SARGENT HOUSE

2. Le Butcherettes:

Sargent House’s spaz-blast rock outfit Le Butcherettes have had us by the musical throat for over a year, and we’re chomping at the bit to see them in the blazing desert. Led by fireball vocalist/guitarist/pianist Teri Gender Bender, Le Butcherettes’ songs & untethered energy evoke early-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with the seductive energy of The Kills in an explosive minimalist package. To see them live is to be equally inspired, adrenalized and disturbed. Find us in the pit.

Check out a video for “New York”:

we love this list that also includes: At the Drive In, Refused, fIREHOSE, Radiohead , Cat Power and a lot of the same stuff we will definitely be checking out at Coachella this year.

SEE ALL TEN CHOICES HERE - by Johnny Firecloud for Crave Online

01. Russian Circles /Album: Empros  Label: Sargent House

Why I Chose This: In reality Russian Circles and Tom Waits have tied for first. I place this instrumental album ahead of Waits simply because he’s a fucking legend and these guys aren’t…..yet. Russian Circles have completely outdone themselves with Empros. They have made a perfect record, an album so flawless that every time I listen to it I discover something else I missed. Empros is not a perfect record because the songs are so good, which they are or because the musicianship is above reproach, which it is. Empros is the best record of the year because there is no easy way to figure it out. You can’t just listen to this album and get it, you have to scratch, you have to listen and embrace the experience

Don’t let my pretentious rock musings fool you, Russian Circles still bring the rock. The grooves are huge on Empros, menacing and pit stomping fun. However, that’s not all that goes on. There are also bits of electronica, delicate notes and even some nods towards dance and funk. These other elements combined with the huge rock are what keep Empros from being easily defined. You can pick out the elements of a song, but now how they work or how one song bleeds into another even when they are so different. That lack of definition is what keeps you coming back to Empros and trying to figure out why it makes you feel the way you do. Russian Circles have written an album that will confuse you, rock you, confound you and, above all else, make you feel. Empros forces you to think while it nourishes your soul and that’s what makes it record of the year.

Read More

CRAVEONLINE RATING 10/10 - by Iann Robinson

There are a series of films by director Alejandro Jodorowsky that remind me of Empros, the new album from instrumental innovators Russian Circles. The films, like this album, are filled with bizarre non-sequiturs, epic pieces that stand besides smaller parts and a feeling that so much more is going on here. Empros is a record that drives you to scratch at it again and again trying to find the core of what it revolves around. What is this? I know what it is. No I don’t, but I think maybe I can get to it if I listen again. How do I keep missing it? Why are the mysteries not handed over to me, what the hell is going on? 

From the opening madness of Empros, the ideas buzzed through my brain as I attempts to breakdown and sift through all the ideas going on. Jodorowsky’s films could not be taken at face value. No matter how incredible or ridiculous the ideas became, more was going on below the surface. Russian Circles have accomplished the same thing. There is what you hear; there is the thunderous riff or the groove. There is the melancholy guitar line or the raging rhythm section. Your senses can understand that.

Read More