Hexlove - "Piją Z Bogiem" 2xCD - DS006

2xCD edition still in store. Listen to it on Spotify:

1-1 Rock Yourself Out Chah Body
1-2 Verse Coarse
1-3 New Quote Lyar
1-4 Herb
1-5 Hickory
1-6 Gamork
1-7 Relax, Live
1-8 Voomers
1-9 Scared Of Hate
1-10 Web Circle Spiral Dust
1-11 The Lake Dies Twice
1-12 Your Ning And Pressing Play
1-13 Boss Quiet

Disc 2-1 She Heals Blister
Disc 2-2 I Have Flight
Disc 2-3 Tropical Boom 3
Disc 2-4 Mocking Bird Totem
Disc 2-5 Mahd
Disc 2-6 Tropical Boom 5
Disc 2-7 Grandpa Okonski's Perpetual Motion Magnet Generator

Press Release:

Beefheart or Eno? Magnetic Fields or Tricky? - Zac Nelson (see his releases on Holy Mountain and Temporary Residence...) comes from Illinois and his way to create music is pretty unique. Divived between impressive instrumental sections, gorgeous almost-feminine vocal parts, explosive drum skills and beautiful melodic inventions, Nelson shows the widest musical range and the best inspiration we ever tasted recently in the underground/indie scene. This is the second CD release from him - a wonderful collection of songs, drum-obsessed jams and crazy pop sketches. Here is an absolutely brilliant manifesto of his art.

Praise for the album:

"Ant here with a very nice opener from Hexlove. This double CD 'Pija Z Bogiem' is the work of Holy Mountain/ Temporary Residence artist Zac Nelson and it's a most pleasant listening experience. It's strange, backwards indie pop music that is simultaneously experimental and accessible. The vocals on the tracks are really unique using lots of effects and with the processing they take on a genderless ghostly quality. There's a wonderful sense of melody running throughout some of the pieces. What a talented writer and musician this guy is. Some of the tunes really evolve and switch dynamics in gloriously en-expected ways. 'Herb' for example just builds in intensity with the drums going beserk and then lots of great synth sounds and squelches. This is a brilliantly unique body of work but if pushed for any reference points think of the early more experimental Animal Collective vocals, the campfire feel of Akron/ Family, Sun Ra cosmik freak out gear and some primal tribal styles. This balances both dark and light elements to create a magical and tripped out listen. This comes highly recommended on Italian label Dreamsheep."
(NORMAN RECORDS - UK)


"This loose little gem, filled with spontaneous liberties, speaks in tongues— and makes for a rewarding experience.
The eclectic Pija Z Bogiem, released on Valerio Cosi's new Dreamsheep label— and which follows in the footsteps of 2008's Knew Abloom on the Holy Mountain label— is a cleverly spastic ride. Its mastermind and sole performer, the loosey goosey Zac Nelson, has managed to create a disjointed affair which continually feels like the music is mining a path of its own, from the subconscious directly to the recording device, entirely fueled by in-the-moment expressions and anxious emotions. It's clear the artist is just waiting to self-implode-explode, but never actually gets there, either deliberately or otherwise— which makes for an instantly rewarding experience.
Because this double disc feels dramatically spontaneous, there are few ways to easily describe a slippery, translucent album like Pija Z Bogiem. Maybe the fact that California-based Nelson is first and foremost a drummer in both Who's Your Favorite Son, God? and Prints has something to do with it. His unconventional and unformulated tendencies certainly strike a chord, and often unravel like guitar decortications, far away from textbook hallucinations. Overall, many of the tracks totter between manic melodic molasses and restless intuitive jambalaya— from the warm off-kilter psychedelic to the drunkenly rhythmic. Either way, this is worth investigating and discovering for yourself, it really is."
(PANPOT.CA)


"Già attivo con un disco su Holy Mountain Records, “Knew Abloom”, dell’anno scorso, Zac Nelson aka Hexlove è uno che fa musica pop senza canzoni. Eh sì, ricordo che nel forum di OndaRock c’era un topic in cui qualcuno chiedeva se fosse mai stato possibile fare musica pop “senza le canzoni”, in riferimento al disco dei Pit Er Pat.
Il buon Nelson ci dimostra che ciò è possibile, come? Utilizzando la ripetizione, gli arrangiamenti e persino le parti melodiche in modo inusuale, creando discrasie e contrasti tra elementi che altrimenti incastrati suonerebbero in tutto e per tutto pop. Spigoli invece di rotondità, frammentazioni invece di continuità, svirgolature quand’anche l’incedere melodioso pare non averne bisogno (ma in realtà ne ha bisogno eccome…). Eppure l’impasto suona gradevole all’ascolto, tanto che i due cd (sì, è un doppio) scivolano via che neanche te ne accorgi.
Alcuni pezzi (“Herb”, Gamork”) poi sono da incorniciare in quanto a inventiva, con l’elettronica usata in modo intelligentemente non invasivo. Se imparerà a dosare meglio le idee (sin troppo debordanti in alcuni frangenti) diventerà un grande..
Gli ultimi e disastrosi Animal Collective dovrebbero imparare qualcosa da questo disco. Ah, dimenticavo, "Pija Z Bogiem" è uscito per la Dreamsheep di Valerio Cosi."
(ONDAROCK)


"Ci sono artisti che sfuggono alle classificazioni e rifuggono dall’essere riconoscibili preferendo percorsi musical-artistici trasversali e misteriosi. Zac Nelson a.k.a. Hexlove fa indubbiamente parte di questa categoria.
Autore di una serie di dischi per etichette come Holy Mountain e Temporary Residence sia in solitario come Hexlove che con altri progetti come Prints e Who’s Your Favorite Son, God?, Nelson sembra essersi ormai stabilizzato con l’attuale moniker. Ciononostante, Nelson ama confondere ulteriormente le acque con altri aka come Faulouah, col quale aveva prodotto lo scorso anno un doppio vinile split, in pratica con se stesso, sdoppiandosi tra i due moniker.
Questo doppio Pija Z Bogiem vede la luce per Dreamsheep, etichetta di un altro personaggio trasversale e al limite del geniale, Valerio Cosi che i lettori di SA ormai dovrebbero conoscere abbastanza bene. E proprio come Cosi, seppur in ambiti stilistici diversi, Hexlove dimostra maturità invidiabile nella commistione di generi e stili, con un approccio realmente personale e sviluppando un muoversi spastico, al limite dell’autistico tra input diversi e variegati. Quelle di Hexlove sono pop-songs, ma non ortodosse, bislacche, post-moderne, testimonianza di un universo musicale in perenne e irrefrenabile espansione. Prendete Herb come pietra di paragone per l’intero album: french sound a la Air + Spacemen 3 + svisate drum&bass in continua acelerazione/decelerazione che si protrae per 15 minuti, inducendo ad una sorta di trance mutante, metà psych-folk, metà electro-digitale.
Gran bel disco. Di quelli che uno si aspetterebbe nelle classifiche di fine anno se solo ci fosse ancora la voglia e il tempo – in tempi di sovraffollamento musicale – per “rischiare” un ascolto impegnativo. Noi abbiamo rischiato senza pentirci assolutamente."
(SENTIREASCOLTARE)


"As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosphere hopes to shed a bit of light and share a bit of information on the up and coming sounds of artists such as Hexlove.
The music of Zac Nelson -- if the term music is really the best descriptor -- engages the mind like brain freeze. It’s fast, cool, and refreshing but the quicker you slurp it through the crazy straw, the more your skull begins to pound and your senses become dull to everything but the piercing throb of slush and cream invading your temperate tubes. The more you try to fight it, the more it beacons. You could try slowing down on your ice cream based treat but if it melts, then so does the delightful cold taste that was the impetus for seeking this particular sweet. So goes Portland-by-way-of Southern Illinois melodymaker, Nelson -- better known by his menu name, Hexlove.
With a treasure trove of small releases under his belt, it happens that Piją Z Bogiem, his second proper full-length released via free jazz frontiersman Valerio Cosi’s Dreamsheep label is his most ambitious and skull-pounding mess of Neapolitan, sprinkles, syrup, slush, and nuts to date. Over the course of 20 songs on two discs, Nelson makes a raucous that blends the pop ambition of Ariel Pink and R. Stevie Moore with the far-out compositions of Frank Zappa and Mark Tucker. Piją Z Bogiem succeeds where like-minded contemporaries, such as Quinn Walker’s equally ambitious but not near as perverse double disc Laughter’s An Asshole/Lion Land crashed and burned. Walker was quick to reign in his ambling, choosing to focus on accessibility rather than the art of creation. Nelson dives head first into the loony bin, collecting every bit of dumpster scrap to fashion his music visions. There are times where it will find you rubbing your forehead in anguish, but more often than not Nelson’s ritualistic recordings will create involuntary loss of motor skills in the most delightful and organic way. Piją Z Bogiem is the ultimate mash-up; layers of instrumentation, samples, loops, and drones compete for center stage only to magically meld into one uniform thought. It’s the next evolution of pop. Nelson forgoes pretense in favor of rhetoric and somehow it holds together. There are moments of annoyance, such as “Scared of Hate,” and “Rock Yourself Out Chah Body,” but more often than not Nelson hits the mother of all sundaes. “She Heals Blisters,” “Web Circle Spiral Dust,” “Relax, Live” and the 15-minute “Herb” will all command repeated listens with their knob-turning distortions, isolated vocals, and tribal rhythms. Piją Z Bogiem is the blueprint for the next batch of pop innovators to follow -- if only they can stop the album long enough to create."
(Justin Spicer - TINY MIX TAPES / AGITATED ATMOSPHERE)