Falloch - Where Distant Spirits Remain

Artist: Falloch
Album: Where Distant Spirits Remain
Release: 2011
Genre: Folk Metal/ Post-Black Metal
Rating: 100%. Close your eyes, drift away.


Formed in 2010 following the dissolution of Askival, and promptly picked up by Candlelight Records (a label who has brought to the table countless noteworthy works by such artists as Opeth, Anaal Nathrakh, Altar of Plagues, Blut aus Nord, Winterfylleth, Emperor, Wodensthrone, and so the list goes), Falloch's debut release is a shining example of just how quickly an album can soar above the overcrowded valleys of mediocrity, up into the cerulean paragon.

Rising from the ashes of Askival and fettering themselves to a label well known for its black metal proficiency, one might have expected a furthering of these musical ideals. This couldn't be further from the truth. Shedding the hardened carapace and aligning their music to the likes of Solefald, Sólstafir and Alcest, Andy Marshall and company have settled comfortably into the ever-expanding realm of post-black metal.

Named for Scotland's striking Falls of Falloch, every second of "Where Distant Spirits Remain" exudes each drop of water that fell in its inspiration. Never losing its energy, the album explores vast regions of sound and influence. Each song elegantly weaving instruments into a vibrant tapestry. From the interlaced acoustic guitars and swelling drums of "We are Gathering Dust", to the emotion-laden tremolo/tin whistle union of "Beyond Embers and The Earth". The third track, "Horizons", fades into a stunning pan-flute and bodhrán soundscape, before rupturing again into the elegant, driving rhythm's of "Where We Believe". Few musical stones are left unturned here, with shades of Agalloch, Alcest, Primordial and Logh flowing seamlessly around one another.

With but two short months left on the docket, "Where Distant Spirits Remain" will more than likely close out 2011 as album of the year. Close your eyes, drift away... silently.

Astronautalis-This Is Our Science

Astronautalis

This Is Our Science

Ⓟ2011 Fake Four Inc.

Rating: 8/10

Musical schizophrenia. Some times, it’s a bad thing. Actually, most of the time it’s a bad thing, an artist trying to do too many things at once. But some times a musical act draws influence and inspiration from so many different people and genres and locations and life situations, it makes for one massively frenetic, erratic beautiful mess. Astronautalis happens to be the latter. If you look him up on last.fm his “popular tags” are listed as hip-hop, indie rock, and experimental. Based on his latest release, This Is Our Science, I’m not sure I would agree with any of them. Are there elements of all three on the album? Yes. Absolutely, yes (although, I don’t really agree with indie rock as a genre at all. Indie rock, what does that even mean? You released an album independently? Or you’re trying to sound like you released an album independently? And experimental? That’s just because someone couldn’t shove him under some genre umbrella). Sorry. Tangent. But, honestly, Astronautalis would be hard to shelve at a music store. I suppose Pop/Rock would be best, because, let’s face it, it’s the catch-all section. All I have to say, if they had a “Leah Really Likes This” section, it would probably be the first place to have it’s own display (and if it happened in the next couple of weeks).

But you write hip-hop reviews! you say? Well don’t get me wrong, if there was one genre I would use to describe him to a friend (or you, the reader, as in right now), hip-hop, I suppose, would be it. Astronautalis, in fact, raps in most of his songs. He’s known for his rhyme skills, but after listening to this album, he really doesn’t seem limited in his musical voice. He sings in all of his songs as well, and some of them involve no rap at all. In Life The Curse, the final track on the album, I swear he channels Tom Waits. It took me aback the first time I listened to the album the whole way through. That distinct deep low growl resonating from my speakers.

If I’m having a hard time getting my point across, the best description I can give you, is that This Is Our Science sounds like something I’ve been listening to for years. In no way is it dated or played out, but Astronautalis knows how to use the breadth of his multitude of styles and how to play them off of each other. As he bounces around musically from track to track, he’s creating a feel that’s....familiar. And good, quite good.

Oh, Astronautalis. Apparently, he’s been around since 2003. Printing You & Yer Good Ideas and selling it exclusively at shows. He got picked up by Fighting Records and they reissued it in 2005 and two more albums before this. Sometimes music doesn’t make it in popularity across the border north (and the same in reverse) until it’s already on the decline. That point when the artist peaks and releases some of his best work, which sets the bar too high and he/she/they can’t seem to top it for the rest of their career and everyone accuses them of selling out or not being as great as they once thought they were. I’m in no way saying this is the case with Astronautalis, I’m saying that I hope it isn’t.

THROWBACK: Wire-Pink Flag

Wire

Pink Flag

Ⓟ1977 EMI

Rating: Throwback

Every once and a while, for whatever reason, you discover a band or an album that has apparently been around for a very long time but, somehow, has seemingly gone unnoticed by you...well, me, I guess is what I’m saying. And this doesn’t happen to me very often (when it comes to music, quality related television programs slip through my fingers all the time). The only reason I say that is because, growing up, I was extremely fortunate to have the type of father who introduced me to more music than I possibly will ever discover for myself. He had (and still does, actually) the biggest CD collection I’ve ever seen, and our house, was a house, that when you woke up on a weekend morning, or came home from a friends house, the front door was wide open, and music would be spilling out into the street. Now, as you can imagine, this had a bit of an effect (and an affect) on myself and my two brothers. My brothers, being older than me by 5 years, and again by 9, making quite the age gap when you’re growing up, also ended up having a significant influence on the music I listen to, or have even heard. These are three distinct and massive generation gaps, so like I said, there is a rare occasion when I am surprised to find that a band from, oh the 70s, let’s say, that is completely unbeknownst to me. So when it happens and I get excited, I’ve decided to implement the throwback review.

Wire, a recent discovery thanks to a very good friend of mine and a Facebook post he made on his own wall. It was the track Mannequin from Wire’s first studio album Pink Flag. As it turns out, (even though I have only submitted hip hop reviews for this blog) I’m a massive punk fan, it was the first genre of music that I got to claim as my own, which neither my father nor my brother’s could hold any sway over what I listened to (youth in revolt...of a very encouraging non-judgmental environment, I might add). Now, technically, people consider Wire to fall under the post-punk, new wave genres, but, Pink Flag was released in 1977, smack dab in the middle of the punk movement, so for all intents and purposes, I’m calling this album punk.

I’ve done some reading since downloading the album and, it turns out, Wire is considered to be a major influence, coming out of the London in ’76. Pink Flag definitely reflects the first wave of British punk. It’s minimalistic and fast paced, as all good classic punk is (the longest track on the album being is 3:58), short bursts of attitude. Personally, I love this original style of punk, and appreciate it, not simply for nostalgic purposes, but for the energy it insights in the listeners. But aside from that, you can clearly hear the origins of post punk coming through on the tracks, with actual tempo changes and the tiniest bit of harmony on some of the vocal tracks.

This whole album is right up my alley and all kinds of good. It’s amazing sometimes that when you’re looking to find really good music, it’s been there the whole time.

Grieves-Together/Apart

Grieves

Together/Apart

ⓅRhymesayers Entertainment, LLC

Rating: 8.5/10

Okay, enough is enough. I’ve been staring at this document for almost a month trying to write this review and I’m not really sure why. I like this album and I like Grieves. How much do I like Grieves? I like him, I like him a lot. He’s probably one of the best rappers you’ve never heard of. But for some reason I just can’t seem to put this into words. He’s melodic and moody and his type of hip-hop isn’t necessarily the kind you sing along with, but damn does it make you listen. His lyrics and tracks paint images in your head of baggy jeans, ball hats, and wearing your hood up, walking around the downtown streets of some faceless city, just trying to blend in while you work through your thoughts. Cathartic, comes to mind. Together/Apart is sort of a diary for Grieves, somewhere to work through the relationship problems that come from promoting a budding recording career and consistently being on the road. I guess that’s a common theme in blossoming artists, but Grieves never makes it sounds self-pitying, as so many do. Moody? Yes. Depressing? Hardly.

This is Grieves second studio album and, I have to admit, I haven’t had all that much experience with his first, 88 Keys and Counting. Both have come out to critical acclaim and both run along the same vein, soulful but grittier than the track polishing we’re used to hearing on so many hip hop albums nowadays. Not to say that the tracks on Together/Apart sound haphazard or even a carbon copy to his first release, Grieves is distinctive in his sound, mixing his rap with his own low raspy singing, a voice which hardly belongs to a 27 year old white boy. A blend of keys, horns, percussion, and strings, mixed with Grieves poetic and personal lyrics, it makes for the best kind of hip hop.

I could go into detail about each track, but honestly, they’re all standouts. However, I will say the first track, Light Speed, really sets the pace for the album. A low tempo track with simple hand claps in the background, the lyrics giving nod to his days from childhood and all the steps that led to the present (the present being the time he sits down to write this song, literally), “It’s so simple, Superman, trick or treat, wet socks, bike rides in the summer to the best spots, could’ve sworn I was king of the best odds.” and “Started working on things that had lost all reason, now I’m sitting with a pad, moving so fast.” Setting tempo and mood, the rest of the tracks are just as mellow and personal.

Really, I’m not sure what there’s left to say about Together/Apart. Just give a listen. Hopefully, you’ll understand what it is that leaves me at a loss for words because, again, I can’t seem to describe the feeling.

Pyha - The Haunted House

Artist: Pyha (Korean for "Ruined")
Album: The Haunted House
Release: 2008 (Yeah, yeah I don't do 'fresh' reviews)
Genre: Depressive/Atmospheric Black Metal (and probably the grimiest yet)
Rating: 98% Dense and intense.


Welcome folks to an abhorrent, fifty-three minute nightmare. An agony of static and wretch fueled by a deep hatred of corruption and war. The atmosphere from start to finish both stimulating, and absolutely crushing. Devoid in its entirety of hope; stripping away emotion until you`re left with the barren tundras of loss and anathema. And this, from a Korean eighth-grader?

When the great tUMULt Laboratories first announced it was re-releasing this adolescent basement suffocation, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect (but I can assure you it was nothing positive). But the moment you open the jewel case and slide out the insert, you are struck with troubling images of a stark brutality; war. Sepia toned images of death and destruction. One image of a man hopelessly clutching the lifeless form of a friend; another of thousands fleeing from a fire-laden street. Terror, sorrow, rage, hatred, cruelty. From the first ninety seconds of the opening track "Appulyi", there was promise. Promise that, before the final few scarring seconds of the three part "Hyunnga is a Tangled Story" ticked away, was abruptly thrown into a chaotic pit of distortion and bare-bones, lo-fi odium. From the marrow-chilling vocal layers of the fifth track, "Song of the Elderly", to the eerily skeletal "Seomak" and "Message From Heaven", to easily the most driving 'black metal' track on the album, "After the Aliens", Pyha explores the foulest corners of struggle and emotional deprecation. Very nearly every second of this album is spent buzzing the red, pulsating continuously, breaking from the pained screams and doom-laden groans only for a few anguished keyboard interludes of the warmachine; for weeping mothers and terrified children.

How something so intense, so dissolute, could reside in the heart of a juvenile is well far and beyond me. Perhaps the most emotionally capturing, breathtaking, apalling album I have had the (dis)pleasure of listening to. It's albums like this that fuel my continued search to dive deeper into the obscure chasms of music. The vast fjord's of sound wherein lie the rarest of harmonious gems. Pyha, a bleakness, an utter darkness no obsidian, nor onyx, could match.

Braid - Closer to Closed

Braid

Closer to Closed

Polyvynil (2011)

There I was, minding my own business, trying to stalk people I barely know on Facebook, when an ad caught my eye. Now, the ads on Facebook are usually of no consequence to me: I don’t need to chat with women that don’t exist, buy a condo, or drink Coors Light. This ad was different, however. It proudly proclaimed that Braid, a band that I’d loved quite a bit in my late teens, had gotten back together and that they had released a new EP! This was all very confusing to me, both because I didn’t really expect them to get back together, and because a Facebook ad might finally be relevant to my interests.

Braid was not the first of the mid-90’s emo bands that I used to love when I was just out of high school and was still pretty awkward around girls to attempt a comeback. The Get Up Kids had a similar idea, and I was pretty unimpressed.  The thing about Braid being back together that concerned me is that – much like the Get Up Kids - I didn’t really like much of their latter-career material. I did rather enjoy their posthumous live album “Lucky to Be Alive,” even the songs that were written as the band was kind of imploding, but that was likely due to the energy of the band’s final shows.

There was also the matter of Hey Mercedes, a band that contained 3/4ths of the members of Braid, and they started off strong with “Everynight Fire Works” and then kind of trailed off as well. With all this middling quality output, it was understandable for my enthusiasm to be tempered. In fact, upon reading the news that Braid were back together, I was much more excited about seeing a band I never got to see play some songs that I used to like a lot than any of the new material. Upon listening to Closer to Closed, it seems as though my initial inclinations were sadly correct.

The four song EP starts off with “The Right Time,” which, sadly, features Chris Broach singing. Some of my favorite Braid moments are when Chris Broach yells things. Chris Broach is really good at yelling things, even just things like “Yeah!” Sadly, he is not a tremendously talented singer, and he does not yell a single thing on this EP. Other than Chris’ singing, the rest of the song just sounds a lot like Hey Mercedes’ latter output, albeit with sparser production. One of the major differences between Hey Mercedes and Braid was always that Braid had much more of an edge; Hey Mercedes were far poppier, but somehow that worked for them. Unfortunately it seems like Closer to Closed straddles the line between the two bands, and somehow comes off sounding neither edgy nor poppy.

Fortunately, guitarists Broach and Bob Nanna do often seem to slip comfortably back into their familiar guitar interplay, and they always played off one another tremendously well. The drumming and bass are mostly forgettable, but that was always kind of the case with Braid anyways. The EP’s standout track is definitely “Universe or Worse” which comes across as a poppier version of one of Braid’s old slow songs – Think “Capricorn” with some syncopation and some “oohs” in the background.

Still, on repeated listens, I can’t help but shake the feeling that this EP isn’t really terrible - it just isn’t Braid. Despite the thought that I was entering into listening to this album with low expectations, I have let my own preconceived notions of what Braid sound like get the better of me. It’s like being excited about going on a date with an ex you haven’t seen in a long time. Once you actually go on the date you often find that you don’t really like who they’ve become, you were just really into who they used to be.

The Cool Kids-When Fish Ride Bicycles

The Cool Kids

When Fish Ride Bicycles

Ⓟ2011 Green Label Sound

Rating: 4/10

Le sigh. I really had high hopes for this album. To be honest, I wasn’t even aware The Cool Kids had released an album until my insomnia induced internet surfing pointed it out to me. Based on their EP, The Bake Sale, I would’ve considered myself a Cool Kids fan, in fact, I claimed on several occasions that I was, even declared it on Facebook by ‘Like’-ing them (which is the only way to declare something officially), but now, with the release of When Fish Ride Bicycles, I’m not so sure.

Unlike it’s predecessor, When Fish Ride Bicycles lacks in...well, it just lacks. It’s mediocre at best. There does not appear to be a single track on the album that stands out to me. Truthfully, the beats are still distinctly The Cool Kids-esque, but completely toned down (which is what you get for signing on Pharrel as your producer, err, cough, ahem), which, I guess, had a direct affect on the writing? And, yes, I am posing that as a question because I honestly have no ides. Being that I obviously don’t know the boys (and most likely never will), I can’t even begin to fathom what happened. Was The Bake Sale EP just a fluke? I could’ve sworn there was exceptionality in this duo. With references in their lyrics to N.W.A. and even to their own tracks back and forth on the EP AAAND rhymes like “...just an F.Y.I., I’m F-L-Y, and for those who can’t spell I’m a pretty swell guy...” and “What it is, what it is, come check the noise, it’s the new black version of the Beastie Boys. Chuck-ie, Mikey, some dudes don’t like me. Don’t care. I’m dope, they lame, so bite me.”; I believed them! But maybe I was fooled.

The whole of When Fish Ride Bycicles album seems slowed down, almost muted. I just can’t seem to get behind any of it. If you’re still curious, even after this gloooowing review, I suppose the tracks you should check out are Sour Apples (featuring Travis Barker), Swimsuits (featuring Mayer Hawthorne), and Roll Call (featuring Asher Roth, Chip Tha Rippa, and Boldy James). They would be the catchiest tracks on the album. Sour Apples sounds most like a Cool Kids track with guest star Travis Barker (of Blink 182 and mad skillz fame) backing on drums. I’m not a huge Barker fan (to be honest, I find him a bit overrated, dun dun dun) but he definitely adds the bounce it needs, without over shinning the lyric work. Next up is Swimsuits; catchy enough, but nothing special. And, finally, Roll Call; actually, one of my least favourite tracks on the album, but should be checked out for the lyric work that Asher Roth puts in. I feel like Roth got written off because of I Love College, a single release set up to make him a one hit wonder, and people seemed lumped him in as the next Eminem simply because the boy is white. Well, the kid’s got his own style and skill, and more people need to know about it.

So, what have I learned form this experience? You can’t assume you’re going to like the next release from an artist even though you feel like you’ve gotten to know them so well over the years (27 plays of The Bake Sale EP on the iTunes, not including the iPod or the reset when I switched computers), but I guess I should’ve learned that by now, I have been buying my own music for almost 19 years. Shit happens.

Howlin' Wolf- Moanin' in the Moonlight

In 1951, the Chess brothers purchased two singles from their newly formed associate Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service titled "Moanin' at Midnight" and "How Many More Years". The Chess brothers quickly moved Chester "Howlin' Wolf" Burnett and his band to Chicago. It would be a long five years before Wolf perfected another song they had recorded in 1951, then entitled "Cryin at Daybreak" into the instant classic "Smokestack Lightning," which had been within Wolfs' repertoire  since the 1930's (although constantly refined). Four more years would pass before the album was fully formed and released.

This is a true blues album. From the first song (the title track Moanin' at Midnight) through both sides to the end, Wolf steals the show with his raw guttural voice and namesake howls. The primary guitarist of the album, Hubert Sumlin demonstrates the frantic yet depressed fury of notes risen from racial Southern states during the depression coupled with sudden piercing silences yet all wound around masterful and nearly reckless rythmic suspension that would later make him a major influence on several very skilled guitarists (Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughn all citing him so.) Willie Dixon (famed for writing several of the Chess songs that would shape the Chicago blues sound as well as working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly to later form the basis of Rock and Roll) is featured prominently as a bassist throughout the album. Willie Johnson (a long time Wolf collaborator and future Muddy Waters guitarist), Hosea Lee Kennard, and Earl Phillips round out the band Wolf had assembled for the majority of the album (although several other notables did work on the album as well, included Ike Turner playing piano on "How Many More Years".)

The true drawing feature of this album is the single "Smokestack Lightning" which Wolf had begun work on in the 30's. Its earlier versions featured more of a Delta blues chord structure with a slower time structure and less dominant harmonic playing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs6cTV1L7UQ). Tweaking a few words and incorporating Sumlins' guitar lick, Smokestack Lightning quickly took shape. With the addition of standard blues piano and drum pieces, cutting back on the use of the harmonica, as well as bringing it to the forefront of the track alongside the vocals, the song is a classic example of '50s blues.

Another of my favorite songs from this is the fourth song on the second side "I asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)". Although no other song compares to Smokestack Lightning in terms of listen-ability, there isnt a weak song on the album. It is, quite literally, Eleven good songs and One great song.

Overall: 10/10

I would recommend buying a Howlin' Wolf greatest hits compilation but the serious Blues affectionate would do well to invest in this album.

I wanted to throw in something like "Mixes Delta blues with Chicago blues in a previously unseen fashion" somewhere in here but I couldnt find a place or better wording. This is exactly what it does though, it is the first album, that Ive yet heard, to mix the two earliest goliaths of blues music.

BlakRoc - BlakRoc

BlakRoc

BlakRoc

Ⓟ2009 BlakRoc LLC

Rating: 9/10

BlakRoc, to explain, is a rap/rock collaboration between The Black Keys and various hip-hop artists. And when I say (not to quote myself) “various hip-hop artists,” I don’t mean your erryday, run-of-the-mill, bitches and hoe-ing, club traxx-ing, pimp juicing hip-hop artists we hear excessively, and unfortunately, nowadays. These are the artists true to the craft; the artists that boys like Nas rap about. The real heavy hitters. The ones that white girls like me, can listen to and try and understand where they’re coming from because they’re poetic with their rhymes. This is what I live for, when it comes to music. A sound and a feeling behind the music that I can grab onto; when the musicians, artists, and producers are just as excited about what they’re doing, as we are when we listen to it. I guess by now, you can tell where I’m going with this review. So, where to begin?

The Black Keys are doing what they do best, on this album. Playing the base heavy, organ tempered, soul-laden tunes that you imagine coming out of dimly lit, smoke heavy bars of the late sixties and seventies that a girl like me would’ve been talked out of going to at that time of age. Don’t misunderstand me, from what I said above. The Black Keys need serious accolades for this album. They recorded all the music previous to even meeting the artists that appear. All the lyrics came after. It wasn’t until they joined forces with Damon Dash (executive produce and co-founder of Rock-A-Fella records) did everyone agree to sign on. I highly recommend watching the ‘webisodes’ that are available on www.blakroc.com, it gives you a full behind the scenes picture of what went on. Most of the lyrics were written the day of recording, just whatever the visiting artist gleaned from the music. You can see all the guys like Mos Def, Jim Jones, and Raekwon get excited by what they hear. You get a real idea of the way Q-Tip works, layering, and working off his own rhymes. Billy Danze was originally asked to appear on Dollaz & Sense, but got overly excited when he heard what was already recorded for What You Do To Me.

The stand out song is definitely Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) featuring Mos Def and Jim Jones. Mos sings with soul and Jim Jones’ rhymes are smooth as can be. His deep and layered voice convinces you when he rhymes words like ‘been’ and ‘wind,’ and ‘petals’ and ‘ghetto,’ effortlessly. The best line in my opnion?: “Being humble is a hard quality to achieve when your ego is crazy with no modesty.” But there are a lot of shiners other than this leading single. Stay Off The Fuckin’ Flowers featuring Raekwon is a personal favourite, as well as Hope You’re Happy featuring Billy Danze, Nicole Wray, and Q-Tip; mixing Q-Tip’s peppered rhymes with Billy Danze’s angry vibrato and Nicole Wray’s heavy vocals. You also shouldn’t miss Coochie featuring Ludacris and O.D.B. (yes, O.D.B) and Done Did It featuring, self-proclaimed king of hip-hop, Jay-Z, both of which are only available on the CD printing, not the iTunes version.

Overall, I was so impressed with this album (which I was only recently informed of it’s existence) that I wrote a review of it 2 years after it’s original release. The artists successfully combine two genres of music I adore and do it with credibility on both ends. Now all I’m waiting for is a follow up.

Хлад - Власть Зимы (A Brief Review for a Delightfully Brief Album)

Artist: Хлад
Album: Власть Зимы
Release: 2010
Genre: Ambient Black Metal
Rating: 90%. Short and sweet.

The cacophony of liquored voice (muffled only by the thin drywall separating my roommates from myself), interlaced with laughter and the steady hollow bounce of ping pong ball meeting masonite table. With pen and pad in hand, I rest my iPod in its dock, and fill the room with the enchanting melodies of Власть Зимы.

We are met head-on by a full arrangement of instruments; soft tremolo, a subtle keyboard soundscape, all glued together by the drive of Ivan's pulsating drumming. No intro to speak of, which is somewhat unorthodox considering the musical path Хлад guides you along throughout the album. Already, there is a defining Russian quality resonating through the music. Stunning, and often joyous keyboard pieces are elegantly interwoven, starkly contrasting the fundamentally black metal structuring of the album. From the albums first track, Власть Зимы, to its finale (and outro), Светлая Скорбь, there is a distinct emotional evolution. The music carries you from the darker, more cliched black metal found on the first two tracks, ever so slowly into the feelings of hope you are left to ponder when the last few notes fade into silence.

Born of a country whose black metal scene is heavily dominated by self-produced, solo-project, basement musicians (the majority of whom probably should, and likely will, remain as such), Russia's Хлад truly is a diamond in the rough.

Battles - Gloss Drop

Battles

Gloss Drop

Warp (2011)

I guess I just don’t get Battles. Their debut, Mirrored, landed with quite a splash, earning a generous helping of critical acclaim, and it seemed like a bunch of my friends liked it. People over at other music review websites were pretty quick to heap praise on it, and while I admit that the level of musicianship was extremely high, and it had some pretty good tracks on it, (Atlas, for one) but overall, I didn’t really like it. I didn’t particularly enjoy listening to it. Unfortunately, for me, Gloss Drop has a lot of the same issues.

I typically enjoy Post and Math-Rock, labels that are often applied to Battles, but perhaps the problem there is genre definition more than anything else, and both genres are fairly encompassing. I quite like guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams former band, Don Caballero, but to me, the bands do not sound much alike. I think the problem might just be me, though. To me, the songs often drag, and do not hold my attention, so it might just be my short attention span. When I took a break from focusing on the album and did something else (read: played shining force) while listening, I found myself bobbing my head to some of the tracks, so maybe they’re not meant to be listened to, they’re meant to be put on in the background.

I have absolutely no issues with the musicianship and production of this record; they’re all amazing musicians. John Stainer’s drumming is so tight one can’t help but wonder if he’s actually a robot. Even without Tyondai Brixton, zany sounds abound, and I can’t be certain which instrument is making a lot of these sounds. It is clear that a great deal of attention was paid to making this album sound… well, weird.

Since “singer” Brixton has left the band, Battles have opted to ally with a bunch of guest vocalists. These collaborations are some of the high points of the album. “Ice Cream”, which features European dance producer Matias Aguayo, is essentially a straight-ahead pop song, albeit a pretty strange one with really good drumming. For some reason, Gary Numan’s vocal turn on “My Machines” really reminds me of TV on the radio’s Tunde Adebimpe – or should that be that it just made me realize that Adebimpe sounds like Numan? “Sweetie and Shag” - which features Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino – finds the band in as relaxed a mood as I’ve ever heard them, and it actually suits them fairly well. Of the collaborations, only the album closer “Sundome” falls flat, as the Boredoms’ Yamantanka Eye basically just yells like some kind of an alien, vocoded reggae singer over top of a riff that gets pretty tedious after seven minutes.

“Wall Street” is the definite standout of the album for me, it being the only track that actually rocks, and it brings an intensity that isn’t really found on the rest of the album. Battles’ forays into latin-influenced territory, “Dominican Fade” and “Inchworm” don’t really work for me, with the steel drum sounds getting jumbled together, and by the end of each of the songs, pretty boring.

I think I’m probably the wrong person to be reviewing this album, really. If you are one of those people who thought that Mirrored was the best thing since sliced bread, then you’ll probably like Gloss Drop, too. Even as a three piece, they still sound like Battles – and I still don’t really like them.

-Ian Baker

Beastie Boys-Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Beastie Boys

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Ⓟ2011 Capitol Records

Rating: 6.5/10

I might get a lot of flak for this, considering their fans and considering this is my first official album review, but the Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (HSC Part Two) ended up a lot like prom night (well, mine anyways); a lot of hype and anticipation, and nothing really happens in the end. After 7 years since To The 5 Boroughs was released, a lot of people (myself included) were waiting with eager anticipation for the original b-boys to make their comeback. And, sadly, it falls a little short. The boys seem to have lost it, whatever ‘it’ was in the first place.

I’ll admit, the first single, ‘Make Some Noise’, holds strong. With a catchy hook and a genius marketing plan, Beastie Boys fans couldn’t get enough. Honestly, the Make Some Noise video has almost every popular/talented actor they could get a hold of, and the first time I watched it, I bounced up and down in my seat like a 8 year old girl watching a Justin Beiber video. The song production is in classic Beastie Boys style with a mix of drums and turn tables, the beat makes your head bob, and the boys’ lyrics almost draw out your own inner b-boy, with simple rhyme time and scheme that makes you rap along. That is, if you can understand what they’re saying. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with Adrock’s recent surgery, so I’d just like to clarify, I’m not trying to be insensitive, but the boys seem to have taken to distorting their voices throughout the entire album. Sometimes there’s an effect that adds emphasis to a particular lyric, which is not anything new to their production style, but mostly it just sounds like the boys have tapped pillows to their faces and are attempting to rap through them in the recording studio. This effect adds nothing to the album overall and I actually find it particularly annoying.

None of the other tracks really stand out on the rest of the album, unfortunately. The Beastie Boys have lost their collective flow when it comes to lyric writing. A lot of the time it feels choppy and that they’ve chosen certain words simply because they rhyme. In my opinion, ‘Say It’ is probably their strongest showing, with the exception of ‘Make Some Noise’, and ‘Crazy Ass Shit’ follows at a close second. They hold true to what the Beastie Boys do best, while still sounding fresh. There’s a throwback to the punk rock days in ‘Lee Majors Come Again’, and ‘Don’t Play No Game I Can’t Win’ featuring Santigold sounds more like a Santigold song featuring the Beastie Boys.

I’m a little upset, I really wanted to like HSC Part Two. I would consider myself one of the more devoted Beastie Boys fans out of anyone I know, perhaps besides my oldest brother who turned me onto them when I was 7 or 8 in the first place. Overall, I’d give it an ‘A’ for effort, but the whole thing just never really came together. Perhaps it might be a case of over-production, which now that I think about it, seems entirely plausible since the whole album essentially had been recorded 2009. Anyways. Solid effort put for by the boys, but lacks the magic that used to take place, and in my opinion hasn’t been around since Hello Nasty.

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Mogwai

Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Sub Pop (2011)

Poor Mogwai. Rarely does a band arrive fully formed, but when Mogwai released Young Team all the way back in 1997, it sounded like they’d been playing post rock all their lives. Somehow, now that they’ve been playing post rock for a good portion of their lives, they’re not doing it as well. Most bands have a fairly predicable career arc: it takes them a little while to find their sound, and then release the best material of their career (unfortunately, usually limited to an album or two). After that, bands usually release album after album of attempts to recapture that former glory, and sometimes these albums are pretty good, but typically they’re not fooling anybody. Of course, there are many exceptions to the path I’ve just laid out, with bands like Radiohead releasing pretty amazing material through their entire careers, and other bands that no one likes to talk about that have never released a single good album.

So where does that leave Mogwai, a band that climaxed too soon? Surely they realize that it is doubtful they will ever write a song that is as good as Mogwai Fear Satan again, and yet they keep writing new songs. You can’t blame them, though, because they’ve released some pretty good material since, actually. Rock Action, specifically, holds a special place in my heart, even if it has nowhere near the significance of Young Team. Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will falls somewhere in the middle of their post-Young Team offerings.

Hardcore doesn’t really do a lot to advance Mogwai’s sound, but they lay down some excellent melodies on a few tracks, and their trademark - the slow build that has become typical of post-rock – is found in a few places on the album, including standouts “Death Rays” and “White Noise.” Unfortunately, though, the band’s forays into heavier material – something that’s usually worked for them in the past – don’t quite come together.  Tracks like “San Pedro” and “Too Raging To Cheers” just end up getting mired in the sludge and sounding dirgey, without much emotional payoff. Mogwai also make fairly liberal use of vocoder on this album, and every time it appears it’s really just annoying and distracting. “You’re Lionel Richie” comes close to recapturing their former glory as it builds into a pretty bombastic climax, but is still missing something.

Actually, the best track on Hardcore is “How To Be a Werewolf”, because it’s free of any sort of gimmick. When they drop the idea of trying to be heavy and just try and make something beautiful, it really works. Hey, maybe I’ve just come up with a new career arc for Mogwai. I doubt they’ll listen to me, but I’ve never released anything as good as Young Team, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt - for now.

-Ian Baker

Sterbend - Dwelling Lifeless

Someone asked me an interesting question the other day. How is it that I could possibly enjoy most of the music I listen to? In this was implied, I'm sure, the more refined question of how I could enjoy black metal or any of its vast sub-genres. It wasn't the first time I had been posed this query. It was simply the first time I realized a true answer. An answer in the form of an album.

Artist: Sterbend

Album: Dwelling Lifeless

Release: April 13, 2006

Genre: DSBM

Rating: 86%. A despairing masterpiece

Akin to the likes of Burzum, Nyktalgia, and Silencer, Germany-based Sterbend's debut album, Dwelling Lifeless, has quickly found itself comfortably worn in my disc tray. Although pretty well your "drawing inside the lines" dsbm as far as any definition would go, the album still seems to fulfill a void that had, by and large, gone unnoticed. Nothing exceptional, just exceptionally well done.

We open the case, pop out the disc, and slip it into the player, where we are met by a cold, dim ensemble of howling wolves, breathy whispers, rain, and an oddly enchanting keyboard piece. Interesting, but not entirely a foreshadowing of what is to follow. My first listen had me more pondering their abrupt genre-shift into something more along the lines of Cradle of Filth than anything remotely dsbm. These thoughts quickly evaporated upon hearing the first note of "Depressing Paths Through Fullmoon Forests", our journeys second stop. Steady riffs and lamenting wails, all backed by the pulsating drums and inspired cymbal work of Winterheart. This, far from monotonously, carrying through for about an hour and some change to "Endtime Sermon", where it is not until the last bitter chord that we once again find warmth in our hearts. An album desiring only to project unto our own a world entirely devoid of light, as one wandering through the unforgiving landscapes of a forest shrouded in darkness. Desiring and delivering.

Fäulnis - Gehirn zwischen wahn und sinn

Artist: Fäulnis

Album: Gehirn zwischen wahn und sinn

Release: May 29, 2009

Genre: (Experimental) Black Metal

Rating: A solid 90%. A definite worthwhile album.

Fuck, where do I begin here. I find myself so lost in the schizophrenic abstrusity that is "Gehirn zwischen wahn und sinn". This album ignores all of that which I have garnered black metal to be. Utter hopelessness wrapped in an almost inexplicably esoteric beauty. Unorthodox? Yes. Obscure? Certainly. Good? Fuck yeah.

The album opens with MorgenGrauen, and more specifically an abyssal wail that surely, if you are anything like myself, can only lead to good things. From there, the bass drops explosively, and we are thrown into an audio assault of the mind. We constantly flash between black metal and sludge; DSBM and doom. From the expected to the irrational. A band with more potentially assumed influences than Ween. If I were to attempt a comparison, Agrypnie would be what first comes to mind. And that is purely for the spontaneity of them both. On a solely musical basis, Fäulnis has clearly constructed for themselves a niche dissimilar to anything I have heard. The vocals are what truly solidified my adulation for this album. The "schizophrenia" inducing quality to the echoed voices leaves everything to the imagination. An imagination entirely contrasted by the weighted heaviness the music brings to the table. Kopfrieg is my personal highlight for the album, and at nearly 12 minutes in length, definitely a song worth giving a few solid listens to. A continuous (yet far from monotonous) "doomy" presence undertoning an inspiring blend of distressed indignation and daunting fervour. This backdropped by a pulsating and enigmatic atmosphere, painting a portrait both serene and terrifying. The entire album is broken by short and strange "interludes" of sorts. This is none too outlandish as far as black metal goes, but fittingly serves to further the feelings of comfortable destitute that make this album.

I realize I have given nothing but vague adjectives, and absolutely no music specificity, but to be honest, that is essentially what I would chalk the experience up to be. A journey through the depths of aural emotion. An escape into an almost surreal landscape of contrasting thought and feeling. A landscape laden with despair and a sense of longing. Music, veiled. A definite recommendation.