Brokeback: Brokeback and the Black Rock (Thrill Jockey, 1/22/13)
With more than a little reverb, a sense of wide-open space, and a strong kinship with Americana, Brokeback and Black Rock is what instrumental albums should be. There is no struggle with absent vocals; these are complete compositions, finished and evocative.
Matmos: The Ganzfeld EP (Thrill Jockey, 10/16/12)
“Very Large Green Triangles”
Matmos: “Very Large Green Triangles”
You’re in a chair, wearing headphones, with white noise hissing fuzzily at you from either side. Ping-pong balls have been scissored in half and set over your eyes, with a purplish light beaming at you from just inches away. You can’t see. You are told that the experiment will last 30 minutes. It may not work.
“Occult Vibrations” (ACR version)
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Lungfish_Occult_Vibrations_version.mp3|titles=Lungfish: “Occult Vibrations” (ACR version)]The website for independent record label Thrill Jockey jokes and/or asserts that post-hardcore progenitor Lungfish is “enshrined as one of America’s last true folk bands.” Digging into the vaults, Dischord Records’ latest release shows that the group’s hidden relics still have potency, folk or otherwise.
Hush Arbors / Arbouretum: Aureola (Thrill Jockey, 4/24/12)
“New Scarab”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Arbouretum-New_Scarab.mp3|titles=Arbouretum: “New Scarab”]Bands that traffic in psychedelic/stoner-rock orthodoxy often follow a dogmatism that rings shallow. In one fell swoop — three songs, to be precise — Baltimore quartet Arbouretum effectively lays waste to anyone who’s ever bowed at the altar of the fuzzed-out guitar to mask (or revel in) creative bankruptcy.
Jon Porras: Black Mesa (Thrill Jockey, 4/17/12)
“Into Midnight”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/01-Into-Midnight.mp3|titles=Jon Porras: “Into Midnight”]Guitarist Jon Porras, otherwise known as one half of drone duo Barn Owl, has returned for his sophomore solo effort via Black Mesa, a concept album of sorts about an outlaw’s desert journey as he comes to discover another universe.
Tomorrow is the third Saturday in April, which means that independent record stores across the world will face an influx of limited-edition vinyl, avid fans, and rabid audiophiles. With myriad releases hitting shelves, we’ve provided you with some of our most anticipated picks to make Saturday’s shopping (relatively) quick and painless.
In just one more trip around the sun, another swarm of immensely talented but under-recognized musicians has harnessed its collective talents and discharged its creations into the void. This list is but one fraction of those dedicated individuals who caught our ears with some serious jams.
