Free Moral Agents

Free Moral Agents – Lay Down 12” (2003) on Pete Records

A1. Lay Down
A2. Lay Down (Instrumental)
B1. What I Really Think
B2. The Mortgage Banker vs. The Savage (feat. Subtitle)

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2mjdylz2amm

Free Moral Agents started out as the solo project of Isaiah Ikey Owens. This man single handedly played keyboards for most of the SoCal ska scene of the mid to late 90s. Sublime, Reel Big Fish, Long Beach Dub Allstars, The Aquabats, The Hippos, Rx Bandits, the list doesn’t stop. He was recruited to join De Facto, which eventually evolved into the Mars Volta. Nowadays he’s popping up on albums by Saul Williams, El-P, Busdriver, and even Mastodon (Blood Mountain, to be exact).

This 12” is FMA’s first release, and happens to be their most orthodox, in hip hop terms. Owens produces all of the music, with the exception of the last cut featuring Subtitle, DJ Nobody is responsible for the drum programming. The title track never stood out to me in any way, not that it’s bad, it’s just not exceptional. The B side slays however. The MC is some fellow who simply goes by the name J, and his rhymes verge on slam poetry. Pretty thought provoking stuff.

The warping at the end of Subtitle’s guest spot is a taste of FMA’s full length that came out a year later. It takes a giant leap away from hip hop, and just trips absolute balls. Everybody’s Favorite Weapon is on my list of favorite albums ever. In the five years since it’s release I’ve yet to find anything that comes remotely close in the level of surrealism & melody. J left the group in 2006, and in the wake of his departure FMA has become a full fledged band. They’ve also seemed pretty incompetent at releasing their follow up album. The Honey in the Carcass of the Lion was originally slated to be released in the fall of ’07, and the most recent news on its status is a release for spring of ’09 (. . . ). This delay has allowed Earth to beat FMA to the punch, with their 2008 album, The Bees Made Honey In the Lion’s Skull.

It’s worth noting that the group Look Daggers is current, band-era FMA with Visionaries member 2Mex on MC duties. Naturally I’d be all over that, but my feelings about 2Mex are pretty mixed.

And another thing I need to point out, even though I’ve already written too much for this 12”. The first song on the B side is called “The Way I Really Feel” on the outer jacket, but is listed as “What I Really Think” on the record itself. I don’t know which title is correct, even after digging through the ASCAP database. And Pete Records is long since dead, a real shame since they had a pretty interesting roster.

13 & God

13 & God - Live in Japan (2008) on Art Union Recordings

1. Low Heaven
2. Men of Station
3. Tin Strong
4. Soft Atlas
5. Perfect Speed
6. Ghostwork
7. If
8. Superman on Ice
9. Out in the Open

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?oqmjmir5qm3

I’m usually not one for live albums. All the bleed from the drum and vocal mics make things sound pretty crummy, and the performances are often inferior to their respective studio takes. Things are a bit different with 13 & God. Collaborative albums are often created with little intent to reproduce live, so it’s pretty interesting to hear 13 & God pull it off. A lot is sampled, like strings or Yoni Wolf, but Jel’s MPCing has far more “umph” live than it does on record. Doseone is impeccable, more or less making the album. To be blunt, Markus Archer’s vocals are pretty bad, which is saying a lot considering they’re already an “acquired taste,” and his guitar playing isn’t much better. Dose however picks up the slack & then some, letting loose on the set closer “Superman on Ice.” The encore, “Out in the Open,” is a Themselves song that the Notwist remixed for Themselves’ remix album. It’s surprisingly close to the actual remix, which is even more surprisingly far better than the original song.

The recording is from a performance at Unit, in Tokyo, October 5th 2005. Subtle band mate Jordan Dalrymple fills in for Dax Pierson. The album is limited to 1000 copies, with 100 available via anticon. It comes enhanced with bonus videos from a festival performance in Germany. One of the songs is the unreleased “Sure as Dept. Dust Collectors” which I really hope will be on the next 13 & God album, which should see the light of day in 2010.

QOTSA

Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age (1998) on Loosegroove Records

1. Regular John
2. Avon
3. If Only
4. Walkin' on the Sidewalks
5. You Would Know
6. How to Handle a Rope
7. Mexicola
8. Hispanic Impressions
9. You Can't Quit Me Baby
10. Give the Mule What He Wants
11. I Was a Teenage Hand Model

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?3hh05kvctmj

This is where it all started. Not really, or at all actually, but this can be seen as a concrete point where things start to become cohesive. This is the band at it's "amp worshiping" finest. Then again this album isn't really a band, but Josh Homme's solo project. Alfredo Hernández handles drums while Homme handles everything else.

Riffage. Crunchy riffage. Homme referred to it at the time as "robot rock." QOTSA is the foremost band I turn to when I want guitar driven rock. The songwriting isn't very strong as it is on subsequent albums, but the guitar tones here are so blissfully raw.

The album will be remastered and reissued on Ipecac in late fall. Until then, enjoy it in it's original glory.

It's SUMMER

Subtle - Summer (2002) self-released

1. Flying Horse Plans
2. 5second Segment
3. Eneby Kurs
4. Been Shelled
5. Boxgod
6. The Teeth Behind the Wheel

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?qmthurty5dn

Today marks the start of summer, which also marks the start of Subtle. Summer is their inaugural EP and the first of their “Four Seasons” project. As a whole, the “Four Seasons” EPs are pretty phenomenal, but for the simplicity’s sake, have been compiled into a single CD, Earthsick. The only problem with the single CD compilation is that it the more experimental tracks are left off.

Hearing each season EP in it’s own context adds way more depth to the series. Summer might actually be my favorite, it’s difficult to tell. Of the four, Summer is the most free formed. There is very little in the way of song structure on this EP, it only peeks in on “Eneby Kurs,” and disappears before you’ve even noticed it. “Flying Horse Plans” may be one of the boldest entrances by a band ever. A forceful declaration of intent, almost warning the listener of the sounds to come. And my god, the kick drum. It has the physical presence that you only hear live, making you wonder why recorded drums never sound that dynamic.

I’ve always been a fan of bands’ first albums. There is a sense of exploration and self discovery that subsequent release just don’t have. With the Four Seasons, Subtle deliberately set out to find themselves (as a band) in the recording of these songs. It's an amazing thing to get lost in.

Pelican

Pelican - Ephemeral (2009) on Migration Media

1. Embedding the Moss
2. Ephemeral
3. Geometry of Murder (feat. Dylan Carlson)

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jz3y3jazqag

I picked this up last night after seeing Pelican kill it live. I've never been that into the band, as great as they are, their recordings come off as a bit stale. They're infinitely easier to get into when they're five feet in front of you and shredding faces off. That said, this EP is pretty strong. The last song is an Earth cover, or maybe it's a song Earth never recorded? Dylan Carlson just gave them the song? The CD simply says "originally written by Earth," and I'm not familiar with the song being on any Earth release, so who knows... Carlson's style is rather noticeable, making it the finest song the EP has to offer

Ephemeral is Pelican's debut on Southern Lord, which is releasing the EP exclusively on 180g vinyl. CDs are limited to 1000 copies, which are being sold on tour. Turns out there is also a 50 copy run with alternate artwork which was sold on a recent stint in Japan. The packaging is rather stunning. It's a single piece of sturdy black flatstock, screenprinted with black and bluish-white ink, that ingenuously folds to house the CD. Delicious Design League is responsible for the layout & printing, which they deserve mad props for. They also have some swank posters worth checking out too.

Earth - Live Europe 2006

Earth - Live Europe 2006 (2007) on Southern Lord

1. Ouroboros is Broken (Paris)
2. Coda Maestoso in E (Flat) Minor (Paris)
3. The Felon Wind (Paris)
4. Land of Some Other Order (Vienna)
5. Plague of Angels (Amsterdam)
6. Raiford/The Felon Wind (Vienna)

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ndzmwtrwkzz

The new Sunn O))) album came out recently, and instead of being enamored by it, I've been listening to all the other Sunn O))) albums I have, as well as all the Earth albums I own.

As the name suggests, Live Europe 2006 is from a 2006 tour of Europe where Earth opened for Sunn O))), and was subsequently sold as a tour only CD during their 2007 tour of Europe. Remaining copies were sold via Southern Lord mailorder. I have no idea how many copies of this were pressed, but it was a limited shindig. Earth more or less has a limited live release to correspond with each studio release, and as the cover suggests, this corresponds with Hibernaculum. Since Hibernaculum is only an EP, this has some Hex songs on it.

I honestly cant explain the appeal of live Earth releases, as they don't have the gorgeous production qualities of their studio albums. In the live environment the guitars don't sound anywhere near as lush, and some wrong notes are played. I guess it's the pacing that makes it so special. If anything they play slower live, and you get that much more mesmerized by it. I love the structuring of this album, as each song is lengthier than the last, really drawing you in. Band member Steve Moore really shines, I swear he's the key to the success that this lineup of Earth has had. His trombone & wurlitzer playing is the highlight of each song. I can guarantee you I've never dug a trombone this much in my life before.

I will never get sick of Earth. In fact, I feel like this album is too short at an hour long, where's "Miami Morning Coming Down"?

Jaga Jazzist - The Stix

Jaga Jazzist - The Stix (2002) on Warner Music Norway/Smalltown Supersound

1. Kitty Wú
2. Day
3. Another Day
4. Reminders
5. Suomi Finland
6. Toxic Dart
7. I Could Have Killed Him In The Sauna
8. Aerial Bright Dark Round
9. Doppelganger
10. The Stix

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?y2yroyyuy2j

If there's one thing I've learned in recent years, it's that Norway has one hell of a music scene. These guys are considered part of the "Scandinavian nu-jazz revival" or something, I could care less, they just kill it.

The best thing about Jaga Jazzist, as well as all Norwegian music I've been able to get my hands on, is its complete openness. The willingness to use anything as long as it appropriately adds to the music. So while Jaga Jazzist is rooted in jazz, anything is fair game. The Stix happens to be their most "electronic" sounding album, with a lot of the drumming being programmed. Sometimes they even branch into glitch and IDM territory. With 10 people in the band, all of which are multi-instrumentalists, the sound is pretty rich. I'm not going to ramble on, as the music does best by speaking for itself.

It's worth noting that this is the Norwegian version, which has a pretty different track ordering and alternate cover art to the international version released on Smalltown Supersound/Ninja Tune a year later.

Idiot Flesh - Fancy

Idiot Flesh - Fancy (1997) on Vaccination Records

1. Dead Like Us
2. Idiot Song
3. Teen Devil Worshipper
4. Chicken Little
5. Twitch
6. Drowning
7. Motherfucker
8. Bach Is Dead
9. Diggity Cow And The Dandy Mr. Clyde
10. The Straw
11. Cheesus (Dance Mix)
12. People In Your Neighborhood
13. Dead Like Us (Reprise)

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

For some peculiar reason, any band that happens to be amazing & also have strong avant-garde tendencies just so happens to be from the San Fransisco/Oakland area. Maybe it's something in the water, or they've all spent too much time at Barrington Hall. All that matters it that this album is pretty epic, as in, "easily makes desert island 10 list" epic.

Idiot Flesh, as rumors have it, broke up in 1998 when they were offered their first record deal. That would be the sort of news that you cry yourself to sleep over, except members Nils Frykdahl & Dan Rathbun went on to form Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Everything about Idiot Flesh is "outside the box." They had no actual frontman, everyone but the drummer sang. They were also all multi-instrumentalists, so the aural palette is much wider than your average album.

The absurdity of the songs is fantastic. "Teen Devil Worshipper" was inspired by an episode of Geraldo Rivera. "Chicken Little" differs from the children's tale in that the sky does actually fall at the end. There's a Residents cover and a Sesame Street cover (more of a skit really). Musically, the album ends with "The Straw" which puts the entirety of T.S. Elliot's "The Hollow Men" to music.

It's such a shame that this album is not only so difficult to come by, but that when it does surface on eBay, there's no way in hell it sells for less than $70. Supposedly the End Records (the current home to Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) has plans to reissue this gem, but is having hang ups on how to reproduce the intricate cardboard folding jacket the CD comes in.

Antipop

So I listened to Primus' Antipop for the third time ever today, and I remembered why I pretty much never listen to it. It's atrocious. It doesn't even sound like Primus. I mean no wonder why the band went on hiatus after this album. It's not the heavy influence of outsiders & their production, it's not that simple. Hell, the song produced by Fred Durst is actually one of the best songs on the album, the nu-metal aggression keeps it afloat. Everything that makes Primus "Primus" is completely gone. Les Claypool's bass playing doesn't drive any of the songs, or stick out in that cartoony, Claypool angular fashion. It's just gratuitous, "hey look at these chops" slap bass. Larry LaLonde no longer has funky, staccato bass to work off of, and just riffs along with Tom Morello & James Hetfield. That dynamic that defines Primus is nowhere to be found. Not to mention Claypool's lyrics are no longer perverse or surreal, they're just all around contrived & weak.

Can we pretend this album never happened? That's pretty much what I've been doing. I mean Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People more or less picks up immediately where Tales From The Punchbowl left off. And I'm thankful for that, as Animals is the band at their best. How or why Antipop ever happened is one hell of a mystery to me, it reeks of contractual obligations, but I don't want to spend too much time thinking about it. I just want to forget it.

It's THEM

Themselves - The No Music. (2002) on Anticon

1. Home Work
2. Mouthful
3. Good People Check
4. Poison Pit
5. Live Trap
6. Only Child Explosion
7. Paging Dr. Moon Or Gun
8. Dark Sky Demo
9. You Devil You
10. Out In The Open
11. Hat In The Wind

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?nec3hdi12mt

Themselves is gonna drop a FREE mixtape this week over at anticon. They've leaked some previews, over at pitchfork & XLR8R, which I can't stop listening to. It's also caused me to spin The No Music. nonstop as well.

The mixtape & following album are probably the most anticipated projects of 2009, simply because Themselves haven't released a new album since The No Music. Dose One & Jel have been busy with Subtle since then, and only returned to Themselves with the band Notwist, forming the group 13 & God. So this year marks the first time we get to hear Themselves with fresh production. Their 1999 debut Them is too raw for my tastes (as is the case with nearly all early anticon), and The No Music.'s production is better, but still murkier than what you'd like.

Despite the production, this album is still irresistible. It's pretty debatable if it's hip-hop or not, since Jel's soundscapes do more than blur lines. Dose's prose is stream-of-conscious at it's rawest, stream-of-subconscious would be a more appropriate term. He admits to things in rhyme that most people won't even admit to themselves. This is more avant garde than your standard anticon album, which says a lot, but more importantly, nothing compares.