The Bungled and the Botched is Nadja’s most scorching and most achingly beautiful set yet, pushing the boundaries into ever greater washes of distortion and crystalline silences. Originally available as a limited CDR, Blocks now presents a re-edited version of The Bungled and the Botched in a deluxe vinyl edition and (with over an hour of extra material) as extended digital files via iTunes.
Itunes as of October 1st
A free live album of electrocoustic-sound art-minimalist-hardcore-ear-ecstasy that will save the lagging marriage between your brain and auditory canal. Includes “Intro: Work for 10 Boom Boxes and Hardcore Punk loops.” On 10 boomboxes arranged in a semi circle are cassettes with 30-minute loops of intros from hardcore punk songs of the 1980s: 8 guitar parts, 1 bass part and 1 drum drop out. These are brought in and out of the mix using the volume faders on the tape players, creating something that is sometimes almost a hardcore song, sometimes beat-less and vague. Selections include various shreds and feedback hums from: Discharge, Negative Approach, Black Flag, Bad Brains, Poison Idea, Rudimentary Peni, and Raw Power.
Also includes “Piano For 17.6 Hands” as performed by The New York Miniaturist Ensemble, who perform a repertoire of works consisting of one hundred notes or less. Piano For 17.6 Hands calls for every key on a piano to be struck one hundred times for the duration of a whole note, with sustain pedal down. The first fifty times, the players must strike as hard possible, the final fifty, dynamics are up to each performer.
Available for free at the Free Music Archive here.
…You’re welcome.
One of the joys of Blocks’ musical diversity is my daily exposure to the two dominant sounds of my 70s trailer childhood: country and disco. Sure there may be no Blocks members sporting ex-con uncle polyester, but “country†isn’t dependent on Nudie suits, late child support payments, or hair big enough you could hide all of Tennessee in. Well, sometimes it is, but for me to explain hick ontology would take far too long. Until then, Building Blocks Digital singles Club presents…The Pining.
These gals are what the Carter Sisters would have been like if they had gotten in a fight with Mother Maybelle, then hocked her autoharp, and moved to Kensington Market. Listen to “Life Ain’t Fair†or its folksier b-side, “She’s Gone†and you’ll hear the best Canadian country since they stopped making 8-tracks.
Join the FB group to get the password :
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=68338179837&ref=ts
The Torrent is not named after a download protocol. Mike Barry plays guitar and sings, and Cameron Groves sings, plays violin and deals with the machines. Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star said, and I quote, “[Leonora Moreno]is a sexy/nasty slab of droning electro-pop sleaze, and my new favourite thing. Imagine Beat Happening, A Place to Bury Strangers and the Neon Judgement doing lots of drugs together in a Hamburg fetish bar and you’ll get the gist of this dour gem. Acidic monotone vocals, battering drum-machine beats and a whole lotta art-house style caught in a radioactive glow of sawing violin and over-cranked guitar. “
We’re distro-ing this release to record stores. For mail order and digital, see the band’s site at: http://thetorrent.net
The Torrent is not named after a download protocol. Mike Barry plays guitar and sings, and Cameron Groves sings, plays violin and deals with the machines. Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star said, and I quote, “[Leonora Moreno]is a sexy/nasty slab of droning electro-pop sleaze, and my new favourite thing. Imagine Beat Happening, A Place to Bury Strangers and the Neon Judgement doing lots of drugs together in a Hamburg fetish bar and you’ll get the gist of this dour gem. Acidic monotone vocals, battering drum-machine beats and a whole lotta art-house style caught in a radioactive glow of sawing violin and over-cranked guitar. “
We’re distro-ing this release to record stores. For mail order and digital, see the band’s site at: http://thetorrent.net
1. Buying Blocks
The best way to buy Blocks is through our mailorder at The Blue House. The Blocks will make the most money that way. However, if you like the endorphin rush of going to a record store and getting the nod of approval from a clerk for buying something so cool here’s how…
In Canada, Blocks gets put into a lot of local record stores courtesy of FAB Distro. Where there are stands of water-soaked weeklies and ironic facial hair, there we be. In Toronto our local faves are Soundscapes and Rotate This. You can’t believe how much these two joints and their customers have helped Blocks. Â Outside of Canada, we’re developing relationships with smaller distros and directly with record stores. Here’s a quick rundown.
In New York: Just got word that Other Music will be taking a big order from us. If you’re in NYC and looking for Blocks stuff, check it out and if they don’t have something of ours, ask for it!
In Europe:Â Â A little bit of intrigue to sort through as a few artists have there own thing going on. Most of Kids On TV’s releases are available through Chicks On Speed Records. Brian Joseph Davis is carried by RER Megacorp. And some Final Fantasy and Hank albums have been released there by Tomlab. Jez is working on a few stores. We’ll keep you up to date.
Japan: We’re almost there!
2. The Free Music Archive
WFMU’s Free Music Archive just launched and Blocks has been given guest keys to post music. Why the FMA is so important is a little too complex to go into here (suffice it to say, it saves the asses of many internet radio stations and pod casters in the States) but we’re starting to upload tracks, some albums and live shows. It’s slow going now but check back every now and then for tracks by Blocks artists and other Torontonians.
BUILDING BLOCKS DIGITAL SINGLES CLUB presents
The Torrent
“Life Boat†b/w “Leopold Bloom.â€
JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUP TO GET THE PASSWORD!
The Torrent are about to release a new album on the Tetrapod label, and all of it is just as great as this single!
“Life Boat†is distorted pop magic, like the missing link between Taking Tiger Mountain and Another Green World. “Leopold Bloom†is a slinky, slow grinding hymn to modernism. Listen to it and Kate Bush’s The Sensual World at the same time and you’ll never have to finish Ulysses!
Just a reminder that our website still sucks. All our available releases can be purchased here on our page at The Blue House.
Four years in the making, produced by Jesse Laine and CW, with artwork by Tara Azzopardi, and featuring 14 sparkling pop gems ranging in style and subject matter, from Burt Lancaster to dead goldfish via hermetic paranoia.
Exclaim also called Hank’s music “sensual.” Sensuality AND hermetic paranoia. Why aren’t you buying this album right now?
1. Go to the official Facebook home of Blocks Recording Club.
2. Join for news and exclusive tracks from our new Building Blocks Singles Club
Starting April 09, every four weeks we’ll be releasing 2 exclusive tracks from brand new Blocks bands. The password will only be sent to the Facebook group members. There’ll be a LP compilation of these tracks released near the end of the year but why not have all the tracks FIRST!
That’s FREE music, and you’ll have it before the rest of the INTERNET does.
More to come!
