People of the North - Deep Tissue

Jagjaguwar Records

Released: April 27th, 2010

Hypnotic + Experimental Psyche-Rock

People of the North is a side project of Kid Millions and Bobby Matador from the Brooklyn band Oneida. I have to say I've been a huge Oneida fan a long time, and I will pretty much eat up anything that they put out. Confessing this, Deep Tissue is kinda wicked.

The biggest import over from the Oneida cook book, would be People of the North's heavy use of repetition. The Oneida song that's the most like this four-song, vinyl-only album would be 2002's "Sheets of Easter" off the Each One Teach One album. The rhythmic repetition of the songs on the album are best summed up with the last song "Over Me". The song is over 14 minutes long and contains the exact same drum beat. Now I know what you're thinking "But Pete, that sounds really annoying and/or boring!" The key here is what is created is an incredible hypnotic/psychedelic musical experience.

Speaking of psychedelic! Have you looked carefully at the album cover? Christ, it's exactly how the woods have looked to me on certain substances which will remain nameless. This would be an awesome album to listen to on said substances, whilst watching Planet Earth on Blu-Ray or wandering around the woods.

RIYL: Oneida, Neu!, Silver Apples

Rating: 8.5

The Knife - Tomorrow, In a Year

Rabid Records

Released: March 1st, 2010

Electronic opera and drone.

This album is a huge let-down. After 2003's solid Deep Cuts and 2006's excellent Silent Shout the brother/sister duo release an OPERA album based on Charles Darwin? WTF? Hey all I'm all about experimentation but this album just leaves me confused and annoyed.

The first two thirds of the album are just weird opera and noise. There's not really any track that is worth two shits. The final third of the album makes up for it somewhat with some good electronic drone and the last song "The Height of Summer" actually sounds like classic The Knife. The album was a collaboration with DJs Mt Simms and Planningtorock, which could explain the weird direction with the album.

Its funny, the last four songs on this album are quite good, the first eleven are not. Those last songs total 36 minutes, making it almost an album in itself. All in all: way too long, way too much going on and way too "zany" of a concept.

RIYL: Bjork, Can, Bauhaus

Rating: 3.5

Yellow Swans - Going Places

Type Records

Released: February 2010

Experimental electronic ocean waves of noise, soundscapes and drone.

Noise albums can be a tricky genre to listen to. On one hand the soundscapes and sonic textures created by these artists can be incredibly deep and awesome. On the other hand they can be flat-out boring and/or annoying. Thank the looping-pedal-god that Yellow Swans fall into the former camp.

Going Places is a six song album running at a tidy-45 minutes. Which, for a lot of noise and drone albums, this seems like the length of punkrock record. I love a lot of experimental music but one of my biggest complaints is that typically the songs are waaaaaaaaaaay to long. So you get four songs stretching out over 70 minutes causing the album to drag in places.

Yellow Swans managed to create a moderately decent paced album here. There is only one song over 10 minutes long and four of them hover around 5 1/2 mins. So just as you begin to truly bask in the glow of sound textures, you are gracefully released from the enveloping noise and are lead to the next song.

The highlight tracks for the album are "Limited Space" which is where the analogy of electronic waves mentioned above really hits home. Swell after swell of lo-fi distortion envelops you. Each a bit bigger than the last. An undercurrent of haunting keyboards are carried along with the waves and some indescribable type of electronic noise creates rhythm and pace to the song. "New Life" is also a highlight that is an amazing noise/drone song and the swell and ascention at the end is the absolute crescendo of the album.

Overall this album is truly great and will most likely be on my as well as other year-end lists. The album swells, crashes, bubbles, and breaks very much like the unforgiving sea. (Sorry for the cheesy metaphor but its so true!)

RIYL: Wolf Eyes, Sonic Youth's noisier moments, Swans (the non-yellow, Michael Gira-fronted one from 20 years ago)

Rating: 9.0