Tuesday 11 April 2017

School of Underground Scrape Part 5

This is largely referring to the Quebecois constellation that features killer fiddle instrumentalism of great interest to anyone wishing to take part in strung resistance.

Black Ox Orkestar - Ver Tanzt
This is by no means a fiddle heavy album, but when the fiddle is in - it is HEAVY. There are some fantastically harsh, down-trodden Yiddish violin sounds in here, a cry from a culture and language that was almost eradicated by the horrors of WWII. Indeed, from my understanding, the revival of Yiddish culture is part of Black Ox Orkestar's M.O. Heart-rending punk klezmer from various Godspeed!, Thee Silver Mount Zion etc, associated Qubecers. Get your ears around it ASAP.

HangedUp & Tony Conrad - Transit of Venus
Duo of violist Genevieve Heidek and drummer percussion slapper Eric Craven who has laid his skin bashing to music by Silver Mount Zion et al. Hangedup are great, Tony Conrad was great, that makes for a fantastic combo which Transit of Venus definitely reflects. Literally sounding like interplanetary transit, including the slow pace, this droneathon is useful for shaking off psychic plaque (yes I know I sound like Julian Cope there..GOOD!) and drowning in cosmic sorrow/joy/ecstasy/oblivion. Listen at maximum volume. 

Godspeed You! Black Emperors - whatever, just the vibe of the early stuff
I've actually listened to very little Godspeed (some out there wouldn't believe that, if anyone cares that is, but it's true) but the early albums full of epic string scrape and long pieces swelling with power and melancholy are fantastic, and no doubt the most recent ones are also great. They don't need my attention. So this is all they get.

Thee Silver Mount Zion Band - various releases
Silver Mount Zion has received a bit more of my attention and much of their work and various offshoots are truly great. Albums like He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light... are full of swirling strings and dark epic sounds that take you deep into open rock spaces. Beautiful music and a great example of house some revolutionary strings can squat in the heavy rock combo and bring the beauty of Anarchy up an extra notch. Essential listening.