And that’s pretty much another summer in the bag. Thanks for all the nice warm nights, wheat beers and pleasant times spent in the company of pals, we sure appreciate it. Of course with the onset of fall we’ll be replacing those pleasures with somber reflection during brisk walks through the park as the colours turn to rust and such. What can we say, once a hilariously awkward goth nerd, always a hilariously awkward goth nerd, but with a better record collection and also you don’t drink in cemeteries anymore because you have an apartment and a liquor cabinet. Speaking of which, pour yourself a finger of scotch (or a mug of coffee if you’re reading this while goofing off at work, which seems pretty likely actually) and peruse some new tunes with us why don’t you?
Stone Cold Steve Naghavi and company.
And One, “Zeit Ohne Zeit”
Here’s one from the “This album isn’t out for like a month but the whole thing can be heard online with minimal difficulty” department, it’s Steve-Dave Naghavi and company! Last we heard And One was supposed to be disbanding (although really, who knows what that means considering the number of times the various members have quit, rejoined, and then quit again), if that remains true they’re going out with a bang releasing a record that can be had in 1, 3, and 6 CD denominations, with the triple version apparently divided into EBM, synthpop and “80s” albums. God only knows where you draw the line on any of those genres when it comes to And One, but we heard Daniel Myer did some work on the body music segment, promising considering the excellent bonus EP he co-produced for them a few years back.
Celldöd, “Terrorbalans”
More hybridized throwback electronics from The Pain Machinery’s Anders Karlsson in his techno/acid/body music guise Celldöd. Where TPM has been gradually refining and sonically zeroing in on their recent releases, this stuff feels very raw and lo-fi in the best way, improvisational and left deliberately gritty for your listening pleasure. This one will be released on a cassette split with Black Leather Harness, you can hear samples of some other tracks over on Soundcloud.
Leaether Strip, “16 Tons”
Uncle Claus seems to be channeling his pal Rummelsnuff on this cover of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s classic ode to working for the man being a load of bullshit. Released as a thank you to all those who picked up the single he put together to benefit his honeybear Kurt’s recovery from surgery (y’all might wanna still donate to that if you’re able), this walks that pleasant line between novelty cover and the nod to the history of leftist music. Hotcha!
Gin Devo, “Planet of Dreams”
Gin Devo’s most famous outlet Vomito Negro has been hella prolific of late, so much so that it’s possible to overlook Gin’s recent solo work in the commotion. The division between his moody atmospheric solo work and the opaque ferocity of VN’s oeuvre may not be immediately apparent, although lines can be drawn: on the latter Devo goes full gorilla vicious, on the former it’s more of a heat death of the universe kinda thing. Think of it as Gin taking his cynicism to space and casting it on a grand scale, a soundtrack for stars to wink out of existence.
Haunted Horses, “Servant”
A tip of the hat to the good folks at CVLT Nation, who premiered this video from Seattle deathpunks Haunted Horses this week. Somewhere in the wastes between LA deathrock and the industrialized chug of Big Black comes this particularly vicious slice of feedback and pounding drums, accompanied by a video of an equally unsettling nature. Not an act we were familiar with before just this morning, but certainly one we’ll be checking for in future.
Haunted Horses – Servant (Official Music Video) from What's Up Seattle on Vimeo.
