Antoni Maiovvi - "Driving Theme"

Horror disco soundtrack work from Berlin-via-Bristol composer Antoni Maiovvi, created for neo-giallo short film Yellow.  "Driving Theme" will be released by Death Waltz Recording Company in a limited pressing as part of the full Yellow soundtrack for Record Store Day.

Iceage - You're Nothing

Iceage release their searing You're Nothing today.  It's a refinement on the scuzzy, blown out punk of their first album, New Brigade, and the first steps toward a more mature sound.  For most bands, maturity means haphazardly screwing with electronics or softening the sound in the same way the body softens through age and neglect.  You're Nothing is definitely not a case of the former, nary an instrument except for a guitar, drums, or bass (with the odd piano) assaults the senses; and if anything, the opposite is true of the latter.  This is a more dissonant album, exploring the functions and textures of noise in traditional song structures, that also veers into angrier lyrical territory.  "Morals" could only be construed as a ballad insomuch as it includes a piano and starts off mid-tempo.  By the time frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt begins barking "Where's your morals?" in the closest-thing-you-can-call-a-chorus you know this isn't a song, or an album, that will comfort you.

This is an album that understands that aging doesn't necessarily make you wiser, just infinitely more confused.  "Everything Drifts" and "Wounded Hearts" are a solemn combination that revel in human frailty.  But You're Nothing also finds resilience in the fact that we're fucked.  "Awake" is probably the closest the band has come to writing something that could be considered uplifting.  It's not a "we will carry on" mantra but it offers a call to kick against the pricks.  And then the title track seems to contort it's spiteful insult into a rallying crazy similar to Johnny Rotten's sneering of "NO FUTURE!" becoming a self-identifier for disaffected English youth as much as its intended putdown.

You're Nothing isn't a pleasant slog, but it's one you'll feel better for having committed to.

 Iceage - "Ecstasy"

Time Warp Tuesday: Nitzer Ebb

Nitzer Ebb - "Warsaw Ghetto (Full 12" Version)" (1985)

Today's indie dance should feel ashamed.  Twenty-five years on and almost no one goes as hard as Nitzer Ebb.  And this was before they fully developed their sound.  Hunt down a copy of That Total Age.

TiW's Top Albums of 2012

As is often the case with Times is Weird, we're behind the times.  We're only just now getting around to cataloging the albums we most enjoyed in 2012.  That's partly out of the general sense of apathy the scene inspires in us right now, but also so we could have a greater sense of perspective.  How can you release a Best of... list the last week of the year?  Or the first week, for that matter.

Going along with that, these aren't numbered, because fuck precise categorization.  Any number of these albums have shifted places from week to week, so it would be disingenuous to insert them into specific, numbered slots.

YRNN

YRNN is a post-apocalyptic concoction of swirling synthesizers, rubbery beats, and incomprehensibly seductive whispers. Their work recalls elements of industrial and trip-hop, but never lapses into the realm of pastiche. "TV O'KEEFE" is the chiming highlight, incorporating all the aforementioned elements into a heady brew, but "HEATHEN" should not be overlooked in its attempt to reapproximate those ideas into a creeping dread. Name your price, or don't, over at Perennial Melt; Melt is a fledgling DIY label out of Brooklyn.

Wayward Sounds

Funktionaries - "Kiss My Funky Pts. 1&2" (1983)

Digging through the crates can sometimes result in startling discoveries.  Wayward Sounds is a new project we'll be undertaking to feature obscure and unknown music; those sounds that drifted overhead, carried on a current that wouldn't allow for them to catch an audience.  Hopefully, they'll now achieve some recognition.  The first featured artist is Funktionaries

Time Warp Tuesday: My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - "...And This Is What the Devil Does!" (1988)

Never have truer words been stated.

My Bloody Valentine - "She Found Now"

God lives.  From MBV, set to be released later this month.