Lord Bird - "2012 is Real" c61 & Myrrh - "Hymns" c32


Lighten Up Sounds is serious with a capital S when it comes to releasing damn good "difficult" music. The experimental/noise nature of the releases will not be for everyone, but if you're reading this blog I bet I'm preaching to the converted anyway when it comes to adventurous listening. The two releases I have atop my "TO LISTEN TO SOON OR ELSE!" pile are Pro thru & thru. Lord Bird and Myrrh are two very odd listening experiences. Two very DIFFERENT experiences too. Myrrh is maybe the most interesting and unique tape I've heard this year. At least the trio are TRYING to find new sounds in a world where - yeah, its pretty much been done before. Viola, drums, and lap steel!!! HELL. YEAH. The music on Hymns comes out of a doom tradition maybe...maybe not...I've never heard lap steel played like this before. It's huge and detuned and freaky as shit. Actually, fans of Earth (Sabbath psychedelia too) will LOVE this tape. The riffs and rhythms remind me of that band soooo much. I wonder if Myrrh even care about that slow, heavy sludge? Meh, the group is great in and of itself so I shouldn't worry about it. The voila playing is pizzicato mainly which moves nicely around the drums in a sort of dialog. The real highlight for me is the lap steel playing of Jason Millard. It's refreshing to hear this kind of playing on an instrument (which is still basically just a guitar) not normally associated with heavy music. There are screaming highs and droney lows. BUY this sucka!

Lord Bird's 2012 is Real is noise...NOISE. Good ol' fashioned "this is what I think of when I think of cassettes" noise. Honestly, it is better and more skillfully crafted than a lot of distorted hiss screed flying around today. The idea of "2012" doesn't endear me to this release as a concept, but at least the art/design is cool. I like the music overall, but lost my stuff over the Myrrh tape so I'm all wiped. The structure of the dense and amorphous noise allows the listener to journey along with the composer. Pretty far out.

Buy and Listen HERE.