Skrow041: Quinn Fox - Extended Mission
Quinn Fox - Extended Mission
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We’re mad excited up in here, because right now we are officially welcoming our good friend Quinn Fox to the Skrow! family by dropping Extended Mission, the long-awaited followup to his 2008 effort, Resonant Yaw. Y’all better recognize. RESPECK!
Lavish space-age synth grooves that consistently tread that precarious line between rock and pop with an effortless smooth-but-edgy dichotomy, atop which rest the sensuous croons and occasional passionate shouts generated by Quinn’s distinct baritone. The result is an engaging atmosphere, encompassing easily accessible songs which reveal hidden layers of sound and meaning on requisite repeat listens.
Headphones, car, day, night, whatever. This shit is good anywhere, anywhen. Please enjoy with us.
Tracklisting:
- Master Alarm (4:18)
- New Skills (3:16)
- Empty Collections (2:56)
- Taikonaut (3:30)
- Pretty Neat Girl (3:40)
- Saber Rattler (3:36)
- Leave It There (2:36)
- Automatic Manual (3:22)
Skrow030: Skrow!Media Compilation #1: Quit Your Day Job
Quit Your Day Job
Download album & art (209.7 mb zip)
Download art booklet only (9.1 mb zip)
Remember on the last album release post, when I said this thing was coming out in a few days? Yeah, well… we reside in a world in which thirty or so still counts as a few. Roll with it. You have no choice in the matter. ANYWAY…
The perpetually delayed mythical Skrow!Media compilation has finally come to light! This satisfyingly diverse collection boasts 27 tracks by alumni and friends of Skrow!, clocking in at almost an hour and 45 minutes of semi-organized disturbances in air pressure. Enjoy them with headphones and/or speakers, alone and/or with friends, drugs and/or no drugs. Try it however you like! See the included graphics for useless information about the songs and artists! Use bombs wisely!
(Click on the tracks listed below if you’d like to download songs individually.)
Tracklisting:
- Philistine on the Sidewalk - Taking Advantage of Impermanence (5:44)
- Portmanteau - Frenetic Relaxation (Dirty Mix) (4:42)
- Captain Tortilla - Raito (3:17)
- Recreational Episiotomy - Herring Diabolis (0:28)
- Frankenstain - Potassium Cyan (9:07)
- Bukkake Earlobe - Lassitude (6:14)
- Cigarettes & Clip-Art - An Introduction to Letterhead (4:48)
- Mithius - The Palace of 1000 Lizards: Level 1 Boss: The Lizard King (2:26)
- Dooz - Midelectrock (5:25)
- Saffron Slumber - Temicxoch (6:10)
- Thaumaturgist - Homosexuals (5:49)
- temp sound solutions and Phlogiston - grarfed (2:15)
- FreddeGredde - Mega Man 9 Medley (7:27)
- Zio and TEH LOLZ - Non-Micron Ribs (2:36)
- The Beauty of Grind - Family Feud - Punch Your Mom in the Face (0:55)
- Lunghammer - Untitled Skullfuck #1 (6:37)
- Aliasman - Thing (Put It In Yo Mouf) (1:14)
- Vito Genovese - Westcott (4:13)
- Hemostat - Hirudo Troctina (2:55)
- Nario - Welcome to 2002 (1:46)
- The Sticky Situation - Jhaw Driopo (4:00)
- Mowage - Ass Explosion Double Play (0:48)
- Unikron - Wolfmotherfucker (1:37)
- Daemon9623 - Solar Blossoms (1:35)
- Ellipse - Incomprehensible Void Patterns (5:25)
- earthbreather - Obsidian Beach (4:19)
- Quinn Fox - Solo Voltaic (3:14)
DisasterPEACE - Deorbit
Disasterpeace - Deorbit
I happened to notice a few weeks ago that the highly respected and inimitable Rich Vreeland, better known to most of us as DisasterPEACE, is now offering his entire catalogue up to the world with a “pay what you want” model, which basically means FREE, but you should really give this guy money because he’s good and good indie artists should be rewarded for what they do and I promise I’ll stop preaching now.
Anyway, I also noticed he’s released a new EP titled Deorbit, so I downloaded the shit out of it and made it an immediate part of my worktime rotation. My initial impression was that much of it resembles this year’s earlier release, Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar, which felt to me like pieces of Vangelis and Mike Oldfield being dragged forward in time from the early 70s, accruing influence as they go like some kind of musical Katamari. 8 and 16 bit chip, prog rock of varying eras, a hefty dose of that minimalism-inspired electronica, all drawn together in ways that are universally modern. It occurs to me that looking forward while looking back is perhaps the key to relevancy, and Disasterpeace excels in this here. Perhaps the most stunning part of this EP is the fact that it seems it is comprised primarily of tracks that he couldn’t find a place for on other efforts. This man’s deletions are better than most artists’ intentions. Frankly sickening.
The album starts with a melancholic bit of mystique and atmosphere, a desolate melody awash in echo and faint noise, accompanied briefly by a sparse beat. This introduction gives way to the stunning “Polis,” which exemplifies the Katamari description given above. Bouncing minimal synths juxtapose a slick 11/8 groove with fat bottomed bass to make the rockin’ world go round and positively gorgeous leads, the whole thing culminating in guitar lines that neatly slice open my skull, remove my brain, give it a good spitshine, and put it back in place upside down.
The other biggest highlight for me is “Sober Colony,” which I was until now unaware was already released way back in 2007 on a themed Pause compilation called Town. Folks… I’m not exaggerating to say that my discovery of this song was an existence-defining moment. I can no longer imagine life without it. It’s that fucking good. The 5/4 groove is so irresistibly supreme as to lend credence to the idea of 5 as a magic number. And then the song’s B section (e.g. starting at about the 1:04 mark) descends on me like an avalanche; inconceivably heavy, with all of the immense power and beauty of a natural formation, and capable of besetting my spine with uncontrollable chills.
Allow me to further put this into perspective and say that this is not coming from a longtime Disasterpeace fanboy. Prior to this year, I’d only heard parts of a few albums, and while I found them enjoyable and I respected the artist for what he means to the scene, I wasn’t extremely into the music. With these two latest releases, that stance has shifted considerably, and I’ll now be delving much more deeply into the entirety of the man’s catalogue. I encourage anyone else with ears to do the same.
Dissolution - Dirt Skies
Dissolution - Dirt Skies
Four long years have passed since Winnipeg-based death metal act Dissolution’s last release, Dying. Dead. Undead. In that time, they have refined and sharpened their sound while simultaneously further honing their already very solid DIY production skills.
The resulting album is a 50 minute relentless onslaught of perfectly balanced brutality and musicality. This, if you ask me, is classic death circa 2011. If I had to slap a genre tag on it (since people are wont to require such things, for some reason), I’d have to call it melodic death metal, but very much in the vein of Heartwork-era Carcass, and not the shadow of its former self this style has become. But while Dissolution may seemingly wear these influences on their collective sleeve, they rigorously execute their craft with power and finesse in a context that is undeniably modern and creates for a powerful atmosphere of nostalgic but relevant headbanging.
The dual-guitar assault is the ever-present centerpiece of the album, a ceaseless cavalcade of blistering riffs in which excellent facemelting solos abound. This stringed attack is highlighted with precision by contrasting low and high harsh vocal styles. The bass is largely transparent in that it is primarily doubling and underpinning one or other of the guitar parts, but it is actually audible, which is more than one can say for a large quantity of extreme metal albums, both classic and current. If I have one nitpick for the entirety of the album, it’s that the drum arrangements are somewhat unimaginative, and there are a few sections where he uses a particular type of blastbeat that doesn’t rhythmically mesh perfectly with the rest of the instrumentation, resulting in fleeting passages of perceived awkwardness or sloppiness. His performance and the band overall are otherwise very tight, though, and this record is such an unmitigated blitzkrieg of sickness that I’m loath to dock it any points on the scarce few flaws my fastidious ears might find.
Dirt Skies is available now on Dissolution’s bandcamp and is well worth the paltry asking price. Premium quality independent metal to break your neck to. What more could you want?
Skrow040: Guitar Bastard - Planeswalking
Guitar Bastard - Planeswalking
Download album & art (106 mb zip)
Believe it or not, the perpetually delayed first installment of the Skrow! label compilation is officially coming out within a matter of days. Yeah, I don’t believe it either. It’s true though. Srsly. Meanwhile, feast your ears on the latest from our good friend Guitar Bastard…
One continuous 45-minute aural sphere of influence within which one may find themselves drawn, willing or not, into higher dominions of reasoning. An incessant expanse of subtly fluctuating drones enveloping a limitless void of mystique and otherness.
Yeah. Headphones, bro.
Tracklisting:
- Planeswalking (45:03)
Dawn Lights - My Will Alone
Dawn Lights - My Will Alone
The journey begins with bitcrushed electronic drums and synthetic strings accented by ephemeral guitar, an appropriate overture to the epic aural narrative that follows. This rapidly fades to another synthetic introduction, which itself suddenly gives way to the onslaught of richly distorted guitar chords and fierce vocal melodies that form “Imprint,” essentially the album’s mission statement. The phrases “sending a signal” and “nothing left to fear” truly stand out in the chorus lyrics, as while the Cleveland-based Dawn Lights are certainly not doing anything terribly original or groundbreaking, they are doing it with enough conviction and execution to make converts of any who might doubt their intent.
Multi-instrumentalist Dean Johnson’s darkly heavy emotive music consistently treads the line between rock and metal with great aplomb, effectively presented through a dichotomy of thoughtful, claustrophobic verses offset by enormously spacious catchy choruses. This all serves as the perfect backdrop for the refined yet edgy melodies of vocalist Eric Hess. Together, these two men create a cohesive, engaging album that manages to be highly accessible without fully succumbing to tired radio metal clichés.
Highlights include the aforementioned “Imprint,” and the utterly anthemic “The Rising,” in which Hess cries, “this is the moment to rise and fall.” To my ears, that is the core of this album as an experience: be in the moment, create for the sake of creation, and grab life with all of your might. Whether it resonates with you in this fashion or not, this album contains roughly 50 minutes of well-written rock tunes that are easy listening in the true sense of the phrase. So give it a well deserved spin, but be forewarned that once played at healthy volume in one’s car stereo on a gorgeous autumn day with windows down, it may be nigh impossible to eject.
Skrow039: Nario - More of Me
Nario - More of Me
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Holy chips, Batman! Today greets the arrival of the second offering from Elizabethtown, KY native Nick Hagman aka Nario. The followup to 2009’s Most of Me, the astutely titled More of Me is all chip all awesome all the time. The seven sizzlin’ songs here boast varied influences from rock, electro pop, dance, industrial and more, all neatly bundled into a retro 8-bit package of blip love and hot groove.
Nab the digital release here or at bandcamp today, or go to Locus Tangibles to pre-order the CD with two bonus tracks! Yay!
Tracklisting:
- gNARly (3:18)
- This Pain Is Too Much to Bear (And Screw You, Too) (3:30)
- Drive-In Dance Club (3:35)
- Chips of the Penguin (2:30)
- Chilled Pop Cherry Soda (8-Bit Mix) (2:24)
- Ghostbusters Have Sex With Schala at a Strip Club (3:42)
- Hands in the Air (feat. cyrilthewolf) (3:19)
OhioProg 2012 announced!
OhioProg 2012 announced!
We are proud to present OhioProg 2012. Ohio’s premiere progressive rock festival is set to take place over 3-days, September 7, 8 & 9 of 2012. We are taking a unique approach to our festival in hopes to create an experience for the fans, funded by the fans and enjoyed by the fans of progressive rock. An exceptional line-up has been assembled which includes a Friday pre-show “A Tribute to the Classics” and a Saturday & Sunday, full-day main event. Bands announced include headliners Script for a Jester’s Tour (UK), FM (CA) and Nightingale (SE). Arena (UK), After the Fall (US), Orphan Project (US), Persephone’s Dream (US), RC2 (ES), Cryptic Vision (US) and Going for the One (US) round out the bill with one more act to be announced. We are now live online and ready to prepare you for a very special weekend. Get festival news, information on the bands, learn about our “Pledge Your Ticket” program and get involved in the OhioProg community.
Click here to visit the official OhioProg site and learn about the bands, hear samples, and more!
Skrow038: earthbreather - Forget the Sky
earthbreather - Forget the Sky
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With great pride do we present the debut of experimental, free-genre duo earthbreather. A collaboration between Saffron Slumber and Ellipse, this non-geographically proximal pairing came to be, as these things are, via the internet. In late 2008, Saffron Slumber began “remixing” by way of manipulation and de/reconstruction some brief guitar clips sent to him by Ellipse. The latter, as well, began to perform similar mutations upon pieces created by the former. As this process continued, the songs would evolve into something entirely new, and the process itself became progressively more collaborative. An unwritten manifesto took form between the two artists to ignore the perceived boundaries of genre conventions and to simply create.
On Forget the Sky, earthbreather experiment with various aural textures and explore atmospheres dark and light, concrete and ethereal, consonant and dissonant, all in flowing and relatively structurally free compositional forms. The result is an album that is both cohesive and varied throughout its approximate 50 minute duration.
Headphones are suggested and encouraged. Please join us.
Tracklisting:
- Talk in Blue (10:34)
- Fields of Desiccant (9:12)
- Ice Throne of Ullr (8:34)
- Pulling On Melting Glass (5:02)
- Black Fires Burn Gently (8:28)
- Craters (7:52)
Skrow037: Bukkake Earlobe - Vasectomy Monologues
Bukkake Earlobe - Vasectomy Monologues
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Reclining at length upon a microfiber couch with stitches in one’s mildly malaised testicles and a head full of oxycodone warmth has a way of putting one into an insomniac haze fit to inspire the spontaneous midnocturnal creation of a certain pandemonious, sonorous whorl.
At least so we’re told.
Tracklisting:
- Dude? Dude. (4:32)
- Saturday Nite Librarians (1:52)
- Ghost of Plastic Basketball Hoop (2:44)
- Mirror Swimming (3:06)
- The Unmentionables (3:28)
- 512 (8:00)
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