The Quietus
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Oren Ambarchi has a new album on the way—Cooked—which includes contributions from frequent collaborators, such as Eiko Ishibashi, Jim O’Rourke, Berthling, Werliin, Will Guthrie and others. You can listen to an excerpt here: @orenambarchi.bsky.social buff.ly/c3hWBNn
"Pedals were fuzz, wah, phase, some delay. You can go a long way with a decent fuzz – Big Muff for me, Kimbara fuzz for Paul. Volume and repetition played its part. I guess the weed too was its own effect pedal." The Heads Interviewed - #ThePortal: Your Weekly Quietus Archive Dive buff.ly/7lT6CDV
'As a relatively new mother, Alexandra Drewchin, aka Eartheater, is realistic but determined: “I feel like a lot of moms have warned me that culture and the art world hate mothers.” Such bigotry isn’t going to scare her off however.' Pieces of Heaven: Eartheater’s Favourite Albums buff.ly/CrwlKkl
"Too much fighting on the dancefloor". In the summer of 1981 The Specials returned to the top of the charts as Ghost Town captured the air of Britain's discontent. Don’t miss our latest Extended Play feature: buff.ly/yZfso9u
'1996’s Stag remains one of the weirdest rock albums ever to appear on a major label. It was Melvins’ eighth album in total, and the final of three to be released by Atlantic Records.' Many Happy Returns to #Melvins’ Stag, which turns 30 today! buff.ly/r4vg8MQ
'No Weapon Shall Prosper has the multiple producer credits and guest features you might expect from a mixtape but, considering the number of hands that have been on it, it’s remarkable how it holds to a central vision.' RenzNiro - No Weapon Shall Prosper buff.ly/YbgsRoD
“I use a comb with a piezo embedded in it, which I play my hair with. It’s a microscopic sound—people have never really heard this personal, intimate sound and action being amplified on a grand scale.” Space Invader: An Interview with Evicshen buff.ly/ZOpVOH7
'Love Is Not Enough is a welcome return to the band’s more visceral, venomous hardcore roots, refined into a particularly potent and efficient package.' Converge - Love Is Not Enough is at No 49 in tQ's Albums Of The Year So Far Chart buff.ly/8SGbZoy
Julian Cope, David Lynch, standing stones, forest fires and the sound of nature come up as the drone metal titans discuss their love of long walks Greg Anderson & Stephen O’Malley of SunnO))) on Hiking - #ThePortal: Your Weekly Quietus Archive Dive buff.ly/M3kFp9T
'This first full-length feels like an expansion of their hazy, chamber-like palette into something more deliberately panoramic, yet resistant to easy categorisation.' Tara Clerkin Trio - Somewhere Good is at No 7 in tQ's Albums Of The Year So Far Chart buff.ly/WWlMcXm
From LA's greatest exports of regressive rock via umlaut-abusing Londoners, a smattering of strutting French crunchers and a decades-spanning Deutschpunk compilation, your buyer's guide to the best new punk music returns. Straight Hedge! Noel Gardner Reviews #Punk & HC for July buff.ly/mSGbU4e
'Getting people into this “infinitesimally narrow knife’s edge” of space involves a bandsaw blade, a whip, “a proper eight-input mixer” and a lot of smaller things like a pocket trumpet and some smaller synthesisers.' Space Invader: An Interview with Evicshen buff.ly/ZOpVOH7
'Such attention to the upper end of the frequency spectrum conjures an icy ambience. Unlike many guitar bands operating in the dronosphere, Sunn O))) are, at heart, frostbitten black metallers.' Sunn O))) - Sunn O))) is at No 17 in tQ's Albums Of The Year So Far Chart buff.ly/WWlMcXm
'Xiu Xiu expertly take tonal elements from Eraserhead and meshes them with electronic textures within the dynamic and darkly toned sonic world they’ve built over 15 studio albums' Xiu Xiu - #Eraserhead Xiu Xiu buff.ly/D5CEYUQ
'“You were here for me at this very moment, because I found you on the phone.” Those are The Greatest’s final words. You don’t have to go through this alone. Heaven is other people.' Reissue of the Week: #CatPower’s The Greatest (20th Anniversary) buff.ly/803S0yZ
'A pivotal album about acknowledging the darkness for what it is and trying to accept it on a planet where “the hive has lost its fucking mind”' #Neurosis - An Undying Love For A Burning World is at No 34 in tQ's Albums Of The Year So Far Chart @normanrecords.com buff.ly/pM9gBxT
In this week’s edition we’re highlighting some archival words about artists who are riding high in the Top 20 of our Albums of the Year So Far, including an interview with MPTL Microplastics & France’s recent trip to the USA... #ThePortal: Your Weekly Quietus Archive Dive buff.ly/qH9wREQ
'The success of ‘At The Club’, which had topped the UK reggae charts that spring, led directly to The Specials’ ringleader Jerry Dammers hiring John Collins to oversee the ‘Ghost Town’ recording sessions.' ‘Ghost Town’, ‘At The Club’ & Britain’s Summer of Discontent #LongRead buff.ly/yZfso9u
'Using recordings made during a 9-day road trip around the remote fringes of Newfoundland, the album is built around the sounds of organs in seven different churches—a complex, multi-layered affair with a strong documentary flavour' Michael Cloud Duguay - Kingdom Come, Kingdom Go buff.ly/VXifdU5
'By putting the focus on Shadow’s singles this set both re-frames and deepens the context of his oft-eulogised debut album, and makes a compelling case for reconsidering these releases anew. ' #DJShadow - The Mo' Wax Singles 1993-1997 buff.ly/P7K5zuM
'Halt weaves the various strands of JGT's work into something that feels both summative and forward-looking, even as it announces its own finality.' #Foetus - Halt is at No 26 in tQ's Albums Of The Year So Far Chart @normanrecords.com buff.ly/pM9gBxT
Last orders! Don’t miss your chance to subscribe to The Quietus for a super saving of up to 35% in our Spring Sale (which has been running so long that it’s now summer, so don’t say we didn’t give you plenty of time to jump on board). Sale ends tomorrow: buff.ly/lHciWqU
'The song lives on, thanks to Dammers’ enduring lyrics, but also Collins’ deceptively avant garde production which renders it almost definitely the greatest record to ever grace the top of the UK chart.' ‘Ghost Town’, ‘At The Club’ & Britain’s Summer of Discontent #LongRead buff.ly/yZfso9u
"On Sgt. Pepper’s they used a lot of new technology that was just coming out, even down to the mixing board— a collaboration between this one studio brand named Chandler and the label that they were at, EMI." Syd on #TheBeatles - Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band buff.ly/S6iOQdi
'Genres are neither fused into a seamless whole nor sampled directly. Instead, they are juxtaposed in a manner reminiscent of found footage or Dadaist collage.' Horse Lords - Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! is at No 22 in tQ's Albums Of The Year So Far Chart @normanrecords.com buff.ly/pM9gBxT
'‘Ghost Town’ propelled The Specials back to number 1, capturing the air of England’s discontent, thick with the fumes of molotov cocktails which hung over the nation that summer...' ‘Ghost Town’, ‘At The Club’ & Britain’s Summer of Discontent #LongRead buff.ly/yZfso9u
"We’re almost done making the new Internet album and there’s parts of it that remind me of this – the polyrhythms, the energy. With [Remain In Light] there’s things happening all over the place, and I just love it." Syd on #TalkingHeads - Remain In Light buff.ly/kqc529g
'Odd percussion timbres, cavernous atmospherics and haunting sound design flexes reign supreme. The vocal delivery is fiery, urgent, at times unhinged.' Simo Cell & Abdullah Miniawy - Dying Is The Internet is at No 8 in tQ's Albums Of The Year So Far Chart @normanrecords.com buff.ly/uaZatLA