Experimental – MELT REVIEWS

Album Review: Boards of Canada – Inferno

Rating: 9/10

Boards of Canada having a large gap in between albums isn’t exactly out of the ordinary, but 13 years? That’s a long time. A lot of us were starting to wonder if we were going to hear from the Scottish duo again, and if so, would it be necessary? Do we need a new Boards of Canada album? Considering their impressive discography of music laced with nostalgia, soaked in retro synths, and rich in ambient atmospherics, the two already have an iconic body of work under their belts. The already mysterious and reclusive duo could have disappeared from the music world completely, which would have added to their mystique, and even though most of us would want to hear new music from the two, this would have been a fitting bow out, but 13 years after their album Tomorrow’s Harvest, it’s evident the duo have more to give, and my God they’ve gifted us with one of their most captivating, hypnotic, and thematically dense albums yet. The album is titled Inferno, and opens with the track “Introit,” which takes its name from the opening of a worship service that’s usually a psalm, hymn, or chant, and the familiar synth arpeggio featured on the track immediately transports us to a world we’ve missed. I liken it to the feeling I had when I saw the opening crawl to Star Wars: The Force Awakens in theaters, but unlike The Force Awakens, what follows this intro is enthralling content. After the familiar sound in “Introit” fades away, we’re immediately introduced to a reinvented Boards of Canada. Sure their signature style is still there, but that sense of childlike wonder and dreamy Retro-futurism takes a back seat while eerie soundscapes, moodiness, and haunting vocal samples are front and center, and I mean it when I say these vocal samples are haunting. Packed with themes such as religion, religious cults, existentialism, and biology, this album perfectly utilizes vocal samples taken from documentaries about the effects of PCP, a conversation between a father and his son who has cut off his entire family to join the “Children of God” cult, Aleister Crowley quotes, a documentary about the development of a chicken embryo, and references to Nostradamus, and this all perfectly gets the duo’s point across without them having to say a word. However, is their point really that clear? Sure they want us to take something away from this album, or else they wouldn’t have made this thing so dense, but I’ve seen countless heady reviews of this album from people claiming with certainty that this album is a critique of religion and religious cult leaders who prey on the vulnerable, or that this is their way of commenting on how our uncertainty on the meaning of life and why we’re here has spawned so many philosophers and religions who try to give us answers on why we’re here and what happens after we die, and the dangers that come with certain religions, and though this is likely what they’re getting at, there’s one thing a lot of people are neglecting to mention when describing this album, and that’s nostalgia. Nostalgia is a word often associated with Boards of Canada. From the children’s TV show and speak and spell samples on Music Has the Right to Children, to the capturing of the feeling you get when you watch your favorite video nasty on Tomorrow’s Harvest, it’s been very clear that retro media has made a lasting impact on the duo, and contrary to popular belief, I don’t think that nostalgia is absent on Inferno. Remember those televangelists your grandparents used to watch? Those frightening red-faced crazy-eyed men who would yell at you through the TV screen? Remember those old documentaries about morbid cult tragedies? Remember all the history we’ve learned about violence and unnecessary wars that were brought on by fundamental religious beliefs? Remember satanic panic? These are all things that are engraved in the history of humanity, and one of the most popular mediums used to teach this history is media, so I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the boys from BOC have nostalgia for these things. That love for retro media is perfectly combined with the overall themes of this record. There’s no telling if there’s going to be another Boards of Canada record after this one, and when that’ll be if there is, but if this is their final album it’s an interesting album to end on, considering it’s their darkest work by far. Maybe that’s where they’re at mentally when viewing the current state of the world, because these are truly frightening times. Christian fundamentalists and conspiracy theorists are currently in the White House, educational programming has been replaced with short-form content online spreading misinformation, and all of these current wars have left many of us anxious and frightened, so it’s no surprise that an album like this would be released in this day and age, but a common theme that prevents this album from being complete doom and gloom is the theme of life itself. From the EKG machine sounds on “Memory Death,” to the heartbeat on the closing track “I Saw Through Platonia,” the preciousness of life is beautifully symbolized, and this reminds us to value life while we can, and though it may seem impossible at times, it’s important to find beauty in the chaos.

Written By: Steven Sandoval

Album Review: Katie Alice Greer – Perfect Woman Sound Machine, Vol. 1

Rating: 8/10

About 4 years ago vocalist/producer Katie Alice Greer released a very forward thinking debut album that combined Art Pop, Experimental Rock, Post-Industrial and a myriad of different sounds and styles that don’t normally work together, but somehow worked on this record. This album, which is titled Barbarism, is still unlike anything I’ve heard in music before. It’s filled with Hellish and at times, dreamy soundscapes that give the listener a nightmarish experience, but all while maintaining a sense of comfort, and providing a place for those of us fearful of the direction the U.S. is heading in a place to vent. Now, 4 years later, times are even scarier, and Katie Alice Greer has released her sophomore album Perfect Woman Sound Machine, Vol. 1. This album is no less forward thinking, with its fantastic sound collages and layers, but this album is even more all over the place in the best way possible. Jumping from the grungy Babes in Toyland-esque “Unglued,” to the Trip Hop influenced tracks which wouldn’t sound out of place on a “Tricky” record, to the stellar cover of Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man,” this album is pure chaos, but a necessary chaos as it goes from lush and dreamy, to the soundtrack to the apocalypse as KAG conveys a myriad of emotions. Hey, people experience various emotions and the human brain is multifaceted, so why shouldn’t music reflect that? It’s impressive what sounds KAG can create, which is more experimental in nature and a massive departure from her former Post-Punk band “Priests,” who were fantastic by the way, I still listen to The Seduction of Kansas regularly. Judging from the album’s title, I’m assuming there will be a Vol. 2, and if that’s the case I cannot wait to hear it!

Written By: Steven Sandoval

LINGUA IGNOTA Shares New Single “PERPETUAL FLAME OF CENTRALIA”

LINGUA IGNOTA is set to release her new album SINNER GET READY on August 6th via “Sargent House,” and now the album’s second single “PERPETUAL FLAME OF CENTRALIA” has been released. Following the hauntingly beautiful “PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE,” the new single is even more somber in tone, with Hayter describing the track as “the quietest and most desolate, full of dread, full of night, long phrases and few breaths.” Centralia is a ghost town in Pennsylvania where a coal mine fire has been burning underground since 1962. For the music video, Hayter collaborated with fashion designer Ashley Rose Couture to bring concepts of her music to life with her clothing. You can watch the music video for “PERPETUAL FLAME OF CENTRALIA” below:

Lingua Ignota Shares New Single “PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE,” Announces New Album “SINNER GET READY”

Kristin Hayter is one of those rare artists who creates music strictly on their own terms. She uncompromisingly puts her heart and soul into everything she creates under her “Lingua Ignota” project, never wasting a second on insincerity. The way she explores the many facets of the human condition and human mind, the darker and more disturbing parts of humanity make themselves visible naturally, but in a way that feels therapeutic and rewarding as she exorcises her demons, so when she releases a new track, you can bet the song will either be a tearjerker that will render you an emotional mess, or a Hellish and disturbing experience that will scare the living shit out of even the toughest of metalheads. Today she has unveiled the details of her upcoming album SINNER GET READY, which will be released on August 6th via “Sargent House,” and the album’s first single “PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE” is of the tearjerker variety featuring Hayter’s hauntingly beautiful operatic vocals. You can watch the music video for “PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE” below:

Alexis Marshall Announces Solo Debut Album “House of Lull . House of When,” Shares New Single “Hounds in the Abyss”

The wait is finally over. Alexis Marshall of the band “Daughters” has unveiled the release date of his highly anticipated solo debut album. The album is titled House of Lull . House of When, and will be released on July 23rd via “Sargent House.” A new single titled “Hounds in the Abyss” was also released today, which follows last year’s “Nature in Three Movements,” a relentlessly intense, but enticing tune. “Hounds in the Abyss” carries that same anxiety-inducing energy, and I’m here for it. You can watch the music video for “Hounds in the Abyss” below:

LINGUA IGNOTA Shares New Song “O Ruthless Great Divine Director”

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In this time of isolation, it’s comforting to hear something new from one of the most captivating artists in music at the moment. Today Kristin Hayter under her LINGUA IGNOTA project has shared a fantastically epic new song titled “O Ruthless Great Divine Director” for “Adult Swim,” and it’s a grandiose and uncompromising piece of art both lyrically and musically. About the track Hayter says “O Ruthless Great Divine Director” both addresses and embodies the hypocrite and the false prophet. The sanctimonious scene police, the friend or community who will turn away or against when things get hard, fear mongering and pervasive misinformation. It was a great pleasure to have Greg Fox’s incredible talent on this song, and to work with Seth Manchester again at the console.” You can listen to “O Ruthless Great Divine Director” below:

https://www.adultswim.com/music/singles/20

Album Review: Katie Gately – Loom

Artist: Katie Gately

Album: Loom

Genre: Electronic/Avant-garde/Experimental

Label: Houndstooth

Rating: 9/10

Brooklyn-born and now Los Angeles-based musician Katie Gately was almost finished recording her follow-up to her debut album Color when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Returning to her family home in Brooklyn to care for her mother, Gately couldn’t bring herself to finish the album due to the stress and emotional and mental toll this devastating situation was taking on her. After sleepless nights, Gately began work on a brand new album centered around her song “Bracer,” which was her mother’s favorite song of hers. The result is a haunting, incredibly dark, and heartfelt album that finds Gately facing the themes of loss and the realization of mortality. Titled Loom, the album was completed after her mother had passed in 2018, and it’s a vivid, unsettling, and uncompromising glimpse into her headspace at that time. Departing from her previous album’s lighter tone, Loom isn’t without Gately’s talented knack for detailed production consisting of field recordings and effects. This time around the music is darker in tone and features a larger than life and rather cinematic tone that reflects the array of emotions Gately is feeling. A track like “Waltz” takes the usual 3/4 beat of the style and drags it through a haunting reinvention that builds and builds to a satisfying climax. “Bracer” is a 10 minute plus epic that’s vastly unpredictable with new sound effects and vocal refrains added frequently building and building to an eruption of a massive collage of sound consisting mainly of samples that are hard to identify. Gately cleverly utilizes field recordings of an earthquake, shaking pill bottles, screaming peacocks, howling wolves, a closing coffin, and much more throughout the album which showcases her love for samples without sounding gimmicky. Though the “building and building” structure devoid of verse-chorus-verse-chorus can be a bit repetitive, the intensity is undeniably gut-wrenching, eerie, and immensely satisfying if you don’t mind a journey through the dark. Gately is vastly talented at sound design and creating a collage of sound all while evoking various emotions, and her grieving process is full-frontal, leading to an incredible listening experience. This is some of the best music i’ve heard so far this year.

Written By: Steven Sandoval

E.P. Review: El Café Atómico – You Won’t Get Rid of Me That Easy

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Artist: El Café Atómico

EP: You Won’t Get Rid of Me That Easy

Genre: Experimental/Psychedelic/Blues

Label: Self-released

Rating: 7/10

The name says it all. You won’t get rid of him that easy. You may stumble upon his music and want to shut it off, feeling the discomfort that emerges when hearing his oddball mixture of electronics, twangy guitar, and hard to distinguish vocals. You can choose to not listen anymore, but he had a few minutes of your time. You entered his chaotic world. His music may turn off some people, but for weirdos like me, his music is a fucking playground. Who am I talking about? I’m talking about Victor “Cactus Frank” Fernandez, a self-taught musician from Venezuela whom I know very little about due to his mysterious online presence that reveals very little info on his background, but the mysterious factor works out in his favor, because his music speaks for itself. Under the name “El Café Atómico,” Cactus Frank has gifted us the first installment of his “Rampage Series” titled You Won’t Get Rid of Me That Easy, and it is an interesting listen. It’s futuristic Blues, Industrial-laden Psychedelic Folk, or Rock from the year 3000 as he describes, and in this glimpse of the future we witness a post-apocalyptic world where Cactus Frank is the sole survivor, and only he can create music to bring him solace and to exorcise his solitude. The bass heavy pounding percussion, the deep synths, and the Bluesy guitars are all indicators that Frank isn’t here to make your Dad’s favorite Blues music. He’s imaginative both in his instrumentation and songwriting. The lyrics are poetically cryptic, ranging from songs named after Japanese celebrity Takeshi Kitano to vivid pictures of children playing football with a head they’ve found. Very much open for interpretation. Though the vocal mixing could be a little better, and though this sounds like only the beginning of what has the potential to be a fruitful career, this E.P. is immensely ambitious. What does the “Rampage Series” have in store? I have no idea, but I’m ready.

Written By: Steven Sandoval

https://elcafeatomico.bandcamp.com/album/you-wont-get-rid-of-me-that-easy-the-rampage-series-vol-1

Throbbing Gristle’s “20 Jazz Funk Greats” Turns 40

In December of 1979 “Throbbing Gristle” released their “Industrial” classic 20 Jazz Funk Greats. Don’t let the name fool you, you won’t hear Jazz or Funk on this record, instead you’ll hear 11 tracks of uncompromising Industrial that incorporates various elements of Synth-Pop, Post-Punk, and Disco, but these genres are mutilated and drenched in the band’s anti-music style. The lyrical content consists of erotic themes and taboo subject matter, because, well….. it’s Throbbing Gristle. About the misleading and quite humorous album cover, member Cosey Fanni Tutti has stated “We did the cover so it was a pastiche of something you would find in a Woolworth’s bargain bin. We took the photograph at the most famous suicide spot in England, called Beachy Head. So, the picture is not what it seems, it is not so nicey nicey at all, and neither is the music once you take it home and buy it. We had this idea in mind that someone quite innocently would come along to a record store and see the record and think they would be getting 20 really good Jazz/Funk greats, and then they would put it on at home and they would just get decimated.” This album is regarded by many as the band’s best work, and it’s hard to argue with that. This was some of the most unique and innovative music unlike anything that came out of the 70’s, and is still a tough and incredibly disturbing listen today, and let’s not forget the massive influence the band had on all of the Industrial artists that followed. Happy Anniversary.

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Street Sects Announce Next Installment of “Gentrification: A Serial Album”

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Noise/Industrial duo “Street Sects” have undoubtedly been on a roll since the release of their “Gentrification” EP’s back in 2014. Following the success of their string of singles, an E.P. and two full-length albums, the idea of the band continuing their harsh and abrasive “Gentrification” series seemed unlikely, but earlier this year we were treated to a third installment titled Gentrification III: Death and Displacement, and it was as Hellish as one would expect. Now, a month later, the band have announced that they will release the fourth installment of this series on November 22nd via “The Flenser.” It will be titled Gentrification IV: Suspended from Gallery Rails. Today the band shared one out of the two tracks titled “Tomorrow is a Trap,” and it’s back to business as usual, which makes the band so damn enticing. You can listen to “Tomorrow is a Trap” below: