Dark, Silent, Radiant Radian

Austrian instrumental trio Radian play Cafe OTO tomorrow night...so I thought I would let you know why this is going to be a stellar show. Their latest record On Dark Silent Off (through Thrill Jockey) plays with the machinations of minimal rock, somewhere between the dark brutalism of My Disco, the lurking groove state of Holy Fuck (when bled of their hypercolour exuberance, that is), the static sheet electronics of Fennesz - hell, the hypnotic fried circularity of Loop. It's a bit of a remove from the static nature of previous records, and while I have always loved the discombobulated, rigid textures that held this band at a distant remove, there is something more electric, organic, alive on On Dark Silent Off - it grows on you, in you, around you. Grab the LP here, grab tickets for tomorrow's show here, and prepare to enter a breathing chrysalis of urgent, euphoric tension.

Last of The 7" (Mug)Stars

Almost a month since we sat down and had a aural powwow. Sorry about the incommunicado. So here is the start of the comeback. I missed the Mugstar show in London earlier this year that was a part of Mogwai's 20th anniversary bashes (also playing? Tortoise, Lightning Bolt, Loop and GZA, FUCK). Chunklet put out this excellent 7" earlier in the year to coincide with the Liverpool veterans' US tour - and there are four left. The two tracks are exactly what you would expect - their acid-drenched spark and boil permeates through 'Kabuki Skull', an electrified percolating mess somewhere in the vicinity of a caffeinated Carlton Melton melting into the primordial sun; while 'Goat Head' eats into the heart of stoner rock's etched-in-granite mantras. Let's hope for something more soon - with a band as prolific as these guys, we shouldn't be waiting long.