Carpenter Brut - EP II

Not seen anyone mention this guy yet, but he's the most fun I've had this week and I totally expected to find a thread already.

 

http://carpenterbrut.bandcamp.com/

http://blackbusrecords.bigcartel.com/

 

'Le Perv' from the previous EP last December had a particularly great video for fans of Lucio Fulci and/or legwarmers:

Edited September 26, 2013 by November

This guy is the best from the whole bunch of these New Retro Wave musicians.

 

His sound is juicy and his melodies are catchy as hell

  On 9/28/2013 at 12:31 AM, Shadow GriZZly said:

New Retro Wave

Is that a thing?

 

Nice little EP, a bit too intense for me in the first couple of tracks but thankfully not all of them are as hyperkinetic from start to finish. 'Looking For Tracy Tzu' is amazing.

 

I'm almost afraid to ask but who's the Danger in the topic description, by the way?

Danger is the same formula being applied to The Terminator/Yuzo Koshiro/Streets of Rage influence instead of John Carpenter/Italian Exploitation/etc.:

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​Personally I'm way more thrilled with Carpenter Brut's stuff this year than anything else I've heard out of that scene in ages, but I'm heavily biased being a rather large giallo horror fan to begin with. It honestly wouldn't be authentic to the genre for me unless these EPs hit as hard as they do, a lot of those films have rather over-the-top scores, Suspiria and Tenebrae being among the most popular ones.

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​'Looking For Tracy Tzu' is actually my favorite track on EPII, but 'Le Perv' is the one I keep coming back to. So very much looking forward to the third EP and video due in the set.

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​Oh, here's the new video for EP II, now exploring the Guinea Pig films and such:

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Edited September 28, 2013 by November

  On 9/28/2013 at 10:31 AM, November said:

Danger is the same formula being applied to The Terminator/Yuzo Koshiro/Streets of Rage influence instead of John Carpenter/Italian Exploitation/etc.:

 

​Oh, here's the new video for EP II, now exploring the Guinea Pig films and such:

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don't know 'danger' but, this carpenter brut video for 'obituary' (from the second EP) is clips from takashi ishii films like 'black angel', 'gonin' and most obviously the recent 'flower and snake' films. no 'guinea pig' clips in there.

 

i'd buy these CDs, but they're 25 minutes long and as expensive as an album.

 

are they going to release these all onto once CD eventually? or put out an album?

 

I've already listened to this more than I thought I would. Really enjoyable even if many of the influences or references are lost on me. It's got some elements of that harsh Ed Banger breed of electro that I don't really like, but the more soundtracky parts make up for it. Come to think of it, it sounds a bit like what Kavinsky's album could/should have been.

And the topic description reminded me to give VHS Head a proper listen. Good thread I say.

@logboy: Meant to say 'Angel Guts' even though that wasn't used in the clip, I'll honestly confess to not seeing a lot of Takashi Ishii's films. There's going to be another 6-song EP hopefully sometime soon next year. I don't know what his plans are beyond that, personally I bought both CDs and one of the shirts because I love his stuff.

 

Anyway, have a fucking Steven Seagal video. I missed this earlier and think it's now my favorite track from him:

 

Also, there's this rad track he had on this Telefuture compilation 'soundtrack':

http://telefuturenow.bandcamp.com/track/warzone

Edited October 5, 2013 by November

Yeah I really like this stuff. Obituary is one of my favourite tunes of the year so far

haven't listened to it yet, but it surprises me that many of these retro throwback bands have such blatantly uncreative and overly referential band names. So I take it he is inspired by John Carpenter?

music is alright, doesn't sound very different from a lot of the other retro fetishism stuff out there. Reminds me of a less catchy not as good produced Kavinsky

Edited October 5, 2013 by John Ehrlichman

Really? I've found Kavinsky to be rather dull compared to his contemporaries, though maybe not as dull as Justice. SebastiAn was always more fun and original, Danger is much better at ripping off Yuzo Koshiro, etc.

 

Different strokes. I find Carpenter Brut's stuff to be far more enjoyable due to its rougher production and more aggressive sound.

 

p.s. Cricitisms of the name are particularly funny given that European exploitation films themselves were titled exactly the same lame way.

Kavinksy has more in common with the fully blown retro sound palette than SebastiAn or Justice, that's why I was comparing him to this, which seems similarly rooted

I just feel plenty of people have been doing this throw back sound and better for many years,including this guy

people like Brian E, and especially Legowelt who nailed the Carpenter vibes about 5-6 years ago.

And since I have a deep love for this type of old electronic music I have very high expectations of quality and execution, which this Carpenter Brut ep does not meet for me. Just a music nazi expressing his opinion, nothing to see here

which brings me back to the band name itself, why name your band after a really fucking great musician who defined a horror movie aesthetic of the 70s if your music isn't absolutely amazing? It seems like you're setting yourself up to be compared to the person who was perhaps your main inspiration, but it seems self defeating at the same time Edited October 5, 2013 by John Ehrlichman

I think you're confused about what makes an excellent musician and you're here to rub your balls on things lest someone else has wrong-fun in front of you. Nothing to see here!

Rub your balls on things though, what's that about?

  On 10/5/2013 at 11:35 PM, November said:

I think you're confused about what makes an excellent musician and you're here to rub your balls on things lest someone else has wrong-fun in front of you. Nothing to see here!

Im here to call it like I see it, and people trying to imitate one of my favorite musicians and not doing a very good job of it deserves being called out. Don't name yourself after John Carpenter if you don't have the chutzpah to be compared to him. If this 'carpenter brut' person is actually well known, its kind of shame since we have at least 2 resident WATMMers who make far better, and catchier retro throwback synthesizer music, Data aka Mitch Murder being one.

Edited October 6, 2013 by John Ehrlichman

  On 10/6/2013 at 2:32 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

Im here to call it like I see it, and people trying to imitate one of my favorite musicians and not doing a very good job of it deserves being called out.

 

 

Hi, John. You're pretty adorable. It's great that you're capable of recognizing similarities in music produced by different people, but that's something that's been happening for the entire history of music. Your claim that Carpenter Brut is "trying to imitate" someone you like sounds more like defensive butthurt than a fact; and even if it was a fact, you really don't need to worry about the Big Bad Brut assimilating your favorite musician and taking his place.

 

It's kind of remarkable to me that you posture as some sort of cultural authority on this. You do realize you're arguing over aesthetic preferences, right? If you knew nearly as much as you pretend to, you might at least understand that "better" and "best" in terms of music are relative only to your own taste. You're comparing to a set of arbitrary rules which vary from person to person. So, okay, Carpenter Brut doesn't meet your personal criteria for being "good". That's fine. But if I don't like the color of your carpet, I'm not going to barge into your house to piss on it.

 

By the way, I've been producing music for 15 years and I find Carpenter Brut's production quality to be fantastic. Their compositional skill is pretty decent, too, as they hit all the right notes to fit a particular aesthetic I very much like. No, they're not Kavinsky, but then Kavinsky also doesn't quite fit for me. I think he's great, and wholly encourage anyone who likes him to continue doing so with great enthusiasm. My personal enjoyment of Carpenter Brut doesn't make them better than anyone else.

 

Anyway, in short: No, being offended that someone sounds kind of similar to your favorite musician isn't a reason to "call them out". It's merely an excuse to rub your balls on things in public.

  On 10/5/2013 at 11:32 PM, John Ehrlichman said:

...the band name itself, why name your band after a really fucking great musician who defined a horror movie aesthetic of the 70s if your music isn't absolutely amazing? It seems like you're setting yourself up to be compared to the person who was perhaps your main inspiration, but it seems self defeating at the same time

 

Maybe they just really like doing woodwork while smelling good or something

Pretty sure I just heard this guy on a Citroën commercial on French Eurosport (think it was Roller Mobster but I'll have to check later).

 

Is his third EP still not out?

  On 10/6/2013 at 1:03 PM, Timothy Forward said:

 

  On 10/5/2013 at 11:32 PM, John Ehrlichman said:

...the band name itself, why name your band after a really fucking great musician who defined a horror movie aesthetic of the 70s if your music isn't absolutely amazing? It seems like you're setting yourself up to be compared to the person who was perhaps your main inspiration, but it seems self defeating at the same time

 

Maybe they just really like doing woodwork while smelling good or something

 

 

EPIII january '15 > https://www.facebook.com/carpenter.brut

Ha, great timing on that announcement.

  On 9/28/2013 at 7:41 PM, logboy said:

are they going to release these all onto once CD eventually? or put out an album?

EP III to be followed by a 3xLP album of the trilogy in March.