Newspaper Page Text
EEI> threats & promises
For Starless Nights and Quiet Times
PLUS, MORE MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
By Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com
DUSK TO DIGITAL: Perhaps better known in the
brick-and-mortar club land for his work
with Jet Engine Dragons and Beast Mode,
guitarist Corey Flowers is also an accom
plished classical guitarist and composer.
Indeed, he holds both a minor in composi
tion and a doctorate in guitar performance
from the University of Georgia. His newest
solo work is titled For
Starless Nights and
Quiet Times. The five
pieces here showcase
Flowers’ talent in a taut
package which serves as
a nice insight into his
sense of structure with
regard to his other proj
ects. This isn’t in any
way an easy listening
record or a by-the-num-
bers classical guitar
record. Reflective of its
title, the pieces here
contain soothingly
calm sections accom- Corey Flowers
panied by huge swaths
of despair-ridden emptiness and coldness.
Also, this is fully electric and, as such,
reveals a musical kinship to both black
metal and experimental metal in ways that
an acoustic rendering would not. Check it
out at coreyflowers.bandcamp.com.
THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS: Longtime experi
menter Michael Pierce, who’s spent several
years now making music with Wet Garden
and as the solo act Leisure Service, has a
new project named sweetearthflying.
And what does everyone with a new proj
ect do? Make a record, that’s what. This
one is named spells to hasten the end ofu.s.
imperialism, and is—purportedly, but I’ve
no reason to believe otherwise—11 spells
dedicated to the realization of its title. I
have it on good authority that Pierce used
“a modular synthesizer called the Ciat-
Lonbarde Cocoquantus. The circuit board
of the Cocoquantus is laid out based on a
map of the Pentagon, and these musical
excursions are actual spells...[performed]
against the U.S. military industrial com
plex.” Each of the 11 tracks is improvisa-
tional, and though they were each recorded
the same day (July 4, natch!), they do seem
to arrive as movements. Spells one-four act
as an invocation of sorts, introducing the
listener to the project via aggressive and
purposefully disjointed electro bit-n-bobs.
Tracks four-seven calm down only in the
very slightest way, but, not insignificantly,
introduce the first barely-there instances of
melody and guitar. Finally, tracks eight-11
wrap it all up while bringing the tension
back up a decent amount. Further, the lis
tener gets all of this through head-splitting
monophonic delivery. The best tracks here
are the ones with room to breathe, and that
would mean Spells eight and 11. Man, I
dunno. I mean, the Yippies tried to levitate
the Pentagon back in ’67 for the purposes
of having all the illness tumble out of it,
thus bringing an end to the war in Vietnam.
Pierce’s purpose here is much broader, and
Norman Mailer is dead. So if you dig his
thing, he’s gonna need your support. Point
your magic wand toward sweet earthflying.
bandcamp.com, and get in on this.
TWIN ENGINES: There’s a new split cassette
available between Wuornos and Ihlyatt.
Although you can only preview two tracks
without laying down some bucks, each is
a representation of the artists involved.
Wuornos has “bright the hawk’s flight on
the empty sky” up for listening, and it
draws in the listener with a nicely repetitive
melody before breaking off into a modu
lating howl which then disintegrates into a
screech. Ihlyatt’s preview track, “A Quietly
Humming White Box” sounds like exactly
that; something ill-grounded that creates a
slightly irritating digital earwig. This would
be a cool jam to experience in person but
this particular track isn’t terribly compel
ling, which was surprising as Ihlyatt’s other
recent work most certainly has been. At any
rate, this is also available digitally, but the
tapes are limited to an edition of 15. Press
the play button over at pisshelltapes.band
camp.com, and see what you think.
PURE POP FOR NOW PEOPLE: I’ve written a hell
of a lot about our local noise/experimental
scene over the past few months, so here’s
something that’s decidedly... not that. Pure
pop rock band Cloudland has steadily
released singles and EPs since 2017, the
latest single being “Walking Away,” which
came out July 10. More than any other local
artist I can think of, this band is 100% of
its time. Current fans of Imagine Dragons,
Twenty One Pilots, et al will feel quite
at home with these dudes on the stereo.
Importantly, to me at least, there’s no trace
of cynicism anywhere across their multiple
tunes. No contempt for their audience, no
marked lack of hope, and also no clear aping
of anyone else, modern influences notwith
standing. Maybe it’s because of our current
inundation of bad news, bad vibes and
overall global gloom that Cloudland, who
as recently as a year ago might have seemed
painfully earnest, is today a much needed
moment of fresh air. Find these guys on
Spotify, or head to cloudlandband.com for
more information. ©
Nicholas Mallis: The Final Station (Laser Brains)
Released almost a year after being recorded,
there’s nothing stale about The Final Station,
the energized new record from Nicholas Mallis.
Running a tight 27 minutes, The Final Station
creates an immersive palette that ably explores
the tension between the heart, the mind and
the body. Mallis spends a good bit of time deal
ing with the synthetic; there’s lush synthesizer
tones, vintage drum machines and plenty of
reverb, but he’s always ready and able to drop
a killer bassline or a post punk guitar riff before things become too robotic. This
tightrope walking is echoed in many of the lyrics as well. Mallis is equally likely to
sing about alien mind control conspiracies or the existential trap of consumerism
as he is to conjure up deeply human images: playing ding-dong ditch up and down
Boulevard, avoiding your friends at the store, finding peace in familiar culture.
Mallis seals the deal throughout with his penchant for dynamics, especially on “The
Final Station” or “When Karen Comes Home,” when he slows the propulsive songs
down to increase the power of their solid hooks. With knowledge of the past and an
ear to the ground, Mallis keeps making music that will make you stop to think and
start to dance in equal measure. [Elijah Johnston]
£
OFFICE SPACE
VAILABLE AT 220
PQqqsdgcibQQ
for more information
or to set up an appointment.
WUGA 91.7 and 94.5 FM
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
LOCAL
NEWS
| n | p | r I’
WUGA IS A BROADCAST SERVICE
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA.
@WUGAFM I WUGA.ORG
voted Athens’ Favorite Pet Groomer
AKC Safety-Certified Salon
llid UOJji Sr QM.
w laps mm fcswo sixMSMDas
barkdogspa.com
Nancee Tomlinson
Attorney at Law
Experienced advocate for
individuals in criminal,
juvenile, and probate matters
Tomlinson-lawfirm.com
706-200-1777
JULY 22, 2020 | FLAGPOLE.COM H