Monday 24 June 2013

Lucifer's Foreskin - Satanic Vulvacrafts.

Lucifer's Foreskin - Satanic Vulvacrafts (Infernal Machines / Crucial Blast)
This time we are doing a noisy tape from a very strange band with a very strange name because they are called Lucifer's Foreskin - It is a strange name because Lucifer is the devil and a foreskin is a bit of the penis and I've never heard of a band named after a bit of the penis before so I thought that was a bit funny. I think some people might get offended about this name because it's a bit rude but I think it's ok really and I think the band were probably just trying to be funny.
           I think that people might get offended also because of the devil stuff too and think that this is music for devil-worship but I think devil-worshippers are probably alright really and I don't mind them because you need all sorts of people in the world. I don't think you need to be a devil-worshipper though to listen to this tape because anybody can listen to music so even though I go to church I am going to listen to it anyway because I don't think anything will happen to me if I do.
           The first song on side A of the tape is called The Shroud of Purgatory so that is more devil stuff because purgatory is another word for hell and hell is where the devil is and where wicked people go when they die because they have been wicked; I think it is probably a horrible place and I hope I don't go there when I die but I think I probably won't because I'm good most of the time and not wicked at all and don't do bad things.  The song starts off with a noise like a big fire and lots of wind so I suppose it sounds a bit like hell would sound like. It is strange music because there are no drums there is just lots of loud noise and what sounds like people in the background far away - I thought this was interesting and a good way to start off the tape.
            The second song is also a devil song because it is called Satanic Evil but it is very different from the first song because it has fast electronic drums like disco music and over the top of that there is a noise like an german shepherd dog makes just before it attacks you. I liked this song very much because I've never heard anything like it before and I thought it was good fun.
            After this song is another one with all noises in it that sounds a bit lots of big drills on a building site or like how a television sounds when the picture won't come on except it's very loud and then after that is another one which is the same but even louder which is very noisy indeed. At the end of the song there is a sound which sounds like the devil talking, you can tell it is the devil talking because it is a dark, growly voice and I think that is what the devil would sound like.
            The next song Perpetual Desecration is the last song of the first side and is another one with fast electronic disco drums in it and vocals like the devil's growly talking. I think this is a very interesting way of making music and I liked it very much.
A bombed out house from the war.
             On the next side the first song is called devil skin rising and this one is a very noisy one indeed and it made me think of a big war with lots of planes dropping bombs and lots of destruction. I was born January 7th 1944 so I was born in the last big war but I don't remember any of it because I was only a baby then. I do remember though playing in the bombed out houses that were still about when I was about 10, me and my friends used to go in them to see what they were like. I used to like going round the bombed out houses because it was interesting thinking about the war and what it must have been like in them times - I think it would have been horrible with all those people getting bombs dropped on them and getting killed and I wish we didn't have wars because they are not nice.
            After this song is another of the disco ones called Incest of Wasp but the drums aren't quite as fast on this one and there are more other electronic sounds and you can here the growling more on it than on the other disco ones, I like the growling very much because it's a bit strange and makes me laugh.
              Then there is a song called Priesteater which is a funny name for a song because I don't think anybody would really eat a priest. This one is a short one of just noise like the big drills again and so is the next one.
               The last song of the tape is called Satanic Evil II and it is another disco type song with growling on it and voice noises which sound a bit like burping and I suppose it does sound like Satanic Evil music because it is loud and noisy and not really happy music because it sounds more angry than happy.
               Overall I would say I liked listening to this music a lot because it was very strange and enjoyable and a good laugh because it's a bit silly and fun but I suppose it might truly be satanic music about the devil and all his works and that would be a bit scary. I think other people would like it if they heard it because they probably wouldn't have heard music like it before so I think they should. I would give this tape 10 out 10.

Monday 17 June 2013

Morton Feldman - Crippled Symmetry: at June in Buffalo.

Morton Feldman - Crippled Symmetry: at June in Buffalo (Frozen Reeds)
              This time I am doing some modern classical music by Morton Feldman that was sent to me by Ian from Frozen Reeds which is a record label in Finland. I would like to thank Ian for sending me this music because I've never heard modern classical music before and so I am going to enjoy listening to this very much because I always like hearing new things. 
              Morton Feldman was born in New York to Russian/Jewish parents oJanuary 12, 1926 and he made his classical music and then he died aged 61 of cancer of the pancreas. 61 is a bit young to die so it's a shame that he died then just like it's a shame when anyone dies - I'm older than he was when he died cos i'm 69 but I'm not bothered that i'm going to die because I'm not going to know anything about it probably and I've had a good time in my life and been happy and had good friends and enjoyed myself.       
             When I was getting ready to do this review with Arlo, who helps me with the writing, we looked up all about him and that's how I know when he died and where he came from and we also looked up about modern classical music because I didn't know anything about it so I wanted to learn a bit to help me out with writing the review.  When I first heard of modern classical when we started this review I thought of Nut Rocker by B.Bumble & the Stingers because Nut Rocker is a song that a rock band made of a Tchaikovsky tune. You can hear Nut Rocker here if you like:
              Nut Rocker isn't modern classical though because what we learnt about modern classical is that people in classical music decided to not use the rules of old classical music and make up some of their own rules to see what it sounded like to do that - This means it sounds a bit like old classical music but a bit stranger and not at all like B.Bumble. On these CD's that i was sent which are two CDs of some music of Morton Feldman played in a concert in New York you can tell it is classical music because it has piano in it and flutes and instruments like xylophones and they are all instruments that you play classical music on and you can tell it is modern classical because it sounds a bit like older classical but stranger.
              The first CD in this set of two CD's is the first half of the concert which happened on June 12th 2000 that was played by Eberhard Blum (Flute, Alto flute, Bass flute), Jan Williams (Glokenspiel, Vibraphone) and Nils Vigland (Piano, Celesta) and it starts off with them all playing their instruments together and it is quite slow music and is quite pretty sounding and soft. Then after a little bit it gets even quieter with mostly just flute and vibraphone (or maybe it's glokenspiel) and it sounds a bit like music you would play to a baby to get it relaxed and stop it crying. I think it sounds like music to play to a baby because it has lot of twinkly sounds and soft bits like music for babies has. After a bit you start hearing more piano and it starts sounds a bit heavier than the other instruments and it doesn't sound so much like music for a baby anymore because it sounds more like music for ballet dancing I think and I can imagine people doing some slow ballet dancing where the dancers are slowly waving their arms about. I think this would be nice music to dance to if you were a bit older like me and couldn't move very quick because it is quite slow music and so it wouldn't be tiring. 
                The music kind of carries on being quite slow with different sounds coming in from different instruments and after a bit I thought that this sounded a bit like music you would have in an old black and white horror film about ghosts or something like that because it sounds quite spooky. If I was to make a film with this music I would call it Behind the Bloody Walls and I'd have a house in it where the curtains are always closed and there would be blood on the walls and ghosts that live in the walls that come out of them at night to scare people, I think this would make a very good film indeed.
                 After listening a bit more I was trying to think of when would be a good time to listen to this music and I thought it would be good music to play if you were having a meal with friends or maybe if you were on your own it would be good music to listen to if you wanted to relax and you could lie on your bed and close your eyes and it would be very relaxing indeed because of how calm and slow and nice it is. I liked this CD of the first half of this concert very much. 
                   The second CD is of the second half of the concert and it starts of with mainly flute which I thought was quite nice and it reminded me again of music you would play to a child to get it to sleep like a lullaby, I think this music would work to get kids asleep because it's soft sounding music and I think that is probably what children like. After a bit the piano comes in more and it's still soft and relaxing and nice to listen to because the sounds are quite long in this bit and that makes it even more relaxing than maybe the other CD was. My favourite bit on CD was a bit where the flute sounded like the blower on a ship and it made me think of an old docks with an old ship coming in and I thought this was a nice thing to think of.
                      Overall I think that this a very good thing for me to listen to because it's always nice to have a change and I would like to hear more Morton Feldman and more modern classical music and learn more about it. I am going to take these CDs home and will listen to them when I want to just relax in my room, I think I will enjoy that very much. I would give this Morton Feldman music 10 out of 10 and would like to thank Ian again for sending it to me because I've enjoyed it very much.

Monday 3 June 2013

Nochexxx - Greatest Record.

Nochexxx - Greatest Record (NCHX).
This time I record reviewing a record because instead I am doing a cassette tape by Nochexxx called Greatest Record. I thought it was interesting to be reviewing another tape because I didn't think anyone made them anymore. It's a lovely looking tape as well because it is all gold and comes with a card thing that tells you what the tape is called.
             I have heard of Nochexxx before because I reviewed his stuff ages back when I first started doing record reviews and I liked his stuff very much. This time to make the review more interesting time we asked him if he would answer some questions and he said yes which I was very pleased about. Here are the questions that we asked and what he said:

I didn't know till recent that people still did tapes, why did you do your music on a tape and not a record or a CD? 
Yeah, there's a thriving underground scene still releasing tape. It's cheap and manufacturing small numbers isn't an issue. Seeing as this release was a nod to the old-school mixtape daze, I felt cassette would be the most appropriate format. 

Do you think tapes are better? Vinyl is king, but i can't always afford it. I love tapes tho - the ferric really does become the music! This will sound snobbish, but i don't like releasing digitally as I feel the listener misses out on the post production artifacts derived from different formats. I'm always thinking about how my music will interact with different formats, it's very much part of the art.  

I thought the tape was very interesting and had lots of different types of  sounds in it that reminded me of lots of things. Do you like a lot of  different music like I do and if so what types do you like? Yes of course; any chef worth his salt loves all ingredients, it's just a case of finding music that has been cooked correctly. I love all genres, but I'm by no means an expert!     

       I think these answers are very interesting and I'd like to thank Nochexxx for answering my questions. One thing I thought was interesting is where he says about mixtapes, mixtapes are when you mix music together like a DJ in a discotheque with no bits between the songs so it just sounds like one long song. This is what this tape is like so instead of reviewing each song I am just going to review the whole thing together all at once.
       It all begins with drums and what sounds a bit like an electric guitar but I'm not sure if it is guitar because I think Nochexxx is more of an electronic musician but I suppose it might be because there's lots of different sounds in this music so it could be. This drumming carries on and like I say there are lots of sounds and things happening like; a man with a voice like Barry White talking, a bird whistling, a saxophone, people clapping, an opera singer, a television going on and all sorts of stuff and it all goes together to make some very funky music indeed which I think is probably disco music. I liked how the tape has started off very much, it is very interesting indeed.
       One bit I thought was most interesting is where a voice says "His name is Head, Dick Head." I think it would be funny if there was a person really called Dick Head and I think if some one was called Dick Head they would probably change their name but I wouldn't because I would think it was funny. After this talking the music carries on being funky disco music and then the music sort of dies out and then there is an answer machine and somebody talking about someone called Dave and then a bit of piano and the music starts up again and seems to change a lot so is very interesting because there is lots to listen to - I especially liked the drums because they made me think of insects.
          The music goes on for a bit and then there is a girl singing "the other night" over and over on top of more disco music and then there is a saying Disco over and over so I was right and this is disco music cos otherwise the guy wouldn't be saying it. After a bit of that and more music there is a little bit of a Rick Astley tune from 1987 called Never Gonna Give You Up and then that changes to some guy talking about shit and Ray Charles and then some other talking which sounds like talking at a party and then there is more disco music and then someone talking about a planet called Orion and this made me think that maybe this was supposed to be space music for a space disco which I think would be an alright thing cos it would be fun I reckon to have a space disco. After a bit more music there is another voice which is a bit weird and again made me think of space cos it sounded a bit like a robot or something talking and then the music starts and it sounds very good because it sounds like strange trumpets and I liked this a lot. The music kind of slows down a bit here and then gets faster again and very funky indeed before it finishes and then that's the end but you can turn the tape over and it's the same thing again on the other side.
        Overall I think that this is a very good tape with very good music on it from Nochexxx which I enjoyed very much indeed and I think people should buy it and play it at their parties and they could get people to dress up as space people and come round and listen to it, I think that would be a lot of fun and I'd like to go to a space party like that. I would give this tape 10 out of 10.