Radiator Collective

Brain Mountain - Transmissions Get Lost

2012-01-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

In this video we have an authentic and epic performance from the one, the only, Brain Mountain. Captured by one EbenezerTheLobster from a Pelham Massachussetts Bar/Venue. The performance is capped with some spontaneous interplay with local guitarist/Dandy Zander bassist, Justin Martins, hopping on the drum set and a mysterious lead guitarist chiming in adding a nice touch to what I feel like is a fully realized songwriting arc. If you can understand a few of the lyrics, Brain mountain is speaking straight from the heart about who he is and what he struggles with and the nuances of being human, and what it means to be an artist, all culminating to a single thought or epiphany. "Because emotion and thought, are two different things. Transmissions get lost in the nerve endings." But does so in a way that does not come off as self-obsessed or manufactured to be relatable or easily accessible. In a fashion similar to John Lennon or Wayne Coyne, is that what is most compelling about his music is its honesty and courage in creating something that will reach out and touch those of us who love to think and listen to music. Brain Mountain is unguarded in the topics he explores all incredibly personal. Some people will watch this video and say "so what?" or "this sucks", which is fine. Great art usually gets a mixed response, an usually isnt appreciated correctly until the artist is gone. Just check out the look of pure joy and actualization on Brain's face, that can't be manufactured, can't be denied._Mohamed El-Darwish

Brain Mountain - Transmissions Get Lost

Thickly Painted Walls - Metal

2011-12-30T15:01:00.000-08:00

Scribbler @ GUS' on Dec. 28, 2011

2011-12-30T14:30:00.000-08:00

Scribblers first show in 2 YEARS!!! At GUS' PUB no less, their undisputed 'home' venue. Its a little different than it used to be, but the 4 piece remains mostly intact only missing original bassist Adrian Morrison, New Bassist is Amy V from the maybe/defunct? band Vulva Culture. Lots of Weathered Songs from Scribblers catalog "Ocean Floor", "Rise Above Satan" as well as much more recent songs that signal the new direction scribbler has taken with "Like Nirvana" & "Scorpio Girl". Grungy, Slime, Krauty... Krauchy.

THE RADIATOR DOCUMENTARY (2011)

2011-12-21T08:07:00.000-08:00

Le Coques Et Les Phoques - Hunt For the C@#t

2011-12-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

Le Cocque Et Les Phoques dirty, funky and downright groovy schjcuk nova scotia-scotia-meets-quebec muffled tonography is in full effect in this track off the RADIATOR VHS COMP #2. This particular track was probably recorded around 2006. I feel like when you make art it is good to let some time pass, create a little distance between you and your work, that way you can look back on it, and easily separate the tracks you truly love and enjoy, from the stuff that actually sucks and some time and perspective have made u realize this. I believe an artistic endeavor is only successful if it creates its own original aesthetics, which is essentially always. It is the emotional response to that aesthetic that is more important anyways. That is the only kind of thing that can satisfy the artist. This blog is a tribute to run on sentences. Its a posthumous look back in a very short period of time. Music tends to do that, its like time travel._Mohamed El-Darwish

Le Coques Et Les Phoques - Hunt For the C@#t

Dandy Zander - Song For The Morning After

2011-12-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

Song for the Morning After finds a character used to playing the anti-hero, anti-song, anti-anything in a more sympathetic light. Zander makes good use of a musical saw, the distortion on the vocals feels motivated and Mickey Daggers vocal harmonies add a nice touch. Im sure you're already thinking about comparing them to the rolling stones, but i would say equally the Velvet Underground.

Scribbler - Mrs. Lemonade

2011-11-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a cut from Scribbler's split release with Velvet Chrome. Its got a real coarse texture, brittle, crackily. Perhaps a nod to the band they share the tape with, Velvet Chrome who are known for their highly experimental and often texturized soundscapes. In this track "Mrs. Lemonade", Scribbler meet at the corner of goth and grunge, with solid results. This track will have uncool people running for the door. And those of us who like gritty basement goth grunge will be the ones left by tracks end.

Scribbler - Mrs. Lemonade

Ipo Moea - Species

2011-11-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

New sounds from Northampton, MA where Thomoon of Renaissance Sun's new project Ipo Moea has completed a full length album which contains not a single appearance of bass guitar. Check out track three "Species" right here on the Radiator Blog, and stay tuned for more gems from our limitless back catalog to be featured here for years to come._Mohamed El-Darwish

Radiator on CKDU

2011-11-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

It's almost a year old but its extremely informative if your new to Radiator collective.

Radiator Radio Interview April 6 2011. by theradiatorcollective

Gerald Steadman - The Ones

2011-11-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

It's been long enough. Here is a track that slipped through the cracks of an insane 2010 for Radiator. Too many great songs were recorded in that year but this track is a perfect example of what we strive for. Simple plaintive melodies, rooted in folk and recorded lo-fi, with subtle production value and strong lyrics, 'The Ones' is my vote for Gerald Steadman's best recording to date._Mohamed El-Darwish

Gerald Steadman - The Ones

Chief Thundercloud - You In Mind

2011-10-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

This is hands down one of Craig Currie's aka Chief thundercloud's most beautiful originals. Off the album Bathime Fun (2010). Download that album for free from this link courtesy of Buffalotones

Chief Thundercloud - You In Mind

Dream Friends - Aging Sportstar

2011-10-14T17:47:00.001-07:00

reposted from Weird Canada

This cut comes off the new Quaker Parents // Dream Friends split entitled Tap Turns Off // Dream Girls. Through light and gritty basement grunge, Dream Friends tell a story about a being past ones prime. "You are broken, you are dying, this is the last time, what can you do? better watch out, Aging Sportstar, went for first, came in last." This is a song in particular worth checking out for its style, and revisiting for the lyrics.

Dream Friends - Aging Sportstar

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Blonde Wig - Wigging Out

2011-10-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

When you listen to the first 30 seconds of the opening track of Blonde Wig's Wigging Out you know your in store for a good ol' fashion LO-FI album. The principal instrument being a warm tape hiss broken up with mechanical clicks and pops and deadening silence. Its nice to see Blonde Wig truly use the medium, not simply having it be Lo-Fi because its convenient to be that way, but because that is the way this album is meant to be heard. The crunch and hiss and distortion and noise stands beside the instrumentation and songwriting as of equal importance, and I always appreciate a good motivated stylistic decision. And this is Folk music. The music of the people. Not much is here in terms of fancy instrumentation or production that will blow your mind. But in "Wigging Out's" limitations one can actually find a wide range of emotion. Blonde Wig makes the most out of the setup. Parts of the album remind me of Chief Thunderclouds early work (covering you are my sunshine, using pitch bent vocals, as well as having abrupt and massive dynamic transitions. Other moments allude to a stripped down earnest style similar to Appleman & the Tapdeck. Its not an album to listen to on your ipod and "get pumped" to. This is the kind of album you would pop in the cassette player by a hammock and just relax to. Its Kind of refreshing.6.5

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

Lord Jeff - Penny Heaven

2011-09-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

Attention Hippies, the new summer jam for this fall is "Penny Heaven" by The Lord Jeff's. There really needs to be a brand of whisky named after these guys. So much here to enjoy production-wise as well as the general guitar shreddery customary to Lord Jeff's style, rooted firmly in good old honest rock n roll. Seemingly anthemic in nature, "Penny Heaven" is a good snapshot of what it sounds/feels like to live in massachussets. Also see DOM the band from Worcester for the sound of our basement parties. I think the Jeff stayed at DOM's place while they were on tour, maybe they have the same sound engineer wouldn't surprise me the way this song as well as the recent ironic hipster summer track "Spillwave" was produced seem quite similar very compressed with crisp twinkly highs.

Penny Heaven - Lord Jeff

RADIATOR FREE DOWNLOADS: Smooth Lenny - Black Cherry

2011-08-22T18:25:00.001-07:00

Download Here

its hard to pin down exactly where Smooth Lenny's sound is here. It revels in oddball folk and all this bluesy jivin' liverpool swamp guitar rock in my ears these days. But Smooth Lenny's travels with George Martin prove to be no less important as the great methods of a gentle madman are at work in this piece of Lenny's work, salvaged incredibly from the tragic fire of his Estate in London that claimed many unheard masterpieces.

Smooth Lenny - Panic, I Need To Save Her

Chief Thundercloud - Java Blend

2011-08-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

Java Blend isn't your typical noise album, skipping all that random, self-indulgent mess that bogs down most of the genre. It is music, but noisy. It begins with a medium dark Roast, relaxes and dulls and continues only to more resemble a lucid dream state. It seems to be headed back in a direction remeniscent of Chief Thunderclouds first LP Chief Thundercloud Headphones are highly recommended.

<a href="http://chiefthundercloud.bandcamp.com/album/java-blend">java blend by chief thundercloud</a>

Colossus - For President (featuring BMI P-1 Touchbot)

2011-08-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

Dark Synths provide the backdrop here to some great usage of the new BMI P1 touchbot noise machine.

Really Great Band Photos

2011-08-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Meat Curtains

Alex Currie, (Fuck Montreal, Scribbler)

Scribbler

Jenna Empey (Fuck Montreal, Meat Curtains)

Brain Mountain

Chief Thundercloud

Craig Currie, Matt Samways, Tyler Fleck

Rain/(sun)

Smeat

Matthew Duffy, (The Ether)

Jenny Gillespie (Micro Organs)

Glenn La Race Jr. (front), Thom Lopes (back)

France & The Free Mansons

Brain Mountain - Time Travellers, The Crumble

2011-07-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Time Travellers

In "Time Travellers" Brain Mountain sings "would you like to come with me to the future?". The use of backmasking here helps make this track especially trippy. look for trademark elements of Brain Mountain's recent songwriting style; short songs, spacey noises, very characteristic multi-track vocals, long dramatic fades. I Feel like Brain Mountain has a personality suited towards time travel simply because he seems to have lived in the past and the distant future at the same time, yet when i see him he is always in the present recording these brilliant tracks one by one._Mohamed El-Darwish

The Crumble

B R U J O

2011-07-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

shot by Brandon William

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Meat Curtains - Eden Disorder

2011-07-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

Eden Disorder is meant to shock, offend even sicken those who people who believe obscenity has no place in art. A Myth that has been thoroughly debunked a long time ago yet is still clung to by conservative ideology and the like. This album is trying to destroy everything that quiet townspeople, kindergarden schoolteachers and your own grandmother hold dear: normalcy, decency and pleasantry. The grand illusion of suburban normalcy is nowhere to be found on this album, instead it leaves you feeling filthy and raw. The band takes the aggression associated with male-dominated hardcore punk and convert it into a strictly sexual testament to female POWER. A Powerfully screamed reminder that you were born out your mothers vagina covered in afterbirth. The stage personas of the band, affectionately named after luncheon meats, are women who eat men for breakfast, castrate them and give them genital herpes and they are not apologizing for anything. "I Hate Rock and Roll", the album opener, is a reflexive look at the apathetic nature of power chords in rock that has affected the music in such a deep way. "I'm so bored of these three-chords, i'd rather just sit at home". While Eden Disorder is by all means and definitions an album meant to shock you it also contains a lot of poignant messages about punk rock, sex role stereotypes and even has a track defending Yoko Ono saying "she was hanging out with [John] Cage, When the Beatles were all the rage, so don't diss Yoko, Ono Oh No." A statement which I find both true and utterly fucking hilarious. The sound got an upgrade as well as it sounds like Meat Curtains moved out of the basement and into the studio for this record and someone actually engineered the tracks. MC cover Delta 5 with a noteworthy sexy funky bass line, making the final moments on the album some of the most rewarding. It is very cohesive; Meat Curtains definitely have a style, incredibly passionate vocals, slow floor tom heavy drum beats, dirty power chord inflected guitar riffs and big muff pussy bass lines. Admittedly repetitive, but the band always uses that repetition to say something, something real, and something that many people will not like to hear and for that they deserve some real respect. 9.0

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

The Renaissance - Cannibus Crank Machine

2011-07-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

The lost track from The original Renaissance LP Animus feels like the quintessential example of the band's memory process. It displays a heavy influence from ambient electro-wizards Boards of Canada filtered through the anything-goes sonic-bedroom mentality of Joan Of Arc. Listening to the Epic 80 min Animus evokes a experience that feels oddly familiar and fluid like a dream had long ago. It beckons the question: How could something so vivid be relegated to be forever buried in the sub-conscious yet so ingrained in ones being that it permeates every waking thought? Animus is the genesis of Radiator South and where it will most likely come to rest.

Scribbler @ Gus's

2011-07-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

I might venture to guess that Scribbler has played at least 100 sets at Gus's Pub even more times i bet. The Video is dark, but the sound is pretty good.

"Like Nirvana"

"A Girl Should (Arena Rock Remix)"

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Fuck Montreal/Appleman - Explore A Spooky Swamp

2011-07-04T00:21:00.001-07:00

A beautiful tiny organ begins Fuck Montreal's side of this journey into the spooky swamp, "gypsy love song" is as honest a tune as warm as the organ hum. The further down the swamp you travel the murkier the territory. "People Say I'm No Good" somehow manages to sound as crazy sadistic and batshit insane as the manson version. Fuck Montreal cover Roy Orbison with the future-cool modern dissonance and the kind of crazy handcrafted feel only a cult can deliver. Bizzare and twisted as it is, it uses its sounds in ways that always seem to be exploring something new. It a place your unfamiliar with, but you've always wanted to go to, then you go and find out it is both creepy and awesome and you return with some haunted treasure chest. Inside is Applemans side. "Colours", is pure 8-track gold. Appleman simply cannot contain himself in these recordings as he seems so happy to be singing for you. "Oh What A Beautiful Day" immediately follows with the infectious, joyous well built, well written songs Appleman seems to have no shortage of. With elements of folk guitar rock of CSNY and slight R&B vocals that are distinctly toned to the applehead mythos, its so warm and subtle. This album is delicious because it uses delicious ingredients. "Silly Dreamer" and "Whatever" are no less beautiful and both deserve being mentioned as they are fantastic as the latter evokes a sunset on a desert plain. The album comes to an epic conclusion with the two bands collaborating for the song "doppleganger". I don't know what everyone looks for in an album, everyone is different, but whatever that thing is for you, this album probably has it. Fuck Montreal's side gets deeper every listen, and the Appleman side almost surprisingly doesn't wear thin for all its sweetness and simplicity. Its one of those tapes. 9.6

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

Stop Motion Massacre - @ the Radiator Showcase Jacobs Lounge

2011-07-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

One of the livelier sets from an epic, 19 band showcase on a supermoon in Dartmouth NS, i met the members of SMM a few days before where they shared with me their recipe for delicious Cough Syrup and Alcohol based beverages.

Meat Curtains - Syphillis Is The New Clear Pepsi

2011-06-27T16:48:00.001-07:00

I think the lyrics here speak for themselves, "fluid transmission, ass-mouth, infectious lesions and vaginal gout". I think i just puked on my bratty punk shoes. It's not fucking Riot Grrl, its Rock & Roll. My vagina itches.

Chief Thundercloud - Focus On The Pain

2011-06-25T09:33:00.001-07:00

A superbly visceral and gritty cut from Chief Thundercloud's epic June Street, Each strum of the Guitar attempts to cut at your heartstrings and bring the emotional pain at the tracks core to the listener as an aesthetic in the wave itself.

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Micro Organs - And Her Ugly Aura

2011-06-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

With their first track "Gentle Little Shakes", blasting power chords along with some much needed cowbell opens the album very well and "Ne'er Do Well" has this kind of quiet slow drum beat that slowly picks up a bit, breaks down and then speeds up again that gives it this real grunge sound to it. My favorite song would have to be "Crooked Hairs", with Gillespie humming in the background reminds me of some snake charmer playing a flute, hypnotizing the chorus. "Tincture" gives this intermission like transition where the Flipper influenced feedback almost sounds like their just tuning or getting ready to get the audience pumped up and then it totally goes in another direction with "Microbes" making the singers voice clearer and then when the chorus comes in with the singer saying "you still wont admit you know what I mean", the guitar really goes distorted like Slint or the Pixies giving that system of quiet;loud;quiet. The end of "Tincture" with the singer going "nothing" made me think of what the song title actually meant. You start to hear an audience in the background almost as if it's live or almost to say their leaving the show and going back to reality. This meaning of the word tincture is actually an alcoholic extract so to say that their the leaving the party and going back to albums title or reality, makes some sense to at least this writer. Either that or her saying nothing at the end meaning this whole thing to her means nothing. Just a few perspectives you may get from listening to this album. The song "Microbes" lyrics go into great depth about how small we are on this earth. "do you remember when were microbes? floating up from a brine we rose to breathe in the air and start rooting hair", whenever I hear this lyric I think of amoebas evolving with those little hairs they have. Each song really does connect very well because after "Microbes" or as if the beginning of earth, "God's Song" comes next, a slow jam where the singer speaks to god who supposedly came as a ghost in the form of man and asked her to sing his song. The singer acts throughout this whole album as a person who should not be in these situations and doesn't know how she got here, and then what follows are very amusing lyrics "so i went down to the valley asked lucifer to heal my incantation my indignation and he said, no". When lucifer says there's only one way to go, I suppose that was referring to the creation of the album itself, but to ask lucifer to heal the spell god put on her is just ludicrous and to ask him to relieve her of this duty of singing gods song is very bold to say the least. The lyrics in this song definitely show the singer trapped between both worlds. "Grass Bed" reminds me of a My Bloody Valentine song mixed in with either a bit of whistling or a theremin (can't pinpoint which it is), definitely the perfect song to be lying in a field of grass while listening to. This song signifies death, or the end of the album, with god rejecting her and the lucifer unwilling to help her, she lies in her grass bed and sings the song god asked her to sing. Grass bed could be a reference to a grave where we all to end up when we die. So If you wanted to create a design for a generic post punk band then the micro organs certainly nailed it. Although its a bit repetitive, its something so catchy that anyone can enjoy. This album can be a bit bare boned and a little simple, but sometimes simple ideas are the ones that resonate with the most clarity. This would be called your bread and butter album, something to get the average rock and roller up out of their chair. The band name Micro Organs may be referring to the whole world as little micro organisms just bouncing around with no path or destination but on And Her Ugly Aura could it mean the own vocalist's feeling of being out of touch with these micro organisms, or does she have an ugly feeling about the whole world? 7.6

Micro Organs - Ne'er Do Well

reviewed by Michael Clark RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Fuck Montreal - Winter Mange

2011-06-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

Winter Mange is The Radiator Collective's 3rd actual vinyl issue printed by Stumparumper Records in NYC, previous 7" include Scribbler's My Old Lady and ECT split with Reclusive Mute. Winter Mange is one of those records that for some reason was named after its absolute worst track. Tracks like "Alarm Clock" and "France 1954" have a certain lo-fi edge, featuring harsh yet melodic arrangements and their aggressively buzzy brand of punk rock in which the band bring that energy to the wax, but The actual track "Winter Mange" is just total cacaphony, a country blues stomp that breaks apart as dumpy atonal guitar chords crash with Heavy Metal type growls from lead singer Jenna Empey. The track almost brings side A to a screeching halt as it just doesn't help the album flow. They could have named the record "France 1954" or "I Pour Bees on Myself" but they went with Winter Mange, it baffles me. Pluto is a bit more mystical and ominous than the razor sharp metal and punk influences in the previous tracks and signifies a shift for the album into the folky and downright pleasant tune "The Rabbits". Beachglass is another place where the record stops a bit simply because of the shift in tone from creepy and ominous, dark and violent, to somewhat cheesy and nostalgic pop music. Not to mention the shift in vocals which sound like a cross between Fozzie bear and Kermit the frog. But It's this very strange approach to the vocals that give Fuck Montreal a more memorable personality than most other bands. "I Pour Bees On Myself" is an eastern European sounding nightmare, completely bizarre and eclectic with guitars getting switched out in favor of organs and ending side B in face-savingly strong fashion. So what we have here is a handful of very good songs with 2 really big misses, one per side. But when your putting out a 7" you cant allow there to be a track on each side that take the listener out of that albums experience and decreases the record's playability. Because of those 2 tracks (and lesser extent "Alarm Clock") Winter Mange could be accurately described as "annoying", but if you switch out the title track and "Beachglass" with just about any other FM tracks this would be a whoppingly strong album as tracks like "France 1954" as well as "I Pour Bees on Myself" and "Pluto" are among some of Fuck Montreal's best work. 5.6

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

Grlledcheezed

2011-06-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

Check out this cool youtube channel full of great live performances from many of the artists featured on this blog. Below are an ambient noise set from Chief Thundercloud featuring Micheal Patterson of Shinobi on bass, Gigas receiving much adoration after a set in what I presume is a Halifax dance club. And Transfixed performing their new single "Physical Demands" at the Lost And Found Record/used clothing Store.

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Micro Organs - And Her Ugly Aura [Alt Review]

2011-06-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

And Her Ugly Aura is the debut EP of Halifax art-pop project Micro Organs. Fronted by former Meat Curtains lead Guitarist Jenny Gillespie, the songs evoke a sort of backyard black magic mysticism, anti-religious fervor and post-geometric symbolism. The first couple of tracks sound like they were recorded live off the floor with no overdubs, highlighting the energetic and lean in-studio performances. The guitars in these tracks are fairly constant crunchy power chords, The dynamism lies more in Matthieu Blanchard's drums, which are constantly changing and shifting yet always on point. As i said before these are lean recordings, there isn't a single bass track on this album. But in a way quite similar to The White Stripes, the lack of bass isn't really that big a deal. The tracks for the most part don't feel like they are missing the bass. The noise interlude 'Tincture' breaks up the EP at the middle. Whereas the first half has a live sound quality to it, the second half features a much more produced quality. There is some bold panning on "Microbes" and the track "Grass Bed" sounds more sculpted sonically, more full, more interesting from a production standpoint than the more straightforward recordings of "Crooked Hairs" and "Ne'er Do Well". "God's Song" got reworked into a guitar song having been originally a hauntingly satanic track with dark chanting and heavy organ drones as track off the Radiator Comp Vol. 2. The new direction helps to keep the album cohesive but it lacks same directness and personality of the original. In And Her Ugly Aura, Gillespie forgoes extra instruments and instrumentation making it lean almost to a fault as i feel it would have benefited greatly from more instruments, particularly more guitar. The songs here feel like they have a lot of room for the band to explore by layering different instruments and melodies over the frameworks of the songs. The lack of instrumentation leave some tracks feeling a bit spacious. The songs here are well written, the vocals are very interesting, the drums feel punchy despite having a softer, less compressed kick and snare in favor of prominent cymbals and the album itself is cohesive statement, intriguing in its own way leaving with it much room for the band to grow in any number of possible sonic directions. 7.6

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

Lord Jeff - Spillwave

2011-06-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Chilled out bass? auto-tuned vocals? Hippy-Drippy Nostalgia trip? Have the Lord Jeff gone mainstream? Are they indie cred? Who is the kuetest member? Is chillwave the greatest genre ever? Are you cool enough to be reading this right now? how many hits has hipster runoff gotten today?

Mess Folk - Don't Steal My Medication

2011-06-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

It sounds like the meds are safe but Mess Folk frontman Robert P. Tarrponds is warning us. Don't steal his medication, because he needs it. Universal healthcare?

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Grimes/D'eon - Darkbloom

2011-05-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

Darkbloom is a split LP between Grimes and friend of the collective D'eon, Put out by the two at the moment Labels which seems to have all the blogs right now suckling at their teats for some sweet milky content: Hippos In Tanks/Arabutus. Now Grimes has been getting a lot of buzz as a new artist for her work on 2010 LP Halfaxa and D'eon career seems to have exploded recently after releasing his Debut on Hippos Palinopsia. Both these artists share a lot in common, so it makes sense for them to collaborate. First off, they're both based in Montreal, a veritable mecca of musicians. Their voices share a breathy, ethereal and childlike quality. Both artists use their nasal tones often and unashamedly and there is a keen similarity between the way these two layer and sequence their arrangements. Listening to Darkbloom i can hear synth riffs on Grimes side that sound like they were probably composed by D'eon as well as ghosty additions on D'eon's side that scream Grimes. This album does come with a few gripes however so let me get right into them. It seems like there is a pretty clear distinction between the "hits" on this record and the rest of the tracks which boil down to filler. While tracks like "Vanessa" and "Crystal Ball" are pop music masterpieces in their own right, the intro and outro tracks to Grimes side play more like padding; cool-sounding enjoyable padding, but padding nonetheless. Then again a track like "Vanessa" deserves its own introduction, and Grimes side is particularly strong at its core. D'eon's side is where I feel most of the unrealized potential lies. The intro track to D'eon's side "Telepathy" would have been a fine intro if it hadn't been ruined by some choppy cellphone interference, which noisily clamours over the entire duration. I not exactly sure what the reason or meaning behind it was, maybe a comment on seperation created by mass media and culture, but from a sonic standpoint it adds nothing to the sound. "Thousand Mile Trench" Starts off jittery and unsure of itself. Midi clicks rapid-fire over D'eon's signature new age keyboard compositions and Gangsta rap inspired drum machines a la "To Kill a Man With A Joystick In Your Hand". "Transparency" may be the the de facto hit off D'eon's side but my personal favorite track and the one that stuck with me the most is "Tongues" where the theme from "Transparency" is first introduced. D'eon plays with variations of this theme in a way that I can only applaud. "Tongues" and "Transperency" are the only tracks on the side that play strong from beginning to end. Likewise, Darkbloom may be one of those not-so-rare records that is a victim of its own tracklist, in which the heavy hitters on this album unfortunately bring the various flaws on the other tracks to the surface. 8.2

Grimes - Vanessa

D'eon - Transparency

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Lord Jeff - The Lord Jeff

2011-05-29T18:03:00.000-07:00

I met the Lord Jeff at show in 2009 at a show at the Elevens in Northampton with Many Mansions and RAinSUn. Had a chance to get to know them a little better at their crib in Amherst where i tripped balls and watched MTV JAMS. I know some bloggers out there will say: "THE LORD JEFF ARE THE MOST CHILLWAVE BAND EVER" but im here to say in all seriousness that those guys are total indie douche bags. It's not hard to tell Lord Jeff influences include 60's and 70's Soul Music, Soulful rock bands like The Jimi Hendrix Experience & the Mothers of Invention, 13th Floor Elevators even Michael Jackson. I can see a J Mascis approach in the guitar leads which lean towards the distorted, overdriven, sloppy and expressive side of the spectrum. Sean Goggins voice reminds me a bit of George Harrison crossed with the voice of Tunde Adebimpe from TV On The Radio. I even could go as far as to compare the vocals to Alien Ant Farm. This self titled LP is the band's major debut on Thurston Moore's Record Label Ecstatic Peace. I got to say I'm really diggin' a lot of songs on here, not too many weak moments. The Drums here are recorded really well, got some nice panning on those drum fills. The Guitar work is excellent as well, some of those solos win more than Charlie Sheen. Style wise this is pretty familiar stuff, The Lord Jeff doesn't seem to reach too far out out of the blues scale on this LP aside from some jazzier moments and at the end when what sounds like an in studio drum solo fades into a live psychedelic-rock jam. I feel there could have been more instruments besides just guitars, drums, bass and vocals, even some more vocal harmonies, maybe some brass to add to the sexy funkiness. Others may disagree with me and enjoy the stripped down style in which the Lord Jeff seem to do a lot with a little. 8.7

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

Hoop Dreams - Karen

2011-05-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

Its funny how effortlessly Hoop Dreams pulls of the R&B sound like the Junior Boys on crack. The pitch corrected voices somehow make it way more awesome. Some of those harmonies seem a bit to good to be real and is he seriously rapping about Boyz II men. This band clearly has a sense of humor and damn is that enjoyable. Really well done guys.

Money Over Bitches - Oprah

2011-05-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

Yeah this made me spit out what I was drinking when i heard that line. YOU KNOW THE ONE! just listen, it is hilarious.

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Scribbler - Prussia

2011-05-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Prussia is Scribbler's first album, er... well it's the first album which contains mostly songs and not highly experimental noise music [See Scannopapia]. This album owes quite a bit to a lot of noise rock bands from the 1990's, but what makes Scribbler unique lies in the dreadful shriek of Lead Singer Craig Currie. A sound that will instantly divide listeners into love-hate sub-divisions. On Prussia, Scribbler appear to be a young band still searching for their sound, one they would soon find in their next release, the quintessential Backitus. Likewise, Currie is still finding his voice and while its obviously got the volume and a unique timbre, its also pitchy, harsh and at times quite uncomfortable. On the other hand it does convey certain emotions rather well; most often panic and nostalgia. The softer moments are what really shine on this LP ("Follicle", "Rhinestone Nipples", "Abscond North" as well as a heavenly rendition of Lord Byron's "Stanzas For Music"). Tracks like "Burn Styrofoam", "Croscarmellose" and "Dramamine" reveal that while the band are still finding their chops in some areas they are seasoned pros at creating atmospheric and ambient noise music. A few louder moments on this LP really stand out on their own as well. The noisy rocking finale of "Fountain of Youth" and "Larry" reveal the true potential behind Scribbler's scrappy debut. But the Record itself feels more like a stepping stone in the bands career than the main event. 6.0

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Scribbler - Backitus

2011-05-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

Backitus was my introduction to the band known as Scribbler, in 2008 I grabbed the album's 14 tracks off Brain Mountain's home computer and upon listening to the opening track "Aributus" i was a fan. Power grunge guitar chords give this album a real consistent and satisfying crunch. By the sound of it, Scribbler have taken the lessons of 90's independent rock to heart. Instead of focusing on any one particular aspect of the music, Scribbler put everything they had into covering all the bases here. Indeed the opening punch of Aributus reveal a full band, in full force, songwriting, instrumentation, attitude and imagery combine all at once to create a damn good opening punch and throughout Backitus the band reiterate this intesity by remaining consistent. As apposed to their earlier releases [see Scannopapia], which only has 1 full song and treads in some very difficult listening and avant-noise territory, Backitus is a true rock & roll record. Recorded in a blanket "fjort", and with just enough distortion and slop to rock out to while not overusing the lo-fi aesthetic as a stylistic wall for shitty songs to hide behind. Taken away from the songs themselves are several moments of beautifully and minimally composed rock music (Sixth Side Road, A Liar's Cadence). These interludes as recorded are warm to the ears and help to break things up a bit between the more straightforward build-and-release song structures. At 2:15 "Gravel Tastes like Rust Smells" achieves Post-Rock status without getting boring, a slight against a genre that often over-indulges itself with track-length and repetition. The title track fakes it like a song a first but quickly delves into a screaming competition between several Craig Currie's. "Prussian National Anthem" sounds like some wordless Neutral Milk Hotel Stomp, a trippy parade through moscow complete with elephants, gallantry and blind nationalism. Scribbler attempt to describe their own genre with the track "Spook House", maybe not fully achieving the sound they set out to, but laying down a solid framework nonetheless. But it's the track "Second Piss" where scribbler go for history. Epic doesn't even begin to describe the clusterfucking-synth ending of that track, and Currie's vocal delivery has matured for it as well. Drummer Franc Lopes takes the role of frontman for the punk sneering "Negative Band Fund", where he proudly proclaims the bands ethos "Back stage we're stealing your shit" and in reality they were, probably from the bands that nobody will remember and nobody cares about. Hey when your this poor and good at music simultaneously you gotta do some grimey things, probably while intoxicated. By the track "Cyan", a hilarious swing at the 12 bar blues, Currie's voice is breaking and coarse from the sheer volume of his delivery throughout the entire album. The final track "Clouds" is one last epic push over the top of into Rock Music History (it's the freaking Saxophone solo that does it). Even if no one besides myself ever acknowledges these guys, they have cemented their place in the pantheon of bands as an important if not innovative rock band. Something way too many bands frequently played on the radio have tried so hard and failed at. 2011 saw this album get the remaster treatment it so rightfully deserves (courtesy of engineer and radiate Sir Thomas Lopes). Next thing this puppy deserves is a complete vinyl reissue. You think i am exaggerating? oh you haven't heard the remastered album. 9

listen here

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

Dandy Zander - Dandyland

2011-05-21T19:44:00.001-07:00

Rock formations like jagged anti-snort crystals exploding in your nasal cavities and splattering your brains on a wall behind you to create some sort of simple yet elegant modern art; Dandyland is place that exists within lead singer Andrew Mondry's mind. If the opening line of "I dig you a lot, even more than i dig pot" isn't enough to sway you into to coming to dandyland than this track isn't for you. If you like zanders or dandies or whatever you might call this bizarre attitude that eminates from this weird person then you should see it for yourself._Mohamed El-Darwish

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Chief Thundercloud - June Street

2011-05-19T20:52:00.001-07:00

Chief Thundercloud is the 6 year and running solo project of Craig Currie. Chief has built his musical legacy on ear-blistering walls of noise, broken and out of tune guitar chords, malfunctioning equipment, prescient tape hiss and delicately fragile vocal melodies that reach beyond the highest Thom Yorke castrato falsetto. There is a inescapable "weirdo" sensibility to Currie music and that label will most likely follow him for better or worse. Especially when the track that has you tearing up from the fragile beauty of the vocals can be the same track to have you desperately reaching for the volume knob to turn it down in the matter of seconds. With June Street, Chief Thundercloud has made a concerted effort to be more listenable and accessible to those outside of the noise music spectrum. Don't get me wrong it is still noisy as hell. The heavy use of dissonance gives the album an underlying tension, which is released periodically to great effect. There is still and an epic disparity between the quiet parts of the music, which are nearly inaudible besides the tape hiss, to the unlimited walls of noise pouring like tropical showers from broken electronic circuits, but this time around, you can hear it better, Its much easier to separate the instruments and most importantly is the way this dynamic is used thoughtfully. Side A is dedicated to original songs and Side B is 30 or so minutes of covers. The original material here ranks among the best of Curries Career. Well written songs interweave and overlap with some of the more interesting soundscapes and noise experiments in Curries arsenal. "Fall Asleep Underwater" treads in freak folk territory. The Album is pretty cohesive as well. It all sounds very watery, like the recordings were done underwater or in some cases (particular on "swimming") while gargling or whilst dreaming. Its thick, muddy, loaded with wet reverb, and its definitely got viscosity. Percussive additions pop like bubbles, guitar lines drip out of strings into dirty puddles and noise textures sop like sponges in sudsy bathwater. Certain songs like "Focus on The Pain" and "Not Underwater" have such a distinctly audible texture it evokes a sort of synesthesia in my brain where i want to reach out and feel the tracks. Flanged-out guitar noise ripples and washes its way to shore where you gasp for breath from underneath a salty wave blanket with seaweed behind your ears and dirt in your skin crevices. Side B in my opinion is just cake. Sort of a bonus side to the full album contained on Side A which by itself is more expansive than any other Chief album. At 60 minutes this plays like a double LP. Its also more cohesive than any Chief album to date, more of a complete concept and more musical to top it off. Surely some people will not be able to get past the "terrible" quality and harsh, gritty lo-fi exterior that June Street seems caked in, but if you are able to you will find there is a lot there to enjoy underneath the surface. 9.2

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

TRANSFIXED

2011-05-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

Amazing video for Lost and Found by Heather Rappard w/ Passion Pit and Adam O'Rielly

Fuck Montreal To Play NXNE!!!

2011-05-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here is what NXNE has to say about this: "This fantastically named Halifax four piece make screw-you-guys art-punk clearly indebted to both early Sonic Youth’s abrasive no-wave and the more recent noise-pop of Calgary’s recently deceased Women. Their NXNE show is at El Macombo on Friday June 17th and there won’t be a xylophone, accordion or double bassist in sight. Arcade who?"

They also posted a nice pic of the band in front of the boxed meat revolution sign. I still think this post has a better pic though.

Here's a list of Bands to Check Out this Year at NXNE including Fuck Montreal and compiled by Alan Cross.

Lawn Gnomes - Clouds Are Smiling

2011-05-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

official music video by Mary-Francis White

RADIATOR VIDEOS: Dandy Zander - Born Stiff

2011-05-06T12:09:00.001-07:00

shot by Brandon William

RADIATOR VIDEOS: Renaissance Sun

2011-05-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

shot by Joe Aidonidis

RADIATOR VIDEOS: James Van Wart

2011-05-06T09:20:00.001-07:00

shot by Derek Demarco

Renaissance Sun - Illusions

2011-04-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Northampton producer Renaissance Sun digs deep in to the earth to deliver a naturalistic folk mantra drenched in reverb and delay via golden dawn/golden top. Its in the same vein of his earlier work on the Teepee Ep, But the producing is more fleshed out. The vocals are just that more enormous, everything is that much clearer and punchier. The song itself feels like it draws it's roots from a place where life exists and even thrives, while equally drawing from the vast dark void of space thematically._Mohamed El-Darwish

Renaissance Sun - Illusions

RADIATOR VIDEOS: Hoop Dreams - Alex Currie Loves The Dangerous Mind Soundtrack

2011-04-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

MC Mike D delivers a low blow dis track straight to the golden boy Alex Currie's dome. Could this be the epic rap beef of 2011?

Brain Mountain Builds Noise Machine

2011-04-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

Brain Mountain has devised this new device, he calls is the Touchbot. In this segment he demonstrates and tests its capabilities

demonstration

Brain Mountain - Mad Scientist

RADIATOR REVIEWS: GIGAS - Tied Down To The Ones You Love

2011-04-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

GIGAS The Blondes (tape version)

When i first heard GIGAS i was stoned in a car watching the Canadian landscape pass by in Nova Scotia. What came through the car speakers was bass driven hypnotic tones and colors [The Blondes]. The tones and colors took me somewhere else, with little to no treble at all it sounded like how the yellow submarine movie looked. Someone referenced me to Weird Canada's review of the album, and i was shocked. The songs they have there are flat out annoying. It turns out the tape we got was poorly dubbed. When i was able to hear the vocals, what i heard was trying too hard to be some cheesy p4k pop. Instead of adding to the beautiful low drones, now were just like any other animal collective rip-off. Another addition of the treble was endless and headache inducing synthesizer riffs. The poor dub hides these imperfections well and the result is some fantastic music. If you weren't fortunate enough to get a poorly dubbed tape, check out the soundcloud examples above and below_Brandon William

GIGAS - Heat Wave

Above is an example of what GIGAS track actually sounds like, Though I'm not really feeling the mids and highs, they kinda ruin it for me. It may be muddier, but the Poor Dub is especially good to the vocals, which are not impressive but at least feel like they add more than they detract from the songs. Vocals certainly aren't the the band's strongest feature, Not to mention the bands over use of speeding up and slowing down their sequences. What Gigas is good at on the other hand is creating downtempto hooks, keeping the basslines interesting, droning, and this album does make a nice listen cruising stoned down Peggy's Cove. Though it left an impression on me for it's dump-wave via new wave aesthetic, this very chilly album, at times quite relaxing with its really bassy groves, wallows in a veritable grey area. Whereas Dump-wave outfit's like Milksnake whose individual sounds each add a splash of color and combine to a sort of rainbow-based sound collage, Gigas take dump-wave to a place that feels a bit more depressed and well dumpy. Not a completely bad place to be but i feel like it would have benefit from a little more black a white. Just something to contrast with the sludge._Mohamed El-Darwish

GIGAS - All Of My Friends

“The Blondes” is my first impression on the GIGAS, and just like the track I don’t have much to say, it wasn’t awe-inspiring, and reminds me of just another muddily recorded post psychedelic rock song. The bass is popping and the synth work is alright. The second track “Weird Phase” just sounds like muffled Pink Floyd vocs over the track “The Blondes”. I’m into “minimalist” not repetitiveness. These two tracks are not aesthetically pleasing, however, I’m still going to leave my ears open to other tracks by GIGAS, and not judge them solely on these two awful tracks._ Glenn La Race Jr.

GIGAS Weird Phase (tape version)

unfortunately, I've listened to the whole album and its more of the same. The appeal of a record like Tied Down To The Ones You Love is purely stylistic, but its not enough to make up weak content and bad vocals. 4.8

reviewed by Brandon William, Mohamed El-Darwish & Glenn La Race Jr. RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

Stop Motion Massacre - Downtown's Dead

2011-04-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, i almost forgot how much i enjoy punk, but Stop Motion Massacre just reminded me that i do. With a sound that sounds lifted from the days when punk was full of life. It makes me wanna start a riot and throw a fucking rock through the nearest window. YEAH!!_Mohamed El-Darwish

Stop Motion Massacre - Downtown's Dead

Rain/(Sun) - Let The Bugs In

2011-04-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

Let The Bugs In, the first song from an impromptu songwriting and recording session, floats on a dissapating cloud of double delayed lead guitar. The raw dry acoustic guitar and soft breathy vocals keep the song at the level of a daydream. The lyrics deal with relatable concepts like irrational fears, the desire to live a more hollistic life and the natural world's wholeness compared to the sterelized emptyness of the indoors. The song could without a doubt be mixed better if it weren't recorded mostly in one take. The vocals are dreamy and slow paced, part out of breath and part fully-lunged. The drums are simple and straightforward, like the minimalist 2 chords used throughout. The entire song feels light and airy like it could float away at any moment leaving with it a trail of yet-unexplored musical concepts_Mohamed El-Darwish

Radiator Reviews: James Van Wart - Embryonic Journey [Alternate Review]

2011-04-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Embryonic Stage.

I have to tell you the truth, it was so hard to write this review, and not just sit down and listen to the flowing grooves of Embryonic Stage by James Van Wart,. Such a good album for a rainy day and enjoying the soulful sounds cloud your eardrums, in a sedative way. It was very hard to just write about it. So here you go:

Muy Bueno Introduct-o suy gato de bien, !fiesta!. “I don’t want to go to school” begins an ecstatic, cool, and brilliant journey into a chic groove on a MSPAINT art covered album, Embryonic Stage, By James Van Wart III. A hilarious and honest approach or pathway into the great detail composed in the album’s entirety relaying society and your individual dreams.
Western ‘Espaniolish guitar and chilling symbols splashing off scorning dialogue in the distance “lets go, your going to be late’’, transiting into the track “Trainstop”, soo0oo smooth, melodious, YouTube birds tweeting on the branches and street signs as you bounce and stroll along with James’, and restrain yourself from turning back. Waiting at the stop you can’t help but wish you were home making the music on this album. The track ends, fades into the train arriving to a halt.
While sitting on the train, “no Print!”, must be the instrumental psychedelic kraut jam responsible for forgetting his homework, too laid back to let anything in the world bother you, as you just wonder off into to a dream along the strings plucking off into a cadence uncoiling into a spiraling staircase up to the clouds. Not much more to say about the 4th tracks surf-y staccato chugging, soulfully performed organ circulating and tossing your viscera into mumbo jumbo, “Going downtown to spend all my money” puzzles you back up, then like a hurricane storms you with more kraut staccato tossing your stomach upside down and inside out.
Del Raton, YOU HAVE TO JUST LISTEN TO IT.

Rhythmic build up with toms and snare rolls, ”Late” navigates you on the trail to a sloppy scattered guitar solo coated in gold and silver. Lucrative you, gathers and shoves up all the epinephrine being released by the adrenal gland to the drumming into any pore, crevice, wound, and pocket, and X marks the spot! You get “Hit by a train”! Hopping melody and rhythm, pop-like vocals about watching someone so young they use to be alive, but the train took him for a ride out with mouth-trumpets, la-da-dawes, and slurring yawns.
Animal appearance howled by Gato the dog, James’ trusty sidekick. Then into the real song about not taking care of money, sardonically speaking about himself, then about the U.S.’s economy, we all can share some kind of … brokenness… so just take time to listen to the music.
Like the end of the album 11 and 11b I just don’t have motivation to sum this album up as a whole, so Monkey see, Monkey do, I hand summing up the album to you. 8.1

Download this album and have a listen:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KWED3DZR

reviewed by Glenn La Race Jr RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

Fuck Montreal - The Grim Sleeper

2011-04-19T16:48:00.000-07:00

The grim sleeper immediately brings a very aggressive brand of noise. Bit of a warning, this track is Fucking LOUD, both in volume and intended effect, and it doesn't build up or or fade in it just dives right into the thrashy electronic beat blasting from blown out speakers and sped up. Couple that with shrill screams and over-the-top horror-movie lyrics like "you are going to die", it creates a somewhat headache inducing, un-enjoyable listening experience. Its very dark, and the lack of any kind of string or synthesizer melody leaves an empty space in the center of this track which is, towards the end, filled in by white noise. The Grim Sleeper may or may not be meant to give you nightmares, the over-the-top nature of it all seems to suggest that the band is just going all-out-experimental. Although it sounds like it was fun to produce it doesn't really feel seem to fit into Fuck Montreal's discography as much as it would in say that of Compostainer. If you appreciate noise and/or thrash metal this track is pretty interesting which Though given the right context i can still see this track being pretty hilarious and in other contexts listenable._Mohamed El-Darwish

Mercyn Beher - I Am (The Snake That Giveth)

2011-04-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

The Intro drag-eths for way to long-eth on a flat beat-eth, then the flat disintegrates, with monotone spoken words from a rebel stuck in the Christian closet, a modern day Jesus morphing into Jim Morrison speaking passages from the Bible. The reference to the snake, which I can’t help correlate to the New Testament's Genesis Adam and Eve’s test of will, is better left to the subliminal messages on Television, the pseudo-Shakespearian “eths”, generic adjectives like the line “venomous snake”, with spooky re-run synthesizers makes it run well with no-more-fi._Glenn La Race Jr

Noisography Show Review: Scribbler

2011-04-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

Sweet Noisography Review

After the slow build of Cactus Flower, the crowd prepared themselves with nervous energy for a (long over due?) Scribbler set/reunion. With the core 4 piece membership, though sadly lacking Nathan Pilon's rampaging synthesizer, the band threw down a set of new and classic Scribbler songs. The band sounded as chaotic as in their hayday, but the guitars and vocals were tighter and more polished, though they still gave off the desperate sense of dread Craig Currie is known for. Scribbler have long been a Halifax staple, with their creepy, schizophrenic, noise inspired rock. We all hope they stick around and play a few more sets, because these guys should be a famous band - if Neutral Milk Hotel and Half Japanese can make it - so should Scribbler._Dan Nightengale (Noisography)

Appleman - The Truth

2011-04-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

This track is more electronic based than Appleman's usual raw tape-recorded style, but just as beautiful. This song utilizes a great contrast of an upbeat sounding chord progression and beat against dejected lyrics. Contrasted to the lyrics of lost love, the seemingly happy and upbeat keyboard starts to sound very sad and wobbles to a sort of pitch bubbling effect. This is a perfect example of a lo-fi track that indulges in easy listening electro-pop but still feels authentic, you'll be hitting play again as soon as it's over._Brandon William

No Fi/Noise Mix

2011-04-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

No-Fi Noise Mix by Radiator Collective

1. Mercyn Beher - I am (the snake that giveth)
2. Chief Thundercloud - I'm in bed with where i went
3. Renaissance Sun - Lapse Life
4. Cracker Paps - 50's Greaser prom party
5. Cracker Paps - Airplaine Glue
6. Or ang eca tbl u eban d an na - I miss That Cat
7. Chief Thundercloud - You In Mind
8. Compostainer - live at Jacobs

France And The Free Mansons - Cult Of Two

2011-04-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

From the Great Radiator in the sky to the cosmic teepee on a full moon, The Free Mansons folk inspired psychedelia has never sounded more sun-stained (with the possible exception of the heatwave 'sunnyday'). The vocals are pleasantly chilled nature blues. Tambourine and percussive bass ride the organ trills into acid soaked guitar days. The song rides a wave of positive energy a hands the listener a simple proposition, "lets be a cult a two" and one is inclined to agree._Mohamed El-Darwish

France And The Free Mansons - Cult Of Two

Micro Organs - And Her Ugly Aura

2011-04-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

Micro Organs first official release, Her Ugly Aura is out in on Superbob Records or ask Micro Organs for a copy.

Micro Organs - Ne'er Do Well

Renaissance Sun - Cave In

2011-04-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

the mystic wave of Thomoon sculpts serene frequencies, sorrowful sounds plummeting into arbitrary waves in, out, and off your body and mind. A tide with a post-psychedelic gravitational force peeling self-tragedy off the earth, beyond the edges of the universe floating with victory into to a whole that engulfs you._Glenn La Race Jr.

MP3Stream: Renaissance Sun - Sun Child

Fuck Montreal - Cabbage

2011-04-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

Another great track on par with Anchors and Knife Fuck, Cabbage succeeds at creating Fuck Montreal's signature moody and cult-like atmosphere and using it to its full effect. Its sexual themes expressed through dark unsettling garage rock leave with it a tone of eminent danger._Mohamed El-Darwish

Fuck Montreal - Cabbage

WEIRD CANANA REVIEWS: MEAT CURTAINS : EDEN DISORDER

2011-04-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

repost from weird canada

From the teenage glue-huffing of Mark Teo:
Meat Curtains exist in a Northern Atlantic alternate dimension, one where Kathleen Hanna kicked the shit out of Courtney Love in ’95 (both in the alley and for popular music supremacy). All piss ‘n’ piss stains, the hilariously titled Eden Disorder is un-fucking-flappable. No-fi teenage glue-huffing (“Flipper Mom”) collides with carnival cacophony (“Boys Are My Flowers”), while dumpster-diving guitars skid beneath stream-of-consciousness, all-in schizo rants (“Syphilis is the New Clear Pepsi”), leaving a trail of primordial ooze in its wake. By the time singer Molly Meatloaf snarls “I’m in heat!” — part declaration, part challenge — it’s time to change your pants. Welcome to the new face of riot grross.

Meat Curtains - Flipper Mom

Meat Curtains - I Hate Rock N Roll

Brain Mountain - Something Else For Us To Work On

2011-04-02T14:10:00.001-07:00

A wave of particles dancing like smoke in the outskirts of the universe, oscillating within your mind. An echo of self denial hovering with synthesizers soaring over such a sweet beat, a guitar solo orbiting in it’s own galaxy, and spiraling surreal vocals sliding up and down mountain ranges of the brain._Glenn La Race Jr.

Brain Mountain's ideas really do seem to come from the edge of a certain frontier, call it the Mind, the Self, Space, God, what have you. The production may be seemingly over-sweetened at times, it is very "un-hip", Mountain is just being himself. If its not Cool, The pristine instrumentation and heart-hitting vocals however combine to create something deeply personal with a purity and depth as vast as space itself. Not an easy feat, but brain mountain makes it look easy._Mohamed El-Darwish

Brain Mountain - Something Else For Us To Work On

RADIATOR REVIEWS: James Van Wart - Embryonic Stage

2011-04-02T14:02:00.001-07:00

Download

James Van Wart doesn't so much play his instruments as much as speak through them. He tells this elaborate story all without saying more than two sentences in the first 7 tracks which express a desire to skip school and record music all day, which along with track names such as "Trainstop" and "Going Downtown To Spend All My Money" are enough to give significant meaning to the weaving melodies and rock interplay James Van Wart's instrumental compositions comprise of. No lyrics are necessary to convey the message of heart pounding anxiety in "Late", but Van Wart brings the best elements of classic rock to the recordings, no one is trying to show off and everything sounds really great for it. The Guitars have a really great tone, the drums sound really tight and well tuned, Great Cymbals, Great Snare. Not to mention Embryonic Stage begins with a stone cold perfect beatles impersonation of the song "Sun King". What I really find impressive though, is how James Van Wart makes the setup seem fairly new still oddly nostalgic of some faded out Grateful Dead jam. Embryonic Stage is the kinda thing that only happens when you find the middle ground between rigid pop structure and full on jam band, in this case a semi-structured and cohesive concept album about the love of recording. 8.1

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

James Van Wart - Keep On Keepin' On

RADIATOR VIDEOS: Illusion Of Time

2011-04-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

RADIATOR VIDEOS: Lawn Gnomes - You Can (Shoot Me With A Gun)

2011-04-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

Dandy Zander - Skeleton Head (Live @ The Elevens)

2011-03-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

Check out those dance moves at 1:04, priceless...

Scribbler - Product 19

2011-03-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

Lets get one thing straight, Product 19 looks just like Total. That being said this track is classically chaotic scribbler recording, Al Currie's lead guitar screeches along to Craig Currie's beautifully abrasive high pitched belt. It's got your "Daily Minimum Requirements" and not to mention a real 90's sound to it, like a bit of Neutral Milk a bit Brian Jonestown, A little Nirvana Bleach, maybe a touch of Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. Pavement(please stop me), not that the song sounds anything like those bands but the song feels very influenced by the more lo-fi leaning basement sound of the 90's. The Ding Ding Ding of the Xylophone and the Gonzo Drums played by Matt Samways and Tyler Fleck are a great addition and feel really right for the song. Add to that the broomstick brush drums of original drummer Franc Lopes and Thom Lopes behind the mixing board this session has a whole lot going for it. Scribbler always been a pretty inclusive band, the members of the band are pretty much everyone who can fit, and that dynamic has led to many spontaneous eclectic recordings like this one. As always though Craig's incredibly unique vocals are the main focus, the style and delivery is just so unlike any other vocalist i've heard. I guess i could compare them to Jeff Mangum, not necessarily in sound again but in the way it can be overwhelming and abrasive at times and a little pitchy, but they are always on point and you can tell that Craig isn't holding anything back, he's really bringing it. The Earnest and raw vocals alone makes scribbler a unique listen, the core songs and personality and artistry are all there. What Product 19 is a perfect example of is all these other facets of scribbler the drums and percussion and lead guitar and bass really bring the personality and vitality to an all time high. There is so much going on in this recording and its really amazing to think that I was actually a part of it, especially considering the morning of the day it was recorded Al Currie Thom Lopes and I had just got the idea from an old issue of national geographic, then a few hours later it was recorded. 2 years past before i got my hands on the final product (ha get it). Totally worth it, this song is serious contender for my top #1 favorite scribbler song._Mohamed El-Darwish

Scribbler - Product 19

Electric Voice

2011-03-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

Our pals over at Electric Voice just lauched their new website check it out and radiate what thou wilt... also mutual friend Weird Canada just won CBC Radio 3's 'Searchlight Best Music Website' so congrats to Aaron Levin and all his hard work. I'll be visiting Electric Voice Records in Truro this sunday as part of my documentary tour of the Maritimes so sit tight for new vids and news. rarararararar

Meat Curtains - Dead Dog

2011-03-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

so raw, so fleshy, so punk, Meat Curtains pulls apart gender stereotypes and sodomizes your earholes._Mohamed El-Darwish

Meat Curtains - Dead Dog

Meat Curtains - Pepperoni Ghost

Radiator Showcase

2011-03-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

A 17 band, 2 floor invasion of Dartmouth Down Town!
The Radiator Family, North and South, are coming together for a huge showcase.
Come to Jacobs Lounge Friday March 18th at 9:30 for an epic event.
Show up on time to catch everybody!

We will be having acts both upstairs and downstairs, huge merch table, and a raffle for an exciting Radiator prize sack!
We're building a pyramid.
$5 for 17 bands!

France and The Free Mansons
Fuck Montreal
Scribbler
The Scoop Outs
Renaissance Sun
Appleman
Micro Organs
Stop Motion Massacre
Panties
Vulva Culture
Compostainer
Dream Friends
Chief Thundercloud
Reverend Doncaster and the hipsterpunks
Oblast
F.R.A.F

RADIATOR VIDEOS: Chief Thundercloud - Tree Nine

2011-03-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

Vulva Culture - One Velvet Morning

2011-03-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

Vulva Culture sounds like super tiny lo-fi aliens made a record in the early 70's, dig the minimalism, the pull of the tape and a room sound which breathes it in.

Vulva Culture - One Velvet Morning

Fenyman's Fable - Sonoluminescent

2011-03-02T21:02:00.000-08:00

So eloquently composed you would think a symphony were performing for you through headphones in your living room, however, only one person, Kyle Barch, is spilling out this reverberating piece of art. Guided by fluent decrescendo strokes and delayed chord progressions, magnificent “synth-drops” like witnessing a star appear for the first time, imploding melody peaking with big-bang noise birthing a dimorphic universe painting mellifluous post-classical electronic gusts and drums marching you to the music of the spheres transcending conversion_Glenn La Race Jr.

Post-Rock will never die, but you will._Mohamed El-Darwish

Fenyman's Fable - Sonoluminescent

Heather Rappard - STRUCTION

2011-03-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

Textured video collage created for a found footage show at the Khyber as a part of the Docula documentary festival . February 2011.

Diamond Tree EP - In All The Worst Ways

2011-03-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

Scribbler - Pantera Hooded Sweatshirt

2011-03-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

Available at WolfShirt Records

1. Sky Eye
2. No Power
3. Baby In My Universe
4. Like Nirvana Unplugged
5. Get Yourself Together
6. Off My Roof
7. Bleeding Back

also check out this video for off my roof

Happy Hill - We Are Tubes

2011-03-01T13:46:00.001-08:00

Happy Hill - We Are Tubes

James Van Wart - Rodent

2011-02-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

one of the many styles of James Van Wart’s trickety trampin’ tricks, a kraut jam with awesome key work, jeeva jivin’ to groovy radical soulful rhythms, with a an orgasmic squealing guitar solo and a jazzy snare rollin’ along side to compliment Mr. Van Warts triumph over the Groove._Glenn La Race Jr.

Radiator Top 10

2011-02-24T16:36:00.000-08:00

1. Anchors by Fuck Montreal
The opening riff punches you in the balls and shattered cymbal crashes leave you shipwrecked in a garage or basement on a tumultuous ocean of sludge bass and a melting wall of guitar strings. Anchors displays Fuck Montreal finding sonic balance; using more of a typical song structure to fully realize their overall sound. On Anchors, Fuck Montreal sound as sharp and focused as ever hinting at great things to come._Mohamed El-Darwish

Fuck Montreal - Anchors

2. Miniluv by France & the Free Mansons
This song has it all, 1984 references, a love story, and the warmth and charm of a lo-fi folk production. The amazingly expressive dog howl brings the recording to a whole new level and is one of the best vocal performances i've heard from a dog recently._Mohamed El-Darwish

France & The Free Mansons - Miniluv

3. Sleep by Appleman & the Tapedeck
Appleman's beautifully blown out masterpiece screams "in wintertime, we are starting something." This song speaks for itself, breaking the frontier of sound and featuring an overlapping trombone and harmonica solo._Brandon William

Appleman - Sleep

4. Skeleton Head by Dandy Zander
This is a song i can imagine hearing at the bowling ally in The Big Lebowski. Zander recorded the entire track by himself, under influence of recent drug binges. This song has been rerecorded and can be found on the Dandy Zander myspace, but i personally recommend this original recording._Brandon William

Dandy Zander - Skeleton Head

5. Colours by Appleman & the Tapedeck
If one wonders what a psychedelic experience is like they may find some answers by listening to this song. It sounds happy, with lyrics you wouldn't expect, and displays a beautiful mastery of lo-fi sound. It talks about cutting your chest open, and connecting your heart tubes to your lover, "and red is the colour of blood. " Towards the end of this song an awesome, demented production-solo takes place, accompanied by a fluttering harmonica. The vocals are accented by one instance of a large harmony; attention to detail keeps the track interesting through repeated listening._Brandon William

Appleman - Colours

6. Yawn then Drill by Ot Damn!
Beautifully sad and ruff, my only complaint about this song is that it always seems to end before i'm done listening to it. On Ot Damn!'s album, Lazerands, this song offers a contrast to the rest of the very loud, very distorted fast-happy songs. It's beauty always takes me by surprise with 2 notes of bass in the entire song, it has just enough and never gets old._Brandon William

Ot Damn! - Yon Then Drill

7. Tree Nine by Chief Thundercloud
This song is a lucky cosmic happening. Chief Thundercloud sings into a tape player on a California beach about how he misses his girlfriend. This song rises above the classic cheesy love songs with such honesty, full of pure love lyrics such as, "and everything you say, shapes my whole day." I say this song is a cosmic happening because this song was recorded once onto a single track on tape, and all the levels and tones are perfect, along with the seals in the background who seemingly know when the perfect times to chime in are._Brandon William

Chief Thundercloud - Tree Nine

8. Golden Dawn - Renaissance Sun
Both inspired and disgusted by the documentary "Food Inc." Thom Lopes wrote this beautiful song, featuring a repeating-while-changing collage style of lyrics. This style is appropriate and effective considering the subject matter, for the movie makes the world seem like an endless stream of horrible things that keep repeating every day._Brandon William

Renaissance Sun - Golden Dawn

9. Tetrapods by Ot Damn!
This song seems to blast rainbows out of your speakers and be loud no matter how far you turn it down. Tired of hearing about the loudness wars from professors, Thom Lopes tried to record this as loud as possible, and succeeded. Singer Glenn La Race's lazy lyrics fall perfectly on the loud guitar, with such great lines as "tetrapods ya, i just sat down" and "i'm so high i could drink the clouds. yum."_Brandon William

Ot Damn! - Tetrapods

10. Euphoric Channels Reverse by PIG
The vocal melody of this song pulls me into my first lsd trip. Strange, not comparable to anything, and also very heavy._Brandon William

Pig - Euphoric Channels Reverse

11. Aries' Eyes - Rain/(sun)
A powerful psychedelic rock song, with booming trumpet that was recorded drunk in an empty warehouse. Every instrument in this song comes together to make one big booming sound, with Frank Lopes' distorted vocals laying over them perfectly, "Well these kids they love their guns, let's worship demons, and talk their crazy talk, and walk their crazy walk, into the sun."_Brandon William

Rain/(Sun) - Aries' Eyes

-Brandon William
-Mohamed El-Darwish

Renaissance Sun - Sun Child

2011-02-23T15:28:00.001-08:00

Appleman & the Tapedeck - Sleep

2011-02-22T21:18:00.001-08:00

Laying in the grass under a tree in the commons, watching clouds drift through the blue sky, evaporating, cycling into condensation, dropping into a dream, each thump with its own personality, characters waving with swaying blades of long grass, then bouncing off onto railroad tracks stretching into a land were you feel like you need something, when all you need is skin and bones._Glenn La Race Jr.

Appleman & the Tapedeck - Sleep

Micro Organs - Gentle Little Shakes

2011-02-22T07:19:00.000-08:00

Micro Organs featured on pilot episode a new web series The McDons House. Click here for the full video and a hilariously catchy opening theme song

Smooth Lenny Bio

2011-02-15T21:54:00.001-08:00

Smooth Lenny is a multi-instrumentalist from England.

He played the guitar, bass, drums keyboards, french horn , harmonica, Harmonia, harp, clave, marimba and anything he could get his hands on.
Lenny had at least fourty albums. sadly, nearly half of them burnt in a fire. Some were restored, which are the ones his management team is releasing now. Yes, they are taken from charred acetates.

Lenny, as George Martin described "loved all of his music, but hated whatever he was working on at the moment" . George Martin was a key component in the later Lenny albums such as "Black Cherry" which will be released February 9th. He played a major role in keeping Lenny together.

[QUOTE] from (Smooth Sailing: My time with Smooth Lenny by George Martin) Martin describes a particular situation when "Lenny burst through the door wearing a black cape that covered his entire body including half his face... He began to run around the room, yelling to himself, and dropping what seemed to be an endless amount of instruments from under his cape in different parts of the room... What I realize now is that he was trying to build the environment of the recording by determining where he would play the instruments..."

Smooth Lenny - Untitled Masterpiece #7

Hoop Dreams - Paris Hilton Sax Tape

2011-02-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Paper Beats Scissors - Rise Below Satan (Scribbler Cover)

2011-02-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

Paper Beats Scissors

Paper Beats Scissors - Rise Below Satan

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Ot Damn! - Lazerands

2011-02-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

from the opening power chord with at least 1 flat string to the lazy-mouthed beatnik poetry of "It's Snot" Lazerands is truly dusty gold blend of Punk, kraut and lazers. Not since Pavement has a band made such extensive use of the DAG chord structure. "I... have... drywall in my back pocket, carpet under my shoe, dust in my hair... it's not nice, it's snot nice" lead singer Glenn La Race drools over the microphone. "Dropping change" is a tense and fast call to anarchy, "drowning kids in gasoline" the lyrics shine with gems. "Court Order" picks the pace up with even more energy. The drums are a keystone in the sound; powerfully simple kraut beats played with poise and precision.

Ot Damn! - Klans Wharf

Exile to the Thirteenth (Klans Wharf in disguise)'s too-drunk-to-sing vocals are met with sloppy skilled overdrive guitar. Raw outtakes shine, Like hearing James Van Wart say "I fucked up on that last part" at the very end of a song, or the instrumentals which describe the dreams of La Race as he lays passed out on the floor. The tape even gives you your change with a penny taped to the bottom. While Lazerands is essentially about Boston getting mercilessly destroyed by giant cats or a dog named gato, themes of materialism, evolution, dinosaurs and fish are also apparent. La Race once told me in an interview that Ot Damn! is a really about JIM BEAM. "Tetrapods" attempts to be perhaps the loudest track EVER RECORDED!! not to mention it may the the outstanding track on the album. "We are all Tetrapods here", "I'm so high i can drink the clouds, yum".

Ot Damn! - Tetrapods

La Race yips and yelps as he staggers his way to drunken punk'n glory, while the insanely manic drum smashes are the vehicle which drive the album forward past the speed limit and weaving through traffic down the wrong lane.

Ot Damn! - Yon Then Drill/Eastern Stars

The other outstanding track on the album is the somber and atmospheric "Yon then drill/Eastern Stars" which display Ot Damn! at their most intimate and least produced. A single bass note adorns "Yon then drill" as it weeps into refrain. "Eastern Stars" is a mournful ballad, "I know where you are, I know... where did you go?" Thom Lopes sings with a teardrop in his voice, more compelling than the lyrical content is the delivery of the vocals. This album is a stylistic breakthrough as well as a document of a band swarming with more ideas than than their own good. 8.6

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

D'eon - Tear Down The Wall

2011-02-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

D'eon has had a great year, his LP Palinopsia was fantastic, and his recent video for Old English Spelling Bee generated some real controversy, not to mention he's on a really a hot label. This Video in particular stands out to me. There are some serious issues dealt with here and not without risk. The terrible history of violence in Jerusalem and the holy land stems from our inherent distrust for one another. The only way to combat war is with peace but people are ignorant. Tear down the wall...

Khyber Compilation

2011-02-08T13:54:00.000-08:00

Fuck Montreal is featured in the new Khyber Compilation alongside many great bands such as Play Guitar, Secret Colours, Duzheknew and others. only 25cents Canadian for a song, help support the Khyber. This one is free, so download it here.

Fuck Montreal - Anchors

Dandy Zander - Skeleton Head

2011-02-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

If it is possible to outdo the Rolling Stones entire discography with one song, Skeleton Head comes mighty close to doing that. With a Rollicking rhythm and drugged out lead guitar, fearless panning and low room-shaking frequencies, the song both is sincere in its tone and delivery while seemingly overtly stylized to the point of caricature. But what truly defines this recording of "Skeleton Head" is the sheer undeniable attitude that is Dandy Zander and the taste of future candies_Mohamed El-Darwish

Dandy Zander - Skeleton Head

Chief Thundercloud - Drugs In The Mail

2011-02-07T23:31:00.000-08:00

Chief Thundercloud - Drugs In The Mail

Brain Mountain - Thirteen Roses

2011-02-05T14:49:00.000-08:00

Brain Mountain - Thirteen Roses

Smooth Lenny - Smooth Sessions

2011-02-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

Smooth Lenny - Lenny's Jazz

Smooth Lenny - Drinking With Bob

Scribbler - No Power

2011-02-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

Scribbler to play first show in Dartmouth, new LP in the works

2011-02-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

repost from the coast

"Craig Currie has a pretty busy weekend coming up. The weirdo/noise musician is releasing a tape under his Chief Thundercloud moniker in a joint event with GIGAS (the psych/drone project of Nick Iwaskow) and opener Cailean Lewis this Friday at Lost and Found (6pm, free.) The tape, June Street, was produced this past summer specifically for the Scotch Tapes label and runs 60 minutes. Currie recorded a side of originals and a side of covers: “I cover some local bands (Omma Cobba, the Free Mansons) and some
classic bands (CCR, Lynyrd Skynrd, Charles Manson),” he says in an email. On Friday night, Currie’s band Scribbler will also be emerging for their first show in Dartmouth at Jacob’s Lounge, with the Whiskey Kisses, GIGAS, Basil and the Scoop Outs. He says they’re working on a “proper album,” which is music to my ears." _Alison Lang

Lucas Forbes interview

2011-01-26T05:33:00.000-08:00

The Rock Shaman plays with Renaissance Sun, Dandy Zander and has his own project in The Other. now he asks himself a few questions

1. What are we to be aware of?

Lucas:

The amazing effect our thoughts and actions have on our environments

2. What is your secret to concentration?

Lucas:

We have to accept endless distractions.

3. Have you ever encountered a depression?

Lucas:

We need to know that sadness is anger and anger is from fear.

4. What is an individual?

Lucas:

The Universe, a mirror sees nothing, it only reflects.

5. What separates people?

Lucas:

Some admire and others desire, personalities like seasons and climates.

6. What can we expect?

Lucas:

The unexpected does happen, and it happens twice.

7. Where is your favorite place to be?

Lucas:

Home can be a good state of mind.

8. What brings people together?

Lucas:

The soul must be freed, at whatever the cost.

9. What is the primary law of the individual’s universe?

Lucas:

Sow the seeds of Synchronicity with good deeds, look around for clues.

10. When is change necessary, what can we do for ourselves?

Lucas:

Let the world come to you, irritations are something we do to ourselves. Keep in mind that a bird caged too long may not go when it’s released. After all, we can only discover what is already there.

RADIATOR FREE DOWNLOADS: M.O.B - (Fresh)

2011-01-25T19:54:00.000-08:00

Download Here

this tape deserves more than just a few words, it'll get a full review in the coming weeks. basically if you love hip-hop or hate hip-hop this record has something for you. It's hilariously over the top in its execution and definitely doesn't take itself seriously. It critiques rap music and culture with pinpoint accuracy all while paying homage to its golden era. The beats are old school (fresh) and the melody dark and gritty, these guys are funny as shit and above all else they're having fun on this album. Now you can have it, and don't feel guilty about not buying it we appreciate each download

PIG - Euphoric Channels Reverse

2011-01-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

Pig - Euphoric Channels Reverse