Fifth installment of DC’s Beat Grinder, the ultimate producer battle. They’re held at Capital City Records on U street, they’re well attended and open to all ages/free. This is my 3rd beat grinder poster, I work with DJ Damu on these and they’re always fun. I still have streaks in my scanner from raw hamburger. [...]

Original post by Anthony Dihle and software by Elliott Back

Jeff Bagato speaks about a local Bettie Page fanatic at the last F.W. Thomas Performance.
If you were unlucky enough to NOT have caught the first installment of the F.W. Thomas Performances last month, shame on you. If you miss the second installment this coming Monday then… uh, double shame on you? How does that go [...]

Original post by Mudsugar and software by Elliott Back

Homestead EP, 1985

In my younger and formative years, the fascination with things like the limited edition Headache/Heartbeat autopsy picture (don’t click on that) would have had me running to the record store to be the first kid on my block, etc. Now, having seen and tasted the world, I find I have a more retiring nature. In other words, I’ve grown as lame as the people I once decried. Violence, gore… eh, so what?

While I accept (per Girard) that violence may indeed be the heart and secret soul of the sacred, I can no longer bring myself to care. It’s enough to get up in the morning or enjoy those occasional rewards of joy or pain or both without wallowing in it. But let’s meditate on violence and song for at least a paragraph. After all the two have been intertwined since Orpheus got his rotten bitch head lopped off. Troubadors were the pre-modern equivalent of media ultraviolence. Marrying loud noisy electric guitars with songs about violence comes as a no-brainer. Most of the other peer bands to Big Black were doing it — Sonic Youth took a more literary bent, Killdozer went for the joke, Live Skull went for the abstract and Rifle Sport, well, copied what everyone else was doing. Big Black just took it all, mixed it up with an industrial, faux-funk blend and turned it up real real loud. It’s no wonder that Steve Albini and Santiago Durango’s guitars are labelled “the knife” and “the hammer,” respectively. Of the six songs here, four seem explicitly about violence — about being killed (“Sleep”), revenge killing (“The Big Payback”), someone thinking about random killing (“Shotgun”) or someone who would like to kill (“Deep Six”). They are the Reagan year equivalent of the broadside ballads — subversive, at times funny and you would probably get arrested or drug tested if you admitted to listening to them.

But screw all that songmeaning crap — it’s the three guitar attack and the recording itself that brings me back again and again and again. Listen to, for instance, “Deep Six” where the horror of the regular truck driver guy – or Albini says in the liner notes “the whole of man’s experience: sex, hate, pain, money, liquor, food, pride, humility, ambition, weapons, waylon jennings, dick size — everything” is encapsulated into the dichotomy of the “knife” and the “hammer” doing a grimy call-response over a pumped up bass (Naked Raygun’s Jeff “gigantor” Pezzatti), Albini’s “neck knotted” vocals, a multi-voice chorus (!) and a hard shuffle-stomp beat. Pure magazine, indeed.

For what was reportedly a fairly lo-fi set-up, the engineering of this music is near flawless to my mind — or at least, eminently appropriate to the songs. The only thing that holds the band back, for good or ill, is the limitations of the drum machine (a borrowed Roland Mach V). Later, the recording and programming (and I think the model) of the machine would significantly upgrade. I also think the six song EP was probably the best format for the band. It’s only in Atomizer (the follow-up that the band rightly predicted would “make you shit yourself” in the Racer-X liner notes) that they put together a collection of songs that could withstand the length of the format.

I’m probably in the majority by saying it’s the title track that I most love to death and holds up the best (I dare any DJ to throw it on and see if it doesn’t get a big reaction). “Racer-X” starts with a pounding rhythm, Pezatti’s “gigantor” bass slap and Albini’s narcotic haze mumble and then explodes into a tornado of guitar noise. Those ensuring that “racism” is not present in any shape or form in modern music will likely object to Albini’s reference to “cartoon Nips” and I’m not here to defend it but as a kid, that goody two-boots Speed Racer and his menagerie of synchophantic dullards annoyed me to no end – I would have called them cartoon nerds but I guess it loses some bite. All my moron “friends” watched the stupid show after school — while I preferred Dark Shadows. In retrospect, not sure which is lamer.

In the song, the “hero” is Speed’s villian brother – Rex – who is reimagined as “just a regular guy…doing his goddamn job.” Rex also has a little drug problem (his speed comes from a “little glass jar”) and Daddy issues (“Shut up Pop”) that are only magnified by his asswipe race winning perfect brother. Rex is the perennial loser, but he’s got way more cool than the blank-eyed Speed Racer can ever hope to muster in his most vivid four color cartoon dreams. Kiddies, everything they told you was wrong.. QUESTION ALL even imported anime characters that play on cable channels at 4:30PM in the afternoon. How fucking subversive is that?

Credits:
Albini / Durango – Guitar
Pezzati: bass
Iain Burgess: engineering

Songs:

“Racer-X” – Big Black
“Deep Six” – Big Black

Links:
Liner notes, fanzine reviews available at the Dementlieu Big Black site. I also stole the cover photo from them.

Big Black on Myspace

BUY:
All these songs are available on the Hammer Party CD. Life is pathetic for you if you don’t have this in your collection in some shape or form. T&G Hammer Party

Original post by Jim H and software by Elliott Back

I think it’s been about four years since Claustrofobia released their last full-length, but the Brazilian thrash act is finally back with “Fulminant”. I reviewed the band’s sophomore effort, “Thrasher”, about three years ago, and while I really liked it, something about the material didn’t hold up quite as well over time for some reason. Well, whatever the case, I’m pleased to report that “Fulminant” is a stronger album across the board. The recording is a little more organic and well-rounded, the songwriting is more memorable and diverse, etc. Claustrofobia’s overall sound is one of early- to mid-90’s thrash metal in that you can hear leftover riffs from the classic vibe of the 80’s heyday, but the general presentation is heavier and has just the right amount of tactful groove in place. This time around they’re also introducing some sick dissonant textures and a few weirder lead breaks and time signatures to further break away from any accusations of a “retro” approach, though aficionados of the good ol’ days should still find plenty to smile about on this album. It’s cool because the band has finally managed to perfectly blend the old and the new in a manner that remains fairly energetic and in your face, and unlike many such acts flirting with these particular areas they do so without relying on death metal riffs or tangible melody, which is great. The end result really does start to put Claustrofobia in a league of their own – and I honestly wish more bands could find it within themselves to follow suit, because there’s not enough of this kind of thing out there these days! Oh, and “Eu Quero é Que se Foda” below even features a guest solo from the one and only Andreas Kisser, just so you know.

Claustrofobia “Reality Show”
Claustrofobia “Eu Quero é Que se Foda”

As with many relatively obscure bands from South American countries, it might be a little tricky to get your hands on this CD here in the US, though steps are being taken to improve that situation. For the time being you can email the band about ordering a copy directly from them, or try to get in touch with ta.zambo@videotron.ca if you need some help acquiring the disc. There are currently only two online vendors carrying/slated to carry the CD (the latter is in North America but probably won’t have the album on hand until August):

@ Submarino
@ Profusion – Le Metal Store

I also reviewed a demo from Brazilian grinders Expose Your Hate around three years ago, and a couple of those songs have been re-recorded here on “Hatecult” – their debut full-length released by Black Hole Productions. For those unfamiliar, these guys crank out some raging death/grind with socio-political lyrics that attack religion, the media, ecological issues, and then some. The vocals on this outing are still all over the place from sneering screams to lower growls, but whereas the demo was a little more straightforward in its speedy delivery of rather traditional grindcore, this record brings in a lot more of a death metal vibe from a musical standpoint. The riffing maintains a largely high-speed attack, but they’ll also throw in the occasional dissonant break or a few slightly harsher and more chaotic angles as well, and that variety helps to add interest and keep things moving. Although, at the end of the day they’re still plowing through 17 songs in barely over a half-hour, so there’s not much messing around to be had here… and when it comes to grindcore that’s how I like it!

Expose Your Hate “Corrosion of Truth”
Expose Your Hate “Appreciate the Dying Planet”

It’s a shame so many bands from outside the US can tend to have such a hard time getting listeners to take notice over here, but I think Expose Your Hate has a lot of potential to please fans of straight up grind that tend to prefer acts with a contemporary edge that aren’t just rehashing the true classics. So pick this one up if you’re into it, and spread the word:

@ Black Hole Productions
@ Razorback Records
@ Relapse Records

I’m glad to see so many people enjoyed the power of “The Juice” yesterday. I can only wish said “Juice” was mighty enough to have prevented me from ever returning to work. I really need to start playing the fucking lottery…

Original post by Andrew @ AVERSIONLINE and software by Elliott Back