Jaw to the Floor is Below And Beyond a Sight to be Seen

Just a quick post about the band Floor. This brilliant stoner drone band from Miami were only around for a wee time (1992-96 in any sort of continual existence; on and off over the next few years), having released only two albums (both in a sort of posthumous setting, and the self titled LP of 2002 being particularly mindblowing) and a wash of singles, splits and 7". Yet it wasnt until they called it a day and went on their separate musical journeys (most noted being Steve Brooks' formation of Torche) that Floor's strength and prescience in their little corner of the musical world began to be noticed for what it was - a behemoth of ragged chugging riffs, epic drumming and hollered echos that emanated above and beyond their station.

This has all culminated in a brief reformation of the band in April 2010, where lucky punters got to see Floor play three sets, each with a different drummer from the past, that spanned their entire psych drone dirge oeuvre. And whilst the vast majority of us weren't even in Atlanta in April, let alone at the gigs, we can experience through Sight & Seen (put out by Chunklet) , a multi-camera performance coupled with professionally recorded and mixed audio, developing into an enveloping, droning wall of guitars. Floor's two guitarists, Anthony Vialon and Steve Brooks, spend over two hours on stage with their various drummers. Their three drummers, Betty, Jeff and Henry, rotate through the band's lineup: crashing through their early singles, smoking the viewer with their mid-period haze and ending with the cathartic and anthemic final album. With a fuckload of extras, what makes this package even more enviable is that it is limited to 700 - and it has been sternly stated that it will never be re-issued. EVER.

Im crying myself to sleep over the fact that Ill probably miss out - but I dont want you to be in this boat. Go here and pick up what is truly an inspired band that were truly overlooked at the time, as they weren't of their time - they were past it, beyond it even.

And to rub salt into the wounds, Floor a re releasing a mammoth box set, Below and Beyond -ten 12" LPs, one 7" EP, eight CDs and a (roughly) 32-page booklet of writings, photos, lyrics, artwork (and more) are all to be housed in separate jackets contained within a custom cloth-bound box. Each record comes on a different color of vinyl to match to the corresponding artwork, and two etchings accompany recordings that didn't have appropriate flipsides. 305 copies available...

Fuck...me...

Below and Beyond is available now here.

Don't believe me? Get into Floor, and you'll hear so many bands that have emulated their blueprint for destruction - Part Chimp, anyone?

Floor - Night Full Of Kicks

Floor - Triangle Song

Superhuman Slices of Shimmering Pop Pastiches

Indiana duo House of Bread have just released their self-released 3rd LP, Superhuman Tomb, and its a great little number. In this day and age of bedroom pop navel gazing brought to us from the arse end of some rusty cans and a piece of mouldy string - whether it be due to DIY necessity or just because its so in right now - it is not only refreshing to hear something that takes care in the intricacies of sound production, but are stretching out far and wide to discover how big their sound can be, whilst perfecting the art of the silence. It shouldnt be a surprise that House Of Bread can construct well realised songs - members Omar Azfaal and Bob Haddad have been in bands All Nite Skate and Castles together, and have been toying with this band's sound since 2006 - and yet there is a real sense of freshness to this offering.

Opening with soaring instrumental Nebula A908 - a mixture of Sigur Ros' eccentric musical interplay and shimmering guitar - Superhuman Tomb leads into Flying Nomads, Azfaal's vocals only on a slight reverb (read: the effect enhances his vocals, not a device to disguise the fact that the guy cannot sing) as he plays back up to some chugging guitar lines that canter into the sunset... 'Artificial Man' offers up some Krautpop tinkerings with elegaic vocals before stretching out in a Yo La Tengo pop mangling. Further along the track we get 80s Bruce Springsteen with synths-meets-Electric Soft Parade Hazy Boy, the quirky and ultra catchy Bunfs and the slow drum MOR of Snow Globe Smasher II, before closing the mish-mash behemoth that is 'Bloody Scouts', where every influence they can think of (Super Furry Animals, Flaming Lips, Machine Translations, The Cure, Devendra Banhart, Kraftwerk, Yo La Tengo...) is thrown at the canvas. Its this culminating track that probably encapsulates Superhuman Tomb the best - moments of fun and cerebral noodling amidst washes of aped classics of yore.

And to be honest, why not? The production shimmers with a glossiness that is somewhat lacking in most 2010 releases, and the guys really have put some heart into their babies here. A rough yet substantial gem.

Superhuman Tomb is out now.

House of Bread - Flying Nomads

House of Bread - Hazy Boy

A Weapon To Use On Strangers

Now here is something. There was a period a few months ago there wasnt anything that I could do without getting me a fix of A Place To Bury Strangers. I was hunting far and wide for B-sides, remixes and rarities, a few of which I shared with your fine selves.

From that point, I moved on, but have kept dipping my toes in their abrasive version of shoegaze nihilism. I pretty much thought Id have to wait until the New Yorkers brought out their next album.

Or maybe not...

I have been listening to Austin, Texas duo Bloody Knives for about a month now. Its pretty rude of me to have kept em from you really, so Im finally imparting their album Burn It All Down. Despite labelling themselves as electropunk, what with the use of drum machine/laptop/keyboard/noise and all, the first five seconds of opening track 'Tell Me Im Wrong' had me swooning for APTBS's 2009 classic Exploding Head. And as this album progresses, the foreboding sense of dread and doom dealt with demonic efficiency and mirthless glee accentuated this notion. That said, this is not just a homage - the industrial dirges that spark tracks like 'No One Else' infuses the album with ever darker images, whilst the electronic flourishes on 'Close' and 'No One Hears' comes out like a slightly less manic Death From Above covering Joy Division. This is a very impressive release, imbued with the right amount of attitude and aggression to ensure repeated listens - even moreso if you're intending a night filled with narcotic fuel and a trip down the rabbithole.

Burn It All Down is out now on Killredrocket Records - grab a digital copy here. If you do decide to hunt down a physical (limited edition) copy of the album, be prepared - it is an amazing package due to the band's emphasis on the art being as much a telling factor of the music than the music itself. Well worth it.

Bloody Knives - No One Else

Bloody Knives - Hands Around Your Neck

B.C.'s Shimmering Stars of Yesteryear

The current craze of delving into the bargain bins at the local record store to find a sound that 'needs updating' continues unabated, with varying degrees of success. As is well known here, I have a real love/hate relationship with the bands that infuse their fuzzy lo-fi meanderings with Spectorish atmospherics, shimmering beach riffs and 'sha-la-las'. Shimmering Stars is another such act, yet they are a lo-fi act that do not hide behind their influences - they inhabit them. This British Colombian outfit have just released a 4 track 7" through Almost Musique today, which you can get here. Its...brilliant. Why? Because it perfectly encapsulates their idols - Del Shannon, The Everly Brothers, Phil Spector - whilst infusing these beloved musical tropes with a distinctive modern edge. Take 'Let It Be Me', which incidentally is an Everly Brothers cover. Whilst it comes across as pastiche at first, a la Spectrals or Dum Dum Girls at their slower moments, their is a decided warmth in the offering, and the reverb used is used effectively, rather than just used. The second half of the track builds and builds as the guitars begin to taken on a wider, 90s distorted rumble, before cascading down in glorious feedback, all in under two minutes. Its an amazingly rendered love affair to these boys' childhoods and their familial record collections. Also check out 'Im Gonna Try', that actually sounds like an Everly's outtake! Im not sure how these guys are gonna travel over time, but this 7" (which, at just over seven minutes long, does not outstay its welcome in the slightest!) is mightily impressive.

Shimmering Stars - Im Gonna Try
Shimmering Stars - Let It Be Me

Shimmering Stars - "Sun's Going Down" from Delicious Scopitone on Vimeo.

Wildlife Strikes Hard...Again

Wildlife are a Toronto five piece that are just prepping the release of their debut LP Strike Hard, Young Diamond, which was also the name of their EP earlier this year (?). First impressions? That this album will be 2010/11's Apologies To The Queen Mary, Wolf Parade's massive opener of 2005. Big call that's for sure, but this quintet already have savvy indie writing chops, a penchant for slightly left of centre soaring melodies and serious bombast. 'Stand In The Water''s plaintive call that 'I can be a good friend, and I can be your lover, but I cant be both of them' is startling and stirring in its strength and purpose, whilst 'Sea Dreamer' holds the rollicking off-kilter jams and voice-cracking vocals that Wolf Parade uphold as their driving forces. The tunes are bolstered by the dynamic mixing duo of Michael Keire and Glen Marshall, responsible for tweaking tracks for the likes of Feist and Apostle of Hustle, and they really accentuate Wildlife's levels of ferociousness, recklessness, and intensity, but overall highlighting their innate sense of fun - and its the best fun Ive had listening to an album of its ilk all year.

So that's the musical down low, but who are Wildlife? I spoke to the band and gleaned some facts of a more personal nature:
- they've been together since late 2006;
- they came together from a wide variety of backgrounds: from punk rock bands to campfire guitar, improv theatre to gospel music;
- at any given moment, someone in the band either has the flu or is on hard drugs. Only one of them is a full time smoker, but he's not allowed to quit because its the only thing allowing Wildlife to call themselves a rock n' roll band;
- they get compared to a few of those modern Canadian indie rock groups (such as Wolf Parade???), but don't really understand exactly why, even though we are big fans;
- if people see them play in Guelph, Ontario, they promise to be really, really drunk onstage;
- they challenge every band in the world to a sweating competition. Every fucking one;
- All of Wildlife's members share the same date of birth: December 25th, 1982;
- I once dared my friend Jack to eat a jar of mayonnaise. He refused;
- Wildlife release their first full length album on November 16th, 2010. The release party was on Friday, the 12th, at a place called the El Mocambo in Toronto. There were free mayonnaise and ecstasy sandwiches and lots of glitter, balloons, White Russians (the people and the drink), Sam Cooke, Ace of Bass and A Tribe Called Quest - plus premiered the new Coen Brothers movie at midnight!

So overall, Wildlife are striking as hard as they can, and can expect diamond results.

Wildlife - Stand In The Water

Wildlife - Sea Dreamer

Friday Cover Up - Brain Idea, Clean Idea

For this weeks Friday Cover Up we've got a bit of a two in one type post going on. Brain Idea's cover of Kiwi classics The Clean's 'Getting Older', something I can identity with this week, but first a bit of info about Brain Idea.

The Chicago trio have just dropped their first LP, The Survival Scroll, with Permanent Records, a demo tape being their only previous outing. Its a whoozy, fuzzed out record that wanders into nice interludes of playfully, distorted instrumental noise. Brain Idea have the nice knack of making their tracks blend together, the sort of LP that washes over you the first time around only to reward you on repeated listens. DIY-style rock'n'roll chock full of catchy riffs, Brain Idea's The Survival Scroll is the sort of soothing grind that's perfect for a quiet Friday down the pub. Everyone seems to be pointing out the UK DIY and the influences of New Zealand's The Clean - maybe that's 'cos of their The Clean cover? Whatever, it makes a perfect Friday Cover Up. Taste and buy here.

Brain Idea - The Heat
Brain Idea - Getting Older (The Clean Cover)

Can You Have Enough Drummers?

Drummers arent a circlework masterclass of our favourite drummers, but in fact a post-hardcore act out of Boston. Boasting members from Pretty & Nice, which is essentially a indie pop band that bears some resemblance to bands like Why? or The Unicorns, with the occasional eerie Gaz from Supergrass channel - pretty rad then - Drummers indulges their harder edges, also honing their technical proficiencies whilst sampling new boundaries and how far they can be cast aside. What is quite amazing about Drummers isnt that they are good - for they are indeed a great act - but that they are unsigned, or that their self-titled album is unreleased! Even more crazy is that it is for y'all to get your mitts on and make your own assumptions! Head over to their website and get downloadin. What do we think of it? Its not groundbreaking, but its serrated edges are buffed with melodics true emotive shouts that dont seem derivative or that are often mislaid in other like-minded acts - making the fact that these songs remain unreleased one hell of a waste. Do yourself a favour and get some Drummers action going...

Drummers - Oceans

Drummers - "Planes" from Bobby Landry on Vimeo.

Old World Vulture Create A New World Order

Toronto four-piece Old World Vulture blew me away with their self-released, self-titled EP of earlier this year. What hit me about this instrumental act is their simultaneous adherence and abhorrence to the tropes of instrumental rock, or post rock. There is the sweeping cinematic nature of the building dynamics of sound ('Destroyer'), the relentless balls to the wall ferocity of guitar wails ('Benny') - but not only does the added loops and synth add another dimension, there is a particular styling to each song that ensure that all 6 tracks stand out. 'How The West Was Lost' felt like a dystopyian Western scored by Texans Zombie Western - and Vangelis... whilst the sweeping charm and slight shadow of Holy Fuck esque disco on 'Bastard Engine' and the dreamlike synth lines undercut by rumbling bass of 'Too Much Eye Makeup' heralds a brooding menace to come... Not only is Old World Vulture an assured release, it showcases a band not afraid to play with their boundaries, and to do it in concise cuts. I havent been able to get these tracks out of my head for a week now. I havent been this excited about a new instrumental band this year since Rangda released False Flag, and although it isnt the same brutal bludgeon that they push forth, Old World Vulture are a world unto themselves. A great seal of approval.

Old World Vulture are recording material for their debut LP due out next year.

Old World Vulture - Benny

Old World Vulture - Too Much Eye Makeup

Interview - Mark Sultan

So yeah, Sonic Masala's third interview! And I must say I am very happy with the results - the subject is Mark Sultan, AKA 'BBQ', a godfather of the modern garage rock movement. My technique is still a far way off from Jeremy Paxman, but Im getting cheekier - so let's have at it then, shall we?

SONIC MASALA - Welcome to Sonic Masala Mark!

MARK SULTAN - A pleasure. Will this affect the current rapport I have with my toilet?

SM - Depends on how well your immune system holds up to aural spices I guess! So, performing under your own birthname huh? That’s a bit blasé of you – have you run out of monikers for yourself already? Surely not! So what is the impetus for putting out music as Mark Sultan?

MS - Well, Smartypants, this is not my real name! This is more a means for me to possibly garner SOME recognition, so I can maybe have ONE decent tour in my lifetime and possibly rely on myself for once! But the impetus is basically so I can perform and record the same decent music, but done with more influence and less limitations. It’s funny when people complain about this new album not being straight-forward enough – I have made 87657546 of the most primitive and straight-up rock’n’roll records you will EVER hear, but these folks probably don’t know it. So ya, I get to do more things.

SM - Why is there so little output as Mark Sultan? You are a very prolific musician after all…

MS - Sure, as Mark Sultan, only two albums and a couple of singles. But that is still a decent amount for anyone. It’s not like when I wrote and sang and performed stuff as ‘BBQ’ or in King Khan & BBQ or in any other band I was in it wasn’t me. I did a shitload in those bands. Tonnes of music. It’s all still me.

SM - The collaborative process has always been the driving force of the gamut of your music. Are there any particular incarnations that you’ve been in that you’re especially proud of?

MS - I’m ‘proud’ of most of what I have been able to do or I wouldn’t put it out. That being said, the stuff I have had less control over release-wise that I have collaborated on with bands like Deadly Snakes or Black Lips or Jack Oblivian… Well, I still have no qualms with that stuff. I can officially say I was proud to have been invited to do that stuff.

SM - Are there any musicians or groups out there that you wish to warp music with?

MS - Like people I would wanna collaborate with? I dunno, but I’d love it if some band with similar sensibilities (a love of both pure rock’n’roll and avant garde shit) would snatch me up to sing in front of them, maybe do improv weirdness, I’d be in.

SM - You like to explore the extremities of the genres that intrigue most, such as psych, doo wop, country, punk – and eschew the tropes within these genres to create an iconic sound. What are the direct touchstones for $?

MS - I just love a LOT of music. I am pretty well versed and have a serious reverence for good shit. These things, these sounds I ended up exploring… They are LOVES of mine. I wasn’t subconsciously trying to meld a bunch of genres together, but I guess it just sounds that way. I have always maintained a certain level of timelessness in my songs or recordings – even when they were almost traditionally rock’n’roll – because I am me and I will do things that satisfy myself, no matter the scorn. I just think all of these sounds, no matter the superficial differences between them, are all cut from the same cloth. I just want to make a nice pair of socks with them.

SM - $ is infused with all your normal energies and musical tropes – it is a Mark Sultan record, through and through. Yet we have a couple of meandering tracks bookending the punchy verve of the rest of the album, plus the drawn out doo-wop beast that is ‘Ten of Hearts’ – is this intentional?

MS - Nothing was intentional. But I do know that I would never shorten – or draw out – anything on purpose. Whatever I felt like writing or recording is what I did. People complain about the length of some songs. I dunno. I don’t get it. I didn’t think music critics were into the 3 minute rule. I thought reviews were about content and not entertainment. Ultimately, I don’t give a fuck what people think – if they won’t listen to all of ‘$’, because they can’t get through the opener “Icicles”, then they have fallen into my trap. I don’t want someone with no patience listening to anything I do. Go listen to ‘all hits radio’. And forget what you were into next week. Hip! I like to look at longer songs in general as more like one connected moment I can spend with a lady, or spend destroying a house. Sensuality and anarchy versus piston-fucking and focused violence.

SM - Can I get a fuck yeah! We love our long songs here, no question! So whats the future of Mark Sultan? Back to the BBQ anytime soon?

MS - No idea. I live for today. But I just did a US tour kind of as my one-man band (BBQ), though it was billed as ‘Mark Sultan’, for the most part. It was awesome. I am taking a couple months off to enjoy my new apartment and finish up two new albums and then I hope to tour a bunch, as usual.

SM - God, I feel these questions are so staid, so fuck it. Nonsensical questions from here on out. If you indeed are the end as you state in the track, er, ‘I Am The End’, whats the beginning? And will ever the twain meet?

MS - I believe that time doesn’t exist and if it does it makes no sense as we know it. If I believed in time, I would be inclined to think it is speeding up. Maybe I do believe it. In any case, the ‘End’ is non-existence, I guess. So it’s a farce. There is no beginning.

SM - Whats your favourite pair of dancing shoes?

MS - I had some awesome kicks a few years back. I would dance so hard, my pants would fall down. Berlin, baby!

SM - Who is the brains and who is the brawn in King Khan & BBQ?

MS - We were both of the both, just mirrored in a vacuum.

SM - When can we expect you to come to the UK and set fire to this feudal empire?

MS - When someone invites me in such a way that I don’t get paid in water and treated like a piece of fucking shit.

SM - Finally, what is sonic masala?

Something so delicious-sounding that I am in a state of synesthetic shock. I seriously haven’t eaten music in days. I was hoping at first that it did not hurt my bowel, but have since realized it has rendered me a victim of the verbal trots.

Mark Sultan's $ is out now on Last Gang Records.

Permanently Mark My Face!

What to say about Face Tat, Zach Hill's latest hyper frenetic aural fuck fest?

Hmm, tough one.

Hill, possibly the greatest drummer on earth, and definitely the busiest, has here come closest to his Icarus-like devotion to reach the sun. His interlaid drum solos as always showcase his brilliant technical instrumentation behind the kit, but it is the way in which he has constructed his songs that is the true coup here. The manic mosaics are skewed beyond belief - skritching guitars, whorling loops, distorted and monotonous vocals - and it is one of the busiest, most disconnected, and fucking greatest albums released this year. It is so much fun.

But that doesnt mean its an easy listen. Oh no! Its disjointed, confronting, incredibly strange and fucking loud. Imagine, if you will, that Menomena went camping with Lightning Bolt, with Battles stoking the fire and cooking marshmallows and Angus Andrew from Liars dropping by for a brew and some peyote - and thats as close as the intricate spazzfest that is Face Tat can come to a descriptor. Or try this on for size: it all melts together like a fiercely burning cock candle, until all you have is a white hot pool of gloop with a flickering flame at its epicentre. Then its up to you to move the wax around and do what you will with it...

It does has its slight faults - Hill's vocals are still a bit one-dimensional, and he is yet to unlock the greatest mystery of all - a technically faultless yet melodic album with clear structured pop anthems at its core - but Face Tat proves without a doubt that he is perilously close. And if that means that this is a failure - then my 'achievements' haven't even left the petri dish.

Face Tat is out now on Sargent House - I implore you, get this album. Here's what it looks like:

And here is what it sounds like:

Zach Hill - Ex-Ravers
Zach Hill - House of Hits

And what's more, Zach Hill is touring the US incessantly in Jan/Feb 2011 with likeminded pop fucksters Deerhoof (whose drummer Greg Saunier - a brilliant skinsmith in his own right - appears on blistering opener 'Memo To The Man'), with current Prince Rama support act Ben Butler - I wanna go to America! February is my birthday - they play Nashville on that night - it'd be my 30th - who's coming?!?!

Once again - BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There Are Drugs At This Pharmacy

I had heard of The Pharmacy before last week, but hadnt paid them any mind. Great zine Loud and Quiet gave their newie, 3rd LP Weekend (out on Seayou Records), an indifferent 5/10, and I was happy to go with their assertions. But I was sent an email almost a month ago about their imminent UK tour, which I am pretty sure has come and gone, and I missed it. Woe is me, because Weekend is actually a funky slice of distorted 60s stoner pop that tightropes between lo-fi and care-less with lazy abandon - and that is a compliment. Tracks like 'Stoner Girl' and 'Did You Ever Doubt Yourself?' echo from the annals of the Wilson brother's long lost triplet, the one that was locked up under the stairs. I imagine them from their music - a fuzzy wood veneer TV that weighs a ton, white static flickering up and down the screen, a clean cut band in a yellow walled studio warbling tunes that the worn out speakers cant handle, coming out all left field and skewed - except that is the way the sound is intended. There are some nice surprises here - middle track 'Interlude' is an eerie warble that extends beyond its moniker, or even the length of most of the 'normal' tracks - but the biggest surprise is how accessible and well constructed it is amidst the sunny dazed menagerie of sounds the production seems to imply. This Seattle band are worth checking out, indeed spending a lazy weekend with.

Weekend is out now.

The Pharmacy - Clockwork

The Pharmacy - WAYDWYL

Step Into The Sisterworld, Or Out Into Wild Nothing?

Tough night for London gig-goers tonight. Sonic Masala perennial favourites Liars play Heaven (where SM saw a blistering Deerhunter gig in May - I think its primed to be usurped here...), bringing the brilliance of their dangerous live performances and their unique, sinister back catalogue with them. Riding high after their amazing Sisterworld LP, Liars have taken no prisoners, and this promises to be no different.

But then there is Upset The Rhythm, who continue to rumble forward with their gargantuan gig list. Tonight they host Jack Tatum AKA Wild Nothing, whose Gemini release was a highlight amongst the glut of bedroom lo fi pop meanderings that have permeated the airspace this year, and he followed it up with great little EPs Evertide and Golden Haze. Ably supported by great Mancunian band Mazes (who also support Titus Andronicus in a couploe weeks' time!) and Exeter's New Years Evil (we talked about their split 7" release on Art Is Hard Records here), this promises to be a stellar all round show at Cargo. There's lots of tix left for this one on the door too, so if you cant get your hands on a Sisterworld golden ticket, you can trundle in there.

Wild Nothing - Drifter

Liars - Strangers

Gig - Xiu Xiu/Zola Jesus/Former Ghosts @ XOYO, 01.11.10

First time at XOYO for Sonic Masala, as we line in the cold we wonder what we have in store...


Former Ghosts - New Orleans

Herding into the downstairs area that seems amply set up for club nights, first on the stage is Former Ghosts. Main man Freddy Ruppert comes across as nervous as he and Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart set up, necking frantically a couple of beers before launching into some material from new album New Love. Stewart's manic guitar here heightens the ominous nature of these cold electronic driven tracks, whilst Ruppert's vocals echo the Ian Curtis comparisons that have been thrown at him in the past. The lyrics are plaintive and emotional - none moreso on standout track 'New Orleans', where he gyrates on the spot whilst lamenting that "it's all my fault/that I fell in love in the first place" - a great, great pop song, albeit for a forlorn, smashed up heart. Exit Stewart, enter Jesus - Zola Jesus, who sings two tracks here. The first is 'Chin Up' from the new album, and to highlight how much this sounds like a ZJ-lite track, the second song where Ruppert duets with her is much more affecting. The crowd ebbs and flows here, and when she leaves the stage you can feel an edgy anticipation in the room - how will Ruppert fare solo? Fairly well as it turns out, although he does have some major technical difficulties that he does his best to overcome. Ruppert really feels these songs - he is in danger of hyperventilating after most tracks - and even with the slight disruptions and the bigger 'cameos', Former Ghosts is very much his beast.


Zola Jesus - Tower

Zola Jesus is next up, and she starts her set with a shroud over her head, her back to the crowd, crouched in front of a speaker. The diminutive youngster doesnt take long to get rid of the veil though and launches into what must be one of the strongest vocal-driven sets Ive ever seen. Her voice is not just unique, but iconic - her trancey goth pop would be nothing if not for the power that emanates from within. She has charisma that showers the front rows, and her frantic movements - at one stage prowling back and forth across the stage like a cage tiger, furtively looking for a lapse in concentration so that she can leap out and maul a hapless onlooker; at another she climbs a speaker, her hand in her peroxided hair, her gaze set out in the ether. Taking tracks from Stridulum and Valusia, she, like Ruppert before her, knows and feels these songs. She opened the set with a cryptic statement about how she wrote these songs herself, and thats how she would perform them - yet the fact that she is backed by loops and a tape machine actually does her an injustice, as her voice overpowers the icy tones outlaid. She would benefit from a live element to the sound, which I feel would push her songs - and that amazing voice - even further into the stratosphere. As it stands though, once she leaves the stage, it feels like a vacuum out in the crowd - she has stolen our energy and life force and we are left wanting.


Xiu Xiu - Razor Scooter

Which could be part of the reason why Xiu Xiu were such a letdown to me. Dont get me wrong - Stewart and partner Angela Seo are accomplished and incredibly engaging performers - but I really felt left out in the cold on this one. My verdict after much thought is that you need to be aware of their back catalogue to fully immerse yourself in the Xiu Xiu experience. Because it is exactly that - an experience. Every song has some frenetic to and froing - singing, crooning, yelling, percussive blasts and dings, and the use of a wide array of peripheral 'instruments'. Yes, there are a lot of toys here - they fill a large plastic container - but for every effective sound effect, whistle blow and cymbal smash, there seemed to me to be two or three quirky use of sound that came across as redundant. Imagine if Cursive's Tim Kasher fronted a streamlined Nine Inch Nails format, with 'comedian' Carrot Top as executive producer, and that is Xiu Xiu. Not that I hated it - Stewart and Seo were manic performers, and impressed with the emotive lyrics and disjointed melodies - I just felt that there were some tracks here that could have done more with much, much less. In the end, I left the show more bewildered and bemused than elated. As I said before - maybe I just didnt get it.

Sinking The Talons In

Talons arent that new - they've been around since 2008, and they are an reincarnation of a former outfit - but their sound is incredibly fresh. Not in that poppier than thou, high production values, "we'll change the world" kinda fresh either - this is some dense, intricate, manic shit. This is energised instrumental math rock (with violins!) - and it comes from a large young collective based in Hereford! Whats more, after floating around the scene for a bit, they are dropping their debut LP Hollow Realm (via Big Scary Monsters) this month. This is a huge release. Dont believe me? Try on first cut from the album, 'Peter Pan', below. There are echoes of Mars Volta in the opening volleys, plus the intense and insane caterwauls of Irish mad bastards And So I Watch You From Afar as the song intensifies. Whats more, this is amazingly polished - in part due to their producer, Forward Russia!'s Tom Woodhead. This has already raced up the list as not only one of the best new band releases of the year, but one of the best UK releases of the year. Make sure you get a hold of it as soon as its been forced into its circular waxy form, stat!

And if you want to catch them live, they are launching Hollow Realm at the Amersham Arms this Saturday, before they continue on for a November England tour.

Talons - Peter Pan

Subversive Flower Power Scuzz Shitstorms That Arent Animal Friendly

Tunabunny are another Athens Georgia band that are totally fucking with conceptions. Growing up in Athens, surrounded by a surplus of instruments and boredom, these three girls are throwing old (and almost cliched at the minute) influences such as the Raincoats and newer stylings like the ever popular Sleigh Bells, Ponytail and other hyperkinetic whirling dervishes into a Large Hadron Collider of their own instrumental making to explode people's minds. Or, in their own words, "Sun Ra and Abba meet to begin Intergalactic peace project. This happens at the precise moment when the Go-Go's meet the Fire Engines in the early 1980's." Nuff said...

Or is it? I heard Tunabunny's 'Flowers On The Stage' last night, and it was NOT what I was expecting. The opening droning riff echoed Sonic Youth before a whole lot of off kilter distorted moans and screeches melted my speakers. This noise segued into the (not so) slightly deranged catcalls about the goddamned flowers on the stage. This psycho head trip seems a lot longer than its three and a half minutes - and that is actually a very good thing. But if you want elongated Tunabunny, hunt down their debut recording from last year, Outer Space is the Center of the Earth - a 19-minute one-take journey recorded live in an afterhours coffee shop...

The girls are releasing their debut LP Tunabunny on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records - expect to see it scooping the Latin Grammys, inspiring the next Tracey Emin installation, inciting riots in Bangkok and putting the "is it a planet or isnt it?" debate about Pluto to rest by blowing the fucking thing up. And they will keep doing their thing regardless.

Tunabunny - Flowers On The Stage

Gig - Pontiak/Dethscalator/Kogumaza @ The Old Blue Last, 29.10.10

Tonight Paul and I settle down for a couple of pints of the good black stuff to quickly shoot the breeze about some upcoming ideas and interviews we have for the site. We sat down in the old cinema chairs of the Old Blue Last and immediately are asked by two girls to mind their table and their gear as they duck down the road for cigarettes. We are itching to get upstairs to ensure we dont miss a beat of the Pontiak gig pencilled in tonight, but grudgingly agree. Not even two minutes after this a group of other girls sit at the table, and when we explain the situation we get some derogatory smirks and rolling of eyes. Thinking nothing of it, we head upstairs - but maybe this was a precursor of what to come...

OK, so that opening is a little obtuse, but tonights show was in equal parts amazing and offputting, and as I go along maybe you will put the Guinness & music banter/ice queen bitches analogy together. Its bleeding obvious in my mind anyway...

SO! First up was Kogumaza (great blog too...). Who? Thats what we were pondering - after half an hour, we were pleading for that answer, for this three-piece from outer England have crafted an anthropomorphic sound that befits their bizarre name (meant to mean something along the lines of a little bear that makes a big noise). What was dished out was a constant barrage of undulating desert psych instrumentalisms, and the interplay here shows a band on the rise. To begin with the duelling guitars threatened to muddy the waters too much - the crossing of swords undoing the intricacies of their sonic assault. But as the set moved on each member of Kogumaza found their own piece of the puzzle, none moreso than their drummer who took centre stage and proved to be the unifying force. Her drumming was simplistic, even rudimentary in places, yet the end result was that her booming rhythms became the counterpoint to the boys' swathes of effusive noise. They rolled forward like an avalanche at night, the momentum coming down on you exponentially from an unknown, and therefore terrifying place. Nevertheless, as they reached their crescendo, it was us who were buried in their sonic waves, gasping for air - and yet wanting to drown in it forever. A stunning opening.

Next up, Dethscalator. Not your normal choice of support for a band like Pontiak - their split release with Leeds collective Hey Colossus was pretty brutal - and it stunned the audience, well, those of the audience that were left by the end. The band T-shirts worn gave a nice summation on what they offer - Sun Ra, and Electric Wizard - if run through a mincer. Is this hardcore run 800% slower? The vocalist prowled around the stage like a demented bipolar droning zombie, with considerable physical heft; as if he would beat seven shades of shit out of you before devouring you limb by limb. It was unrelenting stuff - the drummer going through 3 sticks - and the stage was set for the Carney brothers to take us on.

Pontiak - World Wide Prince (from Sea Voids)

And that they did - Paul and I had a nice 15 minute chat with bassist Jennings about their musical direction and what they intend to do after their latest, Living, including a 20 minute long experiment. What they offered tonight was a sonic hyperdrive of droning bliss. Starting off with 'Young', the Thrill Jockey mainstays grooved on their psych leanings and stretched them to the nth degree - I seriously cannot do this set justice, Im still shaking my head at how powerful it was! I felt positively (and physically) moved by the rumbling solar flares they were doling out with feckless abandon. Not even one of the strangest occurrences in London musical gig history (for me - its actually quite common in some places...) could knock them off balance, when a drunk punter first tried to heckle in what was the only lull of the show, to throwing not one but TWO pint glasses - yes, glasses - at guitarist Van, which somehow managed to miss both Van and anyone in the crowd, but also didnt smash! (Does the analogy know make sense? Bah...) They stopped to see if the crowd was ok - the drunken nutter had left the building - and they brought the sonic waves rolling back in, coalescing in a frantic showpiece that left my jaw scraping the floor, my beard hiding the splinters. This set, above all else, showed me not just that Pontiak are brilliant live performers, but that 'Living' is a brilliant album that moves in and on itself incessantly and infinitely - a sonic ourobouros, if you will. Pontiak - I hope you continue living til Kingdom Come.

Pulled Apart By Horses? Yeah Buddy!

The new Pulled Apart By Horses video is out, and once again is radness personified. Never have such a sensory overload of insane images captured the ethos of a band so well as this, the video for 'Yeah Buddy'. Ive watched it four times since hearing about it a quarter of an hour ago. Excellente.

Pulled Apart By Horses are finishing up their support slot for Foals over the weekend befor embarking on a riotously extensive UK tour in their own right - you can see them in London when the play the Garage (screw that Relentless shit!) on December 2nd.

Take A Walk Down Waskerley Way

Got an email from Mikey a couple of weeks ago. He shared my love of last year's MBV curated All Tomorrows Parties, and passed on his EP Holly under the name Waskerley Way. Its a heady swirling mixtape sound, an intriguing amalgam of a slightly out of tune AM radio station with ambient bliss bombs ramping up the grooves. 'Nocturne #1' perfectly illustrates Waskerley Way's focus. Its an infectious release that is so of its time, yet the 80s time warp leaks out of the fused melodies to skew your eardrums. Tasty.

If you're in Mikey's hometown of Newcastle you can catch him play at the Head of Steam next week. If not, you can check out Waskerley Way try his hand at an Ariel Pink cover on Pinglewood's Ariel Pink mixtape - pretty cool indeed...

Waskerley Way - Nocturne #1

Sultan Sees $$$, Goes Beserk

Mark Sultan's second solo affair (well, at least as himself) $ is out today on Last Gang Records. To mark the occasion, we here at Sonic Masala would like you to sample what Mr Sultan's been cooking (see what I did there? An indirect pun at his BBQ moniker? Oh, the links, the links...). Its a great cut of vivacious melodious guitar heavy pop, which should probably come with a sugar high warning.

Mark Sultan - Go Berserk

...And The Earth Swarmed With Long Titles...

One month after receiving this email from Hawk Moon Records (home to the likes of SM postees Good Weather For An Airstrike), I have finally gotten around to listening to Ted Parsons' (Jesu/Godflesh/ex-Swans) new project, ...And The Earth Swarmed With Them. The EP, titled - wait for it - The Fading Voice Of The Old Era Speaks To Us, But Where Are The Ears Left To Hear It? (deep breath after reading that one...), has been a year in the making after they did a split demo with Sleepless Dreams, and the pedigree on display here (Parsons is joining original members Mitchell Johns and Kat Stanbridge, with Mr Jesu/Godflesh/Napalm Death himself Justin K Broadrick twiddling the knobs in the studio) ensures that it is a quality effort. This is post rock that swings like a metronome from joyous celebration to the gnashing of anguished teeth and back again, the emotive rollercoaster painted in stark sonic colours a la the pastel cover art. Its an accomplished piece, and is well worth checking out. No word on future releases or tours for the minute, but in the meantime, the EP is another freebie that you can get from Hawk Moon Record's Bandcamp.

...And The Earth Swarmed With Them - The Slow Decay Has Already Begun