incessant percussion, electronic blips/splurges and underworldly vocals. Its all decidedly weird - Im not sure what they are taking up in Manchester, but it sure wont be found behind the counter at your local pharmist.

Get the Gnod/A Middle Sex split LP here. Below is Gnod's brainmelter in all its glory!

Gnod - Why Dont You Smile Like The Other Children?