TUTV said: Manimal and Samara are a poetallica sensation. A new laser light at the end of
a mythical tunnel where anything can happen. Imagine Sylvia Plath fronting a theatrical and mind-challenging psychedelic noise band. Their debut album is a multi-faceted opus in sound and vision. Compelling poetry exploring life, death, birth, past, present, and future embedded
in a titanic thunder and lighting symphony going from perplexing metal to chill-out ambient. The final result is at times jaw-dropping, at times weirdly confusing, at times dumbfounding
but always flabbergasting and fascinating. When surreality becomes reality you know something is about to happen.
TUTV wrote: Gusto, high-spiritedness and anxiety are the keywords here.
This warm-blooded record is a heart-rending reflection of the group’s state of
2021 mind. A galvanizing collection of cohesive poignant emo songs influenced by
the disturbing way our troubled world is handling human issues, once-in-a-lifetime
dramas, and the personal turmoil of frontwoman Chavez. Her soul-stirring and
powerful (Aretha Franklin / young Tina Turner) voice, weeping guitars, and the
electrical intensity are at times overwhelming and heartbreaking. Impressive!
Released: 12 March 2021 – second LP TUTV wrote: “The essential message of this new powerhouse album is loud and clear:
noise-challenging turbo Pink Room is here to stay! Their tsunami energy is beyond any
decibel regulation. Again, loudmouth Bart Cocquyt leads the rip-roaring troops. As I said
before his vocal range is out-of-this-world. He easily could front a death metal band (Stay Black/Stay White) or a Nirvana reunion (Losing/Skin) or kick Ozzy Osbourne‘s ass (Hail Satan). Expect ear-shattering jackhammers, over-the-top frenzy, and an overall sonic lockdown paranoia.”
TUTV wrote: “The masters of drone rock are back, and they’re getting better over the years. Gigantic fuzz and buzz jackhammers but also some softer – yes, since they became fathers they let their heart & soul speak/play more – stuff. This stunning work will end up on many end-of-the-year lists.”
tutv wrote: “i’m damn sure this incredible punch-powered-punk-passion turbo was here before, about 40 years ago, inspiring bored kids like black flag , shellac, melvins, jello biafra, and other anarchist snotnoses, to leave home, steal guitars and drums in order to have some wild fun while scaring bad people with their deafening racket that’ll teach those old-fashioned adults watching fox.news all day long. so here they are back again, inspiring young social media junkies to steal guitars and drums instead of watching their phones all day long. home is where it all starts when you have no money to rent a smelly rehearsal room to rock your heads off. so you move into your own smelly basement and scream your poor lungs to pieces. listen up all you lost teenagers out there, play i became birds over and over again ’cause these hungry florida misfits can and will save your lives.”
Key track: sewn together from the membrane of the great sea cucumber
TUTV wrote: “A mix of the romantic crooner and the haunting crooner. Growing with every spin. Compelling orchestrations, classical arrangements, with Ellis showing his musical skills once more. Can’t remember when Cave made an average album. Did he, actually? Okay, Carnage once again on my headphones.”
TUTV wrote: “The rap and roll venom of Rage Against The Machine, the fuck-you-hypocrites grimness of Black Flag, the punky saxophone of X-Ray-Spex, the sharp poetic spit and sneer anarchy of Mark. E. Smith, the challenging spirit of an open-minded-plainspoken-asskicking-anti-establishement-and-other-scumbags force of doom and gloom. Sounds exactly like 2020/2021, like the end of the world as we know it, but also like an album that’s going
to be on my earphones for a long time.”
Ounsworth (mastermind): “The songs are politically motivated,
which is unusual for me. It’s about what I think we’re all experiencing
at the moment, certainly here in the United States, anyway, trying
to move forward amidst an almost cruel uncertainty.”
Turn Up The Volume: Riveting tunes, sharp-cutting reflections,
magical sparks, Ounsworth‘s feverish voice, and his glittery guitar
play make this LP the best one since the self-titled 2005 debut.
Bewitching all the way. My 2021 number one
Turn Up The Volume: Finally, Iceage do what they were expected to do for a long
time. Creating a standout album that makes the hair in the back of your neck stand
up. Melodramatic with ardency, impassioned with vigour, emotional with grimness. Charismatic frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt leads the troops as never before.
Turn Up The Volume: From outlandish sonority – think Scott Walker – to
Zappa-esque adventurousness, from a ‘normal’ song (Marlene Dietrich) to
free jazz weirdness. The sonic search of this impressively inventive band is
both inscrutable and intriguing.
Cavalcade confirms the experimental brilliance of their debut LP. Miles Davis going post-punk in the 21st Century.
Turn Up The Volume: The drop-dead gorgeous sisters in rock arms Lindsey Troy
and Julie Edwards celebrate their 10th year of producing high-powered turbulence.
Their bond is tighter than ever and their boogie-woogie more varied than ever.
Mind you, don’t expect a jazz record. Deap Vally are still about rocking ‘n rolling
while tackling their demons with vocal bravado and forthright ruminations.
Old skool punk ‘n’ roll? Absolutely. Any good? You betcha!
Amyl and her buddies made another blistering riff-manic-monster of
a hell fucking hell yeah record. Pogo madness is back. Sturm und drang
from start to finish. Holy Moly!
Turn Up The Volume: This black and white pearl is the work of
the romantic Cave crooner meeting the haunting Cave crooner. Idyllic
orchestrations, classical arrangements, and bad seed Warren Ellis
showing, once more, his refined grandeur.
Turn Up The Volume: Manimal and Samara are a poetallica sensation.
A new laser light at the end of a mythical and tenebrous tunnel.
Imagine Sylvia Plath fronting a mind-challenging, noise-exploring band.
Their debut album is a multi-faceted opus in sound and vision. Puzzling poetry
exploring life, death, birth, past, present, and future embedded in titanic thunder
and lighting symphonies going from perplexing metal to chill-out ambient.
Turn Up The Volume: The amplified haziness of Slowdive, the mystifying
soulfulness of Spacemen 3, the multi-layer-constructing skills of My Bloody
Valentine.
Hallucinating soundscapes, synth shadowplays, and guitars dueling with
each other while tireless drums dauntlessly beat, and wailing voices wander
in an enigmatic fog of reverberation.
This is what the (sur)real world of Ghost Patterns sounds like.
Turn Up The Volume: This time the bombastic rockers take another direction
to express their emotiveness. Moody, nostalgic, melancholically romantic with
frontman Brandon Flowers looking back at his teenage years in his hometown
Utah. Think Bruce Springsteen‘s sentimentality on his masterpiece Nebraska.
Overall an emotive and melodramatic
record without going over the top.
For some critics, it’s too mellow.
For me, its gripping mellowness
that works just fine.
Liz Lamere (Vega’s widow) remembers: “Our primary purpose for going into the studio
was to experiment with sound, not to ‘make records. I was playing the machines with Alan manipulating sounds. I played riffs while Alan morphed the sounds being channeled through the machines.’
Turn Up The Volume: Most of the lost albums that eventually came/come to the
surface one day should have stayed lost forever. If they were good enough to be
released the moment they were recorded they would have never ended up in a
smelly cellar or, worst case, in a trash can.
So what about Alan Vega’s lost one? One: it feels special to have the legend back.
Two: the album seems to come from a very dark mind, from the obscure places
of Vega‘s soul, creating a nightmarish and Kafkaesque chill-out atmosphere for
a 30-minute David Lynch film-noir.
Turn Up The Volume: The rap and roll venom of Rage Against The Machine, the
fuck-you-hypocrites grimness of Black Flag, the punky saxophone of X-Ray-Spex,
the sharp poetic spit and sneer anarchy of Mark. E. Smith, the challenging spirit
of open-minded-and-ass-kicking-anti-establishment doom and gloom crusaders.
Sounds like 2021, like the end of the world as we know it.
Turn Up The Volume says: Like Pavement going prog rock with the sound- exploring
state of mind of Mogwai. Jazzy and classical music textures make sure your curious mind
is focused all the time. And singer Isaac Wood‘s voice resonates freakishly identical to the chilling voice of American songwriter Conor Oberst from indie band Bright Eyes.
It’s not a happy record, but who needs a tsunami of cheesy pop tunes in these science-fiction-like times, anyway. I know it’s their first time, but these hungry noise crusaders
will stun us again in the future.
Turn Up The Volume wrote: Gusto, high-spiritedness, and anxiety are the
keywords here. This warm-blooded record is a heart-rending reflection of the
group’s state of 2021 mind. A galvanizing collection of cohesive poignant emo
songs influenced by the disturbing way our troubled world is handling human
issues, once-in-a-lifetime dramas, and the personal turmoil of frontwoman Eline Chavez.
Her soul-stirring and powerful (Aretha Franklin / young Tina Turner) vox, the weeping
guitars, and the electrical intensity are at times overwhelming and heartbreaking. Impressive!
Turn Up The Volume: The essential message of this new powerhouse album is loud and clear: noise-challenging turbo Pink Room is here to stay! Their tsunami energy is beyond any decibel regulation. Again, loudmouth Bart Cocquyt leads the rip-roaring trio.
As I said before his vocal range is out-of-this-world. He easily could front a death metal band (Stay Black/Stay White) or a Nirvana reunion (Losing/Skin) or kick Ozzy Osbourne‘s ass (Hail Satan). Expect ear-shattering jackhammers, over-the-top frenzy, and clamorous lockdown paranoia.
Putain, putain, c’est vachement bien, nous sommes quand même tous des bohemiens.
“On this day 50 years ago, Wednesday, March 10, 1971, Lou Reed gave his first poetry reading at the Poetry Project at St. Marks Church. This was Lou’s first public appearance since leaving the Velvet Underground and he made it known at the time that he might not go back to rock & roll at all. He focused on his writing for the year between leaving the Velvets and ultimately signing with RCA as a solo artist. Many of his poems from this period were published in the early 1970s. The cassette recording that Lou made during the reading is part of the Lou Reed Archive at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in Lincoln Center.”
Full info on FB Lou Reed right here.
One of his poems was WE ARE THE PEOPLE.
Listen here to the authentic version, 50 years ago today…
No fillers, the 160 killers of the
past 2 months all together.
Shake and swing, twist and twirl, move and groove…
.
With… Underworld/Iggy Pop, The Liminanas/Anton Newcombe, A Certain Ratio, Millionaire, Death Valley Girls, Partefacts, Bugeye/Feral Five, The Human League, Warmduscher, Crystal Castles, Rich Girls, Porridge Radio, deux furieuses, Black Needle Noise, Chemtrails, Night Haze, The Chronicles of Manimal and Samara, Joe Cocker, John Cooper Clarke
The Kills, Patti Smith, Placebo, Golden Earring, Broke Bldgs, Pins, The Moods, Sleigh Bells, Leftfield, The Chemical Brothers, Sinead O’Connor, The Honeyrunners, Stay Lunar, Girlboy J, Wilder., Devan, Black Grape, International Teachers Of Pop, Peaches, Sleater-Kinney, dEUS,
Death Valley Girls, Parquet Courts, The Charlatans, Vampire Weekend, Autogramm, Jenny, Headshrinkers, Timothy and the Apocalypse, Peaches, Pink Diamond Revue, T.C. Matic, U2, Caroline Rose, Girl K, Mechanimal, Thrillhouse, The Waterboys, Dropkick Murphys, Kill Chicago, Robert Plant, Kings Of Leon, Internet Friends, The Peach Fuzz, Keith Richards, Wolf Alice, Temples, Lucy Dacus, The Dandy Warhols, Partefacts, Where We Sleep, Gareth Sager, Pesh, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elefant, Saving Jackie, The Bankrobber, Trickshooter Social Club, The Parrots, Tricky, M. Exen, LCD Soundsystem, Suicide, Alan Vega,
Hey Colossus, Ramkot, Public Enemy, Yard Act, The Irrational Library, Tom Morello & Pussy Riot, Hideaways & Tiny Dyno, Texas & Wu-Tang Clan, La Jungle, The Horrors, Sleaford Mods & Amy Taylor, Bilie Eilish, Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul, Attawalpa, I The Mountain, Bleachers feat. Springsteen, The Fun Lovin’ Criminals Leftfield feat. Roots Manuva, The Chemical Brothers, Tiny Magic Pets, Tone-Loc, Paul Weller, The Prodigy, The B-52’s, Gruppo Sportivo, Todd Rundgren and Sparks, The FlaviansCurses, Massive Attack, Cypress Hill, Misled Convoy/Kat Five, Unruly Girls, Twist Helix, 9 O’Clock Nasty, Plastic Sun, Ghostlawans
Band: THE LINDA LINDAS (Los Angeles) Who: Awesome female teen band Half Asian/Half Latinx
featuring Mila (10), Eloise (13), Lucia (14) and Bela (16) who
play together since 2018 (!) and already opened as support
act for punk icons like Bikini Kill and Best Coast.
A song inspired by a real-life racist incident as the utterly cool
10-year old drummer Mila explains: “A little while before we went
into lockdown a boy in my class came up to me and said his Dad had
told him to stay away from Chinese people. After I told him I was Chinese
he backed away from me. So Eloise and I wrote this song based on that
experience.”
The school teens premiered their new punk anthem in the Los Angeles
Public Library, which has been hosting a TEENtastic Tuesdays Series of
concerts, celebrating AAPI (that’s Asian American and Pacific Islander)
Month.
Score: This is awesome. I love this. Young kids standing up and making a
sharp-cutting, alarming statement about racism and sexism with a spot-on,
in your face, punk anthem à la Bikini Kill. This clear-cut, and totally fun, riot
grrl ripper is fueled by young spirits saying ‘move over, adults, rock and roll
belongs to the young generations, not the old ones and definitely not to
the racist ones and the sexist ones.’ You betcha!
Album: NATURE ALWAYS WIN – their 7th album Release: 26th February 2021 – Pre-order facilities here.
Frontman PAUL SMITH: “I’ve always wanted to reflect the time that each record is made in, and not hark back to anything. Whilst it paints a bit of a sorry picture of Britain in terms of more obvious things in the lyrics like ‘the libraries are closing down‘ and ‘the island’s revolted‘, there is this yearning for a simpler time. Those places are still out there, you’re able to access them and you don’t necessarily need to be nostalgic. There’s enough hope all around us.”
The topnotch singles: Child Of The Flatlands / I Don’t Know What I’m Doing / Baby, Sleep
PAUL SMITH (frontman): “I’ve always wanted to reflect the time that each record is made in, and not hark back to anything. Whilst it paints a bit of a sorry picture of Britain in terms of more obvious things in the lyrics like ‘the libraries are closing down‘ and ‘the island’s revolted‘, there is this yearning for a simpler time. Those places are still out there, you’re able to access them and you don’t necessarily need to be nostalgic. There’s enough hope all around us.”
NME says: “The Geordie misfits return with joyful pop songs and introspective anthems
aplenty on their seventh studio album… A sizzling return to form… An album packed with
joyful pop songs and introspective anthems.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
Turn Up The Volume says: Without a shadow of a doubt their best creation ever
to my ears. They move and groove and improve from start to finish, they impress
for 44 minutes. Number 2 in the UK Album Chart! Bingo!
The topnotch singles: Child Of The Flatlands / I Don’t Know What I’m Doing / Baby, Sleep
Info: “Thurston Moore has written nine songs of enlightenment, released to a world
on fire. Taking a cue from (jazz icon) Albert Ayler‘s “music is the healing force of the universe”, this recording offers songs as flames of rainbow energy, where the power
of love becomes our call.” – Daydream Library Series Label
Thurston Moore: “These are love songs in a time where creativity is our dignity, our demonstration against the forces of oppression. By ‘The Fire’ is a gathering, a party of
peace — songs in the heat of the moment.”
NME: “On his seventh solo album the alt rock mainstay offers the sound of enlightenment
to a world in turmoil with help from My Bloody Valentine’s Deb Googe and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley. Thurston Moore has always been a man firmly occupied with the present. ‘By The Fire’
is not only the latest in his catalogue of precisely sculpted rock and roll, but also some of his boldest and most invigorating work to date… Moore elegantly channels his sense of poise and calm in a word going to shit, easily proving why he remains a hero in the world of alt rock.”
Full review here. Score: 4/5.
Turn Up The Volume: “Moore’s never-ending psychedelic jams are splendid sonic
food for your hungry ears, restless mind, and your pandemic infected soul.”
LORE CITY is one of Turn Up The Volume‘s most intriguing finds of 2021.
An art rock duo – Laura Mariposa Williams and Eric Angelo Bessel – formed
in 2011 and currently based in Portland, Oregon. So far they made 4 albums,
including their most recent one, the puzzling PARTICIPATION MYSTIQUE LP.
In my mind, it’s a spiritual soundtrack for a science-fiction movie like Spielberg’s
1977 classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The past, the present and the future,
all in one. This is mesmerizing music that triggers your imagination in different directions. Laura Mariposa Williams‘ bewitching voice is the heroine of this record. Her psychedelic, gothic, far-out and at times wailing timbre magnetizes and hypnotizes while wandering in an orchestral space. About time to keep silent now and let Laura Mariposa Williams do the talking.
But as usual, before starting a Q & A, a piece of music as an introduction to the artist(s)…
. Hello Laura,
Thank you for your time,
Is LORE CITY a real or fictional city?
Why this choice as your artist name?
“Lore City is a real place in Ohio, but this is a coincidence. We’re not related.
Mostly we hope the townspeople aren’t mad at us. Our music feels like someplace
that we travel to, so our name resembles the idea of somewhere… a place of lore.”
Which song would you pick to introduce yourselves
to those who never heard of your music?
“I would pick “I Am the One” because it’s a song that was a long
time coming. Exhumed from the ethers – that’s a good place to start.”
Is your creative process a joint venture or a fusion of individual ideas?
“It’s a mixture of both. We tend to go solo in the development stage,
and then work side by side on finishing a song.”
The new album’s title is PARTICIPATION MYSTIQUE (written the French
way, isn’t it?). What does it mean related to the record?
“I discovered the phrase ‘participation mystique‘ while studying astrology.
It encapsulates the human experience so well: the mysteries of life, projection, attachment, delusion… concepts woven into the album. And yes, this is a French
phrase; the English phrase is ‘mystical participation.”
I’ve read in the press info that the 2020 event of ‘Saturn directly aligned
with Pluto within the constellation of Capricorn’ influenced the album’s
writing process. Honestly, I have no idea what that all means…
“These planetary movements reflected what was set into motion during 2020,
including the life-altering Coronavirus pandemic and the transformative Black Lives
Matter movement. I’ve pointed out the symbolism between the stars and the earth because I believe in astrology, and I hope to get others into it, too.”
What did you want to visualize with the album’s artwork?
“The Participation Mystique album artwork is an evolution of the imagery from the previous album, Alchemical Task. A little wordless story about the roulette of being.”
‘I KNOW YOU KNOW’ is one of my favorite tracks. What’s the song about?
“The song acknowledges that others can see through things to the heart of
the matter like I do. It’s a rallying cry for kindred spirits.”
. What movie would you pick to show on a big screen while the album’s playing?
“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Except you’d have to play three of our albums to cover
the whole thing. So chronologically it would go: Kill Your Dreams, Alchemical Task,
and Participation Mystique. I think it would work, actually.”
What impact did that awful pandemic had on your musical activities?
“Since we were always at home together, we focused on writing, recording,
and launching the Lore City Music label. Making art was our tonic.”
Many artists covered other artists during the lockdown period.
Did you do that too? If not, which song would you pick to cover?
“We tend to stay away from covers, but if I ever did sneak one in,
it would be “Where I End and You Begin” by Radiohead.”
. Do you play live? If so, what can we expect from a LORE CITY show?
“Yes, we play live. You can expect to look at the stage and think – this duo
has more gear than a four-piece band. Then enjoy Eric’s ambient drones
between songs as a special, live treat. Also, I don’t sing with my eyes closed.”
What‘s the best and worst track you heard so far in 2021?
“Well, overall the best thing I’ve heard in 2021 is Thom Yorke’s new project, The Smile.
The worst thing I could hear in any song is a wordless “whoa-oh-oh” chorus. Except that one Arcade Fire song.”
Any chance yet now that Joe Biden is the POTUS?
“What kind of a chance?”
What’s the next step for LORE CITY?
“Writing and recording and releasing and
repeating. Building a record library.”
Thank you Laura for this Q & A.
May the road rise with Lore City.
A swirling fusion of rhapsodic rippers and cool crackerjacks,
that activated my bloodstream and my limbs this past month! Turn Up The Volume‘s 15 Knockout Tracks for January!
‘Fall Of The Big Screen’ by DEADLETTER (South London)
Imagine George Orwell fronting The Fall back in Nineteen Eighty-Four scaring the world with a grim, futuristic vision of humankind about to collapse in 2021 due to a deadly virus. Ace!
‘Heroin’ by PERMO (Scotland)
A sizzling slice of trash and slash punk. Expect 135 striking seconds of heavy thunder and scary lighting. Totally insane drums and bass, deranged guitar frenzy and cranked-up, psych-o-tic howling Fucktastic intensity!
. ‘Nothingness’ by DEAFDEAFDEAF (Manchester)
The unbridled energy, the chaotic state of mind, and the listen-to-me clamor of DeafDeafDeaf echo the early days of angry young men such as Joy Division, The Fall, and Wire. It must be terrible to be young today with all the political unrest in the world and most of all the drastically freedom-limiting consequences of the horrible pandemic.
. ‘Caddy Daddy’ by MELVINS (USA)
Veteran punks coming up with some paranoid Black Sabbath drones. From their
new upcoming, 24th (!) album, entitled Working With God (brilliant title). Holy smoke!
‘We… Are Doomed’ by THE IRRATIONAL LIBRARY (Dutch-American)
The challenging rap and roll spirit of an open-minded-plainspoken-asskicking-anti-establishement-and-other-scumbags force of doom and gloom. The title track from
this caring collective’s excellent new album. Apocalypse Now!
‘The Way I Like It’ by BROOZER (Wolverhampton, UK)
After a badass intro Broozer storms immediately in a grungy Nirvanesqe mode. No brakes, no looking back, not giving in and inviting you to scream at the top of your lungs when the massive chorus comes on-stream. Turn up the heat!
‘Man Alone (Can’t Stop The Fadin’)’ byTINDERSTICKS (Nottingham, UK)
Surprising stunner! An 11-minute psychedelic and epic journey. Trippy and spacey.
From new, 13th, upcoming album Distractions. WOW factor!
‘Beside Myself’ by SISTER PSYCHOSIS (UK/Canada)
A sticky pounding psych groove that rolls with flair and panache, with a shadowy color. Amanda May looks like a femme fatale and sounds like a femme fatale. Sensuous, sexy and sensitive. I want more! ASAP!
‘A Hero’s Death’ byFONTAINES D.C. remixed bySOULWAX (Ireland/Belgium)
Irish rockers Fontaines D.C. sounding vibey and funky? Absolutely. Well, after the Belgian dance brothers Dewaele aka Soulwax put their hands on the title track of the Irish band.
‘Fear’ by BOAF (Belgium)
Fear is a quietLOUDquiet giant as impressive as the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris (before the fire). Majestic metallic grandeur and feverish glow. Huge wall-of-thunder-and-lighting sound! Hell yeah!
. ‘Bad Vibrations’ by THE ROGUES GALLERY (St. Albans, UK)
A no-nonsense-bluesy-guitar-driven steamroller for all the boys, the girls, and everyone in between. A bare-bones ripper spreading let-the-good-times rattle vibes. Stomping way to hit the scene, guys! Go for it! Going bonkers time!
‘Mistakes’ by RUBBER VELVET (Wales)
It’s a gripping and moony lullaby-like melody with ardent duo harmonies, glimmering Kurt Vile guitars, frolic piano touches, and a close your eyes and float away chorus. Stirring score.
. ‘Look Away’ by DEAP VALLYfeat. Jennylee (Warpaint) – (US)
A yearning love groove. A melancholic lullaby. A bittersweet symphony. Quite special and sonically quite different from their powerful trademark sound.
. ‘When It Calls’ by A. SMYTH (Dublin, Ireland)
Starry-eyed music for the twilight hours. Meditative, brooding, and making
you hum along from start to finish. Midway, a weeping Neil Young guitar fragment electrifies the mood briefly before Smyth‘s voice takes over again with its calming timbre. All you need to let your thoughts float around your head.
TURN UP THE VOLUME 