✡HATESONG✡

two short thoughts again

2011-08-11T13:09:00.002+02:00

*) sitting next to some middle-aged guy on the train who is reading today's issue of the "newspaper" heute, commenting on every feckin' article with a mumbled "fuh" or "na servas ". maybe i should put some black flag on on my phone's loudspeakers or something.

*) i just love harald schmidt's stand-up. i mean, who else would do an entire bit on hamburg's weekly intellectual newspaper die zeit?

ps: oh jesus, this imbecile is leering after the 14-year-olds who just got onto the train AND IS COMMENTING ON THEM! g'd i wanna get out of this train...

two short links

2011-08-01T13:15:00.002+02:00

alright, i have a huge blogpost in the works about recent albums that ruled but a quick post inbetween for two very good reads:

my good friend and all-around awesomeguy g.w. reviewed (all?) 60 nicolas cage movies. i don't care about movies but this just might be the funniest thing i've read in a long time.
go read it

and t.z., my go-to-guy, when i need some explanation and/or background on u.s. politics, the economy or marxist theory sent me this paul krugman article on the u.s. debt ceiling crisis.
go read that as well

if you can, of course. since the new york times' paywall system might just prohibit you from doing that if you've read a couple of nyt articles already. but yhea...

more music-ness coming in the next few days.

a few thoughts popping into my head at praterstern

2011-06-27T11:19:00.001+02:00

*) look, we all know you want to dress like milan or new york but you're ruining what little effect you might have had by talking like gramatneusiedl.

*) the fact that there's a new BLACK LIPS album out is probably more fun than the actual album's gonna be. that new video rules though.

*) damn, now that i got this smartphone apparatus thing, i could actually post more often.

*) (yhea right)

2010 rundown

2010-12-27T00:59:00.068+01:00

well, at least this time i made it before january 1st.

this year was... weird. it was a year of little drastic changes and a lot of gradual changes for me. i see myself at a vastly different position but more or less still the same person. which you can clearly see at how often i update this thing.
this is the year i started writing for the viennese magazine TBA and have gotten a fuckload of health issues long overdue taken care of (some still being worked out in january 2011 and hopefully not much longer than that). apart from that nothing big has happened to me. which is weird since so much is different now. i'm repeating myself, blah blah, on with the music already.

-Top Records of the Year-
at least this time i could narrow it down to two. that's something, i guess.

The Green Apple Sea - Northern Sky, Southern Sky
this probably isn't much of a surprise to anyone. and i still stand behind every word i have written, said or uttered in some other way about this record. it is incredibly sad and tragic but doesn't feel that way at all. it sounds light and relaxing but has so much meaning and actual life in it. you'll find yourself humming these songs about death and loss as if they were about candy canes. this record came out of nowhere, aimed for the number one position and hasn't left it eversince.
get this record as soon as you can or you really missing out on a marvellous piece of music.

Union Town - blinding lights 7"
i have proclaimed my love for this band over and over again and their latest 7" has them in top gear as always. and of course any band with such a prominent mission of burma influence gets my absolute approval. the reason it didn't cause that much of a stir is probably how much more subdued and strangely quiet it is compared to their stellar debut lp. which is not to say that it lacks the lp's energy but people probably didn't realise it as much. sadly, they seem to have been rather inactive eversince. which is a real shame.

-Other Awesome Albums-

Beach House - teen dream
this year they graduated from hipster insider's tip to full blown hipster top reference name. but who cares, since it's soo soothing and captivating. without being nervewrecking.

Blessure Grave - judged by twelve, carried by six
t. grave buried the grave (had to go there, sorry) this year. maybe it was for the better, this lp was very good but this should have been better. still it's an enjoyable reverb-drenched neo-goth record.

Double Negative - daydreamnation
my hardcore record of the year. fast and loose early 80's style hardcore punk with riffs that barely make sense, delivered with an urgency and power as if this was reagan's america all over again and they all just lost their unemployment checks.

The Estranged - the subliminal man
dirtnap delivers quality garage punk, that much is known. but when dirtnap delivers us a wave record it's incredible. after the masterful PONYS album a couple of years ago, this band comes along, mixes WIPERS with CHRISTIAN DEATH and nails it.

Francis International Airport - in the woods
detailed, dreamy indie pop, infused with a lot of the best names the genre has to offer and tons of guitar work straight out of the edge's toolbox. this is the smiths for the stadium and in a way: the austrian COLDPLAY, just - you know - not crap.

Fucked Up - year of the ox 12"
after a straight record, here they go off the deep end again. dual male/female shouts and shrieks (the female part from some random hipster band singer, of course!) over the trademark FU psych-hc/punk. and the title track is over eleven minutes long. sigh, at least it's just two tracks this time.

Holmes - have i told you lately, that i loathe you
the subdued, serious swedish country ensemble have managed to be even quieter on this one, their winter record. it came out in summer, which was bad, bad timing. it is still a very good listen, though.

Lilium - felt
Mose - self-titled
two very minimal lovely post-country records. concerning the vorarlberg ultra-minimalism of MOSE i already wrote everything here. but pascal humbert also made another awesome record no one will appreciate. i, too, completely forgot about it until compiling this list. mea culpa.

Puerto Rico Flowers - 4 12"
a lovely reverb neo-goth EP caught up right in the middle between IRON CURTAIN and FLIPPER, dirge-y and cold. it - along with the previous 7" plainly called "2" - made me search all along the internet like a motherfucker for "1" and "3" until i found out the names of the 7" and the 12" only correspond to how many songs they have. and then i felt incredibly feckin stupid.

Raw Nerve - self-titled
this year was a baaad one for CULT RITUAL rip-off bands (or vice hardcore as j. calls it), with the disastrous TOTAL ABUSE euro-tour and a thousand shitty bands cheapening the "raw, noisy and fast" sound. this fast, vibrant smasher of an lp was the notable exception.

Sex Jams / Les Trucs - split 7"
the two SEX JAMS tracks here completely slay their lp, which showed how much potential this band has but ultimately failed to fully hold up to their promise. if you've seen the noise chaos showcase this now-five-piece is at the moment, you know they will continue to get even fucking better.

Sleep ∞ Over - outer limits 7"
fuck witch house. srsly, all these MSV or oOoOO projects are the most unsubstantial music since fucking LIMP BIZKIT. this 7", which was swept up with the hype rules though. primarily because it doesn't sound like some jackass doing macbook/protools experiment number five fucking billion but like rachel goswell and the redheaded woman from LUSH teaming up to do a couple of COCTEAU TWINS and SIOUXSIE covers. while high on purple drank.

Sun Kil Moon - admiral fell promises
aw, come on. you are all aware of my gay boner for everything mark kozelek does. ok, so he's gotten a bit too much into classical guitar stuff on this record. "alesund" is still one of the best songs he's ever written and the other songs live up to this standard as well.

Swans - my father will guide me up a rope to the sky
more or less picking up where he left with "the great annihilator" (with a few lessons learned from the ANGELS OF LIGHT), gira delivers a very pointed, surprisingly precise and forceful record full of hate and twisted sprituality. also, as the live show at the arena taught us all, he really likes to grab his weiner.

Television Personalities - a memory is better than nothing
dan treacy, saddest man in post-punk. it must really suck for him, everyone reducing him to "part-time punks", but in the end it's probably for the best. i guess, these people are better off not hearing these sad, yearning songs about childhood and lost love. the feel bad record of the year. and oh so lovely.

Tran/Nachbagauer/Keppel/Hölzel - live at sommersilfestival 2010
aw, who cares if georg's vocals are all over the place. four guys playing the entirety of WEEZER's blue album to a shed full of enthusiastic people is just way too much fun to not mention.

Westblock - wir alle warten nur noch auf dich
unexpected reunion record of the year. crazy post-punk with a rhythm section that probably pounds through five snares a rehearsal. and remember: UNS GEHTS GUAD!

Yamon Yamon - this wilderlessness
i always find it hard to write something insightful or at least mildly amusing about well-crafted, well thought out mathrock/postrock/indiemo crossover records like this. they are from sweden and they don't sound swedish at all, which is a good thing. was that amusing enough? probably not, but it'll have to do.

honorable mentions go to deerhunter, drake, male bonding, no age, sex church, weekend nachos, wild nothing and wino for records that either didn't make the cut while editing this list or for me simply failing to really listen to their albums often enough to make an informed decision. expect at least two of them to make an appearance in next year's list.

-"What is this shit?" of the Year-

Salem - king night
i mean, come on... forget all about this witch house hype shit. it's a mixture between southern hip-hop (hyphy or something? i'm completely lost in this genre), shoegaze, dubstep and goth, stirred with a shrill white trash hipster style, incredibly laughable live performances and a video that my good friend w. called "a snuff movie without a murder". i think most people just like this because it's so highly baffling. i know i do.

-Songs of the Year-

A.R.E. Weapons - de-educator
this band has finally found it's sound. brainless half-RAMONES, half-SUICIDE stompers. the album was good but this track is killer. "gonna stay in school and get stoned"

Beach House - walk in the park
jus' chiiiiiiiiill

the Brian Jonestown Massacre - this is the one thing we did not...
mix "she's lost control" with "i remember nothing", stirr for seven minutes.

the Green Apple Sea - golden morning
i wish someone writes such a beautiful sing about my death. pure beauty.

the Green Apple Sea - northern sky
the opener to the perfect album of the year. the gentlest build up of the year by far.

Killing Joke - ghost of ladbroke grove
you know the term "apocalyptic folk"? this is "apocalyptic reggae". the apocalypse is still near, by the way.

Minks - funeral song
a lovely goth-y and wave-y pop tune. by the name of "funeral song". i think i will like this band.

the National - sorrow
the album is really good but none of the other songs caught me the way this did. also, every other list of 2010 has this album, so why should mine as well?

Perfume Genius - lookout, lookout
this reeks of XIU XIU LOOKITMEIMANARTISTIHAVEPAIN bullshit, but this guy has so much real concern for the safety of his loved ones in his voice when he sings "lookout, lookout, there are murders" i just can't be mad at him.

Plaided - i say
a smashing noisy pop song about how no means no. so, basically regular feminist vienna. except that the song kick ass.

Robotra - tobago
ROBOTRA really fucking rule. they're a punk band at heart but equipped with a guitarist who can't be bothered to play faster. which can be really annoying when you just sense how incredible a song they play would be at twice the speed. on "tobago" the dirge tempo works though. the ridiculously directionless lead guitar line stumbles around drunk while bass and drums plod along and thomas just whirls TOBAAAAAGOOOOO over all of it. perfect.

Shores - one palm sunday
the lp still hasn't fully grown on me, which is why i didn't feel comfortable including it in the album list. a couple of the songs are definitely among the best stuff released this year, for example this little 3/4 ditty that channels CODEINE through CURSIVE and somehow makes it work.

Teenage Fanclub - sometimes i don't need to believe in anything
the album was good (even if it deteriorated with each listen) but the opener is perfect.

Television Personalities - my new tattoo
this song exemplifies the brilliance of the tv personalities with it's almost eternal instrumental passage of offkey psychedelia filtered through the sound of a garage band entirely out of 14-year-olds, concluding with the heartfelt whimpered line "...and i sincereley hope you like my new tattoo"

Television Personalities - the good anarchist
if you aren't reduced to tears by dan treacy singing about a fan who finds out her band idol has gone insane, you really didn't get music at all. just leave.

Washed Out & the chick from Chairlift - you and i
jus' chiiiiiiiill, part two

-Letdowns of the Year-

Azure Ray - drawing down the moon
there is a fine line between subdued and boring. they found it.

Blessure Grave - judged by twelve, carried by six
for afformentioned reasons. srsly, this should have been the record of the millenium.

Reaching Away - push away the moon
after these incredible roger king solo videos, this relatively run of the mill acoustic rock album just didn't cut it for me.

Vague Angels - the sunny day i caught tintarella de luna...
chris leo really shouldn't sing.

-"I just don't know..." of the Year-

Destroy, Munich - don't forget the birthday cake
did you ever say a word so often it lost all its meaning? that is this record for me. i know it's real good stuff since it was real good stuff when i first heard it but by now i really can't care about these songs anymore. still, these songs rule and if you haven't seen them for two million times already, you'll love their multi-faceted, sweet indie pop songs.

Mutter - trinken, singen, schießen
well, i love MUTTER and the music alone is very good. but MUTTER have never been just about the music but also about the lyrics. and max müller just doesn't do it for me here. while the lyrics were always direct and "simple", they never sounded banal. on here they often do. sorry.

-Best records of 2009 I haven't heard until 2010-

Meth Teeth - self-titled
the band name and song titles alone are awesome ("unemployment forever" and "never been to church" are the obvious favorites) but the incredible mix between DINOSAUR JR. melodic indie rock noise and garage rock's rancid punch are just too good to pass up.

Wavves - wavvves
oh, shut up, all of you. at least i'm admitting it.

so yhea, that's it basically. let's hope 2011 brings a lot of incredible records (MINKS and BRITISH SEA POWER are some early contenders).
as always i hope you give a few of these records a listen, since this isn't about me showing off my superior taste in music (everyone should be aware of that by now) but about giving some overlooked artists a spotlight, as tiny as it might be.

seriously, fucking dan treacy made one of the best records of his life. hasn't he suffered enough already? listen to it!

records records records records

2010-10-09T00:12:00.028+02:00

two records that pretty much caught me by surprise, still not all i have in the sorta-pipeline to write about here but well, these were lying around half-done so i just finished them. if these feel a little loose here and there it's cause i'm watching DEXTER while writing. lol butts lol.

TAMARYN

how did this thing called neo-gaze start anyway? without really doing much research (sorry) i kind of point this at the my-bloody-valentine-channeling electronic wash of M83 and the dirge-y alt.rock of AMUSEMENT PARKS ON FIRE. at least those were the first things i heard tagged neo-gaze. regardless of how it started, nowadays the interwebs are flooded with so-so bands dubbing themselves some form of shoegaze, very few bringing something new or exciting. most sound entirely different to each other which kind of makes this crappy sounding term entirely useless.
to be fair, "shoegaze" is a loosely defined term that "historically" could mean anything from the fat guitars of STARFLYER59 or SWERVEDRIVER to the soft sparkle and twinkle of LUSH or SLOWDIVE. except for a kind of washed out sound and a certain dreaminess (and the use of guitars) most bands have nothing really in common. additionally a lot of surrounding and equally loose genres like twee, ethereal or lo-fi feature tons of bands with "gaze"-influences. so much, that the term has come to mean pretty much everything with a reverb or delay pedal or -if people really talking out of their arse- anything with loud guitars and softly sung vocals. so that's where we stand with this large fucking umbrella term called "shoegaze". any confusion as to what it means is fully understandable as it's -like i stated- so loosely defined and to fully encompass what the genre can mean you'll need to listen to at least twelve record or so. and, yhea not everyone want's to do that much "research" just to have the proper context for some hip new record.
now to come back to the actual record i wanted to write about, this one has its shoegaze influences right in the middle of their sound. seriously, "the waves" - the second record by whoever TAMARYN is, i don't really care - has written "loveless" all over it. at times it can get a bit much. seriously, if this aped MBV any more it'd be extremely obnoxious. but this band treads the fine line between taking influences and downright stealing like a tightrope walker. the songs are elegant and weaving, with just the right amount of wash in the sound to make it feel really really authentic, something that a lot of the neo-gaze bands fail at (or, the uniquer ones just don't care about).
what really sells me to this is that this record finds its own little spaces in the tradition. a perfect example is "choirs of winter", the second song on the album, a lovely mid-tempo porridge of who knows (and who cares) how many layers of guitar that sounds like a missing piece on (again) "loveless", just a little slower and with a more pronounced BANSHEES influence. all in all, "the waves" caught me out of nowhere and i kind of like that and that's also the reason why i chose not to do any research on this band. i'm already regretting knowing that this came out on kemado records, home of hype stuff like ELEFANT or MARISSA NADLER that i really can't care about. the fact, that this has connections to the regular non-exciting music world is just, well... too boring.
that's not too say you shouldn't support the label by buying the record. after all, they financed this and that's a good thing. they deserve your money.

SALEM

well, ok. this one makes no sense at all. as in: no sense in any way.
first up, this is kind of a mix between ethereal, dirty south hip-hop (or some subgenre thereof, i must admit i have a hard time differentiating all those subgenres) and power electronics and it walks a line i never actually thought i'd witness in a record that is hyped this much: the line between extremely camp and honestly sickening and frightening.
lyrics like "gonna tie up your hands and feet / shhh, don't make a peep" are annoyingly corny and amateurish. and the fact that when these words are rapped, you feel the shivers rundown your spine, means there's something awfully wrong with "king night".
all of this isn't supposed to work. either a bunch of scraggy hipsters rapping badly or a clear voice singing no discernable stuff over a slowed down hip-hop beat with a dirge of soundscapes over it, that doesn't sound too exciting. more like a bad idea at a hipster party where someone decided to think up silly genre combinations. but it works, and my g'd, it sounds entirely inhumane. the slow, slooow beats pound along with twirling washed-out synth floats (people have found a "shoegaze" influence in that as well, by the way) creating a deep dark mist, relatively harmony-less and always more akin to an illbient-track then an actual song. and the fact that most of the time you can't make up any actual lyrics just adds to the vagueness of the entire thing. you can imagine any kind of horrible shit being sung, any kind of vile stuff happening, just like you can only imagine what ghastly things happen on the other side of erich zann's window in the famous story of h.p. lovecraft. yes, i pulled a lovecraft-reference on this.
and i will probably regret this in at least two weeks or so, when all the indiedisco-hipsters go apeshit over it, which is already starting right now. and the number of cheap knock-offs are already pretty fucking annoying and in maybe two months or so this will probably only sound like the other side of the line: camp, cartoonish and boring. but right now, while it is still sort of new, this shit is vile and brutal. and it is fucking brilliant.
if this record isn't sold-out it'll probably soon be, so if you want this you'd probably have to be quick. it is out on some sort of a major-label-distributed (faux-?)indie label so you'll probably get it at any of the bigger chains and at your favorite indie store.

also, i refuse to use the term "witch house" here. preset-wank shite like MASTER SUSPIRIA VISION compares to "king night" like fucking HOT ACTION COP to the COCTEAU TWINS. "tumblrcore" is the appropriate term for every horndog with a macbook who found out how to use charmap or just copy-pasted a "▲" on his desktop.

ehrm yhea. that was tangent. sry for taking up your time. maybe it was worth reading anyway. coming up next some reviews that focus more on the records and waaay less on whatever is going on around it. cause i'm sick of it myself already.

"mang, i wish i had heard of the 'yes i smoke crack' EP when i did my list of favorite album titles"

some new stuff (again)

2010-10-07T07:02:00.014+02:00

yhea, i got two records that i want you all to listen to. these are all really good, so pay attention.

MOSE

MOSE (from feldkirch, vbg) is a band i've started following around 2003 or so. back then i was still part of the emo cult and got into country over a despicable little hack called conor oberst. sometime around the release of another bloody record that tried way too hard to be neil young and chris carraba at the same time, i stopped paying attention to that ijeet but that didn't stop me from further looking into the genre he so desperately wanted to be a part of.
i'll have to admit, when i say country, i rarely really mean stuff like MERLE HAGGARD or HANK WILLIAMS. not that i don't like this sort of country, i just find myself listening to the more minimal side of the genre, like the solo work of JAY FARRAR, jason molina's recordings under the SONGS: OHIA moniker or the incredible SOULED AMERICAN (whom i discovered like a month ago).
but i had heard of MOSE before i had ever heard of any of these bands. i'm not entirely sure where i heard them first, it must have been fm4's leftfield specialties show im sumpf. reducing the sorrow and battle for sanity most good country artists sing about to its barest bone, MOSE's records may not have sounded like much is happening at all, but they sure captured a lot of the feeling of walking down a lonely country road all the while trying to remember where it was you actually wanted to go.
cut to a week ago. the new MOSE record (self-titled) swooped into the halls of TBA (the music magazine i'm writing for now) and i snatched it as soon as i saw it. the music on it is no big departure from the band's sound. and it doesn't have to be. even compared to the afformentioned bands, MOSE are minimal and bleak and no one pulls it off like they do.
oh yhea, the band has actually landed on feckin' klangbad now. a fitting combination and i hope this will finally make people in the rest of austria care for vorarlberg's best kept secret.
get the cd at the klangbad shop, visit the band's website and tell them they have to play vienna again.

THE GREEN APPLE SEA

now, let's move on to the almost opposite side of the country spectrum. well, not entirely. this is still very sad music and if you find yourself walking down a street looking for directions that can't be found on google maps, this is probably fitting as well. the band just uses more instruments in conveying that.
i got "northern sky, southern sky" via tba as well and i must admit, i probably wouldn't have listened to the band by just reading their name somewhere. and i would have been such a huge idiot. because this record has easily jumped to my top list of the records of 2010 (so far). most people reading this blog will know that, since i have sent them link after link and told them to have a listen to this record. i might be an opinionated douchnuzzle, but i don't actually urge people to listen to stuff that often.
but, on to the actual record. THE GREEN APPLE SEA is a four-piece from nuremberg, germany and they make this sort of folkish country sound that people so often mistake for actual folk. judging from the lyrics and the info sheet this record was made in a period of personal turmoil (i'm assuming the passing of a relative or other loved-one) and it carries this certain heaviness and despair that comes with such a situation. the songs deal with loss and denial a lot.
but here's where the record's real appeal comes in: it doesn't sound heavy at all, not at a single second the record feels like a downer. it is enormously uplifting in a way, the songs never feeling like giving up but more like carrying on even more because of the terrible things that have happened. a lot of it lies in the charming vocal harmonies (which probably every review of the record i have seen has mentioned) and the light delivery of lines such as "it was a golden morning when your heart stopped pounding". which is not a line you could just throw off as lightly if you don't have the backing of song that can carry its weight but, yhea, without it feeling heavy.
the record is out on kf records, i label i have never heard of. but you know what to do.

also, it blows the new AZURE RAY record to smithereens. jesus christ, why did these two ever decide writing chorusses was a good idea for them?

i also have a couple of other records in the pipeline, that i want you to know about. i might find the time to do so in the next few days. if i don't, you'll notice anyway.
or not.
it's half past seven now and now i might as well just not go to sleep at all.

i'm djing on monday for chrissakes!

2010-08-27T17:10:00.004+02:00

i may have mentioned this before.
my friends in PURRRSIAN CAT COMBAT are playing the fluc on monday (august 30th) and they have asked me to play some records afterwards. i told them i don't have any records, since i'm more broke than greece is. they said it doesn't matter i could just spin some mp3s. then i told them that i would love to do that. pretty interesting story, huh?

i have no idea what PURRRSIAN CAT COMBAT will sound like. they told me it's noisy, lo-fi and improvised. i told them ehrm... i told them nothing, i just said "ok, cool" or something, i can't really remember.

ehrm, yhea. so anyway. i will be djing afterwards.
if you want to know what to expect just click any of these links for a sample or all these links for a pretty good picture of how my set will sound like.

so, yhea
august 30th.
fluc.
be there.

oskar and bert

2010-08-26T18:45:00.000+02:00

just had to add this picture because i mentioned oskar maria graf in my last post. this is him with bert brecht and a mass of beer. i love this picture.

i will be dj'ing at the fluc on monday by the way. yhea, it'll be awesome. if you ever had the urge to listen to some ramones, fall of saigon, hot snakes, drop nineteens and come at the same party, well, here's your chance.
there's also gonna be a live band: the elusive PURRRSIAN CAT COMBAT. i know next to nothing about it but they told me it'll be lo-fi and noisy. i suggest you all go check it out.

also, because it's been piling up, here's what i think about some new music that's out there. and some that's already a few months or more old. yhea, who cares.

BEACH HOUSE
yhea, i know that this is actually older than dirt already but fuck you. "teen dream" rules, the a-side is just perfect, every song is a hit. both sides are blissy, dreamy goodness that sounds like a fuzzy polaroid or something. if you liked the WASHED OUT song i posted a few days ago, you'll love the shit out of this record. it doesn't sound similar, but it has a comparable feeling.
also, they have a new EP out there on itunes that feature some rerecordings of a couple of songs of theirs. and a new one. listen to that song on pitchfork.

TEENAGE PANZERKORPS
have a new single out on a label called no vacation records. i wish i could afford more records, cause this looks like a real treat.
for those who don't know, DER TPK is a u.s./german-based "artpunk" four-piece fusing 80's post-punk, goth, krautinfluences and an obsession with thomas mann into the most awesome lo-fi stuff this side of BLESSURE GRAVE.
so, yhea give those two tracks a listen and buy the 7".

END OF A YEAR
i haven't really made up my mind on the new record "you are beneath me" completely yet. to me it seems that they do their best on their 7"s, just like the last one on deathwish (yuck) but ove the course of an album fail to really pull themselves together. somehow the lp lacks the energy of the shorter releases and it seems a lot mellower, which in this case isn't neccessarily a good thing.
still, there's no other band doing quite a sound like this at the moment and even in their weaker moments they blow most bands away with ease. so, it's a good record but they could have done better. and i have no reason at all to doubt they will do better with the next release.
also, read this interview with patrick.

UNION TOWN
ehrm yhea, this new 7" by the best band in belgium might just be my favorite release this year. yes, that includes the new sun kil moon and the afformentioned beach house lp.
i mentioned union town in my year rundown of 2009 and for good reason at that. they plainly have this thing called post-punk down to the bone. the energy and urgency of punk rock but brought into another direction. union town's songs sound like a desperate person kicking and hitting around him-/herself for lack of any other way to react to a mad and unforgiving world.
get this 7" now. you will not regret it.

that's all for now, there's some other pretty rad records recently that i should tell you about but i'm too tired to write more now.

this song rules

2010-08-19T12:15:00.004+02:00

and it's a million times better than that weak feckin' tour cd.

now another member of BIG STAR has died. this is seriously not funny anymore. andy hummel played bass on "#1 record" and "radio city" and famously destroyed chris bell's acoustic guitar with a screwdriver. even though, in all fairness, bell had smashed hummel's bass guitar on a wall before. but considering hummel punched bell in the face just before that, eh, well BIG STAR had a lot of infighting.
also, yhea, my piece on "third/sister lovers". it's in the works.
as is another piece about my favorite records at the moment.
also, the new SWANS record has leaked. if they find my dead body somewhere in a river in the ukraine, you'll know it was so good i saw no sense in living further, since there will never be an album as good as this.
also read some OSKAR MARIA GRAF.

another rad song.

random thoughts blarbl blarbl

2010-04-20T12:54:00.002+02:00

- guru's dead. pete steele's dead. fuck, who's next? this is going in the entirely wrong direction. how about someone who's death would make a positive impact on the world for once? ah well.

- it's not as easy as i thought to find info on israeli radio rock bands. you have to search in hebrew AND latin letters. still, this song rules.

- i really don't understand the concept of link exchange in blogs. i don't mean linking to a blog you like, that i understand perfectly well. what i mean is the tedious "hey, link my blog, i'll link yours"-shit. playa, if your blog is worth reading, people will link to it. if it's not, they won't, end of the story. don't try to boost your ego or anything by trying to circumvent that mechanism. it sure as hell won't make your blog worth reading if it's not. try to work on your blog instead of the promo. there's too much promo already.

- EMPIRE! EMPIRE! (I WAS A LONELY ESTATE) are the nicest people ever (except keith, when he's bored and doesn't want to go to sleep but that's alright). they still have a couple of dates on their tour and if you live somewhere near those places, go see them.

20.4. scopitone, paris [f] w/ marionette id
21.4. az, aachen [d] w/ marionette id, good clean fun [LULZ!]
22.4. molotov, gent [b] w/ marionette id
23.4. bazart, den haag [nl] w/ marionette id, you're the crowd
24.4. gyc, guildford [uk] w/ what price, wonderland? and a lot of other bands.

this link is entirely unrelated or it's not.

also, big star. yhea, in a couple of days.

2010-04-02T12:47:00.002+02:00

another quick one before i get to the big post.

i just adore this flyer

you should probably go there. end of a year rule.

alright...

2010-04-01T00:35:00.002+02:00

before i write the now long past due review of BIG STAR's "third/sister lovers" (r.i.p. alex chilton), here's ten names for records that i just adore.
most of them are slowcore, which kind of makes sense. these people always loved their good band photos and record titles. and to write that songs with a single guitar string. which is always backed.

15. "...and the surrounding mountains" (the radar bros.)
14. "all harm ends here" (early day miners)
13. "songs for a dead pilot" (low)
12. "i never even asked for light" (lullaby for the working class)
11. "this never happened" (some metalcore band i forgot about)
10. "you should be at home here" (carissa's weird)
9. "the pace is glacial" (seam)
8. "i like you when you're not around" (the mendoza line)
7. "low birth weight" (piano magic)
6. "i could live in hope" (low, again)
5. "elephant shoe" (arab strap)
4. "even the sun was afraid" (10", east river pipe)
3. "whatfunlifewas" (bedhead)
2. "things we lost in the fire" (low, once again)
1. "do you think if you were beautiful you'd be happy?" (7", tv personalities)

("well, that sure was a tad pointless.")

just like oakland has no seaons you can lie without concern

2010-03-07T21:09:00.006+01:00

it's a long hard road all the way down. a very long and very hard road. sure, people write depressing records for a lot of reasons. records about being all alone, records about being unable to make any difference whatsoever to anyone, records about being a broken wreck and of course records about being depressed for no reason at all.
but a record about being down in the deepest dumps is a very very rare thing. probably because most people who are in the deepest shitholes of hell are in no situation to actually write and record a record, few noted exceptions such as elliott smith's early work or big star's unbelieveable "third/sister lovers" (which has been in the waiting list for this blog for a long time) aside.
the jim yoshii pile-up have managed to create a record for lots of related but different states of depression, entwined into a single flowing record that ties all of these together. be it poverty, alienation, unrequited love or lack of direction, they put it on this record. and unlike most records where these things are romanticized, this five-piece shows them as ugly and ruthless as they are.
to pick out just one example, "reckless driving" presents a very bleak and bitter view on the obsession unrequited love can turn into. the creepy stalker-ish portions of the lyrics are contrasted with lines where the narrator shows real care for the person just before snapping into bitter contempt within a mere two sentences. "3+1" expands on the theme of unrequited love, starting with a straight-forward and pleading "honey, he doesn't love you", leading the narrator through a monologue of regret. "middle harbor road"and "in focus" on the other hand take on poverty from the view of the working poor, the ones that work a job but still don't make enough money. while the former tackles a subpar living situation in a dangerous era, the latter brushes the alienation between the two people living together. either way, it ends in even more alienation and resignation.
but let's not get caught in the lyrics alone, because the music is equally noteworthy. gently interwoven three-guitar harmonies make the record sound full without making it sound crowded. really, most of the time you wouldn't notice how intricate and detailed the guitar work actually is. most of the times all guitars are playing arpeggios ("zerlegt", ihr banausen), very silent and subdued most of the time (the few obligatory outbursts nonewithstanding). it'd almost be mid90s indiemo-ish -if it wasn't spiraling miles around all the usual clichés- but it's not really slowcore either. the jim yoshii pile-up really have their own sound and run with it, giving a lot of variation through-out the record without straying too far and making it a total hodgepodge without direction. the band's other records offer more variation, while being focused on a different sound for each record, "it's winter here" from 2001 being even more subdued and 2005's "picks us apart" being more straight-forward. "homemade drugs" is the best record out of the three for me, though. the lyricism is sharpest and clearest here and every song sticks out best here while still forming an actual album together. which is about the most difficult thing there is for any serious musician.
the band broke up a couple of years ago, singer/guitarist/songwriter paul gonzenbach has an equally noteworthy solo project called baby panda. be sure to check that out as well. or just wait until i write about it on this blog.
anyway, "homemade drugs" is a fucking masterpiece. get it. seriously.

(also, mr. ween just texted me, saying mark linkous of sparklehorse died today. r.i.p.)

an appendix to the rundown

2010-02-25T13:35:00.002+01:00

apprently, next few days = almost a month. yhea, that's my sort of time management, i guess. dekgjkifjhwkfj.
as promised, here's two records i completely forgot about in my end of the year rundown, both of which i'm pretty flabbergasted to see that i've forgotten them. really, now.

Drugproblem - self-titled cd-r
the incredible cover art alone made me go on a three day long internet research bender scraping every blogsearch and search engine i could think of for information on this new zealand power violence outfit. rarely was i ever hyped up for a band just by the cover art alone.
after finally having found it sometime in autumn and hearing it for the first time, i was blown away. slow, sludgy and inherently vile, the way the best power violence records are, with periods of time where nothing at all happens until it starts over again, even more vitriolic then before. lyrics full of gore and utter contempt for humanity and as opposed to the very rough sound of the demo you can actually hear what they're playing. which is something a lot of thrash and power violence bands apparently didn't care about the last couple of months. no biggie, who needs them. we've got this horrid fucker of a cd.

and now for the complete opposite

Paper Bird - Thaumathrope
anna has broadened her musical language and shines even more than on her last one. either reduced to voice and guitar or fully orchestrated by tiny bleeps and bangs from laptop, field recordings and tons of weird instruments, paper brid still sounds like a room full of tiny stuffed animals coming alive to sing songs of sorrow and loss. if that makes sense, i kind of just made that up on the spot.

so, anyway. regular operations, e.g. ranting about things that piss me off, records i adore and shows i want everyone to attend are to resume soon (yhea right).

("what, no picture?" - "mi gfreit's koans suchen")

uhm yhea

2010-01-29T23:18:00.003+01:00

by now no one's probably expecting any updates at all but nonetheless i'll apologize for not updating this often enough. i've had some health issues in the last month and i'm still tasting the aftermath of those as you read this but mostly i'm good.
blah blah, shut up and get to the point!

you've probably heard me rave about a befriended band once too often but please have a listen to the new SEX JAMS single. they've just recently put it on their myspace and it's incredible.
i've had the privilege to already listen to their full-length lp (to be released in march or something) and it's incredible. they've become a lot securer in their sound and katie's vocals have improved so much. you'll all love this. trust me.
also "ages" might be the best non-stoner stoner song 2010. the title that went to "crazy/forever" by the JAPANDROIDS in 2009. speaking of them, they kicked our asses very hard at the arena last week. just so you know.

also i forgot two records in my year rundown and you'll be reading a bit more about them in the next few days (yhea right) on this blog.

also, if you can donate to haiti. i did, and i'm broke. no one on earth needs money more right now than the survivors of the catastrophe.
damn, i never even asked you guys to donate to israel or anything, so you see how important this is.

more stuff in the next few days. promised.

the year rxxxxxx broke.

2010-01-04T01:26:00.002+01:00

this has been some hell of a fucking year, i can tell you that.
some walls i've ran against for years broke and some things broke while running against these walls.
tough shit.

2009 consisted of the longest continous period of depression i have ever worked through and just reading through the shit i wrote in that time brings me to tears right here and now. i've moved into a new apartment again just shortly after having moved. i got a job and endured (and still have to endure) the experience of working a job i detest for a long period of time. i've joined a new bands and left an old one behind. music i've worked on with others finally got pressed onto vinyl and more importantly people believed in stuff i've worked on again. i've finally been able to travel to other countries again and left the smog dome that vienna was to me for most of the year. and finally i've been able to reach out to other people again which resulted in me not being as big of a miserable loner anymore.
suffice it to say: this year was one of the worst i've ever experienced.
and on the same page, it was also the best i've ever experienced.
also i've finally discovered the works of thomas mann. which might just be the single most important literary discovery i have ever made. next to charles bukowski. yes, that's exactly the other side of the spectrum.

anyway, to the usual program of useless yada-yada about records and everything. you know, the part you actually came here to read about.

Top Records of the Year
because i couldn't decide at all, here's my five favorite records of the year followed by the usual alphabetical round of records i've enjoyed as well.
and before you get any ideas, the top5 are in alphabetical order as well.

Blacklisted - No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me
to be honest, i have no idea what to make of this. all i can say for certain is this band moved further into 70's rock and has started to incorporate acoustic guitars. hardcore? peripherally. it's still rooted in it but where last year's "heavier than heaven, lonelier than god" challenged the boundaries of the genre, the new lp bursts them open. also, george's lyricism has gotten even bleaker, more paranoid and generally just a lot more negative. that's it. is it good? is it rubbish? i have no clue.
i've listened to this record, smashed shit around in my room, deemed "heavier than heaven..." merely a transition record and was absolutely certain that this record is by far the best of the year and one of the top ones of the decade. it has hapened though that i've found myself listening to this and being incredibly bored by it. finding myself wishing blacklisted reverted back to "peace on earth, war on stage" times and just wishing george would stop whining.
why this record made the top5 list? because as of right now i'm heavily leaning towards option one. yet, i'm still not a 100% certain. geez.

Blessure Grave - Learn to Love the Rope 12" and various 7"s
in a way this record was just the right record at the right time. over the course of the year i've started getting into 80's post-punk, death rock, early goth, coldwave and the related genres and found myself discovering a lot of bands i'd now consider absolute favorites of mine.
and along comes this band. washed ashore along with a lot of other reverb-drenched records that vice, pitchfork and all the other usual suspects cream themselves over for the past few months. yet, this is different. where most of those bands just sounded like they hid playing nothing at all by bad recording (i'm looking at you, wavves) or channeling ideas that twee bands have abonded a long time ago (most others), blessure grave have incorporated the classics of the afformentiond post-punk genres. basically imagine 45 grave, christian death, joy division and the sisters of mercy having a bastard child. only more minimalist and with two tons of reverb.
aw, forget it, i'm not doing these records justice at all. they're incredible, trust me.

Tom Liwa - Eine Liebe ausschließlich
a break-up record apparently inspired by an actual break-up. well then.
but put your snarkiness aside, cause this record deserves a closer listen. tom liwa has been crafting honest (some might say: too honest) solo records for a decade now and - let's be frank - most of them where clearly for fans only. with their layers of hard to swallow nostalgia, continous references to new age religions and christianity and lack of immediate rewards such as instantly catchy hooks and the like, most would gladly overhear what he had to say. and of course, this record doesn't break out of this pattern entirely. you're still not gonna be able to put this shit on at a party and people who hate records with allusions to christianity will still despise this.
but rarely since his incredible solo debut "st.amour" has liwas free-flowing lyricism hit the spot this often, have his subdued tiny little choruses gone under your skin this deep and has his vocal delivery made you believe every single word. that's it. he has simply perfected his craft.
and that's enough to put him in the top spots.

The Striggles - Aloha
while hardcore made me drop my jaw a lot of times this year (see the next section below), the heaviest record this year once again came from a genre that in this country is usually associated with relatively un-heavy guitar-wanking: good ole noise rock. my love for this band is well-documented but somehow they managed to up the ante with their new record. to use really bad music journalist phrases: everything that made the first lp good is improved upon here. "aloha" is twisted without being wanky, humourisly cynic without being smart-alecy and dark without being jamie stewart. all at the same time - and i can't stress this enough because it's crucial - without losing an ounce of heaviness.
this record should seriously prompt tons of bands to just give it up.

Washed Out - Life of Leisure 12"
bitches think this is just retro crap. or oooh we all know the 80's. fuck you shitheads. fuck all of you superficial shitheads, your limited grasp of songwriting and your inability to see beyond the .
i hestitated because of the equipment used at first as well but over a few listens all of that is forgotten, since it's used in a different way. and it all would be nothing without the vocals, hushing and hunting. these songs are just weaving, fleeting vignettes capturing the mood of laying somewhere in the countryside near a lake at 11pm at the end of august. a summer nostalgia record if there ever was one this year.
(also fuck everyone saying this is just an ep. this came out on 12" and fuck long records anyway)

Bon Iver - Blood Bank 12"
including this one on the album list was difficult, mainly because i rarely got past the title track. but the other's are okay to, so yhea.
Celan - Halo
second heaviest-record of the year. like unsane with another speed than crush.
Vic Chesnutt - Skitter on Take-Off
look at his suicide however you want to look at it but vic chesnutt made two incredible records this year, one more orchestrated and one that's just skin and bones. i liked the latter one more but that doesn't mean a lot, you know.
Drunkdriver - Fire Sale 7" / Knife Day 7"
these guys sound like the early swans. everything should sound like the early swans.
Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - What It Takes to Move Forward
one of the only real twinkle twinkle indiemo record that came out this year. and a fine one at that.
Japandroids - Post-Nothing
two kids hammering on drums and guitars, thrashing a thousand genres together and writing the best not-really-stoner riff of the year.
Kickback - No Surrender
ihateyoumotherfuckers ihateyoumotherfuckers ihateyoumotherfuckers ihateyoumotherfuckers.
Naked Lunch - Universalove O.S.T.
these guys are the only band able to be this hopeless and this uplifting at the same time.
Passion Pit - Manners
just a really gay indie disco party album. tested both at the summer lakeside and in the falling snowflakes.
Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans
sludgy, smelly, pounding and powerful. yup, a good heavy record by a band that apparently can do no wrong.
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II
there really isn't much to add except that raekwon's on top of his game again and heads all over the world should be very thankful for that.
Soul Control - Cycles
probably the end-all post-hc record. not trodding along the usual paths but driving, powerful and full of passion and anger.
Wingnut Dishwashers Union - Burn the Earth, Leave it Behind
this pathetic hobo made all folk-punk bands who live on 50cents a week look like rockefellers. no lyrics this year got bleaker this side of george from blacklisted. so who cares if some of the tracks sound like bright eyes? guys' homeless, he doesn't know that music can be bad.
Wye Oak - The Knot
the scandinavian sad piano country record didn't even come from scandinavia this time. still very good autumn music.
The XX - s/t
so what if this is hypefest, this sounds like the young marble giants for chrissakes.

The Round-Up of Heavy Hardcore Records that were just Holy Fucking Shit Heavy
Harm's Way - Reality Approaches
Iron Age - The Sleeping Eye
Lewd Acts - Black Eye Blues
Mind Eraser - The Prodigal Son Brings Death 7"
Mother Of Mercy - III
Pulling Teeth - Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions
Trapped Under Ice - Secrets Of the World
Weekend Nachos - Unforgivable

Best Unreleased Record of the Year
Feed [Tx] - Human Engine
heavy slow-rollin' riffs w/ a texan singer wailing about being god or something. too bad the 10" never came to be.

Wear-Out Record of the Year
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - s/t
heavily enjoyable for about five listens. then you're so sick of it you'll burn the damn thing.

Stuff that was just wrong
Against Me! - The Original Cowboy
demos that sound exactly like the original record. dudes, i'm pro-capitalism and even i can reek the sellout in this shit.
Amesoeurs - s/t
i think i've had enough of postrock black metal for now. actually i think i have enough of black metal by now.
Clipse - Till the Casket Drops
while the singles were some of the best shit released this year, the album was just a let-down. sorry.
Soap&Skin - Lovetune for Vacuum
you know, i could stand the corny "twisted child prodigy" persona when the songs were good. now it's just annoying.
Wavves - s/t / Wavvves
this would probably rule pretty damn hard if you could only make out what this shithead is playing.

Shit I probably should have checked out but didn't
The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
weni told me they're crap but they do have a lot of good-looking naked girls on their covers, so i'd probably like it.
Cold Cave - Love Comes Close / Death Comes Close 12"
i couldn't stop listening to "the trees grew emotions and died" so i never checked out the full record. tough.
Converge - Axe to Fall
this is said to be really really good but honestly who gives a shit.
C-Rayz Walz & Kosha Dillz - Freestyle vs. Written
simply because homeboy's name is kosha dillz.
Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
i just have the feeling that i will probably go apeshit over this record in two years time or so.
Røyksopp - Junior
seriously just too busy raving out to passion pit.

Songs of the Year
Blacklisted - Our Apartment is Always Empty
when they first listened to this song, b9 users all over the world decided they had a new favorite record. true story.
Clipse - The Haters Wish
off of the pre-album mixtape, pusha and malice showed what they can do. now only if they had done it.
Drake - Best I Ever Had
if the upcoming lp is gonna be as good as this song, 2010 will finally have a hip-hop record of the year.
Mike Hale - Lives Like Mine
his new lp didn't do much for me except for the title track. which broke my heart over and over again.
Japandroids - I Quit Girls
an indie rock song that makes me wanna smash my room is a very rare thing. use your powers wisely, japandroids.
Picture Eyes - Next Shot
if you've seen this song performed live you wouldn't ask.
Richmond Fontaine - We Used to Think the Freeway Sounded Like a River
the new lp was good but the title track killed everything they had ever done previously.
Sex Jams - On Our Way Home is Nowhere
"this room smells like sex, it's our sex" is one of these lines you can't just get away with without being incredible.
Washed Out - Feel It All Around
because if you don't like this, fuck you.
Wingnut Dishwashers Union - Just because I don't say anything...
if you're not moved by a hobo singing "i'd be a teenage virgin jerking off in my bedroom, if i wasn't a twenty year old virgin who doesn't have a bedroom" you have no heart. none at all.

anything else i really can't say right now. just ask me in person. a good place to do so would be the SILFESTIVAL.
but more on that later. i'm hitting the hay to an exhausting day tomorrow and even more exhausting day on tuesday. wish me luck.

we've come such a long fucking way...

2009-12-28T04:07:00.005+01:00

so yhea. a few weeks agao i posted a list of my all time favorite records on my myspace. and since everyone is posting lists of their favorite records of the decade i decided to post one myself based on my all time list.
no big thing, just a little teaser to help you until the rundown of 2009 (which i am working on, it's coming in a few days)
since there's no big surprises in this list for the people who've read the all time list, i decided to write a quick capture for each of the records to keep it interesting for everyone.

ehrm, so yhea, here goes.

01. the Murder City Devils - In Name and Blood [2000]
music to smash a bar into pieces and drive your getaway car off a cliff.
02. Carissa's Wierd - You Should Be at Home Here [2001]
rarely ever did deep deep depression sound so incredibly beautiful.
03. Sun Kil Moon - Tiny Cities [2004]
mark kozelek can sing anything to me and i'll love it.
04. Low - Things We Lost in the Fire [2001]
low expanded their sound just a bit and ended up with their best record.
05. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago [2008]
detached and out of this world silent folk music.
06. the Jim Yoshii Pile-Up - Homemade Drugs [2002]
helpless and bitter insight about a cold world put to elegantly woven but subtle music.
07. Alps of New South Wales - self-titled [2007]
fact: when even suicide doesn't feel like a way out anymore, this is still here and it still feels real.
08. Naked Lunch - Songs for the Exhausted [2004]
a record of loss of love and perspective that's as uplifting as it is crushing.
09. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News [2004]
while it has lost a little of its shine, their pop record is still a very enjoyable listen.
10. Blacklisted - No One Deserves to Be Here More Than Me [2009]
or replace it with "Heavier than Heaven...", i don't care.

11. Off With Their Heads - Hospital [2006]
music to smash a bar into pieces and drive your getaway car off a cliff again.
12. Arab Strap - the Red Thread [2001]
before they got loud, they were at their best. singing songs about depression, sex, depression because of lack of sex and depression because of sex and being drunk.
13. Hood - Cold House [2001]
lo-fi and post-everything band decides to incorporate electronics and wins.
14. Oma Hans - Bremen/Zürich/Karlsruhe 10" [2002]
the sound conveys ultimate desperation (think wipers) and the lyricist is a madman.
15. Songs: Ohia - Didn't It Rain [2002]
before molina wanted to be conor oberst he wrote some bleak fucking records.
16. the Weakerthans - Reunion Tour [2007]
very laid-back, their latest lp is their most intelligent.
17. the Notwist - Neon Golden [2002]
before "Funeral" this was the indie darling record of the decade. both are good.
18. The Pine - self-titled [2001]
pain music with loud guitars and wailing vocals.
19. British Sea Power - The Decline of British Sea Power [2002]
grandiose, driven, energtic, excentric and highly dancable.
20. Tom Liwa - St. Amour [2000]
there's no way to explain him. he just writes perfect wuss records.
21. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Twinkle Echo [2003]
owen ashworth changed music by making every lonely student able to pick up a casio and just run with it. he did it first and (second) best.
22. Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights [2002]
an incredibly sexy pop record using 80s post-punk influences. made all the shy indie kids wanna wear suits.
23. Rob & the Pinhole Stars - Greyskysmile [2003]
gentle, fragile songs with very tender lyricsism. very underrated and overlooked.
24. Turner - Slow Abuse [2006]
depression music made by a house dj who discovered elliott smith.
25. EA80 - Alle Ziele [2001]
reaching a new peak late with a diverse record mixing neckbreakers and slower moments.

so that's about it.
the picture is from the silfestival appendix 2003. shit, we have come a longway since then.
which reminds me. come to the SILFESTIVAL 09/01/10 and get your head kicked in by THE STRIGGLES
and check out the wonderful flyer i made.

r.i.p.

2009-12-27T01:15:00.002+01:00

r.i.p. vic chesnutt, november 12, 1964 - december 25, 2009.
please donate for his family if you can at http://kristinhersh.cashmusic.org/vic/

XHATESONGX

2009-12-13T20:05:00.002+01:00

whoever disfigured my tag at the sub in graz will be found out. and straightedgerevenged. and firestormed.

("teehee, hatebong. WAIT A SECOND")

photos of the last everton show

2009-11-05T19:18:00.002+01:00

...and of the entire tour. shot by gogo, who as always did an awesome job.

they can be found here.
included are: a picture of x-chris (RIKA's drummer) w/ some old people, a picture of me looking exactly like andrew w.k., lots of hair flying around and a picture of me and stefan agreeing with each other. on stage. euphorically.

go see those.

2009-11-04T22:28:00.000+01:00

there is nothing to add here.
do yourself a favor and buy this record.

seems to imply that i'm allergic to love

2009-11-02T22:35:00.003+01:00

this probably is the best record to give as an example how clean production and playing skills don't always have to be the best decision for a record.
but i guess that is something one either accepts or not.

this record is seriously lo-fi. it's not just not blown up, it's not just roughly produced, the hiss behind the instruments often is louder than some of the instruments. the playing is subpar. i could probably play this record tighter. and that's just how this has to be.

these are songs about breaking up, breaking down and literally breaking bones. isolation, depression, deterioration. and what seperates this record along with all ERIC'S TRIP records following "love tara" from most other releases classified with the meaningsless moniker of "lo-fi" is its utmost intimacy. loose, tumbling and silent with a few exceptions, this is music for between the sheets with your ear to the radiator, the heartbeat of another person or an old ticking alarm clock as a surrogate for the heartbeat of another person.
tiny little songs, only a couple of open chords and none too extravagant, what sets these apart is just what most people will hate about this record. the sloppiness, the hiss, the lack of care for post-production etc.
and even in the louder more obviously urgent songs, the thin almost tinny guitar tone (fat as the bass might be) prevents this record from bursting the atmosphere. further clarifying are the incredibly vocals of rick white and julie doiron (who had recently broken up when this record was recorded) and the obvious strategy of filling holes with tiny sounds. "allergic to love" does this to intense effect with little squeals and sighs that sound as if they were recorded directly from the bedroom during a sad conversation about what has gone wrong and why it can't be reversed.
this is very inward music full of repressed pain. music that simply could not have this effect with tighter playing or a production of higher quality.
quite some people could learn something from this.

ERIC'S TRIP - LOVE TARA
(sub pop records, 1993)

(i will probably keep doing this. it's fun and it helps me clarify what set aparts some of the records i adore from the crap most of you listen to. or at least it'll turn some heads to some great albums they might not have listened to otherwise.)

everton 2004-2009.

2009-10-29T16:21:00.005+01:00

'tis true.

no hard feelings, no fuck you's. this is just the right decision and that's what we all agreed upon.
visit the everton website for the final statement. i for one think, raffi put it in very good words.
you can also go check out gogo's blog for his statement. i felt flattered by it.
RIKA is not affected by this, except that i have more time for them now.
below is a list of all shows we played since i honestly believe statistics to be a good way to sum things up.
(if i missed something, feel free to contact me and help fill in the blanks).

27.10.09, GBR - exeter, depot x w/ rika and one other band.
26.10.09, GBR - brighton, the hobgoblin w/ rika and one other band.
24.10.09, GER - monheim, sojus7 w/ rika, bail.
21.10.09, simmering, centro once w/ rika.
17.07.09, stadt haag, böllerbauer w/ pariah, never been famous, my exit.
16.07.09, vienna, tüwi w/ determination, nothing to lose.
15.04.09, vienna, tüwi w/ kenzari's middle kata, wika, picture eyes, rvltd!
28.02.09, wr. neustadt, triebwerk w/ mitote, the gassies.
09.01.09, vienna, shelter w/ scenario fever.
27.12.08, griechenberg, pete's scheune, silfestival w/ killed by 9v batteries, nine inch negl, destroy munich (acoustic), slon, sweet sweet moon, masallah & maria de la barrera.
03.11.08, vienna, arena dreiraum w/ polite sleeper, werner kitzmüller trio.
21.10.08, vienna, shelter w/ union town, show your teeth.
23.09.08, vienna, tüwi w/ trip fontaine.
05.09.08, vienna, donauinselfest (sj bühne).
29.07.08, floki's house, garsten bei steyr w/ kids return <3.
13.06.08, vienna, flex.
17.05.08, GER - ansbach, 13eins w/ a bunch of weird jesus freaks.
16.05.08, GER - schweinfurt, stattbahnhof w/ pttrns.
15.05.08, GER - gießen, ak44 w/ rika.
12.05.08, GER - berlin, lokal w/ vom segeln.
10.05.08, GER - chemnitz, reitbahnstraße 84 w/ rika.
09.05.08, vienna, tüwi w/ rika, sommerregen.
24.11.07, krems, jazzkeller w/ rika, francis int'l airport.
14.11.07, vienna, arena dreiraum w/ holmes, paper bird.
25.10.07, vienna, fluc w/ tchi.
12.10.07, st. pölten, egon w/ i am the horseman
06.10.07, hollabrunn, alter schlachthof w/ rika, landscape izuma.
17.09.07, vienna, arena dreiraum w/ meneguar.
15.09.07, niederwaldkirchen, juz w/ black heart rebellion, men killing men.
27.05.07, st. pölten, seedose w/ gschu.
26.05.07, braunau, habibi w/ rika.
25.05.07, GER - munich, kafe kult w/ rivulets.
19.05.07, niedernsill bei zell/see, samerstall w/ nightsleeping kills, monks funky neighbours and one other band.
04.05.07, vienna, quelle w/ dimitrij.
14.04.07, vienna, tüwi w/ sundiver.
30.03.07, asperhofen, fifty.
10.03.07, hollabrunn, alter schlachthof w/ dimitrij, vortex rex.
23.02.07, neusiedl/see, bergwerk.
22.02.07, vienna, b72.
17.01.07, vienna, venster99, w/ goro, loser superhero.
10.12.06, vienna, arena dreiraum, w/ geoff farina.
04.12.06, vienna, arena beisl.
29.11.06, vienna, einbaumöbel, w/ daniel benjamin.
22.09.06, wr. neustadt, triebwerk, w/ mike park.
16.09.06, strass/strassertale, rockability, w/ elfish, litter basket, charlotte.
15.09.06, weiz, kulturraum, w/ vortex rex, lonely drifter karen.
09.09.06, SLO - ljubljana, orto bar, w/ lilac, surviving the sunset.
23.07.06, vienna, flex, w/ eight legs.
17.05.06, bruck/leitha, pfadfinderheim, w/ ghost mice, acoustic.
22.04.06, retz, altes kino, w/ the vellocet effect, litter basket, revolted.
21.04.06, wr. neustadt, triebwerk, w/ tagtraum.
18.04.06, vienna, arena dreiraum, w/ landmine spring.
24.03.06, krems, avalon exil, w/ francis int'l airport, the gogets.
10.02.06, vienna, ekh, w/ thema eleven.
28.01.06, hollabrunn, alter schlachthof w/ a weird karaoke machine.
30.12.05, griechenberg, pete's hütte, silfestival 2005, acoustic.
22.04.05, kleinstetteldorf, kellergasse [only show w/ the first line-up].

2009-10-13T03:44:00.003+02:00

call it what you want. chiptune, nintendocore, gameboy music blah blah blah.
but as long as you rely on aesthetics, sound gimmicks and nostalgia alone and refuse to write actual music or at least interesting noise...

well, just leave me THE FUCK alone.
it's 2009. gameboy music club started in fucking 2002. and they were already late.
please... just stop trying to capture our attention if all you have for yourself is "HEY REMEMBER NINTENDO/SEGA/COMMODORE64/AMIGA COMPUTERS"????

/rant.

("it's 4am and you're still awake writing about gameboy music??? forget hipsters and fucking go to sleep!")

and she's just a sled

2009-10-03T04:10:00.003+02:00

maybe this all isn't really there and i'm just interpreting this into it.

but i feel so much hate, disgust and in the fat buzz of the guitars, produced clean and cold. driven to madness by the tightest rhythm section the genre has ever seen. also this genre rarely ever saw guitars this fat-sounding. heavy and loud: yes. fat and powerful: unprecedented.
lyrics are reduced to a few sparse words, creating loose fragmental sparks of emotional and existential despair.
most of the music i love rides the dynamic between powerful/extroverted and fragile/introspective. but most records switch between these. this record manages to be both these things at the exact same time.

now there are these people who see this record as just another dream pop/shoegaze record. fair enough.
i for one proclaim: this isn't even just another record.
this is such a goddamn masterpiece.

STARFLYER 59 - SILVER
(tooth and nail records, 1993. reissued 2005)

(and yes, they're christians. which just makes a lot of the existential tremor even more convincing. also, the new posts i wrote about last time will follow. patience is a virtue most readers of this blog probably learned over time)

summer's officially over

2009-09-23T02:55:00.006+02:00

well, not weather-like but feelingwise. everyone's lined up for university classes, everyone's back in (or at least slowly heading back to) vienna and the fall season of a lot of great shows has started.
THE BIG BANG THEORY and HOUSE M.D. both started very strong into this season and i'm so looking forward to the following ones. and maybe even watching new episodes at 5am w/ friends. or maybe not, watching them alone after waking up early also worked very very well. we'll see.
either way, blah blah aside. gogo recommended two new shows to me and i thought i'd share those w/ the two or three people who look at this here thing that i don't actually you know talk to every day.

show one would be COMMUNITY. new show by the makers of arrested development. features joel mchale as a lwayer who lost his degree (that he never actually legally had in the beginning) and is now enrolling into community college to try and get one. very character-driven, features chevy chase as an aging voice actor, a guy with asperger's (portraited very sympathetically but still funny) and john oliver... well, playing john oliver more or less.
here's the trailer:

show two is BORED TO DEATH. features jason schwartzmann and zach galifianakis, who - as might have been noted - i have a huge mancrush on. to quote wikipedia on that one "The series follows the misadventures of a fictional Jonathan Ames as he pursues his quixotic dream of emulating his heroes from classic private detective novels."
the first episode features zach galifianakis breaking out into tears and a reference to the raid of entebbe, so yhea... i like it. a lot.
reviews have been very mixed so far. most have been positive or sympathetic at least while some criticize schwartzman's performance and some have trashed the show completely.
let's give it some time to grow, shall we.
trailer here:

following in the next couple of days: some show reviews, a new post on fresh hc and a few other things. i hope.

holdin' back the years

2009-09-08T04:07:00.001+02:00

this song is incredible and if you disagree i doubt we can be friends (anymore).

two hardcore shows

2009-08-15T13:44:00.003+02:00

which means you should go there. yes, you.

august 20th and 21st. two top notch hc shows done by awesome people who deserve your support. and all the other banal shit everyone always writes. maybe because it's true.

SOUL CONTROL are incredible. if you're into quicksand or supertouch, go there. if you haven't given up hope on hardcore yet, go there as well. if you HAVE given hope up on hardcore, go there and get your hope back. seriously, they're that good.
TRASH TALK i can't be bothered about at all but MIND TRAP and JUGGERNAUT are my hopes for austrian hardcore atm. MIND TRAP used to be WON'T STEP ASIDE and play very dirty pissed-of hardcore/punk while JUGGERNAUT (who'll be playing their first show) are more on the metallic side. holy terror/clevo with pissed screamy vocals.

what else is new? i've got three weeks off and i'm sitting in my small hometown in the countryside right now and it's doing me real good, actually. doing nothing all day but sitting in the shade sippin' lemonade and reading thomas mann or driving to the czech republic w/ a good friend and getting tons of weird soft drinks.
also, EVERTON aren't broken up, RIKA is rehearsing and writing new songs slowly but steadily and everything else is not yet in stages of being talked about. (what?)

and if you can make it to vienna today, SEX JAMS are playing at the pratersauna today at 7pm. go there if you can. it'll probably be fun. also it's a vice thing, so there'll be a lot of assholes there.

bands that i wish would come tour here

2009-07-26T02:55:00.001+02:00

weekend nachos.
drugproblem.
sfn.
coke bust.
joie de vivre.
empire! empire!
idaho.

thank you.

5:14 fluoxytine seagull alcohol john nicotine

2009-07-24T16:50:00.001+02:00

"I'm too cold to be alone this winter, I'm too old to be alone
I just want to hold you this winter, I know you get so cold
I just want to call you this winter
Where are you tonight? Why aren't you here?
You should be looking after me this winter, I sure as hell can't
Behind everything I do stares the cold truth I don't have you
I still love you, I must be the world's biggest fool
Everyday I wish you weren't so braw coz I miss you
How am I supposed to unmake the world's biggest mistake

I don't want to be your open wound all winter; you don't need to see me cry
I think I need professional help to get better, this may take some time
My life is dead and I can't see a future, I never could and I still can't
Do you still think I'd make a terrible father? I guess his blood still runs in me
Behind everything I do stares the cold truth I don't have you
I still love you, I must be the world's biggest fool
Everyday I wish you weren't so braw coz I miss you
How am I supposed to unmake the world's biggest mistake"

well holy fucking shit.

(that's how you sing) hatikva

2009-07-22T21:30:00.004+02:00

i've recently noticed again just how much i hate the whiny pretentious music of conor oberst. be it bright eyes or the records under his own name. bleurgh. how anyone over the age of 17 can get into this music or even take it seriously beats me.
having to hear those banal 08/15 lines of half-sorrow delivered with a tone as if it's some kind of thing you have to celebrate is just unbearable. real sorrow, real loneliness, real depression is not something that you could celebrate in any way. it kind of makes me think adorno was right. but i'm not gonna misquote here, that's already been done far too often and i think thomas would refuse to ever talk to me again. or at least try to coerce me into listening to stockhausen and schönberg again. which i do not approve of. at all.

apart from that i'm hanging out with the lovely DESTROY, MUNICHs at some hut somewhere in the middle of the eastern styrian hillside. they are working on their new record aided by mr. wolfgang möstl (killed by 9v batteries, mile me deaf,...) himself. at least until he finally moves to eisenerz. i heard some of the stuff and it sounds promising.
apart form that i think i might just finally be getting into religious music. i've spent the last few days listening to nothing but LOW and PEDRO THE LION. especially the obviously religious songs.
somehow it speaks to me how david bazan sings about doubting his beliefs and how he sings it. when he hits the "christmas whiskey wondering if i still believe" in his version of "god rest ye merry gentlemen" that's not just the usual blah blah of a doubting christian, that's existential doubting on the very base of it delivered in the somber crushing tone that these feelings come in (not some sort of celibratory shit).
that's just honest and real music.
the reason i for one came here for.

or, just listen to his crushing version of "silent night" and please, for once, take the fucking consequences.

but who cares anyway.

jetzt mit iodine

2009-07-15T01:28:00.003+02:00

"were you misused
by your forward thinking boyfriend?
were you confused?
were you often lonesome?
were you left bruised?
did you tell him it's ok?
can you take it back?
are you almost through?
were you undone like duran duran?
were you unfun, like that rockin' band?
i could help you leave.
i could help you feel like it's ok.
can you make it back?
is he almost through with you?"

if you have never heard this band don't ever EVER talk to me about music that can put the unspeakable moments of depression into words. you have no clue. none at all.
and definitely do NOT come to my funeral.

post-silfestival depression

2009-07-07T00:45:00.002+02:00

i have no review or anything of the silfestival. you should all know it was awesome and if you doubt that you probably wouldn't have liked it anyway. also you're probably physically incapable of having a good taste in music, suck at everything and have no friends, just people who use you for their own ends or to get to know people far cooler than you could ever be. dickwad.
despite that having an awesome weekend is the stupidest thing one could possibly do, really. landing flat on your face on monday is no fun. fuck every single minute that doesn't include a pool party, watching a kickass band destroy a few people's ears.
and fuck every single second that isn't part of playing a couple of songs of how you hate every single person in the room to those same people's applause. yes, that's UGLY VALENTINE i'm talking about.
sometimes it seems the good moments only exist to make the bad moments kick in so much worse. as they always do.

so, if you wanna be a shallow buttfuck just check out the good moments here or here.
and please don't come to my funeral.

des leprous

2009-07-02T01:43:00.003+02:00

i've been thinking about the concept of having no barrier at all. imagine all people with bloody faces and all my friends and close ones refusing to talk to me anymore. sigh. i'm still torn wether or not that would be a good or a bad thing.

anyhows, here's some youtube stuff again since it's been quite a while since i last did that.

the hardest and heaviest band out of hardcore. fuck life.

chances are that if you haven't heard of mutter you have no idea how heavy music can be.

the darkest band in the world with an almost upbeat cover. i probably posted this before, just watch it again.

and the last REPOS show. so you all can listen to a hardcore band for once.

no tons of writing today, the music should be enough to make you all miserable.
saturday's the SILFESTIVAL, go check out rika there, if you don't, i'll punch you in the dick/ovaries.
please don't come to my funeral.

RIKA / EVERTON split lp FINALLY DONE

2009-06-14T02:09:00.004+02:00

yhea. if i cared for it at all i probably wouldn't believe it either.
this is what the baby looks like:

th is is what it sounds like. it's 10 euros and you can get it via ax/goddamn records.
the RIKA side sounds so incredibly 90s it's unbearable, while EVERTON's side could probably be played on an adult rock radio station if those played songs that don't follow the verse-chorus-verse pattern.
we carry some records ourselves but ax is the one who financed everything so you should probably buy it from him. i can't thank this man enough for his support.

we're also planning a tour to support this thing and we need help with some dates for germany, france, the u.k. and the netherlands/belgium. here are the dates until now:

21.10. tba, linz [ö] w/ bail.
22.10. tba, wien [ö] w/ bail.
23.10. NEED HELP (zw. münchen und köln)
24.10. sojus 7, monheim/köln [d] w/ bail.
25.10. tba, gent [b] w/ bail.
26.10. NEED HELP (bel/nl)
27.10. NEED HELP (uk)
28.10. NEED HELP (uk)
29.10. NEED HELP (uk)
30.10. NEED HELP (fr/d)
31.10. NEED HELP (d)

if you can help us at any of those dates please send an e-mail to rikaband@gmail.com
any help is highly appreciated.

a few extra updates:
- i play bass in RIKA now.
- i moved to a smaller, cheaper and nicer appartment.
- i still work a job that pays very little money.
- yes, i started eating meat again.
- no, i haven't dropped edge nor do i have any intention of doing so. all you asshole drinkers trying to coerce me into drinking can get fucked.
- i still despise life and most people with a passion all you shitheads couldn't collect if you piled all the passion for anything you have ever had for anything together.
- everyone who was entirely useless before is twice as useless now. yes, all your utter uselessness beat the logics of math. well done, fuckheads.

the only things keeping me from jupming out the window right now:

"this is a children's song. it's about suicide. it's called 'stations'."

and the big bang theory.
please don't go to my funeral, have a good night.

we are all children of g-d

2009-04-27T01:42:00.002+02:00

i'm not dead yet. but close.

sorry, but it's true

2009-03-01T21:54:00.001+01:00

49,7% der kärntner wahlberechtigten: geht's sterben. sofort.

social d coming to vienna in june

2009-02-27T14:49:00.002+01:00

yes, i'm excited.
i could understand why you perhaps wouldn't be. you'd still be a fucking idiot, but yhea... i can see it.

and because i just love to post videos:

only thing realer than this is the "infamous prelude". but nothing's as real as that so that's not saying much.

besides that: go see us (EVERTON) at the triebwerk tomorrow. you fucks.

on the threshold of eternity

2009-02-20T00:16:00.002+01:00

you are all useless.

fucklifefucklifefucklifefucklife

2009-02-18T21:46:00.001+01:00

i hate everything.

but now for some truth: this song > than the entire HÜSKER DÜ discography

too bad no other SUGAR songs are as good as this one. though both records are good.
also: WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM yesterday were amazing.

in other news: fuck life.

shut up my head hurts rgh

2009-02-11T06:01:00.003+01:00

my head hurts, my sleep schedule is fucked over five million times and i spent four hours today cursing and wanting to smash everything. so yes i'm kinda employed now. bleh. still, that's good news i guess, so i'm not complaining.

yadda yadda, yisrael beitenu is the third largest party in the knesset now, the labor party is down to 10% and despite livni gaining the most votes, the right wing parties are leading [read for yourself]. sigh. makes sense, though. still sucks, though.
right wing extremism is still on the rise here and in between the hamas-lovers and the muslim-haters all that's left to do is hold liberal capitalist democracy high despite the fact that you see, feel and hear how capitalism deteriorates everyone around you (and you yourself) by constant pressure to make money to survive despite not being able to do so. fuck, do i hate everything right now.

but, what i actually wanted to write about are three indie projects, i've both found out about a couple of weeks ago but that got my attention again a few days ago. all are different, all are extremely good and you should check them out.

WOOLWORM

really good british-ish indie stuff. imagine a mix of my bloody valentine, teenage fanclub and pavement (or something to that effect) from vancouver, british columbia. other than that i don't know a lot about this. except that it rules.
seriously, just check out the lyrics to "woolworm":

"i'm teenaged
it's about time that i got back into my teenage mind.
i can't let my grown-ass me
just leave my teenage me behind.
no, i don't have feelings anymore, i don't feel.
no, i don't do anything anymore, i don't do.

don't touch me
i don't mind not being loved or fucked or whatever.
forgive me, i was young and being dumb when i left her.
no, i don't like you anymore, i don't like.
no, i don't want it anymore, i don't want.

no, i don't care anymore, i don't care."

now go on to tell me that doesn't rule.
also, it helps a lot that "fake french" sounds like a mixture of my bloody valentine's "sometimes" and the "last of the famous int'l playboys" cover by j church.
apparently there are plans to release three eps in the near future.
until those are out i suggest you listen to their demos.
and if you're ready to get into full-on nerddom, just follow their blog.

LEVEE.LEVEE.

i saw levee.levee. at a rehearsal room show in wr. neustadt. why i went there, don't know, couldn't say (everyone who got this reference rules). actually, i do know. levee.levee. had a song on the "still thinking" compilation entitled "prague". to put it short: that song ruled. most of the other stuff on the compilation was boring to me so at first i thought that's probably why it stood out.
but the show convinced me the stuff was really good. levee.levee. itself is just one dude, ben. normally he has a band to back him up but here he was just alone with his acoustic guitar (and a harmonica, cause he's a bob dylan nerd. but we all have our stupid sides, so that's okay).
needless to say i bought his album and proclaimed my undying love for him (or at least told him the show ruled). the album itself is quite cool, but not as good as the new songs and to be honest, when i wanted to listen to his stuff all i dug out was "prague".
that song starts off slow and silent with nothing but softly strummed acoustic guitar and ben's shivering voice singing words of longing and regret. after two stanzas drums and bass kick in and an electric guitar starts swirling, softly building up to a point where the guitar goes completely nuts. the songs takes lots of influences from all my favorite mid90s indiemo bands mixes those up with a little shy vague slowcore style and roots those on a firm singer/songwriter background.
so, yhea. ben recently posted a new song called "the way home", which rules as well and introduced a slight country feel to his mixture. i'm expecting even greater things from this man and i plan to threaten him with something unless he gets his full band to play austria as soon as possible.
so yes, check this man's music out.

URSA THEODORUS

another band i stumbled upon through the magic of the bridge9 message board. i know very little about this band. their infotext says they're a three-piece, they come from lancaster, pa and sound like a mixture of cap'n jazz and saetia. which means jangly slightly de-tuned sounding guitars, pounding drums push things forward and lots of shrieks and screams on top of it. seeing as how bored i am with screamo right now, the fact that these guys can get me listening to them and enjoying it is quite a feat. also, their name is latin for teddy bear. their old songs have a distinct indie-ish sound but their newest song sounds sooo much angrier. both of these sides rule.
so, have a listen, please.

that's all for now, i guess. more hardcore-ish stuff coming up soon, i promise. i feel a big fucking cloud coming up that'll probably have me blasting the fucking carrier for hours straight.

dead people have always made the best music

2009-01-28T22:11:00.004+01:00

a quick little trip down the emo lane before i shred myself to pieces with vio-lence, sodom and exhorder (ok, before i continue crying like a little bitch to destroy, munich and francis int'l airport) because this is just brilliant stuff:

THE IVORYTON PIANO FACTORY

this is the moniker under which justin veatch created very delicately constructed fine 90s emo-ish indie songs, sometimes upbeat and dance-y (those parts i tend to ignore) but most of the time just breathtakingly sparse and epic at the same time, carefully crafted. if that makes any sense.
sadly, veatch passed away in september 2008 at the age of 17. all the articles i found online were unclear about the cause of death though they all hinted it could have been drug-related. oh, and i found a video of him skating. and the website of a fund someone started. as soon as the store's online i'm purchasing a shirt and a cd, you can count on that.
OWEN is hyping this at the moment (check his myspace page for proof) and he also covered one of veatch's songs for the afformentioned cd. you can clearly see why he's head over heels for this, since it's really amazing stuff: "whispering spirits" sounds as if every single person who ever brought us all to tears with the piano joined forces to make the best piano driven song ever. or as if jeff buckley wrote another good song (next to the hallelujah cover that is), gently flowing along, frail and just incredibly beautiful. "esrt page 14" is a song that shouldn't actually work and like every song that works though it shouldn't, it's mind-blowing. his vocals sound very ben gibbard-ish with soft reverb-y guitars and harmonizing background vocals creating a wonderful texture, pushed along by a pounding bass drum at first and then a classic mid90s indiemo halftime part. and while it took me a while, the dance-y songs like "skate rat ollie day" have their redeeming qualities as well.
so yhea. check this out if you're into indie music.

"and i can't stay awake cause you're a radio wave. and you always seem to be transmitting to my brain"

sigh. this is so beautiful.

(hattip to stefan (of RIKA fame) for forwarding this to me.)

hardcore fuck yhea (rgnsup, harms way, נשא)

2009-01-19T15:06:00.004+01:00

so, here's my favorite hardcore shit from the last few months.

REIGN SUPREME

"american violence" has been out on malfunction for a while now and i can't stop listening to this. really good hardcore, slight metallic edge but just slight. enough for it to be hard as fuck but not too much so it'd just sound like east german kids playing hard. ehrm, yhea. you get what i mean. they're recording a new record now, which i've heard is slightly more metallic. they'll be coming to the arena in april w/ 50 lions and they'll surely be playing some of that new stuff. if you're not stoked, you probably don't like hardcore. also, if you don't go there... man, just fuck you.
listen to this. seriously.

HARM'S WAY

i could just post one picture of their singer after the other, simply because it'd be an appropriate visual as to how fucking hard this band is. their new record was handed to me not long ago (thanks again) and while it is a bit of a let down after hearing the one-sided 7", it still eats most other stuff alive and is still my preferred soundtrack for beating up a wall.
can't wait to have their lp finally.
and yhea, the whole satanism thing is kinda corny. but i'd still wear that longsleeve. proud.
now listen to them already.

THE CARRIER

oh yhea. i just saw THE CARRIER on january 7th at the arena w/ killing the dream and they ruled so much. well, not ktd, i can't stand their crap and had to leave twenty seconds into it. but THE CARRIER. shit, they blew me away. i've never been into the post-unbroken hc style too much, but their new 7" just blew me away. it's called "no love can save me", goddammit!
anyways, i've been spinning that 7" a lot and i can't wait for an album.
one final myspace link, then we're done for today.
(also, could there be a harder fucking bandname? a "carrier" is a person who carries a disease or a genetic mutation, forchrissakes. if that doesn't sum up heredetary forms of depression, i don't know what does.)

also: this little timeline here sums up various threads of the wars against israel and what lead to the gaza war. the blog it's posted on is as shady as most of these blogs are (sigh) but there's nothing to add to this one.
and while we're at it. mister spiritxcrusher forwarded me this. go read it.

just waiting just waiting just waiting

2009-01-18T01:30:00.003+01:00

like all the blogposts i'm least ashamed off i'm writing this at the stage that comes as close to being enormously fucking drunk a straight edger can get: complete exhaustion and overfatigue. i'll be lucky if i manage to walk the fourteen steps to get from the computer to my bed. to not even begin with my plan of making an exquisite falling asleep playlist involving fifteen different genres of music blending together to creating an ensemble of emotions conveyed that'll make me dream of mountains with the clearest water, skies of crimson fire and azure blue at 5am and the felt sensation of alabaster skin against me. it'll probably also include "single finger salute" by swervedriver which is arguable the most fuck you song that doesn't involve metal guitars.

what i actually wanted to post is that this song is still one of the finest pop songs ever recorded:

(sophia - oh my love)

also i wanted to point you all to the right side of this blogthing and especially encourage you to read the year end's list of the i could die tomorrow guys. the hc lovers reading this blog should probably be high aware of this blog by now and any indie kid who's not checking out the MOSCOW OLYMPICS record will be ridiculed by me in person until you run away crying.

and no: israel is not the aggressor. and no: this war could not have been avoided. and no: i'm not celebrating over it and anyone who is is a shitnozzle of enormous proportions. also: if you're really as naive as to say that war is always wrong i would remind you of a certain war that more or less ehrm... freed europe from fascism. i shouldn't even need to remind you.
i'll probably rant on for this a lot in the next few posts since this is not something i like to talk about at the moment. fuck, is everyone getting heated up at this. where were you all when the hamas torpedoed ashkelon and eliminated ever single person who rooted for working with israel? oh god, i can't even begin to express how much fuck you guys....

fuck this all, i'm going to bed.

oh yhea...

2009-01-01T23:48:00.002+01:00

EVERTON is apparently playing a show again after long periods wasted with not playing shows.
go see us or i will lose all respect for you. and punch you.

also, the split 12" w/ RIKA (a.k.a. second best band in austria) is in its finishing stages. tracks are soon to be mastered, everything else will be taken care of in the next couple of weeks or so. i can not thank our man ax enough.

so, yhea. come see us on january 9th. damage is 3 bucks until 9pm and then 5 bucks. we'll be playing at ten apparently.

two weeks off.

2009-01-01T23:28:00.006+01:00

if i could, i'd make you all delete me from your friends lists. cause a bunch of useless friends you are. not your fault, but that doesn't really fucking matter when you crack down completely at 5am. not that i'd actually hold it against you, it's just true. ah shit, forget i ever mentioned it.

yhea. SILFESTIVAL was cool. according to people who know their shit the EVERTON show ruled. thanks for checking us out, fuck you again if you were there and chose not to watch out. fuck you to death. oh yhea, we played a cover of "lucky denver mint", no one filmed it and we're not playing it again. sorry to those who wanted to go but couldn't make it (the ones i mean should know that i mean them). a big ha-ha to all those who were just plain lazy. your fucking loss, losers.
also, KILLED BY 9V BATTERIES played a SCHLEIM-KEIM cover. how's that for you?

apart from that i've basically spent the last two weeks losing my mind in my parents' home. i suppose that's too big a time span to be anywhere you're not at home with your record collection, a decent internet connection and friends who pick up their fucking phone when you call them.

aside from that nothing else really is new, i suppose. anyone else going to see THE CARRIER on january 7th? their record rules, take my word for it.

oh, and don't ask me what i think about the bombardments of gaza. and stop talking to me about that (thomas is an exception), you should already know my opinion. and no, i'm not waving israel flags, even though i think it's justified. it's bad enough already it had to come to this.

so, yhea.

jahrescharts 2008.

2008-12-17T12:18:00.001+01:00

so, jetzt lasst's mich alle in ruhe.

PLATTE DES JAHRES
iron lung - sexless//no sex.
"sexless. no sex. just death."
so eine zeile schreibt mensch nicht einfach ohne das beste power violence album seit es crossed out und man is the bastard nicht mehr gibt abzuliefern. hoffnungslos, am boden, alles zerstört und nur noch wild um sich schlagend um alle die dran schuld sind, noch irgendwie mitzunehmen. eine tiefschwarze, wütende, hässliche platte und realer als alle eure beschissenen hipstertanzscheißplatten. und wesentlich wesentlich näher an allen depressions- und wahnzuständen dran als eure beschissenen selbstverliebten xiu xiu platten. (kam im übrigen im dezember 2007 raus, is mir aber scheißegal)

ANDERE PLATTEN DES JAHRES (ALPHABETISCH, ALLES ANDERE IST WILLKÜR)

battle of wolf 359 - split 7"s mit kaddish und singhaia.
screamo ist sooo stinklangweilig geworden. kein wunder, wenn alle nur mehr entweder auf den schrillen fenderklang abfahren oder glauben fünfhundert delaypedale ersetzen gutes songwriting. einen guten trend gab's trotzdem: die rückbesinnung auf bands wie uranus oder acrid, auf power violence und alten crust. arschtreten und dabei immer noch hin und wieder mal die melodien hinter kübeln von krach verstecken, so gehört sich das. und derzeit macht das einfach keiner besser als diese briten.

blacklisted - heavier than heaven, lonelier than god.
einfach nur eine gute hardcoreplatte mit überzeugenden songs und top notch texten über schizophrenie und depressionen. wer zu "touch test", "stations", "memory layne" und "wish" nicht komplett durchdreht, hat eigentlich irgendwie so rein gar nichts verstanden. aber ja, die sporadischen grungeeinsprengsel stören natürlich auch nicht.

british sea power - do you like rock music?.
das ist einfach eine nerd-angelegenheit. epischer post-punk, der sich nicht zu schade ist sich von u2 zu bedienen (ja, das ist etwas wünschenswertes), mit einem faible für britische geschichte und für die tschechische republik ausgestattet. und halt eben einfach richtig gute songs.

the duke spirit - neptune.
mit abstand die sexyste platte, die dieses jahr rauskam' und zehntausendmal besser als all die retrorocksachen, von denen ihr glaubt dass die "so richtig rocken" oder was weiß ich, was ihr für beschissene phrasen verwendet.

feed [tx] - demo.
meine herr- und damenschaften, eine lehrstunde darin, was das wort post-hardcore zu bedeuten hat: POST-hardcore, weil es die klassischen grenzen des hardcores transzendiert und was neues probiert oder zumindest pfade befolgt, die außerhalb des klassischen hardcore rulebooks verlaufen. post-HARDCORE, weil es immer noch den/die unbändigbare energie und punch des hardcores hat und einfach auf's maul gibt.
haargenau das schaffen feed hier perfekt und reißen dabei noch alice in chains mit. so gehört sich das.

fucked up - the chemistry of common life.
na endlich reißen sie sich zusammen und machen die großartige eben-nicht-mehr-hardcore platte, die wir von ihnen hören wollten. und weil niemand die zeit hatte sich durch die 2 lps der "hidden world" durchzuhören diesmal auf nur einer, was dem ganzen seehr seeehr gut tut.

harm's way - one-sided 7" (delusion/repression).
infest mit integrity mischen. wieso is da bitte vorher keiner draufgekommen?

justice - live & learn 12".
würdiger abschied. perfekter supertouch style post-hardcore.

killed by 9v batteries - escape plans make it hard to wait for success.
am anfang gehasst, weil viel zu zerfahren und verwirrt gefunden, dann irgendwann draufgekommen, dass das auf die songs gar nicht zutrifft, weil das hier mit die konkretesten und direkt nach vorne gehendsten songs der ganzen battsgeschichte sind und gesamtdramaturgisch gerade das das geile an der platte ist.

mind eraser - conscious unconscious.
hab mir die eigentlich noch gar nicht wirklich angehört, aber das sind fucking mind eraser, die machen nix falsch.

off with their heads - from the bottom.
ja, gogo. ich find' sie trotzdem super und schluss.

seven generations - to see the end.
einfach ein perfekter unbroken rip-off. und ja, das reicht um besser zu sein als fast alles andere.

shipwreck a.d. - abyss.
eigentlich sollten sich all die beschissenen langweiligen explosions in the sky kopisten, die glauben mir ihre dreiste uninspirierte kopiererei als wegweisend, sublim oder gar originell verkaufen wollen mal diese platte anhören, um zu sehen wie das genau funktioniert mit dem episch sein und trotzdem noch den punch bewahren um allen in den arsch zu treten. aber all diese langweilerarschlöcher sind wahrscheinlich alle zu blöd oder zu langweilig, als das sie den ungeheuren punch den diese platte hat ertragen.
achja, wei postrock klingt die natürlich nicht (dann wär sie sicher nicht in der liste), beschreiben wir's mal als hardcore, der klingt als würde mensch auf einem floß mitten in der nacht in einem gewaltigen sturm im schwärzesten ozean der welt treiben. mit ausgebreitenden armen. und keinen fick auf gar nix geben. ja, so circa.

spiritualized - songs in a and e.
verdammt, diese platte wurde auf der verdammten notaufnahme geschrieben. das kann nicht schlecht sein. und wenn die platte auch noch von jason pierce geschrieben wurde, dann sowieso nicht. würdiger platz eins in wenis liste.

union town - s/t.
ich könnte hier jetzt einen ähnlichen exkurs wie bei feed oben machen, nur halt mit dem wort post-punk, aber das wär irgendwie lahm. zudem trifft es die platte auch nicht. denkt euch einfach wenn die buzzcocks damals in etwa in der lage von rites of spring gewesen wären. oder so.

...who calls so loud - s/t 2*10".
eigentlich keine ahnung, wieso mich die so überrumpelt hat, aber wenn's schon postrock-beeinflusster 00er screamo sein soll, dann muss das wohl das hier werden. hat einfach unglaublich viel energie, geht nach vorne wie nix gutes und verlässt eben nicht auf dumme effektgimmicks, sondern einfach auf gute songwritingideen. so gehört's gemacht, raein und black heart rebellion und wie all ihr mittlerweiligen langweiler heißt.

AUSSERDEM GUT:
black ships - low.
burial year / zann - split.
the declining winter - goodbye minnesota.
dillinger four - c i v i l w a r.
furnace - doublewalker demo.
hostage calm - lens.
i rise - for redemption.
the magnetic fields - distortion.
the new year - s/t.
nothing to lose - la bomba demo.

NICHT AUS DIESEM JAHR ABER WICHTIGER ALS ALLES DA OBEN
beirut - gulag orkestar (2006).
codeine - frigid stars (1990).
drop nineteens - delaware (1992).
eric's trip - love tara (1994).
the housemartins - the people who grinned themselves to death (1987).
hood - alle 7"s aus den jahren 1992-2000.
ida - i know about you (1996).
the jim yoshii pile-up - homemade drugs (2002).
my bloody valentine - isn't anything (1988).
the saddest landscape - the sound of the spectacle (2003).

SCHEISSE:
alles was wie aids wolf klingt, alles was mensch "melodischer hardcore" nennen kann, xiu xiu, postrock, mash-ups, franzosenscreamo außer amanda woodward, alles was tanzbar ist, jegliche elektronische musik außer richtig gayen vocal house, jeder einzelne von euch, außer gogo, haunzs, patrick und wenn ich gut aufgelegt bin der weni.

UND SONST?
wer am donnerstag nicht zu KILLED BY 9V BATTERIES / DESTROY, MUNICH kommt ist ein arschloch und ein vollidiot.

ACHJA
die destroy, munich cd ist natürlich auch super, aber irgendwie wär das komisch die in die liste zu geben.

leopoldstadt: 22°, wolkenlos

2008-08-08T01:29:00.005+02:00

lying on my bed again with an empty feeling in my stomach even though i really fucking feel like puking out my entire intestines right now. the sound track to that is provided by the MURDER CITY DEVILS and the new OFF WITH THEIR HEADS record, which is up for stream at their punknews profile. yhea, it's been up there for a while now and i probably should have mentioned that.

oh yes. i'm really looking forward to holding this baby in my hands...

so, what else is new? nothing much, i should probably start a showlist again though... RINGWORM and BLACKLISTED are coming to town in september, and THE NEW YEAR are coming in november. their new record probably rules, i should give it a listen. so should you. ex-BEDHEAD, ex-CODEINE. which automaticly makes it fifteen million times better than all the other stupid indie bands. like, for example, fuck XIU XIU. there, i said it.

also: vote LIF. if you're already planning to do so, please help them secure their place on the ballots. also, listen to DESTROY, MUNICH. seriously.

flag daaaay

2008-08-02T18:25:00.004+02:00

ok. apart from my steady diet of INTEGRITY, UNBROKEN and DISEMBODIED that i treat myself to at the moment, i've been really getting into THE HOUSEMARTINS again lately.

needless to say, so should you. what could possibly be wrong about a communist version of THE SMITHS? also, fatboy slim played bass in that band. that stills cracks me up every fucking time.

moving on, if you have time tonight please consider coming to the old slaughterhouse in hollabrunn. UMBRELLAS IN THE RAIN will be playing there tonight as part of some exhibition that i have no idea about. they were really good at the sommersilfestival, so yhea. this can't possibly be bad tonight.

also, thanks again to the wonderful KIDS RETURN for playing a wonderful show with us last tuesday at floki's cellar. give them a listen if you're into BOY'S LIFE or other mid90's indiemo. georg filmed part of the show, you can check our (EVERTON's) show here.

so, yhea what else is now? nothing really. except that this is the best video i've ever seen. also, listen to DESTROY, MUNICH. seriously.

short notice: KIDS RETURN & EVERTON (houseshow!)

2008-07-28T20:50:00.004+02:00

july 29th, 2008 (a.k.a. tomorrow)
KIDS RETURN (uk; indie-ish mid90s 'mo)
EVERTON (a; indiemo)
@ floki's house, buchholzstraße 2, garsten bei steyr.

trains go there (two hours from vienna, 57 minutes from linz). so you should as well.

we'll bring cds and everything. and of course, you can say hi to me.

also, listen to DESTROY, MUNICH. seriously.

holy fucking shit!

2008-07-28T01:53:00.005+02:00

rchrd is still alive?
well yes, barely. still one and a half feet in the grave. still ready to jump out of my third floor window directly into the streetlight hanging over the zirkusgasse. but fuck it, more tuneage.

QUOTATIONS OF RAIN

have played an awesome gig supporting portugal raeinmo heroes ADORNO (who apparently have added a third guitar player now and have rocked me twice in linz and vienna). their demo is finally out now and i've expected great things of it. these seewinklers have taken their own share of late90s skramz like jeromes dream or to dream of autumn as well as the saetia-school and twisted it into their own thing. the guitar and drums do their own thing without any care whatsoever if it's the typical thing to do or if some dude from san diego played it like that five years ago. these guys have a unique sound that set them apart instantly. i've upped the closer of the four song demo. you can get it from the band itself via the myspacelink above.
[mp3] quotations of rain - this ain't a key, it's a carving knife.

RAEIN

speaking of RAEIN. after having played their fifth reunion show or so it seems the creators of the modern classics of postrockskramzmo have decided to get together for realz again. no real news here i guess. since most people around me still go bonkers for them i'm the last to find out about them having recorded some new stuff. a full ep or an album or so. on their myspace. people say it's great, i haven't had the time and or motivation to check it out yet, seeing as i was to busy listening to integrity and sharon stoned.

I RISE

so. back to hardcore again. I RISE is the best band right now, at least as far as i know (since i was too stupid to catch THE MONGOLOIDS in vienna and i haven't really made up my mind about TRAPPED UNDER ICE yet). their new record is called "for redemption" and since i know nothing about hardcore i'll keep it simple and short and say it's awesome awesome stuff. check out two songs off of it on their myspace. der shit is so krass, der frontet ich selber.

FUCKED UP

have apparently completely gone off the deep end now. two new songs have surfaced recently (more like in the last year or so) and both of them weird me out for some reason. i forgot all about one of them, so i'll be sticking to "no epiphany". it features backup vocals by someone who i think indie hipsters know. i'm not an indie hipster, so i don't know. anyhow, the song itself makes no sense musicwise and lyrically it's about not giving a fuck about anything. also, they are on matador records now. this band confuses me, which is a good thing. always. also, go and read their blog. the interview are hilarious. and confusing. ham.

so yhea, what else happened while i was in coma? well, the power to the people fest came and went (thomas made some kickass videos of it), SIXDAYSINJUNE broke up and played a last show, i listened to a shitload of RUSTY JAMES, the RABBIT THEORY played a show and thomas made some kickass videos of it, i lined myself into the flock of sheep going apeshit over the new BLACKLISTED record, transmission festival came and went with MERKIT and AMALTHEA nailing us to the ground, i listened to a shitload of ANASARCA and the sommersilfestival2008 came and went (andrei of UMBRELLAS IN THE RAIN took pictures) and DESTROY, MUNICH officially became my favorite band in the meantime.

politically the government cracked down and we're voting again this autumn. the liberal forum is running again, as well as a group of monarchists and a left-wing project including the SLP (which makes it interesting) and the LSR (which makes it a failure from the start). sigh. i'm wishing for the best and expecting strache as vice chancellor. double sigh. also, bahamas published an article i can agree with. that's actually a first, i think.

so, yhea. i guess i'll be updating this more often again now. though that's what i said earlier as well. so yhea. we'll see...

also, listen to DESTROY, MUNICH. seriously.

2008-05-27T14:00:00.002+02:00

15. "yhea, you're a fucking idiot. idiot. idiot. idiot." ("idiot", hospitals 12".)

14. "sit back and let me tell you about the sadness. about the beast that's been gnashing it's teeth. trying to destroy, trying to destroy me. it rears it's head every time i'm alone. in the middle of the night if you don't answer your phone. it snarls at me, it snarls at me." ("i hate my stupid ass and i hope i get in a car accident tonight", split 7" w/ the dukes of hillsborough.)

13. "i'm every morning you wake up alone. i'm every time you're drunk and walking home. i'm all the tears you cry 'til you can't see. i'm everything you swore you'd never be. and the list goes on and on and on and on and on..." ("i am you", split 7" w/ the practice.)

12. "take my advice and leave now while you have a chance. it's starting right now i can feel it, it's starting again. it's bad enough i can tell in advance. i know you'll be miserable in no time flat. i know you'll be wishing that you had left. it's bad enough i don't ever feel like it's worth it to start over again. it's bad enough i can tell in advance." ("go on git now", from the bottom lp.)

11. "don't know if i can withstand another night of this hell living in my head. you say there's something you can do that will help, how can you help me when I can't even help myself?" ("that must be nigel with the brie", all things move toward their end 12".)

10. "i don't care about anyone, when the deal is paid and done and the pain is relieved. i'll tie it tight around my neck, kick the chair with my legs cause i wanna fucking die today" ("die today", hospitals 12".)

9. "well, i took some pills and woke up somewhere near your appartment. don't know why i wound up at your appartment. didn't mean to break the glass outside your appartment. i was aiming for your boyfriend, baby. yhea, he was my target." ("horse pills and the appartment lobby", all things move toward their end lp.)

8. "it's not the real me screaming you away. it's my selfish sadness ruining every day. everything is wrong." ("i hate my stupid ass and i hope i get in a car accident tonight", split 7" w/ the dukes of hillsborough.)

7. "you can tell me that i'm a bad person, tear apart every fiber of my being. and then call the cops. call the cops on me." ("call the cops", all things move toward their end lp.)

6. "she's not okay, and she keeps telling me. and i don't know what to say. when you can't sleep and you can't eat it's kind of hard to lead the way. up all night crying, this day won't go away, just go away. i light my cigarette and open up my phone and say: i know what it's like to be afraid. i said i know, i feel it every goddamn day. and i know what it's like to be angry all the time. and i know what it's like to always be the last in line, at least i know." ("at least i know", split 7" w/ dear landlord.)

5. "it's hard to admit i still think about you. five years, 2000 days, i've been living without you. i know i was a dick and i ruined your life and that's just as fucked up as i am tonight. it's hard to admit i still think about you. it's hard to admit i still think about you. i wanna die when i wake up in the morning, if i'm dreaming about you." ("hard to admit", hospitals 12".)

4. "it was all just a dream. and it's time to come clean. and it's time to move on. no matter how hard it seems." ("self check out", from the bottom lp.)

3. "all this time spent in hospitals makes it seem impossible to ever walk back through that door. you've got so much more to do, i'd trade it all with you, i'm just a drug addict and nothing more." ("jackie lee", hospitals 12".)

2. "until the day i die i swear i'm gonna make your life as miserable as mine." ("until the day i die", from the bottom lp.)

1. "i keep it simple and i trust my friends. but i'd rather be in new york doing heroin again." (heroin in nyc", hospitals 12".)

OFF. WITH. THEIR. HEADS.
(seriously. no other band has ever managed to put the battle with depression and the battle with being a bastard to every one you know despite the fact that those people who deserve being a bastard to aren't the ones you know into a two minute punk rock song. and they're coming to the arena on october 25th.)

oh, and an extra one that doesn't really count, since it's a cover version.

"i wanna live all alone in the desert. i wanna be like georgia o'keefe. i wanna live on the upper east side and never go down to the street. splendid isolation, i don't need no one. splendid isolation. like michael jackson in disneyland, don't have to share it with nobody else. ???, take my hand and lead me through the world of self.
don't wanna wake up with no one beside me. don't wanna wake up to nobody new. don't want nobody coming by without calling first. don't wanna have nothing to do with you. i'm putting tinfoil up on the windows, lie down in the dark to dream. i don't wanna see their faces, i don't wanna hear them scream." ("splendid isolation", split 7" w/ dear landlord. originally by warren zevon.)

vrtn/rika tour #4

2008-05-19T14:26:00.003+02:00

we've been to the u.s. army base in schweinfurt and got lots and lots of dew. we've played a show in a youth center of a christian organisation. we've listened to the ...WHO CALLS SO LOUD debut on the way home and i couldn't fucking comprehend how awesome it is. shit. i still can't.

i'm back home, sitting on my mattress in my room again. like landing flat on your stomach on the water surface. when we arrived at my home it was pouring heavily. all the long drive home from ansbach it was sunny and warm and just ten kilometres or so before we entered vienna it started raining. yhea, thanks again, discordia. you've always been very helpful and shit. we slept in the weirdest flat ever the day before. it used to be a doctor's practice but now a shitload of people live there. it was the weirdest mix of jesus freaks paraphinalia, left-wing posters and vague punk rock look. my brain's fried for sure. the show itself was meh. i mean, RIKA killed everything in the room and apparently so did we but... somehow it feels weird to know that maybe the fact that we've played to the jesus freaks might give us a reputation as a christian band or something. you know, i don't fucking care about religious people who don't go around killing or persecuting others because of their beliefs and the people of ansbach were nice people but... well, i can't put it into words i guess. whatever.

the day before we played schweinfurt with PATTERNS, an awesome minutemen-ish post-hc band from cologne. seriously dancable stuff and all that without being annoying. and, you know, i can be easily annoyed. really fucking easily. the stattbahnhof, were we played at, is an old railway station (with the new one being right next to it) and probably the sweetest location on the entire tour. the people who did the show were all exceptionally nice and they served us essentially the best food on tour (vegetarian kebap).
at the show lenni (drums for RIKA) met two g.i.'s who serve at the army base in schweinfurt and told them about my faible for taco bell. they invited us to come over the next day. and the fearless adventurers we are, we did. i had taco bell for the first time in six years again. i admit, it tasted better in my memory but i still enjoyed every bite. since we all are mountain dew fanatics of the highest proportion, we also bought about 70 cans of the green stuff to the dlight of the g.i.'s. our tourbus was so packed...

leap back to right now. i'm on the third can of u.s. softdrinks now, listening to the incredible ...WHO CALLS SO LOUD 2*10" ad i'm still floored by it. the tour buzz has worn off now and feelingwise i'm back in regular life now, i guess.
so, yhea. what now? hrm...

(EVERTON and RIKA were on tour from may 9th to may18th. everton is florian, michi, raffael, richard. rika on tour were lenni, natascha, sebastian and stefan. the almighty gogo roadied, drove and shared the good times and the bad times. 4/5 of DESTROY, MUNICH joined us for two days on our dayoffs in berlin. we played six shows in nine days and maybe 100 people or so were on these shows all together. we sold about thirty tour cds and not much else. everyone got a cold and i think i hurt my back seriously somewhere. raffi finished three seasons of MY NAME IS EARL on tour and we played a shitload of worms armageddon. three people were injured and no one was killed. everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.)

vrtn/rika tour #3

2008-05-16T23:26:00.005+02:00

drenched in my own sweat and doused in kerosene i've sat down happily for the first time in what feels like an eternity. the show we played today, in schweinfurt might very well be the best show we ever played. it surely is the first show on this tour that i'm completely satisfied with.

RIKA ruled so much today as well. it's amazing to see how this band can build itself up again from down to almost zero to their max. at yesterday's show the magic was down to nothing but tonight they blew me away with every hit of a string and every pound on a drum. especially amazing and killing me every fucking time is their new song "harbor". parts endserenading-MINERAL, parts 00's postrock this one starts off with a mighty wall of sound leading directly into the twinkly part that always drives me to tears instantly. - "we close our eyes in your room. when you wake us in the morning, you always walk away in silence." - or at least that's what i can make out of the lyrics. and though i'm pretty sure i don't get what this song's about it just works for me instantly.

it always feels good to be away from everything. but most of the time it's just6 a distraction. one that doesn't really work to its full extent. i'm buzzing right now and i'll probably still be buzzing the next hour or so (with the funky fresh PTTRNS slaying in the room behind me par exemple) but as soon as someone turns off the light and everyone's drifting off it all starts again. just like it hit yesterday, heavily. the pain in my ankles, my throat and my head. this hole on my stomach made of hunger, loneliness and this undescribable pain of missing you so much. and of course even if i fall asleep i awake soon after and it hits all over again. i can't even begin to tell you how good it felt to fall asleep in the tourbus today on the way between frankfurt and würzbürg. me handling the map and the descriptions (almost) perfectly. you should have seen me. or something.

current listening material: austin lucas - putting the hammer down / oakland skyline (track) ** elliott - false cathedrals ** rika - harbor (track).
current reading material: issues of phase2, antifaschistisches infoblatt and derrechterand ** robert payne - the great charlie.

vrtn/rika tour #2

2008-05-14T08:16:00.003+02:00

after the third sneezethrough you see stars. those little silverdot swirls spinning around fast in small 1 cm diameters one every two or three cms. getting dizzy, having to hold on. put another thing to my wimplist: unable to shower in cold rooms without almost passing out. or something. also i'm still coughing my lungs out every morning like a chainsmoker. why did i ever become straight edge again?
berlin, day 3. yesterday evening i was really fucking ready to leave. enough berlin, enough walking around for hours. my left foot was still killing me but this is a big city with loads of stuff to see. there's no time for resting or anything, you know. back at lenni's place i come to consider that maybe i just should have.
so far this feels more like some kind of city trip than a real tour or anything. which is probably what was to be expected considering how all three day-offs fell around the berlin date. still, i'm about ready to leave now. like, really fucking ready. been to xmesserx already, what else should there be?

"leave me alone! me and my devotiooooon"

8:32. i haven't really been able to sleep tonight. that's ok, though. more time to blast awesome 90s revival indie/noise rawk through the speakers of stefan(RIKA)s laptop, bang my freshly washed hair and read up on world politics. lulz, bob barr is running for president. let's see if this reminds the ronpaulians that there already is a party for what they all apparently go cuckoo about.

misc stuff: just cause most of the stuff you're ever going to want to hear spontaniously is available all the time on youtube, or myspace doesn't mean everything is... i've just been looking for "likewise" by HARMFUL for half an hour or so. all i found was a 30sec clip on amazon. meh. ** despite all the criticism (some of it rightfully so), walking through the denkmal für die ermordeten juden europas was humbling ** lots of viennese street art stuff in f'hain and kreuzberg. well, vienna is never that far away, is it...

listening material: united movement - devotion (track) ** coalesce -functiong on impatience

vrtn/rika tour #1

2008-05-12T18:18:00.005+02:00

let's hear it one more time. klick klick...

"there sheeee goeeeees.there she goeeees agaaaaaain..."

spinning the indie-ish 80s post-punk videos one after another we sit around lenni's appartment raping his internet connection. a couple of friends dropped by just to see us play five million miles away from home.
my left foot hurts from walking through berlin for hours on end just to get some pizza hut (and see some parts of the city), i'm still hurt by friends forgetting about me and missing you hurts like hell as well, of course. but being exhausted and doused in my own sweat from walking for hours soothes the pain a bit. whatever makes you work, i guess. we arrived in berlin yesterday, crashed at lenni's place. the others went to see GREGOR SAMSA at the schokoladen. i broke down on my bed cause i was just in pain. the usual, you know. same thing since august 2007...

we had played chemnitz the day before. the show was at a squat somewhere in chemnitz. almost no one came. the squat was very unlike the dirty shithead squats the likes of the ekh. after the show we tranquilized ourselves with a new house m.d. episode. well, at least it worked for me. at least for the duration of the episode. everything crashed again just before i fell asleep. we were treated to a rich breakfast the next day, that helped.

time warp back to right now. 18:37, berlin. we're playing the lokal tonight. somehow i think tonight's gonna be great. hopefully i'll get rid of some records tonight. get some money for the tour.

reading list: blurr #26 ** glw/drk #4 ** nate powell - please release.
listening list: jawbreaker - 24 hour revenge therapy ** hüsker dü - flip your wig ** mineral - endserenading.

new b-abuse...

2008-05-02T14:04:00.002+02:00

B-ABUSE... say what you want, but this band has always delivered the best stuff and continues to do so.
part crust, part neurosiscore, part slint, part screamo - no one else can keep my attention for twenty minutes just like they can.

and apparently they're recording something new.
check out the track "all the animals laying trail" on their myspace.

and while you're at it... download their records from their website. anything from "tens65" on is perfect.

2008-04-26T18:20:00.002+02:00

"after the first time we kissed i drove for an hour in the wrong direction.
frozen in the winter wind where nothing could ever begin i saw you.
you were shining like a brand new sun. shining starlight for me. for you and me, my love
pass a junkyard on the left, time to catch my breath.
almost to the out-of-state line.
oh, it’ll be better this time, this time"

seriously, there is no other band like IDA that can make me cry with a single sung word. no one does this kind of music better than them. seriously, fuck mineral, christie front drive, the stella brass, rydell and all of them.

and oh god i can't wait to sit in the greyhound on my way through the midwest listening to "i know about you" (their 1996 record). and i can't wait to eat taco bell every fucking day.

r.i.p. dimitrij.

2008-04-16T23:01:00.003+02:00

"i heard it could take a lifetime but mine it won't take"

some random thoughts...

2008-04-10T01:26:00.003+02:00

slowly he looks at his calloused hands and dreams of something
something he thought was real and he looks to the ground.

so yhea, chr. recently told me that the roof of the haus nö is accessable for people. so yhea, i'll probably check that one out real soon with a cool soda and something to eat. cause rooftops basically rule more than most other things. which you probably all know by now.

and maybe we've just seen the first movements of summer. i walked through the augarten with a friend of mine today. the second district is starting to feel like some kind of home here. we also sat down on one of the benches and looked at one of the flak towers through the skeletons of the trees. highly symbolic or something. but, you know, it's not as if i care, since i'm a punk rocker. spit.

also, i think i just listened to our own cd for the first time since it came out. shit, it was still wrapped in plastic.
yhea, i believe most "artists" (or whatever the fuck you want to call people who create something) have those feelings about stuff they've created, the usual mixture of "what the fuck was i thinking?", "why didn't i/we do thisorthat instead?" and "fuck, that's still true". and the guitars sound kinda weak and everything sounds kinda sterile. meh.

why i am even listening to this? well, we'll be playing our first show in months this saturday in the small village of rabenstein (south of st.pölten). a friend of ours is doing this show, playing with his own band (GRETCHENFRAGE). to start things off slow, we agreed to play this one. also, this might be the first time we'll be playing a show around st. pölten with actually some people attending. then again, maybe not.

so, short and simple:
GRETCHENFRAGE (indierock)
EVERTON (mid90s indiemo)
REPUBLIC OF ADAM (some other crap)
at the rabensteinhalle, rabenstein.
damage is 2 bucks.

in other news: jungle world updated their site layout. looks awesome. go have a look.
also: i hope to be seeing you here. jus' sayin'

2008-04-03T22:27:00.003+02:00

this is just an amazingly beautiful song.

"in the dream that awakened me, you had come and taken me to a sea of stars. the cat stood in the flowers, two ears above. and the ground that was under me was holding me so wonderfully on a bed of leaves and you were there with me and we were free. everything we saw was beautiful and strong and i knew we belonged. then the birds came and carried us to the sky and married us on a bed of stars where i was always yours and you were mine.
and in the long black eternity i loved you so perfectly in the words of clouds,
like a bird sings to his flowers and i was heard. everything i saw was everything i'd want and this world had just begun to live. don't wake me up. i can't wake up from this.
everyone was forgiven, made hopeful, made living, made winning tonight. so captain, please consider me. let the boats deliver me when i close my eyes. drive, captain, drive. it's time for everything to be perfect. for everything to stop hurting. tonight. don't wake me up."

nothing else to report, really. i'm off to AUSTIN LUCAS now, humming the afformentioned tune.

sixdaysinjune video bootleg ZOMG!

2008-03-31T20:58:00.002+02:00

i have nothing to add.
expect some upcoming live shows with even more people destroying everything. bitches.

SYN*ERROR

2008-03-23T03:30:00.007+01:00

i've been planning on doing this interview since hrm... last summer? when SYN*ERROR where on the road through europe with blog favorites WHAT PRICE, WONDERLAND? and they played a show in a small venue/youth centre in slovenia with KHERE from italy and slovenian local heroes WITH ENGINE HEART (a.k.a. MIT MOTOREN HERZ). i hadn't heard anything by them and truth be told i was only there to see the WEH guys again and shake my head and ass to the fine tuneage of the WP,W?
well, SYN*ERROR blew me away that evening. instead of the expected usual emo-ish nu-skramz that every single band out of germany plays right now (which is fine and dandy but pretty boring after the fiftieth band) i got a lovely blast of mid90s revival. jangly guitars, sometimes upbeat, then tearing everything down again with dual screams.
so yhea, after me being a lazy asshole and the band not answering for a long time, here we finally have it. an interview with rob, the guitarist. my questions are boring but, aw read it anyway. and check out the band.

- first things first, tell us who's in the band, where you're from, what you have released so far and since when you're playing together.

well, syn*error is stephan, who plays bass and sings, daniel and rob, who both play guitar and sing, and mark, who is drumming. we're from berlin. actually we all grew up in east berlin. stephan, dan and me basically played together in a punk rock band since our teenage days, but it didn't really work out with the drummer. some time in spring/summer 2005 mark joined us on drums and that's where i see the starting point of syn*error. we started playing gigs, on one of these early gigs timo from Leben Macht Durstig, who is a really close friend now, saw us, liked what he saw, and asked us to be the first band on his newly founded label. which brings us to the releases. so far we've released a s/t 3 song cd-r on Leben Macht Durstig, a split tape with jet pilot, also on Leben Macht Durstig, a self released cd-r ("five songs") which featured songs of the two earlier releases [the s/t cd-r was sold out and out of print but we still wanted the songs to be available] and a self released split cd-r with our summer touring buddies what price, wonderland?, which we sold on the summer tour 2007. some new releases, for example a split with adorno from portugal that'll be released on Unterm Durchschnitt, will be out some time soon.

- i've heard about your drummer also playing in petethepiratesquid. is your band connected to a berlin emo scene or what are other connections to other bands?

haha, no, mark is not playing in petethepiratesquid. but actually daniel and bjoern, the pete's drummer, are confused very often because of their similar looks. the petes are good friends though, love their music! bjoern also plays in a berlin based post-hc band called it.is.imperative, who are good friends of us, too. also there's a nice band called telekolleg from berlin that we've played quite some shows with and that should be checked out. other connections are that i used to play in a band called malatesta together with timo and thomas (who does most of our recordings) which recently broke up. oh, and some of us are setting up shows in berlin under the moniker 'little league shows'. so you see, we definitely are connected to a little scene here in berlin. i wouldn't want to call it an 'emo scene' though, we're rather calling it diy punk rock.

- do you consider touring a valuable part of the band and are you touring a lot? how was the tour with what price, wonderland? any weird or funny stories?

touring/playing shows is actually the most fun part about being in a band. really. there's nothing better. we'd like to play more shows than we are right now, but jobs and university and money issues kinda stand in our way there. the tour with wpw was the best experience we had as a band so far. we've met so many incredibly nice people, have seen quite a lot of europe, played with some awesome bands, and had some extremely good meals. we actually took a picture of every meal we got, as this tour also was marks personal 'tour de gourmet'. it was like a vacation with your best friends, a two week long road trip with beautiful summer weather and a show to play every night. it's hard to pick one particularly funny or weird story though, as there's so many unique memories and experiences we made on that tour. also i'm answering this question 6 months after the tour which makes it kinda hard, haha. but it think i might have posted a blog on our 'myspace' which might give some more insight...

- the split cd-r with WHAT PRICE, WONDERLAND? had extraordinary artwork. is it important to you that a release is more than just a simple cd in a case?

yeah, i'd say so. especially if it's only cd-r releases, haha. also this was a special release, it deserved special package. ;) it's really nice if you see that someone actually thought about the artwork/packaging and put effort into doing it, that makes it way more personal than just having a cd-r in a plastic case. i think it's important though that it's not that ridiculously arty-farty that it actually skyrockets the price of that release too high, after all it's the music that makes me want to buy the cd/vinyl/tape, not the packing/artwork, that's just the extra mile.

- the lyrics on the split cd-r mostly fall into the personal reign, since this zine is also more or less a political zine i'd be interested if you would also consider to express political views or problems in your lyrics or if that is completely out of the question?

well, i personally don't like most lyrics that are specifically political, only a few bands can pull that off without sounding preachy. it would feel weird to express our own personal political views with the band, to be honest we just don't feel the need to. at least to do it too obviously, because i think there's some [personal] politics in our lyrics. also i think/hope that most people at shows we play, or that buy our records, already are self aware enough about their political views and that they can think for themselves and they most probably would already know/agree on what we'd have to tell them about politics, that's like preaching to the choir. we are all more or less political persons and express our views in our everyday lifes, or maybe indirectly with the way we run our band.

- since your music is pretty oriented on older stuff like still life or floodgate, which is a little unusual in today's emo/screamo scene, where most bands play the level plane or witching hour styles, which records would you recommend a dude who's interested in older emo but doesn't know eher to start ;)

ah thanks, i really enjoy floodgate and especially still life. to be honest we don't try to sound like those bands though, this just seems to be the point where our different musical tastes meet and the results being written in the rehearsal room kinda end up reminding people of that stuff. which is cool. well, i'd definitely recommend that dude some shotmaker, policy of 3, julia and indian summer. for some more chaotic, screamy stuff i'd recommend him mohinder and heroin, for some more mellow tunes i'd recommend one of my personal favourites, the 'departures and landfalls' record by boys life.

so well. nice dudes playing awesome music. go check them out.

the usual linkage: myspace. buy their stuff and go see their shows.
or at least check out a livevid:

...

2008-03-06T21:07:00.001+01:00

http://orf.at/ticker/282405.html

r.i.p.

...who calls so loud?

2008-03-06T09:14:00.003+01:00

yhea, everyone is over this band at the moment. ex-FUNERAL DINER and all. but, seriously... this is some really really good stuff. a bit more postrock-ish but somehow it still manages to sound classic, kind of like if indian summer were started in 2007. or something. i'm not really making sense, i guess.

check out their three songs on their myspace, their among the best stuff i've heard recently. a dual-10" will be out soon on adagio830 and damn, am i looking forward to that one...

also, these guys are apparently on tour from april to december with only a couple of days break between u.s. tour, european tour, japan tour and then the whole thing again. you see... that's fucking dedication. also: i wish i could do that. with whichever band, i don't really care.

arriving.

2008-02-29T21:40:00.006+01:00

so. i finally finished loading all my stuff from my little room in donaustadt to my lovely new bigger room in leopoldstadt.
it feels awesome right here, i'm really looking forward to when i'm starting to actually put some furniture in here. expect the first couple of houseshows (like acoustic RIKA performances or something like that) in the newt few months, motherfuckers.

also, a couple of pictures since i don't really post a lot of pictures here. mainly because i don't really have a fucking camera. those were all shot with my mobile and therefore they're small and grainy. but that's enough for this crummy little blawg anyway.

one corner. rekkids and desk.
also pictured: my lovely little acoustic guitar. with thousands of punk rawk stickers including a CHILDREN OF FALL one, which i should probably peel off. because of you know what... (if you don't know look at the answer of question two in the linked interview.)

the next corner.my little mattress, the weird thing i put my clothes in. a lot of unporganized electronical shit (guitar amp, cd player, lamp, etc.) and some show posters that i should put on the walls sometime soon. but, you know, no hurrying or something ;)

and the third corner. hopefully i'll have this corner filled with awesome couches and shit like that soon, instead of this huge pile of mostly useless cds and still packed stuff in some bags. also pictured: the washbowl i deposit my worn stinky dirty clothes in and a funny stool.

the fourth corner is filled with empty boxes and bags still. not really exciting yet. i should probably put a cabinet or something there. liek... as soon as i get one.

and this little thingy is hanging on my door. please take it with a grain of salt, since i AM a communist, but i'm certainly not a fan of any of the "socialist" states that have enslaved and murdered thousands of people while refering to marx. i just have to admit i'm into the iconography. and also it belonged to my brother and i found it by chance last weekend.

so yhea, what else is new? i don't know. you tell me.

(and yhea, i know the main synagogue isn't really in leopoldstadt... but people are waiting for this post and this is my blawg, so get fucked.)

motherfucking PERTH EXPRESS

2008-02-25T20:49:00.003+01:00

9 out of 10 skramz experts agree: go there, you fucking idiot.
if you need any convincing, here's PERTH EXPRESS destroying everything at cmar2007:

and here's PERTH EXPRESS destroying the abc no rio.

i should probably update the showlist again, but you know... i'm just not motivated. also i'm in the middle of moving.

aside from that, let me point you to this again.

nyaaaaahhhhh

2008-02-21T17:52:00.005+01:00

stefan of the almighty RIKA pointed me towards this. it's roger king of THE PINE playing two acoustic songs. the second video features a short interview with him. needless to say i'm craving that mentioned solo album so badly right now.

the two (amazing) songs

the interview

well yhea, i have no idea who exactly vim crony is and i've never seen this show before but yhea, what can you do...

and since i know a lot of you are probably having really huge anti-THE PINE ressentiments, here's the best fucking hip-hop video of the last couple of years.

now shut up and let me get back to sleep.

we were never innocent...

2008-02-13T01:28:00.000+01:00

fuck, was this band good once or what?

new music, again

2008-02-11T15:12:00.001+01:00

yhea, nothing much new to report so let's just get to the fucking music, won't we?

GREGOR SAMSA

well, yhea. i guess i'm a little late with that one but the wonderful enchanting GREGOR SAMSA are currently streaming their new yet-to-be-released album "rest" on their myspace page. for everyone who's into delicate fragile music with soft vocals, this is probably the best you can get. these guys are on tour in may 2008. they'll hit munich, at least. i suppose a car full of xhate songx people and friends will be there.

A FINE BOAT, THAT COFFIN!

the stop-and-start masters of A FINE BOAT, THAT COFFIN! have apparently been working on new stuff. how exactly that slipped under my radar, i don't know. doesn't matter, what matters is three new AFB,TC! tracks will be on a split with a band called ANGEL EYES (that i'll probably check out some day). one new song off of that to-be-released split can be found on their myspace page. go listen to it if you're into chaotic grind with jazzy-twinkly interludes. and if you're not, listen to them anyway. i'm not into that stuff regularily but this band just pulls it off so well and intensely.

LUNA SILENZIOSA

yhea, another post with me posting about a band ryan is in. i guess this blog is always good for a surprise. doesn't matter, cause he's in such good bands. this one is more along the lines of 00's postrock crossed with INDIAN SUMMER-ish mid90s 'mo, the kind that basically predicted 00's postrock. or something to that effect. nice epic songs. a cd-r will be released on the workaholics at emuzah.

what else is new? well, i've included a new blawg in the political section... the carinthian blog der lindwurm - a cool left-wing liberal blog about... well, the usual, i guess... criticism of islamism, authoritan socialism and of course fascist tendencies. neatly written and interesting. recommended. also, i've updated some outdated links (lizas welt has moved and so has underground obituaries) and links to some cool hc/punk/skramz/postrock ressources (like the croatian webzine subvultures and german sr(zine)distro)
and what is new in real life? well, i'm hungry and i'm gonna get some pizza or something. and my brain is still fried from last weekend. photos and reviews of our show with SIXDAYSINJUNE will follow shortly. as soon as someone sends me some pictures of the show, goddamnit!

postrawk!

2008-02-04T14:41:00.000+01:00

so, yhea. day three in the studio. our friends of RIKA are still pounding in the drums. dudes and dudettes have a lot of fucking tempo changes... i'm surprised they can even keep track of all this stuff!

so yhea, stuff sounds great and if i could be bothered, i'd maybe post some photos but instead i'll just be posting lots of youtube videos of stuff that we're watching and listening to while the other are doing all the work.

ghastly city sleep - suchness.
really awesome postrock on robotic empire. sigh.

hope of the states - black dollar bills.
kinda postrock. was on a major label. made one postrock record that had four great songs, then changed their style completely and downright sucked. still, those songs from their first record are amazing.

six organs of admittance - excerpt from donaufestival, krems, 2007.
yhea, one of the best shows last year. just an excerpt, here, but you know... that's more or less how the whole show was.

the black heart rebellion - silhouette (excerpt).
best band outta belgium. this is just an excerpt, cause i can't find a full video of "silhouette" anywhere. but you get the deal.

battle of wolf 359 - part of a show in pontrefact, england.
i already raved on about this band. they're still awesome. and they'll be playing cmar2008.

jeromes dream - live at bristol skatepark, 2000.
THE classic.

louise cyphre - your punkrock, our friendship (live at cmar 2006).
they'll be playing cmar2008 as well. rumors are this will be their last show. one of the best and most prolific bands in the world of (anti-)german skramz. it's probably kinda hard not to like them.

and to top things of: the trainer of "juno". best movie in the last couple of months. seriously, as soon as this one hits cinemas, go watch out. (lots of hearts go out to mr. ween for raving on and on to me about it)

and, and just cause i really liked the article (and because the word "politics" is hiding somewhere on this page): hendryk m. broder writing about the sudeten germans and their claims of genocide. (and from this day on i'm on the watchlist of the aik. i guess. lulz.)

so. enough of all that. time for a showlist. it's been a while, lulz.

-shows next two weeks-
mo 04 02 - EFTERKLANG (arena, kleine halle)
th 07 02 - DIMITRIJ / KILLED BY 9V BATTERIES / SIXDAYSINJUNE (arena dreiraum)
fr 08 02 - KILLED BY 9V BATTERIES / PAPER BIRD / TSCHOK, DIE DOHLE (alter schlechthof hollabrunn)
mi 13 02 - STARS (flex)
fr 15 02 - CAPTAIN PLANET / RIKA (raghead, großenzersdorf nö)
sa 16 02 - GODSENTUS / REANIMA (b72)
so 17 02 - ROCKY VOTOLATO / CHRIS MAGERL (b72)

-other upcoming shows-
mi 20 02 - FRAGMENTS OF AN EMPIRE / CODE INCONNU (rhiz)
mi 20 02 - JAPANTHER / VORTEX REX (fluc wanne)
th 22 02 - ZWEI TAGE: OHNE SCHNUPFTABAK (arena beisl)
su 24 02 - EARTH / SIR RICHARD BISHOP (szene wien)
su 24 02 - LVMEN / AMBER MCLANE (stadtwerkstatt, linz oö)
mo 10 03 - VALINA (chelsea)
we 12 03 - MIKE PARK / SUNDOWNER (b72)
we 19 03 - JAKUZI'S ATTEMPT / THE SCARABEUSDREAM (b72)
we 26 03 - TURBOSTAAT (arena, kleine halle)
th 27 03 - ISAIAH / TORN IN MY PRIDE / GUNGATZ (kapu, linz oö)
tu 01 04 - TRIP FONTAINE / MAUDLIN / THE BRAVE DO NOT FEAR THE GRAVE (arena dreiraum)
we 02 04 - A WHISPER IN THE NOISE / THE WINCHESTER CLUB (szene wien)
mo 07 04 - DOMINIC / RUMBLE IN RHODOS (arena dreiraum)
tu 15 04 - YEAR OF NO LIGHT (arena dreiraum)
fr 16 04 - SOAP & SKIN / REFLECTOR (rhiz)
mi 21 04 - GUTS PIE EARSHOT / L'ASINO (arena dreiraum)
th 22 04 - ISIS (arena, große halle)
mo 05 05 - CURSED / MÖNSTER / THE PLAGUE MASS (arena dreiraum)
mo 19 05 - ESCAPADO (arena dreiraum)
sa 24 05 - MELT-BANANA / JAKUZI'S ATTEMPT (fluc wanne)
su 25 05 - DINOSAUR JR. (arena, große halle)
su 25 05 - EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY / ELUVIUM (flex)
fr 20 06 - COMADRE / TRAINWRECK / DIMITRIJ (arena dreiraum)
tu 03 06 - AMANDA ROGERS (arena dreiraum)

just a quick note from the studi0e

2008-02-02T21:49:00.000+01:00

so, yhea. in own matters... we (the mid90s indiemo posterboys of ורתן and our fabolous friends of RIKA) are in "the studio" right now. which basically means we're squatting the audio rooms of the fh in st.pölten. which comes down to michi sitting behind the recording desk while some unlucky dude/dudette has to play his/her stuff while everyone else is either lounging around throwing stuff at each other or blocking all the computers.

just to keep you some infos, the drum tracks for the VRTN songs are recorded (kudos to flo for basically banging most of the stuff in first take) as is a glockenspiel line for one song. i still haven't written all the lyrics, though. but neither has stefan, so i guess that's ok. our side will have a straight edge song. yhea.

in other news: be sure to check out the arena dreiraum this thursday. go see two of the best live bands that this shitty nazi country has to offer: the asskicking post-hardcore heroes of DIMITRIJ starting off their february tour. i don't think i have to introduce them to anyone reading this blawg, so yhea... you know the deal. this band shreds on lp and does so even more live. if you haven't seen them yet you have to now. also on the billing are styrian 90s indie rock heroes KILLED BY 9V BATTERIES. noisy AND catchy, driving AND grungy, beautiful AND ugly. yhea, the usual indie rock contradictions. let's see if they choose to just rip their set through in 30 minutes or if they tear up the stage and leave it in a 50 minute noise orgy. either way, this'll rule. also playing that night is a new band, i'm part of. we're called SIXDAYSINJUNE and play some heavy end of the 90s skramz with some ACRID influences thrown in for good measure. it's our first gig and you should probably go see us and see skramz history in the making. or something.

so yhea, everything put neatly together:
DIMITRIJ (post-hc/screamo liek atd-i or envy.)
KILLED BY 9V BATTERIES (90s indie liek unwound or sonic youth)
SIXDAYSINJUNE (90s skramz liek jeromes dream or orchid)
thursday, february 7th.
at the arena dreiraum.
baumgasse 80, 1030 vienna.
damage is gonna be 7€. it's worth it.

and because basically all i do right now is watch youtube videos, here's a live video of chris leo's band VAGUE ANGELS performing "nanzen kills a cat" by his former band THE VAN PELT. "sultans of sentiment" is still such an awesome record...

showlist or something else following soon, probably.

METROSCHIFTER motherfuckers!!!

2008-01-28T13:49:00.000+01:00

after a long long while of no really blasting shows tonight we here at the xhate songx media consortium are looking forward to this one...
i mean ok, i'm not sure who exactly has been waiting for a METROSCHIFTER reunion, since this band exemplifies what was possible in the 90s and isn't anymore like no other. their mixture of different styles (90s hardcore, noise rock, grunge and proably lots of other stuff) will probably overload the minds of most people who don't listen to stuff of the afformentioned genres regularily or at least bore them because they can't find the way in.
still, those who do and who weren't around in the 90s (that includes me, i guess) can use this chance to go and see the fucking METROSCHIFTER and exclaim "one cloud in the sky" at full volume. and i think that's gonna be worth it, alone.

for those who consider going:

well okay, now that i think about it: people who dig VALINA, 31KNOTS and stuff like that would probably go bonkers over this as well. well, you know your call!

so, all summed up neatly:
METROSCHIFTER (90s noise rock / indie rock / hardcore mix)
HIROSHIMO MON AMOUR (something else)
monday, january 28th
arena dreiraum, vienna
damage is 6€.

no weekly rundowns for the last two weeks, by the way cause nothing happened. showlist to follow tonight.

new music

2008-01-14T12:08:00.000+01:00

for this being a lawg about skramz there was very little of that in the last couple of posts, i'll admit. so here goes: some new stuff. the real nerds will probably know all of them already, but who cares.

VASE IN PIANO

joe c and andy of WHAT PRICE, WONDERLAND? have obviously been getting out their acoustic guitars a lot now. and the drugs. at first this stuff has a little neo-kraut twist (which is a little bit of a hype these days) ut actually these guys really seem to e doing whatever the fuck they want here. fingerpicked guitars, ambient soundscapes and tons of weird little ideas. and of course the wonderful vocal delivery that we've already loved at WPW. very unique, be sure to check out the two songs. gawd, i need that demo.

I AM THE HORSEMAN

seriously, if i write anymore about this dude on the blawg i think i can no longer keep my enormous crush for him a secret. but oh well. christian of FRANICS INT'L AIRPORT has been delivering sparkly postrock gems for a while now. "this is the dream of g and t" was my little postrock anthem of last year. inside news reports were delivered to me he's working on his first full demo at the moment. one song off of it is on his myspace and you should seriously check it out. it reminded me of KTL and EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY. he himself claims he wanted to fuse OMEGA MASSIF and SIGUR RÓS. nothing wrong at either of those references. and i'm pretty fucking sure this demo will make this blog it's bitch as soon as it comes out. expect lots of posts with headlines such as "i want this guy inside of me" or "this music gives me five boners". you, know the deal.

BATTLE OF WOLF 359

ok, enough soft music. thse guys make some really awesome brutal grindish skramz with dual male/female vocals. and yhea, any band that gives ACRID as an influence has already won for me. this six-piece from england really floored me when i first heard those tracks. they have a 2-song demo cd-r out (both songs are found on their myspace), have toured the u.k. with URANUScore masters JUNE PAIK and they'll be having a couple of split-7"s out soon (one of them will be on react with protest). i'll keep your posted on those since this band rings an awesome fresh note into a genre that's always in danger of becoming really stale. enough words, more mosh. listen to those tracks. right now.

IMMUNITY FOR MILLIONS

i think i met ryan via soulseek wanting to download an ivich 12" or something from him and then figuring out i already have it. stuff like that happens. what followed was a long nerdy skramzy conversation. and many more to come. this is his newest project. abrassive, dissonant gravity style 90s emo. unlike most of the bands attempting this style they do it really well and driving. ryan should probably practice at the drums a bit put this has promise.

so, enough for one day. i'm off to st. pölten.

francis international airport

2008-01-14T11:44:00.000+01:00

so, now that it's finally online, here we go:

(photo by shootingmusic.com)

FRANCIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT are the kind of band i loved about three years ago or so. poppy songs filled with soft melancholy, easily creeping into your mind and staying there, slowly unveiling themselves with each listen and there's always some little detail you haven't noticed yet. really well thought out and carefully orchestrated. mastering the discipline of making the start easy and keeping you interested for many more listens to come. GRANDADDY used to be real masters in this (even though they played a different sound) and i'm basically amazed at how well the FIA's pull that off.
they played a really awesome radio session for austrian indie radio station FM4 as part of their soundpark studio2 sessions. because i'm friends with some band members (and because i'm a fucking leech) i was there as well. plainly put, they really took advantage of the studio, invited friends to play strings and e-drums and really blew me away. considering the fact that 90% of indie music like that ores the living crap out of me, that's a considerable feat.

well, all i'm really trying to say is you should go check out the songs and get the record when it comes. it's seriously worth it and the best "modern" indie stuff i've heard for quite some time.

link: http://fm4.orf.at/spinfo/221368/main

(all skramzers hold on: a huge post on new skramz shit will be coming up soon)

shh... this is a library

2008-01-13T16:49:00.000+01:00

we all probably do this by now... at least every music nerd that has an internet connection does this. keep roaming the mp3 blogs, the new releases lists on labels (mostly via their myspace sites) and every other oppurtunity to get our hands on some new music easy and fast. which most of the time makes whatever we find a listen for two or three times while your sitting at the computer reading wikipedia articles about 80s sitcoms, antideutsche blogs or watching porn or whatever you're doing there. most of the stuff you forget about pretty much later. maybe you'll remember the stuff while chatting with some other music nerd aout recent finds or whatnot.
that's basically how this stuff started out for me. another finding on some blog (i'm not even sure which it was, probably nodatta), thinking "what a weird name" and downloading it. i don't even know whether or not i listened to it at first.

doesn't matter anyway, i guess. but to get to the point: i downloaded it and filed it. along with my huge collection of other mp3s. which is nothing i'm proud of, by the way. everyone has a huge collection of mp3s, it's not that difficult and it doesn't really matter much, mp3s are basically just tapes without the obvious charme of the analog format. an okay way to check out some music, but no way to enjoy it. and also, a neat way to listen to music while your on your way to something. tired of only listening to stuff that came out ten years ago i loaded my xpodx with some newer music, hoping to catch something new and awesome. among those albums was the self-titled effort of SHH... THIS IS A LIBRARY.

somewhere on a train trip after ruling out my usual choices MINERAL, ACRID and ROB & THE PINHOLESTARS (not being in the mood for either) i decided to give SHH... THIS IS A LIBRARY a spin. and all i really rememer is falling asleep somewhere after the opener. in a very good way! i woke up again at track number six, "how does it feel (good)?", a lovely vague number building up very softly from fingerpicked guitar patterns almost mealstromesque even though the song doesn't really get any louder. it really is among the biggest heartbreakers of the last couple o' months. the track's followed by "bff" another swell song, more upbeat and an instant hit.
the whole record is a really well-crafted thing. the artwork was apparently done very lavishly (which is probably why only 75 copies were made). the music istelf is pretty much the year 2007 and 2008: amient-ish postrock-y stuff. waved around a soft fingerpicked guitar are some frail electronic loop-thingees, background noises and the lovely sweet voice of brent whateverhislastnameis. a really nice intimate record. the afformentioned 75 copies of this cd are long sold out but it was put out on a label called i had an accident which i have never heard of before. apparently they've done a TIM KINSELLA record. i'm obviously not up to date on my mid90s indiemo heroes anymore. oh well.

download the record here. i didn't rip it myself, i found in on the net.
link: shh... this is a library - self-titled [i had an accident records, 2007].

and yhea, the usual swagger of links here:
shh... this is a library myspace, i had an accident website, i had an accident myspace

and just cause i've been listening to it all day: here's the JULY track off of the split 7" with JEROMES DREAM. i have no idea who JULY was ...apparently two dudes named gabe and herb... or whatever they have else released. i just love this song. i can't get enough of it. and i want that 7" so badly. so yhea.
link: mediafire.com/?7vlsvewzmqa

weekly rundown (week3, 2008).

2008-01-13T09:16:00.000+01:00

another boring week, this year starts rather bland, showwise. so, this is another rather short weekly rundown.

only show this week i been to was XBXRX and the TEENBEAT KICKS!. i left after two songs of the former and watched an bbc documentation about pakistan instead. apparently i missed a pretty bitchin' NIRVANA cover though... oh, well. the TEENBEAT KICKS! were pretty funny as usual. talking lots of shit, beating certain members of the audience, entangling themselves with their stupid costumes. not enough UNBROKEN for me, though. but since each song of them sounds like an entirely different genre, i guess that's what's to be expected. so, ehrm. yhea. the TBK!

and just cause i feel like it: a live video by AUSTIN LUCAS. dude lives in the czech republic but is from the u.s. originally and makes the best fucking country music ever. i'm so much in love with his 2007 record "the common cold" and i can't wait to have his new one, "putting the hammer down". also he currently has some sort of collaboration album out with CHUCK RAGAN, which is probably worth tracking down as well, since this man can do no wrong musicwise.

enough, blah. here's the vid:

"putting the hammer down" should also be a top contender for the 2008 lists. jus' sayin'.

-weekly rundown-
tuesday 8th - sunday13th

(+) finally sleeping after staying awake for 30 hours :: mass pizza deliveries :: stealing the weekend issue of die presse every sunday after band rehearsals :: "what, they're gonna be naked?" :: flo of DIMITRIJ telling the story of a very stoned trip to croatia with friends :: ex-punks obsessing over indie rock stuff and TEGAN & SARA (über-lulz!) :: the fact that the new TEENBEAT KICKS! song sounds like fucking joy division
(-) having only 4gb of space on my xpodx :: the umts internet connection at my parent's house :: hopping from party to party, being bored at every single one of them :: so many beautiful people, so little interesting people ::

-shows next two weeks-
th-sa 17-19 01 - daneben festival (VORTEX REX, DELILAH, TUMIDO,...) (szene wien)
sa 19 01 - SMUGGLE GOODS INTO THE COUNTRY / DESPERATE TO AMUSE (café stadtbahn)
we 23 01 - THE SHOUT OUT LOUDS (wuk)

-other upcoming shows-
mo 28 01 - METROSCHIFTER / HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (arena dreiraum)
mo 04 02 - EFTERKLANG (arena, kleine halle)
mo 15 02 - CAPTAIN PLANET / EVERTON / RIKA (raghead, großenzersdorf nö)
mi 17 02 - ROCKY VOTOLATO / CHRIS MAGERL (b72)
su 24 02 - EARTH / SIR RICHARD BISHOP (szene wien)
we 12 03 - MIKE PARK / SUNDOWNER (b72)
tu 01 04 - TRIP FONTAINE / MAUDLIN / THE BRAVE DO NOT FEAR THE GRAVE (arena dreiraum)
we 02 04 - A WHISPER IN THE NOISE / THE WINCHESTER CLUB (szene wien)
mo 07 04 - DOMINIC / RUMBLE IN RHODOS (arena dreiraum)
tu 15 04 - YEAR OF NO LIGHT (arena dreiraum)
mo 05 05 - CURSED / THE PLAGUE MASS (arena dreiraum)
sa 24 05 - MELT-BANANA / JAKUZI'S ATTEMPT (fluc wanne)
su 25 05 - EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY / ELUVIUM (flex)
fr 20 06 - COMADRE / TRAINWRECK / DIMITRIJ (arena dreiraum)

weekly rundown (week2, 2008)

2008-01-08T01:09:00.000+01:00

so, yhea. this week was pretty much squished after the new year's eve celebration stuff. not much happened showwise or any other way. RIKA and SPELUNKER kicked our asses at the dreiraum on friday and the rest was silence, i guess.

of course, it wouldn't be my blog if i didn't have anything else to rant about. the last couple of days i've been listening nonstop to two records by the hawaiian-then-californian all time faves CHOKEBORE. seriously, "a taste for bitters" (1996) and "black black" (1998) are probably among the most depressed and painful records there are. their powerful and all-destroying mix of powerful grunge fuzz guitars, bleak fragile parts and noisy outbursts could probably drive a suicidal person crazy. this is certainly no music for everyday listening, some of you will probably find this unbearable. but one thing is for sure, this is no-bullshit really honest depressed music. one of those records you'll put on when severely down to go with it and fit your mood.

no other band could do that to me with such finesse then the almighty CHOKEBORE. and in all of their depression and dreariness they still find these unique moments of beauty that no other band could ever do just like them. i could probably go on about this band forever.

so, yhea. here's three of their videos for you. watch on your own behalf.

"a taste for bitters", the title track of their 1996 album.
"but you don't care for me, i don't care now for anybody"

"it could ruin your day". the song title alone says it all really.
"i spoke through the holes in my hands but you won't even look at me."

"you're the sunshine of my life", this is basically something only this band could pull off. make a song as bleak and crushing as this one and give it such a title. from their 1998 record "black black".
"she thought i owned her, but i'm sleeping with somebody else, lying to somebody new."

"where is the assassin?". the closing track of 1998's "black black".
"maybe i could love the three of you. last thing i need from you is another heartless lay."

CHOKEBORE made two records before those - 1993's "motionless", a faster more noisy record and 1995's "anything near water" which i still haven't really heard to this day - and one record afterwards: 2002's quasi comeback record "it's a miracle", which got to my attention through the single "ciao l.a.", a rather uptempo and usual song which became a minor hit in france where the band enjoyed modest success in the indie scene. for some reason they never really got big anywhere else... but yhea, enough about them. let's head for the weekly rundown.

-weekly rundown-
wednesday 2nd - monday 7th

(+) watching FRANCIS INT'L AIRPORT at the radiokulturhaus (more to follow when their stuff is online) :: "i'm a creeeep, i'm bob geldooooof" :: roughmixes of the QUOTATIONS OF RAIN demo :: laughing at the mass of ron paul supporters at every fucking msg board discussion about the u.s. presidential elections :: well, obviously CHOKEBORE :: vegetarian asian food buffets :: long train rides through woods and stuff
(-) those days and days of nothing :: forgetting my mp3 collection at home :: losing sleep on one day and sleeping through the entire next day :: the factor time when it comes to the RIKA/EVERTON split 10" :: missing shows because of demotivation :: falling asleep during shows

-shows next two weeks-
tu 08 01 - LEHNEN (rhiz) :: TAKTLO$$ (b72)
we 09 01 - XBXRX / TEENBEAT KICKS! (arena dreiraum)
fr 11 01 - FEEDING TIME / FROM MY CHEST / WON'T STEP ASIDE (outback, wolkersdorf nö)
sa 12 01 - DETERMINATION / FEEDING TIME / TEENBEAT KICKS! (disco babalu, andau bgld)

-other upcoming shows-
mo 28 01 - METROSCHIFTER (arena dreiraum)
mo 04 02 - EFTERKLANG (arena, kleine halle)
mo 15 02 - CAPTAIN PLANET / EVERTON / RIKA (raghead, großenzersdorf nö)
mi 17 02 - ROCKY VOTOLATO (b72)
su 24 02 - EARTH / SIR RICHARD BISHOP (szene wien)
tu 01 04 - TRIP FONTAINE / MAUDLIN / THE BRAVE DO NOT FEAR THE GRAVE (arena dreiraum)
we 02 04 - A WHISPER IN THE NOISE / THE WINCHESTER CLUB (szene wien)
mo 07 04 - DOMINIC / RUMBLE IN RHODOS (arena dreiraum)
tu 15 04 - YEAR OF NO LIGHT (arena dreiraum)
mo 05 05 - CURSED / THE PLAGUE MASS (arena dreiraum)
su 25 05 - EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY / ELUVIUM (flex)
fr 20 06 - COMADRE / TRAINWRECK / DIMITRIJ (arena dreiraum)

so yhea, that's it for now. next blawgupdate follows when i'm less fucked.

[austrian emo history] LANDSCAPE IZUMA / DAVENPORT

2008-01-02T15:34:00.000+01:00

seeing RIKA play live again yesterday made me remember that i wanted to post a couple of things here for quite some time now. apart from the obligate post on them (which will follow soon enough, don't worry) that would be continuing the "austrian emo" series.

i was talking to a dude i know from teh intarwebs a couple of weeks ago and somewhere in this conversation we landed in st. pölten and how there (apparently) once were some pretty bitchin' bands out of there. the obvious five minutes of "how awesome were KOBAYASHI?" (another band worthy of a couple of blawgposts sooner or later) i came to speak about a band called DAVENPORT and how that band for a short while - in 2004 - made me believe that st. pölten must be the place where the really good bands come from (along with my fellow noisers from the d'wald - but that's a whole different part of the story). my high expectations had to be bitterly disappointed in the following years of drifting through the st. pölten scene and finding out it's basically the same shit as everywhere else. a few okay bands, some nice shows but 90% of what is happening there was the same old mindless conservative crap. well, yes.

one of those 10% of awesome stuff out of st.pölten was a project of georg of DAVENPORT that when i first got in contact with was just a little side project that - with the demise of DAVENPORT and the rising of FRANCIS INT'L AIRPORT - got more and more serious and became his main focus over time. the wonderful LANDSCAPE IZUMA.

i first got in contact with IZUMA on an aftershowparty in 2004 at the house that mexx and andi (both FRANCIS INT'L AIRPORT now) shared at the time when andi (then still playing in DAVENPORT) played me one track after the other while assuring me that this was the best music ever recorded. not long after that, georg started to play the first shows as LANDSCAPE IZUMA. back then his tools of the trade were the acoustic guitar and some playbacks coming from a notebook. this was also the style that dominated his first self-recorded ep called "sofar" in 2005. five tracks, four of which had been internet favorites in certain groups of people who already knew. "11502anywhere" and "abscene makes the heart grow fonder" appeared here that would later on appear on "kolorit", his latest album. the former in a very different version.
being the loser that i am i have the tracks all on mp3 but i never got a real life copy of it, that's why i can't really post the artwork now. but two tracks of the ep will do, i guess.

landscape izuma - 031003-301003
/* the epic opener of the ep. a very gentle track that shows off how georg arranmged the drums at this time.
landscape izuma - 11502anywhere (sofar ep version)
/* you could probably call this the signature track of the early IZUMA years. it kind of was the hit.

during all those shows georg basically felt uncomfortable with playing to playbacks, discarded the idea and played a couple of shows stripped down to just guitar, just playing random shows from time to time. in summer 2007 he played the first shows in the style he still plays today. alone on his guitar and his voice, gently orchestrating via loops and tiny sounds. in october 2007, he finally released his long awaited full length "kolorit", transcending the styles and genres you would have probably pinholed him until then. his postrock influences that you could only suspect until then are in full bloom on the majestic e-bow opening of "the lake is the ocean" or in the humbling piano-outro of "firlefanz". the tiny electronic beatage on tracks like "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and the unbelievable "palindrome" makes sure that this is still the same IZUMA we knew. still, most of the time the record is just carried by soft fingerpicking and georg's soothing voice, especially on standout tracks like "places and moments" and the lovely closer "hand". basically, this record blew me away from start to finish and is in my end-of-the-year list for a lot of fucking reasons. it's out on siluh records and if you don't have a copy yet, get it and support the real indie labels. i'm not going to up the entire album (you'll have to buy it for that) but the three standout tracks for me.

landscape izuma - the lake is the ocean
/* the epic opener. fitting right into the modern postrock mood of 2007/08.
landscape izuma - palindrom
/* basically a palindromic song, musicwise. the first half features everything. the fingerpicking, the loops.
landscape izuma - hand
/* the closer. just brilliant. note the way the "bass drum" at the end gently accentuates the song.

-DAVENPORT-

and to fulfil the "austrian emo history" tag in the title, as a bonus i'll up the two tracks that made DAVENPORT a really really inspiring band for me. this band basically existed from 2001 to 2004 or something like that. the band basically never had a real sound. three of the four band members wrote songs (or so i was told) and each had a very different style. guitarist benji's songs were rather grungy, drummer andi's songs were rather indiepoppy and georg's songs drifted towards the SDRE/MINERAL style of indiemo i love so much at that time and basically still love.
the band played a couple of shows in the area around st.pölten, recorded a demo-cd called "your mascara never runs for me" in 2002/2003 (which i still haven't heard in its entirety yet, andi refuses to give out the songs he wrote for that cd) and kind of split up very very slowly.
for me, what made this band different to so many ok bands of the st.pölten region was georg's songs. his two contributions to the demo cd are basically the best songs that came out of austria at that time. wonderful nostalgic-ish mid90s indiemo with georg's trembling voice, strangely confident and insecure at the same time. yes, it doesn't make any sense. but seriously, if i had the money i'd release those two tracks on a 7" just so i could listen to them over and over again witht eh background-crackle and warmth they deserve. mid90s indiemo simply doesn't get better than this.

davenport - if i dare
/* the "popsong" and the first song i heard by them. i don't think georg ever wrote anything this fast ever again.
davenport - under limes
/* the "ballad". seven minutes. lyrics like straight out of a STELLA BRASS booklet. so much heart in there.

allow me to give you the lyrics to both songs as well. those basically still bring me to tears every single time. lonely teenage boy from the countryside lyricism just doesn't get any better than this. and i know i'm repeating myself. but it's just so true.

-if i dare-
"with mittens on my hands and cold air in my lungs i'd scratch your car window. and she drives you home at night at half past 3am. when will i see you again. and did you ever know cold reminds me on you.
i'm not afraid, i wonder if you notice me under moving lights i'm frozen for a while with my hands on my heart, i guess it's like a screaming shell, raising pearls and causing tides, maybe i should never listen to it, no, i should never listen if i dare, i dare to say a word or make a joke, you seem to be amused and only summer rain can make you feel this way. i should never laugh again, maybe i should never listen to my heart, maybe i just tried to say, you'll never know..
you look so beautiful tonight in your selfmade dress, i wonder as i'm standing on the chair, on my toes where to see you and i see you there. why i'm so scared to ask you to dance to feel more than the palm of your hands. would you think of me when you're cold, like it's you i'm thinking of. it's you i'm thinking of, i'm thinking of..."

-under limes-
"my glasses are clean, so i can see you and even the smoke can't resist your charming scent. it's no good, she said, said the staircase as i wait downstairs, i got you some tea that i hope you like to share.
where the school never weighs its resting anchor my forearms are so weak but i'll try to hold the cord. don't run out of sight, i know that your paces are longer than mine but your eyes will never shine... just for me, your mascara never runs for me and when your words fall. oh, they're lisping in the wind, never lisping for me.
i wish you could hear me cause i'm dumb enough to say that i never let you go, and i never let you go unless you say so. consider the south breeze, under limes i said i never let you go and i dare to promise you i make your kite fly. and i don't know how but i will make your kite fly."

enough already. this is probably the longest blogpost i've ever written. i do go on, i know.

just the usual couple of links to lead you out:
landscape izuma website, landscape izuma myspace
siluh records website (buy the izuma album!)

and for the addicts:
the now-offline website of davenport at the internet archive.
(you should probably only go there if you know how to work the internet archive)

man, now i'm bushed. show list and weekly rundown tomorrow. seriously.

sil/tweety reviews / weekly rundown

2008-01-01T17:38:00.000+01:00

well, i'm officially exhausted. my nose still hurts, my head feels as if a thousand flies have taken a dump in it (do flies even shit?) and feels as if there's something really really disgusting in my throat. but it was so much fun.

silfestival was a blast this year. the FEUERLÖSCHER reunion was so much fun. and somehow it still felt like those shows they played when we barely knew each other and i was wondering whether or not these fuckers were serious. bass and drums still trodding along sloppily (just like on those 80s proto-noise records by FLIPPER or BLIGHT) with lazy guitar hooks straight outta old TOCOTRONIC records (back when their idiocy wasn't that obvious). LANDSCAPE IZUMA was great as well. he played his regular set backwards. which was kind of weird. RIKA are still plagued by not being very well-rehearsed at the moment. which makes it all the better that they still manage to blow me away every single time. DANNY DEVINO's set was a bit rough.
only bad thing to say was that the aftershow party dissolved really quickly and only a few people danced their asses away until the early morning. one of them was me and by the time we got to the sleeping there was no more room for any of us on any mattress. let's just say i slept pretty rough.

cut. two days later. 130 kilometers south. sub, graz. the numavi crew hosted their annual tweety party on the day before new year's eve. (which is called silvester in german. silvester/sylvester? tweety? get it? no? forget it, dumbfuck...).
seventeen bands (or something, i don't remember the exact number).
so much happening that evening and so much weird shit, i'll have to put it in a single +/- list

(+) ...YOU GAVE IT A WASTE delivering the mosh :: HIDDEN BY THE GRAPES being the tightest band :: KILLED BY 9 BATTERIES just tearing the sub up :: DEAD CORPSE IN THE CHIMNEY for being out of hartberg and not sucking :: DESTROY MUNICH for being the most postrock band at the fest and letting me do ENVY style vocals for "pfeiffenberger" :: myself for watching all bands except for four or so
(-) these idiot camera fuckers for taking up huge amounts of space with their idiot antics (which probably ruined all the videos and which made one of these idiots knock my nose bloody. i should have taken that motherfucker out right there and then), making no one else able to see the bands properly :: that MARILYN MANSON ripoff fucker for playing 45 minutes or so despite knowing he had only 20 minutes :: HIDDEN BY THE GRAPES for being so fucking stupid :D

so, yhea. i'm tired and i'm going to bed. weekly rundown and shows, then i'm off. i hope 2008 gets cancer and i hope you get shot.

-weekly rundown-
monday 24th - tuesday 1st

(+) four days of parties :: eating too much :: the MURDER CITY DEVILS :: depicting words like "verjährungsfrist" at charades :: finally having enough money to buy some guitar effect pedals :: sleeping for ten hours straight
(-) four days of parties :: eating too much :: the whole xxxx thing :: people playing die ärzte songs on acoustic guitars :: riding the first train home, filled with nothing but drunk "unpolitical" techno asses

-shows next two weeks-
fr 04 01 - RIKA / SPELUNKER / WASTED SCARS (arena dreiraum)
tu 08 01 - LEHNEN (rhiz)
we 09 01 - XBXRX (arena dreiraum)
fr 11 01 - FEEDING TIME / FROM MY CHEST (outback, wolkersdorf nö)

-other upcoming shows-
mo 28 01 - METROSCHIFTER (arena dreiraum)
mo 04 02 - EFTERKLANG (arena, kleine halle)
mo 15 02 - CAPTAIN PLANET / EERTON / RIKA (raghead, großenzersdorf nö)
su 24 02 - EARTH / SIR RICHARD BISHOP (szene wien)
tu 01 04 - TRIP FONTAINE / MAUDLIN / THE BRAE DO NOT FEAR THE GRAVE (arena dreiraum)
we 02 04 - A WHISPER IN THE NOISE / THE WINCHESTER CLUB (szene wien)
mo 07 04 - DOMINIC / RUMBLE IN RHODOS (arena dreiraum)
tu 15 04 - YEAR OF NO LIGHT (arena dreiraum)
mo 05 05 - CURSED / THE PLAGUE MASS (arena dreiraum)
su 25 05 - EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY / ELUVIUM (flex)
fr 20 06 - COMADRE / TRAINWRECK / DIMITRIJ (arena dreiraum)

just a quick reminder...

2007-12-28T00:11:00.000+01:00

... about tomorrow (well okay, it kinda is today but i'll hopefully be asleep before, so it's tomorrow for me).

us, the punx und noisers of the d'wald crew or gonna celebrate the ending of the year our way again: with the SILFESTIVAL. it's an anual tradition of inviting lots of weird people into a little barn and letting them watch lots of noise shit and postrock bands. or something. the last two yours we even did this little ditty in the summer as well. this summer it was more on the noisy side of things, this winter it's more ambient-ish and shit.

basically, the first silfestival started around one band... EIN GRÜNER FEUERLÖSCHER MIT HANG ZUR KONTROVERSE. a young (liek rly young) band from the d'wald playing their own weird style somewhere between old tocotronic,
sonic youth, stoner rock and lots of other shit. for what reason ever they decided that they should reunite for one show again, for this year's silfestival. of course, they'll be headlining. since this whole thing was their fucking idea from the start. duh. and since basically, these three duders are basically the fucking core of the d'wald crew. jus' sayin'.

also playing this year will be loops n' fingerpicks maestro LANDSCAPE IZUMA (final fantasy meets owen for those who are still unaware), braunau emopostrock powerhouse RIKA, weiz dancenoisecrazy fuckers DANNY DEVINO, ambient/noise stuff by me under the name of ERSCHLAGEN and some stupid losers who think they are funny.

so, yhea. feel free to come by and see if there's still room in the barn. if some guy punches you in the face during the RIKA set or is aggressively trying to make out with you during the IZUMA set, that'll probably be me. feel free to say hi.

all the facts neatly organized again:

SILFESTIVAL 2007
@ pete's scheune, griechenberg (near st.pölten)

EIN GRÜNER FEUERLÖSCHER MIT HANG ZUR KONTROVERSE (stonerindiepunknoise)
LANDSCAPE IZUMA (emoindieacousticsingersongwriternoise)
RIKA (indiemopostrocknonshoegazerocknoise)
DANNY DEVINO (danceindieranzlnumaviwhatevernoise)
ERSCHLAGEN (ambient/noise)
RICHARD TURKOWITSCH & THE RICHARD TURKOWITSCH JAZZ EXPERIENCE (stupid shit)

starts at 19:00.
we have lots of mountain dew.
bring something to eat, though. i'll surely be fucking hungry.

oh and just cause i feel like it:

christmas post lawl (and weekly rundown)

2007-12-24T18:22:00.000+01:00

ok, for a non-christian this festivity is rather useless (if i don't believe in the story, why should i celebrate the alleged day of birth of the main protagonist) and from a situationist (and also from a marxist) point of view the spectacle of consumerism and everything around it leaves no room for serious celebration. but, still... somehow this christmas i feel kinda ok.

so, yhea. merry christmas to those who want to have one and have fun forgetting christmas to those who oppose and just basically a good time tonight for all those who couldn't care less.

and for those who basically love pathos:

oh yhea, have you thought about buying some records or t-shirts off of me? they're cheap and i rule.

-weekly rundown-
monday 17th - sunday 23th

(+) finally seeing persepolis :: writing straight edge lyrics for a new EVERTON song :: the fact that there actually was a video of david bazan playing "silent night" on youtube :: the borders falling (for awesomeness reasons) :: the rough mixes of the upcoming DESTROY, MUNICH songs :: this petition
(-) too many drunks, too little punks :: the economical reasons for the borders falling :: the fact that deviled eggs aren't vegan :: petitions for data protection. think about it until you find the contradiction
(+/-) ween singing along to "rollin" by limp bizkit, drunk (kinda funny but also kinda sad)

-shows next two weeks-
fr 28 12 - silfestival 2007 @ pete's scheune, griechenberg w/ ...FEUERLÖSCHER... / LANDSCAPE IZUMA / RIKA / DANNY DE VINO / ERSCHLAGEN / some losers :: A FLOWER KOLLAPSED / DIMITRIJ ... (pröstl, mannersdorf bgld.)
so 30 12 - numavi records tweety party @ sub, graz w/ KILLED BY 9V BATTERIES / ...YOU GAVE IT A WASTE / ...
th 03 01 - ANCHORS X UP / WON'T STEP ASIDE / FROM MY CHEST (shelter)
fr 04 01 - RIKA / SPELUNKER / WASTED SCARS (arena dreiraum)

well ok. i'll be on these shows (except for mannersdorf. where you should probably go to if you're not in the mood for postrock), so if anyone still wants some of the afformentioned records, you can get them from me (at sil and tweety i'll probably have them in a little distro box) and of course you can always get some nice oven-fresh EVERTON cds from me.

ok, that'll be it for now. i'm off rehearsing my stuff for ERSCHLAGEN. take care, have fun. and so on.

jeromes fucking dream

2007-12-21T13:52:00.000+01:00

seeing that so far i did only one "skramz"-post i kinda figured something was lacking in this blawg. since first and foremosti started to sing the xhate songx (and most of its precursors) because of the lack of second-hand sources for skramz and stuff like that in the post-nazi republic of austria. but yhea whatev's.

this band is a modern classic and there are probably few people (without skramz-ressentiments) who won't agree. releasing on all the labels that put out the best known skramz in the end90s/early00s (old glory, witching hour, level plane, you name it...) and playing legendary shows (yes, that show was 6 minutes long.) and having thousands of stories attached to them. yhea, this band is among those bands you associate with this era of the sound first and foremost.

three kids from connecticut, playing hard fucking skramz from 1997 to 2001, releasing 4 split-7"s (and a split-5"), the skull-shaped split-10" w/ ORCHID, a 10" of their own and an lp. all of this stuff is compiled in a 2-cd discography on alone records and yhea... if ou don't already have it, you kind of miss the whole point of being into skramz i guess.

but seriously, what made this band so fucking amazing for me was basically one single video. their live show at some place called bristol skate park. 6 minutes, the band grinding everything to death and... basically, the fact they're playing in a fucking skate park. there should be more skate park shows. aside from the fact that there should be more shows anyway. and not just more shows, more shows worth going to. but i digress... here's the fucking video.

now tell me that this doesn't do anything for you and i can safely assume you're on the wrong fucking blog.

the usual linkage:
website, myspace site, bio at alone records, wikipedia article.

end of the year music rundown.

2007-12-20T23:35:00.000+01:00

(yhea, i was pretty fucking pissed when i wrote this. just thought i'd let you know in advance)

ah, the end of the year. the time when everyone feels obliged to look back at whatever made the past twelve months awesome or fucked. yhea, i do this myself as well. actually it's dumb but meh... whatever. at least we can compare who listens to the coolest records or something. but nah, really... a couple of my friends are writing their lists every year and it's kinda neat to know what the other guys think. so that list kinda is for them. or something.

and yhea, nothing's ordered or anything. you can't compare JAMIE T and CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX anyway, so why should i decide which one i like better? i listen to them both at very different times, mate.

so yhea.

-record of the year-

CEASE UPON THE CAPITOL - untitled 12"
(react with protest / sons of vesta / ...)
like every year the only listing is for the best record of the year. and hands down, this record blew away everything. a band i had prett much written of as rather boring (saw them twice in 2006, neither of them really shook me) but this record put them on the fucking top spot. a tour de force through postrock, modern skramz and lots of other fucking things. best artwork of the year, awesome lyrics and top notch state of the art music, crossing every single fucking border that's worth crossing. hands down, really well done.

and the others:

AMALTHEA - decisions should be a desert, blah blah blah
(ape must not kill ape)
i actually hated this the first times i heard it but it's really grown to me. drifting a bit off from their YAGE-stylings on the 7", the've moved in the direction that every fucking skramz band is taking these days... postrock. but like i said, it's really grown to me and it's a very very good record.

BEIRUT - the flying cup club
(ba da bing / 4ad)
"nantes" is probably the d'wald hit of the year. other than that there's not much to say here. if you know BEIRUT already, this is just the same thing as on the last record, just more of it and even better. for those that don't it'll sound really fucking cliched... balkan music. but awesome.

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX - a love of shared disasters
(invada)
a dark fucking record. an epic fucking record. an enormously good fucking record. i'm pleased.

DIMITRIJ - words/objects
(noise appeal / laserlife / kill indies)
driving energetic post-hardcore from five dudes pouring everything into it. it's not as good as their live performance (the guitars in particular are lacking in my opinion, but as far as i know that's how the band wanted it to sound) but even with that it still kicks 95% of all post-hc shit this year in the trash. if you like AT THE DRIVE-IN and don't have this album yet, you're really a fucking idiot.

DINOSAUR JR. - beyond
(fat possum)
that one was really unexpected but a pleasant surprise. after years of awful indie crap everyone finally remembered why they fell in love with DINOSAUR JR. in the first place. the drive of hardcore, the melencholy of the best folk records and the guitar solos of a weird slacker doing nothing else all day. seriously, you don't just fucking start a record with guitar solo like that unless you're totally fucking stupid.

EA80 - reise
(musikzimmer)
a new EA80 record. and that's exactly what it sounds like. nothing much else to say, really. except that it's enormously good. again. yup.

ENOCH ARDON - self-titled 12"
(existencia)
one of the hardest skramz bands at the moment. these guys from spain kick asses wherever they go. the usual mixture here... pounding drums, octave chord guitar lines to slice your ears in two and the whole mixture is sure to make you dance around like a chicken whose head got chopped off. for all the ORCHID-lovers out there. nothing entirely new, just done perfectly and with so much energy you probably couldn't sit still if you had to.

JAMIE T - panic prevention
(some stupid major)
a british dude rapping over indie stuff. sounds like the worst fucking thing ever but is actually really fun. the party record of the year, i guess.

JUNE PAIK / TITAN - split 12"
(react with protest)
the two new JUNE PAIK songs are as good as this subgenre of skramz gets right now. mighty URANUS-worship with thick octave chordsing parts switching with epic postrock-ish parts. and the one break in "pulsar" gets me every fucking time. TITAN's track is fine as well, though i rarely listen to it. most of the time i stick with the bavarians.

KTL - self-titled
(editions mego)
i have no idea what this really is. all i know is, it doesn't lie to me. and that's why i like it so much.

LANDSCAPE IZUMA - kolorit
(siluh)
softly picked guitar strings in songs about summer ending in a minute from now, backed by beats, loops and other things directly from the same guitar. and all that with the unbelieveable voice of georg tran. there's no other record this year i've shed so many tears to (that was put out in 2007)

MEN AS TREES - six waves in
(daijibou)
sure, that one guy's voice can get on your nerves, but he doesn't scream that often. most of the time it's just epic postrock. and actuall the parts he screams in are driving enough to make that voice work. and if you can keep songs this long without them becoming boring, you're doing something right.

SIGUR RÓS - hvarf/heim
(some major label)
yhea, i guess for most of you this won't count, since it's old songs and everything but still, that record was exactly what i needed. and since these guys have their entirely own musical language ou're not gonna notice the age of the songs. also, they fit right in there to the other awesome records this band has made. yes, including "()". because that record is also enormously good. i know, you don't think so. and that's probably why you suck so much.

SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE - shelter from the ash
(drag city)
i have no idea if this record is actually an improvement to the last five hundred SOOA-records. all i know is, that this is the record i found this band with and that i don't regret finding them at all.

SYN*ERROR & WHAT PRICE, WONDERLAND? - tour split cd-r
(d.i.y.)
simply has the best SYN*ERROR tracks and the best WHAT PRICE, WONDERLAND? tracks. also has gorgeous artwork. that makes it a winner, i guess.

TRAINWRECK & COMADRE - split lp
(react with protest)
actually, i don't care at all for the COMADRE side. the TRAINWRECK side alone makes this worth buying. hardest more-or-less-skramz out of germany right now. kudos.

THE WEAKERTHANS - reunion show
(anti- / epitaph)
a new WEAKERTHANS record is a new WEAKERTHANS record. indie, country, powerpop whatever it is... they do it well, their lyrics make excellent quoting material (for truth) and these songs keep sticking in your head, every single one at a time, and won't wreck your nerves. nothing spectacular, just really good. and yhea, that IS enough.

-stuff that should probably also be included...-

...if i wasn't a lazy fucker to stupid to listen to stuff when it comes out: new records by 65DAYSOFSTATIC, A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS, THE ARCADE FIRE, DANIEL STRIPED TIGER, GUITAR, LES SAVY FAV, MÚM, PLURAMON. yhea, like i say almost every year: next year this list will be a lot shorter.

-awesome tracks that have impressed me on their own-
(either because i haven't heard the fucking album, because the album was boring or because the track stood out on itself)
THE ARCADE FIRE - no cars go
BEIRUT - nantes (well, duh!)
BLONDE REDHEAD - 23
EA80 - trashfest
I AM THE HORSEMAN - (this is) the dream of gernot and tanja
LANDSCAPE IZUMA - that one song he always plays live
NAKED LUNCH - military of the heart
THE SCARABEUSDREAM - everything's gone
THE WEAKERTHANS - virtute the cat explains her departure

-awesome shows-

JAKUZI'S ATTEMPT / DIMITRIJ / THE VELLOCET EFFECT - juz, niederwaldkirchen
TRENCHER / DJ SCOTCH EGG - fluc, vienna.
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE - donaufestival, krems.
KILLED BY 9V BATTERIES - avalon exil, krems.
KTL / BOREDOMS - donaufestival, krems.
IRON LUNG / HATRED SURGE / THE ENDLESS BLOCKADE - tüwi, vienna.
THE PLAGUE MASS / ULTRA DOLPHINS - musichouse, graz.
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? / ADORNO / ASTPAI / SUCHI RUKARA - tüwi, vienna.
JAMIE T - atomic café, munich.
WHAT PRICE, WONDERLAND? / SYN*ERROR / KHERE / WITH ENGINE HEART - mkc, dravograd.
bordercross festival, day one with OMEGA MASSIF / JUNE PAIK / DIMITRIJ / THE VELLOCET EFFECT / ...
KAOSPILOT / RIKA - zakk, passau.
SONIC YOUTH / CARSICK CARS - arena open air, vienna.
CONDRE SCR / DESTROY, MUNICH - badeschiff, vienna.
HOLMES / I AM THE HORSEMAN - seedose, st. pölten.
ENVY / KENZARI'S MIDDLE KATA - orangehouse, munich.
THE WEAKERTHANS - flex, vienna.
I AM THE HORSEMAN - melting pot festival, vaz, st. pölten.

-awesome shows we were part of-

sommersilfestival - pete's scheune, griechenberg.
MENEGUAR / EVERTON - arena dreiraum, vienna.
THE BLACK HEART REBELLION / MEN KILLING MEN / EVERTON - juz, niederwaldkirchen
EVERTON / LANDSCPAE IZUMA / RIKA - alter schlachthof, hollabrunn.

-other things worth mentioning-

* symposium & rally to stop the iranian atombomb [stopthebomb.net]
* releasing a cd with EVERTON.
* finally getting a skramz band together.
* finally being finished with my fucking driver's licence.
* listening to way too much MINERAL because of several reasons and never enough ACRID because of one reason.
* laying some bitchin' vocals on the DIMITRIJ record.
* these people in particular: my bandmates of EVERTON, I AM THE HORSEMAN, RIKA, DIMITRIJ, KILLED BY 9V BATTERIES, xhaunzsx, mr. ween and every good socialist holding it down for communism, the freedom of israel and human rights everywhere. kinda.

here's to 2008.
to lots of awesome records, awesome shows, awesome people and the fact that it'll be even better than 2007. and being another year closer to either world revolution or the apocalypse. whichever comes first. both would come in handy right now.

more real updates when i feel like it.

still the best band ever...

2007-12-17T18:46:00.000+01:00

nothing else to add.

fuck weekends (and weekly rundown)

2007-12-16T20:42:00.000+01:00

seriously, fuck weekends. you never get enough sleep and as i told a friend of mine this weekend, fuck everything else except for blankets and pillows (think about it: there's just basically nothing about these two things that's not awesome!).

but yhea, apart from not getting any real sleep, i basically had another st. pölten fix on saturday, when i decided to go see my good old friend I AM THE HORSEMAN perform at st. pölten's anual melting pot festival. let me explain it first, the melting pot is a huge fucking festival in a huge fucking hall with tons of useless crap and lots of ugly stupid people. for some reason a lot of my friends of the d'wald like to go there. and for some reason or the other (too much to get into now) I AM THE HORSEMAN was scheduled to played a set there. so yhea, that's the reason i went there.

to keep the interesting stuff first: I AM THE HORSEMAN was great. dude opted to go for a drone-ish noise set that reminded me of good ol' KTL. intense stuff and not a dull moment. even though the sound dude didn't turn it all up like it was supposed to. but, oh well. afterwards most of the d'wald crew entered the stage to perform a rendition of BEIRUT's "nantes". and i broke a drumstick.

the HORSEMAN gets my "dude of the week" title by the way, since this week he didn't only split my head at the melting pot festival but he also warmed my heart on wednesday as part of FRANCIS INT'L AIRPORT (a band that i will have to do a huge blawg-post about sometime...). so yhea, dude, you're awesome.

enough blah blah. on with the rundown already.

-weekly rundown-
(monday 10th - sunday 16th)

(+) sleeping on couches :: FRANCIS INT'L AIRPORT :: "everybody loves hypnotoad" :: haunz describing a photo of a woman pulling a can of mountain dew out of her vagina :: ween handing me an alm-weiß not knowing there's alcohol in it and apologizing for at least 15 minutes :: the wall of death at the GRETCHENFRAGE show :: having deutschpunk-lyrics battles :: blankets and pillows (seriously!)

(-) five million people wearing kufiyehs :: not having any money :: idiots at the mariazellerstraße mcdonald's forgetting HORSEMAN's ice tea :: idiots trashing backstage rooms while my stuff is in there :: ZERO MENTALITY cancelling their show at the shelter :: antideMOKr.at (lol)

-shows-

fuck everything else. silfestival is coming up.

it was so easy to give it all away

2007-12-13T18:46:00.000+01:00

wonderful melancholy 90s pop punk out of leverkusen/cologne, germany. QUEST FOR RESCUE play that wonderful HÜSKER DÜ/DOUGHBOYS-ish style of punk rock, that always makes me want to get in a car and never come back, in a really good way.

had enough lyric-posts already? here's the lyrics to the song. rudimentary english but it's the thought that counts.

"i have a dream and it always seems
like i am drowning, seasons changing
i have a dream, so cold and mean
i guess it's raining, pleasure's fading

it felt so easy to give it all away
no hestitation, we thought there's just today
the warming sun i'm always feeling
and when it's raining, i just don't care.

it's hard to keep it. take a look outside.
it's still raining and summer's gone."

if you like it, go check out: MOVING TARGETS, BUFFALO TOM, THE DOUGHBOYS and of course HÜSKER DÜ and JAWBREAKER.
in other news: check out the awesome ANCHORS X UP liveset that mr. schlops posted on his blawg. straight edge.

[austrian emo history] THE NEW LOOKS FOR SPRING

2007-12-13T03:09:00.000+01:00

because there is no band photo or artwork of the demo online (and believe me, i've been searching a lot...), this random kurt halsey picture will have to do as an introduction for the music of this five piece from vienna.

THE NEW LOOKS FOR SPRING existed some time between 2000 and 2002 in their original five person line-up including thomas h. of the dance of days fanzine [r.i.p.] and rainer and gauner of WEDEKIND [also r.i.p., as far as i know]. songwriter was matthias hartmuth, who still had some sort of website in the year 2005 where he wrote a little something about the band. i can't find it anymore, so i'll recite everything from my memory. this first line up recorded the demo i've uploaded here. 6 poppy songs with keyboards and lots of heart. somewhere between KOUFAX and the GET UP KIDS. or something. the band split not long afterwards just to reunite a year later (or so) without keyboards and with a few line-up changes. they recorded some stuff in that line-up but i can't really recall how those songs sounded. i just got in contact with thomas h. one day and downloaded a shitload of NEW LOOKS songs from him, in no order at all and without knowing which songs are from which era. some sucked a bit, some were amazing. especially the song "summer's gone by in glitter" which i suspect to be from the second incarnation. (maybe i'll up that one seperately. maybe in a form of a colossal end90s austrian indiemo mixtape or something.)

anyhow, just a few days ago thomas - who's still on every mid90s indiemo show that takes place - handed me a copy of the 2001 demo he had found again. delighted to finally have the real thing i listened and i'm still as flattened by it as i was a couple of years ago when i started to get into the austrian hc scene and it's history (which will probably become a recurring theme in this blog.) the 6 songs included some of my favorites of the big heap of songs, the driving rocker "perfumed letters" with its lovely pictures of trips to the ocean, the dreamy "clouded sky" with its imagery of waiting at a bus stop and the incredibly catchy and driving title track "the new looks for spring" with its awesome lyrics, which i just have to post, because they are so amazingly good.

"sure, you wrote my number on the back of your hand,
now will you find your own way home again?
i never said you're boring and i really love that smile.
will we meet up at the show tonight?
everytime i think that i'm in love and despite everything you said,
we're falling down some hundred meters now.
i must confess i didn't read your book, despite no-one being around
in our small town that simply drags me down.

have you heard about the new looks for spring?
please don't ram the cart i'm driving in.
if you're asking me to smile, i must confess:
that may not be a thing i'm good at
so i missed your avenue again,
but this time doesn't count.
no, you must not jump off here right now."

and just cause i fucking feel like it, here's the lyrics to "clouded sky" as well:

"waiting for the bus to come i wrap you into my arms.
i talk to you, talk to me, for days.
beneath a clouded sky you crush me with your smile.
i could hear you breathe from miles away.

rain made me stay inside today."

okay, enough stalling. here's the six songs - along with all the lyrics.
so much <3

linkage: http://www.mediafire.com/?fw32tdzlteg

what else is new? oh, just came from BISHOP ALLEN and FRANCIS INT'L AIRPORT. the latter are still the best damn indie pop band in austria (and will probably get a blog post from me sooner or later), the former were okay, but not really my style. too happy for my tastes. oh well, what can you do. too bad i missed both KASHMIR and COLISEUM though. oh well, review anybody?
in other news: while writing this i was listening to ZERO MENTALITY. somehow that doesn't make any sense.