Submit to your higher power.

I'm really, really proud to be from New Jersey. Sure, it's a state that's the butt of countless jokes, but it's also a place that's been home to countless amazing bands, Rorschach being one of them. For those unfamiliar with these guys, they were a band from 1989 to 1993 who proved to be hugely influential. Early on, their sound was fast and more reminiscent of traditional hardcore, and they went on to slow down the tempos and inject more sludge and dissonance to their sound, something that heavily influenced bands like Converge and Coalesce. Most people I've talked to love the later Rorschach stuff (the Protestant LP and other releases from that era) - and rightfully so, it rules. But personally I favour the earlier stuff (Remain Sedate, Needlepack etc) - there's a frantic energy to it that I just love.

With that in mind, you can tell why I dig this 1990 performance the band did on WFMU. The screams are more over the top and the songs are played faster, to the point where you think they're just gonna fucking collapse from exhaustion, Charles Maggio (vocals) in particular. In between songs and his laboured breathing he blurts out the ordering info for what was then their upcoming debut LP, Remain Sedate. There's a hunger in his voice as if he's saying to himself, "if enough people buy this thing we can afford to eat." Keep in mind too that this was done in a radio studio; there isn't a crowd there cheering them on, they were probably playing to one or two people sitting in front of mics and manning the soundboard. Still, they go through their material with an energy and urgency that most bands couldn't even touch in a traditional live setting.

I wouldn't suggest this as a good introduction to the band - get the discography CD, Autopsy, first if you haven't already. Chances are if you like the first half of that disc, this will blow your mind.

Don't mind the low bitrate - it was recorded off the radio so it's more than adequate.

Set List: Lightning Strikes Twice - Skin Culture - In the Year of Our Lord - Seconds in Hell (early title) - Laryngitis - Impressions - Pavlov's Dogs - No One Dies Alone - Clenching - So it Goes - Oppress

Rorschach - Live in December, 1990 on WFMU (128 MP3)

you do not get to keep your silence.

Muir is a project written and performed by Max Buchanan.

I remember listening to his stuff for the first time via a random MySpace add back when the project went under the name The Weather Council, and I liked what I heard, but it didn't quite prepare me for seeing and hearing it live. By the time that happened, he was going under the name Piers and putting a guitar tuned to B going through tons of pedals spread in a half-circle in front of him. Swiveling back and forth on a drummer's stool, he'd control and mutate his sounds while layering them until it became an assault of noise. Don't let that confuse you, though - I don't mean Sonic Youth noise or Merzbow noise or whatever you'd first expect upon reading a description like that. Instead he layers beautiful guitar lines on top of one another until it's all hitting you with beauty and heaviness all at once. It's very easy music to get lost in.

Max has two releases out there now, one under the name Piers (a split with local hardcore/screamo band The King of Red Lions, still available in stores and through the bands) and a tape limited to six physical copies.

Now playing as Muir, Max has introduced more sound samples and keyboard to his sound, adding more to an already promising mixture of sounds. If you live in the Brisbane area and have yet to see him play, do yourself a favour and change that as soon as possible. If you live elsewhere, well I guess you're shit out of luck. Either way, download this rip of his limited tape release and enjoy.

Muir - I am a Person I am Breathing (192 MP3)