Vader - Necrolust Demo (1989)

I went to go see Immolation and Vader a few days ago, and the metal was quite true. Immolation is one of my favorite bands of all time, but I was surprisingly impressed with Vader. If you were to ask my opinion about Vader, I would say something along the lines of "yeah the demos were good, everything else is kind of boring." That's just the kind of elitist that I am. I'm gonna have to reevaluate this opinion, though, because I really liked almost every song they played.

That said, here is Vader's Necrolust demo, which exists in that late 80s extreme metal stew that I'm so obsessed with. This is really, really fast thrash metal with stupid production. I'm almost reminded of Massacra in the way that these hyper-speed riffs flirt with major tonalities and smoothly metamorphose into new themes. I have a fetish for this stuff.

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Sonny Rollins - Newk's Time (1957)

I have a hard time associating heroin with the super vibrant godhead improvisational genius of all of those bop dudes. Instead, all I can think of is a few stressful experiences with addicts in high school and the muck and filth of Trainspotting. This record seems to be just outside of the Rollins canon, but for anyone interested in this period of this man's genius, it is essential. Rollins is famous for the way that he uses rhythm in his solos, and many of the statements that he makes here work almost entirely because of the rhythm. Although capable of the type of rapid, melodic flurries the term "hard bop" calls to mind, Rollins's most memorable moments come when he introduces a catchy rhythmic line, then plays within the framework he establishes for himself. This one goes out to all my bloggers with token appreciation of "various jazz musicians."

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