Nekropolis-Musik aus dem Schattenreich

NOT METAL. Don't let that pile of skulls fool you. This is not a metal album people. I know some of my friends who read this think that I'm going to keep pressing them on why they should listen to metal. I'm not doing that here. I can tell who has enough of a sack to listen to some throat shredding and who would rather listen to Sufjan Stevans. So this is not a ploy. Despite its cover and its name, this is actually some weird ambient, synthy, kautish, dark space explorations that are really a great late night listen. Friends, I promise that you can actually fall asleep to this album. But it might be a little difficult only in that it really is captivating. Definitely not new age. Or metal.

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Burning Star Core-Let's Play Like Wildcats Do

C. Spencer Yeh has been representing the Cincinnati experimental music scene for some time. And really, I can't think of another person doing much from that area. But good news for Southern Buckeyes that they can claim this guy. He's got a million releases and they have a pretty broad music pallette, but this is the one that I currently dig. It might even be his most accessible work (and that doesn't mean it's his worst, mind you). There's still plenty of drone, but Yeh definitely was into some Kraut grooves when recording some of this, as there's some almost funky moments (in a Can sorta way). Droney, but never boring. And that can be a tricky thing to pull off. So do.

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Om-Variations on a Theme

I'd hate to admit it, but as much as I have a hard time getting into what all the kids listen to, there still is a lot of new music that is actually pretty good. But one thing I'm a bit concerned about is how the internet has made people's record collection and list of influences are now more important than the actual music. Since so many kids now have never even held a zine, I think there's a move currently afoot to just use the internet to collect a bunch of albums without really putting much leg work into it. I think this convenience has led to bands with great tastes but albums that can never transcend their current musical infatuation. Maybe I'm just old and out of touch, but it's rare for me to find much joy in new music. There's so few new records that within the first track you can't name the five records they listened to while recording. And that makes this band so much more important. Both Al Cisneros and Chris Haikus have been around since I was wearing zubas, and yet, they're more vital now than ever. Their previous band, Sleep, along with High on Fire's Matt Pike, was super awesome. Their nearly an hour song Dopesmoker/Jerusalem) or whatever you want to call it) cleans my head out at least once a month. And while Sleep delivered the goods when it came to super stoned heaviness, Om is an entirely different affair. Drums, Bass, and vocal combine here for some really enlightening and elevating sounds. At times, it almost reminds me more of when Don Cherry was getting all Middle-Eastern. It's heavy for sure, but also melodic and trance inducing. It figures that the best music now isn't some dumb, over-hyped 20 year old. I say fuck the kids and their typical hats.

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