Im Schlachthaus Blümen die Blumen

So about a week ago, I was wandering around in the district of Leipzig I live in, to the bank, then shopping for food. It must have been Saturday afternoon, the party folk haven't yet arrived and the working folk have already called it a day so there was barely anyone out in the streets, and I was listening to Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf. The name would at first suggest some neo-kraut band but is apparently a reference to Günther Grass' novel The Tin Drum and the band is an experimental ambient/avantgarde sound collage group. I first heard of them via Drone Records and recently got some other records of them - beautiful. I give you the first track off Im Schlachthaus Blühen die Blumen.



Download Aalfang mit Pferdekopf - Yahonami (VBR, 27,1 mb)
Buy Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf - Im Schlachthaus Blühen Die Blumen from Ex Ovo (RIAA-free!)

Blyaha-muha!

Folks, I know what you have been asking yourselves in the last days. I know you couldn't sleep, and, while lying awake in your bed, you were occupied by just one thought. One unsolved mystery that, you knew it, wouldn't let you be, wouldn't let you lead your life normally if it wouldn't be resolved eventually. And today, I am ready to present you the answer - yes, Antificial Weblog 2.0 is, in fact, back on track and new posts hopefully will come in at least once a day.

Today I give you something I found on a sampler called "Soviet Punk Rock Anthology". I couldn't manage to find out anything about the sampler, however, I knew the song from a Russian math/indie-rock band Tequilajazzz who played it at a concert later released as the Moloko live album. The band's leader, Yevgeniy Fyodorov, played in a band called Obyekt Nasmeshek in the 80's and the early 90's; in fact, all three members of the original Tequilajazzz line-up did at one point or another.

Apparently, they were influenced by the New Romantic phenomenon at the beginning, then turned to punk rock. Both things show on the track; it's a neat punk-pop song, and people who like The Clash, The Soft Boys or the Buzzcocks sure will enjoy it. It's also sweet how the singer obviously imitates Johnny Rotten. Have fun.

Download Obyekt Nasmeshek - Blyaha-Muha (VBR, 4,90 mb)
Buy a compilation called "Legendy Russkogo Roka" by Obyekt Nasmeshek from RussianDVD.com (RIAA-free!)

Download Tequilajazzz - Blyaha-Muha (VBR, 4,04 mb)
Buy Tequilajazz - Moloko from RussianDVD.com (RIAA-free!)

Shut up! Don't cry.

Although the Monks only released one album in 1966, over the years they have become one of the most influential 60's groups to emerge. The Fall have learned a lot from them (also, they have overed their songs numerous times), and the Silver Monk Time tribute album features groups such as Mouse From Mars, The Raincoats, Jason Forrest, Faust and others. Among the many garage bands of their time, they also belonged to the most original ones. Just listen to those raw, repetative riffs. Three tracks off Black Monk Time.


Download The Monks - Monk Time (192 kbps, 3,81 mb)
Download The Monks - Shut Up! (192 kbps, 4,44 mb)
Download The Monks - I Hate You (192 kbps, 4,92 mb)
Buy The Monks - Black Monk Time from somewhere (RIAA-free!)

"I saw and heared; for such a numerous host Fled not in silence through the frighted deep."

My have I got stuff for you, being back from a three day hiatus or so. The whole first CD of The Hafler Trio's Normally, now isn't that something. I do not assume I have to explain who The Hafler Trio are, if I do I don't feel like it so go explore their site on Brainwashed.com or read Wikipedia or whatever. This thing is based on the voice of Blixa Bargeld, apparently just reading the same phrase three times, which apparently is "Hören Sie denn nicht diese entsetzliche Stimme, die um den ganze Horizont schreit und die man gewöhnlich die Stille heißt?", which, translated into English, would read something like "Do you not hear that horrifying voice screaming all around the horizon which is normally being called silence?" Well, read the description by The Hafler Trio itself:

""Normally" reunites The Hafler Trio and Soleilmoon for the first time since 1996, when "An Utterance of the Supreme Ventriloquist", a limited edition clear vinyl LP wrapped in hand-made Japanese paper was released. The first CD in this two disc set is based on the voice of Einsturzende Neubauten's Blixa Bargeld. A particular phrase was read three times, in Blixa's three trademark vocal styles: whispering, hysterical and ordinary. "Normally," the title of this CD, is a reference to part of what Blixa didn't say when he spoke his phrase, and also to the way the German word for "Normally" is used. Although there are seven titles associated with the album, the music flows as one continuous track. They refer to different sections in the piece, but some of the changes are subtle, and the listener is left to discover them on her own. Or not. The second disc, "Sphotavado", is also based on vocal recordings by the Einsturzende Neubauten frontman. Three "meaningful" vowels were taken and arranged according to certain rules of Sanskrit. By repetition of these sounds, vibratory rhythms are created in the body to awaken the psychic fields. Everything, from our thoughts and ideas all the way up to things like people, trees and mountains, is a result of these vibrations. Along with its energy, every object has its accompanying range of sounds. Vibration is therefore a result of sound, not its cause. The name "Sphotavado" is the name given to this concept of sound, and is referred to in many tantras. It forms the foundation of tantric mantras, which are a fundamental aspect of Vedic rituals. Like the music inside, the packaging for this release is at once subtle and complex, presenting a simple and clean exterior that opens and unfolds to reveal (or hide) its complex inner workings. Designed by The Hafler Trio mastermind Andrew McKenzie himself, the sleeve and accompanying artwork are an intrinsic part of the whole package. It is essential that the music be played back through speakers, rather than through headphones, where its effects would be negated. Likewise, conversion to MP3 will render the music ineffective, as the compression removes the most important information. Andrew McKenzie's favorite fruit is the pomegranate."

I am not sure exactly how different the uncompressed version sounds in this case, but the 256 kbps version sounds great to me. Here are the ~ 64 minutes of the first CD for you, enjoy.


Download The Hafler Trio - Hören Sie Denn Nicht Das Schreien Ringsum, Das Man Gewönlich Stille Heißt? (As When No One Is Speaking/Outside the Mazes With Unravelled Head/In No Wise Being Double/At the Other End Of the Great Chain Of Being/I, Thou, He, She, We, You/Nothing Continues To Happen) (256 kbps, 117 mb)
Buy The Hafler Trio - Normally from somewhere (RIAA-free!)

We Move Through Weather

I don't usually like these phrases, in fact, I hate them, but if you like Trans Am, you could enjoy Tarentel. The We Move Through Weather album is pretty stripped-down work with some ambient floating and even droning going on. Here are two tracks from it and you can also download a live version of A Cloud No Bigger That a Man's Hand (along with a bunch of other live versions) from their site.

Download Tarentel - Bump Fast, Cut Up Through Windows (192 kbps, 6,15 mb)
Download Tarentel - A Cloud No Bigger Than a Man's Hand (192 kbps, 20,70 mb)
Buy Tarentel - We Move Through Weather from Temporary Residence (RIAA-free!)

Mashup ideas II

And another one involving Pere Ubu, or even Rocket From the Tombs, for that matter. This isn't exactly a mashup idea since the songs are just based on very similar basslines. Still, it's entertaining and they're good songs, too, so here you go with Joy Division's Heart And Soul and Life Stinks in three different versions - the one from the Pere Ubu classic The Modern Dance, the original early RFtT version plus the one from 2003's Rocket Redux, a reunion album which actually lacks the raw kick of the early records, but which is enjoyable because of David Thomas' vocals. Enjoy.

Download Joy Division - Heart and Soul (192 kbps, 8,05 mb)
Buy Joy Division - Closer from CDUniverse (Warning!! Qwest Records is a member of the RIAA. If you don't know what the RIAA is, read on them before you consider buying: Wikipedia; Boycott-RIAA.com).

Download Pere Ubu - Life Stinks (192 kbps, 2,59 mb)
Buy Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance from CDUniverse (Warning!! Geffen Records is a member of the RIAA. If you don't know what the RIAA is, read on them before you consider buying: Wikipedia; Boycott-RIAA.com).
Buy the 5.1 surround sound version released by Silverline from Amazon.com (RIAA-free!)

Download Rocket From the Tombs - Life Stinks (original version) (192 kbps, 4,68 mb)
Buy The Day the Earth Met the Rocket From the Tombs from Smog Veil (RIAA-free!)

Download Rocket From the Tombs - Life Stinks (Rocket Redux version) (160 kbps, 3,05 mb)
Buy Rocket From the Tombs - Rocket Redux from Smog Veil (RIAA-free!)

Magazine & Pere Ubu?

Ever noticed how you could mash Ubu Dance Party and Magazine's I Wanted Your Heart? It hits me every time I Wanted Your Heart starts. If anyone did this I'd be freaking happy. And of course I am not going to miss this oppurtunity to post another Magazine track and, for the first time on this blog, Pere Ubu. Enjoy.

Download Magazine - I Wanted Your Heart (VBR, 7,12 mb)
Buy Magazine - Secondhand Daylight from CDUniverse (Warning!! Although neither Blue Plate nor Caroline Records are listed as RIAA members, RIAARadar.com says they are. Better be careful. If you don't know what the RIAA is, read on them before you consider buying: Wikipedia; Boycott-RIAA.com).

Download Pere Ubu - Ubu Dance Party (192 kbps, 6,63 mb)
Buy Pere Ubu - Dub Housing from CDUniverse (Warning!! Thirsty Ear Recordings is a member of the RIAA. If you don't know what that the RIAA is, read on them before you consider buying: Wikipedia; Boycott-RIAA.com).

Baikal Ice

A breathtaking field recording this is. Your feet start feeling cold from its first seconds on, and although the album is a slight bit unfocused, it does paint a beautiful picture. Peter Cusack, known both as a guitar improviser and a sound artist, here presents some results of his 2003's field trip to the Baikal lake when the ice was breaking, from what I can tell, completely unprocessed. Here you go.


Download Peter Cusack - Banging Holes In Ice (192 kbps, 1,33 mb)
Download Peter Cusack - Floating Icicles Rocked By Waves (192 kbps, 21,40 mb)
Download Peter Cusack - Coal Fired Generator (192 kbps, 2,28 mb)
Buy Peter Cusack - Baikal Ice (Spring 2003) from ReR (RIAA-free!)

Sandosa

Ah yes, Amon Düül. The first one this time. Get ready to be blown away by about 17 minutes of delightfully rattling speakers, ritualistic drums, vocals which remind more of clinical idiocy than of singing. Just in case you don't know, Amon Düül was the "band" (actually, it was more of a commune) preceding Amon Düül II, one of the most popular krautrock bands. In case you don't know what krautrock is, go read The Krautrockteam or something. AD released four albums, three of which were made from material recorded in one session and today, I'm giving you Ein Wunderhübsches Mädchen Träumt Von Sandosa from the first one, Psychedelic Underground.


Download Amon Düül - Ein Wunderhübsches Mädchen Träumt Von Sandosa (192 kbps, 23,4 mb)
Buy Amon Düül - Psychedelic Underground from CDUniverse (RIAA-free!)

Creeping up into the sky

A real classic for you. Spiderland showed many things which were later to be continued in the post-rock "genre". Six tracks, a rock record that sounds as still as the lake on the cover. Enjoy.


Download Slint - Breadcrumb Trail (192 kbps, 8,14 mb)
Download Slint - Nosferatu Man (192 kbps, 7,64 mb)
Buy Slint - Spiderland from CDUniverse (RIAA-free!)

Hiding My Nightingale

Here's something that is apparently supposed to be a Can single from 1968, yet it doesn't appear in any discography I could manage to find. However, both tracks appear on the Kraut! Demons! Kraut! compilation, although I currently have no idea how to track it down. But here you go with the two tracks. Lovely to hear Margareta Juvan sing about how she is hiding her nightingale. Enjoy.

Download Can - Kama Sutra (192 kbps, 4,00 mb)
Download Can & Margareta Juvan - I'm Hiding My Nightingale (192 kbps, 4,10 mb)

New York Eye And Ear Control

When I saw the cover, read the title of the first track and heard the first seconds or so of it, I thought that it could be a soundtrack and guess what, I was right. The whole session (Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Roswell Bud, Gary Peacock, Sonny Murray) was recorded for the same-titled movie by Michael Snow, visual artist and musician himself, from 1964, though before production. Here's what Moore had to say (from an interview with The Austin Chronicle):

"They [the NYE&EC musicians] all used to play "heads," you know, a tune of some kind, and then a solo, and then "head" again, and I found myself disagreeing with that. When I had them come to the studio to record the soundtrack, I was careful to tell them that I didn't want any themes, but as much as possible ensemble playing. They accepted and they performed this way, but, in my opinion, this is one reason for which the music is so great. I mean, they're great, fantastic musicians, but they were stuck in that business of the statement of theme, alternating with solos. That's when I started working on my own music, which is what you'll hear with my trio, CCMC. Hmm, see, this is what happens, everything gets confused in these interviews!"

As you've already guessed, I've never seen the film. I also have never heard CCMC, although I'm anxious to do so. Here for you are two tracks from the album. Ayler's discography isn't as extensive as some jazz musicians' so you should go for this one. Enjoy.

Download Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Roswell Bud, Gary Peacock, Sonny Murray - Don's Dawn (192 kbps, 1,31 mb)
Download Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Roswell Bud, Gary Peacock, Sonny Murray - A Y (192 kbps, 27,7 mb)
Buy New York Eye And Ear Control OST from CDUniverse or Amazon.com or stand by at ESP-Disk' to wait for their store to re-open (RIAA-free!)

He was eleven and I was fifteen

Once in a while you stumble upon an album that is so hopelessly deluded you wonder why nobody has told you about it yet and why the hell so few people know it in the first place. Marc Tucker's Batstew from 1975 is something like this. The whole album is based on and around Tucker's then-car The Bat and then-girlfriend Eva Bataszew; there are tracks based on the sounds of the car, there's a bunch of naive-sounding songs (including the gay anthem Sideways Love Forever), mixed with field recordings of the suburbs Tucker lived in (you can kind of feel the presence of his car even when it's not heard), speech samples, audio experiments. It's thrilling, scary and somehow haunting at once. Here are three tracks from it.


Download Mark Tucker - Sideways Love Forever (224 kbps, 6,70 mb)
Download Mark Tucker - I'm Nothing (224 kbps, 6,61 mb)
Download Mark Tucker - Submerged Bat Vortex (224 kbps, 22,70 mb)
Buy Batstew from De Stijl (RIAA-free!)

And speaking of sex change...

Yeah, speaking of sex change, Messer Chups, the Saint Petersburg-based "neo-easy listening" band that blends surf guitars with samples from Ed Wood's movies and the like, have released a new album in 2005, entitled Hyena Safari. Sadly, it shows a group that seems to be completely out of freshness, and the fact that the theremin that added much to their sound on previous albums is gone doesn't really help it either. I put out two tracks from it, Popcorno - the title says it - and a remake of Sex Change from 2000's Miss Libido. If you're really into stuff that sounds like a soundtrack to a bad car chase scene from a cheesy 50's b-movie, you'll probably get your kick out of it; otherwise, I also give you two tracks from the sort of more diverse Crazy Price plus a remix of Import-Export (from Black Black Magic) by People Like Us. Enjoy.


Download Messer Chups - Popcorno (VBR, 4,61 mb)
Download Messer Chups - Sex Change (VBR, 5,09 mb)
Pre-order Messer Chups - Hyena Safari on CDUniverse (the US version, out on April 17, it seems) (RIAA-free!)


Download Messer Chups - Sex Euro And Evils Pop (192 kbps, 4,02 mb)
Download Messer Chuos - Not Made In Japan (192 kbps, 3,22 mb)
Download Messer Chups - Import-Export (remix by People Like Us) (192 kbps, 4,76 mb)
Buy Messer Cgups - Crazy Price from CDUniverse (RIAA-free!)

Pick a number

Tribute albums are a terrible thing. Eberybody knows that. You get them because you like the band covered on it, and then you find out the cover versions suck. They do in most cases, anyway. Now, the Wire tribute entitled Whore seems to be somehow better; hey, it has a big name line-up: Band Of Susans, Lee Ranaldo (who seems to be keen of participating in tribute albums), My Bloody Valentine, Main and Bark Psychosis (with their cover version of Three Girls Rumba) are all on it. Indeed, although it's all not as exciting as the names would suggest at first, the record is kind of enjoyable. I give you three covers from it and the originals.


Download Bark Psychosis - Three Girls Rhumba (192 kbps, 6,38 mb)
Download Lee Ranaldo - Fragile (192 kbps, 1,47 mb)
Download Transformer - Outdoor Miner (192 kbps, 3,44 mb)
(I couldn't find any oppurtunity to buy Whore on the Internet; it was released by WMO).

Download Wire - Three Girls Rhumba (192 kbps, 1,90 mb)
Download Wire - Fragile (192 kbps, 1,78 mb)
Buy Wire - Pink Flag from Pinkflag (LP) or CDUniverse (CD) (RIAA-free!)

Download Wire - Outdoor Miner (160 kbps, 1,99 mb)
Buy Wire - Chairs Missing from Pinkflag (LP) or CDUniverse (CD) (RIAA-free!)

Tetchy Teenage Tapes

Sorry for not posting yesterday, an old friend of mine is here to visit me plus I seem to be a little sick, so there. More regular posts by the end of this week, but until then I'll still try and post once a day if I get to it.

Here for you are three tracks from The Tetchy Teenage Tapes of Felix Kubin 1981-85; this is not just a fancy name, it's actual recordings from when FK was 13 and such. So-called "idiot music" (hey! that's what that friend of mine and me wanted to make some years ago); some tracks are negligible, some are divinely stupid and sort of make you think of the young Andreas Dorau back when he did Fred from Jupiter or so.


Here's the text from Ski-pp:

"Felix Kubin's early works from debut80's. It's not 80's revival but a real collection of original low-fi Casio-Korg madness synthetized and performed by a german disturbed teenager ! Helped in his enterprise by his young brother and a couple of friends , involved in several projects like "die egozentrischen" and "x2" . . . . Felix Kubin , when he was 13 was not interested in Lowe and sweet serenade! Check out the dark side of the teen ! Visionary, amazing and playfull catalog of tracks !"

Do they still make 13 year olds like that?

Download Felix Kubin - Fernsehpropheten (192 vkbps, 4,57 mb)
Download Felix Kubin - Krematorien (192 kbps, 4,63 mb)
Download Felix Kubin - Japan Japan (192 kbps, 3,09 mb)
Buy The Tetchy Teenage Tapes Of Felix Kubin (1981-85) from A-Musik or Forced Exposure (RIAA-free!)