High Wolf Ascension (2010, Not Not Fun)
RIYL = Stag Hare, Niagara Falls, Mountains
That old Indian drum. The dangling dream catcher. The hollow breeze drifting. It’s not an unfamiliar song at this point in the game. The fact that it can be revitalized is something of a miracle though. I mean how many blazed-to-high-heaven hippy jamdrones does one need in their personal collection? It’s a bit played I think. Still, High Wolf, being that almighty champion of the form, their silken musk pulsing, have conjured a Lamanite dreamspace of resonance and distinction. Things float dusty through to “Diego,” where the soil-gravity-lift is scissored through with electronics, beams of green and blue projected into the thick air. This is when I think to myself: yes, yes, I can handle another album extracted from the blood of this land, from its original inhabitants and their horse’s skulls. As the album progresses, the level of play is consistently elevated. In five pieces High Wolf manages the straight-forward mission statement embedded in his album title and proves himself complicit with the objects of ascension. I feel like, in listening to the album, my body is weighted down into a cross-legged slump beneath a headdress of a thousand feathers crushing me into a higher plane.
High Wolf Incapulco
(2009, Winged Sun)
RIYL = Stag Hare, El Guincho, Ducktails
The looped, flowing tribalism continues to trudge forth from the High Wolf camp like a beckoning call, entrancing young villagers into the woods. And so it goes on Incapulco, the latest CD-R offering from the increasingly productive sound manipulators/collagists. I think High Wolf, along with other bands like Caboladies and Emeralds, have really kick started a little lo-fi texture-drone flood that has, for the most part (especially when considering the bands previously named), been very highly enjoyable. And so, Incapulco is recognizably High Wolf in both aesthetic and quality, but for those who like to limit themselves to one album when dealing with prolofic bands like this, I would say that this release is the most consistent and complete for the band, and therefore the most important. Grab it while you can, these guys’ (assuming they’re guys) releases seem to slip away quickly.
Some albums build their world slowly. Clenched Fist, a CD-R release from the band Niao is just that kind of record. In fact, it takes a good third to half the record before things really get mobilized. However, I don’t want to imply that the journey to that mobilization and subsequent release isn’t a necessary part of Clenched Fist’s success. The album works as a complete document and could operate pretty aptly without any track breaks at all. Clenched Fist is an animal that must be consumed as a whole. And don’t take that ‘animal’ part lightly - despite its continuous vocal presence, the non-verbal, vowel heavy coos are those of a majestic, primal and pre-human beastliness. I could go as far as to say ‘tribal’, but I think that only gets you halfway there. The backbone to Niao’s success on this record falls squarely upon the ‘tribally’ sounding, yet free-jazzish experimenting percussion. There is no great description for it (at least in my vocabulary), but those drums are the great mobilizer. Patience is a requirement on this album, but the rewards justify a willing ear. All together it is an interesting, weird little album that definitely has me excited about the prospect of more Niao goodness in the future.
Talibam! Boogie in the Breeze Blocks (2009, ESP-Disk)
RIYL = MoHa!, Snacks, Zs
There are probably two likely places where you will find Talibam!’s latest album categorized in your local record shop (if it is there at all). The first is under the Experimental Free Jazz Bombardment section (oh, if only this section existed!) and the second is under Comedy. That being said, Boogie in the Breeze Blocks is doubly ridiculous. As always, Kevin Shea and Matthew Mottel’s aural blitz is just mind altering. Spanning multiple genres and creating a few new ones along the way, the Brooklyn duo’s frantic, morphing, turn-on-a-dime aesthetic is invigorating and wonderfully awe inspiring in the most bizarre way. Shea’s drumming is as wildly octopus-like and smartly inventive as ever while Mottel’s pretty-much-everything-else accompaniment is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I shouldn’t say that Mottel has done everything else though, because the album has a hefty amount of contributors, but this hasn’t altered anything about the band that we’ve already come to know and love. So, along with the obvious instrumental ridiculousness is the consistently cheeky samples and lyrics. Yep. I don’t really know what to say about it because normally I only consume such heavy amounts of corn when eating food from the super market (admittedly unfunny, but possibly just as funny as some of the stuff on this album), but somehow Talibam! makes it all fit. Boogie in the Breeze Blocks is just more glorious goodness from the doubly fantastic duo.
High Wolf High Wolf (2009, Winged Sun Records) RIYL = Caboladies, Stag Hare, Predator Vision
In the wake of two super-limited, super-terrific, already sold out tapes, High Wolf has released this self titled CDr which should hopefully stick around long enough for people who are reading this to snatch one before they too vanish into oblivion. Unfortunately, this seems to be the current trend in underground experimental noise and drone. Start a delicious new group and proceed to release awesome slabs of sound in the most limited quantities possible. I don’t get it. I don’t care if I have one copy of something that was limited to 100. I just want to hear the music. Why not make more copies? They’ll sell, right? I mean, take this most recent Caboladies LP: AtomicWeekender is the band's first release on wax and for some reason Digitalis sees fit to only produce 100 of them!? It’s baffling. Doesn’t it cost more per record when you produce smaller runs? Surely there is at least 3 or 400 more people who would have easily snatched those things up (me included). The same thing goes for the ridiculously expensive Animal Crack Box set from Animal Collective. Of course you’re going to start a feeding frenzy when you only press a 1000 copies of a new 3LP for a band who had just released the album of 2009 (For the record, Merriweather Post Pavillion, while amazing, is no longer my favourite of the year. Still good though.). Anyway, I’ll try to subdue my rant. You can just download the ripped copies online anyway, right? And if I’m going to be forced to steal a copy instead of pay for them because some hip, limited run release sold out, then I’m also not going to feel bad about it. What does any of this have to do with High Wolf’s selft titled CDr? Nothing really. You can still order this thing. Six full, lush tracks of bubbly, tropical and tribal drones that alternate between meandering meditations and percussive propulsions. These guys really are worthy of the amount of hype that is beginning to build for them. Who knows, they could turn out to be 2010’s Emeralds. So, as an apology for a review that really only used a sentence or two to describe any actual music, I suggest this: keep an eye out for future High Wolf releases, because they may not last long and considering their three for three track record so far (the Animal Totem cs is my favourite of the three), they’re not likely to disappoint. Beautiful dense drones for the drone inclined. Check it!
High Wolf
