22-10-2010, 11:34
released Oct 19th, 2010
![[Image: o49404lxa8v.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dro400/o494/o49404lxa8v.jpg)
from the album - Sacto Smile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sDx0m7fmNo
from allmusic
Bio
Based out of Sacramento, CA, drummer Zach Hill is best known as half of the adventurous indie rock group Hella, but he has also spent time in Twiggy Ramirez and Chris Goss' project Goon Moon, the experimental supergroup Nervous Cop, and the Ladies with Pinback's Rob Crow, and he often collaborates with guitarist Mick Barr. In 2004 he took steps toward a solo career, with Masculine Drugs being released as a Zach Hill and Holy Smokes album, but the 2006 follow-up, Talk to Your Kids About Gangs, was credited to just Holy Smokes. That same year the unhinged Shred Earthship appeared on the 5 Rue Christine label as a Zach Hill and Mick Barr release. In 2008 he moved to Mike Patton's Ipecac imprint for Astrological Straits, a solo album with guests ranging from Primus' Les Claypool to LCD Soundsystem's Tyler Pope. A vinyl version of the record appeared on the "avanthop" label Anticon. After more collaborations (with Marnie Stern, No Age, Prefuse 73, and Wavves, to name a few), Hill released his second solo album, Face Tat, in 2010.
Album Review
Insanity galore for Zach Hill's sophomore solo outing. The cover, a still from the video for "The Sacto Smile" (which follows a girl beating up everyone and everything in her way), sums up the fiery rampage pretty well. The aforementioned track is Face Tat at its most violent, and features No Age along with Tera Melos guitarist Nick Reinhart bashing crazily with Hill through a wall of static. Fortunately, the album doesnât maintain this berserk pace. But it is ramshackle throughout. Collaborations with indieâs finest crop up constantly, with Devendra Banhart, Guillermo Scott Herren (aka Prefuse 73), Deerhoofâs Greg Saunier (an equally explosive drummer), Hellaâs Carson McWhirter, and Raleigh Moncrieffâs Robby Moncrieff assisting the experimental madman on his sonic mindbender. Face Tat is comparable to 2008âs Astrological Straits in that they both are thoroughly complicated, with deconstructed melodies, constantly changing time signatures, and garbled, effects-heavy production that barely allows the listener to pinpoint exactly what instrument is surfacing. Along with homemade sound effects (which purportedly include recordings of Hill smashing a computer and urinating on a stack of Rolling Stone magazines) there are synth bombs, electronic programming, guitar shredding, and, of course, drum fills throughout. Even amidst the chaos, Face Tat has a new sense of immediacy, and it is a little easier to latch onto songs like âBurner in the Video,â âThe Primitives Talk,â and the excellently sun-warped psycho-ballad âSecond Lifeâ than the material from his first album. When the pieces mesh, the results are dazzling. Even when songs lose sight and flail indulgently, the drumming is astounding. Zach Hill might just be the most prolific drummer of our time (as if his work on Marnie Sternâs third album, released a few weeks earlier, wasnât proof enough). But, on top of this, he is a most unique visionary.
Track Listing
1 Memo to the Man Hill 3:43
2 The Primitives Talk Hill 3:23
3 Ex-Ravers Hill 3:21
4 The Sacto Smile Hill, Randall, Spunt 1:59
5 Green Bricks Hill 2:43
6 House of Hits Hill, Reinhart 4:55
7 Jackers Hill 1:34
8 Burner in the Video Hill, Moncrieff 3:28
9 Dizzy from the Twins Hill 2:24
10 Gross Sales Herren, Hill 2:49
11 Total Recall Hill 3:03
12 Face Tat Hill, McWhirter 3:43
13 Second Life Hill 2:45
from the album - Sacto Smile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sDx0m7fmNo
from allmusic
Bio
Based out of Sacramento, CA, drummer Zach Hill is best known as half of the adventurous indie rock group Hella, but he has also spent time in Twiggy Ramirez and Chris Goss' project Goon Moon, the experimental supergroup Nervous Cop, and the Ladies with Pinback's Rob Crow, and he often collaborates with guitarist Mick Barr. In 2004 he took steps toward a solo career, with Masculine Drugs being released as a Zach Hill and Holy Smokes album, but the 2006 follow-up, Talk to Your Kids About Gangs, was credited to just Holy Smokes. That same year the unhinged Shred Earthship appeared on the 5 Rue Christine label as a Zach Hill and Mick Barr release. In 2008 he moved to Mike Patton's Ipecac imprint for Astrological Straits, a solo album with guests ranging from Primus' Les Claypool to LCD Soundsystem's Tyler Pope. A vinyl version of the record appeared on the "avanthop" label Anticon. After more collaborations (with Marnie Stern, No Age, Prefuse 73, and Wavves, to name a few), Hill released his second solo album, Face Tat, in 2010.
Album Review
Insanity galore for Zach Hill's sophomore solo outing. The cover, a still from the video for "The Sacto Smile" (which follows a girl beating up everyone and everything in her way), sums up the fiery rampage pretty well. The aforementioned track is Face Tat at its most violent, and features No Age along with Tera Melos guitarist Nick Reinhart bashing crazily with Hill through a wall of static. Fortunately, the album doesnât maintain this berserk pace. But it is ramshackle throughout. Collaborations with indieâs finest crop up constantly, with Devendra Banhart, Guillermo Scott Herren (aka Prefuse 73), Deerhoofâs Greg Saunier (an equally explosive drummer), Hellaâs Carson McWhirter, and Raleigh Moncrieffâs Robby Moncrieff assisting the experimental madman on his sonic mindbender. Face Tat is comparable to 2008âs Astrological Straits in that they both are thoroughly complicated, with deconstructed melodies, constantly changing time signatures, and garbled, effects-heavy production that barely allows the listener to pinpoint exactly what instrument is surfacing. Along with homemade sound effects (which purportedly include recordings of Hill smashing a computer and urinating on a stack of Rolling Stone magazines) there are synth bombs, electronic programming, guitar shredding, and, of course, drum fills throughout. Even amidst the chaos, Face Tat has a new sense of immediacy, and it is a little easier to latch onto songs like âBurner in the Video,â âThe Primitives Talk,â and the excellently sun-warped psycho-ballad âSecond Lifeâ than the material from his first album. When the pieces mesh, the results are dazzling. Even when songs lose sight and flail indulgently, the drumming is astounding. Zach Hill might just be the most prolific drummer of our time (as if his work on Marnie Sternâs third album, released a few weeks earlier, wasnât proof enough). But, on top of this, he is a most unique visionary.
Track Listing
1 Memo to the Man Hill 3:43
2 The Primitives Talk Hill 3:23
3 Ex-Ravers Hill 3:21
4 The Sacto Smile Hill, Randall, Spunt 1:59
5 Green Bricks Hill 2:43
6 House of Hits Hill, Reinhart 4:55
7 Jackers Hill 1:34
8 Burner in the Video Hill, Moncrieff 3:28
9 Dizzy from the Twins Hill 2:24
10 Gross Sales Herren, Hill 2:49
11 Total Recall Hill 3:03
12 Face Tat Hill, McWhirter 3:43
13 Second Life Hill 2:45