Deantoni - "Our Shadows"

The lead single from drummer/producer Deantoni Parks' debut LP Technoself, out December 4 via Leaving.

Brian Chippendale and Greg Saunier - Brian Chippendale and Greg Saunier

Of all the team-ups and collabs in recent memory, this has to be among the most chaotic, noisy and boisterous of them all. Greg Saunier and Brian Chippendale are two drummers behind some of the more experimental punk bands of the late 90's and early 2000's, namely Deerhoof and Lightning Bolt. They are regarded as formidable musicians in their own rights, as well as being close friends.

The above album is effectively a half hour of two men playing drums as hard and ferocious as they can, dipping and feeling each other’s style for volume and rhythm dynamics, using each other’s energy to build and drop in crescendo after crescendo of drive, power, and skill. Recommended for anyone into free-improvised percussion music. And if you have time, watch the documentary Checking in at 20, which is paired with the album. It gives some fascinating insight into the two drummers and the project.

- Fin Worrall

Wildbirds & Peacedrums - Rhythm

Wildbirds & Peacedrums return with one of their catchiest efforts yet.

Foot Village - Make Memories

Yesterday saw the release of a new LP from Los Angeles noise rock quartet Foot Village, which is out via Northern Spy. Titled Make Memories, the record is also available to stream in full above via the band's SoundCloud.

In describing Foot Village, noise rock is an accurate term only in a literal sense rather than a historical one. The band bears little resemblance to bands like Sonic Youth, Big Black, or The Jesus Lizard, instead forgoing much of the tonal basis which underlies the music of those bands. That is, Foot Village sticks almost exclusively to percussion and vocals, the latter offering little in the way of melody. Its absence is accounted for by a pure punk energy, however, which pairs very fittingly with the thunderous onslaught of rhythmic stimulation brought on by the four percussionists. When tonal instrumentation does show up, such as on the last track, it used less as a means of offering conventional accessibility and more as a means of creating atmosphere, one which is consistently and unabashedly disorienting. Reaching just under the 35-minute mark, Make Memories is anything but overlong, instead choosing to make its statement in a very concise and unrestrained manner.

Everything Everything - "Cough Cough"

Everything Everything absolutely oozes personality on this track way back from August 2012.

This is a song worth going back to, it begins with a very unique vocal build up that develops into some truly great harmonies. Not only are the harmonies great, but the lead vocalist it perfectly eccentric and delivers an astonishing vocal performance. You can clearly see in the video that this Manchester band has put a lot of heart in their music, the video shows them beating on giant tribal drums while stock political footage intersects. There are also great transitions from black and white to color matching up with the music. Of course in a video the passion can be faked, but not in the music and it definitely has it from the vocals down to the frantic synthesizers.

Lightning Bolt- "King Candy"

Thanks for the clarification, Mr. Burns. The most intense duo in noise rock comes out of nowhere and announces a new album--no, really a compilation of sorts--release just around the corner. Lightning Bolt's sixth album, Oblivion Hunter, is gonna come out on September 25th via Load Records.

"King Candy" is the first track to drop from this thing, and it's a bit more lo-fi and improvisational than much of Bolt's most recent material. I'd say the chaotic, rough, and free-form feel of this track is actually taking the duo back to their roots with releases like their self-titled debut. The track really sounds like a live performance.

Who knows what Bolt has in store for the rest of the tracks on this thing, though? Maintaining one single sound for angle for the entirety of an album hasn't ever been the duo's style. Let's see how this pans out. Check the song titles for this new LP below:

Track listing: 1. King Candy 2. Baron Wasteland 3. Oblivion Balloon 4. Fly Fucker Fly 5. The Soft Spoken Spectre 6. Salamander 7. World Wobbly Wide

Dam Mantle- "Spirit"

Dam Mantle is the solo effort of Glasgow producer Tom Marshallsay. I caught this track as the 405's "Track of the Day," and it's not hard to see why. The first and obvious observation to make is that this track is a bit of a departure from the dubstep sounds that littered Mantle's previous release, We.

On "Spirit," the choppy, light percussion has been switched out for something smoother and jazzier. The skittering ride cymbals and looped piano chords are a nice addition to the forefront of this track, but try not to miss any of the subtle alterations and edits that quietly whiz by. The song's more electronic elements become more obvious toward the end of the song, reminding me a bit of recent work from Four Tet or Nicholas Jaar.

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