No Eyed Bird

This is a self-titled limited split 7” (33rpm) EP limited to 500 copies featuring Yellow Swans and The Goslings out on Not Not Fun Records as part of the bi-monthly Bored Fortress 7” series. The Yellow Swans untitled track is like a police chase on acid. You can sort of hear the sirens coming after you, but you can’t get all the sticky honey out of your ears. The guitars are freaky and cool and the scraping, static textures fit well with the vinyl. This side of the record ends without warning. So that was your warning. The Goslings track ‘Saw-Horse’ features demented, echoing, female vocals and a simple electronic drum beat in the background with haunting keyboard bass tones as well as slow hitting cymbals. It’s a much slower yet complex track with tempo changes, almost unexpected on a Yellow Swans release. You can buy the record here from The Goslings website.

This album is a German import re-release (Brain Records) of Epitaph’s first self-titled album from 1971 on Polydor, containing 5 bonus tracks from their first singe, their 1973 single and 2 early demos. The liner notes (in German and English) are informative and give a solid background as to why this Prog. heavy kraut-rock band failed. They were influenced by some of the best of the time, like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Uriah Heep. The band had a British singer and lots of potential, but everything went bad for them. They tried to do a US tour, but signed with the US label Billingsgate who went bankrupt and caused the band to pack up mid-tour and go underground for a few years. Some tracks are straight up 70’s ridiculousness like the bonus track ‘Are You Ready’ featuring a barrage of wah-wah pedal. The demo ‘I’m Trying’ has a cool raw guitar sound and also some shitty live drumming however made up for with nice guitar solos. Both ‘Little Maggie’ and ‘Moving to the Country’ have country rock sounds, and ‘Visions’ is their softer Pink Floyd ethereal track. ‘Hopelessly’ nearly kills the whole album with its dated sound, but the instrumental parts work to help save it. By far the most interesting track is the 10 minute ending track to the original album ‘Early Morning’ which is mostly Prog Rock. The album had its problems technically, but shows the potential which the band could never fully live up to. They released albums until the early 1980’s and also did a reunion show in 2000.

Third release in a series called The Social Club, and debut album for Taketo Shimada and Tres Warren (from Psychic Ills) and their group Messages. Tone generated sounds are creepy and could serve ad good background songs or ambient soundtrack pieces. It is too bad this is only a 7-inch as the tracks leave room for development. On the first track entitled ‘Destination’, sounds echo over a humming bass, leaving you standing at the end of a tunnel that leads to your nightmares. Creepy buzzing slowly rolls up your toes and down your spine. A drum signals the end and a fuzzed out guitar acts like the alarm of awakening. The B-side ‘Glades’ bobs up and down with like a merry go round descending into a pit, screwed deeper into the ground with each turn. Like an engine with an unsteady idle, the repetition feels like a broken machine working hard but not steady as it was intended. Before this broken machine should end comes a fuzzy electro beat to add enormous depth to the album as a whole. Released by The Social Registry, you can pick up a copy from them here.

-johnny darko

While it may be impossible for any Rollerball album to be better than their previous and my personal favorite “Long Walk For Ice Cream”, they still amazed me, creating a new mysterious and moody CD with solidly grooving jazzy tracks. The female fronted group from Portland Oregon opens up with the acid/free jazz movement ‘Never Happy’. After the noise track, ‘Art Dries’ and ‘Doc Nubbies’ bust open up the. The piano and sax beg to be in control throughout the album. ‘P. Mic’ features rare male vocals. Noir is the mood of ‘The Sky in L.A.” with world beats and a Euro-Italian vibe to it. This self titled album keeps the live recording sound alive. Trumpets are added in the track “CDS” to fill out the orchestral sound. The album end with the psych rock track ‘Water the Bark’ in vein of the Doors, full of drum solos, wah-wah pedaled organ and explosions of energy. The track is tight and caps a perfect end to an album that sounds more like a live show than a cd. Check out the Italian labels site Wallace Records.

-johnny darko

Out on Thurston Moore’s label Ecstatic Peace, James & The Quiet strips away the reverb goes vocal heavy. There aren’t any weak tracks on this album. “James & The Quiet” is heavily produced and a clean cut take compared to earlier albums such as “Harem of the Sundrum & The Witness Frog” (click to hear the track Sundrum Ladies). Strong nasal vocals by front man James Jackson Toth are reminiscent of a young Dylan, and beautifully supported by harmonic backings by Jessica Toth. This folk album has quickly become one of my favorite albums of 2007. Tracks back to back like ‘Delia’ and ‘We Must Also Love The Thieves” represent the core of the albums themes. We must love the whores and the thieves, and know the pirates heart. Toth says, with Lennon-esk lyrics right after the unstable “Delia” track. ‘Future Dream’ shows the new direction of Toth making so much of song out of simple music that if Cowboy Junkies played would bore you to death. The raw upfront vocals demand to be listened to and could captivate any audience. Much like the recent mainstream folk trend led by groups like Devendra Banhart, this track offers powerful lyrics behind repetitive music to keeping attention and wanting the song to never end. The title track ‘James & The Quiet’ comes after and goes back to an older feel of Wooden Wand with some tin-sounding vocal effects. The mesmerizing keyboards are quiet but work against the ascending bass to create a unsettling mood. Classic ending as all the instruments fade out to highlight the vocals once again. The final track ‘Wired to the Sky’ could be the song in the back of any TV show reflection montage. It starts off slow, but reveals a beautiful harmony and lovely sounding, soft-spoken words such as wonderful, beauty, and flowers. Sadly this may be the last Wooden Wand cd, but I look forward to more projects in this branch of James Toth’s career. Check out their myspace or buy this cd here from their label.

-johnny darko

Ritualistic devil worship music has never been more trance inducing. Recorded live New Jersey, Peeesseye (pronounced P-S-I) out of Brooklyn, NY screams through 31 minutes of demonic improve psychedelic folk. The dynamics of their album “oo-ee-oo” are so immense that no matter what notch you have the volume set to, you will be bleeding out your ears. An acoustic guitar is your guide during this quest as it bangs out the same chord throughout the song. Unpredictable until the end, “oo-ee-oo” is a guilty pleasure for anyone on the opposing side of their religion. The 31 minutes moves along much quicker when performing your own ritual to this soundtrack. So take a jar of mayonnaise and smear it on your cat while scalding off your skin in a bath and you might reach the same levels of intensity as their live performance on this CD. Oh yeah, or buy it here from Evolving Ear.

-johnny darko

You may think they’ve stumbled across Tiny Tim’s lost 4-track recordings, but really its another solo project by Washington’s Ryland Bouchard (The Robot Ate Me) highlighting quirky falsettos, a crisp clarinet and drum machine antics. Out on 5RC in 2006, “Good World” is emotionless in its delivery yet creatively full of the delightful surprises found in a magical world. Instruments come and go as all the tracks flow together. Piano, guitar and real drums drop in and out creating a complex rhythmic feel. Tracks are all short at a minute or less. Intricate album artwork illustrates many of the characters named in the track titles such as the She Owl and Djien (a man-sized spider monster). The folk album feels like a trip through an imaginary world where everything is scary but nothing is dangerous. ‘Sin Like Holy Men’ and ‘She Owl #1’ are among my favorites as they are the most playful and childlike which is the theme of the entire album. The production value of the album is excellent with layers of clarinets and harmonizing falsetto vocals. My only complaint is that the album is built like a novel, building up to its peak ¾’s way through and slowly fading out with the final 4 tracks. You can get this album directly here from their label website. Listen to the track Djien courtesy of 5RC.

-johnny darko

Hi, here we are. No Eyed Bird dot whatever. This is our first news ever. In this news I will introduce the a little about the contributors and give a list of album reviews in the pipeline. First off let me introduce myself to you all. I am Sleepi. I sleep alot. When I’m not sleeping, i listen to music. Sometimes I do this in my sleep. This page is a lot about what i think about music. I started this site because I listen to so much music, I thought I would share my thoughts. People send me lots of music they make, and usually I only think musicians want money for their art, but more and more I have come to realize that some artists would rather have a touched heart chills running down the backs of their audience as opposed to a crisp Benji Franklin. So this site is mainly for artists to gloat over how they make me feel and what I do to myself in the dark with their music turned up loud. In the future I hope others will contribute as well. If you are in a musical project, feel free to send me anything you’re working on. I will most likely review it if its a real album and not just an uber demo.

NOW - Some reviews that will be coming soon…
in no particular order:

*Cropment/Vaginal Incest - Cockclocked Humanity - 7-Inch - [Zyriaxon Rex]
*Yellow Swans/The Goslings - The Bored Fortress 7″ Club - 7-Inch [Not Not Fun]
*Korova - If There is a Future - 7-Inch [Victimized]
*Messages (destination/glades) - s/t - 7-Inch [The Social Registry]
*Hair Police - Strict - 7-Inch - [Troubleman Unlimited]
*Monkey Power Trio - House of the Mechanical Sun - 12-Inch - [Pocahontas Swamp Machine Recordings]
*So So Many White Tigers - s/t - 12-Inch - [Weird Forest]
*The Crimson Curse - Blood Thirsty Lust - 12-Inch - [Coalition]
*Wooden Wand - James & The Quiet - CD - [Ecstatic Peace]
*Comet Gain - City Fallen Leaves - CD - [Kill Rock Stars]
*The Unseen - Internal Salvation - CD - [Hellcat]
*The Robot Ate Me - Good World - CD - [5RC]
*Epitaph - s/t - CD - [Polydor]
*Kid Icarus - The Cassette Years - CD - [Summer Steps]
*Yellow Swans & The Cherry Point - CD - [Troniks]
*Old Time Relijun - Catharsis In Crisis - CD - [K]
*Wooden Wand - Harem of the Sundrum & The Witness Figg - CD - [Soft Abuse]
*Lamp - s/t - CD [In The Red]
*Battles - Mirrored - CD - [Warp]
*Tiger Army - Music from Regions Beyond - CD - [Hellcat]
*Black Keys - Rubber Factory - CD - [Fat Possum]
*Trans Am - Sex Change - CD - [Thrill Jockey]
*Minmae - Le Grand Essor de la Maison du Monstre - CD - [Greyday]
*Peeesseye - oo-ee-oo - CD [Evolving Ear]
*Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow - CD - [XL Recordings]
*Ruins - Live in Guang Zhou China - CD - [Noise Asia]
*Lily Cedar - Sleeper - CD [Extra Small]
*Rollerball - s/t - CD - [Wallace]
*Animal Collective - Feels - CD [Fat Cat]
*Moodring - Phoolan Devi - CD [Nillacat]
*Art of Flying - Attempt - CD [Nillacat]
*Tortured By Turtles - Vilnius Qui Dort [Gun Cums Gum]

WOOO that was long, yes um look forward to these and more coming soon!

1. The Naughty Villain
2. The Great Society
3. Dandy in the Underworld
Punchy, pop flute violin sax melody drives the single down the fun freeway. The sixties have nothing on this UK import dish. The B-side ain’t too bad either. Octet-ed vox, plus guitars, plus the ever so clever use of silence equals audible happiness. When I hear “The Great Society”, I feel like its Christmas, Turkey Day and summer vacation all rolled into one and I’m at home starting a family band with my 2 brothers and 3 sisters (serious Brady). The 2^nd B-Side is a cover by 70’s Glam queen Marc Bolan called “Dandy in the Underworld”. They’re able to change the doo-wop feel of the song into something closer to The Ramones with the listless vocals that melt of the tongue slow like honey. Dark green vinyl cleverly matches the jackets leaf art theme.

-johnny darko