iTunes Roulette, part I.

In an idea loosely based on The Living Doorway's iPod roulette but with different consequences, I'm going to post a few things (I'm loathe to say 'series' because of the failure of my past series) in which I make an 8tracks playlist of the first few things which come up on my iTunes on shuffle. It will help me to rediscover or discover music, and you to find oddities I might not have otherwise posted. Note that this is likely to be mostly metal as my metal collection is much larger than any other, due to better online resources and the fact that I've been into it for longer than other genres. Here goes:

1) Dimmu Borgir - The Sinister Awakening (off In Sorte Diaboli, 2007)

Well, this is a bad start. I'm sure I liked this back in the seemingly primitive climes of 2007 but it's just a little too clean for me now.

2) System Of A Down - Vicinity Of Obscenity (off Hypnotize, 2005)

Another gateway band. Well known, everyone has an opinion. Next!

3) Charles Bronson - Obligatory Jock Slaughter Song (off Complete Discocrappy, 2000)

This is more like it. Charles Bronson is a good band to check out for those just getting into powerviolence. Fast and angry.

4) Fist - One Percenter (1%) (off Turn The Hell On, 1980)

Actually, Xylem posted this album a while back. I haven't got around to giving it a proper listen yet but this seems like reasonable NWOBHM.

5) Blue Sabbath Black Cheer - Untitled (off Doom Mantra, 2009)

Drone, noisy, apparently hipster but I don't give a fuck, BSBC rule.

6) Drug Problem - Your Dad's Cumming (off Drug Problem, 2007)

I'm sure none of us want that image, but this is the last track off a decent underground powerviolence record. Never bothered to find out much about them though.

7) Proclamation - Tyrants Of Desolation (off Messiah Of Darkness And Impurity, 2008)

Decent, but not top-end, bestial black metal that's fairly well known by those into the scene.

8) The Ruins Of Beverast - The Restless Mills (off Foulest Semen Of A Sheltered Elite, 2009)

Personally I think the Ruins are a little bit overrated but Foulest... is a good album of unorthodox black metal nonetheless.

9) Cradle Of Filth - Dusk And Her Embrace (off Dusk... And Her Embrace, 1996)

I'll warn you in advance of any further weeks that I have mp3s of all the Cradle releases; the later ones more out of morbid curiosity admittedly. This album is their best and is quite stunning.

10) Root - Casilda's Song (off The Temple In The Underworld, 1992)

Everyone who knows black metal knows that the former Czechoslovakia produced some of the best in the style, and this Root album is one of the best Czech albums.

11) Noothgrush - Stasis (off Erode The Person, 2006)

Criminally underrated sludge that really should be seen on the same tier as the likes of Grief and Eyehategod.

12) Deicide - Mephistopheles (off Deicide, 1990)

Nothing much needs to be said about Deicide's debut - it's rightly seen as a death metal classic.

13) Anaal Nathrakh - Atavism (off When Fire Rains Down From The Sky, Mankind Shall Reap As It Has Sown, 2003)

Coming pre-Domine Non Es Dignus, this is fairly raw for Anaal Nathrakh, but everything they've released is great in my opinion.

14) Death In June - Hail The White Grain (off Brown Book, 2000)

These neofolk legends simply don't have any bad material.

15) Attitude Adjustment - No Way Back (off No Way Back, 2011)

This album was surprisingly strong for a reunion album and easily matches up to more recent material of their peers.

Listen here

Government Alpha & Brianvdp - The Oranda Nippon Conspiracy [2012]

Released on J. Randall (of Agoraphobic Nosebleed fame)'s already legendary Grindcore Karaoke label, this collaborative work between Japanese harsh noise maestro Yasutoshi Mashida and Dutch graphic designer Brianvdp is a well-structured work of nicely textured noise. It's also comparatively accessible compared to much other noise and indeed most of Government Alpha's body of work, mainly because it is restricted to 42 minutes in length and thus doesn't quite have the same monolithic feel to it as even slightly longer works like Spontaneous Combustion (which clocks in at just eight minutes longer), but also because it is a little more varied in its approach than much noise, and therefore is borderline memorable in parts. Still completely amelodic, chances are if you come to this blog for metal you wouldn't enjoy this. Keep an open mind.

320 kbps (FLAC available from the bandcamp)

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Re-upload: Assück - Misery Index [1996]

Assück's second and final album is a classic of grindcore - this blends in some death metal influence as well, like Napalm Death did on 'Harmony Corruption'. It also gave Misery Index their name (obviously!).

Re-upload notes: I really cannot recommend this highly enough to anyone remotely interested in the grindcore genre. Although Napalm Death will always be my favourite band of the style and indeed in general, Assück are undeniably legends for good reason.

128 kbps

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We Sleep In This Machine - EP [2012]

We Sleep In This Machine is a local band - the guitarist is a friend of mine, but I try not to be biased - who play a fairly standard brand of melodic post-hardcore (if any of the metalheads who follow the blog think that means Enter Shikari then no, you're some distance off). But hey, originality went with the turn of the millenium anyway. What is important is their strong songwriting and cathartic feeling, which is present in every song on this 7-track EP. I believe the track titles refer to the month in which the track was written - which, despite being somewhat original, is not a method by which I feel tracks ought to be named. Recommended for fans of The Carrier, Life Long Tragedy and to a lesser extent Modern Life Is War. Available as a sliding-scale download from their bandcamp.

Bandcamp

Anti-Cimex - Anarkist Attack EP [1982]

Anti Cimex are, quite simply, legendary. They are THE band of Swedish crust punk, and considering the strength of the Swedish crust scene over the years, with the likes of Shitlickers, Driller Killer and Bombanfall, that is saying quite a lot! This is their first EP to my knowledge - although information on them is not too clear - and although the crust element here isn't too developed, largely due to the date of release, it remains a very solid piece of hardcore punk - some records are worshipped more for their legacy than their actual quality (cough cough Master Of Puppets cough cough), but this is the real deal. The brevity of the EP only adds to the sheer ferocity of it - each of the four tracks on offer here has something uniquely Swedish, nay, uniquely Anti-Cimexian about it, and yet manages to still fit squarely within the hardcore punk genre. Classic.

128 kbps

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Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill 1-4 OST (1999-2004)

The first few games of the Silent Hill series are considered some of the best horror games around, and the soundtracks are considered some of the best in gaming, period. To match the hellish world of the games, sound designer for the first seven Silent Hill games Akira Yamaoka created a mostly ambient industrial soundtrack, broken up with some extremely emotional rock songs. These four official soundtracks (for Silent Hill 1 through 4) focus mainly on the more melodic side of the games' music, which can usually be found in cutscenes and the like.

However, Silent Hill mega-fan Fungo has created complete soundtracks for the first three games which focus more on the in-game tracks, and as such are much more ambient (and in the case of Silent Hill 3, much better than the official soundtrack). I've uploaded the first four official soundtracks here, but I haven't uploaded the complete soundtracks as you can download them for free from Fungo's website: Silent Hill Media (because he's put a ton of work into them and you should totally check it out).

Silent Hill 1 OST:

42 tracks, 1:06:49, 68.34 MB

Mediafire (Mp3, 128 kbps)

Silent Hill 2 OST:

30 tracks, 1:13:05, 106.02 MB

Mediafire (Mp3, 192 kbps)

Silent Hill 3 OST:

26 tracks, 1:16:19, 75.21 MB

Mediafire (Mp3, 128 kbps)

Silent Hill 4 OST:

20 tracks, 1:13:40, 137.16 MB

Mediafire (Mp3, 320 kbps)

Re-upload: Syphilitic Vaginas - Complete Studio Collection [2008]

All the craziest music seems to come from Japan, and this is no exception. Steaming black/thrash with some eccentric moments, in the vein of Abigail or the Japanese Sabbat, this is not one to miss; and they get extra marks for their name!

Re-upload notes: The reason why uploads are coming fairly slowly at the moment is that I think my laptop's still slightly fucked and I'm in the middle of exam season.

128 kbps

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Mortification - Scrolls Of The Megilloth [1992]

I may be a mysterious enigma, but my reasons for uploading this now are actually fairly straightforward. One, it's a fantastic album. Two, the new EP of theirs popped up in an RSS feed of mine, which prompted me to post this (I've been intending to for quite a while). Mortification are an Australian thrashy death metal band who are mostly talked about for their Christian lyrical themes, but don't be dissuaded, the music is not in the slightest bit gimmicky. Indeed, this is one of the hookiest old school death metal albums you'll hear for a long time - and no, I'm not talking Slaughter Of The Soul hooks, I'm talking vicious, fast-paced hooks. Hooks designed to tear through human flesh.

320 kbps

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The Cumshots - A Life Less Necessary [2009]

Download this now for your own sake! This is music at its best. Rock combined with metal with gallons of emotion poured in. Catchy, interesting, complex, amazing. I can't stress how amazing this album is. Hailing from Norway you'd think with their comic name The Cumshots' music would be the same but this is not the case, it is full of profound music. If you like any rock or metal you have to listen to this, no excuse.

220+ kbps VBR

Re-upload notes: Uploaded due to request but I really do encourage everyone to download, and then buy, this brilliant rock album.


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Dodecahedron - Dodecahedron [2012]

The blogosphere has been ablaze of late with praise for this album. Black metal as a whole is a fairly straightforward proposition; you get distortion, riffs and harsh vocals, but the new breed has been trying to change that. The likes of Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord and Nightbringer have been bringing complexity and atmosphere to black metal in a way that wasn't previously used, and here, I have a strong suspicion that Dodecahedron have taken great steps towards the next level again. It's still very close to the likes of Deathspell Omega, but there is that little something extra, especially in the epic closing trilogy 'View From Hverfell' - it's complex, yet still recognizably coherent, and it's harsh, yet crisp and clean in both its playing and production. It's been bandied around the internet for a while now, but if you don't already have this album, here's another sterling recommendation.

192 kbps

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Live at Leeds 2012: REVIEW

This is now the second urban festival I've attended in Leeds. Unlike Damnation, however, Live at Leeds has a focus on indie bands/unsigned artists, so I'd only heard of about 5 of the artists on the 100+ strong roster. That in mind, I put on my best lens-less Ray Bans, grew out a horrendous twiddly moustache, cut my hair so I looked like I was in the Hitler Youth and set out for a day of being a massive pretentious faggot.

Arrival (0945, Leeds Railway Station):

Coming into Leeds about 9:45, we (me and my friend Callum) meandered our way to the wristband exchange at Leeds Met Uni. Whereas Damnation took place entirely in three rooms, Live at Leeds was spread out over 10 different venues across the city, including standards such as The Cockpit and the O2 Academy, mixed up with some smaller, more intimate venues like The Faversham and The Well. So what you do when you arrive is get your ticket exchanged for a wristband, which you only need to show at the door to get access to these various venues. By the time we'd got our wristbands there was still something like 2 hours to go until the first band started, so we went for a leisurely walk around Leeds, where Callum bought his first lunch of the day. After we'd checked out some record shops (including one that looked like the kind of place you'd buy drugs from), it was time for the music to begin.

British Daylight (1200, Milo's):

Technically, the first band of the day was at a bar called Milo's (though this was free for anyone, not just wristband holders so I guess it doesn't really count), so we figured we'd go check them out. British Daylight are one of the multitude of bands that have emerged from cities in Yorkshire riding on the success of The Arctic Monkeys. Predictably their entire set consisted of about three chords and a singer who does little more than shout the lyrics in his thick Leeds accent. We quickly decided that this was kind of wank so we moved on. By this time the festival was about to begin proper, so we headed to The Cockpit for the first actual band of the day...

I Call Shotgun (1230, The Cockpit 3):

I still didn't have a programme at this point, so I knew exactly nothing about the band who were setting up their gear in front of me and had no idea what to expect. What I got was synthpop-influenced indie rock with more than a little wubwubwub from the keyboard player. Surprisingly, it worked extremely well and I found myself merrily bopping along to songs such as "Mourning Mass" and "Positive Chord Changes For Impressionable Young White Girls" (you can tell just from the names that this is an indie festival, can't you?). Anyway, their 20-minute or so set got the fesitval off to a good start. After bunping into some friends who promptly jumped into a taxi and sped off to the other side of the city to see Chew Lips, Callum and I were left trying to decide who to see next.

Cave Birds (1400, Holy Trinity Church):

We first stopped off at Subway where I had some soup and Callum had lunch #2, after which we headed back to the wristband exchange to grab some programmes. We went to see Cave Birds partly out of curiosity of the venue (an 18th century church) and partly because we had no idea who any of the other bands were that were playing at the time, so we essentially closed our eyes and jabbed the timetable at random. However, as I write this it's Monday afternoon, almost exactly 48 hours after we saw the band, and I cannot for the life of me remember what they sounded like. Fortunately I wrote a few thoughts into my phone after every band I saw, and the note for Cave Birds read thus: "Pleasant if forgettable pop rock not helped by acoustics and annoying backing singer." The acoustics of the church (as far as I'm aware) weren't really suited to the kind of band they are so I didn't find it all that great. We ducked out just as they were playing their last song.

Garnets (1430, The Cockpit 3):

I spotted this while leafing through the programme during the boring Cave Birds set. Since I like me a bit of post rock now and again, we hurried to The Cockpit in order to catch Garnets. Though they got off to a shaky start due to some sound problems, they played some extremely good contemplative post rock. However, there seemed to be a hen party going on behind us which made it nigh on impossible to concentrate on the music and just about ruined the set for me, so we left about halfway through in search of something a bit more crowd-oriented (I didn't let this reflect badly on the band though, the music they were playing was great, but post rock tends to be best suited for listening alone in a darkened room. I'm definitely going to check them out some other time though). After this we headed once again to the wristband exchange (I think this time it was to enquire about merchandise). We stuck around for a bit this time though, as just around the corner at Leeds Met Back Room, the first band of the day I'd actually heard of were playing...

Deaf Club (1515, Leeds Met Back Room):

Unfortunately we arrived about halfway through Deaf Club's set, but the remainder of it was fairly representative of what they'd been playing up until then. Although the programme described them as "Skeletal, ethereal indie," what I heard was a female-fronted Disintegration-era Cure. Big, echoey drums and soul-in-turmoil vocals (not quite as intense as Robert Smith but depressive all the same) were the order of the day here, and what I heard sounded brilliant. And in a stroke of luck, the band are playing in York at the end of the month. Score. The next band I wanted to see after Deaf Club didn't start until 5, so we had some time to kill in which we went to Bagel Nash for snacks, and Callum had lunch #3. By this point it was about 4:15, and since said band were playing at The Well on the other side of the city, we set off in order to give ourselves ample time to arrive.

Wot Gorilla? (1700, The Well):

Admittedly, the only reason I'd listened to Wot Gorilla? prior to Live at Leeds was I noticed their name on the lineup when they were first announced sometime in March, and how the band were named after a Genesis song. Oddly enough, the music shares some similarities to Genesis, because Wot Gorilla? a jingly-jangly math rock band, so they thrive on bizarre time signatures, polyrhythms and poly-polyrhythms. Prog this ain't though, and one or two of the songs even had soft indie breakdowns, which actually fit in extremely well. I was that impressed by their half-hour set that I picked up the EP they were selling afterwards. The next band I wanted to see were also at The Well at 6, so we hung around a were treated to a singer-songwriter interlude in the pub area of the venue. She did an acoustic cover of a Jessie J song and one she'd written herself about the music industry, both of which were pleasant enough but not really of note. She probably performed more songs but we didn't hear them as we headed back into the room with the stage in order to get a good spot to see...

Post War Glamour Girls (1800, The Well):

Back at the end of March I went to see O. Children in Leeds, and PWGG were one of the supports. I didn't really pay them much attention because they were playing quite far away and were encroaching on valuable beer time for me and my friend Rob. I saw them at Live at Leeds in a much different setting, and in actually giving them my full attention I found out how good they were. Reminiscent of some of the more coherent stuff Tom Waits has done over the years but with back-and-forth male/female vocals (the former periodically going all out and screaming in a similar way to Mr. Waits himself) and quite strong blues riffs. Definitely one I need to look out for in the future. Following this we left the well where we spotted the day's only thrash band hanging around smoking. We headed back to The Cockpit, to see a band I'd (albeit indirectly) heard of before.

S.C.U.M (1900, The Cockpit 1)

Given that we'd been in Leeds at this indie festival for something like 9 hours by this point, I was surprised that S.C.U.M were the first band I'd seen to which I though "Hey! This sounds a lot like Joy Division". Having only previously heard of them thanks to Last.FM's 'related artists' feature, (they're only two clicks away from O. Children) I thought I may as well give them a listen. What I got was exactly what I expected: Post-punk. I didn't think it was all that, but Callum liked it and it helped pass the time as there weren't many artists between PWGG and the next band I wanted to see at 10. So we took a little food break in which I had McDonalds and Callum had dinner #1 before setting off to meet up the aforementioned friends who were currently Ladyhawke at the O2 Academy.

Interlude (1945-2200):

We did briefly go into the O2 Academy to check out Ladyhawke, but it was crowded and noisy and I got yelled at by a drunk guy near the merch stall so we decided it wasn't worth it and promptly left to wait outside. When that act finished we met up with the friends we were waiting for, half of which had some crazy idea of seeing Alt-J at the Holy Trinity Church then somehow travelling all the way to Brudenell Social Club in time to catch Dog is Dead. The other half of this group, Callum, and I decided that was a terrible idea so instead elected to see This Many Boyfriends at The Faversham, partly because it was close to Leeds Uni Stylus which was where the final band I wanted to see were playing. We got ever-so-slightly lost while walking to The Faversham and just as we arrived, the band started. We stuck around for all of five minutes before declaring them terrible and deciding to make our way to the Uni in order to get a good place for the last act of the evening (for Callum and I, anyway).

Los Campesinos! (2200, Leeds Uni Stylus):

This provided an interesting contrast to the last band I saw play on this stage: Shining, the experimental jazz/black metal band from Norway at Damnation. Los Campesinos! are a 7-piece indie pop band, who recently have moved away from their ultra-twee roots towards something slower and more contemplative. I've seen LC! once before (at The Cockpit, incidentally), and the setlist this time round was more or less the same, just a little trimmed down to fit within an hour. Still, they performed most of their best songs, with the same amount of energy and heart-on-sleeve emotion as before. And this energy was confirmed when a member of the audience jumped up on the stage and stole the keyboard player's notebook (of all things), to which the singer responded by wading into the crowd, grabbing the thief by the head and yelling some song lyrics directly at him. Said thief looked suitably horrified. So this was a brilliant way to close what I thought was a brilliant festival, and were I not in another county altogether come next May, I would go to again.

Suprême NTM - J'appuie Sur La Gachette [1993]

Well, NTM (Nique Ta Mère - 'fuck your mother') are quite possibly the most famous French rap group, not least for having worked with Matthieu Kassovitz in the production of the film La Haine ('The Hatred'). This, their sophomore album (translating to 'My finger rests on the trigger'), is very entertaining - although one can still from time to time hear the odd modicum of bluesy influence in the background of the album, this is ostensibly a hip-hop album - perhaps the best point of reference would be a slightly less aggressive NWA. Although every track on here is a winner (although the interludes are perhaps a little bit too numerous), there are clearly three which stand out as the ones to recommend - 'Plus Rien Ne Va', 'Sur 24 Pistes', and 'Police'.

~170 kbps VBR

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