ENFER DORÉAL

 

On 2009's Devotion, French savant Maxime Primault (aka ENFER DORÉAL) both reinvents and confirms the brilliance of drone. Musique Concrete imagined as atmosphere. Simplicity. Patience. The casual tumult of "Amlothi" coming out of the excruciating 13+ minute "Reborn On Assi Ghat." The ability to make the "Rainbow Warrior" sound so incredibly hopeless and beautiful at the same time....this is a special artist. I'm late to the game (this is typically the case) but I am so glad that I have arrived. And now - listen to "Une Respiration D'ombre" in darkness and silence. You'll thank me. 

DEVOTION

KALX

Y'all know the drill with these tapes, but even so....this is a really good one.
Here's life as broadcast on KALX in Berkeley 39 years ago today. 

HERE

Worth noting that life as broadcast on KALX in Berkeley 38 years ago today was posted last year.... 

PARANORMAL

 

The feeling I had when I first pressed play....It was familiar, but I haven't felt it in a long time. It's about feeling immediately connected to a sound, about not knowing what exactly is going to happen next but already knowing that it's perfect. You want to talk about vibes, we're talking about a continuation of the NHFTK ---> NEON PISS pipeline and I swear if PARANORMAL had forged onward they could have achieved such heights. It's so well done I don't even really feel like I need to say anything else....gorgeous, ramshackle, infectious melodic punk. It's mostly spot on, but it's the just-barely-off parts that makes it even better. 

PARANORMAL

DOGGISH BOYS

 
I don't even know what to say here. Just listen, okay? A wild and unhinged spectrum generated hip-hop mix tape orbiting the mind of JEFF DOGG. Chopped and/or Screwed drug addled rap dispatches like you've never even imagined from the Pinhole Family.....the shit sounds weird, the shit is infectious. I feel like this is something Aesop would have created and/or released (which reminds me that I should hit that dude up to say hello). Just listen, okay?

DOGGISH BOYS MIXTAPE

UPRIGHT CITIZENS

 

In the mid-2000s I was on a tour that stopped in Pittsburgh. At Andy's place after the gig, most everyone crashed out while Andy and I nerded out about records and life and shit. I had never heard UPRIGHT CITIZENS so Andy slapped the record on the deck....and everything changed. It's just a perfect record start to finish. Classic DeutschPunk influenced by their North American contemporaries but beyond that, the record is just fukkn good. I was as sad that it had taken me so long to find them as I was excited that I was able to be reinvigorated by the discovery. If you in 2026 is like me in 2006, then you're welcome.  

OPEN EYES, OPEN EARS, A BRAIN TO THINK & A MOUTH TO SPEAK

BONEMAGIC

 

Been wondering what do do with this and what to say about this for (quite) a (long) time, and even though I'm not sure if today is the right day to talk about BONEMAGIC.....here we are. Classic, brilliant '80s industrial worship of the highest order - CLOCK DVA, NITZER EBB and mid-decade Wax Trax! punctuated with complicated dirges like "Unified Violence" and dark ambient missives like "Welcome To Sinew" or the vaguely SKINNY PUPPY-esque "Tales Of Hate & Separation." There is a lot more BONEMAGIC where this came from - more than a dozen releases under this moniker alone (there are other monikers) - but Meat Concrete is a gloriously dark place to start.

MEAT CONCRETE

BAR D WRANGLERS

 
I was on the bus Sunday evening after a pretty miserable day, mindlessly scrolling social media. The Grammys had just ended and the mainstream internet was all abuzz; the surrounding hubbub was a pleasant but temporary distraction from reality, so I scrolled. There were a lot of artists I don't care about and a lot of artists I've never heard of using their moment in front of the microphone to actually speak out and call out some of the bullshit that has consumed so much of the insanity that has clouded the minds of people who give a shit over the last year (or so). It was refreshing and honestly a little surprising. Some highlights....
BILLY EILISH said "No one is illegal on stolen land. Fuck ICE."
SHABOOZY said: "Immigrants built this country. Literally."
ISRAEL HOUGHTON won the award for best Contemporary Christian Album and said: "To those who are hiding in the shadows in America, those who are scared, we are citizens of a kingdom that cannot be shaken and that will not end."
KEHLANI said: "I hope everybody is inspired to join together as a community of artists and speak out against what's going on. Fuck ICE."
BAD BUNNY said: "Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say ICE out. We’re not savages, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans."
And then there was TURNSTILE. Apparently the people in this band come from the DIY hardcore/punk scene, but they sound a heavy/alt outfit with a few (admittedly sick) generic 'core riffs and some 311 groove parts...shit lands like a weak ass SNAPCASE rehash to me, but a lot of people I know love them and swear their live shows are good. They are an important band, those people say. They are innovative and they are bringing the spirit if DIY punk and hardcore to mainstream kids and that's a powerful thing, they say. Well, TURNSTILE won the Best Rock Album Grammy and I bet they used that platform to say some shit about the state of things in this country (and this world).....
TURNSTILE said: "The community we found through punk and hardcore music has given us a safe place to swing in the dark and land somewhere beautiful. So to our family, our friends, our partners, our peers and to Baltimore: Thank you. We love you."

Damn, that band is a fukkn waste. If you want to hear what TURNSTILE would sound like if they were good, listen to THIS and lose me with any nonsense about how TURNSTILE are relevant to punk in any way. They are a commercial rock band. Period. Nothing wrong with that, I like plenty of commercial rock bands....just call it what it is and please don't reference punk and hardcore when you talk about them.

Anyway, there's a group of actual die hards from Durango, Colorado called THE BAR D WRANGLERS and they play a mix of classic country and western swing and fuck me if this version of "San Antonio Rose" ain't a straight banger. Throw in the JERRY REED influenced "Parkin' Worries" and standards like "Cool Water" and "Ghost Riders In The Sky" and you've got yourself a bona fide winner. They are Durango's Favorite Family Entertainment Since 1969 for a reason, y'all.

WAY OUT THERE