XBXRX have made their new album, “Un Usper,” available for “FREE” download direct from their website:

http://www.xbxrx.com

This album is a nice mish-mash of punk rock moves, noise-rock attitude, free-jamming, synth sounds, and is that a xylophone? Nice.

Those quotes around free are, however, intentional. While you are permitted to download it for free, XBXRX ask that you make a donation in return. I know that sometimes it feels like digital music should be completely free, but I reasoned with myself as follows: I would blow 4 bucks just to make a round-trip subway ride to the record store, and that’s more than most bands on a label get from each CD sale, so heck, it seems reasonable to throw those few dollars to XBXRX and support really, truly DIY music. But hey, don’t let me discourage you from donating more… or less…

Next up, AIDS Wolf “Pas Rapport”:

It’s a tour-only tape of improv jams, or maybe they’re not totally improvised. The boombox quality recording is not too much different from the blown-out sound on their album proper and the tracks are all punctual full-band jams. So if you liked the albums, you will definitely want to grab this while the download link still works.

Get it here!

AIDS Wolf ask for nothing in return, but you might consider following their blog (http://aidswolfs.blogspot.com) so you can find out about things like this, and of course go see them when they come around on tour!

ENJOY.

Alright, so I’m not quite on top of my new releases, but I have finally caught up with the new one from AIDS Wolf, who are proudly carrying the no-wave/bad-vibes-noise-rock torch right now. AIDS Wolf use loud, dissonant, non-chord guitar parts, flailing drums and the caterwauling of singer Chloe Lum to assault the listener. (All of these are good things in my book)

The first thing I notice is that they’re not going to shake the Arab on Radar comparisons with this record, especially starting the first song off with that fluttery guitar sound that opens some Arab on Radar songs also … but from there things take a turn for the more difficult. In fact, the first track, “M.T.I.,” is probably the most “out” on the record, just barely holding together and sounding like maybe, just maybe, it was an inspired improvisation.

I went back and listened to AIDS Wolf’s earlier “Lovvers LP” for comparison, and this one is much denser (both in terms of production values and playing) and more complex. “Lovvers” is similarly dissonant, but the song structures are rather straight forward. On “Cities of Glass” a clear effort has gone into deconstructing the music-making blueprints, not just the guitar sound and tuning. For example, on “Ch-ch-chatter” the guitars and drums sound ALMOST like they’re going to lock into a groove, but all the players are counting different numbers of beats and it never completely synchronizes. Most of the songs work this way, at least partly. (I’m guessing AIDS Wolf want this album to be their “Sang Phat Editor”)

For me, this makes for a much deeper and more fascinating listen. There may be some direct cues taken from the aforementioned Arab on Radar and U.S.Maple (it would be appropriate to name-drop Harry Pussy here too), but seriously, since all of those bands are defunct, how many current bands are trying to advance new music composition techniques? I don’t mean trying to advance new combinations of effects pedals, but trying to reconstruct “rock” music from the DNA up. (If you want to take that as a reference to the band, DNA, that works too!) I’m not going to go quite so far as to put “Cities of Glass” on a level with U.S.Maple’s “Sang Phat Editor” but right now AIDS Wolf largely have the field to themselves.*

One complaint, I wish Chloe’s vocals were clean, without that distortion on them through every song. I think they’d be far more expressive.

CD & LP on Skin Graft. Killer live show too, touring the States in March!

AIDS Wolf page at Skin Graft Records
AIDS Wolf on last.fm
AIDS Wolf blog

* Correct me if I’m wrong! I always appreciate musical recommendations!