#NSRD

[mochiiniko]

rhythm doctor nsr collab when (hi @rendekobora thought you might like this hehe)

bonus set of doodles based on that one scene in sayus boss fight (ill render these when i have the time im juggling so much projects rn 💀)

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

jil go kiss all the versions of tom.

i dare you./lh

bold of you to assume I didn't <3 hehehheheeheheheheheh

[gilgamis]

Medicīna Un Māksla - NSRD (1985)

[goodbysunball]

Quarantine Rock

Been a minute. I’ve been driven back to the ‘net by the unfortunate situation the entire world is in. I’m trying hard to keep occupied and keep cool instead of binging news and Instagram, and music, as always, has been a salve. Most of the below titles are just new to me, though not necessarily new - but we’ve pretty much all got the time to reminisce or to go back and search for buried gems, so here goes.

Tori Kudo, The Last Song of My Life LP (An’archives) / Tori Kudo & Kayo Makino, Ein Traum Für Dich LP (Black Truffle)

Tori Kudo’s always been on the periphery of my listening, but aside from the Mu Ji Ge 7″, this is really my first time diving into his extensive body of work. His newest solo LP is The Last Song of My Life, where as bandleader Kudo leads a melancholy saunter meditating on one motif for its duration, occasionally pocked by noise, apparently “depending on their response to the film work that was being projected.” You don’t need the film to get to the emotive heart of this, and the motif will be stuck in your head for days. Strangely beautiful, and somewhat disarming, even if the errant elbow strikes you in the ribs now and then. My go-to reading soundtrack lately. Beautiful presentation by An’archives, as usual. This one flew off the shelves, so be sure to grab it if you see it in the wild.

Last year Kudo released a collaborative LP with Kayo Makino on Black Truffle, and if you’re daunted by The Last Song of My Life, this one goes even further down the rabbit hole. I prefer Ein Traum Für Dich though; Kudo’s on piano, playing Satie on the A-side and some meandering progression on the flip, and Makino digitally distorts and heightens Kudo’s playing, occasionally adding spoken word samples and processed noise. The A-side is interesting, both of them playing with the possibilities of this pairing, Makino layering and offsetting Kudo’s melody to nauseating effect. The B-side is the reason for tuning in, though: Makino’s static stretches and overwhelms Kudo at points, making for a hypnotic and immersive 20+ minute ride. It’s a trip, the whole album acting as an audial blackout curtain, or the mesmerizing escape we all could use. Grab the LP from Forced Exposure for 15% off now.

Hardijs Lediņš, Tiny Crabs of Deep Waters LP (Musiques Electroniques Actuelles)

Been digging into the NSRD collective’s work a bit lately, though I’m not gonna pretend like I’m some sort of expert - the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art published a comprehensive book about the group a few years ago if ya wanna become one, though. I’m partway through the book; my takeaway so far is that the NSRD collective, led by Hardijs Lediņš and Juris Boiko, found ways to subvert oppressive Soviet rule through a freedom of expression and thought seldomly encountered. Part of that expression was of course music, and the Workshop For the Restoration of Unfelt Feelings compilation on Stroom is the best introduction (good luck finding the LP). The music was largely electronic, somewhat ahead of its time and also totally cracked given the relative isolation of Latvia during this time. Tiny Crabs of Deep Waters is another entryway to the group’s music, this time a reissue of an impossible-to-find CDr from Hardijs Lediņš. The synth-heavy, largely instrumental record should appeal to fans of the soundtrack work of Tangerine Dream or John Carpenter, but the whole thing carries this strange sense that something is a bit off. Cartoonish keyboard effects collide with rich bass tones in a conventional yet dizzying manner, if you lean in close. The LP’s been a great shot in the arm when the day gets too sleepy, especially when the beat kicks in on the 13-minute “La Danse Binoculaire De Paris.” Top notch reissue, released at the end of last year, and can still be had on Discogs.

Teitanblood, Death 2xLP (Norma Evangelium Diaboli/The Ajna Offensive)

Yeah, this one makes sense right now: absolutely blistering black metal from Spain, the 2014 follow-up to modern classic Seven Chalices that I didn’t check out for some reason until now. Teitanblood is smothering and chaotic, and hardly conventional, but an admittedly complicated method exists behind the screen. There’s hardly a more cathartic record available to me than Death, especially the duo of “Plagues of Forgiveness”/”Cadaver Synod” that takes up face B. The band released The Baneful Choir last year, and that one smokes, too. Grab both LPs from Hell’s Headbangers or direct from the Ajna Offensive and burn straight out of this reality.

Martina Lussi, Diffusion Is a Force LP (Latency)

A totally engrossing and absorbing sound world created by Switzerland’s Martina Lussi on Diffusion Is a Force. The samples used - wheezing breaths, dribbling basketballs, roaring crowds - introduce a human element to the rich, warm tapestries. No beats to ride on here, but a track like “Higher Energy” cuts to the core with a Loren Connors-esque guitar part, which is then slowly displaced by rumbling, punctuated bass. The album feels very light and warm, as if in a fog, and the careful sequencing shifts the mood imperceptibly from track to track. Obviously I am not well-versed in electronic music, and there’s probably a name for what Lussi does so well here, but whatever it is, Diffusion Is a Force hits me right in the chest while gettin’ the synapses firing. Find the LP on Discogs, or support 2 Bridges Music Arts during this time of small business strain.

Reek Minds, s/t 7″ (Edger) / Suck Lords, True Lords Music 7″ (Edger) / Pig DNA, Mob Shity MLP (La Vida Es Un Mus) / Pig DNA, Strong Throat 7″ (Square One Again)

It’s inevitable that some anger will boil over from time to time, from the ineptitude shown by governments worldwide to the jackass hoarding hand sanitizer right here in Tennessee. These four records will stomp the anger right outta ya so you can get back to staring at the ceiling and forcing yourself to breathe calmly. Reek Minds’ 7″ is new this year, and they blaze through 8 tracks, coming off like the late, great Sickoids while still sprinkling in some mosh-worthy bits (see “A.M.”). Matt K. at Yellow Green Red thinks Iron Lung will be calling for Reek Minds to join their ranks soon, and I agree. Apparently there are 2 copies of Reek Minds’ self-titled 7″ left at Bandcamp as of this writing. They share members with Suck Lords, who somehow play even faster, approaching powerviolence speeds, their drummer giving Jerry’s Kids’ Brian Betzger a run for his money. The Lords are a little more goofy than Reek Minds, though you wouldn’t know it if they hadn’t included a lyric sheet and a “Getting to Know the Lords” insert with last year’s True Lords Music record. Grab some Lords from Not For Everyone.

Pig DNA, for their part, drop an atomic bomb on the whole thing, their 2015 MLP Mob Shity sounding strangely prescient and utterly unforgiving. From the opening track “Foire,” Pig DNA throw down the gauntlet, every track seeming to possess more ludicrous levels of noise smothering the piledriving riffs than the previous one. There’s d-beat in there somewhere, but I’m not gonna stick my hand in the caustic stew to find it. “Scums (City Rockers)” is my pick, but the whole thing is an unrelenting assault and worthy successor to Kriegshög’s s/t LP. Hard to handle nuclear material, so it’s still available for as low as $6. The band followed up Mob Shity with Strong Throat, possibly the shortest 7″ record I own, that continues down the same path. It’s worth hunting down (here ya go) for the B-side, where the drums drop out and the band still gnashes and claws at the walls with all its got. Insane. May their message live on in these chaotic days ahead.

[falsestuff]

NSRD - Kastanis (Chestnut) (1985-87)

[jacobwren]

NSRD - Kādā Rītā

[bewarethewasp]

Am I a track icon yet?

[contesbarbares]

Whole Night. One Morning. This Evening

 〰️ 

[newqueerpanthermodern]

A Queer, Midwest Joan of Arc

“The fire is still there -- we just need a reason why,” she said.

I first met Trish “Devi8” through roller derby, where she volunteers as a medical staff member to keep us safe during all the collisions and chaos of the sport. A 40-something Minnesota native and a nurse at a local children’s hospital, she is the most cynical optimist I’ve ever met, with a dark humor and a bright, genuine laugh. 

When not working long night shifts, Devi, as she’s affectionately known in the roller derby community, volunteers at the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition shot clinic and speaks about queer issues anywhere and everywhere she can.

Most recently, Devi was an instrumental part of a movement to change the name of our Minneapolis derby league, North Star, from “Roller Girls” to “Roller Derby,” as a major step toward welcoming non-binary, trans and queer skaters to the sport, and validating those already participating.  

“Derby is a very alternative, grassroots and progressive community,” Devi said. “I have been involved in North Star for five years, and we’re a bunch of misfits. I mean that in the best way possible.”

In spite of her tireless work ethic and strong voice, she doesn’t claim the term leader, at least not for herself.

“I think of it as advocacy -- I choose to use my voice for good because there are some people that can’t, because it’s not safe for them to do so. It’s an opportunity and a privilege,” Devi said. “After being out for 23 years, it would honestly kill me to not use my voice. It’s ingrained in me, it’s so much of who I am.”

“I have always known I’m queer, not like anyone else, and that has never bothered me,” Devi said.

With a high school graduating class of just 48 people in the tiny town of Warren, Minnesota, “it was intimidating being a queer kid.”

She didn’t come out formally, however, until college. At age 18, while studying to be a paramedic, Devi was outed by someone else.

“Instead of being angry, I embraced it. I ended up meeting some very good friends that way,” she said.

Devi hasn’t missed a Pride celebration in the Twin Cities since, and often takes the stage as her flamboyant and sassy persona, Miss Trish, to MC the festivities.

On or off the stage, Devi said being queer is just a part of her, and she’s not afraid to show it.

“I am pretty much in your fucking face, and I have been spit on, hit, had things thrown at me, been called ‘demon spawn’,” Devi said. “I just take that ill will and turn it around.”

As a nurse, and as former EMT, Devi has seen difficult, awful things, sometimes experiencing first-hand the effects of transphobia and homophobia.

“I am a nurse first. Most of the time when trans kids are in the hospital, it’s because they’ve attempted suicide. The worst thing you can do is misgender them,” Devi said.“So much of nursing is social justice. I wanted to change healthcare from the inside out.”

Outside the hospital, she aims to make sure no one ends up there in the first place.

Like a modern day Joan of Arc, Devi’s resilience and courage makes her seem born to take on the pain, physical and emotional, of others, and to stand up to protect those that need protecting.

“I do not think I’m wired the same way as everyone else. I just try to find the lesson in everything, do what I can to help, and accept what I cannot,” she said. “I do not identify as a Christian, but I do believe in goodness and in karma. I try to be very present for the people I care about.”

After more than two decades of being loud, proud and queer, Devi said she hopes the next generation of young, ambitious and determined queer advocates won’t forget their history.

“When I first came out, we did not have rights. You could lose your job, your housing, for being queer. It was not safe. I feel like queer youth do not understand where they come from, the people that did boots on the ground work for things we take for granted today.”

She added, though, that there’s still plenty of hope for the future, just as long as we remember where we come from.

(Photo credit where due: the first and last are mine - the second and third are Devi’s. The fourth picture is from Twin Cities Pride, by Rebecca Jean Lawrence Photography: and the fifth photo credit goes to Timothy Knox, one of our wonderful volunteer photographers)

[lyrua]

.

[hontokana]

NSRD - Karstvīna Recepte / Uz Pirti / Garām Aiziet Vīrs ar Cigareti (1985, Latvia)

[lena-casagrande]

pāri sliedēm lietū II / crossing the rails in rain II por monokhromov Via Flickr: lens used - helios-44m 58mm flickr colleagues lands.where and elviss jahmonts on the way to Bolderāja. frame from a phototrip to Bolderāja district along railway. a classical walking route of latvian avantgardists, pioneered by art/music collective NSRD in early 80's.

[pleasereturntoheaven]

bleeding heart & evening primprose 🌷

being in love, feeding baby animals, being called a doll, and there is nothing more comforting than a warm cup of coffee and that is just the truth

I don’t sleep listening to music unless someone else is playing it so I’ll just give you my recent favorite songs ꒰｡ › ·̮ ‹ ｡꒱

fka twigs - mary magdalene

aurora - it happened quiet

shitkid - never seen a girl

nsrd - karstvīna recepte

zella day - only a dream

[dopecheddar]

Hardijs Lediņš - Tiny Crabs (STW Premiere) Follow DOPECHEDDAR on Soundcloud

[cluboftigerghost]

Latvian ambient from a core member of avant-garde group NSRD. Out on @mea-late-night-rec. Read more & buy: http://bit.ly/2T2EDBG