VICE V9N1 REVIEWS

Mob Rules
The Donor
Zandor/Grot Records

10 Ear perforating, malevolent misanthropy from Leeds’, nay the UK’s finest hardcore band. The fact that this sounds very little like a conventional hardcore band and a lot like a very angry Rorschach crashing into a very loud Bl’ast is nothing but a good thing. I’d like to see another UK ‘punk’ band come close to this long player but for me all bets are off, I’ll happily put my money on The Donor being my hardcore record of whatever we are calling this decade we are just about entering.

Clifford More-Dins

Sun Airway
Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier
Dead Oceans

7 Ohkay so the saying the words “nocturne of exploded crystal chandelier” out loud in that particular order is only ever going to make you sound like a fifth rate Sal Paradise wannabe which is never desirable. That aside Philly duo Sun Airway have crafted ten warm, wafting tracks here that prove their able remix work for folks like Delorean and Here We Go Magic to be no fluke.

Seymour Butts

Ultraphallus
Sowberry Hagan
Riot Season

8 Riot Season have a fairly impeccable track record when it comes to putting out cacophonous albums of the doom-y persuasion. However, this LP may well be the first release on the label to contain both a soprano saxophone and a banjo without straying too far from the imprint’s tried and tested formula. Only a bunch of batshit crazy Belgians named after a ginormous penis could pull off a move so bold.

Billy Bunter

The Death Set
Michael Poiccard
Counter Records

7 The Death Set have played a few of our parties over the years and were never less than great live so it was with sadness that we learned of founder member Beau Velasco’s death by accidental overdose after many years fighting drug addiction. “Michael Poiccard” is a sprawling seventeen track tribute to Beau and testament to the band he helped build’s ability to conjure up day-glo ADD punk at the drop of a hat.

Perry Nutkins

Disappears
Guider
Kranky

7 Woah, if you thought you were in for a standard Kranky ambient-a-thon think again. Disappears play balls to the wall rock & roll so brawny it probably has muscles on its muscles.. Apparently they recorded this LP direct to tape over the recording of their first album Lux. You’d of thought Steve Shelley could afford some new tape with all of those Sonic Youth cheques rolling in but maybe not.

Balla Chada

Æthenor
En Form For Blå
VHF

9 Taken from three live performances in Norway in 2010 these seven tracks show that Æthenor’s unique, improvised and wholly engrossing meanderings suit a live setting just as well as they do the studio. The group’s core duo of Daniel O’Sullivan and Stephen O’Malley are joined here by latest full-time recruit, Ulver’s Kristofer Rygg and regular Derek Bailey collaborator Stephen Noble. A singular aural experience.

Peter Shilton

Jesu
Heart Ache & Dethroned
Hydra Head

8 Now that all the excitement of the Godflesh reunion is over new Jesu material comes as a welcome departure from all that fearsome noise featuring as it does Justin K. Broadrick’s more ambient leanings. Don’t be fooled though, this is not an entirely new release, the Heart Ache part actually constitutes a re-release of Jesu’s first EP but stay tuned as the Dethroned material is brand new and as essential as ever.

Biff Tannen

Death
Spritual Mental Physical
Drag City

8 The unearthing of Detroit proto-punk’s Death’s admittedly totally incredible 1974 LP …For The World To See was greeted like the second coming so I guess that makes these demo recordings from the mid-70s the third coming.

Bo Ridley

Geriatric Unit
Audit Of Enemies
Boss Tuneage

8 Weighing in at 23 odd minutes Geriatric Unit’s fifth release is actually their longest. Short, sharp blasts of to the point, pissed off punk rock featuring ex-members of Heresy, Hard To Swallow and Iron Monkey. If you’ve somehow managed to sleep on their previous releases this is not a bad place to wake up and get started.

Boss Keloid

Hype Williams
Find Out What Happens When People Stop Being Polite And Start Getting Reel
De Stjil

5 I may be missing something but didn’t DJ Screw do this about two decades ago?

Robert Davis