Multiple Releases from Metal Postcard Records: The Legless Crabs, Salem Trials, Legless Trials; The Bordellos, Super Hit; plus Occult Character, Bigflower; Dave Wallfraf, UFO Över Lappland, and Japmn

June 3, 2012 was my first CNQ post. Not quite the apocalypse the Mayans didn't really predict, just a hobby I've kept up with for a decade now. Pat myself on the back. I had plans earlier in the year to keep up with the blog better, which is always a first of the year goal anyway, but this time I meant it.

But it turns out I didn't. I've been posting occasionally as the mood strikes me and that's fine, it's a hobby and what has kept me doing it for a decade.

I also thought I'd do a nice hour or so of a Mixcloud show for the CNQ ten year anniversary, and maybe that'll happen, I dunno. If I feel like it. I've been doggin' Shadowrun: Dragonfall (The Director's Cut) on Steam the past two days. Killer top-down RPG from 2014. I've never played it before, but I played Shadowrun Returns a while ago. There's Hong Kong as well, but I can't remember if I played that, so I don't think I did.

I finished Shadowrun Returns (I always wanna say I "beat" a game, but this is more a completed, fun task than something I won by being good at it). Anyway, both games have been well written, but Dragonfall especially so. The text is immersive and presented in a way it feels like you're listening to your Game Master. The mechanics are a blast, building your little character to spec is well done, and Dragonfall has just been a hoot since the opening scene. Few games scratch that table-top itch like these Shadowrun games by Harebrained Schemes do. I looked up to see if there's going to be another one, and didn't see any news of a new game, but the trilogy is porting to Switch in 2022. I also read that the IP is owned by Topps. Go figure.

To kick things off, how about a little shameless self-promotion. I'm working on a dumb little video to go with this dumb little song, which is also my best work to date, in my IMO. You can check out the whole Legless Crabs album, "Always Your Boy," over on Metal Postcard's Bandcamp page. It is overall a solid noise-slop effort, in my humble IMHO.

Also from me, a couple of new Occult Character tracks. Electro-slop, as I do. These are all Pay What Thou Wilt, so shell out some cash, wouldya? How else am I gonna afford the payola to get this crud on the radio?

And if that wasn't enough from me, how about this new Legless Trials, also from Metal Postcard. Son of El Borko from The Legless Crabs and Salem Goz from Salem Trials team up again for two new tracks, "X-Tyrant," and "Has An X Feel." I dunno why we're on about X but we are, for sure. That's ol' Salem himself on vox on "X-Tyrant," and Son of El Borko barking "Has An X Feel." Salem does all the music and pixie dust, hence why these sound, ya know, good:

Speaking of Salem Trials, the unstoppable UK duo have a lot of new stuff out -- they're one of the few bands I know more prolific than me, and their stuff is actually listenable, so I don't know how they do it. From just a couple of days ago, here's two new rockers, "Dynamite Truck Parts 2 & 3" and "FEAR is All I Can Do":

And, from Metal Postcard, a new nine song, 30+ minute digtial release, Vegaland. I haven't listened to Vegaland yet, but Andy and Russ don't do anything shitty:

I have listened to another Metal Postcard recent release, The Bordellos' I Hate Pink Floyd Without Syd Barrett, a compilation of previously released Bordellos tunes that further prove they're the band that matters most:

The Bordellos have also recently released Onion King Tapes vol. 8, another batch from back when the band was called Onion King. I'm not sure the time period that woulda been -- sometime in the last twenty years, Dan Shea of the band isn't that old, and was a teenager when he started singing in it -- and I'm not sure he was a part of Onion King. At any rate, great stuff, the Bordellos rule:

Metal Postcard has a bunch of other new releases, putting cool stuff out at a frenetic pace, go check it out. One of those recent releases is Super Hit, the solo project of Kyle Handley, who I think is up Portland way? He wrote a 6 song EP where each song is a song he sang to his departed pup, Baby Jean. I made up songs to sing to my cats when they were alive (I haven't re-upped on a pet since they passed a few years ago), so I can relate. Catchy, sweet, Baby Jean forever!

From the UK, CNQ fave bigflower has a new single released yesterday, "The Pill." Mellow psych:

And from last month, an uptempo track from Ivor, "Harder." Psych goodness as always:

Noise artist Dave Wallraf, from Hamburg, Germany, has a new piece out called Cutting Up Men, I listened to it today, it's like listening to whalesongs in space. Super cool and at times panic-inducing, but I had it up really loud in my earbuds to drown out chatter at work. Loved all 40+ minutes of it. There's a limited edition CD you can order as well. Noise enthusiasts should definitely check out Wallraf:

The new UFO Över Lappland, Spökraketer is killer-diller, real deal psychy krautrock from Sweden. Gotta get the vinyl (or CD, or cassette), put out by Philly's Burnt Toast Vinyl:

I have a ton of chrome tabs open on my phone, stuff to share on here. I'll try and whittle that down with each post. Here's japmn, friend of a friend in Portland. Cool stuff from August 2021:

And the soundtrack to a short film, from December, 2021:

I'm gonna play some Shadowrun: Dragonfall.

Hans Condor (Nashville); Ab Ex (Dallas); Pink Milk (Sweden); Los Microbios (Vermont); Oceanography (Oakland); Women of the Night (Brooklyn); The Gents (Hamburg); Carbon Fields (UK); Naqoy (Budapest)

Nashville's Hans Condor is that now sound, man. I got a sneak peak at their new full length, Breaking and Entering, which you can pre-order ahead of it's November 16th release on their Bandcamp page, and it's a total ripper. Here's the single, "Breaking and Entering," it's a blister-fest:

Ab Ex is the new electronic solo project from Dallas-based musician Jason Hensel. Lost When Waking is 11 instrumental tracks of giallo-inspired darkwave, good stuff, check it out:

Speaking of darkwave, Swedish occult punk outfit Pink Milk have a new track available called "Here Comes The Pain." Atmospheric to the max! Music to lose your virginity by:

Los Microbios is the home-recorded project of Lance Jones, of Vermont. The 15 track Cognitive Thinning is a real lo-fi wonder, with covers of "Child of the Moon" and "Oh Yoko" to boot:

Brooklyn's Women of the Night have a new album available on Bandcamp, Sub Rosa, 14 tracks of bluesy, gritty, Stones 'n' Springsteen inspired rock that genre hops between proto punk, dream pop and psych, and Americana/indie/alt rock. I like story songs and songs about dirt bags, so enjoyed these:

Oceanography is another solo project, this one from Oakland musician Brian Kelly. Thirteen Songs About Driving Nowhere in Alphabetical Order is the album, also in an Americana/indie/alt rock vein, but much poppier than Women of the Night:

The Gents, from Hamburg, have released Multiple Attack on Bandcamp, a 4 track garage punk effort. Fun stuff:

Carbon Fields is another solo instrumentalist, I believe from the UK, and their new 3 song EP/mini-album is called Petrichor. Each song is around 7 minutes, and, per the artist, "combines field recordings with strings, down-tempo beats and an experimental instrument called a bow chime."

Pretty cool -- you can listen and download on the Hiru Recordings Bandcamp page. Hiru's Bandcamp About says: "Hiru Recordings is home to a collective of experimental musicians, noise makers and field recordists. We release new and archival sonic explorations in the fields of electronica and drone music." And as such, Carbon Fields does not disappoint:

Naqoy is a two piece electro-noise-rock outfit from Budapest. Their new Bandcamp release is called Four, and it's four noisey tracks that blend electronics, noise rock, post-punk and drone. The final track, "Fabric," is mesmerizing, and the artwork for the release is cool too:

Hex Windham, Andrew Anderson, Wanz Dover, Lumpy Records and Richter Scale Records

I hope this finds readers and listeners safe and healthy.

A quick note, CNQ is now accepting submissions for the next Weird Bummer compilation! Drop me a link or a .wav file if you'd like to be featured on the next freeform comp, which will be posted to Mixcloud.

Released or unreleased tracks are fine. It's just something for free and for fun, for those with ears who like to listen. Here's the first Weird Bummer, a little over an hour of hot auditory action:

The first one got over 50 listens! But at least 4 of those were mine.

I'm currently on a D&D kick and deep into making characters that I'll probably never play, but paper dolls is something I've always enjoyed and Fantasy Grounds on Steam makes it very easy to come up with a character on the fly. On the off chance you're running or in a 5E game on Fantasy Grounds, let me know if you need a player, I would be down.

I guess I should be doing something to help during this crisis? Unfortunately I have no skills to help, other than being an expert at keeping my distance from fellow humans. So mayhaps I'm doing my part in this by leisurely creating game characters that may or may not do battle with goblin hordes or an evil mage. It's probably what I would be doing tonight anyway, but tonight, I'm doing it for you. And your elders. And myself, I don't want to get out there and be breathed on.

Meanwhile I'm listening to my recent purchases from Bandcamp and have some stuff to share, and hopefully this helps too in its way. First up is Hex Windham's discography. Hex is a guitarist based down in New Orleans, and he's got his finger in a lot of pies, from the giallo-inspired violin drone of his most recent project with Jeff Louviere and the Quaalords, to his Cajun Punk/Punk Cadien projects and synth-pop/synth-punk collaborations, Hex is discovering new sounds while exploring contemporary and traditional music in a lo-fi milieu. I love the word "milieu!" Here's that most recent John Cale-inspired drone track with Jeff Louivere, along with a few of my favorites from Hex's other projects. Expect to hear one or two of these tracks on the upcoming Weird Bummer Mixcloud compilation:

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And here's the giallo-inspired instrumental band from New Orleans The Quaalords who teamed up with Hex on that first track above. Their Bandcamp page notes this is a re-recording with violin mastered by Sean Magee (Ramones, T-Rex, Iron Maiden) at Abbey Roads:

Andrew Anderson, of the equally incredible Freak Genes, Proto Idiot, and The Hipshakes is putting out a song every day or so during this crisis, and I can't recommend it enough. He's up to 11 songs now. Christ, how am I the only person who has bought this on Bandcamp???? SO GOOD:

From Dallas living legend Wanz Dover, a 7 track ambient album inspired by two weeks in a hospital bed:

New from Lumpy Records, that's Lumpy on the drums. Got the vinyl for this in the mail the other day. Soaked it in bactine:

And finally, I can't stop thinking about this, from 2017. AUUUUGHHH it's so fuckin' good. I discovered it when I got the Richter Scale discography:

Richter Scale is putting out cool Mixcloud mixes which I'm sharing over on the CNQ Facebook page. Follow us both. What's wrong with you. Besides the global pandemic I mean.