Monday, January 26, 2015

EON-dimness rituals


Harsh Noise walls are a very difficult thing to write about. They are simply one or two static notes repeated until the recording is over.

Because of this, HNW releases are (1) dependent on imagery to carry across a particular message, (2) are impossible to differentiate (3) pointless to bother writing about.

 I will not be reviewing any HNW tapes. You know what this is. You understand what you've gotten yourself into. You don't need my opinion on this time of music.

With that said, you should check out this release by EON. Good stuff. Very analog.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Yukio Mishima- Top 5 works


If anything should define Yukio Mishima, it should be his commitment to casting a literary eye on cognitive dissonance. The everyday agony that people face when confronted with the knowledge that the human psyche is capable of holding two contrary beliefs at once. This was more than present in his life. A man who was dedicated to both poetry and violence, traditional Japanese art and avant-garde theorizing, beauty and decay. He was, to say the least, complicated. All of his written work reflect this, each one taut, stark masterpieces filled with both the classical, ethereal beauty and the brutality that he was so enamored with.

These are my top five, in no particular order. 

5. Sun and Steel


Sun and Steel is a long, autobiographical essay about Mishima's relationship with his body.

It's fascinating. He describes his powerful physique as something to be both admired and detested. 

One particular paragraph that stands out to me, in reference to Mishima's  body, was this. 

“If my self was my dwelling, then my body resembled an orchard that surrounded it. I could either cultivate that orchard to its capacity or leave it for the weeds to run riot in. I was free to choose, but the freedom was not as obvious as it might seem. Many people, indeed, go so far as to refer to the orchards of their dwellings as “destiny.”

4. Kyoko's House 

Kyoko's House is perhaps the most semi-autobiographical out of all of Mishima's fiction. It follows the interconnected stories of four young men, a boxer, a painter, an actor, and a businessman. It's safe to assume that these characters represent the different sides of Mishima's personality, and that makes the businessman character so terrifying. He is the total nihilist, holding contempt for absolutely all life. If he is indeed meant to represent Mishima in some way, this adds another  facet to his, already-troubled, psyche. 

3. Five Modern Noh Plays


These five works are testaments to Mishima's ability to honor traditional Japanese art forms without ever feeling constrained by them. A Noh is a classical musical drama, often based on repetitious fables and folklore. Mishima takes these bits of folklore and updates them to a modern setting while forgoing the structure of the Noh play. It's an interesting effect. The second play, The Damasck Drum, is a highlight. The story centers around a particularly cruel, horrifying trick on an old man. 

2. The Sailor Who Feel From Grace With The Sea


This novel will probably be the most familiar Mishima work to Western readers, as it was quite popular. It tells the tale of Ryuji, Fusako, and Noboro, and the horror of Nihilism acted out.

1. The Temple of The Golden Pavilion


If you read one Yukio Mishima novel, it has to be this one. An absolute masterpiece of the written word.

It details the life of young Buddhist acolyte Mizogouchi as he contemplates the efficacy of symbols and the horrible pain of beauty.

I'll leave you with this quote.

“Beauty is like a decayed tooth. It rubs against one’s tongue, it hangs there, hurting, insisting on its own existence. Finally it gets so that one cannot stand the pain and one goes to the dentist to have the tooth extracted. Then, as one looks at the small, dirty, brown, blood-stained tooth lying in one’s hand, one’s thoughts are likely to be as follows: ‘Is this it? Is this all it was?’














Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Sperm- Yahweh brings us to this hell


One of the things that make it so exciting to be a music fan is the ever-present possibility that you might stumble on some hidden gem, something that few people of heard hat really resonates with you in some way. There's few things better than blind buying music, and it turning out to be a favorite.

And, what's more, it can happen anywhere! I learned that last weekend, when I stumbled across this tape at the local fleamarket, nestled in between Shelter's Mantra and 311's Transistor. I pulled it off of the rack and looked it over. The black and white cover and the relatively icky band name made me assume that this was fairly basic power electronics.

I asked the seller what the tape was. He simply shrugged his wide, tattooed shoulders and said "Fifty Cents." It sounded like a steal so I flicked him two quarters and was on my merry way.

When I got home, a cursory internet search revealed that this was actually a new-ish release, put out in February of 2014. Not bad for 50 cents. They were apart of the Buffalo underground, and seem to have disappeared. A right shame, because Yahweh brings us to this hell is an excellent record, good enough that, if I had heard about it, I would have included it in my top 10 albums of the year. 

Far from power electronics, this tape is spacey, blown-out hardcore/punk. The best way I can describe it is Coke Bust filtered through The Birthday Party. Very unique stuff. 

Atomized, Automized, Homicide is a highlight. Hardcore wrapped in a cocoon of spidery guitar. There's a guitar solo. Nothing better than a solo in hardcore.

Animal Life In The Demiurge is, surprisingly, a bit of a ballad. Constructed entirely of one repeated bass riff and vocals, it's minimalist, but effective.

Hyperborea is a bit of an oddity. An instrumental track that honestly sounds like a Taking Back Sunday b-side. It's strange, but not at all bad. An interesting choice.

Unfortunately, the tape is sold out, but you can listen to it here. You really should. We need more hardcore bands that experiment like this. 




Monday, January 5, 2015

Mortiis- Reisine Til Grotter Og Odemarker


Check out this rare Mortiis video. A 24 minute music video. Crazy.

Mortiis is quite good, though. Dungeon synth done right.