Duskdarting

I don't know about you, but my week has been a bit of a stress A-bomb. Cutting down on the beer on the weekend (involuntarily) and the lack of seeing regular live shows (again, out of my control) hasn't helped things. But there has been some shining lights stabbing my mind-s eye from the dark - the arrival of a new bed and finally connecting to the Internet (I know - domasturbation, right?); writing my first piece for The Quietus; starting my first commissioned column (here's hoping this becomes some kind of semi-regular gig); the test pressing for the latest Sonic Masala release (although unlikely to be the next one out of the stable - more on that later); and some news about the next few Sonic Masala releases that are likely to keep me occupied until the New Year. So, most of these things don't bring in money - in fact they added cash to the black void of negative funds that has been my life of recent months - but who gives a shit. I have Duskdarter to console me.

Duskdarter is an eclectic label out of Brisbane that specialises in the more ambient and otherworldly outreaches of sound. Two of their latest releases have occupied my warped, tired brain over the past couple of months, and both include artists who have been involved in Sonic Masala shows over the years. The first release is Monkey-Flower-Shell, a suite of suitably chilled acoustic guitar jams from Kahl Monticone. None of the eleven "songs" breach the two minute mark, a refreshing notion when most instrumental meanderings, well, meander. These songs are soporific moments in a fragmented time - languorous sojourns into a tiki bar of the somnambulist. The electronic aspects that seep into these songs help shift the sands of focus to a degree where it's hard to know whether you are happy, sad, awake or asleep. It's a cryogenic muzak, lulling you through the null-years until it's time to come into a new world. Perfect for the permanent chill.

Then there is the livewire stylings of Adam Cadell and Tony Irving. I saw these two perform one of (if not the very) first shows when they supported Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing November last year, and their loose experimental, experiential jams were raucous yet tempered - and electrifying. Both are incredibly skilled musicians of the highest order, having trained and played with some elite folks. But it's the innate ability to free-form into the darkest recesses of the sonic ether that is truly mesmerising. Some Shards For The Void sounds as rooted in strength in confidence and ability as it sounds insoluble, irascible, anarchic. Cadell's violin takes precedence here, creating a maelstrom of inner-ear turmoil, a skittish membrane one moment, a archaic rusted nail through the brain the next. It's cerebral nightmares and cathartic dreamscapes, with Irving a muttering fulcrum that manages to propel as it anchors.


You can get both in digital form (and Monkey-Flower-Shell in CDr form) here.

Cadell's Melting Away

In today's Hits From The Box I spoke about Fatti Frances's Sweaty, put out by Australia's underground pushers Wood & Wire (a subsidiary of New Weird Australia). Here is another album that has made their hallowed halls, and in my opinion it's even better. As one half of Brisbane's improvisational duo The Scrapes and occasional violinist for Nikko, Adam Cadell is a virtuoso who can do anything. He's currently residing in Ghana, continuing to look for transcendence in music. Here he puts out a release called 'Til It All Melts Away. The more he moves away into the wilderness, though, Cadell has found himself embracing the synthetic, with the four tracks showing an electronic edge that adds to its alienation and urgency. Swaying from haunting meditations to cacophonous maelstroms without end, 'Til It All Melts Away takes the violin, bends it into distorted contortions, and throws it to the wind. It's breathtaking.

You can get the tracks here.

Faspeedelay Offer Skittish Atmospherics With Ghost On The Waterfront

 

Last year I got to see exciting Melbourne instrumental trio Faspeedelay do a show at the Waiting Room in Brisbane as part of a Ghost Notes vinyl launch (The Scrapes also played – it was a great lineup). Faspeedelay offer up the kind of asymmetrical, rhythmic sonics that are often found wanting in other instrumental rock bands – these guys are more steeped in the experimental noise side of things, preferring references of post-punkers like Wipers and Gang of Four rather than the quiet/loud dynamism of the Mogwais and Monos of the genre.

And now we can revel in the release of their debut LP Ghost On The Waterfront, - seven tracks of wiry, combustible energy and serrated time signatures. I especially like opener 'Goat Dance', the skitter and swirl of 'Don’t Let Me Go' and the understated atmospherics of 'In The Zone'. Faspeedelay insist that the listener invests time in their music – and if you oblige, you will be rewarded with a heady, cerebral mind melt with the mother lode of payoffs.

 

You can glean Ghost On The Waterfront (out through Audio Actions) here.

Brisbane Outfit Give Off Nihilistic Spirit

I posted a few months ago about an instrumental act from Australia, The Scrapes. We have seen some amazing acts come from their that really push the boundaries of sound (Dirty Three, Love of Diagrams, Because Of Ghosts), and it seems in my absence that this trend has continued. Another Brisbane band to stretch the sonic climes are Ghost Notes, a four piece intent on infusing jazz and folk compositions with post-rock melodrama. I don''t know much about them, other than they released an EP a while back at Incremental Records (which cane be found here), and are recording a debut LP - if the end result is anything like 'The Nihilist' though, consider me hooked.

Ghost Notes - The Nihilist

These boys from Brisbane wont Scrape by for much longer...

I havent heard anything about these guys, but a passing reference to both the Dirty Three and the Drones was more than enough impetus to delve further. The Scrapes hail from Brisbane, have a debut LP Early Mourning Blues out, and sound amazing. They played at the same venue that Gareth Lilliard of the Drones did a solo gig at whilst I was in Brisbane - if Id known more about these guys I would have stuck around a little bit longer! Check out the live video of album closer 'Antarctica Beach' and join the bandwagon of fans that must surely be following these guys' progression with bated breath...