Young Bear

Check out these sweet pictures of my buddy Cody's band Young Bear. If you're into ultra pretty, heavy and oppressive drone/ambient stuff, listen to Young Bear. And if you live in Seattle, go see him live. I mean it.

Aderlating: Devotional Hymns

Aderlating is the more ambient side project of Mories (Gnaw Their Tongues, De Magia Veterum). Be warned, though, that it is far from calming. It's just as disturbing as GTT, just less bombastic. It's great reading music. Or ritual musick. Or whatever you choose to do with your time. Just listen to this.

Here.

Byla - Closer to the Center

Byla is Kevin Hufnagel (Dysrhythmia, Gorguts) and Colin Marston (Dysrhythmia, Gorguts, Krallice, etc.) making pretty music. Weird...

Wolvserpent live in NYC

Gnaw Their Tongues - An Epiphanic Vomiting of Blood

I've already posted one Gnaw Their Tongues album back in july. I didn't know how to properly describe it then, and i still don't. It's pure terror. Slow and fast at the same time. Complete depravity. Totally disturbing and awe-some. Or awe-ful.

Here.

*repost from 3/30/10*

Current 93 - Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre

Current 93 have gone through a lot of changes throughout their/his (david tibet's) history: being, in the beginning, an industrial band of the early/mid eighties type (and my personal favorite, at least of the small amount of industrial that i've heard), then, as if purposely changing his pace to usher in the new decade, grandfathering the very ambiguous genre of 'neo-folk' alongside other famous changeling Death in June. This particular album came out in 1994 and is a great starting point for anyone that doesn't know Current 93. My mind changes all the time, but i currently think that 'Of Ruine...' is his most beautiful, most organic, most real and most haunting album. Not very experimental (at least compared to some of his output), just simple acoustic guitar passages played by michael cashmore, and stephen stapleton (of nurse with wound) providing all other musical decorations and din. Tibet's vocals, although beautiful in their own right, can be a bit surprising and maybe even grating to the uninitiated, so be prepared. He doesn't really sing, so much as speak semi-melodically. His lyrics are what do me in, though. He's like watching a crazy corner prophet who believes in what he says so desperately that he winds up convincing you that it's all real; and it is real, every last word.

Here.

*repost from 3/29/10*

Arcana - The Last Embrace

This group of swedes plays 'atmospheric medieval ambient' (according to the metal archives). They kind of sound like Dead Can Dance at a renaissance fair. But in a good way.

Here.

*repost from 3/18/10*

Lachrymal Quietus - Days of Being Aflame

I stumbled upon this guy's myspace on a completely unrelated google search. His name sounded cool so i clicked on it and it blew me away. At the core of his songs there is an undeniable sense of needing to run and not being to move at the same time. He sounds like Hank Williams, Sr., Scott Kelly, and Aidan Baker formed like Voltron, bedroom music-style. Now go pour some more vodka in your coffee and get totally bummed.

Here.

*repost from 1/19/10*

The Elemental Chrysalis - The Calocybe Collection

The Elemental Chrysalis are a little iffy to describe, because when i start to say things like "ambient music" to some of my friends, they think of noise bands. And then when i say "no, no, no...it's like...pretty guitar shit, with ambient stuff happening, and it's really well produced and there's even some throat singing...", they chuckle and ask me how i like the rest of my windham hill records. So i tell them to fuck off, and then they never get hear Elemental Chrysalis. So stop being such a dick and download this album.

Here.