Oh no! Another Non-Metal Thread!

[Ellestin]

Fucking tremendous album.

Hellz fucking yeah. Listen listen to Spirit of Eden by same band (my fave). And check out Bark Psychosis' Hex and Codename: Dustsucker which are basically more of the stuff in a slightly more manly/post-rockish vibe.

 

[Krilons Resa]

Will do!

 

[swizzlenuts]

Listening to a Bark Pyschosis song...

It's fucking awesome!

 

[cthulufhtagn]

haha just read the wikipedia article on chinese democracy, still no word on when it'll come out

 

[spaffe]

Hm, strange to find this thread bumped. I stumbled upon a band today that I think some people here would enjoy.

They call themselves Angizia, come from Germany and they play some seriously weird music. Think really frantic gypsy/circus/jewish folk music bordering on lunacy, with harmonica, clarinets, flutes and a some other instruments. Then add technically good but demented singing, both female and male in really strange rhythms. It reminds me of the soundtrack of Nightmare before Christmas, even though this, as a soundtrack, would fit better to a jazz club where asylum inmates have taken over, thrashing, dancing, wailing and doing things not often seen in daylight.

http://www.myspace.com/angiziasongs

In short: :zombie:

 

[Ellestin]

They call themselves Angizia, come from Germany and they play some seriously weird music.

^
Austria in fact

Otherwise your depiction is spot on I'd say. I have a gay fondness for their 39 Jahre für den Leierkastenmann album, which comes in a gorgeous digipack with original illustrations from a professional Austrian paintress. Basically it is a concept album about a jewish boy in pre-WW2 Ukraine falling in love with a barrel organ he found in some attic, and the fantastic circus-like universe he shapes through the music in a life context impregnated with cruelty, misery and looming war. A great piece of grotesque cabaret avant-garde rock whatever.

Also the album features Jochen Stock of Dornenreich fame as one prominent guest vocalist so we all say: (bitte schön)

 

[Evil?]

Hmmm interesting stuff.

 

[spaffe]

^
Austria in fact

Otherwise your depiction is spot on I'd say. I have a gay fondness for their 39 Jahre für den Leierkastenmann album, which comes in a gorgeous digipack with original illustrations from a professional Austrian paintress. Basically it is a concept album about a jewish boy in pre-WW2 Ukraine falling in love with a barrel organ he found in some attic, and the fantastic circus-like universe he shapes through the music in a life context impregnated with cruelty, misery and looming war. A great piece of grotesque cabaret avant-garde rock whatever.

Haha, that's awesome. Though it's hard to say how this kind of music will stand the test of time when the novelty of it all has faded. But that digi version sounds really tempting...

Hm, I see now that some of their music is listed as "metal" on Ebay. Did they use to play more metal oriented music or is it just because they were signed on Napalm records?

 

[Ellestin]

Did they use to play more metal oriented music

Hardly. They did something remotely close to symphonic black metal in the typical 90's Austrian vein (think Korova, Golden Dawn...) on an old split with Amestigon, but then immediately set the controls to their baroque, avant-garde and Russian-theatre-inspired galaxy. They kept some owl shrieks at first, granted.

As to the test of time thing, I grew indeed indifferent to most of their stuff, with the exception of said album and the previous one (Das Schachbrett des Trommelbuben Zacharias), which both unfailably send the shivers running, and account for a healthy note of unconventional, jew-loving goodness on my shelves.

I would NOT recommend their latest offering though (Ein Toter fährt gern Ringelspiel), which simply pushes the theatrical approach to the extreme at the costs of the melody, and is utterly non enjoyable for non-proficient German speakers.

 

[spaffe]

Hardly. They did something remotely close to symphonic black metal in the typical 90's Austrian vein (think Korova, Golden Dawn...) on an old split with Amestigon, but then immediately set the controls to their baroque, avant-garde and Russian-theatre-inspired galaxy. They kept some owl shrieks at first, granted.

As to the test of time thing, I grew indeed indifferent to most of their stuff, with the exception of said album and the previous one (Das Schachbrett des Trommelbuben Zacharias), which both unfailably send the shivers running, and account for a healthy note of unconventional, jew-loving goodness on my shelves.

I would NOT recommend their latest offering though (Ein Toter fährt gern Ringelspiel), which simply pushes the theatrical approach to the extreme at the costs of the melody, and is utterly non enjoyable for non-proficient German speakers.

All the songs on their Myspace page are from Ein Toter fährt gern Ringelspiel and I think they're quite awesome all of them. But, since they're all a bit over the top, perhaps they'll grow old pretty quickly. No sign of that yet though, I've been listening a lot to them these last days.
Übrigens, I can't really see how one cannot find enough melody in these songs

Anyway I downloaded Das Schachbrett des Trommelbub Zacharias today and I'm quite excited to see what it has to offer.

As for the german, I can't say I understand very much of what they're singing, but when I get to read the lyrics it shouldn't be any problem.

 

[Ellestin]

^
good, I admit I've dismissed Ein Toter... at blitzkrieg speed anyway when I saw it would bring much less enjoyment than 39 Jahre..., of which it is in fact part 2, concept-wise. So I guess if you like it, there is no reason you would not fall in love with 39 Jahre.... I did think the melodic flow in the latest one to be freakingly overwhelmed by the fragmented and explosive structures, but maybe if I listened with today's ears... As for the German they use, I really do not grasp even 10% of the machiavelic wordplays intended, and I've been living in Germany 7 years... Keep me informed if you dig the band further!

 

[JayKeeley]

I can even dig on some Sufjan Stevens if I'm in the right mood.

Hey I just recently watched Little Miss Sunshine and say what you will about the film (I personally thought it was fantastic), the soundtrack itself features Sufjan Stevens and it fits the film really well. Anyway, is there a good place to start with this guy?

 

[Krilons Resa]

Little Miss Sunshine ruled. I just remember SS to have a weird voice atop folk-oriented music. Would prob like it if I explored further.

Sorry I was of no help.

 

[skyrefuge]

Angizia is incredible. I'm actually more partial to their first couple albums, which aren't anywhere near as crazy as their later stuff. Those absolutely stand the test of time (I've probably been listening to them for almost 10 years now?) But the crazy stuff is good too.

'Die Kemenaten scharlachroter Lichter' (my favorite) is simply five 11-15 minute songs, led by piano melodies that run through the entire 66 minutes. There's no single part that blows you away, but it's just so consistently good for every second that it's nearly a desert-island disc for me.

I've always thought of them as being "of metal", because those first couple albums are filled with black metal shrieks, and distorted electric rhythm guitar backs up all the tracks. It doesn't actually *sound* like metal because it's mixed so unusually: the guitar is buried, drums are in the middle, and piano and vocals are up front.

Absolutely unique and brilliant band.

Neil

 

[skyrefuge]

the soundtrack itself features Sufjan Stevens and it fits the film really well. Anyway, is there a good place to start with this guy?

I suppose the 'Illinois' album would be the obvious choice. I actually like that one and 'Michigan' about the same, but the two songs from the soundtrack come from 'Illinois', and as a native, that's the one I ought to be promoting anyhow! Every song is about some weird historical event in Illinois.

John Wayne Gacy Jr: [ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=otx49Ko3fxw[/ame]

Oh yeah, and 'Little Miss Sunshine' was great. I didn't even realize there were Sufjan Stevens songs in there...I wonder which I was familiar with first?

Neil

 

[Krilons Resa]

I suppose the 'Illinois' album would be the obvious choice. I actually like that one and 'Michigan' about the same, but the two songs from the soundtrack come from 'Illinois', and as a native, that's the one I ought to be promoting anyhow! Every song is about some weird historical event in Illinois.

Oooh..okay. I know who he is now. I also listened to that album a couple times but never clicked. It is pretty unanimously decided as his best output so far though. I forget the name of the dude I was thinking about.