NO-CORE

I got this press release from Philadelphia label Badmaster Records specifically stating that this compilation would be released as a free download on Thursday, Feb.26th. So it only makes sense to post something about it on Feb.26th and see if we can overload their bandwidth.

If “it’s free!” isn’t enough of a reason to go download the comp, then here’s why else it’s cool. Philly has one of the best music scenes going on right now. All the current artists I know from there (and those I learned about on this comp) are totally DIY, unpretentious, sincere, hilarious, and good-natured. I mostly know about the noise/weirdness scene, but there’s also plenty of bleed over into punk, indie, art-rock, etc. – which is also a reason that the scene is cool. And this comp covers some examples from all of the above mentioned genres. “Something for everyone” also means “not everything’s for everyone” and there are a few tracks here which I’m not personally into, but I’m also not into doing negative reviews so I’ll just mention some of the highlights for me. Besides, it’s a free mp3 comp! Just delete the tracks you’re not crazy about!

First of all, this is worth downloading for the new Mincemeat or Tenspeed track, which is a top-notch example of his stuff and has these bizarre melodies that crop up which you almost feel you could sing along to. Noise music you could sing to! A bunch of bands fall into the category of “noise-pop” which falls nicely (for me) on the noisy side, for example Hot Guts and U.S.Girls. (Hot Guts would probably be way too heavy for most to classify as noise-pop, but I call it like I hear it, and that’s a pop hook!) Pretty much all the bands share some kind of element of noisiness or a lo-fi edge. The prog/noise-rock band Satanized does a cool cover of NON’s “Total War.” There are a handful of bands which fall into some kind of post-Unsane sludgy-noise-rock category, like Talk Me Off, The Blacks And The Blues, and Rawar. I might have believed someone if they told me that the Birds of Maya track was Guitar Wolf – except that guitar solo was a little too fancy. The track by Fun Dogs was a cool surprise, being really hard to pigeonhole with elements of metal, noise-rock and post-hardcore, with a strong melodic sense – closest thing I can think of might be Killing Joke. There’s also something from a personal favorite, Drums Like Machine Guns, a weird little song by them which leans more heavily on electronic beats than noise. No Tickley Feather track, but we do get the Serpents of Wisdom, who lives in a similar foggy Casio-goth world.

There’s more too, but hey, free download. Check it out for yourself. Go to the Badmaster website:

http://www.badmasterrecords.com

Oh yeah, and someone did a smart mastering job on the whole thing so that you don’t have to hover over the volume control as you listen, which is much appreciated in a comp.

I know exactly what will launch one-woman-band Tickley Feather from her current level of buzzy sub-notoriety to national indie super-star. Someone just needs to slip a copy of this album to Sofia Coppola, who will realize that it would make the absolutely perfect soundtrack to her next dream-like film filled with achingly beautiful melancholy. In fact, this album even opens with “Buttshot,” just like Coppola’s “Lost in Translation!” (after a little droney intro that is) It’s a perfect match! The closing scene of this film, set to the song “The Daylight” or maybe “Keyboards is Drunk” will bring movie-goers to tears and send them immediately rushing to their nearest record store for a copy of this LP.

It’s a really hard mood to nail, so how does Tickley Feather do it? The formula seems pretty basic: lo-fi Casio keyboards, simple haunting tunes and lots of reverb. But the real Tickley Feather secret weapon is her voice, which is what really takes the mood and the beauty of the music over the top. It actually reminds me of Annie Lennox. It also makes the “lo-fi” really work, because everything has this diamond in the rough feel. Even a really great singer with pristine backing music recorded in a million-dollar studio would just sound like mundane blah. This, however, sounds really special. I seriously can’t deal with most music which is supposed to be “pretty” or “sweet” or “nice” but Tickley Feather’s stuff works because it’s got plenty of rough edges. This will appeal more to fans of Tom Waits than Tori Amos.

My only complaints with the record would be that I actually wish some clean singing would peek out of the fog now and then because it’s that good, and the album seems kind of short, with several songs being less developed than they could be. But, you know, changes to those qualities might just upset the delicate and perfect balance here.

I was kindly sent this nice LP by the folks at Badmaster Records, who asked that I point out that they still have vinyl copies available. The CD is out on Paw Tracks, but when you’re in your bedroom on a rainy day and you realize you need to listen to that Tickley Feather song because it’s exactly how you’re feeling at that moment, you’ll want to put a vinyl record on the turntable, won’t you?

Tickley Feather
Badmaster Records