Call me uncultured but

[vesper]

what is the New Weird America? I understand Wire tagged the phrase and I see crits dropping it every which way (it's the new "angular" didn't ya know?), but I have yet to see anything remotely close to a definition.

And what are some artists (I've heard Matt MV Valentine [maybe Gorky's Zygotic Mynci?])?

"The latest contribution to the New Weird America..."
"A fine addition to the New Weird America"

...

[tinobeat]

I haven't read the Wire article, but I imagine it refers to the sort of new psych/hippie/beard rock thing happening, involving bands such as:

No Neck Blues Band, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Six Organs Of Admittance, Matt Valentine, PG Six, Double Leopards, etc. etc.

go to http://www.eclipse-records.com. Lots of that stuff there...

[vesper]

Aw, thanks much, Tinobeat. I thought Double Leopards might be another I'd heard in reference. I'll have fun researching it.

[tinobeat]

Its a tough "scene" (if it can really be called that), because while some of it is transcendent, some of it is unbearably self-conscious in its attempts to be weird.

my assessment so far, in terms of new psych rock from the states (keep in mind I have no idea what names were dropped in the article, this is purely *my* New Weird America, some of which isn't so new):

very worth checking out(make sure you have a turntable, or are into file-sharing):
-Charalambides
-Six Organs Of Admittance
-Double Leopards
-Landing
-Matt "MV" Valentine
-P.G. Six
-Comets on Fire
-Shedding
-Son of Earth, Flesh on Bone
-Paik
-Bablicon
-Sun City Girls (the two new CDs, Wah and Flute and Mask count here, though they've been around forever. The Dreamy Draw. Torch of the Mystics, and Libyan Dream are my favorites from the back catalog, stretching back 10+ years.)

No Neck Blues Band are a waste of time, IMO.
Sunburned Hand Of The Man can be amazing (Headdress if you can find it, and their s/t "bootleg" LP) or kind of dreadful (their LP on Eclipse), proceed with caution. They were the cover boys of the Wire article, so in a sense, the epicenter of the "genre," but they're way too hit or miss to go on name-recognition alone.

sort of related: Load Records (http://www.loadrecords.com) has been on *FIRE* lately, and that's not even counting the stellar Lightning Bolt record from this year. USAISAMONSTER, Kites, the Hair Police/Viki split LP, Friends Forever, Pink & Brown (farewell LP) and Khanate.

[vesper]

Aw c'mon, you know I'm all about Load Records. I never realized they were considered -even slightly- part of the New Weird America, though. Come to think of it, I never thought about what their roster was considered...fuckin' rawk, as far as I could tell.

I have the Headdress LP, as well as Comets on Fire and Landing's Passages Through (though I'd always thought of them in the same mental breath as Yume Bitsu). I've been looking for/thought about picking up some titles from Matt Valentine, Double Leopards, Six Organs of Admittance, and Charambalides.

Thanks to yr list, though, I'll have lots to dig for.

[tinobeat]

Originally posted by vesper
Aw c'mon, you know I'm all about Load Records. I never realized they were considered -even slightly- part of the New Weird America, though. Come to think of it, I never thought about what their roster was considered...fuckin' rawk, as far as I could tell.

oh yeah, I know you know that shit... that last bit was more of a "hey, and speaking of weird music, how 'bout that Load, huh?" I don't think they're part of the New Weird whatever. But its weird and American, so that's enough for me... I don't need the Wire to tell me nothin!

I have the Headdress LP, as well as Comets on Fire and Landing's Passages Through (though I'd always thought of them in the same mental breath as Yume Bitsu). I've been looking for/thought about picking up some titles from Matt Valentine, Double Leopards, Six Organs of Admittance, and Charambalides.

Thanks to yr list, though, I'll have lots to dig for.

I'm still diggin through that shit myself.. fun stuff.

but yeah, lets talk about fuckin Load records. have you heard the Kites record?

[vesper]

Not yet, but I have a friend from Pittsburgh raving about it so much that I'm itchin' for it. I'll probably get a copy within the next few weeks (once I get back to my college town w/ a GOOD record store). Japanther is another I'm waiting for (Dump the Body In Rikki Lake = album title of the year?)

I'm, of course, in love with Lightning Bolt, and USAISAMONSTER is a blast. Killball is a monster of an album. I tried getting into Sightings, but found them almost too hard to sit through. I've only heard Absolutes and Michigan Haters, though, so maybe I need to get some more.

I was going to do a piece about the brutalizing greatness of bands like Lightning Bolt, USAISAMONSTER, Friends Forever, Parts and Labor and Hella in my year-end diddy, but chose not to. I might just make it into a completely separate article -- assuming I find the time.

I don't know much about Khanate or this Hair Police/Viki split. And talk to me about Kites some more...I'm not sure that I have a good understanding of what he's "about" (quite apart from exhaustive album titles).

[vesper]

Oh yeah, did I mention that the Load site has the best band descriptions...ever?


Khanate
Dunted and stunted intra-amplifier dirge from scary places the kids on the milk cartons disappear to for long periods of time. A new class of pharmaceuticals is necessary to understand these rumblings.
Landed
Sounds like an early '90's Amrep band as recorded by Genesis P-Orridge underwater.