Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Other Colors - Natural Motion (2016)


Sophisticated, hazily anxious Baltimore indie. Been wanting to post this since it first came out, as this band is so fucking slept-on that the fifth search result for "other colors natural motion" is a link to a motion-activated night light for your toilet.

Track listing:
1. Return to Life
2. Natural Motion
3. Livin' the Same
4. Color Me Whatever
5. Awaken the Feeling
6. You Know the One
7. Something Flashy
8. Dream of Mine
9. Is It Over?

Space out and see

You might also enjoy:
Pure X -
Pleasure (2011)
Erik Blood -
Lost in Slow Motion (2016)

Monday, July 27, 2020

Black Math Horseman - Wyllt (2009)


Got a comment on my last post requesting "something post-metal or post-punk with a female at the vocals? that is also not fast paced." These are the kinds of requests I enjoy, so I'm happy to oblige. Post-metal with touches of occult psych rock and dark Americana, featuring vocalist Sera Timms, who'd go on to front Ides of Gemini.

Track listing:
1. Tyrant
2. Deerslayer
3. A Barren Cause
4. Origin of Savagery
5. Torment of the Metals
6. Bird of All Faiths and None / Bell from Madrone

She has a secret

You might also like:
Across Tundras -
Western Sky Ride (2008)
Bloodiest -
Descent (2011)

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Red Snapper - Prince Blimey (1996)


Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Red Snapper - Making Bones (1998)

I've been slowly burning through an extensive backlog of unpublished comments and requests, and apparently back in February, someone requested more Red Snapper, AND I just so happened to be listening to Red Snapper when I finally saw said request, so here we are. Honestly, what with everything in the world being so goddamn awful, I've been feeling pretty depressed, and this is one of the first records that's truly lifted my spirits in a while. Prince Blimey is their second and probably best album. A super-tight rhythm section driven by heavy double bass, plus lots of saxophone and spaced-out guitar.

Track listing:
1. Crusoe Takes a Trip
2. 3 Strikes and You're Out
3. Thomas the Fib
4. Get Some Sleep Tiger
5. Fatboy's Dust
6. Moonbuggy
7. The Paranoid
8. Space Sickness
9. The Last One
10. Digging Doctor What What
11. Gridlock
12. Lo-Beam

Our aim is to satisfy

Also of interest:
Luke Vibert -
Big Soup (1997)
DJ Spooky -
Optometry (2002)

Monday, July 20, 2020

lowercase - The Going Away Present (1999)


Third, final, and best album by lowercase. Dark, slow-burning songs that strike a pretty remarkable middle-ground between post-hardcore, slowcore, and screamo.

Track listing:
1. Floodlit
2. Willing to Follow You Down
3. The Going Away Present
4. Glisten to the Pink
5. The Open Sea
6. On a Bender
7. Last Stand
8. Thistrainwillnotstop

The loss keeps bleeding
The milk runs warm and mild upon the pavement


You're also gonna wanna hear:
Chokebore -
Motionless (1994)
U.S. Maple -
Purple on Time (2003)

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Michel Herr, Bill Frisell, Vinton Johnson, Kermit Driscoll - Good Buddies (1978)


Related:
Bill Frisell - Rambler (1984)

How 'bout a little fusion to liven up your otherwise oppressively hopeless existence? And how did I only just find out earlier today that Bill Frisell plays on a bunch of The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull? Crazy. Discovering that made me want to hear maybe some more obscure Frisell stuff, which led me to Good Buddies. Features, among others, Frisell on guitar, and gratuitous nudity on the album cover.

Track listing:
1. Acapulco Bells
2. Frog Legs Vampin' in the Moonlight
3. I Think I Know What You Mean
4. Sans Blues Thank You
5. What Do You Mean, What Do You Mean?
6. Good Buddies

Smile on you

You should also listen to:
Paul Horn -
Dream Machine (1978)
Cam Newton -
Welcome Aliens (1980)

Monday, July 13, 2020

Avzhia - Dark Emperors (1996)


An unsung classic of Mexican black metal. Strangely muted guitars, eerie keyboards, and death-rattle rasps make for a uniquely evil, atmospheric sound.

Track listing:
1. Into the War
2. Shadows of the Forest
3. Black Prayer
4. Immortal Spirit
5. Dark Emperors
6. Empire
7. Into the Silence of the Shadows
8. Father of Sinners

I am a sacrilegious priest of hell

You'd also like:
Algaion -
Oimai Algaion (1995)
Near - The Dark Art of the Death
Hidden in the Castle
(2003)

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Facedowninshit - Shit Bloody Shit (2002)


Crusty sludge/sludgy crust. Riffs for days. Shit Bloody Shit collects everything that the band had recorded up to this point, and it was one of my absolute favorite records as a young weedhead.

Track listing:
1. Cinders
2. Doused Spirits
3. Bleeding in the Street
4. Rigid Limbs
5. Distant Cries
6. Spent Corpse
7. Broken Hands
8. Born in Fucking Chains
9. Left Behind
10. With Seeds
11. Stepping Away
12. Born in Fucking Chains
13. Rigid Limbs
14. Into the Woods
15. Broken Hands

Justice is every pig bleeding in the street

More shit I loved when I was young and stoned:
Grief - ... And Man Will
Become the Hunted
(2000)
Brainoil -
Brainoil (2003)

Thursday, July 2, 2020

The Tear Garden - To Be an Angel Blind, the Crippled Soul Divide (1996)


Related:
The Legendary Pink Dots - Chemical Playschool 1 & 2 (1981)
The Tear Garden - Tired Eyes Slowly Burning (1987)
The Legendary Pink Dots - The Maria Dimension (1991)
Download - Furnace (1995)
Skinny Puppy - Brap (Back & Forth Vol. 3 & 4) (1996)
The Legendary Pink Dots - Plutonium Blonde (2008)
The Legendary Pink Dots - The Gethsemane Option (2013)

My personal favorite Tear Garden record. Written and recorded in the wake of the passing of founding member Dwayne Goettel, To Be an Angel Blind, the Cripple Soul Divide is more subdued and 'organic' than any of the band's previous material, and without a trace of proper industrial to be found.

Track listing:
1. Ascension Day
2. We the People
3. In Search of My Rose
4. Crying from Outside
5. Psycho 9
6. With Wings
7. Judgement Hour
8. New Eden
9. Tasteless
10. Cyberspider
11. Malice Through the Looking Glass
12. Phoenix
13. The Habit

It transforms itself to nothing
I want nothing


Also listen to:
Holy Toy -
Panzer and Rabbits (1984)
Fear of Dolls -
When the Organ Played at Twilight (1999)