Posts Tagged ‘aaron turner’

Album of the day: Pharaoh Overlord – Lunar Jetman

Posted on Sunday, February 5th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from The Inarguable: The Repetition is a difficult beast to wrangle. From the premier of Steve Reich’s Music for Eighteen Instruments, the new wave of post-modernity screamed “excessive minimalism” in praise of its stylistic progenitor. Of course, not many people could perfectly emulate Reich’s pulsing, shifting, harmonically dense style, opting for a more pure, hypnotic, unfortunately monotonous route of execution.

That isn’t to say the monotony is inherently bad, however, twenty-minute krautrock epics which never stray from one single bassline sort of peeves me, which is the exact problem I’ve had with the rest of Pharaoh Overlord‘s discography. These Finns, who share members with the critically acclaimed Circle, recorded some great ideas, but ‘Devastators” 9 minutes and 33 seconds of one singular classic heavy metal riff seemed a little off. I was a little apprehensive when approaching Pharaoh Overlord’s new record, named after the classic video game Lunar Jetman, though the inclusion of a seasoned member of Faust definitely piqued my interest.

I really am glad I gave this album a fair chance, as Lunar Jetman shows immense growth in the Pharaoh Overlord camp. Moving away from their “consistent, hypnotic repetition” route of execution, Lunar Jetman follows the example set forth by the Reich-ian school of thought. As layers of sound are stacked on top of the repetitive base, it begins to shift under the weight, and upper echelons follow suit as they begin to buckle under the sheer weight of sound above them.

Eventually, you arrive at an entirely different conclusion. This sort of transformation is always a treat, especially given the trance-inducing nature of the music (and perfectly embodied in the two-part ‘Cave of Hair’); you snap out of it and find yourself in different surroundings. Looking down, you’ll notice I imbued this album with the all-encompassing “krautrock” tag, but don’t expect your standard Neu! or Amon Duul (one or II, take your pick) thoroughfare

Continue reading: The Inarguable: Pharaoh Overlord – “Lunar Jetman” (2012) [SIGE/Ektro Records].

Tags: aaron turner, Album of the day, Ektro Records, Faith Coloccia, Krautrock, Lunar Jetman, Pharaoh Overlord, SIGE Records, The Inarguable
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Album of the day: House of Low Culture – Poisoned Soil

Posted on Saturday, January 7th, 2012

Praise for House of Low Culture‘s Poisoned Soil from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: It’s been a while since we’ve heard from House Of Low Culture, the one man experimental / drone / soundscaping project of Aaron Turner, he of Hydra Head Records, Sige Records, Mammifer, Isis, Twilight, etc. This one ...read more

Locrian & Mammifer collaboration Premiere New Track via Pitchfork

Posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012

Dark Chicago trio Locrian and Mamiffer, the compositionally minded project of artist / pianist Faith Coloccia and husband, ex-Isis vocalist / guitarist Aaron Turner, premiere a new track via Pitchfork called In Fulminic Blaze. Culled from Bless Them That Curse You, the 51-minute album will be released on March 6 via Profound ...read more

Album of the day: Burning Witch – S/T (4LP + DVD)

Posted on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

Praise for Burning Witch‘s S/T (4LP + DVD) from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: We’ve got just a handful of these expensive new Burning Witch 4LP/DVD boxes, they’re fancy and SUPER limited, so odds are once we sell out we won’t be able to get more. Seems likely that only super ...read more

Album of the day: Wolves In The Throne Room – Celestial Lineage

Posted on Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from CVLT Nation: The tension worldwide is palpable as Wolves In The Throne Room prepare to release their fourth full length album Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord). Expectations for this album are high to say the least. WITTR quickly rose to prominence with their 2007 LP Two Hunters. The ...read more

Wolves In The Throne Room Complete Celestial Lineage (Rock-a-rolla.com)

Posted on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Wolves In The Throne Room have completed their fourth full-length, entitled Celestial Lineage, and have set September 13th as the release date for the latest opus. Written and recorded over six months by brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver, Celestial Lineage is the final in the trilogy of releases that also ...read more

Album of the day: Mammifer / House of Low Culture / Merzbow – Lou Lou… In Tokyo (2LP)

Posted on Friday, July 8th, 2011

Praise for Mammifer / House of Low Culture / Merzbow‘s  Lou Lou… In Tokyo from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Another impressive release on Aaron Turner’s post Hydra Head label Sige, this one a three way live tag team between Turner’s House Of Low Culture, Mamiffer and Japanese noise legend Merzbow. ...read more

Album of the day: Isis – Live IV Selections 2001-2005 & Live V 07.23.06

Posted on Sunday, June 26th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from Sea of Tranquility: Live albums are a curious beast. Some are recording contract fillers, some are overdubbed after the event and not quite live after all, and some provide a challenge for the bands that have employed all kinds of studio trickery to create their art (which ...read more

Album of the day: Mamiffer – Mare Decendrii

Posted on Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Praise for Mamiffer‘s  Mare Decendrii from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: The last few months have given us a flurry of Mamiffer releases, first a split with Aaron Turner’s House Of Low Culture, then another split with dark drone-noise heavies Oakeater, and now a brand new full length. With a pedigree ...read more

Mamiffer: We Speak In The Dark (Stereogum Premiere)

Posted on Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Mamiffer – now featuring ex-Isis man Aaron Turner – will release their next full-length Mare Decendrii on March 15. The album will be released in the US via Turner and partner Faith Coloccia’s own label SIGE, with a European release coming via Belgium’s Conspiracy. Listen to We Speak In The ...read more