New Releases 9/25 - Deadmau5, Steve Harris, Murder By Death

Deadmau5

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Label: Mousetrap Records / Ultra Records (US distro)
Released: 9/25 2012
Genre: House

The last Deadmau5 album I got did not impress me, but it was also mostly remixes. This is all brand new material and he seems to be pretty big in the EDM scene - and not producing dubstep, which seems to be some kind of feat these days. So... what do I think about this?

It's house music. Even when he manages to slide in some fuzzy bass and wobbles it (to give it that dubstep asthetic) it's house music. Because fuzzy wobbly *wubwubwub* is not dubstep, this sticks firmly to 4/4 dance beat timing. Which means, overall, I can't call it bad. Because there are very few house and rave-style dance albums I don't like. Something about them is all so very catchy.

But there are parts that drive me a little mad. Especially when I sit down to Listen to this. There are several 7 and 8 minute tracks, and less than half hover around 4 minutes - which tends to lose me. I'm definitely of the 3-4 minute/40 minute album preferences. My punk roots showing, I imagine. After 7 minutes (much less 8) of repetitive beats, with few drops, change ups or breaks, my eyes roll into the back of my head. It's like EDM DJs still just want to fill up the entire CD - and at nearly 1 hour and 20 minutes this album uses every last centimeter with music.

But! if you just put it on and don't Listen so much as let it wash through the room, it's not bad. Catchy, bouncy, and I find myself stopping every now and then to bop along for a few minutes before tuning it back out and into background music. It almost makes you miss the 90s.

Steve Harris

British Lion

Released: 9/25 2012
Genre: Hard Rock, Metal

I am a big Iron Maiden fan, have been for a few decades now (even through the Blaze years). When I heard Steve Harris was putting out a solo album I had to read the news twice. Steve hasn't, since founding Iron Maiden, done anything of note outside the band. Anything at all. I'm not even sure he put in a guest appearance on his daughters debut album. He's been the backbone, and primary writing force behind Maiden from Day 1.

So, what's this then? It's kind of generic Hard Rock. He gathered together a bunch of mates, went into the studio, and put down some pretty good rock music. Thing is, it still sound a little bit like he's writing for Iron Maiden. And this group (while full of seasoned and talented musicians) is not Iron Maiden. So, it comes off like a knock-off group, which is a little ironic.

It's not bad, I mean this is pretty good rock music. But it is weighted down by the name behind it. If you have no idea who Steve Harris is, then you'll probably like this for the British Metal sound alone - if you like that kind of thing. The solo effort just failed to grab me in any significant way. I'll probably revisit this in the future someday and come to like it a lot though.

Murder By Death

Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon

Label: Tentshow Records / Bloodshot Records
Released: 9/25 2012
Genre: Rock, Country

After that bout of mediocrity we move onto a band I just discovered. Their first album (reviewed recently) did not impress me much. I was expecting more generic indierock kind of music.

Holy shit was I wrong. This is a kind of subtle, slow, country-styled, rock that really gets into the skin. Equal parts Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Richard Thompson - while being None Of Them hums deep down inside. They have found the kind of dark-americana that resonates.

Seriously, this album is dark, light, slow, fast, deep, and rumbles through the songs like a train in the middle of the night.

OK, enough with the metaphors. It's good music. Really good music. Country and Rock rhythms trade places across the album, nothing truly innovative is done, but what they do is just put together so well it doesn't need to cover new ground. I really really recommend this to, well, everyone. This is the winner for Buy That! this week.

Week Of 7/10 - Darkwave, Rock, House, Classical

Despite the week being a minor disaster causing me to miss the Sunday post (it'll be a week late), I did manage to get to the normal musical load... Keeping it diverse this week, and two new releases.

New Releases:

Ego Likeness
East
Label: self released (www.egolikeness.com)
Released: Early July 2012
Genre: Darkwave

The new EP with a few new tracks, and a lot of remixes. The real gem here is the cover of Tea In The Sarah, an amazingly dark rendition of the song, putting a whole new spin on it. The two new tracks are good as well, hoping for a full length in a similar style soon. The remixes, which take up seven of the ten tracks, deconstruct Ego Likeness across a multitude of genres. From harsh electro to standard club cut. The CD copy is a limited edition EP, but the digital release is good high quality audio.

Serj Tankian
Harakiri
Label: Reprise Records / Serjical Strike
Released: 7/10 2012
Genre: Rock, Metal

Serj has always been an interesting force in music. With a wide vocal range, and a diversity of delivery from rapid to slow, he never fails to change it up. His third solo album since the hiatus of System Of A Down (now off hiatus) is even stranger. It's all over the place. From songs the remind me greatly of the last so SOAD albums, to stuff that's just really new and weird. He doesn't let rock'n'roll sit around doing the same old thing. He just takes it and runs and goes such awesome places with it. From political activism to irreverent whatevers, it's an amazing and sonically awesome album. Go get this immediately, you won't regret it.

Adding To The Archives:

BT
Never Gonna Come Back Down - Remixes
Label: Nettwerk
Released: 2000
Genre: House, Techno

Five remixes of the title track off BTs 2001 album "Movement In Still Life". And that's where the interesting part stops. BT himself is a pretty solid producer, making some great late 90s house, and going into the 2000s some decent club albums. But this single, is pure hyped trash. All the boring parts of 90s House. With some big names behind it there's absolutely nothing imaginative about the remixes here. It was worth the whole dollar I paid for it as a curiosity of the age. Leaving me wondering why we tolerated a billion remixes of every big song.

Rough Guide To Classical: Beethoven
w/ Conductor Matthew Best "Mass In C Major"
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2011
Genre: Classical

Always curious to see what movements are placed in a collection, and that Beethoven wrote so much it's hard to duplicate your collection. Ten tracks, from a good wide range of compositions. Honestly, the opening piece of Bagatelle No. 6 on piano is both a good opener, and my favorite piece. A few symphonies, some string quartets, and several piano concerto's make it on. Like every rough guide, some serious (and good) thought went into this compilation and it's both a good start for newbies and a good addition to fans.

And the bonus disk, starts out with more piano. I like symphonies just fine, but classical piano is such an amazing art form, something about that instrument captures music so well. And we get all 6 movements  (they split movement 4 Sanctus into that and Benedictus). It's nice and chill, and well done. After that four more works are given, as chorus, but I have to say the recording quality was lacking. It's a little too quiet, I had to adjust the sound levels on the track because turning up the volume just made whatever I played next blast the speakers. Still, nice to have one of the lesser played works done.

Next Week:
Some Psychobilly, some Punk, some Reggae... all wildly different and yet all so connected to each other. Also, some Classical Indian and something up from my vinyl collection needing to be digitalized. Plus, a surprise!

Week Of 5/15 - Rock, Glitch, and House

Alright, bit of a low mix this week, two double disc releases loaded up for my listening pleasure.

New And Recent Releases:

Squarepusher
Ufubulum
Label: Warp Records
Released: 5/15 2012
Genre: Glitch, Noise, Experimental

A combination of harmonies, tweaks, barely there and then gone again rhythms, and layered melodies usually describes Squarepusher. This release has less layers, a more stripped down approach to the sound-scape, rhythms stay longer and become more identifiable. Even if long and drawn out. It's an excellent piece of music, all the way through, the whole thing never really lets itself fade out. The glitches and tweaks never settle, even when they find a pattern there's the feeling they'll immediately snap out and do something weird. If you want a break from the standard musical concept, but don't want to stray too far off the beaten path, this is a good selection - a return to form for Squarepusher, without actually going backwards.

The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Africa
with Sir Victor Uwaifo
Label: World Music Network
Released: March 2012
Genre: Rock, Psychedelic

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, most of my exposure to anything psychedelic is 60s American Rock Which is mostly hit or miss. This, well, it's mostly funk influenced jazz than rock with too much guitar and a horn section. It's good, listenable and easy to dance to though. It's mostly music from the 60s and 70s from Africa, you can hear the imitation of culture going on, a decidedly not American approach to American funkadelic. It's also surprisingly mellow music. All in all, a good listen, something to put on at parties when you need dance music that isn't all bass rhythms and heavy beats.


I honestly I have no idea where to start with the bonus disc on one. From my understanding Victor Uwaifo was not only a huge influence on Nigerian music in the 60s, 70s, and beyond. As well as businessman, sculptor, and general artist. This is a re-issue of his Ekassa album, all thr tracks are titled with a number. Again, less psychedelic and more funkadelic. Some really smooth guitar rhythms, though.

Adding To The Collection:

David Guetta
One More Love
Label: EMI
Released: 2010
Genre: House

Yep, more house music from David Guetta. This time lots of mixes, remixes, and collaborations. It seems that's his general modus operandi - work with another musician who usually provides vocals. While Guetta is a near master at crafting catchy house-dance rhythms and beats, he's really only half the music here, a step between mix-DJ and actual composer. I can't say I don't like this, it's really catchy almost every song has a good hook. I'm just very unexcited by it in general. Still, if you good club music to round out your collection for a more thumping house party, David Guetta is a good choice, especially as this is a double disc set to keep the music going for a while without worry.

Hidden Track:

Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra
Do It With A Rockstar
Label: none - Kickstarter Page
Released: 5/16 2012
Genre: Rock, Punk

Not available to the public yet, a preview track from Amanda Palmer's latest project, which is (as of this writing) on Kickstarter with 8 days to go. It's a pretty good track, nothing like her work with Dresden Dolls though. Lots of 80s throwback. If you liked alt-rock from the 80s, and if this is an indication of the whole album, then any fan of that era will love this. Go back the project and get a hardcopy CD for your collection.

Next Week:
The Hard: KMFDM, Nitzer Ebb, Angelspit. The Soft: Pandora Celtica and a downtempo compilation. Listen Hard!

Week Of 5/9 - Folk, House, Industrial

This week is a bunch of David Guetta, Sara Watkins, and Unter Null....

New Releases:
Sara Watkins
Sun Midnight Sun
Label: Nonesuch Records
Released: 5/9 2012
Genre: Folk, Americana, Pop

There's something interesting happening when I listen to this album. First, I was hoping for more of the fiddle Watkins is known for, never had heard her before and being a fan of a good fiddle. Alas, there is very little here aside from the opening instrumental song. After that, the album is good. Very listenable, the whole thing is oddly familiar though. I spend a moment or two on each song thinking 'hey, I know that...' and of course it's just triggering the idea of a different song. Her voice is familiar in so many different ways, like a dozen different artists, without actually being derivative or copying them. It's a very odd feeling having that many "I know this artist, I just can't place them" moments. But it's good, because it's not copying, just... familiar. Weird. Honestly, very weird. But I like her, and will be finding more of her work in hopes of hearing that fiddle some more.

Adding To The Collection:

David Guetta 
Nothing But The Beat
Label: Capitol / Astralwerks
Released: 2011
Genre: House, Techno

Of the Guetta albums I picked up, this one is the best. It's a solid throwback to 90s House without sounding dated and repetitive. I think it's mostly due to the sheer number and talent of the collaborating artists here. There's a lot of good stuff going on here, lots of poppy and catchy tunes, solid dance floor bouncers. Could do with less autotuned and modified vocals though, drowning a good vocalist in electronic distortion is just annoying. If you want a harmless dance-techno album to have on hand, this is a good choice.

David Guetta
Just A Little More Love / Pop Life
Label: EMI
Released: 2010
Genre: House, Techno

This is a double album re-issue of two Guetta albums - his first and third (2002 and 2007) albums. An odd choice to skip the second studio album in a double re-issue like that. I never really got into Guetta before, and listening to both these albums in full I can say I'm still not into his early stuff. Taking each in turn quickly.

Just a Little More Love is a nearly completely unimaginative facsimile of mid 90s house music of the most generic type. It is pure pop-techno, radio friendly and while you can dance to it, the DJ probably puts a bigger bassline behind it.

Pop Life, bit comparison, is a definite progression in ideas, sound, and form. This time taking the better parts of 90s House, less pop-techno, and tossing a little more variety into the mix. Five years did wonders for the style and form of Guetta's music here. It's still kind of generic feeling, but has enough variety to make it a decent enough album.

Unter Null
Moving On
Label: Alfa Matrix
Released: 2010
Genre: Industrial

The third album release, and the second on Alfa-Matrix, thought lost in a fire. The music is dark, a little foreboding, heavy and, at times, liberating and uplifting. A general theme of moving past poisonous relationships and ideas permeates, even as some of the lyrics are full of invective statements they still convey a sense of relief. A kind of catharsis comes through the heavy, if mostly slow, music. And some of it kicks up a notch, like the Obligatory Club Hit To Appease The Masses. A kind of manifesto for the album on the idea of appeasing fans instead of playing for them. It's really a great album, and her voice is not the standard female vocals, even stripping the layers of effects her voice is a little deeper, darker, than most acts. There's an unkindness coming through that fits the Industrial genre so well, I highly recommend this album.

Bonus Track:

Army Of The Universe
Take Control
Genre: Industrial-Rock

Army Of The Universe is one of my favorite new bands to emerge in the last couple years with a full release. Their album is great stuff, and this track had to get left off originally. Luckily they released it free for fans, and it's just more of the same great industrial-rock their album is full of. Seriously, you need to check out this band, I think they'll just keep getting bigger and better in the next few years.

Next Week:
More David Guetta, a double remix album. The new KMFDM single, taking one of the stronger tracks from WTF?! And .... well, I'll leave the rest as a surprise (meaning I randomly choose from my pile of waiting music next week).

Listen Hard!

Week Of 1/31 - Synthpop, Trip-Hop, House, Modern Classical, Pop

This week in new releases I explore Danish pop music, find a strange little compilation from the 90s that should have been left there, finally finish my Unwoman backcatalogue, and more...

New Releases:
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Out Of Frequency
Label: self released (Distributed through BMG Entertainment)
Released: 1/31 2012
Genre: Synthpop, Pop
Remember Rover from The Prisoner TV Series? The bouncing balls that captured runaways and returned them to the Village? Imagine that mutated into a giant Disco Ball, chasing you down, trying to return you to a night club past its Coolness Expiration Date. That touches on the pop-banality that is embodied in this album. A dash of synthpop sensibility saves it from complete annihilation, but in all honesty... the beats are boring. The lead singers voice hovers somewhere between "she's twelve, right?" and a husky R&B smoothness. Two songs stand out as worth pulling onto a nights worth of dance-pop-music fun, Heart Attack and Ghost In My Head, with the first being actually good. Otherwise, the album manages to not sound completely uninteresting. In ten years I'll probably wonder why I bought this in the first place. Final analysis? Some harsh electro would save this, otherwise it sinks under it's own weight of recycled dance rhythms. Despite that I like it a little bit.

Adding To The Collection:
Poe - Hello
Label: Atlantic
Released: 1995
Genre: Trip-Hop, Pop
Speaking of pop... Poe entered in the 1990s, as Trip-Hop started to evolve itself, and it's those trip-hop beats that save Poe from the previously mentioned pop-banality. Her voice is smooth, unmarred with any kind of over reaching desire to actually sound pop-music influenced. The music moves back and forth between soft-rock and trip-hop beats, from one song to the next. The whole thing feels completely radio friendly, but not actually radio-boring. A few tracks did find themselves endlessly repeated on stations in the US just discovering "techno" and female lead vocals that weren't Madonna pop-music clones or Lita Ford wannabe screamers. This album is good, catchy, and ultimately the kind of thing that saved us from an endless wave of complete shit. How this took so long to end up in my collection - who knows, it was always one of those "Hey, I should buy that..." albums that, well, I never got around to. At this point, you should revisit Poe (and the newer stuff is amazing, also on the To Get List...), and purchase this. Give it a listen, it's quiet, loud, amusing, sad, and all together extremely well produced. Hello has aged well as an album, even if it seems a little antiquated, it's not an ageless album, but you can still pull it out and genuinely enjoy it, with or without nostalgia.

Unwoman - Trouble EP
Label: none (available on Bandcamp)
Released: 2008
Genre: Pop, Synthpop, Modern Classical
This 6 song EP starts out with a kind of light neo-classical kind of sound, like most of her work. After that, it gets more electronic production than modern classical. The cello is still there, but the synth-pop kind of beats tend to take a more center stage appearance in some of the music. This isn't a bad colllection, but it doesn't really leave an impression either. It's just there, good music but it feels like there's nothing there making me want to pause and Listen. Throw it on in the background and let it fill the room, like chamber music, you welcome its presence, but mostly because you'd rather not have silence. Not to disparage ovbviously good music, but this is a lot like a watered down Danielle Dax.

Unwoman - Unremembered
Label: none (available on Bandcamp)
Released: 2010
Genre: Modern Classical
There's something in here I really like, it reminds me a lot of the synth-driven darkwave and ambience from bands like Daughter Darling, Bed Of Roses, or even Switchblade Sumphony. Coupled with a kind of smart pop-sensibility that gives you the catchy grooves and hooks without numbing the mind. I put this one on and kind of absentmindedly nod my ahead along to it, half listening and half simply absorbing it. Gone are a lot of the staggered rhythms or interrupted beats from earlier albums. The whole thing flows and works together quite nicely. Layer on more percussion and these songs could easily slip into a club-scene danse set, as they sit it's a quieter space that actually does fill the room with a lively sound that every once in a while you stop and listen for a moment, before continuing on. It's the kind of album I'd put on if I needed something upbeat to get some work done to, without it being so intrusive it interferes with the work. Definitely an album to go pick up.


Baz Luhrmann Presents: Something For Everybody
Label: Capital Records
Released: 1999
Genre: House, Pop, etc
Moving right back into - WTF?! there's this. Absolutely proof that not just any asshole with a sequencer who can cleverly put together a single hit should actually be given a full record to work on. Remember that song "Wear sunscreen..." and this older sounding guy going on about a bunch of advice like "Live in New York once, but leave before it makes you hard..." and so on? Yeah, someone told Baz he could make a whole album. And it's a bunch of remixes and covers, only a moderately decent cover of When Doves Cry even comes close to not being total crap. This is pretty much everything wrong with 1990s style House/Electronica. It's just a horrible compilation. I literally ran across the CD by accident, I don't even have the full case and liner notes (Discogs helped with all of that), obviously the previous owner felt the same way I do now. This is pretty much what happens when the 'music industry' thinks it knows what's going on, this came out of the US about the same time the UK was developing what would be come dubstep, France was starting to experiment with electro-swing, and the rest of the House Music world was diversifying, this takes all the music DJs and Producers made and distills down into a pop-music death spiral. The song was right, Wear Sunscreen, the rest, leave behind. This should have been titled "Nothing For Anybody."
Next Week:
I explore South African hip-hop, find some modern Hard Rock that doesn't suck, a little Soft Rock to balance it out, check out Zimbabwe, and drag myself through yet another Industrial/EBM compilation. . .

Week Of 1/3 - Modern Classical, House, Downtempo, Traditional India

Tried to mix it up a little this week. The New Release is a 7" Single from Ingrid Michaelson. The A-Side was released as a digital single last year, but the 7" Record is a new release with a B-Side Demo. Her new album comes out at the end of January. Adding to the collection I found two albums that "everyone owned" from the mid 1990s that somehow never made it into my own collection...

New Releases:
Ingrid Michaelson - Ghost
Label: Cabin 24 Records
Released: 1/3 2011
Genre: Modern Classical, Rock
It's hard to really judge an artist on a 2-track single. This one includes both the album-version and a demo of the song Ghost. It's a good song, has some pop-radio legs to it, and could easily earn itself some decent airplay if give the chance. The full album will be released later in January, and hopefully this song will be an indication of what to expect. If you want the demo version of the song you'll have to go track down the 7" record at your local indie-store. Otherwise the album-version of the track is available digitally. The song is primarly Ingrid and her piano, but strings and percussion accompany it lightly in the background to create a fuller sound. A bit light rock, modern classical style.


Adding To The Collection:
Tori Amos - Under The Pink
Label: Atlantic Records
Released: 1994
Genre: Modern Classical
I think this is one of those albums everyone is supposed to own, or claims to own. A few of the songs got some heavy radio play, contributing to her stardom. In all honesty, the first two thirds of this album are boring to listen to. They're not bad songs, just kind of bland. It's the last five tracks, starting with Cornflake Girl, where things pick up, a little color enters, some depth appears. The songs become more than displays of Tori's singing and piano. These last few tracks feel like full songs, where before they felt more like half-formed ideas. The albums she produced after this one improve greatly, you can tell this album is early in her career and her sound is still finding itself. A good album, but there are better from her.

Fatboy Slim - You've Come A Long Way Baby
Label: Astralwerks / Skint Records
Released: 1998
Genre: House
This is another album that everyone owned, or was supposed to own. It is classic mid/late-1990s house music, how it never ended up in my collection is anyone's guess. Probably because half of the tracks on it were so hard to avoid I never got around to buying it. The sound is firmyl big-beat, though the really big bass sound isn't quite in it. From the samples to the beats to the flow of the record the whole thing really does sound like the accumulated collective sound of popular house music from the early to mid 1990s. There's a lot of tracks that aged well, and bounce right along.

Ustad Sultan Khan - Rare Elements (Remixes)
Label: 5 Points Records
Released: 2004
Genre: Downtempo, Trip-Hop
I had never heard of this artist before this album ended up in my collection, but with remixes by Thievery Corporation and Radar One it was worth checking out (the wife is the one who found this gem one night of crate digging). It's all very downtempo style trip-hop and house. I don't know how to compare it to the original recordings, so I don't know if the remixes took great liberties or if they were very close to the originals. I do know this is a great mellow album without being too quiet. Ustad was a sarangi player, and a member of Tabla Beat Science (reviewed recently on 12/27), from India. From that I can imagine that his normal recordings are very traditional Indian with modern aesthetics mixed in. Making these remixes probably just a little more modern, but not a lot. I highly recommend seeking out this, or other, recordings of his if you're a fan of Indian music.


The Rough Guide To The Music Of India & Debshish Battacharya
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2010
Genre: Traditional, Indian
Sticking with an Indian theme, this rough guide pulls in from all over the musically diverse Indian continent. It's extremely diverse, with a lot of different styles and genres to pull from, it does a pretty good job of covering them all. Tabla, Sitar, Sarangi, water bowls, and vocals. This is definitely an introduction to styles and music of India, like many Rough Guides stands best either to find new artists in a particular styles, or in a larger mix of music from similar regions. With this album comes a live performance of Debshish Battacharya, on a custom designed slide guitar. It's a live recording, with only two other musicians to accompany him. As you listen you get the usual rhythms you associate with India, but towards the end of the performance the song slips into nearly a blues rhythm. So much so I almost wondered if he hadn't pulled out a bottle-neck to complete the concert, showing that many rhythms are nearly universal. For this second bonus album alone it has become one of my favorite Rough Guides to pull up and listen to.

Next week is an Unwoman marathon, I had a flash-drive of hers sitting around with a complete discography that I had yet to really crack into, so I loaded several of the albums from it all at once to listen to. The drive contains a lot of music, but I wanted to really get her main discography into my collection. Listen Hard!

Week Of 12/20 - Industrial, Dubstep, Psychedelic Rock, House

Late, blame the holidays.

New Releases:
Caustic - Justin Beaber's Never Say Never
Label: Self Released
Released: 12/20 2011
Genre: Industrial
Caustic gave away this free digital remix EP on his website. It's... a remix EP. Nothing massively interesting here, but it does include his awesome cover of Oxyacetalene. Beyond that, good for completionists.


Adding To The Collection:
The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream
Label: Blue Horizon
Released: 2010
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
More from the Black Angels this week. This second album isn't nearly the tribute to Vietnam that their debut album was. Still, they still have the late 60s down pat. The whole album reverbs around, sticking firmly to the rock and roll genre without wavering or faltering.  An excellent piece of rock, but nothing really sticks out above the others. It's just a solid offering all around with no hidden gems, but no clunkers either. Overall, definitely the better of the two albums, a little more experience show through here.

Nero - Welcome Reality
Label: Cherry Tree / Interscope Records
Released: 2011
Genre: Dubstep
From early 2011 before Skrillex's manic style took over. This feels more like the electro combination of Daft Punk and any standard House beats. The female vocals reach back and pull up a lesson from 1990s Trip Hop as well, effortlessly mixing all the styles into a dubstep sound. For all that, it's good in a generic 'toss it in the mix' kind of way. Doomsday is a bit of a heavy bass track, after that though it all kind of mixes together into something good but not great. It will be interesting to see their second album in the future, hopefully they get more adventurous and expand on the sound while keeping the trip-hop style vocals present.

Tabla Beat Science - Live In San Fransisco At Stern Grove
Label: Axiom Records
Released: 2002
Genre: House, Indian Traditional
This one I love, the first half is almost nothing but traditional sounds, tabla and vocals take up most of it. Very little of the Indian House you expect from some of the players here is evident - Karsh Kale,  DJ Disk and Midival Punditz leave it very light. Karsh plays all percussion here, none of his normal house stuff. The second half takes off with a lot of house, scratch, and more DJ influence, in a very nice mix. I don't even know where one track ends and another starts, and don't need to. It all blends so well as a live set that it might as well be a continuous mix album. This album is worth tracking down just for the performances on the tabla alone, really excellent live set.

Fabric Live 37 - Caspa & Rusko
Label: Fabric
Released: 2007
Genre: Dubstep, Electro
Speaking of Continuous mixes, this a joint effort from Dubstep DJs Rusko and Caspa, just shy of thirty tracks of dubstep-house-dub continuous mixing. They range all over the dubstep spectrum from the 2007 era - which is less frantic and more paced. You can definitely hear the dub underpinnings in the heavily altered beats. This is the genre in its most pure and raw form, while it's still very underground, pulling from as many influences as it can. One of the better DJ mixes I own honestly, in any style of electronica. If you're trying to get into Dubstep, or just want an above average dubstep mix, find this and add it to your collection.


Bonus EP
The Crüxshadows - Christmas songs
Label: Self Released
For Christmas Rogue released three songs for download, one track celebrating his recently born daughter, and two more holiday songs of a more traditional bent. All three are good darkwave/goth takes on the holiday, very good slightly down tempo holiday songs to mix up the constant high pitched bells everyone else uses. A nice little present for the season.

Next week - Scottish Folk, Ambient, Arabic, and some modern Jazz from Japan, plus a surprise or two...

Week Of 11/29 - Reggae, Rock, Modern Classical, House, Electro, Industrial

This week is light and heavy, not much rolling down the middle. Intros are boring, onto the music.

New Releases:
Jimmy Cliff - Sacred Fire EP
Label: Collective Sounds
Released: 11/29 2011
Genre: Reggae
Jimmy Cliff is a reggae legend, with about four decades of music behind him. This little EP is five tracks of mostly covers (the Black Friday Record Store 12" is 6 tracks on Vinyl). He covers The Clash with two versions of Guns Of Brixton, opening and closing the EP. The first one is a nearly straight up Reggae protest song, you'd almost never guess it was a Punk Rock song, but given Reggae's close association with early Punk music in the UK this is unsurprising. The second version has much more bassline to it, more drums, it's a little deeper, both versions are excellent. Jimmy has one original song on here, which is a nice little ballad. And he also covers a Bob Dylan song - I've always held that Dylan is not great as a performer but is one hell of a song writer, and I think this proves it, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall is great as a reggae song. But my favorite track (the second track on the CD version of the EP) is Jimmy's cover of Ruby Soho (originally by Rancid). It turns a moderately sad broken-heart punk song into a full on classic, it's just beautiful (and again outlines just how close Punk and Reggae really are to each other). This is an awesome CD, even at only five tracks.

Dave Clarke - Fabric 60 DJ mix
Label: Fabric
Released: November 2011
Genre: House, Electro
Fabric is a nightclub in London, every month it puts out either a DJ Mix or a Live Mix. This month was a DJ Mix from Dave Clarke. It's heavy, bassy, with electro undercurrents, and absolutely not a standard House mix. Dave eschews standard dance-house rhythms and club-cuts in favor of a more driving style. The opening tracks lay down a deep, heavy, bass line than doesn't really let up until about a third of the way into the mix, where more electro, and even a few goth-rock elements take over and carry it through to the end. Overall, a good mix, better than most, and a different from just about anything else. If you want a less thumpy and more rhythmic house mix this is a good choice.

Adding To The Collection:
Chris Isaak - Baja Sessions
Label: Reprise
Released: 1996
Genre: Rock, Light Rock, Rockabilly
I am not a particularly big Chris Isaak fan, my wife is which is how this ended up in the collection. On the other hand I don't find him outright bad, he's very easy to listen to, has a good voice, and is generally good for a slow day. This album is very mellow, a little surf rock sneaks in, a lot of 1950s and 60s seems to sneak in too. This also has a cover of Only The Lonely - and I'm a huge Roy Orbison fan. For a moment when I first put this album on I almost thought Roy was singing the track, it took me a few seconds to realize that Chris has not only some good range, but can really do the song justice. I'd pick up this album for that cover song alone.

Sarah Brightman - Harem
Label: Angel
Released: 2003
Genre: Modern Classical, Rock
Sarah Brightman has a gorgeous voice, with amazing soaring ability to it (without getting into the ear splitting too high level). The music behind this album is fairly generic Arabian beats, nothing too clever was done on that front, the classical pieces behind it are likewise very good but also just background music. Sarah really is the primary instrument on this one, and I'm not actually sure I could pick out individual songs, but when I put it on to listen to the whole thing is just a delight. It's about an hour of audio enjoyment. The special edition version I have here has one bonus track and a DVD with some video footage - not actually adding a lot to the album honestly. It's near for collectors though.

Unwoman - Knowledge Scars
Label: self-released
Released: 2002
Genre: Industrial, Dark Ambient
This is Unwoman's first official full release from the early 2000s. It's very raw, not overly produced, and does not have a lot of clutter. The sound ranges from an industrial tone to what was a signature Goth/Darkwave sound from the late 1990s and early 2000s. The whole thing is structured nicely, and you can see that she has a lot of room to grow into. Her cello doesn't feature overly much on this one, it's just as much that as it is standard industrial/darkwave synths and drum machines. Overall, not a bad album to have on hand. The one track I'm on the fence about is Freedom From Religion - it's an early track to be sampling George Bush, but after nearly a decade of the industrial scene sampling his speeches and quotes it sounds dated, and a little tired. The song structures are light, not overly done, and feels a lot like a one-woman production from top to bottom.

Bonus Track:
Dire Disorder - Let's Get Naughty (Dire Disorder Remix)
Label: self-released (soundcloud)
Released: 2011
Genre: Moombahton
Dire Disorder takes Jessie And The Toy Boy's club track "Let's Get Naughty" and turns it into a full on slow heavy Moombahton track. This is all low bass, slow groove, kind of dancefloor hit. Pure fun, and extremely danceable. I love the low basslines and slower rhythms of Moombahton and this track delivers it excellently. Nice little cut from the clubs made even better.

Next Week - a Psychobilly Christmas Album, a 2-Disc Dubstep compilation with some really weird cover productions, and the new albums from Korn (mixing Dubstep and Metal) and The Black Keys (pure blues-rock awesomeness).

Listen Hard!

Week Of 11/2 - Rock, House, Psychobilly, Traditional (Mali)

A little late this week, I got caught up in a bunch of stuff and had to make room for National Novel Writing Month. So, on with the show:


New Releases:
Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
Label: Universal Republic
Released: 11/2 2011
Genre: Rock
Florence has one of those really big voices without sounding screechy or loud. It's just a volume of melody. And this album is full of drums and percussion, and this piano that sounds like it was crossed with church-bells. The whole thing is big, and spacious, and just amazing. The two songs I just kept coming back to are Shake It Out and No Light, No Light. But there isn't a bad track on here truth be told. The album is a contender for best release of the year I think.

Adding To The Collection:
Deadmau5 - Random Album Title
Label: Ultra Records
Released: 2008
Genre: House
A big, bouncy house album full of techno-bits and such. Actually... I found this album to be kind of boring. It's the kind of house I put on to sit firmly in the background and just provide the air with some rhythm to occupy my ears with. It's not bad, but, it's not great either. I'm not sure I could identify a single track off of this if it were played stand alone in a club. Except the repetitive first track, which comes off as annoying as I find "Around The World" by Daft Punk, which I also skip past.

HorrorPops - Kiss Kiss Kill Kill
Label: Hellcat Records
Released: 2008
Genre: Psychobilly
The HorrorPops have, in this short and sweet album, captured all that's fun about rock, punk, and rockabilly and mixed it liberally with oddly cheerful depictions of classic horror bits. The wonderfully upbeat Highway 55 about a girl buried off the side of the road, to the endearing Hitchcock Starlet. The top billing for rocking good time goes to Going To The Disco? and Missfit. But the title track steals the day, it's a perfect blend of all the elements. And Patricia's vocals are beautifully sung, never shouted.

The Rough Guide To The Music Of Mali
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2008
Genre: Traditional/Folk
This particular Rough Guide focuses on Mali and, while it's nice is, too low key. Either Mali produces a whole lot of slow, quiet music, or they just failed to find the upbeat stuff. It's not bad music, it's just very very mellow. The vocals stand out though, the singers found here all have amazing voices. Like any Rough Guide I recommend it as much for the cultural insight as for the musical interest.

Hidden Track:
Proper Villains - Bass Down Low
Label: none (find it on Dubstep.net)
Released: 2011
Genre: Dubstep
Proper Villains took The Cataracts little bumper "Bass Down Low' and made it very dirty. Indeed. The good: they ditched the autotuned crap, kept Dev's lyrics, and added some real bass and real drop to it. Much better ditty than the original.

Week Of 9/6 - Synthpop, Country, Heavy Metal, CattleCore, House

This week is three new ones from Hank Williams III, and all three in different genres. I have to throw in some very light and happy French Synthpop to overcome it all.

New Releases:
Hank III - Attention Deficit Domination
Label: Hank 3 Records
Released: 2011 9/6
Genre: Metal (Speed, Thrash, Hardcore)
First up is a straight forward thrash metal album from Hank III. Nine tracks of shredding licks, double bass-drum pounding, metal. It's also the most boring of the three albums. Not that it's a bad album - it's a pretty good one as far as this kind of metal goes. But, there are other people out there that do thrash-metal better, he isn't quite grinding enough to make death metal, and while it could easily fit, there's better in the hardcore punk scene too. I think, this album was put out too soon, it needed to simmer longer before being finalized so it could pop up from filler to something cool.

Hank III - Cattle Callin'
Label: Hank 3 Records
Released: 2011 9/6
Genre: CattleCore
This is a lot like the previous album - speed and thrash metal. Here though, Hank layered on Auctioneers, and from what I can tell calling out actual auctions too. It's kind of badass, it's a lot of strange. Different, weirdly lulling. It takes some getting used to, that's for sure. Good for throwing a few tracks into a mix just to stir things up, keeping 'em guessing. I can't say I like it the most, but it's absolutely the most interesting.

Hank III - Ghost To A Ghost / Guttertown
Label: Hank 3 Records
Released: 2011 9/6
Genre: Country
The last release from Hank this week is a more straight forward country album, but certainly not the kind of country his father or grandfather would put out. Or even more country musicians today. This one definitely has the marked Hank III sound to it. Heavy in spots, he never really lets go of the metal side of himself. But he adds in some twang, a few ballad sounding pieces. This two-disc release really comes out well, my favorite of the three by a good long lead. With two CDs it actually drags just a little bit, but if you need to kill some time and don't want to change out music, that's what the long albums are for. It's dark, moody, rowdy, and very good.

Adding To The Collection
Celluloide - Passion & Excitements (+ Body Pop Clubmixes)
Label: Boredomproduct
Released: 2009
Genre: Synthpop
Celluloide are a french synthpop band, very light and danceable. I picked up the two-disc limited edition version from a closeout by a stateside distributor clearing space in their warehouse. It comes with a Remix EP. The Remixes take things in a more house/club direction, giving them a heavier beat, or a little more thump. But I like the base album the most, good old fashioned, pretty harmless, but good sounding pop music. Definitely a series of songs to have on hand when you need to put together a playlist that never really slows down.

Alter Ego - Rocker
Label: Skint
Released: 2005
Genre: House
I picked this up as a free digital promotion, it's an 8-track remix EP. As an EP it is extraordinarily boring, to be honest. I've never been too big a fan of Remix EPs that are just the same track taken in a bunch of different directions that still sound a lot alike. Thankfully some of the mixes here really deconstruct the track, but most don't. It's a good wide selection of similar sounding house stuff though, so you can find a place for a track in a good long party mix where you need some bouncy filler.

That was almost a little too much music for one week, I added the Alter Ego album last minute as it was a promo give away I wouldn't otherwise have picked up. Next week is Anthrax (I've waiting so fucking long for this one), some Hip-Hop, Industrial and a Latin mix.

Week Of 8/9 - Gothic Rock, House, Moombahton

This weeks new selection is the latest EP from The Birthday Massacre, an older EP from Emilie Autumn, rounding out my gothic-rock selection nicely with both titles. A house compilation from London, and a compilation of a brand new subgenre of house - Moombahton.

Moombahton is, to shorten a lengthy story, what happens when Reggaeton got imported into Europe, spend up and created Dutch House, then exported back out to the US, who slowed it back down to its Reggaeton roots creating a kind of bastard house-dancehall style. Very bass, very danceable, very not what you'd expect from 100bpm.

New Releases:
The Birthday Massacre - Imaginary Monsters
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 8/9 2011
Genre: Gothic-Rock
Birthday Massacre almost fall outside the calssic Gothic-Rock style, which is closer to punk rock than the industrial of a lot of modern Goth is. Female lead vocals are sharp and not overly shouty without also being overly breathy. Imaginary Monsters continues on with guitar driven, electronic influenced, gothic-rock. A quick 8-track EP with three tracks and 5 remixes. And not the same track over and over, only Shallow Grave appears twice with a Combichrist and Assemblage 23 mix. The first three tracks are a good showcase (I hope) of the upcoming release, because they're great songs. The EP also includes a bonus video of 'In The Dark', always a nice touch.

Adding To The Collection:
Emilie Autumn - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun / Bohemian Rhapsody Double Feature EP
Label: Trisol Music Group
Released: 2008
Genre: Gothic-Rock, Classical
Emilie mixes in liberal doses of non-modern styles with her Gothic-Rock. This little EP, a limited edition (I believe there's a non-limited version missing the bonus track and in standard packaging) number that was a European release only, is nine tracks. Mixing harpsichords, violins, violas, and some modern bits. Bohemian Rhapsody only gets a cover version here, and sadly it lacks a lot of the punch the original had. It sounds good but falls a little flat. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, on the other hand, brings a little more oomph and some new life to an otherwise banal pop-song. The four remixes aren't too bad, mixing up the song a bit, one of them nicely guitar-heavy. There are two live tracks, 'Asleep' and 'Mad Girl' for Emilie fans to enjoy. And the hidden track (though the inserted booklet lists it) is 'Gentlemen Aren't Nice' and is a nice sassy little number. This EP is mostly for collectors/fans of Emilie Autumn, if you're just a casual fan there probably isn't anything here you'd be too excited over.

Blow Your Head Vol2 - Dave Nada Presents Moombahton
Label: Mad Decent
Released: 2011
Genre: Moombahton
As explained, this emerging sub-genre of house and dancehall is a slowed down House style that was originally sped up Reggaeton. Reggaeton was itself a modification of the dancehall that left Jamaica to the surrounding islands. As a result this compilation of songs is bass heavy, beat driven, mixed with latin styles (you can recognize some Cumbia in there), with a dancehall feel, and definitely still modern house music. A lot of tracks feature Spanish, several feature reggae MCs, and more than a couple are just instrumental dance tracks. The whole thing is club friendly, and the bigger the system you have the better it sounds. Should be interesting to see more of this genre emerge and morph in the next couple years. As it is, it's new, a little hard to find, and possibly may just get reabsorbed back into the house-mix.

Sub Club 20 Years Underground
Label: Soma Recordings
Released: 2008
Genre: House
This is a 2CD set, the first disc is DJ Subculture, and the second is Optimo. As the title suggests both DJs go way way back into the London underground and come forward through the years, a really wide range of house comes out. You can feel the evolution. Subculture's disc is a little more laid back, almost mellow, but definitely not shirking its duties as a club-cut set of tracks. It's a little more trance influenced than pure rave. Optimo ups the ante a little, and the beat, and comes across with a few more heavier sounds, but still manages to reach way back with a Front 242 cut 'Take One'. Good mix aside, this is an interesting look at the history of London House and Club culture over a 20 year span. Beyond that little bit of history, it's not actually coherent enough to be a great mix set.

Bonus Tracks:
Army Of The Universe - Resin (+ Remix)
Army Of The Universe is an Italian industrial-rock act, and as they ramped up for a North American tour opening with KMFDM they put out a few tracks to download on their Facebook page. Naturally I grabbed 'em and gave a listen. I like 'em. They've got some good styles, the guitar in it really helps bring it out of the all-electronic production of Industrial, just about anything can be improved with guitar. The remix is from Bobberman, and adds some extra punch to the track, but I like the original a little better. Check out the band, I think any modern Industrial fan will like them.

Next week is all compilations and remixes - sadly the new CD I wanted to check out wasn't available locally and I had to order it, so no New Releases next week.`

Week Of 7/26 - Industrial, House, Pop

Finally, after 12 years, the new Atari Teenage Riot album. You can definitely feel the loss of Carl Crack on it, but still definitely ATR. A couple house remix albums find their way, one from London the other Paris. The long awaited addition of Sinsect (there were some printing issues with the physical CD) made it in, and to top it all off some Grace Jones.

New Releases:
Atari Teenage Riot - Is This Hyperreal?
Label: Digital Hard Core / Dim Mak
Released: 7/26 2011
Genre: Industrial, Noize
ATR, way back in the late 1990s, kind of slapped the heavy music scene in the face as they managed to achieve some moderate measure of commercial success. Now, twelve years later Nic and Alec are back, minus Carl. And you can feel that loss here. Overall, they haven't grown up lyrically - it's still angry anti-pop, anti-establishment, anti-mainstream, anti-fucking Everything. All their in its shouted glory. Musically, they've moved beyond since hardcore and speedcore noise. Elements of chiptune, more Industrial sounding melodies, and slower rhythms. Nic even shows off her ability to sing instead of merely shout. Overall, it's what I'd expect out of an ATR album, and what I was generally hoping for from new material.

Added To The Collection:
Grace Jones - Island Life
Label: Island Records
Released: 1985
Genre: pop, dancehall, reggae
Grace never was, and still isn't, a force to be reckoned with. Aside from being physically imposing, she's got the musical talent to stand her own. This little collection of songs is, as the title implies, very Caribbean in feel. From either just the sound of the music, or the content of the songs. Some dancehall mixes in with the straight pop music. Good summer or party album to have on hand.

Sinsect - Bug Life
Label: Crunch Pod
Released: May 2011
Genre: Industrial
Technically, this is a digital-only release, but a few hardcopy CDs were printed up and made available to Kickstarter contributors. Which is why I waited a bit from release to now - the printing took longer than expected. On with the music: great thundering industrial hardcore noise here. Dancefloor friendly for those dance floors that aren't afraid to deviate from the same boring shit. This one got stuck on repeat for a couple days this week.

Snooze - The Man In The Shadow
Label: The Medicine Label / Tangerine
Released: 1998
Genre: House
Snooze is a London DJ, and this made it over the pond in the late 90s when pretty much anything related to Techno was bouncing back and forth. At this point not only is this CD out of print, but the label that brought it over is defunct. It's not a bad CD, it's actually mostly original music and not a straight CD mix, but it sounds like one, and plays like one. Didn't leave much of an impression either way, just a decent enough collection of songs to put on in the background.

Stephane Pompougnac - Costes: La Suite
Label: Pschent
Released: 1999
Genre: House
This one is a true DJ Mix from Paris DJ Stephane, the second in a series he's been doing for over ten years now. This one bounces around a bit, starting mellow, moving up to a good dancefloor rhythm, and shows off just how far ahead of the curve the French DJs really were, a very early Electroswing track. I like this one, especially the back half as it bounces right along at a good pace. Not something you put on for background music, definitely a mix for dancing to.

Bonus Track:
Bassnectar - Immigraniada (Bassnectar Mix - Radio Edit)
Label: Amorphous Music
Released: July 2011
Genre: Dubstep
This free little track found its way into my collection recently as I scraped up the cash to buy the new Bassnectar album (out today 8/2). It starts off as Immigraniada by Gogol Bordello, pretty straight forward, but somewhere in the middle goes all dubstep bassy on us. Nice litte ditty.

Hidden Track:
Bassnectar - Upside Down (6Blocc Mix)
Label: Amorphous Music
Released: 7/29 2011
Genre: Dubstep
And this little number was sent out to pre-orders of the new Bassnectar album - after I scraped the cash together. This one is straight through dubstep in all its wonderful bassy drumming glory. No tricks, just dance step all the way.

and that's all I got for this week. Next week pulls back from the past a bit more, goes overseas to Iran, and tosses in a bit more industrial-rock because I can't seem to get enough of that.

Week Of 7/19 - Trip-Hop, Ambient, House, Rockabilly

Day Late - things got overly busy. Sneaking this in at work... This weeks new release is UK artist Imelda May, a kickin' Rockabilly artist. Also on deck is a who bunch of DJ mixes. Ancient Astronauts (not a mix) leads the way with a Trip-Hop album. A mix from the Frabric club in London, and one from the Buddha Bar in Paris.

New Releases:
Imelda May - Mayhem
Label: Decca
Release: 7/19 2011 (US)
Genre: Rockabilly.
I picked this up on a whim, and because it's only thing that came out last week that was even remotely interesting. A Rockabilly artist that didn't forget the country roots. She's got the rock part down solid, and well, her voice (and the band) can hold a swing beat solid for a good dance. She can also go much softer and bring out the country side of Rockabiliy just as easily, even sneaking in a waltz (a ballad of making love work). And she's got a set of lungs on her, whether belting out a rock tune or a singing a mellower tune. Easily put into my favorites category.

Adding To The Collection:
Ancient Astronauts - We Are To Answer
Label: ESL Music
Release: 2009
Genre: Trip-Hop
Like many acts, this is just a couple guys doing some DJ work, a little music production, and gathering in as many people as possible to add to the sound. Pharcyde, Raashan Ahmad, Tippa Irie, and a few other DJs. It doesn't stick to general trip-hop sound, and moves both up and down-tempo throughout, a little Hip-Hop mixed in for good measure. It's a pretty good album with some good production, the flow from track to track isn't perfect, but it's better than most.

Optimo (Espacio) - Fabric 52
Label: Fabric
Released: 2010
Genre: House
A quick intro - Fabric is a club in London, every month they put out with a DJ Mix or a Live Mix (alternating them). The Mixes come from DJs that have played, or regularly play, the club. Optimo (Espacio) is two of their regular DJs, and this Fabric is a good solid slice of House/Dance music from mid-2010. It actually reaches back a bit, and feels like it come from ten years earlier, without rehashing the same tracks from then. If you need to just put on some dance music and bounce away, Fabric mixes are good, and this one in particular is both excellent and fun.

Buddha-Bar I
Label: Wagram / Chall'OMusic
Released: 2003
Genre: Ambient, House
Buddha-Bar is another club, this one is actually a dinner club in Paris. The mixes come in two parts: Dinner and Party. The first disc is Dinner and is almost completely ambient music, slow beats (though not completely downtempo), non-invasive songs that fill the space behind you nicely. The music itself is not stuck in a particular era, but an atmosphere. Relaxing, nice, but not totally devoid of rhythm - you could dance to some of this if you wanted. The second disc takes off a bit, Party is just that, more dance, more energy, a little louder. Many of the songs on both sets take from middle eastern sounds and themes, as well as singers. Not your typical club music by any stretch of the mind, something a little different here.


Bonus Track:
Marc Broude - Psychological Warfare
Label: self released (via Soundcloud)
Released: 2006
Genre: Metal, Industrial
Picked this up at random - the artist emailed me a link. It's a 2-track single of noizey industrial metal. Complete with shouted lyrics and all. It's not that bad, lacks a little of the polish of modern Industrial-Metal sounds, but that kind of makes it better. If you're on Soundcloud, go check out his page and give a listen.

And that's it, only four albums (the Buddha-Bar mix is two and a half hours by itself). Next week is some more house mixes, Grace Jones, and a bunch of industrial music.

Week Of 7/12 - House, Electro, Blues, Industrial, Shamisen

Finally starting to put a serious dent in the music the wife gifted me, still not quite halfway through it all though! This weeks new release is a Juno Reactor remix album; some more Yoshida Brothers and Said Mrad are added, an old Apoptygma Berzerk single, and a Delta Blues compilation. Good week for some upbeat stuff here, lots of high energy.

New Releases:
Juno Reactor - Inside The Reactor
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: 7/12 2011
Genre: House, Club, Electronica
Juno Reactor have always been pushing the electronica genre, they aren't quite house, but that's the closest I can really get to describing their music without a generic "it's all electronica..." The remix album here pulls from all over to remix various JR tracks, Midival Punditz and Bombay Dub Orchestra were the two I both immediately recognized and looked forward to hearing the most, two bing names in modern London dance club music, blending in their Indian roots. Everything here does justice to Juno Reactor, but they aren't just clubbier versions of their tracks, some really good stuff was done with this. They even snuck in a 'lost' mix from early on. It bounces, and booms, and it's a good addition for Juno Reactor fans.

Adding To The Collection:
Apoptygma Berzerk - Love To Blame
Label: Gun Records
Released: 2006
Genre: Gothic Rock
Apoptygma Berzerk don't sit still, but they do tend to hover around the Industrial and Goth music scenes. A lot of their early music was heavily influence by Depeche Mode and was the beginnings of Darkwave and Coldwave gothic music. This, in the mid-2000s, is not that. The single is really solid Gothic Rock, with guitar hooks, dark imagery that is neither downtempo nor overly hard. Like a lot of good gothic-rock there's a lot of punk-rock in it, no exception here. It's only a 4 track single, with a bonus video, but it's a solid little number.

Said Mrad - Electroriental
Label: Platinum Records
Released: 2009
Genre: House, Arabic
Said Mrad may just be the leader of Arabic-House, taking good old Chicago and London beats and mixing in liberal amounts of Arabic sounds. This album doesn't hold back, and belongs in a dance club from top to bottom. There's even some traditional songs mixed skillfully in. Not much to add on except that the US needs this guy over here to expand our idea of Dance Music.

Yoshida Brothers - III
Label: Domo Records
Released: 2006
Genre: Shamisen, Rock
More from Japan, the Shamisen is an awesome instrument. This album mixes in a lot more Rock rhythm than their other stuff. All of it's high energy, kickin' music. As I sat listening to this on random intermixed with the previous albums I realized just how much these guys would kick ass if they mixed in some bass with their sound. Even without it, though, they rock out nicely.

Rough Guide To The Delta Blues
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2002
Genre: Blues
I like the blues, I really can't get enough of it. And this is a whole collection of a lot of old gems, and some new stuff. The only complaint is that some of the source material was definitely taken from old 78s and 45s and there's a lot of sound artifacts, or off balance recordings here. They could have done a better job bringing the levels up and cleaning up the sound. On the other hand, with all that the old blues music sounds like you are moving back a century to when recordings were rare, and people had to gather together to listen to music. Truly remarkable works of art in here.

Bonus Track:
Ostfront - Fleisch
Label: Out Of Line
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial
With my last order from the label they sent out a one-track promo sampler from new group Ostfront. Definitely part of the New Deutch-Hart movement of industrial-rock. EBM with heavy guitars. It's not a bad little track, and I think I'll be picking up the full album down the line to get more of them.

And that's the week in music. Next week, to down-shift from all this dance music, is mostly trip-hop and ambient. But it can't all be downtempo and some Rockabilly snuck past the guards.

Week Of 7/5 - Bluegrass, Electro, Industrial

Late post - away on vacation over the weekend, I think I may move new posts to Tuesdays, same day I load new music I review the previous weeks selection. The new release this time around is actually old and new; Accessory "Underbeat" was released in Germany in June, but isn't due out in the US until August. Actual new releases for the week were slim and not interesting to me.

New Releases:
Accessory - Underbeat
Label: Out Of Line (Germany) / Metropolis (US)
Released: 2011
Genre: Industrial
The German release is a 2 Disc set, the second disc is some extra tracks and remixes. The Digital version of the US release contains the second disc. The album is solid EBM and dance industrial hits. Not nearly as heavy as many of the German artists in the Industrial scene that normally come over from Germany. The whole thing is club cut from start to finish, everything here is designed for the dance floor. The second disc is where things actually get interesting - there's a cover of Johnny Cash "Folsom Prison Blues" which proves that if you want to turn any song into a heavy dance track give it to the Germans. It is, to be honest, a great cover of the song.

Face The Beat Vol. 1
Label: Side-Line Magazine
Released: 7/3 2011
Genre: Industrial, Darkwave, Eurobeat, EBM
This 55 Track compilation was released for free on Facebook (hence the title). It contains 55 Tracks from signed, unsigned, standard and new acts. Across the board. There are a few real gems hidden in this compilation, and a few tracks that are well saturated in the scene. There's very little underlying theme here other than everyone on it is putting out music right now, this is not a compilation looking back at the scene, but looking forward at it. It's definitely worth picking up in my opinion - you could always use a bit more dance music in your life.

Adding To The Collection:
Said Mrad - Greatest Dance Hits
Label: EMI Music Arabia
Released: 2009
Genre: House, Arabic-House
Said Mrad is one of the leading DJs in the Arabic countries, fusing House with Arabic rhythms and sounds. This is a greatest hits compilation, making it a pretty good starting point for anyone wanting to add a bit of near-eastern flair to the dance floor. It is, under it all, straight house DJ music, though original tracks and not a DJ Mix set. The Arabian flair, and I'm not well versed enough in their traditional sounds to specify further, makes it a pretty cool set to toss in with your normal house mix.

Rough Guide To Bluegrass
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2001
Genre: Bluegrass
Bluegrass, the start of Americana, or Roots-Americana. A little country, a little folk, a little blues, some gospel. All mixed liberally in the Appalachian Mountains for a very unique American Music. This collection gathers some of the contemporaries of the genre and some of the traditional musicians and throws them into a single 21-track mix. Like all Rough Guides this is just a jumping off point to gather artists in the genre and pursue them individually. This compilation tends to have a lean towards the gospel end of the Bluegrass genre, though.

Bonus Track:
Caustic & Be My Enemy - Oxyacetylene
Label: none
Released: 7/1 2011
Genre: Industrial
Caustic and By My Enemy played a cover of this track live, and afterwards decided they needed to do a full production of this Cubanate classic. So they did, and released it into the world for free. It's a near straight cut cover track, nothing too extra added to it, though Caustic's vocals are much harsher and deeper than the originals.