TQ #15 & #16 & Ivan The Tolerable sampler cd & various links

The two most recent issues of TQ have been among my favorite ones; after a few issues having attained a more retrospective approach on John Peel, kraut rock and TQ's compilation, these two are back packed with interviews and reviews of new underground music that I've been psyched to discover.

#15 sets off with a review of Craig Johnson, head of Invisible City Records and guy behind Death In Scarsdale. ICR from Gateshead is one of the best drone/noise labels around, having released amazing tapes by Witchblood, Culver, Vampyres, Liminal Haze, Posset, Skull Mask, Stuart Chalmers, and many others, and Death In Scarsdale is an exciting new-ish drone project added to the hotbed of drone activities that are so eminent in Gateshead. I've just seen that Depletion has released a new tape on it and I'm listeing to it right now, and it sounds so good.

A second very enlightening interview/feature is that of Luxury Bucket label, whose owner Lewis Duffy also plays as Shit Creek. Thanks to this feature I discovered Ivonne Van Cleef, a psychedelic western/cabaret/twang/surf solo playing woman from California, who has consistently released a number of awesome tapes that need a lot of attention, plus some good stuff by Shit Creek, mainly this live recording based around violin loops that blew my mind and I had on repeat for several days straight.

There's also an interview with weirdo experimental electronic project Ivan The Tolerable, combined with a "best of" cd containing 22 songs of his. Ivan The Tolerable is a versatile music project focusing mainly on synth-based psychedelic compositions that doesn't sound too far away from mid-80s to mid-90s Coil, but doesn't shy away from featuring more rock-sounding or weirdo synth-pop tunes. I've uploaded the cd for you and you can listen to it here.



Current issue #16 came with two cds; the first is Velvet Teeth by Chlorine, which features experimental electronics ranging from hypnagogic mystery to chewed-up techno, and I recommend listening; the other is Halo Dragonfly's Ticking Clock, which features sample and dictaphone manipulations and throat splurge similar to Posset and Yol; the person/group is inclined to banging stuff like Posset does, and I think that this is a great likening for a new artist. Xqui is being interviewed, talking about his radical recording techniques (check out his recent releases Heterogeneous and Starchild), along with Liquid Library label from Bristol, which had released an exciting tape by Bristol local improvised jazz punk outfit Iceman Furniss that I really loved, plus a sleep-compelling drone epic by Zero Gravity Tea Ceremony, Vorre. But the most revealing thing in this issue was the short review of A-Sun Amissa's Ceremony In the Stillness, a band I knew nothing of which plays something like the correct rock version of Bohren & Der Club Of Gore (fuck Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble), that is massive, towering, monumental drone jazz rock, and now I need to look them up closely. Plus, there's a review of Charlie Ulyatt's forthcoming cello album, about which TQ subscribers are offered a discount. Charlie has been covered on this blog, so you know he's good.

Visit TQ's blog for more info and the necessary subscriptions.