Henry Rollins @ O2 Academy, Oxford [18/01/2012]

Punk rock legend turned spoken word artist Henry Rollins may have been forced to downsize to the O2 Academy due to the closure of the Regal (the original venue for this gig) but in the confines of the packed downstairs at the O2 he gave a flawless performance in his increasingly primary role as a public speaker. Arriving on stage at 8pm on the dot, Rollins wrapped the mic lead round his hand and launched straight into his almost-two-and-a-half hour spiel, not once pausing or stopping for a sip of water.

Whereas his previous 'routines' (a loose term considering the man's ability to riff on a subject with clarity and intelligence) had been vitriolic, particularly of the Bush administration and the War on Terror, peppering his sets with 'ain't Bush a jackass'-style jibes for laughs, this time Rollins' performance was more humanitarian, more sedate but no less on-the-ball or funny.

Of course, he couldn't help himself but dedicate a small section of his time to George W's recent autobiography, Decision Points, and the current US Presidential elections (noting that ultra conservative Republican candidate Rick Perry is so homophobic that he has to be gay). Indeed his anecdotes about American life and the national proclivity to consume were delivered with an equal combination of frustration and love, a conflict that in many ways mirrored the late Bill Hicks and his juxtaposed tirades about the American South.

To use a tired phrase, the first hour of his performance was a veritable tour de force, full of charming recollections of his early days as a poor touring musician in Black Flag, having to check the weight of chocolate bars to ensure that he was getting the most value for his fifty-five cents. Other memorable passages involved some deceptively tough 'working boys' on the Santa Monica Boulevard, the pitfalls of stage-diving, Black Flag's total lack of groupies, meeting a young, enthusiastic Metallica (“I've not followed their career since but I heard they've done pretty well for themselves”), and reciting lines from Blue Velvet to an unwitting and, naturally, terrified Dennis Hopper.

But it was his life-changing experiences in India, Korea, Vietnam and Tibet that informed the majority of his set, blending social and cultural commentary with a great deal of warmth and humour. His ruminations on the brainwashing of North Koreans and China's military presence in Tibet were particularly poignant, especially the latter which was told through the eyes of a young Buddhist woman, sobbing about the absence of the exiled Dalai Llama. But the tone of the show was balanced beautifully – the next moment Henry recalled being given a tour of Vietnam by a hilarious gloating Vietnamese historian, pointing to where John McCain’s plane crash-landed with pride.

Self-proclaimed stand-up comedians rarely deliver shows as full of intelligence, genuine belly laughs, humanity, warmth, self-depreciation and sincerity as Rollins did tonight, let alone with such professionalism and for more than two hours straight. Not even the twats in front of me who were talking loudly, farting and getting up every two minutes to go for a fag could ruin the evening for me. Absolutely superb.

[Originally published on Musicinoxford.co.uk, 20/01/2012]

http://www.musicinoxford.co.uk/2012/01/20/henry-rollins-o2-academy-oxford-18012012/

Jucifer - Nadir

(Grindcore Karaoke, 2011)

Whether or not the liner notes that accompany Nadir are just another case of self-mythologising from the nomadic Jucifer front-woman Gazelle Amber Valentine, they paint a charming picture of a young band, destitute of anything but the pleasure of playing music among the junkies and vagrants of a run-down part of the city at a time before they had turned into the cult legends they are now. These self-recorded songs reflect the story beautifully; they are stripped to the absolute essentials – a guitar, drums, vocals, cigarettes and a chocolate sauce and whiskey concoction the guys liked to call 'mud.'

As such the songs have a raw power, comparable to early White Stripes in the sense that these guys clearly felt like outsiders finding solace in one another and the music they created together. Kicking things off in a dynamic (and downright bad-arse) fashion is opening track 'Prime' which contains a huge, lumbering riff and a haunting vocal melody – a long lost sludge classic. 'Hachimantaro' takes a slightly more relaxed approach but is equally heavy and features a similarly lurching riff. In contrast 'Glamourpuss' has an industrial sound, akin (surprisingly) to Nine Inch Nails crossed with some Babes In Toyland (think 'Bruise Violet'.)

If nothing else, Nadir illustrates that the duo have always had a great musical chemistry, even if some of the songs feel like they could implode at any moment. Indeed 'Withering' seems designed to give this impression – the drums and guitar slowing up and down as if the recording was transferred from a warped cassette. Add into the mix Gazelle's otherworldly voice and the song feels like it's an elephant teetering on a little ball.

Considering the songs come from such humble lo-fi beginnings, these recordings have been given considerable muscle by Chris J. Black and Scott Hull who transferred the analogue tapes to digital, mixed and mastered the album respectively. Sadly the vocal levels are quite low on all of the tracks; whether this is by design or due to the limitations of the source material is unclear but it's a shame because Gazelle's vocals play a big part in Jucifer's appeal (just listen to L' Autrichienne to hear how versatile a singer she is). However these songs do illustrate that she has always taken an interesting approach to fronting a sludge band, her vocals generally melodic throughout these five songs – almost Kim Gordon-like on 'Glamourpuss' and donning a ghostly warble on 'Withering' and uncompromising doomy-closer 'Crossless.' This whisper-style of singing was apparently created so as not to disturb her parents at home – if only they'd heard their daughter's voice in context...

So overall this is a gem of a release – a reissue of a tape they'd send out to promoters to try and get shows back in the early to mid nineties. Whether they knew it or not back then, it's clear listening to Nadir that these guys had something that would set them apart and make them legends. In many ways Jucifer are still outsiders but Nadir is an interesting origin story.

[Originally published by The Sleeping Shaman, 19/01/2011]
http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/j/jucifer-nadir-reissue-cd-digital-ep-2011/
[Later reposted on the Roadburn Festival website as their 'Album of the Day', 20/01/2012]
http://www.roadburn.com/2012/01/album-of-the-day-jucifer-nadir-reissue/

Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II

(Southern Lord, 2012)

Let's start by stating the obvious: Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II is a world away from Earth's pivotal album Earth 2; we are, after all, experiencing the second-coming of Earth. However this new incarnation shares many similarities with the version of the band that helped to pioneer the drone and doom genres – the songs are still long, simply structured and feature repetitive riffs but where Dylan Carlson once hypnotised his audience with distorted, raga-like Neanderthal chugs of electric guitar, the new Earth takes a softer approach to subdue and conquer the minds of their audience.

For some people Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I was another example of Earth's second-wave albums being too plain and, in many ways, too nice to constitute being Earth albums. After all, Carlson was the motherfucker who pretty much single-handedly invented drone metal – where was the fuzz, where was the dark, brooding atmosphere? I'm sure for some people the 2007 re-imagining of Earth's seminal 1991 opus “Ouroboros is Broken” took the biscuit, but it was a clear statement of intent from a band reborn. The band had come full-circle and the music was no longer the expression of one man but of a collaborative collection of musicians.

Like Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I, Part II has a loose, improvisational feel to it, the band seemingly finding a basic, gentle groove in each of the songs and going with it until it has run its course. On “His Teeth Did Brightly Shine” the band occupy a menacing, restless folky space, Carlson's guitar meandering closely around a simple riff. “Multiplicity of Doors” is a more sombre, elegant affair, the cymbal washes of drummer Adrienne Davies providing a distinctly jazzy feel, particularly in combination with the drone of Lori Goldston's cello which, at times, sound eerily like some jazz horn.

I think the most striking element of these albums is the debt that Earth seem to owe to post-rock bands like Do Make Say Think and Aerial M, particularly in the sense of inertia and ennui that the band seems to revel in exploring (“The Corascene Dog”). But those who would call this a departure from the band's roots should consider what Earth are doing now as a more meditative, contemplative extension of their early work. There's still a singular mind at work here, but now it's the collective consciousness of a group of like-minded musicians, embellished by the expanded musical palette that collaboration inevitably involves. Final track “The Rakehell”, for example, sounds like a combination of Can and The Doors with Neil Young handling lead guitar duties, while somehow maintaining a dull heaviness that is at the heart of much of Carlson's work.

Hardcore fans of Earth's early work will have either embraced or ignored the band since their triumphant and unexpected return in 2005. There's certainly something to be said for considering them as two different bands, so different is their approach pre- and post- Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method. But Earth still manage to cast the same majestic spell regardless of what method they use to conjure it. This is not a mind-blowing album by any means – certainly not like Earth 2 was all those years ago – but it's one that will take you on a pleasant diversion akin to a daydream or falling into the arms of slumber. And that's a good thing.

[Originally published by The Sleeping Shaman, 12/01/2012]
http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/e/earth-angels-of-darkness-demons-of-light-ii-cd-lp-2012/
[Later reposted on the Roadburn Festival website as their 'Album of the Day', 17/01/2012]
http://www.roadburn.com/2012/01/album-of-the-day-earth-angels-of-darkness-demons-of-light-ii/

Rwake - Rest

(Relapse Records, 2011)

Little Rock, Arkansas’s Rwake rock more than a little; their songs are propelled by a primal force that may well be derived from the great monoliths of the world, their sheer power making them seem like huge, imposing figures but possessing an inherent earthiness that draws you in.

After such a preposterous, ponderous intro I’d better explain my point. You see, music writers – particularly metal writers – tend to lean towards the overly-dramatic when it comes to describing music like the kind Rwake create. One of the great literary crimes of the modern era has been the overuse of the word ‘epic’ which has become something of a go-to term to describe anything vaguely out of the ordinary, impressive or, in the case of music, exceedingly long. Like so many words before it (“cool”, “fuck”, “cunt” – I’m looking at you) it has become a redundant term (epic fail), so to call Rest epic would be doing the album a disservice. Let’s just say that it is one of those rare albums that deserves the praise it’s been raking-in of late.

The thing that sets Rwake apart, particularly on this album, is that they manage to lull the listener into a trance – not by being psychedelic, repetitive, or sparse but by a seamless delivery of their ideas and a cohesive, album-long mood. These songs have a lot going on; “It Was Beautiful but Now It’s Sour” is a veritable barrage of riffs and ideas but where other bands might clumsily structure these ideas Rwake make the transitions fluid and powerful. The change to half-time in “An Invisible Thread” is a beautiful thing, and the unnervingly pretty arpeggios at the start of “The Culling” hypnotise you into a fall sense of security before adopting a post-rock rhythm and then knocking you down with a good ol’ blast o’ metal.

All of this means that Rwake are hard to label. True, the whole affair could be loosely described as “sludge” but these songs are kind of a melting pot of metal sub-genres; a hint of Pantera here, a whiff of Yob there, an Eyehategod breakdown and plenty of power metal leads, all delivered with a punk attitude that is most encapsulated in singer C.T.’s snarling delivery. Fans of all of the above will find a lot to love about this album.

The “earthiness” I mentioned in the intro is in reverence to a) the raw, magnetic effect that the music possesses but more importantly b) the rootsy side that Rwake display on Rest. The opening track is a bluesy, folky acoustic number, elements of which return for dramatic effect in the middle of closing track “Was Only a Dream”. Elsewhere, album-centrepiece “The Culling” begins with a lengthy, meditative clean-guitar section, sounding more like dark folk than sludge or doom. These peaceful, quiet sections help to bring the spiralling, lofty album right back down to earth and provide a few brief moments of respite when the album feels like it might suffocate you.

Rest has already placed highly on many end of year lists, it’s virtues championed by everyone from those trendies at Pitchfork to the countless metal blogs and magazines out there. As someone who came to this album a bit later than he meant to, let me assure you that there’s not much here that you haven’t probably already read about it elsewhere – it’s good, so go grab yourself a copy of Rest to hear what you’ve been missing. Fucking epic.

[Originally published by The Sleeping Shaman, 09/01/12]
http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/r/rwake-rest-cd-lp-dd-2011/