Beauty is not always a surface quality. It's not always right there, in front of you, for the scrutiny of unforgiving and unappreciative eyes as plainly as for the grateful ones. Sometimes it's in a crease or fold. Around a corner it waits for you to discover it, and when you have, it's utterly personal. Ambulance's beauty is of the latter sort. It's a quiet a cappella about disaster and love and happiness. I've selected it for the beauty it conveys of its own, but the rest of TV on the Radio's "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes" conveys equally stunning, understated beauty, tucked in-between clarinets, throaty distortion, and the wailing, wailing sorrows. It's a remarkable achievement. [learn]
Boris - Pink
In line with a recent tangent into a "Japanoise" genre of sorts has been my recent discovery of artists like those of Boris and Merzbow. I'd expect more of this sort on posts in the near future, mixed in with the rest. Boris in particular has rivetted me with their ballsy dynamics. Yes, ballsy. I can't think of another way to describe a group incorporating a sawed-off double-bassist who would play several minutes of staticy single chords at live shows and on albums. Yet when they get into it, the Japanese (sometimes-)trio are kind of fast-paced raw energy incarnate. Really. I got to experience a local band who apply similar dynamics, called Kinski, a year or two ago with some friends. When Sam called them a "wall of sound," I found that it was a dead-on description of the experience. This is how I feel about Boris, whose dynamics variously drone and crackle and muddle and then break through in bright, clear licks. [learn]
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Look to Said the Gramophone. Sean has posted another work by Agent Simple, a man and a band that have been captivating me since they were first mentioned on the same blog. They have a new album out. Go learn yourself.
image by: IrenaS
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