Review: Phill Niblock – Nothin To Look At Just A Record

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—01. Rereleased on Superior Viaduct.

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Phill Niblock has long been one of the central protagonists of the NYC loft scene, holding concerts through his Experimental Intermedia label since 1968 and producing some of the richest and most splendid, long-form drone music in the nascent genre’s history. His first album, Nothin To Look At Just A Record, sources its sounds from recording continuous tones, in this case trombones, which are then densely layered. The product announces an idiosyncratic approach to creating music that would continue throughout his multi-decade career. Superior Viaduct's 2013 rerelease of his 1982 debut is sold out at the source, but copies can still be found of this great, early record from a real legend in the underground music world. 

—Available from Discogs

Weekend Listening: Coil - Gold is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders)

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—01. Directed by Peter Christopherson.

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I was looking through the most expensive records bought on Discogs this month, and right there at the top, was a limited edition of Coil's 1987 masterpiece Gold is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders). While I recently found that this is actually an album of outtakes from their first two records, you certainly wouldn't know it listening to the LP as a whole. Coil as a group are widely known as 'experimental noise' artists, which, to an outsider, can sound like the most daunting description of music imaginable. I think if you give this record a chance though, you will find more often than not this 'noise' resembles pretty beautiful music. The cuts range wildly in variety, you will hear everything from classical compositions, to screeching madness, to the more rhythmic numbers that ended up being the catalyst for the creation of industrial techno. The song I feature here falls into the more classical category, accompanied by the original video directed by Coil co-founder Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson, of Psychic TV fame. Please keep any jokes about its vague similarity to the Game of Thrones theme music to yourself, thanks.

—Coil discography via Discogs

Weekend Listening: Charles Cohen

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Morphine Records, 2013

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The last few years have seen steadily rising vinyl sales, punctuated by reissues and so-called special editions, making it all too easy for some of the truly special releases to pass you by. One such cornerstone record is Charles Cohen's The Middle Distance; released last year on the groundbreaking Morphine label, it is part of a three-LP compilation comprising of music originally recorded between 1979 and 1988. While listening to Charles' work, you'll undoubtably make strong associations to experimental minimalist composers such as Terry Riley, but due to Charles' mastery of the ultra-rare Buchla synthesizer, his sound has a life of its own. The rhythms are complex and the sound design ranges from anywhere between lush and transformative to harsh and chaotic, making it impossible not to draw parallels with so many of the experimental dance music artists working today. With these records finally finding their way to the public this late in his career, it really makes you wonder what other genius unsigned artists are hiding unexplored in their local music troupes and theatre groups.

—Charles Cohen on Discogs