NO-CORE

I’m sure this has already been posted all over the internet, but I still can’t resist putting up this video. Brian “Narwhalz (of sound)” and Jonathan “Shams” (also a member of infant-core band Adult Moan) face off against some Baltimore scene kids, including Kate Levitt of Teeth Mountain, on TV’s JUDGE JUDY. (By the way, looks like Shams plays this Saturday in Brooklyn at Death by Audio!)

No need to feel bad watching this, I have a strong feeling that no cats were actually killed in the making of this case. (I can believe that some TVs were smashed) And check out those nice, new leather jackets that Narwhalz & Shams are sporting! The actual show sequence is a little slow, Her Honor Judy doesn’t allow for much improv (Narwhalz tries) but the closing interviews are great.

You’ll want to check out the comments too, some of which are also hard to judge as real or fake. Highlights include:

“They are a tribe of sickos and should not be allowed to have a cat, and definitely not televisions.”

“Quit trying to promote your stupid band, and find a new acting coach”

and of course: “DEWD SHES HAWT. UR GAY LIEK THOSE DUDES LOL”

Captain Ahab: the Captain Ahab of, um, music?

Since this falls vaguely in the same category (weirdo musicians appearing on TV shows) I thought I’d throw it into the same post. Except that this news item, cool as it is, is completely appropriate and UN-strange, considering how uber-PRO-fessional Captain Ahab are in their approach to music. Captain Ahab, who are on the Deathbomb Arc label and are like some kind of Ween of electronic music, have a new song of theirs prominently featured in the latest episode of the SciFi (I refuse to call it “SyFy”) show Caprica. I’m embedding the clip below, but if it gets taken down, you can watch the full episode HERE.

You can also hear the track and download it free from Captain Ahab’s Bandcamp page. (Haven’t I heard that beedley-deep-beep sample in another Ahab song?) A little browsing on Youtube also reveals plenty of examples of Ahab tracks appearing in other shows.

Alright, I may as well close things out with a classic, which the above Judge Judy unavoidably brought to mind. Joe, (ex- of The Fugue)’s closing comments on the People’s Court. Enjoy.

* Okay, okay, I know neither Narwhalz nor Shams are really “noise” but I enjoy bugging serious harsh-noise dudes by polluting “their” genre with goofballs.

Stellar 30 minute tape from Richmond, Virginia’s Gameboy-freakout noise artist Brian Blomerth, aka Narwhalz. Having heard his earlier stuff, I can tell you that this tape shows a much more evolved and refined Narwhalz.

Maybe someone reading this has seen Narwhalz perform before. This reader may wonder how I can use words like “evolved” and “refined” to describe an artist whose performances involve rolling on the floor while punching Gameboy buttons, humping Pomeranian stuffed animals, repeated “technical difficulties,” and periods of extended, rambling, semi-surrealist, self-deprecating monologues that approach a form of MySpace-culture beat poetry. Meanwhile, the music is a torrent of chaotic videogame sounds in a fast-forward jumble.

These points are noted. However, just listen to this tape. There is an ebb and flow to this chaos. Long periods (relatively) of repetitive sounds almost start to hypnotize you before things explode and insanity breaks out. Then there’s some time to catch your breath, the music settles down and starts to sound almost pretty, or Brian shares some words of wisdom before the next round. Then you start to notice that the music has the same pacing and flow as everything Brian writes, and everything he draws as well. Nothing is quite as random as it seems here. A lot of care has gone into putting the sounds on this tape together.

For another thing, unlike earlier recordings I have, this one is all at the same volume level, or at least it gets loud only when it’s supposed to get loud. I also like how the vocals are mostly obscured by distortion, letting you believe that maybe he’s screaming about some truly HARSH power electronics shit. Then there’s one very clear part where he addresses Snoopy and you realize it’s actually the same bizarre nonsense it always has been.

Bottom line, if you have seen Narwhalz and you thought it was amazing then you’ll love this tape. It edits down and distills all the best sounding stuff and most successful moments. If you saw Narwhalz and thought it was the most inane bullshit ever, this tape JUST MIGHT CHANGE YOUR MIND … maybe. Probably not. On Flish Records, nice yellow tape and full-color illustrated art.

http://www.myspace.com/narwhalsofsound
http://www.myspace.com/flishrecords