Blue Cadet-3: A Music Blog by Josh R.

  The Dead Texan - The Dead Texan (2004) My copy: 2022 reissue by Kranky. Already long established as a compositional force with Stars Of The Lid, Alex Wiltzie shares The Dead Texan with Christina Vantzou - this project serving as the latter’s first full-length foray into ambient music. The two erect a delicate balance between strings and piano, working in an assortment of sounds that balance carefully between dissonance and serenity.  Beginning with slow, streaming string arrangements, “The Six Million Dollar Sandwich” carries an emotional weight in its simple-yet-powerful chord choices - confirming that less is more. The progression becomes faintly regal on “Glenn’s Goo,” mixing electronic keys and piano for a slightly surreal approach to bittersweet mood-music. They craft such a quaint sonic landscape that it is almost startling when vocals join in before the cinematic two-part drone experiment “A Chronicle Of Early Failures.”  Environmental sounds, spoken sample...

  Cherubs - Short Of Popular (1996) My copy: 2018 remastered reissue on yellow, pink and blue vinyl by Sonic Surgery Records. Released two years after the eyebrow raising Heroin Man comes Short Of Popular : a compilation of singles and demos made to cap off the band’s initial run in the ‘90s. Those already sold on the piercing shriek of vocalist Kevin Whitley will feel again at home, to delight also in their uncompromised density. Where Short Of Popular shines most, however, is in the odd quiet moments - feeling experimental and unique in comparison to their usual noise-rock assaults.  Rising slowly into “Carjack Fairy,” the metaphorical bull crashes through the gates immediately with a barrage of fiery riffage: churning over repetitive rhythms. Their guitars bend and slide in a similar manner to The Gun Club though the distortion and tempo split the difference between rockabilly and sludge. The voice nervously rises to the top of the high-end, fighting to tread water of ...

  Pre - Epic Fits (2007) My copy: 2007 press on blue vinyl by Skin Graft Records. Beginning (as all punk bands do) with a small rash of 7” singles and live performances, London’s Pre committed roughly 25 minutes of blistering rock chaos to their debut LP in 2007. Short, sweet and absurd: Epic Fits falls a touch behind more extravagant contemporaries but delivers a shocking one-two slam of bulldozing rhythms and freakish pseudo-melody.  “Drool” lights a spark that hardly falters across the whole of the record, launching unintelligible verbal assaults backed by hammering bass grooves and syncopated guitar wails. Their dual bass setup (reminiscent of Cop Shoot Cop) builds a brutal skeleton while vocalist Akiko Matsuura and guitarist J. Art Webb do everything to unravel the rhythm through crashing bursts of high-end noise. “Fudging On Our Folks” surges like lightning from a busted outlet, building pressure for the repetitious industrial clash of “Scenes From A 1963 Los Angeles...

  Pearls Before Swine - Balaklava (1968) My copy: 1968 press by ESP Disk. A staunch anti-war statement as expressed immediately within the cover’s depiction of The Triumph Of Death, the second full-length from singer-songwriter Tom Rapp and co. (conversely to its artwork) embraces peaceful and fragile sounds as a means of protest.  Opening with a historical recording of a trumpeter who actually served at the battle of Balaclava in the mid 19th century, the record spins a conceptual yarn from the very beginning.  “Translucent Carriages” is methodical and moody, with layered hallucinogenic whispers flowing between Rapp’s haunting, natural vibrato delivery. The music breathes patiently, in and out, borrowing from folk but also stripping back to better suit thematic concepts. Peaceful birdsong and flute build a maternal backdrop for the echoing hippie-friendly poetry of “Images Of April,” where “There Was A Man” indulges in traditional songwriting conventions with compell...

  Fishmans - 98.12.28 男達の別れ (Otokotachi No Wakare) (1999) My copy: 2007 Fishmans Rock Festival box set press by Universal Music and Polydor. Released on vinyl only once, as a part of the rare and highly sought-after Fishmans Rock Festival : 98.12.28 男達の別れ chronicles the band’s final live performance, and is a daunting release on multiple levels. Physically, it comes on three heavy vinyl discs; a necessity considering the album’s length (just over two hours). Emotionally, it is a important release given the context of Shinji Sato’s tragic death three months following the show - solidifying the finality of the work. At the time, the show was dedicated to bassist Yuzuru Kashiwabara who intended to leave the band following its completion, though Sato’s performance is so legendarily impressive, it is almost as if he was aware that this would be his final musical effort.  They begin with “Oh Slime” - a fan favorite from their ‘95 record, here stretching the introduction further...

  Massacre - Killing Time (1981) My copy: 2016 remastered reissue by ReR Megacorp and Spittle Records. Are they killing time or is it killing time? When you hear the futuristic guitar hellscape that is Massacre’s sole 1981 LP, it’s hard to imagine it as anything but the latter. There is, however, such a thing as being too off-kilter, and their ragged abuse of all things guitar and guitar-related can throw a wrench in your mood if you’re hoping for more digestible melodies. Killing Time, regardless of it's harsh edges, still r emains versatile in its range of tones and writing ideas across 42-minutes of mostly dissonant work.  High-speed, choppy guitar pops and bends over waves of punching bass on “Legs,” drums bouncing in unison with the bass as the so-called melody sputters and blurs across percussive techniques. “Ageing With Dignity” is borderline playful with confused, cartoonish outbursts clashing against strange vocal chants and avalanching drums. The Beefheart infl...

  Avey Tare - Cows On Hourglass Pond (2019) My copy: 2019 deluxe pressing with bonus 10” by Domino. If Dave Portner (AKA Avery Tare) has proven anything across his now lengthy musical career, it is that he is a firm proponent of contrast. Where the instrumentally warm and inviting Eucalyptus thrived in themes of heartbreak, depression and loss, Cows On Hourglass Pond throws comparatively hopeful melodies and lyrics over icy keys and precise arrangements. Certainly more mellow and reserved, Cows seems to be a step towards more humble compositions.  The atmosphere is as watery and nebulous as ever when the feeble vocals appear on “What’s The Goodside?” as the music slowly thaws out with digital drum loops and slick, intentional guitar. Where Eucalyptus played loose at times with acoustic guitar, this new effort cradles and bobs thoughtfully with calculated brush strokes. The artificial gallop of mood-piece “Eyes On Eyes” splashes with teasing vocals before the bass finally ...

  My Bloody Valentine - Isn’t Anything (1988) My copy: 2022 deluxe reissue by Domino and MBV Records. Though My Bloody Valentine had existed in essence for nearly ten years, their debut full-length did not come until they were recruited by Creation Records on the back of a powerful live performance. Isn’t Anything explored the band’s obsession with sharp, layered noise - while retaining a clear affinity for punk/post-punk rhythms in spite of lethargic, vaguely androgynous vocal performances.  The guitar almost totally distracts from the lewd, yearning lyrics of the feverish “Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)” where the freshly acquired Bilinda Butcher harmonizes to bent, swooning melodies. The percussion switches from rigid mid-tempo pulses to toppling drills, or simple stripped-back accompaniments as with the dissonant lust of “Lose My Breath.” While Shields is more closely associated with production, his skill for melody stands out on tracks like “Cupid Come” where the writ...

  Herbie Hancock - Sextant (1973) My copy: 2023 reissue on lunar marble vinyl by Columbia and Sony Music Commercial Music Group. Closing out Hancock’s Mwandishi era and preceding the more iconic Head Hunters by only a few months, Sextant travels deep into the cold vacuum of space where notions of jazz and funk are mere foreign echoes upon which future compositions are consulted out of novelty.  It’s not surprising that Sextant was perceived as a flop when it released in 1973, as immediately the prodding electronic dots of “Rain Dance” whisk listeners away into a largely unheard of union between jazz and ambient music. Hancock undoubtedly borrows from Davis but dials into a stranger space-age landscape of curious melodic foliage through synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson. The theme is reinvention: the synth is constantly calculating, as if it were straining human music through some alien process, rebuilding in real-time with bubbling walls of effects. At the heart of all th...

  High Rise - High Rise II (1986) My copy: 2018 reissue by Black Editions. Following the aptly titled Psychedelic Speed Freaks for which they were once named, Japanese psych/hard-rock band High Rise doubled down on their maniacal, unyielding sound with this 30-minute EP released in 1986. While their indulgent solo-ing occasionally runs the music ragged, the burning tones of the guitars help distinguish their jamming from less interesting contemporaries.  At barely under a minute, “Cycle Goddess” releases an introductory howl of lo-fi guitars that bound and hunt through swiftly-collapsing drum fills. “Turn You Cry” adds reverb-touched vocals on top of the blazing, wacked-out guitar - building a bridge between noise-rock and psych. There are melodic hooks here, but all is quickly overwhelmed by nervous breakdown guitar solos that crack apart the garage-rock verses. Fuzz-driven bass takes the lead on “Cotton Top” where heavy sheets of guitar attempt to wrangle control from t...

  Red House Painters - Down Colorful Hill (1992) My copy: 2015 reissue by 4AD. After bringing their brooding, emotional take on independent rock to San Francisco, Red House Painters managed to impress 4AD boss Ivo Watts-Russell with a lengthy demo tape that contained selections that would appear on their debut LP. Being at the forefront of the ‘90s slowcore movement, singer Mark Kozelek backed these quietly haunting instrumentals with lyrics that matched or overtook the music in sheer vulnerability. The subtle intentionality held within the creeping guitar of “24” matches beautifully with the morose sentiments of the lyrics; these cathartic melodies eventually delving into a darker vibrato-tipped dissonance so as to explore a deeper self-resentment. “Medicine Bottle” is an utter masterpiece: a nine minute (borderline Shakespearean ) tragedy that erects tense, paranoid towers of rhythm with warm production serving as a smile-bearing mask for the uneasy, at times insidious pro...