skrow!media

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.

Disasterpeace on the web

Tags: 2011, california, chiptune, deorbit, disasterpeace, free music, future, ii, oakland, pause, progressive, rich vreeland

Skrow036: The Sticky Situation - Grimst

The Sticky Situation - Grimst

Download album & art (44.4 mb zip)

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grimst

[grImst]

noun, verb, adjective, grimst’d, grimsting

–noun
1.  an exceptional form of synthetic sonority both dissonant and consonant, necessarily containing basslines that fill one’s heart with WUB right down to the cockles; musical bodies which present a certain quantity of modern dance floor death sexplosion as well as exuding a vibe that implies several video game systems of varying age seeping into, and perhaps out of, its pores; dubstep’s bizarro twin.
1A. a recording by The Sticky Situation which contains all of the above factors in addition to a cover art which features a rotund and at least slightly creepy clown man thing.

–verb
2.  to gyrate uncontrollably at the sound of that which is grimst; to beset another with such so as to cause gyrations.  e.g., “dude, I totally grimst’d you.”

-adjective
3. containing or pervaded by grimst (see 1.)
4. a suggestion that one should employ a blastbeat in an electronic song.  e.g., “holy moly, maaan, you should grimst all over that track.”

Origin:
circa 660-2310 CE; Neu Olde German grïmschtt; sidereal analogue of Dewey-Danish schwømp; to compel dangerous motion, herky jerky groove wonk hellyeah jive turkey

-Related forms
grrrrrrrrrrəîmʃtt, interjection

Tracklisting:

1. Die Gronge (4:00)
2. Holy Moly (3:46)
3. More Dread (3:43)
4. Scheißzeit (3:34)
5. You All Right (4:07)

Tags: 3.22.11, california, chip, clown, dubstep, electronic, grimst, grimst as fuuuuuuu, grimst'd, grimsting, idm, librarians, oakdale, release blurb dictionary gimmick, the sticky situation, wub, you will move

Skrow029: Hemostat - II

Hemostat - II

Ladies and gentlemen ladies and gentlemen ladies and gentlemen today we bring you another raucous exposition of 21st century trash art - and we mean that in the nicest way possible.  Step right up and feast your ears upon Hemostat’s long out of print second album, now available in digital form only on Skrow!.  30 tracks of decidedly delicious destruction, delivered in a way that is uniquely Hemostatic.  Hemostatian?  Hemostatistical?  Hemosapiens?  Heeeeeeee

Tracklisting:

1. The New Garbage (0:41)
2. Good Morning Cocksuckers (0:37)
3. One Minute (1:00)
4. Celestial Bus Station (0:33)
5. Sitcom-a-tron (1:46)
6. Chavez Seesaw (1:17)
7. Phash (2:24)
8. eAtSTARe (0:50)
9. Farther and Son (1:16)
10. Grosse (1:00)
11. Failure Live (0:52)
12. Low Blow (2:11)
13. Doombuster (7:25)
14. Ondes Octobre (3:01)
15. Pamela Schmid (1:35)
16. Royo Arrowhead (4:34)
17. Things That Are Big (2:05)
18. Sperm-a-troid (1:13)
19. This Next Tune (0:38)
20. Freeware Gives Me the Vapors (1:56)
21. Rock of Odds (1:10)
22. Wunderspotter (2:47)
23. Four-Forty Non Morti (1:46)
24. The Residuals (2:51)
25. Play Videogames for Twenty Years (3:02)
26. Creamd (2:18)
27. See U in the Geyser (2:43)
28. Proprietary Quarters (1:00)
29. I Like It! (1:01)
30. WHAT HAVE I DONE (5:28)

Tags: 3.5.2010, california, digital reissue, eggs, experimental, hemostat, noise, ronald mcdonald, wtf, xoc

Skrow010

Hemostat - I

Skrow! is proud to present our momentous tenth release (double digits, dammit!), and what makes it even better is that it’s another nifty nugget of noisome noise from our friendly neighbourhood Hemostat.

What makes this honour all the more honourable is that this collection is a reissue of Hemostat’s first forays into digital noise.  Originally released 8 years ago on long out of print CD-R, this digital reissue is remastered, rehashed and reactuated, with additional material not appearing on the original release.  40 tracks of schizophrenic stereo subversion for your terror and bemusement.  As always, we suggest playing this in your automobile at excessive volumes while gesturing obscenely at fellow motorists.  Enjoy!

Tracklisting:

1. Explosion (0:47)
2. Starting (0:23)
3. Party (1:45)
4. Anyway (0:50)
5. LOUD (1:26)
6. Pump (1:24)
7. Acid (1:01)
8. Guitar (0:29)
9. Intros (0:53)
10. Blessed (2:41)
11. Hero (2:31)
12. Mistakes (0:35)
13. Can (0:46)
14. Spunk (0:55)
15. Punk (0:55)
16. Bitch (0:44)
17. Jesus! (1:03)
18. Hog (0:55)
19. Door (1:34)
20. Rectangular (2:59)
21. Slow (1:49)
22. Thumb (1:07)
23. Water (0:52)
24. Leech (4:20)
25. Separate (0:58)
26. Voices (0:36)
27. Alone (0:43)
28. Mitten (1:24)
29. Recycle (1:43)
30. Next (0:49)
31. End (1:28)
32. Berserk (0:30)
33. Production (2:14)
34. Roach (1:15)
35. Bang (0:30)
36. Claw (0:52)
37. Smart (1:19)
38. Low (1:24)
39. Jazz (1:20)
40. Fuck (0:41)

Tags: 2.9.2009, california, car, good shit, hemostat, noise, reissue, sacramento

Skrow002: Bukkake Earlobe vs. Hemostat - Eek! Hot Best Karaoke Album

Bukkake Earlobe vs. Hemostat - Eek! Hot Best Karaoke Album

Download album & art (80.7 mb zip)

The long awaited collaboration between two seminal noise artists. Each artist offered up chunks of madness to be further deconstructed, reconstructed, and otherwise just buggered up by the other. Over 70 minutes of gratuitous screeching for your consumption and enjoyment. Bon appetit!

Tracklisting:

1. Fragesteller (1:22)
2. Bodies in a Turbine, Part I (3:53)
3. Gemelli Eccellenti (0:36)
4. Canadian Roulette (3:13)
5. Skin Hunger (0:50)
6. Hive Positronics (5:41)
7. Canalphonics (1:16)
8. Moistmoistmoistmoistmoist (2:28)
9. Static-Filled Triple-Scrambled Mandarin Chinese (1:26)
10. A Conflagration of Fluency, Much to the Despair of the Sleeping Cobblestone (7:05)
11. Complete Asshole (9:44)
12. There Is No Part II (1:11)
13. Benny Selleth All His Dominoes (9:26)
14. Practical Bovine Dentistry (3:18)
15. Ragdoll Physics (4:32)
16. Whore or Film? (The Dreams That Snuff Are Made Of) (8:41)
17. Boom Boom Let’s Go Back to My Tomb (3:14)
18. 128 Bit Encryption (0:56)
19. Waterwitcher (2:16)

Tags: 11.23.2007, bukkake earlobe, california, cumshots, experimental, hemostat, jason vs. jason, noise, ohio, xoc