ESP Summer – 天国の王国 lathe cut 7” (Onkonomiyaki)

I mentioned a previous ESP Summer ‘reunion’ 7” lathe last time that was made up of sound collages, great in its own right, but here are some actual songs from the duo of Ian Masters (Pale Saints) and Warren Defever (His Name is Alive). It’s more experimental and dare I say ‘psychedelic’ than the original ESP Summer material but still sounds like a collaboration from two heyday 4AD artists. The first track is heavy and almost sounds like Garlands-era Cocteau Twins, a bit shocking but awesome. Ian’s lovely vocals are back. I am ready for an album of this.

Hisato Higuchi – キ、Que、消えん？ – Ki, Que, Kien? (self-released)

Hisato makes forlorn ghost folk ambience that billows like dust motes at dawn. He has releases going back to 2005 on Family Vineyard, the legendary PSF label and more. This brand new one is transporting me, and I need transportation from this reality. Spidery webs of guitar are woven like the more sentimental pieces from Loren Connors’ catalog but with gentle crooning over it. This is top-shelf slowcore bathed in reverb shimmer. One of my favorite releases so far this year, and it’s been a good year for music (but not anything else).

Keijo – What is Going on in the Country (Pseudo Arcana)

Keijo’s been at it awhile. He might be Finland’s answer to Jandek, I’m not really sure. Sometimes his music is outsider folk or rural blues and sometimes noise jams with freeform percussion, but it’s always loose and druggy. His vocals and slashing avant strums bear some resemblance to Japanese PSF psych-folk stuff too, maybe the mellower side of Keiji Haino (Keiji/Keijo? What?).  Keijo has new releases somewhere on the net, but I wanted to mention this one, which is a bit of a classic on a classic CD-R label from New Zealand. Dig into the world of Keijo and Pseudo Arcana at your earliest convenience.

Touch and Go Bandcamp!

HEY! Touch and Go is on Bandcamp. I grew up on this music; one of the labels you could always reach for if you were an angry student and needed heavy sounds. You can grab all the Arcwelder albums there, a post-Husker Du noise rock band with great melodies and riffs for days. How about the Big Boys, who mixed hardcore with post-punk and funk and rank with the Minutemen who were cooking at the same time over at SST? Or why not Die Kreuzen? You can’t classify them either: The Germs meets Cure Pornography with a touch of Judas Priest? The label supported original bands that came from punk or hardcore but powered into the abyss. Then there’s TAR, Scratch Acid, The Monorchid etc etc…