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Alice Coltrane - Lord Of Lords LP
(Superior Viaduct)
Alice Coltrane began working with strings just after her masterstroke with Pharoah Sanders, Journey In Satchidananda. Her records on Impulse, Universal Consciousness, World Galaxy and then Lord Of Lords are essentially her trilogy of work exploring the depth and dynamics of orchestral strings with barely a horn in sight. 1972’s Lord Of Lords is probably her most ambitious of the three with a tremendous orchestra of 12 violins, 6 violas and 7 cellos.
Throughout the LP, Coltrane shows an impeccable knack for resolving and beautifying dissonant trills into sweeping and lush cadences. Just when you feel the arrangements settling into cinematic territories, she embraces uncertainty and cosmic deterioration on “Excerpts From The Firebird.” Charlie Haden’s sense of restraint on upright bass and Ben Riley’s percussive work lay the groundwork for Coltrane’s harp which is twinkling and subtle at times, if not powerful and earth shaking. She also does some fine work on the electric organ on album closer “Going Home," (with Eastern-flavored scales and droning soundscapes) as well as the end of the title track, which features Coltrane letting loose with improvised keyboard runs.
Lord Of Lords is her last LP before leaving Impulse and soon after devoting herself to the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta and creating devotional music exclusively. Nicely remastered from the original tapes by the always reliable Superior Viaduct. (Dom)
Check out a track here.
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Swans – Soundtracks For The Blind 4LP Box
(Young God)
What can be said about Swans that hasn't been pounded into the minds of fans and admirers for years? A group like no other, heavy and monolithic in their own singular, yet kaleidoscopic fashion. One of the defining moments for Swans was the release of this gargantuan double LP, Soundtracks For The Blind, in 1996. By this point the band had already gone through a massive stylistic change, bringing more acoustic instruments into the line-up, folk and roots influences, and less stomach-churning volume. A mere two years after the release of Soundtracks, the band would disband, which is an interesting bit of context. It is a brutally long, diverse swath of sounds, a grand statement if you will that combines nearly all of the past incarnations of the band's existence and mixing them into this 2+ hour long album. Some of my absolute favorite Swans moments are here, most notably "The Sound", a 13 minute masterpiece that gets tremendously loud, ascending in such a fantastic way. Similar to that is the epic "Helpless Child", which in addition to the grand crescendo has these fabulously brittle, distorted guitar notes and tribal drum beats. It is however, still an incredibly dense piece of work. The length does tend to be an issue for me when I want to sit down and listen to it. It's an intimidating run time for sure. Now that it's been reissued on vinyl for the first time, it's interesting to take it in side by side. It's a long, loud and beautiful musical journey that has an incredible amount of captivating and awe inspiring moments. Definitely one of the most interesting and original records for Swans, and the 90's in general. (Seven)
Check out a track here.
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Phew - Light Sleep LP
(Mesh-Key)
The latest release from Japanese avant / punk pioneer Phew, Light Sleep, adds yet another bold and refreshing effort to her expansive discography. Until her previous and most excellent album Voice Hardcore arrived in the shop earlier this year, I was totally unfamiliar with her work but by now, she has gained my full attention. Born out of late 70's Japanese punk scene, Hiromi Moritani first hit the scene with her band Aunt Sally before forging her own experimental path. Light Sleep was apparently self-recorded in a bedroom but either by way of her own limitations or in spite of them, the album creates a world of its own. Propulsive analog drum machines with layers of vocal manipulation quickly bring comparisons of Suicide to the surface but with a fragility that helps sustain tension. Light Sleep lies somewhere in between a rhythmic anxiety attack, and a claustrophobic cold wave bad dream, and I mean that in the best way possible. By the end of the record you are so swept up in the chem-trails of her vision, that it's hard to believe you're listening to the same record. Phew is truly a force to be reckoned with and Light Sleep is a good place to start. (Adam)
Check out a track here.
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JFK - Weapon Design LP
(Fourth Dimension)
The latest from Ramleh's Anthony Di Franco, whose long-running solo JFK project has been dedicated to the kind of concrete-mixed rhythmic pummel countless others would almost kill for. It's an immersive, brooding sound that, naturally, shares a little common ground with Ramleh yet emphasizes the monstrous chasms that can be drawn from a sturdy combo of bass-churn and galvanized beats. Whilst the labyrinthine textures beamed in from steelworks remain very much suggestive of a charred psychedelia twisted way beyond any stupid hippie dream, JFK's work remains hewn with a distinctive edge at once uncompromising and agile enough to pull you in without the slightest hint of a protest. Eight devastating tracks. (Lee)
Check out a track here.
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