I get being thrown off by the low audio quality, but it undeniably is part of the point here. The idea of the radio show is artists call in and you hear the performance through their phone microphone. The website for Phoning It In (inactive for 15 years at this point) says "lo-fi is the best fi." This doesn't always benefit NSB's performance, but it does add further mystery and allure. It's as if you're listening to some ancient ritual so secretive that the best ... read more

weird french woman yelling at me 🤤

Ecstatic transcendence is achieved through grotesque perversion of the highest order. Crimes so disgusting and physical that they become spiritual rituals, as the most animalistic actions become a way of communing with nature and creation. An amoral universe is truly a place of horror. When you live in a world where the gods are being raped or are raping people, what chance of justice and safety is there?

They made a huge mistake in putting what could very well be the greatest song ever written first and then following it with a bunch of songs that are merely great. Literally nothing else could follow it and even remotely compare. The first time I finished listening to this album, I immediately relistened to "Candy Says" like 8 times. In terms of emotional, spiritual, and artistic weight it easily towers over every song I've heard by The Velvet Underground, even ones I think are ... read more

Telling a French person you like Chantal Goya's early songs is humiliating because they only know her for her music for toddlers. It's like trying to say "No, no, you don't get it, Peppa Pig actually has some really good episodes early on"

Music that is at once extremely physical - seizing your entire body, eliciting an utterly primal reaction, piercing directly to your primitive nature - but also extremely spiritual - rending you from this reality, forcing you to approach the ineffable Infinite, the transcendent absolute.

I never dance while listening to music, but this music is so awe-inspiring and enrapturing that it forces my body to spasm, writhe, and contort in a way I don't understand and can't control.

It ... read more

I just finished watching Melancholia, my first Lav Diaz film, and it was terrific. Around 5 hours in, there's a startling scene of an experimental rock band doing a free improv jam for 10 minutes. I saw their name in the credits (presumably named after one of Diaz's idols, Lino Brocka), so I checked them out and I was surprised to see Lav Diaz himself as a member!

The first track is really phenomenal, like a more noise rock-orientated Natural Snow Buildings. The other two tracks are ... read more

you used to call me on the snoop phone
late night when you peanuts gang
call me on the snoop phone
late when you peanuts gang
and i know lucy's football trick
charlie brown will never kick
i know lucy's football trick
charlie brown will never kick

ever since i met the snoopy, you
got schroeder to play beethoven for you
i'm like charlie brown cause i feel left out
christmas got me down, it got me stressed out
cause ever since i met the snoopy, you
started making fun of poor ... read more

The movement of Wonderful through Surf’s Up is one of the most incredible musical creations. In these eleven minutes, Brian Wilson became our William Blake. God is love, and God's love pierces us all, which renders us to a more pure state. We praise God's love through music and through music we feel that love. The trappings of the physical world are many, but we are never so far gone from the light of the Divine. All earthly attachments are overcome by God’s love for us ... read more

In 1965, eleven men met God and were kind enough to let you participate

Obviously it can be hard to make out the lyrics, but all of a sudden at the end of Sardoniscorn I made out "kill yourself.” Without thinking I let out a sad "Aww” and then felt so stupid about it lmao

I feel like this album lobotomized me

Effortlessly floats between frenetic, crazy passages to peaceful, tender passages. There’s such an aching presence in “Lonely Woman,” which, while on the surface is fairly conventional, definitely features some avant-garde idiosyncrasies (microtonal inflections, light squealing, slight “incoordination,” etc.) that only add to that emotional quality; yearning to the point you can’t play straight.

Some may quickly notice the lack of piano, but the album works ... read more

Is it possible to even imagine a greater work of art?

While not my absolute favorite album by The Residents, Not Available is probably their most accomplished and impactful. You have all the absurdist, metrical lyrics and silly voices, but also some incredibly developed compositions, with the motif first heard at 0:10 serving as the Idée fixe for most of the work. The first movement is honestly one of the best things they've done, constantly evolving and developing with the central motif going through all sorts of permutations.

One ... read more

The heights of what EDM and techno has to offer

Communist, pro-Palestinian avant-prog from Italy with strong influences from avant-garde jazz and middle eastern music. If hearing that doesn't make you want to instantly listen to this album, there's something seriously wrong with you!

On multiple occasions I have gotten the opening track stuck in my head and have had to stop myself from singing "Santa dog's a Jesus fetus" to myself in public

As much as I love the Residents, I haven't listened to much at all of their post-80's stuff, so I'm probably missing some important context of their development but this is just very bland and interesting, producing no reaction of any kind in me.

While I'm not a fan of the cover, it's not at all surprising that the Residents would want to experiment with AI cover art given how they are constantly trying out new tech. And it's not like they're some company ... read more

People are too harsh on this. It's no masterpiece, but it's entertaining and, in a way, charming, and even somewhat cute. Obviously at this point in time Steve Albini would have recoiled at the idea of his music being called "cute," but there's something a bit endearing about this 19 year old saying things he think will totally shock people in his incredibly teenage-sounding voice. That's not to say I see the edginess as an utter failure or anything, it's just ... read more