PEACE! WE OUTTA HERE!

The Third Rail is shut down for good. See y'all later. Here's the new blog:

http://andrewthesoundguardian.blogspot.com/

Cheers!

Don't Turn Off The Lights

Album: The Bunny Boy
Artist: The Residents
Genre: Avant-Garde
Year: 2008
Label: MVD Audio/Santa Dog

The Residents scare me. I don’t know if I can say that about any other band I have ever encountered. I probably couldn’t go to a Residents concert because I can barely sit down and listen to their records for fear of what I might hear. The singsong lyrics about being a butcher, the creepy synths and black guitars are almost too much to bear… almost. The other problem with The Residents is that they’re fascinating, in a sick and twisted way. Some people research serial killers and mysterious disappearances, I research The Residents. The fact that they’ve remained almost entirely anonymous over their 30+ year career is unsettling to me because it means that they could be anybody. If their music wasn’t so frightening this might not be so bad, but their music is scarier than any horror movie you’ve ever seen. I sometimes fear that the lyrics here come from first hand experience and not just dark imaginings.

This latest album, The Bunny Boy, is just as absurd and spine tingling as their older works, proving that these spooks haven’t run out of ideas yet. What is it about bunnies? In Donnie Darko there was a giant bunny predicting the end of the world. In David Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE there was a room with three bunny-people who made off hand remarks to a laugh track. Why bunnies? Who knows, but now, thanks to Donnie Darko, Mr. Lynch and now, The Residents - bunny rabbits are ruined for me. The Bunny Boy is 19 tracks of demented psychosis and off-kilter terror tactics and I don’t know if I’ll be able to stomach a second listen. This is not because the music is bad, far from it. The Residents are very competent musicians. No, the reason I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it a second time is because I don’t want some of these images imprinted onto my brain a second time.

I wouldn’t exactly call The Residents accessible, but this release is certainly more pop-song oriented than others. The sex-clown narrative of Tweedles! Comes to mind, as well as the sound collages of Third Reich and Roll. Both of those albums are difficult listens for very different reasons. The Residents once again have managed to invert Pop-sensibilities for their own dark purposes. All the songs are short, the longest being four minutes and 42 seconds, but just because they’ve got pop song structure doesn’t mean that these are pop songs. It’s not like they’re trying very hard to disguise them either, you’re never going to hear songs like “I Killed Him” or “Boxes of Armageddon” played on even the most forward thinking radio stations. If you did, it probably means the end is nigh.

At one point in their career, on the album Duck Stab/Buster & Glen especially, there was a sort of humor about The Residents. They were kind of creepy, but they were also kind of funny. Not anymore. These days, if there is humor in The Residents delivery, it’s lost on me. I can’t listen to songs like “The Dark Man” or “Black Behind” without feeling my skin crawl. They’re trying to scare me and they’re succeeding. Be careful with this stuff. You don’t know who’s been handling it. It could be anyone. It could be me. You could be a Resident and not even know it. Now that’s creepy.

We Don't Need A Doctor... We Need A Victim... We Need A Sacrifice!

Album: Thelema EP
Artist: The Murder City Devils
Genre: Garage Rock/Punk
Year: 2001
Label: Sup Pop

The Murder City Devils were Seattle’s loudest, rowdiest gothic pirate punk pummel band and they can and will kick your ass to the curb. Then, they will curb stomp your face again and again while a deathly organ plays and crowds of ravenous demons bay for blood and down gallons of fine wine. That’s a lot to take in, especially the horns on the demon’s heads. But the music of The Devils is actually fairly simple and easy to swallow. Fast. Loud. Screaming. Rock. It doesn’t take a neuro scientist to figure it out.

Thelema was the Devils’ final EP before breaking up, and it proves that some bands go out at the top of their game. They weren’t gone for long however. The Devils reunited in 2006 and have been sporadically performing since. I discovered them through their drummer, Coady Willis, who is also a member of Heavy Metal duo, Big Business and Sludge Metal lords, the Melvins. Following the trail of breadcrumbs back to the Devils was a thoroughly rewarding find and they’ve become one of my favorite finds in recent memory. Really, what’s not to like? Rock N’ Roll was meant to be this way, with aggressive guitars and slurred, rabid vocals begging for forgiveness, like on “Bride of the Elephant Man.” This is actually one of the Devils slower numbers, but Spencer Moody (the voice of the Devils) is not going to croon on this one. His ragged, howling voice pleads with John Merrick (The Elephant Man of fame) to not “be angry when he meets his maker” and tells him that “his prayers were heard first”. The lyrics coming out of Moody’s mouth don’t always make sense, but manage to cover a lot of topics, ranging from pirate tales to occult ceremonies. The pirate story, “Bear Away” is probably my favorite track from the EP, if not my favorite Devils track period. Another slower number, the track features some of Leslie Hardy’s finest organ playing as well as some of Moody’s most furious cries into the night. You picture him, whisky bottle in one hand, microphone in the other and have a hard time not following his advice when he screams “you better run for cover!” before roaring “we need a martyr, we need a victim, we need a sacrifice!!!”

At twenty minutes in length, the Thelema EP is a short but sweet trip into Murder City. The band is at their best, with punk guitar rippers and soaring gothic organs. The drums pound with a primitive rage and the bass rumbles like a great boiler. Over all of this, Moody’s raspy bellow explodes, grabbing your attention like an undead cowboy’s lasso. “That’s What You Get” and “One Vision Of May” are the cannon blasters, breaking everything in the room and leaving you begging for more. “Bear Away”, “Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum” and “Bride of the Elephant Man” are the slower, heavier tracks, giving the EP it’s weight. But how does the EP end? It ends with the unholy bizarre “364 Days” which Moody describes at the beginning of the track as “an open letter to St. Nicolas.” It’s a waltzing song that paints a sad picture of an alcoholic Santa Claus all alone at the North Pole. It’s a sad ending to an excellent EP and the punctuation mark at the end of the Devils short but exceptional studio output. With any luck, you will enjoy this EP as much as I did and will go on a deeper sojourn into the Murder City. It’s a dangerous trip, but a fun one.

White Light! White Hate!

Album: White Hate
Artist: Beta Popes
Genre: Death Metal
Year: 2008
Label: Veal

The Beta Popes are going to destroy you. A Power Doom Trio, The Popes are what happens when three Jazz heads form a Death Metal band. The result is a crushing sound that will sunder your soul and reduce you to rubble. With Bobby Previte (drums,) Jamie Saft (guitar) and Skerik (vocals and saxophone) you’d expect things to be a bit less sludgy and a bit more jumping. But no, the Popes are not Jazz. They’re METAL. IN ALL CAPS, BABY. They’ve been born of Satan to deliver the world into a new dark age of frogmen and carrion crows and no one can stop them. They don’t care if you like their music and, quite frankly, probably want you to go deaf listening to it.

Besides being Death Metal played by Jazz heads, Beta Popes is an unusual band, in my opinion, because of the instrument and vocal assignments. There’s nothing strange about the guitar/drums/vocals setup, it’s who’s on them that’s different. I know Saft for his organ and keyboard work, not his guitar, let alone Metal guitar. The sound of it is like butter being churned in the pits of hell, with a rusty iron rod. But stranger than Saft’s guitar are Skerik’s vocals. This is a recurring problem I have with Skerik. He’s one of the best saxophone players I have ever heard, but finding him actually playing the saxophone can be a bit difficult at times. He often filters his horn through various electronic effects, giving us a saxophonic sound, and that can be hard to distinguish from other electronic atmospherics of his main band Critters Buggin’. But here, I’m even more confused by his place as vocalist. Skerik! What are you doing man? A Death Metal band with a deep, resonant sax blast is just what the doctor ordered. But no, instead, we have his warped and distorted vocal delivery, buried pretty deep in the mix. With a sax man like Skerik in the band, it seems like a waste to put him on something like vocals. With the Beta Popes, Skerik does play the sax occasionally, but it’s on the high and squalling end of things, and not too coherent.

But this isn’t Skerik’s show; it’s Previte’s. The drums are like a brick wall breaking apart and falling down all around you. They’re the most dynamic element of the music, as Saft’s guitars get a little too repetitive. I have no real technical drum knowledge, but I know what I like and these are some thunderous beats that Previte’s chunking out. The album these men have created is far from what I would call accessible. It’s four tracks, but 50 minutes in length. The shortest take, “Burning Witch”, is roughly 7 minutes long. The three main pieces of the album, “Zondervan”, “Kabla” and “Chalice of Death” are all over ten minutes long and they love to grind. There isn’t much variation here and “Chalice”, at nearly twenty minutes, is a lengthy, tough listen. Ironically, it’s also got the fastest tempo of any of the tracks.

The basic formula is this: Previte lays down a beat, which is subject to alterations, Saft layers his thick guitar lines on top of that and Skerik howls his heart out somewhere in the middle. It’s not the sort of thing you’d expect from these musicians but it strangely works. If you like Avant-Garde Death Metal, then this stuff is for you. If you like your music to have pop sensibilities or melodies, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Fireworks. In The Form Of Rock 'N' Roll

Album: Body Language EP
Artist: Monotonix
Genre: Garage Rock
Year: 2008
Label: Drag City

My first experience with Monotonix was a short one. At Bumbershoot last year, I was reading The Stranger, trying to figure out what band to see next when I ran across a full page spread on Monotonix, an Israeli Garage Punk band from Tel Aviv who were known for wild antics beyond compare. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. The drummer who played the kick drum with his face, the wild front man, the fires… the fires… I knew I had to see this band. I looked at my watch; we had fifteen minutes to get all the way across the Seattle Center to the exhibition hall. I quickly rallied my friends and we took off for the show. When we arrived in the exhibition hall, I realized that the band had set up on the floor and that actually seeing them was out of the question. But we could still hear them.

In retrospect, I’m not entirely sure what I heard, a wall of punk sound and front man Shalev’s howling. At one point, Shalev climbed up on the stage and mooned the crowd. The only sight I had of the band was when guitarist Gat and Shalev started crowd surfing. They played for about fifteen minutes, when suddenly, the lights came back on and everything stopped. The show was over as suddenly as it had begun and people began to file out. It was weird. I later found out that the band had made a deal with the fire marshal not to crowd surf, which they went ahead and did anyways. This got their show canceled. When I got home, the first thing I did was purchase their Body Language EP.

The music of Monotonix is unsophisticated, uncomplicated Rock. Just three guys, two instruments and a voice. It’s a formula you hear repeated a lot, but Monotonix do it so well you couldn’t ask anything else. It’s catchy, it rocks, it thrashes and afterwards, you want to do it all over again. The producer did an excellent job of capturing the bands high energy in this recording. It’s hard to be energetic in the studio and these guys bring fire and brimstone to their sound. It’s not a long EP, twenty-three minutes, but that way the band doesn’t wear out their welcome. Six tracks is the perfect length I think and each one is a keeper. The best take though, is certainly the head banging opener “Lowest Dive.” Gat isn’t a flashy guitarist, but it’s not about flash, it’s about the dirtiest, loudest riff you can manage and that’s really all you need, fuck stunt guitars. Drummer Haggai Fershtman’s style isn’t glamorous; it’s simple, steady and punk, though that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get to show off from time to time. A perfect example is the furious conflagrations of percussive sound early on in “No Metal.”

With music this loud and in-your-face, you need an obnoxious, in-your-face vocalist to antagonize and entertain your listeners. Monotonix has that in Ami Shalev, a wild man who was clearly meant to live and die for Rock N’ Roll. His songs are outrageous and uplifting. His delivery is out of control. He’s like a hairier, crazier, Israeli version of Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello, from hell. I’ve read tales of him lighting himself and everything in his sight on fire, in the name of Rock N’ Roll. In many ways, to me, Monotonix feels like the legacy of Iggy and the Stooges made manifest: a band with fury, fire and a front man who’ll do everything and anything for Rock. The world needs bands like Monotonix, just like we needed the Stooges, and we’re lucky to have them.

I’d love to turn you on to PRIMUS

I love weird music. But how do you define weirdness? You don’t usually define it, you just know it when you hear it and Primus take weirdness to new and unusual levels. First of all, what is Primus? The answer to that is simple: Primus is a band. A trio, in fact. What kind of music do they play? That is a much more difficult question to answer. If I had to guess? Psychedelic Funk Rock with a lemon twist and a dash of Metal. They’ve had highs (Pork Soda) and lows (Antipop) and continue to stride forward, unabashedly bouncing, shredding and pounding their way through all known catastrophe and calamity. They’ve tasted popularity, been the idol of millions and yet have managed to maintain their creative soul and unique personality. This is no small feat in this age of manufactured pop and arena rock bullshit. When asked what kind of band Primus is I simply say “Primus” because that’s what they are.

They’re not a Metal band (though they’re heavier and thrashier than Metallica when called upon) and they’re not funk (but Bootsy Collins is probably green with envy at Les Claypool’s thumping bass lines.) They can play both these genres and many more, but their sound remains simply Primus. The setup is not all that unique. A guitar, some drums and a bass with vocals splashed here and there. What’s so special about that? What’s special is the players. Tim Alexander’s drumming is fierce, precise and sharp as a tack. In terms of capability behind the kit, he’s up there with drummers like Danny Carey of TooL and Dale Crover of the Melvins, though his style is nothing like either of those two. Larry Lalonde’s guitar can go from funky tweaks to metallic crunches to Zappa-esque soloing madness in the space of a second. His style takes it’s cues from all of the aforementioned (Funk, Metal, Zappa) and combines numerous playing techniques to form his left of center riffage. The center of Primus’s music, though, is, without doubt, Les Claypool’s bass. Not content to sit in the background, the sound jumps up and grabs you by the throat. It bounces, it thumps, it rumbles and it pops, once you’ve heard it you will always know it and it will always be a part of you. It is this sound that defines Primus more then anything else. Great as Lalonde and Alexander are, they will always be over shadowed by Claypool and his incredible bass work. The music that these three men create is certainly weird, but it is Les Claypool’s nasally voice and genuinely bizarre lyrics that give Primus songs their character. And they’re filled with characters. It’s as if Claypool lives on another planet and comes by from time to time to let us all know what’s going on there.

Professor Nutbutter, John The Fisherman, Tommy The Cat: All of these characters have surfaced at one time or another in Claypool’s music, each one bringing an odd tale or adventure to spice up the mix. Primus hasn’t recorded new material since 2003 and all of their members are involved in numerous side projects. Claypool is an accomplished solo artist and performs with various ensembles of his friends and allies, Lalonde just recently finished a stint with Serj Tankian’s band, The F.C.C. (Flying Cunts of Chaos) and Alexander has his Fata Morgana project, in which things take a very dark turn. Despite these busy schedules, Primus re-unites here and there to tour. These tours often take the structured music of their records into new and unexplored regions of jams, to great success. Primus doesn’t kick out the jams; it builds them up into colossi, mountains of music and oceans of sound that they then navigate like intrepid explorers. Is Primus weird? Definitely. Do they sound like any other band out there? Probably not. Does Les Claypool get carpal tunnel? Almost certainly. Should you listen to them? Yes, yes and yes.

Discography:

-Frizzle Fry-

Year: 1990

Primus’s first (Not counting the live album, Suck On This), most thrashing album. Still finding their sound on this one, but that doesn’t detract from it. Features the ripping “John The Fisherman,” an excellent stoner jam in the form of “Harold of the Rocks” and the metal tinged “Too Many Puppies.”

-Sailing The Seas of Cheese-

Year: 1991

The second, the one where they best and most clearly defined their sound that all the other albums would spring from. Considered to be their most fun album by some. Features a Tom Waits collaboration in “Tommy The Cat”, the speed slap bass of “Is It Luck?”, the anti-military anthem of “Sgt. Baker” and (my personal favorite) the smashingly barbequed riffage of “Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweakers.”

-Miscellaneous Debris-

Year: 1992

A collection of covers and the first album to feature Claypool’s six string Rainbow Bass. Reveals some of Claypool’s influences. Some of them are kind of surprising. Features twisted takes on the XTC classic “Making Plans for Nigel” and Pink Floyd’s “Have A Cigar.”

-Pork Soda-

Year: 1993

Their darkest, most alienating album. But possibly their best? Features one of their most well known songs: “My Name is Mud” with it’s distinctive bass rumblings as well as the sinking ship sounds of “Mr. Krinkle,” the sludgy funeral dirge of “Bob” and the hilarious nudity of “Nature Boy.”

-Tales from The Punchbowl-

Year: 1995

Their most Psychedelic album. This album was the last to feature Tim Alexander before his departure (he will return). Features their most well known song: “Wynonna’s Big Brown Beaver” with it’s ridiculous lyrics as well as the propellant shredder “Prof. Nutbutter’s House of Treats,” the hillbilly banjo of “De Anza Jig” and the tweaked out acid jam of “Over The Electric Grapevine.”

-Brown Album-

Year: 1997

The beginning of the Brain era. New drummer Brain joins after Alexander’s departure. The sound of the Brown Album is difficult to characterize. It sounds… well… brown and that’s not really a color I would want to associate with Primus. The band rarely, if ever, plays songs from this album live, mostly due to Alexander having returned at this point, but also just because they don’t seem to like it very much. Features what is possibly the only acoustic Primus song in “Over The Falls” and the jerky “Shake Hands With Beef.”


-Rhinoplasty-

Year: 1998

A second collection of covers. Not as good as Misc. Debris and doesn’t really have anything you terribly need. Features a pretty straight take on Metallica’s “The Thing That Should Not Be” and XTC’s “Scissor Man.”

-Antipop-

Year: 1999

Their weakest album. No doubt. The second of the Brain era. It should be noted, I think, that the weakness was not due to Brain’s joining the band, even though he helped the two weakest albums into being. Rather, it was just that these two albums took more experimental directions and for the most part those experiments were less than successful. The band never plays songs from this album live. It’s not all bad though. This is Primus’s most collaborative album. Tom Waits makes an appearance, as does Stewart Copeland, Tom Morello. Sadly, this album also features the Fred Durst produced “Lacquer Head” easily Primus’s weakest moment and worst collaboration idea. Claypool has gone on to regret this. The album doesn’t really feature any standout tracks. If I had to pick though? The Tom Waits collaboration “Coattails of a Deadman,” the Stewart Copeland produced “Dirty Drowning Man” and the epic “Eclectic Electric.”

-Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People-

Year: 2003

Just an EP, but it singled a return to greatness. Alexander returned as drummer, and it sounded as If he’d never been away. Better than the Brown Album and Antipop combined. It’s only real weakness? Only five tracks. The band hasn’t returned to the studio since this was released. Features the perplexing “The Last Superpower AKA Rapscallion” and the sorrowful “Mary The Ice Cube.”

Tom Waits: Already On Top of The Hill

Album: Real Gone
Artist: Tom Waits
Genre: Tom Waits
Year: 2004
Label: ANTI-

Tom Waits (a man who should require zero introduction) obviously doesn’t need a band anymore, but he continues to perform with one, probably more out of habit than actual necessity. I am only partially joking. Real Gone is Tom Waits most recent full-length album, released in 2004. It is the obvious continuation of Waits’s obsessions and introduces a few new ones. It’s also a rock solid work of art. Beginning with the whirly-gig weirdo funk of “Top Of The Hill,” the album lets you know the score immediately. Tom Waits’ raspy beat boxing is juxtaposed against Casey Waits’ turntables and Marc Ribot’s guitar, creating a bizarre collage of sounds for Tom to growl over.

Whoever had the idea to combine Tom Waits’ weathered vocals with something like turntable scratches is a complete genius. This isn’t the first time he’s done it, but it’s the only time he does so on this album. The marriage of the two opposing musical forces seems like it would cause the world to end, but it doesn’t, it just makes it a more interesting place to be. Lots of the tracks on this album feature Waits beat-boxing and noise making, providing his own backing for his eccentric stories and off-kilter ramblings.

Some Waits albums sound like they take place in some sort of smoky nightclub. But Real Gone takes us outside for the most part, lots of the album has the feel of being either on the street of some forgotten American town or perhaps the fields just outside of it. Other Waits albums have taken place in port towns or the middle of the desert, but Real Gone is a curious town where it always rains and the grass is greener on the other side. That’s all implied, none of it is stated. It’s one of the things that Waits is a master of: atmosphere. His stories take you to strange and fantastic places, which are nonetheless somewhat familiar, if you’ve ever gone traveling in the American wherever.

Waits’ band this time around is fantastic. I think it’s funny that John Zorn and Waits share the same standby guitarist in Marc Ribot, considering the mile wide divide between their musical styles. Ribot once stated that he has limited technical abilities because he learned how to play the guitar right handed, but I’ve never noticed anything particularly debilitated about his playing. Regardless, Ribot’s guitars can be bluesy, jazzy, or just ripping. He’s been working with Waits since 1985 and their relationship is cemented in the way their instruments complement each other. Ribot is the perfect guitarist for Waits, not too flashy, but raw and more technically proficient than a punk guitarist.

Meanwhile, the percussion. Rather than an actual drum set, Waits appears to have gone the Skeleton Key route in assembling junk percussion sets to be banged on by Brain of all people. For those who don’t know, Brain has drummed for Praxis, Primus and Guns N’ Roses. He’s a man, a myth, a pseudo-Mexican and this is some of the most interesting stuff he’s ever done. His real drum stuff is great, no question, but the stuff he’s battering here sounds like it was built in a scrap yard and that gives it a unique sound not found in the rest of his work. The other musicians include Larry Taylor, Casey Waits (Tom Waits’ son) and Les Claypool (in a very understated role) among others.

Lots of people come to Waits’ albums for the lyrics. Stories really, stories about the downtrodden, the absurd, the bizarre and the love lost. Some of it is Beefheartian ridiculousness, like the roaring boot stomper of “Hoist That Rag”, and some of it is deadly serious, like the acoustic anti-war anthem of “Day After Tomorrow, but it’s all genius. The combination of these musicians, Waits’ cantankerous delivery and the rough n’ tumble production make this one of the most fascinating and just plain fun listens Tom has ever put together.

The Shortest Review I've Ever Done? Yep...

Album: One Cello X 16: Natoma
Artist: Zoe Keating
Genre: Classical
Year: 2005
Label: Zoe Keating.

There is very little to say about Zoe Keating, but all of it is good. A former member of Rasputina, Keating is a cellist who creates entire symphonies simply using her one cello and a couple of samplers. Here’s how it works: She’ll hit a button and play one piece of the music, which is then recorded. Upon hitting another button that piece is saved, looped and played back, allowing her to continue the process and gradually build entire orchestras of cellos using just her one instrument.

This is by no means an easy thing to do. It takes a very attentive ear to know when to add and subtract each individual piece and not have the whole thing fall apart due to a single error. When done right, which she does, the effect is really quite stunning and the music is utterly beautiful. This album, One Cello X 16: Natoma is wonderfully crafted and a thoroughly rewarding listen from start to finish. Each piece is exquisite and conveys an epic sort of beauty that you just don’t find in other instruments. The cello is probably my favorite classical string instrument and with maestros like Keating directing their movements, that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

The Foetus of Excellence

Album: Damp
Artist: Foetus
Genre: Industrial/Classical/Swing
Year: 2006
Label: Ectopic Ents

J.G. Thirlwell is one of the most confounding composers in the musical world. Second generation No Waver, Industrial pioneer, Big Band bastardizer, orchestral composer and Film Score maniac, he is all of these things and more. You’ve probably heard of his most prolific and primary project Foetus, or one of its many incarnations: Foetus Interruptus, You’ve Got Foetus On Your Breath, Foetus Under Glass, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel and, my personal favorite, The Foetus of Excellence, among others. He also records instrumental pieces under the names Steroid Maximus and Manorexia, the first of which was founded in order to make Foetus a more vocal focused project. With a name like Foetus, it would be easy to quickly pigeonhole Thirlwell’s musical output into something dark and foreboding without even hearing it.

Thirlwell may have started out as a No Wave influenced Industrial madman, but he’s grown far outside the confines of his original genre. A man of taste when it comes to music (if not names) Thirlwell began incorporating elements of Swing and Classical into his Industrial assaults, giving us warped and twisted music that would satisfy both black clad counter-culture night timers, and people who just want to do the Charleston. Actually, now I think about it, it probably didn’t satisfy anyone, it probably just pissed everyone off to hear a composer trying to bring such disparate elements of music together. But I think Industrial and Swing are surprisingly workable genres and can be fused into a thing of blacked and scorched beauty. Thirlwell’s music is indeed dark, foreboding and sometimes downright disturbing. But it’s a lot more complicated than that on his recent release, Damp.

Damp is a collection of odds and ends from the recent Foetus years and holds together extremely well as an album, rather than a compilation. Sure it’s got some stuff taken from previous releases, but most of it is pretty new and never been heard anywhere else before. It also focuses more on Thirlwell’s orchestral side than it does on the Industrial, giving us some of the first instrumental Foetus pieces since 1988’s Thaw. The album begins with the bombastically sinister swinger, “I Hate You All” which is probably the most dynamically explosive track on the album cause after this, things slow down significantly. This album shows off Thrilwell’s compositional chops in a way that more Industrial works like Thaw or Rife would fail at. One of the greatest orchestral pieces that Thrilwell has ever composed is the album’s sixteen minute final “Cold Shoulder.” It’s the perfect horror movie piece, all haunting strings and creepy atmosphere. It’s slow and minimal, but it’s also terrifying and sends shivers up your spine. If you listen to this at night, I guarantee nightmares.

This album is also home to Thirlwell’s single collaboration with Sludge Metal kings, the Melvins. The track “Mine Is No Disgrace” originally appeared on the Melvins 2000 album The Crybaby. That doesn’t mean it’s out of place here, it fits right in with the rest of Thirlwell’s dark works. The track was composed with Buzz Osborne of the Melvins, but I don’t know whether Thirlwell wrote any of the music or not. He may have just provided the lyrics. Thirlwell’s lyrics are never about happy things and “Mine Is No Disgrace” is no exception. Murder, abuse, self-loathing, misanthropy… none of these are unusual for Thirlwell. “Mine Is No Disgrace” is largely minimal in its composition, with periodic blasts of thunderous sound. The song was one of the best tracks on The Crybaby and is subsequently one of the best tracks on Damp.

Those hearing Thirlwell’s work for the first time are probably going to think “wow, his band must be killer,” which is true, except it’s not a band, it’s just him. Which is incredible, all things considered. Having to record all of the parts separately and then piece them together yourself has got to be a difficult and time-consuming task. So to hear the finished product be as fantastic as this is nothing short of stunning. The album has its weak moment, in the form of a Phylr remix of “Blessed Evening” from 2005’s Love, but that’s really it in terms of bad material. This album is incredibly strong for being just a collection and is a worthy addition to any Foetus collection. It also might not be a bad place to start if you’re new to Foetus as it introduces some of Thirlwell’s most sophisticated non-Industrial work to date.

Frogs On The Wing: The Frog Brigade Part 2

Album: Live Frogs: Set 2
Artist: The Les Claypool Frog Brigade
Genre: Experimental Rock
Year: 2001
Label: Prawn Song

Animals is something of an oddity in the Pink Floyd universe. Not very well known and comprised of three very long songs, an intro and an outro, it’s sandwiched uncomfortably between better known albums Wish You Were Here and The Wall, both of which blew every ones socks off. So when Les Claypool states at the end of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” “We’ll be back in twenty minutes, with more Pink Floyd than any human should ever withstand” It seems unlikely that the crowd expected the Frog Brigade to launch into a rendition of Animals in it’s entirety. Set two of the Frog Brigade’s epic concert experience remains pretty damn true to the original Floyd work. Of course, being preformed by the Claypool and friends, it is subject to a little bit of variation and exciting weirdness. Skerik is a factor as is Eenor, the two musicians providing extra helpings of sound to the mix. Also, Claypool’s bass stands out a lot more than Roger Waters ever did, once again becoming the central element of the music. And then there's the voice. David Gilmour and Roger Waters were both pretty unremarkable as vocalists go; their true talents lay with their instruments and their song writing. Les Claypool isn’t a “good” singer, but his voice is far more distinct than either Gilmour or Waters. But as with most Pink Floyd and/or Les Claypool compositions, the vocals are not the most important aspect (not including The Wall, but Roger Waters really needs to stop whining,) the music is though.

As I already stated in my review of Set 1, the musicians here are all talent, no fooling around. Eeenor and Huth really shine on (you crazy diamond) this album, tackling Gilmour’s guitar solos with intensity and grace. But also of note is the interplay between Skerik and Eenor on "Pigs (Three Different Ones.)" The guitar and saxophone play off of each other and intertwine, getting progressively more and more exuberant. Eventually though, Eenor’s guitar overpowers Skerik’s sax and takes off flying. Jeff Chimenti’s keyboards on "Dogs" are the highlight of that track and he does Richard Wright proud. I’m probably provoking some great cosmological catastrophe by suggesting that The Frog Brigade’s take on Animals is better than Floyd’s, but whatever. I think Les Claypool is a much more talented and respectable musician than Waters is, and I think that having Skerik and Eenor more than makes up for not having David Gilmour. Do I think that Chimenti is a better keyboardist than Wright though? That might actually be blasphemy. Chimenti is fantastic, no question, but better? No. Animals will never be my favorite Pink Floyd album, but Claypool and friends’ tackling of it has raised it pretty high in my eyes. Purists may balk, but let me tell you, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by listening to this rendition of Pink Floyd’s most underappreciated work.