This came in a few weeks ago from 97-Shiki...I just saw Locrian at Public Assembly and happened to mention it and it turns out they know these guys and forwarded them my address...crazy, more about their show later. This mini Ep at 33 1/3 is packaged in a giant matchbook style heavy cardboard sleeve screen printed with lyric insert and digital download card, which is a welcome addition to avoid the work of digitizing it for the old ipod...thanks guys. I have to say with this impressive packaging I was expecting some kind of conceptual experimental electronics or field recording, leave it to 97-Shiki to not only give you barely a frame of reference for this musically but then to put real thought into the object of the 7" itself, coming up with something completely off the beaten path of black and white xerox. If they put this kind of thought and craft into the sleeve, it has to be a token of things to come once you put the needle down.
The A-Side starts out with Brother...this is angular rock,
With the track 'Massachusetts' it's driven by the bass, which lets the guitar just interrupt changing up melodies, muting harmonics and creating truly weird rhythms out of distorted guitar. This is reminding me of an energetic Gang of Four....a hardcore Gang of Four, the front authoritative vocals. All the parts are working so separately, I don't know how this is working. This was my favorite of the single. It has all the skill and innovation of something like At the Drive in with Fugazi style abstract lyrics, open to all kinds of interpretation, especially in 'Disassemble', I could almost hear them dong this... today.
For having such disparate parts, the hardcore vocal style, a little spurt of guitar melody (or in this case I'd say repeated experiment) in separate speaker channels, it's really clean sounding, all the pieces are separated and just heavy enough but restrained. The brief outbursts, like guitar tourettes that are channelled into interlocked intricacies. I can't find a rhythm to grasp on to, it's pounding, but they just aren't ever happy with anything typical long enough to let it sink in for a few verses. Hardly a chord is played....it's an impressive truly original guitar style. They are testing hypotheses about song construction...and it's all adding up to a new intellectual hardcore sound.
Go get this, it's Locrian and 7inches approved from hewhocorrupts inc.
Locrian, as I mentioned were in town last night at the public assembly. We had been emailing back and forth about when they might be in town to meet and do an interview. I was so glad I caught up with these guys as they passed through and got a chance to talk with them out on the street. An interview will be coming shortly, but I just had to post these bad ass pictures, thanks to their fog machine and candles. It was great to catch them on this varied show with a bunch of other stuff I would have never been exposed to. the curtains opened (nice touch) into a cloud, Locrian spent most of their time in the middle of. There was nothing overdramatic about it, it was adding to the weirdness of having every sense taken over completely. There wasn't any room left for your own thoughts, you just sort of stand in awe of the experience. They were deafening, their huge sound vibrating every inch of the place. One long piece of improvised sound. I was shocked to see the amount of analog gear they had piled up on a table next to Terence, an old taoe machine, a 4-track. I love to see this physical manipulation of these sound machines, who knows what's coming from where, how the sounds are piling up, but it's this complete experience of watching sound being willed into existence. 
Just really quickly as well, Darian from Edible Onion records just emailed me about a cassette preorder for a new project from Roger of Br'er, I covered a little while back.
The debut EP of The New Heaven and the New Earth, which is the songwriting project of Roger Martinez, who is also in Br'er, is available for preorder. It comes out July 7th.
We're releasing it in a run of 100 cassettes that are encased in spraypainted butterboard, and each case features cut-out "stained glass" windows made with tin-foil, tape, and magic marker.
Just briefly gave this a listen and someone who can compose with a complete orchestra is mindblowing. It's songwriting on an entirely different level. I just have no experience having to think about 20 different elements working their way in and out working with background chorus...this guy is a serious genius. It deserves this kind of attention to packaging, and why at the end of the day it isn't so exciting to play another CD.
Call my mind completely blown again today.
Music, please stop taking over my life, I can't get anything done.
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