Posts Tagged ‘Thrill Jockey’
Album of the day: Rhyton – Rhyton
Posted on Saturday, January 28th, 2012
Praise for Rhython‘s S/T from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: So, sure, “experimental / improv / psych” bands based outta Brooklyn are probably a dime a dozen these days, so what makes the debut from this new Thrill Jockey signing worthy of glorious Record Of The Week status here at aQ?
Well, for one thing, Thrill Jockey have had a pretty good track record in that area lately, with aQ fave bands like White Hills and Barn Owl, and fans of either ought to check out Rhyton. At least, we had to give it a listen, and when we did, WOW! Totally tripped out and hypnotic, stonery psych explorations embraced our ears – and we think gently tingled any mystic sixth or seventh senses we may possess. Their jamming has a fuzzed-out edge, and a definite exotic, Eastern vibe, buzzing with electric saz for one thing… as if they’re not from Brooklyn, they’re from Brooklynistan!
The mesmeric music of Rhyton is a mind-melting mind-meld involving three well-matched musicians, a supergroop of sorts, the trio consisting of D. Charles Speer from the No Neck Blues Band, Jimmy SeiTang of Psychic Ills, and Spencer Herbst from some bands we confess we’ve not heard of before. Speer is on the strings, playing electric saz, electric mandolin, and baritone guitar. SeiTang is on bass and tape delay. Herbst is on drums and percussion (and videocassettes, we read somewhere?). A good set up for playing something that’s rock, but not.
Over the course of the five, mostly long, mainly instrumental tracks here, Rhyton easily convinced us to make this Record Of The Week, or maybe hypnotized us into doing so! We just couldn’t say no to their repetitive, reverby bath of shuddering soundwaves, sub-bass pulsations, meandering raga-like “split stereo, dual amped” leads, and loads of oscillators, loops, n’ effects.
Relatively mellow opening track ‘Stone Colored’ eases us in, giving us a sense of, if not where Rhyton is going, at least how they’re gonna get there. And, as the cliche says, the journey is the destination. That’s before the 12+ minute ‘Pontian Grave’ heavies things up even more, and the raw side of Rhyton’s experimentation is revealed. And so it goes, Rhyton getting into outre modes of instrumental psychedelic possession, centerpiece ‘Teke’ being the perhaps the most druggily dubbed-out of the album’s varied transmissions… and then, on the fantastic final cut, ‘Shank Raids’, we REALLY hear the Middle Eastern influence come to the fore.
It’s not just the electric saz they’ve been making use of, on this one the rhythms n’ melodies sound straight out of the Turkish psych songbook, stately and spacey, but also gnarly, warped and distortion-damaged, almost what it would be like to Greg Ginn’s Gone, or Black Flag circa The Process Of Weeding Out, attempting a Mogollar or 3 Hur-el cover, yeah! There’s a whiff of Sun City Girls to this as well.
Eastern aspects aside (or not), Rhyton’s unique vibrations are on roughly the same wavelength as those of such outfits as Carlton Melton, Davis Redford Triad, White Hills, Titan, Bardo Pond, etc., and thus this should appeal to quite a few of you. So we say, get it!
And get it quick, as the compact disc edition, packaged in a slim handmade sleeve (abstract art glued on front, hand-stamped text on back), is ultra limited to only 200 hand-numbered copies!! We got a bunch, but that bunch is probably all we’ll get. Meanwhile, the similarly-appointed vinyl version is just a bit less limited, 500 copies made, and it comes with a postcard insert and free download code.
At 40 years old, Aquarius is the oldest independent record store in San Francisco. We try to only carry music we love, and we’re always searching for more new, cool, weird and wonderful music. All of which we then share with you, our loyal customers.
Rhyton – Stone Colored from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.
Tags: Aquarius Records, D. Charles Speer, heavy psych, Jimmy SeiTang, No Neck Blues Band, psychedelica, Psychic Ills, Rhyton, Spencer Herbst, Thrill Jockey
Posted in 2012, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | No Comments »
Mike Scheidt of Yob To Release Acoustic Solo Debut On Thrill Jockey
Posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
Mike Scheidt of critically acclaimed psychedelic doom metal giants Yob will release his solo acoustic debut on Thrill Jockey. Mike is currently recording the album, and his acoustic solo material will be dramatically different, according to a press release by Thrill Jocky. In related news: Yob will be playing Catharsis in full ...read more
The Sleeping Shaman: An Interview With Dave W From Psychedelic Warlords White Hills
Posted on Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Lee Edwards of The Sleeping Shaman recently conducted an interview with Dave W from Psychedelic Warlords White Hills. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. LE: You’re currently working on your new album, can you tell us a little bit about this, where it’s being recorded, who’s engineering ...read more
White Hills: New Album Completed; Release Date Revealed
Posted on Thursday, December 1st, 2011
New York’s heavy space rock cosmonauts White Hills have completed their new album, Frying on this Rock, which will be released on March 20th, 2012 via Thrill Jockey. White Hills newest and most energized recording to date is bursting with raw energy packed into their most concise songs to date. Fear ...read more
Album of the day: Barn Owl – Lost In The Glare
Posted on Saturday, September 10th, 2011
Praise for Barn Owl‘s Lost In The Glare from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Seems like only yesterday Barn Owl had a new record on Thrill Jockey, and in fact this, Lost In The Glare, is their third for TJ in about a year, coming hot on the heels of their ...read more
Album of the day: Wooden Shjips – West
Posted on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
Lovingly pinched from The Skinny: Gone is the lo-fi fugue of Wooden Shjips’ DIY recordings: West marks the San Franciscan psych-rock disciples’ debut in a “proper studio” under the trusted gaze of de facto Thrill Jockey engineer and Trans Am founder Phil Manley. And the move doesn’t harm them one ...read more
Album of the day: Eternal Tapestry & Sun Araw – Night Gallery
Posted on Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Praise for Eternal Tapestry & Sun Araw‘s Night Gallery from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Recorded live in 2010 at South By Southwest, in Austin Texas, in a large empty TV studio and then broadcast on the radio, this psychedelic summit matched up long time pals Sun Araw (aka Cameron Stallones) ...read more
Album of the day: Pontiak – Comecrudos (EP)
Posted on Monday, July 11th, 2011
Lovingly pinched from Tiny Mix Tapes: Few bands are able to move between moods and styles as flawlessly as Pontiak. Comecrudos, their latest Thrill Jockey release, showcases this elusive transitional ability. Recorded as a soundtrack to the drive from Phoenix through much of Texas without the aid of distortion or ...read more
White Hills: H-p1 Full Album Stream at Vpro 3voor12
Posted on Monday, June 20th, 2011
H-p1, the new album from New York cosmonauts White Hills , is available for streaming in its entirety at Vpro 3voor12, which is the leading cultural media network in the Netherlands.
Album of the day: White Hills – H-p1
Posted on Monday, June 20th, 2011
Praise for White Hill‘s H-p1 from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Latest blast of psychedelic space rock from these NYC sonic assassins, and like all the previous White Hills jams, it’s a good one, but in some ways, it’s actually a lot different. Still present are the usual space rockisms, swirling ...read more
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