SONIC MASALA: The Faint

Thursday, 31 January 2013

Double Discipline Is Electric

There aren’t many bands out there sound as frenetically intricate and cryptic as Battles, yet French trio Electric Electric come damn close on their latest LP Discipline (out through Africantape). Weaving looped and live guitars, drums and electronics into a heaving, tightly coiled whole, the band have crafted eleven feverish songs of breathtaking complexity. The trio like to see their music as electronica or dance music – even “pop”. Discipline is anything but.

However the album title is incredibly close to the bone – the rigour taken in the repetition, the metronomic swings in these angular sojourns into the darker regions of the unknown proffers precision and dexterity that most bands could only dream of. Like the more vicious step-brother of Errors, Electric Electric are so scintillating they have to repeat their name twice – and with good reason. This kind of instrumental music will infuriate, perplex, hyperventilate, but above all else arouse. If this were the future of guitar music, Id be a willing drone to the cause.

Discipline can be bought here – this is a highly original album that takes what the aforementioned Battles are renowned for and hybridises it with the aesthetics of Holy Fuck, !!!, The Faint and My Disco. A shitstorm ensues. Make sure you get stuck in it.

Electric Electric –La Centrale
Electric Electric – xx2

Friday, 13 July 2012

Coming At You With Two Dull Knives

I've had a self-imposed week long exile from Planet Masala, but I'm back to grace you with some off-kilter music. Both of these releases come from Texan label Dull Knife, and are not to be missed.

If this label sounds familiar, it is because they released the excellent Snake People LP by Houston degenerates Balaclavas, which Sonic Masala was a very big fan of (thanks to Si for passing that one my way). The trio back that effort up with Second Sight, an EP that continues to blur the lines between dub-based synth and drum machine patter with darker rock terrain. There is a harder edge to these four tracks that licks at the edges of the best of 90s goth industrial electroclash (I'm looking at The Faint there...), which on this day's sonic terrain is a refreshing anomaly. This has some sexy ass vinyl too - check it out above! - which you can purchase here.

Balaclavas - Second Sight

The newer release is Love Everlasting, a gossamer-light fingerpicking affair from Zachary Cale. There is a great temptation to lump Cale next to Dylan due to that voice, but this is more in the realms of shimmering alt-country meandering than an imitation of the forebears of folk. Vastly different in sound and stature to Balaclavas, yet highlights the eclectic nature of Dull Knife, their wide-reaching tastes, yet their impeccable choices. You can grab this 7" here.

Zachary Cale - Love Everlasting

About

It was early on a Sunday morning at ATP - A Nightmare Before Christmas 2009. After downing a fair few, at 4am we decided to cook a curry. It was during the consumption of this drunkenly delicious breakfast treat that we decided to actually do something about the music we talk about all the time.

So we started a blog – and Sonic Masala was born. Now into its seventh year, the blog has spread out to call both Australia and the UK its home (and the rest of the world), and has expanded to include gigs, festivals and a record label under its black umbrella. Come on, eat the noize.

If an mp3 is up here, it's because we have been talking about it, and think the whole world needs to know more. It's there to give you a little taste. Then, if you like, check out the band live and spend all your hard earned cash on their records. If we've posted up an mp3 of your stuff and you're not too keen on the idea, let us know and we'll happily take it down pronto.