throw up in the sky!

Ashtray Navigations is/are a project of one Phil Todd and his friends when he feels like incorporating them, playing with the likes of Alex Neilson, Neil Campbell, and Ben Reynolds. he crafts a style of drone music that stays very close to the grounds his contemporaries do, but it stays strictly unique and his own. coming from a noisier side of things (think west coast noise bands like Noggin or yellow swans (even though they aren't similar really)), but still sticking to the drone, he crafts lush fields of drone that are spacious and immense, with loads of little details that keep shifting in and out. very dynamic for drone, and usually the quality control is on "high."

this is his Qbico album "Throw Up In The Sky / With Fine Clinking Magnets." two shimmering pieces of processed guitar and tapes and other such jingle-jangle. i like this record a lot, it sounds awesome at 33 or 45.

just ripped at 33 though. sorry.

Ashtray Navigations - Throw Up In The Sky / With Fine Clinking Magnets
http://www.mediafire.com/?fiqzmdln4dr

old habits are hard to kick. so is Vibracathedral Orchestra

here's their double lp that i think the band released themselves (there's no label listed at least) and this one is a free-form doozy. loads of skittering and skattering of random percussion, strings, and keyboards going on underneath the layers upon layers of buzzed out, stoned up, messed around, and faded guitars that shimmer in and out when necessary, but mostly just occupy a drone space to set the mood of the track. this is the orchestra really letting loose and bouncing ideas off each other in a way that is playful but still retaining the overall feel that any of their albums holds, drones that you just want to give yourself to and fade into as they fade you out of this world.

i think this is one of the better of this band's cannon of albums. a bunch of minds on tape. truly exceptional.

Vibracathedral Orchestra - Double lp
(link removed cause i'm a dumbass.)

more bower, more TOTAL

this is one i've been slacking on putting up, though also mediafire didn't seem to like me uploading it either (took me 4 seperate tries. fucking internets.)

here's TOTAL's awesome noise opus called "Clear Factory." this is an awesome release, put out on that swell label Majora a bunch of years back. this is pure Bower in top form, with tons of extra blown out guitar, loads of layers of feedback, and yes, even some melody laid underneath it all. there are three tracks on this one, each longer than 10 minutes. the instrumentation is much sparser than other Total releases, centered around Bower and his ultra destruction guitar (though there is some piano and what sounds like a radio present as well). this album is prime, one of the best things Matthew Bower has ever done.

if you are a Bower nut like i am, then don't hesitate. get this now.

super duper special thanks to david for the high quality rips here. rock on my friend!

Total - Clear Factory
http://www.mediafire.com/?jmzkwyhmzux

another visit to the astral social club

ah, Neil Campbell, you rule my world.

here's Astral Social Club's #11 cd-r which he put out himself, of course. strictly limited to 150 copies (and reissued on a mp3 cd-r which i think is out of print now too...), this cd-r has sounds very close to the important releases. loads of high end skree and layers here, and tons of that fast-forwarded tape sound here too.

actually, his own description is much better than i could do:
"Content this time around is highly nitrous, with much overloaded top-end twinkle. Check for some particularly screwy (and often barely-recognisable) versions of tracks set for release on QBICO and Important Records later this year, taking the demented recent ASC live persona and twisting it further with heavy collage/layering techniques. Offset this with remedial drumbox stumble and mysterious processed tracks and you know theres only one hotel you can be checking into. Edition of 150 in colour ASC corporate house-style. 7 tracks, 42 minutes"

get it. no cover scans, but the art is the usual "Astral Social Club" picture with a green background.

Astral Social Club - #11
http://www.mediafire.com/?nwknzykdzwz

some more bower for the new year!

here's Sunroof!'s cd "Rainbow Electric Sabbath." it's three tracks of patented Sunroof! bliss guitars. each track is centered around a main riff that repeats through all three tracks. but, there are subtle differences between the tracks (besides their lengths), such as post production shit, extra layers of fuzz and radio waves and such, and all in all just usual Sunroof!-isms. this is a good album, kind of similar to Skullflower's exquisite fucking boredom (celestial highway I-IV are very much the same idea.)

happy blissful drone music for those so inclined.

Sunroof! - Rainbow Electric Sabbath
http://www.mediafire.com/?y3zjxyymye1

my last post before christmas... sniffle

i know, you are all sad.

it's ok, i'll be back soonish... maybe. this might be the last update for the year! i hope not, but it all depends on my willingness to do this when i am away on a vacation of sorts. i'm getting out of the basement, folks. hopefully the daylight doesn't blind me.

that being said, here's the musics.

this is Neil Campbell's solo lp released on that awesome Finnish label Lal Lal Lal entitled "Sol Power." this lp is different than Astral Social Club in that there are no demented dance beats and tranced out laserbeams, no, this is classic droning peace, an ethereal blast of organs, guitars, and various other instruments that will take you away. at times this reminds me of Roy Montgomery, at other times Richard Youngs' more experimental sounds, and still others it's just straight up Campbell. flutes chime in and disappear, guitars are chopped up and droned out, and everything is just straight up blissful. it's amazing this guy can do anything but make soothing beautiful music.

uber rare and way deleted, get this here now. sorry, this one isn't chopped into tracks just sides.

Neil Campbell - Sol Power
http://www.mediafire.com/?jdvjqjt4iqy

knowing nothing ain't easy

Michael (Mick) Flower would know. or wouldn't. either way.

this is his Qbico album "Returning To Knowing Nothing" put out a year or so ago. on this release you find Mick noodling his guitar, fiddling and sawing away, humming and hawing, and totally blissing out with some raga-drone. a lot of this is close territory to his Vibracathedral Orchestra stuff, but way stripped down and less noisy. this is really good and very diverse. it sounds like there are at least 7 people on these tracks, but there aren't.

definitely recommended.

Michael Flower - Returning To Knowing Nothing
http://www.mediafire.com/?jxdwdhedm5d

drones for siberia!

to continue with my love for some Birchville Cat Motel, here's his 1998 cd released on that wonderful label Drunken Fish (you know, "Harmony of the Spheres" boxset?) entitled "Siberian Earth Curve." this cd opens with a long low drone that is layer upon layer of noise piled up until it's a slow boil of churning bubbling drone that only BCM could conjure up. then, he adds melody to the mix on the second track, a sort of backwards raga with slide-whistles. the next track sounds like a plane going down in a buggs bunny cartoon for ten minutes, but if you listen closely to all the goings on, you will be rewarded; it's much more than a plane going down. next, he brings the static back full force, with a piercing attack of high end noise that sounds like the recording of a hundred kettles boiling and put through a distortion pedal. brilliant. finishing the cd off comes the title track, shifting tonal experiment that adds and subtracts high frequency tones for 15 minutes.

this cd is great. Campbell Kneale never disappoints, and if you are a fan of drone music you will really enjoy this cd.

Bircville Cat Motel - Siberian Earth Curve
http://www.mediafire.com/?wzjnzujjmfm

there is magic to be seen, on earth and in space.

Ben Reynolds really is a magician. the songs he crafts are truly otherworldly and magical. his drones are among some of the best out there, and yet he doesn't rely simply on droning his cd-rs out, there is diversity in every release! his is the definition of "space music." well, it's definitely out there at least.

this is his cd-r "Earth And Space Magics" released on the mighty Pseudo Arcana label. it starts with a spaced out raga that has chirps and voices all over it with weird echoes and reverb everywhere and a low hum of his voice holding out one note for the entire track. then he gets a little new-agey "hearts of space" territory, but that isn't really a bad thing. in fact, it works because it's not done with synth, so it sounds very organic and fresh. then, when you might be getting a little droned out, he comes back with a steel-stringed piece that will make all you Six Organs Of Admittance fans swoon, with bells and chimes laid all over his sweetly plucked guitar. he finishes the cd off with another drone piece, this one getting close to Ashtray Navigations territory, a great way to end a really great cd.

check it out, a very peaceful and spacey listen.

Ben Reynolds - Earth And Space Magics
http://www.mediafire.com/?2jwmzjnnr2l

exquisitely bored?

Skullflower's got the answer. this is the album "Exquisite Fucking Boredom" that came out in good ole 2002 (that was a fun year, eh?). this is a much different Skullflower than many of you may be expecting. this was Bower's first release with this name in over six years after putting it to bed in 1996 in favor of Total and Sunroof!. this Skullflower is less of the crushing doom-sludge that you might have found on releases like Xaman or IIIrd Gatekeeper and more of a Sunroof! feel, but it's like Sunroof! smoking mad amounts of weed and hanging out with Black Sabbath. the core of the album revolves around the four part suite "Celestial Highway," opening with a seventies rock riff that just grooves and grooves, with overdubs and extra parts coming in here and there. but, each part of the song adds another element that is trademark Bower action; by the time you get to part three of the Highway you'll think it really is a Sunroof! record.

this is a strange unearthing of a beast many considered to be one of the heaviest acts ever, but it certainly does not disappoint. no, in fact this ranks up there in my favorite Skullflower releases, as well as anything Bower has done.

definitely recommended. after this release, by the way, Skullflower remembered it was heavy as fuck again (Tribulation was terrifying!)

Skullflower - Exquisite Fucking Boredom
http://www.mediafire.com/?4qlni2yyjdt

oh, can there really be more Qbico? pt. 5

ok, the last qbico upload of the day belongs to none other than Neil Campbell and his Astral Social Club. for those who don't know nothing, ASC is Campbell's post-Vibracathedral project, usually finding him solo or with one or two friends helping. of course it's a drone based affair, with shimmering guitars and highly processed glitchy drum machines usually with the bpm being cranked all the way. it's like the drone music ravers would listen to.

this is a great record to come down off drugs to. opening very peacefully, Campbell lulls you in with shiny guitars and synth effects that are repeating and swelling until about minute 14 when the volume is so huge that your brain is only filled with it. if i close my eyes and listen to this i think of being in a blue room with little dots of bright light going ever faster until they explode everywhere and you just want to smile and embrace them. fantastic.

side b opens with a glitchy delay pattern that shifts and repeats over and over with sprawling guitars behind all the sounds, a wonderful and faded melody that sits in the back of your head while you focus on the clicks and tinkles of the processed electronics. then, almost out of nowhere the track changes completely, with the guitars coming forward and getting the processed treatment, sounding like lasers firing and a dj spinning acid house records at 16rpm. the two ideas come together and it is just fantastic, making you want more and more and you are only about halfway through the track. then, the drums fall out and you are left with a processed click and just the laser-like guitars humming and shimmering softly, rising and becoming louder and louder until it is just a beam of processed feedback and beautiful distortion, ending with more processed sounds and a strange ufo-like spinning sound that gives the whole thing an otherworldly feel.

this is an incredible record. Astral Social Club has been one of my favorite projects of any musician for a while now, any genre. it's just so pretty and sparkly and makes me wish everything was in a blacklit room.

drone music for the out there folks, or those wishing they could be even further out than they already are. lovely.

Astral Social Club - Star Guzzlers
http://www.mediafire.com/?rgyoy4wjguh

Qbico appreesh pt. 2

the next round is done by a group many of you should be very familiar with by now: Double Leopards. featuring one of my personal favorites (marcia basset!) and the duo who went on to form Religious Knives, this brooklyn quartet craft a drone music that on this release was focussed and intense, starting with a plinking sort of electronic scrape sound and disembodied wordless singing building into less of a hum and more of a screech as the A-side continues, sounding like highly distorted whale noises at times. the B-side starts quietly with only and amplifier hum and some weird clicking, but you know it will build into something a lot more moaning than this. quickly the hum is joined by distant sounding metalic whirs and horn-ish sounds, with voices and echoes joining in. the whole mood of this record is eerie and sparse, being less about shredding eardrums and more about freaking you out.

the picture disk art is fantastically trippy, being done by one mr. greg lambkin (you know, the shadow ring?). this is an old qbico release and the only place your gonna find it is the bay.

oh, and turn this one up LOUD!

Double Leopards - Urban Concussion
http://www.mediafire.com/?gmjoy4mmitz

qbico records appreciation pt.1

today's round of posts centers around qbico records, an awesome european imprint focussing on releasing small, elaborately packaged, and beautifully crafted runs of vinyl releases ranging from free-jazz to noise. i've already posted the Family Underground picture disk (download it!), so if you were a fan of that then check these next posts out.

the first of today's posts is the Vibracathedral Orchestra (what a shock, right?) lp qbico put out a few years back. on it's bright green vinyl you find two long buzzing and droning pieces that will not be any kind of suprise to the fans of this band. there seems to be a lot more electronics on these tracks than on other vibra releases, with lots of chirps and electronic hums, but as you get deeper in the tracks the usual free-clattering circle of guitars, pipes, and strings come to the humming forefront. the flip side opens with a huge organ drone that sets the tone for a side full of ur-drone goodness that only this crew could bring.

this release marked a load of changes for the group, as there were a few line-up shifts coming right around this time (flower, campbell, and hayden all left the band for periods around this recording). it's good to hear that even if the band didn't have the same membership they weren't losing focus or straying from a path they laid out so well in the past. this lp is long gone, so good luck finding it out in the real world.

Vibracathedral Orchestra - The Sun Balance/The Open Knot
http://www.mediafire.com/?02mtjxebsyt

time to get TOTALed

for today's dose of matthew bower, i bring you Total -Sky Blue Void. this release was recorded in 1993-1994 and was a big departure for bower at this time, where he was mostly just destroying minds with skullflower. to me it sounds like he was laying the basis for what would later become hototogisu, many undercurrents of static hums underneath the main focus, which tends to be the guitars. on this album, Bower is credited with playing "guitar, classical guitar, vacuum cleaner, metal, radios". that should give you an idea of what this might sound like. he is also joined by some guests, including one of richard youngs' favorite collaborators, Simon Wickham-Smith.

this is a great album and fucking hard to find. i kind of wish Bower had stuck with the Total project, it's an interesting departure for him, because instead of just trying to crack your skull with feedback he's trying to lull you with prettiness as well.

for fans of Bower's other bands, Family Underground, the noisier moments of Thuja, and the ring of New Zealand bands that also like to use vacuum cleaners as instruments (Dead C, Sandosz Lac Technicians, BCM, etc.)

Total - Sky Blue Void
http://www.mediafire.com/?frmo1jzjwmy

circle around the forest people

there are a lot of bands out there that do the krautrock thing today, but really none of them recapture the spirit of the early 70's as well as the band Circle does. Hailing from finland (yay!), these gents really really channel Can and Harvester well, especially on this album ("Forest"). more recently they have been falling into the "NWOFHM" territory, mixing a little Judas Priest with their Can worship. Live, they are not to be missed (the one time i saw them my head was hurting by the time they took the stage so i really wasn't enjoying anymore, but knew they were insanely good. the other bands on the show were Urdog, Dead Meadow, and Sword Heaven.)

since they are channeling Can and Harvester remember one thing: repetition is key. this album can be a little tedious, but it pays off and is a very good listen.

for fans of the afore mentioned Can, Harvester, Finland, the more peaceful moments of Acid Mothers Temple, No Neck Blues Band, and many other free rock bands.

they have like 50 albums out. they gotta be doing something right, right?

Circle - Forest
http://www.mediafire.com/?tuq0injlkjl

verdigris will never grow on these sounds...

Hototogisu sure do make a loud bunch of noise for two people. this lp, "Robed In Verdigris" is testament to this. gone are the lulling sounds of early hototogisu light touches ("the white wind of autumn" is almost like easy listening), this release finds them sounding a lot like an amplified plane taking off. to me, that's a good thing. bower's guitar work is way in the forefront for much of the recording, with much knob twidling and static firing being done by basset. the recording is spacious and clear, so much so in fact that you can hear switches being flipped and objects being dropped. the din swirls and hums along on two long untitled tracks (how the hell would you name this shit anyhow? evil droning death skree #1?) someone once described this band as liquid heavy metal. i like that.

this sounds to me like bower is getting comfortable with feedback again, sounding much like late 80's skullflower with hive mind doing the backing drones. fucking awesome, huge, and ear-shattering. turn it the fuck up!

Hototogisu - Robed In Verdigris
http://www.mediafire.com/?tyyjy2uxxjy

lino hi, lino low

as requested, here is Vibracathedral Orchestra's "Lino Hi." this release is very tough to find, and as such is worth the trouble. it opens with scraping violins and flutes and bells tinkling and such as any other vibra cd, but this one has an early quality of a band finding it's stride with each other, each of the musicians seeming very at home with each other and able to improvise off each other well. the drone is in high effect here, with emphasis on the high. loads of static and feedback from one player overlaid by the melody of another person's playing and never sounding dull or contrived... this is the drone music of the gods, my friends. Vibracathedral have never once disappointed me, and i've heard all but 3 of their releases (anyone have the 10" puh-leaze!)

this isn't far off from releases like "Versatile Arab Chord Chart" or "Long Live The Weeds" (posted earlier here!). if you like anything by any of the musicians involved, the drone, or just plain out good gettin' high music, then check this shit out and feel the vibrations!
(sorry, no cover scans, but it's a pretty boring cover anyhow.)

Vibracathedral Orchestra - Lino Hi
http://www.mediafire.com/?3zgz0zmnhdt

burning stars and mockingbirds...

hototogisu means mockingbird... didn't know that, didja?

anyhoo, here's a noise fan's wet-dream team up, hototogisu and burning star core. i am a big fan of everything c. spencer yeh does, but i always think that his collaborations are better than his solo releases (he recently played with jandek and stole the show in my opinion.) this is the first cd (of two) of their collaborations, this one released on drone disco (spencer's label) and the other coming out on heavy blossom (hototogisu's label). this one is great, though it suffers from a murky recording that makes it pretty hard to distinguish what is what... it's all just one huge maelstrom of noise, a swirling howl that makes the violin and guitars almost indestinguishable.

basically, most of this release sounds like hototogisu with a drummer (the dude from hair police and eyes and arms of smoke), but it is capped off with a final freakout of a track that really kicks you in the face and lets you know that these boys and girl can mush your brains as well as grind your teeth.

if you've liked the noisier stuff on here, or are a fan of spencer or bower or basset, then get this.

Hototogisu and Burning Star Core - Drone Disco Fig. 87

http://www.mediafire.com/?kwd1unnom5m

that vibrating cathedral needs a sunroof!

how was everyone's weekend? mine was boring and lonesome. sniffle. anyhoo, enough about my mopey ass, you all want to get to the noize!

here' the Vibracathedral Orchestra / Sunroof! split put out by the lovely vhf records a while ago. i'm pretty certain it's oop, but if not you should run and grab it cause it's essential listening.

the cathedral lads and ladies are up to their usual drone and moan business, with loads of high-end violin scrape and random percussion clatter, but there seems to be a lot of singing on this recording, which isn't always a mainstay in the songs... if you are a fan of any of their releases, then you'll really dig it. really, they have never put out anything anyone could call remotely bad, and this release seems to be much more upbeat, mostly because of the ever-present percussion.

Sunroof! for those who are not "in the know" is matthew bower and whomsoever he decides to invite to play with him (richard youngs, neil campbell, tirath singh nirmala, the skaters, etc.) this project of his tends to be much less noisy than most of his other projects (skullflower, hototogisu, total, mirag, etc.) and more concerned with a melodic-sort of drone that carries you far into the high end, with drum-machine loops and singing bowls and loads of his usual distortion, but not in the usual blow your eardrums out fashion (though it's still loud as fuck!) this release sounds to me to be much akin to his cloudz cd or maybe ussa, not the intense wall of guitar skree to be found on silver bear mist (also on the spotless vhf, get it now.)

for fans of the drone for certain, this is a great split 2xcd and well worth your time.

Vibracathedral Orchestra / Sunroof! - Wings Over America 2xCD

Sunroof!

http://www.mediafire.com/?lmlwd2znhgt

Vibracathedral
http://www.mediafire.com/?ctouo3gcnx0

there's something droning in denmark...

Family Underground, a band of free-musicians hailing from denmark, are known for their releases being fairly hard to get. mostly putting out cd-rs or limited lp runs, this band is one that is tough to find, especially here in the u s of a. well, it's a good thing you got your old friend kills to help you out, eh?

this is their qbico lp entitled "Ancient Shadows." anyone familiar with the band will instantly recognize their clatter, a free noise drone scape that puts them into the same territory as bands GHQ, vibracathedral orchestra, the skaters, and double leopards. the drones scrape and blur, bend and shift, sounding cloudy and murky yet still fresh and exciting (well, as exciting as drone gets...). it's really no wonder that they mostly put out cd-rs, as this music tends towards that format, as i am certain that most of these "songs" are never performed again, each release is more of a time-period document than a set-list.

for fans of the aforementioned bands, the finnish free-folk scene, qbico records, my cat is an alien, and the noiseier moments of jackie-o motherfucker. definite good stuff, but not for everyone.

Family Underground: Ancient Shadows

http://www.mediafire.com/?imhmdmgzuoe