Shit Present; Death Valley Girls; The Guilty Pleasures; Löst Folk; Anatomy of the Heads; The Legendary Ten Seconds; Leonard Donat; The Lonely Bell; Neon Kittens; $T33D$_uv_LUV

I am back to fufill my destiny. Also, don't forget to tune in to KPISS.FM the goooolden stream Saturday 3/11 at 4P Eastern, I'll be filling in for DJ CD Playa on the OOO Show, then the CNQ show is back after a two week hiatus at 5p. Will have a couple of premieres from Charity Empressa (featuring members of Starflyer 59 and Father John Misty) and Australia's Vicious Blonde, plus a hunka hunka other cool stuff.

Shit Present's new album, What Still Gets Me, their first release since the excellent 2016 EP Misery+Disaster is due out May 9, and the two singles they have available on Bandcamp are rippers. Only 50 of the 500 LPS they've made are left:

New Death Valley Girls video:

New release from the amazing Syf Records:

Sweden's Löst Folk are at it with 19 seconds of fun:

Anatomy of the Heads are out to pull a G. Gordon Liddy on your mind with a wild new 9 song release out called In the Realm of Allied Barbarians and Tributary Lords:

New CNQ fave The Legendary Ten Seconds has released a comedy song album called The Rejects of Lord Zarquon. Fun stuff:

Berlin's Blackjack Illuminist Records has two new dark ambient releases for dat ass:

A non-Metal Postcard Records Neon Kittens release:

And another new Metal Postcard release, this one from secretive oddball blues lawyers $T33D$_uv_LUV. Imagine Chicago meets the Butthole Surfers ran thru auto-tune. Bizarro World AOR:

Alright, now I only have 30 starred e-mails left before I'm caught up on Bandcamp releases I wanted to check out over the last couple weeks. What a hassle!

Isla Invisible; Adiós Cometa; The Ducks; The Bordellos; Brian Bordello; Gilla Band; A.N.J.A.; Kid Gulliver; Suckling; Neon Kittens; Smashing Red; The Postmen; and Salem Trials

Been gone for a couple of weeks, and while on vacation I realized I had starred in my inbox a butt ton of new releases I've been neglecting to share on here. I'll be playing some of these on my hour long KPISS.FM show this Saturday at 5PM Eastern, but you saw and heard it here on the blog first!

From Velvet Blue Music, a 4 song nu-gaze split from Isla Invisible (Puerto Rico/NYC) and Adiós Cometa (Costa Rica). This came out back in July of last year, I missed it. CDs and tapes still available:

Also missed, the Duck's (England) full length, Enter the Cloaca got released in December. The Ducks are nuts, and the lead off track, "Give God a Bone," proves it. Check it out:

In January, the Bordellos released as a free download The Sunday Experience, originally released as a one sided 10inch vinyl EP on Benevolent Antenna Records. Good luck finding that. Y'all know I love the Bordellos:

And in late February, Think Like a Key released Brian Bordello's Songs for Cilla To Sing, a solo acoustic full length that is already on my best of the year list:

A buddy at work turned me on to Gilla Band from Ireland. Their newest single, "Sports Day," is rad:

Belfast's A.N.J.A. has a new single called "Witchmother," it's rockin':

Here's a good new power pop single from Boston, "Kiss and Tell" by Kid Gulliver. Came out in January:

Austin's Suckling has finally released their debut album mid-February, I caught them opening for Jesus Lizard in 2018. I remember there only being two guys on stage and maybe a drummer, but it looks like they're a four piece now. Great noise rock, though they used a sample I have also used in a Legless Crabs song and I'm totally upset (j/k):

Metal Postcard Records has more new releases than you can shake a stick at, with a packed release schedule coming up this month as well, so catch up on these, from Neon Kittens, Smashing Red, The Postmen, and Salem Trials:

Alright, I still have 64 starred releases to check out, the oldest dating from mid-February, but ruminate on these, and I'll try and post again tomorrow. Friday I'm going to work on my KPISS.FM show -- will be featuring stuff from France and Marrakesh! Will be a lot of fun, tune in. And thanks for reading -- go support these artists if you hear something you like.

Neon Kittens; Salem Trials; Occult Character; Cindytalk; Draudiga; Soup Activists; Abi Ooze; CML; The Wirms; The Legendary Ten Seconds; Fir Cone Children; Night Shop

New real deal, killer diller stuff (of course) from Metal Postcard Records -- new EPs from Neon Kittens and Salem Trials, plus a new full length from Occult Character:

Glasgow's Cindytalk has a new four song CD release you can pre-order on Bandcamp, Subterminal, coming out late this year on label False Walls. The available single, "Where Everything Sparkles and Shines," is 7 and a half minutes of that shit I do like. Atmospheric, eerie instrumental, and happens to be perfect for this time of year, but every day is Halloween for me, so:

Portland, Maine's Draudiga has a new 11 song release out on Bandcamp called Persephone. They call it "Americana Noir" and I dig it:

Great new stuff from Lumpy-related St. Louis acts:

From Memphis, The Wirms are a three piece punk act with a new live release, Live at Lamplighter Lounge, via What's For Breakfast Records. Very up my alley:

The Legendary Ten Seconds, who recently released that killer single "The Torqauy Sandyman," have a new folk rock album release with Jules Jones, here's the single, "They Kept on Marching." Love it:

Fir Cone Children is the project of Alexander Leonard Donat, and the new album, Today There's No Tomorrow, out on Berlin-based label Blackjack Illuminist Records, is a ripper, front to back. Fuzzy noisey psychy dreamy weirdo-pop that vocally, sonically, and spiritually reminds me of Andy Anderson's work in Proto Idiot/Freak Genes, which is high praise indeed because I think Anderson hangs the moon when it comes to who's doing what, rock'n'roll-wise. Here's "Quite Okay with Mondays":

And finally, my man Night Shop has a new track out called "Universal City." As far as I'm concerned, this guy Justin Sullivan can do no wrong. He continues to prove me correct with "Universal City":

Geiger von Müller; Pete Um; Into the Buzzing Room; Strange Neighbors; HOTMOM; Alien Nosejob

So Clean Nice Quiet is now going to be live every Saturday, at 4PM Central / 5PM Eastern on the mighty golden stream, KPISS.FM! I'm so stoked. So catch me on KPISS coming up on the 1st for some fun tunes. And I'm still going to do CNQ Live via caster.fm when I feel like it -- if you see me on air on the embedded player at the top of the blog, press play! Am thinking I may do a caster.fm show tonight, actually, but don't want to commit in case I decide to stare at my shoes instead.

Catching up on submissions here from August and September. Lot of great stuff!

London's experimental slide guitarist Geiger von Müller has a new full-length album out called Slide Sonatas I. Very cool stuff:

Pete Um from Cambridge has a new full length minimalist synth album out called Surface Zero. Solid:

Also new in the experimental electronic genre, harse noise enthusiast Into the Buzzing Room has a new EP, his first, called Excessive Focus. Into the Buzzing Room is from Münster, Germany. I've featured their previous demo before. Killer diller:

New York's Strange Neighbors reached out to me with three super rockin' singles, "Whoa! Is Me," "Hotline Psychic," and "Window Watching." I like all three but I think I'm leaning towards "Window Watching" being my fave:

Crass Lips Records has a new release from HOTMOM out called On TV. HOTMOM is from Austin, they've been around for a while. I featured a track from them on the old CNQ show all the way back in 2018:

Finally, Alien Nosejob has a new record out on Total Punk in the US, called Stained Glass. The first single, "Beatles VS Stones," is a ripper, as we've come to expect from New Zealand's Jake Robertson (Ausmuteants):

Five Bucks, Eyes and Flys, Salem Trials, The Khats, K. Board and the Skreens, Rudy Now & The Negative Cutters, Legless Crabs, Legless Trials, Desiccate, Noose Sweat, Atoxxico, Shifty Poles, Tin-ear

A new demo from a band called Five Bucks on Poland's almighty Syf Records label. Italian "eggpunk," sounds great:

I did an interview with Syf Records a while back, but haven't been keeping up with their releases like I should.

Tetryron Tapes out of Buffalo has a new full length digital release called "Manic AM" from a band called Eyes and Flys. Haven't listened to all of it yet but Tetryon puts out cool stuff and the first track, "Asbestos Fiber on a Sunbeam," is quality garage psych-punk:

Both Syf and Tetryon are cool tape labels. I've been daydreaming for a while about making a little CNQ boutique label. I tried once before, put out Dr. Nod's awesome Top Tips (see sidebar for ordering info!). Maybe it's time to try to something like that again.

Speaking of cool labels, not a week goes by that Metal Postcard Records doesn't have some new stuff to share. I played both of these bands on my most recent KPISS.FM show. Salem Trials is producing radical tunes at a gazillion miles a minute, and The Khats is the same guy who does K. Board and the Skreens, I think. Great stuff:

And don't forget, also from MP, the latest from Rudy Now and the Negative Cutters:

...oh and the latest Legless Crabs and Legless Trials!:

I've been having so much fun with the KPISS.FM radio show (next one is August 13, at 5P EST, btdubs), and the caster.fm show I turn on and blab into the aetheyr when I feel like it, then post it to Mixcloud. But a blog post can be a hoot too. So let's do an old fashioned CNQ dive into Bandcamp new releases and see what pops up:

First thing of interest, Desiccate's "noisy fuck punk" demo from Hamilton, Ontario. I gotta say, there's nothing better than a noisey demo tape:

More righteous noise, this from Vancouver:

Mexican punk from 1988!:

Synth-punk from London:

Finally, some bitchin' rock'n'roll from Saint Edward Island:

Chumleys, Blanket of M, Neutal Territory (Texas); Darling Skye (St. Louis)

Caught these bands in Denton last night at Killer's Tacos. Show was a lot of fun. Pretty sure we were the only ones there who weren't a member of one of the bands or band adjacent:

A.N.J.A.; Rat Motel; Andrea Mazariello; The Legless Crabs; Legless Trials

The second CNQ KPISS.FM is coming up this Saturday, the 18th, at 5PM Eastern. I'll be playing some new stuff, including this new rocker from Belfast's A.N.J.A., called "A-Bomb":

Columbus Ohio's Rat Motel's new album, The Regal Sum is coming out tomorrow. The single, "Shock," is solid:

I'll be playing a new track off composer/performer/writer Andrea Mazariello's new album War Footing. Mazariello hasn't been active on Bandcamp in a while, but here's an interesting piece from 2016:

And finally, The Legless Crabs /and/ Legless Trials both have new singles out on Metal Postcard Records. Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair:

Robert Pollard, Sunny & The Sunliners, Savage Necromancy

I was going over my Mixcloud archives and realized I'm achieving what I've been wanting to do without realizing, establishing a rotation of songs and bands in the fashion of the radio I grew up with. I love there's so many music podcasts and internet music stations, and of course terrestial college stations and WFMU -- and don't forget my new favorite internet streaming station, KPISS.FM -- playing music I appreciate. The Radio Garden app is a must, I gotta tell ya. There's so much content, you could never hear the same song, even the same band, twice.

I like to hear new stuff, but I also like to hear the same cool stuff over and over, so that'll be my focus with my KPISS.FM show (every other Saturday at 5PM EST). I learned with my previous CNQ podcast that it's real easy to only play new or new-to-me stuff, because there's so much of it. But a lot of bands and singles I hear deserve to be repeated, so I'm going to do so.

Uncle Bob got a re-mastered release of an older album out:

There's a Sunny and the Sunliners best of out, Volume 2. You see a lot of Sunny and the Sunliners 45s down here. San Antonio legend:

Here's the first volume of Mr. Brown Eyed Soul:

Black metal from Phoneix!

Flesh Narc

In 2 days it'll be CNQ's 10th anniversary. A stunning feat for a born slacker such as I. Check out the live shows I've been posting on the CNQ Mixcloud page, which are also embedded in a few posts below this one.

Here's that new Flesh Narc I was talking about on the show tonight, Narcocosm, released on Washington's Marginal Frequency. From the Marginal Frequency Bandcamp page:

"Flesh Narc shares a singular objective: performing as a group of artists that allow the opportunity to collectively be purged from the constraints of traditional notions and expectations of music in exchange for freedom of expression and release of energy, and creating an entirely unpredictable arrangement of sound and experience."

It's available digital or on CD, and it's nuts:

Three Singles from The Legless Crabs

Ya know I completely forgot to mention, The Legless Crabs have a new video for their smash no-hit, "(I Wanna Be A) Cult Musician," from the recent Metal Postcard release, Always Your Boy. Cult Musician will also be released as a single soon on MP, with a b-side that I think is pretty rad, but honestly I don't even remember what it was I sent to Sean for the flip. Meanwhile here's the video for Cult Muso, directed by Son of El Borko, the Crabs' shadowy, bizarre front man and main lyricist:

The erstwhile three to four piece also have a couple of new tracks available for pay what thou wilt over on their Bandcamp page, "I Know What Yr Dad Is Sayin' (And He's Wrong)," and "Anti-Christian Scientists." Appreciation of naive noise rock and a degenerate sense of humor may be required to fully enjoy, but give it a listen anyway:

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.

New punk rock from Bandcamp - from Arizona, Omaha, and Texas to France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Poland

Got some new submissions coming up, but in the meantime how about a dive into Bandcamp new releases, see what type of crazy stuff's come out in the past few weeks.

Critical Threat -- 4 song demo, Arizona oi:

Brand new nutty French powerviolence -- 21 songs, around 20 minutes. One song is called "Our Kids Will Spit On Us," and if that's not a reason for you to check this out, I dunno what you're even doing here. On this planet, I mean:

Three song release from Spanish hc trio Chimpancé:

If it's punk and from the Netherlands, odds are I'll like it. Those folks know how to do it:

Poland's Syf Records, who I've featured a number of times on CNQ, because they're awesome, has another awesome release:

I think I missed this August 2021 release from Omaha's best, BIB:

And finally, shameless self-promotion dept., the Legless Crabs have a new album out on Metal Postcard Records, and between you and me, it kicks ass:

Step Below (London); Montel Palmer (Cologne, Germany); Girls Against Bots (Dallas, Texas); Science Man (Buffalo, NY); and selections from Tetryon Tapes (Buffalo)

Ukraine invasion is a wild thing. Pray for peace - that's always worked before.

Step Below is a hardcore band out of London, and it seems like I don't get too many straight up hardcore submissions from England, so that's interesting. Their single "Walk Away" is a minute long blistering blast, I dig it. They have a 5 song EP called S.B.H.C. coming out March 4 that will be available on Bandcamp and streaming platforms. Check out "Walk Away":

Montel Palmer is a three piece electro-outfit from Cologne, Germany. Their new album Catastropheland is nine tracks of experimental, ambient, dub-inspired synth. Pretty cool and available on vinyl on their Bandcamp page. Here's a video for the track "Cross Eyed," off the album:

Buffalo NY's Science Man has a new album called Nines Mecca available for pre-order on their Bandcamp page. The two singles available on Bandcamp are my type of hardcore garage punk. The full album will release March 18. There's vinyl co-released by Swimming Faith Records and Feral Kid Records, and also a VHS tape featuring videos, which I've already ordered and am excited about. We hooked up an old VCR/DVD combo late last year and have been having fun with it.

Feral Kid Records is also based out of Buffalo, and they have a tape subsidary called Tetryon Tapes. I did a deep dive through their catalog a few days ago and had a lot of fun. Here's some of the coolest stuff. All available on cassette, as Tetryon Tapes' name implies.

I ordered these on Feral Kids' Storenvy page, got a confirmation from Storenvy but haven't been notified when they'll ship yet. It's only been a few days, tho. I did unfortunately have to sign up with a storenvy account and immedietly regretted it as I got inundated with their spam trying to sell me macrame backpacks. I unsubscribed but have still been getting them. Goes on my list of Modern Life Greviances I'm keeping. O well, at least I don't currently reside in a warzone:

This Erik Nervous release Bugs!! is probably my favorite of this batch from Tetryon Tapes:

Finally, Dallas, Texas' own bedroom midi-core artiste Girls Against Bots, who also happens to be me, has a new single called "Jade Armor," as well as a lesser freak out called "Moon Dung." Is it just me foolin' around with a midi controller, or an act of unmitigated genius? Maybe it's just unmitigated foolin' around:

Thanks for reading. Stay safe. Don't inundate yourself with Twitter-fied terror-porn. Drink lots of water. Support these musicians, if you got spare cash to throw around.

New Rock'n'Roll from Bandcamp!

Another reminder to check out the Clean Nice Quiet Etsy shop, got a couple of new paintings up and it'd be cool if you bought one! Meanwhile a lotta submissions to cover and I've got some Cyberpunk 2077 to play and music of my own to record, so let's get this over with.

I started off the last new music post with a new single from Liverpool's Bigflower, so why not do it again? Solid motorik just under the 3 and a half minute mark, dig it:

New San Franciso label Color and Time Tonight's first vinyl release is from Ohio's Wild Wings. Foil Landscape is 4 tracks of killer psych-punk r'n'r, listen below and order the vinyl from CTT here.

Brooklyn solo act Sunk Heaven has a new release on Crass Lips Records called Porous Mirror. Nine rad tracks, a must listen for fans of experimental/industrial noise:

Total Punk Records is an unstoppable force, they've got new Buck Biloxi and Alien Nose Job coming out which I can't wait for. In the meantime, check out this amazing racket from Montreal's Tha Retail Simps, Reverberant Scratch: 9 Shot in tha Dark, due out March 1 and Total Punk's first release of the year. You can listen to three of the tracks already on Bandcamp, and there's videos for "End Times Hip Shaker Pts. 1 & 2" and "Rock and Roll." Described in the TP hype e-mail as equal parts Velvet Underground and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs; I can't argue.

Speaking of unstoppable labels, Metal Postcard has a number of new releases that all bear repeated listens. First for your consideration is the latest from Brian Bordello, Cardboard Box Beatle, what Brian says is his final acoustic album, and it's probably his best, which is a feat. 11 tracks of heartbreakingly excellent tunes. The words I always use to describe Brian's songs all apply across the 11 song album: raw, honest, amusingly caustic, caustically amusing, and just absolutely beautiful, man. Songs like "Cat Food on the Floor," "Here Comes Eric With His Dead Child Song" and "Salamanda Fruit Fly" are Brian continuing to show us all how it's done. I've been singing "Any Room In Your Life for a Song and Dance Man" in my head all week.

Next up from Metal Postcard, Super Hit is former White Fang guitarist Kyle Handley's solo project, and this 18 track self-titled release is super-solid:

Kyle has another project called The Tyrds and their 8 song release on Metal Postcard is called I Got Shit On My Mind. Fuzzed out!

Salem Trials has a new full length, Foe Fact, and on top of that is releasing a new single every Sunday through February on Metal Postcard. Unstoppable seems to be the secret word for tonight's post, as Andy and Russ from Salem Trials are absolutely unstoppable as well:

Andy Goz from Salem Trials and Son of El Borko from Legless Crabs (who happens to be me) teamed up to release Legless on Main Street, a 9 song effort that features Andy at the top of his game and me just trying to keep up with his undeniable ability to write a bad-ass rock'n'roll song. I like to think of it as the Stones and the Velvet Underground meet Wesley Willis and the Shaggs. It's the best thing I've ever worked on and I'm super proud of it! Here's a track called "Singer" about abusive singer songwriters from the 1970s:

Finally from Metal Postcard, Italy's K. Board & the Skreens have a new EP, 4 tracks of mind-blowing Italian outsider electro-pop. So frickin' good:

Speaking of Legless Crabs, I've been busy with my made-up Naive Noise Rock Collective over on my own Bandcamp pages. Here's three new releases of naive noise rock I've put out. Enjoy at your own risk:

More submissions to come. I got other shit to do now tho. Look out!

Will Feral (Texas); David Wallraf (Germany); Lars Haur (Oklahoma); The Usurpers (Salt Lake City); Night of Rage (Russia); Captain Average (Hungary); K. Board & The Skreens (Italy); The Conspiracy (U.K.)

One of my favorite sub-genres of noise/experimental/ambient/electronic music is the "score for non-existent film scores for film" category. Back in college in the late 90s I took a poetry class and I remember being very proud of a particular poem I wrote called "Invisible Movies." I don't have it handy but it began with something like

"This is the soundtrack for a movie that does not exist"

Maybe it's not as cool as all that, but for years, before and after I wrote that poem, I did make soundtracks for movies that didn't exist (i.e., mixtapes on cassette and then later on burned CDs). And then when I began my Will Feral electronic project, the goal was to make scores for films that, of course, don't exist. My most recent cyber-punk themed attempt was "Hellweb," which is out on Metal Postcard Records:

At any rate in recent years I've seen several other people use the same terminology about making non-existent film scores, and I think that's pretty neat. I'm not saying I invented it, of course. It's not a difficult concept to think up (especially if you're, to quote Jon Stewart, "on weed," or maybe you're just a sober yet creative individual, whatever); but it's fun and interesting to be contributing to a micro-genre mini-zeitgeist.

David Wallraf is a noise artist and researcher out of Hamburg, Germany, and his latest release, Subsongs, is also "supposed to function like the soundtrack to a nonexistent film," a non-existent film about birds, according to a pdf he supplied about the release. It's availble on cassette, and limited to 30 copies, from German experimental label Econore. 10 tracks of fascinating noise textures, complete with field recordings of birds. Very impressive and inspiring. Here's the second track from the album, called "Parliment of Birds," which, according to the PDF linear notes for the album, "refers to both a fictional secret language in William Gibson’s 2014 novel The Peripheral and the ancient Persian poem ر الط منطق ("The Conference of the Birds") by Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar." Too cool:

Over on Wallraf's own Bandcamp page, he has a number of releases, both digital and physical cassettes, and the most recent, released back in December, is a 20 minute, two track release that is panic inducing at its heights and highly recommended for noise freaks:

Lars Haur is an experimental artist from Oklahoma, and his latest release is a 4 song EP called Valences :2​:​2​:​2​:​2:. It releases Jan. 31, but you can hear the first two tracks already on Bandcamp. Of the EP, the artist says it is an "uncomfortable ambient EP created through a combination of typical writing and heavy use of semi-random generation of melodies. These semi-random melodies were then processed through a long chain of varied FX that were combined in a likewise semi-random fashion. The name of the EP derives from the characteristic of elements that dictates what other elements they may combine with."

Pivoting from noise to more straightforward hardcore punk, The Usurpers are out of Salt Lake City and have a split with Russian band Night of Rage, a cassette is due out this month but the Bandcamp page doesn't mention it. Fans of DIY hardcore should enjoy:

Captain Average is a 3 piece fronted by László Sallai, who I'm told is "one of the most active member of the Budapest underground," playing in various underground bands and running a cassette label and DIY booking agency. Captain Average "mixes post-punk with krautrock vibes and the lyrics are reflecting on Eastern Europe’s political issues." Their first album is an 11 song digital release called Heaven Capitulates. The single, "In The Post-Future," is a fun listen:

And, finally, it wouldn't be a CNQ post without new releases from the aforementioned Metal Postcard Records. K. Board & The Skreens Langue - EP is the debut album from the Italian group with only one member, and MP describes it as "bedroom electronic 8-bit chip music and add the magic of Italo." Sounds right to me. Super-tight:

The Conspiracy I assume are British. MP says: "Old songs re-recorded and released on Metal Postcard Records...It's like listening to the missing link between Squeeze & The Clean and World Party. They also have the uncanny knack of creating choruses that conjure up echoes of Steve Harley & The Cockney Rebel." Highly listenable:

4:44; Yammerer; Salem Trials; Metal Postcard Records; Legless Trials; The Legless Crabs; The Bordellos; Alien Nosejob; Ausmuteants; Thalmus

4:44 is a singer-songwriter one man recording project based out of New Jersey. I feature new 4:44 from time to time, always good stuff. The last post with a 4:44 track was in September (where I erroneously said he was from Philidelphia), but the track I featured has been taken down by the artist on his Bandcamp page. So here's another track from his most recent 21 track Bandcamp digital release, Orchid, released back in September:

Thalmus is also a singer-songwriter solo project, based out of Atlanta, who makes "weird country music," and I love that description. Midnight Country is a digital Bandcamp release "featuring a few originals mixed in with country covers of Sonic Youth, Thundercat, Anita Baker, and Rae Sremmurd." Check out their cover of SY's "Schizophrenia," it's super-cool:

This was submitted back in June and I missed it. Just stumbled on it tonight while ironically trying to figure out how best not to miss stuff like this. Yammerer is from Liverpool. I was 3 seconds in and hooked on this track, "Tell Me What The Ancient Astronauts Believe," and stayed hooked for the full 3 minutes of the song. Killer, urgent post-punk, and what a great song title:

New Salem Trials is bitchin' as always. Post-punk rock duo from Leeds about as prolific as Bob Pollard or Zappa:

I was honored to get to work with Andy from Salem Trials under the moniker Legless Trials, and we're very lucky to have Metal Postcards to promote them for us. Our most recent Metal Postcard release is an EP called Hotwire an Ambulance. The lead track, "Hotwire an Ambulance," has been played on no less than three terrestrial radio stations, and as far as I know, maybe more. Maybe ALL THE STATIONS. That's me on vox, Andy on everything else:

I just looked over at the Metal Postcard Records Bandcamp page and betcha by golly, Salem Trials has another release on it. I told you they were prolific. Synthetic Animals and Other Plastics is an 8 song concept album, here's "Halo of Flies:"

And speaking of prolific Metal Postcard artists, both the Bordellos and the Legless Crabs (who may or may not be my noisy, off key solo project) both have new releases. The Bordellos have a new 2 song double A-side, "Dancing To The Hits/Slow Motion Fade Out," and the Crabs have a new 11 song, 20 minute long album called Tender Karaoke, and I gotta say, it's not the worst thing, if you're into noisy, off key solo projects. The Bordellos release is genius as all fuck tho:

The Bordellos also have a 4 song digital release on their own Bandcamp page, Rock N Roll Is Dead EP. The Bordellos are that band where you tell people how rad they are, and they don't listen, and then some time later they say to you, "hey, have you ever heard of the Bordellos?" And you want to strangle them, despite their well-meaning attempt to turn you on to cool new music. I do that to my wife all the time and it's a wonder she hasn't strangled me to death yet:

Alien Nosejob has new vinyl out, I'll pay for that without having to hear it first because you know it's gonna be rad. But luckily I do get to hear it first on Bandcamp before I inevitably order it. Alien Nosejob is the bedroom project of Jake Robertson from Ausmuteants. Ausmuteants has not put out anything since 2019, but these Alien Nosejob albums have been super cool. I've got the first two on vinyl, will be ordering this as well:

...Present The World In Handcuffs was the last Ausmuteants album, released in the Before Times of 2019. The Bandcamp page still has vinyl available:

All that got us up to is mid-November with new releases and submissions. More later and soon maybe, ya know. I dunno. Go forth and listen to the above! And drink lots of water. I want to play some Skyrim, or maybe Tropico, or some Sims. If I could play all three at once, I still wouldn't be satisfied.

New Punk and Hip-Hop

This is nice: something called In Solidarity out of Arizona has released a comp called Texas Benefit Compilation, available for digital downloand and cassette. They say all proceeds raised from the tape will be donated to ACLU Texas to fight for, protect and ensure safe abortion access. That's good. The comp is good too, ranges from noisey powerviolence and grindcore to noisey weirdo punk, and more:

Abortion on demand and without apology. That's not a heartbeat, it's electrical activity in an embryo, y'all.

Metal fans are way ahead of me on this, but I just discovered Succumb yesterday and their new album XXI achieves total heaviosity. "Punishing" and "unrelenting" came to mind during my first couple of listens to the album's 8 tracks. Order the vinyl thru their Bandcamp page, it's one of the best new things I've heard all year:

Oxford, UK based punk label Richter Scale uploaded a couple of new albums to their Bandcamp page today:

"You Can't See Me" and "Contort" are the first two singles off the Barbituates' upcoming "mini-album" they're going to call Super Callous Fascist Racist Tories Are Atrocious, to be released tomorrow, Sept. 30. "You Can't See Me" is parts The Smiths and parts Echo and the Bunnymen, and I'm a sucker for "bah bah bahs." "Contort" is a little more raw, I'm into both of these songs and I look forward to hearing the rest of the album from this Londonderry band:

Ayeoh is a 2018 graduate of the LA Recording School, per their Bandcamp bio. Self is 13 short tracks of quality downtempo rap and hip-hop production:

This Heel (Sweden); Lappen (Germany); Meph Luciano & CK (Dallas)

Martin Månsson Sjöstrand's This Heel has a new EP called Invisible Space, due out October 16 on Bandcamp. I got to listen to the 6 track EP today and it is This Heel at its lo-fi psych-pop rock'n'roll finest. Sjöstrand keeps getting better and better at what he does. "Cave Boy (Blow The Flower A Kiss)" is from the new album, give it a listen:

Also, all true Sjöstrand fanatics should check out volumes 2 and 3 of his Arkivkollage series. I featured #1 in the series a while back, and since then there's been two more -- each 20 minutes or so of songs from Martin's archives, collaged together into a must listen for purveyors of weirdo lo-fi psych-pop extended freak-outs:

Deutschpunk from Leipzeig:

Hip-hop from Dallas:

Mirage The GR8: "Regal" (Texas)

Longtime CNQ fave Mirage The GR8 has a killer new song and video out called "Regal." I forget how I initially came across Mirage the GR8, but I've been a big fan of the Texas rapper for several years now:

Corntuth (Brooklyn); Little Beards (Dallas); WSZY (Poland); and Kingfisher (Sweden)

Back in late July I posted a good review of Brooklyn-based ambient producer and musician Corntuth's latest album The Desert Is Paper Thin, and since then it's been a feature on Bandcamp Daily, which is always nice when I get to scoop them. (Bandcamp Daily I used to think was uncool, but I have since come around and now I think they're doing a good job). The vinyl for The Desert Is Paper Thin is now 80% funded. Meditative "Ambient Americana" is a good way to describe it, take a listen, and if you like it, you should head over to Corntuth's Bandcamp page to contribute so the album gets funded. I did, it's great stuff and should sound rad on the hi-fi:

You know Syf Records has been cranking out the jams, as that's what they do. Here's some of the newest stuff from the lo-fi, high powered Polish micro-label, and not what you'd expect, either. Instead of the raw, noisey rock y electro that Syf typically trucks in, WSZY's debut EP, .GNIDY is post-rock -- or maybe, heavy jazz, man, yeh -- Polish heavy jazz. I think you would dig it the most. Like a lo-fi cross between Morphine and Tortoise, the 3 song instrumental EP is certainly a lot more intentionally musical than previous Syf releases, the ones I've heard anyway. Syf cranks out a lot of material, which is a good thing, but I'm not able to keep up with the expanding catalog like I'd like to. At any rate, you can order WSZY's .GNIDY on cassette via the Syf Records Bandcamp page, and you should, this is exceptional stuff, a ton of fun:

That Little Beards single, "What's The Point (It's Funny)", from their forthcoming album The Legend of Spectacular Living, is now streaming, and you can pre-order the album on Bandcamp. Smartwave gothy post-punk from Dallas, check it out:

Kingfisher is a rock duo from Sweden and their new single, "Lover to Discover," is available on Bandcamp. They describe themselves as a combination of '90s MTV Rock and 00s British indie, which I think sums up this single nicely: