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Quarterly Review: David Eugene Edwards, Beastwars, Sun Dial, Fuzzy Grass, Morne, Appalooza, Space Shepherds, Rey Mosca, Fawn Limbs & Nadja, Dune Pilot

Posted in Reviews on December 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

The-Obelisk-Quarterly-Review

Well, this is it. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to do Monday and Tuesday, or just Monday, or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or the whole week next week or what. I don’t know. But while I figure it out — and not having this planned is kind of a novelty for me; something against my nature that I’m kind of forcing I think just to make myself uncomfortable — there are 10 more records to dig through today and it’s been a killer week. Yeah, that’s the other thing. Maybe it’s better to quit while I’m ahead.

I’ll kick it back and forth while writing today and getting the last of what I’d originally slated covered, then see how much I still have waiting to be covered. You can’t ever get everything. I keep learning that every year. But if I don’t do it Monday and Tuesday, it’ll either be last week of December or maybe second week of January, so it’s not long until the next one. Never is, I guess.

If this is it for now or not, thanks for reading. I hope you found music that has touched your life and/or made your day better.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

David Eugene Edwards, Hyacinth

David Eugene Edwards Hyacinth

There are not a ton of surprises to behold in what’s positioned as a first solo studio offering from David Eugene Edwards, whose pedigree would be impressive enough if it only included either 16 Horsepower or Wovenhand but of course is singular in including both. But you don’t need surprises. Titled Hyacinth and issued through Sargent House, the voice, the presence, the sense of intimacy and grandiosity both accounted for as Edwards taps acoustic simplicity in “Bright Boy,” though even that is accompanied by the programmed electronics that provides backing through much of the included 11 tracks. Atop and within these expanses, Edwards broods poetic and explores atmospheres that are heavy in a different way from what Wovenhand has become, chasing tone or intensity. On Hyacinth, it’s more about the impact of the slow-rolling beat in “Celeste” and the blend of organic/inorganic than just how loud a part is or isn’t. Whether a solo career under his name will take the place of Wovenhand or coincide, I don’t know.

David Eugene Edwards on Instagram

Sargent House website

Beastwars, Tyranny of Distance

beastwars tyranny of distance

Whatever led Beastwars to decide it was time to do a covers EP, fine. No, really, it’s fine. It’s fine that it’s 32 minutes long. It’s fine that I’ve never heard The Gordons, or Julia Deans, or Superette, or The 3Ds or any of the other New Zealand-based artists the Wellington bashers are covering. It’s fine. It’s fine that it sounds different than 2019’s IV (review here). It should. It’s been nearly five years and Beastwars didn’t write these eight songs, though it seems safe to assume they did a fair bit of rearranging since it all sounds so much like Beastwars. But the reason it’s all fine is that when it’s over, whether I know the original version of “Waves” or the blues-turns-crushing “High and Lonely” originally by Nadia Reid, or not, when it’s all over, I’ve got over half an hour more recorded Beastwars music than I had before Tyranny of Distance showed up, and if you don’t consider that a win, you probably already stopped reading. That’s fine too. A sidestep for them in not being an epic landmark LP, and a chance for new ideas to flourish.

Beastwars on Facebook

Beastwars BigCartel store

Sun Dial, Messages From the Mothership

sun dial messages from the mothership

Because Messages From the Mothership stacks its longer songs (six-seven minutes) in the back half of its tracklisting, one might be tempted to say Sun Dial push further out as they go, but the truth is that ’60s pop-inflected three-minute opener “Echoes All Around” is pretty out there, and the penultimate “Saucer Noise” — the longest inclusion at 7:47 — is no less melodically present than the more structure-forward leadoff. The difference, principally, is a long stretch of keyboard, but that’s well within the UK outfit’s vintage-synth wheelhouse, and anyway, “Demagnitized” is essentially seven minutes of wobbly drone at the end of the record, so they get weirder, as prefaced in the early going by, well, the early going itself, but also “New Day,” which is more exploratory than the radio-friendly-but-won’t-be-on-the-radio harmonies of “Living for Today” and the duly shimmering strum of “Burning Bright.” This is familiar terrain for Sun Dial, but they approach it with a perspective that’s fresh and, in the title-track, a little bit funky to boot.

Sun Dial on Facebook

Sulatron Records webstore

Echodelick Records website

Fuzzy Grass, The Revenge of the Blue Nut

Fuzzy Grass The Revenge of the Blue Nut

With rampant heavy blues and a Mk II Deep Purple boogie bent, Toulouse, France’s Fuzzy Grass present The Revenge of the Blue Nut, and there’s a story there but to be honest I’m not sure I want to know. The heavy ’70s persist as an influence — no surprise for a group who named their 2018 debut 1971 — and pieces like “I’m Alright” and “The Dreamer” feel at least in part informed by Graveyard‘s slow-soul-to-boogie-blowout methodology. Raw fuzz rolls out in 11-minute capper “Moonlight Shades” with a swinging nod that’s a highlight even after “Why You Stop Me” just before, and grows noisy, expansive, eventually furious as it approaches the end, coherent in the verse and cacophonous in just about everything else. But the rawness bolsters the character of the album in ways beyond enhancing the vintage-ist impression, and Fuzzy Grass unite decades of influences with vibrant shred and groove that’s welcoming even at its bluest.

Fuzzy Grass on Facebook

Kozmik Artifactz store

Morne, Engraved with Pain

Morne Engraved With Pain

If you go by the current of sizzling electronic pops deeper in the mix, even the outwardly quiet intro to Morne‘s Engraved with Pain is intense. The Boston-based crush-metallers have examined the world around them thoroughly ahead of this fifth full-length, and their disappointment is brutally brought to realization across four songs — “Engraved with Pain” (10:42), “Memories Like Stone” (10:48), “Wretched Empire” (7:45) and “Fire and Dust” (11:40) — written and executed with a dark mastery that goes beyond the weight of the guitar and bass and drums and gutturally shouted vocals to the aura around the music itself. Engraved with Pain makes the air around it feel heavier, basking in an individualized vision of metal that’s part Ministry, part Gojira, lots of Celtic Frost, progressive and bleak in kind — the kind of superlative and consuming listening experience that makes you wonder why you ever listen to anything else except that you’re also exhausted from it because Morne just gave you an existential flaying the likes of which you’ve not had in some time. Artistry. Don’t be shocked when it’s on my ‘best of the year’ list in a couple weeks. I might just go to a store and buy the CD.

Morne on Facebook

Metal Blade Records website

Appalooza, The Shining Son

appalooza the shining son

Don’t tell the swingin’-dick Western swag of “Wounded,” but Appalooza are a metal band. To wit, The Shining Son, their very-dudely follow-up to 2021’s The Holy of Holies (review here) and second outing for Ripple Music. Opener “Pelican” has more in common with Sepultura than Kyuss, or Pelican for that matter. “Unbreakable” and “Wasted Land” both boast screams worthy of Devin Townsend, while the acoustic/electric urgency in “Wasted Land” and the tumultuous scope of the seven-plus-minute track recall some of Primordial‘s battle-aftermath mourning. “Groundhog Days” has an airy melody and is more decisively heavy rock, and the hypnotic post-doom apparent-murder-balladry of “Killing Maria” answers that at the album’s close, and “Framed” hits heavy blues à la a missed outfit like Dwellers, but even in “Sunburn” there’s an immediacy to the rhythm between the guitar and percussion, and though they’re not necessarily always aggressive in their delivery, nor do they want to be. Metal they are, if only under the surface, and that, coupled with the care they put into their songwriting, makes The Shining Son stand out all the more in an ever-crowded Euro underground.

Appalooza on Facebook

Ripple Music website

Space Shepherds, Washed Up on a Shore of Stars

Space Shepherds Washed Up on a Shore of Stars

An invitation to chill the beans delivered to your ears courtesy of Irish cosmic jammers Space Shepherds as two longform jams. “Wading Through the Infinite Sea” nestles into a funky groove and spends who-even-cares-how-much-time of its total 27 minutes vibing out with noodling guitar and a steady, languid, periodically funk-leaning flow. I don’t know if it was made up on the spot, but it sure sounds like it was, and though the drums get a little restless as keys and guitar keep dreaming, the elements gradually align and push toward and through denser clouds of dust and gas on their way to being suns, a returning lick at the end looking slightly in the direction of Elder but after nearly half an hour it belongs to no one so much as Space Shepherds themselves. ‘Side B,’ as it were, is “Void Hurler” (18:41), which is more active early around circles being drawn on the snare, and it has a crescendo and a synthy finish, but is ultimately more about the exploration and little moments along the way like the drums decided to add a bit of push to what might’ve otherwise been the comedown, or the fuzz buzzing amid the drone circa 10 minutes in. You can sit and listen and follow each waveform on its journey or you can relax and let the whole thing carry you. No wrong answer for jams this engaging.

Space Shepherds on Facebook

Space Shepherds on Bandcamp

Rey Mosca, Volumen! Sesion AMB

rey mosca volumen sesiones amb

Young Chilean four-piece Rey Mosca — the lineup of Josué Campos, Valentín Pérez, Damián Arros and Rafael Álvarez — hold a spaciousness in reserve for the midsection of teh seven-minute “Sol del Tiempo,” which is the third of the three songs included in their live-recorded Volumen! Sesion AMB EP. A ready hint is dropped of a switch in methodology since both “Psychodoom” and ” Perdiendo el Control” are under two minutes long. Crust around the edge of the riff greets the listener with “Psychodoom,” which spends about a third of its 90 seconds on its intro and so is barely started by the time it’s over. Awesome. “Perdiendo el Control” is quicker into its verse and quicker generally and gets brasher in its second half with some hardcore shout-alongs, but it too is there and gone, where “Sol del Tiempo” is more patient from the outset, flirting with ’90s noise crunch in its finish but finding a path through a developing interpretation of psychedelic doom en route. I don’t know if “Sol del Tiempo” would fit on a 7″, but it might be worth a shot as Rey Mosca serve notice of their potential hopefully to flourish.

LINK

Rey Mosca on Bandcamp

Fawn Limbs & Nadja, Vestigial Spectra

Fawn Limbs & Nadja Vestigial Spectra

Principally engaged in the consumption and expulsion of expectations, Fawn Limbs and Nadja — experimentalists from Finland and Germany-via-Canada, respectively — drone as one might think in opener “Isomerich,” and in the subsequent “Black Body Radiation” and “Cascading Entropy,” they give Primitive Man, The Body or any other extremely violent, doom-derived bludgeoners you want to name a run for their money in terms of sheer noisy assault. Somebody’s been reading about exoplanets, as the drone/harsh noise pairing “Redshifted” and “Blueshifted” (look it up, it’s super cool) reset the aural trebuchet for its next launch, the latter growing caustic on the way, ahead of “Distilled in Observance” renewing the punishment in earnest. And it is earnest. They mean every second of it as Fawn Limbs and Nadja grind souls to powder with all-or-nothing fury, dropping overwhelming drive to round out “Distilled in Observance” before the 11-minute “Metastable Ion Decay” bursts out from the chest of its intro drone to devour everybody on the ship except Sigourney Weaver. I’m not lying to you — this is ferocious. You might think you’re up for it. One sure way to find out, but you should know you’re being tested.

Fawn Limbs on Facebook

Nadja on Facebook

Sludgelord Records on Facebook

Dune Pilot, Magnetic

dune pilot magnetic

Do they pilot, a-pilot, do they the dune? Probably. Regardless, German heavy rockers Dune Pilot offer their third full-length and first for Argonauta Records in the 11-song Magnetic, taking cues from modern fuzz in the vein of Truckfighters for “Visions” after the opening title-track sets the mood and establishes the mostly-dry sound of the vocals as they cut through the guitar and bass tones. A push of voice becomes a defining feature of Magnetic, which isn’t such a departure from 2018’s Lucy, though the rush of “Next to the Liquor Store” and the breadth in the fuzz of “Highest Bid” and the largesse of the nod in “Let You Down” assure that Dune Pilot don’t come close to wearing down their welcome in the 46 minutes, cuts like the bluesy “So Mad” and the big-chorus ideology of “Heap of Shards” coexisting drawn together by the vitality of the performances behind them as well as the surety of their craft. It is heavy rock that feels specifically geared toward the lovers thereof.

Dune Pilot on Facebook

Argonauta Records website

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David Eugene Edwards to Release Hyacinth Sept. 29; “Lionisis” Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

David Eugene Edwards (Photo by Loic Zimmerman)

You can hear in the first single from David Eugene Edwards‘ debut studio solo full-length, Hyacinth, where the comparisons to the self-titled debut from Wovenhand (discussed here) and 16 Horsepower‘s Secret South are coming from. “Lionisis” (audio/video streaming below) has a brooding and organic groove not undercut by the various electronic whip cracks and speedy tick-ticks that accompany and mark out the rhythm, and of course it’s Edwards‘ voice and singular delivery tying those two sides together.

I’ll make no predictions about Hyacinth‘s sonic persona, though some clues might be found in the late-2022 live outing, A Riverwood Arts Session (also streaming below), on which the Colorado-based neofolk pioneer digs into songs from across his many-storied discography. Wherever it may go in arrangement or melody, it will mark the beginning of a new trajectory for Edwards, who’s explored various interpretations of aural heaviness in Wovenhand across the last 15 years or so, building on the more folkish beginnings of the band’s earlier work, as well as what Edwards conjured in songwriting and aesthetic with 16 Horsepower.

I’ve got high hopes that I’m actively working to temper. Really, I’d just like a chance to hear it. The PR wire has info, the preorder link, European tour dates, and so on:

David Eugene Edwards Hyacinth

David Eugene Edwards announces solo debut, shares video for lead single “Lionisis”

Wovenhand & 16 Horsepower cult icon’s first solo album, produced by Ben Chisholm

Pre-orders / pre-saves are available HERE: https://found.ee/DEE-Hyacinth

David Eugene Edwards announces his first ever solo album under his own name today, sharing the lead single and video from Hyacinth. Watch/share “Lionisis” video (directed by Loic Zimmerman).

David Eugene Edwards has always been larger than life. His atemporal style and powerfully iconoclast presence make him seem a man somehow beyond us.

His music with innovative heavy droning folk band Wovenhand, and before that the haunting revivification of high lonesome sound antique Americana of 16 Horsepower breathed a near apocalyptic sense of urgency and poignance into musical archetypes long abandoned in the latter-20th Century. Anyone who has seen him perform live will attest to his captivating intensity as he sings and coaxes sweeping, dark fury and beauty from his instrument.

Now, on his first-ever solo album under his own name, Edwards delivers a sound uniquely his own, with a vulnerability and introspection unheard from him before. Stripping back the heavy rock of his recent work with Wovenhand, Hyacinth puts the man’s voice, and sparing instrumentation into the main focus. There’s a somber beauty and world-weary tone throughout these songs. The album could been considered a slight return to the more melodic sounds of 16 Horsepower’s Secret South (2000) and the first, self-titled Wovenhand album (2002). But there’s more going on here: a rhythmic, pulsating undercurrent reminiscent of the tape loops and rudimentary rhythms of 80s Industrial post-punk as well as 808 Drill Style beats. The overall effect is often as if we’re hearing the clock ticking away our own mortality.

“Hyacinth was a sort of vision,“ Edwards says. “A dream. I sought out of my old wooden banjo and nylon string guitar a hidden path. Secrets they had kept from me within themselves all these years, and created a new Mythos to myself of philosophical and spiritual ideas or concepts.” From the outset of the pandemic, Edwards spent considerable time in solitary isolation, sick and impacted very hard in every way. Once he’d harnessed the music within, he enlisted multi-instrumentalist and producer Ben Chisholm (The Armed, Chelsea Wolfe, Converge, Genghis Tron) to help him realize the album’s recording and mix.

“Overall, I guess the album is a weaving of narratives ancient and modern, of humankind’s search for understanding of this world we find ourselves in and of each other. In all its simplicity and complexity,” Edwards says. “Hyacinth is a reference to the Greek myth of Apollo. And, the word meaning a precious stone and blue larkspur flower of purple and pall.”

In addition to his work with Wovenhand from 2001 to present, and Sixteen Horsepower between 1992 to 2005, Edwards has collaborated with such artists as Crime & the City Solution, Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), and Carpenter Brut. He has also contributed to the soundtracks of films such as Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, The Brass Teapot, and Titane.

Hyacinth will be available worldwide on LP, CD and download via Sargent House on September 29th, 2023. Pre-orders / pre-saves are available HERE: https://found.ee/DEE-Hyacinth

Album: Hyacinth
Label: Sargent House
Release Date: September 29th, 2023

Tracklisting:
01. Seraph
02. Howling Flower
03. Celeste
04. Through The Lattice
05. Apparition
06. Bright Boy
07. Hyacinth
08. Lionisis
09. Weavers Beam
10. Hall of Mirrors
11. The Cuckoo

DAVID EUGENE EDWARDS EUROPEAN TOUR 2023
Sept 24 Amplifest – Porto PT
Sept 28 Le 106 Club – Rouen FR
Sept 29 Auditorium du Conservatoire de Lille – Lille FR
Sept 30 De Roma – Antwerp BE
Oct 01 Place La Laiterie – Strasbourg FR
Oct 02 L’Usine – Geneva CH
Oct 04 BIKO – Milano IT
Oct 05 Casa del Popolo Il Progresso – Florence IT
Oct 06 Locomotiv – Bologna IT
Oct 09 De Spot – Middelburg NL
Oct 10 Tolhuistuin – Amsterdam NL
Oct 12 Train – Århus DK
Oct 13 Amager Bio – Copenhagen DK
Oct 14 Mejeriet – Lund SE
Oct 15 Nefertiti – Gothenburg SE
Oct 17 Kulturkirken Jakob – Oslo NO
Oct 18 Kulturhuset – Bergen NO
Oct 19 Folken – Stavanger NO
Oct 20 Kick Scene – Kristiansand NO
Oct 23 OSLO – London UK

https://www.instagram.com/davideugeneedwards/
https://davideugeneedwards.bandcamp.com/
https://wovenhandband.com/david-eugene-edwards
https://linktr.ee/davideugeneedwards

https://www.facebook.com/sargenthouse/
https://www.instagram.com/sargenthouse/
http://www.sargenthouse.com/

David Eugene Edwards, A Riverwood Arts Session (2022)

David Eugene Edwards, Hyacinth (2023)

David Eugene Edwards, “Lionisis” official video

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Roadburn 2023 Makes First Lineup Announcement

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Names like David Eugene Edwards and Julie Christmas are bound to draw eyes, along with Deafheaven, but dig into the lineup announcement for Roadburn 2023 and you’ll find even more genre-spanning righteousness from the e’er forward-looking Dutch fest, which recently unveiled its pretty-people-doing-stuff thematic artwork by William Lacalmontie. Burst and Chat Pile stand out to me immediately, and Norna whom I recently saw for the fist time, but LLNN will kill it in their commissioned collaboration, and a special set from Wolves in the Throne Room is an idea that has a proven history at Roadburn of being, well, special.

I didn’t get to go to Roadburn 2022, which if we’re being honest is a lack in my life that I’ve felt throughout the entire year since. I don’t imagine they’re bringing back the daily ‘zine for 2023, having now thrived without it for the first time in however many years it was. But if I can get back over for next April, I’m going to do everything I can to try and make that happen. Assuming I can walk by then, I’ll carry amps from one end of the loading bay to the other, I don’t care. Just please let me be in Tilburg again.

This is the first announcement. More will follow. This is always one of the best and most hopeful times of the year.

From the PR wire:

Roadburn 2023

Roadburn announces first names for 2023, including Deafheaven, Julie Christmas, and David Eugene Edwards

Roadburn has announced the first names for the 2023 line up ahead of tickets going on sale later this month. The festival will take place at the 013 venue, Tilburg, The Netherlands between April 20-23, 2023. Tickets will go on sale at 7pm CET (6pm GMT, 1pm EST, 10am PST) on November 15.

Roadburn Artistic Director, Walter Hoeijmakers comments:

“We are very thrilled to see Roadburn 2023 coming together, especially in a world turned upside down and all the challenges facing the live music industry. Roadburn 2023 is shaping up to be a very exciting edition of the festival even while navigating the underground post-pandemic. This year’s Roadburn won’t see a curator as there are so many obstacles and pitfalls to overcome; it would be hard for a curator to fully realise their artistic and musical dreams. We at Roadburn will make sure the 2023 edition will be as adventurous and explorational as always, and it will be an anchor point as usual. It will be a very current edition, reflecting the world as it is now.”

Line up announcements:
Deafheaven will fly in to Roadburn to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their groundbreaking sophomore album, Sunbather, by performing the album in full alongside a second set where they will play their latest incredible album, Infinite Granite.

Originally scheduled to perform at Roadburn 2020, Julie Christmas will finally perform next April as a European exclusive set. With a diverse back catalogue and the promise of new material on the horizon, this will be a must-see show.

Also drawing from a rich back catalogue, Roadburn will welcome back David Eugene Edwards, who will be performing cuts from his 16 Horsepower, Wovenhand and solo discographies.

Wolves In The Throne Room will enhance their already immersive performances with additional audio and visual components to create a special, exclusive set titled Shadow Moon Kingdom.

Another postponed Roadburn debut will finally come to fruition as Brutus will perform off the back of their stunning new album, Unison Life.

Big Brave warranted a rare back-to-back Roadburn booking and will be performing their upcoming new album nature morte at Roadburn 2023.

The Soft Moon has made such an impact over the years, but their latest album, Exister, takes things to a new level. They will be performing the album in full at Roadburn 2023.

Giles Corey will be making their live debut with a full band at Roadburn; originally scheduled for 2020 this underground phenomenon will bring catharsis and emotion in abundance.

Chat Pile have made an immense impact in a short space of time, and Roadburn has snagged the exclusive European debut of this much-hyped quartet.

Candy will be performing their blistering new album, Heaven is Here in full at Roadburn.

KEN Mode are doing their bit for the thriving noise-rock resurgence of 2022, and they’ll be flying in for a one-off show at Roadburn 2023.

The genre-defying experimentalism found on Show Me the Body’s latest album Trouble the Water will be brought to life in the flesh with their Roadburn debut next April.

Recently reformed and raring to go, Roadburn will host Sweden’s Burst, bringing the sound of early Scandinavian post-metal to Tilburg.

Norna will also represent Sweden with a crushing take on sludgy post-hardcore.

Commissioned Music:

Roadburn has been commissioning artists to create and perform original compositions at the festival since 2018. 2023 will see an array of such commissioned projects – this year with a particular focus on giving a platform to underground artists – the first of which is announced today.

John Cxnnor performing All My Future’s Past.
Brothers Ketil and Rasmus Sejersen grew up in Denmark’s hardcore scene and the influence of that is felt in the music they create as part of LLNN, but it also infiltrates their work under the John Cxnnor moniker. For this commissioned project, they will enhance the industrial electronics of the John Cxnnor project with the contributions of fellow musicians from the hardcore scene they were shaped by.

Collaboration with Schouwburg Tilburg:
For the first time, Roadburn is collaborating with Schouwburg Tilburg to embrace dance as part of the Roadburn landscape. Dance Of The Seven Veils will be brought to life by director Aïda Gabriëls with musical accompaniment courtesy of Colin H. Van Eeckhout (CHVE, Amenra), Pieter-Jan Van Assche (Innerwoud) and soprano Astrid Stockman. Tickets for this event will be sold as an upgrade to Roadburn tickets, with a discount for Roadburn attendees.

More information on all these announcements can be located HERE: https://roadburn.com/line-up/

Roadburn’s official visual artist for 2023 is William Lacalmontie, more information about his collaboration with the festival can be found HERE: https://roadburn.com/william-lacalmontie-the-official-roadburn-2023-visual-artist/

Weekend tickets and accommodation options will go on sale via roadburn.com at 7pm CET (6pm GMT, 1pm EST, 10am PST) on November 15. 4-day tickets will be priced at €244, 3-day tickets at €214, and single day tickets at €79 (all costs inclusive of fees and service charges).

https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival/
http://www.instagram.com/roadburnfest
http://www.roadburn.com

Julie Christmas, The Bad Wife Live in full

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David Eugene Edwards & Carpenter Brut Post Collaboration “Fab Tool”

Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 2nd, 2020 by JJ Koczan

carpenter brut david eugene edwards fab tool

The largesse here speaks for itself in the half-time beats behind David Eugene Edwards‘ echoing lyrics. Carpenter Brut, the synth-driven manifestation of Poitiers, France’s Franck Hueso, isn’t the first electronic artist with whom Edwards — best known as frontman/auteur of Wovenhand — has collaborated, but “Fab Tool” is particularly effective. The slow rhythm evokes a sense of heft in the proceedings, and the video matches form, bringing yellow-sky open-road Americana with vague post-apocalyptic imagery and scenes of lizards and ruin in unnamed deserts. All the while, the severity comes from both sides in cinematic bursts of bass and the chorus giving way to a midsection crescendo of Edwards spitting rhymes — which, as they almost inevitably would, include shouting out Bible passages and landmarks in Montana — a fittingly rhythmic drama unfolding in unabashedly pop darkness. It is modern in its grit.

Wovenhand‘s next full-length, to be titled Silver Sash, has been thoroughly delayed by COVID-19 — see also: everything — but will allegedly see issue in 2021. Whenever it arrives, it will be the follow-up to 2016’s Star Treatment (review here), and if it is next year, that five-year stretch will represent the longest between two of the band’s releases. Of course, there’s been plenty of touring all the while — this year aside; Wovenhand were scheduled to be out with Om this past Spring — but what that might mean in terms of sound, who knows. Edwards in the meantime was also booked to do various solo performances throughout 2020, including at Roadburn, and did a few before lockdown hit, so perhaps there’s another avenue being pursued there creatively as well. I won’t claim to know and I won’t claim any insight. I just dug this track and wanted to post it because it’s something different from the usual onslaught of riffs around here. You can dive in or not, as you will.

Enjoy if you do:

Carpenter Brut Feat. David Eugene Edwards, “Fab Tool” official video

Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp : https://carpenterbrut.lnk.to/FabTool

Directed by Dehn Sora – www.dehnsora.com

Color Grading by The Deka Brothers – www.dekabrothers.com

Mastered by Thibault Chaumont at Deviant Lab Studio – www.deviantlab.com

Lyrics by David Eugene Edwards

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Carpenter Brut on Bandcamp

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Wovenhand on Bandcamp

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Roadburn 2020: David Eugene Edwards to Play Solo Acoustic Set; PH, Elizabeth Colour Wheel, The Flenser Showase & Much More Added

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 14th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

roadburn 2020 new banner

David Eugene Edwards. Solo. Acoustic. Every year I’ve been fortunate enough to go, there’s been one keeps-you-alive-until-April Roadburn set, from Saint Vitus with Wino in 2009 and Garcia Plays Kyuss in 2010 to Sleep playing Sleep’s Holy Mountain this year. There’s always one. At least. In 2020, for me, that’s David Eugene Edwards of Wovenhand and 16 Horsepower playing by himself on stage. Whatever else gets added, whoever else is playing, hell, even if Wovenhand end up playing, this is the one that got me. Well done, Roadburn 2020.

Also featured in this massive lineup addition are PH (whose announcement I wrote), Elizabeth Colour Wheel, familiar faces Primitive Man and a host of other, of course widely varied, incarnations of badassery. I’m not trying to take away from anyone else or anything like that, or anything that might still come by saying the above, you understand. Roadburn 2020’s already primed to push well beyond the common bounds of heavy. It was before this announcement, frankly. But from here on in, my schedule already has its circle, and whether we do the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch or not (every year I kind of wait for the shoe to drop on that like it’s something we’ve been getting away with for the last six editions), I’m there, and I don’t care who he’s up against or who’s on next on what stage. If I have to sleep in the gutter of Weirdo Canyon in order to be there, I’m not missing a minute of David Eugene Edwards‘ set. Period.

From the fest:

roadburn 2020 david eugene edwards

Roadburn 2020: new announcements, more curator picks, and a showcase!

– Less than 10% of 4 day tickets remain
– David Eugene Edwards joins Emma Ruth Rundle’s curated event
– James Kent picks a special collaboration for his curation
– The Flenser will present a label showcase

Less than 10% of 4-day tickets remain for Roadburn 2020, and single-day tickets will go on sale on December 10.

Artistic Director, Walter Hoeijmakers comments: “As we edge closer towards selling out Roadburn 2020, I am excited that we still have so much more to announce. This year we are putting an emphasis on the context and creativity of the artists we’re announcing and knowing that we have still more up our sleeves means I am delighted to see where Roadburn 2020 is heading.”

EMMA RUTH RUNDLE’S THE GILDED CAGE:

DAVID EUGENE EDWARDS
At Roadburn, David Eugene Edwards has graced us with his presence on two occasions as part of Wovenhand. Each performance pulsated with energy and elevated the sets to be highlights of each respective edition of the festival – in no small part due to David’s electrifying presence. We’re delighted to bring him back to Roadburn, this time as part of Emma Ruth Rundle’s curation, The Gilded Cage. David will perform an acoustic, solo set that promises to showcase the diversity of his delivery and the nuances of his craft. Emma comments:

“It’s been a secret wish to see DEE playing solo and delivering his songs in their most bare forms. This was the very first thing that came to mind when I was asked to co-curate Roadburn and it’s going to be a rare and precious jewel of a performance.”

JAMES KENT’S CURATION:
REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER
A product of the burgeoning French underground scene that has produced so much incredible music in the past few years, over the course of two records so far, Regarde Les Hommes Tomber have used scraps from the most sinister subgenres, from black metal to sludge to build up truly frightening epics. Always apocalyptic in feeling, emotional and ruthless in equal measures, drenched in religious imagery and references, and creating a sonic depiction of the fall of mankind… and its subsequent rising to replace the cruelty of the established gods. Not only will we be expecting all of this maelstrom of fiery feelings, but also a healthy measure of the unexpected as well, since Regarde Les Hommes Tomber will be playing their new not-quite-announced-yet album in its entirety.

HANGMAN’S CHAIR X REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER
Regarde Les Hommes Tomber will join forces with Hangman’s Chair for a collaboration at Roadburn 2020. Hellish, sludgy black metal will clash horns-first with cold, despondent doom, and the result will surely transcend even the most delirious of descriptions that we can come up with at this point. Originally commissioned by Red Bull, this unholy collaboration has occurred just once previously, in Paris. That performance lasted 45 minutes, but for Roadburn an additional 15 minutes of material will be debuted just for us.

PLEBEIAN GRANDSTAND
Plebeian Grandstand are a band that have morphed from a core of quite technical, hardcore charged metal to be the hulking beast of black metal fury we see before us today. The creative journey they have been on has led to an infusion of influences from outside the black metal sphere, resulting in nuance and depth that can sometimes be hard to find within the genre. On top of that, they eschew the cartoonish elements of extreme black metal – you’ll find no burning churches here – in favour of something rooted more firmly in reality. After all, what’s more nightmarish than the real world?

TRUE BODY
With a calculated sense of tension and just enough human touch to cut through their own cold post-punk atmospheres, Virginia’s True Body has built a following with their urgent and impassioned music. Instead of falling into melodramatic excess or disconnected affectations, the band manages to bring the best of each realm for something that leaves audiences rapt and thrilled. With this masterful take on such a beloved sound, we’re honored to announce that True Body will be performing at Roadburn 2020 as part of James Kent’s curation.

THE FLENSER SHOWCASE
In 2020, The Flenser will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the label’s first release. The San Francisco based label has been committed to releasing experimental, avant-garde music for a whole decade – which – naturally – has not escaped our notice here at Roadburn HQ. To celebrate this milestone and to acknowledge the impact that The Flenser has had on our record collections and the broader musical landscape we have invited several of the label’s current artists to perform at Roadburn 2020.

The Flenser label manager, Jonathan Tuite comments: “Roadburn is my absolute favorite festival in the world. The lineup is always diverse, the audience enthusiastic, and the curation is second to none. I can’t think of a more appropriate place for The Flenser to celebrate our ten years of existence.”

GILES COREY
For over ten years Dan Barrett has been cementing his role as a visionary in dark music history.Perhaps none of this work has resonated with more intimacy than Giles Corey, his acoustic guitar led, ghost noise-soaked songwriting vessel. While on paper an acoustic led-project sounds like a potentially low-key affair, Giles Corey is bursting with electric energy–recordings are awash in swirling organs, reverberating choirs, striking horns, and blown out drums. While Giles Corey has performed as a solo-act, Roadburn 2020 will mark the project’s first appearance as a full-band. Members of Have a Nice Life, including central figure Tim Macuga, will help bring the album’s haunted sounds to life: expect the stage and audience to be left in a scorched earth state of desolation.

ELIZABETH COLOUR WHEEL
“Otherworldly” is a description often applied to artists that evoke the ethereal, and whilst that is occasionally applicable to Elizabeth Colour Wheel, the otherworldliness they invoke is more to do with the fact that it’s not always clear if they really inhabit the same world as we do. Their debut album, Nocebo, laughs in the face of genre descriptors, forging a new path that may be tricky to describe but that offers a wildly enticing prospect.

DROWSE
Drowse is an outlet for Kyle Bates to explore his place in the world; his music echoes what he experiences on the varied paths of this internal-reflection. Sometimes those paths lead to extraordinary places – this year’s Light Mirror LP was inspired by an isolated trip to northern Iceland where he took up an artistic residency in 2018. The melancholic results are the sonic equivalent of a sliver of sunlight permeating an otherwise bleak and drizzly morning. The weight of Bates’ reflections is mighty, but it never quite succeeds in suffocating the shards of harmonious hope that glint in the winter sun.

MAMALEEK
Mamaleek have been unearthing truly uncategorizable sounds from the catacombs of black metal since 2008. Founded by two anonymous brothers, the Bay Area project has become known for both its wild experimentation and aesthetic cohesion. The use of left-field samples threads their discography together, with sound sources growing more bizarre with each release. The current lineup mixes childhood friends and total strangers. Their participation is an outgrowth of the core duo, an experiment in a live setting, using instruments and sounds that highlight experimentation and flout genre conventions. Who knows how long this iteration will last before the next metamorphosis.

MIDWIFE
As a multi-instrumentalist, Madeline Johnson AKA Midwife has sculpted a fuzzy take on experimental dream pop, drenched in melody and punctuated with distortion. Despite a central theme of “devastation” Midwife makes for nuanced and evocative easy listening that can’t help but feel like something of an audio honey trap. We’ll have to wait until April to find out exactly what lurks beneath the surface…

ALSO ANNOUNCED…

PRIMITIVE MAN
It is with great anticipation that we’re delighted to announce that Primitive Man will be playing twice at Roadburn. One set will be a business-as-usual, throat-ripping, bone crushing display of what makes them a must-watch band. And one set will be a run through of their 2017 album, Caustic. This is the kind of endurance test we relish – an audio pummelling so intense that there’s no way to come out the other side without a shift in our worldview.

LANKUM
When The Livelong Day – the latest offering from Dublin four piece, Lankum – passed over our desks, our ears pricked up and we knew we had to invite them to Roadburn next year. It’s not uncommon to find us feeling effusive about noise, drone and ambient projects in the Roadburn world, but it’s a much rarer prospect to find such tonal qualities on what is undoubtedly, most definitely a folk album. Uilleann pipes and harmonium come together to create a cinematic soundscape that many Roadburners will feel right at home with. The album makes for an appropriate gateway for those attending Roadburn, regardless of which side you’re approaching from – a folk fan heading towards darker territories, or a heavy music fan lured by the promise of a genre steeped in history and countless traditional flourishes.

HILARY WOODS
Hilary Woods wrote her debut full length, Colt, alone – before before taking her recordings to Berlin to work with James Kelly (Wife, Altar of Plagues). The solitude is palpable, and listening to what she has made feels like a cautious invitation into a quiet place that she has created. Imagine a soft cocoon of sound, enveloping you as you step through into the netherworld of her making.

FÖLLAKZOID AND ATOM TM
Spearheading Chile’s vibrant psych scene, Föllakzoid will transport Roadburn 2020 on an all-encompassing voyage. Joined once again by German electronic artist and producer, Atom TM, the band will make their Roadburn debut, aiming to, “modulate the gravitational waves in order to alter the temporality perception and get sucked into the timeless space continuum,” as guitarist/singer Domingæ Garcia-Huidobro aptly puts it.

TORPOR
Rhetoric Of The Image showcases Torpor’s confidence; lengthy post-metal tracks smoulder whilst shorter, more experimental cuts punctuate the album. The three piece will expand a little for Roadburn in order to do justice to the full fifty one minutes that make up Rhetoric Of The Image as they perform it in full for us at Roadburn.

SUM OF R
The current incarnation of Sum of R already sees Reto teamed up with Jukka Rämänen (Dark Buddha Rising, Hexvessel, Waste Of Space Orchestra), which has allowed them to forge even more adventurous paths from their dark ambient/drone of yore, but now yet another figure from that particular Finnish scene will be adding his own very particular twist to the proceedings and giving them a new voice, quite literally, as it is none other than vocalist Marko Neuman (Dark Buddha Rising, Waste Of Space Orchestra, Convocation, Ural Umbo).

PH
Earlier this year, PH released Osiris Hayden, their second offering through Svart Records and fifth overall in their prolific decade together. Their latest work finds them embracing new reaches of the cosmic infinite, taking on electronic charge as they never have before and exploring the connection between organic and inorganic audio experiences.

MANY BLESSINGS
Those of you familiar with Ethan McCarthy will know him as the formidable frontman for Primitive Man. Under the banner of Many Blessings, Ethan performs a much less frenzied kind of music – and yet somehow it manages to be no less disturbing and spine-chilling. Many Blessings has seeped into our consciousness – a slow, creeping threat of sonic menace. Whilst the ferocity we are are perhaps more accustomed to is not present, the wordless missives are brooding and visceral.

EYE FLYS
After listening to their blistering debut album Context, and considering the fact that guitarist Spencer Hazard was already roped in for Roadburn 2020 as a member of one of our artists in residence, the wonderful Full Of Hell, how could we ever pass on Eye Flys? The Backslider rhythm section of Jake Smith – here on guitar and vocals – and Patrick Forrest plus Triac’s Kevin Bernsten complete the line-up.

ROADBURN 2020 TICKETS

Weekend tickets for Roadburn are on sale now (3-day tickets are sold out, 4-day tickets remain on sale). Single day tickets will be on sale on December 10. More information about tickets and accommodation options can be found HERE.

Already announced for Roadburn 2020 is: Emma Ruth Rundle and James Kent as curators, commissioned projects from James Kent & Johannes Persson, Jo Quail, and Vile Creature & Bismuth, the return of Julie Christmas, Red Sparowes, Russian Circles, Torche, Brutus, Bada, Dool, Health, Hide, She Past Away, and two Artists In Residence: Full of Hell and Lingua Ignota. Check the full line up HERE.

EUROPEAN FESTIVAL AWARD NOMINATION

Roadburn has been nominated in the best small festival category (less than 10,000 visitors) at the European Festival Awards 2019. Votes can be cast HERE. Votes and spreading the word are appreciated as it would be a huge honour for us to win such recognition.

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David Eugene Edwards, “Straw Foot”

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Wovenhand, Refractory Obdurate: Sit Down and Eat

Posted in Reviews on May 15th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

Whatever genre tag one might want to saddle Wovenhand with, I’ve yet to come across one that doesn’t leave some integral facet of their sound uncovered. Like the cover art of their latest outing and first for Deathwish Inc. (their alliance with Glitterhouse Records continues outside North America), Refractory Obdurate, their aesthetic is a patchwork. Always in progress, it draws from world music influences, from folk, from indie (whatever that means), and increasingly over the last several albums, 2012’s The Laughing Stalk (review here) and 2010’s The Threshingfloor (semi-review here) particularly, from heavier-toned rock, but they are not a band to be pinned down to one modus or another, and that’s as true on Refractory Obdurate as it has been all along. Driven by the songwriting of guitarist, vocalist, founder and oft-perceived figurehead David Eugene Edwards (formerly of 16 Horsepower) and featuring guitarist Charles Edward French, bassist Neil Keener, percussionist Ordy Garrison and organist Jeff Linsenmaier, the 10 songs/43 minutes of Refractory Obdurate have some sonic carryover from The Laughing Stalk, but as ever for Wovenhand, there’s progression as well. They are immediately recognizable. There’s no one who sounds like Wovenhand both because of Edwards‘ vocal style and because of the fluidity of the band’s arrangements. All but Keener appeared on the last album, so there’s some consistency of approach in the bright, joyous rush of “Good Shepherd” or the brooding spaciousness of the later “Obdurate Obscura,” but more than last time, what stands out here is the feverishness of the builds and payoffs in the material’s structure. That is, to bring a song to an apex isn’t really anything new for the band, but in “Masonic Youth” (get it?), “The Refractory,” “Salome,” the bass-fueled “Field of Hedon,” and the penultimate “Hiss,” which provides the climax for Refractory Obdurate as a whole as well, the tension is more of a focal point than it’s ever been in Wovenhand‘s approach. At this point, they’ve also gotten heavy enough to allow for that.

I’ve said before that I have trouble thinking or speaking about Wovenhand in anything other than hyperbole. Refractory Obdurate provokes that response as well since Edwards and his companions emerge from it no less a singular sonic entity than they went in. They are unique, and as that’s an absolute term, Refractory Obdurate is bound to cause a strong reaction. As a fan, I looked forward to the release, and listening to it, was pleased to discover no dilution in the quality of songwriting, whether it’s more bombastic material like “Masonic Youth,” the culmination of which is punkish in its intensity, or “King David,” which holds firm to the acoustic strum around which its rumble builds, Edwards‘ vocals echoing in an impeccable mix. It is a long way sonically from Wovenhand’s 2002 self-titled debut, but traced over the course of their albums, which have been released on even years since with the Blush Music score arriving in 2003, Refractory Obdurate is a next logical installment in the development of their take. One wouldn’t expect them to repeat themselves, and they don’t, but neither is Refractory Obdurate turning the feel of The Laughing Stalk completely on its head. As a whole, its vibe reads darker because the art is darker and the songs are by and large heavier, but it’s a step, not a jump from one to the other, and their sound remains utterly distinct, opener “Corsicana Clip” hinting as the higher acoustics give way to lower-toned electric guitar in the chorus at some of the relative pummel to come. An essential component running a thread through all of Wovenhand‘s work is Edwards‘ faith, and his penchant for turning dogma into deeply personal portraits remains firm in “Good Shepherd,” “The Refractory,” “Salome,” “Field of Hedon,” and the other cuts included, coloring lyrical perspective even in moments without direct reference and making the overarching feel all the more individual. Many of the album’s loudest moments are also its most fervent testimonials, and emotional and spiritual weight play as much if not more of a role than anything coming from the guitar on “Hiss.”

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Wovenhand Unveil “Hiss” from Refractory Obdurate; New Album out April 29

Posted in Bootleg Theater on March 26th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

I have a particularly hard time speaking about Wovenhand in terms other than hyperbolic praise. The David Eugene Edwards-fronted genre-defiers will release their new album, Refractory Obdurate, through Deathwish Inc. and Glitterhouse Records on April 29. It’ll be Wovenhand’s seventh full-length, following 2012’s The Laughing Stalk (review here), which continued to push their sound into new places in terms of influence and arrangement, the band getting progressively heavier, more joyful, more intense as they go along. Their style, though it always shifts from record to record, is distinctly their own, and the new single “Hiss” follows that pattern with a fullness of tone and spaciousness in the recording.

On the sheer level of its chugging riff and furious tension, “Hiss” is up there with the heaviest output Wovenhand have had to date, though in the bigger picture of their work overall, that’s a tertiary consideration. I wouldn’t expect “Hiss” to speak for the entirety of Refractory Obdurate more than I’d expect the river to speak for the lake, but it’s a clear signal that Edwards as the principal songwriter has maintained a fascination with what weighted sound can bring to Wovenhand‘s aesthetic. They continue to be on a level of their own in both their mastery of what they do and their drive to push beyond that mastery, out of their comfort zone, and into new ground.

Release info follows the video. Enjoy:

Wovenhand, “Hiss”

Brought to you by a partnership of Deathwish and Glitterhouse Records, release dates are as follows:

April 29th: Deathwish Release Date (World)
April 25th: Glitterhouse Release Date (Europe)

Wovenhand is a band led by dedicated life-musician and lyricist, David Eugene Edwards. Over the last two decades, his prolific work in both Wovenhand and the legendary 16 Horsepower has influenced and inspired a generation of musicians throughout the expansive alternative music world.

Wovenhand cannot be described in traditional terms. Their sound is an organic, weavework of neo-folk, post rock, punk, old-time, and alternative sounds. All coming together as a vehicle for David’s soulful expression and constant spiritual self exploration. Sometimes sad and sorrowed and at other times uplifting, Wovenhand are always unforgettable in spirit and sound.

“Refractory Obdurate” is the latest album from Wovenhand. Joining David on this album are longtime percussionist Ordy Garrison, along with musicians Chuck French and Neil Keener (Planes Mistaken For Stars, Git Some).

“Refractory Obdurate” is a moving masterwork that shows Wovenhand exploring louder roots hinted at on prior albums. As they maintain their melodious course, “Good Shepherd”, “Field of Hedon”, and “Hiss”, stomp forth with a newly amplified punk rock heart. While “The Refractory”, “Salome”, and “Obdurate Obscura” each ascend epically into a multi-layered haze. Ten songs in all, “Refractory Obdurate” plays as a beautifully crafted patchwork that transcends genres and expectation; a true artistic achievement, that only Wovenhand could offer.

Track Listing:
01. Corsicana Clip
02. Masonic Youth
03. The Refractory
04. Good Shepherd
05. Salome
06. King David
07. Field of Hedon
08. Obdurate Obscura
09. Hiss
10. El-bow

Wovenhand on Thee Facebooks

Deathwish Inc.

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Frydee Wovenhand

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 3rd, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Wovenhand, Wovenhand (2002)

This isn’t the first time I’ve ended a week with Wovenhand, but I cracked open the laptop and after half an hour of perusal nothing else seemed to do the trick, so the self-titled it is. Still one of the best performances I’ve ever caught was the David Eugene Edwards-fronted outfit at Roadburn 2011. I haven’t gone to see them since because I think the crowd would be too cool and bum me out. I know that makes me a loser. Insert some cliche about losers losing here.

They’re not a band I talk about a lot, but I love this album. There aren’t a lot of discs in my collection or out I’d trade it for.

Speaking of my CDs, they’re in boxes in the next room. We moved yesterday — oh my fucking god was it really only one day ago? — and while I had to basically go back to work today, of course without actually going, The Patient Mrs. stepped up and did a ton of unpacking. There are a lot of house-y things we need — from HDMI cables to a mat for the bathroom floor to one of those plastic things you put in the drawer to stop the forks and knives and spoons from getting all mixed up; also I need a desk to work at so I’m not on the dining room table all next week like I was today — but at least we’re up here, in Massachusetts. The development in which resides this condo we rented is also close enough behind a Lowe’s that I could walk to all my home improvement needs should I decide to do so. I haven’t yet, but again, we’ve only been here a day.

Work was stressful, but it’s going to be for a while, and it’s stressful anyway, so there you go. I was glad to get a review up, even if it was short and later in the day — again, The Patient Mrs. was doing me favors as I chipped away at our first Friday night in our new place with the clacky-clacky — since it’s that kind of thing that keeps me sane through a bigger change than my never-lived-anywhere-but-the-county-I-was-born ass has ever known. One I wanted and needed to make, but still. Big. I hooked up the coffee maker this morning, had three cups. Still fairly beat though. One in the morning. Dog snoring. Music on. There’s a farmer’s market in town in the morning that we might try to hit up. Fingers crossed for pesto.

Monday I’m going to my first show as a resident up here. Admiral Browning are coming up from Maryland to play in Leominster, and I’ll hit that up for a good time, review it on Tuesday. Also look out for a review of the Ape Machine record, that Blaak Heat Shujaa interview, a list running down some of my picks for the rest of 2013 and plenty more as I continue to get settled in the new environs.

Have a great and safe weekend.

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