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HOT OFF THE PRESS (#8) - The Bug & Kemialliset Ystävät
HOT OFF THE PRESS (#8) – The Bug & Kemialliset Ystävät
by Nick Courtright
It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for Nick Courtright’s weekly first glance at music discovered in the last seven days, whether it be just-released, just-leaked, or some long-lost gem that has remained under the radar. Click here for other recent editions of HOT OFF THE PRESS, featuring acts such as Vivian Girls, Bodies of Water, White Denim, Conor Oberst, The Walkmen, The Music Tapes, Lackthereof, and Grizzly Bear.
The Bug – London Zoo
Released on August 12 on Ninja Tune.
London Zoo is, said as straightforwardly as possible, one of the most striking and unmistakable albums to hit the shelves so far in 2008. The England-based brainchild of Kevin Martin borrows from the musical heritage of Jamaica to form heavy, lumbering, blisteringly rage-filled music that is sure to drive off as many listeners as it attracts. But while the scowl this album wears makes much hardcore rap look like child’s play, the album’s polarizing effects are a sign of its ingenuity—Martin’s sensibilities regarding darkness and repetition make it the perfect collection of anthems for sneering and cursing as you cut off other drivers on the highway.
With a small army of distinct vocalists—including Warrior Queen, who fronts the devastating late album “Poison Dart,” and Flowdan, who tackles three songs and makes them all standouts—Martin has the weapons necessary to make sure his beats don’t fall down. Tracks such as opener “Angry” (whose staple line “So many things they get me angry, so many things they make me mad” is so infectious you won’t be able to avoid singing along, especially if you’re in a great mood), as well as the machine-gunning “Skeng” and late-album star “Warning,” make this record a surprise keeper for the iPod…even if its ranting invocations of rage, politics, and murder are likely to drive it out of the cubicles. But despite the startling vocals, Martin’s dirty and contagious beats carry the day, and make London Zoo one’s of the year’s best albums to play very, very loudly, and around people you’d love to offend.
Listen to samples of songs by The Bug here.
Kemialliset Ystävät – Harmaa Laguuni
Released for U.S. tour by Secret Eye.
No, I won’t mock you if you have trouble pronouncing the name of this band—I had to practice it myself, and it’s still a challenge. The Finnish group of incorrigibly unpronounceable song titles (they make Sigur Rós’ most recent tracklisting look embarrassingly easy) specializes in vocal-less music that sounds alternately like field recordings from a haunted forest and racket from crashing shelves inside hell’s grocery store, and they’ve been at it for years. Harmaa Laguuni, though, is a good place to start in on their career, which has spanned continents and styles and most always requires a couple dozen listens before the mini-universes of each track fully reveal themselves. This particular collection of sounds is from their 2008 U.S. tour, and it’s a little less shocking to the ears than their prior studio work; that’s not to say, though, that it won’t elicit plenty of “what the hell are you listening to” comments from passersby, because it certainly will.
Orchestrated by Jan Anderzén, it would be easy to call this collection a scattershot of random terribleness cobbled together without rhyme or reason, but digging through the album’s apparently senseless layers reveals an underpinning of songcraft. True, if you listen closely enough, various chirps and the occasional gift of a “normal” instrument such as guitar weave in and out of the mix, and often quite beautifully—see mid-album reprieve, “Riisilla Ja Rusinoilla,” for a prime example. But, like I said, digging is required, because the gauze covering the beauty is thick, and has been wrapped around a great number of times. But those brave souls with patience, those who already lean toward the ambient and “unmusical” sides of music—think early Animal Collective, wordless Paavoharju, or Fuck Buttons—may find a gold mine here, where others would find only an unlistenable pile of muck.
Listen to songs by Kemialliset Ystävät here.