records i get. what i think.

*Basicx* - *Burning Down The House* - I don't know who Robert Vazquez is, or was, but this is very cool electrohouse stuff by way of City Heat Records in Miami. From 1989. Someone should tell Discogs that they spell his name wrong for this release and it's not included in the discography of his other stuff under his actual name. I would, but i'm lazy.

*The Lox* - *Fuck You* - My new theme song!

yo everybodys a snake
thats why i try to keep the grass cut
so i can see em when they comin
then i heat they ass up

that is a great line.

*Style* - *What A Brother Know* - On Select from 1990. And I am in love with this. So cool. Even the "Midnight Mix" is beyond cool. The synthpulse is hypnotic. If they had an entire album I want it yesterday. Oh, er, this is a rap single. Just in case you have never heard of Style.

Brief metal break here as I try to make sense of the onslaught from the mailbox. And, no, I didn’t get the new Onslaught in the mail. Metal, like rap, is a minute by minute, um, game of inches. You gotta keep your eye on the ball. It ain’t over until it’s over. And so on. Anyway, like I said, briefly:

*Atavist* - *II-Ruined* - I agree with Adrien, Profound Lore is on a serious roll. Of course, he HAS to say that, he lives in Canada! It’s all a part of being a good citizen. But I do agree. One quality slow motion suicide after another. The Atavist is hardly my favorite album of the year, or even the month, but it’s solid sludge/doom made with admirable conviction and gnashing of teeth.

*Procer Venificus* - *A Summerhaze Array for August Nights* - This is, without a doubt, my jam. I was sooooooooooooooo looking forward to this. Ever since I heard the last Procer album! It was well worth the wait. This is a joint release between my favorite American metal label God Is Myth and the very cool Ars Magna Recordings label. Two CDs in a handsome box that comes with one small leaf and a plastic bag containing incense. Sandlewood, I think! Mmmmm, smells lovely. The first disc, Duskworlds, is a mix of acoustic and electric material. The electric stuff is faraway and echoey black metal where the shrieks come as whispers and the guitars transfix and hypnotize. So beautiful. The second disc, Lunar Transit, is completely ambient. Like, REALLY ambient. So slow and quiet and majestic. The loudest thing on this disc is the sounds of the crickets and birdsong. If you only buy one pagan folk bm ambient masterpiece this year, make it this one.

*Freedom Call* - *Dimensions* - “If you ask Freedom Call fans about the outstanding characteristics of their favorite band, they tend to list two main qualities: melodic and up-tempo.” And there you have it. That about sums up Freedom Call’s German ridonku-metal. I like this album. Especially when I set my computer’s AC97 Audio Configuration Sound Effect program to “stone corridor” or “quarry” or “padded cell” when I’m playing it. ENDLESS fun, I tell you.

*Amplified Heat* - *How Do You Like The Sound Of That* - I really like this band. They aren’t really “metal”. More stoner/60’s/hard/bluesrock. But they are definitely heavy. They used to be known as Blues Condition. They are from Texas. They are three brothers. Jim, Chris, & Gian Ortiz. I think I still like their last EP on Arclight more than this, their new full-length. But this album is growing on me in a big way. They do the ye olde boogie rock routine, but it sounds fresh. The guitar solos are invigorating. I would LOVE to see them live. They are that kind of band. The song “Through And Through” has some of the best screaming psych guitars on it that I’ve heard in a long long time.

*Exterminance* - *Vomiting The Trinity* - Big booboo number one for this band is directing people to their website in the CD booklet and having the (incorrect) address be the same as a white power site that has nothing to do with the band. Well, not that white power people might not like this band. They might. Although white power people are hardcore xian, no? So maybe they wouldn’t like this band. Anyhoo, I like this band. Hardcore underground death & destruction. This is all old stuff. Demo stuff. Unreleased stuff.

*Vreid* - *I Krig* - Okay, the black & roll express is getting seriously out of hand. And, of course, I am talking about the blatant and copious use of COWBELLS on Vreid’s album. Extra-grim Lynyrd Skynyrd covers can’t be far behind. (Having said that, this album is pretty cool)

*Hearse* - *In These Veins* - Sweet and speedy death & roll here. But no cowbells! If you buy only one Swedish death & roll album produced by Dan Swano this year…Well, alright, you don’t really have to buy this album. But it’s very fine stuff. Sad to say, this is way better than the new Entombed album. And they invented this kind of stuff. Although Hearse add a dash of unified thrash attack on this album just to keep things interesting, so it’s not JUST motorhead + death metal, ya dig?

*Gentlemans Pistols* - S/T – 70’s hard rock retro stuff from the U.K. More boogified at times than the more formal Witchcraft, GP still kick up some dust. I guess. I don’t know, I’m just a sucker for this stuff. They’re good at it! They’ve got some Free in them, some Deep Purple. Really, what’s not to like? And they are suitably straight-faced about it. You gotta sell this shit, you know?

*Tulus* - Biography Obscene* - These dudes are first-wave Norwegian bm who went away and became Khold and now they are back as Tulus. Which is cool. They are talented dudes. They mix up their bm with acoustic guitar, violin, cello, etc. Sounds nice. Their riffs are compelling enough. I need to listen more. I think this might grow on me. Or not. There might just be a little TOO much violin action at times…

*Mehida* - *Blood & Water* - This is kind of a nightmare. AOR Eye Of The Tiger-metal that is way over the top. And I often don’t have a problem with the style at all, but it has to hit me right off the bat and this doesn’t. There are even occasional beats on here! It’s pretty tiresome.

*In Battle* - *Kingdom Of Fear* - Porn, comic books, horror movies, metal albums. They all share similar characteristics and appeal to people (men people, mostly) in similar ways. They are shiny new toys with colorful and alluring cover-art that appear with frightening regularity at a store near you. They all prey on the collect/hoard mentality. The gotta catch ‘em all mentality. They offer the same old same old in an infinite number of same old same old permutations. People feel a need to “defend” them. What people are often defending is their own lethargy, ennui, and monkey-like impulse to be turned on time and time again by lurid imagery, fantastic fantasy situations, and quickly-dissipated visions of world supremacy in a world that they might not actually be trapped in, but that they certainly had next to no hand in making. I LOVE the new In Battle album.

*Knights Of The Abyss* - *Juggernaut* - After a promising intro, this just devolves into breakdown-heavy metalcore. And not the good kind. I don’t need this in my life. Blah.

*Gorefest* - *Rise To Ruin* - But I DO need Dutch death legends Gorefest in my life. I never actually heard their 2004 comeback album - I heard it was good - but this is awesome. Tons of energy, four million cool riffs, and circa 1987 guitar solos that do all sorts of crazy things. Love this.

*NecroMessiah* - *Antiklerical Terroristik Death Squad* - When your first demo tape is titled “ In nomine dues quad ecclesias igne absumor” the only place left to go is down…TO HELL! Highly efficient Pope-fucking metal.

*October Falls* - *The Streams Of The End* - Epic raindrop-metal with acoustic interludes. Possible tree-huggers.

*Sodom* - *The Final Sign Of Evil* - I love Sodom. Talk about troo! This is a re-recording of their first EP and lots of bonus tracks. And this is the original line-up too! Tom Angelripper, Grave Violator, & Chris Witchhunter. 2007 is a magical year.

That’s it for now. Tomorrow I actually have to write reviews of 14 albums put out by a small Estonian metal label and some other stuff for Decibel.

But watch this space. More hip house and house music remix reviews coming soon!

*James Brown* - *The Payback Mix* - This is dope! From 1986. It isn't really James Brown. I mean, it is, but it's just funky drumming remix action of James Brown samples. This originally came on a Casablanca dance music comp. Or so it says on the cover of this 12-inch. The Coldcut mix manages to cram every conceivable James Brown sample - vocal, horn, drum - into its five minutes. The Norman Cook mix is also pretty good. Love the funky drummer loop bonus beat action too!

*Hong Kong Trash* - *Skuzzlebutt* - This is very cool. Tech house, I guess you'd call it. This is on Glow Records from 1998. I don't know anything about Hong Kong Trash. I just like the busy vibe. And the weird noises. I'm easy.

nice bloggin'!

i have this classic philly comp with some tuff crew (my parta town) and krown rulers (kick the ball) on it...that's a great album if you can find it on CD, it was called classic material: philadelphia....

Vried, Hearse, and Gentleman's Pistols have sounded okay to me so far, but I haven't had time to play them much -- There's not enough hours in the week to keep up with metal stuff I get anymore!

Didn't like Gorefest or Exterminance or Knights of the Abyss, I don't think (I didn't take notes).

Didn't play Freedom Call or Sodom yet. I think they are still in my "will play these sooner or later" pile though.

I can't find my copy of Mehida, and from descriptions by George (who liked it) and you (who didn't), it sounds like something I might like! Oh well.

Metal in my CD changer now: Witchcraft, Warfare, Agua De Annique. (Non-metal there: Gary Allan, Bobby Bowens.) (Well actually, Gary Allan might be more metal than Agua De Annique* by now, but never mind.)

* = Anneke Van Giersbergen from the Gathering's new combo, but Scott already knows that!

"nice bloggin'!"

i actually do have a blog, but I never post on it. There is something about the blogger/blogspot "look" that makes me never want to go there. I find ILX to be the one place where I feel comfortable writing stuff for fun. I don't even write e-mails. And I rarely write on my own. Unless its for money.

hey, in case some people who might care didn't see my filthy 50 list in Decibel's stoner rock issue, you can look at it online. but not with the cool album covers. i got a little grief from the nitpickers at stonerrock.com and the southern lord board, but not to much. it's just stuff that i like. decibel actually added the word "masterpieces" to it. i just wanted to give a shout-out to stuff i love. i wouldn't be capable of making a list of the "most obscure" 70's hard rock albums anyway. i haven't heard most of them! i figured it was a good bet that most decibel readers hadn't heard a lot of the stuff i did list. thus, they are obscure to them! but not obscure to freaks and recordheadz.

http://decibelmagazine.com/features_detail.aspx?id=8926&terms=scott+seward&searchtype=2&fragment=True

Baby Elephant's Turn My Teeth Up! Out Sept. 15. Prince Paul and Bernie Worrell, with guests George Clinton, Davind Byrne, Yellowman, Shock G, Nona Hendryx ("Alright, where you been, how you doin Nona?" "Fine." "I know you're fine, but how you doin?!" This is not on the album.There are skits, though.) Also: DJ Roc Raida, Reggie Watts, Gabby La La, etc etc. So far I like tracks 8, 10, 13, 15 16 the most, others to some extent. (So far I)kinda prefer Bernie's own Funk Of Ages, incl covers of Sun Ra and J.S.Bach (covers might help here).