Kaguu – Wistful

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

I remember last year, when I covered Kaguu‘s debut, I was very fond of their sweet tap-and-math rock. It’s cheerful and, simply, beautiful. Well, it’s one year later, and the band’s sophomore is here!

Wistful takes the same mentality that made Hawkridge wonderful, and expands upon it. Not only is it longer than the previous EP, it’s also better in every respect; as a ripened fruit. Playful and sweet, it’s one of the finest math rock releases of the year so far. It’s not perfect, however. I like and enjoy the humanness of the … Read more

Weekly Release Dump

by Dæv Tremblay

Saturday, 2

Spectral Wound – Infernal Decadence (black metal)

Sunday, 3

No Lower Place to Fall – Lost in Sinai (blackened post-metal)

Monday, 4

Baguette – Expensive Mouse (noise rock)

Hyper Lightning Hydra – 銀河間宇宙旅行 (Ginga-kan uchū ryokō) / Intergalactic Space Travel (progressive metal)

Sloth Racket – A Glorious Monster (experimental jazz, doom jazz)

… Read more

Advanced Mathematics 5: Introduction to Karnatic Rhythms

by Dæv Tremblay

In today’s class, we’ll move out of the world we’re used to–the Western music world, that is–and move to South India, around the region of Karnāṭaka. We’ll have to learn much of their musical vocabulary, although we’ll try to draw parallels with European classical music as much as possible, since I assume we are all more familiar with it. But, even when parallels are drawn, the two terms are never going to mean exactly the same thing, so it’s important to keep in mind the worlds that separate Western music from Karnatic music.

This video has been the instigator of … Read more

Peter Evans & Weasel Walter – Poisonous

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Poisonous indeed, the newest release from free, avant-garde jazz duo Peter Evans & Weasel Walter is a journey into the delirious mind of a poison-afflicted would-be mycologist. In forty-four minutes, the two seasoned musicians craft an album obsessed with venenous fungi that sounds as lethal as its subject. I don’t know how many layers of improvised or forethought material have been arranged to create this fever dream, but the result is a dense hallucinative soundscape as heard through thick forest haze.

Some parts are almost metal in just how harsh and intense they are–see “Sulfur Tuft”. … Read more

Délétère – De hōrae leprae

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Of leper hours–De hōrae leprae–; of Terēdinis the leper–”Terēdinis lepra”–, prophet of the Centipèdes. Dejection of society, leprous and miasmatic, offering sacrifices to Locusta; eat the rich! eat the rich! and offer sigils your rotting canvas. Forty days and countless plagued souls for thirteen Chthonians to rid the world of the light. The heir of boreworms, Terēdinis, ventures into the nine Circles to cast pestilence upon the world.

That’s the concept behind the album, in a nutshell. Délétère, from Québec, offers us the newest release in the exclusive “métal noir québécois” genre. This … Read more