Time does fly when you shouldn't be busy at all, doesn't it? I'll try to upload this blog more often in the future. In the meantime, please gasp at the beauty and merriment that was PAINTBOX from Japan. Seriously, nothing should work in this particular assemblage of different music styles and yet, they make it their own. I've been on a PAINTBOX binge recently and I wish someone'd reissue those records in Europe as the Prank re-releases are already quite expensive these days. If anyone hears me in this bottomless void?

Another soundtrack that is begging for a re-release! Not my description but I feel like quoting this anonymous entry in full as it is pretty spot on:
"Here's a striking weird yet incredibly amazing work defying categorisation with psychedelic demented electro breaks / FX studio layered spooky effects / slightly funky moves / bizarre cosmic sounds / deep hypnotic creepy beats / weird analogue electronics / abstract piano, strings, organ & flute passages and quirky sinister motifs by the Italian mastermind of electronics Gianluigi Pezzera, the producer behind the "Frrrrrigidaire" Italian prog Lp. A miraculous and balanced mixing creating eerie organ soundscapes backed by spooky choral voices on ALLUCISERGICO, freaky and dark electronics synths on AGORAPHOBIA, mellow moog passages on BAILAMME, the hallucinated abstract martial beats of METAMARCIA, the gentle cosmic moves of FANTACOPULA, the FX'd echoed percussive and delirious LA GRANDE BOCCA. This electronic madness was the soundtrack for the first (and I'd say bizarre as well) movie by Antonio D'Agostino called "La cerimonia dei sensi", which had "Out off" as working title, starring the famous Italian hermaphrodite Eva Robin's, basically a story (or a story dreamed in a coma) of a prophet who comes back to the world in order to live Christ's life again facing all the differences occurred on the political and social Italian scene (!!) during the bloody dramatic 70s."

I feel so ashamed for not posting here more often that here are a few random good things I've stumbled upon recently, which ought to be of interest to some of you.

Hailing from Cleveland, Fashion Pimps And The Glamazons must have the coolest name around. They play some kind of atonal synth driven 'angular punk' kind of a cross between The Screamers and Servotron. As someone commented, this band definitely has the early 2000s thing down par.

Speaking of the 2000s, I came quite late on the Horse The Band-wagon, quite unexpectedly at Ierperfest (2015?) on the last leg of their neverending tours. They were all drunk and had someone dressed as an 80s tennis instructor playing triangle on stage. 'Nintendo-core' is the musical genre that they were coined with but I think it does not do justice to their songs which are quite good and diverse, albeit sometimes too drenched in irony for me. I thought this band was dead and, lo and behold, here's a new EP that popped up out of nowhere and which does not even appear on their official bandcamp.

My old friend Malek quoted this as Album of the year, so it probably is, right? Haven't had time to fully listen to it yet but their brand of hi-octane street punk is something I always enjoy, when done right.

Some ex-Funerot members playing traditional metal? Sign me up immediately! Love this.

These cats were cool before but this new song off of their upcoming II: The True Sequel album is beyond dope. Best rap instumental I've heard in a looooong time! Make sure you head over to their bandcamp and buy all their stuff. Pure gold.
https://pen-pals.bandcamp.com/

I have absolutely nothing to say about current world affairs except this : this is the dopest music video I've watched all year.

March is already rolling on and the endless loop in which our collective sorry asses are stuck irrevocably gains hold. Will we ever get out of this mess? Only time will tell. And time, needless to say, feels quite frozen right now. This comeback song by GENGHIS TRON is a perfect soundtrack for today's sun-daze.
I'll confess to not knowing much about this band beforehand, as they got their fame when I was pretty much out of everything. So I'm new to this and I love what they're doing. Lots of things going on in this song and yet I feel like I'm floating in a stasis whenever I listen to it (which is a lot). A throwback to 2002-era QOTSA maybe, with some LOOP (the band) thrown in, hints of '95 VOIVOD possibly, and the most effective drumming I've heard in a long time... Lovely.

If the chaos and confusion that was 2020 were to be summed up in ONE video, this would be it.
I was lucky to catch this guy a few years ago doing a performance inside a geodesic dome (he was opening for Manuel Göttsching!) and he's been getting better and better since! Haunted music for troubled times.

DJ Dom-e has released another killer mix of Japanese breaks all from records available for sale through his online Nezumi Record shop!
In his own words: "This is a 100% Japanese Funk, Soul, Jazz and R&B mix from vinyl recordings. This 1h15mn mix also features anime and film soundtracks, traditional music with a funk-edge, sampling material and late 60's Japanese pop. Hope you enjoy it! All records are (or were) available for sale at https://nezumirecords.com/ Happy New Year 2021!"

In honour of my now deceased favourite rapper of the 00s, here's a rather fitting mashup of DOOM songs (the UK crust band) with mad lyricist MF Doom, made in 2017 by Old City. I'm still very sad to learn about Doom's passing. He was/is one of the most influential beatmakers and rhymers in recent memory... Let's hope Madlib makes it safe to the 22nd century, geniuses are so few and far between in the SoundCloud-rap age.