Toadliquor - The Hortator's Lament (2003)

Toadliquor is a little-known band from.. who knows? And good luck finding out any information regarding the members. But that's okay - this is heavy-as-fuck sludge that needs no explanation or background history; the lack of information compliments the dissonance that drenches this release quite well. The vocals, while in many ways similar to that which one normally hears along with the sludge genre, have a noticably unique tone to the agonizing screams that really does showcase the drunken isolation and generally slow and brutal pace of the instrumentation here. Well, so much can be said about the majority of the album anyway, as "Tatterdemalion" and the last track offer some interesting experimentation (convieniently following the epic sludge rendition of the popular classical composition "Also Sprach Zarathustra") that is, rest assured, still pretty collosal. But regardless, this is fucked up and relatively negative music all around - not for the weak, but definitely a treat for those of us who thrive on such dense sounds and feedback-drenched atmospheres.

1. (Opening Sections Of) Inter-Stellar Space
2. Gnaw
3. Charred
4. Fratricide: A Requiem
5. Survival Is The Fittest
6. Swarm
7. Tenderloin
8. Nails
9. Also Sprach Zarathustra
10. Tatterdemalion: The Gladiators' Debasement Before Cain
11. (Second Continuing Sections Of) Inter-Stellar Space: Love
12. The Hortator's Lament

Download (94.09 MB)

Kaada - Music For Moviebikers (2006)

John Erik Kaada is a Norwegian musician that primarily composes film scores, with the occasional solo release on Mike Patton's Ipecac Records. His most recent venture outside of films, Music for Moviebikers, is not a film score despite it's title. It is, however, music that would fit in extremely well with that of a dramatic film, creating atmosphere and utilizing an ensemble of over 20 musicians and various instruments, both traditional and classical-oriented as well as strange and of Kaada's very own creation. While modest and relatively calm, there is no doubt that there is a lot taking place in each song; behind the familiar swelling of strings and piano lie plenty of unique sounds and instrumentation, all focused on creating soft compositions that evoke powerful emotions. Sometimes sad, always beautiful - I recommend this to anyone interested in the film scores out there which transcend minimalism and simple background noise and carry themselves just fine when played seperately from picture. With little effort and assistance from drugs, one may close their eyes and create their own movie to this album. Tracks such as "From Here On It Got Rough", "Julia Pastrana" and "Celibate" deserve careful listens in particular, as these may be among the most beautiful tracks here. One can only hope that future solo albums from Kaada will be as profound!

1. Smiger
2. Mainstreaming
3. From Here On It Got Rough
4. Spindle
5. The Mosquito and the Abandoned Old Woman
6. Julia Pastrana
7. No Man's Land
8. Daily Living
9. The Small Stuff
10. Celibate
11. Retirement Community
12. Birds of Prey
13. In Hora Mortis

Download (78.63)

Thrones - Sperm Whale + White Rabbit (2000)

Thrones is the product of Joe Preston (Harvey Milk, Melvins, High on Fire, etc.) and Joe alone. This fact is extremely impressive, as the band could VERY easily be mistaken as the product of several minds and writers. Many of these tracks are experimental in nature and there are a lot of varied styles to be found. From the start, the most obvious experimentation is in the use of vocoders and drum machine programming. While these two aspects have annoyed me at times in other projects, Joe utilizes each with perfection, successfully adding a certain aesthetic quality to the music that enhances the listening experience of already well-written tracks. With the compliation Sperm Whale + White Rabbit, two EPs are gathered and placed in a mixed order that interestingly manages to flow like a full-length.. it's very difficult to listen to one track without going on to the next and then the one after that. No joke, Thrones has demanded a surprising amount of solid listening sessions from me in a relatively short time, and hasn't let up. As a matter of fact, I'll soon probably end up posting an awesome live bootleg that I found, oddly enough, ages before delving into the rest of the limited discography. In the meantime, enjoy - and pay special attention to the epics 'Manmtn' and 'Obolus'!

1. Oso Malo
2. Nuts and Berries
3. MANMTN
4. Acris Venator
5. Django
6. Ephraim
7. The Anguish of Bears
8. Obolus

Download (81.15 MB)