New(er) Bits For October 19th

Music Notes

I haven’t rounded up a post of what I’m currently listening to in a while, so here goes.

Fatal Flying Guilloteens
Quantum Fucking (A Fictitious Real Life Account Of Young Love In The Streets)
Don’t let the unfortunate name of the Fatal Flying Guilloteens record “Quantum Fucking (A Fictitious Real Life Account Of Young Love In The Streets)” throw you, this is one of the best records put out this year. Sounding like a cross between NoMeansNo, The Jesus Lizard and Mclusky, this Texas 5 piece is unbelievably good. Seriously, just check this out and then give these guys some cash.

Listen to Illegal Weapons Party. Visit the band on Myspace. Buy this from Amazon.

Masonic
Things I Am Guilty Of
If you’re looking for sugar you could definitely do worse than another band from Texas, Masonic. I ignore 90% of emails that get sent my way regarding new bands, but since these guys (and gal) sent me their whole record I checked it out. I’m not sure what I expected, but this well produced alt pop record was a nice surprise. If you don’t find a song on this record to like, you might not have a soul.

Listen to Regret Is All and visit their website. You can buy this (and their other releases) from iTunes.

Einstürzende Neubauten
Weil Weil Weil
The latest from everybody’s favorite Germans sounds, well, like the latest from Neubauten post-1990. If you’re waiting for them to bang on pipes and make a complete racket, you’ve been waiting a long time. More industrial than noise, this is a quality 7 song EP that fits in well with the rest of their output. Try it out and see if it fits you.

Listen to Meanwhile (Remix by Alexander Hacke). Visit the band at Neubauten.org. You can download the entire EP from Amazon here.

The Flaws
Achieving Vagueness
The debut from this Irish band reminds me a lot of the latest from The Editors. Of course that record reminded me of Interpol who remind me of a poppier Joy Division (among other things), so who’s copying who? The music here varies a bit, sometimes sounding more like early New Order than the early 90’s Cure, but I swear that’s what I’m hearing. Not a bad thing.

Give No Room a shot. Visit The Flaws on their website or Myspace page.

Xasthur
Defective Epitaph
Enough pop for today. Xasthur (aka Scott Conner) has a newish record out, Defective Epitaph. It’s more atmospheric than Black Metal, but it has the BM tag (and screaming), so I guess it falls there. With song titles like “Cemetery of Shattered Masks” and “Funerals Drenched in Apathy”, I can pretty much guarantee you won’t walk away from this CD feeling like a million bucks. Throwing live drums and a cello into the mix has altered his sound a little, making this an easier release to listen to for me, and one that some fans seem to dislike.

Listen to Legacy of Human Irrelevance and see if this moves you. You can hit up the official website for a little more info, although it appears that no updates have been happening in a while.

BUY:

Xasthur - Defective Epitaph