DECAYCAST #47: DISKOTEKA – Soviet Disco, New Wave and Folk pop mixtape by Big Debbie.
We’ve strayed farther and farther into reviews but Decaycast started as a pirate radio show / radio collages so this guest mix from Big Debbie takes it back to the roots with this wild guest mix for Decaycast, blending new beat, disco proto punk, and so much more with some seriously cryptic gems hiddin within, take a deep listen and check out Big Debbie’s newest LP “Ab Ra Ca Deb Ra” out last Nov on Ratskin. Click the cover to listen and read a statement below on the mix from Debbie themself!
“Most of the music on here was officially State sponsored, but couple tracks were underground classics. From Eastern Europe to Central Asia, the songs would practically spread overnight, due to the rapid tape trade culture. Some of these jams I actually grew up with. They were the mainstream hits, I remember hearing coming out of the crackling, night train radio, as you drifted to sleep. Some of them you had to go out of your way to get. By the late 80’s the music piracy was more out in the open. I used to get my music, from the guy at the grocery store. He had a little set up in the corner that consisted of a chair, some blank tapes and a Boombox.The bootlegger usually had a “D.I.Y” encyclopedia as well, that you could sift through. Everything from disco and smooth jazz, to punk and death medal. You pointed to what you wanted and the next day he usually had a dubbed copy ready for you. However, to tell the truth, most of these gems I discovered recently through youtube, just in the past year. Hope you enjoy them, at least as half, as much, as me!”
DECAYCAST Premieres: Watergate Sandals’ Releases “Presidential Bootleg” via Under The Counter Tapes
Here we have a genre we haven’t really covered before on Decaycast and what better way to bridge this gap then with a fantastic new release from underground mainstays Under The Counter Tapes. For their newest release, they present “Presidential Bootleg” from Watergate Sandals. W/S excavate their twanged, fuzzed out, up beat, four to the floor garage rock sound to it’s fullest extend on “Ukrainian March” which you can listen to for the first time below. The track combines thick distorted guitars, driving basses, and cavernous drums accented with vocals oscillating between a fed up, accentuated yell and blown out howls which perfectly complement the sound and vibe of this upbeat, but heavytrack, perhaps the standout on the album.Ukrainian March is like an old beat up machine inching down the roadtowarduncertainty , exhaling billows of smoke behind it’s rusty, decaying exterior, but it keeps going and going and going until the job is done. in aseemingly oversaturated genre, Watergate Sandals offers a unique and refreshing take on garage rock / power pop, not something we have covered much here in thepast, although this offering isboth uniquely refreshing and captures a sound well thosefamiliar with the genre can appreciate and understand.
“Light” offers a more upbeat, slower and more controlled take on expanded garage rock / blueswith more out front vocal harmonies gelling with the guitars and drums perfectly. Light still has a garage rock feel butdefiantly oscillates into some straight classic rock territories as well. The cassette ends with “Chilly” the perfect combination of up beat guitars and vocals while acting as a crescendo for the album. This wasexplained to us more as a compilation, but the flow to beginning to end andconsistent recording style lends itself as more of a complete album, energetic and fun listen, also check out the beautiful J card art below. Order this today!
Presidential Bootleg pulls together all 20 of Watergate Sandals’ recorded songs, from the 8 featured on Pick Apart the Jewels and Gems, the 5 featured on their final digital-only EP, 4 newly mastered former demo recordings, and 3 never before heard recordings to form the ultimate document of the Santa Cruz band’s history. Watergate Sandals notably went through a few distinct shifts during their run, starting as a noisy punk blues band, then moving towards more power pop oriented garage rock and then finally landing on psych rock influenced by the Paisley Underground. As such, none of their previous works quite captured a true picture of the band in isolation. Presidential Bootleg is arranged not as a chronological compilation, but its own album released (and not released) in bits and pieces over the years, flashing back and forth between the eras in a way that feels as though it were always meant to be and lending immense range and dynamism to the 70 minute runtime. Shockingly seamless transitions from the destructive force of the newly mastered “Landlord” into the soft, floating “Ways Away” paint a perfect picture of the band’s uncommon deftness and versatility.
Thanks to the efforts of Jesse Nestler (Watergate Sandals bassist) and Kevin Percy Linn (owner of Paisley Shirt Records and genius behind Sad Eyed Beatniks), we’ve been able to put together an incredible package honoring the band in celebration of the 4th anniversary of their previously only physical release, Pick Apart the Jewels and Gems. Featuring a stunning double-sided 7-panel j-card collage including archival photography, old gig flyers, and satirical American and presidential iconography, Presidential Bootleg is not only musically comprehensive, but visually as well.
UTC is absolutely thrilled to bring this incredible band’s catalog to true fruition in the form of Presidential Bootleg.
Presidential Bootleg releases April 26 digitally and on limited edition cassette bundle. Bundles are limited to 50 worldwide and include a chrome cassette tape with a double-sided 7-panel j-card, and 3 release specific collector’s pins. A portion of sales through UTC will go to Planned Parenthood.
Another short but powerful offering from the PACNW’s Happiness Forever, titled “Primitive Dimension”, which is aptly titled for this minimal but powerful sonic offering, A dark pulsing arpeggiated square wave synth opens the track, slowly and effortlessly edging the listener to the edge of the cliff out of the gate. Hard stereo panning madness ala Phedora era Tangerine Dream when the tech left too many fuzz pedals in the chain in the best way. Lower pitched synths slowly undulate as the panoramic view widens and we are left confronting out demons. Pulses slowly phase and undulate across the spectrum of rhythmic militancy, shifting ever so slightly to create a psychedelic fuzz of confusion. Long drawn out bell-like sounds breathe in the background creating tension and thickening up the form to a dense, stew of synthesizer sludge.
Perfectly timed, the A side gives breath to a more subtle and sparse (but equally dark and unsettling) B side which begins with murky, basement synthesizer swells, ringing inside the cochlear with beautiful collapsing sine waves, radiant, insect-like buzzing sounds, throttled tones of a disharmonious and gray sunset. Happiness Forever creates peaceful yet slightly unsettling and dissonant tone poems for fans of drone, ambient and synthesizer music. All the individual synth voices sprout equal trees within a sonic forest of psychedelic electronic explorations.
The discography of California based imprint Deathbomb Arc spans across rap, noise, experimental, noise rock, abstract electronic music and more boasting releases from experimental rap group Clipping, and rap/noise crossover Death Grips to the dense lush pop soundscapes of Fielded, to the noisy chaotic percussive assault of Foot Village, but none of these releases seem to masterfully weave so many seemingly disconnected genres into such a dense, queer, volatile, explosion of hybrid-styles future music than one of the the labels newest release, “Spirit Realm.Final” from non binary CA based rapper SB THE MOOR. On “Spirit Realm.Final”, SB takes the extremes from “Pillows” and “MNFST.dstnii” and a swarth of self released cassettes and mix tapes and pushes them even farther into the psychedelic netherworld that is their mind. This record truly defies categorization, it’s at once both haunting, beautiful, chaotic, poised, explosive and contained, seamlessly bridging hip hop, post rock, noise, industrial, and avant garde. These terms seem to contradict each other but upon opening your ears to “Spirit Realm.Final” and the work of SB THE MOOR, you’ll find beauty, chaos, anger, confusion, and even peace in the complicated dichotomies of our very existence. Moor has been on an unrelenting tear of touring, recording and collaborations and we needed to know more! We chatted with SB about their newest record, released on Deathbomb Arc, what it means to be a queer working artist, collaboration, touring and how this impacts the creative process. You can order their new record from the label HERE.
Dr. Decaycast: Thanks for talking with Decaycast! Can you talk a little bit about your project SB The MOOR? Do you consider it more of a band, solo project, or concept?
SB The Moor: hmm I guess when I started, Signor Benedick the Moor was just another name/alias. I think I already finished an album (which ended up being El Negro) and that was just another weird name I picked to call myself. I didn’t expect it to take off. Now, it’s a bit of a mix of all three. SB is sort of a persona, or alter ego with which to experiment and make art with.
DD: You have a new record out on Deathbomb Arc, correct, titled “Spirit Realm.Final”? Is this record a linear continuation of your sound from the previous Deathbomb releases, and if not how has your sound changed?
SB The Moor: This new record…. well I never really know what’s going to happen when I go into album making mode. Even after I’m finished it usually takes a couple weeks of downtime before i really understand what it is. In a way this new record, titled “spirit realm.final” is a continuation of “Toybox”,“cybr.pnk”, and “MNFST.dstniii“. Those records were like…me figuring out how to make spirit realm.final. Sonically, texturally….and figuring out my music making process….as well as how to mix to my liking…those last three records trained me in all of those aspects. Thematically this record reminds me a lot of El Negro, too. It’s almost like a spiritual successor in my mind, because the album was born from a very dark place. This time though I’m experienced enough to identify the darkness and use it purposefully, instead of being used by it. Tbh, El Negro attracted a lot of attention from people I really didn’t want to be associated with haha.
“Representation is everything! Even on this tour ….. non binary kids have been tellin’ me how much it means to them. ….. But, y’know, seeing artists like Mykki Blanco just tear shit up was crucial for me.”
DD: You’re currently on tour, correct? How does touring affect the writing and recording process? Do you record and write ideas on the road or are the two unique and individualized parts of your process?
SB The Moor: Being on tour and being “in the studio” are really yin and yang to me… I find out what works live, what my vocal and performing abilities are. This really fuels what I decide to do when making a record. Then, having leveled up on stage, I make something with new ideas and abilities in mind. I’m not usually thinking of one while I’m doing the other, so connecting the two is usually a learning process in itself, and another way to level up. I do think broadly about recording when im on tour, like what themes I want to explore and what sounds/textures/genres I might use, but I usually only write when I’m actually making a record, working on a collaboration, or of course, working on a commission.
DD: What is the most misunderstood aspect about your work as SB, or rather of nothing comes to mind what would be one thing you would like to share with your supporters that they perhaps don’t know at this time
SB The Moor: I think I felt wildly misunderstood around 2014-2016. 4chan is apparently a big reason for my success early on and I hate 4chan lol. A lot of sweaty racist white boys, proud to tell me about their obscure music tastes, simultaneously putting me down and looking for me to give them a proverbial cookie. Maybe most artists just ignore them but I felt hurt that by these dorks, I’m sensitive damn it! And I also thought about what that meant about me, what part of myself is being reflected here? When I released Toybox, which was pretty much a pop punk record, a lot of people were actually angry! And I’m like wow I’m way too un-famous and broke for these clowns to be getting under my skin…and where were they when I needed support??? Lol. So now….idk speaking plainly where I need to is a bigger part of my music haha.
DD: Might you talk about the zines and other visual art you’ve been making, are these a direct extension of the ideas and concepts your exploring with SB, or do they exist on their own as well, both physically and conceptually?
SB The Moor: Even before music, I wanted to draw comics and make cartoons. So making the zines is more like a childhood fantasy come true haha. The first one I made was with my partner, Marcosa (@multosa on Instagram) who paints beautiful colorful landscapes and puts poetry on top. I thought putting my cartoony, punk-esque drawings in the same magazine would be a cool contrast, so we did a zine! Then I realized I could take what I learned and make my own little comics, which I peddle on my patreon. Both of the mini comics are extensions of the record. One is titled “Sexuality in the Digital Age” and the other “What are Feelings For?” which are themes directly lifted from spirit realm.final. I don’t really know where I’m going with comics but a lot of my favorite musicians also work in comics so I figured I shouldn’t let anything stop me haha.
DD: I think the 4chan thing you brought up leads into something else I wanted to talk about. Has your experience as a Black, queer artist affected how you’re treated within experimental music circles? Also, I have heard people talk about on how your work as an expansive and eclectic, radical mixed-genre, queer rapper has helped give them a voice as a queer or non binary artist themselves. How important is visibility to you as an artist living and working within a world largely controlled by racist, sexist and transphobic systems of oppression?
SB The Moor: Representation is everything! Even on this tour (Legendary tour with milo, we just played our first date in Denver last night) non binary kids have been tellin’ me how much it means to them. And tbh the first time someone mentioned it I was surprised! But, y’know, seeing artists like Mykki Blanco just tear shit up was crucial for me. And I can understand how I might be something similar to others, especially as I grow more and more into myself. Idk what 4chan thought I was about, I never asked…lol. But the minute I got gayer and poppier, despite becoming arguably MORE experimental and confirmably more skilled at music making in general, I think a lot of 4channers realized I was not for them haha. The contrast between people showing up for my shows back then to now is great, and I look forward to my crowds getting gayer and browner as I grow. Haha
DD: Do you see the politics of representation changing for the better or for the worse within music communities for queer people of color, disabled people and marginalized communities in general?
SB The Moor: Tbh I….idk if I’m qualified to answer in an intelligent way lol. I know it seems to be easier for me and others like me, but this game is still a lot about privilege and I wield mine like a sword. I don’t have kids, I have a great support system, I’ve been lucky enough to work on my mental health with professionals…I’m tall and scary looking…haha. But many of my friends do not have these advantages, and even just working a full time job can really drain you when you’re black/brown, trans, and disabled as many of my friends are. How can they tour, or find enough time to finish projects for themselves? And of course, some do anyway, but….idk I’ve drifted from the question haha. I’m not political, or rather, I’m a political skeptic. Like the police, politicians just aren’t our friends. And as more people like us make music that people can’t deny, then yeah certain things get easier.
DD: Can you elaborate on your (apparent) affinity for collaboration ? You also accept commissions on occasion and can you talk a bit about that process and how you started to be so open and prolific with your talents?
SB The Moor: I love collaboration for a couple reasons…I love to experience newness. It’s a great way to train your brain. I believe if you can look at something new and just accept it, even if u don’t like it, you will never be stuck in your ways. And that leads to learning faster and reaching a certain level of mastery faster. And I accept commissions as often as I can, it was a large part of my smol income last year and it was fun to do, fun to see who is listening and who wants a piece of the pie I’m baking and what kind of weird underground shit is out there. Once I conquered my fears it seemed like the logical step. Honestly I was inspired by Lil Wayne’s prolific output too haha. Saturate the market and have fun widdit. I still have songs poppin up on spotify and bandcamp and I be like, oh damn I made this??? I’ve done like 150 commissions so I really be forgetting lol!
DD: Future plans for SB the Moor ?
SB The Moor: future plans:
keep bein’ dope
stay in the dojo
upload to the spirit realm
DD: OK, Finally, any shoutouts, closing statements etc
SB The Moor: Shout out to milo, the ruby yacht, Randal bravery, Pink Navel asleepin like a angel beside me, my Taurus Moon Sweetie back in Port Orchard, our families, my big little brother and my little little brother, the ancient ones, the future ones, shout out ratskin for the continued and future support, and lastly shout out to myself cus I couldn’t have done it without me.
Madrid, Spain outfit CONCRÎT blends decayed out ambient textures with atmospheric howls, delicate, haunting, creaks and bends in sound and tension, mixed with dark industrialized rhythms, and heavy field recordings ranging from disaster to psychoactive terror/tragedy. CONCRÎT takes the raw field recordings at a great value, using the voice as a sort of lead guitar over the top of the dark, churning, mechanized rhythms of catastrophic failure with dissonant rhythms. “That’s the way freedom is and we wouldn’t change it for a minute”. The music could be higher in the mix, though it does afflix the listener’s brain on the tension and caustic nature of these events blended with such mechanized, alienating sounds, though at times the voice does become so dominating we almost forget we are listening to “experimental music” though it’s not for the worst effect. The ambient sections prove to be some of the stronger work on “Far” though the whole album holds it’s weight in dissonance, and minimalist looping rhythms. Closing with “0000” an unknown field recording of chatter and a detuned, decaying piano rhythm slowly spins the listener into the end of this dark and morose sonic offering.
“FAR is the first EP of the dark ambient/industrial act CONCRÎT, based in Madrid, Spain.
The EP moves between soft programming and noisy mechanical rhythm mixed with historical speeches and ambient sounds, FAR is inspired by the human need to reach further and the consequences of exploration and conquer, the hope and the horror; Inspired by the voices of Amelia Earhart, Ernest Shackleton, Neil Armstrong, and the accident of the shuttle challenger and the attack to Hiroshima, with American presidents Reagan and Eisenhower’s speeches. The last piano piece is inspired by airports as non-places, where even travellers on their pursuit to the most remote destinations remain anonymous.”
DECAYCAST Interviews: “DEATHQUESTIONS” AKA An Interview with Anti-Fascist Black Metal Group NECKBEARD DEATHCAMP
Black Metal, as many forms of extreme music has often taken an ambiguous stance when it comes to politics, if not outright fascist stances exemplified through the racist ideologies darkly and morbidly cloaking bands and labels who define(ordisguise) themselves within NSBM or National Socialist Black Metal. Do these same types of ideologies exist in other scenes without us even knowing? The answer is an obvious yes, however due to metal’s historically unrelenting use of extreme imagery and themes celebrating death, mutilation, war, lynchings, white supremacy, terror/terrorism etc, usually in the most fetishistic way possible, many times devoid of any inherent critique for said content, it beginss the question, is there more overt racism in extreme metal than other genres? Probably not, however it often seems this way due to the outspoken and upfront nature of the rise of “edgelords” in extreme music (see: white supremacists) . In an age where the “leader of the free world” aka some grease encrusted orange, sniveling worm, criminal uses racist policies and language, othering and institutionalized racist and sexist tactics to “drive the nation” and “Make America Great Again” and magnify hate, racism, and xenophobia around the globe, many extreme music fans are often left wondering where the artists and musicians they support stand politically within a constantly emboldened right and a flaccid left, well extreme black metal band NECKBEARD DEATHCAMP doesn’t sit on the fence. In fact they burn the fence down and stuff it’s simmering embers down the throat of racism, transphobia and many forms of oppression and hatred within the metal scene with their debut album, “White nationalism Is For Basement Dwelling Losers”that took the internet by storm They were kind enough to grace us with an interview to deep dive into the ethos of ND. Also buy their record here and go see them at the esteemed Maryland Death Fest this year whose need for an antifascist presence has been long overdue!
Dr. Decaycast: Thank you for uniting with DECAYCAST to talk about how racists are trash humans, wait maybe I jumped the gun, .Can you describe the philosophy and ethos of NECKBEARD DEATHCAMP for those who might not be aware
KH:NECKBEARD DEATHCAMP IS A MILITANT REPLY TO THE FASCIST SEIGE OV HEAVY METAL ENABLED BY CURRENT POLITICAL TIMES. WE ARE AN ANARCHIST WAR BRIGADE ASSIGNED TO THE MANUAL EXTERMINATION OV THE RACIST BEDROOM KEYBOARD WARRIORS AND OUR DIRECTION IS SINGULAR AND UNSTOPPABLE. OUR PHILOSOPHY IS ONE OV ABSOLUTE HATRED AND CRUELTY FOR THEIR DISGUSTING WAY OV LIFE AND OUR OATH IS TO ABSOLUTE INTOLERANCE OV THEIR CHILDLIKE ANSWERS TO THE HARD QUESTIONS. THANK YOU FOR HAVING US. HAIL BLACK METAL. HAIL VICTORY.
HK: OUR GOAL IS THE COMPLETE ERADICATION OVNATIONAL SOCIALISM
DD: Why is it important or isn’t it important for bands to be political?
KH: AS A BAND YOU’RE ALLOWED TO MAKE MUSIC ABOUT WHATEVER YOU WANT. I’M NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF TELLING ANYONE HOW TO MAKE THEIR OWN ART. BUT I THINK MUCH OV THE CONVERSATION WE HAVE IN BLACK METAL IS ABOUT HOW ASSHOLES TRY TO ESCAPE THEIR OWN AGENCY IN THE ART THAT THEY MAKE WHENEVER CONVIENIENT.
AND THAT IS SOME SHIT BY WHICH WE SHALL NOT ABIDE. DOUBLY SO IF YOU WANT TO PRETEND YOUR BAND ST8RMKR8EG SS IS AN “APOLITICAL” BLACK METAL PROJECT. YOU FUCKING DORKS.
CONVERSELY I THINK THE WARRIORS OV THE WORLD MAKING PROTEST MUSIC. AND ESPECIALLY HEAVY PROTEST MUSIC IN TIMES LIKE THESE ARE HUGELY IMPORTANT. AND THEIR VOICES SHOULD BE HELD HIGH AND HEARD LOUD.
YOU HAVE A LOT OV AGENCY IN YOUR ART. AND WHAT YOU MAKE WILL NEVER ESCAPE WHO YOU ARE. NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY. SO TRY TOMORROW TO BE LESS OV A DICKWEED THAN YOU WERE TODAY IF YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE THE COMPANY OV ANYONE OTHER THAN MISERABLE UNAPOLOGETIC DICKWEEDS.
HK: I DON’T THINK IT IS NECESSARILY IMPORTANT FOR BANDS TO BE POLITICAL; THIS IS BECAUSE MUSIC IS AN ART FORM, AND SOME OF THE EMOTIONS EXPRESSED THROUGH MUSIC ARE APOLITICAL. WITH THAT SAID, IF A BAND HAS ANY STRONG POLITICAL LEANING OR BELIEF, BY ALL MEANS EMBRACE IT. SOMETHING I HAVE DONE PERSONALLY, IS TO HAVE SOME OF MY MUSICAL PROJECTS TAKE A POLITICAL STANCE, WHILE OTHERS REMAIN APOLITICAL. THIS PREVENTS THE MUSICAL DIRECTION FROM GETTING CLOUDED WITH TOO MUCH CONTENT, WHILE STILL GIVING AN OUTLET FOR POLITICAL VIEWS.
DD:Do you think the black metal scene harbors a disproportionate amount of fascists, racists, and homophobes/transphobes and just ignorance in general, as compared to other genres, or are these notorious NSBM bands just more becoming with their beliefs,because of artists like Varg, GAAHL, and others alike perpetuating these beliefs through their music and writings?
KH:NO. I THINK BY VOLUME MOST RACISTS (AND CERTAINLY MOST RAPISTS) LISTEN TO DANCE MUSIC AND DO THAT THING WHERE THEY WEAR BOAT SHOES AND CHUBBIES SHORTS IN GROUP PHOTOS. HOWEVER HEAVY METAL HAS ALWAYS ATTRACTED THE EDGIEST PERSONALITIES. AND WHERE THOSE GUYS WILL SAY SHIT LIKE “I’M JUST FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE” AS CODE FOR “I DON’T REALLY CARE HOW SYSTEMIC RACISM HAS EFFECTED THE BLACK COMMUNITY”. OUR ASSHOLES JUST PUT A FUCKING SWASTIKA ON THE ALBUM COVER AND WILL CALL YOU SLURS OPENLY. IT MAKES THEM EASIER TO POINT OUT AND TALK ABOUT. LOUIS CACHET CERTAINLY PLAYS A HUGE HAND IN THIS PHILOSOPHY OV MOST OV THE DUMMIES HERE IN HEAVY METAL, BUT MOST OV THEM ARRIVED STUPID AND EDGY WITHOUT HIS HELP.
HK: INARGUABLY, YES. JUST SURF THROUGH SOME BM BANDS ON METAL ARCHIVES AND THAT WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW.
DD: Who would be three bands or humans you could eradicate from the music scene altogether, and why and never bat a lash?
KH:FAMINE OV PESTE NOIRE HAS TO GO. AS PER OUR CONTRACT WITH PROSTHETIC WE ARE REQUIRED TO PRODUCE THREE RECORDS OVER THE COURSE OV THREE YEARS. FAMINE IS ACTUALLY SO EFFECTIVE AT MAKING A MOCKERY OV BLACK METAL HE MAY ACTUALLY BURN THE GENRE DOWN BEFORE THAT TIME. THAT GUY CAN SUCK MY ARISTO-ASSE.
NYOGOTHABLITS. THOUGH OUR FRIENDS STILL SEND EACH OTHER HUGE WALLS OV TEXT ABOUT SILLY THINGS TITLED “TRANSMISSION 616: DECLASSIFIED” ONLY IT’S ABOUT WHOEVER ATE THE LAST TOASTER STRUDEL, OR WHOSE CAR HAS ALL OV US BLOCKED IN THE DRIVEWAY. I’M MAD THAT THOSE GUYS EXPECTED US TO READ THAT MOUNTAIN OV SHIT BRANDED AS A PUBLIC STATEMENT AFTER THE HELLVETRON SHOW GOT SHUT DOWN. THERE ARE PLENTY OV OTHER DUMMIES IN FASCIST BLACK METAL DOING MORE HEINOUS SHIT THAN THESE GUYS BUT ALL THOSE DUDES DON’T USE THE PHRASE “APOLITICAL NEO-FASCISM” UNIRONICALLY.
I’D ALSO SEND DER STURMER HOME. I DON’T HAVE A PUNCH LINE FOR THESE GUYS, THEY’RE JUST BAD AND I FIND THE DISCUSSION SURROUNDING THEM REALLY BORING. SOME OV THE OTHER NAZI TURDS ARE AT LEAST MARGINALLY SELF AWARE OR INTERESTING TO SHIT ON. BUT LIKE PEOPLE CAN TALK SHIT ABOUT US ALL DAY FOR HAVING NO RIFFS YET UNIRONICALLY GAS THESE GUYS. WHO ARE LIKE UNFLAVORED OATMEAL SERVED WITH A MAYONNAISE SANDWICH ON WHITE BREAD WITH A NICE GLASS OV WATER.
HK: ANTICHRIST KRAMER, LAURI PENTTILA, DER STURMER
DD:In a time where many systems like white supremacy and the justice system have rendered political neutrality in ones daily life dangerous and impossible, do you think/hope by taking such a strong stance against white supremacy, you hope to nudge younger bands and artists to create passionate anti- fascist music and art?
KH:FUCK YEAH. IT’S ALREADY BEGUN. THE AMOUNT OV PROJECTS CROPPING UP WHO ARE ALREADY PLAYING BETTER THAN US, TELLING THE PUNCH LINE BETTER THAN US, AND THROWING HEAVIER PUNCHES THAN US IS GREAT. MORE PEOPLE SHOULD DO IT. WHEN THE FIRES OV FASCISM ARE DISTANT AND EXTINGUISHED. WE CAN MAKE ART AND MUSIC AND JOKES ABOUT THE NEXT ISSUE. WE’RE FAR FROM THE FIRST. AND WE WON’T BE THE LAST. MORE.
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH. MY ACTUAL POLITICAL INTEREST AND BEST TALKING POINTS ARE ON HOW MONSANTO AND OTHER MAJOR FOOD CONGLOMERATES HAVE BECOME A CORPORATE OLIGARCHY AND PAVED THE WAY FOR THE PURCHASE OV OUR HUMAN RIGHTS BY LOBBYING FIRMS.
BUT THAT WAS BEFORE A TIME IN WHICH AN ADULT MAN IN AN ILL FITTING MY LITTLE PONY T-SHIRT FELT COMFORTABLE SCREAMING DIRECTLY INTO MY FACE ABOUT MY SOY INTAKE. SO HERE WE ARE.
HK: ABSOLUTELY YES. I HOPE TO CONVERT AS MANY PEOPLE TO ANTIFASCISM AS POSSIBLE. MANY PEOPLE, INCLUDING A YOUNGER ME, WERE SCARED OF ANTIFA MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE WAY IT’S PORTRAYED IN THE MEDIA, WITHOUT ACTUALLY KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT LEFTIST PHILOSOPHY. I HOPE THAT THE MUSIC WE MAKE WILL HELP PEOPLE SEE THE ERROR IN THEIR WAYS, AND EDUCATE THEMSELVES ON LEFTIST PHILOSOPHY. ONCE YOU ACTUALLY LEARN WHAT IT MEANS AND WHAT IT’S ABOUT, YOU’LL FIND IT’S NOT SCARY AT ALL.
DD:Who would you rather see drawn and quartered, David Duke or Richard Spencer?
KH: YES.
HK: YES.
DD:Can you talk a bit about the process of forming this project? Have you all played in bands with each other before, was it a long time coming or a reaction to specific event or point in time?
KH:IT WAS A REACTION TO AN ONLINE ALTERCATION BETWEEN ME AND AN UNNAMED LOSER WHO RUNS A NAZI LABEL OUT OV HIS MOMS BASEMENT. I POSTED THE BAND NAME AND ALBUM IDEA AS A JOKE TO FACEBOOK. THE NOW RETIRED SUPERKOMMANDO UBERWEINERSCHNITZEL, WHO I HAD BEEN TALKING TO ABOUT OUR MUTUAL DISTASTE FOR NAZI BLACK METAL IMMEDIATELY WANTED IN. HE RECRUITED HAILS KOMRADEZ WHO HE HAD BEEN WORKING WITH ON OTHER PROJECTS AND WE FORGED THE ALBUM.
WE SAY THIS OFTEN BUT THE FIRST ALBUM WAS INTENDED TO BE A ONE OFF. HAILS AND I DECIDED TO SET DOWN THE OTHER STUFF WE WERE WORKING ON TO PURSUE THIS FULL TIME AFTER PROSTHETIC EXTENDED THEIR HAND TO US.
HK: BASICALLY THE OLD GUITAR PLAYER ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO PLAY DRUMS ON AN ANTI-NSBM ALBUM AND AFTER HE SHOWED ME THE SONG TITLES I COULDN’T SAY NO. I WAS IN SEVERAL BANDS WITH HIM PRIOR TO NECKBEARD, BUT NONE WITH KRIEGMASTER.
DD: You just signed with Prosthetic Records, Will you be recording an LP for them, and any plans to tour Europe or The States? There’s A LOT Of fascist scum to melt if you so choose to come to this trash pile of a country.
KH: YES. THE LP IS ACTUALLY ALREADY FINISHED. ON TOP OV THAT THERE ARE NINE SPLITS COMING OUT NEXT YEAR WITH SOME CO-CONSPIRATORS I’M PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT. WE’LL TAKE WHATEVER COMES OUR WAY. OUR PLAN IS TO REMAIN GROUNDED AND ENJOY THE GOOD GRACES OV THOSE WHO LIKE HANGING OUT WITH US.
I FIGURE IT’S WORTH MENTIONING THAT WE’RE ACTUALLY FROM THE US. WE HAVE A FULL US TOUR PLANNED THIS COMING SUMMER. BRING YOUR SKI MASK.
HK: THE LP IS ALREADY DONE, SHOULD BE OUT SOMETIME IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR. WE’RE PLANNING AN EXTENSIVE US/CANADA TOUR RIGHT NOW, MAYBE WE’LL HIT EUROPE NEXT YEAR.
DD:Any other upcoming releases, tours, or other vital information that should be known about NECKBEARD DEATHCAMP?
HK: I JUST WANT TO SAY, DON’T BE SCARED TO READ THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO JUST BECAUSE IT HAS “COMMUNIST” IN THE NAME AND YOUR SEVENTH GRADE HISTORY TEACHER TOLD YOU COMMUNISM WAS BAD. CHANCES ARE THEY DIDN’T READ IT EITHER.
KH: NEVER LET SOMEONE PISS ON YOU AND TELL YOU IT’S RAINING. TAKE NO SHIT SUPERS OLDIERS. BLACK METAL FOREVER.
DECAYCAST Reviews: Blaine Todd & Andrew Weathers (Houdini Mansions, 2018)
This split begins with Andrew Weathers on the A side offering three experimental guitar and synth offerings, beginning with the track “Llano” which offers spacious, minimalist guitar work complemented through warm buzzing, swelling synthesizers. The synths and guitars play wonderfully off each other in a barren, pulsing, slightly unsettling tone poem.
The second track, and standout of the tape “Mugwort Moon” is a huge, throbbingsynth number withinsect-like rattlingpulses that transport the listener into a parallel universe of floating drones. Weathers synthesizes a perfect union of tone and spaces to create lush, dream-like compositions with heavy and dissonant overtones.
The Blaine Todd Side of the split is more a take on traditionalAmericana psychedeliarenderedthrough reverb drenched folk thrusts. Todd skates across a lush and morose pond, blending dripping, cavernous guitar strums, backed with distant unsettled, sadvocals creating a fever dream style of psychedelic alt-pop. Gentle plucks and minimalistic events within the body of the guitar bloom intolush waves of intonation, a perfect compliment to the slightly more abstracted works of Andrew Weathers on the A side. Todd’s music is slightly more on the morose side of things where the Weathers side feels both dissonant and uplifting at the same time, a truly unique and dynamic pairing.
The label itself describes the offering as:
“A striking document of wide open loneliness, this split release by Andrew Weathers & Blaine Todd contains timeless works about Wobblies, the Staked Plain, etc.
Thoughtful, pensive songwriting blends with artisan-crafted dronework, and undercurrents of electronic wizardry.”
All in all, great releasefrom Houdini Mansions, a hybrid label, review site and radio show/ podcast. Follow them today and keep a lookout for more from this exciting collective, as well as both artists individually.
“Brain Pan” is a compilation album of sorts spanning nearly three decades of the Expose Your Eyes moniker via Paul Harrison. This long-form cassette explores harsh, heavy manipulated noise/voice, a myriad of field recordings, slow moving and cavernous drone and ambient works, low-fi voice manipulations via cut up and distortion methods, glistening warm synth poems clamored against harsh noise mayhem; the stylistic shifts throughout the release exposing the listener to a mixtape style of experimental styles.
Standout track “Rend” blends heavily delayed percussive events with a mid-toned whirring, slowly building tension and anxiety and almost seems to crawl out of the speaker into an unsuspecting nervous system. Other tracks such as “Red River 2” offer a more sombre, melodic approach, while still retaining elements of experimentation and loose compositional structure. The label describes the process of choosing from the vast sea of material presented to them by the artist, “For this album, Paul sent me a whole stack of recordings that I then carefully sifted through to select the pieces that would finally be presented here, and I’m really pleased with the results we’ve achieved.
Go ahead and delve deeper into the vortex for a whirlwind of (un)easy listening.
It will leave you washed up on a distant shore of your consciousness, perspectives altered.
Curious, bizarre and wonderful… “
All in all “Brain Pan” explores a wide variety of experimental sounds and really theres something for everyone on this cassette from the uneasy, nauseating sounds and sights of one (cough cough) Smell & Quim (who Harrison was a member of) to the lush, hypnotic, Organ and synthesizer forward dronings of early Tangerine Dream. Pick it up on limited edition full color cassettes or CD’s from the label HERE
DECAYCAST Reviews: BIG DRUM IN THE SKY RELIGION “Hope In Hell” (Self released, 2018)
Dozens and dozens and dozens of short audio collage snippets sampling cult preachers, hip hop intros, classical music, dust to digital style folk, guitar strummed outros, zealots, bigots, activists, tv personalities, “sickness in my community” “suffering is the given” “{why do we suffer” bleeds into the funk arpeggiated bass line. Destroy god, destroy humanity, destroy politics and see what pops out the other end with a sonic audio accident slamming everything together with muscle, yet nuanced ease so to speak.
Pulling from John Oswald’s “Plunderphonics” and Negativland’s “Christianity Is Stupid”, “Hope In Hell” blasts short, dense, collage critique splatter offerings of religious and capitalistic confusion, alienation, and so much more and less., In terms of sound art/collage, these short works are dense, impactful, complex sonic vignettes into a twisted world of confusion and alienation, and well, philosophical blindness. Some of the stronger works on this shuffle friendly journey through cut and paste absurdity are “God’s People” > “Transformation Energy” > “Make Me Present”. This work oscillates between comedy, critique, and absurdist / dada tendencies to create a dense, dark, cut and glued critique of world’s interpretations of the unknown. Dense, fun, well done and sonically interesting collage work. “The Big Drum In The Sky Religion is a shape-shifting confederacy of dream wanderers, spirit warriors, entheogen casualtiesand miscreants assembled for the purpose of altering the collective unconsciousness and bringing about the total Ecstatic Awakening of All Sentient Beings and Union of the All and the One through the use of polyrhythms, fuzzboxes and senseless banjo abuse. Dilute! Dilute! OM“
Cleveland, OH mainstays SHADOWS is David Russell and Wyatt Howland (and at least for this release are assisted via the sonics of Roman J. Leyva) crafting their dark, horrific, take on the legacy/story of Batman through mastered techniques of harsh noise, drone, percussion and dynamic mixing and editing techniques. The sound of SHADOWS seems go evolve with every release and “Knight’s End” is no different. Beginning with a murky, distorted rhythm we are quickly whisked away into a harsh symphony of ringing, clanging, scraping; attack on the ear and the “fearless”? The sound of shadows is physically manifested through the black clad, pointed eared upside down man of the night. “KnightsEnd” fuses longer drone sections, which contain a rather cinematic arch to their presentation, slowly beginning as a low, slow sine wave and over the course of a few minutes, escalate into a cavernous, yet detailed sonic explosion of harsh noise, voice, and percussion, a masterfully blended evil sonic stew leaving the listener with a tense, uneasy feeling, which for my ear canal is just perfect.
.The B side “KnightQuest” follows a similar compositional format, beginning with stark, alienating percussion, resembling the swaying of an old, cursed sinking ship with hundreds of piezos placed within it’s weakest structural support system and signing a hum of the druid through mangled cassette tape, as it creaks and rips apart all whilst bombs fall from an unknown sky above. We hear a parade of dissonant sounds slowly dragging themselves closer and farther away to the ear canal, like a slow, pulsing infectious disease spreading through an unknown human cavity, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. The blending of all of the different sonic elements that compose the sound of SHADOWS is perhaps one of their strongest elements as the tension seems to build throughout in a subtle, yet important way, dragging us down and down into the sea of sonic mayhem until the last air bubble pops at the surface, the ship has sank, their are no survivors, only the harsh, alienating tortured sounds of Shadows “Knight’s End” As of the time of this review, according to the label’s bandcamp page there’s just, ONE copy left and you should GO HERE AND BUY IT.
D E C A Y C A S T Magazine 