A bunch of new releases came out this week, and I couldn't even try and get them all. The music year finally seems to be getting underway....
New Releases:
Ingrid Michaelson - Human Again
Label: Cabin 24 Records
Released: 1/24 2012
Genre: pop-rock, modern classical
After hearing just the one track from her Ghost single, and it being my first exposure to Ingrid, I was hoping for a lot more of what I got on that album. I didn't really get all that, so it didn't meet those expectations, there's a little more pop- in this album than I expected. But it's executed without irony or overused hooks, it's a solid, not quite completely classical style, album. Fun, quiet at times, Ingrid doesn't suddenly punch out with a loud song. It's not subdued though, call it middle of the road music. I found listening to the album to be relaxing, after a sense. Doesn't mean the album was emotionally dull, there's plenty of emotion here, positive and negative, coming out in the notes. It's good, solid, and will likely be in regular rotation for a while, her voice is close to hypnotic.
Lacuna Coil - Dark Adrenaline
Label: Century Media
Released: 1/24 2012
Genre: Heavy Metal
On first listen my only thought was 'wait, did I put on the wrong album?' - because it strikes me as sounding exactly like the only other Lacuna Coil album I own "Comalies." Now, it's not a bad thing to have a very consistent sound (AC/DC has been putting out pretty much the same album since 1976), but there is always something about it that makes it stand out a little (I never mistake Who Made Who for Razor's Edge, going back to AC/DC). On subsequent listenings I finally pulled it out from the other album, gave it a good listen, and I have to say it's very middle of the road. It's not the kind of big epic sound I sort of expected, nor is it truly a hard metal sound. It hits all the right rock notes, just not entirely enthusiastically. The dual male/female lead vocals is certainly better than the usual one or the other I normally pick up. I have to admit, my metal leanings are very much towards old school thrash-metal, so anything with a metal tag deviating from that isn't my bag. The travesty here, though, is the fucking awful cover of Losing My Religion. It lacks all of the impact of the original song, and just sounds like a bored b-side banged out because the studio needed something for a single. I quite like the second to last song Fire, I wish the rest of the album sounded more like it. I imagine if you're a Lacuna Coil fan you will love the hell out of this album, for me it may be another 6 years before I come back around to them again.
I:Scintilla - Swimmers Remixed
Label: none (self-released)
Released: 1/24 2012
Genre: Darkwave, Industrial
This little 3-track digital EP was made available to members of the mailing list only, making it a rarity. It's three remixes of Swimmers Can Drown, a nice little bonus for hard core fans. Of which, I might be one. The remixes are pretty good actually, and I wonder what happened that didn't get them onto a released EP or the 2-CD edition of the album 'Dying & Falling.' They aren't just dance-floor friendly iterations of the song, but decent reconstructions - though no one does anything really bizarre, keeping the industrial-rock edge the song has. It's little tidbits like this that I sign up for band mailing lists - a good band doesn't mail you often, and when they do they make it count.
Adding To The Collection:
Joe Bonamassa - A New Day Yesterday
Label: J + R Adventures
Released: 2004
Genre: Blues, Blues Rock
Blues-Rock, pure and simple. Opens with a strong guitar riff, and keeps on going. Joe has a 'classic' blues voice, a little rough in parts, a bit deeper than normal, talks as much as sings, and yet still smooth and clear. His guitar provides most of the lead here. This is an early effort of his, as such it sounds a lot like other blues albums out there, but you can hear something distcint coming through. A lot more rock than strict blues, the tempo is a bit faster than blues standards tend to be. Really, a great album, this is his debut solo album and he really goes out of his way to show his stuff with solid guitar solos. It also contains half a dozen cover songs (including the opening track), which Joe really makes his own, which isn't always the easiest to do on a cover song. If you want solid blues rock go track this one down and add it to your collection.
Anti- Fall Music Sampler
Label: Anti-
Released: 2011
Genre: Rock, Pop, Blues, Coutnry, Folk, ah labels....
Label compilations are often the weirdest kind to pick up - the bonus is they're almost always free which gives one a chance to get a whole bunch of bands in one place and check out a song. Unless the label is a very focused label you tend to get a grab-bag of styles. Anti- is home to a whole bunch of people who are some variation on Rock Music. The first track is the undeniably awesome Tom Waits (I already bought that album, let's move on). Joe Henry is next, a folkrock number, decent enough song. Tinariwen, a desert-blues group from Mali, never would have expected to see them show up here (they're on a Rough Guide To Mali I own as well), an almost out of place song and good to see a US label pick them up. DeVotchKa, native to my own Denver I'm a little over exposed to them already, not bad music, I just don't own any of it. A new Kate Bush song shows up, turns out I'm still not all that interested in her music, though I can't actually say it's bad, it's kind of good. Booker T. Jones, soul music, he's still making it, it still sounds good. Man Man, never actually heard of them, and for some reason they remind me of Bob Dorough, only not as fun, the song here doesn't catch me enough to look further. Jolie Holland, this is a country song, though I understand she does blues and jazz too, also paydirt, I like her voice and I'll be going out and finding her albums. William Elliot Whitmore, more folk rock, good song, but not great. Marketa Irglova, whom I've never hard of but I quite like her voice, though the music is a bit soft. Wilco, fuck wilco. And that's the end of that compilation, one artist I'll be finding, one I'll consider, not bad for the standard hodgepodge of artists labels throw together on these things. It was free at my local indie-store, as these things should be, ask yours if there are any label promos to check out, even finding one new artist is a win for the effort.
The Rough Guide To Bollywood Gold
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2007
Genre: Bollywood
Bollywood! Not quite traditional Indian, not quite modern music either. It's a quirky combination of the two that sounds, well, like it came from a movie scene. Because that's what it did. Taking the songs out of context is sometimes weird - as a few of them include a snippet of opening dialogue or movie sound effect. A few sound like very traditional Indian music, and a few are not even close, like the one track on here that is totally surf-rock set to indian beats and vocals. Epic really does describe some of the music here, and the only regret is that it's only audio and you can't see the obviously extravegant dance routines that go into these movies. Fun mix to toss into a playlist with other Indian music, because these songs are not dull, at all, ever.
Next Week - pop music from Denmark, the last of the Unwoman discography I have left, some trip-hop from the mid 90s, and a collection of, er, showtunes of a sort.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment