popwreckoning

There is one genre that has always perplexed me, in a good way, and that’s post-rock. A genre stylized by heavy distortion pedals, the scarce presence of lyrics, and long, sweeping epics. Scottish band Mogwai is one of the bands that pioneered the genre back in the mid-90s and they’ve kept their purist mentality through all seven of their studio albums. Their newest release, with perhaps the best title I’ve heard in the last year, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is the furthest departure from their quiet-loud-quiet aesthetic, but still superb.

At 53 min with just ten songs, we get a range of sounds and emotions, even with just the first three songs. Appropriately titled “White Noise” employs the distortion and ambient noise that accompanies the recognizable guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums. With Mogwai, you never can imagine exactly where all the sounds are coming from within the diegesis of the song, but they all come together beautifully for this wall of sound that’s signature to Mogwai, and post-rock in general.

“Mexican Grand Prix” is more noticeably electronic, and almost New Wave, which was nice, but unexpected on an album with such a title as Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. “San Pedro,” “George Square Thatcher Death Party,” and “How To Be A Werewolf” are also surprisingly catchy and upbeat, while still holding onto Mogwai’s post-rock roots.

Even with the heavier pop songs, we still get a few of the slower driving ballads like “Death Rays, “ “Letters to the Metro,” and “Too Raging to Cheers.” So it all balances out to be a lovely listen.

The one thing that I love about listening to Mogwai, and reviewing it as well, is that the lyrics are taken out of the picture. I have nothing against lyrics. I love them, but listening to pure music without words makes it more cerebral, more about feeling the music and less about understanding it. No song on the album exemplifies that more than the last song, an 8:29 groove called “You’re Lionel Richie.” You see, if there were distinguishable lyrics to this song, I doubt they’d have anything to do with Lionel Richie, so rather than be a gimmick title that so many artists can sometimes do, the title remains a true mystery. I have no idea what Lionel Richie has to do with fuzzy guitars and ambient noise, but apparently he has something to do with it.

As always, I’m bewildered with Mogwai’s music, but I like it that way.

Track Listing:

Lawrence indie rockers The Appleseed Cast gave a special treat to local fans at the Record Bar this March: Low Level Owl 1 and 2…in their entirety.

The acclaimed records are experimental, emotional rock and the perfect soundtrack to many mid-20-some-year-old life. Low Level Owl 1 and 2 came out in 2001, and nearly ten years later, they continue to offer epic-feeling visual soundscapes.  The music was visually accentuated by a screen projecting imagery relating to the songs and the bands personality. In other words, songs tended to be backed by clips of nature, but in between, the band showcased their personality with clips from “Saved by the Bell.”

The band’s sound has a Radiohead/Mogwai quality, but its still something unique. Finally seeing them live, it finally makes sense why this band was the group to influence so many others in this local scene. Seeing the Appleseed Cast live is just as good as sitting at home listening to the group on vinyl, if not better because you were surrounded by peers with an equal appreciation for good, local music.

Check out music from the Appleseed Cast here.

The Appleseed Cast has signed to the Chicago independent label Graveface Records, home to Black Moth Super Rainbow and Monster Movie, and many more.

Beginning on February 24th 2010, in Norman, OK, The Appleseed Cast will embark a 26 date tour, playing their two classic albums, Low Level Owl 1 and 2 back-to-back, each in its entirety. The band will have a new live album available for sale on this tour, their first for the imprint Graveface.

The Appleseed Cast’s sprawling two-disc masterpiece Low Level Owl 1 and 2 released in 2001 found a band shedding its restraints, bucking genre qualifiers and offering up something newly experimental, truly unique and utterly epic. There was little in the band’s spiky and emotional 1998 debut The End of the Ring Wars to indicate what was to come, and just barely a whiff of the ambient soundscapes, and seemingly insurmountable slow-building waves of sound-that-would-be on its 2000 follow-up Mare Vitalis. But since that discernable shift in mood and scope, The Appleseed Cast has continued to nurture and cultivate what was planted back in 2001 with each of their three subsequent releases – Two Conversations, Peregrine and Sagarmatha.

Through the years, The Appleseed Cast has shape-shifted itself as slowly and naturally as a sand dune to become one of the most staid and sonically rewarding bands on the circuit today, an achievement that has earned them throngs of fans the world over. But certainly, the band who have drawn deserved comparisons to such stalwarts as Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Spiritualized and Radiohead, began their ever-unpredictable journey into the musical wilds with the astounding wailing crescendos, heartbreaking murmuring guitar tones and gentle ambient rustlings of Low Level Owl, which will continue to stand as one of the cornerstones of the genre, acting as foundation for all the bricks that follow.

See The Appleseed Cast perform Low Level Owl 1 and 2 this Spring:

Feb 24 – Opolis / Norman, OK
Feb 25 – Lola’s / Denton, TX
Feb 26 – Rudyards / Houston, TX
Feb 27- Mohawk / Austin, TX
Mar 1 – Rhythm Room / Phoenix, AZ
Mar 2 – Plush / Tucson, AZ
Mar 3 – Casbah / San Diego, CA
Mar 4 – Glasshouse / Pomona, CA
Mar 5 – Echo Plex / Los Angeles, CA
Mar 6 – Bottom of the Hill / San Francisco, CA
Mar 8 – Berbati’s / Portland, OR
Mar 9 – Biltmore / Vancouver, BC
Mar 10 – Chop Suey / Seattle, WA
Mar 11 – Empyrean Cafe / Spokane, WA
Mar 12 – Kilby Court / Salt Lake City, UT
Mar 13 – Hi Dive / Denver, CO
Mar 15 – Waiting Room / Omaha, NE
Mar 16 – Triple Rock / Minneapolis, MN
Mar 17 – House Cafe / Dekalb, IL
Mar 18 – High Noon / Madison, WI
Mar 19 – Bottom Lounge / Chicago, IL
Mar 20 – Off Broadway / St. Louis, MO
Mar 21 – Record Bar / Kansas City, MO

Label mates Dreamend round out the bill, opening all of the shows on this tour. Dreamend features Ryan Graveface, the owner of the Graveface label and member of Black Moth Super Rainbow. Dreamend’s latest album Long Forgotten Friend is out now on Graveface. Both The Appleseed Cast and Dreamend will have new full-length releases out via Graveface in late 2010.

The Appleseed Cast: website | myspace

Bristol, UK noisemakers Fuck Buttons are back with Tarot Sport, the follow-up to last year’s Street Horrrsing. Andrew Weatherall has been brought in to produce this time round and his touch is evident in a few places.

Fuck Buttons’ post-rock sound is akin to bands like Mogwai, which makes sense as their first album was produced by Mogwai’s John Cummings. The textures on Street Horrrsing fell on the experimental end of the spectrum, the duo not going in for the ecstatic build-up model, but instead sticking with noise and drone and indecipherably distorted vocals, with organ washes being one of the few concessions to warmth in their sound. Tarot Sport retains some of those elements, while expanding on certain motifs. The distorted vocals have been reduced and the tribal aspect apparent on some of the Street Horrrsing tracks is entirely absent here.

“The Lisbon Maru” is probably the most familiar-sounding track; soft organ overlays the militaristic drums while layers are added on, leading the track to culminate in feedbacky guitar squalls. The sounds on “Surf Solar” seem cleaner, the beat a bit meatier, and it all sounds a bit more digital, with shades of Weatherall’s Sabres of Paradise coming through to my ears. The Sabres touch is also there on “Phantom Limb,” with it’s very processed beats and chopped up synthy sound — not a bad thing at all, especially if you miss that Sabres/old Warp sound. Other tracks trade the more chopped and complex beats for something straighter and more repetitive, giving the tracks what I (probably mistakenly) think of as a Krautrock sound.

Overall, things are a little less rock and a bit more toward the more skewed-yet-warm side of electronic music (meaning it’s pretty undanceable). Think Autechre, Aphex, et al. Having said that there is still liberal use of guitar feedback to be found amongst the autobahn beats and glitchy beeps, and the album is one of those rare birds that works together as one concept and one piece of music. Final track “Flight of the Feathered Serpent” exemplifies that by echoing sounds used throughout the album and synthesising them into an uptempo and positive finale.

Track Listing:
01. Surf Solar
02. Rough Steez
03. The Lisbon Maru
04. Olympians
05. Phantom Limb
06. Space Mountain
07. Flight Of The Feathered Serpent

Fuck Buttons: website | myspace

Cold War Kids Loyalty to Loyalty

Jenny Lewis Acid Tongue :: review

TV On The Radio Dear Science

Choke soundtrack

Peter Bjorn and John Seaside Rock

Blitzen Trapper Furr :: download “Furr” | stream album

The Action Design Never Say Never

Mason Proper Olly Oxen Free

Kings of Leon Only By The Night :: review

Friendly Fires Friendly Fires :: review | download “Jump In The Pool”

The Human Value Push and Pull

Dirty Heads Any Port In A Storm :: review

French Kicks Covers EP

Starfucker Starfucker :: review

Dungen 4

Joe Thomas New Man

The Tough Alliance A New Chance

Brightblack Morning Light Motion To Rejoin :: download “Hologram Buffalo”

Signal Hill Transmission Starting Gun EP

Astronautilus Pomegranate

Koufax Strugglers

Mogwai The Hawk Is Howling

KatJonBand KatJonBand :: download “Bad Apples”

Plain White T’s Big Bad World

Sing It Loud Come Around

The Morning Light The Morning Light

Laura Warshauer Laura Warshauer :: stream “Sweet 17″

Lenka Lenka

The Gay Blades Ghosts