By the mid 1980s, many of hardcore’s old guard were outgrowing their three chord attack.  A lot of bands found a new identity in the commercially viable crossover of thrash and speed metal.  Others infused the confrontational intensity of hardcore with heavy as fuck riffs that were more Tony Iommi than Tony Roberts.  Black Flag got into it with their My War album and challenged punks to grow out their hair and play slower and heavier.  A band from Orange County called Virulence were one of many who fired up the bong and answered the call.

The earliest Virulence demos are standard issue Southern California hardcore of the day — speedy, quick-fingered blasts about cops and such — but their later material was rife with meaty riffs, tempo shifts and songs that grew into dark and complex arrangements.

Virulence – “Empty Head” (live)

Virulence – “Blank Stare”

If This Isn’t a Dream…1985 – 1989 compiles everything Virulence recorded in their short lifespan — two demo tapes, a couple live tracks, and the band’s all but unavailable LP If This Isn’t a Dream. By 1990, Virulence were incorporating more that sweet, stony ’70s groove into their sound,  vocalist Ken Pucci left the band and the rest carried on as rock juggernaut Fu Manchu.

The people at Southern Lord have done a beautiful job of putting together this archival release.  This one disc holds a whole lot of music and history.  The liner notes are great with loads of cool little stories that reflect the time – skateboarding, getting high, throwing rehearsal parties when mom and dad are out, and getting your demo reviewed favorably in Maximum Rock and Roll.

Once upon a time there were hundreds of bands like Virulence — bands who recorded a couple demos on a Tascam four-track, some vinyl, maybe managed to pull off a tour before the drummer or bassist left for college or the guitarist moved away or it just stopped being fun.  The difference is Virulence were good — fucking great, even.  In the late 1980s, they could have been my favorite band.

This could have been my board, but I rode Powell Peralta back then

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My copy of Lord of the Logos arrived just after the monstrous snow storm hit. While the snow drifted six feet up my stairs, some mysterious messenger braved the winter-choked wasteland to deliver it to my doorstep.  Actually it was probably just Hugo, my FedEx guy. I hurriedly sat down in front of the crackling fire and opened the leatherette-bound book that faintly radiated an aura of menace.

Lord of the Logos: Designing the Metal Underground is a collection of the works of Christophe Szpajde. Szpajde painstakingly creates logos for extreme and underground metal bands.  The pages of this sinister tome are crammed with thousands of band logos, all of them distinctive, strangely compelling and with an astonishing level of detail.  A tangle of Fraktur characters dissolve into streaks of gory pointillism.  Gothic letters burst into spirals of thorns.  Fluid lines metamorphosing into bat wings or chains, adorned with swords, wolf heads, and lots and lots of upside-down crucifixes and pentagrams, like a hellish crossover of Stanley Mouse and Ghastly Graham Ingels.  In others, there is an art nouveau influence in the fluid curves and arcs that blossom within the work that lends a stylistic elegance to these grim illuminations.  Others show an architectural influence, with letters forming structures of symmetric patterns like some art deco pagoda in the uptown district of Mordor.

The logos I find most striking are the ones that display the most influence from the natural world — logos adorned with skeletal trees and bright full moons.  Color photographs of spooky landscapes and foggy forests are spread sporadically throughout the book, breaking up the endless harsh black and white, and offering an intriguing contrast.

The lack of any kind of accompanying text or artist annotation seems helps the book retain a mysterious and otherworldly feel.  With its strange and creepy sigils crammed into its endless pages, it reminds me of some forbidden book from Lovecraft’s Miskatonic University Library.

If you’re a metal fan with a bare coffee table or a diabolic necromancer looking to pep up the old philatory, buy Lord of the Logos now.  Its official release is next month, but you can order it now from the publisher.

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Skullflower: Strange Keys to Untune God’s Firmament (Neurot)

Strange Keys to Untune God’s Firmament is the latest offering from cult noise band Skullflower – one of several ongoing projects of Matthew Bower.  Skullflower’s work has been compared to other pioneering noise outfits such as Whitehouse, Hunting Lodge, and Coil’s harsher output.

Rather than angry-sounding post-industrial electronics, loops or drones, Strange Keys finds Bower and his associates working with a palette of metallic shrieks, anguished howls, and layers of guitar distortion and drones across two packed discs.  It is incredibly terrifying, raw, dense, and at times, sounds like a black metal band blasting away in an immensely large underground chamber.  All raw, blackened buzz reverbed out to the extreme and resonating in the bowels of the earth.

It’s music that is best listened to on headphones in the dark.  Unless, of course, you have a sensory deprivation chamber (or a ping pong ball and a radio).  It’s something that challenges and dares the listener, to find something within the chaos – a trace of melody, a suggestion of rhythm.  If you can let this chaotic soup wash over your senses, it will give you a thorough mindfucking and you’ll discover even more intriguing tones and textures beneath the jagged surface.  I don’t see myself reaching for this often, but without a doubt, it provides an unsettling and invigorating listen.

Sigh: Scenes from Hell (The End Records)

Japan’s Sigh first gained notoriety when they became the sole non-Scandinavian act on the infamous “Deathlike Silence Productions” label run by Øystein Aarseth, a.k.a. Euronymous.  Their debut album, Scorn Defeat, was a murky-sounding mire of clanging guitars and thrashing drums, but it also featured some very atmospheric and spooky piano and harpsichord.  Jump ahead to 2010, and Sigh’s eighth full-length Scenes From Hell features a full symphonic orchestra – a host of infernal horns, sinister strings, and a hellish accordion – not to mention the lovely Dr. Mikannibal on vocals and saxophone.

The whole thing is one of the most grandiose albums I have ever heard.  While the core unit thrashes away, a strange and chaotic soundtrack grows and swells around them.  “The Soul Grave” sounds like a boatload of demonic gypsy pirates swinging into a swashbuckling horror film, while “Musica In Tempora Belli” features a goddamn theremin, along with some creepy chanting.  If that wasn’t enough, David Tibet shows up later in the album to push the creepy factor with a spoken interlude.

At times, Scenes from Hell is breathtaking in its execution and dynamics.  At other times it’s disjointed and distracting, but still the whole thing just kicks you in the back of the head and demands your attention.  Call me a fan.  Sigh have long shed the trappings of “metal” and dragged us toward their own dizzying view of the abyss.

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Cooking can be a grisly and visceral experience. My experiences at culinary school and in restaurant kitchens were filled with more blood, gore, fire, blades, and severed pig heads than your average black metal concert, so Hellbent For Cooking – The Heavy Metal Cookbook sounded like a lot of fun.

Assembled by Annick Giroux, “Morbid Chef” and headbanging queen of the kitchen, Hellbent For Cooking is a glossy grimoire that pays tribute to the unholy union of Metal and cuisine. Over a hundred recipes from just as many bands and artists from around the world.  The photos are the kind of pretty food porn that would make most foodies drool, yet adorned with black candles, skulls, and stuffed ravens.

The food is as eclectic as the bands themselves. Some are simple creations that reflect the lifestyle of musicians and metal fans – “Macaroni Against Monotheism” from Dutch black metal band Countess, an honest-to-Thor “Pizza Cake” made by stacking frozen pizzas with sausage and slathering the sides with melted cheese comes courtesy of Washington thrash band Funerot.  Others are truly inspired culinary creations: Rob Miller from Amebix submits a four star prawn bisque, while Canadian proto-doom gods Warpig submit a classic lamb shank braised in burgundy. Some recipes are a little more exotic — Filipino Death Metal squadron Deiphago submit a traditional pork in sour broth, and Malaysia’s Envenom shares a recipe for Roti Jala, a sort of fried, crispy dough.  Some recipes do require some legwork; The Lamp of Thoth’s “Black Pudding and Squid” calls for a block of hashish and a whole squid and I’m sure you can guess the secret ingredient in Wino’s “Soul Brownies.”

But it’s not only the metal underground that is represented.  Ms. Giroux also called upon the elder gods for her book – Uriah Heep, Budgie, Tygers of Pan Tang, and Sir Lord Baltimore all submit recipes, and there is even a recipe from the late Phil Lynott’s mother (“this was one of Phillip’s favorite dinners,” she writes) for a Sunday lamb roast.

These spicy prawns pair wonderfully with a crisp pilsner and some Candlemass or Dio

Along with by-the-letter instructions, the book offers classical Escoffier-influenced methodology and techniques, strict guidelines for what beer to drink before, during, and after the preparation of the meal, and what albums to listen to during preparation and eventual consumption.

I had the opportunity to talk to Annick Giroux and let her speak for herself about how this mighty (and tasty) book came to be:

Hail Annick! How did the book all come together? How did you put out the call for entries?

Greetings Ben! I had 6 months to do the book, and needed to be very organized in order to be fast and efficient. First step was research; I spent about two weeks researching all the bands I knew and loved in Metal Archives (an online metal encyclopedia). I also found great bands I didn’t know – like Dusk from Pakistan for example! After this, I had to find their website, contacts, and wrote as much info in an Excel spreadsheet. I got around 350-400 bands doing it this way. Then came the time to contact them; which took weeks and weeks. I wanted it to be as personal as possible, so I contacted each of them separately. A lot of bands didn’t get back to me – so I found other ways of reaching them, like MySpace or snail mail. It was a lot of work! Most bands were into it, but of course some didn’t know how to cook, others weren’t interested in the concept or were too busy (it was summer, therefore bands were doing a lot of tours/festivals). Finally – after this, I collected the recipes and started cooking/photographing the dishes. I had to hurry up going home from work in order to arrive fast enough to cook and photograph the dishes under the sun (I did not use a studio, only daylight!). At the end of the project, I designed the book, and then wrote the contributing band’s biographies. Good thing my editor Ian helped me with some of these!

Was there anyone who contributed that you didn’t expect to hear from?

The bigger bands of course! Sepultura, Mayhem, Kreator, Destruction, Uriah Heep, Thin Lizzy, etc. Contrary to what I thought, they were all VERY much into it!! Mütiilation from France also quite surprised me, although I know how much French people love food – so it wasn’t that much of a surprise.

Do you have a favorite recipe in the book?

I have too many, seriously! But I truly enjoyed…

Istian Minestra by Devastation (an amazing Croatian minestrone soup made with ham bones), Messiah’s “Infernal Swiss Alps Macaroni and Cheese” (Macaroni with parmesan cheese, potatoes and caramelized onions), Uriah Heep’s “Ali Baa Baa” (a lamb and mint stew), Mayhem’s Fårikål (lamb and cabbage stew – Norway’s national meal), Toxic Holocaust’s Bondage Rolled Steaks (Flank steak and bacon rolled, then slowly baked), Sigh’s Habanero Gyudon (Japanese beef stirfry with a hellish taste), Arphaxat’s Pictavian Chicken (Chicken drumsticks slowly cooked with white wine and bacon), the “Stew of True Doom” by Gates of Slumber (Simple red wine stew with a complex taste) and way way more…

How long have you been cooking?  Do you cook professionally?

I’ve been cooking for a long time now, but I wasn’t always very good. I’ve been quite satisfied with my abilities for about 4 years now. I don’t cook professionally, but I am quite interested to learn new things! One thing’s for sure, I’m very passionate about food.

Will there be a sequel?

I am not sure about that one – I have many many plans for the upcoming years, but who knows what will happen. I would love to find time to work on a new one!

Pizza cake…culinary Brilliance? Or total Kitchen Abomination?

Culinary brilliance, of course! It’s like a kid’s dream being realized.

What were your favorite releases of 2009?

That’s actually quite a hard question!! I didn’t get to hear all the albums I wanted in 2009, but here is a list of what really shook me up:

BASTARDATOR; Identify the Dead
CANDLEMASS; Death Magic Doom
HEAVEN AND HELL; The Devil You Know
PROCESSION; The Cult of Disease
THE GATES OF SLUMBER; Hymns of Blood and Thunder
REVELATION; For the Sake of No One
GRAVE MIASMA; Exalted Emanation
RITUALS OF THE OAK; Hour of Judgement

I still didn’t check out the new IRON MAN and ASPHYX. I need to catch up!

I understand you are in a band?

My band CAUCHEMAR is still at its beginnings, but we are going to record a 5-song EP in February. I sing and play bass. We are mixing all our influences into one – be it traditional Doom Metal, Speed Metal, N.W.O.B.H.M. and Motörhead. Oh yeah, it will have French vocals – some sort of tribute to the old 80’s French metal gods we so dearly love! (such as H-Bomb, Vulcain, Sortilège, Blasphème, ADX, Killers, to name but a few)

The author outside of the kitchen

You can get your own copy of Hellbent For Cooking at the usual suspects, or directly from the publisher.  I would like to thank Annick Giroux for her time as well as the people over at Bazillion Points.

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Well met, knaves, rogues, and scoundrels.

I’ve been a fan of the Chicago band Pelican since I first heard Australasia on a late-night drive about six or seven years ago.  The lack of vocals, the chiming guitars over the heavily distorted low end, and the frigid post-punk atmosphere made for a memorable ride home.

Pelican’s latest, their fourth full-length (and first for new label Southern Lord) – What We All Come to Need – was released at the end of October. Being that I’ve been busy with all manner of personal shit away from testing boomerangs and chronicling doom, I am only now getting to it.

Need opens with “Glimmer,” which serves as a primer for the rest of the album.  The band breaks away from the terse rigidity of a lot of their past records with a very free and open sound.  It almost sounds like friends jamming in a garage somewhere, playing with various themes and textures.  Ben Verellen (of defunct hardcore act Harkonen) adds extra bass to the track.  He is one of a few guests on the record; the mighty Greg Anderson lends extra guitars to “The Creeper,” a doomy track with loads of groove, and perhaps to show that there are no hard feelings for the band leaving his Hydra Head Records, Aaron Turner contributes some psychedelic guitar trickery to the album’s title track.

The gloriously metallic “Ephemeral” originally appeared on last summer’s Ephemeral EP.  It has been re-recorded for this album, as well as “An Inch Above Sand” which originally appeared on a recent split single with Louisville band, Young Widows.

The final track, the rising and falling “Final Breath” actually features vocals – Allen Epley (Life & Times) delivers a  subdued interpretation of the Robert Burns’ poem “Red, Red Rose” over a tide of arpeggiated guitars and the kind of yearning, reaching chord progressions that Pelican are known for.

All in all, What We All Come to Need is a solid addition to Pelican’s mostly outstanding catalog.  Four full-length albums in and obviously the band is restructuring and reinventing.  This latest offering is a good indication that they’re off to a good start.

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I’m sure by now everyone is aware that Ronnie James Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer in November. He is currently recovering from chemotherapy at home and recently posted a very positive holiday message at his website.

In today’s edition of the Chronicles, we’ve unearthed a recording of Dio in 1983 at the Monsters of Rock Festival at Donington Castle. Unfortunately we only have four songs from the complete show. The whole performance was bootlegged as Live Evil on a double LP in the ’80s and Evil Eyes on CD in the early 1990s; however, the sound quality here is vastly superior to either of those. Hopefully I’ll be able to acquire the rest of the show from this same audio source.

Lift your chalice of Barleywine in a toast to the New Year and to Ronnie James Dio’s recovery. Cheers!

Dio at Donington 1983

“Stand Up and Shout”

“Holy Diver”

“Straight Through the Heart”

“Rainbow in the Dark”

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I watched a documentary on KISS recently. It was a pretty in-depth affair. Paul and Gene, talking openly, candidly about their long and fabled history. They talked about how the mass-marketing of KISS had begun to hurt their credibility as serious musicians and they cited their 1978 TV movie KISS Meet the Phantom of the Park as the apex.

However, not one word was uttered about their 1981 album Music From the Elder. As John Young wrote in his exhaustive Popdose Guide to KISS:

Entire chapters could be written about KISS’s next project, 1981’s Music from the Elder, an ill-fated concept album produced by Bob Ezrin (who produced Pink Floyd’s The Wall and KISS’s earlier masterpiece, Destroyer). It was such a monumental commercial flop that it nearly bankrupted the band; they literally had to sue Casablanca Records to get back on their feet. The only song worth recommending from this weird collection is “A World Without Heroes,” an interesting ballad cowritten by Gene and Lou Reed. During the mess that was the recording sessions for The Elder, Ace began making noises about leaving the group, and he was ultimately replaced in the studio during the recording of KISS’s next album, Creatures of the Night (1982).

While it isn’t a great KISS album, it was a brave experiment. They were out to re-invent themselves, a desperate bid to be taken seriously. It’s an album that has enjoyed a new audience from stoner record store clerks and hipsters looking for all things ironic and unintentionally hilarious.

Anyway, for what its worth, here are a series of demo recordings from the Music from the Elder sessions. Some of the songs ended up on the Killers compilation LP and others faded away altogether. It’s a pretty interesting look at a largely (intentionally) ignored and overlooked part of the KISS kingdom.

01-Deadly Weapon
02-Just a Boy – demo take 1
03-Nowhere to Run version 1981
04-Kixx for Kids
05-Dark Light (Don’t Run demo)
06-Council Of The elder (Instrumental)
07-Differences Between Men And Boys (Instrumental)
08-Every Little Bit From Your Heart
09-Differences Between Men And Boys 2
10-The Oath (only Paul vocal and guitar)
11-Just a Boy
12-A World Without Heroes (instrumental)
13-Kixx for a Kids 2 (complete Kiss Line Up demo)
14-Heaven (instrumental)
15-It’s My Life (Gene demo)
16-Killer (only Eric drum track)
17-Partners In Crime (mix demo With Vinnie Vincent on guitar)
18-Rock and Roll Hell (Live Version)

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It’s been a while since I’ve opened the great grimoire of doom and inscribed a new entry.  I’ve been busier than a kobold berserker with St. Vitus dance.  Since we last met (over brimming tankards of dark ale), a lot of new music has been released, and I’ve written up some reviews and recommendations to serve you well on your journey…

YOGA – Megafauna (Holy Mountain)

The oddly-named Yoga’s first full-length, Megafauna is one of the most compelling and unsettling records that I’ve heard in a long time. Like the first time I listened to Coil or Nurse With Wound and really “got it,” really connected and understood it. It wasn’t just noise fraught with artsy intentions; there was something decidedly emotional about it.  Mysterious chimes, drones, and bells invoke a wholly unearthly sound-world. The aggressive guitars and drums are almost secondary to all the other dimensions. Like shadows on a frost-choked landscape, Megafauna‘s creepiest tracks are also the most beautiful and brilliant.

Yoga – “Fourth Eye”

BARONESS – Blue Record (Relapse)

From Georgia’s favorite sons, Blue Record is the official companion to 2007′s Red Album, and marks the debut of  Peter Adams on guitar (having replaced Brian Blickle).  With vorpal blade precision, Baroness have effectively created a sacred writ of an album — a testament to their progression and power. Blue Record contains powerhouse riffs, groovy cosmic dirges, atmospheric acoustic balladry, and total and utter badassery. A double CD version exists with some live tracks from Roadburn 2009. Get it now. Blue Record is my pick for the metal album that will show up on most “Best of 2009″ lists.

Baroness – “A Horse Called Golgotha”
Baroness – “Rays On Pinion” (live)

WRNLRD – Myrmidon (Flingco Sound Systems)

You may remember Wrnlrd from the Flingco Sound Systems “Black Box” – Myrmidon is the seventh full-length from the Virginia “horde.” Wrnrld – the only black metal band I know of that incorporates a banjo. Wrnlrd create a completely unclassifiable sound – distilled from nightmares into a bristling squall of evil. Layered with creepy vocals and crunchy guitars and recorded over six months by two different teams of musicians, Myrmidon is bursting with both dread and innovation of the genre. Strange and terrifying blasts of thorny sound that ooze, sting and leave an indelible impression on your eardrums.

Wrnlrd – “Diamond”

SHRINEBUILDER – s/t (Neurot)

At last, the long-awaited debut from doom supergroup Shrinebuilder, featuring Scott “Wino” Weinrich (St. Vitus, Hidden Hand, etc.), Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Al Cisneros (Sleep, Om), and Dale Crover (The Melvins).  It’s an amazing ride of a record. Five tightly constructed songs that reflect their collective talents. Each song is a heavy epic, hewn from sonic mind-stuff – the grizzled statesman Wino trades off riffs with Kelly, a veteran in his own right. Al Cisneros gets a lengthy passage to ruminate with a very Om-like chant during “Pyramid of the Moon.” Dale Crover drives the whole beast with chops that only being the backbone of the mighty Melvins can give you. I can only hope that there’s much more to come from Shrinebuilder. With so much going on with each member (including a full-on St. Vitus reunion for Wino!), it will no doubt be a long, hard wait for the next one. I hope to be checking them out next week in B’more. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Shrinebuilder – “Pyramid of the Moon”

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At four songs, Om‘s God is Good feels less like a whole album than a brief and tantalizing glimpse at what is yet to come. Om is a band that continues to evolve and explore and on this, their fourth full-length, they stretch out into new territory with new drummer Emil Amos and Steve Albini producing.

God is Good opens with “Thebes,” a 19-minute meditative epic. After a lengthy bass and sitar conversation, Al Cisneros kicks on the overdrive pedal and Amos shows off his chops. A more than capable drummer, his playing has a different “feel” than Chris Hakius’, but still intertwines effortlessly with Cisneros’ driving basslines.

The two-part closer “Cremation Ghat” features hand claps, tabla, tambura, and more sitar drones that float along like fragrant temple incense. Steve Albini has created a very spacious sound, scrubbing away the resiny murk and fuzz that clouded Om’s past works.

“Meditation is the Practice of Death” features mystical lyric chants, ominous bass, and Amos’ dynamic drum work. It also features the first flute solo on an Om record. It definitely sets a mood, a spiritual ambiance, an ethereal and downright otherworldly sound.

For me it’s amazing to look back on these musicians years ago. My old high school band opened for Asbestos Death at a local pizza joint. I remember watching Sleep play to a packed Cactus Club in San Jose, on the verge of their signing with Earache, and then listening to Om’s debut, Variations on a Theme, on headphones years and years later.

Sleep splintered into the raw materials that formed their sound — the pummeling metal riffage went to High on Fire, but the tripped-out, doomy, low-end went to Om. Like ancient mind-music bubbling up from an ancient civilization, God is Good is good, by God.

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Since 2002, Nadja — the Toronto-based duo of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff — have released over 40 full length LPs, split records, singles, CD-Rs and a live DVD. Nadja began as an offshoot of Aidan Baker’s solo career — a place for the darker and heavier sounds he wanted to explore.

Nadja create music that is brutally slow, heavy and deliberate, but with multiple layers of sound — swaths of ethereal shimmer, various reverbed tonalities and feedback. The effect is extremely hypnotic and even downright pretty at times. Like watching a little blue butterfly landing on your wrist as you watch a tall building collapsing over your head.

This year looks to be their most prolific yet, including When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV, a covers album featuring everything from Slayer’s “Dead Skin Mask” to a-ha’s “The Sun Always Shines on TV.” There’s even a cover of “Long Dark Twenties,” a Paul Bellini-penned song that originally appeared on the Kids in the Hall Brain Candy soundtrack.

A double album entitled Under the Jaguar Sun has just been released on Beta-lactam Ring Records. Named after a short story by Italian author Italo Calvino, the set is divided into two parts: “Tezcatlipoca (Darkness)” and “Quetzalcoatl (Wind).” A special double vinyl edition, re-titled Chalchiuhtlicue, features an exclusive remix by Edward Ka-Spel of the Legendary Pink Dots.

Nadja – “Fiery Rain” from Under the Jaguar Sun

After being so enthralled and fascinated by this band, I conducted a brief interview over email with Aidan Baker to talk about Nadja’s origins and their recent projects…

When did you start playing music?
My parents are both musicians, so music was always around when I was a kid. I started taking piano lessons when I was 6, I think, but switched to flute around the age of 10, which I studied for a good few years. I taught myself guitar and drums as a teenager.

Leah and I met in 2001 at a Toronto bookstore where we both worked. Leah had taken violin lessons as a child, but it had been many years since she’d done anything musical before I asked her to join Nadja.

Nadja/Leah Buckareff – “Socorro” from Trinity EP

How did Nadja begin? Was it just an extension of your solo work that took on a life of its own?
I started Nadja in 2003 as sort of a flipside to my solo work — same methodology and equipment (more or less), but exploring heavier, harsher, and noisier textures. I recorded and released a few 4-track demos before signing with Alien8 Recordings in 2005. Leah also joined at this time so we could bring the project out of the studio and perform live.

illustrations by Matt Smith

What sort of musical and non-musical inspirations shape your sound?
Musically, we take inspiration from bands like ambiguously metal bands like Swans, Godflesh, Neurosis, etc. and ambient/shoegaze acts like Flying Saucer Attack, My Bloody Valentine, Coil, etc. Non-musical inspirations tend to be film or literature…we’re both fans of such directors as David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Jim Jarmusch, Peter Greenaway, etc. and such authors as William Vollmann, Matthew Sharpe, Angela Carter, JG Ballard, Shelley Jackson, Lydia Millet, etc.

Have you scored any soundtracks? What would be your ideal soundtrack project?
My music has been used in a few films, but I’ve never actually scored a movie. I think it would be interesting to do something like Neil Young did for Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man and just play along to the movie and record it live.

You are so prolific. By my calculations, you release a new album every twenty minutes or so. It’s difficult for us to track down all of your catalog. Is it hard for you to keep track of as well? I mean, working with so many different labels? Will there be a comprehensive Nadja box set one day?
Yes, it’s hard to keep track ourselves. I suppose if we worked with a single label, it would be easier…but we’ve yet to find a label willing to keep up with our output. Plus, we like working with different people with different aesthetics/audiences/methods etc. I suppose there should be a box set some day, yes, but who knows when or what exactly will be in it…

Is there a label you haven’t worked with yet that you would like to?
Sure, there are a number of labels I’d like to work with that I haven’t: Kranky, Table of the Elements, Ipecac, Southern Lord, Temporary Residence…the list could go on.

illustrations by Matt Smith

Can you tell me a bit about the album of covers you released this year on The End records?
We had been performing the Swans’ ‘No Cure for the Lonely’ and Paul Bellini/KiTH’s ‘Long Dark Twenties’ live for a while, so we wanted to document them, which spawned the idea to do a full album of covers. Both as a way to sort of illustrate our musical roots (maybe people don’t hear the a-ha influence, but Hunting High and Low was one of the first albums I bought as a kid) and to have a bit of fun (in a genre that isn’t really known for humor).

Your upcoming double 12” version of Under the Jaguar Sun (Chalchiuhtlicue) contains a mix by Edward Ka-Spell. How did he get involved with Nadja?
We played with the Legendary Pink Dots a few years ago at the Brainwashed festival, so Edward was familiar with our music, and Beta-Lactam has released a few of his albums, so they asked him to do a remix. I suppose it may seem an unexpected or not so obvious an influence, but the Legendary Pink Dots were one of the bands that first got me into experimental music.

Of your “peers,” who are some of your favorite bands?
Here’re a few whom we’ve toured or played with: Picastro, Thisquietarmy, Troum, Menace Ruine, Orn, OvO, Gray Daturas, Fear Falls Burning, Tarentel, etc. Others, whom I don’t know if we can call peers, exactly, although we have played with them: Khanate, Earth, Neurosis, Isis, Jesu, etc.

Where are your favorite places to perform? What audiences are most receptive to Nadja live?
We just spent the last year in Europe, where audiences in general seemed more receptive. I know Leah’s particularly fond of the UT Connewitz in Leipzig…and the Vera in Groningen which we recently played is really nice. As for North America, Montreal and New York generally treat us well. Toronto is our hometown, but we don’t play so often here…although we do have a lot of musician friends here.

Nadja – “By” from Guilted by the Sun EP

Do you have a particular Nadja song that you’re most proud of?
Hmm…”Thaumogenesis” comes to mind first, so I guess I’ll go with that one…

Thanks to Aidan Baker and Matt Smith for taking the time out for all my questions and fanboy ramblings!

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