Favourite Albums of 2011 #8: "Black Goat of the Woods"

Black Mountain Transmitter
Black Goat of the Woods [2009]

This is that album set up to sound like the soundtrack to some low budget 1980s horror film. And it is all figured as one track so you will probably not get to hear any of it on the favourite tunes of 2011 CD-R I have still to compile.

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2011 Favourite Albums

I have been thinking about what were my favourite new to me records of 2011. And the following are the ones I came up with. A fuller write-up of these will appear soon in the pages of Frank's APA and ultimately on Inuit Panda. Where possible I have linked back to my original reviews of these records.

Jane Weaver
The Fallen By Watch Bird [2010]

My favourite record is this piece of somewhat psychey neo-folk from Jane Weaver, Bird Records supremo. If strange folky sounds are your thing then check this out.

Bo Hansson
Lord of the Rings [1970]

Mr Hansson wrote his own musical accompaniment to the Tolkien-classic back in the past. He seems a bit more interested in the dark and sinister aspects of the great book.

The Flaming Lips
Embryonic [2009]

Some say that the Flaming Lips have become dull and mainstream. They may not have listened to this.

Broadcast & The Focus Group
Broadcast & The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age [2009]

Spooky electronic music from this interesting collaboration, lent a certain poignancy by the recent death of Trish Keenan of Broadcast.

Dean & Britta
13 Most Beautiful: Songs For Andy Warhol's Screen Tests [2010]

A series of tunes recorded to accompany showings of Andy Warhol screen tests, some covers and some original. Sonic Boom has some production input and it does all end up sounding a bit neo-shoe gaze, but in a good way.

Tom Tom Club
[Untitled First Album] [1982]

Funky side project band from Talking Heads rhythm section, together with input from their friends and relations. Impossible not to like.

Richard Thompson
1000 Years of Popular Music [live] [2006]

Mr Thompson and his two lady friends perform tunes from the last thousand years, including quite a few pop tunes of the last 100 years. Given that this is Richard Thompson we are talking about, most of these songs are a bit sadface.

Black Mountain Transmitter
Black Goat of the Woods [2009]

This seems to be an Irish-made record, so I am for once doing my bit for Team Ireland. It is like a soundtrack to a low budget 1980s horror film, and all sounds vaguely Lovecraftian. Iä! Iä!

Magnet & Paul Giovanni
The Wicker Man OST [1973]

A collection of original neo folkie tunes and creepy instrumental pieces from the film that made people think twice about trips to isolated Scottish islands.

v/a nlgbbbblth CD 11.14: Níl sé anseo [CD-R]

Mr Nlgbbbblth's offering is a rare example of a CD-R that deserves a commercial release, painting as it does a picture of Ireland in the late 1970s and early 1980s from musical pieces, TV jingles, snippets of news programmes, and so on. Also features priests.

v/a Rajasthani Street Music [CD-R]

This is a version of something due to appear on Sublime Frequencies at some stage. It is a selection of pieces recorded by Mr Seb Bassleer on a trip to India and is delightful to the ear.

Ween
Thom's Ween TOAD [CD-R]

This CD-R from my old friend and quaffing partner Thom has been my introduction to the music of Ween – and I like it.


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A Trip to Cork, Part 3: Booty

How about quick reviews of two records I acquired in Cork? These two corkers were acquired in the Plugd record shop, now located in Triskel Arts Centre.

Oneida Absolute II

This is a recent album… by Oneida. It is the third of their Thank Your Parents triptych of releases. It is an unusual record, in that it features none of the rock freak out action that people have come to expect from the O. Instead, the tracks are pretty minimal, often featuring a bit of noodly electronica and odd soundscapey stuff. And it is only four tracks long. The opener, 'Pre Human' sounds the most Oneida-esque, like the kind of quiet song they might do before launching into something that would then roll over you like a train. The rest feature what sound like tone generators and odd random bursts of noise. Oddly, I think that what this at times sounds the most like is some of that Trio Scordatura-Ergodos stuff, though I am guessing this is more an example of parallel evolution rather than direct influence. Still, it conjures up the fascinating prospect of Bob Gilmore appearing with Oneida next time they play live.

Black Mountain Transmitter Black Goat of the Woods

On the cover we have a distorted picture of the sun shining through trees and a spectral figure of a person with the head of a goat. A sticker gives the name of the record and the title and then tells us this: "the soundtrack from some lost low budget horror movie, rediscovered on an old and faded VHS cassette found mouldering in a deserted house in the depths of the woods". How could I not buy this? And it turns out to basically do what it says on the tin, being a collection of ominous synthesiser sounds combined with strange creeping sound effects to give a feeling of terrible and inescapable doom.
That said, one thing makes this record different from the horror movie soundtracks it is trying to evoke. They would be divided up into lots of relatively short pieces, to be used at different stages of the film, but Black Goat of the Woods is one long track – a journey into the night from which there can be no turning back. "Searchers after horror haunt strange far places…"

the goat with a thousand young

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