Thursday, 30 March 2017

The Bug presents Killing Sound Chapter 7: Ambient Riff

If you don’t care for sheer weight, repetition, or drones, stay away from this heavyweight showdown.
When Julian Brimmers approached me to put the Killing Sound radio shows together for RBMA, he generously invited me to reflect the full span of projects I had been working on, and will be working on in the future. So, Ambient Riff mirrors the work Dylan Carlson and myself had explored in L.A., in fact “Broke” from that Concrete Desert session was the track I mailed to the guitarists I invited to send me music for this particular show, as a reference, to send me suitably intense riffs. I guess I was attempting to construct a Metal stripped of its wack gloss trappings, no bad solos, no bad vocals, no bad theatre… I wanted it to feel like the heaviest rock, chopped and screwed and stretched into hypnotic scores for movies in my head that have yet to be made. Just as hearing the likes of Justin Broadrick in the Streetcleaner-era of Godflesh had cured me of my phobia against 6-string instruments (due to my Mum bombarding me with Deep Purple, Rainbow, Santana etc as a kid, lol), so it was the idea of guitar as eternally revolving dream machine, that appealed to me for this show. The people I approached here, for me, are masters of slow, and the finest purveyors of tone, who wield the axe like a brush, capable of excessive texture, fragility and violence in their impressionistic playing. They have all been doing their thing for a long time, so needless to say this set is just an extension of their research and developments. They have been melting down six strings into liquid drone for fun for years.
And as I def dig the three R’s – riff, repetition and resonance – with Ambient Riff, I wanted to put together a selection where, when you hear these tunes quietly, you can zone out horizontally, but when you turn the volume to 11, they will crush you mercilessly… The sound of rockets lifting off in slow motion, jets landing perpetually and speakers blown continuously.
So meditate on bass weight, get slayed by the mid range, and for best results wear headphones or play VERY f-ckin loud.
Enjoy

- Kevin ‘The Bug’ Martin

Tracklist:
1 The Bug vs Monolord – Fade Out (Unreleased)
2 The Bug vs Aaron Turner (Sumac) – Suicide Bridge (Unreleased)
3 The Bug vs Aidan Baker (Nadja) – Drugged (Unreleased)
4 The Bug vs Heather Leigh – Bardo Thodol (Unreleased)
5 The Bug vs The Body – Save our Souls (Unreleased)
6 The Bug vs JK Flesh – Lost at Sea (Unreleased)
7 The Bug vs Aaron Turner (Sumac) – Eschaton (Unreleased)
8 The Bug vs Nadja – The Stone (The Bug Remix) (Unreleased)
9 The Bug vs Fennesz – High (Unreleased)
10 Neil Young – Guitar Solo No. 5 (Vapor)
11 Earth – Seven Angels (Sub Pop)
12 Caspar Brötzmann/FM Einheit – Solingen (Thirsty Ear)
13 Brian John McBrearty – Let the Wind Guide You (Blue Tapes)
14 Ry Cooder – Paris Texas OST (Warner)
15 The Bug Vs Earth feat. JK Flesh – Pray (Ninja Tune)
16 Sunn 0))) – Richard (Southern Lord)
Credits: Written & produced by Kevin ‘The Bug’ Martin
Special thanks to Monolord, Aaron Turner (Sumac), Nadja, The Body, Heather Leigh, Justin Broadrick and Fennesz for their contributions

Ambient Riff: The Bug on Fusing Metal and Dub

Listen

HERE

Previously:
Part 1 (Dub Mutations)
Part 2 (Inner Space)

Part 3 (Black Wax Attack)

Part 4 (Poems & Drones)

Part 5 (Radio Voodoo)
Part 6 (Blue)

So this is the last of these Killing Sound sessions.
Kevin did say to me that hopefully there will be another series maybe later in the year.
Fingers X'ed
UPDATE: Yep - just been informed by Kevin on FB that a new series has been agreed to

Gary Roberts: The Problemless Anonymous

Ikue Mori - A Retrospective (1977-2016)

Ikue Mori is a vital figure on the 'Downtown New York Scene' and the international avant-garde community. She is a pioneer of the use of electronics in music.
Mori's career began as the drummer for DNA, one of the leading groups of New York's "No Wave" movement. Following her time with DNA, she began performing as part of the New York experimental community with notable figures such as John Zorn, Zeena Parkins, and Jim Staley. In the mid80's, she transitioned her primary instrument to the drum machine and immediately developed a highly distinctive sound and style, culminating in her first solo recordings in the mid90s. In 2000, Mori made the switch to laptop which opened a virtuosic depth and range to her electronics. Key groups at this juncture include Mephista and Phantom Orchard. She continues to release solo albums as well as perform and record with the top musicians and composers of the experimental community, constantly breaking ground at the forefront of the sonic arts
Tracklist:
DNA - NO NEW YORK, “Egomaniac’s Kiss” [0:00]
DNA - A Taste of DNA, “New Fast” [2:08]
John Zorn - Locus Solus, “You Only Live Twice, Mr. Bond” [3:20]
John Zorn - Locus Solus, “Locus Solus, Pts 1 & 2” [5:17]
Jim Staley - Mumbo Jumbo, “Untitled” [7:25]
Jim Staley - Mumbo Jumbo, “Untitled” [10:58]
Zeena Parkins - Ursa’s Door, “Flush” (excerpt) [13:03]
Tohban Djan - Poison Petal, “Asobi” [16:09]
Death Praxis - Mystery, “Metal Dream” [20:14]
Catherine Jauniaux and Ikue Mori - Vibraslaps, “Shiver” [22:37]
Ikue Mori, Marc Ribot, Robert Quine - Painted Desert, “Painted Desert” [25:37]
Ikue Mori - Hex Kitchen, “Slush” [30:47]
Ikue Mori - Garden, “The Pit & The Pendulum” [33:26]
Ikue Mori - B/Side, “Fortuno’s Song” [41:04]
Death Praxis - Mystery, “Demon In My View” [43:48]
Death Ambient - Synesthesia, “Way In” [47:07]
Ikue Mori - One Hundred Aspects Of The Moon, “Musashi Plain Moon” [49:31]
Ikue Mori - Labyrinth, “Labyrinth” [53:43]
John Zorn - Cobra: Game Pieces, Vol. 2, “Pendet” [59:11]
Mephista - Black Narcissus, “The Children’s Hour” [1:03:59]
Phantom Orchard - Phantom Orchard, “Contraband” [1:07:26]
Mephista - Entomological Reflections, “Fringe” [1:11:01]
Ikue Mori - Myrninerest, “Conflict” [1:12:51]
Death Ambient - Drunken Forest, “Lake Chad” [1:16:41]
Phantom Orchard - Orra, “Ship of the Damned” [1:21:25]
Ikue Mori - Class Insecta, “Luciol” [1:25:06]
Zeena Parkins - Double Dupe Down, “I Hardly Care” [1:29:02]
John Zorn - Rimbaud, “A Season In Hell” [1:30:27]
Phantom Orchard Ensemble - Through the Looking Glass, “Kaguya” [1:42:52]
Ikue Mori and Steve Noble - Prediction and Warning, “Montparnasse Derailment” [1:47:00]
Ikue Mori - In Light of Shadows, “Mozu #3” [1:50:23]
Ikue Mori & Sylvie Courvoisier - Miller’s Tale, “A Fountain Pen” [1:53:59]