The sun smells too loud

Postrock, as a genre, has died on its arse, throttled by pisspoor emulators of the figurehead bands. The problem is that the recipe is easy to follow, and tons of bands are now following it. Luckily, some of said figureheads have moved on: Sigur Ros to a more organic, richer sound on their latest; Mogwai into more experimental terrain, on a succession of patchy but interesting albums. The latest, The hawk is howling, is full of promise, exemplified by the teaser track, The sun smells too loud, which belies its crappy title by being a genuine monster. If you think Mogwai just do generic quiet-loud-quiet you'll be surprised by the belting groove of this monster: the thundering drums and circling keyboards do not let up for the whole length of the track. By all accounts, the album is generally downtempo, making this an oddity (much as Friend of the night was, as the teaser for their last album. But what a fine oddity it is! Something of a throwback, it sounds like Joy Division got Yo La Tengo in to do their melody. (Yes, as good as that sounds.) It's not fashionable, not a hint of electro going on, but it pounds and caresses in equal measure. I'm mega excited about Hawk.

It is making a nice break from dnb and techno, which are currently my listening pleasure. I've been checking out Dillinja (old skool hardedged dnb), Black Sun Empire (dark techstep, which you could compare to Pendulum, were Pendulum not shite), Echospace (dubtechno, which has to be heard to be believed, possibly requiring a couple of pieces of the herb to appreciate as it was intended), Clark's Turning Dragon (more techno than his previous work, but still excellent compositionally), Various (folky dubstep, which is only partway successful but still decently listenable), The Bug's London Zoo (pounding dancehall that brings the bass) and the brilliant Flying Lotus (I have Los Angeles on heavy rotation because I just can't get over how fucking good it is: people are saying he's the future of IDM, because his mix of hiphop structure and IDM technique is, for now, unique--but won't be once six thousand copyists have figured out how to do it). Add to that a dash of AFX because in an ideal world the Analord series would be considered the last word in electronica, so rich and varied is Aphex's palate.

***

I am out the back, smoking a cigar and drinking a fine port (well, I was a couple of nights ago, when I began this post, but tonight it's a half corona and a Hennessy cognac) and writing this on my new inexpensive laptop, and I have my fuck you mind installed.

I feel well. I feel it is possible. Now's a good time to beg for a loan or a favour.

Actually, nearly always is good for a favour. But it's a better time when the monkey is quiet and the black dog sleeps on the mat. It is broad and thin, and never reaches into my core, but I do not give up hope that it will.

I do not give up hope that I will be a contented grandpa, smoking a pipe in the walled yard of my stone house, dying with the sound of the sea in my ears and a smile on my lips.

posted by Dr Zen @ 9:05 pm