CDs + Vinyl:
Act Of Defiance – Birth And The Burial CD (Metal Blade)
In a time of endless sub-genre classifications being thrown at bands Act Of Defiance cut to the quick, offering 100% in-your-face, uncompromising metal. “If you invited fans of all kinds of metal — from thrash to Scandinavian metal to metal to modern American metal — and had them all in a mosh pit, Act Of Defiance would be their soundtrack,” asserts guitarist Chris Broderick. Vinyl version due August 28.
Adversarial – Death, Endless Nothing And The Black Knife Of Nihilism CD (Dark Decent)
“It’s clear that Adversarial’s goal on their latest album, Death, Endless Nothing And The Black Knife Of Nihilism, is to shanghai the hapless listener into a world of complete and abject devastation. The album offers no respite from its barrage of dissonant, aggressive black/death barbarism; there are no spooky interludes or acoustic frippery to be found, no self-indulgent excess to be hacked off in slivers.” – Noisey/Vice
AFX – Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006-2008 CD/LP+MP3 (Warp)
For the first time since the Analord series released through 2003-2005 on his own Rephlex Records imprint, Richard D. James revises his legendary AFX guise with a collection of tracks for the alien dancefloor. “Appearing under the AFX sobriquet, last active a decade ago, the eight-track EP belies James’s reputation for fearsome abstruseness with almost 30 minutes of concise and entertaining music. It sets off at a gallop with an upfront series of techno tracks, all squiggly acid bleeps and fast bass; ghostly textures, like the horror-film keyboard effects in ‘serge fenix Rendered 2,’ add depth to the adrenalin rush. The pace slows in the latter stages, with James at one point coaxing from his computers a sound like rusty signs swinging in the wind, as though advertising (or satirizing) his status as the enigmatic hermit of electronic music.” – Financial Times Limited
Eric Alexander – The Real Thing CD (HighNote)
More than one jazz critic has claimed that listening to tenor saxman Eric Alexander unfettered and at length, is one of the greatest treats in jazz. This imposing improviser is reunited here with his mentor, the veteran pianist Harold Mabern and joined by another hot favorite, the legendary and amazing guitarist Pat Martino on three of the eight tracks.
Avengers – Avengers [Reissue/1983] CD/LP (Superior Viaduct)
Though not released until 1983 the Avengers’ self-titled record (aka The Pink Album) features the band’s recorded output from 1977-78, from the glorious first wave of punk rock. The Avengers were San Francisco’s preeminent punk band, led by Penelope Houston’s snarling vocals and Greg Ingraham’s distorted guitar riffs, and one of the first anywhere to feature a female lead singer. One of punk rock’s most important original documents. Expanded with their classic Dangerhouse EP, sessions recorded with the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones, and a half-dozen revelatory demos.
Battlecross – Rise To Power CD (Metal Blade)
Disinterested in simply recycling the ‘classic’ thrash sound, the Canton, MI quintet have consistently brought new fire, energy, and dynamics to their metallic assault, and with Rise To Power they raise the stakes once more.
The Bellfuries – Workingman’s Bellfuries CD (Hi-Style Enterprises)
If you go back and listen to early rockabilly, you’ll see how much it has in common with R&B and rock and roll. (That’s early R&B, not the electronic and vocal stuff that passes for R&B these days). When you put the two together, it’s clear that one grew from the other. The Bellfuries prove the connection between rockabilly and early R&B with the new album Workingman’s Bellfuries. Vinyl version due September 18.
Louie Belogenis – Blue Buddha CD (Tzadik)
Tenor saxophonist Louie Belogenis plays with a luminous open heart, and a tone reminiscent of Albert Ayler. Cutting his teeth with masters such as Rashied Ali, Sunny Murray and Borah Bergman he has recorded several CDs under his own name, and now presents his most unique and adventurous group to date. Featuring an all-star ensemble of three of the most exciting musicians working today, this brilliant group performs as if part of a sacred ceremony, seamlessly weaving together diverse traditions. Uncompromising improvisational music that speaks to the spiritual.
The Blind Shake – Live In San Francisco CD (Castle Face)
The long overdue seventh entry in Castle Face’s Live In San Francisco series, starring The Blind Shake. Captured to tape at the same shows as the OBN IIIs’ live record, The Blind Shake were tour-greased and fully torqued over three-night at The Chapel in San Francisco way back in 2013. For those unfamiliar: the sheer bodily reaction to seeing these guys is a unique pleasure. They are consistently one of the most fun bands doin’ it to it these days-such a direct channel to your inner teenager it’s more often than not you end up in the pit, awash in baritone guitar and that “let’s wig out” beat.
The Bohicas – The Making Of CD/LP+MP3 (Domino)
The Bohicas are rock and roll painted in vivid primary colors. Hi def, loud, fast, shiny and above all fun. A barrage of killer hooks, razor blade riffs and choruses that slap you in the face, grab your hand and lead you onto the dance floor. All shot through with pulp imagery torn from the pages of a graphic novel. “The title track proves you can combine post-millennium garage rock with cock-rocking guitar solos and even some anthemic ‘doop doops’ to get the crowd singing along. Just when you think the energy levels are red-lining, the wall-to-wall, machine-gun lyrics and urgent tempo of ‘Where You At,’ followed by with the pissed-off sneer of ‘XXX,’ and capped off with the relentless attack of ‘Swarm,’ knock it all up another notch.” – The Music
Bonehunter – Evil Triumphs Again CD (Hell’s Headbangers)
“This is the sort of vile, primitive metal I often seek – eager to taste that corroded, metallic guitar sound which speeds along with high doses of distortion attached. These satanic curses and whips lash hard against the backdrop of a squalid bass and fast-paced, murky drum sound; all complementing one another like some wretched creation of Mendes and rounded off by that Quorthon (Bathory)-like bark and puke” – Metal Forces Magazine. Vinyl version due September 4.
[Read more…] about New Releases for August 21, 2015
