Postcards From The Edge
Different Noises 69
An eclectic mix of new and old material with a selection which reflects music that is perhaps more under the radar than usual. There are some familiar faces mixed with more obscure and relatively unknown artists.
SHOW AUDIO
PLAYLIST
The Legless Crabs "People" from People
TIM.M "This Time Round" from This Time Round
Mick Medew and Ursula "In The Zone" from In The Zone
The Speed of Sound "Artificial Paradise" from A Cornucopia : Bounty
Kwabna "Mama" from Our Songs To The World
Dumb Dumb Head "Weirdo" from Weirdo
The Conspiracy "Tick Tok" from Tick Tok
Peter Hammill "Gone Ahead (Remixed)" from Incoherence (2024 Version)
Robin Guthrie "Jura" from Astoria
Dave Graney & Clare Moore "Parking Lot Scenes” from I Passed Through Minor Chord In A Morning
Neon Kittens "Z Brains" from Trick EP
Snarksi vs Snarski "Who's Watching Who?" from Waiting For The Bell
The Stress Of Leisure "The One I Love" from It Goes Away With The Heat
Vee VV "Tin Foil Hat" from Crackerjack!
PAN Project Ensemble "The Naked Night" from Borderless Flows
Dan Roman and Cuarteto Latinoamericano "DVXNS Movement 1-3" from DVXNS
Spy Dénommé-Welch with Catherine Magowan "Scan/Machine" from Transpositions
Slint "Breadcrumb Trail" from Spiderland
Hawkwind "Seeing It As You Really Are" from Hawkwind
Nils Petter Molvær "Nebulizer" from NP3
Miracle Blood "Hello Hell" from Hello Hell
Huge Molasses Tank Explodes "The Fall" from III
The Aints "Red Aces" from Autocannibalism
SHOW NOTES
The Legless Crabs - the 12th release from the band this year finds them in familiar lo-fi territory. Metal Postcard continue to deliver with an eclectic roster of musicians/bands who defy convention.
TIM.M - a different aspect of the Metal Postcard universe and whilst not as prolific as the previous still a good handful of releases this year. Described as a ballad this artist is apparently now making waves on playlists from Jakarta to Brazil - via Eccles of course.
Mick Medew and Ursula - the follow up to the excellent 2022 album “Love Is Calling” finds former Screaming Tribesman Medew with partner Ursula in fine form and a tad more guitar in play than the previous album.
The Speed of Sound - John Armstrong returns with the third part of the “A Cornucopia” set of releases. Whilst the Greater Manchester musical universe is wide and varied this band can be reliably designated as being a fine example of what the conurbation has on offer
Kwabna - in the last few years he has been recording with Sly & Robbie, Marcia Griffiths and Peter Metro and has been working with many producers including Phatta, Caveman and others. He also continues his extensive work and live shows with his band T-Dynamix who have been playing since the 1980s The new album is due for release on all major platforms in January 2025 and Kwabna will be broadcasting live on Big Stone Television in Jamaica on 10th of November and regularly for six months afterwards
Dumb Dumb Head - vocalist Duncan Harwood (Happy Hearse, Bundy Lore) and James Castady-Kristament on Instruments, back up vocals, production (JCK,Black Velvet Butterfly, Fri Skreem, Real Gods Are Blue) - New Zealand Alt Rock/Grunge duo with a great new track.
The Conspiracy - More Metal Postcard…..Brian at Monolith Cocktail says “intelligent contrary buggers who do not dumb down their art, and in these days of Neanderthals wanting Oasis to reform that can only be applauded, and they should be given medals for trying to keep intelligent artful pop alive and well”. I am in total agreement.
Peter Hammill - 14 songs in 41 minutes in a single concept piece - originally released in 2004. Now re-released in expanded new mix form by Esoteric/Cherry Red. PJAH in fine form. He can do no wrong. Apparently he has been doing some gigs in Italy lately. Let’s hope he can manage some shows here it’s been six years since I saw him last at The Stoller Hall in downtown Mancunia.
Robin Guthrie - self-produced in his studio in Bretagne, France - this new EP takes inspiration from Guthrie's post-pandemic travels. A rich crucible of sound packed into four tracks, Guthrie takes the listener on a peaceful and contemplative journey of dreamy and atmospheric instrumentals.
Music from the regulars Dave Graney & Clare Moore, Neon Kittens, Snarksi vs Snarski, The Stress Of Leisure, and Vee VV - see previous posts for details.
PAN Project Ensemble - PAN Project invited musicians from Indian and Persian traditions to join their own Chinese, Korean and Japanese artists to create a unique mix of instruments and styles - fascinating listening.
Dan Roman and Cuarteto Latinoamericano - DVXNS (perhaps suggesting divisiones, or variation techniques music of the Renaissance) defies easy classification. It blends Latin American, particularly Afro-Caribbean, rhythmic elements with the aggressive textures of 1980s thrash metal—Metallica being a key reference—wrapped in a minimalist and post-minimalist aesthetic. The result is a hybrid, hypnotic soundscape, rooted in both precision and raw, driving energy. All this in a string quartet bursting with palindromes and structural games conceived by Puerto Rican composer, Dan Román.
Spy Dénommé-Welch with Catherine Magowan - the first recorded outing to emerge from Unsettled Scores, a unique collective endeavour that, since 2006, has been generating and mobilizing solo, chamber, orchestral and opera compositions, as well as productions that straddle music, theatre and other artforms. Co-founded by Spy Dénommé-Welch, an Algonquin-Anishinaabe composer, storyteller and researcher from Temiskaming First Nation and Catherine Magowan, a Jewish-Hungarian wind musician, composer, and conductor, the duo's co-creations have delved into difficult histories, and contemporary issues from both a Canadian and global perspective. An entirely instrumental work it arises from a conceptual source, like the pair's other output. In this case, it's the intersection between chronic illness and environmental health and in the words of Dénommé-Welch, who led the creative charge on this particular project, the music traces the "delicate and symbiotic rapport between the land, human life and all other living beings." Given the events of recent years, such subject matter has assumed great relevance, however as Dénommé-Welch reveals in the disc's liner notes, his inspiration actually forecasted the COVID-19 pandemic rather than arising from it. "I could never have anticipated the timeliness of this work by suddenly having to navigate a way to record and produce an album about a health crisis during what became a sudden global pandemic," he remarks. "As a result, the uncanny seems to heighten the immediacy and purpose of the piece itself.
I had a dabble in my somewhat excessive CD collection whilst doing some sorting and pulled out some classic releases from Slint, Hawkwind and Nils Petter Molvær
Miracle Blood - the second album from the Boston-based dissonant noise-punks who have carved out a reputation for their electrifying live performances, charismatic songwriting, and what has been called “the best scream in the city” . Since their formation in 2014, the trio – guitarist/vocalist Andrew Wong, bassist Garrett Young, and drummer Anthony Bollitier – has performed incessantly . After several independently released EPs and singles, they self-released their debut LP Melter in 2022, scoring a Boston Music Award nomination for Rock Artist Of The Year in the process. Melter shows off the group’s one-of-a-kind, genre-bucking take on noise-punk—dissonant, heavy, and chaotic, yet melodic, catchy and playful all at the same time.
Huge Molasses Tank Explodes - a neo-psych band from Milan, with three albums under their belt, blending psychedelic sounds with krautrock influences. The band consists of Fabrizio De Felice (vocals, guitar, synth), Giacomo Tota (guitar), Luca Umidi (bass), and Michele Schiavina (drums). Since their self-titled debut album, released by Flying Kids Records in 2017, with rougher sounds and garage rock echoes, their music has evolved, exploring darker and post-punk territories with 'II' (2020, Retrovox Records), until reaching their third album, 'III', just released by the newly formed label Tidal Wave Records.
The Aints - another delve in the archive for some classic Ed Kuepper.