these new puritans

yet another band i almost gave a pass b/c i didn't like their name. now i'm thinking i should only listen to bands whose names i hate. tnp's beat pyramid simply kicks ass. it's battles except they are fun. and there are obvious influences from bands such as joy division and wire (whose member, i believe, produced beat pyramid) but there are also bits that recall les savy fav and some unnamed poppier bands.

the teenagers, crystal castles

don't know quite what to make of the teenagers. i generally don't get the point of funny music - i mean how many people have actually listened to an art brut record more than ones. i guess i should give the teenagers for sounding funny. and stupid. or is it clever? the crystal castles. like them. maybe love.

evangelista - truth is dark like outer space

i never really got into the geraldine fibers but carla bozulich's new outlet, evangelista, makes me think i have some listening to do. truth is dark like outer space is one of these songs that seems way too short because there seems no reason why it should ever end. it sounds like sonic youth fronted by thalia zedek, which, if you think about it is about the best possible combination one can think of. if one can criticize sonic youth for anything it is that sonic youth was always a little bit too arty (not necessarily a bad thing though) and that they were always more out to impress than depress. thalia zedek, with come, on the other hand, could seriously fuck with your head.

above, truth is dark.... below, sonic youth's mote (which i think is one of the instances sonic youth sounds invested in their songs), plus a few come songs, and for good measure, the faint's cover of mote.

9

a fairly schizophrenic collection of songs. but the real reason for the post was just mention warlock's somewhat underrated album from last year, heavy deavy skull lover. the least you can say is that the album is better than the title. anyhow, i really like moving mountains of that album. and since i am bothering to post, it is followed by (more) xiu xiu (obsessed with that song), nadja (if you like a bit of noise in your diet, this is for you - really cool album), benoit pioulard, black kids, the depreciation guild, bon iver, bodies of water, kim hiorthoy and probably something else...

clark - turning dragon

clark's new album, turning dragon, represent a bit of a left turn. or probably more accurately a right turn. clark's previous output has been pretty much ambient music that hasn't outlawed beats. turning dragon is essentially clark's assault on club music. it sounds like something you would expect to hear in a club but the vibe is altogether different. like most of clark's other stuff there is something threatening about his music except here you get the sense that things are about to boil over. i puzzled a bit over the rave reviews burial received last year but i guess there are some parallels here - both draw on what is essentially club music but replace the jump-around-and-be-happy feeling with something a little darker. neither succeeds entirely but in my book clark's album is more interesting. below a track from clark's latest, one from throttle promoter and the delicious herr barr from body riddle along with a reinterpretation by broadcast.