The Rock Blogger

Current 93 . All the Pretty Little Horses (TheInMostLight). 1996. 5 stars.

The brainchild of the UK’s David Tibet , Current 93 is a prolific act that has evolved from the early industrial scene of the 80s to become neofolk , crafting a unique musical form that blends literary poetry and acoustical elements with industrial and experimental sounds. All the Pretty Little Horses is one of Tibet’s most acclaimed works, taking the listener on an esoteric and haunting spiritual journey.
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(pictures form the show coming soon)

While the final show of Matthew Good’s tour of the U.S. had few surprises, it was still a remarkable feat of perseverance. Succumbing to food poisoning and bouts of insomnia midway through his state-side journey, Matt had canceled several of his shows, including a coveted spot at the South by Southwest festival in Texas, a gig that could have sparked interest from a whole new audience. Despite Matt’s terrible luck of late, he managed to pull himself together for his last stop at Club Infinity in Buffalo, overcoming sleep deprivation to serenade a packed house of eager fans.

Being a continuation of last year’s “Nothing to Hide” tour, Matt took to the stage alone with only an acoustic guitar in hand and immediately launched into a note perfect rendition of “I’m a Window”, the second single from last summer’s Hospital Music. He then proceeded to play through revamped versions of his older material, like the hit singles “Load Me Up” and “Strange Days” as well as most of the tracks from his latest disc, with some candid conversation thrown in for good measure.

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I’m heading to Buffalo to see Matthew Good perform the last show in his acoustic tour of the U.S. I think this will be the 11th MG show I’ve seen since I started listening to Underdogs at the beginning of the decade. In celebration of today’s show, here are my Top 5 Matthew Good videos:

5. Strange Days. Beautiful Midnight 1999.

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The classic documentary from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) that explores Noam Chomsky’s ideas about propaganda and the media. While the film is quite long, stretching over 160 minutes, it is one of the most comprehensive and provocative studies of corporate power and democratic deficit ever made.

The film also sheds light on some of the more heated controversies surrounding Chomsky and shows some intense opposition to his criticisms. Whatever your political views, this is essential viewing.

Sun Dial. Other Way Out. 1990. 4 stars.

Sun Dial were leaders in the drug-fueled psychedelic revival in the early 90’s, becoming one of Britain’s most acclaimed space-rock acts, along side stalwarts like The Stone Roses and Spacemen 3. Other Way Out remains the band’s most successful album, receiving heaps of praise within underground critical circles. Sounding like something straight out of the late 1960’s, Sun Dial take the sprawling and sunny aesthetics of The Beatles, early Pink Floyd and The Zombies and weaves them into a extensive psychoactive journey that is as captivating as it is nostalgic.

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A strange and innovative video for “It is Not Sound” from The Blood Inside (2005). Featuring bizarre human animation, the video follows the plight of the band members through a twisting sea of limbs. Crazy stuff.

From the film “Distant Drummer: Flowers of Darkness” (1972) by Airlie Productions. Follows the history of opium and gauges the impact of heroin use on the modern world. A dated but otherwise fascinating documentary.

Brethren of the Free Spirit

All Things are From Him, Through Him and in Him. 2008. 3.5 stars.

An avant-garde acoustic collaboration between guitarist James Blackshaw and lutenist Josef Van Wissem, Brethren of the Free Spirit play classically inspired melodies that gracefully build and repeat in a hypnotic and psychedelic manner. The album’s 4 tracks delve into folk and minimalist traditions, with layered compositions leading into a sustained and relaxed trances, never pushing towards powerful climaxes or crescendos.

The restrained and meditative quality of the music here is almost religious in its execution, with its meticulous attention to detail and patient movements providing a soft backdrop for intense personal reflection. I first started exploring this album when I was walking alone in the woods by my house, feeling the waves of acoustic guitar build naturally, seemingly mimicking the precise and intricate patterns found in nature. The album’s pastoral nature favors solitary experiences and requires the undivided attention of the listener in appreciating its inner dramas.

While the moods and feelings given off by this record are lucid and well conceived, the album’s short duration (under 30 minutes) and general lack of variety hurts its overall impact. Certainly there are intense and complex moments, but the entire affair becomes quite repetitive if its not taken in within the right context. As far as avant-garde recordings go, Brethren of the Free Spirit are consistently interesting and accessible, if you are willing to find the right setting to listen to it. This is strong conceptual music for the Zen set.

Strange tree tower on The Richmond Trail

Today is the Day. Sadness Will Prevail. 2002. 4.5 stars.

A tour de force of misanthropy, Sadness Will Prevail is easily one of the most psychotic and disturbing albums you will ever come across. Sprawling across two discs and 30 tracks, this magnum opus is the tortured psyche held up for display, with abrasive mood swings and psychological fits that are compositionally complex and brutal in their honesty.

Today is the Day take elements from hardcore and noise rock, with grinding drums, menacing bass lines and terrifying shrieks, and melds them with an almost avant-garde flair for atmosphere and horror, utilizing film samples, sound effects, field recordings and ambient touches to stir this album’s bleak emotional undertow. There are dramatic shifts between songs here, raging between spastic riffs and pummeling drums a la Converge , and despairing passages of acoustic guitar, ambient noise and angular piano compositions.

The wide array of sounds being explored here is not merely a novelty to set Today is the Day from the rest of the hardcore pack, but serves to enhance the intense catharsis taking place, giving front man Steve Austin a claustrophobic space for his demons to run amok. With less concern placed on fitting within genre conventions, Today is the Day tread into blacker compositional territory that gives prevalence to thematics and naked emotional outbursts.

Sadness will Prevail, needless to say, is terrifyingly dismal and requires a certain fortitude to approach. But any effort made in entering the band’s uncompromising and insular black holes will be a rewarding one, if not to appreciate the vast subtleties and nuances awaiting within the madness, then to come away with an understanding of how unmitigated experimentation can release the artist’s most demented and pained sensibilities. For its unfiltered and unrelenting spasms, Sadness will Prevail remains not only a landmark for hardcore, but for dark and aggressive music as a whole, standing alongside NIN’s The Downward Spiral as one of the greatest expressions of self-destruction and personal torment.